So, this story was born when I re-watched TMNT 2012, and realized that the S2 plot of the turtles accidentally mutating a bunch of people was kinda dropped. And, I can't help but care about side characters, especially since a lot of the people mutated were mostly just innocent civilians. So, this is my fix-it fic where Donnie actually uses the retro-mutagen to fix the turtles' old mistakes.
After Mr O'Neil had been brought to his home (and the turtles had left April to explain everything to the still-confused and recently de-mutated man), the brothers had called the night a mostly-success and had headed to their own home.
"Dudes" said Mikey around a yawn, "I am so tired. It's not easy being Turflytle all night. Buzz buzz" he ended halfheartedly.
It was a credit to how tired Raph was too that he didn't even attempt to retaliate to "Turflytle's" annoying buzzing. All of the turtles seemed exhausted from the long night of battling Foot bots and apparently now mutated Baxter Stockman. All of the turtles except for Donnie, whose face was stretched in a wide grin as he practically bounced around the Lair.
"Retro-mutagen!" he exclaimed, elated, "I actually managed to create working retro-mutagen! I cured Mr O'Neil!"
"We know, Donnie," snapped Raph tiredly from where he had collapsed into the beanbag in the pit, "We were there".
Raph's biting comment did little to dent Donnie's excitement, and he kept his beaming smile as he practically dashed towards his lab. Leo watched the scene with a proud smile for all his little brother had accomplished, and at how much joy it brought him. There were few greater things that an older brother could wish for their younger siblings. All the same, he knew that Donnie must have been as exhausted from everything as the rest of them.
"Look, I know this was a big night, but I think we should all try and get some sleep" the leader suggested with a particular glance shot at the thrilled scientist.
"I agree with Leo" added Mikey with a tired raised hand from where he had laid face-down on the floor.
"Sleep? Now? Are you kidding?" gasped Donnie, "This is the scientific breakthrough of a lifetime, it could be my greatest accomplishment! I can't sleep, I need to record everything about the retro-mutagen! I could-" his sentence cut off, and for the first time in the night his excitement seemed to dim as he got a thoughtful and distant look in his eyes, "I could even start making more retro-mutagen". His gaze drifted to the open doors of his lab, and his distant expression turned somber.
"Timothy" he said softly, as the full weight of what his discovery could mean finally hit him, more than just the thrill of making something new or solving a difficult chemical problem. He realized that with the retro-mutagen, he could finally make up for his biggest mistake, his biggest failure. He could keep the promise he had made.
He resumed his dash into his lab, but this time was fueled by determination rather than excitement. His brothers watched, wondering whether they should follow him or just go to bed. Sighing, Raph, ever the protective brother, reluctantly got up from his place on the beanbag and followed Donnie into his lab. Leo followed seconds after, and Mikey tagged along right behind him.
They all found Donnie standing in front of the container that held his once-human protégé, his hand placed on the ever-cool glass as he stared into the mutant's still-fierce expression. It had been months, and his frozen form still showed no signs of thawing. Surprisingly gentle, Mikey pulled his taller brother into a side-armed hug, as Raph and Leo stood comfortingly close by.
"It's ok, D" he said reassuringly while holding Donnie a little closer, with utmost confidence in his genius brother, "You can cure him now, it's all gonna be fine!"
Slowly, Donnie brought his own arm around his only little brother's shell, responding just as slowly and thoughtfully, "You're right, Mikey. I can"
"In fact," he added, finally tearing his gaze away from the ex-human, to glare determinedly around the room, "Now I can help anyone who has been mutated by the Kraang. All those people who were affected by mutagen, who maybe even lost their minds to it like Mr O'Neil or Timothy. We can help all of them! I mean, you said there was a list, right, Leo?" He turned to Leo, his eyes silently asking him to agree, to help him with this mission.
"You bet Donnie", the leader in blue responded without hesitation, "Spilling that mutagen all over the city is still our mess, and we still have to clean it up. And now we don't have to just grab the canisters of mutagen before they hurt people, we can actually help those affected".
Raph spoke up, interrupting what was sure to turn into a dramatically heroic Leo-speech fueled by fatigue, "Um, hate to sound like a jerk-"
"Since when has that ever bothered you?" quipped Mikey effortlessly.
Raph didn't justify the comment with a response, and instead barrelled on with his own comment, "But don't most of the guys that mutated want to kill us? Why should we help them?"
"Most of the ones that want to kill us want to kill us because it's our fault they got mutated in the first place" countered Donnie, with another glance towards where the Pulverizer sat frozen with a vicious expression. "It's the right thing to do, Raph".
"And anyway" added Leo, slightly annoyed that his big speech had been cut short, "Wouldn't you rather deal with a human trying to kill you than a mutant?"
Raph blinked, processing the idea. "Yeah," he replied after a moment of thought, "I can't argue with that".
"Alright, boys!" cried Mikey, releasing Donnie from the hug to jump up onto the counter, posed heroically. "Time to cure the world! We should totally come up with a cool name! Like, Mutant Busters! Or The Cure Squad! Or, Or-!"
"Yeah!" cried Donnie, just as pumped, but showing it less enthusiastically then the energetic younger turtle, "We'll cure them all! Innnn about three months". The brothers all turned to stare at Donnie, who now seemed to be radiating faux excitement, probably trying to keep morale up. At their questioning stares, he cleared his throat and clarified. "Retro-mutagen takes months to properly synthesize. Plus I need to track down more mutagen in order to make it. But don't worry, now that I know what to do to make it it should only take about" he ran some quick calculations, "Two months and fifteen days instead of the nearly five months it took the first time":
"Duuuude" complained Mikey, his posture deflating with disappointment, "You got me all hyped to be a Mutant Cure Squad! Now I gotta wait two months?!"
"I mean, seriously" also complained Raph, "Can't you make it any quicker? Your and Leo's lame speeches actually got me all pumped, and now I have to wait? What are we supposed to do for two months?"
"Well," suggested Donnie, "We do still have to collect all of the remaining mutagen canisters. Plus we need to find the mutants to cure them. I mean, we haven't seen most of these guys since we first met them".
"That's true" added Leo, starting to count on his fingers, "Spiderbytez, the Squirrelinoids, Dr Rockwell, Snakeweed. Who knows where those guys are!"
"Man," commented Mikey offhandedly, "We sure mutated a lot of people".
"Ok, fine" growled Raph, "We'll keep looking for mutagen , in two months-"
"And fifteen days" interjected Donnie.
Huffing, Raph continued, "In two months and fifteen days we take the retro-mutagen with us and we de-mutate them all".
"Alright!" cried Mikey, flipping off of the counter and back to the ground, "The Mutagen Cure Squad is a-go!"
Two Months (and fifteen days) Later…
"Guys!" shouted Donnie from inside of his lab, "I finally got it!"
Everyone immediately halted in their activities, and ran towards Donnie's lab, where he was proudly holding up a half-filled beaker of red-orange ooze of retro-mutagen.
"Wooooww" admired Mikey, "I mean, I know you made this before, but now it's even cooler because I know what it does!"
"That's all there is?" questioned Raph, eye ridge raised skeptically.
Glancing down at the half-filled container, Donnie shrugged, and replied, "Well, yeah. But it only takes a drop to work, we learned that from Mr O'Neil. This should be more than enough, as long as we use it sparingly" he stressed with a special glare shot at the youngest brother, who had leaned over the counter to look at the retro-mutagen more closely. Mikey laughed guiltily, and immediately backed away from the counter.
"So,um, Donnie," said Leo hopefully, "Does this mean you can help the Pulverizer now?"
Unexpectedly, Donnie, instead of looking excited or hopeful, glanced aside and sighed. "I wish I could, but unfortunately, " he gestured widely at the frozen mutant behind them, "Timothy is still frozen solid. I can't know how that would affect his de-mutation. It could kill him for all I know! Before I cure him of his mutation, I need to find a way to thaw him out".
"Oh," responded Leo, shifting awkwardly before laying a comforting hand on his purple-banded brother's shoulder. "Well, that can't be as hard as making a retro-mutagen, right?"
"Yeah, D" added Mikey cheerily, throwing his arm around Donnie's shell, "If anyone can figure it out, you can!"
"Indeed, my son," the turtles all jumped slightly at the sudden presence of their father. "With your knowledge, I am sure you will be able to keep your promise".
Donnie smiled shyly at the praise. Though Splinter was far from a cruel father, praise was something he gave only when he felt it was truly deserved. "Thanks Sensei".
"In the meantime," he addressed to all of them in a more serious tone, "there are many other mutants that still need to be cured".
"Sensei is right" added Leo, arms now crossed over his plastron in attempt to look more serious, "We need to start tracking them all down to de-mutate them".
"So where do we start?" asked Raph, his sai clenched in his fist.
"I seem to remember a group of dangerous squirrels attacking our home," suggested Splinter with a slight tone of chastisement, "Perhaps it is time you took care of that problem".
Leo laughed nervously, before replying, "Hai, Sensei".
Nodding in approval, Splinter laid a reassuring hand on Donnie's shoulder, saying, "You have done a great thing, my son. Now " he continued, releasing his genius son's shoulder and once again turning to all of his sons, "Go help the other mutants". The turtles bowed in agreement, and with that, the Sensei turned and left the room, leaving the team to plan their mission.
Straightening once Splinter had left the room, the teens all turned to each other.
"Well, you guys heard Sensei. We're going on another squirrel hunt," said Leo in an authoritative voice.
"Um, excuse me, Squirrelinoids," corrected Mikey, "Also, uggghhhh," he cried, "We have to try to find the Squirrelinoids?! I hate those things!"
"Suck it up, Mikey", grunted Raph, rolling his eyes.
"Alright," said Donnie, already bustling around his lab to prepare for their mission, looking from shelf to shelf, "I think I can find a good way to distribute the retro-mutagen. But first things first," he paused in his searching to look at his brothers seriously, "I need to to lay some ground rules". His brothers, except for Leo, quietly groaned.
"This is important, guys," he stressed, "Okay, rule one, and this is the most important rule, be very careful with the retro-mutagen. DO NOT let it touch you. I'm working on making us all special gloves to minimize our risk of exposure. If we come into physical contact with this it would essentially kill us, removing the mutations that give us sentience and turning us into normal turtles. Do you all understand?" Donnie stared them all down fiercefully, even his older brothers, even the leader of the team. They were all slightly taken aback by the commanding attitude Donnie had. But they all nodded in understanding.
Donnie seemed to deflate with relief, glad that he had conveyed the seriousness of the first rule. He continued, in a more normal lecturing tone that immediately set his brothers at ease with its familiarity, "Ok, rule number two, while less imperative than the first, is still important to keep in mind. This" he gestured to the beaker of red-orange ooze, "is all the retro-mutagen we have for now. As you know, it takes a while to make more, plus, you know, I'd need April's blood to make it, so use it sparingly. Additionally, it only takes a drop to properly cure something, so don't go crazy with it unnecessarily".
"Third, and I don't think you guys will like me for this, as long as the mutant is sentient, it should ultimately be their choice whether they want to be cured or not".
"What?! Donnie, you can't be serious!" yelled Raph, "Do you even realize how many of those dangerous freaks want to kill us? And you want to let them?!"
"I kind of agree with Raph on this one," added Leo reluctantly, "It seems like it would be more sensible to change the more dangerous mutants human, whether they want it or not".
Shaken, but still holding firm to his ideals, Donnie shook his head and explained, "It's just not right though, Leo. We're trying to use this cure to help people. If the mutant is fully cognizant and consciously prefers to be a mutant, who are we to say they can't?" Donnie took a deep breath, reminding himself of why he decided to set this rule, and reassuring himself that it was the right thing to do.
"That's the rule, and I'm sticking to it. At any rate," he added in a lighter tone, "it's highly unlikely that any of the mutants that were originally humans would even want to stay as mutants. And any of the sentient ones that used to be animals we can't 'cure' for obvious ethical reasons".
Raph scoffed fondly at his idealistic younger brother, "Donnie, you're such a moralizer. But, I guess you are right. Even if he's dangerous, I don't know how good I would feel about turning Spike back into an ordinary turtle".
"So are those all of the rules?" asked Leo.
"Um" replied Donnie, counting on his fingers and going back over the rules, "Yeah, I guess that's it".
"Whew" sighed Mikey in relief, "Only three rules. I think I can handle remembering that".
"I hope so," said Leo, "because we're going after those Squirrelinoids as soon as Donnie gets the retro-mutagen ready. It's about time we got those dangerous creatures out of the sewers, and stop them from hurting anyone for good".
"Mutant Cure Squad is a-go! Again!" cried Mikey enthusiastically.
So, that was the prologue. Hopefully pretty good so far. For once I have these chapters written ahead of time, so hopefully this fic doesn't fall into the massive hiatuses my fics are usually prone to. R&R, until next chapter.