Ch 7 Four Turtles and a Baby Rat.

The turtles quickly made their way down the sewer tunnel that led to their home. After a few minutes they stopped to take a breather and check on Splinter. Raph lowered the now smaller and younger rat gently onto the ground and Donnie quickly began to check him over.

"Well Donnie?" Leo asked as he watched the purple banded turtle.

Donnie sat back on his heels and shook his head in disbelief. "So far everything seems to be okay." He muttered. "With the exception of him looking younger and smaller….."

"LOOKING YOUNGER AND SMALLER?!" Raph screamed out. "HE IS YOUNGER AND SMALLER BRAINIAC!"

"Raph stop yelling!" Leo screamed back at him.

"Both of you stop yelling!" Mikey cried out. "Can't you see we need to get…?"

All the turtles stopped and looked down at Splinter as he let out a loud groan and sat up. "Master Splinter?" Leo stepped forward next to Donnie and looked down at their Sensei in concern as the rat looked up at them in both shock and fear.

"Who are you?" The rat suddenly asked in a very small frightened voice as he slowly backed away from them.

"Master Splinter, it's us….your turtles" Mikey said sadly as he made his way toward him. "Don't you recognize us?"

Splinter looked down at himself then back at the turtles standing in front of him. "You are Yokai?" He asked as he stood and looked from one turtle to the other. "What have you Kappa done to me?" He demanded as he pressed himself against the wall and looked himself over with fearful eyes. He looked back up them. "No, you are not Kappa…you are demons!" He suddenly screamed out as he attempted to run away but was quickly grabbed by Raph. "Stay away from me Akumas!"

"OW!" Raph screamed as the now young rat began to hit and kick at him. "Masta Splinta, stop it!" He yelled as he jumped from one foot to the other to avoid being kicked.

"What have you done to me!?" Splinter demanded again as he attempted to free himself from Raph's grip. "Why would you turn me into…?" Splinter looked at himself in confusion. "Into this!?" He yelled out as he again attempted to get himself away from Raph.

"We didn't do this to ya Masta!" Raph insisted as he continued to dance around to avoid being kicked by the angry and frightened rat.

"Master Splinter please it's us!" Leo cried out as he attempted to calm the small rat. "We're your students, your….your children." That last part he whispered as he bent down and looked squarely into Splinter's eyes.

Splinter looked at the blue turtle in confusion. "I don't know you." He insisted as he pressed himself against the wall. "You are Akuma…demons from another place….a…another dimension!" He eyes widen in fear as he continued to attempt to free himself from Raph's grip.

"No Sensei," Mikey came forward with tears running down his face. "We're not demons we're your turtles, the ones you found in the sewer fifteen years ago." Splinter's brow furrowed as he seem to relax slightly and listened to the youngest turtle. "The ones you raised and taught ninjutsu to." He placed a trembling hand on Splinter's shoulder. "Please Sensei, you have to remember us…you….you must remember us." He started crying harder. "Please master."

The rat shook his head and looked from one turtle to another in both fear and confusion. "I am no one's master." He stated. "I don't know…." Splinter suddenly lurched forward and gasped in pain as he once again fell onto his hands and knees. His eyes opened wide and he let out a loud yell as once again, his form started to change. The turtles stepped back and watched in mounting apprehension as Splinter started to morph into an even younger and much smaller rat.

"I can't believe it!" Donnie yelled in fright. "He is reverting back into an infant!" The four turtles watched in horror as Splinter, now a complete humanoid rat infant fell onto the floor of the sewer unconscious.

"Oh no." Raph groaned. "Turtle luck strikes again." He bent down next to Splinter and picked up his red kimono. "Now we got a baby Sensei to take care of." He carefully wrapped Splinter's kimono around the small rat's body then turned to look at Donnie. "What are we going to do now?" He asked in a very tired and very frustrated voice.

"Let's get back to the lair." Leo suggested as he wearily started to walk away. "Maybe the Fugitoid has returned from those mountains he was going to and can help us out."

Donnie ran a hand over his tired face and massaged his temples. "If he hasn't, I'll check Splinter's blood again and try to figure out a way to get him back before….." Donnie stopped talking and shook his head as his mind forced itself to not think any further on the subject.

They arrived at their lair and quickly went into the lab. But were even more disappointed to see the Professor had yet to return their calls. Donnie took another blood sample and went back to work analyzing his information. While he worked in the lab, the other three took Splinter into the living room and laid him on the sofa.

"Oh I can't believe I did this." Mikey moaned as he paced back and forth. He placed his face in his hands and shook his head while he paced. "Why?" He cried. "Why didn't I just leave things alone and get Donnie when I saw Sensei was awake?" He turned to his two brothers who were watching him with sympathetic eyes. "Why can't I ever do anything right?!" He demanded of them.

Leo stood and walked over to him. He brought him into a hug and rubbed his hand up and down his baby brother's shell. "It will be okay Mikey." He whispered. "One way or another, things will be okay." He pulled back and looked at Mikey with tenderness.

Mikey sniffed and nodded his head. "You're right Leo." He muttered. "One way or another everything always works out."

The sudden loud wail of a baby brought their attention back to the small rat lying on the sofa. Raph placed a nervous hand on Splinter's head and began to pet him in a futile attempt to try and quiet him.

"Uhhh….There, there Sensei," Raph said as he looked up at the other two turtles with uncertainty. "Stop crying now, everything's okay." He shrugged his shoulders as Splinter continued to wail. "Any ideas?" He asked them as he stood and moved away from the crying rat. He placed his hands over his ears and winced as the crying became louder.

"I'm not sure." Leo responded as he sat next to Splinter and started shushing him. "It's okay Master Splinter." He told him as he picked him up and bounced him on his lap. "We're here now, it's okay." But all his soothing words and motions could not seem to calm the baby rat. "I have no idea what to do." Leo said as he stood and started pacing while holding Splinter in his arms. He turned back to the others with a look of helplessness in his eyes. "I'm open to suggestions."

Mikey tapped his chin and furrowed his eye ridges as he thought about what could be upsetting the infant rat. He suddenly snapped his fingers then took off to the kitchen. His brothers watched in bewilderment as he ran back with a bowl of mac n' cheese. "I bet he's hungry." He said as Leo placed Splinter back on the sofa. "Here Master Splinter." Mikey said as he held a fork with the cheesy pasta on it in front of Splinter's face. "Have some food."

The small grey rat stopped crying and sniffed curiously at the food in front of him. He backed slightly away and looked up at Mikey in confusion. "Come on Master Splinter." Mikey implored as he waved the food at him. "It's your favorite." He started making airplane noises and waved the fork in the air. "Here comes the airplane into the hanger." He said as he moved the fork past Splinter's face. But the rat continued to stare up at him in bewilderment. "Not into the airplane thing, huh?" Mikey mused as he placed the fork in the bowl. "Oh, how about this?" He said excitedly as he brought the fork into the air. "Choo woo!" He cried as he again brought the food closer to Splinter's face. "Here comes the train into the station."

Leo and Raph looked at each other, dumbfounded at Mikey's antics in his attempt at feeding Splinter. Raph shook his head and watched as once again Splinter ignored the food and looked up at Mikey curiously.

"Ooookaaaay," Mikey muttered slowly as he placed the fork back in the bowl. "No plane no train, how about a boat." He started making motor boat noises and waved the fork back and forth toward the rat in a last attempt at feeding his master. "Okay Sensei, here comes the boat into the harbor."

"Oh enough already!" Raph yelled out as he swatted Mikey on the head. He grabbed the bowl and fork and placed it on the coffee table. "He clearly doesn't want it so try something else."

Mikey glared at his red banded brother as he rubbed his head. He went back into the kitchen and a few seconds later came back with a packet of prunes. "Master Splinter likes these, maybe this is something he might eat." His brothers groaned as he started making car noises. "Varoom, varoom, here Master Splinter, here comes the car into the garage." Mikey moved the prune toward the baby rat who took the fruit into his hands and started nibbling, slowly at first before quickly downing the rest.

The three turtles sighed heavily as they watched Splinter take another prune from Mikey. "Okay," Leo nodded as he watched Splinter eat. "It looks like this will hold him for a short time." He started to walk toward the lab. "I'll check on Donnie," He told the other two. "Let's hope he has some good news."

"Geez," Raph muttered as Leo started to walk away. "Spinta had four babies to deal with." He sat back on the couch in exasperation. "How did he do it?"

Leo smiled slightly and shook his head at Raph's comment. He walked into the lab and found Donnie staring sadly at his computer. Leo walked up to him and placed a comforting paw on his brother's shoulder. "Donnie?"

"It's my fault, you know." The purple banded turtle whispered in a sad voice. "Mikey only wanted to make Splinter feel better but I went the extra step and used an alien herb without thinking about the consequences."

Leo shook his head and patted Donnie's shoulder. "You did what Doctors here on Earth do Don." He told him as he stepped to the side of him and leaned his shell against the table. "You took an unknown substance and experimented with it." He looked at Donnie intently. "Isn't that how Doctors in the past discovered medicines?" He brought his face closer to Donnie's. "I believe that's what you told me about that Doc who discovered penicillin."

"Yeah." Donnie agreed with a still dejected attitude. "Louis Pastor. Did a lot of great things." He looked up at Leo with a sad face. "But he used things from Earth Leo, not another planet."

"That may be so," Leo said, "But regardless of what you did, the important thing you need to do now is find a way to get our Splinter back to his old self." He pushed himself away from the table and clapped his hand on Donnie's shell. "I know you can do it Don," He told him. "When you put your mind to it, you can do anything."

Donnie turned his head slightly and watched his brother walk out of the lab. He gave a light shake his head and smiled as he turned back to his computer and reached over to turn on his audio/visual teleportation device. "Donatello calling Professor Honeycutt; come in please."