CHAPTER 13
One of a kind
Donatello trailed after April as they headed quickly up the stairs. Ordinarily he'd have jumped at the chance to team up with her, but right now he wasn't thanking Leonardo for his choice in party split. The last time he'd seen April had not gone well, as the truth about their unorthodox genetic relationship had been bluntly, albeit necessarily, exposed.
With the 20/20 vision of retrospect he could see that his handling of the reveal hadn't been the best. He'd not seen April's reaction to finding out that she had a new, unexpected genetic family member. Subsequently, a million different scenarios had been playing through his head since that moment, each getting steadily more outrageous as his subconscious fretfully overstated reality.
Leonardo's reassurance that April definitely didn't hate him had gone some way towards abating the fears. However, until he knew for certain what damage might have been done and how she would respond to the enforced change in relationship, he simply couldn't relax around her.
He wanted to say something, to try and establish the state of affairs, but all words seemed to be stuck somewhere between his larynx and his trachea. It took several moments before he was able to clear his throat and dislodge the hallucinatory blockage, then a moment or two longer before the forming of a sentence started to come together.
"April…" he started uncertainly, as they reached the top of the stairs and headed through the swinging doors.
She rapidly turned, appearing to expect an urgent warning about an impending threat or approaching enemy. As she did, her hand slipped on the door and it abruptly snapped back closed, catching Donatello in the face.
"Ow!" he protested, recoiling and putting both hands to his beak.
"Ah! Sorry, D." April quickly apologised, grabbing the door and holding it open for him again.
The moment he'd been trying to create was lost and the words he'd been trying to prepare had vanished. They moved on in uncomfortable silence, heading into a corridor that mirrored the one below.
Testing a few of the doors revealed rooms beyond that were, in most cases, filled with tanks and cages that would likely have once have been used for the animal in-patients of the veterinary hospital. But then, strangely, there were a couple that seemed to have been kitted out for a human, or humanoid, resident to use.
Mikey could have been held in one of these, Donatello thought to himself as the search continued. He could see no particular evidence to suggest it, he just had a feeling that his brother had been nearby. Was this another gift of the telepathic abilities that he seemed to have inherited, or just wishful thinking?
The next door they came to swung loose on one hinge, as if there'd been some kind of scuffle. Motioning April to stay back, with bo staff in hand Donnie crept cautiously forward to peer around the doorway and see what perils might be waiting for them within.
It looked like the room had once been an operating theatre, but most of the traditional equipment was gone. Instead, it was filled with a mishmash of former Kraang tech. A large machine with a significant dent and several large scratches stood darkly to one side. Meanwhile another device against the far wall had erratically flickering lights, which were providing the only sketchy illumination to the area.
On the ceiling there was suspended what looked to be some kind of inactive laser, while in the middle of the room were two gurneys. They were outfitted with leather straps to pin the unfortunate patient down. One of the trolley beds was sprawled messily on its side as if it had been knocked over in a hurry, while on the other a familiar figure lay motionless.
"Mikey!" Donatello called worriedly, stealth abandoned as he sheathed his bo staff and worriedly rushed to his brother's side.
His hands shaking nervously as his mind quickly processed all the possible scenarios that this situation could lead to, Donnie reached to check for a pulse. The relief when he found it was immense and he slowly let out the breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding.
After a few more rapid checks, making sure that there were no obvious injuries and that his brother was in no immediate danger, he quickly started fumbling to undo the straps that held Mikey prisoner.
"I'll get you out of here!" he promised, carefully sliding his hands under the prone form in order to lift his brother down.
"Is he ok?" April asked, hurrying to help.
"Yeah, I think so." Donnie said, anxiously. "I hope so!"
Michelangelo was limp as a rag doll as Donatello gently slumped his unconscious brother over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. Completely ignoring all the tempting technology in the room, he headed back into the corridor. April tugged the damaged door back as far as she could, to allow them more space to pass.
Heading along the corridor towards them were Leonardo and Raphael. Initially the two had been joshing with one another over a shared joke, but both rapidly sobered as the groups were reunited.
Raph hurried over in alarm. "Mikey! What happened?!"
Donatello shook his head. "I don't know! He's alive, but unconscious. I can't treat him properly here."
"Let's get him back to the lair." Leonardo directed.
Their journey across the city to the lair entrance was done with haste, the three brothers switching between them to carry the fourth and keep up the driven pace to get Mikey to safety as soon as they possibly could.
Even unburdened, it was a challenge for April to keep up with them. Her skills had been improving under the tutelage of Master Splinter, but she lacked the decade of experience that the mutant turtles had. Eventually she was forced to call for assistance, at which point Donatello obligingly helped her along. When it was his turn to carry Michelangelo again, Leonardo took his place with April.
"They're going to regret hurting Mikey." Raphael kept muttering, leaving a series of dents in air conditioning units and access doors across the city. "I'll make them wish they'd never been born!"
As a group they leapt from rooftop to rooftop, along ledges and over skylights, before eventually swinging down a fire escape to street level as they neared their destination. Given the late hour the streets were mercifully quiet, meaning they didn't have long to wait before having opportunity to enter the sewer system.
Leonardo dropped down the manhole first, stretching up for the others to carefully pass Michelangelo down to him. However, once back underground, Raph reached out to be the one to carry the unconscious turtle. Given his short stature and the fact that they were passing through low ceilinged tunnels, it made logical sense. Although, logic seemed not to have been the primary motivator.
As the turtles and April reached the lair, they found Splinter was stood there waiting for them.
"Michelangelo?" he said, his voice and pose betraying his concern as he caught sight of Raphael's burden.
Leonardo stepped forward. "We found him, Master Splinter. But…" he started, gesturing over to the turtle in question.
"Get him to my lab." Donnie instructed to Raph, while Leo was busy describing what had transpired.
For a moment April hovered uncertainly, before electing to stay where she was and chip in to Leo's explanation with her knowledge of what had happened.
Raphael and Donatello worked together to gently set Michelangelo down onto the usual examination surface. Grabbing a nearby bundle of old blankets, Donnie placed them underneath his brother's head in an effort to try and make him more comfortable.
"So what's wrong with him?" Raph demanded.
"I don't know yet!" Donnie replied, agitatedly. "Give me some time, Raph."
He started performing various checks on Mikey, working from top to bottom as he tried to find a cause for why his brother wasn't coming around. Locating a series of puncture wounds in one arm, as if inflicted from a needle, Donnie worriedly prepared to take a blood sample.
Raph, watching nearby, suddenly looked doubtful. "Hey. Mikey was in a fight, right?"
Donnie nodded, but didn't look up from his preparations.
"Then how come he's not beat up?"
Aside from the needle wounds, Mikey appeared to be completely unharmed. In fact, if anything, he looked even less blemished than usual.
"They could have injected him with something that healed him." Donatello suggested, working to ensure his own medical syringe was properly sterilised. "I'll take some samples and see what I can find."
Raphael frowned deeper. "Why would Shredder heal him? And if they have that kind of ability, shouldn't we be really worried?"
Donnie was too busy tightening a tourniquet around Mikey's upper arm to answer. Removing the elbow pad, he swabbed the area with an antiseptic wipe. "Sorry, bro." he then murmured, as he slid the needle into the vein and drew several small vials of blood for testing.
"Put your finger here." he then instructed Raphael, motioning for the turtle to approach and apply pressure to the cotton pad he placed over the puncture wound.
There initially appeared to be no reaction from the unconscious turtle to any of this. The self-taught scientist set the needle and tourniquet aside, then turned to take the samples over to his workbench. However, before he could reach his desk, there was an alarmed exclamation from Raphael.
Donatello glanced back in confusion. He opened his mouth to ask what the problem was, but found himself being bodily grabbed and dragged towards the doorway.
"OUT! We need to get out! NOW!" Raphael yelled, urgently.
Donnie started to protest, but such was Raph's strength and insistence that found himself rapidly ejected from the room before he had a chance to mount an effective objection. In his hands, he still clutched the vials.
From nearby, Splinter, Leo and April halted their conversation and glanced over towards them in bewilderment.
As Raphael then slammed the door behind them, Donatello turned to him with a scowl. "Raph! What are you-"
He was cut off as, from inside the room, there came a disconcertingly familiar sound. The splattering noise of a very wet explosion.
"That wasn't our Mikey." Raph abruptly explained. "It was a clone. I saw ripping beneath the skin, just like…"
There was a momentary hesitation before he concluded, "Just like before."
Cautiously, he reached out to push the door back open. If the dojo had been a mess after the relatively small clone had exploded the week previously, the scene this time was one of decimation.
"My LAB!" Donatello cried.
The area, especially around where the clone had been lying, was splattered with mutagen. It was all over the various experiments he'd been working on, as well as his notes and his computer. Even from just glancing in, Donnie roughly estimated that he'd lost several months of work and various hard to acquire pieces of equipment were now ruined.
As the conversation continued around him, Donatello remained riveted to the spot, staring in abject dismay. He knew he should be worried about his missing brother, and deep inside he was. But for several long moments just couldn't turn away from the destruction that had once been his meticulous laboratory.
"So where's our Mikey?" Leo asked worriedly, as he trotted over to join his brothers.
Raph frowned. "He's still out there, somewhere. We gotta go find him!"
"Where? We have no idea where to start looking!"
"We know The Shredder's behind this." Raphael snarled. "So we head for his base and we don't leave until we have Mikey back and they've paid the rental costs."
"Which are very, very expensive." he decreed, fists balled expressively. "I don't care how many clones they have. Our Mikey is an exclusive one of a kind."
"Donnie." Leo said, turning to him. The turtle in question finally tore his gaze away from his ruined laboratory.
"You sensed April before. Can you sense Mikey the same way?"
"You sensed me?" April asked, curiously.
Distracted from his brother's question, Donatello nodded coyly to April. "Yeah… I just got this feeling, about where you were."
A smile brightened her face. "The whole time I was trapped, I kept hoping you'd find me."
"April-!" Donnie started, reaching out to her in elation. But before he could complete the movement, Raph smacked him across the shell.
"Mikey!" he snapped. "Remember?"
"Right, right…" Donnie replied, dropping his hands guiltily. "But I have no idea how to use telepathy!"
"You just need to focus on him." April explained. "Picture him clearly in your mind… I'll help as well. Maybe, together, we can find where he is."
She reached out to take his hands, something that Donatello willingly responded to. They stood face to face, then as she closed her eyes to concentrate he mirrored her.
Initially she was the only thing he could think of. She was right there, standing in front of him, holding his hands. He could feel her breath on his neck and sense the warmth in her four delicate fingers against his ungainly two.
Sneaking a brief peek through one eye, he could see her face right before his own. Long eyelashes swept tantalisingly out over rosy cheeks that were lightly dusted with freckles. Her lips were pursed slightly as she concentrated, just serving to enhance their shape.
As Donatello had known from the moment he first laid eyes upon her, she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Even now, the statement still stood. Part of him knew he probably shouldn't feel that way, but right now the bigger part was fine with ignoring it.
For a moment Donnie let his gaze linger, before he suddenly became aware of both Leonardo and Raphael standing behind April, arms folded, glaring at him.
Quickly, Donatello snapped his eyes back shut and reluctantly forced all thoughts of April from his mind. Mikey, he needed to focus on Mikey.
Memories drifted into the forefront of his youngest brother. That endearing smile, the wide blue eyes and infectious laugh. A childhood spent together, learning and growing as brothers. For all his life, Mikey had been right there beside him.
Snippets of moments they'd shared started to fill his mind. He remembered sitting with Mikey the morning after they'd arrived at the O'Neil farmhouse, fearing that Master Splinter had died and wallowing in the uncertainty over whether Leo would ever wake up. The sadness and loss had been cavernous, but they had found some comfort in facing those fears together.
Happy memories were there too. He remembered Mikey's unreserved elation after Donnie had cured him of his self-inflicted shellacne, returning him to his usual appearance. Those big, childlike eyes had been filled with such joy that even the memory of it caused Donnie to smile softly.
"Well?" insisted Raph, impatiently.
"Do you see anything?" Leo prompted.
The smile disappeared and Donatello's brow furrowed as he focused even harder on the one he was seeking. For a moment he thought he could hear a faint whisper of the familiar voice, but then it was gone. He could see nothing other than the memories swimming within his mind.
It wasn't working. Even if he was telepathic, he still had no idea how to use it. Raising his head dejectedly, Donatello had been about to say as much when, much to his surprise, the location of the one he sought was suddenly clear.
"I see him!"