Chapter 21-Separated

The turtle brothers were now in an outside area of the castle, and they were taking a moment to catch their breaths after finishing their earlier battle.

"Shell…dat was crazy…" Raph panted.

"Yeah…But at least we're outside; we shouldn't be too far from the courtyard now…" Donnie pointed out when he noticed that the group was no longer inside the castle.

"Then let's keep moving and find Luis before more enemies start coming out of nowhere…" Leo replied.

The others agreed, and they all took a look around their surroundings before they were faced with a locked metal gate. Luckily, the top of the wall on the left was free from any overgrown plants, making it a good opportunity for one of the brothers to go over it and unlock the door.

"Mikey, can you get this gate open for us on the other side?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, sure…" Mikey answered, accepting the task.

He walked over to the wall with Raph who then gave him a boost up the wall. Once he had climbed over the wall and landed on the other side, Mikey immediately went over to the gate, but then…

"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

The older turtles heard and saw Mikey cough a few times in his hand again before he managed to open the gate. This made them feel even more concerned.

"Hey, are you sure you're alright?" Donnie asked his little brother a bit firmly this time as soon as he, Leo, and Raph had regrouped with him.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" Mikey rasped before trying to clear his throat. Donnie wasn't convinced, but he didn't say anything and just kept an eye on him.

"Looks like we're in the right place!" Leo said.

"Yeah, this definitely fits the description of a courtyard!" Donnie agreed as he looked at the structure of the area.

"Ok, so where's Luis then?" Raph questioned in confusion when he didn't see any signs of Luis in the courtyard. Leo and Donnie noticed the human male's absence too when they looked around as well.

But suddenly…

"Ngh! Argh…!"

The three older brothers turned to Mikey behind them when he had let out a grunt and a pained cry. The poor turtle was holding his head as if he was having a bad headache.

"Mikey? What's wrong!?" Leo questioned worriedly.

"I-It's nothing, I-I'm-…Ugh…" Mikey tried to reassure his brothers, but he suddenly passed out and started to collapse to the ground.

"Woah!" "Mikey!" His brothers cried out as they rushed towards him. Raph was the closest to him and managed to catch him before he could land on the ground.

Then, a moment later…

"Instead of worrying about him…worry about your own skins!"

A dark voice was heard coming from the youngest turtle before he shook himself out of Raph's grip, took Raph's kunai out of his belt, and backed away whilst placing the edge of the small weapon near his neck.

"Mikey, what are you doing!?" Leo questioned in shock and surprise when he saw Raph's kunai in Mikey's hand.

"Put da kunai down, bro!" Raph demanded as he prepared his sais whilst Donnie reluctantly prepared his bo staff.

"Foolish little lambs…" Mikey sneered before he charged over to Leo first.

Leo had only just managed to raise a hand in front of the kunai to grab it and defend himself before he felt its edges slice his hand.

"Aargh!" He cried out in pain before Mikey pulled the small blade back.

"Leo!" Raph and Donnie shouted in horror.

"I'm fine, he only slashed me!" Leo reassured as he put pressure on the cut on his hand.

"Temperance, children!" Mikey told him before he pointed the sharp end of the kunai close to his neck again.

"Mikey…?" Leo called out in confusion when he noticed that his little brother's voice sounded different.

"No, that's not Mikey who's speaking…Look at his eyes; someone is controlling him…!" Donnie pointed out fearfully.

When Leo took a closer look at Mikey's eyes, his own eyes widened and realised that Donnie was right; there were small black veins covering his eyes' white background, and his pupils were also glowing red!

"Whoever ya are, let my lil' bro go now!" Raph demanded, his sais ready in his hands.

"Ooh, such fighting talk from the one who wishes nothing more than the desire for his brother's demise!" The dark voice taunted with a sickening grin.

"Wha-!? No, dat ain't true! I never said dat!" Raph denied, horrified at what had just come out of Mikey's mouth.

"Don't listen to him, Raph; he's trying to mess with your head…!" Donnie told him firmly.

"Come on, Mikey, fight it!" Leo told his baby brother, who had started to slowly walk backwards away from his brothers.

Suddenly, Mikey's face changed from smiling evilly to frowning in pain. He then groaned and held his head with his spare hand as his eyes closed when a wave of agony radiated through his head.

"Ngh…G-Get out…S-Stop…!" Mikey stutter in his normal voice, surprising his brothers.

"It is futile, little lamb…" The darkness in his voice returned, meaning that whoever was controlling him had dominated him again, before the kunai was raised close to Mikey's neck once more.

"Mikey…" Leo called out softly as he, Raph, and Donnie tried to reach out to their baby brother without encouraging him to hurt himself.

However, before they could get any closer to him…

Bang!

A metal barred door suddenly dropped down from above and slammed between them and Mikey, separating them from him. It was then that Mikey snapped out of his possessed state and looked at his brothers before looking at the blood-coated kunai in his hand.

The youngest turtle gasped and dropped the blade when he realised that he had just harmed one of his older brothers, despite his actions not being his own.

"B-Bros, I…I-I…" Mikey stammered in horror, looking back and forth from his brothers to his shaking hands, before he became tearful and ran away from them.

"Mikey!" "Wait!" The three older brothers shouted, but Mikey was already too far away from them.

"Dang it!" Raph shouted in frustration whilst punching the wall with his fist, causing it to bruise.

"Calm down, Raph, we'll find him and get him back…" Leo told him, placing a calming hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Poor Mikey…Did you see the look on his face when he came back to us?" Donnie said whilst taking out a bandage roll and started wrapping up Leo's wounded hand.

"Yes, Donnie, but this wasn't his fault…Come on, let's find another way to the other side and find him…" Leo replied before he and his brothers prepared themselves for their search for another entry way to the other side.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The beeping sound of Leo's communicator was suddenly heard, stopping Leo in his tracks, before the blue-banded turtle answered it.

"Leo? Are you there?" April's voice was immediately heard from the other side of the communicator.

"Yeah, I hear you, April! Things have gone downhill on our end; we've taken shelter at a castle, but we just got separated from Mikey…" Leo answered before he noticed that his communicator had started to sound a bit staticky.

"Say th- - -I can't- - -you- -" April's voice response sounded crackled and her words were cutting out.

"April? I can't hear you properly! You're breaking up!" Leo said in concern.

"Leo? - - -in!" April's voice sounded like it was cutting out again before the communication between her and Leo had abruptly ended altogether.

"Shell…" Leo cussed in frustration.

"What happened?" Raph questioned anxiously.

"I don't know, we got cut off…" Leo answered in an unsure tone.

"I've got a bad feeling that someone or something in this castle is tripping up our communication links between here and our friends from outside of Spain…" Donnie theorised worriedly.

"Oh, great…dat's just what we need; no communication link with April…!" Raph groaned angrily and sarcastically, throwing his arms in the air.

"I don't like this either, Raph, but our first priority is to find Mikey and make sure he's ok…Come on…" Leo replied firmly.

Raph and Donnie strongly agreed, and the trio decided to follow the same path that Mikey had taken when he had ran away in order to find him before anything bad could happen to him.

As they moved towards the left side of the castle, the turtle brothers spotted a familiar purple-coloured flame up ahead, and it wasn't until they got closer that they realised that it belonged to the Merchant's shop when they saw the stall next to it.

"Good to see you all again, strangers…!" The Merchant greeted the trio as soon as they approached his shop.

"Ah, the Merchant…" "Hello…" Leo and Donnie greeted glumly, whilst Raph stayed silent and just nodded with a grunt.

"Oh, having a rough day, mates?" The Merchant asked.

"Ya could say dat…" Raph answered flatly.

"Hey, Merchant, you haven't seen Mikey run past your shop at all, have you?" Donnie asked.

"No, sorry…Why? What's happened?" The Merchant answered before he got a bit curious as to what had been going on with the youngest turtle.

The turtle brothers explained to the Merchant about what had happened a few minutes ago, including the part when Mikey became possessed by an unknown enemy via the plaga within him.

"I see…But I'm sure he's alright; he's made it this far, right?" The Merchant said optimistically.

"Yeah, but only because we were with him…" Donnie replied worriedly.

"Let's not doubt Mikey just yet; he's a pro when it comes to taking people by surprise…" Leo countered.

"I can totally agree with ya on dat, Fearless…One minute he's there, da next he vanishes into da shadows…" Raph agreed with a smirk.

"Anyway, strangers, would you like to buy anything from me whilst you're here?" The Merchant suddenly questioned, interrupting the older turtles' conversation.

"Getting straight to it, huh?" Leo chuckled.

"Sure, we're running low on ammunition, anyway…" Donnie pointed out.

"Excellent! Name what you need, and I'll check the stocks for you…" The Merchant replied happily, rubbing his hands in delight.

The turtle brothers checked their supplies and told the Merchant that they needed more bullets for their firearms, as well as a tune-up on their bladed weapons. The Merchant gladly provided the trio with the much-needed bullets and the necessary repairs on their bladed weapons.

"We've also found some more Spinel gemstones during our battles…What can we get for trade with three of them?" Leo told the Merchant as he, Raph, and Donnie took out a Spinel each out of their belt pouches.

"Ah, ha, ha! Well done finding more of these little beauties, mates…! I've got something that you just might like…!" The Merchant cheered before he went behind his shop and grabbed a box, and then he returned to the shop front and placed it on the counter.

"I received these not long after your last visit to my shop…Good quality bod armour!" He announced whilst revealing the black-coloured upper body armour, which resembled that of a police stab vest, from the box.

"Body armour?" Leo questioned.

"That's right, mate…They're specially made to reduce impact from explosives and physical moves, and they come in a larger size too, so they should just fit you…!" The Merchant explained.

"Nice! Let's trade 'em and try 'em on!" Raph exclaimed excitedly, placing his Spinel on the counter.

Seeing their brother's eagerness, Leo and Donnie decided to trade in their Spinel gemstones for the body armour. Once the trade deal was made, the turtle brothers immediately put their new body armour on to see if they fit, and they did.

"Hey, these ain't half bad…!" Raph complimented the new gear.

"Yeah, and they're not only solid in material, but they're lightweight too…!" Donnie agreed.

"You're right! Thank you, Merchant, these will help us greatly!" Leo said gratefully.

"You're welcome, mates…! Another deal well struck!" The Merchant replied gleefully.

"Ok, guys, let's go find Mikey!" Leo said to his brothers in determination.

"Right!" Raph and Donnie replied firmly before they said goodbye to the Merchant, who waved and told them good luck, and moved on to search for their youngest brother.