A/N: Thanks everyone, for sticking with me so far. Even for the ones who don't review, it's a pleasure to be you choice of entertainment! =D (But special thanks to reviewers...)
sait4soreyes: heehee, glad you liked that! And yeah, I'd be beyond freaking out if I were in Donny's place. But, now you get to find out what happens next!!!
Pig: Ha! I think that's the understatement of the century! Yup, pretty sure this qualifies as a "bad day".
Thanks also to Mikell, my beta. By the way, Mikell… another beverage warning! (Hey, I like my comic relief…) Ok, I know you're all in suspense. So, this chapter picks up where we last saw Leo, Raph, and Mikey. It's a nice, loooong chapter. Enjoy!
"Donny!" Leo yelled at the same time as his brothers, bringing up his swords in defense in the nick of time. He cursed under his breath as he felt Donny's muscles straining to break through his defense. Fortunately, he was the stronger of the two and managed to push his normally gentle brother away from him, knocking him against a wall.
"What the shell, Leo?" Raph yelled, staring at Donny. "What's goin' on with him?"
"I'm supposed to know?" Leo snapped, keeping an eye on Donatello, who was slowly getting back to his feet. "Because this happens all the time or something?"
"It's gotta have somethin' to do with that helmet."
"THANKS, Raph, I would never have thought of that!" Leo shouted as Donny leapt at him again, swords swinging with way more skill than Leo had realized his brother had. He was actually rather put out… he was supposed to be the swordsman of the family! He knew for a fact that Donny detested using bladed weapons… he shouldn't be this good.
The more he thought about it, the less sense it made. There was just no way. Donny couldn't possibly wield a katana like this. It was no slight to his brother's ability, it was pure and simple truth: Donny did not use swords like this. This was someone else fighting him… someone he had fought before… Leo would recognize this aggressive, overly-confident style anywhere.
Somewhere in the building, it was the Shredder who was pulling Donny's strings.
"Mikey, help me try to get that helmet off o' Donny!" Raph yelled, trying to find some way to get close to his brothers without being killed accidentally by the flashing katana. Mikey followed him somewhat reluctantly.
"I dunno, bro," he said, thinking what a fantastic sci-fi movie this all would make. "Ya think that's a good idea?"
"Mikey!" Raph shouted in frustration, ducking under a sword. "Donny's trying to behead Leo! YEAH, I t'ink it's a GREAT idea! Get up here an' help me, NOW!"
"I'm just saying," Mikey said defensively. "This is one of those times that I'd expect Donny to warn us not to touch it, cause we don't know what'd happen, or something like that. Ya know?"
"Mikey, I swear-"
"Leave it alone!" Leo yelled, apparently listening to their conversation at the same time as he was trying to keep his brother from killing him. "Mike's right, Raph," he grunted while twisting back and under Donny's swing with all the speed he could muster. "We're not taking… oomph… any chances. Go find Shredder – he's the one controlling Don. We'll worry about getting that…whoa!... thing off of him later!"
"Leo, don't be crazy!" Raph snapped. "We ain't just gonna leave you with-"
"Go!" Leo roared, just barely blocking a vicious downward slice. "That's my decision, Raph! I thought you were going to start listening to me!"
Narrowing his eyes in silent fury that Leo would play that card now, of all times, Raph hesitantly backed away. Shaking his head angrily, he turned and ran, Mikey right behind him. See if he ever apologized to Leo again.
oOo oOo oOo
"Wow, dude… check it out!" Mikey whispered to Raph as they crouched low in the shadow of the doorway. Finding Shredder hadn't been too difficult. Mikey had followed Raph up a few more floors and out into a large, open room.
In the middle, he could see Shredder, without his usual metal costume.
He was sword fighting himself.
Mikey shook his head. It was a crazy world. Beside him, Raph tensed up, surveying the impossible number of Foot ninja. Trying to fight through all of them to get to Shredder would be suicide at best.
"Mikey," he whispered, poking his brother. Mikey paid no attention, fascinated by the sight of Shredder wielding his huge katana, jumping, dodging, and swinging at no one in particular. Raph sighed and smacked him in the back of the head.
"Ow!" Mikey complained, rubbing his head. "What was that for?"
"Leo said Shredder's the one controllin' Donny, you shell-head, remember?" Raph retorted. "That's our brother Shredder's fightin'. We gotta stop him. I can take care of da Shredder if I can get to 'im… d'ya think you can find some way to keep the rest of dem Foot confused?"
Mikey chuckled quietly. "Oh boy, can I keep them confused…" Without another word, Mikey leapt to his feet and dashed right into the middle of the room. Every ninja in the area turned to stare dumbfoundedly at him as Mikey gasped, pointing at a completely empty space in the far corner.
"Holy sidewalk chalk, Batman, is that a llama turning into a zombie?" he shrieked theatrically. Without missing a beat, he spun and dashed from the room, going out a different door than the one he had come from, where Raph hid. Bewildered, the ninja looked from the empty corner to each other and back to where Mikey had been standing. Utterly nonplussed, they all stood dumbly, scratching their heads and trying to figure out what had just happened – because really, how could they respond? – until Shredder paused his own fight to turn on them.
"Get him, you fools!" he commanded, sending the ninjas all into a frenzied rush after the turtle.
In his hiding spot, Raph slapped a palm to his face. That bonehead. Still, he thought, surveying the empty area, Mikey did know how to clear a room. It was now or never. Moving from the doorway, Raph strode boldly into the room.
"Shredder! Why dontcha try pickin' on someone your own size?"
oOo oOo oOo
Leo stepped back and watched with amazement as Donny suddenly broke off his attack. Spinning on the spot, Leo's genius of a brother suddenly swung the katana and began thrusting and parrying furiously with the empty space in the hall behind them. Thankful for the brief respite, no matter how oddly it came, Leo took a knee, breathing heavily.
He assumed, as he saw Donny fighting invisible foes, that this meant the other two had managed to find Shredder. The entire scenario was so incredibly disconcerting though… Leo wondered what would happen if he tried to remove the helmet. His natural instinct was to rip the evil device right off his brother's head, but his gut warned him that such a thing was not advisable when he didn't understand what he was dealing with.
Leo sighed in frustration. The irony was that if their places had been reversed, Don would probably know what to do. He was the technologically inclined turtle, not Leo. Either way, they couldn't stay there forever while the others were buying precious time. Leo was about to decide that maybe it would be best to just try to lead Donny away and worry about the helmet when they weren't stuck in an unfriendly stronghold. At that moment, though, Shredder had apparently tried to run after Raphael, because Donny suddenly took off down the hallway.
"Hey, wait!" Leo yelled, even though he doubted Don could actually hear him. "Watch out for the-" But not even the presence of a solid obstacle in front of him could keep Donny from obeying Shredder's movements. Leo winced as his younger brother ran headlong into the wall – HARD.
Undaunted and trying desperately to keep up with the Shredder, Donny immediately jumped to his feet only to run into the wall again.
Actually, if not for how sick the whole thing was, it would've been pretty darn funny.
It was a good thing that the helmet at least offered his poor brother some protection, Leo mused as he moved forward to grab Donny's arm, to keep him from slamming himself into the wall a third time. Just before he reached him, Don suddenly went rigid, and then limp, apparently unconscious.
Leo just managed to catch him before he hit the floor, setting him down gently. He eyed the helmet again. Maybe now it would be safe to remove? Reaching for it hesitantly, Leo jumped nearly a foot in the air with shock as Donny suddenly gasped and sat up. Leo drew his sword again and stepped back warily, not sure what to expect. However, Donny simply turned his head back and forth wildly, as though looking for something, then reached up and tore the helmet off himself.
"…Donny?" Leo tried. Don's gaze snapped up to look at Leo, his eyes fearful and his breathing sporadic.
"L-Leo?" Donny whispered. "Where's… oh, God… Leo, are you ok? Did I hurt you? Please… please, Leo, tell me everyone's ok. Please… what hap… what's going on? Where're the others, Leo?"
Satisfied that Donny was completely himself, Leo sheathed his swords and knelt down by his shaking brother, wrapping him in a comforting hug.
"I'm fine, Donny… I'm fine, I promise. You gave me one shell of a fight, but I'm not hurt. I don't know exactly where the others are, but I sent them after Shredder. I'm going to go after them, but first we have to get you out of here."
Donny shook his head in protest, but Leo could see that Don was obviously in no shape to fight. The long night had taken its toll on the younger turtle, and Leo thought his brother might still collapse at any minute. He could see all kinds of bruises on him, in addition to a few cuts – including an angry welt on one hand – and one nasty lump on his elbow.
"You sent them after Shredder?" Donny asked, closing his eyes. He was starting to sound fuzzy. Leo hoped the hard wall hadn't given him a concussion, even with the protective helmet. "What about Bishop?"
"What… what about Bishop, Donny?" Leo asked gently, a little confused. "Stay with me, bro, we're in the Foot tower, remember? This is… this is where Shredder lives."
Donny's eyes snapped open in annoyance. "I know that, Leo, I'm not losing it. This whole thing was Bishop's idea! Have you not seen him yet?"
"No…"
"Well, isn't this a touching scene?" the silky smooth voice interrupted them. Leo leapt to his feet, unsheathing his swords again in one swift motion. Bishop was standing in the hall a few feet down from them, sporting a sneer.
"I see you managed to remove my device without killing him," the agent said flatly, as though discussing the weather or the sports page. Leo's glare intensified. Good thing he hadn't touched it after all… he wondered why it had shut itself off, but that wasn't the bigger problem.
"I'm giving you one chance to turn around and walk away," Leo snarled. Bishop smiled, pulling a gun from the holster at his waist. Automatically, Leo shifted between Donny and Bishop's line of fire, which only made Bishop smile more.
"Now why would I shoot Donatello?" he asked coolly. "He at least is of some use to me. In fact, I probably have more use for him than you do… He hasn't done you much good, have you, Donatello?" Behind him, Leo heard Donny's breath hitch in his throat fearfully. If looks could kill, Bishop would have already disintegrated under Leo's wrathful eyes.
"You, on the other hand," Bishop grinned, "are both interfering and expendable. Good bye, Leonardo." Taking aim, Bishop's finger had time only to twitch on the trigger before he was suddenly knocked unconscious for the second time within the same hour.
"Leo!" Raph gasped, standing over the fallen agent with sai in hand. He held onto the stitch in his side. "We gotta move… Shredder's coming up behind me an' he ain't happy… Donny…?"
"He's fine," Leo assured him, wiping the sweat from his brow at the close call they'd just had. Guns. He didn't like guns. "And thanks! Where's Mikey?"
"I dunno…"
A nearby door slammed open, causing them all to jump as Mikey came tearing down the hall, looking frantic and half-crazy.
"Go, dudes!" Mikey shouted, grabbing Raph's arm as he passed and dragging his older brother along behind him. "Move, move, move! They're right behind me!"
"Who's right behind you?" Leo demanded, pulling Donny up to his feet.
"Everyone!" Mikey yelled back, not slowing down. Leo groaned and shoved Don in front of him. Chancing a quick look over his shoulder as they ran, Leo could only shake his head in amazement. Mikey hadn't been exaggerating. It looked like literally every ninja they'd ever fought was pushing their way down the crowded corridor behind them. How Mikey managed to cause these things to happen was a mystery.
"Wait, Leo," Donny protested, pressing weakly against his brother. "The helmet…"
"Leave it!" Leo ordered, pushing him forward again. "No time." Now they could hear Shredder's furious roar at finding his way blocked by his own ninja. Putting on an extra bit of speed, the four turtles managed to reach the stairwell before the Foot could overcome them.
"They know you came in through the sewer," Donny gasped out, trying to focus on staying awake so Raph wouldn't be stuck carrying him out. Leo nodded and led them to a door that opened up instead into a lower alley.
"Then they'll expect us to go out the same way," he grinned. "We took time to find a back door."
Donny smiled, finally beginning to feel safe. To the east, they could see the first pink and orange tinges of the sunrise peeping over the tree line. The terrible night was ending, and he was free. With that last hopeful thought, reality finally gave way into unconsciousness and Donny collapsed.
No cliffie this time… review?