When Mikey was very little, he recalled a phrase said on TV: 'Pinch me, I must be dreaming!'

He giggled when he heard it. It was so absurd, he couldn't help but laugh. The reason it was said was because the situation in question was so nonsensical, so strange and whimsical that it couldn't possibly happen in real life. It had to be a dream, simple as that.

Sometimes he used the phrase. Like the time he was surrounded by adorable puppies owned by the sweet, but weirdly friendly Todd. Or the time he fought with his mystic kusari fundo for the first time against Baron Draxum before he became good. Or heck, when a new Jupiter Jim movie was released early.

Now, was one of those times.

He was by the beach, admiring the sea side and doing some deep thinking. The water was clear, the sun was shimmering above the golden sand, and he felt, for once in a long while: at peace. With all the stress filled nights he experienced, it was nice to breathe for once. He closed his eyes with a content hum, hearing the gentle crash of waves push against the shore. Each wave was calm and predictable.

But something didn't sound right. After a few moments of hearing the waves splash about, and the seagulls cry from a distance, it suddenly was silent.

The waves were irregular now. Mikey opened his eyes. He swore he saw- no, he knew he saw something! Something that wasn't a wave breached the water. The action was brief, because whatever it was disappeared under the water as quickly as it entered.

It couldn't be gone though. No normal animal moved that fast. Unless it wasn't a normal animal.

His heart was doing a thump thump thumping against his plastron as he made his way to the shore, nearly falling flat on his face in shock. He squinted a bit, hoping to catch a proper glimpse of whatever it was before it dove underwater.

He was getting closer now, he hissed at the sudden shock of cold water hitting his ankles. He didn't stop moving, not until he saw it again.

'There it is!' He almost whooped with joy once he saw a silvery, muted green dorsal fin burst through as it swam along. A dolphin? A shark? Mikey hoped it wasn't the latter.

No, it couldn't be either of those things. The rest of its massive body breached the surface at last, finally becoming visible. Most notably, its uneven back, flank and tail. And Mikey did not know of any normal sea creature having the spotted, bumpy markings belonging to that of a turtle's shell.

But the final straw was seeing the creature's face. He couldn't see its eyes- it was too far away. What he did see was the familiar blood red markings cascading down the creature's cheek, covering its eyes and leading down to its snout.

"I gotta be dreaming..." He uttered in amazement.

His initial reaction to seeing Leo would have been to scream, to cry, to swim right over and give his big brother an old fashioned bear hug. But Mikey had learned from constant lectures by Donnie, that it's best to think with his head, not his heart.

Which was easier said than done, because Leo was so close, probably ten or twelve feet away, and yet his mind was clearly far gone. He didn't even register that Mikey was standing there. The only acknowledgement he made was a hoarse growl.

"Hang on Leo, I'll be back faster than Rupert Swaggart dicing cilantro!" He vowed, crossing his heart for good measure. "Just stay put!"

Now whether his super mutant brother actually understood him was debatable, but regardless Mikey sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him. Through the lush trees and the chirping birds and the thick layers of brambles poking him with every heavy step. He was still huffing and puffing when he arrived at the campsite, a painful stitch in his side and with barely enough energy to voice a raspy gasp to his oblivious siblings.

"Guys!"

"Mikey, what's wrong?" Raph was the first to react, moving towards him with a concerned brotherly stare.

"It's - I-" he couldn't form the right words. How could he? It was all so sudden. So strange. He was still out of breath.

"Mikey?" Donnie interrupted his jumbled, anxious thoughts with their sharp tone. They weren't angry, they were scared. "What happened?"

Finally, he swallowed thickly, letting the words spill out. "It's Leo. I found him."

Donnie and Raph looked at him in alarm. "Are you sure?" the latter asked.

"I know what I saw. C'mon, I'll show y'all exactly where I saw him."

Mikey led the way, feeling grim, but still hopeful. If luck would have it, Leo would still be there, and they could find a way to keep him safe. "He might have swam away..."

They heard a roar in the distance.

"Or...not." Donnie gulped.

"Holy..." Raph uttered as he brushed past them. He was in front now, eyes wide and jaw dropped as he stepped on the sand to face the creature in front of them. Approaching the shore with his massive tail flicking forward was Leo, now more snake like than before. He was as large and imposing as they remembered, with gills scattering his new mutated form. His carapace was still there, unnaturally breaking through his skin in hideous silver and green bumps. His mouth was ajar, fangs poking out. Leo let out a mighty roar that sounded close to a pained scream. It ached all three of them to hear.

"Leo..." Raph whispered mournfully. He instinctively stood in front of his younger siblings in case their mutated brother attacked. He hadn't spotted them yet, but he wasn't taking any chances.

"What's the plan?" Donnie tilted their head in Leo's direction.

"I'm open to suggestions." replied Raph. "There's no way we can catch him all by ourselves." He murmured under his breath.

"Maybe I should have gotten April and Mona too..."

"No, you did the right thing, Mikey." Raph assured him, then a light bulb turned on, blinking above his head. "Plan A, we talk to him."

"Talk to him?" Donnie repeated flatly.

"Well, yeah. There might be some of his old self inside his head," Raph poked his temple to demonstrate or rather explain his thought process.

They all simultaneously cringed as they heard an awful retching sound near Leo.

Donnie poked their head out from behind the palm tree. "He just puked up a whale carcass."

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"And now he's..."

"I don't wanna know!" He exclaimed in disgust.

"Don't you see, Raph?" Donnie snapped. "He isn't in the right state of mind! I don't even think he can talk."

"You don't know that."

Leo started to growl.

"All I'm saying is, one of us can try to talk to him, but I don't think it's gonna work."

Raph sighed. "You may be right. I just...wish there was some way to communicate with him." His eyes wandered, watching as his brother moved closer to the trees. "Bingo! Say, can I borrow your nunchucks, Mikey?"

"Sure?" Mikey stared at him for a moment before complying. "Why do you need 'em'?"

"I think I got an idea. It won't be pretty, and none of us will like it but..." He pointed at Leo who darted behind a series of trees. "He may not move as fast on land, but he's way faster than any of us. So we gotta get him trapped somehow, and I'm thinkin' I'll hold him down gently-" He held his hands up at Mikey's wince. "Gently, I swear! Donnie will tie him up with the kusari..."

"I will?"

"I don't know about this..." Mikey's lower lip trembled. "What if you accidentally hurt him? The new mystic mojo might still be there. I mean sure it only really activates when we're together but I'd hate if-"

"Uh, I think you should be more concerned for Raph." Donnie pointed out. "I remember Fishface mentioning that there's some box jellyfish DNA in him. One zap from them, and you're toast."

"I've dealt with worse than electric shocks." Raph said, dismissing Donnie's concerns. He frowned. "Wait...box jellyfish...ain't those the fish that stop your heartbeat?"

"That would be correct, yes."

Raph shivered, trying to push away the unpleasant thoughts. "Noted."

"What will I do?" asked Mikey.

"You've gotta distract him. Any way you can."

Donnie looked outraged. "What!"

"Me? But I-" Mikey squeaked out, taking time to register his brother's words with his innocent doe eyes. He nodded grimly. "I won't let you down."

Raph placed a hand on his youngest brother's shoulder. "We'll be here if anything happens."

"Oh no, he is not going out there with Leo!" Donnie pushed towards their towering brother. "He'll be eaten alive!"

"Donnie..."

"You are not sending our baby brother to act as bait! I shan't allow it!"

"Hey, I'm not a baby anymore!" Mikey scowled. "Leo's always had a soft spot for me and I think, no, I know he's in there somehow. I've gotta find him."

"Mike's the best turtle for the job," Raph insisted, "And I'd never let either of you get hurt, you know that. We just need someone to keep Leo calm until we catch him."

"But you guys won't hurt him when he gets caught," Mikey's eyebrows furrowed. "Promise me." Both his siblings nodded. "Good," He handed off the twin nunchucks to Donnie. "Let's do this."

With the confidence that usually came from Leonardo himself, Mikey bravely strode towards his mutated, still thrashing about brother.

"Hi Leon..." He said in the softest voice he could muster. "It's me," He shyly waved. "Your brother. Mikey."

Leonardo blinked at him slowly. His eyes had no pupils now, only snake-like slits that made him seem less approachable, even a bit scary. Additionally the fangs sticking out of his mouth weren't comforting either, making Mikey wish he had rejected this idea.

Mikey continued, despite the clear indication that Leo was unable to comprehend what he was saying. "Actually all of us are here. Raph, Donnie, April..." He listed them off. "Do you remember them?"

No response. He should have expected that.

"I think you do," He insisted, firmly planted. "We're your family, and we miss you so much. We just want to help you." He exhaled a shaky breath. "Will you let us?"

Leo moved closer towards him. He squeezed his eyes shut, only to open them again when he realized Leo was only trying to get a closer look. His dark eyes met Mikey's, snout lowering slightly to nudge him. There was a croaking noise that the serpent made that sounded in between a sob and a growl.

"Hey, hey..." Mikey held out his hand to pet Leo's deformed beak. "I'm here. I'm not goin' anywhere."

He flinched slightly as Leo made a soft growl.

"Mm...iiii..." He croaked.

Mikey was taken aback. "What?"

"-ii...key..."

He instantly perked up. "Yeah! Yeah I'm Mikey!"

"Mi...key..."

He felt his heart race. "And you're Leo...can you say Leo?"

Leo stared back at him.

"Give it a try, Leo. Leo."

"...'eo..." he mumbled.

Mikey's heart exploded just at the little signs of his brother recognizing him. "Yes! You're Leo. You're my big brother!" He concentrated for a moment. "I ...didn't think I'd ever see you again." He rested a hand on Leo's scaly cheek and sighed. "You look so different now, but I know you're still my brother an' I know for a fact you're the same as always. You wanna know why?" He didn't wait for a reply. "Cause you risked everything to save us that night on the ship. That's just who you are. Our leader who always tries to protect us, even at the cost of your own life. You're funny, witty, smart and brave. So brave." Tears were forming as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "You're also, Leonardo, the same weirdo who orders Hawaiian just to piss Donnie off AND ends up genuinely liking it afterwards."

It was a stupid joke, and automatically he let out a watery laugh.

"I just want you back. We need our brother. I- ..." His voice cracked, wrapping his arms around his mutated brother's neck and lightly weeping into it. "I miss you."

Through the corner of his eye, he swore he saw a flash of blue light sparking from Leo's tail as it flicked towards him. He frowned, reaching a hand to touch it.

Lucky for him, for at that moment, Donnie noticed it too.

"Don't!" They warned, jumping in front of him with their staff raised. "Sorry about this Leon!" And whacked him in the snout to prevent him from coming any closer.

"Why did you do that?" Mikey demanded as Leo howled in pain. "You promised you wouldn't hurt him! You promised!"

"He was about to sting you with his tail," Donnie snapped back. "Remember what I said? Box jellyfish? Does that ring a bell?" They pulled Mikey to the ground roughly as Leo snapped his jaws at them, narrowly avoiding a sudden decapitation from their elder brother. He did bite at them, but only enough to slightly smash the top of Donatello's battle shell. Pieces of the machinery scattered messily.

"Donnie!" Mikey cried.

Raphael was coming from the other side, darting underneath Leo's serpentine body to return to his little siblings. He covered their shivering forms, eyes meeting Leo's, who roared in his face.

"Leo, you have to stop this, brother." He whispered.

They braced themselves for a final attack but it never came. Leo stared at them for a long time, as if he was trying to decipher who they were. He blinked thrice. Then once more, and then slithered back into the waters, disappearing under the waves.

"Leo..." Donnie murmured, forcing themselves to look away from the ocean and back at their remaining brothers. "He's gone."

The walk back to camp was silent, except for the occasional birds chirping in the distance. No one wanted to speak. There was no need to.

When they arrived, it took one concerned look from April O' Neil to notice their devastated expressions for her to suddenly demand: "What happened?"

Raph was the one to explain. His throat was tight and hoarse and every word came out emotionless. Everything was far more painful than any attack Leo inflicted on him, and it was worse recounting the events back to their sister.

"You should have told me. I could have helped," April had the right to be hurt and angry. All three of the turtles expected her to yell at them. They probably deserved it anyway after their failure. Instead however, she brought them into a close hug. "C'mere guys."

Mikey was the first to break away. He glanced back at his siblings, flicking to each of them briefly.

Donnie's eyes were filled with guilt and despair. They took a step forward to say something, but Mikey shook his head.

"We were so close too." He murmured weakly, brushing the tears that were rolling down his cheek.

Leo was always the planner, even before he became leader. He never made a fuss about it, and was always subtle and nonchalant whenever he took charge. Without him, they were an empty shell of a team. And none of them knew how they were ever going to get their brother back. Their one chance, their one silver lining...and they had blown it.

They sat around the dimly lit fire pit, huddling together for added warmth.

Raphael clenched his fist around a broken branch, twisting it into little bits before tossing it into the flames. His initial excuse for the action had been kindling, but now he was throwing it carelessly.

"He's gone again. We almost...he could have been with us. Maybe if I just reacted faster, I could have held him down and...

"Everything since this vacation started has been a curse. I let you guys get captured. If I had just gone with Donnie instead of going to that party-"

I never even asked them what happened when they were captured by Filch.

Donnie cut him off. "You wouldn't have met Mona Lisa, who just so happened to know Filch and figure out what he was up to. Face it Raph. If you had gone with me or Mikey and April, you would have probably gotten captured too."

"And don't tell us you regret meeting Mona, because we won't believe you." April added. "In some ways, it's good we went on this terrible vacation. Otherwise Filch would have mutated a bunch of people into ..."

"What Leo is now." Raph finished for her, burrowing his head in his hands.

"Yeah. That."

Raph sighed deeply. "Just another thing we messed up. We lost the people on the cruise, we lost Leo, Filch got away..."

Someone leaned against his shoulder. April. Then his other side. Donnie. The only one who hadn't moved closer to Raph was Mikey.

The box turtle was close to the fire now, back turned away from Raph. He was shivering despite being so close to the warm flames.

"It's no use blaming ourselves for what happened, Raph," He finally said. "What's that gonna do? At least we know Leo is alive, even if our plan failed completely. If we can find some way to track him..." He gave a pointed look at Donnie.

"Even if I could, I have no way to turn him back to normal!"

"Maybe you don't but I think I know someone who could..."

"Fishface." Raph growled.

"Exactly!" Mikey turned around. "We capture Fishface, demand him to turn Leo back to normal and then we'll have our brother back."

"You think he's even out there?"

"He's a fish. No way he could have drowned,' April snorted. "Mikey's right. We can't keep beating ourselves up. We have to stay positive and fight for Leo's sake. We'll find that fish creep if that's the last thing we do."

Mona Lisa couldn't sleep. Her insides were twisting and churning as she sat on the edge of her makeshift bed, rest being the last thing on her mind. Her mind was fully awake anyway, there was no point in trying to sleep.

She climbed off the bed, crouching forward to grab her nearby satchel. She reached her hand inside, checking to make sure the item was still there, and breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled it out.

In her fist, was a shiny bottle filled to the top with the familiar orange liquid. One sip, or rather one splash of this, and she would revert back to being a normal human. Just one…

"Mona?"

She jerked around, shoving the bottle back in its bag, "Raph?" she squeaked, shoving the bag behind her arms and hoping she didn't look suspicious. "Is everything okay?" she asked the large turtle.

"Yeah, uh, just wanted to let you know we have a game plan tomorrow," His voice was gruff, but certain. "To stop Filch, and maybe get Leo back too. But we can't exactly plan unless we get some sleep. So," He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Good night?"

She smiled softly, feeling the side of her bag. "Yes. Goodnight. But first...there's something I need to tell you."