Chapter 11

"Baxter Stockman!" Shredder growled. "How is the mind control serum going?" He walked over and examined the multiple colorful beakers that lay strewn everywhere on the table, in the midst of granola bar wrappers and scribbled notes. "When will it be ready?"

"The zzzzzzzzzzeeerum sssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhould be ready in a few dayzzzzzzzz, mazzzzzter Ssssshhhhhhhredder," Baxter buzzed as he hovered over the table. "But it izzzz sssstilllll unzzzzzzzzztable. I will require a tezzzzzzttt sssssssssubject."

"Very well. You may use Raphael. But do not under any circumstances kill him or even hurt him in any apparent way. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yezzzzzz Mazzzzter," Baxter buzzed. He flew over to a bubbling glass of somthing and added a few drops of liquid. He dumped the entire mixture into another bowl of mutagen. Shredder walked away. His plan was going perfectly.

And honestly, he knew that Leonardo would never join him until he had proof of Michelangelo's life. Unfortunately, Michelangelo was not alive. "A shame," he thought. "I really could have used him to make this easier" But then again, Karai killing him was just as essential to Shredder's plan.

He had Tigerclaw leave for Japan to manage business back home. He had realized that his crazy vendetta against Hamato Yoshi had caused him to leave the Foot Clan in Japan an absolute mess. He trusted Tigerclaw to clean the mess up and train some more Foot ninja for him. Until Tigerclaw returned, Karai would be his second in command. He planned on using her as a key player in his plan.

He knew that she and the katana wielding turtle were becoming friends. "Foolish girl" he thought, while chuckling. "I have my eyes and ears everywhere." But Karai was not to know about the mind control, for if she found out, she would warn Leonardo and then the entire plan would be ruined.

Bradford suddenly ran up behind him yelling, "Master Shredder!"

"What is it now?" Shredder asked lowly. This had better be good. Bradford knew better than to disturb him while he was making evil plots.

"We cracked the code on the weird turtle phones, Master," Bradford said. "I was looking through the phone belonging to Raphael, when I found out that the t-phones were built so that they could track each other!"

"You fool! I already have all of the turtles! There are no more to track. As for Ms. O'Neil and Mr. Jones, they are out of the way. Tigerclaw saw to that. I have no need of this useless information! This has been a complete waste of my time!" Shredder turned and started striding away.

"But Master Shredder, look at this!" Bradford said. He handed Shredder the phone. When Shredder looked down, he gasped.

"That's impossible!" he said. He re-examined the information on the phone. "But very-uh-, let us say convenient, for my plan. Bradford, ready the Foot Clan!"

###

"Who. Taught. You. Ninjitsu?" Mikey panted, as he backed a few steps away from Lily. She grinned.

"One of the best ninjas in a century. At least in my opinion. She never did belong to a clan or anything. She just had a chain of dojos. She was very harsh, but fair. I used to train night and day with her, until I could barely stand. How about you?"

"My sensei was the leader of the Hamato Clan!" Mikey told her proudly.

"Was?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "And how on earth did he find you? Actually, that brings up a question that's been on my mind for awhile. What are you?" She ran at him and back flipped, aiming her foot at his head. He barely managed to avoid her. He punched at her right shoulder, but she blocked.

"I'm a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!" he laughed. "What else would I be?" He launched into Saonagi to see what she would do. She back flipped. "She is a really good kunoichi!" Mikey thought to himself.

"Ah, thank you. That clears everything up," Lily said sarcastically. She threw several shuriken at him, which he dodged, and then twisted around him and rammed him from the other side. Mikey stumbled and threw a punch at her blindly. It caught her shoulder.

"Aaarrgghhh!" he shouted. He immediately grasped his arm. The initial shot of white hot pain had died down to a dull throb. Lily was completely unaffected by his blow, and she knelt down next to him.

"Ooooh, that's gotta hurt." She looked at her watch. "It's nearly lunchtime anyway. Why don't we go inside. Do you feel dizzy at all?

"Nope!" Mikey said proudly, while beaming. "Only my arm hurts, but that's just a little tiny bit. When can we rescue my brothers?"

"Hold it, Tiger. You're like a lame horse. Chomping at the bit, but you'll hurt yourself worse if you go out and run. You need to eat some more and then take a nap. This afternoon we'll spar again. You need to be able to consistently handle action." Lily helped him up and they walked to her hut, with her dog, Halo, following at their heels.

"Fine," Mikey sighed. "How about tomorrow?"

"How about in three to four days?"

"How about the day after tomorrow?"

"That's what I said!" Lily groaned. "Come on, you. While we drink tea I want to know all about what the heck you are and why you exist."

###

Raphael groaned. After the initial shock of the battle and Mikey's death had worn off (although he constantly mourned his little brother) he had become increasingly frustrated. Especially after Leo's short visit. At least he was okay.

After regaining strength, Donnie and Raph searched the entire room for some weak spot in security. A ventilation shaft, or even anything that might allow them to contact the outside world. Nada. When they were positive that there was no way out but the door, they sat down and though over their options. None of them seemed like very good ideas.

Now, after three days of nothing happening, Raph was going stir-crazy.

"Would you PLEASE stop pacing!" Donnie groaned.

"This is driving me crazy!" Raph said. "We've been here for months!"

"Three days," Donnie sighed, correcting him. He had been keeping track because of the meals.

"Whatever! The point is, Shredder has got to be planning something! What's he gonna do, leave us here forever? And why isn't Leo here? I still think that there's something Tigerclaw didn't want Leo to tell us!"

"I agree with you, Raph. But pacing around in circles won't do anything!" Donnie rubbed his temples. He had come down with a splitting headache a few hours ago and it hadn't gone away. "I think I'm dehydrated or something," Donnie moaned. He lay back down on the bed.

As he watched Raph pace back and forth, his vision blurred. Panting, he found that his breath was coming in short gasps. What was wrong with him? He ran the possibilities through his mind. Dehydration? He drank plenty of water today. He groaned again. Thinking hurt. Really, really badly.

"Donnie?" Raph asked, leaning over to inspect his brother. "You don't look so good, bro." But Donnie couldn't answer. His throat had trapped the words. He was sure that a large amount of pain would come if he even dared to attempt speech. As he stared, Raph's face appeared to get more and more distant, until it was just a small speck in a large, dark background.

"Donatello," he heard a voice say. It rang in his eardrums. His head kept pounding. His entire body felt like it was on fire. He kept trying to grasp reality, but eventually it became too much, and he was falling, falling, falling...