Shadow Mutation (Book Seven) [UNDER MAJOR EDITING]

Chapter 21: Mysteries They Chase

"We should've brought a car," Leonardo grumbles as they keep running.

The Dragons leave Manhattan and head into the Bronx, heading for an area with plenty of non-descript buildings. It's a lot of non-stop running just trying to keep up and even the turtles are starting to tire.

Leonardo holds up his hand and brings everyone to a stop. Casey bends over at the middle, hands braced against his knees as he takes panting breaths. Leonardo pulls out his phone, expertly hiding the exhaustion on his face and in his voice despite the obvious swift movement of his chest.

"Des? Yeah, we had to stop," he says. "No, keep going. Figure out where it is and send the coordinates. We'll have to come back with a car." He exhales, watching the horizon as if in search of her. "Please, don't engage. Just say out of sight and report back soon."

He hangs up and turns back to his team. Casey straightens up as the blue-masked turtle sighs, crossing his arms over his plastron.

"I'm thinking that's been enough cardio for tonight," he says. "Des is still on their trail. She's faster than us and it's easier for her to follow them from the sky. We'll wait for her intel."

"What about busting them and their client?" Michelangelo asks. He lowers himself, crossing his arms in an "x" shape under his chin. "Stealth mode, remember?"

"Plans change, Mikey," Leonardo says. "It was a good plan, though. I think—"

The familiar tune of the Space Heroes theme song breaks the silence and Leonardo immediately picks up his phone, frowning at the screen for a second as he answers. Casey moves closer, trying to look at the screen with the others close behind him.

Destiny's face takes up the screen. She isn't moving anymore, hunched down somewhere with the light from her phone making her eyes glow eerily as it reflects it back at them.

"They stopped," she whispers, "but they're not meeting up with anyone outside. There's this garage door with a fancy keypad, just like at Beast Mode's warehouse."

"Oh, no," Donatello mutters.

"And?" Leonardo urges.

"Hun made a call to someone. He didn't say much, but the door opened and they drove the van inside. I didn't see anyone." Her eyes narrow. "What's next, Leo?"

He sighs, pinching the space between his eyes for a second. "I'll have Donnie note your coordinates. We'll have to make a new plan some other night."

She nods and there's a single beep as she hangs up. Leonardo slips his phone into his belt and lets out another sigh.

"We're just letting them go?" Casey demands as he flips his mask up. "What the hell, man?"

"Yeah, but it's the right call," Donatello says, patting Leonardo's shoulder. "The taxidermy warehouse's keypad had a startlingly advanced quantum cryptography built in to the keypad and that was just a warehouse. If this place is more than that, we can expect a far trickier code to crack."

He purses his lips, looking around at his family. Sarina nods in solemn agreement, but the others just seem confused.

"I lost you at quantum," Casey says.

"Basically, to put it in layman's terms," Sarina says, "it's nearly un-hackable."

"Even for you? You can hack anything, Flash!"

She sighs. "Apologies, but to even begin trying, we would need far more time than this evening would allow. Multiple days, at best. Perhaps I can study the back-up logs from the warehouse code to try and cut that time down, but it will take time." Her shoulders slump and she looks away as her eyes glow for a brief second. "I would not put any faith in me figuring it out at this moment."