Chapter 20-Castle Chaos
After leaving the dungeon, the turtle brothers reached the top of the ladder and were now in a large treasury room, which was filled with vintage but expensive-looking homewares and artifacts.
"Wow! Look at all this stuff…!" Mikey exclaimed in awe.
"Yeah, I'll bet it's worth a fortune…!" Raph agreed gleefully with a twinkle in his eye.
"Don't get any ideas, Raph…" Leo told him firmly, shaking his head.
"Hey, there's another doorway, but it's blocked by another portcullis…" Donnie alerted his brothers.
"Ok, so how da we open dis one?" Raph questioned.
"Maybe these pictures are a clue? They look like they're telling a story or something…" Mikey theorised as he pointed at the 3D solid stone pictures next to each side of the door on the wall.
"You may be right, Mikey…Also, all but one of them have swords in them…" Donnie agreed whilst assessing the wall images as well.
"Then let's go find that missing sword…" Leo said.
"Well, we don't need to look around for long this time, Leo; it's just over there…" Donnie told him as he pointed at the sword, which was embedded in a replica body of a fallen knight, on the far left side of the room.
Raph immediately headed over to the body and pulled out the sword before he returned to the others and placed the sword in the slot. However, despite all swords being present, the portcullis in the doorway remained still.
"Err, why's nothin' happenin'?" Raph questioned in confusion.
"I think the swords are in the wrong order, dudes…" Mikey answered, tilting his head in thought.
"What makes you think that, Mikey?" Leo asked.
"Cos they all look different to each other, so they must match up with the scenes of the story, right…?" Mikey answered when he thought back on the order of the story scenes in the pictures.
The three older brothers looked at Mikey in astonishment before they looked at the swords and realised that he was right. In order to open the doorway, the swords needed to be placed in the order of both their conditions and their use in the story scenes.
"Ok, then let's take down the swords and reorder them again…" Leo commanded before he turned to Mikey.
"Mikey, which sword do you think should go in which picture?" He questioned, letting his little brother take point in this puzzle.
"Erm…The iron sword should go in the first picture, the golden sword in the second, the sword with blood on it in the third, and the rusty sword in the last one…" Mikey ordered.
"Ya sure, bro?" Raph asked in a doubtful tone.
"Positive!" Mikey answered confidently.
Deciding to trust Mikey's guess, the older turtle brothers and Mikey himself each took a sword and placed them in the given order; Leo placed the iron sword in the first picture showing a knight holding it, Donnie placed the golden sword in the second picture of a king holding it over the knight's shoulder, Raph placed the bloodied sword in the third picture showing the knight being killed in battle, and Mikey placed the rusty sword in the middle of a grave in the fourth picture.
Then, seconds later, the quartet heard a click and watched as the portcullis rose up to the top, opening the doorway.
"It worked!" Donnie cried out in surprise.
"Alright! Well done, Mikey!" Leo cheered as he patted Mikey's shoulder.
"Yeah! How did ya figure it out, bro?" Raph questioned in amazement.
"W-Well, the pictures reminded me of a story that Master Splinter used to read to us when we were little…and it involved a knight just like this one…" Mikey explained with a sad but bashful smile.
"Oh, yeah…! I remember that story too…! It had a sad ending, though…" Donnie realised with a hint of sadness.
"Well, either way, the door is now open…Let's move on…" Leo reminded before he and his brothers entered through the doorway and walked down a corridor until they had reached another door.
When they opened it, the turtle brothers were surprised to find themselves on the upper floor of the hall.
"Oh! We're back in the same room as before…!" Mikey said in surprise.
"Yeah, we're just on the next floor up…" Donnie specified.
The turtle brothers looked around before they spotted a large red door on the left side. However, the way over to it on their side was blocked by a metal fence, and the only access they had was the entry way on the other side.
"Ok, how are we gonna get over there?" Mikey questioned.
"Like dis!" Raph answered before he jumped on the top of a chandelier and started swinging towards the other side, shocking the others.
"Wha-? Raph! Be careful!" Leo demanded.
"Come on, it's perfectly safe!" Raph called over.
The other turtles looked at each other before Leo decided to jump and swing on the chandelier next. As soon as he was with Raph, Donnie chose to go next, but didn't like the idea of leaving Mikey on his own.
"It's alright, Donnie, I'll follow you!" Mikey assured his immediate older brother.
Donnie nodded before he jumped on the chandelier and swung towards the other side to join Leo and Raph. A moment later, Mikey followed suit and joined his older brothers.
"Well, that was the first time we've ever swung on a chandelier like that…!" Mikey said with an amused smile.
"Yeah, and it'll hopefully be our last, cos I never wanna do that again…" Donnie dismissed, his body still a bit shaken from the experience.
Now back together, the turtle brothers made their way over to the red door. Once they had opened and entered it, they started walking down the stairs when suddenly…
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!"
An eery laugh echoed through the room, making the turtle brothers jump and freeze.
"Wha-? W-What was that…!?" Mikey gasped in fright.
"Salutations, turtle men…! Are you ready to hand over your brother now…?" Ramón's voice was then heard, meaning that it was him who laughed a few seconds ago.
"Not dis creep again…" Raph complained with a growl.
"I've taken the liberty of preparing some entertainment for you!" Ramón announced.
"Entertainment…!?" Mikey questioned nervously.
"Without further ado: the gallant knight rescues the stolen Prince and destroys his enemies!"Ramón then added before ending his communication with the turtle brothers.
"Ok, this guy is delusional…" Donnie said in annoyance.
"Something tells me that more trouble's up ahead…Stay sharp…" Leo warned.
They approached a double door before they opened it and entered a room that had areas containing fountains that were spouting black-coloured water into small pools.
"What's all dis? Black water?" Raph questioned, creasing his face in disgust.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't recommend drinking it or falling into it…" Donnie answered firmly as he looked at the water nervously.
When they reached the middle of the room, the turtle brothers noticed something in the centre, which was a stone pedestal, and took a closer look at it.
"What's this supposed to be?" Leo questioned curiously.
"It looks like something slots in here, but I don't know what…" Donnie speculated as he assessed the pedestal.
Moments later, the sounds of footsteps and chanting were heard, and the turtle brothers immediately spotted a gang of armed men and women in robes coming towards them.
"Bros! They're here!" Mikey alerted.
"Oh, look; it's da entertainment!" Raph said with a smirk as he prepared his shotgun and handgun.
"There's not much space to move around in here, so be careful!" Donnie warned as he grabbed and readied his crossbow.
"We will, Donnie! Mikey, stay close to us!" Leo replied firmly.
"O-Okay!" Mikey nodded nervously.
With their weapons ready, the three older brothers began their fight with the hostiles, who all had a range of different weapons such as scythes, spike balls on chains, and wooden spike shields.
However, what made it difficult for the older brothers was not the fight itself, but keeping Mikey safe at the same time. They knew that he was wanted by the leader of this mysterious group, so they had to keep him away from these human monsters, but it wasn't easy to do since they were coming from all sides.
"Get them in the middle!" Leo commanded before he and his brothers ran towards the centre of the room to lure the remaining few hostiles over to them.
"Now, Mikey, light grenade!" Leo then told his youngest brother urgently.
"I'm on it!" Mikey replied as he took a light grenade from his belt, pulled the ring off, and threw it at the hostiles before he and his brothers shielded their eyes.
Bang! Flash!
The light grenade went off, causing the hostiles to become blinded. This gave the older turtle brothers the chance to ambush them and take them down permanently.
"Ok…That's them taken care of…" Leo breathed.
"Yeah, but we've still got the slot in the pedestal to figure out; we can't go up to the next level until we solve it…" Donnie reminded seriously.
"Well, during the fight, I saw another floor level down below us…Maybe the thing we're looking for is down there?" Mikey told his brothers.
The three older brothers looked at each other before they nodded at Mikey's proposal to go and investigate the lower floor. They had to jump down a wall to get to it, but they managed to do so with ease.
They took a look around before they spotted another pedestal with a slot inside, and then they saw a statue in the form of a human angel not far from it. When the turtle brothers did a closer inspection, they had discovered that the statue was holding a gold and silver-coloured wheel in its stone hands.
"This must be what goes into the slots…!" Donnie speculated after he had taken the wheel and assessed it.
"Then let's go try it out!" Raph replied impatiently.
"Look out!" Mikey suddenly shouted before he pushed Raph to one side just as a flaming arrow flew past him and striking the wall behind the group.
"More enemies above us!" Donnie alerted when he spotted a couple of robed men standing on the balconies above the group with crossbows at the ready.
"Upstairs, hurry!" Leo commanded before he and his brothers rushed up the lowered stairs whilst avoiding the incoming fire arrows.
When they got back up to the next floor, they were shocked to see more enemies waiting for them.
"Are ya kiddin' me!?" Raph groaned.
"Stay behind us, Mikey!" Leo told his youngest brother before he, Raph, and Donnie readied their weapons again.
Leo charged forward and dodged the incoming fire arrows before slashing down the crossbow-wielding hostiles. Raph used his shotgun to take out the shield-wielding hostiles by blasting their wooden shields away before shooting them in the head. Donnie used his bo staff to block the spiked balls on chains before taking out his handgun and shooting them in the head too.
However, the last few hostiles standing suddenly transformed into mutant monsters, with their heads becoming long bodies that had cross-shaped mouths which had little sharp teeth. The three older brothers tried to shoot them down, but the mutant hostiles seemed to have more endurance than the other mutants they had faced so far.
"Shell! They're still not goin' down!" Raph exclaimed in frustration.
"I wonder if…" Mikey thought in a whisper as he took out a flash grenade and pulled the ring off it whilst pressing the handle down.
"Heads up, bros! This gonna be bright!" He shouted before he threw the flash grenade towards the mutant hostiles.
The three older brothers covered their eyes just as the flash grenade blew and released a bright light. Seconds later, the heads of the mutant hostiles disintegrated upon contact with the light and their bodies collapsed to the floor, never to move again.
"Is everyone ok?" Leo asked after the dust had settled.
"Yeah…" "I'm fine…" The three younger brothers answered once they had caught their breaths.
"Good, now let's get these stairs lowered…" Leo replied in relief before he walked over to the pedestal, inserted the wheel into the slot, and turned it until the staircase leading to the top floor was lowered completely.
"Alright, we did it!" Mikey cheered.
"We're not outta da woods yet, Mikey…" Raph grumbled.
"Oh, right…Sorry…" Mikey replied sheepishly.
"It's fine, Mikey, you were just trying to help us stay positive…" Donnie assured.
"Also, that was very smart of you when you used your flash grenade against those mutants back there…!" He then complimented, making Mikey blush and chuckle bashfully.
"Right…Now, let's go…" Leo agreed before the quartet made their way up the stairs.
Once they had reached the next floor, they saw that it was also filled with black-coloured water. When they walked further in, they had noticed that there was no pathway leading towards the door up ahead.
"Huh? Where'd da path go?" Raph questioned in confusion.
"I think it's hidden underneath the water…" Donnie theorised.
After closer inspection, Leo spotted another pedestal with a wheel attached to it. He turned the wheel and everyone watched as only one part of the pathway appeared and rose out of the water.
"Err, ok? Where's da rest of da path?" Raph questioned next.
"Hey, the handles up there might be what we need to raise the rest of the pathway…!" Donnie alerted as he looked around the room and pointed at the pedestals with handles above the group on the left and right walls nearby.
"Alright…Donnie, you take the one on the left! Mikey, you take the one on the right!" Leo commanded.
"Ok!" Donnie and Mikey replied in unison before they hurried over to the wall and given a boost by Leo and Raph. They then ran to their positions and started to turn the handles.
Shortly after starting the task at hand, more hostiles began to pour into the room and started advancing towards Donnie and Mikey.
"Err, bros…!? We've got company…!" Mikey alerted Leo and Raph.
"Keep going, you two, we'll hold them off!" Leo told him and Donnie before he readied his machinegun.
"Yeah! Don't stop fer nothin'!" Raph added as he too readied his handgun and started shooting at the hostiles, killing them instantly.
During the fight to protect their younger brothers, however, Leo and Raph saw more enemies coming in. This time, they were coming towards them. As a result, the older duo had to change their focus on the enemies that were attacking them instead of those charging towards their younger brothers.
"No! Get away from me!" Mikey suddenly screamed as the enemies grabbed the orange-banded turtle, making him stop from turning the wheel. Not wanting to be taken from his brothers, Mikey kicked them back as they were about to take him.
"Mikey!" Donnie cried out before he stopped turning his wheel and took out his crossbow. He started firing at the hostiles that were being kicked back by Mikey, but then he was being targeted himself and had to focus his attacks on the incoming enemies.
"Raph, help Donnie and Mikey! I've got these guys!" Leo commanded before he took out another hostile with his katana swords.
Raph nodded before he took aim and fired at the hostiles attacking Mikey to give Donnie some back-up in helping their youngest brother. This allowed Mikey to continue on with the task of raising his part of the pathway, so Raph turned his attention to Donnie and do the same for him in order to allow him to resume his task too.
"Donnie! Mikey! What's your status?" Leo asked as he reloaded his gun.
"The path is…rising up…but not at…a fast pace!" Donnie announced breathlessly.
"Then, turn da handles faster!" Raph replied heatedly as he fired his gun at the hostiles with wooden shields, blowing the shields to bits and killing the hostiles.
"We can't go…any faster!" Mikey panted.
"Just keep going, and don't stop!" Leo told the younger duo firmly but encouragingly before he cut down two more hostiles with his katanas and switched back to his machinegun.
It took Donnie and Mikey another two minutes of wheel turning, but they had eventually managed to finally raising the two remaining parts of the pathway out of the water.
"It's up!" Donnie alerted the older duo.
"Go, go, go!" Leo shouted as he and Raph helped Donnie and Mikey get down before they all ran across the raised walkway to get to the door.
As soon as they had reached the door, they slammed it open and entered through it. They then quickly closed the door just before their remaining enemies caught up to them.