The next morning when Raph woke up, he was hurting still and tired

The next morning when Raph woke up, he was hurting still and tired. Groaning, he tried to sit up, only to have an arm pin him back down forcefully.

"Lie down, idiot," Donnie admonished. "Shesh." He was standing over Raph, holding something beyond Raph's vision.

"Whatcha got?" Raph asked carefully, relaxing again.

"Grinder. I'm grinding down your shell like I did for Leo."

"So… They are wings?"

"Definitely," Donnie sighed, turning on the little grinder and setting to work again. Raph felt like his shell was buzzing.

"Why aren't they coming in like Leo's?" Raph asked, wincing as a new pain wave washed over him when Donnie brushed the tender skin under his shell.

"You mean painlessly and quickly?" Don asked, blowing the ground bits of shell off of Raph. "Probably because he was invaded mentally, and you were bitten physically. His body changed to match his mind. Your body is changing to match the vampire DNA in your blood. Scientifically, both of you are marvels and anomalies, but yours can be measured. Leo's can't; he might change even more, grow talons or something."

"I hope not," Raph grouched, scratching his arm lazily. "You know what he'd be like with claws. He'd not need his katanas to kick butt."

"Well, don't look now, but he doesn't," Donnie chuckled, turning the grinder off and setting it down gently before helping Raph sit up carefully. "How do you feel now?"

"Better, but still like shell," Raph said, wincing as his wings twitched. "I can't control these things yet. Do you know how big they'll be?"

Don sighed and washed his hands, then dried them before answering. "No, but I know they will come in painfully. Very, very painfully. You're drugged with Aspirin right now, and you still feel badly. I don't want you on morphine until they start growing again, since you could easily get addicted."

"Ugh," Raph grunted, standing cautiously. "Why do you think I've been bitten by a vampire? Remember what Leo said – or Darkwing, I guess – about the Inhabitors? Could that human who bit me have had the vampire? If so, will you be hit by lightning and turned into a sorcerer or something?"

"That's a lot of questions, coming from you, Raph," Don smiled. "But to answer them… I think you've been bitten by a vampire because you were just there. Fate, bad luck, whatever, it just happened to be that you were at that place at that time. Maybe Darkwing was telling the truth, but not all of it. Maybe we'll all have accidents happen to mutate us further. Maybe I will be a sorcerer. Maybe Leo will be bitten by a werewolf and be able to shape shift. Maybe Mikey will get hit with a magician and be able to cause mischief from afar. Point is, I really don't know." Don sighed and put his hand on Raph's shoulder. "What I do know is that we're here for you. If they do get big enough to fly with, Leo has promised to help you try them out."

"What if they aren't? Can ya cut 'em off?"

Don hesitated but finally answered. "No. They're fused directly to your collar and shoulder bones. Even if I tried, I'd probably cause you to lose feeling and movement in both arms and one at the least. It'd be bloody and painful, not to mention they might just grow back again. Leo's are a whole new bone, which is why he can fly with the odd arrangement that he has. They rotate. By the way your's are growing in, they'll be like a bat's."

"Figures."

Don nodded and then opened the door. "Hungry?"

"Like shell." Raph followed his brother through the mansion since Don seemed to know where he was going. When they got to the dining room, they found Mikey sitting at the table, eating a plate filled with bacon.

"Hey, guys!" he cried happily.

"Ah, good morning, my sons," Master Splinter said, coming into the room. "Raphael, how are you feeling?"

"Better," Raph answered courteously, bowing to his sensei. "Thank you. How are you this morning?"

"I am well, my son. Please, sit and eat. Michelangelo, where is Leonardo?"

"He's outside," Mikey said, thankfully swallowing before he spoke. "Said something about a pond."

"Hm. Very well. We will miss morning training, my sons, as it seems two of you are out of commission for one reason or another." Master Splinter's tail twitched as Raph protested.

"Aw, Sensei. We're gonna need our skills if we wanna beat the crap outta anyone who comes up here!"

"Language, Raphael," the rat scolded. "And one missed practice will not hurt you. If you are desperate, Leonardo has my permission to run a training session lasting no more than three hours."

"Sensei!" Mikey whined. "He always makes us practice if you say stuff like that." He got up and took his dishes to the kitchen through a flapping door. Soon he came out with two plates of bacon and eggs for Raph and Don, and a cup of tea balanced precariously on his head for Master Splinter. His father figure accepted it graciously and went back to his room, leaning on his cane.

"Poor Sensei," Don said. "He's not young anymore."

"I heard that," their aged Master's voice drifted back to them. Raph chuckled and sat down to eat as Don stood and ate, which was how he was most comfortable.

"So, Mikey, did Winged One say anything about what we'll do today?" Raph asked.

"Not really. He just said that he'll take us to a little pond as soon as he's sure we're alone up here. He'll be back in a few minutes, I think."

"Okay. What do you think of this place?" Don asked wonderingly. "Beautiful, eh?"

"Sure," Mikey said. "If you like cleaning a whole mansion. I wish we had servants to do it!"

"Mikey, they'd be human."

"I know! But still… It'd be nice."

"Why do you say that?" Raph growled, eating his eggs.

"Because he somehow managed to spill oil all over himself and the wood floors downstairs," Leo said, walking in. He seemed kind of tired but otherwise okay as he accepted a cup of tea from Mikey.

"You rigged that bottle!" Mikey whined, pouting. "You did something to it!"

Don and Raph looked back and forth between the two, wondering what was going on, and what Leo's sly look meant.

"Well, if you say so," Leo accepted, stepping back from Mikey who tried to sit on his wing in punishment. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Enjoy your breakfast!"

Raph spit his eggs out suspiciously as soon as Leo was out of the room.

"What'd he do?" Raph wondered out loud, sniffing at the eggs.

"I dunno," Mikey said, though his voice was a trifle high. "I ate the same bacon. I cooked it, for crying out loud! He couldn't have touched it."

Don poked at his bacon and put his plate down. "Do you want to take the chance?"

"Hey, I ate a whole plate of bacon. He can't have done anything, or you'd know about it by now!" Mikey insisted. "'Cause it would've already happened to me."

"Unless he just put something in it that affects you slowly."

"Plausible," Don muttered, looking at his plate viciously. "Mikey, did you do anything to our breakfast?"

"No," Mike answered. Raph looked at him, and Mikey's eyes met his. With a grunt, Raph nodded.

"He's not lying. Don, do you have anything to test this bacon with?"

"Yeah, but just barely. Anything subtle I might not be able to detect."

"Okay. I just wanna know if Winged One is playin' with us."

"Alright. Bring some of the bacon without touching it and follow me."

Donnie and Mikey proceeded to the door as Raph speared a few pieces of the "meat" with his Sai. He didn't mind eating bacon, since it was turkey and he could always crack a joke about it being Mikey's relative.

Don opened the door as Raph joined the group.

Before they knew it, they were covered in purple goop…. Again.

"Leo!" Raph roared.