Ch 23 Full Circle.
"Hurry up LH!" Raph yelled. He sat in his seat watching the large mutant alligator drive the Shellraiser through downtown New York. The desperation in his voice was only echoed by the loudness of the tires screeching on the road as it dodge around cars and pedestrians attempting to cross the street.
Within twenty minutes, they pulled up to an old brick building and parked the Shellraiser around the corner. Raphael was just about to jump out when Splinter held him back. "We must asses the situation." He advised. He then turned toward Donatello and Rockwell. "What do we know of his security system."
"I've worked with him and have been inside his lab several times."Rockwell said. "He has several security cameras along the roof and some inside as well."
"Donnie." Mikey turned to him. "Can you hack into the security cameras like you did that one time with TCRI?"
"I can but it will take some time" Donnie said.
"We don't have time!" Raph insisted.
"I don't have the security information like I did with TCRI." Donnie told him and began typing away on his computer, concentrating hard on trying to get the information.
"Well I can take care of the outside cameras." Raph said and began climbing up and out the hatch of the Shellraiser. Everyone watched as he opened the hatch and stuck his head out. They looked at each other in bewilderment as Raph began making what sounded like cooing noises.
"What's he doing?" Mikey wondered.
Splinter gave a slight chuckle. "Your brother always did have a way with animals."
"I don't believe it?" Leatherhead said, pointing out the windshield. Everyone gasped as they saw at least a dozen birds fly to the roof top of Falco's lab and land in various places. A few seconds later, Raph climbed back down to the floor.
"Okay, that takes care of the outside cameras." He told them. "Now let's go get my mate." He was once again just about to step outside when once again, a hand was placed on his shoulder. "Now what!?" He demanded, turning defiant eyes on his Sensei.
"It will do your mate nor us any good if we get inside only to get caught." Splinter told him with a stern but gentle voice. "You must have patience my son." He took a deep breath. "Everything will be okay as long as you focus on the goal ahead of you."
Raph took a deep breath and waited. The seconds ticked by, the silence broken only by Donnie's constant taping. "I'm in!" Donnie yelled excitedly. "Falco's lab is on the third floor so I only need to disable the cameras on that floor and the one above it annnnnd…."Donnie pushed a few more buttons. "It's done." Donnie smiled proudly. "Like a turtle do." He said smugly.
"That's great D…" Mikey said pushing him out of the way. "Now let's go."
Everyone but Rockwell, who they decided would stay with the Shellraiser and be the 'get away' driver, rushed out of the vehicle and made their way up to the roof of the building they were parked next to. They quickly and carefully jumped across to the building where Falco's lab was and found a skylight unlocked. Raph, being the last one to go in, patted a pigeon's head and nodded to it, signaling to the bird to take off which it did.
Raph joined the others in the hallway and they found a door leading to a stairwell. They quickly made their way down to the third floor and Splinter cautiously opened the door. He looked out to see no one in the hall. The five mutants, lead by Donatello, began to make their way down the hallway As they rounded one corner they were startled to see two tall men dressed head to foot in dark ninja clothes.
Immediately, Raph and Donnie jumped out and quickly engaged the two ninja in battle. The ninja were good, but they were better and the fight did not last too long. But as Raph backed his ninja into a corner, the ninja ducked a swing of Raph's sai and quickly slammed his hand against a fire alarm on the wall. Instantly, a blaring alarm sounded throughout the building.
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Inside the room where Leo was being kept, Falco was sitting at the end of the bed waiting for the first egg to be birth. Leo was on the bed panting and moaning. He clenched his teeth and brought his tail up against his entrance, fighting his own body in an attempt to not let the eggs come out. "You can't have my babies." He said through gritted teeth. "I won't let you."
At that moment, the sound of the fire alarm went off startling the occupants of the room. "Karai, TigerClaw." Falco shouted at them."Take your foot soldiers and go see what's going on." He turned to Chaplin. "How far apart are the contractions?"
"It could be the cub's family coming to get him." Tiger Claw stated. "Stay alert." Karai nodded and together they left the room.
"About five minutes apart." Chaplin answered..
He looked at Leo in anger. "Maybe I should just rip you open and take them. It was clear he was getting apprehensive about what might be going outside the lab.
"No..no please." Leo panted. "I….wont' let …you take…my babies!" He let out another scream as a contraction ripped through him. He fought the urge to sit up and push down on his stomach as the need to push the first egg out racked his body. Something told him the sudden alarm was Raph and the rest of the family coming to his aid and he was determined not to give Falco what he wanted.
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Out in the hallway, the blaring of the alarm was cut through with a sudden pained screamed. "Leo!" Raph yelled out and began to run down the hall and toward the room where he determined the sound was coming from. The five mutants rounded another corner and stopped in their tracks when they saw a large tiger standing before them.
Splinter's mouth gaped open when his eyes fell on the young woman next to the tiger. "Tanaka Karai?"
"It's Oroku Karai." She sneered and with a loud yell, took out her tanto blade and ran toward him.
"Easy there kitty." Mikey said backing slowly away as the large tiger advanced on him and Donnie. Behind both the tiger and Karai they could see several more ninjas coming toward them.
"The name is Tiger Claw." The large cat roared. He brought out his claws. "Foot!" He yelled. "Attack!"
Karai had managed to push Splinter back toward the wall, out of the corner of her eye she saw Raph trying to get around the ninja. She threw a back kick toward Splinter and ran toward Raph.
"I don't have time for this!" Raph yelled out as he charged into the fray of ninja and another loud scream pierced the air. "I have to get to Leo!"
"You can forget about your mate." Karai sneered jumping away from Splinter and suddenly blocking his path. "He'll be done laying the eggs soon and Falco will make sure you and your mate will never be together again."
At that statement, Raph saw red. He ran straight for her while at the same moment Splinter ran toward her as well. She attempted to flip over Raph and have him run right into Splinter, but both saw it coming and while Splinter jumped up to force her down, Raph slid underneath and continued to run toward the room where he heard Leo's cries coming from.
"Raphael." Splinter yelled out as he grappled with Karai. "You and Leatherhead, get to Leonardo and get him out of here. We will hold off the rest of these ninja!"
"I don't think so!" Tiger Claw yelled out. He grabbed Donnie and Mikey and threw them against each other before throwing them against the wall. He then quickly turned and began to run toward Raph.
Out of the corner of his eye, Splinter saw his sons being tossed about by the large tiger. He grabbed Karai and pushed her against a door that led to a stairwell causing Karai to fall down the large flight of stairs. He then jumped in front of Tiger Claw. "You may get past my sons but you will not get by me!"
Tiger Claw sneered at the large rat. "Hamato Yoshi." They began to circle each other. "I have heard much about you. Let's see if what they say is true."
At least a dozen ninja seemed to be in his way, but Raph was determined nothing would get in the way of him getting to that door and to Leo. He was just about to charge at the ninja when a loud roar from Leatherhead sounded behind him. The large gator jumped over Raph and began rolling around on the floor barreling into the ninja causing the ones that weren't in his path to leap to the side and away from the door while the rest were slammed against the door and wall and knocked unconscious.
"Thanks LH." Raph grinned. The two mutants ran toward the door and kicked it opened. Immediately, Raph's anger reached an all time high when he saw Leo laying on a hospital bed, chained at the wrist and feet, his legs spread open and Falco sitting in between them waiting for Leonardo to bring forth the first egg. His eyes went white and his face immediately turned a bright red.
"ARRRRR!" Raph screamed and ran toward Falco who immediately jumped away from Leo before Raph could slice his sai into the human's head. "GET AWAY FROM MY MATE!" His protective instincts were in full swing as he swung his sias wildly at Falco.
Leatherhead jumped in front of Chaplin and glared at him causing the young scientist to back away in fear and out the door. A yell from Leo caused the mutant alligator to turn toward him.
"Raph!" Leo called out through gritted teeth. "Leatherhead stop him." Leo watched as Raph furiously attacked Falco with crazy wild throws. No direction, no thought went into what he was doing. He just attacked with only one thought desperately going through his head:KILL. He fianlly managed to connect his left hand with Falco's chin and managed to knock the mad scientist to the ground with the butt of his sai.
Leatherhead grabbed Raph before he could start pummeling him. "We need to get Leonardo to the hospital." He urged.
Raph sheathed his sais and stood up and ran over to Leo."How you doing babe?"
Leo gritted his teeth. "Contractions about five minutes apart…aaagghhh…maybe closer."Raph quickly undid Leo's right wrist while Leatherhead worked on his right foot. They were just about to work on the other restraints when the door once again burst open and four ninjas ran in.
"I'll take care of them."Leatherhead told them. "Get Leonardo out of here."
Before Raph could respond, Falco jumped up and grabbed at Raphael from behind using his belt, forced it around his neck, choking him. Leo looked at the the battles that raged around him, he quickly undid the bindings on his left wrist and foot, and, fighting the pain that continued to grip his lower plastron, Leo grabbed the scalpel on the table beside his bed.
Raph was struggling with Falco and the two now had their backs to Leo. Neither saw Leo running up to Falco and stabbing him with the scalpel in the back of the neck. Leo staggered back as another wave of pain hit. Raph turned when he felt the belt release and fall from his neck. He saw Falco fall onto his knees, a look of surprise in his eyes and his hand pulling the scalpel out of his neck. He let the knife fall and stare up at Raph as he wavered for a few seconds before falling face first onto the floor, blood spilling from the wound profusely.
Raph and Leo looked at each other. "You okay?" Leo asked. Raph nodded. "Good, cause I'm not." Leo said as his face grimaced in pain while he leaned heavily on the bed.
Raph ran over and put his arm around Leo's shell while putting Leo's right arm across his shoulder. Together they made their way to the door and out into the hallway where they saw Donnie and Mikey now battling Karai and Leatherhead flinging his large arms catching foot soldiers within them and throwing them against the wall. Splinter and the large tiger were no where to be seen.
"We have to get out of here." Leo gasped. "I don't know how much longer I've got."
"Don't worry, we'll get you to the hospital before the first egg arrives." Raph assured him. The two attempted to get past the battle scene but another contraction had Leo doubling over in pain. The scream he let out got karai's attention, she did a flip over Mikey and smacked Donnie in the head with her foot then turned and pushed Mikey against the wall hard. She then turned toward raph and held her blade up. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth curved in a vicious smirk. With a loud yell, she ran toward the two turtles and swung her sword toward their heads.
When Raph saw Karai coming at him, he pushed Leo to the side and brought his sais up to block the tanto blade coming down on him. As the sword came down, Karai's foot shot out and caught Raph in the middle of his plastron, the force of the kick caused him to fall back into the room. She quickly closed the door then turned to Leo and slowly stalked toward him, her blade swinging menacingly.
"I am going to slowly rip you open and tear those eggs out of you." Her voice low and dark.
Leo panted hard and backed away from her. "Karia, don't do this." He begged. His breath coming gasps. "I've seen the real you and this isn't it."
"You know nothing!" She yelled. "All you know is what I've wanted you to know." She held the tanto blade up again and began to stalk toward him. "I'm going to enjoy listening to you scream."
At that moment, a loud familiar yell sounded from behind her. "GOONGALA!" Karai looked up just as a boot smacked right into her face.
"Casey!" Leo gasped. The door to the room opened and Raph stepped out, holding his head.
"Casey?" He shook his head trying to clear the cob webs. "What are you doing here?"
"I've told you not to leave me out of the action!" Casey yelled. "Rockwell called the police, their on the way."
"Raphael!" Leatherhead came running back to the group, having disposed of the ninja. He grabbed Leo in his arms before anyone could say another word and picked him up bridal style. "We must get Leonardo to the Shellraiser."
Donnie and Mikey sat up groaning and looked around. "Uhhh, did we win?" Mikey groaned.
"Not sure." Donnie said, squinting through the pain. "We're there always two of everyone?"
"Guys, we need to get out of here!" Raph yelled and followed Leatherhead out of the building.
"Anyone know where Sensei is?" Donnie asked anxiously.
"On the roof!" Leatherhead said. "He is still fighting the large tiger."
"We got to help him." Mikey cried his eyes searching the rooftop..
"I'll help him after we get Leonardo to the vehicle." Leatherhead volunteered. They made their way out of the building where dozens of foot soldiers, along with Dr. Chaplin, were being rounded up by several police officers.
"Ya want me ta call for an ambulance?" Casey asked.
"No time….the eggs are…coming!" Leo said, the pain in his face showed clearly as he panted and attempted to take deep breath.
"The Shellraiser will get him there just as fast." Donnie declared.
They made it to the shellraiser and quickly climbed in. After Leatherhead laid Leo down on the floor, he jumped out and ran to help Splinter while Rockwell put the pedal to the medal and drove the ten minutes to the hospital.
Tears rolled down Leo's face as he sobbed uncontrollably with every contraction that hit him. "I'm sorry Raph." Leo told him in between hard pants and pained sobs.
"Nothing to be sorry about." Raph soothe ."We'll get you to the hospital and everything's going to be okay."
"But I'm not ready." Leo cried and suddenly let out another loud scream. "AAAUUGGHHH. I can feel the first egg!" He yelled. Raph grabbed his hand and Leo squeezed it hard. "IT'S COMING!"
"Can you hold it in?" Mikey asked. "OW!" He rubbed his head after being smacked by Donnie.
"Thanks Don." Raph said, growling at Mikey.
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Splinter stared intently at the door to the delivery room. With every pained scream that sounded from within it, he would feel his heart ache. He clenched his jaw and squeezed gently the hand of Michelangelo who sat next to him on his left side. On his right, Renet sat by him and rubbed his paw tenderly. With every passing moment, the anxiety in the waiting room grew and every scream took Splinter back to the day his wife gave birth to their baby girl. And with every cry that followed, his mind would remember his wife, crying by the little grave that was their daughter.
The fight with Tiger Claw left him drained but his determination to be there for his sons' gave him the resolve he needed to dispose of the large tiger quickly. With Leatherhead's help, he managed to push the tiger off the roof and onto the street where the police quickly took control of him. And thanks to Casey, the ride in the police car got both mutants to the hospital in record time.
Donatello continued to pace back and forth, stopping only to look at the door when he heard Leo cry out. Every now and then, his eyes would search the hallways and hope to see Angel coming off her shift and hopefully she would be able to go into the room and get news of Leo, but so far she had yet to show.
Mikey sat anxiously waiting to hear that everything was okay. He looked forward to seeing the eggs and having little baby turtles to play with but the thought that Leo may not be there to enjoy watching his children play and grow scared him something awful. He looked to the side of him and saw Renet, tears streaming down her face with every pain filled cry that emanated from the room in front of them. Behind them sat a very stoic Leatherhead, and April and Casey held each other. Everyone waited patiently for Raph to come out of the delivery room to let them know how things were going.
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"Come on Leonardo." Rockwell coaxed. "Just a few more pushes and the last egg will be here."
"AAAGGGHHHH." Leo used his left hand to grab his knee and push his body forward. Raph sat behind him, helping him sit up and push. Leo was sweating profusely and Raph could see he was beyond exhausted. Raph's eyes roamed over to the side where two small turtle eggs sat in their own incubators, a third was still waiting for it's occupant and both Leo and Raph would be grateful when it finally arrived. Leo fell back against Raph's arm and Raph laid him gently against the bed.
"I can't do this anymore." Leo whimpered. "How much longer?"
"We're almost there." Rockwell informed him as he placed his finger inside Leo's slit. "I'm going to need you to push one more time."
"No!" Leo suddenly yelled as a contraction hit him. "I can't, I'm so tired!"
"It's okay Leo." Raph said. "I've got you."
Leo took several deep breaths and forced himself upward with Raph's help. Another loud yell and scream sounded as the third egg finally made it's way free. "Oh God Leo!" Raph cried when he saw the third egg in Rockwell's hand "Three eggs, they're so beautiful!"
Leo laid his head back and panted hard. He was just about to close his eyes when another pain shot through him. He grabbed Raph's hand again and grimaced in pain. Raph let out a pained gasp when he felt Leo squeeze his hand. "Leo?" He cried out. "What the hell are you doing/"
"PUSHING!" Leo screamed at him as another pained yell escaped his throat.
"WHY?!" Raph asked when Leo laid back down panting.
"BECAUSE I LOVED IT SO MUCH THE FIRST THREE TIMES I THOUGHT I'D DO IT AGAIN!" Leo yelled. "WHY DO YOU THINK!"
"There's a fourth egg!" Rockwell quickly ran back to the bed and got himself in between Leo's legs and waited for the fourth egg to appear.
"A..a..annnother." Raph stammered. Leo felt his hand suddenly start to give away.
"DAMN IT RAPH!" Leo said through gritted teeth as he fought to muster what little strength he had left. "If you pass out on me again I'm never going to speak to you for the REST OF OUR LIVES! AAAGGGHHH"
Raph shook his head and took deep breaths. "I'm here..I'm here." He helped Leo once again to sit up and push the egg out.
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Splinter, Donatello, Michelangelo, Renet, April, Casey and Leatherhead looked up when the door to the delivery room finally opened. Angel was just joining them and turned to see a very pale and shocked Raphael coming out the door followed by a nurse making her way quickly down the corridor.
"Raphael!" Splinter stood quickly and ran over to him. "Is everything over? Is Leonardo alright?"
"Yeah dude." Mikey came over to him. "What took so long."
Raph shook his head and lifted his eyes to the group. "There's f...f..four….four eg….."
The last part trailed off as everyone watched in bewilderment as Raph fell face forward onto the floor. Rockwell came up behind him and smiled as Donnie and Mikey gently picked him up. They all looked at the mutant monkey quizzically. The nurse, meanwhile, returned with another incubator.
"There were four eggs." He announced, smiling as the group gasped in astonishment. "You may all come in and see them but only for a few minutes, Leonardo is exhausted and we must begin the transfusion."
The group went in and, while Mikey and Donnie laid Raph on the little sofa in front of the bed, Splinter walked over to where Leo laid looking pale and weak. He placed his paw on Leo's fevered head and bent down to give him a gentle kiss on his forehead. Leo's eyes slowly blinked open and he gave his Sensei a very tired and weak smile.
"Rest my son." Splinter told him. "The eggs are beautiful and I know my grandchildren will be very healthy." He stroked Leo's cheek as Leo's eyes fluttered closed.
Raph finally recovered and ran to Leo. "I can't believe it…Leo!" He looked between Leo and the eggs. "Four eggs, this is incredible, we need to think of another baby name, and we need to get another crib and highchair and…"
"Shhhhh." Leo whispered. "We'll figure it out….later."Leo sighed and opened his eyes. He looked over at the eggs and gave a tired smile. Raph stroked his mate's cheek as Leo once again to close his eyes.
"I'll be here when you wake up." Raph promised, kissing Leo tenderly on the lips. The group was escorted out the door and Rockwell and the nurse quickly went to work taking care of Leo and getting the transfusion done.
Raph watched as the door behind him closed. The fear swelling within him showed clearly in his emerald green eyes. "They'll be okay…right Sensei?"
The large brown rat placed a paw on his son's shoulder. "You must have hope my son." He told him. "Everything will be alright."
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Okay, one more chapter and this story will be completed. YYYEEEAAAHHH
