Chapter Text
The boys march back into the lair with triumph. They just got back from the Hidden City and saved the now named Mayhem from Draxum’s clutches. April happily agreed to take care of the little scamp and brought it home with her.
‘’Can you believe it guys?! We actually got magical weapons!’’ Raph's eyes sparkle as he swings his mystic tonfas around.
‘’Yeah! They’re awesome! Why didn’t you grab one, bro?’’ Leo poses with his sword, striking Mikey with awe.
‘’I’m loyal to technology, Leon.’’ He kisses his tech bow. ‘’This baby won’t break on me.”
“Guess we gotta do something about those ooze quitos, though.” Raph looks up to the ceiling.
“True, I hear one buzzing right now and it’s driving me crazy!” Mikey says, inspecting the room for the source of the sound.
His brothers, however, tilt their heads.
“Buzzing? I don’t hear any.” Leo questions, placing a hand behind his ear.
Raph and Donnie copy Leo, but shrug at each other.
“How can you not hear it?! It’s like it’s in my head!” Mikey covers his ears, bending his knees. “So loud!”
“Wow, are you doing okay, Mike?” Raph steps towards him, his arm reaching out.
Mikey shakes his head. “It hurts!” He falls to his knees, alerting his brothers that this most certainly isn’t him joking around. Mikey forms a small ball of himself, digging his fingers in his skin.
“W-What’s happening to him, Don?!” Raph turns to Donnie, his eyes shaking with fear.
“I don’t know-“ Donnie pauses, shocked to see Mikey collapse to the ground.
“MIKEY!” Raph swoops in, letting Mikey rest on his arm.
“My lab, now!” Donnie shouts as he sprints to his lab.
The other turtles follow as fast as their feet can carry them.
Once in the lab, Donnie taps on the stretcher next to his working station. Raph nods and lies Mikey down as carefully as he could.
It is horrifying for all of them to see their little brother like this. His breathing is getting more unsteady by the minute. Not to mention his bright green skin color is becoming lighter. He’s clenching his teeth, flinching every few seconds as if he’s being hit.
As Leo and Raph keep an eye on Mikey, Donnie clicks the body scan function on his tech gauntlet. A cyan light ray moves back and forth from Mikey’s head to his feet.
As the results flood in, Donnie displays it on a digital screen above his gauntlet. A shape that looks like Mikey can be seen.
“What’s it say?!” Still in a panic, Raph crashes into Donnie’s side, almost pushing him over.
“Well, the outside looks fine. No injuries whatsoever.” Donnie gulps, raising his finger to a red area that appears on the head of the display. It has exclamation marks next to it. “This though, is not good.”
“What do you mean “not good”?!” Raph pants down his neck, soon being shoved away by Donnie’s mech arm that emerges from his battle shell.
“It seems like something got in his system and is messing with his mind.” He rubs his chin with the same mechanical arm before it retreats back into his shell.
“What got in?” Raph’s attention shifts back to Mikey, who’s closely being observed by Leo. Leo’s sitting on a nearby chair, his hands folded in front of his mouth.
“Looking at what it’s doing to his head and the buzzing, I’d say it’s… an ooze quitoe.”
“What?! How? He would’ve known if he swallowed one!” Raph raises his voice, pointing at Mikey.
“I know, Raph! What I’m saying is that this might be some kind of special baby ooze quitoe that slipped in unnoticed after we exited the portal.” Donnie scratches his head with a frustrated groan.
“Well, how do we get it out?!” Raph takes hold of Donnie’s shoulders.
“I… don’t know.” Donnie’s somber eyes cast downward.
“I wish we could jump in there and get rid of it,” Leo mumbles to himself. He seems in a deep thinking trance.
Donnie’s eyes light up. “That’s it! I never thought I’d say this but, Leo, you’re a genius!”
Leo looks up for the first time since Mikey was placed on the stretcher.
‘’Thank you for acknowledging me, D.’’ He lets out a small laugh, but not free of his worries, his focus slips back to his little bro.
“Don’t push it, Leo.” Donnie hurries back to his workstation, bringing out a round device with an antenna on it.
“What’s that?” Raph pokes it.
“Hands off!” Donnie slaps Raph’s finger and pulls the device towards him. “It’s something I’ve been working on. Though I’d have to modify it to make it work for this special case.”
Donnie grabs a screwdriver and unscrews it. “If I can just switch these wires around.” He then reconnects wires with each other, setting off small sparks.
“So, how can we save Mikey with this?” Unbeknownst to Raph and Donnie, Leo joined the two of them from behind.
“It was supposed to be a mind reader device for… several reasons. I’m tweaking it so we can enter the mind instead of reading it.” He then closes the lid, twisting the screws back in.
“Wait, mind-reading device?” Leo raises an eyebrow at him. “Why would you need that?”
“Well, maybe it would be good to know when someone thinks it’s okay to mess around with my stuff,” Donnie murmurs under his breath.
“What was that?” Raph frowns puzzled.
“Nothing!” Donnie forces a grin as he brings the device to Mikey. Turning it on, the green light blinks as the device hums. Donnie clears his throat. “So, this device allows us to enter Mikey’s mind to fight the mosquito head-on-”
“Awesome! Let’s go!” Leo steps forward, only to be facepalmed by Donnie.
“BUT! We need to be very careful. We’d have to travel through his mind to find it. And, most importantly, protect his inner self.” Donnie explains, letting go of Leo.
“Inner self?” Raph questions.
“Yes, every person has an inner self. See it as an embodiment of what you truly are. If that gets hit with any kind of poison, Mikey will turn into a hollow shell of himself.”
They all stare at Mikey. His condition is still worsening.
“I don’t think we have a choice. We have to go, now.” Raph leaps to the device.
“Wait! Don’t-“
Donnie isn’t able to finish his sentence when Raph puts his hand on the device, passing out on the spot.
“Touch that…” Donnie claps his hand on his head.
“Well, let’s go as well, don’t want him to feel he’s alone in there. Who knows what kind of tantrum he will unleash.” Leo grins turning to Donnie, who gives him an agreeing nod.
They both place their hand on the device. Mikey’s whimpering becomes more distant as their vision goes to black. They fall unconscious on Raph’s shell.
Next stop, Mikey’s mind.