Chapter 29; Leonardo

                                    

                                          
Song: Savior - Skillet
                          
"MIKEY!" Donatello shouts in rage as he shoves the orange-clad turtle away from the computer. "Turn it off! TURN IT OFF!"
                          
   "I don't know how, D!" Michelangelo squeaks, slightly panicked. I can hear the guilt in his voice.
                          
   And I know why he's feeling like that. I just found out that my brother is still alive, yet I'm going to lose him anyway. Even worse, it's the exact same fate I thought I had lost him to before. It's cruel, really: to send my hopes sky-high, only for them to come crashing down a second later.
                          
   As Donatello and Michelangelo waste time jabbing buttons, Leonardo presses the note my mom had written into my hands. I look up at him and let myself drown in the sadness in his blue eyes. For once, I don't mind him showing me sympathy. I'm just glad to still have someone that cares, though he can never replace my mom or brother.
                          
   "Maybe we can find them before the time runs out," Leonardo suggests hopefully. "Maybe we can scan every floor for humans. Maybe we can-"
                          
   "No," I interrupt softly. He's just trying to make me feel better. There's no way we can search all of TCRI before the place goes up in flames.
                          
   "No?" Leonardo's eyes are filled with surprise. "Lizzy, we can do this. If we just look quick enough-"
                          
   "It's over, Leo," I stop him again. It hurts to hear him talk about it, much less listening to a plan that won't work. "He's gone. I never truly had him back anyway.  I still have my mom, even if she is a mutant. So, it's alright. I'll be ok."
                          
   My voice is barely more than a whisper. I'm numb with renewed grief. But I can't cry; I don't have any more tears left for them. Instead, I'll save that energy for when I can get my hands on the Shredder for giving my family and I such a horrible fate.
                          
   A new, deep, menacing voice speaks behind me. It's so dark that it sends a chill up my spine.
                          
   "So, the turtles think they can just destroy my plans and leave, do they?"
                          
   I spin around to see something awful. It's a figure of a man, but that's where the human similarities stop. He's covered in metal. His hands have sharp, vicious-looking blades attached to them. The only part of his body that has skin showing is a small section of his face, and I don't even want to see that. He has nasty scars covering the exposed external organ and he is obviously blind in his right eye.
                          
   "Shredder," Leonardo growls as he steps in front of me. He extends his katanas out in front of me, purposefully blocking me from going at the newcomer.
                          
   That's the last thing on my mind, however. He is the Shredder? He's so terrifying! I finally understand why Leonardo tried so hard to stop me from going after him. One blow from those blades of his, and I'm a goner. I shiver at the thought. I want revenge, but I am definitely going to have to go another way about it.
                          
   "Turtle," Shredder returns the unpleasant greeting. "Step aside. I've had enough of your games. First, you destroyed my secret TCRI branch, and now you're attempting to finish off the rest."
                          
   "TCRI isn't yours," Donatello speaks up as he moves away from the computer. "It belongs to the Kraang."
                          
   "Not anymore." Shredder takes a few threatening paces forward. "They work for me now. I own them and everything they have obtained."
                          
   As he talks, something weird happens. Three strange creatures appear in the room. One looks like an oversized, purple fish with robotic legs. The next is a gigantic orange, black and white tiger with dangerous yellow eyes. Finally, the last intruder is a huge gold and white dog. They all have their teeth barred.