I wrote this chapter while listening to Fall Out Boy. Heck yes.
I really like this chapter a lot! I hope the rest of you feel the same way! c:
I open my eyes and blink away the sleepiness. I remember being tired, but I don't remember sleeping. Donnie must have given me some pills or something. I sit up and stretch out my arms, making a loud weird sound that just enhances the motion. I feel good, better then I have in a long time. My chest is still sore but It feels a hell of a lot better then it did. When I let my arms fall back into place I realize that I am the only one in the lab. Donnie, Leo and Raph aren't present. Huh. Weird. They must have taken a break or something. I swing my legs over my counter like bed, but before I stand up I flinch with surprise. I lied, someone is here with me.
Raphael.
Raph is standing in front of me with a neutral, dead like face. Why didn't I see him before? Maybe it's my mind going crazy again. Still, I smile and look at my brother,
"Hey Raphie!" I say happily. But he doesn't respond, he just stares at me. It's almost as if he didn't hear me or something.
"Uh..." I look around awkwardly. What's his problem? I glance back at him and his face is the exact same as before. His stance is unmoving and it seems as if he is a cold, hard statue.
"You okay?" I grin again but still, nothing. What the heck? Why won't he respond to me? Panic floods my senses.
"R-Raph?" I stutter, what is going on? I feel a weird knot twist in my stomach. Then Raph steps towards me, which should be relieving but it actually makes me cringe away. I stand up suddenly, staring at him as he stares back, his eyes glaze over. In fact they don't even blink. The usual twinkle in his eyes are gone, the emerald green is faded, like his mind is elsewhere. He stares into me and I feel panic roll over my body. A whisper goes throughout my brain and a strong urge spreads to every inch of my being.
Kill.
What? Where did that come from? No. I can't kill him. He's my brother.
Kill.
No. He is my brother. He is real. I can't kill him. Please don't make me kill him! Please!
Kill him before he kills you.
He won't kill me! He is my brother. Safe remember? Protect? I will not kill him. Please don't make me kill him.
I wait for a response, but I don't get the one I expected. Instead, Raph strikes out with his sai and slashes my face. I yell out, more from the surprise then the stinging pain. Blood trickles down my cheek and put my hand to the sharp bite of the cut. I feel the sticky red smudge between my fingers. I watch as the crimson liquid slides to the floor.
"Raph?"
I stare at the blood. No. It can't be.
He is my brother!
Protect.
Safe.
Real.
Kill.
No. No. No. No. My brother.
Why? Why did he do this?
Kill.
He is my brother...Isn't he? Why does he hurt me?
Is he my brother?
Protect.
Safe.
Real.
Raph drives a knee into my stomach and I fall on my knees and gasp from the throbbing sensation NO. Why?
Kill.
NO! I can't! He has to be real. Please stop. Raph!
Raphael please. Don't do this. Don't hurt me. Protect remember? Safe? I stand back up to face him. He won't hurt me. He won't. He is safe. He is real.
Kill.
Please, don't make me do this. I can't kill him. I will not. I can not.
Raph raises a Sai and stabs it into my plastron. I gasp as the metal meets my flesh and tears into me. I look down and the handle is sticking out, but the three pronged blades disappear into my skin. Blood begins to pour out of the wound and I stare in astonishment. No. I hear a deep chuckle as a green fist grabs the handle and rips the weapon out of my body, the dull blades are covered with my blood. I cry out and collapse again. Too shocked to move, to hurt to try. I feel the blood oozing out of me and pool on the floor.
Why? Why? Why? My Raphie? My Brother?
I feel something within me snap.
No.
He is not my brother.
He will not Protect.
He is not safe.
He is not real.
KILL.
Donnie stares into the microscope, looking at droplets of Mikey's blood mixed with the strange poison. He tests an antidote he made recently and watches carefully, but nothing happens. Damn. Letting out a frustrated groan, he slams a hand hard on the table. The rough sound knocks his brain back into the world of the living and he hears a soft snore. Turning his head he sees Mikey passed out on the counter/bed. With the help of some strong sleeping pills, the littlest one was out like a light the second he laid his head down. He is exhausted both physically and mentally. Mentally is what really scared Don, how much longer does he have till his little brother is completely gone? How much time does Donnie have left to find an antidote?
Another snore fills the room and interrupts his thoughts. Mikey doesn't snore. However Raph is infamous for it and surprise, surprise! Sitting in a chair next the makeshift bed is the said turtle, his head is buried into his arms and resting on the counter next to Mikey's hand, sleeping soundly. He must have fallen asleep a while ago but Don was too focused to even notice, Leo however is still siting in a chair next to Raph, his eyes shift from looking into space to looking at the exasperated Don.
Donnie's eyes rest on his big brother, he looks exhausted. They stare at each other for a couple of seconds until one breaks the silence,
"You look awful." Donnie says quietly. Oh nice conversation starter Don, but Leo just smirks slightly,
"I bet that you look worse then me."
"You should try to get some sleep."
"So should you." Leo replied quickly, the enervated sound caught hold in his voice. Don shook his head sternly,
"I have to keep working."
"Donnie.."
"I promised Leo. I told him I would." Don's voice was strict and stern but Leo can tell he is on a verge of another break down. The stress and pressure is getting to the genius turtle. Leo looks into the determined face of his brother and sighs. Standing up slowly, makes his way towards Donnie. Don's composure grows less confident as Leo moves closer.
"I know, but what good are you to him if you can barely keep your eyes open?"
Of course, logical Leo. But Donnie refuses to back down now, not when he has so little time. He has to do this, failure is not a option. Don clenches his fist in frustrated anger, he's not angry at Leo, but he lets his feelings lash out anyway.
"I have no time!" Donnie snaps, "do you think I enjoy being exhausted? Do you think I enjoy working hours without a break? I have to do this Leo! I have no choice. I refuse to let him down. I refuse to let myself down. Even if I try to close my eyes, you know what I see over and over again? I see Mikey dying in front us, and I am just pounding on his chest. I thought he was gone Leo. It was desperation that kept me going not hope. I thought it was too late, I thought I failed him. All my skills and knowledge, my confidence in what I can do, I lost them in that moment. I refuse to do that again. I refuse to fail him, I refuse to fail myself... I refuse to to fail all of us!"
The anger in his voice is coming off in waves, but Leo knows better. It is frustration and grief, he needs to let this out, so Leo lets him yell.
"I am not only fighting for Michelangelo's life, but for ours as well. When he was dying, I was scared out of my mind. I was scared because in that instant I saw life without our baby brother. Did you not see Raph? Did you not see me? Did you not see yourself? It would consume us all and destroy each of us from the inside." Donnie's face falls and he looks down at the ground, his voice is shaking with emotion.
"We only have each other in this life Leo, and I am not losing him again. I refuse to lose him. I can't loose him."
Leo is taken back and just stares at Donnie with shock. The truth to his words sting a little, life would never be right without Mikey. It wouldn't be right if any of them were gone. They needed each other.
"I can't loose him." Donnie says again with a quieter and soft voice. Tears build up in his eyes and one falls down his cheek. He is trying so hard to keep it together, but Leo remembers watching Donnie sob against Mikey's chest, twice. This is hard on all of them, but mostly on him. Leo see's that now. Donnie was the one who has to save him, Leo and Raph can't really do anything, they aren't as smart as Don and would only hinder his progress. So much pressure, so much riding on his shoulders. Don is the only one who can save him. In fact if it wasn't for the scientific turtle, Mikey would already be dead.
Leo smiles slightly and wipes the fallen tear on Don's face with his thumb.
"You saved him."
Donnie looks confused and taken back.
"What?"
"Donatello, you saved him. I don't know CPR, and Raph sure doesn't know CPR. He didn't die, you didn't fail him. You saved him. If it wasn't for you, our need for an antidote would have stopped there. I know you promised him Donnie, but you didn't have to. Mikey trusts in your abilities, we all do. I know this is too much riding on you, I know it's hard to handle. But you can do this! You can! You saved him numerous of times, you saved us numerous of times. You have gotten us out of sticky situations! You set our broken bones and bandage our nasty cuts! You do the best you can when it comes to serious medical emergencies! You do the impossible, and you do it when none of us have hope."
Donnie finally breaks down for the third time and leans into Leo, burying his face into the leaders neck. Sobs pour out of him as Leo just rubs the back of his shell.
"You saved him...us...a thousand times over. And you will do it again." Leo continues softly as he holds his brother.
Donnie pulls away slightly, still hugging Leo,
"Thank you." He smiles and it makes Leo smile. Donnie's smile has been absent from his face in the last devastating hours, replaced with fear and frustration.
"You got this." Leo's smile is huge and matching Don's.
Don opens his mouth to say something back until they hear a strange choking sound. Instant fear both widens their eyes as the look towards the counter, expecting to see a hallucinating Mikey.
Except...it's not Mikey. It's Raph.
He grips at the hands holding his neck tight and tries to pry them off, no luck. His eyes are open wide and staring into the face of his younger brother. Donnie and Leo are both too shocked to act right away, they stare at Michelangelo strangling Raph. Mikey's face is clouded, dark and determined. His eyes are ablaze with anger and vengeance as he squeezes the red masked turtles throat. The most frightening part is, he almost seems to be enjoying it.
"Michelangelo, Stop!" Leo yells out, and is the first to react. He makes his way to his brothers and steps in the middle. He struggles to get Mikey's hands off of Raphs throat. He works on unprying his fingers and soon Donnie was pulling at the strangling turtle, trying to get Raph out of Mikey's reach. Finally they unhook the hands off of the second eldest and he falls out of harms away. Raph buckles to the floor and coughs, trying to breath again. Gulping in air and holding his hand up to his throat, feeling the sore and already bruised neck.
Mikey is staring down, breathing heavily and gritting his teeth. He is shaking visibly with what seems to be anger. Leo shuffles closer slowly and Mikey's head instantly snaps up. Leo gasps and automatically takes a step back in what he sees. His eyes are bright with rage and a drive to kill. Whatever Leo was looking at, it was not his baby brothers shockingly sweet blue eyes, they were cold, harsh, and fierce.
"That is not Michelangelo"
As soon as Leo says it, the rampaging turtle pounces at Leo and tackles him to the floor. He sits astride him and begins to punch his face, hard.
Over. And over. And over.
Mikey lashes out with his fists, so quickly that Leo is struggling to block them. Blood starts to trickle down Leo's face and Mikey's knuckles, but he keeps going. Leo pushes at Mikey, trying to get him off but the turtle just yells out with a war like shout and begins to punch harder, pushing down on Leo's plastron to keep him in this position.
"Mikey! Stop" Donnie screams and tries to pull Mikey away from Leo, but the turtle shoves him off and continues. Don looks around the lab quickly, where is it? He kept it near just in case!
His shaky hands knock over some equipment in an anxious search to find the tranquilizer.
Aha! He grabs it and turns back around. Raph is struggling to hold a thrashing and yelling Mikey down on the ground. He must have managed to get him away from Leo, somehow. But Leo is still laying on the ground bleeding. Conscious, but barely.
Donnie looks back at the struggling turtles. Mikey starts to kick out with his legs because his arms are being held down, but Raph's hold is beginning to loosen and Mikey is flailing out of his grip.
"Donnie!" Raph wheezes out with a sore and hoarse voice from being strangled.
Don snaps out of his bewilderment and runs towards them. He kneels on the ground and injects the syringe into Mikey, then they wait for the drug to knock him unconscious. Mikey starts to howl and shout out in desperation like a wild animal, but Donnie can barely hear it. Leo's words were still pounding through his head and screaming in his ears,
That is not Michelangelo.
Heh Heh Heh. WHAT HAVE I DONE? c: