DISCLAIMER – Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I just love writing about the turtles. I don't own them, but then some of my best fun is playing with someone else's toys.
As a side-note, for some reason, this chapter was hard to write. I wasn't completely satisfied with it, but - then - I rarely am with any of my writings. That's why I often re-tool some of them. So, with that said, I am open to any reasonable critiques and suggestions. Of course, I always am. -
Chapter 12 – Battling Demons
Because Splinter and Mike had rushed into the kitchen to break up the fight between Leo and Raph, Donnie was the first to notice Beth's mental stupor.
He wasn't too surprised that she had lapsed into it, either.
Considering the girl's old scars, he was certain she had gone through some type of trauma at one time or another. With Leo's violent rebuttal to Raph's confrontation with her, Beth's reaction was typical of someone who had gone through a horrific experience. Her catatonic state, coupled with the way she had reacted to seeing Splinter, only confirmed Don's previous assumptions that the girl was suffering from some sort of psychosis.
While his sensei and Mike attempted to quell the battle in the other room, Don slowly eased over to the end of the couch next to where Beth sat rigid in her chair.
She had her back straight, with her arms lying along the tops of her thighs. Her hands hung over the edges of her knees, palms turned down, and she was shaking just a little. Don gently reached out and lightly touched Beth on the top of her right hand, the one closest to him. He then, ever so slightly, caressed the area where her knuckles were.
As softly as he could, yet loud enough to be heard above the din coming from the kitchen, he called out to her, "Beth…Beth, you need to snap out of it. You're safe here. Leo only tried to defend you is all. No one's going to harm you," he said soothingly. He watched as her eyes remained fixed on some point in the lair as she stared straight ahead, unblinking. He then took her right hand in his. Tenderly, he massaged it, running his fingers over the length of hers in an attempt to stimulate enough of a sensation to break her cycle of catatonia.
She blinked once.
It gave Donatello hope that he was on the correct path to re-awakening her. Yet, he was certain the ruckus in the kitchen was not helping matters any. With shouts coming from Splinter, demanding that Raphael 'stand down', and the cacophony of noise coming from the two embattled brothers, Don knew it would be impossible to break the girl's fixation while she was still in the living area.
Sighing, he knew that he would have to get Beth clear of the brawl in order to arouse her.
"Beth, let's stand up," Don softly coaxed, taking her one hand that he held in his as he gently slipped his other arm around her back. When he found her resisting just a little, he exerted a bit more insistence with his uplift.
However, the moment he did, it seemed to be the one act to trigger Beth's reawakening.
All the same, it was not the kind of emergence that Don had desired.
Jerking violently back and staring at him in abject horror, Beth's eyes suddenly went wide with fright. Then, an almost primal scream emanated deep from within her. Jumping up out of her seat and ripping her right hand out from Don's grasp, she jerked her left around towards him. Now, she flailed at him with both hands in a frantic windmill-style fashion, while kicking at him at the same time with her feet.
Don expertly ducked and dodged the girl's wild, attempt to strike him, efficiently avoiding her nails as she tried to find purchase along his plastron. He knew that Beth was oblivious to what she was doing. Nevertheless, he also knew he had to contain her in order to keep the girl from harming herself.
Before he could, however, Beth began to scramble backwards as she tried to get away.
The expression on her face was one of pure terror, almost as if she were seeing Don as someone else entirely. As she fought her subconscious miscreants, she crawled up onto her chair. Finding the back of the seat prohibitive to her escape, she scaled it, only to end up forcing the chair over and onto the floor with a resounding crash.
She tumbled awkwardly along the ground, sprawling like a rag doll as the force of impact silenced her verbal outbursts.
As Don watched her clamber up over the chair and as the chair fell backwards, he quickly moved around the toppled furniture to retrieve the girl. The last thing Don wanted was for Beth to hurt herself and, in the process, force her wound to open once again. Considering her present emotional state, he doubted very much if the girl would be as cooperative in letting him re-wrap her a second time.
Meanwhile, Mike was in the kitchen, trying to intervene between his two embattled brothers while, at the same time, keeping a safe distance. He watched as Leo and Raphael punched and slugged at each other furiously. Both found their mark against their opponent more frequently than not, which fueled their fight even more.
Yet, because of his wounds and, more than likely, because of his amnesia, Leonardo's usually quick reflexes were slower than they would be normally. Consequently, his bandaged arms and legs were beginning to bleed again.
Now, more than before, Mike became increasingly concerned.
It seemed that Splinter felt the same way, as well. Trying to distract the situation, his cane found its mark on Raphael more often than on Leo.
"RAPAHEL!" the rat yelled, "I ORDER YOU TO STAND DOWN!" he insisted, quickly maneuvering in when the opportunity presented itself and smacking Raph behind his knees.
Growling, Raph only fought harder, snarling in pent-up frustration.
Initially, Leonardo did not know what had possessed him to clock his brother in the jaw. He only knew at the time that the girl seemed threatened. He had become her protector of sorts, or so it seemed to him. When Raph postured himself so aggressively in front of Beth, Leo's reaction almost seemed automatic. It was almost as if it was customary for him to do so.
Just the same, the ensuing brawl with Raphael took the blue-banded turtle completely off-guard.
Now, Leo was trying to defend himself more than trying to protect the girl. As it was, something deep inside the turtle emboldened him to press onwards; to get this one called Raphael to tire of the fight. All the same, the longer they 'went at it' the harder the one in red continued to fight. Consequently, Leonardo was the one who began to tire first. With his injuries and his memory-lapse in ninja fighting, his lack of tactical strategy impeded his stamina.
Unlike Leo, though, Mike knew all too well that once Raph was 'rage engaged' – as he liked to put it – there wasn't any stopping him, at least, not until something of greater distraction, other than a walking cane, interrupted him.
Such as a blood-curdling scream.
In that moment of Beth's ear-piercing shriek, the sound cut through the anger and offense that fueled Raphael's fury. As his mind snapped back to reality, he finally saw the now-growing spread of pink as it stained the bandages along his brother's exposed arms and legs. As Leonardo threw another long fisted reach in his direction, Raph quickly dodged to the left to avoid it.
As Leo's arm fully extended and as he anticipated hitting his target, the target suddenly disappeared right in front of him. That alone surprised him. Yet, Leonardo's action also forced him completely off balance, causing him to fall forward and towards the edge of the kitchen counter. However and just before he would have crashed headlong into it, a pair of strong arms wrapped around Leo from behind, abruptly stopping his descent.
"It's done, bro. Stop!" Raph panted loudly, grimacing as he finally realized the extent of the kind of pummeling he had given Leo. The fresh bruises along his brother's arms and chest were a testament that Raphael had found his mark more frequently than Leo had.
Just the same, his brother still struggled violently, caught up in the heat of the fight, yet just as confused by it as he was initially. Finally, after a moment of trying unsuccessfully to twist out from Raphael's strong embrace, the blue-banded turtle surrendered. Now, he slumped in his brother's arms, gasping for breath as he did. He was spent and exhausted – and he hurt, too; in more places than he did before. However, due to his physical exertion, Leo's headache returned. It throbbed painfully, making him dizzy and almost ill as a result.
In the next moment, he felt dizzy and then nausea washed over him. As it did and before he could say anything, he retched up whatever tea he had ingested earlier.
All Raph could do was to hold onto him and groan miserably.
Mike, by now, had heard Beth's scream and, seeing that his other two brothers had finally stopped their fighting, turned his attention to the girl.
Don was currently struggling with Beth as she further resisted his attempts to help her. Although her screaming had stopped the moment she had fallen, she was still physically resisting the turtle.
"Just let her go, Don!" Mike suggested anxiously.
"She's not fully conscious, Mike," his brother explained in exasperation and then pointedly said, "If I do, she might try to run. I'm afraid she believes she's somewhere else entirely." Donatello had Beth in his arms, now. However, she was still flailing about, batting him repeatedly in the head with her hands as he attempted to latch on to them with one of his.
"Well, what are you going to do with her, then?" his brother asked sarcastically, "Tie her up?"
"Might not - be a bad idea - for now!" Don grunted through clenched teeth. He finally succeeded in grabbing her hands, effectively keeping Beth from hitting him further. The girl was still wreathing in his embrace, however, kicking out at unseen foes and monsters. Puffing from physical exertion, Don grouched, "If she doesn't calm down, soon, she's going to make things worse!"
"Well, sounds to me like it's time to sedate her." Mike declared good-naturedly. He then sprinted off towards one of the sub cars, where they had transformed part of it into a supply room. The remaining half was their designated bathroom, complete with bathtub, sink, and other amenities.
By this time, Leonardo had calmed down enough to where Raph could let go of him. It was then that the red-banded turtle rubbed his now-bruised chin.
"Ya might have fergotten who ya are, Leo, but I don't' think yer fists have," he growled as he stepped cautiously away from him. He looked down at the ground and, seeing the mess that Leo had made, groaned, "Seems ya have some cleanin' up ta do, too," and as he looked at his own feet, "an' I guess I do, as well. Yuck."
Dazed by the whole ordeal, Leonardo turned around, bewilderment and fatigue edging his words, "I – I don't know what happened to me. I just – hit you!" he stammered out in shock. He, too, felt the newer emerging bruises along his body, noticing for the first time that some of his wrappings seemed tinged with pink.
Chuckling sardonically, Raph shook his head as he turned away, "And kept on hitting me. Fer the record, Leo, it hasn't been th'first time, either." As Raph pivoted to exit the kitchen, his father stood in his way. Noticing the rat's piercing dark eyes addressing him, the turtle stopped and exclaimed, "Sorry, Sensei. But, he hit first."
"You could have chosen not to reply!" the rat exclaimed between clenched teeth.
"True, but I was hope'n to knock some mem'ry back int'em." Raphael smirked, cocking his head a little.
"And - did you succeed?" Splinter asked sardonically, his nose up in obvious disdain.
"Well," as his son looked back over at Leo, "if ya wanted t'find out if he can still r'member how to fight," then returned his gaze to his father as he said, "ya, I think I did!"
Splinter grumped as he firmly tapped his cane against the concrete floor of the kitchen, "Considering your brother's injuries, Raphael, I would think you would have shown more restraint."
Shrugging his shoulders, Raph gave a short bow and then continued out of the kitchen, mumbling, "Yeah, one would think, eh, Sensei." As he came into the living area and noticed Don grappling with Beth, he laughed, "Hey, Don, need a hand?" and then began to clap. "Guess yer out-matched bro and by a woman, no less." Receiving a frustrated glare from his genius brother, Raph laughed as he worked around the two and proceeded towards the bathroom. "Need to check out these bruises and see if I'm gonna need plastic surgery or somethin'." He sniggered as he went, obviously enjoying the fallout from his fight with Leo.
"Leonardo," Splinter asked as he walked up to his son in the kitchen, "you need to have Donatello check your bandages. I fear the fight between you and Raphael has re-opened some of your wounds."
"Yes, I can see that, Sensei," Leo frowned as he looked over his injuries. He then glanced up at the rat and attempted to read his expression, finding the task daunting at best. Just the same, he felt truly awful for how he had behaved and lowered his eyes away from Splinter, "I'm – sorry for hitting Raphael. I – I don't know what happened." Looking back up at his sensei, Leo went on, "It was as if 'something' forced me to. I thought how he talked to Beth was rude. I could – sense that she didn't have any malice, in fact, while we were still in your quarters, she felt truly afraid of him."
"Yes, my son, I know; I sensed it, too." Splinter sighed as he studied Leonardo for a moment and then remarked, "I will talk to your brother about this, but right now, you need to help Donatello calm the girl so he can take care of you."
"Yes," Leo admitted, "I'll go and see what I can do." He then walked out of the kitchen and into the living area of the lair. What he saw pierced his heart terribly.
Beth was now in tears, crying almost pitifully as her catatonic psychosis rendered her to near collapse. She wasn't struggling as much, since Mike had just returned from the infirmary and had darted her with a diluted version of their tranquilizer drug. Don was just in the process of carrying her back to Splinter's car, when Leo approached him.
"Let me," he asked.
"No, Leo, you're as much in need of medical care as she is. I'll get her situated in bed and have Mikey watch her. Then, I'll take care of you. Once I'm done, you can relieve Mike, okay?" Don suggested.
Leo nodded, but then grimaced as he asked, "I wouldn't mind some more aspirin, either. That headache's back again."
"No doubt!" Don mused dryly as he left Leo to take Beth back to Splinter's sub car.