A/N: Alright! Sorry this took so long... I had quite a fight with that writer's block. I decided to post this since you've all been waiting for awhile. I'm still not absolutely postive about it, but I'll make sure to let you all know if anything changes, okay? Here are some review replies before we get started.
First off, congrats to vulpixfairy and Kirby-Chan263 (on your second guess) for guessing the bad guy! If anyone knows if this guy has a name, let me know and I'll fix it right away. Katielgk and Tree... well, you guys already knew, so I can't really give you credit for it. You know how that goes. CheatersBaby, don't worry - there'll be quite a bit of "the voice" in this one. As to the rest of you, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! You guys are awesome, and I wanna especially thank narutosfangurl for "organizing" the reviewers to hold of the writer's block! You rock! . I was overwhelmed by the amount of reviews, and I only need about four more to beat the amount of reviews for "Chosen". But don't stop - keep it up! I'd absolutely LOVE to see this break 100 reviews... but I won't hold my breath. So, thanks again!!
Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine. Just the plot line. And in this one, not even the bad guy is mine.
Mikey smiled as he dropped down into the nearby manhole. Did you catch all of that? he told the voice in the back of his mind. You're wrong. Absolutely wrong.
Just wait. In time, you'll come to recognize the truth. When your brothers are lying cold and lifeless on the ground because of your mistakes, you'll realize that they were wrong. It'll be your fault. It always is.
Mikey frowned, kicking at a loose piece of mortar. "That's not going to happen. It won't be my fault if it doesn't happen," he muttered aloud.
Listening to lies again?
They aren't lies. They aren't. The guys were right - it isn't my fault. It isn't my fault. "It isn't my fault. It's not," he murmured.
You just keep telling yourself that. Maybe someday you'll believe it.
Kind of a smart aleck, aren't you?
Well, I am you, after all.
No, you're not! You're not me, and you'll never be me! Never!
That, too. Keep telling yourself that, too. Perhaps you'll convince yourself - right before everything goes to hell in a hand basket.
Is there any way to shut you off?
No. And they were lying. You'll see. You'll come to accept the truth… in time.
"It is not my fault," Mikey said emphatically.
"On the contrary, my good man, it is absolutely your fault," a voice suddenly called.
Mikey jumped, whirling around as he felt a small sting on his forearm. He looked down to see a feathered dart sticking out from his skin. When he caught sight of his assailant, he gasped and backed up a step. "You!" he exclaimed.
The man grinned as he stepped forward. It was the hunter that had nearly killed Leatherhead and all of the turtles. Half of his face was gone, replaced by hard, cold metal. His left arm and leg had also been replaced, and three of the fingers on his right hand were made of steel. As he stepped forward, Mikey could hear the mechanical whir of a motor. He stumbled back as the drugged dart began to slowly take effect.
"I've finally got one of you. You and your lot ruined my life. I'm more of a machine than a human now, and it's all your fault," the hunter growled, raising his gun again. "The next shots are loaded with a fast-acting poison. See if you can outrun them," he growled, his finger squeezing the trigger.
Time suddenly seemed to move in slow motion for Mikey. Before he realized it, he was diving out of the way. The dart whizzed by him, barely missing his right arm. He tucked himself into a roll and landed. Time sped up again, and the hunter stared at him in shock. "You're fast," he breathed. "Guess I'll just have to wait for the tranquilizer to fully kick in," he added in growl, aiming the gun again.
Mikey took off down the sewer, ignoring the painful throbbing of his ankle and the fuzziness at the corners of the vision. "How the shell did I do that?" he wondered aloud as he started twisting and turning through the side tunnels.
Imagine. If you did that on your own - you would be a thousand times faster with the power.
"Not now," he muttered. And I don't think I want to go any faster, thanks, he added silently.
He heard the pop of the gun and ducked. Another dart flew over his head. Are you sure about that? He's gonna catch you, you know.
Maybe he will. But I still don't want it, Mikey thought, nearly tripping over his own feet as the world began to spin. He threw himself around another corner. It isn't worth it.
Then his foot caught on a loose brick and he went tumbling head over heels. He gasped in pain as his arm crashed into his chest, jarring his still-healing ribs and sending slivers of pain through his chest. His burned hands tingled, and his ankle was practically screaming at him. He landed flat on his shell, dizzy and disoriented. He shook his head to clear it, then got to his feet and started running again. Over the pulse pounding in his ears, he heard the hunter say, "Persistent little bugger."
I sure wish I hadn't left my weapons back at the lair, Mikey thought. All I have is… duh! Shell cell! If he had time, Mikey would've slapped himself. Instead, he pulled out his phone as he ran into a smaller branch of the sewer. You wanted to help me, guys? Well, come help me, please! he thought as he opened the phone. Huh. Since when does Don's phone have two sets of buttons? And when did I get an extra thumb on my left hand?
Mikey shook his head again and pressed the first speed dial. Leo's name flashed on the screen, and Mikey held the phone to his ear as he kept running. His vision was very blurry now, and despite his best efforts, he was starting to slow down. He knew the hunter had to be toying with him - he could've caught up a long time ago. He tried to keep running as the phone rang on the other end.
"Again!" Splinter called encouragingly as Leo finished another kata.
Leo bowed, then took a deep breath and settled into the first stance. But as he was about to begin, the phone in his belt vibrated. He immediately whipped it out with an apologetic look to his sensei. Splinter just smiled faintly, shaking his head. "Kids and their phones," he murmured.
Leo frowned as he looked at the number. "Don's number? But he's here-" Leo suddenly froze when he remembered Don handing Mikey his shell cell. He immediately answered it. "Mikey? What's wrong?"
"Leo, you gotta 'elp," Mikey said between breaths. His words sounded slurred.
"Where are you? What's happening?" Leo demanded. Raph paused in his daily beating of his punching bag to look at his brother. Don looked up from the book he was reading, and a worried look crossed Splinter's forehead.
"Hunter dude's back - shootin' a' me," Mikey replied weakly.
"Mikey, where - are - you?" Leo asked slowly.
On the other end, Mikey paused and looked around. "In a sewer somewhere… I dunno… jus' started runnin'," he slurred. He rounded a corner and leaned back against the wall, sliding down to the ground. "He got me wi' a dar'."
Leo's eyes widened. "Hang on, bro, we're coming," he said, nodding at his brothers and heading for the Sewer Slider.
See? I told you. A liability and a hassle - that's all you are.
Mikey closed his eyes as blackness began to cover up the blurriness, his heart heavy with a sudden realization. Aw, shell. If they come, then he'll try to… "Leo, don't. He'll jus' get you, too," he moaned.
"Mikey, we are coming to get you," Leo said firmly as they climbed in the Sewer Slider.
"You shouldn't. 'S'too late, anyway," Mikey whispered before the phone slipped from his hand. Before he passed out, he heard a faint chuckle in the corners of his mind.
I warned you.
"Mikey? Mikey!" Leo screamed as he heard the phone drop on the ground. "Mikey! Answer me, bro! Come on! Mikey!"
He suddenly froze when he heard a faint chuckle. There was a rustling noise as the phone was picked up. "Even giant turtles have cell phones these days," a voice muttered. Leo's throat went dry as the voice continued, "Listen, whoever's on the other end of this thing. I've got your friend now. You want him back, you track him down. I'll be waiting." Then the line suddenly went dead.
Leo slowly turned to look in horror at his brothers. "He's got him. He's got Mikey," he whispered.
"Who, Leo? Who?" Raph demanded.
"That - that hunter we tangled with awhile back. He's got Mikey," Leo repeated.
"You've got to be joking. How the shell did that guy survive?" Raph moaned, slumping back in his seat as Don sped up. The purple-masked turtle hit a button on the dash, and a blip suddenly appeared on a small screen. It was moving away.
"He must be taking him somewhere," Don said tersely. He glanced at Leo out of the corner of his eye. "Why did Mikey get caught in the first place? I figured with his skills, he'd be able to handle anything."
"He said he got hit with a dart," Leo replied quietly. "He was either drugged or…" They all stared ahead uneasily at the remaining possibility.
Raph stared down at his clenched fist. The knuckles were already white. He tried to force them to relax, but it didn't work. He was too angry - and scared. Angry at the hunter for hurting his brother; scared for what he may have done or what he would do to Mikey. Just hang on, bro. We're coming. We're coming.
A/N: So there you have it! In case anyone is wondering, or has forgotten, the hunter appeared in the episode called "Hunted"... season 3, episode 8, I do believe. Not a bad episode at all! But now I really need some reviews... this is just about all that I have written... writer's block is such a pain. I promise to keep working on it as much as I can and to have it out as soon as I can, but this is a busy month for me - we've got a lot of family out at the moment, and that eats up a lot of my spare time. The only promise I can make is that there WILL be more... I just don't know when. It may take me awhile, but I WILL get it - I hate to leave a job unfinished! So review, review, review, and we'll see you all later!
moogsthewriter