Chapter 8-A Fight In The Valley
After leaving the Merchant's shop, the turtle brothers saw a large gate with a hexagon-shaped indentation in the middle of it.
"Huh? What's dis?" Raph questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"It looks like we can't get through this gate until we find whatever fits in this slot…" Donnie theorised when he took a closer look at the indentation.
"Great…" Raph groaned.
"Come on, let's get searching…" Leo told him wearily before he and his brothers started to walk down an unknown path near the Merchant's stall.
"Where are we, anyway? Dis doesn't look like part of da village we were in earlier…" Raph questioned after a moment of silence.
"You're right, Raph; the map doesn't say anything about a place like this, so we must be in a different location away from the village…We'll just have to continue on and find out the old fashioned way…" Donnie agreed whilst looking at the map on his phone in disappointment.
The turtle brothers continued walking on until they were stopped by a large wooden fence. They could just make out a door, which was camouflaged, on the left side of the fence, but they had discovered it to be locked. Fortunately, there was a ladder leading to an opening on the ride side, so the trio used that option to access the other side of the fence.
As soon as they entered, the turtle brothers gasped at what they were seeing; there were house-like structures, watchtowers, and walkways all around them, and there were also top and bottom platform levels.
"What is all this!?" Leo questioned in shock.
"It looks like the inside of a fort, but within a valley…!" Donnie answered in speculation as he looked at the wooden structures.
Suddenly, Raph spotted a man looking down on them from the top of a watchtower before pointing at the red-banded turtle whilst sounding an alarm to the others.
"Uh, oh…Heads up, we're gonna have some company…!" He alerted whilst preparing his guns.
By the time Leo and Donnie heard him and started preparing their own weapons, more hostile people began to appear and charge towards them.
"Turtles, attack!" Leo commanded before he and his brothers started shooting at the hostiles.
However, no matter how many times they take out the villagers, there were more still appearing out of nowhere and charging towards the trio in small groups. It was then that Donnie spotted some red-coloured fuel barrels located in the distance just as small groups of hostiles ran closer to them, and this gave him an idea.
"The fuel barrels! Shoot the fuel barrels!" Donnie shouted.
Seeing the barrels for themselves, Leo and Raph aimed their guns and shot at them, causing them to explode just as more hostiles began to stampede towards them. Once the smoke had cleared, the turtle brothers saw nothing but dead bodies on the ground, partially burned to a crisp.
"Now dat's what I call goin' out with a bang!" Raph cheered as soon as it was quiet again.
"We can't celebrate just yet; we need to find that missing piece for the door, and there may still be hostiles hiding around here…Let's go!" Leo reminded his red-banded brother before he and his brothers jumped and landed on the lower platform in front of them.
"It may take a long time for us to find the key in one group in a big place like this…" Donnie pointed out in concern.
"Let's split up, then; Raph, you and Donnie will take the left side of the fort, while I take the right side…Keep your weapons in hand and don't let your guards down…" Leo instructed.
"Right!" "Got it!" Raph and Donnie said in understanding before the turtle brothers split up and went in different directions as planned.
Leo checked the houses and watchtower on his side, but he wasn't able to find the missing piece for the door. Raph and Donnie climbed up a ladder to the top of the second platform.
When they got to the top, Raph and Donnie spotted a stand with a hexagon-shaped slab sitting in the middle of it. Donnie picked it up and examined it further; it had the look of an emblem with a flying bird in the middle of it, and its shape was exactly the same as the slot in the closed gate from earlier. Those features made the purple-banded turtle confirm that it was the missing key.
"Leo! We've found the missing piece for the door!" Donnie alerted his blue-banded brother.
"Good, now let's get out of this place!" Leo replied.
But, suddenly…
"Ahí ellos están!"
A loud voice was heard from a distance, and the turtle brothers turned behind them to see a few more hostile villagers coming towards them.
"Oh, shell…Go!" Leo shouted before he and his brothers made a run back to the door, but they all suddenly remembered that it was still closed.
"We need ta get da door open!" Raph told his brothers.
"But it's closed from the inside, and it only operates through a mechanism!" Donnie reminded his red-banded brother.
"Then, let's find the mechanism!" Leo replied urgently.
Without a moment to lose, the turtle brothers continued to run in their separate directions; Leo ran through the middle of the fort and fought off some of the villagers who had caught up to him, whilst Raph and Donnie ran on the east side of the fort and did their best to fight off any villagers who were chasing after them.
Just then, the duo came to the end of the pathway in the form of a high ledge, but all wasn't hopeless because they had also spotted a mechanical turning wheel on their right hand side.
"This has to be the handle to the door's operating system!" Donnie guessed.
"Then get it goin', I'll cover ya!" Raph commanded before he started reloading his gun.
After giving Raph a firm nod, Donnie grabbed the wheel and quickly started turning it. With each turn, the door was slowly lifted until it finally reached the top.
"The door's wide open!" Donnie announced.
Hearing that, Leo and Raph sped up their run towards the door with Donnie following them shortly after. Once they were through the door, Leo and Raph aimed their guns and fired at the rope that was holding the door up, eventually snapping the rope and causing the door to close.
"Phew…That was a close one…" Donnie breathed out as he and his brothers took a moment to catch their breaths.
"Yeah, but it was worth it; we've got the emblem for the gate…" Leo told him in an optimistic tone.
"Then, let's go and put it in da slot…!" Raph replied impatiently.
Leo and Donnie nodded before they all made their way back to the gate. As soon as Donnie had slotted the emblem slab in place, it suddenly transformed into a rotatable handle for the trio to open the gate.
"Whoa…" "Fascinating…" The turtle brothers said in awe before Leo commanded Raph to turn the handle, which made the gate open at the same time.
Once it was opened, the turtle brothers continued on with their adventure into the unknown.