A/N: Thanks for the thunderous reviews, people! I'm glad that ya'll are enjoying this so much, any writer would. Hope you like this chapter just as much. I might be jumping into a black hole of contempt for the ending of this chapter, but for some reason it's the only way I could write it.
Chapter 8
Harsh Decisions
With a half-animal cry Raph jumped at the wall, pounding at it with his fists, clawing at the brick with bare fingers. Mouth curled into a fierce snarl.
Don stood off to the side a bit, the shock evident on his pale face. He fingered his bostaff and it trembled along with his hands. His mouth worked but nothing came out. Then his eyes squeezed shut and he covered his face with one hand, shoulders shuddering.
I looked from one to the other, unsure of what to do. The pit in my own stomach was almost to horrible to bear, but my brothers needed me to help comfort them. But how? Sensei had just been pulled into the wall by the Shadow monster. Just thinking that made it sound like some comic book, not real life. Real life isn't supposed to be like this. Not this horrible! My knees felt weak as I took a shuddering breath. I could feel the lump in my throat expanding as I shakily made my way to to spot where Sensei dissappeared. With a gentle hand I touched the cold, grimy brick. He was gone, just like that...
"Mikey..."
I looked up and realized my vision was blurry. I wiped my tears from my eyes and looked at Don, who was staring at me with wide eyes. His hand slowly fell from his face and a shaky look of-relief?-spread over his face as his eyes bored into mine.
"Mikey, we thought that they'd gotten you too..."
Before I knew it my brother was embracing me, holding me tight. At first it took me completely by surprise. We, being manly-men don't normally do stuff like this, but under the circumstances... With a strangled cry I returned the hug, clasping my brother to me.
Raph broke out of whatever reverie he was in and realized that I was here. Even though his eyes were wet and choked with emotion, he simply cocked a grin and put a hand on my shoulder. "Thought that I'd failed and lost you there, you know..."
I grasped his arm and yanked him into our embrace. He struggled a bit, then gave in (pretty easily) while mumbling half-heartedly about mushy stuff. At this moment, me hugging two of my brothers, I realized that despite what was happening, with Leo and Splinter dissappearing like that, I still had something.
Then one of them squished my hand.
With a yelp I leapt back, holding my hand gingerly. Don's attention snapped to it immediately. "Mikey-" His eyeridges raised at the sight of my pulpy, pulverized hand. "What happened?" Raph nudged in beside him, wanting to know the same thing. How did I come back?
All I could really say was, "I didn't really go anywhere really different. Just-" and so I began to tell them everything that happened. Don's face remained both expressionless and studious as he listened to my story and gingerly inspected my hand. Raph's face went through such a wide variety of expressions that at times I wanted to laugh. Don had to cut off his interruptions several times. Somehow he knew whenever they were going to pop up.
When I finished they were silent for a little bit. Raph was glaring at everything, stewing, and Don simply looked thoughtful. "Mikey, I'm sorry but there's not much I can do for your hand right now. I need more supplies." I looked at him. Somehow I had expected him to comment on the story first, but this was good too. He pointed to the bones of my hand, then my fingers. "You see these bones, the metacarpals?" He ignored my confused look. "They're each broken, some with more than one. And your fingers, " he grimaced, "they're all jumbled; dislocations, fractures and breaks." He shook his head. "If I tried to fix it right now, it would be to painful to do it properly. Your muscles need to be completely relaxed, which is hard to do when your screaming. For this, I'd have to knock you out. For now, I think, we'll try to splint it. Keep it from getting worse. And you can take these." Reaching in his bag he brought out a plastic bottle and gave me a white pill. I recognized it immedietly. Ibuprofin. Anti-inflammatory, I think. All I know is that it works wonders for busted knees, twisted ankles, killer bruises, and lots of other fighting-type injuries. I don't know how April got her hands on so many.
Placing a roll of tightly packed guaze in my palm to keep its shape, he gently wrapped my hand.
"Enough of that shit. Yeah, your hand is bad but no offense Mikey, we've got bigger stuff to deal with." Raph glared off into space. "From what you tell me-and I'll try to assume that it's true-Leo isn't dead. How could he speak to you if he's dead? And what the hell dows that thing want?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, Leo just told me not to." I looked at him. "What happened to Leo?"
A troubled look swept over his eyes and he shook his head. "I-I don't know how to describe it. It's like-the stuff on the TV came alive." He stared off into space, shuddering slightly.
I gave him a scared yet puzzled look. Looking sad, Don sighed. "Mikey, you've seen The Ring, haven't you?" My eyes widened. I most certainly had! Seeing the look on my face, he nodded somberly. "Yeah, like that." Turning to Raph, he nodded. "What if they are alive? I mean, they didn't exactly...die or at least with what happened to them..."
"No one could survive what Leo and Sensei went through."
A thought occurred to me. "What if when I saw Leo, it was actually the monsters playing a trick?" I shuddered to think that I'd been talking to one of them.
Don shook his head. "Why would they conjure up an image to tell you to do exactly the opposite of what they want, whatever it is?"
We looked at each other, with a glint in our eyes. We were all thinking the same thing. About what it would be like if we hadn't actually just lost our brother and father. Hope glinted bright in each of us and my heart felt lighter somehow. Maybe all was not lost.
"Wait a sec." Raph broke the moment. "If he's not dead, where is he? And how did he do what he did?" I opened my mouth to answer when a chilly voice echoed off the walls.
Run
Don started, then looked around in nervous bewilderment. Slowly, with delicate fingers he pulled out his bostaff. "Did anyone else hear what I just heard? Guys?"
I looked over at Raph. His sai were drawn and he was tense, ready to spring at the slightest movement. "Yeah." He mumbled through clenched teeth. "I heard it.
RUN
"You guys, I think we should listen to it." I paced from foot to foot. I was spinning my nunchuku nervously. Why did that voice sound so familiar?
Just then an inhuman screech sounded from the end of the sewers. All three of us jumped and whirled towards the sound. It didn't sound like the other monsters I faced before, this one sounded more like a cat who got it's tail pinched. It was immediately followed by a tiny, skittering sound not unlike a woman with manicured fake nails tapping glass. It was all over, echoing off the walls, raising to such a deafening roar that invaded our ears.
clakclakclakclakclakclakclakclakclakclakclakclakclak
I tried to cover my ears at the sound but it did no good. Don and Raph were frozen in their stances, faces pale. The sound was terrifying, but in a way it was hypnotic. Constant, rhythmic...My eyes drooped a bit as I seemed to go far away. Peaceful. The sound suddenly didn't seem so loud, though for some reason I knew that it was. At the same time everything seemed so hazy that it didn't matter. Woozy, I felt woozy. Sleepy...
Run, my sons! RUN!
I was knocked out of my reverie and gasped as I finally recognized the voice. Master Splinter! Furiously I shook my head clear of all the cobwebs. Looking at Raph and Don, I could see their relaxed positions, the dreamy look in their eyes; they were caught. Whipping around I stared down the sewer canal. The light played on the wall. Suddenly, in that light I could see a mass of tiny shadows so thick... Master Splinter said run and I didn't need any further urging. I shouted, but my brothers gave no response. Bolting from my spot, I purposely shoved into Don and Raph to break them out of the hypnotic sound. Raph instinctively swung his fist as soon as he was struck, nearly clipping my shoulder. I grabbed his arm and yanked him so hard he yelped. Don was caught more off guard and not having the exact same reflexes as our hothead brother, lost his balance, and fell on his shell in the sewer water.
Raph and I were already a good distance away before we realized this. We skidded to a stop, making the putrid water shower the air. Immediately we backpedaled to our fallen brother.
He had already scrambled to his feet and was lunging towards us, brown duffel bag flapping at his side. We slowed down as he reached us. Simotaneously Raph and I each grabbed an arm and helped to yank him along with us.
Until we were jerked backward.
Raph turned to Don, ready to yell a profanity for stopping until he saw the look on Don's face and froze. He had a look of abject terror and pain etched into his bulging eyes and sweating skin. Twisting his arms around, he grabbed our shoulders so hard it hurt. I was about to ask what it was until he was yanked back again. This time hard enough to make us stumble.
Straining forward, I peered behind my brother and saw a spider. Or what looked like a spider. It wasn't very big, the fat abdomen maybe the size of my palm, but its appearance made up for it's size. It was slimy, grotesque, had too many uneven limbs in odd places and had thick, coarse hair growing in patches here and there. It had (hands?) like a praying mantis, curled up and jabbing. Its abdomen was lumpy with what could only be described as blisters. The head was what really frightened me. On a long, serpentine neck was what looked like a white mask, showing no expression at all yet somehow still being able to burn a look of hatred and evil to the very depths of my soul.
Attatched to its rear was what could only be a silk thread. Like that of a spider. The other end traveled down the sewer until it was out of sight.
The spider monster swung its little head at me, grinned, then gave its abdomen a tremendous jerk. Once again Don was nearly jerked out of our grasp. Raph growled, and swung his sai at the thing. The smooth metal prongs slipped off the monster's surface until it came between it's many legs. Raph jerked and pulled at it, but looking at it you couldn't tell. It skittered up toward's Donny's head, easily stepping over the steel.
Don pushed against the weight, struggling to break free of the thing's grasp. But it just continued up, digging the sharp points of its legs painfully into his shell.
Taking a chance, Raph completely let go of Don. Don staggered back, pulling against it as I did everything in my power to help him do so. Gripping one sai with both hands, Raph reared it up high before bringing it down with a roar on the monster with more force than I've seen before. The sharp steel point bounced off the monster's abdomen and the teeth wedged itself between the silk line. Throwing his own body to add weight to the momentum, Raph landed harshly on it just as the point came down.
The creature gave a strangled, gasping sound of pain as the silk ripped itself from it's rear. With the pressure gone, Don toppled forward on top of me in the murky water of the sewers. Immediately he started convulsing. Kicking and screaming he frantically tried to reach at the creature. He rolled around, arched his back and threw himself purposely to the floor once more.
Raph half chased at him with his sai poised, trying to get a good look at the monster. But Don was wriggling too much. "Don, stop moving! DON!"
The skittering was still there. With horror I stared down the sewer and saw what must have been a sea of these creatures. They were coming for us. We didn't have time! Frantically I got up and ran towards Don and Raph.
Just then Don went so completely still that I froze in my tracks. Raph stopped, looking at his brother intently. We were both thinking the same thing, 'is he dead?' I hoped it wasn't true. And my hopes were realized when he blinked. But that's all he did. Blink and look at us.
"Don, you gotta get up! There's more of them coming! We gotta get out of here!" I pulled at his arm. Hearing my words Raph looked down the sewer and cursed. He was reaching to grab Don as well when I finally turned him over. We stared in shock.
The spider was still on his back. Only it's head was in the back of Don's neck. No wonder he couldn't move!
Raph snarled and his sai was brandished once more. He stabbed furiously at it. Once again it bounced off. He tried again, again, again...all with the same result. He struggled to pry it off, twist it off, everything he could think of with no result. He shouted at it furiously.
It was then that the wave hit.
I looked around and the spider monsters were covering Don's legs. I swept them off frantically. "It's alright, Don. We're gonna get you outta here. We are, I swear!"
Raph kicked, stabbed, and punched at them in a blind rage. I tried to grab Don's arm and pull him away, but my bandaged hand was useless. Then he began to get pulled away from me, I dug my heels in the slimy ground beneath the water, but I couldn't get a hold. They were taking my brother away from me.
Then Raph cried out in pain. I whipped my head around and saw him fall to the ground. A spider monster had imbedded it's head in his upper thigh, just below his groin. His leg flopped uselessly in the water. The wave was approaching ever closer.
I looked at Don. Half his body was covered by the spiders, they were pulling him harder and harder. I could hardly keep a grip on his arm. With only one hand to grab at him, I definetly couldn't keep this up for much longer. He looked back up at me with wide, terrified eyes. I looked at Raph, who laid in the water, cursing. An icy arrow pierced my heart to its very core as I realized that I would be forced to make a choice. I couldn't save both of them.
Don coughed. I looked back at him and saw tears brimming in his eyes. He flicked his eyes to Raph twice, then looked straight into my eyes. I knew what he was saying. I shook my head, the knot in my throat getting bigger until my eyes were flooded. His eyes smiled, then he closed them and didn't open them any more. Sobbing, I looked at the horrid mass of monsters that swarmed around him. Pulling him into their depths. They were going to take him...then I looked at Raph. The monster was gone from his leg but the limb was still uselses. Growling, he was dragging himself away from the creatures.
But he still had a good leg, workable arms. Don couldn't move at all and I had a bum hand.
I looked back down at Don and his eyes were open again, flooded with understanding. I nodded, then with a racking sob let go of his arm.
Without any resistance he dissappeared into the creatures, until for a split second it was like he wasn't even there.
A/N: Wow, is this a long chapter! Or longer than my usual, anyway. Hope it was enjoyable nonetheless. If you didn't understand the whole 'choosing' thing then it will be more thoroughly explained in the next chapter. It was meant to be kinda vague here. If you do get it, then I'm not trying to be OOC, but when you're in situations like that tough decisions are made all the time. Triage for Wartime, for example, set aside the ones that could be saved, but the time and effort could be used in saving two, three or more. You could say that these experiences are toughening Mikey up a bit. Trust me, though, Mike's going to have a lot of inner turmoil next chapter from this.
Remember, if you read it, review it!
Toodles!