Voices swirled around him, slowly they came into focus.
"Donnie!" the pink bipedal girl exclaimed. she wrapped her arms around him and tried to kiss him on the cheek.
He shoved her off violently, " who do you think you are!?" He bellowed, offended by the out-of-no-where encroachment on his person.
Something yanked him backward into a hold, his arms pinned to his sides.
"Let go of me!", He demanded. Trying to jerk out the hold and crane his head back to look at the person who had him in a hold.
It was the same turtle who had attacked him from before.
"Hey Mike, what gives? I thought getting him away from the aliens would make him better?"
"It is possible that the counselor was a particularly powerful psychic being. Donatello should return to normal after being away from their influence for hmm ... 24 hours." Fugitoid said.
Donatello gritted his teeth, he was about to demand that they let him go when his eyes fell upon the stranger he pushed away from him.
She hadn't moved from where he had shoved her, her features frozen in shock, and what looked like hurt.
He cringed against the other turtle's chest, feeling ashamed for causing her to look like that.
"Is this real? Or an act?" He wondered.
Fake or not, the hurt he caused embarrassed him so much that he didn't fight when he was dragged through a hallway and shoved into a room.
The door shut behind him and locked.
He walked across the room, turned his back to the wall and slid down it, clutching his head, he tried to think, not an easy task with all the racket going on outside.
"Come on Raph, I just want to give him breakfast."
"No Mikey, it's best if you just wait for his whatever-it-is to wear off, he's not himself right now."
"But he has to eat. Maybe if he eats familiar food it'll jog his memory."
"That only works in Sunday morning cartoons Mikey, trust me, it's best if-yikes! Casey! Why did you just wing me with a puck?"
"Sorry man, didn't mean to, just that I gotta keep my skills sharp."
"I'll give you something sharp! Mike guard the door for 10 minutes 'till I come back!"
"Sure thing bro!"
There was a clinging down the hall the two boys raced down it, insulting each other.
Donnie heard the whoosh of the door opening, and the 'Mikey' turtle entered, carrying a plate of foreign food.
"Hey Donnie!" The strange turtle said enthusiastically, "I know what you're going through a hard time right now, so I brought you breakfast, well, more like breakfast foods for a late lunch. It's your favorite!"
Donnie clutched his head.
"Hypothesis one: all my memories are false, I am an off worlder caught by aliens with psychic powers who brainwashed him into thinking that he grew up on their world.
"I guess when you say it like that, it does sound kind of hard to believe. But we'll help you figure it out. Here try some of-"
Mikey put the plates down by him, he scooted away from the plate into the corner.
"Hypothesis two: I did grow up on this world, you are the aliens with psychic powers.
And the reason you believe that I will think I'm your brother within the next day is because you will make me believe it."
The other turtles started to look uneasy "Hey man, I know this is kind of hard. But don't start-"
"Conclusion:" Donnie interrupted, " the only way to know who I am for sure-" he drew his Bo.
"- Is to escape both the lupes and the turtles, and see who I am away from their influence."
He struck out, quick as a Viper, slamming the other turtle into the wall and knocking it out.
He darted out of the room and made a break for the escape hatch.
Casey sneaked across the room with a technique that he seemed to have learned from a cartoon. "Heh, I can't believe I managed to sneak past Raph, Some ninja."
His eye's landed on Donnie and he jumped.
"What? How did yo- What'd you do to Mikey!"
"Get out of my way hominid. I don't have the patience for this." Donnie growled raising his "Bo".
He didn't know what he was hoping for, that the Hominid would turn and run maybe? If it did that he'd have to hit it in the back so it couldn't bring its comrades to stop him. Such tactics made him feel a little dirty, but the issue didn't come up.
Casey reached for his mask and flipped it down over his face. The way he gripped his weapon implied he wasn't backing down without a fight.
"I'm afraid I can't let you leave Donnie. "
" And I can't let you stop me. This is the only shot I've got at finally finding out who I am.
"Don, you don't have time to find out who you are. We have to leave to save the earth."
"That's robot seems to know what he is doing, you should be able to manage with one engineer."
"We don't need an engineer, we need our team. Think about it. If I am right and you miss the ship, then you'll never forgive yourself."
"This might be a bad decision, but it's my decision to make. I might have regrets, but at least I know that they will be mine!"
"Wrong answer."
The hominid leaped at him. A clumsy untrained gesture. A well-timed swipe based more on instinct than thought spun the hominid into a wall.
Casey clutched his stomach and groaned.
Donnie approached. Bo raised. Ready to knock his opponent out.
Casey threw out his arm and managed to get Donnie in the face. Knocking the turtle off balance.
Casey staggered to his feet and dragged himself away. Donnie shook his head and snarled.
Casey ducked into a room. Donnie sprinted into the room after.
He got a shock when he recognized the room. It was the one the psychic had shown him in his mind.
"Donatello."
He turned and screamed. The giant rat had appeared behind him.
"Donatello?" The rat asked in concern. Approaching.
" Get away from me!" Donnie screamed, backing away so fast he fell on his back and could only throw his arms over his head to defend himself.
The rat moved so gracefully inside its robes that it seemed to glide backward away from him.
It stood on the other side of the room from him. Waiting for him to make the next move.
Donnie watched it for a long moving until his hyperventilating had slowed to a stop. He pushed himself onto his feet and started to circle the rat, observing it.
It watched him patiently, and with a hint of concern.
"Are you feeling well, Donatello?"
"Who are you, how do you know who I am."
The rat seemed surprised by this, it's expression melded into one of contemplation.
"You don't recognize me?"
"No."
"Are you sure? Let any thought that comes to mind have your full attention."
This was surreal, so surreal Donnie was actually willing to put his escape on hold to humor it. "You remind me of a character in a story."
"Do I? And how does the story go?"
"There was a man, who loved a woman, but there was another man who is jealous.
He burned the first man's house with the woman in it, and the two men became enemies."
"Is at the end of the story?"
"No, the first man adopted four sons, and each one of them went on to have a story of their own."
"I would like to hear them."
"The first son was very obedient to their father. Except once, he met a girl who is one of their enemies, and he thought he saw good her.
So he kept attempting to convince her to join their side. He nearly succeeded, but one day she went he continues to look for to this day."
"The second son was just as diligent fight their enemies, but he was equally likely to turn his ire on his brothers.
One day, his father attempted to teach him the error of his ways. But he refused to listen. So he asked his son to fight his brothers.
He dodged every blow until they were instructed to start insulting him. Then every blow landed.
He learned his lesson and vowed to control his anger.
The youngest son often came with them when they were patrolling, one day they came across a monster.
The first three brothers wouldn't come near it, but the youngest brother showed it kindness, and in this way won a friend.
"You skipped one, what happened to the second youngest child."
"Oh, you don't want to know what happened him."
"Why not?"
"His story's very sad."
"That doesn't mean it isn't worth telling."
"Well, one day when they were patrolling, they met a boy.
The boy wanted to help them. But he was inexperienced, and didn't have what it took to help.
The other three brothers gave up on him, but the middle child was worried that he would hurt himself, and tried to teach him to fight.
Eventually, the boy proved himself unteachable, so the middle child sent him away."
"And is at the end of the story?"
"No, they met the boy again. He had joined the enemy, but wanted to be a spy, to help them. The other three brothers were fine with this, but not the middle child.
The middle child thought that he would wind up getting hurt. He tried to convince his brothers of this, but they wouldn't listen.
He tried to convince the boy of this too, but he wouldn't listen either.
The boy was- lost. And the middle child tried to find a way to bring them back. But they never did."
"That is a very sad story."
"Yeah, never understood what the point that was."
"Did the brothers ever learn to listen to the middle child?"
Donnie looked lost."I don't know." he muttered.
"Perhaps that isn't the end of the story."
"I don't know, I don't even know why I relate to it, I don't even have any brothers."
"Maybe you don't feel listened to."
"Ha, that can't be it. I'm an engineer from myopex nine, when I speak people listen."
He turned to leave, "I don't even know what I'm doing here. Time to leave."
The rat opened its mouth to say something, Donnie hit a button to shut the program off, and swung his Bo back to knock out the teen trying to sneak up behind him.
"I've wasted enough time as it is."
(scene break)
"GUYS!"
Mikey dragged Casey into the pilot room.
The others crowded around them.
"What happened?" Leo asked.
"Donnie got out!"
"What how?"
"... I just wanted to bring him something to eat."
"Oh for the love of- I left him alone for two minutes!" Raph bowed his head "... With Mikey... To chase Casey..." He closed his eyes, "This is all my fault."
"Ok guys, let's split up. Mikey, Fugitiod, take the bikes and go into town. Raph, April, you search the desert with me." Leo ordered.
"What if we can't find him by sundown, as soon as the ion storm breaks we'll have to leave immediately or risk being stuck here for another two weeks," Fugitoid asked.
Leo opened his mouth to reply and stopped. For a moment he looked lost, then he straightened up and marched out the room.
"Let's just make sure it doesn't come to that."
(end chapter)
Poor Casey. He just wanted to stop his friend from making a mistake he'd regret. Casey was even smart enough to pull up Leo's Splinter program to distract Donnie long enough for him to catch his breath and try a sneak attack. Didn't do him much good tho. Guess that's why you don't try to sneak up on a ninja.