A Turtle's Journey Beyond
Chapter 6: The Dream
Minutes had barely passed and the genius turtle was still having the worst luck with a machine he knew quite well. Donatello sat and tried endlessly to get past the one dreaded obstacle known as a simple little password. It seemed as though Roxanne put a full dead-bolt protection lock and not even he, who knew almost every loop hole, could crack it. A groan escaped his lips after seeing the word 'invalid password' appear for the umpteen time. He couldn't let his brothers or Shadow down if he came out saying it was way beyond impossible. Not only would it make him look bad, he would also be known as the dreaded 'F' word. A failure.
"Damn!" He glared at the black screen. "Why can't I get through?"
"Why can I not get through to her?" Splinter sat in the living room with his eyes closed and body at ease. The BAR needle continued to crackle softly behind him and the ancient-looking clock on the fireplace mantle ticked the precious minutes away. The entire house became quite still, the perfect atmosphere for him to open his mind and attempt to travel over vast plains in search for Roxanne's lost being.
"Roxanne? Child, can you hear me?"
Leonardo stood in the hallway, in-between watching Donatello tap furiously at the keyboard and hearing utter silence from Splinter downstairs. Being the leader of the group meant that he had sworn duties to protect the innocent from any danger. As the house became as still as a tomb and there was nothing left to do but wait for answers, he felt it wouldn't hurt to take a quick cat nap. The cozy bed beckoned him closer in Roxanne's room, and soon enough, he found himself stretching his weary body out across its smooth covers.
"Five minutes. Just five minutes." Leo warned himself as his eyelids grew heavier by the second. He stared up at the swirling ceiling fan; the cool breeze lightly brushing against his tired face and body. A few minutes of sleep won't do any harm. By the time he wakes up, Michaelangelo's detection will be complete and then they can continue solving the secrets behind this mysterious house. He could hear Donatello say something rather inexcusable before his eyes closed and his mind entered into a new world. A world of wonderful slumber.
"Password..." Don fumbled out every word he could think of, including the curse words he was uttering to the screen. "Pass....word...."
"Stoooooop..." A voice echoed to his right, causing Donatello to jolt in his chair. Standing inches from him in the doorway was a young woman dressed in very outdated clothing. Like a typical spectre, her form shined heavenly with a radiant, white glow. Donatello decided to remain calm and try not to do anything that would make her vanish, or worse, attack him. However, she didn't seem to be the harmful type. If it weren't for the fact that she was missing her body from the waist down, he could have said she was one of the most loveliest ghosts he had ever encountered.
"S-s-stop? Stop what?" He asked her shakily.
"Stop..." The ghost slowly turned to face Roxanne's room. "...him."
Leonardo sighed and continued to drift further into a place unfamiliar to him. He wasn't sure how long he was sleeping when he realized it got very quiet. Opening one eye, his vision met with darkness in the bedroom. Darkness? The lights were out, but who turned them off? Lifting his head, he looked around with slight confusion. Soon, a squeaking sound started to emerge from out in the hallway. Was it Splinter? No, he wouldn't squeak like that. Squinting through the door and out into the hallway, he caught the spare bedroom door squeaking open by itself as if inviting him to come inside.
"Don?" Leo shifted off the bed and stared at the bedroom. He could have sworn he fully closed the door on his way out. Looking left to right, he cautiously walked over to the bedroom, noticing Roxanne's office was empty. He glanced into the spare bedroom. "Don? Where are you?"
"Leo?" Don waited for the ghost to disappear before running over to Roxanne's room. "Hey, wake up, Leo? Leo?!" Leonardo ignored his protests and continued to sleep. "Leo!"
"Don't go in there." A female's voice perked up in Splinter's ears, making his whiskers twitch.
"Roxanne, is that you?" Splinter breathed in heavily as he spotted someone moving across his mind. The image was dark but he could still sense who it was. "Leonardo, where are you going?"
"I can't find Don." Leo whispered as he looked helplessly around.
"He's not in there." The female voice said. "Don't go in there!"
"Leonardo." Splinter whispered back, ears now twitching. "Can you hear me? Listen carefully. Do not go in there."
"But, I can't find any of you." Leo entered the bedroom and looked around. All seemed quiet and peaceful. Until...*SLAM* "What the...?" With a gasp, he twisted around to see the door slam shut.
"Leonardo, no!" Splinter gasped, squinting his eyes.
"Uhgh!" Shadow jolted up and stared at the flashing PeeK. "Hey! Uncle Mike, the PeeK thing! It's flashing!" Shadow looked around, noting both turtles were nowhere in sight. "Uncle Raph? Guys?" Shadow clicked it on and read the words across the screen: 'activity detected.' "Oh, no. Not again!"
"Hey!" Leo twisted the knob and began beating on the door with full force. Behind him, the lamp on the night stand began to flicker, sending off crackling noises of dying electricity. "Oh, man, this isn't happening. Don! Get me out!" The next thing he saw made him panic even more. A red, gooey substance started to trickle down the walls and onto the floor. Leo hopped on the bed, his heart thumping as he watched the liquid dribble down and slowly rise on the floor in a tiny pond. Testing a finger in it, he recoiled in shock. It was blood. "This is serious!"
Donatello pulled back and watched his brother struggle on the bed. His eyes began to squint as if he were in sufferable pain.
"Leo? What's happening to you?!"
"Oh, my God!" Shadow continued to watch all this on the PeeK in utter horror. "Guys! Uncle Leo's in trouble!" Again, she noted she was all by herself. Deciding not to wait, she turned to run up the path and rush through the house. The inside was dark and no one was around.
"Don!!!" Leo shrilled in his perched spot on the bed. He tried the windows next. They too, remained shut and inaccessible. The liquid continued to rise over his legs and lower torso, and pretty soon, he was having a warm, unpleasant blood bath.
"Damn it, Leo! Wake up!" Don tried to shake him, getting no results.
"Uncle Leo!" Shadow flew up the stairs, skipping a few at a time, and began twisting and banging on the door. "Uncle Leo! Open the door!"
"I can't!" He shouted. "It's locked!"
"Where's the key?!" Shadow screamed, glancing into the office to find it dark and empty. "And where is everyone?!"
"The key won't work! It's locked from the inside!"
"Uncle Leo!" Shadow picked up the PeeK to watch the room continue to fill with blood with him and the furniture rising up to the ceiling. The last thing she saw was the black and white image turn to full black as the blood filled over the BT camera and Leonardo's body. "Nooooo!"
"Shadow?" A hand lightly touched her shoulder.
"Help him!" Shadow jolted up and blinked to her surroundings. She was outside again with a green face staring down at her. "What happened?! Where were you guys?! Uncle Leo's in trouble--"
"Hold it, hold it, stop right there!" Raph grabbed her arm as she started to run up the cement path. "What the hell are you talking about? Nothing happened! You've just been sleepin'!"
"No, I wasn't!" Shadow looked around again. "The PeeK went off, it was another activity detection! I saw it all--"
"No, it wasn't another detection! Mike's got the device! Look!" Raph pointed over to Michaelangelo whom was down by the boathouse with the PeeK in hand, listening to the tonal residue he picked up. The scan device had finished its job but what was more confusing, how did she end up back here?
"Uncle Leo's in trouble...please, you gotta believe me..." Shadow started to wail as she raced up the path. "Come on!"
"Wait a minute!" Mike called out, lagging behind and waving the PeeK in the air. "I just got a reading! Where are you guys going?!" Raphael's answer was a shrug as he jogged back up to the house.
Upon entering the house, everything looked normal, or the way it was when they last left it. All the lights were on, Splinter was meditating on the sofa, and Donatello was probably still fighting with Roxanne's computer. But, where was Leonardo?
"Uncle Leo!"
This seemed oddly familiar. A sudden feeling of déjà vu struck her as Shadow bolted down the hallway and flew up the staircase. Without hesitation, she flung the spare bedroom door wide open. Her breath and just about everything else froze when she looked inside. The night stand light wasn't flickering and certainly no exceeded amounts of blood came flowing out at her.
"Shadow?" Don rushed out into the hallway where he caught her scanning the spare bedroom all over, apparently looking for something. "Shadow, what are you--"
"He's not here!" She turned with a perplexed face. "Where is he?!"
Leonardo shook his head as he sat up and walked out of Roxanne's bedroom. Looking past Donatello, he could see Shadow standing next to him with eyes bulging out of their sockets.
"Shadow?"
Shadow dropped her jaw and gawked at him, unsure of what to say or think. Just minutes ago, she saw him locked in a room with blood filling up to the ceiling. Yet, there he was, a face of utter confusion, but nonetheless looking perfectly healthy. She began to take slow steps closer, never peeling her wide-eyed expression off of him.
"You're... alive?"
"Of course, I am." His brow lowered to her. "What's going on--"
"What's going on?" Shadow repeated as she grasped his shoulders, her bottom lip trembling. "You tell me what's going on, damn it!" She pointed a shaky finger to the spare bedroom behind her. "I saw you in there! I saw you drowning in the blood...I thought you were...dead..."
"Blood? What is she talking about?" Don blinked to Leonardo who looked as if lightning had just struck his brain. He knew what she was talking about, but how could she have known what he was dreaming? Unless she dreamt it too?
"Shadow..." Leo reached out, but she jerked away, "I--"
"Don't...I can't..." Shadow covered her face and dropped down to her knees. "I can't do this anymore...I just can't...do...this..."
Soon, Raphael appeared at the top of the stairs and looked to the scene. Two bewildered-looking turtles standing in the hall with a weeping girl sprawled on the floor. That definitely called for an explanation.
"What the hell is goin' on up here?" He asked as Splinter joined him on the staircase.
"That's what I'd like to know." Don told him, glancing to Leonardo.
Eventually, the six of them all settled down in the living room quarters where Shadow told her frightening story to them. The PeeK went off, but it wasn't Michaelangelo's reading on the boathouse door knob. Instead, it was another activity detection, one she could barely explain herself. The BT camera showed Leonardo trapped in the bedroom and blood filling all the way up to the ceiling.
"The house was dark and none of you were around." She said with a hint of shakiness to her voice. "I ran upstairs to help him, but the door was locked and I couldn't get to him. All I could see was the room filling with blood and..." She paused and closed her eyes. "You know the rest."
Mike made a face. "Eew. That's nasty."
"That's bizarre." Leo paced behind the couch. "I dreamt of being trapped in that room....trapped and it filled with blood."
"And when I opened the door, I expected to be swimming through it just to get you out." Shadow shuddered to the thought. "But, the bedroom appeared normal when I looked inside."
"It was just a bad dream, kid." Raph patted her arm. "If it were real, the blood would still be there and Leo would be...eh, well, you know."
"Okay, now I'm really getting confused." Shadow waved her hands, glancing up to Leonardo's pacing. "If I dreamt it, why did you dream it? Or I mean, if you dreamt it, why did I experience it, or, I--I mean, ohhh! If we both dreamt it, why did we both experience it?"
"Maybe you both had the same dream?" Mike suggested. "What do you think, Don?" Donatello sat on the opposite couch with the PeeK, fiddling with it.
"Yo, brain guy!" Raph yelled out.
"Hmm?"
"Weren't you listenin'?"
"I'm listening," Don sighed and placed the PeeK in his lap, "just trying to figure out how it happened, if it really happened, or more like it never happened but seemed like it happened."
Raph raised his fist. "I know what's gonna happen if you don't speak more clearly!"
Don looked to the fist, then to the others with a shy grin. "Oookay, so, this is what I've gathered so far. Sensei announced he was going to meditate in the living room, Leo went to lay down in Roxanne's bedroom, and I went off into her office to start working on her computer. Within the few minutes I was left alone..." Don closed his eyes briefly, "I was greeted by a ghost. A woman to be exact."
"Who was she?" Leo turned to face him. "What did she look like?"
"She was very beautiful, young, and wore very outdated clothing." Don frowned, trying to remember all that he saw. "The only thing she said to me was 'stop.' When I asked her what she meant, she stated 'stop him' and pointed towards Roxanne's room...where you were sleeping."
"She knew..." Leo said faintly. "She knew what was going to happen to me in my subconscious state."
"So, why didn't you stop him?" Shadow asked Donatello.
"More like, why couldn't I wake him?" Don glared back over to Leonardo. "I called out to you, even you shook you like a California earthquake, but you never responded to me! It was like trying to wake the dead!"
"I'm sorry, Don." Leo dropped his gaze. "If I were there, I would have responded to you. I obviously wasn't in my right mind." Raphael went to say something but Shadow quickly slapped a hand across his mouth.
"Um, and by then, I made my grand entrance." She smirked up to Donatello.
"Yes." Don nodded. "By that time, I heard the front door slam, you calling out to Leo, and footsteps coming up the stairs. Just as you were searching the spare bedroom, I came out to see what you were up to. Leo woke up, heard the commotion and that's when Shadow had her little um...outburst." He looked to catch her face turn a dull shade of pink.
"Sorry, about that." She mumbled without looking at him.
"It's okay." Leo said softly. "It's understandable why you reacted that way." He looked back to Donatello. "So, after all you've gone over, what's your conclusion, Don?"
"Honestly, in my opinion," Don sat up fully and gathered his hands, "I think what happened here was but both a real and unreal experience. An illusion or trick of the mind brought on by the spirits haunting this house. Leo had a vision he was trapped in the room while Shadow had a vision she was trying to rescue him. Within their subconscious states, the two visions combined into one inside both of their heads, making them both believe what they were seeing was real."
"But, it was real! I was running into the house and I could see Uncle Leo on the PeeK thing!" Shadow protested. "Where was I if all that never happened?"
"Down by the boathouse." Splinter spoke up. "That is, your physical body was located down there."
"Come again?" Shadow frowned while Leonardo froze in his pacing.
"While we were inside the house, I began to meditate to contact Roxanne across the plains. Leonardo had fallen asleep and began dream walking at the precise moment I came in contact with a young woman." Splinter looked up to Leonardo. "I could not see her face, only hear her voice. She sensed a danger approaching in the bedroom. Leonardo was confused, unsure of what was going on, and fell right into the danger."
"A woman?" Leo quickly took a seat between Shadow and Splinter, his jaw slightly unhinged. "You heard a woman's voice? Who was it?"
"I do not know, Leonardo. She did not say much for me to identify who she was. Perhaps it was someone who also started to dream walk?" Splinter gave a side glance to Shadow. The others did the same.
"It wasn't me!" Shadow placed her fingertips to her chest. "I don't know how to get into people's heads! I was never taught that type of meditation."
"Then, maybe you did contact Roxanne, sensei?" Don suggested.
"Or maybe, Don..." Leo looked to him. "...he contacted some other woman, like the ghost who came to warn you about me. Honestly, sensei," Leo sighed and turned back to Splinter, "I never heard her voice. Just yours."
"Yes, you heard me." Splinter nodded. "Yet, your curiosity got the better of you--"
"But, wait, wait, wait." Shadow interrupted, waving her hands again. "What about me leaving my body and stuff? How did that happen?"
"Don't forget you were sleepin', too." Raph pointed. "Snorin' like a chainsaw--"
"I don't snore!" Shadow shouted more loudly than she planned to. "And I know my physical body was with me the whole time. I could see the images on the PeeK, I could feel my legs running to the house, I could feel my hand twisting on the door knob to open it, and I could definitely hear Uncle Leo shouting in that room!" Sighing, she bowed her head. "How can you say I really wasn't there when I experienced all those things so...vividly?"
"What you saw, felt and heard was not of physical nature, Shadow." Splinter answered. "It was completely spiritual."
"But, that's crazy!" Shadow spat. "That's almost like saying I had an out-of-body experience!"
"It may very well have been that, my dear." Splinter said. Shadow clutched her chest and looked over to Leonardo who agreed with a nod. "Leonardo dream walked through his subconscious and, as he entered the room, you began to see the same thing."
"But, I wasn't meditating with you or Uncle Leo." Shadow said quietly.
Splinter shook his head. "No, but in your sleep state, your brain remains very active, sending out vast waves of uncontrollable frequencies, many of which could have strong effects on your current area, current situation, and...the closeness of loved ones near by. The protection of your family is quite strong, even if you were prevented from succeeding in the task your spirit was experiencing."
"Then, I failed him in my dream." She whispered, feeling herself get choked up again. "It could have happened and I couldn't have done anything to stop it."
"Not all dreams can be controlled, my child." Splinter looked to her sorrowfully. "Or there are those that are under the influence of some unknown force, and they will play with your mind like invisible strings handling a marionette."
"Well, at least we can say it's all over now." Leo said, glancing to Shadow who still looked quite upset from it all. "Hey, I'm all right. It never happened." He then reached over and pulled her close, giving her a tight hug. "I'm all right."
"Does anyone want to hear what I got outside?" Mike asked, feeling a little left out.
"So! Let's hear what Mike got from the boathouse, shall we?" Don grinned as he hit the play button on the PeeK. Michaelangelo already knew what the sound was, but the others leaned in to listen to hear yet another unusual sound:
"Chiiiiiippy! Chiiiiiippy!"
"That's all it is." He told him as Donatello looked to him for an answer. "A boy calling out to someone named Chippy."
"Who's Chippy?" Shadow asked.
"His dog?" Mike shrugged. He then thought back to the pale, distorted face beneath the wooden planks of the dock, staring back at him through the dark, rippling waters. The features were close to those of a demonic clown. "Or maybe it's a toy he lost. A toy dropped in the lake..."
"Three spirits." Don shook his head. "A young woman, a crazed man, and a little child. As if it weren't already, this mystery is getting more mysterious." In less than 5 seconds of silence, the portable phone began ringing on the coffee table, making everyone look to it. Don gestured to Shadow. "Go ahead. Answer it." With a shaky hand, Shadow picked up and turned over the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hello?" A distressed voice answered on the other line. "Hello! It- it's me, Roxy!"
"Roxy!" Shadow screamed as the others inched closer to listen.
"I can't hear you...oh, but I can sense that you're there! I had to warn you...the AMBER device...it's reeled with fragmentation errors. I thought I'd reached astral but, I'm not sure anymore." Her voice began to rattle as if something was trying to break the line. "I seem to be divided between several locations...everything looks different...I'm drifting in and out of consciousness...I..." Roxanne's voice hit a deeper tone. "...I keep switching...Shadow? Is that you? Who is this?"
"Should I answer?" Shadow looked to Splinter as he placed a finger to his mouth.
"She cannot hear you." He whispered.
"Who is this?" Roxanne asked in a more demanding tone. "Are you there? Don't let anyone come after me-- it's too dangerous! Besides, even if you could collect all the fragments, there's...no guarantee the software could actually compile them." The voice started hitting low again. "Thanks and...tell everyone I'm....out for now..." The dial tone returned, followed by the horrendous beeping noise.
Shadow put the phone down and sat back on the cushion. No one could respond to what they just heard. Roxanne calling from another dimension and tapping into their world on a cordless telephone was a bit hard to swallow. It was her, there was no mistaking it, but who else was trying to break through the line? Just as they were, Roxanne was definitely trapped out in the middle of nowhere, unable to return to her original existence. It was only a matter of time before their own journeys would soon begin.
"I can't take this anymore." Shadow finally said after the group became dead quiet. "Roxy told me I would expect some unusual occurrences with this job. I never thought I'd live the day to see exactly what she meant." Lifting up the phone again, she began to dial 911. "This is a working phone, I'm calling for help..." No one spoke as she listened to the phone ring, the sound being music to hear ears. Someone picked up, their friendly operator recording.
"We're sorry, we are unable to complete your number as dialed. Please hang up and try again. If you need help-- help--help--hel-l-l-l-p..." The voice rattled again as some weird moaning broke into the line, sending chills down Shadow's spine. With a shout of defeat, the others watched her throw the phone down, faintly hearing the moans continue on the other end.
"What happened?" Leo asked. "What's that noise?"
"I don't know." She sighed with a whine. "I just know that all means of outside communication have been cut off by some unknown force. Please, let this be a dream. Please." Covering her eyes, she waited a little for it to end. "When I open my eyes, I'm going to wake up and be in my own bedroom." She felt a hand touch her knee and another tap her arm.
"Shadow," Leo said softly, "I'm sorry, but, this is no dream. This is really happening."
"I know." She whispered, opening her eyes again and seeing she was still in Roxanne's living room. "I know it's not a dream. I just wish to God it was!"
"Hey, you gotta pull yourself together or we'll never get through this!" Raph said from behind the sofa. "We're stuck here on our own and now these ghosts have somehow gotten attached to us. They won't let us leave until we help them first."
"But, I don't understand how us helping these spirits will help Roxanne." Mike looked around.
"Roxanne can't get back because of missing fragments." Leo gazed to the phone as he tried to piece this puzzle together. "Psionic fragments, that is. The headgear she's using has fragmentation errors, causing her to remain in her subconscious state. The spirits will respond to a working headgear, one that will guide them to the other side. But first, they need a physical being to lead them to it." All of them simultaneously looked over to the parlor room, then to Donatello whom lifted up the flashing PeeK. The right-most button clicked on by itself and read: 'psionic wave detected. Headgear activated.' He looked up to them.
"AMBER just turned on."
Returning to the parlor room, the headset almost seemed to be alive, beckoning them closer to its innocent-looking table. Shadow loomed over it, watching a second repeat of electrical current searing through the oscillator into the headset. The current then moved toward the center circle, forming a pentagram, and finally lifting the headset in an upright position.
The PeeK flashed again, making Donatello lift it up to read the status: 'headgear modulating EEG flow to match astral current' He watched the next set of words appear: 'One moment please' until finally it read 'SURF'S UP!'
"Surf's up, guys." He said as he looked around to them.
"Surf's up?" Raph frowned.
"More like headgear's up." Shadow announced as she lifted it off the triangular base. The thing was pulsating with such power, she could feel its currents rushing up her arms and throughout her entire body. "I'm going to try it on." She said without looking at anyone.
"Shadow....?" Mike reached out but she raised a hand to stop him.
"Be careful." Leo muttered as he watched her carefully place it on her head. Eyebrows dropping, she watched a line of electrical current form a purplish glow in front of her face. The glow winked at her before vanishing and the headset clicked on as easily as a light switch. "What's it doing?"
"Nothing." Shadow squinted and looked around, her vision appearing normal. It was when she suddenly heard incoherent voices warp in and out of her ears that made her start to test her sanity. "Oh...my...wait...what is that?!"
"What's what?" Don asked, edging closer.
"Voices. They're...whoa..." Shadow dropped her head as the ghostly groans and cries echoed in her ears. The warping voices started faint, grew louder against her ears, then drifted away. "My God, they're everywhere! Can't you hear them?"
"We don't hear anything." Leo said with worry etched on his face. "What are they saying?"
"They're saying...I can't..." Shadow stepped into the hallway with her hands pressed to her ears, listening closely. The others followed with quizzical stares. "I can't make out a single word they're saying! It's all mixed and mismatched, I...uuuugh!" Shadow rammed into the hall table and squeezed her eyes shut, nearly falling on the ground. "I...can't...handle...this..."
"Then, take it off." Leo instructed quickly. Shadow was too absorbed in the voices, she didn't hear his words. "Shadow, did you hear me? Take it off now!" Shadow turned and looked to him, seeing a whole other version of him. Her view began to vibrate and swivel as if her eyes were playing tricks on her.
"Stop...moving..." She mumbled as she reached forward to grasp the front of his coat. "Stop talking!"
"That does it." With a swift hand, Leo ripped the headset off of her. All of a sudden, the voices ceased, the room stopped vibrating, and everything went back to normal. Shadow dropped to her knees and shook her head. "Honey, are you all right?"
"My God, that was more trippier than any drug from the sixties." She gasped.
"Like you'd know that." Raph smirked as he extended a hand to help her up.
"If it's that hard to deal with, how are we going to help these spirits?" Mike asked as Leonardo stared down at the headset.
"I guess the only way to deal with it is..." Leo placed it on his head, "...to get used to it." Again, the voices rang out to a new tester. The others watched breathlessly as he walked around, eyeing the room from side to side. He turned and started to walk up the stairs, the voices becoming somewhat clearer.
"Whooooo issss thisssss? You....arrrrrre....innnnnn....with.....every available deaaaaaath...."
Leonardo climbed the stairs as if in a dazed trance up to the spare bedroom. The headgear was now in control of his movement as well as his inner most thoughts. With this new power of guidance, he ignored the voices of his family and listened more to the voices coming in and out of his mind. The door knob to the spare bedroom was inches away from his hand when a more demanding voice appeared to him.
"Uncle Leo, stop!" Shadow called out.
Leonardo opened the door and, with widening eyes, saw the room was dark except for a strobe light coming from the mirror on the bureau. A barrier couldn't prevent each step he took closer to the glowing mirror.
"Do you see the light? It's so beautiful..." He whispered.
"What light?!" Shadow and the others glanced around, seeing nothing.
Leonardo paused at the bureau and gazed into the glowing mirror. Reaching out to touch it, the glass shattered into a million pieces, sending harmless shards out in all directions. A blinding light soon engulfed his body, causing everyone to shield their eyes from view. The room turned into one giant beacon for a brief moment and then, it was gone, and so was Leonardo.
"Leo?" Don opened his eyes and looked around.
"Where is he?" Mike asked, also looking left to right.
"Gone." Splinter approached the mirror and gazed into it. "Gone through the looking glass."