Chapter 31-Cave Of Secrets
The turtle brothers walked through the cave, which was filled up to an ankle deep in water, and they all looked around with their flashlights on before they looked at the hundreds of larger stalagmites surrounding them and became horrified at the impaled remains of those who fell before the trio.
"This is just horrendous…!" Donnie said with a grimace.
"Yer tellin' me…I'll bet these guys never saw it comin' when they fell down here…" Raph agreed in anger.
"I know it's hard to look at, my brothers, but we have to keep moving; Mikey's in danger, and we need to get to him…" Leo reminded them firmly but softly before he and his brothers squeezed through some stalagmites in front of them and walked through a small tunnel.
Suddenly, at the end of the tunnel, something with glowing green eyes zoomed past the exit through the water.
"What was that?" Leo questioned as he readied his handgun.
"Please, don't tell me that there's something down here with us…!" Donnie pleaded nervously behind Leo.
The blue-banded turtle cautiously continued walking through the tunnel until he reached the exit and entered another flooded area of the cave.
Then…
Splash! "Screeeee!"
A large insect jumped out of the water with a shriek and was about to attack the turtle brothers with its scythe-like claws!
"Whoa!" The turtle brothers gasped before they dodged out of the creature's line of attack.
"A water bug!?" Raph shouted in shock.
"Take it out!" Leo commanded before he started shooting at the mutant insect, but it jumped back and dove back into the water.
"Where'd it go!?" Raph questioned as he looked around frantically for the mutant insect.
"There! Under the water!" Donnie alerted when he spotted green eyes glowing and moving under the water.
"Come outta there and face us, ya freak!" Raph challenged before he took a shot at the creature with his shotgun.
The water insect came out of the water with a shriek of agony before Leo and Donnie joined in and started shooting at it with their handguns until it collapsed into the water, and then it exploded in the water.
"Ok, it's out…Let's keep moving…" Leo said after catching his breath.
As they ventured deeper into the cave, where they had to take out a few more water insects, the turtle brothers soon noticed that parts of the cave looked different and out of place.
"Is this…a prison cell?" Leo guessed when he saw a small boxed room with chains attached to the walls and a skeleton laying near them.
"Looks like it, but why is it down here of all places?" Donnie answered with a hint of wonder.
"Dunno…But whatever da reason, I don't like it in here at all…" Raph told him whilst feeling a bit uneasy.
As Donnie looked around the cell, he spotted an old worn-down journal next to a skeleton. He picked it up and opened it to read its contents, which explained how prisoners were being tortured by starving them until they had no choice but to drink the black water, resulting them in becoming mad and dying one by one.
"Those monsters…they've been imprisoning people down here and forcing them to become infected through mental torture…!" Donnie shouted angrily before throwing the book on the floor next to the body.
"Easy, Donnie…I know you're upset, but there's nothing that any of us can do for them now…" Leo calmed him sadly.
"He's right, bro, but don't worry; we'll make sure dat these creeps are taken down before more people suffer da same fate…" Raph swore in determination.
Donnie nodded and started taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down before he looked around the cell some more until he had spotted something through a gap in one of the walls.
"Look! There's a ladder in the next room, we can get out from there…" He alerted his brothers.
With this in mind, Raph smashed away the weakened part of the wall to create a gap just big enough for the turtle brothers to squeeze through. After doing that, the trio walked over to the ladder and started climbing up it one by one.
Then, just as they had all reached the top…
"Cough! Cough, cough!" Leo suddenly started coughing, and his vision darkened whilst he heard the sound of ringing at the same time, but that only last for a moment.
"Leo!?" Donnie cried out as he held his brother steady during his coughing fit.
"I-It's alright, I'm fine…" Leo assured his brother shakily with a gasp as he regained his composure, wiping his mouth with his hand and covering it in more blood.
"Are ya sure? Ya just coughed up blood again…!" Raph pointed out nervously when he saw his brother's hand.
"The plaga must be getting stronger…We need to find Luis and get that medicine before you get worse…!" Donnie urged as he assessed his oldest brother.
"And we will, Donnie, but we need to get back above ground first…" Leo replied firmly.
Raph and Donnie were sceptical about what Leo said about his current condition, but they knew that confronting him about it more would only waste more time in saving both him and Mikey, so they and Leo continued on with their search for a way out through a long dark tunnel.
/
Sometime later…
The turtle brothers came across a metal door, which had a note about new liquid nitrogen installations being made.
"Liquid nitrogen? What's that for?" Leo questioned in confusion.
"I don't know, but let's make sure that we don't come into contact with it when we're inside…" Donnie warned.
Keeping this information in mind, the turtle brothers opened the door and made their way through another corridor, but it was made of metal fencing and walls this time.
"What is this place? Some kind of lab?" Leo questioned curiously.
"Not exactly…It looks like this place was used as a power and cooling system. However, I think people might have been secretly using it to do human experimentations in…" Donnie theorised fearfully.
As they walked on, Raph spotted a red button with a green light above it on the right side of the corridor.
"Huh? What's dis button for?" He questioned curiously before he pushed the button.
Beep! Beep! Beep! TSSSSSSSSSS!
An alarm blared out for a few seconds before the shower sprinklers began to pour out a white-coloured liquid, and Raph was dangerously close to it.
"Raph, get back! It's liquid nitrogen!" Donnie shouted as he quickly grabbed Raph's arm and pulled him away from the showers.
"Shell, dat was close…" Raph breathed out whilst wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"What are showers filled with liquid nitrogen doing in a place like this?" Leo questioned in both confusion and astonishment.
"I don't know, and I'm not sure if I really wanna know…" Donnie answered nervously.
"Well, standing around here won't solve the mystery any faster…Let's keep going and see if we can find a way out of here…" Leo told his brothers.
The turtle brothers moved on until they had entered a science room that featured a work desk, where Donnie found a few pieces of paper in a messy pile and had writing all over it. The purple-banded turtle decided to read the notes, with Leo and Raph reading them with him whilst standing near him.
What the turtle brothers had read horrified them; the person wrote that they had drunken the black water and experienced a lot of pain cause by changes in their body, but they were willing to go through with it in order to become a 'true servant' to Ramón Salazar. The trio then discovered that the person who wrote the notes was called Uriarte Talavera, and he stated that he would serve as an executioner and something called a 'Verdugo' for the heretics.
"Oh, man…This is just wrong…" Leo gaped in shock.
"Yer tellin' me; dis guy's really lost da plot…!" Raph agreed in disgust.
"I've got a bad feeling that the person who wrote this might have become one of the mutants that we had encountered earlier…" Donnie theorised.
"You mean…The servants that Ramón had earlier during the ritual they did to Mikey…They were humans turned insect mutants…!?" Leo guessed with wide eyes.
"Judging by what the notes say, it's highly possible…" Donnie answered with a slow nod.
"Well, let's not stand around ta find out…We need ta find da exit and get outta here as soon as possible…!" Raph told the others impatiently.
Leo and Donnie strongly agreed, and they all left the work room behind and ventured on through the room until they had found an elevator. However, when they tried to push the button and get it to come to their floor, nothing happened.
"What's wrong with dis thing!?" Raph questioned in frustration as he kept pushing the button to try and get it to work.
"Looks like the power's out…" Donnie stated when he assessed the elevator.
"Great…" Raph groaned.
"There should be a power generator somewhere in here…Let's look around and get it turned on…" Leo told his brothers calmly.
Tip, tap! Clang! Tip, tap! Clang!
The sounds of tip-tapping and clanging were heard coming from above the trio, who all stopped walking for a moment.
"Did ya hear dat?" Raph questioned.
"It sounds like it's coming from above us…" Donnie speculated as he looked up at the ceiling.
"I don't think we're alone in here…Be on your guard…" Leo warned as he readied his weapon and heightened his guard.
With their weapons in hand, the turtle brothers continued on walking down the corridor. Then, suddenly, something long and scaly protruded out of a grail from underneath the floor and started whipping around in front of the trio.
"Look out!" Donnie shouted.
"Whoa!" Leo shouted before he backflipped to dodge the attack. He then watched as the whip-like body part disappeared below him and his brothers.
"What da shell was dat!?" Raph questioned in shock.
"I-I don't know, but it's definitely not friendly…" Donnie answered in a scared tone.
"Keep moving, and don't let your guard down even for a second…!" Leo commanded firmly.
With a mystery creature following them in the shadows, the turtle brothers increased their walking speed slightly and resumed their task on finding the power generator. Then, the unknown hidden creature attempted to strike again with its whip-like body part from above, but the turtle brothers expected it straight away and dodged out of its attack range before watching it disappear again.
The turtle brothers continued on until they saw something that looked like a power generator at the end of the corridor.
"There it is!" Donnie alerted as he pointed at the switch.
"Ok, Don, turn the power on!" Leo commanded.
Donnie nodded before he walked over to the switch and pulled it down to turn the power on. A moment later, the elevator and all the lights within the facility came on, so the turtle brothers were no longer walking around in the dark.
"There, that should get the elevator up and running again…" Donnie said.
"Good, then let's head back…" Leo replied in relief he and his brothers started making their way back to the elevator.
By this time, the clicking and tapping noises that the turtle brothers heard earlier had gotten louder, meaning that whatever was following them was getting closer.
Then…
Tip, tap! Clang! BANG!
More tapping and clanging were heard until a big bang followed seconds later. The turtle brothers cautiously started moving forward whilst keeping their weapons ready in their hands.
Then, as they walked towards a corner…
Screeeee!
A tall insect-like humanoid creature with a long tail appeared and shrieked at the turtle brothers, who all realised that it was the Verdugo that was described in the notes from earlier!
"What the shell!?" Donnie cried out in horror.
"You…You're one of Ramón's servants!" Leo said in realisation when he recognised the creature's insect-like face and red eyes.
"Shell, he's even uglier than he was before he took his cloak off!" Raph exclaimed in disgust.
"Screeee!" The creature shrieked before it pounced towards the trio with its claws outstretched.
"Whoa!" Raph gasped as he and his brothers dodged out of the creature's way.
"Run!" Leo shouted before they all started running away from the creature.
Before doing so himself, Raph quickly pressed the shower button, hoping that the liquid nitrogen might slow the creature down. As soon as the creature was underneath the showers, the alarm blared out before the showers began to spurt out liquid nitrogen on top of it.
"Screeeeee!" The humanoid insect shrieked in pain as the liquid nitrogen landed on its exoskeletal body and started hardening, making it hard for it to move fast enough.
"Gotcha!" Raph said before he started firing his shotgun at the creature, who started shrieking when the impact of the bullets had caused its frozen exoskeletal armour to crack. The creature then shook itself to get rid of any remaining liquid nitrogen from its body and hid itself in the vents again.
"That's it! Keep turning the showers on it; it'll weakened its movements and armour!" Donnie told his brothers.
"We'll have ta find another one, though; dis one's takin' ages ta reset itself!" Raph pointed out.
"Then let's hurry and find another one; there should be more from back where we came from!" Leo commanded before he and his brothers rushed off to look for another shower system whilst keeping their eyes open for the humanoid insect that was chasing them during the process.
As they ran, the turtle brothers noticed that the Verdugo was not behind them. Instead, they heard noises coming from above them.
"It's retreated into the vents again…" Donnie told his brothers quietly.
"What's your move, monster?" Leo questioned as he surveyed the area around him.
After a whole minute of walking and listening out for the Verdugo, the turtle brothers spotted another shower system before they heard the humanoid insect running towards them.
"Get ready to press the button!" Leo commanded his instruction to Donnie who stood by the button with his hand hovering over it.
Soon, the Verdugo appeared a few metres away from the turtle brothers, and then it slowly moved forward before it started advancing towards them at a quicker pace.
"Now!" Leo shouted.
Hearing the command, Donnie immediately pressed the button and moved away from the shower sprinklers with his older brothers just before they turned on and spurted more liquid nitrogen on the unsuspecting creature.
"Dat's it! Go and chill out!" Raph mocked before he and his brothers started shooting at the Verdugo again.
The second round of freezing had caused the Verdugo's exoskeletal armour to weaken even more, and the impact of the bullets had finally caused most of it to break off the creature, who shrieked and suddenly retreated back into the vents.
"This thing definitely likes to play hide-and seek with its prey…!" Donnie observed.
"Then, I say we play da game and take it down!" Raph suggested, punching his fist in his hand.
"Agreed! Let's do this!" Leo replied in determination.
With more courage in their hearts, the turtle brothers ran through the pathway towards another shower system whilst dodging more of the Verdugo's tail whips from the grails. By the time the trio had reach the shower system, the humanoid insect had appeared again and tried to trip Leo with its tail, but the blue-banded turtle had managed to dodge it by a few inches.
"Push the button, Raph!" Leo commanded as soon as he had reached a safe distance with Donnie.
Raph pushed the button before catching up with his brothers. The Verdugo rushed towards the turtle brothers, but as soon as it was underneath the shower heads, the liquid nitrogen poured out on top of it, causing it to shriek in pain once again since its sensitive skin was now exposed.
The turtle brothers immediately began shooting at the Verdugo again. To keep it from attacking them with its tail again, Leo sliced the long body part off with his katana swords. Then, after a fatal shot to the head, the Verdugo collapsed and stopped moving altogether.
"Finally…it's down…" Leo announced breathlessly.
"Who'd have thought dat dis thing was a human once…!" Raph said in astonishment.
"Yeah, but there are some humans who would crazy things just to please others…" Donnie pointed out, his face showing both disgust and sadness.
"Come on, guys, let's head back to the elevator; it should be working by now…" Leo told his brothers before they all hurried back to the science room where the elevator was.
By the time they had got there, the elevator had already arrived and was waiting for them with its door open.
"Well, dat's good timin'…!" Raph said in surprise before he, Leo, and Donnie entered the elevator and pushed the button to get it moving.
During the elevator ride, Leo noticed black veins spreading down his arms before he was suddenly hit with a bad migraine-like pain in his head and the sound of ringing in his ears, and then he felt a sharp pain in his chest shortly after.
"Leo!? What's wrong!?" Donnie questioned worriedly.
"Ngh! Aargh!" Leo grunted before he cried out in pain until he collapsed in front of his brothers.
"LEO!" Raph and Donnie shouted their oldest brother's name, but the blue-banded turtle did not respond because he had already blacked out just before he landed on the floor.
/
Unknown…
"Pitiful little lamb…" The voice of the same cloaked man from the last dream was heard before his figure became more visible to the eye.
"Your suffering can end. Just as it did for our newest son, who has joined in communion. And now, he is of our flesh…of our blood…My faithful disciple will show him the path…" He then said gleefully.
"Go now! Deliver to these vagrant children their salvation…" The cloaked man ordered, clenching his hand.
"As you wish…" Another man's voice was heard before an army knife appeared in view, and his glaring eyes were reflecting on the blade.
/
The real world…
"Mmm…Urrrgh…" Leo groaned as he started to come back into reality. He opened his eyes slowly since he was still a little dizzy, and he sensed that he was being held upright by somebody on the floor of the elevator.
"Leo! Talk to me…!" He heard Donnie's pleading voice.
"Come on, bro!" He then heard Raph's voice, which sounded almost hysterical.
"R-Raph? Donnie…?" Leo responded shakily as he looked at his brothers tiredly once his vision was clearer and everything around him wasn't spinning anymore. It was then that he realised that it was Donnie who was holding onto him and Raph had his hand on his shoulder for support.
"Oh, thank shell…We've been calling your name a few times, but you weren't responding…!" Donnie breathed in relief as he gave Leo a gentle hug.
"What happened?" Raph questioned.
"I-I don't know…One minute my head was ringing and my chest was hurting, and the next, it was like I was somewhere else…Then, this cloaked man appeared again and was standing whilst talking in front of me, but it wasn't me he was talking to…" Leo explained as best he could whilst holding his aching head in one hand, whilst he wondered about the unknown person's face reflecting on the knife in his dream and who it belonged to.
"A cloaked man…? Could it be this Lord Saddler guy…?" Donnie questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Maybe…" Leo answered in an unsure tone.
"But ya were here dis whole time, bro…Were ya dreamin' or somethin'…?" Raph asked.
"I-I'm not sure, Raph, it didn't feel like a dream…All I know is that I don't wanna go through all of that again; it's starting to mess with my head…" Leo answered wearily.
Raph and Donnie looked at Leo and then at each other in concern before all the brothers felt the elevator jolt to a stop, meaning that it had arrived at its destination. After helping Leo to stand back up, the three turtle brothers exited the elevator before they spotted a familiar figure standing and leaning his body against a metal support frame whilst looking at them.
"Luis?" Leo called out in surprise.
The human male smiled at the turtle brothers as he held up a container and shook it slightly before he spoke.
"I'll make it cheap for you…"