Pretender Fanatic – Yes, Venus was locked in a vault with a bomb, Mike did lose to four guys with no pants, and Leo was given the nickname Greeny by Silver. It all happened on the show. Silver was only in three episodes; the first was the bank one, the second was about the lottery ticket and the third was where Silver hypnotised Donatello to do his dirty work (I didn't include that last chapter 'cause only Raph and Don were featured, so naturally Leo wouldn't know about it!). As Leo said, Silver didn't revolve his life around defeating the turtles unlike Shredder and numerous others, and that's probably the reason why he isn't featured in any other fanfictions cause he doesn't do much. I made up the stuff about Venus, ghosts and Christianity though.
Mica – Trust me, Donny's just doing boring stuff… I think Venus feels resentment that humans can have souls while animals can't. She doesn't know what happens in the afterlife with her own kind, so it'll kind of be contradictory if she believes in humans ghosts, yet not turtle ghosts. Even when she feels Raph's presence, she's not sure whether it's real or not due to not having any religious confirmation when it comes to her species. Also I did it as a joke. On the show she believes in vampires, dragons, astral projection… yet she doesn't believe in ghosts! Hehe! Personally, I think she would believe in ghosts though. Depending on how you interpret it, maybe Venus has seen Raph though she doesn't want to tell Mike just yet…
With Raph, Leo probably told him that babies are made when two people love each other and are married, while Mike probably told him they are made when a guy and a girl get alone… He knows babies require a male and female, though he doesn't understand the science of it i.e. sperm and eggs. He's heard of sex, but he hasn't as of yet linked it to making babies, though he does know that scientists can somehow force animals to have children and probably heard that from his parents over the years when they were worried about being caught.
Chapter 16: The Past and Future.
Two days later.
Leonardo smiled as he watched Raphael wrestle with Diana, glad that they could still find it in them to play and muck around. After some long minutes, Raphael managed to pin the feisty little three-year-old, but Diana retaliated by quickly placing one of his hands in a wrist lock. The boy yelped at the sudden pain and jumped back, wrenching his hand free. Leo couldn't help but smile, noticing how much Diana now preferred that move considering how precise and complex it was to execute.
Mind slowly wandering, Leo removed his gaze from the friendly childish sparring to look around the room in boredom. It didn't take long for him to start staring where Raphael had died. The graphic and disturbing images of the last few minutes of Raph's life came flooding back to Leo's mind. He couldn't help but stare and reminisce. His eyes never wavered when an eerie feeling swept over him, compelling him to keep looking. Totally wrapped up in his own emotions and subconscious wanderings, Leo didn't notice his adopted son's constant gaze in his direction.
"Why do you keep looking there?" Raphael finally asked, snapping Leo out of his fixed state. Leonardo didn't know how to answer, wondering how long he'd been staring at the death zone. Becoming anxious by the silence, Diana wandered over to the food tray to try and fish out an apple to eat. "That's where he died, isn't it? That's where Raphael died?" Raph continued, wondering if he was correct or not.
Leonardo stared at the boy with an astonished expression. "How… how do you know about Raphael?" Leonardo wondered, just knowing where the conversation was leading. His heart beat faster as Raph continued to pry for information.
"I heard you, Mum and Mike talk about him sometimes late at night when I was supposed to be asleep… I always thought you were talking about me, until about two years ago when you mentioned he was dead…" Raphael confessed, breaking Leo's eye contact to look at the ground in shame for eavesdropping all those years. Leonardo sighed, realising that the little pieces of the story that the boy had heard were starting to all come together. He knew that he had to come clean.
"You're right… That is where Raphael died," Leo admitted softly, turning his head to look back at the fateful spot. Diana timidly bit into her green apple, not really knowing what was happening, though she knew from their tones and silences that the topic of conversation was something important and serious. The adult feared the next question…
"Why am I named after him?" Raphael asked, brimming with curiosity. Leonardo took a deep breath, knowing that he couldn't wiggle his way out of this one. The truth had to be known. He couldn't lie straight to the boy's face.
"You're named after him because… because…" Leo started, trying to brace himself for what was about to happen. "…He's your father…" he finally let it out. Raphael simply stared back, extremely confused.
"But… but you're my father… Aren't you?" Raphael asked carefully with his mind scrambling for answers. The boy watched with disbelief as Leo slowly shook his head. Leonardo stared as Raph remained extremely silent for the next couple of minutes, slowly taking the news in. The boy tried his best to hold back his tears of anguish as he gradually thought over everything he'd heard over the years… He'd always wondered whose shell that was in Bonesteel's warehouse…
Sniffling, Raphael looked at Leo, then gazed at Diana who was quietly chewing her apple, seeking comfort from the motion of eating to escape the awkward tension she could sense in the air. "So… So Diana's not my sister?…" Raphael whispered the rhetorical question as a small tear escaped from his eyes. Diana took another bite and timidly twirled the apple in her hands, not completely understanding the enormity of everything that was taking place.
"She's your half-sister…" Leonardo explained slowly in answer to his question. Raphael's face scrunched up as he let out a few heartbroken tears. Deeply saddened, Leo moved towards him to give him a hug, but the boy pushed him away. "Don't touch me!" he yelled, quickly turning angry. "You lied to me! You lied to me all these years!!" he screamed as some more tears dropped to the cold, hard floor. Raphael walked to the wall of the cell, sat down, and rested his confused and emotional head against the glass, appreciating its sleek coolness against his heated and angry skin.
Leonardo felt sorry for the boy. He needed time to think things through; be alone to deal with what he'd been told. But the glass prison prohibited him, and the turtle was forced to come to grips with his emotions there and then in front of Leo. All Leo could do was allow him the time to cry and suppress his anger.
Venus and Mike worriedly looked on in silence from across the room. Leo gave his wife a sad glance. 'I told him,' he mouthed to Venus. The female turtle nodded slowly, wishing she could be there to help. Leo watched as Venus relayed the information to a sorrowful Mikey.
Soon, Raphael began to calm down. The boy wiped his eyes quickly with the back of his hand. Leonardo simply waited for another inevitable question. "So… how did he die?" Raphael asked, gaining a more rational perspective.
"He was shot while trying to rescue us… He died with honour…" Leonardo said while moving towards the lonely turtle. Raphael allowed the adult to sit next to him.
"What was my dad like?" Raphael asked softly, still finding it unusual to call someone else his father.
"Raphael was very strong willed person. He was an awesome fighter and a very good brother… Don't know what I would have done without him…" Leo answered quietly. "You would have made him proud… I know that 'cause… I'm very proud of you. I know that you're not my son, but I still love and care about you deeply," Leo admitted, wrapping his arms around Raph's shoulders to bring him into a gentle hug.
"…Can I still call you 'Dad'?" Raphael asked worriedly. Leonardo simply smiled.
"Of course you can. I'd be honoured," he said humbly.
"But… but you're not my real dad so…" Raphael started, not really knowing how to express what he wanted to say.
"That doesn't mean that you can't call me Dad. I called Master Splinter my father even though he wasn't related to me by blood. Mike and I aren't real brothers though I still call him that," Leonardo started to explain. "See, family isn't just people with a common ancestry. 'Family' can also mean a group of people who stick by each other through thick and thin, because they care and love one another deeply… So, it's still alright to call me Dad," Leonardo answered.
Raphael remained silent for another couple of minutes. Diana tenderly sat next to her father, not wanting to be left out as she continued to slowly eat her way through the large apple. Raphael finally asked another question to break the thoughtful and reflective silence. "Do you know who killed my father?" Raph asked before looking Leo in the eyes.
The adult cleared his throat. "We believe the man's name was Dr Samuel Welner…" Leo answered whilst remembering the scientists' name badge.
"Why did he shoot him?" Raphael demanded, starting to get angry again.
"They thought that he was a threat. Welner was frightened and acted on impulse…" Leo started. "Your father didn't die in vain… He tried to help us… and he's still helping us today," Leonardo explained, starting to look on the bright side.
"What do you mean?" Raphael questioned quietly, wanting to understand Leo's perception of thinking.
"Well… humans don't know a lot about us, especially how we work internally. You see… when your father died, his body was donated to research. If he hadn't, then the scientists might have hurt one of your children or your children's children. By giving them the information early, he's still saving us to this day…" Leo explained softly.
"Why don't humans understand!? We do nothing to them and they hurt us! Why is that!?" Raphael emotionally interrupted with anger.
"Raphael-"
"I hate humans!" the boy yelled. The tears that he'd wiped away before were quickly returning. "I hate them!" Raphael repeated. Leonardo sighed when he saw the same kind of hatred that had once resided in the boy's father. The adult began to feel guilty; blaming himself for the boy's anger towards humans, much like how Splinter did when he was raising the red hotheaded turtle.
"What about Sarah? She's a human yet she's nice… Not all humans are bad," Leonardo attempted.
"But most of them are! Why can't they just leave us alone?!" Raphael asked angrily, continuing to wipe away his tears.
"Because we're unique," Leo answered softly. Raphael remained silent for quite a while.
"Dad?…"
"Yes…"
"I want to avenge him…"
"Raphael… it doesn't make the pain go away…" Leo tried to convince him.
"But, but Master Splinter avenged his Master, Yoshi. And Mum avenged her Master, Chung I… Why can't I avenge my father?" Raphael questioned with confusion.
"Raph, revenge isn't always the answer. You'll understand that one day…" Leo hoped before giving the boy another hug.
*****
The next morning.
Dr Yesmal and Dr Aquel both entered the glass prison room. After a quick check, Yesmal swiftly pressed a button on the control panel to release Silver into the grassy enclosure outside. The scientist noticed the reptiles' anxious expressions. Clipboards in hand, Aquel and Yesmal slowly walked further into the room to compile more observations. They stopped to stare into Venus and Mike's cell.
"We haven't had much success with these two," Dr Yesmal said glumly. Dr Aquel followed Venus' gaze into the glass cell opposite and sighed.
"This isn't going to work," the female scientist admitted.
"Why not?"
"Because the female seems to be in… love with the blue male," Dr Aquel explained. The man scoffed at her theory almost immediately.
"Animals cannot love. That complex emotion has only been seen and achieved by humans and humans only," Dr Yesmal corrected her.
"And this is coming from the man who saw the 'turtle ghost'!" she teased. Dr Yesmal frowned, knowing what she was talking about. Just a week after the mutant turtles had first escaped years ago, Dr Yesmal had been staying back late at the zoo to work and study the reptile's DNA coding. However, on one such night when he was examining the deceased turtle's remaining collected DNA, he could have sworn that he saw the red adult male; if only for a split second before he disappeared entirely. Scared and worried, he talked to Aquel the next day about it, only to get a laugh in response.
"Hey, do you want to work in the mutation sector or not? You know, I can easily transfer you back to the Education Centre," Dr Yesmal playfully blackmailed. Aquel grumped in response. During the time when the turtles were missing, Dr Aquel was transferred to the zoo's Education Centre where she had to deal with school groups and tourist busses, as her expertise in mutations was obsolete. Dr Yesmal on the other hand, was returned to his old job of taking care of the rarer reptiles such as the Galapagos tortoises, exotic island lizards and some of the venomous snakes. Of course, things changed when Silver arrived as Dr Yesmal and Aquel's jobs were immediately reinstated due to their past experience with mutations.
"Well… maybe they're a monogamous species. I mean, if the adult female can see the Alpha male, then why would she mate with the orange turtle; the Beta male?" Dr Aquel suggested, swiftly becoming serious again.
"Hmm… I know what you mean. But we need to widen the gene pool as much as possible. The blue male already has one offspring…" Dr Yesmal thought.
"So the little red male isn't related to the blue male?" Dr Aquel asked. The man shook his head. "Then who's the father?" she queried.
"Guess," Dr Yesmal invited with a smile, knowing the answer from comparative DNA.
"The orange male?"
"No."
"…The purple one?" Dr Aquel tried; knowing it was a long shot.
"No." The man still had a smile on his face.
"You mean… the red one. The one that's dead?" Dr Aquel realised. Dr Yesmal nodded. "Really? I didn't think they mated…" the female scientist questioned and wondered.
"Well they must have," Dr Yesmal stated the obvious.
"I suppose that's good then. As you said, it broadens the gene pool," Aquel thought positively.
"Yeah… But it still won't be enough. I guess that we should be thankful that we have three completely unrelated adults to begin with so that a second generation can be created with no problems. However it is the third generation of this species that I'm worried about. I'm afraid that inbreeding might be the only answer later on," Dr Yesmal suggested grimly. "It's a shame we don't have the purple male. He could have widened the gene pool of the species a bit more."
"So… they are their own species then?" Dr Aquel wanted to double check.
"Yes. I've compared their DNA to that of numerous turtles. Although they are the result of mutation, I feel as if they've deviated so much from the norm that one could adequately call them a separate species altogther, not a subspecies," Dr Yesmal explained and analysed.
"What's their species called then?" Aquel asked with curiosity.
"Yesmal's Turtle," Dr Yesmal grinned, proud that he registered the genetic discovery first so that he could name the reptiles after himself.
"I can see the resemblance," Dr Aquel rolled her eyes in sarcasm and slight jealousy. "Well how are we going to solve this genetic problem?" Dr Aquel asked, carrying on the conversation.
"Do you know that approximately ten thousand years ago, there was a genetic bottleneck with the cheetah? Some claim that the population was reduced to less than seven individuals, apparently only one was female," Dr Yesmal started.
"I think I've heard about it… How did they solve the problem?" Aquel asked, noticing that it related to the dilemma they faced with the turtles. Dr Yesmal simply shook his head.
"They didn't! The genetic variation is so limited that all cheetahs could be considered as being identical in DNA. Being inbred has also caused mutations to arise, like different coat patterning, sterility and diseases. Of course, this in turn affects the population size, as only one in twenty cubs will survive into adulthood due to the high chance of abnormalities… I'm afraid that these turtles will have to face the same problems in the long run," Dr Yesmal sighed.
"Can they be anymore mutated?" Dr Aquel rhetorically asked with a lighthearted tone.
"Well… Yeah… So far all the mutations in this species have been beneficial. Don't forget that there are a lot of negative mutation effects as well. When inbreeding occurs, all the recessive genes come forward. So maybe we'll get an albino, or one suffering from hemophilia somewhere along the line," Dr Yesmal continued.
"Okay then. Obviously we need to breed as many combinations as possible before we begin to inbreed the turtles," Dr Aquel summarised.
"Well we can start by breeding the aqua female and the orange male together…"
"And how do you propose we do that?" Dr Aquel asked with curiosity.
"Maybe we'll just have to use artificial insemination," Dr Yesmal proposed.
"Has that been done on turtles before?" Dr Aquel asked.
"It has, but it's sometimes unsuccessful. But we won't know until we try, right?" Dr Yesmal said optimistically. "Then after that, the only unrelated male and female pair is the orange and white," he followed up, thinking of further possibilities.
"But the white female is way too young to be bred…" Dr Aquel pondered. "The little red male also won't be any use to us until he's reached puberty," she added.
"Yes, but unlike males, the egg sex cells are already developed, so we can still breed the white female. We could extract the cell, mature it with hormones, fertilise it artificially with the orange male's sperm, then implant it into the adult female," Dr Yesmal suggested.
"You mean surrogacy?" The female scientist questioned.
"Yes." The man answered simply.
"Will that work?"
"I don't know. It's never been done before. But we can always try. We have to increase their population as fast as possible as we don't know their life span. After that, we'll have to start inbreeding; starting off with the white female and the red male when he matures… But first, we should start planning the artificial insemination procedure with the adult female and orange male," Dr Yesmal said with determination.
"I could have the equipment ready by tomorrow," Dr Aquel said helpfully.
"Okay, then we'll do it tomorrow afternoon," Dr Yesmal finalised. After staring at the mutant turtles for a little while longer, he left the room to begin the preparation for the procedure.