Yes, I know it's been more than a year. I apologise for keeping y'all waiting.

I've made a Spotify playlist with music I associate with Yuki when I write (link on my bio)

Currently this chapter has only been proofread by ACSkywalker. My usual Beta is swamped with work and has not been able to get to it.


Ninja Tales

Volume 1 - Snowfall

Chapter 10


Leo had just walked through the door of the lair when he heard shouting.

"Now what?" he grumbled sourly as he went to investigate.

He quickly found the source: Raph shouting at Donnie.

"Well, have ya tried tracking her phone?!"

"Yes, Raph." Donnie hissed through gritted teeth, "It's the first fucking thing I tried!"

Leo sighed heavily as he walked towards his raging brother. To his surprise, the youngest turtle stepped in front of Raph and glared at him

"What do ya want?!" the red clad turtle snapped.

"You're not helping, ok?" Mikey shook his head, "I get it, you're worried about Yuki, but so are we! If you need to blow off steam, take it out on the dummies and let Donnie do his thing."

There was a pause before Raph let out a growl and stomped off.

Leo stared at Mikey in awe for a moment. The young turtle had really started showing his talent as a mediator as of late.

"Thanks lil bro." Donnie thanked him.

"No probs Don." Mikey shrugged, "Say, you haven't had lunch yet...I'll make you something."

"You really don't-"

"Yes, I do!" Mikey snapped, and tapped Donnie on the forehead, "You need sustenance to fuel that big brain of yours!"

Donnie sighed and nodded. There was no way he was going to be able to convince the youngest turtle otherwise. In turn, Mikey trotted off to the kitchen.

Donnie sighed heavily, "When did he become a bossy mom?"

"I'm glad that he's making sure you eat enough." Leo answered behind him. "You worry me when you get like this."

"Did you find anything?" Donnie asked, now sounding determined again.

"Nothing." Leo sighed, "It's as if she vanished completely."

Donnie was about to grumble something when his shell-cell rang. He glanced at the caller ID and answered without hesitation, "Angel? You have something?"

"I asked around." she responded, "A cashier at a local café recognised her picture, says she's a regular. She was there getting pie and coffee like three hours ago."

"The café on Lexington Avenue?" Donnie asked.

Angel sounded surprised, "Yeah, how'd ya know?"

"Leatherhead mentioned she sometimes gets him coffee and pie from there." Donnie frowned, "If she went to the café, that means her next stop would have been his lab."

"I see." she responded, "Keep me posted, 'kay?"

"Thanks Angel." he "Talk to you later."

"No sweat Don." she answered, "See ya."

As soon as the call with Angel disconnected, he dialled Leatherhead's number, only to get a recorded voice message. His heart sank.

Leo picked up the change in mood and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Straight to voicemail..."

He tried two more times, to no avail.


The turtles wasted no time in following up on their only lead, and very quickly made their way through the underground tunnels.

They nearly reached Leatherhead's makeshift home when they noted a strong metallic scent in the air.

Mikey frowned as he cautiously asked, "Guys, is it...?"

"Yeah. Blood." Leo gritted his teeth as he confirmed it, "Lot's of it, by the smell..."

They quickly located the source of the scent - large pools of blood were found in a corridor nearby.

"Fuck." Raph hissed, "Now what?"

Leo looked around briefly before stating, "We need to spread out and search for more clues."

"Spread out as in split up?" Mikey asked, looking a bit suspicious.

"Yes." Leo nodded.

"Are you mad?!" Mikey's eyes became saucers, "You do realise that's one of the biggest horror tropes, right?"

"This ain't a movie, Bonehead." Raph grumbled.

"No, he's got a point." Donnie shook his head, "Neither Yuki nor Leatherhead are pushovers, and if something got to either of them..."

"Hmm, you're right." Leo nodded solemnly. "How about pairs then?"

Mikey seemed satisfied with the suggestion, quickly dragging a confused Raph away to look around.

"I guess that leaves us together." Leo murmured as he watched the two leave.

Donnie nodded and crouched down to take a closer look at the blood pools.

Leo then turned to Donnie, "You think you could analyse the blood?"

"You want to know if it's Leatherhead's or Yuki's..." Donnie realised and shook his head, "I'd actually need a sample of their DNA for that."

Leo's face fell, "Oh."

"However, I should be able to narrow it down." he reassured a he pulled a vial out of his utility belt, "At the very least I would be able to tell if it's from a human or crocodile."

While Donnie carefully scooped up some of the blood, Leo stepped back analysing the scene. He started frowning deeply, which didn't go unnoticed.

"What's up?" Donnie asked.

"Drag marks." Leo pointed at a few smears, "But only here where there's the most blood. And no footprints."

Donnie was now frowning as well. "That's not normal."

Leo shell-cell rang as Donnie finished collecting the samples. He noted the ID and answered on speaker "Yes?"

"We found signs of a firefight." Raph explained quickly, "By the smell of it, I'd say it was quite recent."

"Did you find any casings?" Leo asked.

"Yeah." he grumbled, "Looks like 50 cal and I don't recognise the headstamp."

Leo's frown deepened. Why would anyone in their right mind use 50 caliber bullets in a confined space like the sewers?

"Found anything on that end?"

"Everything looks pretty suspicious." Leo grumbled, "There's no body, and barely any signs of it being moved or even a struggle."

"And then there's firefight on this side." Raph murmured, "Something sure smells and ain't the sewers."

"Don's going to run a quick analysis on the blood in Leatherheads lab." Leo explained, "Hopefully it tells us something."

"Don't the results usually take long?"

"I should be able to do some rapid tests." Donnie explained. "Shouldn't take longer than a few minutes."

"Kay, see ya."

"Please be careful." Leo instructed.

"We ain't braindead, Fearless." Raph scoffed before the call dropped.

Leo sighed as he clipped the phone back on his belt, "Ok, let's get those tests done."

Donnie nodded and they quickly made their way into Leatherhead's layer.

"Seems Yuki was here." Donnie murmured as he noted the empty pie wrapper and disposable cup on the desk.

"Uh…" Leo started sheepishly, "Anything I can do to help?"

Donnie blinked in surprise before nodding, "Sure, just let me get what you need."

He quickly gathered smaller vials in wooden frames, placing them on the open work table. After that he handed Leo a small dropper and the vial of the blood he collected, "Take this dropper, and place about five drops of blood in each."

While Leo set to work, Donnie gathered a variety of liquids, and lined them up on the table.

"So, what exactly are we doing?"

"Antigen tests." Donnie answered, "These are the antibodies you would normally find in human and crocodile blood."

"Antibodies?" Leo murmured.

"The natural defence against infections and foreign bodies." Donnie explained, "Different species have different types, so if we can see what the blood reacts to…"

"We'll be able to tell if it's crocodile or human?"

"Exactly." Donnie then proceeded to add a few drops of each of the liquids to the different blood samples that Leo prepared.

"And now?"

"We need to see how it reacts to each solution." Donnie spoke as picked the vials up, labelling each before carefully placing them in a small machine. He turned the machine on and the device whirred to life.

"What does that do, exactly?" Leo asked, curiously pointed at the machine.

"Oh this?" Donnie replied, "It's called a centrifuge. Spins the samples at high speeds to separate substances - meaning if any of them have a reaction, we'll be able to see it very quickly."

After waiting a few minutes, the centrifuge stopped whirring. Donnie opened it and checked each vial, one by one.

His expression darkened when he noticed one of the samples had formed clots. Leo pointed at the vial, "And that means?"

"It is indeed human blood..." He murmured.

Leo grit his teeth at the news.

As Donnie pulled out more of the vials and seemed slightly relieved when he found that another vial had clotted blood, "But it's not Yuki's"

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. It only reacted to the RhD serum..." he coughed slightly as he noted Leo's confused expression. "Meaning this blood is O positive, she has A negative."

"You know her blood type?"

"Of course I do." Donnie stated, "I organised the medical records for her identity documents, remember?"

"Oh, right..." Leo was slightly relieved, but wondered whose blood it could possibly be. He wasn't given time to dwell on the thought, as a loud crash resounded in the passageway outside.

The two froze, and just as they were getting ready for a possible fight, both of their shell-cells beeped.

Donnie quickly checked to find a text message from Mikey, muttering a string of curses after he read the contents.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, if Donnie was swearing like that, it couldn't be good.

Donnie lifted the shell-cell, showing the message.

Bishop's here


NOTES:

[1]
Blood antibodies are proteins that make up part of your body's natural defence.
Unfortunately not all people have the same blood antibodies, which can cause major complications in blood transfusions.
This is the main reason we have blood groups.

While there are countless blood antibodies that make up over thirty blood types and groups, the most commonly used classifications are the ABO and rhesus groups.

The ABO groups refer to the presence or absence of antibodies A and B.
A type blood has antibody A and B type blood has antibody B. AB type blood has both and O blood has neither.

The rhesus groups refer to the presence or absence of antibody D or RhD.
This is what makes a blood group 'positive' or 'negative'.