Chapter 28: Demise
After what felt like months despite the clear fact it's only been a week or two, searching for their good friend, Xen. Had only to come to the end result of her lying on the ground motionless, very injured and seemingly already gone, inside an abandoned and run down temple that's apparently been around for centuries.
Leo had only just suddenly recovered from being injured, Casey went missing and now the small group was face to face with none other the main cause of their problems and situation so far, Dragor. Who seemingly has been here waiting for them over the time that had passed in the search for Xen.
The turtles had immediately formed a small barricade around April and Arna, being protective as they all had taken a few subtle steps back, not liking the current situation anymore than the girls or Dragor himself did. Though in Dragor's case, he had the largest smirk formed upon his scaly and fur ass face, laughing away menacingly as it echoed throughout the temple ruins, welcoming them to their apparent demise.
Dragor was infuriated, furious at all of them, though Xen was seemingly already taken care of as his eyes only stared directly at Leo but also at April behind him. "We should probably go…" Arna stated silently to the others as she backed up and away, wanting nothing more to do with this after the sight of a very powerful dragon in their eyes.
"You're not going anywhere you vermins!" Dragor growled menacingly, stretching his large wings out and raising his powerful hind legs like some cat as he leaped at the small group quickly, claws and fangs baring out, ready to kill and finish off these mischiefs who ruined all his plans.
Raph and Donnie reacted quickly, both picking up April and Arna as they leapt and dodged out of the way of the attack. Dragor who crashed landed aggressively where they were previously standing, his claws and feet that had smashed had sunk into the hard gravel as it bursted out from his immense strength, causing a small smoke cloud from the impact.
Leo reacting quickly who had dodged the attack along with Mikey barely able to stay close for his own sake, Leo who appeared under Dragor's side who jolted a sudden yet small surprised look upon his dragon like face at Leo who none other sternly glared at him as he turned himself, using his leg and kicking Dragor directly in his shoulder that was still injured from the fight with Xen previously days ago as it clearly had yet to heal fully.
Seemingly, none of Dragors injuries were treated or healed as the blood that came from them were dry, but clearly he felt no pain or outright ignored it. Leo's sudden attack caused Dragor to stagger lightly to the side, though still didn't have much effect against him as Leo let out an annoyed subtle growl, quickly backing off.
Dragor shot a dreadful look at Leo, growling menacingly. Mikey took action quickly after as he appeared, jumping and making his way atop of Dragor, wrapping his gusari chain around his mouth and riding him like your average bull or wild horse attempting to buck said person off.
Mikey, as usual, saw it to be fun as he chuckled lightly, only to piss off Dragor more as he sternly shot a look at him and came to a sudden halt. He quickly reached out to grab Mikey off with his large hand and claws out, only to have him react by jumping off and dodging it.
Dragor shook the chains off as he quickly did a sharp turn, slashing his tail out in the air and down at Mikey the second he landed from his jump off and landing the hit with a pleasure smile forming on the face of his like usual. Mikey was sent flying and crashing into the old temple ruined wall, hearing a small crack and letting out a painful moan as he collapsed to the ground, limply.
"Mikey!" Raph and Leo worriedly shouted, Raph shooting a stern look at Dragor. "Damn you!" Raph growled, charging at Dragor who was already ready and prepared, and seemingly forming that oh so happy smirk upon his face once more as Raph pulled out his sai's.
"Raph don't!" Leo snapped loudly, trying to warn and indicate to him it was merely a trap to agitate them by harming more of their friends and family. It was obvious at this point with Dragor, and they had to learn to fight through and past that if they stood any chance of defeating this true evil entity of a monster.
Raph ignored Leo, even after all they had been through and discussed last night he still let anger get the best of him. Donnie remained back close to the entrance with the girls, protecting them the best he could despite trembling in fear.
April was completely broken and Leo was nowhere near to aid them as he was stuck across the room releasing a subtle growl to himself as Raph self consciousnessly charged into action without thinking or waiting for a plan of sorts. So much for that emotional conversation last night, guess it completely went in one ear and out the other for his tempered ass, not surprising.
"April!" A familiar voice shouted, April being shaken by her shoulders as she was collapsed on her knees and staring into space, just seemingly dazed and stunned with tears flowing from her eyes.
"April!" They said again, April finally snapping out of it. The overwhelming amount of grief and emotions was too much to bare as her crying only worsened, "She's gone…" She sobbed, starting to sound like a sad child as April's attention went to Arna who snapped her out of it.
"I know dear, but right now isn't the time to grieve." Arna stated, peering over her shoulder at the fighting occurring. "The boys are fighting, and honestly… just witnessing this dragons strength and power overall is a sign of retreating." She suggested, turning her look back at April who only went back to sulking and mumbling silently about how Xen had now passed, "Oh April…" she mumbled.
"Y-you.. guys should go..!" Donnie suggested frighteningly as he peered over his shoulder at the two behind him, his stick out in front of him defensively. Arna could see the fear in the purple masked turtle eyes and body posture alone, even though that was a clear indication this enemy wasn't someone to mess with.
"No." Arna began as she stood up angrily. "I'm staying and helping the best I can!" Arna added, tossing the bag in front of her on the ground before scrounging around in it quickly for something, anything that would help.
Raph in the meanwhile easily got swiped away like a fly during his attempted charge, but a single swipe wasn't enough to bring him down as he wasn't hit as hard as before from what he remembered, simply sliding across the hard ground before quickly recovering.
Leo was about to rush in himself to aid his brother, but it only failed quickly as Dragor reacted quickly, his dragon senses clearly on point as his head swung around, facing Leo. Leo attempted to halt in order to dodge an incoming attack, or so he thought as he attempted to grab one of his swords but failed as he was suddenly slammed and forced to the ground.
Wincing, Leo recoiled his head back as he found himself pinned to the ground by one of Dragors large hands before he lowered his head down to Leo, closely.
"Watch. Watch as I destroy the remainder of your so-called precious family." Dragor said menacingly, his usual large smirk forming and baring those large fangs before turning, his tail raising and swinging quickly to the red masked one.
"Don't touch… them..!" Leo growled, gasping for air for a moment as he felt pressure pushing down against him from dragors large hand pinning him down. "Oh a shame indeed. You tried so hard but couldn't succeed in surviving, you poor foolish mortals!" He laughed, slamming his tail down onto Raph before he couldn't react and dodge.
Raph released a light cry as he felt his back jolt into pain, stretching throughout his whole body along with a large audible crack being heard. More cracks could be heard from both Leo and Raph as Dragor pressed harder with his outstanding strength, both releasing pained cries by this point.
Leo tried to endure it and fight his way out but it was only proving pointless, where the fuck was the elder blood enhancement when he needed it to take affect as he heard another snap this time. Wincing immediately and clenching his eyes and teeth from the pain in his chest and side, fuck… there went another broken rib or two there, and after they finally got healed too.
Peering back, Leo glanced at Mikey who was unconscious and not moving in a small pile of rubble. Dragor hit him pretty hard, Leo could see blood and he heard more than just rubble breaking from that hit and throw, god he hoped his little brother was still breathing over there.
"Don't touch them!" Arna growled, a small ball being thrown at the large beast as Arna ran around on all four of her paws. Dragor only looked at her then at the ball, assuming it to merely be a toy as he began to laugh once it hit his nose and bounced off, "What's the meaning of this? A jackel coming to play tricks with toys?" He taunted.
That taunt went into immediate regret as the ball split open mid air, a large flash bursting out of It along with some ash right into Dragors eyes. This caused him to recoil and cry out, roars releasing from him as he stumbled back, releasing both Leo and Raph in the process.
"Arna…" Raph began, trying to lift himself and recover but failing as she rushed over to him. "On man… this is scary but I wasn't just gonna sit there and let him crush you both." She said worriedly, placing a gentle paw on his back, inspecting him.
"Oh this isn't good…" she mumbled, Raph had a large crack on his shell and she can already tell by his symptoms and struggles, a broken spine to top it off. He wasn't moving anytime soon, no matter how persistent or strong he was, when it came to the spine, it didn't matter.
Leo was quick to recover and shooting upward, he was quick to rush over to Arna and Raph before crouching down. "Take him, Mikey and everyone else and get out." Leo asked worriedly, he wasn't gonna lose anyone else or have them get hurt anymore as well. Though his worry became a frown as Arna shook her head.
"I'm not leaving you here alone to fight him Leo." Arna started, looking at the blue masked turtle before back at Dragor who was trying to rub his eyes clean. "Neither… am I!" Donnie said, who had approached them already by now. "We're family and a team, we stick together no matter what comes our way and we only got each other right.." Donnie added, a smile on his face.
"You guys…" Leo began, releasing a small defeated sigh before directing his glance at April who was just… broken. God he felt bad, this wasn't her fight to begin with and even after all they discussed he still blamed himself for getting involved with all this and being at this point of losing everyone she knew and loved, even Casey went missing… and so did Jogo now that he noticed.
"She needs you, Leo." Arna stated, nodding her head to go to April. "We'll distract that… thing the best we can, but only you two can defeat him." Donnie added, nodding as well despite how much he disapproved of this plan they made, but it was their turn to be sacrificial for their older brother.
Leo was about to say something but was stopped as Dragor slammed down onto all fours, shooting a glare at the small group, his eyes red and burning from whatever that attack was. "You're all dead!" He snapped with a large roar, his tail swinging aggressively.
"Go!" Arna growled, pushing Leo towards April as Donnie dragged Raph away, Arna went about using her speed and mobility to taunt and toy with the beast as long as she could until Donnie got the injured to safety and returned to assist.
Leo rushed over to April, sliding and crouching down in front of her immediately as the swords resting on his back made small clinging metal sounds together. Raising a hand towards her close to her cheek but not touching it, he slowly lowered it, "April…" He began slowly, looking from her to the beast behind them.
She was miserable and broken after witnessing what she did with Xen, April sat on her knees silently crying like a baby with her arms crossed around her, practically hugging herself as she was no doubt lost in an emotional world of despair right now.
Donnie was quick to return and aid Arna, things weren't going too well and Dragor was simply batting them like flies no differently with weaker attacks, a clear indication Dragor was weakening in due time. But it all still resulted into serious injuries as the two were thrown back with a swipe of his claws, both Arna and Donnie attempting to recover but the fox failing as she collapsed back down, Donnie managed to lift himself and use his now broken stick as support.
Leo, watching the scene, looked back at April. Again, he raised his hand and gently placed it against her cheek. This caused the poor orange haired girl to jolt a little frighteningly, snapping out of her emotional mess a little as she weakly looked up at Leo who was only giving her an innocent but sweet smile as he soothed his thumb across under her eye, wiping away some tears.
"You won't lose anymore, I promise." Leo said, an attempt to reassure her as she sadly and almost with no emotion looked at him, the tears still flowing from her eyes. Leo slowly pulled his hand away from her cheek as he reached for the Lynblade on his back with his other, April immediately began crying more as she desperately tried reaching and grabbing for his hand, already knowing to what extent he was going to do to stop this.
"Don't…" She sobbed, a hand on the hard old floor to keep herself supported up as she tried to reach and stop Leo, but failed as he gripped the hilt of the large magical blade and pulled it out.
Lightning began to emerge from the blade, the usual normal blue glow and strikes generating around the blood from using Leo's magical power inside and slowly draining him, starting his countdown. This was gonna stop and be over now, he had enough of this beast destroying his family and friends physically and mentally, the clear anger showing in Leo's pure blue eyes as he swung the blade once in hand and charged Dragor who stood onto his hind legs smirking.
"Yes! Come boy, let's end this!" Dragor growled happily, laughing as he did so and reeling his head back. A glow emitted from his stomach that rose up along his neck to his mouth before shooting his head down and blasting a red flame at the blue masked turtle who charged over.
Leo swung the Lynblade upward, slashing right through the temporal flames. This performed action surprised Dragor, causing him to collapse onto all fours once more and take a step back, rather shocked his powerful flames were merely cut through like a slice of cut. What astonished, no… what feared the dragon more was the sudden glimpse in Leo's eyes, the new look that showed a new presence, giving him even more fear than before.
"Impossible…" Dragor began, lost in thought and fear as he felt a jolt of pain hit his shoulder wound. Immediately Dragor recoiled back and cried out, flopping and sliding to the side as he shot a sharp look down, seeing the blue turtle latched onto the hilt of the large sword that had pierced into his shoulder.
"She died centuries ago!" Dragor snapped, reaching and grabbing Leo off from him but failing as he collapsed back from the sudden spark of lightning piercing into and around his wound, burning. Dragor cried out and swung around like a rabid animal, Leo having to result to pulling the blade out so he wouldn't get squished when the beast tried sliding and slamming his shoulder into the ground.
"Damn you!" Dragor snarled, shooting his head up at him and immediately firing flames from his mouth. Leo immediately slammed the sword into the ground in front of him and used it like a shield but also as support, he was growing exhausted and weak, running out of time. He had to end this quickly or something… anything before he ended up passing out or worse, but like hell was his limit gonna stop him from saving the only people he had left.
He wasn't going to fail this time, not like this or here with everyone who's been with him up to this point. Peering over his shoulder, he noticed Mikey was still unconscious and Raph managed to partially lift himself up and had no choice but to watch alongside Arna and Donnie who were badly hurt and immobile themselves.
April. She sat there miserably and feeling pathetic, watching as she cried like the baby she was, honestly… in the end of it, he found it kinda adorable how easily emotional she got, and it wasn't anything bad, it meant she had the kindest heart of all and deeply cared for everyone. She was truly someone Leo was glad and grateful to have met first and introduced to his family, and stuck around all the way up this point despite the losses and disasters.
Leo couldn't help but release a small chuckle once the flames had stopped, collapsing to one knee as he did so and coughing up some blood, guess he hit his limit from wasting time with that block. Dragor struggled to stand, wobbling as he did so, snarls and growls releasing from his large self before releasing a large roar.
"Why!? Why did she choose you?!" He snapped, Leo only glanced at him weakly and confusingly. At this point he understood nothing this asshole was getting at or speaking of, "I don't… know what youre.. talking about.. damned lizard…" Leo growled, struggling to stand back up as he hobbled backwards a step.
"You'll die like she did, she deserves to stay dead!" Dragor snapped, "Arkasha." He added menacingly, knowing she was dwelling inside him. His words went through, those same eyes he saw in the blue masked turtle returned briefly as if he was suddenly given a controlled emotional idea, a strange increase in power as the sword grew brighter in lightning and glow.
Leo reeled the blade back before swinging it forward, the sound of the blade scraping and clashing against the hard ground as a large beam of light struck from the blade, directed towards the now weak dragon.
The sudden attack and blast at Dragor shocked him as he had no time to react, the beam had sliced right through Dragors left side and right through his scales and bones, literally slicing off his arm along with half of his body. The beam even sliced through the wall behind the beast and ground, creating a small smoke screen as Dragor went completely silent and collapsed onto the solid old temple ground with a large and loud thud along with all the rubble that had fallen from the attack.
"Leo!" April finally called out, tears still filling her eyes upon slapping her cheeks to snap out of it after what she witnessed. Fuck fuck fuck, she was so pathetic! She only sat there and did nothing like a pathetic ass little girl, she let the emotions get the best of her and the memories of losing everyone and just… everything that has happened to this point as she looked up, wiping away the tears before standing.
Leo on the other hand stood there, his back facing everyone before suddenly collapsing to the side. The sound of the sword hitting the ground along with his thud as April immediately rushed over to him. He reached his limit, she knew it… no, he went over his limit and after what Arna wanted previously, it was bad, very bad.
Everyone was silent, Arna was speechless as she lifted herself and stared at what she just witnessed along with Donnie who was on his knees beside her as they watched April rush and check on Leo, praying for a positive outcome.
Immediately April threw the blade away from Leo that was still in his hand before collapsing down and turning him a little to face her as she lifted him some into her lap worriedly. "Leo.. please, come on.." She pleaded, patting his cheek to get something, any response at all despite the obvious blood from his nose and mouth he coughed up earlier.
"Don't do this…" she sobbed, tears filling her eyes as she rushed to feel for a pulse in his neck as he wasn't responding before planting her head and ear against his chest, the tears in her eyes only worsening as she only tightly held onto him and closely, shaking her head.
"He's not… breathing…" she sobbed loudly, shaking and trying to wake Leo up as she did so. Arna weakly stood up as she made her way to April, "No…" Donnie began, tears filling his eyes as well as an audible slam could be heard behind them all of Raph pounding his fist against the floor.
Arna placed a hand against April's back and sat down beside her with flattened ears, silently comforting her. "I'm afraid… he's gone, April."
