A/N: I am honored to announce that "Mind Hacked" has been nominated in the TMNT Universal Fanfic Competition 2016 for Most Intriguing Villain (Shredder). Thank you, thank you, thank you! *flikaroo bows* Nominations, reviews, follows, favorites, any and all of it is an author's fuel to keep writing.
Be sure to pop on over to the tmntuniversalfanficcomp tumbler page to check out the ballot for some wonderful stories by some amazing author's. Put "tmntuniversalfanficcomp" into Google and it should bring you to the page. And don't forget to vote when that opens on April 24th!
As my thank you, how about a chapter that is sure to include someone special. Who might that be? That's right, the most intriguing villain, Shredder!
Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Chapter 14-Captivity
April continued to jog at a steady pace as Casey sprinted until he pulled up alongside her. The young couple grinned at one another as the adrenaline pumped through their veins. The cold night left the streets empty, a rare sight for the city with a reputation for never sleeping.
April was delighted that Casey had decided to join her for a late night run. She began mapping out their route as they continued to move along the streets.
"We'll go up 2 more blocks, then make a left and continue do-."
April halted mid-sentence. Startled by the sudden loud noise, April missed her step. Casey caught her as she stumbled, preventing the beautiful red head from falling to her knees.
"Thanks!"
Casey nodded. "Are you alright Ape?"
The red head nodded as she began to look around for the source of the sound.
"What was that?"
Certain she knew which direction the noise came from April pointed. "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it came from over that way." She began to move forward when Casey grabbed her elbow.
"April, wait. Where are you going?"
April shrugged her arm out of Casey's grip. "To find out what caused that noise. Come on." Not waiting for a reply the red head sprinted away.
With a curse Casey quickly followed. Sometimes April was a little too curious for her own good.
The Utrom scientist let out a yelp as he jumped from the malfunctioning exosuit. His fellow Utrom frowned as he watched his comrade scurry along.
"All of the preliminary tests came out fine. The exosuit should be working normally."
Moving quickly on the ground, the first Utrom scientist agreed. "No one has been able to figure out what's causing the problem when we go out into the field."
The second scientist bent down and picked up the first scientist. "Thanks. I hate walking on my tentacles."
Nodding, the scientist pulled out a communicator and began talking. "Tell Mr. Mortu the test run was a failure. And we're going to need a clean-up crew to retrieve the exosuit."
"Understood."
As the 2 Utroms moved away they failed to notice the 2 pairs of eyes watching from the nearby shadows.
Casey and April watched the 2 aliens move away, leaving a body with a gaping hole inside its chest lying on the ground. Unable to form any words Casey remained kneeling, his mouth agape at what he just saw.
"Casey, did you see that?"
Casey nodded, his mind reeling from shock at the scene in front of him. A giant pink brain had just leapt out of a man's chest! And started talking! And a second man, which looked eerily like an identical twin of the first one, simply picked up the slimy looking pink brain and started to walk away, as the man and the pink brain continued to talk. Casey's mouth continued to hang wide open. Yeah, he saw it all right. The vigilante just couldn't believe it though.
April waited a few more seconds, then emerged from behind the nearby bushes. She fearlessly approached the human body, that wasn't as human as it seemed. Taking out her phone, April began taking photos of the evidence.
The sight of his girlfriend standing up close to the alien body snapped Casey back into action. Rushing over Casey reached out and grabbed April's arm.
"April, come on. We've got to get out of here before somebody comes looking for this."
Casey once again pulled on April's arm, except this time, the red head let him pull her away.
They had only moved away a few feet when April stopped, her eyes wide as her brain continued to process everything that had just happened. "Casey, I think we just found those Utrom's the turtles have been looking for! We've got to tell the guys about this!"
Casey nodded in agreement. The only thing he really cared about right now was getting April the shell out of there, before some more pink alien brains showed up.
Casey grabbed April's arm and led her away from the scene as the red head quickly dialed Donatello's shell cell Donatello. She groaned as Donatello's shell cell immediately went to voicemail.
"His phone must be off."
Letting go of April's arm Casey continued to lead. "Forget about it Ape, it's going to be sunrise soon. We'll just go see Donnie and Mikey instead."
April gave a nod that Casey couldn't see as she began quickly typing off a text to Donatello. Casey's sudden halt caused April to run into his back.
"Casey, wh-? Oh."
April's face fell as they were quickly surrounded. The 4 men were dressed identical. Head to toe in black clothing, with trench coats, sunglasses, and very large medallions around the neck.
Casey Jones clenched his hands into fists. What he wouldn't give for his golf bag of sporting equipment right now.
"Stay behind me April."
"As if." April scoffed as she placed her arms behind her back as she began pressing the volume button repeatedly, the phone switching to silent. She then pressed the redial button, where the phone once again dialed Donatello's number. April switched the phone to speaker, praying that Donatello's voice greeting had already finished as she moved to stand beside her boyfriend.
Casey addressed the group. "So what are you dudes supposed to be, a bad rip off of The Matrix or something?"
Hoping to buy more time, April asked. "What do you want from us? Who are you? What are you?"
Casey and April tensed as one of the men stepped forward. The leader of the Guardians spoke in a low voice. "You 2 are coming with us."
Casey's voice came out as a growl. "Now wait just a minu-."
There was a flash of a bright light and then Casey and April fell to the ground like two dead weights, unconscious.
The lair was quiet as Donatello walked back into his lab. In his arms he held refilled hot water bottles. Donatello returned the bottles to their former spots around Leonardo's sleeping form. After a quick adjustment of the blanket, Donnie hummed in satisfaction as he checked Leonardo's vitals again. Although his pulse and temperature had risen Donatello wasn't taking any chances. After all, Raphael had said earlier that Leonardo felt the cold easily.
Taking a seat next to his patient, Donatello looked over his handiwork. He had stitched and bandaged Leonardo's largest gashes and cuts shortly after Michelangelo and Raphael had left. He couldn't do anything about the swollen skin right now. It would be counterproductive to apply ice to the swollen areas when Donatello had just gotten Leonardo's body temperature back to normal levels, well normal levels for a mutant turtle anyway.
To keep himself busy Donnie began to treat the smaller cuts and scrapes. It was painstaking work, cleaning out each cut, applying the first aid ointment with a Q-tip, and finally placing a Band-Aid on top, but Donnie didn't mind. At least it was keeping him busy. There was something about his actions that felt familiar to Donatello, almost comforting. It was as if he had done this all before. Taking care of the Leonardo's wounds with a gentle hand and a close attention to detail.
Donnie glanced at the clock again and let out a sigh. He wasn't tired and none of his ongoing projects interested him. What the shell was he supposed to do with himself now? Looking around again, his gaze landed on Michelangelo's orange mask. Picking up the soft silk Donnie shifted the material in his hands. It was weird seeing the mask without its owner. Sporting the colored silk had become a daily habit from the first minute that Master Splinter had presented them.
Folding up the mask Donnie placed it back on the table. Pulling out his shell cell Donnie frowned at the device. That was odd, he didn't remember turning it off. Upon powering on the device vibrated and buzzed, signaling missed phone calls and a voicemail message. Looking at the display, Donnie's frown deepened.
The missed calls were from April.
As Oroku Saki walked through the doors of the temple within Foot Headquarters, the eyes of five figures hovering in the air snapped open simultaneously.
Saki didn't need to ask questions. The Mystic Ninja would already know why he was there.
The Water Mystic spoke first. "The rat has broken free."
Shredder's voice came out as a growl. "That is unacceptable." Shredder punched a nearby column, which quickly crumpled into dust from the power of the exosuit.
Metal hovered a step backwards, addressing their angry master. "The bonds of family are too strong. We cannot keep them apart."
Wind also moved backwards, delivering more bad news. "It won't be long until the rat helps the younger turtles break free."
With a roar, Saki smashed another column with his fist. "What good is keeping you 5 around? You cannot even control a few mere memories."
Fire's eyes blazed at the insult from the angry Utrom. Prisoners or not, as the leader he would stand up for his fellow demons. "It does not matter what we control." Fire began to argue. "When our magic is divided like this. When we are not at our full strength." Fire dared to move closer. "When we are held captive like this, we simply cannot deliver our best."
Shredder whirled, stepping towards the Fire Mystic. His voice venomous. "As long as I possess the Heart of Tengu, your powers are mine to command. You will do as I please. For as long as I please. And you will give me what I please."
Fire's edges flared in anger.
Earth moved forward, hoping to stop a century's old argument before it started. Because the Utrom inside the exosuit was right. As long as the Heart of Tengu was in existence, the Mystic Ninja would be at reduced strength and forced into servitude.
Earth spoke, shifting Saki's focus away from the Fire Mystic. "We are using our energy from the rat to strengthen our hold on the two elder turtles."
For a moment, Saki tensed up. The 5 Mystic Ninja waited for the next column the Utrom Shredder would smash into little bits. They did not anticipate Saki's next command.
"Release the two younger turtles."
Water tilted its head. "Master?"
Saki's eyes hardened. "Leonardo and Raphael are mine." The Foot Leader stormed towards the exit of the temple. "Now I'm going to keep it that way."
The air crackled as the demons refocused their dark energy.
A/N: What are the Guardians going to do with Casey and April? How will Mikey do pretending to be Leo? Is Master Splinter going to make it home in time to help his sons? And why does the Shredder want Leo and Raph anyway? Real life is being a bit of a challenge lately and I thank you for your kind words and encouragement in PMs as well as your patience with the slow updates. And let's not forget that nomination, thank you!