Thanks for all the reviews. Keep them coming. On to the next chapter.
Ch 5 Missing Pieces.
"How is this possible!?" Donnie cried as he ran to his lab, followed by his family. "None of the alarms went off, and it's so far deep into the sewers no one should have been able to just come across it, even by accident." He quickly ran to his computer, switched it on and began typing away at the keyboard. "How could someone have found it?" He muttered.
"The ring." Leo said, almost absentmindedly. His family turned to look at him curiously.
"Leonardo?" His father inquired.
"The ring." He repeated. "It led them there." His face had a look of concentration on it as though he were trying to remember something.
"It led who there?" Mikey asked, walking over to him.
Leo looked up at his family. "Whoever found the items." He told them coming out of his thoughtful gaze. "Probably Shredder or his goons...they used the ring."
"The ring that turned you into a baby also helped Shredder find the rest of the Tengu items." Raph sounded somewhat dubious.
"How do you know this Leo?" Donnie asked.
"I...I'm not sure." Leo told them, narrowing his eyes. "I just know that's how they did it." He looked at his brothers and Sensei. "I can't explain how I know, I just do."
Splinter and the other turtles looked at Leo with intense curiosity.
"Perhaps the ring and sword of Tengu had more of an effect on you then any of us realized." Splinter mused. "Is there anything else you would like to tell us Leonardo?"
Leo looked down at the floor. He wasn't sure if he could even begin to explain the strange feelings he had been dealing with let alone the voice he had been hearing. He didn't even understand it, so how could he explain it.
Leo sighed heavily and looked back up at Splinter. "Not right now Sensei." He finally said.
Splinter put a hand on his shoulder. "When you are ready then." Leo nodded and Splinter gave him a smile of understanding and encouragement. He then turned to the rest of his sons. "Go and check out the storage facility." He told them. "See if you can figure out how they were able to take these items without alerting anyone."
The four turtles made their way further down the sewers toward the storage area where the Mutaniamls had hidden away the Tengu artifacts. As they walked, Donnie tried to figure out the many ways someone could have gotten around his security system. But he was certain he had accounted for each and every one of them making sure it would have been next to impossible for someone to get around his many alarms.
"Face it Donnie," Raph told him. "The system was hacked. How else could they have gotten around it?"
"I don't know Raph." Donnie replied as he continued to check the security system through his t-phone. "If anyone had hacked the system, tried to disarm it or even tried to somehow get around it in anyway, the alarms would have gone off. My computer would have given off a warning signal and the cameras would have caught the person or persons on tape." He shook his head in disbelief as he continued to try and figure it out. "It just doesn't make sense!"
They reached the small storage room in just under an hour. As they walked, all of them began to realize that not too far away was the same place Leo's brothers had found him only hours earlier.
"Kind of a coincidence, don't you think so fearless?" Raph asked him.
"That's all it is Raph." Leo responded, trying not to let his brother get to him. "Just a coincidence."
As they entered the small room, they were happily surprised to see Slash and his team were already there going over the room in hopes of finding something that would tell them how the items were taken.
"Any leads?" Leo asked as he watched Mikey give Leatherhead an exuberant hug.
"None yet." Slash replied. "We've searched over this whole room and there is no sign that anyone was ever here."
"I've looked over the video feed and all we can see is an empty sewer." Dr Rockwell said as he floated over and handed Donnie the camera. "Perhaps if you take it back to your lab Donatello and see if your equipment can possibly find something that may tell you what happened."
Donnie took the camera and switched it on. The other three turtles gathered around him as he played the last twelve hours in fast forward. "Looks like your right Doc." Donnie told him. "Nothing but the sewer."
"What about that shadow." Leo asked.
"What shadow." Asked Leatherhead
"There is a shadow on the camera at about three thirty this morning." Leo told them. "It went right into the room."
His brothers and friends stared at him with puzzled faces. Donnie rewound the tape back to the time Leo mentioned. They watched the tape play out before them not seeing any sign of a shadow. They looked up at Leo curiously and noticed he stared at the video with widening eyes, his breathing became faster and his jaw dropped. He was seeing something they weren't.
Leo saw the shadow walking across the sewer floor, but unlike before where the shadow just walked into the room, this time it stopped and looked at the camera and pointed. Leo felt goosebumps on his arms as the shadow seem to stare right at him, almost right through him. He watched the shadow open it's mouth and speak. "Satsugai-sha." The same name he had heard earlier that morning then slowly disappear.
Leo remembered the time he had gotten out of bed, it had been after three in the morning. According to the tape, the shadow showed up at around three thirty that morning. He wondered if the shadow was the same being he had been fighting when his brothers found him.
"Leo?" Donnie spoke softly to him."What do you see?" He placed a hand on his shoulder and jarred him slightly. "Leo?" He called again this time his voice slightly louder.
Leo blinked his eyes and looked at Donnie with a confused look. "What did you see?" Donnie asked again.
Leo looked back down at the video and saw the shadow no longer there. It was clear that what he had seen in the video they had not. "I'm not sure." He whispered. He steeled his eyes and looked back at them. "Let's get back home and have the video analyzed Donnie." His voice now a demanding tone. His brothers and the Mutanimals watch Leo suddenly turn and head back toward the lair.
"Is Leonardo alright?" Pigeon Pete asked.
"We'er not sure." Mikey answered, his eyes filled with concern.
"We think he may still be feeling the effects from the Tengu ring." Donnie told them as he secured their storage room.
"I have a degree in animal biology and psychology." Dr Rockwell said as he hovered by Donnie. "If you think he needs some assistance. I would be happy to lend my services Donatello."
Donnie rolled his eyes. "We'll let you know." He and the other turtles began the walk home after their brother while the Mutanimals turned in the opposite direction to go back to their lair.