Mutants Misplaced

Chapter 15

Stash

After their encounter with the active constructs, the mutants were even more on their guard as they searched more of the underground city for anything that might be of help to them, however, after searching nearly all of the city's hanging towers, they ended up empty-handed. Most of the rooms were what appeared to be living-quarters, and thus only contained chairs, tables, beds, dressers and various smaller items, some of which might fetch a decent price if they brought it to the surface. But carrying plates and flagons with them didn't seem worth the work, so they left it be. In one room however, they found a broken pipe built into the wall, from which they were able to collect water, that was surprisingly fresh.

Walking out on one of the platforms, they sat down to eat. They weren't sure what time it was, but as Mikey said; there's always lunch time somewhere in the world.

"Well, this meat has seen better days. The water really took its toll on it." said Sephie. "Anyone got a carrot to spare?"

"Sorry, but we have to save the vegetables for later, but have some water to wash it down with." said Leo, handing Sephie a cup of water, which she gladly accepted.

"This place is such a letdown. No treasures what so ever." Mikey sighed. "Just the same as that tomb before, strange things that want to kill us. Man, movies and games really sugarcoat dungeons with gold."

"If we just get out of here in one piece, I'll be happy." said Mona. "But I must agree with you, Mikey, I was also expecting some form of riches here. We could really have used it on the surface."

"There is still a few towers left, maybe we'll get lucky." said Raph.

"Either way, this place doesn't sit right with me." said Leo. "It's completely abandoned but there are no signs of battle and no bodies, but there is so much stuff left so I don't think that the people moved to another place. It's like they just disappeared into thin air. And I've been getting this feeling that some is amiss, on a whole other scale than what we've seen so far."

"I've gotten the same feeling. It's like... the city's aura has been disrupted somehow, for a lack of better words. I can not help but think that magic is involved." said Tyroth.

"Wait, you can feel auras?" said Mikey.

"Not really, I said it was for a lack of better words, but I can sense magic to a certain extent, which there is more of it in this world than on Earth, and there is something here that feels off about it."

"I don't like the sound of that, but magic is outside my comfort zone." said Donnie.

After finishing their meal, the reptiles took a few more minutes to rest before continuing their search. Having only a few towers left, it wouldn't be much longer before they would explore the cave at the far end and hopefully reach the surface again. Sticking together, most of the towers were like the previous ones, nothing of use for the mutants, but the last one, which was also the largest of the towers, was different. It looked like a large workshop with a large workbench in the middle of the room and several smaller workbenches against the walls as well as a large number of shelves. On the shelves and benches laid loads of metal parts of some sort of constructs, some were partially built and one could clearly recognize those of the same model as the spider and android they fought earlier, but there were a few others that they couldn't identify. Needless to say, Donnie was almost ecstatic, getting the opportunity to analyze these machines without the risk of them trying to kill him. So while the others searched for anything useful, Donnie practically dissected the half built robots.

After searching every nook and cranny, they still came up empty-handed again, things were looking bleak and the moral was starting to drop, for all except Donnie, who was trying to determine what kind of engine and power source the machines used.

"Okay, that's it, I'm tired of this." Mikey sighed and walked over to a stone bench to sit down. "I'm gonna take a nap, if you guys find anything, give me a holler."

No sooner had Mikey sat down, when a portion of the bench gave way and the turtle dropped down a few inches into the hole, feeling something cold and sharp against his butt.

"Ahh! It's got me! It's an evil turtle-eating death-bench! Save me!" Mikey yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to get loose and flailing his arms. Raph and Leo instantly hurried over and pulled Mikey loose from the bench, which closed itself.

"You okay?" Leo asked.

"I-i think so... I really stared death in the eyes there.." said Mikey.

"Actually..." said Donnie, as he examined the bench. "this isn't a trap at all, you just found a hidden compartment in the bench."

"Oh... well, it could have been an evil turtle-eating death-bench." said Mikey, embarrassed about his near hysteria.

"Only you could freak out that much about a bench." Raph teased, giving his younger brother a light nudge on the head. Meanwhile, Donnie continued his examination.

"Let's see..." he mumbled to himself. "He sat down here, and the top gave way, he should have placed his hands here and here, holding on to the edge for support, which means that the button is... here!" Pressing the hidden button, the top area once again opened, revealing what Mikey had found.

Gems, several dozens of gemstones, if not even more, in all manners of colors.

"Looks like we've found the jackpot!" Sephie chimed, picking up several of the ping-pong ball-sized gemstones. "Just look at them. Rubies, amethysts, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, they must be worth a fortune! Just look at how they are cut, they must be near perfect."

"You sure know a lot about precious stones." said Raph.

"Well, diamonds are a girl's best friend, and that includes its family. But I already got the most precious gem ever, and he has a shade of red." she said, winking at Tyroth, making him blush.

"But should we really take them? I mean, they could belong to someone." said Mona.

"I know, Mona. But everything we've seen so far say that this place is abandoned, and have been for who knows how long. And we're in dire need of money." said Leo.

"If you ask me, after what we've been through lately, we've earned it." said Tyroth.

"Not to sound greedy, but we better take all of the gems, just to be on the safe side since we don't know how much they're actually worth." said Sephie.

"I agree with Sephie." said Donnie. "Now, I'm not sure, I could be completely off, but I'm guessing that this might be enough to buy a house here."

"Whoa! That's a lot!" said Mikey.

"It's just a guess, but it is based on what things have cost here so far and what these kind of gems would be worth back home."

"Well, I'm not settling down in this world, that's for sure." said Raph.

"I don't know, all things considered, I don't think that it would be that bad, but maybe that's because it reminds me of my old home, dragons and such excluded." said Tyroth.

"Let's just put the treasure in the bags and we'll be off. I've had more than enough of this place." said Raph.

I'm alive, I'm back and the place of my vacation is still in one piece, mostly, all in all, it's been a good time. And now I can continue with the story, as you've seen by now, I hope.

Finally some luck for our heroes, but just how much of the treasure will they be able to keep all the way to the surface? And to all who think that they are greedy; have you ever left a single gem while playing Skyrim, or similar, unless you had some specific reason for it?