*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Author's Notes: I've finally returned with a new chapter of 'Slash's Revenge.' So sorry for the extended wait, but real-life (aka vacation) kind of got in the way. Hopefully, everyone's still with me. C=

A great, big thank you to all my loyal readers and to my new ones as well. I really appreciate everyone's support and the incredibly kind feedback I have received. You are all awesome! I'm extremely humbled that so many people asked me to keep going with this story. I'm also extremely grateful to everyone who nominated this story for the 2017 TMNT Universal Reader's Choice Awards. A bazillion thanks to all of you. The nominations truly mean the world to me.

Another great, big thank you to my wonderful beta reader, Joanne N. Grey. She's a true blessing and I adore her. I also want to thank my new creative consultant, Captain Vegeta. She's an amazing friend and author, so I was absolutely delighted to welcome her to the team. I love you two girls with all my heart.

I really hope everyone likes the new chapter. I have to warn you, it's an emotional one.

Thanks so much for reading. ;)

CJ

Chapter 7 – Get Him Back

"Slash! Slash!" Leonardo continued to shout this name into the phone, as if it would somehow make a difference.

But the fact of the matter remained: the call had been disconnected.

His brother was gone.

While his heart went on shattering into countless, miniscule fragments, the oldest turtle slowly lowered his right hand and stared down at the T-phone resting in his palm. That phone was one of Donatello's many amazing inventions they had all come to rely on. Yet another thing the genius turtle had created to make their lives easier, but now, looking at the device didn't make anything easier. It just made Leo want to get down on his knees and cry.

A bloodthirsty animal had snatched Donnie away from them and there was nothing Leonardo could do.

He had lost him.

The leader in blue held his breath for what seemed like an eternity, still repeating the words 'this can't be happening' in his head. He was starting to break out into a cold sweat from the strain of trying to keep it together.

His family was anxiously waiting for him to say something, but the blue-masked turtle had no idea what to tell them. How could he put words to something so unspeakable?

Donnie's gone…

He's gone…

"L – Leo? What h – happened? What… what did he say?" Oversized blue eyes, bloodshot and puffy from tears that just wouldn't stop, were staring up at the oldest turtle, begging for answers.

Seeing his baby brother, sitting there quivering on the floor, made it almost impossible for Leonardo to maintain his normally steadfast composure.

"What did he say, Leo?" Finally, the hotheaded turtle had found his voice again. Although he still wasn't able to find the strength to get up off the couch just yet.

All the turtle in blue could do in response was shake his head from side to side.

How could he tell them what Slash had said?

"Time to say goodbye, Leonardo."

How could he tell them what Slash had planned?

"Donatello is mine now and it's time to take him to his new home."

He couldn't. He just couldn't…

"Sorry for your loss, Fearless. Give my regards to the rest of the family."

"Leo! SAY something!" Leaping up off the couch, Raphael knotted his shaking hands into white-knuckled fists held tightly against his sides. Unable to contain the storm brewing inside him, the temperamental turtle violently kicked over the crate of VHS tapes, loudly scattering the contents across the floor. He stood over the defenseless crate, chest heaving as he fought to breathe. It felt as though something was squeezing all the oxygen out of his lungs.

Raph's incensed reaction to Leo's refusal to speak somehow made the situation even more agonizing than it already was.

Frightened by his volatile brother's fit of rage, Mikey let out a sad, little whimper while he drew his knees into his plastron and hugged them with all his might. He peered up at Leonardo with his wide, beseeching eyes, orange mask soaked with tears.

"Please, Leo. What happened to Donnie?"

Still, the oldest brother did not answer. He was lost inside his own head, overwhelmed with unimaginable sorrow. His mouth opened and closed several times, like a fish out of water, but the sound of his uneven breathing was all that came out.

Unable to take the dissecting eyes of his family, Leo stared down at Raph's T-phone, wishing it held some kind of solution.

Leonardo had always been a turtle who prided himself on having the answers, but right now, he had none.

He kept hearing Slash's voice, taunting him inside his head…

"Tempting, but I already have exactly what I want, Leonardo. Donnie boy will make a much better pet than you ever would. So loyal, so obedient, so deliciously weak. I'll break him as easily as that stupid twig he calls a weapon. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

A hand landing upon Leonardo's shoulder startled him out of his thoughts and nearly made him jump out of his shell.

"I know it is difficult, my son, but you must tell us what has happened." As Master Splinter gave his oldest boy's shoulder a firm but sympathetic squeeze, he could feel his son shaking in his grasp. Leonardo's normally steely, blue eyes were filled with tears that he was desperately attempting to keep under control. Eyes that refused to look at anything other than the T-phone in his hand.

It pained Master Splinter to see his first-born son in such a vulnerable state. He knew that the burden Leonardo carried was heavy, and sometimes, he worried it might be too much for his child to take on. But Leonardo had chosen to bear it, and as the leader, that meant he had to be stronger than the others during times of great misfortune and tragedy.

Times such as these…

"Leonardo! Please!"

Even with the harsher tone Master Splinter had just employed, his oldest son still did not answer. The frustrated father knitted his white eyebrows together and set his face into a tight frown. He was finding it much harder than normal to maintain his patience. Mostly likely because the sound of his gentlest son's voice screaming out in agony continued to ring inside his brain.

It was evident that Leonardo had been traumatized by whatever conversation had taken place between he and Slash, but his silence was not helping Donatello.

Hearing the growing austerity in his father's voice and seeing the hardness in his expression took Leonardo by surprise, but he supposed he deserved it for keeping them all waiting for so long. The oldest turtle swallowed thickly and readied himself to respond. Never before had the simple act of speaking seemed like such a challenge as it did at this very moment.

Finally, the sound of Leo's voice could be heard, but it was brittle and completely void of its usual confidence. This spoke volumes in and of itself.

"He doesn't… he doesn't have any intention of giving Donnie back." Leonardo paused for a moment in a vain attempt to collect himself before continuing. "He… he said that he's gonna keep Donnie… as a pet… in a… in a cage." Another weighty pause followed. This one much longer than before. The thought of his genius brother being kept inside a cage like some kind of animal was making it hard to breathe, but somehow, Leo forced himself to keep going. "He said that… He said that t – taking him away from us… that's his revenge." By the time the turtle in blue finished, his words were nearly incomprehensible.

No sooner had Leonardo muttered out the word 'revenge' when Raphael unleashed a guttural roar that shook the very ground above them. He then dropped down to his knees and started to slam his fists into the cushions of the couch, over and over again.

"Raphael…"

Consumed by indescribable grief and anger, Raph failed to hear his older brother gasp out his name. The hotheaded turtle just continued to assault the couch, yelling the entire time.

Michelangelo wasn't sure what was more unbearable. Watching Leonardo lose his unwavering self-control or seeing Raphael go totally berserk and beat up the furniture.

Against his better judgment, the youngest turtle began to crawl over to his unhinged brother, whose punches were accelerating to Guinness World Record levels. Mikey really didn't want to get caught in the crossfire of one of Raphael's violent meltdowns, but he trusted his big brother with all his heart. Even if he did slap him upside the head on a regular basis…

You always hurt the ones you love, right?

"Raph." The word was squeaked out in a broken voice while Mikey edged within an arm's length of his highly explosive brother. It probably wasn't the youngest turtle's wisest choice in a long line of foolish decisions, but he needed to snap his big brother out of his tantrum somehow.

At times, Michelangelo was the only one that could get through to Raphael when he was like this.

The turtle in red's shouting tapered off and his fists started to lose their momentum. Whether that was because he had heard Mikey's voice or because he was running out of energy, the youngest turtle did not know. What Mikey did know was that he could hear his older brother's breathing getting short and hitched, almost like someone who was winded after running too hard, too fast.

"It's okay to be scared, Raph. I… I'm scared, too." Mikey reached out a hand and placed it on his second oldest brother's carapace to comfort him.

Normally, if someone accused Raphael of being scared, he'd blow a fuse and adamantly deny the allegation, or quite possibly punch the person in the face, but in this instance, hearing Mikey's mild voice had the exact opposite effect. Raphael's body movements gradually slowed and diminished into normalcy.

Once he had complete control of his senses again, the temperamental turtle turned towards Mikey and looked him straight in the eyes.

"We're gonna get him back, Mikey! If I have search every last inch of this city… We're gonna find him!"

Mikey nodded his head while an endless supply of tears continued to brim in his tragic, bright-blue eyes. Then, without warning, he dove forward and threw his arms around his big brother, smushing his face into Raphael's chest. The older turtle stiffened for a brief moment, but he soon returned the embrace. As hard as this was for him to bear, he couldn't imagine what his sentimental baby brother was going through.

Though touched by the rare open display of affection between Raphael and Michelangelo, Master Splinter recognized that his second youngest child's life was in danger and every moment counted. "My sons, time is of the essence here. We need to focus on finding your brother."

The seriousness of the situation and the resolute tone in Master Splinter's voice was not lost on Raphael. He gently pried his youngest brother off him so that he could concentrate on what was most important. Getting Donatello back!

"Leo, what did you find out when you traced Donnie's T-phone?"

The family was a bit shocked to hear Raph make such a rational inquiry. The red-masked turtle generally didn't like to ask a lot of questions or put much thought into things. Mostly, he just liked to launch verbal and/or physical attacks without considering the consequences. But this was a 'desperate times call for desperate measures' kind of situation and it required a different side of Raphael. At least it did until they located Donnie. Once they found their genius brother, then there would be no stopping the hotheaded turtle from ripping Slash to shreds.

Raphael wasn't the only turtle in the room guilty of not acting at all like himself. Unfortunately, that other turtle's role reversal was much more counterproductive.

That other turtle had already assumed the worst…

"The GPS showed that Donnie's phone was miles away. Slash will be long gone by the time we get there. It'll be too late." The defeat weighing Leonardo's voice down was heartbreaking to hear. The leader in blue was supposed to be the unfailing light that guided them through the darkest of times, not the one dragging them down into the abyss.

"Leonardo, we must not lose hope. Your brother's life is at stake. If there is even a slight chance that we may find a clue to Donatello's whereabouts, then we must go to this location at once."

"He's gone…" Leo breathed out, as if he hadn't even heard what his father had just said. He continued to blankly stare down at Raph's T-phone.

The temperamental turtle pushed himself up to his feet and walked over to his older brother, who currently looked like a little kid who had just been told there was no such thing as Santa Claus.

"Look, Leo… I know it's hard to pull yourself together, man. Believe me, I know." Suddenly reminded of his own multiple breakdowns not so long ago, Raphael had to pause for a moment before continuing on with what was supposed to be his version of a pep-talk. Something he typically sucked at. He just hoped that what he was about to say would be convincing enough to snap Leo out of his funk. "But you've gotta do it for Donnie. He needs us all to stay strong right now! He needs you to be our fearless leader. We all do."

Finally managing to tear his piercing, blue eyes away from Raphael's phone, Leonardo looked up at his red-banded brother with that special spark that had been missing: determination.

This made Raph's lips curl into a proud smirk.

There's the Leo I know…

"You're right, Raph. We're gonna go out there and get our brother back."

Raph nodded at Leonardo and eagerly punched his fist into the palm of his opposite hand several times, demonstrating his approval.

"Let's do this!"

Normally, this would have been the point where Mikey would exuberantly chime in with one of his many catch phrases, but the youngest turtle remained unusually quiet. His faraway gaze was fixed on the floor, shrouded by a thick layer of tears.

It was obvious that the two oldest turtles weren't the only ones struggling to deal with their immense sorrow.

"Michelangelo, you do not have to come along if you feel you are not prepared for this. Perhaps it would be best for you to remain in the lair, my son." Softening his tone to little more than a whisper, Master Splinter attempted to comfort his most vulnerable child. He could see that his sensitive son was not holding up very well at all, as was to be expected. Michelangelo had always been the closest to Donatello, so it was only natural that he would take his brother's abduction and subsequent torture the hardest. Splinter worried that his youngest son was not emotionally stable enough at this moment to cope with whatever physical condition they might find Donatello in. They knew all too well from that disturbing phone call that the genius turtle had been injured – possibly grievously. Michelangelo's delicate mental state might be further damaged if he were to actually see the wounds inflicted upon his smartest brother.

Grinding his knuckles deep into his eye sockets, Mikey attempted to rub away any evidence of grief in hopes of putting up a brave front for his family. "I – I don't wanna stay here. I'm going with you." The words were not as convincing as he'd meant them to be. They almost sounded more like a question than an actual declaration.

Having just witnessed his baby brother collapse onto the floor from hearing Donnie in pain, Leo was of the same thought process as his father had been. If Mikey were to see what had happened to Donnie to make him scream like that, it could possibly scar him for life.

Leonardo had already failed to protect one brother tonight. He didn't want to fail his youngest sibling as well.

"Mikey, it's okay if you want to stay here. We understand."

"No. It's not okay." The youngest brother's voice was smaller than usual, tentative and quivering with emotion. Sniffling back his sobs, he lifted his gaze up to see his family staring at him with pity.

Pity!

They were staring at him with pity.

This suddenly gave Mikey a newfound sense of strength.

His heart may have been broken, but his spirit was not.

He didn't want their pity. He just wanted his brother back.

"Donnie needs us! We're wasting time standing around here talking, Leo!"

"Mikey, you don't have to prove anything to us." The oldest brother was quick to give Mikey one more chance to reconsider, but the orange-clad turtle's mind was set.

"I'm coming with, Leo! It's time to teach that big, ugly shellhead that no one messes with our bro! Slash is goin' down! Hard! Now, let's go find Donnie!" With a look of sheer resolve now set in stone on his face, Mikey sidestepped around Leo and headed straight for the Shellraiser, not even bothering to look back. He knew they would follow. He knew they all wanted the same exact thing as him.

We're coming, D! Just hang on, bro!

"Ya done good, Donnie boy. Real good," Slash's gritty voice cooed out as he squatted down and arrogantly patted his injured victim on the shell. Donatello was still unresponsive, lying face down on the rough surface of the rooftop in the very same spot that Slash had carelessly thrown him after having brutally knocked him out with his huge fist.

Maybe if the scrawny turtle wouldn't have kept screaming at the top of his lungs while Slash had been trying to hear his family's reactions to him being tortured, the larger mutant wouldn't have had to coldcock him like he had. Still, the blood-curdling screams that had emanated from the wounded turtle had been the perfect touch. Slash hadn't been able to see the actual looks on the family's faces as they listened to him physically abuse Donatello, but he could just imagine the mortified expressions that must have been there.

Man, he would have given anything to see their reactions…

Staring down at the battered and unconscious turtle beneath him, Slash's jagged mouth coiled into a crooked sneer, quite pleased with himself and how things had turned out. He certainly couldn't have asked for his plan to turn out better than it had.

"Heh, heh."

Hearing normally impassive Raphael plead with him to show mercy on his brother was priceless.

Absolutely priceless…

"Slash, please! D – Don't do this! Please, I'm asking you… Please, don't hurt him!"

And then, getting to hear Raphael's infuriated voice completely give out on him from a mix of rage and agony had been like music to Slash's ear slits…

"Y – You! You monster! You spineless coward! I will hunt you down and I will take you out! You hear me? TAKE! YOU! OUT! I'll rip your shell off! You… you –"

But the real icing on the cake had been hearing that goody two-shoes Leonardo beg like the pathetic weakling he really was…

"Please, Slash! Please, let him go! I'm begging you!"

That had truly been beyond compare.

Yes, Slash's plan had turned out way better than he could have ever imagined. He had been so fixated on getting his revenge on Raphael, he hadn't even considered how kidnapping one of the brothers would destroy the rest of the family as well. It was just too good to be true.

Pushing himself up into a standing position, Slash skimmed his cold eyes over the rooftop. He saw the lanky turtle's sorry excuse for a weapon lying several feet away from the communication device he had just used to torment Donatello's family. The same phone that the supposedly smartest turtle had foolishly attempted to contact his brothers with earlier.

Slash was quite familiar with the device, having had watched the red-masked ninja use his own phone hundreds of times back in the days when Slash had still been a regular turtle, perched upon Raphael's shoulder. They had all referred to the contraptions as 'T-phones.' Slash knew that those 'T-phones' had been created by Donatello himself and the brainy turtle had built some sort of tracking mechanism into them. Slash had seen the brothers use the phones for such purposes on multiple occasions.

That meant that Donatello's three brothers would no doubt be on their way, seeking out their own form of vengeance. This left Slash limited time to prepare for the next phase of his plan. Part of that phase involved the smaller turtle's phone. Slash was going to use the device to send the brothers a little message.

The turtle-shell-shaped mechanism looked microscopic in Slash's massive hand. He could have easily crushed it in his grip, but he had other uses for it. He approached Donatello's near-motionless body again and used his foot to force the purple-masked turtle up onto his side. Even with the rough treatment he was receiving, Donatello didn't show any signs of waking. Not even when Slash bent down and grabbed him by the neck, preparing him for what was going to happen next. As Slash jostled Donatello around and got everything into place, the injured turtle's arm flopped down at an odd angle, causing him to whimper in pain, but his eyes remained sealed shut. He was completely oblivious to what was happening around him, which made things far easier for the bigger turtle.

Once Slash had Donatello ready, he stood back up and put the finishing touches on his special message for the brainy turtle's brothers.

Picture-perfect!

"It's time to take you home now, Donatello. Your brothers will come looking for you soon and they'll want to take you away from me. We can't have that, can we? After all, you're my property now." Once again, Slash patted Donatello on the shell mockingly, but the smaller mutant remained unresponsive. Slash was starting to worry that he may have accidentally broken his new, little toy, which would have been rather disappointing, considering he had just gotten him and all.

"Ah, well."

Right now, it didn't much matter whether or not Donatello survived. The only thing that Slash really should have been focusing on was his plan.

Time was getting away from him and there was still much to be done.

Carelessly tossing the wounded turtle's phone aside, Slash crouched down to throw Donatello's limp form over his shoulder. The spindly turtle groaned in disapproval of the movement, but Slash heard no further protest from the genius, indicating that he was still out of it.

Taking one last look at the rooftop, if only for nostalgia's sake, Slash raced off into the night. He gracelessly hurdled from building to building, hauling his somewhat awkward cargo back to his new place. A place where he was sure Donatello's family could never find them.

As Slash drew nearer to his destination, he started to increase his momentum. That was because he knew that he had to pick up the pace if he wanted to get back in time to see the brothers' reactions.

And he so wanted to see the brothers' reactions.

Truth be told, he couldn't wait…

To be continued…

Author's Notes: Slash is pure evil in this story. Have I already mentioned that? Because I probably should have by now.

Poor Donnie.

Thanks for reading, everyone! As always, please take a moment or two to favorite, follow, like, reblog, review, and/or comment on this story. I would absolutely love the feedback and I'm chomping at the bit to know what you think of the chapter. ;) CJ

Special note: Thank you very, very much to everyone who checked out the new chapter of 'Lost in the Fight.' I really appreciate all the super nice comments I received! *hugs* {B