Splinter sat on his knees in an empty Dojo Room, deep in meditation. In front of him was his family photo, staring right back at him.

He slowly breathed in, he slowly breathed out, and, after a pause, he repeated the procedure.

He did this for a long while now, attempting to keep his mind clear and at peace. But concern over Leo kept invading his mind. Splinter tried banishing it by reminding himself that Leo was absolutely fine.

And yet, worry refused to leave him.

Just then, he heard the door slide open. Splinter opened his eyes and turned his head to see who was there.

But no one was there, and the door was already closed.

His eyebrows crossed questionably. He was sure he had heard it open. Must have been Mikey, not knowing that Splinter was doing his usual meditation.

And yet . . . something didn't feel right. His suspicious eyes scanned the room uneasily, his instinct spiking into his bones.

Returning to facing forward, he closed his eyes, drifting back into his meditation.

His sharp ears suddenly caught a whispered sound. The sound of a sword being drawn.

As quick as lightening, Splinter swiftly moved out of the way, just in time to avoid a sword coming to stab him from behind. The sword instead pierced the floor where Splinter had once been.

Rapidly recovering, Splinter straightened up to face his perpetrator, only to freeze in shock when he discovered that it was Leo.

"Leonardo?" Splinter said, looking at his eldest son in disbelief. "What . . . What on earth are you doing?"

Leo stood up and turned his head to Splinter, an evil smile painted across his scarred face. "What needed to be done."

Before Splinter could comprehend this, his ears picked up more movement behind him. He instantly jumped away from double sai stabbing motions, only to stumble backwards when he discovered the sais belonging to Raph.

His hot-tempered son had those same, livid eyes. But this time, they were directed at Splinter.

Splinter looked at both his sons in total shock and bewilderment. What was happening? This wasn't right. This can't be right.

He was so lost in his shaken thoughts that he nearly got sliced by Donnie's staff blade, evading it by sheer luck this time.

Splinter backed away from Donnie, even more distressed over seeing his intelligent son trying to attack him as well, until Splinter saw a blade of Kusarigama coming toward him. Splinter caught its handle before it hit its target, only for the handle to pull him straight to Mikey's wicked face; a face that the silly and innocent Mikey should never wear.

Splinter released the blade handle and found himself collapsing in the middle of the room. All four of his sons surrounded him, their sharp blades raised up and directed at him. Their cruel faces glared down at him, hungry for bloodshed.

Hurt like never before pierced his heart, a feeling that was stronger than his recent loss over his daughter. As his troubled eyes looked up at each of his sons, his brain attempted to convince himself that this wasn't real. His sons would never betray him. They loved him as he loved them. He had to be dreaming; it would only make sense!

Then why hasn't he woken up yet?

"Didn't see this coming, did ya?" Raph taunted the poor rat mercilessly.

Rising on his knees and hands, Splinter shook his head desperately, his eyes closed tight to prevent tears from shedding.

"Wha-" Splinter tried to speak, his voice weak and cracked. He raised his head up to look at them. "What is going on? Why are you like this?"

"We have a new master, now," Leo responded with a pitiless grin. "Perhaps you've heard of him. He goes by the name of . . . the Shredder."

A cold and severe force stabbed Splinter's heart. It only dug deeper when the other turtles nodded in confirmation of the news.

"No," Splinter whispered desperately. "This . . . this can't be true."

"We've realized that we've been wasting all our time and skills with you," Raph said, chuckling maliciously.

His heart was stabbed again.

"Shredder has shown us more than you ever will," Donnie added, narrowing his ruthless eyes at Splinter. "You're nothing but a pathetic rat!"

And again.

"You've been a rotten sensei and a rotten dad," Mikey then said, his voice no longer lighthearted. "You're not even our real dad!"

And again. Only this time, it was harder.

Splinter placed his shaking hands on his lowered head, his sons' hateful words drumming painfully in his mind.

"No!" his voice spoke with desperation and with as much strength as he could summon in him. "I will not believe this!"

"Believe it, rat," Leo said, stepping forward. He, along with his brothers, were absorbing Splinter's agony with great pleasure. "And now, we've come to end your miserable life, once and for all."

Tears finally escaped his closed eyes.

All at once, each of the four turtles gave out a cry and charged after the broken rat, their razor-sharp weapons higher for the killing blow.

At first, Splinter stayed still, welcoming death and hoping that it will end his lifetime of suffering at long last.

But his instincts immediately took over his body.

With great speed, Splinter pounced out of the way before they could stab him.

Growling, the turtles went after Splinter, fully determined to kill the rat.

Splinter's mind was separated from his body; although his brain wanted to die, his body refused to give up. Splinter was lost in a blank, torturous mind while his body moved away from and blocked the oncoming strikes of the weapons.

Though Splinter could not bring himself to fight back.

A while of fighting had passed and the turtles were no closer to finishing Splinter. The rat would jump around and run from them as the turtles raced after him, murder gleaming in their eyes.

The four turtles were losing their patience the longer they fought against him. However, they were successful on wounding him, giving him numerous cuts big and small all over his clothing and body.

"Come on, just let us kill you already," Donnie snarled, swiping his bō and managing to cut off a piece of Splinter's ear.

"Fight back, you coward!" Leo challenged the rat, swinging his katanas at him, only for Splinter to dodge them again.

Splinter flinched at Leo's words, flashing back to the time his daughter said the same thing to him after his encounter with the Shredder. This only reminded him what else he had lost to his enemy.

Splinter had tried to escape many times, but the turtles always blockaded him, pushing him away from the only door in the room. They were very fast and skillful, each tremendously close to slaying him. No matter where Splinter went, the turtles were close behind him, refusing to give up.

At last, feeling his body ready to give up from exhaustion, Splinter decided to take the cheating route as his last resort. He ran into his bedroom and threw his blanket at the turtles. The blanket was thankfully large enough to cover them completely, momentarily tangling them together.

But it didn't last long, for their sharp weapons sliced their way out, tearing the blanket into shreds.

However, once they were free, they were too late. Splinter was gone.

All the turtles screamed in rage, but Leo's scream was more intense.

"Find him!" Leo fiercely ordered the others. "Search the whole sewers! Find him! Kill him!"

Deep into the sewers, and hidden under the shadows, was a lonely and shattered rat.

Splinter held his body in a fetal position, burying his tearstained face into his knees. He felt the stings from his recent cuts all over his furry skin.

Once again, he was all alone. Only this time, the cause of his isolation wounded him the most. He never thought losing his family the second time would hurt him this much, especially to the same enemy. Splinter never thought that it would happen to him twice in his lifetime.

What made it worse for him was that, even though his sons weren't technically killed, they now wanted him dead. And they wanted to kill him themselves.

More tears fell down his nose and whiskers as the memory of his sons' betrayal flooded his mind, seeing their malicious faces glared down at him. Their voices returned in his brain, repeating all those horrible words to him, torturing him.

"We have a new master, now."

"You've been a rotten sensei and a rotten dad!"

"We've been wasting all our time and skills with you,"

"You're nothing but a pathetic rat!"

"And now, we've come to end your miserable life, once and for all."

"You're not even our real dad!"

He no longer felt anything in his heart; it had already broken into millions of pieces.

Somewhere deep in his mind, a small, rational voice tried to convince him that his sons were acting out of character, and that something must be very wrong with them. But Splinter was too consumed with his misery to even listen to the voice.

Shredder had won again. There was nothing left for Splinter anymore.

He pulled himself closer to the shadow, the only comfort he could find right now. He didn't know what to do or where to go. All he could do was wait for death to find him. He would do it himself if only he had his dagger with him, instead of leaving it behind in the lair.

His ears suddenly flickered at a sound of footprints. Splinter instantly hoped against hope that it was April.

But, alas, it was Donatello. He slowly walked through the sewer with his bō raised up, his blade out and pointed forward. His eyes were cold, scanning the dirty and smelly sewers.

Splinter froze in his hiding spot, thankful that Donnie could not see him. His mind begged Splinter to look away from the turtle; nevertheless he couldn't help but stare at his brilliant son, now hunting him down.

Is this what his life has come to be? Becoming a prey to his own sons? This must be a cruel joke only Shredder could have thought of.

Splinter wondered if he was meant to be cursed forever.

Donnie turned around, his shell back facing the concealed rat. Splinter mutely pleaded to his gifted son to leave; seeing what his child has become was making it worse for Splinter the longer Donnie was there.

But then, something caught his eyes.

Appearing from behind the shell was a light blinking on Donnie's back neck. Splinter craned his neck to get a better look and saw it.

A tiny, circular device. It had a pinkish light on it that flashed on and off and on again.

Splinter wondered if that object was the reason his sons have been acting this way, and a string of hope started mending his heart.

Donnie slowly moved forward, his sharp eyes still looking around.

He suddenly heard something behind him and he spun around.

Nothing.

All of a sudden, a flash of color pinched his nerve point on his neck, disarming him and pushing him face down on the hard ground. His arms were pulled behind his back and Donnie struggled to push the attacker off him; however, the attacker's grip on him was firm. Donnie turned his head to see that it was Splinter holding him down.

"You!" Donnie exclaimed angrily. "Get off me, you rat!"

Splinter felt another stab at those words, but his hold remained strong.

Ignoring Donnie's rough struggles or his cruel words, Splinter reached down and removed the device from Donnie's back neck.

And then, Donnie became very still. His eyes went wide open for a moment, worrying Splinter.

"Donatello?" Splinter said hesitantly.

Finally, Donnie's eyes started fluttering, only to close them shut as he groaned. "Oh, my head . . ." Suddenly, he gasped, his face covered with shock and horror. "Oh no, Master Splinter!" He looked up at Splinter in a desperate and beseeching manner. "I'm so sorry, sensei! I tried to stop myself, but I had no control over myself! Please, forgive me! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Splinter instantly released Donnie as a sob of relief escaped him. His clever son has returned! He hadn't really lost him after all!

"My son!" Splinter whispered, pulling Donnie up to his knees and wrapping his arms around his gifted son with all of his might. "Oh, my son!"

Happy to have his free will back, Donnie hugged his father, burying his face in Splinter's shoulder. "I didn't mean to hurt you, sensei," he mumbled to the shoulder.

Splinter shook his head, uncontrollable tears still falling down his face. "It is all in the past, Donatello. You have returned to me, and that is all that matters!"

They both held each other for a long while, each soaking in the moment together.

Finally, Splinter pulled back to look at his bright boy. "Are you all right, my son?"

"I . . . I think so, sensei," Donnie replied. "What about you? Are you ok?"

Splinter's smile widened. "More than ever."

Splinter then turned serious, handing the device in his hand to Donnie. "We must go find your brothers. No doubt they are under the same control as you were."

Donnie looked at the device in shock. "This is the same, mind-control device that we found on April's dad. The night of the invasion." He looked at Splinter, who had stood up. "But how . . ."

"I believe torture was not all Shredder has given to Leonardo."

More shock came over Donnie. He thought back to all the times he was with Leo and tried to remember if there were any moments that seemed suspicious from Leo that Donnie might have missed. But he found none, only recalling his moment with Leo in his lab. Was all that just so Leo could slip the device on his back neck?

Donnie didn't know what to believe anymore.

"Come, Donatello," Splinter's voice brought Donnie back to reality. Donnie looked up to see Splinter holding his hand to him. "Let us find you brothers and free them from Shredder's control."

Donnie paused, his thoughts and memories of Leo burning in his brain. But he nodded to his father. After allowing Splinter to pull him up, Donnie went over to retrieve his staff (retracting his blade back inside the staff) and followed Splinter down the sewers.

Mikey was in a long, narrow sewer, looking through each dark holes on both sides. The only sound to be heard was the filthy waters that flow down alongside him, its noise echoing through the sewer.

Mikey's eyes were cold and hard, using his sight and sound to track down his rat prey; his weapons, the Kusarigama, on his hand at the ready, tightening its handle and its chain with firm determination.

He suddenly stopped when he heard something behind him. He spun around, his weapon raised higher.

To his surprise, he found a slice of pizza on the floor right in front of him.

Mikey looked at the pizza, confused. Was this a trick the rat conjured up? He looked around, but he saw no one else there.

Turning his attention back to the pizza, his eyebrows crossed. He walked up to the pizza and used his foot to push the pizza into the sewage water, the dirty water carrying it away into the darkness.

His eyes watched to pizza disappear when he abruptly stepped swiftly away, avoiding Donnie's sudden blow.

"What are you doing," Mikey questioned bewilderedly and angrily at Donnie. But Donnie used his bō to strike at Mikey, only for Mikey to block it.

"Sorry, Mikey," Donnie apologized to the furious turtle. "But it's for your own good!"

Donnie tried to knock Mikey out several times, but Mikey blocked every one of them and it quickly became Donnie blocking Mikey's attacks.

Eventually, after fighting for almost a minute, Mikey rapidly grabbed Donnie's arm and threw him against the wall. The impact took a lot out of Donnie as he sunk down the wall, groaning.

Mikey moved toward Donnie when Splinter unexpectedly appeared behind him and pinched Mikey's nerve spot on his neck. Mikey flinched and collapsed.

Splinter removed the device from Mikey's back neck, then looked up at Donnie, who was rubbing his shell as he straightened up.

"I'm fine," Donnie said before Splinter could ask him. Donnie rubbed his neck. "Geesh, that plan ended up harder than I realized, especially since it's Mikey."

Splinter shook his head humorously. "You and the others always overestimate Mikey's abilities. You should try giving him a chance more often."

Before Donnie could reply, they both heard moaning. They looked down to see Mikey sitting up and rubbing his head.

"Michelangelo?" Splinter immediately called to his youngest son, moving closer to him.

Mikey raised his head up, still massaging his head. "Oh man, I had a terrible dream," he said, groaning. "I dreamed I was trying to kill Master Splinter. I didn't want to, but it was like being inside some other evil mutant turtle. And then, I kicked a pizza slice into the filthy water. It was awful!" He shook his head, chuckling. "At least it's all over, now." Opening his eyes, he looked up at a beaming Splinter and an amused Donnie. "Uh, am I still dreaming?"

"No, Mikey," Donnie answered, kneeling down and resting his hand on Mikey's shoulder. "You were never asleep. We were all under mind-control."

Mikey's eyes widened. "What?"

"It is all right, Michelangelo," Splinter assured his young son, kneeling down and resting his comforting hand on Mikey's arm. "You are free now."

Mikey took a moment to understand this. "Wait a minute," his voice turned small with realization. "So, the whole time . . . it was real?" He looked up at Splinter, his innocent eyes breaking. "I really did try to kill you, sensei?"

Unable to take it anymore, Splinter fell on his knees and pulled Mikey into his arms. Just with Donnie before, Splinter held his sweet boy for a long time, feeling Mikey snuggle closer into his father's chest. When he felt drops appearing on his chest, Splinter kissed Mikey's head. "It's all right, Michelangelo," Splinter repeated softly to his youthful son. "It's all right."

Mikey only pulled Splinter closer, guilt overwhelming him.

Donnie stayed respectively silent, letting them have their moment. Distress shook his heart when he heard a small sob from his dear brother.

Quickly catching an idea, Donnie glanced over at the sewer stream. "I'm just surprised the pizza thing didn't work like I had thought."

"Wait," Mikey suddenly said, instantly pulled out from his misery. "Pizza?!"

He quickly jumped out of Splinter's arms and rushed over to the sewer water, as if hoping that the pizza was still there. But alas, the pizza was long gone.

"No!" He moaned in despair. However, it was more exaggerated than his earlier despair. "It was just a pineapple and mushroom slice! It was still too young! Too young! Forgive me, pizza," Mikey whimpered. "Forgive me!"

Donnie rolled his eyes at Mikey's behavior. Splinter smiled amusingly, as if he hadn't heard a funny joke in years.

Mikey was back.

Splinter stood up, went over to Mikey, and rested his hand on his son's shoulder. "Now is . . . not the time to mourn for your . . . pizza, Michelangelo. We must find and free Leonardo and Raphael from Shredder's control as soon as possible."

Mikey looked up at him with gloomy (though a tad silly) eyes. Then, sniffing, he nodded to his father and stood up with a look of determination. "Yeah, let's go and avenge the pizza!"

Donnie couldn't help but groan.

Raph jumped and landed inside another sewer room, his tough eyes scanning the dark area.

He had been looking for the mutated rat forever, and still no sign of him. What's worse, Raph hadn't seen the two other turtles since they've left.

Something wasn't right.

He held his sais up and walked forward, his eyes continuing its search.

"Hey, Raaaaaaaaaaaaph," a sudden voice sang behind him.

Raph spun around to see Mikey, only he was giving Raph a raspberry and a silly face.

"Come and get me, ya pea brain," Mikey shouted.

At first, Raph stared at him in complete perplexity at Mikey's strange change of behavior.

Then he remembered Mikey calling him a pea brain.

Instantly growling, Raph rushed after him.

Mikey, chuckling, ran out the room and down the sewer tunnel, with Raph right behind him.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, two bodies slammed against Raph's back, causing him to fall face down.

Donnie quickly removed the mind-control device from Raph's neck before Raph could push them off. Once it was off, Raph's body froze, and all Donnie and Splinter could do was wait.

Mikey returned to them, panting but pleased with himself.

"Oh man, that felt great! Wish I had said more, like stink face, or grouchy shell!"

"Who're callin' . . . grouchy," Raph groaned from underneath Splinter and Donnie. "Get off me!"

Splinter and Donnie did so, helping Raph stand up as he rubbed his head.

"Ugh," Raph moaned. "Did I hit my head against something?"

"Nope," Donnie responded, holding out the mind-control device to Raph. "This had been controlling you and all of us."

Raph stared at it, slowly remembering what he had done. He quickly turned to Splinter with pleading eyes.

But Splinter held his hand up to stop Raph from speaking. "No need, Raphael." He lay a reassuring hand on Raph's shoulder, smiling gently at his son. "All is forgiven."

Raph smiled warmly at his sensei and father, until the smile turned into a frown. "Who put that thing in me? In all of us?"

"Leo," Donnie answered rather hesitantly.

"What?" Raph exclaimed, shocked.

"We will explain everything as we search for Leonardo," Splinter said.

"Yeah, bro," Mikey said optimistically. "We gotta save Leo from the pink metal bug!"

"Pink metal bug?" Donnie raised an eyebrow.

Mikey smiled proudly at himself. "Call it as I see it."

Donnie frowned at Mikey, then turned to Splinter. "But sensei, we've looked all over the sewers. Where else could he be?"

Splinter fondled his beard in thought. "I have an idea. Follow me."

"Great," Raph said as the group began walking. He turned to Mikey with a wicked smirk, flexing his fist. "And maybe, on the way, I can have a nice little chat with Mikey about that 'pea brain' business."

Mikey could only grin sheepishly.