Chapter 14-Turning up the Heat

Leo and Donnie arrived below deck and into the living quarters that were occupied by their red and orange-banded brothers.

They both looked at them with a concerned look on their faces, because they saw Raph securely holding on to Mikey who looked as if he just did a 20-mile marathon judging by his laboured breathing and sweating body, and he was snuggled close to his red-banded brother.

"Raph?" Leo said softly to avoid startling both his brothers as he walked slowly towards them. Raph instantly looked up from Mikey to Leo and Donnie after hearing his name and he looked at them with a worried face.

"Leo? Donnie? What da Shell is going on up there? It's making Mikey feel worse!" He said firmly before looking back at Mikey.

Leo and Donnie walked closer to where their brothers were positioned and saw for themselves that Mikey was not looking too good since they could see the slight tint of redness on his cheeks and forehead, where Donnie gently placed his hand to confirm that his temperature had risen again.

"Shell…The tea must have worn off by now if his fever has spiked this high…" Donnie theorised in a worried tone.

"Raph, we need your help in stopping the dragon from attacking us and the boat," Leo said firmly but softly to his red-banded brother before he watched him look up towards him with a surprised but worried look on his face before he spoke.

"I can't leave him, Leo! Not after I told him dat I would stay and not let anything happen ta him!" Raph then looked back again at Mikey, who suddenly opened his eyes slightly after he heard voices near him.

"Mikey?" Donnie said in surprise after seeing his brother wake up suddenly.

"D-Dudes…? W-What's…Ngh…" Mikey said weakly but loud enough for his brothers to hear before he winced again due to the pain.

"Take it easy, Mikey, we just need to borrow Raph for a bit. Is that ok with you?" Leo said softly to his brother with a warm smile whilst trying to stay calm about the current situation to prevent Mikey from becoming stressed and worried about everyone.

Mikey looked at Leo before he moved his head slightly to look at Raph, who still wasn't happy about leaving his baby brother alone. He then weakly raised his hand out for Raph to hold onto as he spoke with a small smile.

"G-Go on R-Raphie…they n-need y-you…I-I'll be fine…"

Raph could tell that Mikey was finding it hard to talk and to stay awake, but he knew that his brother was a fighter and would stay strong until he got back to the temple, so he nodded at him and then turned to look at Leo and Donnie again.

"Alright then, let's get dis over with," He said with determination burning in his eyes.

Leo and Donnie nodded before they helped Raph with laying Mikey back down gently on the stretcher and covering him with the blanket. Donnie then went to the water bowl and reached in it to get the wet cloth out and placed it on Mikey's forehead after wringing the excess water out, causing Mikey to sigh in relief once more.

"This is all I can do for him for now. We need to get going now," Donnie said sadly but with determination as he looked from Mikey to his older brothers, who nodded and followed him out, with the exception of Raph who gave Mikey's hand a squeeze before catching up with his other brothers.

Once they arrived above deck, the turtles noticed that the others were getting ready to attack the dragon again and Master Splinter turned to see his sons with a relieved look on his face.

"My sons…" he said as he watched them run towards him and the group.

"I heard dat ya needed me, so what do ya need me ta do?" Raph questioned whilst wearing a 'let's-get-straight-to-the-point' look on his face.

"We need you to heat up the water where the dragon is swimming in so that we can get it to fly into the air," the Ancient One answered him whilst pointing at the water where the dragon was in.

"Alright, I'm on it!" Raph said without thinking twice and the markings on his body began to appear and glow as he began to activate his chi spirit energy before he jumped onto the ledge of the boat and brought out his Banrai weapon.

"Come on, Banrai!" He shouted before he jumped and fired beams of red energy down into the sea where the dragon was swimming near the boat. No matter which direction the dragon tried to turn to in order to escape his attacks, Raph attacked from all angles to ensure that the dragon stayed in one place whilst he heated the water up.

Raph carried this on for a few more minutes before the others noticed that the water was starting to bubble as the temperature slowly increased. It was then that the sea dragon began to roar in distress and pain from the hot temperature and started to unfold and flap its wings, making it fly into the air.

"Alright, it's out of the water! Well done, Raph!" Leo complimented his red-banded brother who had stopped attacking just after the dragon left the water and was working on regaining his breath and energy.

"Thanks…bro..." Raph replied whilst panting to try and catch his breath.

"You should rest for a bit now, Raph. We'll take it from here," Donnie said as he placed a hand on Raph's shoulder.

Raph said nothing and nodded instead before he made a move to take shelter below deck and keep Mikey company once more.

"Ok, everyone, attack whilst it's still out of the water!" Leo shouted before he activated his chi spirit energy and attacked the dragon by firing a sword energy slash, which hit the large creature on its front and produced a huge gash that bled a lot.

The dragon roared in pain before looking at the group with angry blue eyes and began to prepare another hydro blast, but this time it was combined with floating ice shards. Everyone knew that once it was ready, the sea dragon will release its attack onto the group!

"Heads up, guys!" Leo warned everyone and was about to move away from its range, but Donnie put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"We need to stop that attack from hitting the boat or it will damage the whole deck, or worse destroy most of the boat to the point of causing it to sink!" Donnie explained in a serious tone.

Leo and the other acolytes looked at each other before nodding after they realised that Donnie was right, so they gathered together and prepared an attack of their own. Faragi, Joi, Adam, and Torra each summoned their spirit animal avatars whilst Leo and Donnie both activated their chi spirit energies with their weapons in hand.

"Alright, on my signal…" Leo instructed everyone whilst keeping an eye on the dragon's almost charged attack.

Soon, the sea dragon's hydro blast attack was ready and it was released without any signs of holding back. Once it was halfway towards the group, Leo shouted out his signal.

"Now, attack!"

At once, everyone aimed at the incoming blast and released their power directly towards it, which suddenly combined into one attack that shaped into a dragon and shown in rainbow colours as it traveled towards the blast and hit it head-on.

The group's attack was so strong that not only did they stop the sea dragon's blast, but it also carried on towards the dragon and struck it without being given the chance to acknowledge and avoid it, causing it to roar in agony from the injuries that it sustained from their attack.

"Bullseye!" Donnie shouted as he and the others watched the sea dragon blackout and fall from the sky at a fast speed and land heavily into the water, with no signs of it coming back up.

"Is it…dead?" Joi asked with a worried look on her face as she didn't want to fight the sea dragon again after what she and the others all went through to stop it the first time.

"I do not know, but I do not think it will attack us again anytime soon," the Ancient One answered whilst stroking his small beard in thought.

"Alright, then we should resume on heading back to the Tribunal temple immediately. Mikey is getting worse and he won't be able to hold on for much longer…" Leo said with determination before watching everyone nod and head back to their original posts on the deck, with Adam steering the boat once more.

"Come, my sons, we must go and check on Michelangelo," Master Splinter said to Leo and Donnie who nodded and followed him below deck.

When they arrived at Mikey's side, they saw Raph wiping his little brother's forehead with the wet cloth with a concerned look on his face, and it wasn't until Leo, Donnie and Master Splinter got closer to them that the reason for this was because Mikey was shaking under the covers and was breathing more quickly and deeply.

"What's wrong with him!?" Raph said firmly but quietly to his family after he turned his head towards them when he heard them come in.

Donnie immediately went to Mikey's other side and checked on his vitals and bandaged injuries with the others watching on with worried looks on their faces. A minute later, Donnie looked at them in concern before he spoke.

"Mikey's body is trying to fight the fever, but he is starting to show early signs of shock because of how high it is!"

Everyone's eyes went wide after hearing this before they saw Raph immediately take off the blanket and start to wipe more of the wet cloth onto Mikey's body to try and help his baby brother from getting even more worse.

"Here, let us help, Raph!" Leo said to his immediate younger brother as he held out his hand for Raph to pass him the wet cloth, which he did and decided to hold one of Mikey's hands for support whilst he watched his other brothers and sensei tend to him.

"Come on, bro…Stay with us…please…" Raph said desperately to try and encourage his baby brother to keep fighting until they got back to the temple.

Mikey barely heard him even though he could just see him through his fever-glazed eyes, but he could feel him judging by the strong grip on his hand, so he gave it a weak squeeze before he closed his eyes one more time.

When he woke up a moment later, he found himself surrounded by nothing but darkness and silence.