Chapter 29-The Horns Of The Unicorns
The turtle brothers walked through the doorway and were now outside and away from the bug-infested ballroom.
Then…
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!"
They stopped walking when they heard eery laughter coming from a sound trumpet in the mouth of a large dragon statue in the middle of the area.
"Oh, turtle men…You have not been very good at being protective brothers, have you?" Ramón's teasing voice was then heard.
"It's him again…!" Donnie hissed with a glare.
"Your little brother is a spirited individual…I must say, he gave us a considerable amount of trouble!" Ramón told them.
"Hey! If we see one scratch on him when we find him, yer gonna be given a lot more trouble from us, ya creep!" Raph snapped angrily.
"Ignore him, Raph; he's just trying to distract us by messing with our heads…!" Donnie told him to try and calm him down.
"Right…Let's get this drawbridge down, so that we can get to the next room…" Leo replied calmly.
They entered through the door and into a mess hall, where they had not only encountered more infected worshippers, but Leo and Raph had also recognised two clawed beast-like men chained on the wall next to the doorway with a closed portcullis ahead of them. This time, one of them was wearing a partly covered helmet and upper front body armour, whilst the other was wearing a fully covered helmet with horns like a bull.
"Oh, great…There's two of 'em dis time…!" Raph growled.
"Two of what?" Donnie questioned in confusion since he had not encountered the clawed men before like Leo and Raph did.
"Trust me, Don; you don't wanna know…But whatever you do, don't make any noise whenever you're near them; they're blind, but they're hearing is really sensitive…" Leo told him firmly.
Donnie nodded, despite feeling a bit confused, before he and his older brothers readied their weapons, but they had to use their bladed ones as well as the crossbow since too much gun noise would cause the clawed male duo to break free from their chains.
Donnie confronted a worshipper wielding a scythe and was able to parry the weapon with his bo staff before he quickly sidestepped and stabbed him in the chest with his knife, killing him instantly. Raph fought against two worshippers, both of whom were wielding spiked balls on chains; he dodged the first enemy's attack and used one of his sais to wrap the chain around it, pull the man forward, and stab him in the chest with his other sai. Leo faced a worshipper wielding axes and was able to dodge the first axe that was thrown at him before blocking with his katana swords, and then he stabbed him twice in the chest, killing him instantly as well.
Shortly after taking the first group of enemies out, more of them suddenly appeared through the doors and started advancing towards the turtle brothers.
"Urgh, seriously!?" Raph hissed in annoyance since he couldn't shout due to being near the chained up clawed men ahead of him.
"Come on, let's take them out!" Leo commanded quietly before he readied his katana blades again and charged at the enemy group, with his brothers following his lead seconds later.
But then, after dodging an axe-wielding worshipper's attack…
Woosh! DING!
A stray axe had struck the large bell on the right side of the room near the two clawed men, who immediately started breaking free from their chains.
"Take cover!" Leo commanded before he and his brothers hurried behind a stone wall, which was also a mini corridor, just as the clawed men started their slashing frenzy where they were last positioned.
"What the shell are those things!?" Donnie hissed in terror after witnessing the two tall creatures for the first time.
"Da best way ta describe 'em, Donnie, is dat they look like a blind and highly mutated version of Wolverine…" Raph answered as best he could, though it didn't make his purple-banded brother feel any better.
"Well, how do we defeat them!?" Donnie questioned anxiously.
"They have parasites on their backs…We destroy them, we take out the mutant clawed men too…" Leo explained in a short and specific way.
Donnie nodded shakily in understanding before he, Leo, and Raph quietly moved towards one side of the wall and peeped out to see what the clawed men were doing, and what they saw shocked them; because of their blindness, the clawed men used their heightened hearing to locate and attack the last remaining infected worshippers in the middle of the mess hall.
"Well, at least they're takin' out da rest of our enemies fer us…!" Raph observed in surprise.
"Yeah, but we still need to put a stop to them, Raph; they're too aggressive and uncontrollable to be left like this…" Leo reminded, despite feeling a bit sorry for the clawed men.
Raph groaned but nodded in agreement with his immediate older brother before he, Leo, and Donnie cautiously left the safety of their hiding place and entered back into the mess hall where they had noticed that the clawed male duo had stopped their frenzy and stood still whilst listening out for more victims to attack. Leo took this as an opportunity for him to look around until he spotted one of the bells on the left side of the room.
"Ring that bell over there…" Leo whispered whilst pointing at the large gold bell.
After picking up a piece of broken debris on the floor, Donnie aimed it at the bell and threw it, causing it to ring loud enough for the clawed men to hear.
"Rrrooooaaarrr!" The clawed male duo roared before they charged and started slashing the air around them until their claws became embedded in the walls. This caused their parasitic backs to be exposed.
"Now!" Leo shouted before he took out his machine gun and started firing at the parasite sticking out of the first clawed man's back, whilst Raph used his shotgun to shoot at the second clawed man's parasitic back.
However, despite the heavy shots, the clawed men didn't fall and were able to pull their claws free from the walls. They then started to charge towards the turtle brothers when they had heard noise coming from their location.
"Yikes!" Donnie cried out as he ducked to avoid being decapitated by the mutant man's claws.
"This way! Back to the wall!" Leo told his brothers before they all quickly retreated to the back wall they hid behind earlier.
Fortunately, the trio were fast enough to gain a good distance away from the clawed men, and they stayed quiet as the mutant men slashed and clawed at the pillars and wall behind them.
"What now!?" Donnie hissed in a scared tone.
"Shh…We'll sneak behind them quietly and then strike them whilst their backs are turned…" Leo whispered his plan.
Despite feeling scared still, Donnie and Raph nodded in agreement with Leo's plan before they all slowly walked towards one of the wall's entrances to see what the clawed men were up to. Luckily for them, the two clawed men were standing in the middle of the mess hall whilst hearing out for more potential prey with their backs facing their way.
"Now's our chance…Go!" Leo hissed before he and his brothers quickly but quietly sneaked towards the clawed men.
As soon as they had reached them at a reasonable distance, Leo and Raph aimed their firearms at the parasites on their backs and fired. The parasites shrieked before disintegrating into a bloody mess, causing the clawed men to roar in pain before collapsing to the ground.
Shortly after the two clawed men fell, a long and pointed object detached itself off of both of them. Leo and Raph approached the bodies and took a closer look at the objects.
"Huh? What're these? Horns?" Raph questioned when he looked at the object in his hand.
"Looks like it, but what are they for?" Leo wondered when he looked at the second object in his own hand.
"I think these horse busts next to the door might be related to them. In fact, those horns are unicorn horns!" Donnie told his brothers when he assessed the horse-like busts next to the portcullis.
"Unicorns?" "Seriously?" Leo and Raph questioned sceptically.
"Yes, I'm serious, guys…! Look, there are slots on the animals' heads which indicate that the horns are insertable here, making them the keys to unlocking the portcullis!" Donnie answered whilst pointing at the slots in the middle of the heads.
Leo and Raph looked at each other before they walked towards the statues and each placed a horn inside the slots. Seconds after placing them, the trio watched as flames lit up inside the statues before the portcullis rose up, opening the way for them.
"It worked!" Raph said in amazement.
"See? Told you…!" Donnie replied with a smirk.
"Ok, now let's keep-"
"No! Noooo!"
Leo was suddenly cut off from talking when he and his brothers heard a terrified scream that sounded very familiar.
"Was that-?" Donnie questioned anxiously.
"Mikey! He's in trouble!" Raph cried out before he and his brothers rushed towards the door and slammed it open.