"Mikey!"
The youngest turtle looked back at his two eldest brothers with a wide-eyed expression, not understanding what he did wrong.
"What?" Mikey asked. "He is."
"I think Leo was going for subtle, you idiot." Raph insulted with a glare.
"Not the best way to tell him, Mikey." Leo agreed, his eyes still on their second youngest brother.
Donnie had frozen up as he processed the words that had come from their youngest brother, staring at Leo's arm in his grip as if it were all he could focus on.
"Donnie?" Leo asked, touching his brother's forearm gently with his free hand in an attempt to shake him back into reality.
The moment his fingers connected with Donnie's skin, the other turtle yanked himself so far out of Leo's reach that the leader thought he may have road burn.
"Donnie?" Leo repeated and attempted to get up, only for said turtle to push him back down again.
He had recovered and was now attempting to find something to tie his arm up with, his search much more desperate than before.
"Donnie, did yo-"
"Stop calling me that." Donnie snapped with a glower. "Stop calling me that stupid nickname. You give nicknames to people you know, you don't know me, so stop."
"But we do." Leo argued, watching as Donnie tore a long piece of fabric from his jacket. "Mikey didn't say it the best way, but it's true. You're our-"
"Stop!" Donnie nearly yelled. "Don't insult me. I think I know where I came from, thank you very much. I don't know what you're trying to achieve here with your lies, but I'm not fooled."
"Lies?" Leo repeated. "Why would I be lying to you about this?"
"And if you haven't noticed, Brainiac, the people you hang around aren't exactly honest." Raph supplied gruffly to his left.
"Like I already said, stop with the nicknames." Donnie told him.
Leo attempted to get Donnie's attention again.
"Why are you so sure that we're lying?" Leo asked as said turtle began to wrap up his wounded arm.
"I've read my file." Donnie answered confidently. "Everyone here has a file and I've read mine front to back. I was mutated here, and certainly not with anyone else."
"Bros, do we have files? What is this? James Bond?" Mikey asked.
"So you'll take the word of a paper?" Raph demanded obnoxiously, pointedly ignoring his baby brother.
"It's not technically a paper." Donnie muttered as he secured the wrap tightly on Leo's arm. "You have no proof to back up this ridiculous claim. Besides, if I was related to you three, I think I would know."
"Not if they were lying." Raph argued. "Honestly, would you believe Shredder if he told you that there was a punch of puppies at the bottom of a cliff?"
"There's a key difference between that scenario and this one." Donnie pointed out, like he couldn't help but to be factually correct.
"In that scenario, it's assumed that I would blindly follow my Sensei's command just because it came from his mouth. In that scenario, there was nothing to support the claim, much like right now. I have proof that what Saki told me since I was a child, holds true. While you have nothing to back up your claim."
None of the turtles had any way to refute this at first, unable to come up with any retort to his words. What could they say, really, when Donnie was so dead set that whatever was in that file was true and enough proof for him.
Donnie, obviously seeing their silence as proof that they had been lying, gathered his supplies and stood, only for Leo to catch his wrist in an iron grip and pull him closer.
Donnie, for his part, seemed to be fighting between the instinct to get away from what he perceive as an attack, and trying his hardest to not hurt Leo.
He settled for gently attempting to pry Leo's fingers off of his wrist, but the fearless leader didn't release his grip for anything.
"Leonardo, let me g-" Donnie protested, but the elder was quick to interrupt him.
"You said that you wanted proof?" Leo asked. "My blood is my proof. My claim is that we're your brothers, so we are related and maybe I'm not smart like you, but I'm pretty sure there's a way of proving that, am I right?"
Donnie, though obviously mulling over his words, still tried to break contact, his movements becoming desperate as Leo tightened his grip.
Leo hesitated. Donnie obviously had a serious problem with physical contact, but Leo had to get him to listen.
"Am I right?" Leo repeated, his voice raising.
"Yes!" Donnie spat out as he tried to twist his hand out of Leo's. "Yes, there's a way to test it!"
"If you really want to know if we're related, test our blood." Leo said, his tone noticeably softer, but you wouldn't know it by the way Donnie was desperate to get away.
With that, Leo released his grip on Donnie's arm and the younger turtle quickly yanked himself away from the blue banded turtle, rubbing his wrist as if he had been burned.
When Donnie stood up and grabbed his supplies without seeming to think of Leo's words, the elder spoke up, but didn't dare touch him again.
"Please, if you're so certain, then test it." Leo repeated.
Donnie hesitated, glancing at the three of them before sighing and kneeling down beside Leo again and taking something out of his supplies, though he made sure to keep Leo's hands in his line of sight at all times.
Donnie proceeded to grab a small glass plate no bigger than Leo's palm and glanced over at the older turtle.
Leo realized what he was looking for and held out his leg where another, less life-threatening wound was on his shin.
While he was in no danger of bleeding out, the wound still seeped plenty blood onto his feet, enough to stain his skin a dirty red.
Donnie understood and pressed the small glass against the blood, allowing the trickle of red to stain a good portion of it before carefully removing it.
Donnie gathered his supplies in one hand and cradled the glass in the other, making his way out of their sight without a word.
Surprisingly, it was Raph that broke the silence.
"Man, that guy is weird." Raph growled and they heard him shifting painfully beside the bars. "One minute, it's like he's trying to help us, the next he's the one trying to kill us."
"He tried to help me when that doctor wanted to keep going. Said that Shredder wanted us alive or something." Mikey supplied.
Raph tilted his head. "He kinda said the same thing when they started going too far with me too." Raph said. "Baron dragged him out but he came back in a few minutes later and took me out. I asked if he was blackmailing Baron but he said he wasn't."
Leo raised an eyebrow at his brother's tone.
"You don't believe him?" Leo asked.
He heard more than saw Raph shrug.
"It seemed like it. I mean, Baron was pretty damn mad when Don smarted off to him and was pretty dead set on keeping me until he dragged Don out of the room and the next thing I know, Don's acting smug and he's letting me out."
Leo thought this over.
If Donnie did have some kind of blackmail on Baron, then that could explain why the man seemed so furious around him. It would explain why he had been so willing, eager even, to have Leo kill him. It wasn't mental torture for the leader, at least primarily, but a way for Baron to get rid of a witness free of blame.
Leo growled, a low noise in the back of his throat. And Baron nearly succeeded! Had Leo not hesitated, he would have gotten exactly what he wanted.
"What is it, Fearless?" Raph asked.
"Baron." Leo spat out, furious at almost being duped. "He just wanted me to kill Donnie so he could get rid of him."
"Okay, so bigger question, if Don's got blackmail on this guy, why not rat him out?" Raph asked. "What's stopping him?"
Leo shrugged. "I don't know."
"Ooh!" Mikey squealed suddenly. "I know, this is exactly like that one spy movie! The one where the guy is working for everyone and he knows about what everyone does!"
"That's a double agent, shell for brains." Raph said. "And he's not working for 'everyone' he's just bipolar."
"Maybe he's not working for everyone, but they could both have something on each other." Leo proposed, thinking about his baby brother's idea. "It would stop either of them from ratting the other out."
"Okay, but what?" Raph asked.
"Doesn't matter." Leo said. "Whatever it is, it's enough to make Baron want to kill him and enough to keep Donnie safe. I just hope it stays that way."
Donatello didn't bother with dropping off his supplies, instead choosing to make his way as inconspicuously as possible to his lab. He really didn't want to run into Baron, especially after his brash actions in the lab, so once he was in the lab- after checking to see if anyone was in there- he locked the door and proceeded to the table where his biomedical materials were.
The idea was just ludicrous. Really. He would know if there were other turtles, other specimens. And yet, he couldn't get the idea out of his mind for some reason... But he would know.
Shaking his head, Donatello set the glass on the table and grabbed a scaple, flinching as he cut into his own skin and allowed the blood to trickle onto another glass that he had prepared.
He prepared the two glass pieces for the test and grabbed a small towel and pressed it against his wrist. He hadn't meant to cut himself that deep, but in his haste he hadn't been entirely aware of his actions. Apparently he was more bothered by the turtle's accusation that he had convinced himself.
While he awaited the results, Donatello checked that the virus he had installed was indeed still running and quickly typed in the password that would delay the virus taking effect.
"What are you doing?"
Donatello whirled around to face Karai, who had somehow sneaked up on him and in what he hoped was a subtle move, he shut down his computer and casually placed himself in front of the test he was running.
"Checking some old experiments." Donatello lied, hoping that his lying skills had at least somewhat improved. "Why?"
"What happened to your wrist?" She asked, eyeing the towel that was now plastered to him with blood.
"Uh, nothing." Oh, really convincing! "What did you need, Karai?"
"Baron wants you for training." Karai answered slowly. "He says you've been falling behind."
Donatello internalized a groan. The last 'training session' hadn't gone so great and though he highly doubted that Baron would try and make another deal with the turtles, he still knew that Baron could still make his life a living hell.
"Hai, just allow me to put away my materials." Donatello responded.
Karai left without a word and Donatello winced at the quiet closing of the door.
There was a time when the two of them had actually been rather close, all things considered. Times when they snuck out of the building and took to the rooftops in patrol every other night, honor bound to protect anyone in danger on the streets. Times when they would train together and help when the other slacked. When Donatello was hesitant to learn ninjitsu no matter how many punishments he recieved for his disobedience, it had been Karai that worked with him to help him overcome his objections. When Karai couldn't figure out a move and would spend days or weeks trying to perfect it, he had been the one to get through to her and teach her how to do it. When Donatello got into trouble for his continued disobedience, it was Karai who later sat with him and kept him company. In later years, when Karai needed advise on a plan, or needed help coming up with a strategy, he had been her strategist.
And then, they just stopped associating with each other. Karai had done everything in her power to stay away from him and Donatello allowed it. He didn't want to get her into trouble by association.
So now the only times they talked was when they had to.
It's not like they were aggressive towards each other, they just weren't close anymore.
And as much as Donatello wanted to deny it, he missed it. He missed having Karai's company and not being so alone all the time and having someone to talk to who didn't want him to build something or work on another weapon or project.
Donatello rolled his eyes at himself and rearranged the materials on the table so that the test wouldn't be easily visible and left the lab.
He was being a child.
Donatello slowly pried the towel from his arm, grateful that the wound was no longer bleeding, and threw the towel into a nearby trashcan.
He made his way toward the dojo, not wanting to keep Baron waiting for too long. Once, he had gotten so caught up with a project that Baron had sent two Foot ninja to literally drag him from his work. Of course, this only resulted in half the lab being blown up because the highly sensitive chemicals had been left without supervision.
Roland had been amused at the cause of that visit.
Donatello walked into the dojo, expecting to see the other ninja waiting for training, only to walk into an empty dojo, save for the equipment.
"Master Baron?" Donatello called out hesitantly. "Master Baron, are you here?"
Donatello waited for several prolonged seconds before turning around, meaning to go back to his lab gratefully, when he saw a flash of a blade and dodged to the side just as the long blade clanked against the door he had just been standing in front of.
Donatello rolled to the side and grabbed his staff, taking a defensive stance against his attacker, who didn't give the startled turtle a chance to take a breath before attacking again.
Donatello took the defensive, trying to keep as much distance between him and his attacker as possible, using his staff to block the sword that was constantly aiming for his head.
The ninja was covered in head to toe in black and the only distinguishable feature was the ninja's unbridled fury that showed itself with every swing of the blade.
What did I ever do to you? Donatello thought as he attempted to block another swing, only for the ninja's other hand to whip out and stab a hidden tanto into his dominant arm.
Hissing in pain, Donatello resisted the temptation to tend to the wound and used his feet to plant a firm kick against the ninja's chest, sending the attacker into a neighboring wall.
Donatello took the distance in stride and checked over his wound briefly.
The tanto wasn't deep enough to cause any permanent damage but Donatello was worried about the blood loss he was going to be suffering from pretty soon if he didn't bandage it. He didn't remove the tanto for this reason, knowing it should staunch the blood flow for a time, long enough for him to properly treat it.
He planted his feet and readied himself as the ninja stood, glaring at Donatello as if he were everything wrong in the world.
Donatello had a moment to curse Baron's existence before the ninja was on him again, this time focusing on his now injured arm and his wrapped plastron.
Donatello could use his staff to protect his arm easily, but even the slightest pressure on his plastron served to almost freeze the turtle with pain, which gave the ninja an opening to attack.
Donatello knew that his attacks were slowing down, his defenses unintentionally lowering as pain wracked his body with every strike, but still tried to keep up with the fight.
He knew that the ninja had won when the blunt end of the sword was swung into his injured plastron and he temporarily saw white. The next thing he knew, he had been kicked on his carpace, a foot digging into his injured plastron and a blade above his chest.
Donatello struggled for air through the pain and tried to wiggle out of the ninja's grip to no avail.
The situation was eerily similar to when Baron had made the deal with Leonardo, but Donatello doubted that this ninja would have the same honor as the blue banded turtle.
Donatello squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to look at those hateful eyes, just as a voice called out,
"Yame!"
Immediately, the foot on his plastron was lifted and the sword removed.
Donatello took in several gasps of breaths, so grateful for the sudden lack of fire in his chest that he didn't sense the presence beside him.
"Your defense was lacking, you were more interested in blocking than you were in attacking. Your offensive was nonexistent, you were letting him attack you which led to your inevitable fall." Baron's voice berrated from somewhere above him.
Once he had gotten his pain level under control, he forced himself into a somewhat upright position so that he wouldn't be in such a defenseless position.
He was careful to keep his staff in hand while trying not to appear aggressive toward the two ninja.
"I thought we agreed that this wouldn't-" Donatello hissed, only to be cut off.
"You were severely lacking in training and needed the extra sessions." Baron said with a self satisfied smirk and Donatello understood.
He had never meant to kill the turtle, just torment him.
"Right." Donatello spat, his free hand clutching his bloody arm. "Extra training."
Baron's smirk widened.
"You should thank Takeo for assisting me, he was rather eager to help with the task."
Donatello stared at the ninja in question, who's fury seemed to radiate off him in waves.
Well, that explains a lot. Donatello thought as the all too familiar guilt came rushing back into his system. No wonder he was mad.
Then again, mad was putting it a bit lightly.
The ninja still did not remove his face covering but the look on his face never changed.
Takeo's glare burned into him as he stood, and Donatello deliberately avoided eye contact as he did so, instead focusing on Baron.
He had done this purposefully. He knew what he was doing incorporating Takeo into this.
"Is that all?" Donatello demanded, unable to keep a civil tone to his words no matter how disrespectful they were.
"Yes." Baron smirked. "You can expect more one-on-one training sessions in your future."
Donatello scowled and walked past Baron, taking farther steps around Takeo than he really needed to, and proceeded back to his lab where he had dumped his few supplies.
He opened the door with his clean hand and threw off his jacket as soon as the door closed. He grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and sat down in the chair, moving his hand to grasp the handle of the tanto.
He pulled the weapon out quickly but neatly, not wanting to damage his arm further and applied a generous amount of disinfecmnet to the wound.
He wrapped it by tearing another piece of fabric from his already torn jacket. Once it was secure around his arm, he glanced back at the tattered mess of the jacket and grimaced. He had been sent to Roland before for staining the thing with chemicals, and that had been accidental. He couldn't very well say that it happened overnight and they could obviously see the wrap on his arm and know, and then that would lead to more questions-
Donatello shook his head at himself. Sometimes, he wished that he could just turn his brain off, if only for a little while.
A sudden, "Beep!" rung out throughout the lab, making the already alert turtle jump out of his seat. It took him a moment to realize that the noise was only the experiment telling him that it was done, and he quickly felt embarrassment flood his system.
Great going genius, a timer got the better of you!
He was so on edge these days that anything unexpected startled him. Some ninja he was.
He sat back down in his seat and moved his little makeshift cover away from his experiment.
He waited for the results to pop up on the computer, suddenly anxious about what he would find. When the final product did come up, Donatello took several breaths to calm himself before looking at it.
His mind, for the first time since he was able to accurately remember, went totally and completely blank.
You could have asked the supposed, "genius" what two plus two was and he wouldn't have had an answer at that moment. His eyes were latched onto the screen like there was some puzzle that needed solving when in reality that wasn't far from the truth.
He felt numb, frozen, unable to even think past the simple yet defining facts on the screen.
Related. They were related.
This had nothing to do with the mutagen, though what he had first dismissed as coincidence was beginning to make more sense now. They were related by blood.
As much as Donatello wanted to deny it, as much as he knew about himself and his past, he couldn't simply dismiss what was so obviously factual. He based his life off of evidence and scientifically proven facts.
"My blood is my proof."
Donatello's head swam and he had to grip the table lest he risk falling out of the chair as he attempted to regain some semblance of control.
How could he deny it now, when the evidence was sitting right in front of him?
So many emotions swirled through him at that moment, but one in particular threw him for a loop.
Relief.
Why would he be relieved at this? Why should he?
I have brothers, he realized. Brothers!
He knew that he had to have biologically related family of course, only he had always assumed that they had been regular, unmutated turtles.
Donatello was mindful enough to hear the door's handle jiggling and he was suddenly very thankful that he had locked the door. He jumped up from his chair and gathered the blood samples in his hands and quickly threw them in the trash haphazardly, trying to remain calm as the door finally opened.
Karai, lips set in a frown of disapproval, walked through the door, eyes narrowed as she took in the lab.
"Why was the door locked?" She asked, eyes still roaming the room as if looking for a threat.
"I always have the door locked." Donatello responded. "You know that."
That much, at least, was true. Since the incident a few years ago, the room to any door he was in was always locked and secured no matter where he was. The only place that he could never lock was the dojo and his room, ironically.
His door could only be locked and unlocked from the outside and though he constantly attempted to fix that, his efforts were always thwarted with threats of punishment if he continued. So to keep himself sane, he began sleeping with his staff as protection at night.
Karai seemed to accept this, albeit cautiously, and looked at him again.
"What happened to your jacket?" She asked, motioning to the scrap on the floor.
"I, uh, I ran out of bandages." Donatello admitted. "And I needed something to staunch a wound."
He knew better than to say that he hadn't used it all on himself. She didn't need to know that detail.
"Uh-huh." She said in a tone that screamed that she was unconvinced. "You may want to get that... fixed. But it'll have to work for now, come on."
"Where are we going?" Donatello asked, scooping the tatty fabric from the ground.
"To see Shredder." She said, ignoring the way that he froze. "He's gotten tired of their silence."
Leonardo attempted multiple times to get into the astral plain, but his mind wouldn't calm enough for the task and he eventually gave up.
Though his lack of mindfulness was at least partially due to his growing anxiety concerning their second youngest brother, it certainly wasn't helping that their youngest brother seemed to think that silence needed to be filled, constantly.
When the talkative turtle wasn't trying to sing in such an octave that glass would break had they been around any, he was talking their ears off, telling them about the comic book at the Lair that he never got to finish, how he thinks it will end, or the sudden recipe that had somehow made its way into his brain. When they were too exhausted to respond back to him- at that point, even Raph's threats were minimal at best- he took it upon himself to fill the silence with his continued ramblings, not bothered by their lack of response.
"My god, Mike." Raph grunted. "Do you have an off switch somewhere?"
Leo said nothing. He knew that Mikey was, in his own way, trying to help. The talking gave the two eldest something to focus on instead of their predicaments and though annoying, still worked. It also helped to ground Mikey, he thought. Talking had always been his coping technique and a way for the youngest to release any pent up emotion, and in this situation, it wasn't surprising that Mikey felt the need to talk their heads off.
Even Raph seemed to realize this, as he was being much less cross with the youngest than he would usually be.
The door opened and Leo jumped up, twisting his head to see his second youngest brother. Did he run the test? Does he know?
"Get up." A cold voice ordered that was certainly not their brother.
Mikey and Raph didn't move, unless you counted the way Mikey recoiled and Raph's growl of rage.
"I said get up!"
With that, Foot ninjas opened their cages and attempted to drag them out.
What the ninjas had not expected, though, was the level of aggression that they were met with.
Though their injuries were nowhere near healed, they had been given enough rest that they were able to move adequately enough to defend themselves against the Foot ninja.
Raph attempted at first to avoid using his injured shoulder, but gave up on it when the second wave of Foot entered his cell and he decided that he needed all his extremities.
Mikey held fast to the bars, using them to support the weight he couldn't and used his good foot to kick as much distance between him and the approaching ninjas as he could and trying to grab any weapon he could get his hands on.
Leo was in decent fighting condition, able to use most of his extremities to at least half their extent. Regardless, as with the night on the rooftop, their numbers simply overpowered them and they were restrained, though Leo did manage to grab a shuriken from a fallen ninja when they shoved him into the ground to bind his hands together. He hid the small weapon in the palm of his cuffed hands, cutting his fingers, but he didn't dare let go.
They were shoved out of their cells- or in Raph's case, dragged kicking and growling, literally- and Leo tried to catch his brothers' eyes.
Mikey limped as he was shoved forward, constantly looked back at his brothers, desperate to know that they were okay and caught Leo's eye. His eyes were wide but focused on him and he continuously tightening his hands when Mikey was looking. Were his hands hurting?
Mikey didn't have time to think about his brother's strange behavior- and that was saying a lot- before he was being dragged into a large dojo and forced on his knees.
Mikey gasped in pain when the fire sprouted up in his leg again at the contact and noticed Leo and Raph forced into the same position beside him.
"Hey, watch it buddy!" Raph snarled after being kicked in the ribs.
"Raph, calm down." Leo whispered to his irate brother. "You're not helping."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Fearless, did you want to have tea with Shredder and talk? I'm sure he'll love that." Raph mocked.
"I'm saying, save your strength for a better time." Leo emphasized, hoping that his brother would understand what he was trying to tell him.
But as usual, Raphael only heard what he wanted to.
"A better time? Like when?" Raph demanded. "After or before we're dead?"
"Just save your strength." Leo hissed. "You'll know when."
Raph grumbled something unintelligible and looked away.
It was then that the doors that they had been dragged through opened again and Donnie and Karai walked through, both appearing at ease.
They stood a little away from the other ninjas but not necessarily close to each other.
Donnie looked worse for wear than when they had last seen him. His jacket was in tatters, his one arm had what looked like a relatively recent wound that was half covered by a ripped-off piece of cloth while on his other arm, his wrist had a still scabbing cut.
Donnie's eyes met his and for once they stayed glued to his own, as if he couldn't tear them away. Leo could see the confusion, so obvious in his eyes, and understood the sudden difference.
"He knows." Leo said softly, so low that only Raph and Mikey would have a hope of hearing.
"How do you know?" Raph asked, having the sense of mind to keep his voice down as well.
Mikey leaned in to hear him.
"Trust me." Leo whispered back just as the door opened once more and Shredder, his body covered in head to toe in his metal suit, stood in front of the three turtles, glaring at them through his helmet.
"I will ask you three again, where is Hamato Yoshi?"
His question was met with glares and snarls of rage but no vocal response.
Save your energy, Leo reminded himself, tightening his grip on the weapon in his hand.
"Your continued insolence has been a great bother to me." Shredder rumbled. "Keep in mind, I do not need all three of you to tell me your master's whereabouts. Your numbers can easily be changed."
When none of them spoke up, Shredder nodded.
"Baron."
The turtles hadn't even registered that the man was behind them until he grabbed the back of Mikey's shell and forced him to stand, shoving their youngest brother forward uncooperative legs.
Leo froze for only a second before he began to quietly saw through his binds with his stolen weapon.
"Last chance, turtles." Baron said to them with a self satisfied smirk.
Leo hoped that no one could hear him sawing in the silence.
With that, Baron pulled out his Kusarigama and twirled the bladed end threateningly close to their brother's face.
Leo and Raph both found themselves yelling when Baron reared back, only for Shredder to hold up a hand.
Baron stopped mid-step, obviously confused over the sudden change in the plan.
Shredder turned slightly, tilting his head toward Karai and Donnie.
"Donatello."
The turtle in question stepped forward in an obviously hesitant manner, eyes not meeting Shredder's.
"Hai, Master Saki?" Donnie asked.
"I am giving you one chance, Donatello, to prove your loyalty." Shredder said.
"Master Saki?" Donnie questioned with confusion, eyes still glued to the ground.
"Kill him."
The demand was startling enough that Donnie finally looked up, staring agape at Shredder as if he had asked him to cut off his own hand.
"W-what?" He sputtered, alternating between staring at Shredder and flickering to Mikey.
"Kill him, and I will know where your loyalties lie." Shredder said, his head tilting as he studied the turtle.
"My loyalty is to you." Donnie said slowly, as if chewing on his words.
"Then this should not be a problem, Donatello." Shredder's voice turned testy, dangerous.
Donnie stared at Shredder for a long moment before giving a simple nod and bowing his head.
"H-hai, Master Saki."
The reaction was instantaneous.
"No! Don't hurt him!" Leonardo frantically begged, the usual calm and poised characteristics of him gone. "Kill me, don't hurt him!"
"You cowardly, no good, shell for brains dishonorable!-" Raphael broke himself off with an enraged roar and nearly threw the ninja off of him when another Foot soldier intervened.
Baron heartlessly kicked Mickey's legs out from under him, eliciting a pained scream from the injured turtle as he fell to his knees.
Come on, come on! Leo was cutting his binds in such a desperate manner that his palms recieved a fair amount of the blades as well, but he didn't stop.
"Mike!" Raph yelled, desperately trying to get to his baby brother.
"Stop!" Leo ordered. "Stop! Kill me, leave them alone!"
But they were ignored.
Donnie slowly made his way toward Mikey, eyes to the floor as he grasped his staff and pulled it out of it's holster.
Mikey, for his part, didn't move a muscle. Maybe he was too exhausted, or in too much pain, or maybe he didn't see the point in trying. He only stared up at his immediate older brother with those big eyes that the two eldest had come to love so dearly.
Donnie's face was one of obvious apprehension as he stood above Mikey, hands clenched around his staff, eyes wide, mouth slightly parted.
"Don't do this!" Leo begged him, hoping that he could make his brother see sense.
Donnie's eyes met his and Leo could read the lost look there, the indecision and doubt that plagued him.
"Please." Leo breathed.
Donnie's eyes hardened into resolution and he raised his staff above him, the bladed end pointed downward.
And he swung.
I'm gonna go hide from the Mikey lovers now... In a secret bunker... On the moon...
Happy Easter!
I want to thank Ramica for the review, I really hope you like the story!