Hello, I'm the worst :) Can you believe it's been almost five years since I updated this? When I started this story, I was struggling through my first year of college and still getting used to my first job. Now, I've graduated college and I'm the manager of said job. How time changes things huh? I'm going to try really hard to finish this story. Chapter 23 should be the last. Also, I've gone through all the other chapters and edited them kind of heavily. Nothing really important was changed, I just fixed up a lot of stuff that bothered me. Thank you all for bearing with me for so long, I hope I don't disappoint you.

He was back to that dark room again, and Mikey couldn't help the irritation bubbling up into his chest. He was getting real tired of these dreams!

This time, though the room wasn't as dark as it usually was. Glancing around cautiously, Mikey took a step forward and was unnerved by the loud echo his footstep caused.

Walking forward two steps more, Mikey grew more suspicious the longer nothing happened.

"C'mon, when's Mr. Spooky going to jump out and wake me up…" Mikey muttered, resigned to his fate.

It was then that he felt something behind him.

Whirling around, Mikey almost screamed at the vision of a dark shadow figure standing mere feet away from him.

The figure stared at him with its featureless face, before slowly lifting his arm. Mikey took a step back, and then another as the figure began to walk towards him in time with his movement. The arm reached out to him, and Mikey's back hit a wall. Forced to stop, Mikey could only watch in muted horror as the hand got closer…and closer…

Mikey woke up with a yelp. He was laying on his front, so he pulled himself onto all fours and sighed in relief. That wasn't as scary as his other dreams, but still extremely unsettling.

He was still in Leo's room, but his brother wasn't in his bed. Maybe he needed to pee.

Resigned to staying awake until his brother returned, Mikey whipped around and threw himself onto his back. Letting out a slow exhale, Mikey opened his eyes to stare up at the ceiling as he waited. That plan would have gone smoothly too, except for one thing.

There was still a hand coming for him!

Mikey felt a scream get caught in his throat, and he watched as the arm continued to exit through the ceiling, revealing it's forearm, it's shoulder and then…..that blank, featureless face Mikey saw in his nightmares.

Finally, the shout that's been wanting to escape burst from Mikey's chest. As if spurred into action by his noise, the figure rushed towards him.

Mikey threw himself from his mattress and sprinted towards the open door of the room. "LEO!"

Before he could exit, a hand grabbed his arm and began to drag him back.

"Mikey?!" Leo called from down the hallway.

"LEO! Help!" Mikey called again, trying to use his other hand to pry the fingers from around his forearm, but it was no use. The figure was one minded in its task, refusing to even hesitate as it pulled Mikey further from the door.

Leo had just been getting a drink of water when he heard a commotion coming from his room. The call for help spurred him into action. His cup fo water fell forgotten onto the floor as he rushed towards the noise. Sprinting back towards his room, Leo gasped at the vision of one of those figures he had fought earlier trying to drag his brother through a dark portal that had somehow appeared in his room.

"Hang on Mike!" Leo called, panic evident in his voice. He lunged forward in order to grab Mikey's free hand. Before he could make it though, he was knocked out of the air by a force strong enough to send him flying into a wall.

"Leo!"

"What's going on?!" Raph's voice called from below, and Leo could hear footsteps as his family came to his rescue.

Another figure stood by, staring at him emotionlessly. It must have kicked him.

"Leo!" Mikey called again, still struggling against the figure. His body was halfway into the portal now.

"Let. Go. OF HIM!" Leo shouted. He scrambled to his feet and grabbed a nearby chair, slamming it over the figure blocking his path. The figure stumbled back, allowing Leo a second chance to try and grab his brother.

Vaulting forward, Leo grabbed Mikey's free hand and landed belly down on the ground. The jump knocked all the breath out of him, but Leo pushed past it in favor of trying to pull his little brother out of the darkness.

Mikey was still struggling wildly, but he was making little progress with his escape. Leo got onto his knees and began to pull. He wished he had his sword so he could at least stab at the darkness!

He felt another presence behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the figure he hit with a chair moving towards him, one of its darkness infused swords pointed at him dangerously. But Leo refused to give him and just pulled at Mikey harder.

Before the figure could get to him though, another form zoomed into the room and slammed the demon into a wall.

"Raph!" The two brothers yelled at once, relief evident in their voices.

"What the hell?!" Raph cried, taking in the situation. "DON! DAD! GET UP HERE!" He rushed towards them, ready to also grab onto Mike to help pull. Leo turned his head away from him to give Mikey his full attention.

Before he could reach them though, another arm shot out of the portal and slammed into Leo's face. The shock of the blow loosened his grip on Mikey...and with a scream the boy was gone. Sucked in the portal that disappeared immediately after.

"NO!" Raph cried, running to the wall and pounding at it. "You give him back!"

Leo kneeled there, shock starting to overtake him. He could still see Mikey's terrified, pleading eyes staring at him as he was yanked into the darkness. Begging his big brother to save him.

And he failed.

"What happened, what's going on?!" Another voice called into the room. Don was here finally, and he rushed over to Leo and knelt next to him. Master Splinter hurried in as well

"Those fucking things just came in and stole Mikey!" Raph explained.

"What?! How did they find us?" Don cried. He glanced at Leo and noticed he didn't seem to be paying attention. He shook his shoulder a little to try and gain his attention. "Leo, Leo talk to me, are you alright?"

"I….I couldn't stop them…Mikey…." Leo whispered, his eyes wide as he stared into the ground.

"C'mon Leo, we can't waste time here all day. Let's get out there and find them!" Raph said, punching his fist into the palm of his hand.

"My sons, we must leave this place quickly." Splinter instructed, looking around worriedly. "If they could find us here, then this place is no longer safe."

As if to punctuate his statement, the shadows in the room seemed to vibrate. Then, more of the demons stepped out through the walls, weapons drawn as they started towards them in an unhurried pace. A dark, rumbling laughter seemed to fill the area. The four shivered uncomfortably at the sound.

Leo shook himself out of his stupor and clamored to his feet. Forcing himself to move, he ran to his bedside and grabbed his katanas. Raph already had his sai out and in a defensive position.

"We must get to the elevator." Splinter instructed, deftly high kicking away one of the demons that got too close. He gestured for his sons to follow him. Raph and Don quickly passed them, and Splinter looked to Leo next.

Leonardo stood, his katana raised in a fighting stance.

"Leonardo." Splinter tone brooked no argument.

Clenching his jaw, Leonardo closed his eyes for a split second before whipping around and sprinting out of the room.

Splinter slammed the door shut for a few extra seconds and the group hurried down to the main level where the elevator doors stood. The demons easily passed through the door of the room, but none of them noticed. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they realized there were more appearing out of the walls down here as well.

Raph growled at the overwhelming amount of enemies. "Man, they're like cockroaches!"

"And just as hard to squish." Leo quipped back, but his face held no amusement.

Don ran to the doors and called the elevator. Thankfully, the doors opened quickly. "C'mon guys, hurry-EEK!" Donnie was interrupted when one of the demons decided to phase through the wall right next to him, and grabbed his wrist.

"Don!" Raph yelled, rushing forward and slamming one of his sai into the belly of the creature. The creature seemed to scream, before it dissolved into nothing.

Donnie hissed quietly and looked at his wrist. There were faint black marks surrounding it, and it almost burned.

"Cool, so don't let them touch bare skin." Don groaned.

Leonardo slashed his sword through one of the demons advancing and moved towards the doors.

"Are you alright my son?" Splinter asked, placing a hand on his back as he practically pushed him into the elevator.

"Yeah I'm fine." Don assured, flapping his wrist as if to shake off the touch. Once everyone was in the elevator, he clicked the button for it to go up.

"Where do you think they took him…?" Leonardo whispered, clenching his fists angrily. "Do you think Saki had anything to do with this?"

Splinter grimaced. "I would bet my life on it."

"So, if we find Saki, I bet we'll find Mikey!" Don nodded firmly. "And he can't be that hard to track down."

"How did he get control of these weird ass creatures though?!" Raph yelled, wishing that the elevator could move just a bit quicker.

"While the Hamato's gained powers of the earth, the Saki's turned to a more nefarious power." Splinter explained, looking pained. "I believe this to be the work of something otherworldly, and Saki is the one controlling it….or, the one being controlled."

"I don't care, as long as we get Mikey back." Leonardo scrubbed his face with one hand before looking at his family. His face was set with a hard look of determination.

"We're with you Leo." Don nodded. "No one kidnaps our little brother and gets away with it!"

"We'll find that asshole and put an end to all this." Raph snarled, twirling his sai's threateningly.

Splinter looked over his sons and smiled sadly. How he cursed Oroku Saki for daring to put these precious boys in harm's way. But his sons were correct.

It was time to end this.

It felt like he was traveling through a tube filled with slime, and Mikey was definitely not having a fun time. He felt weak and scared, and trapped. He was almost worried it would never end, until finally he was unceremoniously shot out of whatever portal held him and unto the unforgiving ground.

"Ouch…" Mikey whispered, reaching up to grab his head. "What a ride…."

"Hello, my son."

Mikey's head shot up at the familiar voice, and saw that he was in a traditional looking Japanese room, surrounded by black cladded ninjas. Along the left side were windows, and on the right a line of rice paper doors. There was a beautiful red carpet that led all the way up to a raised pedestal with two lit candle lamps at the end of the room. Behind it was a row of curtains. But what really caught his attention was the man who spoke and stood on that pedestal.

Oroku Saki.

"Y-you….." Mikey whispered, scrambling up to his feet. "Where am I?! Did you do this?"

"Yes…I saw fit to free you from the troublesome grasp of that horrible family." Saki purred, taking a step down from the pedestal and making his way towards the smaller boy.

Mikey noticed that his gate was very different, it was almost like his feet couldn't quite carry his weight.

Mikey took a hesitant step back, and ran into something hard. Looking up, Mikey almost screamed when he saw it was one of those demons. The demon's expressionless face stared down at him, before something on it changed.

A vicious, terrifying smile cut through its face.

Mikey shrieked and threw himself away from it, and Saki took that opportunity to grab Mikey's arm. "No! Let me go!" Mikey screamed, trying to break his biological father's grasp as he was dragged towards hat curtained back wall again. In his struggles he noticed someone familiar off to the side. Mikey looked closer and saw it was Karai. She looked almost sick, a completely different visage then what Mikey was used to. Their eyes met for a brief moment, before she looked away sharply, her eyes closed in shame.

"Don't worry now son, you will be safe now." Oroku continued, his gravelly voice trying to sound soothing.

"Safe? With you? As if! Let me goooo!" Mikey couldn't keep the whine out of his voice as he gripped Oroku's hand and tried to pry the fingers off his forearm. Saki didn't even acknowledge him.

"I sEe My CReaTuRe'S werE suCCessfullllll…" A slimy voice whispered from behind the curtains. Mikey froze, the voice sounded….definitely not human.

"W-What…" Mikey whispered, staring at the wall in slight fear. Did it always look that dark…?

"ThEy hAVe rEtrEIved yOUr soN, noW I nEED mY pART." The voice continued.

"Have no fear, for Leonardo will surely come after my son to try and take him back. Once he's here, you will be free to use him for whatever you wish." Saki's face grew into a terrifying grin.

"Leo? You leave Leo alone!" Mikey yelled, taking his foot and kicking it right into Saki's calf.

Oroku hissed quietly and whipped around, grabbing Mikey's shoulders with both hands and getting right in his face. Mikey stared up at him with fear. "You will be silent!" He roared, causing Mikey to clench his eyes tightly.

Saki seemed to gain control of his temper and he stood back up with a small smile. "I am sure whatever the Hamato's have done to you has been stressful. It has turned you away from your own father, after all. But do not worry, Michelangelo, this will be remedied."

"What do you mean…" Mikey whispered, the uncomfortable feeling in his belly only growing.

"Here, why don't you go stand next to your mother." Saki smiled, grabbing fist fulls of the curtains and whipping them open.

There, standing quietly behind them, was Teng Shin. Mikey immediately knew something was wrong, her eyes were dazed, and she stood like she was ready to fall at any moment. She was also extremely pale….and when Mikey looked closer, he saw black tendrils wrapped around her ankles and forearms.

Mikey took a step back. "What did….did you do to her?"

"Oh, just helped her see reason! She also got poisoned by that family, but she has been made to realize where her place is. With me, with us. As a family." Saki smiled lovingly, but the crazed look in his eye ruined it.

Mikey tried to take more steps away. He needed to get out of here!

Before he could get far, shadowy hands grabbed his shoulders and shoved him forward.

"You will see reason too, Michelangelo." Saki spoke, his voice sounding almost otherworldly.

Before he could regain his footing, dark tendrils shot out from the wall and grabbed onto his arms. "NO!" Mikey shrieked, trying to struggle away from them. But they didn't seem concerned, as he was pulled until he was almost pressed face first against the wall.

It was then, that he made eye contact with something terrifying.

It was the face. The face he saw in his dreams.

Mikey's eyes widened, and his face paled in fear. Another scream wanted to rip out of his throat, but he could barely breath.

Shadowly lips pulled up in a smirk, revealing terrifyingly sharp teeth. Mikey couldn't look away from its evil eyes.

And then, there was nothing.