Chapter 6-The Mystery Men

The turtle brothers entered the house with their guns ready, but they were surprised to find no-one inside.

"Huh? There's nobody here…not even Mikey…!" Raph observed in confusion.

"That's strange…I was sure that he was being held captive here; both the map and photo told us that…!" Leo said in both thought and confusion.

"If that's the case, then it's possible that he was held here for some time before being moved somewhere else…They must've sensed that we were coming to rescue him as soon as we arrived in this country…" Donnie theorised in disappointment.

"Well, dat's just great…Where do we go from here!? We've got no other way of knowin' where Mikey is…!" Raph questioned in frustration.

"We'll just have to go back to the village and look for more clues there…" Leo sighed sadly, not knowing what else they could do.

But just as they were about to leave…

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of banging on something metal was heard, causing the trio to freeze.

"Did you guys hear that?" Leo asked quietly.

"Yeah…It's coming from behind that bookcase…" Donnie answered as he pointed at an old bookcase nearby.

The turtle brothers pushed the bookcase to one side, and they were surprised to see a doorway hidden from behind it. They walked through the doorway and instantly saw a man hammering something in front of him. Luckily, his back was turned and hadn't heard the turtles come in, so the trio took advantage of this and knocked him out by hitting him on the back of the head.

With the man now unconscious, the turtle brothers figured out what that banging was seconds ago; it was the man hammering nails on a large wooden plank to block a secret doorway leading to a hidden room underground.

Raph went straight to work with removing the planks off the door before lifting it open. Leo then took the lead as he jumped through the entrance with Raph and Donnie following him shortly after. The turtle brothers noticed that the room was pitch black, so they took out their flashlights and turned them on to help them see, and it was then that they saw a number of boxes being piled in certain areas of the room.

"What's dis place suppose ta be? A cellar?" Raph questioned.

"Possibly, but there must be something important in here for that man to try and seal the door up…" Donnie answered suspiciously.

As they moved further into the room, something had caught their attention ahead of them; it was a large human-sized sack, and it was moving!

"Someone's still alive in that bag!" Donnie hissed in concern.

"Then let's get him out…" Leo replied in an urgent tone before he and his brothers hurried over to the bag and untied it.

As soon as they opened it, a man's head popped out and revealed his face with his mouth taped shut. Raph immediately removed the tape from the man's mouth, making him grunt due to the slight pain it caused.

"Ngh! That hurts, you know…" The man grunted in a Spanish accent.

"Well, ya looked like ya really wanted ta talk, so…" Raph explained both casually and sarcastically.

"Very observant of you, señor…So, err, any of you guys got a smoke?" The man questioned.

"Nope, we're too young for that…" Leo answered flatly.

"Besides, those things are bad for your health…" Donnie added, shaking his head.

"Oh, well, maybe just untie me then?" The man asked as he wiggled onto his side, but he suddenly paused and gasped when he saw something behind the turtles.

"Oh, no! Not this guy!" He cried out in a panic.

"Huh?" Donnie questioned before he and his brothers swiftly turned around to see a tall man wearing a hat and long coat and slowly walking towards them.

"Who da shell are you!?" Raph questioned with wide eyes.

"Stop right there!" Leo demanded, pointing his gun at him.

The tall man didn't hesitate and instead just kept walking and swung his large arms at Leo and his brothers, all of whom weren't quick enough to dodge him in time.

"Aargh!" The turtle brothers cried out before their bodies slammed hard against the wall, knocking them all out instantly.

The tall man eyed the three turtles and Luis before he stopped at Leo.

"Your soul is a strong one…You shall be chosen to serve our Lord…" He said to Leo, who did not hear him due to being unconscious, before he walked towards him whilst taking out an old-fashioned syringe from his pocket.

What any of the knocked out turtles didn't know was that, inside the syringe, was a parasitic egg.

And the tall man had injected it into Leo's neck...

/

Unknown…

"Sacrificial lamb. You will receive our most sacred body..."

A man's voice was heard before a cloaked figure came into view, but the face was just visible to the viewer.

"It begins now…" The man then said before the vision turned black.

/

Real world…

Leo woke up with a gasp, meaning that what happened earlier was a dream. A moment later, he noticed that his hands were handcuffed and raised in the air by a chain.

"Oh, what the shell?" He questioned in confusion before he decided to tug it.

"Hey! Stop it!" A voice shouted behind him.

"Yeah, easy with da yankin', bro…!" The gruff voice of Raph was heard next.

"We're all connected onto one chain, so be careful…" Donnie's voice was heard last.

Leo sighed in relief to know that his brothers were still alive and with him, despite the circumstances they were in.

"Oye, you three got names?" The man suddenly asked.

"Leonardo…" Leo introduced himself first as he stood up.

"Raphael…" Raph said next before standing up.

"Donatello…" Donnie said last before standing up.

"The quiet types, eh? I'm Luis Serra…" The man replied as he too stood up and faced the turtles. When he did, his eyes widened in shock. "What in the…!?"

"What?" Raph questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"N-Nothing, I just…I can't believe I'm standing here in front of three turtle men…!" Luis answered, all flabbergasted.

The turtle brothers were confused at first as to why Luis would say that because they were fully clothed, but it was then that they realised that none of them were wearing their disguises anymore.

"Wha-? Our clothes are gone!" Raph cried.

"They must have figured out who we really were whilst we were out cold and imprisoned here..." Donnie theorised.

"What are you guys really!?" Luis questioned.

"Calm down, we're not monsters if that's what you're thinking…" Leo assured him.

"We're mutant turtles, as well as ninjas…" Donnie added before he and Luis felt the chain being tugged again by Leo and Raph.

"Hey, stop it! If you two move, we move…and I'm already beaten up as it is!" Luis demanded firmly.

"Aw, quit yer whinin' and help us out…!" Raph snapped before he and Leo tugged the chain again.

Luis looked up and noticed that the chain tugging was causing the wheel above them to loosen bit-by-bit.

"Ah, I can see your thinking…Bet you've been in spots like this before…" Luis said in realisation before he and Donnie held the chain in place on their side.

"Ya could say dat…" Raph replied flatly before he and Leo continued tugging.

"I'm guessing you're here looking for someone…Maybe…another young turtle man…?" Luis questioned with a smirk during more chain tugging.

The turtle brothers immediately paused and looked at Luis in surprise when they heard his last sentence.

"Another turtle man?" Leo questioned before he felt Raph pull the chain hard, causing Luis and Donnie to come closer.

"Talk. Now!" Raph commanded, his firm face now close to Luis.

"Careful, Raph! I'm still attached to this side of the chain, remember?" Donnie scolded next to him.

"Alright…See, I heard some chatter about moving some kind of turtle man…" Luis started his explanation.

"Where to?" Leo questioned next.

"Who knows…But later on, I saw some men moving someone…to the old church…" Luis answered.

Finally, the wheel came off, causing Luis to fall on the floor and drag Donnie down with him.

"Argh, shell…" "Ow…Hanging out with you guys…is not healthy-"

"Look out!" Leo shouted as he and Raph pulled Donnie and Luis forward when a man was about to attack them from behind with an axe.

Leo and Raph reeled in some of the chain whilst Donnie and Luis quickly got their bearings before they whipped the middle of the chain against the man's face, causing him to yell in pain and charge at them again. The quartet moved and swung the chain to wrap it around the man's neck, and then they tightened the chain's hold on him. The man struggled aggressively until he passed out and collapsed to the ground due to lack of oxygen.

This resulted in the key to the handcuffs being dropped on the floor. Luis went straight for the key and unlocked his handcuffs before looking at the turtle brothers with a cheeky smile whilst slowly backing away.

"Wait! We're not done here!" Leo said firmly.

"Later, amigos!" Luis chimed before he tossed the key towards them and took off.

"Hey! Get back here!" Raph shouted, but Luis was already gone.

Donnie immediately took the key first and unlocked the handcuffs off his wrists, and then he went over to Leo and Raph to release them from their own handcuffs. Shortly after being freed, Raph suddenly realised that his and his brothers' weapons were missing.

"Ah, shell…They took our gear…" Raph exclaimed with a groan.

"Then, let's go see if we can find it whilst finding a way out of here…" Leo replied before he turned on his communicator.

"April, it's Leo. We've located where Mikey is really being kept. He's in some kind of old church…" He updated.

"Great! That's good news, at least…!" April replied in relief.

"April, this is Donnie. We received this information from a guy we've met; his name is Luis Serra…I've got this feeling that there's something off about him. Could you please run a background check on him?" Donnie explained through his own communicator.

"Sure, I'll do that. In the meantime, you guys should make your way to that church; Mikey needs you right now…" April said firmly but softly.

"We know, April, we're gonna head over there now. Leo out…" Leo replied before ending the call.

"Come on, guys, let's get out of here…" He then said before he and his brothers started making their way out of their unknown 'prison'.