*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.
*Special Note: Huge thanks to CorolineThePheonix for creating the awesome artwork for this chapter. I adore you, my friend!
*Author's Notes: Here's chapter 15 of 'Lost in the Fight' and get ready for another cliffhanger . . . It's a big one.
Thank you to all of my followers and to those who have read, voted on, and commented on this story. I am extremely grateful for all of your feedback and support. =}
As always, please take a moment to vote and/or comment on 'Lost in the Fight' if you like it. Thank you so much for reading. ;) CJ
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Chapter 15 - A Shocking End
The plan had gone off without a single hitch. Well, maybe having to leave his partner for dead would be considered a slight hitch in the plan, but in all honesty, Tiger Claw had never really much liked the mutated bear anyway. He rued the day that Master Shredder had assigned him to work with that mindless beast. From the moment of the grizzly's mutation a few weeks before, Grizzgore had given Tiger Claw the creeps, always salivating and hungrily staring at him with his beady eyes as though he would make a tasty snack. Plus, the bear reeked something awful and he was a lousy conversationalist, making every interaction with him painfully awkward. Being paired with him was even worse than having to go on assignments with Rahzar, and that was saying a lot, because Tiger Claw really hated that sorry excuse for a mutant.
As far as Tiger Claw was concerned, Grizzgore was no great loss. All that the mutant feline really cared about at this point was that his mission had been a success. He had captured the brother referred to as Donatello, just as Master Shredder had commanded, and he would deliver the purple-banded turtle as promised. His master would be most pleased to accept his new prisoner. So pleased, he probably wouldn't even bat an eye over the loss of Grizzgore. Especially not when he got his gauntlets on the intellectual mastermind of the Hamato Yoshi clan . . .
The huge tiger's lips coiled into a pompous smirk.
All that now stood between him and completing his objective was an empty rooftop that he was already partway across.
Currently, Tiger Claw had the terrapin's body pinned tightly up against his side with one hulking arm while he used the paw on his opposite arm to muffle the turtle's desperate attempts to alert his brothers of his capture. Despite the smaller mutant's many injuries, he was putting up a respectable fight to break free, but the massive cat was far stronger than him, even on a good day. The more that the turtle struggled to get away, the more that Tiger Claw would just tighten his grip, causing the reptile to whimper in pain. Hearing his victim's pathetic sniveling only made Shredder's striped assassin smirk all the more. He would take immense pleasure in watching Master Shredder make the spindly little turtle suffer.
It wouldn't be long now . . .
Only a short distance to go and they would reach the edge of the roof.
The sound of one of the turtle's brothers screaming below them made Tiger Claw quicken his pace. Fortunately for him, the fight was still raging on inside of the warehouse, which was effectively drowning out any noises that he may have been making as he skulked across the rooftop. It was also drowning out the purple-banded turtle's useless grunting and mumbling.
The mutant Bengal tiger scowled down at his prey, who was still desperately trying to call out for his brothers. The reptile's insistence on making noise had nearly blown the tiger's cover once already back in the warehouse. Tiger Claw had nabbed the purple-clad turtle and fled off with him just in the nick of time, for as soon as the two of them had reached the roof of the building, his captive had regained full consciousness and started squawking and thrashing about. If the larger mutant would have waited another few minutes to make his move, the turtle would have warned his brothers of his presence and Tiger Claw would have never gotten his target out of the building without a confrontation.
Luckily, when the smallest turtle with the biggest mouth had gotten taken down, it had provided just the distraction that Tiger Claw had been waiting for. He couldn't have asked for a better stroke of luck. The scrawniest turtle had just been starting to stir when Grizzgore had cast the annoying little nunchuk-wielding runt into the wall. The other brothers had turned their attention to the orange-masked terrapin just long enough for Tiger Claw to grab their intellectual brother.
The timing had been impeccable.
When his partner had unknowingly created the perfect disruption, Tiger Claw had quickly dragged the semiconscious turtle down the catwalk and up the roof access ladder with minimal effort, and more importantly, without detection. The problem was, now that his hostage was fully awake, he wasn't being all that cooperative, making the mutant tiger's trek across the rooftop much more difficult than he had anticipated. What was going to be even more difficult was going down the fire escape ladder with an unwilling captive. Tiger Claw was half-tempted to knock the turtle back out, but he really wanted his prisoner to be lucid when he handed him over to Master Shredder. That way, his master could do as he pleased to the reptile, but the turtle's incessant resistance was trying the cat's patience and significantly impeding his progress.
Tiger Claw found himself wishing that he would have brought his jetpack along on this mission. It would have made things so much easier . . .
The turtle's increased fidgeting then snapped the enormous cat out of his mental grumbling and further pushed his patience to the limit.
"Unless you would like another jolt from my new shock gun, I suggest you stop your infernal struggling, little cub," Tiger Claw snarled into his captive's ear slit.
Donnie stiffened in the tiger's grasp, remembering all too well how unpleasant the last hit from the modified stun gun had felt. The genius turtle wasn't about to just give up without a fight, but at the same time, if Tiger Claw gave him another zap with his shock gun, Donnie wouldn't be able to put up any kind of a fight at all, nor would he be able to notify his brothers that he had been taken.
It was a regular catch-22 . . .
When Tiger Claw tightened his vice-like grip around him for the umpteenth time, Donnie temporarily stopped flailing about, not just to save his shell from getting shocked, but also, because being squashed like an orange when you had several broken ribs did not feel good at all.
Drawing in a murky breath, and then, letting out a long, sickly-sounding wheeze, the genius turtle attempted to calmly push away the pain. He needed to focus on trying to come up with some kind of a clever escape plan.
Once his breathing was somewhat steady and he was able to finally concentrate on something other than his own agony, Donatello's magnificent brain rapidly went to work.
Taking into account his extremely debilitated physical condition and the detrimental effects of the shock gun, Donnie quickly concluded that he would only have one shot at getting away and/or notifying his brothers of his potential kidnapping. He knew from experience that the shock gun could render him unconscious in a matter of seconds, which meant that his timing would have to be just right or he would get an all-expense paid trip to life in captivity courtesy of the Shredder himself.
Clearly, he needed to wait for a better opportunity to present itself, so he decided to play possum for a while. This would not only give him some time to contemplate, but also, allow him to conserve what little energy he still had left.
"That's a good boy," Tiger Claw goaded when he felt the turtle's body go limp in an obvious act of submission. The malicious cat then used the paw cupped firmly around Donatello's mouth to yank the terrapin's head back so that the weaker mutant was forced to look him in the eye. The tiger could see and feel the turtle gulp nervously and it brought yet another sinister smirk to his face.
Confident that the frightened reptile would cause no further incident, Tiger Claw continued stalking towards his destination. As he reached the steel fire escape ladder at the edge of the warehouse roof, he slowed to a halt. All that he had to do now was get his prisoner down that ladder, and then, he would easily be able to disappear into the night without a trace.
Donnie also saw the fire escape ladder and his uninjured eye grew wide with panic. He knew that if Tiger Claw got him away from the building, there would be no hope of his brothers finding him in time. It wasn't that the genius turtle didn't have faith in his brothers. It was just that Donnie was well aware of the fact that the mutant tiger was a highly-trained assassin and bounty hunter. In other words, Tiger Claw was an expert on how to make himself invisible. If he managed to get them both down to the ground without being discovered, Donnie realized that he would have virtually no chance of being rescued. He would be presented to Shredder, and most likely, inhumanely tortured for however long their mortal enemy saw fit. Then, he would be put on a plane to who knows where. If this happened, his brothers wouldn't be able to save him. His enemies would see to that.
There was no time to wait around for a better opportunity to present itself. This was the only opportunity that he had left. If he didn't get away now, he would never see his family again.
With all of his residual strength, Donnie pushed his good leg, his hands, his elbows – whatever he could – against Tiger Claw's body, writhing around with renewed vigor in an attempt to loosen the mutant cat's grasp on him. Tiger Claw fought to keep the turtle pinned against his body, but in doing so, he inadvertently let up on his hold around Donnie's mouth. The genius turtle immediately took advantage of the tiger's slackened grip and bit down on his paw as hard as he possibly could.
Tiger Claw roared out in pain as Donnie's teeth clamped down. The mutated Bengal tiger instinctively pulled his now-throbbing paw away from the turtle's mouth, giving the purple-masked ninja just the opening that he had been hoping for.
"Guys! Help me! I'm on the roof! Leo, please! Help m – !" The genius brother screamed at the top of his unclear lungs, but his frantic cries for help were soon stifled by the tiger's paw yet again. Only this time, Tiger Claw stopped Donnie from making any additional noise by forcefully clenching his bitten paw around the smaller mutant's throat, which instantly cut off the turtle's supply of oxygen. Donnie was reduced to sickly choking and gasping sounds as he hysterically tried to pry himself free from the stranglehold.
Lifting the turtle up by the neck, Tiger Claw held Donatello out in front of him so that his feet were dangling just above the surface of the roof. He then shook the terrapin like a floppy rag doll in his unforgiving grasp while he grinned at the turtle's pitiful attempts to escape. The tiger watched on with blatant amusement as the smaller mutant's struggles to get away grew weaker and weaker, until there was no fight left in him. The sight and sound of the life being squeezed out of his victim was most gratifying. The turtle's eyes then began to roll around in the back of his head as he neared death from asphyxiation.
Though Tiger Claw wanted nothing more than to kill the allegedly most intelligent brother for all of the trouble that he had caused him, he could not exterminate the boy prematurely. Not before offering him to Master Shredder as promised. The larger mutant loosened his clutches around Donatello's throat and listened to the sound of the turtle wheezing, feebly trying to take in what little air he was suddenly being permitted.
It was at this point that Tiger Claw reached his unoccupied paw towards one of his holsters and pulled out his shock gun. He then held the end of the gun before the turtle once again and twisted his lips into a crooked sneer while he watched the smaller mutant's eyes cross and expand with dawning horror.
"Say goodnight, turtle."
The end of the shock gun started to glow bright blue, just like it had before, and Donnie couldn't stop a whimper of dread as the weapon drew nearer.
Then, there came a loud, commanding voice from behind them.
"Let him go!"
Tiger Claw turned to face the approaching figure and promptly tightened his grip around his prisoner's throat so that the turtle was unable to speak.
"Oh, I'll let him go all right." With that said, Tiger Claw thrust his arm out and held Donatello's flaccid form over the side of the building. "I would not come another step closer if I were you, or we will find out just how hard your brother's shell really is. Do you think he will bounce, or perhaps, crack like an egg?" Tiger Claw snarled coldly, holding Donatello even further out over the edge of the roof.
Leonardo's heart was beating crazily inside of his chest as he watched Tiger Claw suspend his helpless little brother by the throat over the side of the warehouse. The oldest turtle noticed that Donnie wasn't even resisting the mutant tiger's clutches. His genius brother appeared to be completely lifeless, which made Leo's heart pound even harder.
"P – Please! Please, don't hurt him," Leo pleaded, his blue gaze imploring the larger mutant to show mercy.
"I am afraid it is a bit late for that request. As you can plainly see, your brother is already . . . hurt." There was a smug expression on Tiger Claw's face while he uttered the word 'hurt,' as if he found it funny. Then, without warning, he pulled Donnie back towards him and cruelly threw the purple-banded mutant down onto the surface of the roof, right at his back paws.
Upon landing, Donnie's leg buckled underneath him and he screamed out in sheer agony as he reached for his broken limb.
Leonardo was about to lunge to his injured brother's side when Tiger Claw held out his bizarre-looking weapon and moved it so that the end of the device was only inches away from Donnie's head. The giant cat then adjusted one of the various knobs on the weapon and pulled the trigger, which made the tip of the gun turn even bluer than Leonardo's mask.
This was the first time that the oldest turtle had seen one of Shredder's cohorts carry this type of weapon and it was unnerving to see the arcing electricity so frighteningly close to his little brother's head.
"I see you are curious about my new toy. This is Baxter Stockman's latest invention. He informed me that a few prolonged seconds of exposure on the highest setting of this lethal weapon will fry someone's insides. What do you think? Should we test out the maximum setting on your brother here?" As Tiger Claw asked the question, he moved the weapon even closer to Donnie.
"No, please!" Leonardo hated giving his adversary the satisfaction of hearing him practically beg, but he couldn't just stand there and watch the heartless monster kill Donnie before his very eyes. "Please, test it on me instead! Just don't hurt my brother anymore!"
"Oh, how touching." Tiger Claw's voice dripped with sarcasm and he looked as though he was about to gag over the display of brotherly affection. Though their close-knit relationship was admirable, the mutant tiger had always viewed the strong bond between the four turtle brothers to be their greatest weakness. Their closeness and willingness to sacrifice themselves for one another would no doubt be their downfall.
"If you truly wish to save your brother, you would be wise to drop your weapons, turtle." As he made his command, the mutated tiger continued to hug his claw around the trigger of the weapon aimed at Donnie's head.
Holding his hands out in front of him in surrender, Leonardo was about to let go of his katanas when his genius brother finally found his voice.
"D – Don't do it, Leo! He isn't going . . . to kill me! He needs . . . me alive!" Though the words that Donnie had just spoken had come out stammered and hoarse sounding, the determination behind them had made them loud and clear, even over the howling wind. Donnie then pushed himself up into a seated position so that he could better see his oldest brother. The second that he made eye contact with Leo, the genius turtle could see the silent apology in his brother's guilty stare and the sight made tears instantly start to well in his own eyes.
The moment of unspoken regret between the brothers was soon interrupted by the beast still holding Donnie hostage.
"Do not tempt me to defy my orders, young one!" Edging his weapon even closer to Donatello's forehead, Tiger Claw glared down at his captive with his one menacing yellow eye. He hoped that the expression might intimidate the turtle into shutting up, but the reptile did not take the hint.
"His mission . . . is to capture me . . . and deliver me . . . to Shredder. Shredder . . . he wants me . . . to work for him. Tiger Claw's instructions . . . are to bring me . . . to Shredder alive. He has no . . . intention . . . of killing me," Donnie panted, having to pause for breath numerous times. His less injured arm shook from the strain of holding himself up and sweat poured down from his brow, only to be sopped up by his tattered and filthy mask. As he peered up at his older brother through his red-rimmed eyes, Donatello gritted his teeth, attempting to hide his suffering.
Regardless of the genius turtle's best efforts to deceive his big brother, he was unable to fool the ever-observant leader. Leonardo could clearly see that Donnie was in a tremendous amount of pain and it angered the turtle in blue beyond measure. But not nearly as much as hearing that Shredder was after his little brother had . . . The announcement had temporarily rendered Leo speechless. The idea of his pacifistic, brilliant brother working for Shredder was completely preposterous, not to mention downright disturbing.
When Leo was finally able to speak again, all he could gasp out was one word.
"What?"
It was obvious that the eldest turtle was offended by what his brother had said. The disgusted look on the leader's face was evidence of that.
"Your brother speaks the truth. Master Shredder has big plans for his special talents. He will serve the Shredder for the rest of his life. And if he refuses, I assure you that he will be brutally punished until he learns to respect and obey his new master. No, I do not plan on killing him at this point, but you . . . You I have no qualms with killing," Tiger Claw said, pointing the shock gun straight at the blue-masked turtle.
"No!" As much as it pained him, Donatello somehow managed to rise to his feet. Once upright, however, he immediately had to shift all of his weight onto his good leg, but even that leg was barely able to hold him up. While he fought to keep his balance, he stared up at Tiger Claw for several drawn-out moments before speaking again. "Let Leo go. I promise . . . I'll go . . . with you willingly . . . if you promise me . . . that no harm . . . will come . . . to my brothers."
Tiger Claw narrowed his eye in consideration of the offer.
"Donnie, no!" Leo shouted.
As far as Donatello was concerned, handing himself over to the enemy was the only viable option at this point. If Donnie didn't go with Tiger Claw of his own accord, the oversized cat would most likely kill Leo with his shock gun, and then, turn around and capture the genius turtle anyway. At least if Donnie could manage to talk Tiger Claw into letting Leo go in exchange for his full cooperation, his oldest brother would live. It was the only way that Donnie could foresee them all getting out of this situation alive, assuming they could defeat Grizzgore. To Donnie, life in captivity seemed like a small price to pay to save his brothers.
"It's because of me . . . that we're in this mess . . . in the first place, Leo. This is . . . my chance . . . to make things right. This is my chance . . . to protect you. It's . . . It's better this way." As Donnie slowly turned towards his oldest brother, his face bore the most somber of expressions and his mocha-colored eyes revealed that his leg wasn't the only part of him that was broken.
There was no question in the oldest turtle's mind that his brother's heart was shattered, perhaps past the point of repair. The genius turtle's pain was almost palpable, but that didn't justify what Donnie was suggesting. Not for a second.
"How is you turning yourself over to the Shredder better?" Leo's tone was surprisingly harsh and scolding. So much so, it made Donnie flinch, but it did not make him change his mind.
"Because . . . you'll be safe. Our brothers . . . they need you . . . more than they need me. Let me go, Leo. Please . . . " In spite of being gravely injured, Donatello was no less stubborn than normal. He was dead set on doing what he thought was the noble thing. Sure, he was scared to death of what the Shredder would do to him, but for once, Donnie wanted to be the strong one. For once, he wanted to be the fearless one. If surrendering himself over to the enemy was the only way to protect his brothers, then that was what he was going to do.
Leo then spoke as though he had read his brother's thoughts.
"No, Donnie! There is no way I'm letting you go. Not ever. This isn't up for debate. I'm not about to stand by and let you sacrifice yourself to save us. We need you, Donnie. We need you more than you will ever know and I'm so sorry that I hurt you, little brother. I'm so sorry for everything, but this . . . This isn't the answer," Leo said with as much sincerity as his voice could convey. He knew it wasn't going to make up for all of the wrongs that he had done to his brother, but he hoped that it was a good starting point. He needed to make Donnie see just how important he was to them. He needed to help his dejected brother rebuild the self-esteem that he had stolen away from him.
Donnie could see the conviction in Leo's eyes as he had spoken and the purple-clad turtle soon realized that his plan to bargain with Tiger Claw for his brothers' safety was never going to work. It was clear that his oldest brother was not going to let him leave without a fight.
Another strategy was needed . . .
Staring over at the glowing blue end of the shock gun still pointed at his big brother, the genius turtle's brain swiftly started to formulate the beginnings of a new plan. One that he knew Leonardo would never approve of, but when Hamato Donatello set his mind on doing something, there was no stopping him.
Donnie closely studied the framework of the shock gun in Tiger Claw's paw, mentally dissecting it. What the brainiac turtle knew about rudimentary tasers was that they delivered a high voltage, low amperage charge to the body. The low amperage was what made a taser hit essentially non-injurious, preventing the weapon from doing any permanent damage. The electroshock weapon was designed to transmit an electrical current that resulted in disabling neuromuscular control. In short, the electrical output of a taser was intended to interfere with communication between the brain and muscles, making a person unable to control their own movements.
Based on what little information Tiger Claw had given them about this new weapon, Donnie could only assume that Baxter Stockman's shock gun did not work on the same non-lethal principle as a standard taser. He was willing to bet that Stockman had designed the weapon with a little less consideration for the potential victims. Donnie had already found out firsthand that, even on a lower setting, the weapon was easily able to incapacitate him completely for an unknown period of time. Most likely, Stockman's new shock gun produced an electrical discharge that carried a much higher current than the typical taser, knowing full-well that it would result in a much deadlier weapon.
As Donnie continued to process his plan, he noticed that Leonardo and Tiger Claw's tempers were rapidly coming to a head and the two of them were about to start exchanging blows. It left Donnie valuable little time to strategize. He needed to think even faster than his usual hundred miles per hour.
"Get away from my brother!" Leonardo snorted in a threatening tone that seemed more befitting of Raphael.
"Well, if you want your precious brother back, you're going to have to fight me for him," Tiger Claw challenged, motioning for the turtle in blue to come at him.
"Oh, I intend to," Leo fired back, holding his swords at ready.
"And by fight, I mean to the death, of course," was Tiger Claw's retort.
"That's exactly what I had in mind. I'm gonna kill you for hurting my brother!" Again, Leo was acting as though he had taken a page straight from the book of Raph and it made Donnie shudder in his shell.
Even though the looming fight was supposedly over him, the genius turtle noticed that Leo and Tiger Claw all of a sudden seemed oblivious to his actual presence. Their hate-filled eyes were fixed on each other. Their detestation for one another radiated from their every pore.
For a moment, Donnie was struck by a sense of déjà vu and he felt invisible and insignificant once again, but he quickly fought off the inclination to feel sorry for himself. There were far more important matters at hand . . .
Not about to idly stand by and watch his oldest brother fight to the death for him, Donnie realized that he had to act, and act now.
Somewhat of an aficionado on the basic fundamentals of electricity, Donnie knew all too well that the body was a good conductor and that electricity involved the simple flow of electrons from point A to point B to complete a circuit. So, in theory, if point A was himself and point B was Tiger Claw, the shock gun would travel the shortest distance to loop the ground. Donnie was about to test this theory.
Before putting his plan into motion, the genius turtle looked over at his brother one last time and his expression grew grim. Donnie knew that his plan would put himself at great risk for electrocution, and quite possibly, death. Once the plan was implemented, the electricity would course through him and the current would most likely be strong enough to stop his heart, but if he could perhaps debilitate the mutant tiger set on killing his brother, even if only for a few moments to give Leo the upper hand, Donnie was willing to take that chance.
As Donnie had said just moments ago, his brothers needed Leo far more than they needed him.
Then, the harsh voices of his older siblings returned, echoing in the back of his head and providing him with further incentive to do what he was about to do.
"It was a stupid move, Donatello. Stupid!"
"What the shell were you thinking?"
"You're supposed to be the smart one."
"You know you're not the strongest fighter out of all of us."
"You let him take you out!"
"I can't babysit you all of the time!"
"Shut up, Brainiac! Nobody wants to hear it!"
"This isn't about you, Donnie."
Donnie closed his eyes as his courage nearly faltered, but for only for a fraction of a second. He knew what had to be done . . .
"This isn't about you, Donnie."
No, this wasn't about him. This was about them.
And he would do anything to save them.
Anything . . .
"I'm sorry, Leo. Whatever happens . . . promise me . . . you won't blame each other. Please . . . help each other . . . to heal. I'm sorry . . . f – for being so weak . . . and for letting . . . all of you down. Please . . . forgive me," Donnie spoke, just above a whisper, remorse clearly written on his face.
Leonardo's blue eyes widened with horror when he suddenly realized what Donnie was about to do and he was completely powerless to stop it.
"Donnie! No!"
Ignoring his brother's voice, Donnie reached out and grabbed Tiger Claw's arm with one hand, and then, grabbed the glowing tip of the shock gun with his other hand, thus completing the circuit.
There was an intense jolt of indescribable agony and Donnie's entire body felt as though it was being burned to a crisp from the inside out. It was like nothing that he had ever felt before. He had no control over the blood curdling scream that he heard erupt from the recesses of his throat. It was as if thousands of volts of electricity were raging through him, causing his muscles to convulse, and then, seize up altogether. Every nerve ending felt like it had literally exploded. The excruciating pain was all-encompassing, swallowing him whole. He took one last rattly breath before the life began to leave his body. He could not see, he could not breathe, he could not think. There was only pain, and then –
There was nothing . . .
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To be continued . . .
*Author's Notes: (;_;) This was an extremely emotional and difficult chapter for me to write. I hope that you liked it.
Once again, if you are enjoying this story, please vote and/or comment on it. I would love to hear from you. Thank you so much for reading. ;) CJ