The Thing
~
"Leo?!" Mikey called out through the network of tunnels as he and Donnie searched for their lost brother. They had only been walking for a few minutes, but had made a good distance from the lair and were beginning to feel worried. What if this creature had got hold of Leo? What if it had taken him somewhere?
Donnie, who was behind his brother, looked around, always alert. It was beginning to settle in what he had done back in the lair. Raph was going to go berserk at him when he got back. But Donnie had noticed that Raph was weaker than usual and that it might be a while until he could have the strength to beat up Donnie. Don was feeling desperate and cautious out here, away from the safety of the lair. What worried him was that he could sense no danger of the beast out here and that was strange, as it had only attacked April a half hour ago.
"Leo?!" Mikey's shout shook Donnie from his thoughts and he snapped back into reality.
Then came the sounds a fast footsteps, and they both tensed, in defense stands, eyes locked on the end of the tunnel. Donnie relaxed slightly. Those footsteps didn't sound nearly as heavy enough to be something huge. Relief washed over them as Leo ran around the corner.
"Guys," he said, looking at them both. "What are you doing out here?"
They both began to talk at once, but stopped to let the other have his say.
"This beast," Donnie explained, "attacked April. It's back, Leo. We left April with Raph and Splinter to come and find you; we were worried."
Leo looked behind him and then back at them again. "No wonder it sounded so quiet round here. If that thing was back near the lair then I wouldn't have heard it. Are you sure April was alright?"
"Well, she got slashed pretty bad, but I cleaned her up and she's fine. She's with Splinter, well, Splinter's in his room but she's not exactly the only one there so... She'll be fine."
"What about Raph? She'll be fine with Raph." They had started walking back now.
"Well," Mikey said, glancing at Donnie. "He's kinda locked in Donnie's lab."
Leo turned and frowned at him. "Why?"
Donnie allowed himself a small, grim smile. "He wanted to go and find you but I told him to stay put - he's like, way too weak, he collapsed, he would have gotten himself injured instead of helping you; so I locked him in my lab."
Leo stared at Donnie with his eye ridges raised. Raph and Donnie never fought but they did disagree sometimes.
After a few minutes of walking back home, Leo looked about him and his brothers seemed to be thinking the same thing as he was.
"Seems too quiet." Leo said slowly, glancing about the tunnel they were walking through.
"I thing we should get back quickly dudes, I got a bad feeling." Mikey looked sidelong at his brothers. They all nodded once and set off at a run.
//\\
April bit her lip to stop from screaming. She breathed deeply but quietly as she hid behind the dressing screen she had given to the turtles. She was glad she had given it to them now, as she listened to the rough sounds of the creature moving over the floor, sniffing her out. It was the same one that had attacked her, but she still didn't know what it looked like and she really hoped she wouldn't find out. Why did it want her?
The sounds of Raph's banging continued as they had when he had sensed the beast. He knew the danger she was in and was shouting for her to unlock the door. She dared not answer him. She knew the thing would aim straight for her voice and she couldn't speak anyway, she was scared stiff. She wished Raph's banging was louder so that the thing would go. The turtles had told her that this thing might not have liked loud noises which was why it fled the first night. But Raph's banging was having no effect on it as the door on the lab was thick and the sounds were muffled. His shouting was muted as well, but still recognizable.
"April! Lemme outta here! April! April! Damn you! You touch her and you're dead! April!"
April closed her eyes, face screwed up in horror. She drew in another deep, shaky breath as she listened to the sounds of its powerful tail sweep along the floor slowly. She somehow knew this think knew where she was hiding. She was scared to death.
Then the sounds became closer ... and closer still. It had stopped tormenting its prey and was heading straight towards her. She was too frightened to call out, even when its nose appeared at the end of the dressing screen. Its nostrils flared as it took in her stronger scent. It slowly moved forward, so its eye was visible.
April choked out a small, high shriek, backing up on her butt to the wall, mouth open in shock. She never took her eyes off it. She didn't even hear Raph's shouts anymore as her body froze with shock. came within vision. The fact that it had glowing, orange eyes seems to turn her insides to ice, and her heart seemed to pound so fast she was surprised it wasn't making the loudest noise.
In the second it took the time to freeze, and terrify her, April noticed it was very much like some horrific dinosaur head, slightly flatter. Its skin was dark, but the glow from its eye was the only thing that was a lighter color, though it did NOT look any less frightening.
Its orange eye narrowed as it met hers. There was no pupil, but April was so close she could almost see the faint patterns in the center of the eye dilate and then contract. It stepped one massive clawed hand forward into view and turned its head so it was staring at her straight.
April's heart pounded even harder when she saw the death traps that were its hands. She stared at the dark colored claws on each finger. They must have been as long as her hand, and thicker; she dared not look at the sharpness. The hands looked strong and inhuman, but they could still so many things the human hand could. April hoped it hadn't yet realized how.
Its other clawed-hand thudded down as it moved slowly towards her. It was only about two meters away, but as it moved closer again, the two meters were down to just over one. Its hind legs appeared from behind he screen, and April was sure this was some very weird, four legged dinosaur. Its hind legs were Tyrannosaurus Rex-like, and just as muscular. On the end of those were similar feet, though less hand like. Its heel was long and alien like before bending into toes. Behind its muscular hindquarters was the beginning of a powerful tail.
April would have found this creature something worth reporting about, but her mind was frozen in shock and horror.
The distance of just over one meter had disappeared April suddenly realized with a jolt of her heart. It was inches from her face, and she half gasped half sobbed and screwed her face up, turning it away. The thing opened its mouth and growled deep from its throat. April opened her eyes only to widen them when she saw the two large fangs inches from her. They were at least as long as her hand and lower arm, ending in points that were as sharp as razors. The rest of the teeth were probably as long as he fingers. She looked past the teeth to the end of the mouth, which was pulled up. A violent shudder rocked her body as she realized it seemed to be sneering. April's chest heaved as her breaths came out rapidly as it hissed deep in its throat and reared up, onto its hind legs. April shrieked and pressed herself, if possible, even more against the wall.
Leo, Donnie and Mikey leapt into the lair to see the huge shadow raise itself on its back legs. Their mouths dropped open. They were momentarily shocked by this beast's size to do anything. But the creature froze, alerted to their presence. It roared angrily, dropped back to its four feet and stormed at them. The shadows seemed to move with it as none of them saw exactly what it was as it bounded on its huge feet at them. They unfroze and dived out the way. With no sound except its pounding feet and rushing air, it disappeared back into the dark sewers.
Leo, Donnie and Mikey stared from their fallen positions on the floor, too shocked to move. But they forced their frozen limbs to work, and jumped back to their feet.
"APRIL!?" Mikey screamed, spinning on the spot, looking among the mess for their human friend.
Leo ran to look behind the couch, and when he looked back up he spotted April, who was still pressed against the wall behind the dressing screen, slowly opening her eyes and turning her head.
"April -" Leo ran to her. Donnie and Mikey ran after him. Leo dropped to his knees and grabbed her shoulders gently.
"Leo," she whispered. He helped her to her shaky feet. Mikey stepped forward and she fell into his arms and hugged him tightly, shaking so badly Mikey was nearly shaking. "The thing - it was in here all along - It was going to kill me! Oh thank God you came!" She was numb with relief and shock. Mikey felt terrible for her. She was so frightened he had never seen her like this.
Leo put one hand on her shoulder and rubbed her back gently with the other. She felt like she was frozen she was shivering so badly.
Donnie was padlocking the door now. It was strong wood so it could hold for a long while if anything was to ram it. The thought of the thing charging at him was terrifying him. He could understand why April was in pieces. Then he remembered Raph. Knowing he was going to have hell from his brother about this, he refused to let him out when Leo asked. But then he remember that it must have been hard for his brother to have been locked safely in his lab while on the other side of the door April was almost killed.
Donnie sighed, guiltily, and got the keys from the floor, where they had been dropped. He moved slowly to the banging door and unlocked it. Almost at once it was flung open and Raph stormed out. He looked at the mess of the lair, and then the noise of a deep breath caught his attention and he rushed up to April, placing both his hands on her shoulders.
"April – April are you alright?" He asked in a breath. She remained clinging to Mikey, and took in another shaky breath and nodded her head, rubbing her cheek in Mikey's neck.
Raph turned and stormed up to Donnie, pushing his brother forcefully with a face of anger he didn't usually hold for Don. Donnie stumbled back.
"This is YOUR fault – she could have been killed!" Raph yelled at him. "If you hadn't locked me in your stupid lab I probably could have gotten rid of this thing before it attacked anyone else!"
Leo moved quickly in-between them as Raph got into a fighting stance. He glared at Raph.
"No one could have predicted that the thing would come back for her," he growled as Raph dropped his prepared fists. "Donnie was acting for YOUR health, and if you weren't such a stubborn hothead he wouldn't have had to lock you up!
Donnie, who rarely caused arguments, stood back with hurt feelings and a guilty heart. Raph blamed it on him. April was nearly killed and he was blamed for. What hurt Donnie the most was that HE thought Raph was right. It was his fault.
Leo and Raph were both glaring daggers at each other, but Leo had hit bottom there.
"Guys – Splinter," Mikey suddenly said, still holding April.
Leo looked at Mikey, and then realized their Sensei was not there. He glanced at Raph before he and Donnie rushed off into Splinter's room.
April watched them run into the room, and then she laid her head back against Mikey. Raph turned and looked at her, his shoulders dropped as Mikey looked at him.
After a few minutes of checking the lair to see if there were any gaps left unblocked, Donnie went into his lab, quietly, to prepare the survived stuff April had brought over before she was attacked for the second time. He felt awful for what he had done and had not spoken to anyone. He was still shocked as they found Splinter in his room, unconscious but fine. It was like the creature put him out of action for a reason so that it could get to April. They had reawaken Splinter only a few minutes ago and told him what happened. Donnie wasn't the only one though, who had remained quiet; Raph had not said anything else to anyone either.
Back in the main area, Leo was pacing slowly in front of his Master who was sat in his armchair with a cup of strong tea; April and Raph who were sat together on the couch and Mikey was knelt down beside Splinter, ready to get his Master anything else he requested. Mikey was always there to get something for his family.
"This thing was huge, Master." Leo said, head down, looking at the floor. "It ran at us with amazing speed, as well. It looked like a . . . a lizard and part dinosaur, but its head seemed flatter than a dinosaur, almost snake like, kinda square." He looked at April, who was watching him, keeping an eye on the conversation. Leo continued, "It must have wanted to get rid of April for a reason." He stopped pacing and knelt down in front of April, who lifted her head off Raph's shoulder. "What - I mean, how did it attack you when you were coming down here?"
April, still slightly shaken but now much better, looked at him then at the floor, thinking. "Well it kind of stepped in front of me and paused for a second, and then leapt on me, catching my face. It seemed to attack the bandages and medicine I had in my hand first. Then when it had done, it turned back to me but I had scrambled up and was running. It pounced on me and that's when you shouted and it ran off..." She stopped with a shudder. She looked at Leo. "Why?"
Leo sighed and did not answer straight away. "I think it wanted to get you out the way, so you couldn't deliver the medical supplies. I think it knew you was there to help and it didn't want that. It knew those were for Raph. I don't think it wanted Raph to get well. It needed him injured so it could continue waiting for Raph to fall seriously ill and then it would strike."
They all looked at him. Leo thought for a minute. "It's smarter than we thought. But it needs us to survive." He paused for a few slow breaths. "It didn't need April but knew it had to get rid of her. That's why it attacked the medical stuff first, to make sure Raph didn't receive it."
Mikey opened his mouth. It had scared the life out of him when he saw it, but then he could actually see what he was up against. He, like his brothers, didn't like all the hiding. It made him uneasy and scared. He wasn't afraid to admit it to himself, but he was scared. Scared mostly for Raph.
In Donnie's lab, the turtle in purple stared at the computer screen and gasped silently at what he was reading from the database he was sharing. He had found their monster. He knew he had to tell the others, so he switched on the printer and printed out the page. He looked at the flashing ink levels and knew later on he would have to ask April to buy him some more ink. He still had to pay her for the medical supplies, which he still hadn't treated Raph with.
The page printed and he walked out into the main area. They all looked up at him and he wasn't please to note when Raph glanced at him he immediately turned away with a set jaw.
Donnie moved next to Leo, in front of them all. "I found what our creature thing is." He announced. Now he had their full attention. He fidgeted with the papers in his hands as he spoke next. "I found that this is no ordinary mutant snake, but a mythical creature called Kytheso Syluthon." They all stared at him. Donnie continued. "When it wounds it's victims, it leaves in the scars a liquid which we found in Raph. This liquid is quite remarkable, you see, once the liquid is introduced into the wound, it grasps the physical and mental energy of the victim, allowing the creature to then suck out the power and strength from that victim through this liquid, whether it's near or not." They all looked at Raph, then back at Donnie. "It can sense the kind of power it needs, which was why, the first night, it didn't attack any of us because it was checking us out. But, it obviously found all what it needed in Leo and decided to take him our right then."
A long silence followed that. Leo started pacing again and Donnie watched him. But then he continued again.
"I think it sensed something in all of us . . . except Mikey." Mikey looked up, frowning. Donnie said, "The reason for this, I think, well, according to the information on the database, is because this creature is pure evil. It has no conscience, no animal feelings; just evil instinct of the animals it's created from. It couldn't sense, and therefore didn't need Mikey, because Mikey has such a nature that this pure evil cannot see or smell. I realized Mikey holds no anger, or absolutely no negative feelings whatsoever; his whole personality is positive. These qualities emit no powerful vibes to this creature."
Splinter listened to his son in silence. He was amazed and extremely proud of Donnie, his intelligent son. Even when he was suffering because of what he had done to Raph, Donnie still was able to concentrate on finding this thing out. Splinter found himself glad that he had let Donnie keep the computer; he thought it would have diverted Donnie's attention from his practice katas, but now it proved to be something different than a distraction, it was a source for news and information, and Splinter actually liked the idea of them having an electrical newspaper.
The room had once again gone quiet and Leo was still pacing, hands behind his shell. Donnie was stood staring at the papers in his hand. He walked over to Raph and April, his brother looked tiredly, but angrily up at him.
Donnie held the papers out in front of Raph. "Is this what you saw? This is the beast, right?" Donnie waited for his brother to stop glaring at him and to look at the papers. Raph's eye ridges rose as he saw the same creature on paper as he had in real.
"Yeah," he said quietly, staring at it. "That's it."
Donnie pulled the papers back and handed them to Mikey who had got up to come and have a look. He hadn't seen the beast properly before and wanted to get a look at the thing that could not sense him. He felt proud at this. Though he forgot his pride when he saw what was on the paper.
It was a drawing done by an artist, but it was very well drawn: The beast on the paper was hideous alright; and tall - massive. Mikey raised his eye ridges in shock as he thought about when April had been in its path. And when Raph was up close to it in bed. It was perhaps six feet tall on all fours, but its four legs were bent, so estimating its height when its limbs were extended to their fullest, it must have been eight feet, all this judging by the small, figure of a printed man in the corner. Mikey didn't even want to guess how tall it would be if it stood tall upright on its hind legs as it had done when it was about to kill April. It looked like a dinosaur, but yet, it also looked like a really big lizard by the way it held itself on four crouched legs. Its head reminded Mikey of the T-Rex he saw in the Jurassic Park movie, but it looked flatter, and squarer, similar shape to a snake. Mikey shuddered and looked at it harder as he now saw what Raph was on about when he said this creature was grinning. It actually was grinning. It wasn't that it had pulled its lips up and smiled; it was the shape of it's mouth that created the grin. Mikey shivered as he looked at the large, sharp teeth capable of tearing into any flesh. Mikey handed the paper to Leo, and went back to sit with Splinter, watching Leo's reaction to this monster. His brother looked at Raph and April, thinking the same thing Mikey had been thinking: How much horror had April gone through when this thing was attacking her? And how had Raph felt when he sat up in bed and this thing was staring at him? Leo shuddered.
"I think," Donnie said, taking the papers back from Leo. "That April should stay here. It is no way near safe enough for her to go back, even with one of us. And we all need to watch over Master Splinter and Raph so it would be wise not to." Donnie waited for and angry outburst from his brother in red, but when he didn't get one, he and the rest of them turned to see April and Raph sound asleep, resting on each other.
Mikey grinned and tilted his head.
"I think April should have Raph's bed so she's at a height. We'll be locking our doors anyway and she'll feel safer with Mikey to protect her. Raph can sleep in my lab." Donnie said. He winced slightly as he realized he had given out more of an order than a suggestion.
Mikey stood up and took April from Raph, in his arms, and carried her to his room where he laid her on Raph's bed. Donnie had replaced the bloodied sheets with clean ones so they were clean.
Back in the lair, Donnie watched as Leo picked up his brother and carried him to Donnie's lab. They laid him on the table like before. Donnie was glad Raph was asleep as he could now give Raph the treatment April had brought over. But not yet. He still had to install a lock on Master Splinter's door and sweep the lair walls again for any holes in case he missed them before. Mikey and Leo had gone to bed as it was now really late, and Donnie realized just how tired he was. He could hardly keep his eyes open all of a sudden. Surely Raph can wait until tomorrow? Anyway, the prick of the needle will wake him and I really don't feel like facing him right now. Donnie went off to his room and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
In Mikey's room, April turned over in her sleep. The nightmare she was having was a resent horror she had just faced that was now haunting her. She moaned softly and turned again.
Below her, Mikey stared straight at the underside of the top bunk, listening to April. He couldn't sleep. Not after what had happened today. Even though it hadn't happened to him, he felt vulnerable. This beast was twice the height he was and it had the run of the sewers. And had him and his brother's in worry. Mikey sighed and knew he had to sleep. If something like that happens tomorrow he wanted to be prepared and awake.
Mikey closed his eyes, but the image of the monster as it attacked April set into his mind; but he forced it away and willed himself to sleep. A few minutes later he was in a slumber, and the whole of the lair was asleep now, open to any creature. Of course, it had to get through the lock and bolted door to reach them . . .