Chapter 10

Being chained to a wall for hours on end was never something Mikey had wanted to experience, and the fact that he had a broken wrist wasn’t helping matters. His whole body ached, and at this point the young turtle couldn’t tell if it was from his fight with Slash, or because he had been hanging there nearly the whole night. Whatever the reason behind the aches, Mikey wanted it to stop, especially the horrible pressure that kept building in his chest, making it difficult to breathe properly. 

Mikey closed his eyes tightly, taking as deep of a breath as he was able, coughing when it stuck somewhere in his chest before actually reaching his lungs. Biting his lip, and letting out a small whine, he tried shifting around, hoping to release some of the pressure building up in his chest, making it difficult to breathe. However, every time he moved, it reminded him how much pain he was in, and that moving in general was probably a bad idea. 

A cough from Donnie drew the smaller turtle’s attention toward his older brother. Donnie looked like he was at least getting some rest, though it was anything but peaceful. The purple-banded turtle seemed to be having as much trouble as Mikey was in the breathing department, and Mikey would bet anything it was because of that new crack in his plastron. 

Mikey wished more than anything that Slash hadn’t gone after Donnie, that he had just left the others alone. And really, Mikey knew he was the one to blame for that. If he had kept his mouth shut about Slash’s first attack, then Raph wouldn’t have gone hunting for his former pet turtle, Slash wouldn’t have felt threatened, and they wouldn’t have ended up here. 

There was a loud noise of metal scraping against metal as the door to the room was pushed open. Mikey closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep; there was no point in looking to see who had come into the room, Mikey already knew it was Slash. 

More noise echoed through the nearly empty room as the door was pulled closed again, but the sound of scraping metal didn’t stop. Unable to hold his curiosity at bay, Mikey cracked open an eye and looked in the direction of the noise. 

Slash had his shell toward Mikey, but that didn’t hide what the large turtle was doing. It was hard to miss the massive chains, the likes of which Mikey had only seen on docks before, at Slash’s feet, or the fact that he was hammering them into the concrete floor. 

“...Mikey?” Donnie whispered and the orange-banded turtled whipped his head back toward his brother, wincing as the sudden movement jarred his poor abused body. 

“Shhh.” Mikey said, wanting his brother to be quiet, before Slash decided to abandon his current project and turn on them again. Mikey could almost see Donnie’s desire to ask questions, though a quick glance in Slash’s direction told the purple-banded turtle everything he needed to know in that moment. 

Mikey gasped for air as he felt the pressure building in his chest again, and he reluctantly pulled himself up once more. His bruised, swollen and broken wrist protested having to hold so much extra weight, and he had to fight to keep himself from crying out in pain. 

“Mikey,” Donnie said, looking at his brother worridly, his eyes drifting over the abused form, taking in the new bruises, before his brown eyes settled on Mikey’s wrist. 

“I’m fine,” Mikey gasped as he pulled in a few good breaths before slowly letting himself sag back down. His chest still felt tight, and his arms were still being pulled painfully, but he felt as if he could breathe again, at least for the moment. 

“You’re not fine,” Donnie hissed, shifting around as much as he could. “What are your symptoms?” he demanded, his eyes darting over toward Slash, who was still busy hammering the chains into the floor. If he had noticed his two victims were awake, he was showing no interest in them at the moment. 

“I am fine,” Mikey insisted. “What about you, dude? You got a pretty big crack in your shell,” he said, nodding in Donnie’s direction, his eyes focused on the crack that had been added to Donnie’s plastron. He couldn’t see the damage properly from here, however from the way his brother had been breathing, Mikey could guess it was probably a little worse than it looked. 

“This is nothing, it’s a bit sore, and will need to be patched up once we’re out of here, but stop changing the subject,” Donnie said. 

“You know, if you keep talking, he’s going to come over here,” Mikey said, looking away from Donnie over toward Slash. “What do you think he’s doing?” 

Donnie sighed and looked in the same direction, knowing that he wasn’t going to get a straight answer out of Mikey at the moment. “He is currently hammering chains into the floor, that is the extent of my knowledge,” Donnie said flatly. 

“I was more asking what you thought he might be doing with those chains,” Mikey told him, rolling his eyes. 

Donnie sighed. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.” 

The two brothers fell silent again. The only sound filling the room was Slash hammering the last few chains into the floor, but that wasn’t enough to drown out Mikey’s increasingly labored breathing. Donnie watched Mikey worriedly as the younger turtle had to once again pull himself up, taking the pressure off his chest in order to get a few second of proper breathing before his arms gave out again. 

This time, Mikey’s arms truly did give out, and he was unable to stop the scream as his broken wrist was pulled painfully once more. 

This was enough to catch Slash’s attention. The snapping turtle stopped what he was doing and stood up straight to look back at Mikey and Donnie. His eyes were whited out and narrowed, making him look like even more of a monster as he dropped the chain with a loud thud, and advanced slowly toward Mikey. 

“Leave him alone!” Donnie shouted, pulling at his own chains. “He’s already in enough pain!” 

Slash ignored Donnie, grabbing hold of Mikey once he was close enough. He lifted the turtle up with one hand and, with the other, ripped the chains holding Mikey straight out of the wall. 

Mikey slumped against Slash, so grateful to be able to lower his arms, that it took a moment for his flight or fight instincts to kick in. 

Bracing himself for the pain he knew this was going to cause, Mikey twisted his whole body in Slash’s hold. Catching the large turtle off guard, Mikey slipped from his grasp and landed on the floor. 

Slash roared in rage, moving to grab Mikey, however the orange-banded turtle darted between Slash’s legs. Running back toward Donnie. 

“No! Get out of here, Mikey! Go get Raph and Leo!” Donnie ordered. 

“I’m not-”

“DO IT!” Donnie shouted. 

Mikey darted passed Donnie, heading straight for the windows. 

“I’ll be back for you.” Mikey promised as he jumped up onto the window landing, ready to use the chains still attached to his wrists to break the window. 

However, the small pause in his escape was enough for Slash to catch up to him. The oversized turtle plowed into Mikey’s side, sending the two of them crashing through the window. 

Donnie’s scream of. “MIKEY!” could be heard echoing out into the alleyway. He pulled frantically at his own restraints, screaming as the metal cut into his wrists cutting through his thick skin. There was no give in his restraints, and Donnie crumpled to the floor breathing heavily for a few moments before he listened intently, trying to hear anything. 

A door slammed open somewhere in the building, and Donnie lifted himself up, staring at the large metal door that led outside. “Please be okay, please,” Donnie said, tears already falling. 

It seemed like an eternity waiting for that door to open, and Donnie’s heart leapt into his throat when he saw Slash walk back in, dragging Mikey’s prone from behind him. 

“Mikey!” Donnie sobbed, seeing his brother being dragged across the floor toward the chains that Slash had been installing before. 

The snapping turtle dropped Mikey, and Donnie couldn’t put into words how grateful he was to hear the small groan of pain coming from his baby brother. Though he wished Mikey wasn’t hurt at all, that small noise was at least enough to confirm to Donnie that his younger brother was, at the very least, alive. 

Reassured by the fact that Mikey was still breathing, Donnie looked to Slash, a growl worthy of Raph pushing its way out of his throat. “What do you even want with us?” Donnie demanded. “Haven’t you caused enough pain already?” 

“No,” was Slash’s simple answer. Picking up one of the chains he turned back toward Mikey. 

Donnie felt like his heart was in his throat once again as he saw the other side of the chain. In the place of where a link should be, there was a large spike with a screw thread. 

“... no.” Donnie whispered in horror, his blood feeling frozen in his veins as Slash leaned over Mikey’s prone form. “No! Don’t!” he screamed, unable to do more as Slash positioned the screw, bringing his fist down and hammering the first quarter inch straight into Mikey’s shell. 

Baby-blue eyes snapped open, the scream echoing through the room as Mikey clawed at the floor, attempting to scramble away from this new form of pain. Donnie sobbed, pulling relentlessly on his own restraints as the chain was physically attached to Mikey’s shell. 

Mikey’s screams and sobs were the only sound that Donnie could hear, and the purple-banded turtle could do nothing to help his brother. 

“I’m sorry,” Donnie whispered, “I’m so sorry, Mikey.” 

---------------x

Raph felt trapped. He was pacing around the lair while Splinter and Leo sat in the dojo and meditated, waiting for the day to finish, until it was dark enough for them to venture topside. Raph, however, didn’t care about that; there was only one thing on his mind, getting his missing brothers back. And he couldn’t do that while stuck in the sewers. 

Raph growled, swinging out, hitting the punching bag in an attempt to let off some of the anger that was building rapidly. Though nothing helped to eliminate the images of Mikey, scared and cowering in his shell after having locked himself in the bathroom. 

Slash had done that to Mikey, and Raph felt sick to his stomach thinking that the same might be happening to Donnie at that very moment. Raph’s mind was full of ‘what ifs’, each one worse than the last.

With another angry growl, Raph punched the bag once more, his eyes narrowed, his shoulders tight and his fists clenched. 

“Fuck this,” he mumbled to himself, looking once more toward the dojo. Leo and Splinter could sit in there all day if they wanted, but Raph was determined to get his brothers back, sooner rather than later. 

Certain it wouldn’t take his remaining family long to figure out where he had gone, Raph turned, grabbing his sai from where he had left them, jabbed into the back of the couch. He left the lair, knowing exactly where he wanted to start looking first. 

The ally where they had found Mikey’s t-phone. 

Being only two in the afternoon made it extremely difficult for Raph to make it up to the surface unseen, and even more difficult for him to make his way across the city. However, Raph was still a very well trained ninja. He was rash, and most of the time rushed into situations without thinking, but that didn’t mean he was completely stupid. He took his time, and chose his moments to jump from rooftop to rooftop, until he reached the building overlooking the alleyway. 

Perched up on top of the building, Raph waited for the right opening before dropping down into the deserted space. 

The sight of the dried blood still made Raph’s stomach turn, even though there was no way to tell if it was Mikey’s or not. Raph seriously hoped it was Slash’s, that Mikey had put up one hell of a fight before he had been dragged off by that psycho. 

Raph couldn’t help but smirk at the mental image of his baby brother doing serious damage to the oversized turtle. 

Raph slowly circled the alley, looking for any hint of which way his brother had been taken. That’s when he spotted it, thanks to the afternoon sun illuminating evidence they had missed the night before. 

Droplets of blood were leading toward the second building in the alley, and further up, there were faint claw marks, where Slash had obviously grabbed onto the building. 

“Gotcha,” Raph declared with a smirk. 

Jumping up onto the building, and keeping low so the humans still out and about wouldn’t see him, Raph hunted for more droplets of blood. He felt his heart leap inside his chest when he spotted some a few yards away from the edge of the building where he was standing. He didn’t give it a second thought as he started following the trail; the only thought in his mind was to locate his brothers, then maybe he would call Leo and Splinter. 

Raph tracked the blood trail over several buildings, travelling quickly as he could whilst still not being seen. However, he was  so focused on his own task, that he nearly missed the large shadow following him. Nearly.

Raph slowed his pace, making a show of kneeling to check the ground for more specks of blood while he tried to locate where his pursuer was. He was fairly sure that it wasn’t Leo, or Splinter; either of them would have made their presence known to him before now. 

A soft growl worked it’s way from his throat, one hand moving toward his sai, ready to draw his weapon at a moment’s notice. 

“Slash,” he said, standing and turning, his eyes darting around the rooftop.

It appeared to be empty of other than himself, and the usual debris that was found on top of most buildings in the city. But he wasn’t fooled; he knew someone was close by and was certain it had to be the other turtle. 

“Where are my brothers!” he demanded. 

There was no verbal answer, however a noise from behind had Raph spinning around quickly, sai out and ready for a fight. 

It took a moment for Raph to register what he was looking at; the noise he had heard had come from the remains of Mikey’s kusarigama, the blade tainted with dried blood, and tied to the handle was mask, only splotches of orange still visible through the blood staining it. 

“Mikey…” 

Raph’s throat felt tight, pain and anger boiling under the surface. His feet felt like lead as he moved toward the broken weapon. The blood was dripping down off the tail of the mask, adding another spek of red to the trail that Raph had been following. 

“Get out here! Show your fucking face! I want to see it while I ram my sai down your throat!” Raph shouted, his anger taking over as he spun again. He no longer cared if he was seen by the humans; Slash had hurt Mikey, again, and Raph wasn’t going to let him get away with it. 

“You don’t need them anymore, they only hold you back. I am showing you your true potential,” Slash said. 

Raph turned toward the sound of the voice, only to once again find nothing but air. Another noise behind him and Raph spun again, sai swinging out for an attack. He was losing control of himself, he knew it, however at that moment he couldn’t care less. He wanted Slash to feel the pain he was in now, he wanted the other turtle to hurt. 

Vision cloudy with rage, Raph struck out blindly at every sound. It was at that moment that Slash made his move, distracting Raph with another pebble thrown. The red-banded turtle’s back was to him once again, and Slash struck, his large hand coming down on the back of Raph’s neck, hitting the pressure point. 

“I’m sorry, my friend,” Slash said, gently stroking Raph’s shell. “You will thank me for this,” he said, reliving Raph of his weapons. 

Lifting the now unconscious turtle, Slash made his way back toward his hideout, where he could make his final preparations to the trap he was setting for Leonardo. 

--------------x

Donnie sat on the floor, chained in the same place Slash had left him. His mind was uselessly numb as he stared across the room at the unmoving form of his baby brother. 

The dread that had filled him upon seeing Slash drag Mikey’s body back through the door had dissipated slightly when Mikey had shown signs of life. But Donnie was still really worried for his brother. 

The light green turtle was lying facedown on the floor in a pool of his own blood, the chains Slash had spent the morning hammering into the floor were now secured directly to Mikey’s shell, having been screwed in. Donnie was thankful that Mikey had fallen unconscious again after that, most likely passing out from the pain, but his worry was now growing again, the longer Mikey remained where he was. 

“Mikey,” Donnie called out again, as he had every ten minutes since Slash had left them alone. 

There was still no answer from him and Donnie sighed, shifting around to get comfortable as he took the time to once again survey the room, trying to locate anything that could help get him and Mikey out of there. 

Slash had been smart, and hadn’t left anything useful within Donnie’s reach. The room was bare, except for the chains Slash had brought in. 

“Something… there has to be something.” Donnie said in frustration, pulling on his restraints, grunting as the metal cuffs cut into his wrists again. “Shit,” he cursed, slumping back down onto the floor. Slash had obviously put a lot of thought into how he was going to keep them restrained. 

Mikey coughed violently from across the room, drawing Donnie’s attention. A weak whine of pain soon followed as the smaller turtle shifted, causing the chains screwed into his shell to shift and pull. 

“Mikey?” 

“...donnie…” Mikey whimpered, his voice soft and full of pain, and Donnie wanted nothing more than to comfort his brother, pull him close and make this nightmare fade away. 

“I’m here, Mikey, it’s going to be okay, try not to move,” Donnie said, knowing that once Mikey did, the chains screwed into his shell would pull and cause unnecessary pain for the younger turtle. 

“I didn’t make it,” Mikey said, sniffing softly. 

“You did good, Mikey. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t make it. Raph and Leo, they’ll find us,” Donnie assured him. “Just hang in there, Mikey.”

“... how’s your chest?” Mikey asked, and Donnie blinked in surprise, glancing down at his own chest where the crack was. It was still painful, and if he moved in the wrong way it made it difficult to breathe. 

“I’m fine, a quick patch job when we get home, and we’ll both be good as new,” Donnie said, his throat feeling tight as he looked at Mikey’s shell. That was going to take a lot more than just a quick patch job, but he didn’t need to draw Mikey’s attention to that right now.

“Where did Slash go?” Mikey asked, moving his arms so he could push himself up and look around. 

“Mikey, don’t move,” Donnie warned again, even though it was technically too late. Mikey had already crashed back to the floor, screaming loudly as the chains shifted, pulling painfully against his shell. 

“Slash… he chained you to the floor,” Donnie said, swallowing around the lump that had formed in his throat, his own tears falling down his cheeks as he watched Mikey lay there, quietly sobbing. 

Each one of them had injured their shells at one point or another during their lives, but the worst that had ever been done was perhaps an accident with Leo’s katana and Raph’s shell; and even that had been a scratch compared to having spikes screwed into the bone. 

“Why is he doing this?” Mikey cried. 

Donnie wished he could answer that, wished he could find some kind of logic behind all this. But as far as Donnie could tell, there was nothing; the only motivation to what Slash was doing was to isolate Raphael. 

“I don’t know,” Donnie admitted, the weight of those words sitting heavily on his chest. He felt like a failure, having to tell his youngest brother that he didn’t know the answer, that he didn’t know how to get them out of there. “I’m sorry, Mikey,” he said, pulling on his own restraints, already knowing there would be no more give in them. 

A noise from the alleyway outside had both Mikey and Donnie stiffening, chains rattling as Mikey shifted to see the door more easily. From the heavy footsteps, Donnie knew it was Slash, however it sounded like he was dragging something else with him. He silently hoped that it wasn’t more chains. 

Mikey cried out when he tried to move again, attempting to pull himself into his shell, however every move he made just caused the chains in his back to shift. 

“Mikey, stop moving, you’re just going to do more damage to your shell,” Donnie said, hoping his brother would at least try and listen to him. Though Donnie wasn’t sure how much of what he was saying was getting through to his younger brother, as Mikey’s eyes were fixed on the door, a look of fear frozen on his face as he waited for Slash to comeback into the room.

 A door opened and Donnie quickly turned to look at the large metal sliding door to their room. But it wasn’t that door that had been opened. Donnie breathed a sigh of relief that Slash was occupied with something else for the time being. Fixing his gaze back on Mikey, he spoke. 

“Mikey, try to lay still, okay? I know it hurts, but it will hurt less if you don’t move right now.” Donnie explained. “Can you do that for me?” 

“I want to go home,” Mikey said, eyes shifting away from the door to stare at Donnie instead. 

“I know, and we will go home, I promise,” Donnie said. He was sure Mikey could tell it was an empty promise, but he smiled weakly at him nonetheless. 

“Okay, I trust you, D,” Mikey said. 

------------x

Raph groaned as he came too, shaking his head to try and get rid of the foggy feeling invading his brain. 

“What the hell hit me?” he asked, pushing himself up off the ground. and blinking, letting things slowly come back into focus. 

The first thing he noticed, was that his weapons were missing, along with his t-phone. The second, was that he was in a cage, which appeared the be bolted to the floor. The third thing he became aware of was that someone was sitting just outside the cage, watching him. 

“Good, you’re awake, I was getting worried. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard,” Slash said. 

Raph’s head snapped up. Green eyes narrowed to slits, white dropping over his eyes as he glared at the turtle sitting outside the cage he was in. 

“You,” Raph growled, his voice full of pure hatred. 

“It’s good to see you too, Raph,” Slash said, looking truly happy to be sitting there with the red-banded turtle. “You don’t look to good though,” he observed. 

“Who’s fault is that, I wonder?” Raph growled. “You took my little brothers, knocked me unconscious, and put me in a cage.”

“Your brothers got what they deserved,” Slash said, an evil smirk spreading across his face. 

“I’ll kill you!”

“You really have been poisoned,” Slash said sadly. “Don’t worry, I’ll fix everything.”

Raph dove at the bars on the cage, pulling at them. “Let me go! ” he ordered. 

“I can’t do that, not until you’re better,” Slash said. Standing from his seat, he walked around the cage. Raph following him, reaching through the bars in an attempt to grab the other turtle as he walked close. “Once I take care of the ones who have poisoned you.” 

“Where are Mikey and Donnie? What have you done with them?” Raph demanded.

“They’re still alive.”

Raph didn’t like the way Slash had said that, and he felt like something icy cold had just dropped into his stomach. “Where are they?” he demanded again. 

“I can’t let you see them. Your mind is already poisoned enough,” Slash said. 

“What the fuck are you talkin’ about!?” Raph growled. “My mind ain’t been poisoned!”

“It has,” Slash snapped. “Michelangelo; he turned you against me.”

“No, you did that when you RAPED him!” Raph shouted. 

Slash growled, turning to glare at Raph. “I was teaching him a lesson for hurting you!” 

“That is sick, and seriously fucked up,” Raph hissed, looking disgusted with what he was being told. 

“We shall see,” Slash said, walking passed the cage again. He dropping a plate of food and a cup of water by the cage quickly, dodging Raph when the other turtle made a grab for him, before moving to the door on the other side of the room. “I’ll be back in a little while. I have a few things that I need to take care of.”

“Slash!” Raph roared, backing up and charging at the cage, trying to get it to budge. 

Slash closed the door behind him, sighing when he heard Raph beating on the cage, trying to get free. Ignoring that noise for now, he made his way to the second room across the hall, sliding the door open and looking in at the two captive turtles. 

Mikey was looking at him with pure terror; all Slash had to do was look in his direction and the smaller turtle would try and cower in his shell. However, with the chains screwed into his carapace, it made it extremely painful to hide. 

Then there was Donnie, the too-smart-for-his-own-good turtle, the one who was looking around, calculating multiple ways that he could escape. Slash knew he was no match for a mind like that, so he had removed everything he could from the room, leaving Donnie nothing to work with. However Slash knew that eventually, he would find a way to get free. 

“I have another guest here,” Slash said, as he closed the door behind him, walking toward Donnie. 

“I heard,” Donnie said, narrowing his eyes at Slash. “You’re not going to win, whatever you’re trying to do.” 

“Don’t you see, Donatello, I’ve already won,” Slash said, his large hand darting out and grabbing Donnie around the neck, squeezing tightly. “Once I have drained the poison out of him, he will be happy that I have freed him.”

“You haven’t won, that’s why you haven’t killed us yet,” Donnie said. “Raph is never going to forgive you for this, and you know it, that’s why you can’t kill us.” 

“Watch me,” Slash hissed, squeezing his hand tighter around Donnie’s neck, slowly cutting off the air supply. 

Donnie’s eyes widened, taking a deep breath before the hand squeezed and no more air could pass through. Being a turtle meant that he was able to hold his breath for a very long time, however, even he had his limits. 

“Leave him alone!” Mikey cried out, pushing himself up slowly. 

Donnie continued staring definitely at Slash, holding his breath, even as the larger turtle squeezed his neck harder. Donnie knew he was going to have bruises there later, but this was the only way he could fight back at the moment. 

Slash roared in rage, shoving Donnie down onto the floor, leaning over him and pinning him down. 

“You will not win!” Donnie said again. 

“Let him go!” Mikey yelled again, a cry of pain escaping him as he managed to pick something up and throw it at Slash. The chain’s in his back ripped at his shell painfully, and Mikey crumpled to the floor, biting his lip hard as he rode out the wave of pain. 

Slash was off Donnie, turning toward Mikey before Donnie could even blink. However, years of ninja training, and a fast brain, had Donnie reacting quickly too. Before he had even processed the thought completely, he swung his legs out, catching one of Slash’s. 

The large turtle slammed hard into the floor. 

Both Mikey and Donnie watched Slash, the large turtle breathing heavily as he pushed himself back to his feet and turned his glare on Donnie once more. He said nothing as he stepped closer to Donnie. Lifting his foot, he stomped down on Donnie’s chest, reaching down and pulling the chains tighter so that Donnie was now fully pinned to the floor. 

“Let the lesson begin,” Slash growled, his voice low and angry. 

Donnie’s heart was hammering in his chest at those words, and all he could do was watch as Slash lifted his foot, removing the pressure from Donnie’s plastron, before slamming it down on the prone turtle’s knee. The sicking ‘crack’ was drown out by Donnie’s high pitched scream. 

And Slash did nothing but stand there and smirk down as Donnie screamed, pulling at his restraints, trying to curl up and protect himself from any further attack. 

“No! No leave him alone! Please!” Mikey cried from where he was on the floor behind Slash. 

“This is your fault,” Slash said, looking over his shoulder toward Mikey. “If you hadn’t hurt Raph, I wouldn’t have to teach any of you these lessons,” he said, turning back toward Donnie, pressing his foot down on the broken leg. 

The scream he pulled from Donnie brought another smirk to Slash’s face. 

“All of you will pay for hurting Raphael.” 

-------------x

Leo would be lying if he said that he couldn’t believe Raph had snuck out on his own, but that didn’t mean he was happy his brother had left. However, any anger he might have felt toward Raph was overshadowed by worry, due to the fact that his brother wasn’t answering his phone. 

Leo tried the t-phone once more, though was unsurprised when once again there was no answer. Putting the device back into his belt, he turned to look at Splinter. The large rat was kneeling on the ground, his fingers lightly brushing against the side of the roof they were currently standing on. 

“Slash has left a trail for us to follow,” Splinter said, and his own eyes narrowed as he lifted his head and sniffed the air lightly. 

“He’s setting a trap for us,” Leo said knowingly. 

He and Raph had searched out this way the night before, and they hadn’t spotted a single thing, no clues as to which way Slash had gone. And tonight, there seemed to be a very obvious trail, leading in one direction. 

“Us knowing it is a trap does not give us the advantage,” Splinter said. “We must tread cautiously.” 

Leo nodded, looking down at the half a footprint that was visible on the roof. They had been following the same prints and drops of blood for nearly half an hour; they were getting close to the docks and Leo was fairly sure that was where they would find his missing brothers. 

TBC

I have already been told by my lovely wife that this is a horrible place to leave it! But I have already started on the next and final chapter! :D Everything is coming to a close! I am hoping that if I can get a couple good writing sessions done, that I MAY have the final chapter within a week. But I am not making any promises, because I know how this goes.