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Chapter 18
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The two of them crouched beneath the large front lobby window, peering slightly over the sill. Raphael cursed at the sight inside.
"Shit!"
"No… way…" Casey said, in utter disbelief. "That can't be -"
"Yeah, it's him. Ran inna' him earlia'," The sound of his voice changed when he said it, making Casey feel uneasy.
Casey moved, trying to stand, but Raphael's hand came down hard on his shoulder. "Wait!" Raphael growled at him. "You stay here, outta' sight. Lemme go in first." Raphael took off like a shot, heading around the side of the building.
"But Raph – where ya goin'?" Casey started, but gave up. Raphael was already gone. With a sigh, he turned his attention back to the lobby. Staying crouched, he slowly moved a little closer to the entry doors.
Raphael knew he had to hurry. He also knew that he couldn't be seen though, if he was to do any good. He'd wanted to burst in through the doors and rush them, but knew that it wasn't an option. Neva' woulda' made it in time… he'd a' just snapped Donnie's neck in an instant.
With cat-like precision, he climbed the fire escape and entered silently through the hole in the wall there, the very same entry that he and Leo had used when this mission began.
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"You have cost me a great deal of warriors on this day, turtle. I will return the favor to your sensei."
Leonardo's eyes locked into the Shredder's, both figures unwavering. Disarmed and forced to his knees, his hands were held fast behind him by a couple of Foot ninjas.
Several Foot soldiers came in from the doorway, dragging Donatello roughly along. They threw him to the floor at the Shredder's feet, as a dog might present a gift to its master. Donatello grunted as he dropped and Leo thought, at least he's still conscious. Given how dire the situation was, he wasn't sure why that thought relieved him, but it did.
Donatello lifted himself up with one shaky arm, pathetically rising slightly from the floor. He didn't make it very far.
"Before I end your pathetic life, I will show you your failure." With those words, Shredder grasped the defenseless Donatello by the throat and lifted him into the air.
"Shredder! Release him! I swear Saki, I won't allow this –"
The Shredder narrowed his eyes slightly, squeezing harder on the helpless turtle's neck. Donatello barely had the strength to struggle. Feet dangling, he weakly grabbed at the Shredder's hand around his neck, unable to pull it away. He was making sickly gasping noises, trying to gain breath. It was a terrible sound in Leonardo's ears.
The Shredder laughed, an evil sound. "You are hardly in a position to stop me, Leonardo. Once I finish with him, we will perhaps introduce you to some of the horrors your brothers have become accustomed to."
"I still have allies," Leonardo said through clenched teeth, "they will come for us." Got to keep him talking, stall him, he thought. There was no question that Raphael was on his way in now, Leonardo was sure of it. He just hoped that Raph would make it in time. And as an afterthought: I hope he doesn't do anything stupid, either.
"Your allies…" he spit the word out, "are of little use to you now. Who will come for you, Leonardo? Your human friends? The old rat? Don't make me laugh. Or are you still counting on your remaining brother to stop me? The one you call Raphael… he is nothing but a coward."
Leonardo, adamant, drew in breath. "Raphael would die to protect us."
A heavy blanket of silence descended upon the room for a split second. Suddenly out of nowhere, the twisted corpse of a dead Foot soldier slammed onto the floor at the Shredder's feet, shurikens rattling to the floor with him. Startled, he looked up in the direction it had come from, but it was already too late. Two green feet belted into the Shredder's chest, sending him backwards onto the floor. Donatello fell sideways, coughing, painfully drawing in large gasps of air.
Rapahel stood heaving, sais drawn, with death in his eyes. "Wasn't through with ya earlia' Saki." He clenched his teeth and growled, pushing forward to attack, "gonna make up for that now."
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Outside, Casey watched as Raphael literally 'dropped in' on the Foot. "Whoa! …Guess that's my cue," he said aloud to himself, heading for the doors.
As Casey entered, there was no question where he was needed the most. He ran towards Leonardo, smashing a Foot soldier's skull with the meat of his bat on the way. Some of the others surrounding Leo were now breaking away to meet their new adversary, creating an opportunity that Leo wasn't about to miss.
Leonardo pitched forward in a roll, breaking the hold one Foot soldier had on him and bringing the other soldier down onto the floor with him. He shot up quickly to face them, shifting his weight slightly onto his good leg. Several other Foot were advancing on him now. Damn… got to up the odds, he thought. He looked off to his right, to the katanas lying on the floor there.
He felt a momentary pang of regret, seeing them cast away on the floor so carelessly. His swords were an extension of him, so much a part of his being that he felt naked without. Maintaining a purely defensive approach, he successfully fended off each attack and made his way over, scooping up his wayward katanas. Feeling whole again, he drew himself up into an intimidating stance, his blades poised and ready. A small, menacing smile crept across his lips. "Come at me."
Two of the approaching enemies actually turned and fled. The others froze for a moment, unsure. Leonardo didn't allow them another. He flew at them, cutting a path of total carnage in the direction of Casey. Many dismembered appendages later, he and Casey were within close range, and only a few Foot remained.
"Casey! We need to get to Raph!" Leonardo yelled.
"Go on, I can handle these guys." He shouted back, snapping the butt of his weapon into a Foot soldier's face. The ninja's nose exploded and he fell screaming backwards, his face now a faucet for blood.
"You sure?" Another Foot toppling, his torso nearly cut in two.
"Yeah, man, I'm good." His bat connected with a head, twisting it around like a knob.
Leonardo wasn't wasting any time. With a few last quick attacks, he pushed them in aggressively towards Casey and then retreated quickly in Raphael's direction. Hope Raph's alright. He hadn't been able to get a good look at his brother since the fight began, but he had periodically picked up his voice over the sounds of battle. He always rages more when he's getting tired, he thought worriedly, but he's still making noise, so that's a good sign. One thing was certain; whatever was going on over there, it had sounded like Raphael was losing steam.
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From the very beginning, Raphael had felt a wrath building within him. It began the second he realized that his brothers were taken and increased with each agonizing day as he and Leonardo had turned up empty-handed. Every minute of every day, it built slowly, becoming a thing eating at his insides. When they'd entered this hellhole, he was able to get some relief by doling out punishment on the Foot Clan, but all of that changed once they'd found Don and Mike. Seeing how much the two of them had suffered had amplified this feeling tenfold.
At first, he'd engaged the Shredder coolly, keeping in stride with his training and maintaining a level head (though 'level' for him didn't exactly mean the same thing as it did to his brothers). That would change.
He saw Michelangelo in his head, as he laid him in the van. Remembered how lifeless and cold the body felt. He thought about Mike's blood, everywhere in that room they'd found them in. He saw the meat protruding from Mike's wound, deep enough to spill what was inside out. He thought of the last time he saw his brother aware, on the battlefield kicking the shit out of some Foot soldiers.
Building, intensifying… Raphael was approaching critical mass.
Donatello had lain slumped on the floor where he dropped, but his eyes were still open. Posing no threat, he was pretty much forgotten but still remained in very close proximity to the fight between the Shredder and Raphael. The Foot soldiers that had dragged him into the room were now entering the fray between them, increasing the threat to Raphael.
Got to do something… got to help. Donatello slowly raised himself to his knees. He was weak, he was dizzy, but his determination pulled him from the floor. He rose up onto his toes, crouching, steadying himself with his good hand.
Despite the initial surprise at Raphael's entry, the Shredder had recovered quickly and was putting up one hell of a fight. The spiked gauntlet missing from his arm was not slowing him down by any means, as he had already armed himself with a tanto blade in that hand to make up the difference. He and Raphael exchanged blows. The Foot soldier grunts began to move in and Raphael was forced to shift focus away from the Shredder, a dangerous situation he was all too aware of.
Locking his sai with the tanto, he blocked the gauntlet coming at his face, swiping it away. The Shredder attacked again, aggressively keeping him occupied as the Foot grunts drew closer. The gauntlet came down again, this time twisting his other sai and locking it in. Shit! He was trapped. He struggled to release, but knew there wasn't time.
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Donatello took a deep breath. He saw his opportunity and acted on it flawlessly.
Despite the horrid punishment his body had been through these past weeks, Donatello used every last bit of his strength remaining to pounce forward. His leap was executed perfectly and he hit his mark at the waist, sending both of them down hard. As he hit, pain ripped from his shoulder throughout the entire left side of his body, paralyzing him to the floor. All five senses shut down; there was only the sensation of pain. His body began subconsciously pulling into a fetal position where he lay, unaware that he was doing it.
That was it.
Surprised at the sudden attack, Raphael looked on with a sort of tunnel vision. Time froze. It was Donatello, his brother, lying there in front of him.
He looked at his brother, the most gentle and least violent of the four of them, struggling on the floor with the most excruciating look of agony on his face. His throat was making small sounds, unable to release the scream that was caught there. His eyes were wide and unseeing, staring into a place that didn't exist.
Donatello who had always taken care of all of them, who'd patched them up (Raphael most of all), whose knowledge had most likely saved their lives on many occasions. Donatello who'd stayed away night after night trying to get one of his 'toys' in working order… always with the sole aspiration of enhancing their security.
Even now, through this harrowing escape, Don's only thoughts had been for Mike's wellbeing. It was obvious by the look of him that he'd endured just as much as the youngest brother these past weeks, but even now, even broken as he was, he still managed to somehow come to Raphael's rescue.
That was it. It was this sight unfolding before him now that caused Raphael to snap.
In all honesty, if Leonardo hadn't shown up right then, it was very likely that Raphael would've taken an attack from behind. The Foot grunts entirely forgotten, Raphael wasn't even aware of their dying sounds behind him.
Raphael was a hothead, he raged in battle and was sarcastic at home. He was harsh, irritable and always played the 'tough guy'. Nearly every comment or action from him was aggressive. It was just his personality, it was how his brothers knew him to be; anything less just wouldn't be Raph. So seeing him pissed off, especially in a fight, was to be expected and there was really never anything surprising about it.
This was different. Leonardo had never thought his brother capable of what was coming out of him now. It froze him in place for a second, filling him with terror.
Like a nuclear bomb, Raphael erupted pure fury. He gave one guttural, primal scream as he leaped onto the Shredder, driving both sais into each one of his shoulders.
"YOU'LL PAY… YOU'LL FUCKING PAY FOR THIS!" His voice maniacal, he shouted as he twisted the sais, "YOU'LL FUCKING PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY BROTHERS!"
"AAAArrrrgggggh…" Saki, sans mask and helmet now, growled hatefully at his enemy as the sais dug in. His face disgracefully exposed, his eyes spewed pure venom as he shouted a command, his utter disgust present in his tone of voice.
And for the second time that day, smoke filled the room, masking the defeat of the Foot clan. Raphael, stubborn and refusing to move, kept the Shredder pinned until a blow hit him in the side of the head. It only took his attention away briefly, but it was enough for several hands to pull the Shredder out from underneath. Furious, he stood, swiping madly, blindly into the air around him with both sais out.
"SHREDDER! COME BACK HERE! I'LL KILL YOU… I SWEAR IT! YOU HEAR ME SAKI!? I SWEAR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" His voice built into a shrill, insane pitch.
"RAPH!" Suddenly, Raphael became vaguely aware that someone had been calling his name.
Panting heavily, he shook his head slightly, allowing reality to bleed back in. "…Leo!?"
"Raph forget them! We gotta get Don and go!"
With one last frustrated grunt, Raphael dropped his sai-clenched hands forcefully to his sides. Don and Mike, he's right, we gotta move. The room invisible, he dropped to a crouch and called out to Donatello. "Donnie where are ya?" No response. He felt along the floor around the area where he'd last seen his brother fall. "Don!"
At last he felt a familiar leg, and grappled onto his brother. Lifting him up, he said, "Don! Are ya alright?"
Donatello was still completely tensed up, making small choking sounds. He managed one word, "…Raph…"
"S'alright, Don, we're getting' ya outta' here now." He lifted his brother quickly over his shoulder and grimaced at the whimpering sound Donatello made. No time to worry about that now, though.
"LEO! I got 'im." Leo acknowledged him, and then shouted to Casey. All three started for the direction of the lobby doors.
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Outside, the van rumbled to life as soon as they exited. Coughing, and glad to be in fresh air once again, they ran to meet it.
"Leo, you okay?" Casey had seen the bloody shuriken sticking out of Leo's leg during battle, but only remembered it now as Leo began to fall behind, his limp pronounced. "Here, lemme help ya." He offered a shoulder for support.
"Thanks Casey." Though he hadn't felt it much during the battle, his leg wound was making up for lost time now. "It… just started hitting me, heh…"
The van screeched up. Raphael laid Donatello inside, sitting him up and climbing inside next to him for support. Casey and Leo followed in, careful to mind the body of Michelangelo lying inside.
The doors closed, and April threw it into gear. Within seconds, the broken hospital was starting to become only a memory.
Leonardo kneeled next to Michelangelo. "April? Is Mikey -?"
"He's still with us." Her tone was attempting to sound light, but the gravity of his condition came through.
Donatello, body still rigid, was starting to become more cognizant. He fought hard to release the words. "...thank you…" He swallowed, hot tears of relief falling down his face, and he continued between sobs. "Everyone… thank you so much…"
"Shh… it's over now." Leo reached over and touched his brother's good arm, barely able to retain his own composure. April had to force herself to concentrate on the road, as her own vision blurred.
Donatello took a few deep breaths and regained himself. "Need to check Mike…" He began to move towards his unconscious brother, Raphael still holding him upright. Upon examination, he was relieved to find that April had done a fine job of binding the wound. There wasn't too much blood coming through the bandage, so the bleeding had apparently slowed significantly after its application.
Donatello motioned for the first aid bag sitting nearby. They helped him unscrew a bottle and he administered himself the antibiotics inside. Painkillers followed that, but not too much, he thought, I'm still needed. He handed both bottles to Leonardo, instructing him to take both, since he could now see that his older brother was also sporting a nasty wound.
Leonardo had grabbed a towel from the van shortly after entering and pressed it against his leg to catch the blood. The towel was filling, but slowly enough not to be of immediate concern. Leonardo swallowed the antibiotics, but placed the painkillers back in the bag. "Don't need these," he said, thinking, better save what we have.
Donatello didn't have the strength to argue. Instead, he began inspecting Leonardo's leg. "By the angle… could be pinching off an artery… got to be careful removing it." He was pleased to see that his brother had done the smart thing and not pulled the shuriken out immediately, something Raphael would surely have done in his place.
For the remainder of the trip, Donatello gave careful instructions to all of them on how to care for Michelangelo. Carefully, methodically, he went through everything from where to find certain medical supplies, to how to change and dress the wound, to what to do if complications arise. He went slowly, careful to put everything into layman's terms for them.
As Donatello began, Leonardo had just thought that he wanted to be sure Mike was well cared for; after all, Donatello was in no shape to look after him consistently, and would need all the rest he could get himself. As Don went into ever increasing detail, however, a sick feeling made its way into Leonardo's stomach. He's not prepping us to help out, he thought with grief, he's teaching us what he knows in case he dies. He didn't know what gangrene looked like, but the smell of rotting flesh coming from Don's shoulder made it hard to think that it could be anything else.
Though ultimately victorious in their rescue, the mood within the van was a somber one. Their adrenaline now wearing off, it was difficult for the ninjas to feel much comfort at their reunion, for it was obvious that the battle was not won yet.
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