A Turtle on the Outside, a Wolf on the Inside

by Sairey13

Before Yoshi got the turtles from the Pet Store, Leo was found playing with the manager's dog, who was told to be a wolf-hybrid. Right before Yoshi took the turtles away, Leo ate some of the canine's fur and when he got mutated, the mutagen somehow enhanced the inside of his body to match a wolf's behavior and abilities. NO T-CEST, LEORAI or APRITELLO!

23. True Terror, Fear Nothing

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...Yes... It's been years...

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...I'm reeeeeeeaaaaaaalllllllllyyyyyyyyy soooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyy you guys.

Work. Life. And, after watching what happened to the show... Honestly, I was really unhappy and upset on how they just ended it, like that. And the last season, as spin offs and how they aren't really canon. I don't think they really thoughts this through.

Regardless, with everything going on, it took me a while to try and get back to the story. And, boy, I'm really out off my writing-style for this. I'm gonna, even, have to re-read on what I'd written... And, worse? re-watch the show, to get back onto this story.

I swear, while this will be slow to get back to, this story isn't abandoned.

For any who're still reading this... Thank you, for your patience... And, now. For the story.

WARNING: This Chapter will contain blood and gore, dark Leo... VERY Dark, possible crazy-like, Leo...

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September Fifteenth, a Week and a Half Later...
How can one tell the difference between fantasy, and reality? Or, what's the difference between fear and terror?

...Not many can answer.

The truth is, the person's own point of view on telling the difference between fantasy and reality, is one of the million questions they would ponder over, wondering if it'll ever be answered... And thanks to my visions and nightmares, I'm beginning to question my own sanity.

The same couldn't be said for the second, the difference between fear and terror. All believe fear and terror to being the same thing, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Fear are, by nature, irrational feelings... Of our own dark imaginations. In time, we either learn to conquer those fears or overcome the paralyzing need to freeze in our spots... Though, that won't mean there won't be other fears that will take our formal fears' place.

While terror is something that not many people will come to grip with... Unless, they truly look straight into the eyes of terror, itself, and witness what many don't see. When there's darkness and secrets… There's, in fact, light and truth behind it's intimidating appearance. And whoever discovers the true meaning of terror will be cursed by its wrath... But also, gifted by its blessing.

And one of those truths, is to embrace the horrible fact that many would hide or reject: Their true-self... Something that I, myself, am having trouble to grasp on to.

Since the very first time I learnt about my sudden ability to change from my current-form to a wolf, I was taken back and scared... Only in a few days, did I started to come to grip and started to bond with my new form... Since my time in the Physical Realm of the Astral Plane, I grew to love my new-form and found true peace with staying as a wolf.

…I nearly lost myself to an illusion when I started to reject my current-self and would've ended up going mad or lost in the Astral Plane forever, if I didn't end up staring into the eyes of terror... Into a giant form of Oroku Saki, the Shredder, himself.

Soon after, I made it my duty to balance myself off between my two forms and, for a while, it was beginning to work and made me feel complete... Till I had to go back to New York.

I knew that the moment I would return, there will be great pain, struggle, chaos and many dangers that will await for me... And I still chose to go back… Sometimes, I wished I'd chose to stay... Even though I made the right choice to come back.

…I just wish I could get past my fears, and stop the nightmares from making those fears strong enough to start taking advantage of my life.

It's been going on, since my talk with Buck:

My brothers are dragged into the darkness. I try to go and save them... When I found them, they saw me as a wolf... They called me a monster, a freak, an abomination... A creature that isn't their brother, anymore... They turned their backs on me, and left me alone within the darkness. There, I ended up battered and bleeding... Standing over me, the Shredder… And, to my greatest horror, Master Splinter.

Oroku Saki kept attacking me, and Sensei simply stood by and watched, while I struggled to stand my ground and defend myself... In the end, I ended up bleeding to death, my brothers' bodies, along with Miwa, sprawled out on the ground and the Shredder kills Splinter... His final words: Anata wa watashi no musukode wa arimasen (You are not my son).

For years, I keep telling myself that I'm not his son and to me, that has always been the truth. Because, it is the truth... That doesn't mean when I hear Sensei making that claim, it didn't hurt me. And hearing his disownment, even if it is from a dream, hurts much more than dreaming of Shredder piercing my heart with his steel claws.

April brought in some new tea that she hoped would help me with my nausea... They all ended up being regurgitated and being flushed down the toilet. She learned to never allow Casey Jones to pick the tea, ever again.

We gained a new human friend, a teenager who goes to the same school as April, though the introduction wasn't very friendly. Apparently, Raphael ran into him while burning off some steam and the two ended up crossing paths and fighting across the street, with Raph getting tasered by the teen's own invention of his weapon.

And while he did follow Raph and found our Lair, thanks to my twin for not being aware of his surroundings, his scent and heavy breathing ended up giving himself away. The others couldn't hear him, but I did and when he had his back turned while stopping some pizza boxes from falling, I pinned him… Don already knew who he is, since he disobeyed my orders to leave April alone when she was still angry at my brothers for her father's mutation, and sees him as a clear threat on taking April from him.

…After he and Raph prevented some Foot Bots from heading back to Shredder's HQ to give Miwa information of our Lair, along with promising to not tell anybody of our existence, we gained a new human-ally... And, a new brother.

Apparently, he was the reason who helped April with her anger towards my brothers for her father's situation and got her to forgive them. He also kept her company while at school, though he basically didn't really care about his school work when April was tutoring him to help him with his grades. Still, he proved to having a heart that demands him to protecting the innocence, especially his own father, Arnold Casey Jones Sr, and little-sister, Angel.

…I can sense something going on between Casey and April. It could very well be their friendship strengthening, since the two of them knew of our existence and April is very happy to have somebody else to know us, but I can feel something else going on... It could very well be a possibility of them ending up as intended mates, but it's much too soon to tell… But, if that were to be the case… I'll be very happy for them.

Don will end up heartbroken, should their relationship blossom to a couple, but it's better that he lets her go than pushing harder to force her to like him or to hang out with only him. Now that we learned that she's half-human… And, half-Kraang.

Since our encounter with an adult human called Jack Kurtzman, a human journalist who was covering a story on missing scientists since last year, we learnt how Kraang were trying to terraform the Earth thousands of years ago. Along with April's mother was abducted by Kraang when she was still pregnant with April, and how they experimented on her. And since her DNA is within the Kraang's Computer Data, we had to go inside and erase all information about her genetics.

We were able to do that... Along with getting April captured, fighting a giant reject clone of April and nearly getting caught after taking on a bunch of April clones.

What the others didn't know, while going through their files, I found something very startling within their profile that was two years old. I couldn't go through it when Kraang showed up to call upon their rejected April Clone, so I uploaded it to my phone and after our ordeal at TCRI... The video showed me how Kraang experimented on certain amount of animals... More specifically, how they can alter their DNA, genetics and their behaviors.

…I found a video of them experimenting on Karasu's mother, making her believe she's a raven, placing a tracker on her leg to observe her daily life and, barely after Karasu hatched, went to collect them all to conduct more experiments. They succeeded on altering her mother's genetics to being a raven, but they couldn't force her body to grow or morph into a raven's body, hoping that it would some way give them an edge to help them on their quest to turning Earth into a new Dimension X.

With this information, it tells me that Karasu isn't a raven/crow-hybrid by nature, or at all... Like April, she was a forced experimental project and is, in truth, a full-blooded raven with some structures of a crow's appearance... She didn't show much of a reaction when I told her that she's a full-blooded raven, let alone that our enemies experimented on her mother in hoping to force creatures to crossbreed on a different level that would help them with their diabolical plans. And, I guess, in a way, she does carry structures of a crow and carries the scent mixed of raven and crow, she's still identified as a raven/crow-hybrid, when not, at the same time.

Donatello is hoping, in some way, he could make a special retromutagen that could make April a full-human and still retain her psychic powers. But, because he's nowhere to finding a cure for her father, he has to focus his attention on curing Kirby first before he could consider with April's predicament.

Hearing that she's a humanoid-Kraang mutant didn't really sit well for April… But, hearing that she's like us, despite that we started out as animals and she was a human since the beginning, did make her feel more like part of the pack. She also wanted to learn more about her psychic powers, hoping they will be of use to us to taking down the Kraang.

Now finding the truth to this off feeling I was getting from her was, in fact, her being part-Kraang, it finally made sense… Though, is still very puzzling; Sensei always has a strong sense of feeling something about a person and while he did tell her that she has a unique gift... How come he didn't feel something was off about her, like Karasu and I did?

…I already know the reason why I was able to feel it... My impure genetics. Unless they've gone through abuse and/or neglect since they were born, animals have a way of knowing and telling the difference between a good person and a bad person. Thanks to the mutagen fusing me to being a three-quart animal, I can not only do the very same thing, but it also gave me similar abilities an empath would have. Meaning, I can tell if something's off with a person, whether they know about it or not.

If Master Splinter couldn't figure out what was different about April, then I'm more than relieved that he wasn't able to figure out my true origin being more altered than his own and my brothers. I just hope that they don't figure out my secret, anytime soon... At least, not until the Shredder is finally taking down and the Kraang will no longer endanger the Earth.

Only then, do I find it being the appropriate time to reveal the secrets... For only then, will I be more prepared for their rejection and join Faunus in Northampton, with no regrets.

---

Inside the Dojo…

Splinter and Leonardo kneeled beneath the Peach Tree, in their meditation session. The fifty year-old father wants to take his son's meditation session to the next level, hoping it will aid his son with his troubled mind and inability to have peaceful dreams. At least, that's what he hope will happen.

Watching the deteriorating state of his eldest son's health is becoming very concerning for the poor father. He fears that if his son doesn't find the balance to properly sleep and to prevent his nausea from losing his meal, he would end up falling into a coma... Or worse.

The blue-masked turtle knew what his sensei was trying to do, and while he appreciates and enjoys his meditation sessions, they don't bring any source of permanent comfort. He already knew that they only help in some ways that it can offer, but he has to do the whole work and effort to wanting to get better or find the peace he fights for.

'Clear your mind, empty all thoughts from any distractions, and-...'

His body slightly glowed in a thin white-aura. It's not as bright and/or thick as Splinter's, who has already found the peace within himself to meditate, but it still showed how spiritually strong he's able to center himself than his brothers could.

'The darkness is your friend... It will not hurt you...'

...

"You're a monster! A freak!"

The aura flickered and vanished all together, bringing Leo back to the conscious world. Without opening his eyes, he lightly sigh and re-entered the same level he was at in his mediation. The thin white-aura covered his body, his mind empty from all thoughts and allowed himself to float within the dark...

"Why didn't you tell us?!"

"We thought you were our brother!"

Again, the aura flickered and died down. Leonardo opened his eyes, staring down at the floor beneath him.

'Even when I try to not think about it, they somehow are able to keep popping up into my mind.'

He looked over to Splinter, seeing the humanoid-rat completely calm and undisturbed, surrounded by the thick aura that made him shine like a star.

Try again. Don't give up.

Taking a slow inhale of breath, Leonardo went back to meditating, going in the same order as before: He emptied his thoughts, his body surrounds itself in a thin white-aura, he drifts himself within the darkness...

"Anata wa watashi no musukode wa arimasen."

His heart banged against his chest, the aura instantly died out and his eyes snapped open. His Cerulean/sapphire-eyes narrowed, angry at himself for losing focus every time the voices keep popping into his mind.

He immediately got to his feet, growling.

"This isn't working."

On the ground, Splinter came out of his meditation and looked over to his son, getting back up on his own feet.

"My son-" He started, raising a hand to rest on his shoulder.

Leonardo gently, but firmly slapped the hand away, turning away from his sensei.

"Nothing is helping me, Sensei!" He stated, raising a right-hand to rest part of his face against. He can feel the pain in his mind growing. "I've been doing this for almost a week, Sensei, and there hasn't been any improvements! It's getting hard to properly focus, even just by meditating!"

Splinter's ears dropped a bit, saddened of his son's distress and, also, no sign of improvement to his health.

"Whatever that you've been seeing within your dreams, it must be the reason for you unable to sleep. -Again, he placed a hand on his son's shoulder. This time, the blue-masked turtle didn't shrugged him off.- Tell me, my son, what is it that troubles you?"

With his shell facing the fifty year-old father, he didn't see the panic and fear in Leonardo's eyes.

'I can't tell him! Not about-…! The nightmare!'

Must inform Alpha on what bothers Pup, or Alpha will force truth out of Pup. Will even enter Pup's mind, without blessing, and find dream that haunts Pup.

Just inform him on part of the dream. So long that it's truthful and truly bothers you, he won't pry any further.

'Like that's going to help; most to almost every part of the dream makes my inside twist up in knots.'

While it may be true, Leo thought on every detail that would transpire, hoping to find something that would be enough to help his sensei to finding an answer to nightmare, without revealing the whole truth.

'…My Brothers…' He opened his eyes and let out a tiring sigh, prepare on what he was going to say. "The same dream, the same nightmare, it kept appearing to me every night: I let the team down. They're dragged off into darkness, and I'm powerless to help."

The hand on his left-shoulder tightened. He can tell, from the tension of the grip, that Splinter understood how he felt.

"This is not uncommon." He said, informing the fifteen year-old that his half-lie worked. "All leaders must face the fear of losing their team. I face this every time you and your brothers leave the lair."

His response only made Leo angrier.

'And how exactly does that help me with facing what I fear most?' Nevertheless, he nodded his head.

Satisfied by the nod, Splinter went beside his son and started leading him to his room.

"Do try to get some rest, my son." He told him, opening the Shoji door and watching the eldest-turtle slowly make his way to the futon. "We'll continue our next meditation session in a few hours, after dinner."

The thought of food made his stomach upset. Again, Leonardo nodded his head.

When the door gently closed behind him, concealing him in the darkness... He fell to his knees, and allowed the tears to come out.

'He doesn't get it!' He thought, lightly banging his fist against the tatami mat. 'Nothing he just said, helped me figure out how to stop the nightmares from haunting me every night!'

Alpha wise, but not all knowing. Even if Alpha knew secret, nightmares will continue and dominate Pup's Health.

Which wouldn't had happened, if you would just tell them the truth of your mutation!

Leo growled lowly at his Conscious' words.

'And have them be awkward around me? Or worse, treat me like a dog or make fun of me?'

It wouldn't ended up like Balto!

'But they would've still taken the teasing to a whole new level, until I would snap and wound them in the process. Besides, I couldn't prove that I was part-wolf, until Don properly understood and conductive experiments at the age of eleven. They would've thought I was crazy or gone mad.'

The voice went silent, telling Leonardo that he won that conversation to why he didn't reveal the secret sooner.

Yet, nightmares will lead Pup to Madness, if dreams aren't dealt. Pup could contract Madness, should mind be plagued by visions from subconscious fear.

Leo slowly sat up on his knees, staring tiredly up at the ceiling above him.

'So, no matter what I do, it all leads down to me either revealing the truth to them... Or...'

...You can't be thinking about...? Are you serious?! But your promise! Your word! Is your pride so strong, you would choose to leave them-?!

'If my fear gets the best of me and they're around...' He didn't want to continue the thought and he knew both his Conscious and Instinct will realize the true reason to his decision to consider leaving his brothers and sensei, should he feel unable to handle the nightmares.

Fear of harming... Fear of attacking Pack... Desire to keep safe, from Pup...

Neither of the two continued after that thought, leaving Leo alone to deal with his sleep exhaustion and struggle to force himself to meditate to help clear his mind.

A tiring sigh left his lungs.

'I know that they're both right... And that causes a major problem to my dilemma. I know that I need to tell them the truth of my mutation. But, even if they don't shun me and accept my wolf-side, I'm more of a threat to them just by being here. A burden, more, the more my health continues to decline; there's a reason why wolves aren't meant for the 're for the Earth.'

He went over to the futon, which Splinter had neglected to roll up. Presumably, thinking ahead that the blue-masked turtle is continuing to struggle with sleep and wants to help him rest in a much more quieter, calming environment.

'It'll still be pointless, but I need to get some sleep. If not for my mind, then, at the very least, for my body.'

So long Beta-Brother Raphael, Theta-Brother Donatello, and Chi-Brother Michelangelo remain quiet and don't cause disturbance... For once.

They should be quiet; they're watching that new Super Robo Mecha Force Five! episode. And with Karasu scouring the city with the other birds in search of the remaining mutagen, it'd be best to try and sleep in case she comes bearing news of the sighting.

Leonardo went under the covers and laid on his back, removing his mask to rid the feeling of the knot pressing against the back of his skull.

He forced his body to relax, slowly closing his eyes when the smell of incense began to take their effect on making his body feel calm.

Just as he closed his eyes...

"Guys! April. Sewers. Hurry!"

Immediately, his eyes snapped open and pushed the covers off of his body, quickly getting to his feet and pulled the Shoji door open.

...Well, there goes getting any rest.

Something happened to Upsilon-Sister. Eta*-Brother Casey wise to gain Pup's attention. Must help pack!

"Leonardo." Splinter's word stopped him in his tracks from leaving the dojo. "You're not fit to be up-"

"Sensei. Something's wrong." Leo cut him off, giving him a serious, but concern look. "Something happened to April. I need to help them."

"You just lost April?!"

"Relax. I'm sure there's a logical explanation. She's probably got eaten by a giant sewer snake, or something."

"LET'S GO!"

Both humanoid-wolf/turtle and humanoid-rat both turned to each other. Both thinking the same thing.

'He just left the lair, without taking his Naginata/Gonnosuke. Didn't he?'

The fifty year-old father let out a deep sigh, ears slightly flattened.

"You best go, and aid your brothers and Casey to find April." He stated, folding his arms behind his back.

Nodding his head, Leonardo left the dojo to join his remaining brothers and Casey.

"Raph. Mikey. Go grab your weapons." He ordered, heading for their rooms to go grab Musashi and Kamiizumi. "Casey, grab for Donnie's Naginata. He'll try to find her through his T-Phone, so he'll neglect to come back for his weapon." 'And because her scent have blended here from staying with us for weeks, it'll be hard to try and track her by scent.'

"You got it, Leo." The sixteen year-old male replied, heading for Don's Lab, which is the most common place the smartest turtle would leave it in.

As Leonardo went for his room, something in the back of his head pulsed with a sudden pressure. His ninja senses telling him that whatever happened to April, is something that'll be involved with Mutagen.

...

...And whatever they'll be facing with, will be something that will effect his greatest fear.

---

In the Sewers…

"I think I lost her around here." Casey suggested, looking around the sewers and tunnels to gather his bearings.

"You think?!" Donnie questioned, not happy with the older-teen's inability to be certain. "Oh, that's not vague or anything!"

Annoyed by the taunt of the purple-masked turtle, Casey turned to face the svelte humanoid-turtle.

"Back off, Stick Master!" He countered.

"'Stick Master'?! Who you calling Stick Master, Puck Head?!"

The two males glared at one another, growling lowly like two dogs in a dog fight, ready to fight.

Leonardo wasn't going to have any of it.

"Enough. Both of you." He scolded, getting in-between them and pushing them back from one another. "We don't have time for this. April needs us, and fighting with each other isn't going to help find her, sooner. -He glared at his younger-brother, tightening his grip on his left-shoulder.- And don't forget, Donnie: You chose to run off, without bothering to grab your weapon. Let alone, aware of that human sanitary worker that was in the sewers before them. Don't you ever go off running, that'll risk us being exposed.."

Casey chuckled at the svelte turtle getting scolded, only to then shut up when the Cerulean/sapphire-eyed turtle turned his attention towards him.

"As for you, Casey, you need to be certain that this is the way April went through; there are certain parts of the sewers that'll have us lose service, so we can't keep relying on our T-Phones to find her exact location." He stated, before continue to walk further down the sewers, leading the group.

Ugh. Is it just us, or does the sewers smell worse? Like, more so than it should be?

Not right. Be on guard. Must find Upsilon-Sister April. Scent not right.

'Yeah. I, also, feel like we're being watched.' Leo thought, feeling on edge. 'And yet, I don't smell any humans nearby. Not, even, that one human Casey said he and April had ran into them.'

Might've left the sewers.

'I don't know. Maybe. I'll ask Karasu to look for the human when we get back, and after we find April.'

They turned a corner, continue on down the dark part of the sewers. Casey caught up to the front, purposely shoving his shoulder against Donatello's.

Then...

"Ah!"

They all stopped and turned to where the older-teen was looking at... Which was three rats, eating garbaged take out they grabbed from topside?

"Rats?! Why'd it had to be rats?!" Casey complained, as he jumped from two rats running past his legs. The third rat, a blackish/dark-grey rat, who had its head buried in a bean can, lifted its head to look up at the five teens.

Then, it's black-eyes looked over to Leo. It then made a few squeaking sounds.

"Greetings, Leonardo." The right, being a male, greeted, turning to face him and his friends. Scratching the back of his ears with his forepaw."It's been so long."

In response, Leo slightly nodded his head to the creature. Though, didn't make a sound to talk with the small-rodent.

Long since last saw Scabbers. Likely, his colony are expanding, since Pup's Colony left city.

"Aw. Dude, they're everywhere down here." Mikey informed, as he went to pick up the rat and rubbed him against his face. "They're nature's cuddly little friends."

As Scabbers protested on being used as a washcloth to the youngest-turtle, the blue-masked turtle's mind wondered to the colony he grew up with. His heart ached of the departure of his friends, since Victor Falco, now known as the Rat King, tried to take control of Splinter and tried to have him kill the turtles.

'I hope Kyra, Ettore and the others have found a new, safe home.' He prayed.

They should be fine. While small, they've been around for many years and so long as they have the colony, nothing will stand in their way.

'Except for humans and their usage of poisoning them.' Leo added in.

Iiierrp!

His hearing caught the sound that could be something of an animal's chirp.

"Do you guys hear that?" Casey, sitting at a smaller drain-tunnel, asked, sitting up from his spot.

Eeeaup!

Leonardo glared to the direction of the second chirp, which was coming from a pipeline nearby the human's head inside the smaller-tunnel. Out of curiosity, the sixteen year-old looked into the pipe.

"Casey, what do you see?" He asked, walking close to the teen.

At first, there was no response. Presumably, seeing nothing.

Then...

A burst of golden/yellow pollen blasted in front of the teen, who immediately pulled back and cough.

"That was hideous!" He hissed, coughing out what remains of the dust/pollen.

"Dude, you put your nose in a New York City sewer. What'd you expect?" Raphael pointed out, smirking at his friend's stupidity.

The coughing started to settle down.

"Thought I saw-..." Casey started, before being cut off when he looked in the tunnel.

..Then, without warning, he screamed and backed up towards the brick wall, pulling out one of his hockey sticks.

Leonardo, immediately, went over to the teen.

"Casey! What is it?" He asked, looking him dead in the eye.

"I-I saw it, man." The sixteen year-old stuttered, still looking to where the tunnel was. "The Demon Rat."

Raising an eyebrow, the blue-masked turtle looked to where the older-teen was looking at... Only, there was nothing within it. Not even any sign of sewer rats.

"'Demon Rat'?" Raphael questioned, also walking towards the entrance of the tunnel and looking in to see what his friend was looking at. He, too, saw nothing.

'Weird. I don't smell any rats in that direction... But...'

Fungus. This area reeks of fungus... When had there been any form of fungi within the sewers?

'Don't know. But, however it came to the sewers, doesn't feel right.'

Casey whimpered underneath his breath, before slowly turning his head to the direction they just came from.

"Casey?" Leo asked, backing up in case something unexpected happens from the older-teen.

...

...And, as he expected, Casey screamed and began to swing his hockey stick around.

"Get 'em off me!" He cried, swinging his hockey sticks in the water. "They're everywhere!"

Eta-Brother lost mind. Reeks of fear. Must calm down Eta-Brother Casey.

Raphael and Donatello turned to Leonardo, who nodded his head to give them the signal, and the two middle-brothers grabbed Casey and pinned him up against the wall.

"Not gonna lie. That felt pretty good." Donnie admitted, not in the least regretting on pinning his rival for April's attention.

"Let me out! Let me out!" Casey pleaded, panicking when he can't break free from his friend's hold.

"Calm down, man!" Raph yelled, before he and Don pulled away from the now panting teen. "What is your damage?"

The sixteen year-old stared at the two for a moment, then fell to his knees and whimpered, letting go of his hockey stick.

Leonardo went towards the teen and kneeled before him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

'What the hell is going on?' He pondered, eyes narrowed on the whimpering teen. 'His heart rate is going fast, indicating that something has truly terrified him.'

"Aaaaahhh!"

Leo lifted his head and turned to the right, towards another section of the sewers.

Recognizing that scream is April's.

"April!" Donatello called out, taking off towards the direction of the scream.

The blue-masked turtle turned to Raphael.

"Help Casey." He said, getting to his feet and running after his brother.

"No, I-No-... I-I... Keep away from me, Dad! Please, don't eat me!"

'Kirby?! He's here in the sewers?!' Leo lifted his nose to detect the humanoid-bat, only to smell nothing that told him of his pseudo-uncle is in the sewers. 'I don't smell him, and there hadn't been any signs of bats ever taking refuge within the sewers!'

Whatever is going on with Casey, must be going on with April, too.

'Maybe.'

When he turned the corner, with Mikey and Raph catching up with a whimpering Casey, they saw April sitting on the ledge of the tunnel, with Donnie kneeling beside her and trying to calm her down.

"It's all right. Calm down." The purple-masked turtle soothed, patting her on the back. "Everything's going to be okay."

As Don tried to calm the girl down, something from behind caught Leo's hearing.

"Hang on. Something's coming our way." He alerted, turning his head to what sounded like something rubbing against stone and asphalt.

And when all but Don, April and Casey looked over their shoulders when they heard the sound, too... They saw what looks to be a blue-ball coated in white-streaks, making a faint chirping sound as it rolled towards them.

When it stopped at Mikey's feet, it flattened to the ground... Then, three golden slight eyes opened, with the center slightly opening and moving from tiny slits when it made chirping sounds.

Leo cocked his head to the side.

'...What the...?'

It's... so tiny.

Threat!

"What is that?" Raphael questioned, a bit off from the eyes staring at them, as he gently sat Casey to the side to lead against the curve of the wall.

As they kneeled closer, the circular thing popped up, revealing to having the head of a mushroom. Underneath the head, a very thin, whitish-blue body popped out. All arms and legs so thinned out, like roots.

Mikey was the first to call out what it was.

"It's a mushroom! With feet." He stated, as he beamed down at the little fungi. "Aw. It's so cute!"

The mushroom, looking up at Michelangelo, seemed to not like to be called 'cute', as it made a low growl before it jumped at him, coiling its limbs around the unexpected turtle.

And with it tightening around the left-side of his face, the orange-masked turtle screamed bloody murder.

"AAAAHHH! Get it off of me! Get it off of me!" He cried, trying to pull the mushroom creature off of him and even started banging his head against the ground when pulling it off didn't work.

I don't think it's trying to eat him, and it doesn't even have any teeth... Why does Mikey have to be so dramatic.

Get threat off of Omega-Brother Michelangelo!

Leonardo was quick to his brother's aid and pulled the mushroom off of Mikey, tossing it aside.

The mushroom curled up into a ball and when it landed on the ground, it came rolling towards them.

Immediately, Leo pulled out his swords.

"It's coming our way!" He announced, baring his fangs at the rolling ball.

"I got this!" Raphael volunteered, charging with his twin sais in hand and went to slash the ball, only for it to dodge his attack.

When it dived down, the red-masked turtle twirled his sais and tried to slice it to where it would land, only for it move in-between his legs and hitting the air.

Donatello couldn't help but be amazed by the mushroom.

"Fascinating," he commented. "Evolved fungi."

When the fungi charged back, Raph missed it, again. And when he turned, he was confused to not see the mushroom there.

...

...Only, without warning, popping out from behind his shell and releasing a cloud of golden-yellow spores.

Leonardo was immediately worried for his younger-twin, as he kneeled to the ground.

"Raph!"

Kill it!

Leo leaned in and tried to slash the mushroom from behind, only for it to jump at the last second and came landing down his own head.

However, expecting it to do so, feeling it coil its limbs around his head, the blue-masked turtle used his tongue to pull one of the limbs towards his mouth and bit down, hard, forcing the creature to screech in agony and let go.

Leonardo stood protectively over Raphael, in case it tries to come back for either him or his twin, only for the fungi to launch itself towards Mikey.

Fortunately, Don got there in time to whack the mushroom to the side, sending it falling to its death.

April, who remained kneeling over the ledge, after the mushroom flew past her, suddenly began to panic and scream.

"Keep back! Get away from me!" She cried, waving her arms at the air before holding them up to shield her face.

Casey, crawling on his limbs, screamed, too.

"Ah! The rats!" He yelled, before taking off running. "Get 'em off me!"

"What is goin' on?!" Mikey cried, completely at a loss.

Leo did reached out to grab the teen, but a groan from Raph stole his attention to check up on his younger-brother.

"Raphael, are you okay?" He asked.

He didn't seem to have hit his head.

No blood. No poison.

When Raph seemed to have collected himself and turned to face his brother... A look of absolute shock and disbelief appeared on his face.

"Īe. Anatadesu...! (No. It's you...!)" The red-masked turtle stated, before rolling backwards and quickly getting to his feet.

Leonardo was taken aback.

"Raph? What's going on?" He asked, looking around to see what it was his brother was talking about.

"Anybody, but you. Keep away from me!" The younger-twin yelled, his breathing slightly picking up.

The blue-masked turtle grew worried, recognizing the stance his brother is in. Ready to fight. In response, he put away his Katanas, hoping to not appear as threatening.

"Raph, take it easy." He soothed, having both hands out and slowly walking towards his scared brother.

First, April. Then, Casey. And now, Raph? What's happening here?

Rather than seem calm, Raphael got agitated by the calming gesture of his older-twin.

"That's it." He stated, raising up both of his sais to a challenging position. "If you won't stay away, I'll splatter ya!"

And with that declaration, the strongest of the turtles launched himself in the air, aiming both Kayura and Yakuza towards the unarmed turtle... Going for both the neck, and the chest area.

...

...Betrayal flashed in Leo's Cerulean/sapphire-eyes, looking straight into his twin's Emerald-green eyes that showed nothing but fear, anger and hatred towards him.

Put Beta-Brother Raphael in place!

Almost instantly, Leo was quick to grab for his brother's arms, forcing himself to fall backwards and on the roll, kicked the red-masked turtle in the chest and forced him off of him.

Unsteady on his feet, Raph stumbled and fell to the ground.

Leo, getting to his feet, glared down at his brother.

"Raphael. What's wrong with you?" He asked, flashing his teeth at his younger-brother.

Again, all the red-masked turtle did was quickly get to his feet and glared back at his brother.

This was, actually, a bit surprising to the blue-masked humanoid wolf/turtle.

He's glaring back. And you're baring your teeth at him!

Challenging Pup, yet not challenging Pup for Title of Alpha.

From behind, Michelangelo and Donatello were just as stunned and confused on what's gotten into their older-brother.

"Donnie? Quick explanation?" Mikey asked, getting out his Nunchaku.

"Wish I knew!" Don replied, getting his Bō out.

Then, as if granting his wish, Raphael said something that was very much puzzling.

"You're not gettin' me, Roach!" He stated, pointing his sai at Leo. "I smashed you once, I'll smash you again!"

Leonardo turned to his two younger brothers behind him, both are just as confused by their brother's words.

"'Roach'?" The blue-masked turtle repeated. 'Is he talking about that Spy Roach of Donnie's that fell into Mutagen, and tried to kill him? We haven't seen, let alone heard, of any sighting of that Roach since Raph used the Kraang's laser drill to kill it.'

It's gotta be the cause of that mushroom. That's the only explanation on why he would, suddenly, be attacking you!

Before he could inform his younger-brothers on what he believe to be the cause of Raphael's behavior, the red-masked turtle charged, taking a few swipes at Leonardo, who dodged them with ease and used his palms to give him a boost to dodge.

"Waaaaahh!"

Hearing Mikey's war cry, Leo pulled back to allow the orange-masked turtle to lay an attack on their brother. Clutching both ends of Lee in his right-hand, Mikey laid a strong attack at the back of Raph's head, sending him stumbling to the ground, again.

"Sorry, Bro. You're outta control!" Mikey apologized, watching his older-brother crawl for his weapons.

Donatello, taking Leo's earlier action, put away his staff and slowly walked up towards his brother.

"Take it easy, Bro." He soothed, waving both hands in front of him.

That seemed to make Raphael even more anxious.

At that moment, Leo turned to Michelangelo.

"Mikey, hand me your Kusarigama." He instructed, extended an open hand out to the youngest-turtle. "We're gonna have to subdue Raph, so he doesn't accidentally cause any more harm towards us or towards April."

Confused, the orange-masked turtle handed him his Kusarigama.

Leo nodded in thanks, as he activated the extension chain of Okinawa and slowly walked towards the right, since his twin is distracted by Don.

"No. It's impossible." Raphael stated, leaning his shell against the wall.

"We're not going to hurt you, Raph." Don stated, getting closer to the red-masked turtle.

Either he can't hear what the genius of the group is saying or is too caught up by what he's seeing to ignore what they're saying to him, it did little to convince Raph to not deliver a strong kick towards the svelte turtle.

"Get back!" He yelled, before launching towards the down turtle.

Instantly, Leonardo darted towards his brother and, in the scuffle, coiled the chains of Okinawa around the strongest turtle and pinning his arms to his sides.

Michelangelo, relieved that his big brother caught the second-oldest turtle before he could hurt Donnie any further, ran up to the now struggling turtle.

"Come on, Dude! Stop it!" He pleaded, placing both hands to his brother's cheeks, which only seemed to agitate Raph even further as he tries to break free from the hold of his Kusarigama and Leo's grip. "Calm down. Breeaathe with meeeeh~!"

Leonardo, while having a good grip on his twin, was finding it very hard to fight his brother's struggling and stronger physical built.

'This isn't going to work! I can't overpower him!'

Your anemic and sleep-deprived body is becoming a hindrance! Let Mikey take over!

What of Eta-Brother Casey? Must track down Eta-Brother!

Leo hissed out a curse underneath his breath, as his twin continues to break free from the chains.

"Get offa me! Get off!"

'Let me think for a moment!' He hissed, as he pulled one of the ends of the nunchaku to his feet to take over to holding Raph, freeing one of his hands to go for the pressure point where his neck meets his shoulder-blade. "Gomen'nasai, Raph."

As soon as he hit the pressure point, Raphael's body tensed up... Then, like a sack of potato, dropped to the ground. Unconscious.

Leonardo slightly panted, having to use more energy than he originally thought he would use, as he released his hold on Mikey's Kusarigama.

'There. That should keep him quiet and under control, for now.'

"Get-...! Keep away!" April cried, getting to his feet and still staring out at nothing but the open air, swiping at nothing.

As Don tried to calm her down and assure her that there are no bats, which resulted him on getting slapped in the face, the blue-masked turtle pulled away from his brother and allow Michelangelo to reclaim his weapon, but kept his Kusarigama around their unconscious brother.

Sweat begin to form from his head, suddenly feeling drained.

Oh no. You've overexerted yourself! Your adrenaline rush is dying down and, with the lack of food and rest, your body is shutting down, quicker!

'Oh. I didn't noticed. Is there anything else you want to point out?!' He snarled, resting a hand against the wall to keep him up, before turning to a nervous Donatello. "That fungi. Do you think...?"

"Yep. No doubt about it." The purple-masked turtle confirmed, as April screamed and then dropped back to sitting on the ground, arms wrapped tightly around her legs and hugging them tightly to her chest. "What happened to Raph, is what's happening to April and Casey and that fungus must've done it to them, too. It's like-... Like they're experiencing their worst fears."

...The blue-masked turtle grumbled lowly at his brother's deduction and speculation.

'And, of course, the very day I had a meditation session with Splinter to discuss about dealing with my greatest fear, had to come and bite me in the ass by being the cause to whatever's going on with my pack! I can't seem to get a break from this, can I?!'

Seems like it.

'Wasn't asking for your opinion!'

"Leo?"

A hand was laid on his left-shoulder, drawing the eldest of the turtle to look over and see the concern looks from his two youngest brothers.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good, bro." Mikey asked, concerned.

The blue-masked turtle was so tired, he barely have the energy to try and push back his exhaustion to reassure the youngest that he's okay.

"I'm all right," he answered. "However, both you and Don are gonna have to get Raph and April back to the Lair; I'm gonna go get Casey, before he gets himself hurt. -He looked over to the purple-masked turtle.- If Karasu returns from her flight before I return with Casey, have her remain in the Lair."

While the smartest of the group isn't against his brother's orders and confirmed his brother he'll do so, both he and Mikey weren't comfortable on letting their clearly ill big brother to run off to search for their second human friend.

"You sure that you're up for it, Leo?" He asked, gently gathering a quivering April to her feet and leading her to follow. "I know for a fact that you hadn't eaten this morning, and we can clearly see that you're not getting enough sleep. You should head over to the Lair, and try to rest up. I'll go find that blockhead."

Leo raised a non-existing eyebrow to his brother's offer.

Clearly, he isn't happy to leaving April alone, when she needs his help. But, regardless if he cares what happens to Casey or not, doesn't excuse the fact that he does, in a way, owe the human-boy for helping April see reason and learn to forgive him, Raph and Mikey from spilling the canister of mutagen into the city and, unintentionally, mutating Kirby O'Neil.

And if finding the older-teen and helping him be cure from whatever the mushroom did to him his chance of repaying the debt, he'll take it.

However, Leonardo shook his head.

"As of right now, you're more physically capable than I am at the moment to help Mikey drag Raph back to the Lair." He stated. "Not only that, if he ends up wake up, you'll need to use your sedatives to keep him under and detained. And after what happened last year, when Mikey decided to play Sleep Darts in the Lair..."

To the reminder from their baby brother playing with his sedatives and throwing them around in the Lair, ending up getting all three of his brothers, and himself, to be put under for hours, had both older siblings to glare at their embarrassed baby brother, who kept his head down from their stares.

"And besides, the quicker you figure out whatever that mushroom did to the guys, the sooner we can figure out how to fix them." Leo added in, as he proceed to head on out. "Just get Raph and April back to the Lair. I'll meet you there, with Casey."

Without giving either brothers a chance to argue any further, Leonardo kicked up into a full sprint, searching for the older-boy.

He's right, you know. You need to rest up... Maybe, you should ask Father for hel-

'Don't. You. Finish that.' Leo cut off his Conscious, focusing very hard on finding Casey by following the odd smell of pollen the mushroom sprayed on him and listening for his screams of terror. 'This isn't something Sensei has to get himself involved with. Plus, if he ends up getting sprayed by that mushroom and experience his worst fears...'

Disaster. Repeat, but worse, after False Alpha.

...Point taken... Still, can't help but wonder... Why does it feel like this situation, is going to get worse?

'Because, with our luck, the issue is going to be worse.'

---

Moments Later, Back at the Lair…

Leo hauled up an unconscious Casey up against his shell, having to use pressure points to knock him out like his brother when it was proven that he wasn't going to listen to reason and not going to come quietly.

'He should remain unconscious for a good while, for a good while. But, just in case he wakes up and tries to leave, we should probably subdue him to prevent him from attacking the others.'

You could temporarily paralyze him. Like you did with your brothers, when off to see Miwa. Binding him up could make him go into a full-blown panic attack, and could end up hurting himself in order to free himself.

Pack safety top priority. Prevent Eta-Brother Casey from harming self, Upsilon-Sister April, Beta-Brother Raphael and Alpha.

'Normally, I don't wanna resolve doing so unless I need to. However, given after Raph reacted to seeing Roach and tried to kill me with Kayura and Yakuza, I may have no choice but to do so.'

"No, please!"

Leonardo turned his head towards Don's Lab, hearing April's voice, pleading and begging.

His eyes narrowed, as he made his way towards the lab, seeing Donatello holding a swab held within a tweezer in his right-hand, kneeling in front of her and trying to calm her.

He, also, saw Michelangelo sitting next to Raphael, who remained unconscious.

And, standing on the table, Karasu watching the event unfold, confused and concerned about her human-sister being all scared and talking about bats.

"Awwh!" "Big brother!" Karasu cried, flying over to the blue-masked turtle, hovering over him when she saw their new flock-mate over his shell. "Something wrong with Casey, too?"

He nodded his head to the raven/crow-hybrid, quickly heading over to one of the cots that's used for in case Don needs to sleep and is too tired to head for his bedroom and, recently, for a place for any of them to rest in after being treated for wounds.

"I-I won't hurt you, honest." Don informed April, slowly bringing the swab towards the frightened, frantic girl. "I just need a quick swab."

To that, April screamed and slapped the swab away, making it hit the ground.

"No!" She cried, backing herself further against the wall until she ended up pressed against the corner. "Stay away!"

Leonardo, after pressing for the few pressure points against Casey to cause his body to go limp and unable to move for a while, went over to his brother, who picked up the discarded swab and toss it away, only to go get a new one ready.

"I'm sorry, April, but we need to get a sample from you." The purple-masked turtle stated, being more insisting when he went over to the more frightened girl.

To that, the eldest turtle went over and grabbed his arm.

"Don, stop." He ordered, glaring at his taller brother. "You're only making her worse. Why not get a sample from Raph, or Casey?"

The genius of the turtle glared back, yanking his arm out of his brother's hold.

"She's been experiencing this much longer than the two, and with them both unconscious at the moment, I'm not certain if it'll tamper the sample when they're not awake and if it only appears if they're awake or not. -He then turned back to the girl.- I can't waste any more time to get a sample, Leo. I need to get the sample."

Again, April panicked and tried to push up against the wall. To that, Karasu screeched and began pecking at Don's head.

"Oh, come on! Karasu, stop!" He yelled, trying to swat her away. "Leo, call her off!"

Leo made a few quick whistles, which the bird did pulled away. But not without making a quick grab for the tweezer that held the swab and going to Leo, handing him the item and resting on his right-shoulder.

A groan of frustration left Don's throat, stomping over and holding his hand out towards his shorter brother.

"Give it back, Leo!" He demanded. "I have no time for this stupid game!"

Leonardo glared right back at his brother, staring straight into his brownish-red eyes. Right into the depths of his soul.

"Wait." He replied, as he pointed a finger at April. "We need to do this, properly, without putting her into a panic attack. Otherwise, she could end up hyperventilating herself into unconsciousness and then, if whatever happened to them does need to involve them being awake, we're left with no leads to help them."

Mikey looked between the both of them, as he kept a firm grip on his Kusarigama in case Raphael wakes up. He knows when not to get involved when Leo has the floor, even when he looks ready to drop dead from exhaustion and fall asleep, himself.

Honestly, the orange-masked turtle wished his brother would try to relax and instruct them on what to do, rather than push himself when his malnourished, exhausted body clearly showed he can't keep pushing himself any further.

Donatello couldn't help but tense up a bit and look away, unable to challenge his brother when giving him the stern look of a parent that Splinter would give them if they did do something wrong.

"Shitte iru. Shitte iru. (I know. I know.)" He admitted, laying a hand on top of his head. "I just don't know how to get her to listen; whatever that mushroom did to her, most likely spewed out pollen like it did to Raph and Casey, doesn't seem to have her listen to a damn word we're trying to tell her. As if, she can only listen to what she's seeing, over what we're saying."

Thinking back, when Casey got sprayed by the mushroom and was swinging at nothing but the air and sewer water, he didn't both to look over to them when they were talking to him. And when Raphael and Donatello pinned him, he looked at them for a moment before dropping to his knees and whimpering, at the moment Raph asked him what was wrong with him.

And then, when Raphael got sprayed by the pollen and was looking at Leonardo like he'd seen a ghost (Or, in their case from his words, a certain Roach.) from the past, when he asked him what was wrong with him, it was almost like he didn't hear him talking.

Maybe, the pollen not only makes them see their greatest fears, but also certain sounds and movements they make?

Eta-Brother Casey looked towards tunnels, as if hearing sounds that Pup should've picked up, before reacting to fear. Then, any speech, words, spoken to them, falls on deaf ears.

Leonardo turned to his genius brother.

"I think you hit the jackpot, Donnie." He commented, as he looked down at the quivering girl. "If the mushroom is making them experience their greatest fears by sight, it must've been able make them believe their fears to be so real by having them hear the sounds the hallucination of their fears are making. As such, anything we say, will only be blocked out by the sounds of their fears."

It was the most logical explanation they can come up with. But, still, that leaves them with the problem at hand.

"If that's the case, how do we get her to listen to us, without speaking to her?" He questioned.

Karasu, who silently listened to their conversation, let out a squawk when she went to stretch her wings and ruffle her feathers, her talons scraping against the straps that held the sheaths of his katanas over his plastron. The sound drew April's attention, looking at the two with so much fear, before going back down to bowing her head when Leonardo stared into her eyes.

...That's when an idea came to him.

He gently stroked the top of the bird's head.

"Karasu, you gave me an idea." He stated, as he slowly walk towards the girl.

"Leo. Wait! What are you doi-...?" Donatello cried, reaching for his big brother.

"Stay quiet, Don." The blue-masked turtle hissed, not bothering to look away from their first friend. "Mikey, you stay quiet, too. All right?"

The baby brother, while just as confused, hummed, "Mm-hmm."

Then, as he slowly kneeled to the ground, being only centimeters from the girl, Leo handed the tweezer to the raven/crow-hybrid.

"Karasu, hold on to this. Just for a moment."

A low coo left the bird, as she gently took the tweezer into her beak, making sure that the swab remained in its grip.

The blue-masked turtle stared at the scared red-head, letting out a gentle sigh.

'Well, here goes nothing.' "April."

To his voice, April let out a whimpering gasp.

His Cerulean/sapphire-eyes glared at the girl, but not out of anger towards her.

He curled his right-hand into a fist, raised it slightly off the ground... Then, gently knocked his knuckles against the cement ground.

Tap. Tap. Tap, tap. Tap-tap-tap.

She slightly winced at the first tap. But, on the third tap, she made a sound that made her both scared and confused. It was the triple tap, though, that had her slightly uncurl herself from her ball.

Again, Leo made the tapping sounds, again.

'Focus, April.'

Tap. Tap. Tap, tap. Tap-tap-tap.

She slightly turned her head, as if going to look at him, only to gasp in fear and look at the wall. Voice quivering and arms wrapped tight around her chest.

Again, the blue-masked turtle tried again.

Tap. Tap. Tap, tap. Tap-tap-tap.

...

...Half a second later, finally, with a shaky hand, April tapped her left-hand against the brick-wall. Responding to his tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap, tap. Tap-tap-tap.

Leo slightly relaxed a bit.

'She can hear the taps. Good. Now, let's see if she can focus on the message. Let's hope she doesn't get too spooked up, when I slap my hand against the ground as the commas.'

Tap *Thump* tap. Tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap. Tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap.

A-P-R-I-L

The sixteen year-old girl did jumped when he used his left-hand to slap his open palm against the ground, for the first few slaps. Again, he relayed his message.

Tap *Thump* tap. Tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap. Tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap.

A-P-R-I-L

Again, she seemed to have failed to what he was trying to tell her, in Tap Code.

'Come on, April. Focus. Remember what I taught you.'

Tap *Thump* tap. Tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap. Tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap.

A-P-R-I-L

No reaction... Until, she let out a few taps of her own.

Tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap. Tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap.

L-E-O

A gentle smile spread on the turtle's face.

'That's it, Sis. It's me.'

Behind him, Donatello was at first puzzled, until he realized what they were doing.

'Tap code, as Morse Code.' He concluded, brownish-red eyes wide in shock. 'I didn't know April can understand Morse Code! -He looked down at his big brother.- Did Leo taught her this? Why didn't she came to me to learn it?!'

Leonardo continued to communicate with the slightly less-quivering girl.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap.

Y

She lifted her head to the message, but, again, when she tried to look at them, she turned away and faced the wall.

"No... You're not-...!" She muttered, rocking back and forth slightly.

Leo glared at her, as he sent a message, again.

Tap *Thump* tap. Tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.

A-P-E

Again, the older-teenager seemed to deny the message.

"Stay away from me! Stay away!" She cried, pleading.

*Smack!*

She gasped from the sudden smack to the face, startling her.

"Leo!" Donatello cried, not believing what his brother just did to the girl.

'Sorry, April. But, you needed to stop.'

Even so, you could've been a bit gentle with her.

A red-mark began to color on her cheek underneath his palm, which she laid a hand over. Sky-blue eyes remained wide, still shocked and full of fear. Yet, also realization.

She recognized the softness of his hand through his wrappings, along with the feeling of knuckles popping out from underneath his skin.

"L-... L-Leo?" She whispered. "I-I-It's really y-y-y-you?"

An exhausted sigh left his lungs, as he used his left-hand to send an answer.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap *Thump* tap-tap-tap-tap.

Y

She swallowed past a lump that formed in her throat, as her grip to his right-hand tightened and she leaned into his touch, eyes clenched tight as tears formed in her eyes.

"L-L-Leo!" She cried, leaning forward to rest against his plastron, relieved but still fearful.

Karasu chose to fly off of her big brother's shoulders, landing on Don's computer desktop to stand on.

"L-Leo! The b-b-bats! Dad! T-T-T-They're-...! -Her eyes clench tight.- I'm a-a-afraid to open m-m-my eyes! I-I can't h-h-hear t-t-t-them, but I-I-I know t-they're s-s-still h-h-h-here!"

The blue-masked turtle gently pulled his hand off of her cheek, but didn't force her to let go of his hand, which she pulled to her chest.

'She can't hear them, anymore?'

Don must be right; the pollen must only be effective, if they're awake. Or, at the very least, their eyes are open!

'Only one way to find out.' "...April."

April gasped at the sound of his voice. But, not of fear, but of hope.

She begin to open her eyes, only for Leo to quickly shield them, forcing her eyelids to close.

"Yame." He hissed. "Keep them close, April. Whatever that mushroom did to you, only seems to work if you keep your eyes open."

"'M-Mushroom'?" April repeated, confused.

Donatello took the moment to come in, kneeling beside his brother.

"A mutated fungi, to be precise, April." He answered, a bit excited when it seemed like the red-head can finally hear them.

The sixteen year-old girl jumped to his voice.

"D-Donnie?" She called out.

"Yes. It's me, April." The purple-masked turtle answered, excited and happy. "Listen, April. I'm sorry for scaring you, earlier, but I need to make a quick swab to figure out what kind of pollen you were sprayed with."

He then went over to Karasu, who pulled back when he tried to take the tweezer from her and flew up to avoid his grabs.

Recalling seeing a bat-face on a turtle's body, extending a screeching bat towards her, made April screamed and pull away from Leonardo's hand to bury her face into his plastron.

"No...! NO!" She cried. "PLEASE, DON'T!"

To her rejection, Don stopped trying to get the tweezer from Karasu to stare down at the crying, trembling girl that seeks the comfort within his brother.

The sight, alone, made him angry.

"April, you need to understan-" He argue, coming over to pull her off of his brother.

His actions resulted April to slap his hand off of her.

"Stay away from me, Donnie!" She yelled. "I-I can't...! I-I-I'm sorry, but I d-d-don't...! I-I want L-L-Leo to do i-it!"

The blue-masked turtle saw the hurt, disbelief and shock on his svelte brother.

...Total rejection...

Upsilon-Sister April harsh on Theta-Brother Donatello. Influenced by fear, yet still harsh.

'Great. And I know after this, Don's gonna think I'm trying to steal her from him.'

Donatello wanted to argue, to insist that he does it, but before he could say anything else, Leo let out a whistle for Karasu to come to him, raising his right-hand open for the bird to hand him the tweezer.

The raven/crow-hybrid flew down and hovered beside her brother, gently depositing the tweezer into his hold, before going over to keep Michelangelo company, who seem to know better than to speak up and get himself involved in this drama.

Leo stared down at his imprinted sister.

"All right, April." He whispered, gently bringing the swab down to her red-cheek. "I'm going to make a quick swipe for your cheek. Okay? It'll be quick. I promise. Just, keep your eyes close, for a bit longer."

The redhead nodded her head against his neck.

"I trust you, Leo." She whispered, keeping still the best she could.

When she felt a quick stroke of her cheek, she did flinched a bit, but reminded herself that Leo wouldn't lie to her. And when she, indeed, felt it was a cotton swab and not a bat that she assumed it was, earlier, made her rising fear die down, even if by a little bit.

the fifteen year-old turtle smiled gently at the girl.

"You did good, Ane (Sister [older sister])." He praised, as he extended his hand to his sulking brother, who swiped the tweezer from out of his hand and dropped it into a beaker of liquid.

The liquid went from clear to yellow, as he gently swirled the beaker to mix the liquid with the collected pollen from the swab.

"April's been exposed to toxins found in certain types of fungi." He informed, fascinated. "That mushroom must've produced them as a defense mechanism."

Mikey, ever so curious, couldn't help but ask.

"Defense from what? Being chopped up, and served on pizza?" He asked, imagining mini-blue mushrooms popping up from pizza and all jumping towards him, making him yelp a bit from the thought of them coiling over his face, again. "No thank you, but even I wouldn't want to eat them."

Leonardo shook his head from his brother's opinion, as he turned back to Donatello.

"Whatever kind of mushroom they are, it's very clear that it's involved by Mutagen." The purple-masked turtle concluded, before turning to his big brother. "Which means, if they get to the surface and release their pollens upon the humans..."

"The whole city will be infected by fear, chaos and even destruction."

---

Back into the Sewers…

Returning to the sewers to where Casey got sprayed by the mushroom, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo were all on high alert.

When they left the Lair, it was difficult of them to leave when April begged for Leo to not leave her. Clenching her eyes shut, and fearing that she'll open her eyes and see the bats. Her mutated-dad.

...In an act to spare her from risking the chance to be sucked back into her worst nightmare, the blue-masked turtle used pressure points to have her fall asleep. Gently reassuring her that when she wakes up, she'll be all right. Even insisting that Karasu will remain with them, to keep watch and, if something goes wrong, to get Splinter.

Of course, knowing Raphael would pose a great danger to them if he wakes up and breaks free from the extra chain they used on him to give Mikey back his Kusarigama, Leo used pressure point to cause temporary paralysis on his twin-brother like he did with Casey.

Hopefully, when they figure out how to put a stop to the mushroom and their spores, he'll be back and free his brother and Casey from the paralysis effect.

Though, as they continued down the similar path to where April presumably had been exposed by the pollens, they noticed that the sewer water was gone. Very rarely, the water would be cut off in the sewers, but only if by scheduled construction to improve the pipelines of New York.

And since there had been no word of such activity to take place, it meant something had either clogged the flow of the sewer waters or cut it off without anybody noticing.

Leo, also, took notice that the new residential rats are nowhere to be seen or heard.

'That's odd. I never even told Karasu to inform the rats to leave the sewers, and yet their scent had already died down.'

And speaking of scent, the smell of spores and fungi grew more as they walked further down the tunnels.

They probably smelled the spores and, since mushrooms aren't good for their digestive system, probably left for the surface to get away from the smell.

Rodents can sense Danger. Know Pup will handle Danger. Be prepare.

'Right.'

As he turned the corner, he was the first to take notice of the obvious changes done in the tunnels: Purplish, blue and hints of ooze-like green particles of root-like structure and thread-like fungus bed to the ceiling. Some of the fungus parts, mostly the big part of the threat, seem to be beginning the states of growing odd tear-drop fungi. Others look like fungal-version of pine needle leaves.

He then realize, looking down to where the water flows through, that the structure was blocking the rest of the tunnels.

When his brothers turned the corner and saw what he was seeing, they were just as stunned by the sight.

"Ooh. What is that stuff?" Michelangelo asked, never seeing anything like that in the sewers, before.

"It's fungal mycelium, where mushrooms come from." Donatello answered, looking around to see the condition of the fungal all around them.

As they entered the fungal-covered tunnels, Mikey was the first to look down and panic.

"You mean like all these, right here?!" He exclaimed, seeing multiple bundle of mushrooms growing from a group, while a few single big mushrooms were reaching maturity.

Leonardo was just as disturbed by the sight of them, Donatello sneered at the plant.

"Fungus grows like crazy in the dark." He stated, kneeling down to get a better look at their growth. "If we don't stop these by sundown, the mushrooms will spread all over the city!"

Leo growled lowly at the thought of harm coming upon the people of New York. His mind going from the little girl, Chloe, he played tea party with to help her understand why her father can't always spend time with her, to his half-sister, Miwa, whom had been fed with lies and not know she's been raised by the murderer of her mother.

"We can't let them get to the humans," he snarled.

Donatello, after done examining the fungus, looked towards the wall of fungal mycelium, blocking the rest of the way of the sewers. He walked towards the wall, a bit grossed out by having to touch it, reached out and pulled a large piece of it down.

...

...

...They were taken back of the miraculous development of the fungal mycelium within it.

The entire sewers, the walls, bricks and cement, completely covered in fungal mycelium. Massive dew-like fungus growing either on the ground or ceiling. Multiple amount of mushrooms growing all around.

That bad feeling of something not right sent shivers down Leo's back, as he was the first to walk in and take the lead.

'It's worse than we thought,' he analyzed. 'We probably have until an hour or two, until it spreads throughout the entire sewers and make their way to the surface.'

The three brothers continued onward down the newly-formed tunnel of fungal mycelium, ignoring the odd, squishy sensation of fungus that covered the ground.

If this is caused by one of the canister of mutagen, how did it get all the way down here?

Human neglect. Metal contraption. Rodents, unintentionally. Multiple possibility. Either down unsealed manhole-cover, or down water-drain.

'However it got down here, we need to find it and get rid of these mushrooms.' Leo thought, as they walked past a troop of mushroom

Iiierrp!

Eeeaup~! Chirp-chirp!

Danger! Threat!

Immediately, as one of the mushrooms ran past his feet, Leonardo pulled out both of his swords.

"Guys, get out your weapons!" He ordered, looking all around when he heard more clicks of chirps.

While Michelangelo followed suit by bringing out his nunchaku, Donatello gave his big brother a puzzling look and looked over his shoulders to see what his brother is seeing.

"Why, Leo? We're not in danger. There's no threat, here." He stated, not in the least worried... Until, after hearing more chirps over his head, he looked up and realized why his brother told them to get out their weapons. "Or not."

The mushrooms over them dropped down, most standing before them and in their path. Appearing to be ready to fight, despite their small stature and very frail bodies.

Michelangelo sighed nervously, not wanting to go through the mushrooms to go for his face, again.

"Fungus balls." He sighed out.

Leonardo snarled at the mushrooms, as he and his brothers readied their weapons for a fight.

"Attack your ways through them," he instructed them. "No matter what, stay together."

Seeing the turtles aren't going to back down, a troop of them growled lowly at them, yellow-eyes glaring, until they all leap towards them. Charging head on.

At the same time, Don, Leo and Mikey launched themselves straight at them.

"Booyakasha!" Michelangelo cried out, using Lee to slap the charging mushrooms away from him.

Some of them fell to the ground, stunned from the blow to the head, before ending up being sliced in half by Leonardo's Katanas and/or stabbed Donatello's hidden blade of his Naginata Bō.

A couple of the mushrooms released small amount of spores when they got sliced or stabbed, but none of their pollen were able to reach for their faces to infect them with their toxins. Others tried to grab their heads, but their groans and chirps would give them away to being pinned to the wall and/or ground.

As they continued to advance forward, Mikey decided to jump on top of a number of mushrooms' head. All of which, made a couple of air deflating from either their heads and/or slits of their mouths.

"Check it out. Super Mikey Brothers!" The orange-masked turtle exclaimed, as he jumped from one shroom to the next.

Leo, after stabbing a shroom, looked over to his brother, who wasn't paying attention, treating the fight like a game.

He then noticed a shroom launched itself towards his brother

"Mikey, look out!" He cried out, but it was too late.

The shroom landed flat on his plastron, before shifting itself to his shell when he landed on the ground and crawled up to coil itself around his head.

"Get it off! Get it off!" Michelangelo cried, grasping his head to pry the mushroom off.

Donatello, closest, brought down his Bō to whack the fungi off of his baby brother. Of course, the mushroom was slippery and avoided the blow, ending up avoiding the hit and having the orange-masked turtle get whacked upside the head.

"Oops, sorry. My bad." The purple-masked turtle apologized to his dazed brother, who was walking, uncontrollably, away from his older-brother.

...

...Before they realized it, the mushroom released two spurts of spores in the air and Mikey, still recovering from being whacked, walked in to the cloud of spores.

He coughed from the pollen... Then, feeling his stomach getting upset, held a hand to his mouth before puking up... Nothing?

Leonardo looked over to his hunched over brother, tried to go aid his brother, before being blocked by two mushrooms charging for him.

Focus on the fight! We can't get distracted!

One went to grab his head, only to screech when Leo snapped his teeth at its root-like limb and, with one strong crunch, screamed when it lost its arm before being sliced in two. The second mushroom, landed on his plastron and was ready to release its spores, only for Leo to make a quick grab for its head and yanked it off of his body, slamming it to the ground and stabbing it with Kamiizumi.

A few more mushrooms came for him, which he made quick work at slicing in half, as he struggled to get to his brother.

...Then, without warning, Michelangelo screamed in terror when he looked over towards his blue-masked brother.

"Squirranoid!" He screamed in terror, before running off deeper into the tunnels.

After launching himself in the air and cutting a fifth mushroom in half, Leonardo looked over and saw his baby brother running off.

"Mikey, wait! Teishi (Stop!)!" He cried, gasping a bit out of breath. 'I need to go get him!'

Wait! We can't leave Don!

Speaking of his brother, Leonardo looked behind him, watching his genius brother twirl his Bō around before smack a few out of the way and slicing up three. Not knowing an eighth mushroom coming up from behind.

"Donnie! Watch out!" Leo warned, running as fast as he could towards the mushroom.

Sadly, the fungi released its pollen to Donatello's face, infecting him with its pollen.

He fell to his knees, coughing from the pollen, before groaning.

Leonardo, who cut the mushroom in half, turned to his younger-brother.

"We need to go find Mikey!" He stated, before slicing three more mushrooms into pieces. "We need to make a run-...!"

"A-April? Wh-What's wrong with you?!" Donatello cut him off, staring at him with a look of fear.

Leo's Cerulean/sapphire eyes grew with concern, as his brother began to shuffle away from him and then, grasped his head and cried out "April hates me! She hates me!"

Oh, no! He's lost into his fear, too!

Knock Theta-Brother Donatello unconscious! Now!

When Don got to his feet and took a few steps towards the exit, Leonardo sheathed his swords to pin his brother down, using his left-arm to hold his head in place and used his right-hand to hit the pressure point.

"Sorry, Donnie." He whispered, as his brother's body tensed from underneath his hold before collapsing, unconscious.

Behind you!

Quickly, he pulled out Musashi and, launching off of his brother's shell, pinned the mushroom against the wall.

...

...

...Then, before it died, released its pollen onto his face.

He pulled away from the mushroom, coughing into his arm. His vision seemed to color in a mixture of blue and yellow.

...

...And when he looked down at Donatello, his eyes grew when he saw blood seeping in from underneath him. Followed by slash marks covering his shells, chunk of carapace scattered like tree bark and showing exposed muscles.

"...Iie..." He muttered, backing away from his unconscious brother, as he continued to cough out the pollen. "...Iie...! Sore wa hontōde wanai... ! (It's not real...!) Genjitsu no hazu ga nai…! (It can't be real...!)"

When he stared down at his sword, he was taken back when he saw the reflection of his wolf-form... From behind him, a silhouette of a humanoid-rat, glaring angrily down at him. Raising a jade-sword over his head.

Get hold of self, Pup! Not real! What Pup see, not real!

"Anata wa watashi no musukode wa arimasen."

He turned to face where the silhouette was once was, only to find nothing there.

His breathing picked up, as his heart raced.

Focus, Leo! Find the source! Need to put an end to whatever is causing this to happen!

Eeeaup~! Iiierrp! Chirp-chirp!

Leonardo turned to the sound... And watches as a troop of mushroom mutant, forming into a line.

...

...

...

...And... Dancing?

All around him, blue mushrooms coming from behind corners, hovering in the air, dancing, twirling. Forming a circle all around him.

'...What. The. Hell?'

Are they... Dancing?!

Get out! Leave! NOW!

Snarling, Leonardo let out a scream and swiped Musashi at them.

They scattered away from his attack. Then, coming from both sides of his head, two mushrooms released their pollen to his face.

Choking from the spores, Leo swiped his sword, blindly, in the air, backing up what he assumed to be the wall.

...

...Instead, he falls off the ledge of the floor, which had been turned into a giant mushroom head, and headed straight down through the fungal mycelium wall and falls into the darkness.

His eyes were wide, as the light above him died down, and then, he knew nothing.

---

Within the Darkness…

…It's so dark...

Leonardo slowly opened his eyes, finding himself floating in nothingness.

He feels nothing. Not even the slightest of a breeze, let alone the coldness that the sewers will bring.

'W-... Where am I?' He thought, confused and in a slight daze. 'W-... What happened?'.

...As if to answer him, multiple voices of his brothers, along with Splinter, echoed all around him.

"You've lied to us!"

A flash imagery of Michelangelo, missing his left-arm, both knees clawed away from any skin to reveal muscle and bones and scarred arms, jumped before him.

"You're a monster!"

Donatello's appearance had him with his neck shaved off of skin and blood gushing from where his vocal cords are at, both hands shattered by the sight of some bones peeking beneath his flesh and head looking as if it went through a meat grinder, flashed.

"You ain't no brother of ours!"

Raphael's right-eye was gone, leaking with blood. The upper-left of his plastron a massive, two sliced claw-mark and exposing muscle and organs underneath his plastron.

...Then, there was his right-foot. It looked mangled, showing signs of an animal with a strong bite-force that twisted it and left him to hobble around a permanently damage leg.

He grabbed at Leonardo's face, making such a declaration.

"Anata wa watashi no musukode wa arimasen."

...The blue-masked turtle didn't want to see what his father's image look like.

...

...

...Though, the taste of copper flowed from his mouth, like a faucet. And when he opened his mouth, blood and bone of humanoid-rat came out.

...From the reflection of the blood, he sees himself, as a wolf... Tearing, chomping and ripping the remains of his father's body. Devouring his own father.

'...No...'

Their voices echoed all around him, making his brain slam heavily against his skull, as his heart continues to increase its speed.

'No...!' He chanted in his head, as he felt his lungs becoming lead and steam of heat boiling over through his throat.

"No!"

The instant he sat up, he found himself in some odd cave, surrounded and covered in glowing blue, green and purple of fungal mycelium. The fungal mycelium beneath felt so thick, it was almost like moss in a jungle.

Instantly, finding Musashi still beside him, grabbed for his sword and quickly got to his feet. Trying to breathe as slowly as he could to gain control over his emotions.

"Fight your fear. Don't let it get to you." He chanted to himself, growling lowly.

Keep your head straight, and fight it.

THREAT! BEHIND PUP! THREAT!

A low groan of a growl rumbled from behind him, and when he slowly turned to see what it was that made the noise, he was taken aback by the physical appearance of the being.

It was a large mushroom cap, with a large center blue-eye and, from the top of its head, several other eyes. Its base consists of a swollen mass of fungus... And, after making eye-contact with the creature, he sees what he and Donatello had speculated to being the case from its "chest".

"Mutagen." He hissed, as he pulled out Kamiizumi from its sheath.

"TASTE...! FEAR...!"

A deep, heavy voice echoed in the air, coming from the giant mushroom before him.

Leonardo winced from the pressure building up in his head, shaking his head and groaning.

That thing. Its the cause of what teveryone is experience!

Inside Pup's head. Get out of Pup's head!

He laid a hand, careful to not scratch himself with Kamiizumi, as he dropped to his head.

"MORE... FEAR...!"

The mushroom proclaimed, which seem to agitate the smaller-mushrooms to pop out from everywhere.

"STRONGER! SPREAD, MY SPAWNS!"

He can feel through the vibration through the ground and the chirping sounds of the mushroom creature, indicating that he's surrounded.

Leo struggled to fight the pressure, ignoring the flashing of his brothers and father's damaged, bleeding body jumping in his mind.

"Fight it," he growled to himself. "Fight them...!"

You've been exposed to their toxins, three times. They must be getting stronger, the more you get yourself exposed by their spores.

Focus, Pup. Giant Shroom messes with thoughts. Not real! Get canister!

"SPREAD, SPAWNS!"

To the command of the giant mushroom, the smaller mushroom creature charged for the turtle, who snapped.

"TATAKAI (FIGHT!)!" He roared, bringing out both swords to swipe at the few mushroom that chose to leap on his fallen form.

"FEED..." The giant mushroom rumbled, as more mushrooms charged for the blue-masked turtle.

A quick swipe to the left, one mushroom went down. A swipe to behind him on his right, another split in two. Another quick reflex to bring up Musashi to cut up another mushroom, before launching himself to attack a fourth mushroom and charging forward, swiftly bringing both Katanas in the air to kill three mushrooms at the same time.

More mushrooms continued to charge, making up the loss on their end by the bundle.

Your left!

Immediately, Leonardo shifted his footing to swipe from the left to the right, killing two more.

More mushroom creatures charge for the overwhelmed fifteen year-old.

Too many! Soon, overpower Pup!

'I can't back down!' Leo thought back, impaling four mushroom creature in the middle.

He did lost his footing a bit, resulting him to roll before getting back on his feet, panting.

Above!

Before he could take a swipe at them, two mushrooms each took an arm, curling around his arms, as a third landed on his left-shoulder and, before he could make a grab for it with his teeth, released a fourth spray of pollen into his face.

"Ah!" Leo yelled, coughing from the spore that hit his face and got into his eyes, making him stumble a bit to his right.

...He then came face-to-face with another mushroom, who quickly released a fifth amount of spores into his face.

He hissed, pulling his head up, before the third mushroom on his shoulder curled around his neck to make him bend his head, getting a sixth spray of spore into his face.

Soon, other mushroom creatures came after him, forming a circle around his hunched over form.

His heart rate skyrocketed, his eyes dilated a bit and his breathing became a bunch of small pants, as three more spurts of pollen sprayed into his face.

Fight it! Keep going!

Don't submit! Never give in!

After being sprayed for the eleventh time, Leonardo curled both arms around him and swiped at the air, release a small gust of wind to push away the spores and the mushroom creatures around him.

It was enough to free him from their grip, but was struggling to stand back up for a moment.

'Get up.' He told himself, slamming a fist against the squishy, fungal ground. 'Get up!'

A mushroom ran to him and was ready to release another blast of pollen, but Leonardo was quick to swipe at it. And then, with a sudden burst of fight-or-flight, let out a roar of a scream, charging for the mushrooms that continue to overwhelm him.

The sound of his heartbeat banged against his eardrums, as he slice, stab and even bitten every mushroom that came within his line of vision.

'Kill... Kill... KILL!' He thought, not showing to slow down or stop his persistence, even when some of the mushrooms begin to pull back and make a run for it.

Unfortunately for them, there was no escaping a feral, enrage humanoid-wolf/turtle, blasted with eleven spurts of fear toxins to push him to keep fight.

After stabbing at mushroom creature thirty-one, he turned his attention back at the giant mushroom... Only, without warning, blue-glowing tendrils, shaped like mushroom, shot up from the ground, extending up near the ceiling, before coming down for him. Most likely, to capture him to enforce more fear pollen onto him.

It's getting desperate!

Pull back! Don't let appendages grab Pup!

Leonardo was quick to pull back, swiping his swords to cut off a few of the tendrils.

It's trying to back you up into a corner! Use the terrain to your advantage!

DANGER! DANGER!

As he continued to back away further towards the wall and dodging the tendrils, Leonardo looked up and saw that the giant mushroom seemed to have launched its many eyes from its head, aiming for him.

It can launch its own eyes?! Are they full of spores, too?!

MOVE!

After making a quick swipe for another tendril, Leo immediately ran towards the wall, dodging the eyeballs that exploded into small clouds of pollen.

Quickly! The wall! Use the mushrooms!

Taking his Conscious' advice, Leonardo jumped to the large mushrooms like platforms, jumping from one mushroom to the next to dodge the tendrils that tried to slam him against the wall to try and capture him in their coils.

After a third attempt to be grabbed, Leonardo launched himself away from the wall to try and get a hit in on the giant mushroom. Both swords aimed for its head.

...

...

...Instead, the giant mushroom released another one of its eyeball and, like a cannonball, sent him flying back against the wall, imploding into a cloud of pollen. Exposed to the toxin for a twelfth time*.

He hit the wall of fungal mycelium, gasping from the impact, before he began to fall to the ground.

...

...The next thing the blue-masked turtle knew, when he reached the ground, was that he was back in the darkness.

---

'No... Not again...!' He thought, knowing what was yet to come.

Three, large figures of his brothers, all having the same injuries he last saw of them within the darkness. Though, this time, their eyes are all blank with darkness. Once again, using the same words that made his heart sting, like whip making contact to flesh.

"You've lied to us!"

"You're a monster!"

"You ain't no brother of ours!"

As they continued to talk down on him, their blood pooled down beneath his feet, showing his wolf-form... This time, instead of showing of him killing their father... It showed of him, turning his fangs onto his own brothers... Showing that he, himself, either as a wolf or even his turtle-self, was the cause to their injuries.

To add more to the horror, not only is he now in his wolf-form, but also has his muzzle and claws coated in blood.

"How could you keep this from us?!"

"You're pathetic!"

"Keep away, Monster!"

Leonardo curled in on himself, ears flattened and whimpering.

"I'm not-...! I would never-...!" He winced, trying to block out their voices. "I just wanted to protect you all, from ever learning what the mutagen had done to me...! To not have you be afraid of my other self!"

"Yet, your second form won't be enough to defeat me!"

His Cerulean/sapphire eyes grew when he heard the new voice.

It wasn't Splinter. Nor, was it April or Casey.

...

...

...As he looked over his shoulder, fire spread all around him and the figure that slowly walked towards him. Long, steel claws extended from the figure's arms, scraping against the non-existing ground beneath them.

...

...

...

...His eyes grew, as he looked into the cold, empty gaze of the figure that now stood before him... The Shredder.

Leonardo was so taken back by the enemy to his father and his clan, that he slowly backed away from the steel-covered human, but only took two steps back when he hit a non-existing wall.

"No... This can't be real..." He whimpered, curling his tail against his right-leg

"Oh, Hamato Leonardo, it can be real. And, at this rate, it will be real." Oroku Saki taunted, chuckling at the whimpering, scared wolf. "And one day, when your little secret gets out, you'll be all alone. Cast aside from the rat that had taken Tang Shen away from me and those mutant freaks you claim to be your brothers, when you've been keeping secrets on what truly happened to the brother they assumed is like the rest of them."

Without warning, a hand grabbed for the back of Leo's neck, grabbing his scruff, lifting him up in the air and... A single, hidden dagger came out from his left-arm, pulled back and ready to stab the black-wolf.

"And when that day finally arrives, I'll be ready to make my move, and finally have my revenge on Hamato Yoshi and those pesky brothers of yours!"

The hidden shot straight for the wolf-morphed Leo, who screamed when the blade came towards him, aimed for his eye.

He clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the blow.

...

...Only, to find himself alone in the dark. On the ground, and now in his turtle-form.

...

...

...Hovering in the middle of the air of the darkness, one of his Katanas, Musashi, stood before can see his own reflection staring right back at him. Not as his wolf-form, but just himself.

Then, like lightning, his imagery flashed to Splinter.

"All leaders must face the fear of losing their team."

Leo could only stare at the reflection of his humanoid/rat father, before it flashed back to his own reflection.

...

...He had a look that's crossed between sorrow, confusion and anger. A look that showed him biting his own tongue, as pressure and tension grew in his head and chest.

He glared at the reflection, as he reached for his beloved Musashi.

"I never asked to become leader," he said to the sword. "I made it clear that I didn't want to be the leader, and yet, you still refuse to listen and gave me a position I never asked for!"

The reflection remained as himself, but he continued to yell at the reflection off his sword, as if expecting his father to show himself, again.

"I want my freedom! That's all I ever wanted! I never wanted to become a weapon, a tool, to the pack! Why must you defy me of my wants, when I keep giving myself to you and the others' demands and wants?!"

"You still don't get it. Do you, Mutt?"

Leonardo froze. Not believing what he just heard.

'...It can't be...'

"Oh, but it is, Mutt. Or, should I say, Moon Scar? Though, from the way you're acting and so easily giving in to Fear, I'm beginning to wonder if you truly deserve the name I'd given you, five years ago."

Leonardo slowly turned his head, staring at the figure he hadn't seen in so long.

The beast of the sewers... Whom, unknowing to others, is Leatherhead's half-brother.

White Death.

The blue-masked turtle growled lowly at the Albino-allidile.

"Why are you here?"

The mighty beast let out a loose rumble of a chuckle.

"Aww. Have you no heart to greet an old acquaintance? It's been five years ago, after all. Hell, I even allowed you keep my oldest fang, and the first thing you respond with is asking me why I'm here?" The allidile stated, as he slightly lifted his head to expose part of his underbelly, slightly lifting his right-claw. "You wound me, Boy."

Leonardo turned to fully face the beast. Even after it being ten years, the albino-allidile, an illusion or not, is still just as big and threatening as he remembered. In fact, he was just as he remembered the very day he left the sewers. Only, his left-eye was pale and blank, indicating that he's blind in his left-eye and has the massive scarring on his pale-back.

'Am I so lost into my fears, that I'm having past memories bleed into my emotions?' He wondered, very confused as to why he's seeing the Albino-allidile when he had stopped thinking about him for a long time. "How are you even here? You're not my worst fears."

To that, White Death glared back at the turtle, slamming his claw back down to the ground.

"You think I wanted to be here, Kid? Believe me when I tell you, that I have nothing to do with it; the real me is still alive, remember." He stated, as he jerked his jaw towards the blue-masked turtle. "This is all on you. Or, at the very least, I'm the memory of the real me, who'd been dragged into this little shit-show you're going through by that nuisance of a fungi."

Leo wasn't certain if he should believe whatever this demon is saying to him to be true or not, but because, for some reason, he can't discuss what he should do from either his Conscious or Instinct, he'll have to take his word on it, since he was right that White Death is still alive and still living at Gatorland in Colorado.

"...All right," he reluctantly agreed. "If what you're saying is true, then why are you suddenly here all of a sudden, when you're the farthest thing in the back of my mind to ever pop up in my head at a time like this? Why not Faunus?"

The allidile slowly stalked towards the boy, glaring right back at the fifteen year-old humanoid-wolf/turtle.

"A better question would be: Why the absolute fuck are you giving in to the fear of your float, your 'pack', rejecting you?! Exiling you out for who you are, when you've already made peace with the outcome of leaving them when the threat is gone?!" He roared, as he began to walk around in a circle of the turtle. "Have you forgotten on what I'd told you, five years ago?! On what you should do, if they chose to ban you from their den?!"

Leonardo glared at the large-beast snapping at him, walking around in a circle near his space, glaring at him.

"What does it have anything to do with-?!"

"Answer the question, Mutt!" He cut him off, slapping his jaw close to the boy to make him pull back. "What do I tell you to do?!"

The blue-masked turtle snarled at the growling allidile.

"You told me to not shed a tear for them," he answered. "That the only person I need to lookout for, is myself."

White Death nodded his head, slightly slamming his tail against the non-existing ground.

"What else?"

...He didn't want to say.

Again, White Death hissed lowly, slamming his tail against the ground, again. Hard.

"What? Else?! Boy!"

Leonardo clenched both hands to his head.

"...That my fa-... My Sensei will have to face fact, that even the most tamed and trained warrior one day turn on their master, in order to protect the clan from their foes... Even if that enemy has to be one of their own... A monster."

The flashing imagery of his wolf-self, attacking and slaughtering his brother, his sensei, came flooding into his mind. Their words, their voices, echoing in his mind.

"You've lied to us!"

"You're a monster!"

"You ain't no brother of ours!"

"Anata wa watashi no musukode wa arimasen."

"Enough!"

White Death's voice boomed out, silencing the voices of his brothers and sensei's voices. And when he pinned the humanoid-wolf/turtle to the ground, right-claw sprawled over his plastron, the imageries left his mind and all he could see the glaring eye of the albino-allidile.

"Yes. You are a monster." He confirmed, which brought in no relief to the teenager. "However, you should already come to term that those who appear to be monsters can turn out to be protectors, even more civilid than non-monstrous beings. After all, monsters aren't born to become monsters. They chose the path to be monsters. -The imagery of him, in his wolf-form, hunting and killing his sensei, harming his brothers, reappeared behind the allidile.- Do you truly believe that you'll turn your fangs onto the rat, when you had every opportunity to do so, after he forced the responsibility as Alpha to your brothers? Let alone, your kins and allies, when you chose to return to your pack and had embraced and bonded with your second-self?"

Looking back, there was never an instant thought that Leonardo would even consider the joy of spilling the blood of his clan. Even when the stress would get to him. Even when he stood up to Splinter when he, himself, gave in to his own fear of Shredder hunting them down and killing them.

Not once, at any moment, he thought about harming his family. Physically, mentally or even emotionally.

"...N... No." He answered, honest with the answer.

Yet, at the same time, confused.

'I should know better than to listen to my nightmares, the reflection of my greatest fear. So, why did I nearly give in to it?'

"The obvious answer, Boy. You're still thinking, as a human."

Leonardo was taken aback by White Death's answer to his non-verbal question... Which, suddenly, gave him the answer to his question, earlier.

"...You're here, in place of my Instinct."

...

...The albino-allidile slowly pulled away from the humanoid-wolf/turtle, allowing him to get back on his feet. He now sat down before him.

The look the beast had became serious and stern.

"...Do you finally get it now, Boy? What this is all about?"

The blue-masked turtle could only stare at his right-eye and blind eye, as he slowly began to gather what's been going on.

"...It was never about my fear of being rejected by my pack. Nor, was it about my fear of letting them down as leader or that I'll one day turn on them. Was it?"

The albino-allidile nodded his head.

"...It's about me being fearful of the unknown future, on if I'll ever gain the freedom I crave for or if I'll remain as the Clan's Tool until the day I die. -he stared down at his hands.- And, when I do leave them, will I be able to accept the consequences of them getting killed when I cut myself out of their lives?"

He should've known these thoughts would one day catch up to him, especially since his dreams had been filled with the same nightmare. It was probably why he'd been having them for weeks, triggered after his talk with Buck when he tried to convince him to tell his pack the truth.

And, because of the giant mushroom's toxin to bring out his deepest fear of them finding out the truth, made the nightmare so real that used his fear to trick him into believe the fear to be real.

"Again. You're still thinking like a human, Moon Scar." White Death proclaimed, shaking his shoveled-head from side-to-side. "Fear is irrational, by nature. As such, should never be relevant to what goes on for us animals in our lives. Even domesticated animals will one day give in to the call of their ancestral heritage to hunt for their food, run to taste the wind and feel the earth, and to find strong mate to ensure strong bloodline. -He nodded to the fifteen year-old.- You heed to the Voice of Instinct. You are just as entitled to your desire for freedom, just as any other mammal on this planet do."

Leo shook his head.

"I'm mostly animal, but I have human-DNA in me, too."

White Death snorted to his words.

"You are born an animal. That is fact, plain and simple. Even if mutagen merged you to be human-like, you're still animal. Still have anatomy of turtle, as true-self. Does that mean you should be like one of your kin, to follow your human thoughts and emotions, and try to mate with female-humans? To conduct the act of Beastiality?"

To that, Leonardo snarled at the large-beast.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

The albino-allidile nodded in approval.

"Then, what is to stop you from your freedom?" He questioned, as he slightly raised a clawed-paw in the air, waving it as he spoke. "Your fear of your pack rejecting you, before or after you rid away the threat to your float? If they find out and do decide to cast you out, you can still protect them from afar. You'll be a lone-canine, but you'll uphold your promise to the rat's deceased mate. Though, if they do reject you, then they're great fools to shun you for something you didn't do and don't truly deserve your strength and protection, after years of caring and watching over them. And when you do leave the city, away from your pack? Yes, they'll one day die. But, guess what? Death is part of Life. We all die, eventually. And don't forget: That rat-father of yours did told you all when you were little hatchlings that one day, you'll have to forge your own path. So, you choosing your freedom, that'll be the path you'll choose and they'll have to accept your decision. Whether they like it or not."

The blue-masked turtle was shocked by what the albino-allidile was suggesting. How everything he was saying was true, and was even, somewhat, touched that the beast would state his family would be such fools to reject him after everything he'd done for them.

Though, there was still some doubt in his head.

"Yet, if they do, somehow, accept me for who I am right now, and after everything with the Shredder is dealt with and it's time for us to find our own path, will they even let me go? Will they, eventually, grow tire of me and come to realize they made a mistake for accepting my wolf-side?"

...

...A solemn, mourning look spread on White Death's face.

Then, he took the few steps before Leo to be face-to-face with him.

"...Do you wanna know what's worse than them rejecting your wolf-side? Is by rejecting a part of you, they, in essence, reject all of you."

A stabbing pain shot through his chest... A fact that he knows to be true.

"However, do you wanna know what's more terrifying of others rejecting you? You rejecting yourself, because of others."

...

...

...He knew that the apparition of the albino-allidile was right... And for a fact that, while he does listen to his Conscious from time-to-time, which could basically be a representation of his human-side, he hated his human-self and being forced into becoming an abomination by nature because of Kraang.

And, in a way, blames Splinter for the cause of his mutation, too, for being the human-DNA transferrer to cause him to become a humanoid/wolf-turtle.

White Death let out a deep sigh, seeing the blank look on Leonardo's face... What he said next, was something all too familiar to the turtle. As if to remind him to what he already knows.

"Many believe fear and terror to be much the same thing, but nothing could be further from the truth." He stated, while he lifted his shoveled-head in the air and slammed a clawed-paw against the ground. "All who know true terror, fear nothing. And while that giant mushroom is able to bring out your worst fear through its toxins, it can't bring out the terrifying truth that resides in you. Not even the mutagen is able to grant it the power to do so, meaning what it might possess can't comprehend to your own."

His Cerulean/sapphire-eyes widened in shock, as he lifted his head to stare up at White Death's right-eye.

"Now, Moon Scar, are you going to continue to give it power through the fear you face everyday, since the day you became what you are, today? Or, are you finally going to accept the terror within and use it as your strength to confront it?"

---

The giant mushroom stared down at the kneeling turtle, his shell facing it. Confused, and curious.

One moment, the turtle was going through his fears. And the next... There's nothing.

...

...

...Then, a low chuckle left the turtle. Which then slowly grew to laughing. A dark, craze laughter.

This wasn't the reaction the giant mushroom was expecting on getting from any of its victims.

The laughter echoed all around them, lasting for seconds, which felt like minutes... Maybe, even a lifetime.

Then, when the laughter died down, a low chuckle came out, again. Followed by a smirk.

...Then, with his shell still facing the giant mushroom as he reached for Kamizumii to put back in his sheath, he spoke.

"You think you found an ally through darkness, by fear? Do you comprehend the power you were gifted with?"

As he spoke, his body began to shift from his turtle-self to his wolf-form, giving off a faint white glow. And when he turned his head to stare up at the mushroom, his eyes were closed.

"The same power I was forced into...?"

...When he opened his eyes, they held the same Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes, but showed more of the moon's color... And, the sclera of the eyes, instead of white, was pitched black.

The giant mushroom's eye widened from the eye-contact.

Without a second thought, the fungi had three of its tendrils rise from the ground, aiming them to grab the black-wolf.

In response, Leonardo grabbed for Musashi with his fangs and turned to face the tendrils, snarling at the upcoming threat.

...Only, without warning, from above the ceiling, the light flashed off his sword and the moment it reflected off of the blade, the tendrils tensed and froze, trembling.

"AGH!" The giant mushroom shrieked in fear and pain.

The black-wolf lifted his lips to show off a smile, as he kept his grip on his sword. Finding that the giant mushroom's own fear is sunlight.

"What you posses is a mere fraction of their might," he stated. "The same might I stand unyielding against, each and every night."

Immediately, the giant mushroom released more of its eyeballs towards the turtle, as he brought down more of his tendrils to capture him.

The black-wolf snarled up at the mutant.

"For you to be frighten of sunlight, yet feed off of others' fears, you're nothing compare to them. -He snarled through his grip of his sword.- You're nothing compare to me! For I've faced my fear, every single goddamn day, and night!"

He galloped towards the tendrils, dodging the bombs in the process, before launching himself in the air to slice a tendril before landing on its body to use as a springboard to another tendril.

"KEEP AWAY! KEEP AWAY!" The giant mushroom cried, watching as the wolf climbed higher and sliced more of its tendrils in half.

It wasn't long until the black-wolf launched himself off of a tendril, flung towards his face.

In response, the giant mushroom sent another of its eyeball towards him.

Instead of dodging or blocking, the wolf morphed back into his turtle-self and caught the eyeball in his right-hand. Holding it close to his chest, while placing his sword in his left.

When he landed, he was right up to its eye. The sclera of his eyes still pitch black.

"YOU CLAIM TO KNOW FEAR, WHEN YOU, YOURSELF, HAVE A FEAR YOU HAVE YET TO CONQUER?! I SHALL SHOW YOU WHAT'S GREATER THAN FEAR! TRUE TERROR!" He bellowed, holding the blade close to its eye.

The giant mushroom stared at what was once its victim, no longer afraid. But had, instead, embraced his fear and overcame his nightmare.

"...WHAT... ARE YOU?" The giant mushroom asked, as he brought more of its tendrils from behind the turtle to try and make a sneak attack.

Leonardo knew what the mutated fungi was doing. As such, he gave him a dark, cold smile.

"I... Am a monster."

As soon as he answered the mutant, he thrust his left-arm forward.

...

...He stabbed the giant mushroom's eye with Musashi.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

Massive amount of pollen was released from the single stab, gushing out around the blade. Spraying straight at Leo.

And all he did was shift his grip, before pulling his long-sword from the middle to the top- right.

The tendrils, nearly scraping the turtle's carapace, froze in place, shaking violently from the overloading pain the giant mushroom was undergoing.

The spores continued to rise into the sour, as Leonardo turned and used the tendrils to run rapidly up their bodies.

"Since you want fear so much, how about you get a taste of your own?!" He yelled, scaling up the tendrils.

As soon as he neared the ceiling, finding the single crack where the light was coming from, he used the tendril as a springboard to launch himself in the air and, with all of his strength, tossed the eyeball against the crack.

He slowly began to descend back down to the ground, as the tendrils struggled to move and grab him.

...

...Then, after a big explosion, a pillar of light shined down on the blue-masked turtle.

He raised Musashi in the air, as he used his right-hand to grab Kamiizumi from its sheath to cross over its sibling.

"NOW, MUSHROOM, LIKE ALL LIVING BEINGS WHO FACES DEATH, IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO SEE THE LIGHT!" He yelled, as the reflection of the light shined down on his blades and aimed it at the wailing giant mushroom.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The whole room was engulfed in the light and, for a third time, Leonardo found himself embraced in darkness.

---

...

...He finds himself in darkness, for the third time.

...

...

...And this time, he knew that the illusions of his greatest fears aren't going to pop up. Not anymore.

He knows that the mutated mushroom and its spawn of mushroom minions are gone. And, with them gone, that should mean the sewers should be cleared from the fungal mycelium.

He feels grass underneath his skin, as the wind gently caressed his skin. He hears the river. He even smells the flowers.

...

...He's in his Haven.

And, when he finally registered the gentle strokes of a human-hand, running from his forehead to his cheek, he knew who was with him.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, looking up at the twenty-eight year-old woman who stared down at him. Having a look of great concern, but also love for her son.

"Tang Shen..." He sighed out, slowly reaching out and grasping her small-hand into his larger-ones

The woman, staring into the eyes of her son's Cerulean/sapphire-eyes, no hint of pitch black, gave him a wobbly chuckle before leaning down and pulling him into a tight hug. Covering him in her white kimono with blue-trim and blue-leaves print*.

"Musuko..." She sighed out, as she laid gentle kisses on the turtle's forehead.

Leonardo slowly shifted himself to sit up, but kept his arms around the woman when it's clear that she didn't want to let him go right now.

"Daijōbudayo, okāsan. Genkidesu (It's okay, Mother. I'm fine.)." He soothed, gently patting her on the back of her shoulder.

The young-woman slightly pulled back to stare at him in the face, as she quickly wiped the tears off from her eyes.

"Shitte iru." She replied, giving him a gentle smile. "I'm just relieved that you're all right, now."

Leo smiled softly at his mother... Only for that smile to turn into confusion, to what she said next.

"Because, now, I can do this."

...

...Without warning, she slapped him across the face.

It wasn't hard to leave an angry mark on his face, but was strong enough to sting and take him back by surprise. Even in the Dream State, many things that goes on in this world can feel as real as if he's in the Living World.

He held a hand up to his left-cheek. His wide with shock, and still very much confused.

Tang Shen's happy expression turned to fear and deep concern, with a mixture of disappointment.

She then grabbed for both of his shoulders, getting face-to-face with him.

"Do you have any idea on what you'd just pulled was stupid?!" She scolded, shaking the still stunned turtle back-and-forth. "What were you thinking?! You just went up to that monster, and chose to stab it in the eye! Not caring in the least to know that the massive dose of spores and pollen it released was more than enough to literally have your body die from fright, let alone can cause severe mental health problems and possible future panic attacks!"

Leonardo was too stunned to think up a response to the frantic woman; this was the first time he'd ever seen her look so hysterical. Let alone, physically struck him.

"Okāsan-..." He whispered, resting his left-hand onto her right-arm.

"But that's not even the worst of it: You've been exposed to so much of its mutagen, that it changed you! What it had inflicted onto you! -Tears streamed down her face, again.- How could you put yourself in such great danger like that?!"

The blue-masked turtle gently tug on the sleeve of her kimono, pulling her down slightly to get close to his face.

"I'm sorry, for making such a stupid and reckless mistake, okāsan." He apologized, looking very sincere. "There's no good reason or excuse I can give, for my actions. But, if you were put in my shoes, having something force you to relive your nightmares about your family dying or being killed, as a result by you, alone, and twist the illusions into something horrifying, would you be able to forgive the being by giving it quick and swift punishment, without having it to experience the pain and fear of others it caused?"

...

...Tang Shen let out a defeated sigh, bowing her head. Her hair falling like a veil over her head.

"...Iie." She admitted, not hesitation. "I would've probably done the same thing you had done, if a vile creature made me go through the fear and pain of my family, my Nyūyōji, being harmed in any way to use my fears to have as a source of food."

Leonardo brought both his hands to her face and gently weaved his hands through her hair to cup both cheeks into his palms, lifting her up to see the tears still falling.

He wiped them away with his thumbs.

"Regardless of my reasoning, what I've done is not something that's anywhere near honorable to uphold Bushidō." He reflected. "But, as a ninja, to know my enemy suffered the same way it made me and my clan suffer, I won't hide the fact that it made me happy to do so. That, and the fact that it was going to spread its toxins amongst the innocent people above the sewers, just to feed off on their fears, made me feel more pleased that nobody would have to experience the dark intention that the mushroom put me and my pack through. Especially, Miwa."

Bringing up the people of New York and his sister, Tang Shen can see that Leonardo didn't purposely stab the giant mushroom just to torture it in his dark moment. It was, also, to ensure none of its spawns will ever try to reach the surface world if it was sending telepathic messages for them to go up to the surface and to proceed with the release of pollen from the shadows of the city, by forcing it to go through colossus amount of pain and send pain signals to the mushroom creatures to have them undergo their master's anguish.

She can forgive him, for doing what he saw to be right for the safety of others. Yet, there was still another issue that her son doesn't seem to take into account.

"You may have good intention in your act to make your opponent suffer, Musuko, but you still don't seem to realize what the consequences of your actions had cost you." She stated, removing both hands off of Leo's shoulders to lay over his. "For what you've cursed yourself with, by facing and accepting the terror inside of you."

Leonardo gave her long, solemn look.

"Shitte iru." He confirmed, removing his hand from her face but shifted her hands to hold into his. "But, if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to find the strength to save my brothers and friends. And, yes, I know that by embracing something much greater than fear, it'll change on my view of the world I once knew. Faunus had me face something much similar, back when I ended up in Northampton after the Kraang tried to invade Earth in July. But, in a way, this is just another test for me to face. A door that I needed to open and enter, on my own. And no matter how it started or how it'll end, I'll still continue to uphold my promise to you, Okāsan, regardless of the outcome of the changes the Mutagen may have done to my body."

Then, like her many visits in the past, they noticed the sky going dark. Indicating that the sun had set, as the moon begin to rise.

Her grip clenched tightly around his gentle hold... Before she let out a shaky sigh and slowly let go of his hands. Only to then lean forward and pull him into another, tight hug.

"Yǒngyuǎn bùyào míshī fāngxiàng, érzi. (Never lose your way, son.)."

Leo brought his arms around her, returning the embrace.

It had been a while since he last heard her speak in Chinese. She may be one-fourth Chinese, from her mother's side*, and hadn't brought up much of her Chinese culture in the past when she became part of the Hamato Clan after marrying Yoshi, but made certain to never give up the heritage she was born and raised with.

"Wǒ nìngyuàn zài guāngmíng zhōng kūqì, yě bù yuàn zài hēi'àn zhōng xiào. (I would rather cry in the light, than laugh in the dark.)."

As he replied back in Chinese, as the moon's light shined down on them, both turtle-son and mother chuckled together, continued to hold each other. And, as he felt the pull to wake up, both shed tears alongside each other.

...

...He knew, it'll be a while, until he'll see her, again.

---

"Guys! I think he's waking up! I'm gonna go get Master Splinter!"

A low sigh of a groan left his throat, as he slowly begin to open his eyes. It was all pretty blurry.

...But, from the smell...

...

...The smell...

...

...He doesn't smell the scent of fungi.

He smells the scent of gravel. Of moisture.

And, to get him to wake up, he smells the scent of faint Japanese Cherry Blossom and old incense.

...

...

...He was home.

'I'm... Home?' He thought, slowly blinking to clear the blur from his vision.

Smells like it. And, from the feeling that's around us, we're wrapped up in blankets.

...Pack... Safe?

To the question, Leonardo raised an arm from underneath the covers to wipe at his eyes, trying to rid away the blurry visions.

"Awh!" "Big Brother!"

Karasu, her voice coming from in front of him, where his plastron is, made a few chirps and clicking sounds, as she walked over the covers to his arm and gently scrapped her beak against his arm.

When he seemed to have gotten rid of the blurriness in his vision, Leonardo blinked his eyes a few more times before looking down to seeing his little companion, rubbing her head against his arm and making a few low chirping sounds.

He smiled gently at the raven/crow-hybrid, turning his hand to stroke her head.

"Hey there, Karasu." He whispered. "Good to see you."

"Leo!" From above him, the blue-masked turtle, finally taking notice that he is, in fact, back in the Lair and is on the couch, looked up and saw his three brothers hovering over him. Casey stood close by, giving him a casual wave.

"It's great to see that you're finally awake, Leo." Donatello said, laying a hand on his brother's right-shoulder. "We were beginning to worry if you were ever going to wake up, after being unconscious for over seven hours."

"Yeah, Man." Casey butted in, which irritated the purple-masked turtle. "When we found you in the cave and you were non-responsive, Mikey tried to see if he needed to give you mouth-to-mouth."

The fifteen year-old turtle turned to his youngest brother... He, actually, paled a bit.

"...Please tell me you guys didn't let him do it." He begged, hoping and praying to God or whatever Kami that was listening to spare him from such an event.

They all smiled, with Casey laughing out loud and held his side, taking a few steps away so as not to appear to be laughing in his face. Raphael chuckled, shaking his head from side-to-side.

"Relax, Big Bro. None of us are that heartless to let such a fate happen to you." The red-masked turtle answered, which gave Leo a swift wave of relief. "Karasu, even pecked him on the head, for good measures."

To that, Karasu stood up tall and proud and chirped, ruffling her feathers a bit to make herself look big.

"But, if you ever do need mouth-to-mouth, Bro, don't hesitate to ask!" Mikey popped up, beaming down at his big brother.

...With an act of reflex, Leo shot a hand up to his brother's face, gently but firmly pushing him back from his personal space.

"Absolutely. Not." He stated, very stern and clear.

Then, as he went to sit up from the couch, April came walking from the Dojo, with a concern yet calm Splinter in tow.

"Leo!" She sighed, running over to sit beside him and pull him into a hug. "Thank goodness, you're finally awake!"

After getting his laughing under control, Casey came back and gently pulled her off of the seemingly still tired turtle but not enough to force her off the ledge of the couch.

"Easy there, Red." He comforted, patting her on the shoulder. "He just woke up; best give him a chance to breathe, before we all squeeze the air out of his lungs."

From behind the two humans, Leonardo can see Donatello glaring angrily at the older-teen. How he was getting too close to April.

Yet, despite tightening his fingers into a tight fist, he kept his composure and didn't lash out.

After they settled down, the fifty year-old father came before his son and laid a hand on the turtle's left-shoulder.

"It is of great relief to see you've finally awakened, Leonardo." He stated, which his facial expression told him that it was the truth. "Your brothers, April and Casey had informed me on what had occurred. And as much as we would like to hear on your part on how you've defeated the mushroom-mutants, it is pretty clear to see that you're still exhausted."

As if to suddenly make a point, Leonardo felt the build up of a yawn coming up from his chest and traveling up his throat, and when he couldn't hold it in or fight it, he covered his mouth with his hand to yawn.

Leonardo then turned to his human-friends and brothers, looking them over. Seeing them all perfectly fine and unharmed, without a single trace of fear.

"Are you guys... Really okay?"

He had to ask them, making certain that they're truly okay.

Raphael gave him a calm, serious look.

"Whatever you did, you saved us. All of us. -He gave his older-twin a proud smile.- Thanks, Man."

Leonardo returned the smile with one of gratitude.

"No problem," he sighed.

Again, another tired yawn built up from within him and let out another yawn when he couldn't hold it in.

Donatello stepped up and took his place to Splinter's left, while purposely nudging Casey to the side to make room.

"I already ran some tests on you, Leo, and there's no trace or sign of any side effects from the spores." He informed, as he extended an arm out for his brother to take to help him up on his feet. "Although, we should probably get you to wash up, just in case to rid away any pollen that may have clung to your body from your sweat. After that, we should get you something to eat and drink, before you try to fall back asleep."

"Yeah, boy." Michelangelo cheered, as he had ninja sneaked his way to the kitchen to grab a pizza box and presenting it to the others, as Leonardo accepted the tallest turtle's help to stand up. "I hope you're hungry, Bro. 'Cause, tonight, we're having an extra pizza with extra anchovies, pepperoni and -He opened the box, presenting the box on what they'll be eating.- extra mushrooms."

They all just stared down at the pizza the youngest just bought... And none of them looked happy, at all, at the sight of the mushrooms on the pizza.

...

...Then, annoyed, Raphael and Donatello both yelled, "MIKEY!" and both took off chasing him.

In response, Mikey dropped the pizza box, which, thankfully, landed safely in its box, and took off running from his two older-brothers.

"Are you for real?!" Raphael yelled, reaching a hand out to grab him by either his shell or the small tails of his bandana.

"Why can't you ever think with your head, and not your stomach?!" Donatello chimed in, raising a fist in the air.

"I swear, dudes! After a day dealing with mushrooms and Squirrelanoids, I suddenly had a craving for mushrooms! I thought everybody would be all right with it!" Mikey answered, honestly, before continuing to scream for his life when his answer seemed to make his older-brothers even more angry.

Casey and April both shook their heads at Mikey, as they both glared at the pizza and both, suddenly, lost their appetite.

"Even for Mikey, that's just wrong." April stated, groaning from her stomach growling uncomfortably.

Well, they could take the mushrooms off of their slice if they want to. But then, they may be able to still taste, let alone smell, the mushrooms off of the pizza.

Leonardo let out a tiring sigh, watching as his younger-brothers chase the youngest. On the couch, Karasu, who removed herself from Leo when Don helped him to his feet, watches the scene take place before them.

"Did Older-Brother Michelangelo forgot we got stuff to make homemade pizza, again?" She chirped, cocking her head.

A low rumble left Leo's throat.

"Very likely," he answered. "How about we get food from Murakami-San?"

To that, the two humans were quick to agree to the idea and went off to go get some food from Murakami's Restaurant, while Splinter laid a hand on his son's right-shoulder.

"Go wash up, my son." He instructed, patting him on the shoulder. "I'll have my room ready for you to rest up in, after supper-..."

"Actually, Sensei... I think, I wanna go sleep in my room, tonight."

The rat-father was a bit surprised to his request.

"Are you certain, Leonardo?"

Leo nodded his head, giving him a calm, reassuring smile.

"Honestly, I think having to face my fears, today, may have helped me no longer stress out about encountering them, again."

The fifty year-old father game him a pleased look.

"That is good to hear, Leonardo. Does this mean that you have mastered your fears?" He asked, curious to know of the outcome.

To that, the blue-masked turtle shook his head.

"Iie." He answered, honestly. "I-... I just faced it, Sensei."

Splinter nodded his head, approved of his eldest son's honesty.

"And that, Leonardo, is why you are a great leader."

Normally, the comment would've brought him little to no comfort. It would've, even, made him feel angry. As if reminding him that his father, purposely, chose him to be leader when he, himself, didn't wanted the position in the first place.

...And yet, while he still wasn't happy with being force with the position... For the first time, the title didn't feel too heavy.

Instead, Leonardo slightly nodded his head to his sensei. Then, went to slowly head for the washroom, able to avoid running into his brothers, who proceed to chase Mikey to the kitchen.

Karasu flew off the couch to accompany him, landing on his left-shoulder and laying her left-talon on his arm to get a better look of his face.

"Are you really okay, Big Brother?" She asked.

Once they were behind the metal door of their bathroom, Leonardo turned to the mirror.

He removed his mask, getting a better look at his face.

The begs underneath his eyes are still there, but seemed to have lessen from the purple to his original leaf-green color. There was still a slight hint of red from the corner of his eyes when the spores got into his eyes, but nothing to serous and showed go away after a good wash and some more rest.

But, even after seeing his face and eyes, he still couldn't shake off that there was, indeed, something different about him. Something off.

Not like a bad off. Just... Off.

'Earlier, after embracing the terror within, when I broke free from its grip... I didn't feel like myself.' He thought, as he went to start up the water. 'I wasn't thinking straight, at that moment. And when I morphed into my wolf-form, I feel like I could drop dead to sleep and still be conscious. Like I wanted to get inside of its head and torture its mind and spirit, from the inside out.'

He removed the wrappings and pads off his body, before the straps and setting both his swords close by to the right-head of the bathtub, and going into the tub and setting the shower head to turn on. A habit that had been installed of him to do, even if he's safe and is home.

As the water fell like rain and embraced him in warmth and heat, Karasu, taking her spot in the sink, tilted her head to the side.

"Big Brother? Are you okay?" She tried again, feeling a bit worried when he didn't answer her the first time.

And, as he simply kept his head up towards the falling water, Leonardo lowered his head to stare down at his left-hand... The very hand he used to stab the giant mushroom in the eye.

"...Honestly, Karasu... Wakaranai (I don't know.)."

---

That very night, after eating alongside his family and friends, somewhat able to stomach two of Murakami's Pizza Gyoza, three small spoonful of fried rice and some tea April had forgotten to give him, Leonardo would feel the pull of sleep.

And when he went to bed before the others had even finished of their meals, with Karasu laying beside his head, he felt like he was drifting within darkness. In a dreamless sleep.

...

...Only to then find himself being pulled to the side... And, finding himself within a dream that wasn't his own.

...

...

...

...He was inside the dream of Michelangelo's.

TBC

---

*: There are at least two in a pack. The Eta are the warriors of the pack. They are led by the Zeta or the Epsilon during skirmishes and wars. Although, they will take orders from the Alpha or other higher ranks if given, but the Alpha's above all. (Warriors)

*: While Karasu is really a full-blooded raven, because Kraang is finding ways to crossbreed in different ways to see the progress through creatures that have similar genetics and succeeded through Karasu's parents, she can be viewed as either full-blooded and/or still a raven/crow-hybrid. Because, in a way, she's both is a raven/crow-hybrid, and at the same time, isn't a raven/crow-hybrid.

*: From what we seem to witness on screen, Leonardo had been inhaling eleven amount of spores by the Mushroom Men, before the cutscene went to his brothers, Casey and April going through their worst fears. When it showed Leo back to dealing with the last Mushroom Man, there's a chance that he could've been exposed to more of the toxins before the giant mushroom released its eyeball-like spore bombs onto him, with the twelfth being the one that hits him in the plastron.

If he had been exposed to more of their spores, it's possibly somewhere between 24 (at the minimum) and 31 (At the maximum), before getting hit by the spore bomb.

Regardless, he'd been exposed by the spores more times than the others, there was bound to be some form of mental or even some psychological damage from all of those mutated fear toxins running through his body and mind. It's a wonder he didn't suffer any form of side effect from it.

*: If you remember in 2k3 TMNT, when Leo told his brothers the story of when the Ancient One adopted Yoshi and Mashimi, this is the kimono that Tang Shen wore. And because Yoshi's family portrait of him, his wife and daughter was black and white and we don't fully know what her kimono was when the turtles were forced back in time to save Yoshi, I'm going to use the Kimono from 2k3 into the story.

*: She did stated that her grandfather is Chinese, but didn't say which side of her parent her grandfather is from. I'm choosing maternal-grandfather.

Have you guys notice that, throughout the show, the only one who went unconscious after being sprayed by the spores, is Leo? And how he didn't experience his greatest fears, until his subconscious became awake and alert to have him wake up?

Because of this, I'm under the impression that the toxins are only effective if the person, at least their subconscious, are awake and alert to enforce the body to start awake.

As such, the spores won't work if the target is asleep. Because of this, I'm suspecting that the Mushroom Men and Fungus Humungous's spores have a specific chemical that affects the cortisol chemical in their bodies. Or, at least, the adrenal glands that secretes cortisol, aldosterone and adrenaline.

R&R