Chapter VIII
Mikey's eyes fluttered open slowly and painfully as he realized that his head hurt worse than anything. He blinked a couple of times before attempting to sit up.
"Careful now," a familiar voice said as a pair of hands grabbed hold of his shoulders before he could fall back to the floor. "You don't wanna hit your head again."
Mikey nodded as he sat up and grabbed his spinning head, propping himself up on something cold and slightly sharp. He looked around at who had helped him up; a green figure masked in red.
"Raph?" he questioned dizzily. "Is that you?"
"Yeah," he replied. "You took a fun little ride on that machine there."
"What happened?" Mike asked. It was then that he noticed that things were slightly out of proportion. He looked at his legs as his eyes grew wider, seeing the pants and sneakers. He glanced at his hands - tanned with five fingers on each.
"Holy ninja!" he cried, almost in an excited tone. "What happened?!"
"I think you're... ya know... a person now," Don explained, hopping down from the giant machine's base to look at Mikey. Mikey looked around at his two brothers, grinning, before trying to scramble up.
"Where's a mirror?" he asked excitedly. "I need to see myself! Am I still pretty?"
Raph rolled his eyes and glanced at Don for some answers.
"Seriously," he said. "What the shell?"
"It's insanely complicated," Don said. "Even if I tried to explain it to you, your mind would explode with confusion."
"Literally?"
"Of course not."
"Right. Give it to me straight, then," Raph requested.
"Simply, the machine is... it's brilliant. It destroys DNA and re-builds it... which would explain how painful it would have been for Mikey. This machine took out every turtle DNA Mikey had while reconstructing new "human" into his existing DNA."
"Say what now?" Mikey asked, retuning to the conversation after unsuccessfully finding a mirror.
"Your DNA has changed to match a human's DNA," Don tried. Mikey paused in his excitement to think about what his brother had just told him. Donnie sighed and looked at Raph who just shook his head.
"The machine can turn animals into humans," Don said again. "You're not a turtle."
"Humm... I don't know how I should feel about that."
"I do," Raph said. "I wanna be a human!"
Don sighed and looked between the human Mikey and the turtle Raph.
"So do I..." he admitted in a low voice. Raph grinned and ran to the table Mikey had previously sat at.
"Get this baby started!" he cried. Donnie stepped up to the machine and looked at Raph.
"Hold on," he warned before flipping the switch.
* * * *
Leo wandered the streets alone, using the darkness to shield him from curious eyes. It was night and while he didn't need to hide from misunderstanding humans any longer, he still felt the need to hide himself away. It had been after he was transformed into a human that he was comfortable in his turtle form; safe and tucked away in the sewers where no one could find him.
He sighed to himself as he kicked at the ground and stuffed his hands into his pockets, thinking to himself.
Wonder if Master Shredder knows where I am? was the first question that popped into his head. Maybe I should go back...
And then the rebellious side - a normal teenage reaction - took hold of him and he shook his head, all the while thinking in profanity against returning to his master. He was about to curse out loud when a flash of something caught his eye and he stopped, sinking further into the shadow's as he watched a pair of doors swing shut after a figure disappeared inside. Quickly he glanced up, recognizing the building at once: it was the same building Baxter's lab was contained in. He frowned as he walked towards the doors, contemplating weather or not he should follow. He paused before his hands could reach the door and shook his head, laughing at himself.
"Hah - no," he said out loud, backing away. "If Master Shredder needs me, than I'll help. Otherwise, he can deal with intruders on his own."
* * * *
"For the love of..." Don muttered, grabbing hold of his head. He groaned and blindly sat up with the help of Mikey and Raph.
"Some ride, huah?" Raph questioned, and Donnie could tell he was grinning. He nodded anyway and rolled his shoulders back.
"I feel... lighter," he explained slowly, not wanting to open his eyes.
"That's the cause of no shell," Raph explained. Donnie nodded.
"Where's Mike?"
"Hopping around like the idiot he is," Raph said, rolling his eyes. "Come on - open your eyes. You can't see anything with 'em closed all the time."
Donnie groaned but carefully allowed his eyelids to flutter open, his eyes stinging in the sudden burst of light. It took him a moment to adjust them as he carefully looked around at his surroundings. Nothing had changed, except instead of a green, giant turtle in a red mask, there stood beside him a teenage boy with flaming red hair that looked a bit orange at the tips as if it were imitating fire. He wore plain white t-shirt under a thin leather jacket as well as jeans that were torn in the knees and what looked like boots on his feet.
Mikey stopped in front of Raph with a wide grin spread across his face as he held his thumbs out.
"Ehhh!" he yelled, a good impression of The Fonz from the old TV show Happy Days.
"I warned you, Mikey!" Raph screamed, chasing after his "prep" of a brother. "I told you to NEVER do that in front of me!"
"The Fonz is a lover, not a hater!" Mikey taunted as he ran from Raph's clutch. Donnie sighed as he sat up, desperately trying to rid himself of his headache.
* * * *
"But you have seen it!" Baxter said in a pleading tone, standing inferior to the large man who walked before him. "Master Shredder has seen it with his own eyes - we used it on one of those turtles!"
"Yes, I've seen it," the man said, not bothering to look at Baxter as he saw him unworthy. "But I have not seen it work. Master Shredder wishes to know if it is still in good working condition or not."
"I assure you that it is."
The man grabbed the scientist by the throat and threw him against the wall, his face inches from the beast of a man.
"Prove it."
He dropped Baxter to the floor and continued to walk. Baxter quickly picked himself up and ran after the giant, scheming of a way he could prove that his machine still worked.
* * * *
"As much as I'd like to stay here and watch you two fight," Don said as he slowly stood. "This room was locked for a reason. We have to get out of here before somebody finds us."
As the words left his mouth, the doors swung open. Mikey stopped in his tracks as did Raph as they all looked up at the doors. Mikey decided to speak, his voice trembling slightly.
"Too late!!"
