It was an uncomfortably quiet walk on the way back to camp. Leonardo led the way with lengths behind him as the rest of his team members followed cautiously through the urban and jungle areas. Throughout the travel, the two tracking behind their leader quietly consoled one another if he had begun to cool off from their failure.
It was hard to tell given that they were so far away. When they hit the jungle, they could still not declare so for he was chopping their way through. His swipes were sharp and his grunts were frustrated yet mildly quiet. Either the shrubbery was very dense and consumed a lot of energy or some-turtle was still feeling it.
"Bam!" They heard a sudden yet familiar voice up ahead. They were clearly at camp due to The side of the campfire but the assailant was beyond the spot that the blue clad turtle had cut. Leonardo took it by surprise, ducking down as a crown of blue and magenta flowers was forced upon his head. "You've been flowered!" Michelangelo exclaimed with his hands in the air. Looking around, the other two of his team members were covered in flowers. Sitting in the middle of their mass of blankets, Venus has the same arrangement as Leonardo with the additive of a necklace of white flowers with yellow splashes in the middle. She was also more appreciative for she willingly kept it on. Her smile was bright seeing the shock and upset on the leader's face. Raphael, however, was not fairing so well. Sitting at the "table" (A giant rock with little boulder chairs), he was not recognizing those who has returned. Instead, he kept his eyes on the "table", fist enclosed tightly. By his feet, a trampled mess of torn up stems littered with orange and blue petals told the story of a simple crime scene that had happened earlier.
"What…" Leonardo, obviously still ticked, grumbled in a low voice. He looked up at the crown first, then scowled at Michelangelo. "the shell?"
The young turtle was all types of wrong. He had a rainbow array of flowers all over. His mask had been removed which was made to an even crazier use. With the ends tied to the straps of his backpack, they supported two separate stashes of apples, grapes, leaves, and other things he could find to press up against his chest much like a bra. On his waist, numerous palm tree leaves were woven by strips of bark and made into a skirt. He looked more like a discount Tutti Frutti more than anything else.
"Flowers for you…" Mona bowed her head as the colorful turtle placed a wreath of purple and yellow mix of poppies and freesias. Mona admired them, taking them in her hand to inspect them. With her head down, Michelangelo took the chance to place a crown of white begonias with a red rim around the petals atop her head. "flowers for you…" He found it harder to reach the much taller Donatello. The purple clad turtle did not bow as Mona had for he was less receiving. However, the youngest turtle was intuitive. He tossed the yellow and white necklace like he was a bottle in a ring toss game. The tall turtle ducked in anticipation, but the intertwined stems practically floated onto his head and cascaded down his neck (except for a piece that caught onto his microphone). When he shook his head to remove the irritating piece from his face, a coral crown was bestowed upon him. "And look! Look at ya'll," he pointed at Leo first, then to Venus. "ya'll so cute all matching and stuff!" He exclaimed. He sighed dreamily, clasping his hands together and pressing it against his cheek. "Ain't they cute everybody?!"
"So why do you look like a fruit salad?" The youngest turtle turned to the side. One hip propped up with a hand sitting on top of it. The other was placed behind the back of his head as he bounced his leg and made a large pout with his lips.
"Because I'm juicy." He had hoped to gain an new reaction from the leader. Leonardo continued to glare at his little brother, now with his arms crossing his chest. He let out a breath and began to tap his foot. The goofy smile on the orange clad turtle turned a different direction slowly. Quickly, his arms and hips dropped to a neutral position. "Just wanted to lighten up the mood." His tone was innocent and wished to do well.
"For…?" The leader leaned in. Michelangelo sucked his lips in and turned to his teammates. He didn't want to be the one to say it.
"We got nothing." Venus answered for him, but it was as equally joyful as the young turtle was now.
"What do you mean 'nothing'?" Both Venus and Michelangelo cringed when he asked that. Something with the way he said it and accentuated 'nothing' made it seem like they've done a childish job. Neither one wanted to precisely answer, but someone else would.
"We mean we lost him!" Raphael yelled, then banged his hand on the boulder. It hurt like shell but the adrenaline kept it at bay. His hand held the back of his head as he coped with calming down. "We got the drop on him then someone got the drop on us." He grumbled under his breath. Mona, a brave soul she was, walked gingerly up to the "table". There was no hand on his shoulder or an exchange of words. Instead, she just sat opposite of him on one of the rocks.
"An unknown assailant shot him before we could pull any real information from him." Venus' eyes followed Leonardo as he paced back and forth. It wasn't aggressive in nature, so it was probably a part of his usual thought reflex. "What we have is barely enough to have a lead on."
"You're saying someone shot him?" Donatello asked as he came to sit in the pile of blankets beside the female turtle.
"Shell yeah!" Raphael retaliated quickly from his little moping session. His head whipped so hard behind his shoulder that the lizard lady threw a hand out in case he'd hurt himself (or get up and hurt someone). Leonardo stopped pacing and turned to look at the female turtle.
"And you got nothing?" He pointed to her with a hand still crossed into his arms.
"No!" Raphael shouted again, leaving nothing for Venus to answer. This boy was seriously ticked off. "So, what did you guys get?"
"Just as much as you." Mona answered. Raphael turned back to her, looking at her incredulously.
"Someone shot Ocho, just like you guys, but then his body was dragged off when we weren't looking." Donatello clarified.
"So was Ruffington." Michelangelo gasped. From his crossed arms, a finger pointed up in an 'ah ha!' moment. Leo shook his head, placing his hands on his hips.
"Something really weird is going on." His pacing became a little more careful with every step. The leader shook his head and began reaching to his side. "I'll phone Vincent." His assured them as he pulled out his phone. "You guys get some sleep. I'll tell you whatever we got in the morning." Donatello raised his hand.
"I'll research what we have." Leonardo nodded in approval. In a few moments he strolled away in the brush to get some silence as well as allow his family some for their own sake.
Donatello had settled himself someplace away from the campgrounds. There was no telling when the gang would sleep, but he had to get some space. For sure, someone will complain about the light and tapping noises keeping them awake, then the noise of someone being annoying (the you-know-who) would distract him from conducting his research. He picked a spot where he could easily reach them but would not be able to hear him speak if he were to. He liked to talk things out to himself to gain some clarity.
At the moment, he was going off the first of their lead: what Ocho had said to Mona. She had shared it with him as they kept a safe distance from sizzling Leonardo. He tapped onto his tablet, soon dimming the brightness so the blue light wouldn't damage his eyes. Raph was usually the one to often warn him about the dangers, hence Donatello would reply with the routine 'I know.'. Now that job was given to Venus who had learned of the damages of the light from Raphael's recommendations . Now she hopped on the nag-train. Speaking of the female terrapin, off to the right a green arm wrapped around a thick tree. The rest of her torso emerged as the blue clad female terrapin patted the tree with her hand quietly.
"Are you keeping awake?" She asked with a serene expression. Donatello was happy that his friend had come, but even with a smile, he shook his head and presumed typing on his tablet.
"Go to sleep, Venus." He spoke in monotone, yet it was playful. Despite his efforts, the turtle girl only further entered his realm of solitude.
"I can't." She then placed a dainty hand on her head, touching it with her wrist like a damsel. Then, she slowly collapsed beside him. Donatello took a peek as she rested her head on his thigh and continued to play the 'drama queen' card. She continued breathlessly. "My best friend is all by himself, deprived of sleep and stuck on research duty. What kind of friend would I be for not sharing the insomnia?" Donnie humored her for a bit.
"The difference is that I enjoy this type of work." He explained, pulling up a new tab. The turtle girl removed the act and her hand.
"Well, maybe you'll need my help." The purple clad turtle raised his brow. With a free hand, he tapped her in the bridge of her nose with his finger.
"Miss 'New to Computers' thinks she can help?" The female terrapin raised herself up partially as her elbows and forearms kept her upper body off the ground.
"You man the computer, I'll help with any thought-blocks. Tóngyì?" She asked in her native tongue. Both had come up with this form of communication, in which most times Donatello would respond:
"Gōi shita." In Japanese. The defeated turtle cleared some space for her so she too can rest herself on the tree. She got up and pushed her shell up beside the new space and was quick to lean in and watch watch what he was going to pull up. "Let's start with something simple." He began. "Mona said when Cha was dying, he tried to mumble 'Christ the Re-'. She doesn't know exactly what he said so I hope this could be enough." He was typing in specifics into the search engine. It took a while with the rocky connection in the jungle.
"Narrow it down by entering Río or Brazil." She suggested. The turtle nodded in agreement. He stole a look at her after he felt her silently laughing that she was helping. Both remained quiet until the answers came up. With the right keywords, it was the first title from Wikipedia that came up with the answers. Despite Wikipedia being a not-so-reliable source, he clicked on it anyways for starters. The title was "Christ the Redeemer" with a picture of the familiar statue from the park. Donatello read aloud:
"'Christ the Redeemer' or 'Cristo Redento'" He tried to say in his best spanish accent. Venus admired his attempts and gave him a grateful nod. It wasn't the best she's heard, but hey, can't knock a guy for trying. Besides, they needed some humor in such a frustrating time. "is that statue of Jesus we've seen overlooking the city." From keeping his head down, his glasses began to slip down from his nose. Venus pushed them back up to their comfortable position for he held his tablet with both hands. He continued: "It's placed on top of the Corcovado mountain in this National park."
"And…?"
"And… that's it."
"No kidding, let me see." The female turtle took the tablet carefully in her hands. Donatello put both arms behind his head and leaned back on the tree. In the meantime, Venus was curled up into a ball position as she read over the information. "Yeah, yeah, Seven Wonder, restoration…." Her eyes widened, a full view of the screen imprinted into her eyes until she pulled away. "You're right."
"Try scanning over for 'underground'." He spoke through his yawn. "That's what Cha Ocho tried to say before he was killed." Unlike home, there was no honey glow in the outermost areas that he could see in the sky. With the town nearby, being in the jungle flushed out most of its radiance and allowed the stars to glow bright in the dark night. The light of the tablet was already dimmed, so it could not reach any further than the closest branch. The white lights flourished, twinkling in the late night. With so many to be seen, the turtle couldn't help but try to connect them altogether, creating constellations.
As he basked, the turtle girl was typing. Naturally, it was very slow for she had to find each letter and then tap it aggressively like an electronic-illiterate (which wasn't her fault). The techie humored her and then returned his eyes wander up to the sky. Each pounding click on the glass amused him, making him smile for he knew she was having a difficult time. There was a long pause between one of the particular taps. He glanced down to see what was on the screen. It was no longer 'Cristo Redento'. Instead, it was an informational page on something totally different. "What's that?" He unfolded his arms and leaned in her direction. The turtle girl brought it up for him to see.
"I couldn't find 'underground' but Ruffington mentioned 'King of Thieves'." Venus scrolled down. With every lift of the finger, Donatello leaned more because he was intrigued by this new clue. "There." She almost passed it in which she scrolled back up a little to look at a provided image. "The 'King of Thieves' statue."She announced quite proud of her achievements.
"Looks like an six armed monkey." Donatello could not deny that it wasn't anything short of it.
"Makes sense now, wouldn't it?" The female terrapin used two of her fingers to zoom in on the relic. "If you're going to steal things, might as well be an sectopus."
"Oh look!" Donnie exclaimed as he pointed to an article directly beneath the picture. "A legend for us to follow." He spoke as if it were something that wasn't so cliche and was a totally new idea to him. The female turtle smiled, yet shook her head for his overdose of sarcasm. Donnie bumped her playfully with his shoulder thus getting one back. Venus straightened herself to read the article clearly. Continuing to be childish, the techie rested his chin on her shoulder as she read. Staying up late really loosens the boy up, she's recognized.
"Whomever posses the statue gains luck through theft. No witnesses, no clues, not a trace to the beholder. Could you imagine what somebody could do with this?"
"Instant ninja. Incredible," The purple clad turtle exclaimed. Then, for his next sentence, he calmed himself some. "if it would work." Giving it the benefit of the doubt. Venus let the tablet lay flat on her lap.
"Of course it would work." She spoke in amazement that he would say such a thing. Wasn't it obvious? "Why would the enemy try to find it?" Donatello cocked his head back so far that his neck showed a nodule. He gave a hearty sigh.
"They're always superstitious and pathetic enough to go after it." His voice was incomplete monotone and somewhat expected. His voice was incomplete monotone and somewhat expected. Suddenly his head jerked up and his eyes grew for he caught himself for a brief second and straightened himself up. "it's also a gold statue so, pretty sure they'd be more interested in that aspect." Donatello was assured. Of course an enemy would go after a gold statue over a magical one. That's just what enemies do. They do bad things, and stealing is one of them.
"Or," she let him along with that last word. Hurt him and her finger rubbed the underside of her chin as she 'thought'. Donnie knew that look in her eye way too well. This turtle girl is going to put up a fight. "perhaps they are sure of its magical properties." The way she created her sentence was one in which the pitch of her voice elevated until the end. When she posed the question, she felt some vibrations against her arm. The turtle girl raised a brow and turned to her chuckling partner. "Why do you laugh?" Through his particular demeanor, it wasn't hard to tell that Donatello was 'mocking' her in some way. When her hand slapped against his collarbone he comedically try to compose himself, meaning, he didn't really try to hide the fact that he found it hysterical about what she had said.
"You're probably right." He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "The demented usually believe in unworldly sentiments and such." The purple clad turtle continued hysterically, laughing some but trying to hold it back. Given his choice of words, Venus wanted to test his theory.
"Then, what am I?" She asked harmlessly, but she had to admit that the inquiry would be most interesting to her. Immediately, the turtle straightened up with a somewhat mortified expression. The turtle girl grinned as the other finally noticed that he had just offended her.
"No, I mean…" He searched for the right words. What was Venus to him anyways? Like, what she does aside of Ninjitsu. What was he to make of her magical abilities. Science was easy to comprehend, yet he never questioned her magical abilities. What kind of scientist was he? Finally, he took a long, deep breath to compose himself. He was starting to get overloaded in his mind. Venus was quiet, smiling, but quiet to listen to her friend's answer. "Ok, I honestly do not know how you're able to do some of the things you do." Pause. "You're clearly not a fake…" he blurted out, but could not finish his sentence. "But…" To put him out of his misery, the female turtle pulled him to her collar, petting his head and giggling softly. He accepted it, trying to clear his mind to search for his real answer. "I don't know." He sighed defeatedly. Venus gave a knowing nod. She took her hand off his head but allowed him to continue laying there as she continued their research. "I can't prove what I can't understand." He added on. The enlarged eyes courtesy of his bifocals looked up innocently to see her face. All he could see was the underside of her face at an angle and the glow from the tablet highlighting her features. The turtle girl giggled before replying:
"A magician never tells their secrets." She spoke matter-of-factly. Donatello couldn't help but try. So, he resumed to let her read while he gave himself a break.
"I respect that."
