Raph's viewpoint:

Oh, hell, everything just hurt. Whatever didn't burn ached, and whatever didn't ache was numb, and whatever wasn't numb seemed to be falling apart. I felt the cold bricks against my splayed fingers, the slick, red heat of blood from wounds, the thick choke of ash clogging my throat and making me gag so much that I doubled over and barfed . I was damn lucky that I managed to pitch forward far enough to avoid puking on my plastron. Unfortunately, that was the extent of my good luck. I dragged myself up by my elbow, and managed to scoot myself a few inches back from the vomit, squinting in the smoky, stinking haze. Was I dying? It felt like it for a few moments, when I felt the warmth of darkness roll over me like a cozy blanket, ready to let me sleep forever.

I forced my eyes open, shook my woozy head, and sucked in more air through my brutalized rib cage. I wasn't going to die, not here, not like this.

Where was Donny, and Mikey, and Master Splinter?! The panic rose from my gut to a scream, came to my throat as a choked whimper, and emerged as a bitten back grunt. I could hear the nearly silent glide of the Foot soldiers as they lined themselves up against the far side of the wall, and then all of them went still, rigid and waiting.

I was less than thrilled to see Karai waltzing in, with the grace of a panther as she nimbly side-stepped the piles of brick and chaos. I felt my good fist curl up with the urge to wrap my fingers around her throat and strangle her where she stood. I heard her cluck her tongue as she shook her head in wry amusement, the brittle smirk curling over her lips. She disdainfully lifted a boot to scrape away some of the dust. I watched her strut to the middle of the Lair, with no trace of fear, no hesitation, nothing but triumph, as she put her hands on her hips. By then, her band of damn merry men had poured in, all of them standing guard like a pack of dogs just waiting for the order to kill. I scowled, and wondered what in the hell she was waiting for. She cleared her throat, and waved away some of the dust before she announced, "My pardon, Turtles, for this destruction. Accept my apologies. I believe that I have somebody that you would dearly wish returned to you."

She gestured sharply towards some of the dumb grunts that had clustered in a corner, back towards the hall, and too far away for me to peek out without being seen.

Two of the Foot came forward, dragging Master Splinter's limp form between them. I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming as they hoisted him higher, and twirled him around so that we all get a good luck at him. Master Splinter's robe was bloodied and torn, his head was drooped, and gently swaying, his eyes were shut, and I couldn't even tell if he were alive. I could see a thin scarlet line of blood trickling down from a cut behind his good ear, but I couldn't see any other injuries that would leave him helpless.

Karai smirked again as she stepped forward, gripped Splinter's face and tilted his head upward. I saw his eyes flutter open dully, and then catch fire as he grit his teeth and jerked his face away from her fingers. His yellow squint frantically scraped the room, looking for any trace of his sons.

"Show yourselves, Turtles, or watch me cut his throat." She hissed and snatched his jaw, her blade already reddening Splinter's fur.

I heard her startled cry as Splinter suddenly lurched upward, wrenched his body backwards, and flipped, sending the business end of his claws into the faces of his captors. I heard the screams as one of them shoved his shaking hands to his blinded eyes, as he toppled and screamed. Splinter spun again, lashing out with his tail as he shot to his feet, and savagely pulled Karai to his side.

I heard her shocked yelp as Splinter shoved one of my sais nearly through Karai's chin. His eyes narrowed, as he quietly whispered, "My sons, listen to me! Leave this place!"

He twisted the blade for emphasis, allowing Karai's blood to trickle down as he glared, and snarled to the men behind him.

"You will allow my sons to go free, or I will slice her throat."

Karai grunted and tried to twist free, and winced when Splinter nicked her throat enough to draw more blood.

She hissed out, "If you kill me, all of your sons will die as well, you fool."

Splinter narrowed his eyes into two glowing slits of rage, and bared his teeth. I shuddered as he tilted his head.

"My sons, leave this place, now!"

By then, I was shaking and sick, and wanting to grab my sais to take Karai's head off. But, I was trembling, weak, covered in sweat and vomit, and hurting so much that I could barely keep myself upright.

I wasn't lying to Donny when I said that I couldn't fight. The best I could hope for was to somehow be enough dead weight to give Donny and Mikey enough time to get their asses out of the Lair. The thought flitted through my brain that Donny and Mikey had been crushed by the rock, or killed by the blast somehow. I still hadn't seen either one of them, and I had the wild hope that they were bright enough to slink away and at least save themselves.

I flinched when I felt something soft brush against my foot, and looked down to see a small, balled up piece of paper.

"Raph." I heard Mikey's whisper, and saw him frantically waving for my attention, as he cowered behind the couch. Normally, it would have been an easy stroll to that couch, but now, the distance might as well have been a thousand miles.

Donny peeked out behind Mikey, and I nearly cried when I saw that they were both okay, if only for a few moments.

By then, Mikey was in tears, as he mouthed out, "Raph, what do we do?"

I ignored Mikey's question, because I was already forming the answer. It was a harsh answer, one that they wouldn't go along with, one that they would hate me for making, and also the only way I knew to make sure that some of us got out of this alive.

"Donny."

Donny stared at me, his eyes huge with questions as I gave him a bitter smirk. "Get Mikey out of here, will ya?"

Mikey's head whipped from me to Donny in confusion, as Donny's face twisted with horror as he shook his head. "Raph, don't do this. You can't-"

He didn't get the chance to finish his words, because I had started crawling out, slowly, leaving a trail of blood and vomit behind me.

I heard Mikey's terror as he started blubbering, "Raph, what the hell are you doing?! Donny, why-"

"Donny, take Mikey and go. I'd just be deadweight, and you know it."

Donny's eyes spilled over with tears. " Raph, no. No! We're not going to leave you with-"

"Damn it, Donny, quit yappin' and go!" I snapped. "You can't do anything if we're all caught. At least this way, some of us will go free. Get going, now!"

Donny bit his lip, gave Karai a quick glance, and scuttled backwards towards Mikey. I heard his sigh and his whisper to Mikey.

"Come on, let's go."

Mikey stared at him, shaking his head, the shrill whine dribbling out from his lips. Donny swallowed hard, and I heard his gentle voice trying to reassure Mikey. Mikey whimpered as he wrenched around to face me. "Raph?"

I sighed and gave him a sharp jerk with my head. "Get going, Mikey. Take care of Donny, and don't worry about me. It's gonna be alright. I promise."

Mikey opened his mouth to say something, but Donny silenced him with a shove and a jab of his finger.

"Mikey, we need to get going. Now."

Giving me a final nod, Donny began to slink away, Mikey lowering his head and numbly following him. I watched them crawl on hands and knees as far as they could go without the shelter of the destroyed piles of bricks and the furniture to hide them.

I saw Donny hesitate, as he gave a fearful glance to the Foot soldiers, and he looked like a rabbit trapped under a circling hawk. Mikey looked terrified, and was shaking so hard I could see the tremble.

There was no way in hell they could make the dash from the dojo to the Lair's entrance without being seen, not with all these eyes everywhere.

"My sons! Please, please, leave!" Master Splinter begged as his eyes darted over the Lair, panicking and searching for any trace of us being alive. Karai grimaced at the blade to her throat, and I heard her hiss out some command that I couldn't make out. Whatever it was, it wasn't good, because I saw Splinter flinch as the Foot suddenly erupted from their pristine little line and raise their weapons.

"Come now, rat. Listen to reason. If you kill me, my men will cut your sons into pieces, and take their butchered remains back to Leonardo's cage. I wonder how long it would take for Leonardo to lose his sanity if he were surrounded by the rotting corpses of his own dear brothers."Karai purred with another smirk, as Splinter shuddered with the riptide of shock and anguish. Remember, at this point, he didn't know what had happened to any of us.

It was either now or never. Most likely, never. I didn't really have any bright ideas on what I was going to do, so I did the only thing that came to mind. I flopped down on my back, pressed my ankles against the sofa, and kicked out as hard as I could. I watched as the sofa shot forward, the old wooden legs making a loud, groaning scrape across the floor as the Foot jumped back to avoid colliding with it.

I heard Mikey exhale, and then he shot through the air, cartwheeling into a flip and landing across the room without breaking his stride. Donny flipped after him, and wobbled a bit when he landed. I heard Karai's snarl as she ordered her men to "bring me their corpses." I heard Donny's whimper of absolute terror as he blindly bolted after Mikey, running faster than I had ever seen him move before. I heard Splinter's scream of rage as he shoved Karai down, leapt high and came crashing down between the Foot and my brothers. I saw him whirl as he sliced the air with teeth, and claws and my sai and he left a heap of screaming, bleeding, maimed Foot grunts in a ring around him. It was just enough time for Mikey and Donny to have a good chance of not being killed and me having a few more moments to rot behind the couch.

Karai rose to her feet, one hand cupped against the cut on her throat, as she heaved and glared at Splinter. Splinter met her gaze with no fear as he raised the sai again. "Let my sons go."

Karai smiled, as she shook her head. "If I recall correctly, you have four sons. I have Leonardo, to do with as I wish. Two of your sons have fled, and left you, and your remaining son, to die here. I know that your son, Raphael, is wounded. Since I am feeling generous, and you are a loving, devoted father, I offer you a choice. Would you prefer that I kill Raphael here and now, or give the order to have Leonardo slain first?"