Out of My Shell

Chapter 19: Baddest in New York

Chapter 19: Baddest In New York

His vision blurred, white noise knock-ringing in his ears, his body heavy with shock and broken glass. He tried desperately to make sense of colors and shapes.... force air to his lungs....
....The medicine. He could see it. The medicine was right there.... right within his reach...
But pain shocked him hard. It was everywhere, rattled and despondent, rooting him still.
But he needed to move.
A deep, throaty laugh rumbled down the walls, seeping into his skin the danger he was in.
Get up...... Get.... Up....
The laughter lolled through his head on heavy, languid footsteps....
Closer...
And closer....
Leo pushed his strength, shaking just to rise from the floor.
"Pathetic," the voice drolled. And he heard with it the unmistakable grind of a blade being pulled from its sheath. Instinct took measure, crushing a fistful of glass and hurled it behind him into his assailant's face.
...Yelling.
They'd found target. It gave him just enough time to focus his vision, finding himself face to face
...
With Tigerclaw.
Leo's arms continued to shake, reeling in the sting of lesions, his own blood pattering loud to the linoleum floor. He glared in rage.
"It's been a long time, Leonardo," his deep voice rumbled smug. "...I'm surprised you still have the nerve to show your face..... after your last failure."
Leo's eyes leapt to the medicine. That was all he needed. He could just take it and run.
"Have you nothing to say? ...Or are you finally ready to pay for your sins?"
Leo didn't answer, gritting his teeth and the stillness suspended too long and then it was gone in a roar, sharp teeth and golden eyes.
-
Mikey's eyes narrowed to the screen. He'd called Leo five times now... and he hadn't answered once. Something was definitely up. He could feel it.
....But... if he had found trouble...
....Maybe he was busy being stealthy doing ninja stuff. Or he was probably calling Donnie! That was probably it!
Still.... he should have heard something by now...
He glanced over idly as the Mutanimals worked, their conversations white noise. He firmly dialed back to the lair.
And Raph answered on the first ring. "What's happenin' bro?"
Slash heard the voice from the receiver: "Is Master Splinter okay?" he asked concerned.
Raph looked over to Donnie, who was hard focused with his tweezers, pulling at their father's discolored flesh in a way that made him cringe.
"The meds you guys sent over are finally working," Donnie replied. "He's taking the pain much better and I'm able to contain the mess... but that's about all I can really say for it. I'm still waiting on Leo's end..."
"...Soooo... wait. You haven't heard from Leo either?" Mikey wondered.
Something about that sent a pit straight to Raph's stomach and he snatched the phone. "Wait a minute.... I thought.... Whaddaya mean you haven't heard from him?!"
"We separated downtown... and now the phone's makin' this weird noise when I call...."
Raph's eyes widened. ". . .Mikey, I'll call you back." He hung up, frantically skimming the contacts.
-
"Hrrgh! Hnng! Gya!! Hah." Leo staggered back, ready again with his sword in another swing, dodging and kicking, feeling almost unbalanced in every attack he caught.
Metal sang and blades clashed. It was all a battle of mind and aged disdain, weapons hiding under his claws, certain murder behind tiger eyes.
But it brought out the fight in Leo, every swipe danger, focus in motion. He would make it home. There just wasn't room for error with Master Splinter in the mix. Donnie needed that medicine.
Leo heard the T-phone buzzing across the floor beneath the debris, but he paid it no mind.
Snarls. A slash of fur, growls, glass at their feet. Leo's struck at his knees, before one powerful paw sent him sprawling on his shell again through drywall.
The T-phone buzzed again. This time right by his ear.
"I've got you now!" Tigerclaw sneered. "This time is futile."
His eyes set cold, throwing an eggshell of blinding powder and in the confusion caught his grappling hook tight around Tigerclaw's neck and swung on his back, dagger to his throat.
"Not tonight."
Tigerclaw struggled to get him off his back but Leo was quicker, tightening the rope, throwing a shuriken at his heel to off balance him. And it worked.
He toppled to the floor, crashing down into the debris.
Leo tried to catch his breath. "Now just... stay down for once!" He picked up his phone. "Hey. What's up?"
"LEO!" Raph's voice cracked with relief. "Where are you?! What's goin' on?"
Leo scooped up the medicine from the floor, tossing it up in the moment of his casual victory and made his way towards the door.... when something dark, a shadow rose from the floor...
"I've got the medicine now. I'll be there in a few.... AUGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"LEO?!!"
"NO! NOOO!!! Get off me!! G-GET.... mmffffhnnghfAAHHfffn!!"
"LEO!!!"
-
-
.....
Mikey lingered again on the empty phone line. "Guys," he looked over to the Mutanimals. "I think Leo's in trouble."
"That means he won't get to Master Splinter in time," Leatherhead said worriedly.
"What should we do?!" Slash wondered. "We must rescue our friend."
From his seat Dr. Rockwell swiveled between his concoctions on the counter, summoning different powders and medicines with his mind. "This is quite distressing," he admitted. "Without those components, why, we'd have to procure a miracle or break into a hospital to make this... "
Mikey glanced again to the light of his phone and a sparkle lit up in his eyes. "Guys... I have an idea...."
-
His nervous pacing was wearing a hole in the floor. There was still no answer and the sound of the dial tone echoed through his head.
Raph cursed under his breath.
Great! Leo was in trouble. And so was Sensei.
There was nothing he could do. He couldn't think of anything. He felt useless and nothing made him angrier.
He shouldn't be here! He should be out there with them! If they had just been paying attention in the first place none of this would have happened!
This was all his fault! What if Mutadroid had him?! Or worse, had already torn him apart?! They couldn't even find him!
Raph tried the number again... but still he got no reply and he turned on his heel.
"I'm goin' out there."
"What? Where?" Donnie demanded.
"To find Leo."
"You don't even know where he is! And I need you here."
"For what?! I ain't standin around here doin' nothin'!" he gnarred. "You got Splinter. I'm gonna get Leo."
"We don't have time! Mikey's closer..."
"What, so he can be potential Droid food now too?!"
"Raph...!"
Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep
Donnie's attention flung to the monitor's stats.
His heart.... His brain...
No. It was his oxygen. He wasn't getting enough oxygen. Donnie's mind double timed in panic.
"Raph, hand me that resuscitator. The blue thing," he rushed.
Raph looked over at the contraption and obeyed.
"Hold this." Donnie placed a full needle in his hand and Raph's eyes widened at the sight. "I need you to pump oxygen and I'll give him this shot... Can you handle it?"
His eyes grew wide at the sight of the needle.
Donnie's eyes steeled. "This is gonna hurt...."
-
-
"OOF!!" The throw cracked the drywall but still he staggered to his feet.
Another swing. Angry roars... clashing metal and claws.
Leo rode on adrenaline alone, dodging the ruins of the shop. The dust of the drywall stung his eyes.
Tigerclaw lunged at top speed. He'd had the upper hand in raw strength and those murderous eyes held no reprieve. "Tell me, Turtle: how is it you sleep at night?"
Leo vaulted over the fallen shelves, throwing a throwing star with precision that nicked the cat's face.
But it only angered him and in another launch, he had him by the cuff of his shell.
"Do you even remember that night in the harbor....!"
Leo spun skillfully out of his grasp, punching a fistful of blinding powder in the cat's eyes and retreated, turning his moves to his own advantage.
But the battle was far from over.
Tigerclaw met the blows even with the stinging in his eyes, but with a swing of his paw, he was gone. "Is that who you are now? Running away from your sins like a coward...?!"
Leo listened from his perch like a viper.
Tigerclaw plodded the room. "She could have lived, you know. That child had no place being there. You would have known that... had you not have been careless..." He stilled his breath, listening for the sound of the reptile, bated for his intent.
Leo paused came in low, knocking over one of the glass shelves onto his back. "How's that for careless?!" He looked around quick, trying to pinpoint the medicine in the rubble, or the ringing of his phone.
Claws spread from beneath the rubble, pushing the weight of the shelf off of him.
Leo whirled around.
"....Do you remember.... the last thing she spoke...?"
Leo glared, stalking back. He needed to finish this now, before Tigerclaw got back his feet.
"The last look she ever gave you...!"
Leo faltered, for a moment, unhinged. Tigerclaw saw it in his eyes. His words had seeped to his brain. He'd found the weak spot, the one memory he couldn't let go.
It was just a crack in his step. Her terrified eyes, that honey gold against flames, twisted in an acceptance. Her arm outstretched. It still played behind his eyelids.
His sword fell slack in his hand.
Tigerclaw's mouth upturned to a crooked smile, sauntering over reveling in his imminent victory. He goaded him further: "The last time she ever touched you..."
His jaw grew tight.
She'd pushed him. She had pushed him away...
Tigerclaw grabbed him and yanked him up by his bad arm. He screamed in pain. "Time doesn't heal all wounds, does it, Leonardo?"
Leo wailed, desperately trying to pry out of his grasp before he splintered his arm into pieces.
"You know, the bounty the Shredder has put on you is enough for me to retire..."
He kicked weakly, there was a pop in his bones. The phone rang.
And he screamed.
-
-
~"Donatello."~
Donnie and Raph looked over as Dr. Rockwell's face projected on a hologram from Metalhead's chest across the room.
But he ignored it in the pressing emergency. "Not now Rockwell."
"Donatello I'm putting together some components that might buy us some extra time to...."
"Sounds great, Doc," his hands scattered. "reaaaally trying to keep my dad alive right now so if you're going to try something by all means PLEASE DO IT IMMEDIATELY!"
"...Alright," Dr. Rockwell frowned, "but really now, there's no need yell..."
"Hey." Raph glared. "This is an emergency situation. We can talk language later. The man needs meds... are ya gonna help him or not?!"
"RAPH!" Donnie called over desperately. The frantic sounds were swelling louder and faster. And as Raph ran to his aid, their father's body began to convulse. "His lungs are on the verge of collapse!"
"Here." Rockwell's fingers clattered the keyboard through the hologram, accessing the Kraang portal device Donnie kept in his room, delivering the meager supplies.
He added it to his feeds, but the convulsing wouldn't stop.
Donnie saw the terror lock in his father's eyes. The beeping clouded over. Raph's panicked voice turned to static.
The yelling demands of Rockwell. The phone. Mikey's muffled yelling....
It all blurred together.
Nothing was working... His hands weren't moving. The bottles in front of him didn't make sense....
Yelling. Gripping danger....
Accusation.
The pressure.
It was all so much...
Donnie froze.
"HAS HE LOST HIS MIND?!?" "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" "HE'S STOPPED BREATHING?!!" "WHY ISN'T HE DOING ANYTHING?!?!"
BuzzzzzBuzzzzzz
"What are ya doin?!" Raph yelled.
But no reply came. And then Raph saw that blank panic in his eyes. "Donnie! Come on..."
"I... I CAN'T!" His breath trapped in his chest. "I CAN'T DO IT! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!"
He grabbed his shoulders. "Ya gotta get it together, okay? Stay with me. You can do this!"
"I...!"
The doubt doubled in his features. All the knowledge he had ever acquired on this came from ripped, discarded books he found in the back of a dumpster! And it wasn't enough! It just wasn't enough...
He was going to mess this up.... He'd done it before...
"HEY." Raph shook his shoulders firmly. "You can do this, Donnie. Like no one else can."
Donnie stared at him. And found Raph's warm, lopsided smile.
It all happened in what seemed like sheer moments, but they were exactly what Donatello needed to breathe. That determination rekindled and he climbed over their father. "Grab that vile and syringe over there and stand by."
Don grabbed a needle from the floor and without hesitation, plunged it into his father's chest.
-
-
He screamed, pawing desperately for his dislocated arm, to find any clarity through the torture, but Tigerclaw only squeezed harder, laughed louder.
Leo tried to find something, anything.... A hidden blade in his wraps. But it was gone with his strength. He couldn't move.
Then Tigerclaw drew his sword close.
Leo shut his eyes to summon one last feat of strength, but his kick was limp, his fingers deft. He had no leverage.
It was over.
His last fleeting thought was of Karai and all he had held of her and all of his failures.
"BOOYAKASHA!!!!"
Suddenly there was a kick and shatter of glass. Michelangelo stood front and center with seriousness in his eyes and the Mutanimals behind him.
"The cavalry's here, Leonardo," Dr. Rockwell announced.
"Mikey! Guys!"
Leatherhead. Slash. Rockwell and Pigeon Pete....
"MUTANIMALS.... ATTAAAACK!!" Mikey ordered in a battle cry and the team thundered forward, Slash and Leatherhead leading the fray.
Tigerclaw was rushed by the brute strength of the mutants and he threw Leo's limp frame to the floor.
Mikey rushed to his side, slinging his arm around his shoulders. "I've gotchya bro."
Leo winced as he was brought to his feet.
"Where's the medicine stuff?!" Mikey rushed.
"Over there in the rubble!"
He followed his line of sight, then to the brawl of Tigerclaw and their friends.
Mikey led both of them over, finding the purple pouch held by a string and snatched it from the glass.
The fight behind them was decided. Rockwell's psychic abilities turned the tables, pinning Tigerclaw to the wall.
"We've got what we needed!" Leo announced.
"Then that's our cue." Slash dealt one last blow to the restrained cat and Pigeon Pete pecked him in the face for good measure.
"See ya around! Bring bread next time!" Petey waved and with a victorious laugh, Tigerclaw was tossed to the floor and the group was gone.
.
Dr. Rockwell carefully pushed the invented buttons on his arm, bringing bright pink light in what seemed to be a hologram. "The formula is sent through. This should do it."
"I just hope we're not too late," Leo muttered.
"That medicine you grabbed should work in tandem with what Michelangelo retrieved from the hospital, though timing is of the essence."
Mikey looked over at Leo. "Sorry I was late by the way," he said sheepishly. "Hospitals are really confusing."
"I'm just glad you showed up," Leo said relieved. They bumped knuckles and they stared over the city. "Hopefully Donnie can pull off a miracle."
-
-
"I could really use a miracle," Donnie muttered. "Sensei, stay with me."
His strength was drained. His fever was returning, raising higher.
"The infection's getting worse by the second. I'm seriously not sure we can fight this..."
Raph whirled around in the panic, noticing a strange humming and glow from Metalhead from the corner of his eye, holding something from his chest. "It's the medicine. Mikey's got it," His eyes widened.
All at once Master Splinter's body began to shake and he let out a pained scream.
"BRING IT HERE NOW!"
Raph ran over and grabbed them in a panic. "I don't know which one's which!"
"JUST GIVE THEM TO ME!" Donnie seized a sort of bulb from the pouch and gave it back to Raph. "Smash it," he ordered.
"What?" Raph looked confused.
"Smash. It."
Raph quickly put it on the ground and crushed it with his fist. And Donnie scooped it up, mixing it into the strange jelly-ish concoction he had mixed on the floor and had slathered it over the wound.
"Hand me three more. This time don't smash," he ordered.
Again, he obeyed, this time urging Sensei to take them with the mixture. "I hope this works."
It was all they could do. There was nothing either of them could do further, even when their father curl up in pain. And every cell in Donnie's body hardened to the possibility that it was too late.
And then... he stopped shaking. He opened his eyes. He grunted at the strange sensation.
"My... sons..."
Even Raph felt the change in his demeanor.
"Sensei..." Donnie felt his face for temperature. "His fever's starting to break.... We did it. WE DID IT!"
Raph beamed with excitement. "ALRIGHT!!" They shared a High Three in relieved laughter as Donnie's phone twittered a video message from Rockwell:
~"Donatello, I trust you have received the medications we sent..."~
"We did. We just gave it to him and his fever's already starting to recede."
"Wonderful. Then our work here is done."
"I can't thank you enough." Relief spread in Donatello's smile.
"Nothing we wouldn't do for friends," Rockwell replied. "Be sure to give him food right away. That mixture will surely take the stuffing out of him otherwise."
"We'll do that now. Have you heard from Leo or Mikey?"
~"You mean, us?!" Mikey took hold of the phone, a cocky grin on his face and an arm around Leo.
"GUYS!!" Raph and Donnie grinned.
"First of all: you're welcome. Second: We are the baddest ninjas this side of New York~!!"
"Heck yeah we are!" Raph threw his arm around Donnie's shoulder and Donnie's heart fluttered.
"We'll be back in a minute," Leo assured. "We got some extra supplies since we know our stock's bad. Keep us posted if you think of anything."
"Will do," Donnie promised.
"And don't you go messin' up my kitchen!" Mikey warned accusingly and took the phone, giving the screen the evilest eye he could muster. "I want everything back in order when I get back."
Raph smirked devilishly. "We'll make no such promises."
"C'mon dudes~ I literately just put it back together!"
"Uh oh!" Donnie looked back in mock panic. "There seems to have been some sort of an explosion..."
"Yep. It seems to be all of your forks!" Raph added. "They go in the toaster, right?!"
Mikey's eyes widened. "What?! GUYS--!"
They snapped the phone shut, barely withholding a snicker at his expense and Donnie's eyes were back on business. "Alright. Let's see what we can whip up."