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Shadows
part 3 final
2k3

Raph dangled helplessly, unable to break free of the shadow man’s grip on his throat. The tips of his toes scratched at the floor as the feeling in the lower parts of his body grew numb.

His sai were useless against the thing. Raph knew that much from Leo’s account of how his swords had no effect on the shadow man. The only thing he might have used to battle the specter was the flashlight and it was lying on the floor far from his reach.

So was the lamp that Raph had left on the stairs.

The thought of that lamp brought with it a flicker of memory. Dipping into his belt, Raph found the book of matches.

With his last ounce of strength, Raph pulled a match loose and scratched it to flame, setting the entire book on fire. Then he drove it directly into the shadow man’s center mass.

Its response was both immediate and gratifying. The specter released Raph and swiftly slid away from him, vanishing into the nearest wall.

Falling to his knees, Raph clutched his neck and gasped, coughing as the air hit his raw throat. In front of him, the matchbook fire dwindled and then burned itself out.

Raph lunged for the flashlight and turned it on. Lying on his side, Raph shone the light all around him, trying to guard against a repeat attack.

Recalling that Don sat all alone, his back to the lair, brought Raph to his feet. He staggered a few steps before the lightheaded feeling left him. Once his balance returned, Raph quickly located the camp light and grabbed it before heading directly back to the stairs and retrieving the other two light sources.

He made one stop on his way back to Donatello and that was to get some more matches from the kitchen junk drawer.

Raph’s demeanor upon his return to Don wasn’t nearly as calm as it had been when he’d left. His hands were shaking slightly as he set down his payload and lit the kerosene lamp, needing two attempts to get it going.

“What’s wrong?” Don asked, turning in his chair to stare at his brother. “Raph, your neck! What happened?”

“I’ll tell ya’ what happened. That shadow man of Leo’s happened. I was in the service bay going for the camp light when that fucker came at me. It grabbed me by my damn throat and lifted me off the ground like I was a feather,” Raph said, just remembering to keep his voice down.

Don reached out and gently touched Raph’s neck. Even though his fingers only lightly grazed the area, Raph still winced.

“Can you swallow? Are you having any trouble breathing?” Don asked.

“Yes and no. I’m okay Donny,” Raph said.

His brother’s warm, brown eyes were like a salve, taking away a good portion of the residual sting. Raph realized that was the case most of the time when he was injured. Just having Donny care for him went a long ways towards the healing process.

“You’ve got an ugly bruise and possibly a touch of frostnip,” Don said. “Are you cold?”

“Not at all,” Raph said. “Not the way Leo was after that thing jumped on him. Why do ya’ think that is?”

“I’m developing a theory about the shadow man from what I’ve read and our own encounters,” Don answered. “Right now though, let’s go down to the kitchen so I can put some warm water on that bruise. I’d rather avoid the bathroom for the time being.”

Raph glanced across the lair to where their brothers lay sleeping. “Should we leave them alone?”

Don stood up. “The lights and the televisions are on. We won’t be gone but a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Raph said reluctantly. “Ya’ gotta tell me about this theory of yours though.”

“Deal,” Don said, happy that Raph wasn’t arguing over receiving medical treatment.

For what seemed an immeasurable amount of time Leo watched shadow people walk across the opening to Master Splinter’s room. It was like being at a slow motion parade. As each figure lifted a leg it elongated before it came down, so that it only took each shadow two steps to cross the intervening space.

Finally Leo’s eyes began to burn from holding them open for so long and he closed them. When he opened them again the shadow parade was gone.

Though this shadow sighting hadn’t been cause for alarm, the knowledge that the shadow man was still in the lair was concerning.

It made Leo remember that he and Mikey had left his room without their gear.

Leo might have been able to ignore the desire to retrieve their things, but he suddenly had an overwhelming need to get up. He was starting to feel much too warm and very constricted by the blankets piled atop him.

Very slowly and with infinite care, Leo shifted his legs off of Mikey’s lap. He had to turn one leg to dislodge Mikey’s arm, but though his brother snorted, he did not wake up.

Rising from the couch, Leo tiptoed across the living area and was surprised to see that Don and Raph weren’t in front of the computers. Stopping next to them, he tilted his head and picked up the faint drone of his brothers’ voices coming from the kitchen.

Satisfied that everything was all right for the moment, Leo moved on towards his bedroom. He mentally ticked off how long it would take him to get to the bed, grab his and Mikey’s things, and then get back to the couch. Minutes. Nothing untoward could happen in such a short period of time.

The kitchen was probably the best lit area in the lair and Don made certain that every light was on, even the ones in the hood vent over the stove. Grabbing a clean hand towel off a shelf, he ran it under warm water and then gingerly pressed it against the bruise on Raph’s throat.

When he saw Raph scowl, Don asked, “Sting?”

“A little. Why don’t ya’ tell me about this theory of yours and take my mind off my neck,” Raph said.

“There are a number of explanations for shadow people,” Don said. “Some believe they are figments of the imagination; our minds playing tricks on us. That they are leftover perceptions from dreams that stay with us as we start to wake from a deep sleep.”

“Ain’t no dream gave me this,” Raph said gruffly, pointing at his throat.

“Clearly that theory does not fit our situation,” Don said. “Others believe that they’re ghosts. That wouldn’t explain our experiences either, since a ghost would have manifested itself long before this. From what I know of ghost lore, they aren’t usually physical.”

Raph snorted. “This wasn’t a ghost.”

Don nodded. “I concur. Next we have the beliefs that shadow people are demons, or astral bodies, or even time travelers. We’ve had confrontations with demons and time-travelers and I feel comfortable saying we could identify either of those if we ran across them again. Astral bodies are people having out-of-body experiences. They don’t have enough form to actually attack anyone.”

“Okay, now I’ve got the lowdown on what this isn’t,” Raph said. “So tell me what ya’ think it is.”

Removing the towel from Raph’s neck, Don leaned in close to examine the bruise. It was definitely hand shaped and the application of heat had caused the skin to redden, verifying Don’s thought that the specter had given his brother frostnip.

Raph sat very still as Don studied his neck. Having Don so close to him was causing butterflies to dance in his stomach, a feeling that was far from unpleasant. For a moment Raph forgot about the shadow people and his own injury and simply relished the way it felt to be near Don.

Straightening up but remaining close to his brother, Don said, “Since I’ve also discarded the notion that the shadow man is an alien, I’ve concluded that he . . . .”

He was interrupted by a shout from somewhere above them.

When Leo reached his bedroom he saw that someone had turned out the lights. Since they had agreed to leave every light on, he figured it must have been an unconscious act by one of his brothers. Sure enough, the switch was in the off position.

Flipping it on, Leo entered his room. His gear was piled neatly next to the bed and he gathered it quickly. Mikey’s things were strewn around the floor near the end of the bed and on the side of the bed his brother had occupied. With a snort of amusement, Leo started towards Mikey’s nunchucks, which were the closest to him.

The lights went out.

Spinning around, Leo looked back towards the doorway. No one was there and light still shone into his room from the wall sconce mounted above the stairs. Walking back over to the switch, Leo saw that the toggle was once more pushed down.

Frowning, Leo lifted the toggle and light filled the room. Before stepping away from it again, he jiggled the toggle to make certain it wasn’t loose. After ascertaining that it was securely in the on position, Leo moved back over to the end of his bed.

He was bending down to grab Mikey’s nunchucks when the lights went out again.

When his skin started to prickle, Leo knew he was no longer alone. As he straightened up and turned, Leo saw a figure detach itself from the deep shadows in the corner nearest his door.

The shadow man and Leo stared at one another. Red orbs shown in what Leo assumed was its face, its gaze unwavering. Leo knew he wouldn’t make it to the doorway; the shadow man had effectively blocked him off.

There was one source of light in the room that Leo could use to make his escape but he had to get to it. His shell cell sat on the nightstand and he was sure its flashlight feature was bright enough to drive the specter away.

Very slowly Leo lowered his weapons to the floor and then began to wrap his pads around his hands and fingers. He knew he was going to come into contact with the entity. The padding might not protect his skin for long and Leo understood he’d have to move quickly.

Leo was tying off the padding when the shadow man suddenly lifted its arms, the palms of its hands turned upwards. It said nothing, but Leo could hear the faint whispering that seemed to accompany the shadow people.

The shadow man’s arms stretched outwards toward Leo, looking very much as though it was beckoning to him. At the same time, the whispering turned to a buzzing sound inside Leo’s head.

Blinking his eyes rapidly, Leo shook his head, trying to dislodge the noise. It was clouding his thoughts and making the room begin to fade out around him. When Leo tried to slide his foot to the side so that he could go towards his nightstand, he instead took a step forward.

As though he was being pulled, Leo began to take another step. His foot lifted but then with every ounce of willpower he could muster, Leo curled his toes and brought his foot back down, hard.

The pain lanced through his system, momentarily blocking the buzzing sound. The shadow man seemed to sense he’d lost control over Leo, because he started to glide towards the turtle.

Leo leaped onto the bed, landing hard, and then scrabbled across the mattress as he reached for the shell cell. Something cold brushed the backs of his thighs and Leo rolled aside, trying to stay out of the shadow man’s grip.

“Hey!”

Mikey’s shout was followed by the hissing of an extremely angry cat. Klunk was in Mikey’s arms, his ears laid back and his teeth showing.

Leo turned his head to look at his brother just as Mikey tossed Klunk directly at the shadow man. Its reaction to the snarling, scratching cat was instantaneous; the specter flew backwards, ricocheting off the walls and ceiling before vanishing completely.

Leo sat up as Mikey came towards him. “Mikey, how . . . ?”

“Klunk,” Mikey said. “He was under Donny’s workstation growling and hissing so loudly he woke me up. When he saw me he ran to the top of the stairs and that’s how I knew you’d gone to your room.”

“The shadow man was afraid of him,” Leo said slowly.

“What’s going on? Who yelled?” Raph demanded as he ran into the room.

“Why are you two in here?” Don asked, turning the lights on.

“I came in here to get our gear,” Leo said.

“In the dark? You should have known better!” Don exclaimed.

“I had the overhead lights on, but that thing kept turning them off,” Leo said.

“That shadow man is bad news, Leo. Ya’ shouldn’t be taking chances,” Raph scolded.

The raspy quality of his voice drew Leo’s attention. Rising from the bed, he bypassed Mikey and approached Raph, his eyes glued to the fresh bruises on his brother’s throat.

“What happened to your neck?” Leo asked.

“I was in the service bay grabbing extra lights when the shadow man jumped me,” Raph said gruffly. Holding up the kerosene lamp, he added, “FYI, it don’t like fire.”

“It’s afraid of cats too,” Mikey said. “Klunk went all jungle cat when he saw the thing. I threw Klunk at the shadow man to chase him off Leo.”

“It blocked the door so I couldn’t get out,” Leo explained. “I was trying to get to my shell cell so I’d have a light source.”

“We don’t separate like that anymore,” Don said firmly. “No one goes anywhere alone.”

“Yeah Leo, don’t do that to me again,” Mikey said, touching his brother’s arm. “Dude, you’re freezing!”

“I don’t feel cold,” Leo said. “In fact, part of the reason I got up was because I was feeling too warm.”

“That fits in with my theory,” Don said.

“How about ya’ tell it to us while we’re all sitting in front of the nice, bright televisions in the outer room? I don’t much like being crammed into this small space with that thing on the loose,” Raph said.

Mikey gathered up the gear that had been strewn around the room and the brothers filed out, making certain to keep Leo between them. Once they were back in the living area, Leo sat down and took the makeshift wrap off his hands, putting the pads back on properly and donning his mask, belt, and swords.

While he was doing that, Mikey got dressed too and then draped a blanket across Leo’s shoulders. Raph set the kerosene lamp on the ground in front of the couch and then he and Don grabbed the rest of their emergency lighting from Don’s work area.

Don eyed Leo critically and said, “Mikey, tuck a blanket around his legs. It’s imperative we warm Leo back to his normal temperature.”

“Enough with the cryptic stuff, Donny. I’m going crazy,” Raph said. “Spill.”

“What I started to tell you earlier is that I believe that the shadow man is an interdimensional being,” Don said. “I’m convinced he inhabits a dimension parallel to ours and has found a way to partially enter our dimension.”

“Why?” Mikey asked. “What’s it want over here and why does it keep coming after Leo?”

“It’s impossible to be certain since we can’t talk to it,” Don said and then gave Leo an odd look. “Unless it’s communicated with you?”

Leo appeared deep in thought. “In a way it has,” he finally said. “It doesn’t seem to be able to speak, but when it’s close to me, I can hear . . . whispering. The sound never becomes clear enough to make out words. This last encounter the whispering turned into a buzzing inside my head that was allowing the being to control me.”

“It wants you,” Don said. “For what reason, I don’t know. Maybe it wants to take you back to its dimension, maybe it wants to inhabit your body. I’m fairly certain it’s chosen you for a couple of reasons.”

“I’ll bet one is what I told ya’ before about Leo loving the dark,” Raph said.

Don nodded. “Being one with the shadows isn’t just a skill necessary to becoming a ninja; true experts in the Way of Invisibility are the shadows. Even Master Splinter would acknowledge that Leo has a natural affinity for the darkness.”

“I understand the shadows,” Leo murmured.

“And then there’s your own natural body temperature Leo,” Don said. “You run cooler than the rest of us. From your encounters and the one Raph had with the shadow being, it is clear that it’s used to the cold. It doesn’t like heat or light.”

“Or cats,” Mikey said as a reminder.

“In order for you to be assimilated, you have to become even colder than normal,” Don said. “Hence the adjustments that have been occurring to your core temperature.”

Mikey plopped down on the couch and slipped his arm around Leo’s shoulders, leaning close to him. “I’ll warm him up. That thing isn’t turning Leo into its own personal popsicle while I’m around.”

Leo was surprised by how vehement Mikey sounded when he said that; gone was the teasing tone he normally used when trying to lighten the mood. It was then that Leo realized he’d been in something of a stupor since the last attack. Mikey’s serious manner and his close proximity were clearing Leo’s head.

“It was reaching out to me, beckoning me,” Leo told them. “Part of me wanted to go with it into the shadows. It seemed as though it needed me.”

“We need you more,” Mikey said, squeezing Leo’s shoulders. Looking up at Don, he asked, “How do we get rid of that thing? Do we need to light up the whole lair and take away every single shadow?”

“He isn’t the only shadow person I’ve seen,” Leo said. “When I first woke, I saw a number of shadow people marching across the entryway to Master Splinter’s room. I thought I was feverish because they seemed to be moving in slow motion. None of them turned in my direction or even seemed as aware of their surroundings as the shadow man is.”

Don snapped his fingers. “I’ll bet you’re meant to join them. The shadow man wanted you to see into his dimension. You didn’t go to your room because you wanted your gear, you went there because he planted that message in your head.”

“So what’s the deal? Is Leo supposed to be turned into slave labor or something?” Raph asked.

“If that’s the case, then there has to be a portal to take him through,” Don said. “That has to be how the shadow man got here.”

“So if we find this portal and shut it down, Mr. Shades gets locked out of here, right?” Raph asked.

“Since we’re making this up as we go, that sounds as good a theory as any other,” Don said.

“Why’d it attack you, Raph?” Mikey asked. “I mean, it keeps running from me and clearly wants to take Leo. Why did it try to kill you?”

“Hell if I know,” Raph said.

Don turned to Raph and touched his shoulder. “I think it wanted you out of the way. It knew what you were doing, knew that you were collecting light and heat sources to keep it away from Leo.”

Klunk sauntered into the room and curled up on the rug in front of the couch. Rather than dozing as he normally would when the brothers were gathered around, the cat remained watchful, his ears swiveling as though scanning for some sound.

“Where do we look for this portal and how do we know when we’ve found it?” Raph asked.

“It’s been in Leo’s room the most, maybe we search there first,” Mikey suggested.

“We looked all over his room already,” Raph said.

“Actually, we only checked that one corner,” Don said. “If there’s a portal, it should manifest itself as a rift in the dimensional fabric that separates our universes, a kind of overlap. We should try to find a space that is no longer solid, though it may appear that way.”

“Like if we touch it, our hand goes through?” Mikey asked. “If the shadow man’s world is cold, that might not be a great idea.”

“We’ll use our weapons,” Don said. “Tap the walls, the floors, the ceilings. Mikey, you and Leo check the area where he saw that shadow parade. Take the kerosene lamp and a flashlight.”

“Me and Don will take the camp light and another flashlight and search Leo’s room,” Raph said, handing a book of matches to Mikey.

“Everyone stays with their partner; no going into separate rooms and no leaving your light source behind,” Leo said.

“What do we do when we find the portal?” Mikey asked. “Anybody know how to shut it?”

The brothers looked around at each other and it was obvious none of them had an answer to that question. Finally Don said, “I guess we’ll have to figure that out once we find it.”

“Then let’s go,” Raph said. “I’m tired of talking. I wanna find that thing and kick its ass.”

As soon as they separated, Mikey pushed the kerosene lamp into Leo’s hands. “Don’t put this down for anything,” he said. “Old red eyes doesn’t like heat or light and this has both.”

“Yes boss,” Leo said with a grin.

Mikey returned the smile. “I could get used to this.”

Leo pointed out where the shadow people had crossed during their ‘parade’. Using their weapons they tapped all of the solid surfaces but found nothing.

“We should check all along the staircase and on into Master Splinter’s room,” Leo said. “It’s possible that Father’s presence has kept the shadow man at bay but with him gone, it was able to manipulate the portal.”

“That’s a good idea,” Mikey said, shining his flashlight upwards. “How big do you think this portal is? It’s gonna take time to check every surface.”

“I think we can just check for cold spots,” Leo said thoughtfully. “The places where the shadow man has passed through have always left behind residual cold. I would think that a portal between dimensions would be cold all the time.”

That same idea had crossed Donatello’s mind as well. He shared that with Raph as the pair made a thorough search of Leo’s room, even covering the areas that had previously been checked.

“I’m glad to hear that, Donny. I was just trying to figure out how we were gonna search the ceiling in the service bay. Even your bō staff ain’t got that long a reach,” Raph said.

Don sighed. “Well this room is a bust. He may be coming after Leo in here, but this is not where the portal is located.”

“Service bay next then,” Raph said. “We should probably let our bros know where we’re headed.”

The light fixtures on either side of Splinter’s shoji were lit as Leo and Mikey approached. Sliding the paper covered lattice doors aside, the duo entered their father’s domain.

Master Splinter only used electric lighting at the entryway to his room. He preferred candlelight and when Leo had checked his room the previous day, all of the large candles were lit.

The room was now in total darkness.

Mikey chuckled nervously. “Guess our uninvited guest blew out the candles. You might have been right about him coming in through here now that Sensei’s absent.”

Leo’s shell cell rang and he quickly answered it. Mikey pressed in close so that he could hear what Don was saying about cold spots and that he and Raph were going to the service bay. After acknowledging both pieces of information and telling Don where he and Mikey were, Leo hung up.

“You’ve got a book of matches, right?” Leo asked, looking at Mikey. “Let’s light the candles. We’ll find out soon enough if our visitor is in here.”

“Don’t wanna waste the matches,” Mikey said, shining his flashlight around Splinter’s room.

Finding a stack of newspapers, Mikey rolled a few pages into a tight bundle and set it on fire. Moving quickly around the room, he lit the largest candles, and soon had the room bright again.

While Mikey did that, Leo walked slowly around the room, starting at one staircase and moving along the walls. Mikey jogged over to the bottom of the other staircase and moved along the walls towards his brother.

When they met at a center point in the back of the room, they both noticed that Klunk had followed them and was sitting on the rug next to Splinter’s shrine to Master Yoshi.

“How close to the cold spot do you think we need to be to feel it?” Mikey asked, eyeing the room, which was very large.

“Let’s crisscross the room,” Leo said. “The shadow man feels like he’s near freezing temperatures, so I’d imagine the cold spot would feel like when you walk past an open freezer door on a hot day.”

Walking towards the center of the room together, the brothers had just chosen which directions they would go when they heard Klunk growl. Glancing towards the cat, they saw that his fur stood on end and he was on his feet, hissing at something above them.

Looking up, the pair saw the shadow man crawling across the ceiling. As soon as they spotted him, his form spread into thin tendrils that flashed downwards.

All of the candles went out at once, plunging the room in a darkness that was only broken by the light fixtures outside Splinter’s door, the kerosene lamp and Mikey’s flashlight.

Raph and Don stood side by side at the top of the stairs that led to the service bay. Though they said nothing, they each knew what the other was thinking; the area to be searched was vast and included a cluttered storage room and the maze that constituted Don’s work space.

The overhead lights were still on, giving the turtle brothers a small degree of comfort.

“How should we do this?” Don asked.

Raph liked how Don always shared the decision making with him when they were paired up. It made him feel as though his opinion mattered and that he was an equal, despite Donatello’s extremely high IQ.

“I say start where I fought with the thing,” Raph said. “We can cover that area pretty quickly and then check the storage room together. Neither of those spots have much light.”

“Stay close to me,” Don said and then added quickly, “I mean, we shouldn’t be too far from each other so the shadow man won’t have an easy target.”

Despite the low light, Raph could see that Don was blushing. Maybe it wasn’t too farfetched to hope that Don shared certain feelings with him.

With both of them searching, it didn’t take long to cover the work space. Don used his bō staff to tip the pendant light to one side, verifying for himself that the electrical cord was frayed.

Together they walked back to the center of the service bay and stood next to the moving van.

“The storage room is going to be fun to search, especially if the light in there has been ruined too,” Don said. “Was my work space the only area you saw anything odd?”

“Yeah,” Raph said with a nod. Then he frowned. “No wait, on my way over there I thought I saw something reflected in one of the van’s side mirrors. Shook it off as my imagination.”

“We should search the van,” Don said. “Maybe we brought that thing back with us.”

“Too damn many possibilities,” Raph griped. “There has to be a way to narrow . . . .”

In that moment, every light in the lair went out.

“Donny . . . .” Raph began.

“It’s got to be the main breaker,” Don said. “Could the shadow man be smart enough to cut the power?”

“I’d say yeah,” Raph said. “Come on, we need to fix this before that thing jumps Leo again.”

“Wait, I need electrical wire and some tools,” Don told him.

Raph grabbed Don’s belt as he started to dart off. “Together, remember Don? I’ll stand watch while ya’ get those supplies.”

“Call Leo too,” Don said. “He and Mikey need to know what’s happening.”

The ringing of Leo’s shell cell practically coincided with the lights at the top of Splinter’s staircase going out.

“Gonna answer that?” Mikey asked from behind him.

“Put your shell against mine first,” Leo said. “We need to get out of this room.”

As soon as he felt Mikey’s carapace touch his, Leo answered the cell phone. “Are the lights out everywhere?” he asked.

“Yeah. Don and me are headed over to check the breaker box,” Raph said. “Ya’ still in Master Splinter’s room?”

“Mikey, Klunk, the shadow man, and I,” Leo said. “One big party.”

“Get out of there Leo,” Raph said, sounding alarmed.

“Working on it,” Leo replied. “I don’t suppose you found the portal?”

“No and I’m guessing you didn’t either,” Raph said. “That fucker’s getting in here from someplace.”

“Just get the lights on and find a way to keep them on,” Leo said. “One thing at a time.”

He heard Don’s voice in the background and a second later Raph said, “Donny says get to the kitchen. It’s got the best lighting and most of the wiring is shielded. He says start a fire in the sink and on the stovetop in some of the heavy pots.”

“Heading there now,” Leo said as he disconnected the call. “I hope,” he added.

“I heard what Raph said,” Mikey said. “I really like the part where we get out of here.”

“Keep the flashlight close to your body so he can’t knock it out of your hand,” Leo said. “We move together towards the stairs to the right of the shrine.”

When they started to move Klunk joined Mikey, staying close to his legs. They’d managed to make it about four feet before Leo felt the cold.

“Leo, it’s getting chilly,” Mikey said.

Klunk hissed and Mikey swung his light around, catching a glimpse of the shadow man. As soon as the flashlight hit him, he flew away from it.

“Keep going,” Leo said, turning up the wick to brighten the lamp.

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever known you to want to be inside the light,” Mikey joked.

“I like being near your light Mikey,” Leo said. He suddenly felt that if something was going to happen to him, he needed for Mikey to know how he felt.

They took a few more steps before Mikey responded. “I like being with you too, Leo. Like, more than anyone. I hope we’re talking about the same thing.”

“We are,” Leo said, his heart soaring. Knowing that Mikey cared made nothing seem impossible. “When we get out of this, I’m going to show you how I feel.”

“Hold onto that positive attitude, bro. We’re near the stairs,” Mikey said.

Again Klunk hissed and then shrieked loudly. A cold blast hit Mikey’s shoulder and he was forcefully shoved away from Leo.

Raphael held the flashlight as he stood guard over his brother. The camp light sat atop the breaker box, casting the illumination Don needed in order to see what he was doing and to keep the shadow man away from their primary electrical source.

“What’s the damage?” Raph asked.

“He got the branch circuit cables where they come into the box,” Don said. “Not the worst case scenario, but not great either. I can splice into them to get the lights back on and come back later to do a more lasting repair.”

“How long?” Raph asked. “That creep’s stalking Leo.”

“Thirty minutes at least,” Don said. “As long as I don’t have to keep looking behind me.”

“I’ve gotcha covered, Donny. Ya’ gotta know by now that I always will,” Raph told him.

“I do,” Don said as he snipped some wires. “I much prefer being partnered up with you.”

Raph cleared his throat. “Would ya’ maybe . . . like to make that a permanent thing?”

Don glanced at him and then went back to work. “It figures you’d ask that when we’re in the middle of an emergency. To save you the embarrassment of asking again later, the answer is yes.”

“I ain’t embarrassed,” Raph said gruffly and then hid a grin when Don snorted his amusement.

“Don’t forget that I saw your face when you asked that question,” Don said. “Who knows you better than me?”

“Nobody,” Raph said, the grin becoming affectionate. “Next time I’ll practice my poker face in front of a . . . .”

Halting mid-sentence, Raph’s eyes widened. The abrupt stop made Don frown and look at his brother again.

“What’s wrong?” Don asked.

“We’re both idiots!” Raph exclaimed. “I know where the portal is!”

The bruise that the shadow man had left on Raph’s neck was a good indication of just how strong it was, something that Mikey was finding out for himself. Not only was its touch cold, but the shove he gave Mikey knocked the turtle to the ground and sent him sliding across Master Splinter’s room.

“Mikey!” Leo yelled, turning to locate his brother.

Dazed, Mikey watched the lamp veer away from the shadow man, allowing it to close in on Leo.

Feeling the cold coming up behind him, Leo tried to turn back, but a buzzing sound filled his head. Though he attempted to shut it out, the noise bore into his consciousness and Leo felt himself losing control of his own will.

Very slowly he began to heed the mental instructions to place the lamp on the floor.

“No!” Mikey shouted, scrambling to his feet and diving for his brother.

Grabbing Leo’s arm, Mikey forced it back up again and then spun both his brother and the lamp around. The lamp swung upwards, the heat driving the entity backwards.

“He’s a turtle!” Mikey roared at the shadow man. “He’s not human, he can’t survive the cold!”

Wrapping an arm around Leo, Mikey concentrated as hard as he could, calling on Master Splinter’s training. After a second he felt the cold air that had engulfed them dissipate as it was replaced by an overwhelming warmth.

As heat suffused Leo’s body, the buzzing left his head. He watched in amazement as an orange glow engulfed Mikey, spreading outwards and pushing away the darkness.

“How . . . ?” Leo asked.

“Move with me,” Mikey instructed, holding onto to the protective feeling that allowed him to manifest the warming glow.

Leo clung to the kerosene lamp as Mikey virtually dragged him up the stairs. In the back of Leo’s head he could still feel the shadow man trying to worm its way past Mikey’s defenses.

If Mikey could just hang on to the power he was exuding until they made it to the kitchen, they might have a fighting chance.

Raph was practically vibrating with excitement as he made his announcement.

“We missed something? What did we miss?” Don asked.

“Mirrors,” Raph said. “It all has to do with mirrors. Or one mirror in particular.”

Don’s mouth dropped open. “That ugly thing we brought back from the junkyard!”

“That’s where it started,” Raph said.

“You saw it in the van’s mirror,” Don said. “That’s one of the ways it’s moving so quickly around the lair. Any polished reflective surface acts as another gateway.”

“But the main one, the one that has to be open, is in that fucking bathroom mirror,” Raph said. “I’ll gladly risk seven years of bad luck by breaking that thing.”

“This time I’ll watch your back,” Don said, grabbing the camp light. “Destroying that mirror will take less time than repairing the electricity.”

Mikey’s glow lasted all of the way out of Splinter’s room and down the back staircase to the living area. The effort it took to maintain that level of concentration was tiring and the glow left him once he and Leo were standing in front of the television monolith.

The multitude of blank screens were eerie looking in the darkness of the lair. Once more it was only the small circle of light given off by the lamp and Mikey’s flashlight that kept the shadows at bay.

“Is it irony that the same dark underground home that keeps you hidden is also the place where the shadows eventually attack you?” Mikey asked.

“I think that’s what Raph would call ‘turtle luck running true to form’,” Leo said wryly. His brow suddenly furrowed in pain. “Mikey, it’s close. I can hear it calling to me again.”

“You gotta block it out Leo,” Mikey said, maintaining his grip on his brother. “We’ve just gotta make it to the kitchen and we can hold the thing off until Don gets the lights on.”

They managed a couple of steps before movement caught the corner of Leo’s eye. His gasp drew Mikey’s attention and the younger turtle turned to see what his brother was looking at.

The shadow man was rushing towards them from inside the darkened television screens.

“I don’t think we’re going to make it,” Leo said.

“Go, go, go!” Mikey shouted, forcibly pulling Leo as the spellbound turtle hesitated.

Racing away from the televisions, the brothers drew alongside Donatello’s workstation. The computer monitors reflected an image of the entity keeping pace with them.

As they neared the top of the stairs, the shadow man flew out of a monitor. It rapidly overtook the pair, reaching out to grasp the edges of Leo’s carapace and yanking him to a stop.

“Leave him alone!” Mikey cried out as he engaged in a deadly tug of war with the specter.

“Hey shadow asshole!” Raph yelled, racing out of the bathroom with the mirror held high. “Get lost!”

Reaching the railing, Raph threw the mirror to the concrete below. The glass shattered into tiny fragments upon impact, the wooden frame breaking apart.

When it hit, the shadow man released Leo and swarmed over the railing, engulfing the broken mirror in inky blackness.

“Is it gone?” Don asked, running up alongside Raph.

“Has to be, I smashed the mirror,” Raph said, his expression smug. Then his grin faded.

The mirror began to repair itself, the frame snapping back into place and the glass fragments pulling together like a reflective jigsaw puzzle.

“Mikey, take Leo and get out of the lair!” Don called, watching the portal grow solid once more.

“Leo. Leo!” Mikey exclaimed, shaking his brother. Leo appeared to be in shock, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the mirror lying one level below them.

There was no way that Mikey could carry Leo and escape the lair quickly enough to evade the shadow man. Desperate, Mikey looked around, searching for a way to save his brother.

Then his gaze landed on the kerosene lamp hanging loosely from Leo’s fingers. Yanking the lamp from Leo’s grip, Mikey threw it at the mirror.

The lamp exploded on impact. Fire engulfed the mirror, fueled by the gold glaze on the wooden frame. As flames licked at the wood, it blackened and then burned.

A bright red blaze flared in the center of the mirror and the glass began to pop and squeal as it melted. From the center of the mirror, the shadow man suddenly surged upwards and then was sucked back inside the portal as the fire closed it completely.

Leo slumped forward and Mikey caught him, holding on as his brother slowly regained his senses. Raph and Don came up to join them as Mikey led Leo over to the couch.

“I never did like that ugly ass mirror,” Raph said, breaking the silence.

“Are you okay, Leo?” Don asked.

“I am now,” Leo said. “Thanks to you guys.”

He was looking at Mikey as he said it and Raph noticed that they were holding hands.

Nudging Don to make sure he’d seen it too, Raph said, “Me and Donny are gonna collect whatever’s left of that mirror and get rid of it. I think separating it into two boxes and burying them in different cemeteries should keep that thing from ever putting its portal back together.”

“We’ll be back before sunup,” Don said. “Mikey, do you think you can talk Leo into getting some sleep?”

Mikey smiled at Leo, bathing his older brother in his warmth once more. “We’ll just share the bed again, won’t we?” he asked.

“Whatever you say Mikey,” Leo replied, returning the smile. It was nice to know that he’d never be cold again.

End

Description
Shadows
part 3 final
2k3

Raph dangled helplessly, unable to break free of the shadow man’s grip on his throat. The tips of his toes scratched at the floor as the feeling in the lower parts of his body grew numb.

His sai were useless against the thing. Raph knew that much from Leo’s account of how his swords had no effect on the shadow man. The only thing he might have used to battle the specter was the flashlight and it was lying on the floor far from his reach.

So was the lamp that Raph had left on the stairs.

The thought of that lamp brought with it a flicker of memory. Dipping into his belt, Raph found the book of matches.

With his last ounce of strength, Raph pulled a match loose and scratched it to flame, setting the entire book on fire. Then he drove it directly into the shadow man’s center mass.

Its response was both immediate and gratifying. The specter released Raph and swiftly slid away from him, vanishing into the nearest wall.

Falling to his knees, Raph clutched his neck and gasped, coughing as the air hit his raw throat. In front of him, the matchbook fire dwindled and then burned itself out.

Raph lunged for the flashlight and turned it on. Lying on his side, Raph shone the light all around him, trying to guard against a repeat attack.

Recalling that Don sat all alone, his back to the lair, brought Raph to his feet. He staggered a few steps before the lightheaded feeling left him. Once his balance returned, Raph quickly located the camp light and grabbed it before heading directly back to the stairs and retrieving the other two light sources.

He made one stop on his way back to Donatello and that was to get some more matches from the kitchen junk drawer.

Raph’s demeanor upon his return to Don wasn’t nearly as calm as it had been when he’d left. His hands were shaking slightly as he set down his payload and lit the kerosene lamp, needing two attempts to get it going.

“What’s wrong?” Don asked, turning in his chair to stare at his brother. “Raph, your neck! What happened?”

“I’ll tell ya’ what happened. That shadow man of Leo’s happened. I was in the service bay going for the camp light when that fucker came at me. It grabbed me by my damn throat and lifted me off the ground like I was a feather,” Raph said, just remembering to keep his voice down.

Don reached out and gently touched Raph’s neck. Even though his fingers only lightly grazed the area, Raph still winced.

“Can you swallow? Are you having any trouble breathing?” Don asked.

“Yes and no. I’m okay Donny,” Raph said.

His brother’s warm, brown eyes were like a salve, taking away a good portion of the residual sting. Raph realized that was the case most of the time when he was injured. Just having Donny care for him went a long ways towards the healing process.

“You’ve got an ugly bruise and possibly a touch of frostnip,” Don said. “Are you cold?”

“Not at all,” Raph said. “Not the way Leo was after that thing jumped on him. Why do ya’ think that is?”

“I’m developing a theory about the shadow man from what I’ve read and our own encounters,” Don answered. “Right now though, let’s go down to the kitchen so I can put some warm water on that bruise. I’d rather avoid the bathroom for the time being.”

Raph glanced across the lair to where their brothers lay sleeping. “Should we leave them alone?”

Don stood up. “The lights and the televisions are on. We won’t be gone but a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Raph said reluctantly. “Ya’ gotta tell me about this theory of yours though.”

“Deal,” Don said, happy that Raph wasn’t arguing over receiving medical treatment.

For what seemed an immeasurable amount of time Leo watched shadow people walk across the opening to Master Splinter’s room. It was like being at a slow motion parade. As each figure lifted a leg it elongated before it came down, so that it only took each shadow two steps to cross the intervening space.

Finally Leo’s eyes began to burn from holding them open for so long and he closed them. When he opened them again the shadow parade was gone.

Though this shadow sighting hadn’t been cause for alarm, the knowledge that the shadow man was still in the lair was concerning.

It made Leo remember that he and Mikey had left his room without their gear.

Leo might have been able to ignore the desire to retrieve their things, but he suddenly had an overwhelming need to get up. He was starting to feel much too warm and very constricted by the blankets piled atop him.

Very slowly and with infinite care, Leo shifted his legs off of Mikey’s lap. He had to turn one leg to dislodge Mikey’s arm, but though his brother snorted, he did not wake up.

Rising from the couch, Leo tiptoed across the living area and was surprised to see that Don and Raph weren’t in front of the computers. Stopping next to them, he tilted his head and picked up the faint drone of his brothers’ voices coming from the kitchen.

Satisfied that everything was all right for the moment, Leo moved on towards his bedroom. He mentally ticked off how long it would take him to get to the bed, grab his and Mikey’s things, and then get back to the couch. Minutes. Nothing untoward could happen in such a short period of time.

The kitchen was probably the best lit area in the lair and Don made certain that every light was on, even the ones in the hood vent over the stove. Grabbing a clean hand towel off a shelf, he ran it under warm water and then gingerly pressed it against the bruise on Raph’s throat.

When he saw Raph scowl, Don asked, “Sting?”

“A little. Why don’t ya’ tell me about this theory of yours and take my mind off my neck,” Raph said.

“There are a number of explanations for shadow people,” Don said. “Some believe they are figments of the imagination; our minds playing tricks on us. That they are leftover perceptions from dreams that stay with us as we start to wake from a deep sleep.”

“Ain’t no dream gave me this,” Raph said gruffly, pointing at his throat.

“Clearly that theory does not fit our situation,” Don said. “Others believe that they’re ghosts. That wouldn’t explain our experiences either, since a ghost would have manifested itself long before this. From what I know of ghost lore, they aren’t usually physical.”

Raph snorted. “This wasn’t a ghost.”

Don nodded. “I concur. Next we have the beliefs that shadow people are demons, or astral bodies, or even time travelers. We’ve had confrontations with demons and time-travelers and I feel comfortable saying we could identify either of those if we ran across them again. Astral bodies are people having out-of-body experiences. They don’t have enough form to actually attack anyone.”

“Okay, now I’ve got the lowdown on what this isn’t,” Raph said. “So tell me what ya’ think it is.”

Removing the towel from Raph’s neck, Don leaned in close to examine the bruise. It was definitely hand shaped and the application of heat had caused the skin to redden, verifying Don’s thought that the specter had given his brother frostnip.

Raph sat very still as Don studied his neck. Having Don so close to him was causing butterflies to dance in his stomach, a feeling that was far from unpleasant. For a moment Raph forgot about the shadow people and his own injury and simply relished the way it felt to be near Don.

Straightening up but remaining close to his brother, Don said, “Since I’ve also discarded the notion that the shadow man is an alien, I’ve concluded that he . . . .”

He was interrupted by a shout from somewhere above them.

When Leo reached his bedroom he saw that someone had turned out the lights. Since they had agreed to leave every light on, he figured it must have been an unconscious act by one of his brothers. Sure enough, the switch was in the off position.

Flipping it on, Leo entered his room. His gear was piled neatly next to the bed and he gathered it quickly. Mikey’s things were strewn around the floor near the end of the bed and on the side of the bed his brother had occupied. With a snort of amusement, Leo started towards Mikey’s nunchucks, which were the closest to him.

The lights went out.

Spinning around, Leo looked back towards the doorway. No one was there and light still shone into his room from the wall sconce mounted above the stairs. Walking back over to the switch, Leo saw that the toggle was once more pushed down.

Frowning, Leo lifted the toggle and light filled the room. Before stepping away from it again, he jiggled the toggle to make certain it wasn’t loose. After ascertaining that it was securely in the on position, Leo moved back over to the end of his bed.

He was bending down to grab Mikey’s nunchucks when the lights went out again.

When his skin started to prickle, Leo knew he was no longer alone. As he straightened up and turned, Leo saw a figure detach itself from the deep shadows in the corner nearest his door.

The shadow man and Leo stared at one another. Red orbs shown in what Leo assumed was its face, its gaze unwavering. Leo knew he wouldn’t make it to the doorway; the shadow man had effectively blocked him off.

There was one source of light in the room that Leo could use to make his escape but he had to get to it. His shell cell sat on the nightstand and he was sure its flashlight feature was bright enough to drive the specter away.

Very slowly Leo lowered his weapons to the floor and then began to wrap his pads around his hands and fingers. He knew he was going to come into contact with the entity. The padding might not protect his skin for long and Leo understood he’d have to move quickly.

Leo was tying off the padding when the shadow man suddenly lifted its arms, the palms of its hands turned upwards. It said nothing, but Leo could hear the faint whispering that seemed to accompany the shadow people.

The shadow man’s arms stretched outwards toward Leo, looking very much as though it was beckoning to him. At the same time, the whispering turned to a buzzing sound inside Leo’s head.

Blinking his eyes rapidly, Leo shook his head, trying to dislodge the noise. It was clouding his thoughts and making the room begin to fade out around him. When Leo tried to slide his foot to the side so that he could go towards his nightstand, he instead took a step forward.

As though he was being pulled, Leo began to take another step. His foot lifted but then with every ounce of willpower he could muster, Leo curled his toes and brought his foot back down, hard.

The pain lanced through his system, momentarily blocking the buzzing sound. The shadow man seemed to sense he’d lost control over Leo, because he started to glide towards the turtle.

Leo leaped onto the bed, landing hard, and then scrabbled across the mattress as he reached for the shell cell. Something cold brushed the backs of his thighs and Leo rolled aside, trying to stay out of the shadow man’s grip.

“Hey!”

Mikey’s shout was followed by the hissing of an extremely angry cat. Klunk was in Mikey’s arms, his ears laid back and his teeth showing.

Leo turned his head to look at his brother just as Mikey tossed Klunk directly at the shadow man. Its reaction to the snarling, scratching cat was instantaneous; the specter flew backwards, ricocheting off the walls and ceiling before vanishing completely.

Leo sat up as Mikey came towards him. “Mikey, how . . . ?”

“Klunk,” Mikey said. “He was under Donny’s workstation growling and hissing so loudly he woke me up. When he saw me he ran to the top of the stairs and that’s how I knew you’d gone to your room.”

“The shadow man was afraid of him,” Leo said slowly.

“What’s going on? Who yelled?” Raph demanded as he ran into the room.

“Why are you two in here?” Don asked, turning the lights on.

“I came in here to get our gear,” Leo said.

“In the dark? You should have known better!” Don exclaimed.

“I had the overhead lights on, but that thing kept turning them off,” Leo said.

“That shadow man is bad news, Leo. Ya’ shouldn’t be taking chances,” Raph scolded.

The raspy quality of his voice drew Leo’s attention. Rising from the bed, he bypassed Mikey and approached Raph, his eyes glued to the fresh bruises on his brother’s throat.

“What happened to your neck?” Leo asked.

“I was in the service bay grabbing extra lights when the shadow man jumped me,” Raph said gruffly. Holding up the kerosene lamp, he added, “FYI, it don’t like fire.”

“It’s afraid of cats too,” Mikey said. “Klunk went all jungle cat when he saw the thing. I threw Klunk at the shadow man to chase him off Leo.”

“It blocked the door so I couldn’t get out,” Leo explained. “I was trying to get to my shell cell so I’d have a light source.”

“We don’t separate like that anymore,” Don said firmly. “No one goes anywhere alone.”

“Yeah Leo, don’t do that to me again,” Mikey said, touching his brother’s arm. “Dude, you’re freezing!”

“I don’t feel cold,” Leo said. “In fact, part of the reason I got up was because I was feeling too warm.”

“That fits in with my theory,” Don said.

“How about ya’ tell it to us while we’re all sitting in front of the nice, bright televisions in the outer room? I don’t much like being crammed into this small space with that thing on the loose,” Raph said.

Mikey gathered up the gear that had been strewn around the room and the brothers filed out, making certain to keep Leo between them. Once they were back in the living area, Leo sat down and took the makeshift wrap off his hands, putting the pads back on properly and donning his mask, belt, and swords.

While he was doing that, Mikey got dressed too and then draped a blanket across Leo’s shoulders. Raph set the kerosene lamp on the ground in front of the couch and then he and Don grabbed the rest of their emergency lighting from Don’s work area.

Don eyed Leo critically and said, “Mikey, tuck a blanket around his legs. It’s imperative we warm Leo back to his normal temperature.”

“Enough with the cryptic stuff, Donny. I’m going crazy,” Raph said. “Spill.”

“What I started to tell you earlier is that I believe that the shadow man is an interdimensional being,” Don said. “I’m convinced he inhabits a dimension parallel to ours and has found a way to partially enter our dimension.”

“Why?” Mikey asked. “What’s it want over here and why does it keep coming after Leo?”

“It’s impossible to be certain since we can’t talk to it,” Don said and then gave Leo an odd look. “Unless it’s communicated with you?”

Leo appeared deep in thought. “In a way it has,” he finally said. “It doesn’t seem to be able to speak, but when it’s close to me, I can hear . . . whispering. The sound never becomes clear enough to make out words. This last encounter the whispering turned into a buzzing inside my head that was allowing the being to control me.”

“It wants you,” Don said. “For what reason, I don’t know. Maybe it wants to take you back to its dimension, maybe it wants to inhabit your body. I’m fairly certain it’s chosen you for a couple of reasons.”

“I’ll bet one is what I told ya’ before about Leo loving the dark,” Raph said.

Don nodded. “Being one with the shadows isn’t just a skill necessary to becoming a ninja; true experts in the Way of Invisibility are the shadows. Even Master Splinter would acknowledge that Leo has a natural affinity for the darkness.”

“I understand the shadows,” Leo murmured.

“And then there’s your own natural body temperature Leo,” Don said. “You run cooler than the rest of us. From your encounters and the one Raph had with the shadow being, it is clear that it’s used to the cold. It doesn’t like heat or light.”

“Or cats,” Mikey said as a reminder.

“In order for you to be assimilated, you have to become even colder than normal,” Don said. “Hence the adjustments that have been occurring to your core temperature.”

Mikey plopped down on the couch and slipped his arm around Leo’s shoulders, leaning close to him. “I’ll warm him up. That thing isn’t turning Leo into its own personal popsicle while I’m around.”

Leo was surprised by how vehement Mikey sounded when he said that; gone was the teasing tone he normally used when trying to lighten the mood. It was then that Leo realized he’d been in something of a stupor since the last attack. Mikey’s serious manner and his close proximity were clearing Leo’s head.

“It was reaching out to me, beckoning me,” Leo told them. “Part of me wanted to go with it into the shadows. It seemed as though it needed me.”

“We need you more,” Mikey said, squeezing Leo’s shoulders. Looking up at Don, he asked, “How do we get rid of that thing? Do we need to light up the whole lair and take away every single shadow?”

“He isn’t the only shadow person I’ve seen,” Leo said. “When I first woke, I saw a number of shadow people marching across the entryway to Master Splinter’s room. I thought I was feverish because they seemed to be moving in slow motion. None of them turned in my direction or even seemed as aware of their surroundings as the shadow man is.”

Don snapped his fingers. “I’ll bet you’re meant to join them. The shadow man wanted you to see into his dimension. You didn’t go to your room because you wanted your gear, you went there because he planted that message in your head.”

“So what’s the deal? Is Leo supposed to be turned into slave labor or something?” Raph asked.

“If that’s the case, then there has to be a portal to take him through,” Don said. “That has to be how the shadow man got here.”

“So if we find this portal and shut it down, Mr. Shades gets locked out of here, right?” Raph asked.

“Since we’re making this up as we go, that sounds as good a theory as any other,” Don said.

“Why’d it attack you, Raph?” Mikey asked. “I mean, it keeps running from me and clearly wants to take Leo. Why did it try to kill you?”

“Hell if I know,” Raph said.

Don turned to Raph and touched his shoulder. “I think it wanted you out of the way. It knew what you were doing, knew that you were collecting light and heat sources to keep it away from Leo.”

Klunk sauntered into the room and curled up on the rug in front of the couch. Rather than dozing as he normally would when the brothers were gathered around, the cat remained watchful, his ears swiveling as though scanning for some sound.

“Where do we look for this portal and how do we know when we’ve found it?” Raph asked.

“It’s been in Leo’s room the most, maybe we search there first,” Mikey suggested.

“We looked all over his room already,” Raph said.

“Actually, we only checked that one corner,” Don said. “If there’s a portal, it should manifest itself as a rift in the dimensional fabric that separates our universes, a kind of overlap. We should try to find a space that is no longer solid, though it may appear that way.”

“Like if we touch it, our hand goes through?” Mikey asked. “If the shadow man’s world is cold, that might not be a great idea.”

“We’ll use our weapons,” Don said. “Tap the walls, the floors, the ceilings. Mikey, you and Leo check the area where he saw that shadow parade. Take the kerosene lamp and a flashlight.”

“Me and Don will take the camp light and another flashlight and search Leo’s room,” Raph said, handing a book of matches to Mikey.

“Everyone stays with their partner; no going into separate rooms and no leaving your light source behind,” Leo said.

“What do we do when we find the portal?” Mikey asked. “Anybody know how to shut it?”

The brothers looked around at each other and it was obvious none of them had an answer to that question. Finally Don said, “I guess we’ll have to figure that out once we find it.”

“Then let’s go,” Raph said. “I’m tired of talking. I wanna find that thing and kick its ass.”

As soon as they separated, Mikey pushed the kerosene lamp into Leo’s hands. “Don’t put this down for anything,” he said. “Old red eyes doesn’t like heat or light and this has both.”

“Yes boss,” Leo said with a grin.

Mikey returned the smile. “I could get used to this.”

Leo pointed out where the shadow people had crossed during their ‘parade’. Using their weapons they tapped all of the solid surfaces but found nothing.

“We should check all along the staircase and on into Master Splinter’s room,” Leo said. “It’s possible that Father’s presence has kept the shadow man at bay but with him gone, it was able to manipulate the portal.”

“That’s a good idea,” Mikey said, shining his flashlight upwards. “How big do you think this portal is? It’s gonna take time to check every surface.”

“I think we can just check for cold spots,” Leo said thoughtfully. “The places where the shadow man has passed through have always left behind residual cold. I would think that a portal between dimensions would be cold all the time.”

That same idea had crossed Donatello’s mind as well. He shared that with Raph as the pair made a thorough search of Leo’s room, even covering the areas that had previously been checked.

“I’m glad to hear that, Donny. I was just trying to figure out how we were gonna search the ceiling in the service bay. Even your bō staff ain’t got that long a reach,” Raph said.

Don sighed. “Well this room is a bust. He may be coming after Leo in here, but this is not where the portal is located.”

“Service bay next then,” Raph said. “We should probably let our bros know where we’re headed.”

The light fixtures on either side of Splinter’s shoji were lit as Leo and Mikey approached. Sliding the paper covered lattice doors aside, the duo entered their father’s domain.

Master Splinter only used electric lighting at the entryway to his room. He preferred candlelight and when Leo had checked his room the previous day, all of the large candles were lit.

The room was now in total darkness.

Mikey chuckled nervously. “Guess our uninvited guest blew out the candles. You might have been right about him coming in through here now that Sensei’s absent.”

Leo’s shell cell rang and he quickly answered it. Mikey pressed in close so that he could hear what Don was saying about cold spots and that he and Raph were going to the service bay. After acknowledging both pieces of information and telling Don where he and Mikey were, Leo hung up.

“You’ve got a book of matches, right?” Leo asked, looking at Mikey. “Let’s light the candles. We’ll find out soon enough if our visitor is in here.”

“Don’t wanna waste the matches,” Mikey said, shining his flashlight around Splinter’s room.

Finding a stack of newspapers, Mikey rolled a few pages into a tight bundle and set it on fire. Moving quickly around the room, he lit the largest candles, and soon had the room bright again.

While Mikey did that, Leo walked slowly around the room, starting at one staircase and moving along the walls. Mikey jogged over to the bottom of the other staircase and moved along the walls towards his brother.

When they met at a center point in the back of the room, they both noticed that Klunk had followed them and was sitting on the rug next to Splinter’s shrine to Master Yoshi.

“How close to the cold spot do you think we need to be to feel it?” Mikey asked, eyeing the room, which was very large.

“Let’s crisscross the room,” Leo said. “The shadow man feels like he’s near freezing temperatures, so I’d imagine the cold spot would feel like when you walk past an open freezer door on a hot day.”

Walking towards the center of the room together, the brothers had just chosen which directions they would go when they heard Klunk growl. Glancing towards the cat, they saw that his fur stood on end and he was on his feet, hissing at something above them.

Looking up, the pair saw the shadow man crawling across the ceiling. As soon as they spotted him, his form spread into thin tendrils that flashed downwards.

All of the candles went out at once, plunging the room in a darkness that was only broken by the light fixtures outside Splinter’s door, the kerosene lamp and Mikey’s flashlight.

Raph and Don stood side by side at the top of the stairs that led to the service bay. Though they said nothing, they each knew what the other was thinking; the area to be searched was vast and included a cluttered storage room and the maze that constituted Don’s work space.

The overhead lights were still on, giving the turtle brothers a small degree of comfort.

“How should we do this?” Don asked.

Raph liked how Don always shared the decision making with him when they were paired up. It made him feel as though his opinion mattered and that he was an equal, despite Donatello’s extremely high IQ.

“I say start where I fought with the thing,” Raph said. “We can cover that area pretty quickly and then check the storage room together. Neither of those spots have much light.”

“Stay close to me,” Don said and then added quickly, “I mean, we shouldn’t be too far from each other so the shadow man won’t have an easy target.”

Despite the low light, Raph could see that Don was blushing. Maybe it wasn’t too farfetched to hope that Don shared certain feelings with him.

With both of them searching, it didn’t take long to cover the work space. Don used his bō staff to tip the pendant light to one side, verifying for himself that the electrical cord was frayed.

Together they walked back to the center of the service bay and stood next to the moving van.

“The storage room is going to be fun to search, especially if the light in there has been ruined too,” Don said. “Was my work space the only area you saw anything odd?”

“Yeah,” Raph said with a nod. Then he frowned. “No wait, on my way over there I thought I saw something reflected in one of the van’s side mirrors. Shook it off as my imagination.”

“We should search the van,” Don said. “Maybe we brought that thing back with us.”

“Too damn many possibilities,” Raph griped. “There has to be a way to narrow . . . .”

In that moment, every light in the lair went out.

“Donny . . . .” Raph began.

“It’s got to be the main breaker,” Don said. “Could the shadow man be smart enough to cut the power?”

“I’d say yeah,” Raph said. “Come on, we need to fix this before that thing jumps Leo again.”

“Wait, I need electrical wire and some tools,” Don told him.

Raph grabbed Don’s belt as he started to dart off. “Together, remember Don? I’ll stand watch while ya’ get those supplies.”

“Call Leo too,” Don said. “He and Mikey need to know what’s happening.”

The ringing of Leo’s shell cell practically coincided with the lights at the top of Splinter’s staircase going out.

“Gonna answer that?” Mikey asked from behind him.

“Put your shell against mine first,” Leo said. “We need to get out of this room.”

As soon as he felt Mikey’s carapace touch his, Leo answered the cell phone. “Are the lights out everywhere?” he asked.

“Yeah. Don and me are headed over to check the breaker box,” Raph said. “Ya’ still in Master Splinter’s room?”

“Mikey, Klunk, the shadow man, and I,” Leo said. “One big party.”

“Get out of there Leo,” Raph said, sounding alarmed.

“Working on it,” Leo replied. “I don’t suppose you found the portal?”

“No and I’m guessing you didn’t either,” Raph said. “That fucker’s getting in here from someplace.”

“Just get the lights on and find a way to keep them on,” Leo said. “One thing at a time.”

He heard Don’s voice in the background and a second later Raph said, “Donny says get to the kitchen. It’s got the best lighting and most of the wiring is shielded. He says start a fire in the sink and on the stovetop in some of the heavy pots.”

“Heading there now,” Leo said as he disconnected the call. “I hope,” he added.

“I heard what Raph said,” Mikey said. “I really like the part where we get out of here.”

“Keep the flashlight close to your body so he can’t knock it out of your hand,” Leo said. “We move together towards the stairs to the right of the shrine.”

When they started to move Klunk joined Mikey, staying close to his legs. They’d managed to make it about four feet before Leo felt the cold.

“Leo, it’s getting chilly,” Mikey said.

Klunk hissed and Mikey swung his light around, catching a glimpse of the shadow man. As soon as the flashlight hit him, he flew away from it.

“Keep going,” Leo said, turning up the wick to brighten the lamp.

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever known you to want to be inside the light,” Mikey joked.

“I like being near your light Mikey,” Leo said. He suddenly felt that if something was going to happen to him, he needed for Mikey to know how he felt.

They took a few more steps before Mikey responded. “I like being with you too, Leo. Like, more than anyone. I hope we’re talking about the same thing.”

“We are,” Leo said, his heart soaring. Knowing that Mikey cared made nothing seem impossible. “When we get out of this, I’m going to show you how I feel.”

“Hold onto that positive attitude, bro. We’re near the stairs,” Mikey said.

Again Klunk hissed and then shrieked loudly. A cold blast hit Mikey’s shoulder and he was forcefully shoved away from Leo.

Raphael held the flashlight as he stood guard over his brother. The camp light sat atop the breaker box, casting the illumination Don needed in order to see what he was doing and to keep the shadow man away from their primary electrical source.

“What’s the damage?” Raph asked.

“He got the branch circuit cables where they come into the box,” Don said. “Not the worst case scenario, but not great either. I can splice into them to get the lights back on and come back later to do a more lasting repair.”

“How long?” Raph asked. “That creep’s stalking Leo.”

“Thirty minutes at least,” Don said. “As long as I don’t have to keep looking behind me.”

“I’ve gotcha covered, Donny. Ya’ gotta know by now that I always will,” Raph told him.

“I do,” Don said as he snipped some wires. “I much prefer being partnered up with you.”

Raph cleared his throat. “Would ya’ maybe . . . like to make that a permanent thing?”

Don glanced at him and then went back to work. “It figures you’d ask that when we’re in the middle of an emergency. To save you the embarrassment of asking again later, the answer is yes.”

“I ain’t embarrassed,” Raph said gruffly and then hid a grin when Don snorted his amusement.

“Don’t forget that I saw your face when you asked that question,” Don said. “Who knows you better than me?”

“Nobody,” Raph said, the grin becoming affectionate. “Next time I’ll practice my poker face in front of a . . . .”

Halting mid-sentence, Raph’s eyes widened. The abrupt stop made Don frown and look at his brother again.

“What’s wrong?” Don asked.

“We’re both idiots!” Raph exclaimed. “I know where the portal is!”

The bruise that the shadow man had left on Raph’s neck was a good indication of just how strong it was, something that Mikey was finding out for himself. Not only was its touch cold, but the shove he gave Mikey knocked the turtle to the ground and sent him sliding across Master Splinter’s room.

“Mikey!” Leo yelled, turning to locate his brother.

Dazed, Mikey watched the lamp veer away from the shadow man, allowing it to close in on Leo.

Feeling the cold coming up behind him, Leo tried to turn back, but a buzzing sound filled his head. Though he attempted to shut it out, the noise bore into his consciousness and Leo felt himself losing control of his own will.

Very slowly he began to heed the mental instructions to place the lamp on the floor.

“No!” Mikey shouted, scrambling to his feet and diving for his brother.

Grabbing Leo’s arm, Mikey forced it back up again and then spun both his brother and the lamp around. The lamp swung upwards, the heat driving the entity backwards.

“He’s a turtle!” Mikey roared at the shadow man. “He’s not human, he can’t survive the cold!”

Wrapping an arm around Leo, Mikey concentrated as hard as he could, calling on Master Splinter’s training. After a second he felt the cold air that had engulfed them dissipate as it was replaced by an overwhelming warmth.

As heat suffused Leo’s body, the buzzing left his head. He watched in amazement as an orange glow engulfed Mikey, spreading outwards and pushing away the darkness.

“How . . . ?” Leo asked.

“Move with me,” Mikey instructed, holding onto to the protective feeling that allowed him to manifest the warming glow.

Leo clung to the kerosene lamp as Mikey virtually dragged him up the stairs. In the back of Leo’s head he could still feel the shadow man trying to worm its way past Mikey’s defenses.

If Mikey could just hang on to the power he was exuding until they made it to the kitchen, they might have a fighting chance.

Raph was practically vibrating with excitement as he made his announcement.

“We missed something? What did we miss?” Don asked.

“Mirrors,” Raph said. “It all has to do with mirrors. Or one mirror in particular.”

Don’s mouth dropped open. “That ugly thing we brought back from the junkyard!”

“That’s where it started,” Raph said.

“You saw it in the van’s mirror,” Don said. “That’s one of the ways it’s moving so quickly around the lair. Any polished reflective surface acts as another gateway.”

“But the main one, the one that has to be open, is in that fucking bathroom mirror,” Raph said. “I’ll gladly risk seven years of bad luck by breaking that thing.”

“This time I’ll watch your back,” Don said, grabbing the camp light. “Destroying that mirror will take less time than repairing the electricity.”

Mikey’s glow lasted all of the way out of Splinter’s room and down the back staircase to the living area. The effort it took to maintain that level of concentration was tiring and the glow left him once he and Leo were standing in front of the television monolith.

The multitude of blank screens were eerie looking in the darkness of the lair. Once more it was only the small circle of light given off by the lamp and Mikey’s flashlight that kept the shadows at bay.

“Is it irony that the same dark underground home that keeps you hidden is also the place where the shadows eventually attack you?” Mikey asked.

“I think that’s what Raph would call ‘turtle luck running true to form’,” Leo said wryly. His brow suddenly furrowed in pain. “Mikey, it’s close. I can hear it calling to me again.”

“You gotta block it out Leo,” Mikey said, maintaining his grip on his brother. “We’ve just gotta make it to the kitchen and we can hold the thing off until Don gets the lights on.”

They managed a couple of steps before movement caught the corner of Leo’s eye. His gasp drew Mikey’s attention and the younger turtle turned to see what his brother was looking at.

The shadow man was rushing towards them from inside the darkened television screens.

“I don’t think we’re going to make it,” Leo said.

“Go, go, go!” Mikey shouted, forcibly pulling Leo as the spellbound turtle hesitated.

Racing away from the televisions, the brothers drew alongside Donatello’s workstation. The computer monitors reflected an image of the entity keeping pace with them.

As they neared the top of the stairs, the shadow man flew out of a monitor. It rapidly overtook the pair, reaching out to grasp the edges of Leo’s carapace and yanking him to a stop.

“Leave him alone!” Mikey cried out as he engaged in a deadly tug of war with the specter.

“Hey shadow asshole!” Raph yelled, racing out of the bathroom with the mirror held high. “Get lost!”

Reaching the railing, Raph threw the mirror to the concrete below. The glass shattered into tiny fragments upon impact, the wooden frame breaking apart.

When it hit, the shadow man released Leo and swarmed over the railing, engulfing the broken mirror in inky blackness.

“Is it gone?” Don asked, running up alongside Raph.

“Has to be, I smashed the mirror,” Raph said, his expression smug. Then his grin faded.

The mirror began to repair itself, the frame snapping back into place and the glass fragments pulling together like a reflective jigsaw puzzle.

“Mikey, take Leo and get out of the lair!” Don called, watching the portal grow solid once more.

“Leo. Leo!” Mikey exclaimed, shaking his brother. Leo appeared to be in shock, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the mirror lying one level below them.

There was no way that Mikey could carry Leo and escape the lair quickly enough to evade the shadow man. Desperate, Mikey looked around, searching for a way to save his brother.

Then his gaze landed on the kerosene lamp hanging loosely from Leo’s fingers. Yanking the lamp from Leo’s grip, Mikey threw it at the mirror.

The lamp exploded on impact. Fire engulfed the mirror, fueled by the gold glaze on the wooden frame. As flames licked at the wood, it blackened and then burned.

A bright red blaze flared in the center of the mirror and the glass began to pop and squeal as it melted. From the center of the mirror, the shadow man suddenly surged upwards and then was sucked back inside the portal as the fire closed it completely.

Leo slumped forward and Mikey caught him, holding on as his brother slowly regained his senses. Raph and Don came up to join them as Mikey led Leo over to the couch.

“I never did like that ugly ass mirror,” Raph said, breaking the silence.

“Are you okay, Leo?” Don asked.

“I am now,” Leo said. “Thanks to you guys.”

He was looking at Mikey as he said it and Raph noticed that they were holding hands.

Nudging Don to make sure he’d seen it too, Raph said, “Me and Donny are gonna collect whatever’s left of that mirror and get rid of it. I think separating it into two boxes and burying them in different cemeteries should keep that thing from ever putting its portal back together.”

“We’ll be back before sunup,” Don said. “Mikey, do you think you can talk Leo into getting some sleep?”

Mikey smiled at Leo, bathing his older brother in his warmth once more. “We’ll just share the bed again, won’t we?” he asked.

“Whatever you say Mikey,” Leo replied, returning the smile. It was nice to know that he’d never be cold again.

End