Outside Chance

by WhyIsThisHappeningToMe

(set post s4 of TMNT 2012) Leo has to make a lifechanging decision when the rebel-foot clan destroys their home. In a desperate attempt to escape, the turtles use the strange substance 'purple ooze' to temporarily become human as a means to an end. But when the brothers are sepperated during the seige, how will they be able to find each other again before their enemies does?

11. Sound Asleep

4 months earlier…

There was a time, not too long ago when the line between a typical stealth mission and a run around during what could have potentially been a life-threatening attempt at bringing back the glory days, was getting dangerously blurry. They'd patrolled the city every night for weeks on end, their fearless leader convinced that there was, as he'd put it, an eminent danger lurking somewhere in the city, which more often than not, had proven to be little more than a harmless robbery or a cat stuck in a tree.

In truth, New York had been pretty much silent ever since the foot lost their leader- Karai taking over as their new one. Mutants were no longer an issue as every possible mutagen canister they'd come across had either been successfully turned into retro mutagen or destroyed entirely, healing everyone still alive and willing. The Kraang had left Earth for a while now, no alien activity whatsoever picked up on one of Donnie's scanners, and it was most likely going to stay that way ever since, they too, were defeated by the turtles. They'd won the battle… two long years of fighting and now there was finally peace. They could do what they wanted- at least, what the mutant part of them permitted, which granted their ever-exciting lifestyle, wasn't all that much. Especially when you had to stay in the shadows. And no one felt this harder than Leo, who as mentioned before, had used the passing months patrolling every inch of the city, searching for intel, going after the very first sign of trouble available, feeling every nerve in his body stir. His instincts telling him that their work wasn't done, that there was something missing, despite what the others had told him. April was gone, Casey was having trouble at home and now, Leo's brothers were celebrating. Celebrating. Obviously not recalling the last time they'd falsely assumed that everything was peachy. When they'd let their guard down for just óne moment, right before everything went south…

Right before they'd lost him forever…

All things considered, that was probably one of the biggest reasons, when Karai had told them that defectors in the clan was retaliating, instead of giving into despair, Leo had almost yelped in excitement. Apparently, not everyone in the clan was particularly happy about the new management, meaning more and more foot soldiers begun to vanish, as a result, putting Karai at risk once more and more seemed to consider the alternative. But it wasn't until a handful of her soldiers were found dead in the bay a couple of days ago, that things started to look grim. Something was going on here, that much was crystal clear, and whatever it was, there was no celebrating until they'd figured out exactly what.

Which finally, led them to the Firely building on seventh, anti-foot clan activity (as Mikey has so delicately christened them) spotted somewhere in the opposite building. The stakeout had lasted ever since noon- everyone but Raph, now snoring absently on the ground, waiting patiently before the loud ruckus of something almost exploding inside, was enough of a sign to wake the team.

Leo tightened his mask, starting to poking at Raph carefully with the round end of his katana.

"Pssst- " he hissed, Donnie facepalming quietly before divulging his attention back to Mikey, one step away from jumping the building, if Don hadn't caught him by the tip of his shell last minute. Leo poked Raph again. "PSSSSSSSSTTTTT!"

Only a louder snore and a drool to show for it. Typical. But before he got the chance to slap him awake, Mikey was already ahead of him.

"Don't worry bros- I got this" he said, smugness painted all over his freckled face as he paced over to him. Donnie was about to object, hadn't Leo stopped him in the effort- all too curious to see where this was going despite his better judgement. And besides, it's not like he didn't ask for it. And so, they watched as Mikey promptly pulled out what looked to be a gummy bear and sprinkled them all over Raph's shell. "Raph! There's a roaches in your shell! oH god they're everywhere! Everywhere man! "

In which, his eyes immediately shot up in terror. "Wha-I'm up- I'm up! What is it?" he yelled befuddled, jumping on his feet as he pulled out his sais defensively- turning to all sides at once in a panic before finally, realizing the laughter. Leo was probably the only one containing it to little more than a smirk, all the while Donnie had his arms crossed irritatingly.

"What?"

Donnie had to rub his temples, "Hey, meathead… the mission? Remember?!" he said, Raph turning his attention back towards the opposite building and then to his brothers again, disappointment heavily showing.

"Right, that… urgh. Remind me again why I skipped doing nothing for this?"

Leo let out a sigh. This was already dragging, and they didn't have a lot of time. "Let's just go while we got the chance. We've wasted enough time waiting around as is"

"You do realize that we haven't heard from the foot in a year right? They're not gonna show"

"Always the sceptic" Leo muttered, all of them collectively jumping the building one after the other. Landing in a three second spin by one of the roof's window panels, peaking down into the warehouse below where the flashing lights beneath kept hitting the wall below.

"I'm just saying, when this turns into another false alarm, don't say I didn't warn ya"

Leo let out a sigh. "Have many times do I have to tell you- We're not doing this for fun, we're doing it for Karai and come on- how many times has she helped us when we needed it?"

"About as many as she's tried to kill us" Raph said, arms crossed. They all looked at him for a moment, death glares among all three. "What? It was a joke."

"Ju- Will you just get it open already?"

Donnie nodded, pulling out his gear and attaching it to the glass swiftly. "Alright, window vibration should dislodge the hatch in three, two, one-

"HEY DUDES! I THINK THIS ONES OPEN! " Mikey yelled excitedly, having slipped over to the other panel on the roof by an open window, seemingly without the others noticing.

Donnie was not amused. "Or not"

"Remember the meaning of stealth mission?!" Leo hissed, hushing them as they made their way inside, Raph still with his arms crossed- defiantly not moving. Took him approximately 20 seconds of stubborn disagreement, a long-drawn scoff and an eye roll to top it off, before he eventually joined them at last, closing the lit.

They landed on a platform, embedded into a rusty walkway that, in the darkness vaguely resembled an office torn apart by time. They began to make their way inside, listening for footsteps, voices or just anyone nearby but was instead greeted by the empty hallways. However, after Donnie had gotten to them midpoint of his 'nine hundred facts about the Popsy-gum factory' seminar,another crash roaring somewhere downstairs made the team go further down. They reached another entrance, lock depicted by Donnie in a striking twenty seconds before it slid to the sides, revealing an even dustier hallway, this time immensely bigger and most likely tenfold creepier.
"Woah… what do you think's down there?" Mikey asked, getting ready to let out a hollering echo, hadn't Raph stopped him last second. "Hmm… Popsy-gum super weapon?"

"Actually, popsy gum was only manufactured in limited areas around the states, due to the minerals used to fabricate the flavor, being dangerously poisonous for a good portion of distribu-

"ARGH- We GET IT already!" Raph yelled, shouldering inside at least twice as reluctant to be there as he already were. The others followed suit, Donnie with his scanners flashing mildly around the walls of nearly torn off wallpaper and Mikey with his incessant need to touch everything he lay his eyes on. Leo on the other hand, was more focused on the blaring ruckus growing louder and louder as they went. That- together with the nearly bone chilling wail edged into the walls, summing quietly around them as something purplish seeped out from the cracks in the wall.

"Guys? I think I found something" he called, Donnie immediately getting to work. He learned his head against the wall, listening carefully until his eyes lit up letting them know right away that they were onto something here. "Yeah, you're right! There's an entrance here, somewhere behind the tapestry I reckon. Just gotta-

But Leo had already grabbed his blades. He stuck it inside the crack and, like a crowbar forced the entry way open, dust and splinters shooting everywhere at once in the effort.

"Seriously, can't anyone just for once let me be the one doing that?" Donnie muttered, disappointedly packing his gear away as they all collectively went:

"Nope"

"Nah-uh"

"Not a chance"

"Sorry pal" -and headed inside. It didn't take them long to realize that wherever they now found themselves in, it was at least half a decade or so old. Raph ran his hands over the walls, probably feeling the vibrations as more flashes somewhere ahead led them further inside. Deeper into the building, until finally, they reached the ventilation shaft- the same one making whatever happening on the other side sound like a dinosaur was loose. They crawled inside, Leo for the thirty second time, reminding his team to be quiet, before they finally reached the source of the light. Dropping down onto a set of crates hosted into the air, down below came the continuing display of anti-foot soldiers starring at a container. Probably the biggest one they'd seen yet, glowing bright purple from canisters upon canisters stacked inside crates of mutagen. Except this wasn't that. They all knew as soon as the flashes came from a set of volts being set to zap the container continuedly, before yet another canister, was put underneath a tap.

"Guys… is that…?" Leo muttered, his mind not comprehending what it was seeing entirely.

"I can't believe this… purple mutagen!" Donnie gasped, neither really sure if he was excited at this discovery or terrified all the same.

"Wouldn't it be purple ooze? No, no, no that's not a good name… The, uh- the violemutagen! No, no, wait, I got it! The viooze"

"It's not even violet" Raph complained.
"Well, how would you know? You've never worn it"

"And you have-?"

"Children, mind paying attention to the- I don't know, deadly mutation hazard on our hands?!" Leo hissed, shushing them both.

The tap was then opened by another soldier, pouring it inside a needle before nodding to his colleague. And before anyone could stop him, he rolled up his sleeve and injected it. They chained him to a chair in the other side, none reacting as he started to squirm, shaking and wailing like crazy. The team watched in horror as the sounds of bones breaking filled the room, a heavy growl appearing under the foot soldiers mask while he started to grow bigger, more animalistic… falling to the ground as the screams echoed for miles. The sight itself was a horror show that wouldn't end, the foot soldier twitching and wailing, as whatever it was injected into him twisted his body into a shadow of itself. I monstrous creature of flesh and light, veins popping out of the used to be soldiers spiked back like needles. Blood dripping from the melting iris, looking as if it was about to pop out of its skull. Finally, a sizzling zap was heard as one of the soldiers brought a metal rod to his back, silencing him immediately. He collapsed to the ground, head dizzily slouching to the side.

A chill went down their spines as they watched this, a myriad of thoughts pouring in each of their minds ranging from fear to trauma. Mikey deciding that now would probably be a very good time to leave, Raph wanting to blow the entire facility up to pieces so that he'd never have to watch the sight again, Leo eagerly scanning the room, trying to piece together anything that might help them figure out what their next move should be and Donnie…. already making his way down the crate towards the canisters.

"Donnie! What are you doing?! Get back here!" Leo yelled, but of course, he didn't listen. He kept climbing, carefully maneuvering down the crates one foot after the other, tongue stuck to the side of his mouth as he concentrated on being invisible. The other's held their breath, watching as he managed to pass by the crate, a foot soldier sundering passed him a little too close to his hiding spot. When he didn't notice however, Donnie took the opportunity to reach for one of the canisters. This was a tricky thing however, because the way they were stacked, loosely, almost as if someone carelessly tossed them in there with no regard for what was inside, made the act of not pulling the whole thing down close to impossible. Luckily, Donnie was the one doing it, calculating the diameter of the laws of physics in his spare time just for fun. He grabbed the one on top, a synchronized sigh of relief escaping the others as a result, nearly having a panic attack when one of the soldiers came back around and he had to duck. After approximately ten seconds of internalized panic, and counting, finally, Donnie managed to somehow sneak around the back, using one of the metal pipes to make his way back without being seen.

That's when Raph slapped him in the back of his head, hard enough to nearly make him tumble over- rendering his efforts all for naught. "Are you crazy?! You're bringing that stuff with us?!"

"Glowy…. must…. touch-

"Mikey, no!" Donnie slapped his hand away, pulling the canister close to his shell. "This… is extraordinary… I've never seen anything like this"

"Yes, extraordinarily dangerous! And now we're seriously bringing that back to the lair!? Did you not see what it turned that poor bastard into?!" Raph protested, Leo, after a long pause figuring that now would probably be a good time to get out of there while they could. "Okay, team, we got what we came for- we should get back to the lair before anyone sees us-

POP

Suddenly, one of the soldiers looked up at their hiding place by the sudden noise.

"You were saying?" muttered Raph.

They all turned towards Mikey- Mikey, who just very thought out popped a gumball in his mouth, loud enough to wake everyone inside the Chrysler building if necessary. That's when the alarm started, red lights blinking as the foot soldiers down below at long last, noticed the four mutants huddled up in their ceiling.

"MIKEY" they all yelled, their little brother turning red.

"What? So, Donnie can steel a freaky monster serum, but I can't take some gum?! It's blueberry tropical, man! Blueberry!"

They all collectively sighed, figuring that scolding Mikey could come after they'd made it out of there alive. "Come on!" Leo gestured, pulling out his katanas before promptly kicking the first soldier making their way up the crates towards them solemnly in the face. They made for the roof, one of the ventilation shafts still hanging open. Mikey was the first to enter, then Donnie, then Leo- extending a hand to Raph tripping in the commotion whilst also dodging three ninja stars aimed for his head. He grabbed on, Leo pulling him up faster than his strength normally would endure and closed it.

"Still think I'm being paranoid?"

---

The creature writhed and shrieked, loud enough for the vibrations to hit the stones and the tunnel echoing for miles. It was like nothing neither Mikey nor Donnie had ever seen. The creature was long and slender, skin hobbled over with black veins and spikes in the back. It crawled sluggishly, surprisingly fast for its lack of balance, the head nothing more but a face full of teeth- eyes like blackish pearls in its skull, barely visible. Skin was like a sort of goo, metamorphic and everchanging the more it stuck out its long spike-like claws, just a hint of a purplish glow underneath. Also, if anything helping the gang see in the darkness of the tunnel, despite the fact that the creature was out to kill anyone and anything it came across. But then, a voice called out, the creature falling back reaching for its eyes in pain before stumbling. Donnie and Mikey looked up- Donnie still trying his damndest to hide the dizziness swelling in his skull and the streak of blood dripping from his human nose.

And there was none other than Leo, more bandages and bruises than usual but carrying that same heroic space ranger wannabe determination on his face, they'd grown so accustomed to. "Leo?! " Mikey gasped, as their brother paced around the creature with a flashlight in his hand- aiming it intently at the creature's face. This- shockingly seemed to work. The creature let out the wince of a scream- for a moment making Donnie think he heard the wail of a man somewhere inside, as the creature grabbed the last resemblance to a face it had.

"But I don't understand- H-how did you- " Donnie ducked, one head away from getting his own torn to shreds, and Leo followed the other way around, surprisingly at focus.

"Survival first, questions later, how's that sound?!"

"Agreed"

Mikey tumbled to the ground, broke a twig in two and replaced it for the nun chucks the creature had so unceremoniously eaten. He didn't manage to get anywhere with it though, the creature too fast to counter and resulting in Mikey instead hitting the bricks if Donnie hadn't stepped in- shoving both out of the way. It started to flinch again, Leo's flashlight now blinking which somehow seemed to be even more painful than previously and then it finally started to click.

"Of cause- it's sensitive to light! How did you know?!"

Now it was Leo's turn to duck, managing a less than elegant roll to the side, only almost nearly dropping the thing, and rendering them all pretty much dead.

"Saw it on Space Heroes"
Yep… it's really him, Donnie managed, given that out of all the things their dear brother would learn how to deal with mutants, of course it had to be a sci-fi tv show from the eighties… Donnie started to think, both dodging, running and subsequentially avoiding a fatal blow to his already exhausted limbs, which wasn't exactly easy.

"Okay, okay, okay, sensitive to light, sensitive to light, just gotta… we have to, uh- Leo?"

He turned back to his brother, trying very eagerly to hide the fear on his face.

"What?!"

Argh, curse you if you hold me to this once we get your memory back, it's ONE time! "I need to reach the source! It's somewhere close but I don't know if we can get passed it, without-

"It's not an it! It's suit pants guy!" Mikey suddenly protested, holding off the creature with another stick, this one jagged into its teeth ridden throat.

"Who?!"

" Mikey, we talked about this- this is not an appropriate time for name calling! Argh-" Donnie fell to the ground, quick on his feet and a soaring need for clarification. "It's not even accurate!"

" He was my cell mate buddy! Come on buddy, it's me! Mikey! The funny one!"

But the creature didn't seem to reciprocate. Wavering for a moment to the side as if there was the faint hint of recognition there, before it swung its claw-like arms towards Mikey's head again, in turn making Donnie flinch. But the more he thought about it… yeah, there WAS someone else in that cage wasn't there? B-but that wasn't even alive! How could that become… Donnie gulped, the creature letting out a shriek of pain… that?

" Donnie!" Leo yelled, as Mikey led the creature around in circles. Suddenly, he was right next to Donnie, pulling him at a safe distance, hands on his shoulders as to make absolutely sure he had his full attention. And surprisingly, even for human Leo, it worked. "I'll distract him long enough for you to get close. I have an idea, but I need your jacket to do it"

"M-My jacket?! What are you nuts? Use your own jacket!"

"For the love of- Will you just do it?!"

Reluctantly Donnie complied, pulling the sleeves from his jacket and handing it to Leo whom he was either going to blame later for getting them killed, or tell him I told you so when whatever he was going to do backfired. Needlessly, he allowed Leo to use the flashlight to lure the creature away from Donnie, who took a second to look back as their fearless leader for a moment before a sort of mutual agreement between them finally allowed him to understand. We have to use it against him… he realized, mad that he didn't think of it first.

"Mikey! When I say go, give me a boost!"

"Why me?!"
"JUST DO IT" he yelled, as the creature growled and hollered towards Mikey, zigzagging his way towards the pipes, where he swung out of the way just in time before the creature was knocked to the ground. Now. Donnie put his bo away, took a breath and ran towards him, "NOW!" to which Mikey, hesitantly for just a moment before he folded his hands, and Donnie used the momentum to jump high into the air before then-

-landing directly on the creature's shoulders. There came a thump as he held on for dear life, the creature, in turn, beginning to shriek even louder as a result. Shaking like crazy all the while nearly throwing itself into the ceiling just to get him off by any means necessary, it appeared that the plan so far was either going horribly or surprisingly not terrible. Quickly Mikey jumped to the side, Leo following suit before locking eyes with Donnie who was at this point in time starting to doubt the credibility of human Leo even more than he already did, whilst avoiding the spikes poking out of its back. Then, in the flash of a second, he then threw the jacket, the creature instantly trying to shield its face, in the process nearly knocking Donnie to the ground. Luckily, he managed to catch it, suck it sports, biting his lip as he took each sleeve in each hand, pulling the fabric over the creature's face and arms with all the strength left in him. And as fate would have it- it worked.

A fter the knot was tied, Donnie at the first available opportunity jumped down, tripping temporarily before making his way to the others exhausted and exasperated, the creature letting out yet another scream struggling to free itself. It seemed the light at the tip of its blades was more than enough to send it into a temporary panic, struggling and biting and whining to get it off, the mere shine of the skin like acid to the eyes. And then, after what felt like an eternity, finally… it fell to the ground. Twitching, but miraculously, restrained.

"I…it worked" Donnie muttered, starring amazed as Leo nearly tumbled over.

"T-Told you… longer sleeves…" he chuckled, leaning on his knees all the while Donnie sighed at the remnants of his jacket, now covered in suitpants-guy slime. He gulped, feeling ill just by the look at it. And to think… one wrong sample of mutagen and that might as well have been us, he thought, guilt gnawing away at his brain for a brief period before coming to his senses.

"Is it over?" they all wondered, as if that was all the signal it needed to begin moving again little by little.
Donnie grabbed his bo, Mikey readying the sticks he'd found in his hands and Leo's jaw nearly dislodging itself as it rose to its feet. A deep, deep growl escaped its fanged throat, growing into a howl almost as it ripped Donnie's jacket to pieces, getting ready to almost definitely, probably kill of them. However, that's not what happened.

"What the-

Before either had any time to react, a sizzling ZAP suddenly came from behind it, making it jitter for a second before it once again fell to the ground, this time for good. And there in front of them stood none other than Metalhead 3.0, in the metal, and a zapper in hand. Donnie had never been so happy to see a toaster in his life, glaring down to the controller in his hands that had now actively received and activated its transmitter. Are you telling me, I didn't even have to climb up that thing I the first place?! He probably would have been more annoyed, wasn't it for the fact that him being here in the first place, was proof enough that the lair wasn't destroyed.

They all just stood there, starring ahead, trying to process what just happened, until eventually Leo was the one who broke the silence.

"I have some questions… Firstly-

"LEO!" Mikey yelled, and without warning, jumping up on Leo's back nearly sending him them both to the ground- all the while Donnie with a relief walked up to Metalhead, ecstatically exclaiming to his creation:

" You came back! " in unison. Donnie patting Metalhead on the lit, and Mikey in the midst of strangling their older brother, clinging to him like it was the last thing he'd ever do.

"Yeah… Seems like it"

---

They were still running long before the bullets started coming. Apparently, someone didn't know how to knock someone out properly, resulting in probably the worst night of stake out in months. Firemen scrambled to their feet, struggling to put out the fires, police officers restraining every gang member that hadn't surrendered, or retaliated with their own weaponry. And of cause, caught in the middle of it were none other than Raph and Casey, now being hunted down by a cop not very pleased with the hole the vigilante had planted on the side of his skull. The reached for the docks, or just anywhere outside of the mayhem that might be a shortcut back to the others' location, but with little to show for it. Everywhere they went, were either people blocking their way, tattoed freaks trying to break their sledgehammers over their heads, and not to mention the douchebag in a trench coat running guns blazing behind them, a red stripe of blood peeping down over his forehead. As this was happening, Raph struggled with the transmitter in his hands, trying to reconnect but with no luck.
"Great job! Awesome job actually! Well done, because now they're after BOTH OF US! Brilliant plan there, doofus!"
"Hey, if it wasn't for me, you'd be in a cell right now!" Casey yelled back, slinging the hockey stick at the nearest attacker, Raph finishing him by promptly grabbing his neck and thrashing him against the bricks.

"I had it!"

"You didn't want my help, then you shouldn't have run of like an idiot towards the danger zone in the first place! How about that! What the heck were you even thinking?! What- missed your teddy bear or something'?"

They ducked behind the nearest cover, remnants of a tent now nothing more than broken furnitures and charcoal. Another shot was heard, footsteps approaching while the cop who the more Raph looked at his ugly mug, felt like he'd seen before as he stumbled their way, eyes intensely desperate.

"Doesn't matter. He's not here" Raph muttered, swallowing the fact that the chances of Bernie making it out of here in one piece was one to a hundred. Didn't matter how much he'd bragged about it, when it came to it, he was nothing more than dead meat in a tattered overhaul and a dusty hat. Who knows where- thanks to us involving him...
"Okay, you have some serious explaining to do once we get back-

"Doesn't help. In case you haven't noticed, there's cops everywhere. And now, that they're after both of us, meaning we can't get back to the lair, meaning Donnie and Mikey are probably going to get killed because you couldn't follow a simple instruction, meaning now we're ALL dead! GREAT!"

"How about a simple thank you huh?! I saved your life, and you know it!"
"You know what, you're right… you're right! Thank you, Casey. Thank you so much, for proving yet again why you'll never make it on your own without our help"

Casey shook his head for a moment, closing his eyes in disbelief. It reminded him an awful a lot of the way Leo used to do it, whenever one of them came up with something unbelievably stupid. "Too bad the mutagen goo didn't make you any less of a JERK" he grunted, ducking as something big and heavy was thrown at them from afar. Raph was quick on his feet, pulling them both down to the ground before they'd get an unwanted facial.

"Why is he after you anyway?"

Raph shrugged, scanning the area. Everywhere they looked was chaos, fire or enemies. They were right smack in the middle of a all you can eat buffet of people who'd very much like to either beat them to a pulp or put them behind bars. Great plan.

"We're wasting time. We need to get passed that geezer or we're toast" Raph muttered, trying not to show his panic, though by now if the infamous Casey Jones could tell that his old mutant friend now turned human was him by just a glance, of cause he was gonna notice either way.

"Leave it to me"

"What?" Raph fumbled after him, but the airhead was already out in the open with his weapon swung high in the air.

"Hey GRANDPA! Allow me to introduce you to my staff-

"Casey don't- " he tried, though it was already too late. Casey ran full speed at the detective, zigzagging around the bullets by some miracle not being hit by one of them, before promptly getting punched in the face.

"Idiot…"

---

"We should be close now"

Donnie called, following the controller up front, all the while Mikey and Leo walked behind an unconscious… whatever he was, was dragged across the mudded bricks of the sewer by Metalhead 3.0. Leo was thankful that the explosion hadn't rendered his limbs entirely unusable, granted, the process of getting from the fighting ground to an apparent secret lair the police force somehow had yet to discover, wasn't easy. In all honestly, the passing events of the last two hours were still a puzzle to him. Why he'd bother coming here in the first place, risk his safety, follow these strangers down into who knows where in the faint hope that he'd scope out their hideout, or just… something. But that wasn't all. Something about what Raph told him, had stuck with him somehow. And now that he was here, among the weirdos and monsters of the underground to New York City, he couldn't help but feel like he was in the right place. In an odd, life-threatening way of course, but still.

He looked at the blazer shredded creature he was now in the process of dragging alongside two teenagers his age, causally having brought it to the ground with what appeared to be a robot none the less, and couldn't help but wonder how in the heck he'd gotten there in the first place. So, many questions and yet the process of actually asking any of them had somehow come to a halt in his sore throat, fretful for whatever logical explanation might come out of it. And while he wasn't convinced, that is to say, entirely convinced of any claim they'd made about who he was, he couldn't deny the sincerity that came with it. Even now, the freckled one, Mikey as he was called, couldn't stop starring at him like he was an exhibit at a museum. Not exactly the reaction he was expecting from an apparent killer.

"I still can't believe that worked"
"I still can't believe that you even knew where to find us! And not to be rude, but didn't you… blow up? How the heck are you here?!" Donnie asked, an exasperated voice crack to go with it.
"Probably his super leader ninja sense. DUH! Leo's taken worse, right bro?" Mikey added, and scarily calm for what had just transpired. Same went for Donnie. Acting like it was a regular Tuesday, and they were off to church with their brand-new nightmare creature from hell, all nice and dandy.

"Not like this" he muttered, recalling the last time he'd proved once and for all that he was horrible at taking orders. "I was attacked. I think he was a purple dragon, but his sleeves was down so I couldn't see his marking."

"And Murakami?"

"You know him?"
"KNOW him!? He's practically family! Makes the greatest dumplings in Brooklyn- nono New York! You tried some right? Before you… you know" Mikey started to shrink as the silence spoke for itself. "hehe… you didn't try some, because you were attacked and nearly blown to dust- I knew that…"

Moving on, Leo continued eyes darting down to the cut in his hand from where the knife was jagged through it. The memory alone was more than enough to make him actively wince, remembering all too well the pain of it, as well as the shock. "Murakami held him off, so I had a chance to escape. I was outside when the explosion went off…"

They both looked at each other for a moment, exchanging glances to Leo's heavy heartedness before Donnie read his face. "He'll be okay. It's not your fault you were… well… actually what were you doing there if you don't mind me asking?"

"I just wanted to… I don't know. Get some answers" he sighed.

"And you just so happened to stumble upon our favorite noodle shop to do that?"

"Maybe his subconscious remembers the food! That's it! We'll use food to make him remember again! I totally know how to make the perfect gourmet for your subconscious!"

Donnie seemed on the verge of a migraine, massaging his temples seemingly at a loss for patience (though lying if he said he hadn't missed even Mikey's cooking to the laboratory food they served at OLS), "I can't believe I'm saying this but… I think Mikey's right"

"He is?/I am?" both yelped.

"Not in the food thing! But just look at the way you handled yourself back there. Or even back when we first found you. Sure, your mind doesn't know how to fill out the blanks entirely, but your body sure seems to remember, which, isn't entirely out of the ordinary. Many cases of amnesia dating back all the way to early nineteenth century shows patients still remembers a task, even though their mind doesn't know how it got that information. Performing it without the data necessary to understand the how. Like completing a maze they've already solved, or a puzzle set, or in your case, fighting."

"Muscle memory" Leo muttered, remembering their little dance off in the alley like it was yesterday. Actually-, now that he thought about it- how the heck didn't he see it before? It was so obvious… hmm. Seems the 'Hamato' part of him was shining through more and more even before he met them. Karai had even said so herself…

"Exactly. Or just the fact that you just helped take down a dangerous mutant in the sewer without breaking a sweat! That's not how a stranger would react- especially not someone who's done this before. "

Leo looked down at the creature again, amazed that he hadn't received any headaches ever since he left for the underground, given all the impossible stuff happening around them ever since. "But for a crazy person, maybe that's exactly how a stranger would react"

Mikey jumped in front, walking backwards while facing Leo. "But… you still know it's us, right? You believe us? So, we're not strangers! So, you're not crazy!"

"I don't know what I believe. I mean, a few minutes ago I was in a hospital and now I'm following two strangers and a robot to a secret hideout I didn't even know existed, after oh yeah, fighting a glowing skin man in a suit!"

"That reminds me- how did you know where to find us?" Donnie asked, to which Leo poked down into his inner pocket and tossed him the working communicator- conveniently wrapped inside the mask given by yours truly when he thought he wouldn't notice. Turns out the Red Bandit's visit wasn't just a plea for help after all…

"Just had to follow the light"
"And the hospital?"

"Window"

He blinked, a variety of confusion and acceptance on his face, tossing back the device with a paused: "Huh."

"Look- I'm choosing to go with you for now at least, but I swear- first sign of crazy and I am out of here. I just… I don't think you're completely insane at least, so I guess that's why I'm not on the other side of the state by now"

"Speaking of which- I think we're here"

They stopped in front of what appeared to be nearly a mountain of rubble, broken bricks fractured and toppled over each other in what used to be one of the few viable ways inside the lair. In other words, exactly how they'd left it. Except there was something else there, wedged down into the middle of the pile- Leo using the flashlight to light their path down, and they reached what appeared to be some sort of trap door, forced open from an outside source due to the markings on the hatch. "Must've been the way Metalhead came through… B-but I don't understand. It was completely blocked! He wouldn't have even fit if something else hadn't moved the rubble away from the latch"

"Or someone " Leo said, noticing the markings of blood on one of the rocks.

"You don't think…" Donnie started, face going pale under the mask. "Okay, well whatever it is, neither of us is big enough to crawl through it anyway. We'll have to find another way inside. Shouldn't be too difficult now with the foot not patrolling the area, right? Just gotta, recalibrate some programming, reconfigure Metalhead's navigation system and then if we're lucky maybe we'll be able t- MIKEY WHAT ARE YOU-

But it was already too late. Before either boys' had any say in it, he had immediately and without question made a cannonball and jumped down the whole hollering loudly: "BOOYAKASHAAAA— before making a loud SPLOOSH as he hit the water below.

"Mikey, are you CRAZY!?" Donnie yelled, sounding like a mother scolding their child- but even Leo gulped slightly for a second, thinking he'd hurt himself in the fall. But then, his head came back over the surface as well as a proud thumbs up letting both know that he was indeed unharmed.

"IT'S ALL GOOD D! I can see the entrance! Be right back!" he yelled, saluting briefly and already swimming towards the way of the debris and out of sight.

"MIKEY. IT'S DANGEROUS! Do you hear me?! We DON'T KNOW WHAT'S IN THERE! The foot's been guarding the lair for months need I remind you! We have to be smart about this!" he tried yelling, Leo watching the exchange in a panic, a knot forming in his chest alongside Donnie the more silence filled the tunnel.
"Mikey? MIKEY!" he yelled again, seemingly growing more and more anxious. "We have to get down there" he concluded, shiveringly stumbling his way over to Metalhead, who was still loyally guarding the creature with the jacket-sleeves wrapped in an X formation over its plated chest. "What are you doing?"

"We're not leaving him alone down there" Donnie said, fumbling with the controller like his entire nervous system was about to collapse in on itself. Leo tried to put his hand on his shoulder, not really sure why, it was just… the first thing that came to mind seeing his distress. "Have some faith in the guy. Right now, we'll only risk drawing more attention to ourselves if we leave, putting not only Mikey at risk, but leaving the creature at risk of getting lose again. We have to be patient here" He didn't look up from the controller, merely jutting it more and more, to the point that it seemed he used brute force just to press the buttons. "Donnie" he said again, this time, miraculously making him take a breath.

"You're right… of course you're right. Sorry, Leo" he sighed, just as a yell echoed loudly from down the hatch. "MIKEY!" they both yelled in return, nearly throwing themselves to their knees. "Mikey what's wrong?! Where are you?!"

There came another 'SPLOOSH', no Mikey to be found, but the sound of his voice echoing nearby somewhere in the other end. "I can't believe it! DON'T TELL ME-"

"WHAT?! Mikey what is it?!" Donnie yelled, as footsteps suddenly came echoing down from the other side of the tunnel. The same path they'd just walked out of, and the creature too started squirming in the ruckus. "What if there's more of those guys? " Leo asked, Donnie glaring anxiously from the latch and towards the entrée way, before finally grabbing his bo and standing firm. Leo grabbed his flashlight, praying the soreness of his bruised body would hold for one more offense, though the thought of there possibly being more of those creatures, frightened him beyond belief. But then-

The panting, weapons out, sod-faced silhouette of none other than Raph, turned out to be the monster in hiding. He rounded the corner, face relaxing once he saw Donnie almost like a burden was just lifted from his shoulders. He nearly fell to his knees, heavy breaths escaping him before somehow, he managed to not collapse and analyzed the situation. The most obvious contender of course being, Metalhead 3.0, then the creature now christened "suitpants-guy" and then, with the longest adding death glare to boot, the least likely person he'd probably expect to see in the sewer holding a flashlight like it was a bomb about to go off.

"Raph! You made it! Where's… Casey?" But per usual, before anyone had the chance to say another word- suddenly came Mikey's overenthusiastic cry from down the latch, making all three of them jump at the sudden noise echoing below.

"Guys! You'll never believe it! I FOUND ICE CREAM KITTY!"

---

There was an odd sort of air hanging around the lair as they entered, though Mikey in large part didn't pay it much mind as soon as Ice Cream kitty was back in her ice box nudging his arms. At first, she didn't seem to recognize him, attacking Mikey promptly the second he reached out his arms to embrace her. But not before Mikey managed to open his big mouth which seemed to be all she needed to recognize him, embracing their old friend after 3 months of being gone.

After carefully using Metalhead's inbuild laser canon to take care of the stones blocking the entrée, they all managed to crawl inside, finding their home almost a shadow of what it used to be. Except not, gone, per say. Just… empty. Dust still soaring in the air, burn marks on every other set of furniture, their doors looking like a pile of woodchips and a roof completely desegrated by the impact. Mikey almost wanted to burst into tears- not knowing whether it was out of sheer homesickness or the sad view of what used to be their home, now lying broken and barren before them like a prehistoric ruin. Not at all the sight he'd envisioned in his head... Mikey felt a lump in his throat as he gazed around at the broken remnants of their home. He still remembered that night vividly in his head. The chaos that ensued once their enemies finally tracked them down- interrupting a well-matched Streetfighter's game that Mikey was totally definitely winning, before the explosions went off, destroying his victory and his left rib. Debris flying in every direction, their TV tossed into the wall, a power outage that zapped the entire living space of any light, the freaky robot parts coming at them from every direction. Soldiers storming every hallway, trashing shelves and cupboards and just plain everything standing in their way. Now- not as destroyed as either of them had originally thought it would be.

"Ow-" he heard, turning around to find Leo and Raph having entered, quickly followed by Donnie who seemed to forget how to land on two feet. Mikey held out his arms in a sorta 'showman' gesture going "Tada!" before Leo abruptly and sadly understandably, nearly fell backwards once he saw the creature meowing excitedly in his hands.
"What the h-

Then Raph saw her too, "Don't feel bad, most people have that reaction- Oh, hi Ice cream kitty! Didn't see ya there"

"Hey! Not. Cool. " Mikey went, before promptly nudging him aggressively in his newly messed up human hair. Dude, that took me like half an hour! Leo seemed, well decidedly so going by the expression on his face to rather not think too much about it, instead gazing around the lair with big wide eyes, if anything giving indication that he really, truly didn't remember.

"We're… home" Donnie muttered, as they all collectively entered the remnants of the lair, slightly melancholy.

"What happened here…?" Leo remarked, still unable to process his surroundings. It was the strangest thing seeing him so… unfamiliar, despite the fact that out of everyone in the room he was probably the one most homesick out of all of them. At least, next to Mikey… Seeing him not even remembering the place was like Donnie not remembering how to multiply five with five. There was just something off… Maybe it was Mikey's naiveté, thinking that the moment he'd come back home again his memories would automatically resurface, maybe just his determination to get them back making him wish to whomever that it would be that easy.

"Wait- " Raph went, pushing the others back before they could take another step inside. "What if this is a trap?"
"It's not. Metalhead's not picking up on any thermal scans, or artificial. And besides, if they really wanted to, don't you think they would've attacked us already by now?"
"And what exactly do you call that thing, genius?!" Raph argued, gesturing towards the mutant now being hoisted down by metalhead in a very much not so gently way- zapping him one more time for good measure before turning his can-like head back towards Donnie for approval. It was almost creepier than before, Mikey taking two steps backwards and away, just in case.

Leo gazed at him for a moment, that little wrinkle that tended to appear between his brows even more showing on human-Leo's face.

"Maybe that's why they left. So, Mr. Suitpantsguy was it?"

"Told ya!"

"-could attack you from the side."

Raph and Donnie seemed to think on this for a moment. Mikey looked to Ice Cream Kitty for advice, agreeing with Leo who still hadn't uttered the phrase we have to be quiet, which out of all the stuff they'd seen today, was probably the most frightening out of all of them.

"That… actually makes sense."

Mikey looked up, eager to get back to his room, "So? Are we good then?"

Raph, still uncertain, slowly lowered his sai, straightening his back hesitantly and backing away with that look of probable im going to regret this, but relented, nonetheless.

"Okay, but everyone stay on guard. We don't know what's down here, so we have to be-"
"MY BABIES!-

And just like that, Donnie's eyes lit up like a wildfire in realization, almost as if he just remembered why they were even there to begin with, the nonsensical nature of their presence having distracted him briefly.

"-or not… typical"

Donnie immediately ran into his laboratory, Leo gawking wide-eyed at everything around him. Raph tried to clean away the stones, turning over the furniture where it used to be as if that was enough to restore it entirely- Mikey more or less trying to get over the fact that there was no one but Ice Cream Kitty left to greet them. No sound of a staff clanking gently at the floor, and a warm voice welcoming them after all this time. Just the vague sound of the pipes dripping away somewhere in the distance.

And then there was suitpants-guy, now slowly starting to awaken little by little, if it weren't for Metalhead adaptively shocking him every time, to which, Mikey couldn't help but feel sorry for him. This was a guy who promised he'd get him out of that cage and back to his family, despite being a stranger, and now that he was, what did he have to show for it? Poisonous claws, way too many teeth and his iconic suit nothing but a shriveled-up memory of what it used to be. All because of him. Now all that was left to do was find him the cure and fast. Apologizing for the trouble, first thing once he got his mind back to what it used to be.
"So? Any of this ring a bell?" he heard Raph call from the dojo, tiptoeing inside to see that… surprisingly, everything was the same. No rubble, no broken tapestry, not even a mark on the tree, as if the metaphorical tornado that had ravished their home, somehow left this area completely alone. Huh. Weird…

Leo looked around, except the look on his face wasn't as much recognition as much as it was wonderment. Like he truly, most definitely, somehow had never been here before. And Mikey would lie if he said it didn't hurt a little. Almost as much as when he'd called them strangers in the tunnel just a few minutes ago.

"Uh guys?" came Donnie's voice, somewhere inside the laboratory. "I think we've got a situation here!"

They all hesitantly made their way inside Donnie's sacred place, just about as trashed as the rest of the lair, though somehow in the few seconds they'd been there, already with a clean desk and an open computer- the screen with a big cut down the side. Granted, still functioning. Though it was the bloody cloth on the shelf that seemed to interest him the most. That, and the bloody bullet that came with it.

"This would be the point where you explain why we're looking at garbage"

"Ugh- its not that! Don't you get it?! Someone opened the hatch from the outside, that's how Metalhead managed to squeeze through. And, if someone had paid attention, Raph, you'd see that the blood here is the same as the ones outside on the rocks! Someone's been here. And whoever they were- they weren't doing so well judging from this-" he said, picking up the bullet with a set of tweezers from his desk, and pulling down his laboratory googles for a better look. If they didn't know better, they'd have thought he was about to lick the damn thing with how close he got.
"So, you're telling us, that someone somehow managed to get passed an entire battalion of foot soldiers singlehandedly while sporting a bullet to the gut and none of us noticed? "

"Well, no… but, I mean, what else could it be? None of us have been down here for months, and it's not like any of you've been shot recently. Whoever they were, they must've used my gear to treat the wound. Ha. I knew those babies would come in handy some day"

"Almost." Raph muttered, as Leo then shouldered passed him.
"Wait a minute… I recognize that"

They all looked at him like he'd just admitted to coldblooded murder, or something.

"You do? Since when did you become a gun expert?"

Though to be fair, the thought of their fearless leader with a riffle in his hands was a sight to be hold in Mikey's mind. Maybe he'd tape each gun to the blades- all cowboy still and then yell something cool like- thought you had me that time, didn't you?! Well, think again dragon scum! Hahaha! Or well, that's what it looked like in his head anyway... Realizing he was dosing off again and was pulled back to reality about the same time Donnie slapped his hands away from the computer mouse on his desk.

"Since I started living with one. This is identical to the ones Hopkins' use when he reassembles his gears. I've seen it like a million times already- I can't believe he'd be down here"

"Not him- more likely whoever he shot" Donnie corrected him, Raph's gaze suddenly shifting.

"Wait a minute… Hopkins. Of course- that's why he looked so familiar! Are you kidding me?! That's the guy you've been playing catch up with?!"

"Hey, I didn't know about this either-

"That doesn't matter, Leo- it's because of that prick Casey might be bleeding out in some alley right now! And now you're telling us that you're with the guy?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Calm down, Raph" Donnie said, trying to break tension with the advantageous virtue of being abnormally tall next to the others, despite Raph with just a sound making him shrivel up and regret ever thinking he could dismantle the situation.
"Why should I?! In case any of you've forgotten, while he's been off in Sweetville, we've been bustin' our shells just trying to make it down here alive! How do we know you're not the sharpshooter?"

"I'm not!"

"Raph-"

He stopped, meeting Mikey's gaze as he starred at him regretfully from the corner.

"We just got him back, dude…" he muttered, Mikey right now using that annoying little thing he knew always worked whenever he was in the middle of an outburst. The puppy eyes, now more powerful than ever given, as he stood there a good portion away from his brothers, it dawned on them just how young he looked. Compared to the others sure, technically speaking they were all the same age but there was just something about the way he looked at them. As if by just one feature he had the power to command an entire room. Though in that moment, of cause the only thing possibly going through his mind was that of his used to be believed dead brothers fighting again like the good old days. Except it wasn't. Things had changed a lot, they all knew it. And for once, abnormally so, it was Leo who felt small compared to the others. Younger, though not innocent, as they all well knew. Just… vaguely different than the leader they'd come to know, right now being pulled up into a corner by his other brother, whitening his knuckles to the point where Mikey was afraid that they were going to burst. But the way they all looked at him, comparingly, he knew at once that he caught their attention. Something, usually not very difficult for him, only difference being that he wasn't punished for it by a kick to the shell or a pinch to the arm.

"Man, what happened up there?" Donnie broke in, gazing up from his computer if only for just a moment. Raph didn't seem to respond at first, lacking that immediate self-obtained control that he, until now, was struggling to maintain.

"The PD's is what happened. Bastards tried to blow the docks up while Casey and I were off on lookout."

This made Leo lift a brow, not following, "Who's Casey?"

-and quickly picked up by Donnie who let out a surprising but understandable huh. "That's… surprisingly not as satisfying as I thought it'd be… Ow!"

"So, what about Bernie? He's okay, right?" Mikey asked, already dreading the answer. First Murakami, then Casey, now Bernie… what's next? The pizza delivery guy?!

"I didn't get there in time. Or maybe I would have, if it weren't for that bearded freak hadn't stopped me" Raph growled, anger at the memory.

"Maybe he wouldn't have gone after you if you hadn't played vigilante on every crime scene in Greenwich since October. You're not exactly subtle about it either" Leo argued, to which the B team shared the general look they had grown so accustomed to, of yup. It happened. They crossed the line… we're doomed.

"You wanna say something? I'm all ears!"

"Guys!"

But this time, Donnie wouldn't have it. "As much as we haven't all missed your bittersweet rivalry, would it be too much to ask for you two to actually focus on why we came here?! My computer is still charging and need I remind you that someone was shot?! We still don't even know what the foot is planning to do with the purple ooze in the FIRST place! Not to mention, if we don't stop them before friiiii- I mean, soon- we'll all be toast!"

If the sewer had crickets, they'd most definitely be playing a symphony by now.

"Okay- pretty sure I only understood fifty percent of that…" Leo finally broke in.

"You'll get used to it" Mikey whispered reassuringly, though more reassured himself to not be the only one not understanding what the heck D was talking about… wait… I'm not the only one for once? OH GOD… LEO'S DOOMED.

"Donnie's right, we need to focus" Raph said, taking in a deep breath before promptly and effectively slamming both hands on the table which as a result, made all three jump in the notion. Attention hereby yours, he thought allowing Raph to continue. "When Hopkins came after us, he said that thirty five people has been killed in the past three weeks. And well, speaking of what the foot might be up to…" his glare shifted down towards the creature, fear in his eyes that Mikey was pretty sure he'd rarely seen on him. Guessing in 17 years this was maybe only the fifth time this had happened. Well sixth if you counted that one time, he was knocked unconscious, but Mikey was still not convinced that really happened, probably just one of their pranks to make him admit not to jump into giant weed growing plant monsters. So typical… and wait what did we just talk about?

"Well… I'm pretty sure I have an idea"

"Wai-wai-wait did you say, killed?" Donnie broke in, while Mikey only now just processed what he'd just said. Though to be fair, the seriousness in his tone spoke for itself, making even ice cream kitty feeling a chill.

"How can you be sure?"

"He's right" Leo said, voice low. "It's all over the files, I… might've read a bunch of them when Hopkins weren't looking. He's been investigating the Purple Dragons none stop for weeks ever since the Greenwich murders"

"Greenwich?"

"Yeah, you didn't know?"

They all looked like big red question marks hovering around the room. Leo scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Figures… they must've covered it up so people wouldn't break out into a mass panic... That's why he was so obsessed with them" he muttered, as if stuck inside his own detective bubble.

"Mind elaborating, fearless?" Raph complained, though both Mikey and Donnie was silently pretty thankful of this notion, given even the true minds behind the team was barely following either.
"Three weeks ago, a couple was kidnapped by the Purple Dragons. But when they found their bodies, they were almost… disintegrated. They still don't know how it happened, but I guess Hopkins figured it had something to do with- what did you call it? Purple ooze?"

"Mutagen, actually, to be exact"

"Or Viooze" Mikey corrected them, proudly using his word like it was the discovery of a continent. Granting him, understandably the collective sigh of all three at once.

"Urgh, you're still on about that?"

"What? It's a cool name!"

"It sounds like a cleaning tool"

"Doesn't make it any less awesome…" he insisted, crossing his arms as if to demonstrate how right he was and how totally wrong they were for not appreciating his creative genius. Quickly moving along, Raph continued,

"Anyway, that's why he went after them. Probably why he went after you too"

"Certainly explains the deaths… the Purple Dragon's must've picked strangers to test it on before being able to use it. But the reaction wasn't stable, not like with us, since we were born with a different DNA than that of a regular human's- not to mention the mutagen already took care of the defects. Making their cells collapse in on each other after the injection… It all makes sense!" Donnie exclaimed.

"But I thought the Purple Dragons worked for the foot?" Mikey added, making Leo, observing this momentary loss of all sense and sanity with a used to be skepticism, into full blown bafflement. Couldn't really blame him… if anyone needed a name change, it was definitely the foot clan. Sorry Karai. All eyes were on him, both Raph, Donnie and Mikey unsure how to actually go about explaining everything to him in detail. Then it suddenly dawned on them…

They'd have to explain everything to him in detail…

They'd seen how well that went the last time they paid him a visit. Just getting him down here without him running away again or calling the cops was an extraordinary feat in itself… Donnie let out a nervous chuckled, usually reserved for April, but in Mikey's eyes he guessed that this technically also qualified as a human stranger, so it made sense.

"Oh, right- ancient ninja clan held bend on destroying us since we were born" he tried, struggling to fill the awkward pause. Looking to the others for guidance, though either was too busy face palming into their hands or playing with the whiskers on Ice Cream Kitty's face. "Because you know…" he tried, words cobbled up in his throat- Leo looking even more confused the more he went on, but since no one was stopping him he wasn't exactly in a position to stop either…

"because… " he gulped, "We're… not… human? Remember?"

And it was at this point, they all knew for sure they'd lost him. And to think the most actively extraordinary out of all of them had become the most human… it still felt all kinds of wrong.

"Congratulations, Leo, your weird sci fi nerd dreams have just been realized" Raph muttered, half sarcastically, half trying to dull the situation. Leo laughed for moment, fear developing as he looked around at the others, seeing the absolute dead seriousness in their eyes. Well, everyone but Mikey's- and he realized that they were being genuine.

"Hold the phone- you're actually trying to tell me that we're like… like, that thing?" He seemed stagnated for a bit, hunching down next to the creature curious but needless to say… wary. Especially, as he opened one of the pockets of his shredded remnants of human clothing.

"Not that, him"

"Arh, how many times we gotta tell you? It's not a him anymore! Its-

"Layton"

Everyone turned around. Leo was holding something. A badge, probably lumped inside its pockets during the transmutation.

"Who?"

"Oh my god… " Leo turned around, eyes dilated in shock as he held up the police badge like it was a snake ready to bite him. And going by the expression on his face, Mikey was guessing Leo knew more about his old cellmate than he'd original thought. He fell down, slumming into the chair defeated, contemplating, that thick wrinkle of his between his brows as if the mere thoughts alone was plenty to send him into a fullblown migraine again. "How didn't I see it before?"

Mikey looked to the others for optimism, though with little luck- meaning he'd have to come up with some for himself. "It's alright, Donnie'll find a way to fix him, right D?"

"Sure! If you happen to have a gallon of spare purple mutagen lying around. Easy piecy!"came it, the death glare's that followed finally making Donnie read the room. "Eh, sorry… I'll see what I can do. But until my computer's fully charged, I'm afraid we can't use the tracking system before… by my estimates, roughly ten hours or so"

"Ten hours!?"
"Hey, you try getting left in the dust without a charger for months! Not to mention the debris might've fractured the hardware… Even so, this is still our only viable way of tracking them"

"And then what?"

Now it was Raph's turn to yell. Summoning all the… well… Leo in him that he could possibly muster and taking all of them by surprise.

"What do you mean, then what?! We'll take down their leader, figure out what they're up to and stop them- grab the ooze, blow up the rest and la-di-da, day is saved, we get to go home and forget any of this ever happened! Done and done!" he finished, hands behind his head reassured and if anything- remaining the only one even slightly convinced that any of this would be possible with the way things were going. Everything they still didn't know, the immeasurable man power they had to go up against- now being not only just the foot clan, but an army of PD's willing to do anything as to not become like Suitpa- Layton, and their team rendered into a bunch of unmutated mutants without a leader to guide them.
Mikey sighed, his phone vibrating all of a sudden and he realized that it was Simon calling him. Before he could answer though, came Donnie's skepticism once again like the least appreciated reality check reminding them of what's at stake-

"Nice plan there, except I think you might've forgotten one tiny little something?"

And just like in those over dramatic movies filled with underwhelming cliffhangers, they all synchronically shifted their gazes back towards Leo- or as he was now recently christened by none other than the amazing Mikey-man: Priority number 1…

"What do we do about him?"

---

Simon shuddered, nerves tightening around the phone. Damn it, how hard is it to pick up a phone? He let out a sigh, knowing probably better than anyone that losing his composure wouldn't help. "I'm sorry, little guy. He's not picking up"

Tyler hugged his knees tighter, scribbling down into his notepad quickly before handing it back to Simon. "Where is he?" it said, in turn making the teen feel even worse about not knowing. It wasn't because Mikey and him hadn't seen each other in a while- it's just that they both agreed to keep a low profile with those hooded… whatever they were still after him. But still he couldn't help but wonder, what made him not answer this time? Because the thing is, Mikey always picked up. Almost immediately and without question, and there came his voice through the speaker, as if he'd been subconsciously waiting to pick up this whole time anyway, ecstatic to hear it was Simon.

Only time he didn't, was when he vanished last week, giving everyone a panic attack. The Robertson's most especially. Day after day, of reaching a dead voicemail that provided him with no insight into where he was. If he was okay. Alive. And then Simon had a thought… What if he's in trouble? Wouldn't be the first time- certainly not the last. Maybe whatever the reason he didn't pick up, despite always having his phone on him, was because he was in danger? What if his brothers' kidnapped him or something? Was he right? Regardless,

"I'm gonna find him" he said, crawling down the fire escape. Tyler's head shot up from his knees, walking over to the steel bars silently. His eyes were still red, though he tried his best to hide it behind his messy uncombed hair. When he'd called, Simon didn't really know what to think. After all- this wasn't even his home and it's not like they ever really talked. The only thing they really had in common was their unusual friend disappearing and reappearing every now and again like a ghost. Parents who weren't paying them any attention, and a voice struggling to be heard. Guess that's why Simon Landry felt so compelled to help him. Or just… do something or other, if only to make sure that Mikey was okay wherever he was.

"Stay here, okay? I'll be back soon, little guy"

And with that, he was gone.

---

"First rule: Always expect the unexpected"

Leo landed on the mat with a solid bam! Back to ground and severe bruises being renewed. Raph let out a chuckle, holding out a hand, "Or not"

He begrudgingly took it, clinging to his shoulder which at this point, was probably slightly dislocated after the second blow received to his legs. They all occupied the dojo, Mikey and Donnie observing to the side- flinching every time their brother kicked Leo to kingdom come. It was jawing to see, mostly due to the fact that the supposedly best fighter out of all of them, was now getting kicked to the curb every five seconds like it was nothing. No scratch on Raph who, even after half an hour of training, enjoyed every minute.

"Is this really necessary? How does hitting me help?" Leo complained, trying to reassemble his bones. Raph cracked his knuckles.

"Well for one- it's pretty fun"

Donnie raised his voice now, preoccupied with his notes, as if trying to decipher the exact method of curing Leo's memories with violence. "Look, if there is one thing Sensei thought us, it's that you have to be at peace with your mind and body to become a 'true ninja'. And since your motor functions and fighting techniques are linked to your mind, maybe the way to unlock them is… training. Well- it's not an exact science, but it's worth a shot?"

"Isn't that just an excuse to hit me?"

Raph, grabbed Leo's wrist, darting him, once again to the ground in just two seconds before promptly and unceremoniously sitting on him as he gasped for breath.

"What would make you say that?"

He shoved him off, already struggling to get to his feet, but doing it nonetheless. He tried mimicking his fighting stance, only swaying slightly to the side which, as they all knew too well was a one-way ticket to gravel-ville already. And of cause, one could only hope that Raph would take it easy on the guy. But who were they really kidding…?

"Okay... Aga-

Surprisingly though, this time instead of simply kicking him, he decided to use 'seonake' instead, nearly throwing him five feet into the air before locking both arms behind his back as he struggled to break free. "This is almost sad. You used to be able to hold your ground, not lie on it" he chuckled, letting go faster than Leo could process, resulting in him almost tripping to the ground. Again… And it was little by little becoming more apparent that this wasn't exactly working out the way they'd hoped. Well, maybe all except for Raph still smugly enjoying the show.

"Maybe weapon's training is better?" Donnie suggested, Mikey nodding at the notion. As of now, he'd fiddled with the chain of his nunchucks and trying to find new ways to use it as a yo-yo.

"No, no, really! I think we're making some real progress here! Isn't that right, Leo? You remember this. Just like the good old days when I used to beat your butt"

Leo sighed, rolling over with his arms stretched out over the mat. He looked up into the ceiling, as if something up there would somehow provide him with the answers. Raph couldn't help but feel a bit bad, repressing the urge to apologize in favor of stepping out of the mat and sit down next to the others.

"Okay, my turn" Mikey then concluded, to Donnie's dismay.

"Hey! Why do you get to go first?"

"uh- Because orange comes after red? Duh"
"Fine! Good luck getting pummeled" he yelled back, pouting as Leo eyed his opponent with a mix of confusion and relief. After all, Mikey was the only one he hadn't actually seen fighting yet, and certainly didn't remember how he usually fought. But still, he had no idea what he was capable of- and considering how the others handled themselves, Leo wasn't about to underestimate his opponent. Even if he was significantly shorter, more carefree and less beat you with a bat if I have to- oriented as the others.

As for Mikey, he remembered all too well the countless times their dear brother had shoved him into the dirt. Sure, he usually went easy on him out of fear of hurting him accidentally like they were younger, and even more reckless than now. But Leo had no idea who Mikey even were anymore, despite the things they'd already told him. He had no reason to hold back anymore. No reason to go easy on him if it would mean he got his memories back.

In truth, neither knew what was in store which, essentially is what made this dual so intriguing. Intriguing and well… to Leo and Mikey, equally terrifying.

"You ready?" Leo asked, masking confidence to the best of his ability.

"Born ready" Mikey countered, doing the very same thing.

"Hajime"

And thus, the fight began. Leo tried to go for the head, probably not remembering how nimble Mikey was who dodged rather easily. After that seemed to work, Mikey grabbed Leo by his shoulders, nearly slipping before successfully flipping over his head and kicking him in the back. Leo fell to his knees, though difference between him and Raph, was that now he managed to get back up, trying to contain Mikey who had this big goofy grin on his face. Baffled at the fact that he'd gained the upper hand, almost dancing his way passed each blow like it was ballet. He closed his eyes, just as Leo was about toss Mikey over his shoulders, tripping him enough to make him lose balance. After that it was only a matter of seconds. With Leo struggling to get back up on his feet, Mikey used the opportunity he'd almost never be able to gain and flipped Leo upside down- making it so that he hit the ground with yet another expected back injury. One that probably wouldn't exists, weren't it for the fact that they no longer had shells.

When he didn't get back up, simply lying there sore and disappointed, Mikey almost couldn't believe what just happened. Heck- Donnie couldn't believe what just happened, along with Raph, and probably maybe even Leo somewhere deep in his subconscious. The B team… actually, won?

"Wow…" he muttered, lips quivering. "I… I actually beat you?!"

The silence emptied, carried over by Mikey jumping into the air, unable to breathe, like an excited puppy who just realized their owner was home- immediately turning to Donnie whom he grabbed by the shoulders. "Donnie! What does science say about the odds of me beating Leo in combat?"

Even Donnie was baffled, pretending to remove a pair of glasses that he didn't have to exaggerate his point further, "Odds are almost a hundred to one! This should be scientifically impossible! But… with this new variable… it's beautiful. "

"I wasn't ready that time-" Leo argued, biting his lip in pain as he tried to get back to his feet. Always determined as ever.

"Huh. And here I thought I'd never see the day one of the B team actually… well… beat you" Raph muttered, not as excited as the others, granted equally impressed by the outcome. Sure, this wasn't exactly the fairest fight in the world, nor the longest but… by god, if it didn't feel that way. Donnie lifted a brow though, unconvinced.

"Aren't you mad?"

A smile formed on his face, "Are you kidding?! This is the most fun I've ever had in months!"

"Okay, my turn" he said, excitedly jumping to his feet. Leo took a deep breath, brushing the intense ache in his head to the side and readying his stance. The thing was, that despite getting his butt handed to him all the while he'd been in the dojo, that didn't seem to discourage him all the same. If anything, it only made him even more eager to win.

"Now, Leo, try to find an opening" Donnie said, realizing too late that it sounded more like a lecture than a genuine attempt at helping. He charged head first, frustration building up for each blow he missed. Donnie pranced around, a smile on his face that only ever happened when they were up against the PD on a Tuesday, enjoying not having his bo used as a weapon against him for once, and instead being able to truly fight without thinking. Thirty seconds later, the fight was won.
"Ohhohoho! I wish I had that on camera. Oh wait- "

The sound of a flash going off turned everyone towards the entrance to the dojo, where Metalhead 3.0 already stood prepared with a phone in hand, and a thumbs up in the other. "I do" he laughed, doing the ridiculous winning dance only ever exercised after a scientific breakthrough- and rarely a victory in battle. But Leo wasn't done yet.

"Again" he said, fists at the ready, and a slightly swollen lip to boot. Donnie couldn't be the only one thinking maybe this was a little too much. But alas, they continued. Now Raph again, slamming Leo to the ground once-

"Again"

Then Mikey tripping him into the tree at the center of the dojo a second-

"A…agai…"

And thirdly, Leo hovering unbalanced as finally Donnie locked his arms behind his back, quickly letting go as soon as Leo failed to get up again. Instead, lying dizzily at the floor, an icepack pressed to his temple and a pit in each brother's stomach as the ghost of Sensei collectively scolded them.

"Leo? How many fingers am I holding up?" Donnie asked, Leo really concentrating on this very basic question despite there only being two.

"Th- three?"

"Hey! He remembers!" Mikey cried excitedly, hugging Leo tightly though that was probably the last thing his sore human body probably needed right now. "Oh, sorry…"

"Okay, this isn't working" Donnie concluded, as even Leo seemed to lose faith.
"You remember anything Leo?"
"Of course he doesn't!" Raph broke in, towering over Leo like that would somehow motivate him, "The old Leo would've kicked all of your sorry butts twice by now. How's this supposed to get him to remember if he's not skilled enough to actually win?"

"I am trying! B-but… this isn't working. You sure there's not another way? You're the doctor here" Leo said, referring to Donnie anxiously watching the exchange. Of cause, there was another way. A very apparent one at that, and it amazed him that he was the only one who realized it… but, looking at their brother now, he was starting to think that maybe there really wasn't another way. And neglecting to mention it out of fear of confronting her again, might not be the best way to get their leader back.

"Maybe… we need to try a different approach"

"Yeah! Like beating him two on two!"

"No-
"Fine"

They all paused. Leo was- once again, back on his feet, uttering the phrase like he just suggested they went to have brunch or something.

"Wa- what? Come again?"

He took a step back, all of a sudden producing his mask in his hands, which he folded out- weighing it a bit before tightening it around his face. Then, he turned it around, covering his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Everyone grab your weapons"

They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Had he completely lost his mind?

"Leo, he was only joking, you know that right?"

"Do it" he just insisted, making the others silently wonder just how hard had they really hit him? And while Donnie and Mikey were ultimately the ones most unsure about this, they reluctantly relented, given if they knew Leo well, they knew that it would take a whole lot more than words to convince him not to do something once he'd set his mind to it.

"Uh… what are you doing?" Raph muttered, slightly unsure but too curious to see where this was going to back down.
"Yeah, dude, are you sure about this? Because we did just kick your butt"

"I'll be fine… I hope"

And so, they all, albeit not by their own volition, readied their weapons and surrounded Leo. Leo who at the first chance he got, stepped forward sweat on his brow tempted to peak but forcing himself not to. With all of them unsure and with a bad feeling in their guts, the aim now was more to get this over with, and not so much about trying to jog Leo's memory, which as they'd all seen by now didn't really work out that well.

Raph was the first to strike, aiming for his legs and as expected- he bit the dust. "See? You're only gonna hurt yourself. Let's just call it a day, or- take a break at least"

"I can do this" Leo insisted, climbing back onto his feet slowly but assuredly. Okay, guess we'll have to do this the hard way-

And so, Donnie was the next to charge, crying out bloody murder as he aimed for Leo's legs as well, this time of which he successfully managed to jump over, somehow dodging the blow to his chest as well- if not for the fact that after he immediately did, he was hit by Mikey's nunchucks. "Ow!"

"Ups. Sorry dude" he muttered, attacking again, but as he did… somehow, Leo managed again to doge. More and more laps in the hits as if he was actively being controlled by an outside force. He grabbed the end of Donnie's bo- taking him by surprise, bending down just in time to somehow stop his face from being impaled with the sharp end of the sai and landed safely on his feet. And as this happened, the more and more control Leo slowly seemed to gain, the more eager they were to bring him back to the ground. Sure, he was every other time hit by something that he didn't have the time or sense to dodge, but ultimately, the way he managed to stay grounded… it was almost the way Sensei had done it. That last training session, the night before the fall. Looking at Leo now, the way he moved, rapidly and seemingly only based on instinct, he was only starting to look like him more and more. Making all of them, little by little, stop up. Even Raph not bothering with another hit, until Leo turned the mask back in the right direction and starred at his brothers. His 0- mouthed shaping, jaw agape, paler looking brothers not really sure what just happened. But even though he didn't either- that didn't stop him from jumping into the air.

"Hey! I did it! I actually di-

Of cause, the victory was short lived- as Raph quickly and without hesitation decided to kick Leo in the face, and sending him through the hundred-year-old tapestry in the blink of an eye.

"Raph!"

"Raph!"

-both yelled, the urge to slap him growing more apparent day by day.

"What?" he shrugged, readjusting his shoulder. "I told him. Always expect the unexpected"

---

One week before the siege…

After the discovery of the purple mutagen, things had gone unusually quiet in the lair. The foot was making their move, but despite their best efforts, Leo was still unable to locate their headquarters, let alone find out who their leader was. While Karai's forces had gone to Japan in search of allies, Karai herself had been busy scoping out any intel available, though she wouldn't say how she did it. Raph and Mikey had been on double the stakeouts it took to patrol New York on a daily basis, and Donnie had been stuck in his lab doing who knew what to figure out the secrets behind the mutagen. But so far, all leads pointed to them wanting to create an army, and this time, something told Leo that they'd need a lot more than determination to be able to defeat them alone. But time was running out, and he was starting to lose his mind. He needed help, and he needed it bad. Because while their enemies had retreated into the shadows, they'd been strung around like moving targets for weeks on end, still nowhere close to even stopping them in the first place.

Perhaps that was the reason why, when the first intel to the Foot's hideout was leaked to him from fellow Hamato soldiers, he'd decided to go alone. Mikey had already been too close to getting his shell cracked too many times now and Raph's eagerness to end this and soon clouding his judgement. Donnie was too preoccupied- no obsessed with this grant illusion of attaining humanity. As if that stuff would somehow grant them that. After seeing the way it'd twisted that soldier's bones into pudding- was he really willing to risk that on his family? Because out of all of them, perhaps even Mikey, Leo knew how much that dream weighed in Donnie's subconscious. How much it compelled him to fight for it regardless of the risks. That was his problem, Leo thought. He never saw the bigger picture. He didn't realize that whatever dream he hoped to attain, it would never amount to the life they'd build. The one Leo knew with certainty that Sensei would be proud of. They were heroes… they protected the city, they'd protected the world, so many times. He knew how exhausting that responsibility could be on a person. Truly. But he also knew very well what it felt like to be unable to do anything because of the limitations of your body. It was torture. A lesson, one he needed to learn in order to see all the good stuff their wacky, messed up lives had given them. And he wanted his little brother to see that too, so badly. He didn't blame him for wanting something more- on the contrary, anything he could do to help him achieve that he'd do it in a heartbeat. But not if it meant risking the safety of their family.

Which is why, that night, when he returned to the lair, blood on his shell and feeling the entire world was just about to crumple, he reluctantly knew what he had to do. It was the only way. They had to understand that- Donnie, had to understand that. No more running around after dead leads, no more hoping to god that they'd be able to stop their enemies before it was too late… they were at a disadvantage, and he knew it. And what's more, if they weren't careful, Leo had just gotten one painful reminder that their next move might very well be their last. And if that were to happen, it would all be on him. It's only temporary, it's not forever, it's just temporary, nothing has to come of it, its just in case, if it does its just… temporary. At least, that's what he kept telling himself, over and over again as he shiveringly made his way to the lab.

"Donnie?" he called, to which the sound of a blowtorch grinded to a halt, Donnie tipping back his googles before getting back to whatever he was working on.

"Oh, look who finally decided to show up"

Leo took a deep breath, praying he wouldn't regret this, though at this point, Leo was truly convinced that this was the only card they had left. And mutation or not, if that was the case then he had to use it. "Donnie, do you still have it? The vials?"

"I know, I know! They're too dangerous, don't remind me. I've already exposed of most of them, excuse me if I didn't throw away one of the greatest discoveries of the century in record time-

"Donnie"

He stopped, first now realizing the state their leader was in. This time enough for him to put down the torch, "Wow, are you… okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about it"

"You sure? Cause it seems to me this would be exactly the sort of thing I should worry about" he said, arms crossed. Leo was still struggling for words trying his damndest to stop the shivering. But all the words were just stuck in his throat, the images of what happened still fresh in his mind, now replaced by the images of his brothers in their stead.

"Something happened"

"Is Karai okay? I thought you were just scoping it out"

"Where are the others?" Leo asked, now realizing that the lair was completely quiet ever since he came back. Donnie just shrugged, unsure where he was going with this,

"Chinatown. Something about a take three for one kinda deal. They should be back soon, why?"

Leo closed the door, sitting down on the nearest chair as if rehearsing in his mind what he was trying to say. I'm such a hypocrite… it's too dangerous. But what if… "Look, I know what I said before, about the vial, but-

Donnie couldn't believe what he was hearing. And to be honest, he was starting to grow slightly afraid to… "What?"

"A-and I'm not saying we'll have to ever use them, they're too dangerous, but… " Leo took yet another deep breath, getting back to the original topic. "Do you have the cure for it?"

"Of cause, you think I would've engineered a new mutation substance without one? We've all seen how that turns out"

"Give it to me"

The silence that followed that sentence was pretty much how you'd expect. Prolonged, and with the exact same thoughts in mind, that being-

"Are you insane?!" and coming from Donnie no less. Though his disbelief was quickly replaced by concern as his eyes travelled back towards the blood on his shell. "Leo, what happened out there?"

"It's just in case something happens! The foot are up to something with that stuff, and if we don't stop them soon, we might all be… " Leo closed his eyes, once again seeing the images on repeat in his mind like they were haunting him. "If something where to happen to us… to you, then… I wanna know we have a failsafe. And we'll, not to give you the regular leader-spiel or whatever you like to call it, but I'm pretty sure that means that I should be the one to carry it"

Donnie leaned back at the table, pondering for a moment. He had the thinking face on and everything. "You think they'll try to take it? But- they don't even know we have it! How could they find it in the first place?"

"Just… trust me on this. The others can't know about this- but I just need enough to cure all of us in case the foot gets to it first. If it comes to that, then it's necessary"

"There's something you're not telling me"

"It's nothing! I just…"

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps hollered behind the door, followed by screeches of celebration and excitement, the voices of not only Mikey and Raph but Casey, having just entered the lair.

"I just wanna make sure you're safe. That's all" Leo sighed, closing his fingers around vial and pocketing it before the others' even knew it existed.

Its only temporary… he thought, ready to put all of this behind them.

---

Leo starred long out over the edge, Donnie setting up his gears as Raph drew a line in the cliff. The entire underground, despite the ruckus nearly tearing everything else to pieces, stood exactly the same. Same pillars standing fast, paving way for the deep below, clouded in a thick almost muddy fog that only by falling into it, would reveal just how deep it truly was. Leo noticed a collective sigh among the others. Like just being here was enough to bring back bad memories, though so far, Leo hadn't remembered anything new. The only thing his runaway from Hopkins had provided him so far, seemed to be his newfound trust in these three. No longer convinced they either had the brains or the moral to pull wool over his eyes, just a genuine believe that he was their brother, compelling them to do whatever it took to make him remember. Though, going by the attempts so far, this one had more or less a little skeptical as to whether or not they knew what they were doing.

"We haven't played in so long… are you sure about this?" Donnie asked, Raph finishing the line with his shoe, observing it proudly when he was done.

"What better way to jog your memory than by getting to know the place we spend the last fifteen years in?"

"What did you say the game was called?" Leo called, fumbling with the Japanese names that, going by their vocabulary was a surprising skill to have, even coming from descendants of the Hamato clan.

"Well, we never came up with an official name for it, but Sensei-

"Father" Raph corrected him, and Leo assumed they were talking about Hamato Yoshi. Still, after spending a little less than a day down here, he still hadn't summoned courage enough to ask what actually happened to him. Why he wasn't here with them. Why his daughter wasn't either.
"He used to call it Kemari Damare "

"At least that's what he always yelled us to stop doing whenever things got out of hand" Mikey added, smiling at the memory.

"Define got out of hand "

Donnie opened his mouth, pointing stone faced on that big wide gap between his teeth, sending an even worse feeling into Leo's stomach. And probably an even dumber look on his face, going by the cackle escaping the tall boys throat soon after.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding… hehe. That's another story" he muttered, making it a little unclear whether or not he was being genuine or not. Raph then dragged Leo away from the ledge and back towards the line as Mikey practiced backflips all too close to it for Leo's comfort.

"Rules are simple. First one to catch the ball, wins. You can use whatever you want, as long as you catch it before it reaches the finish line. In this case, tunnel 42"

´Sounds easy… but then again, that's what they said about training too. "Why do I get the feeling that this is a bad idea?"

Then Donnie broke in, the box of gears in bolts in hand as he walked past them, "Relax! We've done this a bunch of times! Completely safe. After all, I designed this puppy myself"

"And you really think it's wise to leave Layton alone in the lair? What if the perpetrator comes back? They've done it before"

"Reaaaax, bra, Ice Cream Kitty got it totally covered" Mikey said, all of sudden right by Leo's side before he even saw him as much as move.

"Let's just go already. I'd like to renew my streak before dinner." Raph said, pulling off his jacket and rolling shoulder blades one after the other. Almost as if he was about to win the Olympics or something.

"Winner takes the others to Alejandros!" Mikey called, as Donnie tested the durability of the funny looking ball he was right now in the middle of tossing up and down in his hand.

"Wha- the bowling place? You know we've never been able to go there, and for good reason! We're not exactly- " Raph paused when he saw the glares of pure are you actually serious? send in his direction.

"Oh… right"

The more Leo thought about it, the less unlikely it seemed that they really were mutants. Certainly would explain why they acted anything but human when on the surface…

"You coming, Mikey?" Raph called, as the others lined up, hands on the ground. Mikey nearly dropped his phone, putting it on silent and stuffing it into his pocket. He'd tightened every remaining orange bandanna he could find in his room around his wrists, his head, his knees and so on, looking like a mummified juice box.

"Y-yeah. Let's do this!" he said, crouching down next to Donnie who was in the middle of adjusting the geared ball-thingy that Leo still didn't understand how worked. But then again, Donnie was a genius as far as he could tell. If he could build something as insane as Metalhead, then he dreaded to think what he could do with just some bolts and a screwdriver…

"Okay, ready?" he said, as the metal ball started ticking intensely. He put it in the middle, letting it joint and twist and bounce silently up and down vibrating, for a moment making everyone think the thing was gonna blow up at any second now…

"Set…"

Leo took a deep breath, not sure what he was supposed to do exactly, but more or less figured that if he just followed the other's lead, he'd be fine. Gotta remember… something. Anything… if not… what would they do? But Leo didn't have time enough to ponder this question through, as the gear suddenly stopped vibrating and shot off the ground and in the other direction.

"Go!"

And off they were. Leo nearly tripped in his laces, cursing as the others were already parkouring their way across the pillars, all the while he cursed underneath his breath the day he decided to wear shoes with laces. Finally, he continued ahead, watching as the others with ease managed to navigate their way to the other side, Mikey in the lead. He flipped across from the last stone to the other side with flair, bowing shortly before he continued down the tunnel, gleefully shouting BOOYAKASHAAA! With Raph right at his heels.

Come on, come on! Leo forced himself to not look down, pretending he'd done this a million times before, since apparently that was what the definite truth. So carefully, albeit faster than he felt comfortable with, he managed to get across, only tripping twice. He followed the sounds of the others through the echoes, running full speed on ahead and down the stony pathways. Then, he saw Donnie, right now in the middle of tackling Mikey, who jumped over him with a push powerful enough to send him to the ground. "Come ON!" he yelled, Leo holding out a hand. He nodded thankful, handing him the bo to pull himself up, pausing only for a moment before swinging it at his knees, so that Leo fell in turn.

"Sorry, Leo! But I'm not losing to him again! You're doing great! "

Bastard, he cursed, hurrying ahead now with a very strong need to give Donnie a piece of his mind. But then,

"Argh"

His head started to ache. Not now… flashes clouded his vision, the entire tunnel starting to bend around him in a cloudy fog. Footsteps started to appear somewhere behind him, and a silhouette- one of a little kid it seemed, running to the left instead of after the others. Leo chose to listen to it, not especially convinced that he would be able to catch up now anyway, not with the other's skills and experiences. When he followed it, the pain suddenly stopped, and something inside his head… almost cracked a little. Hang on… I know this place, he thought climbing through despite every logical part of him telling that this was a bad idea. And even so… he felt like he knew where he was. Navigating the small tunnel easily, the voices of the others bellowing somewhere in the other end, until finally, he reached an opening. Flashes of purple, and seeing Raph fighting Mikey for the ball, right now bouncing along the pipelines and sliding away.

"Get off me!" he yelled, almost like a toddler not getting their way. Funny how all those fighting skills completely went away the moment things got competitive.

When he tried to follow it, the sound of Mikey being dumped into the water, made him pause for a second. Oh no.

Mikey was fine obviously, just… more or less tied up a bit. Dramatically reaching out a hand towards the ball before plummeting back to the ground.
"Bones… broken… must… win… avenge me…"

"Mikey!"

Donnie now yelled, finally having caught up with the others, and Leo realized that this meant both him and Raph was in his heels. He tried climb up the pipes, but only getting so far as two feet, before a hand folded around his angle, dragging him down. He only managed to look up once, seeing the smug look on Raph's face as he raced towards the end of the tunnel.

"Hey, Leo! How does it feel to be first born, second place?" he yelled, Leo starting to lose his composure. He gritted his teeth, clawed his way back up and ignored the seething pain in his skull as well as the feeling of both lungs puncturing in his ribs. However, when he finally reached the end of it, even if he could still here the ticking sound of the ball, he had absolutely no idea where to go.

That is until the pain returned, the world vanishing for a short second and the figure he'd seen before all of a sudden directed him towards the smallest entry way at the top of the ceiling. He climbed up, nearly slipping and struggling the get used to the horrible smell but pushing aside his woes in favor of shoving Raph how it was done. And as he kept crawling, slowly but surely, he felt something click back into place in his head. Voices… not unlike those he remembered from his coma dream. I've been here before, he thought, the image of someone holding his hand entering in his mind. Not just anyone… the hooded figure… And he knew that voice too… all too well, it was one he hadn't heard in a long time now… one he knew the others' were too afraid to talk about.

Pulled back to reality however, Leo dumped down the nearest point, just as he'd done so many times before, granted years had passed since then, and the best part?

It was right before Raph managed to grab the price.

"How the heck-

Leo was quick, scooping up the metal ball in his hand and doing a roll to the other side panting. Noticing almost too late that the tunnel just a few meters ahead read "42" on top. And then, came Donnie and Mikey running, still pathetically fighting each other until they noticed the glowing metal in his hands.

"Go LEO! WOOO!"

And with this, Raph's eyes lit up, teeth growing into fangs and claws seemingly forming at his fingertips. And though Leo was well aware that he was only a short distance away from being dead meat, that didn't stop him from pulling up into a smile.

"How does it feel to be second born and second place?" he yelled, kicking water into his opponents face before making his way for the end until finally-

He'd won the game. Falling to his knees, dropping the ball and laughing hysterically as the others caught up one after the other. Everyone dropping down in exhaustion, though Mikey was quick to regain his energy long enough to exclaim his disapproval.

"That was so not fair!"

"Every year!" Donnie cursed, fist at the wall like his dreams had just been crushed.

But the least expected reaction out of all of them, at least in Leo's case, was Raph's. Raph, right now holding out a hand, helping Leo to his feet. "Good job" he said, and for the first time since they'd known each other, at least the human part, there seemed to be an understanding of some kind. Just like the good old days, huh?

"Thanks"

But then, the pain returned, crackling Leo's skull but this time tenfold the sensation of before. "Argh… "

Images, information somehow tangling itself together faster than he could process, and now having his and Raph's temporary moment of understanding rather pointless, as he again dropped to his knees.

"Leo what is it?!"

The others were by his side in the blink of an eye, hoisting him back to his feet. When it finally stopped, Leo noticed they'd pulled him against the wall to lean on. "I'm fine, I'm fine… " he muttered, the hooded figure, if only for a moment appearing before him, though this time, a living corpse. Two bloody gashes in the chest, spilling out of him, the sound of his own voice screaming, making him jump back to reality again. Like when you're trying to fall asleep, but your body just won't have it.

"How did you do that?" Raph asked, as fingers running over the stones reminiscently and earnestly curious.

"I dunno I just- it was like… I've been here before. With you, and…argh" he nearly bit his tongue, Donnie unfolding one of Mikey's bandanas and using it to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Leo remembered something… he remembered…

"It was him… all this time… "

Skeptical, the brothers looked at each other for a moment. "What are you talking about?"

A smile crept over Leo's face when he realized it, gently pushing the others away and getting back on his feet, heart beating in his chest,

"Sensei! The guy you keep talking about- father, H-Hamato Yoshi! He's… he's the one communicating with me. It makes so much sense! I saw him, when you rescued me. And again, a few days ago. He spoke to me, I-I thought I was going crazy but… what if he was a memory! That explains it"

Mikey looked like he just discovered pizza for the first time. "You remember him?"

And Donnie too, granted, he showed it more subsidedly so.

"Well, that's convenient." Came Raph's voice- Raph who'd watched this entire exchange with a whole floodgate of emotions, now leaning more on the cynical. His voice deepened, fragile. "All this time not even remembering your own brothers, of cause he'd reach out to you, his favorite, and not any of us when we needed him too. Splinters little double ganger. His prodigy. Out there making it happen, huh?"

Donnie stepped between them, a shadow over his eyes, "You don't mean that…"

"No? Then prove it. Prove that you weren't lying. That you really don't remember us because right now- seems to me there's a whole lot you're not telling us." He continued, shouldering past Donnie harshly so he could get all up in Leo's face. He was almost shaking, knuckles tightened, and if Leo didn't know better, on the verge of tears. He couldn't understand. He wanted to know, why. What did he do? What was it about him that he seemed to… well… detest so much? Because something told Leo that this went beyond just his memory loss. Who he really was, so he challenged the stern warrior back, by asking the question most frequently on his mind ever since he came down here.

"Why do you hate me so much?"

Raph opened his mouth, as if he was about to say something. But stopped himself once he saw his brothers faces, looking at him with a form of disappointment almost. At least, that's how he must've interpreted, as instead of answering he let out a sigh, walking the other way.

"Maybe I'm just tired of everyone forgetting who brought us together in the first place. "

---

Simon rounded the corner, panting. The block was empty- just like the other one. And the one before that and so on and so forth… he couldn't find him anywhere at the cinema, let alone in the miles upon miles in diameter park they used to meet up, and certainly not at the Robertson's. He tried calling again, but to no avail as he'd slowly come to realize. Damn it Mikey, where are you? But Simon didn't give up that easily. He held his chin up high, despite not even the weather agreeing with his circumstances. After having successfully slummed down the bench for half an hour, he could feel the cold creep up on him little by little. He fiddled after his gloves, only to then remember that oh yeah, Mikey had borrowed the other one… guess only one hand will endure tonight. He got up from his seat, started walking around a bit hoping that maybe he'd pop up and attempt to scare him or something any time now, but he was all alone. And the city was too big for him to know where to look. He could be anywhere… and the only thing not helping was standing around in the cold sulking.

He looked at the glove for a moment, letting out a sigh. Please be okay, he thought, nearly reaching a heart attack as soon as his phone started ringing. However, it wasn't who he'd hoped it to be.

"Yes, dad. Yeah, I know, I know. I'll be home soon. You too, bye" he said, begrudgingly making his way back. It just didn't make any sense… did someone steel his phone? Did someone apprehend him again? Oh god- please say that Henderson and his goons came after him. Surely not, given they hadn't retaliated ever since his lunatic brothers showed up. Still not sure they were actually telling the truth, and not just blackmailing Mikey into complying. Though if that were the case, he wouldn't think for one second that he'd go down without a fight. And judging by his body language and general demeanor the last time they'd talked, there was something bothering him. Something he couldn't bring himself to tell even him despite always opening up about pretty much everything. He'd even felt the need to tell all about that time he defeated a giant insect to scare his brother, or something along those lines, never once holding back. So why… why was now different? What changed?

The sound of a clang appeared beneath his feet. Simon then realized that it came from a pair of nunchucks conveniently placed on the road for him to stumble upon and his heart sank. "Hallo? Mikey?" he called, deviating from the sidewalk and into the nearest alley. He picked them up, realizing the scratchy markings on it. Like someone had attempted to blow it to pieces or something, making Simon instantly get a bad feeling. "Mikey!" he called, though the only sounds apparent was that of his own breathing and police sirens whining somewhere in the distance. Maybe he was just imagining things, Simon thought, ready to turn back around when without warning,

"What the-

A small metal canister was thrown from the shadows right beneath his feet. He didn't have time to figure out what it was by himself, before thick purple gas was suddenly emitted from the end- instantly sending a severe cough in his throat. Simons first reaction was to run away, though the strength in his knees were already fading to much, making him fall to the ground. When he tried to call for help, suddenly hands wrapped around his mouth, dragging him further into the light as purple glowing dots started walking towards him. As they came out of the cloudy toxins, he then saw that it was a person. Actually, it was multiple of them, all starring down at him in the alley, freaky glowing eyes, wearing some sort of black unforms. All of them starring down as Simon was struggling to break free, kicking and scratching and biting, but it was a fight enough on its own just to keep his eyes open. And then, the silhouette spoke, eyes filtered behind an almost demonic mask, and holding in his hands some sort of canister. "Simon Landry… so glad you could make it. " he said, opening the lit to reveal a giant needle infused with some sort of glowing purple substance inside. He leaned forward, grabbing Simon by the face, the boy feeling his heart in his stomach, panting, unable to breathe. He wanted to scream, to cry, to beg for his life or just anything that might safe him, but he just couldn't.

"Congratulations. You're going to be the first one to the collection, young man. You should be very proud. And once you're all done… we're gonna need you to send a little message" the man said, nodding to his henchmen. Everything became darker and darker, Simon on the brink of passing out. The last thing he saw before completely giving himself over, was the sight of the needle injected into his neck.

Then, the pain was all he could remember.