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maddys-nerd-blog · 17 days ago

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ITS RESCUE TIME FELLAS

Only this is gonna have to be a two partner cuz apparently this was too long so I edited this to split into two parts 😅😂

This is the one I’ve been most excited to share!! We get more Danny and Leo bonding, and we catch a glimpse of Danny’s past trauma with his own father that led him down the slippery slope of crime. I really wanted to establish the father-son bond that grows between these two in the final installment of the Familia story. I feel like over the grand course of the story, it’s Danny’s fatherly bond with Leo that grows the strongest, much like Mondo’s bond with Katie. Also I am NOT a fan of Rise Splinter, can you tell 🤣

General warnings of torture, blood, heavy cursing and violence!

NOW ON WITH THE STORY!!!

Ransom 4.5

A TMNT Crossover Short Story Fanfic

Part Four: Ultimatum

Three days passed before Danny knew it. Three full days of being stuck in this stuffy room with nothing to do but sit in a chair and stare at the same walls he’d been looking at this whole time. And three days of boredom that sapped him of all energy— he didn’t know how much longer he’d have the patience to count every crack and crevasse in the ceiling or hum ‘One hundred bottles of rum on the wall.’ Being tethered to one place for hours at a time didn’t help his already weary bones or bruised ribs. Danny’s arms yearned for freedom— they were stiff as a board, bones rigid, muscles tense, aching from being bound all day. His head was pounding nonstop, stress and anxiety festering throughout his brain. He was irritated and tired. He was hungry. He was exhausted.

But at least Leo was providing conversation.

“—and then Mom flipped the guy into the table like a WWE star!” Leo laughed. “It broke in half like a toothpick! She knocked his lights out! Pretty sure he had a hernia too.”

“Did she?”

“Yeah, but her comeback was weak! She was like, ‘I watch Jackie Chan on the regular!’ It was so lame! I could’ve thought of better!”

“Oh yeah? Tell me then. What would you have said?”

“Uuuuh… oh! ‘Better watch your fall!’ Or ‘Get dunked on!’”

Danny snorted, stifling a laugh. “Get dunked on? Really?”

“What? That’s such a badass line! I should know! I come up with cool taglines all the time!”

“Then ya gotta find yerself some new material. Ya sound like one of th’ Three Stooges.”

“I’m actually not offended by that. They were geniuses.”

He smirked. “They were. Best of th’ best, if I had a say so.”

“Do you like any other kind of comedy?”

“What kind we talkin’ about? Chaplin or Sandler?”

“UUUUUGH WHY DO OLD PEOPLE BRING UP CHAPLIN?”

“Hey! I’ll have you know Chaplin was a MASTER at comedy, there will never be anyone like him in our lifetime. Also, again, I ain’t old!”

“How old are you?”

“Forty-three!”

“I rest my case!”

The kid knew how to make him laugh despite everything, that was certain. Leo was true to his word about being a chatterbox— he didn’t know how to stop once the ball got rolling, rambling about adventures they’d gone on in Danny’s absence. It gave them something to do instead of wallowing in silence if the gags had been bound back in place. He was grateful for the conversation. It was helping him stay sane. Chatting about anything other than their current situation was better than stewing in the bitter quiet of this rickety building or continue to count cracks in the floor.

“What’s so funny?”

“Just— haha! Jesus, kid, ya really know how t’ make people laugh!” Danny cackled. “Yer Ma must love your jokes!”

“She does! She calls me ‘bromista’ but I’m not far enough in my Spanish to know what it means.”

Danny paused to catch his breath, ears twitching at the word. Straightening in his chair he translated. “Prankster. It means prankster.”

“You know Spanish?!” He could almost hear the excitement in Leo’s smile. “Wait, do you know it fluently or are you also learning?”

“M’ still learning. Italian’s more my style. Kat’s taught me enough t’ hold a conversation,” Danny tried to turn to properly look at his fellow captive but the ropes binding his torso sank into his chest, causing him to flinch. Mother fuckers. Pushing the pain aside he decided to continue. “She been teaching ya long?”

Leo hummed, thinking. “For about a year. I think Casey’s the only one who’s been making progress though, but I think it’s cheating cuz he’s been learning it already since he’s the only one who goes to school.” The slider tried to look at the yōkai, this time with eyes that shined with interest. “Hey, do you think Mom gives all of us different nicknames?”

Danny grinned. “I don’t see why not. She gives me all kinds of names.”

Snorting with bemusement, Leo asked “Like what? Cheese addict?”

Laughing softly at the jab Danny shook his head. “Not all th’ time. I’ll give ya points for creativity. She usually calls me Amor or Corazon.”

“Corazon… that one means heart, right?”

“Mm-hm. Amor means love.”

This caused Leo to giggle. Danny could see his shoulders start shaking from laughter. “You guys are so corny.”

“I’ll take corny over ‘cheese addict.’” Danny lightly teased.

“I thought you liked my puns!”

“I do, but cheese addict is a bit overplayed in my world. Ya got any fresh material?”

“Well, other than rodent based jokes I’m all out. If Don-Tron were here he’d…”

When the slider went quiet, Danny became confused. Momentarily he wondered if he’d said something wrong or hurt his feelings. That hadn’t been his intention. He looked over his shoulder to gauge if the kid was alright. “Everything okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Just… lost in thought I guess.” Leo responded, his voice turning flat. “Haven’t been missing this long before.”

Ya shouldn’t be missing at all, Danny thought with sympathy. Clearing his throat he spoke again. “Homesick?”

Leo paused. Three minutes went by before he answered in an even quieter voice. “… yeah.”

“Try telling me about your family, your real one. We came from the same dimension, right? Ya mentioned ya got brothers? A Dad?”

Leo went quiet again.

“Kid? C’mon, talk t’ me, don’t let yourself stew in those bad thoughts. It’ll kill your motivation.”

The slider was still for a minute, holding his tongue. Contemplating over what he was going to say next, Leo took a deep breath to better compose himself, then decided to try, “I do. An older brother, a little brother, and a twin. He’ll never admit it though. Back home we always try to stop crime and do some good in the city. There’s a human we’ve known since we were little, her name is April. She’s basically like a sister to me. I go to her for fashion advise, we bail her out of mischief: a win-win scenario! Sometimes we go out on the town just to cause trouble. Mike’s an incredible artist; he redid the entire lair with all this killer graffiti. Don’s always building something that could get him arrested and I pick on him for it, but…” he paused, tone getting lighter as if remembering his family fondly. “He’s probably the only person that understands me most days. They’re probably wondering where the hell I am. They probably think I got eaten by the Krang… if they haven’t been thinking that already.” He slumped into his chair, shoulders shaking slightly. “My Pops… he wouldn’t even notice I’m gone.”

“Ya can’t believe that,” Danny’s brows shot up, shocked. “Don’t you and your Dad get along?”

Leo’s staggering silence caused Danny to stare at the teen with gnawing empathy. “Leo… do you and your father not talk?”

“… I don’t have much of a relationship with my Dad.”

If nothing else got to him, Danny was damn well sure that did.

“I mean… my big brother is more of a father to me. Pops never did anything with me growing up. I can only think of one or two times he actually remembered which one I was. Everything else was just Raph taking care of us when our dad forgot we existed. Don’t get me wrong, there were good times here and there. But ninety percent of my life my own father pretended we weren’t there. We weren’t his problem.” Leo sounded so downtrodden it broke Danny’s heart. “Raph made sure we were fed, that we had enough to eat, that our home was safe when Pops wasn’t awake to check, that none of us got left out. I was such an ungrateful idiot to him about everything before I ruined our lives by freeing the Krang. ‘When are you going to start trusting me?’ That was the last thing I said to him before…”

Danny remained quiet, letting the teen vent. But things took a turn when the slider started to get emotional; he’d begun choking up. “I just… damn it. It’s all my fault our world got wrecked by the Krang! I was so selfish and ignorant, I almost got my brothers killed! I made it about myself and my ego when I should’ve put my brothers and our home first! Things never would’ve gotten so bad if I didn’t screw up. Just like back home. Just like in space when we got captured by Zanramon, just like when Mom told me not to go out to the surface, just like Raph back at the lair. I don’t ever learn. My dad was right… all I do is screw everything up. If you never chased after me you wouldn’t be here. I…” Leo’s voice began to tremble, a sob squeaking out miserably. “I’m so sorry I got you into this. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you.”

Silence took hold of him in wake of the kid’s weeping. What could one say to such a raw confession? Leo was young— only fifteen. How did he carry all this tremendous weight on his back? How could anyone let him do this to himself? How could his father not be there for his kid? He’d only known the teen for the better part of a year, but he’d already sacrifice his life for him. To think that this boy’s father wouldn’t do the same…? After all he’d done to prove himself?

Sour memories of his own childhood came to mind; Of a daunting presence towering over him as a boy, lecturing, scolding, half-empty bottle of cheap wine in hand. Hollow eyes staring right through him with bare hatred. A scowling face that almost looked like Danny’s, only his was more callous, detached from the young rat he’d carelessly neglected. It was an image that made him bristle, his fingers clenched into fists. Without thinking he spoke to break the silence. “I don’t have a good relationship with my Father either.”

Leo sniffled, the chair and his ropes creaking from a slight shift in movement as he attempted to look at the yōkai. “Y-you don’t…?”

“Nah.” Danny shook his head. “My father and I never had a stable relationship when I was your age. Ma passed when I turned twelve and it broke something in him. Told me I looked too much like her t’ ever speak t’ me. I didn’t wanna go into th’ family business, so he resented me for it. I always had bad role models growing up— I wanted t’ be like Clyde Barrow. I wanted t’ be rich and live a life where I had control of myself, be what I wanted. Truth be told I used t’ dream about bein’ a performer, one of those Fred Alastair types. My father never understood. Said I was delusional. Especially when I told him I was getting hired by Big Mama t’ make it big,” he scoffed under his breath, a light smirk playing at his lips with mirth. “He just about blew a gasket. Told me I was an embarrassment, I wasn’t th’ son he raised, I was better off dead than working for th’ competition. He told me ‘If yer gonna make this family look bad, ya ain’t welcome here.’ So… I left. And I never looked back.”

Leo, having grown silent to let Danny finish his story, sniffled as he piped up, “How old were you?”

“Seventeen.”

“… how long has it been since you saw him?”

“In person? Thirty-six years.”

Danny could almost feel the empathetic eyes of the slider peering over his shoulder. He didn’t need to look at Leo’s face to know that he was stunned. “I’m so sorry…”

“Isn’t a big deal t’ me.” Danny reassured. “I knew it was coming so I wasn’t too upset.” A somber chuckle escaped from him over the thought. “It made me laugh afterwards.”

“But…” Leo’s arms twisted around, trying to move, wanting to better look the man in the eye. “Did you ever regret it?”

He shook his head. “I kinda knew when I left that he wouldn’t give a damn once I was gone. He never made th’ effort t’ phone me or look for me. It was a part of myself I had to let go of if I wanted t’ move on. There were times where I thought I could give him a call, but… I’d get cold feet.” Danny sighed, long and hard, giving a small shake of his head to clear the resentment. “I found a better family in all of you, anyway.”

“I probably ain’t th’ best person t’ take advice from given my record, but I know one thing.” Danny looked back at the kid, trying to offer a kind smile. “Yer stronger than yer dad if he don’t see how important ya are t’ yer brothers.” When Danny didn’t get a reply straight away, he continued. “Ya wanna know something? When I met Kat, she would talk ‘bout how proud she was of her boys. She would tell me everything about th’ kids she was looking after. How brave and adventurous they were, how they kept fighting even when th’ odds were stacked against them, how they saved her from herself.”

“… she really talked about us that much…?”

“‘Course!” Danny twisted himself around as best he could manage, the ropes biting and pulling stubbornly into his arms from the motions. “You guys are th’ center of her world! It’s nothing but high praise! I could write up an entire novel’s worth of compliments she gives you. Ya might not realize it but yer mom loves all of you so, so much. If ya asked her for a thousand bucks she’d bring you diamonds. Ya ask her for a house, she’d buy you a castle. I bet if she could, she’d hang th’ moon and stars for you. All she wants is t’ make you happy.” The yōkai grinned, recalling the pride in Katie’s smile when she told him about the kids, about their achievements and their accomplishments. If there was any mother in the world that could be more proud of her children, she’d be the living example.

Leo giggled, a small sob stifled behind it. He swallowed, hesitating, gathering himself to properly breathe. “I-I didn’t think… I didn’t know we mattered this much to her.”

“You kidding?” Danny couldn’t help the incredulous tone in his voice. “I won’t be surprised if she breaks th’ doors down t’ this place t’ get you back. If there’s one thing we both know ‘bout Katie, it’s that she’ll stop at nothing t’ bring ya home. She’s gonna be here soon.”

The slider spared a small glimpse over his shoulder to look at the man, eyes beginning to dry. Gratitude painted his features as the grin on his face warbled. “… thank you, Dan.”

Danny offered the kid a gentle nod. “No problem.”

They sat in relative silence for five minutes. Leo started breathing easier, much to his relief. The turtle slowly raised his head, looking up as best he could to meet Danny’s gaze with a genuine grin. “Mom really cares about you too.”

Danny chuckled softly. “I know she does.”

“You love her?”

Danny’s smile turned softer. “With all I have.”

“… what’s it like? To be loved?”

There was no true way to properly convey his befuddlement. He never imagined he’d have this kind of conversation with anyone, let alone the kid he was looking after. It was a complicated topic depending on the person… and not everyone understood the gravity of it. Knew what it meant. Knew how powerful it could be.

So, with that in mind, Danny leaned back in his chair with a puff of air escaping him. “Sheesh… how do I explain? It’s… freeing, I guess. When ya find th’ person or people that accept all o’ who ya are as a human, mutant, yōkai, whatever… when ya find that connection with them, keep them close and never let them go… ya feel like th’ mystery of life is solved. It don’t gotta be romantic either. Platonic is th’ same. Bein’ loved by yer partner is one thing, but when a parent loves their kid…” the image of Katie hugging all her boys with one fell swoop of her arms, clutching them all tight, laughing as they returned the grand gesture instantly popped into his head. “They’ll die for them if it means they’re gonna be okay.”

Leo turned as best he could to look at the yōkai, teary eyed with a small, hopeful grin. “You think… I’m… worth being loved?”

“Kid,” Danny gave him a reassuring nod. “You’ve got a helluva family that loves you more than anything already. You’re pretty damn lucky t’ have them.”

“… hey, Dan?” Leo chirped.

“Hm?”

“… is it weird if I say you’re more of a father figure than my real dad?”

In three seconds, his heart sputtered with an emotion he hadn’t known in ages.

Danny thought he’d heard it all. He’d had all kinds of labels thrown at him over the decades. Freak. Animal. Thug. Hoodlum. Monster. Bastard… failure. His entire life he never thought he’d be the one to get out. Get away from his past. Clean the slate, stare anew, make something of himself. Hell, he never dreamed he would be in a place where a woman loved him, where her tsudo-kids accepted him, where he belonged in this ragtag group of people. Ever since he’d left Mama’s gang he thought there’d be nothing else for him out there. Nothing but cheap booze, a circus or a pauper’s grave.

But this…?

This, here, where this kid needed a stable father-figure in his life after his own let him down?

After he’d been hurt so often that he didn’t HAVE that kind of support?

… what kind of a man would he be if he were to repeat his old man’s mistake?

“No.” Came his steadfast response. He prayed Leo couldn’t hear how thick with tears his voice was. “No it ain’t.”

Behind him Leo went still, sobs trickling into a gentle rhythm of breathing. Despite growing quiet the slider seemed more at ease. Settled. Calm. Then his hand grabbed onto his fingers, holding on for dear life. “Thanks,” Leo murmured in the darkness. “For everything.”

His fingers gripped the mutant’s in return. Eyes burned with heavy tears that didn’t fall quite yet. “You’re welcome,” Danny swallowed down a sob. Clearing his throat the yōkai murmured back the the teen, “Try getting some sleep, ‘kay? Yer Mom will be here soon. I promise.”

Leo seemed more than happy to do so. He couldn’t get comfortable in the chair, neither of them could, but he did his best to stay upright enough to prevent his neck from cramping. “Can do,” the teen yawned. As he began to doze off Leo looked over his shoulder to the best of his ability, catching the subtle shake of Danny’s arms. With one more squeeze to the rat’s hand, the slider whispered something Danny would never forget.

“… thanks, Dad.”

**********************

A furious shout was what woke the two an hour later.

As sleep finally claimed the weakening barriers of his psyche it was robbed of him just as quickly. Jolted out of their stupor by the unexpected noise Danny was alert instantly, eyes darting for their prison door as it was swung open just as heavily, striking the wall with unforgiving force. Hun stood in the doorway to greet them, Leo’s phone clutched in one meaty fist, but the way he was holding it suggested he was making a call. There was a female voice screaming at him on the speaker.

It didn’t take a genius to know WHO was on the other end of that phone.

But his heart still skipped all the same, her name falling from his lips in one subtle breath. “Kathrine.”

“Guess who decided to give me a call and wake me up at three in the morning?” Hun grumbled, holding the phone ten inches away from his head as it started piercing his eardrum. “I didn’t know your bitch was so frustrating to deal with.”

Danny held his tongue. Perhaps Hun didn’t realize the opportunity that presented itself to the two of them— he hoped he was stupid enough to miss it. But Leo wasn’t. Thank the lord he was just as clever as his mother. One slight look over his shoulder— one undisguised glimmer of hope caught in the slider’s eyes— and he knew Leo understood.

A plan.

Giving Leo an approving nod the teen smirked— mischievous, sly, all the makings of the spitfire rebel— before he reeled it back and replaced his bravado with a timid expression, appearing meek and nervous in the presence of the gang leader. “C-Can I talk to my Mom?”

Using the quivering voice approach, nice touch, Danny internally applauded.

Hun glared at the prisoner, annoyance in his gaze. “And why should I let you?”

“Cuz… I miss her,” Leo shrank in his bonds, sounding pitiful. “And… and I wanna talk to her. To my brothers. Please…?”

Danny didn’t miss how the boy still latched tight to his fingers behind him, trembling, the mask an unsung truth behind their scheme. But as he had done before the yōkai gripped his hand back to convey his confidence in the kid.

Ya got this.

Hun cocked a brow in bewilderment. The screaming on the phone only grew louder to the point Danny could almost hear the distinct sound of Spanish cuss words being slung at the criminal. He was grateful Leo couldn’t grasp a majority of the language yet, because the words that came out of that woman’s mouth almost made him turn scarlet. Damn, Kat, ya really were raised in New York.

When Hun wouldn’t budge, Danny decided to give the kid some backup. “His mother’s probably worried sick ‘bout him. Ya really can’t let her hear his voice t’ give him peace of mind?”

Leo’s hand squeezed his in gratitude.

Weighing the phone in his palm, frowning deeper the more Katie’s screams pitched into the air, the brute groaned angrily. Holding the device up, Hun gave the two of them a cautionary hiss. “Don’t even THINK about trying to warn her,” he whispered through grit teeth amidst the screaming rage of Kathrine. “You do, you die.”

Hun placed Leo’s phone on his leg— Danny had to wager a guess, he still couldn’t get a clear view over his shoulder. But it didn’t stop Katie’s verbal rampage from rushing through the phone in a tirade of oral vengeance.

“—Maldito hijo de PUTA! Cuando te ponga las manos encima, te romperé las rodillas y te romperé el cráneo—!”

“Mom…?” Leo chirped.

The screaming ceased outright.

There was a pregnant pause.

“Leo?” Katie asked, voice above a whisper.

Leo went stiff. Danny could barely see Leo’s expression, but he saw the way the poor kid’s eyes started to go glossy. “Mom,” he swallowed. “Mom it’s me.”

Any semblance of hesitation was shattered as the woman reacted. “Leonardo!” Katie gasped, sounding close to tears. She fought to control herself— he could almost feel the unbridled relief coming through the phone. “¿Mi hijo? Cariño, ¿estás bien?”

“Si,” Leo confirmed with a tremor in his voice, struggling to keep his composure. “Si. I’m fine. I’m okay,” he sniffed. “I’m so sorry, I was such an idiot, I never should’ve run away—“

“Leonardo, honey, it’s okay. I’m not mad. I’m just… I’m so glad to hear your voice,” Katie soothed him with ease. Danny was amazed by how gentle and comforting she sounded, how effortlessly she managed to keep the teen calm despite her own anxiety skyrocketing. “I’m here. I’m here, hon, I’m right here.”

Any kind of restraint the turtle showed previously went out the window the moment his mother’s consoling words reached him. Leo’s hands shook under Danny’s as the tears finally prickled his eyes. “You’re alright,” the man assured in a whisper. “Take your time, keep talking.”

Leo’s hands squeezed his hands so hard he felt the bones crackle. But, encouraged, Leo continued. “A-Are you okay Mom?”

“I’m the last person you should be asking that to, sweetheart,” Katie reassured softly. “I’m fine.”

“Is… Donnie?”

“He’s okay too. We got his medicine. He’s still sick as a dog but he’s breathing steadier now.”

Leo breathed a massive sigh of relief, sagging into his chair. “Thank god!” He breathed. Danny couldn’t help but grin, an extra weight lifted from his shoulders. That was one good piece of news to know. “What about Raph? Mike, Case, Jay?”

“Everyone is okay. We’re safe,” Katie soothed. “Are you hurt?”

“Kinda,” Leo sheepishly answered. He chuckled afterwards to lighten the mood. “But that’s nothing new given my track record.”

“Oh honey…” Katie sounded heartbroken. “I’m so sorry.”

Leo gripped Danny’s hand tighter. “That makes two of us…”

“Bromista, where’s Danny? Is he with you?”

Danny’s heart started hurting. Hearing her say his name was like honey to his ears. It had been a mere three days but it felt like three months— how could such a small thing make him emotional? “Yeah. I’m here,” he called. There was movement as Hun took Leo’s phone and brought it over to Danny, only now the human turned the speaker off and put the devise on his shoulder, Danny cradling it there as he pressed it to his cheek. This was harder with his arms tied.

Suddenly his chest started hurting even more. This was ridiculous, he shouldn’t be so nervous to speak to her. But at the same time… would she be cross with him? Would she blame him for getting the both of them captured? What was going through her head?

“Daniel?”

… There it was. One moment, one isolated moment between the two of them, it was almost enough to render him a hopeless pile of flesh and bone.

“Daniel?” Katie tried again. “Hello? Danny?”

“… hi, Kathrine,” he sighed.

Only she knew how to get him misty eyed.

“Dios Mio,” Katie breathed— if she hadn’t started crying whilst talking to Leo, her voice shook and wavered dangerously close to teetering over the edge. “Daniel, holy shit…”

“Hey hey, it’s okay,” he shushed, blinking back his own tears. “Please don’t cry. If ya start crying then I’m gonna cry, Leo’s gonna start bawling; we’ll all be emotional messes.”

“Hey!” Leo blubbered through a wry laugh.

In his ear Katie actually snorted. “Jackass,” she whimpered.

“Good t’ know I can still make ya laugh,” Danny smirked under his breath.

“You always do…” she sounded like she was trying to collect herself. “You always do.” Taking deep, calming breaths to steady herself, Katie swallowed down what sounded like a sob. “You okay?”

“I’ll live. You?”

“I’m fine.” Katie sighed heavily. “Just… fuck, Amor, are you hurt?”

“Just th’ usual on my end. Leo’s…” his gaze swiftly flickered from Hun to gauge if he were paying attention to his conversation. “… pretty much okay. Just misses th’ hell outta you.”

Katie took another shaky breath. “I miss the both of you,” she said after a moment of pause. “If Casey’s info is as solid as he says then we’re close to finding you. You guys will be home by sundown.”

“I think that’s th’ best thing I’ve heard in days.” Danny smiled. He closed his eyes to collect himself, to breathe deep and center his focus solely on her voice, picturing her face in his mind clear as the sky. “Leo’s gonna be happy t’ hear that.”

“What’s Hun doing? Has he tried to hurt you? Has he hurt Leo?”

“Not too much. Just me.” Danny briefly looked at Hun— the man was glowering at the yōkai with a certain level of quiet unbridled anger that could rival Mama on a bad day. His face was stuck in a permanent sneer, his hands clenched into fists as though prepared to start pummeling him if he’d begun saying the wrong thing. Hun was chewing at the bit, probably hoping Danny slipped and spilled his ulterior motives just for the excuse to knock his teeth out. Being watched like a hawk made giving Kat the clues she needed near impossible.

But he knew how to improvise.

“… baby,” he muttered softly. “Ya remember those Spanish lessons ya gave me?”

“‘Course, but what…” Katie paused. Then, with a sudden realization, she hummed slyly. “You slick bastard.”

“Ya get me?”

“Yeah.” Katie affirmed. “Have a handle on it enough to give me some information?”

“Alto y claro,” Danny spoke in Spanish easily— the puzzled expression on Hun’s face almost made him laugh.

“How many of them are there?”

“Tal vez doce.”

“What kind of place are you in? Does it look new, old?”

“Un almacén lúgubre. Quizás reconstruido a partir de un negocio textil.”

Hum squinted, suspicious. “What’re you saying?” He hissed.

“He feed you?”

“Sólo uno vez.”

“Do you know what he’s going to do once I get there?”

“The hell are you saying?“ Hun snarled, louder. He stormed over to the yōkai and got close— inches away from his snout as he bared his teeth. “WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?”

“I said yer a dumbass bitch with no taste,” Danny bluntly lied.

Thwack! Hum backhanded him hard across the mouth. The phone clattered to the floor.

“Hey!” Leo cried, struggling in his bonds at the sound. “Listen, jackass! You better leave him alone or I’ll—“

“Do what?” Hun challenged, cackling at the turtle. “Attack me? You can’t even lift a finger in your state!” With one hand he plucked the phone from the ground, turning the speaker back on to let Katie hear him. “All you muties are is a waste of resources and precious time! You pretend to be human so you can fit in! You’re not even normal enough to pull that off!” He circled the bound captives, a lion stalking his helpless prey. “Just pathetic excuses for fancy house pets that never learn their lesson.”

“Don’t talk to my son like that you ugly bastard! Leo, don’t listen to him—“

“Awww, what, you gonna start crying?” Hun put on a sing-song voice, taunting the poor kid behind him. Leo’s hands curled into fists beneath Danny’s hold, trembling terribly; signs of the steel-like resolve beginning to waver.

Danny looked over his shoulder to match Hun’s gaze, his expression shifting into a dark mask, baring bloodied teeth and showing off a set of fierce canines that appeared razor sharp under the dim light. His golden eyes glinted murderously, daring the bastard to test his patience. “They’re more human that you.”

“You think they’re human?” Hun sounded appalled. “These freaks are carnival sideshows! They’re monsters!” He gestured to the two prisoners with Leo’s phone. “They ain’t got a right to stick their noses in business that don’t concern them! The moment shit hits the fan, these things create more chaos! More problems! If it weren’t for them, we’d all be honky dory!”

“If it weren’t for these kids we’d all be fucking DEAD, moron!” Danny finally yelled. “Did ya all get selective amnesia?! Or did youse collectively get dropped on your heads?! They stopped an alien invasion! They saved thousands of people! They saved this city! I didn’t see YOU step up and fight back! They’re more human than all of you combined! THIS kid,” he nodded to the silent Leo. “Is th’ living example of bravery! Yer a sorry slab of skin that never contributed anything meaningful in yer life, so ya take it out on kids t’ make yourself feel better! Ya ain’t a real man— you’re a fanatical bully with a power trip kink!”

“HE’S AN ANIMAL!”

“HE’S A HERO, YOU FUCKING TWAT!”

Hun’s beady eyes looked as if they were turning red with rage. His hands twisted the cellphone furiously, thin lips curled into a maddening grimace. Good, let him get angry, let him focus his anger on him. Bide your time, maybe someone outside will hear the commotion and call the police.

“What?” He pressed his buttons again, trying to find a weakness. “Did I hurt th’ Big Bad Hun’s feelings? Guess ya ain’t as cutthroat as ya claimed t’ be.”

Hun put the phone down. The scumbag rounded on the yōkai, slowly reaching for something out of view behind him, his wider build making it hard to see what he was grabbing. “You’re gonna regret ever pissing me off.”

Danny blinked, dread rising. “Th’ fuck do y—“

CRACK!

Something hit him across the head.

Something hard, something metal. Heavy as bricks and being swung with the force of a battering ram. It happened so quickly he couldn’t see it.

His brain exploded with agony. Something in the side of his temple shattered, he was certain. Blood came flying out of his scalp and tangled into brown fur.

CRACK! It struck his back next, fracturing the bottom left of his ribs. His world fell sideways. Hun sent Danny toppling to the floor with a resounding crash, the chair crushing his bound arms underneath him with agonizing force. He couldn’t understand what happened to him.

“DAD!” Leo screamed.

“Leo?! DANNY?!” Katie exclaimed over the speaker.

Hun started kicking him in the depths of the stomach. He tried to curl into a ball to hide from the worst of the blows but they were unforgiving and brutal, coming one after the other. Stomping down hard on the chest and abdomen, as though he were trying to create as much internal bleeding as possible. Danny’s vision became a blur of distortion; everything warped and shifted off its axis, colors danced between a thin line of monotone. In the hands of the gang leader he held a long metal bar with a curved, sharp end. A crowbar? When did he bring—

CRACK! The next blow struck him on the collarbone, several more being delivered to his right eye. In mere moments it started swelling— Danny preyed he wouldn’t go blind. Blood erupted from his nostrils, clogging them, making it harder to take a breath without risk of choking. He could taste it in the back of his throat.

Katie was screeching at the top of her lungs venomously, chaotic static warping the high pitch of the phone on speaker. Leo sounded as if he were hyperventilating. The crowbar was brought down into Danny’s shoulder. The arm popped at the socket, dislocated. The next strike hit him square in the stomach. Then the knees. Then the clavicle. He grit his teeth painfully tight, trying not to give in to the anguish that ripped him in pieces. He sank his fangs into his tongue to in the point where he morbidly wondered if he was going to bite clean through and drown in his blood. Don’t scream don’t scream don’t scream don’t scream don’t scream don’t scream DO NOT SCREAM.

“DAD, NO!” Leo sounded ten miles away despite sitting above him, fighting like wild in his bindings. “HUN, GET AWAY FROM HIM, IT’S ME YOU WANT!”

“Not so funny now, huh?” Hun huffed, kicking the rodent yōkai in the diaphragm. “NOT SO CLEVER NOW, AREN’T YOU?!”

Danny returned that visceral bark with his own matching glare. Through bated breath he worked out the words, “B-Be hhere… allll… we-eek…”

With a dismissive click of his tongue, the human sadist weighed the crowbar in his hand, tapping it methodically in the palm with slow, calculated motions. Danny’s blood slathered the thick metal, the curve of the tool drip, drip, dripping in tandem with his heartbeat to the dirty floor. The scenery was eerily familiar. “Such a pity you didn’t last as long as I’d hoped. Since you’re so eager to get a head start on the REAL fun, I’ll let you choose. What should I break first, rat?” Hun hummed casually in thought. “Your back? Your ribs? Your legs? Your arms? Or,” Hun pointed the long metal bar at Leo. “His shell?”

Danny had never known such a bloodcurdling rage. He’d never felt something so guttural, so primal, so inhuman that began to ebb its way throughout his torn veins. The kind of strength that overpowered him in that moment as Hun pointed the crowbar at the turtle was so fierce it would’ve been enough to give him the power to rip himself free. But being so bludgeoned and battered, his willpower would have to suffice. “D-Don’t… you… daaare… touch… m-myyy… son!”

Hun, splashed with dark red blood across his face and shirt, pushed him onto his aching back, a foot planted on his chest to keep him pinned. His eyes stung with hot, burning tears. “Still not catching on. You don’t get to make those decisions. I do. You’re nothing but a mindless animal that can talk back. And animals that start to misbehave deserve to be shown. Their. PLACE!”

Danny squinted against the haze of moisture that clung to his eyelashes, watching as Hun raised the crowbar over his head with a sickeningly masochistic grin.

It came down too fast.

C R A C K!

It struck the top of Danny’s tail near the base of his tailbone.

Bone crumbled beneath the skin like sand.

And Danny finally shrieked like there was no tomorrow.

The sounds he made were animalistic in nature. He writhed, broken tail thrashing and kicking in vain, arms yanking against the ropes tying him down, tearing into his wrists and turning them bloody, screaming every swear in a hodgepodge mix of Italian and Spanish, cursing these pigs for doing this to him, how dare they, how dare they—

“LEAVE MY DAD ALONE! PLEASE!” Leo pleaded, sobs hitching within his throat from afar. “DAD, GET UP!”

Hun tossed the crowbar aside, his horrific work done. It clanged against the ground near the wall farthest from Leo. “Got nothing else to say, rat?” Without hesitation— or mercy— he ground the heel of his shoe into Danny’s broken tail. It only served to make the yōkai scream louder.

“STAY AWAY FROM THEM!” Katie roared. “I’M GONNA KILL YOU, HUN! YOU HEAR ME!? YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD!”

“You want them?“ Hun shouted loud enough for Katie to hear him, barking out a disgraceful laugh. “Come get them! I’d more than happy to get rid of your precious pets!”

Danny’s heart pounded hard and fast in his ears. Blood roared like an ocean in his veins. Despite being beaten within an inch of his life, despite his hearing being spotty, he caught those words and hung on like a vice.

Hun was baiting her. He was anticipating her razor thin temper going off.

He was using Danny’s pain as ammo to fuel her fiery fury and catch her off guard.

Hun would have Katie and the kids within the hour.

Without regard for his safety any longer, Danny hollered at the top of his lungs. “KATHRINE! ¡NO VENGAS AQUÍ! ¡ES UNA EMBOSCADA! ¡TIENE CHICOS CON ARMAS ESPERANDO A TI Y A LOS NIÑOS! OBTENGA A LEO, OLVÍDATE DE MÍ—“

Hun kicked him with unforgiving force in the throat, cutting him off; the windpipe crushed under the blow he coughed out blood this time, splattering across the man’s foot. Blind with pain the yōkai thrashed against his bonds with a renewed fervor but it was no use. Nothing he tried worked. He was trapped.

Helpless.

Useless.

Weak.

Pathetic.

“Come to the Harrison Textile Warehouse by eight o’clock tonight!” Hun shouted. “And bring all your freaks with you! Otherwise, I’ll skin the rat alive and use his fur as a new lining for my coat! And I’ll turn the terrapin into a hood ornament!” Hun marched over to Leo’s phone, where Katie still screamed for the mammoth to stay away from the two, and crushed it beneath his foot.

The silence following the call’s end was deafening.

Danny lay on his back in the chair, choking on blood that became too thick in his throat, filling his mouth too fast. His body twitched and shuddered in anguish, his hands unable to tend to any of the fresh gashes or bruises. But through all the immeasurable turmoil his body was currently experiencing, Danny glared ruefully at the human with a kind of darkness he’d only felt once in his life— when Katie had been mutated by Draxum, when that crazed monster had put his hands on her. Spitting the blood from his mouth the yōkai shakily growled, “Y-You d-du-mb f-fuck… Sh-e’ll nnnnever… fall… fer yer… b-bull-shit…”

Hun scoffed. “Sounds like she’s already got the memo.” He crouched down to Danny’s level, hands painted red as they sat on his knees. “And you two are going to be SCREWED.”

Leo struggled with a vengeance, fighting desperately to break loose of his ropes, vivid tears streaming down the kid’s cheeks. The slider grit his teeth furiously with vile rage as he yelled at the human. “YOU’RE THE WHO’S GONNA BE SCREWED WHEN I GET OUTTA HERE! I’M GONNA TELEPORT YOUR SORRY ASS TO MARS FOR HURTING MY DAD!”

“I’d like to see you try.” Hun smirked cruelly. Reaching up to his ear he pressed a finger to it and gave a command. “Someone come drag these pests downstairs to set up for the woman’s arrival! We’re gonna be having a family reunion!”

Danny blinked slowly, thin lines of red trailing down the side of his face imitating a ghoulish tear. He weakly turned his head to look at Leo, who still fought the confines of the chair and shouted threats at Hun. The edges of his blurred vision were tinted with fog so much he worried he was starting to succumb to a probable concussion… that, or something far worse. Brain bleed? Hemorrhage? No, he couldn’t leave Leo behind, he couldn’t allow him to get hurt, he’d break his oath to Kat if he passed out now.

He stretched his neck upward, grinding his teeth in excruciating anguish when he attempted to move despite being bound. Nobody was going to lay a hand on that kid. Not if he could still breathe. Not if he could still fight back to some extent. He’d rather die first that let these bozos harm his boy. “‘Eee-ooh…” he groaned in vain, straining his voice to try and reach the teen.

Leo froze, his face wrought with all types of emotions: panic, despair, terror, confusion. Every ounce of grief he’d had for the boy intensified once he noticed the kid weeping for his sake. “Dad…”

More blood gathered into his mouth. Gurgling the man spat it to the side to the best of his ability, head swimming with internal trauma. “M’… rrright… h-here…” he choked on the words, sputtering as air hitched into his lungs, struggling for the chance to breathe. “Nnnnott… go-goin’… nowhere…”

But something lurked out of the corner of his eye. Leo caught it. His eyes widened, struggling tenfold. “No, NO! D—“

Danny’s consciousness was robbed of him when the metal bar came down across the back of his head with the power to shatter bone…

And the world around him went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DANNY IS NOT HAVING FUN 😂😂😂

Don’t worry for long, cuz Katie is coming to save them! IN THE SECOND PART 😅😂

Stay tuned!!

@queen-with-the-quill @tending-the-hearth @figuringitoutasigoalong @goldenflowerdragon @lameboobah @wasted-and-ready

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