As the Foot Soldiers dispersed, Jutaro approached Bob and Robbie. He told them to head upstairs and shower - "extra hard". Robbie looked over at Bob, who shrugged. As always, they weren't supposed to ask questions.

Robbie went upstairs and showered first, hoping using a washcloth counted as "extra hard". He got dressed as Bob took his shower, and he began wondering what exactly this "regimen" would involve. The more the thought about it, the less he liked it, but he knew there was no "un-volunteering" with the Foot.

Robbie stepped out of his door and saw Jutaro waiting for him on the main floor. He yelled down, "Hey, do I need to bring my stuff? Anything?"

Jutaro looked up, shook his head once, and then turned away. Jutaro was a man of few words.

Sighing, Robbie went back into his room, just as Bob came back in from the bathroom, whistling and trying to get his mohawk back into place. "Hey, you ready to roll?" Robbie shrugged, and Bob stopped, looking his friend over. "Why so glum, chum?"

"Just...worried. How this'll all play out."

Bob laughed and slapped Robbie's shoulder. "Don't worry 'bout it. We'll be the hit of the Foot in no time." He grabbed his leather jacket and nodded towards the door. "C'mon - let's not keep 'em waiting."

After heading downstairs, Bob and Robbie were herded into the back of a van. As they drove off, Robbie turned to watch the streets go by, but then noticed the windows were blacked out. That made him uncomfortable - he felt like he was being arrested. Or kidnapped. Instead, he looked over at Bob, who had resumed his whistling, and sighed. He wished he could be happy-go-lucky as that.

Sensing that he was being looked at, Bob glanced back at Robbie. "So, looking forward to being the second strongest Foot soldier around?" he asked, grinning.

Robbie shrugged. "I dunno. I guess. Just worried how it's gonna work."

"How d'ya mean?"

"Well, what're we gonna have to do? I keep thinkin' it's gonna be like boot camp or somethin'. We're gonna be climbin' ropes and liftin' weights an' all that, with the Shredder yellin' in our ear to go faster an' faster."

Bob smiled. "Nah, it ain't gonna be like that. If they just wanted stronger guys, they woulda grabbed the ones who's already strong, like Bruce. But they was asking for volunteers, and we ain't the strongest guys in da Foot."

Robbie thought about that. It sort of made sense. "So...what do you think it's gonna be like?"

Shrugging, Bob said, "Dunno. But I'm guessin' it'll involve guns."

"Guns?"

"Yeah. They'll give us guns, teach us to shoot, and then we can pick 'em off from up above next time we run into 'em. Then it won't matter how good they are with them chucks an' swords an' stuff."

Robbie frowned. It sounded good, but something about that didn't quite seem right. Before he could give it much thought, the van pulled into a parking lot. They were both quickly ushered into an old abandoned brick building and down a long corridor. Coming to meet them from the other end was an older man in a white coat. He looked at them over his glasses rather absently.

"These are the two?" he asked, and the driver nodded. "Very well. We'll start with one down here...this one." He pointed at Robbie with his pen. "The other one can go upstairs, and I'll attend to him later. You two may as well say your goodbyes now."

"Our...goodbyes?" repeated Bob.

"Yes, we can only handle one of you per floor," the doctor said briefly, like that explained everything.

Bob shrugged - he seemed to accept pretty much everything. He waved to Robbie as two Foot soldiers led him up the stairs. "Later, Robbie. See ya on top of the world!"

"Yeah," said Robbie, half-heartedly waving back. "See ya."

"Now," said the doctor, turning his entire attention to Robbie. "You have showered, correct?"

"Yeah. Just before we left."

"And you have not had contact with any animals today, correct?"

"Huh?"

"Animal contact," said the doctor impatiently. "You didn't pet any dogs or cats? Anything like that?"

Robbie tried not to look completely baffled. "Uh, no."

"Excellent. Let's get started." He led Robbie down the hall into a small room. Robbie stopped to look at the door - it was extra thick and made of steel. The doctor nodded at him. "This bulding was originally a bank when they first built it. These old vaults will come in handy." Robbie turned to look at the room. There was a metal slab in the middle of the room, and hanging from the ceiling was a huge metal ceiling hood and one bare light bulb. That was it. No windows, nothing on the walls, and only the one door. As Robbie took in the lack of ambience, the doctor made some notes on his clipboard and said, "If you'll please disrobe?"

"Huh?"

"Your clothes," said the doctor, now completely impatient. "Take them off."

Still trying not to look confused, Robbie complied. He stripped down to his boxers, then asked, "Uh, these, too?"

"Well, those'll take care of themselves, I imagine," he said cryptically. "You can leave them on. Go ahead and lie down. I'll be right back, and we can begin."

As the doctor headed out, Robbie slowly climbed onto the metal slab (it was cold), and lay down on his back. As he stared up at the hood as it sucked up air noisily, he thought, what's gonna happen? Maybe they were gonna shoot him up with steroids. Robbie heard that made people pretty strong real quick. He heard someone enter the room, and turned his head to look. To his surprise, it was someone wearing a radiation suit. When the person came close, Robbie peered at the face plate - it was the doctor.

After placing a few items on the slab next to Robbie, the doctor got to work. First he wiped Robbie's left forearm with an alcohol pad. Next, he opened up a small but apparently very heavy container. He stuck a swab into it, and pulled out some sticky green goo, which he smeared onto Robbie's arm. Robbie couldn't figure out what that was for - maybe some sort of disinfectant? It felt a bit warm, but that was it. Robbie watched as the doctor carefully wrapped up the swab and stuck it into a pocket on his radiation suit. He replaced the lid on the container, and put that in a different pocket. Next, he pulled out a syringe. Robbie shut his eyes and gritted his teeth - he hated shots - but instead of injecting him, the doctor just squirted some thick red liquid onto his arm. Opening his eyes, he glanced down at his arm, but then was distracted by the doctor. He had quickly grabbed all the items he had brought in, then scurried out of the room, shutting the huge metal door behind him.

"Doc?" Robbie said. "What's going on?" He began asking something else, but it was cut short by a scream.

What followed was a complete blur of intense, body-wracking pain. Mercifully, his brain kept him unconscious through most of it. At some point, the slab he had been lying on was removed, but Robbie didn't notice - he was busy writhing on the floor, alternately moaning and screaming. From time to time, hunger would overtake him - a hunger so intense that it blocked out the pain. Each time it did, he opened his eyes and found a large plate of hamburgers and a pail of water in front of him. Robbie would wolf the burgers down, ten, twelve at a time, not even noticing that they were cold. He'd follow that by gulping down the contents of the pail, and then immediately falling senseless again.

Finally, at last, Robbie found himself waking up. He felt completely worn out, and he ached absolutely everywhere. Slowly, painfully, he opened his eyes. He was sprawled out on the ground, face down. Slowly, he tried to piece together what had happened. He vaguely remembered the intense pain and hunger, but couldn't put a time frame to it.

Darting his eyes around, he noticed something near his head. He painfully started moving his arm over to grab it. Suddenly, he froze. His hand was now in view, and Robbie didn't recognize it at all. It was huge and grey, with a few thick hairs protuding from it here and there. The nails were yellowed and cracked. Robbie moved the fingers one at a time, and watched as the large but stubby fingers moved in turn. This was his hand, all right. What had happened to him? Again, he noticed the thing by his head, and reached for it. Once he touched it, he recoiled in horror - the thing wasn't near his head, it was his head! Slowly, he forced his hand back to it, and began feeling it all over. It was long, with a pronounced snout. His teeth were sharp and crooked. Moving upwards, he felt horns (horns?). His eyes were small and set back, and his ears now stuck up over his head. Robbie tried to piece together what he looked like. Grey, horns, snout...elephant? No. Hippo? No. Rhino...that's it! That doctor had turned him into a rhino! He was a freak now, just like them turtles!

Robbie heard a noise near the door. Lifting his massive head somewhat (it felt incredibly heavy), he saw a Foot soldier peering into the room. Robbie shouted up at the metal grate in the door. "What did you do to me?!" The Foot soldier left, but Robbie hardly noticed. He was stunned by the sound of his own voice - even that had changed. Now it was deep, hoarse and raspy. "What did you do to me?" he repeated, mainly to himself, as he let hin head droop back onto the floor.

It wasn't too much longer before another shape appeared at the grate. "So, my warrior is ready for battle!" a voice intoned.

Again, Robbie slowly turned his head toward the door. Even in the low light, even through the grating, he recognized the Shredder. Once more, Robbie said, this time somewhat flatly, "What did you do to me?"

"You are indeed fortunate," said the Shredder, with no apparent irony. "You have become the first of an army of invincible warriors for the Foot clan. What better way to fight mutant than with another mutant?"

Slowly, Robbie lifted his chest off the floor a bit. He leaned a bit to the side, and swung his legs around, wincing as the sore, expanded muscles were used for the first time. He eventually managed to get himself into a sitting position, with his legs splayed out in front of him. He didn't feel invincible at all. He tried to think of something to say, but all he could think was "God, I hurt everywhere" and "I don't have any clothes on."

"So, how does it feel, to be one so powerful, and so honored?" asked the Shredder.

Numbly, Robbie looked at his hands, then let them drop to his lap. Lifting his heavy head towards the door, Robbie said, "Um. I don't like it. Change me back."

"Change...you...?" The Shredder's voice was quiet and even, but Robbie thought he heard extreme anger behind it. But suddenly, the voice became calm and friendly. "Change you back? Certainly! Once you've killed those freaks, if you decide you no longer wish to be one of the Foot's elite fighting force, we'll change you back."

Robbie blinked up at the door. "Really?"

"Of course. But first things first. We must defeat the threat to our clan. Are you ready for your first battle? To restore your honor, and the honor of the Foot?"

The Shredder's voice inspired him. Growling, Robbie sprang to his feet. Well, he tried to, but his muscles wouldn't do what he told them to. His legs didn't stretch out all the way, and he didn't give himself enough of a push. As it was, he fell flat on his face, smacking his snout on the floor. "Oof," he groaned, rolling to his side and grasping his nose with both hands. After a second, the Shredder slammed his fists against the door and stormed off.

Lying there, Robbie started thinking. The more he thought, the clearer one thing became - the Shredder held all the cards. It's not like Robbie could just get up and leave. He was a freak. Even his ma wouldn't recognize him now. And there was no way he could go through life looking like this. He had to get his old body back. And the only person who could do that for him was the Shredder. So for now, he was stuck - he had to do what the Shredder asked. If he had to go kill those turtles in order to get his body back, then that's what he would do. And he couldn't kill the turtles in the state he was in. He had to master this body.

It was somewhat surprising, even to Robbie, how focused he became. Admittedly, there wasn't much to do in his featureless room, but in addition, he had certainly never had a goal that was this important to him. He devoted every waking moment to trying to master his body. It took him two hours to stand, and until the end of the day to take two steps without tripping over his own large feet. By the end of the second day, he could walk across the room without keeping his hand on the wall. On the third day, he asked a frightened and confused Foot soldier for a penny, which was hastily handed to him through the grate. Robbie would toss it across the room, walk over, bend down and try to pick it up. The first time he tried, he fell foward onto his face. The next time, going very slowly and carefully, he managed to pick up the penny in about an hour. By the end of the day, he could pick it up without too much trouble. He was given clothes (size 6XL), and he practiced putting them on and taking them off, over and over. The zipper on his pants was especially difficult - it took a lot of practice for him to grab the small pull with his oversized fingers.

On the fifth day, Robbie decided he needed to work on his balance - he was tired of tripping and falling all the time. He was hopping from one foot to another, side to side, when a Foot soldier brought in his typically large lunch. The Foot soldier watched Robbie awhile with amusement. "Nice moves, there, Rocksteady," he said, and two other soldiers in the hall laughed. Robbie gave him a look, and the soldier quickly scurried out of the room. Robbie watched him leave, grabbed a sandwich, and shoved it into his mouth, resuming his hopping motion. By the end of the day, everyone in the building was calling him Rocksteady, but he hardly noticed - he had work to do.

A couple days later, Rocksteady was running from one corner of the room to the other, causing the building to shake a bit under each heavy footstep, when the door opened. Two Foot soldiers stepped in, and Rocksteady stopped running, staring at them inquisitively.

"The Shredder has called for you," one said.

Rocksteady untucked his T-shirt from his pants, and wiped the sweat off of his forehead with it. He breathed heavily, then nodded. The Foot soldiers stepped out into the hall, and Rocksteady followed them, ducking his head slightly to avoid hitting the top of the door frame. As they headed down the hall, he saw a few people in rooms staring at him. He stared each one down. For the first time, he started to feel good about his new body. He was feared! He was someone to be reckoned with! Maybe being a freak for a while wasn't going to be so bad.

The Foot soldiers waved him into a room, which Rocksteady ducked into. There wasn't much there - none of these rooms appeared to be fully furnished. There were a few fluorescent lights hanging down, a long metal bench at one end, and standing near a chalkboard, arms crossed, was the Shredder. He looked over Rocksteady with an approving eye.

"My Foot soldiers have told me you have made great progress, " he said. Rocksteady nodded once. "Excellent. The time grows near..." His speech was cut short by someone else ducking into the room. He was just as tall as Rocksteady, and just as wide. He was covered in brown fur, and had a huge gold ring through his snout. But there was no mistaking that pink mohawk.

"Bob?" asked Robbie.

"Robbie?"

"Enough," announced the Shredder. "Heartwarming reunions make me sick to my stomach." He held out his hand, indicating the bench, and they sat down. "The time has come for you two to eradicate this mutant menace once and for all."

Rocksteady blinked. Now? I just finished learning to walk. He looked over at his friend, who was watching the Shredder and nodding. The Shredder went on.

"I have several Foot soldiers out laying the bait. At the first sign of them, we will drive you down to engage them. You will be properly outfitted with everything you need to see to it that these freaks don't bother us ever again. If possible, bring them to me alive. If not possible, bring them to me dead. Either way, bring them to me. Is that clear?"

Rocksteady thought about saying something, but he watched as Bob pounded his fists into his knees and grunted. Well, Bob looks ready, he thought. Well, maybe we can take 'em on. Well, sure! We're huge! There ain't no way they can take us out now. It might take some time, but we'll get 'em.

A buzzing sound interrupted Rocksteady's internal pep talk. The Shredder pulled a small communicator from his belt. "Yes?...Already?...Excellent. I'll send them now." He put the communicator back on his belt and looked up at his two mutants. "The time has come. Let us get you equipped."