Fantasma

Chapter 10: Full-fledged

Leonardo's sword sank deep into Abigor's chest as she dove forward, copying his move, but without any of the demon's raw power, he could only cut part of her away. His strike gave Raphael time to drag Michelangelo and Donatello out of the way of their fight, but in pain-filled fury, the demon lashed out almost blindly, catching the side of his head. Her nails raked into his eyes, shredding part of his mask with a spray of blood.

Shutting his eyes to the white glare, he couldn't help but lower his swords in shock. Blind, he stumbled backwards, feeling the demon's approach by the shift of air and through reverberations in the floor. He knew Splinter might try to distract it, but he also knew the rat couldn't fight one of these on his own.

Leo smiled. To hell with his eyes. Didn't need them. His prey stood before him and he could hear Abigor's muscles stretching, hear her stolen blood pumping through her, cold and lecherous and thick. His swords remained by his sides as he gritted his teeth, the blood starting to drip down his chin.

"It's just a blindfold." Leo whispered to himself, "I can do this. I'm a ninja, I've been trained to fight blind."

Raising his swords again and settling into a basic stance, he took a deep breath and waited. The darkness lifted and he felt the female demon right in front of him. She snapped at him and he leaned back, twisting sideways and flipping back on one arm, standing up again a few feet away.

"You're a formidable opponent, Leonardo, even when blind." Abigor hissed, the venom in her tone evident.

Leonardo felt his healing factor start to kick in as his vision slowly began to clear. He suddenly stabbed both swords into the ground and grabbed either hilt, his wrists lifting him sideways as she swung himself through the air. A silent scream escaped Abigor as he lunged at her, his legs wrapped around her body and his hands tracing up her neck, he grabbed her head and twisted.

Bones popped under his hands.

The crack echoed through the lair.

Breaking a frown, Michelangelo rushed forward, his hand slipping into Leonardo's as he looked around for his brothers. They sounded so close, maybe even just around the corner. Master Splinter and the remaining brothers came forward, their eyes wide.

"... Is she dead?" Mikey asked tentatively.

"For the moment." Came Leonardo's blunt reply, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "... I'm sorry-"

Leo abruptly thrust his hands forward, and the family was thrown through the lair and slammed into the Shellraiser, nearly 50 feet away. Only when they heard the steel hatch screeching on its hinges did he realise what had happened. Raphael turned and tried to run back, but he only had a moment to meet his brother's eyes before the door slammed shut. A second later he heard the lock spin shut.

"Leo!" Michelangelo pounded on the door as if he could break it down. "Leo! Please, don't do this!"

On the other side, Leonardo sighed and stared at the door, feeling his brother's fists through the metal and listening to him yell. After a moment, his family's voices joined him.

"Leo!" Raphael growled, "I know you're still there! You do this and I swear to God, when I get my hands on you, I'm gonna beat you to a pulp for being so damn stupid!"

The blue cladded turtle listened to them for several seconds, smiling as he heard their voices. With any luck, it was the last time he ever would. At least he'd managed to get them back safely together. Now he could concentrate on taking down his enemy.

...... There was nothing to live for.

"-and we can actually trust him again, then we have a bigger problem. I'm going to have to study these samples for a while to be sure, but think about it. What's the major thing about demons?"