Leonardo felt like he was floating. It had taken longer than normal to get to that state, but he'd finally attained the calm for which he'd been striving. Here there were no questions or uncertainties; there was no failure or disappointment. Renewing waves of peace lapped gently against his conscious mind like the tide on the seashore.
His heart-rate and breathing slowed as he lingered in the tranquil place. Leonardo was never able to remain there as long as he wanted to, but it seemed pointless to lament that now. He appreciated every second he could savor.
Leonardo had given himself completely over to the environment, which was something that he usually didn't do. The turtle preferred to hold back a portion of his awareness to stay grounded in reality at the same time. Today he was so frustrated by inaction that he abandoned himself in the hope of pursuing peace.
The breeze was picking up around him and his pulse increased with it, no longer seeming to be at rest. The wind wasn't a nuisance. Rather than floating, the air current made him feel like he could fly.
The bang of a door abruptly interrupted his ascent, but Leonardo was past the ability to be startled. The turtle had a strong sense of discouragement as he opened his eyes, however, it sounded like the real world was calling.
"Leo, he's on the phone! He's on the phone and Donny needs ya!" Raphael exclaimed.
"Who's on the phone?" Leonardo asked as he rose.
"The King of England, Bro, who do you think? Hurry up; Don said he needs you now!"
Leonardo picked up his pace rapidly, but froze when he saw Greg on his phone in the living area.
The man made eye contact with Leonardo, and motioned him toward the Lab emphatically as he spoke to the caller. "I can make the connection for you, Takashi, but you'd better be ready to deal with us directly! All the sneaking around in the background is pretty juvenile, don't you think?"
The blue-masked turtle hurried into the adjoining room to find his younger brother already on his laptop, and Jazz behind one of the terminals at the desk. "What's going on, Don? Can you trace him through Greg's signal?"
"It's all a matter of timing, Leo!" Donny returned. "I've never gained control of the satellite in less than five minutes! I'm hoping that Jazz's distraction can shave off some of that wait, but I need your help too! Take the phone from Greg and keep Takashi on the line for as long as you can! It's possible…" Donatello trailed off with a curse. "He just hung up on Greg!"
"Don, he'll call back," Leonardo said evenly. "It sounded like Greg was trying to barter with him to give us an opportunity to talk. Get inside your satellite thing and be ready to trace him. I'll go wait with Greg just in case he calls back, and I will do whatever it takes to keep him on the phone."
"Promise him the moon if you have to, Leo! Operating in reverse through Greg's signal is going to take me a couple of minutes on top of what I have to accomplish with the satellite!"
"Breathe, Don," he urged him. "You can do it." He cast a quick glance over at the young woman sitting behind a keyboard. Jazz looked more energized than he could ever remember her appearing. Leonardo focused on Donatello once more. "I'm going to join Greg. Do you want someone to tell you when Takashi calls back?"
"I'll know," Don said distractedly. "I'm already focused on the signal coming from Greg's phone, waiting for it to make another connection. Go, Leo!"
Greg held up his hands helplessly as Leonardo reentered the living area. "I was trying to keep him on the phone, Leo. It just wasn't enough to—" The vibrating cell phone on the coffee table cut off the rest of his sentence. The man stared down at the device for a beat, and looked at Leonardo. "You take it. He wants to talk to you."
The turtle calmed himself with a deep breath before he picked up the phone. "Hello?" he greeted emotionlessly.
"It feels good to hear your voice, Tamonten," Takashi replied.
"You have no right to address the heavenly king," he told him.
"I am going to require your cooperation in this matter, Leonardo. I did not call to contact mere earth-bound creatures."
"As I've told you in the past, Tamonten will not speak with you just because you require him to. To approach a heavenly king demands humility; a trait you are sorely lacking, among other things."
"Do you understand what is at stake, Leonardo?" Takashi's voice cut sharply across the line. "I fear you are still viewing me through a small lens, and cannot perceive the grave threat."
"I've learned not to underestimate you, Takashi, but it seems you've learned nothing about us. You still possessed your life inside Prison, even if it was restrained. You're throwing that away with every threat that comes out of your mouth. We've showed you mercy in the past, which you've no doubt interpreted for weakness. We are fully capable of dealing strongly with you," he said meaningfully.
"You are behaving as if you have some type of advantage, Leonardo, but it is I who holds this city hostage by a thread. I spare no love for its people, or for you. I do not wish to speak with you at all, but the king who desires to remain elusive. If you are not willing to grant me an audience—"
"I'm not standing in his way!" Leonardo interrupted. "Don't you understand that he leads, and not me?"
"Then I suggest you try to reason with the king, Leonardo, else I have nothing more to say to you."
"All right, hold on! Don't go anywhere," Leonardo ordered, his mind racing. I have to make it convincing, or he'll be gone in five seconds. What would the Shitenno say? How would he respond?
The turtle took a silent breath and plunged ahead. "I grow tired of your demands, son of Man, and even wearier of your arrogance," Leonardo proclaimed in the monotone he'd used in the past. "For what purpose do you wish to speak with me? Do you imagine that I can be as easily swayed as your underlings?"
"Why did you choose this place, Tamonten?" Takashi asked.
It wasn't a question that Leonardo expected, and he decided to answer vaguely. "Of the great matters of heaven and earth, your feeble mind cannot comprehend. We are here in this time and place because it was appointed so, or do you not realize that even we as the heavenly kings receive orders of our own?"
"It feels to me like the ultimate betrayal," Takashi said. "You concern yourselves with these American meddlers, those who invaded and have occupied our homeland for decades. How can you not see them for the blight that they are?"
"I see the blight of your heart, son of Man, and you have received far too many opportunities to renounce it."
"What do you intend to do with me, Tamonten? Will you destroy me, while you blindly allow our enemy to rule?"
"Our hosts are content—"
"I am not speaking of your hosts," Takashi cut him off. "I am referring to the country in which you choose to reside and protect."
Sayuri's right, Leonardo realized. This isn't just about us. He's got issues with the United States as a whole, and he intends to do something drastic.
"You dare interrupt me, son of Man?" Leonardo's voice narrowed dangerously.
"I beg your pardon, Tamonten, but my time is short. I have many things to accomplish today. While it is a thrill to speak with you, it is also clear that we will never agree on a number of things. You possess a deep love for this country."
"We value all life," Leonardo retorted. "Even one such as yours, which is why you were not brutally killed when last you faced my host. Be assured that if you continue your senseless assault of the innocents, mercy will be completely withdrawn."
"You can tell your host that I am ready for him, Tamonten. I may have underestimated his ability before, but that is a mistake I will not repeat. I rather look forward to seeing him again and evening the score."
"I am certain that you will try," Leonardo stated as evenly as possible. "But what of the people of this country who have no means by which to defend themselves?"
Takashi laughed scornfully. "If one cannot live with causalities, one is not qualified to rule."
Leonardo clenched his jaw angrily, canceling out the urge to curse at the man. "Their bloodshed is dishonorable in my sight," he proclaimed. "Are you so afraid to meet with us face to face that you will continue waging a 'war' on those who cannot fight back?"
"I have not stopped you from coming to me. What are you waiting for? If you are in such a hurry to deal with me, then come, Tamonten. If you are waiting for me to set up a meeting with your hosts, it is going to take a little more time. Thank you for deigning to speak with me, but I must be going."
"Takashi—" Leonardo called after him, even though he heard the click on the other end. The turtle lowered the phone in slow motion as fear pulsed through his veins. He's got a grudge against the United States. I should have expected something like this. I should have known!
"Leo!" Greg's voice broke him out of thought, and he looked up at the man.
The blue-masked turtle shook his head morosely. "I lost him, and I don't think he's coming back any time soon."
"No, Leo! We got him!"
"What? It worked?" Leonardo leaped up and ran for the Lab. "Don, are you sure? You've got his location narrowed down?"
"As long as he holds onto that phone," Donatello said without glancing up. "It was beautiful, Leo. It took 90 seconds to get control of the satellite, and from there I was only backtracking through Greg's signal. Now that Takashi's phone is tagged—"
"You never really explained what that means," Leonardo interjected.
"I branded him with a digital signature, which gives me the ability to track the phone."
"But Takashi won't know that it's there?"
"No more than the typical cracker who's dumb enough to attack one of your brother's gatekeepers." Jazz snorted, rolling away from the desk. "That was off the chain, Donny! Did you already give the satellite up?"
The purple-masked turtle seemed to be repressing a smile. "I only borrowed it temporarily, Jazz. You did well. The panic you created was so effective that I was able to sneak right through the madness. I couldn't have done it that quickly without your help."
"You need to clone yourself, and you'll be good to go," she said impishly. "You just made my life, in any case."
"Then where's Takashi?" Leonardo asked suddenly.
"He's on the move currently," Don supplied. "I'm going to keep the tracking program open, and I'll watch his comings and goings. He has to settle down eventually, and my guess is that the rest of the Akiudo will be there too."
Leo nodded. "I'm going to call Kelley to tell him where we're at. Nice job you two…you just broke this thing wide open."
Greg was standing in the doorway behind him, and Leonardo promptly handed his phone back to him.
"Kelley should probably join us," the man suggested. "His family is already out of the picture, and he's the one who got us all started on Indian Point this morning."
"I agree; I'll invite him to come back. Once we have the Akiudo's headquarters nailed down, we're going to have some swift strategizing to do."
Leonardo stepped back into the living area and dialed Kelley on his phone. The man answered wearily on the fourth ring, and the turtle instantly recalled he hadn't had much sleep.
"Oh, shell, I forgot you're running on empty," Leonardo exclaimed.
"I'm awake," Kelley stated. "What's going on?"
"We got a call from Takashi, and Don was able to trace it this time."
"What? How? Where is he?"
"Takashi's on the road right now. Donny's watching him, and he'll let us know when the signal from the phone becomes stationary."
"How is he tracking the phone?"
"I'm not sure if you want to hear the answer to that," Leo replied evasively. "But Takashi doesn't know that we're on to him. If we're going to catch him off guard, this is our best chance. We'll start strategizing soon, and I thought you'd want to be in on it."
"I'll be down there as soon as I can."
Leonardo nodded. "I'll come around to meet you again. We've got a lot more to talk about."