Leonardo gave a pained grunt as he slowly lifted himself up onto his hands and knees. He'd been drifting in and out of consciousness for a while, but it felt like he was starting to level out a bit. His face burned like nothing he'd ever felt before, but he was starting to get used to the pain. He tried to open his eyes. He gave a sharp cry of agony when his eyelids parted just slightly, causing him to immediately snap them shut again, cursing wildly under his breath as he did so. He didn't know which panicked him more; the sheer pain, or the fact that, for the split second that his eyes had been open, he'd seen nothing but blackness.
"L-Leo..? H-hey, Leo, over here!"
Leonardo could hear Raphael call to him, but he wasn't sure what direction his voice had come from. The fact that his brother was alive at all was a huge relief in itself.
"R-Raph… Raph, I can't see anything. Where are you? Are you okay?"
"I'm right in front of ya, just a few yards away. Just follow my voice. I… I can't move. That bastard pinned me to the wall… I-I need help getting free."
Leo did as he was told, slowly crawling forward on his hands and knees. He didn't feel steady enough to try walking blind just yet. It wasn't long until he felt the edge of the wall. Carefully, he felt his way up to his feet, finding Raphael seconds later.
"Where are you pinned?"
"My head, left side."
"Wh-what?! How?!"
Raphael didn't seem too eager to give him an answer, so he let his hands wander up to where he guessed his brother's head to be. He hit the hilt of Raph's sai with the back of his hand, felt the hot stream of blood running down his cheek. He gasped, almost pulling his hand back in horror.
"Oh my God, Raph!"
"I-it's okay, he just got my eye with one of the side prongs. It ain't as bad as it… uhh… seems." Raphael replied hastily, catching himself on that last bit. He then let out a wry chuckle. "S-seriously, if the guy was lookin' ta kill me, he's got lousy aim. What's an eye or two compared to gettin' away alive?"
Raph winced a bit at that last, likely because he forgot what Leo had suffered just moments before. As bad off as he was, his older brother had it twice as bad. Leonardo merely sighed, shaking his head. It didn't matter now. What was done, was done. He grabbed hold of the hilt of the sai currently pinning his brother to the wall, yanking back on it as hard as he could.
"Argh! Dammit, it won't budge!"
"Out of way, черепаха!"
Leo gave a rather undignified yelp when he suddenly found himself being tossed to the side. Raphael wasn't much more dignified, a sudden wave of panic overcoming him as Rocksteady came into view. The rhino braced one arm hard against the pinned turtle's chest, the other reaching up to grasp his sai. He had it out in one clean jerk of his powerful arm, and Raphael immediately collapsed to the ground with a shout, his hands shooting up to cover his now-empty eye socket. He managed to look up just in time to see the Russian mutant toss his bloodied weapon to the ground with a metallic clatter, just barely catching the glint of the diamond set in Rocksteady's prosthetic right eye as he turned away. Could that be the reason he'd helped? Could someone like that actually sympathize with another?
Raph scrambled over to where Leo had been tossed, bracing his shoulder under his brother's arm and helping him to his feet. He seemed confused.
"R-Raph? Was that Rocksteady? Did he hurt you?"
"No… He helped me…" Raphael replied softly, still quite stunned at the whole situation. Leonardo was understandably flabbergasted as well.
"He what?!"
The two of them eventually made their way over to where Donatello was kneeled over the body of the mad Michelangelo. He looked up at his two older brothers, giving them a sad, weary smile. Raphael furrowed his brows at him, giving the corpse a suspicious sideways glance.
"So, is that it? Is it over?" he asked hesitantly. Donatello nodded his head slowly.
"Yeah, it's all over… The shards of the Orb lost power a few minutes ago. This machine won't be opening any holes between dimensions ever again…" he replied with a sigh.
"Why do you sound disappointed by that, Don?" Leo asked, not liking the tone his brother was taking. Donatello gave a feeble whine, as though wanting anything but to have to explain it.
"Because the Orb pieces didn't lose power when Michelangelo's shard was shot to bits, it happened almost ten minutes later. The only thing that I can think of that would do that is… I-is if someone in the other world destroyed the core of the Orb…"
"B-but that's great! That means no one will be able to do something like this again! Do you think it was Mikey – our Mikey – who di-" Leonardo stopped dead mid-sentence. He was starting to realize why that was such a bad thing. He shuddered, his body suddenly going cold and numb at the thought. Donatello heaved another sigh before explaining aloud what it was that Leo had already figured out.
"Without the Orb, we have no way of getting our Mikey back here to our world… He's trapped back there… Forever…"
There was a long, mournful silence. The three of them seemed to be frozen there, the impact of loss solidifying their blood and turning their hearts to ice. It was more than a minute later when Raphael broke the tableau with a vengeful growl.
"Hell no! I ain't givin' up just like that! We've come too far just ta end up with nothing now! There's gotta be some way ta get him back!"
"I-I'm sorry, Raph… I want him back just as bad as you do, but I'm not a miracle worker… I mean, there's a slim chance I'd be able to do something if we still had that first device that Michelangelo and I built together, but—"
"Then we'll find it!" Raphael interjected forcefully. Donatello seemed to lose his patience at this, standing up to his full height to meet his brother's gaze.
"How?! The three of us spent over a week looking for it before and we found nothing! Now that the two of you are out of commission, how in the name of Mutation am I supposed to find it all by myself?! And even if I did find it – which I won't – I'd then have to drag this bastard's sorry carcass off to wherever the hell it is to make sure we can get our Mikey back!"
He finished his argument with an energetic gesture to the body of the slain turtle beside him. Or rather, where the body should have been. Both Donnie and Raph drew in a shocked gasp, leaving poor Leonardo to wonder what had happened that he couldn't see.
"Wh-what's going on? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Leo asked, turning his head from side to side as though the motion would magically enable him to see his surroundings again. Donatello was starting to wonder if there wasn't something wrong with his eyes as well. There was no other way he could think to explain why a body should suddenly go missing.
"I-I don't understand! He was right here! He wasn't dead just yet, but there was no way he'd be able to move on his own! He was shot clean through the chest! How can he be gone?!" he rambled on frantically, clutching at his head with both hands. Oh, this was the last thing they needed right now! Without Michelangelo's body to make the transfer, there was no way they could bring Mikey home even if they found the smaller machine!
"Either we got a zombie on our hands, or someone's jumping the gun on the whole grave robbing thing. Look!" Raphael gestured towards the steps leading down from the pyramid summit, catching a flash of purple, brown and green just before it disappeared into thin air. A small trail of blue blood – no longer glowing since the Orb's destruction – trailed after their mysterious body snatcher.
"Rocksteady and Bebop?! What the hell would they want with Michelangelo? He won't survive more than a few minutes more."
"Maybe they're going to try to bring him to Shredder as a trophy. Look, does it really matter? Ya gotta go get that bastard back or we'll never get Mikey home!" Raphael barked out impatiently, looking as though he had half a mind to go after them himself. He was in no shape to do so, and having to support Leonardo's battered body reminded him that he wasn't up to it either. That left it all up to Don, and the lanky turtle knew it. He heaved another sigh. This day couldn't possibly get any worse, could it?
Donatello sprinted across rooftops as fast as his legs would carry him. His eyes darted from one fleeting glimpse of movement to another, from one speck of blue blood to the next. He couldn't let himself lose the trail. If he did… He shook his head. He didn't even want to think of the possibility of never seeing his baby brother again.
The mad chase eventually led down to street level. Donnie jumped down after the invisible pig mutant and immediately found himself lost in a sea of abandoned warehouses. He caught no more telling glimpses out of the corner of his eye, and the trail of blood had dwindled to nothing. He cursed under his breath.
"Dammit! I'm so close! Where could they have gone?" he grumbled, his shoulders wilting a bit as hopelessness began to set in. Still, hopeless though it may seem, he couldn't just give up. Leo wouldn't have given up if he were here.
If Donatello had been the type to believe in a higher power, he'd probably have taken what happened next to be a miracle. Since he wasn't such a type, he merely thanked the laws of probability that he'd happened down just the right alleyway, and just in time to catch a flash of pink light as it flickered against a far wall. He fixed the spot in his gaze and sprinted forward, turning only when he had reached the spot where he'd seen the light flash a moment ago.
He had to stare for a long moment before he could let himself believe what he was seeing. Once he finally did believe it, his jaw practically hit the floor. Sitting just inside the open loading dock of one of the warehouses, the old hodge-podge of metals still ticking as it cooled, the large power crystal's pink glow still fading down, was the stolen transporter. Bebop stood at the controls, a familiar leather journal tucked under his arm. Rocksteady was there as well, turning to face the lanky turtle, a small heap of green and red cradled in his massive arms.
"Mikey!" Donnie shouted reflexively. It was him. It really was his little brother, curled up against Rocksteady's chest, covered in what looked like blood, his left arm dangling at a painfully unnatural angle. It was Michelangelo. Their Michelangelo. They finally had him back.
He was in pretty bad shape, though. Donatello could tell that much from just a cursory glance. He was unconscious, very pale, he looked to be barely breathing, and… Well, the blood and the arm were really hard to ignore. He had to get him back to the Lair. There was no way of telling what else might be wrong with him, or what had been done to him in the blue-blooded Michelangelo's home world.
His urgency rising with the uncertainty of his brother's condition, Donatello quickly drew his bo staff from his back. He would fight these two knuckleheads to the death if he had to, but he wasn't leaving here without his brother! Bebop let out one of his squealy little laughs, shaking his head at the absurdity of it all.
"Aw snap, cuz! You think you gonna take us both out with dat li'l twig? It ain't gonna do down like dat, dawg. See, we got yer bro here, an' we sure as hell ain't gonna just hand him back ta you turtle freaks. I'm thinkin' he'll look better mounted on Shredder's wall once we finish the sucker off. Hell, he's half dead already, so that ain't gonna be no trouble, is it Ivan?"
Donatello's grip on his bo staff tightened as the warthog let out another annoying laugh. However, Rocksteady didn't join him in his jocularity for once. The rhino's steely gaze fixed on the lone turtle before him as he slowly made his way forward. Donnie took a step back, but stared up at the other mutant in utter confusion as he approached. Bebop's laughter slowly died down when he noticed what was happening.
"H-hey, yo, Steranko! The hell are ya doin, man?!"
Rocksteady didn't seem to pay attention to his partner's shouting even as he came to a stop right in front of one of their sworn enemies. The lanky turtle could do nothing but stare up at the towering hulk, unsure what to expect now. If this was an attack, it was a cleverly disguised one. Suddenly, his bo staff clattered to the ground, and he felt Mikey's weight drop into his arms. He stared down at his unconscious brother in utter bewilderment for a moment before directing the look up to Rocksteady.
"You and brothers save Comrade Bebop from Kraang. Life for life. We are being even now, Да?" the old Russian explained in a low tone, leaning down so that the young turtle could hear him while his fuming partner could not. Donatello merely nodded his head slowly, his mouth hanging open in complete disbelief of what had just transpired. Rocksteady gave a gruff sound of approval before straightening himself once more and turning back to Bebop, acting as though the turtles were never there.
"Comrade Zeck, we are being finished here. Let us go to the home."
"What?! Just like dat?! Hold up G, are we not gonna talk about what the fuck all dat was about?! We had dat li'l twerp, man! Shredder woulda rewarded us for bringin' him in! How you gonna just give him back?! I swear, you been actin' screwy ever since we came across dat weird pig mutant in the street! You better not be gettin' all soft on me, big guy!"
"Shutting the mouth, Anton! Or I will pop head like blueberry!"
And Donatello stood there, watching the two bicker as they wandered off into the night.
Master Splinter sat under his tree in the dojo, legs folded under him, eyes closed. He drew in a deep, slow breath, held it, and let it out just as slowly. It was a very peaceful afternoon. Relaxing, but not necessarily comforting. One of his ears twitched ever so slightly.
"Come, my son."
He heard a flinch by the door, a hesitating step, before the quiet footsteps of one of his students could be heard shuffling across the floor mats. He'd always been able to tell just which one of his sons approached from the way their footsteps sounded, but they had become even more unique since that terrible incident a month ago. Leonardo was far more hesitant, shuffling slowly to feel his way. Raphael had trouble judging distance now, and that was reflected in his second-guessing steps. Michelangelo's were... Well, he hadn't had much opportunity to observe the poor boy walking, his injuries keeping him confined to his room for the time being. Donatello's were the only ones that hadn't changed. He was the only one who had escaped serious physical harm. Emphasis in 'physical.'
"Something is troubling you, Donatello. Do you wish to talk about it?" he asked, not bothering to open his eyes to confirm if he'd guessed correctly. He never got these things wrong, after all. Sure enough, it was Donatello's heavy sigh that answered him.
"I don't know, Sensei, I… I guess I just never got the chance to stop and collect my thoughts until now. Everything just happened so fast…"
"And have you gathered your thoughts now?"
A pause.
"Well… I-it's still a lot to take in, but… I think I have. There's just a couple of things I don't understand."
"Such as?"
"Such as… Such as how I could have been such a fool…"
Splinter finally opened his eyes, looking down at the young turtle kneeled before him. Donatello's eyes were glued to the floor, a pained, regretful look in them. Rather than offering a word of comfort just yet, the ninja master merely prodded the boy to explain further with a quick "Go on."
"I never should have trusted that other Michelangelo. That creepy imposter. He was a monster right from the beginning, and I played right into his hands… It's partially my fault that Raph and Leo got hurt."
"Yet, had you not cooperated with this 'imposter' Michelangelo up to the point that you did, you'd have never had the device that brought the true Michelangelo back to us."
Donatello gave his master a quick glance before casting his eyes downward once more, his expression somehow more miserable than it had been before.
"But does the 'true' Michelangelo even exist anymore?"
Splinter's ears flattened back against his head at that, his eyes mirroring some of his son's sorrow. It was true, they had their Michelangelo back, but not as he was. He'd changed somehow. He remembered all too well having to hold the boy down when he first regained consciousness after being brought back to the Lair. Michelangelo had gone into utter hysterics upon seeing his master, screaming about how he'd done something unforgivable and how he didn't mean it, how he never wanted to, how he had no choice but to do it. He then shouted the word 'mercy' over and over, more in proclamation than in pleading. Donatello had to sedate him to keep him from thrashing wildly as he treated his wounds.
Even Splinter hadn't dared ask Mikey what had happened to him in the other world. It was clear the boy's mind was still far too fragile to recall anything about it without shattering into a million pieces. The only hints came when he slept, when he was inevitably plagued by nightmares. Splinter spent many of the first few nights by the boy's bed to comfort him, occasionally catching little bits of mumbled sleep talk. 'A child's shadow,' 'A house of skulls,' 'They will eat them,' 'Bury their snouts into your ribs,' 'Not murder. Mercy,' and, of course, 'Pig, pig, pig.' He had no idea what any of it meant, but it sent chills up his spine every time he heard something like that come out of his poor sleeping son's mouth.
"You… did all you could have done." He reassured hesitantly. Donnie shook his head.
"No, I could have done more. I could have listened to Raph when he first said he didn't trust the guy. I could have kept him at arm's length, maybe even stolen a look at his journal sooner and built the transporter on my own. How is it that Raph could see through him so clearly, but Leo and I couldn't?"
"Raphael has always let his emotions guide him rather than logic. It is what makes him so hot-headed, but it also helps him to view the world through his heart rather than his eyes."
Donatello seemed to hesitate before responding to that.
"How can one's heart look at a brother and bear to suspect him of such horrible things?"
Splinter didn't answer. He couldn't. It was a question he'd been struggling with himself for sixteen years. His hands clenched slightly where they rested on his knees. Oroku Saki…
Luckily, it seemed as though Donatello had been unwilling to dwell on the subject either. He took a deep, calming breath, letting it out before moving on to his next concern.
"There's something else that's been bothering me. I just can't figure out why Rocksteady did what he did. I understand Bebop's role in it all. He was just working with us to escape the Kraang, and he shot the other Michelangelo in a moment of revenge. But Rocksteady… Why would he help us? Why would he go through all the trouble to carefully study the situation, steal the journal and Michelangelo's body, and get Mikey back just to hand him over with nothing to gain in return? Surely not just because we helped his friend that one time."
Splinter couldn't help but smile slightly at that.
"You will find that, though they are our enemies, even Shredder's men can have a sense of morals. They do not often align with our own, but it is possible that some of them believe in true honor, even if their master does not."
Donatello nodded dubiously at that, not entirely sure if he believed it. He then stood up, giving his master a quick bow.
"Thank you, Sensei. I've got to go check on the guys now…"
"You are welcome, Donatello. Take good care of your brothers. They need you now more than ever."
Donatello made his way out of the dojo, unsure if he felt any better than before his talk with Splinter. He looked around the main chamber of the Lair, spotting Raphael and Leonardo on the couch. Raph was currently busying himself with changing the bandages covering Leo's eyes. Donnie smiled slightly. He was rather proud of Raphael. Despite his injury, he was going out of his way to try and help his other two injured brothers. He'd only lost one eye, so he could still see well enough to change his own dressings by himself. He seemed to be okay with it for the most part, having sewn shut the left eye of his mask and wearing it even over the bandages that covered half his face. It was as though he was letting them know that he was still ready for anything, even if he hadn't fully recovered yet.
Donatello couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Leonardo. He hadn't been as lucky as Raphael – if losing an eye could be considered lucky. Even if his wounds healed unexpectedly well, there was almost no chance Leo would ever be able to see again. He'd be blind for the rest of his life. Donnie had no idea if he'd be able to fight like that, but he was sure that if there was a way to do it, Leo would find it and excel at it. Despite everything, their strong-willed leader had never lost his determination.
As he passed through the living room, Donatello grabbed the case of bandages off the couch and headed across to Mikey's room. He cracked the door open slowly, peeking in as though afraid he'd be attacked if he entered too abruptly. He caught sight of a mass of thick green scales covering his brother's bed. The mass seemed to twist around, a single slitted eye focusing on the sudden intruder, a crocodilian hiss reverberating through the room. Donnie merely smiled.
"It's okay, Leatherhead. It's just me. I've got to change Mikey's bandages right now. Could you step outside for a moment?"
Leatherhead seemed to hesitate a long moment, but he eventually uncurled himself from his protective embrace around Michelangelo and slithered out of the room. Donnie always felt guilty about having to make him leave like that. He'd been staying with Mikey ever since he'd heard about what had happened, even sleeping with him. Don was grateful to the old gator for that. It was getting to where only Leatherhead could manage to calm their baby brother down after one of his nightmares. He didn't seem to completely trust anyone else just yet.
Mikey was sitting at the edge of his bed, one of his comic books lying open in his lap. It was clear that Leatherhead had been trying to get him to read it with him, to possibly cheer him up a bit. Donnie could tell that his brother hadn't really been paying attention. He'd been staring right through the book, his mind wandering God only knows where. Donnie cleared his throat a bit, wanting to gently get Mikey's attention.
"Mikey? How ya holding up, buddy?" he asked, trying his best to put on a convincing smile as he knelt down in front of the younger turtle. Mikey looked up at him slowly, returning the smile. It was even more blatantly hollow than the one he'd received. Donnie tried not to let it show how much that bothered him.
"I'm doin' okay." He lied. Donnie knew it was a lie. There was no way Michelangelo was even close to okay if he couldn't manage even the ghost of a genuine smile. Donatello tried to put it out of his mind, getting to work right away, carefully cutting away the gauze wrapped around the younger turtle's neck. There was a wide band of raw, still healing scar tissue at his throat, a wound made slightly larger than it had originally been since Donnie had to somehow separate the remains of Mikey's mask from where it had melted and fused with his burnt flesh. Splinter had already made him a new mask, but they hadn't seen him wearing it yet.
He wrapped the wound in fresh gauze and moved down to the large patch of it covering much of Mikey's chest. Again, Donnie couldn't help but feel sorry for Leatherhead. The gator had felt guilty when he'd seen that wound on his little friend's chest, clearly recognizing the burnt void in his plastron as being the exact size and shape of his own hand. Michelangelo had calmed a bit by then, and merely assured him that it wasn't his fault, that it hadn't been the real Leatherhead that had done this to him. Donnie supposed that was the main reason why the gator refused to leave his side even now. He was more protective of him than ever before.
The lanky turtle made a mental note to find some suitable material with which to properly fill in the hole in his brother's plastron plating. He couldn't leave him exposed like that if he was ever going to fight again. Perhaps simple stainless steel would do? He'd hate to put Mikey through another surgery, but it had to be done eventually.
Donatello cringed inwardly when he moved on to the last bit he had left to re-bandage; his arm. It was the hardest wound to look at, but the only one that he could tell exactly how he'd gotten without having to ask. He'd been shot, and with some sort of hunting rifle by the looks of it. The only thing he couldn't tell was by whom. The bullet had completely shattered his elbow, and it had been impossible to tell fragments of bone from fragments of shrapnel. Donnie had no hope of piecing the gruesome mess back together. So, after many heated arguments with the others about what was the right thing to do, he found he had no choice but to amputate it. Michelangelo's left arm now ended just above where his elbow had been.
"Hey, I've been thinking…" Donnie began, trying his best to sound cheerful even as he worked on re-wrapping Mikey's stump of an arm. "If I can get my hands on a Kraang-droid, I can probably take its arm and make it into a new one for you. What do you think? Having a robot arm sounds pretty cool, huh?"
Had Mikey still been himself, Donnie would have expected his bright blue eyes to light up at that, for him to go on rambling about how he wanted all kinds of ridiculous gadgets on the arm, like lasers and rockets and other such nonsense. He would have welcomed something like that, for once in his life. Instead, the younger turtle merely shook his head.
"Nah, that's alright, Don. I know ya got more important stuff to work on. You don't gotta waste your time on something stupid like that for me." He replied softly, looking up at his brother with blank eyes and an empty smile. Donatello let out a heavy sigh. One night… It had been just one night for Michelangelo over there in that other world – that much they managed to get out of him – yet just that one night had done so much damage. He had returned broken, body and mind.
Donnie didn't say another word as he finished up. He knew it would have done no good. He picked up his box of medical supplies and was nearly out the door when he heard Mikey call after him suddenly.
"W-wait! I…" he paused, perhaps second guessing himself if he should speak. He eventually finished his thought in little more than a feeble whisper. "I don't… I-I don't wanna be alone…"
Donatello turned back to look at him, preparing to assure him that he'd send Leatherhead right in after him, but he stopped just as he opened his mouth. Mikey was looking at him, but this time there was something in those eyes of his. It was pure panic.
"D-don't leave me again, Don…"
Donatello, feeling as though someone were trying to wrench his heart out of his chest, immediately closed the door and made his way over to the bed again. He sat down next to the shorter turtle, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and hugging his brother close.
"We won't leave you alone ever again… I promise…"