Chapter 19

Mars Inferno

Donatello continued to study the DNA of Nerissa and her sisters, marveling at the unique mutations that had taken place to cause them to have the abilities they possessed.

Leatherhead helped him, fine-tuning the equipment as they both studied the DNA.

"-And then I had to kill Mikey…only I didn't quite manage, you know? Besides, Daphne was standing in front of him, and Eos told me to just forget about it." Donatello grumbled as he related the demon-possessed-shower-head-incident to his friend, who chuckled softly," Eos sounds like a sweet girl."

"She is…she really is." Donatello sighed," It's weird…she's so poetic, sometimes, and yet, she's honest and frank too. She's way more kind then I could ever be, but she's also…I don't know. Sometimes I think she keeps a lot more to herself then we give her credit for."

Leatherhead smiled wryly as he was reminded of the poker-faced Calypso, who ended up revealing more to him in ten minutes time then she had revealed to her sisters in one whole year.

"Donatello, forgive me for asking but has, has Calypso, ah, talked about, well, about me at all?"

"Not to me, she hasn't, except to ask about your origin, and that was when we first met her." Don saw the look of disappointment cross his friend's face and asked, "Why don't you talk to her, LH?"

"I cannot. She would not appreciate my approaching her."

"Um, Leatherhead, I hate to say it, but you're not being fair to her. You both have more in common with each other then either of you realize. you should talk to her at least."

"I can't." Leatherhead murmured helplessly," What if I say something stupid? Or inconsiderate? I cannot, I CANNOT hurt her…"

Donatello sighed," You're still not being fair to her. I know you don't expect her to fal in love with you just because you're there, but if you don't talk to her, or try to get to know her, she might assume you just don't like her, or are not interested."

Leatherhead looked up at Donatello in surprise," How could she come to that conclusion? What's not to be interested in? She's beautiful, intelligent, kind and loyal. She's patient and… She's too good for me." Leatherhead added, growling low in his throat," You know I still struggle with my temper, Donatello. I cannot risk hurting her!"

"Like I said, LH, you have more in common with her then you realize. The other day, she almost killed Leo, because of a fight that came up between him and Nerissa. I was watching her. she does a better job of concealing her emotions then you do, but that doesn't mean she doesn't HAVE those emotions." Donatello told him," Look, I'm not trying to pressure you, but I think you should at least talk to her."

Leatherhead was about to protest when suddenly, they heard a loud scream.

It was the cry of a man, terrified out of his wits.

Leatherhead and Donatello both bolted out of the subway Lair; racing to find out what was the problem.

***

The man was backed up against the sewer wall, begging," Please I won't do it again! Just let me go, I'll never hurt another girl as long as I live."

The warrior smirked," See, that the trouble with you rapists. You just can't be trusted. You say one thing, you do another. I know your type. It doesn't matter that you've promised never to hurt another girl. You'll be back to doing it tomorrow. which is why your life ends here tonight."

With a jerk, the warrior smashed the butt of his iron harpoon against the man's skull before piercing his heart with the blade.

The burning grey eyes were blazing as he snarled," Burn in hell, you perverted scum."

He paused as he heard a slight growl behind him, and he quickly dove, narrowly missing a blow to his head.

Rolling to a kneeling position, he looked at his attackers…

And stared, his eyes widening momentarily, as he took in what he saw.

***

"Easy, Leatherhead! Hold on!" Donatello yelped as he caught sight of the source of the noise.

A human man, a thug by the look of him, was dead, lying against the sewer wall.

And not too faraway, was a mutant turtle. After meeting Eos and her sisters, by now, Donatello wasn't sure he was exactly shell-shocked.

But geez, talk about a weird lookin' mutant…

The dude was tall, at least 6.7 feet. He had shaggy brown hair, and a sort of choppy braid that reminded Don of the jedi padawans in Star Wars.

But instead of green skin, this turtle had pale white skin, with blocky bronze-red scales that covered his legs and arms and crept up his neck.

He was a giant of a turtle, but his shell was much smaller in proportion, so for this reason, Don assumed, the guy wore loose, baggy cargo-style caprees, which were somewhat tattered and holey.

He gripped an iron harpoon in his massive hands, and he looked quite surprised to see Don and Leatherhead.

Slowly, the turtle growled," Who are you? And By heaven, where did you come from?"

"Just take it easy, big guy, no one's looking to fight." Donatello told him, cautiously putting his bo-staff back over his shell," My name is Donatello. This is Leatherhead. we live here. Who are you? And where did you come from?"

"My name is Mars Inferno. I come from a place long forgotten." The turtle replied, his gaze still wary as he added," Tell me, Donatello, are there more of you?"

"Um, yes." Donatello replied, now growing wary, wondering who the shell this guy was," But first, why did you kill that guy?"

"He raped and murdered a young woman. I've been hunting him down for weeks." The turtle replied flatly.

Leatherhead relaxed slightly as he asked," How did you come to be as you are?"

Mars looked up at the croc and flashed a smile," I do not trust strangers so easily as that…but since we appear to be of kin, I can tell you this; I am alone. Where I come from no longer matters. Where I am going is much more important. Tell me…have you seen a female turtle, with soft brown skin and white hair?"

Donatello stared," What?! I thought you said-"

"I AM the only one of my kind… or so I thought. If you know of no maid like what I have described, then I am wasting my time here."

"Hold on, how do you know there is such a person?" Leatherhead asked, amazed by the steely focus in the grey eyes.

"I do not know…but I will not rest until I have found her." Mars replied harshly as he turned his back on them.

"Wait, Mars, if we DO end up meeting a person like that, um, how would we reach you?" Donatello called out.

Mars paused as he turned and asked," you would help me? why?"

"Because, well, because you're one of us." Donatello replied, thinking," Don, that was the cheesiest thing to choose to say!"

Mars smiled slightly," Very well, brother." he paused and then told him," I am searching through this city for six months. At the end of that time, I will leave, and most likely, you will not hear from me again. But I am living by the Hudson River. If you come looking for me, I will find you. That is all you need to know."

And Mars turned and left them.

Donatello blew out his breath and asked, "Whoa, what do think of that?!"

Leatherhead looked down at Donatello and shrugged," Perhaps… we are not as alone as we thought we were."

***

"Are you serious?!" Raphael burst out.

Donatello nodded, as Leo asked," Where did he come from, Don?"

"The poor guy wouldn't say. He didn't trust us, and I'm kinda surprised that he even told us his name."

Eos was thinking, stroking her chin when something seemed to light up in her eyes and she blurted," Delos!"

"Say what?" Nerissa asked sharply.

"I remember…the scientists had an island base in the pacific! It was called Delos, and they had other experiments on this island! Maybe that's where he came from!"

Nerissa sighed," So, just how many of us are there? We've gone from being four, to five, to eleven, to twelve!"

Andromeda rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath," Geez, maybe the gods heard our prayers and decided to start crankin' 'em out."

Donatello added," That's not all. He said he was looking for a female turtle, with brown skin and white hair."

They all looked at Daphne.

She was absently chewing on a lock of bleach-blonde hair, her amber eyes lazy in her golden-green face when she noticed everyone's eyes on her.

"What's everyone lookin' at?" she asked," have you finally noticed how fascinating I am?"

Nerissa shookher head," No, he couldn't have meant Daphne!"

Eos added," her skin is NOT brown. It's green. golden-green, but green nonetheless."

"Yeah, and her hair is blonde, not white." Andromeda agreed.

Daphne frowned," What the shell is everyone talking about?"