Better Genes 3

I wanna extend a big thanks to my TMNT sister BrightLotusMoon for her help in helping me with this story. Thanks sis.;)

Just a heads up, Mikey's mutated form is similar to Donnie's mutation in the series, he's just a little less bulky, he's leaner, and a bit shorter than Leatherhead. He also has dark orange freckle-like spots on his face, shoulders and thighs.

Warning there will be some swearing in this chapter.

Here's chapter 3, enjoy!

'''''''

Leo's POV

Have you ever had those moments in your life where something awful has happened and you pray that it's all a bad dream so that you can wake up and escape from it? Well I'm having that moment right now. I keep praying that this was all a bad dream or even a spiritual illusion created by Shredder's mystics like before. That what happened at April's place didn't really happen... but this was no illusion, it's not even a dream. It's a nightmare and I'm living in it! So were my brothers and our friends.

Michelangelo, our always smiling, playful, optimistic, fun-loving baby brother... had been infected by the outbreak and had mutated right before our eyes.

I wish that I could say that it's not true, but then I'd be lying.

I chased after him when he ran, calling for him to come back, until I reached the basement of April's shop but when I got there Mikey was already gone. I called out to him at the tunnels entrance but all I heard was my own echo. Soon after my brothers, April and Casey showed up.

The room turned into a clusterfuck of emotions when Donnie revealed that Mikey's been infected by the outbreak somehow. Yes I know I used profanity, sue me. I just watched my youngest brother mutate right before my eyes! I remember going numb and my mind screaming 'No, not Mikey! Not my innocent baby brother!', Raph was yelling out profanities, Don had gone completely mute and April trying her best not to cry with Casey comforting her, his face almost mimicking Raph's.

I was able to gather myself and come up with a plan, Raph, Donnie and I would search for Mikey in the sewers while April and Casey went to the Lair.

Donnie was able to track him using his mutant tracker, then we found him huddled in corner in one of the abandoned tunnels under 87th Lionsgate Avenue.

When we saw him we didn't really believe that it was Mikey. I mean the creature we found was huge, about the same size Leatherhead but leaner in build, his skin tone was darker with a light dusting of dark orange spots on his face, shoulders and thighs. It couldn't be Mikey, but it was him. Donnie pointed to the large scar on its right arm, the same spot where Mikey had been cut. What did it for me was the torn orange mask barely hanging around it's neck. It was Mikey's ninja mask

I could feel Mikey's presence but just barely. We tried talking to him as we approached him but he would back away from us like a frightened puppy, like he was afraid of us or telling us to stay away from him, but then Raph's shellcell rang which upset Mikey and then he attacked us. We barely had time to react before he sideswiped us with one arm, knocking us on our shells.

I looked up and saw Donnie try to talk to him. For a moment it looked like he was getting through to Mikey, he just stared at him, but then he roared and grabbed Donnie by his vest. Raph and I rushed to help but then Mikey threw Donnie back at us, knocking both of us to the ground.

All I remember next was hearing a loud roar and when I looked up, Mikey was gone again. All that was left was his torn ninja mask on the ground.

I picked it up then quickly checked over Donnie and Raph, luckily they weren't hurt. We decided to head back to regroup.

Right now we were all standing in Leatherhead's sanctuary home. After explaining what's happened, Leatherhead and Donnie began analyzing the bandages that we brought back.

"I'm afraid Donatello's speculations were correct." Leatherhead said dejectedly, "The tissue samples on Michelangelo's bandages contains the same alien DNA as those of the mutated creatures you've been battling."

"So then... Mikey's really been infected by the outbreak?" April asked still in disbelief. I didn't blame her, I didn't want to believe it either

"I'm afraid so. Though in Michelangelo's case, it's triggered a secondary mutation in his already mutated DNA. Transforming him into the creature that you've described Leonardo."

My eyes began to sting with tears, I can still see my baby brother clutching his arm whilst screaming in pain before he started to change. His painful screams echoed in my mind, I can still hear the fear in his voice when he pleaded for help, and all I did was stand there and watch it happen.

"What I can't understand is how this agent was introduced into Michelangelo's bloodstream?"

I knew how, so did Raph and Donnie. The memory of that night came back as though it had happened yesterday. I explained to Leatherhead, April and Casey how it happened from when the Outbreak first started, from our first encounter with the mutants that were created by the outbreak, to how Mikey got hurt by the last mutant roach we fought.

"Mikey got a bad gash on his arm the night we fought those mutant roaches."

"Oh my God..."

"But you guys can help him right?" Casey turned to Donnie and Leatherhead, "I mean you guys can make an antidote or something that'll turn him back right?"

We all turned to Leatherhead and Donnie, hoping that they had a solution to this nightmare.

"I'm afraid... that that is not possible." Leatherhead frowned sadly.

My heart sank, "What do you mean Leatherhead?"

"Leatherhead and I have been studying the outbreak mutagen for weeks now... and even with our combined intellect, we've only been able to figure out half of chemicals that Bishop used but... we're no where close to figuring out how to reverse the affects of the mutations."

"So... what you're saying is..."

"We... we can't cure Mikey." Donnie grimaced while fighting back tears. Leatherhead looked just as grief stricken as Donnie

"No..."

"Oh God Mikey..." April choked as tears began to build in her eyes.

The world fell silent to me. No... no, it can't be true. They... they had to be wrong... but I know my brother Donnie, he's rarely wrong and seeing his and Leatherhead's faces... told me that what they were telling the truth.

The familiar feeling of failure was starting to press down on me like a heavy weight on my chest. It's the same feeling I had months ago before my training with the Ancient One. Only now it felt worse.

'No... Mikey...'

"That bastard Bishop!" Raph yelled, "When I get my hands on him I'm gonna rearrange his face with my sais and then I'm gonna..."

"Easy Raph, we'll find a cure. Right now we need to calm down and..."

"Don't be tell'n me to calm down Leo! Thanks to that M.I.B. wannabe psycho we've been up to our asses in mutant monsters that he created, that we've been clean'n up for weeks!"

"I know that Raph but..."

"To top it off, we just watched our own baby brother turn into a turtle version of the fucking Hulk!"

"Raph..."

"And now he's wandering around the sewers somewhere and not only does he not recognize us but on top of that we don't know how to turn him back!"

"Raph!" Without thinking my hand made contact with the back of my younger brother's head.

'SMACK!'

"Ow! The fuck Leo!?"

"It was the only way to get you to stop ranting."

"Well you didn't have to hit me like that."

"Why not? You hit Mikey all the time."

"That's different. I do it to shut him up."

"Do you, or do you just like hitting him all the time because you can?!"

"Hey I ain't the only one who..."

"STOP IT!" Donnie shouted, shocking the both of us, "Stop it both of you! This is not the time for you guys to start bickering! As you mentioned Raph, our little brother is out there wandering the sewers, we need to find him before he gets loose and hurts someone! We don't have time for you guys to get into another one of your pissing contests!"

I was taken aback by Don's outburst and choice of words yet at the same time I felt ashamed of myself. He's right, we should be focusing on finding Mikey not arguing with each other.

"You're right Donnie. I'm sorry Raph."

Raph nodded, "Yeah me too." He turned to Leatherhead and Donnie, "So how exactly are we gonna catch a 300 pound killer turtle?"

"As you know," Leatherhead spoke as he walked towards a tall cloth covered object, "Donatello and I have been working on developing ways to neutralize Bishop's mutant threat. So we built this." He removed the cloth, revealing a large container of some kind.

"What is that?"

"It's a... it's a Containment Unit." Donnie said, standing next to Leatherhead, "We built it with the leftover scraps from the Triceratons ships and designed it to hold larger mutations, so we could study them and hopefully bring us closer to finding a cure to the outbreak." He placed a hand on the glass of the unit.

"Don?"

"This wasn't... how I envisioned we'd be using this Leo. Never once did I think... that I'd have to use one of my own projects on my own baby brother."

I reached out and gently grabbed Donnie's shoulder. I can see that Donnie was close to breaking down but was trying to hold it together, I was too and had no doubt that Raph was as well, but right now we had to focus on the task at hand.

We had to find Mikey and bring him home.

'''''

Normal POV

Leo led his brothers and Leatherhead into the tunnels to find their youngest. Leatherhead carried the Containment Unit on his back since he's the only one strong enough to carry it. The plan was that they'd track down Mikey's location, lure him towards to Containment Unit, and then catch him. It sounds easy but they knew that it won't be.

Leo received a call from April, she informed him that she's picked up a large moving signal from the BattleShell's motion sensor. Leo somehow knew that it had to be Mikey, then she said that it's heading towards Central Park.

Their new home.

They rushed back to the Lair by taking a short cut. When they got near the Lair, Donnie pulled out his hand held motion grid scanner.

"According to my tracker, Mikey's not far from here. Infact he's getting closer." Don said.

"Uh not that I'm complaining but why would Mikey head for the Lair?"

"Primal instincts." Leatherhead spoke, "He's retreating back to a safe haven that's familiar to him and where he'd feel safe. Hence why he's heading for your home. I would do the same if I were in his place."

"Alright here's the plan," Leo spoke, "We'll set up the Containment Unit here but someone will need to lure Mikey to us while we get it ready"

"And who's the lucky turtle that gets that job Leo? Cause incase you haven't noticed the turtle who's job it is to lure out monsters ain't here right now." Raph pointed out. Leo and Donnie crossed their arms, frowning at him, "Uhh why's everybody looking at me?"

"Because the 'lucky turtle' as you put it Raph, is you."

"Say what now?"

"Don't you remember your promise to Mikey?" Donnie asked, "You said that if for some reason Mikey wasn't available on lure out the next big mutant monster then you'd step in and do it."

It took Raph a few seconds to recall the promise that he'd made that night.

"I... well that is... uh..."

"You gave your word that you would do it."

"You shook on it."

"And you promised that you wouldn't back out of it."

Raph knew that they were right, their father had instilled in each of them the important lesson of Honor and by that same honor he had to keep his word to his little brother.

"Aw crap."

,,,,,

Raph's POV

'This is so fucked up. I should've found him by now!' I vented in my head.

I've been searching up and down the tunnels where Donnie said Mikey's signal was coming from, but there was no sign of Mikey anywhere. I just don't get how a 7 foot 300 pound killer turtle can just vanish! I mean my bros and I have stealth skills but Mikey can barely sit still for 30 seconds.

I took a few breaths to calm myself, I tried to put myself in the mindset that this is just another monster hunt. Just find the big ugly and get it to chase me back to the others. Simple right? I mean Mikey does it all the time. Well it ain't as easy as I thought, especially when I remind myself that the monster I'm hunting down... is my own baby brother Mikey.

God I still can't believe that this is happening, a moment ago Mikey was fine. Well okay maybe not totally fine, he was sick with a slight fever, sneeze'n and throwing up but he was still... Mikey. Now he's been turned into a freak'n savage monster all thanks to that bastard Bishop!

'Where are ya Mikey?'

"Raph have you found him yet?" Leo called on my headset.

"No I haven't. I'm right under the corner of 11th Street and Bleecker Street where Donnie said he was but I ain't seen him yet."

"He's there Raph. My scanner shows that he's in the area." Donnie said.

"I'm telling ya Don he ain't here."

"Well you know Raph, the whole point of 'luring him here' is that you have to draw him out somehow, get his attention and get him to chase you in order to bring him back here." Donnie said.

I glared at Donnie through the headset, "I know that brainiac. How do you expect me to do that?"

"Make some noise, call out to him, just do what Mikey would do."

"I've been calling out to him and it ain't working! What else do ya want me to do? Sing show tunes?"

"Hey you're the one who said that any 'moron' can do what Mikey does!"

I was about to say something back when I remembered that I did say that, 'Geez, what is this 'quote everything I've said' night or something?'

"Guys c'mon this is not the time for this."

Suddenly I heard a roar up ahead, "I think I found him."

"Be careful Raph."

"I will." I said before rounding the corner, "Mikey? That you bro?" I called out but got nothing. I made my way down the darkened tunnel, my mind was thinking about every horror movie cliche I've seen, telling me that this is a bad idea, "Mikey? C'mon ya knucklehead, this ain't funny!" I heard another growl, this one sounded much closer, "Mikey?"

'Spat, spat.'

'Rrrnn, damn dripping pipes.'

But something felt weird about the water that dripped on my head, as I wiped it off it was warm and... slimey. I looked up towards the overhead pipes above me, there I saw a pair of glowing red eyes just staring at me.

"Oh shit..." Was all I got out before something grabbed me then threw me back. Next thing I knew I'm on my shell on the ground.

"Raph what's happening?

Before I could answer back I heard another loud growl. The sound reminded me of that giant sewer gator that Leo and I ran into when we were kids.

"Mikey? That you?"

The same red eyes were now in front of me, then a large green mutant kinda… materialized around those eyes. It was Mikey.

"Holy shit..."

"Raph what is it?"

"It's Mikey, he can camouflage himself!"

"What?!"

I was snapped out of my shock when Mikey roared at me.

That was my cue to get the shell out of there but before I could get off on the ground Mikey grabbed me by my leg and began pulling me back towards him.

"Ahh! He's got me!"

'''''''

Normal POV

"GOONGALA!"

Raph looked up to see Casey tackle Mikey like a line backer, forcing him to let go of his leg as he was pushed back before falling onto his shell.

"Raph, you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks." He nodded as Casey helped him up.

Raph noticed that Casey was still wearing his blue tux suit but he had his golf bag with him.

"What're you doing here Case?"

"I came to help ya catch Mikey, but then I heard roaring and you yelling so I came to help." He turned to Mikey, "Whoa... is that...?"

Mikey was on his hands and knees shaking his head then let out an angry growl as he glared at the two hotheads with pure rage.

Raph couldn't help but wonder if that's what he looked like when he's pissed.

"Yeah, that's Mikey."

"Whoa mama!" Casey exclaimed, "Mike's been taking his vitamins."

"Yeah the Outbreak laced vitamins prescribed by Bishop."

"Raaarrrrrr!"

"So uhh... wh...what's the plan?"

"Get Mikey to follow us back to the others and then get him into Donnie's Containment Unit. Without getting killed in the process."

"Great plan." He said sarcastically.

Before Raph could reply Mikey roared then came charging at them, "Watch out!" He yelled as he pushed Casey out of the way before jumping back to avoid Mikey's claws.

Both Raph and Casey had difficulty dodging and avoiding the feral turtle's attacks. From his swiping claws, to his snapping jaws, right down to his whipping tail. Despite his larger size Mikey moved with incredible speed and agility. Casey barely avoided getting his head taken off by Mikey's claws when he tried to distract him while Raph had to duck to avoid being knocked back by his tail.

When Mikey's attention was on Raph, Casey jumped onto Mikey's shell with his arms around his neck, "Easy Mikey, just calm down... Ahhh!"

Mikey had grabbed Casey by his golf bag then he threw him to the ground. While the vigilante was stunned, Mikey brought both of his fists above his head.

"Casey!" Raph rushed towards his monstrous brother and kicked him away from his human friend, "I'm really sorry to do this Mikey!" He yelled gripping his Monster Grabber tightly.

"Rrrrrrrr!"

The feral turtle charged toward the red clad turtle, swiping his sharp claws at him. Raph used his Grabber to block the attacks as best as he could.

"Mikey, stop! It's me!" Raph felt his shell touch the wall, "Aw crap... Whoa!" He quickly ducked out of the way to avoid another swipe from Mikey's deadly claws, the attack left three deep gashes in the cement wall where Raph's head was.

"Whoa!" Raph said staring at the wall, feeling a little shaken.

"Raph watch out!" Casey yelled.

Before the emerald green turtle could get his thoughts in order Mikey grabbed him then lifted him off the ground. Raph tried to free himself from his brother's tightening hold but he couldn't move his arms as they were pinned to his side by Mikey's large hands.

"Mikey! It's me Raph!" He groaned, "You know... 'Raphie Boy'?" As much as he hated the nickname he had to see if that would spark something and get through to his transformed brother. It didn't. Instead it only made Mikey tightened his grip, "Mikey... Ahhh!"

"Raph!" Casey shouted before grabbing Mikey's arm, "Mikey let him go! That's your brother Raph!" But Mikey used his tail to knock Casey off his arm before turning back to his captured prey.

"Mikey... I know you're still in there little bro. I know ya don't wanna do this. We're your family, remember? You and Me and Don and Leo, we're brothers! Master Splinter's our father, and Leatherhead, Casey and April, they're part of our family too. We're all family!"

For a minute, though it felt way longer than that, Mikey just stared at the sai wielding turtle. Then his face started losing the vicious snarl as his grip loosened up, then he gently set Raph back down.

"Mikey..."

But then Mikey started growling before grabbing his head with both hands, growling in pain.

"Mikey?"

Raphael didn't know what was going on, but then Mikey grabbed him again but this time he tossed him over to where Casey was.

"Yo what's wrong with him?" Casey asked helping Raph up again.

"I... I don't know."

Both of them just stood there staring at what was happening. Neither of them knew what to do until whatever was bothering Mikey seemed to have stopped, he turned towards them and growled again.

"Uhh... what do we do now?"

"Now... we run!"

Without needing to be told twice Casey and Raph turned and ran back down the tunnels with Mikey following right behind them.

"Guy's, Mikey's right behind us!" Raph called into his headset.

"Okay, the Containment Unit is ready." Leo called back

Well as it turned out, getting Mikey to follow them back was the easy part but getting him into the Containment Unit proved otherwise.

At first Raph tried to coax Mikey into following him in the Containment Unit but Mikey wasn't cooperating and ended up knocking the red clad turtle aside. Then Donnie and Leo stepped in, both of them trying to wear him out without hurting him.

"I'm really sorry about this Mikey!" Donnie said sadly before leaping up and kicking Mikey in the plastron.

Leo delivered a kick to Mikey's shell which sent him to his hands and knees on the ground, he too had the same pained look on his face as Don.

"Leatherhead you're on!" Leo called out.

Leatherhead ran out of a nearby tunnel and headed straight for Michelangelo. The feral turtle saw the mutant gator heading towards him and growled when Leatherhead grabbed him from behind, pushing him towards the Containment Unit. Mikey wriggled and thrashed in Leatherhead's hold, then he rammed his elbow into the gator's midsection causing Leatherhead to lose his grip before being grabbed by the shoulders and thrown into the wall.

"Leatherhead!"

Leatherhead shook his head before looking up to see Mikey stomping towards him, his tail lashing wildly behind him, "Michelangelo, please don't do this!" But his pleas fell on deaf ears as Mikey growled at him. The mutant gator felt a sense of dejavu when he caught Mikey's wrist when the feral turtle tried to slash at him with his claws, then he caught his other fist, "Michelangelo, my friend, I do not wish to fight you!" Leatherhead moved his head to right to avoid Mikey's snapping jaws, "But I will if I must!"

Leatherhead pushed Mikey back with his brute strength but Mikey was able to regain his footing and hold his ground. Soon it became a battle of strength between the two masive mutants. Leatherhead was doing all he could to keep himself from going into full on rage mode, reminding himself that this wasn't an enemy mutant but his friend Michelangelo whom at the moment was not in the right mind. He shifted his stance and threw the feral turtle over his shoulder, but Mikey rolled his body so that he'd land on all fours, his claws leaving indentations in the ground. He growled at the mutant gator before vanishing on the spot right before his eyes.

"What in the...?"

"Ah shit, not again!" Raph exclaimed.

"Again?"

"Yeah, remember I told ya that he can camouflage himself?"

Donnie quickly pulled out his goggles from his vest, setting them to infrared. When he put the goggles on he saw the infrared form of his little brother heading towards Leatherhead.

"Leatherhead, he's right infront of you!" Donnie yelled.

Leatherhead quickly brought his arms up blocking a dark green fist from hitting his face but the force behind the punch pushed him back. Michelangelo seized the distraction and tackled Leatherhead to the ground, there the two mutants began wrestling with the other, both of them growling, hissing and roaring at each other, both trying to overpower the other. While Leatherhead had bulk and strength on his side Mikey however had agility and speed on his.

"We gotta stop this!" Donnie shouted.

"I'm open to suggestions if you got any Brainiac!"

They watched for a few minutes before Leo spoke, "We'll have to use a tranq."

"Say what!?"

"It's the only way to stop this!"

"But Leo..."

"Look, I don't like it either! The thought of having to knock out my own brother with a tranquilizer turns my stomach but if we don't stop this someone's going to get hurt."

"Yeah but who's got any tranqs left?" Raph asked, "I used all my tranqs back at the Power Plant."

"So did I." Donnie confessed.

Leo checked his gun, "I've got... one left."

"Is that gonna be enough?" Asked Casey.

"Well... with Mikey's increased size and body mass... and the potency of one tranq... I calculate that it'll be enough to slow him down at the very least."

"Ya may not need the tranq anyway." Casey said.

Raph raised an eyebrow ridge at their friend, "What makes ya say that Casey?"

"Cause Mike's already down. Look." He pointed to Leatherhead and Mikey.

Sure enough it was true. Mikey was on the ground unconscious while Leatherhead stood over him, breathing heavily while checking his pulse.

"Leatherhead!" Donnie called as he and the others approached him, "Are you okay?"

Leatherhead nodded, "I am alright Donatello."

"What happened?"

"I applied pressure to an acupuncture point on his neck to put him in a state of unconsciousness." Leatherhead simply explained.

Everyone understood but Casey, "Ya did what now?"

"He used a pressure point on Mikey to knock him out." Leo explained.

"Oh." Was all Casey could say.

"Yes and it wasn't easy. Despite his new form Michelangelo moves incredibly quick, it took almost everything I had to immobilize him without harming him." He said looking sadly at the unconscious form of his turtle friend, "I'm... sorry that I had to use such a method on him."

"Don't be. I'd much rather prefer this method over... what we were planning." Leo assured him, his brothers and Casey nodding in agreement, "C'mon let's get him in the Containment Unit. Leatherhead do you think that you can..."

Leatherhead nodded, "Yes of course." He reached down, draped one of Mikey's arms around his shoulder then carried him over to the Containment Unit.

Once Mikey was inside, locked and secured, the four mutants and Casey headed back to the Lair.

'''''''

Bringing Mikey home was a bitter sweet victory for all of them. Yes their brother/friend was home again but there were no sighs of relief, no smiles, not even worried nagging. There was only heavy silence, the only sound that was heard was the heavy breathing from inside the Bio Containment Unit, which was a very good thing.

However having to explain to Master Splinter that the creature inside the Bio Containment Unit was Michelangelo and what had happened to him was the most difficult thing the brothers had to do.

Leo presented Mikey's torn ninja mask to their father and the old rat's heart broke. Splinter turned back to Containment Unit which held his unconscious mutated son. His youngest son, his sunshine child, had been turned into a monstrous creature because of Bishop's outbreak.

"My son." He said dejectedly placing his hand on the glass, "My... Michelangelo."

"I can sympathize. I know what it's like... to be a monster." Leatherhead spoke solemnly.

"Poor Mikey." April frowned sadly at the unconscious turtle. Casey pulled her into his arms to comfort her.

"What do we do now Leo?"

"Do? This is Michelangelo! This is our brother, our baby brother. We're going to hunt down a cure for him, no matter what it takes." He pledged firmly placing a hand on the glass of the Unit, staring down at his unconscious baby brother, his eyes misty with tears, 'We will find a cure for you Mikey. I promise we will.'

His hand was joined by the emerald green and olive green hands of his brothers, who're also joined by Leatherhead's, their father's, April's and Casey's hands, joining in the pledge as well.

"No matter what it takes."

'''''

Here's chapter 3, sorry it took so long to update, a lot of crap's been going on, my grandfather passed away in early August and my dad... just recently lost his battle with cancer. It's been rough. So thanks for your patience. Hope you liked it.