Chapter 27: Silence.
As quiet as a mouse, two mutant turtles carefully crept towards the gently illuminated main entrance of the zoo. Seeing that the coast was clear, Donatello reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out a grappling hook. Raphael looked on with intrigue as Donatello neatly swung the rope around and hooked it onto a suitable spot. With two tugs of the rope, Don sneakily climbed up and over the wall with Raphael quickly following after.
Hiding as best they could in a dark corner, Donatello scanned the landscape of the zoo, not being sure where to go next. Using instinct and common sense, Donatello headed in the direction he went before when he had previously visited the zoo a couple of months ago. Raph nervously followed the adult as they made a number of twists and turns through various landscape displays. Suddenly Don stopped walking, and so did Raphael. The adult listened for any sounds being carried along the breeze, but when none were heard, the two turtles continued on their way.
Their small, bricked track soon ran out and was merged into a large tarred path. Being careful, Don stepped out into the open, checked for any humans, then signaled for Raphael to follow. The two turtles then abruptly broke out into a silent jog, wanting to find somewhere easy to hide should the unfortunate possibility of a human spotting them occurred.
It wasn't long till they reached the large koala walkabout enclosure. Raphael was about to run straight past, but Don grabbed onto his oversized trench coat and pulled him back. The adult turtle quietly pointed to a small pathway that led uphill, obviously to a staff only area. Careful not to make any noise, the two went up the track and discovered a number of buildings that were off limits to the public. Donatello sneakily walked over to the nearest one and cupped his hands against the glass double doors so he could see inside. An outside mural, a courtyard and the entrance to some public toilets could be spotted. Don noticed Raphael gesturing him to look into the window he was near. Obliging, Don did what was told and looked into the room Raph was pointing to. He found a classroom like setup with a number of small and various reptile terrariums lining the edges of the room.
"Are they in there?" Raph whispered. Don shook his head.
"I think that's just an education centre," Don whispered in reply. "Let's keep going," Don said softly while he pointed down the road to their right. The two started to walk again, but when the sound of an approaching jeep was heard, Don pulled Raphael over to a shadowed wall in order to hide. The car passed with no problems. Wild screeches and hoots suddenly sounded, causing Raphael to nearly jump out of his shell. Don smiled at the boy. "Calm down. I think we're just near the staff entrance to the chimpanzee enclosure," Donatello reassured him, yet just to be on the safe side, the couple continued to walk down the long road away from the loud and disturbing noises of the apes.
Another jeep drove along the road, causing the two turtles to once again quickly duck for cover. Judging from the sudden increase of human activity, Donatello knew he was getting closer and closer to the rest of his family. Continuing in the direction they were going, it wasn't long till they reached a large building surrounded by a wire fence. The perimeter lights were on and one guard could be spotted at the entrance. "I think they're going to be in there," Donatello whispered his thoughts to Raphael. The boy simply nodded in agreement. Together they quietly ran along the tall wire fence, trying their best not to get spotted by the single guard.
When they were a safe distance away from the human, the two turtles swiftly climbed over the fence and sprinted for the nearest ground floor window they could find. Panting, Donatello reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his own inventions which consisted of a rubber suction cup, a metal bar and a small, condensed laser. "What else have you got in your pockets?!" Raphael wondered. Donatello shushed the boy and started his work on the window. The suction cup held his invention neatly in place as his laser swiveled around to cut the glass to a suitable size. When he had made a full rotation, Donatello pushed forwards and a doorway through the window was created. Raphael stood there in astonishment while Don stepped through and detached his equipment from the circle of glass that he had created. Snapping out of his trance, Raphael stepped through the hole in the window and followed Donatello once again.
It was pitch black inside the room, but when Don found and slightly opened up the only door, the lights from the hallway filtered in. Two people where spotted along the corridor; their backs were facing Donny. Raphael stayed behind while Don sneaked forward. Quick as lightning, Donatello interlocked his fingers together and, like a mace, whacked one of the men across the temple and ear, making him unconscious. However, Don wasn't as quick to avoid the other man's punch to the face. Shocked, Don collided with the wall and created an indent in the white surface. Raphael emerged from his hiding place in order to try and help, while the man attempted to aim another punch to Don's face. In defense, Donatello flicked his right leg out and kicked the human in the stomach, and as he fell backwards from the momentum, Raphael instinctively crouched down behind him, causing the man to trip over his carapace. Once the guy was on the floor, Donatello did a single, hard punch to the temple, rendering the last guard unconscious.
Worried that more humans would come once they saw the two guards on the floor, Raphael helped Don to move and hide the bodies within the dark and unused room from which they had entered the hallway by. Grabbing the keys from one of their two victims, the two turtles started to jog down the hallway towards the largest and most appealing door. Calmly and silently, Donatello unlocked their selected room and entered with no problems. Don guessed that this was probably the largest room in the whole building. Empty cages that were large enough to house elephants lined the perimeter of the room, with some enclosures being bigger than others. In some of the pens, Don recognised some antelopes and a few tapirs, obviously being quarantined so that they could join the zoo's extensive display of wildlife. Yet although there were other animals, it was still really easy to find Leo, Mike, Venus and Diana all awake in separate cages.
No one could stop grinning when they realised who the disguised adult turtle was. Not saying a word so the rescue mission wasn't ruined, Don stepped over towards Leo's cage and tried to unlock it with the keys he had 'borrowed'. When none of the keys fit, Don resorted to using his trustworthy strands of wires, which he pulled out of his trench coat pocket again. "Can I try?" Raph whispered his request. Don nodded and gave Raph two strands so he could start working on unlocking Mikey's cage.
Mike chuckled at Raph's appearance. "You look like one of those Javas from Star Wars," Mike whispered with a smile while the boy tried to pick the lock open.
"What's a Java?" Raph asked softly.
"One of those freaky little traders who wears clothes from head to toe," Mike joked and started to giggle. Raphael poked his tongue out at his uncle. After hearing a lock click open, Raph watched as Leonardo was freed from his cage. Don started to work on Venus' while Leo took over Raph's job of freeing Mike. It didn't take long till Mike and Venus were released, leaving Leo to open Diana's cage. The girl had only woken up from the anesthetic about twenty minutes ago, and was still struggling to keep her eyes open. They were all tired as it was still before sunrise, though the excitement of escaping is what kept them all awake and active. Just to be on the safe side, Venus decided to carry Diana in her arms in case her tired body slowed them down should a chase or pursuit ensue.
Michelangelo was fighting every urge to just jump on Donatello through excitement. He wanted to talk and chatter about a million topics at once, yet the seriousness of the situation is what kept him from doing so. Instead, he simple gave Donatello a hug; silently showing how much he missed him. "It's good to have you back Don," Leo whispered with an appreciative smile, yet Donatello could see that Leo's mind was already focusing on the mission at hand. "Can I use this?" Leo asked Raph. The boy nodded and Leo put on the trench coat and fedora that Raph was previously wearing. "How many guards are there?" Leo whispered his question to Don.
"Three so far. One is outside and two were in the hallway. We knocked the two in the hallway unconscious so I don't really know if they're awake yet," Don whispered his answer. Leonardo simply nodded in understanding.
"Come on, let's leave," Leo quietly said his command.
"We can't! What about the egg?" Venus reminded him softly.
"What egg?" Don wondered.
"Venus lays eggs," Mike said simply.
"I thought I told you that?" Raphael asked. Don shook his head.
"Then how come her stomach's grown?" Donatello whispered in confusion.
"We'll give you an update later. Right now we need to go," Leonardo urged them all. Wordlessly they all walked towards the door that led to the corridor, and once Leo confirmed that the coast was clear, the egg hunt began. Using the keys that Donatello had obtained, they systematically checked room by room. After disturbing the many pet dogs that had been brought from overseas, they eventually found the room that contained either the domestic or illegally brought reptiles. The large single egg sat in the corner of the room contained within an incubator. Venus sighed with relief when she saw it, knowing that the whole ordeal on the plane didn't go to waste.
The entire family stared at their future new arrival. There was no problem getting the egg, just how they were going to transport it back to Donatello's lair without it becoming cold. "How are we going to carry it?" Mike asked the first obvious question.
"Well… we'll just hold it in our hands," Leo puzzled.
"But it will get too cold," Venus stated.
"Maybe we can find a blanket somewhere," Mike suggested.
"We could probably find one inside a cage," Venus wondered.
"But even if we do find one in a cage, how are we going to get it without disturbing the animal inside?" Leo questioned.
"Well maybe we can use a bit of clothing or something," Mike suggested.
"And where will we get that?" Venus asked. They were going to continue their debating, when suddenly Donatello silently stepped forward, unplugged the machine, and picked up the entire incubator with the egg still inside.
"There's enough heat still stored in here for the egg to last the trip home. Honestly though, how did you guys survive without me?" Don wondered with a smirk on his face as he headed for the door. The three adults stood and looked at each other with a blank and dumbfounded expression.
"I would have thought of that," Mike muttered to himself as they headed back towards the hallway. Incubator in hand, Donatello led the others back to the room where he cut the window. A sigh of relief swept over both Raph and Don when they found the two guards still unconscious, meaning that no alarm should have been raised. Suddenly Donatello remembered something important.
"Okay, how are we going to get past the guard outside? There's no way we can sprint or climb the fence with this egg and um… Diana," Don wondered, remembering the girl's name in the last second.
"You up for a distraction?" Leonardo asked Michelangelo. Mikey simply gave him a large, wide grin.
"Aren't I always?" Mike replied cheekily.
Like a ninja, Mike sneaked out through the hole in the window and slowly crept up behind the single guard. From a fair distance he observed the lonely man light up a cigarette, obviously in the hopes that it would give him a boost to see the rest of the night through. After taking a deep breath, Mike walked straight up to the human. "Mind if I have a smoke?" Mike asked him casually. The man turned around and yelped in surprise, which was then quickly followed by a scream. Mike screamed back, and so did the man. With a smirk on his face, Mike reached out and grabbed the guard's walkie-talkie, before starting to run off with it. Not really knowing how to handle the situation, the man decided to chase after the overgrown turtle. Mike cunningly ran past the broken window, and the man stupidly followed. Then, when he least expected it, Leo leaped through the hole in the glass in ambush, and tackled the guard to the ground. From there only a simple punch was needed to silence the yelling and scared human.
Not being able to climb the fence because of the heavy incubator and Diana who was currently almost asleep in Venus' arms, the reunited turtle family casually walked through the main entrance of the quarantine section and headed back into the staff area of the zoo. They all traveled in a nervous silence, not knowing if they were safe yet. Fortunately, they made it back to the koala walkabout enclosure without encountering any problems… At least that's what they thought.
Just when they were about to pass through the zoo's one way exit, an approaching jeep could be heard. Panicking, they entered the car park and started to run from what they thought was away from the vehicle, but instead, they practically ran straight into it. The shocked driver managed to get a good look at all six of the mutants in his headlights. When the turtles heard the engine suddenly rev up, they all knew the chase had just begun.
Not wasting any time, Donatello swiftly led the others to the car he had parked earlier. The jeep was right on their tail; the driver not wanting the lose sight of them. Within seconds, Don managed to get the stolen car's engine started again and gave the incubator to Leonardo when he finally sat in the passenger seat. Venus, Raphael and Mike crammed into the back, with Diana illegally and dangerously sitting on her mother's lap. When the jeep was only a meter behind them, Don stamped his foot on the accelerator, causing everyone fall back in their seats. "Put on your seat belts everyone 'cause this is going to be one bumpy ride!" Don wildly called out to them. When the whole family saw the hilly streets that lay ahead of them, their eyes widened in fright and they immediately strapped themselves in.
Donatello frantically looked from the road to the review mirror, noticing that the jeep was still closely following. The turtle pushed his foot harder down on the pedal, greatly accelerating past the speed limit for the area. Looking in the mirror again, Don could see that his pursuer was doing the same thing. Desperate to lose him, Don didn't brake when there was a steep hill in the road, causing the car to leave the ground and heavy slam back down. The car's wheels screeched as Don quickly swerved around a small roundabout that was at the bottom of the incline.
Donatello looked in the mirror again and snarled when he could still see the jeep's headlights, though he did manage to increase the distance between them with the last stunt that he pulled. But it still seemed that more drastic measures needed to be employed. "Hold on!" Don called out. The turtle hit the brakes hard and turned the steering wheel, causing the car to make a sharp and rapid U-turn. The driver of the jeep wasn't so fast to react as he continued to drive right past the car, giving Donatello a huge lead in the chase. Pushing down hard on the accelerator, Donatello went back up the hill, didn't brake, and leapt into the air and slammed back down once again, not wasting any time. This was their last hope in losing their pursuer.
When they were over the apex of the incline, Donatello quickly turned the car's headlights off, turned up a vacant driveway and then remained stationary. "Keep your heads down," Donatello his passengers. They did what they were told and three seconds later, the jeep speedily went by, not noticing their car in the nearby driveway. Donatello waited a couple of seconds, and when he felt the coast was clear, he backed out and continued to speed along the roads. Confident that he had lost the driver of the jeep, Don reduced his speed to normal and turned his headlights back on, ready to merge with the traffic on the highway.
"Where did you learn to drive like that Donny?" Mike wondered in astonishment.
"Um… I don't really know," Don said, slightly flabbergasted himself. "How's the egg going?" he asked a while later when they had all calmed down.
"I think it's alright," Leo commented as he looked through the glass. Venus nervously looked at Mike and sighed, knowing that she had to tell the truth.
"It's yours," she said softly and simply. Mike stared at her blankly; slightly shocked to hear the news even though he knew he should have been prepared for it. Mike sighed, knowing the enormous amount of responsibility a young child brought, and that his life had been completely changed from that moment forth. The realisation that he was going to be a father had finally taken hold of his mind.
Mike cleared his throat. "Can I hold it?" he asked Leo softly. Leo agreed and, although it was difficult in the car, they managed to pass it to the back seat so Mike could hold his future son or daughter. Don's eye-ridge furrowed in confusion as to how Mike managed to have a child despite the fact that Leo and Venus were supposedly together, but he decided to ask that question later on. Right now he had other things to worry about.
"Hey Leo, is there any money in your trench coat pockets?" Don asked. Leo fished around and pulled out a couple of coloured notes and some coin.
"Hey! Monopoly money!" Mike said as he saw the purple five, blue tens and red twenty-dollar notes. Leo admired the various sizes of the coins, with the one and two-dollar coins being a nice golden colour while the lower amounts were a shiny silver.
"Yeah, that's what I first thought when I saw them. Seriously though, you never realise how annoying the American currency is until you've been to Australia," Don commented. "Do you have four bucks?" Don asked. Leo passed him two small golden coins while Don winded down the window with his spare hand. Outstretching his arm, Don leaned out and paid the bridge toll before continuing on his way.
"Why did you pay? I would have just gone straight through," Mike asked.
"Yeah, but then the poor guy that I stole his car from will get into trouble with the authorities," Donatello explained. Not knowing what to talk about next, everyone in the car started to look out the window at all the new sights, knowing how difficult it was to travel with such ease. Yet soon the conversation turned stale and awkward. What do you say to someone you haven't seen in eight years?
Soon, secretly to everyone's relief, Donatello finally pulled of the road and told everyone they could get out. "Hey, Raph. Do you know where that gate is? You know, the one that leads underground?" Don asked, still strapped into the driver's seat.
"I think so…" Raph said.
"Well, you can lead the others to that gate. In the meantime, I need to return this car," Don said. "I should be back in ten minutes," Don told Leo. Before anyone could get the chance to argue, Donatello started up the car again and returned to the highway.
True to his word, Donatello met up with the others at the gate ten minutes later, along with Raph's Hog and a box of donuts. "What's with the Krispy Kremes?" Mike had to ask.
"There are currently only four places in Sydney where you can buy Krispy Kremes. So since I was near the International Airport, I thought I might get some," Donatello said while he fished around his pockets for something to pick the gate's lock with. Leonardo gave him a bewildered expression.
"You risked being seen for Krispy Kremes?!" Leo said out of partial anger and disbelief.
"Hey Leo, trust me, it's worth it," Mike supported Donny's train of thought. Don simply smiled back while he unlocked the gate. The awkward silence quickly returned as they started to walk through the dark tunnels of the storm drains; Don manually pushing the motorcycle beside him so he could walk with his long lost family. The three adults wanted to ask the purple-wearing turtle about how he managed to gain ownership of the bike, but they decided against it, feeling awkward with Raphael around them. Instead, they simply continued to follow Donatello through the foreign tunnels. Looking ahead of where they were going, together as a group they each simultaneously stopped walking as they spotted a familiar furry face further down the underground passage…