A great big, HUGE, whopping Thank you to MidnightHeir for the beta and mutation help. Also RATING CHANGE! Now Rated T rather than K+
Chapter - 8
Raphael and Donatello were sparring in the dojo again. Don was spending a lot more time on the floor than on previous nights, but every now and then he snuck in and knocked his stronger brother to the ground.
"How do you do that, Donnie?" Raph asked on one such occasion.
"Hey, it's not all about brute force, you know." Don shot back with a grin as he helped his brother to his feet. He felt something strange and lost his concentration on the fight. Raphael put him down efficiently. When he didn't get up right away Raph became quite concerned.
"You ok?" Raph asked.
"I… I think so." Don shook his head in an attempt to clear it. "I… think I should do something else for a while though."
Raph could see that Don's concentration had moved elsewhere and he nodded.
"I'll go get Mikey. He's supposed to be here anyway."
Before Raph could stop him Donatello had slipped out of the dojo in search of the orange masked turtle. He passed Leo's room and shuddered at the negative emotion he felt from his brother. It wasn't hard to tell that Leo was quite upset about this whole thing. Don really hoped he got over it soon. He continued on toward Mikey's room.
He heard his youngest brother's thoughts and really wished he hadn't. he hoped that it wasn't comics that Mike was reading and thinking these things about. He knocked on the door.
"Yeah." Mike called out.
"Are you coming down?"
Michelangelo knew that he'd been caught. Oh shell, did he hear that! What's he doing here? Mike glanced at the clock on his bed stand. I was supposed to be down in the dojo 20 minutes ago!
"My lips are sealed as long as those were Raph's mags and not your comics." Don said as Mike opened the door. He was embarrassed about having heard what his brother had been doing when he came up.
Michelangelo faced his purple masked brother. "Raph doesn't know I have them." I can't believe he caught me! Shell!
Don was fighting to contain his embarrassment at the situation. He cursed his still shaky ability to block thoughts out and fervently hoped that he would get control of the stupid telepathy soon. "I'm sure he doesn't. Don't worry, it will stay that way. Come on, down to the dojo."
After making their way in silence down to the dojo Raphael and Michelangelo sparred in the center of the room while Donatello sat off to the side trying desperately not to hear them.
Raphael hit his rubberized brother again only to have Michelangelo bounce off his carapace and return to his face. On the trip up Mikey executed a well-placed jab and knocked Raph to the floor with a laugh.
"Yeah, yeah Mikey, you got me." Raph conceded bitterly as he stood. A small groan from the side of the room alerted him to the trouble Don was having. "Why don't you run for a while," Raph suggested, "and I'll take him to the main room." Raphael didn't usually step in when situations like this arose, that was generally Leo's territory, but since said brother currently had his head up his… well, Leo obviously wasn't going to help, so Raphael did. Sure, he had always wanted to lead, but not like this.
Mikey didn't seem to terribly fond of the idea of running again, but glancing over at Donnie he knew that Raphael was correct in getting him out of there. He watched as Raph helped Don up and out of the room. Once they were gone Michelangelo started jogging. He made two laps around the room without incident, but on the third… One second Mikey was jogging at a nice leisurely pace, and the next he was on the opposite side on the room bouncing again. Strike three, you're out. He thought bitterly. Once he had stopped bouncing and could stand Mikey tried again.
"Hey Donnie, you ok?" Raphael asked. He had gotten Don as far away from everyone as he could, but this time it just didn't seem to be helping.
"Raph?"
"Yeah Donnie, I'm here." His brother wasn't looking at him, in fact Don didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular, at least not anything that Raphael could see.
"Raph, there's too many, it hurts."
"I'm the only one here, Don. You can do this. Make your mind your own; don't let them take it from you."
"No, there's so many, I can't…"
"You can."
"Raph, there are people…"
When Don didn't continue Raph had to prompt him. "What people Don, what are you talking about?"
"People, topside. Too near. Too many."
"You're not making a whole lot of sense. Are there people near the warehouse?"
Don didn't answer, his eyes were glazed over and Raph suddenly felt like he was losing his brother.
"MASTER SPLINTER!"
Michelangelo had heard the shout and came into the living area before Splinter could arrive. "Raph, what."
"He says there's someone up top. See if you can figure out who it is." Raphael ordered. "Might be a lot of 'em," he called to Mike's retreating shell as Splinter hurried into the room, Leonardo close behind.
Splinter knelt by his son and placed a paw on Donatello's forehead. He closed his eyes and dipped into a light meditation to see what he could learn. "Leonardo, Raphael" Splinter commanded after a moment, "Go help Michelangelo. There are humans near the warehouse. I will take care of your brother"
Raph and Leo were up and running before Splinter had finished talking.
"What are they doing, Leo?" Mikey asked from his spot in the shadows.
"I believe they are looking for us."
"Ya think?" Raph interjected in a sarcastic whisper. "Foot soldiers prowling our neighborhood crashing into old warehouses and you only THINK they're looking for us?"
"There could be another explanation, Raph." Leo insisted.
"Like what?" Raphael recognized that Leonardo had slipped into leader mode, and he found that he didn't mind. It was infinitely preferable to the way the blue masked turtle had been acting recently. Knowing that now wasn't the time to bring up grievances Raph switched to battle-readiness and let everything else drop, for now.
Leo didn't have an answer for Raph's question, so he didn't lie. He just said nothing and watched the Foot soldiers move on to the next warehouse.
"Hey Leo?" Mikey whispered. "Shouldn't we get this stuff out of here?"
Leo looked around at the warehouse. The Battle Shell was parked in the center of the floor, 4 Shell Cycles lined a wall and then there were the spare parts. Leo had no idea what they were going to do with all the stuff. While he was worrying about what to do Raph interrupted his thoughts.
"Hey Leo, cool it!"
"Raph, I didn't do anything." Leo looked at Raphael and knew that he must have done something, but he had no idea what. Michelangelo had a similar look on his face.
"Don't give me that." Raph insisted. "You were flashing hi-lighter yellow."
Leonardo growled at his brother and immediately turned bright red.
"Leo, you have to chill, dude." Mikey reminded him.
Leo took the moment to look down at himself and after a moment of panic was able to regain his mental balance. When he did so his skin turned blue. Leonardo was not a happy turtle, but he pushed his annoyance aside to deal with the Foot. He didn't even notice when he returned to his normal green.
Splinter dipped into a meditative state. He would need it if he was going to reach his son. He wasn't sure what he could do, but perhaps the technique he had used to save Donatello from the Triceraton mind probe several years ago would work in this situation as well. Seeking Donatello's presence he reached out. As he touched his son's mind he was astonished and almost overwhelmed by the turmoil, conflicting images and overall noise. He now understood what Donatello meant when he said people were too loud. Splinter was forced to back off a moment to collect himself before venturing once again into Donatello's mind.
Donatello, Splinter called out into the noise, hoping beyond hope that his son could hear him among the noise. Donatello, can you hear me? Splinter found himself in a large brightly lit room that didn't seem to have a single shadow anywhere. The room was filled with Foot soldiers who seemed to be looking for someone or something, except that they were shouting, every one of them. The images were all wrong. The sharp black forms of the soldiers were out of place in the bright light, and they cast no shadows. Anger, hatred, aggression and fear colored their thoughts. Wherever he was, the scene before him was terribly confusing, but he pushed it aside and searched for his son. Donatello!
Master Splinter! The turtle's voice was small and scared, but there was hope too.
His son still trusted him and Splinter wasn't sure he could help, but he would do everything in his power. Splinter sought Donatello's essence and wrapped his own around it.
Don was able to relax and pull himself together somewhat. Splinter's mental shield was able to block out most of the noise that plagued him and the shield grew stronger as time passed. Giving himself a mental shake he was able to take control of his own mind again safely hidden by his master's mental strength.
Donatello, I cannot keep this up indefinitely. You must learn control.
Yes, Sensei. Don didn't like the idea, didn't like it one bit, but he knew that Splinter was correct.
"Leo, there's no one out back! We can move the Battle Shell out there." Raphael called quietly from the back of the warehouse.
"Mike, can we get two of the Shell Cycles in the back, and some of these parts too?"
Mikey opened the back door and took a look. They'd often kept one of the Shell Cycles in the rig, but two, he wasn't sure, but it was worth a try. "Maybe, but not the one with the side car. That's going to have to go somewhere else."
"Too many of the Foot have seen Raph's put his in the elevator with the one with the side car."
"Right. Raph's and Donnie's in the elevator, yours and mine in the truck." Mike quickly got to work.
Raphael was already gathering up spare parts and tools that were scattered around the warehouse and tossing them into the Battle Shell. Leo kept an eye on what the Foot were up to. They were getting too close for comfort.
"Right, it's all packed up Leo, Now let's get this truck out the back." Raph informed.
They couldn't turn the rig on without alerting the Foot to their presence so instead Mikey and Leo pushed from the rear while Raphael put it in neutral and steered from the door as he assisted in pushing. They got the rig out the back door and a block away before Raph fired up the engine and moved it farther from their home. He parked the rig and raced back to his brothers. He regrouped with them on a warehouse rooftop two blocks down Laird from the warehouse they had set up as a garage.
Can you sense what I am doing? How I am doing this?
Don searched, tried to find the secret behind Splinter's shield. He latched onto what he could. As he did so, a few trees grew from the floor and shadows formed where they would have been expected.
Yes Donatello. That is correct. I am going to release my hold slowly. You must take over as I let go.
Yes, Sensei.
Splinter slowly relaxed his shield while taking care to not release more than Donatello could handle. When the shadows diminished or when the trees began to wither he took back some control before releasing more to his son. Splinter was pleased. A few short years ago Leonardo was the only one who he would have expected to succeed at a task as complicated as this, yet Donatello was doing just fine. It was slow going, but the turtle was quite up to the task. As time passed he noticed new features popping up in the once too white room. Foot soldiers disappeared, only to be replaced by trees, a small brook and green grass. In the decidedly peaceful outdoor setting he also noticed a Shell Cycle and some decidedly strange metallic creations. A small model of the solar system appeared floating three and a half feet off the ground. Splinter couldn't help but laugh at the juxtaposition in his son's mind. Some of the scene was in bright sunlight, and some of it was in shadow. One small corner almost seemed to suck light away from the rest of the space, and Splinter vaguely wondered what that place was. He wondered what lurked in the darkest depths of Donatello's mind. Splinter began to release control more quickly.
The three turtles peered over the edge of the warehouse and watched as the Foot continued to search for their home.
"These bozos are way too close." Raphael warned. It wasn't necessary, because Leo and Mikey were well aware of that fact. They just nodded in assent.
"Maybe we can draw them a little farther away?" Mike suggested uncertainly.
Leo nodded and led the way down the street. He easily jumped the spaces between three warehouses but as he made the jump to the fourth he saw himself getting thrown to the ground, hard. There was nothing to suggest what had done it, but he knew he was about to hit the roof in a painful way. He was plowed by Michelangelo a split second later. Leo landed with a crash while Mike bounced away. Raphael was at Leo's side in a heartbeat.
"Leo, Are you ok?" Raph whispered. He wasn't sure why he didn't just speak, the Foot would have to be deaf and blind not to notice a crash like that one, but all the same he felt the need to be as quiet as possible.
Leo sat up slowly and shook his head to clear the cobwebs. "Yeah, I think so. Where's Mike?"
Raph looked around and spotted his other brother. He had stopped bouncing, but a Foot ninja stood over him with his katana raised high and poised to strike. There was nothing Mikey could do to get out of the way and there was no way Raph or Leo could get to him in time. All the same Raphael tried.
Leo closed his eyes and watched in horror as the blade tore through his brother's plastron. NO! MIKEY! He looked over at his orange masked brother and was treated to the scene a second time, this time for real.
Raph had tried to get there, but it was too little too late. All he could do was take out the Foot soldier who had done the deed. He took a swing at the ninja and the solid connection sent the scoundrel flying. The ninja cleared the edge of the warehouse roof and flew 30 feet down Laird where he impacted on the concrete. Raph rushed to Mike's side and tried to keep his brother awake. Leonardo joined them shortly.
I don't go there very often. Donatello stated simply of the dark space in his mind after the Foot had been banished and his mental world returned to its natural state.
What do you mean, My Son?
Don shuddered. I just don't like it in there. When necessary I will go there, but I don't like that place. Before Splinter could respond Donatello's mood changed suddenly and he deftly ejected the rat from his mind as he had the Foot soldiers. If there was only one thing that could be said about Don, it was that he learned quickly.
In the split second it took Splinter to pull himself from his meditation Don had leapt to his feet and was hurrying after his brothers.
"Donatello, wait!"
"I'm sorry, Sensei, I can't wait." Don looked worriedly at the elevator to the warehouse. "They need me now."
Splinter nodded and watched his son run and disappear not into the elevator, but into through the door that led to the sewers.