Yeah, keep hope alive
I don't know what is up with with the fanfiction site, but I can't upload anything...oh well hopefully it will be fixed after the weekend. I finished Chapter 10...so I can post it here.
Uh, one warning...small naughty word.
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Chapter 10: Flat line
Casey came back soon after Splinter had explained the conversation with Leonardo. Everyone was relieved to know that Leo and Don were alive and they were ready to move on with their plans.
April unrolled the blueprints to foot headquarters. "Ok, the only entrance that has access to an alley is here." She pointed to an area on the west side of the building.
"All of the other entrances are connected to the street or below ground."
"Casey can go in an' make sure that Don is still in the cell that Leonardo told us about," Raph said. "We can bust Donny out an' he can tell us where Leo is."
"What if Donny can't," Mikey asked. "Sensei said he couldn't make contact with him, what if isn't able to tell where Leo is."
Raph's eyes narrowed. "Then we tear the place apart until we find 'im."
Splinter glanced at the clock on the wall. "It is almost daybreak. We will have to wait until dark before we can go."
Raphael sighed heavily. He didn't want to wait, but he knew Splinter was right. They couldn't risk it in the daylight.
He nodded his head slightly. "Ok, but we leave at sunset."
"I think we should rent a van or something," April suggested. "They would spot the battle shell a mile away, and we need to park as close to foot tower as possible."
"I can get one," Casey offered.
"Thanks, Case." Raph felt relieved that his friends were there to help him.
He stood up and left the room without another word.
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Don drifted in and out of consciousness for hours. At times he could have swore that he heard Splinter's voice, but he couldn't answer. He was so tired...weak.
He slowly opened his eyes and the darkness of the cell met his vision. He swallowed thickly, his mouth bone dry.
The cell door opened and Don's gaze turned to the soldiers that had entered the small room.
"Rise and shine, freak," one soldier hissed.
"You have an appointment with the professor," the other laughed. "You don't want to be late."
The ninja unlocked the chain that went to his cuffs and jerked him to his feet. He swayed and they pulled him forward, he stumbled a bit.
"Get moving, mutant."
They stepped out into the hall and two soldiers were waiting for them. Starcher was not taking any chances. He knew that Donatello was weak from the beating that he received. But he told the soldiers that they could not under estimate them. One of the soldiers threw a dark hood over Don's head and they continued to drag him down the corridor.
They entered an elevator and Don could feel that they were going up.
"To Starcher's lab," Don thought. He remembered that the labs were on the forty first floor.
Don's body ached and his head was spinning. He mentally recalled all of his brother's injuries from Starcher's experiments.
He took a deep breath when he heard another door hiss open. They roughly pulled him forward and he stumbled into the room. The smell of rubbing alcohol was thick and he could hear machines whirling and beeping.
One of the soldiers pulled the hood off of his head. Don's sight adjusted and the lab, similar to the one Leonardo was in, came into focus.
A metal table with thick leather straps was to his left. There was machines and monitors surrounding it. To his right stood a man and woman in lab coats.
The man was short, with thick black hair and a push broom mustache. He unconsciously took a step back when he saw Don, his eyes as round as quarters. He silently mouthed the word
'wow' and scribbled franticly in his notebook.
The woman was tall and slender, her chestnut hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. She gasped and her hand shot up to her mouth when the hood was pulled off Donny. Her eyes went wide behind her rimless glasses.
Starcher, who entered behind Donny and the soldiers, shot her a glare. She swallowed thickly and made notes in the book that she carried.
"Hello, Donatello." Starcher smiled. "Please, have a seat."
The soldiers roughly sat him down on the chair in the corner.
"I would like to introduce you to colleagues." Starcher motioned to the man and woman. "Mr. Hale and Ms. Bowen."
Starcher glanced at his watch. "We are behind schedule," Starcher growled. "Where is..."
His sentence was cut off by the sounds of a scuffle outside the lab. The professor sighed loudly and stepped out into the hall. There were four soldiers struggling to keep a hooded Leonardo under control.
"What is going on?" Starcher blasted. "Get him in here! I'm behind schedule as it is. Master Saki will not be pleased!"
Leonardo stopped at the sound of Starcher's voice.
"Where is my brother?" Leonardo's demand was muffled by the fabric.
Starcher's eyes narrowed behind his dark glasses. "If you want him to live, Leonardo, you will be more cooperative."
The soldiers pulled him into the lab and removed the hood. Leo's face paled when he saw the metal table. But when his eyes fell on his genius brother, his blood ran cold.
There was dark bruising and cuts that littered his body. The soldiers were struggling to hold him down on the chair.
"Leo!" Don tried to scramble to his feet, but he was pulled back onto the chair.
Leo tried to dash forward but the soldiers caught him and held him in place.
Don's insides turned to water. He knew that Starcher was going to torture one of them while the other was forced to watch. His breath hitched when the soldiers started to pull Leo toward the table.
"No! Stop!" Don's voice was strained. It hurt to pull a full breath in.
Leo thrashed and he tried to pull free from the soldier's grips.
"Enough!" Starcher yelled and he pulled a small gun from his jacket pocket. He pointed it to Donatello's head.
Leo stopped struggling and glared at Starcher.
"I don't care what happens to me," Leo rasped out. "But get my brother out of here."
Starcher slowly shook his head, a dark smile tugged at his lips.
"Get him out of here or I swear I'll..."
"You'll what?" Starcher spat. "You can't do anything."
They quickly took the shackles off of his wrists and threw him on the table. After the leather straps were pulled tight and secured, the soldiers stepped out in the hall and the door shut behind them.
"Ms. Bowen, please proceed." Starcher nodded to the woman.
She hesitantly moved forward and started to hook up the heart monitor to Leo. She pulled a blood pressure cuff across his bicep and with a shaky hand she started the machines. She felt a tug at her heart when she saw the look in the blue clad turtle's eyes. She glanced at the one in purple and she felt her heart shatter. He was in a panic.
"Please." Leonardo's voice was barely above a whisper.
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat when she heard his tearful plea.
Starcher ignored it.
She stepped away, her only job was to hook up the machines and log the changes to his vitals.
Mr. Hale was more hands on. He approached the table with a smile and arranged the hypodermic syringes on a small tray. Each syringe had a different amount of green liquid in it.
Starcher nodded to him. "First we try two," he informed Mr. Hale.
Hale picked up the needle with the least amount of liquid in it and plunged it into Leo's forearm.
Leo gasped as the liquid burned a trail into his system. It hurt a little...but it was tolerable. Leo gave Starcher a confused look.
"Ms. Bowen?" He ignored Leo's look and turned to the girl.
"BP hasn't changed." She scribbled on the paper. "Temp the same. Heart rate and oxygen level, same."
"Up the dosage," he said to Mr. Hale. "To four."
This hurt worse. Leo clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut. He would not let Donny hear him cry out. He couldn't do that to him.
"It has elevated his vitals slightly."
With each new dose the pain grew more intense. Leo tried to hold in his screams, his body thrashed as the machines screamed louder and louder. He had bit the insides of his jaw, blood streamed down his chin.
"His vitals are off the charts," Ms. Bowen warned, her eyes narrowed in anger. "Stop, he can't take anymore."
Starcher held his hand out to silence her. "Your job is to keep track of his vitals, Elyse, we do not need your input."
She bit her lip and glanced at the turtle in purple. The two soldiers that remained in the room struggled to keep him seated.
He locked gazes with Elyse. His eyes pleaded with her to do something.
"Professor, he can not take anymore. You are killing him." Her hand shot out to prevent Mr. Hale from picking up another syringe.
"I know what I'm doing, Ms. Bowen. If you can not do your job, then I will find someone who can."
Hale shook her off and proceed to grab the last syringe on the metal tray. He plunged the needle into Leo's arm and quickly released the content into his system.
Elyse held her breath as she watched the turtle writhe in agony. Leo couldn't hold back the scream that tore through his throat, his body convulsed as the heart monitor picked up speed.
Elyse dropped her notebook and grabbed Hale by the arm. "His blood pressure is bottoming out, Jeff! Do something!"
Jeff stepped back. "I-I can't."
Leo's body continued to shake and his eyes rolled back.
"Oh God." Elyse's hand flew to her mouth and she held back a sob. The professor had killed this creature...with his brother watching. She turned to Don and saw the tears streaming down his face.
The heart monitor let out a final long
beeep. He was gone.
"No! Leo!" Don tried to get to his feet but the soldiers held him firmly in place.
"Dammit," Starcher hissed.
He turned to the soldiers. "Get him out of here," he barked, waving his hand toward Donatello.
The soldiers yanked the purple clad turtle to his feet and pulled him out the door. Starcher started to follow them out, he quickly turned around and motioned to Mr. Hale.
Hale nodded and pulled a machine out from under the table. A dark smile slid across his face as he turned and walked out of the room.
After the door shut he could hear the whine of the machine that Jeff had started. And above the continuous beep of the heart monitor, he heard Hale shout.
"Clear!"