Author's Notes: Okay, so, this is my first fan fiction chapter story. To those who read my one and only, Alone in A Storm, this is a completely different writing style. Sorry if that is a bad thing. But I am still kind of testing the waters. Hope you understand. Anyways, this is me, trying something new. I want to see if this story is really worth much before I get all into it. Tell me what you think. Honest opinions people. I'm a big girl, I can handle it. I am writing this as I go, which is something VERY different for me. I prefer to have everything finished, edited/rewritten five times, sat on for a week, then think about showing other people, but all my time reading on this website the past few months have inspired me to share my pitiful attempt. And who knows? Maybe someone out there will like it. If chapter one is liked by a few, maybe I will be able to get it done. That is my hope, anyway. So, enough blab outta me. On to Dark Tunnels - Chapter One: Almost There. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own a turtle! But his name is Terry, and he unfortunately isn't a mutant, teenager, or a ninja. . . but hey, one out of four isn't bad, right? TMNT is not mine. But it would be awesome is they were! Isn't that right, Leo?

*Leo glares at me but says nothing.*

*I whisper* Strong silent type.

Chapter One: Almost There

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" This has been the continuous mantra following their trip back from the Underground to the sewers. Don and Leo had elected to ignore their youngest brother's tirade after the first mile of their trek, and no longer rose to the bait. That left only one turtle left to annoy, and he did rise to the bait.

"Mikey, would you shut up?!" Yelled Raphael. When Mikey smiled widely at his success, Raph clenched his fists and pointed at him. "I'm warnin' ya!"

Suppressing a giggle, Mike threw his hands up in mock surrender and ran to hide behind Donnie.

Their journey continued in blessed silence for a while as Mike became placid. For a little while, anyway, until. . .

"Arewethereyet arewethereyet arewethereyet arewethereyet arewethereyet" he continued with renewed vigor.

Leo rubbed his temples and glanced over at Raph, who had his hands pressed firm against his ears trying to block out the noise, and he had to hand it to him. Raph was trying really, really hard to keep his temper. Unfortunately, Mike refused to be ignored and gleefully began circling around his hot-headed brother, chanting relentlessly until, finally, Raph couldn't take anymore. Clenching his fists tight, he came to a halt, nearly causing Mikey to bump into him.

Behind them, Donatello backed up a few steps sighing, "So much for the hope of a quit trip." He settled there, arms crossed over his plastron, shaking his head at the events before him.

Leonardo shook his head in exasperation before stepping closer to his two bickering brothers.

Mikey stood facing Raph, another wicked smile splitting his face. "Whatza matter, Raphie-boy? Getting too old and slow to walk down a tunnel?"

"Mikey!" the hotheaded turtle growled as Mike's laughter rang through the tunnel. "I'm gonna—"

"That's enough!" The blue-banded leader demanded in a calm tone. He stuck his arm between them, creating a small barrier between his warm-colored brothers. When Raph growled again, trying to get passed his arm, Leo said, "This isn't the place to—"

"Outa my way, LEO!"

His indignant growl echoed loudly around them, shaking the walls. A tiny piece of dark rock fell from the ceiling, lightly bouncing off Leonardo's outstretched arm. Just as a low rumble shook the tunnel, Leo roughly shoved his two brothers apart in opposite directions down the tunnel.

Raph skidded on his shell with a crash that seemed much too loud despite his less-than-gentle landing. Using the momentum, he turned into a roll, jumping to his feet and into an aggressive stance, weapons drawn. "What the shell—" Raph started to yell at Leo, intending to demand an explanation. It died in his throat, however, when instead of seeing his big brother, he was faced with a wall of fallen rock right where he, Leo, and Mikey had just been standing only seconds ago, illuminated by his purple-clad brother's flashlight.

***Diversus Visum***

Donatello watched in horror as the roof collapsed on his oldest brother. He had seen him push both Mikey and Raph away from the falling rock, Raphael landing a few feet behind where Don stood frozen to the spot, but didn't know if Mike had made it out of the way in time.

Leo hadn't.

That thought snapped him out of his petrified state. He ran to the settling mass of stone rubble. Remembering the flashlight held in his hand, he began shining it around the dark stone.

"What the shell—" he heard Raphael start to yell as the hothead came up from his slide across the floor just seconds ago.

Had it only been seconds? Don felt as though he had remained motionless for hours before finally trying to come to his brothers' aid.

"Leo! Mikey! Are you okay?! Guys, where are you?!" Gritty dust settled on his tongue and in his lungs, causing him to cough, but he continued shouting. "Mike! Leo! Can you hear me?!"

He held his breath while he listened with all his being for a single sound from his brothers.

Silence, broken only by the sound of pebbles falling, and a small trickle of water.

No, wait. There was coughing from the other side of the cave in.

"Here! I'm here!" Three of the most beautiful words Don had ever heard, despite the hoarse voice they came in.

"Mike! Mike, are you okay?!"

"Fine. Just dusty," his orange-banded brother announced. "Are Raph and Leo okay? They with you?"

"Raph is here, he's safe. Leo is. . ." he couldn't bring himself to finish.

"'Leo is' what, Don?"

No answer.

"Leo's. . . Leo's not under there, is he?" His voice sounded horrified.

Donatello's silence was answer enough.

***Diversus Visum***

"Leo!" Michelangelo yelled, frantically digging at the rocks that buried his big brother. "Leo! Can you hear me? Leo!"

Don's voice carried over his cries. "Mikey. Mikey stop! You're causing a landslide over here. Stop digging!"

Instantly, he obeyed, freezing in place. Calling out to his missing brother one last time before falling silent.

The voice who replied was again that of Donatello. "Mike, do you have your Shell Cell?"

With a confused look, he nodded. Then he remembered the purple-clad turtle couldn't see him. "Yeah. Why?"

"Because mine doesn't have a signal," he explained patiently. "I think it was damaged back at the Underground and now the signal is too weak to call anyone. Does your phone have a signal?"

Confusion forgotten, but panic not yet abandoned, Mikey pulled out his Shell Cell. "Signal. Weak, but it's there. Who do you want me to call?"

Thinking fast, Don replied. "Call Casey and April, tell April to bring any medical supplies I have for treating crush injuries, blunt trauma, and lacerations. I don't know the extent of Leo's injuries, but with all this rock weighing on him, something there ought to come in handy. Make sure Case is there too, I don't want April coming down here alone. She'll need to track us via Shell Cells." He paused a moment to think, and Mike took that time to try memorizing all the important stuff Don had just told him.

Medical supplies for crush injuries, blunt trauma, lacerations. He repeated to himself over and over. Crush injuries, blunt trauma, lacerations.

"Oh geez, I hope he doesn't have a concussion," the brainier turtle almost groaned at the idea.

"Dude, how likely is it he does? What if he does?" he asked, panic and fear flaring up again.

"Relax, Shell-head," Raph said, breaking through the frantic haze that had started to cover his mind. "Just do what Donnie says. Leo'll be fine. Right Don?"

"Y-yeah, of course. If he's concussed, we will deal with it. Call April, get the medical supplies."

"Right, yeah. I'm calling." Mike dialed April's number.

She answered on the second ring. "Hey Mike*static*t's up?"

"April! The tunnel collapsed and Leo is buried and Don needs you to bring medical stuff to help him!" he replied, a little too quickly due to his panic.

"Mi*static*orry, I can't hea*static*ad connectio*static*lo? Hello?"

Mike almost cried when the call cut out. "Donnie, the connection is too bad, the call keeps dropping out. What do I do?"

"The walls might be too thick down here. Go farther down the tunnel and try again. Keep going and trying until you get a good enough signal. Just don't get lost, okay? Remember: crush injuries, blunt trauma, and lacerations. Then call Splinter, he should know, but tell him not to come. Just that the tunnel collapsed, the three of us are okay, and we are working on getting Leo out."

Hesitating a moment, Michelangelo got to his feet. "Yeah. Okay. I won't go far. Back in ten." He took a few steps forward, down the tunnel, before glancing back one last time. "He will be okay, won't he?"

"Yes, Mikey." Though not said aloud the second part of the message hit him like a punch. I hope so.

And with that hope, he made his way through the gloom in the search for higher cell strength, nearly laughing at the thought despite the situation.

***Diversus Visum***

Raphael listened as the orange-clad turtle's footsteps faded into silence before turning to Don, kneeling beside him. "So what's the plan, Brainiac? How are we gettin' him outa there?"

The brainier turtle sighed in exasperation at himself, as though annoyed with a difficult decision. "Maybe. . . Maybe we can just push it off; knock it down the tunnel. Now Mikey's out of the way, it would make things easier." Another exasperated sigh. "I just wish I knew exactly where Leo is under all this. For all I know, any attempt to reach him could cause even more damage."

"Don't see sittin' on our tails doin' nothin' helping any." With that, the turtle braced his shoulder up against a large slab of rock that stuck out at an odd angle, causing the debris on top of it to tumble down the opposite direction. The sound of it hitting the ground echoed loudly. Nothing fell on their side of the tunnel, so Raphael continued to shove the slab up and over the pile.

Shoving against another slab, this one larger than the first, he tried to duplicate the previous result. Planting his feet down, he pushed harder, but to no avail. All he accomplished was cutting his hand on a particularly jagged edge.

"You okay?" Donatello asked, shining his light on Raph's work.

He grunted in affirmation. "Just a scratch. You wanna help me move this one?"

Placing the flashlight on the ground so the beam would still illuminate the slowly diminishing rock mound, Don joined him in heaving the slab over. The moment it hit the ground with a loud crash, a crack split the right wall, and more rock began falling around the two turtles. Raphael pulled Don beneath his plastron to keep any debris from hitting his purple-clad brother's head.

When the tremors stopped and nothing more fell around them, Raph stood up pulling Donnie with him, who quickly grasped the flashlight in his hand. The beam hit the right wall where the crack had appeared moments before. Some of the stone had fallen away, leaving a doorway of sorts, just big enough for them to fit through, leading to another tunnel.

"'Least we got a plan B to get outta here," Raph said, with an unusual amount of optimism commonly found in Mikey.

He glanced back at his brother, until a shifting shadow seen from the corner of his eye causes him to double-take towards the new tunnel. Glaring at the spot with narrowed eyes for a fraction of a second, before dismissing it as a trick of the light. He turned back to his brother's stricken face.

"Don, what's. . . ?" He followed the genius turtle's line of sight, and his gaze latched onto what had frozen Donatello in his tracks.

There, sticking limply out from under the rocks before them, was a three-fingered, green hand.

Futurus persevero . . .

[To be continued . . .]

Author's Notes: Oh, right, forgot to say that I love cliffhangers, of all sorts. Also, all the story breaks are in Latin. 'Diversus visum' meaning 'different view'. It has no importance in the story, as far as I'm aware, just that I like Latin. Makes things seem final somehow. Anywho, like I said before, tell me what you all think. Tell me if this story is worth the time or if I should switch focus to something else. Concrit happily received, but all flames will be recycled down for use in creating clean energy for a better tomorrow.

-TheOneThatGotAway99