Crash and Burn
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Chapter Seven: Revival
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Splinter opened his eyes as his meditation came to a close. He was attempting to learn anything that could help them, but he came out empty handed. He got to his feet and left the room to check how the others were doing.
He sidestepped around Michaelangelo, who was pacing between the couch and the kitchen, over to Kali, who was still lying on the couch, Raphael still sitting beside her, even after several hours.
Splinter turned and walked into the kitchen, moving around Michaelangelo again, where Donatello and Leonardo were busy looking through demonology books. Donatello had started collecting them, though they weren't quite sure where he got them, shortly after they found out what Kali was.
"Have you found anything?" he asked.
Leo looked up from his book. "Nothing that would help. I never thought there was so much information out there about these things."
Don nodded absently. "Although a lot of it is wrong, according to what Kali's told us. And this book keeps contradicting itself. I hate when that happens. I did find some information about that Key thing."
Splinter and Leonardo looked at him expectantly for several moments before they realized that he wasn't going to continue. "And?" Leo prodded.
Don looked up. "Oh. It's just a short article in this chapter. Renders demons and the demon-influenced powerless. Boosts power to angelic beings and saints."
"Anything on reversing the effects?" Leo asked.
Don scanned over the article again, frowning. "No. None of these texts seem to be demon-friendly. Unbiased, yeah, but the only ones with anything good to say about demons are those Satanic books, and they give me the creeps."
"Perhaps they could be helpful anyway," Splinter suggested.
"I already returned them," Don admitted. "Kali told me those people were deluded anyway." He turned the page and scanned the page. "Hey, I think I found something."
Both Leo and Splinter moved to look over Don's shoulder. Don pointed to a black and white sketch of a circle. "They call this The Demon's Ring, and it looks like it's the demon version of The Angel's Key. Pulling the power from angels and boosting it in demons."
"Does it say where we can find it?"
Don scanned the article. "No. It says that normal humans can't get to it."
"What about us?" Leo asked.
Don fought the urge to roll his eyes. "We wouldn't be able to get to it either. It says the only those who can pass between the worlds can get to it."
"Hey, guys!"
Don and the others moved out of the kitchen at the sound of April's voice. They met her at the tunnel just as she, Casey, and Shadow entered the lair.
"Don, I got those books you wanted. Why-?" April stopped when she saw the figure on the couch. "What happened?"
Casey picked up Shadow to keep the little girl from running over to the couch. Don gestured for their friends to follow him into the kitchen. Leo and Splinter stayed out in the main room, partly so it wouldn't get too cramped in their kitchen, and partly to keep an eye on Raphael. It seemed like he hadn't moved since he had brought Kali in earlier that night.
***
April set her bag on the kitchen table. "Don, can you please explain this? Demonology isn't exactly your regular area of study."
"Is Kawi sick?" Shadow asked as Casey sat her down in one of the chairs.
Don swallowed. "Yeah, Kali's sick." He turned to April and Casey. "Shredder kidnapped Kali tonight. Raph and Leo went after her with an anti-demon weapon Kali brought to us."
"Why would they need something like that?" April asked.
"Because Shredder's sold his soul to a demon for power. The Angel's Key, the thing we have, was supposed to drain that power. From what I can gather, when they went to rescue Kali, she got caught in the cross fire and was drained as well."
Casey got wide-eyed. "Wait a sec, I thought you said it only drained demons."
Don nodded. "That's right. And before you ask, yes, Kali is a demon. We're trying to find a way to help her, but all we've found are dead ends."
April frowned and looked over her shoulder at the woman on the couch. She hadn't met Kali before, although she had heard about her from the others. She didn't look like she was a demon.
"So what happened to Shred-head?" Casey asked while April was lost in thought. For now, he decided to ignore the fact that one of his best friends was dating a demon.
Don shrugged. "Leo says he's dead now. Kali told us that if he touched The Key it would kill him. He caught it, and Leo says it fried him, that he was dead, but hey, we've been there before."
***
Raphael felt helpless, and he hated feeling helpless. Kali was lying there, dying, and he was unable to do anything about it. Damn it, it was his fault she was like this in the first place. God, he felt like kicking the crap out of himself for that stupid move. Leo was right, he acted before he had thought things through, and it was Kali who was paying for it.
He could barely stand to look at her, it was so painful seeing her like that, but he couldn't bring himself to look away, as if she would slip away the second he did. Her skin was cold to the touch, which was what worried him the most. Kali never got cold. Even in the coolest weather, he could count on her for warmth.
"Raph?"
Raph tried to push Leo's voice away, but of course, Leo would be stubborn about it.
"Raph, don't you think you should get something to eat? Sitting here in a trance isn't helping anything."
Something inside Raphael snapped. He stood and spun to face Leo, knocking over the armchair he was sitting in. Leo backed away with a look of shock on his face.
"And what will help, Leo? Huh? I'll tell you what. Nothing! There's nothing I can do! She's dying and there's not one fucking thing anyone can do about it!"
"There's no need to be so dramatic."
The Turtles and Splinter turned to face a tall man standing in the doorway of the lair. Even Mike had stopped pacing and pulled his weapons.
"Who are you?" Splinter demanded. The others came out of the kitchen to see what the commotion was all about.
The man gave a small bow. "My name is Darce. I am Kali's father."
Their weapons lowered a little. Leo looked the man over. He seemed perfectly normal, with dark blue eyes and well-groomed black hair. Leo could see a slight resemblance to Kali. "Can you help her?"
Darce gave a conceited smile. "Of course I can. Though if she hadn't gone and taken The Angel's Key, she wouldn't be in this mess." Darce glanced over at the Turtle standing beside the couch. "You must be Raphael. Hmm, exactly what I expected. Stand aside."
Raphael growled low, refusing to give up his spot in front of Kali.
"Raphael," Splinter said sharply. "Let him by."
Raph stepped aside, moving to the head of the couch. Darce stepped in, a dragon following behind him. Everyone stared at the purple-scaled beast as it ran up and nuzzled its snout against Kali's hand.
Darce reached down and placed his hand over Kali's forehead. A faint red glow emanated from the contact and Kali slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times.
"Daddy?" Kali moaned.
Raphael felt his knees go weak. She was alive. He leaned over the arm of the couch so she could see him.
Kali smiled up at him. "Did we win?"
Raph closed his eyes and smiled. "Yeah, we won." He felt like crying. He helped Kali into a sitting position. By now, everyone was gathered around the couch, and Shadow squeezed between Casey's legs to get closer. She stopped and looked up at Red before reaching out to touch his tail.
"Shadow!" Casey hissed, reaching out for the little girl.
"It's all right," Darce said. "He won't hurt her. Dragons are protective by nature, especially of children."
"Right," Casey replied under his breath.
Red craned his neck around to look at Shadow. He flicked out his forked tongue, tickling her nose, and she squealed, flinging her arms around his neck so tightly Kali thought the poor dragon's eyes would pop out. Kali giggled, but stopped when her father gazed sharply at her.
"What in the worlds possessed you to try a stunt like this?" her father asked. "You know how dangerous The Key is! How did you get it anyway?"
"Cadmiel," Kali answered quietly.
Darce shook his head. "I should have known. Where is it now?"
Kali looked over to Raph, who had moved to sit beside her. Raph looked to Leo.
"I have it stored in a safe place."
"Bring it here," Darce commanded. "I will be taking it with me."
Leo hesitated and looked to Splinter, who nodded. He left and came back a short while later with the box. He handed it to Darce, who gave it to Red to carry in his mouth. The dragon took it, then turned his attention back to teasing Shadow with the tip of his tail.
"Come along, Kali."
Kali tried to stand but Raph held onto her arm. "Where are you going?" he demanded.
"It's okay, Raph," Kali tried to comfort his worry. "I have to go for awhile."
"Why does she have to go anywhere?" Raph asked, staring Darce down.
"She needs to recover. She cannot do that here on Earth, she must come back to our world."
Kali stood up, and so did Raph. "Then I'm coming too," he told them.
Kali smiled and gave Raph a hug. There was barely any strength behind it. "I'll be back soon."
"But..."
"There's no way for you to come along," Darce told him. "Only demons and soul-sellers are allowed in our world."
Raph took on a determined look. "Fine." They all looked relieved until he spoke again. "Then I'm selling my soul to Kali."
Nearly everyone in the room reacted with shock.
"What?!?"
"Raph, you can't be serious."
"Think about this, my son."
Raphael silenced them all. "Hey, it's my soul, and my decision." He looked towards Kali. "I don't want to leave you."
Kali gave him a quick kiss. "I'm not taking your soul, Raphael, and that's final. It's not pleasant, and I know you'd regret it. Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."
"But..."
She pressed her fingers against his beak. "No arguments. Now, be a good ninja while I'm gone and be nice to your family."
Raph couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Yes mommy."
Kali kissed him again, longer this time, and Splinter caught a glimpse of disapproval in Darce's eyes.
"It's time to go," Darce said, hardly caring to hide his displeasure at his daughter's actions.
Kali pulled away from Raph, and he held onto her for as long as he could until her fingers slipped from his. She waved goodbye to everyone.
"Come Red," Darce snapped at the dragon. Red continued to play with little Shadow.
Kali whistled and Red nuzzled Shadow goodbye and trotted over to his owner. Darce clenched his jaw and turned on his heel to leave. Kali gave one last goodbye before disappearing into the tunnel.
Raph stood still for several seconds then ran after them. "Kali, wait a second!"
He ran all the way to the front door without running into them. They had just disappeared.
Raph came back into the main room, where everyone was still waiting. April and Casey looked like they were lost in thought. Perhaps everything that had just happened hadn't quite sunk in. Shadow was pulling on Casey's pant leg, asking for a pet dragon. Don had gone back into the kitchen to stack up his books, and Mike and Leo just stood around, unsure of what to do.
Splinter walked over and placed his hand on Raphael's arm. "She's going to be all right, Raphael. Her father can help her more than we can."
"I know," Raphael said. He went into his room and sat on his bed. He was relived that Kali wasn't going to die, but he had a new thought to occupy his mind. How long was she going to be gone this time? And would she even come back?
He could tell that her father didn't like that she was friends with them, though he didn't know what the guy's problem was. Would he keep Kali from returning after she was home? Would she even want to come back?
Raphael pounded his fist into the mattress. He hadn't been able to protect Kali from Shredder, and his own stupidity had put her in danger. Hell, he'd nearly killed her! He wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to see him again.
"Hey, Raph?"
Raphael looked over at Leo standing in his doorway.
"You gonna by okay?"
Raph nodded. "Yeah."
"Were you serious?"
"About what?"
Leo walked over and sat next to Raph on the bed. "About selling your soul to Kali, just to be with her."
Raphael thought for a moment. "Yeah, I was serious."
Leo watched his brother in silence. He knew Raphael was serious, he'd just wanted to hear it from Raphael himself. "You must really love her."
Raphael contemplated the statement. "Yeah. I love her. Fat lot of good it does me."
"She loves you too."
Raph snorted. "Yeah right. She loves the guy who nearly got her killed."
Leo frowned. "I'm serious, Raph, I could tell."
"How the hell could you tell, you've never been in love."
Leo bit his lip. "I just can, okay. Just... just trust me on this, I can tell when someone's in love, and she is."
Raph stretched out and laid back on his bed. "Whatever."
"Listen to me this once, Raph. Don't sell yourself short. I know you're blaming yourself for what happened, but it wasn't your fault, there's nothing you could have done."
Raph sat up. "I know, damn it! I was totally useless!"
"Raph, that's not what I meant, I'm just saying..."
"Save it." Raph snapped. "You are the last person I'm going to take relationship advice from. All you think about is perfecting your perfect skills and pleasing Master Splinter."
"That's not true, Raph, I care about you, and the others too. I know you'd never forgive yourself if you let her slip away."
Raphael flopped back onto his bed. After a few moments of silence, Leo realized the conversation was over and stood up. "Just think about what I've said. I know we don't get along, and we fight constantly, but I'm still your brother and I want to see you happy."
Leo left Raphael alone with his thoughts. Raphael laced his fingers over his plastron, convinced that Leo had no idea what he was talking about. Leo the Wonder Student never had to deal with things like this, his emotions were totally under control, he never had to fight them.
Raphael rolled over onto his side and pulled out the necklace Kali had given him. It swung slowly in front of his face. Except for the first night he'd gotten it, he'd never worn it. But now he didn't even hesitate to pull it over his head.
"Please come back soon."
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