Donnie had vowed the second they had stepped on the cruise ship, that they would have the most relaxing time ever. Sure, the last few vacations they had experienced turned out to be a total bust, but the genius turtle was determined that this would be different. They wouldn't get arrested or chased by mystic witches this time.
However, they still were cynical as usual. Being hopeful about a trip didn't automatically make any anxiety float away after all. Trapped on a giant boat, surrounded by ocean and waves that were larger than said boat, was not exactly comforting.
This whole trip felt like a disaster waiting to happen.
"According to my calculations," Donnie murmured, tapping their tech gauntlet until the screen popped up; a video of a ship making a sudden collision with an iceberg followed by various other horrible disasters. "because it's July, it's unlikely this ship will smack into an iceberg. However, that doesn't mean the possibilities of a whirlpool, tsunami, or hurricane magically disappear."
Lucky for them, they had an array of gadgets and gizmos aplenty in case of emergencies, namely if the boat ever started to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Most importantly, they had a life jacket attached to their battle shell.
It's always good to be prepared.
But back to relaxing and napping. Donnie ambled down the main deck, passed the bratty kids spraying super soakers, riding on water slides and causing general mayhem; they found a long line of lounge chairs filled with fellow napping individuals. Donnie was beyond ecstatic upon finding a chair with just the perfect amount of shade and comfort. They quickly checked to make sure their sharpie eyebrows were perfectly crafted before taking a seat.
"Let's see..." Donnie flopped on the plastic lounge chair, stretching their limbs until they were in a comfortable position lying down. "Favorite purple board shorts? Check. Comfortable yet stylish tank top? Check! Adjusted battle shell to play music mode on my favorite playlists? Triple check. Fresh glass of strawberry lemonade—non alcoholic because I don't condone underage drinking?" They pressed a button, and the robotic arms connected by their battle shell presented the glass with a cocktail umbrella on top. They took a long sip of the refreshing drink. "Ahh... check. Now all I need to do is lie back and..." The robot arms started to massage their shoulders. "relax..."
Soon they were out like a light. While Leo was the self proclaimed insomniac of the team, Donnie came in second place for the worst sleep schedule. They spent countless hours working on inventions and memorizing pi, that sleep was always an afterthought.
Now without any rules or responsibilities, and a robot massaging their tense muscles, everything felt tranquil and serene. The subtle sound of waves crashing against the ship provided nice background noise too.
They must have dozed off for an hour or two before something awoke them from their wonderful, much needed slumber. Some dum dums jabbering. Donnie's eyes snapped open, their brain foggy and disoriented as they tried to figure out what caused the noise and why the heck were these bozos being so loud.
"Julia, you make me the happiest man alive." A twenty something year old man with swoopy blond hair and a denim jacket said to a young woman with dark brown curls and way too much lipstick.
'Ew, heterosexual romance.' Donnie thought in disgust. 'They're the dum dums keeping me awake! Why I outta-'
"Oh Brad!" gushed the woman, covering her mouth with her hands, tears flowing down her rosy cheeks. "What are you-?"
Brad knelt down, holding up a velvet box to his girlfriend. "Will you marry me?"
Julia let out an ear splitting squeal. "Yes, oh yes!" After a way too long embrace, their lips smacked against each other, followed by several moans.
Donnie fought the urge to gag. "Okay, that's it," They slid off the lounge chair, stomping over to give these fools a piece of their mind. To their horror, the couple hadn't even noticed them approaching and were still making out. "Good grief, she said yes already! Can you two do this somewhere else?" They awkwardly pushed Brad and Julia apart with their robotic spider arms. "Like on the other side of the ship? Some of us- namely me, are trying to enjoy a relaxing nap and it's impossible when you morons are practically swallowing each other! "
Brad frowned. "Listen young man-"
Donnie winced, but hid it behind a disgruntled glare. "Don't 'young man' me," they placed one hand on their hip sassily. "The other side of the ship. Please and thank you. Go along, shoo." The couple begrudgingly left, and Donnie couldn't help but a sense of satisfied smugness. Now they could return to their pleasant rest without any further interruptions. "Should I have congratulated them? Eh nah."
They wandered back to their beach chair, drifting off into a deep sleep at last.
SPLASH!
A spray of freezing water hit directly on their face, jolting them awake and causing them to stumble off the lounge chair in a crumpled heap. They sputtered, coughed and sniffled, now completely soaked head to toe. Even their mask drooped downwards.
"Alright, what gives?" Donnie started to wring their mask tails, now irritated. "Who just did that?" They stood up, scanning the area. A group of kids were in front of them, wielding water pistols and laughing their heads off.
"Hey, moldy looking dude!" taunted the boy in the middle, holding up his cell phone. "This'll make so many views on Tik Tak!"
"That turtle costume is so ugly!" squealed another kid with dyed hair.
"Spray it again!" jeered a girl with pigtails.
Donnie narrowed their eyes. "Oh you did not just do that..." they said, their voice sounding strangely sinister. They remembered something Raph had told them just before they left on the trip. Something quite important...
"Whatever you do, don't use your tech on any humans." Raph had nagged.
"I won't, I promise."
"Seriously Dee, it'll get you into so much trouble. And I don't wanna bail you out of jail."
"Raph, come on! You gotta trust me, bro. I won't do anything, I swear on Galileo's beard.
'Sorry Raph, but some promises need to be broken. Plus, I had my fingers crossed, so any decision I am about to make is completely rational."
"You've messed with the wrong tech wiz." Donnie's lips curled into a smirk, lifting their modified tech bō behind their back and pressed the closest button, watching as it converted into a giant super soaker. Though it was less of a water gun, and really a water bazooka.
The children's laughter faded, their eyes wide with horror as the soaker was now pointing directly at them.
"Wanna spray me again?" They challenged, looking slightly frazzled but still determined to ruin the brats' day. "I'll put this baby on the lowest setting, since you kiddos aren't even teenagers yet. I like to make things fair. Maniacal laughter!" Propping the 'weapon' over their shoulder, they proceeded to laugh like a mad scientist in hopes to scare these kids.
"Dude, we're sorry!" shrieked the leader kid, already starting to run away. "Guys, let's get out of here!" The other children screamed and followed suit.
"Yeah, you better run away!" Donnie sighed, placing their bō back in its holder. "Guess I'm not gonna get any more rest up here." They stretched their arms with another loud, over exaggerated yawn. "Maybe I can get some shut eye back in my room."
Donnie had to walk down several flights of stairs to find the hall of sleeping quarters. Despite the trip being all expense, that didn't mean the Mad Dogz had won suites. Instead, they were given average cabins, which surprisingly wasn't a huge issue for them. As long as there was a bed to sleep on, plus space for their tech, they'd survive.
The only problem was sharing a room with Leon, who insisted they have a bunk bed. Not ideal, especially considering the blue clad turtle called dibs on the top bunk, but it could be worse. At least he didn't snore too loudly.
Instead of snoring, Leo either stayed awake the entire night or alternatively talked nonsense in his sleep. So not great either.
Speaking of which ...
"Nardo's probably still playing shuffleboard," They mumbled to themselves, a pep in their step as they turned the next corner. "I'll have the whole room to myself—hm?"
Right before they had even inserted the room key through their own door, they heard a strange rustling noise coming from the far end of the hall.
"What in Marie Curie's name was that?" They pocketed the key in their belt, eyes drawn to the hallway.
There was a lone door standing about twenty feet away that gave Donnie the creeps just by looking at it. The wood was noticeably older, and parts of it seemed to be rotting. It didn't look like it belonged in a brand new vacation suite, that the cruise flyers had boasted in the advertisements.
Well, that's fishy.
But the most disturbing part of this door; wasn't even the door itself or how messy it looked from the outside, it was the ruckus coming from behind it. It sounded like footsteps, but more sluggish and slippery. As if they didn't belong to a human, let alone a crew member. Which was a weird thought, seeing as the only mutants on this ship were Donnie and their brothers.
They frowned. "Unless there's some other mutant crashing this ship." Exhaling, they took a few cautious steps forward, now gripping their bō tightly. Not because they were afraid or even nervous, but just to be prepared. "I've seen enough horror movies to know where this is going." They inched closer, reaching their hand to the doorknob. "I swear, I'm gonna open this door, and some monster or serial killer is gonna pop out at me. Well, jokes on you, bucko!" They twisted the door and waltzed in. "I'm not afraid, I'm ready for whatever ya got so come out and—"
"...play." Donnie uttered, lowering their staff in disappointment. The room was full of boxes. Just boxes. Small boxes, large boxes, medium sized boxes...and a lone table with more boxes on top.
"How quaint. Well...I'm suddenly underwhelmed." They drawled lazily. "I'm missing valuable beauty sleep over boxes." It didn't explain the noise, but at least it wasn't some crazed bozo with webbed feet or beach balls.
They approached the box on the table, examining the outside before curiosity took over and they ripped it open. "This better not just be packing peanuts or I'm gonna be thoroughly disappointed."
Inside the box was an array of beakers. None of them particularly interested Donnie, all basic chemicals and such...save for one. It was a clear beaker filled nearly to the top with a neon green liquid. Ironically, the same color as the ooze from oozesquitos. Same texture too.
They inspected it further, reading the top label, eyebrows furrowed. "Perfected mutagen?" They hummed, taken aback. "Well that can't be good. I better warn the others."
Donnie headed back towards the door and attempted to turn the doorknob. Stuck. "Ugh, lovely!" They tried jiggling it, twisting it, rattling it, kicking it— all to no avail. "I appear to be trapped. This would be a problem if I didn't have my handy dandy..." They reached behind for their battle shell and silently cursed. "...and of course I left my lock pick with my strawberry lemonade. This really isn't my day, is it?"
'How did it even get locked? I didn't even close the door behind me. Think, Donatello! Somebody else must have closed it. Which means: You aren't alone, genius!'
If they could sweat, they would be sweating buckets. Something definitely wasn't right here, but Donnie absolutely did not want to find out!
The lights started to flicker.
"Come on, open already!" They rested their hand on the doorknob. "Perfected mutagen...whoever is behind this must want more mutants."
"Clever, aren't you?" quipped an unfamiliar voice that sounded robotic and cold. But also a bit static-y. Most likely they were speaking through an intercom.
The genius froze in place, alarmed by the abrupt interruption. "Uh, thank you...narrator?" They tried opening the door again. "Can you open the door?"
The voice spoke again. "So sorry for the inconvenience. But I can't have you leaving after you've been snooping around my project."
They blinked, unphased. "Oh, gee, I'm so sorry for being nosy." Donnie snarked. "Who exactly are you, Mx. Disembodied Voice? And why, pray tell, do you have all this ooze?"
"Is that what you call it? Ooze? How strange. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what I'm doing with it. Especially since you already saw too much."
"Hey, I won't snitch," Donnie lied, reaching for their staff as they stalled for time. "If you let me go, I'll let you do whatever you're doing without so much as a squeal. Deal?"
The mysterious stranger barked out a cruel laugh. "Do you think I'm a fool?"
A pause. "Was that a rhetorical question or...?"
"Silence!" The voice said snippily. "You can choose to come quietly, and I will promise not to cause too much harm to your spine. How about that for a deal, turtle?"
Donnie crossed their arms. "Nope, not interested." The idea of a disembodied narrator voice actually hurting them was, well, ridiculous.
"Maybe this will make you change your mind."
The lights flickered once more. Then, they were out, the final beam disappearing from sight. Donnie blinked thrice, revealing they were standing in total darkness.
"Oh no, you turned off the lights. I'm so scared right now." They pulled down their swim goggles, adjusting the settings to night vision. These goggles were just a prototype, so they couldn't exactly see perfectly—only outlines and shapes. But it was better than nothing. "Is that all? Because it's a bit underwhelming. I'm not even afraid of the dark."
"No one is truly afraid of the dark." The voice chuckled darkly. "They're afraid of what's in the dark. The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is of the unknown."
"H.P Lovecraft..." Donnie whispered, feeling a pit of anxiety in their stomach as they recalled the chilling quote. "Not a great guy to be quoting by the way, he was extremely problematic even for his time period."
The voice ignored them. "Prepare to meet the unknown...also known as my guards."
A horrible squelching noise slithered passed them, swift and sinister as a snake. More approached them, surrounding the turtle in a circle, appearing from behind the boxes. Donnie had no clue what these creatures were, only able to identify their slimy shapes, and that they were getting closer and closer. They obviously weren't human, that was for sure.
"Wish I could stay and chat, fellas, but I've got other plans." Using their quick thinking and an added boost of adrenaline, Donnie leapt on a nearby pipe hanging upwards, pumping their legs back and forth as though they were riding a very dangerous swing. They extended their bō, swinging it like a propeller and smacking three mutants in the face. Slime splattered everywhere and sprinkled the floors. "Fibonacci!" They cackled, jumping in a midair split and kicking more of the creatures down with a grunt. Though the mutants appeared to be large, they didn't have much intelligence and were down after a few hits. They whacked them a few more times just for added measure. "Take that!" One more hit. "And that!"
Now in a crouch, they retracted their head inside their shell when one last Slimeball tried to attack from above and promptly missed. Donnie's head popped back out and they grinned smugly. "Please, I could fight you guys in my sleep." Despite their confidence, they were still remarkably out of breath. "Speaking of, I'm supposed to be napping right now and y'all have been ruining my beauty sleep. So I hope you're happy! Whatever you freaks are."
"Then sleep you shall..." the disembodied voice taunted.
"Wait, what?" Donnie spun around, trying to find the voice. "How about you face me instead of using your goons as props? It's a bit pathetic on your part."
The anxious turtle heard the sound of something fly towards them. It was quick, easy to miss, but Donnie had not processed it brushing past their leg.
They panted, feeling a sudden sharp pinch in their thigh, like a wasp sting but much worse. Their confidence and smug smile vanished as soon as it hit them, losing their balance and stumbling backwards. "Yeah...like...that." it pierced through their skin, like a needle or syringe of some sorts. It stung for a few seconds, before going completely numb. The dots connected, as they realized what hit them seconds after the dart grazed their skin. It was too late.
They fell to their knees weakly, their hands trembling and vision becoming distorted, as though they were trapped in a kaleidoscope. "Tranquilizer..." they choked out a gasp, plucking the dart from their thigh to properly examine it- even with their blurry, double vision. The anesthetic was already starting to kick in. "Raph..." They desperately tried to keep their eyes open. They were so tired. So very tired. "Guys…?"
The darkness finally consumed them.