Chapter 4: Cold Blood

Karai was on the hunt for Stockman. Ever since Donnie had told the family about how Stockman had made his own version of the mutagen, she had made it her mission to find the fly and get a sample of his mutagen to work with. However, since his old lab had collapsed, he was more difficult to find than he should have been.

This was her fifth night of searching. She was about to head back home, when she saw several Foot karts driving in a line, as if on cue. Near the lead, she spotted him...

"Leo..." she said under her breath. Figuring that they might lead her to Stockman, she followed the line. All of the karts came to a stop at a different warehouse. Karai smirked, and thought to herself that this was it.

Sneaking inside, she saw Tiger Claw speaking with Stockman.

"We require more of your mutagen. I'm assuming you've managed to create more since the incident a few weeks ago?" Tiger Claw started.

"Yes! It's actually quite easy to duplicate..." Baxter replied, grabbing a bottle of it from the lab table.

Tiger Claw smirked and took it. "Now we can begin the testing."

"Testing?" Stockman inquired.

"You will find out in a moment," Tiger Claw replied. "Touch this FootBot," he said, gesturing to a FootBot right beside him. Hesitantly, the fly complied. The robot did nothing but stand there. Then, Tiger Claw took the bottle of mutagen and poured it over the FootBot. Surprisingly, the mutagen fused the fly DNA with the FootBot's machinery to slowly transform it into a cyborg fly. Karai gasped a little, wondering how that was even possible, as Baxter seemed just as surprised.

"So, you want me to mutate FootBots into super-cyborgs?" he summarized. Tiger Claw nodded and pointed towards a dozen more.

"Have these all mutated in three days. We will be using them to invade Splinter's lair," Tiger Claw stated. "Do not screw this up, fly..." he warned before he walked out the door, giving a death glare. However, Leo, who had been very silent during this time, stayed behind.

"I'm sssupposed to sssupply you with sssomething to mutate the robotsss with," he stated simply, slashing the bots a little with his tail, making sure to leave enough traces of his hybrid DNA without destroying them. Stockman simply nodded and got to work, pouring mutagen over the bots as they transformed into cyborg snake-turtles, growing armored torsos and tails in addition to their legs.

Karai watched this in complete silence, then remembered why she was here. Scanning the building, she saw another bottle of the mutagen. Carefully sneaking down, she grabbed it and ran out, cheering a little on the inside. While Shredder's army was becoming even more dangerous, she may have just found the key to curing Leo.

Back at the lair, she walked into Donnie's room.

"Hey, Slim Jim. Found something for you," she started, setting down the bottle she snatched in front of Donnie, who went a little wide-eyed, ignoring the nickname.

"Is this... Stockman's mutagen?" he questioned. He grinned when Karai nodded. "This is great!" he exclaimed. "Now I just need to create some retromutagen for this and I can cure Leo!"

"You're welcome," Karai smirked, but she was secretly ecstatic.

Later, as Karai was watching TV in the living room, April walked in. Karai raised an eyebrow at this.

"What's up?" she said simply.

"Donnie asked me to come over," April replied. Karai smirked a little.

"Just don't get too frisky, you two. He's in his lab," Karai stated as April rolled her eyes a little and went into Donnie's room.

Inside, she found Donnie working on the retromutagen.

"Whatcha need me for?" she asked, surprising him a little.

"Oh, hi, April!" Donnie grinned. "Do you know what this is!" he pointed to the mutagen.

"Uh, mutagen?" April raised an eyebrow.

"Not just any mutagen! Stockman's mutagen! With this, I can cure Leo! Of course, I have to work out a new retromutagen first..." he trailed off.

"That's great, Donnie! But, uh, why do you need me for this?" April questioned.

"Well, I might be able to use your DNA to speed the process along like we did last time," Donnie explained. "It's not the same mutagen, but it should have the same basic properties."

April nodded and sat down as they got to work.

Leo had finally gone back to Foot HQ, and was getting some rest. However, his sleep was far from sound. He found himself clashing blades with... Himself. One Leo had blue eyes, the other a beady black, and the real Leo was losing his footing.

"Give up!" Snakeshifter exclaimed at him. "It is hopelessss for you! You are the passsst... And I am the future!" he jeered. Leo tried to shrug it off but knew on the inside he was fighting a losing battle. However, since Snakeshifter was inside his head, he knew it, too.

"You know you cannot win... In only two daysss we will wipe your family off of the face of the earth!" he exclaimed, laughing loudly as he forced Leo back with his blades. "I look forward to destroying all of them myself... As you are helpless to watch!"

Leo suddenly kicked Snakshifter back, hard. He had something foreign to him running through his blood... Rage.

"As IF I'm going to let you do that! Never, EVER, threaten my family!" Leo shouted at him. "This is MY body! I'M in control! And you aren't going to hurt them again!" he exclaimed, realizing that since this was his mind, he could do anything...

He teleported behind Snakeshifter and kicked him in the back, hard. "That's for locking me up in here!"

Then, he charged and slashed Snakeshifter across the chest. "THAT's for threatening my family!"

Finally, as Snakeshifter stumbled back, wide eyed and bleeding badly, Leo turned around and slid back, impaling Snakeshifter with both of his swords. "And that's for hurting Karai."

Then, he woke up. Leo was Leo... But at the same time, he wasn't. Looking down at his body, he saw that he was still in the snake's form. However, it didn't matter now. He was going to get home and get help from his family... He sneaked out of Foot HQ and headed for the lair. However, unbeknownst to him, the Shredder saw him escape.

Leo raced through the streets as fast as he could. It was a little slow going, considering he was on a tail instead of two feet, but he didn't know how to change back, or even that he could. Finally, he found the manhole cover closest to the lair and opened it. A moment later, regular FootBots, the mutant FootBots, Rahzar, Fishface, Buzzkill, Tiger Claw, and finally, Shredder, all streamed in behind him, following him.

Leo finally slithered into the lair, yelling out, "Guys! It's me!"

Karai, who happened to be in the living room, jumped up and jump-kicked him in the chest, then backflipped off as Leo fell back.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" she yelled at him as the other turtles and Splinter came out, hearing the commotion.

"Guys, you have to believe me... It's me, Leo! It's a long story... But Shredder is planning to come here!" Leo exclaimed.

"Like we're supposed to believe that! You probably led him to us!" Karai shouted back.

Leo tried to explain himself, but he was getting nowhere. Just as he started to think this was a bad idea, several FootBots jumped in from behind him. They were followed by the mutant bots, Shredder's henchman, and finally, Shredder himself.

"He is not lying," Shredder started. "He is indeed Leonardo. I simply followed him here as he foolishly tried to get help from you."

Everyone gasped, and before they could react, the FootBots surrounded them.

"You want him back so badly?" Shredder teased as FootBots also restrained Leo. "You may all join each other... In whatever afterlife there may be!"

Time stood still once more as the Shredder slashed Leo across the chest. Splinter, Karai, and the turtles stood in silence as they nearly failed to process Leonardo collapsing to the ground.

"Foot! Tear this place apart! Leave no one breathing!" Shredder exclaimed as he laughed maniacally.

And once again, that evil cliffhanger! Is this the end for Leonardo? Will Shredder finally complete his vendetta? Will Leo's family go completely insane and murder the entire army? 20 reviews this time... Tune in next time to find out if all hope is not lost. Thank you all for reading, and have a happy National Hot Dog Day!