Chapter 7

-Vigilante-

The lair was unusually quiet. The television in the common area sat alone and unused, its screen reflecting the real world, which was something it wasn't used to displaying. This particular reflection held a vision of Raphael as he sat on the couch with his head in his hands. And if the television could reflect more it would've shown the memories of Michelangelo that danced around him.

Like the time seven-year-old Michelangelo told Raphael that he was his hero:

"Raphie." Michelangelo said, running into the common room, "I'm gonna be strong just like my hero." Michelangelo smiled proudly then handed Raphael a piece of paper with a hand drawing of a red stick figure turtle, above the turtle were the words "my hero" the r was backwards but in the right place.

The time when Michelangelo was allowed to train for the first time.

"Check it out, Raph." Michelangelo was in the training room holding a single five-pound weight in two hands. Grinning triumphantly he said, "Look at these guns."

The first time Michelangelo talked him out of one of his lonely moods.

"Hey, Raph… don't be sad? I love being a turtle." Michelangelo smiled, "Someday everyone will see how much we do for this city and then they'll see that you are the best big brother in the whole world." he paused. "Don't tell Leo or Donnie I said that." He giggled.

And the first time Michelangelo saved his life.

"Raph! Watch out!" Michelangelo shoved his big brother out of the way of an attack, "That was a close one." He smiled giving the thumbs up before running back into the fight.

Raphael felt the cold sheath of sorrow wrap around him, it pulled from his pleasant memories and threatened to suffocate him. Raphael took a deep shuttering breath and the sorrow gave way to guilt. He felt as though he didn't deserve to breathe. That he didn't deserve to feel happiness ever again.

"Raphael?" Raphael lifted his head, he didn't need to look up to know it was Leonardo but he met his brother's concern fill eyes nonetheless. "It's gonna be…" Okay? Would it? Leonardo couldn't promise that and so he stopped speaking.

"I was right there, he was so close… I could've…. I should've been able to…so why?" And in a rare moment of weakness Raphael wrapped his arms around Leonardo's waist, dragging him closer so he could rest his forehead against the lower portion of his plastron. Leonardo paused a moment and in turn placed his hands on top of Raphael's head, teasing the ties of his mask with his fingers in an act of comfort.

Leonardo looked away in an attempt to give his brother a semblance of privacy opting instead to stare at the hall leading to their bedrooms. He wondered how it was that, in the past thirty-six hours, things had gotten so terribly out of hand.

Raphael's harsh breathing, Michelangelo's unresponsive body, Donatello's broken heart, Splinter's disappointment, and April's betrayal. They all swirled around Leonardo, curling tighter and tighter, threatening to squeeze the life from his body. He couldn't see, it was dark, cold, lonely and empty. Oh, god what would he do now? How could he fix this?

Splinter, seeing the state of his two remaining sons crossed the room and placed a warm hand on Leonardo's shoulder bringing him back to the light. Raphael remained still as Splinter spoke to Leonardo, "You must have faith my son."

"Faith?!" Leonardo burst, he'd been holding this pain in for hours and couldn't stop himself from raising his voice at his beloved father. Raphael responded to the outburst by pulling Leonardo closer. Leonardo continued, "Mikey's in a coma. I performed CPR and managed to get him breathing again but he's not waking up. Why isn't he waking up?" Leonardo asked.

"Oh, my son…" Splinter said, it was easy to forget that his sons were adolescence who were forced to grow up way too quickly.

"Leonardo, you gave him new breath." Splinter said. "And Raphael your quick thinking brought him home. The two of you gave him another chance at life." Splinter paused, "I tell you to have faith because we all know that Michelangelo has always been tough. I know that he will find his way back to us."

Casey made his way through the empty streets, he'd taken this path so many times that he knew the way even without looking. This time, however, something felt wrong about going to April's apartment. Was it the guilt he felt for ignoring the signs that told him April was heading down a dangerous road?

Possibly, after all, he'd elected to ignore the signs because, selfishly, he wanted to believe that the woman he loved had it all together. Did he even have a right to visit her home, to call her a friend, to have a crush on her when he'd straight up ignored her pain?

Maybe not but glancing up at April's once vibrant bedroom gave him the motivation he needed to push away his doubt. He would bring back the color, life and beauty to this apartment. He would make things right.

Casey made his way up the fire escape and opened the window, April's scent enveloped him and he was reminded of the many times the two of them studied together. Well, April would studied, he would think of ways he could score a kiss.

"Focus, Casey." He said and crossed the room, he'd come here for clues and Donatello had mentioned a whiteboard. Casey scanned the dark room and spotted it across the room. "There you are." Making his way over to the whiteboard and grabbed the edge to turn it toward him, he sighed, whatever April had written there had been erased.

"Figures." Before he could wonder what to do an idea struck him. Digging in his pocket he found his phone and shined its light along the edge of the board. Yes! He could see the lines of what had previously been there. Following along as best he could he saw two sets of words and they were the only clues he needed. The words were: "Secret Door" and "Headmaster's Office."

Wandering through a school late at night was already creepy, nothing said terrible slasher film like a lone teen in an empty school. Springhill Academy took the creep factor to a whole new level, mostly because whatever was happening at this school could very well be the horror ending he was expecting.

Casey couldn't lose his nerve now, he was the one who'd handed the Power Fragment to the bad guy. His ultimate goal was to clean up his mess. First by getting the Fragment back then by saving April.

Still he wished he wasn't alone and that he'd told someone what he was doing. If he died here no one would ever find his body. Spurred on by that thought, Casey quickened his pace.

The headmaster's office wasn't hard to find and soon it loomed in the distance, thought Casey was more than apprehensive about going straight for the door. He didn't know why but something told him that he wouldn't want to find out what was in that secret room.

"Come on, this is your fault and you have to make it right. You have a plan. Just go in there, find that secret room and get the Power Fragment. Easy Peasy." Swallowing against the fear in his throat, the hockey clad teen hurried for the door. He grabbed for the handle and growled when he found that it was locked. Of course it was locked.

The teen stared at the keyhole as if looking at it would scare it into unlocking. Then something flashed though his mind, it felt like a memory yet he didn't recall what he was being shown. A vision of April as she hurried away from the front desk with a key, then used that key to open headmaster's door.

He didn't know why but he chose to not to question it and accept the vision as truth. Casey retrieved the key and opened the door. He was slightly disappointed by how plain the room was, I mean sure it was a pretty sweet office but not what he was expecting.

"Now to find that secret room." Casey surveyed the room for anything out of the ordinary. When nothing in particular caught his eye he decided to get a better look, pausing only when a light flooded the room.

"Busted." Casey said while turning around. He saw the headmaster standing in the doorway, looking back at him through empty eyes. "Okay, the creepiness factor just went up by ten."

"Student." The headmaster said. "What are you doing in here?" the headmaster slowly made his way forward. "Only, naughty students get sent to the office." He said.

"Lucky me, I don't even go to this school." Casey said.

"Unenrolled students must be destroyed." The headmaster said before pulling a laser gun on the sports loving teen.

"Uh, in that case, is it too late to enroll?" Casey asked while jumping out of the way when the headmaster fired at him. Casey rolled behind the headmaster's desk and began searching the drawers for anything that would help him. Opening the bottom draw he smiled down at a small collection of cherry bombs, mostly because it was ridiculous, what was this, the 60's? Still, not one to look a gift bomb in the fuse, he scooped them up.

Unfortunately, Casey was too late and found that the headmaster made his way around the desk. The headmaster then kicked Casey so hard it lifted him off of the ground, sending the boy crashing, into a nearby book case. Several books fell to the ground leaving one book to stand alone on the shelf. It was as if it were glued in place and Casey smiled. The secret room! Of course. "Classic." He muttered.

Casey hurried to pull himself off of the ground but there was no way he could escape. The headmaster lifted his gun and took aim. Casey closed his eyes and waited for death. The laser zipped pasted his head and Casey could smell the smoke wafting from the wall behind him. Taking a chance Casey opened his eyes but was unprepared for what he saw.

His attacker was staring at him but this time his eyes were drenched with the look of sadness. It was as if the headmaster didn't want to attack Casey. Like he wasn't in control. "Hey, fight it, man. That's it." Casey took a tentative step toward the headmaster but stopped when the headmaster lifted the gun to his own temple.

"No! Don't!" Casey reached out a hand and tried to propel himself forward but he was too slow. The brainwashed human pulled the trigger and dropped to the ground in a lifeless heap. "NO!"

Casey had never seen death this close before, never been close enough to feel the final breath leave a body, it was horrifying and he wanted to puke, or faint, or poor acid on his skin to experience anything other than what he was currently feeling.

Casey was fraught with nausea but he had to keep it together, the headmaster managed to fight long enough to save his life. And Casey couldn't let his sacrifice be for nothing. He hurried to the bookcase and pulled the lone book forward casing the bookshelf to peel away from the wall.

He found himself staring down a long hallway with a violet light coming from a door at the end. The teen hurried toward the door and notice a slight hum coming from the room, he crossed the threshold and the first thing he saw was a human-sized glass chamber.

Casey glanced inside the chamber and saw a sleeping face he recognized as the first student to go missing. Her naked body was wrapped up in wires, two of which were plugged directly into her temples. Casey followed the wires with his eyes and found that they ran from the girl's temples to the top of the chamber where they exited.

Continuing to follow them he found that they lead to a glass cylinder in the center of the room. Then he saw it. The Power Fragment. It floated in the center of the tube all the while emitting a purple hue as it transmitted? Or did it receive? Information? Casey wasn't sure. He did know though, that whatever it was doing wasn't good.

Casey continued his scan of the secret room and found that the Power Fragment was sucking power from seven more chambers. All of the missing students were here. Weather they were dead or alive, he had no clue.

Casey finished his exploration when he came to two more tubes on the opposite end of the room. These chambers were different in that they weren't connected to the Power Fragment. They weren't connected to anything… yet. He looked above the unused chambers and saw a name plate on each. One plate read: "Amplifier" and the other: "Host."

He didn't know what the empty chambers were about but he knew he had to free the students. Casey pulled up his trusty hockey stick, pulled a puck from his pocket and dropped it on the ground. He'd simply destroy the power fragment, problem solved.

Casey wheeled back to take his shot and just as his stick was about to make contact the puck levitated away from him. Casey, propelled by the momentum of his missed shot whirled around and fell against one of the chambers "What the?" he pushed away from the glass and watched as the puck hovered in the air next to him.

"We meet again, Casey Jones." Casey turned around to face the owner of the voice. A mysterious man dressed in a black suits stood before him. Something about the man looked a little too average to be real, almost as if he were trying too hard to blend in.

"Again? I've never seen you before in my life." Casey spat.

"Oh, but you have." The man said. "Thank you for your help with April, by the way, feeding into her doubt the way you did."

"What are you talking about?" Casey cringed at the mention of his crush's name.

"Oh, that's right, we erased your memory. Here allow us." The man snapped his fingers. "For your excellent service we grant you the power to see what was once forgotten."

Casey's head snapped up as the memory projected in his mind's eye. It made sense now, the memory he had of April with the key. Then the saw the rest of the memory. He was horrified at the things he'd said to April and he couldn't breathe.

His body flushed over with panic at the revelation that he'd pushed April over the edge. That it was his fault April had lost it. He'd done irreparable harm to the woman he loved. Glaring at the man, Casey said. "No! That wasn't me. You did something to me. Who the hell ae you?"

"We are called Evixus."

"Evixus? That's a stupid name, kind of like you spent hours with an alien name generator only to give up and stab at random keys on the keyboard until it looked cool.

"Do not insult us, boy." Evixus said. "Our name is unimportant."

"Why do you keep talking like that? Our and us, we? You sound like an idiot because by my count I only see one of you."

"We are comprised of many minds and spirits. We have come together as one and yet we are separate." Evixus said.

"Ugh, Sorry I asked." Casey had an itchy feeling, just how many things were trapped within this strange man? "Doesn't matter, there is still only one of you standing here. I can take you down, easy."

"We have something else in mind. We were going to offer you the chance to join us. You have proven yourself worthy by discovering this place." Evixus said.

"There's no way in heck I'm ever gonna join you." Casey said and finally the forgotten puck was released and sent flying toward him. Casey ducked just in time but the resounding smack as the puck hit the wall behind him shutter. He would have been insta-killed for sure.

"Suit yourself, we will simply take you. You can be a mindless servant just like that useless headmaster. He may have managed to regain control for a moment but putting an end to him was as easy as a suggestion."

Suddenly Evixus' voice changed to a mix of several and the sound was neither fluid nor pleasant to listen to. "The human mind is so frail. So easy to manipulate." Evixus' body began to transform as well, its plain human body melted away revealing the alien's true form.

Casey studied the entity before him, while still humanoid, its body was fluid like oil, black with hues of color swirling through. That wasn't all, out from Evixus' back sprouted two tentacles laced with what looked like an electrical current.

Regardless, Casey didn't need to be told to know to avoid them and so when they came at him he jumped out of the way. He nearly knocked a few wires loose and cringed because he couldn't afford to unplug anything that could end up killing the students. Casey scanned the area and saw a sealed window to his left, just wide enough for him to escape, if he could break it open that is.

That's when Casey remembered the cherry bombs. He pulled them out of his pocket and twisted them together at the fuse, retrieved his trusty lighter and lit the fuse. He only had one shot. Casey tossed the bombs toward the window where they landed nicely. While he waited for the explosion he grabbed a smoke bomb from his bag and tossed it on the ground. The glass of the window burst outward and when the smoke cleared Evixus discovered that Casey was gone.

Casey ran across the school grounds and through the gates, fueled by adrenaline, he wouldn't feel safe until he was at least a block away. Finally, turning a corner Casey let himself fall to his knees, all he had seen, felt and learned surged through him and he couldn't hold it in anymore. His body shook violently as he vomited on the sidewalk.

He hiccupped and dry heaved a few more times before trying to catch his breath. And the moment he did a hand grabbed his ankle and dragged him into a nearby alley. Casey kicked and screamed, trying to get loose but it was hard when he was dangling upside down by the ankle.

"Quit moving, Kid." Casey opened his eyes and gazed up at a familiar Tortoise, who was now wearing a look of recognition as well. "Casey Jones?"

"Slash?" Casey sighed in relief, he'd only met the leader of the Mighty Mutanimals a handful of times but he knew he was in good hands.

Slash set Casey down on the ground and checked him over. "You okay?" he said. "That was quite the freak-out you had there." Slash reached into his pack and handed Casey a water.

Casey gladly accepted the water and soothed his sour mouth through one long gulp. "Thanks." He said through a gasp.

"What were you doing, coming out of that school?" Slash asked, "You don't fit Evixus' M. O."

"What do you know about him?"

"We've been working on this case for a while now." Slash said. "But we can't talk here." He said and scooped the teen up to sit on his shoulder before slipping into the night.

Thanks for the reviews, I'm really having fun writing this one and I'm glad to know other people are as well. If you have time please review some more, I love'em.

Also I have started a blog on tumblr e-rosewrites, I plan on posting links to these chapters there with mini summaries for each chapter. I would also like to take requests from you guys for mini drabbles and other drabbles I come up with. I hope to meet some of you there. that's enough rambling.