Wow. Much better feedback than I thought!
Quick note: I have made changes to who shall be one of Donnie's personalities. Also, some personalities are my own OC's.
Any facial expressions and their readings may be incorrect or made up. I am not trained in that area.
Alright, here goes!
Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT
Chapter Two
The collective silence that spread throughout the concrete room was eventually broken by Mikey's obnoxious laughter, wild enough to rival Yakko's.
"Dude, that's awesome!" He exclaimed, throwing a carefree arm around his not-brother's relaxed shoulders. Yakko laughed along with him, grinning evilly as a thought occurred to him.
"Do you like pranks, Wakko?" The sea-green turtle's confused look dissipated as the question computed in his wacky brain. A grin split his face.
"Heck yes! You know, I think you and me will get along just fine." He said happily, leading Yakko to his room by the shoulders so they might plan their first gag.
April turned to the two remaining turtles, a concerned expression on her face.
"Does Mikey not care that Donnie isn't who's occupying his brother's head?" She demanded, although her choice of wording took the oldest siblings a few moments to puzzle out. Leo nodded shortly, an angered scowl replacing his worried frown.
"Yeah, apparently pranks are more important to him, as usual. Urgh!" He cried, running forward in a sudden burst of energy and enacting his confused rage on the innocent punching bag. He rained blow after blow on the hard leather, and only when Raph laid a hand on his shoulder did he finally settle down.
"What is going on in here?!" Came Splinter's signature line from the dojo doorway. He had spent the past few hours meditating, trying to search out Donatello's consciousness. He found that when he did eventually reach it, he found his second-youngest child to be dormant, not thinking, moving, or functioning. He found this quite troubling.
The turtles and their human friend winced as they realized they had no clue how to explain this to Splinter.
As if on cue, there was a popping noise, and the paint-filled balloon hanging above Splinter's oblivious head exploded, a chuckling Yakko hiding around the nearest corner, grinning madly. Mikey stood behind him, waving his arms with a horrified expression. As much as he loved pranks, he at least knew that no one ever pranked Splinter and got away with it. It was weird, April thought in those last few seconds when time seemed to slow down, to hear Donnie's normally controlled voice used to voice such a mischievous, not-Donnie giggle.
Splat!
There was suddenly a coating of pink paint covering Yakko and Mikey and the wall behind them, Splinter standing, seething, and unscathed. He seemed almost smug at the turtles' expressions of shock at his skill.
"Woah." Was all the olive turtle got out, his face full of awe and admiration and surprise.
"Donatello, what is the meaning of this?" He interrogated, standing face-to-face with the imposter wearing Donnie's skin and utilizing his teen son's high-pitched voice and green, expressive face to convey its own thoughts.
The boy just jumped up in a cartoon-like fashion and stood on his shoulders, crouching down and patting his cheek.
"Sorry buddy, but you must not have gotten the memo. I don't go by 'Donna Turtle' or whatever anymore. I'm Yakko, nice to meet you!" He said, jumping off of his father's back and standing to face him, thrusting his hand forward and offering a large smile and innocently batting (nonexistent) lashes.
Everyone else in the room was staring at him in shock (an action they seemed to be playing out often now). The way he talked to their Sensei was immensely disrespectful, and the uncalled-for unusual contact just screamed "I think of myself as above you." Even Splinter stared.
"My son, what is this behavior?" He gasped, leaving the turtle's hand hanging.
Yakko studied him thoughtfully for a moment before nodding resolutely, ignoring the rat's words.
"You mind if I call you Scratchy?" Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed a gawking Mikey's arm and pulled him back into the sanctuary that was his brother's room.
Long after they exited, Splinter was still blinking slowly, trying to process this new information.
"Explain." He commanded.
"Master, when he woke up he had no idea who we were or who he was." April began, trying to stand taller and seem braver under his intense gaze. "He claims his name is 'Yakko' and acts like a completely different person. He's wilder, more confident and more... flirtatious." A blush heated her cheeks and Raphael snickered from behind her. "He even has his own names for some of us, as you just discovered. My opinion is that the serum injected into his brain altered its function, giving him severe amnesia, a mistaken identity, and a mental world of his own, possibly resulting in him hallucinating that we are his characters." She concluded, and the rat master stroked his beard in thought.
"How long ago did he wake up?" He asked suddenly.
"Erm... about half an hour ago." Leo informed dutifully. Splinter looked deeply troubled at that.
"What?"
"While I was searching Donatello's consciousness through my meditation, I found him to be completely dormant. His mind was silent, and almost seemed to not be functioning. I had worried he had died, but his life was still clearly present. He was almost comatose."
The teens shared glances of confusion.
"Well, master, before he woke up, he technically was comatose." April stated, her voice clearly befuddled. Splinter shook his head insistently.
"No, you misunderstand. His consciousness was deeply asleep no more than ten minutes ago."
"... He was awake ten minutes ago..." Leo finished his father's thought. Now he too looked deeply worried.
April tried to argue his point, not being capable of believing that something that complex could be wrong.
"That could still be a fluke of... of... something! I still say that he's got amnesia, mistaken identity, and hallucinations. He probably calls us 'Nurse' and 'Wakko' and 'Scratchy' because he's hallucinating that we're his own characters. He probably sees us as... like, little black and white cat children for crying out loud! Even then, it supports my hypothesis!" She didn't know if her explanation made any sense at all, but she was so desperate for him to be alright, she was blubbering.
Splinter raised an eyebrow at her, but nodded his head to humor her.
"D-" He stopped himself before almost painfully calling out, "Yakko! Come here!"
In moments, Yakko was sliding into the room in a grand entrance all his own, smiling widely.
"Yyesss?"
"My son, we must test you on something." The boy regarded him with a curious expression before shaking out of it and flashing him a charming smile.
"Ooh! Is it about the countries of the world? I have a song for that! United States, Canada..." He began, but Raph's hand clamped over his mouth. Splinter was quick to speak.
"No, my son, I just need to ask you a question to humor Miss O'Neil. Do you see me?" He inquired patiently. Yakko eyed him carefully, before nodding eagerly.
"What is my name?"
"Uh, Scratchy. Duh."
"What do I look like?" This question seemed to catch the cartoonish boy off guard, because he looked suspiciously at the man.
"What does this have to do with anything?"
"Just answer the question." The boy sighed in exasperation before scanning him up and down.
"Well, you're a giant rat." He said stupidly.
"Yes, yes, very observant. Care ta be a little more specific, Wackadoodle?" Raph shouted.
"Alright, alright. Umm... you have really dark brown fur, but then the big lighter patches and stuff and you got eyes that are like red and orange and coffee mixed together. And you have a long pink bathrobe with red flowers on it -I don't judge, and your feet are like dinosaur claws cos they're all pink and long and kinda freaky. And you have a long furry noodle attached to your chin, and you have really long nails and you have really sharp buck teeth." He informed in a high voice. He smiled hugely for a moment before getting up and running off to cause more mischief, leaving a silent group behind.
"As you can see Miss O'Neil, he is not hallucinating our appearances." April broke out of her scared reverie.
"Yeah, but-"
"But nothing! Just fix Donnie already before I blow a fuse!" Raph interrupted, shoving past a brooding Leonardo and stalking off to the dojo to beat something up.
"But Sensei! I can't just fix him! I don't even know what's wrong with him!" She implored. Her master's gaze softened slightly and he opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a very scared-sounding cry.
"AAHHH!"
Shortly followed by, "Sensei, HELP!"
Leo, Splinter, April, and Raph- who had just emerged after hearing the scream- jumped into action, sprinting towards Michelangelo's room, fearing the worst.
"What is it, Michelangelo?" Splinter asked, rushing to his side.
The messy room was even more trashed than usual, and several crates of comic books had been turned over in a hurry. There was no sign of Donatello, only a shaking and blubbering Mikey, who had managed to clean most of the fuchsia paint from his skin.
Mikey, still terrified from some sort of ordeal, collapsed into Splinter's arms, choking out random words like 'shaking... bed... scream... scared...' The aged rat raised a concerned brow.
"My son," He said gently, holding his youngest at arm's length, "what happened?"
Mikey took a deep breath before recounting his tale.
"Well, we were planning our next- safer- prank, and I asked him why he kept calling me Wakko, and then his eyes started twitching and his head drooped and his whole head was shaking, and then he straightened up again and screamed when I put a hand on his shoulder!"
A shaky whimper was suddenly heard from under the cluttered bed. Leo and April shared a look before each kneeling down and peering underneath it. A ratty tarp underneath them was tearing at the girl's stocking-clad knees.
"P-please, leave me b-be!" Came a weak voice.
And there of course lay Donnie, curled in on himself in the fetal position and rocking back and forth in the confining space, whimpering with his eyes clamped tightly shut.
"Donnie, buddy, it's alright. It's me, Leo, your brother. Come on out, alright bro?" Leo asked very, very gently, slowly reaching out a hand to his fearful sibling. The boy opened one eye, scanned the older turtle up and down, but remained where he was. His olive skin was coated in a feverish sweat, and his single red eye seemed to glow in the dark.
"'m not Donnie, not Donnie..." He started chanting to himself, almost as if reassuring himself. He chanted it in time with each rock. April was now officially worried. Not only was he acting completely out of the ordinary, but he had seemingly forgotten everyone again. And now he apparently had taken on a new personality for himself. Curiouser and curiouser, April thought humorlessly.
"Okay then Yakko, come on out." She tried, ignoring Raphael's angry snort from behind her. She too reached out her small hand, and this time, he opened both eyes very wide with childlike fear, looking at her once before flinching away from her and crying to himself.
"Don' hurt me..." He whimpered.
April had no idea how to respond to this; her best friend was acting like a terrified child. Oh, what she wouldn't give to have Donnie back right now; he's the one who would know what to do.
She was suddenly thrown to the side by a bull-like Raph as he took her spot, growling and reaching his arm under the bed forcefully, grabbing tightly onto one of the bony arms and yanking the turtle from under the bed. He ignored Not-Donnie-Or-Yakko's shrieks and screams of protest, and pulled him up until he stood on his own two feet. Keeping a deathgrip on his brother's forearm, he jerked him around to face him. Not-Donnie, however, was cowering under his glare, refusing to meet his gaze and shaking like a leaf.
"Donnie, cut the crap. Look at me! I am talking to you, Donnie, and you need to stop pretending." Raphael yelled into his face, while Leo and April jumped forward and tried fruitlessly to rip the boy from his brother's strong grip.
When the olive green turtle didn't respond, it made Raph even angrier, and he grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him. His stained purple mask flopped around his face as he was jerked back and forth, still not meeting Raph's furious eyes.
"'m not Donnie." At first, no one knew what he had said, he had muttered it so quietly.
"YES. YOU. ARE!" Raph screamed, releasing him in disgust and tossing him towards the doorway, towards Splinter, who was watching with a concerned expression. The boy stood hunched over, his eyes clenched tightly shut once again as he gripped his sides for comfort. He didn't know who these weird people were, but that red one sure was scary.
When a firm, but soft hand landed on his shoulder, Not-Donnie flinched and jumped simultaneously, holding back a screech of fear. The voice that spoke, however, was not so scary, and he looked up at the rat hesitantly.
"My son, why do you act like this? Please Donatello, answer me. I mean you no harm." The boy sighed sadly, tapping his fingers together and wondering if he could open up to these guys.
"'m'names William." He mumbled, eyes firmly on his large toes. He flinched in anticipation of more screaming, but when none came, he hesitantly raised his red eyes to curiously read their emotions. He knew he shouldn't pry, because doing so was bad and would probably earn him a smack, but he wanted to know what these strangers were thinking. One thing people didn't know about Will was his amazing ability of reading emotions and expressions. He himself was very expressive and emotional, and he supposed that was where his instinctual ability came from.
He studied the large rat's face with a trained eye, finding slightly raised eyebrows and frequent swallowing, twitching nose and narrowed eyes, corners of mouth turned down. The man was studying Will's face with equal intensity, watching as the intelligent gaze took something in.
"You're surprised." William said softly, still curled in on himself. At this, Splinter frowned in astonishment. The boy could read him! He returned to his earlier facial expression, trying to stay calm. Will took in his shift and cocked his head as he easily read the signs.
"And sad."
"You are very well taught in emotions." The teen seemed surprised at being praised, blinking before ducking his head again.
"I just do it, I guess." He whispered, suddenly shy again.
April stared at Donatello's body, utterly confused and completely worried. Mistaken identity had made much more sense before, but switches in personalities was unheard of! Whatever this was, it couldn't be good.
"Excuse me, miss?" came a timid voice interrupting her thoughts. He seemed to seriously lack any courage or confidence. Just the underlying terror in his voice made her take pity on him, and she smiled kindly, nodding encouragingly. He was blushing slightly, and shaking again.
"Yes?"
"Well, um, why are you, um," He stuttered, afraid she would hit him if he said what she was feeling out loud.
"Spit it out, Donnie!" Raph cried, marching forward again and raising his hands frustratedly. Will, however, took this as an offensive gesture, and he cowered further into himself, clutching his shoulder strap for comfort and whimpering, not at all acting like he would fight back. Very submissive little thing.
"Raphael!" Came their sensei's scolding voice, and Raph begrudgingly backed off. Now, it's not like he was a total jerk to Donnie, or that he really hated him, he just had a no-nonsense attitude.
"Raph, what is wrong with you? You're scaring him!" April cried incredulously, slowly walking over to the crying turtle and carefully placing a hand on his arm, getting past his expectant flinch and leading him out into the main room, coaxing him onto the couch. His face was pale and his eyes were turning almost glassy, and he was looking anywhere but her.
"Hon, you alright? Ignore Raph, he's a jerk. Let's start over, alright? I'm April, your best friend." She felt weird that this was the second time she had introduced herself to him that day. Honestly, she just wanted to go to her makeshift room, curl up, and forget this whole day.
"W-William." He shakily supplied. She smiled brightly, but in reality that smile was hiding a grimace of worry.
"Nice to meet you, Will. So, what were you going to say earlier?" She inquired. He ducked his head shyly, shaking his head.
"Nothing." He insisted. A large yawn escaped his mouth, and his limbs seemed very weak. His eyelids were drooping, and every few moments he would drop his head, only to startle back to consciousness moments later with a sheepish wince. As much as she wanted to question the heck out of him, she was not cruel. She looped her arm in his and easily led him to his room, making him lie on the mattress. Her sleepiness was catching up with her as well, and a glance at the clock confirmed that it was indeed daytime. Time to sleep.
"This is your room, and I'll be in mine which is just down the hall. I promise to have them leave you alone. Now go to sleep, William." And she began walking off.
"A-April?" The tiny voice stopped her in her tracks with an exasperated sigh. Honestly, she just wanted to sleep right now.
"Yes?"
"P-please do-don't leave me." It was a simple request, yet she could tell it meant much more to him than it sounded. Sighing once again, she ran and grabbed a blanket off the couch and threw it up onto the top bunk.
"Alright, alright. I'll stay. Now, go to sleep, Will." She commanded softly, placing a gentle kiss on his temple before climbing up the rungs of the ladder and burrowing into the soft blankets and Donnie's usual pillow. A slight indentation could be detected from his shell, since he slept on his back a lot. A thought peeking into her sleep-moddled brain, she leaned down over the railing and watched as 'William' quickly fell into a light slumber on his side, curled around a large pillow, in an almost fetal position once again. His breaths were quick and shallow, and several times he would kick his leg and whimper. He really was a scientific enigma.
All she really wanted was her Donnie back. Awkward, intelligent, curious, adorable Donnie. Not zany, crazy flirtatious Yakko, not fearful, shy William.
It was with these thoughts that she finally drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Might be a little rushed, my apologies. William is my OC personality, and he's meant to be the fearful and delicate one. Don't worry, more is soon to come!
