A/N: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: This bag of peanuts may contain nuts
Within a few super-sonic moments, Sasori's jet was within a mile of the Rebel's Headquarters. As he decelerated, Sasori spoke into the radio transmitter.
"HQ, this is Sasori-yuki requesting permission for landing."
Nothing but static came back through.
"HQ, are you there?" Sasori asked.
Again, nothing but static could be heard over the transmitter.
"Maybe there's a problem with the radio?" Yumi questioned.
Sasori shrugged, a worried look was in his eyes.
They were close enough to see the base, now. As they drew even closer, both Netians gasped in disbelief. The enormous metal doors that had once covered the hanger entrance were now barely still attached to the hinges and were riveted with blast holes. The craft glided silently inside. All of the fighting jets and passenger carriers had been completely destroyed; only rubble filled the room. Sasori gently set his craft down in an area that had the least amount of rubble. The two Netians and the turtles all hopped down to the hanger floor; that is, all except one.
Donatello looked back up at the open door and whispered up as loudly as he could, "Leo, come on!"
There was no answer.
"Go on, guys," Don said to the others. "I'll go get Leo."
With a leap, Donatello landed back in the jet as his brothers and their Netian friends walked away.
Leonardo was sitting, exactly where they had left him in the back of the aircraft, but he was obviously terrified. His knuckles were white where he was gripping the arms of his seat. His eyes stared off into space, and he was muttering over and over again, "So high…so very high…."
"Easy, bro." Donatello lightly touched Leonardo's shoulder.
Leo jumped, as though he was coming out of some sort of trance. For a moment, Donatello could still see the absolute terror in his brother's eyes, and then it faded. Concern filled Don's eyes.
"Are you OK, Leo?"
"I-I…yes, I'm fine," Leonardo lied. "I was feeling a little strange, but I'm better now."
"Well, if you say so," Donatello replied with a shrug.
He was still worried about his brother. "Come on, we need to catch up to the others."
The two turtles walked to the door of Sasori's ship. Looking down, Leo suddenly blanched and stepped back in fright.
"Leo, what's wrong?" Don turned to his brother. "It's only about ten feet. You've jumped twice that far before!"
"Don, I-I can't do it," Leo stammered.
Then it hit Don. "Yumi said that Wanui could control your deepest fears. Your fear of heights is back, isn't it?"
Numbly, Leo nodded his head. "I know I shouldn't be afraid. I know there is nothing to fear, but I cannot not fear," he sighed. "I didn't want you to ever see me like this…" his voice trailed off.
"We'll work through this, Leo." Donatello walked over to his brother and took Leo's arm. "Just close your eyes before we jump. I'll be right there so you'll feel safe."
"Don, I, thanks."
"No prob, you would do the same for me any day."
With his eyes closed tightly Leonardo allowed his brother to lead him over to the door. They both jumped down and hurried to join the others.
--------------------
Meanwhile, Raphael, Michelangelo, Yumi, and Sasori continued to search throughout the Rebel base. Everywhere they went, they found only destruction. In the room where the tapestries had been, there was now only the very top of the amazing wall-hangings were left; the glass-like island that had been in the middle of the pool was broken into millions of pieces. All throughout, Sasori's eyes were glowing, and his face was growing even graver. He had not yet been able to sense the presence of a single person. They reached the dojo. Huge chunks of the ceiling had fallen down, and rubble was piled against the walls. Suddenly, Sasori leapt forwards and ran over to the edge of one of the chunks of the ceiling.
"Help me lift this up," he grunted, his muscles straining.
Raphael and Michelangelo hurriedly grabbed hold of the chunk. With their combined strength, they managed to heave the block up.
"Yumi," Sasori gasped. "Grab him!"
Yumi reached under the block and pulled out a limp form. It was Tori. He was barely alive. Once he was out from underneath, Sasori and the two turtles carefully placed the heavy block of ceiling back down. Tori's eyelids flickered open as they all knelt down by him.
"Sa-Sasori," he whispered, grabbing feebly onto Sasori's arm and lifting his head slightly.
"Rest, my friend." Sasori gently stroked Tori's trembling hand. "There is no need to speak now. Wait until you've regained your strength."
But Tori continued anyway. "They came out of nowhere. One minute there was nothing there, the next minute, they were knocking down the doors. We tried to defend ourselves, but there were too many."
He stopped for a moment, and lay back. Then he continued.
"Anything they couldn't destroy, they took. Even people. And Sasori," he continued, pulling Sasori even closer, tears were in his eyes. "Your father, he…he…."
Tori's head fell back, lifeless. Before their very eyes, his body dissolved into thousands of tiny sparkles that slowly floated up, through the gaping holes in the roof, and up to the heavens.
Sasori and the others stood and watched until the last spark disappeared. Suddenly, a dark blob appeared in the middle of the room and materialized into a tall, masked figure. The new-comer was dressed entirely in white – a long, hooded cape mostly covered a white tunic that was intricately embroidered with silver. But the strangest was the face, or lack thereof. It was as if any speck of light that fell on the face was absorbed into a dark void.
"Sasori, who's this?" Yumi whispered in Sasori's ear.
Sasori shrugged.
Then, as if he had heard Yumi's query, the faceless creature spoke. "I am known as the Magician," he said in a low, many-layered voice.
"Why are you here?" Yumi stepped forwards cautiously.
"There is someone my Master wants back," the Magician replied. "He sent me to retrieve him. Hand over the one called 'Leonardo' and I promise, I will not harm you."
Raphael drew both of his sai. "He ain't here, and even if he was, you couldn't have 'im!"
The Magician laughed. "You try to draw mere weaponry on me? It is useless. I know my quarry will be here momentarily."
Raph lunged at him. The Magician disappeared, then reappeared a few feet back. Rapidly, he raised his hand, and then clenched it into a fist. With a swift motion, he raised his hand even farther, and Yumi was lifted up off the ground; her own sword was being held to her throat.
"Drop your weapons or your friend here will loose her head!"
Sais, nunchucks, and swords were all dropped.
"Now put your hands over your heads and keep still," the Magician ordered. At that moment, to the horror of the turtles and the Rebels, Leonardo and Donatello walked into the room.
--------------------
A strange sight greeted Leonardo and Donatello as they entered the destroyed dojo. Their brothers and Sasori were standing in the middle of the room, their hands raised above their heads, surrounding a strange man-like creature, while Yumi was floating in the air, a sword held to her throat by an invisible hand. Without a moment of hesitation, both of the turtles ran towards the others. With a flying leap, Leonardo jumped straight into the Magician. At the same time, Donatello grabbed Yumi and took off running with her in his arms. He set her down near the entrance into the supply room.
"Thanks, Donatello," she gasped gratefully.
Weapons were immediately picked back up as Michelangelo, Raphael and Sasori attacked. Every time they almost hit the Magician, he vanished, only to reappear a few feet away. Suddenly, an orange, glowing orb appeared in each of his hands.
"I told you fools that my prey would come to me!"
The Magician spun around, launching one orb straight into Leonardo. Leo crumpled to the floor. The Magician launched the other orb directly at Yumi. She moved just enough so that it only hit her in the arm, but it knocked her off balance and she fell hard against Donatello.
"Mikey, grab Leo! You and Don get him and Yumi out of here!" Raph yelled.
"But what about you two?" Michelangelo yelled back.
"We'll be fine!" Sasori answered. "Go!"
Michelangelo ran over and picked Leo up in his strong arms while Donatello grabbed the semi-conscious Yumi and both turtles fled back to the hanger.
"You have robbed me of my quarry," growled the Magician. "Now you shall pay!"
Lightning bolts shot up his sleeves and up to the fragmented ceiling.
"You will not leave here alive!"
Chunks of concrete began falling all around them.
"Come on, Raphael, we've got to go!" Sasori started hurrying towards the exit.
"But we've got to keep this bozo away from the others!" Raphael shouted back.
"Yeah, but we won't be of much use to them if we're dead!" Sasori responded, starting to choke on the rising dust.
A block fell between Raph and the Magician. Raphael sheathed his sai and ran after Sasori. As the ceiling was falling down right behind them, the Rebel and turtle fled into the hanger where the others were already waiting inside of Sasori's jet. Quick as a flash, Sasori slid into the pilot's seat and they took off. A giant cloud of dust followed them as the jet shot out of the hanger. They left not a moment to soon. The former Rebel base collapsed behind them.
"What now?" asked a shaken Donatello.
"We need to find a place to recuperate." Sasori's voice was sad. "There's no one else left. No other place to hide."
"We could go to Eyeth," Yumi suggested.
She had recovered a little, but was still clutching her arm.
"But that's just a barren wasteland," Sasori protested.
"Not entirely," Yumi corrected him. "There are a few settlements scattered under the Blanket."
"The what?" Donatello cut in.
"The Blanket is a solid, translucent haze that floats about a mile off of the actual ground, so Eyeth is actually two stories tall."
Sasori groaned, adding, "The only problem is that you can't get to the lower realm by flying, only by a secret elevator somewhere on the surface. I don't even know what it looks like. I've never been there."
"But the good news is that it is protected from all of Wanui's dark forces. For some reason, he's never been able to enter lower Eyeth."
"Well, then let's get going," Raphael urged.
"Your arm's turning a funny color, Yumi," Michelangelo suddenly pointed out.
He was right. Yumi's arm was turning a deep purple.
"Must be pretty bruised," she grimaced. "I'll be OK."
Leonardo groaned and tried to sit up.
"Lay back down, bro!" Donatello gently pushed Leo back into a lying position. "Don't sit up quite yet."
The blue-masked turtle complied.
"Since it appears we don't have any other choice, I'll fly us to the Blanket of Eyeth," Sasori said.
The ship took off in an easterly direction.
--------------------
After an hour of flying, a cloud-like land mass became visible to the travelers. As they drew closer, they could see a strange, grey landscape unfold before them.
"There's the surface. I'll try to find a safe place to land," Sasori announced.
The ship slowed down as he began to look. After another fifteen minutes had passed, he was finally able to land his jet in a secluded meadow. Leonardo tried to sit up and winced.
"Not good, guys. I can't move my left leg."
The other turtles looked worriedly at each other. "We'll try to help. You think you could get around with a crutch?"
"Yeah."
Michelangelo helped Leo up and Donatello gave him his extended bo staff.
"Use this 'till we can find a good branch or something that could work better."
"'K. Thanks guys."
"No prob. That's what family's for."
Leo smiled.
--------------------
Evening found the four turtle brothers, Sasori and Yumi stopping under a large, grey oak. Like Yumi's arm, Leonardo's leg was turning a deep purple. Luckily, earlier as they had been searching for the opening into lower Eyeth, they had come across a branch that was shaped perfectly as a crutch for Leo. So now they were setting up a meager camp under the clear, Netian sky. Suddenly, Michelangelo's stomach growled.
"Man!" he moaned. "I'm hungry!"
"We're all hungry, shell-for-brains," Raphael reminded him.
"Uh. What I wouldn't give for a nice, big, pepperoni pizza right now!"
"What I wouldn't give for some duct-tape…" Raph muttered under his breath.
Donatello smiled and turned to Yumi. "When will Sasori get back?"
"He'll be back in a few moments," she replied. "He found some food."
"Oh goodie!" exclaimed Michelangelo.
He was trying – unsuccessfully – to start a fire with some old wood and two stones. Just then, Sasori returned, his arms laden with plants.
"Looks like we're having some stew for dinner," he announced as he walked over to Mikey.
"Leaf stew?" the disappointed orange turtle complained.
"It's an old family recipe. 'Wood Soup.' My father taught it to me cycles ago when he would take me camping. Trust me, you'll like it."
As Sasori turned away and began cleaning the plants in a little nearby culvert, Mikey muttered something under his breath. He was still unable to get the strange grey wood to light.
"Here, give me that!"
Raphael grabbed the two stones from Mikey and started pounding them together. He couldn't get a spark either.
Frustrated, he threw the stones down. However, with the throw, a little ball of energy appeared at his fingertips and floated down onto the dry branches, instantly igniting them. Michelangelo's jaw dropped.
"How'd you do that, Raph?"
Raphael stared at his three fingers, then down at the little blaze.
"I have no idea, Mikey. I have no idea."
By this time, the others had noticed what had happened.
"Come over here," Yumi instructed. "I can't read your mind from this distance when I'm injured, but we'll see what happened."
Raphael knelt down next to where she was sitting. Gently, Yumi placed her good hand on top of his head as her eyes began to glow.
"Amazing," she muttered. "I've never known something like this to happen before…."
"What? What?" urged Raphael.
"You are beginning to develop a Netian-like power," Yumi replied.
"But how is that possible?" Sasori wondered.
Yumi shrugged. "It seems that his mind is perfectly mutated so that he can absorb the influence of the powers, letting him then duplicate one of them and replicate it."
"Does that mean I can do it again?" Raphael stared at his fingertips.
Yumi nodded. "Try it, but balance it on your fingers so you don't ignite anything."
With everyone watching, Raphael concentrated hard. Nothing happened. He tried again; still nothing. By now, he was completely frustrated.
"I can't do it! Stop watching me!"
He sat down in a huff. At that moment, a ball of energy appeared in his hand, surprising him.
"Fascinating…" Yumi stared at him. "Apparently, you can only do that when you are extremely frustrated or annoyed."
"Well, then you should be able to do it all the time, Raphie-boy," Michelangelo teased.
"Don't make me use this on your head, dip-stick," the red turtle retorted.
However, the glowing orb was already fading.
"Why'd Raph get the cool super power?" Michelangelo moaned. "I'm the one who's always wanted to be a super-hero!"
"Does this mean we all have such a capacity, or just Raph's hot headed mind?" asked Donatello, ignoring his brother's outburst.
"I don't know." Yumi shrugged again, then flinched and rubbed her arm. "I won't be able to tell until one is developed."
Leonardo was lying against the grey oak watching and listening. Suddenly, he had an idea.
"Is that what happened back in Wanui's dungeon?"
"Hold on," Yumi replied.
After about a minute, she answered, "It could be. There is a slight trace of residual Netian energy floating around, but I've never seen anyone do what you did."
"Could you pleeeeaaaaasssssseeeeee read my mind, too, Yumi?" Michelangelo begged.
"I told you, I won't be able to tell unless it's already developed," Yumi reminded him.
"Pleeeeaaaaasssssseeeeee?" He did his best imitation of big puppy eyes.
"You'd better do it, Yumi, or he won't ever leave you alone," Leonardo commented. "Last time Don wouldn't pay attention to him, he followed him around all day bugging him."
Yumi giggled.
"Ok, ok, just hold still."
Her eyes glowed once more.
"Nope, nothing," she told the dismayed ninja turtle. "No residual energy, no power signature, nothing."
Michelangelo was very disappointed, to say the least, and plopped down next to Leonardo and moped.
Ignoring Michelangelo, Donatello asked, "So exactly what are these powers?"
"The story goes," Sasori began, "that many thousands of years ago, once the Creator had made all of the dimensions, before evil had entered any of the worlds, He decided granted a gift of immense power to the first man and woman of each world to set them apart from all others."
"It seems that each world was given a unique gift," Yumi interrupted. "For example, the first of your world were allowed to commune with the Creator Himself."
"Yes, anyway," Sasori continued, "After evil entered the world, the Creator did not take away the powers of the first Netians, but diminished them. Each subsequent generation has still controlled that diminished power, but cannot control it as well. Now, each person can only use one aspect of it. However, it was promised that in the end of days, He will restore every Netian who serves Him and peace will reign like heaven forevermore."
"That sounds a lot like the claims of Christianity on our world," Donatello commented, sounding rather disappointed.
"You could say that," Yumi answered. "After all, it worships the same Creator that we serve."
"Well, how about we just agree to disagree about that sort of thing and drop it," Donatello insisted uncomfortably.
"All right," Sasori shrugged. "We can't force our beliefs on anyone."
A little later, Sasori had finished the Wood Soup, and even Michelangelo had to admit that it was good. Then, they went to sleep. Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Yumi rested against the trunk of the oak while Sasori, Donatello, and Raphael preferred to make their beds among the soft, silvery leaves covering the floor of upper Eyeth.
--------------------
As the pale sun rose the next morning, it shone right onto Donatello's eyes, waking him. He stood up and stretched. The upper level of Eyeth didn't seem so gloomy in the fresh morning, although it was certainly very noisy due to Raphael's unceasing snoring. Suddenly, the purple-masked turtle panicked. Yumi and his two brothers were gone!
"Wake up! Wake up!" Donatello shook Raphael and Sasori.
"What, Don?" Raphael growled, sleepily opening one eye.
"They're gone!"
"W-what? Who's gone?" Sasori rubbed his eyes.
All Donatello could do was point at the grey oak that Yumi, Michelangelo, and Leonardo had been leaning on. Raphael jumped up and ran over to where the others had been, closely followed by Sasori, his eyes glowing brightly.
"Nothing," he announced dejectedly.
"Look," exclaimed Donatello, pulling a square of orange fabric from a crack in the tree. "This is from Mikey's mask, and it's a clean cut, like it was cut by a sword."
Raphael peered closely at the spot that the piece had been sticking out of.
"Sasori, do trees here usually have metal in 'em?"
"No, Raphael, why do you ask?"
Raphael whipped out his sai and cut a chunk of bark off of the tree, revealing part of a metal door.
"I think we found the secret elevator," Don said.
Suddenly, a sharp twang was heard from a neighboring tree. Hastily, Raphael stepped backwards and an arrow planted itself where he had been standing a moment before.
"Move!" Sasori yelled, pushing Donatello down.
Another arrow was embedded in the tree, inches above his head. Vaguely, the turtle brothers could see a monkey-like creature bouncing from limb to limb in the tree, carrying a bow and quiver.
"Hurry!" Sasori hissed. "Into the elevator!"
"How?" Donatello asked. "It's sealed shut!"
"What about the others?" Raph reminded them. "They must have accidentally fallen into the elevator at some point last night. Just open the doors somehow!"
With a flash, Raphael blasted a hole in the door. Luckily, the car was at the top. Hurriedly, they pried the door opened and slid inside. Sasori hit the down button and the doors closed. The monkey released one last shot, flying through the hole Raphael had created. It hit him smack in the left shoulder and he fell backwards as the elevator shot downwards.
Donatello caught his injured brother as he fell. Grimacing, Raphael pulled the arrow out of his shoulder.
"I hate monkeys!"
"Are you OK, Raph?"
Raphael gave Donatello a withering look. "What does it look like?"
Blood was beginning to flow quickly out.
"We need to stop that bleeding, or you won't be alive much longer!"
Sasori's face was creased with worry.
"I won't let that happen!" Donatello was determined.
Quickly, he pulled off one of his elbow pads and used it to try to stop the bleeding. However, Raphael was already starting to loose consciousness due to blood loss. As his eyes closed, he could dimly see the worried face of his brother.
"I won't let you go, bro!"
"I know," Raphael tried to smile. "Tell Mikey he's still a goof ball."
Raphael passed out.
--------------------
Meanwhile, Michelangelo was just starting to wake up, and his head hurt. Gently, he rubbed the tender spot on the back of his head and opened his eyes.
"Oh, shell!"
The sight that greeted him was not a pleasant one.
Leonardo and Yumi were sitting with their arms wrapped around their knees, surrounded by spear-wielding baboons.
"Good, you're finally awake, kame."
Another baboon prodded Michelangelo with the butt of his spear, forcing him to sit up. A large mandrill, who was apparently the leader, swaggered over and placed his brightly colored face within a few inches of Mikey's. With an evil grin which showed his long, sharp, and dangerous canines, the mandrill announced to his followers, "Looks like we made a fine catch with this one, boys. This one's strong like the other one, but not injured. Better be careful. He might try to fight just like the other kame did."
"You bet I will!"
Michelangelo sprang up and kicked the mandrill squarely in the chest, sending him flying a couple of feet backwards. Immediately, several spear points were at his neck.
"See?" The mandrill stood up, laughing, while gently rubbing the sore spot on his chest. "A strong feisty one! He'll fetch a fine price on the black market!"
All three of the captives started.
"Oh, I think I forgot to mention that all three of you are slaves now, and you all belong to me! Me, Celorthod the Bad, and my band of the best and most ruthless slave and bounty hunters this side of the Sea of Tears!"
"Why you evil, UGH!"
The blunt end of a spear hit Leonardo's head, knocking him over.
"Hey! Leave him alone!" Michelangelo yelled.
The spear points were now all touching his neck. Ignoring the outbursts, Celorthod ordered the prisoners bound. Wordlessly, the baboons hoisted Leonardo and Yumi to their feet, while pinning Michelangelo's hands behind his shell with a thick rope. Yumi winced as the baboons roughly pulled her injured arm behind her back.
"Don't you worry, my pretty." Celorthod put his hand under her chin and lifted it so that her eyes met his. "You will go to a good home, and will probably fetch us the best price."
Furious, Yumi jerked her head down, biting the mandrill's long fingers.
"OW! OW! OW! OW!"
Celorthod yanked his hand back and massaged his fingers. Soft, muffled laughter spread throughout the baboons. One of the guards supporting Leonardo let go of Leo's arm and clamped his hands over his mouth to prevent his laughter from reaching his leaders ears. Immediately, Leonardo fell down on the ground and swung around his uninjured leg, tripping the other guard and Celorthod. The rest of the monkeys could no longer hold the laughter in. This provided just the distraction Michelangelo was looking for. Since the guards were no longer paying attention to him, he dropped down under the canopy of spears and crawled on his knees, his hands still bound, into the underbrush. Lividly, Celorthod leapt to his feet and grabbed the neck of the guard that had let go of the blue-clad turtle.
Instantly, the laughter stopped.
"YOU IDIOT!" Celorthod screamed, shaking the unfortunate baboon. "I ASKED YOU TO DO ONE THING, ONE SIMPLE THING, AND YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT RIGHT!"
Celorthod flung the guard up, smack into a branch of an overhanging tree. There was a sickening thud as the guard's body met with the hard wood. Celorthod spun around.
"ANYONE ELSE WANT TO LAUGH AT ME?"
Every creature was silent.
"Good! Let's move out!"
"Um, sir?" one of the baboons who had been guarding Mikey ventured nervously.
"What now?" the mandrill snapped, massaging his temples.
"The other kame is, well, um…sir, he's gone!"
"WHAT?"
"When you were throwing Moz up into that tree – and by the way, nice throw sir – he kinda…um…vanished."
Celorthod was even more upset now.
"HOW COULD HE JUST VANISH? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING HIM, YOU HALF-WITS!"
"He's a ninja," Leonardo piped up.
Celorthod strode over to him. "Go on," he said, eyes narrow, "I'm listening."
"Well, people who are ninjas are able to completely disappear right in front of your eyes," Leo bluffed. "Usually after he does, no one can find him until either he or his family wants him to be found."
He said this loud enough that he hoped Mikey could hear and understand his message. The mandrill's eyes narrowed even further.
"So what you're saying is that I shouldn't bother even looking for him?"
"Oh no, of course not. That's not my call. I just know him well enough to know that neither you nor I could find him." He shrugged. "But of course, that decision is up to you. I don't think his escape is necessarily bad for you. He would certainly cause a lot of mischief in the camp."
Celorthod rubbed his index finger along the bridge of his colorful nose. After about a minute of silence, he made his decision.
"Cosmi, you and Ankard go and look for that kame. He can't have gotten far. Everyone else, make camp. We'll stay here until morning, in which case, you had better have found him by then."
Two baboons hurried off into the underbrush.
High up in the tree with the baboon's corpse, Michelangelo smiled. He had heard Leo's message loud and clear. And he was determined that he would not be caught.
--------------------
Back up in the elevator, Donatello and Sasori were desperately trying to revive Raphael and stop his shoulder from bleeding. But nothing they tried was working. Finally, the elevator reached lower Eyeth. Very gently, they lifted Raphael out onto the forest floor.
"I don't know what else we can do for him Donatello," Sasori shook his head. "I'm so sorry…" his voice trailed sadly off.
"No! He can't! He just can't!" Donatello insisted, tears welling up in his eyes. "He'll be OK! I know he will!"
He held Raphael's limp form close to his plastron. Sasori remained respectfully silent as the purple-clad turtle rocked back and forth.
"You'll be all right, Raphie Boy! Please!" he begged. "Be all right!"
Then suddenly, something miraculous happened. A soft glow surrounded them both; a stronger glow around Donatello and a weaker glow around Raphael. To Sasori's astonishment, part of the glow, the aura surrounding Donatello, began to spiral around. Wisps caressed Raphael's wound, healing it. More wisps began entering Raphael's body, evening out the strength of the two auras. Exhausted, Donatello collapsed.
--------------------
Don! Don! Wake up bro!
Slowly, the turtle opened his eyes.
"Raph! You're OK!"
"Yeah, thanks to you, braniac," Raphael replied.
Both turtles smiled.
Walking over, Sasori announced, "While you were out, Donatello, I found several sets of tracks leading away from the elevator. They're all going the same way, so with any luck, that's where we should find the others."
Together, Sasori, Raphael, and Donatello followed the tracks through the surrounding forest. Content to let Sasori lead, the two turtles glanced around at the forest made up of blue trees and often up to the pale lavender sky. This landscape was so like a typical Earth forest; but at the same time, unlike anything they had ever seen in all of their travels. Suddenly, Sasori stopped and held up his hand.
"Hide! Quickly!"
In an instant, they were all hidden among the colorful foliage. A moment later, two baboons walked by on the makeshift path.
"Do you really think we'll find that kame, Ankard?" one was asking.
The other one shrugged.
"I doubt it, Cosmi."
He stopped, pulled the pack of off his back, and started rummaging in it.
"I told Celorthod that I thought it was a bad idea to go to the upper lands. When those two kame and the up-worlder fell into the elevator and we knocked them out, well," the baboon shook his head. "Those types are nothing but trouble."
Donatello and Raphael glanced at each other. They both a pretty good idea about who the two kame and the up-worlder were. Before Donatello or Sasori could stop him, Raphael silently shimmied up one of the dark blue trees and out onto a limb hanging directly over the two baboons.
"Raph! Get back here!" Donatello hissed.
The baboon addressed as Cosmi looked around quickly. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Ankard replied, pulling out a fruit from his pack.
"I dunno…." Cosmi sighed. "I'm just jittery, I guess. You know what the boss will do to us if we don't find that escapee."
"Yeah," was the brief reply.
Silently, the red-clad turtle dropped down behind them and tapped them both on the shoulder. As they spun around, Raph growled, "Still looking for a turtle? There's more turtle than you can handle right here."
Before the two baboons could recover from their initial shock, Raphael knocked their two heads together and they fell unconscious on the forest floor.
"Raph, that was a very foolhardy and dangerous thing to do," Donatello scolded.
"In other words," Raph smirked, "just my style."
Leaving the two baboons tied up on the ground, they once again started out on the trail of footprints.
"It looks like we have a pretty good idea about what happened to them," Sasori muttered darkly.
--------------------
Leonardo and Yumi were tightly secured to a large, blue, sycamore-type tree. There were plenty of guards stationed around them as the rest of the band of baboon slave-traders did various things around their camp. None of the guards really seemed to be paying attention to their two captives other than making sure that they did not escape, so Yumi and Leo talked to pass the time. Leonardo was full of questions, especially about Netia and Wanui. Yumi told him basically the same story that his brothers had heard from both her and Hatsu-yuki, Sasori's father. When she was finished, the turtle still had two more questions.
"My sensei, Master Splinter, what happened to him?"
"I don't know what to tell you," Yumi replied, shaking her head. "In the maboroshi, only you four turtles were mentioned. Also, there wasn't anything about him in Wanui's database when we infiltrated his stronghold to rescue you. I don't want to promise anything, but I'm guessing that he escaped."
The turtle sighed, only a little relieved.
"You said this is fourth earth?"
Yumi confirmed with a nod of her head.
"Then I was wondering," Leonardo said. "I have a good friend, Usagi Yojimbo, who lives on fourth earth. He's a samurai rabbit. Have you ever met him?"
Yumi thought for a moment before replying. "He probably lives on Netia's twin planet, Nippon. It is also considered fourth earth. That is the only place I can think of that still has samurai. Although their planet is as old as ours, and together we circle around each other as we circle around our sun, their technology is almost a thousand cycles behind ours. Most of them do not even know that we exist on their sister planet."
Leonardo was silent for a moment as he took in that information. During the lull, an old baboon walked past the guards and up to them. He had countless, tiny gourds tied to a large, red sash around his waist as well as to the top of his long walking stick. They clanked together musically as he walked.
"I'm the healer of this troop," he announced gruffly. "Stick out your leg, kame. Celorthod has given orders that it's to be bound so that you can walk on your own." The old baboon spat on the ground and added under his breath, "Though that seems a unwise decision to me. Celorthod's a fool."
He knelt down and examined Leonardo's leg momentarily. Then, muttering something about dark magic, he stormed off towards the forest. A moment later, he was back, clutching two foot-long pieces of bark.
"This is bark from the deglupta tree. It will both heal and support your leg."
The old healer tied it onto either side of Leo's leg with a long strip of white cloth and then stood up.
"We'll find out how well it works on the road tomorrow."
He gave the two captives an evil grin then spun around and left.
The turtle glanced briefly at Yumi and was surprised to see her smiling sadly.
"You can be glad he's not the leader of this pack," she whispered to him. "He was thinking that he would much rather leave you here to perish instead of invoking the wrath of the powerful kame clan."
"The powerful kame clan?" Leonardo repeated, curious.
Yumi just shrugged. "Apparently there are other turtles here, but I've never heard of them before. I guess that monkey has, though."
--------------------
Donatello, Raphael, and Sasori were quietly sneaking up to the slave-trader's encampment. Almost right on top of it, they crouched in the bushes to take in the situation. They could see about seventy baboons and a large mandrill. They could also see Leonardo and Yumi tied to a tree in the very middle of the camp and very heavily guarded. However, they could not see Michelangelo anywhere. Suddenly, to the horror of the three hiding in the bush, someone started to quietly climb in with them. As the unknown being crept closer, Donatello and Sasori held their breath and Raphael put his hand on the hilt of his sai. Then, to their joy, a familiar green and orange face popped through the thick foliage. Mikey quickly motioned with his head for the others to follow him. His hands were bound. As soon as they were out of earshot, Raphael grabbed Mikey and gave him a big noogie.
"Hey! Hey!" Michelangelo exclaimed. "What was that for?"
"Just glad to see you, goof-ball."
"Good to see you too, but could you guys untie me? My nose's been itching for hours!"
Raphael's sai cut through the rope in a matter of moments. Quickly, Michelangelo recounted how he had escaped and everything he had learned since then, then Raphael told his brother all that had happened to them – but left out the part about the arrow in his shoulder.
"Hmm, there's too many for a frontal attack," Sasori mused. "But at the same time, Yumi and Leonardo are too heavily guarded and too in the middle to be able to just sneak them out. We'll need a distraction. A really big distraction."
Donatello and Raphael both turned to their grinning brother.
"I thought you'd never ask."
To everyone's surprise, he outlined a well thought through plan.
"Wow, Mikey, where'd all that come from?" Donatello asked, amazed.
Mikey smirked. "How easy do you think it is to pull the same trick on Raph five different times without him expecting it or getting caught?" he retorted.
Raphael just scowled.
Even though it was difficult, they had to wait until darkness had fallen, since Mikey's plan would only work under the cover of night. Meanwhile, they did their best to keep busy. Sasori gave Donatello a small pouch about the size of a CD that could expand to four times its original size. Donatello immediately put it to good use. He had discovered that many of the trees seemed to be a sub-species of eucalyptus. Knowing that the bark of earth eucalyptus catches on fire very easily and sometimes even explodes, the purple-clad turtle filled the satchel with the bluish bark. Sasori, Michelangelo, and Raphael were rummaging for food, each with their own little pouch. They found nuts on some of the trees that closely resembled pecans as well as many bushes strewn with berries. After they had all had their fill (though Sasori had to help the turtles get the nuts out of the shells), they filled up the rest of the satchels and decided to rest until evening while taking turns at watch.
--------------------
Darkness fell over the camp, and Celorthod was pacing back and forth in front of the captives. He was growing concerned at the complete disappearance of both of his trackers.
"We'll give them until morning," he said, more to himself than to anyone else. "If they don't show their faces by then, then they had better never let me see their stinking selves again!"
The rest of the slave traders had lit cooking fires and were beginning to settle down for the night. It was completely dark now, except for the fires. Not a single star was able to shine through the thick layer of Upper Eyeth. Suddenly, the fires all flared up to enormous heights, and then died down to glowing embers. The bright flash momentarily blinded everyone in the camp. As the baboons were rubbing the stars from their eyes, Celorthod stared at the lower branches of one of the trees, his mouth hanging open. Mutely, he lifted a trembling finger at the horror he saw. Floating just below the lowest branches of the tree was the corpse of the baboon he had thrown up to its death earlier. Leonardo, due to his ninja training, was very used to going from bright to dark immediately. He was the only one who could see the thin ropes attached to the body. By now, all of the baboons were completely terrified and were no longer paying any heed to their two prisoners. Then, to further the slave-traders' terror, a two-toned voice spoke – seemingly from the corpse.
"You are doomed, evil one," the voices said in unison as the arm of the corpse rose to point at Celorthod. To the troop of monkeys, it sounded like a demon; however, it made hope rise in the hearts of Leonardo and Yumi. They both recognized it as Michelangelo and Donatello speaking at the same time.
"Psst!" a whisper came from behind the captives.
"Stay still!" Sasori hissed.
The two captives could feel the ropes around them loosen. Quickly and quietly, they followed Sasori out of the camp. Luckily, the old healer's medicine seemed to be working on Leo's leg. He could walk on it, though it was still very stiff. After a few minutes, they joined Raphael in a glade. He was surrounded by unconscious baboons. In answer to Leonardo's questioning look, Raphael shrugged.
"I needed to blow off some steam."
Behind them, they could faintly hear Donatello and Michelangelo making random threats against Celorthod's eternal soul. All of a sudden, a gasp rose up from the slave-traders. A few moments later, the two turtles who had been providing the distraction came running to them.
"We've got to vanish, guys!" Michelangelo huffed. "The ropes broke and the body fell into the fire under it. I don't know how much longer the ruse will work!"
As if to reconfirm Michelangelo's words, shouts were rising from the slave traders' camp. They turned and ran. Though it was difficult to see, they ran through the shrubbery with little hindrance. Behind them they could hear the band of baboons crashing after them. Suddenly, Sasori, who was in the lead, stopped, but the others didn't see him. One after another, they crashed into each other, and the reason for Sasori stopping became painfully obvious. Down the incline of the cliff they fell until SPLASH! They landed in the swiftly flowing river below. Over the roar of the water, they could hear the anguished cries of the slave traders robbed of their prey but reluctant to follow them into the raging waters. There was no way for the Netians or the turtles to keep track of each other as they each tried to swim to the shore. It was now every person/turtle for him or herself. Leonardo smashed up against a rock. It knocked the wind out of him, but he managed to hold on to it and pull himself partially out of the water. Almost immediately, there was a sharp tugging on his good leg. Leo pulled back, bringing Donatello up next to him on the rock. Looking around, they could see Raphael create another glowing orb as he washed up on the shore nearby.
"Don! Leo! Over here!" he yelled, waving.
The two turtles stranded on the rock edged around to the side closer to the shore.
"We're going to let go and try to swim to the shore," Leonardo called back. "Do you think you can keep the light on long enough for us to get there?"
"No prob," Raphael bellowed. "I'm annoyed enough to keep this up for hours."
Leonardo repelled himself from the rock towards the shore. Donatello followed closely behind. With powerful strokes, they fought against the current as they tried to reach the shore. Raphael did his best to stay close to them as he ran along the shore to give them light as they drifted downstream. Finally, wet and exhausted, Donatello and Leonardo made it to the shore.
--------------------
Michelangelo was relieved as he felt his feet hit smooth pebbles along the shore of the river. Exhausted from fighting the current, he had finally decided to conserve his energy and just concentrate on keeping afloat. Luckily, he had washed ashore. He was freezing from his long exposure to the ice cold water. It had sapped all of his cold-blooded energy. Now, it was all that he could do to pull himself up among the protective ground cover. He curled up in a ball and was soon fast asleep. He slept so hard that he did not even hear his brothers calling his name as they searched for him and the two Netians farther upstream. But what he did hear was a melodious voice speaking to him in his dreams. Dimly, he could see a beautiful woman dressed entirely in white standing under pale blue, glowing mushrooms. They towered over her like skyscrapers.
"Do not let your brothers come here," she chimed softly. "Remember, this place is doomed. Do not add your doom to its own. Now go, wake. They are searching for you."
Michelangelo slowly opened his eyes and remembered nothing from his dream. The sun was starting to faintly glow through Upper Eyeth, turning the sky a multitude of pinks and oranges. He sighed happily, as he could feel the warmth coursing through his body. Suddenly, a tiny, furry face was inches from his own face. Mikey and the creature screamed in surprise; the orange-clad turtle leaped up, spinning around to face his tiny, furry foe. There was nothing and no one there. All of a sudden, Michelangelo could feel a small, sharp rapping on his shell like someone was hitting it with a twig. He turned his head as far as he could, but he couldn't see anything. He turned the other way. All he could see was what looked like a big, bushy tail.
"Hey!" Mikey yelled. "Get off of me!"
The squirrel spun around with its twig and began hitting Michelangelo's head.
"OWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!"
The turtle tried to grab the squirrel, but it began scampering all around on him, managing to always stay just out of reach. Alerted by his shrieks, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael came running towards him. Finally stepping through the bushes, all three turtles burst out laughing at the sight of Mikey and the squirrel.
"Get it off of me! It tickles!" the distraught turtle yelled.
"OK, OK, just hold still a moment, Mike," Leonardo replied, trying hard to calm his laughter.
The squirrel stopped in the middle of Michelangelo's shell for a moment, seeming to study the approaching turtle. Suddenly, it started chattering quickly.
"Wait!" Donatello cried as Leonardo made ready to make a grab at the squirrel. "I have an idea!"
"Spill it quick, Don," Leonardo replied, watching tensely as the squirrel continued to chatter at him.
"Well, I might be able to communicate with it and ask it to get off of Mikey."
The other three turtles exchanged amused glances.
"You want to talk to a squirrel?" Raphael asked incredulously.
"Just give me a chance," the purple-clad turtle pleaded.
"OK, Donnie," Leonardo sighed. "Give it a shot."
Donatello thought for a moment, then said slowly, "Mērgīn…quībn…dä."
The squirrel jerked its head up sharply and looked at him, then leaped off of Michelangelo's shell and ran over to Donatello. It then began chattering even more excitedly.
"Quō, mērgīn quō!" Donatello insisted as panic filled his eyes. "Kōtōng rō nōnōnōn līmāpōrōith gētōng. Bā gē rō!"
The squirrel made sympathetic noises.
"Rōithix kēkē Don. Däx kēkē Leo, Raph, ā Mikey."
Each of the turtles waved when they heard their name. The squirrel burst out laughing when it heard Michelangelo's name.
"Gē kēkē Mīkē! Āväth rō dä dēng-ā-lēng, pēbā hrma rō dä bālēng līgäīvith. Ta mērkēkē lēgēn!" it chattered, then bowed. "Rōithix kēkē Twigl."
Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo all turned to Donatello for a translation.
"As close as I can make out," Donatello said, "he said that his name is Twigl."
Then, Don grinned.
"He also said that Mikey's name is perfect for him because he appears to be a "dēng-ā-lēng" – meaning hard and brave – but he's really a big softy." The smirk spread even farther across his face. "The word "Mīkē" means something like goofball in squirrel."
"Yup, very fitting," Raphael agreed, a twinkle in his eye.
Michelangelo gulped; he knew that look. It could only mean one thing. Payback.
Leonardo stepped in between Raphael and Michelangelo to forestall any mischief.
"Don, do you think you could ask Twigl if he knows where Yumi and Sasori are?"
"I'll try," Donatello grimaced.
He and the squirrel had a brief conversation accompanied by many hand gestures. Finally, Twigl ran lightly up a nearby tree.
"There's just one thing I don't understand, Donnie," started Michelangelo.
"Only one thing?" Raphael interrupted. "I would have thought there'd be a lot more than just one thing that you didn't understand."
Mikey stuck his tongue out at him. Leonardo gave them both a warning look.
"Go ahead, Mikey. Ask your question."
His youngest brother smiled gratefully at him. "How the shell do you know how to speak squirrel, Donnie?"
"I found a book called The Language of the Squirrel in a dumpster once," the purple-clad turtle shrugged.
"And let me guess, you were bored one night so you taught yourself Squirrel," Raphael said sarcastically.
"Yep."
Donatello was dead-serious. Just then, Twigl came back down the tree. Again, the turtle and the squirrel spoke together in the strange tongue.
Turning back to his brothers, Donatello exclaimed excitedly, "He found them! They're on the other side of the river and a bit downstream, but not really far from here. He said he'd take us to them."
"Well, then let's get going," Leonardo encouraged them. "Lead on!"
Donatello translated this into squirrel and Twigl chattered happily. He then bounded back over to Michelangelo and scampered up to the very top of the turtle's head.
"Hey!"
"He likes your head, Mikey," Donatello explained.
Twigl chattered some more.
"He also says that he's decided that we are going to be his new brothers because he always wanted a brother, and he's sorry for falling out of a tree on top of you and waking you up."
"Um, OK, but can you ask him to get off of my head?"
But by now, Twigl had become rather dizzy with how much Michelangelo moved his head, decided that he didn't want to sit there anyway, and hopped down to the turtle's shoulder.
"AARRGH! I give up!" the orange-clad turtle groaned half-heartedly.
In truth, he was enjoying all of the attention. Twigl raised a paw and pointed towards the river.
"Come on, goofball," Raphael clapped Michelangelo on the back. Together they headed towards the river. As they passed through the underbrush, the four turtles saw Yumi and Sasori walking up the banks of the other side of the river.
"ARE YOU GUYS OK?"
"Yeah, we're fine," Sasori called back. "How about you?"
"We're fine," Leonardo answered. "Do you think we should try to get across to you?"
Both of the Netians shook their heads. "We're on the same side as the slave-traders. It would be better for us to come across to you."
"Rō lēkēāväth nolēpā. Jāng gēgē."
"Twigl knows of a bridge. He'd be glad to take us there." Donatello translated.
"That sounds much better than trying to swim across this again." Yumi made a wry face. "I like water as much as any other Netian, but enough is enough!"
Twigl leaped off of Michelangelo and scampered downstream a bit. He motioned with his forepaw for them to follow him.
They followed the squirrel down the river. As they walked, the terrain on each side began to change dramatically. No longer was Lower Eyeth a deciduous, almost tropical, forest, but was turning into a vast flatland. However, the river had long ago carved its path into a deep crevice. Steep cliffs made up of rosy sandstone rose up on either side. Every now and then, veins of quartz could be seen in the walls as they glinted and shone in the diffused sunlight.
"Are we there yet?" Michelangelo moaned.
Donatello translated this into squirrel.
"Fēnōn," Twigl replied, shading his eyes with his paw.
"He says that there's only a short distance left," the purple-clad turtle translated.
"Good, 'cause my feet hurt," Michelangelo moaned.
"We've only been walking for about forty-five minutes," Raphael reminded him. "Leo takes us out on longer training runs than that!"
Just then, the river went around a sharp bend and the top of the canyon grew almost completely together so that it was almost like a cave. However, instead of being dark, the cave was filled with a soft, blue light beckoning to them.
"Lī jōng."
"It's in there."
Twigl scampered up Donatello's leg and whispered something into his ear.
"Bā, rō āvä. Jōng gēn," the turtle said, nodding in agreement.
Twigl bounded down and sat down on a nearby outcropping rock.
"Twigl's going to stay out here," announced Donatello. "He really doesn't like going underground, though he does every time he has to get across the river. It's just not in his nature and he knows we'll be right back. He said it's just a little ways in."
"That's fine, Twigl," Leonardo smiled encouragingly. "We understand."
Although the squirrel could not understand him, he knew that Leonardo was trying to be nice, so he smiled.
"Just out of curiosity," Raphael interjected, looking up at the narrow gap in the roof of the cave, "why couldn't we have just gone over that way?"
Donatello deciphered both this and Twigl's answer.
"He said that the flatlands are patrolled by the fierce firebirds – something like the phoenixes of ancient legend. I guess they're really territorial about what walks around up there and usually won't even let a squirrel through."
"Well, are we going in, or what?" Sasori called across the swiftly rushing water.
"Come on, guys. Let's go find that bridge." Leonardo walked forwards into the mouth of the cave.
They did not have to travel far into the cave to locate the source of the light. Enormous pale mushrooms grew up from the floor, almost touching the ceiling. They gave off a soft, blue light. One of the giants had fallen over and lay across the river, creating a bridge. Michelangelo gasped, and shrank back. The other turtles looked at him.
"What's wrong, Mikey?" Donatello asked.
"I-I dunno. I've just got this feeling that we really shouldn't be here."
Raphael glared at him. "You turnin' chicken on us, bro?"
"No, it's just that I'm getting some really bad vibes. I'm telling you –"
"If you don't want to go in, just say so, Mike." Leonardo laid a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. "It's not like we all need to go in, or anything. You could stay outside with Twigl if you want."
The orange-clad turtle gulped nervously and manage a little smile.
"I'll be fine. Really."
Leonardo shrugged, giving his brother a slightly confused look. Yumi and Sasori were already on their way across the fallen mushroom's stipe, so the four turtle brothers walked down to the end of the bridge to greet them. Although they had been unable to see it from the cavern's entrance, the massive mushrooms were growing in a perfect circle, placed evenly apart. The one that now bridged the river would have been in the circle's exact center. The turtles arrived at the fallen fungus and Leonardo reached his hand up to help Yumi down. Suddenly, he collapsed to the ground, holding his head and screaming in agony.
"Leo! Leo, what's wrong?"
His brothers crowded around him. Yumi jumped down from the end of the mushroom as Sasori came running across after her.
"Stand back, hold on!" she ordered, placing her hands on top of the distraught turtle's head.
A white, electrical-like energy came up from Leonardo's skull and pulsed up through her hands. With a yell of both surprise and pain, Yumi fell backwards.
"His mind is not his own," she cried. "I don't know what to do!"
It was not until too late that anyone noticed the fluffy spore pods that were drifting down around them. As they hit the ground, a sickly sweet aroma filled the room.
Leonardo was no longer screaming and lay on the cavern color, unconscious. The Sasori and the other turtles were also feeling the effects of the aroma. One by one, they blacked out.
As his eyelids began to close heavily, Michelangelo could faintly hear the panicked chattering of a squirrel coming closer and Yumi's worried voice calling his name. Then, he hit the floor and remembered no more.
