Chapter 28-Bug Infestation
Meanwhile, on Karai's side…
Parts of the castle were still in flames when Karai arrived on one of the castle tower roofs. She observed her surroundings, as well as the damages, before she heard her communicator go off.
"So, Miss Karai, what's become of the Amber?" An unknown man's voice came through.
"Apologies. I have not heard or seen anything of its location, yet…However, my little 'helpers' are creating quite the commotion…Do not worry, though; everything will work out as planned…" Karai answered flatly but confidently as she looked at the deceased bodies of infected worshippers below her.
"As long as you keep your 'dogs' under control…" The man added firmly.
"They are well-behaved, and predictable…one of them especially…" Karai defended.
"Fine, keep your mutts…but don't come crying to me if you get mauled to death…" The man warned in frustration.
"Do not forget that I do not take orders from you, nor do I work for you either…! I am here for a different reason…" Karai reminded the man heatedly before she ended the communication.
As she started making a move, she suddenly spotted something moving at the corner of her eye by the windows. When she took a closer look, she saw a tall mutated creature carrying an unconscious person, who she instantly recognised as Michelangelo, in its arms.
As much as she hated the turtles for what they did to her in the past, part of her didn't want to ignore this matter and taint her warrior honour even more. Therefore, she took out her communicator again and connected to Leo's line.
/
The turtles' side…
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The turtle brothers had just left the large cage when Leo jumped slightly in surprise after he heard the sound of his communicator beeping. He immediately answered the call and heard a familiar female voice.
"Leonardo, can you hear me?" It was Karai.
"Karai? How did you-"
"Never mind that now…If you are still trying to save your brother, I have just spotted him being taken somewhere…" Karai cut him off with her news.
"What!? Where is that monster taking Mikey!?" Donnie questioned anxiously when he overheard Karai.
"Hmm, I think he is being taken to the throne room…I am getting a sense that something big is about to happen in there…" Karai guessed.
"The throne room, got it…Thanks for the tip-off, Karai…" Leo replied gratefully.
"Do not forget that we are enemies, Leonardo…! I am only helping you in order to maintain my honour as a warrior…!" Karai reminded firmly before she abruptly cut off the communication.
"Karai? Karai! Ugh…Still the same as ever…" Leo said with a frustrated sigh.
"Forget about her! We gotta get ta da throne room and save Mikey!" Raph jumped in firmly.
"You're right, Raph…Come on!" Leo agreed before he and brothers started moving on towards the doorway that Mikey had entered during his run from the infected worshippers earlier.
They had entered into a sitting room where they saw a double door on the left side of the room. They opened it to find an outdoor walkway leading towards another double door ahead of them.
As they were nearly halfway there, however…
Crack! Crack! Click! Click! Click! Click!
The turtle brothers stopped when they heard cracking and clicking noises in the area.
"What was that?" Donnie questioned quietly.
"Dunno…Sounds like it's comin' from ahead of us…" Raph guessed suspiciously.
Leo slowly walked forward until he saw something odd on the ceiling above the double door. He took out his handgun and aimed it at the ceiling before he fired. Shortly after doing so, the shape in the middle of the ceiling changed colour, opened its green-coloured eyes, and exposed its wings to reveal a large mutant insect!
"What the shell is that!?" Leo shouted in shock before he watched as the insect jumped off the ceiling and started flying, and then a second insect appeared from the right side of the door.
"Bugs!? Why are there bugs here!?" Raph questioned almost hysterically since he was never a fan of insects.
"We'll figure it out later, Raph, just help us take them out!" Donnie told him as he grabbed his crossbow and started shooting at the insect duo.
Raph growled before he took out his handgun and started shooting at them as well until they screeched in pain and were on the ground.
The moment they had landed on their backs and died, their bodies suddenly exploded into a gooey mess on the floor.
"Urgh, now dat's just gross…!" Raph said in disgust.
"At least they've been taken care of…Let's get to the door and get inside…" Leo replied before he approached the double door and pushed against it, only to discover that it was locked.
"Great…After all that, the door is actually locked…" Leo exclaimed in frustration.
"What da we do now, then!?" Raph questioned in annoyance.
"Look! There's some stairs leading up to a door on the left side! We might be able to get in through there…!" Donnie alerted his brothers as he pointed towards a staircase leading up to a single wooden door.
"Good eye, Donnie, let's go…" Leo praised before he vaulted over the wall on the left hand side, with his brothers following his lead seconds later.
Suddenly, more flying mutant insects appeared on the other side of the stone railing near the stairs.
"More bugs incoming!" Donnie cried out.
"Get to the door, hurry!" Leo commanded urgently as he and his brothers ran up the stairs until they had reached the door.
As soon as they had opened it, the turtle brothers immediately closed it just as the flying insects were inches away from it. The trio then barricaded the door with their own bodies for 2 minutes when they heard the insects trying to break into the room, but they breathed a sigh of relief when the insects stopped and flew away.
"Ok…They're gone…" Donnie said after a moment of silence.
"Phew…I did not see dat comin' at all…!" Raph breathed out in astonishment.
"None of us did, Raph…Let's go and see where we are right now before more of them show up…" Leo replied.
The younger brothers agreed, and they all walked further on until they saw the whole entire room that they had entered in. They had noticed that it looked a little worse for wear with a lot of destruction in places, especially with the gaping holes that were spread out around the floor.
"What is this place?" Leo questioned in wonder.
"It looks like some kind of ballroom, judging by the balcony seats above us…It's mainly used to host events and enjoy some entertainment…" Donnie speculated.
"Geez…Wonder if da actual entertainment caused dis…" Raph thought aloud in awe when he saw the damage more thoroughly.
Suddenly…
Bzzzzzzzzzz!
The turtles paused when they heard the loud sounds of buzzing and flapping wings from within the holes.
"Oh, don't tell me…" Leo growled quietly before he and his brothers saw more giant insects flying out of the holes themselves.
"Urgh…Again, why did they have ta have mutated bugs too!?" Raph complained with a groan.
"Don't know, Raph…All I can say is that Ramón has definitely slacked off on his pest control…!" Leo answered sarcastically.
"There must be a nest of some sorts down below if they're all coming out in high numbers like this…!" Donnie speculated as he took out his gun and fired at the first creature that was zooming towards him.
Leo and Raph did the same with the other flying insects; they took out their chosen firearms and started shooting at the incoming insects.
Whether they were on the stairs or on the lower floor, the trio had mutant insects coming from all over the place since they had the ability to camouflage themselves within their surroundings, and they knew that they had to defeat them all in order to leave the room. Luckily, the insects' physiology was not strong in terms of durability and protection, so they were easily taken down after a few bullet shots before exploding into puddles of goo shortly after dying.
"Ewww, gross…! Why do they explode like dat?" Raph grimaced.
"I'm not sure, Raph…Maybe it's like a last act of defence against predators or something…" Donnie theorised in uncertainty.
"Either way, we've managed to take out the swarm…Let's get out of here…" Leo said before he started looking around for another way out until he spotted a large doorway blocked by two portcullises.
"Look, over there! A gated doorway! That must lead towards the throne room!" He alerted his brothers.
"Yeah, but it's double locked by two portcullises! We need to find a way to raise them!" Donnie pointed out.
"Then let's look around and see if there are any switches to open them…" Leo replied.
After spotting a ladder nearby, the turtle brothers climbed up it until they were on the upper level again, and it was there that they spotted a lever ahead of them. Before they could get to it, however, they were stunned by the sudden appearance of another pair of insects that were camouflaged as large rocks next to the lever.
"Urgh, I knew more would be hidin' and waitin' fer us…!" Raph groaned.
"Take them out!" Leo commanded before he and his brothers readied their weapons again.
Leo dodged an incoming attack from the first insect before using his handgun to shoot it down. Donnie used his bo staff to whack the second insect in the face to keep it from biting him before he used his crossbow to take it down, whilst Raph shot down the third insect with his own handgun before he used one of his sais to stab it in the chest. They then all watched as the insects' lives faded away before exploding afterward.
As soon as the insects were defeated, the turtle brothers headed over to the lever and Leo volunteered to pull it down. Shortly after doing so, the trio heard something being lifted up not too far away from their position.
"Did ya hear dat?" Raph questioned.
"I think one of the portcullises has been lifted up!" Donnie speculated.
"Ok, on to the next one…" Leo commanded before he and his brothers jumped down from the upper level and moved on towards the left side of the room to find the next switch.
As they moved forward, more insects suddenly appeared out of the holes and flew towards the turtle brothers.
"Incoming!" Donnie alerted.
The turtle brothers immediately ran towards the stairs leading up towards the upper level whilst making sure that they didn't fall into the large holes on the ground floor. Once they got there, Raph took out his shotgun and started shooting at the insects when they had positioned themselves in a line. They were all shot down, though Leo and Donnie had to finish them off completely in the end since one bullet was not enough to do so.
With the insects taken out, the trio rushed up the stairs until they had reached the upper floor, and then they spotted the second lever ahead of them. However, once again, they encountered a few more insects that were hiding in their camouflaged forms and waiting to pounce on the turtle brothers.
"Here we go again…!" Leo cried out before he started shooting at the insects, with his machine gun this time.
The blue-banded turtle managed to take down the insect in front of him, whilst Raph and Donnie used their own firearms to take down the second and third insects before they all watched as the fallen insects exploded and perished in front of them.
"Well, dat was nasty…!" Raph said in disgust.
"Yeah…Let's hope we don't run into any more of these things in the future…" Donnie agreed.
"I doubt it; we've encountered the trolls more than once before, so there's a chance that we'll see more insects again in the near future…" Leo countered sadly.
Raph and Donnie grimaced at the thought of possibly encountering more mutant insects again in the near future, but they pushed their fears to one side when their thoughts changed to Mikey and the situation that he was currently in.
"Anyway, let's get that last portcullis open…" Leo said, immediately changing the subject and getting back to the task at hand.
Raph and Donnie nodded before the purple-banded turtle headed over to the lever and pulled it down. Seconds later, all the turtle brothers heard the sound of a portcullis being lifted up again.
"The last portcullis is up!" Donnie announced happily.
"Alright, let's get out of here!" Leo commanded before he and his brothers ran back down the stairs and rushed towards the now opened doorway, so that they could finally leave the bug-infested ballroom.