Chapter 7-The Merchant

The turtle brothers walked around in the building to try and find a way out and their gear at the same time.

"Where are we, anyway?" Raph questioned, breaking the silence.

"Judging by the look of these old machines and tools, we're in an abandoned factory…" Donnie speculated.

"Ugh, dis is one of da worse places ta use as a prison…" Raph groaned in disgust.

While the two younger brothers were talking, Leo remained focused on trying to find everyone's weapons. He didn't have to look far for long, though, because he soon spotted them in another room through a large hole in the wall.

"Hey, look! There's our weapons!" Leo alerted, making Raph and Donnie hurry over and see for themselves.

"Ok, great…but how da we get to 'em?" Raph questioned flatly, dampening the mood a bit.

"It looks like there's a door on the other side…We'll need to go further around the building to get to it…" Donnie observed when he looked through the hole himself and assessed the area.

"You're right, Donnie…Let's keep moving…" Leo agreed before the trio continued on.

Just as they had turned a right-hand corner, the turtle brothers saw a man over a metre away, meaning that someone had tasked a guard to keep the prisoners from escaping. Luckily, his back was turned and hadn't spotted them yet. Already knowing what they had to do, the trio quietly crept towards him and took him out with a combined single attack.

Whilst they continued on with their exploration, they came across a door with a small metal wheel next to it. There was also a large hole next to the door, and the turtle brothers could just see a glimpse of their gear through it.

"This must be where they've stored our gear…" Leo observed.

"Ok then, let's go get 'em…!" Raph replied before he hastily moved towards the door and tried to open it, but it was closed shut. "Huh? What da shell!?"

"I think this door is locked on the other side of the room…" Donnie told him.

"Well, what da we do now!? We can't leave without our gear…!" Raph questioned in frustration.

"Hmm…Let's see what this wheel does; it's got to be linked to this room somehow…" Leo suggested before he approached the wheel and started turning it.

Shortly after doing so, the turtle brothers noticed the solid metal door on the opposite side of the room was being raised up at the same time. However, as soon as Leo had let go of the wheel, the door slowly started to lower back down again. Leo stopped the wheel and looked at his brothers as he spoke.

"Donnie, you and Raph stay here and keep the door open, while I go to the room and grab our gear…"

"Got it…" "Understood…" Raph and Donnie replied before they got into their positions; Donnie took Leo's place and held onto the wheel, whilst Raph stood next to the purple-banded turtle to guard him.

Leo left his brothers' sides and hurried back to where the first door was.

"We'll be taking these back, thank you…!" He said, now happy and relieved to have his weapons back, before he unlocked the other door and reunited with Raph and Donnie.

The turtle brothers continued their search for a way out of the factory before they finally found the large door that lead to their exit. However, they paused when they saw someone with a hood over his head standing behind the door.

Click!

They then heard the sound of the door being unlocked before they watched as the figure looked up at them, but they couldn't see his face due to the bottom part being covered up.

"Over here, strangers…!" The hooded man said before walking away.

"Err…Who da shell is dat?" Raph questioned suspiciously.

"Let's go find out, but don't let your guards down…" Leo told his brothers firmly before he and his brothers walked over to the door, opened it, and left the factory.

When they looked ahead, they spotted a man-made stand with a different variety of items showcased on top of it, and the hooded man they saw earlier was standing behind the stand, meaning that he was the owner of it. The turtle brothers cautiously approached the shop.

"Welcome! I am the Merchant of this place. Here, you can find many different weapons and wares, some of which are rare and hard to find. I can sell them to you at a fair price, of course…" The hooded man greeted.

"A fair price, huh?" Raph said gleefully, now more interested in what was available.

"Hold on a minute, where do you get all of these weapons and wares?" Leo questioned suspiciously since he didn't fully trust the Merchant.

"What's that? Where do I find these little curiosities? Heh, heh, heh, you don't wanna know, mate…" The Merchant answered in a serious tone, making the trio feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Hmm…Do you have any bullets for our handguns, shotgun, and machine gun?" Donnie asked curiously.

"I sure do, mate…! I can also do you any repairs to your bladed weapons for free, since it's your first time here…" The Merchant answered happily.

"Can you excuse us for a moment, please?" Leo suddenly asked before he took his brothers slightly further away from the shop and gathered in a group huddle.

"Guys, are you sure we can trust this man? He could be one of the hostiles…" Leo questioned anxiously.

"Well, he hasn't threatened us so far…Maybe he sees our potential as customers? I don't know for sure, but I do know that we definitely need to restock on our supplies…" Donnie answered honestly, even though he too had a bit of doubt about the Merchant.

"I know we do, but…" Leo started responding, but then he hesitated as he was unsure of what to do.

"Look, Leo, I get dat yer a bit cautious about doin' dis, but we don't have much of a choice here; we've got no spare bullets left, and our ninja weapons look a lil' worn out too…!" Raph reminded firmly.

Leo still wasn't sure about the idea, but after thinking about what his brothers had told him, he realised that there were no other options to take; their youngest brother is still out there somewhere, and the last thing they wanted was to continue with the mission without the right amount of ammo and weapons.

"…You're right, my brothers…Let's go talk to him again…" He sighed.

With their minds made up, the turtle brothers walked back over to the stand and Leo spoke to the Merchant.

"Did you say that you could do some repairs on our weapons for free?"

"Of course, stranger…! But that's after you have bought something from here first…" The Merchant answered.

"Alright…We'll buy some bullets, then…" Leo replied before he and his brothers each took out a handful of Pesetas, which are Spanish coins that they had picked up after their earlier fights from the villagers, and placed them on the stand.

"Now, we're doing business! Heh, heh!" The Merchant cheered whilst rubbing his hands together before he gave the turtle brothers the bullets that they needed for their handguns, shotgun, and machine gun.

"A deal well struck…Now, do you have any bladed weapons that need fixing?" He then questioned.

"Erm…Could you please sort out the chipped edges on my katanas? I just noticed them not long ago…" Leo requested as he took out his katanas and presented them to the Merchant.

"Ah, impressive swords, mate…Give me a few minutes, and I'll have these looking like new in no time…!" The Merchant said before he turned around and took the katanas to the other side of the shop, disappearing from sight.

A few minutes later, the Merchant came back out to the front of the shop and presented Leo with the now newly-fixed katana swords.

"Wow! They look as if nothing's happened to them…!" Leo exclaimed in shock and awe when he saw his katana swords in his hands.

"Yes…It's good work, if I do say so myself…" The Merchant replied before he looked at Raph.

"How about you, mate? Want me to sharpen up your Sais there?" He asked as he pointed at the weapons in Raph's belt.

"Hmm…Ah, why not? They overdue fer some sharpenin', anyway…" Raph accepted the Merchant's offer before he took his Sais out of his belt and passed them to him.

It only took the Merchant around 5 minutes to sharpen Raph's Sais, and he returned them back to him as soon as he returned.

"Now, dat's more like it!" Raph said with a pleased smirk as he spun his Sais around in his hands and put them back in his belt.

"Here, take this; it should come in handy during close combat…You can have it, free of charge…" The Merchant suddenly said as he placed a beautifully crafted combat knife, which was sheaved in a case decorated with a large dragon, on the stand.

Leo picked up the knife and looked it over before deciding to give it to Donnie to use since he did not have a bladed weapon that he could use to fight in battle. Donnie accepted it and thanked him gratefully before he attached it to his belt.

"Thank you very much, Merchant…That's everything for now…" Leo said gratefully before he and his brothers started leaving.

"Come back anytime, strangers…" The Merchant replied with a single wave as he watched the turtle brothers leave his stall.