Just wanted to give a shout out to Griffon of the Night for your continued support! =)
And now on with the show...
Chapter 12
Raphael looked around his room when he awoke. He was alone. He hadn't really expected her to stay, but he could not let the tinge of disappointment from coursing through him. He yawned and got out of bed. It was around noon. He felt his stomach begin to growl. He remembered then, Katherine's answer from last night. 'I Hunger' She had said. This thought made him shiver a little. There was something about the way she said it that he got the impression that there were multiple hungers at work. He shook his head and got dressed before leaving his room to find some food.
He walked into the kitchen where he found Casey and April sitting at the table with his brothers.
"Morning." he grumbled.
"So, how was your date Raph?" Casey asked curiously.
He looked at his brothers and shrugged. "She'll be back." Raphael said as he walked over to the fridge and decided what to have for breakfast.
He cooked some bacon and eggs, grabbed a glass of orange juice and sat down at the table.
"I don't know Raph, most chicks don't disappear at the end of a good date." Casey observed.
Raphael grunted as he shoved more food into his mouth.
"Is she still the same Donny?" April asked.
"Yes." Raphael answered with conviction as he jammed another fork full of eggs into his mouth.
Donatello looked at him. "Well she isn't...the same, no." Donatello shook his head.
"Yes she is Donny." Raphael growled as he stood up.
Donatello frowned at him. "Raph, she isn't the same, but that doesn't mean she isn't her.She was..." Donatello paused.
"You can talk Donny, Kitten's warded this place against all of the spiritual, supernatural baddies." Raphael said as he finished off his breakfast and put his dishes in the sink.
Leonardo frowned at him. "When did she tell you that Raph?"
"Last night, after I went to bed. She popped by for a visit." He said softly as he sat back down in his chair. "You're right Donny. She isn't the same, but I guess that makes sense after what she went through, but considering what she could have done, and what she is doing..."
He looked at his brother's confused looks. Leonardo looked confused and jealous. "She only stayed for a bit, I think. I don't know, I fell asleep, but I talked to her for a few minutes." He said softly. "Anyway, she could have killed Baёl. Could have killed his family, could have done any number of horrible things to him, and I don't think her threat was an idle one. She will kill if she needs to, but if she doesn't have to, she won't. She's changin' Hell. She's making the demons more...human I guess. Well actually Sam is technically." He said with a shrug.
Leonardo slowly nodded. "So she's grown up. Become the woman she would have been."
"With the added bonus of ruling Hell. Interesting career choice." Michelangelo put in.
April frowned. "You know you guys are way out of her league right? It sounds as if this could be dangerous for you."
Red lights and alarms began blazing. Raphael and his brother's jumped up in surprise. Donatello ran to his workroom.
He began furiously typing at his keyboard. "The outer perimeter alarm has been tripped."
Smoke suddenly began filling the lair. Raphael covered his mouth as he began coughing. His vision went blurry and his eyelids felt too heavy. He felt himself fall.
Leonardo blurrily opened his eyes. He could feel that his arms were over his head and bound together with something.
"Well look who's decided to wake up." A deep voice rumbled close to his ear. His eyes focused upon the scarred face of Hun who was talking to Raphael. "You don't look so good, but then I thought for sure you were dead, so I suppose you look pretty good for a dead turtle." He sneered.
Leonardo's eyes took in his surroundings. He was chained up against a wall. Raphael was beside him. Michelangelo and Donatello were chained up to a metal wall opposite from them. They appeared to be in a warehouse of some sort. The buzzing of fluorescent lights filled the air. He had no idea how long they had been unconscious for. He struggled against the steel that bound his wrists.
Hun chuckled, turned and punched him in the jaw. Leonardo could feel the fuzzy blackness of unconsciousness trying to pull him back down.
"I was tempted to just kill you while you lay unconscious, but what fun would that be?" Hun asked as he shifted and punched Raphael in the gut.
"The empty van." Leonardo said as he spat out some blood.
"The empty van." Hun said with a vicious smile. "There was no shipment, but I needed something to lure you out. You had been oddly quiet of late. I should have know that the red one managed to survive and that you were just recovering, but my scouts saw you one night, just three turtles running on the rooftops. My scout lost you, but then I had a plan. My forces covered the city spreading rumours of a shipment. We set up a time and a place and all we had to do was wait. You aren't the only ones with access to tracking devices. It was so easy to slip one onto your truck while you were distracted. It was simple after that to force our way into where you were hiding and then the knock out gas. Simple, effective and easy."
Donatello groaned in pain. Donatello didn't look very good. He was pale, sweating and shaking slightly.
"Donny?" Michelangelo asked in worry.
"I told you idiots not to rough them up too much on the way." Hun growled.
There were 7 other Red Dragons armed with guns, all of which were trained on them. Raphael looked around.
"Where's April? Where's Casey?" He asked in panic.
"Your human friends are enjoying my hospitality as well. You see ,I couldn't just leave them after all, they would have somehow found a way to rescue you. I'm even going to be merciful and let them go once you have suffered enough and are dead." Hun said with a self satisfied grin.
Raphael pulled angrily at his bonds. "I don't believe you." He sneered. "I want you to prove to me that they are safe."
"Heh. Fine." He pulled out a phone. "If it will make your death's easier." He dialled a number and put it on speaker phone.
"Guys?" A frightened voice asked.
"April, you okay?" Leonardo asked worriedly into the phone.
"I'm fine." April said.
"April took a nasty tumble. She tripped and fell." Casey's worried voice cut in.
"I'm fine." April snapped. "Are you okay?" She asked, worried.
Hun closed his phone with a snap. "See, safe and sound." Hun tucked his phone into his pocket, walked over and elbowed Michelangelo in the stomach.
"When I get out of this..." Raphael growled pulling against his manacles.
Donatello made a muffled cry of pain.
Leonardo frowned and looked up at his wrists. His eyes widened. There was a table between them with various blades, prying tools, hammers as well as a few other objects he couldn't identify. There was a tarot card, one of the ones given to them by Katherine and Donatello's cuffs. "On no. Donny!" He cried in panic as Donatello began to scream in agony.
Hun walked up to Donatello and frowned. "Shut up." He said as he cuffed Donatello up the side of the head. Donatello still thrashed in pain.
"Someone shut him up." Hun said as he walked over to the table and grabbed a sledge hammer. "This should be fun." Hun said, his back was turned to them. A Red Dragon walked up to Donatello.
Leonardo thrashed against his bonds. "Leave him alone!" His eyes widened as the Red Dragon pulled out a bowie hunting knife and ran it straight through hard shell and into Donatello's heart.
Donatello's eyes widened in shock as blood soaked through his grey shirt. His eyes closed and he hung limply from his chains, the knife protruding from his chest.
The Red Dragon, who had murdered his brother, fell to the ground as the crack of a gun cut through the stunned silence.
"Donny!" He and his brother's screamed in anguish. Blood was running down his brother's chest to pool on the floor at his feet.
"I said shut him up. I didn't say permanently." Hun growled at the dead man on the ground. "Clean this up." He ordered as one Red Dragon came forward and began to drag the dead man away. Hun looked at his handgun and tossed it onto the table. "Now where were we. Oh yes, you and suffering until I get tired of playing with you."
Leonardo could feel the tears running hotly down his cheeks. "You are going to pay for that!" Leonardo yelled at him.
"And who do you figure is going to make me pay once I kill all of you?" Hun asked as he hefted up the sledgehammer and brought it down and across his leg.
Leonardo felt his world blacken as pain like nothing he ever felt before roared through his leg, traveling up and bursting through his brain like a thousand volts of electricity. He screamed in agony as he heard the breaking and shattering of his thigh bone.
Leonardo couldn't breathe, couldn't catch his breath. It felt as if his leg was being tormented by thousands upon thousands of tiny blades, each slicing slowly and painfully into his flesh. The slightest movement of his body was excruciating.
Leonardo could hear his brother's yelling his name, but their voices were too far away.
"Someone has killed something that was mine." An angry voice said from behind Hun.
Hun turned around in confusion. The Red Dragon's trained their guns on the cloaked figure behind them.
The Red Dragon's opened fire but they never seemed to be able to hit the figure. It looked as if it stood perfectly still and yet Leonardo knew she had to be moving.
"Stop shooting you idiots!" Hun screamed. "Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?" Hun yelled at her.
Nightmare pulled back her black hood and threw back her cape. Her wings rose, her horns glinted in the faint light of the warehouse lighting.
"I am Nightmare, and you have dared to touch something that belonged to me." Nightmare growled showing her fangs. "Though I suppose the one responsible is dead." She held out her hand, the bloody knife that had killed Donatello flew through the air. She caught the knife and licked some of the blood from the blade. "However, you hurt my lovers and attempted to harm me, for that, you must pay."
"Kill her!" Hun yelled, but all of their guns seemed to jam. The Red Dragons looked frantically at Hun.
"Oh it is not me you should be worrying about. You should be worrying about him." Nightmare said as she pointed the bloody knife behind Hun.
Leonardo dazedly looked to where Nightmare was pointing. He was fighting against the oblivion unconsciousness would give him.
He watched through black spotted vision as Donatello's head shot up. His eyes snapped open revealing golden-red coloured eyes. He smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant smile. He pulled his arms from the wall breaking the manacles and chains as if they were nothing but paper.
Donatello had eyes for no one but Nightmare. He ignored Hun and everyone around him. He walked over to Nightmare as Hun stumbled out of the way.
"It's impossible...he, he was dead." Hun stammered in shock.
Donatello knelt down on one knee in front of her. "What would you have me do, Mistress?" He asked, head bowed.
"Hurt them, do not kill them, and keep the big one moderately conscious." She said with a shrug.
Donatello turned his head and smiled bloodthirstily as he stood. "Are you sure Mistress? I can smell your blood, for that affront they must pay with their lives."
"A bullet did manage to find it's mark, but it is of no matter. You have your orders."
"Yes," Donatello's maniacal smile widened. "I do."
Leonardo looked at his brother in horror. Whatever that was, it was no longer his brother. The bloodthirsty look Donatello was giving the Red Dragons was one he never thought to see on his pacifist brother's face.
Donatello made short work of the Red Dragons. He moved faster than they could even see. The punches and the kicks were faster than the mortal eye could follow, making the Red Dragon goons seem like they were being attacked by an invisible force.
Nightmare was suddenly standing in front of him. She knelt down and looked at his leg. She reached out clawed fingers to touch it and Leonardo felt a whimper escape him, even though she hadn't touched him. Nightmare frowned, pulled her hand back and slashed at his leg. His jean leg fell to the ground in tattered shreds. Clawed fingers reached inside her cape and came out bloody. She smeared the blood down his leg. His breath hitched in pain as her soft touch sent another wave of piercing agony through him.
"It's okay Leonardo, just give me a minute." She said as she gently lay her hands on his injured leg.
Her hands began to glow golden as Leonardo's pain filled world suddenly began to disappear. A pleasant warmth seeped into the damaged muscle and bone and he could actually feel the bone and flesh begin to knit itself and heal. His face and body relaxed as Nightmare's warmth flowed through him. Nightmare pulled away and broke his chains. He tentatively stood on his now healed leg. He nodded that he was good and Nightmare set about releasing Michelangelo and Raphael.
They looked over to where Donatello was playing with Hun. Donatello gave one more crushing blow to Hun's face and the big man went down in a heap.
Donatello looked up and smiled. He was covered in blood, a lot of it his own, but some not.
"Mortals are no fun, they break so easily." Donatello said in a disappointed voice. He looked at Nightmare and watched her with hungry eyes.
"I thought I told you to leave him conscious." Nightmare said as she picked the Tarot card off of the table.
"You said moderately." Donatello said as he nudged Hun who groaned.
"So I did." Nightmare said.
Donatello stepped over Hun and stalked hungrily to Nightmare. He reached out and pulled up her clawed hand that was covered in her blood. She watched him as he studied the blood. He pulled her claws close and licked the blood from one of the clawed fingers. His eyes burned an even more bright reddish gold.
Michelangelo covered his mouth in horror. Leonardo looked at their lost brother grimly.
"I want some more." Donatello said to her.
"Later. We are not finished here yet." Donatello let go of her wrist and walked back over to Hun, easily picking him up off the floor by the back of his clothing. "So this is the man responsible for the Red Dragons." Nightmare said to them. Nightmare crouched down and looked at Hun who opened his eyes.
Leonardo had thought he would be more angry. Here Hun had finally been brought to his knees. He could finally get revenge against the man who had nearly taken the lives of two of his brothers, and yet even though his anger simmered just under the surface, he was willing to step aside and let Nightmare handle it. He didn't know why, but in a way, he almost felt sorry for Hun. Hun had just stepped into the deep end of the pool, and found a shark.
"Another mutant freak." Hun spat out.
Donatello shook him. Hun clenched his teeth together in pain, anger and fear. "She's not a mutant Hun." Michelangelo said softly. "She's Nightmare, and your worst."
"Very catchy Michelangelo.I will have to get Gabriel to put it on my buisness card. " She said with a smile. She held up the Tarot card between her fingers. Hun looked at it. "I told Samael to tell you to use your blood, smear it on the card and summon me when things get too dicey. I should not have to come because I felt one of you die. I suppose I could say 'luckily it was Donatello, at least he was mostly demon before he was killed', but I won't acknowledge that because it pains me to think of it that way." Nightmare said as she tapped the card against her lips. "Which brings us back to you." She said shifting her attention back to Hun. Her eyes bled to red. "If I kill you, it will be too easy and I will just have to deal with you in Hell since you are definitely not going to visit that great white cloud in the sky." She said with a vicious smile.
Hun looked confused and looked at the Tarot card again. Leonardo could see him trying to work out 2 and 2 and getting 5 except in this case, 5 was the right answer.
Nightmare stood. "You touch them again, and I will curse you with eternal life." She grinned. "And don't think that may sound not too bad, because eternal life doesn't mean impervious and it doesn't mean you can heal. And then, free of the Accords, I will tear you apart into small pieces of meat. My demon," She pointed to Donatello."Will then put all oll of your tiny screaming bits into a sack. This nice bloody screaming sack of torment and pain wil then be dragged to Hell, where I will throw you into the deepest, darkest, hottest pit of Hell where your flesh will burn for an eternity. And finally when I feel merciful, I will Destory your very soul. Do I make myself clear?" She questioned him.
Hun's eyes had widened. "Who? What are you?" He whispered in terror.
Raphael crouched down. "Nightmare, but she also goes by the name of Morning Star, as to what she is, you can just call her, The Devil."
A Hell gate opened behind Nightmare. Leonardo could see the rolling orange clouds of Hell. Anytime any of the Hell gates had opened it was usually silent and an even temperature. Now he could hear the screams, and feel the intense heat emanating from the gate.
Samael in his demonic form stepped out, spreading his wings wide. His yellow eyes gleamed angrily. His cloven hooves struck the floor as he rose up to his full 6'6" height.
His eyes roved over them and stopped at Nightmare. He got down on one shaggy goat knee and bowed. "You have need of me My Lady Morning Star?"
"Yes. Give me the Master list." She said as samael handed her a scroll. The scroll turned into a huge tome. She opened it, read through a few pages, smiled, and gave the 'list' back to Samael. "That will be all." She motioned for Samael to leave, the Hell gate closing behind him.
"He been working out?" Raphael asked.
"You could say that." She said with quirk of her lips. Her eyes were again green and turned themselves back to Hun. "I might have a use for you." She said with a smile that showed her fangs. Hun quivered in fear. Nightmare laughed and patted Hun's cheek. "This will be fun." She winked and then punched Hun hard in the face, his eyes rolled up into his head. Donatello dropped him in disgust as Nightmare tucked the Tarot card into Hun's pocket and stood. She frowned as she scented the air.
"I smell blood." Donatello said softly.
Leonardo looked around him. There was blood everywhere.
"Human and female." Nightmare nodded.
"April!" Leonardo shouted in realization, but Nightmare and Donatello were already gone.
They looked around in panic. There seemed to be an office at the far side of the warehouse. They ran for the office. Leonardo stumbled into the room. Katherine was kneeling over April who was propped up in Casey's arms. April looked as if she was in pain and Leonardo could see the blood beneath her.
Donatello was standing in the corner, arms crossed, his eyes watchful as if he were looking for threats. An unconscious Red Dragon at his feet.
Nightmare looked grim. "They baby is coming."
April's eyes widened. "No, It's too soon." April said in fear, tears of worry running down her cheeks.
"Nightmare can you help her?" Leonardo asked softly. He knelt down beside Nightmare and held onto April's other hand. "Please." Leonardo begged when she didn't answer.
"It's not that I won't, it is just I am trying to figure out how, and if I should help." Nightmare said softly.
"What do you mean 'If'? Leonardo growled.
"Human technology is such that if she gets to a hospital fast enough she and the baby may survive." She said 's eyes widened as she looked over her shoulder. Donatello was looking at something they couldn't see. His muscles had bunched up and was ready to fight.
"Heal her." Raphael begged. "Just like you did with Leo's leg, with me."
"There is nothing to heal Raphael. The process has already begun, she is already in labour and the baby is already coming. But if she goes to a hospital, only one will leave." Nightmare said as she turned her attention back from whatever she and Donatello were looking at. Donatello relaxed slightly as if whatever it was, had gone.
Nightmare pulled April gently from Casey's arms. April screamed in fear and pain. Nightmare looked grim but determined. She swung April up into her arms, picking up the older, larger woman as if she weighed nothing.
Phew, tense chapter! Poor Donny, poor April! Thoughts opinions? wondering where this is all going? =) Don't worry eventually it will all make sense.=)(I hope)