Well, this took the better half of my life to write! Terribly sorry! Thank you all for you reviews! Even though I take forever to push these chapters out, you keep me going! And now without further ado!

Progression

Bored! So bored! Michelangelo was able to maintain the persona of a protective brother for a max of fifteen minutes before he realized that there was nothing to occupy him while his older brother slept. No...Not just slept. Snored. So far, he tried making up songs, re-enacted his favorite movie scenes and scribbled on the wall with a piece of rock all with a slumbering mutant turtle resting his head on his aching shoulder. After pouting over his predicament for five more minutes, he nudged at his brother.

"Come on, man!" He whined. The sleeping brother merely grumbled some nonsensical words before roaring into a louder chorus of snores. The younger turtle sighed dramatically, giving in to his lot in life. Oh, what a cruel world it was for him to suffer so! Just then, the shell cell rang as if to answer his prayers. He scrambled to answer it with a burst of excitement.

"Mikey?" The eldest brother inquired.

"Leo!" Here, he jabbed at his sleeping brother. "Raph! RAPH! It's Leo!"

"Hmm…Wha?" Half asleep, the red clad terrapin looked about his surroundings as he lazily straightened himself up. "Leo?"

"Raph? You sound off." The elder brother stated.

"'S nothin'." The immediate younger sibling asserted.

"He got stung by a giant, scorpion monster tail!" Michelangelo gave away the red cladded brother's condition. With a glare, he wacked his younger brother in the back of the head. "OW!"

"Nice going, ding bat!"

"What happened?" Their leader demanded.

"So there we were, trying to find a way out of this maze thing and then we heard this, 'Brarghlghlghl'" The youngest turtle animatedly made an attempt to give his interpretation of the monster's roar. "Then out came this freak monster thing with like a bull's head and a lion's body and I think a horse's legs and a GIANT, scorpion tail! So it knocked Raph down and I tried to beat it with my nunchucks but it got mad and tried to hit me with its tail. I was too fast though and Raph kicked it when it was distracted. Then it was all 'Brarghlghlghl' again and started breathing fire at me!" He paused to catch his breath while his older brother looked at him with exasperation.

"Ugh..." The red clad turtle face palmed. "After we killed the thing, its tail stabbed at us when we walked by."

"Are you alright?" The leader inquired of his sibling.

"Course I am!"

"His leg is swollen where it stung him."

"It's no big deal." Raphael interjected but his sibling continued on, ignoring his interruption.

"He's been limping and he doesn't look so hot. Is he going to die?"

"How long ago was he stung?" Another voice came through the shell cell.

"Donnie?" Raphael leaned closer to the phone with a wince as he shifted his leg ever so slightly. "You're alright?"

"A minor concussion and a bit of a shoulder wound, but fine." Was the reply. "When were you stung?" Red and orange looked at each other with a shrug.

"About a couple of hours ago?" Michelangelo replied.

"Hn. He would have died by now if it were lethal. I suspect the venom is slowing him down and his mutation is probably suppressing the worse effects of the neurotoxins. Just keep an eye on him for difficulty breathing. Otherwise, I'm sure he'll get through this." Donatello concluded.

"In the meantime, we need to get out of this." Leonardo moved on.

"What's the big plan, Fearless?" Raphael inquired.

"Donnie and I figured out that we're close." The eldest brother began.

"Turns out, we're under you right at this very moment." The family genius affirmed. "We used the tracker on our shell cells. It took a while but we were able to catch up to you."

"Looks like resting was a great idea." Michelangelo piped in. "No need to thank me, Raph."

"Who asked you?" Raphael growled at his brother before returning his attention to the cell. "How do ya propose we get to ya guys?"

"I'm thinking we continue on as we did before. Something tells me we will meet in the end and find out what all of this really is about...These foot soldiers are not with Karai." Leonardo informed his siblings.

"Then who the hell are they with?!" The red clad turtle implored with a growl.

"I'm sure we will know soon enough. We should keep in communication with each other as much as possible."

"The closer we are; the better signal we have to call each other." Donatello added. "Use the tracker to check on our location."

"Sure." Raphael grunted.

"Good luck. We'll see you guys at the end." The signal cut out as they hung up.

Michelangelo grinned from ear to ear as he eyed his red masked brother. Without warning, he threw himself at his elder sibling in a crushing bear hug. Not expecting the sudden display of affection, red tumbled over with a grunt and a curse.

"The shell, Mikey!?" He barked out.

"Donnie's alive!" He cried out ecstatically.

"Off!" Raphael shoved his brother away but he could not hide the small smile that revealed his relief. "Looks like we got a job to do."

He slowly brought himself to a standing position and applied weight to his affected leg. Still painful but he knew they had to carry on. His younger brother was almost dancing with excitement as he found a new source of unbridled energy. He began leading the way with the elder limping as quickly as he could behind. There was still more of the weaving through the maze they had to contend with. Raphael ignored his sibling's ramble as he concentrated on pushing the pain in his leg to the back of his mind. His current condition was a hindrance and he would be damned if he let it affect his ability to watch his brother's back.

"Dude!" Michelangelo whined at his sullen brother. "Are you even listening to me?"

"The hell are you goin' on about now?" Rolling his eyes, Raphael obliged his younger sibling by listening to his excited chatter. A stream of consciousness spilled from the excitable turtle as they weaved through the maze. He almost found himself smiling, his mood significantly brighter now that he knew his other brothers were alive and fairly well. The concussion was a bit of a concern, however, Donatello was still able to give insight to his own condition so he couldn't be too bad. An immediate halt on Michelangelo's part nearly caused a collision of turtles, as Raphael did not expect a sudden stop.

"What gives?" He demanded irritably as he glance around the orange clad youngster. Up ahead was a multitude of bunnies. For a brief moment, his mind went blank. Bunnies. They fought off a freak, perversion of nature and one of his worst fears and now they faced...bunnies. A squeal of delight came from his brother. Even Raphael had to note that they were cute. It didn't stop him from questioning why after battling two dangerous and frightening creatures, they now faced a hall of bunnies.

"Can we keep one!? Klunk won't mind!" Michelangelo scooped up a floppy eared rabbit and showed it off to his elder sibling with a broad grin gracing his features. This momentary distraction was keeping them from moving on, but Raphael took to indulging the younger one for the time being. That is, until the cute creature opened it's mouth to reveal a grotesque row of fangs that were reminiscent of something from Alien. Both brothers yelled out in surprised as the younger of the two dropped the not-so-cute bunny. It immediately sprung at the bigger turtle who reflexively swat it away from him before drawing out his Sais. That was when they realized the happy-go-lucky frolic the other bunnies were partaking in stopped as they all turned to stare eerily at the brothers.

"Perfect." Raphael grumbled, flipping his sais to a bludgeoning hold. A feminine scream alerted him to his younger brother's alarm as a herd of monster bunnies ran toward the them with high-pierced shrieks emitting from their gruesome maws. Breathing out a curse, he threw a punch with the hilt end of his sai, striking the forehead of a flying bunny. A quick glance at Michelangelo assured him that the fear did not hinder his brother's ability to battle. The younger terrapin was already batting away leaping cottontails with his spinning nunchucks.

They took to running through the horde of critters as they whacked them out of the way. The adrenaline did its job to dim the pain in his leg enough to allow Raphael to keep up with his brother to a degree. The bunnies gave chase and Raphael considered this a cruel parody of the tortoise and the hare. He heard a howl come from Michelangelo as one managed to sink its teeth into his left shoulder. Sais flipped to the bladed side, he whirled around and slice at the monster bunnies that leapt at him, keeping him from aiding his brother. There was no time to hold back. These freaks of nature were out for blood. Michelangelo cast the bunny down off of his shoulder with a yelp of pain before smashing all trace of sweetness from its tiny face. He knew with a feeling dread this would be fuel for future night terrors. The swarm of all things cute, fluffy and terrible came at the brothers as they swung with all ferocity to beat back the little terrors.

"What kind of monster turns a cute bunny into this!? These people are sick!" Michelangelo lamented as he knocked his nunchuck into another flying rodent.

"Ain't nevah lookin' at a rabbit the same way again." The red clad terrapin grunted into a slash. He was rewarded with brief scrapes to his skin each time he wasn't fast enough to fight off the 3lbs of fluffy fury that stormed them. They soon found themselves surrounded by the bodies of unconscious or injured monster-bunnies as they caught their breaths. Triumph was on their side but that did not settle the unease that came with facing the twisted version of what should have been a charming creature. Without another word, Raphael pushed his wide-eyed brother onward with a scowl deepening into his countenance. If ever he got his hands on the master-mind who decided to sick these messed up freaks of nature on them, he was determined that he would not show the slightest bit of mercy.

"Th-that was awful." Michelangelo intoned of their most recent plight. "Whoever is running this show is messed up! I'm going to be having bunny nightmares for months..." He watched Raphael twirl his sais before tucking them in his belt.

"Come on, before we have to deal with 'em again," he rumbled before kicking a limping bunny out of the way. The younger turtle followed his brother's lead as they trudged on.

"Why are there so many random things down here?" he inquired out loud as he inspected his own scrapes from the bunny attack.

"Feel like someone's testin' us." They continued in silence until the hit a dead end. Michelangelo pulled out his shell cell and switched it to the tracker option.

"Leo and Donnie aren't near us anymore," he murmured as the elder moved closer to get a better look.

"Say...They didn't tell us about where they were. Think they're in a maze like us?"

"I don't know, bro. They would probably be following us if they were." Michelangelo pointed out. He dialed to call them only to be met with silence. "No signal."

"This is bullshit..." The hothead of the family grumbled as he continued back to their last intersection. "Someone is playin' games and it's pissin' me off!"

"Chill out, bro. Let's think about the positive! There's going to be an end to this and we know we're not alone. Leo and Donnie are here and they're okay!" Though Raphael grumbled in response, he did not argue. As they carried on, Michelangelo continued to try to keep his brother entertained. The result was typically an annoyed jab or a swat which the younger gladly dodged with a jocular grin. The more distracted he kept his brother, the less likely he was to fly off the handle in a fury. After another half hour, they eventually found themselves reaching a large room with an opening in the center of the floor. They could hear voices coming from it.

"Donnie? Leo?" Michelangelo called out as they raced toward the opening.

"Mikey!" Donatello's voice came from the darkness below. A wave of relief washed over the baby of the family as he peered down.

"I'm so glad you're here! Are you guys alright?" He inquired, wishing he could see them. "I can't see you."

"We're a bit roughed up but we're fine." Was the reply. "We're pretty far down."

"Perfect." Raphael growled. "Just how are we supposed to get them up here? We ain't got anything to pull 'em up with." They looked about their surroundings for anything that could act as a makeshift rope. Nothing appeared to be appropriate for their need which further infuriated, the hot head.

Michelangelo frowned at his brothers back as a steady stream of curses spewed from his snarling lips. He could not help but feel his own sense of disappointment. They were so close to reuniting with the other two. Whoever trapped them here sure knew how to get under their skin. The orange clad turtle lowered his head and found a sense of déjà vu prickling against the back of his neck as he gazed at the growing shadow below him. A sickening feeling hit his gut and he knew what the shadow belonged to but his eyes stole a glance above at the descending spider from before. Now seeking vengeance, it reached out for the frozen turtle. A strong pair of hands clapped down on the top of the younger turtle's shell and he was pulled out of the spider's reach at last minute.

"The hell is wrong with you!?" Raphael roared at his brother as he brushed past him and leaped into the air with sais at ready in his expert grip. "Get it together, bro!" He shouted out as he slammed his foot into the many eyes of the arachnid; causing a shriek in response.

"What is going on up there?" Leonardo's voice demanded.

"We got a giant spider problem." Michelangelo shouted toward the other two as he pulled his nunchucks from his belt. "It's come back to take us out." He ran after his elder brother and swung a nunchuck to keep one of the swinging front legs from hitting the larger turtle.

"I think I have an idea!" Donatello called out after moment. "Someone needs to pull some silk from the spinnerets!"

"Someone has to what now?" Raphael grounded out as he leaped out of the way of another swinging limb.

"The silk should be strong enough to work as a rope. Especially if it's coming from a giant spider." The genius explained himself. "The spinneret is located in the-"

"I know where!" The hot headed terrapin interrupted with much dread.

"One of you will have to distract it while the other one extracts the silk." Leonardo directed. Michelangelo glanced at his brother who quickly met his gaze. In silence, they did a quick game of rock-paper-scissors. Raphael's rock killed Michelangelo's scissors and the younger turtle groaned as he did a flip over the eighte-legged creature. The spider went to turn after the agile brother but his elder sibling had other plans. He immediately tucked his sais away before grabbing the arachnid by the fangs right below where it met the chelicera. With a strong tug, he turned the spider to face his direction before shoving its head down toward the ground with the added push of his weight. He placed his knee on top of its head and bore down on it. Biting down on the pain that leaning on his shaky lower extremity caused, he freed one hand to swat at the front legs that struggle to knock him away. He growled out, "Hate. Spiders," And practically shivered each time he made contact with a leg.

"Get a move on it!" he barked at his younger brother who seemed to be taking his sweet time staring at the arachnid's rear with an uncomfortable whimper.

"You may want to massage one of the spinnerets to get it going!" Donatello's voice drifted up from the hole in the ground. Trying to overcome the wave of nausea that threatened to rear its ugly head, Michelangelo reached for the spinnerets and grabbed a hold of the white, fairly sticky silk that dangled from the rear. With a swift tug, he rounded the spider and dodged out of the way of its flailing legs before he made his way toward the hole in the floor. The silk followed his lead to the edge of the opening and he tossed it over the side, continuing the pulling motion to allow as much silk as needed to reach his hidden brothers. After a moment of silence and shuffling, Leonardo called up.

"You can pull us up now!"

Raphael took that as a signal. He quickly removed a sai from his belt with his free hand and sank it into the spider's head. With a quick jerk, he pulled his weapon back and scooted backwards out of the shrieking creature's way as it retreated up the wall, dragging the silk behind it. The higher it climbed, the more their brothers came into view. A sling made from Donatello's mask held Leonardo's right arm in place. His left hand held his katana. Silk wrapped around both their frames, Donatello had one arm around his elder brother and the free hand holding the filament. He released the silk and reached out once the edge was close enough. After hoisting himself and Leonardo up, the blue clad terrapin sliced the silk loose. Raphael and Michelangelo descended on their brothers and helped them to their feet.

"Dude! What happened to your arm!?" The youngest cried looking the oldest over as he sheathed his katana. With a grim expression, he shook his head in response. Michelangelo couldn't tell if it was contained anger or pain that caused the wordless answer. The pallor of his skin and the sweat on his ridge indicated pain. He threw his arms around his brother, careful to avoid bumping the effected limb. Leonardo pat his back in response. His eyes fell on the bite mark on Michelangelo's left shoulder.

"What is that?" He inquired and almost immediately regretted it as it cued his younger brother up to tell a detailed account of their encounter with the bunnies.

"Man, Leo! It was awful! There were these cute, little bunnies filling the hallway and I almost wanted to bring one home but it had these freaky set of teeth and started making this crazy noise like 'Skreeeeeeeeeee!' And it tried to eat Raph but he knocked it down. Then all of his little bunny brothers and sisters attacked us. All going 'Skreeeeeeeee!' I swear! I thought we were going to die!" As he babbled on, Leonardo obliged his brother by patiently listening to the most abnormal enemy his brothers had faced. They needed a brief period of rest while they inspected each other.

Meanwhile, Raphael was looking over the resident genius who focused on the swelling puncture mark on his leg. He looked thoroughly exhausted and squinted his eyes a bit too much. The concussion was definitely affecting the resident brainiac which was a great concern. Looking at the condition of his brothers, Raphael knew they were not at peak form and that was a great disadvantage when one did not know who their enemy was.

"How bad does it hurt?" Donatello inquired as he palpated the surrounding tissue. With a grimace, the elder turtle muttered a nonchalant answer as if to wave off any signs of pain. The typically purple clad terrapin knew better than to take his word at face value. The grimace was enough to indicate a level of pain that the more muscular turtle could not hide as well as he usually did with minor injuries. The last clash with the arachnid drained him especially after a long night of battling one crazy thing after the other. Between the effects of the neurotoxins and the exertion from constantly being on the move, his muscles were screaming.

"Not to cut this reunion short, but we need to keep moving. There has to be a way out of here." Leonardo finally stated to his brothers now putting an end to the catching up period. There was a reason they ended up in this room. He shushed his murmuring brothers and furrowed his eye ridge. Cocking his head to the side, he approached a wall and pressed his left hand against it has he turned his head as if to listen more closely. "This is an entrance or exit of some form. I can hear something on the other side." Donatello approached the same wall and inspected it closely as Michelangelo hopped restlessly from one foot from the other. Raphael let his gaze float lazily around the room, looking out for the potential return his arch nemesis, the spider.

"Ah!" Donatello let his hand pass over a slightly discolored stone on the wall. Pushing against it, a clicking noise came from the wall before it opened to reveal a staircase. The brothers all eyed each other as they slowly drew out their weapons. With light steps they ascended the stairs keeping an eye open for any potential ambushes. Nothing was met with ease this night and they weren't about to let their guard down. At the top of the steps was a dark room. They carefully made their way deeper into the room before the whole space lit up with a blinding light. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust. Standing before them were four men in ninja gear quite different from the typical foot ninjas they were used to fighting. One them stepped forward and clapped his hands.

"Congratulations, turtles. You made it," he announced spreading his arms open.

"You!" Leonardo growled softly; his grip on his sword tightening but his composure remaining calm as if not to reveal any other emotion but discontent. Michelangelo's eyes flashed between his leader and the ninja who spoke. Somehow they knew each other but he could not place this man. The four ninjas were the only people in this room, but somehow the youngest turtle knew it was not going to be a fight they would win under their current conditions. There was a mild tightening feeling in his heart as he gave in to the momentary consideration that they may not make it out alive.

Aw, man! And the new edition of Justice Force is coming out tomorrow!

Author's note: Uh oh! Will Mikey ever get that blasted comic? Again, I must apologize for taking so long. I work full time and this winter has me wrapped in a blanket burrito on my days off. I have neglected all of my stories but never fear! Spring is coming! I sort of wrote myself into a corner and couldn't find my way out...and then...bunnies happened. No...not plot bunnies. Scary man-eating bunnies. I have plans developing for Separated and Divided. We are nearing the end...or are we? Muahahahahaha! Please share the love!