Good morning and happy Friday, readers! I am back with some more exciting scenes for you to read! Are you ready to see what's next? I do hope you enjoy!
As Mikey was in the process of catching up to his brother, Leo was trying to shake off what had happened. He did not know what to make of what he just experienced. Some sort of mind trickery was at play, and he had to figure out who was behind it. He kept replaying when he had first encountered the distressed mother desperately searching for her son, only to see her deteriorating on all levels after making an unsettling discovery. A cold chill surged through him, focusing on just getting back to his remaining brothers and trying to make some sense of this.
"Bro, I don't know if we're going to find this kid." Mikey said when he finally caught up to Leo. "There's a lot of weird stuff going on."
"I don't care... I will not let another one find themselves in harm's way, not when I'm right here!" Leo insisted. "How can this be happening when I'm right here?"
"Hey, whoa, calm down..." Mikey frowned when he saw how upset Leo was getting, grabbing his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up, Leo. He'll turn up."
"Mikey, we're not talking about some toy or something. This is a child. Just-... come on. I'll explain what I can when we find the others." Leo grabbed his arm, making their way back to the heart of the festival.
Donnie was looking over a scanning device he was making some tweaks to, Casey drumming his fingers on a picnic table and yawning loudly. April bit her lip as she paced about nervously, and Raph leaned up against the side of an attraction, his arms crossed. He lifted his head when he noticed Leo approaching with Mikey.
"About time you two boneheads got back here. Where the hell were you?" Raph asked.
"Mikey is going to vouch for me on this." Leo said, holding up the picture of Caleb, as well as the poster. "A woman just approached us, claiming she was looking for her son. She gave me this picture, telling us she lost him when she went to the trash bins on the back streets. I'm looking around, and I find this poster." Leo said, April taking the poster to read over.
"One of my colleagues covered this story. Leo, there's been an Amber alert on Caleb Walters for three days. His mother is dead. Investigators said she lost control of her car and completely wrecked it on the interstate." April said.
"Do you have a picture of the woman?" Leo asked her.
"Uh... hang on. Let me see if I can pull anything up from the database..." She said as she got on her phone.
"Leo, there's no way that the woman who spoke to you was this child's mother if she's dead. That's impossible." Donnie said. "It doesn't take rocket science to know that-"
"I'm not making this up, Donnie!" Leo exclaimed.
"Alright, alright... look. There must be some logical explanation." Donnie replied.
Casey threw his hands up. "Guys, can we just ditch this joint? We're not Scooby-Doo and the gang here, alright? Someone's just probably playing some prank and-"
"This is not a joke, Casey." Leo snapped at him. "You want to be taken seriously by the people in this city? Well, so do I. The only way that's going to happen, the only way people are going to stop getting hurt is if we do something about it."
"Hey... look at this, you guys!" Mikey smiled. "There's a balloon in this picture."
"Mikey, no one cares about a stupid balloon. Will you stop acting like a two-year-old for once?" Raph rolled his eyes.
"Oh my God..." April breathed, her eyes widening as she held up her phone. "Mikey is right."
They all turned to look at her, brows raising. "April, do you think maybe there was something in that ice cream you ate?" Donnie asked.
"Look. This is exactly like the balloons I saw in the alleyway last night." She held up the photo of the crash coverage. In the background next to the car wreckage, there was a single red balloon in the photo. Leo took the phone, scrolling down to where photos of Caleb and his mother were shown.
"That's her. That's the woman I saw just before. I know it. Look, Mikey." Leo said, the smaller turtle craning his head.
"Yeah, looks like her. And I saw a balloon too! I kind of got distracted before, but it led me to some delicious pizza and a weird clown guy." He nodded. Leo slowly looked at him.
"Did you just say you saw a weird... clown?" He asked.
"Yeah... he somehow knew my name. Actually, funny thing, after Donnie called on the communicator, he was gone." Mikey shrugged.
The group exchanged glances, wordlessly registering what Mikey had just told them.
Back at the turtles' underground abode, Leo watched as Donnie tried to tap into any surveillance devices active in that area. "There. Take a look at that angle. Okay. Stop. That's me about to turn that corner. That's where I found the poster. Okay, keep going. Any second now, the woman should be heading to where I am." As the seconds passed, his brows furrowed. "Where is she?"
"I don't see anyone, Leo. Wait, here comes someone... it's Mikey." Donnie replied.
"No. Something's not right. Go back a bit. She came before Mikey found me."
"Leo, you saw just like I did, no one came before Mikey found you. Or, maybe she came through another way-"
"There was no other way, Donnie, it's a dead end. I know what I saw."
"There's no one, Leo." Donnie frowned, glancing at his brother. Leo exhaled tensely, shifting his weight on his feet anxiously for a moment. "Mikey, come here for a minute." When Mikey approached, Leo nodded to the screen. "Tell Donnie which way you went when you saw this... clown."
"Uh... down that way." Mikey pointed. Donnie tapped into the nearest surveillance camera, which luckily pointed right where Mikey had been standing when he saw the sinister figure. Donnie then played the footage, Raph approaching as they watched the large computer screen intently. "Huh. That's weird."
"No, that's just you." Raph said as they watched Mikey come into view, Leo nudging Raph at the snark comment.
"What's wrong, Mikey?" Leo asked.
"I don't see the balloon."
"What is with you and balloons today?" Donnie huffed with annoyance.
"I saw this balloon, that's what led me to the pizza! See, there it is!" He pointed to the screen. However, he quieted when they saw the pizza float into the air on the screen, Mikey seeming to speak to no one. "Hey... where's the clown guy?"
"In your head, maybe?" Raph asked, Leo resolving to just ignore his larger brother's comments.
"No. It's just like how we weren't able to see Caleb's mother. Now this clown Mikey saw isn't there, either."
"I can see Mikey hallucinating things, but you, Leo?" Donnie rose a brow.
"Donnie, can you tell if this footage has been altered in any way?" Leo asked, Donnie's fingers moving in quick succession as he typed away.
"Hm... nope, all the encoding looks normal." Donnie pursed his lip.
"Then how do you explain how something both Mikey and I saw just not being there?" Leo asked.
"I have no idea, Leo, I wasn't there-"
"Well, find out." Leo stood up straighter, turning to head away from the computer. "April." He approached her, Casey sitting beside her as he played a game on his phone. "Got anything?"
"Well..." April bit her lip. "One of my resources messaged me back... they looked at the handwriting on the back of the photo of Caleb, and... it's definitely a match to his mother. But this makes no sense. This woman died three days ago." She shook her head.
"Maybe she has a twin or something." Casey said, putting his feet up as he shrugged.
April rolled her eyes. "Twins don't share the same handwriting."
Casey looked as if he had just learned something that blew his mind. "They don't? Wow... well maybe she just forges handwriting really good?"
"Why would someone go through all that trouble?" Raph snorted a bit. "Maybe she's just faking her death for- I don't know, insurance or something."
"She wouldn't show up in public if that were the case." Leo said. He was at a bit of a loss here. Nothing made sense about this. "I'm going to take a walk. Donnie, keep trying to see if you can find anything." He said, heading out of the area.
As he did, April glanced over, raising a brow. "Casey, what are you doing?"
"Ordering a pizza under me. I get the discount for being an employee, and I'm assigning the delivery to me, so I get paid for it." He smirked. "I love this system."
"Seriously?" April couldn't help but snicker at this.
"I wouldn't mind a tip though..." Casey winked.
"Keep dreaming." April said, rolling her eyes. Donnie exhaled slowly, staring flatly at his computer screen as he listened.
"Hey, Red." Casey said. "I did want to thank you for earlier."
"What do you mean?" April blinked.
"You know... for defending my honor to that jerk at the fair." Casey replied.
"I was only saying the truth. I don't want anyone saying anything about you that isn't true." April said.
"Keep telling yourself that." Casey smiled. "I know deep down you have a soft spot for me."
April sighed, getting up. "Like I said... keep dreaming." She said before heading over to Donnie's lab area to look alongside him at his computer screens.
Meanwhile, Leo sighed as he wandered through the sewers, engaged in deep thought as his feet shuffled lightly against the ground. He came across a series of street drains, looking up as the light from above filtered through them like moonbeams. Evening was setting now, the side streets falling quiet. He tried to remember what Splinter had told him and his brothers, deciding that if anyone's words would bring him any sort of clarity, it would be his. Deciding he should go back and discuss these happenings further with the others, he turned, heading back in the direction he came. When a low sound reached him, however, he stopped, glancing over his shoulder. He thought he heard a low whisper, quietly turning on his heel to wander towards the sound. He narrowed his eyes as he made it past the street drains, entering the darker portion of the sewer. He wanted to call out, but wondered if perhaps it was a late night maintenance worker. He came to a slow stop, lingering to see if anything more could be heard. He definitely heard voices, but could not make out what they were saying.
Suddenly, the sound of a young girl screaming filled the space.
Leo clenched his teeth, about to charge into the darkness. Before he could, he widened his eyes when the source of the scream ran into the light, Leo's heart skipping a beat.
He had seen her on the news. He had seen her "missing" poster in the streets.
"Amelia?!" Leo called, the girl trembling as she stared at the ground. "Amelia... my name is Leo. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help, okay?" He held his hands up, lowering a bit as he approached her. Upon closer inspection, he noticed blood dripping near her left foot. He gently took the child, drawing her a bit more into the light. What he saw made him hiss with shock, drawing back.
The child's arm was gone, and was bleeding profusely.
Leo barely had time to take this in, grabbing the child quickly when a pair of glowing eyes appeared in the darkness.
"Show yourself!" Leo shouted as he unsheathed his sword, holding it in one hand and the child in his other arm.
"Hiya, Leo. See? I've given you what you've been looking for. You should be thanking me."
"I said, show yourself." Leo demanded, his eyes narrowed.
"I'll let you in on a little secret. Like I already said... I've given you what you've been looking for. Although... she would have been whole... if you wandering down here hadn't distracted her. See... I wanted to give her a world of fun and prizes, but she escaped. It's the smart ones that give me the hardest time. She had almost made it out... but I guess overgrown reptiles are scarier than dancing clowns. I'll have to remember that."
"Stop talking nonsense and come out where I can see you!" Leo said firmly. What the voice had said disturbed him, looking down at the child for a moment.
"I guess you can consider the arm as payment... I missed out on a nice turtle soup dinner, earlier. So thank you, Leo... at least you spared me a little taste. A nicely salted one, too."
"Come out of the shadows or I will come after you!" Leo shouted. "You come after these kids, you come after my family, you're going to deal with me!"
"Well aren't you just an A class hero? Do you like Superman, Leo? See, he's a hero... he has powers... and he can float. I can make you float too, Leo. I can give you exactly what you're looking for."
"Like I would ever work with a sick freak like you!" Leo shouted, thrusting his sword forward. A screech was heard, Leo widening his eyes as the weapon was torn out of his hand. He reeled back, staring into the darkness as the screeching died down, replaced by low, sinister laughter. Just then, the sword was thrown back into the light, blood upon it as it clattered on the ground.
"Just as annoying as he was. Turtles have always rubbed me the wrong way. Well... I think we've played for long enough. You'd better watch that big shell on your back, Leo... there's all sorts of things down here... and now I am too."
"Hey. Hey, get back here!" Leo shouted, about to go after him. The laughter faded as the perpetrator moved farther and farther into the darkness. Leo stopped when he heard a small whimper, looking down at Amelia.
Master Splinter's words came to mind. Priority. This girl had to be taken to a hospital, and now.
There was no time to get the others. Leo quickly wrapped something around the girl's arm to keep it from gushing out more blood. Amelia was pale, going further into shock. The turtle cradled her, running as fast as he could in the direction of the hospital.
Finally, he shoved up on the manhole cover that was closest to the hospital, hauling himself and Amelia out. When he burst in, the people inside stopped, some gasping at the sight of him.
"Please, I need help, this girl is badly hurt." Leo said. A security guard caught sight of him, whipping his gun out.
"Freeze, don't move!" The man shouted.
"I'm not here to harm anyone!" He held Amelia out. "This girl is dying, if she doesn't get help soon, she's not going to make it." When there was a hesitation, he bit his lip. "Please!"
Thankfully, a nearby nurse held herself together, though she still shook with nerves. She reached out, taking Amelia from Leo and placed her on a stretcher. Another two nurses gasped at Amelia's state, giving Leo suspicious and fearful glances as they assisted. Leo thought gravely that perhaps they suspected him of being the one who did this.
"Her name's Amelia Smith." Leo said before hurrying out, disappearing into the night.
When he returned to the shadows, he shut his eyes tightly for a moment before reopening them, looking at his blood stained hands. He curled his fists, moving quickly to head back underground as it began to rain.
Well, we end this chapter on a bit of a darker note. Will Leo catch Amelia's attacker? Will she survive? Find out these answers and more in the next update! Thank you again for reading, and please leave a review with your thoughts in the meantime. See you soon!