Song: Not Gonna Die - Skillet

Taking in my surroundings, I can't help obtaining a sense of doubt. All of us are damaged and worn out. Raphael can barely stand, one of Slash's eyes has swollen up, Leatherhead has taken a serious blow to his stomach, and their pigeon and chimp companions don't look any better.

   Elizabetta is alive, but she is leaning heavily on April for support. Blood still seeps through the wound on her hip and her green eyes are dull. But she holds her weapon out with determination; she isn't ready to give up.

   Though the turtles and I all look like we just walked out of a fire, we are tall and proud. We aren't about to let everything we worked for slip from our hands. Even as the Shredder slowly makes his way towards us, none of us back down.

   We aren't going to die.

   Before us stands Rocksteady, whom has recovered from his earlier swim. A mutant warthog is beside him babbling insults at fifty miles per hour.  Tiger Claw, Fishface, and Rahzar are lined up with them as well, their eyes glinting menacingly.  Shredder is in the dead center, only a few feet away from Leonardo.  Even I predict it will be a tough fight; not that it hasn't been already.

   "Let's bash their heads in," Raphael growls angrily.  Behind him, several of our allies rallied in agreement.

   Leonardo puts his katana out to stop the hot-headed turtle from doing anything.  "Hold it, Raph," he orders.  "You know what happens every time we face the Shredder.  Someone always gets severely hurt." His eyes shadow with grief for a moment.  Then he look at all of his brothers to fix them with a sharp expression.  "Who's the one mutant we know that can take Shredder on single-pawed?" he asks suddenly.

   Michelangelo and Raphael look down sadly while Donatello answers. "Master Splinter.  But he's..." he trails off and takes a deep breath.  "He can't help us anymore."

   "Or can he?" Leonardo's query causes his brothers to look at him in confusion. "Think about it," he goes on, his voice lifting with each word. "He said his spirit is in our hearts. That means we conjured him up in the fire pit somehow. What if we did that same thing here somehow?"

   "Whoa!" Michelangelo squeals excitedly. "We're gonna summon a demon!"

   Donatello glares at the freckle-faced turtle. "Master Splinter is not a demon. A demon is an evil spirit or-"

   "Well, I think the idea is stupid," Raphael interrupts and crosses his arms. He makes a face at how painful the position is for him, though he tries to hide it.

   Michelangelo, as usual, disagrees with Raphael's stubbornness. "I watch a load of ghost shows, so I've got this! You dudes gotta form a circle with me and chant Splinter's name a bunch of times." He sits down on the floor and crosses his legs, looking up at his brothers with expectant blue eyes.

   Leonardo exchanges a glance with Donatello. They both sit down in the same position as their youngest brother. "I think we'll go for a traditional meditation instead, Mikey," Leonardo decides.

   With all three of his brothers staring at him, Raphael finally gives in. "Fine," he mutters. "But if this doesn't work, I'm never gonna stop calling you Lame-o-nardo."

   Leonardo gestures for the Mutanimals to form a shield around them. They do so promptly, glaring dangerously at Shredder and his minions.

   Shredder doesn't seem phased, however. In fact, he looks amused.

   "Do what you will," he scoffs deeply, making the ground shiver like a tree in a tornado. "Your destruction is inevitable. You will all perish, starting with Leonardo." You can practically see the gleeful smile under his facial mask.

   The Mutanimals seem to take that as a challenge. As one, they launch themselves at the mutant henchmen, caterwauls striking the tense atmosphere.

   The seem to automatically split up according to strengths. Leatherhead and Pigeon Pete fight Fishface and Rahzar bravely. Slash performs some vicious movements to scatter Rocksteady's thoughts. Dr. Rockwell, who is in the best shape of them all, flips and ducks under the warthog mutant's lasers by himself.  Casey and April take up the rest of their slack by fending off Tiger Claw.

   Suddenly, a strange blue-white light engulfs Raphael and his brothers.  I squint and back out of the circle with Lucy and Elizabetta at my sides, landing on my backside with an sharp exhale.  I watch with wide eyes as the light slowly grows and floats upwards.  It molds itself into the shape of a familiar mutant rat and lands between the turtles.  It's the same ghost rat I had seen back at the farmhouse, presumably Master Splinter.

   The turtles open their eyes and stare up at Splinter with glittering eyes. "Sensei!" They all exclaim as one as they try to hug him.

   However, they each go straight though him and conk heads.  They each let out protests and back away, massaging their temples in unison.

   Splinter, though seemingly just a spirit, notices this.  He chuckles lowly.  "My sons," he murmurs affectionately, the kind a father would share with his sons.

   I can't resist glancing at Shredder. The man's face has distorted into something much less unsightly than before.  Hatred shoots out of his one good eye as he stalks towards the transparent rat.

   "Hamato Yoshi!" The iron-plated man snarls.  "You are dead!"

   "Yes.  But my soul will not rest until you are as well, Oroku Saki!" Splinter shoots back evenly.  In a split second, the two archenemies are charging at each other with rage in their gazes.

   As they collide, Shredder's sharp blades slice right through the rat without affecting him.  Shredder stares at him in shock.  "What?!" he roars as he attempts several more swipes that end in the same results.

   Splinter stands with his head held high.  "You are a fool, Saki, to believe you can stand against a spirit."  The mutant retaliates against the blows with a strange hand motion.  Dark blue flames light up the ends of his finger tips.  He carves a circle of fire around Shredder and him, blocking them off from the rest of us.

   "Sensei!" Leonardo cries as he reaches for the fire.

   Raphael pulls him back immediately and places a hand on his plastron.  "He'll be alright, Leo," he insists.  He gestures to the Mutanimals, who are still fighting off the Shredder's minions.  "We have another job to do."

   Leonardo hesitates, but then nods.  "You're right," he says, and it's almost barely audible.  "Master Splinter can do this on his own."

   I watch as the turtles each rush to the Mutanimals' aid.  I feel slightly out of place during the war.  I try to pop in a few times to help, but there isn't anything else I can do.  I can only stay beside Elizabetta and Lucy and wait.  It's up to the real warriors now.

   In no time at all, the turtles and their allies have knocked out all of Shredder's henchmen.  All of them are panting and coated in fresh blood.  Leatherhead is down, along with Pigeon Pete.

"Get the two of them some water," Donatello orders sharply as his allies move the wounded to a 'safe' area in the room.  "Slash, we don't have supplies, so use your hands to slow down the bleeding.  Dr. Rockwell, once the wounds have clotted, use water to clean the blood off.  I'll be back as soon as I can to fix them all up."

   "Will do, Donatello," Dr. Rockwell agrees, while Slash nods.

   "What are you going to do?" Slash rasps as he eyes Leonardo.  "You are all injured as well."  His eyes trail over Raphael, who has not only lost his bandages, but has reopened the wounds as well.

   "We have another task to finish," Leonardo replies darkly as the flames surrounding Shredder and Splinter die down.  The leader paces towards them with his three teammates following.

   I want to go after them- I really do. But Casey throws an arm around my shoulders and distracts me. He flips his half-destroyed hockey mask up. He has a long, bloody scar nearly encircling one of his eyes, but it doesn't seem to bother him. He gives me a nearly-toothless grin and rubs a fist in my hair.

   "You did good, sis," he reminds me.

   I shrug. "It doesn't feel like it," I confess. Sure, I saved Raphael and got rid of the Footbots, but other than that...

   But Casey continues to grin. "You got rid of those toaster creeps for us. That's a lot in my book."

    I give him a tiny, grateful smile before turning my attention back to the turtles.

   The Shredder is lying flat on his back. He has lost many pieces of armor and the rest seem to have been burnt in the fire. I assume he's dead, but once I see his chest shudder I know I'm wrong.

   The spirit of Splinter is beginning to fade, much too everyone's disappointment. Especially Leonardo's.

   "Sensei, don't go," the turtle begs. "Not yet. You have to finish him. It's why you're here."

   "No, my son," Splinter's voice rings out throughout the building as if he is using a megaphone. "It is why you are here. I have raised all of you for this very moment in time. Now is your chance to act."

   The turtles stare at the ghost rat with eyes full of wonder. "W-we're the ones that are supposed to kill Shredder?" Donatello gasps softly. He can't seem to wrap his head around the matter.

   "Dudes, this is heavy," Michelangelo mumbles. Never have I seen his eyes grow so large.

   Raphael is the first to bow to Splinter, probably a rare action for someone so stubborn. "Hai, sensei," he agrees.

   His brothers copy him immediately. "Hai, sensei," they repeat.

   The last thing I see of Splinter is the kind smile he gives his sons. Then, he vanishes into vapor.

   Leonardo does not grieve this time. Instead, he whips around to face the Shredder, breathing heavily. He rips the bandanas off of Shredder's arm and ties the blue one around his face. Donatello and Michelangelo do the same as well, their faces creased into anger.

   Behind them, Raphael removes his red bandana from his shell. He stares at it for a long time and squeezes his fist around it. It's as if he doesn't know who he is anymore. I wonder what triggered that.

   Once our eyes connect, however, I understand.  Big, tough Raphael is afraid. He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to leave me behind. One blow from the Shredder, and his already-severe wounds will be the end of him.

   The thought of losing Raphael makes my throat close up. Forcing my eyes to stop watering, I give him the tiniest of nods. He needs to do this. It's why he's here.

   With that, Raphael ties his red bandana around his face. His green eyes darken to rage and he holds a sai out with one of his good arms.

   After checking to see if his battered team is prepared, Leonardo towers over the weakened Shredder. He grits his teeth angrily, his blue eyes filled to the rim with a challenge.

   The Shredder is helpless below the turtles. All he can do is stare helplessly as his enemies surround him. He lets out feeble insults, but his windpipe is damaged, so they aren't very threatening.

   As a unit, the four brothers raise their weapons and yell, "This is for our father!" They plunge their weapons deep passed the man's armor and into his internal organs.

   Shredder lets out a strained scream as the weapons enter his body. He thrashes around weakly, but his efforts do him no good. Blood pools around him, and his head rolls over into eternal unconsciousness.

   Thrilled, I escape from my brother's gentle grasp and race towards Raphael. I throw my arms around his neck and hug him tightly, joyful tears rolling down my cheeks.

   Raphael blushes deeply as he embraces me. "We did it," he breathes.

   "We're free," I gasp out around my stream of emotions.

   After all this time, the dictatorship of the heartless Shredder is over. 

   Suddenly, I hear a noise behind me.  I turn around just in time to see the Shredder raise his blades.  In the last twitch of his life, he blindly thrashes his arm forward and strikes at Raphael.

   "Raph!" I scream and shove him out of harm's way.  That simple action has its consequences, however.

   Because the weapon slices my chest open instead.