Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If Donnie had a nickel for every time he woke up disoriented on a cold floor with a headache, he’d be a nickel poorer because this was strangely not one of those times.

Well, disoriented? Check. Headache? Check. Cold floor… no, that was not a check.

In fact, the sheets below his palms were unusually soft— probably a microfiber cotton if he had to guess— and the mattress conformed to his shell like it was made specifically for him. He tossed his head to the side and noticed the pillow below him cradled his skull like a newborn. His eyes opened, and he blinked. He blinked again. Either he went blind, or the room was pitch black.

Donnie tossed his head to look at what he hoped was a ceiling.

Okay, think, Donatello. What happened right before all this? They were checking out what they thought was a new Foot operation, which was getting rather handsy with some lab equipment that Donnie still didn’t know what was for. Mikey was annoying Raph by tossing tiny stones at him, which caused Raph to threaten him, which caused Mikey to laugh and taunt him, which caused Raph to push Mikey into Donnie, which earned a snarky remark, which distracted Leo just enough for—

Donnie’s hand absentmindedly rubbed his neck. He could still feel the tiny pinhole where the dart entered dangerously close to his spinal cord.

Leo got hit first. He remembered how unnervingly fast it took down their usually hardy leader. Of course, this caused Raph to lose his cool even more and threaten air, making himself a prime target. At least he managed to knock one away with his sai before being hit. Donnie pulled Mikey down behind an air conditioning unit. He used his staff to fake movement and watched as a dart embedded itself into the wood. He marveled at the green-tipped feathers, how no one he knew used this model of dart, and nearly missed Mikey scolding him for losing concentration. Ironic, coming from Mikey.

And that’s when he felt the sharp pain, watched his little brother’s blue eyes widen, and all the colors of the world ran together like an overworked watercolor painting. No doubt Mikey got hit soon after him.

Come to think of it, what did become of his brothers?

Donnie opened his eyes again to the dark room. He used his elbows to prop himself up, and a bright light blinded him. Donnie scrunched his eyes closed and groaned, then used his hand to help shield his vision. He blinked to try and heal the blue speck that burned into his receptors. The room now took on an overly bright white. Everything from the walls to the blankets he laid on to the plastered ceiling to the lightly marbled floor to the— no the door was chrome metal, at least, giving the room a slightly different color. There was another door slightly ajar to his right, which Donnie could see housed a shower, a sink, and a toilet, thankfully.

His relief dripped into dread. Bathroom amenities meant he could— and probably would— be held here for a long, long time.

Something pulled taut on Donnie’s skin covering his bicep as he sat up fully. He looked down at his bicep and noticed a strange white patch with a yellow smiley face sticker on it. His brow wrinkled as he studied it. He picked at the edge with his fingertip, and the glue picked at his skin.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

The disembodied voice caused Donnie to freeze. It seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once. That’s when Donnie noticed the small camera in the corner of the room with a solid red dot. He sighed through his nose.

“Spying on a sleeping turtle? That’s a little rude, don’t you think?” The sass left his lips before he could process that he spoke out loud. He really had to work on keeping his thoughts inside sometimes.

The voice didn’t respond for a few seconds. “And I thought Michelangelo was the funny one.”

His brother’s name dropped so casually from the person’s retort sent a cold shiver down Donnie’s spine. He scowled at the camera. “Where is he?”

“His vitals tell me he’s still asleep. Strange, the dosage we gave you should have only kept you unconscious for an hour. Tell me, has he been sleeping well?”

“How should I know? I’m not his—” The image of his late father caught Donnie’s voice and shoved it back down his throat. He squeezed his arm a little too tightly like he could physically cover the wound.

“I know.” The voice took on a softer tone, more maternal. The soprano pitch suggested it was a woman, but without confirmation, all Donnie could do was guesswork. “I’m truly sorry for your loss. He was a great father.”

“Don’t talk about him like you know him.” Donnie took a deep breath to try and calm his temper. “Why am I here? What do you want from me?”

The voice laughed. “Straight to the point, I see. It seems to be a trait you and your elder brothers share.”

Donnie swallowed thickly. “I’m assuming they’re here as well.”

“They are, indeed.”

“Are they—”

“Their vitals assure me they are well, though their stress levels are a little high. Understandably so. You have all been put in a strange environment, separated from your bale, and— are you a bale? A mischief? Do you take on the term for a group of turtles or a group of rats? Or is it something completely different?”

The voice seemed excited for Donnie’s answer, judging by the change in pitch and speed. It reminded him so much of his own voice when he stumbled upon a puzzle. Whoever this was, they genuinely wanted to learn about him.

“Or possibly, are you a clan?”

“I asked you a question first. Answer that, and I’ll answer yours.”

The voice changed from a soprano cantor to a suave baritone. “Fine. We’ll play nice.”

We’ll. There was more than one of them, and the different voices confirmed it.

The baritone voice continued, “We have you here to study you, of course. We’re fascinated by the mutated genetics that have been plaguing New York as of recently, and we want to see if it is reversible. We’re hoping your DNA can help us create a cure.”

“There is a cure. It’s called retro-mutagen.” Donnie crossed his arms. “You haven’t been paying as close attention to us as you think, or you’d know that.”

Donnie’s retort caused the voices to silence, and he allowed a proud smile to cross his lips. He should be proud, with how long it took him to figure out how to make it. It would probably take these people years to replicate it.

Soprano laughed. “You really are the smart one, aren’t you?”

Donnie normally would’ve preened at the compliment, but he kept his cool. “I could help you create retro-mutagen since I already know how. In fact, you could’ve just asked.”

“Aren’t you generous?” Baritone hummed. “You really think that gives you an upper hand? We knew about your retro-mutagen and the ingredients needed to create it. The problem is, we don’t exactly have a mutagen supplier, so we have to work with what we have.”

“I can help you get some.”

“And all it will cost is your freedom?”

Donnie’s silence answered him.

Baritone clicked his tongue. “It seems we complimented your intelligence too soon, my friend.”

“I’m not your friend.”

“Not yet, you’re not.”

Donnie couldn’t tell if it was a promise or a threat.

Soprano spoke up, “Perhaps we could strike a deal.”

Donnie’s heart pounded in his chest as he waited for the terms.

“You give us what we want, and we’ll give you what you want.”

“Fine,” Donnie replied coolly. “But I’m going to need the help of my brothers to—”

“Oh no, you misunderstand,” Baritone interrupted. “You’re not going to get us mutagen.”

Donnie swallowed. “Then what—”

“What we need from you is vitals. DNA. We’re people of science, much like yourself, so you must understand what it’s like to need resources. And since our supply of mutagen is finite, we need another source to create the antidote, and we need your help to do it.”

A sinking feeling filled Donnie’s gut. He swallowed his nerves down the best he could. “So basically, you’re turning me into a lab rat.”

“Unless you’d like to be on the researcher’s side of the table.” Soprano hummed. “At least, we can include you in on the research. We don’t fully trust you enough to work on it without supervision just yet. The last thing we need is you trying to figure out a way to salvage the situation you and your brothers are currently in.”

“What she means is, freedom is earned,” Baritone explained. “Cooperate, and we will allow you to help us with our progress. Make things difficult and, well, I’d hate for that brain of yours to go to waste.”

Donnie glared at the camera, trying to relay a confidence he didn’t feel. The way Baritone spoke was much less precise than Soprano, and his words could either be taken as a statement or a threat, and Donnie wasn’t sure which one he’d rather.

“We’ll leave you to think about it,” Soprano said.

“And we do hope you think about it,” Baritone added.

The little red light went off. Donnie felt his shoulders relax, and a sigh of relief left his lips. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them. Who were these people? How long were they watching? What would they do to him?

What would they do to his brothers?

—TMNT—

Leo attempted to meditate. His hands gripped his knees a little tighter than necessary, and his eyes squeezed hard enough to make spots form in his vision. He grit his teeth. The thought of leading his team straight into a trap gnawed at his conscience, and he kept replaying the startled gaze of his brothers over and over in his mind as he fell forward. He was pretty sure Mikey caught him, but the colors were all wrong, and his voice sounded like it was underwater.

All he knew is when he woke up in this room, he was alone, and he had no idea what became of his family.

Leo cracked an eye open. The camera in the corner stared at him. He closed his eye back up. Whoever brought him here left him completely to his own devices. They probably knew they didn’t have to worry about him, because, from Leo’s thorough examination of the room, there was no way he could see to escape. He wondered if someone was watching him right now as he sat completely still in the center of the room. No one answered him when he called out for an explanation. Perhaps they didn’t want to, or perhaps they would rather watch Leo spiral as he replayed the incident over and over in his head like a broken record.

“Do you sleep sitting up?”

The high-pitched voice caused Leo’s eyes to shoot open. He looked around the room, but no one appeared in front of him. His gaze settled on the camera, which now had a red light illuminated on it.

Leo’s voice came out calm and steady. “Who are you?”

“I asked you a question first, and Donatello confirmed it’s rude to ask a question before giving an answer in your culture.”

Donnie’s name caused Leo’s heart rate to spike. “Where is he?”

“He’s adjusting to his new surroundings. Now, answer my question: do you sleep sitting up, or do you lie down on your stomach? Perhaps your back? Does your shell interfere with your comfort?”

The bizarreness of wanting to know if he slept caused a small amount of uneasiness in Leo’s demeanor. “No, I don’t. I was meditating.”

“Fascinating. How often do you meditate?”

“I don’t know. Once, maybe twice a day.” Leo caught himself. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious. I don’t want to interrupt you when you’re deep in thought, so we’ll have to schedule your trials around it.”

“Trials?” Leo blinked. “Wait… we?”

“Yes, we,” a deeper voice said.

Leo’s adrenaline spiked. “What trials? What do you want from me, and who are you?”

“Just some simple tests that you probably won’t understand.” The deeper voice held a more patronizing tone and caused Leo to scowl. “Or maybe you do. I don’t know how much you pay attention when Donatello explains the science behind his experiments.”

Donnie’s name dropped again casually like they were old friends. Leo scrunched his hands into fists, his fingers itching to grab the swords at his back that weren’t there. “Is he safe?”

“Of course he is. We have no reason to hurt him,” Voice One said. Leo could hear the offense in her voice.

“And the rest of my family?”

“Safe as well,” Voice Two answered. “Perhaps if you behave, we’ll let you see them every once in a while. Or don’t. The choice is yours.”

“You didn’t give us much of a choice when you kidnapped us.”

“A necessary step toward our goal.” Voice Two sighed. “Honestly, we’re hoping you all cooperate, but with the way Raphael reacted to the situation, we’re unsure if that’s likely.”

“Can you blame him?” Leo was on his feet before he realized it. He took a deep breath to calm himself. “Please, let us go. We won’t harm you or retaliate in any way. Or, let them go and keep me. I'll cooperate with whatever you want as long as you don't hurt them.”

“Again with the bargaining,” Voice Two chuckled. “You turtles really think you have the upper hand when you have no cards to play at all.”

Voice One hissed a word, but Leo couldn’t quite catch it. It sounded like “grant,” but he couldn’t be sure. She spoke directly to Leo. “I’m sorry for his crassness, truly. We do honestly hope you consider cooperation.”

Leo clenched his teeth. If they were waiting for an answer, he wouldn’t be giving one anytime soon.

“We’ll let you alone to think it over,” Voice One said. “Hopefully Raphael calmed down enough that he’s in the mood to cooperate.”

Leo scoffed. Raph? Cooperate? They’d have more luck catching an eel with their bare hands.

A sinking feeling settled in Leo’s heart as he remembered their threat from earlier. Would he get to see his brothers again if it was only him cooperating, or did they all have to? Would these people even follow through with their promise if he did? And how long would they keep him and his family here?

Leo sat down and crossed his legs again, trying to force himself back into a meditative state. If he was lucky, he could tap into the astral plane like Splinter tried to teach him before he passed away. His skill wasn't perfect yet, but if he concentrated hard enough, maybe he could reach his brothers through the cell walls and make sure they were okay. Not that he could do anything to help with his current predicament, but maybe he could encourage his brothers to behave themselves until he could figure out a way to get them out of this situation.

All he could do was hope these people were merciful in the meantime.

—TMNT—

Raph kicked the door for the fifth (sixth?) time and growled. The pain in his foot reminded him that it was probably more like the seventh time, but who cared? He was alone in a locked room, no idea where his brothers were or who these morons were that caught him, and agitated as hell.

He recalled that stupid smiley face sticker on his arm— which now laid on the floor mocking him— and how much it hurt to be pulled off. Four pin picks on his bicep that formerly bled now started to scab over. He recalled how this stupid voice came out of nowhere, asking why he pulled it off. Whoever it was, they were watching him through the camera in the corner, which he noticed didn’t have that stupid red recording light on next to it right now.

“Come back and talk you cowards,” Raph yelled at the dead camera. He wished he had a sai to throw at it right now. His fingers twitched to his belt where his missing weapons would normally be.

Of course, no one answered him. They didn’t answer him the last three times, so why would this time be different?

If Raph’s bed wasn’t bolted to the floor, he would’ve flipped it by now. He settled for throwing his pillows across the room to release energy. They sat in various spots where they landed, crumpled and defeated. It didn’t fix his situation, but it sure made him feel better.

“Really, what did that pillow do to you?” Moron B asked, their stupid deadpan voice causing Raph’s temper to flare.

Raph whipped his head up to the camera and flipped it off.

Moron B chuckled. “Mature.”

“You’re just lucky I can’t shove it where I really want to shove it.”

Moron A sighed, their sickeningly sweet voice souring Raph’s mood further. “Can’t you at least cooperate for five seconds?”

“I got your cooperation right here!” Raph launched a pillow up at the camera. It comically stuck to the camera for a few seconds before falling to the floor with a phomp noise. Raph could hear the irritation in the silence, and he grinned. “How’s that for cooperation?”

No one answered him. For a moment, he thought they left him alone.

“I knew you’d be the hard one.” Moron A said.

“I told you we should’ve gotten rid of him when we had the chance. He’s just going to cause problems.”

Raph ears rang and muted their voices, which were now arguing with each other. He started pacing the room. They were going to get rid of him? As in not bring him along for the ride or kill him? Neither option seemed better than the other.

Raph caught them drop Leo’s name, and he grit his teeth. “Hey! What did you do to my brothers?”

The argument stopped.

Raph’s muscles clenched along with his teeth. “Do I have to ask again? Where. Are. My brothers?”

“Ohoho, trust me. With that attitude, you’ll never see your brothers again.” Moron B taunted.

Moron A sighed. “How about this, Raph. Can I call you “Raph” or would you rather I continue to call you “Raphael”?”

Raph didn’t satisfy her with an answer.

She continued, “If you complete one test… just one… we’ll make sure you can see at least one of your brothers. How’s that sound?”

Raph narrowed his eyes. He didn’t want to play labrat. He didn’t even like playing it with Donnie as a free turtle. What made them think he’d even begin to cooperate with their stupid game and their stupid rules and their stupid—

“You’re wasting your time,” Moron B said. “I say we leave him in solitude until he learns to behave himself.”

“They’re social creatures. We can’t just—”

“Sure we can. Really, we only need the other three, and if they’re willing to cooperate—”

“Hey!” Raph’s shout echoed around the room. “You touch any of my brothers and I swear I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Moron B’s voice dripped with mockery. “You’ll show me where you really want to shove it?”

“Fuck you.” He growled. Leo’s voice in his head scolded him for such crass language, but he didn’t care. “I mean it. You hurt them, I hurt you. Tenfold.”

“I told you he was protective,” Moron A said. She sighed. “I’ll let you think about your choice. Michelangelo has finally woken up, and I want to make sure he’s not suffering any ill side effects from the anesthesia.”

“What?” Raph’s eyes widened. “Wait. No. Get your asses back here and talk to me.” He watched the red light go out. “Hey! I’m not done talking to you!”

Silence turned Raph’s anger into fear. He charged at the door, ramming his shoulder into it three times until he felt his shoulder pop under the pressure. He banged his fists on the door, tried to pry at the crack with his fingers, and even tried to lift it from the bottom. Nothing worked. Tears came to his eyes, and he blinked them away. He looked around the room for anything— an air vent, a window, a sewer drain— to get out, but nothing even hinted at a possible escape. His chest heaved as he stood in the middle of the room, eyes still wild, and mind spinning.

“Hey, I changed my mind! I’ll cooperate. Just… get back here, and…” His voice cracked.

Raph’s legs wobbled under him. The thought of them harming any member of his family shook him to his core. What would they do to his brothers? How was he supposed to protect them if he was trapped in this stupid white box? What would he do without them? He sat heavily on his bed and put his head in his hands to keep his eyes from leaking.

He couldn’t lose another family member. He just couldn’t.

—TMNT—

Mikey’s body didn’t want to listen to him as he tried to open his eyes. He groaned as the ringing in his ears screeched to the beat of his pounding headache. He rolled onto his plastron, and the light in the room turned on. Mikey covered his head with his pillow to shield his eyes from the light.

“Five more minutes, Leo,” he mumbled. He paused as he thought over his words. “Leo?”

Mikey sat up and looked around the strange room. His heart pounded. “Donnie? Raph? Guys? Anyone?!”

When he received no answer, Mikey hurried over to the large, silver door. He put his head to it, listening for any sort of commotion on the other side. It proved fruitless. Mikey backed up and looked around. He caught sight of a black box in the corner— the same kind Donnie used for security around the sewer— and gulped.

“Hello?” his voice echoed around the room. He waited for it to silence. “Helloooooooooo?”

“Hello.”

The voice caused Mikey to scream and jump. He reached down for his nunchucks, but his hands hit dead air. He patted his plastron, looked up at the camera, and forced a smile to his lips.

“Hey. Uh, can I order some room service?”

The voice laughed, a sweet sound that made Mikey’s nerves ease a little. “I knew you were the funny one.”

“Thanks.” Mikey rubbed the back of his neck. He felt a small pain in his arm, and he examined the smiley face sticker.

“Please don’t pull that off. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Mikey thought for a moment. “Okay.”

A sigh of relief. “At least you’re willing to listen.”

“So, what’s it there for?”

“It’s tracking your vital signs. You know... heart rate, blood pressure, red blood cell count, white blood cell count, oxygen—”

“Woah, it does all that. That’s one cool sticker. I bet Dee—” Mikey’s eyes widened as he snapped his mouth shut.

The small, innocent-sounding giggle that followed did little to ease Mikey’s nerves. “Yes, Donatello would love to get his hands on that technology, I’m sure.”

“Where is he?” Mikey paused. “Where is everyone, and where are we?”

“They’re resting. We’re waiting for you all to get adjusted to your new… situation.”

“Okay. Uh, how long are we going to be here, because there’s a new episode of Super Robo Mecha Force Five! tomorrow, and I don’t want to miss it.”

“I can have a television set up in your room if that makes you more comfortable. I heard you like comic books as well. And pizza.”

As if on cue, Mikey’s stomach growled. He chuckled nervously. “Heh, yeah, that sounds great and all, but um… I was more like hoping you’d let me go and I could—”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not an option at the moment.”

“Oh. How come?”

“Because,” she laughed, “I’m not done with you, Mikey. Can I call you “Mikey” or would you like me to continue using “Michelangelo”?”

“Only if I get to call you “The Narrator”.”

“The Narrator?”

“Yeah. It’s my thing.”

“Narrating?”

“No. Naming things.”

“Oh yes! I forgot I had that in my notes about you. Charming, funny, creative—”

“Weak social awareness,” a second voice chimed in.

Mikey looked around like he'd be able to find out who was talking to him. He furrowed his brow. “Uh, hello?”

“Hello, Michelangelo.” This voice sounded calm, controlled, almost a little too controlled. Mikey silently decided to call the second person “The Conflict”.

The Narrator cleared her throat. “So, Mikey, as I was explaining, what I want from you is very simple. All I need you to do is play a few games that I'm sure you'll win with flying colors, and you can go home.”

“Really? Sweet. When do we start?”

“Aren't we eager to be the number one experiment,” The Conflict said.

Mikey heard The Narrator hiss a name, but he couldn't hear what it was. He grabbed onto his ankles and started to rock slightly back and forth. “So, what kind of games?”

The Narrator answered, “Well, they’re more like tests than games, but they’re made as fun as possible to give you the best chance of winning. Agility, Cognitive Function, Durability, Endurance, Concentration—”

“Well, that last one’s going to be a bit hard.”

“You’re telling me,” The Conflict mumbled.

Mikey chose to ignore his comment. “So, if I win all these… games, you’ll let me and my brothers go?”

The Conflict chuckled. “That depends entirely on them.”

The smile on Mikey’s face disappeared as he processed his words. “Hey, you said if I win, we could go home.”

He could hear The Conflict’s eye roll in his voice. “She said you can go home, and quite frankly, I don’t know why we needed him either.”

“Grant, why don’t you go take a break? I’ll handle Michelangelo.”

“What, so you can baby-talk him into doing what you want? It worked so well with the others.”

“They’ll come around! You just have to give them time.”

“We don’t have time. We need results, or—”

“Hey, I’m still here.” Mikey crossed his arms. “And I’m not playing if you’re not going to let my family go.”

“See what you did?” The Narrator hissed. She sighed. “I really hope you’ll reconsider, Mikey. I’m really rooting for you to do better than them. You know… really prove that you are capable of being just as good as them, and not just the one they bring along because they don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

Mikey’s anger disappeared as his face loosened to a more confused expression. The way The Narrator spoke, it sounded like she knew exactly how Mikey was feeling. Part of him pitied her, but then the other part of him remembered she was the one who locked him and his brothers in this situation, and all his pity vanished.

“Think about it,” The Conflict growled. “Or don’t. I don’t care.”

“Sounds to me like you actually care a whole lot.” Mikey grinned.

No one answered him. Mikey watched the red light by the camera go out, and his muscles loosened. He thought of his brothers, how he watched each of them go down, and wondered if they were in the same situation he was. Probably, considering that they said everyone had to cooperate to go home.

He scoffed. Raph and cooperate? Those were two words that usually didn’t go together. If it was up to him, they’d probably be stuck here forever out of pure spite. He probably already hurt himself trying to break down the door. Raph wouldn't rest until he punched himself and his family out of this stupid place.

And Leo would probably be trying to bargain with them to get them all free. He’d probably even offer to stay if they let everyone else go. He was selfless like that. If anything, Leo would probably try to reach them through meditation or something like that. He wouldn't give up until his family was safe.

And Donnie would want to know what kind of tech they were using and how the tests worked, and maybe they’d even let him. He’d probably be excited if he wasn’t ticked at being taken like that. He'd think up a plan to get them all out, because he wouldn't leave them here at the mercy of evil science if he could do something about it.

Mikey could hear all his brother’s voices clearly, his brain predicting how they’d react to cope with the loss of them being at his side. He sat down on his bed and kicked his feet. Nothing in the room jumped out to keep him entertained, and he knew within five minutes he’d be begging to be let out to play their games just to not die of boredom. His stomach growled, and he put a hand on his empty plastron. He glanced up at the camera, which was as silent as the voices who spoke to him earlier.

“Heh, I guess that means no pizza, huh?”

—TMNT—

Experiment Log: Kaleidoscope 8668–1

Date: May 24th - Year 1

Assigned Scientists: Helen Seeker; Grant Marsh

Notes:

-Subjects have been contained and monitored for twenty–four hours since transportation.

-Subject T–002583 shows minor hostility but is open to cooperation. Proceed with caution. The subject has above-average physical skills even without weapons and should not be underestimated. No one under Clearance Level 3 to interact.

-Subject T–000733 shows severe hostility and lack of cooperation. Extreme caution is to be used when transporting him to and from Containment Room L–4. No one under Clearance Level 3 to interact.

-Subject T–787753 shows little to no hostility and interest in testing. Level of intelligence is much higher than the average human and could fake cooperation to escape. No one under Clearance Level 2 to interact.

-Subject T–672643 shows no hostility and is open to cooperation. Shows increased metabolism and is dehydrated. Medical diet to be introduced before clearance for testing is granted. No one under Clearance Level 2 to interact.

-Greenlight granted for testing on three of four subjects. Subject T–002583 is to begin testing immediately.

End Log

Chapter Text

Calm. In and out. Breathe. Concentrate. Reach. You can do this.

Leo let out a long sigh as he evened out his breathing. He pictured Raph in his mind, how his immediate younger brother would scrunch his face when he was angry, the hot temper coursing through his body as he fought, how he would question Leo's orders and go off and do his own thing, often getting him and his family in trouble, and how—

“Leo?”

Leo's excitement severed the connection like a popped bubble, and he hissed out all his breath through his nose. He had him! He almost had him. Leo squeezed his eyes closed and tried to concentrate again, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get Raph back. Another exasperated sigh left his lips as his shoulders slumped. He opened his eyes and glared at his reflection on the floor.

If he didn't reach his family soon—

“Oh, good. You're awake.” The first voice from the other day said.

Leo turned his attention to the camera. He grimaced and closed his eyes once again. “I'm a little busy.”

“You've been busy for the past hour. How much longer do you need to take to meditate?”

“As long as I need to.”

The voice didn't say anything back. Leo readied himself to meditate again when the second voice spoke.

“Too bad you're busy. We were going to let you visit one of your brothers.”

Leo's eyes snapped open. His heart skipped a beat at the thought of reuniting with one of his brothers. However, their words from yesterday about playing along echoed in his mind and squashed his excitement. He turned his attention back to the camera and raised an eyebrow. “What's the catch?”

“Catch?” Voice Two laughed. “I thought Michelangelo was the one with the poor memory.”

Leo chose not to comment on the jab at his youngest brother. “Let me guess. You want me to do one of your trials, and then once I complete it, I get to see my brothers.”

“One of your brothers.” Voice Two corrected.

Leo scowled. “Fine. What's your test?”

The door to Leo's room opened from the bottom to the top, and he tensed, waiting for people to storm in the door and grab him. To his surprise, no one did. No one was even at the door. Leo furrowed his brow.

“Is this some sort of trick?”

“No trick,” Voice One said. “We trust you to follow our directions.”

Voice Two added, “You’re the only one who knows how to follow orders.”

Leo stood and took two steps toward the door. He looked at the camera. The red light was still on. He turned back to the door and cautiously moved to the outside.

The hallway itself was much darker than his room, barely lit by any of the fluorescent lights above it. If Leo had to measure, all four of his brothers could comfortably walk side-by-side and still have plenty of room to not bump into another person coming in the opposite direction. Both sides of the corridor were doorless, windowless, and turned into different hallways.

“Turn right, then at the end of the hall, make a left.”

Leo nearly jumped out of his shell as the voice spoke to him. Where were they, and how could they see him? He couldn't spot any cameras. At least, not until his eyes settled on one down the hall.

Not wanting to waste too much time, Leo followed their directions. At the end of the hall, he saw he had two choices. He could go left like they instructed or two silver doors that looked like an elevator. He hesitated. If he truly wanted to, he could get on the elevator and go find his brothers himself. However, there was an itching feeling in the back of his mind that if he disobeyed, his brothers would pay the price for it.

“Go left,” Voice Two repeated. “In case you forgot.”

“I didn't,” Leo spat. He did what he was told, heading down the long hallway that looked exactly like the one he had just come in.

At the end of the hall, Leo was presented with another choice. There was a door with a sign that read “Emergency Exit” to the left, and the right led to another open hallway.

“Go right,” Voice One said.

Leo stared at the exit sign. He glanced up at the corner, which had another camera aimed directly at him. His eyes darted to the door and back again. A nagging feeling in his chest told him to go down the stairs, but if he did, how long would it be before they attempted to catch him? And if he did do this without a plan, he probably wouldn't get the chance to try again later when he knew the building better. He could hear his father's voice reminding him to have patience.

“Well?” Voice Two taunted. “You really want to keep your brother waiting?”

Leo clenched his teeth and did what he was told. This pattern continued several times as Leo turned down hallway after hallway, almost feeling like he was walking in circles. He did his best to keep track of which way he was going. Left. Right. Left again. Straight down the hall. Right. Another right. Left. Down two more halls and then right.

After about five minutes of this, Leo stopped dead in his tracks and glared at the camera. “Where am I going?”

There was hesitation before Voice One spoke. “We told you. To see your brother.”

“Which brother?”

Voice Two chuckled. “That's for us to know and you to find out.”

“No, I want answers. I want to know where I'm going and what is going on.”

Silence answered him. Leo's hands itched for a sword. He settled for crossing his arms to keep his hands busy.

When she spoke, Voice One used an incredibly soft voice. “You almost completed the test. Don't ruin it now.”

Leo's heart pounded. Wait, this was the test? To see if he could follow orders? What kind of test was this? Judging by the whisper, he wasn't supposed to hear it, because the next time she spoke, it was much clearer and louder.

“Continue forward, and you'll see a door on your right that will lead you to a set of stairs.”

“Or don't.” Voice Two said, “If you really don't want to see him.”

Leo clenched his fists at his side and hurried a little faster down the hall than before. He turned toward the door, which was indeed labeled “stairs,” and slammed his hands into the panic bar.

“Up or down?” he asked.

“Up,” they answered in unison.

Leo climbed one flight and entered the doorway to the floor labeled three. He yanked the door open and stood in a hallway that mirrored the one he had just come through.

“Good, good, Leonardo. You're almost there,” Voice One said. “All you have to do is go down the hall a little further and enter the room on your left.”

Leo raced down the hall and turned to a door on the left. He grabbed the handle and tried to twist it, but it resisted. The red light on the keypad glared at him. Leo studied the numbers. Before he could type in a combination, the keypad blinked back at him with a yellow light, then turned green. Leo hesitantly twisted the door handle and pushed. The door was surprisingly heavy and creaked as it opened. Leo stood in the doorway to observe his surroundings.

The rectangular room was rather small. All four sides were completely covered in reflective chrome, except for the back one with a window from hip height to the ceiling cut out of it. Leo clenched his hands into fists when he realized the room was empty.

“I thought you said one of my brothers would be here.”

“He is,” Voice Two said and chuckled. “Step into our office, Leonardo.”

Alarm bells rang in Leo's head, warning him this was a trick. Instead of stepping in, he took a step back. His eyes narrowed as he squinted up at the camera in the room.

“Please,” Voice One urged. “You're so close. Don't give up now.”

“How do I know I can trust either of you?”

“You don't,” Voice one's words were gentle and understanding. “All we can do is try to trust each other and hope we're both not betrayed.”

Leo was about to retort when he heard a very familiar voice calling out. It was faint, but Leo definitely recognized it, and it was coming from in front of him.

“Raph!” he yelled. He ran into the room and stopped at the glass. The door slammed shut behind him, and the lights turned off. Leo spun around, his hand instinctively going to his back to grab his sword but swatting dead air. He hurried over to the door and realized the keypad on this side was red, just like outside when it was locked. Leo studied the keypad. None of the numbers showed any wear or indication of which ones to press to open the door.

Leo took a few steps back. He squinted at the camera in the corner of the room. "Let me out."

"I'm afraid that isn't going to happen," Voice two said.

"And why not?"

"Because."

"That's not an answer!"

"Please, Leonardo," Voice One said, "trust us. We will not let any harm come to your brother. For now, you must stay here."

Leo was about to comment, but Voice two interrupted him.

“Leonardo. The window.”

Leo slowly turned around, staring at the space between him and the glass. Cautiously, he followed orders and approached the window once again.

The window looked out into a room that was at least two floors deep. It was lit with lights above it, had no other windows, and was long enough to house a football stadium. Much like Leo's room, it was completely white and bare, save for the little green figure moving back and forth like a caged—

Wait.

Leo squinted. Down below him, he could see Raph pacing back and forth. His brother kept shouting at the ceiling, but for some reason, Leo couldn't hear it properly, like he was underwater.

“Raph!” Leo yelled out. “Raphael, can you hear me?”

Raph stopped, but he didn't answer. Instead, he continued his pacing.

Leo pounded his fists on the glass. “Raphael! Up here! I'm up here!”

This time, Raph didn't stop to acknowledge him at all. Leo's heart sank as it filled with realization of what was going on. Those voices were right. He was going to see one of his brothers.

The question was: what were they going to make him watch?

—TMNT—

“For crying out loud, what does a turtle have to do around here to get answers?” Raph yelled as he stomped his foot. He wished he had something to throw.

How he ended up in this strange, open room was a complete mystery. One minute, he was minding his own business and trying to break a hole through the walls, and the next he was on his shell and in a completely different room.

And that stupid smiley face sticker was back, mocking him once more.

Raph ripped it off his arm and noticed it hurt a lot less than the last time. He smirked. The scabbed-over pin holes from the last one surrounded— wait. Raph's grin fell. There wasn't a cut on his arm before. He ran his finger over the healed laceration to find his skin held together by some sort of glue.

Did… did those bastards put something in his body while he was out?

Raph started pacing. Just before he lost a chunk of his memory, he remembered a familiar tingling feeling in his skull and recognized Leo trying to reach out to him through a psychic link. He called out to his brother, but before Leo could answer, the connection was broken. Anger turned to fear as Raph realized something could have happened to Leo in the meantime. What if those stupid morons knew what happened, and they stopped it? What if they hurt Leo because of it?

Because of him?

And to make matters worse, he thought he just heard the ghost of Leo's voice calling out to him. Well, his guilty conscience wasn't going to stop this ticked off turtle from turning this place inside out if something did actually happen to Leo.

“Ah, you're awake,” Moron B's voice spoke through another one of those stupid intercoms in the ceiling. What Raph wouldn't give to hurl one of his sai at it and make it shut the hell up.

“Yeah, no thanks to you,” Raph growled. “What am I doing here, anyway?”

“I know you said you didn't want to cooperate in any of our tests, but I think if you get a taste of them, you'll appreciate the chance to blow off some steam.” Moron B paused. “That is what you're looking for, right?”

“What I'm looking for is you. Come out and face me yourself, you coward.”

Moron A sighed. “Please, can you stop agitating the subjects more than they already are? We're never going to get any data at this rate.”

“Fine, fine. I suppose your method did work on Leonardo.”

Raph's heart stopped, and then it pounded with a fury that shook Raph's entire body with adrenaline. His voice came out in a snarl. “What did you do to him? What did you do to my—”

“Leonardo is fine,” Moron A assured him.

“Bullshit! I'm not trusting a word outta your mouths! I want to see him.”

“You will, don't worry. I can assure you, you will.”

“Right after you play a little game for us.”

Raph narrowed his eyes. “I'm not playing any of your stupid games.”

A small panel rose from the floor beside him, and Raph jumped back. He blinked owlishly at it as the familiar sight of his sai resting underneath it. Raph took a hesitant step forward. He reached out and felt the familiar red leather under his fingertips, and a huff of disbelief left his lips.

“Did you… really just give my weapons back to me? How stupid are you?”

“Oh, trust me. You're going to need them.”

Before Raph could ask what they meant, ten doors surrounding him slid open. Each door had a robotic animatronic that probably would've given Slash a run for his money in size, and they marched into the room. Raph counted and twisted his sai in his hands.

“Just ten? Come on, guys, this is way too easy.”

“Then you should have no problem kicking butt.” Moron B said. “Whenever you're ready, you may begin.”

“Oh, I'm ready.”

Raph raced forward. The robots didn't move toward him. He jumped into the air, pointing his weapons at the robot. They sank straight into its chest cavity. Sparks flew from it as it staggered backward, then crashed to the ground. Raph pulled his weapons from it and stood up straight.

“Alright. Who's next?”

Only one of the nine robots left charged him. Raph met it head-on. He ducked under its legs and sliced through the exposed wires between its hip joint and its leg. It crashed to the ground, spraying a black liquid from its wound onto Raph's plastron. Raph rolled and stabbed another one directly in the leg. Black liquid shot out and drenched Raph's shoulder. Its fist pounded the ground, narrowly missing Raph as he rolled out of the way and severed its arm. Another robot charged at him, with a second one coming from behind, and he jumped into the air. The two robots collided into each other and landed in a heap on the floor.

As Raph fought, he noticed ten more robots come through the doors and enter the playing field. He huffed out a breath. Of course it couldn't be that easy. Thankfully for him, he had much more energy to burn off, and these tin cans were the perfect target.

One by one, Raph picked off each bot. The doors released three more waves of these things, making him fight fifty of them in total. His heart pounded as his movements became slightly sluggish after so much constant use. He clenched his jaw and shook his exhaustion away. None of these things were putting up much of a fight, at least. Before he knew it, he was standing in the middle of twisted metal, exposed wires, and puddles of black fluid.

“Didn't even break a sweat.” Raph spun his weapons and placed them back into their home on his belt. Hopefully, they couldn't see him breathing hard from their stupid cameras.

Moron A said, “Congratulations, Raphael. You passed the first phase.”

“I told you it was— wait, the… first phase?”

“You really didn't think we'd only supply you with just ten robots, did you?” Moron B chuckled. “I knew you weren't the smart one, but I thought you'd be smarter than that.”

Raph growled through his teeth. “Fine. Bring on the next phase. I'll kick their ass just like I did these guys.”

The doors slid open once again, and ten more robots stepped out. Raph pulled his sai out of his belt and didn't wait for them this time. He rushed forward, ready to strike.

Unlike the last time, this robot defended itself by holding up its arms and blocking Raph's strike to its chest. The movement caught Raph off guard. It spun a full 360° at the waist and flung Raph off of it. Thankfully, he held onto his weapons. Raph slid across the floor on his carapace, the spilled liquid from these things making the floor extra slippery. He jumped to his feet and got back into a ready stance.

All at once, ten robots rushed toward him.

Raph slid on the floor under the legs of one, only to be grabbed by another by the arm. It picked him up and threw him across the room. He tumbled onto his side, landing heavily on his injured arm. Raph yelled in pain. Why the hell did he bang his shoulder into the door so many times? He sat up just in time to see a hand sail toward his head. Raph ducked. The displaced air whooshed over his head, and Raph took the opportunity to strike his sai directly into its armpit. The robot sprayed black liquid into his face, and he closed his eyes as he kicked it away.

Raph rubbed the fluid off his face the best he could with his already soiled arm. He opened his eyes. Another robot rushed toward him. Raph ducked out of the way as it threw two punches. He sprang up to lodge his sai into its skull, but it grabbed his weapon. The robot spun around, and Raph went flying, this time without one of his sai. He crashed into one of the bots, which wrapped its arms around his torso and held him firm against its chest.

The robot with its sai stalked toward him, his own weapon in its hand and ready to strike. Raph struggled against the arms holding him, but they squeezed tighter. He felt his shell bend slightly under the pressure, and his already injured arm sent pain waves through his whole body as it moved unnaturally from its socket. His eyes widened as the robot charged toward him.

As it lashed out, Raph moved his head at the last second, causing his sai to slice his cheek, through one of his mask tails, and into the robot’s chest behind him. It sparked and collapsed backward. The arms holding Raph slackened, and he rolled off the robot. He jumped forward and severed the head of the robot holding his sai. After it collapsed to the ground, he picked up his weapon and turned to face the other seven remaining robots. His right cheek burned as his wound became contaminated with the black fluid on his face. He couldn't raise his right arm all the way. Probably dislocated again. Wasn't that just his luck?

Raph's chest heaved as he yelled, “Come and get me, you tin cans!”

—TMNT—

Leo slammed his shoulder into the glass for the third time and clenched his teeth. It didn't even show a dent from where he barreled into it. He backed up and pounded his fists on it three times. It didn't even shake. Same as the door. This entire room was rock solid, meaning he wasn't going to help Raph anytime soon.

Leo stared down at the arena below him. The first batch of robots wasn't bad, and he even cheered when Raph took down all fifty of them easily by himself, but this batch was kicking Raph's shell. He had to get down there somehow. Raph almost got his head taken off, and Leo was the unfortunate turtle who got to watch. At least, he hoped Donnie and Mikey weren't being forced to watch this.

Leo looked around the room, searching for any sort of vent that could get him out of here. To his dismay, the entire room didn't have any exit points other than the door.

Raph's muffled cry caused Leo to turn back and look again. One of the robots had slammed Raph against the wall and pounded a fist into his chest. Leo gasped and placed his hands up against the glass.

“No!” He clenched his hands into fists. He glared at the camera in the corner. "You said you wouldn't hurt him!"

The voices didn't answer.

"Hey! You promised me you wouldn't hurt him!" Leo turned his attention back in time to see Raph go flying across the room. Okay, that was it! He didn't care what those assholes did to him for disobeying their orders. He had to get to Raph before it was too late.

Leo raced over to the keypad and studied it. Where was Donnie when he needed him? He started pressing random buttons, watching as the pad lit up four times before giving him an error message. Okay, think Leo. It was only a four-number combination. How many combinations could it possibly be?

The more failed combinations Leo punched in, the more he wanted to turn away and make sure Raph was at least alive. He shook his head. He had to keep trying! If he stopped now—

To his surprise, Leo watched the light go from a solid red to a blinking yellow, then to green. The door slid open. Leo stood stunned for two seconds before he raced out into the hall.

He'd have to remember the combination he just used… which was hopefully 0042, if they didn't change it after this.

At the end of the hall, Leo spied the stairs that he used to come up here. He barreled through the door and jumped over the railing, landing on the floor below. He exited the stairwell and looked out. There was no door to the room below him, and Leonardo hissed under his breath. He went back into the stairwell and descended the next flight of stairs to a floor labeled five. Wait, he was going down, not up, right?

Leo swung the door open and charged into the next hall. There was a door that lined up with where Raph was. Hopefully, it would be the way in, and he wasn't wasting time.

To Leo's surprise, the door slid open as he approached it. He charged forward. Right now, he couldn't care less if it was a trap or not. The only thing that mattered was reaching Raph in time.

Leo froze in the doorway and surveyed the scene before him. Raph was on his plastron, and a robot had him pinned with its foot. He wasn't moving. One of the robots moved forward and raised its foot directly above Raph's head, ready to crush it.

Leo cried out and charged forward. He jumped and slammed his foot into the robot hovering above Raph's head, causing the off-balance robot to stumble.

Leo sprang off the robot and landed on both feet. He eyed Raph's fallen sai on the ground. As the robot moved back into position, Leo scooped up Raph's sai into his hands. He lodged one sai directly into the back of the robot heading towards Raph, and the other sai into the chest of the one pinning Raph, causing them both to spark and fall. Leo yanked the sai from the fallen robots and stood in front of his brother, holding the weapons just as he watched Raph do so many times against him in training.

“Get away from him,” he growled through his teeth.

For a moment, the robots hesitated, as if they didn't know what to do about the situation.

“Leo?” Raph mumbled. Leo glanced behind him, and he caught sight of Raph opening and closing his eyes. He watched Raph attempt to push himself up but fall back onto his plastron with a groan. Leo's heart swelled with protective energy.

These stupid tin cans were going down.

One of the robots charged forward, and Leo waited for it to get within striking distance. He slashed through its side, causing a deep gash under its arm. It staggered, and Leo kicked it away to make sure it didn't fall on. Another robot lunged. Leo sidestepped, and he quickly disarmed it with his sai, its metal arm collapsing to the ground before the rest of its body. Briefly, he felt something scratch his arm as he fell, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

Leo didn't wait for the other robots to come at him. He charged at one of them, narrowly missing their punch by ducking down. He felt the air rush over his head. He jabbed Raph’s sai into its leg, causing it to fall. A strange fluid leaked out of its leg and sprayed directly into Leo’s eyes. He yelped and did his best to rub it off, blinking to clear his vision.

A fist slammed into his chest. Leo went flying across the room. He smashed into the wall and collapsed onto his hands and knees. As Leo shook his surprise away, the robots closed in on Raph once again. Leo picked up Raph’s sai and charged forward. He ducked and dodged under their swipes, dug Raph's sai into any weak point he could find, and eventually came out victorious over all of them.

Well, most of them.

While Leo was distracted, one of the robots got behind him and picked up Raph by the shell, tossing the turtle over its shoulder and heading toward the exit. Leo spun around in time to see the door open.

“No!” He yelled out. He launched Raph's sai like a knife. It stabbed the robot in the back, which sparked and collapsed onto its knees, then tipped forward. It also pinned Raph's legs under it in the process, causing a light cry to leave his lips.

“Raph!” Leo raced forward. He pushed the robot off his brother and cradled his head in his lap. “Come on, Raph. They couldn't have hit you that hard.”

Raph didn't give his normal smart retort, making Leo's banter feel empty. He put his fingers to Raph's neck and checked for a pulse. Thankfully, it was going strong. A sigh of relief left his lips.

Immediately, Leo went into first aid mode. He was no doctor, but he at least knew how to check for injuries. From what he could tell, Raph's shoulder was dislocated, and he had a lump forming on the back of his skull. Hopefully, that wasn't a concussion. A long scratch ran down Raph's cheek—no doubt by his sai earlier— and there were several bruises on his arms and legs, but no other major injuries from what Leo could tell.

Leo wasn't sure if he could set Raph's shoulder by himself. Usually, Donnie did that, and Leo had no idea where to begin. He might end up injuring Raph further, and if Raph couldn't use his arm for the rest of his life because of him, he'd never live it down.

A light groan brought Leo's attention to Raph's cracked open green eyes, and Raph blinked several times before squeezing them shut.

“Man, it must've hit my head harder than I thought,” Raph grumbled. “Stupid robots look like Leo.”

Leo snorted. “What’s the matter, Raph? Can’t handle a few robots?”

Raph's eyes snapped open at that, and they widened. “Leo?”

Leo smiled back at him.

“Leo!” Raph tried to twist to wrap his arms around his brother, but a sharp pain went through his entire arm, and he let out a light cry. Leo held him down with his hands.

“Easy, Raph. You dislocated your shoulder during the fight. I didn't get a chance to splint it yet.”

“What the hell— when did you—” Raph spied Leo's shoulder. “You're bleeding.”

“And you're not?” Leo reached up and covered the scratch on his arm he forgot was there. “I'm fine compared to you.”

Raph looked around the room at the twisted metal and huffed. “You're just lucky I took out the hard ones.”

Leo rolled his eyes as he shook his head. “Alright, Raph, hold still. I'm going to try and tie your arm to your side with my belt to keep it still.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know how this goes. Just get it over with.”

“That won't be necessary,” Moron A— Voice One— said.

Raph sat up the best he could and scowled at the ceiling. “You freaks. You could've killed me.”

“Lucky Leonardo was there to save your shell,” Moron B— Voice Two— said. “You don't need to heal each other. We have top-notch medical facilities to help deal with any… minor setbacks.”

“I'll set you back—”

“Raph,” Leo hissed. Raph glared at him. Leo addressed the voices. “I want to stay with him.”

“We do need to check on your physical condition as well, Leonardo, so that will not be a problem, “Voice One explained.

Another robot came from the door that the last robot tried to leave through, much smaller than the rest. It held up its arm, which was suspiciously cylinder-shaped. Leo helped Raph onto his feet and supported him by putting Raph’s uninjured arm over his shoulders. He glared at the robot aiming its weapon at them.

Voice One said, “Forgive us, but this is the safest way to transport you.”

Leo kept his eyes trained on the robot. “You could always say please.”

“Yeah, Leo, these guys are all about manners.” Raph rolled his eyes.

Voice two said, “Really, we just can't risk you running.”

The robot fired. Leo braced himself to jump out of the way. In one swift movement, Raph slid off Leo’s shoulder and pushed him out of the way. Leo fell onto his side as Raph hissed in pain and collapsed to his knees. Raph grabbed the dart sticking out of his shoulder and threw it across the room, the drug inside it already working on his consciousness.

“Raph!” Leo yelled as he reached out to grab him before he fell. The robot shot another dart. Leo stopped himself in time and jumped backward. It fired three more times, and each time, Leo dodged out of the way. He picked up Raph's other sai, hoped he could make lightning strike twice, and threw it at the robot. It nimbly jumped out of the way. As it charged toward Leo, he readied himself for another shot.

Too bad he missed the shot behind him, which lodged into his neck.

Leo twisted just in time to see a second identical robot standing behind him, arm raised. He reached back and brushed the dart with his fingertips, cursing under his breath. He should've heard that coming. Colors swirled together, and Leo fell onto his side. He spied Raph's unconscious form inches from his own and reached out. However, his body failed him, and he collapsed onto the floor.

Not again.

—TMNT—

Experiment Log: Kaleidoscope 8668 #2

Date: May 25th - Year 1

Assigned Scientists: Helen Seeker; Grant Marsh

Notes:

-Subject T-002583 released from room for obedience testing. Subject successfully made it to Lab A Observation Room without issues. Subject passed Phase 1.

-Subject T-000733 transported to Lab A for physical examination. Subject shows enhanced strength and durability, as noted. Subject passed Phase 1.

-Subject T-002583 began searching for ways to aid T-000733 against orders to remain where he was. Subject shows extreme loyalty toward T-000733. Subject passed Phase 2.

-Subject T-000733 suffered major injuries during Phase 2 of T-002583's test. To be transported to Medical Bay for examination. Further experimentation halted until recovery.

-Subject T-002583 suffered minor injuries during Phase 2. To be transported to Medical Bay for examination. Further experimentation halted until recovery.

End Log

Chapter Text

What Mikey wouldn’t give for a tennis ball to throw at the wall like he saw in the movies.

How long had it been since he was locked up? A day? A week? A month? A year? It sure felt like it with how little there was to do and how bored he became. Those voices— The Narrator and the Conflict— never did come back to talk to him. And worse, they didn't even bring the TV he was promised! He assumed they either forgot about him (Which come on now, who could forget about him?) or one of his brothers found a way out and was currently causing all sorts of mayhem as they tried to free him.

Yeah, he was definitely sure it was the latter. There was no way Raph wouldn’t punch his way out of his cell or anyone who stood between him and the door. And Leo had to have come up with a plan by now to get them all out. And Donnie had to have outsmarted their security system by now and fried everything so they couldn’t track them.

And he… well, once he figured a way out of here, it was so totally over for them!

“Good morning!” The Narrator said, making Mikey nearly jump out of his shell. He fell off his bed and tumbled onto the floor, landing on his plastron with a groan. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Nah, I do that all the time.” Mikey brushed himself off as he stood up.

“I hope you’re hungry, because I brought you something to eat.”

“Really? Sweet! I hope it’s the pizza I—”

A little hatch under Mikey’s door swung open, and in slid a tray of food. Mikey eyed it before he slowly approached. He stared at the plate of food— a sandwich of some sort, a half-cut orange, and a bottle of water— and raised a brow.

“That’s it?”

“That’s… a balanced lunch.” The Narrator paused. “You’ll get more at dinner, I promise.”

“Well, yeah, but usually I eat a whole pizza by myself just for lunch.” Mikey’s stomach growled. “And this isn’t even the size of a regular pizza slice.”

The Narrator didn’t answer. Mikey picked up the tray of food and brought it over to his bed. He poked at the sandwich until it fell apart, revealing lettuce, tomato, ham, and cheese with a little mayo on the bread. A sigh left his lips.

“If it really bothers you that much, I can get you something else.”

“Can you? Ooh, I want a pizza with jelly beans, anchovies, and jalapeños! No, wait, I want some pizza gyoza with barbeque sauce and a side of kelp potato soup. No! An entire tray of sushi with fried eel, cucumber, chili pepper flakes, chocolate sauce, and spicy mayo!”

“Those are some… interesting food combinations.”

“Thanks! I made most of them up myself.”

“Do you do all the cooking in your home?”

“Yeah. Well, mostly. Sometimes we go to Mr. Murakami’s, but not always.”

“Who’s Mr. Murakami?”

Mikey’s eyes widened. “Uh, no one. Just a ramen guy. You wouldn’t know him.”

“I’m not going to target him. I’m just… curious if there are other humans who are okay with mutants.”

Mikey thought over his answer for a minute. He could tell her all about April and Casey and Mr. O’Neil and Karai and Shinigami and Renet (wait, did she count?), but there was a tiny voice that sounded suspiciously like Leo in the back of his head urging him to keep his mouth shut.

The Narrator chuckled. “You know what? Nevermind. I’ll see if I can get you something else to eat. Your notes did say you have a high metabolism, so I’ll squeeze in something else in.”

Mikey couldn’t help the small smile on his face. “You’re the best, Narrator.”

“It's the least I could do.”

Mikey hesitated. “You think I could get that TV in here too?”

“Oh, of course! I forgot your show was new today.” She paused. “Do you like movies?”

“Do I? That's the dumbest question you've asked me.”

“Because I have the complete set of Hoshi Wars if you want it. With bonus features.”

“Dude, I love Hoshi Wars! Remember in Episode 3 where Aniki is standing at the fire pit and falls in before Oni Wan can save him?”

“I get chills every time. How about the time when Yoshi said Aniki and Padahime shouldn’t be together, so he just left her.”

“I was so mad, yo! Like, if they would’ve just talked—”

“I know, right! Totally avoidable.”

“But then that plot twist where Yoshi tries to do the right thing despite blowing up the moonbase on purpose and causing that massacre, and everyone forgives him and calls him the real hero? What—”

“Bogus writing!” Mikey and The Narrator said at the same time. They both started to laugh.

Mikey grinned. He hugged his knees and started to rock back and forth. “You know, you could watch it with me if you want. We could make popcorn, maybe turn down the lights, or oh! I know! We could order pizza. Trust me. You haven’t lived until you’ve put chocolate sauce on shrimp.”

She didn’t respond. Mikey waited patiently for her to answer, but she never did. He sighed and rested his cheek on his knees.

“Or not. That’s cool too.”

Eventually, he decided to eat the meal she brought within five minutes, and his boredom started to creep up on him again. He rolled onto his stomach and shoved his face into the pillow.

He could hear Raph scolding him in the back of his mind for making friends with the enemy, but really, what else was he supposed to do? They weren’t hurting him. Well, there was the whole kidnapping (turtlenapping?) thing, but other than that, they were being really nice. Especially The Narrator. She didn’t sound like she wanted to hurt them at all.

So, why were they here?

The little hole under his door opened again, and Mikey watched a pizza box slide in. He approached it and lifted the lid. The smell of garlic, along with the sight of jellybeans, anchovies, and jalapeños, met him. He took in a deep breath as his mouth watered. Within a few minutes, he had the entire pizza devoured and sat on his bed, his eyes drooping as he decided to take a small nap.

The Conflict’s voice spoke to him this time, his voice full of that sickeningly sweet, patronizing tone that Mikey was too used to hearing. “Was that better?”

Mikey opened his eyes a small crack. Where did The Narrator go? He chose not to comment on it and instead answered, “Yeah. It was perfect.”

“Good.” His voice sounded strained. “Now, do me a favor and don’t try to manipulate her anymore.”

“Huh?” Mikey pushed himself up to sit on his knees. He tilted his head to the side. “I didn’t manipulate anyone. All I did was ask for a pizza.”

“Don’t play dumb. I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work.”

“What’s your problem?” Mikey threw his hands up into the air. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m the one trapped in a white box, not you. I didn’t even do anything to you.”

“It’s your fault that—” The Conflict hissed out a long sigh. “Look, Helen might see through your stupid game, but I’m onto you, turtle. You can’t fool me with your innocent baby brother act.”

“Who’s Helen?” Mikey’s eyes widened. “Oh, is that The Narrator?”

The Conflict chuckled darkly. “Well, aren't you smart?”

Mikey chewed on his bottom lip and smiled, pushing his two middle fingers together. “Do I get to know your name too?”

“No.” The Conflict paused. “And if you do anything to harm her in any way, I’ll—”

“Chill out, bro. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Mikey shrugged. “So, when are you going to let me out? You know, because you said there’d be games.”

The Conflict snorted. “I guess you’re pretty bored in there all by yourself, huh?”

“A little.”

He hummed. “I’m not supposed to put you into testing until your hydration levels return to normal.”

“Oh.”

“But I suppose I could sneak you into one that is pretty low activity level. Really, Donatello was supposed to complete it on his own, but I can have that changed.”

Mikey’s heart pounded. “You’re testing Donnie? What kind of test?”

“Just a minor mental stimulation test. He could probably pass it in his sleep.”

“Yeah, he is super smart like that. You’re probably not going to make anything smart enough that he can’t figure out.”

The Conflict paused. “Maybe not, but I can raise the stakes. Really, we weren’t supposed to introduce stress to the tests until later, but I think we both know Donatello doesn’t need to prove his intelligence before that happens.”

“You’re right. You don’t—” Mikey paused. “What do steaks have to do with Donnie’s test? Is he getting food too?”

The Conflict didn’t answer. Mikey thought about what he said, and he snapped his fingers.

“Ooooh, you didn’t mean steaks as in food. You meant stakes as in—”

The door opened to Mikey’s room, and he felt his body stiffen. Two people dressed in black combat suits, black helmets, and blue visors that covered their eyes marched into the room with guns held in their hands. Mikey’s heart pounded. He pressed his back up against the wall, wishing he had his nunchucks or something to protect himself with.

“Stand,” they ordered at the same time. When Mikey didn’t move, they pointed their weapons at him.

He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay! I’m going.”

Mikey moved off the bed and walked over toward them. He glared as menacingly as he could as they flanked both his sides. Mikey put down his hands as they led him out of the room and down the hall. They turned to the right and entered an elevator. The one on the far left pressed a number combination into the keypad. Mikey leaned over to look at what they were doing, but the guard on the left poked their gun into his stomach and pushed him back. Mikey scowled at them. The guard didn’t even look at him, just kept staring straight ahead at his reflection.

Mikey’s stomach gurgled, and he put his hand to it. Either that pizza wasn’t agreeing with him, or he was even more hungry than he thought. The pain went from his stomach and spread to his knees, which wobbled under his weight. He put a hand out and grabbed the one guard by the shoulder to steady himself. The other guard reacted by pointing his weapon at Mikey.

Mikey righted himself and let go of the other guard. He stared back at his reflection, not daring to make another move. The guard eventually lowered his gun. Mikey’s stomach gurgled again, but he did his best not to let it win.

When the doors opened, the guard to his right pushed the gun into his shell to urge him forward.

“Dude, could you stop aiming your gun at me? I’m going.”

The comment didn’t get a response, and Mikey looked around the nearly identical hallway that they all left a few minutes ago. They stopped at a closed door that opened the moment they stepped close to it. Mikey felt their hands shove him in at once. He stumbled but caught his balance. The door closed behind him, and Mikey scowled at the door.

“You could have asked me nicely.”

No one responded. Mikey looked around the room, which was nothing more than a white box. Great, he went from one boring room to an even more boring room. Mikey’s stomach cramped again, and this time, he allowed himself to fall onto his knees and groan. His stomach threatened to spill, and he held it down the best he could, breathing hard through his nausea and swallowing thickly.

“Welcome, Michelangelo,” The Conflict said through a speaker in his room. Mikey looked around for a camera, but he couldn’t find one. The Conflict’s voice started speaking in baby talk. “I’m guessing my little present to you isn’t sitting too well? Are you feeling a little sick?”

“Wha—” Mikey thought of the pizza, and his eyes widened. “What did you do to me?”

“Me? Oh, nothing really. The anchovies, on the other hand, might have been a little rotten.”

Mikey burped as he put his forehead on the floor. His skin felt cold and hot all at the same time.

“I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. If your Donatello is as clever as you say he is, he’ll have you cured in no time. Well, that is, if he finds you in time.”

Mikey didn’t have the gumption to ask what he meant. Instead, he closed his eyes and tried to get the room to stop spinning. The door in front of him opened, and Mikey looked out into a long, low-lit hallway. He thought about getting up and walking out, but with how dizzy he felt, he knew he wouldn’t get very far.

“Do me a favor and stay put, will you? I’d hate for you to make this harder than it needs to be.”

Mikey started to shiver. He rolled onto his side and squeezed his eyes harder than necessary. Maybe if he wished hard enough, he’d wake up and find out this was all just a really, really bad dream.

Too bad for him, it didn't work.

—TMNT—

Donnie groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times. The room he woke up in was nothing but white walls in a square shape. He stood up and looked around. What was the last thing he remembered? Oh right! The person with the Soprano voice was explaining to him that they were ready to begin his testing. She pumped some sort of sweet-smelling smoke into his room— probably some sort of that sedative from the darts in a gaseous state— and he lost consciousness.

So, where was he, and why was he here?

The wall to his right slid from right to left. Donnie jumped back and stared wide-eyed into a long hallway that stretched way over his head. He cautiously stepped toward the opening.

Above him, a speaker crackled to life. It was the baritone voice from the day prior. “Good morning, Donatello. I hope you enjoyed your little nap.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re entering your first test. It’s nothing you can’t handle, I’m sure, with your increased intelligence and all. It’s a simple maze. All you have to do is find your way to the other side.”

“A maze, huh?” Donnie started to walk down the hallway. He came to the end and found he could either go left or right. “You really couldn’t think of anything better for me to do? I solve mazes in my sleep.”

“I wanted it to be a lot easier than it was,” Baritone said, his voice holding a bit of an edge to it, “but someone decided to make it a little more difficult.”

“Difficult, how?” Donnie’s words came out slowly as he looked down each corridor of the maze. They looked relatively similar, both not revealing where their twists and turns went. He eventually settled on turning right.

Something solid tapped the front of Donnie’s shell as he walked, and he looked down. A vile with a blue liquid inside it hung from a string around his neck. Donnie lifted it and stared through the liquid and glass, turning the area blue. What was this? He tapped the test tube with his finger and examined the cork keeping it closed.

The soprano voice sounded a lot more agitated than the day prior. “Honesty, I still can’t believe you’d do this to begin with.”

Donnie’s brow furrowed. He decided to walk down the next left corridor, idly listening to their argument as he moved through the maze.

Baritone said, “Right. Because you love that little turtle so much.”

“You can’t just do whatever you want!”

“Why not? I’m the head of the program. Without me, you’d—”

“Without you, I would’ve had all the proof I needed that they’re not dangerous.”

“Please. As if you could get Raphael to cooperate by yourself.”

“I wouldn’t have needed Raphael or Leonardo or Michaelangelo if you would’ve let me talk to Donatello in the first place.”

“And what would happen if he refused to talk to you, hmm? Or worse. We don’t have forever, you know.”

“He would’ve cooperated!”

Donnie rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Sure, talk about me like I’m not here.”

A long, drawn-out sigh left Soprano’s lips. Her voice came out softer, sounding more apologetic. “I’m sure by now you noticed the blue antidote hanging around your neck, Donatello.”

Donnie’s heart stopped along with his feet. He looked down at the blue vile. “Antidote?”

“Yes. Antidote. At the end of this maze, Michelangelo will hopefully be waiting for you, if he doesn’t wander off.”

Donnie picked up his pace a little more as his heart rate spiked. “Mikey? Stay put? I don’t think you know him too well.”

“See?” Baritone said.

Soprano ignored him. “You have to find him within half an hour.”

Donnie turned to his right and swallowed the bitter answer he already knew he was going to get. “Why? What happens in a half hour?”

Baritone darkly chuckled. “You lose.”

“What will happen is I will step in and make sure Michelangelo receives the proper care he needs.”

“Don't tell him that!”

“I will! Honestly, I have half a mind to report you for this. Donatello would've completed the course just fine without incentive to complete it. You didn't need to hurt Michelangelo in the process.”

Donnie felt anger rise in his chest. “What did you do?”

“You're smart. You figure it out.” There was a smack, and Baritone cried out.

Donnie put the pieces together on his own. He grabbed the vial— the antidote— in his hand and squeezed. “You poisoned him.”

Soprano’s voice sounded wary as she said, “Please understand this was not my intention at all.”

“I don't care if it was your intention or not. You could've always given him the antidote yourself. You could've left him alone. Don't play innocent like you didn't have a hand in any of this.”

Neither Soprano nor Baritone answered him.

Donnie found himself sprinting through the maze now. It all looked the same. How was he supposed to tell where he was going? Was he running in circles? How much time was left? What would happen if Mikey tried to leave on his own? Would they find him in time? Would he find Mikey before they did?

Too many questions rose to Donnie's head. He turned the corner and stopped dead at a dead end. Donnie let out a huff, and he turned around to run back the way he came.

Turn left. Straight ahead. Right. Another right. Another dead end, damn it! Left. Stop and think. Was he here before? Was he going in circles? How could he mark the areas he was so he wouldn't turn the wrong way?

Soprano's voice came over the loudspeaker. “Enough. I'm ending this. Donatello, stay put. Someone will be with you shortly to assist you back to your room.”

Donnie froze. “What?! That couldn't have been thirty minutes!”

“It wasn't. I refuse to watch this any longer.”

Baritone scoffed. “Please. Stop acting like you care. You had no problem tormenting Leonardo and Raphael.”

“Shut up! You're going to make him refuse cooperation!”

“They were never going to cooperate with you, you delusional— Helen! Get back—”

The speaker cut out. Donnie waited exactly five heartbeats before he started attempting to solve the maze again. He rounded a corner and sprinted down a long stretch of hallway.

Think, Donnie. There had to be a way out of this maze that didn’t result in him running into six different dead ends.

A wall to his right slid open, and Donnie froze. Standing in the doorway were two humans in black combat suits, black helmets, and blue visors that reflected Donnie’s shocked expression back at him. They raised their weapons.

Donnie jumped into the air as they fired two darts into the wall. He flipped over their heads and smashed their helmets together as he moved. It didn’t stop them, but it did daze them long enough for him to sweep his leg under one. The guard lost their balance and fell. Donnie grabbed their weapon and launched a dart at the other guard. It hit their neck, and they cried out in surprise. Donnie fired his weapon at the other downed guard and hit them in the shoulder. Both guards collapsed to the ground.

Donnie extracted the leftover tranquilizer darts from the other guard’s weapon and loaded his own. He went through the wall that slid open. On the other side were several other moved door panels leading up to a door to the outside. Donnie raced toward it. As he eyed the keypad, the door slid open, and five more guards rushed into the room, weapons all trained on him. Donnie yelped as they started firing. He jumped out of their way as quickly as he could, firing his weapon back in return. Two of his darts hit one guard. The weapon clicked instead of firing. Donnie tossed the gun to the side. He slid between the legs of one of the guards and ended up in the hallway. Quicker than they could react, Donnie hit the button to close the door, and it locked the guards on the other side. Donnie took several steps away from the door and looked around.

Out. He was out in the hallway.

A red light started to flash as an alarm beeped. Donnie covered his ears as the shrill noise pierced his ears. He saw more humans in black suits rushing toward him, and he chose to run the other way. Donnie narrowly rounded a corner as a dart fired where he was moments ago. He eyed the ceiling. A loose ceiling tile looked like a good spot to hide. He used the wall to jump, and as quietly as he could, he hid in the shadows and waited. True to his plan, the guards rushed under him and raced down the hall.

“Where’d it go?”

“It couldn’t have gone far. You half, you search the right side. We’ll take the left.”

Donnie listened as their footsteps disappeared down the hall. He jumped down from the ceiling tile and kept his back pressed up against the wall.

Great plan, Donnie. Mikey was still in the maze. How was he supposed to—

The sound of heels clicking down the hall caused Donnie to scramble back into his hiding place. He watched through the hole and held his breath. A woman in a large white lab coat with braided hair wrapped into a bun on top of her head walked with purpose underneath him. She rounded the corner. Donnie dropped down from the ceiling and followed her as quietly as he could. The woman stopped at a door and slid her keycard in the slot by the keypad. It opened and stayed open as she rushed into the room.

“Michelangelo?”

Donnie’s attention piqued. He raced into the room and stopped behind her. The room they entered looked like the one he woke up in before he started the maze. The woman let out a huff and crossed her arms. Donnie noted that she had the same voice as Soprano.

“Great plan, Grant. You better hope I find him in time.”

Donnie felt anger rise in his chest. “Yeah, great plan.”

The woman spun around, eyes wide and teeth clenched as she sucked in a breath. She took a step back. “Donatello. You— did you solve—”

“I didn’t.” Donnie clenched his hands into fists. “Where’s Mikey?”

The woman looked uncomfortable. “I’m—”

“He’s in there, isn’t he?” Donnie pushed past her and headed out into the maze. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Mikey!”

“You don’t have to shout. I can track him. We can—”

“You’ve done enough.” Donnie looked down at the small box she held in her hand and snatched it. He recognized the pattern on the screen that formed what was most likely the maze, and blinking in the middle of it was an orange dot. Donnie followed it. As he stepped into the maze, a purple dot lit up and showed his location as well. He heard the woman’s heels clicking behind him, and he spun around.

“Go back.”

She held up her hands in surrender. “Please, I only want to help, I swear. I didn’t plan on Michelangelo being here at all. It was supposed to be just a simple maze for you to solve. Whatever happened to him, I had nothing to do with.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Donnie turned the corner, following the light. He heard the sound of heels once again and let out a long sigh. Alright, focus, Donnie. Deal with her later. Right now, he had to find Mikey before it was too late. The dot suggested they were close— or at least he hoped they were close.

A small groan caught Donnie’s attention. He picked up his pace. “Mikey?”

There was a long pause before Mikey’s weak voice answered, “Dee?”

Donnie ran around the corner and found Mikey curled up into a ball in the middle of the floor. He knelt and put a hand on Mikey’s shell. A coating of sweat made Mikey’s skin glisten in the overhead lights, making his normally vibrant green skin look chalky, and his eyes were glassy and unfocused.

Mikey smiled. “Knew I’d find you.”

Donnie couldn’t help the sad smile that rose to his lips. He rolled Mikey over, pressing Mikey’s back into his chest. Using his teeth, Donnie pulled the cork out of the vial’s opening. Mikey’s head tipped back onto Donnie’s shoulder.

“That for me?”

“Yeah.” Donnie lifted the vial to Mikey’s lips. “You’re going to be okay now, Mikey. I got you.”

Mikey shuddered as he swallowed and made a disgusted noise. “Gross. You couldn’t have made it pepperoni flavored?”

“Of course. Let me just get out my synthetic flavor maker and— oh right! I’m not in my lab right now.”

Mikey stuck out his tongue. Donnie breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Mikey’s normal green color return. Now, hopefully, all they had to do was get out and—

“Who’s that?” Mikey lifted a hand.

Donnie remembered he was being followed, and he hugged his arms around Mikey’s chest, pulling him in closer.

The woman blinked a few times before she took a step toward them, but she hesitated and kept her distance. “Michelangelo, I’m so sorry.”

“S’okay, Helen. I know you didn’t do it.”

Her eyes widened. “How did you know—”

“Lucky guess. I think I like calling you The Narrator better, though.”

“I’m one hundred percent okay with that.”

Donnie looked between the two of them. “What? Are you two friends or something?”

She lowered her head as she played with her fingers. It was Mikey who answered, “Yeah, we're cool.” Her head shot up, hope in her eyes.

Donnie groaned. “Mikey, did you forget she locked us in a laboratory against our will and nearly killed you with poison?”

Mikey’s voice picked up a little more strength. “I told you it wasn’t her.”

Donnie pinched the bridge of his nose. He glared over at Soprano— The Narrator— Helen— whatever her name was, and stood, bringing Mikey along with him. He hoisted his younger brother onto his back and headed toward the maze exit.

She followed. “We need to get Michelangelo back to the medical wing so I can fully examine him and make sure the antidote is working.”

“I can examine him just fine on my own, thanks.”

Mikey poked the side of Donnie’s head. “Don’t be rude, Dee. She’s just trying to help.”

“She’s helped enough.”

And as he rounded the corner, he saw a swarm of guards with their weapons raised straight for them. Donnie froze, and Mikey sucked in a breath through his teeth.

“Wait!” The Narrator ran out in front and held up her hands in surrender. “I’m escorting Michelangelo and Donatello to the medical wing.”

The guards didn’t move. Donnie felt Mikey shift on his back, but he held tight.

“Let me down, yo. I can take them.”

Donnie whispered harshly, “You’re not taking anyone anywhere.”

Mikey fidgeted, causing Donnie to adjust his balance to keep his brother from falling. The movement caused one of the guards to fire a dart. It wedged itself into Donnie’s shoulder, and he sucked a surprised breath through his teeth.

“Donnie!” Mikey cried out as he and Donnie both toppled to the floor. He squirmed out from under Donnie’s back and cradled Donnie’s cheeks in his hands. “Stay with me, Dee.”

“Told you,” was all Donnie could mumble before his eyes slipped closed. Mikey narrowed his eyes and scowled at the guards.

The Narrator groaned. “Everyone, please, wait a minute!”

“I trusted you,” Mikey hissed out. He readied himself to bolt, but The Narrator blocked his way.

“And you can still trust me! I don’t want to hurt either of you. Please, listen! All I want is to make sure you are okay.”

Mikey looked over her head. All the guards had their weapons aimed at him. He pulled Donnie closer to his chest and glared at them.

“This doesn’t have to end like this, Michelangelo.”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t leave right now.”

The Narrator thought for a minute before adjusting her glasses. “Because… I think I can get you a meeting to see Leonardo and Raphael as well. All you have to do is listen for a few more minutes, and that’s it.” She forced a small smile on her lips. Her voice changed a little lower to do an impression.” Please, help me, Oni Wan Shinobi. You’re my only hope.”

Mikey didn’t answer. For a solid ten seconds, none of them dared to move. “Fine. But only because you quoted Hoshi Wars.”

The Narrator smiled genuinely this time and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

Mikey allowed the guards to circle them, but he didn’t allow one of the guards to pick up Donnie. Instead, he scooped his older brother into his arms and carried him down the hall to wherever they were going.

Mikey walked side by side next to The Narrator. His eyes stayed straight ahead as he talked. “So, where are we going?”

“We,” she paused, “well, we should get you to the medical wing first. I’ll have Donatello returned to his room while we’re checking on you.”

“I’m staying with him.”

She sighed. “Please, don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

“I think you owe me for nearly getting me killed.” Mikey narrowed his eyes.

She chewed on her lip. Her eyes darted up to the cameras they passed, and she let out a sigh through her nose. “You weren’t really in any danger, I promise. I would’ve given you the antidote even if Donatello didn’t finish the maze. I’m sorry. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Mikey didn’t respond.

“And I don’t expect you to forgive me right away. I can’t just treat you and make it look like I was the hero all along. That’s bogus writing.”

That did bring a genuine smile to Mikey’s lips. She gave a sad smile as well and continued forward toward what Mikey hoped was the medical wing. He squeezed Donnie closer to his chest. He knew his brothers would figure out a way to get to him. And what was better was now he was going to see Leo and Raph too. He wouldn’t be uselessly sitting in his room anymore waiting for something to happen.

From now on, if anything happened to them, he’d be right there to protect them.

—TMNT—

Experiment Log: Kaleidoscope 8668 #3

Date: May 25th - Year 1

Assigned Scientists: Helen Seeker; Grant Marsh

Notes:

Subject T–787753 cognitive testing canceled due to complications involving Subject T–672643. Results inconclusive.

End Log

----

Head Scientist Log: Grant Marsh

Operation: Kaleidoscope 8668

Date: May 25

Type: Insubordination Report

Affected Team Members: Helen Seeker

Incidents:

-Interfered with testing of Subject T–787753

-Created an inappropriate relationship with Subject T–672643

Disciplinary Actions:

-To receive less interaction with Subject T–672643

-Strike added to personal record

Chapter Text

Raph expected to wake up feeling like sixty robots threw him around like a hockey puck, but instead, he felt like the time Casey dared him to eat an entire basket of expired kiwis in his fridge.

At least the first hour after eating the expired kiwis.

Raph squinted as the lights tried to blind him. He shielded his face with his forearm and tossed his head to the side. There was a nagging feeling in his brain that he’d have a major headache in a few hours, but he pushed it away. His eyes widened as he caught sight of Leo on the other side of the room, still asleep, and lying flat on his back.

“Leo!” Raph rolled off his bed and hurried over to his brother’s side. He put his hands on the mattress and leaned in close. “Leo?”

Nothing but gentle breathing answered him. Raph squeezed his hands into fists, drawing up the blanket under his fingernails into his hands. He surveyed his surroundings.

The room itself looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. A large screen on the left wall split down the middle showed two sides: one depicting Raph and his vitals and the other showing Leo’s condition. On his side, he noticed a dot leading to his chest cavity, detailing that he had bruised ribs. It wasn’t until then that he realized how much taking a breath ached. There was also one monitoring his brain activity with “concussion” in bold letters. So he was right; he would have a headache after this. Leo’s side looked relatively fine compared to his (except Leo’s stupid shoulder, which was apparently not infected and 62% healed). Raph snorted. Of course Leo would get out of that scot-free.

Come to think of it, how did they get here?

Raph replayed what he remembered in his mind. He was getting his shell kicked by these ten stupid robots, one got a lucky shot on him, and he collapsed hard onto his plastron. He remembered dozing in and out of consciousness where Leo was fighting them off, one moment where he was being carried off, the next where Leo was holding him close, and then pushing Leo away from him right before—

The door to the lab split down the middle and slid sideways into the wall. Raph turned his head. Someone who looked like some sort of doctor stepped into the room. Their eyes widened, and Raph heard them gasp behind their medical mask. He reached down to grab his sai, but to his disappointment, they were missing. Of course they wouldn’t let him keep them. As Raph rushed toward the door, it shut in his face, and he stopped himself from slamming into it. Raph tried to pry his fingers in the smooth opening of the metallic door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Hey! Get back here, you coward!” Raph pounded his fist on the door. “I want answers, and you’re—”

“Do you have to yell?”

Leo’s mumbled voice caused Raph to freeze mid-swing. He spun his head too fast in Leo’s direction, and he was sure he stopped, but the room kept spinning. Stupid concussion! He nearly fell over as he hurried back to Leo’s side.

“Hey, bro,” he said as he grabbed onto the bed to hide his lack of balance. “You good?”

All Leo did was groan and close his eyes in response.

“Thought not.”

Leo cracked his eyes open again and turned them to Raph. He forced a smile, but it dropped a second later. As he tried to sit up, he winced and grabbed onto his injured shoulder.

“Easy,” Raph said as he helped Leo sit up. Leo mumbled a “thanks” before looking around the room. “Don’t ask. I don’t know where we are either.”

“I didn’t think you would.” Leo did his best to take in his surroundings as quickly as possible. He scrunched up his face. “Are we in some sort of lab?”

“Where have you been the past two days?” Raph snorted at his attempt at humor.

“You know what I meant.” Leo rubbed his hands over his face. He sucked in a deep breath through his nose and let it out a second later. “So, now what?”

“Hey, you’re the leader. If you don’t have a plan…” Raph sighed. “Those freaks better not have done this to Mikey and Donnie.”

Leo’s eyes widened at the mention of the other two. “You haven’t seen them yet?”

“No, just you.”

An alarm started to screech outside their door, causing the two of them to nearly jump out of their shells. Leo raised an eyebrow at Raph’s high-pitched squeal, and Raph cleared his throat. As Leo laughed, Raph punched him in his uninjured shoulder. Leo stopped laughing and hissed through his teeth.

A robotic voice announced, “Warning: Security Threat Level 2 enacted. Subject T–787753 has escaped containment. All safe zones are on lockdown. Do not leave your safe zone until further clearance has been given.”

The announcement repeated three times before stopping, but the alarm continued. Leo and Raph listened for any other announcements, but none came.

“You think that could be one of them?” Raph asked.

“Could be.” Leo hesitated. “I don’t know if we’re the only ones here.”

Raph thought of Slash outside tearing the place apart, which brought a smile to his lips. He dropped it soon after as the image of Mikey or Donnie running around this place came to mind. “They don’t stand a chance.”

“Raph—”

“Hey! I’m not Mr. Brightside here. That’s Mikey’s job. You know I’m right. Those scientists are ruthless. Donnie would probably get distracted by all the pretty machines, and Mikey… well, he's Mikey.”

Leo opened his mouth to argue but closed it so hard his teeth clicked.

Raph stepped away from Leo’s bed. “We've got to get out of here.”

Leo stood up and moved past Raph. He eyed the keypad next to the door and typed in 0042 like he did up in that room. It blinked red and beeped at him. He sighed through his nose. “Worth a shot.”

Raph looked at the keypad, then back at the computers that monitored their vitals. Underneath the desk was a power cord. He walked over to it and started to disconnect the wires. The screens fizzled out. He unplugged it from the wall and hurried back to the door as Leo watched.

“Raph, what are you—”

Raph smashed the power cord into the keypad. It sparked and splintered. Leo shielded his eyes as Raph hit it again. It fell off the wall, revealing a bunch of different colored wires. Raph pulled it off completely, causing it to spark and die in his hands as wires snapped.

Leo put his hands on his hips. “Great job, Raph. How exactly are we supposed to get out if the door lock is broken?”

“Like this.” Raph jammed the smooth edge of the metal keypad into the door’s crack. It put just enough pressure on the edges that it slid open without much force.

Leo’s eyes widened. “That… is probably the worst security I've ever seen. How did you know that would work?”

“I didn’t. I just knew it’d probably piss Donnie off if he were here.”

A dozen pairs of terrified eyes in the next room landed on them, and Leo and Raph stared right back. Some of them raced out of a sliding glass door on the other side, while one stayed behind at their computer desk typing rapidly on their keyboard. Leo and Raph both charged toward the doors on the other side of the room. A solid steel plate slammed down from the ceiling, blocking the sliding doors and locking them all in.

“You gotta be kidding me!” Raph kicked his foot into the door. His eyes caught the terrified scientist peeking over their computer. He stormed over to them before spinning them around in their chair, grabbing them by the shirt collar, and yanking them up to his eye level. His voice lowered to a dangerous level. “Open the goddamn door.”

“Easy, Raph.” Leo put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, gently pulling him away from the situation.

The scientist held their hands up in front of their face. “Please, don’t hurt me.”

“We’re not,” Leo said as he glared at his brother. “We just want some answers.”

“I-I know nothing! I’m just a doctor! I cannot help you!”

Raph snarled, “Then open the door so we can get some.”

“N-no! I won’t let you hurt them.”

“Raph, put them down.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Put them down.”

“You must’ve hit your head harder than I thought.”

“Come on. They’re scared enough.”

Raph noticed the scientist was shaking under his grip. He clenched his teeth. “You think Mikey wasn’t scared when he woke up alone without us? You think Donnie—”

“You think Splinter would approve of you attacking someone defenseless?”

That softened Raph’s demeanor a little bit. He sighed. “I think he’d understand considering the circumstances.”

“Raph,” Leo’s voice stayed gentle. “We’re going to find them, and we’re going to get out of here, but we need help.”

“You think they’re going to help us? They’re the enemy, Leo! Get your head out of your shell and—”

“I am thinking about this, Raph! We don’t know where we are, how to get out of here, where Donnie and Mikey are, they always seem to be one step ahead of us, and a solid metal door keeping us in anyway. What’s punching them going to do?”

“Make me feel better.”

Leo scowled at him and turned to the human, who looked between them with wary eyes. “What’s your name?”

They didn’t respond.

“I’m Leonardo, and this is my brother, Raphael—”

“You’re wasting your breath, Leo.”

“—and we’re not going to hurt you.”

“You’re not going to hurt them.”

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Leo watched as their body stilled, and their lips mumbled something. “Uh, sorry, didn’t hear that.”

The metal plate covering the door slid open, and Raph and Leo turned to see two men in black with weapons aimed straight at them. Raph growled in annoyance as he threw the scientist back in their chair and readied himself to bolt.

“You really thought they would let us walk right out, didn’t you?”

Leo gave him a sideways glance. The human behind them hid under their desk. Leo and Raph jumped in opposite directions as weapons fired. Using the shadows, Leo snuck around the outside walls while most of them kept their attention on Raph, who bolted straight for them. Leo dropkicked one into the other, and they fell like dominoes. With two swift punches, Raph and Leo had the two guards down for the count.

“See how much more productive you are using your fists?” Raph asked.

Leo rolled his eyes and gave Raph a playful shove on the shoulder. “Alright, I admit it. Sometimes kicking butt works better.”

Leo and Raph both froze as the voice from before spoke over the loudspeaker again, “Warning: Security Threat Level 3 enacted. Subject T–002583 and Subject T-000733 have escaped containment. Both are extremely hostile. Medical wing entering lockdown. All personnel should evacuate immediately.”

Raph turned to Leo, “You heard the lady. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

—TMNT—

“I repeat. This is Dr. Helen Seeker. Subject T–787753 has been apprehended, and we are moving to the medical wing. Disengage security threat.”

Mikey raised a brow as she tried unsuccessfully to turn off the alarm through her radio for the third time. He tilted his head to the side. “So, uh, guess they’re not listening, huh?”

“I don’t understand. Why won’t they respond? If we don’t get the threat disengaged, more of the security task force is going to storm this hallway, and that’s not going to end well for either of us.”

One of the guards tapped Dr. Seeker on the shoulder. “It seems two other experiments have escaped containment and are loose in the medical wing. They’re going into lockdown.”

“That’s gotta be Raph and Leo.” Mikey shifted Donnie’s weight on his back. “Come on, we gotta hurry.”

“We don’t know—”

Without listening to her, Mikey took off down the hallway.

“Michelangelo, wait! You don’t even know where you’re going!” Dr. Seeker took off down the hallway after Mikey, who was already waiting at the elevator.

Mikey scanned the hallway for stairs and spotted the doorway. He used his shoulder to push the panic bar and jumped over the side of the railing. Donnie nearly slipped off his back, but he adjusted his brother’s position and continued forward. He pushed into the panic bar for the floor below them as he heard the doors open above them.

“Michelangelo! You’re going the wrong way! The medical wing is up, not down!”

Mikey paused. He turned around and hurried back up the stairs. Dr. Seeker motioned for him to follow her.

As they exited the stairwell, the elevator door dinged, and the doors slid open. Mikey ran in first, followed by Dr Seeker, and two of the security guards. As the doors closed, Mikey watched the number on the elevator display carefully.

“If we’re going up, why are the numbers counting down?”

Dr. Seeker hesitated. “Because the floors are numbered backwards.”

“Huh. Whose idea was that?”

She smiled. “I don’t know. I’m not an engineer.”

The elevator stopped on floor two. As the doors slid open, they saw the terrified eyes of four doctors staring back at them— well, Mikey and Donnie specifically. Before Dr. Seeker could explain, they rushed into the stairwell and disappeared while yelling that more were escaping.

“That’s gotta mean it’s them,” Mikey said. He rushed through the hall and past a set of sliding glass doors.

Over the loudspeaker, a voice called out, “Medical wing entering lockdown in fifteen seconds. All personnel should evacuate immediately.”

“Hope Leo and Raph didn’t listen,” Mikey mumbled. He looked around the office. “Where would they keep them?”

Faintly, they heard the sounds of yelling behind a set of solid tan doors. Mikey heard the guards behind him ready their weapons as Dr. Seeker took a reflexive step back.

Before Mikey could say anything, the tan doors flew open, and an unconscious guard fell through the doors. They closed sideways on their chest, causing the guard to groan out in pain. Seconds later, they flew back open, and Raph and Leo stepped into the room. Their eyes returned from white to their normal colors of blue and green.

“Mikey!” The two rushed forward at the same time.

“Guys!” Mikey nearly dropped Donnie and hurried to meet up with them.

They all started asking questions at the same time.

“How did you get here?”

“Who’s that?”

“She’s—”

“What happened to Donnie?”

“Oh, he’s—”

“Did you forget we’re running out of time here?”

“Hey! I can only answer one at a—”

The doors behind them leading to the elevator slammed shut with a thick block of metal. All the lights turned off. A red light soon illuminated the space, casting an eerie maroon glow on everyone.

The loudspeaker announced, “Medical wing on lockdown until further notice. Remain calm. A rescue unit will be there shortly to assist anyone remaining inside.”

“Great!” Raph threw his hands up in the air. “All that, and we still didn’t make it.”

Leo eyed Dr. Seeker and the two remaining security guards behind Mikey warily. “Who are they?”

Mikey turned his head and smiled. “Oh, that’s The Narrator. I don't know who the other two are yet.”

“The… Narrator?”

Raph snorted. “What? You couldn’t come up with a better name?”

“Hey! It fit better when she was just a voice in my room.”

Dr. Seeker spoke in a hushed tone to the guards, who nodded their heads. She turned back to the turtles and took a deep breath. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Leonardo. Raphael. I’m Dr. Helen Seeker.”

Leo recognized the voice and set his jaw at the same time Raph rushed forward, ready to choke the life out of that scientist. Mikey blocked his path.

“Move.” Raph narrowed his eyes, and Mikey narrowed them right back. He tried to side-step past him, but Mikey matched him. “Mikey.”

“Hold on a minute. She’s the reason I got here in the first place. She’s trying to help us.”

“She nearly killed me.”

“So?”

“So?! Mikey, are you an idiot? Wait, no, I take that back. Mikey, you're an idiot! She’s the enemy! She kidnapped us and put us through tests like a lab rat.”

“So?”

“She nearly killed me!”

“So did Slash, and you don’t hold it against him.”

Raph snapped his jaw shut and took a deep breath through his nose. He opened his mouth to argue when he heard Donnie groan. His anger shifted to worry in an instant as Donnie’s eyes blinked open.

“You're so loud,” Donnie mumbled as he pressed his forehead into Mikey’s shoulder.

“Donnie,” Leo stepped up and put a hand on his shell. “You okay?”

“Headache.”

Raph helped Leo ease Donnie off of Mikey’s shell and onto the floor. “Let me guess. They shot you with one of those tranquilizer darts, didn’t they?”

Dr. Seeker flinched as Raph sent a rather nasty glare her way. “I swear it was an accident.”

“Yeah. Sure it was.”

Leo crossed his arms as he stood back up. “Well, I for one would love some answers about what’s going on.”

“And I will.” She fidgeted and looked up at the ceiling. “But I can only tell you so much.”

Raph rolled his eyes. “Well, we’re listening.”

“Look, there's a reason we have you here. We’re looking into a way to cure humans from the retromutagen from the attacks on New York. With your DNA samples, we—”

“I told you that I'd help you.” Donnie sat up with Raph’s help and glared at her. “If you were so interested in curing humans, why didn’t you just ask me to help you out? Why go through all this trouble?”

She hesitated. “Well, we wanted to make sure that there wasn’t an easier way to replicate the cure. You know, in case your antidote couldn’t be replicated.”

“Come to think of it,” Leo added, “I thought it was a bit strange when you had me follow directions right to where you were keeping Raph. What did that have to do with any of this?”

It took her a few seconds to return with an answer. “Well, we… wanted to know if you would be willing to cooperate with us.”

“Cooperate?” Raph rolled his eyes. “You call nearly taking my head off with robots cooperation?”

“A minor setback, but I swear we had everything under control. They weren’t programmed to actually kill you.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“I promise you, none of you were supposed to get seriously injured while you were here.” She sighed and lowered her voice. “I was hoping we could be allies from the start, but other people obviously have other intentions.”

“You mean The Conflict.” Mikey ignored Leo’s eyebrow raise at him. “He seems to be the one who’s not cool with us.”

“He’s not.” She sighed. She lowered her voice further. “Look, I was brought onto this program to get answers, not to kill living beings. You’re more use to me alive than dead, and if I can prove the mutation didn’t make you dangerous, maybe we can part ways as friends after all this.”

“Make us dangerous?” Leo furrowed his brow.

“Yes. I don’t know if you’ve heard about the concerns of the city with the rise of a mutant population.”

Donnie snorted. “Oh, trust me. We heard.”

She continued, “But I hope to prove that just because humans were mutated doesn’t make them dangerous, or a threat to the human population in the city.”

Raph raised a brow. “And how exactly is all this going to prove it?”

“By showing that you still have your humanity.”

The four of them looked between one another. It was Leo who spoke up, “We… were never humans.”

“What?” Dr. Seeker looked between the four of them. “No, that’s impossible. The research we did… your father… your DNA—”

“He’s our father because he raised us.” Mikey shrugged. “We’re just four turtle bros doing four turtle things.”

“No, you match human DNA. Whether you are aware of it or not, you are human.”

Donnie explained, “I think it had something to do with the way we were mutated. From what I understand, humans have been mutated with the last thing they've come into close contact with, which is why we share Splinter's DNA. He discovered us after the mutagen spill 17 years ago and raised us.”

Dr. Seeker hummed. “I see. That makes so much sense! That's why she's mutated into a mud creature.”

“She?” Leo repeated.

“Yes, my—”

The metal plate covering the door to the room slid open, and five armed guards stormed into the room. They opened fire immediately.

The turtles scattered, Raph flipping over a table and pulling Donnie down with him, Leo darting behind the desk and taking cover, and Mikey dropping down underneath one of the chairs.

Dr. Seeker held up her hands in surrender. “Wait, please! I have the situation under—”

The guards ignored her, one even knocking her over as they ran inside. She fixed her glasses in time to see Mikey land a kick into one's chest while he took out the other one near him with a chair. He hurried to her side and helped her up.

“You okay?”

“Yes, I think so.”

A loud grunt cried out behind them. Mikey turned to see a guard falling behind him as Raph stood up straight.

“Stop worrying about her and watch your shell.”

“How many times do I have to tell you she's not going to hurt us?”

“And how many times do I have to tell you—”

Leo kicked one of the guards, who flew between the two of them and landed with a groan on the floor. “Less arguing, more fighting, please.”

“Don't have to tell me twice,” Raph said as he stepped away from Mikey, who stuck his tongue out.

Donnie surprised one by sweeping his foot under their legs as they got too close. They landed with a hard thud. Donnie tried to straighten himself, but the room continued to spin. Of course the effects of the sedative wouldn't wear off in time for this. He grabbed onto a chair back to steady himself. As he tried to catch his bearings, one of the guards aimed their weapon straight at him. They would have succeeded had Dr. Seeker not fired her own dart into their shoulder. Donnie watched them fall to the ground.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. She gave him a sad smile, and Donnie couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine as she stepped closer to him.

Leo realized they had taken out all the guards who were after them. Maybe if they were quick enough, they could get out of here. He headed through the exit doors. “Guys, this way!”

Raph followed. Mikey stopped at the doorway and looked back at Dr. Seeker, who wasn't following. Her back was turned to him.

“Come on! What are you waiting for?”

Dr. Seeker turned around. “I'm… sorry.”

“For what?” Mikey looked behind her and noticed Donnie lying flat on his plastron.

Dr. Seeker raised her weapon and shot it straight at Mikey's shoulder. He flinched as it entered his skin and stared back at her with a hurt expression. She turned her face away from him.

“I knew it!” Raph charged at her with a yell. One of the guards who tagged along took a shot, but it went wide. Raph kicked them in the face. The second guard, however, didn't miss. Raph hissed as the dart entered the back of his neck. Leo connected a kick to the second guard's back too late, and he landed on top of their back as Raph followed and fell to the floor as well.

The once chaotic room settled into an eerie ambiance of red light and heavy breathing.

“I'm so sorry, Leonardo, but I can't let you or your brothers escape.” Dr. Seeker pushed her glasses up. “You understand.”

“No, I don't.” Leo stood and narrowed his eyes. “Why would you help us one minute, then betray us the next?”

“I only promised Michelangelo I'd let him see you. I didn't say I'd help him escape. Besides, you'd do it too if you were in my position.” She raised her weapon and took the shot.

Leo ducked down behind a chair. He heard her heels coming toward him.

“You, out of all of them, understand the sacrifices we make for family.”

The reflection on the floor showed she was right behind him.

Without hesitation, Leo tackled her legs. He wrestled the gun from her hand. It felt unnatural to point a gun at a defenseless human, but like Raph said, Splinter would understand.

“Please, don't shoot.” She held up her hands in surrender. “We can talk about this.”

“It's a bit too late for that, don't you think?”

“I promise, I will make sure you and your brothers aren't harmed any longer. I can make this easier. I can—”

Leo took the shot. It wedged itself into her shoulder, and she yelped. “You can go to sleep.”

Dr. Seeker let out a low, sad-sounding laugh. “I suppose I should've seen this coming. Tell Michelangelo… I am truly sorry.”

“Somehow, I don't think he'll believe me.”

“I wouldn't hold it against him. He was too… trusting… to begin with.” She flashed a small smile. “He's just like her.”

“Just like who?”

Dr. Seeker lost consciousness. Leo looked around the room at his unconscious brothers, and a heavy sigh left his nose. How was he supposed to get them out of here now?

The sound of multiple weapons clicked behind him, and Leo turned toward the door. Several more guards with fresh ammo blocked the doorway. In the center of them was a man in a white lab coat, graying black hair, and wide eyes.

“Helen!” he yelled. He raced to her side and cradled her unconscious body close to his chest. His eyes connected with Leo's, and a snarl left his lips. “You. What did you do to her?”

Leo took a step back. “I—”

Multiple weapons fired at the same time. Leo only managed to dodge two of them, with three landing in his arm and one in his shoulder. He hissed out a breath through his teeth as he rolled under one of the tables. Quickly, he brushed the darts out of his skin, but he knew the damage was already done.

Damn it, he was so tired of losing consciousness.

The table lifted as Leo felt rough hands grab under his arms and hoist him up. The whole room started to spin as he fought to stay awake.

“Put that one in Lab A and take the others to the Observation Room. I want to show them what happens when you don't follow the rules.”

Leo watched the other guards pick up his brothers and start to carry them off. He tried to struggle, but his body grew too weak. As he caught sight of the man on the other side of the room, Leo heard him speak to Dr. Seeker's unconscious form.

“I can't prove to them that we can save Terra if you keep undermining my authority like this, Helen. Perhaps you're too compromised for this position, after all.”

Leo didn't even have time to ask what that meant before darkness swallowed him whole.

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe this,” Raph yelled as he paced around the room. “I can’t believe you’d trust one of those guys. Now look where we are. We’re in a tiny box, no idea what happened to Leo, and now, we've got these stupid collars on our necks. What next? Are you going to invite them into the lair so they can personally chain us to the wall?”

Donnie watched Raph pass in front of him for the fifth time before he glanced at Mikey out of the corner of his eye. His normally chatty younger brother was hugging his legs to his chest with his head resting on his knees. He wouldn’t look at either of his brothers. Donnie reached his hand out to touch Mikey’s arm, thought better of it, and returned it to his lap with a sigh. He stared at his reflection on the floor.

Gently, Donnie examined the black leather band around his neck. It wasn’t tight, but it was rough enough on his skin that he knew it would leave an angry red mark if he tried to pull at it. On the side was a black box with a solid red light. From what Donnie could gather, they resembled the shock collars humans used on animals.

All he knew was that fiddling with it caused him to get a tiny jolt earlier. Not enough to hurt, but enough to warn him of the consequences of his actions.

Raph finally stopped and slammed his fist on the wall. He kept it there as he breathed heavily and stared at his reflection in the chrome. The sudden noise caused Mikey to flinch and Donnie to look away from his reflection.

Finally, Donnie heard Mikey whisper, “How was I supposed to know?”

Raph spun around, and Donnie let out a long sigh.

“How?” Raph threw his hands up in the air. “How?! You really did not just ask that to me, did you? You really didn’t—”

“Raph,” Donnie warned.

“No, not this time, Donnie. Don’t you dare stick up for him this time. He’s the reason Leo’s gone.”

“I’m sorry, okay?!” Mikey yelled as he stood up. His cheeks were wet, and his eyes were glassy. “I didn’t know. I thought she was super nice.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” Raph rolled his eyes. “My bad. I didn’t realize the person who kidnapped us wasn’t out to hurt us. Maybe she was going to invite us to a tea party or something later. We can order pizza and everything.”

Mikey scowled. He looked like he was going to say something else, but instead, he turned away from Raph and settled down in the corner. Once again, he returned to his folded-up position, and he buried his head in his forearms.

Raph snarled, “Sure, go cry about it.”

“Raph, that’s enough.” Donnie stood up.

“What, you’re seriously going to take his side?” Raph folded his arms. “Tell me you didn’t warn him this would happen, Donnie. Tell me you didn’t see this coming.”

“I did, but—”

“Hah, see?

“— but this isn’t helping any of us.”

“Sure is helping me.”

“Fine, you want to take your anger out on someone so badly, hit me.” Donnie got into a fighting stance.

Raph eyed him warily, some of the anger gone from his eyes. He took a step toward Donnie, as if considering his invitation, but growled instead and stepped away. “I’m not fighting you.”

“Why not? I could’ve gotten away. I could’ve run faster when I found Mikey, and we could be out right now. Why aren’t you mad at me too, huh?”

Raph didn’t answer. Donnie watched him carefully, waiting for Raph to make his next move. Instead of lunging toward him, Raph began his pacing once again. Donnie let a long sigh out through his nose and walked over to Mikey’s side. He pressed his shell against the wall as he slid down, coming to the ground with a heavy plop. Mikey turned his head away from him. Donnie watched Mikey carefully, gauging his little brother’s mood the best he could, then put a hand on his shoulder. Mikey shrugged it off.

“You don’t have to baby me, Donnie,” Mikey mumbled. “I know I screwed up.”

“Well,” Donnie hesitated, “look on the bright side. At least we’re all together now, so she wasn’t totally untrustworthy.”

Mikey didn’t acknowledge his words. Donnie waited to see if Mikey would respond, but silence answered him. He sighed, let his head rest against the wall, and resumed the monotonous watch of Raph pacing back and forth. For a while, none of them said anything until Raph pounded his fist on the door.

“Hey, you morons! Why don’t you tell us what we’re all doing here?”

“Gladly,” came the deep voice of the head scientist over the intercom.

All three of them looked up with different expressions. Donnie didn’t miss the flinch from Mikey nor the low growl from Raph.

The voice continued, “You’re here to watch what happens when you don’t follow the rules.”

“Where’s Leo?” Raph balled his hands up into fists. “If you hurt him, I’ll—”

“He deserves much worse for what he’s done,” the voice spat.

Raph’s anger melted into confusion. He shook it off and returned to his angry stance. “I’m not going to ask again. What did you do to Leo?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. I’m sure he should be waking up soon.” He paused. “His vital signs say he should be awake. Why don’t we check in on him together?”

The wall to their right lit up. Raph shielded his eyes as Mikey stood from his spot in the corner. He pressed his hands up to the glass and sucked in a deep breath.

“Leo!”

Raph recovered and walked to Mikey’s side. He shoved Mikey away from the window, earning a small “hey” from his younger brother, and stared down into the eerily familiar laboratory.

“It’s an observation window,” Donnie mumbled.

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.”

Donnie side-eyed him, but he didn’t respond further. Mikey moved to the other side of Donnie, putting plenty of distance between himself and Raph.

Down below them, Leo lay unmoving on the solid marble floor. Surrounding him were four different colored panels about the size of a floor tile. It looked like he had some sort of black helmet on.

“Leo!” Raph yelled out. He didn’t respond. “Leo, can you hear me?”

“He, in fact, cannot,” the voice explained. “You should know that. He tried to speak to you during your test too, remember?”

Raph’s eyes widened. The thought of Leo being up here and watching those robots kick the snot out of him, unable to do anything to stop it, tensed his entire body. He clenched his teeth and growled.

Donnie spoke up, “So, what sort of test are you putting him through?”

The voice chuckled. “Are you boys up for watching a little game of Simon Says?”

—TMNT—

Leo’s eyes refused to open. His head felt like a washing machine had been dropped onto it, and his limbs refused to respond. He supposed that’s what happened when you were shot with three different tranquilizer darts.

“Rise and shine, little turtle,” a voice whispered in his ear. Leo flinched. It almost sounded right beside him. As he tried to turn his head, he found it incredibly heavy and hard to move. Leo tried to open his eyes, but something pressed against them, keeping them firmly closed.

Leo moved his tongue around to try and get it to respond, but it felt dry and cracked. Still, he managed to whisper out, “Where?”

“You’re back in the training lab.”

Leo placed the voice as the same one he’d been hearing, but it wasn’t Dr. Seeker. A face flashed in his mind, one withered with age and eyes dark as coals. “Why?”

“Well, since you’re so good at following directions, I thought we could play a game to brush up on your skills. You know, since you were so eager to break the rules earlier.”

Leo furrowed his brow the best he could. He struggled to sit up, his neck straining to lift his head. His hands rose and touched metal. He froze. Gingerly, his fingers explored the helmet-shaped object. It surrounded his entire head, covering his eyes and ears, but left a space open for his snout so he could breathe and talk. A thick, leather strap went under his chin and locked in place somewhere inside the helmet.

Leo’s words came out a little easier this time. “What is this?”

“It’s a helmet.” He chuckled. “I thought you could figure that out on your own.”

Leo attempted to pull it off, but there was not even space for it to shift. It was as if it was molded perfectly around his head.

“I wouldn’t if I were you. That helmet has a nasty habit of fighting back.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough. Now, I know testing you wasn’t supposed to resume until your body was completely healed from your last test, but I figure if you can knock around a few security guards, you can handle a simple memory game.”

Leo heard a whirring noise under his feet, like something mechanical turned on. He did his best to stand. His center of gravity was completely thrown off by the heavy helmet. He staggered forward as he got to his feet but quickly regained his balance.

“Have you ever played Simon, Leonardo? I’m sure you have. Most human children have.”

Leo thought for a moment. “I… no.”

He clicked his tongue. “I thought not. Well, you’re about to learn how to play very quickly. Are you ready?”

“Ready for—”

“Green.”

“Green?” Leo paused. The voice didn’t answer him. A deep beep sounded off to his left. “Green what?”

“Too slow.”

A shock traveled from the helmet down to his neck. Leo clenched his teeth and sucked in a sharp breath. The tingling sensation settled in his hands and feet. He breathed through the pain the best he could.

“You’re going to have to be faster than that. Your little headset isn’t patient.”

“I don’t understand. What—”

“Let’s try again. Yellow.”

A higher-pitched sound came from in front of him. Leo’s body stiffened. “Is this some sort of—”

Another shock jolted through him. Leo grunted as his whole body tingled with electricity. It felt like it lasted longer than the first time, but he couldn’t be sure. He nearly lost his footing and took a step backward. Another beep, different from the first two, sounded, and another shock launched through his body. Leo cried out this time as he fell onto his hands and knees, openly panting through the pain.

“Oh, don’t step on any colors I haven’t called out yet.” The voice laughed. “You’re really bad at this.”

“I wouldn’t be if I knew what was going on,” Leo shot back.

“Oh, now you want rules? I thought you didn’t need to play by the rules?” The voice dropped lower, more menacing. “Rules are for good little turtles who don’t bite the hands trying to feed them.”

Leo thought for a moment. He replayed the events that occurred in his mind before he ended up in this place. How he and Raph were trying to escape the medical wing, how that scientist betrayed them, how Leo knocked her out with a tranquilizer dart—

“Is this about Dr. Seeker?”

“Oh-ho-ho, now look at who's using their little brain.”

“I didn’t want to hurt her.”

“Of course you didn’t. You had no choice, didn’t you? You couldn’t follow her directions after she stuck her neck out for you and let you see your brothers. Couldn’t be happy that you were shown a little bit of kindness. You had to take advantage of her too.”

“It wasn’t like that—”

“Blue.”

A tone sounded to Leo’s right. He sucked in a breath. Leo hurried to stand, but he lost his balance and staggered to the right. His foot touched a tile that didn’t feel like the one he had stood on prior. It felt rougher, more textured, and sunk in a little as he touched it. The same tone beeped back at him.

“There you go! Now you've got it. Looks like you’re not a lost cause after all.” He chuckled. “Now, get off that tile and back to the center.”

Leo felt the space next to him with the tip of his toes, returning to the smooth tile he stood on at the start.

“Blue. Green.”

The same sound came from Leo’s right, followed by an immediate deeper beep to his left. Leo swallowed thickly and moved his foot to his right. He touched the rough surface again, causing the first beep to call out. He brought his foot back to the center tile, shifted his weight to the other foot, and felt around with his left foot for another rough tile.

Another shock raced through his body. This time, Leo did yell in both pain and frustration. His whole body felt like he jumped into a fire, and he struggled to stay upright.

“Too slow.” The voice sighed. “At this rate, you’re going to fry yourself before we get halfway through the game.”

“How is this fair?” He yelled. He tried tugging on the helmet once again. “I can’t see what’s going on. How am I supposed to—”

“Red.”

Leo heard a sound behind him. Before he could even attempt to move, the helmet shocked him again. Leo screamed and collapsed onto his knees. That scientist didn’t even give him a chance to react! His arms and legs started to twitch involuntarily as the pain doubled throughout his whole body.

“Yellow.”

The high-pitched tone sounded in front of him. Leo growled through his teeth. He struggled to move his hand forward and slapped the tile in front of him. His fingers touched rough tile, and the same tone sounded. Leo let out a sigh of relief.

“Yellow. Red.”

Again, the tones came from in front then behind him. Leo reached out and slapped the tile in front of him, earning a rewarding beep. Then, he kicked his foot out behind him. It didn’t touch anything. Leo pushed his body backward with his hands and kicked around. His foot eventually reached a rough tile, giving him another low beep.

“Good. Very good.” The scientist chuckled. “Congratulations. You made it past the second color.”

Leo wanted to rest his head on the cool tile to ease the burning sensation in his head, but he didn’t get the time.

“Yellow. Red. Red.”

One beep in front and two behind him. Leo kicked himself forward with his feet and slapped his hand down on the tile in front of him. It beeped. He pushed himself backward and kicked the tile behind him. It beeped once. Leo hesitated. He lifted his foot to touch it again, and another beep sounded out. Relief flooded through him as no shock came.

“Yellow. Red. Red. Blue.”

One beep in front, two behind, and one to his right. Leo repeated his movements from before, but this time, he reached out and slapped the tile to his right. It rewarded him with a beep and no electric shock, and Leo’s body relaxed prematurely.

“Yellow. Red. Red. Blue. Green.”

One by one, Leo repeated the actions, ending by hitting the tile in front of him. A triumphant huff left his lips.

“Very good, Leonardo. I do think you’re getting the hang of this.” Leo was about to respond when new orders came. “Yellow. Red. Red. Blue. Green. Blue.”

The beeps this time sounded off as he named each color. His words mixed with the beeps around him, disorienting Leo to where each sound came from. Thankfully, he had been mapping out in his head where each color was, and he successfully hit each one. This went on three more times, Leo successfully hitting each color, almost instantly after the scientist ordered him to.

And then he threw in the color “purple,” which Leo had never heard before.

Leo struggled to listen to where the sound came from, but it sounded like it came from both sides of him at the same time. He hesitated. Another shock surged through his body, and Leo screamed. It felt like it lasted for minutes instead of seconds like the others.

“Oh, you were so close,” the voice teased. “To think, if you finished that sequence, it would've been over. But now you have to start all over again.”

Leo felt tears rush to his eyes as his whole body tingled. Moving sent jolts of pain down his entire body.

“Green.”

A faint beep that sounded farther than Leo could reach sounded to his left. He attempted to move his left arm, but it fought him. Once again, a shock lit his whole body on fire. He could barely breathe. Eventually, it ended, and Leo lay half gasping for breath, half sobbing on the floor.

“Oh, don’t give up now. You were doing so well before.” The scientist clicked his tongue. “How are you supposed to save your brothers if you don’t play along?”

Leo’s breath hitched. He struggled to form words as his jaw refused to respond, so he settled for hissing through his clenched teeth. “Where… are… they?”

“They’re counting on you to win the game. You don’t, and… well… it might be them playing next. I haven’t forgotten what your little family did either, and they could use some obedience training of their own.”

“No.”

“Win, and they won’t have to. Now, get ready for your next round, Leonardo. Green.”

Leo felt a protective surge of energy flow through his body. He fought through the tingling sensation in his arms and feet and reached out to touch the panel to his left. His arm slapped down hard on the tile, but he didn’t feel it. If it wasn’t for the beep, he wouldn’t have known he did.

“Well, well, look at what a little bit of motivation will do. I’m surprised you’re able to move at all, actually. This level of voltage would kill a normal human.”

“I’m not human.”

He scoffed. “I know.”

“I don’t think you are either.”

Another shock scorched Leo’s body, but he didn’t have the energy to scream anymore. Instead, all he did was let out a low groan, which turned into a whimper. All of Leo’s muscles relaxed at the same time, sending a strange feeling of euphoria over him, but whether it was because he was too used to the shocks by now or they completely fried the nerve endings throughout his body, he didn’t know.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

Leo huffed. “You—”

The helmet shocked him again. Leo tasted blood. He must’ve bit his tongue when his jaw clenched. When the shock ended, Leo found himself dozing in and out of consciousness, or at least, that’s what it sounded like as he listened to the scientist's monologue.

“You think you can… so much, but I know… doesn’t change anything… make for family.”

The last part caused Leo’s breath to hitch. He thought of his brothers going through this, and his heart ached. He had to figure out a way to satisfy this scientist enough so they wouldn’t suffer, but with the way his body was reacting to the shocks and how he was sure the scientist was turning up the voltage on purpose, how was he supposed to get out of this?

“I can see you’re still alive, so stop playing dead.” The scientist chuckled. “Not so tough without her stepping in to help you out, are you?”

If Leo could squeeze his eyes shut to drown out the pain, he would have. His whole body refused to listen to him as he heard another color called out. He wanted to move. He really did, but nothing responded. He barely even felt the next shock as it raced through his body. He was sure by now he was curled into a ball on the floor, but he couldn’t tell. He couldn’t feel the tiles below him anymore. He thought of his brothers all counting on him to finish this stupidly impossible test, and how he failed them by not powering through it. But he tried so hard to win, and he was tired.

Oh… so tired.

—TMNT—

Raph smashed his fist into the keypad Donnie was attempting to hack. He yelled as the skin on his knuckles broke open.

“Raph!” Donnie cried out. He was about to check on his brother’s condition when Raph smashed his fist into the keypad again. “Raph, stop! You’re going to break it!”

“That’s the idea!” Raph yelled.

“It’s kind of hard to hack a keypad when it’s smashed into itty bitty pieces, shell for brains!”

“It worked before!” Donnie tried to stop him, but Raph pushed him to the side. “Move out of the way, Don. We’re wasting time, and Leo’s getting fried!”

Raph smashed his fist into the keypad once again, causing it to spark and crackle. A small puff of gray smoke hissed from the sides. Raph attempted to slide the door open, a frustrated yell suffocating all other sound in the room.

“Don’t just stand there! Help me out!”

Donnie rolled his eyes and joined his brother’s side. With the two of them working together, the door screeched upward just far enough that they could slip through. Raph was under the crack before Donnie could say anything.

A jolt of electricity surged through Raph’s body after he made it halfway under the door. He let out a long scream as the electricity continued to shock him. Donnie grabbed onto his ankles. The electricity from Raph's collar traveled up his arms to shock him as well. With a yell, he pulled both of them backward and into the room. Only then did the electricity stop generating from the collar. The two of them panted together on the floor as they stared up at the ceiling.

“I… thought that might happen.” Donnie let out a sigh. “Of course they wouldn’t let us try the same thing twice.”

Raph began pulling at the collar around his neck, but try as he might, it wouldn’t budge. His angry yells diminished into angry pants as he let his arms fall uselessly to his side.

“I can’t believe this,” he mumbled. “Cowards. Think they can control us with a little bit of electricity.”

“Technically, they just did.” Donnie ignored the daggered glare Raph threw his way.

“Well, you’re the smart one. You figure out another way to get us out.”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Donnie tapped the box on the side of the collar. “Any type of fiddling I do with this gets me zapped too.”

“Well then, fiddle with mine.”

“I really don’t think that’s going to change the outcome.”

“I can take it. It won’t matter anyway once you break it.”

“That’s—” Donnie let out a long sigh. “I mean—”

“Come on, Don. Leo needs us! You think I want to just sit here and watch him get barbecued like Mikey?”

Donnie sucked in a breath through his teeth. His eyes turned to his younger brother, who had his hands pressed up against the glass. Mikey collapsed to his knees what felt like hours ago, falling into a rhythmic plea for them to stop as he watched the torture Leo endured.

Raph snapped him out of his trance by bringing Donnie’s hand up to the black box on the side of the collar. Donnie hesitated before he attempted to open the protective casing around it. He braced himself for the inevitable electric shock by squeezing his eyes shut.

“Wait, guys! Guys! It’s The Narrator!” Mikey stood and squished his face against the glass. “She’s in with Leo!”

“What?” Raph and Donnie both asked at the same time. Raph hurried to Mikey’s side as Donnie cautiously followed after.

True to Mikey’s words, Dr. Seeker was in the room with Leo. It looked like she was trying to shake him awake. After a few attempts, she pulled a radio from her pocket and spoke into it. Who she was talking to, they didn’t know.

“You keep your hands off him!” Raph yelled.

“Raph,” Donnie whispered, but the rest of the warning died on his lips. He watched as she rolled Leo over onto his shell and began unhooking the helmet from Leo’s head. Her fingers went to the pulse point of Leo’s neck, and she waited.

“If he’s dead…” Raph’s voice cracked.

Mikey blinked the tears out of his eyes. “He’s not dead.”

Donnie didn’t confirm or deny his suspicions. Instead, he watched her breathe a sigh of relief and speak into her radio once again.

As she was talking, a strange man in a lab coat they hadn’t met before marched over to her. He yanked her off the floor by the arm, but she shrugged his grip off and went back to cradling Leo’s head on her lap. The two of them started to speak back and forth with each other, but with whatever soundproofing was in the lab, none of the turtles could make out what they were saying.

The man attempted to pull Dr. Seeker away again, but this time, she slapped his hand away. This caused him to yell at her further, but she didn’t respond. Eventually, the man stormed out of the room, leaving her and Leo alone.

“I don’t get her,” Raph growled. “What’s her game? One minute she’s helping us, the next she’s throwing us back into this mess.”

“I have theories,” Donnie mumbled.

“Well, I’m all ears.”

Donnie nibbled on his lip. “She said something to me before she knocked me out in that room. She asked me to forgive her and said that someone named Terra needed her help. If they really are looking for a cure, I’m wondering if this Terra person was a human who was mutated.”

“But we told them we had the antidote. Why wouldn’t they take it? Why put us through all of this?”

“She said something too about testing if we were dangerous or not. I’m… wondering if there is someone out there willing to exterminate humans that were mutated.”

Both Mikey and Raph looked over at him.

“And with the way that second scientist is treating us, I don’t think he wants to prove anything at all. I think he just wants us all to suffer.”

Mikey swallowed. “He did try to poison me.”

“He did what?” Raph snapped his head over toward Mikey.

“He fed me bad pizza. Well, it was actually really good pizza, but I think he poisoned it or something.”

Donnie added, “And he told me specifically she was the reason I had the antidote, and they were arguing back and forth about it while I was going through that maze. I don’t know what would’ve happened if she didn’t. Even if her methods are a little… harsh, she does ultimately seem to want us to survive this, because I think it’s not just our lives that depend on a successful study.”

Mikey met his eyes, and a smile crossed his lips. “I told you she was one of the good guys.”

“Don’t think I’m convinced,” Raph grumbled. “If she was so good, she wouldn’t have let any of this happen to begin with.”

“Maybe not,” Donnie hesitated, “but she may be playing the only cards she has.”

“Cards!” Mikey’s yell caused both Donnie and Raph to flinch. They looked at their younger brother, who seemed lost in thought. “I wonder if she has all the Hoshi Wars trading cards.”

“Seriously? That’s what you’re worried about?” Raph rolled his eyes.

The door behind them slid open, and several guards stood in the doorway. All three brothers tensed.

The guard in the middle spoke first, “Turtles, you are to return with us to your rooms.”

Raph raced forward without warning. The guard sighed and pressed a button on his wrist. Raph yelled as a sharp electric shock raced through his body and caused him to collapse on the floor. Mikey was about to go to Raph’s side, but Donnie grabbed onto his shoulder and stopped him.

“We do not wish to harm you,” the guard said, “but we will if we must. Please, return peacefully with us, and we will return you to your rooms without punishment.”

Raph growled as he pounded his fist into the ground. He struggled to stand. Mikey did go to his side this time, helping his brother onto his feet. Raph surprisingly didn’t fight him.

“Fine,” Donnie said as he walked past his brothers. Raph sent him an incredulous look, while Mikey took Raph’s weight on his shoulders.

The guards behind their leader pointed their weapons at Donnie, who didn’t seem bothered by the action. Instead, he went out into the hall and turned around.

“Come on, guys. Time to go.”

“Donnie, are you out of your mind?” Raph stood up straight, sliding off Mikey’s shoulder. “You can’t seriously be—”

“Yes, Raphael, I am.” Donnie turned away from him, heading down the hall. Two guards separated from the group and joined him.

Mikey glanced over at Raph and sent a small smile, but Raph didn’t reciprocate. Instead, he tried to dart back into the hall after Donnie, but a small shock to his neck caused him to stop in his tracks.

“Hey!” Raph snapped. He went to grab the guard’s wrist, but Mikey stopped him. Raph looked like he was ready to fling Mikey into the wall, but Mikey shook his head.

“Chillax, bro. They said they weren’t going to hurt us if we listened.”

“And you trust them?”

“They didn’t hurt Donnie.”

Raph hesitated. He looked down the hall as Donnie and his two guards disappeared in the elevator. Raph caught Donnie mouth “play along” as the doors closed. It was all Raph needed to put on his best behavior and follow orders.

“Fine, but if this blows up in my face, I’m blaming you.”

“When don’t you blame me?”

Raph put his hand down hard on Mikey’s head, giving it a rough pat. Mikey ducked out from Raph’s grasp and started to walk forward.

Raph whispered, “What do you think Donnie has planned?”

Mikey shrugged. “I don't know, but it's better than your plan.”

Raph swallowed his anger. “Remind me when I get out of here to lick all your popsicles in the freezer.”

“Dude! I'm saving those for a special occasion!”

“Yeah, and the special occasion is us getting out of here.” The familiar banter caused Raph to grin. Mikey stuck his tongue out, and Raph rolled his eyes. The two of them stepped into the elevator, taking note of the floor numbers.

Once they got to the fourth floor, the doors opened. Mikey moved to step out, but the guard next to him grabbed his arm to stop him.

“This isn't your floor.”

Raph smacked the guard's hand off Mikey. “What do you mean? Why'd we stop here then?”

“Because it's yours.”

Both Raph and Mikey stared at them with confusion. Raph moved out of the elevator and froze. He glanced back over his shoulder to Mikey, who gave his brother a head nod and thumbs up.

The elevator doors closed, showing Raph's concerned expression. He shook it away and headed down the hallway to his room. They didn't walk long before the guards stopped at a door to their right. They slid a card through the reader.

“Enter.”

Raph did as he was told. He turned just in time to watch the door slide closed. A long sigh turned into a growl left his lips, and he collapsed onto his bed. He couldn't stop thinking about his brothers, how he took his frustration on the situation out on Mikey, how Leo was helpless to protect himself, how Donnie refused to take this stupid shock collar off his neck…

Donnie better know what the hell he was doing by trusting these guys.

—TMNT—

Leo wasn’t sure how much time passed between one moment and the next, but there must’ve been a long gap, because the voice kept repeating his name over and over and over again.

Wait, no, that wasn’t the same voice.

“Leonardo, please, wake up. I don’t have much time.”

To his surprise, Leo could open his eyes once again. He blinked as the harsh, white light blinded him again to try and adjust his vision. A blurry shadow above him turned into Dr. Seeker, who sighed in relief upon seeing his eyes.

“Leonardo, you must listen to me carefully. They are removing me from the team, but I have hope. I can continue to operate from the outside to help you and your brothers, but you must listen to me carefully. Do not egg on Dr. Marsh. He is dangerous, and he will not hesitate to kill you or your brothers if need be. You must play along with his games for now. I will do what I can, but you must promise me you’ll do your best to cooperate and not try to escape any longer.”

Leo could barely move his lips to ask, “What?”

She sighed. “I’m sorry I roped you and your brothers into this. At the time, I thought maybe I could change his mind, but it seems he’s already set his sights on perfecting you as weapons.”

“Perfecting… who? What’s going on?”

She took a deep breath. “This was never about curing humans. This was about seeing if we could control mutants and turn them into living weapons. The only reason we’re here is because I was able to convince Dr. Marsh that he didn’t have to sacrifice his grandchild to please the government. That we could work beside one another without the use of force.”

Leo filled in the gaps as his brain struggled to function. Dr. Marsh must’ve been the other voice he kept hearing in his head, the one that was always with her.

Dr. Seeker paused. “I have friends who are still willing to help us. They’ll tell you who they are. Trust them, please, no matter what happens before or after. I will try to warn your brothers, but I don’t know if I’ll reach them in time.”

“My brothers.” Leo grabbed onto the front of her lab coat. “Are they okay?”

“They are fine, for now. I was able to have some guards I trust return them to their rooms before Dr. Marsh could take his anger out on them. Please, Leonardo. Promise me you’ll help.”

Leo eyed her over warily. “I promise.”

She sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

Leo forced a smile to his lips, but it fell soon after. Guards marched into the training room, and two grabbed onto Dr. Seeker’s shoulders. The other two lifted Leo by his shoulders and feet, carrying him toward the door. He got one last look at her before the lab doors closed.

And with the confirmation that his brothers were okay, Leo had no reason to hold onto consciousness anymore.