That Which Prowls in the Dark of Night
Disclaimer: The TMNT belongs to Mirage and other people not me.
Chapter 14 Hunting for Michelangelo
In the back of the Battle Shell Leonardo fidgeted uncomfortably. It wasn't like Michelangelo to go off on his own like that. Then again once when they were children a vision had sent him running out of the lair, and he wasn't found for hours. Still he couldn't help worrying about Michelangelo, and he couldn't help worrying about Raphael. Even though Raphael was paying attention to driving still seemed to be lost between what was going on here and what he was experiencing in his mind.
Raphael made another turn going further uptown. "We're heading toward Riverside Park," Donatello said. "And the police band says there's a fight in that area."
"There was also a fight brewing when we first encountered the dekabor," Leonardo reminded them. "Maybe it's causing this somehow."
"Man, don't you remember, Leo?" Raphael asked from the driver's seat, startling Leonardo. "Mikey and I saw what that thing was doing. It was infecting everyone with some kind of green gas. It was making everyone crazy!"
Leonardo shivered internally. He remembered how that thing made him feel, and he didn't like it. He never liked being out of control of his emotions.
Oblivious to Leonardo's discomfort Raphael suddenly snapped his fingers, and turned to glance at Annie before turning his eyes back to the road. "Hey, Annie," he said, "is there any reason that your dekabor would hate Mikey?"
The odd question helped Leonardo shake off his shivers. "Hate him?" He asked puzzled. "What do you mean, Raph?"
"I mean it hated him," Raphael snapped back. "During the fight Mikey came between me and that thing, and it backed off. It wasn't his weapons. They just passed right though it. It was Mikey. It was like he had this spell on him, but I know he don't."
"Do you think he has shields against magic or something?" Annie asked thoughtfully.
"Shields?" Donatello echoed. "Before meeting you, we didn't even know magic existed. How could Mike shield against it?"
"We didn't," Leonardo said, a small idea beginning to form in his mind. "But Mike has kept secrete friends from us before. Maybe they put shields on him or something."
Both Donatello and Raphael knew what Leonardo meant. For years Michelangelo had secretly visited a colony of mermaids deep below the city. The mermaids may very well be able to add some pieces to this puzzle, but all three of them knew that they couldn't tell Annie about them. Not only were they honor bound to keep the mermaids a secret, but due to their aquatic nature, they were instinct bound to keep quiet.
Suddenly Annie looked at Casey, and said, "Just tell me if I'm right or wrong. Michelangelo is very up beat. If he's not concerned with his own happiness, he's concerned about somebody else's. He's slow to get mad, and almost never holds a grudge. Basically he sees good in almost everybody, and he may not be serious about life, but he is definitely serious about living."
"Nailed it in one," Casey said impressed. "You're pretty good at reading people."
"That's not it, Casey," Leonardo explained as he faced the young witch. "Its Mikey's nature that protects him. Just like its Raph's temper that attracts the dekabor, its Mikey's positive attitude that repels it."
"Exactly," Annie said. "Too bad Mike took off on us before we could figure that out. He could herd the dekabor himself by just annoying it."
Raphael chuckled at that. "Trust me Annie. Mikey can drive anyone away by annoying them." He stopped the Battle Shell next to the park. "He's close."
"Can you still find him?" Annie asked. Raphael nodded. Leonardo could see that Raphael was still in that preoccupied state, but he seemed just as aware of what they were doing.
"This way," Raphael said as he opened the door to the Battle shell. He led them out to a path above a large field. About a hundred gang members were battling each other below. Leonardo drew his remaining katana and was about to go charging down there when Raphael stopped him.
"Leo, no! That thing is down there!" Raphael warned. He looked up at the young witch. "Annie?"
Before he could even ask, she said. "I can see it!"
"But Leo, Don, and Casey can't!" Raphael insisted. "How are they gonna help us, if they can't see it?"
"I can take care of that," Annie said. She rolled up her sleeves, but Raphael suddenly came between her and the others.
"No way Annie, You are not casting a spell on my bros!" Raphael said angrily.
"This isn't like what I did to you for crying out loud!" She said. "This will only take a minute!" She took Leonardo's hand in her own, and with her free hand she covered his eyes. After a few seconds of uncomprehensible muttering, she uncovered Leonardo's eyes. Instantly he winced.
"Ow!" Leonardo said surprised. "That's bright! It's almost like daylight out now."
"It will wear off, but it's the easiest way to let you see into the dekabor's range." Annie said. She moved forward and copied the spell on Donatello.
Leonardo squinted trying to get used to his new vision. "Will this let us find Michelangelo?" He asked.
"Possibly," Annie said. "It depends on what Samantha has done with him, and what plane she's taken him too, but you will see the dekabor"
"Whadda ya mean what plane?" Raphael asked. "Can't you just call your kitty cat back or something?"
"She's not exactly mine," Annie explained as she finished with Donatello, and began on Casey. "She was really my grandfather's familiar. When he died Samantha decided to stick around, but I have no control over her. A familiar is a partner, not a servant."
"What is she anyway?" Donatello asked blinking to adjust his eyes. "Every time I look at her she looks different."
"I'm not quite sure. She's not from our universe," Annie said. "Most of the time she's not even solid. She moves in and out of the spirit world like we do through doors. That's how she got Michelangelo out of the building."
"And if she can travel through other planes of existence, there's no guarantee we'll be able to find them." Donatello said worriedly.
"Mikey's here!" Raphael insisted. "He's in the middle of that fight down there somewhere. We can't see him, but I can see what he's seeing in my head." Raphael closed his eyes and oriented for a moment. "He's there!" Raphael pointed to their left.
"Right where the giant orange blob of jell-O is, right?" Donatello asked in a small voice. The others all looked.
"That's it!" Raphael said. "That's the dekabor! And Mikey is right there with it! I know he is!"
"Maybe he's what's making the thing back away," Leonardo observed. Sure enough the dekabor was backing away from a distortion in the air that seemed to shimmer in the air before it.
Despite his worry, Raphael grinned. "Finally It's about time Mikey's talent for annoying people did some good for a change."
Coming Soon Chapter 15 Hunting the dekabor
Michelangelo looked up in that direction and sure enough he could see the orange haze begin to form the creature. Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention as well. It was the Battle shell. "All Right! The calvary has arrived!" He moved back in front of the dekabor. "Give it up Decky. When Annie gets here, you're going back in the trans dimensional fridge!"
If the thing could be said to turn, it did so, facing the Battle Shell. The white witch? No, I shall not go back. There is food here for the taking. I will not go! The dekabor again spread its green gas around it and called more fighters in.
"Man!" Michelangelo muttered as he fought off his attackers. "I wish I could figure out a way to get that thing to stop doing that!"