The Foot Clan made their move the very next morning by dropping a grenade full of purple ooze in gaseous form into the sewers while Leo, Raph and Mikey were on their way back from patrolling. Tracey and Artemis knew something was wrong when Leo collapsed into the lair in human form after half dragging his now human brothers to the entrance. Artemis knelt down checking all three brothers while Tracey yelled for Casey to help her.
"Shit shit shit! Casey! We need help over here!" She screamed, jumping up from the couch where she was flipping through a book, completely discarding it as she looked up and saw Leo collapsed to the floor. She gave several coughs, covering her mouth with her hands as she got closer and tried to keep her eyes averted as she put Leo's arm over her shoulder and carefully bring him to the couch. Tracey grabbed the warm blanket she had been laying on top of and handed it to him, a slight blush tinting her cheeks. "Why the hell would they do this now?! This is going to make things harder and it looks like we're going to have to find a new place to stay."
Tracey grumbles, pushing her hair back out of her face and then went to grab blankets for Raph and Mikey. "April would certainly freak out now... we might have to go there for a while."
Artemis shook her head. "It wasn't targeted. It looks like they just dropped it down a grate. I think they've been shadowing the boys and just tossed it in after them."
She was getting Raph laid out on a blanket beside the couch, he was as overly muscled in human form as he was in turtle form. Casey was laying Mikey down, Leo seemed to have passed out leaning against the couch while Artemis checked them over.
"I hate to say it but the guys are at a serious disadvantage now. I know they still have their skills, but they could be more susceptible to other toxins or shit like that." Tracey said quietly, walking quickly over to Mikey and bringing with her rags and water. "If this was a sporadic attack then they haven't been able to pinpoint exactly where we're located, they just know that we're in the sewers somewhere... that in itself is a little comfort, but it can't last long if we don't stop them." She dabbed at his forehead after feeling his flesh and shaking her head. "What are we going to do?"
"We're going to wait until they wake up and see what happens from there. And tonight you and Casey are going on patrol." Artemis was scribbling on her notepad and had stuck a thermometer in Leo's mouth.
Tracey nodded and then looked at Casey, a slight smirk on her lips despite the situation they were currently in. "I hope you don't scare easily... or are afraid of height because if you hurl chunks on me I will make you regret it." She stated, her eyes flickering to gold for a moment before going back to bluish green. "Let's take care of the boys for now. Casey will you find them some clothes please and shoes, the last thing we need them to do is scar us for life and I would think they'd be grateful for it... at least now they'll fit in with everyone else which would make them harder for the Foot Clan to find." She let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head. "This part of our quest is going to be a doozy this time Artemis, we'll just have to take it one day at a time."
Artemis motioned vaguely to her bag. "There's money in there, grab sweatpants, t-shirts and shoes." She said while she checked the other boys temperatures and made notes.
Casey dug out the wallet and hurried out while Artemis continued her work. The other three weren't having the same severe reactions to the metamorphic agent that Donnie had had and she wondered if it was due to how the agent was administered. Donnie still hadn't come around and he'd fallen unconscious immediately, while Leo had managed to get his brothers to the Lair before he'd passed out, none of the three were developing a fever and so far they hadn't developed any seizures nor had their hearts stopped. She sighed and sat on the floor cross legged and scowled at her notes.
Tracey handed Casey some of her money and pushed him toward the doors. "Go, we'll take care of them and be careful. We don't want them following you back too." She cautioned, giving him a final push. "Hurry back and don't shuffle your feet." Without giving him another thought, she turned on her heels and went back to the living room to check on the boys. She brought fresh water and wrung out rags to put on their foreheads and basically tend to their needs, even though they were unconscious, or to follow any and all instructions Artemis gave her.
At the moment Tracey was wiping the sweat from Mikey's skin and let out a soft sigh, gently brushing her fingers over his cheek. "It looks like you got your wish Mikey, but I hope you will remember what I told you... the grass isn't always greener on the other side."
Casey had been gone about an hour when Leo started to come around, Artemis was dozing next to him and he sat up slowly trying not to wake her. Tracey saw him shifting, the blanket around his shoulders slipping down into his lap. She gave a quiet cough and looked away from him to hide the slight pinkish tint on her cheeks. In her world Tracey had had a thing for Leonardo, at it was no less so true now that she and Artemis were here in this universe with them. Even when he was a turtle, she admired him for his leadership qualities, his kind heart, and relentless need to prove himself worthy to his brothers. She realized just how much her feelings were rising to the surface for him and she pushed them back down. "How are you feeling Leo?" Tracey asked softly, standing up and walking to the couch on silent feet. "Do you want some tea? Casey should be back soon with clothes for you and the others, I don't think your shells are going to do much for you now."
He stared at his hands and arms, pale skin unmarked then looked up at her his blue eyes wide, he looked at the other three who were still out and then down at Artemis who was leaning back against the side of the couch sleeping. "How... " He cleared his throat, his usually deep voice slightly higher due to the smaller chest it was issuing from. "How long have we been out?"
"Not long." Tracey answered, blinking slowly and then looked at her phone to see what time it was. "Only a few hours, about two or so." She knelt down beside him, gently touched his hand, and gave him a soft smile. "If you don't want any tea then you should rest now, the sleep will heal you faster. Don't worry about anything other than getting better, Casey and I will be running around tonight."
"I feel fine… well mostly, it's weird not being in my true body but I don't feel sick or anything." He looked around at Raph who was coming around with a loud groan. "Jesus, what the hell hit us?" He grumbled sitting up.
Tracey turned slightly until she could see him and hastily waved her hands in a 'shushing' motion before pointing to Artemis who was still sleeping on the couch. Together their eyes widened when she moved slightly but thankfully it was only into a more comfortable position on the couch. She let out a quiet sigh of relief and thanked the Gods that she was still out.
"Believe me Leo you'll get used to it, but hopefully you won't have to for long. Mikey thinks being a turtle is hard, it's even worse being human... Artemis and I know all too well." Tracey said softly, letting out a sigh before standing and walking to Raph. "Unless you want a sleepy, yet pissed Dragon crushing your white butt this time, I suggest you keep it done... are you doing alright? Do you want anything to drink or eat?"
He shook his head staring at him arms then legs and finally glaring up at her before wrapping the blanket around his waist and standing up unsteadily. Mikey woke when Raph stood up and his startled yelp woke Artemis who jumped and looked around before she noticed the three boys and relaxed, she looked down at the notepad in her lap then at the wallclock and nodded. "Three hours… Apparently inhaling the ooze is less stressful to the system than being injected…"
"Is this permanent?" Leo asked wrapping his blanket more firmly around his waist.
"I have no idea." Artemis replied. "I won't know until Donnie wakes up and we can go over the data."
"I'm sorry I don't have more tech skills other than hacking guys, but I'll start combing through the ghost files and see if anything else has been uploaded to the TCRI network yet." Tracey said, crossing her arms over her chest and scanning each boys' faces before nodding. "Perhaps there's something in the information that we haven't found yet."
She shifted her weight to her other side before she left and got Master Splinter, knowing that he'd like to see his sons were awake. Instead of coming back with him, Tracey sent him on to the living room while she went to Donnie's lab and sat down at his computer. Moving the mouse, the screen lit up and showed her that there was a login screen with a password. She would get three tries before the computer would shut down and go black. Tracey thought long and hard while looking at the screen and then poised her fingers over the keys she thought were the right ones.
"Turtle Power." She said with a smile, pretty confident with her choice.
Her smile fell when the screen flashed red, with the words 'ACCESS DENIED' across the screen and then the countdown began. Sitting up straighter, Tracey squared her shoulders and poised her fingers over the keys again and let out a breath.
"Let's try something else... something science related. How about 'Albert Einstein'."
Again the screen flashed the words in red and she growled at her lack of success and pushed the chair away from the desk and swiveled around till she couldn't see the screens any more and her eyes looked around the room. Suddenly she saw it and made a noise that sounded a lot like she had an epiphany and rolled herself back to the table.
"You are good Donnie, but I'm better!" She said with another smile before she typed in her last guess. "Family." The screen lit up and brought up his screen-saver, a picture of him and his brothers with Master Splinter. They all looked happy together, but the others wouldn't have seen it because there was always some jumble of equations and formulas on the computer.
"Let the digging commence."
Casey returned while she was working and distributed clothing to the three now human teenagers who dressed quickly and milled around Artemis while she checked their vitals and asked them what seemed like a thousand questions. Raph finally seemed to have had enough because he stomped off to start punching the heavy bag only to be forced to stop after a few strikes when his now human knuckles started to bleed. Artemis cleaned the knuckles and patted his arm. "You're new to human form Raph, your new skin hasn't developed the calluses you had in your previous form."
Raph stared down at his hands then balled them into fists. Artemis tucked her pen into a pocket and took his hands in hers. "Raphael, your hands in either form are powerful things." She carefully opened his fingers and ran her fingers over the palms and he squirmed a little at the sensation, then she gripped his fingers hard and he winced a little. "You see, anyone's hands, even mine, can be powerful when used the right way. You just have to learn how to use these new hands." She let his hands go and he stood for a moment looking down at them. She left him to his contemplations and went to check on Donnie.
Tracey wasn't able to find out much but she found the chemical formulae for the purple ooze though she wasn't able to make any sense of it. She saved it aside for later, her best find though in all the unintelligible mess was a list of addresses for safe houses. "Well at least my little adventure through the virtual world wasn't a complete waste of time... I just hope Donnie will be up and moving in the next day or two." Tracey said, resting her elbows on the desk and putting her face in her hands tiredly. "What a mess the Foot Clan has handed to us."
She sighed and folded her arms on the surface of the desk. Looking at the screens through drooping eyelids, Tracey didn't realize she had fallen asleep until she was woken up about an hour and a half later.
Artemis had draped a blanket over her shoulders but it was Splinter who woke her. "Artemis is asking for you." He said softly.
Tracey mumbled a little in her sleep before looking up at Master Splinter and blinked at him. She stifled a yawn with her hand and carefully scooted her chair back.
"Be honest with me Master Splinter, how many times has Donnie fallen asleep at his computers?" She laughed and stood up, drawing the blanket closer to her body.
He smiled. "Many times." He led her to where Artemis was sitting next to the couch her legs crossed indian fashion while she flipped through her notes. "Hey Tracey, I need you to test a theory I have. "I think the boys might be able to transform back and forth the way we can but I need to stay by Donnie, his temperature keeps fluctuating and his heart rhythm is all over the place. Can you and Master Splinter see if you can walk the boys through transforming?"
Crossing her arms over her chest, Tracey thought about it and nodded. "That could work... it's going to hurt like hell, but it could work." She replied, stifling another yawn behind her hand and pushing some stray hairs from her face. "Okay, we'll go to the training room for this exercise because this will get interesting and then in a few hours Casey and I will head up topside and start patrolling... I tell you that I did find some addresses for a few safe houses that was should check out sometime soon. Baxter Stockman may be at one of them and then we can arrest him."
Granted that Tracey knew it wasn't going to be that easy, but in theory she hoped that it would be. She shrugged her shoulders and looked at the boys, now fully clothed. "Anyone have any objections?"
Raph and Mikey looked at Leo and he nodded. "We've seen what it does to you and Artemis but pain isn't a new thing for us. We're willing to try."
"If one of you manages to transform back come in here and let me take your vitals." Artemis called as she dragged a clunky overpowered laptop into her lap and started looking up medical information online.
Tracey took a deep breath and nodded to Artemis before turning on her heels and grabbing the three blankets on the back side of the couch as they passed it. She surmised that if the boys were able to change back to their turtle selves then they would probably want to use the blankets during the changing process so they didn't rip through their new clothes.
Tracey looked back at Casey and motioned him to follow the group. "You might as well be present for this too seeing as we'll be at it for a little while and it would be better if I don't have to find you afterward." She said as they got to the training room. "This will do nicely. Okay, this is going to take some time and patience... Raph, I'm looking at you sweetheart, because we all know you don't have a lot of patience for foolishness. Here, take these..."
She handed them the blankets and then gave them space, turning her back to them while giving instructions for them to strip down and wrap the blankets around their waists. She herself had snagged her satchel on the way and looked at Casey, using her finger in a spinning motion as a silent direction for him to turn around too. The boys did as she directed and Tracey quickly pulled off her clothes and wrapped herself up in the blanket Artemis had draped over her shoulders and secured it tightly so it wouldn't slip before she was ready. Her clothes she put in the plastic bag she now carried with her at all times and pushed the bag off to the side. Casey was already looking perplexed at Tracey and she rolled her eyes.
"It's necessary and in a moment you'll see why. Okay I want you three to clear your minds of everything and picture nothing but a solid black void in your mind. Once you've accomplished that you need to envision your turtle forms standing in front of you. After that you will have to accept your other halves and theoretically you'll be able to transform back into your true selves. It's going to take time and patience and it's not going to be easy, but we've got to try... and here we go."
Tracey took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The darkness returned and she felt warm air rushing over her skin as the atmosphere around her crackled with energy. She hear the Thunderbird's call echoing around her and she smiled, this never got old, but the pain surely did. Outside her mind, Tracey doubled over as her bones and joints cracked and she let out a low cry in her own voice before it turned more into a trumpeting call of victory. Standing up to her full height, Tracey let out a thundering call and spread her wings out to her sides, looking quick pleased with herself, her orbs of golden color passing over them and then spied Casey, his mouth hanging open. She let out a series of chirps that sounded like laughter, her talons clicking on the floor.
The boys watched her before each of them settled into a comfortable position, meditation wasn't new to them, Master Splinter had insisted they all learn but try as they might none of them could bring the visualization of their true selves to reality. Raph and Mikey had to stop for a break after nearly an hour but Leo kept at it. He seemed to feel it was a personal failure if he couldn't do it. Artemis had come to watch from the doorway and she was the first to notice the change in his skin tone. She motioned to Tracey and pointed at her skin then at Leo whose skin was slowly starting to turn green, they didn't notice his breathing getting faster and rougher until he suddenly collapsed and started to convulse.
"Shit." Artemis swore and ran forward, she vaguely noticed that the green was retreating from his skin as she turned him over on his side so he wouldn't hurt himself while he seized.
Raph and Mikey were standing back while Casey moved in to help Artemis. The fit didn't last long, maybe three minutes and then Artemis was rolling him back onto his back and peering into his face. "Leo, follow my finger with your eyes." She moved her finger slowly back and forth and he followed it with his eyes. "Good, no permanent damage."
He raised a hand and looked almost like he wanted to cry. "This looks pretty permanent." He rasped.
Tracey shuffled herself forward and peered quiet easily over their shoulders. She knew she wasn't going to like the amount of pain she'd have to endure, but it would be worth it if she could show them her support. Letting out another cry of pain, Tracey reverted to her human form and collected her blanket around herself and rested her hand on Leo's shoulder. "If we can find Stockman then we can reverse the purple ooze. Without Donnie, Stockman would be the next best person to isolate the genetic code necessary for the reengineering process." She said quietly, looking into his blue eyes. "We won't leave until we've finished what we were sent to do."
He took a shaky breath and started to sit up, Artemis helped him up and checked his heartbeat with the stethoscope. He sat passive under her hands and Artemis made notes before she stood up and motioned for Tracey to follow her to Leo's room.
Clutching the blanket at her front, Tracey silently followed Artemis and shut the door behind them. She had a heavy feeling in her throat and she found it hard to swallow. "Okay spill, do you think there's anyway to get the boys back to normal?" She asked in a quiet voice, even though the door was closed. "We can't give them any false hope that they'll remain human."
Artemis fiddled with the stethoscope. "I don't know. This is beyond my medical knowledge and it's all I can do to keep Donnie stable. He's not doing good. As in his heartbeat is so erratic that I'm worried he'll have permanent damage if he wakes up." She sat down and ran a hand through her hair. "The ones who are conscious worry me a little more right now. They've been stripped of their identity and they can't fight back. Not to mention in a human form they could be more susceptible to illnesses, I mean for Gods sake they've never been vaccinated. They could come down with a dozen illnesses that they should have been vaccinated for as babies. And then there's the psychological implications…" She trailed off and rubbed her eyes with both hands. "I want you to take the boys topside tomorrow during the day. Take them to do stuff they can't do in their normal forms. I think they'll need the morale boost."
Tracey sighed, but nodded. She knew that it would be important for them know what the world topside was like. "You're right Artemis..." She started, placing her hand on her shoulder. "All we can really do at this point is show them a good time and hope for the best. They'll have to go through their training in their new bodies now and
I think that would frustrate Raph the most, but it's something that must be done if the Foot Clan decides to actually search the sewers for the turtles and attack." Tracey looked over at the clock on the wall and sighed again. "Well, time to go. You should get some rest now or at least nap every few hours."
Giving her a final pat on the shoulder, Tracey left the bedroom and went back into the training room. She tapped Casey on the arm and pushed her satchel into his arms so he could hold onto it for her. Looking up at the ceiling, Tracey couldn't help but smile a little at the rolling thunder she felt tumble through the clouds above their heads. "Get some rest guys, we'll have big place to do tomorrow." Tracey said with a smile.
In a shower of golden light, she had transformed and nudged each of the boys in the chest gently before she crouched down for Casey to get on. He settled himself in and gripped the woven band around Tracey's neck to give him something to hold onto without ripping out her feathers, which she wouldn't forgive him for doing in the least, unless he liked flying home in her talons. Tracey chirped softly and trundled away to the storm doors and they vanished, starting their patrol to the sounds of Casey's manly screams as they took off.