No Escape

Part 31

Raph ran through the dark, cold New York City night. His mind completely focused upon revenge. It was the only thing that allowed him to place one foot in front of the other, because if he stopped to think –even for a moment– he would collapse. He would curl into a quivering ball of misery and sob out his inconsolable grief at his brother's horrific death; a death he helped cause.

He felt torn in two. On the one hand, he wished that he had been brave enough to charge into Leo's room to try and save his brother's life, even though he knew he would have been too late. On the other, he knew he didn't want to see Leo that way. He didn't want his last memory of his big brother to be of him lying in a pool of his own blood, killed by his own hand, with Raph's own sai lying next to him.

He couldn't bear it. To have that memory seared into his brain would have made him unable to run these streets, hell bent on killing the monster responsible for being the instrument in his brother's death.

Raph's eyes slid over to Mikey, who in grim silence followed at his side; his grief-stricken tears long since dried. His baby brother's face was drawn and pale, but filled with a fierce determination that almost made Raph's blood run cold.

He slowed his pace as they approached the three story building where he believed that the Shredder was now located. He and Mikey crouched down and studied the main entrance of the building from the roof of a four story building across the street. Two Foot soldiers patrolled the double metal doors below. There didn't appear to be any more guards either on the rooftops or the surrounding areas.

A sudden feeling of danger slid down Raph's spine, causing Raph to move out of the way before a bo managed to crack him over the head. The bo still managed to strike flesh; the wooden surface hitting his left forearm, momentarily causing it to go numb.

Raph drew his sai with his right hand and swinging his arm around, managed to hit the black clad Foot ninja on the side of the head, causing the man to slump to the ground unconscious.

Raph felt a satisfied, slightly malicious smile spread across his face. The temptation to brutally kill every single last Foot ninja was strong, but that would take time. He didn't want the Shredder to either turn tail and run, or hide behind so many of his Clan and Elite Guards, that killing him would be next to impossible. He decided that he would not slaughter the Foot ninja -not at the moment anyway- he had a larger, more important target at the moment.

Raph spun, his foot connecting with a roundhouse kick to another Foot ninja's skull. This time, there was a sickening crack, no doubt the Foot ninja's jaw breaking.

Raphael smiled cruelly and turned, searching for Mikey. The rooftop they were occupying was now filled entirely with the black clad members of the Foot Clan. And in the center of the black mass of humanity, stood the Shredder, arms crossed over his chest, smug, egotistical satisfaction radiating from his relaxed stance.

"Get them, but leave at least one of them alive. It would be a shame to waste another opportunity for more... tests." The Shredder paused for a moment, Raphael clutching his sais more tightly in a white knuckled grip as he attempted to calm his rapidly beating heart.

Raph's teeth ground together as the rage bubbled and boiled within him, warming his cool body with delicious thoughts of murderous revenge. He tried and failed to hang onto his temper. He didn't care how many Foot ninjas stood between him and his target, he would kill them all if he had to. His previous thoughts on the Foot ninja deteriorated under the prospect of killing his hated enemy.

"How is poor Leonardo doing anyway?" The Shredder's voice purred pleasantly, his masked face cast in shadow.

To Raph, the Shredder's voice carried with it all the pleasantness of nails on a chalkboard. He couldn't take it anymore; all he could see was red. The smugness of the Shredder's voice indicated that somehow he suspected, or even knew Leo's fate, and reveled in it.