Ok so here is the last chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
'Guest' reviewer. Sorry its confusing. This plot was made for everyone who watched the last episode, Mutant Apocalypse... If you haven't seen that then there is some big spoilers in here. Please don't be afraid to sign your name. I don't get defensive. Hopefully this chapter wraps things up.
Thank you all of you for reading this. It meant so much to me. I don't often post things myself. Love you all. Please please please please review this last chapter. I really do want to know what you think, even if it is sad or bad or crazy.
And thank you sooooo much to my beta. You are the best. x
Chapter 4
A sudden crash echoed from the lab. Raph didn't admit it, but he was scared. Not just of the monster breaking down the door, but of losing his brothers, starting with the one right beside him. Blood... there was so much blood on his hands from carrying Don. It was getting on the steering wheel, running down his front. He tried, but he couldn't ignore the fact that the seat next to him was already soaking red as the upholstery absorbed Donnie's blood. It made the red clad turtle's vocal chords well and truly seize up. Raph started tearing up. It became hard to see the wires. He couldn't get the car started again... A particularly loud cough caused him to pause his efforts. Why was it so hard to breathe in here?
"Raph... listen... to me... I'm going to die and he is going to kill you..." Fear and pain wasn't lacing Don's voice as much as a certain tone of low urgency. "We are all going to die soon either way..." his brother continued, but it was clear he was struggling to speak now. "I don't want you to suffer... I know you don't want to be alone. Come with me! Come with me now so it won't hurt."
Raph stopped what he was doing and looked up in silent astonishment at his dying brother's statement. "What the hell are you asking me to do, Donnie?" he asked incredulously.
"I'm saying... I want us all... to be together... with Father... Leo and Mikey one day soon... Just let it end now, before he gets... us! Stop fighting and...just breathe... and it will all be over... It's not so bad Raphie, trust me... It's just like going to... sleep."
"W-what?" Raph was sure he was mishearing his brother. But his opportunity to ask more questions was cut off by another personal coughing fit.
"The gas fumes have started... getting into the... van... You're dying, Raph," Donnie spluttered more blood. "It's better if you don't fight... It's better than letting the monster get... you!" He reached out placing a bloody, but comforting, hand on his red clad brother's shoulder. "Raphie, trust me, you won't want to live in the world that's coming..."
A metallic clash from another side of the room told the brothers that the monster had found its way to the large metal garage door, it was closer. Raph blinked, frozen to his seat while his brain tried it's best to catch up with the reality of the situation. Of this strange, strange situation. This sudden reality being not what he thinks, except that he is thinking it. Something impossible was dawning on him, but that didn't change his choice. His choice remained. That was important he thinks. It remains unsaid.
Completely unaware of the monster breaking down the door Raph sat letting his brother's words wash over him. It calmly dawned on him that something else was going on. The idea fell over him like a deniable stream. He might as well just role with it because there was just one answer really.
He needed to stop letting his head figure this answer out and try to make the decision his gut wanted. That was just how he worked. "I'm sorry...Donnie.. I CAN'T do that." Raph looked at his bleeding brother, not angrily but cautiously. "I don't know what's going on here, but you're NOT Donatello! You're not my brother because he would know me well enough to get that I would never want to die lying quietly on my shell... If I'm going out, I'm going out fighting," with a satisfied cough of dignified proportions the red clad turtle grabbed his sai and made to get out of the van and face the monster. The figure of Donnie spoke again as he left.
"Is that your final answer Raphael?" The injured turtle said, now sounding not so injured any more.
All Raph responded with a quick over-the-shoulder "Ya!"
"Then I shall just give you your warning warrior. 'The light will come and then the darkness will devour...' Good luck."
"The light will come and then the darkness will devour?" He repeated. At that Raph looked around to ask what that meant, but his NOT brother only left him with an empty seat to find. Raph blinked. "Don...?"
Well this was super creepy. But Raph didn't get a chance to wonder where the fake had gone or even what was going on. A large green mutant broke through the garage doors, and without missing a beat headed straight towards the van... but the thing never made it there. Raph didn't even get to see the creature's face. For just as the mutant thing reached the van door, it vanished .
The next thing Raph knew was the familiarity of his position. He was once again laying on the driver's seat, just as he had been before. He could still hear the echo of the beast roar in his ears. His chest compressed hard against him. His head spun as his brain tried to catch up with what had just happened. The monster was gone. The doors were still sealed closed... It took him a moment, to long, to realise that he was still coughing. The world was swimming... all he could hear was the humming of the engine. He was still being poisoned as the fumes forced their way into the car. Raph gasped pulling himself upright in the seat. He didn't even think. The engine was running. The turtle released the break and slammed the gear into reverse while heading straight for the doors that led out into the sewers.
…...
"Such a clever boy," just like that April's sad mask dropped. Not literally. It still looked like April, but her demeanour had changed to something more confident, with a much more sinister tone to it. "I really thought I had convinced you for a second there. But even in this pretty form you're not blind sighted. I'm impressed."
Ok, this definitely wasn't April O'Neil. What the turtle had taken to be his red headed friend was still sitting rather calmly in the office chair looking over the mutant with curiosity. Upon this realisation Donnie had felt the floor fall out from under him, and his mouth had gone dry. He quickly tried to predict every way this situation could go, while repressing his desire to leap across the room and strangle this imposter.
If this wasn't April, who or what had he just been making out with!?
But he didn't want to make any sudden moves, not till he knew what was going on. But that didn't mean his hand wasn't twitching, ready to grab his bo-staff. It was bad enough that someone had come into his home uninvited, but for someone to impersonate the girl he loved, cruelly giving him hope, just to take it away. Topping every sweet thing she said with words of doom... That was just too personal, but what was more disconcerting was that whoever this 'person' was, could take on familiar forms, as well as know personal things about him, things even his brothers didn't know... or the real April for that matter. That was what had given her away. April had never truly known what had happened to him when he had been atomised... WHO was this being? ... Where there more of them? Had they taken the form of Casey or his brothers? Well regardless of who or what they were they had come in here basically telling him the end of the world was coming and he should commit suicide.
This was not a friend.
Donnie mentally kicked himself. Anyone who took a fake form of a friend was obviously lying a trap, and April O'Neil was always the perfect trap for him! "Ok let's try this again who or what are you?"
"Of course I should tell you that. I mean I'm just someone who walked in here wearing your friends face telling you you're going to die. How impolite of me. I should reveal all," heavy sarcasm laced a dark chuckle. Then her demeanour changed again. "Don't you remember me Donatello? At the very least you should remember where we met.
Her smirk then turned into something Donnie could only describe as morbid curiosity. "I have to say, I have seen many pass through those gates, but never do I see them come out again," She gave a slightly bitter laugh.
Donnie's color dropped from his cheeks so fast he was surprised that he hadn't toppled over. It couldn't be! No she, whatever she was... just couldn't be! Not here... They couldn't come here. His breathing hitched. He couldn't even see April any more. As the realisation hit him something deep, deep inside told him this was true. The strange feeling of her that he couldn't place before now hit him at a thousand miles an hour. This was how he had felt in their presence in the beyond. "I...I don't understand? How did...? w-what do you want? I mean w-why you...? What the shell?" The poor turtle tried to put together the words, but gave up and settled for blurting what was probably the most pressing fact in his head. "You're not supposed to be here!"
"No, but its special circumstances. She bent down, pressing her palms against his work desk and leaning her weight on it. She looked right towards him. "When big changes are coming sometimes the universe will open up and reveal its plans to you. You and your brothers have earned at least a warning, maybe even a choice."
"What choice?" The turtle asked feeling himself growing cold... or was it that the room was growing cold?
"To come back to where you were most happy and not to have to suffer through what's coming. Your brothers are being given the same choice... But not as directly. They have never been there before. They wouldn't understand. If you're smart you will all come with us now and leave this world behind."
Donnie looked, and gapped. But more importantly he swallowed and pushed his shock aside for a moment, forcing himself to understand what the being was saying. The turtle drew himself up to his full height as he addressed her. "Forgive me but 'end of the world' situations are something I have fought against many times. Whatever is coming, I believe it is something my brothers and I can face together."
She sighed as though this conversation had already become boring. "How noble, but all your victories have made you foolish. The fates have decided, and the path is set. Everything comes to an end Donatello and this will be your only warning not to walk into it -"
"No! I won't just turn my back on everyone! And I know my brothers will make the same choice," the turtle snapped defensively. Impossible as it all was Donatello knew that this was real, as was this choice. He also knew that he didn't have the strength to leave that wonderful place death had gifted him with for a second time, but as long as just one of his brothers needed him, he wouldn't leave them behind.
The false April was a little taken aback. "You're denying Heaven once again, this time to live in a real Hell, for them!?" She said this as though it was the strangest thing she had ever heard.
He looked away. "We are just tiny insects to you. Easy to forget... That's why I came back. I don't expect you to understand."
"Your right I don't. But it's not about what I want. I am just the messenger. Is that your final answer?"
"Yes!"
"Very well," She bowed acknowledging him before shaking herself down. The sudden movement made Donnie want to flinch, but he resisted. He couldn't explain it but even though she had stolen his friend's form, he did believe her... It didn't make him feel any better. If anything he was confused as to why he was getting such an offer. The being didn't seem to genuinely care about the fate of him and his clan... or the fate of the world for that matter. In fact her tone seemed to indicate that life really was just that small and insignificant? As though reading his mind the being said almost nonchalantly, "Everything comes to an end. Then it all begins again."
Donnie wanted to get angry. He wanted to argue that every life here was important! Even with all the stupid mistakes the world kept making, they couldn't just be disregarded so easy! Even though he didn't know what was going to happen or who was responsible, this couldn't just be it!? It couldn't just be over?
Don wanted to keep talking. To formulate something akin to a 'for and against' argument, but a silent internal panic had crippled him.
Before he could come up with anything coherent, he found that his window for speech had suddenly closed. Her business with him was finished. "Hey don't prosecute the messenger" She raised her hands in mock surrender. "That's all I am... Hope you're ready. Let's see if you can stop death a second time... The light will come and then the darkness will devour, spreading to every corner of this planet... Even your moon wont survive. She stepped back placing some more distance between them. She grew a small smile "This should be interesting." She muttered with the same amount of care and compassion as a robot.
Don blinked when the figure turned and a shadow fell over her. All the human features of April simply melted away. Donnie gasped, stumbling back at the sight of a light leaving the shredded skin. The light fractured and danced, sending rainbows spiralling around the room before shooting up into the air. Hundreds of lights faded into nothing, and left Don alone with nothing but the white noise in his head, in a much colder and darker lab.
Time seemed to forcefully slow down, and Don welcomed it, counting seconds between each life giving breath seemed appropriate. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to re-focus himself. "Probably should have asked when this was going to happen. Crud!"
Now he had another 10 seconds to become older and wiser. "I won't die," He repeated with absolute conviction. Panic settled in once again as he desperately searched through the being's words for anything that could be an answer or a clue!
He recalled nothing useful, and all he could feel was his heart pounding. "I won't leave them," He muttered, his eyes landed on Metalhead's remains again. "I won't -" suddenly a loud crash coming from the next room made him almost jump out of his shell. The garage! Don sprinted to the garage doors yanking them open. The smell of the car fumes almost knocked him over. Choking him, the turtle stumbled back as he watched the van reversing through the other garage doors, crashing their way through into the sewer tunnel. "What the shell?!" Donnie wasted no time running back in the other direction towards the TV room, and then his heart did stop at the sight waiting for him there.
…...
After inflicting some rather painful but very satisfying punches, Shredder finally released the young turtle, letting him fall unceremoniously to the cold floor. He stood over him then, indulging in what he knew to be their last ever meeting. Shredder was returning to an eternity in Hell, he might as well take what little drops of joy he could. "You never were a fan of easy death... I don't blame you for that. I myself have so many regrets, and yet I am not sorry for any of them. At least it's gratifying to know that you too will suffer almost as much as me, even if it isn't the way I wanted."
The teen looked up from the bloody pool he was making on the floor. Shredder had said this so calmly that Leo had to replay his words before they attached themselves to his brain. A sick feeling swirled in his stomach. "I don't understand..." He spat blood from his mouth watching the figure he hated so much calmly step away from him and back towards the shadows that were cast from the tree.
Shredder shook his head. "The whole good vs. evil balance, it doesn't matter any more. I am over it and finished with the mortal coil, but you my dear boy are just starting. Trust me when I say your little life here is going for a BIG finish... The light will come and then the darkness will devour you all... From then it is true horror and blood and pain. Have fun..." He patronisingly winked at the mutant before he looked around him as though looking for something.
Leo eyes narrowed before he followed his gaze. The teen's eyes then widened in horror as the shadows cast around the corpse started to... move. Then they rose from the floor with a will of their own, drowning the man in darkness. Leo gasped jumping up and backing away from what was happening in the room. The Shredder did look to be in pain but held himself firmly as he was pulled down, dissolving into the floor... All the cold drained from the room along with him, and then there was nothing. The Shredder was gone and the warm and light to the room had returned. Sadly it did not bring much comfort to Leo. He lay pressing his shell against the wall. His heart pounding, and the sick feeling of dread lingered as Shredders words rang over and over in his head... was Shredder lying? He always lied, but what would he have to gain from it this time? But no matter how much fear the young teen was suddenly feeling, there was only one thought, one single thought that was stronger than that monsters words.
"The light will come and then the darkness will devour you all!"
No! Whatever was coming and whatever was going to happen to him, his brothers would survive it. He would save them, no matter what!
Not knowing what to do or say Leo sat, it was the loud screech of tires, followed by a crash coming from outside the room that yanked the teen back to the world of the living.
"What the shell?" Leo jumped up and ran for the sliding doors, not at all aware of what was waiting for him
…...
Moments earlier.
"Something is coming Michelangelo, and there is nothing I can do to stop it," Splinter gazed down upon his youngest. "I am sorry... I know you and your brothers will fight to the last, but there are some things that cannot be changed," the rat said this with such sadness in him that it scared Mikey more than anything else that had happened here tonight.
"I don't understand sensei, what are you saying?" The small turtle asked as he tried to stand.
"I am saying thatyou must survive, because when everything is lost, it will be you who will show your brothers the way."
"I still don't understand? Show them where?" Mikey tried again.
Before Mikey had time to chew over this riddle a crash coming from outside made him jump. Thinking that the dark creature had returned he went to grab his weapons, only to see that it was their van outside the lair entrance, now motionless and crashed into the side corner wall. Moments later his hot headed brother came rushing out of the van, weapons drawn and gasping as though he was currently under attack. "M -Mikey -!" He choked stumbling forward. Raph looked like he was about to collapse, but he was running towards his bloody up baby brother as though to protect him from some unseen threat when - "F- f – father?!" Raph froze mid-sprint at the sight of their rat master. It was not what he had been expecting.
"Mikey!" Both Donnie and Leo then appeared by the lab, both boys mirrored each other with looks of horror at the state of the room. The room that the orange clad turtle sat in the middle of... However upon seeing their late father standing with him, everything else that had happened today was almost forgotten. Their father had come back a few times now since his death... Strangely they never really got used to it. His reappearance only reminded them how painful it was that he was gone. But somehow this time seemed different. Whether it was a good thing or not, they really didn't know...?
The three remaining brothers dragged their confused and injured bodies towards Mikey, all of them questioning whether it was the real Splinter.
Leo was the first to reach them, he put himself between Splinter's form and Mikey, sword pointing as he shielded his baby brother from whatever this was. "What? No Leo ... It's just Master Splinter," The smallest turtle said pushing himself forward.
"How sure are we of that?" Donnie sceptical voice carried through the room. The genius was having to practically carry Raph over before his stubborn brother fell over.
"It's already been a weird enough day on that account!?" Despite the coughing Raph still managed to choke out some sarcasm.
"No.. no its him I swear," Mikey ranted. "He came to warn us."
The blue clad turtle however hadn't broken eye contact with the old rat. A closer look and Leo knew it was him. "Father?" Splinter's eyes were so sad. Was he crying? That alone seemed to confirm Leo's fears. "Is it true? Warning... It was just a warning wasn't it, so we can stop it... like we always do, right?" The tone of Leo's voice was enough to convince the others. The brothers gravitated towards him.
"This is bigger than all of us my sons. I cannot promise that victory will come. That is up to you," He sighed. "Things are more clear where I am, and I do wish I could take you all back with me and keep you safe. But that is not your destiny... I taught you all the best I could... But more than I could ever help individually, the four of you are stronger together."
"Father?" Donnie piped up. His voice almost a sob. "The world... are we going to be ok?" But the silence that followed was not reassuring.
"The light will come and then the darkness will devour..?" Leo repeated Shredders words, but unlike before the phrase brought him terror.
Splinter looked solemn. "You don't want to know what path is before you all," the old rat eventually said. Oh god! Even though they had all heard this tonight, hearing it from Splinter made four young hearts drop and their guts freeze. Suddenly Splinter looked back over his shoulder looking at something only he could see. "I don't have long left... I was not appointed to be your messenger... But I couldn't leave you all alone in this," He glanced again at Mikey who was not able to hide his tears. "Some paths you will have to walk alone. Much will be hard. Much harder than before, but I know you are strong and as long as you find each other again... You must try..." He trailed off not able to repress his own tears. "I will be with all of you every step of the way. Be brave my sons."
"We will," they all bowed.
"We... we miss you..." Raph quickly spat out the words while he still had a chance.
"As I you... By the way, I praise the Shrine the three of you made for me," he smiled at them. "But might I request that you add our family photo as we are now? ... I would be ever so thankful." For a moment he glanced at Donatello with a smiled to which he returned. "Goodbye... for now." And at that the rat master faded, vanishing into the dark night air.
Tears ran down Mikey's cheeks soaking his mask. "No don't go! Father please don't go!" Mikey yelled until Leo had to hold him back... Soon the light faded, and any remains of their father was once again lost to the other world, leaving the turtle boys even more scared and alone than they had ever felt before in their lives.
….
In the days that followed, after cleaning up the mess and tending to the injuries each had accumulated, the four brothers remained together. Whether training in the Dojo, or camping out in sleeping bags in the TV room like they used to when they were small, they did it together. Strangely none of them felt safe enough to be alone... and every moment together was precious now. At one point Donnie vanished for a few hours to the Mutanimal's lair, but he soon returned with a grim expression. He wouldn't say what he had being doing. Only that it was important.
Each relayed their chilling encounters, but only enough to know they had all gotten the same warning. The finer details remained with each of them alone.
The light will come and then the darkness will devour!
Soon the brothers pushed that depressing prediction aside in favor of reliving happier memories, such as when they were kids and growing up training with their father, and all the adventures they had been on. Considering their age they had gone on rather a lot...
Such innocent adventures in the sewers turned so dangerous so quickly after they left their under city home. The first night they had gone to the surface and found pizza. Yet that same night they had seen April and her father being kidnapped by the Kraange, and so their adventure had started. That all seemed like a million years ago now, so much had happened, and eventually they just couldn't see 'it' any more. The adventure was gone, and everything they had done and who they had met had just become … stuff. Donnie's theory was that was what happened when you made the universe your backyard, you end up with just that... a backyard, full of stuff! But now the warning seemed to have put everything into a new prospective. The saying is true. You never appreciate something until it's gone.
By the third night Donatello couldn't dance around the subject any more. If this was it, then he would confess to the one thing he was afraid to tell them. The turtle sat down finally retelling his brothers the story of when he had gone to 'Heaven.'
His confession had not been taken as he had expected. Mikey cried in such a way that made Donnie sorry that he had confessed, at least at first. Raph didn't say much, but his expression and wide eyes said a lot more. Leo remained quiet until the end. "Why didn't you tell us?" He asked not really wanting to know the answer.
"Because I didn't want to come back," Donnie said this so simply that it even surprised himself. He had been so afraid to tell them the truth. After they had seen the resurrection of their father's spirit the secret of there being an after-life was no longer a secret, but Donnie had still remained fearful.
"Then why did you?" Raph asked still having trouble looking at his smart brother. The image of him dying in their van still fresh but sealed in his mind... And to hear his brother actually say that he didn't want to be here was not easy to hear. But the red clad turtle would hold his tongue until his brother answered his question.
"Because I didn't want to leave you... At first I felt guilty because besides you, I couldn't see a point to life anymore," the genius smiled sadly. "It just kind of messed me up for a while. I questioned everything. But then at the end, when everything else was gone, it was only us left and I wasn't sorry I came back. I can't explain it, but it was like a warning. And I am glad I did... It wasn't my time. Still isn't. But I know I am happy I'm here, with all of you, even more than being there."
Not able to take it Mikey sat up in his sleeping bag wrapping his arms around the taller turtle's neck. "Well I am glad you came back. Let's face it, we are lost without you," The orange turtle laughed.
"Donnie," Leo said his brother's name in such a way that made the smart turtle worry that he had hurt him. "What was it like?" Leo asked quietly.
Donnie was silent a moment as he contemplated this one thing he had tried so hard to forget. Though he had gained so much by returning, it was still painful remembering what he had lost. "It was paradise." Of all the long complicated words Donnie had stored away in his endless vocabulary, this was the only word he had that could sum it up.
"And you gave that up... for us?" Leo said as though he slightly couldn't understand it himself. Placing his hand behind Donnie's head, he pulled him towards his chest. Donnie enjoyed the embrace... and for some reason he didn't want Leo to let him go. Everything was just slowly disappearing, even now.
"Yeah I guess you're ok to have around," Raph joined in by snatching Don away from Leo and getting his nerdy brother into a head lock.
"Ow! Raph let go," Donnie groaned.
"Not until you promise to not keep anything from us ever, and I mean never ever again. You got it nerd!" the red clad turtle held him tighter as both Leo and Mikey decided to join in.
"I promise, I promise -!" Donnie struggled under the mass of them, but their laughing was abruptly cut off by the sound of Donnie's shell-cell suddenly urgently ringing out. It was just the phone, and yet the four froze solid. Their face dropped as the small piece of plastic vibrated to life.
The picture revealed that it was April calling. The real April... She could just be calling up to see how they were doing? But somehow the mutants knew with every fibre of their being that this was it. Mikey's eyes went as big as saucers as he tried not to go into panic mode... Raph just sat up. He didn't even look at them. He knew what they were all accepting by taking that call.. Both Leo and Donnie exchanged a look as it urgently continued to ring. They both knew it was time.
They could just not answer... They could all just stay safe down here, couldn't they? ... Hiding safe in there shells... Hadn't they earned that choice by now? After all they had done for the world, hadn't they earned the right to survive? They could all see it in each other's faces. They didn't want to take the risk of losing each other. They didn't want to die. They were only 16 for heaven sake!
But more than that, as a team they could do so much more for the world. They were heroes. If everything was going to change for the worse, they could make the difference together... The more they saved the world, the more it needed saving. Raph quickly got up and started pacing. Why did they always have to be the good guys? Just once could they just do what was right for them? Just once?!
No... Because this was who they were, they were heroes, and they always would be.
It wasn't fair!
"Answer your phone Don," Leo finally said. The room stopped as Don did what he was told.
"DONNIE!" April's panicked voice screamed down the phone.
"April what's wrong?" The smart turtle broke away from the pile up. Suddenly he had a lump in his throat.
"Something's happening... I don't know what but it's the TCRI building... Casey and I are already there... I have a feeling Donnie... A really bad feeling... guys you need to come right away -" April's voice was suddenly cut off by the sound of a loud wailing noise... it almost made Donnie drop the phone. He could still hear April screaming down the other end of the line, though he could no longer hear what she was saying. It sounded like a... a siren! The terrifying sound, whatever it was, it made all the turtle's blood run cold.
"We're coming. We'll be right there," Donnie shouted into the phone before hanging up. A hard thick silence followed for a full moment before the hot head broke it.
"We doing this then?" Raph turned with his weapons already drawn.
"Yes we are," The blue clad turtle answered him.
"Then let's go!" Mikey joined them.
"And finish it," Donnie smiled, finally standing.
Times change... and so must they... The four ninja's left the lair ready to take on whatever was coming, but they would do it together.
The End...?
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