Chapter Text
Donnie shielded his eyes from the bright light the book was emanating. It was warm, but the feeling it administered in him made it seem like he was dying or something.
"This was not meant to happen!"
He ignored the hippo, trying to keep himself from drifting off. The book still glowed for a few seconds longer then dimmed and fell to the concrete between the two. They both looked up and blinked in shock but also to clear their vision from how bright the light had been. The dull throbbing in Donatello's head grew to a much sharper pain. It made him want to throw up. It burned for way too long, causing him to fall to his knees, clutching his head and closing his eyes.
Judging by the horrific sounds Hypno was making, he wasn't doing too well either. By the time the pain subsided and Donnie could open his eyes once more, the concrete he had been staring at was...different. Realization dawned almost too quickly. He raised his head and watched his own body get up, widen its eyes and stare right back at him. This was not good.
His brothers were going to kill him.
"Whatcha cookin' hermano?" Leo asked, sliding into the kitchen.
Mikey glanced up at him. "Food."
"Mikey, come on. You can't still be mad about that prank," Leo took a seat.
"Well I am," the box shell turned back to the pot he was stirring. "It made Donnie leave."
"Dee always leaves when things piss him off," Leo rolled his eyes and pulled his phone out.
Mikey muttered under his breath and continued stirring, stopping after a minute to taste-test. Leo just doomscrolled until Raph walked in.
"Oh, that smells good. What soup is it?" the snapper asked.
"Miso,"
"Oh, so you answer him but not me just because of a stupid prank?"
Mikey turned and glared. "I won't be able to sleep in my hammock for a week thanks to you! And all Donnie did was try to defend me, but no, you just had argue with him for no good reason whatsoever and send him running off to Pizza Supreme knows where!"
Leo resisted the urge to leave. Instead, he pointedly held his phone up to block Mikey's face and scrolled even more.
Raph groaned at his brother's pettiness and sat in the seat next to Leo. The slider returned his phone to the table when his arms started growing tired. Mikey carefully poured the soup into four bowls evenly. A bad feeling came over Raph just then. Leo dropped his phone like he felt it too.
"Why only four, Mike?" Leo asked cautiously.
"Because you can serve your own."
Okay, so it wasn't about Donnie, good. Leo got up from his seat.
"Well in that case, I think I'll serve myself after I find out where Donnie is."
Raph grabbed his arm, effectively stopping him. "I'm coming too."
"Your soup will get cold," Mikey pouted.
"That's a risk I can take for Donnie," Raph said. "I can always microwave it later."
Mikey nodded. "Right, then so can I."
Leo slipped away while they were distracted. He had to find Donnie by himself. He had to find his twin by himself. The sudden terrible, no-good, disgusting feeling that hit him out of nowhere told him Donnie was in trouble somewhere; almost like a built-in panic button. He scaled the ladder, entered the alley and leaped up the building to his right. Finding Donnie would be easy, right?
Leo stretched his arms and back before heading towards the docks. Er, no, that wasn't where he was was it? His legs kept going and wouldn't let him turn around, so he didn't try. The crane April used against the Shredder eventually came into view.
"LEO!"
The slider practically jumped out of his own skin at how loud the shout was. He looked back, still running, and tripped over the edge of the building he was currently on. A hand grabbed his arm before he could fall too far and pulled him back up.
"Hermanos!" he greeted nervously. "What brings you here?"
"You shouldn't have left without us, Leo," Raph scolded.
Leo huffed and rolled his eyes. "Donnie left because of me, like Mikey said. I have a right to go alone and find him."
"No. You don't. Let's go check the scrapyard," Raph commanded, turning away.
"Aren't I the leader now?" Leo asked before he could stop himself.
The snapper froze and slowly turned around. "What?"
"I'm pretty sure pops made me the leader," Might as well keep going with it now that it's out, Leo internally shrugged. "Which means I say where we go. And we're staying here to search."
"He may have made you leader, but I'm still the oldest. Mikey, come on. We're going to the scrapyard."
The box shell didn't move. Raph turned back around and left. Leo and Mikey shared a glance and laugh before one of Raph construct forms appeared, stalked over to them, picked Mikey up to toss him over its shoulder and leave once more. Leo chuckled then remembered what he was supposed to do and cut it short.
Donnie stared down at his huge hands again. Hypno paced anxiously.
"How long is this supposed to last?"
Hypno stopped and turned in his direction. "The spell I originally planned was supposed to last two weeks." He looked around for the book, found it and picked it up to flip through the pages. "Here! It says the bodyswap spell lasts a month, and by the end there's a chance for..."
"What? Spit it out!" Donnie stalked over.
Hypno didn't say a word, just continued staring at the page. Donnie knew the look in his all to well without even seeing it. While he didn't particularly want to help Hypno, a shutdown wouldn't be ideal right now.
"Go sit down," Donnie snatched the book away easily and pushed Hypno toward a crate. "Take deep breaths while you're at it and don't stop looking around."
Hypno complied, blank eyes skittering to every single crate, rock and stray plastic wrapper around him. His chest rose and fell with the deep breaths. Donnie refocused on the book.
"How did I even mess it up in the first place?" Hypno muttered when he had calmed down.
Donnie's ear flicked subconsciously. "You said the wrong word. I can't pronounce it, but it starts with a K."
Hypno sighed. "I thought I had memorized it!"
"Oh, I can see why you almost shutdown now," Donnie's gaze caught on the words. "'By the end of the month, the minds of the two who were swapped will have completely forgotten who they were and the spell becomes irreversible'."
"Yeah..." Hypno rubbed his now skinny arm. "Should we tell your brothers about this?"
Donnie snapped the book closed. "No."
Hypno tilted his head. "Why not? They could help couldn't they?"
"Knowing them, they would try, but end up speeding up the whole 'forgetting who you are' part of this. And I know that neither of us would like that very much."
"You're right, your body is the worst to be in,"
Donnie glared. "Say that again and I'll ruin your life on purpose."
Hypno straightened at that, eyes widening.
"What?" Donnie raised a brow.
"Warren!"
"Oh," Donnie widened his eyes too. "Oh, that's not good. He won't, like, come try to find you if I don't go to your apartment will he?"
"There's a chance," Hypno shrugged, worry still written all over his face. "But we are going to go over there so at least he knows."
"No way," Donnie shook his head. "There is no possible way I'm going to see your little roommate like this."
Hypno smirked and Donnie could see why Leo didn't like it when he did. It almost looked crazed. Donnie blinked and after what felt like two seconds later, was suddenly standing in front of the apartment building. He groaned.
"Ugh, I literally hate you Hypno,"
Geez, how hard was it to find his twin? Leo had looked everywhere! The docks, Run of the Mill, the Hidden City, the scrapyard just in case, the park... Practically the whole city! Even when he had to resort to checking April and Draxum's apartments, Donnie wasn't there either.
"Sorry, Elle," April said. "Try Barry's place, maybe their practicing mystics together or something."
Leo knocked on Draxum's door once, twice, three times, but the sheep wasn't even home. He huffed and left with disappointment. With nowhere else to check, he started heading home. Then his com lit up with Raph's voice.
"We found him!" the snapper exclaimed. "He's with Hypno going to their apartment."
He looked up and around at the buildings surrounding the one he was on. "I'll be right over."
"Hurry, they're really close."
He closed his eyes, picturing Hypno's apartment in his mind and making a portal. Thank goodness portaling was becoming so much easier every time he did it. He stepped through, landing on the other side next to his oldest and youngest brothers. Raph pointed to where Donnie and Hypno were nearing the front door.
"Leo," Raph addressed. "What do you want to do?"
Leo considered for a second. "Don't let them or ourselves be seen. Get them into the alley and interrogate them there."
"Shouldn't we just bring Donnie home?" Mikey inquired.
"Don't you want to know why they're together?" Leo raised a non-existent brow.
"Good point," Mikey mused.
Leo took a breath and led his brothers down and across the street in blurs. Mikey swung his weapon, wrapping it around the hippo and turtle. They both looked around with wide eyes, trying to find the box shell. Thankfully they didn't think to look up for him. They shrieked when he yanked them into the alley. It's a really good thing no one was on the streets or sidewalks at this hour.
Leo casually strolled up to them. "Care to explain why we found you two together?"
Donnie and Hypno shared a glance. "Uh... coincidence?"
Leo hummed. "Nope, not buying it. Raph?"
The oldest appeared next to Leo in a split second. "Explain before this gets ugly."
"He just needed me for a p-project! Right, uh, Purple...one?" Hypno stammered.
"Right! I'm testing...spells to...make things more efficient! Yes, that!" Donnie offered.
"Since when does Donnie use magic?" Mikey whispered in Leo's ear. "And they're both acting really weird. Like me weird."
"I was gonna say the same..." Leo agreed.
Donnie lowered his voice and said something to Hypno in a tone the other brothers couldn't hear. Hypno shook his head and hissed something back. Donnie pressed whatever he had told the hippo again. Hypno muttered and turned away, lifting his left hand as best he could. Leo, Mikey and Raph blinked. Donnie noticed them staring and nudged Hypno.
"Do it faster!"
Hypno rolled his eyes. "I'm going as fast as I can!"
Leo reacted first. He darted forward just as Hypno tossed something at the ground and the duo disappeared in a cloud of lavender-colored smoke. Mikey's chains clattered to the ground in a perfect circle. Leo stood with his mouth gaped open.
"Question, why didn't we see that coming?"
Donnie did not account for the fact that his brothers would look for them. Hypno squirmed at his back. Donnie watched his brothers talking.
"You have to get us out of here!" Hypno ordered. "Think about where you want to go and toss the thing that appears in your hand at the ground."
"I'm not using magic," Donnie retorted.
"You have to! Unless you want to be torn apart?"
"Fine."
Donnie closed his eyes and imagined the docks. Warren could wait. Hypno nudged him.
"Do it faster!"
"I'm going as fast as I can!"
He felt something forming in his hand and let it solidify before lifting his wrist. Leo shot forward as soon as he did. He quickly tossed it down and squeezed his eyes shut. By the time he opened his eyes again, the wonderfully familiar sight of the docks spread out before him and the chain was gone.
"Oh praise Pizza Supreme," he laughed breathlessly.
Hypno whirled around behind him. "What about Warren?"
Donnie dismissed his question. "The worm can wait. I'm sure we have time before he comes looking for you or whatever. We should focus on food. What do you normally eat?"
"Anything in our fridge, but since I'm not there and I know you like pizza, just go to that place I see you come out of more often than not," Hypno folded his arms.
"So we have a stalking situation to discuss. Cool, he said without a hint of sarcasm," Donnie huffed. "Fine, follow me."
He led Hypno out of dock area and back into the city. Run of the Mill was far enough away for Hypno to make small talk to which Donnie didn't answers. Things like 'Is there anything I should know since I'll be like this for a month?' and 'I could tell you some things too'. Donnie continued walking and he eventually gave up. Run of the Mill's mystic entrance was before them a minute later.
Donnie raised his hand, did the motion to open it and pulled Hypno inside. It was midly crowded for this late. Donnie found them a seat and watched as Hypno awkwardly sat down. This was going to be the worst month of Donnie's life.
A waiter that wasn't Hueso, thank Pizza Supreme in the sky, took their order and came back with it faster than either of them expected. They ate in utter silence, quenching each other's hungers. As soon as Donnie finished his second piece, he looked up and immediately regretted it. Leo's shadow covered half the table. The slider glared at who he didn't know was his brother.
"Again, Donnie?" Leo snapped. "How many times are we going to find you with Hypno of all villains?"
Hypno opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Raph came up just to push Leo out of the way and grab his arm.
"We're going home."
Definitely not a question. Donnie could only watch as his brothers dragged Hypno away, only releasing him once they reached the portal out. He about ran after them, but the look Hypno cast over his shoulder was a promise.
'I'll find you again,' the hippo mouthed.
Leo seemed to notice, glaring over his shoulder at Donnie.
Donnie did not want to let Hypno out of his sight in case something happened, but for now the only option was to trust Hypno to keep his word.
His brothers were going to kill him.