A/N Hello dear readers! For those of you returning and those of you who are new, welcome! This is Part 2 of my current story arc and so it is the sequel to Part 1: What is Strength? Originally I was just going to make one huge story with tons of chapters, but I decided to split it up. I felt I needed a bit more closure after chapter 10 of What is Strength? and I liked the added flexibility of having separate stories. As many of you know one often has a set plan when they begin a story, but rarely does a story it follow through a set linear path. I know when my muse hits sometimes it is as though my head will burst with all the ideas and so I often find myself changing where I thought the original story would go. That is also partially why it took me a little longer to get this chapter out. I have to admit I rewrote it several times before I felt it encompassed everything I wanted.

Also I still do not own TMNT.

Thank-you once again for reading and let me know what you think! And without further ado...

Part 2: Changes

Chapter 1

Leo and I soon caught up to Mikey and Don. Don was leaning against the wall and Mikey was crouching on the ground. Once Mikey saw us he jumped up, "'Bout time you showed up bros! You guys were taking forever! Let's go home already!"

The three of them started to walk down the tunnel, but I just stayed put. "I guess I'll see you guys later then…"

They stopped and Leo came back towards me looking confused, "What are you talking about Raph? Aren't you coming with us?"

I snorted, "Are you serious Leo? Even if Don did manage to figure a route for me to the lair do you really want a twenty foot turtle in there? You saw that warehouse right? It's probably better that I stay down here and stay outta trouble till Don finds a way to get me back to my usual mean green self."

Leo reached out and touched my hand, "Of course I want you home Raph. You didn't think we came down here just to give you a house warming present did you? Besides we can figure out something, right Don?"

Don looked me up and down, Now, I know how the amoeba in his microscope feel.

Finally Don answered, "Yeah I think it'll be fine Raph. You'll just have to stay on in the common area. The ceilings are close to thirty feet there so you can even stand on two feet if you want. I'd prefer if you stayed on the first floor though. I'm not sure if the second floor can… Support you."

Great first Leo calls me fat and now Don's at it. I get it guys: I'm a ten tonne turtle. Geez you'd think they thought I was blind or something.

Don seemed to pick up on my thoughts, "Hey don't take it personally Raph-"

I cut him off, "Don't worry about it Don. You're not the first to get into it…"

I glared markedly at Leo who innocently pointed to himself and silently mouthed, "Who me?"

I shook my head and continued, "I still don't think it's a good idea. Ok so the common room could work, but it'd still be on the cramped side not to mention I'd have zero privacy."

It was Mikey's turn to jump in, "But Raph think of the possibilities! You could watch TV all day! Oh and you'd always be the first to know when something's going on and hmm what else?" He clapped his hands together, "Dude you know what? You could totally be like my personal elevator! You know since Don refuses to put one in for me."

Oh he so going to pay for that one too.

"Oh well Mikey that is just such a great point! Please excuse me while I contain my pleasure at getting to move your lazy butt from your room to the kitchen on your every whim."

Whack! Ahhh yes, Don strikes again!

"Owww Donnnnnie!"

Don glared at Mikey who was once again rubbing his head. "Hey shell-for-brains newsflash: we're trying to get Raph to come with us remember? Well Raph here's why I think you should seriously consider coming with us. You want to go back to normal right?" I nodded in response, "Well then if I have to run to and from here every time I want to get a sample, run a test, or whatever else demands your physical presence I am going to not just waste time but get frustrated rather quickly. So if you want a cure sometime this millennia, I strongly suggest you deal with a little less privacy and come with us."

I thought Leo was a bossy diva.

I raised my hands in defeat, "Alright fine you win. Just don't come crying to me when I accidently take out a wall or Mikey's room."

Mikey looked confused, "Hey why does my room have to be trashed? Why not Don or Leo's?"

I smirked at him as I raised myself to walk on all fours, "Well if I can't punch you anymore I have to get back at you some way dingus."

Mikey looked panicked, "Whoa whoa whoa that… That's not fair Raph all my stuff is in there! My comic book collection, my movies – Leo you wouldn't let Raph wreck my room would you?"

Leo raised his hands as he and Don resumed their way down the tunnel. "Leave me out of this Mikey. If you piss him off enough I am not responsible for his actions against you."

I laughed and followed Don and Leo leaving Mikey looking thoroughly flustered.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

It was quickly becoming a long and frustrating trek back to the lair. Don had come through in finding a way to the lair that would accommodate my size, but I still found myself almost constantly battle crawling. Even with all my new muscle it quickly became apparent that we weren't getting home any time soon. Between my snail speed and sore head (still kept nailing it) I knew my mood was sinking fast. I heard my stomach growl, As if I don't have enough problems. I swear if I don't eat something soon I am gonna lose it!

A familiar Mikey whine came from ahead, "I'm huuuuungry! Are we there yet?"

And for the umpteenth time three of us growled at once, "NO MIKEY!"

Oh my patience for that little puke is running out fast… He's hungry? He should try having his stomach quadruple in size and see how he likes it! If he keeps this up I am gonna trash his room.

I could see a thin shaft of light coming from the ceiling up ahead. Mikey saw it too. "Hey bros I'll be right back!"

In a flash he was through the manhole. Leo hissed, "Mikey get back here!"

No response, but as I came close to the manhole cover I could smell something. Food!

I could feel my mouth salivating. It had been so long since I'd last eaten… My stomach let out a particularly loud growl. Leo was pretty close to me now and definitely heard it. He looked at me concerned, "Sorry Raph, I don't have any money on me. You got any cash Don?"

Don had been further down the tunnel and looked back, "Hmmm. No I don't sorry…"

Leo looked back at me, "You going to be ok Raph?"

"Yeah-" another loud gurgle, "Don't worry about it Leo."

He looked doubtful, "You sure?"

I just nodded. This was starting to get embarrassing.

Finally Mikey came back down with a couple of glorious mouth-watering hotdogs. Mikey could easily eat half a dozen at the best of times. He must have been short on cash to only get a couple. Leo put his hand on Mikey's shoulder. "Hey Mikey, um do you think you could spare one of those?"

Mikey looked at Leo surprised. Leo never asked Mikey for food. I saw Leo's eyes shift in my direction and a look of comprehension go through Mikey's eyes. He walked over to me, "Here Raph, you're probably lower in the blood sugar department than me."

I couldn't believe it. I had never seen Mikey part with food before. He loved food. Eating was one of his favourite pastimes. It was closely followed by video games and comics, but it still was his true passion. "Hey Mikey don't worry about it-" GRUMBLE.

If I wasn't so green I knew I would be bright red. That one was really loud. Mikey laughed, "I kinda think your stomach has a different opinion bro. Here it's cool. Just think of 'em next time you want to go all Raphzilla on my room alright?"

Still feeling embarrassed I took Mikey's offering, "It's a deal Mikey."

The dogs weren't even a mouthful and I was still felling famished, but at least they managed to get my stomach to shut up for a while.

When I thought we'd never get there, we were finally home. Leo, Don, and Mikey collapsed on the couch. I had just been thinking about how nice it would be to finally rest, but now that I finally had space to move I felt I needed to take advantage of it. I hadn't actually stood up to my full height since I broke out of the steel tank in the warehouse and as I rose to my feet I realized how much I had missed standing. Don was right. Although where the second floor jutted out I had to bend (I was tall enough to easily see into our rooms), most of the common area allowed me to stand fully upright. I stretched and felt my joints satisfyingly crack.

As I was rolling my head on my shoulders I became aware of my brothers' silence. I turned toward them and saw them all staring at me. "What?"

Leo and Don looked bashfully away but Mikey jumped up and ran to where I stood. He doesn't even reach my knee…

This train of thought didn't miss Mikey, "Sorry Raph we didn't mean to stare it's just… Wow… I mean this is the first time we've really gotten a real good look at you. Like it's kind of hard to all take in at once you know? See? I don't even reach your knee."

He stood by my leg as if he were a little kid waiting for his mom to measure him against the wall. I sighed and carefully lowered myself to the ground. It felt weird being so high above them. "Trust me Mikey, I am no closer to getting used to all this than you guys are."

It was true: I was now completely unfamiliar with my body. It didn't even feel like it was my body. Every time I closed my eyes I half-expected to open them and find that nothing had changed at all. Mikey was still gawking at me and under normal circumstances I would have gone to my room for some space. That was no longer an option so I took the best alternative I could think of and faked a yawn. "Hey are you guys cool if I crash for a bit? I'm just feeling real tired all of a sudden."

Leo immediately jumped up obviously eager to relieve the awkwardness that now seemed to choke the air. "No problem Raph. I'll grab some bedding stuff from the storage closet."

Don followed suit, "I'll go help Leo out. Be back in a minute."

As they both ran up the stairs I moved on all fours over to our designated dojo area and curled up on my stomach. Meanwhile, Mikey was still staring at me. I seriously need to get Leo and Don to teach shell-for-brains some tact.

I growled, "Mikey do you mind?"

Mikey jumped at my growl and Leo turned on the stairs at my remark, "Hey Mikey, get over here and give Don and me a hand!"

"Geez guys I get the hint! Can't a turtle just stop and smell the roses? Speaking of which you could really use a bath Raph. You stink more than usual!"

I growled again and desperately wanted to whack Mikey, but thankfully Leo beat me to it as Mikey ran up the stairs. "OW! Et tú Leo?"

"Stop messing around and go help Don!"

Leo frowned Mikey up the rest of the stairs. He then faced me, nodded knowingly in my direction and then disappeared after our brothers. I was grateful Leo had given me this moment of peace, but it was over all too soon. The three of them returned shortly with a mountain of blankets and as soon as Don threw his on the ground at my feet he took off towards his lab, "Be right back guys!"

As soon as we had a miss-match of blankets on the floor forming what Mikey dubbed "Raphzilla's Nest" Don was back with several syringes, vials, and needles. I glared apprehensively in my brainy brother's direction but as I opened my mouth Mikey beat me to it, "Hey Donnie what's with all that? You could outfit a hospital with all that junk!"

Don answered as he arranged his arsenal on a metal tray on the floor at my side, "I need to collect samples from Raph Mikey. Remember the whole "I need to run tests to figure out how to cure him speech?" The sooner I get the samples the sooner I can get us some results."

I didn't like Don poking at me at the best of times and I couldn't help but hiss when he pulled an especially long and nasty needle away from the others, "What the hell is that?! That ain't no needle you use to get blood from an arm!"

Don calmly placed it beside a syringe that was already full of clear liquid. I then noticed the iodine, rubbing alcohol, and his lab bottle of distilled water. "Calm down Raph it's just a spinal needle. I am going to take blood, but I am concerned as to whether the agent that caused your mutation managed to migrate into your neural tissue. The only way to confirm if it made it past the blood-brain barrier is to do a spinal tap. Unfortunately, since as a turtle you have a shell in the way, I cannot do the typical lumbar tap so I need to go at your atlanto-axial joint instead."

I felt my glare intense – I had barely understood half of what he just said. I felt anger starting to pulse through my veins. If Egghead thought he could cow me into submission with medical jargon that he knew full well I didn't fully understand he had another thing coming! I had heard needle, spine, and brain and that's all I needed. I sat up on my hunches and towered menacingly over him, "Like hell you are Donatello! There's no way you're sticking that thing in my neck!"

Don sighed, "Come on Raph it's not like I'm going to just jab randomly in there until I hit something! I am first going to use a liberal amount of local anaesthesia. They'll be so much Procaine in you that you won't feel a thing! Trust me I know my anatomy and I know what I'm doing!"

He took a step towards me and I started to growl. In surprise, Don jumped back and then pleaded to Leo, "Leo help me out here!"

Leo turned away from Don and looked up at me. He crossed his arms across his plastron, "Relax Raph I trust Donnie. If he says he knows what he's doing, he knows what he's doing."

Mikey had been watching silently from the edge of the blanket nest in great interest and decided to throw in his piece, "Dudes really? You want to suck out a piece of his brain? Like have you seen the size of that needle? It's gotta be as long as Leo's katana! Besides it's a lost cause. That skull has nothing but air in it!"

We all turned to Mikey at once, "SHUT UP MIKEY!"

Mikey raised his hands in a dramatic gesture and promptly huffed off to the kitchen. I turned my attention back to Don who now exchanged the large spinal needle for a small familiar one. "Alright, how about I take the blood first and we do the spinal tap after?"

I spat, "Fat chance," but still sunk down and proffered my arm to him. Blood I would do but that's all I was giving.

Leo and I watched as Don wrapped one of our old belts around my right bicep to act as a tourniquet and deftly slid the needle between my scales and into a vein at my elbow joint. After removing the tourniquet he quickly filled up half a dozen purple-topped tubes. He pulled out the needle, "There see nothing to it."

He looked at me expectantly, his eyes glittering. Why do I get the feeling he's up to something?

"Hmph. There's still no way you're sticking that…" I surprised myself with a real yawn this time, "That thing into my neck!"

I felt a strange warmth run through me. I could feel its tendrils branching out through my veins and I found myself sinking to the ground. I felt my eyelids become unbelievably heavy as I tried to pinpoint the source of my warmth. It was as I looked at my arm and then saw Don put an empty syringe down next to the blood-filled vials that I connected the dots. I felt my anger blossom but as much as I fought to fuel it to stay awake I knew I was bound to lose. "Don… You… Asshole…"

Darkness.