Chapter 2: The Alpha and Beta Males.
"ARG!" Raphael exclaimed and punched the glass wall again. "I can't believe we where brought down by Bonehead!" He said for the umpteenth time. Leo rolled his eyes. For the past three days Raphael kept dwelling on the past; angry with both himself and the situation they were currently in. Leonardo wished he could get his brother to focus more on their future; to move on, but he didn't want to argue with the enraged turtle. Compared to other tense times, Raphael had been keeping his anger more to himself; dueling it out on the wall rather than his cell mates. No one really complained about this, as each of them secretly wished that the glass would finally break once Raph had hit it enough times.
With all honesty, none of them were too thrilled about being trapped in a confined area with the brooding reptile. They all knew for a fact that Raph didn't like to stay in the same place for extended periods of time. Even when they were in the lair, Raph always had to get out and roam the streets. He was already agitated, and the other turtles knew that it would only be a matter of time before he snaps. However, even though he was angry, they were glad that they had each other. At least Mike was around to help calm him down.
Unlike Raphael, Mike had kept a rather positive attitude. Leo was glad his youngest brother was with him, as he would simply die of boredom if he weren't. Without a doubt, Mike provided most of the entertainment. He was usually laughing or joking, and sometimes aggravated Raphael because of it, as he couldn't understand what was so funny. Leo didn't mind the non-serious tone Mike took, as it helped raise their group morale. But deep down inside, each of them knew that Mike was really only hiding his fear under his smile. They knew that because they could all hear him cry in his sleep at night.
The nights were cold and long. The turtles were forced to sleep on the hard, concrete floor, as there wasn't an alternative. There was no natural lighting in the building they were in. But they presumed it was daytime when the lab lights were flicked on. During the day, Leo had noticed that unnatural heat was emitted from somewhere in the room, and that the warmth was turned off during the night. Donatello suggested that the scientists wanted to recreate a natural climate; heating to ensure the cold-blooded reptiles were kept active.
Leo stared at Donatello. The brainy turtle had his carapace up against the steel wall. His mind was focused on his twiddling thumbs as they circled round and round; a new habit Leo had noticed him pick up over the past few days. Don had been withdrawn, as though he was lost in his own thoughts. Leo could sympathise with him, as he realised that Donatello's world of computers, technology, science experiments and intellectual reading materials no longer existed in their new environment. He didn't say much, and when he did, it was usually an observation or a short comment. Leo decided not to bother him, as he was probably thinking up a plan to escape, or trying to figure out the scientist's motives. The first day was rather tense, as none of them knew what the humans intended to do them. But after three days and no signs of needles, the turtles came to the assumption that they were simply being observed, at least for the time being; so they allowed themselves to relax a little.
"Ok, I've got one!" Mike piped up when there was a break in-between Raph's glass banging. "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 'G'," Mike chanted.
"GLASS!" Raph yelled in frustration as he backed up and performed a flying kick into the clear wall. Leo couldn't help but smile at Mike. Whenever the orange bandanna-wearing turtle played 'I Spy', he always chose the letter 'G', and the answer was 'glass' every time. Over the three days, this had now become a bit of a joke.
There was silence once again. The only noise filling the void was Raphael's panting from his glass-bashing workout.
"Wanna play 'Fruit Salad'?" Mike asked innocently, breaking the silence once again. Raph and Leo gave him a smirk.
"How are we going to play that Mikey? We only have four people," Leo said sensibly.
"Yeah, what are we going to do? Get up and run around one person!? We'll only have two fruits to call out!" Raphael remarked. Mike pouted and crossed his arms.
"Fine! Party poopers!" Mike said childishly.
"Speaking of fruit salad…" Leonardo said, without completing the sentence. The four male turtles watched as Dr Yesmal entered the outside room. A plate of fruit was balanced in-between his hands. He walked over to the sliding tray contained within one of the walls of the glass prison. The doctor dumped the fresh food in and pushed the tray inwards so the turtles could feed. He then stepped back and watched as the reptiles began to stir.
Raphael glared back at him and raised his mandatory rude one-finger salute. This was by far the highlight of Raph's day; watching the doctor's reaction. Dr Yesmal frowned and muttered something that the turtles couldn't hear. Raph, pleased with his reaction, gave a wicked smirk.
All the turtles hated the scientists, Raphael in particular. He loathed how they watched; how they wrote comments in their little clipboards. They did nothing but stare, and that's why they were so irritating. The humans even watched as he went to the toilet, unlike his family, who maintained the courtesy to turn around and close their eyes. It only seemed natural to Raph to pay the respect back. And this was the most fun way of doing it. Either that or mooning them with his bare butt against the glass.
Dr Yesmal sighed angrily and headed over towards Venus' cell to bestow her portion of food. After jotting down a few notes, he left the room, allowing the turtles to once again be alone. The male turtles each grabbed a piece of fruit to begin eating.
Fruit was given to the turtles most of the time. Sometimes they were given a bit of mincemeat while other times they were given fresh vegetables. At first, Mike complained about this as he was so used to pizza, but he soon learned to put up with it and be grateful that they were fed their fill.
Chewing his apple, Leo looked over to Venus' cell to check on her, and to see if she was coping okay. The female turtle was sitting silently in her lonely cell, slowly eating a piece of watermelon. Most of Venus' time was spent on meditating; trying to at least give her soul some freedom. None of the boys could even imagine what it must be like for her; to be completely alone in silence. She could see them, but that was all.
Leo and Venus had tried to communicate through mental telepathy, but Venus couldn't take him to the Dream realm with her, as she didn't have any way to access his chi energy. The glass walls prevented that. Leo knew that Venus had the ability to read minds without the host knowing. But when she did it, she usually needed to be in contact with the particular person or holding an item the individual treasured. She had neither of those, but Leo still wondered if she could pull it off. Deep inside, Leo wished that the glass prison protected him from Venus' mind reading powers, as he didn't want her to learn of his thoughts of doom.
For now, the turtles communicated through the use of mouthing words and body language. It helped a bit, but it still wasn't anything like the ability to talk.
"You like her, don't you?" Mike said softly after noticing Leo's gaze.
"Of course I do. I like everyone in my family," Leonardo answered modestly.
"No, I mean, you like her in a different way. You know, a boy and girl thing," Mike pushed on. Leo responded with a quiet sigh.
"I like her," Donatello murmured softly as though he wasn't sure whether he should say it or not. All three brothers looked at him in shock. A big grin formed on Mike's face.
"But you two are always arguing!" Mike said trying not to laugh. Donatello shrugged shyly.
"Yeah but… I still liked her. I mean, once you get past all the scientifically explainable magic tricks, she's quite a smart girl," Don admitted while blushing and twiddling his thumbs.
"I used to like her," Raph said, kindly allowing the attention to get off the nervous turtle. Mike couldn't hold his laughter back anymore. Raphael simply growled at him.
"Is that why you're so protective of her Raph?" Leo smirked.
"Watch your mouth Leo!" Raph warned, cheeks going red.
"Ok, ok," Mike said trying to calm down. "I have to admit that I like her as well."
"Gees. That's a news flash," Raph said sarcastically.
"I guess we all liked her… It's funny how you don't realise how important things are to you until they're gone…" Leo sighed, looking back over towards Venus.
"You liked her the most though," Mike said while grinning widely. Leo didn't deny it. He looked at Mike and blushed profusely causing his brothers to snigger.
*****
"Do ya have to do that?" Raphael said irritably. Leo sighed and stopped performing his kata in order to glare at Raph.
"You know we have to be prepared if that door ever opens," Leo said calmly.
"So that's what we're going to do are we? We are gonna sit on our ass all day and wait for the fucking door to open!" Raphael argued.
"Raph! It's not like we have a choice. There's no other way out! But what we can do is keep in shape in order to better our odds against whatever is out there," Leonardo explained a bit more forcefully than he intended.
"Hello! Earth to Leo! It's been a week and they still haven't opened the door! Who says that they'll ever open it!?" Raph yelled, glaring Leo in the eye.
"Donatello says they have to," Leo argued.
"Ooh! Donatello said that did he? If Donatello told you to eat shit would you do that too?" Raphael said sarcastically. Donatello cringed at the sound of his name. Michelangelo put an arm around him for comfort. It looked like Raphael had finally snapped and instead of targeting the glass, he found enjoyment on picking on Leo.
"Don't talk about Donny like that!" Leo snapped back. Raphael paused angrily for a bit before continuing.
"I can't believe we're just going to wait! Surely this glass will smash!" Raphael shouted. He furiously punched and kicked the wall.
"It won't break Raph. You've been trying for a whole week," Leo said firmly.
"That's because I'm the only one trying! And it's beginning to make me wonder what our Fearless Leader is doing while I work my butt off!" Raphael growled. "I think it's time we get ourselves a new leader!"
"Oh! Do you now?" Leo said, voice strict with sight annoyance.
"Yeah! I do!" Raphael yelled in his face. From the corner of his eye he saw Venus staring at them with worry. "What the fuck are you staring at!?" Raphael yelled at her, forgetting that she can't hear him.
"Don't bring her into this!" Leo yelled back, quickly getting angry.
"Why not Leo? She's the one who got us into this bloody mess!"
"How can you say that!?" Leo asked, disgusted by Raph's accusations.
"She was the last one to be shot down. It was her responsibility to take on Bonehead!" Raphael argued, pointing his finger at Venus. The female turtle shrunk back in her cell, knowing full well that they were arguing about her.
"Wrong Raph! It was all of our responsibility! We've been through this. We knew that Bonesteel was good," Leo continued to argue.
"Well if she's such a powerful Shinobi, then why doesn't she do something right for a change and get us outta here!" Raphael yelled in Leo's face and gave him a small shove.
"What do you expect her to do Raph!? Teleport!?" Leo said sarcastically, lightly shoving Raph back.
"She has a stupid powder thing that can open locks! Why the hell doesn't she just do that!?"
"Exactly as you said Raphael! It's a powder! She can't just produce it out of thin air!" Leonardo said, angrily pronouncing Raph's full name.
"Well, what a great Shinobi she is! Fucking useless if you ask me!!" Raphael yelled once again, bringing Leo over the edge.
Raphael anticipated Leonardo's oncoming punch and dodged it expertly. Raph retaliated with a punch of his own, only to be blocked by Leo. Michelangelo and Donatello looked onwards, trying to avoid the two colliding turtles who were both trying to bash each other into the glass wall.
It was at the moment when the female doctor, Dr Aquel, entered the room. She saw the fight going on in the male cell. Donatello noticed her presence and called out to Leo and Raph to stop, but they ignored his request and continued on. The turtles knew that Leo and Raph were only sparring and that no real damage would be done, but the doctor didn't know this and thought that the two were trying to kill each other.
She ran from the room and swiftly made her way to Dr Welner's office. "The Alpha and Beta males are fighting!" She called out, causing Dr Welner to leave his room immediately. They both ran back to the lab and saw that the two turtles were still in physical conflict. Welner reached over to the control panel and pushed a button hard and fast.
A white gas entered the boy's glass prison through the air vent above the steel door. It didn't take long for the turtles to realise this, and thus doing so, stopped their bickering. All four turtles coughed and spluttered as the gas slowly entered their lungs. "It's sleeping… gas… Cover your mouths!" Donatello managed to choke out. A few seconds later, four sleeping reptiles were defenselessly on the floor. Venus looked on with panic from the safety of her cell, wondering what had happened to the boys.
*****
Donatello opened his eyes, only to find that his vision was blurred. After waiting a few minutes for the effects of the gas to wear off, he began to look around as to what had happened. He noticed the change almost immediately. Raphael wasn't there with them.
He found his angry brother in the glass prison directly opposite theirs. Raphael was in solitary confinement, having a whole glass cell to himself. Leonardo and Michelangelo were still in the same prison as Donatello. Don watched with a saddened heart as he observed the angry glares Leo and Raph were exchanging through the glass.
