CHAPTER 12

Gut feeling

Raphael had been hoping that the third time would be the charm, but it wasn't to be the case. As with the previous two attempts, the phone just rang to Mikey's inane voice message prompting the caller to leave him some love.

"No answer." Raphael stated, terminating the call.

Donatello looked up from his computer. "Do you think he's in trouble?"

"When isn't he in trouble?"

Leonardo nodded in agreement. "We'll need to find his location based on the signal."

Donnie rolled his eyes before sarcastically responding, "Yeah, Leo. I'll get to that right after I'm done sniping this auction and posting about my day on social media… I'm tracking right now!"

"Track quicker!" Raph snapped.

"Hey, tell that to the computer, not me." Donatello pointed out.

Obligingly, Raphael drew a sai and pulled back in preparation to strike. It was mildly satisfying to cause Donnie to shriek and move to bodily protect the machine, as if he thought the threat was serious.

"Ok, ok! We have a location!" his brother hastily announced. "It's… Right outside Murakami's."

"I really should write some kind of app that tracks us continuously and set up some kind of logging system, maybe with a perimeter alert." he then continued, mumbling primarily to himself. "After all the times that we end up needing to use the T-phones to find one another. It shouldn't be too difficult. I'll need to set up some kind of server and then ping over the GPS co-ordinates as they're-Ow!"

"Less talk, more movement!"

"Let's do this." Leo agreed, leading the three of them topside.

It didn't take the group long to find Michelangelo's dropped T-phone in the area outside the noodle bar. While Leonardo and Donatello were engrossed with traditional investigation work, Raphael headed over and opened the door to lean into the restaurant.

"Hey, Murakami." he started bluntly, "Was Mikey here?"

The blind chef appeared to be in the process of cleaning up, but quickly turned to Raphael as he spoke. "Turtle-san!" he greeted, a degree of urgency in his voice.

"I am glad you are here. April-chan and Turtle-san were attacked outside. They were carried away!"

"By who?!"

"I don't know… I did not see their faces." Murakami replied, dryly.

Without a word of thanks, Raphael turned out of the shop and hurried back over to the others.

"Raph," started Leo, looking up, "We found evidence of a fight, and-"

"April and Mikey were attacked and carried off." Raphael concluded, impatiently.

Leonardo looked surprised. "How do you know?"

"Murakami saw it. Heard it. You know what I mean!"

"I think it was Stockman and his robots." Donatello deduced. "Look, this takeout bag is covered in insectoid digestive juices. And there are small robotic pieces strewn about that seem to have been broken off and left behind."

"So let's head to his lab and get Mikey back!" Raph snapped. The thought that his little brother might be in danger got right under his shell.

Leo made a calming motion with his hands that only caused the opposite effect. "All right, Raph. Let's just see what else we can find first. There might be an important clue we're missing."

"Forget it. I'm going!" Raphael retorted, turning and setting off.

He was pleased to note that Donatello seemed to agree and promptly jumped up to follow. Outnumbered, Leonardo had no choice but to go along with it and hurry along behind his brothers.

Vaulting up to the rooftops, they began to swiftly cross the midnight skyline towards their destination with leaps and bounds. They were only a couple of blocks away from the Shredder's lair when Donnie suddenly stopped.

"April… We've got to go back."

The other two skidded to a halt and turned to him.

"What?" said Leo, confused.

"I know where April is!"

"April? Did you get a message from her?"

Donnie shook his head. "No, I just… It's weird. I have this feeling…"

"Haven't your feelings for April caused enough trouble?" Raph snarked.

His brother scowled. "Not that kind of feeling!"

"It's just… I don't know! I can't describe it. It's just a feeling that she's not in there!"

Raphael shared a glance with Leonardo, as both of them reached the same thought simultaneously.

"Don, do you think you could be telepathically connected to April?" Leo suggested.

Donnie initially looked confused. "I'm not telepathic. Why would I-" he started, before comprehension finally dawned. "Our DNA. We share DNA. I could have inherited her abilities."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Brilliant, Sherlock."

A withering glance was shot in his direction, before Donnie started pacing agitatedly. "But I don't know how it works! Do I just think about her? I want to find her, but… I don't know! For a moment it was so strong, but I don't feel anything now!"

"You just need to focus." advised Leo.

"I am focusing!" his brother frenetically snapped back, pressing his hands to his head and gibbering almost incoherently. "I always thought telepathy would be clearer, like a half-duplex channel or with time division multiplexing to separate the thought patterns between the individuals and regulate the- She's this way!"

Abruptly he set off, initially turning back the way they'd come from before branching off in an entirely different direction.

They were lead to a building a few blocks away, which from the outside appeared to be a veterinary hospital. However it looked to be out of business, as most of the signage was removed and damage to the external of the property had not been repaired.

"A veterinary clinic?" said Leo, in surprise. "Are you sure this is the place, Donnie?"

"Positive."

Raphael's lip curled into a snarl as several troubling thoughts went through his mind. "If they've done anything weird to Mikey, I'm swear I'm gonna-"

"Yeah, we know." Leo agreed. "We'll join you."

Walking over to a damaged frame, it took little effort for Raph to break the lock and lever the window open. Without waiting, he vaulted onto the ledge and slipped into the building. There, he hesitated a few moments to allow his eyes to adjust to the dimly lit room, giving his brothers a chance to join him.

They were in what must have once been one of the consultation rooms. An examination platform for the animal patients extended into the centre, with several cupboards running alongside it. A large set of scales stood propped nearby, while the walls were covered in peeling, yellowing posters that promoted various good practices in the care of animal companions.

Along a shelf were a series of books about various different species, their ailments and upkeep. Donnie seemed particularly interested by a book advocating chelonian care and plucked it down to leaf through some of the pages.

"This ain't a library!" Raph snapped, keeping his voice low.

"Shh!" hissed Leo, from where he was stood at the doorway and seemingly trying to ascertain what lay beyond it. After a few moments he seemed satisfied that the area beyond was empty and beckoned for the others to silently follow.

Stealthily, the three of them slipped into what had formerly been the waiting room. Largely gutted, the area was mostly a collection now of dust and misplaced objects that had been abandoned when the clinic was closed. Yet recent footprints through the filth betrayed the fact that the building was no longer uninhabited.

Donatello pointed towards the door leading deeper into the complex, still displaying the 'No access' logo for the benefit of the former customers. Ignoring the sign, Leonardo continued to lead as they moved through into the next section.

A corridor stretched beyond, from the end of which there was the sound of conversing voices. One of them was undoubtedly that of Stockman, while the other sounded like the gravelly tones of Rahzar. Raph watched impatiently, itching to dive into battle, as Leo motioned them to halt and crouched down low while he strained to listen to what was being said.

It was Donnie that promptly disregarded the order, instead quickly moving to one of the doorways leading off from the corridor. Beckoning the others to follow, he opened the door and slipped inside.

Since his genius brother seemed to know where he was going, but mostly because it seemed significantly more interesting and productive than lurking in the corridor, Raph followed.

He wasn't particularly surprised to see April imprisoned inside a large animal cage on the far side of the room. It looked like she had been in the middle of attempting to free herself, having managed to break a small piece of metal off the rim of the crudely constructed cage to try and use on the padlock.

"April!" Donnie called in relief, keeping his voice quiet. Clearly still feeling a bit awkward, he avoided meeting her eyes as he quickly took over trying to pick the lock.

"Guys!" April called back, initially surprised. "You're talking again?"

Leo slipped into the room and nodded, looking a bit embarrassed. "Yeah… We got our shells kicked by Splinter."

"About time." their friend chided. "Do you have any idea how upset Mikey's been?"

Raph scowled. "Yeah, fifty water balloons worth of upset. When we find him, he's going to regret it!"

"They brought us both here." April confirmed. "But Mikey was hurt… They took him to another room."

"We need to find him." Raphael insisted, pushing Donatello impatiently out of the way and using his sai to snap the lock off the cage. "Now!"

April scrambled out of her prison and dusted herself off, before grabbing Mikey and her weapons from where they'd been left on the far side of the room.

Leonardo nodded. "Let's go."

In full ninja mode, they crept back into the corridor and progressed along it. The voices from before had gone, as had the enemies they came from, but what that implied was open to interpretation. One of them checked inside each door they passed, but with no success in locating the missing brother or the absent enemies.

Eventually, they reached a double doorway that pushed open to an area with an elevator and a staircase leading both up and down. There was a brief hesitation, before Leonardo decisively split the party.

"Donnie, you and April check upstairs. Raph, you're with me."

The group divided and Raphael followed with uncharacteristic obedience behind the leader. However it was less because he was feeling charitable towards his oldest brother and more that he was impatient to locate his youngest.

Since realising that Mikey was in some form of trouble, Raph had been anxious to find him. Since hearing that Mikey had been injured, Raph had been determined to ensure that someone was made to pay. Copiously.

As he and Leo reached the bottom of the staircase, it seemed like his wish was to be granted.

The room opened up into a cramped parking garage beneath the building. Although there were currently no vehicles; just piles of boxes filling most of the designated spaces.

Stood at the far side were three of Stockman's Turtle-bots. They showed signs of damage, the Raph-bot missing an entire arm and the other two covered in scratches. Yet they were clearly still operable, whirring into life as their sensors spotted the two turtles entering the area.

The fourth Turtle-bot lay in a broken heap nearby, having seemingly been impaled with its own naginata and yet to be repaired to a functional state.

It wasn't a huge stretch for Raphael to picture the damage to the Turtle-bots having been done by Michelangelo with his signature weapon. Which meant that these had been involved in harming and capturing his little brother.

Raphael grinned darkly, drawing his sais and spinning them eagerly in his hands. "This is more like it. It's payback time!"

He took perverse satisfaction in taking the Leo-bot straight out with a sai flung directly into the middle of its forehead.

"Yeah, I bet you android that." Leonardo quipped, drawing his blades as he headed over to take on the Raph-bot.

Raphael smirked. "I figured you could handle the mostly 'armless one."

As he walked over to retrieve his weapon, Raph found himself entangled by chains as the Mikey-bot sought to restrain him. However it didn't last long, as Leo reached out to neatly cut him free.

"Want to ex-chain-ge?" he offered.

Raphael kicked the Mikey-bot to the ground. "Nah, I'm not being left out of the loop."

He was pleased to see his robot counterpart land a successful hit on Leonardo, but then equally pleased to see his brother launch a damaging counter attack.

"Testing your metal?" Raph joked, finally retrieving his sai and rounding on the Mikey-bot as it whirred back to standing.

"That one was terrible." Leo pointed out, as he spin-kicked the robot. "It drives me crazy."

"Drives." Leonardo repeated, from Raph's blank expression. "Drives? We're in a parking garage."

"There are no vehicles." Raphael pointed out, stomping therapeutically on the Mikey-bot's chest. "Doesn't count."

"Tch." Leo grumbled good-naturedly, as he sliced off the Raph-bot's other arm. "Why do you get to vet everything?"

"You're losing it, Leo." Raph retorted, finishing off his foe by ripping the head from the body. "You should re-tyre."

"Hey! Gimme a brake, you said no car puns." Leonardo protested as he finally put the Raph-bot out of commission. "You auto be ashamed of yourself. You can't just shift the rules, that wheelie annoys me! Makes me want to throttle-"

Raphael quickly raised his hands in defeat, trying not to laugh. "Whoa! Stop already! You win. Dork."

Leo grinned, earning him an amicable punch to the shoulder.

"Well," announced Raph as he looked around. "not much else down here."

Leonardo nodded in agreement. "Let's find the others and regroup."