Rating: Overall story rated T
Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.
Warnings: Overall story contains disturbing imagery such as blood, gore and the like, and disturbing situations.
Summary: The world as they knew it has gone to ruins. The shadows, once their greatest allies, now harbour threats so great it's safer to risk walking in daylight, and Mikey and April will do anything to keep what remains of their family safe; even if it means abandoning home and everything they knew. This story is AU and a collaboration between sampsonknight and Zelgadis55.
Comments, thoughts and concrit are always welcome.
Sekai no Owari
Ch 2
The lair lay still and quiet, exuding a deceptively peaceful state before being disturbed by a grouchy, overtired mutant emerging from his sleeping den. He dragged his feet sluggishly towards the dark kitchen, stomach gurgling hungrily as he wondered why it was still in darkness and neither was there any aroma of freshly cooked food wafting about by the time he awoke. Unfortunately, he only smelt the stale air of old burnt toast and dirty dishes, making him wrinkle his beak in distaste.
He glanced across the empty kitchen and shrugged, Mikey was obviously goofing off somewhere in the lair yet again and as usual, it would be up to him to drag his wayward brother back since their Fearless Leader was so useless lately. Taking a glass from a cupboard that'd seen far better days in regards to stocked food, he sighed miserably, (this brave new world of theirs really sucked), grabbed an already open bottle of water and poured himself a drink before gulping it down greedily.
With his thirst quenched and the glass away, he slowly turned his attention inwards to the heart of the lair. He headed towards the living room and upon finding no sign of life resorted to turning to the lab instead. As he made his way into the only lit room in the lair that he could see, his eyes fell on the two brothers quietly occupying the space.
"Where's the twerp and April?" he asked with a wide, gaping yawn.
Leonardo looked up from where he sat, anxiously watching the security monitor set up near Donatello. "Mikey's out looking for food with April," he replied, one finger twitching ever so slightly as he answered, belying the calm in his tone.
Donnie glanced back from what he was working on with a small but irritable frown yet said nothing.
Silent at first and figuring this to be some stupid, thoughtless prank Mikey had somehow convinced Fearless to join in on, Raph let out a small chuckle.
Leo frowned unhappily. "They've been gone a long time; they should be back any minute now."
Startled Leonardo was actually serious about something like this, a sense of dread washed over Raphael as his anger took root, "Seriously Leo? You actually sent those two out there on their own? What the fuck is wrong with you?" With a rising growl, Raph stomped towards his older brother, letting the thud of his steps emphasise his sheer fury. "How could you make such a boneheaded decision like that?" he yelled. "What happened to no one goes out unless it's a fucking team of three, huh? Why the hell didn't you wake me up to go with them?"
"Because you just spent most of the night watching the monitors for incursions into our territory!" Leo replied tartly through clenched teeth; he didn't need Raphael questioning him over this, not when he already knew he'd made the wrong choice, not when it was already far too late to stop them from going. "And as if that wasn't enough, you spent most of the morning taking out anything that wandered too close to our home! Without, I might add, back up! As you just said, Raphael, we only go out in teams of three and yet you seem to think the same rule doesn't apply to you and keep going out on your own anyway!" He folded his arms, staring straight into the infuriated gaze of his hotheaded brother before continuing, "And since someone had to remain here to help keep Donnie grounded..."
"Thanks, Leo," Donnie replied tightly, his shoulders stiff with tension and shell turned to them.
"... that left little choice but to allow them to go alone," Leo finished as if Donnie hadn't spoken.
Brooding over his brother's words, Raph narrowed his eyes before clenching his fists at his sides, "That's different Leo! It's one thing going out there searching for food and another thing taking care of business near home! Out there, any shit can fly but here we have things under control!" Shaking his head violently at the stupidity of it all, he continued, "What if they ran into a pack of runners, huh? Or one of them gets hurt? There'd only be one to defend the other and no one to treat them! That's why we agreed on three minimum when scavenging! Hell, it was your fucking decision to do that in the first damn place!"
Breathing deeply, Raph placed one hand on his head, biting his lip to prevent himself from doing anything rash. "Shell, Leo! You gave me this damn lecture just last week and now you turn around and do something so fuckin' stupid as this! What the hell is your problem? I'd get Mikey treatin' this as some damn game, but not you!"
"What choice did I have but to agree? There are only five of us and our food stores are desperately low! We couldn't wait any longer for you to wake up or it would have been too late to go out at all! If you hadn't stayed up all night unnecessarily and then gone outside to clean up without anyone's knowledge... God, Raph! You were trapped out there for hours! It's a good thing we're immune now thanks to Don but that doesn't mean they won't rip you to shreds if they get a hold of you!"
"The simulations show we're immune but we won't know for sure until..." Donnie interjected tonelessly before trailing off at the looks from his brothers. He immediately faced forward again and returned to silently typing on his computer while they immediately turned back on each other.
Clenching his fist again, the need to punch something, anything, was overwhelming. Raph turned and slammed his right hand directly into the nearby concrete support column. Then, ignoring the pain from his grazed knuckles and growling all the more, "Leo… shell... that was different. I didn't realise there were stragglers as well. Besides, I handled them and wasn't that far from home. But this… Dammit, Leo! You should have woken me up, and you know it! God, you have some balls comparing this morning's cleaning to them going out there with no security, no backup to call upon and no damn monitors to make sure nothing is coming up behind them! Like you said, they can rip us apart and you put April, who has shit all experience when it comes to fighting, with Mikey, who can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality half the time when it comes to this shit! Have they called? Have you even tried calling them, Fearless?"
Leo's throat worked uncomfortably.
"They're out of range," Donnie spoke up grimly, still refusing to turn and look at anyone; not after last time. "Not to mention they should have been home nearly an hour ago."
Flabbergasted, Raph was done. He was just done. What more could he say? His point had been proven and now his kid brother and best and only friend left were out there alone, all because their leader was a moron and made the worst call ever, out of an ever-increasing series of bad calls, of his life. What if they were hurt? Or… what if they'd been ripped apart and eaten like that kid just last week or... worse... He swallowed painfully. What if they'd been turned?
Throwing his hands furiously into the air, Raph strode towards the exit. The time for talking was over. If his brothers wouldn't do something about this, he would. He would go find those two and drag them back home if it was the last thing he ever managed to do.
Leo stared after Raph for a moment, repeatedly clenching his hands at his side as he did, then turned to Donnie and commanded, "Lockdown the lair; we can't let him out now."
Donnie turned fully away from his computer at last and stared up at Leo aghast. "What about Mikey and April? What if they come home and find themselves locked out?"
"Just do it, Don! Their Shell-cell's aren't even in range and sundown is fifteen minutes away..."
Glancing at the time on his monitor, Donnie softly interrupted, "It's eighteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds away."
"Close enough. Based on the fact their Shell-cells are out of range, they have no chance of making it home before dark and if they do somehow make it home, we can always open it for them, but if Raph makes it out now, you know we'll never get him back. We'll lose him too!"
Feeling cold, Donnie swallowed, distressed; Leo was right. If Raphael made it out there now, he'd search all night until he either found them, or those things or the rabid humans left in the city above took him down instead. He reluctantly reached out and activated the lair's lockdown mode, just in time as Raph made it to the door, weapons jammed in his belt. Raph's bellow of rage as he realised what happened was deafening even from in here.
"Leo... what if..." Donnie swallowed again, he couldn't take any more loss; none of them could, "What if we've already lost Mikey and April?"
Clenching his eyes tightly as he heard Raph's thundering footsteps heading back their way, Leo replied. "Despite what Raph just said, you know Mikey can hold his own and April isn't helpless either. We just have to hope like shell they can find a safe place to hole up for the night if they can't make it back home safely. We have to believe they'll be alright."
Donnie nodded but never had a chance to reply.
"Leonardo!" Raphael's voice raged. The emerald turtle surged back into the room in a fury, storming towards his big brother. Without warning Raph lashed forward, snatching Leonardo's shoulder strap firmly in his hand and pressing his beak flush with his brother's to intimidate him. A huff of hot air escaped his nostrils as he snarled in a deep rumbling voice, "Why the fuck is the door locked already? How can they get home, when you've done yet another stupid and irresponsible thing like this?" An animalistic growl bellowed out as his grip tightened on that old leather strap.
"It's sundown, Raphael and they aren't in range! You know we need to lock down at night!" Leo retorted, refusing to back down.
"We'll keep an eye on the monitors through the night for them," Donnie piped up diplomatically. "If they come back, we'll be able to open up for them. If not... well, we simply can't risk going out at this time of day. It's far too dangerous."
Raph snapped a nasty glare at Donatello, snarling and baring his teeth. How the hell could Donnie actually take Leo's side over something so completely fucked up? That was family they so coldly dismissed, writing off as if they were already dead! Once he knew his message over how disturbed he was that Donnie was backing up Leo was clear, he turned his attention back to his older sibling, at no time bothering to let go of him or loosen his grip, "All the more reason to go out and find them now! They could be dying right now and if we wait, it'll be too damned late!" Raph's hand started to twitch violently at the thought of losing anyone else, especially two that he couldn't think of living without. Refusing to allow that horrible thought to sink in too much and poison his soul, he violently pushed the feeling away, allowing his own disgust and anger to consume him instead. "We need to go fuckin' find them. Now, Fearless! Or their blood is on your hands!"
Leo glared coldly at Raph. It killed him not being able to capitulate but if he allowed any of them to go out now, more lives would definitely be lost. He, no they, had to have faith in Mikey and April's survival capabilities; neither were helpless and they were at least together. "We don't even know where they are Raph. There is no point in going off half-cocked like a hotheaded idiot when all it will do is get you killed without ever finding out what happened to them. How will that help them? You know those things come out in force at night and you don't even see them coming before you're surrounded!"
Growling under his breath, Raph clenched his fist, hearing his brother's words. Yet none sank in.
"They went out of range twice," Donnie offered, outwardly calm, yet his voice held a hint of the true tension he felt. "The second time they went out of range, it appeared to be at a run and they were zigzagging all over the place." He swallowed.
Leo turned to look at Donnie, incredulous.
Raph froze in horror before releasing Leo and turning his undivided attention towards his other brother. "Why the shell did you both just stand around here doin' nothin' if that was the case?" he yelped in disbelief. "That alone should've set off the damned alarm bells, tellin' you they were in fuckin' danger, and yet all you did was sit here, sittin' on your damn hands like it's nothin' to worry about! What the shell, Donnie? I get Leo being a dumb ass, but you? Are you so damn afraid of a bunch of pathetic brain-dead zombies that you're willin' to ignore the clear signs of one of us in distress?" Raph screamed out in frustration, all the while fighting the urge to kick both their shells.
How could either of them be so calm over something like this?
How could they not give a flying fuck about two of their family in danger?
Not allowing either brother to speak, Raph continued glaring from one to the other in disgust, "You go on, Leonardo, about how irresponsible it was of me goin' out there alone and how careless I always am, yet here you both are showin' who the truly irresponsible ones are in dealin' with this chaos properly! What a stand-up job!" he spat in disgust. "Sure, I know can be a hothead and a dumb fucker at times, but I would never, and I mean never, put any of you in danger as you did here today! I would never ignore any signs for help regardless of the danger involved and the form it came in as you did Donatello. You're both pathetic and sometimes I wonder if we are even related or either of you actually gives a damn about anyone else other than yourselves! You damn, selfish bastards!"
"For your information," Donnie stated coldly, staring at Raph breathing heavily as he rolled away from his monitor to allow the others to see what was on the screen, "I didn't see earlier due to the fact I've been busy running simulations of my latest 'attempt' at a cure," he explained, self-disgust at his failures obvious in his voice. "I only began studying the recording of their progress in hopes of extrapolating where they might have gone when Leo expressed concern about how late they were in coming back; only minutes, as it happens before you finally decided to crawl out of your warm bed and join us. They'd only just gone out of range for the second time about ten minutes ago."
Raphael didn't buy it. It didn't matter that Donatello had been futilely working himself to exhaustion day after day to find a cure for what plagued this sorry excuse for a world. Neither did it matter if he was the only one left with even a chance of finding one. What good would do anyone if they all died first?
What would be the fucking point of it all? Of fighting, just to survive in a shit hole like this?
Raph, his anger now at a level beyond control, stomped up to Donnie and thrust his hand at his throat, slamming his brother into the solid desk as it shook from the violent action.
His eyes looking for blood, Raph's blinding anger was all that remained, "So fuckin' what? So what you're sayin' is you're more important than them, Donatello? You're tellin' me you knew Leo sent them out and you didn't bother to take your eyes off your precious scenarios for just one fuckin' second to make sure they were okay? Fuck! You're so obsessed with curin' the world that you're putting the ones remainin' in danger! Shell, Don, this is a new low, even for you. I always knew you were a cold bastard and ignored your family half the time but now I wonder if you even consider family to be important any more, unlike your precious work."
As Donnie choked from the hold and struggled to breathe, Leo hurriedly stepped forward, "That's enough, Raphael!" When Raph didn't let go, Leo did. He let go of his control, attacking his brother with a knife hand hard enough to knock Raph's grip loose. Donnie immediately started gasping for air, wincing at the pain in his throat.
Raphael hissed and stepped back, holding his arm and glaring at his brother for attacking him.
Ignoring him as best he could, Leo turned slightly towards Donnie, without taking his eyes off of Raph in the process, "Are you alright, Don?"
Unable to speak straightaway, Donnie nodded, wincing as he reached up to touch the darkening bruise on his throat. "Ye.. yeah," he eventually managed to grind out. He pushed himself up, away from the desk and stumbled towards his lab door, intending to go for a drink to soothe his poor throat and maybe something for the pain, if they could spare it.
As Donnie stumbled from the room, Leo turned his full attention to the harshly breathing Raphael, trying to rein in his own fury over what just happened.
"I know you're angry and worried, Raphael, but that's no reason to take it out on us, particularly on Don who has been working so hard for months," Leo admonished sternly. "Just because neither of us wears our emotions on our sleeves like you and Mikey do, that doesn't mean we are either heartless or incapable of feeling or worry." He stopped speaking for a moment and sighed, lowering his head and rubbing his face. Then he looked up at his belligerent brother directly in the eyes again and added firmly, "We will look out for them through the night, but we all know that their best chance of survival is to find someplace to hole up until morning and we have to have faith that they have done just that. Come morning, we will head out to look for them. It would be insane to go out now and you know it!"
"Stop patronisin' me and insultin' me with your boy scout lectures. You're really pilin' on the excuses, aren't you?" Raph snarled between his teeth.
"I'm not patronising you, Raphael, I'm stating the simple facts but you are too blind with rage and fear to see the bigger picture."
"Bigger picture? Oh, that's rich! Here is the big picture, big brother! How about us staying in this shit hole on the slim hope that you or Donnie will save the fuckin' world from its already fucked up apocalypse? Sorry, news flash bro, but we couldn't stop the gangs dealin' out that drug that killed people and brought on these goddamn zombies. We couldn't save our friends and family, and we're at the brink of starvation! Yet we cage ourselves here, over the misguided hope that Donnie-boy might be able to find 'a cure'," Raph barked, waving his hands out contentiously.
Narrowing his golden eyes which sparked in anger, he continued as his tongue lashed out, "Bullshit! When will either of you wake up and smell the fuckin' corpses? You know there's another option, Leo, but no! You won't fuckin' take it! Who else has to die before you realise this is insane? That this is just some death trap we are allowing ourselves to be snared in at your say so! Well, Leo? What do you say to that? Or are you so willing to stand there and keep bein' blind over your damn pride and keep makin' excuses to make you feel better about yourself so you can sleep at night?"
Shaking with barely concealed rage over Raphael's verbal assault, Leo hissed back, "How dare you? This is not about pride! It's not about excuses! It's about doing the right thing! If there's even a chance of being able to fix this, then we have to..."
"Be the damn heroes?" Raph asked dryly. "That's so fuckin' like you! Question Leo, to what cost? Who else are you willing to sacrifice for that, huh? Mikey and April are probably pushin' daisies right now and all because we're stickin' our necks out for a chance that is just an illusion, just a fuckin' pipe dream that you can't let go of… You…"
"If Don says he can cure this... this disease, then I believe him. What I can't believe is that you would give up so easily on Don, Mikey or any of us. If I didn't know better, I would think you were too much of a coward to keep fighting for everyone; to keep fighting for us!"
"Coward?" Raph clenched his fist, outraged as he took a step forward. "I'm no fuckin' coward, just bein' rational! All I've done is seen the truth, that this is some fool's quest as Mikey would put it, and I have had enough of it! If you will not listen to me, nor see what is in front of your own damn beak, then I should take your advice and fight to keep this family alive, what little is left of it!" Raph raged, whirling about and grabbing the computer that Donnie used for his simulations and smashed it against the desk. Sparks and smoke flew into the air and pieces scattered about.
Gaping in disbelief and eyes bulging wide, Leo took a half step forward, "Raphael! You..."
"I'm doin' what you can't Leo~nardo! Taking the initiative to end this stupidity before there is no one left to give a damn," Raph snarled, narrowing his eyes. He swept his arm back with all his force, tossing the broken computer off the desk into a liquid filled pile of glass tubes and beakers on the neighbouring table. He knew the computer could be replaced, but the work itself couldn't, which would make them realise it was finally time to move on, time to find a way to continue living, time to stop putting their lives on the line for people who would never thank them and that couldn't be saved.
To Leo's horror, as the glass shattered and the liquids mixed on the tabletop, sparks showered from the mess of plastic, metal and wiring that once was a computer, landing in the wet mess that once contained the only hope of a world gone horribly wrong.
There was a sudden bright flash and Raph jerked as a small explosion resounded directly next to him. Blinking in confusion, Raph muttered "What the she..." as the fumes began to rise. Already succumbing to unconsciousness, Raph collapsed before Leo's very eyes, bringing the table crashing down with him.
With the vapours quickly filling the room, Leo began to choke on the overpowering acrid stench. He desperately called out his brother's name and rushed forward, trying not to breathe in as he grabbed Raph by the shell. Futilely, he tried to pick up his insensate brother but the fumes overwhelming him sapped him of his strength and it was all he could do simply to drag him away from the sodden and sharp mess.
Leo managed to get them halfway to the door before the gas finally overcame him and he too collapsed to the ground. Weakly, he tried to push himself up again but to no avail. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an olive green smudge in the doorway and croaked out, "Do..."
-:-
Hurt more emotionally than physically over the whole fiasco, Donnie drained his glass of water, wishing in vain it was cooler and therefore more soothing on his sore throat. Unfortunately, due to lack of sufficient power supply and having to rely on his generators, only the bare essentials in the lair were powered nowadays; computers, lighting, the security system, communications and the like. They simply didn't have the power or resources to spare for luxuries like refrigeration or gaming anymore.
Sighing softly, he closed his eyes. He knew Raph didn't truly mean the awful things he said; he'd just been reacting to an impossible situation in which they all felt helpless and desperate, but still, he wished that his brother would learn not to take things out on the rest of them like he so often did.
Wincing, Donnie heard the voices from his lab rise in both volume and anger. Suddenly, the sound of something smashing rang out and horrified, he put down his glass and began rushing to the lab, his mind conjuring all sorts of terrible scenarios, each worse than the last.
Then, halfway there, came the worst sound of all, the sound of a small explosion. Donnie heard Raph's name called out in near panic and began running the rest of the way.
As he reached the entryway, he paused in the doorway, staring about to take in what happened. Suddenly, weak movement caught his eye and he heard, "Do..."
"Leo?" Donnie was already on the move. As he rushed in, he slapped his hand on the button for emergency extraction fans. Unfortunately, due to their low power supply, while the fan did start up, it was slow. Unable to take the time to do anything about it, his brothers needed him right now, he rushed forward, grabbing first one and dragging him out and then going back for the other.
Coughing on the thick foul air, Donnie felt himself growing ever weaker and as he reached the doorway, he too collapsed.
Half on top of his already long unconscious brother.
-:-
To be continued (sooner than the gap between ch 1 and 2...)
