Mikey walked through the lab doors, squinting into the darkness. "Donnie?" He called. He felt along the wall until he found a light switch. This he flipped, and the various lights around the room all lit up at once.
"I'm back here," Don called back. Mikey walked through the crowded space and turned past a row of scientific devices he couldn't even begin to comprehend. Behind them sat Donatello, inches from a massive computer screen that shone brightly on his face.
"Jeez, Don, you're gonna kill your eyes, man."
Donnie looked to Mikey momentarily, blinking hazily. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess I forgot to turn those on." He looked back to the screen, obviously distracted.
"What's the news?" Mikey stopped behind Donnie to see the screen. On it was a mass of racing words.
"Well, she's definitely drugged," Donnie said, tapping the small vial of red liquid to his side. "But that was pretty much certain, anyways." His focus shifted as the computer beeped. The words on the screen had stopped, but then started up again with another small beep. Donnie sighed. "I'm comparing her blood now to basically every drugknown to man. It's just that apparently whatever's in here," he gestured towards the vial, "Isn't one of them."
Mikey leaned forward, sticking his face next to Donatello's until they both had their eyes just inches from the screen. He watched all the flashing words of what he assumed were bizarre drug names.
"So you're saying... you don't know what she's got?" He asked anxiously. Donnie sighed again.
"As of now, pretty much." After a glance at Mikey's face, he added: "But I do have a list of things that there is a very high chance that this particular drug may contain."
"What does that mean?"
"Well," Donnie said, leaning back. "It looks like whatever the Foot put into her is something that they made up themselves, or, at least, got from someone else who produced it illegally and off-record. However, my computer was able to pick up traces of several different drugs that the maker's of this, say, 'mystery drug' must have used. Therefore, we may be able to search them each individually and devise some sort of list of potential cures. After creating these, I imagine that I could use samples of her blood as tests, and experiment with the data and materials I have until I find something that seems to kill off the poison in her blood. Of course, I won't use anything on her until I am at least mostly sure that it actually works. Unless for some reason it becomes absolutely necessary that I perform the curing immediately."
"Okay," Mikey said, looking at Donnie. "Can you, like, paraphrase that or something? But like, at a speed that my ears can actually process."
Donnie groaned, looking up at the ceiling as though it may offer him some sort of help. "To put it in fewer words-"
"Fewer words is good."
Donnie gave Mikey a miffed look. "To put it in fewer words," he said again, "I think I can make her something that'll bring her out of her coma."
Mikey's mouth popped open. "Coma?" He asked.
"Well, yes." Donnie looked away in thought. "I think that's what it is." .
"Wait." Mikey stepped back so he could watch Donnie carefully. "What do you mean?"
Donnie cleared his throat sharply. "Exactly what I said, Mikey. This drug that the Foot put into her was intended on putting her into a forced coma. I believe that it was only meant to be temporarily." He made a small gasp sound suddenly. "Unless," His eyes widened in realization, "They already had the cure on hand. Meaning that, since they are the only ones with knowledge of this drug, that would make them the only ones with the cure. That way, on the off chance that their plan did not work, we wouldn't have it. And she would..." He trailed off.
Mikey watched him think nervously. "She would what?" He asked, his voice higher than usual. Instead of answering, Donnie scooted forward quickly in his chair and pounded something into his keyboard. The words on the screen stopped racing, and the screen blanked. Then, a list of ten or so very large words appeared on the screen. Donnie hit some more buttons until another page opened up, revealing more information that was apparently the information on all the drugs that had been given to Emilynn. Mikey's eyes immediately locked onto a single word displayed in large threatening letters: LETHAL.
Several lines later, the word sat again. Then again, and again.
"Donnie." Mikey took a shaky breath. "I may not understand ninety percent of the words on this screen right now, but I know what 'lethal' means." his voice trembled slightly as he said: "So, please tell me, why does it say that?"
Donnie swallowed, saying nothing.
"Donnie?"
Donnie pried his eyes from the screen, forcing them to look at his little brother.
"Is Lynn going to die?" Mikey choked out.
Donnie inhaled slowly, his eyes falling to his feet. "It would seem," He said in a small voice, "That is what the Foot had planned."
Mikey stepped back. "How long does it take?"
Donnie glanced back at the screen. "Several hours." He said quietly.
"How long has it been?" Mikey said in an almost inaudible voice, though the answer was obvious.
"Several hours." Donnie said again. Donnie didn't dare to look up at his brother's face.
"You can make an antidote, right?" Mikey asked, his voice rising.
Donnie shook his head. "It would take me at least a day." He said, staring blankly at nothing. "Half of one if I rushed."
"What?" Mikey shouted. "What do you mean? You can save her! You have to save her!"
"Mikey, there's not enough time."
"Yes there is!" Mikey cried. "Start working on it! Come on!"
Leonardo and Raphael entered the room, their attention aroused by Mikey's sudden shouting.
"What is going on?" Leo demanded in an alarmed voice. Mikey looked between Leo and Raph with wild eyes.
"Leo! Raph! Tell him to make it!" He ran to the two of them. Raph took him by the shoulders.
"Mikey, cool it."
Mikey stopped, staring at him. "But- But-"
Raph pulled Mikey to his side, holding him around the shoulders with one arm. "Don, what's goin' on?" He asked over Mikey's head.
Donnie closed his eyes, massaging his temples. "The drug they gave to her... she wasn't meant to last more than a couple hours."
Leo and Raph exchanged confused looks. "What do you mean?"
"The Foot are the only ones with an antidote. I assume, anyways. I can't even be sure that they wanted her to stay alive after they were done with her." He shook his head slowly, unable to say more.
"Wait." Raph said, releasing Mikey to step towards Donatello. "You mean she's- she's not...?"
Donnie nodded solemnly.
This time is was Leo's turn to step up to him. "No."
His three brothers looked at him.
"We wont let that happen. I wont let that happen."
"Leo..." Donnie said, anguish clouding his features, "We're out of time. There's... there's nothing we can do."
"No." Leo said again. "She's not- She's still okay. We still have time. So stop thinking like that, all of you." He looked at each of his brothers in turn, waiting a long second on Mikey. "What do we have to do?"
Donnie straightened in his chair. "Yeah, yeah. You're right, sorry." He locked eyes with Mikey. "Really. We can do this. We just have to... uh..." He trailed off, drumming his thumbs furiously against the table as he thought.
"The Foot." Raph supplied. "You said they had the antidote."
Donnie looked up at Raph with wide eyes. "That's right!" He said excitedly. "That's right," He repeated, looking to the group's leader. "Of course, that's only a theory." He said, his hopeful expression fading. "I still can't be sure if they had ever bothered to make or acquire it in the first place. We don't know whether they wanted to keep her alive or not." He put a hand on either side of his head, rubbing it with stress.
"Is there any other way?" Leo asked.
Donnie brought his hands forward, pressing his palms against his eyes. "No." He said after a moment.
"Than we're going." Raph said, stealing Leo's line. He turned and left without waiting for their answer. Leo turned and followed, pushing Mikey gently towards the exit.
"Come on." He said to both of his brothers. They followed him out.
"What is the meaning of this?" Splinter implored as he saw the brothers heading towards the sewers. April and Casey were by his side, equally interested. Donnie quickly explained the situation to them. April stepped forward.
"I'm coming." She said.
"Yeah, count me in." Casey added. Leo hesitated.
"Leo," April cut in before he could object, "You could use the help."
"I don't know," Leo muttered. "What if a having a larger group is the opposite of what we need?"
"In that case, we'll make ourselves scarce. Easy. Don't let your head get all screwed up. You know it's better to have us there just in case."
Leo sighed. "Alright. But what if Mikey needs help here?"
Mikey, who was closer than Leo had realized, stepped in.
"What?" He cried. "I'm going with you."
"No, Mikey. You have to stay with Emilynn."
"But-"
"Mikey, you're staying."
Mikey gave in faster than Leo had predicted, closing his mouth and looking at the floor with a small nod. Raph grabbed Leo and pulled him to the side.
"Leo, are you crazy?" He muttered hotly. Leo looked at him with confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
Raph grumbled lowly, "What are you doing? You can't leave Mikey here."
"And why not?" Leo whispered back sharply.
"Think about what you're doin', Leo. We don't know how much time she has left. What are the chances we wont make it? Do you really want Mikey to be here if we're too late?" Raph paused. His eyes flickered as he whispered in a thick voice, "Do you really want him to see her die?"
Leo bowed his head, and Raph leaned forward closer to his ear.
"Think about what it would do to him, Leo."
Leo looked back up, meeting Raph's gleaming eyes. He stepped away slightly. "And what if he wasn't with her when it happened?" Leo replied. "What would it do to him then?"
To this, Raph had no answer. Leo stared at him a moment longer before turning back towards his family.
"Donnie," Leo said. "You're staying too." Before Donnie could reply, Leo continued. "I need you to work on making an antidote." His voice dropped. "Just in case."
"Leo, I don't have enough time. If I rush on this, I could just make something that'll harm her even more."
"Donnie," Leo said firmly, locking his eyes on his brother's. "You have to try." Then, much quieter, "It could be her only chance."
Donnie looked away, his brows furrowing. He had started chewing the corner of his bottom lip, a nervous habit he had developed recently. He nodded at Leo and turned away, only to turn back to the group momentarily.
"We all have to try. We all could be her only chance." He left with another small nod towards no one in particular. Everyone watched after him silently, before looking back towards those present.
Leo broke the silence. "Let's go," He said. At his command, the rest of those planning on going started towards the exit.
"Leonardo."
Leo turned to see Splinter, who had been in the background this whole time observing quietly.
"Yes, sensei?"
His master stepped towards him with a grave expression. "Please be careful," Splinter said. "You've been very worried lately. You mustn't let it cloud your judgment. You all have matured greatly and I trust you are able to conduct such a task on your own, but please, remember your priorities."
Leo frowned. "What are my priorities, sensei?"
Splinter put his hand upon his son's shoulder solemnly. "That is for you to decide, my son."
Leo stared at his master for a moment longer before nodding quickly and dashing off to join the rest.
"Okay, Lynn. I don't know if you can hear me, or if that's all made up, but if you can hear me, you gotta listen. It's Mikey, by the way."
Mikey laughed nervously.
"I don't know if you'd figured that out or not... but you probably did, so now I just sound kinda dumb. More-so than usual, I mean. Uh, anyways, listen. You can't die. Seriously. You owe me a lot. You can't just let me do all that for you and then die. That's stupid."
Mikey winced.
"Sorry. But really. April will seriously kick my butt if she finds out all that stuff I stole from her was for nothing. And, uh, I really like you, also. You're like the only friend I have. Besides my brothers. And April and Casey. But you know. I like you a lot. Let's just say that I would willingly endure the wrath of April for you. So you gotta hold on. Just for a little bit more. If it hurts, I'm sorry. I swear I'll make it up to you. But you just gotta bear it a little more. For me." Mikey thought about what Donatello had said earlier.
We all could be her only chance.
"Please." Mikey said softly.
He took Emilynn's hand, squeezing it gently. It remained limp in his grasp.
"You can do it, Lynn. Just hang in there. Just a little bit longer."
He squeezed his eyes shut, holding Emilynn's tiny hand to his cheek.
Please hurry up, He silently begged of his brothers, We're running out of time.
Hello. It has been quite some time. I missed you, my dear readers. I totally have a very confusing and slightly disturbing love and admiration for all of you strangers. For which I am deeply sorry. Please don't call the police.
For those who have noticed and for those who have been wishing they could throw a shoe at my face this whole time: I changed the spelling of Casey's name. Sorry I had been doing it wrong. I am a dumb kid.
It's extremely difficult for me to get chapters out right now. Quite a lot of difficulties that I won't bother you to explain. I'm so sorry. Let me say it again: I am a dumb kid.
Leave a review? I would really really enjoy if you guys told me what you think. Or anything, really. I'm pretty lonely.
Joking, joking.
Not joking. Message me please. I live under a rock and need attention.
I write way too much gunk beneath my chapters because as I have said I am a dumb kid, so I will go now. I will try to reply to any messages I get whether it be a review or a PM, though it may take me quite some time because, as I have also said, I live under a rock. Alrighty. Until next time, lovelies.
P.S.
I swear I'm not as creepy as I sound. I just lack social skills.
Please don't call the police.