Turtlefreak121: Hallo, it's me again with that long awaited update of this chapter! Hoo-ra! I'm gonna tell you the truth, I want to get this finished up about as much as you probably do so I'm gonna work extra hard on finishing it up soon. I estimate two chapters after this. I in fact pretty much guarantee two chapters after this one and then it's over. And if you think that the next chapter is it, please don't forget I'm writing an epilogue for this story. I don't wanna write a sequel so do not ask me to write a sequel. If I do, believe me, you'd find out soon enough. But as of right now: NO SEQUEL.

Thank you everybody for the reviews, nice ta see some people reading this incredibly evil lil' outlet of mine XP. So... Thanks.

The Dark Half

Chapter Eighteen

By Turtlefreak121

Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT - I go through this in every chapter of every story, if you don't know by now you are truly an imbecile. Thank you!

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One's Darkness

Yin inhaled deeply the scent of decay that swarmed around 'his' lair like a looming smoke. True, any others who would venture to this place would find the smell horribly evil and warning in some way. To Yin, however, it was the smell of power - of success. This was the power over any others that would come within his presence - let this smell allow them to know they are in the presence of Death itself!

Looking down with his gleaming red eyes, he could not help but snicker at the looks of horror he was receiving from his 'prisoners'. They were shocked, surprised, confused, and horrified. And no wonder, Yin had just thrown them a curve ball.

"Confused?" Yin mused in his regular voice just as some of tentacles that these mortals associated with Aku began to coil their ways around the support beams that Yin was standing between.

"What do you mean that you are Aku?" Splinter demanded as he looked up angrily at Yin. Yin had been helping them! He had assisted them in retrieving his sons - Splinter had thought that they had made an ally of an enemy!

Yin's dark eyes rolled before he crossed his arms and looked down to them again. "You see, rodent - the answer to that is quite simple!" he snickered before he looked down to the four brothers who had only recently released their embrace. "In fact, I think everyone's questions will be answered momentarily."

Raphael returned Yin's dark glare and began to move forward - his hands curved tightly around his Sai's handles.

Before his red-clad brother could move much more, Leonardo's hand shot out and clutched his brother's shoulder. As Raph turned to look at him expectantly, Leonardo just shook his head slowly.

"Not yet..." Leonardo whispered to him.

Seeing the dull look in Leonardo's once more alert eyes and seeing his own curiosity reflected in Leo's eyes, Raph nodded and straightened again - looking up into their second level and squarely into Yin's eyes.

Raph wasn't sure what Leo had said that had stopped him - probably nothing. He did, however, continued to replay the image of Leonardo's breathless form being overwhelmed with relief as they pulled him from the pod.

They were not strong enough to go against Yin now. Not now - but they would have to soon. There was no doubt about that.

Right now, however, they would have to do with Yin's monologing as a breather.

Yin looked over them again. April was standing behind her friends timidly - not sure what would crawl out of a hole next to her. She didn't know what was going on now, but Yin smirked at the fact that she would soon find out.

The others were more amusing. He could sense all of their weaknesses - even Splinter's whose only wish was that his nightmare would not come true now - and his doubt that this was even real, maybe another part of his torturous dream.

Michelangelo was shivering something awful as he looked up at Yin - he had just discovered that when Leo had attacked him in the sewers that it wasn't truly Leo but this guy called Yin - the 'darkness' in Leo. And to be honest, Mikey had feared nothing more than the evil that lived within him and his brothers - what made them the same as those they fought.

Donatello looked tired - exhausted. He was breathing slowly and hard though he continuously swallowed with his dry throat to try and make the passage of air to his lungs easier. The purple-clad turtle was ready to blackout at any time now - he only hoped not soon.

Raphael was angry at Yin - angry at him for exposing them to this dark side of their otherwise 'perfect' older brother. Of course, Raph would be mad at this because this meant that there was an even thinner line that separated him and his older brother. Raph knew better than any of his other brothers that having another rebellious hothead was not a good thing.

Yin's gaze finally rested upon the only one that was looking at him with the same intensity that he was looking at them with: Leonardo.

Leonardo's fear was clearly seen through his trembling clenched fist - something easily mistaken for anger by anyone else. His glare was almost as scary as Yin's but not nearly as threatening for Leo knew his position in the current matter.

His gaze, though - it secreted something that worried Yin. At least, it did for a moment. He saw this clearly now and was mildly ashamed for not catching it as soon as he noticed Leo's look.

Yin laughed at this and shook his head.

"Interesting idea, you four..." Yin chuckled as he placed his hands on his him and looked down at them even angrier than before. "But you know even better than I do that it won't work!"

Mikey and Don looked at each other confused, but Raph and Leo's hearts could have stopped right then. How had Yin known that they planned to start an attack after whatever little 'speech' he had planned? They hadn't even spoken of it out loud yet! It was a silent agreement between the two of them after a short glance! He couldn't have known about it already!

But he did.

"Just so no one is tempted to do anything stupid while I am explaining things here..." Yin stated evilly as suddenly the tentacles hovering around him reared up and shot towards the small group below.

Leo unsheathed his katana but even this reflex action was not quick enough for as soon as one katana was unsheathed, his body was wrapped around completely by the large, faint red tentacle. His right arm was raised with the katana in his hand, but the tentacle with a mind of its own steadily climbed upwards and around his arm until it reached his wrist where it pulled itself around and around, tighter and tighter until Leo was forced to let out a pained yell and drop his precious weapon

Looking around, Leo found his brothers, master, and April were in the same predicament. Their own tentacles had wrapped them up like cocoons all the way up to their shoulders - they could only move their heads around as they struggled despite their conditions to get out.

Tisking again, again, Yin leaped from the upper level and landed perfectly between Leo and Raph. He then looked evilly at Leonardo who was still confused as to who this was - except that it must be one of his doubles from his brother's dreams.

"Wrap more - he'll snake his way out of that," Yin directed to the tentacle that in response squeezed tighter like a constrictor - just as Leonardo exhaled - making it near impossible for him to inhale again.

At Leo's pained gasps for oxygen, Raph did his best to charge at Yin only to barely move his tentacle.

Yin looked expectantly at this and cocked an eye ridge before looking back to Leonardo who was once more able to breathe as his body slumped some at the tiny release of the tentacle.

The tentacle released some of its tight grip and released Leonardo's lifted arm - causing it to fall lifelessly to his side as he gasped or air. The tentacle then readjusted itself around Leonardo's body and instead of stopping its tight grip around his shoulders as the others had, it wrapped itself around his head - only revealing his face.

As soon as he had enough breath to control his limbs again, Leonardo struggled effortlessly to get out. In the end it was apparent he was barely budging the tentacle. He then glared at Yin expectantly.

Smiling Yin folded his arms and looked at Leo. "Don't need you biting me again..." Yin snickered in explanation.

Michelangelo stopped his struggling for a minute and looked strangely at Leo. "You bit one of these things?" he exclaimed as he felt some of the tentacle's slime slowly drip off and begin slithering down his thigh like a snake. This caused Mikey to shiver.

"Well...I was going to get shot otherwise..." Leo sighed - still not dropping his glare from Yin.

After everyone had settled down for a moment, Yin leaned up against a support beam and folded his arm. His grinned with his sharp fangs before taking another deep inhale of the nauseating air.

"Well, you called for an explanation - here it comes," Yin stated with a mocking bow. "I said I was one with Aku - of course I am. I am the darkness of a person-" he looked at Leo with a mischievous grin "-and he is the Lord of Darkness. He is the darkness inside of everyone - even the person I am from," Yin stated. "So therefore, I am a small part of Aku - the part that was born in Leonardo."

Slowly, the dark turtle began walking in between the captured mutants and April. "Do you remember that day, Leonardo?" Yin grinned as he began to pass April and Don. He then looked over his shoulder a bit and grinned at Leo. "The day you made me?"

Leo's eyes narrowed. "Not particularly..." he hissed between his clenched teeth.

"That's a shame - but expected," Yin sighed as he turned around on his heel and began walking. "You were young after all - not even fully mutated yet, to that thought..."

There was a pause where it became apparent that Yin was expecting a comment from someone. When that didn't happen he shrugged it off and continued.

"That day you got a little...jealous of your brothers," Yin explained further. "Splinter, here, might remember - right, Sensei?"

Splinter looked taken back and confused. The rodent then could feel the eyes of the others on him - but he truly did not remember. "I am sorry to disappoint you, Yin," the rodent 'apologized'. "I do not, however, know what you speak of..."

Yin smirked more and shrugged mockingly. "Oh, come-ON!" he exclaimed. "That day less than a year than you found the boys! That night there was a thunderstorm and you came over and hugged those other three and slept in the lil' nest with them!" he continued. "Maybe you still couldn't tell us apart - we were the one who slept near the edge by ourselves!"

The turtles looked confused - what did any of this have to do with Aku?

Slowly, Yin looked at Leonardo smirking again. "You see, Leonardo, my point is that it wasn't Aku who made me. I already there - he just gave me my own form if I served him."

The blue-clad turtle's eyes never changed from the forward manner. They remained emotionless and intense.

"Aku didn't make me, Leonardo," Yin continued. "You did..."

Raph didn't reveal his happiness to anyone - his face continued to show the set-in-stone look of anger and curiosity. His mind, however, was leaping with excitement as his hands had weaseled itself enough to grasp onto his weapons. He only had to wait for just the right moment...

"No offense, Yin," Leo began to reply. "But I have to disagree with you..."

Yin looked taken back for a moment and narrowed his eyes. "What? You deny my existence even as I stand before you?" he demanded.

"No..." Leo continued. "That would be foolish - you know that, Yin. I disagree with the story of your origin."

The dark turtle walked up to him and narrowed his eyes. "Speak! What do you mean?"

"Shouldn't you have been born before that?" Leo asked. "I mean, think of all the times before that even that I was unhappy with my situations..."

Yin leaned forward to listen to this - it had entranced.

Raph's eyes widened in realization of the opportunity that his brother had just given him. He got ready.

"Continue..." Yin encouraged.

"You more than anyone should know that there is no way I could be happy with a situation like being stuck in some kid's aquarium - even as a turtle," Leonardo responded.

"Of course not..." Yin stated in awe. He had not expected for Leonardo to give so easily into the idea.

"That's why..." Leo stated. "I know that your stories are false..."

It took a minute for the last statement to sink in. There was a genuine look of confusion on Yin's face as he heard this. He looked strangely at Leonardo. Once it sunk in, Yin's eyes narrowed and he reached up for his katana.

"What do you mean you don't believe my story?" he growled.

Suddenly, there was the sound of an alien scream and something heavy hitting the floor behind Yin.

The dark turtle narrowed his eyes at Leonardo who just gave a meager smirk.

Just as Yin began to turn to see what was happening, he found himself drawing his katana and blocking two Sai that had been guided by two green hands towards Yin's head.

"Interesting, Raphael..." Yin hissed. "You and your brother had me there for a moment..."

"C'mon, Yin!" Raph growled as he and Yin struggled for control of the situation. "You better dan anybody shou'd know dat Leo's da most convincin' liar when he's not bein' crazy..."

Yin then was able to pull the weapons down to the left. He smiled only at a small victory only to find that this had been what Raph had been waiting on the entire time.

As soon as Raph saw that Yin had overpowered him, he made a grab for Yin's sheathed katana and then kicked off from Yin's chest to Leonardo.

With the katana, Raph was able to make a clean cut through the tentacle mass around his older brother and cause him to fall to the ground. The alien screams echoed throughout the lair as the slimy tentacles landed with large thuds around Leonardo's coughing form.

"Finally...some air!" he exclaimed as he took in a deep breath.

Raph reached out a hand to Leonardo and pulled him up. The two smirked at each other.

"How'd ja know I wuz tryin' ta get out?" Raph asked.

"Call it brother's intuition," Leo smirked.

"You won't get out of this that easily..." Yin smirked as he slowly began to walk towards them.

Narrowing his eyes, Leonardo unsheathed his katana and looked at Raph. "Get the others out - we can't do this just us."

"Whut 'bout Mr. Sunshine ov'r dere?" Raph asked with a cock of his head to Yin.

"Let me worry about him - he's my problem after all..." Leo stated as he stood in between his trapped family and Yin.

Yin shook his head at this. "You know you can't go against me, Leonardo," Yin hissed with a grin. "You can't defeat yourself..."

Leo's eyes narrowed. "The Ancient One says differently..."

The two faced off and began to prepare for their battle when there was a head-splitting scream from the center of the lair and a large rumble that shook nearly everyone off their feet.

Leo looked down and saw quick pulsations in the forms of ripples from the center of the lair.

The blue-clad turtle then looked to Yin who merely smirked and took another breath from the air.

"Aku's up..."

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Turtlefreak121: I'm sorry for the lousy updates as usual - this time I do have an excuse. I am having some serious family troubles right now and they are hard to explain, but just know that I will update when I can. I won't be here this weekend, but - heck - just know it's for a good reason.

Thank you for reading, Please Review.