Always a Turtle (TMNT Book 6)

Blasting Off

As soon as Donnie made all of us stop asking questions, he fled into the lab to see what was really going on with the communication orb. He hooked up special cords to it since it always seemed as if the orb never had a source of plug-in, and then to the computer where he worked on decoding the messages. He shooed us out of the lab until he was ready for us.

In the meantime, I went to my room to take a well deserved rest.

I woke up with a lot of commotion in the main room. Groaning and stretching in defiance I sat up and looked toward the door. Light was shining through and I saw a shadow coming up to my door. Sure enough it was Naomi; I could tell by the darker mask. She kindly knocked on my door before opening it.

Her blue eyes basically shone in the light as she looked at me, "Donnie figured out what the Kraang were saying. A shipment's going to be transferred to an unknown source with a Stealth Ship... It can't be good."

"So... What are we doing about it right now?" I asked as I planted my feet on the ground and stood up. "Leo and Donnie must have a plan."

"Oh they do, don't worry. April came by and Donnie gave her a device to find the ship. Her dad's going to go with her."

"Oh like that's safe... Bring a man who was once caught by Kraang to track Kraang."

"Very," Naomi muttered. Her expression didn't change much. If anything, it deepened into a scowl. "But come on. Donnie wants to show us his newest invention. Again."

"What can it be this time?" I asked, curiosity perking up in me as I followed my black-masked sister out the door.

Naomi led me down the hallway and into the main room where everyone was gathered. Julie's fur was puffed up in excitement or fear, I couldn't tell, Sophie was pacing outside the lab while Leo and the other boys, not including Donnie, were standing by the entrance of the lair, Raph leaning on the pinball machine. From the dojo I could see Melanie and Splinter waiting. Naomi went to join them. I kept forgetting she didn't like Kraang... My eyes couldn't help but travel down to the still-broken and exposed shell from where she got hit protecting me.

I quickly looked away when I heard the lab doors opening. Donnie was slightly glistening from sweat. Was the machine really that heavy? We all came up to him where he was breathing a bit heavy. He grinned with his funny front-tooth-knocked-out grin and he fled into the lab and toward the garage door. All of us that  were going followed suit.

On the rails of the subway tracks was a blanket with a bulky something underneath. Sophie and I stepped forward to try to peek under it but Donnie whacked us away. I backed up by Mikey with a concerned frown on my face as I wondered what was so special that Donnie wouldn't let us take a sneak peek. Then again... Donnie was Donnie and he probably wanted to show us all at the same time.

"Ladies and gentleturts," he started, making Julie giggle softly and Raph scoff. "I give to you the T-Rawket!" he exclaimed as he grabbed one edge of the blanket and yanking it off the object. Below the blanket was a long metallic and wooden machine. It had a cylinder base but was hollowed out with seats. The front was narrowed like a cone and the end was wide with thruster-looking devices.

A chorus of "ooo"s and "awww"s emerged from the many of us going. Before I knew it the others were rushing past Donnie to get to the seats, trying to claim the best ones for the trips. I barged in with them, but was a little slow to the punch and getting one of the last seats. Mikey sat by me so I wouldn't say it was a complete loss.

Under our seats were helmets, each a different color that corresponded to our masks. Instead of switching seats we swapped helmets, making sure we were all safe but matching our correct color at the same time. I clicked my helmet on then put on my seat belt which felt oddly familiar...

"These seats are made with automatic wings so that when April texts us, we'll be at the scene quickly," Donnie explained as if he read my mind, becoming like Naomi. I shook my head and grumbled. We didn't need two of them. "So hang on!" Donnie shouted from the front. Leo sat beside him being the leader and all, Julie and Sophie being right behind them.

From the back I heard a few clicking and engine revving, but didn't realize what it meant until the thrusters behind my head roared to life, making me cover my ears. Directly after that the T-Rawket launched to life and yanked forward, sending my head slamming against the back of my seat. I grunted but I didn't think anybody could hear me. The rocket continued on the path of the usual Shell Raiser but at a much faster pace. I could feel my face and skin being pulled back from how fast we were going. At the end of the tunnel a light came from above and the track even changed, sending us up in the sky.

At first, the rocket continued to go up as if it wanted to touch the moon. But then it began to slow. I started freaking out, wondering how we were going to get our wings open in time before we hit the ground. But I saw Donnie press a button and we were ejected from the seats. As soon as the comfort of being on something solid left my touch I was reaching for the lever to extend the wings we had used weeks before with the Technodrome.

Wings snapped open and I hovered for a second, trying to catch up on breathing. The others were all hovering around me, each buzzing with their own feelings. Julie's fur was puffed up again, eyes wide and mouth going a million miles an hour. But I couldn't hear her. I guess the thrusters deafened me for a while. Shaking my head I hovered closer to Mikey who appeared to be in the same state I was in, deaf. We only smiled at one another and waited for everyone to gather around Leo.

When they did, Leo pulled out a T-Phone and called April. His mouth began moving so I assumed she had picked up and began to speak to him. When he put it up, he looked at everyone, including Mikey and I, and began to speak again. I blinked, trying to focus on what his lips were forming. I couldn't make it out since he was speaking so fast. All I could do was pretend I was listening.

Before I knew it, everyone was soaring away. Mikey and I followed suit, keeping close to Raph and Julie. Didn't want to get lost or something else happen to us now did we? Ahead of us, Sophie and Leo were spinning about and Mikey went to join them soon after. I couldn't help but smile. I'd let him have fun since I was still recovering from partying.

Within a split second, Leo seemed to go flat in mid-air. I was about to ask him, regardless of my hearing, to ask what happened when we all smacked in the invisible wall in the sky. I groaned and sighed heavily, figuring out we found the Stealth Ship.

Now to find a way in.