Leo laid his brother back down on the sewer floor and looked at his own hand. He turned his palm down and flexed his three fingers into a fist. Through the blood he could see skin, dark green and rough... inhuman. He could remember what it was like before the change, before the decent into the sewers - before the adoption of humanity. They had always been animals, even when they thought themselves so superior to their primitive roots. But even animals could grieve.
The ninja wiped his face, smearing Raphael's blood across his features. "You're right," Leonardo whispered to his unmoving brother. "Neikan was created out of what we denied... but you never denied it. You accepted it."
Leonardo reached behind his back and drew his katanas, staring at them and the blood-covered face that reflected in their metal. He still saw the humanity behind his eyes, but on the outside it was more obvious that he was a creature... a thing meant to live by instinct. But he still felt it - he still had his honor, his strategy, his logical mind. Those things he had fought for every day since the time when he and his brothers had begun this life.
Leo laid one of his swords on Raphael's bloody plastron then brought the other one up to his own head, sliding the blade under his mask and slicing through the blue fabric. It fell away, landing on the dirt. He laid the sword across the other one and stared for many long seconds at the X they formed. He stood and slipped the pads from off his arms and legs, then did likewise to the bands of leather wrapped around his wrists. Finally, he removed was his belt and sheaths, almost fearing what would be left of his human self when they were gone. What he felt was anger and sadness - the same as he had felt as when he had them on. A tear escaped his eye, leaving a trail of green through the still-wet blood on his face.
"I'm going now," he whispered.
He turned his back to Raphael, walking away. He could hear Mike's voice far behind him, growing nearer - but Leo would not be there - he would not return to the den. Not to bring Raphael home, nor to offer supporting words to his brothers that still lived. He would not go back for the turtle's rites, nor for his interment. If it took the last fragments of his life and humanity, he would not return until Neikan was dead.
"Here! Come on!" Michaelangelo yelled as he and Splinter grew nearer to the place where the turtle had left his brothers. "Hurry, Master!"
Michaelangelo was having trouble keeping a steady pace, so Splinter ran on ahead, taking long, bounding steps towards the point where his son had indicated. With a final, determined leap, the rat landed by Raphael's side and kneeled down, pressing a hand to the turtle's blood-coated throat. Mike slid to a stop beside them and unrolled the fabric-and-aluminum constructed stretcher that he had been carrying from the den. He looked around and then down at the swords that were placed so carefully on the fallen turtle's plastron.
"Master..?" Mike said, picking up the katanas. "Where's Leo?"
Splinter reached over and picked up his missing son's mask then looked at Michaelangelo. "He is gone."
Mike's mouth fell open. "Jesus, Master... please, don't say that... I wasn't gone that long..."
"No," Splinter clarified. "He left."
"But... why would he leave Raph here like this?"
"Perhaps he believed him to be dead."
Mikey touched his brother's wrist. "Do you think we can do anything?"
"We must return him to the den immediately."
Mike let out a breath and spun the swords, sliding them between his shell and belt. They took up positions and lifted Raph onto the stretcher, then Splinter picked up the pads and belt and laid them atop Raph's chest, carefully avoiding the fresh wound.
"I hope Leo knows what he's doing, Master," Mike said, lifting his end of the stretcher.
"As do I..."
Leonardo looked ahead of him at the empty, dark tunnel. He had been walking for nearly an hour and had found no trace of Neikan. It had seemed like the right thing to do at first, but now he wasn't so certain. He wondered if he should have at least kept one sword in hand - or sought out Raphael's missing sai. He glanced down at his own hands and saw how plain they were... Neikan had claws - another example of its feral state. Leo's own body was strong and flexible, but he was nowhere near as adapted for survival as Neikan was.
The ninja's face was stiff - he flexed his features and the dried blood cracked. He kneeled down and dipped his hand in the murky water, bringing up a palm full and splashing himself in the face. Raphael's blood dissolved away, dripping into the sewer water and leaving red rings on the surface. He glared at the reflection of his own face and then shifted his gaze upward, back towards the shadows - a tugging at the back of his mind urging the fact that he was no longer alone.
Leo let his eyes dig deep into the darkness ahead, searching for the creature that he could feel at that moment. It was in the depths somewhere, staring at him and waiting. He stood and jumped up, taking hold of a thick pipe and swinging himself up. A pain seared his back, reminding him of the first time he had really faced up against Neikan, just hours before. At that time he had not been able to touch it at all - this time he swore to himself that the battle field would be even. He crouched on the rusted metal and looked even deeper into the shadows.
"What's wrong?" Leo asked. "Afraid to show yourself?"
Two white eyes slid into view and shifted to the side, as if Neikan were pondering its enemy's words. It let out a fluid growl and stomped, splashing the sewer water. Small waves rolled into the light and glanced off the concrete walls.
"...Animal people..." it hissed.
Leo bared his teeth. "You're half right..."
"I can't believe he just took off like that," Donatello yelled. He wobbled and Mark put a hand under his elbow, holding him up. "What the hell is he thinking?"
"Take it easy, Donny," Mike scolded, sitting up on the bed. "He's going after Neikan."
Don shoved Michaelangelo back down on his shell. "Lay still!" he commanded, checking the needle in Mike's arm. "Or this isn't going to work."
Raphael lay on a bed next to Mike's, a needle protruding from his own arm. Between the two turtles there was a length of tubing that flowed through with blood that was being pumped by a jerry-rigged device vaguely resembling a fish tank aerator. Despite the pump's simplistic appearance, it seemed to be working and the transfusion had been thus-far successful.
Donatello's fingers were busy at work stitching up the punctured artery in Raphael's chest. Mike sighed and looked up at the cracked ceiling. He was thankful that Don's studies had included medical treatments beyond the basic first aid that they all had learned from their Sensei.
After his encounter with Neikan, Don shouldn't have even been standing and it amazed them all that he was able to do so without passing out. He was still in great pain from the torture he had gone through at the tulpa's hands, but he held it back and tried to hide it, wearing a funereal expression for Raphael and nothing for himself. Donatello's body was covered with wounds of his own - all bandaged but still bleeding through the gauze. Nobody liked the idea of him being up and about but it was the only possible solution at the moment - Splinter did not have such extensive medical training and Michaelangelo's blood was the only thing keeping Raphael alive. Even the deep gouge in Don's palm did not keep his fingers from performing the delicate task of repairing his brother's artery.
"How's he doing?" Mark asked, biting on his lip.
"Good... I hope," Don said as he removed a pair of surgical clamps from the vessel. He handed the clamps to Splinter and then held his breath as he removed the other pair. He let out the breath when he saw that no blood seeped through the stitching. "He's damn lucky Neikan didn't get his heart."
Mark stared at Raph's foot. "What's wrong with his ankle?" he asked.
Don looked over at the distorted limb for only a moment before returning his sights to the situation at hand. "It may be broken," he said. "But I have more important things to take care of right now. I'll worry about that as soon as I get this finished."
Mark nodded and stepped back.
"I'm getting light-headed," Mike said, playing with the tube between him and his brother.
Don slapped his hand and checked the needle again. "I'll take it off in a second."
Mark rubbed the center of his forehead and turned to Splinter. "Do you think Leo's okay?"
Splinter set the surgical clamps down on a metal tray and patted Don on the arm, looking him in the eye.
"I can handle it, Master," Donatello said between clenched teeth. "I'll holler if I need you."
The rat nodded and took the young human by the elbow, leading him to the mattress. Leonardo's swords lay upon the sheets and Mark sat down beside them, joined a moment later by the aged rat.
"It didn't work for Raph," the boy said softly. "Do you think it'll work for Leo?"
"I may have been correct about this creature's origin," Splinter said, "but I am afraid there was far too little of Raphael's animalism in Neikan."
Mark looked up at him curiously. He hadn't known the ninja master long, but he could tell that there were not many instances that Splinter had been mistaken about something - and it shone in the old one's eyes that it disturbed him greatly that he was incorrect this time.
"But Leo... he seems so... I dunno'... level-headed," Mark said.
"Yes... and that is why he may be the only one able to best the creature.," Splinter said haltingly. "Of all my sons he has been the one most determined to cast aside his animal instincts - he has time and again shown that he no longer considers himself an animal. If Neikan was created from what my children have denied themselves, it stands to reason that there is much more of Leonardo in this creature than of any of the others." He looked across the room at Raphael. "It is unfortunate that I did not realize so sooner."
Splinter stood and put a furry hand on Mark's shoulder, then walked away. He lowered himself to the floor, crossing his legs. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, beginning to meditate. Mark watched him for a while then turned his face to the side, looking at the pair of katanas there on the mattress. He picked one up and waved it back and forth, watching the light glint off the blade.
After many long minutes, Leonardo jumped off the pipe, flipping in the air and landing on his feet, trying his best to fight back the sting in his back. He crouched again, bringing the water up to his chest. Neikan took a step forward then let out a low growl and stepped back. Leo watched it, trying to sort out the action.
No... not logic, the turtle thought, Instinct...
The ninja leapt forward, grabbing at the thing's head. It looked at him as he came near and deflected the attack, elbowing Leo in the face. The turtle rolled with the strike and flipped onto his shell in shallower water, kicking Neikan behind the knee. The creature fell back and Leo slid aside just before it would have landed on him. It howled out in anger and shifted to its knees, not bothering to get to a better position before striking back. That was an advantage to Leonardo, who sprung to his feet and jumped over the hastily delivered attack. He landed behind the creature and jumped onto its back. There was a thump when they contacted - the sound of plastron hitting shell.
...A turtle... Leo reminded himself. Mike said it's a turtle...
Leonardo reached around Neikans head and dug his fingers into its eyes. It howled and the ninja felt the soft membranes slide loose beneath his fingertips. The creature reached behind itself and grabbed the top edge of the turtle's shell. Leo's grip was wrenched loose and he felt himself flying through the air; he hit the wall with his shoulder and heard a pop as the bone dislocated itself from the socket. He crumpled to the floor then sprung back to his feet and looked ahead, glaring at the dark form stalking towards him. It stepped into the light and Leo gritted his teeth.
It was a turtle - its skin grey-green and its shell black and cracked. Its long limbs and emaciated muscles made it seem incapable of the feats of strength and agility it had displayed. The skeleton-like arms ended in three-fingered hands - its claws were nothing more than the creature's bones thrust through the tips. There was a gaping hole in Neikan's throat that still flowed with un-living blood; the fluid oozed down the center of the dark brown plastron and dripped into the sewer water. There was a gash on the center of its head and one of its eyes hung eerily against its cheek, having been forced loose by Leo's attack a few moments before. Blood pooled in the empty socket and flowed down its face, into its open mouth. Neikan's black tongue slid out from between its large, flat teeth and licked away the fluid.
Leo backed up a step and felt his carapace hit the wall. He took a deep breath and swung his shoulder hard into the concrete - the bone popped back into the socket. Leo's eyes twitched but he made no verbal confirmation of the pain. He shook his arm and flexed his hand, turning full towards the tulpa. Somehow it seemed more real now - no longer an echo from a distant nightmare. It was pure - focusing on a single objective: survival.
And now, so was Leonardo.
Mike sat on the edge of the bed and leaned forward, putting his head between his knees.
"I told you not to try and get up yet," Donatello scolded. He was standing a meter away, just finishing the splint on Raphael's ankle . "Next time maybe you'll listen to me."
"Shut up... you shouldn't be standing, either," Mikey said as he glanced over at where Splinter sat in meditation. "You think Leo's okay?"
Don limped to his brother and let out a breath. "He can take care of himself."
Michaelangelo looked at Raphael and then into Don's eyes. "How's Raph doing?"
"He's stable... as far as I can tell. He lost a lot of blood, but thanks to you he'll probably make it."
"How's his ankle?"
"We can't be sure of how it's going to heal. We don't exactly have the luxury of an x-ray machine down here... hopefully it'll knit straight enough so he can stand on it."
Mike nodded and stared at the reddened bandage on Raphael's chest. "What about his plastron?"
Don sighed, folding his arms. "If it were a solid piece punched in there might be less to worry about. I think I got all the fragments out... I hope."
"That kind of thing doesn't grow back, does it?"
"No. And that's a bad place to leave unprotected."
"Right over the heart," Mike said.
"Scar tissue will eventually cover the flesh underneath, but down the road we'll have to think about armoring the area somehow."
"Armoring?" Michaelangelo looked a little confused. "Like with metal?"
"Perhaps. Leaving it unprotected would be like painting a bull's-eye over his heart."
Neither one of them admitted out loud was that Raphael's life as a ninja was virtually over. He would be unable to pivot or lift on his ankle and his artery would be at risk of bursting with any great amount of strain put upon it. That, in addition to his unprotected chest, meant that he would be unable to fight with any effectiveness. The greatest fear that the brothers shared was that Raph would be unable to accept that situation when he woke up. If he woke up.
"How are you doing?" Mikey asked, looking at Donatello's distant expression.
"What do you mean?"
Mike slid over, motioning for his brother to join him on the bed. Don did so reluctantly and slowly, biting back a sound of pain as he lifted himself up. He folded his hands on his lap and stared down at them.
"Neikan hurt you.," Michaelangelo continued.
"I'll be fine," Donny said. "My wounds are a lot less severe than Raphael's..."
"That's not what I mean," Mike cut in. "And you know it."
"I know what you mean," Don told him, trying not to raise his voice. "And I told you I'll be fine."
Mike shook his head. "Don't even try to lie to me, I've known you too long."
Donatello looked away. "I don't want to talk about this right now."
Michaelangelo put a hand on Don's cheek and guided his face around. A tear slipped from the corner of Don's eye and the scholarly turtle reached up, wiping it away with the back of his hand. Mike didn't try to put words to the situation, instead wrapping his arms around his distressed brother and pulling him into an embrace. Don returned the hug, his body shaking as he cried. Mike touched the back of the other's head and patted softly as he felt tears fall onto his shoulder.
"I'm here, man... don't worry," Mike said, his own voice bleeding with emotion.
Don didn't speak, but held his brother as tightly as his weakened arms could manage. So many times, through so many battles they had survived. They had gone around the world and had even left it, challenging powerful enemies every step along the way. They hadn't always won, but they had always survived. There was a certain macabre irony to the fact that their most formidable enemy had emerged so close to home - and had been born from their own minds. Michaelangelo lifted his face and glanced over at Splinter and then towards the mattress on the floor. He felt a sudden rush of panic and pushed Donatello away gently.
"Donny..?" he said in a low voice. "Where's Mark?"
Donatello looked up and wiped his face a second time. Mike's eye ridges were drawn together as he scanned the infirmary, looking suddenly worried. Don's mouth opened and he looked around, as well. He stepped down from the bed and wobbled on his tortured legs. Mike grabbed him by the arm, helping him to stand.
"Where the hell is he?" Don asked.
Michaelangelo slid his feet to the floor and stood, fighting his legs' urge to betray him. "Look," he said, pointing to the mattress and the single katana that lay upon it.
"Damn!" Donatello yelled, stumbling to Splinter and falling to his knees at his side. "Master," he said. "Master, please wake up!"
Splinter's eyes opened and he looked at his son. "What is wrong?" he asked.
"Mark took off," Don said. "I... we didn't notice. Sensei, he's going to get himself killed!"
Mike kneeled as well. "He took one of Leo's swords," he told the aged ninja.
Splinter stood silently and walked to the mattress, picking up the lone weapon. He looked at his sons and they stood, joining him there, each with his head bowed in shame.
"Master, I'm sorry..." Don said, feeling guilty. "I wasn't paying attention... I should have..."
Splinter lifted his chin and put a hand on Don's shoulder. "Do not blame yourself," he said.
"Me and Donny... we can't go after him," Mike said reluctantly. "Master, please... you have to find him. He has no idea what it's like down here."
Splinter handed the sword to Don and slid out of his kimono, then leaned over and picked up Leonardo's belt and a single sheath. He wrapped the leather strap around himself twice and fastened it in the front with a tight knot.
"I'm sorry," Don repeated, handing the sword back to their master.
Splinter took the weapon and slid it into the scabbard. He walked towards the door and turned, bowing to his students as they approached unsteadily. They returned the gesture and the mammal reached behind him, his hand finding the doorknob that had been left unlocked by Mark in his haste to leave. Splinter turned and walked out into the darkened living room as the turtles watched from the door to the infirmary. He did not look back as he left the den, sliding silently into the sewer beyond. Donatello shut the infirmary door and latched it, turning to face his brother.
"I should be with him," Mike said, clenching his fists. "I'm not so bad off."
Donatello walked past him, towards Raphael's sickbed. "You gave a lot of blood," he said, putting a finger on the unconscious turtle's throat and counting out a pulse.
"I can handle it," Mike told him, struggling near.
"Look," Don said loudly, turning around. "I want to go out there and do something about this, too. I don't want anything to happen to Leo or Splinter or Mark any more than you do, but right now the only thing that would happen to either one of us if we went out there is that we would get killed!"
"But I'm fine," Michaelangelo said, raising his own voice.
"You gave a lot of blood to Raph," Don yelled. "That means that you shouldn't even be on your feet right now. Your body needs time to recover, if you were to go out traipsing around the sewer you'd probably be unconscious inside of five minutes."
Mike sighed and acquiesced. "Okay..." he said. "So what do we do now?"
Don walked around Raphael to the other bed and pulled himself up onto it. "We sit," he said, indicating that the Mike should join him, "and wait."
Mark gripped the handle of the sword and walked forward swiftly. He didn't know where he was going or why he had chosen to leave the safety of the turtles' den, all he knew at that moment was that he could not turn back. Perhaps, he thought, he would be able to return the elegant weapon to its proper owner - and maybe that it would mean the difference between death and survival for the ninja. Maybe he was doing just what needed to be done.
...Maybe I'm just crazy... he thought.
Unfamiliar noises found his ears and he jumped at the slightest of them. One sound was a low rumble, almost like a growl. He stopped and held his breath, listening more intently. The sound was coming from above him - the sound of cars on the road that was the sewer's ceiling. Mark looked up at a manhole cover. Light streamed through the holes - it was daytime up there. But it was always nighttime down below, he realized - it was always dark. He didn't like the dark - not any more. He wanted to leave it, to get away from the dangers that hid there. And now there was a way out - a safe path to the real world.
He let out a breath and stepped towards the ladder, putting his hand on it and lifting himself up a step. He could get away from this dank, frightening place now - he could escape and never have to face that awful creature that had stalked them throughout the evening past... he could go home and be safe. If only Ronnie had been so safe, if he had really been afraid of the dark he would still be alive. Mark lifted his other hand and only then remembered that he still held the sword.
The light from the world above glanced off the blade and gave it an almost electrical glow. He put his foot back on the sewer floor and looked up at the manhole again, then lowered his head. He could leave, but these people had helped him - kept him safe and protected even at the cost of their own lives. And now he was prepared to leave without even thanking them or repaying their kindness. Somehow they were so honorable - more than any human he had ever known. More than himself.
Mark closed his eyes and then opened them again, walking once more into the shadows.
"...Keep me, O Lord..." he whispered, recalling the 140th Psalm, "...from the hands of the wicked..."
Splinter crouched and moved himself along the sewer floor on all fours, sniffing the air for the young human's scent. The only smell was that of blood - and it masked most every other scent about. He stopped and looked at the ground, seeing the teen's footprints imprinted in the dirt. He looked up the way and stood, walking ahead cautiously.
He had protected his children much when they were younger, but that need had diminished since they had come into their own as warriors and as men. But that paternal feeling had never left him - the one that kept him seeking ways to protect them. In this instance there was little that he could do for them that they could not do better, themselves. But Mark... he was a stranger to this world. The human didn't know that death showed itself in many corners.
Though Mark hadn't said so, Splinter knew that Ronnie's death was the first one that the teen had ever seen. The human must have become, like many of his generation, hardened to the thought of death through its romanticized representation as seen through the glass of a television screen. No doubt, before he had come down below, he had seen the end of life as a thing interesting and even fascinating. It was doubtful that Mark held that vision any more, not after seeing Death... the reality. And it was from that fate that Splinter now sought to protect him - the same as he had protected his own sons when they had been as vulnerable.
The ninja stopped and looked down at the young man's footprints where they left the dirt and went down into the water. Splinter glanced around him, back down the tunnel and then ahead at a junction. Closing his eyes, he tried to concentrate - attempting to visualize the direction in which Mark had gone. Without the footprints to follow and with the scent of blood negating all others, he would have to rely on the same instincts he had been instructing his children to follow hours before.
His ears twitched and he stepped down into the water, treading to the junction and turning left. He took a few steps and paused, a warning whispering in his ear. He slid beneath the water, only his eyes and nose remaining above the water. He slid on, towards where the monitory feeling had told him he should go. As he did, noises began to drift near - voices. Human... authoritative voices.
Silently as a common rat, he moved ahead. Beams of light illuminated the tunnel several junctions away. He dove beneath the water and swam towards the source, rising to the surface just meters from the humans. They were police - two of them. The were searching for something, scanning the water and shining their lights onto the nearby ledges.
"Let's forget this," one of them said, stepping onto a low ledge. "I can't find anything."
"What the hell are we looking for, anyway?" the other one asked.
The first shrugged. "A giant something... with big teeth and claws. Some kid reported it a couple hours ago, said that it killed two of his friends..."
The second officer jumped quickly out of the water, landing on the ledge beside her friend. "Let's... uh... let's call animal control in on this one..."
The officers moved towards the ladder and ascended without another word, sliding the lid back onto the manhole after they were fully out. Splinter stood and walked towards the ledge, leaping up onto it. Water dripped from his soaking fur and formed a flowing puddle. This must have been the spot that Mark and his friends had encountered Neikan... and soon there would be more humans down here, searching for the missing teens and swarming ever closer to the mutants' home. More urgently, the humans would run the risk of being Neikan's next victims.
Splinter turned and jumped back into the water, moving quickly back towards the direction from which he had come. First he would return to the den and warn his sons about the humans that would soon be in their midst, then he would seek out Mark. The safety of the intruding humans would be determined by Leonardo - and his exclusive ability to destroy Neikan.