***
Morgan headed off. "Come on, we need to walk the rest of the way."
"The rest of the way?" Casey groaned.
"It's only half a mile," Raven replied.
Casey groaned again. Raph punched him in the arm. "What, tired already? Maybe you're getting too old, Casey."
Casey tried to punch Raph back, but the turtle dodged. "Me? Tired? No way. I thought this was the place."
"No," Morgan said. "But this is as far as we can go with the truck. The trails are too small."
Leonardo turned to face Casey. "Besides, I would like to keep some element of surprise."
Casey threw his hands up in an I-give-up gesture and followed along.
***
"Shh." Leo gestured for the others to slowly follow him into the clearing. As soon as his feet touched the cool grass, a tingling sensation traveled up his leg. He paused and looked behind him. Raven and Morgan both nodded and they went forward.
The turtles and Casey formed a circle around the girls, facing out towards the darkness, to the enemy they knew was out there. Raphael opened his mouth but Donatello clamped his hand over it.
"Not this time, bro."
Raph rolled his eyes, then tensed when a cold breeze blew through the trees.
"So glad you could make it."
They all turned, straining to see in the dim light. The only sources of illumination were a few candles since the trees blocked out the sky. Leonardo stood between Shredder and the others. He knew that there were at least a dozen ninja surrounding them, maybe more.
Shredder stood between two pillar candles on tall stands. Raphael heard the girls beside him gasp at the sight of their once-friend. To tell the truth, the sight shocked him as well. He could hear his brothers readying their weapons as the Foot closed in.
Shredder raised her arms and the candles flared up. The turtles closed their eyes against the blinding flash, but it was too late, their night vision was gone. And the Foot attacked.
Michaelangelo took a blow as he tried to rub away the little flashing dots.
Casey and Raphael jumped into the thick of things swinging, despite the fact they were half-blind.
Donatello and Leonardo backed up with the girls and waited for their eyes to readjust. Leo closed his eyes to focus, and opened them as he backed away from the blade that nearly took off half his face. He brought his own katana up to block the next blow.
"You can't win this time," Shredder hissed.
"Don't bet on it, Shredder," Leo replied, hitting her wrist with the handle of his sword. Shredder's weapon clattered to the ground and Leonardo leapt forward, pining Shredder to the tree. Shredder's knee came up and hit the turtle's lower plastron and left a large gash in his thigh from her blades. Leo fell back, only to be replaced by Raphael.
Raven knelt beside Leo and he pulled her closer. "Can you do it now?"
Raven gave him an uncertain look. "Umm...I'm not sure. It would be harder, with no guarantees."
Mike suddenly appeared beside them. "What's the plan?"
Leo cringed as he tried to stop the bleeding. "I think we need to rethink our plan."
Mike nodded and patted Raven's shoulder before heading back into the fight.
"What are we going to do?" Raven asked.
Leo squeezed her hand. "Get Morgan, we're going back to the truck."
"But Indigo!"
Leo gave her a look that told her not to argue and she pulled Morgan from the fight. They helped Leo up. Don came over and talked with Leo in a low voice, then hurried back. Leo tossed his head in the direction of the truck and they left the fight behind.
***
Shredder picked up her sword and hit Raphael under the chin on the way up. Raph's head snapped back and he stumbled back, which saved him from getting his throat slit.
Donatello realized quickly that these Foot had been doing some heavy training and that this was going to be a hard battle.
Michaelangelo saw Leo leave with the girls, and went after the ninja who decided to go after the trio. Casey Jones slammed his hockey stick across the chest of one soldier and ducked to let another fly over his head.
The battle slowly turned in favor of Casey and the turtles when the Foot reinforcements stopped arriving.
Shredder cursed as Raphael knocked her weapon away and tried to slash with her arm blades. He stabbed at her and she grabbed his arm just above the wrist. Raphael hissed as his whole arm went numb.
***
It took nearly twenty minutes for them to reach the truck, and they were all tired.
Raven pulled a first aid kit from the truck and hurried to help Leo clean up his wound.
Morgan poked her index finger in Leo's face. "Why'd you make us leave?"
Leo sighed. "I have my reasons." He hit the truck bed in frustration, making Raven jump. "I shouldn't have been caught off guard like that."
Raven set her hand on his shoulder in a sympathetic gesture. Morgan was about to make another comment when Casey Jones jumped out of the shadows and threw open the truck door. "Let's move it!"
Raven and Morgan looked confused as the other turtles appeared, seemingly out of thin air and Casey started the truck. Raph carried a limp form in his arms.
Raven froze, memories of that horrible night not to long ago going through her mind. Morgan finally pulled her into the cab and Casey hit the gas.
Even though a million questions were flying through everyone's mind, the trip home was eerily quiet.
***
"You were successful?"
Leonardo knelt before Splinter the best his injured leg allowed him. "Not quite, sensei."
Raphael laid Indigo down on the couch and sat down on the floor beside her. He took a deep breath as the others surrounded them.
Casey dropped his golf bag on the floor and stood over Raph. "So, like, what happened back there?"
Leo turned to Raph with a questioning look.
Raph shook his head. "She did something weird. " He flexed his arm and rubbed it. "Lost all feelin'."
Raven touched his arm and he pulled away. A look of caution crossed her face. "I just want to find out what she did to you."
Raph grumbled as he held his arm out, "It's fine now."
Raven frowned. "She did a type of pain blocking spell, the kind we use in healing."
Morgan clenched her fists. "That means he definitely got into her magickal knowledge."
"What happened next?" Splinter asked softly.
Raphael pulled his arm back and shrugged. "She passed out."
Leo frowned. Mike gave a blank look. Don tapped his chin, "Could she have expended too much energy?"
"Maybe," Raven said softly. "But if she had, she'd be up by now."
"How do you know that?" Mike asked.
Before Raven could answer, Morgan snapped her fingers. "That's it! Raven, remember Becca?"
Raven nodded, suddenly understanding. "Yeah," she turned to Mike and the others. "Becca was a part of our circle, but she did some other work without us. Not good stuff."
"What happened to her?" Raph asked.
"She tried to curse Indigo so that she could be leader, but it backfired. She was in a comma for three weeks," Morgan replied. "And was never able to do magick again."
"It's called the Law of Three," Raven added.
"Huh?" Mike said. "What law? We didn't break any laws."
Morgan shook her head. "No, but Indigo did, or should I say this Shredder person did. Whatever energy you send out comes back to you, times three. Do good, and good happens to you."
"And if you do evil, it returns," Leo finished. "Like Karma."
"Exactly."
"So," Don said slowly. "She got struck down by...magickal feedback?"
Morgan looked impressed. "By Diana, we may make a witch of you yet, Donnie!"
Don looked slightly embarrassed and looked away towards Indigo. Raph began to pull Shredder's armor off her body. "So, how do we fix it?"
"Well, we were going to try a type of exorcism, but I don't think that'll work now."
Raven scratched at her temple. "Right, we don't have the dominant entity anymore. We'll have to go find them."
"Go find them?" Casey repeated. "And how do you do that, exactly?"
"Astral travel. They aren't in her conscious mind anymore, so we have to travel her subconscious, through the astral world, and find her, guide her back."
They all looked at Morgan like she was crazy.
"It's not as hard as it sounds!"
***