Torn Apart

Chapter II: A Turtle Scorned

Written by the Torture Sisters (aka Takato, LilNinjaWolf, Shellbell)

Disclaimer: We disclaim all rights to the TMNT. They belong to Peter Laird, MIRAGE and other companies and people we have nothing to do with. We only own the fic, the idea and not much else.

Chapter 2: A Turtle Scorned

Raphael took deep breaths to get the much-needed air his body needed, for never before had he been nearly strangled to death. He was shivering, feeling sick to his stomach as he rose to his feet after the person that had had him in a chokehold disappeared.

He stumbled over to where Casey lay and checked for a pulse, relieved to find his human friend was unconscious but breathing. The Purple Dragons really did a number on them, he thought as he closed his eyes and hoped that this was all a bad dream, that everything that had happened tonight was a bad dream. That his baby brother was not in the Dragons, was not in the Foot; that his beloved, missing baby brother was not that cruel, cold hearted, strong leader of the Purple Dragons that he had just encountered.

Raphael had tried to be the bad ass he always had been, but seeing Michelangelo for the first time in eight years brought tears to his eyes and memories that he didn't want to relive. He uncharacteristically felt like running up to hug his little brother, saying he was sorry for what he had done and acted out of anger. Indeed, he had tried to approach the wayward turtle but had stopped dead by the cold glare his brother gave him.

He had felt his blood run cold when he saw the Dragon tattoo that ran down his brother's arm, along with the Foot tattoo displayed proudly on the other. Forget the Purple Dragons; since when did Mikey work with the Foot?

So many questions Raphael had wanted to ask his brother, like where was Donatello and if he was okay and how he got involved with the Foot and the Purple Dragon punks. Before he had a chance to ask, however, all Hell broke loose and he ended up on his shell thanks to his younger sibling.

Raphael cleared his head; he didn't have time to reflect on what had happened to his brothers – he needed to get home. His family was in trouble. Almost sluggishly, he picked up Casey and tossed him over his shoulder; there was no way he could leave his best friend laying out cold on the ground, nor could he drop him home. He figured Michelangelo knew where Casey lived, and might even possibly hurt his friend as part of his little revenge scheme.

He couldn't allow that to happen.

The red-masked ninja found a ladder and climbed down from the rooftop. It didn't take long for him to find a manhole, open it and jump down, landing gently on his feet with only a slight moan of acknowledgement from the unconscious human slung over his shoulders. Holding on tightly, he began to run to the lair, hoping against hope that Leo and Splinter were alright…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What are these things?" Splinter demanded as another robotic creature with jaws chewed its way through the floor surrounding them.

"I'm assuming they came from Donnie," his eldest son replied as an approaching Mouser was sliced in two via his katana.

Splinter nodded solemnly, his whiskers drooping slightly. "Yes. They were built by him." It hurt him to the core to know that his youngest sons held so much hatred for their family.

Unfortunately, they did not have much time to converse with each other; more and more Mousers made their way through the slowly crumbling walls of their home, for as both student and master destroyed a single unit, more appeared to take its individual place.

"Stay together, Leonardo! We must fight together," Splinter ordered, ramming the butt of his walking stick into yet another Mouser's head. "We can hold longer as a team instead of fighting each machine separately!"

"Yes, Sensei." Two more robots joined the never-ending pile of their brethren. He shook the stomach of one off his katana, pausing momentarily to watch the sparks from its disconnected wires. "It's not easy to kill these things. Don's persistent, I give him that."

Splinter sighed as his ears drooped, dropping into another fighting stance. "Yes. His desire for vengeance has motivated him to find interesting ways to destroy his true family." Splinter's whiskers twitched; something didn't feel right, something was wrong and he knew it. Something was behind them, his ears turning slightly to see if he could detect what was going on.

It was then that he realized what was going to happen – he had to protect his eldest son at all costs. He had already lost two sons; he didn't want to lose a third to their lust for reprisal.

"LEONARDO, LOOK OUT!" the wise rat cried as he pushed his son out of the way of the collapsing wall.

Leo watched in horror as the wall collapsed and fell onto his father. No…this wasn't happening; his beloved father, master and mentor was buried underneath the rubble. He had to get to him before he was crushed. "FATHER!"

Rushing to the pile of rocks, he knew that the Mousers would be on his tail but right now it didn't matter; he had to get Master Splinter out of there. He couldn't bear to lose him like he did his younger brothers. So caught up in trying to free his father, Leonardo didn't see the murderous chopping machines approaching him quickly from behind, only managing to destroy the ones between himself and the pile of rubble. The blue-masked turtle fell to his knees, beginning to try and free his master – he didn't care what happened to himself, but either way he'd try and get the both of them out alive.

"Come on," he hissed, as he pulled rock after rock off the pile. Leonardo yelped and dropped a rock as several Mousers attacked him, crying out in pain as one Mouser dug its jaws into the soft flesh of his arm. He tried to yank the robot from his arm, wincing as he felt the tendon tear and blood drip down his arm in a steadily flowing stream, tears in his eyes as the pain became worse. He had to get the robot off his arm.

"Damnit, Donnie!" Leonardo cursed as he tried to protect himself from being torn to pieces. He needed to get to Master Splinter before the old rat suffocated from the lack of air, and he let loose a scream of pain as another Mouser jumped him from behind and snapped its jaws onto his shell. His life flashing before his eyes, Leonardo finally resigned himself to fate. If this was the way he was going to go, he wished he could tell his brothers that he loved them and that he was sorry he didn't protect them better…

And if this was the way he was going to go, there was no reason why he couldn't take any of Donatello's creations with him.

Leo grabbed his katana from their places at his side, starting to swing violently at the Mousers. He had to keep them off him but at the same time he was worried he wouldn't make it in time to save his master.

He needed help and fast. 'Damnit, when the Hell is Raph going to get home?' A Mouser jumped at him, but before he could react to its attack he saw a Sai hit the Mouser, sending it flying into the wall with a few sparks of ripped chords. "What the Hell?"

"You're not exactly doing a good job here, Leo, now are you?" came the dark, sarcastic reply.

Leonardo wanted to laugh, he really did, but as he did he looked up and Raphael came into focus, he frowned slightly at the various bruising and marks that covered his brother's dark green skin. "About freakin' time. What the Hell happened to you?"

"Sorry, bro. Case and I ran into trouble." Raphael managed to knock away the ones that were chewing his older sibling up. "What the shell happened here? Looks like the lair went to Hell in a hand basket."

"Don sent us a little gift," he replied flatly, wincing as he touched the torn forearm. Blood dripped onto his fingers; the flow was slowly coming to a halt. "No time to explain, Raph. Master Splinter is trapped under here. I have to get him out," Leonardo answered quickly as he began to dig again. "Can you hold them off?"

"Need you ask?" A dark grin curled on Raphael's mouth as he tore the thrown Sai from where it pinned the Mouser to the wall, beginning to attack and defend his family. Seeing Leo being chewed up by something other than him pissed him off royally. Michelangelo and Donatello had gone too far with this; he'd stop them even if it meant killing one or both.

Leonardo was grateful for the other mutant's help. He was becoming exhausted, not to mention he was injured. They had to get out of there, and fast. He kept digging until he found Splinter, lying there broken and unconscious. "Father…" Leo swallowed, choking back a sob as he gently picked up his fallen master before turning to his brother. "Raph! We have to get out of here!"

"Man, and just when I was beginning to kick ass too." Raphael fake-pouted, watching his Sai slice through another Mouser. "Want me to carry him?"

"No. I need you to defend us until we get out of here," the blue-masked ninja stated, sheathing his katana and gathering his master's body into his arms.

Nothing was said between the brothers as they somehow or other managed to get out of the hellhole that they once called home. They walked in silence through the sewers, the both of them thinking about what had transpired over the last couple of hours, thinking about the first time in eight years their younger siblings had finally made an appearance, wondering what the hell had happened to them to make them so cold hearted.

Being good ninjas, they made sure to keep their senses on track, trying to make sure none of the Mousers could follow them; the last thing they needed was to get into another heated battle with those killing machines…

Leonardo was careful not to move his father, aware of Splinter's injuries even though he didn't get to see how badly his sensei had been hurt. Raphael hadn't the time to check on Casey either. This was the second time in his life he felt lost and out of control, doubts about his leadership abilities once again filling his torn soul. He didn't know what to do – where were they going to go? How would they get out of this mess? Most of all, they needed a plan. So he decided to ask his brother, his mind too occupied with other things to form a plan at that moment.

"Raph, any ideas on where we can stay for the time being? We can't stay at Casey's, that's for sure."

"We'll go to the farm. I'll explain after we get Casey's truck."

"I don't know, Raph. What if his place is being watched?" Leo was concerned, concerned that they would be attacked again and they wouldn't have much time to get away or defend themselves.

"It won't be watched, Leo, trust me for once."

"I do trust you, Raphael, it's that attitude of yours that gets us into trouble and annoys me to no end."

"Yeah, well, you know the sayin…oh, we're here." Raphael looked up and saw the manhole cover, having gone down this route to get to Casey's many a time before. He gently put Casey down, the human letting out a low, unconscious moan as his body hit the stone bricks of the sewers. "Wait here. I'll go make sure everything's clear. I'll bring the truck around if you can get Master Splinter and Casey up to the surface."

"I don't know, Raph, it could be dangerous."

"Leo," the red-banded turtle nearly whined in what seemed to be a growl, looking over his shoulder at the older sibling.

"Okay, okay. Will do and be careful, Raph." Leo looked away to where Splinter's head had fallen off its place on his carapace, shifting a little. "I don't want to lose you too.

Raphael was going to make a sarcastic remark but stopped in time; this was one of the few moments he had seen Leonardo quiet and emotional, one of the times he saw the real Leo and not who he was trying to be. He swallowed down the retort and gave the slightly older turtle a real, genuine smile for once in his life. "Don't worry bro; I'll be around to keep you on your toes."

He climbed the ladder and managed to pry the manhole cover off, looking around underneath the uplifted heap of concrete. His senses were telling him to be weary, and he didn't like the whole situation one bit; it was way too quiet. He hated when things were too quiet, it made him edgy, and silently he wondered if Michelangelo was telling him the truth.

"You'd better be right, little bro, or I'll kick your ass the next time I see you," Raph hissed softly to himself as he climbed out of the sewers, making sure he stuck to the shadows. He didn't need to give himself and his brother away – they needed to get the hell out of there and recuperate before doing anything else. He kept everything in sight as he quickly made his way towards Casey's truck. Opening the door and clambering in, he thanked whoever was up there for his pocket picking skills. "Good old Case."

The sooner they were loaded up and on their way, the better. Parking the truck in the alleyway near the manhole, he helped Leo pull Splinter out of the sewer and into the truck before placing Casey next to their master. "He's gonna have one hell of a headache when he wakes."

"Come on, Raph, no more stalling," Leonardo ordered, shutting the back of the truck and making his way around to the front to climb into the passenger side. "We're wasting time."

"Right." Seconds later, the headlights shone from the truck as they slowly made their way out of the alleyway, both turtles sighing with relief as they got away from the city smoothly. They weren't even aware that they were being watched.

"Come in, Orange Band. This is Wild Child."

"Orange Band here. Report, Wild Child."

"They took the bait. They're on their way."

"Excellent. All according to plan." There was a pause, before the other spoke again. "Come back to base, Wild Child. Operation 'Fun' House has begun."

"On my way." Wild Child chuckled as she disappeared into the shadows as the clouds hovering over New York City opened up and the heavens spilled their tears…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Michelangelo growled under his breath as he slammed a guard into the wall, the other Foot soldiers in the corridor scrambling out of his way; they did not want to be in the turtle's way when he was pissed off. Many of them knew from experience that Michelangelo in particular had an extremely short temper and had been known to take it out on his subordinates.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you pieces of shit," he hissed, ramming the guard into the wall one more time for emphasis before letting him go and dropping him unceremoniously to the ground before turning his attention to the others. "I need to speak with my brother. Now." Fixing one side of the collar of his jacket, Mike turned to face the soldiers, smirking slightly when they faltered under his gaze and scrambled to attention. "Where is he?"

"He is conducting a rather important experiment." The new voice made the people in the hallway look over to the entrance to the labs, watching a late-twenties to early-thirties African-American man push his glasses up his nose from where they had slipped down. He frowned, glancing at the crumpled Foot soldier on the floor before turning his glare towards Michelangelo. "Now if you don't mind, muscle head, I need to speak with your…sibling first. Important matters, you must understand. That is…if your tiny mind can't comprehend it."

"What's the matter, Stockman?" Michelangelo purred, approaching the human with a slight sway of his hips, leaning against the corridor wall with one hand. His smirk became wicked, bearing his sharp teeth. "Can't get permission to do anything anymore without my brother's approval? My, how the intelligent have sunken. I can't believe you're groveling. And to my brother, of all people…"

"Freak," Stockman spat, raising his hand that had curled into a fist. However, he knew better than to think about attacking one of Oroku Saki's adopted sons and somehow managed to keep his hatred at bay. "No one with a mind such as yours could understand the brilliance behind the science created in this laboratory…"

"That's enough, Baxter." The two verbally battling combatants turned their heads as the door to the laboratory closed with a soft 'swoosh' sound, and another turtle entered the battlefield. Unlike Michelangelo, this one wore a lab coat with ripped sleeves and tattered edges, along with a black utility belt around his waist imprinted with the Foot symbol, and he placed a pair of strange goggles from around his eyes onto the top of his head. "Stand down when you're talking to my little brother."

The new turtle approached them as he pulled off white three-fingered rubber gloves and handed them to his assistant, who merely stared in shock before raising his voice as Michelangelo smirked. "We're on a secret project! Master would not be pleased if it was put on hiatus!"

The dark hazel eyes that looked at him made the human actually step back a little. Baxter knew it, just like he'd always known – behind those hazel eyes lay a monster; a savage, terrible monster that, if given just the tiniest chance, would rip its opponents to pieces.

"I know that. I'm not stupid, Baxter." Ignoring the younger turtle's snickers, Donatello pulled off his lab coat, unceremoniously dumping it on the human as he tried to regain his self-control. "We're way ahead of schedule, so the project will be finished soon. Continue the research on the phenomena, and make sure the others finish their individual projects," the head scientist ordered, positively itching to get away from Stockman as soon as possible. "Come, little brother; we have practice."

The two of them walked away from the labs, leaving a gaping Stockman and several Foot soldiers wondering what had just transgressed …

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Do you think that was wise, oh big brother of mine?" Michelangelo asked as they waited for the elevator to reach the dojo level. The Purple Dragon leader had his arms crossed over his chest and was leaning against one of the walls with his foot propped up while his brother simply stood in front of the doorway.

"Trust me, Mike; keeping him occupied will deter him from my true motive. Father doesn't trust him with a ten foot pole." A soft laugh escaped Donatello's mouth and he shook his head. Out the corner of his eye, he saw the younger turtle bite his lip – something he was prone to do only when very worried. "Don't worry, Michelangelo. Father is watching his every move, as am I." He turned so he was leaning against the opposite wall, looking at his brother. "So what's going on? You don't go tossing guards and assistants aside unless you're pissed off."

Michelangelo's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the floor of the elevator, feeling his anger start to boil as he remembered the reason he had come to see Donatello, the events from the past night replaying in his mind. His fingers started to flex and he swung a fist back, hitting the wall of the elevator and making it shake a little as he gritted his teeth before calming down. "Father's going to kill me," he said softly.

Saki had made it clear to them long ago that he hated failure, and punished those who did. The punishment would be extreme and more often than not their parental figure would execute the offenders to make an example to others that it would not be tolerated. Donatello and Michelangelo had been nine and eight respectively when they had witnessed their first execution, and the memory of it still hung back in their minds.

The older turtle eyed his brother warily, concern dancing in his eyes. "What happened?" he asked softly, pure worry laced in his voice. They had never failed their father when it came to tasks that needed to be complete – now that Michelangelo claimed he had done so made his older brother come out of his shell, so to speak, as his protective nature kicked in.

Mike looked off to the side, towards the other end of the elevator. "It was all going as planned," he hissed, crossing his arms again so as to not make another hole in the elevator walls. "Everything was going smoothly, Don. The Black Diamond was almost in our hands…and then he showed up."

An incredulous look crossed Donatello's face as he placed a hand on his hip, the other hanging limply at the side. "Who, that moronic human running around in the hockey mask?" He let out a dark chuckle, shaking his head. "You've taken on Casey Jones many times in the past, yet that idiot glutton comes back for more punishment. What made this time so different?"

"It wasn't Casey Jones. He was there, but he wasn't the one I fought." Michelangelo's expression became sour, unadulterated hatred burning in his gaze with bitter memories. "Raphael was with him, Don. That…that psycho was with him."

Donatello frowned, narrowing his eyes at the name. It had been too long…almost bang on eight years since they had last seen their older brothers. The child in him – the sad, lonely child within – often wondered what had become of them; if they missed them, if they… He shook his head, turning his attention back to his only brother. He wouldn't think of them, as he hadn't for the past eight years. Why give them a kind thought when they had never been kind at all?

Mike looked down at his leg; the one where under cloth laid the scar from his last encounter with the other turtle. It had been too deep a wound to properly leave him in peace and make him able to forget his other siblings. Seeing his brother earlier for the first time in years, Michelangelo had felt so many emotions running through his blood; happiness, longing, sadness, rage and finally hatred. He closed his eyes as he once again tried to control his emotions as his fingers once again flexed into fists.

Their brothers would pay for hurting them. Raphael in particular would be killed for what he had done…

"Don't worry little brother." Donatello's cold voice had a soothing effect somewhat, and the beast inside Michelangelo calmed down a little as he opened his eyes and met the other's gaze. "Leonardo and Raphael will pay for what they did. I, Oroku Donatello – your only brother, swear that to you." He smiled slightly, though that too was filled with hatred. "I haven't been training my mind and body for the past eight years for nothing. I knew that one day we would make contact with them again, and this time it will be me dishing out the pain."