The portal opens inside the lair. Raph came in first as he rushed up the stairs, turned left, and entered an open tunnel that is used as a medbay. Mikey came in next after April, and Leo and Donnie came in last. All four rushed behind Raph up to the medbay. Leo set Ginny softly on a bed, ensuring her head doesn't hit hard. Raph put Prim next to Ginny, Julian, and Judi, while Donnie set Arianina on a bed that is close to the entrance. He watched Bello slide down, land on the soft mattress, and snuggle close to his owner's face.
After ensuring the teens were okay enough to rest, the five left and retreated to their hangout area. But sadly, April has to leave, or else the teachers will notice her gone. So she took her bag and left the lair. After that, panic filled the lair.
"Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh!! What are we going to do!?" Mikey shouted with his eyes widened in shock.
Raph paced. "This is bad! This is bad! This is beyond bad!!" He panicked. "Dad is going to find out! We are going to be busted!!"
"Forget, dad! How did TCRI get hands on an oozequito and recreate it!?" Donnie shouted back. "I never thought there was still one flying around New York, and they get their hands on it! It's scientifically impossible!!"
Leo remains calm. "I don't know, and I don't care either." He spoke. "We got a serious problem, and this is far from any mutants we faced; they are just teens like us." He frowned. "they don't deserve this."
The four have gone silent. All have no clue about what to do and how to get help. Every mutant they faced was only full grown adult and had given in their mutant powers. But mutant teens? That is a serious thing. They need to devise a plan to get them back to their normality.
Suddenly Donnie spoke. "If that mutagen originated from Draxum, maybe he can make a retro mutagen that can change them back? He had done a lot for us and the trouble he caused; the best he can do is make an antidote for his oozequito." He suggests his theory.
Raph rubs his chin. "It could work." He nodded. "But we can't leave the five alone."
"I can go to Draxum; he trusts me." Leo volunteered. His face let out a sweat, only to be met with unease glares from his brothers. Leo is the last person Draxum can ever trust out of the four.
"I'll go." Donnie said.
Mikey questioned him. "You sure, Don?"
Donnie nodded. "I understand his work well, and he respects me." He added. "You three just keep them away from dad."
Leo rolled his eyes. "Fine, Mr. Favorite." With a swing of his katana, a portal to Draxum's apartment opened. "Just be careful on your way." He grumbled.
"I'll be fine Fearless Leader." Donnie mimicked his voice. He turned to his brothers. "Wish me luck, guys." Then he stepped into the portal and disappeared along with the portal.
Soon the room has gone quiet. But it didn't last more than three seconds when Mikey spoke out.
"So…any ideas on Dad?" He asked.
Before the two can respond, the room echoes with loud screams from the medbay. The three ran up and entered the medbay. And right in front of them are three screaming turtles pointing at each other in fright. Ginny was backing herself to a wall, and Julian held a screaming Judi in his arms. The boys were stunned by this scene.
"Boys! What is going on?!" And they heard Splinter's voice heading their way out of the blue. Their screams have caught his attention. The three rushed in fast.
Leo stopped in front of Ginny. "Hey! Hey! Calm down!' He reassured her, trying to get her to stop screaming. "It's okay!"
But Ginny just kept screaming. "Another monster!!" She shrieked in fright. "Get away from me!" She crunched down.
"We're friendly monsters!" Mikey added. "We won't hurt you!"
"Stay away from my sister, you freaks!" Julian put on a defense form in front of Judi.
Splinter got closer. "Boys?! If you are watching a horror film, keep it dow-" he stopped by the entrance of the medbay and froze; Leo was in front of Ginny, Raph and Mikey were standing next to each other, and in front of Julian and Judi. But what got him frozen like a statue is Ginny, Julian and Judi frightened and seeing Prim and Arianina lying still on their bed. His face turned red, redder than Raph's mask. "Leonardo! Raphael! Michelangelo!!! What is the meaning of this!?"
" Dad, I can explain." Leo gulped.
Splinter crossed his arms, very disappointed. "It better be good."
"Okay. Uh…how do I put it?" Leo mumbled. He cleared his throat and explained. "See, me and my brothers went with April to TCRI, cause she said they are making new ingredients. Then we find out later that the company got mutagen. Do you know the one Draxum made? And these guys got mutated into turtles and we can't leave them in a building full of crazy scientists that can experiment on them, so.." Leo looks away.
"So you brought them with you? Here?" He raised his eyebrow at them. The three nodded with nervous expressions. Splinter scan the area. "And where is Donnie?" He asked them.
"Getting help from Draxum?" Leo sheepishly shrugged.
Splinter nodded. "When he returns, you four are all grounded for a week!!" He shouted. The three groaned at this. Splinter turned and headed back to his chair in the living room.
Raph glared at Leo. "I told you guys we get busted." He growled.
Ginny blinked, unclenched herself, and stared at Leo. "wait, Leonardo? You're Leonardo?" She pointed at him.
Leo turned around and faced her. He smiled nervously and shrugged. "Surprised?" He chuckled. She only saw him in his disguise and never in his complete form.
Ginny walked straight to him, almost getting close to him as Leo blushed at this. But suddenly, she gave him a hard slap on the face. "You got some nerves kidnapping those guys and me!" She shouted at him. "I got a life out there! My family will get worried about me!"
Leo rubbed his cheek from the pain. "Ginny, listen to me." He protested.
But she responded back. "Why should I listen to you!? You're a monster in the form of some walking turtle!" She snarled.
Julian stepped in, away from Judi. "You three! You turn us back to normal!" He demands. "Right now!"
"We can't! We don't know how to cure you three from this mutation!" Raph confessed.
Julian and Ginny's faces turned to shock. Ginny felt her heart slowly beating. "You're saying you can't change us back?" She asked with a shaking voice.
Leo shook his head. "No, 'cause we are mutated too, and we never got the answer for it." He explained.
Ginny backed away from Leo; she gripped her head and breathed heavily. "Then….oh no…no, no, no, no, no!!" She panicked. "That means I can't go back home!! My siblings! Grandma!! They'll lose everything without me!!" She sat on the floor and cried.
"How are we gonna survive like this!?" Julian was panicking himself. "Me and my sister now don't have a home anymore!"
Judi blinked, her expression is confused. "Your…sister?" She asked.
Julian turned and faced her. "Judi?"
"Judi? Who's Judi?" She tilted her head to the left. "Who are you?"
Julian frowned. "Judi, it's me." He walks close to her. "Your brother."
Judi has her face scrunched up; her eyes narrowed but not in anger or frustration. But in lostness. "I don't know you." She responded.
Then, Julian felt his body go cold and lose his colors. His own sister doesn't remember him anymore. He backed away from her in shock. It's like he lost her, only in mind. He kneels to the floor and felt numb.
While both Julian and Ginny are having a severe panic, the turtles can only watch them. Mikey gulped while Leo and Raph had a nervous look. This is going to be very tough.
Donnie opens the door to Draxum's apartment and enters inside; he manages to close the door behind him to be sure no one can hear him and Draxum. He can hear the sounds of glass clinking and the chair squeaking. It was a Friday night, and it would be a weekend break for Draxum, meaning he had time to do his experiment.
"Draxum? Are you still here?" He called out.
Suddenly, he heard a loud booming noise that shook the room and startled him. Smoke comes from the kitchen; it seems Draxum is working on another experiment for his work.
Draxum walked out of the kitchen, coughing while covered in purple dust. He spots Donnie. "Donatello?"
Donnie let out a chuckle. "Yeah, hey." He took a peck at the kitchen. "uh..bad timing?" He asked.
Draxum shook his head; he tucked his glasses on the collar of his shirt. "No, not at all." He smiled at him. "What can I do for you?"
"Well…we got a huge problem." Donnie rubs the back of his neck.
"what problem?" Draxum questioned him.
Donnie took out his phone, opened the photo app, and showed them to Draxum. Draxum takes the phone for a closer look, and his eyes widen from disbelief. Pictures of the mutagen on the floor and the four mutants on the floor that April took and sent to Donnie. He couldn't believe this; never in a million years had a human ever recreated his work with science.
"That's…impossible…no human in history has ever recreated my mutagen, let alone one of my bugs." Draxum whispered.
"We all thoughts so too. This is nothing like we've faced." Donnie responded. "That's why I came if you can make an antidote for their mutagen."
Draxum gives him his phone back and lets out a sigh. He faced him. "I'm afraid I can't; I never made a counterpart that can cure the effect of my bugs." He explained. "And I can't do the same to TCRI mutagen; it's like a bootleg with no counterpart."
Donnie frowned. "So, there is absolutely no way you can help these teens regain their normal life?"
"No." He shocked his head. "I'm afraid I don't have the answer you are looking for." He answered. "These kids will have to get used to their new life with you boys."
Donnie sighed. So much for getting help. "Thanks anyway." He said. "Take care, Draxum."
"You too, son." Draxum nodded.
Donnie turned to the door, opened it, and left his apartment. He took a left off the hallway and walked down the empty hall.
Unknown to him, a figure stepped out of the shadow and was revealed to be Bishop. He pulls out a phone and shows a picture of the turtles. He glared at the direction Donnie had taken.
Donnie enters back the lair. He sighed with a heavy burden. He doesn't have the answer he wanted and has no way to get those teens back. He felt utterly useless and helpless right now.
By the time he stepped foot on their hangout spot, he saw from afar that Mikey was shaking Prim while the other two were worried.
"Hey!" He runs up and rushes to the medbay. "What are you guys doing!?"
"Trying to get this one to wake up." Mikey answered, still shaking Prim.
"She didn't wake up from their screams." Raph added.
"stop skating her and put her down." Donnie demand.
Mikey stopped shaking her, gently put her back on her bed, and took a step back for Donnie to check.
Donnie presses his fingers on her throat, checking her pulse. He can feel only a faint beat, slow and almost die down. "Her pulse is barely there." He said. "I think she went into a coma from what that mutagen did to her."
Raph gulped. "A…coma?" He stuttered. "She-She's gonna be okay, right?"
"I don't know how long her coma will last." Donnie answered. "We can only wait and see."
A few hours later, Donnie set up the medbay with a heart monitor and an oxygen machine for Prim. He put a breathing mask on her to give her air to stay alive and hooked her to an IV with fluid. Once he was done, he left the medbay.
Ginny, Julian, and Judi are gathered at the dining table while eating the pizzas the three ordered. Leo, Raph, and Mikey all sat by a counter, watching the three.
"I don't remember the last time I have pizzas." Judi said.
"You did." Julian responded. "I used to work lots to feed you, pizzas included."
Judi tilted her head and looked up as if she were thinking. "I don't remember." She said.
"It's true." Julian added.
Donnie enters the kitchen and spots the three eating. He has his arms crossed.
Mikey walked to him and tapped his shoulder. "Hey, Donnie, can you figure out what's wrong with Judi?" He asked. "She seems to lose her memories."
"Hmm." Donnie hummed in thought. He makes his way to her and the group. "Miss Judi."
"yes?" Judi looks up to Donnie.
"Do you remember anything before realizing you are now a turtle?" He questioned her.
Judi only shook her head. "No. All I remember is waking up from the screaming, seeing huge turtles, and screaming too." She answered him. She pointed at Julian. "And this guy Julian said he is my brother, he looks like me, but I don't really remember him." She then finished.
"Okay." Donnie nodded. He faced Mikey. "Mikey, it seems not only did the mutagen put that black girl in a coma, but it also caused Judi to lose her memories permanently." He explained.
Mikey frowned. "You can't get it back?"
"No." Donnie exclaimed. "I am really sorry, and I am sorry, Sir…."
"Julian Miller," Julian spoke. He let out a sigh. "At least she won't remember her schizophrenia." He stared at his sister, who went back to eating. Mikey sat by him and pulled him into a hug, comforting him. Judi has lost all her memories, even memories of him.
It was at that moment that Donnie realized something. While the three are awake and Prim is in a coma, he doesn't spot Arianina in the medbay and the kitchen. In fact, the last time he last saw her was when he placed her in the medbay bed and left for Draxum. Maybe she woke up and left. It can't be; the lair is enormous and impossible to find a way back to the upper land.
Donnie turned and faced Leo. "Hey. Where is the other one? The one with brown hair?" He asked him.
"We searched the medbay for her, but after we calmed them down, she wasn't there." Leo answered him.
"She couldn't leave; the sewers are enormous." Raph added.
Then Ginny spoke. "Actually, I saw her run into an empty room." She pointed at an empty subway train that was away from the others.
" Thanks." Donnie thanked Ginny. He left the kitten and headed to the empty train. He looks inside. Inside is dark, but there are items and furniture from their old lair that the boys couldn't get rid of and are still in tack. Such as Raph's old mattress, a full body mirror, Mikey's art box, Leo's shelves, and an old gaming console that didn't get broken by the Shredder. Donnie walks inside. "Hello? Ma'am?"
"Go away!" A loud female voice shouted from the darkness.
"Look, I just came to see how you are feeling." Donnie took another step, and before he knew it, an old bo staff was an inch from his face.
Arianina was holding it with an angry expression on her face, but only half of it with her long hair covered. She is still wearing her clothes. She glared at him with the kind of hate that no human had faced. "Don't come near me!! You hear?!" She shouted with the same hatred in her voice. "If you so much touch me or pick up Bello, I will make sure you will regret it!! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU MONSTER!!!" She swings the staff, trying to hit his head.
Only for Donnie to dodge and run off the room. He heard a loud slam of the door closing. In all his years of communication, this one had shown the most hated kind.
He let out a scoff. "Geez, real moody." He commented.
"Oh well, can't please them all," Leo added with a shrug. He and the rest were behind Donnie. They came after they heard Arianina's loud voice. "So what did Draxum say? Will he help?" He asked him.
Donnie turned around to face them. He let out a sigh and gave them the bad news. "He can't make an antidote. He never made one for his bugs." He explained. "And since TCRI's mutagen is different from his, he couldn't solve it and create one for it too."
"In other words…."Mikey whispered.
"We can't change them back. They're stuck in this way forever." Raph finished.
Donnie nodded, confirming.
Leo inhales in and inhales out. "And since they can no longer go back to their normal life, we have to look after them until they can get back on their feet." He stated.
"But how long will that take?" Mikey asked him.
He only shrugged. "I don't know. Weeks, months, or a year." He advised. "I really don't know, little bro. But what I know is that their mutation will be rough on them, and we have to support them however we can."
"Right." Raph agreed. "Better get some rest, guy; we had a stressful day today."
The boys agreed. After the day they encounter, it has been so stressful for them and for the new mutants. And they can really use a break and a rest. Each of them went their separate ways to their own train room.
All but Donnie, who was heading to his lab to work on a project. He turned his head around and took one look at Arianina's room, then headed to his lab.