Occultish Occurences

Chapter Two

When they finally reached their home, Mike and April crashed on the couch and flipped the television on, turning to the news channels. Donatello and Raphael, unable to find a spot to sit, stood behind them. Meanwhile, Leo took Lotus straight into the side room, which doubled as a sick room. He lay her down on the bed and covered her with a blanket, checking the small bump on her head.

"Leonardo..."

He looked up at his master, who stood in the doorway.

"What is she doing here?"

Leo cast his eyes down. "We rescued her from a werewolf, master. Out of the four girls attacked, only she and April are still alive."

Splinter practically glowered at the unconscious form on the bed. He had little liking for thieves, especially those who took pride in their dishonorable work. "There must be some reason why these four were targeted," he said.

Leonardo nodded. "I'll question her when she wakes up."

Splinter stood there for another few seconds, then turned and went away. Leonardo exhaled and leaned back in his chair. Having her this close was bad enough, but if Splinter ever found out how he truly felt about her...

"Thanks," came the muffled whisper.

"For what?" he asked.

"Not letting him know I'm awake."

Leo smiled and stood, shutting the door quietly. "I don't need that kind of trouble right now." Hell, I might be turning into a werewolf and Raph may be turning into a vampire, he thought. He sat down again. "So, do you know why you were attacked?"

Lotus sat up, her dark hair spilling over her face, and she pushed it back away. "I think I do," she said. "I stole something, and it's been nothing but a problem since." She reached into a concealed pocket and took out a purple shard of glass that seemed to be part of something larger.

"It looks like it belongs with something else," he said.

She nodded. "It's the tail and backbone of a statue of the trickster god Coyote. I thought I could get a pretty good price for it, but then the lights started to go out, and I've been chased by monsters and...it's been a rough night."

"Was it broken when you stole it?" Leo asked.

Lotus shook her head. "No, it was complete. I was already out of the museum when it started to glow and sing, and then it exploded."

"Wait a minute--it sang?"

"I know it sounds weird, but that is the only way I can describe it. It sounded like it was howling and singing."

"And when it exploded?"

"I was still holding it, that's why I had a piece. The other three shot off and I lost them. Then I heard sirens, so I started running."

Leonardo sighed and leaned back. "That probably means someone cast a spell to make it break, and you were just lucky enough to be holding it at the time. Is there anyone else after that statue?"

"I don't think so. It's not exactly priceless, it's just very old. But..." she looked down at the floor.

"But what?" Leo asked. "I won't get mad, I promise."

"There was supposed to be a lot of magickal energy locked up inside of it. That was part of why I wanted to steal it, that sort of energy would be worth a great deal to the right buyer. But then it just broke apart in my hands...and...Leonardo, do you believe in visions?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, cocking his head.

She glanced up at him, a worried light in her eyes. "You'll think I'm crazy."

Leo smiled and just barely held in his laugh. "No, I won't. Believe me, I've seen worse."

"Promise?"

He nodded.

"Well, when I took the statue out of its case, I felt something...odd. It was like there was cold water running through my body instead of blood, and for a moment I thought I was floating in a cold mist."

"Right when you touched it?"

"Mm-hmm. It stopped almost as soon as it started, but then when I was running, I felt it again, and right when it exploded...for a split-second, everything was on fire, but there was no light. The flames were black. I saw evil things slithering through the shadows, and then I sort of woke up. I only had this piece left, and when I looked around, the other pieces were gone."

"When did the wolf come after you?"

"Just a few minutes after that," she said. "The sirens were coming closer, so I probably couldn't hear it over the noise, but I saw it charging down the street at me. I tried to run, but it was faster and cornered me against a building. I remember it slamming my head with its paw, but I only remember seeing you after that."

"We were lucky. I got there just as it knocked you out."

"Was that your reward?" she asked, motioning at the gouges on his arm.

"Yeah," he sighed, "I didn't turn quick enough, and it bit me. Kind of ironic, since that was the only way I could get close enough to kill it."

"You know what they say about being bit by a werewolf," she said.

He looked down and nodded. "Still, I'm not the worst off. Raphael was bitten by a vampire."

"I'm sorry, if I'd known this would happen--" she said, but he waved her down.

"No, I don't think this was your fault. In fact, I don't think you had anything to do with it exploding. I think it would have burst in its case even if you hadn't been there."

She gazed at him in surprise. "How do you know that?"

"Look at the marks on the jade, child," came the voice from the door.

They both looked over in startled shock, staring at Splinter, whose whiskers twitched slightly.

"Master..." Leo started, but Splinter cut him off.

"At the center of the statue is a circular gouge in the glass, yes?"

Leonardo nodded.

"And the statue's explosion coincides with the loss of power we experienced?"

He nodded again.

Splinter glanced back into the living room for a moment, then sighed and looked at his son again. "I need to speak with you alone as soon as you have bandaged that arm."

"Yes, master," Leo said, looking away.

Splinter narrowed his eyes at Lotus, then left the room once more, closing the door behind him.

"If he doesn't want me here..." she tried to say, but he cut her off.

"Then he has to live with it," he said. "If you go anywhere else, you might not survive through the night. You're staying here." Meanwhile he opened up the nightstand and took out a roll of bandages, but before he could start, Lotus took them from his hands.

"Here, give me your arm," she said, holding out her hand.

He allowed her to take his injured hand and slowly wrap the gauze around it, covering up the tears and cuts. Her fingers expertly curled around him, so soft he could hardly feel them, and she didn't use any tape to finish off the job, just tucked it in tight.

"There, that won't fall off, even in a fight, I promise," she smiled.

"I probably won't even need it after tomorrow."

Lotus tilted her head. "Why?"

"That thing bit me only a few minutes ago."

She frowned and gave an uncertain shake of her head. "But...those wounds were deep...it should take weeks to heal fully."

"No. They're healing fast. Too fast," Leonardo sighed as he stood up, heading for the door. "You stay in here and get some rest. And don't get too close to Raph. If he's changing like I am, he probably can't control it."

She nodded and he disappeared, heading for Splinter's room.

Raph spotted his brother slipping into the master's room and he sighed. The one time he wanted to talk to his older sibling and he couldn't...His throat had completely healed. Too damn weird. Plus, he was starting to get hungry, but he wasn't sure what he was craving. He pulled his sais out and started cleaning them to take his mind off of what was happening.

Next to him, Mike had lost interest in what was on television, no small feat in itself, and was experimenting with his new ability. He was making little balls of swirling purple mist in his hands, then stretching them out into odd shapes. He sculpted a few basic shapes, creating twisted spirals and connected rings, but after a moment he stood up and went behind the couch. Concentrating hard, he lined the floor with purple smoke.

"Nice," April said. "But can you do any other colors?"

"I don't think so," he said. "How the heck did I pick this up? I was only next to him for a moment."

"It looked like a battle of wills to me," Donatello said, taking Mike's seat. "What were you doing in there, 'cause I know you weren't just hanging four."

Mike grinned at the little joke. "Dude, I was just up in the air trying not to choke. I got this warm, tingly sensation and then his eyes got really bugged out and he got thinner and fainter until he faded away, and that's when I felt kinda light-headed."

Donatello's familiar frown appeared. "Mike, try making a human shape out of that mist."

Mike blinked at the odd request, but he nodded anyway. He held out his hands and formed a large mass of mist, then started pulling at it like a cottonball, stretching out some arms and legs and making a lump for a head. The entire manikin was only five inches tall, but that didn't make it any less frightening when it started jumping up and down and clawing at him. Fortunately he'd only given it wispy stumps for hands, which passed ineffectually over his skin.

"What the hell is that?" Raph and April said simultaneously, backing away as fast as they could.

"Just as I suspected," Don smugly smiled. "You absorbed that thing when you took its powers in. I'm not quite sure how you did it, but there he is."

"It feels like I'm holding a damn roach."Mike grimaced, holding the purple monster at arms length. "Can I kill it?"

"I think so," Don said. "Can you squish it?"

Mike closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and clapped his hands together. The purple mist exploded out, and solid pieces of it landed on the floor and couch around him, fading out of existence after a moment. They all looked back at his hands, which were covered in purple liquid.

"Ewww..." Mike whimpered. "I gotta go clean this off!"

As Mike ran off towards the bathroom, Donatello took his staff into the lab, leaving Raph and April to watch the news.

"This is Vernon Davis filling in for April O'Neil. No explanation has been given as of yet for the mysterious power outages and gas explosions the city is experiencing. Both the mayor and the chief of police could not be reached for comment. Emergency crews have been dispatched, but there are reports coming in that there's no damage to the lines, just that the power simply goes on and off without explanation."

April rolled her eyes. "He calls that reporting? Geez, there's a reason he hasn't been promoted."

Raph smirked. "April, is that a tone of superiority I hear?"

"Not superiority. Earned confidence."

"Right..." he laughed. "I'll tell that one to Leo when he says I'm acting up again."

"Speaking of which, where is he?"

Raph shrugged. "I think I saw him go into Splinter's room. Figures."

April sighed and looked back the television. Raph glanced over at her, and his attention was grabbed by the blue vein barely visible beneath the skin on her throat. He could almost see the blood flowing through her body, and as he glanced away, he caught himself staring at the veins in her wrist. The sound coming from the television faded into a hum miles away, and all he could hear was her heartbeat and what sounded like rushing water, but he knew that was her blood. A minute passed and he still hadn't looked away, and somehow April hadn't noticed. Raph let out a breath, only then realizing he'd been holding it. With a shaky gasp, he got up.

"I'll be in the gym," he said, almost running away.

Puzzled, she watched him disappear, then went back to watching the television. She might spot something useful, and since the others seemed rather busy, she'd better stay attentive.

Splinter was already seated on his usual mat with a few candles burning nearby when Leonardo came inside. He mentally prepared himself for an argument as he knelt down.

"Do you have the piece of jade Lotus stole?" Splinter asked.

Leo nodded and held the green fragment out to him. Splinter gingerly took it, avoiding the jagged edges. The stone sparkled in the dim candlelight.

"What do you think this was before it broke apart?" Splinter said, examining the fragment.

"Lotus says it's the tail and back of a statue of Coyote," Leonardo replied, "but I think it's much older than that god."

Splinter's eyes lit up, but he only nodded. "Older than the first peoples on this continent?"

"I think it came across to America from Asia, in the first migration here. It looks like a Chinese stylized dog from the astrological calendar."

"You are probably right," Splinter said. "The native peoples here tend to be more realistic in their artwork. The spike tail here looks like a forerunner of the modern renditions of the dog. Why did she take it?"

"It was rumored to have a great storehouse of energy inside of it. When it shattered, it released enough to kill the power nearby."

"Not all of it, though," Splinter said, staring at the rough line where it had broken free. "This piece has some magic left inside of it, and I do not think it is dormant. It is fueling a passive spell even as we speak."

"I don't know enough of magic to figure out what that is," Leo said.

"Nor do I, but I can hazard a guess. A great burst of energy, strong enough to break solid stone and this flow of power...it must have cut through much more than that. You obviously had something of a fight just now. What happened?"

Unfazed by the abrupt subject change, Leonardo started to relate what he had seen and done, and what had apparently happened to his brothers.

"I hate to think that Raph could be changing into something else," he finished up. "Mike seems to have absorbed a mist creature, Donatello is playing with magick like it's a toy, and I don't even want to think about what's happening to me."

"A werewolf," Splinter said. "And other supernatural creatures...this is serious."

"Master?"

"Leonardo, it is very likely that this little statue opened up a rift between worlds, allowing the worst inhabitants of the spiritual world across into ours." Splinter examined the piece of the statue further. "In fact, I think that all of the pieces are holding it open. If we are going to close off the rift and send these creatures back, we must gather the rest of the statue together."

"How many creatures could be coming through?" Leonardo asked. "We only faced four, but I did hear something else coming down the street when we came together."

Splinter sighed. "I have no way of knowing. We also do not know how many pieces there are."

"The things we fought were after four different women," Leo said slowly. "Lotus had one piece, but I don't know if the others had any."

"We will need to ask April," Splinter said. "And since the subject has been brought up..."

Leonardo steeled himself for a fight.

"...now that Lotus has delivered her piece to us, she need not remain here."

"Those monsters already tried to kill her, I don't doubt they'll try again."

"I am certain that she can take care of herself."

"Yes, master, she really showed that werewolf who was boss," Leo said.

Splinter narrowed his eyes. "I do not trust her, you know that."

"If you send her out on her own, they'll kill her."

"You do not know that."
"You don't seem to be sending April out."

"Lotus is still a thief, no matter what you feel for her. She might steal this piece of the statue and sell it."

"She wouldn't. She's not evil."

Splinter's tail twitched as he grew annoyed. "Affection is clouding your vision."

"Your preconception is clouding yours," Leo said.

They both leaned back and took a breath. At least now they knew where they stood in relation to each other.

"She is a thief," Splinter said in a softer voice.

"And I'm a ninja," Leo said. "An assassin."

"She steals. Dishonorably," he added before Leonardo could mention Ninjara.

"And I kill. Frequently." Leonardo looked away at the floor. "She hasn't done that, at least. She doesn't hurt people."

"And the people she victimizes are not hurt?" Splinter waved his hand at the jade fragment. "The museum has not lost a priceless artifact?"

Leo almost smirked, but he forced it down. "It would have been lost anyway. Besides, I'm sure they have plenty of items in their basement." He shook his head. "I won't let her be thrown out, master."

Splinter sighed in exasperation. "No, I did not believe you would. Very well, she stays until this madness is over." He set the fragment down and wrapped it in a black silk cloth. "Ask April what she knows. I will search through my books and find out what I can about this. And find out exactly what is happening to your brothers. It may be that one of them, Donatello most likely, can feel what is going on."

Leonardo tilted his head respectfully, then stood up and left.

"Raph, you okay?" Don asked, poking his head into the gym.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Raphael said, but his voice was too strained. He finished up the kata he was working on, then started another. He was moving faster than he'd thought possible. He was sure he was faster than Leo, and it made him smile to think he could beat him now, but he kept wondering if he was dead now. Or undead. Or whatever vampires were.

"Did anything happen to you?" Don asked. "You know, like what happened to me and Mike?"

Raph shook his head. "No, not like what you and Mike got. Um, what exactly did you two get, anyway?"

Don sighed and leaned on his staff, which was slowly covering itself with leaves. "I don't know for sure. Mike seems to have absorbed that mist creature's power, and I picked up that monster's ability to cast spells."

"You must have a theory," Raph said. He wasn't too interested in whatever scientific jargon his brother might spout, but at least it kept him from thinking about the fangs growing in his mouth.

Don grinned. "You know me too well. Whatever's happening out there, it's making everything really easy to...um, how to put this...easy to slide around."

"I don't get it."

"Well, that creature's power just transferred into Mike without much of a problem, and same for me. Those monsters aren't normal for New York, so I'd say they came from another dimension or something. The boundaries of...something...have gotten thin, so things can move around, and the same goes for traits."

"That explains a few things," Leo said, coming up behind him.

"Gah!" Don glared at his big brother. "Don't do that!"

Leonardo ignored his sibling's anger and looked at Raph. "Don, do me a favor and ask April what she knows about any of this, and see if she's got any stone fragments on her."

"Sure, right after my heart starts beating again," Don growled, stomping out.

Raph sighed in exasperation when his brother said that, and went back to his exercise routine. "I don't want to talk about this, Leo."

"I know. I'll make it quick. Do you think you can control it?"

Raphael stopped and grabbed a bo from the floor. "And what if I can't? Will you stake me through the heart?"

There was no answer. Raph looked up into Leo's cold stare. He started practicing again. "Yeah, I can, if I'm not close to any of you. I swear, I can hear your blood in your veins. And what about you? Feeling the curse of the werewolf yet?"

"Raphael, I want you to promise me something."

"What's that?"

"I heal really fast now. It would be hard to kill me. But if I try to hurt any of you..."

Pausing in his routine, Raph stared at the wall for a moment. "I'd find a way. But that won't happen." He gazed over at Leo. "Will it?"

Leonardo sighed and leaned against the wall. "Lotus said that all this started when the jade statue she'd stolen exploded in her hands. She was left with just a fragment, and immediately the wolf came after her."

Raphael didn't squabble about the subject shift. "And you think April and those other girls might have had a piece?"

"Who knows what's going on right now?" Leo shrugged. "All I know is that it's keeping a rift between worlds open."

"Just like Don said," Raphael nodded. "Speaking of Lotus, how's Splinter handling her?"

"With a ten foot pole," Leo said. "He actually wanted to send her back topside."

Raph whistled in surprise. "And how are you handling her being here?"

Leo didn't say anything for a moment, then turned towards the door. "I'd better see what April knows."

"You know, for someone who says I avoid things, you're actually much better at it than I am."

Leo smirked and looked back. "Let me know when you're done practicing alone in here."

Breaking off his routine, Raph glared daggers at his brother. "That was a low blow."

"Sunrise is around six thirty today," Leo said. "I'll keep an eye on you."

"I don't think much sun will get down here," Raphael said.

"I wasn't talking about the sun."

"...I know."

TBC...