WARNING: Once again be prepared for some distressing scenes.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Escape
"Stand off brother!" Jake growled "This is your last chance! Stand off or I'll shoot you where you stand!"
"You haven't the guts to do it!" Diablo growled "You wouldn't kill your own flesh and blood!"
"Who said I want to kill you?" Jake responded narrowing his eyes as he stepped closer to Diablo "I'll merely cripple you, but see you fit to stand trial!"
Mona swallowed hard, she was broken-hearted that her brother had shot her Mate and Master as well as others, but she still wanted to hold onto that hope that Callum was still in there, and not Diablo.
"Callum! Stop this!" she begged "Please!"
"My name is not Callum!" Diablo snapped "And Stop begging Mona, it's pathetic! I told you I had made my choice and there is no going back now!"
"It's not too late Brother!" Mona pleaded "Please! This isn't you! Let me help you! I don't want to fight you!"
"It's no use sis!" Jake said still holding up his gun "He doesn't want to talk to us."
Callum smirked as he looked at Jake.
"You should listen to him Mona." he said "I warned you then if none of you were with me, then you were against me!"
"We don't want to be against you!" Mona said "I don't want this! I love you brother! I didn't want this to happen! Look I understand why you wanted to go after the Hate Preacher, but..."
"Spare me!" Diablo snapped "I've heard that before! And I'm still not changing my tune!"
Tyroth growled behind Diablo both in anger at the way he was speaking to his sister and for his crimes.
His mana was still glowing brightly and he wanted so badly to burn the Raven where he stood for what he had done to his people and friends.
Yet seeing Mona before her younger brother looking heartbroken, he didn't want to so anything that would break her even more.
Even though she had seen with her own eyes what Diablo had done, she was still willing to help him and try in vain to bring back the brother she once knew.
"You must pay for your crimes Diablo!" he said in a low voice "You've hurt your fellow Mutopians! But seeing how your sister wishes no harm to be done to you due to her love for you, I give you my promise that we will not kill you, but hold a trial to decide your fate!"
Diablo turned to Tyroth and cocked his head on one side.
He looked at the other Mutopians, though Raphael and Leonardo were glaring hard at him, if looks could kill, Diablo knew he wouldn't be standing there.
"Donatello." Leonardo turned to his brother, "Get Raph and Master Splinter to James's Medical room and help him with the others."
Donatello nodded with a glare and Raphael snarled through gritted teeth at Diablo, though the pain in his hand hurt, the anger he felt within burned even more and he wanted to hurt the Raven badly despite his wounds for the pain he had caused, not just to the Mutopians but for betraying his family.
As Donatello lead Barry who held Splinter and lead Raphael to James's Medical room, the other Knights kept their eyes and weapons on Diablo, wondering what he would do next.
"I concur with Tyroth." George said "We will hold off on trying to hurt you Diablo, but we will make you stand trial."
Diablo sneered.
"Stand trial?" he asked "And what good would that do?"
"You can't fight against all of us Diablo!" Tyroth said "It's not just me you'll have to deal with! It's all of us!"
Sephie nodded in agreement.
"I won't miss this time!" she said holding up another bow and arrow.
Diablo sighed as he looked at the Mutants surrounding him, all looking at him with fury and determination to bring him down, apart from Mona who looked heartbroken.
He basically had two choices, to either fight or flee and seeing Jake had his gun pointed at him, and Tyroth could easily burn him alive with his fire breath and of course the other mutants were armed and ready to take him down.
There was no way he could take on them all, and he didn't have many bullets left in his gun, there was on one option.
If he could distract all of them, he could bye himself enough time to flee and head towards the tunnel leading to Lake Michigan.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his gun again and shot at Tyroth!
As the gun went off, everyone screamed in horror, and Tyroth recoiled in shock spitting out a few flames as he did so!
Sephie quickly turned to her lover, as did Amber.
Jake leapt towards Diablo and fired his own gun shouting, the bullet whizzed past Diablo's cheek drawing blood, making him cry out in pain, then Jake leapt on top of him!
Diablo cawed and opened his wings helping him regain his balance and grabbed Jake's wrist that held the gun!
"Stand down!" Jake screamed.
"Never!" Diablo shouted and pushed back against Jake, but fuelled by anger and adrenaline Jake pushed hard back trying to stay on top of his mutant brother.
"No!" Mona ran over to help.
"Stop it!" she shouted.
At once, Leonardo, Sharky, Heather and Cam stepped over to help but Mona looked up.
"Back off!" she ordered to which the mutants stopped in their tracks reluctantly.
"Callum" Mona cried as she tried to stop her brothers fighting "Please! Stop this!"
"Stand back you fools!" Diablo growled, then he used his wings to push against the ground and he pushed Mona off him causing her to fall against the stone wall.
Jake was shocked by Mona falling back which caught him off guard and at once Diablo pushed him back then lifted his clawed hand before striking him across the face with his talons!
Jake yelled in pain dropping his gun and fell to his knees cradling his face!
"JAKE!" Mona cried, then Jake gritting his teeth in agony lowered his hand showing deep claw marks across his forehead left forehead and cheek and over his left eye!
"No!" Mona sobbed then looked up at Diablo who sneered down at her holding up his bloody talons, then seeing his chance he opened his wings again.
"Farewell sister." he snarled then took off down the tunnel.
"NO!" Mona shouted then not thinking, she jumped up and ran after him! "Brother! No!"
"Mona!" Jake yelled as he struggled to stand, still holding his bleeding face "Mona! No!"
As Mona ran off after Diablo, Tyroth had recovered from being shot at, once again he had managed to heal himself from the bullet that had hit him on the side of the head and he saw Diablo fly off with Mona following him.
"Heather!" he shouted "After him!"
Heather nodded and shot off down the tunnel after Diablo and Mona, and Sharky, Cam and Leonardo ran after her.
Amber instantly ran over to Jake and inspected his wound.
"Holy shit!" she gasped.
Jake winced as he felt sticky blood run down his face and stain his shirt, his glasses were also broken when Diablo had swiped at him.
"He...he scarred me..." Jake whispered, half in shock and in anger.
Amber swallowed hard as she helped him up.
"I'll take you to James!" she said "Come on!"
"Wait!" Jake said as he looked down the tunnel "What about Mona?"
"Heather, Sharky and Leo have gone after her!" Amber said.
"And I will follow!" Tyroth said, his eyes burning, he then turned to Sephie and Amber "Take Jake to the Medical room! Sephie, go and see how everyone's doing!"
"Yes love." Sephie said kissing Tyroth deeply, tears flowing from her eyes then she watched as her Dragon lover took off down the tunnel.
She never felt so shocked in all her life, that a Mutopian would turn on them, especially Mona's younger brother, she had seen a darkness in his heart, but she never could have seen that he would turn rogue and hurt so many innocent Mutopians.
She thought of what would happen now, would Tyroth and the others catch up to Diablo and bring him back to be tried for treason or wuld the Raven escape?
If Diablo did escape, what would happen then? What would become of Mutopia? Would the secret of the sanctuary be jeopardised? Would he betray them to their enemies?
Sephie had no idea, and no answers to her questions, and she was soon pulled from her thoughts as Amber called to her.
"Sephie come on!" she said "We have to get Jake to the Medical room!"
Snapping out of her troubled thoughts, Sephie turned to the Marine Iguana and nodded.
"Okay!" she said and quickly followed her sister-in-law.
"I hope those Diablo hurt are okay!" she prayed "And I hope the others will be okay!"
She thought of Mona and saw the heartbreak in her honoured sister's eyes over her brother's betrayal.
"Oh Mona..." she thought "I'm so sorry..."
Meanwhile, Diablo was still flying through the tunnel to get to the surface, he knew he was getting close as he could smell the air was slightly fresher and less stale than lower down and he could also smell the dampness showing he was nearing under the giant Lake.
He could feel the burns from Tyroth's flames earlier including the stab wound in his leg from Raphael's Sai and the bullet wound in his wing from where Jake had shot him, yet due to his healing abilities he gained from the Wells properties, he could feel them healing, if not still rather painful.
"Brother!"
He frowned as he heard a cry behind him, and his ears pricked up his sister's voice.
"Brother! Wait!"
Diablo glared and kept flying ahead, hoping to loose her.
"Leave me!" he whispered and flew faster.
Behind him, only a few feet away, yet out of sight, Mona followed the tunnel, she recognised it as one she, the turtles and the Chicago Knights used to make it to Lake Michigan's Islands for a Night-Time picnic.
"Brother!" she shouted "Please! Wait! Come back!"
After about ten minutes of running, she felt a burst of fresh air as she made it to the entrance, and she was greeted with a starry black sky.
Looking around she tried to find Diablo and she soon spotted him by the water's edge looking towards the City of Chicago in the distance.
"Callum!" she shouted running over.
Diablo turned around to Mona and glared.
"Don't you ever give up?" he asked angrily.
Mona felt her heart beat faster both with adrenaline and with saddness at the way her younger brother spoke to her.
"I told you a long time I would never give up on you brother!" she said "I promised! And even now I'll never break it!"
Diablo lowered his eyes.
"Well, I'm sorry to break it to you sis." he said "But it looks like you'll have to, look what I've done, even if you don't wish to give up on me, your friends have, just like the family back home!"
Mona glared slightly.
"You brought this on yourself Callum!" she said "And you should consider yourself lucky that one person still wishes to give you a chance!"
"One person?" Diablo asked, "How sweet! But can one person still speak for me when the others are prepared to judge me? And then what will happen hmmm? More than likely I'll be caged! And be unable to fulfil my purpose!"
Mona opened her mouth but no words came out as she couldn't find any words to convince Diablo to return to Mutopia.
Diablo eyed Mona again then opened his wings.
"So that's it hmm?" he asked "Lost for words? Nothing to support your convincing? Well, in that case..." he got ready to fly and just as he lifted himself off the ground, Mona leapt for him and grabbed his legs before he could get away.
"Callum!" she shouted "Stop!"
Callum was shocked and he was almost pulled down but he flew high into the air and over the lake, Mona still holding onto his ankles.
"Let go!" he shouted.
"No!" Mona shouted "I won't let you leave! You're still in there Callum! I know it! And if I can't convince you to come back! I will not let go! And will hold onto you until the others arrive and take you back to be tried! I can only hope there is chance you may be spared a death sentence or life imprisonment!"
"I'm not willing to take that risk Mona!" Diablo shouted as he flew higher into the air above the water "Let go! Unless you wish to drown!"
Mona shook her head stubbornly.
"You're in there Callum!" she screamed "I'm not giving up!"
"Callum is dead!" Diablo cawed "I am Diablo! Diablo the Raven! And I live as I wish it! Now let go!"
But Mona still refused, and Callum sneered.
"Very well!" he glared to which he threw his head down and used his beak to peck at her hands and Mona was forced to let go of his ankles.
All time seemed to stop as she plummeted down towards the water, her heartbroken eyes never leaving her younger brother as he flew higher into the sky.
Then before she knew it, her body hit the water and she sank below, all her energy and will disappeared as he heart broken and sank deep into her soul as her body sank into the deep dark waters of Lake Michigan.
So Diablo has wounded his older brother! And he has distracted Tyroth enough to flee Mutopia! Mona did try and stop him, but he's made her let go and fall into Lake Michigan!
This looks like the end of the story, but it isn't! Tune in for the next chapter!