Antonello grumbled to himself. He could hear the foot seps of people approaching. He glanced behind him at the cell that held his brother and his friend. It was still full of fog that was so thick you couldn't see through it.
"Come on guys… we need to get out of here." He mumbled to himself.
Suddenly a hairy white face filled the little glass window of the door to the stairwell. Ant nearly shouted at the sight as he recognized the purple stripe across the eyes of the mutant. Alopex. The fox had her blade in the edge of the door trying to pry it open. Ant swallowed hard as he locked the door and kept it shut. Rushing to the elevator Ant jammed it open so no one could use it.
Running back to the door he grabbed the handle just in time to prevent Alopex from busting the door open.
"Open the door turtle!" She shouted. "You can't escape!"
Ant got a glimpse of the stairwell behind her, it was full of people. More than he could handle. Closing his eyes, Ant rested his forehead against the door. "How are we going to get out of this…?"
Suddenly there was more yelling from the stairwell. Ant picked up his head and tried to get a look but Alopex still blocked his view as she fought with him to open the door. The fox stopped and then turned around. She yelled at some men behind her, then she walked away from the door. That's when Antonello saw what was happening. Raphael and Mikey were fighting their way through the crowd with a mutant rabbit assisting them as well.
Something dinged behind him. Antonello turned around and looked at the cell doors as they slowly slid open. The fog was quickly fading away revealing what Ant had come to know as the normal version of Leonardo. He was standing there, an unconscious Jack in his arms. But there was something definitely different about them.
"Oh shit…" Was all Ant managed to say before the door beside him was kicked in.
"Jack!" It was Raphael, sai in hand as he looked around the room. Mikey and Usagi were behind him, the stairwell now clear… for the moment at least.
They all froze at the sight of Leo and Jack. Raph opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, instead it was Mikey who managed to say something.
"Leo… What happened to you?"
The eldest turtle looked down at the woman in his arms. The hands holding on to her now had five digits instead of the three he was accustomed to. His fingers adjusted his grip on her shoulder and leg awkwardly, the sensation of more fingers strange. Then he looked up to his brothers with multi colored eyes, the left now a bright emerald green while the right its normal blue.
The human in his arms didn't escape her own odd changes. Above and around her left eye was a patch of green skin much like Leo's own skin. That was the only change that the turtles and Usagi could perceive, for now.
Raphael snapped out of his shock and rushed towards the pair. He brushed some hair out of Jack's face his large fingers pausing at the odd green skin on her face before he carefully took her from his brother. "What the hell was she doing here alone?" He asked through gritted teeth.
"She thought you were here…" Leo sighed, still staring down at his new hands.
"Dude…" Mikey came over and put one of his hands in his brothers, their fingers flexing against one another's. "Your hands… they are human."
Leo pulled his hand away from his brother, almost as if he was embarrassed. "Something happened in there… With Jacquelyn bleeding, something got cross contaminated."
"We can figure that out later." Antonello said suddenly. "We need to get home. Now! Jack needs help and who knows when more people will be coming up these stairs looking for us."
"Your friend is right." Usagi said hastily, he had never been introduced to Ant before. "Miss Jacquelyn needs medical attention."
Raph snorted. "Ant, lead the way." He looked at his older brother but said nothing as he started to follow the other's out.
In his arms Jack whimpered. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment and Raph caught sight of another change that had taken place. Her left eye, the one surrounded by green skin, was now the blue of what used to be Leo's. The pair had almost literally swapped eyes while in the cell together. Raphael hushed the girl and adjusted his grip as they made their way through the corridors and down to the first floor to try and get out of the building. "Hang on Jack." He whispered.
A sharp pain rippled up Donatello's leg as his body twitched. He cried out as his eyes snapped open. A soft hand on his shoulder caused his head to jerk to the side and more pain to ripple thought his body. When his eyes focused he blinked in confusion. "Arionna? What… what are you doing here?" He tried to recall what had happened but his mind wasn't quite functioning like normal. "How'd you find where we live?"
The woman smiled and patted his shoulder. "You don't remember?"
"Remember? What happened?" He seemed so confused.
Arionna frowned. "You guys were attacked… I think." A sigh escaped her. "Some of you were taken. You were hurt really bad. Jack sent me here to help you out."
His brow furrowed for a moment but then his eyes got wide as he realized. "My leg…" Wincing and pushing past the pain of his side, he propped himself up on his elbows so he could stare down at the missing appendage. "I thought… I had imagined it." He mumbled.
"I'm sorry Donnie." She frowned.
"Don't apologize. I just…" He laid back down and closed his eyes. "It's a hard thing to come to terms with. Losing an appendage. I wonder if this is what Ant felt like when Leo severed his hand in two…" He mused aloud, trying to think his way around the situation.
The human at his side got to her feet and went to the counter on the other side of the room. She found a bottle of pain killers and a bottle of antibiotics grabbing a glass of water. She returned to his side with the items and waited for him to prop himself up once more. "You need to take these." She handed him the glass and then offered him the pills when he was ready. "They will help."
Donatello swallowed down the pills, spilling half the water down his chest when he started to cough.
"Easy…" Arionna took the glass from him and set it aside as he leaned back down on his bed.
The turtle groaned a bit and then half smiled. "So… did you ever finish that book?"
Arionna paused and blinked. "What?" She asked suddenly.
"That book, the uh…. Song of Ice and Fire… you were reading it last time I saw you." Donnie looked over at her briefly at her. "Did you finish it?"
"Oh…" Arionna thought back on when they had found her in the alley behind the café. It was when Jack had disappeared. "No, I haven't finished it just yet. I did make it to the chapter you mentioned though. I can see why you liked it." She half smiled. "Great plot twist."
Donnie tried to laugh but it quickly dissolved into a pain filled groan. "Yeah. Sorry you had to be invited over under these circumstances. I would have rather it been different…"
"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad I was here when I was…"
"I'm surprised you aren't scared of us… Especially after all of this." He admitted.
The girl shrugged. "Jack isn't scared of you. And while she isn't the most usual person, I do trust her and her judgment. Besides, you guys made quite an impression when we first met."
Donnie went to speak but paused for a moment before continuing. "Where are the others anyway?"
Arionna looked over at the door. "Well… some of them were here. Two of your brothers; the one that wears red and the one in orange. There was also a rabbit."
"What about Leo and Ant? Where are they?"
"I…. I don't know." She admitted. "Your brother didn't say anything about them until after we took care of you. The one here, um… Raphael? He seemed too preoccupied with your wellbeing to worry about mentioning them until we were sure you'd be okay. Then they all ran out the gaping hole in the sewer wall looking for them and Jack." She looked down at the watch on her wrist. "It's been maybe an hour now since they left."
"What's taking them so long?" The turtle on the bed winced as he tried to move on the bed.
"Be still!" Arionna insisted. She frowned as she looked down at him, chewing on her lip she scratched her head. She wasn't used to doing this sort of thing. Normally she was quiet and studious, not talkative or outgoing. Jack was rally the only one she spoke to outside of her study groups.
There was a loud clatter outside of Donatello's room. Arionna jumped and looked at the door as someone started yelling.
"Uncle Mikey! Uncle Raph!" It was a little girl.
"Yo! Raph! Donnie! Leo! Ant! Jack! You guys here?" A man.
Arionna got to her feet and cautiously opened the door to donatello's bedroom. When she looked out into the living area she saw a well-built man with wild black hair and a girl of a bout ten with the same kind of hair.
"Dad, what happened?" The girl asked.
"That's a good question kiddo." The man scratched his head. "Maybe I should have brought out the old hockey stick…"
The girl Wondered further into the house. She paused and looked at the reddish brown stain across the floor. "Dad… is that blood?"
The man grabbed her arm and pulled her against his side. "Shadow you stay right with me." He demanded. "Something bad happened here."
"Hello?" Arionna finally spoke.
The pair whipped around and looked at the bedroom door. The man instinctively put the girl behind him. "Who are you?" He glared at her.
"I'm uh… I'm Arionna. I'm one of Jack's friends." She recognized him from the hallway at the hospital when she helped Jacquelyn leave.
The man visibly relaxed. "You know where the guys and Jack are? Are they alright?"
She frowned. "Alright is a relative term… and I only know where some of them are…" She opened the bedroom door further. "Donnie is in here. Raphael, Mikey? And a rabbit went to go look for Jack and the other two turtles… I'm still trying to figure out all their names."
"Leo and Ant… the Rabbit… Usagi? He hasn't visited in years." The man stepped towards her. "Where is Donnie? What the hell is going on?"
Arionna stepped aside and let the man and girl past her. "What led to all this, I have no idea. All I know is that something bad has happened."
The man and girl rushed to Donatello's side. "Donnie!" The man grabbed his hand. "Oh man… What happened?"
"Casey?" Donnie looked at him. "What are you doing here?"
"We were going to come check in on Jack since she left the hospital against orders. What the hell has happened here?"
"We were attacked." Donnie said through gritted teeth. "The purple dragons. Alopex."
"Why? What do they want?" Casey ran a hand through his long hair.
"I don't know. Mona was human. She was… leading them."
` Casey recoiled. "Mona? As in Leo's lizard fiancé?"
"She's not a lizard anymore… she's human again." Donnie told him.
"How the hell does that happen?!"
"Uncle Donnie…" Shadow crawled up beside him. "What happened to everyone else?" She seemed to be more sensible than her father.
The turtle on the bed closed his eyes tightly and tried to think. "They swarmed us. We fought as hard as we could but… Something hit my neck. I blacked out for a minute. The next thing I knew I was in chains in the back of a truck. Ant and Leo were with me. Ant broke his chains and got us loose but he couldn't break his way to the front of the truck. Instead we broke open the back door. We were flying down the road, at least seventy five miles an hour. Leo said to jump. So I did."
Arionna cringed at the thought, she just knew this is where things went bad.
"Another truck came out of nowhere. More dragons. As soon as I hit the pavement in a nice controlled roll, tires rolled right over my leg. They left me there, guess they thought I was dead. I found an ally but didn't make it much further. Jack and Usagi showed up a little bit later. Jack left, Usagi brought me home and Raph and Mikey were here. Arionna showed up and helped fix what's left of my leg."
"So what happened to the others?" Casey asked.
"They left to try and find Jack, Leo and Ant." Donnie squeezed his eyes shut.
Arionna grabbed the bottle of pain killers. "Okay that's enough." She said suddenly. "Donnie needs to get some rest."
Shadow climbed off the bed and Casey took a few steps back so Arionna could give the turtle the pills. Once he swallowed them, Donatello closed his eyes and turned his head away from everyone. Arionna shooed the other two from the room and shut off the lights as she followed. Pulling the door closed behind her, she kept it open a crack, just in case Donatello woke up.
"I'm surprised he lasted that long…" She mumbled to herself.
Casey scratched his head. "Thank you." He said suddenly. "The guys… with all that's going on, might not remember to say it but, thanks for what you are doing."
She blinked. "Oh… yeah sure."
"I'm Casey Jones. This is my daughter Shadow." He held out a hand.
"Arionna." They shook hands.
"How'd you meet the guys?" Casey asked as he watched his daughter run over to the fridge and dig around for something to drink.
She scratched her head and walked over to the kitchen, looking around, and picking up things here and there trying to clean. "I work with Jack at the café a few blocks over."
"Oh yeah, I helped her get that job."
"Well, she went missing while we were closing up but I found her weird little cell phone thing and it called Donnie. They showed up a little bit later looking for her."
Casey nodded. "Well, that's what they do. Kick ass and cause trouble. Been that way for years." He shook his head. "Why don't I help you clean up a bit. Make it at least a little less messier. Hopefully nothing else will go wrong tonight."
The woman nodded. Even shadow joined in as they picked up debris from broken furniture and crumpled walls. They put it in a bag and piled it in the center of the floor where Casey said he'd take it up to a dumpster when he left. They straightened what was left of the furniture and scrubbed the blood off the floor. It was almost normal, except for the giant hole in the wall.
Casey looked up when he heard the sound of bricks clattering to the floor. He instinctively grabbed for the axe he had pulled from the back of the sofa. But what walked into the home wasn't an enemy, but it wasn't what he was expecting either. The axe slipped from his grip and thunked to the floor. "Holy shit guys you look like hell… what happened?" He asked. Then he saw Leo and Jack. "Oh damn…"