Chapter 3

Would like to give another big shout out to the best beta XxTurtletracerxX in the world. Don't know how she copes with me. Lol.

Please review. I don't know if I am improving if you don't tell me :-)

CjtheStoryteller, I hope I have done you proud ;-)

…...

Arms up, sai's ready.

It was a position that Raph always found comforting. The fighting pose helped keep the heat in his chest at bay, until now that is. Whatever was making a racket in the lair was big….and his sai's were small. The mutant's first instinct was to run into the lair and attack whatever was invading his home, but he would rather know where his brothers were first. That and, for some reason, he was struggling to breathe again like before. Hopefully it was simply a side effect of breathing the gas in from earlier, and not more car fumes leaking into the room. The tightness across his chest hoped for the best.

The creature stomped its way through the lair, trashing and destroying everything in its path. Raph only got glances of it through the crack of the lab doors. He didn't know what it was, only that it was big! At least 8 feet high. Its Muscles bulged... Its skin was a light pale, with an almost eerie slight green glow to it. The freak was also wearing some kind of metallic spiky armour! But it was the eyes that sent Raph ducking out of sight in terror. They glowed even brighter than its skin... Even in the dark Raph could see that.

What was this thing? Why was it just trashing the lair? What did it want? Better question, what had it done with his brothers? Despite the pain the red clad turtle was feeling in his throat again, he was ready to charge when - "Raphie?" A weak voice reached his ears, making him freeze. He snapped his head around. It was coming from a pile of rubble in the corner of the room. A weak moaning sound came from the corner. It was faint, but it sounded kinda... Donnie-ish!

"Don!?" Raph shouted. He shoved his Sai's back in his belt as the teen made his way over in the dark, being careful not to alert the giant mutant creature of his presence. There was so much rubble. Why was there so much rubble? He saw a flash of green where the probably Donnie should be lying.

Raph hissed under his breath, snake like in his anger "Hold on Donnie, I'm coming," he promised. Right next to the corner now Raph pushed what he was sure was a slab of the ceiling off his brother's legs, than another cemented piece off his shelled torso, one off his arm, and some smaller ones off his neck and….. Seriously why was there so much rubble!?

Suddenly a small green hand reached for him, grabbing him around his wrist. A pair of big eyes looked up at him through a bloody and filthy purple mask. Yup, it was Don. In an attempt to comfort him, Raph brushed his fingers over his little brother's cheek... His little brother... There was blood spilling out from his mouth... Donnie was hurt... He didn't know how badly, yet. But Raph had to repress a wince as he cleared the last of the debris from his body, only to find that blood was pooling out of Donnie's side and onto the floor!

Raph tried to gasp, but suddenly had an encompassing urge to fall apart. No... no, no...God no! Even though the room was dark, it had not been dark enough for him to miss the freaking hole in Donnie's front with a narrow chunk of metal sticking out of it! It had punctured through his shell... Dear God! Raph huffed, feeling like the air had been taken out of him and his eyes blurred. No, breathe. In, out. In, out... This was bad! This was so bloody bad that Donnie could - No! Donnie was going to be alright. He had to be! Raph would get him out of here, take him somewhere safe. His mind worked frantically. Maybe to that underground hospital they had found when vampires and monsters were chasing them? He hadn't being there at the time of the discovery, but man! That had been a gift. A perfect place to set up an infirmary, treating all the injuries they kept accumulating. Either way, it would do for now and Donnie would tell him how to patch him up. It wasn't the greatest pep talk he had ever given himself.

"Donnie, it's...it's okay. I got ya'," Raph soothed, his mind reeled, bouncing in too many directions at once at what this meant. To his horror he found himself having to blink tears away as he looked over the open wound. He wasn't a doctor, or even a medic, but he wasn't stupid either. He couldn't let Don see him cry. He had to be strong.

"I think I'm floating... Am I floating, Raph? I... I don't think... I'll be d-dancing again... any time soon," The smart turtle tried for a hollow snicker, but instead more blood spluttered from his mouth. His body twitched randomly, weakly, but despite the situation he allowed himself a slight smirk that Raph didn't return.

The red clad turtle looked back, trying to decide on words that wouldn't end with him breaking down. He felt his fear bleed into the air. In the end he said nothing, as if saying anything out loud would confirm just how bad it was. He said nothing, reflecting the nothing that he wished was happening….

No! He had to focus! Donnie had to be alright! He... he couldn't die! No, Raph wouldn't let him.

But alas, in the end he hadn't needed to say or do anything. Donnie was smart, he already knew. "Its okay, Raph... I can't feel anything, not anymore," he whispered in a peaceful voice Raph felt was out of place. He should be screaming as the blood rose from the severed veins, but Raph knew he had already missed that part, and now hearing him say he couldn't feel anything was worse.

"You're going to be okay. Just keep your eyes open," Raph paused to release a painful cough, "and keep looking at me."

The lie came out easy through his bitten lip. "What happened to ya', Don? What's going on?" He pleaded while placing his hand on the side of the wound. Blood coated his hands as he kept a steady pressure on the site. His little brother's life force escaped from his body in a steady unrushed stream. There was nothing he could use to stop the bleeding with, not with the metal shard still sticking out of him. Oh God, what was he meant to do?

Donnie's eyes fluttered to the other room. They could still hear the monster on its war path. "Did he do this to ya'?" Raph asked. He gridded his teeth between coughs, repressing the urge to run into the lair and lash out, but the experienced hothead kept the building panic dulled to a manageable roar.

A switch flicked and Donnie's switched to a serious tone, like he had just remembered something important. "He's going to kill us all, Raph! It's too late for me... Get away from here while you still can," the younger turtle pleaded with him.

Raph blinked. His shock made the air vibrate and drowned out his fear. Was his brother actually telling him to leave him to die?! "Don't say that! I'm NOT going to leave ya'," another loud cough, "Just hold on bro!" he cried angrily. "Where the shell are Mikey and Leo?"

"Mikey's gone, Raph... He's not coming back..." A tear escaped out of the smart turtle's eye as he said that.

Instead of gasping his shock Raphael had to turn his head away to cough again. "What do ya' mean gone!? He left ya'? No... No, Mikey wouldn't. Do you mean that thing out there got him!?" Raph's heart lurched so hard in his chest it pushed the air clean out of his lungs. The air was so thick in here. He felt like he was suffocating….again.

"He's just gone... and Leo..." Don didn't finish. His eyes just flickered towards the other room. "It's too late, Raph... Please don't let him find you." With a choked sigh and a shaky hand he reached for his brother's cheek. "I'm not going to make it Raph, and I don't want you to suffer... It's best if you just end this now. Please, Raphie." The blood on Donnie's face mixed with a new release of tears.

"No! I don't believe that. Th-those dorks are here somewhere. I'll find them," Raph protested, Donnie didn't know what he was saying. He had just lost too much blood, too lost in a semi-conscious bliss. Raph wasn't about to quit on his two brothers, or on this one. "You're NOT going to die because I won't let you! Donnie, tell me what to do-?" A sudden crash from the wall cut Raph off. The monster must've heard him! With another bang it was clear that the thing was now trying to get into the lab. The red clad turtle instantly took a defensive position over his little brother's limp body. He wouldn't let this thing get in here and finish them off.

The growling was loud, but it almost sounded like the beast was in pain...?

"Raph, listen to me-" But Donnie was interrupted as he felt his big brother's arms slip under his legs and around his shell. Being careful not to touch the metal Raph swept his brother up into his arms, bridle style. He knew it was the worst thing he could do with those injuries, but not moving him when a giant monster was just about to break down the door was worse. And Don didn't seem to be affected by his action's much anyway. A fact that made Raph want to puke. Deep down, Raph knew he was too late – No! He couldn't think like that. This just couldn't be happening!

Donnie gasped as his strong brother quickly but silently carried him back into the garage, kicking the door shut behind them before heading towards the van he had just escaped from. As gently as he could, Raph placed him onto the passenger seat, angling him so he was leaning on his side so the metal didn't have any pressure against it. Then Raph rushed around the other side, quickly slipping into the driving seat. Raph released another series of coughs. "Don't worry, Donnie. I'm going to get you out of here and then I'm going to find Mikey and Leo," he said, but it was difficult. His throat was hurting again. "Just stay with-" A painful cough ran up Raph's throat, interrupting him as it escaped his lips. "Crap! The keys! Donnie, WHERE are the keys? Crap, crap, crap! I'll have to hot-wire it."

…...

Leo's sword was aimed for Shredder when the shimmer of the father killer changed. There couldn't have been more than a second between the difference and Leo's hit, but when the contact didn't come, and the turtle found himself beating thin air, he stopped. Confused with his weapons still raised, Leo frantically looked about him. Did the Shredder just… disappear? What he had always considered the safest room in the world, was now the place where he was trying to make it to the door without being ambushed.

He never made it.

Out of nowhere the Shredder appeared, tauntingly positioning himself behind the turtle. In silence the murderer yanked Leo's arm back, making him drop the weapon before twisting the young turtle around and throwing him across the room. Leo only came to a stop when he felt his forehead smack on the corner of the wall. Then his mind went blank.

By the time he had enough of his senses back to push himself up off his front Leo felt the dead man's ice cold claw pushing him violently back onto his shell, the clawed appendage was moved, only to be replaced with a unfairly metaled foot that pressed down onto his chest, effectively pinning him to the floor. Now he was defenceless. The blue clad braced himself for more pain, but none came.

Leo looked to see the man who was nothing but absolute evil seem content to simply stare at him, or well glare at him, as though waiting for something. Leo tried to push the boot off of him, but it wouldn't budge. His struggles were futile.

"Are you finished?" Shredder asked sounding almost board.

"I'm not going to lay here and let you kill me without a fight," Leo's eyes narrowed up at him. "But if you are going to add more blood to your pathetic murder chart just do it, and stop all this taunting."

"I already told you Leonardo, I am not here to kill you... Well actually I am, but this time that has to be your choice," he said removing his foot and stepping back. The leader wasted no time jumping to his feet and placing himself a safe distance away from the dead man.

"What do you mean my choice?"

The shredder folded his arms, but he didn't breathe. No huffs of exasperation over a question. No rise and fall of his shoulders. No oxygen would escape this man. Not anymore. "The world you know is about to change," he said. "And apparently the universe has decided that you and your brothers deserve a choice on how you want to end." Shredder looked a little put out by this piece of information, like he didn't understand it. "I volunteered to be your 'messenger,' given our history I felt that it was fitting, if not a little ironic," he chuckled, but then his voice turned a little darker. "You can let me kill you now and go and join your coward of a father in the next world, who knows, your brothers might join you there if they have any sense about them, and you can all live happily ever after... or you can stay and face what is coming."

"I have never turned and run away from anything... If something bad is going to happen, then I will face it, and I will stop it, just like I always have," the turtle snapped dangerously. "Being a coward is NOT how I was raised and I know my brothers will make the same choice as me," he finished with an air of pride.

"Even if you knew there was absolutely NOTHING you could do to stop it this time?" Shredder said looking him over rather curiously.

"Yes even then. How do I know we could have stopped it without even trying?"

"You can't stop fate... In the end we are all just puppets until the universe decides to intervene, but that is not the argument right now... believe me when I say there is no point to it... I am here for a purpose and I don't have long left to walk in the world of the living. I am offering you to live in paradise... as long as I get to kill you. That is my consolation prize if you choose smartly. Or you can choose to stay and live in Hell. Again I win." He sneered. "Is that your final answer warrior?"

"Geez you really know how to sell something don't you," the turtle sneered. "Yes that is my answer. I am not afraid. I will defend this world with my last breath and when I do go to paradise one day, I know I will have earned it. Now do me a favour and go crawl back into the fire pit you came out of if you please," Leo said folding his arm in a mock imitation of the Shredder's pose. The young lad breathed in the face of his father's killer, he breathed deeply, heavily…. Tauntingly.

Shredder clenched his claws, his anger silent but real. Then he let it go, in a way he never could in life. With a newfound smirk Shredder levelled his gaze back at Leo, and the look was steady. "I had bet as much," the Shredder said with a single nod, Leo did not like the smirk. The dead man was just about to turn away when he looked the turtle over one last time. "So noble, and yet it is nice to know MY legacy will live on."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leo snapped. His battle defences suddenly rising again as the dead man stepped towards him. Not that his readiness helped, he didn't get a second to blink before he felt himself being tossed across the room once again. As he bounced off the hard floor Leo simultaneously felt himself being dragged to his feet, before being pushed back against the stone. The same cold dead claw clenched around Leo's throat as the Shredder got up into his face for one final victory, in any way he could get it.

"On a more personal note," the Shredder whispered into Leo's inner ear "I want you to remember me! When all other thoughts of love from your father and brothers have vanished, you will find under all that noble front, just me! Driving you insane," Patronisingly he tapped the turtle's forehead. Leo growled an unmanly pubescent squeak of rage. It didn't help.

"My hatred will be the strongest weapon you have to survive in the world that's coming... My rage will be all you remember until you become your worse fear... Me!"

"Never!" Leo spat, his eyes ablaze and determined. "I will NEVER be like you!"

…...

Despite the heart clenching terror Mikey made his way back to the centre of the room. Every now and then he glanced about, always spotting a shadow moving around, circling him. Like a predator watching its prey while searching for the best point in the room to attack. He could hear it snarling, but his father needed him. He knew what to do. His father's teachings showed him not just how to be able to defend himself in the physical world, but the spiritual one too. There had only ever been one problem with this particular lesson. Focus and stillness combined always caused an uncomfortable desperation to bubble and move inside him. Frankly he was bad at it, but right now he knew his focus was all that was standing in his way of saving his father's spirit, and casting out whatever this thing was.

The ice on his neck trickling down his spine gave him goose bumps. He knew 'it' was standing right behind him. If Mikey had hair, it would be standing on end... Him with hair... that would be interesting – No, Mikey, FOCUS! He berated himself silently, physically slapping himself back to the situation.

"I won't let you down, Master," the small orange clad turtle declared. Mikey sat himself down crossed-legged in the middle of the growingly cold room. He could see his own breath swirling around him, like the smoke of a fire breathing dragon as the ice nipped at his green skin. Mikey began to take deep breaths, desperate to remember what his father in life had tried to instil in him when facing an enemy on the spiritual plane, to be able to leave his own body with the capacity to still fight and defend himself... But he had to have a strong will, a will as strong as Leo's! One as determined as Raph's and as deep as Donnie's. He had to break through that barrier... He had to focus!

Every second that passed Mikey found it harder and harder to stay still, not just because it was going against the grain of his very life, but also because he could feel the dark presence coming closer. The young turtle wanted to recoil, but he knew that would do him no good. Instead he tried visualizing a protective wall around himself. In this world words didn't mean anything... it was all in the mind, and no one had an imagination like his! Even his brothers couldn't deny that after they had ventured into it with HoneyCutt's help that time in space. He could do this! He had to do th-

A yelp escaped him as he suddenly felt himself roughly sliding back on his butt across the room. The pressure was pushing him around his neck as he was slammed hard against the wall with enough force to blacken his vision for a second. His head collided with the brick, and he gagged at the shattering pain that spiralled through his temple. The blood now in his throat made him choke.

Okay, maybe he needed to try harder... He couldn't run. This thing was already in his head! "Sewer cakes! Sewer apples...! Oh crap!" he mouthed.

Mikey felt it looming over him once again, but he was careful to keep his eyes closed. He didn't want to commit this thing's features to memory. It would scare him too much to concentrate... No, the best way to master his fear right now was to let his other senses take over. Imagine this thing was just a normal foot thug that needed a beat down.

He knew this thing was right in front of him... He could feel its breath on his face. The growling and snarling was growing louder, yet it was moving closer.

Well to bad, it needed to back up!

"Back off creep!" Mikey mentally yelled in his mind. The turtle sat himself up, spitting more blood out onto the floor, but he forced himself to reach out and break past the barrier he had spent so long ignoring... "You won't distract me -!" Once again, he was cut off, and a slamming pressure connected with his throat, crushing his wind pipe. Its claws were cutting into his skin. He managed to restrict his surprise to a muffled yelp before - "I said, get OFF!" he yelled so loud internally. Out of reflex he shot up his arms, trying to batter the thing away, but his arms were so heavy. Mikey had a scary feeling that the limbs hadn't moved. No that wasn't it, it was because he had only imagined himself hitting back, but in voodoo hoodoo terms, it's still a hit.

One nasty hissing sound later and his neck was released. Mikey felt panic rise in his chest and tried to force it down. Did he do that?

Seconds passed, a minute. Now and again the TV would turn back on just for a few seconds, every time it did Mikey could hear his father's cries of distress. He didn't want to look... He didn't want to see his father in pain. One more sound of hurt, and it was enough. "Get off him!" Mikey shouted rising to battle. The young one couldn't stop his own growl anger. As if he didn't have enough motivation.

The young teen pushed his mind forward. So far that he was almost sure the room was shaking. Wait... Was that in his mind or the real world? The room... the room was shaking, like when a train was passing over. Only the train seemed to be passing right outside the lair, and it wasn't ending. There were sounds of items falling and crashing to the floor... Was it an earthquake?

More violent tremors... Mikey was sure the sewers were going to fall down on top of him. He could hear the creaking and sliding of the furniture moving around the room by itself! But he didn't break his concentration. "Get out of my house!" he commanded. At the same time a hiss caused his heart skipped a beat. The creature had come to attack him again, but this time Mikey had known, as the air around him changed just before it struck. He did the mental equivalent of a peeved off back-fist, that hit the thing in the face without him raising a hand.

Mikey wasn't sure when it had happened, but somewhere amidst the shaking room, Splinter's cries, and what felt like ice forming around him, Mikey found himself standing up. His limbs automatically lashed out in defensive movements, blocking the creatures strikes while still being aware that he hadn't actually physically moved from his spot.

In the physical world Mikey was the fastest of his clan, imagine how fast he was on the spiritual plain! But it was a strange feeling. The pressure was there, but every nerve in his body was going numb.

Suddenly, a burning sensation lashed across his chest... his real chest. And just like that his battle on the higher plane was cut off, and Mikey knew he was laying out on his shell, gasping as his flesh sent flashes of dangerously hot pain through his body. Soon he felt warm blood trickle down his front. Just… Awesome.

The worse thing was that Mikey knew it had been aiming for his throat. Had he ducked a split second before...

For a moment the mutant was paralyzed as he struggled to breathe. Mikey couldn't run, but he knew this was the moment where he could stop and be overpowered or he could push past the pain. Somewhere deep down he knew he was facing this on his own... Was he absolutely, bone chillingly terrified?

Yes!

But his father's voice called to him. The turtle pulled his legs back over his head while placing his hands on the floor behind him. Using his weight as leverage he rocked off his shell in one fast and swift movement. Mikey flipped himself up, back into a standing position. The speed of the moment was like a tennis ball being bounced hard off a wall, instantly jettisoning back like it had an engine. This was Mikey's famous signature move.

"I said, GET OUT!" he yelled, both in the real world and in the higher one. "With the strength of my father and brothers I command you back to where you came from!" The young teen mentally threw himself forward, striking the demon creature with such force that the impact was painful as it collided with him. It screeched as it was thrown back into the darkness, and Mikey knew he had won the battle.

"Go back to Hell!" The turtle surprised himself in yelling, as he had never known himself to have such venom laced his tone before. What followed next could only be described as a giant suction cleaner sweeping through the room. It didn't seem to affect the furniture, but Mikey was forced onto all fours to fight against getting caught up in the suction. The air rushed past his ears for what was probably nothing more than a second as he desperately tried not to get blown away too, but strangely the weather was slowing. And as the spontaneous wind storm started to die away so did the sound of the creature screaming. Soon all of it faded into the darkness and the world was still once more.

Mikey didn't dare open his eyes right away. It was the feeling of heated dread that held him firmly in one position, despite every muscle still violently shaking. He was completely drained, and it was taking all he had not to let himself vomit. He was really feeling the cuts on his chest now. The claws may have missed his throat, but sadly they had also missed his built in armour plates. He needed something to stem the bleeding around his collar bone.

Then behind his tightly shut eyes Mikey soon became aware that a light was growing brighter in the room. It took a lot of convincing to make him uncurl enough to look up from the spot on the floor to see... his father.

Splinter, the rat master, his dad! Was still standing just beyond the couch, no longer in pain, no longer restrained. Instead the passed rat had a proud smile on his face as he was bathed in a white light. The father looked upon his youngest... Still in rat form.

"My son."

"Father?!"

…...

Ok that was a bit crazy, but I hope you enjoyed that and if you think you understand my twisted mind, please review... The plot isn't over yet.