CHAPTER 4

Familial resemblance

"Mnhh…" Donatello groaned, raising a hand to his head. By the familiar smell, he knew he was in the sewers. The fact the was laying on something soft rather than in a pool of stagnant water implied he was back in the lair. Probably in the living area, by the wide feel of space.

Through his eyelids he could see the area was bright, illuminated by the variety of lights they'd installed. But even that was hurting his head so he didn't dare take a proper look just yet. Nearby, he could hear movement and breathing from one of his brothers. Just from those small but familiar sounds, he suspected he knew which one.

"Ugh… What hit me?"

"Casey." came the answer, the tones confirming Raphael.

"Figures." Donnie muttered.

Raph wasn't listening, as he'd instead turned to yell, "Hey, he's awake!"

"D!" Mikey called excitedly from across the room, bouncing over towards them.

Donatello opened his eyes a small sliver, just in time to see Mikey launching himself at him.

"Whoa!" he yelped, trying to dodge aside. The movement failed and he got caught up in an enthusiastic hug.

"I'm so glad you're not Little-D anymore." Mikey beamed, refusing to let go.

"I was too." Donnie winced, now uncomfortably aware of various bruises. "Now, I'm not so sure."

"Is he ok?" came Leo's voice as he approached.

"He's fine." Raphael confirmed, watching the spectacle with folded arms.

"About time you woke up." Leo griped warmly. "You've been out cold all day!"

"Still doesn't beat your three month record, Leo." Mikey teased.

Raph scowled. "Not funny."

Finally adjusting to the light in the room, Donnie opened his eyes properly and looked around. He was pleased to find himself exactly where he had assumed himself to be, with all three of his brothers standing nearby and seemingly unharmed, save a small bandage on Leo's arm. Though exactly how Don had come to be back in the lair, he wasn't sure.

He could only remember wisps of the events that had transpired, like fragmented dreams disappearing from the conscious mind. He remembered fighting the mutated rats, then the shrivelling feeling as he'd been hit by his own vial of retro-mutagen. That was an embarrassing moment he would actually have rather forgotten.

Beyond that point, it had been hard to hold a coherent thought for long. There was a warmth and a smell of April that teased his mind, followed by the rolling sensation of riding on Raph's shoulder to the laboratory. There he'd had a brief moment of lucidity, though about what was now evasive, before events had spiralled into battle. From there, mostly he remembered spinning. Lots of dizzying, nauseating spinning.

Donnie furrowed his brow, trying to piece everything together. How much time had passed? Was it still today, or was today now tomorrow? By the sounds of things he'd been unconscious for a while, so it was probably tomorrow. Or today, as tomorrow now was.

"Whoa, that's new!" exclaimed Mikey suddenly, leaning forwards to peer closely at his brother.

"Get out of my face, Mikey." Donnie said, shoving him aside.

Raphael stepped closer, pushing Donatello back to take a look. "No, he's right."

Don frowned, "What?"

"You finally joined the cool blue club." Leo explained with a grin. "Though you only get partial membership."

Prompted by a blank look, Mikey chipped in with, "Your eyes, dude!" as he gestured to his own.

Shoving Mikey all the way off, Donnie got to his feet and headed swiftly for his lab. Grabbing a small, cracked mirror from the shelf, he peered into it at his own reflection.

There, gazing back at him, was one brown eye and one blue eye.

"But, this is… Huh?"

"It makes you look like a freaky mutant!" Mikey said helpfully, walking up with Leo to stand nearby.

Raph sauntered in. "Nothing new there, then."

For several long seconds, Donnie stared at the mirror. A horrible thought was brewing in his mind, one that he desperately hoped was wrong.

"What did you guys do?"

Mikey tilted his head. "Huh?"

"What did you do?" Donnie insisted. "When you changed me back. How did you do it?"

"We dropped you into the mutagen." Leo explained, an edge of defensiveness in his voice as if he already suspected it had fixed one problem and caused another.

Donatello could feel his heart racing. "Who did it? Who dropped me in?"

The other three glanced at one another, trying to remember the finer details.

"I remember Leo caught him from me." Mikey volunteered.

"Yeah, then I threw him at Raph."

"I had to toss him to Casey."

"It was Casey?" Donnie asked, "Casey was the last person to touch me?"

Raph shook his head. "Nah, he just hit you with his hockey stick to April."

Donnie felt his heart leap into his throat, but Mikey shook his head.

"Naw, April missed. That's when he fell into the mutagen."

"Then, Raph?" Donnie clarified, tracing things back.

Leo tapped his fingers thoughtfully on his chin. "I think April's fingers may have brushed him."

"So, it was April?" Donnie confirmed, weakly.

"Maybe?" Leonardo replied, uncertainly.

"I… I can't believe this is happening! No, she's immune. I just… I have to be sure. Sample, I need a sample." Donnie exclaimed, turning and hurrying over to his desk in order to clear some space to work in.

"You're not being very grateful." sulked Mikey. "After we went to all the effort to re-mutate you!"

"I'm grateful, really, I am." Donnie said, not looking up from setting up his experiments.

"Guys, let's just give him some space." advised Leo.

Donatello barely even noticed as his brothers retreated from the room, so intent was he on grabbing various vials from the fridge. For several hours he worked feverishly, testing and then retesting the samples when he got the answer he was fearing.

Eventually, he was forced to admit defeat. The results was absolutely and totally conclusive, without any shadow of doubt remaining.

Slowly, lethargically, Donnie dragged himself out of the lab and into the living area. His brothers were there, each of them relaxing in their own separate ways.

"Well." Donnie started, his voice laden with melodramatic tragedy. "My life is officially over."

"That's too bad. It was nice knowing you." Raph answered, barely looking up from his magazine.

"Can I have your lab?" asked Leo, from the pinball machine.

"Oh, I want his computer! Can I have his computer?" called Mikey, who was sprawled on his stomach on the floor, engrossed in watching Crognard the Barbarian with Ice-cream Kitty in a cooler beside him.

"No, you can't!" Donnie snapped at Mikey, before turning to Leo, "And why the shell would you want my lab?"

Leo shrugged. "I don't know yet. Maybe I'd make it into a gym."

"Oh, nice idea." Raph said, approvingly.

"Fine. Take my lab. It doesn't matter anymore." Donatello proclaimed dramatically,

Finishing his current game, Leo sighed and turned around. "All right. I'm probably going to regret asking this, but why is your life over?"

Mikey gasped. "You weren't rubbing highly dangerous, super-cooled mutagen on your skin, were you?"

"No. I'm not stupid!"

"Yeah, you'd have to be pretty stupid to do that, huh?" Mikey agreed, before whistling an innocent tune.

Ignoring him, Donnie began the background to his woeful tale. "When we were mutated, our DNA was mixed with the last thing with which we came in contact…"

"Sensei." confirmed Leo. "Before he became a rat."

"Right, making us human-turtle hybrids. Genetically, we became Splinter's sons. But, when I was hit by the retro-mutagen, it removed Splinter's DNA and reverted me back to being just a regular turtle."

"Then we dropped you in the mutagen and you changed right back!" concluded Mikey, beaming.

"Wrong." Donnie said, flatly. "This time, it wasn't Master Splinter that I was last in contact with. It was April. It's April's DNA that's mixed with mine."

Realisation dawned in Leo's eyes. If Raph got it, he showed no outward reaction other than to turn the page of his magazine. Mikey, predictably, looked blank.

"April and I are now genetically related." Don elaborated, slowly, for Mikey's benefit.

"Good." said Raphael, not looking up. "Maybe this'll mean you'll stop embarrassing yourself."

Mikey still looked blank.

"She's my genetic parent!" Donnie finally snapped, in overly simplistic terms.

That just served to confuse Mikey more. "She's your Mom? But, dude… You're a turtle and she's a human, Kraang, thing."

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" roared Donnie, "Yes, we look different. Given our relative ages, it's more like we're half-siblings, or cousins. We share DNA, we're related!"

"It also means," he started, his voice catching, "that unlike the rest of you, Master Splinter is no longer my-"

"What is all this noise." came the stern voice of the very person.

Mikey turned big, tearful eyes towards his sensei. "Donnie's not our brother anymore!"

"Yes I am!" insisted Donnie. "You didn't understand a word I was saying, did you?"

"You are brothers. And you are my sons." Splinter said, calmly. "You will always be my sons. All of you. No matter what."

"Sensei…" Donatello choked.

"And as your father; Stop all this racket!" Splinter commanded, turning on his heel. "Some of us are trying to meditate."

"Sorry, Sensei." Leonardo said, putting a hand on his brother's arm. "Come on Donnie, spar with me. It'll make you feel better."

Donatello glanced down at Leo's bandaged forearm. "But… You're hurt."

"Means you might stand a chance." his brother teased.

Donnie's expression darkened. "Oh, you are going down!"

The two brothers stood in the dojo, squaring off against one another. Leonardo had preparedly drawn only one of his ninjaken, in apparent favour of resting his injured arm. Meanwhile Donatello twirled his bo staff before bracing in preparation to start.

"Hajime!" barked Leo.

Donatello promptly raised his bo in anticipation of an immediate flurry of blows. But they didn't come, as Leonardo instead threw himself to one side. From there he launched an attack, which was easily evaded by his target flipping out of the way.

"I'm sorry about you and April." Leo said, stepping back to circle carefully as he watched for an opening.

"I'm just not ready to give up on her."

"You don't have a choice." Leonardo pragmatically explained, lunging forwards and catching Donnie across the shell with the flat of his blade.

Donatello responded by deftly swinging his bo staff at his brother's legs, forcing the turtle to jump in order to avoid being sent sprawling onto the mat.

"You might find it works out better, this way." Leo suggested, as he landed effortlessly nearby. "You'll have a unique relationship."

"Yeah, but-" started Donnie, before being clipped in the face as Leonardo leapt towards him with a an offhand punch. "Hey!"

"Pay attention." the other chided.

"You have no idea what I'm going through." Donatello snapped, whirling around and catching the leader a glancing blow on the side with his bo staff.

Leo skittered backwards and took a moment to compose himself. "Actually, I have a pretty good idea."

"How could you possibly-" started Donnie, leaping in for another attack before hesitating as realisation dawned. "Oh."

Leonardo took the hesitation as the opportunity he needed to quickly sweep with a leg and knock Donnie onto his shell. The prone turtle landed on the mat, unhurt, then watched as his brother claimed the victory and sheathed his blade before offering his good arm.

"It doesn't mean you have to stop caring about her." Leo explained, gently. "You just have to care differently."

Donatello took the offer of a hand up and retrieved his bo staff, shoving it back through the shoulder strap of his belt. He then sighed heavily before looking over at his brother, his expression now marginally calmer than it had been previously. "Yeah. I… I guess you're right. Thanks, Leo."

Leonardo smiled and patted Donnie's shoulder. "Anytime."

Together they turned and headed back towards the living area.

"You're going to have to tell her." Leo then instructed, before tilting his head. From the other room, the snippets of chatter now included the tones of April and Casey. "And now's your chance."

"Not yet." Donnie implored. "I just… I need a bit more time."

Leo sighed. "Fine, but don't wait too long. Or I'll let Mikey tell her! If he hasn't already."

The two hesitated and shared a glance before abruptly picking up the pace. Floating through from the other room was Mikey's unmistakable voice.

"-are now related, like brother and sister!"