The Chimera shrieks and hops around on the outside of the cave exit. The five teens watch from the bottom, their eyes flickering between the monster and the bubbling water below.
"Well, looks like it doesn't wanna climb down," Casey says with a light smile. "I think we're safe."
"Safe?! Dude, we're trapped inside a giant hole!" Donatello exclaims.
Something rumbles and everyone perks up. Destiny's ears twitch and swivel around as she chews her lip, tail swishing.
"Um, did you feel something move a little?" Michelangelo asks.
The rock beneath him and Donatello crumbles and the two go plummeting down to a lower ledge, screaming. Raphael, Casey, and Destiny move to the edge of the cracked spot, looking down at the two terrapins.
"You guys okay down there?" Raphael calls, lowering his grappling hook down to them.
"We're cool," Donatello calls, rubbing his head as one eye screws shut.
He looks down at the bubbling water right near his oversized feet. One of the rock fragments from their fall bubbles and sinks into the swirling waters, making the purple-masked turtle grimaces a little.
Michelangelo, on the other hand, reacts very differently. "Hot tub time! Alright!" he whoops.
"Not alright!" Donatello insists. "That water's boiling at around two hundred degrees Fahrenheit. It's under intense pressure." He grabs the grappling hook that Raphael had lowered, starting to climb. "I think we're stuck in some sort of geyser. It must erupt all the time. That's why the walls are so smooth." He pats the rock to solidify his point.
"How long do we got?" Raphael asks as him, Casey, and Destiny pull the grappling hook up. "An hour?"
"Less," Donatello says gravely as he reaches their ledge again. "Then we're turtle soup."
"So how do we get out?" Casey asks, giving the rope a solid tug.
"No problem. We'll tie all our grappling hooks together," Raphael decides.
Destiny helps Michelangelo up onto the ledge. He groans a little as she helps him to his feet, patting his shell as he takes cleansing breaths.
"Okay, one problem," the orange-masked turtle says, holding up a finger. His shoulders slump and he looks sheepish. "I forgot my grappling hook."
"Yeah, me too," Donatello admits, rubbing the back of his neck as he looks away from his hotheaded older brother.
"Some ninjas," Raphael grumbles, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.
He looks at Casey as the boy nods, trying to look disappointed and stuck up. Raphael narrows his eyes and the teen cracks like an egg over a frying pan.
"Oh! What...what were the odds we'd be kidnapped by a giant mutant?" he exclaims.
"Have you met us? What are the odds we wouldn't be kidnapped by a giant mutant?!" Raphael retorts, his fists clenching. "You need to be prepared for anything!"
"Why is it always on me?" Donatello demands.
"You're the scientist!" Raphael snaps.
YOU ARE READING
Forest Mutation (Book Two)
Fanfiction"In Saskatchewan, when I couldn't fall asleep, I'd watch the moon and think about how across the country and over the border, you were probably out on a rooftop beneath the same moon. You were the first person I enjoyed the moon with. Every other ti...
