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Chapter Text

Donnie’s feet shuffle along on the asphalt as he lags behind his brothers, too deep in thought to tune into the conversation going on at the moment. 

He’s the smart one, he knows this; his brain is wired differently, too much and simultaneously not enough information processing at a higher speed than he can even begin to comprehend, than anyone could begin to comprehend. His technology is beautiful, futuristic in a way that would never be able to be discerned by regular humans, and yet– 

and yet no one seems to care? His family always seems exasperated when he pulls out a new invention, always seems impossibly tired, annoyed, aggravated when something goes wrong; he knows they love him, and he loves them too, but he needs a validation of sorts, something he hasn’t gotten in his lifetime. 

Maybe he’s wrong for thinking about it, but he can’t get her voice out of his head, the strange words she used to describe his bug-busting machine, and yet she had sounded so prideful? It may just be wishful thinking, but she called him a genius, a twinkle in her eyes that he thought may have been genuine. She’d appreciated his hard work, his dedication to his craft, the effort he’d put into his tech, and although her motives were less than ideal, she still praised him. Made him feel worthy. 

The foreign feeling thrums underneath his skin, sinking deep into his veins and lighting a fire in his body. His brain is running a mile a minute, replaying her words, what she said, the context and her tone and anything else that can be analysed, trying to find any fallacies in her words, any reason to suggest that she was lying, was deceiving him. 

He found none.

—————

The turtles arrive home, it is nighttime by now. Everyone is exhausted, well, everyone but Donnie. He seemed to be lost in thought, too busy thinking to even show a hint of drowsiness. That's how it usually was, though. Every time someone looked at him he seemed to be fiddling with his tech, making new data, or lost in thought.

Donnie left the main lair, going into the lab and shutting the doors with a satisfying metallic click as the hinges locked into place. He sat in his rolling chair, leaning back and staring at the dull ceiling above him. He couldn't get those thoughts out of his head. New thoughts entered, ones that caught him off guard somehow. What if you joined her? A voice said in his mind. It didn't seem like his, yet did at the same time. 

I'm sure she could use some help. After all, you are the tech guy. Perhaps you could be of use to her, prove your worth to her somehow. Make her even more proud. The voice rang.

"What. . . ?" He murmured, sitting up in his chair.

She seemed to really like your bug slapper machine. I'm sure she could use more devices like that. Who knows. . Maybe you could gain more much deserved praise. The voice taunted.

"I— well. ." He muttered, staring at his suitcase, which was neatly placed on a table nearby.

I suppose I could try it out. . . It isn't like they would care much anyways. And dad sure wouldn't notice. He thought with a grimace, his gaze moving to the curtained wall at the back of the lab. His gaze softened ever so slightly. He quickly looked away, pushing a sudden thought from his head. He made a face of determination.

It was decided. He would go back, and bring his most impressive tech along with him.

A few hours passed, and the others were all asleep in a pile by splinters worn-down over 15 year old recliner. Donnie snuck out of the lab, holding a few pieces of tech, along with the bug slapper case. He walked towards the exit to the lair, glancing at his sleeping brothers on his way. He made a small scowl of resentment- or was it jealousy? as he glanced to the chair and turned his head forward.

He continued out of the sewers, climbing out of the manhole and walking along the alleyways. He continued towards the construction wall that they had previously used to enter the yokai realm. Then he drew the special symbol on it, opening the gate. He was doing this. . . He was actually doing this. He took a breath, and leaped in. The gate closed behind him.

—————

He walked the streets of the yokai realm, his tech in hand as he made his way towards big Mama's Nexus. He used a map to locate it, though it took longer than anticipated due to it being a mystic realm. He did not have mystic technology. He was eventually able to locate the Nexus, and entered via the main gate. 

He walked through the halls, which were basically spotless. He was led up to Big Mama's office by an owl yokai, which seemed vaguely familiar. He shrugged the thought off, thinking he would remember sooner or later. Right now that was the least of his concerns.

His main priority was to find Big Mama. He was eventually stopped, the guard motioning for him to wait. The owl yokai guard mumbled something into his walkie-talkie and then looked down at Donnie, nodding with a small grunt.

Donnie nodded back and pushed open the doors, it seemed different, way cleaner. He had assumed they had been hard at work to clean the place up since the last encounter. He walked up to the middle of the room, clearing his throat nervously. His mouth felt a bit dry, and he felt more nervous than before. He was unsure as to why. He suddenly jerked his head up when he heard a familiar chuckle appear from the seat, which was turned to face the window.

The seat turned, showing the human-form of Big Mama. She was smiling her signature smile, though it felt more. . Eager. As if she had anticipated this to happen. He gulped and opened his mouth to speak. "Greetings, Big Mama. . . I'm—"

"Ah, yes! The smarty-pants of the bunch! Where are the others?" She interrupted enthusiastically. 

"Well— actually, that's the reason I am here. I have an offer—" He said in a quieter tone, feeling much smaller now. He lowered his head slightly as he spoke.

"Oh? An offery-doo? Whatever is it?" Her eyebrows were raised in a surprised expression. She hadn't expected him to say that. Though she was curious as to what he had to say.

"Well. . . Um— if- if it isn't too much trouble. . . I was wondering—" He paused, unknowing how to say it without sounding too stupid. Go on, 'tello. Say it, you know you want to. The voice suddenly spoke, which startled him.

"Maybe I could, help you— in your Nexus- I'm great with tech! And maybe, I was wondering, I could build stuff for you. . ? And in return you give me your honest approval?" He gulped. "I have some examples here— you can gladly take a look at them if you'd like! I can even fight in your Nexus, as well—" He quickly added. Then he motioned to his small pile of tech he had set on the ground.

His arms were pinned to his side nervously, and he looked down at his feet again as soon as Big Mama stood. "You don't have to ma'am. . It's just- you were the first parent aged adult to ever give me any sort of acknowledgement for my skills- I know it sounds quite stupid, and selfish- but—"

"I would be happy to have you, my little genius-brained turtley-boo." She appeared in front of him, delicately placing a hand on his shoulder. She used her other hand to lift his chin slightly, getting him to look at her. She smiled sweetly. "And please, call me mom or mama, my smart little purpley-boo."

Suddenly, the softshells face lit up brightly, and he teared up.

Big Mama spread her arms wide, motioning for a hug.

Donnie gladly took it, not giving it a second thought. He buried his face into her fuzzy coat, crying silent tears of joy. Finally. . . A parent that cared. And it was a mom, too!

Big Mama teared up as well. She finally had a child to call her own. Even if he wasn't biologically hers, she didn't mind.

The two would cherish this moment forever.

—————

The brothers woke up hours later, it was morning by now. Raph drowsily stood, stretching and yawning. Mikey rubbed his eyes tiredly. Leo checked his phone, which didn't have anything. He shut it off and set it back down, standing.

"Hey, where's Donnie?" Mikey suddenly said, looking around.

"Dunno, probably in his lab again. He did go straight there when-" yawn- "We got back yesterday." Leo finished.

"Well, I'mma go check on him." Raph said, walking towards the lab. He noticed the doors were still closed, which usually meant he was working. He gave a light knock on the door, nothing. He did it a second time, nothing. He decided after the third time he would just walk in. "Donn— ie?" He looked around, but didn't see the soft-shell turtle anywhere. 

"Okay. . . Maybe he's in his room—?" He walked out, then to the room with a violet purple door. He opened it, but still didn't see the purple masked brother. He walked out, confused. "Hey guys, did you see him walk out?" He called to his other brothers.

"No!" Leo called back.

"Not here!" Mikey added.

Raph was severely concerned now. He went back to the lab to check again, thinking maybe he had just missed him. The only things he noticed were the missing pieces of tech and an out of place rolling chair. . . Wait- missing pieces of tech?

Raph suddenly bounded over to his brothers, a worried look on his face. "Guys— he's missing- and so are some of his techy doohickey's and the bug slapper."

"Maybe he just went to test them out. Who knows." Leo shrugged.

"Why would he take the bug slapper with him? He already knows it works." Raph raised an eyebrow ridge.

"Fair point-" Leo responded, giving a thoughtful glance to the side. "Maybe he used it as a way of trans- Uh- trainspor-"

"Transportation?" Mikey finished.

"Uh yeah what he said." Leo nodded.

"He has a hover shell. He doesn't need the bug slapper as transportation." Raph corrected, his face growing more and more worried.

"Well then I got no ideas." Leo sighed. "Heh, he could be going to fight off a mutated beach ball monste- OW!" He was smacked upside the head with a large hand.

"Not funny, dude. This is serious. Our brother is missing, and could have very well been captured." Raph grunted, progressively getting more annoyed.

"Fine. You never like my jokes." Leo huffed, crossing his arms stubbornly.

Mikey was looking around the lair more. Yet he found no trace of the purple masked turtles whereabouts. He sighed, walking back to his brothers in defeat.

"Well, maybe dad will know what to do." Raph suggested.

"Yes, because dad, who doesn't even know what happened yesterday, would know where Donnie could be." Leo said in a sarcastic tone and rolled his eyes.

"He could have been awake when D left." Raph replied calmly.

"Well, then ask him." Leo grinned. "Betcha five bucks from Donnie's money stash he won't know."

"Fine, you got yourself a deal." Raph turned, then walked confidently over to splinter, who was asleep in his recliner still. "Hey dad." He shook the small rat mutant.

Splinter just groaned and sleepily batted his hand away.

Raph shook him again. This time, slightly harder. "Dad."

Suddenly the old rat shot up, looking around frantically. "Huh-? What? What happened?"

"Have you seen Donnie? He isn't here and wasn't with us last night." Raph said calmly.

"Uh, no I have not. He's the purple one right?" Splinter asked.

"Yes." Raph sighed, annoyed that he had probably forgotten which turtle Donnie was.

"Then no, I have not." Splinter went back to sleep.

Raph grunted and walked away, heading over to his siblings. "Nope."

"Called it. You owe my five bucks from Donnie's money stash!" He grinned proudly.

"Yeah, yeah. Later. For now let's just find our missing brother." Raph rolled his eyes. Then his face instantly became more serious.

". . . And I think I know where to start. ."

Chapter Text

Donnie carefully placed his tech on a vanity beside a wall in front of his bed, as if it was glass. He looked around the room, nodding as he envisioned how his room would look once he remodeled. He would have to make a new lab, since he couldn't go back to the old one yet. That wasn't an issue, though. He was a genius after all. He could just conjure up some sort of device to do the work for him if he chose to.

But he didn't.

He decided to do it by hand, taking breaks every once in a while to spend time with Big Mama, often talking about the Nexus or his tech together. He continued to be amazed and surprised at how much she cared for the soft-shell turtle. She made sure he slept, made sure he ate, made sure he was healthy, and even made sure he felt at home. He somehow knew she wouldn't stop until she knew he was taking care of himself, and he didn't mind that. He felt special, like he was being cared for as he should have been all those years.

He winced at the sudden selfish thought.

But force of habit did make him lose some sleep, and he had to get used to not drinking coffee. Big Mama says it would do more harm than good to his body. He had to listen, to make sure he was perfect. He didn't want to mess up in front of Big Mama. He didn't want to disappoint her like he constantly did- No. . . Stop thinking about him, he doesn't care. He probably hasn't even noticed your absence.

He sat down at his new desk, tinkering with something meticulously. He was so caught up in his work, that he hadn't noticed someone enter the room.

Big Mama walked into the room gleefully, setting a box down on his bed. She glanced over at the working turtle, noticing he seemed to be very focused on something. She walked over, peeking over his shoulder and watching. "What in all of the yokai-realm are you diddly-doing?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, Uh- I'm making a security camera. You don't seem to have any. So I decided, maybe-"

"What is a security camera?" She blinked, now even more intrigued.

"A security camera, an electronic form of security used to watch over different parts of a location or object. Like a building, for example. Usually you would have a monitor showing all camera screens. It helps with intruders and other unwanted guests." He smiled, noticing she was actually listening to his rambling.

"Ooo, how wonderful! It would be so useful, too, little purpley-boo! Such a smart little boy." She smiled, patting his head and walking out. 

He watched her leave, smiling as well. He made small little kicks and arm shakes of happiness after she left, loving the fact she called something of his wonderful.

He glanced at the box on the bed and cocked an eyebrow curiously. He stood from his chair, walking over to the box. It was a simply wrapped box, dulled magenta-pink wrapping with some violet purple ribbon. It had white spider web print on it, of course. He knew it was from her. He decided to open it, seeing that it was addressed to him. 

He carefully unwrapped the box, as if it would explode at the slightest wrong move. He didn't want to ruin the wrapping paper, or the cardboard underneath for some reason.

He pulled out some gloves, socks, knee and elbow pads, and a new mask. They all seemed almost the same as he had on currently, same purple, same measurements, even same style, but his name was embroidered on the back of each one, along with a small spider web behind it. Something else get different as well. He just couldn't pinpoint what it was. He shrugged it off, deciding to change out of his original accessories and into his new ones. The newer ones didn't feel much different, other than the material being different and the mask tails being longer. That wasn't an issue, though. He could edit that later.

He placed his original plain purple accessories inside the box and closed it, gently placing the box under his bed. He went back to his work on the security cameras.

—————

Leo, Raph, and Mikey crashed down onto the roof of a building from one of his portals. Raph broke most of the fall, literally. He had damaged some of the roof when he landed shell-first, so now a web of cracks lay in the place he had landed.

"Ow" Mikey grumbled.

"Hey! I said the hotel on block thirteen! Not a roof in New Jersey!" Leo glared at his sword furiously.

"How did you get those two mixed up?" Raph questioned.

Leo shrugged, then swung it again, creating another magnificent blue portal. "Finally!" He jumped in, striking a glamorous pose as he went through because why not. It was Leo.

Raph and Mikey followed after, thankfully it wasn't a long fall this time as they landed right in front of the hotel doors.

Raph stood, picking Mikey up by the shell and setting him down in a standing position. "Well, we're here. What now??"

"I say let's barge in and kick their asses if they don't give us our brother!" Mikey yelled proudly.

"Funny words, little man. I like that idea." Leo grinned, glancing up at Raph's face. He swore he could see an angry vein pop out of his head like in those weirdly animated, overly comedic TV shows.

"First of all, no cussing. Second of all. Terrible plan!" Raph snapped. "If we're gonna get our brother back, we gotta do it carefully. Who knows what they could be having him do right now."

"Forcing him to build things he doesn't want to to benefit the Nexus." Leo crossed his arms, smirking smugly as he made a point. Even though it wasn't the time, he still tried making things at least a little better by lightening up the mood with his jokes, puns, and one-liners, and just overall being an ass.

"Making him fight in the Nexus without his tech or battle shell-" Mikey shuddered, not wanting to picture how bad that would be.

"Making him do oozequito work around New York." Leo retorted.

"Alright! I get it! Geeze. Don't have to be so mean about it. Although Dad and April are looking around New York so I'm sure they would have seen him by now." Raph grunted. "Well, let's at least create a half-plan."

"Sounds easy enough." Leo smirked.

"Let's hide first so the bellhops don't get suspicious-" Mikey said, still shaken by the thought of his brother possibly getting hurt in the Nexus.

The other two nodded and then ran into the next building over, which was conveniently abandoned. They began planning out their course of action to save Donnie.

—————

Splinter had walked carefully through the New York streets, wearing a jacket with a hood to cover most of his features. He was searching for his fourth son. 

He turned into a long alleyway, glancing around every once in a while to see if maybe the purple-masked turtle was possibly hiding. He knew it was near pointless to look, but he did anyway. There was always that slim chance. . .

He stopped, spotting something purple behind a dumpster. It was some sort of cloth. His face lit up, and he scurried over to the object. "Oh, purple! You are oka— huh?" He blinked at the object, then realized it was just someone's comforter they had thrown out. He let out a long sigh, slumping down and leaning against the wall. 

He covered his face and squeezed his eyes shut, tears threatening to spill over. It wasn't any use, though, as he began to sob loudly.

He just wanted his son back. 

—————

Donnie had gotten ready for his first big fight in the arena. He was wearing his battle shell, bō, and his new accessories. He didn't have his tech cuff, or any other brilliant piece of tech, as that would just sway the odds more in his favour. And although he would love an easy fight, he knew the audience would not.

He stepped into the room he was told to be in. He heard the door behind him shut, and he let out a sharp exhale. C'mon Dontron. . . You can do this. All you have to do is kill a monster in an arena full of hundreds upon hundreds of people and hope to not mess up and you can get back to your tech. He tensed up, not making the situation any better for him at the moment.

Everyone will be watching. Draxum could very well be watching. Splinter could be watching—Mama will be watching. Don't mess up. He thought, staring at the metal gate that faced the arena. The bars just barely close enough together so that he can't slip through. Not that he would try, anyway.

He watched through the gates bars as yokai of all kinds flooded in, taking their seats excitedly. He swallowed down his fear and stood straight, preparing himself for his first arena battle.

Suddenly, the metal gate began lifting. He flinched as it screeched, lifting up slowly. It felt like an eternity before the screeching finally stopped. He heard a familiar voice suddenly erupt from speakers, lining the walls of the Nexus.

"Welcome, oh welcome! Splendiferous to see you all!" Big Mama's voice boomed from the speakers.

Donnie winced at the sudden loud voice. He wished it could have been at least a little quieter.

"Today is a very special day for the Nexus! My wonderful son will be fighting today!" The voice sounded gleeful and proud.

He felt a sense of pride, his stomach fluttering with all sorts of emotion. Wonderful. . . She called me wonderful! He thought. He stood tall again, awaiting to be summoned out into the arena.

"Come on out, little purpley-boo!" The voice in the speaker called expectantly, before cutting out.

Donnie took a breath, then made his way out into the open, he squinted as a large burst of light flooded his vision, instinctively moving his arm to shield his face from it. He quickly got used to it, though, and stopped about ⅓ of the way into the arena. He heard the metallic screeching sound again, but this time very faint as the crowd suddenly Roared with cheers. 

He smiled and waved, feeling a bit nervous but quickly pushing the feeling down. He clutched his metal bō, waiting for the other creature to come from the other gate. 

The other gates' door opened, letting out the same annoyingly loud screech as his did. He gritted his teeth, annoyed. I'll have to fix these gates later. . . He thought, but was quickly interrupted by a loud roar. The speaker said something else he couldn't make out, and the creature leaped from the gate. It was a large wolf-like creature with a lizard-like tail. 

He clutched his bō defensively, getting ready for an attack.

The creature snarled, and leaped at him. It was an expected move, yet still powerful. The wolf yokai was about 3x Donnie's size.

Donnie deflected the blow the wolf had attempted, using his bō end to smack the wolf yokai in the eye.

The wolf yokai let out a loud yelp, reeling back a few paces and rubbing its eye with its paw, whining.

Donnie winced, severely disliking the pained sound that the fuzzy gray creature had made.

The wolf stopped, turning back to Donnie and growling. It suddenly ran at him full speed, not giving him any reaction time before slamming its snout into his plastron and sending him flying into the arena wall.

He wheezed, falling to his knees as he gasped for air. He clutched his bō tightly, using it as support. That hadn't been expected, not at all.

The creature snarled again, running at the turtle once more.

Donnie managed to roll out of the way, the wolf slamming face first into the wall as a stream of cracks appeared.

He finally gained the air back into his lungs, and used that moment of distraction to make a fatal blow to the side, shifting his bō into a spear-like weapon. He plunged it into the wolf yokai's side, then slid it down, creating a long gash to the stomach.

He ripped his bō out of the creature as it fell to the ground in a heap of gray and red. Then stepped back a few paces to register what had happened. He suddenly felt bile make its way into his throat, threatening violently to come out. He attempted to resist the urge to puke and looked away, but he still had blood all over his bō, hands, and now, the arena floor.

He couldn't hold it in anymore, and let the insides of his stomach leak from his mouth and onto the ground. He leaned against the wall for support and took a breath, exhaling slowly. Then he noticed,

The crowd had fallen silent.

He looked up, people's faces in shock as they took in the violent scene in front of them. Then they erupted into cheers, whistles, and shouts of victory and triumph.

He smiled, then glanced into the large booth where Big Mama had sat. She smiled and nodded, leaving the booth and disappearing into the crowd.

He left the arena, waving nervously as he did. He wasn't used to this much attention. Is this how Leo constantly felt when he was given attention? Was Leo as nervous as he was? No, why would he even think that? It's Leo, he loves attention.

He met up with Big Mama in the med bay, as he got patched up from the minor wounds along his body.

"Great job my little turtley-boo! You did splendiferously! The crowd loves you!" Big mama smiled, arms spreading to motion to the screens showing the arena. The crowds were still cheering, and the wolf mess had been getting cleaned up.

He smiled, though still felt bad for the creature. He had killed it, and to make it worse, without a second thought. 

"Tomorrow's Nexus duel, you can choose! Isn't that exciting?" She smiled, clasping her hands together beside her face and twisting herself side to side ever so slightly.

He nodded, then turned to look at his hands, which were stained with small splotches of blood. It wasn't his blood, which he was thankful for. But it still made him sick to see.

Chapter Text

Donatello jolted awake the next morning. He realized he had fallen asleep at his desk, before noticing a blanket draped over his back. He figured it was one of the workers, as Big Mama was probably either asleep or had been at the Nexus monitoring and narrating the battles.

He stood, wrapping himself in the blanket tightly and yawning. He had no idea what to do at that point, so he just put his gloves and socks on, as well as his mask, and decided he would put the rest of the accessories on later. He curled up on the bed and fell asleep again.

He was awoken yet again, but this time someone was there, standing beside his bed. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at the figure, before he sat up. "Huh. . ?" He murmured, confused.

"Big mama sent me to come and get ya, your next battle is in twenty." The yokai said in a gruffy voice, before promptly walking out.

Donnie watched the yokai leave, then processed what they had said. His eyes widened and he quickly leaped out of bed, running over to the vanity and putting everything on. That took about 10 minutes alone, plus the additional 11 to make it to the meeting spot.

"Sorry I'm late!" He gasped, skidding to a halt before running into that large owl yokai guard. Donatello nervously rubbed the back of his neck and took a few steps away from the large bird.

The owlish man just glared at Donatello with his usual intimidating scowl.

"Yeah, yeah, save the apologies. You only got nine minutes. Get in there!" The other yokai standing by yelled. They pointed to the arena door.

"Scoff, how rude! It isn't my fault I wasn't given a set time to awaken from my indubitably comfortable slumber." Humph! He turned and walked into the small room, readying himself for the arena. He had previously chosen his opponent, he had decided to go for a hard one this time. He wanted to impress Big Mama with not only his tech, but his quick thinking and skillful fighting as well.

He heard loud roars of cheering from the arena stands. It was bright out in the arena, as per usual. It had to be, so there could be a good show. Donatello straightened his posture, rolling his shoulders back a few times to release tension. He cracked his neck and fingers, also releasing some tension. He sucked in a breath, before exhaling sharply and listened to the loud screeching of the gate.

He walked out into the arena, going to the exact place he had in his last duel. He clutched his bō tightly, awaiting what came through the opposing gate.

What came out was a large, squid-like creature. It towered over the turtle, glaring down at him as if it was examining him. 

He blinked, he hadn't known he would be fighting a squid. He glanced up at the VIP booth where Big mama and the rest of the VIPs sat. His attention quickly turned back to the squid creature. He sighed. Of course. . It just HAD to be squid?! He quickly sidestepped an oncoming tentacle and sliced it clean off. Slimy— disgusting, gross squid! The retractable naginata blade end of his bō was covered in a slimy clear substance and the squid's blood.

"Ew! Eewewew! Squid mucus!" He tried shaking the slimy, goopy substance off of his bō, but it didn't come off. "Oh I am so deep cleaning all of my tech when we finish!" He ran at the squid, using his bō to catapult himself at the face of the squid. He realized his mistake, though, and attempted to block the oncoming tentacle.

The tentacle slammed into his chest, full force. He was sent flying with a shout. "I'm too pretty and smart to diiiieee!-" He yelled as he fell.

He felt something wrap around his ankle, and he sighed. "God's dammit- WuAaA-" He was swung around, before he finally had enough and sliced off the tentacle that was wrapped around his ankle.

He fell, landing clumsily on the arena floor. He did stick the landing, though. He leaned on his staff coolly, as if that was intended.

The squid let out a gurgled screech, glaring down at the turtle. It extended its tentacles outward in all directions, and large black spikes suddenly emerged from them.

"Oh- COME ON! THE FUCKING SQUID HAS SPIKES?!" He swung his arms out to his sides dramatically, as if to focus everyone's attention on the squid yokai's new weapons.

Donnie let out an exasperated sigh, clicking a button on the bō and shifting it into a giant axe. "Fine. If it's a show the audience wants, it's a show you'll all get." He launched himself towards the squid yokai yet again. The two duked it out violently. Donnie had managed to slice off another tentacle, the squid had managed to land a nasty cut on his left eye, ripping some of the mask and splattering it with blood.

Finally, the squid grabbed the turtle, wrapping its tentacles around him like a snake. It slammed him into the arena wall with a loud boom. A large cloud of dust and debris erupted from where the turtle had landed.

The crowd fell silent, and there was a horrified look on Big Mama's face.

Suddenly the purple masked softshell launched from the dust cloud, axe held behind him.

The squid could barely keep up with the fast movements of the turtle, as it looked like a green and purple blur now. 

The turtle used his axe to propel himself towards the squid, delivering a nasty blow to the forehead.

The creature fell to the ground with a loud boom, shaking the arena slightly.

Donnie took a minute to catch his breath, shifting his bō back to its original form and using it to keep upright. His legs felt like jello all of a sudden, he could barely stay standing. 

He was exhausted, extremely exhausted. "Heh- how's that for a genius show-?" He suddenly collapsed onto the floor, bō landing beside him. The workers had to carry him to med bay.

—————

"Okay but how are we gonna slip past everyone without being caught? There is probably an extra high watch now, ever since that encounter with Draxum." Leo questioned.

"You right, you right. Hmmm. . . Maybe dad can help us! He's great at this ninja stuff." Raph suggested.

"Aww come on, Raph! We can do it! We've watched every Jupiter Jim and Lou jitsu movie over fifteen times! We know those moves and tricks like the back of our shells!" Mikey whined in protest.

"Yes, but it would also help to have an extra pair of hands in case everything doesn't go as planned." Raph countered.

"Well let's go find dad then, and get him to teach us some more. Maybe he can show us some secret moves!" Leo piped up, standing and punching air.

"Alright, it's settled. We get dad, have him teach us some new tricks, and we all come back here when we're ready." Raph pointed to the ground at the end of his sentence, indicating that this was the meeting spot.

"Let's make it quick, though. I don't want Donnie staying there longer than needed-" Mikey gulped.

"Relax, it's Donnie! I'm sure he's finding a way to hack into their systems or something. Who knows, he might have taken over the Nexus already." Leo laughed, knowing full well that's something Donnie would do if left alone.

"True-" Mikey nodded.

"Alright, well, let's head back. We gotta find dad and tell him the plan." Leo swung his sword in a circular motion, creating a large, magnificent blue portal in front of the turtles. "After you, boss man." Leo grinned.

Raph grinned back and patted his shoulder as he walked towards the portal. "Thanks, face man." He walked through, Mikey following close after and Leo going last.

—————

"Greetings, Mama." Donnie smiled, turning his head to face Big Mama.

"Oh my poor little turtley-boo! Are you alright?" She walked over, cupping his face in her hands and looking at his newly bandaged eye.

"Yeah, I'm fine mama. Just a scratch—" He replied, startled as she cupped his face.

"Oh, nopitty nope young sir!" She protested. "That is not just a scratch. You could have lost your eye!" She let go of his face and put her hands on her hips with a frown.

"No, I'm fine, really. It was a lucky shot. I won't let it happen again-" He replied nervously.

"Good, it better not. I wouldn't want my son to lose his eye."

He just nodded, looking down.

Her gaze softened, realizing she sounded pretty harsh. She softly rested her hand on his head, patting it gently. 

He turned his head again slightly, smiling at her.

She smiled back, then pulled her hand away. "Rest up, my little champion. There will be no dueling for you for a while." She turned and left.

He laid back, sighing as he stared at the white ceiling of the med bay. He slowly drifted off to sleep, his mind somehow clear for now.

—————

"For the last time boys, swing, kick, roll!" Splinter commanded, using a cane-like stick to adjust their posture as they trained. "You must learn quickly, your brother depends on it!"

The trio struggled to stay focused, their minds were constantly racing. Though they managed to relatively keep up in their training.

Relatively wasn't enough.

Splinter kept nitpicking at their form. He wanted it perfect, and he wanted it quick. There couldn't be any time wasted. "Straighten your posture, Orange! Be more flexible, Red!"

"Sorry, dad!" Mikey replied, quickly fixing his error.

"No apologies. Just do it." Splinter replied.

Mikey nodded.

They went at it for the next 4 hours and 25 minutes. By the time they were able to rest, it had already been near 1:00AM. They piled together, instantly falling asleep.

Splinter sighed, watching them fall asleep and turning away. He made his way towards the lab. He pushed open the metal door, which took a little time and effort due to it being manual. Usually it would be opened via Donnie's tech cuff.

He stepped into the room, being met with a sudden cold gust of wind. He shivered, looking around the dimly lit room. It was illuminated by violet purple LED lights, and was on medium setting. Splinter had some trouble seeing, with how dim it was, but managed to make his way towards D's desk. 

He sat down in the chair, picking up a picture frame that was neatly placed on the desk by the lower left monitor. Inside was a picture of the brothers, him, and April. Mikey was happily sitting on Raph's shoulder, Leo was striking a dramatic pose (as per usual), April was standing beside Splinter with her arm resting on his head and holding up a peace sign with the other hand. Donnie was at the front, as he was the one taking the picture. His robotic arm stretched across the bottom half of the image, starting from his battle shell. He stood, using two other robotic arms to pull his lips into a smile. His actual arms were crossed.

Splinter teared up, sliding his hand across the frame gently. He hugged the frame, beginning to sob.

Chapter Text

Splinter sat inside the lab, mourning his son's disappearance. He hadn't left in days unless to train his other sons, and he barely ate. He didn't feel like doing so. Raph and the others had to coax him out of the lab to eat on the 3rd day, as they were worried for his health.

He was scolded by Raph, (which was a first) to start eating more. He understood it would help keep his strength for when they went to save the purple-masked family member. Splinter hadn't done anything in the lab. He just stared at the picture frame for hours on end, as if expecting his fourth son to crawl from the frame at any moment.

He did not.

Splinter hadn't gotten much sleep, either. He hadn't been able to. He had nightmares, nightmares about what could have possibly happened to his genius son. Nightmares about what could happen to his other sons of the rescue went wrong. Nightmares about what is possibly happening to his son right now. . .

He jolted out of his thoughts, hearing a metallic door open behind him. He craned his neck to see the new arrival. It was Leonardo, he was holding a plate of what looked like pizza. . But- shaped differently and way thicker.

"Hey, Mikey made some Pizza Casserole. We ran out of some things in the pantry so he decided to improvise instead of just getting take-out. I think he's just trying to take his mind off of things." The blue masked turtle set the plate beside the rat mutant, sighing as he straightened back up.

"Thank you, Blue." Splinter thanked him.

"Yeah, no problem. . ." The slider replied, looking down at his feet as one arm gripped the other, his nails digging into his skin.

Splinter sighed and spread his arms out beside him.

Leo looked up, then paused for a moment to think. He suddenly gave in and accepted the gesture, hugging his father tightly and beginning to cry.

"W- what if we can't save Don—" He asked through heavy, choked sobs.

"My son, we will find him. We will save him, no matter what it takes. We will all be together again, as a family." Splinter reassured his crying son. He knew the boys were taking it harder than he was, as that was their brother. And he was sure Leo took it the hardest, as that was his twin.

"Okay— but a- are you sure. . ? What if—"

"No ‘what ifs, my son. Do not think about the what if's, think about the what will's." The rat mutant replied, interrupting his son's train of thought.

Leo nodded, then broke the hug. He sighed. "Can— can I sit with you for a while? I don't wanna go back out into the lair." The blue masked slider asked.

"Of course, my son. I'm sure we can find a chair—"

"No, I can stand. If I get tired I'll just sit on the ground or a table or something." Leo interrupted.

"Alright then." Splinter nodded.

The two sat in silence for a while, possibly thinking of what to say, possibly other things, too. Splinter set the frame down on the desk, right in front of the monitors. Leo looked up, his eyes suddenly widening at an idea he had.

The turtle quickly walked the few steps it took to get to the desk and gently moved the picture frame, flipping on the monitors and waiting for them to turn on.

"What are you doing, my son?" Splinter said in a startled tone.

"Donnie taught me how to access the tracking system from the computer in case of him not being available to. Maybe he put a tracker inside of himself, and if he did, I can locate him."

"What— so, you're saying we could find him without searching the entirety of the city?" Splinter blinked.

"Yes. And if I remember right. . ." He typed in the password, which he made a slight smile at. He was surprised he remembered, as Donnie often said he had memory problems. Or just selective memory. He wasn't sure which of the two it was. But now he was glad he hadn't forgotten the password yet. His hand glided across the keyboard, pressing the enter key after typing the password. He suddenly started pulling up files left and right until coming across one labeled "Tracking". A simple name, which he was glad about. Most of the other files were really complicated names or dumb little YouTube videos about pi and other mathy, geeky stuff. 

Splinter watched carefully as his son pulled up what looked to be a map. His eyes widened as he spotted four small dots of different colors in one spot. One was red, one was blue, one was orange, and one was brown. "Did purple put trackers on all of us?" He questioned.

"Yeah. . . Long story. I'll tell ya later- right now it's not important." He continued sliding the mouse across the map, trying to find the expected purple dot he was desperately hoping for.

He found nothing. 

The only other dot he saw was a yellow dot, which he assumed was April.

He suddenly found it. The purple dot, but it was in some sort of red zone, and it glitched out a lot. His eyes suddenly widened in horror.

Donatello was in the Mystic City.

The slider stepped away from the computer, his eyes holding a sense of terror he had never seen before.

"What, blue? What is wrong?" Splinter rose in panic.

"He- he's in the Mystic City. . ." Leo turned to his father, whose face shifted quickly.

"No, no, that is a dangerous place! Far too dangerous for him alone!"

"He isn't alone— he's at the Nexus." Leo gulped.

"But- but how? How would he arrive in the Mystic City? He doesn't even have a key." Splinter replied, a mix of confusion, fear, and worry washing over him.

"He must've taken the hotel way. That's the only other way any of us know—" Leo moved his hands around as he spoke, emphasizing what he said using those movements.

"So. . He willingly left us—?" Splinter suddenly realized, though said it as more of a question. "He must have been angry about something—"

"No, I can tell when he's angry. Twin senses, y'know? He was more lost in thought when we got back home that night. If anything, his face showed anything but anger." Leo reassured him.

"Well, I assume he went to defeat her on his own, seeing as some of his tech is gone." Splinter glanced around the quiet lab, spotting empty spaces where brilliantly built tech once lay.

"Yeah. . . And he must've been overpowered—" Leo glanced back to the screen, once again spotting the glitchy purple dot. It suddenly disappeared completely. His heart dropped to his stomach, and he teared up again. "No— nono, c'mon Donnie please tell me it's another glitch—" He murmured, pressing random keys in a desperate attempt at locating the purple dot. 

Nothing worked. The tracker indicator, and Donnie, were gone.

Chapter Text

It's been a little over a week since Donnie's departure and about three days since that nasty battle with the Squid yokai. He hadn't battled since then, but he has been going around New York collecting the oozequitos for Big Mama. It was hard since he did it solo. But he managed to catch a few in the past two days. He couldn't catch any at first, and was confused as to why.

On the fourth day of fighting in Nexus Battle, he made a huge error.

—————

Leonardo walked around the less-busy streets of New York, kicking cans and other pieces of trash out of his way. He was wearing a hoodie with its hood flipped over his head. The blue masked turtle was looking for something. Or rather, someone. Though with each turn he took, his hope quickly diminished. 

He angrily kicked a can at the wall, getting smacked in the face as it ricocheted off of the surface. He growled, picking up the can and readying to throw it. Something interrupted him mid throw, though. It was a sound. A very familiar sound.

The turtle once again got his hopes up, bounding towards the noise and spotting nothing. His expression fell, and he scowled, turning away and walking back towards the alleyway. Something suddenly whizzed past him. A mosquito. Though it was glowing a neon green at the abdomen, and it looked unusually large. He stumbled back, startled, as something larger blew past him as well. He turned his head, spotting- Donnie!

He sprinted after the bug and the turtle on the hovercraft, pulling out his phone and attempting to call the others. They didn't answer, much expected. The other brothers were most likely trying to get Splinter out of the lab again. Splinter never really used a phone.

He continued the chase, noticing his brother's once short mask tails had seemed a few inches longer. Not quite as long as Leo's or Raph's, but still noticeably long. He had also noticed the new wounds along the soft shell's body. He was confused but never faltered in his movements. He couldn't lose sight of his brother, not now. He was too close. I can’t lose him again. 

He was led to a dead end, though. There stood him and empty darkness, alone. He looked around, trying desperately to locate his twin. But nothing was there, and the softshell turtle was nowhere to be found. . No, nonono— No how could I lose him?! He was right in my line of sight!

The slider crumpled to his knees, silently cursing. He pounded his fists on the ground, hunched over as he felt his eyes sting and burn with unshed tears. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why didn't you call out to him or something?!

Just then, he heard it again, along with a faint yell of frustration. He looked up, spotting Donnie chasing and shooting at the mysterious bug. He quickly yanked out his phone and fumbled around until reaching the camera, before snapping a quick photo. As soon as he lowered the phone, the two were gone. Nothing but web goo lay splattered everywhere in their place.

He portaled home, running to the main quarters as quickly as his legs could take him. "Guys! Guys, I saw Donnie!"

"What?!" Raph suddenly turned, causing Mikey to nearly fall off of the snapper's back. 

"Yeah! I tried calling you guys, but you didn't answer!" Leo replied, a strong hint of attitude in his tone.

Mikey's face lit up, and he quickly scrambled off of his older brother's back. He stumbled over and gripped Leo's arms tightly. "How is he?—"

"He- well- I couldn't quite talk to him. From what I saw, he looked a bit different. I'll explain everything when dad is here to listen as well."

 Leo bit his lip nervously. He couldn't tell his younger brother what his third sibling looked like now or that he was working for Big Mama. Not yet. Everyone had to be there. 

The blue masked turtle just sighed and pulled his younger brother into a hug. "But what I can tell you right now is… he’s okay. He didn't seem to be much different personality-wise."

Mikey could only nod as he couldn't think of a response. He let his brother go, stepping back a few paces.

"Meet me in the lab when I text you. I know dad won't wanna leave. I'll give him a brief rundown if he'll let me and call you in when I'm done." He left. 

Leo entered the laboratory, the cold air uncomfortable against his skin. The room was dark, but he could make out the shape of his father sitting on a chair. Alone. He sighed, but pushed through the grief that clouded the air. "Hey, dad. I got some news about Donnie you might wanna hear—"

"Tell me! Tell me everything, son." The rat mutant quickly said, shifting in the chair and looking at his son expectantly.

Leo nodded, walking over and sitting on the table beside his father. "Let me text Raph, though. I'm sure they're waiting for me to text back—"

"Quickly! We mustn't wait any longer." Splinter urged.

Leo nodded again and pulled his phone out, tapping on the icon I'm the middle right of his contact list. He pressed the text bubble icon, typing something in before pressing send. He almost fell off the table when Raph burst in frantically. 

"I came as fast as I could, and made sure to bring Mikey. What's happened—"

"Just come over!" Leo interrupted, ushering him over.

Raph glanced at Mikey to make sure he was okay. He was, in fact, okay. He was just clinging onto Raph's shell for dear life. He nodded and walked to the other two. "So, what did you see?"

"Well. . When I first saw him, I was able to chase him for a few blocks while he was pursuing an oozequito on the bug slapper. Then I lost him. But I found him again trying to catch the oozequito bug he was chasing. I was able to get a blurry picture before he disappeared again." Leo explained, pulling up the picture he had taken and showing it to the others.

The picture was of Donnie on some sort of hovercraft in the bottom right of the image, high up in between the buildings. It was a blurry photo, so there weren't many details they could see that have changed on Donnie. The soft-shell mutant was clearly after the large glowing bug in the top left of the image.

"He isn't unwillingly doing it. He's- he's working for Big Mama—" Leo lowered his arm, shutting off his phone and setting it down beside him.

"So, he wasn't captured. That idea is out the window then." Raph sighed.

"Maybe he is doing it for something in return-?" Mikey muttered hopefully. His voice cracked, on the verge of tears. He still held that false hope that his brother was coming back and tried everything in his power not to think of what might have happened.

 "I must say he had had quite the wardrobe change, though." Leo said in a joking tone.

"Really?" Splinter glanced at Leo with a flat expression.

"What? Safe to say whoever did his outfit differently did a phenomenal job." Leo replied, a fake offended tone in his voice.

"What was so different?" Raph questioned.

"His mask tails were longer, I think his clothes were more- oh. Oh no. That wasn't a fashion choice—" Leo realized something, looking down slightly.

"What wasn't a fashion choice Leo?" Raph asked in a concerned tone.

The others looked at him questioningly, expecting an answer from the shocked brother.

"So- I forgot to mention—"

"Leo!!" Raph, Mikey, and Splinter growled.

Leo sighed. "His socks, mask, gloves, and elbow and knee pads were torn. His shell also looked different. I couldn't quite tell what other details there were, it was dark. But- but he had wounds. Wounds all over his body. And his eye. . . There was a big gash across his eye. It looked pretty nasty—" Leo looked up at everyone yet again, a hint of fear in his eyes for what might have happened to his twin.

“How could you have thought that was a fashion choice?” Raph asked in exasperation.

"Oh— how do you think. . ?" Mikey began.

"The Nexus." Splinter suddenly said. "I knew it. He's fighting for that woman in the Nexus!"

"And he's doing side jobs for her, as well—" Leo added.

"She's using him for labor work! And money!" Raph finished, scowling. His snaggletooth dug into his chin a bit.

Mikey didn't say anything. He just covered his ears and went into his shell. He was caught in Raph's arms. "No, he isn't! He wouldn't do that! Not for a cruel, mean woman like her!" He whined from inside the shell, trying to deny it.

"Mikey. ." Leo sighed. "You can't deny it any longer, little bro. You know it's true—"

"No, it's not! He's at home, in his room, sleeping! He isn't with Big mama, he isn't doing side jobs, he isn't hurt, and he isn't in that Horrible Nexus!"

They could hear choked sobs coming from the small box's turtles shell. They couldn't help much, as they knew he would persist.

“At least we know where he is now,” Raph said softly. “That’s a good thing, right?”

"Yeah, and maybe, just maybe, we could persuade him to come back. . ." Leo said, an idea coming on

—————

Donatello returned to the Hotel, finally having caught a large jar full of oozequitos. He was happy since he could present Big Mama with more gifts, as well as rid New York of more of the disgusting bugs.

He walked into his room and carefully set the jar of oozequitos in a large metal box-like container. He shut the container and waited to ensure the bugs hadn't escaped the jar. He hadn't heard anything change, so he walked over to his vanity, took off his battle shells and other accessories, including his mask, and lay back down on his bed. He couldn't help but think about what had happened earlier that day.

 That person was really interested in what I was doing— hopefully, they didn't— oh no. A realization struck him like a brick as he recalled the events of that day. He smacked himself in the head at his ignorance. That was Leo, you dum-dum! Why didn't you think of that before!? That's his favorite hoodie, and the person was green! I haven't contacted them at all— and I forgot to fix my phone! 

As it turns out, he had broken his phone while doing an experiment. He hadn't gotten around to finishing it due to being busy these past few days with other things.

Oh no, they— waitaminute. . why do I care? Because those are your brothers! What are you thinking, dum-dum!? You must message them back and now! Fix that genius-built high-quality self-coded device and message. Your. Brothers! The voices seemed to fight in his head. He was questioning every decision he made now. His head ached horribly, so he grabbed a bottle off of his nightstand and opened it, dumping two pills in his hand. Damn. . That's my last ibuprofen. I must be having a lot of headaches—

He took the medicine and laid back down. He turned his head to face the large desk that covered about ¼ of his room. On it was many different brilliantly-built tech. He sighed, spotting where his phone rested on a stack of metal. 

The genius sighed, turning his head back to face the ceiling. I'll just fix it tomorrow after my Arena match. . . He closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to a restless slumber. 

—————

Leo awoke quickly, feeling something touch his arm. He looked over, only to see that it was Mikey. He sat up, using one elbow to hold himself up. "Hey, Michael. . Why are you up so early? Or late- or— whatever." He yawned.

"I— I had a question. ." The box turtle asked, pulling his arm away to continue hugging what looked to be a stuffed turtle. 

"Ask away, Mikesters," Leo replied drowsily.

"Well— about Donnie—" He looked down at the floor. "Did- did he look healthy? Other than his wounds? Did he look malnourished or anything?"

Leo smiled, looking down at his brother. "Yeah, don't worry. I would have mentioned it if he did."

"Oh, yeah, you're right— alright then." Mikey nodded.

Leo nodded back, glancing at the clock that lie beside his bed. It was an hour and three minutes off, but he learned to tell the time correctly after D had told him that. It was 3:21AM, but it appeared as 2:19AM. "Well, I'd get to bed, little bro. Don't wanna be tired when we rescue our brother."

"Okay—" The orange box turtle replied solemnly. He turned to leave.

Leo sighed softly. "Wanna sleep with me tonight? I know you don't like sleeping alone when stressed." He offered.

Mikey turned, smiling and nodding. He waddled over and clambered into bed, taking the space beside Leo and shifting himself under the covers. "Thanks, Leon."

Leo turned and rested his head on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling. "No problem. I figured it would be better than trying to sleep with Raph with his snoring." He chuckled.

The blue turtle sat in silence for a few seconds, then spoke again. "So why did—" He turned his head to face his brother, who was sleeping silently, tightly hugging the stuffed turtle. He chuckled lightly, turning his head back and closing his eyes. He drifted off to sleep as well.

Chapter Text

Donatello had stayed up the entire night, his mind racing 100 miles per hour. Shit. Shit shit shit— Leo saw me— worst of all, he took a picture, now he knows— Why didn't I just grab his phone and delete the image? That's what someone who was smart would do!

His thoughts continued to race, which caused a large headache to begin. He held his head, sitting on his bed with his knees to his chest. He leaned against the headboard of the bed, clenching his teeth. He had made a huge mistake. Now Leo knew where he was, and he knew he was working for Big Mama. What a dum-dum!

The genius's train of thought was abruptly interrupted as Big Mama walked in and sat on the bed beside him.

"Are you alright, purpley-boo?" She questioned softly, resting her hand on the soft-shells shoulder.

"Y- yeah. . I'm fine—" He nodded, lifting his head. "Just a headache. . . That's all." He reassured her.

She didn't believe him, though she didn't want to push any boundaries. She nodded back. "Well, if you're up for it, the audience requested to see you duel again. You surely don't have—"

"I'll do it." He interrupted. "I don't have much to do now anyways. Unless it's fixing my phone."

Big Mama nodded, smiling. "Splendiferous, there is a slot for the early morning and the evening; which would you like?"

"I'll take both; why not? It'll make the audience happy, and you get more money." Donnie decided.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want you overdoing it." She replied.

"I'm sure. Like I said, I don't have much to do, anyway. I'll be careful, too." Donnie glanced at the desk full of multiple finished projects and small scraps. His phone still lay in its original place.

Big Mama nodded. "Alrighty, I'll get that set up then. You might want to get some sleep, you don't want to be tired during the duel." She smiled, patting him on the shoulder and getting up.

"Alright, Mama. As you wish." He carefully slid under the covers of his full-sized mattress. He had already taken off his accessories earlier, so he wasn't worried about having to take them off.

Big Mama leaned over the mattress, kissed him on the forehead, and left the room. She shut the door behind her quietly.

The turtle mutant closed his eyes, attempting to sleep. It didn't work. His mind had started racing again, though not as fast. He was still overwhelmed, though. His eyes shot open, and he stared at the wall. His head began to throb after about 35 minutes. He sat up, rubbing his temples and groaning, annoyed.

He tried to think of something to do. New project, maybe? Nevermind, no ideas. Fix the phone, perhaps? Nope. Definitely not, don't want to see all of the notifications he would likely have from his worried brothers.

He decided, finally, that he would just lay down and stare up at the ceiling. Perhaps his thoughts would keep him busy, it seemed to work already. He spent the next 6 hours staring blankly at the ceiling.

—————

Leonardo sat up, grabbing his phone drowsily off of the nightstand and glancing at the time. 4:45 A.M. It was morning. He turned to see if Mikey was still there, which he was. The younger box turtle was asleep, sprawled out in unusual positions. That's how Mikey usually slept, which usually concerned people. Leo stood, walking over to the door of his room and opening it as silently as possible.

He walked out, shutting the door behind him and walking to the kitchen. He boiled some water in his kettle, opening the cabinet and glancing at the contents. His eyes fell on a purple mug, which had a PI symbol on it. He sighed, reaching for the mug beside it. 

The mug he grabbed was a bright blue, with two red rhombuses on either side. He set the cup down, turning off the stove and grabbing his kettle. He poured the hot water into the dish, steam rising from the top. He turned to a small box sitting on the counter by the stove, and grabbed a tea bag from it. He dunked the bag into the water and let it soak.

He waited as his bitter drink steeped, letting out a quiet yawn. He glanced over towards the Lounge, seeing a dim light emit from the cracks of the door. He turned back to his tea, sighing and gently picking the mug up by the handle. He walked towards the door, slowly beginning to hear the low hum of the T.V. from the other end.

He twisted open the handle, walking in and shutting the door behind him. He walked over, turning to his Father's chair. The rat wasn't in there, which startled him. Why was the T.V. on, then? He looked around, only to see April and Raph sleeping on the floor by the couch. Raph had his arm around April as she slept with her head resting on his shoulder and the space between his arm and plastron.

Leo grinned slightly, sipping his tea and draping a large blanket over the two before leaving. He went to the Lab, sliding open the door carefully so as to not make noise. He noticed splinter asleep in the chair, the picture frame held in between his arms as if hugging it. The red eared slider walked over, setting his tea down on the desk and carefully pulling the frame from The rat's grasp.

He looked down at the picture, smiling softly. He set the frame down and went to grab a blanket for his dad, returning a short while later and draping it over the rat. He left yet again and went back into his room.

—————

Big Mama walked through the carpeted corridors of her hotel, every so often glancing at the decorations on the walls. She made her way into her bedroom, changing into her nightgown and removing her makeup. She sighed as she climbed into bed, pulling the covers over her and closing her eyes.

She was restless throughout the entire night. She would wake up to nothing, have nightmares about something bad happening to Donnie, and even felt someone tap her on the shoulder a few times. She couldn't sleep soundly whatsoever, and she shivered. The room was unusually cold that night, causing her to shiver half of the night.

She awoke the next morning about an hour earlier than normal, sitting up and removing the covers. The room was still pitch black, as it was before she had gone to bed the previous night. She got up, feeling around for the light until finally flipping the switch. She sighed, walking over to her bathroom and looking in the mirror. 

She yawned, ripped the page off of a daily affirmation calendar she had bought a while ago. This days affirmation read 

"You're doing great, keep it up soldier."

She smiled at the words, then began getting herself ready. She got herself dressed, did her makeup, and left the room. She strolled through the corridors, making her way towards her son's room. She walked up to the door, noticing it was the same as when she had left it the previous night.

She carefully turned the handle, pushing the door open ever so slightly. The lights weren't on. Yet she could hear faint mumbling coming from inside the pitch black space. She quickly walked in, going over to the bed and spotting the soft shell curled into himself tightly. He seemed to be holding his head.

She gently tapped him, which startled the poor turtle. "Are you alright purpley-boo—?" She asked softly.

"Y- yeah— yeah I am. . Just a headache, that's all—" He mumbled back, glancing over and noticing her concerned look. "Sorry to worry you—" He added as he turned his head away.

"It's quite alright, my little turtley-boo." She reassured him. "Would you like some ibuprofen for that headache?" She asked shortly after.

"If it isn't too much trouble—" He replied quietly, still in that side fetal position on the bed. 

She nodded and left for a minute, returning shortly after with a pill bottle and some water in hand. "Here you are"

The terrapin slowly removed his hands from his head, sitting up and accepting the medicine and water. He swallowed the pills down, followed by a big gulp of water.

He returned the now empty cup of water to Big Mama, who took it gently and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks, Mama."

"No problem at all, purpley-boo. Now you must get ready for your Nexus battle in an hour. I will be waiting outside your dimbly door for you." She turned and left.

He just nodded and got himself ready, his thoughts finally easing.

—————

Leonardo awoke yet again a few hours later, yawning loudly. He sat up, scratching an itch on his neck and turning to see if Mikey was up. The orange masked turtle was gone. He shrugged and stood, grabbing his coffee mug and leaving towards the kitchen.

He walked in, spotting the smaller box turtle hard at work cooking everyone breakfast. He noticed April and Raph sitting at the bar counter and talking. Splinter had finally left the lab and was sitting at another stool at the bar counter.

The blue masked turtle washed his cup out, returning it to its spot in the cupboard and shutting the door. He turned to the box turtle, leaning down to see what he was cooking. "Whatcha makin', hermano?" He asked curiously.

"Eggs and bacon with a side of some fruits and veggies." The box turtle exclaimed cheerfully. "Gotta stay healthy for when we save Dee."

Leo nodded, standing straight again. He walked over to the others, sitting in his bar stool. "Sup, all." He said, glancing between each one of them.

"Sup, Leo" Raph smiled.

"Sup Leon!" April turned to the blue masked slider.

"So, talking about anything interesting?" Leo asked curiously.

"Nah, not really. Just random stuff, to be honest." April shrugged.

"Ah, and what about you dad?" Leo turned to his father.

"Eh, just— thinking." The rat mutant replied tiredly.

"Hmm. . I would ask what about but I think I have a pretty clear idea." Leo responded.

The rat grunted in response and turned to look at the picture frame he had been holding. How had Leo not noticed that when he walked in?

The slider smiled, then looked up. "So last night I got an idea of how we can save Donnie."

Mikey paused, turning to Leo with a hopeful expression. "Really?"

"What is it?" Raph finished, his brow ridge raising.

"What if we find a way into the arena itself? We can find what time he's fighting and trade places with the opponent. Then, when we are sent out, we can try and persuade him to come home." Leo suggested optimistically.

"Yeah but what if he tries. . Y'know—" Raph tried.

"Fighting us? C'mon, he may have been there for weeks but he wouldn't try attacking us. At least give the guy some credit." Leo rolled his eyes. Though Raph was right, what if he did try fighting them? What would they do then? Surely they can't hurt him or that will make him not want to return even more.

Leo shook the thought off, returning to reality as April started talking.

"Well then we'll let him. He isn't that strong, and if we take his bō away he won't be able to do much. It's five to one." She said,

"True but what if Big Mama calls backup?" Raph asked.

"Well then we'll figure it out! We gotta save Donnie, no matter what. We can't stay here and keep coming up with plans! Our brother is out there, possibly getting hurt right now, and we are doing nothing about it!" Mikey suddenly snapped.

Everyone turned to him, yet he continued.

"He could very well be in the arena right now fighting for his life! And all we're doing is sitting around like it's nothing! You know he's the weakest out of all of us, and the most vulnerable! What if his battle shell breaks? He doesn't have another one with him! And I doubt Big Mama would let him build another one. We gotta save him. And we gotta do it now!" The young box turtle exclaimed furiously.

Chapter Text

Raphael snuck around the busy buildings, making sure everyone was following him. It was evening, now. They decided that they would walk in and make a proposition to the spider woman. Surely she wouldn't pass it up. . . Right?

They made it to the hotel with ease, then walked in. They had flashy, poorly designed human disguises with some over the top accessories. They walked into the establishment, going right up to the front counter.

Leonardo had on a bright baby blue dress and a ton of makeup, and one of those slightly darker blue feather boas were gently wrapped around his neck and over his shoulders. He had on a long, blonde wig. The slider wore pointed high heels, which were that same shade as the boa. His sword was hidden in the dress.

Raphael had on a simple torn black hoodie, with a bright red vest over it. He wore black combat boots as they were more durable than regular ones. He had on the biggest shoe size the store could offer, although it was still two sizes too small. His hood was flipped over his head, and his hands were in his slightly-too-small pockets. His tonfās were hidden in his sweatpants pockets.

Michelangelo had on a white shirt, with a black leather jacket on top. He wore a slightly too big black pair of pants on. One of those pants that had multiple really durable pockets all on the legs. His kusari-fundo in one of the larger pockets of the pants. He wore combat boots like raph, but they were ones with spikes on the bottom. He also had a black fedora with a white hat-band. No one questioned why he chose this outfit, or how he got it.

Splinter wore a flashy, colorful jumpsuit. It was bright orange and blue, and looked much like the one he had as his former self, Lou-Jitsu. He had on hideous yellow triangle-lens glasses and tall boots. No one had the heart to tell him those were actually ankle-height boots to humans. They didn't wanna ruin his flashy moment.

"Hello my good sir, we would like to speak to Big Mama." Leo said, trying to use his (horrible) 'ladylike' voice.

The front desk worker lifted his head, cocking an eyebrow. "Big Mama's busy. You would have to book an appointment."

"Oh, but sir. It's about the N-E-X-U-S-S" Leo replied with a wink.

"There's only one S, Leo." Raph rolled his eyes.

Leo gave a stubborn scowl to Raph, then turned his attention back to the front desk worker.

The worker nodded, then called a security guard over.

Leo turned to the others and made a small thumbs up, sporting his annoyingly cocky grin.

Raph just rolled his eyes.

They were led to the elevator, letting some humans out before everyone piled in. The security guard pressed a button, the elevator shifting in both shape and color. This would amaze the turtles, no matter how many times they would be in it. (Hopefully it wouldn't be that many)

They waited, glancing over at the security guard, who had turned into some sort of snake yokai. Leo fiddled with his wig, thinking about whatever while humming a quiet tune.

Mikey and Raph were lost in thought, still worried for their long lost brother.

Splinter was anxious, which was quite unusual. Usually Mikey was the anxious one. Or even Raph sometimes. But never splinter.

The rat mutant fiddled with his claws, tapping his foot anxiously. Why won't this elevator hurry up! He thought. And just in time, the elevator came to a stop. A loud ding was heard as the doors slid open. 

They filed out one after another. The family followed the snake yokai, glancing around at the frames and trophies that lined the walls. 

Creepy. . . Leo thought with a shiver.

They stopped at two large double doors. They glanced up at them, realizing that the doors reached all the way to the ceiling. They looked back down, seeing the guard press a button and mumble something into some sort of speaker above it.

The guard turned. "Just a minute, Big Mama's busy with something." He said.

They just nodded.

"I suggest you take off the disguises. You look quite— stupid." The guard retorted.

Leo gasped dramatically. "How dare you! I look fabulous!" He flipped his hair, scoffing and crossing his arms as he looked away indignantly.

The guard blinked, looking at the others with an 'is he always like this?' expression.

Raph nodded, facepalming. "Leo. Stop being so dramatic, you have plenty more back home."

"Well this one is my favorite!" Leo replied stubbornly.

The two bickered for a few minutes, Mikey and Splinter standing to the side solemnly. The guard turned his head back to the speaker as he heard a voice come from it.

"You may enter." The guard spoke up.

The older brothers stopped what they were doing and began walking towards the door. Mikey and Splinter followed closely.

"Ahh! My other turtley-boos! Come to join me as well?" Big Mama spoke, sitting in her chair with her arms spread out and humming excitedly.

Leo, Mikey, and Raph glared at the spider woman angrily.

Splinter stepped forward, clearing his throat. "Greetings. . Big Mama—"

"Ooh! And a little rat friend as well?" She interrupted curiously, looking down at the rat mutant.

"Eh— no. Not exactly. But I need not to explain myself to you. I have a proposition for you." Splinter responded firmly.

"Oooh! A proposition you say? Please continue." She grinned, leaning forward a bit to listen.

"Let my son go and I will join back into your Nexus. I can be your champion once again." Splinter offered.

"Son? Champion? But I already have a champion. The crowd positively loves him! See?" She motioned to a screen that hung on the wall, which showed the soft-shell brother fighting what seemed to be a lobster looking yokai pretty intensely.

Splinter scowled as he watched the young turtle dodge multiple attacks from his opponent. "I am Lou Jitsu, do you not remember me?" He growled.

"You can't be, Lou Jitsu is a human. And you are. . A rat." Big Mama countered.

"Ugh. . . I didn't want to have to say this but. . It is true, my sassy sugar badger. . . ." He mumbled regretfully.

Big Mama sat in shock, blinking. As did the others. Although the turtles just looked more concerned.

"Lousie-poo. . Is it really you?" She asked suddenly.

"Yes. Long story. I don't want to talk to you more than I have to. Will you accept my offer?" He replied.

"Hmmm. . . Well this dimbly-does turn things around now, doesn't it? Although, that is my son you would be taking. I wouldn't want to lose my little champion." She seemed to scrunch her face, as if thinking.

Leo scowled at the spider woman, his eyes narrowed. She did not just call Donnie her son. He thought, then glanced over at the screen. The two opponents in the arena still seemed to be fighting. Although he could tell they were tiring quickly.

"Oo! I have an even better idea!" She grinned. "Oh guards! Pretty-please take them to the dimbly-dungeons. And get them out of these hideous disguises." She smiled.

Splinter's eyes widened as he turned, seeing the others get dragged off. They resisted, but failed. "You leave them out of that stupid arena! They are but children!" He snapped.

"Yes, but skilled fighters indeedy!" She responded. Then watched Splinter get dragged off as well. She blew him a kiss before he turned the corner.

"Damnit! Our chance at helping Purple failed! Now what will we do?!" Splinter yelled, slamming his fist into the wall out of anger.

"Relax guys! This is gonna be a piece of cake. We'll just wait here until our Battle comes and bounce after we defeat the guy!" Leo spoke up, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Leo. They'll most likely send us out one by one. How will we escape if we are separated?" Raph responded.

"I dunno, maybe we pick a meeting spot and after each battle we—"

"It's not gonna work, Blue!" Splinter snapped. "This arena is always under maximum security, especially during battles!"

"Well excuse me for trying to make a plan!" Leo responded, attitude clear in his voice.

Raph turned to Mikey, who sat against the wall with his knees to his chest. He rolled a rock in his hands as he rested his head on his knees. "Hey, Mikey. You seem like something is on your mind. What is it?"

The younger turtle turned to the snapper, his watery eyes now clearly visible. "What if- what if she makes us fight Donnie. . ?" He asked slowly.

Everyone froze, and the cell went silent. 

"Or, what if she makes Dad fight Donnie for the official champion spot—?" He added.

"That won't happen, bud. Why would she do that?" Raph questioned.

"Because she likes fighting. . . It's possible she will. Even if she considers him—"

"Don't you dare say that word, Mikey." Leo suddenly growled. "You know she doesn't mean it when she does. And she had barely had him for a month! Or- or was it two? I lost count, but still! He is dad's son! Not that crazy, bitchy arachnid's!" He snapped.

Everyone stared at him. They saw a fury in him they hadn't seen at all in him in the past. Why was he so suddenly showing it now? Mikey sunk into his shell slightly.

"What? Why is everyone looking at me?" He asked, his tone ever so slightly more normal.

"You- it's just-" Raph couldn't find a correct way to say it. "You've been different, Leo. Like a switch between your normal self and— whatever just happened." He decided.

"Yeah, well I'm not too thrilled with my brother being out in that death arena with a large crowd constantly watching over him while he gets hurt. I saw that screen. That lobster is almost twice his height. And they were both tiring out." Leo replied matter-of-factly.

"While you are right, maybe you shouldn't snap at Mikey. It isn't his fault she could be brainwashing our brother and making him believe she's his mom." Raph replied.

"Yeah. . I guess you're right— sorry Mikey." Leo sighed.

Mikey went to respond, but was suddenly interrupted by loud footsteps coming towards their cell.

The owl yokai stopped in front of their cell, turning to them with a grunt. Another, much smaller yokai appeared from behind the bird-man and cleared his throat. "Your first battle will be in twenty. You better be ready to choose your weapons in ten." The two walked off.

Everyone turned to each other, each letting out a small sigh.

"Who d'ya think will be going first?" Raph asked.

"Didn't you hear? We all are." Leo responded.

"Oh no. . But I didn't see Donnie in a cell anywhere— What if he's seriously injured or- or worse! What if he—" Mikey began, but was interrupted yet again.

"Orange, he wouldn't be in a cell. All of them are full and this is the only prison in the Nexus. And he could very well just be in the med-bay. All champions get to go to the med-bay when injured after a battle." Splinter reassured his panicking son.

"Yes but what if—" He began again.

"Mikey, he isn't dead. He's tougher than that. You know he wouldn't let himself die to some imitation crab, dude." Leo sighed. He wasn't making as many jokes as they had expected. They knew even his joking wasn't helping him or anyone else.

Mikey just nodded, looking back down at the ground.

Time went by about as fast as a snail. It felt like an eternity before the 10 minutes were up, and even longer when they waited in their starting cell. They were allowed to use their weapons, which was a relief. Well, a relief to everyone but Leo. He couldn't use his portals much, as he didn't fully know how to work them yet. He was worried if he did he might get sent someplace random like Egypt or something.

The slider sighed, looking down at his sword disappointedly. Why am I the only one who can't use my magic weapon correctly? Mikey learned pretty fast for the most part and Raph can make his Mystic fists easily now. Why can't I make my portals? His thoughts were interrupted as the quiet screeching of the cell door lifting had snapped him into reality.

Everyone walked out, and their hearts sunk to their stomachs.

Their opponent was Donnie.

Chapter Text

"Mikey was right. . ." Raph muttered, staring in disbelief at the purple masked softshell in front of them.

"Well, by the looks of it, he doesn't look like he knew about this either." Leo scowled, glancing at the crowds that Roared intensely. He turned his attention back to the twin, who stood there in shock, and maybe even a hint of horror.

Donatello stared, definitely horrified with who his mother had chosen as his opponents. He stepped back, eyes widened and body starting to tremble lightly. No— no this cannot be happening— Mama why did you have to do this— He thought.

Suddenly the speakers made a screeching noise, indicating they were being turned on. A voice erupted from the dark boxes. "Welcome, welcome! How splendiferous to see you all today! It is quite a special duel this evening, as our champion will be fighting against—"

"Big Mama! I don't wanna do this—" Donatello suddenly burst out. He looked up at the VIP booth, eyes showing just how jumbled his emotions were at the moment. The young terrapin fought back the urge to throw down his weapon, but something in him told him that wouldn't be a good idea.

Leonardo tensed up at those words, clutching his sword like a lifeline. 'Tello. . she's brainwashing you— Why can't you see that she's brainwashing you!?

Raphael stepped forward, clearing his throat to grab the attention of the genius younger sibling. "Donnie, why don't you come home. I'm sure we can figure out what's going on and why you are acting this way—"

"Silence, Raphael!" Donnie snapped, which was unusual. His head snapped towards the older sibling, who stood with a slightly startled expression. The younger turtle suddenly winced, clutching his head and stumbling back a few steps. His migraines were getting worse, and it didn't help that he had a possible concussion from the previous duel with the lobster yokai.

He sidestepped an oncoming attack from the lobster's large pinchers. He failed to notice the tail heading straight for his head. When he had finally noticed, it was too late. He felt his head hit the ground with a loud bang, his head ringing for a minute or two after. He attempted to sit up, his head throbbing with this severely uncomfortable pain. He returned an attack when the lobster was distracted in his celebration.

Raph went to help his younger brother as he stumbled back, but was cut off by the loud voice in the speakers again.

"Oh, my little purpley-boo! Don't worry, I'll help you!" The speakers suddenly cut out, and the spider woman disappeared, only to reappear, launching herself into the arena behind Donnie. She noticed his unwell condition and her demeanor immediately softened. "Oh, little purpley-boo are you alright—?"

"I'm fine! I'm fine—" Donnie replied, standing up straight despite his head screaming in protest. The ground began rumbling, the crowd going silent. He suddenly tensed again, whipping around and facing towards the area behind Big Mama. "Everybody get down!!" He screeched, running behind Big Mama and spinning his tech bō, which turned into some sort of metal shield for everyone up to a few feet behind him.

The brothers, splinter, and Big Mama didn't protest. They all laid on the ground on their stomachs, covering their most vulnerable places. The most common one being the neck and head. Raph shielded the other two turtles and Splinter with his body for added protection.

Suddenly, the wall in front of the young turtle burst open, debris flying everywhere. The shield had protected them all from the oncoming rubble quite easily, it was the vines that followed that had been the issue.

Large, veiny purple-pink vines erupted from the earth at an alarming speed, shattering the shield as soon as they made contact. Donnie staggered back, being stopped by Big Mama's hand before he fell. He stared at his, quite possibly, completely destroyed piece of tech in shock as everyone else stood up, getting into defensive positions.

He looked back up, spotting the large figure of what looked to be. . . Draxum? He quickly pressed a button on his bō, watching it struggle but eventually shift into its naginata form. He noticed the outer shell of the bō was cracked, and pieces were missing, but it should hold for at least a little while longer. It had to. That was his only way of protection other than his battle shell. He was useless without it, especially since he had no tech cuff to assist him as well.

The sheep man stepped down from his viney platform and onto the arena floor with a metallic thump. He looked down at them all with a monotone expression, then signaled something to Huginn and Munnin, the goyles on his shoulders.

Everyone got ready, as this would surely not be an easy battle.

"Pathetic worms, I assumed you'd be better than this. Baron Draxum is severely disappointed in you all." He locked eyes with Donnie for a split second, before Donnie tore his gaze away. The alchemist only scoffed lightly at the gesture, looking at the others, who now stood beside Big Mama and D.

"Oh, shut up you annoying goat! Why are you here anyway?" Leo glared daggers at the alchemist, a scowl prominent on his face.

"Baron Draxum needs not to explain to such pathetic creatures, so I'll spare the details. I have come for my experiments, and for my oozequitos." The sheep man replied. A vine appeared from behind him and handed him the jar of oozequitos that Donnie previously had in his room in the metal box.

"Hey! Those are property of Big Mama and I, I collected them fair and square!" Donnie snapped, stepping forward. He clutched his bō tighter, angry that the sheep man had invaded his room like that and taken something that was now rightfully his.

"Subject V, silence." Draxum hissed. "These are mine, you have stolen them from me. I am simply retrieving them."

Subject V. . ? Donnie thought, confused. "You broke into my room and stole those! They were mine, as I had collected them earlier this month!" He countered.

"Good, you did all of the work for me." Draxum replied, his tone unchanged.

Leo was confused, and could see everyone else was just as confused as he was. Well, everyone but Big Mama. How he hated Big Mama. . That stupid grin that was always on her face, that stupid catchphrase she has, everything about her he hated. But was it truly hatred? Or was it. . Anger? Perhaps, jealousy? But what would he be jealous about? Sure she had riches and fame, and had passed that to Donnie, who now was a champion of the Nexus in just two months. 

Perhaps he was jealous, not of her, but of Donnie. He got to have everything Leo had always wanted in his life. Fame, fortune, cool nicknames, probably a luxury room with a bed three times the size he needed. Wow, he never thought he would be jealous, let alone of his twin. The one who constantly blew things up when he made wrong calculations, the one who was deathly afraid of beach balls, the one who can't even break a piece of fruit with his Tech. He never thought he would be jealous of Donnie. Not at all. . .

He was suddenly jolted from his thoughts, blinking as he felt himself be dragged down to the floor by Splinter. There were vines and rubble flying everywhere, everyone else fighting with all they had while Draxum just stood there deflecting the attacks with an amused look.

"Blue, do you think you can portal us out of here?" The rat mutant spoke, worry clear in his voice.

"No— I don't know how to do it correctly yet and I don't wanna mess it up—" He replied. He wasn't sure as to why he had just given an explanation. He knew his dad wasn't listening. Completely understandable.

"Alright, then we will have to do this the hard way. ." Splinter jumped up and began running to help the others. The rat mutant was quickly carried off by the goyles, though. They started duking it out on the other end of the arena.

Leo stood, picking his sword back up from where it landed when he was tackled and running to help the others.

Big Mama launched her web goo at Draxum, but it was deflected by the vines, then usually followed with a counter attack.

Raph and Mikey were using their mystic powers, even though Mikey didn't completely have control over the glowy kusari-fundo. Raph didn't worry about his own Mystic abilities, though. He used his magic red fists to punch right through the vines, running at Draxum with a grin. "Hot- soup!" The snapper yelled out, fist coming down towards the alchemist's head.

Leonardo blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw Raph tumbling halfway across the arena with a groan. The snapper quickly regained himself, though, and went to join them yet again. Leo sighed in relief, grinning and raising his sword. He began slicing through vines with ease. They shriveled and turned to pink dust as he did so. Hm. Interesting. . He thought, slicing one in half and watching it shrivel to a skinny thing. Then, to dust. 

Donatello sliced through the vines with his naginata, blocking oncoming ones from hitting the others as best as possible. He hadn't seen one, though, and it grabbed him, dragging him to the floor and nearly causing him to drop his weapon. He fumbled around with the naginata for a minute until swinging the blade down onto the weird mystic-plant.

Michelangelo swung his kusari-fundo around, wrapping it around large bundles of vines and slicing right through them. He flipped and spun as he dodged the vines, seeming to return to his happy-go-lucky self as he fought.

Raphael returned to help them, punching through more vines and making his way closer to the sheep man. Splinter joined him, both fighting alongside one another. The rat man had been able to knock the goyles unconscious temporarily.

Suddenly, the vines stopped attacking. Draxum stood there expectantly, as if anticipating their next move.

No one hesitated, and they all ran at the alchemist haphazardly. Suddenly, a giant bundle of vines erupted from the ground beneath them, tangling them and leaving them immobile as they suspended around twenty four feet in the air. They struggled, but failed to break free.

Donnie looked up from his sitting position where he was dragged, and his eyes widened. He quickly went to help them, but saw some vines start to creep up on him from the corner of his eye. He dodged them, sprinting towards the vine pillars where his family hang.

The soft-shell readied his naginata, drawing it back it to slice a pillar, but was quickly interrupted by a voice.

"Subject V, the most weak- yet smart one of the bunch," Draxum spoke up.

Donnie wasn't sure where he was going with that sentence, but he didn't want to find out. He pressed a button on his bō, feeling it shift into something heavier. He grinned, now holding what seemed to be a sledgehammer in hand.

Draxum scoffed, yet his face didn't change.

This'll teach you not to fuck with my family. The terrapin thought, scowling. He ran at the alchemist, ready to swing his weapon when he suddenly felt himself get yanked back quite a few feet, falling onto the ground with an oof! Sound.

He went to sit up, but was pushed back down by a hoof. He went to push it off when he began feeling the pressure increase on his plastron. He struggled, desperately attempting to remove it from his chest.

"Donnie!!" Leo yelled, yanking his arms from the vines with an alarming amount of strength. He ripped his odachi out, cutting the rest of the vines off of himself and climbing down towards the ground. His arms and legs burned, it seems some of the vines had wounded him and he hadn't noticed. He jumped down, landing and running at them. He heard Donnie cry out in pain, and tensed more. He shouldn't hear that, he shouldn't hear his brother in pain. He angrily slammed into the sheep man's side, sending him stumbling and attempting to regain himself.

He went to help Donnie, reaching a hand out to help him up. The soft-shell took it, accepting the help as he held his other hand to his chest with a wince. Leo frowned, hoping it wasn't bad.

The soft-shell picked his sledgehammer up, turning towards where Draxum would have been. Wait— where did he go?

The alchemist appeared behind them, kicking Leo into the wall with a large amount of force.

Leo yelped as he hit the wall, a large web of cracks appearing behind him from the impact. He fell to his knees, going into a coughing fit.

Donnie felt his blood boil at that moment. He turned to Draxum, eyes blazing with fury. He, without thinking, swung the hammer at the sheep man's head, sending him flying across the arena and into the wall.

He ran at him, jumping and pummeling the alchemist with his tech weaponry out of pure rage.

Leo lifted his head, trying to process what had happened. He suddenly realized Draxum was distracted and ran towards the vine pillars, swinging his odachi at them and slicing them clean at the base. They all slowly shriveled and turned to dust, dropping everyone. He panicked, creating a portal for them to fall into. They appeared through another one a few feet away. I did it! He smiled. His joy was short lived, though, as he heard a yell of pain come from the direction of the two dueling opponents.

He turned, watching in horror as his twin brother was slammed into the arena floor with such force he bounced off. He could hear the clear cracking sound of his brother's battle shell. It shattered— The soft-shell tumbled a few feet away. He ran towards the two, realizing everyone else was following when he heard footsteps behind him.

He angrily swung his odachi at Draxum, seeing nothing but red as he blindly attacked.

The others had helped, but Draxum's vines hadn't been doing them any favors. 

Donnie sat up, watching as big mama, splinter, and his brothers fought off Draxum. He used his bō to help him stand, then winced as he felt his chest start to hurt badly. He looked down, seeing a large crack across the top middle of the plastron. He looked up again, spotting Mikey being thrown by a vine. He ran to help them all, trying to ignore the immense amount of pain he was in. His family was in trouble, and he needed to help them. They would lose if they didn't have his tech to help them. And it would be all his fault.

He pressed a button on his bō, which shifted into a sort of missile launcher. He aimed it at Draxum, who was distracted with the others. He pressed the button and watched as the missile hit the sheep man directly in the chest. Draxum was sent flying, the added explosion from the missile creating a hole in the arena wall. He ran over to everyone, checking to make sure they were okay. They were. He sighed in relief, but that relief didn't last long before he watched everyone get snatched by a bunch of vines, struggling to get free as they were pinned to the floor. He gasped, winced, then turned his attention to the hole. The sheep man stepped out, wiping some blood from his mouth. "Lucky shot, big mistake." He growled.

"Let everyone go, and I won't hurt you more than I already plan to." Donnie snapped

"Baron Draxum doesn't take orders from anyone. Let alone my own creations." Draxum snorted.

Donnie pressed another button on his bō. It shifted into that spear-like weapon he had used on the wolf yokai his first battle. He ran at Draxum, the blade pointed at his stomach. 

"Your technology is no match for my brilliance. Your fighting skills are even worse." The sheep man launched a vine at the soft shell.

He quickly rolled out of the way, swinging the blade at Big Mama's vines. He was suddenly launched across the arena with a yelp.

"Purpley-boo!" She yelled, then leaped at Draxum.

"Dee!" The brothers called, helplessly watching the soft shell fly across the arena.

Chapter Text

Splinter struggled in the vines, then realized he's a rat. He bit down on the vines, chewing through them surprisingly quickly. He scrambled to his feet and helped the others out, gnawing right through the bitter purple-pink plants.

Everyone jumped to their feet, brushing off the dust and running at the two fighting yokai.

Donnie sat up, groaning as he struggled to regain his vision. Everything was blurry, and his head throbbed with pain. He held his head, sitting up and staying put for a few minutes to regain his composure. 

Leo glanced over, seeing the sitting softshell and sighing in relief. He's alright. . . He turned back to the fight, blocking an oncoming vine from hitting him in the face. He lept at the sheep man.

Draxum scoffed, an amused look temporarily crossing his previously monotone expression before disappearing. He sidestepped the oncoming terrapin. Turns out, he underestimated how close the turtle actually was. He suddenly felt his arm burn, a warm, thick substance running down it. He looked down, seeing a deep slash from the shoulder to the elbow. He scowled. "Lucky shot for a scrawny thing like you." 

"Thanks, been workin' out." Leo grinned, ducking as a vine came towards his face.

Donnie had finally gained his composure, standing and running to help the others. He saw that Draxum was distracted with everyone else, and took his chance to strike from behind. He skidded behind the alchemist, pressing a button to shift his bō back into the sledge hammer. He swung it up at the sheep man's head, sending him flying across the arena. He sprinted after, beginning to continuously bash him into the arena floor with the weapon. He was halfway through a hit when he suddenly felt his hammer come to a stop. He attempted to move it, but to no avail. 

Suddenly, the blunt end shattered, pieces flying everywhere around them. He watched in horror as his creation was destroyed in a matter of seconds. He felt something wrap around his neck, then lift him off the ground a few feet. He kicked and struggled, desperately gasping for air. It felt like everything was in slow motion. 

Draxum threw the crackling husk of the weapon aside, wiping the blood from his cracked mask. He scowled, standing. "You were supposed to be the smart one, yet you seem to be the stupidest."

Leo and Raph went to go help, but we're stopped by Splinter and Big Mama. 

"Stop— he could harm him more if we engage." Splinter said firmly.

"But he's gonna kill him! Donnie can't breathe, can't you tell?!" Leo snapped.

"Little turtley-boos, we wouldn't be able to stop him— he's far too strong. I simply do not like it either but he has leverage against us—" She tried to explain. She too wanted to rush in and help, and figured Splinter did, too. But she knew Draxum was one snap away from killing D right then and there.

"Shut up, witch! I'm tired of you! I don't take orders from stupid spider yokai's who force innocent people to fight in their arenas for pure entertainment!" Leo shoved them all aside and began walking towards the sheep man. "Alright, Draxum. Let my brother go and I won't slice your head off right here and now."

"Leo- listen to pops—" Raph began.

"Shut up Raph!" Leo hissed, barely turning his head to look at him from the corner of his eye.

"Leo- Donnie—" Mikey said in a shaky voice, pointing upwards toward the suspending softshell.

The slider glanced up, eyes widening in fear. Donnie was barely moving by now, only small, shaky movements from his arms as he continued to try and yank the vine off of his neck.

Donnie— Leo thought frantically. He turned his attention to Draxum, who stared back at him with his straight face.

"Listen to your pathetic family, Subject B. You don't want to end up like Subject V, do you?" Draxum said coldly, as if his words could freeze the air around them if he tried hard enough.

Leo stood in silence, clutching his Odachi tightly. You bitch. Stop calling us that—! 

"Tick tock, kid!" Munnin suddenly chirped, flying alongside Huginn and onto Draxum's shoulder.

"Put him down, you're killing him!" Leo realized D had stopped moving, except the slight twitches his fingers made every once in a while, body hanging practically limp.

"I suppose, a dead subject would be useless in my plans." Draxum said. The vines slowly lowered, setting Donnie on his barren back.

Leo ran to D, sliding on his knees and pulling him into his arms. "Dee, Dee wake up— Dee!"

The others could only watch, frozen in horror. They were worried that if they went over Draxum would do something that killed them all.

"Join me, Subject B. You and Subject V, along with subjects R and O, could work alongside me during my quest to save the yokai kind. You wouldn't have to fear the humans, or me. We would be allies, I could train you in the ways of a true warrior." Draxum spoke, expecting an answer.

"No. . I'm not gonna let you hurt the humans. And I would certainly not join after you almost just killed my brother." Leo lifted his head, eyes narrowed as if trying to stare into Draxum's soul. 

"So be it, say goodbye to your brother, for good." Draxum replied, his hand balling into a fist as vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around Leo and throwing him at the others with extreme force. Leo had hit raph with a yelp, sending them both crashing to the floor. The two scrambled up quickly.

They all watched, frozen in terror as Draxum opened up some sort of portal and threw Donnie in. The three turtles ran full speed towards him, attempting to reach the sheep man before he escaped. They were a few paces too slow, though. The sheep man stepped into the portal, throwing Donnie's goggles onto the arena floor before closing the portal.

Draxum was gone, the oozequitos were gone, and Donnie was gone. . . .

Chapter Text

Leonardo clutched his swords tightly, swinging his odachi in desperate attempts at creating a portal to Donnie. His emotions were strong. So strong, in fact, that it tampered with the sword's mystic ability. The odachi flickered, glowing a neon blue for only a few seconds before returning to normal. He didn't stop. Donnie needed him, it was his fault Donnie was gone. 

He broke out into angry tears, continuously trying to create something. Why now? Why was his sword malfunctioning at his time of need? He swung the sword violently, creating a slashing motion. The sword flickered and crackled for a few seconds, before returning to its original state.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and flinched, but relaxed as he realized it was Raph. He looked up at the older sibling, eyes flooding over with wet, hot tears.

Raph looked back at him with kind eyes, though you could tell he was only trying to hold it together for them. Leo could just see it. His eyes were especially reflective at that moment. He's holding back his own tears. . . He thought.

"Leo. . . I know you're angry, but we can't just rush into battle again. If he has Donnie hostage he's just gonna use him against us." Raph said softly.

"But- we need- we need to help—" The slider choked out, then broke into more violent sobs as his older sibling pulled him into a tight hug. That just made him cry more. He dropped the odachi, hugging the snapper tightly.

Meanwhile Mikey sat on his knees, clutching the goggles his genius sibling once wore. They were cracked and scuffed, with one lense completely shattered, all that was left of the lense were jagged edges of glass attached to the frame.

Mikey felt tears of his own stream from his face. He lifted his head, spotting the destroyed bō staff on the arena floor. He crawled over, picking it up and hugging it tight. Donnie. . . Please be okay— The young box turtle thought, his hold on the precious tech unchanged.

Big Mama walked over, sitting beside him and hesitantly resting her hand on his back. She didn't feel him tense, but didn't feel him relax, either. She slowly rubbed his back in a circle motion, attempting to comfort the smaller turtle.

Mikey didn't care, in fact, he was sort of glad she was trying to comfort him. He noticed Big Mama spread her arms out slowly, as if suggesting a hug to make him better. Was she reforming? Maybe she would stop these arena battles after this is over. The young turtle shoved those thoughts away, feeling his throat tighten as he attempted to say something. He didn't know what he was gonna say, but he was unable to find out. He couldn't speak, it all just came out as choked sobs as he threw himself into her comforting embrace.

Splinter was trying to comfort the other two, gently patting their backs as the two hugged it out. The snapper was fighting back the urge to cry as well, Splinter knew. "It is okay to cry, Raphael. You do not have to hold back emotions just for them. It only hurts you." The rat man said calmly. "You are allowed to cry, my son." He added.

The snapper tensed up, finally releasing all of his bottled up emotions at once. He sobbed with Leo, and they both just stood there. The ground below them became wet with the tears, they didn't stop.

—————

Donnie woke up, opening his eyes. He instantly squeezed them shut again, the bright lights of whatever room he was in blinding him. He slowly opened them again, squinting and looking around. He attempted to sit up, but couldn't. His limbs were being held down. He began to panic, frantically thrashing around and attempting to call for help. His throat burned, and he quickly silenced himself as it was too much to bear. He attempted to yank his arms and legs out, but there wasn't any slack from the metal bands holding him down to the cold metal surface, which he assumed was some sort of table.

Draxum stepped into the light from a dark corner and hummed. "Subject V. So you're finally awake." He said in his monotone voice.

D's attention snapped to the sheep man, and he panicked more.

"Enough. Your feeble escape attempts will not work. My experimentation table is reinforced. There is no way of escape once you're on it." The sheep man commanded.

D listened, and stopped his struggling.

"You will help me rebuild my lab, and be my test subject for my mutagen." He stated, his tone unchanging.

Donnie shook his head, but stopped and winced as it hurt his neck to move.

"You have no say. I suggest you don't try and plan an escape like I know you are, your family won't take you back." Draxum started.

Donnie just scowled in response, not believing him for a second.

"They do not care for you, and I can see why. You are but a pathetic soft shelled reptile who cannot fight as he should. You may have brains, but you lack the common knowledge of a true warrior. It makes sense why they handed you over to me." The alchemist stated bluntly.

Those words hit Donnie like a boulder. His heart was crushed, and all sense of hope was lost in that very moment.

"You are under my command, now. That means I say when you eat, when you drink, how long you stay to rebuild, when you sleep, and, if needed, when you're eliminated. You are undeserving of helping me with my takeover more than that, so you will be nothing more than a lab rat. Have I made myself clear?" 

Donnie opened his mouth to reply, but as soon as he inhaled his throat burned again. He closed his mouth with yet another wince, nodding.

"Good. We begin experimentation today."

—————

No one went back up to New York that night. They all just messaged April saying they would be gone for a while. 

Leo and Raph had fallen asleep in a guest bedroom, Leo sprawled out on Raph's plastron as Raph had his arms wrapped around him protectively.

Splinter, Big Mama, and Mikey were in Donnie's Nexus room, silent. Mikey still held the goggles in hand, but the bō rested in his lap. Big Mama and Splinter were on either side of the young terrapin, both resting a hand on his shoulders.

Big Mama finally broke the silence, sighing. "Oh, little orangey-boo. We'll get him back. We must." She said softly.

"But- but how? We couldn't stop Draxum before he took Donnie, even with our crazy mystic weapons and new fighting skills. . . What makes you think we can get Donnie back—" He sniffled, staring at the broken lenses of the goggles.

"Because, I know a few fimbly-friends who might be able to help with our little situation." She assured him.

"How do you know they would help—?" The box turtle asked.

"Because they have a little bone to pick with Draxum." She smiled. She looked up, spotting Splinter staring at her with a confused look. She continued. "They, too, we're mutated. I met them shortly after our first not-so splendiferous meeting."

Mikey nodded, wiping some tears with his arm and setting it back down in its previous position. "Alright— I trust you. . We have to save Dee, no matter what." The young turtle pulled the goggles close to his plastron, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again and looking at the bō.

—————

The old rat mutant stayed awake as the other two beside him slept soundly. He stared at the ceiling, quiet sobs escaping him as he pulls his hands to cover his face. Why? Why did it have to be one of his son's of all things? Why couldn't it have been him? The family had been through enough heartbreak, enough worry. For his son to disappear twice was almost his breaking point.

He was gonna get back at Draxum, and he knew his other sons were thinking something similar. At least he knew Blue was. Red was slightly more passive in the situation. He always was the most cautious out of the four. Especially when it came to his brothers being at risk of being hurt. Though the rat mutant knew he was still very protective, and nothing would keep him from saving who he loved most.

He knew Blue and Red were different, dramatically different. Blue was the 'act now think later' type. He was always one to jump into situations thinking he could do it with one arm tied behind his back. Blue was the overly confident, cocky type. Which could be both a blessing and a curse.

Orange was always the optimistic, overly hyper one. He was always the one to brighten up the mood, and to get people to open up about their feelings. He was the most innocent, yet scariest one out of the four when it came to secrets and feelings. With his alternate personalities, he could go from happy and hyper to cold and stern in seconds if he was set off.

And purple, oh purple. . He was the overthinker. He took things way too seriously, even if it was something harmless. He didn't always get his siblings' sarcasm, even if he was the most sarcastic of the bunch. He always analyzed things intensely, often zoning out for up to hours just lost in thought. He may have been smart, but he was weak. He was the brains of the group. 

The rat sighed, his sobbing finally coming to an end. He loved thinking about his son's, it helped calm him. Especially when they weren't there to pester him and distract him from his unhappy thoughts. The rat mutant decided to finally try and get some sleep, turning to lay on his side and closing his eyes. He ended up having nightmares the rest of the night.

His son was gone. . . 

And on that day, his worst fear became a horrifying reality

—————

Leo woke up, blinking the fuzziness from his eyes as they adjusted to the dark. He still couldn't see mostly, but could make out the outlines of some things like a vanity and the bed. He looked down, spotting his older brother's face. He couldn't tell if he was asleep or awake. A loud snore that came from him a few seconds later was enough of an answer for him.

The slider carefully wriggled out of the snapper's protective hug, jumping off of the bed and making his way outside. He looked around the dim halls, spotting a brightly lit room not too far down and walking to it. He pushed open the door, peeking inside. He silently walked in, quickly realizing this was Donnie's room as he spotted the table piled up with finished tech, leftover equipment, and— 

D's Phone. . .

Leo sighed, then glanced over to the bed. He jumped when he spotted Big Mama and Splinter, laying on the bed with Mikey in between them. There was still enough space for one more person. . No. That witch needs to get away from them! But— well maybe I can try and trust her. She doesn't seem to be doing anything bad right now. The slider made his way to the side of the bed, unsure of how to ask.

Big Mama slowly opened her eyes, glancing over and smiling as she spotted the young slider looking to the side and twiddling his fingers nervously. She caught on to what he was going to ask and scooted over, leaving a space between her and the young box turtle that was curled up in the middle.

Leo looked back over and smiled a bit, climbing into the bed and laying between Big Mama and Mikey. He quickly fell asleep on his side, accidentally resting his head on Big Mama's arm. 

Raph drowsily walked in shortly after, climbing into the bed and curling up at the foot of it. All fell asleep.

Chapter Text

All Subject V felt right now was pain. He was in constant suffering as needles continued being pushed into his leathery skin, and the weird liquids being injected into his bloodstream didn't help at all. He screamed, desperately trying to get the pain to stop. He knew he couldn't escape from the experimentation table once he was on it, but he instinctively continued thrashing around in desperation to leave the cold metallic surface.

"Silence, Subject V!" Draxum finally snapped, which made the soft shell terrapin flinch and tense up. "Your feeble escape attempts are making this much more difficult to do. And your annoying screaming. . . It's rather- irritating." The alchemist added.

Subject V silenced himself, though he realized he was shaking uncontrollably, and his breaths were quick and heavy.

"This is going to hurt. There will be dire consequences for resisting." The sheep man said bluntly.

A needle was inserted into subject V's arm, a clearish pink liquid being injected.

There was another scream of clear agony.

—————

Leonardo woke up in a cold sweat, his breaths quick and unsteady. He was shaking, and bad. He folded his arms over himself for comfort, staring at the bed in clear horror.

Big Mama had quickly woken up, feeling the bed shake a bit. She turned, trying to see who the culprit was. Oh— Bluey-boo. . She thought, blinking. "Are you alright—?" She quietly asked, unsure of how to talk to him since she knew he still severely disliked her.

The blue turtle tensed, his hold on himself tightening ever so slightly. "I— Y- erm-" He didn't know how to respond. She doesn't deserve to know— but I would like someone to— He was suddenly pulled close to Big Mama, feeling her embrace him in a hug. He quite liked it, it felt comforting. He hesitated for a moment, before finally returning it.

"Shhh, It's alright little turtley-boo. I already know the answer to that question." She cooed softly, patting the young turtles back in a soothing pattern.

"I- I had a dream. . " Leo began, unknowing of how to continue without sounding crazy.

"Oh? And what was it about?" She asked calmly.

"It- it was about Dee. ." He said, his voice wavering.

"Was it a good or bad dream?"

"Bad. . Very bad—" He replied. Then continued as he felt her nod in understanding. "He— he's hurt— he's in pain. I can just feel it— I don't know what is happening to him but I do know it's agonizing for him. . . Hes— he's hurting, and bad. ." Leo added, his voice faltering. The blue turtle tightened his grip, beginning to cry.

"And your dream was—"

"All I could picture was him, at the mercy of the goat man. . ." He muttered. "Something involving his arms as well— mine feel sore, extremely sore—"

"Is this some sort of dibley-deep sibling connection?" She questioned, quite confused as to how he is 'sensing' his brother being hurt.

"I guess you could say that— every once in a while, whenever one of us is hurt, the other feels sore in the same area. It isn't often but— I think this is one of those times. ." He mumbled, rubbing his arm to attempt to ease the aching pain. It didn't work much.

"Hmmm. . ." She hummed in response, thinking. 

Why am I telling her all of this— stop it Leo! She's the cause of all of this! You shouldn't be telling her these things, she could— He was yanked from his thoughts yet again, feeling a drowsy Mikey hugging them as well.

"Hey guys. . Hugging without me?" Mikey smiled, words slurred and resting his head on Big Mama's shoulder.

Leo couldn't help but crack a small smile, seeing the young turtle still up for hugging even when tired. He hoped, though, that the young box turtle hadn't heard the conversation.

He hadn't.

Leo turned his head, glancing at the giant sleeping figure at the end of the bed. He knew it was Raph, due to the snoring. He was surprised no one had woken up earlier from him joining them.

The snapper hadn't moved since he climbed in the night before. His shell rose and fell as he lay on his plastron, his arms and legs were pulled close to him.

—————

 Subject V felt his body ache, he was sent to his containment cell to rest. Oh how he so desperately wanted to fall into the wonderful thing called sleep. But he knew he couldn't if he wanted to be safe. Something in him told him to stay alert, to stay on his toes. He had to keep his guard up, his life depended on it.

But it did sound nice. . . Maybe just a few minutes won't hurt— yeah. . A few minutes, then he'll be back to staying alert.

The terrapin fell asleep, laying on the cold floor at the back of the cell. His back faced the wall, not touching it, but not too far away. 

He had overslept.

He heard something banging against the bars, which caused him to jolt awake. It was the goyles, banging some sort of metal object against the bars continuously. He lifted his head a bit more, only to be met with the piercing eyes of his Master.

"Subject V, I see you are finally awake after you have so disrespectfully overslept." The sheep man stated.

"Apologies sir—" V croaked out. His throat still ached horribly, but now it was mostly just soreness instead of searing pain. At least it didn't hurt as much to breathe.

"Save the apologies, I do not care." The alchemist replied quickly. "Today you will continue to work on the rebuilding of my machine. There will be no experimentation today, unless you do not do as told.

Subject V nodded in response, by now he was sitting on his knees with his hands rested on his thighs, balled into weak fists. He silently chastised himself before standing and walking to the cell door, awaiting to be released from containment.

The goyles unlocked his cell, staring at him, as if to pity him. They motioned for him to follow them down the corridor.

Subject V followed, looking down at the ground in shame as he passed by other containment cells, ones that held failed experiments and things awaiting to be experimented on. 

It made him sick thinking of those creatures.

—————

Mikey awoke, he had somehow fallen asleep halfway on top of Leo— or rather where Leo would have been, and halfway on top of Splinter after that hug last night. He opened his eyes, blinking away the blurriness before looking around confused. Huh. . . ? Wheres— His question was answered before he could even ask it to himself.

He heard his older brother, right above his head, speaking.

"Listen, this isn't gonna be easy to say because it's hard to agree with myself on— but I'm- . . . I'm sorry—" Leo said quietly, and Mikey could hear him twiddling with his hands and picking at his nails.

Usually he would stop Leo from picking at his nails, but it was another who had beaten him to it.

Big Mama attempted to reassure the young blue masked slider, grabbing one of his hands to stop him from his nail picking.

"I'm sorry," He repeated. "I was— well I was scared to be quite honest. . . I thought you had kidnapped him and brainwashed him. . I- I thought, with how vulnerable he was, that he was possibly being forced to fight tech-less. But I quickly realized, it's Donnie. He's got his wits and speed. To be honest. . " He began smiling as he spoke, letting out a soft chuckle. "I honestly thought he had taken over the Nexus or something." He chuckled, staring down at his feet that hung from the bed, just barely grazing the floor as they rocked back and forth in a light kicking motion.

Big Mama smiled, letting out a light chuckle herself. "Oh, he sure seems like quite the character."

"He is. . Which makes me worried—" Leo replied, his voice lowering ever so slightly. "If he's smart, he won't be a smartass to the goat man just to spite him. If he's already being hurt on the first day, then I don't wanna know what's gonna happen the longer he stays—" He gulped.

There was a small moment of silence, and Mikey continued listening.

"Does your arm still feel sore—?" Big Mama asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes but not as bad. . I think he was given a break or- it's unlikely but, maybe some painkillers."

Mikey's eyes widened, and he shot up instantly. "He's being hurt?!" He asked, causing Leo and Big Mama to jump when they were startled by the sudden interruption.

"Oh— you were listening. . ?" Leo asked slowly, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Of course I was! You're talking about Donn—!" His mouth was suddenly covered by two hands, one turtle and one human-like.

"Shhh! We don't wanna wake Raph and dad— they'll freak out if they found out. ." Leo said in a whisper-yell.

"Who'll freak out. . ?" A new voice suddenly spoke, coming from the end of the bed. Followed by a yawn.

"Nothing, big guy. Just go back to sleep, you need it." Leo said in response.

A few more moments of shuffling, then more loud snoring, told them all the snapper was asleep again. They all made a sigh of relief.

"Okay, well, explain." Mikey said, as if it was a demand. He gestured to Leo's arm and then crossed his own after.

Leo sighed, placing his other hand on his arm and rubbing it. "Y'know when we were younger, when I or Donnie would get hurt, the other would complain about being sore in the same spot not too long after?" He began, looking up at Mikey.

". . Yeah—?" He raised a brow ridge. Then it clicked. "It's happening again. . ? But— but it's such a bad time, why now?!" The box turtle felt his mouth be covered again, after a few moments of shuffling, then the usual noise, they all sighed in relief yet again.

"Look, I know it sounds like I'm being a bitch but— but I think it's a good thing- This means we could know what's happening to Donnie right now. Well— actually we can't know details other than he's being hurt. . But it's still a good thing. It means he's alive, and hopefully hanging in there for us." Leo stated in a low voice.

Mikey went silent, looking to the side and placing his finger on his chin. His eyes suddenly widened at a realization. "So— So he's being hurt right now. . ?" He asked, his voice wavering and going a higher pitch out of worry.

"No, not right now. But- earlier—" Leo replied, hoping Mikey could piece it together.

He did.

Mikey teared up, lip quivering until he broke out into tears, covering his face with his hands.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Like I said, it means he's alive. And that's all we can ask for right now, for him to be alive." Leo pulled him into a hug. The younger sibling returned it without a second thought.

Big Mama patted the box turtle's shell, smiling. "Well, at least we can worry no longer. My new friends will be arriving in the next week or so." She tried reassuring them.

"A week?!" Leo yelped. "We don't have a week! What if—"

"Young turtley-boo, I have many connections. I may be able to get some bimbly-bellhops to distract Draxum every once in a while and stall purpley-boo's torment until backup comes." She replied calmly.

"Alright then. . . If you say so—" Leo sighed. He felt Mikey's hold tighten. He knew the Box turtle was scared, and quite honestly, he was terrified himself.

Chapter Text

Subject V groaned, quickly becoming annoyed by the goyles pestering him on his shoulders. His arms ached, and his shell throbbed. His head was a completely different story. He couldn't ever think completely clearly, and his vision would blur every so often. He wanted to stop and take a break, wanted so badly to pull away from this giant machine that lay in half-built pieces in front of him.

He knew he couldn't.

His hands shook as he attempted to put some wires together ever so carefully. He couldn't get it right and it made him angry. Angry at himself, angry at everything. Why was he so suddenly developing such strong emotions just two days into his stay? He threw the wires down in a fit of anger and sat cross-crossed in the middle of the overly bright room, staring at his shaky hands.

He pulled his hands close, closing his eyes and attempting to calm down. He was getting overwhelmed, and he didn't have his usual comfort things to help. He couldn't just move away from the situation, he couldn't ignore the situation, he would be punished again. . Disposed of, even. Ah, yes. A phrase he was far too often told by his caretaker. If he could even call him that.

You're easily disposable.

The thought echoed loudly in his mind. He knew the voice was right. He knew his new master had been right, that he really was easily disposable. And that without Draxum, he wouldn't have even existed. Yet something deep down, something burning deep in his heart, told him that Draxum was all wrong.

Still, he couldn't sway the feeling he got when that phrase was brought up. The feeling of his heart dropping low and his self confidence even lower. He was easily disposable. He hadn't been the slightest reassured being told his former 'family' had just handed him over like he was some sort of object they were giving away.

He teared up, biting back the intense urge to cry. He wanted to cry, he wanted to sob, he wanted to do something to express his overwhelming sense of dread bottled up inside. Yet he knew that if he did, his punishment would be worse than last times. . .

Subject V sat in the corner, crying hysterically after an experiment that had been done on him had caused his shell to ache horribly. His shell grazed the wall as he sobbed, causing a sharp, burning sensation to run through his back.

Draxum watched, slightly irritated by the young turtles actions. He made a low grumbling noise, before finally speaking up. "Subject V," he began. "Enough with that insufferable racket before you are punished."

Subject V couldn't stop. He desperately attempted to but couldn't seem to block the endless tears leaking from his multi-colored eyes. He feels something grab his wrist and drag him a few feet away from his corner and yelps.

He starts feeling a stinging pain, sucking in a breath and biting back a cry of affliction. He feels the stinging pain go down his arm, a warm burning sensation following soon after. A warm, thick liquid ran down his arm. He was too scared to look.

The pain stopped running down his arm, but a sudden jerk of his arm towards the inflictor followed shortly after. He slowly turned his head forward, still tilting it down a bit. He looks up, spotting an irritated Draxum in front of him. Wait. . Was his claw red—? Oh. Oh no.

Subject V's eyes widen and he instantly looks at his arm in horror. The wound was deep, bleeding profusely. A sudden powerful rush of agony hit him in the face like a hammer, causing him to let out a pained cry. 

He shivered at the recollection, wrapping his arms around himself as a few tears managed their way through his tightly sealed eyelids. His breaths were shaky and uneven, clearly showing his overwhelming discomfort.

He wanted to leave. He just wanted to leave. . .

—————

Leonardo hadn't felt the best lately, his shell feeling sore and his arm feeling worse than it was when it started. He knew this wasn't caused by the extensive training they had done. He hated it. He hated that he knew the real reason for his pain. He hated the highly plausible fact his brother was being put through the ringer as punishment for all that's happened.

He just wanted to portal right to the goat man, punch him in the face, and hug Donnie so tight it would feel like a Raph hug.

But he couldn't.

He couldn't make a portal, he couldn't hug his brother, he couldn't stop the aching pains he felt, and he couldn't save his twin. He made an angry grunt, throwing something at the wall of the guest room he was in. He was supposed to be getting ready for more training, but he just didn't feel like it.

He was drained, to be honest. Not physically but mentally. So many things went through his mind all at once but the slider couldn't seem to get anything in order. His mind was but a jumbled mess, much like Donnie's lab was.

Why was he suddenly thinking of the lab. . ?

He shook his head, wanting nothing to do with the thoughts that ran through his mind at the moment. He sighed, holding his head and falling back back into the soft bed. He let himself drift off, succumbing to darkness as he fell into another nightmare-filled slumber.

Where am I. . ? Leo thought, looking around the black void surrounding him. He seemed to be floating, encased in silent black. He blinked, hoping it was just his eyes. 

It was not.

He looked down at his hands, hoping he could at least see himself, which he could. Though he was slightly more foggy looking, was he. . Semi transparent—? He blinked at his half-clear hands, Cool. Weird but cool. 

Suddenly his head jerked up, interrupting him in his thoughts as he heard a scream. He felt a shiver down his spine, something was off. He began looking around more, attempting to locate the source of the sound.

Another scream. Why is it so. . Familiar— He thought, then looked behind him as he heard it again. He suddenly felt himself touch something solid underneath him. The ground. He thought, relaxing a small amount of tension he had not previously known he had.

The relaxation was short lived, though, as he tensed up again. He heard the scream, and realized who it was.

His blood went ice cold.

He ran towards the source, finally locating a general direction. He spotted a dim light in the distance, along with two figures. One was standing tall, easily towering over the other who was backed against the edge of the light, seeming to tremble.

He realized quickly who it was, and sprinted towards them. He finally noticed the details of the situation.

The tall one was Draxum, standing with his metallic glove raised beside him. It was dripping some sort of bright liquid. Blood. The Sheep man seemed to hold his monotone expression as he stepped closer to the other. "Subject V, you disrespect me for the last time. You must be disposed of." The alchemist hissed, raising his metallic hand above him. "Your feeble screams and pleas help you not."

The other figure trembled, holding his arm in front of his face defensively as it dripped the crimson red liquid from it. Gruesome yet sickeningly bright red liquid. His shell seemed to have the same liquid, yet all over. Now that Leo notices, he was sitting in a pool of it. He was backed against what Leo assumed to be a wall, sitting with his legs folded close to him. He used his other arm to keep himself upright.

Leo's own arm and shell began to ache.

It finally clicked, and Leo was enraged. He ran towards the sheep man, only to phase right through him. Draxum didn't seem to notice him. Leo attempted again, trying to tackle him to the ground. It didn't work. He hit the ground without sound, sitting up only to see the alchemist's metal claws come down onto the other with a sickening sound as it made contact with them.

Leo screamed, but no sound came out. He reached out for them, but knew it wouldn't do anything. He watched in horror as the sheep man stepped back, revealing a bloodied Donnie with his throat leaking profusely. The soft-shell lay on his side, unmoving. Unbreathing. His eyes glazed over and his skin a few shades paler.

Leo had no words, he couldn't move, yet he couldn't look away. He just sat there in shock, horror, fear. Tears leaked from his eyes, falling onto the pitch black ground beneath him. Oh God. . . No— no stop Donnie. . Donnie wake up— please wake up! DONNIE PLEASE!! The slider attempted to cry out, only to be brought back to the real world

He gasped, eyes shooting open as he shot up into an upright sitting position. His breathing was frantic and unsteady.

"Woah, woah, woah— Leo you okay—?" A voice suddenly spoke up.

Leo turned, spotting Raph and Mikey beside the bed with faces of concern.

"Yeah— you were screaming—" Mikey noted.

"I- He—" Leo began, suddenly unable to form words. He just broke into a choked sob, shaking.

"Hey, it was just a nightmare, not real." Raph spoke in a comforting tone. Well as comforting as he could manage without his own worry poking through.

The aching was very real.

His shell and arm ached even more, causing him to instinctively pull his arm close to his chest. He held it with his other hand, trying to figure out what to say.

"Was it another—" Mikey began, before being softly hit on the arm by Raph.

Leo nodded shakily. Looking back towards them with a horrified expression.

Their faces grew into a similar one. Especially Mikey's. 

"Okay, tell us what happened Leo. We wanna know why that one in particular messed you up this bad—" Raph said, sitting beside Leo as best he could without scratching the nightstand.

Mikey sat at his other side, gently rubbing his aching arm in a soothing motion.

"Well- I—" He began, attempting yet again to talk. He sighed, sucking in a breath and finally speaking. "It was another Donnie dream, yes, but it was. . Different. . ." He began.

"Like. .?" Raph raised a brow ridge in a concerned manner.

"I was in some sort of void, just kinda. . Floating. It was silent, a nice, calming silence. But I heard a scream— I couldn't find where it was coming from so I looked around, then I heard it again. Somehow I had found a way towards solid ground, so I started running towards it. The scream felt familiar, but I couldn't tell whose scream it was. Maybe I should have guessed it would have been Donnie's voice earlier but I wasn't thinking I guess. But then, I saw a light, as well as two figures. One was tall, one was smaller. I bet you could guess who they were. ."

Raph nodded, staying silent as he knew Leo wasn't finished.

"The goat's hand had blood on it, like a scary amount of blood. Then there was Donnie. . . Oh poor Donnie. . . ." His head lowered, his free hand grasping the sheet as if it was a lifeline. "He. . He wasn't doing so well—" Leo said. "His arm was dripping with blood, and his shell. . . His shell was absolutely covered in the stuff. He was literally sitting in a pool of it, it was a miracle he didn't bleed out— although I sort of wish he had. ."

Raph tensed, utterly confused as to why Leo would say that last sentence.

"Draxum said something along the lines of- 'You disrespected me for the last time, now I'm gonna get rid of you' -or something. Followed by 'Your feeble screams will not help you.' Or something— Then. . He raised his bloody hand. I tried to stop him, but I just went right through him." He said in a more high pitched, 'im clearly about to cry again' tone. "He— he killed him. . . He killed Donnie in one of the worst ways he could. H- he went for his throat—" The slider finished, lip quivering until he finally broke into tears yet again.

Raph just sat in shock, maybe even a little concern. "Like I said Leo, it's only a Dream—"

"But what if it wasn't—?!" Leo suddenly snapped. "What if it isn't, Raph? What if it was a message or something—"

"How would it be—" Raph began.

"Because I know he's being hurt right now! And I know that it's only getting worse!" The slider interrupted.

"How do you know, Leo?" Raph said in a low voice.

"Because I can feel it—" The slider responded.

"Leo that doesn't mean—"

"No, I mean I can literally feel it— wel- not exactly. But— Ugh it's complicated—" Leo sighed.

Mikey finally spoke up, still holding Leo's sore arm. "Remember when they were younger, when Donnie or him would get hurt or something, sometimes the other would feel sore in that same spot?"

"Uh— yeah—? Oh. Oh no, Leo is it—"

The slider nodded, looking down. "My arm and shell have been feeling really sore for the past few days. And I know it isn't training sore."

Chapter Text

Raphael sat in his room, thinking about what Leo had said. He didn't know how to react. He wanted to be sad, he knew he was supposed to be just as distraught as Mikey and Leo about this but. . He couldn't. He felt horrible about it, angry at himself for being so confused.

He teared up, sitting in the corner of his guest room with his legs pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. His small tail rested beside him. He finally decided he couldn't hold it back anymore, and broke down into a quiet sob.

Turns out Leo and Mikey must have overheard it when passing by because the next thing Raph knew they were in front of him. He hid his face in his knees, ashamed that they had to see him like this.

"Hey big guy, what's wrong?" Leo spoke in a low voice. His hand rested on Raph's arm, causing the snapper to tense a bit before relaxing.

"I- its- it's nothing don't worry about it—" Raph sniffled, attempting to stop his tears from leaving his eyes. It was no use, the streams just continued.

"No, no it's not. Don't make me bring out doctor feelings." Mikey sat beside him, nudging his shoulder gently.

"Yeah, you're crying, you never cry for no reason. What's up?" Leo sat on his other side, hand still rested on his arm.

Raph sighed, using his free arm to wipe his eyes as he lifted his head. "It's just— I'm not sure how to feel about this whole situation. . I know I'm supposed to feel sad but- but I just can't for some reason. . I don't know— it's like I'm trying to believe it isn't true—" He sniffled again, lowering his legs ever so slightly and pulling his arms into his lap to fiddle with his hands.

"You're in denial." Mikey spoke, patting his shoulder. "It's okay, it's okay to be confused. To feel like none of this is real. It's perfectly normal." The box turtle assured the snapper calmly.

"Yeah, we all cope in different ways, like me, I use my amazing humor and cool one-liners." Leo grinned.

Raph stifled a small chuckle, smiling and looking at him. Then at Mikey.

"Yeah! And I use my art and sparkling optimism to cope!" Mikey smiled brightly.

"Thanks, guys. . I guess you're right—" The snapper replied. Then suddenly lifted his arms and wrapped them around his younger brothers, yanking them into a hug.

They hugged him back, patting his shell softly to help.

Splinter and Big Mama walked in, having heard the talking. 

"Are you boys alright? Did something happen?" Splinter asked.

"Nah, we're alright pops. Just- just talking." Raph looked up at them with a reassuring smile.

"Well, could we maybe— join you?" Big Mama asked, a slight nervousness to her tone.

The large snapper looked down at his brothers, who nodded in response. He lifted his head and nodded, opening his arms for them to join in on the hug.

The two happily obliged, sitting down beside him and letting themselves be pulled into a big bear hug.

"So, what were you boys talking about exactly?" Splinter suddenly spoke up, pulling away from the hug and sitting in front of the group.

"Just talking about some emotional stuff. Nothing too important." Mikey replied for Raph, seeing that the snapper couldn't find his words.

"Ah, good, well I'm certainly glad you are alright" Big Mama sat beside Splinter, who nodded in agreement to her statement.

"So, erm. . What should we do? Since we already went through some training. Should we. . Train more?" Leo asked, unknowing of what to do.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I know! I know! What if we go to a restaurant? We sure need some food after all of this emotional stuff. Especially since we all forgot to eat breakfast this morning—" Mikey suggested enthusiastically.

"Hmm. . I suppose we could. Big Mama, do you know of any restaurants in the hidden city?" Splinter turned to Big Mama.

"Oh, certainly! What is a cimbally-city without its restaurants?" She smiled.

"Bingo, alright what kind of food're we craving?" Leo spoke up. "I'm kinda craving some tacos."

"I dimbly-don't mind, I'll eat anything, really." Big Mama replied.

"I'm kinda craving some pizza, but anything works." Mikey smiled.

Splinter nodded, agreeing to Big Mama and Mikey.

"Well, that just leaves you bossman. What do ya want?" Leo turned to Raph, who rubbed his chin in thought.

The snapper hummed, his snaggletooth digging into his chin for a moment she thought. He suddenly had an idea. "What 'bout a buffet? They have all sorts of food at those." He suggested with a mile.

"Oo! Yeah good idea, Raphie!" Mikey jumped onto his shell, wrapping his arms underneath the snapper's chin.

"Heck yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Leo grinned, playfully punching his shoulder.

"Thanks. At least this way we all get it we want. Mikey can get his pizza, Leo can get his tacos, and you two can get whatever." The large turtle stated matter-of-factly.

"Alright! Road trip!" Leo smiled, chanting as he begins to stand and walk out.

Mikey and Raph followed behind, chanting; "Road trip! Road trip! Road trip!" As they marched down the corridors.

Big Mama and Splinter followed, chuckling softly as they watched the boys.

"I'm glad they can still find ways to be kids, even after all that's happened." Splinter sighed calmly.

"Indeedy, you raised them right." Big Mama smiled softly.

"Thanks, but I can't take much credit. . It was Red who took care of them during my depressive episodes. He was always there for them, and even me when I was down. He's a good kid, and I'm proud of him. I just wish I could have done better. . ." Splinter muttered.

"Well, now you can. I'm sure they still love you and endless amount. . Even purpley-boo." She attempted to reassure him.

"I do not think Purple loves me quite as much as he loves you." Splinter looked up at her. 

"I'm sure he does, he just got caught up in his desire for parental praise." She replied, her smile lowering a bit. "Although, I would suggest giving him affirmations more. It would surely help with your father-son relationship. Especially since he told me that you have not yet given him any." She began to walk ahead, attempting to catch up with the boys who were nearly sprinting towards the elevator.

Splinter fell back a bit, realization hitting him harder than he visibly showed. So that's why he left . . . Oh, what have you done Yoshi? He sighed, continuing to follow.

"C'mon, pops! Want me to carry ya?" Raph suddenly called, walking back towards the rat mutant.

"Erm, only if you wish, my son." Splinter replied, his tone a little more saddened than he intended to show.

Raph took note of the tone change, but nodded and picked his father up, letting him sit on the crook of his arm.

The snapper walked to the elevator, kneeling down so Mikey could climb into his back. Then standing once again as he felt his younger brothers arms wrap around his neck. He walked into the elevator, carefully making sure he didn't accidentally hit anyone.

Big Mama pressed a button, and the elevator began going down.

—————

They arrived at the buffet, Splinter and Mikey still on Raph. Leo had actually joined them, sitting on Raph's other arm with his arm wrapped around the back of his neck for security.

The snapper didn't mind. They weren't that heavy, it was more like holding a couple of grapes than anything. Him and Big Mama walked in, instantly getting multiple stares from other yokai customers. He gulped nervously, feeling uncomfortable with how many stared at them.

Big Mama cleared her throat, everybody instantly turning and going back to eating. She smiled at Raph, patting his arm and walking to the front pedestal.

A fox-like yokai greeted them, grabbing some silverware from the inside of the pedestal and ushering them to follow him. He led them to a large booth in a more private part of the buffet, where there weren't many others. 

Big Mama sat down, scooting into the booth with ease. She patted the booth for them to sit as well.

Raph kneeled down, setting everyone down before standing again. He waited for them to scoot into their spots before sliding in ever so carefully, so he didn't rip the cushion with his shell. 

"Alright guys, before we go ham, what're y'all getting? I'm quite curious. ." Leo smirked.

"Pizza!" Mikey said excitedly.

"Unsure. I think I might just get a salad. Maybe some other things as well." Big Mama smiled.

"I do not know either. I'm just going to look around." Splinter replied.

"Eh— probably a steak or something?" Raph shrugged.

"Righty! Let's go then, hermanos and co!" Leo almost leaped out from his seat and bounded off.

Big Mama and Splinter followed after, separating to different sections of the restaurant. That just left Mikey and Raph.

"C'mon, Raphie! Let's go get us some food!" The younger turtle cheered, clambering onto his back and sitting on his shoulders.

Raph smiled, sliding from the booth and standing. "Alright. Let's get your food first, though. Don't want it all getting nabbed when I get mine."

"Alrighty, that way!" Mikey pointed happily, leaning forward and pointing to the section labeled "Pizza" 

Raph nodded, letting Mikey adjust before walking over to the giant counter lined with multiple pans of the delectible pie.

Mikey squealed with delight and shook his hands in a happy stim.

The small stim made Raph smile, picking up a plate that lay on a stack labeled "Clean" and walking around the counter. "See any ya like, Mike's?" He asked.

Mikey pointed at a pizza that had mushrooms, olives, pepperoni, and some other ingredient Raph couldn't recognize. 

The snapper nodded and picked out a slice, setting it on the plate gently. "Anything else?" 

"Yeah!" He pointed to another pan, which held a pizza with multiple foreign ingredients. Must have been a yokai recipe.

Raph picked up a slice from there, setting it beside the slice previously set on there. He glanced up at the box turtle, seeing him point to another pan at the far end of the section. He walked up to it, seeing that there was only a singular slice left. He gently picked it up and set it on top of the other two, then walked off. "Any other food you want?" He asked, stopping and handing Mikey his plate as he did grabby hands towards it.

"Nah, let's go get your food now!" Mikey chirped, biting into a slice of his pizza and humming with delight.

Raph nodded, walking around until reaching a counter with multiple varieties of steak. He smiled and picked up a plate from a pile labeled like the last. He used the tongs to pick out a nice big steak from the pan, setting it onto his plate before setting the tongs back down in their slot. He walked around some more, adding more delicious looking foods to his plate before walking back to the booth.

Everybody had already returned, and we're eating. Raph set his plate down, picking Mikey up by the pits of his arms and lifting him off his shoulders. He set the box turtle down, who continued to eat his pizza as he slid into the booth. Raph followed after, tail tapping the cushion happily as he tore into his food.

"Ah, found the steak section I see?" Leo grinned, spotting his older brother practically glowing with joy.

Raph didn't respond, continuing to eat his food with a delighted expression.

"He always has loved his steak and potatoes. We like to call him 'Raphasaurus Rex's sometimes because of his love of steak." Mikey said, biting into the last slice of pizza.

"Well, as long as he feels better." Leos grin turned into a softer smile.

Big Mama couldn't help but smile as well, seeing the overjoyed Snapper eat his food without a single care in the world. Oh how she wished she could have this moment with kids of her own. . .

Splinter watched his sons eat, slowly nibbling on some bread and cheese he had gotten from a random section. He said nothing, and just thought about what Big Mama had said. He glanced beside him, a painfully open space in place of where he had silently hoped his fourth son would appear. 

Chapter Text

Big Mama smiled, watching the young turtles devour their food happily. She glanced over at Splinter, who mainly just nibbled at his food and stared at the empty seat beside him. Poor Lou. . . I can't imagine how heartbreaking it must be for your son to disappear again— She thought, then looked back down and took a bite of her cricket salad. (She is a spider woman after all)

She hummed in delight as she ate, as she hadn't had a cricket salad from here in a while. She remembered trying to take Donnie here on his 4th week at the Nexus as a special treat. He absolutely loved the food he had gotten. She did vividly remember he had gotten a small array of fruits, vegetables, steak, and a single cookie for dessert.

She remembered his bright smile and his happy little hand shakes and kicks as he ate. Oh how he loved being here when he was. She remembered when they would talk about his tech, and when he began rambling about random stuff. She loved that little look she got when he realized she was actually listening.

She missed it. . .

She got lost in thought, nearly forgetting to finish her salad before being snapped out of it by the blue masked one.

"Hey, y'okay? You've been. . Quiet." The slider noted.

"Oh! Yes, yes indeedy I'm fine! Hey— I have an idea." She started.

"What is it?" The three brothers asked in unison.

"What if we take purpley-boo here when we get him back?" She suggested.

Everyone froze.

"Is everything alright? Is it something I said?" She asked, clear confusion on her face.

"Erm. . I'm not so sure that's a good idea—" Leo began, rubbing his arm and looking down.

"Oh? Why not-?" She blinked in confusion.

"Well— He might not be too well when we get him back—" Raph cleared his throat, having finished his food and pushed the plate away to rest his arms on the table.

"And- and how do you know this?" She asked.

"Because-" Mikey began.

"Because it's Draxum, god knows what the guy is doing to Don right now!" Leo said, a little harsher than intended.

"Oh, right—" She realized, then took another bite of her salad quietly.

"Who knows," Leo continued, not realizing he was still talking for a moment. "He could be dead by the time your dumb 'friends' arrive! They're taking too damn long to get here! Where are they coming from? Jersey? Florida? Fucking Wyoming?" He snapped.

"I— they're coming from various places, bluesy—" Big Mama tried.

"Please—" He interrupted, sighing after as he pinched his nose-bridge. (Or where it would be) "Please, don't call me that." He leaned back, staring to the side with his arms crossed.

"As you wish bl- erm. . Leonardo—" She corrected herself quickly. "I'm very sorry for bringing it up—"

"Its— it's fine. . It's just a very touchy topic right now." Mikey replied, attempting to console her.

"Yeah— but I'm sure he'll be fine. He always is. Very soon, this'll all be back to normal." Raph said, mostly to keep himself from breaking down again.

Big Mama nodded, silently finishing off her salad.

—————

They returned to the Nexus, which was being repaired from the recent attack. Big Mama was glad her bellhops worked quickly, as they were nearing being finished. 

They walked into the Nexus, filing into their respective rooms without so much as a peep from any of them.

Normally, Big Mama was one to just brush it off if someone was being abnormally quiet, thinking nothing of it. I guess some things can change, though.

Big Mama felt her heart ache, a sudden dread washing over her as she sat on her bed in the dimly lit room. She didn't like this feeling. It made her feel horrible. Guilty, even. I just severed all bonds I possibly had with them. . . She thought. And I quite possibly have severed all bonds I had with Purpley-boo, too. And now— Now I am back to nothing. . Wincing at the thought, she pushed it aside.

A small creek was heard at the front of the room. The bedroom door opened, light pouring in wherever it could reach.

Big Mama lifted her head, blinking in confusion at who could possibly be here at this time. Usually her bellhops knocked, and her other staff members never usually bothered he—

"Big Mama. ." A familiar voice spoke. It was Leo.

She snapped out of her train of thought and shook her head. "Erm— Yes, Leonardo?"

The slider was standing in the doorway, which was illuminated by an almost blinding light. He rubbed his arm, looking down towards the ground with a seemingly embarrassed- no. Was it a shameful look?

Big Mama scooted aside, patting her bed as an invitation for him to sit.

He quietly obliged, sitting beside her as he continued rubbing his arm and staring at the ground.

Big Mama didn't ask, as she didn't want to push. 

The two sat in silence for a while, before Big Mama finally went to break it.

She turned to him finally, opening her mouth to speak. "Leonardo I—"

The slider suddenly enveloped her in a tight hug, trembling lightly. 

She sat in shock, trying to process what was happening.

"I- I'm sorry. . for yelling earlier—" The young terrapin spoke, continuing the hug.

Big Mama slowly wrapped her arms around his shell, gently returning the gesture. "It's alright, little Leonardo. . You wimbly-were understandably angry. I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have suggested that idea so soon—"

"No, it was a kind offer. But I'm just not sure how well up to the task Dee is willing to be when we get him back." Leo responded, sighing and breaking the hug.

"You're right there, young one." She smiled, though it quickly faded into a solemn sigh.

Leo nodded, looking away for a second as he tried to think of something to say.

"Can I sleep with you tonight-? I'm pretty sure Mikey and Raph are gonna be with Dad tonight." The young slider suddenly spoke, it was a quieter tone than before. It seemed more hesitant, maybe even downright reluctant.

"Sure, Leonardo. I don't mind!" She smiled kindly.

"Thanks, Big M. Can I call you Big M?" He grinned, attempting to lighten up the mood with humour.

"Call me whatever you would like." She replied.

"Alright, oh- and you don't have to call me by my full name, it kinda feels weird and- ew- formal." He snickered.

She couldn't help but softly chuckle as well. "Alright, then what do I call you?"

"Leo, Leon, Blue I guess, best twin, faceman, or I guess whatever nickname you give me." He shrugged.

"Getting a bit bold, aren't we?" She chuckled, catching the whole 'favorite twin' remark.

"What? I'm the handsomest, can actually break a watermelon, the best dancer, and got the best color scheme." He stated pridefully, puffing out his chest and pointing to himself with a smirk.

"Alright, whatever you say Bluey-boo." She replied, rolling her eyes mockingly at the statement the overly prideful turtle made.

"Alright, it's getting late and we don't want to be cranky for tomorrow." Big Mama glanced at the clock on her nightstand, which read 10:00P.M.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that—" Leo chuckled nervously, rubbing his head before clambering into the bed and under the covers comfortably.

Big Mama hopped off the bed, walking around the side and climbing in after. "Goodnight"

No response

She turned, spotting the slider out like a light with his arm draped over his face and his mouth hung open in a snore. She couldn't help but chuckle softly and shake her head, turning off the lamp and laying down. She, too, fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Subject V jolted awake to a loud noise being heard from across the room his cell was in. He groggily sat up, wincing at a sudden sharp pain washing over his shell. Ow— He thought. He stood, stumbling over to the cell entrance and peering down the direction he heard the noise.

He watched in horror as another experiment breached containment, but was quickly taken down with a loud thud and dragged away. Oh gods— Why was its head so bloody? Why were there slash marks across it's throat? Surely it wasn't taken down that easily—

Footsteps began towards his cell, and he stepped back, falling backwards with an oof. He winced again, looking up at the tall sheep man peering down at him judgingly.

"I see you have just witnessed an escape attempt from experiment four-five-O?" The alchemist spoke.

Subject V couldn't answer, of course. Something was keeping him from forming words at the moment. He would surely regret that later. He just nodded, realizing he was trembling. He glanced down at the sheep-man's claws, which were dripping with a bright pink liquid. He wasn't sure if that was blood or what, but he sort of hoped it was the latter.

"Good. Let that be a lesson to you not to attempt to escape, or you will meet the same fate it did." The alchemist growled, catching Subject V's attention and causing him to glance back up at him. They made eye contact, which felt like an eternity before it was broken.

A sick feeling washed over the softshell as Draxum walked off, causing him to cover his mouth instinctively as he felt bile make its way into his throat. Oh gods. . Ew— Pretend it isn't blood, pretend it isnt blood, pretend—

Too late.

He hunched forward, letting his insides spill out onto the cold concrete-metal floor beneath him. It felt neverending, and made him feel lightheaded. Really lightheaded— Was he supposed to feel this way? Why was everything suddenly—

. . . He collapsed to the side, falling into unconsciousness.

—————

"Alright, let's rehearse it one more time!" Huginn chirped, raising his tiny, pocket sized metal stick up into the air.

"Alright, one more time. A-one A-two. A-three four five six!" 

"WAKE UP V!!" The two goyles suddenly screeched at the top of their lungs, banging on things loudly.

"Yeah! I think we got it down!" Munnin replied with a thumbs up.

"Alrighty let's go! Boss is so gonna be proud of us" Huginn said as the goyles flew towards the cells.

They came to a stop beside the cell labeled "Subject V", hiding and counting on their fingers before leaping out and getting ready to bang on the cell bars. "GET U—" They blinked, spotting the unconscious turtle laying on his side beside a puddle of- ew was that throw-up?

"Uh-oh— d'ya think he's dead?" Huginn asked.

"Dunno. Let's poke him and find out." Munnin replied.

The two goyles slipped beside the bars, landing beside the turtle and poking him a few times.

No response.

They blinked, turning to each other. "Boss ain't gonna like this—" They quickly darted out from the cell and down the corridors, towards Draxum's lab.

—————

"Subject V, awaken." Draxum ordered, standing in front of the cell door with his hands behind his back.

Subject V shifted a bit, groaning and opening his eyes drowsily. He looked up at him, blinking a few times to make sure he was seeing right.

"Sit up." The alchemist said.

Subject V obliged, unsteadily sitting up. He rubbed his head, feeling it start to throb.

Draxum threw a mysterious looking thing in front of him, pulling his hand back behind his back.

It was a small slab of something, kind of looking similar to a slice of bread. Although it was a pinkish color.

Subject V looked up in confusion.

"Eat. I do not want to risk you ruining my plans because you cannot handle an empty stomach for more than three days." Draxum stated, there was a subtle hint of agitation in his tone.

Subject V nodded, shakily picking up the slice of the mystery food and biting into it. It tasted bitter, and felt like stale bread. He didn't complain, though. It was food. He tried to eat it as slow as possible, but his hunger overwhelmed him and he ended up eating it far faster than he should have.

Draxum left, scoffing in annoyance. "Pathetic creature. . " He muttered under his breath.

Subject V froze mid bite, looking down shamefully. Apologies, sir. . He thought, since Draxum had already left.

—————

Leo awoke to a sick feeling. He felt as if he was going to throw up, and his stomach felt empty. He practically leaped out of bed, running to the bathroom and leaning over the toilet. He gripped his plastron, feeling as if he hadn't eaten in days. The slider felt like his stomach would eat itself at that moment.

Big Mama had woken up as well, getting up and going to the slider. She was confused as to why he had gotten out of bed so quick, until realizing he was leaning over the toilet like he was going to puke. She kneeled down beside him, patting his back.

He looked up at her for a second, then back down, teeth gritting. He had expected to throw up by now, but it never came. He was so confused. 

"What's wrong Bluey-boo?" She asked, concern prominent in her tone.

"I- I don't know— my stomach just suddenly started feeling so empty, and I felt like I was gonna throw up— still do but I don't know why I'm not—"

"Maybe it's because you haven't eaten breakfast yet. Come come, let's go get some food in your stomach." She patted the young terrapins back and stood, holding her hand out for him to take.

He took the offer, standing up and following her out of the room.

—————

It had been only five days since his arrival, yet it felt like it had already been weeks. He was being worked to nearly passing out, and when he wasn't working he was being experimented on. His headaches had been becoming more bearable compared to the pain in the rest of his body.

He was clamped to the table yet again, looking up and awaiting the needles to enter his skin. 

They never arrived.

He was confused, turning his head to face Draxum. The sheep man was flicking air bubbles out of a particularly nasty looking liquid in his needle tipped syringe. Subject V was confused, yet didn't speak out of turn.

"This is to keep your trap shut, if it proves successful then you will be unable to speak any longer. Not only will it help your 'speaking out of turn' problem, but it will save me the headaches of your obnoxious screeching." Draxum stood, walking over to him and holding the syringe in hand.

Subject V's eyes widened, terror washing over him. No more speaking. . .? He squeezed his eyes shut as the needle pointed towards his head. He felt his head be shifted to the side, and soon after, the needle entered the side of his neck.

His neck burned, only worsening by the second. He let out an agonized scream, yet it slowly shifted into short shrieks of pain. Make it stop!! Make it stop please!!! His thoughts screamed, yet they couldn't form into words. He yanked and thrashed around, the metal bands holding him down. 

The table shook violently, it was so much more painful than most, if not all of the previous experiments. He felt like his vocal chords were on fire, and the rest of his neck was not much better. He slowly slipped into unconsciousness, falling limp on the table.

—————

Subject V woke up in his cell, laying on the floor towards the back. He blinked, sitting up. He was confused, until he wasn't. He instantly felt his neck start to burn again, wincing and hovering his hands beside it.

He looked around. Good, he was in his cell for real. He wasn't just imagining it. He leaned against the wall, pulling his legs close and letting himself be drowned in his thoughts.

You deserve this. . You have angered Master Draxum and he has given you proper punishment. 

But it hurts. . 

You shouldn't be so distressed now, you were annoying anyways. Now you won't be annoying anymore. Maybe that's why they left you. Because you were annoying them with your endless ranting.

Was I really that annoying to them—? Who's them? What were their names. . ?

You deserve this, Subject V. He has shown you mercy. You are easily disposable, don't you forget it. He could easily eliminate you and replace you with a much more smart and obedient life form. Perhaps a dog mutant or a crow mutant. They are proven to be smart, and dogs are obedient.

You are lucky you haven't been killed with these experiments. One day you might not be so lucky. You should feel honored, you get to help build a powerful machine, said to eliminate the human threat and save the yokai. You have no human friends, other than that April girl. Although I'm sure she doesn't feel the same way.

She just uses you for homework and projects. She doesn't really care for you.

But she's my friend. . We've known each other for years—

She is not your friend. You are unworthy of such things. 

But—

No. You know I am right. You have no counterpoint to make. 

. . . .

He didn't realize he was crying until he felt tears pool up on the ground. He removed himself from his thoughts, which was surprising. Usually he wasn't able to do it quite that easily. He just stared at the puddle in front of him in silence.

—————

It's now been exactly one week. Subject V had no recollection of anything that happened when he had first gotten there, well- almost. The softshell had constant nightmares, especially about the fight in the Nexus, or what he remembers from it at least. .

He also had nightmares about his first experiment, it was agonizing. He had wished it could just stop already. He remembers how his body trembled so much, and that it had felt like he was being electrocuted over and over again.

He remembers how Draxum had told him they all abandoned him soon after another event he couldn't quite remember. He remembers being told they handed him over to Draxum because they couldn't deal with him.

He hated it. He hated them. He was glad he never really thought about them saving him. Yet, deep in the back of his mind, he sort of hoped that one day they would return. He denies that thought frequently, as they would have done it already.

. . . . Who's they?

He sighs as he continues working on the nearly-built machine he was helping Draxum with. It was about 74% done, and not yet coded.

Subject V looked down at his blueprints, which consisted of a wide-platform with multiple small pillars on top. There was one cylindrical pillar in the middle, which was supposed to be over 35ft. There was a large cylindrical slot in the middle of the large pillar, sitting at about 5 ½ft wide and 9ft long.

The other smaller pillars were supposed to be a backup power supply for if the machine loses power in the main generator. There was a wide control panel across one end of the platform, consisting of multiple small buttons for different things, and some switches, too. There was a large button in the top middle, which was to start the machine.

he wasn't sure what the machine was for, as Draxum never told him. It was alright, he didn't deserve to know anyway. Especially not after that stunt he pulled a few days ago.

Subject V worked on the panel to the machine, constructing the buttons and the outer frame. He sat at a desk in the far corner of the room, screwing in some pieces.

Draxum entered the dim room, only illuminated by the softly glowing mystic torches lining the walls. He walked behind the turtle, looking over his shoulder to examine the work.

"You need to quicken your pace, Subject V. I do not have forever." Draxum ordered.

"Yes, sir." Subject V gritted his teeth, annoyed at the fact he was doing this alone and being nagged to go faster by the yokai that was supposed to be helping.

"I didn't ask you to speak. I asked you to speed up and finish this control panel."

Subject V slammed his screwdriver down onto the desk, rattling the desk a bit. "I am trying, sir! But I cannot go ANY faster with you breathing down my neck! Maybe if you would help me, the job could be done twice as fast! And it doesn't help that you haven't fed me since yesterday, and before that you didn't feed me at all!" He snapped.

"Subject V! Silence this instant!" Draxum commanded harshly.

"You forget that if you want to have experiments to experiment on, you still need to feed them! Maybe that's why all of the human experiments died, because you didn't. Feed. Them! Get better at being a scientist, because right now you're just a sappy excuse for o—"

Draxum slammed the back of his hand into the side of Subject V's face, sending him crashing to the ground and sliding a few feet.

Subject V sat up, wide eyed in fear. He cupped the side of his face where it made impact with Draxum's hand, trembling and trying to hold back tears.

"I said silence, Subject V." The sheep man practically snarled. "You are not to speak out of turn, and not unless ordered to by me." He glared down at the subject, a face of annoyance and anger prominent.

"I—"

"Silence!! Huginn, Munnin, throw him in subject one-two-six's cell, he needs to be taught a lesson in his speaking problem."

The two goyles jumped off of Draxum's shoulder, flapping their wings and hovering beside him. "Yes sir, mister bossman!"

Subject V stood up and followed the two goyles to the cells.

Chapter Text

"One. Week. It's been ONE. WEEK! Where are they?!" Raph snapped.

"Well— two seem to be delayed and the others are almost here—" Big Mama attempted.

"Well tell them to hurry up! We don't have much longer and I don't think Donnie does either!" Leo scowled.

The two brothers were practically face-to-face with her, seething. They were furious that their rescue was delayed.

"I apologize but there isn't anything I can dimbly-do—" Big Mama stepped back, waving her hands in front of her in defense.

The two straightened their posture and sighed. 

"Alright. If they don't get here by Tuesday we're going without them. I don't care how angry they would be." Raph declared.

"C'mon. Let's go eat something." Mikey came up from behind the brothers and patted their backs to try and calm them.

"Fine." Leo turned to Mikey, following him. Raph followed shortly after.

—————

The three had arrived at Donnie's room, sitting on the bed while munching on some snacks they were given by the Nexus chefs. They were silent for about 20 minutes straight, each doing something to distract themselves from the current situation.

Raph was looking down, staring at his food and zoning out. He was at one side of the bed.

Mikey hugged the goggles and shattered Bō tightly, silent tears streaming down his cheeks and staining his mask. He was in the middle of the bed.

Leo was holding pieces of Donnie's battle shell he had been given by the bellhops. He just stared at them, eyes watering yet no tears falling. His feet hung down from the furniture limply. He was at the other side of the bed

A few more silent minutes later, Mikey finally spoke.

"So, what do we do now that we can't do anything—"

"We're gonna train. And we aren't gonna stop until we are confident in beating the goat man. Raph won't let some random mutants we don't know stall us any longer." Raph replied.

"I'm going to work on my portals. I think I'm finally getting it down." Leo said.

"That's good. Portal might be the only way we can make it there without many problems." Raph turned and sat criss-cross on the bed.

"I'm so beating his ass when I get my hands on him. He's gonna regret ever taking Donnie away from us!" Mikey raised a fist to emphasize his point.

"Language, Mikey. And also we can't just rush in. We gotta make a plan. And hopefully one without much violence involved—" Raph shivered a bit. He knew violence was kinda what being a crime-fighter was about, but he didn't like blood everywhere or anything. The sight of a lot of blood made him want to throw up.

"I say we portal down there, kill the goat man, save Donnie, kill his stupid bird things, and get out of there." Leo hissed. "If he's taking something we love from us, we can take something he loves from him. Starting with his life."

". . . Woahhh, that just went from ten to a hundred real quick." Mikey blinked in surprise.

"Leo, Raph would rather not have too much violence involved. And especially mass murder!" Raph snapped.

"Well excuse me for wanting to take revenge on that stupid yokai! He took our brother for fucks sake!" Leo snapped back.

"I get that but we can still get justice another way! We can turn him into the police and send his weird cat things to another owner! We can just destroy whatever his big project is- because I know he has one, I can feel it- and get rid of his weird evil stuff!" Raph scowled.

"Yeah, well I want to defend Donnie's honor and the way I'll do it is to kill that man who is hurting our brother!" Leo glared at Raph, squeezing one of the battle shell pieces in his hands.

"Guys! Please do NOT talk about murder! I am eating!" Mikey butted in.

"Fine!" The two said in unison, turning away from each other.

They all sat in silence once more, but there was some faint sniffling that could be heard.

Raph turned to the noise, trying to figure out who it was.

Mikey turned, too. The two brothers casting a glance to the third.

Leo was tense, staring down into his lap with his back facing the others. He was the one crying.

The other two glanced back at each other for a second before shifting to sit beside him on the other side of the bed.

Leo was holding the shattered battle shell piece like a lifeline, as if worried it was going to get taken away from him as well. His knuckles were pale, and they began to ache. He didn't care about that, that wasn't why he was crying.

Mikey and Raph wrapped their arms around him, hugging him for comfort. He accepted the gesture, holding back the urge to break down at that second.

"Go on, let it out. I know you wanna" Mikey said softly, patting his back.

That was enough for the slider to start bawling, as if he were a little kid. "I- I just W- want Don ba- ck—" He choked out through sobs. "I want my twin back—"

"Raph knows, trust me. We all want Don back, but we have to do it smartly if we're gonna get him back. We don't want to risk another arena situation." Raph sighed.

"He doesn't have his shell. . It shattered— he doesn't have protection— something's wrong with his shell. . It still aches, really bad. . ." The slider moved one hand to touch his shell, rubbing it a bit before going back to holding the armor piece with both hands.

". . I know. But I'm sure he's fine, if it still aches that bad that means he's alive. And that's what we need. He's still holding his own and we need to make sure it stays that way. We're gonna save our middle bro whether those 'friends' of Big Mama's come or not." Raph reassured.

"Yeah. . You're right. And when we get there we're gonna give that goat man a well deserved beating!" Leo grinned, looking up at him.

Raph nodded. "But again, we need to be smart about it. Even with backup, that guy is still pretty strong. We need to plan instead of just rushing in like we always do." Raph reminded.

Mikey had climbed onto Raph's shell by now, and ended up falling asleep with the slightly-too-big goggles on his head.

"C'mon, let's get some sleep. We're gonna need it for when we save our bro." Raph slapped the sliders back gently (so he didn't knock him to the floor on accident) and glanced down at the shattered piece.

"Alright—" Leo said, nodding. He was suddenly picked up, as if he was a small child being cradled.

"C'mon, sleep pile tonight. You need it." Raph said, crawling carefully to the middle of the bed so the other two didn't fall. He curled up, pulling Leo to his plastron so the slider could be warm.

Leo instantly fell asleep, snoring away and holding the shattered piece close to him.

Raph soon followed.

—————

Morning came pretty quick for the three brothers, and they all woke up at similar times. Leo woke up first, realizing Raph's arm was still draped over him and looking over at the other two. 

Mikey woke second, dramatically stretching and blinking as he looked around. "Sup Lee" He yawned contagiously.

"Sup, Mike." He replied, yawning as well. "Hey, big guy. I kinda need my body to train, y'know." The slider patted the Snappers arm, trying to wake him.

Raph just stubbornly groaned and shifted a bit, going back to snoring.

Leo chuckled a bit, glancing up at Mikey. "Little help here?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah." Mikey quickly scrambled off of the Snappers side, clearing his throat when he was a safe distance away.

". . . Mikey— Mikey what are you about to do—" Leo questioned suspiciously.

"You wanted me to wake him up. HEY RAPH VERONICA AND EMILY GOT TOGETHER!" The box turtle yelled.

Raph snapped up, taking Leo with him and hugging him tightly subconsciously, as if he was a teddy bear. "They finally did?!"

A few beats of silence followed, and raph finally realized.

"Oh. That was a lie wasn't it?" The snapper asked nervously.

"Yeah. . I had to wake ya up because you kinda had Leo stuck under your arm." Mikey chuckled lightly.

Raph looked down at his arms, seeing the slider just sitting there with his arms crossed. "Oops- heh- sorry Leo—" He set him down, patting him on the back lightly.

"It's fine bossman. Hey wait where's—" He suddenly began to look around frantically.

"You mean this?" Mikey held up the shattered piece. "I found it after I yelled out. Thought you'd want it."

Leo grabbed the piece and held it close to his chest. "Thanks, magic Mike. How do you always find stuff so quickly? You're like those T.V. show mom's that can make things appear out of thin air."

"I dunno, just a talent I guess." The box turtle shrugged.

"Cool." Leo nodded slowly, grinning. He set the shattered piece in his fanny pack pocket and zipped it back up, patting it a few times and crossing his arms again. "So what now?"

"Breakfast?" Mikey suggested.

"Yeah, I'm hungry, not gonna lie." Raph patted his plastron.

"Alright. Last one there's gotta buy the next pizza!" Leo leaped off the bed, sprinting out of the room with a snicker.

"Hey! No fair Leo!" Mikey ran after.

"Raph bought the last one!" Raph yelled out, getting up off the bed and walking to the door. He paused for a second, glancing over at the table full of tech and sighing. "We'll get ya back, DonTron. I promise." He muttered, then closed the door and ran after the others.

—————

Raph finally arrived at the eating quarters, instantly noticing he was the last one there when he saw the other two eating. "Guess I'm buying the next pizza, huh?" He chuckled.

"Yep! Sorry big guy, gotta be faster next time." Mikey smiled.

"Nobody beats Neon Leon! Nobody!" Leo raised his fists victoriously and leaning back on his chair.

Mikey and Raph rolled their eyes.

 Raph walked over, tilting the chair back on all four legs. "You're gonna fall if ya do that. Remember last time?"

"Ughhhh, no fun man! That was only one time! And that was so Donnie's fault for pushing me." Leo crossed his arms and huffed.

"I mean you were kinda touching his highly explosive techy stuff so ya kinda deserved it." Raph reminded him.

Mikey munched loudly on some eggs and bacon, listening to the conversation and kicking his legs happily under the table. He swayed side-to-side.

"Guessin' ya like the eggs and bacon?" Raph turned to the box turtle.

"Yeah! So much more rich than normal eggs and bacon! I wonder what spices they use." The younger sibling replied.

Raph and Leo just shrugged, turning and sitting down. They were handed similar dishes, though Raph had more bacon and Leo had more eggs.

"Yeah! They got mine right! Thanks guys! Ya did awesome!" Raph complimented as the cook walked away.

Leo was already chowing down on his eggs and bacon so he didn't get a chance to compliment the chefs.

"Damn, you're right Mike's, this is good!" Leo said, muffled due to his mouth being full.

"I told ya!" Mikey giggled.

"Finish your food Leo, you're gonna choke if you talk with your mouth full!" Raph barked.

"No I'm noo—" Leo began coughing violently, hunching over and gripping the table.

Raph reached out to help him but jumped back when Leo shot up again.

"Sike. Knew I'd get ya. See? I told you I wouldn't choke. You're just being dramatic!" Leo chuckled, leaning back to rest on the back of his chair with a grin.

"You little— fine. I'm not helping ya when you do choke, though." Raph huffed, turning back to his food.

"Sureeee, sure you aren't." Leo knew he was lying. He just went back to eating as well.

Chapter Text

It had been officially two full weeks since Subject V's capture. And around one since his big punishment. He was practically finished with the machine, he just needed to finish the console wiring and It should be done.

Subject V could hear footsteps behind him, growing louder with each step. He was concentrated on the console, so he didn't turn to his Master.

"Ah, I see we are almost finished. Excellent. How much longer will it be?" Draxum stood tall, looking down at the softshell with his normal monotone expression.

Subject V turned to face the sheep man, nodding. He thought for a moment, then held up two fingers.

"Two hours?" Draxum guessed.

Subject V shook his head, then pointed up to indicate longer.

"Two. . Weeks?" The sheep man guessed again.

Subject V pointed down, indicating less.

"Two days?" The alchemist growled.

Subject V flinched, then nodded. Then went back to fiddling with the wires.

"Ugh. . It better not take any more than two days, or I'm not going to be too merciful in your punishment." Draxum walked off, leaving for a different area of the building.

Apologies, sir. . I'll try and work harder— Subject V thought with a sigh. Or an attempted one at least. It sounded more like a growl-like noise than an exhale.

Subject V went back to concentrating on his work. He was glad Huginn and Munnin had left with Master Draxum, as he would surely not just take two days if those two were around to pester and distract him.

—————

"It's taken too long. . What if we're too late when we go to save him—?" Mikey asked, tearing up.

"We ain't gonna let that happen. Pops just decided we needed extra training while the other mutants get ready. We should be able to get him tomorrow. It's gonna be alright bud, Raph's word." The snapper patted his younger siblings back, trying to reassure him.

"Ugh! What is taking so long?! Is that one mutant seriously the reason we're delayed? Where is he?" Leo snapped.

"Well he is almost here. He should be here by tonight. If not then we will leave without him." Another mutant spoke up.

"Good. Because I'm not waiting anymore!" Leo stormed off to the rooms.

"Sorry about him. . He's not taking this whole situation too well. None of us are, actually." Raph apologized, setting Mikey on his back and following after.

—————

"Leo— You in here bud?" Raph slowly opened the door to Donnie's room, peeking into it and spotting a dim light in a corner. He walked in, shutting the door behind him and beginning to make his way towards it. He kneeled down, resting his hand on his brother's shoulder.

The slider sniffled, looking down at his phone. It was a miracle it wasn't dead yet. They hadn't charged it much and their charger broke a few days ago. 

"Hey, hey it's alright bro. I know things aren't doing too hot but it's all gonna work out in the end. I promise." Raph said softly, sitting beside his blue-themed brother. Then he glanced down at what Leo was looking at.

It was him and Donnie's last text messages.

💣Least favorite twin💣: 'Nardo I swear to every god in existence if you put that beach ball in my bed I am going to blow up your room with you in it!/gen

Me: U can't stop me o-dear-brother! I have alrdy done it!😈✨ 

💣Least favorite twin💣: I have your location and an airstrike locked on you. Remove that plastic spherical object of death before I make sure you never do it again.

Me: ❄️ out dude. Alr there geez it's ✅ 😒

💣Least favorite twin💣: No it isn't you just hid it underneath the sheets. You do realize I have security cameras throughout the entirety of my lab and room right?

Me: d4ng it I forgor about dose 🥲

💣Least favorite twin💣: Spell correctly or so help me—!

Me: No U

💣Least favorite twin💣: I'm giving you a ten second head start. Say your final prayers.

Me: Yo dood what duz that mean?! D? DonTron? Favorite twin—?

2 weeks ago at 2:50AM

💣Least favorite twin💣: 'Nardo, I know you aren't asleep.

Me: Dang it how U no

💣Least favorite twin💣: Because, first of all you wouldn't reply so fast. Second of all, your telenovela's are loud.

Me: O

💣Least favorite twin💣: If you're going to be awake at least have a reason. Here's some selfies we took a few days ago. I forgot to send them to Mikey so he could print them for his scrapbook. They are currently in the process of sending so it will take a minute or two.

Me: Geez snd me the ntire d3clratun uv indeependince y don't ya?

💣Least favorite twin💣: it was only a paragraph. Fix your spelling. And please. Open a book every once in a while.

Me: You're*

💣Least favorite twin💣: I DIDN'T EVEN SAY IT WRONG ITS YOUR NOT YOU'RE. IF I WOULD HAVE SAID "YOU'RE", IT WOULD IMPLY THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO FIX "YOU ARE" SPELLING AND THAT SIMPLY DOES NOT MAKE SENSE

Me: Skill issue

💣Least favorite twin💣: OH SO NOW YOU CAN SPELL?! THAT'S IT I'M COMING OVER THERE!

Files attached. Tap to download.

Raph sighed, looking up at Leo.

"I loved those arguments we used to get into over text. . I just wish I could do that again." Leo mumbled.

"I see you haven't opened the images yet, huh?" Raph noticed.

"No. . this was the day before he left. I never got the chance to download them I guess. ." Leo replied.

"Wanna see them?" The snapper asked.

"Yeah, maybe that'll make us feel better." Leo tapped the text, and quite a few images popped up.

The images were relatively clear, aside from a few when Leo and Mikey attempted to tackle Donnie in a hug or when the three younger siblings tried to steal the spotlight from each other. There were different settings. One image was them during a party at April's friends house, four were of them building Sandcastles at the beach, one was when they buried Raph up to his neck in sand, and one was of the siblings just standing with each other, each making a different pose.

Leo was standing towards the front, using his two main fingers as bunny ears behind Donnie's head and holding up a peace sign with his other hand. He had his usual grin.

Raph was at the back, as he was the tallest of the four. He stood there smiling with a thumbs up.

Mikey was on Raph's back, arms wrapped around the Snappers neck so he didn't fall off. The box turtle was smiling brightly.

Donnie was at the very front, since he was the one taking the picture. A long, mechanical arm stretched across the bottom right of the image. He was using it to hold his phone and take the picture. He had his arms crossed, side-eying his twin with an annoyed scowl. 

The two brothers looked at the image a while longer, before the screen dimmed and eventually went black.

"Let's just hope he's the same ol' Donnie we know." Raph draped his arm over his younger siblings shoulders, patting the shoulder farthest from him gently.

"Yeah—" Leo nodded, leaning towards raph and resting his head on his side. "Hope is all we can do now."

Raph smiled slightly, then glanced up at Mikey. The box turtle had been awfully quiet, and that started to worry him.

The box turtle was asleep, sprawled out on Raph's shoulders. It was easy for him to fall asleep, especially since that was only one of the many ways that helped him deal with stressful situations. But he was also easy to wake, as he was a pretty light sleeper.

—————

Subject V sat in his cell, staring up at the barren gray-brown ceiling and letting his thoughts run rampant in his head. He subconsciously chewed on his fingers, only stopping and moving to the next finger when he felt blood trickle down the appendage.

He was supposed to be asleep, and he had tried earlier. Yet to no avail. He began to think about what he could have done differently to change this unfortunate outcome in his life. Yet only one of them struck something sensitive in him.

You're fucking selfish. The only possible reason you are here is because you worked with a villain. You became a pawn in your own game without even realizing it. You were manipulated, can't you see that? You fell for those stupid tricks and this is how it ended up.

Aren't you proud of yourself, Subject V? Aren't you proud that your family finally had enough of your ignorant, close minded, pessimistic bullshit and left you to rot? You had everything you could ever ask for. A family, brothers that cared for you, a father that got you the stuff for your lab in your beginning years. You had everything. And yet you still wanted more. 

You were so eager to get what you wanted, that you were willing to become a killing machine just to get it. You were willing to lay down the lives of so many, and get deadly mutating bugs for a villain to use for her own arena pets, just to get praise from a parent aged adult. You don't deserve praise. You deserve to rot in here for all eternity for what you did. 

This is why they left you. This is why you're here. You're lucky Master Draxum let you live, he very well could have slaughtered you at the very first mistake you made. He should have. You don't deserve to have a voice anymore, not after the fact that every time you open your stupid fucking mouth, something stupid always comes out.

The softshell didn't realize he was biting down so hard on his hand it started bleeding semi-heavily. Surely that's going to leave a scar. He also didn't realize he was crying, though it came out more as choked whines due to his new mutation (or rather de-mutation) to his vocal chords. He turned, facing the wall and curling in on himself. He continued crying silently.

—————

That night everyone slept in their own rooms, mostly due to the new guests having arrived. 

Leo was curled into his shell, sleeping and likely having another nightmare.

Raph was sprawled out on his bed, plastron up. He looked kind of like a star. He didn't even bother getting under the covers.

Mikey was sleeping soundly under the covers of his, hugging one pillow tight and laying his head on another.

Big Mama wasn't sleeping. She was sitting in her room, thinking a multitude of thoughts.

Splinter was crying in his room, as per usual. 

Donnie's room was dark and silent, the door was shut, leaving only the small sliver of light under the door to leak in. It was cold, looking like it hadn't been used in ages.

That night wasn't pleasant for any of them. It felt as if a huge wave of sadness, regret, and guilt had crashed through the building, flooding every room in its path with the feeling. The guests were the only ones who didn't seem much affected, though.

The corridors were dim and empty, and quiet enough you could hear a pin drop. Not even the bellhops we're walking around, as they had already finished their nightly cleaning duty, and we're likely in their own homes or rooms asleep.

It was deathly quiet in the Nexus. It was never this quiet. Tension was too high amongst the family and Big Mama. It would make anyone's day ruined if they even just walked through. 

Chapter Text

"You've finally done something worth my acknowledgement, Subject V." Draxum said, standing in front of the giant machine. Subject V was at his side, looking up as well. The young reptile felt a small sense of pride at the praise, though didn't visibly show it.

Draxum looked down upon his creation, a small scoff emitting from him. The soft-shell seemed weak, frail, skinny. Disposable. Draxum glanced up at the machine, then back down at the terrapin, clearing his throat to get his attention.

Subject V turned obediently.

"You have proven your worth to my plans. Now I have one final task for you." He began.

Final task. . ? Subject V thought, his face dropping, as well as his heart.

"You see. . This machine needs the essence of a creature to work. Its mystical properties have unfortunately- or rather fortunately in my case, made it so. And you seem to be the best fit for it." The sheep man finished. His lack of emotion only scared Subject V more.

"You are helping this cause, Subject V." He added.

No. . I'm just being disposed of. . . I must've done something wrong for me to be used instead of another experiment— Subject V thought, tearing up.

"Subject V, enough with your pathetic tears. You know I dislike that." The alchemist snapped, walking towards the console.

Subject V panicked and ran towards the sheep man, going in front of him and making pleading chirps and squeaks. He clasped his hands together in front of his face. Please sir! I can do better— Please I can get you another to be used—!

"Subject V, get out of my way." The alchemist hissed, stopping as the turtle went in front of him.

The terrapin didn't budge, continuing his desperate attempts at convincing Draxum.

The sheep man scowled, angrily raising his hand and backhanding the softshell in the face. 

Subject V fell to the floor from the force of the hit, cupping his face with a pained whimper.

The alchemist paid no mind and continued to the console. "Pathetic creature. You should know by now that my mind is made up. You cannot change my decision." He pressed a few buttons, and looked down at Subject V with a scowl.

Subject V was trembling as he brought himself to a sitting position, rubbing the spot where the metal glove had made impact with his cheek.

Suddenly long, thick wire-like appendages shot out from the main column of the machine, clamping Subject V's wrists, ankles, and mid section as they dragged him into a chamber in the middle of it.

Subject V kicked and shrieked, attempting to free himself from the metal bands that held him inside the chamber. The chamber closed, silencing his desperate calls. It began to fill with a neon-green tinted liquid. The soft-shell terrapins eyes widened in terror as he continued his struggling. He tired out quickly, though, and left himself suspended in the chamber. The liquid filled quickly, leaving no air pockets left in the chamber.

Subject V started feeling a seering agony in his flesh as the liquid filled the chamber, and he could feel himself getting weaker and weaker. His eyelids began to feel heavy, lowering. He attempted to keep them open, to stay awake. He couldn't give in to darkness, he couldn't let himself feel so vulnerable. Alas, his attempts did nothing. He eventually gave in to the unusually calming presence of darkness, falling limp as he went unconscious.

Draxum watched the terrapin with an amused look. Finally disposed of him. He thought, then sharply turned when he heard the familiar hum of something appear behind him.

A large, magnificent blue portal appeared before him, and out stepped five familiar figures. Multiple unrecognizable figures stepped out as well.

"Give us back our brother Draxum, now." The blue-masked turtle hissed, pointing his Ōdachi blade at the alchemist.

"And son." Big Mama added, eyes narrowed maliciously at the alchemist, as if she was a bomb ready to go off at the slightest wrong move.

"Afraid you are far too late, subject B and co." The sheep man made an unsettling grin, turning his head to look up at his brilliant creation of a machine.

The brothers followed his gaze, hearts dropping to their stomachs as they spotted what he was referring to. The large machine glowed eerily, that wasn't the problem. They had spotted their brother, suspended in a mysterious green liquid and unconscious. He was limp, being held in place by multiple wire-like binds attached to his limbs and waist. He looked horrifying to say the least. At one point, they had thought he was dead. Though the steady rise and fall of his plastron eased them ever so slightly.

They looked back to the Alchemist, who still held his snarky grin. They were suddenly filled with a sense of rage they had never felt before. All planning had gone out the window in seconds.

Their number 1 priority: free their brother.

They launched at Draxum, weapons glowing brightly as they viciously attacked him.

The other mutants, Splinter, and Big Mama had followed suit, beginning their attacks as well.

Huginn and Munnin had appeared, attempting to help their boss.

Vines erupted from the ground, knocking many out of the way as the alchemist returned brutal attacks of his own.

There was no holding back, not from anyone.

Especially when it was crunch time. Both parties were relentless.

Two of the mutants had gotten caught in the vines, being violently thrown at some of the others.

Big Mama shot a blast of web-goop at the sheep man, failing to let go and being launched at a wall.

Splinted sliced through multiple vines with a swift kick, ripping through the rest that launched at him with his teeth.

Vine dust filled the floor of the lab, acting as a heavy fog at their feet

Leonardo sliced through the vines easily, portalling around so as to avoid more oncoming vines.

Raphael punched straight through them with ease, throwing the youngest up into the air.

Michelangelo spun around, wrapping the kusari-fundo chain around a giant wad of vines before yanking back with as much force as he could muster. It ripped the vines from the ground, turning them to dust instantly.

"Leo! Mikey! We gotta get Dee outta there!" Raph pointed to the machine.

The other two nodded, and they all ran to the machine. Raph climbed the machine, using his Mystic form to punch through the glass to the chamber and rip the metal wires off of the soft shelled brother. The mysterious liquid leaked from the chamber like a waterfall. The clamps released from the softshell, causing his limp body to fall right into the Snappers arms.

The worried snapper climbed down, running over to flat, stable ground and laying his younger brother down gently.

Leo and Mikey ran over, falling to their knees and looking at the soft shelled terrapin in horror. 

"What do we do—" Mikey asked, tearing up.

"I don't know— I honestly don't know—" Raph replied, shame painted onto his tone.

"Dee. . Dee wake up. . Dee. C'mon bro—" Leo said, voice cracking uncontrollably. He gently shook his twin in attempts at waking him, yet to no avail.

"Leo— Careful, We don't wanna hurt him more—" Raph held his hand out above Leo's hands, attempting to stop him from shaking the poor softshell.

Leo stopped, pulling his hands back and clasping them together in front of his plastron. His eyes watered, and tears began to fall. He squeezed his eyes shut, teeth clenching as he grabbed his Ōdachi from his back. He stood, turning to the alchemist that stood tall.

Draxum turned to him, grinning maliciously. He had taken most of the others, and knocked Splinter out as well. The only one left standing was an enraged Big Mama. "Subject B."

"What have you done to Donnie?" The slider snarled, clutching his Ōdachi tightly.

"Used him for an important cause." The alchemist replied coldly.

"You bastard! I'm gonna kill you!!" The slider ran at Draxum, swinging his sword in one swift motion as he temporarily blinded him in a large burst of light.

Draxum swiped at the slider, yet hit nothing but air. The light dissipated, leaving him standing there in confusion and fury.

The slider appeared behind the sheep man, swinging his sword down towards his head. 

The alchemist whipped around, catching the blade with some vines before any damage was done.

Leo ripped his sword from the vines' grasp and sliced the purple-pink plant in half. It turned to dust at his feet. "Big Mama! Now!" 

Big Mama launched herself at the sheep man, knocking him to the ground. She started pummeling his face into the ground, angry that he would hurt her "son" that badly.

The alchemist simply grunted and launched a vine at her face, knocking her away and getting up.

Leo swung his Ōdachi at the sheep man's side viciously.

Draxum narrowly dodged, angrily launching vines at the turtles legs.

The slider dodged, slicing them easily. "That's the best you've got?!" He taunted. 

"You underestimate me, Subject B." The alchemist said, his blank expression never faltering. He threw his hands to his sides, clenching his fists tightly as alarmingly large vines surfaced from the ground in front of him. He launched them towards the blue-masked terrapin violently.

Leo dodged narrowly, slicing down the sides as he did so. The vines were far too thick to cut in half with just one swipe, so he resorted to making large cuts instead so he could come back and finish when he got the chance.

The alchemist grew angry, continuing to launch the vines from the ground. He was growing tired, having to use so much strength and energy for these vines.

Leo caught onto this, and had an idea. He was able to slice one vine in half, pinning it underneath two others and running at the sheep man with intent.

He growled, ditching the vines and deciding hand-to-hand combat would have to do. 

Big Mama steadied herself, scowling as she spotted the two still fighting. She ran to help.

The slider slammed into Draxum's stomach, sending him crashing to the floor. Unlike last time, he never took his eyes off of him.

"You imbecile! You really think you can best me?" Draxum hissed.

"Well, yeah. That's kinda what I'm doing right now." The slider mused.

"Ha, well you thought wrong." He swept the terrapins legs out from under him, sending him falling onto his back.

The slider was pinned to the floor by some smaller vines, beginning to struggle in attempts at freeing himself.

Draxum kneeled down to face him, grinning. "I told you I couldn't be defeated so easily. And now you must watch as I dispose of the others, just as I did with Subject V." He stood, walking towards the other brothers, who were distracted with attempting to wake Subject V.

Big Mama appeared from an unknown area and slammed into Draxum's chest, sending him flying into one of the smaller columns of the machine.

Draxum scoffed, simply standing and dusting himself off. "Pathetic. Just like your little 'Mama's Boy' of a Subject." He ran at her.

Big Mama hissed, running at him and shooting her web goop. Her sharp claw-like fingers sprawled out and ready to slice at him any chance they had.

Draxum dodged the goop, rolling beside Big Mama and kicking one of her legs. A sickening crunch could be heard from it as it contorted in a very unnatural way.

Big Mama yelled in pain, slashing at the alchemist haphazardly. She got a foot to the face, reeling back and landing on her back.

"You BITCH!" The slider struggled viciously, finally being able to rip one arm from the vines and grab his Ōdachi. He sliced the vines and sprinted at the alchemist, swinging his blade at his back in a swift motion.

The alchemist yelled in pain, wincing.

"Boss!!" Huginn and Munnin, who had previously been beating up a mutant for fun, yelled in unison. They flew at the supposedly unsuspecting turtle, readying their tiny fists.

The turtle caught them in his hand, turning his head to face them. "Your boss took away something I loved, I'm just returning the favor. Nothing personal." He aggressively tossed them to the side, a little harsher than intended. Which caused them to accidentally hit the machine's base with a loud bang.

Draxum jolted up, elbowing the turtle in the face and causing him to stumble back, holding his nose. "Idiotic reptile. I'll take away far more than just your 'precious' brother." He scowled furiously.

"Not on my watch, goat man." The terrapin wiped his nose, which had begun bleeding. He raised his Ōdachi defensively.

"I'm a sheep man, thank you." The alchemist deadpanned.

"Same difference. Either way I see a dead villain right in front of me." The slider grinned.

Draxum made a furious grumble, his scowl still remaining. "And I see a dead experiment."

"Ha! In your dreams, maybe." Leo laughed.

"Oh, I assure you, I do not dream." Draxum launched at the turtle, landing a kick to the chest and sending him flying.

The slider used his Ōdachi to stop himself from sliding any further, leaving a long gash in the ground. He stood, ripping the sword from the floor and disappearing in a portal.

Big Mama used Draxum's distraction to attack from behind, shooting web goop at the alchemist and pinning him to the floor. 

Draxum made an angry grunt, struggling to break free.

The slider reappeared in front of the group, opening yet another portal in front of them. "Here, you guys take Donnie and the others back to the Nexus, we'll meet you there in a minute" He turned back to face the fighting duo.

"What about you? Just come with us." Mikey said.

"It's not worth it Leo. We'll finish him off later." Raph added, picking the limp brother up ever so gently.

"I said, we'll meet you in a minute. Now go!" He growled, disappearing into a different portal.

Draxum looked around, having broken free and temporarily incapacitated Big Mama. "Cowardly terrapin, reveal yourself! I know you're still eager to battle."

"Sneak attack!!" The turtle suddenly yelled out, appearing from behind and creating another gash in Draxum's side.

"Your cowardice sickens me! You use portals to try and escape your inevitable demise, yet can't even save your brother with them. How pathetic." The sheep man scowled.

"You're one to talk!" The slider appeared from one side, slicing him in the leg before disappearing again.

"How so?" Draxum swiped at him, nicking him in the arm with his clawed gloves before he disappeared.

"You use your stupid vines for protection!—" Leo started, appearing at his other side and slicing his arm, before promptly disappearing. He reappeared again, this time below him as he slid from under him, slicing his inner calf and disappearing again.

Draxum growled, how unusual for a sheep yokai, swiping yet again at the turtle and missing.

"You kidnap innocent beings!—'' He appeared beside him again, slicing deeper into his side. Then disappeared again, finally reappearing in front of him and kicking him in the chest.

The sheep man went flying, the added propulsion from the portal and his anger giving the slider unusual strength. (Most likely adrenaline helping out as well) He crashed into the machine's console, shattering it beneath him.

"And use them to experiment on, and if that wasn't enough, you were planning on wiping out an entire species of creatures!" Leo finished finally, walking up to the alchemist. Big Mama had joined him, standing behind the slider as if she was a bodyguard ready to strike if needed.

Draxum made a feeble attempt at releasing himself from the crater he had created in the console. 

The slider pointed the tip of his sword blade to the alchemist's throat, eyes narrowing threateningly. "Don't you dare fucking move. Or your goyles won't be the only thing out of commission.

"You wouldn't dare harm those defenseless goyles." Draxum scoffed.

"Defenseless? I dunno they seemed to defend themselves pretty well during this whole thing. They even took on my dad during the arena battle. So, wanna try that again?" He pressed the tip closer, breaking the skin ever so slightly. Blood slowly trickled down the sheep man's neck, dripping onto the destroyed console.

Draxum fell silent, and the three glared at each other for a few beats. It was silent throughout the entire lab, as they had tuned out most other noise that could have distracted them. 

"Munnin!" A voice suddenly broke the silence, followed by choked sobs from a certain goyle. "Munnin wake up! Wake up Munnin!" Huginn cried out, shaking his beloved brother desperately.

The other goyle didn't move. 

The slider was suddenly flooded by a sense of overwhelming guilt. Had he— killed him? No— certainly not he just tossed them aside, it wasn't even that hard of a throw. . Right? 

Draxum started chuckling, it was a rasped chuckle. Though it grew to more of a cackle. "You, have just become a murderer. Good job, Subject B."

Leo's eyes widened, and he slowly lowered his Ōdachi to his side, watching the sobbing goyle attempt to wake his, likely dead, brother.

"You really are the monster I wanted you to be. I must say, I am proud." The sheep man chuckled.

"Shut up. You have no right to speak. You've killed many more than I ever will!" Leo snapped.

"I don't think I will. Why are you going to do, kill me? You don't have the guts, subject B."

"That isn't a bad idea, actually. That's a murder I can get behind doing." The slider stepped closer to the weak sheep man, pressing the edge of his blade into his throat. "And for the record, the names Leo, not Subject B." He added.

"Maybe I should've taken you instead. Subject V was far too noisy, thankfully that was taken care of." Draxum stated.

"What did you dimbly-do to my son, draxum?" Big Mama hissed, getting closer.

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

Leo pressed the blade into his throat more, scowling and growing more angry. "What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Brother, Draxum?" He asked, his tone filled with rage, worry, and another unknown emotion.

"Fixed him, made him more useful and obedient, and made him quiet." The sheep man began. "He's nothing more than a mindless lab rat now, and a useful key to my plans, before you lot ruined it. He won't remember a thing about himself, and with all the experimentation done on him, quite possibly you. And to add a spark to the bomb of misery, your brother, and so-called son, believes himself to be. . Easily disposable. And he surely won't forget it." He grinned smugly, which was especially out of character in contrast to his usual self.

"You soulless bastard!" Leo snarled, pressing the blade even harder and causing the skin to break even more, blood beginning to stream down. "Death would be mercy for a cruel being like you!"

The sheep man winced, yet continued his grin. "This 'Donatello' you speak of is no more, Subject V is all that remains. You should be happy, now that your brother isn't as annoying."

Leo had decided that was enough. He jumped up onto the shattered console, standing over Draxum with his sword edge still on his throat.

"For Donnie's honor." He hissed, sliding the blade across the alchemist's neck in a spray of crimson blood.

Draxum fell limp, eyes glazing over as blood began to pool up around him.

He was dead.

Leo jumped down from the console, walking over to the goyles and kneeling down in front. Big Mama followed, standing off to the side and glaring at the limp corpse of the alchemist.

Huginn covered his brother protectively, still sobbing.

"Relax, I'm just checking his pulse." He said calmly, returning his Ōdachi to its place on his back.

Huginn hesitated for a moment, before nodding and stepping back a bit.

Leo gently pressed his fingers to the goyles neck, which proved quite difficult with how small he was. He waited a few seconds, then nodded. "He's alive, just knocked out cold. Here, let me take you guys back. We can get him patched up."

Huginn scowled at him, not trusting him at all. "Why should I trust you. . ? You hurt my brother!" He snapped.

"I- I know. . And I'm so very sorry. I was angry, your boss hurt my brother. I wasn't thinking straight, and I apologize. Let me at least make it up by helping yours out before it gets worse." Leo said softly, guilt evident in his tone. He was genuinely apologizing, which caught the small goyle off guard.

Huginn nodded, attempting to pick his brother up but failing.

Leo gently picked the unconscious goyle up, gently holding him in the crook of his arm as he waited for the other to follow.

Huginn climbed up his arm, as his wing was broken and left him flightless, and sat beside the unconscious brother. He held onto him tight as they lifted up high.

Leo grabbed his Ōdachi back out, wincing as he spotted the crimson liquid splattered on the blade. He took a breath, swinging the sword in a swift, smooth slashing motion. A portal opened up in front of them, Huginn 'Oooo'ing at the pretty blue color. 

The slider stepped in, followed by Big Mama. The portal closing behind them in a bright flash of blue.

Chapter Text

Leonardo emerged from the portal, holding Huginn and Munnin close to his chest. Big Mama followed after, now in her humanoid form and limping bad. He looked up, spotting the others crowded around the softshell brother. He walked over, crouching down to his knees as a space was cleared for him to see him. He handed Huginn and Munnin over to one of the still conscious and relatively okay mutants, then turned to look at his brother.

His eyes widened, finally taking in the horrific sight of his purple-themed brother. Oh my God. . . His eyes watered, his hand cupping in front of his mouth with a face of shock and terror. He didn't know how to process the sight. Big Mama stood behind him, her face contorting in a similar way.

The softshell turtle was littered with wounds. His legs were covered in cuts and scrapes on his knees and calves, along with some bruising along his thighs and ankles. His left arm had a gash going from his elbow to the wrist. The fingers were scraped up and mildly burnt. The right arm wasn't much different. There were burns on the hand, cuts littering his fingers, and three large gashes starting from the wrist to mid forearm. 

His plastron was littered with scratches, as well as a giant crack where Draxum had stepped on his chest during the arena battle. There was also a smaller crack on the bottom right side of the plastron, right above the leg. His shell had multiple long gashes littered on it, the surface was like sandpaper, (likely from all of the experimentation), and there was clear bruising. His head and neck weren't spared of the torture. There were two long scratches on his right cheek, a long scar on his snout bridge, a small scar on the bottom left side of his jaw, and some bruising. The back of his neck had a long gash reaching from one side to the other, as well as a smaller one on his left side underneath the larger one's end.

Leo felt like throwing up. He had hoped that was all that was wrong. It was, in fact, not. He noticed how pale the poor soft-shells skin was, and the fact he had grown significantly skinnier since they had last seen him. (likely from malnourishment) 

His nails were longer, sharper as well. Must've been another result of the heavy experimentation. There were heavy bags under his eyes, at first Leo had mistaken them for black eyes but quickly realized it was from lack of sleep. He was slightly relieved it was the latter. He also noticed the new snaggleteeth.

He rested his hand gently on his twin's hand, picking it up and holding it in his own two hands as if it was delicate porcelain. He pressed his forehead against it, letting his tears land onto the leathery skin of his brother's limp appendage. I'm sorry. . . I should have protected you better. . I'm so, so sorry— His lip quivered, removing his head and squeezing the hand gently. He felt a light squeeze in response, as if instinctual. His face brightened, overjoyed that his brother was able to muster up the strength to do that.

He looked up, hoping that his brother would meet his gaze. 

He did not.

The other twin lay, still unconscious and unmoving other than the steady rise and fall of his chest. 

Leo couldn't help but smile, pressing his cheek against the hand yet again out of comfort. You're gonna be okay. . I promise. I'll make sure of that brother. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. A rather heavy hand. He turned, spotting his older brother and instantly noting the tear stained mask. He had been crying, much expected. He gave a reassuring smile and gently set down his twins hand, resting it beside him with the palm faced down.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Leo." Raph patted his shoulder, kneeling beside him.

"I know." Leo replied calmly, taking in a small breath.

"I know."

—————

Subject V awoke, eyes fluttering open only to instantly slam shut at the large burst of light that blinded him. He made a low growl-like sound of discomfort, sitting up quickly. His eyes shot open, gaze moving every which way around the room in an attempt to register his surroundings. 

It was a white themed room, filled with mysterious equipment Subject V couldn't quite recognize. Some of it looked vaguely familiar but he just couldn't figure it out. There was a few counters and a desk, as well as a curtain blocking about ¼ of the room from view. He slowly looked down, eyes widening in terror as he spotted wires hooked up to his body as if he was some sort of project. He began to freak out, ripping off the wires and leaping off the bed. He instantly crumpled to the floor, finally registering the pain in his body.

He made an involuntary yelp of pain as he collided with the floor, barely catching himself from hitting his head. He scrambled his way to a dim corner, tucked under some desk. He curled in, pressing his back against the wall with a pained whimper.

Suddenly the door burst open, and in came three familiar figures. He flinched, making some sort of 'eep' like chirp as he was startled. The figures paused, spreading out throughout the room. He assumed in search of him. He switched his gaze from one pair of legs to another multiple times a second.

One of the figures had begun coming closer, until finally standing right in front of the desk. He froze, his newfound shaking not doing him any favors in his hiding. The figure suddenly crouched in front of him. The orange themed one. He let out a startled shriek and swiped at them, barely missing their face by a few centimeters.

The small creature flinched back, blinking at him with a worried expression.

He attempted to claw and scratch at the wall in desperate attempts at escaping. He wasn't breathing right. His breaths were quick, uneven, raspy. It didn't help that his freak out added onto it.

The creature, who he had realized was his little brother, reached out to comfort him.

He snapped instinctively, swiping violently at the hand that inched closer to him. He suddenly yelped, collapsing to the side and curling in on himself. Get away! Leave me alone! You left me! You hurt me! You got rid of me— 

He flinched, feeling a hand gently touch his shoulder as he tensed. He slowly lifted his head, turning it and meeting the small orange themed turtle's eyes. Orange— Orange? Was that his name. . ? He blinked, starting to feel the box turtle stroke his shoulder in a soothing motion. He couldn't help but let out a soft churr, leaning into it. The touch was oddly comforting, so he allowed it.

The hand was removed, and the turtle turned away from him.

He was confused, wondering why he had stopped. Then he scrambled back into the corner as the other similar reptiles began making their way over.

The medium one crouched down, smiling softly. "You're awake!" He suddenly said, startling Subject V and causing him to flinch.

"Careful, Lee— Something isn't right." Orange spoke up, a softer tone. 

"Wh- oh—" The one called Lee said, eyes widening slightly at a realization. "His eyes—" He said.

"He's also really scared— And nonverbal at the moment, so I wouldn't ask him anything." Orange stated.

"Is he gonna be okay?" The voice of the largest said, still standing.

Subject V still couldn't see the largest one, as he was being blocked by the desk. (Other than his legs, which Subject V had realized were very spiky.)

"Maybe? I think he just needs to calm down, he's hurting himself more when he freaks out." Orange replied, sighing. "Here, how about you two wait outside while I try and get him back to bed? He seems to be slightly calmer with me now that he knows 'm not gonna hurt 'em." 

"Alright, let us know when we can come back." Lee nodded, standing and leaving with the largest one.

Orange turned back to Subject V, smiling sweetly. "Alright bud, let's get ya back to bed. Don't want you getting any more hurt than y'are." He held his hand out for Subject V to take.

Subject V hesitated, but slowly rested his head into Orange's. 

Orange giggled a bit. "No, dum-dum. Your hand."

Subject V pulled away and blinked, then looked at his hand. He hesitantly placed it into Orange's. He was helped out from under the desk and to his feet. He almost fell forward, thankfully being caught by Orange before he fell. He was helped to the bed, deciding he could do the rest and nudging Orange away with his snout.

Orange nodded and stepped aside, letting him do his thing. "Hey guys, you should be okay now. Dee's out."

Subject V paused in front of the bed, turning and tilting his head in confusion as he faced Orange. Dee?

Lee and the larger one entered the room calmly, making their way towards Subject V. The larger one seemed to be a few paces behind, and was still a few feet away from them when Lee joined Orange.

Subject V's eyes widened in terror, looking up at the tall bulky turtle in front of him and stumbling back. He tripped, landing on his tail with a yelp. He never kept his gaze off of the large approaching figure, who now held his hand out much like Orange, yet seemed startled. Worried, even.

Subject V froze, spotting the hand and instantly seeing flashes of Draxum's metal glove. He eyed the sharp nails of the snapper for only a second before beginning to scramble away in a sound cloud of fearful chirps, yelps, shrieks, and other noises. He had backed himself against a wall, hyperventilating.

The large one's hand pulled away, face filled with a look of worry, guilt, and concern. "Did I do something—?" He asked innocently, turning his head towards Orange and Lee.

"No, Raph. He's probably just severely overwhelmed. Let's Uh- let's try it one at a time this time. Only one of us in the room at a time." Lee suggested.

"Alright. Mikey, you seem to be the most trusted one out of all of us so how 'bout you go first?" Raph proposed.

"Sure thing Raphie!" Orange- No- Mikey, nodded.

The other two left, leaving Subject V and the box turtle alone.

The box turtle turned to Subject V, a warm smile plastered on his face. "Alright, Dee. Let's finish getting ya to bed." He carefully walked over to Subject V, gently grabbing his arm and helping him to his feet.

Subject V was still confused, tilting his head. Dee-? Why do you keep calling me Dee? He thought.

Mikey saw the look of confusion at the name. "Hm? Dee? Do you not remember? That's your name. Well— your real name is Donatello but- wait, you seriously don't remember your name?"

Subject V just stood, utterly confused.

"Oh. . . well— do you remember me-? Mikey?" Mikey asked, voice slightly wavering.

Subject V nodded slowly.

"Okay, good." Mikey helped him to his bed, laying him down gently and standing beside it with a sigh. "Well— I hope you don't hate us. You seemed really scared of Raph back there. What happened?"

Subject V let out a few quiet chirps.

"Right- can't talk really well. . Oh! Wait- did you say Master Draxum. . ?" Mikey blinked.

Subject V's eyes widened, wondering how the box turtle had understood him.

"Yeah- I think we forgot we used to talk to each other with chirps and other noises huh? I guess I retained some of that memory so I can probably understand you a bit. I'm rusty, though, because we haven't done it in a while so don't blame me for messing up—" Mikey chuckled lightly.

Subject V nodded, then suddenly yawned, lips pulling back and revealing his jagged teeth.

Mikey's eyes widened in amazement. "Woahhh! Your teeth are so sharp! You're like- like a shark or something!" He admired.

Subject V blinked, opening his mouth and showing the array of long, sharp teeth. Then closed it again.

"You and Raph both have snaggleteeth too! Awesome!" Mikey noticed the staggleteeth on Subject V, one poking from his bottom row of teeth and one poking from the top, right next to it. There was another, less noticeable one on the right side of his jaw, also poking from the top.

Subject V yawned again, snuggling close to Mikey and making a soft churr. He was much calmer now. He knew he could be safe around Mikey, even with all that happened. It was like an instinct to trust the little box turtle.

Mikey smiled softly, patting his head gently. "Heh, who's acting like the older brother now Dee?" He joked lightheartedly.

Subject V simply made a small half-hearted chirp in response before he slowly drifted off to sleep, latched to Mikey's arm.

Chapter Text

"How are we supposed to know what happened if he can't talk?" Leo asked, concern and frustration filling his tone.

"Well, they have mystic stuff right? What if we ask them if they have like- one of those memory scanner doohickey's?" Raph suggested.

"Wait, that might actually work. . Raph you're a genius!" Leo sprinted off, rounding a corner and disappearing.

"No I'm not Donnie is— OH that's what he meant." Raph facepalmed at his dumbness.

"It's alright Raphie, we all have those moments " Mikey said, having finally pulled away from Dee's grasp and walked out into the hall where the others were. He patted the snappers arm.

"Heh—" Raph chuckled nervously, then lifted his head as Leo bounded back down the hall, doctor walking quite a few paces behind.

"They—" wheeze "They do— they do! Raph you genius—" wheeze. Leo skidded to a stop, hunched over with his hands on his knees.

"Wow— anyways they do?" Mikey perked up.

"Yeah that's what I just said." Leo stood up straight and crossed his arms, leaning on Raph and blinking at Mikey.

"Okay well you were wheezing your lungs out while saying that so it wasn't too easy to understand." Mikey said matter-of-factly.

"He's got a point." Raph stated.

"That's just because he's your favorite." Leo raised an brow ridge stubbornly.

"How many times does Raph have to say this, I don't have a favorite brother." Raph crossed his arms.

"Guys we all know Raph doesn't have a favorite brother. Although I do know you do Leo so you can't be talking." Mikey grinned.

"So do you!" Leo retorted.

"We are so having a talk when we get home." Raph grumbled.

"Hello, I'm assuming you are the Hamato family?" The doctor asked, stopping and glancing at her clipboard.

"Uh— yeah." Raph confirmed.

"Great. Well I'm going to have to say, that memory scan isn't cheap— it's gonna cost you quite a few dabloons." The doctor informed.

"I'm sorry did you say dabloons?" Leo blinked.

"Yes. Assuming you're from the pirate bazaar." The doctor nodded.

"But we don't—"

"YES I knew these would come in handy! And you told me they were useless!" Mikey cheered, pulling out a small felt sack filled with the coins from his not-so-hidden belt pocket. "This enough?"

"Yes, actually. I will get the device ready." The doctor left, humming and turning a corner.

"Okay are we not gonna talk about how Mikey quite possibly stole dabloons from someone?" Leo questioned, raising a brow ridge.

"It's for a good cause. Plus I didn't steal them if they were already stolen." Mikey smiled.

"We're gonna have a talk on your logic there Mike's." The snapper frowned.

"Okie dokie!" The box turtle nodded and went into the room labeled "Hamato Donatello" 

Raph and Leo rolled their eyes, following after.

The doctor entered a few minutes later, clearing her throat. "I must inform you, this is a very dangerous procedure and could seriously harm the patient if done wrong. So the patient must stay still. No stirring, shaking, or movement of any kind. It could damage the patient's memory."

"Oh— well luckily he's asleep. I just dunno how much longer, so we have to stay quiet. He's always been a light sleeper but I'm sure it's gotten worse throughout the past few weeks." Raph stated.

Mikey and Leo nodded in agreement.

"Alright. Then do not touch him during this process. The device will just do a quick scan of his brain, collecting any memory from the past three weeks as you wanted. Do not worry, he still retains the memory, the machine just makes a sort of- copy of it I suppose." The doctor reassured, making her way to the side of the bed and holding the device above a sleeping Donnie's head. 

The device made a low hum, barely audible unless you were right next to it. It glowed a soft red color, a Laser appearing from it and moving around the surface of the soft-shells head. It was a semi-flat trapezoid shape, with two small side handles that looked similar to a snake's tail. The rim of it was of similar looks.

The brothers waited in a deathly silence, nervous that Donnie would accidentally stir or shift in his slumber.

He did not.

Phew—

 It eventually beeped, the laser disappearing along with the glow and low hum. 

The doctor pulled away from Donnie, walking over to the brothers and clearing her throat yet again. "Alright, the scan was a success. Although, I must warn you to never show him this. It never ends well when they do, some may not want to see past memories, even if just from a few weeks prior." She handed them the device, in which they eagerly grabbed it. (gently of course so as to not break it) The doctor left.

The brothers huddled around the screen, gulping down their fear at what they might see and playing the first memory.

Donnie woke up, opening his eyes. He instantly squeezed them shut again, the bright lights of whatever room he was in blinding him. He slowly opened them again, squinting and looking around. He attempted to sit up, but couldn't. His limbs were being held down. He began to panic, frantically thrashing around and attempting to call for help. His throat burned, and he quickly silenced himself as it was too much to bear. He attempted to yank his arms and legs out, but there wasn't any slack from the metal bands holding him down to the cold metal surface, which he assumed was some sort of table.

Draxum stepped into the light from a dark corner and hummed. "Subject V. So you're finally awake." He said in his monotone voice.

D's attention snapped to the sheep man, and he panicked more.

"Enough. Your feeble escape attempts will not work. My experimentation table is reinforced. There is no way of escape once you're on it." The sheep man commanded.

D listened, and stopped his struggling.

"You will help me rebuild my lab, and be my test subject for my mutagen." He stated, his tone unchanging.

Donnie shook his head, but stopped and winced as it hurt his neck to move.

"You have no say. I suggest you don't try and plan an escape like I know you are, your family won't take you back." Draxum started.

Donnie just scowled in response, not believing him for a second.

"They do not care for you, and I can see why. You are but a pathetic soft shelled reptile who cannot fight as he should. You may have brains, but you lack the common knowledge of a true warrior. It makes sense why they handed you over to me." The alchemist stated bluntly.

Those words hit Donnie like a boulder. His heart was crushed, and all sense of hope was lost in that very moment.

"You are under my command, now. That means I say when you eat, when you drink, how long you stay to rebuild, when you sleep, and, if needed, when you're eliminated. You are undeserving of helping me with my takeover more than that, so you will be nothing more than a lab rat. Have I made myself clear?" 

Donnie opened his mouth to reply, but as soon as he inhaled his throat burned again. He closed his mouth with yet another wince, nodding.

"Good. We begin experimentation today."

The brothers' eyes widened in horror, looking at each other for possible answers. None had any.

"I— Oh God. ." Leo muttered, turning back and squeezing his eyes shut.

Mikey cupped a hand over his mouth, eyes widened in dismay.

"So— So that's why he freaked out at us." Raph mumbled. "He— He doesn't want us to give him back."

"He doesn't think we care—" Leo added.

"Let's just continue— this is only one out of a long list." Mikey spoke up, removing his hand from his mouth and taking a breath.

"Yeah, let's continue" Leo nodded and began the next memory.

They watched for, quite possibly, hours, each holding back gags and other gestures of disgust and terror. They could practically feel everything happening, as if it was them who was there instead of the poor soft shelled brother. They took a small breath, preparing themselves for the next horrific memory to be shown.

He was thrown into a dark cell aggressively, as the door shut and locked he desperately banged on the bars and screamed for them to release him. It wasn't a demand, it was a plea. He was begging to be freed, unlike normal Donnie who would demand or threaten or something. Suddenly multiple separately shaped hand-like appendages wrapped around his limbs, shell and neck. One cupped around his mouth, holding it shut as he was aggressively dragged into the pitch darkness, screaming for it to stop. 

His shell was violently slashed, his limbs being held down helplessly as the vicious, bloody acts of "punishment" continued. His limbs never went unscathed, and neither did his neck. 

He never left the cell that night. And the next day he was forced to continue working on the machine, without much medical assistance being given at all unless little wound cleanings here and there by the goyles.

They almost threw up, hearing the pained screams that begged for it to stop. They turned to their brother, who still lay peacefully asleep on the medical bed. They collectively sighed in relief, turning back to the device.

"This'll be the last one today. We can- we can continue tomorrow so we aren't up too late." The large snapper stated.

The other two nodded, playing the memory after composing themselves.

It had been only a few days since his arrival, yet it felt like it had already been weeks. He was being worked to nearly passing out, and when he wasn't working he was being experimented on. His headaches had been becoming more bearable compared to the pain in the rest of his body.

He was clamped to the table yet again, looking up and awaiting the needles to enter his skin. 

They never arrived.

He was confused, turning his head to face Draxum. The sheep man was flicking air bubbles out of a particularly nasty looking liquid in his needle tipped syringe. Subject V was confused, yet didn't speak out of turn.

"This is to keep your trap shut, if it proves successful then you will be unable to speak any longer. Not only will it help your 'speaking out of turn' problem, but it will save me the headaches of your obnoxious screeching." Draxum stood, walking over to him and holding the syringe in hand.

Subject V's eyes widened, terror washing over him. No more speaking. . .? He squeezed his eyes shut as the needle pointed towards his head. He felt his head be shifted to the side, and soon after, the needle entered the side of his neck.

His neck burned, only worsening by the second. He let out an agonized scream, yet it slowly shifted into a short shriek of pain. Make it stop!! Make it stop please!!! His thoughts screamed, yet they couldn't form into words. He yanked and thrashed around, the metal bands holding him down. 

The table shook violently, it was so much more painful than most, if not all of the previous experiments. He felt like his vocal chords were on fire, and the rest of his neck was not much better. He slowly slipped into unconsciousness, falling limp on the table.

"Oh. My. God. I'M GONNA KILL HIM! I'M GONNA KILL HIM AGAIN!! HE'S GONNA PAY FOR WHAT HE DID!!" Leo Roared, practically slamming the device down on the desk and storming towards the exit.

Mikey and Raph held him back, attempting to calm the enraged slider down.

"HE HURT DEE PERMANENTLY! IM GONNA BRING THAT BASTARD BACK TO LIFE AND KILL HIM AGAIN!!" Leo snarled.

Subject V awoke with a jolt, gaze shooting to the three struggling brothers. He was confused, and slightly scared. He made a chirp, everyone's attention snapping to him in surprise. Well, everyone but Leo. He was still angrily attempting to free himself from the others' grasp.

"Shh hey- Dee it's okay Leo's just angry—" Mikey reassured him.

"Mikey, you calm Dee down while I get Leo to calm down." Raph commanded, wrapping his arms around the slider and walking out, hauling him with.

"Hey, hey it's okay. He's just mad right now, he'll calm down soon." The box turtle chirped, carefully making his way to the scared brother.

Subje— Dee, chirped something in response, his body relaxing.

"Yeah, he's not mad at you. He's mad at the goat man." Mikey sat down beside him, gently patting his shoulder and humming something. 

Dee looked at him in confusion. Goat man. . ? It sounded so familiar, yet so foreign. Then it struck him. Master Draxum— He began to freak out, tensing up and shaking. That's it— He came back— They gave me up again! They're getting rid of me! He had forgotten the box turtle beside him.

Mikey removed his hand, confusion washing over him. "Was it something I said-? I- I'm sorry I don't kn—"

Dee suddenly whipped around, latching to the younger's shoulder and throwing him off the bed. He launched himself off, staggering to the table and accidentally hitting it. He never kept his gaze away from his younger brother. I knew it! I knew you were giving me back! You're just like the Master said!

Mikey stood with a groan, holding his head. "Dee what the heck?!" He asked, turning to where he saw Dee in his peripheral. "What was that for?" He asked in a heartbroken tone.

Dee just pressed his back against the wall, feeling his legs begin to buckle underneath him. No– No- Stop! Stop being weak! Stay together—! He mentally screamed at his legs, latching and digging his nails into the closest surface he could. He quickly realized it was a doorway that he had grabbed. Before he could get away, the door suddenly burst open, the other two bounding in and instantly running to Mikey.

"Mikey! What happened? Where's Dee?!" Leo frantically asked.

"I- I'm fine. Dee's over there—" Mikey pointed to the softshell, who was frozen in terror and, crying?

"Donnie, Donnie what's wrong talk to me—" Leo stood, walking towards Dee with a look of concern.

Dee suddenly let out a fearful shriek, legs giving out and letting him slide down the wall to sit the floor. He began to breathe rapidly, pace quickening as the slider got closer.

"Hey, hey, it's okay! I'm not gonna be mad I just wanna know what's wrong!" He assured, putting up his hands in surrender. He slowly kneeled down in front of Dee, trying to not scare him any more than he was.

Dee just broke out into a series of chirps, queeks, and yelps. Clear terror painted upon both his body and tone.

Mikey's eyes widened. "Leo- Leo get away from him—" He began to make his way towards Leo.

"What? Why? I don't care if he hurts me I just wanna know what's wrong!" Leo turned his head, confusion and frustration filling his tone.

"I know what's wrong, just get away from him!!" He snapped back.

Leo paused, surprise edging his features before nodding and slowly standing. He made his way back over, standing beside Mikey with his arms crossed. "So, what's wrong?"

"He thought we- oh God Dee I'm sorry I didn't know— I'm sorry!" Mikey began, holding his head and shaking it in dismay.

"Mikey, what's wrong with him, why are you apologizing?" Raph asked.

"He- He still thinks—" Mikey broke into a sob, hugging Raph's side and shoving his face into his plastron.

"He still thinks we're giving him back—" Raph realized, patting the box turtles back. "Mikey what made him- what did you say to him?"

"I- I just tried to calm him down— I just said that- that Leo wasn't mad at him and- and that he was just mad at the Goat Man—" Mikey sobbed.

"Something in that must've triggered him." Leo sighed.

"He- Stop calling him Master! He's not- You're not— Just stop, Dee!" Mikey screamed out, cutting off the chirps and squeaks completely.

Dee fell silent, lowering his arms from where they shielded his face from them desperately. He crawled back under the table, trembling and hugging his knees. It hurt, it hurt a lot. He didn't care, he just didn't want to go back. He didn't want to go back to being "Subject V." He didn't want to go back to being experimented on and tortured and punished. He didn't want to go back to any of that.

Mikey dug his face back into the Snappers side, sobbing more.

"Dee. . ." Leo sighed, walking back over and slowly kneeling down in front of the table. He kept his fingertips on the floor for stabilization. "Dee, we aren't giving you back. Why would we go through all that trouble to save you if we were just gonna hand you back over?"

Donnie froze, lowering his head.

"Y'know, for being the family genius, your logic isn't very good." He joked.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. . . I'll do better next time— The softshell buried his face in his knees, still trembling.

Leo's face softened, sighing and crawling under the table with his twin. He sat beside him, though gave him space. "Y'know we'll always be here right, even if you can't really. . Voice it- I know you're overthinking it right now."

Dee slowly lifted his head, turning it to face the slider beside him.

Leo was staring at the pair of legs in the middle of the room, smiling. "We'll never give you back to him. We kinda can't, anyway—"

Donnie was confused.

The slider turned his head, lifting his hand and rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I may or may not have— killed- him?"

Dee was shocked, he had no idea what to think about that. The only thing he thought was; You- you killed Master Draxum. . ? He wasn't sure how to feel.

"Yeah- when I saw how you looked I got really angry. But I mean who wouldn't be? I was watching my brother die in that weird green machine. Me and Mom were able to take him down, though."

Dee was more confused.

"Oh, yeah, Big Mama's our unofficial-official mom now. She's not dating dad, thankfully— but we kinda just adopted her into the family."

Donnie blinked, shocked.

Leo just laughed, a bright smile plastered across his face. "I guess you're officially a Mama's Boy now. Congrats."

Dee just smiled, snaggleteeth pressing into his skin. First time he had in weeks. He awkwardly hugged his twin, who sat in surprise before carefully returning it.

And that was the first time he realized Draxum, was wrong all along. What an accomplishment.