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Cracked

Chapter Four:
Locked Up

A bit of comic relief in this chapter. Despite the uh. . . darker themes afterward. I can't depress you all the time. Also, Venus does NOT have a lot of her magical Shinobi powers she had in her show, but she's way into the supernatural and the occult in this story. Watch how I attempt foreshadowing with her! Poorly! XD Warning: some disturbing imagery.

Leo sat in the corner, quietly meditating, and trying to think of a way out of their prison cell.

Raph, upon being assumed the father by Karai, had been separated from his brothers and locked in an isolated room. There was, quite literally, no light shining in that room. Black metal and glass surrounded him, and he'd been having a feeling someone was watching him through the glass, though he was unable to see on the outside. Still, it didn't stop him from shredding his knuckles by punching the walls around him.

Over.

And over.

And over.

Michelangelo was in the cell with Leonardo, awfully quiet. Despite normally having a one-track mind, he currently had more thoughts racing than Leo and Raph combined. Leo's goal was to break out of their prison, and Raph's only thought at the moment was Mona Lisa. But Mikey thought of the rest of his family members individually. How did the Foot manage to capture Splinter, and Venus? Where had Donatello and Mona Lisa gone, now?

Soon, other memories began to flood his mind. When the girls arrived, Splinter started different training tactics that became quite effective. From then on, it was almost always two on two. Splinter paired each of them up based on how well they'd work with each other. Don, the passive genius, was paired with Leo, the levelheaded but it-needs-to-be-done-now leader. The agile girl with the strong legs, Mona, was paired with Raphael. . . mostly because they were two peas in a pod. Of course, the youngest turtles were paired together, and they made a more excellent team than the others ever imagined. Splinter, instead of focusing on their lack of strength, took a different route and put Venus and Mikey through rigorous agility training. Soon, they became the fastest of the five turtles, by far.

But one day, Mikey suddenly felt embarrassed at everything he did, especially if he'd done it in front of the girls. Even if Mona burped along with him, or Venus got pepperoni stuck in her own teeth, he felt the need to be very, very gentleman-ly.

And clean. Clean and freshly scented.

It was Don who first noticed Michelangelo's strange behavior. How excited he was to have two females (mutant at that!) Living in the lair with him. Though Donatello did not confront his brother about this behavior, Michelangelo came to him one day, wondering what he was feeling. Unless he played it wise, Donatello was stuck giving a "birds and the bees" lecture. On top of that, Mikey confessed to cuddling with Mona on he couch the night before. All Donatello could do was hope Raph didn't see the two because he knew Raph had a huge thing for Mona. Secretly, of course. As secret as Raph could be, anyway. Donny caught him staring at her legs almost daily. A few times, Leo had to smack the back of his head and tell him to be respectful. Raph had to tell him it was her fault for wearing dresses. Leo reminded him that Venus never wore anything to cover her legs. Raph confessed to looking at her legs, as well.

"Hormones, Mikey." Donatello told him. "That's it. Your pheromones are acting up, and you've got a crush. No big deal. It'll probably pass soon." Honestly, Don thought Leo would be the first. He also didn't think Mikey would be having them (his hormones) act up this badly. He'd always figured his innocent brother was too wrapped up in television to care. Nope. Don was downplaying the situation for his brother. Though he already seemed to like the girls enough, there was probably still a mass army of hormones bottled up inside, waiting to be released.

"But dude, I like hanging out with Mona a lot better than Leo or you." Ouch. That was quite a blow.

"That's because Mona is like Raph. She's kind of like one of the dudes. Besides, for mutants, let's face it, Mona and Venus are gorgeous to us. Trust me, the storm will pass. But if you really want to go for one of 'em, I'd pick Venus."

"I have to choose?" Mikey tilted his head.

"Yes. Girls aren't fond of men—or turtles, in our case,— who have two mates at once. Besides, what if you, say, decided to go steady with Mona." Don snapped his fingers, suddenly. "Stay with me, little brother, this is important. Say you went steady with Mona, then found out she's been fooling around with Raphael on the side. Wouldn't you feel a little betrayed?"

Mikey, though he had been suffering the effects of testosterone and pheromones, was still clueless when it came to love. To Donatello, it was clear he'd been having a hard time keeping up. He had, however, managed to catch one hint in Donatello's sentence. "You mean Raph and Mona are already. . .?"

"Really, Mikey, I thought you'd be the first one to start teasing them. I mean, what do you think they're doing when they sneak out to the rooftops?"

Mikey shrugged. "I thought they were going to Burger King, or something."

"Well, yes, they do go for takeout, but it doesn't take two hours to order a burger, Mikey." Donatello was right in thinking that ordering takeout for Mona wasn't all they did outside the lair, but it was vigilante work, not make-out sessions. They preferred those in the comfort of the lair.

"No way. I can't believe I've seriously been missing this. I've gotta see it for myself!" With that, Michelangelo rushed out to see it firsthand.

At first, Donatello got up out of his chair to stop him, but decided against it. Unless he saw it, Mikey wouldn't believe him. Donatello could only hope his sibling wouldn't be beaten to a pulp by Raph in the process. "Just when I thought he was maturing." He shook his head and sat back down.

Oh, yes. Mikey had been chased around the lair once. When caught, he begged Raph for mercy, and instead of teasing, asked, "What did you do to make her like you so much?"

Now, his hot-headed sibling stopped in his tracks. He pulled his fist away from Mikey's face., and stared down at him for a minute. Then, he lifted himself off of his brother, and helped him up. "What? No sarcastic remarks? None of that k-i-s-s-i-n-g stuff?"

Mikey shook his head. He looked pretty sincere. It was hard to tell with Michelangelo. But his brother had resisted making a joke for this long, and Raphael went against his instincts and decided to trust his brother. When Mikey confessed that he'd already gone to talk to Donatello about this kind of thing, Raph knew what was happening to his brother.

"Alright, Mikey. I'll tell ya everything ya need tah know. 'Cause I'm sure as hell not gonna let Donny give ya the sex talk. He'll probably use words that are too big for your love-struck brain, and he'll blame it all on hormones. Trust me, your older, and wiser brother Raph has got this covered. Now listen carefully. . ."

By the end of Raph's talk, Michelangelo's eyes looked like tennis balls. No detail had been spared. The young, innocent mind of the household, or sewer-hold, was no longer young and innocent. In less than ten minutes, Raph taught him everything he needed to know about "reproduction." Many, like Leo and Splinter would consider it immoral, but Raph thought of it as a talent. Hell, even Donatello would be able to appreciate such a short and sweet lesson. He then proceeded to explain to his brother why he and Mona Lisa hit it off.

"Mikey, I was there during her transformation. I'm the only one of us who saw her in human form. And you know what? She was cute then, too. But now she can't roam the streets freely like she used to. I'm the one that's been bringin' her out and letting her get fresh air every night. She and I got to know each other better, and one night it just. . . happened."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Heh, that must have been the morning Splinter told us you had an odd scent on your body." Mikey smirked, and Raph's jaw suddenly dropped.

"Splinter knows about this? Aw, crud. Oh well, as long as he never brings it up, we're going to pretend like he's knowledge-less. 'Kay, Mike?"

"Don't worry, bro. I won't tell."

From then on, Michelangelo had his sights set on Venus, and his ultimate goal was to win her heart. Venus was big on spirits, and interpreting dreams, so he attempted to look as though he had something in common with her. But soon, it grew on him. Having Venus teach him about spirits was more fun than training, and she even summoned up the occasional ghost. It was only animal spirits, but they still made mischief and scared Donatello with said strange animal spirits when he was concentrating hard on a new invention.

Slowly, but surely, they became closer. Michelangelo and Venus were two inseparable peas in a pod, and a great ninja team. Splinter commented on their excellent teamwork, and they managed to defeat Mona and Raph during a sparring lesson. This was surprising given Raph's sheer determination and Mona's new-found leaping skills.

Man, he wondered how Venus was doing at the moment, and if she was OK. . .

Due to an enormous amount of tranquilizer inside of her, and an incredible amount of bruises on the outside, Venus was currently in a deep sleep. Master Splinter, bound by an electric wire rather than rope or cuffs because of his skill, watched her hopelessly, wondering where his other children were. They had left Donatello and Mona Lisa back at the lab, but according to another Foot Ninja, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael had all previously been captured. Now he wondered how much time he had left with his daughter.

Deep in the REM stages of sleep, Venus stirred uncomfortably, experiencing nightmare after nightmare. One in particular stood out, however.

Venus wandered around the lair, which was destroyed. She had forgotten that she had been captured, because of the realness of her dream. When she stepped on glass and debris, it hurt. When she pinched herself, it hurt. "Hello?" she called. No answer. "Hello?!" Louder this time, and she heard a moan on the couch.

"Venus. . ." she recognized her best friend's voice and her face lit up, but only for a moment. "Ugh, my eye. . ."

"Mikey?" she carefully tip-toed over to the couch, avoiding the crud all over the sewer floor that could damage her feet. "Are you OK? What happened here?" she leaned over the back of the couch and screamed when she saw his face. In his right eye socket, there was nothing, but blood running down his cheek. "Michelangelo! Who did this to you?!"

Mikey suddenly had an angry aura about him. He pulled himself to his knees and gripped her shoulders---hard. "You did! You shredded my eye to pieces!"

Splinter watched in horror as the sleeping Venus trashed about, causing herself rope burns on top of her bruises. "Mikey, I would never!" She was having a nightmare! "No! I'm not the one who tore out your eye!"

Splinter shot a glare at the elite ninja who sat in the back with them. "Do something!" This resulted in a shock from the electric wire.

"There. I did something." the unfeeling ninja simply put the remote back and assume his nonchalant position.

Splinter scooted his body over to Venus and rested his head on top of hers. She had stopped thrashing, but her breathing was still heavy. Another nightmare had started, but at least she was calmer, now. "Venus. Do not let these nightmares overcome you. You are stronger than this. Wake up!"

Instead, she began talking in her sleep again. "Who are you? Where are you going with Mona Lisa?" A pause, as though the conversation was real. "How do you know she wants to go with you, Nightwatcher? She gave you permission to kidnap her?" Suddenly, Venus' eyes popped open. She observed her surroundings, and memories of being kidnapped by the Foot surfaced again She looked up at her sensei. "Master Splinter?" she was so relieved, had she not been bound by rope, she would have embraced him. "Oh, those nightmares. . ." she began to cry. "They were awful."

Master Splinter comforted her as best he could. Here in the possession of the Foot, she was crying about nightmares. "Shh, it's alright, Venus. You're awake, now." Not that the awake-world wasn't any less of a nightmare, he thought. He could only imagine the sorts of things Shredder had in store for him.

When they arrived, Karai herself opened the doors. "Let me see her." Upon looking down at Venus, she became enraged. "This is NOT the female we were capturing! Where are the other two?" In the presence of a furious Karai, the "Elite" ninja became nothing more than a bumbling fool.

"We-we left them. There was no point in dragging them along, mistress Karai---" she punched the inside of the van, causing Venus and the Elite to flinch.

"I wanted to bring my Master the five turtles, and their sensei, but I wished to give him the pregnant female most of all, and you've RUINED IT!! Search the city! I want no street corner empty, no alley unturned! Bring me the pregnant female and the last turtle at once!"

"Donatello and Mona Lisa are too crafty for you." Splinter insulted.

"Ah, yes. Take this rat to the Shredder. I'm sure my master has quite a surprise in store for you." she sneered down at the rat.

"What about the female turtle?" Elite asked.

Karai thought for a moment. "Lock her up with the hothead. Left in the isolation tank long enough, they'll probably tear each other to pieces." she smirked.

Raph kept punching his surroundings.

Michelangelo was lost in his memories.

Leonardo desperately tried to piece together a plan.

Donatello and Mona Lisa prepared to hack into the Foot security systems, and run right into Shredder's domain during the power outage.

Some of you may be thinking "It's impossible to summon animal spirits because animals don't have souls." Well, you know what? Your MOM doesn't have a soul. Holy crap, these chapters are longer than I anticipate, next chapter? "The Metal Man." Pretty corny, if I do say so myself.