Undiscovered Power
~
"Don? Hey, Donny, wake up."
"Uh?" Donny's mumbled, sitting up in bed and opening his eyes half way. Leo was bent down next to his bunk with his trench coat on, and Don could just see Mikey leaning on the outside wall of the car, next to the door, but with no coat on.
"You slept in late," Leo said with a sympathetic smile. He knew his brother must have been very tired after having no sleep the other night. "We're goin' up top, remember? You're taking that artifact with us."
"Yeah, yeah," Donny nodded, closing his eyes as he climbed out of bed, his head spinning. It soon cleared and he looked properly at Leo. "What time is it?"
"Nearly noon," Mikey replied, his head peeking past the edge of the open door.
"We wanted to leave you to get some extra Zs," Leo told Don.
"Well," Donny said, stretching his arms. "I'm up now, so let's get going then." He thought about brunch, but then he waved the thought away. He wasn't too hungry, surprisingly.
Leo nodded and he walked out of Don's room, as Don followed, and handed Donny his belt and Bo Staff from the couch. He had obviously moved them so Don could grab them quicker, since his brother had left his in his lab.
Donny found himself thinking he didn't have to worry about missing breakfast, as Mikey had jogged into the kitchen as Leo walked to the couch, and came back to Don with a plate of toast. Donny felt grateful Mikey thought about this at least, and he took one slice of toast from the stack. He wasn't much hungry, but Splinter had taught them that after waking, it was always good to eat as it keeps up the strength. Speaking – or thinking – of Splinter . . .
"Is Master Splin'ner still Me'itatin'?" He asked with a mouthful of bread.
"Yeah," Leo said quietly. "I told him what we we're gonna do with that artifact . . . he didn't have any opinions about our actions."
Donny nodded, and swallowed the last of his toast. Mikey offered him some more, but Don shook his head, and this seemed to be the queue for Leo to order them to go. Mikey ran to get his coat, while Don fastened his belt around his waist, slotting his Bo in the pocket on his shell. He jogged up the steps where Mike handed him his coat and hat, and they both geared themselves up. Leo came from Don's lab and tossed him the artifact, put his hat on, and Mikey and Donny followed him out of the lair up the ladder.
Splinter watched them exit, and with a silent sigh, he turned back into his room, where he picked up a match and struck it. He lit the seven candles, extinguished the match, and sat back down on his tidy bed, cross-legged. He believed anything could be achieved through mediation if only one was to try hard enough. Splinter felt the mediation he had been seeking through was too light, it wasn't strong enough, he didn't use his full strength, and therefore thought this was the reason he was not reaching his missing son. Yet applying too much strength to meditation made him weak, but this he was not bothered about. What he was bothered about was searching for his son's recognizable energy, if, of course, he had any.
//
The three brothers reached the surface, careful, as always, in case anyone saw them emerging from a manhole, which could lead to questions. They left the alleyway they had come to call their 'back yard', and out into the streets.
It was a gloomy day; the whether finally seemed to have caught up wit the turtles' moods. The gray sky was cloudy, and the temperature was cool, but was made cooler when a stinging cold wind blew at their faces underneath their hats. There were spots of rain here and there, but it did not rain fully, which was one thing they were thankful for.
They followed Leo for more than a half hour around streets and small parks. He told them he had not searched this area yet, and they thought that was because none of them ever came this far, or in this direction from home. They really did not believe any clues, or Raph himself, to be around here, yet they searched on.
After ten minutes, in which he had split up from his brothers, Donny took off his mittens and reached into his pocket for the artifact. He pulled it out and, after casting a glance around him, held it in front of him, staring at it unblinkingly for it to do anything, if was going to. The crystal in the center only reflected the sky purple, and a single raindrop fell onto it, slashing and creating a tiny, vein-like stream as gravity pulled it down the crystal's side. Donny shook his head after realizing he was transfixed to the little raindrop, and started to walk again.
After two hours, of which time they had agreed to rendezvous at Vinny's Pizza shop, Donny and Mikey met before they got to the shop in a small alleyway. Like Don, and as they had grimly predicted, Mikey had found nothing, nor heard nothing, and they received the same news a few minutes later from Leo, who walked in the pizzeria with a bleak expression. It had now started to rain lightly, but the water droplets were bigger than usual. Leo's hat and coat were flecked with small dark spots where the raindrops had soaked in.
They ordered a pizza for dinner, and even though they were hungry, they ate slowly, knowing they would have to return outside in the rain again. It seemed to make them all angry that they didn't want to search for a brother, and it could be noticed by the way they gave each other gruff, or short answers. Eventually, they got up from their seats, paid for the pie, left the shop, and in the downpour they loudly told each other they would meet back up again in a further two hours, after which, Leo wanted to go back and search the familiar ground again. This was an all-day search, and they felt sure they wouldn't return home until later that day. With informal byes, they each went in opposite directions, and disappeared around a corner, or through the sheet of rain.
()()()()
Where had the day disappeared? Prida was amazed at how fast the day had gone. What had she done all day? She had tended to her friend most of the time, changing the cold compress on his forehead, which kept warming up so fast because of his burning skin. He had not woken up yet today, but again he had been tossing his head and moaning as though having a nightmare. Prida found her heart beating because she was panicking and worried sick. What should she do? What could she do? What hadn't she done? His fever was so bad, she was afraid he might just burst into flames. She wasn't even sure if human fevers got this high. She had managed to find a thermometer in the first aid cabinet, one that is placed on the forehead. It was like a strip with the temperature number line on it. She didn't know what temperature turtles should normally be, but it was way over what humans should be. Apart from running around, no doubt creating a huge water bill, she had had to shove Tooks out her house after he got dangerously close to the basement; then she had had to pick up the phone, on the end was her sister, who wanted to talk for ages, and when asked about the money for the call, her sister said she didn't care, she wanted to talk to her 'lil sibling'. Prida had forced her voice to sound relaxed and happy, but it was very difficult when it was the exact opposite. Prida had even taken the phone off the wall and gone as far as she could near to the basement so she could hear if Raph was okay. She thought about telling Mai to hang on a second while she went upstairs and grabbed the cordless phone and take it into the basement with her, but she couldn't risk having Mai hear Raph if he woke. It was very frustrating. After twenty minutes of talking, in which Prida regrettably heard hardly anything of Mai's review of her holiday, they both said their byes and hung up, and Prida had run down to the basement to find her friend still groaning softly, and his washcloth almost as warm as he was. And, apart from looking after Raph, beating Tooks away, answering her sister's phone call and doing the now daily routine of phoning April's apartment, Prida skimmed through all of the medic books upstairs, finding absolutely nothing that could help her. She had retreated back into the basement, thinking about the hospital drama shows on TV and what they did with sick people. Most of it was cutting into people, nothing that would help Prida, but she did know that the reason Raph's temperature was so high was because his body was raising it to fight the virus, as most cannot thrive in high temperature; so she thought of feeding him soup. But what if this kind of virus CAN thrive in high temperatures? That might explain why Raph's just kept rising. No, his temperature was rising because the virus was growing. This thought did not make her feel any better, and a few times she glanced at the numbers on the back of her hand, wondering should she try again, maybe one of the ones she couldn't read proper was wrong, and she should dial in the number that looked like it. For some reason she didn't.
"Oh Raph," She groaned, falling backwards onto the bed at Raph's feet. "Why can't you wake up and just tell me your phone number?"
He answered with an audible breath.
Viruses and fevers could become extremely serious, she knew that, and the worrying thing that kept pestering her thoughts was what the doctor had said. If the symptoms were that bad then he should be brought in to the hospital. Well, he had gotten a lot worse since then, and Prida could not help thinking that if this fever got any worse . . . it might kill him.
She swallowed and, for no one but herself, put on a determined face.
"I'm not gonna let you die," she whispered, leaning over on her stomach and placing her hand on his arm under the covers.
()()()()
The three brothers had now long been in the familiar area, searching hopelessly through the rain, which had eased up on them a little. It was now a small drizzle, but nonetheless, the guys were still drenched from the furious beating it had been doing not long ago. They had remained together this time, instead of splitting up, and every fifteen minutes Donny had taken the artifact from his pocket and held it up for it to do something. It never did, and Don was beginning to lose hope in that as well.
"Leo, it's almost nine," Mikey moaned quietly and tiredly. "We can't do any more tonight . . ."
Leo said nothing, he didn't even look at his brother, but he had heard him.
"Mikey's right," Donny said. "We can't lose our strength in a day when there are other days to keep looking. We oughtta go home."
Leo took in a deep sigh and while he let it out slowly, he nodded.
They turned around and walked out of the alleyway they were in, and realized where they were. April's apartment was only a few blocks away, but she was hardly ever in. She was either busy at work, searching though papers for anything that might lead to Raph, asking people if they had seen anything weird, or with Casey, either at his place or out looking. Leo did not want to give in until he found his brother.
All three brothers looked down the street they had come out onto, in the direction of April's apartment. They were about to turn and walk in the opposite, but Donny stopped them.
"Hey," he frowned, like something was wrong. He plunged a hand into his pocket and pulled out the artifact. The metal appeared to be glowing slightly, and so did the crystal, but it looked like there was purple oil in the crystal, and it was moving and glowing.
"Wow," Mikey said, surprised it had done anything. But before any of them could wonder aloud why it was glowing, or why there was suddenly oil in the crystal, Leo was suddenly knocked to the ground with a startled grunt, and before Mikey could move, something knocked his head so hard he hit the floor next to Leo, seeing bright lights instead of pavement.
Donny, who was grasping the crystal in both hands, was casting shifty glances at the attackers that had surrounded them. It was none other than the five crooks they had stolen the crystal from, and by the looks on their faces, they intended to do the same.
"Well, look what we have here," the woman spoke, with a smug grin on her face. She and another man were the only ones who did not have black faces masks. "I think you'll find that the artifact belongs to us."
Leo and Mikey climbed a little unsteadily to their feet, and took up defensive stances, shifting about so they didn't keep the same person in front too long. It was five against three. It would have been easy, and probably still was, but the guys were tired, hungry and cold.
"Don't think so," Donny said in a low voice, keeping the woman in sight, but glancing around at the circle they were caught inside.
It all seemed to happen as though someone pressed an 'action' button. Everyone suddenly jumped to life, and was now in close combat. Two of the men went down with two punches by Mikey and Leo, but the rest had gone after Donny with the artifact. He had downed one of them, but the woman was proving to be a pretty good street fighter, as was the man without the mask. Before Leo and Mike could even pull the man off Donny, the artifact had been kicked from his grip, and caught by one of the black-masked men Leo had knocked down. Donny delivered a kick to the exposed-faced man, who was sent stumbling away, and Don turned to see the woman and the man who had the artifact speeding away, and rounded the corner. Don turned the other way to see Leo running full speed after the man Donny had sent stumbling. But the man managed to cross the next street just before a car blared past, forcing Leo to stop. The car stopped to shout at Leo, and while it wasted time, the man had disappeared. Leo had the urge to grab the man in the car and bellow at him for losing the man he was chasing, and then punch him, but he resisted and turned away from the angry insults. The car drove away as Leo walked back to Mikey and Donny. They all felt angry and defeated.
"They'll have probably chosen a new place to stash the artifact," Leo said bitterly. "They won't stay in that mansion since they know we know where it is."
Neither Donny or Mikey said anything, but all three started walking back towards the manhole they always used. Mikey broke the silence.
"That artifact had never done that before, had it?" He asked his brother in purple.
Don shook his head. "No, I've never seen it do anything."
"It must have acted as a warning," Mikey said. "It started glowing just before those crooks attacked us."
Donny didn't say anything. Maybe that was the reason it started glowing, maybe not. Well, he wasn't going to find out what it might do afterwards now.
They walked the rest of the way home in silence, down the manhole, through the sewer tunnels, and down the ladder into their lair. After taking off their hats and coats, Mikey went into the kitchen where he made warm drinks, and Leo and Donny collapsed on the couch, glad that they had taken the weight off their aching feet. Mikey handed them mugs of steaming tea a minute later, and sat down in Raph's armchair with his own. They still said nothing, and the one to break the silence was Splinter's door as it opened, and the rat emerged from his room. All three brothers glanced at him, but they all jumped to their feet, quickly putting their mugs down as Splinter stumbled weakly out of his room.
"Splinter what is it?" Leo asked, supporting his Master.
"Nothing, Leonardo, nothing bad," he replied as Mikey and Leo led him to his chair, and then Mikey rushed back into the kitchen to make another drink. "I was meditating, only I realized I might be able locate your brother if I used the majority of my strength."
His sons seemed to sigh with relief that it was not anything serious, and Mikey walked back to them carrying Splinter's own mug, which he had decorated himself when he was little with the name 'Splinta'.
"Thank you Michelangelo," he gratefully took the mug and took a sip from it.
But his sons seemed to be waiting for other information Splinter would tell them.
"Did you find anything, Sensei?" Donny asked attentively.
The rat lowered the mug. "Yes, I did . . . your brother is alive, but I cannot tell if he is okay, nor can I locate him."
The three turtles, kneeling on the floor, sat back, letting their heads fall back with a truly relieved sign and an opened-mouthed smile. They turned to each other and hugged one another tightly.
"At least he's alive," Donny said, his smile was small, but true. Then it faded. "But if he still has a cold, it could have become much worse, it could have developed into something serious . . ."
Leo turned from Donny to Splinter. "Is he still in New York? Can you tell?"
"I believe he is still here," their Sensei answered, and all three brothers glanced at each other. They had combed the surrounding area; it must mean that he was at the very end of the city, but somehow they didn't believe that thought.
//
"Please wake up, please," Prida said desperately in a slightly high voice, her eyes were starting to itch from the tears that were about to well up. Her friend's temperature had risen yet more, and he just didn't seem to want to wake, but he kept tossing his head, and groaning, and it was scaring her. Not Raph himself, but the way he turned his head, the way he was sweating. Prida knew with a horrible jolt of her heart, that her friend was not going to last much longer. She dared not leave the house to April's, she felt so frustrated, and so sad that her friend couldn't get proper treatment. What if she phoned a doctor, and told him to come over, that she had a special friend, who needed solitary treatment? No, they would not understand, they would take him away from her . . . but he wasn't exactly with her now . . . Prida stopped turning and turning the wash cloth over on his forehead, soaking his bandanna, and stood up. Her heart didn't seem to know its normal pace, neither did her breathing as she headed for the stairs, walking backwards. She swallowed and raced up the basement steps to the phone in the hallway. "Okay, I'm gonna try again," she said to herself, "and if you, Mr. I-don't-know-who-you-are answer it again, I'm gonna . . ." but what she was going to do she didn't say aloud. She picked up the receiver, and looked at the hand with the phone number on it. She shakily started to push the numbers in, until she got to the one she could not make out. She squinted at it, and remembered what she had pushed before. With a shaky hand she pushed the number she thought it looked like, not the one she thought she KNEW it was, and pushed the rest. Then, with a shaky hand, she held the phone up to her ear, and listened to the mixed sounds of the dial tone, and her heart thudding.
//
Leo, Donny and Mikey looked up as a ring replaced the silence. For a second they just looked at each other, and then Leo got up and walked over to the phone. April doesn't usually phone, she just comes over, and Casey only phones when he wants Raph to meet him somewhere. Leo, a bit more slowly than usual, picked up the receiver cutting the ring off, and put it against his ear.
"Hello?" He said into it, slowly.
On the other end Prida froze. Now that was NOT the voice of a middle-aged male. That was the voice of a teen male, and by hell did her heart jump, and then it froze. It was Leo . . . it was Leo! She was so happy to hear that voice that she couldn't even smile. Her mouth had frozen, as had her entire body. Her brain was slowly sending messages for her to reply, but she didn't want to, she just wanted to him to keep talking so she could hear it again. She had missed that voice so much, it felt unreal to have heard it! Raph had given her the right number! She had misdialed it!
"Hello?" That voice that made her heart jump again said. She could almost see him frowning at the last of response, but she didn't care for a second. The next second she did though, because she didn't want him to put the phone down when she had an important message to say.
"H – hello . . ." she said carefully, wondering if he would recognize her voice straight away. Well, no he wouldn't, of course not; he thought she was dead. If he knew she were alive THEN he would have recognized it.
Leo frowned. That wasn't April's voice, but it was female. "Who is this?"
Prida didn't answer straight away, she was savoring his voice. She realized she would feel awkward saying "It's Prida", and she realized that Leo might not believe her. But what else could she say?
"It's . . . " she started.
Leo pressed the phone closer. Did he miss her name, or had she just not said it yet? Her voice sounded strangely familiar . . .
"It's . . . Prida." That wasn't too bad to say.
Leo did not move or say anything else. All of a sudden, as soon as the girl on the other end of the phone said that name, something inside his head shouted at him 'it's true! It's her! She's not dead dude!' This voice was like an imaginary Mikey. What happened to his own? It had disappeared somewhere when he needed its view on this. As soon as that name was said, the voice was labeled: that was Prida's voice . . . so what – the hell?
His expression must have been odd, as Don had walked up beside him, and on the floor next to Splinter, Mikey was watching.
"Leo who is it?" Donny asked, frowning at Leo's expression, who had lowered the phone a little way from his ear, with a face as though he had seen a pleasant, humorous ghost.
"It's Prida," Leo said as though it was someone who called often, in a slightly higher tone than usual.
Donny's frown froze from increasing. What had his brother just said? Donny slowly took the phone from his brother and held it to his own ear as Mikey frowned at Splinter behind him.
"Hello?" Donny asked with a curious tone. Who had fooled Leo into thinking it was Prida? Or was his brother just joking, and Donny missed the tone.
"Donny?" The voice on the other end answered. She had expected a long pause, possibly even the droning dial tone. But Leo had not hung up. Now she heard Donny's voice, and she wished he'd say something else.
Don frowned. "April?"
"No, no Donny listen, don't freak," Prida said desperately. "It's me, Prida . . . I swear, it's really me . . ."
"S' not possible," Donny said quietly after a moment's pause. "Prida's dead . . ."
"No, please Don, I didn't die –" Prida said quickly, in a soft voice. "Please believe me . . ." she was surprised to find a tear running down her cheek.
Donny, who was frozen on the other end, listened to that familiar voice. Leo seemed to have recovered as Mikey got up and started walking over, and grabbed the phone.
"This isn't funny if this is a prank," he said in a low serious tone, teeth gritted. "This is cruel . . . We saw Prida get killed . . ."
Tears were streaming down her face, but her voice held strong. "No, you thought you saw me die, but I didn't! I survived the burning car wreck . . . as you survived the truck explosion . . ."
Leo shook his head slightly, numbly. "Can't be . . . all this time . . . we thought you were . . . four months we thought you were dead . . ."
"And I thought you were dead," she said quickly. "See? Please, Leo, believe me, you have to . . ."
Leo didn't know what to say. What if he had fallen asleep on the couch a minute ago and this was just a dream. No, he had never had a conversation with Prida in a dream before. She had never spoke. But his mind was beginning to accept her truth; it just felt like an eternity for it to realize that was Prida on the other end of the phone.
"Leo? Leo please, I can tell you anything only I would know, like I know you're missing you brother –"
Leo snapped to attention.
" – I know you're worried about him, you don't know where he is because he's here, Leo, he's with me – but he's sick, Leo, I need you and your brothers here, you have to come . . . I think he's dying . . ."