Italics - Don's thoughts

Bold – Flashbacks

Chapter 4 (Let the Tests Begin)

When I awoke I was stiff. My head throbbed. I lifted my hand to my head and felt a large bump forming underneath the matted hair. I sighed; these blackouts are really taking a toll on my body. I propped myself up on the bed. Wait, didn't I faint in the far corner next to the sink?

"I see you are now awake Donatello." I whipped my head toward the voice. Bishop stood between the desk and me. "Since you survived the transformation and the shock of the discovery, I think we can begin testing."

"Wh-," my voice cracked and I began to dry cough. After a minute of coughing I cleared my throat and said, "I'm dehydrated and about to collapse from malnutrition. I would suggest you do something about that before you start testing me or whatever."

Bishop's open palm suddenly met my face. I raised my hand to the red mark that I now adorned. I stared in fright at the angered man above me. "Just because you now look human does not mean I forget what you once were. You are still a freak, an abomination, an accident," he spat. "Do not forget your place."

With that he turned and walked toward a door I had not noticed previously. He knocked on it and it opened. Silently he left the room.

I lay back onto the bed. Mentally running through the conversation I just had with Bishop. His reaction disturbed me. The Bishop I knew was always scarily calm and collected, I couldn't remember a single time I had seen the man act out of anger. I had been honest with Bishop. I am weak, I thought, and my new body is only making things worse.

Over the next five minutes I tried to make my way to the sink. Upon reaching it I turned on the faucet and filled my cupped hand with water. I slowly brought the makeshift cup to my mouth and began to drink. I felt slightly better once my thirst was satisfied. I raised my head and once again looked at my reflection in the mirror. The same face met my gaze only this time my cheek sported a red hand mark where Bishop had hit me.

I made my way back to the bed and eased myself into it. My body no longer throbbed in pain but was now numb. Exhaustion quickly over took me and I closed my eyes.

Over the next three days I rested in my room and examined my new body. I had not seen Bishop since we had last spoke but it seemed he had taken my words to heart. Three meals are sent to me each day, along with water and juices. Because of this I had been slowly regaining my strength.

My new body never ceased to amaze me. On my first day in this new environment I discovered that my new body was, in fact, new. It bared none of the scars I possessed when I had a terrapin form. However, I was not exactly sure how tall I was, possibly 5'10". Luckily I had studied the autonomy of humans so I was not too overwhelmed when I saw myself naked for the first time. Similarly, trying to go to the bathroom was a challenge but I figured it out. I could more easily walk after I had found my new center of balance. With no shell weighting me down I felt I could move even faster and jump higher. To keep my strength up I had been doing pushups. I had also been training myself to fight with this new body, should the opportunity arise that I am able to escape. Escape. That had been troubling me. I had come to the conclusion that this transformation is permanent. If I escape or my brothers rescue me what will happen. I am no longer a turtle. Will they still call me brother? We are no longer the same species. I grew sick to my stomach every time I thought of my family. I was afraid to see them again. What will their reactions be like?

On the second day in my new room I had discovered paper and writing utensils in the drawers of the desk. At first I had ignored them, I was never really good at drawing, that was always Mikey. However, on the third day I found myself drawing my brothers' weapons and filling the wall with difficult quadratic math equations and scientific theories to keep my brain stimulated.

On the third day I tried to understand scientifically what had happened to me. I discovered nothing. All my theories did not match up with all my observations. My on going theory was that I had been exposed to a second mutagen that caused me to mutate further into a human.

It was the fourth day when Bishop sent for me. The guard that usually brought me my meals accompanied me through many long, twisting white hallways until we stopped at a door. He knocked before opening the door. Still to weak to resist I was shoved into the room. I stumbled until I caught myself. I observed the new surroundings. The room was far from empty. I spotted a weight machine, chairs, charts, tables full of instruments, and several people. Bishop turned as I entered the room and walked toward me. He nodded at the guard that brought me in. The guard snapped to attention, saluted, and then left.

After watching him go I turned towards Bishop. Reaching out and he grabbed my shoulder. I flinched. Seeing my reaction he only smirked. Applying force to my shoulder he guided me toward the other people in the room. All three were in white lab coats; two men, one with dark hair and another with blonde hair, and one woman, who looked as if she could be April's sister, watched me as I was pushed in their direction.

"Doctors," Bishop greeted them. "This is the subject. Today I think we should start with the basics."

"Of course," the April's look-a-like answered. I was seated in a chair and my arms and legs were strapped down so I could move.

"What are you going to do?" I asked nervously.

The blonde-haired man closest to me answered simply by saying, "We need to study your genetics." The man then proceeded to take blood, hair, urine, and tissue samples. After about an hour the doctors, claiming that they had enough of me in test tubes for now, dismissed me. Bishop called a guard to take me back to my room. Once in my room I collapsed into my bed. Two hours later my dinner arrived for me. I didn't touch it.