Chapter 1
Leo P.O.V
"So who are we betting it is this time?" Mikey joked.
"Shred-head." Raph grinned.
"Not really his style is it?" Leo took in the surroundings.
"Oh, excuse me, I didn't realise villains had to have a style!" Raph's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"The purple dragons?" Mikey tried.
"Too elaborate for your common street gang." Donnie intervened. "And stealth is not their strong suit."
"Ooh! I know!" Mikey's eyes brightened up, "Some lone Foot soldiers with a grudge!"
Nobody would really come up with an argument against that until Leo muttered, "No. It's someone completely new." His brothers turned to him. He shrugged, well, as best as he could in their current positions. "I mean, look at how they've put us."
The other three took in their surroundings, a bare room free of anything. It was like an entire level of an office building had been outfitted just to house the four big cages they were currently stuck in.
"Ordered." Donnie muttered. "Someone with a lot of money has sorted this out. So the ambush was completely planned. Everything has been arranged ahead of us deciding to go for a run last night." Mikey and Raph looked at each other.
"So?"
"So," Leo took over once more, "that some rich person has had their eyes on us for a very long time, and we never noticed." Raph raised an eye ridge.
"Why? If we don't know the guy –"
"Or girl." Mikey interrupted.
"Or girl," Raph added reluctantly, "then why would they want us? A grudge?"
"Maybe. Maybe not." Leo responded, his mind taking in everything about their surroundings, attempting to find a way to get him and his brothers out of this awful situation.
Their cages were sat in a square, the bases resting on wooden pallets, most probably to move the heavy metal with ease via forklift – but the sides not touching. It was all very neat. In each cage were four manacles hanging off the bars, one of each wrist and ankle, which they had all woken up attached to. The cages were an awkward height where a mutant turtle could just about stand up – if they lowered their head into their shell a little – but their hands were chained to the ceiling meaning if you sat down – as Mikey had – your arms were comically stuck up in the air. Raph had gone for the tough guy approach and was standing so his arms weren't stuck at such a ridiculous angle while Donnie – being taller than the rest – struggled to stand upright, so was half leaning on the side of his cage. Leo just accepted the situation and knelt – partly so he could kneel, his preferred meditating position, partly so Mikey wouldn't feel left out being the only one with his arms in the air.
Apart from the cages, there was nothing. Their weapons, belts and masks had been removed, leaving them feeling oddly exposed.
"So I'm leaning towards scientists who want to dissect us." Leo focused in on the end of a lecture he didn't realise Donnie had been giving.
"WHAT?" Raph yelled, "People want to rip us apart?"
Mikey's face looked horrified at the thought of anyone wishing to hurt another living being.
"People do." Leo interrupted, before Donnie could explain his theory even more. "They would want to understand how turtles like us could end up speaking and acting as humans do. But –" he added, "That's not what's happening here." Donnie cocked his head.
"Why would you say that? I mean look at this place Leo, everything is white – standard lab colour, there's nothing, so it's sterile and we're captives. Scientists with money wanting to dissect us." He looked please with his deduction skills despite its meaning that they would all be killed in the name of science. But sadly Leo would rain on that – frankly calming in light of what he had just worked out – possibility.
"You're right about two things, D." He spoke calmly, hiding the growing tension he was feeling, "Whoever did this had money and are interested in us." Donnie smiled, but Leo wasn't done. "But it's not scientists. Whoever captured us has strong combat instincts – hence the ambush, and is a genuine threat, unlike nerds in coats would be." That earned a glare from Donnie and a snicker from the others. "Sadly they're interested in us as a group, in our team dynamics. That means they'll probably want us to suffer due to what we represent rather than any crazy revenge plot and worst of all – they don't think of us as people, to them we're just animals. Something below them."
A heavy silence fell for a moment before Raph shook his head.
"Just how the shell do you come up with something like that? What sicko put those crazy ideas in your head man?" Part of Leo was actually glad they were all chained, otherwise he knew Raph would lean through the bars and whack him one.
"Clue one," The leader calmly explained, feeling a bit like his genius brother for once, "The cages. They're neatly aligned with a gap between them, a physical separation of us. If we weren't chained up, we could reach out for each other, but – clue two: we are. This person knows what we can do and knows how we work. They could have just shoved us in cages – probably what scientists would do – but they took precautions. It's also to mess with us mentally. We can't do anything. Clue three," at this stage, his brothers were looking half shocked, half in fear. "Clue three is the position we're in. We can't move. Once again, precautions and psychological torture technique. A classic really, you chain a guy up so he can't move up and you can humiliate him more easily. Example: serious killers, they chain them up between the ankles and hands to the waist – not only does it limit their movements but it reduces all sense of control over a situation."
"Dude, I don't know what's scarier, what you just said, or the fact you know that." Mikey breathed.
"Please tell me you haven't got a book on torture techniques…" Donnie sighed, acceptance clear in his features and Leo couldn't help but smile.
"Two actually. And they're about interrogation, not torture. But one can quickly become the other."
"And you call me twisted?" Raph shook his head, "Hypocrite."
"It's called research." The leader sighed, "Anyway, where was I?"
"Clue four." Donnie offered grudgingly, obviously not wishing to hear more.
"Clue four is the building. A rich guy with resources at his disposal. But don't worry Donnie, there's probably a lab in this building somewhere. Psychological techniques can only get you so far."
Blank stares once more, but they didn't last long, for at that moment, there was a sound of a door sliding open and one of the white walls on the far side of the room slid open revealing a tall man. As suspected the turtles had never met the man before in their lives.
"Bravo, turtle. I am most impressed." He laughed coldly. "I honestly expected the other one – that one," he gestured to Donnie as if he were no more important than a statue he happened to have standing around to impress guests, "to have figured it all out."
"Who the shell are you?" Raph – never one for patience, shouted. The man paused on his walk towards them and seemed to consider the question seriously.
"Well, since we will be getting to know each other very well over these coming days, when you scream for me to stop, you may address me as… Master."
Well, whoever this 'Master' is, he is very good with dramatics!
Questions (I do know what's going to happen but I like to know your thoughts!):
- How has this happened?
- What will the Master do to the guys?
- Will they escape?
- And how long before someone knows they're in trouble?
Please leave your reviews, I really love to hear what you guys think!
LL99 out.
