Chapter 4: The Enclosure

The next day…

"I spy with my little eye…"

"Something beginning with 'G'?" Donatello interrupted Mike.

"And the answer is 'glass'?" Leonardo followed up.

"How did you know?" Mike said with mock astonishment. Leo grinned to himself while Don simply rolled his eyes.

Dr Welner entered the room. After inspecting the cells and their occupants, he reached over and pressed a button on the control panel. A low rumbling sound alerted the boys. They turned around and were astonished to find that the steel door was opened. Venus and Raphael looked on with curiosity and apprehension as they watched the other three move hesitatingly towards the open door. Venus' and Raph's cells were still locked.

Cautiously, with Leonardo leading the way, the three turtles walked through the door and onto the fresh grass outside. The steel door snapped shut behind them, causing the turtles to turn around in panic.

Millions of flashes and blinding lights filled their vision. They watched in horror as news reporters, cameramen, radio presenters, scientists and members of the public stared down at them from above, babbling like crazy. The three reptiles clung together, frozen in their spots. They were petrified. Mike grabbed on to Leo's arm, wanting to just disappear from the hundreds of eyes that were looking at them, gawking. After two weeks of nearly total silence, this came as a shock to the system. Never in their whole life had they had so many people observing them. After years of hiding from society, this exposure felt terrifying.

It took minutes for the initial shock to wear off. Adrenaline pumping, Leo observed his surroundings. They were standing in a grassy area complete with two trees and a pond. A tall green painted cement wall, or rather a viewing platform, enclosed the territory. Along with that, there was also a glass window protected by an electric fence so visitors could watch the turtles from ground level. The three turtles stared uncomfortably at the hundreds of people squished up against the glass, trying to get a good view of them. Leo looked around from where they had come out of. Three steel walls jutted out into their enclosure. There were five doors leading into the enclosure, behind them were no doubt the glass prisons they had become accustomed to. There was only one other door, which was obviously what the staff used to enter the enclosure.

"They must have dragged us through the enclosure in order to place us into our cells," Donatello said quietly, almost as though he had read Leo's mind. A theory fluttered into the blue bandanna-wearing turtle's mind.

Leonardo headed over to what he calculated should be Raphael's cell door. He gave it knock and waited for an answer. Leo was delighted to receive a knock back. "Raph?" Leo said in hopes that he might hear him.

"Leo?" Raph responded with a surprised voice. Mike and Don couldn't help but smile.

"Raph… I'm sorry about what happened," Leo said, tears building up in his eyes.

"Aw Leo, don't worry 'bout it. What's out there?" Raphael asked curiously.

"We're in a zoo Raph," Leo said, feeling disgusted and degraded. He tried to ignore the constant stare and photograph-taking from the audience. The humans were talking about them so much that they wouldn't be able to hear what he was saying to Raphael.

"Holy shit," Leo heard him mutter. "How many people are there?"

"Hundreds," Leo answered simply. Raphael was silent for a while.

"Is there any way to escape?" Raphael asked, sounding hopeful.

"Not really. There's another door, but it looks too thick and heavy to force open. And the perimeter wall is too high to climb. It's going to be impossible to escape with all these humans around," Leo reported. Raph was silent once again.

"Where's Mike and Don?" Raph asked.

"We're right here Raph," Mike said happily, but also worried at the same time. He too seemed to have tears of joy and anguish build up in his eyes. It was wonderful that they could speak to each other again, but that still didn't make up for being with him in person. Since Mike was telling jokes to Raph, and Don was going to fill him in on the escape plan so far, Leo decided to pay a visit to the final member of their clan.

He stood in front of her cell door, pondering on what he was going to say. They hadn't spoken in two weeks, but to Leo it seemed much longer. "Mei Pieh Chi?" He asked timidly.

"Leo?" Venus answered, even though she knew that Leonardo was the only one who addressed her by her real name.

"Yeah, it's me. How are you going?" Leo asked, feeling concerned.

"I'm fine, I think. I'm just so happy to finally speak to someone," Venus said, sounding relieved. "How are you guys going?"

"Mike's been a bit bummed out since Raph left, and Don's been rather quiet," Leo anaylsed, looking over at Michelangelo and Donatello who were still talking to Raphael.

"And you?" She inquired.

"I've had better days," Leo remarked rather bleakly.

"Where is Michelangelo and Donatello?" She asked.

"They're talking to Raph at the moment," Leo reported.

"Are they? I just thought that Raph was talking to the wall again," Venus said innocently. Leonardo couldn't help but laugh at her comment. "What's it like out there?"

"The landscape's rather nice, it's just that… I just feel so violated. Everyone's looking at us. I… I've never felt so scared in my life," Leo admitted quite openly. He didn't really like confessing his fears to his family, but in some way Venus was different, and he felt he could say anything to her. She took a bit of time before she answered.

"We're all scared Leo," Venus said, her voice hinting on her fear. The two turtles stepped closer to the door and placed a hand on the metallic surface, as though they could comfort each other through the cold, hard steel.

"I wish you were here," Leo said, voice low. He could almost hear Venus blush.

"I do to," she said simply.

He sighed partly out of frustration from the whole event, and partly from the tingly feeling he was receiving from his heart. Leo sat down on the grass, feeling rather exhausted from the constant looks from the audience. Seeking reassurance and comfort, he began to tell Venus of their thoughts of overseas traveling.

It was late afternoon when the door to their cell opened. By then the crowds had disappeared and gone home. The three turtles refused to go back in; thinking that they could find a way to escape now that the people had left. But when one of the doctors threatened them from the viewing platform with a tranquiliser dart gun, the mutants retreated to the cell where some fresh fruit was waiting. The steel doors closed behind them, trapping the three in their night enclosure.

*****

Raphael stared with discontent at the opened steel door. He knew what was out there. Raphael gave a worried look to the others before stepping through the opening and into the zoo exhibit. The steel doors closed behind him. The chatter from the audience started. Camera's flickered, overseas news reporters talked, editor's scribbled in their notebooks, teenagers gawked and babies cried. All eyes were on him and him only.

He felt defenseless, violated and greatly exposed. Raph desperately wanted to crawl away and hide; get away from the prying eyes of the public, but there was no refuge. He hated the attention. He loathed them so much that he wanted to puke.

"What are you staring at huh!?" Raphael yelled at the crowd. The people grew silent for a second, before the chatter grew even louder. How he despised them; treating him like an animal. Raphael wanted them to stop; to go away and leave him alone.

"Go away!" He screamed, but it only caused the people to talk even louder.

"Fuck off!" He screamed again, desperately trying to drive them away but to no effect. "Fuck off!" He repeated again, tears of defeat swelling up in his eyes. They wouldn't leave him alone. All their eyes were glued to him at all angles. He couldn't take the attention. Raph wanted his family there with him. He didn't want to face this everyday alone.

Raphael scampered over to the nearest corner and timidly sat trying to squeeze in as much as he could to the wall. He let out a sob of despair, anger, defeat and loneliness, releasing all of the built up anguish he had gathered over the whole ordeal. Raph buried his crying eyes into his knees, trying to block out all of the judgmental stares, and stayed there for the rest of the day.

*****

The boys went into the enclosure on alternate days, but Venus was never let out of her glass sleeping quarters. No one knew why she wasn't allowed to go into the public enclosure. Even though Venus was told from Leo and Raph that it was a scary ordeal, she still wanted to go out to feel the grass and the fresh air. She started to become slightly distressed as she began to think that she was going to be stuck in her glass prison forever, never being able to see the sky again. But there was someone to speak to her every day, to try and give her some comfort, though Raphael didn't talk to her that often.

*****

A low rumbling sound woke Venus up. Amazed, she cautiously walked through the open door and out into the grassy habitat. Not surprisingly the door to her cell closed behind her.

"Hi," a familiar voice said. She whipped her head around and spotted Raphael.

"Hey," she responded simply. Even though Venus felt uncomfortable around Raph, she still gave him welcoming hug, relieved to have some company. Raphael too seemed happy to have someone to talk to, even though he never really got on well with her.

For most of the day Venus and Raphael held simple conversations; just having some company was enough for them. Though they did sit near Leo, Mike and Don's door to include them in their discussion. When it was time to return to their glass prisons, only Raphael's door was open. All too suddenly, things became awkward between them. They didn't need Donatello to tell them what the scientists were planning.