A/N: Thanks for reading!
Starfire: Yeah, Leo needed that telling off. I think Donny secretly enjoyed getting to be the one to do it. Heehee.
Pig: You know what they say, it's always the quiet ones. Donny couldn't be quiet forever!
Alright, guys. Here we go. Hopefully I don't lose anyone here… We're now back up to where the prologue brought us. I'm only going to say this: No, what happened in the prologue (which overlaps with this chapter) is NOT all a bad dream. I don't really approve of the "just a dream" plot device. No offense to those who've used it, but you won't find that in my story. For anyone who wondered, this is the chapter that accompanies the DA illustration I had for this fic. I can't put a link on here, but it's on my profile.
Stay with me guys. It's a bit of a ride, but I'd like to believe it's worth it in the end!
Thanks for my reviewers, and for my beta, Mikell. Even though she told me after reading this chapter that she wouldn't hide me from anyone who came after me with tar and feathers. Thanks, dear, you're a real pal. =D
The next night was clear and still. Something was in the air, though… the stillness was only the calm before a terrible storm. Some unseen, unknown force was at work, whispering a cold promise of doom. The night animals and small creatures all made themselves scarce that night, hiding in dens, feeling the chill in the air – the chill that had nothing to do with the weather. Something big was going to go down, and they wanted no part of it.
Up on the rooftops, scores of ninja waited, like silent stone shadows. Tonight, once again, they were hunting turtles.
This time, the Shredder was there personally. No more trusting the pawns to do the hard work. He'd had the turtle in his grasp, and he was going to get him back, at all costs. And if Bishop got in the way… Shredder didn't need him, anyway. He had his own scientists to work on that device.
"Mikey, slow down, you doofus!"
The chastisement was coming from close by. Shredder could hear them now… he could feel their blasted presence coming closer.
Shredder smiled with a feral ruthlessness. Here they came. He knew they would come, the fools. They had learned nothing. They feared nothing. Before the night was through, they would learn to fear him. With a cautionary wave of his hand, Shredder motioned for his ninja to stay low, out of sight until the turtles were closer. There would be no escaping the trap this time.
oOo oOo oOo
For Leo, it was as though all of time had decided to stand still, the entire world holding its breath as it waited to see the outcome of this fight. He didn't think they'd have long to wait. It had been over before it had started, quickly and nearly silently on the rooftops of New York. Time had paused, leaving him aware of only a few fleeting impressions.
Blood.
He tasted the blood from where a lucky shot had got him in the face.
Sweat.
He felt the sweat running down his face, threatening to get in his eyes, but he ignored it and kept moving. He had to keep moving, or die.
Pain.
It was all over him… the aching, burning sensation that he was fast reaching his limit, but he couldn't afford to stop yet. Not yet.
Darkness.
Closing in on his sight, shutting down his senses.
And finally, the hard surface of the rooftop coming to meet him.
Leo felt the blows raining down on him, but there were too many ninja for him to fight back. He was defenseless, and from his position on the ground surrounded by a sea of legs kicking at him, he couldn't see his brothers. He could hear Mikey crying out in pain, though, and Raph's heavy grunts, and he knew that they at least were as bad off as he was.
He had led them straight into the ambush.
"Enough!" The call cut across the sounds of the battle, causing the Foot ninja to cease their merciless barrage of attacks on the turtles. Many pairs of hands grabbed Leo, pulling him from the ground up to his knees with his arms held firmly behind him and a blade hovering dangerously close to his neck. From the edge of his peripheral vision, he saw the same happening to at least two of his brothers.
Shredder stomped towards them, footsteps clanging raucously from his heavy metal armor. Leo glared up at him, though his enemy paid him no heed, apparently looking for something or someone other than the oldest turtle.
"Where is the fourth?!" Shredder demanded. "Fools! I want the one called Donatello! These three matter nothing. We need him alive at all costs! Where is he?"
Leo twisted his head around as far as he dared with the sword still in place at his throat, casting about for Donny. Why wasn't he…
Before he could wonder how Donny had managed to escape and where he might be, Leo heard a sound that froze his heart, plummeting it down into the bottom of his gut. Raph started screaming in agony – not pain, but deep and infinite agony.
"NOOOOOOO! DONNY, NO! OH GOD, PLEASE NOOOOOO!"
"DONNY!" Mikey joined in, the raw fear in his voice tearing at Leo's heart. "DONNY! NO, NOT DONNY! PLEASE, NOT DONNY! DONNY!"
They were staring at a point on the other side of Leo. Mouth dry and eyes moist, Leo slowly twisted the other way to be met with a sight that he knew would haunt his waking nightmares for the rest of his life, however long that might be.
Donatello's body was on the ground, sprawled across the rooftops. His bo lay beside him, marked and scarred from the fierce fight he had put up. Blood was pooled all around him, far more than any of them had ever bled in a fight… it appeared to be seeping out of a wound from his plastron… right where his kind and gentle heart would have been beating… There was no discernible rise and fall of his chest whatsoever, and his darkened eyes stared unblinking and unmoving out into the starless and infinite night.
"Donny…" Leo whispered, paralyzed by the sight. To lose Donny now, after everything… it was impossible. It had not happened. This was not real.
"YOU FOOLS!" Shredder screamed, his fury knowing no boundaries as he struck out at any ninja unfortunate enough to be within reach. "YOU FOOLS, YOU KILLED HIM! I TOLD YOU NOT TO HARM HIM! I TOLD YOU WE NEEDED DONATELLO! KILL THE OTHERS, I SAID, BUT LEAVE THAT ONE ALIVE! HE WAS THE KEY-"
A flurry of movement interrupted the Shredder's tirade. Raphael, it seemed, was very much not paralyzed by the sight of Donny laying cold and still on the rooftop, and he had no plans of sitting still.
"Shredder!" he thundered, giving a mighty wrenching twist that sent the ninja holding him down flying. With a roar, Raph snatched up his captured sai and began fighting like a crazed demon, utterly berserk. The Foot who had Mikey and Leo pinned down ducked out of the way, letting go of their captives and scattering in a desperate attempt to avoid the insanity that was Raphael.
"Do not let them escape!" Shredder shrieked, stepping forward to join the battle. Moving swiftly, Leo grabbed his katana and ran towards Shredder. Before he reached him, Leo dropped to the ground and slid the rest of the way, knocking Shredder's legs out from under him into an ungainly heap of metal on the rooftop.
"Guys, we need to disappear!" Leo yelled, doubting either one of his brothers could hear him anyway. "Mikey! Mikey!" His youngest brother was a whirling dervish of wood and furious energy, his face a mask of anger and half-blinded by the tears coursing down his face. "Mikey!" Leo yelled again. "Get Raph! We can't stay here! Fall back, now!"
Mikey nodded, acknowledging that he had heard, but continued to floor Foot ninja left and right, working his way towards his berserk brother. Trusting Mikey to take care of Raph, Leo leapt over falling ninja towards Donatello, not about to leave his brother's body behind. Scooping him up and hefting Donny's body over his shoulder with one hand, Leo grabbed his entire stock of smoke pellets from his belt, gesturing for Mikey and Raph to join him on the roof's edge.
The Foot ninja crept closer, unwilling to let them go, but hesitant to come within reach of the furious terrapins. Mikey fought his way up to Leo, using all his strength to drag a still wildly flailing Raph behind him. Michelangelo nodded at his oldest brother as they kept the approaching ninja at bay.
"Shredder!" Leo shouted, his voice full of venomous malice that did not bode well for their giant armored enemy. "You will pay for Donny's life with your own. This isn't over!" Throwing the pellets to the ground, the three remaining turtles disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Holding Donny's limp and unmoving body as carefully as he could, Leo leapt off the building, catching hold of the fire escape he knew would be there. Swiftly, he made his way down to street level, hearing the grunts and thuds of his brothers following behind him. As soon as they were all safely back on the ground, they ducked into the shadows of the alley, out of sight of the ninja still on the rooftop and anyone who might be following them.
Behind them on the roof, Leo could hear the Shredder still shouting out orders and various Foot ninja coughing as some of them were fool-hardy enough to try fighting their way through the thick smoke. Leo put his free hand on Raph's shoulder, ready to hold him back if he needed to. The red-banded turtle had grown quiet and still, although Leo could feel the furious waves of rage rolling off of him.
Mikey ran ahead to get the nearest sewer lid open. Holding it open, he used one hand to help Leo readjust his grip on Donny. Leo shuddered as he felt the wet, sticky blood from Donny's plastron, but ignored the ugly sensation and focused on getting down the ladder to the sewer floor without dropping his brother's body. When all of them had made it, they began heading silently towards the Lair.
"Leo…" Mikey began in a small voice, but he broke off.
"Not now," Leo said shortly. The rest of the trip back remained wordless, none of the brothers daring to speak. When the entrance to the Lair finally arose, Raph pulled the hidden handle automatically, not looking at anyone but striding inside brusquely.
"My sons, you have returned!" Splinter said, hurrying out of his room. "What-" the old rat trailed off as he saw their faces, then caught sight of his oldest entering the Lair with the body of his brother slung over his shoulder.
No one said a word as Leo moved towards the couch and gently laid Donny down on it. Mikey, following the leader's silent order, had stepped back out of the Lair and was grimly checking for any sign that they had been followed. He waited, listening intently for a sound that would reveal their enemies' presence. After a minute without sight or sound of any Foot invaders, the orange-banded turtle moved back inside, shutting the door behind him.
He nodded to Leo, giving the all-clear sign, as he approached the couch where the rest of the family had gathered. Still no one spoke as they regarded the still form of their brother.
"So," Mikey said cheerfully, finally breaking the silence. "That seemed to go pretty well!"
"Yes, I'd quite agree," Raph smirked from behind the couch. "What do you think, Leo?"
"Oh, I'd say that was a rousing success," Leo answered with a twinkle in his eye. "Donny, wouldn't you say so?"
"Yes," Donatello agreed from the couch, opening his eyes and sitting up with a grin. "Yes, I rather think I would."
O.O R-review?