Chapter 13

Leo P.O.V

Before the void, if his family had been in danger, Leo would have used stealth to keep to the shadows and then quickly taken out the enemy. But now- after losing to the Shredder and missing three months of training, his plan was simple: find his family then free them to allow them to take the lead- that was unless they were- no. Leo cursed himself silently. He couldn't think like that.

Once the explosion of pain from his knee had passed, Leo had moved back to where his katanas lay impaled in the ground when the bandanna around the handle caught his attention, reminding him of his earlier words once more, "I don't feel worthy of such powerful meanings- I will wear it when I feel like that again, but not now…" With a sigh, Leo realised he needed his former self back now, and desperately. More than one of his family needed him, quite possibly all of them, and he needed to gain his confidence back as the leader in blue. Reluctantly, he untied the fabric and placed it to his face, tying the knot with the ease which came from years of the same action. It was then he realised he had closed his eyes, yet to his surprise when he opened them, the touch of the bandanna against his face seemed to focus his gaze and his mind.

Now was the time to stop cowering, he had to save the others- that was- if he was able to.

He was fearful of his opponent, for Leo was fully aware the Shredder was a possibility for he was the one which drove them from their home in the first place, yet somehow he realised this was not the leader of the foot clan, but rather a frantic and confused being. Sure, the leader could have a guess at that from the way April had been dragged off and how Raph had mysteriously vanished- presumably captured by the same thing but at the moment the leader was looking down at giant footprints in the soil, the size screaming 'mutant'.

So now he had a trail, Leo swallowed, composing himself for the fight that was certain to follow, and limped on. So far the plan was simple and Leo just hoped it would stay that way.

After only a few minutes, the eldest of the turtles heard something and from the thump of each footstep, it could not be any of his brothers nor April or Casey. It had to be the target. Once he was certain the footsteps were echoing off in the opposite direction, the blue banded turtle poked his head around the tree he stood behind to take a look at his opponent and it was of no surprise the thing was a mutant. But what was both surprising and helpful, was that the grass like being had the limp figures of the two human teens over it's wide shoulders, the shallow rise and falling of their forms showing they were alive. But for how long?

Shaking the dark thoughts from his head, Leo followed the creature, careful to be quiet and not to fall over himself, until his quarry came up to a wooden shed into which he walked. From inside he heard Mikey yell something about gross sticks and swap water and Donnie acknowledging April as the monster entered… No sounds from Raph… Then suddenly, Leo heard screaming from his two youngest brothers,

"Raph!"

"No! No! Raph!"

So Raph was there. That meant it was time to act. Inside he heard Mikey shout,

"I'll beat that mutagen straight outta you!" which was then followed by a scream.

Now! Leo told himself as he drew a throwing star from his belt, getting ready for the fight he knew he wouldn't be able to avoid. The monster wouldn't want to leave it's prizes alone.

"Help!" He called, hoping that the monster would come outside and leave his brothers alone. From the creature's movements, it only seemed concerned with finding prey and protecting it, so if Leo pretended- well, it wasn't actually pretending since he was in need of help- to be in trouble, he hoped the monster would act as he expected.

He waited for a moment, throwing star in hand until a giant forearm emerged from the shadows of the shed, grasping a pitchfork from the side of the door. It looked around, seemingly confused at who made the noise, but as Leo got ready to throw the shuriken, he realised the creature was wearing Casey's hockey mask. That did it. As soon as the monster's back was turned Leo let go of the throwing star, sending it spinning into the back of the swamp creature's head. Although the attack didn't seem to have much effect, it did land with a satisfying thunk.

Stepping from the shadows, Leo met the creature's eyes as it turned around.

"Give me back by family, freak." He spat, dropping his crutch and unsheathing his swords in his traditional way, yet as he glimpsed down at the shorter of the two blades he recalled how Raph hadn't quite got the measurements correct so had to quickly readjust his grip.

As Leo lunged for his opponent, a sudden realisation dawned upon him. He was in no condition to fight! How the shell was he supposed to stop this towering mound of living grass?! The reality came crashing down as the eldest turtle landed, his knee screaming in protest. Gaining his balance Leo swung his blade up, cutting the mask from it's face before jumping at it again, but this time it was ready and caught the blade and Leo himself. Great.

With difficulty, the blue masked warrior tried to break free, yet for his efforts he was thrown around like a rag doll before the monster lifted him high and threw him above the trees so he came slamming back down to earth far from any weapons except- grimacing in pain Leo looked up to see his crutch a few meters in front of him. Maybe that could-

He turned suddenly, hearing the crashing footsteps of the monster with- oh no! His sword was clutched tight in the creature's monstrous hand. Even that thing could swing a blade to cause a fatal wound. Leo had to move.

Pulling himself to his knees, Leo made a move to crawl to his crutch, but horrendous agony exploded from the joint as weight was placed upon it forcing him to the floor once again. He moved closer on his front, leaving all weight off his lower body, aware of the footsteps approaching ever closer from behind. Three more shuffles, two more, one-

He grasped the wood of his cane and without a pause, turned over and jabbed it up, causing a roar of pain and anger to emit from the monster. Only then did Leo look up at how close he was to being impaled by his own blade. His breath caught. Man, he was lucky. The fierce steel of his weapon was in the exact place his head had been a moment ago. Too close.

With great difficulty, Leo grabbed his sword from the floor where it had been dropped as the monster squirmed, still reeling from the crutch implanted into it's head, and limped towards the shed, doing his best to ignore the fire spreading across his front, side, arm and leg. He looked down at himself and realised the cracked shell he had obtained during his fight over three months ago had reopened, leaving his front a mass of thick black cracks and scratches.

He'd deal with that later. Maybe.

Reaching the doorframe, Leo grabbed hold of the wood for support and observed the scene of chaos inside. Mikey and Donnie were swinging from the ceiling, bound tightly by vines while April and Casey were sat on the floor, wrapped head to toe in the greenery. And on the floor in the centre-

"Leo!" April called, her eyes wide and shocked at the fact he was there as well as how he was clutching the doorframe as if it were a lifeline. But his attention was solely upon the flower with a red mask draped over the top.

"What the heck is that?" He asked to no one in particular, but Donnie snapped up the question, swallowed it and hurriedly stated,

"It's Raph," Leo's breath hitched, "Long story. Quick! Get us out of here!" Blinking back his fear, Leo nodded then limped over to his family to free them, however standing for too long took it's toll and the moment his brothers dropped to the ground, Leo joined them, gasping for oxygen as his entire body began to shake with effort. He noticed Donnie's eyes on him but he shook his head to indicate he would survive and that Donnie shouldn't say anything. Suddenly Donnie screamed, and everyone followed his gaze to where the monster was approaching. The effect was instantaneous. Everyone- save Leo- who was in too much pain to move- jumped forth to barricade the door.

Once the job was done, Leo stood with his family, raising his sword, determined to protect those he cared about. Right now they needed to defeat this thing, then they could worry about Raph and Leo could find out what had took place before his arrival.

The first part would be easy, for when the Hamato clan stood together, they were undefeatable against any opponent, even a giant pile of evil, living plant…

At least that's what Leo hoped.

Sorry for the long wait! Our family holiday was ruined by EasyJet- DO NOT USE THAT AIRLINE! (In short they delayed our flight by 3 hours then canceled our entire holiday and left us desperately searching for another one.)

...

Ahem, anyway, so back to the story.

I know this chapter was rubbish and boring, but the bro moments and tension will pick up in the next chapter, see ya all there!

Questions are as follows:

How will Leo react to the tale of the creep?

Will he ever decide to put down the sword for one second and recover?

Will he suddenly recover in a blink of an eye?! (I think you all know that since I' the episode!)

LL99 out!