Chapter 2: Horsemen
-
Casey could not believe where he was being dragged to that morning. He had agreed to assist April and Urielle in their shopping, but he thought it would be stuff like food and clothes and while he was not fond in going with April when she wants to buy a new dress or new shoes he could understand why she wants it. Everyone needs clothes, or at least everyone who is human. The store in question was an interior decoration type of store. They didn’t need any of that. Their apartment looked fine.
“Wait,” Casey said when he realized where they are going. “We are going in here?”
“I just want to look at some patterns,” April said with a smile. “I’m kind of in a mood to redecorate.”
“Why? We don’t need to redecorate,” Casey said. He was not going to enter the store. “Our carpet is dark enough to hide the stains.”
“We should have at least one bright colorful rug,” April said as she grabbed his hand. “For when we have guests, and I would love to see what kind of placemats they have.”
“Ah Jeeze. I can’t go in there.”
“You should be happy she isn’t dragging you into a baby store,” Urielle told him. Baby store? That would either mean that April was pregnant or wants to be.
“I wouldn’t mind,” Casey said. “I like babies and kids. Wouldn’t mind having at least two of em.” He knew that he and April was going to at least have one. He had no idea of how to take care of them though and he knew he was going to have to brush up on those facts.
“That’s what I like to hear.” April opened the door to the store and pointed inside.
“Come on,” Urielle said as she gave him a pat on the arm. “If you are a good boy we will stop by the sporting good’s store on the way home.”
“Fine,” Casey grunted. He couldn’t tell if she was teasing or not, but the idea of going to look at some new baseball bats was pleasing and even if she wasn’t serious he was going to remind her that she did promise.
Casey was about to enter when a young man nearly bumped into him. “Uh sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry,” the youth said. He had his head shaved and wore a stained t-shirt, gray denim jeans, sneakers and a pure white vest with an embroidered edge. “Accidents happen.” He continued on his way.
“I’ve been seeing those same vests on a lot of people in the last couple of weeks,” Urielle said as she followed in after Casey.
“New gang in town?” Casey asked. He wasn’t too sure if it was a gang or a fashion statement. That kid who bumped into him was pleasant.
“If it is a new gang then it’s an odd one,” April said. “I’ve encountered two more members a few days ago and they were both as polite as this kid.”
“Hey you don’t suppose they are former gang members?” Casey asked. “They could have been encouraged to leave and are trying to do the same for their friends.” He read about how churches that were forming youth groups that not only kept kids off the street and away from gangs and drugs but were encouraging those who have joined to leave.
April shrugged. “Could be. You don’t mind having the competition, Urielle?”
“This is the good kind of competition,” Urielle said as she approached an area of the store that had lampshades. “Charlotte does want us to keep an eye out for them. She says they are messing with her chi.”
Casey wasn’t too familiar with Urielle’s boss, but if she did have her chi harnessed that would explain how she was able to know all this stuff. It was pretty cool having a psychic for a boss when many people claim they have a psycho for a boss.
“Perfect,” Urielle said as she selected two basic white lampshades. “The boys could use some new ones.”
“Boys you work with or—“ April pointed at the ground.
“The green ones,” Uriell said with a wink.
Casey spent what felt like eternity standing around while the girls pointed out different rugs, cushions, place mats and other various items that he felt were useless. He only feigned interest when they picked one up and asked if he liked it. Didn’t they know that it was impossible for a man to have opinions about fabric? He barely paid attention and thought about the last two weeks.
The new guest of the turtles had adapted to their lifestyle. Mace liked hanging out with the turtles, playing video games, watching movies and doing night training on the rooftops. Splinter had been teaching the kid some ninjitsu, which blended well with the karate skills the clone new from before he left the future. While Casey wasn’t sure of Mace in the first place he could see that the teen and Hun were as different as night and day.
Casey saw a large figure in the corner of his eye and was certain it was Hun. He turned sharply and could see that the tall and built man wasn’t Hun. This large man was human and he was wearing the uniform of a cop. He was walking around asking if people had seen someone.
Two members of the white vest gang walked down the sidewalk next to the store’s huge display window.
The cop put away the photo he carried and held up his two-way. “Horsemen this is the big W. Two of his acolytes have been spotted on 31st. I repeat, two of his acolytes have been spotted on 31st. I’m in pursuit.” He placed the phone in his pocket and ran out of the store.
“I guess those guys aint on the up and up after all,” Casey said and shook his head.
-
Gabby inhaled the sweet fragrances of the various coffees that she carried from the shop. Thanks to the cardboard take away trays she was able to carry two levels with four cups each and she wasn’t alone. Needles and a handful of more Purple Dragons were with her on the coffee run.
“Careful with that,” A taller Dragon barked at a shorter one. “We don’t want to have the coffees and teas mixing.”
“They aint going to mix,” the shorter of the two said. “I only have tea.”
“Not on your tray’s, stupid,” the taller one said. “You going to end up causing some spillage if you bump into someone.”
“Quiet,” Needles voice came out as silky smooth as usual. “All of your arguing is going to be what causes an accident.”
Gabby removed her gaze from the gang members and turned around, just as a man in a white vest was about to walk in front of her. She froze instantly.
“Sorry about that,” the man said. “I don’t want you to spill anything.” He continued along his way.
“One of those guys,” the taller dragon that had started the argument said.
“Boss says they are none of his concern,” Needles said.
Gabby kept her mouth shut. They were none of her client’s concern, but they were of hers. Charlotte had told everyone to keep an eye out on those in white vests, not just protectors but also the investigators and tutors. Urielle had texted her a half hour ago informing her that a cop was trailing after one of them.
The youth in the white vest was only a few yards away when a figure ran right up to him at nearly lightening speed and grabbed him.
“Hey,” the youth shouted once he was grabbed.
“Where is he?” The captor was an anorexic looking woman. Her eyes appeared sunk in and she had very pronounced cheekbones and a collarbone. Her stringy hair looked like it was thinning on top and her clothes hung from her body.
“Where is who?” the youth asked.
“Where is your leader?” The bony woman asked. “Where is Conquest?”
“You are not ready to meet him,” the youth said as he tried to squirm his way out of her grasp.
“Why would anyone want to join that group?” Needles asked. “Does anyone even know what their name is?”
Everyone shook their heads. That gang had only been known as the white vest gang since their members did nothing to let them know who they are.
The bony woman continued to hold on the youth in the white vest while she pulled out a small radio. “Horsemen this is Bony Maroni. I have one of the acolytes in my hands. I’m on Laird Street.”
The youth wrenched his hand away from the woman and ran down the sidewalk.
“You will not get away,” the bony woman said and tore after him.
Gabby watched for a few seconds before she followed the Purple Dragons in hauling the various hot beverages back to headquarters.
-
Once they were inside, everything has been set down and everyone who ordered a drink got theirs the Dragons were talking about the White Vest and the bony woman that tried to catch him.
“She belongs to a different gang,” Needles said after he had taken a sip from his cup. “They call themselves the Horsemen.”
“I never heard of them,” Two Ton said. “And I know every gang that is around this city.”
“Oh really?” Needles asked as he raised an eyebrow. “What’s the name of the gang those in the white vests called?”
Two Ton snorted through his nostrils. “Nobody knows why they are called. They are so mysterious that they even keep their name a secret.”
“You said you knew every name of every gang out there,” Needles said as he poked Two Ton in the chest.
“I wonder how that lady was able to move so fast,” the short Dragon said. “She looked like one of those famine victims from Ethiopia.”
“Famine,” Gabby whispered. “She was calling to the Horsemen.” She pulled out her phone and sent a text based on what she had witnessed. “There isn’t a gang called the Horsemen. Urielle said she saw a man dressed as a cop make a similar call.”
“He probably wasn’t a real cop,” Needles said. “We come up against rival gang members who dress up as cops all the time. We even had done it.”
“Yes he isn’t a real cop,” Gabby said as she stared at her phone, waiting for an answer from Urielle or Charlotte. “Not a gang member either.” She felt a presence in front of her and looked up to see the tall burly form of her client in front of her.
“Not a gang,” Hun said. “Then what is it?” He blinked. “You seem frightened.”
“Sorry,” she knew her voice was wavering and she knew he was concerned about her. “There is a theory but I am waiting for confirmation before I can say it.” She continued to stare at her phone.
“She’s freaking me out,” one of the Dragons said.
“Keep your tongue still,” Hun ordered.
The short ring was heard followed by the words that appeared on the screen. YES SHE IS. YES THEY ARE. TRACK THE WHITE VESTS. FIND THEIR LEADER.
“It’s been confirmed,” Gabby said and she could have sworn she heard every Purple Dragon in the room suck in their breath. “That wasn’t a famine victim that was Famine and by Horsemen she means the Four Horsemen.”
“Seriously?” Two Ton asked. “You mean of the Apocalypse?”
Gabby nodded. “We have to keep tabs on those in the white vests. We have to find their leader.”
“And?” Hun raised one of his brow bones. “Do we protect him? Do we kill him?”
“All I know is we have to find him first,” Gabby said. She was certain she wasn’t the only one who has gotten the message. Remmy must have relayed the information to Karai and Urielle would have revealed it to her client. Everyone will be following those in the white vests.
-
They had been following the members of the White Vest gang for a whole week and have not come across their official meeting place. The Turtles were able to follow without being noticed and they would watch, as the people would leave their homes and continue their way until they reached their schools where they would remove their vests and fold them up and put them in their backpacks. Once school had let out they would put their vests back on.
Those that didn’t go to school went to work and some of them where white collar people who wore their vests underneath their business jackets. That did not make a lot of sense to Leonardo.
When they didn’t go to school or work they would go someplace and shop, or have a bite to eat, or drink coffee and talk with several people and those they talked too did not always have on a white vest.
“Ugh,” Raphael let out a groan after they trailed another White Vest to a coffee shop. “I’m getting tired of this.”
“I’ll admit this part is a little boring,” Mace said as he sat down on the dumpster in the alley. “I do kind of like the whole tracking and following. Almost feels like I’m in a detective or spy movie.”
“This isn’t a movie,” Leo said. He did not remove his gaze from the coffee shop. “And we still have to keep following them, Raph.”
“Why?” Raph asked. “Because of the message from this Agency.”
“I thought you liked Urielle,” Mace said. The clone had been a good student. He listened well and followed each lesson and he trained and practiced afterwards. He was still years behind the others in the art of Ninjitsu, although he was quite skilled in karate.
“I do like her,” Raph said. “I just don’t like doing this.” His whole body tensed up.
“What’s wrong?” Mace asked.
“We are not alone,” Raph said.
Leo gritted his teeth. He did not want to lose site of the White Vest, but he also couldn’t let anything happen to his brother and friend. He watched the alley beneath him and was ready to pounce if needed to.
There was a faint sound of coughing that grew louder and louder. A man in a trench coat staggered in the alley. He wore a medical mask over his nose and mouth. He did not seem much of a threat, but one cannot be too sure.
“Sir, are you all right?” Mace asked from the shadows. He may have come from a time when mutants were accepted in society, but he knew he still had to hide in this time.
“I’m fine,” the man said between several coughs. “You don’t have to worry about me.” His skin was a pale greenish yellow tone, that is what wasn’t covered by the mask or the hives that could have either been measles or chicken pox, or something similar. The man’s eyes were pink, had sties and the corners were caked with yellowish gunk. The man went through another coughing fit that caused him to double over. After he coughed up a few mouthfuls of mucous he vomited.
“Whoa buddy, are you sure?” Raphael asked him. “You look like you need to go to the hospital.”
“Don’t worry about me,” the man said as he stood up. “I’m always like this. I am Pestilence.” Pestilence? That was the name of one of the four horsemen.
“Stay away,” Raph said as both he and Mace took a few steps back.
Leo had pulled out his katanas. He was not going to take a chance with this horseman.
“I’m not contagious,” Pestilence said. “I do not wish to inflict anything on you and I know you may not believe me neither I or my fellow riders wish to end the world, not for several more centuries.”
“Then why are you here?” Leo asked.
“We are trying to find another of our kind,” Pestilence said.
“Another?” Raph asked.
“A fifth horseman?” Mace asked.
“He was the original first,” Pestilence explained. “He ah, was not to ah, pleased with me ah, ah.” He turned around and sneezed. “He got angry when I joined and tried to start the chain of events early. We had to seal him several times.”
“He has escaped,” Leo said. He still was wondering what the original first had to do with the people in the White Vests when it hit him. “The people in the white vests. They are his gang?”
“You can say that,” Pestilence said. “I placed a tracker made from my own mucous on to one of them.” He paused while the three turtles made their sounds of disgust. “It may sound gross but it works. I can easily track them, but the signal becomes the strongest when their leader speaks, and right now I have never felt this much energy coming from it.”
“Let me guess,” Raph said. “The guy with the tracker is the also the one we have followed.”
“Correct,” the Horseman said. “And right now he is on the move.”
“And we have to follow him,” Leo said.
-
They tracked the White Vest into a bookstore that was closed for the evening. Raph was about to groan again, except he stifled it when several more White Vests were walking in. In fact those were the only people who were entering the store.
“Should we just go in?” Mace asked. “Or should we wait?” They were sitting on the building across the street from the bookstore.
“We will wait for the others,” Leo said. While they were on their way they had contacted Mikey and Donny.
“You do what you feel you must do,” Pestilence said. “I have to find the others. We strike as a team.”
What he had said did make sense to Leo. He nodded while he continued to watch the store, only moving to look behind him when he was sure the three of them were not alone.
“Who was that guy?” Donny asked as he, Mikey, Casey, April, and Urielle had climbed on the roof to join them.
“That was one of the horsemen,” Raph said.
“One of the horsemen?” Urielle asked in an alarmed tone.
“Oh don’t worry,” Raph said. Sarcasm was dripping from his words. “They don’t want the world to end.”
“But you don’t exactly believe him,” Casey said. He had already removed two golf clubs from his bag.
“Quiet,” Leo said. He noticed a crowd gathering on top of the bookstore. In consisted of several Foot ninja, and mutants. Karai stood in front along with a young man in a dark blue blazer and carrying a wooden cane.
“Remmy and Karai,” Urielle said when she had noticed them. She looked down and frowned. “Uh oh.”
Leo stared down. There were a couple of dark vehicles that were parked near the store. The vehicles opened and several Purple Dragons came running out, including Hun.
“So much for waiting,” Leo said. “It’s ninja time.” He jumped down and rushed to towards the store. He didn’t pause to see if anyone was following him.
-
The shelves of the store were moved so they were all pressed against the walls leaving a large empty are a in the middle. Rows of chairs were set up and a member of the White Vest filled each chair.
“And these are the ones who oppose us,” a man in front of the crowd said. He was dressed in a white suit and had golden hair cut short. “Rise my acolytes. Use the blades that were given to you and turn them into believers.
“This isn’t a gang,” Hun said. He wasn’t far from Leo and Gabby was standing in front of the large turtle. “This is a cult.”
“A dangerous cult,” Urielle said as the people rose from their seat. Each one had a dazed look in their eyes and were wielding a large knife.
“Can’t kill them,” Gabby said. “They are under some form of mind control.”
“Dart guns it is then,” Hun said as he fired a dart into one of the White Vests.
“Keep your weapons sheathed,” Leo commanded. He turned around and watched as a handful of Karai’s ninja’s kick at various White Vest’s. Their toes struck in crucial points that made the enemy not be able to walk or move their arms.
Leo tried to remember where those nerve points were located in the body as he kicked out with his feet and chopped with his hands. While he wasn’t able to paralyze some of them he was able to knock them out.
“Leonardo, watch out,” Karai called.
Leo turned to the front and saw the leader, now wearing golden armor, as he fired several arrows from his bow at them. Leo was able to duck just as the arrows flew over him.
He would have thanked her if she wasn’t busy fighting both the White Vest’s and a few of Hun’s Purple Dragons. Wait, what was going on here? He thought they were all on the same side. On a second good look he saw that some of the Foot ninja and mutants were fighting against them as well.
Leo stood up and was face to face with Donny who seemed to be dazed. The purple clad turtle gritted his teeth as tried to strike at Leo with his Bo staff.
“What are you doing?” Leo asked.
Raph kicked out Donny’s legs from under him and gave his brother a good smack on the side of his head, knocking him out.
“Sorry about that bro,” Raph said and pointed to a bleeding cut on Donny’s shoulders. “He got struck by one of those blades. They turn you into a follower.”
So that would explain it. Leo tanked his brother before he turned around and disabled a few other White Vests. He noticed that both Hun and Mace were fighting shell to shell.
A Vest struck out at Mace with his blade, striking the young clone in the wrist.
“No,” Mace gasped before he kicked the White Vest in the head. He turned to Hun. “Knock me out now before I become one of them.”
Hun didn’t even question him. He struck the youth in the side of the head with a swat of his hand. It wasn’t until Mace had struck the floor when Hun had taken a good look at him.
“What?” He stared at his clone in shock.
A loud neigh was heard, loud enough to rattle the windows. A red horse with a black mane galloped into the store. It snorted out a cloud that smelled like gunpowder. It was followed by an emaciated equine, and that was followed by sickly horse with a hacking cough. The forth horse was pale and a bit transparent.
“How many times do we have to do this dance?” The rider of the red horse asked. He was a big man with rippling muscles. He was weighed down with every kind of weapon imaginable and had two bandoliers crisscrossing his chest, one was full of bullets and the other contained grenades.
The leader of the cult looked somewhat scared. “Don’t just stand there. Get them.”
“Yup,” the big man said as he pulled out two guns. “He still wants to dance.” He fired at the White Vests, and spraying them with what appeared to have been more tranquilizer darts. He was able to avoid those who were still fighting against the White Vest leader.
“Out of my way, meathead,” the rider of the near skeletal horse said. She was just as bony as her steed. “It’s my turn.” She waved her hands.
A third of the White Vests and those under the spell collapsed.
“Nothing like making people feel like they haven’t eaten in twenty hours,” the bony woman said as she smacked her hands together. “Dizzy spells, low blood sugar and they are too weak to fight back. Okay mucus incarnate, it’s your turn.”
Pestilence just stared at her. “You know it was my mucus that helped us track them down.” He shook his head and waved his hands.
The White Vests that remained standing collapsed, several appeared feverish while others were puking.
“Just a minor flu bug,” Pestilence explained. “A twenty minute flu bug that will give us plenty of time.”
There was no one left to fight. The cult leader was standing with his back to the wall and trembling.
“I’ll get him,” the fourth member of the team said. She was beautiful with blue tinted skin and wore pale gray robe. Her white hair flowed around her head like smoke. It took Leo a few seconds to see that she was transparent like a ghost. That couldn’t be Death. She did not look like a skeleton.
Our forms are not consistent,
brave turtle. The voice appeared in Leo’s head. We change our looks at
will and take on different forms at our own choosing.
She was fast. She bolted to the front of the store before Leo could exhale. A flash of silver and she had unsheathed her scythe and used the curved blade to pin the cult leader against the wall.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself, Conquest?” Death asked.
“Conquest?” Leo asked.
“In the bible it was Conquest who emerged from the first seal,” Urielle said.
“I would have been with them if it wasn’t for that disease ridden upstart,” Conquest said as he pointed at Pestilence.
“We weren’t going to kick you out,” War said. “You were the one who left.”
“And he always tries to start the end because he didn’t want the four to be five,” Famine said in a bored tone before she turned to Conquest. “Rules and regulations bud. You can’t seem to follow them.”
“The rules were only for four,” Conquest said. “Not five. There cannot be five horsemen. It is stated there are only four. One of us had to go”
“No where is it written there has to be four,” War said as he approached Death and Conquest. He was carrying some chains. “What the rules did say is when we can ride and there is a date set. A long time from now.”
“Unions,” Conquest grumbled as he was being bound. “Unions were set up to prevent this sort of thing from happening.”
“They were not around for that long,” Death said. Her face did not have an expression.
“You can’t keep me sealed forever and you can’t prevent the inevitable.”
“That’s the day we all ride,” War said as he dropped the chained up Conquest on the back of his horse.
Pestilence sighed. “He never learns.” He turned towards Leonardo. “We are sorry if we caused you an inconvenience.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” Leo said. It wasn’t their fault that a former member of their group had caused trouble and they had to clean up.
“So what are we going to do now?” War asked as the horsemen rode off.
“I was wondering if we should start a band again,” Death said.
“Oh no,” Famine said. “Every time we start doing the rock and roll thing I’m always the freaking roadie.”
Leo turned to his brother. Donny was sleeping peacefully while the cut on his arm healed instantly.
“I’ll help with Donny,” Raph said as he grabbed their brother’s legs. “Casey and Mikey will help with Mace.”
“Thank you,” Leo said as he grabbed Donny around the shoulders.
-
Lucy leaned back in the chair as she listened to Vorst give her the latest info. She was in the room of her mansion that was set up into a dojo for Ch’rell to train.
“I am sorry to inform you that Conquest has been captured,” Vorst said.
“Oh Conny got himself caught again?” Lucy asked. It was a pity. Conquest would have made a powerful alley but nothing was lost. “The Horsemen made an appearance in the city right?”
“Yes they have,” Vorst answered.
“Then that is all that mattered,” Lucy said. “Call me when it’s coffee and tea time.” She hung up her phone and continued to watch her man in action.
The past few weeks she appeared as Madam Ragna to give Robert Harris a massage before his physical therapy. While her hands worked his muscle she healed him a bit by bit until he was able to run, jump, lift weights and be able to fight. Once Ch’rell was able to work out he did. He exorcised to get his new body strong and used his fighting knowledge to train in the art of ninjitsu.
“He’s working out just right,” Lucy said with a smile.
-