Chapter 1:
(Donnie's POV)
I jumped slightly when I hit the ground; only to open my eyes and find myself surrounded by a soft glow. At first, I had to wonder if I was really dead, until I discovered I was lying on the bed of what appeared to be an advanced C.A.T. scanner.
Feeling the uncomfortable constriction of a breathing mask over my face, I tried to lift my hand to remove it, only to come to the understanding that I was being held down by several metal cuffs. But instead of panicking, I just calmly took in this new information and looked around again before finally spotting a mechanism above me.
Studying it momentarily, I came to understand that it wasn't the control panel, but it would still work for what I needed.
The code of multicolored numbers that appeared before my eyes at this point allowed me to casually break into the machine, unlock the firewalls around its main server elsewhere in the room, before finally forcing it to turn off and release me.
Which it did without any complaint.
Once again, I lifted my hand to remove the mask, this time actually able to accomplish the task as the cuffs retreated and the machine opened up to let me out, giving me a chance to breath some real air for the first time in who knew how long.
Judging by the soreness of my body, I'd been lying there for a few days at least, but I didn't really care too much about that at the moment as I moved to find my feet again, only to nearly collapse.
I was lucky there was a table nearby for me to cling to, or I wouldn't have been able to avoid hitting the floor, but I still needed to rest in response to the unusual amount of energy I had been forced to use for the seemingly simple task, however worrying about it now wasn't going to help me, so I distracted myself with looking around again which eventually ended when I discovered what I was wearing.
"How long have I been here?" I asked absentmindedly as I took in the black suite, not unlike the ones the Black Gators wore, though not quite as complicated. Clearly, its only purpose was to break the connection I had with my brothers, for I couldn't sense them at all.
Deciding it was better to file this information away for now and think about something else before I gave myself a panic attack; I slowly decided to start looking for a way out of the room. However, when I found it, I quickly took notice of the two forms in the matrix of code over my eyes that were clearly two guards on the other side of the wall.
Too weak to take them on, I decided to try something else and used my new found ability to activate the nano-bots in their blood under my own command before forcing them to self-destruct.
When I heard two bodies hit the ground a second later, I took it as my Q to carefully maneuver myself over to the door, reprogram the control mechanism into the unlock position and walk out into the hall as the door opened for me, where I quietly reached down to check that both men were still alive.
Filing that move away to be used again, I pulled myself back onto my feet with the help of the wall and started following it in an attempt to find an exit.
…
Admittedly, I found it a little weird how causally my mind was picking up on the technology around me, creating loops for the cameras so I wouldn't be seen, knocking out more guards, so I didn't have to fight and all the while searching the databases for anything that could help me escape.
I knew I hadn't been able to do this stuff before, but somehow it just felt – natural.
I needed to take a break about every other hall or so, as my body was still unusually weak and disorganized. But I made the best of it and looked up when a map of radio waves alerted me to the fact that there was a signal nearby that I recognized.
Calmly moving myself to the door I reached out to push a button on the wall causing it to open and inform me that it was just a supply closet, but I smiled as I discovered my gantlet as well as my surface-adapters sitting on a nearby shelve.
Looking around as I picked them up and put them on again, I also noticed my staff leaning against a wall which I immediately brought into my hands where its presence became more comforting then I would have ever imagined.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find the rest of my gear and came to the depressing conclusion that it was probably destroyed when the Barron decided that it was of no use to him. This made me angry for a moment, as a lot of that stuff had been given to me by my loved ones.
So, I was understandably upset as I meandered from the room again, but quickly came to the realization that I had more company. But I found myself happy for something to hit this time, as I held up my gloved hand and manipulated the power within through my new mental connection to technology, causing a wall of purple energy to charge down the hall, taking the small battalion of guards to the floor like a translucent bulldozer.
Unfortunately, this left me with the tiring task of finding a path between them; as they now blocked my way, but, at least, I'd gotten my frustration out – and they hadn't seen me – that was always nice.
However, as I maneuvered past the last of them something caught my attention and I looked back at one to pull up a program from his suit; which displayed a live feed from a prison cell, with a prisoner I recognized.
Zira.
…
"This is getting old," I mumbled to myself sourly as I leaned against my staff for support. My strength should have been improving by now, but it seemed to only be getting worse and all this damn walking certainly wasn't helping.
I let myself casually lean against the opposite wall as I reached my destination and looked at the door to the cell, before working though the numbers on a locking dial in my head until everything lined up and I'd broken the code; causing the door to slide open.
I wasn't surprised that she didn't come out right away; clearly she thought it was just her captors again, but I wasn't really patient enough to wait for her to learn otherwise, we still needed to find a way out of this place.
"Zira," I called weakly, complaining under my breath for not being up for the short 5 foot walk to the other side of the hall, "Zira, it's me," I added tiredly and looked up from my heavy breathing exercises when movement caught my eye, where I attempted to give her a little smile as she stared at me in shock.
"Donnie?" She asked as if she though I was just a mirage and I nodded causing her to inch toward me where she reached out to touch my face, as if trying to prove to herself that I was real.
Apparently she had decided that I was a moment later, when she quickly reached out to hug me, which had me wincing painfully for a second causing her to pull back with an apologetic look about her.
"Hi," I offered poorly.
"Hi," She repeated with a little smile, before frowning as I tried to push myself off the wall, leaving her to look me up and down in an attempt to figure out what was wrong. "Are you okay? What did they do to you?" She asked, worriedly reaching out for me again.
"They trapped my mind in a computer," I informed her, trying once again to get up only to quickly find that I couldn't. But, thankfully, I had her now and she carefully pulled my arm over her shoulder to help me stand, "They were trying to break into my subconscious – and nearly succeeded," I admitted weakly as I hung at her side like a wet blanket.
"That sounds like my brother," She growled quietly.
"Any idea where we are?" I asked and she calmly shook her head.
"All I know is that Shredder gave us to the Barron, your brothers are probably still with Captain Pointy Paints."
"Wonderful," I complained as I moved to look up again and started searching the nearby computers for an exit strategy, "Go that way," I informed her as she walked us past a hallway, causing her to pause and look from me to the hall and back again.
"Why?"
"There's a – a teleporter," I told her tiredly, causing her to raise an eyebrow at me in question, clearly wondering how it was I knew that, "Just trust me okay, it's there."
"Okay," She relented kindly and quietly hauled me down the hall of my choosing, "Lead the way."
Hope it makes a little more sense now.
^-^;