Now they were seriously worried.
"Something's really wrong with him," Mikey frowned, his concern for his brother growing.
"I agree my son. Something is terribly wrong."
"Do you think something really was on that dart?" Raph asked.
Don sighed, "We've already gone over this. Maybe, but I didn't find anything on it. More than that though, I think this is a matter of..."
Raph stiffened, "Don't say it. Don't you even say it Don. He's not- he can't be-"
"Insane?" Mikey snapped. Raph growled at him, "Face it Raph. Our brother, is going insane, and its OUR FAULT!" He screamed the last part.
"We know that Mikey, but now isn't a time for blame. We need to think. What can we do to help him?" Don asked.
Mikey thought a moment, "Well, judging by how he acted with the juice...we should get rid of anything even remotly resembling blood."
Splinter nodded, "It is a start."
"Um...what about a pet?" Raph asked, hesitantly. "We all saw how good he was with Klunk. Maybe a pet of his own would cheer him up."
:No Raph thats-" Don stopped, "That's actually a good idea!"
Raph frowned and Mikey snickered, "And why are you suprised?"
Leo was drawing. He had recovered his pen and paper hinned in his room, slightly suprised to find them at all, and was drawing his heart out.
He didn't think. He let his hand do that for him.
His emotions played out in his hands. He was reveling in what he assumed was insanity. He liked it, but knew his family didn't. He made a mental note to try and hide it more. Staring at the paper, he was suprised at what he drew.
A human girl was standing on an ocean of black. Pitch trees surrounding her, bold against a white moon, She had dark brown hair and bank eyes.
In her arms was the body of a small boy, her tears falling onto his face. In the distance, you could see what he knew was him, bent over in despair,
but lips open in a frozen laugh.
He brushed the paper away, eyes closed, and grabbed another. He didn't need to be reminded of Joseph and Carter just now. All it brought was pain.
He thought of happiness, hoping to have something, anything, to show his joy, locked deep in his heart, but instead, all he found was rage. His pen stabbed into the paper, leaving dark creases, lines expressing his mind numbing anger. He drew The Shredder, on his knees, life draining out of his eyes,
and himself, holding the hilt of a katana that was imbedded in his torso, a twieted grin on his face.
He sighed. Apparently, the pain of his family had angered him more then he had thought.
He started his search again, and wandered back to what he was trying to avoid, and suprisingly found happiness.
He drew himself, Joseph, and Carter, holding hands, spinning in a circle, lips parted in joyous laughter, happiness sparkling in his eyes.
This brought a smile to the current Leonardo's face as well, and a glint of that childish joy returned to his eyes. A knock at his door made him jump, and he quickly his his drawings behind his back. Raph entered seconds later, and seemed suprised though nervous at the happiness in his brothers eyes.
"Hey Leo. Were going topside for a run. Do you want to-"
"Yes!" Leo answered before Raph could finish, and, forgetting his drawings, raced out of the room. Raph chuckled and caught the pages before they touched the floor.
His eyes widened, "Donnie!"
Don eyed the drawings nervously, handing them to Splinter and Mikey.
"I don't know what to make of this."
"It looks like he was so mad when he drew these two, but its as if he put love into this one of him and these kids," Mikey observed.
Raph frowned, "Isn't that the kid from the news?"
"Now that you mention it, Leo did say he was friends with the boy. But he was only seven. How could he...?"
Mikey sighed, "And yet another question."
Leo chose that moment to stick his head into the room, a huge grin on his face, "If you don't hurry, I'm leaving without you!"
Splinter laughed and answered, "Alright Leonardo. We're coming."
Mikey snickered and Raph his him over the head, HARD, "What the hell is wrong with you?" (1)
Leo was suprisingly calm for someone who had been ursting with excitement only moments prior. You could say he even looked, scared.
Splinter patted him on the back, encouraging him silently. They were in disguises of course, as three adult mutant turtles, one rat, and a kid turtle would OBVIOUSLY be welcome without hesitation...into a laboratory.
Leo had been trying to figure out where they were going, and had caught his brothers smirking at him when they thought he didn't see.
The last time he had caught Mikey, he had snapped, "Why do you keep looking at me?" Mikey had responded ny grinning and shrugging,
somwthing that did nothing to ease Leo's annoyance.
About a block away from their destination, Leo figured it out. He had stopped walking and let a goofy smile cover his face. His brothers were eager to return the smile.
"You mean it? I really can?"
Don nodded, "Yep! Go on ahead. Choose someone nice!" But he was already gone. Running through the door to the pet store.
In the short amount of time it took them to reach the door, Leo had looked at almost every animal in the store. He ran up to Raph and shoved a turtle in his face.
"I'd be funny huh?"
Raph smiled and pushed him gently away, "Nice try. Keep looking," then thought to himself, 'I feel like a mother out with her kid. jeez...' He found himself wandering to the dog section, while Don stayed in the reptiles, and Mikey ran to the cats.
Leo found he liked a wide variety of the animals, but none of them, he felt, were the right one. Disappointed, he turned to get his brothers, when a whine met his ears.
He turned around in time to see a worker roughly shove a patch of snowy white into a dog carrier, and struggle to pick it up. He ran to the man, "What's in there? Where are you taking him?"
The man seemed startled but answered anyway, "I'm not sure, but no one wants him. I'm supposed to put him down."
Leo found himself growling deep in his throat, "You mean kill him?"
"Yeah. Why?" The man was unfazed.
"I want him. Give him to me."
The man started, "But you don't even know what it is! Why would you want it? Nobody does!" The occasional whimpers in the carrier had ceased, as if whatever inside was listening.
"I don't care. No one wants him, so let me have him. You'd have more free time, and I'd take the job off your hands." The man thought for a moment, before he handed Leo the carrier, though reluctantly.
"Fine kid, but don't come crying to me when it hurts you!" And with that the man walked off.
Raph came up to Leo, the others following behind him, "So what'd you choose?"
"They were going to kill him, but I saved him. He wont die now."
The stared at him, before Mikey broke the silence, "So what is he?" He tried to peak into the carrier but the creature inside growled and he backed away.
Leo placed the carrier carefully under his arm, and followed his brothers from the store, no answer given.
(1) if you don't get it, well...just forget about it. Not worth explaining. Now if you DO get it, you as well as me, have some immaturity issues.
SO what do ya think it is? I'll give you a hint. One of the reviewers got it!
Also, I'll try to draw what Leo did and put it on my Deviant art, so Keep your eye out!