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

*Author's Notes: I'm back with a new chapter of 'Slash's Revenge' and the title of this one pretty much says it all.

Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of me posting the first chapter of this story. Enormous thanks to my readers, followers, and friends. I appreciate you all so very much.

Thank you for reading, everyone!

Chapter 13 – Beat Down

The sound of a padlock being unlatched awoke Donatello from a restless sleep. Even in his groggy state, he knew exactly what that sound meant and he couldn't help but let a dreadful whimper slip out. The genius turtle turned just in time to see the cage door swing open and two large hands reach inside. With one quick yank, Donnie was pulled out of the shelter of his metal prison and thrown unceremoniously onto the living room floor of Slash's apartment.

The wounded turtle cried out in agony, not even sure which body part to cling to in hopes of lessening the pain.

It was everywhere…

"Time for breakfast, Donnie boy."

Trying his best to ignore the throbbing in his dislocated – possibly broken – shoulder, Donatello placed the palms of his hands flat against the hardwood floor and slowly pushed himself up several inches so he could look around the apartment. He could see his water bowl and morning ration of leaves were already set out for him. This told him he must have really been out of it. He hadn't even heard Slash preparing his 'meal.' Not to mention he hadn't felt the removal of the dreaded muzzle that Slash had strapped on him sometime yesterday afternoon. Of course, getting punched in the side of the head last night may have had something to do with Donnie being so out of it. His jarred brain was still ringing from the vicious strike.

For reasons unknown, Slash had been in a particularly bad mood the day before and had taken his frustrations out on the only other occupant of the otherwise abandoned apartment complex.

Slash: two hundred-seventy-six, Donatello: zip.

The last two things the intellectual turtle remembered about the evening were a huge fist slamming into his head and his incapacitated body flying backwards into the wall. After that, everything went black for who knows how long.

Well, I guess that's one way to get a good night's sleep... The snarky inner voice groaned inside Donatello's aching head.

Too distracted by his own misery, Donnie didn't even register the movement beside him before he felt a swift kick delivered to his rib cage, sending him rolling over onto his back.

Make that two-hundred-seventy-seven…

While he laid there, wheezing and gasping for the air that had just been kicked out of him, Donnie watched on helplessly as Slash hooked the heavy chain up to the loop on the front of his metal collar. The injured turtle's thoughts immediately turned bitter, knowing there were far less cruel ways to attach the chain, but Slash seemed to take pleasure in doing everything in the most painful way possible.

As if to prove Donnie's unspoken point, Slash then started dragging the smaller mutant around by the chain, causing him to choke for air yet again. Donatello couldn't help but wonder just how much irreparable damage all this constant abuse to his throat was doing. Of course, that probably shouldn't have been his main concern right about now. What he should've been stressing over was the infection that had set in. Not only could he visibly see it on his wounded leg in the form of thick, yellowish pus, but he could also physically feel the symptoms beginning to take hold of him. He was so exhausted, he could barely lift himself up anymore. While this fatigue could be the result of one too many sleepless nights, he also had the chills and felt feverish. All these symptoms were indicative of infection.

"Get on your hands and knees like a good little pet."

Donnie had learned early on that failure to comply with this order resulted in him getting his shell kicked, hard. On the third day of his captivity, he had made the grave mistake of showing defiance during mealtime. Slash had slammed him into the floor, over and over again, and then, force fed him until he gagged and eventually threw everything back up. This had only managed to anger the larger of the two mutants all the more. The beating that had followed that incident –

Well, needless to say, it had been a rough day…

Not wanting a repeat of that epic pounding, Donnie attempted to push himself up into an all fours position, just as Slash had demanded, but his limbs gave out from underneath him and he collapsed back down to the floor.

Without an ounce of sympathy, Slash gave Donnie's chain a harsh tug, causing the smaller turtle to yelp.

"You got two seconds to do as I say or you're gonna seriously regret it!"

Knowing that Slash wasn't generally one to bluff – especially not about threats of violence – Donnie once again tried to get up, but an intense dizzy spell sent him back down to the floor. Upon his somewhat awkward landing, pain shot up his wounded leg, making it momentarily impossible for him to do anything but lie there.

Donatello's sense of panic started to rise right along with Slash's temper.

"I said on your hands and knees!"

"I'm trying! I – I swear! B – But my leg… I think it's infected. I n – need an – " Before Donnie was able to finish his request, he was hoisted up into a somewhat kneeling position by his chain. The wounded turtle immediately shifted all his weight onto his good leg. When Slash let up on the chain, Donatello fell forward, but somehow succeeded in catching himself just before doing a face plant. He then held himself up by distributing the majority of his weight between his two less injured limbs. Thanks to Slash, Donatello was now in the assumed position, although the genius turtle wasn't feeling all that grateful about it, nor was he feeling all that well. Now that he was hovering over his food dish, his stomach began to protest over the mere sight of his 'breakfast.' His appetite had forsaken him days ago. Not that leaves were exactly appetizing in the first place.

If he never saw another salad again, it would be too soon.

"Eat the damn food! NOW!"

Cowering at Slash's fierce tone, Donnie obediently lowered his face towards the metal bowl containing his alleged 'food.' He hated himself for being so submissive, but it wasn't like he had any pride left to salvage. Between being dragged around by a collar and chain, silenced by a muzzle, stripped of all privacy, and forced to eat like a common household pet, Donnie was pretty sure any semblance of his dignity was long gone at this point.

And so, he obeyed, if only to make life a little bit easier.

Unfortunately, as simple of a request as eating was, Donatello was unable to comply. The closer his face got to the bowl, the more repulsed he was by the thought of eating. He choked back a gag while the whole room started to spin around him.

Not a good sign...

"Go on!"

"I – I can't. I'm sick. I told y – you… my leg's infected. I n – need an antibiotic or – " Once again, Slash cut Donnie off before he could finish. This time by means of a hard slap to the back of the head, which nearly made the wounded turtle fall face first into his dish.

"I don't care what you need! Looks like someone's ready for another beat down!"

The words 'beat down' never failed to make Donnie shudder in his shell. It meant that Slash was going to pound him within an inch of his life again.

"No! P – Please! You don't understand! If y – you don't treat the infection, it – it could lead to sepsis… and that c – could be fatal."

All that Donatello received for his troubles was a swift kick to the gut, effectively knocking him back down to the floor. As he curled up onto his side, gasping for air, Slash towered over him.

"Pathetic. You always have been. That's why your brothers haven't come for you yet. They know you're weak and useless, so they stopped searching. I mean, why bother, right?"

"You're – You're wrong." The response should have sounded more confident than it had, but Donatello wasn't entirely convinced that Slash was, in fact, wrong.

"Am I? You think if I would've taken the almighty, fearless leader, your dear old rat dad wouldn't have found him by now? He would've combed every inch of this city to find his precious Leonardo, but not you, Donnie boy. No, not you. He doesn't care a thing about you. No one does. That's the real reason why your family hasn't found you yet."

All Donnie could do in response was twist his head from side to side in denial. He didn't want to hear anymore, but Slash continued along in an enthusiastic-sounding voice, adding further insult to injury.

"How's it feel to know your family thinks so little of you, they've left you for dead? I mean, I knew that Raphael would, but the rest of 'em. Heh! They must really think you're a worthless piece of shell."

Something about what Slash had just said instantly sparked Donatello's interest. Not so much the cruel insults, but rather, what the bigger mutant had said about Raph. Donnie used his good arm to slightly prop himself up off the floor in order to look Slash in the eyes as he spoke.

"What – What do you mean you knew Raph would?"

A seismic level four belly laugh seemingly shook the entire apartment building, indicating Slash had found the question quite humorous.

"Raphael used to tell me everything about you guys. He always said that you three held him back and that he didn't want to be a part of the team anymore. He especially couldn't stand you. He never missed a chance to point out what a hopeless weakling you are and how he wished you weren't related to him. He used to constantly say he couldn't believe he had such a pathetic loser for a brother."

Again, Donnie was twisting his head from side to side, only this time, his voice accompanied the gesture. It carried far more insolence than either turtle had expected.

"He never said that! You're lying!"

Another hearty laugh sounded out.

"You can deny it all you want, Donnie boy. The truth is, Raph always thought the least of you. He told me time and time again that you were the most useless one. An embarrassment to the clan."

Hearing this, Donnie attempted to cover his ear slits and curl up into a ball. He just wanted to make the pain go away.

"No."

The genius turtle's distraught reaction only egged Slash on. This was a heck of a lot more fun than just physically abusing the scrawniest brother. The devastated look on Donatello's face was too perfect.

"You're good for nothing."

"No!"

"Poor, frail, little Donatello."

"N – NO!"

"Your brothers aren't coming for you."

"S – Stop!"

"And why should they? You're not worth saving."

The words cut deep. As much as Donatello wholeheartedly wanted to believe that all the awful things Slash was saying weren't true, he just couldn't convince himself otherwise. Not when he could still hear the hurtful things his own brother had said to him ringing in his ear slits...

"You're always screwing everything up, Donnie!"

"You're supposed to be the smart one, but you ruin everything you touch!"

Donatello's dark thoughts then suddenly reverted to a conversation he and Raphael had had not long after they had first encountered Chrome Dome. The brothers had just tracked down the Kraang's latest secret weapon (aka 'Chrome Dome') when the genius turtle had received a distress call from April. He had made a rash decision to rush to April's side, leaving his brothers to fight off the Kraang on their own. It was a decision his siblings did not take lightly.

Especially Raphael…

After they had all returned to the lair, the hotheaded turtle had cornered Donnie inside his laboratory and expressed his strong disapproval of his younger brother's actions that night.

In the back of his mind, Donatello could still remember exactly what Raph had said to him...

"What the shell were you thinking back there?"

"What do mean?"

"You totally ditched us to go save your girlfriend! Brothers are supposed to have each other's backs! Not leave each other for dead! No turtle left behind, remember?"

"But April was in trouble, Raph! What was I supposed to do? Just let her get attacked?"

"Instead you let us get attacked! We were in the middle of a mission!"

"I thought you guys could handle it!"

"You thought we could handle it? Or you just didn't care about us because it was April?"

"Raph, you know that's not true!"

"Are you sure? Because this isn't the first time you've chosen April over us!"

"Raph... I – "

"Brothers should always come first, Donnie! Always!"

"I know."

"Do you, Donnie? 'Cause you could've fooled me! You know, one day your willingness to abandon us just might come back to bite you."

"Wh – What are you saying?"

"I'm saying next time you need one of us to save your shell, don't expect us to just forget what happened tonight, Donnie! Because we won't! Remember that!"

The memory caused Donatello's eyes to widen with dawning horror.

All this time, he had thought his immediate older brother had just been speaking out of anger, but perhaps, it was something much, much worse than that…

"One day your willingness to abandon us just might come back to bite you."

"Next time you need one of us to save your shell, don't expect us to just forget what happened tonight, Donnie!"

It was at that exact moment Donatello felt his whole world shatter.

They weren't coming for him.

Every one of Raph's words from the last time Donnie had seen him came flooding back with all the gentleness of a wrecking ball...

"You're always sorry! I've had it up to here with your excuses, Donnie! What? It wasn't enough that you almost killed Spike? Now, you almost killed all of us with another one of your crazy experiments!"

"I don't want to hear it anymore! You're always screwing everything up, Donnie! How many times have you nearly killed us now? How many times, huh?"

"All you ever do is put everyone in danger, Donnie! You're supposed to be the smart one, but you ruin everything you touch! You're the reason Spike's gone! I lost my best friend because of you! It was all your fault! If you weren't such a walking disaster, he'd still be here!"

Donnie's entire body began to shake even worse than it already was.

His family – they weren't coming for him.

The reason he was still here – it wasn't because they hadn't been able to find him yet.

It was because they didn't want to find him.

"And why should they? You're not worth saving."

The realization was more than Donatello could possibly bear.

It's all my fault.

All. My. Fault.

"I think it's time for another beat down, Donnie boy."

Just seconds after making this ominous announcement, Slash picked Donatello up off the floor as though he weighed nothing. The already defeated turtle just hung there, limp in the larger mutant's grip. As his 'master's' fists began jackhammering into him, yet again, Donatello simply let out a series of quiet whimpers, no longer able to put up any form of resistance.

Not that it mattered.

There was no reason left to fight back.

"You're good for nothing."

There was no reason left to hang on.

"Your brothers aren't coming for you."

There was just no point anymore.

"You're not worth saving."

He was nothing.

Nothing but a useless pet.

Donatello wasn't sure what hurt more: the pain from the savage beating he was receiving or the pain from his broken heart.

To be continued…

*More Author's Notes: So much sadness! 。゜゜(´Ｏ`) ゜゜。

Well, we've now reached the part of the story where the proverbial stuff is about to hit the fan. Warning! The next few chapters are rather intense. Especially chapter 14. I seriously can't wait to share this one with everyone. I just might have to try posting two chapters this month. But only if everyone feels like they're ready for it… LMK ;)

If you're enjoying this story, please take a moment to favorite, follow, like, reblog, review, and/or comment. I love hearing from all of you and appreciate the feedback lots and lots and lots.

Thanks so much for reading. CJ

*Special note: Remember, from the first chapter of this story that 'Slash's Revenge' and my son share the same birthday? Well… they do, so happy birthday tomorrow to my little boy who's not so little anymore. I love you, B! You, your sisters, and your dad are my sun, my moon, and all of my stars. *hugs and kisses* mommy