Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT. That is all.
Donatello sat in his room working with the makeshift chemistry set he had created. Normally Donatello wasn't much for biological or chemical science, but he had decided do delve into awhile ago for somewhat personal reasons. Recently he had been putting more time into it. He looked over at the little river turtle in a glass cage someone had thrown out because of a crack near the top. A crack near the top wouldn't affect a turtle's environment. He had placed a weighted piece of cardboard with small holes in it on top of the cage just in case Michaelangelo's cat got in his room.
Don picked up the little turtle and looked down at her in his hands.
"It won't be long now. I'll figure it out Mari." He said stroking her shell.
A second or so later Raph walked by the door and peered in.
"Hey, Don, don't you think it's a little strange to have a turtle for a pet when you are a turtle?" he said.
Don ignored him and turned away. Raph just walked away, apparently uninterested in talking about it further. Don stroked Mari's shell one more time and went to put her back. In his hands she very unsuccessfully tried to stand on two legs. He laughed a little at the sight.
"Soon, Mari, soon." He whispered and put her back in her cage.
Donatello turned to go back to work but his stomach growled. He left the room instead to fetch some food. The room was left alone and silent, the little turtle looking ahead, face against the glass, at the table where Don had been working. He was working there to make her like them. He was trying to recreate the chemical from TGRI, the mutagen which caused them to change. If not recreate the substance, then create one with a similar purpose. Don knew he shouldn't mess with things like that since he and his brothers were accidents, but he knew, somehow, that Mari wanted to be like him, and he wanted Mari. He kept what he was working on a secret; Splinter would surely disapprove as well as his brothers. Besides, this was just something for him alone, something he felt he needed to do.
Later that day, Don returned to his room. He was anxious to get back to his work; he felt he was very close. Don was still very unsure how he would test his work after a few adjustments. The thought of mutating a bug was a bit gross. He knew that he should create an antigen first in case the results were horrible. There were so many variables in this type of equation.
As he neared his room and was surprised to see Mike's cat Klunk dash out into the hallway at near top speed and a second later he was horrified. Something must have happened to make him run from the room that fast. Don race ahead and into the open door, which he couldn't believe he left open. His eyes widened in shock. That blasted cat knocked over Mari's cage and dropped Mari on his desk, onto the tubes of chemicals Don was working with, knocking them over and scaring the damned cat out of the room. He rushed to Mari and grabbed a towel. He picked her up with the towel and began wiping her off. He stopped for a moment and looked at her. Was it his imagination or did she seem slightly bigger?
Don rushed her to the bathroom and began to wash her with a wet rag. He looked at a minor wound no doubt from Mike's cat holding her in his mouth. He applied a tiny rag tied over the area and lifted her again without any rags. He blinked at her; she was definitely bigger. He carried Mari back to his room and set her on his bed. He went to work cleaning up the mess on his desk and part of his floor, avoiding any contact with his skin. He even wore some shabby gloves as he wiped up with a towel and ran back to the bathroom for soap and water. After he finished cleaning his desk as best he could and returning to his room after disposing of some things he stood at the door.
It was apparent that Mari was growing. There would be no way she would fit in her cage now. Don was worried about her and knelt before the bed. Mari crawled over to him and nuzzled her head on his. He looked at her and he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. She nuzzled him again.
Just then Mike walks by complaining.
"Hey Don, Klunk has a bite mark on him did…" Mike stopped speaking and stared at the not so small river turtle named Mari that lay on Don's bed.
Mike's cat ran from Mike's arms and far away. Don turned to his little brother and gaped.
"Mikey, it's not what it looks like." Don went silent unable to think of anything else to say as he stood there.
Raph appeared a moment later and peered around the frozen Mike.
"Woah! What the hell have you been working on in here Don?" Raph said slightly freaked out.
Don stood there a moment before putting his hands on his head and sitting on the ground. He shook his head and looked at his brothers.
"It was an accident. That fleabag knocked my experiment onto Mari after trying to eat her." Was all he could say.
"Exactly what kind of experiment were you working on that would cause this kind of result? I thought you were smarter than this Dan!" Raph said getting a little steamed.
Leonardo and Splinter came down the hallway to see what the ruckus was about. Leo glimpsed what was going on first. He seemed shocked.
"Don, how could you?" Leo said disappointedly.
"You shouldn't be messin' with mutagens." Raph said uneasy.
"Why couldn't you have just left it alone?" Leo said rather harshly.
Splinter moved forward and everyone moved enough to let him see. Don sat on the floor, ashamed and feeling helpless. This was not how it was supposed to go at all. Worst of all, now he didn't know if Mari would be alright.
"Donatello, do you understand what you have done?" Splinter said firmly yet softly.
"More than I'd like to." Replied Don.
Splinter bowed his head slightly and closed his eyes. He raised his head again and looked into Don's eyes.
"I do not approve of your behavior nor of what you have done, but I can understand why you would have done it. That still does not make it right, Donatello. You must not mess with the process of life. Since you have already created a mess, you must now take care of her. You must watch her to be certain she is all right. The variables are endless when you are trifling with life. Always remember this Donatello." He said.
"I will." Said Don, tears from earlier still very evident in his eyes.
The others were somewhat surprised at Splinter's reaction. They expected him to be as appalled and angered as Leon. Still they could see the remnants of tears on their brother's face. He knew what he had done; there was nothing else to be said.
"What's done is done, and Donatello, you are grounded. You will not be allowed to the surface unless it is an absolute emergency. Understood?" Splinter added.
"Sensei…, I understand Sensei…" Don said not quite believing that he was being grounded even though he's twenty now.
Mike almost laughed but managed to hold it back. Raph stormed away to take some anger out on his punching bag. Leon followed Splinter as he turned to go. Lately Leo has followed Splinter everywhere. That worried Don; was his sensei all right? Mikey left slowly eying the turtle on Don's bed. After he was alone again, he turned back to the turtle on his bed.
Don was worried about how fast she seemed to be growing. He worried that the formula may have had some major flaw in it that he missed or that something had gone wrong and that she wouldn't be all right. He never wanted harm to come to her. Was it too terrible to love a turtle that wasn't quite like him? Would she be like him soon? He made a decision to sleep on the floor that night and leave the bed to her. He closed the door and went through the chemical composition in his head. He grabbed a pencil and went through possible outcomes from one variable and the next until he collapsed on the papers he was writing on. He was fast asleep and Mari slept too, growing and changing throughout the night. Though her and Don slept decently, the others in their home slept uneasy, knowing that their brother had done something unexpected.
Donatello woke the next morning with a slight headache from thinking too hard. He looked at the bed from his sitting position. The ever-growing Mari was still there. She was still sleeping, moving ever so slightly. Don got up gradually and headed out quietly to put some fuel in his belly so he could think some more about variables and outcomes. He didn't want to miss any possible problem. He passed Raph in the hallway. He was heading the opposite direction of Don and said nothing as he passed. Apparently he was still angry, or maybe he was ashamed of him.
As Don entered the kitchen area he sat down. He began to think about why he really decided to do this. Don knew it was wrong to mess with the natural way of life. He knew the consequences of doing an experiment involving a living being and how unethical it was, yet he did it anyway. He had reasoned out everything in his head until it seemed perfectly ok in his mind. This, he thought, was really a matter of the heart overtaking the mind, and perhaps loneliness driving him to a brief period of insanity. What other things might he have done had he let his mind go? What if he hadn't decided to recreate a similar chemical to the one that gave birth to them? He would have gone crazier he reasoned. This was something he had to do, even if it was morally wrong. If he hadn't… He stopped himself from finishing that thought. He did what he did, that was that.
He finished drinking some orange juice and eating a slice of leftover pizza and headed back to his room. Don entered and stared at the turtle on his bed. She was trying to sit awkwardly and nearly fell over. He smiled meekly; this girl was the reason he reasoned the unreasonable. He loved her he realized and she was always beautiful in his eyes. She looked directly at him like she always did; only now the sadness he used to see was replaced by hope and admiration.
He worked on possible outcomes until lunch and was beginning to get a bit optimistic. She didn't seem to be following the patterns of any of the negative outcomes so far. Don decided he should feed her something. He left and returned to his room with two plates. One had a small meal for him to eat and the other held various foods for her to try. He set his plate down and walked over to her. He handed her a slice of fruit, an apple and she tried to take it. After she failed he placed it in her mouth with his own hand. She ate it and liked nearly everything he brought for her. Don was pleased and soon finished his own food as he sat down back to work.
It went on like this for several days. Occasionally one of Don's brothers would briefly stop by to check on her progress and get a report from Don. She was changing more and more and so far the only bad thing that had happened was that she threw up after trying a piece of anchovy pizza. Though Don was pleased by this, there were still these feelings inside him about briefly losing it, about how maybe it wasn't so bad what he did, being afraid he might do something a bit crazy again.
In the next four months she had grown to full size, learned to walk, talk, and eat. They had even begun to teach her rudimentary martial arts and meditation. By six months Don had let himself relax some. There didn't seem to be any side effects whatsoever. He still watched for any sign of something wrong, but now he was enjoying her presence. She still had not seen the surface and for now everyone agreed to keep her down below. The seventh month from the accident, Mari picked her first weapon, having already becoming quite skilled with the starter bo.
They were all in the Dojo area, Sensei Splinter sitting comfortably on a mat on the floor. No one was practicing, everyone was watching Mari. Mari swung the bokken downward and back. She had taken to martial arts like a turtle to water. She spun slowly twirling the sword. She kicked and flipped backwards. She held the bokken with both hands in front of her and giggled slightly. Don stood up and hugged her. Everyone watched his emotional outburst, yet remained quiet.
After that moment Splinter said they may begin sparring. Unfortunately Mikey's stomach thought otherwise and chose that instant to growl, very loudly in fact.
"Apparently my stomach says it's time for lunch." Mikey said and everyone managed a little laugh and/or shake of the head.
They left the dojo, Mari remaining behind a moment longer. Don walked back over to her and she looked up at him. She wore a light purple band around her head. She didn't really have much visible muscle, but her agility and proficiency more than made up for it. She had come so far in so little time. Don smiled at her and she smiled back, then they began to leave the dojo together. Leo appeared at the door as they left. Sensei Splinter walked toward the door and Leo walked with him.
"My son, I am uneasy about Donatello." Splinter said.
"Why, Sensei? Does it have to do with Mari and him?" Leo responded.
"That may only be a part of it. He should still have remorse about what he's done. I worry his conscience is alluding him." Splinter answered.
"Sensei, I'm sure Don is sorry about it. He did seem very upset after it happened." Leo responded.
"He may have had other reasons to be upset. All I'm saying my son, is like the saying goes, there's a thin line between genius and insanity. This can also be said about good and evil. I only hope that I am wrong about Donatello." Splinter said.
"Sensei…" Leo drifted off mid-sentence and they walked on in silence.
After lunch nearly everyone was settled in the living room area watching the TV someone threw away and Don fixed. Mari was in the Dojo practicing with her bokken. Don was supposed to join her in a few minutes, but first he wanted to get everything he would need to make a present for her. He was in his room, thinking it was the perfect opportunity since she wasn't around him for once. After about fifteen minutes he headed down the hall to the dojo, his small gift in his belt.
As he neared the door he heard shuffling inside. He knew for a fact Mari should be in there alone so he pulled out his bo and rushed in. Mari was nowhere in sight. He dashed to the small exit near the dojo knowing that was the only other way out. As he neared the street level he faintly heard a small scream and then a groan before silence. He crept quickly to street level and looked out. He saw Mari's bokken lying on the ground. He ran over to it and picked it up, looking around. He heard an unidentifiable sound in the distance. Mari… he thought. Why would she go street level? Why?! He screamed in his head before looking frantically in every direction.
"MARI!" he shouted.
There was no response except a mild echo and the wind. He turned and dashed back inside. He ran straight into Raph who was outside the dojo door.
"Don! What happened? I heard you yell Mari on my way to go spar with you guys." He said ready for action.
"She's gone! She's-" he stopped mid-sentence and ran past Raph down the hall. Raph ran after him, contemplating Don's wild eyes a moment ago.
Don burst into the living room, Raph a second behind.
"Mari's gone! When I went to the dojo she was gone and I found this street level." He said somewhat panicked, holding out her bokken.
"Street level?" Raph said fingering his sais, anxious for a fight as always.
"You think she was turtlenapped?" Mike said seriously.
"Did you see anyone?" Leo asked.
"No, no one, but I heard a noise outside the dojo and when I was almost outside I heard a scream, I'm sure it was her. When I reached topside there was no sign of them anywhere, except…" he said and then looked down at her bokken which he still gripped.
Raph crossed his arms in front of himself. Mike sat unmoving.
"This doesn't look good." Leon said.
"I wonder why she went to the surface." Splinter said, echoing Don's thoughts.
Everyone was quiet a moment.
"She must have been exploring. She didn't know there was an exit there. She must have climbed out and been in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't understand who would take her, or who would be able to take her." Don said frustrated, now tapping his foot impatiently while his fingers grasping his bo which he held at his side.
"What are we going to do?" Michaelangelo asked.
"I don't see how there's anything we can do as of yet. We know nothing of who might have taken her. We have no leads and no clues." Leo said.
"We must find her though. Who knows what might happen." Splinter said.
"If it's a turtlenapper they'll probably get in touch with us about ransom or their demands." Mike said.
Everyone looked at him.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Mike said in response to the simultaneous looks.
"No, Mikey, for once you said something right." Raph said.
"Radical. Uh, what I say?" Mikey responded.
His brothers sighed at once.
"Well until and if we get contacted, maybe we should have some patrols around to see if we see any new suspicious activity." Raph said, sounding strategical for once.
"I suppose that's all we can do." Leo said.
"Be careful my sons, as always." Splinter said from his seat on the old couch, both hands on his staff.
"Thanks Sensei. We will." Raph responded while twirling a sai around.
They made a search plan and shifts for lookout. Don was nervous and began to pace, tap his foot, tighten and loosed his grip on his bo, and other nervous reactions. Leo couldn't stand watching him like that after what Splinter had told him of his concerns for Don.
"Donny, relax, we'll find her. It'll do you no good to lose yourself." Leo said and then was unsure those were the right words to say.
"You're right, but I feel so helpless!" Don said frustrated.
A moment later Raph and Mike came back from their searches. There faces were both displeased looking.
"Did you find anything?" Leo asked them.
"You could say that." Mike said only half comedically.
"No, we didn't find anything." Raph said reaching for his belt, "I found this."
He handed the folded paper to Leon. Leo opened it and read it, his eyes generally going wide and then narrowing to a displeased look like the other two.
"What is it?" Don said before grabbing the paper.
"Don, Once you have the mutated turtle disarm it and bring it to Trinity. She will take care of things from there and the turtle will serve its purpose. You may learn of this purpose if you agree to work with us further. If you agree, follow Trinity to the back alley. You'll know the rest from there. Striker" Don read it allowed.
"What is this? Is this some kind of joke?!" Don said getting angry.
"You tell us." Raph said discriminately.
"C'mon Raph, it's more likely another Don. Do you really believe it's our Donny?" Mike tried to reason when he wasn't so sure himself.
"It seems suspicious, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions. We don't really know for sure what this means." Leo said calmly.
Don looked away from his brothers. He knew they were all accusing him. He grabbed his bo and started walking out.
"Let's check all the back alleys. We gotta find something." He said.
Leon followed him and Raph eyed the floor while Mike turned and watch them go.
"Good Luck!" he called halfheartedly.
"Right." Raph said before walking off.