Bright
part 4 final

"We know how to seal it," Don said. "I can remember every detail of the symbol the Lenape drew. I can help Mikey recreate it."

"We'll have to do more than just seal it," Leo said. "Somehow we've got to keep curious people from opening that hole again."

"Collapse the tunnel on it," Raph suggested. "Shouldn't be that hard to do."

"The antiquities people have already been notified," Don said, shaking his head. "They'll have a team out here opening the tunnel right back up again."

The brothers stared at each other as they tried to figure out a solution. Meanwhile, the mist began to sweep past them as more of it invaded the pit. Wordlessly, the turtles walked out of the tunnel and into the pit area, noting that the mist had filled it to the half way mark. The only clear area was where they were standing, as the mist purposely avoided them.

"It was only as high as our calves when we first came down," Mikey said.

"We ain't gonna have time to seal this shit in," Raph said. "It's moving like it's got a purpose."

"Salt," Don said, snapping his fingers. "We need salt to drive it back into the hole. There's a bodega on the corner, we can break in there and take all they've got."

The mist was now three quarters of the way up the sides of the pit. "Ain't gonna make it back in time," Raph said.

Leo suddenly spun to face Mikey. "Give me your chips."

Mikey blinked at him. "What you talking about Willis?"

"You never go anywhere without a bag of chips, Mikey. You even took some with you back to the Cretaceous period and fed them to the dinosaurs," Leo said.

Patting his belt, Mikey said, "Look bro'. I don't have anything on me."

Rather than responding, Leo stared pointedly at his brother. Don was looking at Mikey expectantly and Raph growled, low in his throat.

"Okay, okay. Don't have a cow," Mikey finally said. He reached for Don's duffel bag, still slung across the genius' shoulder, and unzipped it to delve inside.

"You hid your chips in my bag?" Don asked incredulously.

"Geez, Donny, it's not like you don't already carry a ton of stuff in there," Mikey proclaimed, pulling two large bags of potato chips from the duffel. "What's a few snacks more or less?"

"Don, will this work?" Leo asked, accepting the chips from a reluctant Mikey.

"It should slow this thing down," Don said. "Crush them and spread the crumbs around the hole. It isn't the same a salt granules though. The ground moisture is going to dilute the effectiveness pretty fast."

"Then we need to divide our forces," Leo said. "Raph, you and Don get to the lair and load everything you need into the van. Come back here as fast as you can. I'll hit the bodega and get the salt. Give me your duffel bag, Don. I'll need something to carry the salt in."

As Don handed the duffel over to Leo, Mikey asked, "So what should I do?"

"Take the chips and spread them around the hole," Leo said, pushing the bags back into Mikey's hands. "Stand guard to make sure no one else comes down into the pit while we're gone."

"Aw man, I always get the creepy jobs!" Mikey complained.

Raph was already starting up the ladder and called back down to him, "Don't eat any of those chips either, goof ball."

Mikey watched his brothers disappear over the edge of the pit and then looked back towards the tunnel behind him. With an audible gulp, he clutched the chip bags to his chest and made his way back to the hole.

Crushing the chips as he stood a foot from the opening, Mikey decided he'd rather be safe than sorry. He figured the mist might get mad at his interference and capture him again, despite what his genius brother had said.

After he pulled open the tops of both bags, Mikey closed his eyes and started sprinkling the salted chip particles around the hole.

Mikey felt rather than heard the swift movement of air past his legs, coming from the direction of the pit and towards the hole. Though he was tempted to look, he kept his lids tightly shut as he emptied both bags.

He started to step back but then as an afterthought, Mikey tossed the bags into the hole. Only then did he retreat into the pit and open his eyes.

Looking up, Mikey saw right away that his trick had pulled the mist down from the pit opening by a few feet. The whiteness wasn't as thick as it had been moments before and what was still in the pit didn't seem to be moving.

"Come on guys," Mikey urged under his breath. "Get a move on."

With each passing minute Mikey grew more agitated. Leonardo should have been back rather quickly; the bodega wasn't that far way. Mikey started pacing, glad to note that the mist still seemed to want nothing to do with him as it slid aside with each step he took.

Just as he was making up his mind to search for his brother, Mikey heard a hiss from the top of the pit and looked up to see Leo.

"What took you so long?" Mikey asked accusingly. "I was starting to freak out down here."

"Sorry," Leo said. "Back up out of the way."

"Huh?" With no idea what his brother was up to, Mikey backed against the wall. As soon as he was out of the way, a large bundle plummeted down from above and hit the ground with a resounding thump.

Looking at it, Mikey saw that it was a forty pound bag of salt. Before he could comment, another one landed on top of the first, followed swiftly by four more.

"That didn't come from the bodega," Mikey said as he watched Leo climb back down into the pit.

"I was halfway there when I remembered there was a restaurant supply company a couple of blocks farther along," Leo said, jumping down the last few feet and leaving Don's duffel bag at the base of the ladder. "I came back here for a wheelbarrow and acquired as much as I could carry in it."

"I like that word 'acquired'," Mikey said teasingly. "I mean, as opposed to 'stole'."

Leo made a face as he picked up one of the bags. "I'll get the money from our emergency fund later and pay for this," he said.

Following Leo's example, Mikey hoisted two of the bags onto his shoulders and took them into the tunnel, placing them on the ground near the hole. When they went back into the pit, Leo stopped him from picking up the remaining bags.

"Let's open these here and spread the salt all over the ground," Leo suggested. "I don't know if any part of this mist can survive without its host, so we should drive it all back into the hole."

"I can get behind that," Mikey said, watching as Leo used his katana to slit open the heavy plastic bags. "I'd just as soon not look at any kind of a mist ever again."

Salt poured over the sides of the bags as soon as they were opened and the mist flew away from it, rushing towards the walls of the pit. Gathering handfuls of salt, the two brothers began pitching the crystals against the walls and working towards the middle of the pit.

They were just in time. The crushed chips that had formed a temporary deterrent had lost their effectiveness and more of the mist was pouring through the tunnel opening. Little by little Mikey and Leo drove it back, forcing the mist out of the pit and back towards the hole.

When all of the mist in the pit had dissipated to nothing, the brothers picked up the sliced salt bags and trailed into the tunnel, shaking salt onto the ground as they went. Leaving a heavy concentration at the tunnel entrance, the duo finished off those bags by tossing what was left in the direction of the hole.

A heavy blanket of bright mist swirled and eddied around the hole. As Mikey stared at it, he could almost imagine he saw lights blinking inside the white curtain that it formed.

"Mikey!" Leo yelled, shaking his brother by the shoulder. "Snap out of it."

"Whoa," Mikey said, rubbing a trembling hand across his forehead. "That was intense. What the shell happened?"

"I think it's concentrating what's left of its power in trying to capture us again. Our immunity must be wearing off," Leo said. "Don't look at it. Focus on the salt bags."

"Okay," Mikey said, keeping his eyes fixed on the bags as he and Leo walked over to them. "I wish Raph and Don would hurry up."

"Ask and ye shall receive," Raph said from behind them. "Damn, how'd you chase all of the mist back into here?"

"Leo acquired some really big bags of salt," Mikey said. "Don't look into the mist dude, it's up to new tricks."

"Yeah, well me and Don got a few of our own," Raph said. "I gotta help him get the rest of the supplies down here. Can ya' drive all of it back into that hole?"

"Yep," Leo said, slicing open the remaining four bags of salt.

Raph nodded once and spun on his heels, leaving Leo and Mikey to their job. Together they covered the tunnel floor with a thick layer of salt, pushing the undulating mist back until only a single column remained inside the hole.

"I feel like it's watching us," Mikey said, his eyes drawn to the four foot tall white spike that danced above the edges of its home.

"Dump the rest of the salt into that hole and it will stop," Leo said matter-of-factly.

"Yes let's," Mikey agreed with alacrity, suiting actions to his words.

When the first handfuls of salt fell through the opening in the ground, the mist column jerked and then retracted completely into the hole. Breathing a relieved sigh, Mikey lifted what remained in a salt bag and waited until Leo was standing over the hole with a bag of his own.

Together they upended their bags and poured every bit of salt down into the darkness that housed the mist. As soon as they did, the ground under their feet started to shake, stopping once all of the salt had disappeared into the hole.

"Let's shove the bags down in there too," Leo said.

They had just finished that chore when Raph entered the tunnel, pushing a wheelbarrow in front of him. Don was right behind him, carrying a section of PVC pipe, a thick metal plate, and an engraving tool.

"Good thing they had bags of concrete in that maintenance shack," Raph said with a grin. "Saved us from having to make a trip to acquire some."

Setting the metal plate on the ground, Don kneeled next to it and signaled Mikey to join him. As Mikey kneeled down, Don laid a piece of paper in front of him that was a perfect reproduction of the symbol created by the Lenape Indian.

"I looked this up on my laptop and printed a copy," Don said. "This is the symbol you'll need to duplicate on this metal sheet, both sides. If I could draw anything other than stick figures, I'd do it. You're the only one in the family who lives up to his name."

"No pressure though," Mikey said lugubriously as he lifted the etching tool.

"Be fast about it knucklehead," Raph said. "This concrete don't need to set before we get a chance to pour it."

Mikey snorted and shot Raph a dirty look. "Really? How's that helpful?"

"Leave him alone," Leo said. "What do we do while he draws that symbol?"

Don stood and produced some metal brackets. "We've got to drive these into the wall of the hole, exactly three and a half feet down. This is what the metal plate will rest on and then we'll push the pipe down on top of it. PVC lasts longer than metal pipe and I purposely chose thick brackets and a plate that will survive as long as the plastic."

"So just to recap, one of us has to reach down into a black hole full of unfriendly whatsis and drive some brackets into the wall while maybe that same deadly shit tries to eat our hands?" Raph asked. Taking the brackets and a hammer from Don, he added, "Sounds like fun to me. I'll do it."

As Raph strode over to the hole, Don turned to Leo and said, "I brought some low grade explosive charges from the lair. They'll be strong enough to collapse the tunnel without damaging the pit."

"Won't the construction people just climb down and open it back up?" Leo asked.

"Actually, I had an idea for that," Don said. "If the pit is flooded, they'll think that they've hit an underground water source. The engineers and city inspectors won't allow them to dig in this area again. They'll have to redesign their structure to avoid this area, or just abandon the project completely and turn this into something that doesn't require a sub-basement."

Raph had been leaning into the hole and now sat back on his heels to look at the pair. "Hey, that's a great idea egg head. Only one problem. How the hell are ya' gonna get that much water into this pit? In case ya' haven't noticed, it's pretty damn big."

"Yeah," Mikey agreed, pausing in his work, "and time's short dude. Daylight's only a few hours away."

"Don?" Leo asked, sure his brother had thought of the answer already.

"We'll fly it in," Don said. "The fire department has water hog buckets. Portable, lightweight, collapsible buckets. We can borrow one, attach it to the helicopter, and scoop some water from the river."

"How many trips will we have to make?" Leo asked.

"They have the larger capacity ones, so it'll take approximately five trips," Don said. "Once we start though, it should only take about three minutes per round trip to scoop water, come back here to dump it, and go out for more water again."

Finished with the brackets, Raph stood up and brushed the dirt and salt from his knees. "Shit, that's the craziest damn plan I ever heard. I'm in."

"Mikey, how's it going with the symbol?" Leo asked.

"Almost done with the second side," Mikey said. "By the way, why am I drawing this on both sides?"

"Because I think the charm will work better if it's both face up and face down in the hole," Don said. "It can't hurt."

"I hope those aren't famous last words," Mikey muttered, returning to his job.

"Are ya' sure those artifact people won't drain the pit and start digging anyway?" Raph asked as he walked over to join his brothers. "In TV shows those guys are pretty rabid."

"In real life it's all about funding," Don said. "They didn't find anything other than a scrap piece of leather so getting money for labor and permits is going to be problematic. Private donors don't give unless there is a chance for a payout. There's no money in old leather."

"You hope," Raph replied.

"It's all hope right now," Leo said. "If anyone in the past who had encountered this thing knew how to destroy it, they would have. Containing it so it can't do harm is the only option open to us."

"Done," Mikey announced, standing up and tilting his head to look down at his handiwork. "An exact replica, if I do say so myself."

Don picked up the paper copy and compared it to Mikey's etching. "Good job, Mikey. It's perfect."

Mikey blew on his knuckles and rubbed them on his chest. "Yeah, I'm awesome."

Lifting the metal plate, Leo examined both sides and then took it over to the hole. The salt was doing its job because not even a wisp of white smoke could be seen and for that he was grateful.

Kneeling at the rim of the hole, Leo asked, "Just set this down on the brackets?"

"Yes," Don answered, carrying the PVC pipe over to the hole. "It should fit snugly, I hope. I only had an eyeball estimate to go by."

"That's better than most folks can do with a measuring tape," Raph said, winking at Don.

Waiting until Leo had the metal plate set firmly in place, Don fitted the PVC pipe into the hole. He then stepped back so Raph could use the hammer to tap around the rim of the pipe and drive it down until it touched the metal plate solidly.

Mikey had the wheelbarrow ready and pushed it close to the hole once the PVC was situated properly. Using a shovel, Mikey scooped concrete into the pipe, filling it.

"Raph, you and Mikey take the wheelbarrow and shovel back to the maintenance shack," Leo said. "Make sure you rinse them off first so no one will guess they've been used. I'll help Don set the charges."

"Will do," Mikey said quickly, happy for an assignment that took him out of the pit.

Raph and Don had used a rope to lower the wheelbarrow into the pit and as Raph climbed the ladder, Mikey used the rope to secure the wheelbarrow for its upward flight. While Raph pulled the wheelbarrow to the surface, Mikey pushed the empty concrete bags and water jugs into the tunnel and then scaled the ladder with the shovel in hand.

Using the water hose near the maintenance shack, the brothers rinsed the items they'd borrowed and then put them back where they belonged. That's when Mikey spotted the chain and lock that the unfortunate guard had dropped.

"We should secure the gate," Mikey said, stooping to retrieve the items from the ground. "It'll look less like someone was in here that way."

"Good thinking bro'," Raph said. "Let's take care of that before some cop stops by and notices this place ain't locked up tight."

They waited near the shack until a taxi had passed and then ran swiftly to the gate. Raph kept an eye out while Mikey wrapped the chain through the fence post and gate and then padlocked it.

It took them only a couple of minutes to complete that task and get back to the pit. By that time Don and Leo had climbed to the surface and were waiting for them.

"We locked the gate to keep anyone from getting nosy 'til morning," Raph said at Leo's quizzical look.

"I think we might be having some good turtle luck on the traffic situation," Mikey said. "This whole time we've been moving around out here, we've only seen one car. Maybe no one will notice a helicopter dumping giant buckets of water on this site in the middle of the night."

Even though he was being a little sarcastic, Don chose to take it literally. "I hope not or this plan will be for naught. The authorities will want to know why someone felt the need to purposely fill this pit with water."

"They'll figure someone was hiding the guard's body, 'cause they're bound to miss him," Raph said.

"They still might, even if we aren't seen tonight," Leo said. "It's the best plan we've got. At least the water will disguise the fact that explosives were used to collapse the tunnel. They'll think water pressure did it."

"Those folks sleeping in that apartment building aren't gonna notice the explosion, are they?" Raph asked.

Don shook his head. "I calculated the size of the explosion needed to destroy the tunnel braces and make it collapse in on itself. The ground in that area might sink in a little, but that will add to the illusion that there's an underground water problem."

Setting his duffel bag down, Don dug out a remote control device, holding it in both hands before looking over at Leo.

"Do it," Leo said.

Upon Leo's command, Don swiftly flipped two switches and then two more. A muffled whump sounded from inside the pit and the turtles felt a tremor run through the ground under their feet.

A light cloud of dust lifted from the pit, its dark shade making the brothers sigh in relief. Other than a slight depression in the ground at a point above where the tunnel had been, nothing else was amiss.

Don leaned down to tuck the remote into his bag and Leo said, "We're on a time clock now. Raph, you and I will take the van and head to the fire department. We'll locate the water buckets and borrow one. Don, you head back to the lair and get the helicopter. We'll meet you on the south side of the river, at that closed boat ramp."

"On my way," Don said, taking off at a fast jog.

"Mikey," Leo said, turning to his youngest brother.

"I'm staying here aren't I?" Mikey asked, sounding less than thrilled with the idea.

"Sorry bro'," Leo said. "Someone has to be here to give us the all clear. If anyone shows up, signal us on the shell cell so we don't come anywhere near in the helicopter."

"I know that mist's trapped again," Mikey said, "but let's be quick about this whole water thing, okay? I don't want to be stuck here any longer than I have to be."

"Don't worry, we don't want to drag this out either," Leo assured him before following Raph to the fence and leaping over it.

Left alone again, Mikey did a quick perimeter check before cautiously approaching the pit. Taking a quick peek over the side and seeing nothing that even faintly resembled a drifting mist, he walked back to the maintenance shack.

After getting a drink of water from the hose, Mikey settled down to wait, resting his carapace against the shack's wall. It wasn't long before the eerie silence got to him and he jumped up to scan the construction yard.

Seeing nothing, Mikey decided to burn off some nervous energy by walking around the shack. He did that three times with his eyes open, and after counting the number of steps it took to get all of the way around, he did it twice with his eyes shut.

Deciding his count was accurate after stopping both times at the exact spot where'd he'd started, Mikey decided to snoop around in the shack. Almost immediately he found a newspaper and pounced on it.

Mikey had read the paper from front to back and was working the crossword when his shell cell buzzed. He answered it by saying, "Please tell me you guys are close."

"We are if everything's still quiet there," Leo answered.

"Come ahead," Mikey said enthusiastically.

Stepping away from the shack, Mikey looked up at the sky and saw the running lights on the helicopter as it approached. Other than the faint sound of the blades, the copter made no noise and Mikey knew that Don was flying it in silent mode.

Suspended on a cable beneath the helicopter was a bright yellow bag. Don positioned it directly above the pit and a second later, a hatch on the bottom of the bag opened and a great flood of water poured out.

"Wow," Mikey murmured in awe. "So cool."

He watched the helicopter fly away and checked the time on his shell cell. In just under three minutes, the copter returned with another load of water.

Just as Don had estimated, it took five trips to fill the pit. Mikey'd had to signal them away only once, when a slow moving car had driven by. Noticing the plates were from out of state, Mikey guessed that they were lost and looking for a street sign, not investigating the construction site.

When the final load of water was dumped, Mikey's shell buzzed again. "Talk to the Mikester," he said.

"We're swinging closer to you," Leo said. "Climb onto the bucket and scale the cable so we can get out of here."

Tucking his shell cell away, Mikey waited for the bucket to come to him, jumping up to grab the top edge once Don had steadied it. Hand over hand, Mikey pulled himself up to the helicopter, taking Leo's offered hand so that he could climb inside.

Don circled the construction site once and Mikey had a chance to get a bird's eye view of the pit. It was now full to the brim with water, looking more like a backyard swimming pool than the death trap it had been earlier in the night.

Mikey settled into a seat as Don banked the helicopter, taking it away from the construction site and back towards the river.

"I am so glad that's over with," Raph said with relief. "I ain't too fond of that supernatural crap."

"Aw heck Raphie," Mikey said in a teasing tone of voice, "for all you know, this could be an illusion, we're still in bright fantasy land, and that thing's eating us."

Scowling at him, Raph said, "Oh yeah? Well if that's the case, then I want one more chance to do this."

Reaching around behind the seat, Raph smacked Mikey on the back of his head.

"Ow!" Mikey responded, staring at his brother reproachfully.

The other two laughed and then Leo said, "This adventure has made me hungry. Anyone want to join me for a late night snack?"

There was a chorus of affirmatives and Don added, "That sounds great, but we have to return this water bucket first."

"Me and Leo will take care of that," Raph said. "Then we can all go home."

Mikey grinned and shook his head. "Nope, not yet. We've got one more stop."

Glancing quizzically into the rear view mirror, Don asked, "Huh? We do? For what?"

Crooking his thumb in the direction of his oldest brother, Mikey answered, "Leo still has to pay for all of that salt he acquired."

With an audible groan, Leo flopped back in his seat and said, "Good-bye pizza money."

"More like good-bye creepy mist," Don countered.

"I hope it's gone for good," Raph said.

Sighing loudly, Mikey said, "That's something I think we can all agree on."

The End