Hello, readers! I'm sorry I haven't updated recently, I was busy all week. And I'm so so so sorry, but I will be gone for 2-3 weeks on a trip, and I will have no internet! :'( I will try to find some places with internet while I'm away, but I can make no promises as to whether or not I will post one. I'm sorry again! However, you all already know what this chapter is going to be about, and trust me, it will be exciting! Read and enjoy, everyone!
Silence.
That is all that there was for a while. Nothing but silence.
It filled the room, swallowing all small sounds and noises, until there was absolutely nothing to be heard.
Leo was pinned against the wall by the Shredder, who had two piercing blades just a short way away from his neck, while Mikey was held back by Dogpound, unable to reach his eldest brother.
After a couple of minutes, which seemed like hours, Mikey finally gathered up enough courage to break the silence and say, "Please, Shredder. Let him go," he pleaded.
Mikey knew he wouldn't let Leo go, but he felt as though he should say it anyways.
"What makes you think I will let him go now?" the Shredder asked, rhetorically. "I have you exactly where I want you. Surely, you wouldn't let your own brother die in all of this, will you? And even if I do kill him, I still have you I could work with," he finished, with a devious grin on his face.
Mikey was scared out of his mind. He had a huge dilemma on his hands, and he didn't know what road to choose.
If he told the Shredder where his father was, their whole family would be killed, and Leo would be spared. But if he didn't tell him his father's location, Leo would be killed and Mikey would be tortured, but their family would live on.
A wave a fear swept over Mikey and he started to shiver. He was losing control in that moment because he had absolutely no idea what he was going to choose.
It was a lose-lose situation for the poor turtle and he had no way out of it...someone, be it his family or his brother, was going to die.
Leo directed his gaze to Mikey's eyes, in which he saw that they were full of fear and confusion.
He didn't want his youngest brother to go through this. He deserved none of it, and it was wrong to make him choose between his brother and his family.
Despite the pity that Leo had for Mikey, he also felt quite enraged with the Shredder. He was forcing Mikey to choose between two things that he cared about the most, and whatever choice Mikey made, it was going to hurt him either way.
Leo also felt responsible for all of this. If he was paying more attention that night, maybe he wouldn't have been caught, and Mikey wouldn't have come after him. Or even if he just went out on patrol with his brothers, instead of by himself...they wouldn't be in this mess.
Leo's face darkened as he thought about all of this.
What was he going to do?
He was pinned down by the Shredder, very painful I mind you, and feeling extremely weak, and all the while, Mikey was being held back by Dogpound forced to make a life-changing decision that he shouldn't even be made to make.
Leo felt hopeless.
Yes, he didn't want to die, but he also didn't want the rest of his family to die. He felt as though he was useless. And no matter what Leo did now to try and stop the Shredder, it wouldn't be very effective, now would it...
It felt as though a heavy burden were upon Leo's shoulders and he couldn't shake it off. There was nothing he could do now to save them...nothing.
But Splinter's words suddenly dawned on him: "Remember my son, you are ninja. There is always something you can do."
He said this to him when it was his first time training in the dojo, when he was very young. Those words stuck with him everywhere he went in his life. They have helped him out in countless situations that he thought he couldn't handle.
This was his motivation. This was his motivation to do something completely irrational and unsafe, that it might jeopardize both of their lives. But, it mattered not. As long as Leo and Mikey had hope, they could escape. They could get out of there, and return back to their family.
Nobody was dying tonight.
"H- hey, Shredder," Leo said.
The Shredder quickly snapped his head around to stare Leo in the face, his blades moving slightly closer to his neck.
"Are you finally going to tell me your retched father's location?" he asked, deviously.
"No," Leo said in a wise tone.
Then, before the Shredder could say anything, Leo spit right in his eyes, causing his enemy to double back. The Shredder let go of Leo, only to use his hands to wipe his eyes.
Leo saw his chance, and he took it.
Gathering all of his strength, he hoisted himself up onto his feet and quickly gestured to Mikey to follow his lead.
Dogpound, who was utterly confused and surprised at what had happened, loosened his grip on Mikey, which was just enough for the turtle to break loose.
Mikey swung one of his legs underneath Dogpound's and they both collided. His enemy tripped and fell flat on his face, causing Mikey to gain his freedom.
As the Shredder was still recovering from Leo's attack and Dogpound was trying to get back up on his feet, both turtles sprinted for the door out of the building.
They made it out onto the street, just as the Shredder and Dogpound were getting back up.
Luckily, it was during the middle of the night when they escaped.
The cool night air touched both of their faces and they instantly felt refreshed. Even though it was only for a few short seconds, they gazed upon the various buildings of New York City, and kept thinking that they were so close to never seeing them again.
Suddenly, as if it were a mental agreement between the two, Leo and Mikey started running as fast as they could away from the building they were held captive in.
"C'mon, Leo!" Mikey encouraged, as he noticed his eldest brother slowing down.
Leo almost forgot that he had a major gash on his head from a few days ago, and not to mention that he almost did drown. He was also punched, kicked, and thrown so many times, that he noticed bruises that formed all along his arms and legs.
After what poor Leo went through, running probably wasn't the best thing to do right now.
But he had no choice. If he slowed down, even a little bit, the Shredder would surely catch both of them. And he knew his enemy was almost on top of them because of the obvious clinking noise of the Shredder's boots were clearly heard behind their backs.
So, as much as it hurt him, Leo sprinted with Mikey down the street.
They turned corners, went through alleyways, and did everything they could to shake the Shredder off of their trail. But unfortunately, wherever the turtles went, the Shredder was right there behind them.
The Shredder didn't know that they lived in the sewers, and with him trailing right behind them, it probably wasn't the best idea to stop in front of a manhole cover and drop themselves down, with the Shredder clearly watching. They would be practically inviting the Shredder into their home, if they did such a thing.
But, it killed them, not being able to drop themselves into the sewers, but they didn't want to compromise their home and their family. They passed at least five manhole covers already, and they didn't want to skip anymore.
With no smoke bombs to get away, Leo and Mikey were clear targets to the Shredder, and there was no possible way they were going to escape him again.
With each minute that passed, Leo grew more and more weary, as his breaths became more deep. His body felt heavy and his legs were like lead. His head was screaming with pain, as he felt warm liquid trickle down his head.
Great, Leo thought. His wound opened up again.
He pressed his left hand on his wound to stop it from bleeding so much. He didn't want to pass out, not now.
He was slowing down, and the Shredder seemed to be getting closer and closer.
"Leo, c'mon bro," Mikey said, as he tried to help his brother.
Leo knew he was causing his brother to slow down. He knew that if they kept running, both of them would be caught any time now, all because Leo couldn't run fast enough.
No. Leo wasn't about to let Mikey suffer because of him.
There was only one thing to do...let Mikey escape without Leo.
There was a manhole cover coming up in the alley to their left. In that instant, Leo knew what to do.
"M- Mikey," Leo started, feeling weaker and weaker by the second. "I- I can't keep up with y- you. There is a manhole c- cover coming up on our left...y- you must go home without me."
"What!?" Mikey said, astonished. "No, Leo! I'm not letting you do this to me, again! You're coming home!"
"N- no, Mikey," Leo said, in a stricter tone. "The S- Shredder is right on top of us. I- I have to make a distraction so you c- can get away, and so he won't know where our h- home is. Y- you can run faster than me. I w- won't be able to make it back home, bro," he finished.
"But-" Mikey started to say.
"Michelangelo," Leo said, strictly. "Y- you are going home without me."
Leo never used Mikey's full name, unless he gave a very serious order that Mikey must follow. And as much as Leo hated to use it, he knew that Mikey wouldn't listen unless he did.
On the other hand, Mikey was a little taken aback by it. Leo rarely calls him by his full name, and when he did, it was for very serious orders...like this one. This scared Mikey, and he didn't want to go home without his eldest brother with him, not now since they have made it this far.
"Leo-" Mikey started to say again.
"T- tell Splinter and the others w- where the Shredder held us. That w- way, you are one step ahead of him," Leo ordered. Then, felling sorry for Mikey, he added, "Y- you can do this, bro. I know you can...And- and I love you," he finished quite awkwardly.
But to Leo's luck, Mikey said, "I love you too, Leo," with a smile on his face.
But that grin quickly faded when the clinking of the Shredder's boots finally came back to them.
Then it all happened so fast.
The Shredder seemed to have caught up to them. He raised one of his blades and it came slashing down.
The first thing that Mikey felt was a cold metal that went right across his left arm.
Luckily, Mikey sensed the attack was coming, and dodged out of the way as fast as he could, so his blade didn't cut through...but it did make this large gash on his arm.
And then he felt pain, a searing pain that spread through his arm.
He faltered in his tracks, and let out a painful scream, in which he grabbed his injured arm tightly.
"Mikey!" Leo yelled.
But then, without thinking, Leo turned to the Shredder, gathered all of his strength, and punched him straight in the face.
This sent the Shredder flying a few feet, and down he went.
Leo felt exhausted from what he just did. He too faltered, and fell to the ground. He didn't realize that he used that much of his strength. Now, everything was becoming blurry to him.
But he needed to help Mikey, because he was the one who was really hurt. So, he managed to get back up on his feet.
However, Leo realized they only had a few seconds before the Shredder was back up again, so he turned back to Mikey and said, "M- Mikey, you need to run to t- that manhole cover and g- get back home. Donnie w- will help you, bro."
Taking Mikey's fear of blood into consideration, he also said, "D- Don't think about the blood. All y- you need to worry about i- is getting back home, ok?"
Mikey looked up into Leo's eyes and suddenly the pain went away. Seeing Leo actually made him feel better, but as much as he wanted to stay with him, he knew what he had to do.
"Thanks, Leo. And I'm coming back to get you...you have my word," Mikey promised.
"Thanks, Mikey," Leo said, his voice full of hope.
Then, coming back to the dangerous situation at hand, he said, "Now, go. I- I'll hold him off while y- you go under."
Mikey slipped in just in time and put the lid back on, before the Shredder came bustling down the alley towards them.
The last thing that Leo saw of his youngest brother was his baby blue eyes, looking up at him, before the manhole cover closed shut.
Leo then looked back up and was staring straight into the eyes of the Shredder, who was only a few feet away from him, and advancing.
Leo tried to keep it together, but the longer he was on his feet, the more blurry his vision became. His knees buckled and fell to the ground with a thud, but he was still conscious.
"Where has your brother gone!?" the Shredder boomed into Leo's ear.
"I- it looks like y- you'll never know..." Leo trailed off.
The Shredder had a bad hunger in his eyes, and it scared Leo to see him this angry.
He picked the poor turtle up and threw him back down on the ground, hard.
Leo's head hit the cold, hard pavement of the sidewalk, with a thud, and the last thing he heard from the Shredder before he drifted off was, "Well, at least I still have you."
-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-
Mikey ran and ran and ran. He ran until he was completely out of breath.
He stopped for a moment, thinking about what just happened.
Leo punched the Shredder right in the face, just after he was sliced by his blade. He saw Leo fall to the ground, but he couldn't blame him. Punching the Shredder with that much force when you felt so weak, like Leo, would drain the energy out of you. But the last thing he saw was Leo standing up, making sure he got in the manhole over safely.
He wondered what the Shredder was doing to him right now. Surely, Leo wouldn't be able to run after he punched him like that...which means Leo was again, caught.
He felt so bad for Leo.
He wanted him back more than ever, and didn't want him to go through anything else.
But he couldn't focus on Leo right now. He had to get back to the lair.
Fortunately, Mikey knew the layout of the NYC sewers like the back of his hand, so he would have no trouble navigating back home.
However, the longer he walked, the more pain he felt in his arm, and the weaker he became.
He didn't dare lift up his right hand from his wound, for he knew there was blood underneath. He felt the warm liquid building up and spilling out of his cut.
He was almost at the lair, when he felt blood trickle down the side of his arm, and saw drips falling to the ground.
I must be bleeding more than I thought I was, Mikey thought.
But he didn't want to look at the blood anymore...he couldn't stand it.
At one point he had to lean up against a pipe, and regain his balance and his focus. He was becoming dizzy and couldn't stand straight, probably because of the loss of all this blood.
He was stumbling over his feet now, and could barely see. His arm hurt more than ever, and it felt as though his legs were about to give away, until he saw the lights of the lair.
Home.
He was almost there, just so close.
When he reached the entrance, he hopped over the turnstile with effort, and landed on his feet.
But just then, his legs gave out and he fell on his face. He lifted his head up, only to see all blurriness. But he had to get someone's attention. He had to get one of his brothers or his father over here before he drifted off, from his major blood loss.
So, he gathered all of his strength and yelled, "Raph! Donnie! Sensei! Someone, help..." he drifted off. "Raph...Don- Donnie..."
Then at the last second before he slipped into unconsciousness where he thought no one would hear him, he heard two voices saying, "Mikey? Mikey!" and, even though it was blurry, he saw two figures running towards him, he knew were his brothers.
So, what did you all think? I hoped I got enough suspense in there to keep you all anxious for the next chapter! And I'm sorry again for leaving you all and not writing another chapter for a while :'( But don't worry! When I get back, I will write an amazing chapter, I promise! Thanks for reading and I bid you all farewell, for now! :)