CHAPTER FIVE
HOMUNCULUS
"Donnie! Donnie! Donnie!"
Donatello rolled over in his bed and groaned at the sound of Mikey hollering down below. He'd been up until the early hours working on schematics for the spacecraft, and it was far too early for any of this.
"Mikey," He pulled his blanket up over his head. "I am not helping you clean up whatever mess you made, deal with it yourself-"
"N-No, it's not that!"
Light flooded Don's eyes as his brother lifted the blanket off him, having climbed up with him.
"It's Dash!" Mikey cried.
"Look, unless he's somehow escaped again," Donatello groaned, rubbing his eyes. "I'm not-"
His sentence was cut short by his brother holding out Dash towards him, cradled in his arms and seemingly asleep. He was breathing heavily.
"...helping…"
"Something's wrong with him…!" The usually jokey turtle clasped his hands together in worry as Donatello took Dash from his arms. "I was trying to get him to eat something for his breakfast but he wouldn't budge, he's been like that since I got up."
"This is unusual…"
After taking a brief moment to examine the alien, he shifted his hand under his chin as he thought to himself. For a creature so lively, this sudden turn would definitely be cause of alarm. It was no wonder Mikey had started to panic. He began to shuffle his way out of his bed, cradling Dash carefully in one free arm and being promptly followed by his worried brother. They both made their way over to Donatello's workspace, where he placed the creature down on the desk and shone a bright light over him to better illuminate it's features. He then gradually took his time to look over the limp body, with Mikey trying to peek over at every angle he could.
"Hey guys," Leonardo greeted, holding up a slice of bitten toast. "What are you doing?"
"Something's wrong with Dash, Leo!"
"Wrong? Like what?" He frowned. "I mean, Mikey you did think he was choking on potato chips that one time and all he was doing was hacking up a hairball."
"This isn't the time to joke around, bro!"
"Calm down, Mikey." Don cooed from his station. "Remember that he's an alien. Maybe this is some sort of hibernation for him."
"No, Don! I'm tellin' you, something isn't right!"
Donatello sighed as he ran his hand over Dash's chest. His breathing certainly was extremely heavy, even for a 'hibernation' state. He wanted to assure his brother as best he could, but even he had to admit that he was starting to feel concerned. Perhaps the strain of Earth's living conditions was finally getting to the poor thing? He couldn't know for sure.
With little else to go on, he looked around for a device that he then carefully placed inside Dash's mouth. However, as he did so he was shocked to see that once again the creature's teeth had changed in shape, almost capped looking.
"This is odd…" He muttered to himself, promptly using the device in his hand to take Dash's temperature. "...His core temperature is pretty high too. Mikey, did you notice this?"
"N-Notice what?" The brother shuffled over to look at his fuzzy friend, Don pointing towards the newly developed teeth. "Woah...No way, they didn't look like that yesterday!"
"I've also noticed his fur is a lot finer, it's even shedding more profusely in some areas."
Leo suddenly grew concerned, and walked over to join them at the desk.
"So...What does that mean? What do we do?"
"I don't know...The predictability of Dash is seriously hard to gauge. This could be normal for him, but it could be something fatal. There's no way to know for sure." He frowned. "Well...Not for me, at least…"
Leonardo placed a hand on his back in support. Mikey on the other hand, began having a full-blown freakout.
" FATAL ? WHAT DO YOU MEAN FATAL?! DONNIE Y'GOTTA DO SOMETHING-" A slap to the head interrupted him. "OW!"
"Calm down." Leo scolded.
"I'm sorry, Mikey…" Don sighed again, rubbing his head. "I wish I knew, really I do."
Michelangelo - not wishing to hear the negativity - quickly but carefully swept the small alien up from the table into his arms, making his way towards his room.
"Well, why don't we take him to a vet?"
Leo almost dropped his toast at the suggestion, coughing for a moment before patting his chest to ease the food going down. He turned around to watch his brother as he searched through the rooms and main hall.
"Mikey, he's an alien - we can't take him to a vet!"
Donatello nodded in agreement as he stepped away from his desk, trying to follow Mikey despite how frantically he was walking around.
"I know you're worried, but use your head! We can't just- I mean, no one is going to- ...Okay what are you looking for?"
"A blanket!" His brother exclaimed as he picked up his search target and began to wrap up Dash in the cloth. "There's gotta be someone out there who can help Dash, and I'm gonna find them."
His wrapping motion was blocked by Leo grabbing one of his wrists, staring down at him as he continued to hold his food in his free hand. The toast had already gone cold but at this point he was reluctant to lose out on finishing his breakfast simply because his younger brother couldn't keep a clear head. His tone became a bit more sinister than usual.
"Calm down for a second, we need to think about this."
"We don't have time to think about it, Leo!" Suddenly an idea hit the turtle. "What about Leatherhead? He could help, right?"
The team leader loosened his grip on his brother's wrist as he turned to look over at Donatello, who had also stopped in his tracks. Don felt under his chin for a moment. He hadn't even considered Leatherhead, though it had been a while since they'd had any contact with their reptilian friend. If there was anyone that had a chance of safely examining their alien pet, however, it was certainly him.
"That...May actually be a good call." He muttered. "It also means we don't need to go to the surface."
The youngest of the three beamed, now able to punch the air in triumph with Leo's grip on him slacking. Normally he would revel in the fact he had a bright idea for once, but his concern for Dash far outweighed his cockiness this time around. Giving his brothers little time to argue, he made a quick leap for the exit to the lair, being sure to keep a safe grip on the blanketed bundle in his arms.
"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" He exclaimed, waving with a free arm.
Feeling this was the safest course of action, and also having mild concern for the alien held by Mikey, Donatello began to gather some gear off his desk to stash away in his usual travel bag. He shouldn't need any of it, but it was always good to be prepared - as he had proven on many of their outings in the past. A few steps away Leonardo sighed, taking the final unsatisfying bites of his cold toast, and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before making way to where his brothers were gathering.
"Raph isn't going to be happy about this."
Sure enough, less than 10 minutes later the group of turtles had been joined by their hot-tempered sibling, who was making little attempt at hiding his disapproval as he stomped through the sewer passages behind the rest of the group. Not only had he been roused from a perfectly good nap, but now they were having to deal with even more problems caused by the alien "pet" he had so adamantly objected to on a seemingly regular basis.
"I told you guys that thing was gonna be nothin' but trouble!" He growled.
Donatello, who continued to face forward despite the echoing grumbles from Raphael, examined the tunnel walls with his flashlight, being sure to keep their path illuminated in front of them. The non-stop bickering from his brothers behind him had made the walk seem unusually long and it was beginning to make him wonder if they'd somehow gone in the wrong direction, despite him knowing full well where the old subway tunnel was. He was the one that found it in the first place after all.
After a while Raphael began to quieten down, folding his arms and biting the inside of his cheek as he tried to keep his temper in check. He had no problem yelling, but he'd already had to deal with three lectures from Leo and one was more than enough. All that could be heard were the pit-pats of their feet on the ground, with the occasional rat squeak and splashing of sewer water down the canal. It was a short while before any of them spoke up again.
"Hey…" Raphael stopped in his tracks. "You guys hear that?"
His brothers stopped in unison, turning to look at him as he looked up towards the ceiling. After letting the silence continue for another moment, they were all able to hear the same sound. Donatello aimed his torch light up on the ceiling to show the nearby manhole cover, water rhythmically dripping from it's poorly sealed edges. From it there emanated a selection of muffled voices and clattering, to which Raphael decided to investigate.
"Raph, what are you doing?!" Mikey cried out, taking a step forward.
"I'm gonna check it out, there's somethin' goin' on up there."
"It's New York City, there's always something going on!"
"Mikey has a point, Raph." Don added. "If we want Dash to get seen to, we should keep going."
Raphael ignored his brothers' pleas and continued on his way to the ladder that led towards the manhole, eager to get a look at what was happening above. Once at the top, he carefully lifted the heavy lid with his palm, only allowing the slightest view so as not to be spotted. The sounds got louder and he could just about make out the figures causing the commotion in question.
"Yo guys, there's some Purple Dragons guys up there."
Leo put his hands on his hips, moving over to the base of the ladder. As much as he was concerned about their current situation, if the Purple Dragons were involved with something it couldn't be anything good.
"What's going on?"
"I dunno, but there's one guy yellin' and the others are carrying a bunch'a stuff."
"Stolen goods I'll bet." The leader sighed, turning to look at his remaining brothers.
Mikey remained fidgety and cautiously held the bundled Dash close to his chest, while Donatello rubbed the back of his neck as he contemplated what to do. They could of course split up, but if Leo and Raph needed their help then they'd be stuck. Not to mention dealing with thefts used a bit extra man power for hoisting the stolen items alone. Reading the conflict on his brother's face, Leonardo took a step forward as he began to speak.
"Okay, how about we take Dash first, and then we leave him at-"
His sentence was cut off by the sound of the manhole cover slipping back into place. As they all looked towards it, they saw that Raphael had already made his way onto the surface and left them behind. Leo clenched his fists by his side and gritted his teeth, barely speaking through them so as not to make too much noise.
"Raph! Raph!" With an exasperated sigh he slapped his forehead. "For crying out loud."
He followed up the ladder soon after, shooting his younger brothers an apologetic look before he hopped up through the hole above. Donatello rushed to the ladder and grabbed onto one of the steps.
"Leo, wait! You guys!" The turtle looked over at Mikey, then one more time at the manhole before looking back over at his brother. "We should help, but...We'll make it quick."
"Don, no, we can't!"
All Donatello could bring himself to do was shake his head meekly before swiftly making his way out of the sewer exit, Michelangelo running over and watching after him with an almost betrayed look. For a moment he turned around to make his own way, taking only a couple of steps before stopping. He wouldn't forgive himself if he abandoned his brothers, what seemed like a tame robbery could become anything much worse. Simultaneously he would regret not getting his little companion the help he needed when it mattered most. Realizing he would feel regret either way, he turned back towards the manhole exit. His brother was right, they should make it quick, and it would certainly go a lot quicker if he was there to help. The young turtle took one more look at the creature in his arms, pulling back some of the cotton fabric to get a better look. His breathing had become more shallow than heavy and the blanket was covered in even more of the fur he seemed to be shedding. Mikey inhaled sharply and closed his eyes tightly, giving the small alien a gentle squeeze before looking up at the night sky peeking through the hole above and proceeding to follow his brothers to the surface.
Once his feet touched the pavement, Michelangelo carefully shuffled his feet to place the cover back over the manhole to hide their tracks. The air was colder on the surface, but he had little time to think about the weather when his brothers had already initiated a brawl with the small group of gang members - most likely started by Raphael. Catching a glimpse of a bulky figure heading towards his hot-headed brother from behind, Mikey's reflexes kicked in as he made a leap for the assailant. The thug was brought to the ground purely from the weight of the kick and Raph turned at the sound of the collision, holding back an opponents' club weapon with his two sai.
"Decided to join us, huh?"
"I'm not talkin' to you!" Mikey barked in response, keeping the cotton bundle safely cradled in his arms as he turned around to give his previous victim another kick as he attempted to rise to his feet again.
"Oh great, another one! Why's there so many of yous costumed freaks?!" One of the thugs exclaimed as he tried to fight off Leonardo's katana with a pair of trash can lids. "Get the loot outta here!"
As one of the thug's companions moved to grab one of the bags of stolen goods, it was immediately swept up out of his reach by the currently upside-down Donatello, who remained balanced using his legs to hang off the railings of a nearby fire-escape stairway.
"I'll be taking those, my good gentlemen."
He swiftly brought his bo staff around with his free hand to bat away anyone that made an attempt to grab the bags back. This caused Leo's adversary to throw his arms in the air in frustration and yell, leaving him open for a harsh kick to the stomach.
Meanwhile, one of the taller Purple Dragon members snuck out from the shadows and held Michelangelo back with a short piece of rope. Sneering as the turtle yelped and squirmed to get free, he noticed the bundle held in his captive's arms.
"Hoh? What's this you got, huh?" In a swift movement he kicked Michelangelo away from him as he snatched the wrapped blanket away from his grasp. "Somethin' valuable I'll bet!"
"Hey!" Mikey growled as he turned around to retaliate, only to be intercepted by Raphael running in with a powerful shoulder bash in an attempt to topple the larger thug over.
However this also caused the bundle to fly out of the man's hands at a high speed and bounce off the building wall into the vastly shadowed part of the alley.
"Dash, no!"
The youngest terrapin yelled harshly as he whipped his nun-chucks out of his belt and charged at the toppled gang member. Just as the man tried to get back on his feet again, he stumbled to try and dodge the flurry of attacks coming his way, barely keeping his balance with every swipe and miss.
"Mikey!" Donatello called out to his enraged brother, only to have his attention snatched away by more of the Purple Dragons beneath him trying to tug the bag of spoils out of his grip.
He shifted his body weight to swing upright and perch on the railing of the stairwell, holding the targeted bag well out of reach. Using his bo staff to keep his balance, he watched his brothers fighting below him, Leonardo still fending off the leader and his other two brothers cornering the largest member. There didn't seem to be any other bags around, which meant he was holding the only one. If he kept it away from them long enough while his team mates held the group at bay, they would hopefully give up rather quickly and leave. As the turtle pondered his next move, he barely noticed the light drops of rain that began to pelt against his face. He also failed to notice one of the determined goons just underneath him making an overly confident attempt at hoisting themselves up onto the bars of the emergency escape, the light clattering sounds having quickly been covered up by the neutral sound of rainfall.
Down below, Leonardo dealt a finishing blow to the leader before turning to look over at his brothers. First taking notice of Donatello's situation, he made a run to build up speed then dropped to the ground in a slide to tackle one of the still grounded group members. Once his target hit the ground with a grunt, he promptly pushed himself to his feet to make a leap for the remaining figure climbing their way towards his brother. Getting a firm grip on the man's legs, he swings his weight to force a shift in balance, causing the assailant to slip and fall back onto the ground. Only the sound of the body hitting the already puddle-ridden ground with a loud splash snapped Donatello to attention.
"Watch your back, Don." Leo called out, wiping some rain from his eyes as he got to his feet once again.
Donatello took this opportunity to hop down from his safe spot and stand next to his brother, swinging the bag of loot over his shoulder.
"Heh, sorry."
Both of their attention then met the final standing group. Michelangelo made another swing for the looming Purple Dragon, but upon missing once again let out a frustrated grunt before kicking his opponent back. Having cornered the man up against the nearby wall, he spun his nun-chucks idly as he glared up at him and made one final charge towards the thug, yelling louder the smaller he closed the gap between them. However, his attack was halted by Raphael running in to grab him by the shoulders and holding his offending arm in place.
"Woah, easy there, bro!"
The now cowering thug edged himself along the wall and towards his leader, who had since managed to pull himself to his feet.
"Y-You guys are crazy!"
"Ugh," Groaned the leader, "C'mon boys, let's get outta here! We'll get yous guys next time, y'hear?!"
As the turtles regrouped, so did the opposing gang, making a quick dash towards their nearby escape vehicle to leave the scene as soon as they could before they could receive any more punishment. As the sounds of the vehicle's screeching wheels got further away into the distance, Leonardo wiped off his hands before putting them on his hips, proud of what they'd accomplished. Michelangelo on the other hand remained held in place by Raph, still catching his breath as he continued to seethe a little.
"And you tell me I have anger issues." Raphael teased.
The teasing was not well met as Mikey tugged his arms free and shuffled away from his brothers, gripping onto his weapons tightly as he looked sternly at them.
"This isn't funny, Raph! Dash could've gotten seriously hurt-"
He wanted to rant more as the anger was still boiling inside him, but it soon washed away with the rain as he remembered where his small alien companion was. Putting his weapons away back into his belt, he made a dash for the end of the darkened alley. His brothers remained where they stood, slightly taken aback by his angry outburst. Donatello pulled the bag of loot around into view and inspected it closely as he pondered their next move.
"We should probably try and return some of this stuff."
"Yeah, hopefully it's all from the same place." Leo agreed.
"Their get-away was just around the corner, so it's probably safe to assume that they got it all from pretty close by."
Michelangelo ignored the conversation as he rummaged around among bins and trash bags filling up the alley, not taking any notice of the smell being unleashed in the process. The further he got from his brothers the more all he could hear was the rain and his own ruckus. Finally he caught a glimpse of a now soaking blanket sprawled on the ground. About to exclaim his relief, he halted as he got a full view of the bundle in front of him and instead a small yelp escaped his lips.
"Uh...Guys…?"
The trio looked up from the bag of stolen goods and made their way over to where their brother now stood. His now trembling hand lifted to point at the piled blanket, unable to say anything. Struggling to initially see what the problem was, Donatello took his flashlight back out to shine into the darkness, only to have his eyes widen in shock along with his siblings. Where the blanket spread on the ground and had previously held a small reptilian alien creature, there was now a new figure in its place. Covered by the lifts and folds of the fabric was a small, pale body with only medium length reddish hair covering the top of its head. Small trails of steam left the form of the seemingly unconscious body as the rain pelted even harder. The longer they looked it was easy to see that the figure in front of them now definitely resembled that of an adolescent human. All that came out from amongst the silence was an uneasy growl from Raphael.
"...I told you guys this thing would be trouble."
"That...That's definitely Dash, right?" Leo uncharacteristically stuttered.
"Y-Yeah, I'm sure of it...I think." Mikey replied nervously.
Donatello crouched down beside the body to get a closer look at the subject in front of them. As he shone his torch across it's face and neck so he could see where to feel for a pulse, he felt startled for a moment. The features looked familiar to him, though he couldn't quite place where he'd seen them before. He shook his head to get his mind back into focus and inspected the blanket covering the now human form to confirm Michelangelo's statement.
"This is definitely the same blanket, it's covered in the fur Dash was shedding." Donatello got to his feet, rubbing under his chin with his free hand. "And if there's no sign of the uh…'original' body...Then it's probably safe to say this is Dash."
"Is he okay?" Asked Michelangelo.
"Well, there's a pulse, and his breathing is still a bit shallow but…" Donatello moved his hand from his chin to rest on his hip. "It isn't going to help things lying out here in this rain. We should get him back to the lair."
The initial shock starting to wear off, Leonardo stepped away from the group before turning to address them.
"Alright then, it's probably best if we split up. Mikey, Don, you guys take Dash back to the lair." He carefully took the sack of stolen items from Donatello and lugged them over his own shoulder. "Raph and I will return what the Purple Dragons snatched and we'll meet up back home."
Raphael agreed with a grunt, moving to stand by the leader and folding his arms. Donatello and Michelangelo gave nods in unison to the plan, the younger of the two showing relief that they were finally going back into the safety of the sewers. They began to go their separate ways, with Mikey carefully picking up the now bulkier and heavier bundle in the blanket, and allowing his brother to open up the manhole cover for them both to jump down, taking care not to rouse the small human now resting in the cradle of his arms.
It didn't take long for Leonardo and Raphael to return the stolen goods to their rightful places, giving them some extra time to do a sweep of the surrounding area to make sure no more bandits were lingering. In seemingly no time at all they had already made their way back into the lair, where they found their brothers idle around the television area - Donatello making notes in a small notebook, and Michelangelo crouched by the unconscious figure who was now laid out on the sofa. Master Splinter had also joined them, sitting on the floor and meditating on the situation.
"So, any idea what we're dealing with here?" Leo raised his hand in greeting, getting straight to the point.
"Not a clue," His brother sighed, closing his notepad and folding his arms. "Pulse and breathing are starting to go to normal, but…"
Raphael put his hands on his hips, not looking too happy about the whole ordeal, let alone the doubtful nature of their smartest sibling.
"But what?"
"Well, I don't know if you guys have noticed, but…" Don continued. "Doesn't 'Dash' look a little...familiar to you guys?"
The other turtles looked at each other in slight confusion. They hadn't gotten a good look at their new guest since it suddenly appeared, and hadn't the slightest clue what their brother was talking about. Taking the opportunity, they all peered over at the creature on the couch, having a long, cautious look at its face. Leo's eyes widened slightly.
"Woah, wait…" He started. "It-...It sorta looks like April, doesn't it?"
"Exactly." Donatello walked over to join them. "Doesn't this look like April if she were younger?"
Michelangelo, still crouched by the sofa, tilted his head and squinted. He couldn't see the resemblance.
"What?"
"Now you mention it…" Followed Raph, taking a step back as he scrunched up his face in disapproval. "What's the deal here?! Now we have some sort of tiny April clone in our house? What the shell is goin' on?!"
The trio bring their fingers to their lips in a unity to silence their hot tempered brother. Not enjoying being told to simmer down, he looked as if about to shout again but was stopped by Splinter gently placing his hand on his arm in an attempt to soothe his temper.
"Calm yourself, my son. We are all concerned."
"I called April and Casey over, just to confirm it." Donatello said as he looked back down at the figure one more time. "I don't know why it looks like her, but...I'm certain that has something to do with the sudden change here."
During the whole conversation, Mikey had remained staring at who he used to call Dash. He couldn't wrap his head around it either, less than an hour ago he was carrying around a small alien pet in his arms, and now they were looking down at a seemingly comatose miniature April O'Neil. At least, according to the others - he still failed to see the connection.
Having told them it was an emergency, April and Casey made their way into their friends' home in quick time by taking Casey's motorcycle. Still a bit wobbly from the frantic journey, the red haired woman stumbled over towards the communal area, Casey giving her a clumsy pat on the back as he went to join her. The group all exchanged looks and nods.
"H-Hey guys." April raised her hand in greeting, hoping conversation would ease her stomach. That hope was soon shattered by the sight of the human on the sofa just a few steps away.
"Woah! You guys weren't kidding huh?" Casey failed to keep his voice down, leaning over the back of the sofa to get a closer look. "Is this really your alien pet thing?"
"This-...This is crazy!" April gulped. "Not to mention a little unsettling…Why does it look like me?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out." Explained Donatello, who was standing next to her.
Before their conversation could continue, a faint groaning sound came from the figure everyone's attention was focused on. The look-a-like slowly blinked their eyes open as they regained consciousness, quickly widening them as they realized they were awake. They shot upright, looking at their arms held out in front of them. This action caused the group to flinch in shock, Michelangelo leaping to his feet and letting out a girlish scream, which in turn caused the small redhead to yelp in response. The scene was a bit familiar. Silence followed the unforeseen event for a moment, the youthful character scanning the room and seeming to relax as it recognised the faces around it. Mikey took a step back, covering his mouth. He could see the resemblance now, but there was one thing different that stood out. The look-alike's eyes didn't reflect April's emerald green irises, instead they were a contrasting lavender hue. With a clearing of his throat, Leonardo raised his hand and calmly tried to break the silence.
"Hey there...'Dash'."
It almost seemed to take a while for them to register the words, but the clone looked straight up at him with little change in their expression.
"...Hey…"
As expected, the voice that came out also sounded like April, just in a slightly higher pitch. The original April rubbed her arms, unable to say anything in the moment. This was all too bizarre, it was like looking in a mirror to the past. With the ice having been slightly broken, Donatello took it upon himself to continue softening the atmosphere a bit more.
"How are you feeling?"
There was another pause as the miniature April looked over at the him. It was unclear if they were taking a while to understand the words being spoken, or if they were struggling with their own words that they wanted to say.
"I'm...Okay, I think." Their face didn't really show that, but they continued on as they moved their gaze to look at their own hands. "I'm...sorry, I know this is a…strange question, but...What do I look like right now?"
Their speech remained slow and staggered, almost as if they'd never spoken before, and by the time they finished their sentence the group looked amongst themselves. Luckily, Donatello had some reflective materials on his nearby workbench, which he promptly shifted to grab one of and hold out towards their guest. The look-alike stared at their reflection, bringing their fingers to touch their cheek in confirmation that they were indeed looking at their own face. Just behind the purple masked turtle they caught a glimpse of April, who was still looking slightly bewildered, and they then realized the situation.
"Ah, I see…" They lowered their head, looking at their lap. "I...suppose I should explain."
"Oh you bet you should!" Raphael growled, folding his arms and glaring down at the clone.
"Raph, come on-" Donatello started.
His interjection was interrupted by Master Splinter's own, as he wrapped his hands over his cane and suggested they made some tea for their guest. With some forceful dragging from Leonardo, Raphael grumbled his way into the kitchen. It only took a few minutes to prepare the requested refreshments, which didn't seem to have been long enough for the hot-headed turtle to fully calm down, though he seemed like he was now holding his tongue. After being handed the hot beverage and allowing themselves to enjoy the warmth cupped in their hands, the small redhead began to explain in their continued staggered and unsure speech.
The figure in front of them now claimed to be a member of an alien race known as the Cytolerus, an organism capable of replicating the form of any other living being, or static object. However, the Cytol sitting in front of them seemed unexpectedly unsure of their own species and origin, stating that they had very little recollection of where they came from. This fact only continued to stir the pot of Raphael's suspicion and he refused to lighten his glare from the alien the entire time that they spoke. Conversely, Michelangelo, suddenly now intrigued by the concept of an alien with shape shifting superpowers, sat himself down by the sofa again, leaning forward slightly as he listened intently.
As it turned out, the Cytolerus race had now become a seriously hunted species, being claimed across the galaxies as a 'Class X' threat and being sought out by almost any realm within reach of the Galactic Federation and their various 'Collection Divisions'. Upon hearing this information, Donatello looked up from the notepad he had been writing in once again, tapping his pen against his cheek. It was surprising to him that this supposed hunt had only just surfaced, however before he got to make a comment, his brooding brother had already begun to holler from across the room as his patience finally snapped.
"So you're the ones those Galactic Federation bozos are after!"
"Y-...Yes." The alien nervously replied.
It seemed like the hunt was incredibly generalized. An entire species being hunted across the galaxy? Why? Donatello pondered to himself as Raphael continued to bark away.
"I said it, didn't I? This thing is askin' for trouble! It's a freakin' fugitive!"
Michelangelo hopped to his feet, holding an arm out in their guests' defense.
"Hey! You don't know that!"
"Don't you remember what those Galactic Police were talkin' about? They arrested us for having 'destructive foreign matter'. These aliens could be capable of anything!"
The whole time Raphael spoke, the April look-alike kept their gaze low, gripping onto the rim of their cup. He wasn't entirely wrong, though the wording was a little rough. Donatello, still mulling over the information, could begin to see where Raphael, and even the Galactic Federation were coming from.
"It would certainly be hard to track down a creature capable of copying another form cell-for-cell. " He mused. "Theoretically speaking, if the whole form - say, a human - had been replicated exactly then any type of biological testing done would just show that they were in fact just a human. Apply that logic to a criminal mind or dangerous species and you're going to get some pretty shady stuff."
"But that's not fair!" Mikey moaned. "How do they know if someone's a criminal or not?"
"It's not exactly fair, no, but it's probably precaution." Leo added.
Master Splinter closed his eyes, having listened patiently.
"Suspicion can bring out the ugliest side of a person, no matter how level-headed or intelligent they may be."
A short silence followed his statement. Raph felt the need to argue more, but his sensei's words almost felt like a slight dig at him, even if he was merely stating a fact. The pause allowed April - the original - to gather her thoughts and step forward, clearing her throat before she spoke.
"I just have one question…" She began, rubbing her arm slightly. "Why...me?"
"That's a point…" Leo scratched his chin. "I mean, why not make yourself look like a different human altogether, something more distinguishable?"
It took a moment for the Cyloterus to fully understand what they were being asked. The taller woman probably wanted to know why they now looked exactly like her.
"Oh...Well, that's...a bit complicated." The clone thought carefully about how to put their thoughts into words. "I'm nowhere near experienced enough yet to copy a form just by looking at it, our abilities don't quite work that way."
Michelangelo deflated a little at this revelation, the morphing abilities now seeming less like superhero powers in his mind. As the look-alike continued, they made it clear that once they had realized that the dominant species on the planet were not, in fact, walking talking terrapins - or rodents for that matter - they decided it would be best to start to blend in by taking on a new form, for if they remained as 'Dash' on Earth they were surely bound to get caught again.
"To be able to copy the form of something, I still need to come into contact with it so I can...feel it out. Since I was only close enough with one being of this kind, I had just one frame of reference to work from." They looked over at April apologetically. "That's why I got so...um...bite-y with you for a while in my other form. I'm sorry."
Despite the eeriness of hearing the voice of her younger self talking back at her, the explanation almost seemed to calm April down a bit. Her shoulders stopped tensing and she folded her arms around her waist. Donatello smiled a bit at the new information, interested in the genetic mechanics discussed.
"So you're able to analyse something's molecular make-up and then replicate that feeling in your own cells? Fascinating."
Unfortunately the alien wasn't able to confirm or deny his theory, as they barely understood any of the words that came out of his mouth. Before she could even think to respond, another question was pelted at her, this time from Michelangelo, who was still poised by the sofa and leaning forward as he began to interrogate.
"Wait a sec- If you're supposed to be a ' clone' or whatever, then how come you're so small? And your eyes are totally wrong! Plus, what is the deal with-"
His barrage was interrupted by Master Splinter nudging him with his cane. The rat cleared his throat as a warning, causing his son to recoil slightly as he rubbed the back of his head. Splinter then took over, a soothing tone in his voice.
"I believe that is enough questions for now." He paused as he gave the small alien a once-over. "Though...Things may get a little confusing."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Having two Aprils wasn't going to be very feasible, even in the short term, and so they then suggested that the alien alter their form, even just a little, to make them more distinctive. The clone was unsure of themselves making alterations without any reference, but the group reassured them that as long as they changed enough for them all to tell the red-headed pair apart a little easier - not to mention make the alien much less conspicuous - then whatever they did would probably turn out fine.
Donatello passed them the reflective material from before so that they could have better visibility for what they were doing. They lifted the mirroring surface, staring at their replicated face.
"C-...Could you maybe not look while I do this…?"
They were clearly embarrassed, probably because they were still inexperienced as previously mentioned. After some exchanging of looks and nods, the group all turned around to face away from the alien. Michelangelo, however, had to be tugged multiple times as he attempted to turn around, his curiosity getting the better of him as their guest began to focus on making small changes to the arrangement of their face. Having no physical reference made it incredibly difficult, but eventually they got to a point where they felt their features differed enough from how they were before. After gently feeling the roundness of their new cheeks with their fingertips they began to stare down their reflection again.
Something else needed to change. The hair was one of the more striking parts of their appearance, so that seemed like the next best step. The reddish strands began to shrink just above their shoulders and curve a bit more around their freshly shaped face, with a set of bangs to cover their forehead - they'd caught glance of the style in a papered medium lying around in the lair and it felt like a good addition to have for extra distinction.
They then changed the colour for good measure, closing their eyes as they tried to visualise what they wanted. Once their eyelids reopened they could see the new shade of amber framing their face. It seemed to work. Feeling confident they'd changed enough, they lowered the mirror and cleared their throat as a signal for everyone to turn around again, expressions of mild surprise and intrigue washing upon them.
"Hey, not bad!" Mikey grinned, giving the fresh faced alien girl some finger-guns.
The alien tilted their head slightly as they tried to decipher the hand gesture, half-heartedly mimicking him with her own fingers. They didn't understand the body language, but the words made sense at least. April smiled, almost sighing with relief.
"He's right, you look good."
The compliment made the girl smile a bit, more so with the others nodding in agreement. It was relieving to know that one of her first times morphing in any capacity without reference hadn't gone totally awry. One person, however, refused to nod and stepped forward with indignation.
"Are you guys out of your freakin' minds?!" Raphael started. "We are not letting that thing stay here any longer, there's no point in getting so chummy with it."
"Raphael, that is quite enough."
"But- Master Splinter-"
Master Splinter shook his head, indicating he wasn't going to argue this any further. Raphael gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. How many times was he going to be dejected for opposing this... thing ? Leonardo, sensing the impending outburst, put his hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Come on, Raph. At the very least, it's temporary." He looked over at the amber-haired girl. "How about doing it on a trial basis? Until she gets used to her new form. What harm could it do?"
Raphael tutted as he pushed Leo's hand off him. That was the exact point he was trying to make, there's no telling the harm that it could do. It was becoming clear he wasn't going to win this case, so he merely pointed at the small alien, his eyes lowering into a harsh glare.
"Fine." He growled. "But I don't have to like it."
With a swift turn on his heel he began to walk off, heading towards the elevator. Leonardo sighed and scratched the back of his head, accompanied by his father bowing his head in apology.
"I am sorry for my son's harsh words."
"He'll come around." Leo added with a smile as extra reassurance, though admittedly he was a little unsure himself.
"O-Oh, no, that's okay...I can...I can understand where he's coming from-"
The girl's sentence was cut short by the group's united flinching. It hit all of them suddenly - she hadn't changed her voice. Donatello carefully pointed this out to her, and she brought her hand to her neck bashfully. She'd completely forgotten that her voice would also give herself away, but changing that was going to be even more complicated. With a deep breath she closed her eyes and focused, trying to manage the positioning of her vocal cords and larynx. Unable to see what she was doing, the process made her anxious so she tried to only make a slight change in the same way she had with her outer features. Making sure she'd shifted things correctly so there weren't any health hazards, she opened her mouth to allow a couple of random sounds to come out as she tested her new vocals. They remained in the same level of pitch as before, but there was an altered timber to the sound of it, slightly softer.
"How's...this?"
The voice was different. Once again she was met with a finger-gun gesture from Mikey, an action she still couldn't understand. Donatello and April found themselves leaning forward slightly, intrigued by the process behind the sudden change. Everyone had begun to mellow now that the alien in front of them significantly differed from her original counterpart, Michelangelo now having perched himself on the back of the sofa, kicking his legs playfully. He still couldn't believe that just a couple of hours ago this girl was a small yellow creature that could fit in just one of his arms. Master Splinter, still resting his hands upon his cane, bowed his head at the girl gratefully.
"We appreciate your efforts. I understand it must be difficult for you, Miss-..."
The group went into an awkward silence at that moment. What on earth were they supposed to call this girl? All she had mentioned was her species name, but nothing other than that. As he had been thinking about his previous fuzzy companion, Michelangelo had the same thought as everyone else, and lacking the same tact he was the first one to blurt out the question that was on all their minds.
"Uh...Do we still call you 'Dash'?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Mikey," Leonardo interjected. "I'm sure she has a real name."
The alien stopped mid-sip from their already cooling tea as they realized they were being spoken to. Lowering their cup from their lips, they tilted their head.
"Name…?"
"Yeah! What do we call you?" Mikey beamed, hoping that 'Dash' was still a viable option for some reason.
"Um...I don't know...I don't...have a 'name'..."
Donatello made his way back over towards the television area from the computers - having spent the past few minutes of the conversation shuffling papers around on his desk - placing one hand on his hip.
"Well, what would you like us to call you?"
The poor Cytolerus gave him a baffled expression, unsure of what to say. They hadn't spoken to other living beings in so long, the whole experience was beginning to get confusing as well as tiring. They simply hadn't needed a name to be called by, so they didn't have the slightest idea on what they wanted.
"Oh, oh!" Exclaimed Mikey, raising his hand with pure optimism. "How about 'April Junior'!"
"You bonehead, we can't call her that." Don scolded.
Casey then added. "Yeah dude, that's just too weird."
"Hrm…" Mikey pondered for a moment, scratching his head. This was going to be a tough one.
At least two minutes went by of the group debating between various names, the suggestions seemingly getting more ridiculous as the time went on and with no suitable reaction from their subject to give them aid. After finally convincing Michelangelo that the girl was not to be named like a superhero or a dog, a particular physical feature on the little clone stood out to April and she posed another suggestion.
"How about Violet?"
" Violet? " Michelangelo followed April's gaze to stare down at the alien, scrunching up his snout in disapproval. That name was way too frilly sounding.
Donatello tilted his head slightly, and as his human friend's line of thought eventually hit him he brought his thumb to his chin with an audible "hm". Noticing the others look like they were slowly coming to an agreement, Mikey grumbled slightly in frustration. The name really didn't suit her, and if he wasn't quick, he'd be stuck having to call their new shapeshifting alien buddy "Violet" for who knows how long. Violet. Violet? Eugh, no way.
Suddenly, an idea came to him, and he snapped his finger in realization.
"Oh hey, I got it! How about shortening 'Violet' to 'Vi'?"
"Vi?" April questioned.
"Yeah! And we'll give it a cool spelling! Like… Uh…" He paused and stuttered slightly as he tried to come up with a new variant to the name. "V-...Y-...E! Right! That way it sounds like an earth nickname, but looks like a cool alien name."
April and Donatello gave each other the same uncertain look. Even if it was a compromise, it was probably a bad idea to have an alien trying to blend into human society with a name that 'looked like an alien name', but they proceeded to shift their gaze to the small figure sitting beside them as it was ultimately their decision to make. Their expression didn't seem to change with any of the other suggestions, which didn't exactly scream enthusiasm though it also didn't object to anything either. The girl shrugged lightly as Mikey leaned forward, his expression filled with hope.
"Um...Sure. That's fine."
She honestly didn't care one way or the other, but it seemed to mean a lot to the excitable terrapin, who immediately made a fist-pump action at the acceptance of his suggestion.
"Sweet!" He smiled, hopping to his feet. "Then from now on, we'll call you 'Vye'."
Vye.
It wasn't a sound she'd heard before, but admittedly it had an appeasing ring to it that she couldn't quite comprehend. With a new form, and a new name, it began to hit 'Vye' that a new section of her life was about to begin and it made her slightly nervous. She had no idea how long she'd been in that previous form and there was going to be a lot she'd have to get used to no doubt, but the terrapins and humans that had looked after her until now still seemed to be welcoming. She was incredibly grateful for that. Where did she go from here, though? Picking up on the girl's wavering energy, Master Splinter stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort, the other remaining atop his cane.
"Welcome to our home, Miss Vye."
Although she had already been living there for a couple of weeks now, he felt it necessary to provide a proper greeting to her in her new form. Appreciating the gesture, the girl nodded and smiled a little. April watched the scene fondly, unfolding her arms after enough time had passed and placed her hands on her hips.
"Now all we have to do is get you some clothes." She remarked. "I can't believe the guys didn't at least give you a dry blanket."
The young turtles looked amongst themselves sheepishly, under the whole shock they had totally forgotten to do such a simple task. Vye didn't seem to mind one way or the other, but the way April spoke it sounded like it was important, so she nodded in agreement.
After some more casual banter, April offered to run back home to find something that the poor girl could wear in the meantime. Master Splinter and the turtles split up into their own respective activities to allow the alien some space, Mikey once again having to be tugged at his headband to stop him from pelting the atmosphere with never ending questions and commentary. Vye looked down at her reflection in the cup she had forgotten was still on her lap, taking in her reflection. She went to sip the drink but immediately regretted it. The beverage did not taste good at this temperature. It didn't take long of sitting in silence for the weight of the afternoon to hit her, her eyes gradually drooping as she became lulled into a light slumber, holding the blanket around herself for warmth; a difficult task for something still damp. She would later wake to April giving her some warmer coverings, but for now this had to do. After all, it had been a rather tiring day, and she would need the energy for her upcoming days adjusting to this new form.
Author's Note
And Vye is finally here! Yes she had a bit of a build-up, haha...But her story now official begins! This chapter was a little longer than usual but I hope you guys liked it, and I hope you enjoy getting to know her.~