A/N: - I trust you all remember what happened in the last chapter – Leo was about to find out what the whole 'three days' thing meant as the three days are now up. Well, read and enjoy but don't forget to review afterwards! And big yay, I'm finally in my summer holidays! I can't believe they are here at last!
Nothing happened.
Nothing happened for the next half an hour – the next hour – the next two hours. Shocked and confused, Leo emerged into the Living Room where the rest of the family waited with bated breath.
"Nothing," Leo murmured hoarsely.
"You're serious? Bro, were it not for the fact that Sensei were here then I would kill you!" Raph snapped viciously.
"Raph, not now," Donnie tutted, making his way over to Leo and laying a hand on his brother's shell, "you ok?"
"Fine…" Leo trailed off.
"You won't be," a voice cackled, "sorry we're a little late!" Ramakha stood in the doorway, flanked by his brothers, examining his spear with the utmost scrutiny and a bored look on his face.
"How did you get past the security alarms?" Donnie gasped, astounded by the sudden appearance of their foes.
"We have our own hidden qualities you never knew about," Roshiri grinned.
"Three days are up, Leonardo," Ronald made eye contact with the baffled Leo, causing the turtle to glower at him, "oh, now don't be like that – we don't want you to die with that look on your face."
"It was a trick," Leo snarled silkily.
"A trick? No, Leonardo, not a trick – you see, we figured that you would get all paranoid about the whole 'three days' thing and then think it was a trick when nothing happened – but this is only the beginning," Roshiri pulled out what looked like a remote control from inside his cloak, "this is the key to whether you live or die. One push of a button and the poison is released into your veins. How to prevent that fate? Kill your brother?"
"Which brother?" Leo dared them to continue.
"Which brother? Well now, which one would it be most difficult for you to kill? Donatello because of his gentle nature, Michelangelo because he is your baby brother, Raphael because of how similar you are…no, how about we make this a little more interesting…we'll fight you and your brothers while the poison is running through you – if you can defeat us and gain access to this," he held up the button, "before it is too late then you can release the antidote into your body and have a chance of survival…"
"Roshiri, don't---" Raph was cut off by the human man pressing the button on his control, causing Leo to convulse in agony, falling to the floor. Throwing a smoke bomb to the floor, Ramakha barked for his brothers to disappear. Crawling through the smoke and desperately trying to reach his brother, Mikey attempted to keep his head under the smoke in an effort to breathe easier.
"We said three days," Roshiri's voice echoed round the smoke-filled lair, "we didn't say from when. You have three days to find us and beat us – three days before your brother is too far gone – three days before we get our revenge at last!"
As the smoke cleared, Mikey was pulled to his feet by Donnie.
"Where's Leo?" Mikey glanced round. Donnie pointed to where Raph was helping their eldest brother up. Rushing over, Mikey hugged his brother tightly, "dude, you're shaking like a leaf!" he almost sobbed, swallowing the lump in his throat – now wasn't the time – Leo was nowhere near beaten yet. Raph shuddered and smiled faintly at Donnie, who was making a few calculations in his head.
"What're you thinking, bro?" he inquired softly.
"Nothing much…just trying to figure something out," was the absent-minded reply.
"You gonna tell us what?"
"No…" Donnie trailed off, looking up a few moments later and taking in the state of his three brothers, "Raph, get Leo back to his room and stay there. Mikey, you come with me; we're gonna take another look at that dart."
"Sure thing, Donnie," Mikey gulped and pulled away from Leo, who wasn't responding to anything or anyone; lost in his own world. Following his brother into the lab, he cast one last forlorn glance back into the Living Room, where Raph had put his good arm around Leo and was leading him back to his bedroom.
Sitting Leo down on the bed, Raph tried to get his older brother to talk to him; even one word would have been enough.
"Shell, bro, you gotta talk to me here – tell me how I can help ya!" he pleaded.
"We have to find that controlling device," Leo answered quietly.
"Yeah, but how?"
"We have to find that controlling device,"
"You told me that already, but---"
"We have to find that controlling device,"
"Leo, you're really freaking me out right now – snap out of it!" Raph slapped his brother gently round the face and Leo barely moved. He blinked, but that was about it as far as reactions went.
"We have to---"
"---find that controlling device. I know, bro, okay? And we will, I promise. You're always looking out for us – let us look out for you."
"I have to find it – you guys shouldn't have to put yourselves at risk here. I don't want them shooting these darts into any more of you."
"Well, at least you're sounding like your old self again," Raph sighed, "but we're coming and we're helping whether you like it or not."
"GUYS!" Donnie yelled, making Leo and Raph start. The two turtles leapt up and ran into their brother's laboratory to find him and Mikey bent over the dart, which was lying under the microscope, "look at this," Donnie pushed Leo forward to look down the microscope.
"It can't be…" Leo trailed off, venom now lining his voice, "how is it possible? We haven't heard anything of him since Shredder's death!"
"What is it?" Raph shoved his way through and looked for himself, "no way! He can't be working for them, can he?"
"That's what it looks like," Donnie sighed, taking off his goggles and hanging them up on their hook again.
"But I thought he would have taken the chance to be free of the whole Foot organisation and its crap," Raph's eyes were wide.
"Clearly not, Raph," Leo bit his lip, "looks like we can't get rid of him."
"Get rid of whom, my sons?" Splinter asked from the door of the lab.
"Baxter Stockman," was the reply his four sons chorused back at him in unison.
"We have only three days to sort this mess out," Splinter told his sons the next morning.
"We're pretty much aware of that, Sensei," Mikey grimaced, laughing a little nervously before looking to his three brothers, hoping one of them would say something.
"Donatello," Splinter continued, "do you know exactly what the effects of the poison will be yet?"
"No, not yet, Master Splinter – I'm still looking into it – all I know is that there's a little tranquiliser or muscle relaxant or something else that would slow the reflexes – the ideal scenario for our opposition." Donnie scratched his chin thoughtfully, "my next job is to figure out exactly what ratio of tranquiliser there is in comparison with the amount of poison and whatever else is in that dart. Once I know, I can then work to find out which poison it is, what its effects will be and if the other elements of it will counteract any of those effects."
"You'll do all that in less than three days?" Raph sounded sceptical.
"No, I'll do that anyway…whichever way things turn out…but I will do as much as I can today so that we can go into battle with full knowledge of what will happen."
"So we have to sit here all of today and do nothing?" Raph's temper was beginning to flare up and he stood hastily, only to be pulled back down onto the sofa by Leo, who shot him a warning look, "oh, don't look at me like that, Leo," Raph grumbled, "you ain't gonna make me feel guilty in the slightest, so quit it already!"
"As I was saying," Donnie spoke meaningfully, "I will do as much as I can today and hopefully, if we're lucky, we can seek the human brothers out tonight – tomorrow morning at latest."
"Ok," Mikey nodded.
"Fine," Leo agreed.
"Good luck, my son – you shall do what you expect of yourself plus much more; of that I am certain." Splinter smiled softly.
"No." Raph growled, "I will not sit here while one of my brothers is dying from some deadly toxin that has been shot into him and we don't have a clue what the shell is going on and are on a strict time limit here – our days are numbered, and the number is three – and you just wanna sit here and do nothing!"
"Nothing? Raph, without this information, anything could happen."
"Like what? We know that it's poison; we know we have three days and we know that we have to get that remote. So what is there to find out that's any more essential than that? I'm sorry, guys, but I can't stay here – I'll go insane…"
"Raphael, you will stay here and wait for the relevant and important information to be discovered."
"No, Sensei, I can't – I just can't!" Raph raised his voice a little and stood again. Leo rolled his eyes and stood up as well, turning his brother to face him.
"Raph, we are all staying here – none of us can take them on by ourselves, we need everyone's input – and you're input for the moment is helping Donnie in any way you can and not pulling any stupid stunts." Leo forced his brother to sit again and the hot-headed turtle scowled darkly, but relented all the same.
The four turtles and Splinter spent a busy day exploring every possible type of poison that could have been used and could have the time in which they worked controlled to the day but there was no such poison in any of Donnie's medical books, or in Splinter's books of ancient herbs and recipes, nor on the internet. It seemed they would have to look even deeper into it than they had first anticipated; they would need to find separate ingredients, not the whole poison as a package.
"Guys, take a look at this," Raph frowned at a picture of a herb in one of Splinter's books, "it's a herb that, and I quote, 'when injected into the victim, depending on the quantity used, can cause a high fever, double vision and eventually death. The effects will begin within two days and, depending on the concentration, death can occur any when from the third day to the seventh day. If used correctly, it can also be a remedy for…' blah, blah, blah, you get the idea." Raph stopped, having read the crucial part.
"Hmmm, does it list the chemical properties and how to test for it?" Donnie inquired, furrowing his brow in curiosity.
"Yeah, just there," Raph pointed at a spot on the page and Donnie snatched the book off him, also whisking away the microscope and several different items of scientific purpose. He returned about thirteen minutes later with a triumphant look on his face.
"Nice work, Raphy – it seems we have found another component of our mystery poison! I'll give it to you in percentages as it may be easier to explain. It seems that the mixture is ten percent tranquiliser, sixty percent of this herb and thirty percent of some other ingredient, or ingredients, that we do not yet know of."
"Excellent, so we have a lead now," Mikey grinned.
"I guess," Leo sighed, "but it doesn't solve the problem of the other thirty percent, does it?"
"Nah, but you gotta look on the bright side a little, bro – you guys are all way too morbid and depressing sometimes! At least we're more 'in the know' than we were fifteen minutes ago – look at it that way and it doesn't seem quite so bad."
"It's still pretty bad though," Raph shrugged.
"Raph, you're not helping," Mikey hissed through his teeth.
"Shuttup, Mikey," the other turtle hissed back in response, "so, Donnie, any bright ideas on what might be in the rest of it?"
"Not as of yet, no, but we'll get there – we've done well so far, right? We just need to find out what the other effects will be as we've found the fatal part."
"How do we---?" Leo began but didn't finish as, exactly on cue; his legs went weak and wobbly, giving way. He grabbed Mikey, who was shocked but held onto his brother tightly, and then slumped over, blacking out.
"Well, that would be one way to do it," Donnie sighed dryly, "now we need to find something that would induce blackouts – Mikey, take Leo to his room and we'll get started."
"Whoa, what happened?" Leo came round led on his bed about four minutes later, as Mikey was just about to leave the room.
"You blacked out, dude," Mikey turned back and sat on his brother's bed. Leo began to sit up but Mikey pushed him back down, "you aren't going anywhere until we know exactly what those bozos pumped into you."
"How long have I been out?"
"Only a few minutes, but it would be enough in a fight for them to kill you or kidnap you or something." Mikey spoke with obvious concern, "you feel ok?"
"Yeah, pretty much,"
"Pretty much?" Mikey raised an eye ridge.
"I mean, it feels as though my feet are strapped to blocks of lead or some other heavy metal and my joints feel a little stiff, but that's probably just from fighting."
"Even so, I'm telling Donnie anyway so he can look out for it. You gotta tell us if even the slightest thing is wrong otherwise we can't figure this out. Promise me,"
"I…I promise, Mikey." Leo smiled warmly.
"Well, you stay here – I gotta go see if they found anything else yet."
"I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not. You can't play the hero and the leader all the time, bro – you have to let yourself have a break."
"I don't want a break!"
"It's not what you want; it's what you need that matters. Wait a minute, am I imparting wisdom here? Ok, bro, we'll discuss this some other time, 'kay? Right now, you have to stay put." Mikey waggled his finger at Leo as if he were a naughty six year old that had just stolen from the cookie jar and then left, shutting the door carefully behind him.
A/N: - And there I stop. If you want to know how the poison works then you will have to read the next chapter where all will be revealed. I hope you liked this one – now review for me and I will be very happy! Shout-out time: -
Lioness Goddess: - Don't kick me! Lol, I love writing cliffies, don't you? And this could well turn into a horror movie – though I think I'll let EoaTS deal with the horror!
Chibi Rose Angel: - LN? And the guys may die…or one might…or none might…you never know evil grin.
BlueRaven: - Lol, not as quick an update as I would have liked it to be but there ya go! I'll try and make it faster! Thanks for your review!
Donnie's Girl: - I won't hurt Leo – but Roshiri, Ramakha, Ronald and Reginald might! Mwahahaha! Ahem…anyway, keep reading – I appreciate your reviews!
Spootycup: - I'm really pleased you like the story so much! Lol, the three days have been…suspended…as it were! But you wait…there is a shell of a lot of material to come in this story yet!
Pi90Katana: - Don't worry about it – just review when you can and I'll be happy! Lol, you won't like the hidden twist I have planned one bit, and no I'm not gonna suspend the three days again – I have more action to write!
