Ninja Turtles 1. The drive into town

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the Cave of No Return

By Blue Rose Kelly. Disk F (Disclaimer; I do not own TMNT thank goodness.)

Chapter 1 Drive into town.

It was getting late in the afternoon and the turtles had been traveling in the Battle Shell for almost three days now. Three days on the road on a search for their beloved father and master who had disappeared with not a struggle and almost no trace. All the turtles worried about Splinter and manifested this in their own ways. Leonardo and Raphael were in the front seats and took turns sleeping and driving and staying for the most part completely silent keeping to their own thoughts. Donatello kept a constant vigil on the Shell-Cell signal on his computer. He could not tell if Master Splinter was at that location now all he knew was that is where he had been. Even Michelangelo was more subdued than normal watching the scenery pass by the window and occasionally crack a joke to lighten the tension or looking over his brother's shoulder to make sure the signal was still there. They all drove in silence praying that their fears were ungrounded and Master Splinter was alright.

Mikey looked out the window at the steady rolling foothills and mountains so close it felt as though he could reach out and touch them. "Dang this is nuts, I didn't realize there was this much open land in Colorado! This is nothing like home sweet New York." Mikey couldn't help but smile thinking about running around in such a big area without fear of being seen.

"Do you have any idea where we are Donnie" Raph said waking up from a nap in the passenger's seat and also checking their surroundings.

"Well guys, we just left Highway 133 and we are looking at the Elk Mountains at McClure Pass" Don answered in his usual matter-a-fact tone looking at the details on the computer screen.

"So you have no idea where we are, do you" Raph said turning around to face his brother from the passengers' seat with his usual irritated expression.

"Not a clue" Don said sheepishly then added "but we are on track with the signal. Turn left here Leo."

The Battle Shell turned onto a side road then suddenly stopped and all the power died.

"What the shell?' Leo exclaimed as he tried to revive the Battle Shell but to no avail. They were stuck.

"Everybody sit tight I'll go check the engine" Raph said getting out of the van.

"No wait, Raph..." Leo said fearing that someone would come and see them.

Chill out Leo we haven't seen anyone in a while, this is more out of the way than the farmhouse" Mikey observed looking out the window down the road in both directions. There was no one in either direction.

"Are there any towns near by Don" Leo asked cautiously getting out of the van to help Raph. "There is a town called Marble on one of the maps. What does the battery look like Raph?" Don replied checking a road map.

"Completely dead! And I know I checked it before we got into Denver and it was fine then" Raph said in frustration checking the vans' battery.

"That's odd it usually doesn't work like that" Mikey commented sticking his head out the door to get a better look at the engine.

"Back inside Mikey we will need to go on foot from here so we need to get our stuff. You still have a pretty good idea where that signal was Don?" Leo asked his brother hoping that it would not be much longer until they had their father back.

"Yeah it should be just up the ridge over there" Don pointed to where they should start their hike.

"Hay Donnie" Mikey chimed in with interest. "There's really a town called Marble, do they make marbles there?"

"No but they do have a marble quarry nearby that was used to get marble for the Lincoln Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Equitable Building back in New York" Don said having researched the area a bit.

"Wow how did they get it out of here with no cranes?" Mikey said in astonishment.

"They put it on trucks and drove it out of the pass." Don explained to his ever curious brother as they started to hike up the hill to get a better view of the land.

On the way all four turtles couldn't help but marvel at the majesty and tranquility of the mountains and the forest. As they reached a break in the trees they were able to see a small town down in the valley next to a clear blue lake. The scene was very rustic and soothed the aches and pains they all had from sitting for so long.

"Wow this is incredible!" Leo exclaimed as they all view of the valley.

After a moment of admiring the scenery the turtles turned their attention to getting back down the mountain face into the valley. There were only dirt roads in this area with no traffic and lots of trees to provide cover making it easy for the turtles to walk without fear of being spotted. Suddenly a shadow drifted slow but urgently away from them between the trees. Leo became especially leery as he noticed the lack of bobbing associated with footsteps; the figure seemed to simply glide between the trees. Was this what had taken their father with no clues other than the Shell-Cell signal. Raph tensed, preparing to chase the shadow person. Don had his bo staff at the ready and scanned the area behind them for movement. The apparition had made Mikey uneasy and he held his nunchakus at the ready and backed up so he was shell to shell with his bothers. Leo tried to concentrate on the figure but it was difficult like trying to catch the wind. The air in this area was stifling, thick with energy and unsettling; though Leo could not put his finger on why. Suddenly they heard footsteps coming from the valley and in a few seconds an elderly woman came into view.

"Come! It will be dark soon it is dangerous to be out here after dark." the woman exclaimed beckoning the turtles to follow her. Dumbfounded the turtles obeyed following the woman back to the village.


	2. The shadow people and vanishing children

Ok I finally got the second chapter up with a special thanks to Smile-I'mTheEndOfAllTahtYouSee for helping me out and to suereyafor helping with grammer. I hope everybody likes this new chapter and again comment, even if it is to rip it apart just explain so I can improve. I am an adult and this is not a forsed assignment I can hadle it.

Chapter 2 The shadow people and vanishing children.

"Ma'am aren't you kind of, you know, scared seeing us" Leo asked testing the waters, looking for any sign indicating whether they could or couldn't trust a complete stranger.

The woman paused for a moment as she reached for a key, as though stuck in thought then looked them all over with a sharp eye; saying with a weary but deliberate tone "you couldn't be much worse than them now could you?".

"Who? What the shell is goin' on around here?" Raph asked confused and on the verge of losing his temper. The sudden appearance of this woman was as well as her vague explanation for helping them was very confusing to him and the memory of the figure in the woods still made him tense.

The woman hurried them inside then bolted the door behind them. They were lead into a kitchen and sat down around the table.

"It started a few months back. The electricity for the whole town was drained" the woman saidsensing the turtle's desire for an explanation and complying with a notable amount of fear in her voice. "The shadow people began to appear every night at dusk sometime after; there have been deep scratches red marks on the doors around town and strange noises at night."

Don was surprised that the electricity had been out for months and tried the light switch, nothing. "Do you think it is a down wire somewhere? Have you tried going to other towns for help?"

A worried look crossed the woman's face as she replied "yes but the energy from all the batteries, including those in cars, has also been drained with no explanation so the only way is by foot and the people who have left have not been heard from since."

The turtles looked at each other with concern, this could not be just coincidence; the whole situation was beginning to develop a sinister air about it.

"So why did you trust us?" Leo asked still trying to determine where the woman stood in all of this.

The woman stared off into space with a sad expresion then snapped back to earth, choosing her words carefully. "I was walking through the forest looking for anything we could use when I saw the shadow move between the trees and saw you a ways off. You seemed to see the shadow person as well and were alarmed from the way you reacted so you are in the same boat as the rest of us so to speak,"

Leo, Don and Raph thought they heard the whisper of an ulterior motive but didn't say anything. Mikey, on the other hand, was too scared by the strange story to pay attention to hidden meanings.

"What about other people comin' here, a town like this, even though it's small, can't just drop off the face of the earth with no one noticin'" Raph said trying not to let the suspicion he felt reflect in his voice.

"Well how did you find usway out here, you are the first living things I've seen come out of those woods since this whole mess started; and I can tel from your accents that you are not from around here either." The woman stated with a hint of curiosity.

"But what about the marble mine. People have to remember going to that? To have such a historically significant quarry just disappear has to raise some eyebrows right?" Don said remembering that the quarry had been near the spot on the map where the Shell-Cell signal had been.

Leo added hoping to persuade the woman to assist them "Would you be able to take us up there we think that there someone very important to us there."

At the mention of the mine the woman's face turned pale and made little effort to hide the fear in her stammer as she murmured "no one is allowed anywhere near there these days."

The woman introduced herself as Renee mayor of the town of marble. She offered to give the turtles lodgings but the older turtles, fearing misplaced intentions, declined as politely as possible to the protests of both Renee and Mikey. Eventually Renee agreed under the conditions that they did not leave the town's border and did not venture outside after dark. The turtles set up their tent in a park and tried to settle down for their night. As the sky gave way to alpenglow the turtles sat in a circle in the tent contemplating their next move. Raph was angry and wanted to go to the caves near the quarry without help from Renee or the village. Leo wanted to get more information about the cave network and whether Master Splinter could really be there. Suddenly, the opening to the tent was pulled back and a girl of about fifteen stood and stared in at them. She asked if they still wanted to go to the marble mine and needed a guild.

"We ain't your average tourists you know" Raph replied gruffly but pleased that Leo had less of an argument now.

"Yes I know, you said you were looking for someone important." The girl blurted out before she could help herself.

This made the turtles freeze and stare at herwith a mix of shock and fear. Realizing that there was some explaining to do she quickly pointed out that she was the granddaughter of Renee and had overheard the conversation then snuck out to see what they were trying to do, who they were trying to find. She then explained the reason why her grandmother had not wanted them to go into the caverns. Children had started to disappear about the same time all the energy was drained and strange noises had been heard coming from the network of caves. Most of the village people went into the caves but only a few of them returned. According to the survivors, the rest of the people began to disappear before their eyes, leaving without a struggle and only a weapon or an accessory behind. Her story sounded eerily familiar sending chills up the turtle's spines. Raph stood up in anticipation but Mikey wanted to know who the girl was and Leo wanted to know why she wanted to help them. The girl introduced herself as Vesper she needed to find someone as well. They set out immediately and headed for the caves in the descending darkness in silence.


	3. The vanishing: Part 1

I am sorry this took so long to put up I try to do the editing before I upload it and heed as many of your suggestions as possible as well as deal with the crazy thing called life that just won't leave me alone. I hope you enjoy and remember to comment. Disclaimer; I don't own TMNT.

Chapter 3 The vanishing: Part 1.

The walk up to the caves was long and was made longer by the fact that there was almost no light to speak of. The trees seemed to stretch out and block the dim twilight, moon and stars. There were no lights on in the village to guide them . Vesper didn't want to make a light saying that it could be seen from the town and that no one could know that they were up there. The turtles didn't know if this was true but decided to trust her judgment in this unfamiliar terrain. They all thought they could hear the breaking of a twig or the rustle of fabric and see a shadow dart from between the trees. As they reached the caves it was almost totally dark out and the mouth of the entrance gaped like a pitch black portal threatening to engulf anything that came too close.

"Dude this is beyond creepy" Mikey whispered gazing terrified at the mouth of the tunnel, then adding hopefully "maybe it's not in the cave maybe Master Splinter is out in the forest somewhere hiding above the caves."

"The signal from Master Splinter's Shell-Cell was right in this area, it wasn't moving and I put a signal on it so I know that it was pretty far underground so yeah, he's in there. I hope Master Splinter isn't hurt" Don said also gazing at the mouth of the stony tunnel with nervous anticipation.

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to find anyone in there without a light?" Raph asked turning to Vesper with the questioning glare that he usually reserved for his oldest brother.

Vesper, however, paused intrigued by what the gentle turtle had just said "is that the person you are looking for?" she asked with concern in her voice.

The Turtles looked at each other trying to decide if they should tell a stranger the purpose of their journey. Not wanting to give her additional worries they all decided to keep quiet, saying simply that it was someone they knew.

"Ok here's the deal, I do have some matches to make a couple of small torches" Vesper explained keeping her voice down to a soft whisper and shooting nervous glances to their surroundings even though there appeared to be no one anywhere near where they were standing. "But we can't use them until we are in the cave and we still have to be very careful. The floor can be very uneven and there are stalactites and stalagmites so keep your wits in full gear."

"Well I guess that leaves Mikey out" Raph said with a smirk.

"Hey! I can be serious when we are entering a place where we could disappear and never be heard from again!" Mikey said both terrified and indignant.

"You, I doubt that" Raph said snickering mischievously.

"Enough you guys, we need to stay focused. Master Splinter might be hurt" Leo said in a low no-nonsense voice.

Dividing the torch sticks among themselves and lighting the starter pine needles they entered the mouth of the cave. Walking carefully so not to trip.

"Oh and I have tissues and Diamox in case you guys get altitude sickness" Vesper whispered showing them a satchel decorated to look like compass face around her neck.

"What's that" Mikey asked apparently never having heard of such a thing.

"It's the way bodies react to the sudden change in air pressure. You're coming from New York right? That's at sea level; you are now over a mile above sea level. You are going to feel something at some point" Vesper said with the air of someone who has experience with this.

"How do you know we're from New York?" Raph said again with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Not many people go around speaking in a Brooklyn accent for kicks" Vesper stated with a little smile in the same flat voice as her grandmother.

They continued on in silence for a while. The caves rose, fell and wound around seeming to go on forever like a labyrinth in the heart of the mountain. Leo began to get steadily more uneasy thinking about how difficult it would be to find Mister Splinter in this place, if he was here at all. After a while the narrow tunnel straightened out like a hallway and the air became very dense with energy to the point where a faint buzz could be heard.

"Do you have any idea where you're going?" Raph asked, frustration rising in his stomach.

"There are some cavern grottos further in; the person you're looking for may have gone to if he was in this area. But this is where the people were when they started to disappear and there are no shafts in this part so stay on your guard, I can't say what will happen" Vesper said in a whisper like snow falling.

They all continued with a heightened sense of awareness each of their five senses straining to the breaking point. The buzzing grew steadily stronger and the energy became almost suffocating. Suddenly a blinding orb of white light appeared out of the darkness shooting toward the heroes. It flew once around the group and settled on Vesper. A large flash surrounded the girl and she slowly started to fade away like light of the sunset. A look of fear crossed every face but Vesper seemed to anticipate this and didn't panic.

"Do you still want to go on" Vesper asked not bothering to keep her voice down as much as before.

The turtles were too shocked to respond.

"If you do then keep going straight till you reach the fork in the path then turn right that's where the cavern is…" then Vesper disappeared completely leaving only her satchel behind. The turtles could just stand there gazing at the spot Vesper had been not moments before. Mikey picked the satchel up with a trembling hand and the turtles stared at each other wondering if they should go on.


	4. The vanishing: Part 2

Chapter 4 The vanishing: Part 2.

After Vesper vanished the turtles decide to take her parting words and keep going straight. They all walk in silence, wondering what had just occurred and what it all meant. They knew now why Renee had been terrified to go anywhere near the caves. Eventually they could see the fork that Vesper described. Suddenly another orb appeared, circled around and descended on Don, who started to disappear faster than Vesper. The other turtles rush to do whatever they can to prevent their brother from disappearing.

"No don't come close! I don't know if touching me will make you disappear too and I don't want to find out!" Don cried out backing up and holding his hands out to prevent the others from reaching him. Don vanished just as Raph was about to reach him. Mikey screamed out in desperation and fear. Leo stood there for a moment then instinctually called Don's name and looked around, daring to hope that Don was not really gone. In an enraged panic, Raph ran down the tunnel. Thinking quick, knowing there was nothing that could stop his brother in this state, Leo called out to him.

"Remember what Vesper said, stay to the right!"

Raph made no sign that he had heard except that he did turn right. Leo and Mikey started running after him afraid that he would be next. Leo felt responsible for his brother's safety as well as that of those around them and took Don's predicament very personally. The tunnel bulged in places and as the two turtles ran through they could see picks, old pieces of iron and cloth and even what looked like the remains of human bones. This along with everything else that had happened in the last several hours made Mikey's stomach churn. The tunnel finally widened out into a gigantic cavern with natural pillars extending from the ceiling to the floor. Leo and Mikey finally caught up to Raph and all stopped to catch their breath.

"What is this place? Are the Rocky Mountains hollow?" Mikey Gasped out looking around at their new surroundings.

Suddenly the three turtles froze to the soft, whispering sound of fabric fluttering in a draft. They each drew their weapons preparing to fight but hoping that it was Vesper or one of the missing villagers. A few minutes passed with no other sign of movement. Leo, Raph and Mikey stood back to back putting all the energy they could spare to their senses to detect any sign of life or movement.

"Is anyone there" Leo asked in a cautious voice just under a shout. There was no reply; the sound just reverberated off the stone.

They began to move on but another orb of light flew out of the darkness in front of them and circled around. The orb landed on Mikey and he began to disappear like the others.

"Mikey! Listen Mikey try to find Don and Vesper then try to find Master Splinter or us!" Leo shouted trying to reach out to his youngest brother.

Leo's hand went right through Mikey as he faded and vanished all together. The two older turtles gaped at the spot barely breathing. Then Raph turned in the direction the orb had come from and took off again filled with new found rage and energy. Leo ran after him fearing for his brothers and feeling an increasingly intense sense of guilt and responsibility.

"I don't know who or what you are and I don't care; if you want Donnie and Mikey you're going to have to go through me!" Raph said feeling a fire burning in his chest and spreading throughout his entire body.

At the back of the cavern there were structures that looked like ancient makeshift buildings. The energy in the air was strongest in this area. Leo had the feeling that whatever was behind all of the disappearances was in those old buildings. As they got closer they realized getting to structure would not be an easy task because there was a deep gully with nearly vertical walls and no visible bottom.

"Well this is going to complicate things. Let's see if we can find something that can help us cross this with." Leo said looking around for whatever that something might be. Raph was getting increasingly frustrated and kicked a rock over the edge to see how far down it went. After about twenty minutes they heard a splash. There was a tall thick column near the chasm, Leo climbed up where it was thickest, put the handle of his torch in his mouth and began to cut away at the sedimentary rock with his katana. Raph did the same on the base with his sai and with their combined efforts the natural column was teetering. Leo quickly jumped down and they both got out of the way before it fell with an ear splitting crash.

"We need to hurry. Anyone near here would have heard that" Leo said between panting breaths.

They move carefully across the makeshift bridge taking extra care in the middle where it was thinner and more likely to fracture. After crossing the chasm safely the leader and the rebel ran in a full-out sprint for the ruins. Raph couldn't help but think of all the times he had gotten irritated or inpatient with his younger brothers and the guilt fueled his fear which in turn fueled his anger and energy. He felt as though he could tear the whole mountain down just to get them back. Leo felt the guilt and fear as well but channeled the energy to his senses keeping them super sharp to detect the slightest change. The ruins were ancient and bare but sturdy; they had clearly been built to last.

"This place is a maze! What's our plan for gettin' ta the bottom of this" Raph said desperate for something to wrap his mind around and focus on.

"We stick together and search from top to bottom. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for any sign of movement" Leo said keeping his voice down and his eyes scanning everything in front of him for the slightest movement of any kind.

"Oh I'll keep them Peeled" Raph let out a low growl keeping his senses sharp and his reflexes coiled like a spring; ready to snap and lash out at any provocation to fight for information of his brothers whereabouts.

The brothers moved soundlessly through the infrastructure looking for clues to where those who had disappeared were being kept. The light from their torches cast dim light and dancing shadows across the rooms making anything appear to move and the dead silence put nerves on edge straining to hear the faintest unexplainable sound. Leo and Raph searched through every accessible room in the ruins but could not find even so much as a pattern in the dust to suggest recent disruption showed itself. Frustration and all of its complications began to set in. Trying to think of another plan of attack, Leo began inspecting the adobe walls of the ruins.

"What are you doin now" Raph asked noticing what Leo was doing and trying to understand it.

"I'm trying to find clues, anything that might be useful" Leo said intensely scouring the surface with sight, smell and touch. Raph began to do the same, searching the walls for any sign of a struggle or a clue as to where to start next. Searching the walls in a particular room Leo suddenly noticed that a section looked out of place. Investigating this closer Leo pushed against it and to his surprise it gave.

"Raph! Get over here I found something!" Leo whispered excitedly gesturing to his younger brother closer.

Raph was over in two leaps testing the wall himself with a savage grin on his face. They pushed the wall in as far as it would go, then after a few more minutes Leo realized that there was a carved niche that looked like it was meant for fingers. It took the effort of both turtles but the stone was shifted aside enough to allow them to pass one at a time. A very narrow passage way stretched and twisted on the other side of the stone. Leo proceeded with caution with Raph right behind him quivering like a finger on a trigger. The tunnel wound for a couple more meters then took a steep incline. Climbing up the edge the two turtles reached a level top and crawled onto it to look over a drop. What they saw made their blood run as cold as ice.


	5. The price of blood

Chapter 5 The price of blood Disclaimer: I don't know who owns TMNT now but it is not me. If this seems stretched to you I apologize give me suggestions to fix it. This was a hard chapter to write.

Vesper came too in a sitting position in a tight place with walls on all sides. She was drowsy like she had been sleeping for a long time. There was a faint white light penetrating from all sides that made her squint. When her eyes had adjusted she looked around. She was in a giant, transparent quartz crystal and had no idea how she got there. Suddenly she remembered showing the turtles through the caves and the orb of light and stood bolt upright and tried to find a way out. No luck, her prison was seamless. She stopped and leaned back taking a deep breath, feeling the edge of panic beginning to set in. Vesper looked around at what she could see through the rock crystal. There were large orbs attached to the rock on the walls, floor and ceiling; filling a large cavern with what looked like small humans in the fetal position. Thoughts of the children immediately sprang to mind and she again tried to find a way out of her predicament for a longer period of time. Again no luck, she would have to wait.

"Is any one there, can anyone hear me, hello!" Vesper called, banging on the side of the crystal.

Minutes passed with nothing. Vesper began to feel a deep consuming fear sweep over. There was no way to get out and she didn't know what was going to happen. She had started this misadventure with the hopes of finding her little brother of about seven that had disappeared along with the other children. She had promised him that she would protect him and had been devastated when she had not been allowed to search for them. She had, in turn, became angry when the people who had gone came back empty handed. She had vowed to bring him back no matter what and to that end she had enlisted the turtles' aid as bodyguards. Thinking about it now she felt a twinge of guilt using them like that, without telling them, but reasoned with herself that they had their own reasons and needed a guide through the network. Some guide she had been taken before they reached the places with the old tools and things. Suddenly another larger crystal began to rise from the floor on her right side with a figure inside that seemed to be suspended in a clear liquid.

"Don!" Vesper shrieked with horror, seeing the purple banded turtle suspended and unconscious.

. She had overheard the turtles introduce themselves to her grandmother and explained this to them, so she felt a little better knowing what to call him but it still didn't help much. She couldn't tell if he was alive and began to fear that she had made a serious mistake bringing the turtles to this place to die. Her chest began to tighten with that terrible thought

"_Yes, you are a terrible person leading them to this fate._" The chilling, hollow, raspy voice made her scream out, jumping back against the side.

She whirled around to see who had spoken, praying she had not finally snapped. Behind waiting in the shadows was a tall thin figure in a hooded robe. The sight made Vespers' blood run as cold as ice.

"What! How…" Vesper stammered, shocked and terrified that the figure had been able to interpret her thoughts so easily.

The figure drifted around, circling the crystal prison; keeping its hooded face turned, looking at Vesper. This image called to Vespers mind visions of the grim reaper without the scythe which made her breath freeze in her lungs more just thinking about the personification of death appearing here.

"_You brought the creatures into the caves knowing full well the dangers this would put them in; All just to cover your own failing in trying to keep your young brother safe. You should be ashamed of yourself for leading them to their tomb."_ The Spector pointed an accusing finger at Vesper as though this was a trial. _"You have no right to expect them to help you or the village."_

"No! They wanted to come here! They were probably going to come here anyway! I just volunteered to guide them. How did you know about my brother? Who are you?" Vesper yelled angrily with a tight burning sensation rising out of her solar plexus.

The noise of her shouts reverberated off the walls of her cell. The Spector just kept gliding and staring lazily for a while not answering her question then finally spoke. _"You have had nightmares before yes? Whenever you have a nightmare, a bad feeling or a dark thought that releases negative energy. Energy does not disappear it can, only change form. This applies to energy of the mind as well. When you have nightmares or get scared in the dark, that negative energy does not disappear but is dispersed and can accumulate in places where are is a lot of it. These twisted corridors of the mine and the cave network where people died is full of it but it is not enough to sustain me in my current form, this requires a great deal more energy of another kind. I have obtained that from the village these last couple months."_

Vesper could only stare in disbelief. She just couldn't bring herself to believe this yet it fit in with all the energy from the town being drained with no solid explanation. What else was this thing hiding, what else was it connected to? Chills raced up and down Vesper's spine as the Spector continued to pace around her prison with slow painful deliberation enjoying the distress it was causing her.

"_This form requires the negative physical energy used by the objects and the emotional energy produced by humans, it is strongest for children."_

At this statement Vesper became weak with shock and terror. Barely able to stand she whispered "is that the reason the children disappeared. What have you done with them, where are they!"

The Spector gestured, with its long arm, around the room at the many orbs. _"All around you, their energy feeds me."_ Then it added with an accusing finger against the crystal _"You and your grandmother will risk everything to get the boy back. Even risk the lives of the villagers and now the creatures have you no conscience."_

The Spector now drifted away from the girl grasping the orbs hungrily, inhaling as if trying to absorb the fear radiating from each one. Vesper kept an eye on it but turned her main attention back to Don trapped in the other crystal. Wondering if he was alive and ok, if he was able to hear what had transpired just now, if h did blame her for what has happened. The thought made tears come to her eyes. Another Crystal moved up from the floor of the cavern on the other side of Don, this one had Mikey suspended in the center.

"No!" Vesper screamed helplessly pushing against the sides of her cell. The guilt and fear she felt before was increasing exponentially now. The knot in her chest tightened as the realization that there were only two left for now and it was all her fault. Out of the corner of her eye, Vesper noticed a shadow move from her left and spun around fast. The Spector was coming back still inspecting the orbs then turned to face her again. It began to circle around like predator again before noticing the new arrival. Even though Vesper could see nothing of its face she could sense a smirk under the hood.

"_How tragic"_ The Spector let out an overdramatic sigh _"it seems another one has fallen; so sad, they have had to hide their entire lives from mankind, forced to live in the sewer to avoid persecution and exploitation. Then your grandmother lured them into the village and you sneaked them into the caves to take advantage of their naïve innocence just to find your brother and cover your mistake. Have you no remorse?"_

Vesper felt terrible but tried not to show it, having a feeling that the less this thing knew the better it would be for both her and the turtles. She just stood her ground and tried to defend her position by saying "they wanted to come, I didn't force or trick them, and they were looking for someone as well so we're looking together!"

The Spector stopped moving and just hovered in place in front of Vesper. It seemed to be considering this and forming a new argument. Vesper took this time to advance now that she had its undivided attention. "As for my brother, I did everything I could, he just vanished in the night and I'll bet you know exactly what happened to him!" Vesper was starting to feel braver and that energy made the Spector cringe.

The Spector, however, had one more card to play. Choosing its words carefully it cautiously drifted closer to the crystal and spoke in a low voice like leaves rustling. "_Do you want_ _to find your_ _brother, you can set him free. I don't need him anymore or any of the others for that matter. Unfortunately I can't just let them go because the cells can't be easily broken. Breaking the cells requires something a little more tangible than the energy I need to exist. The blood in your veins is substantial; I may be able to use that to break through the cells."_

This made Vesper's blood run cold once more, did this thing really need to kill her in order to free everyone! Why her, was it because she was the only one awake, alive? Feeling a fresh wave of terror sweep through her, she eventually managed to stammer out "w-w- what! Why do you need my blood, how could that possibly help!"

"_Blood has long been associated with life and strength. The natural power it has is immense if taped and channeled correctly. It is difficult but it can be done. The children are not able to use theirs but you can use your; you must make your decision fast though, the children may not have much time left; I may even be able to free the turtles as well."_

Vesper didn't want anything to do with this thing or its proposal and racked her brain for another solution but could found nothing and in the end could only fight back tears and grudgingly agree. With that the crystal cell was flooded with the clear liquid which promptly immobilized her. Off to the side the two turtles, while immobilized, were still sound of mind. Mikey could only hear raspy whispering sounds and muffled shrieks, nothing discernible. Don, on the other hand, could hear much better the conversation between the girl and the wraith and what he heard made his heart skip a few beats.


	6. Father's rescue

This will probably be the last chapter update till at least thanksgiving. Long story short I am a Bio major and my schedule is insane this semester! So yeah, I will still read on occasion but I will not write for now. I apologize to all those who read this if it is on a cliff hanger I promise I will finish but school comes first and I am taking organic chem. and physics. Leave me a comment though, what you like about this story and how I can improve, seriously, be specific and I will talk to you later. Disclaimer I do not own tmnt or anything related.

Chapter 6 Father's rescue

Leo and Raph gazed, dumbstruck, at the many giant bubble-like structures filling the gigantic cavern they were now looking over from a small ledge. They were the size of large crane tires, made out of thin glass-like material and appeared to be white, translucent and faintly glowing. The combined light from all the orbs made it unnecessary to continue to use the torches, so the two turtles promptly put them out. This freed their hands for other things. Sliding down silently, Leo entered the cavern first. Raph was right behind him and together they traversed the immense space.

Inspecting one of the large orbs, Leo discovered that the orbs were made of thin quartz; he also made a discovery that made his stomach churn. "Raph come here, look at this, I think this is one of the kids from the village that went missing. Is this where all of the people ended up?"

"I don'now," Raph commented, looking around all the orbs that decorated the walls "but this place is givin' me a bad case of da-ja-vu, it's like being under the Volpehart building with that freaky alien thing and all those pods."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Leo agreed also looking around. Though, he did notice that there was not nearly the number that had been in the cavern underneath Wall Street.

The thought of the children suffering something similar to what they went through, however, filled them both with a fear-filled rage and Raph looked around for anything that could have done this. Leo began looking around for any sign of Don and Mikey. Suddenly two small orbs flew out from the back of the cavern and raced toward Raph and Leo. Even with their combined, lightning fast reflexes the two brothers could barely evade capture. With more space and opportunity to spring around it was possible, but only just and could not be kept up for long. Whatever energy they had had was quickly depleting and it was beginning to show. While keeping an eye on his perusing orb Leo caught his ankle on a stalagmite and lost his balance and tumbled backwards. Raph rushed over to help him up as the orbs closed in. As the turtles watched the orbs, two medium rocks flew at the orbs with impressive accuracy. As the rocks made contact with the orbs there was the, now, familiar flash of light and they began to disappear as they fell to the ground. Raph and Leo looked at where they had landed, then at each other, and then in the direction the rocks had come from. From the shadows came the elderly rat for whom, this whole adventure had started. Overcome with relief and joy for the moment the turtles rushed over to greet their father.

"Master Splinter!" They both exclaimed in union as the three embraced for what seemed like eternity.

"My sons, it does my heart good to see you alright, but where are your brothers?" Master Splinter asked as he looked around. Raph and Leo went silent and exchanged worried looks.

Leo spoke up first, "something has happened, we believe they are somewhere nearby but we don't know exactly where they are."

Raph cut in to help Leo out, "those light things have been showin' up a lot around here an' two of 'em swiped Donnie and Mikey."

"Then we had better hurry and search this place to find your brothers. It looks as though there are people in these as well." Splinter commented as he looked into the orbs surrounding the room.

They searched the cavern top to bottom, peering into every orb cell for the two younger turtles. The problem was they all seemed to contain a human child in peaceful suspended animation. At the back of the cavern were three gigantic, transparent crystals anchored to the floor with Don, Mikey and Vesper. The three were filled with joy of finding the younger brothers, mixed with fear of seeing them deathly still, suspended in the solid prisons. The most immediate obstacle was how to break them out. Leo, Raph and Splinter thoroughly checked the sides and base of the crystal cells but they had no idea how they had gotten in there in the first place let alone how to get them out. Acting mostly on instinct, Leo used his katanas to cut the cells open. The quartz required precision, strength and speed to be cut and Leo had limited reserves of each. With combined effort, however, the three were able to slice a thirty degree angle from the top of the cells. Clear, thick liquid seeped out and down to the floor, hissing and evaporating the moment it touched the cold damp rock. Leo, Raph and Splinter gingerly broke the walls of the quartz cells down, being careful to not touch the liquid and not slip and injure the ones inside. The first one to come out was Mikey, who woke up soon after being exposed to air

"W-wha' happened? Where are we?" Mikey asked, coming to his senses.

"It is alright my son, you are safe now" Master Splinter coaxed, putting an assuring hand on his dazed son's shoulder.

Hearing, feeling and seeing Master Splinter sent Mikey into a tizzy of delight. Which lead him to squeeze Splinter, tears squirting out from the corners of his eyes, soaking his bandana. Leo and Raph, in the meantime, finished getting Don out of his crystal. The moment following had been long anticipated, with many hugs even from Raph. The turtles asked their adoptive father the question that had been eating at them for the last week; what had happened to him. As briefly as possible Splinter told them about how he had been overwhelmed by figures in dark cloaks in their subterranean lair during meditation, and succumbed to unconsciousness. When he had woken up he was in the mountains of Colorado, having his energy used in feeding the phantom was haunting the cave network. After being held in captivity and seeing visions of his sons and their friends grievously injured for days, Splinter was finally able to break out. He had been able to escape with knowledge of breaking rock with minimal effort and sheer will power, but many of the village residence had been drained into submission and were being kept barely alive in another chamber, feeding the Spector with the energy in their blood. He had managed to keep his Shell-Cell from the Spector's influence for a time, until it too was drained of energy.

The turtles were shocked by the account and asked Splinter and each other why he had been taken from New York and taken to Colorado half way across the country or why the thing needed blood. To this Splinter had no answers.

Then Don broke in with an air of urgency and told the rest what he had overheard from the previous conversation. Everyone listened with undivided attention for the purple masked turtle. When he was done they gazed in bewilderment, unable to speak.

Raph was the first to speak up. "Why the shell was that thing pushing all that on Vesper? It ain't like it's her fault!" He was confused and angry. It just didn't make sense, why would she buy into that, she barely knew them. He wouldn't say it wasn't true, but it wasn't Vesper's responsibility.

Splinter, who had been sitting quietly thinking, offered his theory. "I believe it is using whatever weakness it can to manipulate her, like doubt and guilt. It has done the same thing to the older people, to keep them where it needed them using different mind games like the one it used on me."

This revelation answered some questions but raised others the most urgent of which was how to snap everyone out of it.

"So does anyone have any ideas how to break these open?" Mikey asked looking around at all the cells.

Don walked over to the closest cell and examined it very closely, then struck it with his bo staff. This left a sizable crack in the wall. He struck it harder and the clear liquid began to ooze out and the child inside began to stir. A few more well aimed strikes, and the hole was big enough to reach in and pull the child out. The child was a girl about four years old with light brown hair and a nightgown. She began to breathe and stir but remained immobile with her eyes closed. Out of the corner of his eye Splinter saw a shooting light, on instinct he snatched a shard of the broken cell and threw it in the direction of the movement. The shard barely missed the orb of light. The orb circled around while the turtles franticly dodged it, until Leo got hold of another shard managed to hit the orb causing it to disapearate. Urgency to act now became paramount and the five set to work breaking the cells and freeing the unconscious children.


	7. Found and lost

Yes! I finally found my flash drive and finished the seventh chapter. And before Thanksgiving, if only just. Well I think everyone who still follows this story has been waiting long enough so without further ado here is the seventh chapter. Disclaimer I do not own ninja turtles.

Chapter 7 Found and lost

One by one the thin round rock crystal cells were carefully opened and the children, taken out. The children were placed on the ground, carefully, by the open ledge where Leo and Raph had come in through. Their ninja skills of stealth speed and agility came in use greatly during this endeavor. As the cells were broken and emptied, their light faded. The children began to stir and move but remained dazed, keeping their eyes tightly closed. After hours of breaking the cells and setting the children free another big problem began to rear its ugly head; how to rescue Vesper from the seven inch thick walled, maximum security crystal prison she was in, much thicker than the others even Don's and Mikey's. Raph wanted to approach the problem head on, and as no one had a better idea they decided to attack in tandem. As the turtles approached the large cell, a dark shadow swept across the walls and the Specter reappeared, lifting the crystal from the ground, trying to spirit the unconscious girl away. They were going up into a vertical shaft in the back of the cavern, in the shadows and moving up to get out of sight. Before it went Raph threw one of his sai at the crystal, causing the liquid to spill out making an air pocket in the cell. The disruption was enough to jar Vesper awake. It wasn't enough to break her lose though; the Specter drew the crystal up into a vertical shaft taking Vesper with it. The turtles ran up to the edge of the shaft and looked up after them. The gravity of the situation seemed to pull at everyone like a tug-a-war. On the one hand they needed to get the children out of the cavern as fast as possible, on the other they now needed to find a way to find Vesper and her captor. It was eventually decided that the children would stay in the cavern until either the Specter was taken care of or they all woke up and were able to walk out on their own. The former seemed more likely, but just in case Splinter would stay behind with them while the turtles went ahead to rescue Vesper. They all gathered together to bid each other good luck and parted company.

"Be careful my sons, there will most likely be other dangers ahead." Splinter cautioned, looking at each of the turtles in the eye with his trade mark expression of confident concern.

"Yes master, we will" Leo replied with a bow.

The turtles all bowed to their father. His overprotective and sometimes overbearing nature could get on each of their nerves but they knew he meant well and took comfort in knowing that he was with them again at last. They headed off to the shaft where the Specter had taken Vesper. This was a shear drop but had nocks and crannies in the side that aided in climbing the walls. The climb was an arduous five minutes straight up. There was an opening on the other side of the shaft making it necessary to maneuver horizontally to reach it. There was a steep sloped slide at the end of a short corridor that led to a smaller chamber filled with other crystals arranged in a circle. Many cells lined these walls as well but they were much longer and thinner. The turtles crept over to the cluster of giant crystals and looked in each of them, they all contained adults. The one Vesper was in was the only one without a thin layer of dust covering it. The damage done by Raph's sai had been mended and Vesper was unresponsive once again. Looking everywhere for any sign of the Specter the four crept ever quietly up to the solid prison. There was no way to get Vesper out without having every noise amplified, making a racket in the small still space, so if they were going to break her and everyone else that were no doubt in this room out, then it had to be as fast as possible.

"Guys" Don spoke up in barely a whisper, "let's see if we can get the people in these cells, that should be quieter, and then we can break these crystals and get out as fast as possible."

"Shell no, I want a fight, I say we take this thing out once and for all" Raph growled, scanning the chamber with narrowed eyes for any movement in the shadows or a soft swish of fabric.

He was brought out of this by Leo's tense expression "and how exactly are we supposed to fight something we probably can't even touch."

"Where is ol' black shower curtain anyway." quipped in Mikey, also looking around for the wraith, a bit louder than everybody as would like, triggering a chorus of hisses for silence and a smack on the back of the head by Raph "Ow."

"Ok, here is what we're going to do, we start from the top and work our way down. We put them by the opening then we take turns carrying them back to the main chamber then we go after the crystals. Keep rocks with you, if you see a light through a rock at it. If you run into that thing make sure it doesn't catch you, call for the rest of us and try anything you think might work to take it out." Leo whispered his orders to his brothers through clenched teeth.

The four turtles climbed up the uneven sides of the chamber to the top pods and, working in silence, opened them carefully removing the people, all adults, inside and carrying they fireman style down to the chamber floor. Then back up again to tear open another pod. This part of the plan was completed without any interruptions from the Specter but now it was going to get really tricky really fast. Leo and Raph went first, down the shaft carrying one person at a time. The trek was made more difficult with the extra dead weight of the larger adults making progress slower. They arrived at the main cavern panting slightly and placed them down near the children, then Leo explained to Splinter the newest development.

"Master Splinter, we have found a bunch of adults as well. We are trying to bring them here before anything else happens, but this will be tricky there are many of them and there is a vertical shaft between this chamber and that one and we don't know how far down it goes."

The old rat took this all in and mulled it around in his mind for a few moments. Finally raising his head to look at Leo he asked "how many people are there in this other chamber, my son."

Leo had to think for a minute how many times he and his brothers had cut someone from a pod and carried them down. "About twenty or so, all adults. We are going to do this in pairs so one pair can stay with the rest in case the Specter comes back."

Splinter thought this over as well realizing just what an enormous task this was. "Alright Move quickly and be careful my sons. Do you need more light to move safely?"

Leo paused for a moment and thought about this but Raph answered immediately "Yeah But where are we going to get it in a place like this?" looking at his father with a questioning look.

Splinter simply smiled and took out the lighter he used to light the candles for meditation and training with. He took a bit of fabric from one of the unconscious humans ripped it in half and stuck a piece into the two torches that had been taken with one of the younger turtles. He lit the fabric and let it catch till the burned wood had caught again and handed one to Leo and one to Raph saying "put this in a secure place between the two chambers to light your way".

Taken back for a minute, Leo and Raph nodded and took the new torches, heading back to the shaft. They found two niches each about a third of the way from one of the chambers that gave a fair view of the shaft, then they both returned to the smaller chamber to let Don and Mikey go. When they got there, the two younger turtles picked their people and headed for the larger cavern. The torches made the trip considerably easier and quicker. Carrying the adults to the back with Splinter and the children and returned to the small chamber. This repeated for an hour until there were only four people left. All four brothers grabbed someone and headed out to meet their master and discuss their situation fully with him. Reaching their destination Leo was the first to speak and tell of the people still in the crystals.

"Master Splinter, there are still several people in the crystals; we got these people out first because it would be relatively quick and quiet. Now we need to break the others out and that could get noisy, it may also attract the Specter so we will need to move fast. Any suggestions Master Splinter?"

The wise rat, again, thought hard about the situation for a moment, coming upon the idea of having Leo stay in the annex chamber, where he would cut the remaining adults free and carry them over to the opening. Don and Mikey would then carry them through the shaft to the rest of the group at the end of the main cavern. Raph would accompany his younger brothers as a body guard should anything happen while they had their hands full. Splinter himself would stay close to the humans to monitor their health and to try to explain the situation fully should any of them wake up.

"My sons I may have a solution; but it will require teamwork and coordination. Leonardo, my son, you will cut the remaining captives free in the other chamber. Raphael you go with your brothers and make sure nothing happens to them. Donatello, Michelangelo take the people Leonardo has set free and bring them here. Move quickly and be on your guard that demon is losing much needed energy and will try anything to keep what it still has. It will lash out like a cornered animal so you must all be very careful." Splinter explained staring hard into the eyes of each of his adopted children in turn.

The turtles nodded in agreement, bowed to their father and stood to take their leave. Splinter stood with them and bid them luck. They moved quickly and quietly to the shaft and traversed to the other side. As they entered the annex chamber a strong, chilling wind blew them back toward the sloped entrance. The crystals shot up in the air and jammed into the ceiling where they were crusted over with granite.

"_Why do you not leave? Helping these strangers will be the death of you all!_ A howling rasping voice wailed in the wind. The turtles didn't have to see it to know who or what it was and prepared themselves for the ensuing battle.


	8. Final confrontation

Wow I apologize ladies and gentlemen, this should not have taken that long but all I will say is that I got a little hung up. I am back now with my longest chapter yet; this chapter was hard to do but I think I did alright on it read review tell me what you think. Disclaimer I don't own TMNT.

Chapter 8 Final confrontation

Like pitch, the Specter oozed out of the crevices in the rock in the fast fading light of the crystals. The weakness from the energy depletion showed clearly in their adversary but all four turtles knew better than to think this was going to be an easy fight.

"_Leave, this is not a fight you can win! I will not quit I will not give in this easily!"_ the Specter hovered on the other side of the chamber.

Just before the light faded completely, it grasped at them with one gnarled hand from under its clack, a gesture filled with loathing and malice. A piercing chill ran down the back of each turtle radiating across the shell. With the crystals gone the floor was free and every move could be made without running into obstacles other than the walls, but this did not guarantee a fair fight without the light. The intensity of the situation weighted heavily as the two sides squared off in the darkness. Finally, not able to stand it any longer, Raph let out a growl, broke the standoff and charged forward blindly. As he did so the Specter waved its hand in a violent motion and Raph was knocked back against the wall hard and landed in a heap on the floor.

"RRRRRRR! That the best you got" the angry turtle roared with frustration, scrambling to his feet and squinting into the darkness.

"Raph, are you alright!" Leo shouted in the direction he had heard his brother crash.

"Yeah I'm fine" Raph responded with a mixture of frustration and wounded pride, following Leo's voice back to where his brothers were standing.

The Specter paced slowly in the darkness looking for an opening, a lapse in attention to use to its advantage. This, the brothers were careful not to give it, standing off for another minute. Then Leo made the next move, testing the unusual water of this battle by taking one of the rocks he had and throwing it at where the energy vibes the Specter gave off were most strong. The Specter waved its hand again and threw the stone back at the turtles. Don, hearing the rush of an oncoming projectile, intuitively braced himself and hit the stone back at the Specter. This time it did not have time to react and the stone sailed right into it, hitting the wall on the other side. The Specter slunk back into the rocks lifting the oppressive chill for the time being, allowing the turtles to get ideas and form a plan of attack.

"Any ideas guys?" Leo asked turning his head to face the others in the darkness, not turning his back to the shadows where their adversary could be anywhere.

"Well it seems that this thing needs two kinds of energy to manifest" Don recalled what he had overheard in the conversation earlier. "We can't do much about the electrical energy at this point so what we need is to find a way to drain the emotional energy, if its negative energy it needs then we should try giving off positive energy to neutralize it."

"Really" Raph said looking in Don's direction incredulously "that the best you got, think happy thoughts."

"Do you have a better idea" Leo asked, shooting his brother a dirty look that he knew he couldn't see.

As the brothers were discussing their options the sharp chill returned to the chamber. The turtles quickly got into position, shell to shell. The chill came in pulses from all around in the sheer black chamber. Four pairs of eyes scanned the consuming shadows, not really knowing where to look or even if they could fight it should it come out. The situation was more perilous with the crystals being covered, both plunging the entire chamber into total darkness and that if the people were going to get out safely it had to be soon.

"Remember, think positives. If it needs negative energy then thinking positively should weaken it" Don whispered through his teeth trying to get all his brothers to hear but only just so to not spread their plan to their adversary as much as possible.

"And how do you expect us to that here" Raph asked testily tightening his grip on his sais.

"Just think of Christmas or something, something happy" Leo said trying to focus his own mind to the task while trying to give the others inspiration. Then added quickly "that doesn't involve teasing or fighting"

"Aw man" Mikey jokingly complained keeping his nunchucks close to his body to preserve heat and keep from shivering from both the cold and fear.

Each of the turtles tried to concentrate on one thing, one memory that made them happy. Leo thought of a time when he and his brothers were young and their father had taken them to a new part of the sewer and they were able to play in the water for hours while Splinter collected food for the day. Later when he had returned Splinter had played with the turtles, and they had all had a great time and this memory had always provided Leo with a light peaceful feeling. Raph thought of the time he had helped the boy named Tyler find and save his mother from thugs and how they had worked together when Raph had been rendered blind by a tear gas grenade. This time had helped Raph understand how difficult it is to work with a hothead like him and how to practice empathy. Mikey took Leo's advice literally and thought of the Christmas he found Klunk and he had rescued the truck of toys that were meant for the orphanage from the gang of Purple Dragons. Later he, his family and all their friends had gone to the orphanage and handed out the toys to the kids. This had filled Mikey with joy and pride because he had fought that battle all on his own and they had been able to give the children, celebrating in the spirit of the season. Don thought of the time Master Splinter had first brought home a computer hard drive for his birthday when he was seven and how exciting it had been to take it apart and see how it worked in the week that followed. This had started him on the road of engineering and inventing, which had helped him and his family greatly on many occasions and gave Don the satisfaction of protecting his family in his own way.

As they thought of their happy memories the energy in the room continued to drain, dropping the temperature all the while. The turtles had to concentrate hard and Leo knew that there had to be more done than just thinking happy thoughts. He racked his brain for a solution to destroy this evil wraith and came up with using an astral attack and if not destroy it then at least seal it away. This gave a possible solution with a difficult problem; in order to launch a successful astral attack the element of surprise was critical. This meant telling his brothers with telepathy; easier said than done in the current situation. However, this was still no guarantee that the Specter would be kept ignorant of their plan. It was a long shot at best but it was the only thing he could think of. He promptly closed his eyes and began concentrating; blocking out external distractions and focusing on contacting his brothers. Ever so slowly he entered the astral plain and reached out to his brothers informing them of his new idea.

"Here is the plan now guys, we need to use the astral plain to attack it. Trying to fight it in the dark like this is not going to get us anywhere. I think we stand the best chance in the astral plain."

"How are we supposed to do that here?" Don asked in a tone of voice that sounded like Leo had just told them to pull bolts of lightning out from the surrounding rock.

"Look I know this isn't an easy thing to do at the moment; but we have to try, we may not have another option." Leo said through his connection, trying to keep it as secure as possible.

"Aright fine; what exactly are we supposed to do here?" Raph asked both through the connection and in the physical world with a considerable level of irritation in his voice.

"Raph! Don't shout out like that! Use the mental link; we can't let this thing get the upper hand. What we need to do is attack it on the astral plain like what we learned in the ninja tribunal. Focus your energy on this thing and see if you can find a weak spot somewhere then let us know and attack it, the rest of us will follow suit." With this Leo began to focus his energy out toward the chamber searching for the Specter.

Slowly the brothers reached their new goal and were able to surround the Specter in the astral plain. The Specter had a much more solid but gave off a nauseating feeling like being in a centrifuge going at top speed while knowing that someone somewhere is looking at you. It was hard to tell whether the Specter had been expecting this move or not. It actually seemed to be made from this negative energy and released it at a steady rate as though it could not hold on to the energy in its needed form for long. Each turtle stuck with his own battle tactic and attacked in unison; slashing at it from every angle isolating all of its elements and hemorrhaging its remaining energy. The Specter tried to flee, now too weak to fight, as the turtles continued to attack. Surrounding it like a pack of wolves the turtles struck a final blow simultaneously and the wraith withered with the last of its energy dissipating like mist, seeping back into the dark crevices of the rock from whence it had come forth. Leo considered doing an exorcism on the chambers, the shaft and maybe the whole tunnel network just to be safe but he was too tired on too many levels to go through with it. Slowly, painfully the turtles climbed up the walls to the ceiling where the last captives of this ordeal were still being kept.

"No way in shell will it be that easy!" Raph grumbled reaching the top and working through the fine layer of rock surrounding the crystal prisons.

"Well lets not wait up for it. We need to get the people and get out of here now." Don murmured, focusing on the task ahead.

The crystals proved fairly easy to find and free but breaking they open and removing the people safely was another matter entirely. The turtles slowly picked the cells out and let them fall to the ground, some broke, the ones that didn't were cracked open upon the turtles descent. As before the people were taken one at a time to where Splinter was keeping watch over the rest of the humans. Leo informed Splinter of their latest encounter with the Specter.

"Hay none of the humans have woken up wet; should we be worried?" Mikey said looking around at the many still unconscious bodies on the cavern floor with a concerned expression.

"I have been checking their vital signs when I can reach them, and they all seem to be in good order" Splinter replied reassuringly.

The turtles made a few more trips back and forth to bring the rest of the people. No sooner had most of the remaining people been brought to the large chamber then they began to wake up. They began to stand up and stagger around, but were not able to grasp full clarity of the situation around them. This, the turtles decided to take advantage of in order to get them out of the cave safely without having to answer too many questions. One by one the people were carefully lifted up to the ledge and lead through the ruins, to the edge of the chasm, carried across the makeshift bridge and left siting on the other side. This took a fair bit of coordination and time, especially with the ones that were still more unconscious than not. Ever so carefully the former captives were moved across the hard leg of the journey. As each person passed through, their condition was felt by the turtles in their weight and limpness. As the final person was lead to relative safety, they realized that in their haste and fatigue they had not collected Vesper! They returned to the annex chamber and saw the last remaining intact crystal. As they started toward it an incredible, freezing, electric force hit them and nearly knocked them over. A high blood curdling scream pierced the air around them in every direction.

"I knew this couldn't be over." Raph snarled looking up to see the crystal airborne once more.

"Yeah you really called it." Mikey stated looking around for the Specter with apprehension.

"Guys do what we did before and focus hard. It is going to throw everything it has at us now. This is for all or nothing." Leo said out load, not bothering to use the astral plain now that the Specter knew what they had done last time and in the heat of the ensuing battle they did not have the time to come up with a new battle plan.

"Concentrate and see if you can find its energy source, because it is not using the same one now." Leo added, beginning to concentrate himself on how the energy was flowing.

The Specter retaliated when it realized what he was doing by physically knocking him back, breaking his concentration. Raph growled at the darkness surrounding the faintly glowing crystal. He knew the thing had to be somewhere close by.

"Did you get anything Leo?" Don asked concerned, turning to his brother.

"Yeah, it's been keeping a cache of energy in this place among the rocks. We need to eliminate that if we want to get rid of this thing for good." Leo said getting to his feet "but it's going to be less easy, it's desperate and it's ready for us now. We'll have to move to the offensive and move fast".

"Alright!" Raph said enthusiastically, pulling out his sais automatically before realizing that this would not work and put them back in his belt.

"Now what" Mikey inquired hesitantly, still looking around.

"We keep focusing. Get aggressive." Leo said through clenched teeth.

They did just this; attacking it from anywhere its energy was concentrated. This proved harder than they had first anticipated, the energy seemingly came from every crevice, every shadow in the rock throughout the network of tunnels and caverns in the mountain. The Specter was also being more sporadic than before lashing out like a wild, cornered animal. The turtles summoned their energy and focused it to combat and dissipate the darkness determined to destroy them. They used the techniques that Splinter had taught them to combat the foot mystics as their weapons. They attacked sometimes as a group, sometimes separately, any little cache of the foul power that the monster clung to for sustenance. The demon, however, continued to fight back with renewed ferocity. The battle lasted for a few hours but felt like days to the four brothers. Ever so slowly the turtles found and destroyed the last pockets of energy in surrounding areas on the astral plain. The Specter still clung tight to Vesper's crystal, a shadow of what it had once been with both its live and cache sources gone, but still fighting to exist, sucking in as much of the remaining energy from the tunnels and vital energy from Vesper. Now it all came down to the turtles, Vesper, and the specter and everyone pooled together what little strength they had left to gear up for the final battle. The turtles attacked in unison, striking from different angles. As they did this the specter recoiled and continued to suck energy out of Vesper.

"Don, Mikey, you need to break Vesper out of there get her out of its reach. Raph, you and me will distract it while they do that then we finish it off." Leo shouted out his order and the respective teams went to their assigned tasks.

Using their weapons Don and Mikey gradually chipped away at the crystal surface while Raph and Leo kept the specter occupied and away from their brothers. Vesper was freed at long last from her prison and laid at the far end of the chamber then all four turtles resumed their assault on the wraith. The battle ensued on both the physical and astral plain with the specter continuing to put up a fight, lashing out with desperate violence, knocking the turtles off balance for a time. With a joined effort the turtles managed to deliver a last blow and it finally perished once and for all.


	9. Mountains on granite and jungles of ceme

Chapter 9 Mountains of granite and jungles of cement.

Feeling more sore than they had ever thought possible, the turtles made one last trip down the shaft and through the large cavern where they met with Master Splinter at the edge of the chasm. The rest of the people were now more awake but would not be able to see the mutants with the lack of light, therefore making it easier for them to guide the people back to safety without them being seen by anyone. The uncommunicated plan was to guide the people back to mouth of the cave and then let them go back to the village on their own. Renee would be able to get the supplies she would need to revive them completely while the turtles helped from the shadows. Later Don would contact April and Casey and let them know that everyone was alright. Vesper was still unconscious though, and Don kept checking her vitals every couple minutes to make sure they did not get any weaker than they already were. The trip out of the cave network was tricky for two reasons; first the turtles, especially Leo and Raph had not left markers on their way in, making it difficult to retrace their steps. Fortunately though, they found that there were not too many forks that did not have a dead end for one of the paths. As they walked along something would look familiar in the dim light of the dying torches. With no immediate dangers other than navigating the tunnel network the turtles began to feel very drowsy and lightheaded, Leo began to taste blood and found that his nose was bleeding.

"Guys, is anyone else's nose bleeding?" Leo called his brothers attention to this new detail.

The other turtles and Splinter felt their upper lips to check for blood.

"I'm bleeding a little" Raph stated feeling the worm, thick, irony liquid.

"Does anyone else feel really out of breath like we've been running forever?" Mikey asked, huffing harder than he normally would have.

"It could be a combination from the fight with that thing and the air in this cave is thinner than we're used to." Donatello chocked out.

"Then let's get out of this place quickly my sons" Splinter said briskly and everyone agreed silently.

After a while they could see the light at the end of the tunnel, both metaphorically and literally, as the sun appeared through the mouth of the cave. Renee appeared near mouth with an expression perfectly between anger and relief. As the gray haired woman hurried up to the large group coming out, Leo tried to explain what all had happened during their adventure in the caves as well as what everyone's condition was after spending that long as prisoners of the Specter's influence. Renee listened with deep concern on her face. When he was done she lead the way back to the village, helping to lead and stabilize the dazed, staggering villagers. The sun had just begun to peek over the ridge and was able to shed the first feeble but reassuring rays of light of the new day. Splinter, Leo, and Don all wanted to slow down and take this all in but they knew they had to get the people to where they could be helped. Instead of going to Renee's house they went to the recently deserted high school that was closer to the mouth of the cave. Lights were on throughout the building, another sign that the nightmare was finally over. The weak and dazed were laid out on the floor and given protein smoothies to help them come around. The turtles (especially Don), Splinter and Renee searched the school for any supplies that might be of use and went back to treat the patients. When a majority of the people was more cognizant the turtles slipped into the shadows continuing to nurse those still in a tight grip of lethargy, especially Vesper, and the younger children. Occasionally a child would begin to cry and needed to be comforted, this job would usually be left to Mikey or Splinter who had the most experience with such things. The children were led out to where the adults were as their conditions improved enough that they could move on their own. Vesper, however, continued to remain unresponsive to the first aid tried to revive her, remaining stubbornly limp. Don continued to check on her vitals for any dangerous fluctuation or drop, keeping the makeshift resuscitation equipment he had been able to scrounge together on standby.

"How she doin' Don?" Raph piped over his shoulder, startling the brainy turtle slightly.

"It's hard to tell, she isn't getting worse but she isn't getting any better either. I wish I knew what to do with this." Don stated in his determined, yet worried tone indicating that the situation was serious indeed but there was no need to panic just yet.

Don wished he had a IV to hopefully give her more energy to recover but the best he could manage was a sugar, protein, vitamin slurry put together with the high school chemistry equipment and administer it with a syringe needle found in the school nurses office. The nutrient shoots were given about every hour. With this, Vesper steadily began to recover and as the number of patients in need of immediate attention began to dwindle the turtles started to get some much deserved and needed rest. Renee made sure everyone was going well, allowing the ones who had recovered completely to leave the school and continued to keep an eye on Vesper. She smiled wearily to herself as she watched her granddaughter slowly come to after her ordeal. They were two of a kind, what one may call clairvoyants. They were able to read the subtle signs of emotions and energy from both the living and departed. She, however, did not need this to know that her granddaughter would stop at nothing to get her brother back even though there was little hope of succeeding with this let alone coming back with the whole town. She had known there was nothing she could do or say to stop Vesper because they also shared the same stubborn streak so she tried to find help to alter her chances. When she had seen the turtles in the woods and was able to discern their physical and psychological characteristics from their aura and reactions to the strange goings on in the woods. She had known they were special, perhaps a sign, they were the help she had hoped for. Telling them not to go near the cave and being vague on the details had served several purposes, first it served to point them in the general direction and arouse their natural curiosity. It also served as a warning, unable to tell exactly what had come to dwell there or what it was capable of without facing it herself, Renee had tried to prepare them as best she could by making them alert for the trial ahead with a bit of reverse psychology and allow them to establish a bond with Vesper by allowing to fill in the considerable gaps. Renee had known this was a long shot if ever there was one but she had learned a long time ago to trust her intuition as it had always served her well. Slowly Vesper began to stir, eyes fluttering under her thin lids. Eventually around midday they were left alone in the building; everyone had gone home. It was just them now. The midday sun shone through the slightly dusty windows as Vesper finally came around. Renee stood over her with a stern expression. Vesper hadn't known about the plan and was thus still in trouble for her actions.

"What were you doing in the underground network, I told you specifically to stay away until we could figure something out" Renee said in a curt voice that resembled a growl.

Vesper cringed at the tone in her grandmother's voice. She had known that but she hadn't wanted to risk being too late. Vesper hesitated for a few minutes before answering.

"I know, but what if it had been too late to do anything, I promised Mark I wouldn't let anything happen to him" Vesper replied with sheepish expression, not daring to make eye contact.

Renee's eyes narrowed boring holes in the back of Vesper's skull making her shrink in on herself. Several moments passed before either of them spoke while the wind rustled the window panes outside as afternoon drew the sun closer to the western horizon. The door of the room opened and a little boy with dark hair and a long gray t-shirt came in calling for a quick cease fire. Renee turned her attention to her grandson much to Vesper's relief.

"Granma, could I have dinner now?" Mark asked, this allowed the three of them to leave the school and go home.

In the wee hours of the morning Vesper snuck out back to the school to see if the turtles and the old rat were still there. If they were still there they would probably be getting ready for their trip back and she wanted to say thank you for all their help. Sure enough they were just getting up and preparing to leave. Vesper asked if they needed help purely out of courtesy, a large part of her really didn't want them to leave. They were all still feeling a little lightheaded and nauseous while Mikey had also gotten a bloody nose during the night so medication was passed around to treat the symptoms. Finally ready to go the boys all gave Vesper a hug before leaving. Vesper tried poorly to hide her displeasure of seeing them going so quickly.

"Hay if ever you get the chance, look us up in New York." Don said doing what he could to ease the situation.

"Alright, But don't think you can't come back here. We could camp in the woods or something" Vesper replied awkwardly, still picking herself up from the realization that they were leaving.

"Ok it's time to go now we still need to get in touch with April and Casey remember. We'll see ya around Vesper" Raph cut in abruptly eager to get going.

As they left the boys considered the last twenty four hours and how deeply that time had been ingrained into their minds. Heading back home seemed surreal and quiet. They had been many places from across the universe to through time, each one leaving its own impression and this place was no different. The turtles felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment and a willingness to find out what lay ahead be it in mountains of granite or their own jungles of cement.


End file.
