Chapter 4:
Staggering onto the ship, April rushed over to one of the computer terminals on the bridge, vaguely aware of Mikey and Leo helping Casey to the infirmary behind her. Her head was pounding from the concussion and it felt like her brain was on fire from the overextension of her powers, but she ignored it. She was on a mission. She had to find them. Donnie. Donnie and Raph.
Loading up the tracking program, she sought their communicator signals. The machine ran the search protocol.
NO TRACE FOUND.
She slammed both fists down with a scream of frustration.
Darth Maul detached the energy cuffs from the unconscious turtle's hands and feet, glad that he had taken them from the various law enforcement officers who had been foolish enough to confront during his many stops, searching for the saber crystals.
They had served him well, keeping his captives restrained as he navigated the rest of the way here, allowing him to save the remaining doses of sedative to bring them aboard the Star Forge. He wanted to be sure that he was doing this right, just as the Star Forge had shown him, and a struggling captive would have only been a nuisance. Given the damage that the space station had sustained, it was fortunate that there was even one functional cell left.
Snapping the plasma cuffs in place, he locked the turtle's wrists together and manacled each ankle. Then he shoved his captive onto the circular platform. Adjusting the controls as he had done in his dreams, the power source atop the cell flared to life.
As though magnetized, its wrists snapped upward, a flickering bolt of lightning connecting to the cuff from the top of the machine, dragging its body up and off the ground as analogous electrical bolts locked onto its ankles from the bottom. The cylindrical cell flooded with light, setting the turtle adrift within. That would hold the creature for the time being.
The machine required a bit more work to fulfill its true purpose, but that was a secondary plan to explore if the turtle proved uncooperative. For now, he had other business.
Lifting the second turtle by its shell, he dragged the creature up towards he primary control panel of the vessel's bridge and hooked its cuffs to one of the metal supports. When it awoke, it would have a lot of work to do.
Donnie slowly blinked his eyes open, his dry mouth feeling as though it were stuffed with cotton and his lids swollen and heavy. His sluggish limbs responded belatedly to each mental command. As much grief as he gave his brothers for whining about needing sedation, he probably hated being on the receiving end more than the rest of them combined.
As his eyes focused on his surroundings, he became aware of Darth Maul glaring down at him. He involuntarily jerked away, gasping in pain as the cuff dug into his wrist. Looking down, he could see the metal band, locked on him, connected by a strand of pale, yellow light to its mate, affixed to the support beam of a large computer console.
Not again. He'd spent the entire ride uncomfortably trussed up, next to his incredibly irritable brother. Brother? Raph! Where was Raph? He began casting about frantically.
"The other is safe. For now."
Unable to see Raph, he was forced to take the monster's word for it. Something he only did because the alternative was unthinkable. Where were they now?
Darth Maul reached down, and despite his futile efforts to scramble out of reach, clamped a hand down on the top of his shell, hauling him to his unsteady feet.
"This is Star Forge. I want it operational as soon as possible. You will give me an estimate of how quickly it can be done. If I find it unacceptable, you will not like the consequences."
Standing up as straight as he could with one wrist cuffed to the underside of the table, he met Darth Maul's cold stare with one of his own.
"You must be crazy if you think I'm going build or fix anything for you. Do your worst." He immediately regretted it the moment the words were out of his mouth, but he couldn't take them back so he braced himself for the pain that would inevitably follow.
But Darth Maul didn't appear irritated in the least. In fact, he seemed vaguely pleased. As though Donnie had provided him with an opportunity that he'd been waiting for. Tapping a few buttons on the cuff remote control affixed to his belt, a band of yellow energy, linked his captive wrist to the manacle on his loose hand before releasing from the table.
"Come."
When he didn't move to follow, Darth Maul glanced back at him. "You don't want to see the other one?"
Raph. Ankles still shackled, he shuffled after his captor, both eager and afraid to see what state his brother was in.
The first thing Raph became aware of was the sense of weightlessness, followed by the crippling nausea. He hated space. Or Dimension X. Or wherever the shell he was.
Why wouldn't his eyes open? Not being able to see was making the motion sickness worse. He wanted to move his hand to rub his face, but it didn't respond. He couldn't move at all.
Anger warred with unease as he struggled to piece together his most recent memories. There had been a long journey in the spaceship he'd woken up in, hog tied and humiliated. He'd lost track of the time, but it had seemed like eternity.
Not that Donnie was much help. You'd think with the way he bragged about how smart he was that he would've figured out a way to get them free. But all he did was whine about not being able to reach the locking mechanism.
Donnie? Donnie! Where was his brother? He wanted to thrash. To scream. But his body wouldn't respond. He was trapped and his little brother was out there somewhere. Damn it!
An impossible to measure amount of time passed in his prison, deprived of all senses save the drifting nausea. Then a buzzing sound and sensation vibrated through his entire being and he was released. Sort of. He could move again. Open his eyes. And was no free to vomit.
"I. Hate. Space." He spoke between heaves as he emptied the contents of his stomach. At least he wasn't floating anymore. Granted he was dangling quite painfully from his wrists, which were secured somewhere above his head, but it was better than the weightlessness.
Finally using his newfound, albeit limited, freedom to open his eyes, he was relieved to see Donnie standing in front of him, fettered at his wrists and ankles, but otherwise relatively unharmed. The relief evaporated when he caught Donnie's expression. Something was very wrong.
"You will do as your told or this one will suffer the consequences."
His attention snapped to his left where Darth Maul stood at what appeared to be his prison's controls. So that's how it was. He returned his attention to his brother.
"Whatever he wants, don't do it, no matter what he does to me. Understand?"
Suddenly he could feel his shell pulling apart from his plastron, straining the cartilage connecting the two halves and tearing at the flesh underneath. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't contain his scream of agony at the sensation of being torn in two. The intensity of the pain peaked and everything went dark.
April sat cross legged in front of Leo, following his lead in the breathing exercises intended to calm her mind and spirit. She would need to quell her inner turmoil for this to work.
Technically, she'd been trying since the pain in her head had cleared enough to focus. She'd recovered quickly, despite Casey hogging the magic healing machine, but all her attempts had been in vain. She couldn't use her gift to reach Donnie or Raph.
And so the days passed as they followed their only lead, setting a course to the Lehon system, or, as it turned out, Fugitoid's best approximation. Since the actual location of the star system had been erased from all public record, they were on their way towards a location that Fugitoid had generated from a mish mash of vague mentions here and there, recorded oral traditions and unsanctioned histories. At least they were moving. Standing in place would have driven her mad.
While she had been busy failing, Leo had been running simulated battles against Darth Maul in the holographic chamber with Mikey and eventually Casey, trying to find a strategy that worked. Based on his increasing grumpiness, she concluded that the effort was not progressing smoothly.
They'd invited her on more than one occasion, growing increasingly annoyed with her refusals, until she'd finally revealed what she'd been up to. Despite her utter lack of success, they'd actually perked up at the mention of her plan, surprisingly. She wished she'd said something sooner. They could have been in this position days ago if she had.
Right now it was just her and Leo. Mikey and Casey's inability to sit still and shut up had resulted in Fugitoid escorting them out of the room. Now, with any luck, Leo could use his meditative expertise to help her tap into her full powers.
She could feel the weight in her lap and prayed that it would make a difference. When Mikey had suggested it as good luck charm, she could have smacked herself for forgetting that she had it. The gift from the Aeons had always caused a constant buzz in her head as its own energy pressed against her power. So she'd tucked it into storage to get some relief and had promptly forgotten about it. Hopefully it would enhance her power as Donnie had hypothesized.
Donnie. With each breath, she felt her body relax, tension flowing out of her like water. Some part of her was aware of the crystal, no longer in lap, but floating in front of her and glowing. But she had no attention to spare for the phenomenon. Her mind was like tunnel vision straight to Donnie. She could sense him. So close. If she reached out, she could...
For an instant their minds connected and she was there with him, feeling his fear, pain and helplessness. Something wasn't right. Concerned, she reached out for Raph, assuming that he must be near Donnie.
She'd barely brushed his mind, full of determination and anger, when blinding pain seared all her thoughts away and she shattered the silence of the meditation room with her screaming.
Donnie stared up at his bound sibling, the analytical part of his mind providing a buffet of unpleasant possibilities for what was about to happen while the rest rejected the situation wholesale.
"You will do as your told or this one will suffer the consequences."
Donnie felt all his defiance melt away at Darth Maul's words. Risking himself for the sake of ideals was one thing. Risking one of his brothers was something entirely different. For a single comforting instant, he imagined April's presence with him, but knew better than to give in to wishful thinking.
Raph fixated on him. "Whatever he wants, don't do it, no matter what he does to me. Understand?"
He wished he could agree or even nod, show some solidarity, but he was afraid for Raph, even if his brave older brother didn't fear for himself. Unfortunately, his silence was not enough of an answer for Darth Maul. The bastard focused on Raph and Donnie gasped at the sound of his brother's scream, watching his shell splinter apart at the sides as the two halves pulled away from each other under the pressure of some unseen force.
"Stop! I'll do it! Just stop."
Raph went limp and Darth Maul returned his broken sibling to stasis. He felt numb with shock as he was led back to his computer console prison. As Darth Maul reattached his restraints, he spoke to him.
"Now that you know what is at stake. I want my space station. Get. To. Work."
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Donnie could do nothing but comply.
April blinked back to consciousness in the ship infirmary, hearing Fugitoid prattle on about something. "…physically fine as far as I can tell. None of the diagnostics…"
"She's back!" Mikey cut him off, knocking the wind out her with an enthusiastic hug. Casey let out a sigh of relief.
Leo avoided her gaze, looking aggrieved. "I'm sorry April. I shouldn't have pushed you to…"
"No, Leo, I did it. It worked. I can find them."