"So…" Leo started, walking down the dank tunnel confidently. "You want to know how I first acquired Darkwing?"

"Yeah," Mikey answered. "Like, what'd it feel like?"

"Well, when I first acquired him, it was very… strange, I suppose. It was a few weeks ago, Monday night…

Leo ran, his heart pumping. Below, he could hear the screams getting louder as the Purple Dragon set upon another innocent victim. His breath coming in controlled pants, Leo halted at the rooftop's edge, peering into the darkness below. He just made out a faint light… coming from something that was far too flat to be a lantern or flashlight.

Crawling down the fire escape in the shadows, Leo got ready to jump onto the Purple Dragon scum below. He looked closer at their victim… who seemed to be one of them. He – or she, he couldn't really tell with many humans – was holding the faint light and screeching like some of Don's in-progress inventions.

"What the shell?" he whispered to himself. The Purple Dragons were merely watching their comrade, too scared to get close. Leo recognized the glowing thing as a book.

Help me! A voice cried out in his head, and Leo somehow knew it was coming from the book. Don't let me Inhabit this human!

Though he didn't know why at the time, Leo rushed down heedlessly. Tearing through the crowd, who were too preoccupied to stop him, Leo grabbed the book, slicing the Purple Dragon's throat – mercifully, for he was in a great deal of pain and would have killed himself otherwise. Then, Leo felt himself falling victim to the book. It hurt, his head, his hands, his heart… everything hurt. Carefully, Leo nudged his mind against the book, but the pain exploded.

Just wait, a voice commanded. Accept me as I have accepted you and it will be done without much more pain. At the time, Leo didn't know who was "talking", but he obeyed the wish, thinking it might be Splinter who was always on the lookout for them on training runs. If they got into trouble, he'd know about it as soon as they did, and send the rest to their location. It was handy, sometimes, to have a Master at mind-speech and mind-linking, though it also made for some trouble when they were teenagers with hormones. Raph got so angry that Splinter had to block his emotions out a few times to avoid having them take over him. Mikey could get so hyper that Splinter would have to close his mind to the youngest as well so he didn't suffer a heart attack. Donnie would become so passive and timid that Splinter couldn't connect to him because the brainiest turtle would close his mind to any and all.

But Leo was one of the worst. He, as the dominant and oldest, would become so hormone-charged that he would send his brothers scrambling for safety from the pheromones he induced. Once, when caught unaware and in his room, Don had almost succumbed to Leo's turtle half, almost letting himself become overpowered. Splinter shut his eldest son out sometimes because he could not bear to watch as Leo's body and turtle instincts betrayed him.

But all of those thoughts melted away as he felt himself merge with something that felt dark and scaly. Gasping, Leo lurched to his feet, clutching the book in his hand and defending himself against the Purple Dragons with the other. He escaped to the roof, his head pounding. There… he made the first transformation to his Inhabitant's form.

Here, Leo paused. He looked around as they came into the lair, entering the dojo with the hothead and jester. Don went to his lab. He'd hear this story from his brothers later, he was sure.

"What then?" Mike asked, flopping down on the mats on his plastron. "How was it?"

"Terrible," Leo whispered. "That's all you need to know." He turned and started a kata, but before Raph could ask more, he continued his story.

"I hurt all over for days afterwards. You all noticed, but didn't talk about it. I was thankful. Darkwing told me to tell you all of this, but I didn't want to. What if you rejected me?"

"We would never have done that!" Raph protested. Leo merely arched an eye ridge

"Anyway, I kept up with it for weeks. The coughing fits caught me off guard. Darkwing told me that it was just my body getting used to transforming every night." Mikey gasped. "And I did," Leo affirmed with a nod, blocking an imaginary sword.

"Every night? Why didn't we hear you?"

"I had learned how not to scream," Leo said simply. "It didn't hurt less until a few days ago, and then I was finally able to control it a little more. And, I stopped transforming so much. I guess my body was finally able to accept Darkwing in all his glory." Leo moved on to the most difficult kata he knew, moving through it gracefully and seemingly perfect, though Raph noticed he scowled a few times as though his footing was off a little.

"My sons. I did not expect you back for a while." Master Splinter came in, resulting in the jumping-up of Mike and Raph, who joined Leo in bowing to their Sensei. "Has it been done?"

"No, Sensei," Mikey answered. "The book was in a bank vault. We came back so Don could find out what he can about the holder, a human named J.C. Paterson."

"Ah. Leonardo, very good on our kata."

"Thank you, Sensei," Leo ground out between his teeth. Splinter started as Raph and Mikey stared at him. Leo straightened. "We should get going soon."

"Sit, my son," Splinter ordered. "Raphael, Michelangelo, please fetch your brother Donatello."

Leo looked like he was going to argue, but he sat on the mat carefully, his knees folded under him. Raph ran and got Don, telling him that something was up with Leo. They came into the dojo to see Splinter facing Leo, kneeling in a meditation pose. Mikey was kneeling behind him and to the side; Raph and Don joined their young brother.

"What's going on?" Raph asked.

Mikey made a silence sign and then reached for their minds. Master Splinter is searching Leo's mind. He thinks that Darkwing is not as he seems. Lend him your strength; it seems that Leo is rejecting him. I do not know who will win; it is too close to call. Please save your questions for later, and be ready for anything. Leo may attack us.

Raph snorted but felt a spark of fear. He'd seen Fearless at work, in katas and against Purple Dragons. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of a real battle with his brother, especially as the eldest could have scales harder than diamond at command, and could probably tear them apart with his claws alone.

He heard a growl come from Leo and snapped his head up in time to see Leo's body changing, growing scales but staying in turtle form. He slapped Don's shoulder and jumped to his feet just in time to grab Leo as the other turtle sprang forward for Master Splinter.

"Hold him down!" Master Splinter commanded, snapping out of his trance immediately. Mikey and Donnie helped Raph, grabbing a couple strong chains and wrapping them around Leo's arms as Raph held them behind Fearless Leader's shell.

"Calm down, bro!" Mikey called, pushing on a pressure point in Leo's knee. Both his legs collapsed and he sank to his knees quickly, his beak in a snarl as he struggled against his brothers.

"We're doing this for your own good," Don insisted, grunting as he tried to push Leo onto his plastron, but the larger turtle wasn't going easily. Raph, the biggest and strongest of them all, snorted at Don's tries and sat on Leo's shell. Leo fell to the mats and grunted on impact.

Help!!

They all heard Leo's voice, colored with panic, and knew their suspicions were correct. Darkwing was controlling Leo, or something evil was controlling both of them.

"Shit…" Raph cursed. "Now what?" Everyone turned to Master Splinter.

"Now… we rip Darkwing from his mind."