A/N: HOLY COW! Has it really been a year since I updated this story? Wow! I did not think my writer's block was that bad. I am so sorry. *runs and hides under bed* Please don't hurt me. I promise I'll be good. I swear.
Disclaimer: see chapter one
"Leo," a voice echoed in the darkness. "Leo, wake up."
Leonardo groaned groggily. Someone patted his cheek, trying to rouse him. He groaned again, squeezing his eyes tightly closed, trying to banish the harsh light.
"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. Up and at 'em."
Leonardo finally managed to crack his eyes open. His vision swam, the world spun dizzily. His stomach churned violently. He rolled over on to his hands and knees and emptied his stomach contents. He felt a hand on his shell, patting his back.
"Easy does it, Leo," Donatello said.
Leonardo wiped his mouth, looking around. The Foot ninjas were gone, and that meant Raphael was too. He tried to stand up, but only served to make the world spin more. Leonardo collapsed back on his knees, moaning in discomfort.
"Where are they?" he choked out.
"They're long gone by now," Michelangelo grumbled.
Leonardo slammed his fist against the concrete roof. "We lost him. We were too late and we lost him."
Donatello and Michelangelo got to their feet. "Time to start tracking," the purple masked brother said.
"You guys go, I need to think," Leonardo told them.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I'll catch up."
The older brothers headed off, leaving Leonardo alone with his thoughts. The blue masked turtle sat back on his legs, mind spinning wildly. He got to his feet and made his way down to the burial site. The small area showed signs of an obvious struggle. Leonardo knelt down in front of the grave marker.
"I wish you guys were here," he whispered. "You would have been better suited to save Raph. You would have figured it out before I did." He hung his head. "Why did you two have to die?"
A voice carried on the wind. Leonardo looked around, expecting to see someone. The voice came again, foreign, yet familiar at the same time.
"And who says we would have been able to save him?"
Leonardo's eyes widened as two figures appeared around a tree. They looked like younger versions of himself, but one wore a gold mask while the other wore silver.
"Titian? Andrea?"
The turtles smiled. "See, Andy? Told ya he'd remember."
"Guess I owe you a dollar, now, huh?"
"Am I dreaming?" Leonardo asked, putting a hand to his head.
"This is real," Titian said. "You're not dreaming."
"How am I seeing you? You're-"
"Dead?" Andrea finished, tilting his head slightly. He smiled. "You always seemed to be the more spiritual of the six of us."
"You definitely saw more ghosts than we did," Titian put in.
Leonardo looked up at his brothers. "Why now? Why am I seeing you now?"
"Because you need too," they answered in unison.
Leonardo held his head in his hands. "This wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be me, not you. They were trying to kill me."
"Yeah, because they knew how awesome you were going to be," Andrea said.
Leonardo looked up at him. "Awesome? I'm the weakest link. The kink in the chain. I can barely get a kata right."
Titian walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "That's because you won't embrace it, Leo."
Leonardo frowned. "Embrace what?"
Andrea hit his fist against his chest. "Your inner super soldier."
Leonardo felt the ground give out from under him. "What?"
Titian held his hands out. "It's you, Leo. It's always been you."
Andrea stepped up. "You're the special one, bro."
"I'm not...I can't be..."
Titian gave Leonardo a shake. "Embrace it, Leo. You're the elite. The chosen one."
"You're the super soldier," Andrea concluded.
He was slammed back into his body with a violent force. Raphael jolted awake, hissing against the harsh white light. His vision blurred, stomach churning.
He blinked his eyes open, looking around to find himself tied to a chair in a lab of some sort. It was the lab of Donatello's dreams. Raphael shook his head, fighting to clear the fog.
"Oh, good, you're awake," came a voice from the whiteness.
Raphael turned to look right. A man in his early thirties stood in the doorway. His short black hair was slicked back with not a strand out of place. His soulless dark eyes gleamed menacingly.
"And you are?" Raphael asked.
"The name's Saito. But, you know me better as Shredder."
Raphael's body tensed. Saito grinned, pushing off the door frame. He walked over to the turtle and stood in front of him.
"You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment," Saito said.
"I've got a score to settle with you," Raphael growled.
Saito smirked. "Ah, yes. That little thing about dropping a building on your head."
"You killed my brothers!" Raphael roared, pulling against the chains.
"In my defence, I was only trying to kill one of your brothers," Saito replied. "The other two just got in the way."
Raphael jerked forward, chains bringing up tight, cutting into his arms. His blood boiled hot in his veins. Saito grinned as he moved towards a table, picking up a syringe.
A silvery liquid flowed inside the syringe. Saito tested the needle as he made his way back to Raphael.
"Do you know what this is?"
Raphael shook his head. "Should I?"
"This is what you've been afraid of your whole life."
Raphael's heart sank. "The serum," he whispered in horror.
Saito smiled darkly. "It's the reason your blue masked brother survived and the other two didn't. The reason for your mutation. The reason for your very existence."
Raphael swallowed thickly, heart hammering painfully against his ribs.
"Of course it was only in the early stages of development back then," Saito continued. "You six may have all mutated, but it only stayed in one of you. Ironic that it stayed in the weakest of the lot."
"So, what? You're gonna mutate a rabbit now?" Raphael asked.
Saito chuckled. "My friend, the serum has been perfected. My army is but a needle prick away. It just needs to be tested."
Raphael cringed, knowing the hidden message, knowing who the unlucky candidate for the injection was.
"How does it feel, Raphael?" Saito asked. "Knowing that you're going to be the one to destroy your own family?"