Deal with the She-Devil
Donatello jolts with a snort as he lifts his head from his desk, grimacing at the puddle of drool spread over the surface, and he can feel the sticky substance dripping down the corner of his mouth. He rubs his hand over his mouth, blinking blearily at his surroundings. Eyes settling on the oxygen tank that had rolled to the far end of the table and the various tools scattered across the surface, he assumes that he had fallen asleep in the middle of one of his attempts to repair the diving gear he had salvaged. The purple cladded turtle reaches into the side of his belt and his fingers fumble around his phone. He winces as he holds the bright screen to his face, giving an annoyed frown at the blinking numbers: 2:37 AM. He huffs, leaning back in his chair to stretch, before going to his feet he and begins to make his way towards the kitchen for a glass of water before he forces himself into his bed.
Donatello skids to a halt as his eyes glued to a shadowy figure standing a few feet away from the turnstiles. Seeing the bulky stature which could only be attributed to a shell, he allows his limbs to tense and he visibly slouches, letting out a soft sigh of relief. He pulls out his phone again, swiping down on the screen and turning on the flashlight application. The light streams down on a pair of royal blue mask tails dangling down the back of a shell, and the purple cladded turtle cocks a brow at the sight. Then his eyes pop open and he nearly slaps a palm against his face as he recalls his oldest brother's newly renewed sleepwalking habit. He can't help the tired slackening of his face at the prospect of having to guide his lethal-weapon brother back to the bad, and a pang of slight guilt that eats away at his insides for being more worried about getting his shell handed to him than the fact that something was very obviously wrong with his brother.
Leonardo doesn't register his presence, for he keeps his back to him and his head bowed as he lowly utters," I'm underwater...deep deep underwater. I'm drowning," He stops talking briefly, letting out a shaking breath, then he gives a slow nod,"...Yes."
Donatello gulps audibly as he tiptoes around to his brother's front, nervously facing him as he whispers, "Leo...Leo? Come on, let me get you back to bed," He gently settles his hands on his shoulders, squeezing them as he spins him around and begins to lead him in the direction of his room,"...You're probably not going to remember this - I know you won't...Which is probably the only reason I can say this... You're a fool of a brother. You're too responsible for everything and you neglect yourself. You rush into risk your life without a moment's hesitation, almost as if you were...fearless. I just wish you'd rely more on us sometimes."
"I have great comfort from this fellow. Methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is perfect gallows," Leonardo chuckles to himself before the sound abruptly dies in his throat.
The blue cladded turtle's hand fastens around the latter's wrist, the fingers curling into a bruising grip, then without so much as a grunt or even a slight shift in his facial expression, and throws him over his shoulder. The purple cladded turtle shrieks aloud in a mixture of pain and shock as he's slammed onto the back of his shell, and his head knocks against the concrete flooring below him. He blinks rapidly as he attempts to clear the twittering canaries from his vision, and a discombobulated groan escapes his gaping lips.
"First off: ow," Donatello hisses as he lifts his head, one hand gripping the side of his face, "Secondly - And he's walking away... Hold up, where are you going? Leo... Leo! Oh, this is great," He tosses his head back and groans a second time as his sleepwalking brother begins to embark past the turnstiles, "Just great. Guys. Guys. Guys!"
The only reply was Leonardo's quickly fading nonsensical murmuring, "Show me the path...Show me..."
"Oh, c'mon," The purple cladded turtle exclaims as it's made evident he won't be getting any assistance from his other deeply sleeping brothers, "I know I'm going to regret this...I am so going to regret this. This is going to be bad...bad bad bad bad..." He trails off as he takes off at a brisk jog after his blue cladded brother.
The blue cladded turtle abruptly stops, his body stiffening as he slowly cranes his head in the direction of his brother who's trailing after him. "This is not your path," He says in a monotone voice, his glazed eyes blinking at him, perplexed.
"Leo, buddy...pal... Let me just get you back into bed..." Donatello comes out with as he slowly inches his twitching fingers towards his brother's hand, and he exhales shakily when his brother takes it," Okay, see that wasn't so ba - Ahhhhhhhhh!"
———
"I have so many regrets," The mutant turtle slouched into the couch with an ice pack covering his face and a heating pad over his abdomen, and a thick pillow fluffed up behind his neck.
Michelangelo gingerly lifts the ice pack away from his older brother's face, wincing at the black and blue splotches trailing down the side of his moss green cheek. "Bro, what'd you do? He usually only leaves bruises like this on the bad dudes," He jokes, as he tended to a bruised and humiliated purple cladded turtle,"...There's only one explanation: brain-washed cyborg zombie. The sewer is probably infected - Leo had to have been bitten, which can only mean that one of us is totally next..."
"What - no. I told you already, he was sleepwalking. I got impatient and I stupidly did what you're supposed to never do to a sleepwalker," Donatello clarifies as he snatches the ice pack back, grunts in pain at the sudden movement, before slowly settling it back down over the side of his face,"...I made a poor attempt to wake him up. As made obvious by the walking, talking bruise you see before you, his sleeping-self didn't appreciate it and beat the living daylights out of me."
Raphael snorts at that. Donatello's eyes narrowed and he cocked one eyebrow as he crosses his arms over the heating pad on his abdomen. He crossly asks, "Something to say? You've been unusually quiet."
"What? You guys used to frickin' laugh it up back when we were little tots. You know, when I was the one gettin' my shell waxed, tryin' to lead him back to bed," Raphael points accusingly at the latter as he sniggers," Karma's a bitch, ain't it?"
"To be fair he was a lot smaller then. It was the equivalent of getting hit by a golden retriever puppy's tail," The purple cladded turtle retorts," Now, since our dear older brother is falling into old habits, I think we should take some precautions."
The orange cladded turtle inquires curiously with his lips creased," Like what - duct tape him to his bed?"
"S' not a bad idea," The red cladded turtle concedes with a one-shouldered shrug.
"Don't encourage him," Donatello chides, but his brows slowly hover upwards as he contemplates the idea, but he dismisses it with a quick shake of his head," We could maybe just, I don't know, install a lock on his door, or if worst comes to worst I could attach some bindings to his bed. But I was thinking of maybe some form of treatment...a realistic one for a mutant turtle that can't exactly casually waltz into a psychiatric office."
Raphael asks him doubtfully," And what exactly counts as 'realistic' for us?"
"More than any sane human would care to admit. Much more," Donatello answers, then goes on after a beat," But this will be a bit odd though even for us. But I assure you I've done extensive research and it is completely safe - the worst that could possibly happen is that it wouldn't work."
"So like what is it," Michelangelo questions with his mouth scrunched up, his baby blue hues wide in anticipation.
Looking embarrassed despite his short but insightful explanation the purple cladded turtle states," Hypnosis."
"You've gotta be kiddin' me," Raphael utters, clearly unimpressed.
"Bro...that is so...awesome," Michelangelo squeaks, eyes practically sparkling as he slaps his hands over his cheeks and gapes at his two older brothers.
Raphael waves a hand in the direction of the youngest of the three, shouting incredulously, "See?! If that blockhead thinks it's a good idea you know that it ain't!"
"Though you make a good point -"
"Hey!"
"-I assure the science behind it is sound. I wouldn't even suggest it if I didn't believe so. You know I wouldn't! He's my brother, the only one with any sense mind you, so it's not in my best interest to scramble his brain. Plenty of studies show the effectiveness of hypnosis on breaking the cycle of sleepwalking patients," The purple cladded turtle explains shortly, his eyes meeting his older brother's scrutinizing stare. Then his mouth twists as a subtle blush flashes across his cheeks briefly and he goes on to mutter," Plus...we just so happen to have a smart and beautiful chinchilla of a psychic on hand -"
The red cladded turtle throws his hands into the air and shouts in irritation, "Oh, dammit! I should've seen that one comin' from a mile away! Course you're usin' the situation to get two steps closer to April!"
"That's not true... it's just an added bonus," The purple cladded turtle mutters as he pouts his lips and crosses his arms over his yellow platted chest.
A smirk slowly melts across Raphael's lips as he teasingly adds, "I hate to tell you, Don, but we all know that if April was gonna go team-green it would be for Leo."
"What?!" Donatello shrieks in a high pitched voice, making the other two mutant turtles recede into their shells a tiny bit, "That's ridiculous - ridiculous! I-I won't even float the idea! I-I mean...it's Leo we're talking about here! Leo-stick-up-the-ass-nardo! He's not...not..."
"What," Michelangelo demands trying to hide his mocking smile as he muffles his giggles into his fist, "Brooding and cool like Batman? Sensitive to others' needs? Has big sparkly blue eyes like an anime girl? Basically fearless -"
Raphael bitingly cuts in, "Think about it, bro. They have been spending more time together lately. And they even had a sleepover. Plus, she's always been a little red-faced and nervous around him."
The moss-green hue of his skin practically fades away as Donatello's mouth creaks open like a rusty doorway in a horribly comical way as the other two mutant turtles snigger amongst themselves. "You know what - No! I think you two shell-heads are just feeding into my insecurities and I won't have it. Laugh it up!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Raphael blows through his lips, "So how are we pullin' this off anyway?"
"Considering he just beat me into pulp the least he can do is submit to some experimental treatment...And since he's apparently trying to whisk away the girl of my dreams..." The purple cladded turtle whispers the last sentence with shadows dancing across his face as his red-hued eyes narrow dangerously, and the other two mutant turtles exchange slightly horrified looks, "We'll confront him when he gets back from his run and I'll go ahead and call April," Donatello informs the group as he pulls out his phone, his attention flickering down to the screen.
———
Leonardo tosses a small stone from hand to hand, before throwing it in the direction of one of the glass beer bottles set up in a line on top of the dumpster. The bottle shatters and the emerald green glass sprays across the brick wall behind, clattering down behind the dumpster. He takes another stone in his grip, clenching it in his fist and bringing it to his yellow platted chest before pitching it across the area between himself and the dumpster. Another beer bottle is decimated. He's palming another stone in his hand when his ears prickle and his entire body stiffens as he feels a slight fluctuation in the air. He whips his head around slapping his palms together to halt an arrow in midair that had been hurdling towards his defenseless back. His nostrils flare as he huffs out a breath he didn't even realize he was withholding.
Leonardo examines the arrow, finding a small piece of paper curled around the thin wooden rod and he mutters to himself, "Okay, it's not your regular mail. I guess Mikey would call it..." He raises his voice into a falsetto tone in a poor imitation of his youngest brother,"...airmail, dude."
There's a slight bulge underneath the paper he notices as his fingers run over the shaft of the arrow. The blue cladded turtle unrolls the scrap of paper and his eyes skimmed over the thick scrawl of black ink that formed Japanese lettering: そしてそれが始まります. The mutant turtle frowns in worry upon reading it, his throat bobbing as he gulps audibly and he takes the object laying beneath the paper into his hand, his eyes flickering to the flash drive laying on the flat of his palm. His fingers tighten around it and he quickly shoves it into one of the leather loops on his belt. Then he ducks his head upwards, spotting a single cloaked figure in all-black observing him from the rooftop, their head cocked at him. Then, without a sound, they turn and leave.
Crumpling the small sliver of paper in one fist, Leonardo ominously utters the contents of the note, "And so it begins."
"Always had a flair for the dramatics, didn't you," A feminine voice inquires, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Leonardo immediately draws one sword and whips around, resting the sharp tip against the delicate milky flesh of Karai's throat. "Trust me when I say I am not in the mood," The blue cladded turtle seethes and he emphasizes his statement by slicing the point of his blade across a small section of her throat, drawing a single bead of blood.
"Ooo, touchy," Karai purrs pleasantly, nonchalantly brushing her finger against the tiny cut at the base of her throat. She suckles at her finger, her tongue flicking across the bead of blood she draws away, "Have you been eating out of the red one's bowl?"
Leonardo shakes his head. "What do you want," He asks sullenly, "If you're the one that tried to send that arrow through my back, I've got to say you're a lousy shot."
"I am. We all have our weapons, Leo," The kunoichi admits shamelessly with a slight shrug, "But that wasn't me."
The blue cladded turtle states doubtfully as he eases his sword back into its sheath, "Sure."
"You're being unusually tactless this time around, Leonardo. Sheathing your weapon without knowing my intentions," Karai observes, indicating his sheathes with a flourish of her gloved hand.
Leonardo informs her in a dry tone as he inclined his head forward as shadows dance across his face, "I have no need for any complicated tactics. Not this time around."
The female ninja blinks at the mutant turtle, surprised. "Bold of you to say, freak," She murmurs, taking a tentative step forward before she begins to circle him, "A little too bold for you, I might add. Not really your style."
"What are you getting at," The blue cladded turtle demands icily with an air of impatience.
The kunoichi halts her pacing and abruptly pushes the turtle up against the wall, and she leans into him, so close he can feel her hot breath beating against his cheek. "Let's pause real quick for some storytime. Once upon a time, there was a mutant freak that got into a fight with a few dozen ninjas and beat them all with ease, until there was only one left. The freak could have easily disarmed its foe, but instead stood there—like he was helpless—and allowed itself to be cut down," She runs a gloved finger over the outline of his lips, hissing in a gravely quiet tone, "All while the princess watched on and thought that perhaps she'd overestimated the freak's abilities in the art of ninjitsu, only to watch it get back up without so much as a damn scratch a few minutes later. The end."
Their faces are mere inches apart their lips almost touching as Leonardo breathes out, "Get to the point."
"I don't know if it's some kind of secondary mutation or what, but somehow...somehow you can't die," Karai proclaims with her eyes narrowed dangerously, "At least not easily."
"Really now? That's your theory? Do you have any idea how insane you sound," Leonardo drawls, letting out a burst of mocking laughter as he steps backward.
"Would you like me to test my theory? Either I'm right and you bounce back from getting my tanto embedded in your stomach. Or I'm wrong and you just have a tanto in your stomach for no good reason... other than being a back-stabbing freak that is. Either way, it's going to hurt like hell and I'm going to enjoy it," Karai questions the mutant turtle, the soft hiss of metal resonating as she draws out her tanto blade. Her painted red lips scrunch up into a tight smirk as her brown-hued eyes glitter with excitement," Or you can choose door number three: you can just fess up."
Leonardo grabs the hilt of the sword and guides it to the section of his plastron that shields his fast-beating heart. "Go ahead. But I'm going to tell you right here and right now, Karai. However this goes, whether it ends with me bleeding out in this alleyway, or you making a hasty retreat for the roof with your tail between your legs, I'm going to be pissed," He hisses in response and meets the latter's scrutinizing stare, "I'm waiting."
Karai is silent for several long, agonizing moments, her face as still as stone before she throws her head back and laughs in delight, sheathing her tanto. "The world just gets weirder and weirder, doesn't it?
Leonardo gives a short roll of his eyes and bites out, "Now that that's out of the way, what do you care? Or am I free to go?"
"No. God, no," The kunoichi gives a slow shake of her head, chiding him, "I thought you knew me better than that to think that I would meet you here and tell you all of this if I didn't have an ulterior motive. I know your secret, Leo. And I plan to use it."
"Is that why you're here? To get to me," Leonardo inquires with a single raised brow.
Whatever the kunoichi wants, he will take a slow death at her hands before giving it to her. Then again the looming threat isn't nearly effective as it should be.
"I'll be honest, seeing as I apparently can't die there's not much you can do in terms of motivating me."
Karai snorts as she cooly commends the latter, "Well, look at you. The sheer hubris. You've grown a pair, Leonardo."
"What do I have to fear if not even death can hold me? Definitely not an uppity little daddy's girl," Leonardo jests, but there is little humor in his voice.
The kunoichi glared at the latter, her mouth twisting as she huffs out in agitation, "Fair enough. But who said I was threatening you? It's pretty damn obvious that the rest of your freakish brood is in the dark as to your, er..." She waves a hand as she continues with a simper,"...condition."
"An apt description. And no, they don't know and I don't want them to know," The blue cladded turtle confirms as he runs a hand down his face, more irritated than concerned, "So I'm going to take a gander and guess that you're going to blackmail into whatever the hell you're planning with that little tidbit of knowledge."
"Up to speed yet?"
"It's good to know we both want to make this quick, so we skip all the pleasantries - what do you want," Leonardo questions in an even tone with his head tilted forward, car lights flood into the alleyway and light up his electric blue glare.
The kunoichi answers plainly, "I've already told you what I want, many times now, in fact. I want you by my side, Leonardo."
"So that's what this is about," The blue cladded turtle scoffs out, not surprised, "I will make this clear, right here and right now, so clear that even you'll be able to see it - I will never join the Foot Clan. It's not going to happen. Not here, not now, not ever."
Karai barks out in reply, her voice unusually conflicted in tones, "I'm not asking you to join the Foot Clan," She hesitates for a moment, then goes on in a lower voice, "I want you to infiltrate it."
Karai saw the shock register on Leonardo's face before he could mask it. "What," Leonardo manages to say in a questioning manner.
"You heard me and I'm not repeating myself," The kunoichi replies hoarsely, almost as if the words are being forcefully torn from her throat, "My clansmen are dying, Leonardo. And they're not being mourned, and are hardly even being given their proper burial rights; they're being replaced by cold, unfeeling machines and mutant freaks. I have people I care about, too, you know. People I need to protect. And my father...my father still refuses to see the true enemy in those pink alien wackos."
The blue cladded turtle frowns and asks, "And how will me infiltrating your clan help on that front?"
The kunoichi gulps thickly, her gloved hands clenching at her sides as she tells him after a beat, "I fear my father is planning to align himself with the Kraang hoard, in order to have the forces and firepower necessary to eliminate the Hamato Clan once and for all. And in doing so, he will condemn all of us, even his flesh and blood daughter, to watch helplessly as the world falls down," She glances up, her eyelashes swinging down as she blinks her dark brown eyes at him and her red painted lips remain parted, "We have to ally ourselves to one another, for the sakes of the ones we are sworn to protect."
Leonardo goes on to say, "I didn't think we'd be going for a team-up again, seeing how well it went last time," Doubtful, he inquires, "How do you know you can trust me?"
"Because I'm not asking you and your brothers this time. I'm asking you. You and you alone."
———
"Of all the confidants I could have," Leonardo scoffs to himself, as he folds his arms behind his head and slows his gait.
Leonardo eventually goes completely still, standing stiff in the shadowy area that conceals his presence behind the turnstiles that lead into the lair. He closes his eyes, taking in a long, deliberate breath. He bites at his lip as his eyes flutter open and they dart to the tunnel leading in the opposite direction, and at that moment he contemplates just running with nothing but the swords on his back. And it's not the first time. Like any teenager, he'd contemplated running away more than once in his life, but there had never been a legitimate reason... Other than his brothers dropping one too many biting comments, or playing a cruel prank that acted like the straw that broke the camel's back. But as his blue hues stare long and hard into that winding tunnel with a true, genuine longing he'd never felt, this time it is his brothers, his family, that keeps him from tucking his tail and walking out on them.
Leonardo runs his hand down his face as he exhales loudly, then he emerged from the shadows and feigns casualness as he walks into the pit of the lair. Blowing air out through his nostrils he slouches as his eyes take in the sight of his three younger brothers and their two human friends all sitting around the pit with their eyes glued to him. The blue cladded turtle doesn't even have the grace to act surprised. He has to bite back an annoyed groan and he has to physically restrain himself from forgoing his earlier revelation that he doesn't want to run out on his brothers. His eyes flit to the exit and he bites at his lip, actually contemplating bolting for a second, but with a conceding sigh, he walks into the living room and takes a seat beside his orange cladded brother.
"So what's this all about," Leonardo inquires at last.
Donatello awkwardly clears his throat and shifts in his seat, before answering honestly, "It's a little bit of an intervention, Leo. But it's not a bad thing! Not at all. It's just, well," He gulps thickly, his throat bobbing as he clasps his hands together,"...Raph?"
"You've been a real pain in our asses lately," Raphael states shortly, and his arms are strewn over the back of the couch, "Well, more than usual that is, bro. And that's saying a lot!"
April facepalms as she lets out a long-suffering sigh before she turns her head to Leonardo and gently presses, "Not the most delicate way of putting it. I think what your emotionally-constipated brother is trying to say is that we're all worried, Leo. Very worried," She tucks a stray hair behind her ear and continues, "We know that you're keeping something from us, which isn't like you...at all. But we're not going to press you to tell us. We all agreed on that -"
"Hey! Don't count me in with you guys. They agreed to it. Majority rules is for the birds," Raphael cuts in as he cocks his head at the latter, and he only shrugs when he's given a menacing glare in return.
April pulls out one of the dingy throw pillows from behind her back and tosses it at the red cladded turtle, silencing him as he grunts at the impact. Huffing, she goes on, "Anyway, Don was thinking... Don?"
The purple cladded turtle gives her a small smile of appreciation and picks up from where she left off, "We want to help you, Leo. You're our big brother and our leader, so I've been doing some research and I think I've found a way to at least remedy your sleepwalking."
The blue cladded turtle, doubtful, asks stiffly, "Really? And how's that?"
"You're like totally gonna get hypnotized, dude," The orange cladded turtle squeals in excitement, propping up his chin on the arm of the couch.
Leonardo immediately demands, "You're kidding right?"
"Okay, that's an understandable reaction. Anything coming from Mikey is usually pure nonsense that I just tune out a good percentage of the time -"
Offended, Michelangelo shouts, "Hey!"
Donatello goes on with his explanation, pretending he didn't hear his little brother's brief outburst," But hypnosis is actually a fairly realistic option for you. I can assure you it's perfectly safe. Plus, we have a psychic-in-training on hand that will definitely increase the chances of penetrating your mind. At worst, it won't work," He holds up his hand and assuringly adds, "Scout's honor."
Leonardo says with a tentative tone of voice, "I don't know...It still sounds just a tiny bit, well..." He twiddles with his fingers as he adds under his breath,"...stupid -"
"Oh, is that the word you'd use to describe it? 'Stupid', huh? Let's see if we can find other situations that can be associated with that word. Hmm, let me think," The purple cladded turtle taps his chin and swivels his eyes towards the ceiling as he hums in thought, "Oh, wait - I've got it. Why didn't I think of it before? What was it...? Oh, yes -! A good example of a 'stupid' situation would be when I found myself having to fight off a sleep-walking ninja turtle with only my own two fists!"
"Alright, alright! Jeez, point taken, Don. If it really means that much to you..."
Donatello states plainly as he situated one hand on his hip and points into the air with his other hand, "Yes, as a matter of fact, it does. Alright, peanut gallery, clear out."
"Dudeeeee...I wanna seeeee...." Michelangelo whines as he tosses back his head and lets out a long stream of nonsensical noises.
Casey objects, "Yeah, it sounds pretty sick, yo - Hey," He barks out as the red cladded turtle grabs the back of his hoodie and drags him and the orange cladded turtle in the direction of his room, "I thought you were on our side!"
Raphael slams the door in the pair's face, ignoring the muffled babbling, and turns to face the small group still gathered in the living room. Eyeing all of them with his emerald hues narrowed, he crosses his muscular arms over his yellow platted chest. "Which one of you is gonna embarrass themselves by tryin' to make me leave?"
Donatello cocks a brow at the latter, then with a one-shouldered shrug, he turns his attention back to Leonardo. "Alright, Leo. I'm going to be the one to actually performing the hypnosis. April is just here to try and free up your kind so that there's less resistance," He turns to face the red cladded turtle, who cracks his knuckles in return so he quickly turns back to the blue cladded turtle. In a calm, collected voice the purple cladded turtle utters, "Your eyes may feel heavy and want to close. Let your body sink naturally down as your muscles relax. Listen to your body and my voice as you begin to feel calm."
April rests her hand in his palm, her warm, smooth skin making him feel small prickles up and down his arm. 'It's okay,' She mouthes.
"Breathe in deeply now, filling your chest and lungs," Donatello commands and Leonardo inhales noisily. Then the blue cladded turtle breathes out,"...slowly let the air out of your chest, completely emptying your lungs...Good. Now, I want you to focus your gaze on a fixed point...try and focus on the space right between my brows."
Leonardo's blue hues flicker into the space between Donatello's brow, just over his eyes. Donatello kids in encouragement and goes on, "You are letting yourself slip deeper and deeper into a calm, peaceful trance. Sinking down, and shutting down. Sinking down, and shutting down. Sinking down, and shutting down, shutting down completely," A long, slowly fading breath exits the blue cladded turtle's lips and he begins to slacken, then the purple cladded turtle tells him to, "Now, I want you to imagine yourself leaving the lair... Imagine a door or a staircase. Tell me, what do you see?"
The blue cladded turtle whispers, "I'm imagining a pathway. It's dark, so dark... but I see a door at the end. It's far away."
"It's okay, Leo. Take one step down that path and feel yourself sinking deeper. Each step is a step further and further into your subconscious. Your body feels like it drifting away..." The purple cladded turtle says his voice barely audible and he carefully waves a hand over the latter's vacant eyes. He quickly whips his head to the human girl and gives her a stiff nod, "April is going to be joining you now. She'll help you find the door."
April brings both of her hands to her temples and she clenches her eyes shut. "I...I see the door, too. Leo... I'm here," She reassures him softly, "You're not alone."
Leonardo growls in frustration and his eyes flash open as he drawls lowly, "Look this obviously isn't work - Oh," He let's out a startled breath as his blue hues goggle at the door mere inches from his face, "The door...It's here."
"Can you open the door," Donatello asks in the distance, his voice echoing in the darkness. A cool breeze follows and he shivers.
"A door that was made special for you. The answer is right in front of you. The path to the door. But you must decide. It's the only way. You will understand in due time."
The door was solid metal. Nothing was going to budge it. The surface was flat and shiny like the outside of the stainless steel refrigerator they'd salvaged from the landfill. There was no handle, no lock, no hinges, nothing to get a grip on. The top and bottom, even the sides, lay so utterly flush with the frame that there was no hope of jemmying it open even if he had a crowbar, but they had nothing of the sort.
"No, I can't. There's no handle or anything," Leonardo answers softly, his palm resting on the cool metal.
Furrowing his brows the blue cladded turtle applies the slightest amount of pressure and the door moves underneath his hand. He startles as a small pale human hand extends forth from the darkness and cups his hand, pushing it a little harder against the door. The hand pulls away just as he hears the door open all of the way, its creaking noise bringing a chill to his spine. It sounded like some dying animal, crying out its pain and sorrow with its last breath. Fluorescent pink light ebbs out from the space beyond the door, illuminating his features as his eyes are blown wide.
"The door is open, but I can't see what's inside. It's too bright," April hisses in the distance, her voice strained with pain, "Donnie, you need to snap him out of it -"
"I can't! I haven't even addressed what started this session -"
Leonardo stares emptily into the fluctuating fluorescent pink lights, almost as if in a trance. His mouth hangs open as he reaches a handout, his fingers grasping at something that isn't there. The longer he looks fixedly into the warm light, the clearer an image in the distance is.
Leonardo sees himself a young mutant turtle floating in a giant tube of pale green luminous sludge, an oxygen mask fitted over his tiny face with his eyes tightly clamped shut. A woman is standing in front of the tank, her long brown hair with streaks of grey is situated in a series of pins in a tight bun. Her fingers are flying across a keypad composed entirely of neon pink lights that form a composition of symbols that he doesn't recognize.
The woman presses one final button and a loud, shrill beep echoes across the chamber and the green sludge that fills the container begins to slosh around, slapping settle against the sides of the glass as it drains out the bottom. The frail form of the young mutant turtle thuds loudly to the bottom of the metal disk that resides underneath the tube and his eyes slowly blink open revealing a pair of dull blue hues. His lips part and a weak, strangled cough escapes him and he attempts to lift his head, fingers fumbling for the oxygen mask fitted over his face. A rush of water abruptly exits his lips spraying across the glass and he wheezes feebly as his body shudders in an irrepressible manner.
The woman turns her head and states in a cold, distant voice, "The subject is awake. Transfer him to the observation room immediately."
There's a sharp jerk, like a part of him is being tugged into a different direction, and the memory changes.
"Will you speak with me today, MT-1987. Oh, excuse me. I believe you are casually called 'Leonardo'," The woman wonders aloud as she takes a seat and glances at the file on hand, turning a page or two disdainfully, "That is what they call you, correct? Or perhaps you go by a nickname of some sort. Leo, maybe Leon -"
Leonardo interrupts, bluntly telling her as he attempts to straighten himself in his chair so that he can see over the table, "It's Leo. Just... Leo."
"Leo," The woman repeats softly, her lips twitching into a function that resembles a smile. But it's cold, forced as if a series of wires was pulling it into place, "I feel as though I should be expressing my sympathies for your current circumstances, Leo, which puts me in a rather awkward position. I can hardly say I wish you were kept in that tiny little tube," She gestured to the bare walls surrounding him, sweeping her hands towards him," You are just a boy. But though I can't say I'm pleased with the methods we are being forced to use, hopefully, the outcome will benefit us."
Leonardo kept his silence as he studied the woman before him. The older woman had worn black slacks and a short-sleeved white button-up shirt to this meeting. Her graying hair was pinned up in a small bun that no doubt was just about all she could manage with the thinning, dry strands. The woman stood up straight and truly looked at him in the eyes, a first for sure. She cocked her head and gently traces her long, pointy red nails across his cheek, forcing the small turtle to turn his head. He flinches and nervously fidgets in his chair, a barely audible whimper escaping his lips. His short legs don't even touch the cold, stark white tiled flooring, and he swings them back and forth, wiggling his toes.
"Strange... I've never seen a mutant this young with this level of cognitive ability," She barely takes her acrylic nails down his temple, resting her thumb in the corner of his eye, "Blue. And beautiful, too. Tell me, Leo, can you read any of the earth's respective languages?"
Leonardo slowly nods, biting at his lip as he keeps his watery blue orbs downcast on the floor. "I-I can read. In English and a little in Japanese... Don helps me and so... so does Master Splinter," The blue cladded turtle squeaks out shyly, "I...I can even read some of M-Master Splinter's scrolls. H-he says t-that he'll teach m-me every day and that if I get good enough, h-he'll teach me to s-speak it too."
A tear trickles down his cheek and she absently swipes it away. The woman carefully pulls her hand away, her nails tapping on the metal table beneath her palm.
"Do you mind if I sit, Leo," When he gives a hesitant shake of his head, she sits down and leans slightly forward in the chair, her back somehow still arrow-straight. She reaches forward and tucks a hand under his chin, forcing his head upwards and he still stubbornly refuses to lift his heavy gaze from the floor, "Why won't you look at me? Are you afraid?"
Leonardo whispers as his eyes flicker up to settle on the middle of her chest, "W-what is that...inside of you? Is it...a monster...?"
The mutant turtle was rewarded with a smile. No teeth showing, but a smile nonetheless, at least until it faded to a frown. "It is only my true self. And I am no monster. You don't have to see it if it scares you. Just pretend the face that you see now is really mine."
"I want to go home... Please, please, my brothers... Where are my brothers? I told them... I told them..."
The woman quickly states with her hands folded over a file stuffed to the brim with papers, "Enough of that. I'm going to do the same thing your master did. I'm going to teach you some new words to test how advanced your cognitive abilities are," She pulls a piece of paper from the file and slides it across the table, asking him as she taps a finger on one of the symbols, "What does this look like to you?"
"A...a triangle with a line over it. Don told me -"
"No more about your brothers. Not one word. Focus, now. The next one, what does it look like, Leo?"
The little turtle's chin quivers as he shakes his head and utters in a quiet voice, "It...It looks like... I don't wanna do this. I don't wanna! You said you'd take me to my brothers..." Another tear trickles down his cheek as he spits out venomously as he slams his balled fists onto the table, waiting for a reaction from the latter, "I just...I just wanna go home!"
She doesn't even flinch. "I'll show you them. I'll show you home. But only if you can tell me what these symbols are the one you said looks like a triangle with a line over it is called: mmiri. In your language, it roughly translates to water," The woman explains as she taps her finger against the symbol, "Now, can you repeat that to me, Leo?"
"Mmiri..." Leonardo murmurs, his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. He gives an abrupt rough shake of his head, gasping out,"Na mmiri ka ọ na-etolite, otu ahụ ume m na-akwụsịlata. Wh...what? I don't...I don't know what I said how did I...?"
She gives him that same false smile, takes her pencil, and scribbles something down, "The program seems to be working; you're retaining our language. Unfortunately, it will not begin to flow naturally until a few more sessions. Roughly translated into your main tongue it means: And as the water rises, so my breath slows," She commends him, "Well done, Leo. The things we do now may seem strange, unusual, but it'll all make sense...in time. There is a great conflict coming, and with our current methods, we can hardly win a battle, much less a war. This goes far beyond you or me..."
Leonardo mutely shakes his head, pleading pathetically as another tear goes down his cheek, "Please... please...!"
"Shh. Hush now. Listen to the sound of my voice, let the words wash over you like a rising tide..."
"...No...Please, not that. I'm s-scared... I'm scared! Don't - Don't!"
The woman sets down the pencil and it rolls across the metal table going to a halt inches away from the mutant turtle's clenched fist on the table. "Don't be. You have no reason to fear me; to fear us. This will help you, Leo," She assures him in that same even tone, "You're underwater...deep, deep underwater."
Eyes wide, the little turtle comes out with," I'm underwater... deep, deep underwater."
"You're drowning."
The blue cladded turtle wails, "I-I'm dro...drowning - No! Stop it! Stop it now!"
"Do you want to come back up?"
"Get out...Get out of my head! Stop, please! Stop! Stop! Ahhhhh, no! Help me! Help me," The mutant turtle screams as his fingers rake down the sides of his face, his fission blurred with fresh hot tears, "Don't make me - Raph, Don, Mikey! Master Splinter! Help! Help!"
Her voice firm and forceful, the woman demands as she leans across the table, "Do you want to come back up?"
"...Y...N...N...Yes."
The woman exhales softly in relief, continuing with a tiny quirk of her lips"Then take a deep breath and..."
With a sideways snap of his arm, Leonardo plunged the pencil into the woman's right eye socket, twisting it there. There was a strangled choke, followed by frantic gurgling as her head violently twitched off to the side and slick, luminous substance that's light blue foams from her painted lips spilling onto the metal table, pooling at her palms. Sparks crackle and pop from the crevice where her eye had been and he can see the curled wires and diodes behind. The blue cladded turtle reached a shaky hand over and seized the pencil. He dislodged it and threw it across the room, the blue substance spattering across the table and squirting over his arms and yellow platted chest. His lips tremble as he kicks his chair back behind him and stumbles backward as his chest rises and falls frantically.
"What are you..." He asks aloud, his voice thick and trembling.
The woman's chest emits a soft hiss as two metal panels slid open beneath her shirt and buttons begin to pop off, clinking onto the floor below. A single moist, pale pink tentacle peeps out from the crevice in the robot's chest. The creature rasps weakly, its voice a warbling, spine-chilling moan as it utters," Leo... Leo? Leo?"
The blue cladded turtle's hand smacks over his mouth as his eyes take in the creature residing in the woman's abdomen. A great oozing mass of cartilage that shifts and wiggles in the confinement of its android body. A Kraang. The mutant turtle shakes his head in mute denial as he watches a group of android bodies all hosting the brain-shaped aliens' file into the room, surrounding the poor, disoriented little turtle. The minuscule mutant turtle blinks blearily at his captors, his mouth opening and closing rapidly as he breathes unevenly.
One of the aliens turns to the young mutant scrutinizing him and in a low, eerily calm voice as it comes out with, "You're underwater...deep deep underwater. You're drowning."
The turtle's mouth goes slack as he responds distantly, "I'm underwater...deep, deep underwater," Tearfully he adds," I'm...I'm drowning."
"Do you want to come back up?"
"Yes."
"Then take a deep breath and... redux."
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