Authors Notes: I would have had this up earlier today...but I managed to get a copy of the audio from "Turtles Forever" (The DTV project) and HAD to listen through it! XD I can't wait to see it now! I'm too hyped up... Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT or blah blah blah...just schizophrenic Violet and this plot. ;D
Chapter 9: Memory Blanks
"Come on, it will be fun!" I grin as I continue to try convincing the Dark Turtles to come outside. "No one will care"
Dark Mikey is interested but his brothers…not so much.
"Too bright" Dark Leo growls, the others remaining pretty silent.
"Well, when you go downtown it's pretty shady because of all the buildings, we don't have to go right in the blazing sun" I conceal a smirk, "But if you want to stay here and miss out on the exercise, go ahead, just don't moan at me when you get fat"
This convinces Raph's clone like I thought it would. "Who're you callin' fat sweetheart?" He pokes me lightly with one of his claws.
"Anyone who doesn't come"
Dark Mikey laughs wildly at this.
Donny's counterpart thinks carefully. "I guess it could be good…" he says quietly.
"Let's go then," I link arms with Dark Raph and Mikey and pull them along. "I guess poor fearless is a little too scared of sunlight to come…"
"Fine!" He sighs angrily, "Just stop calling me that!"
"Calling you what?" I ask innocently.
He gives me a not-so-serious glare but says nothing, and we head out.
As we walk down the street, I can tell they aren't used to coming out; the way they look around…
I walk slowly; letting them go at whatever speed they want. "Don't worry," I mutter, "No one cares, and nothing will come for you"
As suspected, Mikey's clone is loving being able to be outside, Raph's just likes hanging with us, Don's is being curious about everything he sees, working out mentally how it works, while Leo's…appears to be sulking.
"What's wrong?" I nudge him, almost making him jump.
He looks away, "Nothing!"
"Fine, whatever" I shrug, continuing on.
Three…two…one…
"Well…it's just…" he speaks again, "…bright"
"And what's wrong with that?" I ask.
As expected, he has no answer to my question.
I continue speaking, "I know you're used to hiding out in dark shady places, but that doesn't mean you have to act like that" He gives me a questioning glance, "Look at the bright side of life, enjoy what you've got, don't think about the negatives"
Dark Mikey prods me, "I'm hungry"
I roll my eyes, "Anyone else?"
The others kind of raise their hands nervously.
"Come on then, I'm buying" Well, technically Cody gave me the money, but that doesn't matter.
When we return later on in the day, the brothers scatter.
I go to move when Dark Leo stops me. "I admit, that was…better than I thought it would be"
"Good," I smirk and move round him, "Will you guys be okay for a bit while I go to see my sensei?"
"Should be"
"If you need me, you can call me over the wrist communications"
He nods and I turn away, moving to the stairwell. I look back and see him still staring; I merely wink and continue.
I find Master Splinters up on the roof, working on his garden again.
"Sensei?" I stop behind him.
He turns to me, "Ah! Violet," he beams at me, "I hope all is well my daughter"
"Well, I just came to apologise…" He nods to show I may continue. "I'm sorry I missed today's training sensei, I was helping the others out again…they are still adjusting"
He smiles at me, "Do not let such things worry you, as you may have guessed, Michelangelo is not always present due to his 'awesome games' as he puts it" I conceal a smirk, knowing full well what Mikey does. "Today we were merely meditating, your brothers were still a little tired from all the action recently"
"Thank you Master" I bow to him, then quickly add, "And don't worry, I'll make sure I catch up on the training…I will do some tonight"
He smiles, "You're welcome" he bows back, "And I'm pleased to hear you're not letting everything affect your training"
That night, I sit cross-legged on the sofa; the clones are all sleeping now. I have decided to try out a technique our master taught a little while ago. I control my breathing and make my body simulate sleep, aware of everything, but un-controlling of it.
I stay there for about an hour, nothing really happening, but I'm unfazed, I will continue!
Suddenly, I feel myself shift slightly. 'What the-?' I think to myself as my body gets up. 'This shouldn't be happening!' I don't know what's going on, I appear to be moving…but it's not me doing it!
"It's no use child, you'll never stop me!"
"What?" I mentally repeat but I feel I'm losing the grip on my meditation, I guess it's hard once your body becomes active again, it's difficult to keep focused on the exercise rather than what's going on.
I feel myself being pulled into the darkness of what I would generally call 'sleep', but I know it isn't now. I still can't place that voice though, but I know they are speaking through me…
I open my eyes, what feels like immediately after, but I pale as I see where I am. Obviously I was out longer than I thought.
"No…" I shiver as I look around.
I'm in the Moon Port, leaning against the wall, but still standing. I feel I'm also wearing something, so I pull it off only to find it's a purple cloak.
I tap into my wrist communicator, "Um…someone?" I say quietly as I open it to all channels in hope someone will pick up.
"What's the matter babe?" Mikey asks, in the background I can hear explosions…he's playing Helix 2 again.
"Would you be able to pick me up?"
He's confused, I can tell, "What do you mean?"
"Well…I'm kind of at the Moon Port…"
"How'd you get there?"
I sigh, "Can I explain later? It's complicated"
"Fine, I'll be there in a jiffy"
He was honest; he gets here pretty quickly. Soon, I'm perched on the back of the four-wheeled hover bike thing he came riding in on.
"So what happened?" He asks as he continues to drive.
I blush, "Well, would you believe me if I said I walked here while I was asleep"
"Like sleep walking?"
"Kind of…" I hold my breath as I think about it.
He suddenly screeches to a halt, I'm lucky not to go flying.
"What was that…?" I trail off as I see some strange gang surrounding us.
He jumps up, grabbing his nunchacku. "Street Phantoms!" he growls.
I go for my tessen to find they're not there; they are back at the penthouse…I took them off before my meditation like I usually do.
"Let me help you" Something almost whispers to me. A headache starts coming on, "You don't need a weapon, just let me help"
The Street Phantoms are closing in on us, Mikey fighting off his attackers easily. I go to jump at one nearby but phase through them. So that's what my brothers meant about them being like ghosts…
"Help as in take over?" I whisper so Mikey doesn't notice as I find I'm running out of options.
It doesn't answer, merely asks, "Do you accept?"
I attempt to do what my brothers told me to when faced against these guys but keep missing the timing. I feel hands grab my feet…hands that are coming out of the ground!
I sigh, "Fine"
As soon as I say it, I feel control of my movements go immediately and something else take over; the only difference: I'm aware of everything!
My body escapes the clutches from below somehow and starts defeating all the Phantoms easily. I can't tell exactly what's happening, but soon I'm back in control and the Street Phantoms are fleeing.
"Wow! You were amazing babe!" Mikey chirps as he runs over to me.
I look down and mutter, "If only it was me"
He's too distracted to notice though. "Hey look! One of them dropped their cape!" He picks it up and starts to inspect it.
"Mikey…I don't think you should really mess with that…"
He doesn't listen and continues to think out loud, "Hey! If I put this on, I could go ghost like all of them!"
"Please don't" I say but am too late, as he's already put it on.
"See! I told you-" he goes silent quite abruptly.
"You told me what?" I give him a curious glance, but he looks blank right now. "Mikey?" I move slightly closer and touch his arm.
His eyes snap round and stare at me, an evil grin coming across his features. I hear laughter and back off as more Street Phantoms come out.
"Told you this one was gullible," one cackles as he approaches.
I continue to back off, tapping desperately into my wrist communicator. "Hello? Anyone! Need help here…" No one is picking up, "Help, Street Phantoms attacking, got Mikey…someone!"
I feel my shell hit the wall, damn…
"It's no use, we blocked all communications," the same one adds as they near me.
I try to look innocent, "You wouldn't hurt a girl, right?"
They all laugh at me as if I'm crazy. I have to think quickly, that thing that helped me is being quiet now. I look around desperately, but soon see what I must do.
"I'm sorry Mikey" I mutter, and then run at the Phantoms as if I am going to attack. Obviously I phase through them, but that's what I wanted. I find myself face-to-face with Mikey.
"Where do you think you're going?" his tone is scary, I've never heard him talk like this. The manical grin doesn't help either.
"To get help," I don't show any emotion, I know that's what they want. I dodge round my partner and jump onto the bike me and Mikey had been on. I turn it on and breathe in quickly, I've never driven anything like this before, but it's my best option of getting out of here.
"Stop her!" the first guy shouts.
I glance round and see Mikey running at me. I wince as I turn on the accelerator and nothing happens…I hit something else quickly and it starts moving, YES! Finally! I get a stroke of luck.
The bike moves away quickly, leaving the Street Phantoms…and Mikey…behind. But I'm not disheartened, for I have a plan to save him now, one that I don't think he'd approve of if he were here.
I run into the penthouse, straight to the floor the clones live on. As I enter, I want to jump at the one who's actually awake now for it's the one I wanted: Mikey's clone.
"Um…could you help me with something?" I ask nervously.
He cocks his head in confusion. "Moi? Sure you don't want Braniac?"
I shake my head, "No, only you can help me." He starts to laugh, so I quickly add, as I blush, "Not in that way!"
"Of course I will Babe" he grins; I feel a twang of pain run through me though for the reminder of Mikey.
"Okay," I sigh and try to calmly explain my dilemma. "…And now he's hypnotised and I think if I take you he'll snap out of it"
He doesn't seem thrilled about the saving Mikey part, but…
"I get to make him jealous?" I nod. "I'm so in!" he laughs; I can't help but smirk.
After the discussion, Dark Mikey and me 'borrow' the Terrorpin and go off to try save my mate before they do anything to him. I actually know how to fly this though, so I am much more in control than on that bike and I know I won't crash this…don't ask…let's just say I didn't park particularly well…
I bring up the screen on my gauntlet computer to find where Mikey is. He's close; it looks like they're hiding in an old warehouse downtown.
I have to wonder what their plan is though; they turned Mikey evil somehow, but now what? Destroy us? Use his ninja skills for heists? Break out their boss Jammerhead from prison?
I only know about Jammerhead from my brothers again. Leo insisted I knew whom I could come up against in this time so gave me detailed descriptions and showed me pictures and videos of each. Jammerhead, Triple Threat, Torbin Zixx…But I know Jammerhead is in prison right now, in better security now than before, so even if that's what his Street Phantoms plan, good luck.
I land the Terrorpin with ease, getting out and locking it up. We enter slowly, trying not to attract attention.
Before I realise anything else, I find we are surrounded by Street Phantoms…great.
The one who seems to be the leader points at us, "Destroy them!"
The horde run at us, but this time I brought my tessen so I stand a much better chance. They try a similar trick to last time, grabbing for my feet, but the hands that go for me find themselves hit by my tessen…one word: OUCH!
As we clear the lackeys quickly, I hear their leader curse then call in someone. I freeze as soon as they enter: Mikey.
I glance at Dark Mikey who is dancing around excitedly as he fights with his staff things. And of course, Mikey goes straight for me who managed to clear their opponents quickly.
He goes for his nunchacku, grinning sinisterly at me. Dang, I don't know if I can stand up to him. He runs at me while spinning his nunchacku really fast, creating an orange light. I slice at him with my tessen, a vague pinkish light going with it. He dodges easily, and continues running at me.
"Violet!" Dark Mikey dives at him and throws him off path.
They lock eyes; I notice one of Mikey's twitches, it's working! He needs a stronger emotion than that though…something that would make him really upset or angry…
I move closer to Dark Mikey and ask him for options. "Well…" he grins widely. Why do I think this will make Mikey want to kill him?
Next thing I know, I find Mikey's clone kissing me; I want to pull away immediately but he holds me in place firmly. I then realise why, if I got out of it quickly, it may not sink in for Mikey.
I hear a scream from behind me, an angry scream…a jealous one…
I finally get out of the evil deed I had to do and turn to look at Mikey. I watch him rip off the cloak and turn on the Street Phantoms, obviously pissed off with everything that has occurred here.
After disposing of the Street Phantoms, he comes towards us…
"Why you-" he growls at his Dark counterpart.
"No wait!" I step between them, Dark Mikey is just giggling feverishly.
Mikey frowns, "Stay out of this"
"No!" I stand my ground, "He only did that to help me get you back"
He freezes in his steps, thinking things through. "Really?"
"Oh…yeah" Dark Mikey mutters, still kind of delusional. I hate to think what's going through his head right now.
I roll my eyes, "Let's just get out of here!"
Mikey grumbles something inaudible but I ignore him. I grab both their hands and pull them out, leaving the Street Phantoms to curse us on ruining their dumb plan. We get to the Terrorpin, ready to board, but Mikey's not so comfortable with it.
"Are you sure we should use that?"
I feel I'm about to say something I shouldn't but can't stop myself. "Mikey, what is your problem?"
"What?"
"With these guys?"
He remains silent.
"Well, they took me in and protected me when I was in trouble" I glance back at his clone who remains in his own little fantasy. "The least you could do is stop being so suspicious of each other"
"But…" here comes a weak argument, "…he said Justice Force was bad"
I want to face-palm myself. "So? If I said that would you instantly suspect me?"
"NO!" he jumps, but then adds, "Do you?"
"It doesn't matter!" I give him a stern look, "I know you think they're trying to take me, but their no different from you or Raph or Leo or even Don, they've just been misled for too long" I give him a small smile, "I told you, there's nothing there, I'm just one of the only ones they were ever close to who treated them nicely"
I finish on that point and jump into the ship, Dark Mikey following close behind. I find Mikey gets in anyway, probably trying to think of a way to get the last word of this conversation.
I don't want to say anything to either of them, but my next course of action isn't great. I have to find out what's going on with me, and there's only one way for that…
As we disembark the Terrorpin, I nudge Dark Mikey, "Please don't tell 'Braniac' as you put it"
Believe it or not, he is still high as a kite from his 'achievement'. "Of course…" He is blushing slightly, his long pink tongue rolled out, making it look like he almost bites it when he grins.
"Oh! And look after these for me," I give him my tessen then I whisper to him quickly what I'm planning and he nods.
"Okay…I'll protect them with my life!" He almost hugs them close to himself before he wanders off to give Mikey and me some time to talk.
"I still say he's no clone of mine!" He folds his arms.
I giggle, "Yeah, he's way too handsome," I receive a scared look and I add, "Joking!"
He sighs in relief, "Still…" A disgusted look quickly comes across his face, "EEEW! You kissed him! With that big long…" He shivers to himself.
I lightly hit his arm. "Hey! You didn't have to cope with that, I did!" I give him a cheeky wink. "Let's just say he did better than you did as far as first kisses go…"
"Hey! I keep telling you, I didn't realise I had a mild cold, okay?"
I change the subject, trying to distract him. "So what did the Phantoms want you for?" I ask slowly.
He thinks for a minute. "Well, they just seemed to think it would make them more powerful, I guess" My ploy worked!
I shrug, "Whatever, I proved them wrong" I then give him a sad smile, "Now, about me…"
He looks worried. "What about you?"
I inhale slowly. "I'm going to ask Cody to put me back in that cage"
"Why?"
"Something's not right, I'm doing stuff in my sleep I shouldn't…and back at the fight, something spoke to me and took over"
"I'm sure it's nothing" I can tell he's lying; his nervousness is rising quickly.
I look at him seriously, "I don't care, and I want to know I'm fine before I'm allowed to run around again"
I was right, he's not happy about this, but he wants me to feel secure about everything. He follows me to the lab where Cody is now working; he must have woken up earlier than the others.
I explain to him and he frowns. "That is strange, but I don't know if imprisoning yourself will help…"
I shake my head, "It's all we can do! What am I supposed to do? Sit around until the thing takes over again and say: Hey, I'm Violet, who are you?"
I think I made my point, as he agrees to do it.
"I've made a better version of the laser grid now so it's harder to break out of" Cody tells me, "Since you're voluntarily doing this, I'll make it a bit more spacious for you"
"Thanks" I sigh slightly; sitting down in the lotus position on the floor area I was on weeks ago. "And don't worry, I'm not scared any more"
I hope…