Chapter 8 Divisions Within

Raphael came out of the elevator, and surveyed the lair slowly. Leonardo was practicing off to the side with Splinter supervising. Donatello was working on something at his workbench, but he looked up instantly when he heard Raphael enter.

"Hey Raph, that was a long trip to the roof." Donatello said with a knowing grin.

Raphael snorted. "Yeah right, as if you don't know who I've been following for the past hour, and before you get too worried. Mikey's at the library."

Donatello nodded, looking satisfied. "I was hoping you'd decide to keep an eye on him. Was it anything important?"

"I'll say it was," Raphael said. "Shredder's goons are recruiting girls. The most likely explanation Mikey and I could come up with is that Shredder wants to find that temple where the mermaids live."

"What makes you think The Shredder wants to find the mermaid's temple." Leonardo asked as he and Splinter joined the group.

Raphael turned to them slightly excited. "Don't you guys remember? That's why I ran into Mikey's friend in the first place. Hun and his goons were shakin' this old guy down looking for a temple. I got them to leave the guy alone, but then they grabbed me. That's when Lillian showed up, and put some whammy on them to leave me alone. I don't think that was a coincidence that they were talking about a temple two weeks ago. They're trying to find it, and by the time they do find it they'll have their strike force ready. All girls. All immune to mermaid song. "

"What could be The Shredder's purpose to undergo such an attack?" Splinter asked.

Raph moved closer to Donatello's computer. "Mikey thinks it has to do with some powerful weapons he says they have down in that temple. That's why I talked him going into the library. Typical Mikey he never paid attention when they told him what they do. One of them sounded like something I read about in one of April's books, something called Poseidon's Trident."

"Poseidon was the Greek god of the ocean's, but it's only a story." Donatello said, putting down his work, and turning to face them.

"Right, and two weeks ago mermaids were just a story too." Raphael reminded them. "I'm not saying this Poseidon guy is real, I'm just saying Mikey said they had his trident thing or whatever in that temple."

Leonardo thought about that. "What else did Mikey say they have."

Raphael shrugged. "All sorts of things, a net, something shut up in a box. You know Mikey. He wasn't very specific. I figured him going to the library would make him feel like he's doing something useful. Leo, he's real worried for his mermaid friends. There's gotta be something we can do to help them."

Leonardo sighed. "You know, Raph, your talking about helping someone who can take control of our minds without even thinking about it."

"I'm talking about helping Mikey's friends." Raphael said with a slight growl. "Just because we have a problem with them, doesn't mean he does."

"Leo, helping Mikey now, might mean he won't run off on us later," Donatello pointed out. "If he doesn't feel he can confide in us, he might very well go looking for his friend Lillian."

Leonardo gave in. "All right, I'll go over to the library and have a talk with him." Leonardo said. He sheathed his katanas and entered the elevator.

Once the elevator doors were close Raph turned to the others and asked," Is it just me or did Leo get real jumpy when I mentioned Mikey's friends."

Splinter sighed. "When I first encountered the mermaid I too felt the awesome power they can wield, but they did not harm me, and despite my fears they did not take Donatello and Michelangelo from me. They never again showed themselves to me, respecting my wishes. I do not believe they are evil, but Leonardo lost himself to her song for a short time. He fears their power, even though they mean us no harm. He must combat this fear within him before he can regard them as an ally."

"Leo scared of a girl?" Raphael frowned at the thought. "That doesn't sound like him at all."

"This isn't just a girl, Raph," Donatello reminded him. "Mikey's friend is a mermaid.. I remember when she asked me to let her go. I...I couldn't disobey her."

"Maybe that's why I didn't get hit as bad as you two," Raphael said, "I didn't think twice about doing what she said, it felt, you know natural. I wasn't trying to fight it. I didn't even know I was supposed to."

"That's just it, we weren't supposed too fight it. At least that's how I felt. When I tried to if felt wrong. That's probably why Leo is tied up in knots over this, he keeps fighting it." Donatello explained.

"I guess," Raphael answered. "I just hope that Leo doesn't get too tied up in knots, or else he's not going to be of any used to us."

April had been feeling edgy all afternoon. It was one of those feelings her father had often told her not to ignore. Once she had told Splinter about these odd hunches and her father's advice. He agreed with it at once. He told her always to listen to that inner prompting that warned her of danger.
So now she hastened her step, and looked behind her. She didn't see anything, but long association with the Leonardo and the others taught her a few things about ninja abilities.

Just because I can't see them doesn't mean they aren't there. She mentally quoted Leonardo. Instead of trusting her eyes she used her ears, and that odd feeling she had. She was being followed she was sure of it. She stopped in her tracks. A second set of footsteps stopped a half a second later.

Damn!

There was a brightly lit street two blocks away and a 24 hour newsstand. All she had to do was run and make it to there before her pursuers .

She broke into a run, but only moved five steps before something wrapped itself around her waist. and dragged her into a back alley. She wasn't even surprised to see Hun.

"Oh great, the old man of the mountain come to see me." April said saucily. She knew she was asking for it, but there was no way on earth she was going to show how afraid she was of this walking behemoth.

From behind Hun stepped a woman of about twenty. She was dressed not like the rest of The Foot around, she was wearing a tight cat suit of black and purple. Her face was uncovered, and would have been pretty had not a smirk of contempt upon it. Her shoulder length hair was jet black tied up in a braid behind her and she had a pair of deep brown eyes.

"Spirited little thing isn't she," the woman said. She leaned against the graffiti covered wall. "I'm surprised you put up with it."

Hun cracked his knuckles and said with a sneer, "I don't."

"Neither do I!" April said suddenly, with a mighty heave she swung her purse aiming for Hun's head. Ever since their return to New York, April had been very aware of how much of a target she was to the Foot. She made it a habit to carry around a good sized brick in her purse, and keep most of her money and identification in a pouch around her neck. The purse connected with the side of Hun's face. It didn't knock him over, but it forced him back two steps allowing April enough room to escape.

She managed to duck down another alley but this one didn't lead to the newsstand. She would have to go completely around the block to make it there, and she could hear Hun, the Foot ninjas she had seen, and the strange woman racing after her.

She wedged herself between a stairwell and a dumpster. Hun would have to dig her out of there. Then hoping against hope that Lillian was right about the flute, blew the notes the mermaid had shown her.
A rattling above told them that Hun had found her hiding place. April picked up some trash that had collected in the corner. When she saw Hun's face he would get a bit of a surprise. Meanwhile she hoped that the signal would bring help soon.

Leonardo slipped into the basement of the library. They've all done it dozens of times. As much as Splinter disliked them sneaking up to the surface, when they were young he would bring them to the library as a treat. Over the years between the five of them, they had borrowed nearly every book here.

Leonardo came out of the basement and looked around. He didn't see Michelangelo at first, but he could hear someone breathing in the darkness, and the gentle rustle of turning pages.

Silently Leonardo began to follow the sounds to where Michelangelo lay on the floor with several large mythology books spread out around him. He was on his stomach, propped up on one elbow, and in his free hand was a flashlight shining on the book before him.

Michelangelo still hadn't sensed him, so Leonardo took the time to read over his brother's shoulder.

When Poseidon struck the water with his trident, storms would rage. When he struck the land the earth would shake in great quakes, but when he stretched out his trident over the seas they calmed, and he brought forth-

Michelangelo must have finished the page, because just then he turned it. The breeze from the page made the light coating of dust around the book dance, tickling Michelangelo's nose.

"Aaaaahhh Choo!" Michelangelo sneezed suddenly.

Leonardo couldn't resist. "Bless you," he said.

"Thanks, Leo," Michelangelo said absently, then realized that he wasn't alone. He rolled over and shone the light on Leonardo. "Leo! What are you doing here?" Michelangelo asked.

Leonardo groaned as hr raised hand to shield his eyes. "Trying not to get blinded by you, Mikey. Will you get that light out of my eyes?"

"Oh sorry," Michelangelo said hastily as he moved the light away. Holding it up so that it illuminated the space between them he asked, "So now are you gonna tell me why you're here?"

"Raph told us what happened earlier," Leonardo said. "He said you were worried about your mermaid friends.

Michelangelo nodded emphatically. "Big time. If The Foot are putting a group of girls together its gotta be to go after the weapons in the temple!"

"Can your friends hide or move the weapons?" Leonardo asked.

"I don't think so," Michelangelo said closing the book he had been reading. "There's really no place to move them. The nearest colony is up off the coast of Newfoundland. They can't use their magic if people are looking for them. It might let them know where the temple is, and it would take them weeks to swim them there."

"And if they tried to, it would be the best time to attack them," Leonardo finished. Then something occurred to him. "Colony?"

Michelangelo smiled and nodded again. "Yeah, colony, a colony of mermaids, like a pod of whales, it's what they call their groups."

"You mean like a family? Are there mermen too?"

Michelangelo giggled at that. "No way dude. Mermaids breed with humans. They kinda test them then tell them the truth. A boy turns out to be human. The girls get the fins." He looked at Leonardo who didn't exactly like that idea, and it must have been evident on his face because then Michelangelo said, " relax, Leo. Its not like the dude doesn't know what he's getting into. It's just how they do things. "

"I'm sure it's very easy for them to convince a guy to -" Leonardo began but Michelangelo cut him off.

"It is, but they don't!" He said emphatically. "They just don't go around controlling people! What happened the other day was my fault! I thought if Lillian opened you up all the way we'd scare you off a bit. It didn't hurt you, and we didn't mean anything by it. It was my idea, Leo. Lillian didn't even want to."

Now Leonardo wasn't sure what to think at all. From what he was hearing, Michelangelo had given orders to the mermaid. Then again, he had done the same that morning on the rocks by Battery Park. Hit the waters girlfriend....

"I don't get it," Leonardo said finally. "I don't get them at all. What are they that they can affect our minds like this, and what are they to you that you trust them?"

Michelangelo sighed. "They're my friends. Lillian saved all three of you. Don was an accident, but when you and Raph were sick, she came because I called to her. How could I not want to help her after that?"

"But how can you trust her?" Leonardo asked. That was the one thing he couldn't reconcile to himself. Michelangelo trusted this being, who had the power to control them.
"Ever since I was seven," Michelangelo began. "All she did was what she promised me she'd do. I trust them because I understand them, and how they think. They'd never hurt us, and you'd understand them too if you'd just open up to your own instincts, and listen to them."

"Open up to my...."Leonardo was still having trouble understanding. "What do you mean,"

Michelangelo looked at him directly and his voice took on an unusually serious tone. "What you feel around Lil....What all of us feel is just our instincts telling us what every other creature that swims always knew. Mermaids protect the water, and every thing in it. Most critters only know that helping them feels good, but the whales and the seals understand why they should help mermaids, and we do too." Michelangelo then shook off the serious mood, and grinned. "You can try to fight it if you want, bro," he said. "But I don't think one little mutation is going to beat 185 million years of evolution."

Leonardo sighed. Michelangelo was right, he just didn't understand. Either these mermaids had his brother so brainwashed he couldn't possibly doubt them, or Michelangelo knew something that he wasn't quiet communicating clearly.

"Okay," Leonardo said slowly shrugging his shoulders. "I'll take your word for it, and considering that the Shredder wants something they have, I'll even accept that they might need defending. "What security do they have themselves?"

Michelangelo smiled excited again, and obviously relieved that he didn't have to defend his friends any longer. "Well Murial-" Michelangelo began then suddenly he stopped. "What the..." He started but then paused again as he strained to hear.

"What is it, Mikey?" Leonardo asked in a whisper. He tilted his left ear upward to try to hear, but he wasn't sure how he was hearing this sound. It seemed to vibrate through his whole body, in his blood and in his mind, and yet it was only a sound. It didn't mean anything to him, and he didn't feel any different, aside of being unsettled that he was feeling a sound.

"Awww shell," Michelangelo said, unsettled. "That's my call signal!"

"What?" Leonardo tried to listen again. "That...whistle?"

Michelangelo quickly finished shelving the books. "Someone Lil knows needs me now!" He began to move for the staircase down to the basement, but Leonardo blocked his way.

"Now hold on, Mikey. Why do you have to go off just because of this whistle?"

"Leo, I've got to go now!" Michelangelo insisted. "It's not that they're forcing me! I know what that whistle means! Somebody needs my help now!"

Suddenly Leonardo got very stubborn. "What if I said that I thought they had you brainwashed, and I wouldn't let you go."

Michelangelo frowned and placed his hands on his nunchucks. "Don't push me, Leo. You won't like what you find."

The truth was Leonardo never did have to push Michelangelo to the edge before. Any other disagreement always ended up with Michelangelo cheerfully giving in. Looking into Michelangelo's eyes now, Leonardo wondered if this time he wouldn't.

"Convince me!" Leonardo said. He couldn't really believe that Michelangelo would draw weapons on him.

Michelangelo then did draw the weapons. As Leonardo took a shocked step back, Michelangelo said, "Okay, Leo if you really want to talk about this now...." Michelangelo lashed out with the nunchucks not at Leonardo, but at the nearest window. Instantly the burglar alarm rang out the alert. With a knowing grin on his face Michelangelo said, "We can talk here, and get nabbed by the cops, or we could split."

Leonardo knew he had no choice. They had to run, and once moving, it would be easy for Michelangelo to run off to wherever he wanted to go.

Michelangelo knowing full well that he had won, slipped out the now broken window, and vanished into the night.

With a sigh and a muttered curse Leonardo headed for the basement and the sewers. He knew he should go after Michelangelo, but being uncharacteristically selfish, Leonardo decided against it. Fine, he didn't want to talk, he wanted to run off to his friends. Let him. He's been dealing with them solo for ten years he doesn't need my help.

Annoyed Leonardo headed back to the lair. As he entered, both Donatello and Raphael, who had been deep in conversation looked up. "So where's Mikey?" Raphael asked.

"He split," Leonardo said flatly. "He heard his mermaid buddies whistle for him, and he put us both in danger to get away from me."

"You didn't try to stop him did you, Leo?" Raphael asked. "He told us nearly a dozen times he wasn't going to let us stop him from helping them."

"Did you say whistle?" Donatello asked. "Mermaids don't whistle. They sing."

"It wasn't an ordinary whistle," Leonardo said tensing up. "I didn't so much hear it as I felt it through my whole body."

Both Raphael, and Donatello stared at him stunned. "That was it then," Raphael said slowly. "We heard it too, or whatever. How do you know it came from his mermaids?"
"He told me, " Leonardo explained. "He said they were calling him, and he wouldn't explain to me why it was so important that he go to them."

"He probably wasn't thinking about it right then," Donatello said calmly. "He was just thinking of finding who called him."

"Maybe whoever it was needed help." Raphael said. "Maybe we should go lookin' for Mikey."

Leonardo sighed. "You guys can go if you want to," he said as he walked away. "As for me I'm washing my hands of the whole mess. If Mikey wants to hang out with the mermaids instead of his family, let him."

Raphael looked at his brother and frowned. "But Leo,"

But Leonardo was adamant. "No buts about it, Raph. We've been trying to help Mikey all week, and he not telling us anything. I'm done with it, I'm going to bed." With that Leonardo went up the stairs and left the two of them alone below.

Raphael stood there dumfounded for a few seconds before he found his voice. "Now what the shell was that-" He began making for the stairs. Donatello stopped him.

"Leave it Raph. He's not in the mood to listen to any of us right now," Donatello said sadly.

Raph tensed slightly then gave in, letting his anger flow out of him. "I'll say, what crawled up under his shell? Why did he leave Mikey alone out there when he may be running into trouble?"

Splinter who had been reading on the couch now rose and joined them. "What did Leonardo believe the whistle meant?" The aged rat asked.

"He thought it was one of the mermaids," Donatello answered, "But like I said, if they wanted to call Mickey they'd sing for him not whistle."

"It does not matter what you believe, or even what is so," Splinter explained. "But what Leonardo believes that drives him."

"He thought the mermaids were calling Mikey," Raphael said slowly. The idea he was beginning to have wasn't setting well with him. "The only time Leo gets wound up so tight that he stops thinking is when he thinks he's screwed up."

"There is one other time when Leonardo is distressed to the point where he does not think," Splinter told them sadly. It is when he believes that has not mastered his skills, and now he believes that he has not mastered himself."

"What do you mean sensei?" Donatello asked.
Splinter sighed and looked back towards Leonardo's room. A ninja's greatest weapon is his mind and his body. Leonardo has strove to master both. Ever since his encounter with the mermaid he has felt as if she had shattered the disciplines of his mind."

"You mean mind control," Raphael said thinking slowly. "I don't know, sensei. It never felt like that to me. It's just that...." Raphael paused trying to figure out the words he wanted to use."

"You just wanted to do what she said," Donatello said, voicing what Raphael couldn't. When I tried to stop her from leaving the lair, and she asked me to let her go....." Donatello closed his eyes for a second then said. "It's inside us whatever this is. It hit me not when she spoke, but when she looked at me. Then I knew I had to help her."

Splinter nodded. "It is this feeling that Leonardo fears. Not the fact that he feels he must obey, but the fact that he can not master his feelings."

"We have to understand why we feel this way, before we can fight it," Raphael said. "And none of us understand it at all."

"It is his lack of control that Leonardo fears. Until he masters these new feelings, I fear he will avoid the mermaids, and Michelangelo, despite the need for aid.

Raphael nodded. That was why Leonardo had left Michelangelo. "Then the rest of us will just have to pick up his slack."

Coming Soon Chapter 9 Attacked!!

The eerie song filtered through the lair for ten minutes. April watched as Donatello, Raphael and Splinter sank into a deep sleep. April was wondering what the purpose of this song was when suddenly the pitch and tempo changed.

What is Lillian doing now? April wondered. Did the change in song mean anything? She didn't expect an answer, but a few seconds later she heard Raphael call her. "April?" he said sleepily.

"Raphael?" April asked kneeling at his side. His eyes were closed, his breathing was slow and even. He was still asleep, but somehow Lillian was using him as some kind of mouth piece.

"April, you gotta let Mikey's friend Lillian in. She says she's got something that will make him better."

"Make him better?" Raphael had gone on about the healing water the mermaid had used on him, and Leonardo as children. Was that what he meant?

Raphael just kept on with the message. "But you gotta let her in April. She won't ask us too. It has to be by your will, your choice."