Well… this may be one of the most… interesting stories I'll ever write.

I'm actually at a crossroads here. You see, I've put this under the genres horror and action/adventure. I would have also liked to have added angst or sci-fi, but there was no room for that. So, if you think that I should change it, tell me. But please, don't do so until the fourth chapter, that way you can get a better feel for it.

So you know, Pulse isn't focused around any turtle in particular. Of course, being the Leo fan that I am, Leo's bound to suffer a little somewhere down the line… but so will everyone else.

Also, you might wanna know that this chapter takes place after most of the story. I'll go over the rest in chapters 2-8. I plan for this to have a grand total of twelve chapters… but things happen.

Anyways, read on! Enjoy!

Beta read by Janajyo, who promised to review every chapter…(hint, hint)

Disclaimer: What in the world gave you the idea that I own the TMNT? Do you actually think they'd make this a cartoon?

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New York City. November 27, 2306 AD. 2:17 AM.

Blood; a scarlet ribbon adorning his chest, legs, arms, and fingertips; glistening in the soft, cerulean-white light that methodically beat overhead.

Drip, drip; it fell to the ground. His brothers' blood, his blood. Raphael had always favored the color red, but this was too much for even his tastes.

Just from sight, you wouldn't be able to figure out what vital fluids belonged to whom. Heck, you probably couldn't even figure out who was hurt the worst. Raph knew his left leg was broken, crushed in some places. He also knew that there was a deep cut directly below his plastron too, though it had stopped bleeding a while back.

As for his brothers, he didn't- couldn't see all of their injuries. Thanks to horrid memories of the fight, as well as the light that would slowly flash above them, Raph could tell Mike had a broken arm from the odd angle it was hanging at. There were also various cuts to his forearms. But at least he was breathing, as Raph could hear.

On the other hand, with Leo, it was at times harder to tell. His breaths were irregular; he probably had a few busted ribs. Said brother had sustained a deep cut to his side where the flesh between plastron and shell was soft. Blood dribbled out of his mouth.

Raph could only pray it wasn't from his lungs. Like with Michelangelo, but even more so, he didn't know the full extent of Leonardo's injuries.

Don was his worst problem though. Since his purple-clad brother had been placed on the other side of Leo, he was out of Raph's range of sight. Sometimes, when the light flickered on, he could see Donny's head. Earlier, Raph had never been so happy just to see him move.

But, unlike the other two, he hadn't woke up yet. At least, Raph didn't think he had. He hoped Don was okay.

Since Raph's head was turned to the left, it was only inevitable that his eyes eventually found the wound in Leonardo's shoulder. Though, partly concealed by either dried or oozing blood, several large punctures could be made out. In the shape of a reflected 'U' starting at the top of his shoulder, near to his neck, it ended in the middle of his scapula. It was deeper than any of their other cuts. In some places, the skin had almost been torn off, the wound having actually reached bone.

A bite.

Raph had to look away. Not because the bite was so bizarre, which it was, but because it made his skin crawl. All four of them shared similar wounds, on various parts of their body. It had gotten lucky with Leo that time, but most of his bites hadn't been so serious, though they all broke skin.

It wasn't here right now. It'd left him in the care of it's recruits, whom it called Ardors, these creatures that reached a height of about three feet… but with certain talents to make up for it. They had thick black hair that covered everything but their faces, like a monkey. Their eyes were an abnormal and frightening shade of green that gleamed in darkness or light.

Off somewhere else, the thing responsible for this was probably fixing it's wounds up. Raph shivered. With as much time that had gone by, he found it more likely that it was preparing for dinner.

This was it's dining room. The room was dark, like most of the mansion. However, it was made of a thick wood, impossibly free of grain, painted silver. The floors were pieced by black tile. The ceiling was a tilted piece of darkened glass that gave you a good view of the room. Through it, you could see the Ardors sitting at the back of the wall before the turtles, eyes glinting maliciously.

But he couldn't use it to tell if Donny was well; just that he was in one piece. When the light flashed, he tried to check, but could only get glimpses of bite marks on his brother's arms.

Four tables sat in the middle of the room, each one occupied by a turtle. Raphael and his brothers were strapped down to these tables in five places; one strong band across the chest, one over each knee, and one over each elbow. Moving any of those joints was basically impossible.

It seemed like an odd dining room. The only tables were the ones they were lying on. No chairs, besides the one the Ardors were sitting on. And no eating utensils. That part was the scariest of all.

Their captor was one of the last living things on the planet now. How it'd gotten here, Raph wasn't sure. The human race was practically extinct; most, and nearly all of the animal life of Earth going along with them.

Earlier, they'd been told a tale of how this had come to be. But right now, Raph wasn't sure which parts of the story were truth or myth.

He had a lot of time to think. Normally, Raph would probably be trying to get out of here right now. Surely, he wouldn't be sitting as still as possible, in fear of the Ardors. But he wanted to be conscious. They all needed to be conscious- before it came back. They were going to get out of here together.

At least, that's what Raph told himself.

Learning from Mike and Leo's experience, Raph had come to understand what the Ardors' rules were. Your head, arms, back, and legs had to remain on the table. Any breach of these regulations would be met with the thing they called a Tric. It reminded Raph of a taser.

Both of his brothers were now out cold because of that thing. Mikey had lifted his head too high off the table, trying to see if he could get a glimpse of Don, tell if he was all right. The Tric went off in a blue blaze; scary to remember, not that Raph wanted to recall it. Leo made the same mistake when he woke nearly half an hour later; only he was trying to see if it was in the room, posing a threat.

They'd been out for a good hour now.

However, if you could find an upside to this, there were a few things they didn't care if you did. You were allowed to move your head, as long as you didn't lift it. You could also move anything from elbow to fingers. But after that, there wasn't much freedom.

Still, it was a good thing.

Raph had to force himself to look at Leo again, just to make sure he was breathing. The blue light was taking too long to shine. Stretching his arm out just long enough to grab his brother's wrist, which was hanging limply over one side of the table, Raph took his pulse.

It was slow, but strong. And, scarily enough, in tune with the light that came on again at its normal pace. He counted four beats per flash of light.

Back to his right, Raph heard Mikey mumbling. Without letting go of Leo's wrist, he turned to see his brother waking up. Half opening his eyes, he looked around; up at the mirrored ceiling.

"Don't lift your head." Raph warned him in a whisper. For a reason he couldn't figure out, their captor didn't care if you spoke. Still, he was sure to keep his voice low, so the Ardors wouldn't hear.

Mike turned his head to Raph. "Is that why they did that to me?" He asked, just as quietly.

Nodding, Raph explained to him the rules he'd been able to figure out. "I need ya conscious, bro."

He didn't have to tell him why. After wrinkling his brow, Mikey's eyes showed understanding. A few seconds passed without them saying anything. Then the orange-clad ninja inquired, "How's Don and Leo?"

"Don't know. Leo's alive, for now. He woke up a little after you, but got the same treatment." He paused. "He wasn't doin' too good then… But when he was up, he told me Don was okay. I don't know about now though."

No more words. Neither of them wanted to discuss the possibility of death, be it for family or themselves.

Raph looked at him seriously. "It'll be okay." He promised, though not sure if he could keep it.

And they waited for their brothers to wake. Waited for a plan to form, an escape to make itself known. They waited in fear for it to return.

And all the while, Raph never let go of Leo, making sure he was still with them, in body, if not mind. Like before, each beat was in tune with the light above. Steady; regular. Chasing the darkness away.

Pulse.

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(rubs hands excitedly) That wasn't too horrible, was it? Wait, of course it was. This is a horror story, after all!

Sorry if it was confusing; can't give everything away. You'll find out soon, though. It shall also be revealed sometime. Originally, I had the name down, but I didn't want to ruin it.

Now, here's the special treat of this story. No waiting! Not much, anyway. I promise to have one new chapter up every ten days, with the hopes that I'm able to find a computer and the said device cooperates the day I choose to upload a new chapter. I give ten days for people to review, than I update.

Therefore, it's very important that you leave your opinion early on. And I'm dying to know if you liked it! Please tell me! Review! Don't flame, though. Please.