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Chapter 16
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They tore down the next hallway, the sounds of several enemies keeping pace behind them. A few rooms down, one of the doors stood ajar.
As they neared the open room, Leo slowed his pace and held up one hand. "Hold on."
Peering inside, the room looked empty at first. Then he saw something in the corner. Slipping inside, he examined it a little closer. Raphael stood watch in the hall, turning to look over at Leo through the doorway.
"Blood." He said, touching a small bit and rubbing it between his fingers. "It's fresh." His eyes darted around, getting a quick assessment of the room. Looks like a prison cell. "Raph, we need to hurry."
The sound of their pursuers was getting closer. Raphael whipped around and entered an offensive stance, ready to face them. Pausing only a second to re-examine his red finger, Leonardo soon joined him.
The attackers were few, and the brothers made short work of them. The small group of enemies was a good sign. The pool of warm blood he'd discovered only reinforced the assumption that it was going to be difficult to get all four of them out. Hopefully we've dented their forces enough to allow us to escape.
Another scream erupted from the distance, much closer this time. "C'mon!" Raphael shouted, sprinting in the direction of the sound. As they approached another set of double-doors, his eyes caught the sign on the wall: Surgery. He grimaced at the sound of the word in his head, as he and Leo stepped through. When we get to those bastards screwin' with Mikey, he thought, I'm gonna do a little surgery of my own.
Four Foot soldiers stood several yards down the hall, congregated outside another set of double doors. Guards. "That's it." Leo said, bolting towards them. They both knew right away that Michelangelo's shrieks had been coming from this room. A minute later, all four guards lay in a bloodied pile, and their suspicions were confirmed.
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The door fucking exploded.
From the noise alone, it was a wonder that it hadn't busted off its hinges and flown across the room. A green foot slammed down, the turtle attached to it seething with hot, insane rage. His presence was so alarming, in fact, that the few foot soldiers in the room froze entirely for a few seconds in total shock. But there was one among them that did not falter.
Leo slid in next to his enraged brother. "Shredder… impossible," Leo exhaled the last word. The sight of their old enemy resurrected was shocking, to say the least. But that didn't diminish the task at hand.
Leonardo stood tall and serious, almost regal. He spoke confidently, truly, as a great and proud leader. "Saki, we have come for our family." He continued in a growl, "Hear me now – for every drop of my brother's blood spilled, I intend to empty a river's worth of yours." Like a feral animal, Raphael breathed heavily through clenched teeth beside him.
"Strong words for a shepherd responsible for losing his flock." Saki stepped aside, revealing the limp and bloody body of Michelangelo hanging on the wall. "You are too late, Leonardo."
"rrrRRAAARGGGHHH!" A bestial scream passed his lipsas Raphael hurled himself at the Shredder. They clashed metal gauntlet to metal sai, locked and frozen together for a split second.
Leo turned just in time to block an attack from the opposite side. There were a handful of Foot soldiers on him, but not too many for him to handle alone. He was more worried for Raphael taking on the Shredder by himself, then noticed Karai moving in on the battle between them as well. Damn, got to get over there now!
Leo flipped backwards, retreating to his brother's side. He'd made it just in time to face off with Karai. She was furious at this intrusion, and it showed. Armed with a single katana, Karai attacked aggressively, leaving little possibility for Leonardo to do anything but defend. She looks pretty pissed. Bet I can use that against her. The thought almost made him smile a bit with the satisfaction. This fight felt very familiar to him.
Sure enough, clouded by her fury, Karai made a crucial mistake. Intending to fake her out, Leo allowed himself to appear briefly vulnerable. As she took the bait and rushed in with an attack, he was ready for her. Same thing Raph always falls for, he thought. He easily parried her thrust with one of his blades, pushing the steel of the other through her flesh.
Karai yelled. The blade had entered the right side of her chest and exited just underneath the shoulder blade. Switching the katana to her right hand, she took a final swipe at Leonardo. He avoided it easily, slipping his buried katana back out the way it had come.
She made as if to attack once more, then dropped to one knee, clutching her wound. Her lung punctured, she labored for air.
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The Shredder was by far their most formidable opponent, not just in the sense of his position of power, but also in raw skill. Saki's interpretation of the martial arts was his own invention; his Foot Clan exhibited one of the world's most deadly fighting styles.
None of that mattered to Raphael, though. He was blood-crazed with thoughts of revenge. He growled with each swipe, becoming more and more aggressive as the fight raged on. Even though he now fought with a level of power previously unknown to him, Raphael was making little progress. Saki moved expertly, flawlessly avoiding every attack. Raphael, on the other hand, had caught a few swipes of the Shredder's signature gauntlets and was now bleeding from several gashes in various places. Regardless, he felt nothing of them, instead focusing only on one purpose: kill.
When he'd rushed towards his opponent, Raphael noticed that one set of the Shredder's ominous blades was already doused in blood. My brother's blood, he thought, near-insane with his fury. His sai thrust forward, narrowly missing another opportunity, but also allowing the Shredder to seize his wrist. Saki grabbed Raphael's shoulder with his other hand, turning him around and forcing him forward on the floor. A second away from shattering Raphael's arm at the elbow, Karai's yell interrupted. The Shredder paused for only a second, but it was enough. Raphael maneuvered out of the joint-lock and brought one sai around, interlocking it with the gauntlet's blades and driving it directly into the nearby table with such a force that both weapons were driven right through.
Raphael released his sai, now wedged in a tangle of metal. Brandishing the remaining sai, he grinned triumphantly at his enemy, who was pinned and struggling like an animal in a trap. "Ain't gonna be any mistake… you ain't comin' back to life this time, asshole." Raphael lifted his weapon.
The Shredder looked at him with pure malice in his eyes. "Not today, turtle." He barked out a couple of words in Japanese, and the remaining Foot soldiers in the room went into action.
While a few fell upon Leonardo, the others used the opportunity to lift Karai and move for retreat. Before Raphael could strike, the room exploded in smoke.
Within a few seconds, the smoke had cleared enough to get an outline of the room again. Coughing, Raphael saw that the gauntlet remained buried, but the arm inside of it was missing with the rest of the Shredder. "Dammit!" He growled in frustration.
Shit, Mikey. Suddenly, with the berserker madness wearing off, Raphael's focus turned back once more to his brothers. Leo was already kneeling by Donatello's side by the time Raph made his way to the bloody and lifeless turtle hanging on the wall.
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Leonardo, half-lifting Donatello off of the floor, pulled him into a hard embrace. "Don… thank goodness you're alive."
"Mike… get Mikey…" It was all Donatello could manage. Even though the entire battle had only lasted minutes, he had tried to crawl his way across the room, his only thought that of his dying brother. It's all my fault, he thought sickly, I could've done something, stalled them…
There had been a terrible sound from Michelangelo when the Shredder struck him. The wound was deep and calculated, executed with the intent to kill. Mike cried out with an anguish that sounded pained, but Donatello heard a heartbreaking note of relief in there as well. Glued to the floor in utter shock, his voice was gone, his very breath stolen away. Eyes locked in with what appeared to be his brother's final moments, Donatello saw the sad calm in his eyes: it's okay… it's okay, Donnie. Then his head had fallen forward, and he remained that way now."Leo… Mike…" Donatello struggled to stand.
For Leonardo, it was taking everything he had not to completely lose composure. Seeing Donnie in this state was too much for him. For weeks their fearless leader had tormented himself with images of what his brothers might be going through… but nothing compared to what he saw here, now. Donatello looked like a shadow, a ghoulish caricature of his former self. He was gaunt and covered in sores. His shoulder looked like something out of a horror film. "…Leo…"
Snapping out of it, Leo gently finished lifting Donatello, using care to avoid the left side of his body. He winced as his brother let out a small groan. The two of them made their way across to room to where Michelangelo hung.
Raphael was there. The metal cuffs now open, he slowly lowered Michelangelo's body to the floor. He knelt, cradling Mike's limp body in his arms like a baby. From behind, Leo and Don could see that Raphael's muscular frame was still heaving with deep breaths, presumably from the intensity of the previous battle. "Mikey…" He was speaking low, gently shaking his brother. "Mikey, wake up."
Hot tears streamed down Raphael's face. "Please… Mikey… wake up." As Don and Leo neared, he looked up at the two of them, defeated. What do I do? His face said, I don't know what to do!
Donatello reached out with his good arm and touched the lifeless turtle. "…pulse is weak… still breathing…" Panting slightly, he looked around. "…need to stop the bleeding… plug the wound…" he said, pointing at a nearby corpse. The others understood. Leonardo ripped the shirt off of the dead foot soldier and handed it to Raphael.
Though the battle hadn't lasted long, Mike had bled out pretty bad in that short time. A frightening amount of blood not only painted Michelangelo, but there was also a significant puddle on the section of floor below where he'd hung. The wound was beginning to clot, Donatello noted with a modicum of relief, but there was still a steady stream flowing. He instructed Leo to press the cloth against the wound with a good amount of pressure. Removing his belt, he had them secure the makeshift bandage in place.
"We have to move." The urgency in Donatello's voice was not lost on his brothers. Raphael lifted Mike carefully and slung him over one shoulder, careful not to disturb his bandaged chest. Leonardo lifted Donatello to his feet and put Don's good arm around his shoulders. Leo wrapped his own arm around his brother's waist. "Don, are you okay like this? Can you walk?"
"I'll manage." As they started to move, he spoke to Raphael, "Raph… if I start to slow us down though, you guys just go – he doesn't have much time. Master Splinter and April will be able to help."
Raphael looked at him grimly. "We ain't leavin' nobody behind. I swear it Donnie, even if I haveta' take on all'a the foot myself, you an' Mikey are both gettin' home." He grunted, raising up onto his feet and hoisting Michelangelo's body.
"Raph -" Donatello tried to protest.
"Let's go." Raphael cut him off, moving for the door. Retrieving his forfeited sai with another grunt, he cast one last look upon the bloody gauntlet still piercing the tableandswore vengeance. I won't forget this, Saki.
They hurried out the door. Leonardo reached around the back of his shell and unsnapped his phone, hitting the speed dial. "Casey! We got 'em - ready for extraction," he paused, "…Mike's wounded bad, we need to rush this."
"10-4 Leo, we're at the meeting place, moving in now."
Good, Leo thought, they made it after all. He stowed his phone. "Casey and April are close by with the van, let's move it."
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