Hello lovely readers! I am so so so so so sorry for the long update, but I've been working on a new story and something for the 30th anniversary. It's so hard to write three things at once! Anyways, I'll try and put another chapter up soon :). In other news, I have a new poll up on my profile page. Please check it out! Enjoy the new chapter and have a great day!
Everyone completely ignored my question. April was still staring at Master Splinter in surprise, but Donnie had gone into thinking overdrive. Another thought dawned on me, Mikey should know about this. I started to leave the lab to wake him, but Master Splinter stopped me.
"Raphael, where are you going?" he asked, reverting back to his formal, reserved self.
"I'm going to get Mikey. Knucklehead should know about this," I stated before trying to get past Master Splinter again.
"No. Michelangelo should stay oblivious to this; we need all his focus to be on defeating the Kraang," he instructed.
Silence fell, and we literally heard a pin drop as Donnie accidentally knocked one off his desk. I was confused. Master Splinter had said the Leo was alive, and well, somewhere with the Kraang. He wasn't the sick, amnesiac turtle we had been taking care of, so what was Master Splinter saying? Did he intend to leave the real Leo with the Kraang?
"But, aren't we rescuing Leo?" asked Donnie, clearly as confused as I was.
"No, my sons. The imminent threat of the Kraang and Foot take priority. Your brother would be of no help to us in his current condition anyways," said Master Splinter coldly.
I could see the pain in his eyes, but I chose to ignore it. The fact that he really was considering leaving Leo was infuriating. I couldn't believe he had just said that.
"What happened to family first?" I growled angrily, trying to give him a chance to take back what he had said.
"I'm sorry, my sons, but this is what Leo would have wanted," he stated.
Would have wanted? Why was Sensei talking about Leo in past tense?! The words weren't lost on Donnie either who was staring at Sensei intently. I knew what Donnie was doing, and if I was not so angry, I would have smiled. Donnie was completely analyzing Master Splinter and trying to figure what was wrong. I was still seething, and against my better judgment, I went after Master Splinter.
"Since when do you know anything about what Leo wanted? He was always the leader, always having to do extra practice. I bet he wants to be here with us right now. I bet he wants to watch Space Heroes, and play games with Mikey, and fix the Shell Raiser with Donnie! You have no right to tell us what he wants! And what's with the would have? He's still alive, you just told us he was?" I exploded.
Months of pent up anger and frustration from having to be the responsible, big brother was poured into those words, and they came out as more of a bark. I was livid, and I stared down my Sensei angrily. He met my gaze with infuriatingly calm eyes.
"Your brother is not well, Raphael. That is 'what's with the would have'. Your brother as you remember him would want us to save the world. Besides if we don't save the world and instead save your brother, there will be no world to bring him back to," he stated firmly.
I growled in frustration, but his words troubled me. Clearly Leo wasn't going to be at his best after being held by the Kraang for so long, but the way Sensei was talking, it was almost like he was nervous about something. Master Splinter would worry about us when we left, but he was never nervous. He always had complete confidence in us, so what was this?
"He's fading isn't he?" Donnie suddenly remarked.
I wheeled around to face him. Donnie looked sad, but also determined. April met my confused glare and shrugged. Master Splinter sighed heavily and met Donnie's inquisitive gaze.
"Yes, my son, he is. However, he's fighting it. He's not the same, but there's a chance that we can bring him back," he answered.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" I growled.
"Raph, Leo is losing his mind. He's probably either been tortured or been in solitary confinement this whole time. That's almost too much for anyone to take. We need to get him out of there soon, but Master Splinter's right. We need to stop whatever the Kraang are planning first," explained Donnie.
"Wait, so Leo's going crazy?" asked April, hoping someone would contradict her.
"I'm afraid that's right, April. He believed that he had been in the ooze for ten years and that we all thought he was dead. He thought I was a hallucination and asked me to go away; he said he wasn't ready to be crazy yet. He's fighting," said Sensei.
I heard a gasp behind me, and I turned to see Mikey standing there. His innocent blue eyes were the size of saucers.
"WHAT?! But, Leo was just here, and he was fine!" exclaimed Mikey.
Master Splinter shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Donnie winced, and I looked at Mikey sadly. Inwardly, I sighed. It was time to go into Big Brother mode. His wide eyes were confused and angry as he realized he'd been left out.
"Look, Mikey, it's kind of complicated, and we didn't want to upset you-"I started.
Mikey cut me off.
"No. You guys all think I'm the baby. You all think I'm the dumb goofball who can't handle anything serious, but in case you hadn't noticed, I can handle these things! Raph, when you went off the deep end when Leo first disappeared, who kept you grounded? Who made sure you didn't get hurt or do something stupid? That's right! ME! And, Donnie, when you got all hung up and started drowning yourself in your work, who made sure you had something to eat? Who put that pillow and blanket on your chair? That's right- ME! I do so much for you guys, and I'm not oblivious. Stop treating me like I'm a baby," he exploded.
I was taken aback. I had always taken Mikey for granted, or underestimated him, or made fun of him. He had always notice; he had always known. Donnie's eyes had nearly bugged out of his head, and he was frowning in embarrassment. Mikey was staring at us all expectantly, but he was angrier than I had ever seen him. No one seemed to want to talk, so I stepped forward.
"Leo isn't here anymore," I started, but instantly regretted choice of words as I glanced at Mikey's horrified face, "I mean, he was kidnapped, but the thing Donnie figured out is that it wasn't really Leo? Ummmm, he was a clone. And, well, ya see, the real Leo, our Leo, is somewhere in the Kraang building slowly losing his mind- but that's okay because it means he's alive and not injured and not with the Foot! Master Splinter talked to him," I finished.
Mikey was staring at me in complete confusion while Donnie had face palmed behind me. April was struggling not to laugh at my feeble attempt at explaining the situation.
"Wait, how is Leo going crazy better than him being amnesiac?" asked Mikey.
I raised an eye ridge. Out of all the information I had just given Mikey, all the crazy almost unbelievable information involving clones and the Foot clan that is what he chose to ask?
"My son, what is important is that your brother is still alive," said Master Splinter.
"We're going to get him back, right?" he asked quietly.
"Michelangelo, we have to stop the Kraang first and then we may rescue your brother," Master Splinter said slowly.
I began to get angry again, but Mikey shot me a look. He knew exactly what I was about to do, and he was warning me not to do it. I bit my tongue and waited to see what would happen.
"That's what Leo would want," Mikey said quietly, clearly as displeased as the rest of us.
"All right then. Donnie, start hacking those Kraang bases like there's no tomorrow. April, you help him. Mikey, you and I are going topside to do some surveillance on the Foot. It's daytime, so we're going to have to be extra careful. Master Splinter, I don't know what you usually do while we're gone, but do that," I commanded.
I was still the leader, and until Leo came home I was going to act like it. Mikey stopped looking depressed and had assumed a goofy smile. He was trying to cheer us all up and pretend like something bad wasn't about to happen. Donnie turned and practically dragged April over to the computer with him. Master Splinter nodded at Mikey and I.
"Be safe, my sons," he said, his tail twitching nervously.
"We will. Be good Braniac, April," I said, nodding in their directions.
April waved and Donnie grinned. Mikey and I turned and headed out towards the sewers. As we jumped over the turnstiles into the dank tunnels, Mikey let out a loud whoop.
"Booyakasha!" he yelled and took off into the dark.
Laughing, I followed the knuckle head. We ran quickly but quietly through the sewers, our feet barely making a sound despite the many puddles. Finally we reached the ladder leading up to the manhole cover near the Foot Headquarters. I smiled grimly when I saw the red blaze next to the ladder. Marking the tunnels had been Donnie's idea, but Leo and I had been the ones to go out and paint everything. We had both come back covered head to toe in paint, much to Master Splinter's annoyance, but it was one of my favorite memories with Leo since he had become leader.
It was a few months after he had been appointed leader, and our once close friendship had been crumbling. I felt like he was cold and aloof, and I didn't want to be bossed around by anyone, especially not him. Master Splinter had told us to go out in the tunnels together, and it was the first time in months I saw Leo come out of his shell and be goofy. When we were little, he and I always took care of Donnie and Mikey but we were also the trouble makers. Mikey never meant to get in trouble, but we did. That Leo had disappeared and was replaced a responsible Leo a few months before we started going topside. He had only grown more responsible and protective once he was crowned leader. However, on this run, he had come back just a bit. We had gotten into a paint war as we ran and almost ran out which made us laugh even more. He had been laughing and smiling, and after that run he wasn't as tense. He loosened up just enough to be fun again. Sure, we still butted head a ton, but we got along more.
Memories of painting the tunnels filled my head, but Mikey snapped me out of it.
"C'mon, Raphie, get your head in the game. We have to go topside now," he reminded me.
"Don't call me that," I growled lowly.
Mikey only chuckled and started singing some stupid song from a movie about singing high-schoolers.
"Gotta getcha getcha head in the game…," taunted Mikey, knowing I hated the movie.
"Shut up, Mikey!" I growled again, this time in annoyance.
Carefully, I climbed up the ladder and slid the manhole cover off. I poked my head out cautiously, the unexpected sunlight burning my eyes. I blinked and looked around, the coast was clear. Looking down, I beckoned for Mikey to follow me and took off towards the dumpsters next to the Foot's headquarters. Being a ninja isn't always glamorous. We crouched next to the dumpsters and waited for a patrol to pass before jumping up and launching ourselves up onto the roof of the building. Some Foot idiot had like sky lights, which was a major weakness for them but great for us. Mikey and I sat next to the glass and peered in curiously.
Mikey breathed in sharply at the sight beneath us. The Leo clone was tied to a chair and had been brutally beaten. A team of Foot ninja stood around him laughing and taunting him. Suddenly, another ninja came flying and yelled something about a boss coming, and they all snapped to attention. Suddenly, the Shredder himself flanked by Karai and Dogpound entered the room. I growled, and Mikey scowled. Dogpound cocked his head, his ears straining for a sound, and we both fell silent. The Shredder walked up to the clone and pushed his chin up to meet his gaze. Karai looked away, disgust written all over her face.
"So, the fearless leader Leonardo, is at least mine. Tell me, freak, have you enjoyed your stay?" snarled the Shredder.
"The service could be a bit better, but other than that it's been great. I could do with a few less beatings, ya know what I mean?" replied the clone with Leo-level cockiness.
Mikey and I exchanged a smirk; the Kraang had certainly cloned that aspect of Leo perfectly. We looked back down just in time to see the clone get a smack across the face that left three horizontal gashes across his face from the gauntlet. He winced, but bit back his cry, again something Leo would do. Despite the fact that I knew it wasn't Leo, it hurt to watch someone hurt someone who looked exactly like my brother.
"You dare to mock me, turtle? We'll see how you mock me when I kill your brothers one by one in front of you, slowly, painfully, and I will finish by killing that rat you call a father. They will come looking for you sooner or later, the Kraang promised us that," he barked an evil, stereotypical, yet bone chilling laugh.
"They won't come for me. I've always told them not to, they wouldn't be that stupid. What do the Kraang have to do with this?" asked the clone, acting exactly like Leo.
He had never acted this much like Leo before; it was fairly terrifying. I couldn't help but imagine that it was really Leo down there. Clearly the Foot didn't know that they had been fooled, and it was probably better to keep it that way.
"The Kraang, of course, traded us you for the clone. That was our agreement, but of course you had to go and escape and complicate things. Now the plan has been set back at least a few hours, maybe a day. However, it will work. You see, there is no evil plan devised by the Kraang or anything, Leonardo. We, that is the Foot and the Kraang, were tired of you meddling turtles and reached an agreement to dispose of all of you. When they captured you, our window of opportunity arrived and we seized it. You were cloned, and your pathetic family rescued it instead of you, playing right into our hands. We lulled them into a false sense of security while placing you in a situation we knew would slowly tear you apart. You would be helpless, scared, and alone while your family would believe they had you and would never come looking for you. It was all going well until Donatello figured out about the clone after we kidnapped him, of course, so we couldn't do damage control.
"Then you escaped because that stupid rat contacted you. Our plan fell apart, but now we've found a way to fix the plan. Your brothers are going to try and stop the Kraang from 'doing' whatever fake plan they've come up with, and when they do we'll present you and the clone at the same time. They'll have to decide which one is real, and the other will die. You will die, Leonardo. Today. They will not know that it is you, and when you die and we reveal their mistake they will fall apart. The once mighty turtles will be so grief-stricken that they will be easily struck down! Oh, the irony is wonderful!" he cackled darkly.
Karai was grinning maliciously behind him, and Dogpound's tail had started to wag in excitement. My head was reeling. That… that turtle down there, was Leo?! He had escaped? We had to rescue him, but how? Would he want us to? If it was true that the Kraang really had no plan? If that was the case, then there was no reason for us to go there. We could rescue Leo! But, what if this wasn't Leo?! I was extremely confused, and my head hurt with all the 'what ifs' floating around. Over-thinking was Donnie's department, sometimes Leo's, never mind. I could not deal with this, I was more of a 'smash-first-and-think-later' guy. Now, there was nothing to smash, except apparently, my brain. Looking up, I saw my confusion mirrored in Mikey's eyes.
"Raph, what the shell is going on?" whispered Mikey.
"I have no idea, bro," I replied, but I guess I was too loud because Dogpound looked up and glared at us.
"The turtles! Get them!" he yelled, pointing a furry paw towards the skylight where we were sitting.
Leo/clone/whoever's eyes widened in horror, and he immediately whipped his head up to see. Pure terror filled his eyes and he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Raph! Mikey! Get out of here! Get out of here, and don't come back! GO!"
As we fled the building for the safety of the sewers, there was not a doubt in either of our minds that had been the real Leo, our Leo. I dodged a ninja star, and Mikey whapped someone over the head with a nun chuck in a panic as we ran. Finally we made it to the manhole cover and dove in, replacing the cover as fast as we could. In the dim light of the tunnels, I stared at Mikey with my eyes wide, and he stared back at me with his eyes bugging out of his head.
"Dude… That was Leo! What are we going to do?"
"I don't know, Mikey. I don't know," I growled for the second time that day.