When your Name is a Lie

by arcticpeach7777

What if Donatello had a completely different backstory? One which lead him to despise Hamato Yoshi, and look up to Oroku Saki. But this version of Donnie is going to be in for a rude awakening when he meets Yoshi's Disciples and their messed up alien infested world. Human Donnie AU. 2k12 Verse

30. Chapter 27: Truest Fears

Chapter 27: Truest Fears.

THERE IS AN ACTUAL WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER! PLEASE READ!

As said above, this chapters warning are more then just me being dyslexic. I originally intended for this chap to be out on Halloween, hence the darker? Ish, sort tone. But that didn't happen obviously lol. So please read before continuing just in case! Thank you!

There's not much else to say for this chap, except that it's definitely one of my favourites I written, and I hope you guys enjoy it too! Oh and it's also one of the longest?! OoO

Now to the reviews:

Mirrrra: Honestly! That was one long ass break XD But I'm working to get a chapter a month out now! So hopefully that will be the last of my disappearances lol. And yes! Lots of drabbles about Miwa and baby turtles coming your way soon hehe! And a few Shini and Donnie ones too!

Guest: Thank you for your review! It means alot! And I hope this was worth the wait? Haha!

ProfessorYeti: Thought I'd add in your review quick! I'm sorry you've been so swamped at work, I hope you do take it easy and relax when you get the chance!

And with Chinatown Ghost Story, don't get me wrong! I love it, it's great XD But it always sort of felt like a filler episode between two of the bigger Eps, Vengeance is Mine and the one where they go to dimension X for the first time. So I was gonna do a quick recap of it, like I did for parasitica? Parasica- Parasitca...The one with the wasps lol XD

With the eyes thing, I think I mentioned before, this fic was originally going to be called something to do with eyes, as I've always loved how you can write so much with them! So that's why I...write so much about them XD

With the food question, it is a drabble I've been working on! As, obviously you can't feed a human algae lol

Tbh, the 'Stay' thing in double mutation was meant to be a sorta multiple implication thing! So it's great that you actually thought of one of the many meanings behind it! :'3

And yeah! Donnie definitely knows more about his father's personality then his Mother's, this is something I'll bring up again in near chapters, as we as some drabbles.

Yup! Casey is getting an actual story! None of this just bring him in when it's convenient stuff lol, that boy's getting lore!

With the photo at Kurtzman's, you got it straight up lol XD He despises his old self, and that he was actively hunting down his own family so care freely. The very image of him in Foot Gi is off putting.

And yes, getting slip in some foreshadowing for Miwa every now and then right? ;v; I hate doing this to her...Thank you again for your review! I look forward to your next one! Take your time writing it! As next chapter I'll aim to get out in the middle ish of next month! :3

This is based on the 2k12 series.

WARNING: This chapter contains scenes of death, bodies, gore?, hospitals? Sensitive subjects? And a Dyslexic writer lol.

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Chapter 27

As the boy settled himself down on a floor cushion in the main shop, he pulled out his green coloured lollipop and placed it in his mouth. Enjoying the apple flavour while meticulously looking over his boat, coping how his Father would eye his metals.

The child wasn't really paying much attention to anything going on around him, much less the hushed but still very audible disagreement between his parents.

His parents would raise their voices at each other only rarely, and when it did happen, it was normally because his Mother getting upset over some of the people his Father made weapons for.

The boy wasn't too sure why this was, but he had overheard it happen a few times now. He thought that maybe she didn't think they were worthy of Morikawa weapons, they were the best after all!

"Tatsu!"

The boy looked up at his Mother's angry voice, and sqiunted his nose in thought. He heard her yell a name, Hatsu?

Did she mean old fisherman Hatsu? Why would he want all those weapons? Or maybe it was Hatsu with the long ponytail who ran the little shop down the hill?

The boy huffed to himself. He knew alot of Hatsu's...

Then, with a sudden gasp, a funny thought came into his mind. He grinned cheekily and imagined the old man who was his school's Headmaster dressed up as a ninja with a katana, for he too was also named Hatsu!

The fluffy haired boy giggled and pulled out some paper and pencils from his schoolbag to draw said image, never wanting to forget it.

All while, his parent's quieting conversation was nothing more then muffled noise.

"What was I meant to do, Hana? The man tried explaining to his Wife, a guilty expression clear on his face. "He is from the Clan! I could not exactly say no? They'd become suspicious at the sudden drop in partnership!-"

"He works for that murderer! Genki!" She hissed back harshly, making her annoyance known. "Can't you see! He's still out for blood after all these years! The Yokai was right..."

"Koibito... Your overreacting. I promise you, that monster will not find you or our Son." The man held his Wife tightly, letting her know that he was here to fight for her, to protect her. "I promised you safety when you left your Clan. And I will stay true to that, until my last breath. He does not know you are here."

"I know..." She whispered quietly, her nerves still in shambles. She reached unsurly for her love, wanting nothing more then his words to ease her doubts and fears. "But why does he need so many weapons..."

"Perhaps he has been hired by the kōanchōsa-chō?" (PSIA. Basically the japanese form of the CIA) Her Husband tried to find logical reasons behind the acts of the mad man, trying to soothe her anxiousness. But his logic, did not seem to ease her. "It would explain the amount they asked for? Especially if they were doing work with the government-"

"You don't get it, Genki..." The women pushed defensively away from her love, and took her own arms around herself instead. "Ever since the Dojo fell, there has been this feeling of danger surrounding me..." She exhaled out a shaky breathe, eyeing over the mass collection her Husband had worked on, and only feeling an uncertain fear about the weapons.

"More Hamatos have been going missing these last seven years, all these weapons, the growing rates of his Clan! It only tells me that I am right to be afraid! That- they were right!" She thought back to her past, back to the Yokai once more. It's reptilian form had shocked her at first, but once it spoke of warning, retelling her past, and foretelling her future to be if she remained with her Father, she listened. And heeded it's words, disappearing with her secret Love only days after.

And by doing so, she avoided the massacre of her Clan, and it's leaders. Both Yuuta, his next in line and son, Yoshi, we're slain in the dojo by Oroku Saki. The man had discovered that he was the son of Oroku Keiji, the Foot Clan's leader.

Yuuta had killed Keiji in a war between the two Clans, and upon finding Oroku's infant son, took him in as his own, and raised him.

Saki was furious when he found out, and in his anger, and need for vengeance. He went for blood.

No one survived in the dojo that night but the murderer himself.

Even Yoshi's wife and child were lost. And after all the blood was shed, the place was set alight.

Saki declared that the Hamatos names would end that night. And as his words held true, slowly, the rest of the Clan had began to vanish. Even the woman's Father no longer wrote back to her...

A grimace over took her face, and tears threatened to fall. But she shook her head at the thoughts, and continued to hold her resolve. "We should leave. Tonight-"

"We are not leaving." Her husband tried to hold her hand, but she wouldn't turn to him, let alone listen to him. "We are fine, Hana. I promise. No one knows your here." He sighed when he glanced at her jittering hands, knowing this conversation was taking it's toll on her.

He did not know how to help her when she got like this, when her past would fill every corner of her mind, and make her unreasonably afraid. "Perhaps, we should get you back into therapy-"

"I do not need-!" The woman snapped back so harshly, that her husband looked shocked at her outburst. When she realized she yelled, she took a deep, calming breath. And remembered that they were not the only people in their home. But their conversation was far from over. "W-we should continue to discuss this, without certain ears around."

Her husband followed her words, and nodded his understanding. Watching regretfully as she walked toward the doorway of the mainshop.

Seeing her child doodling away, she sighed tiredly before forcing a worn smile, "Daiki, why don't you head down to the lake with your boat?"

The boy looked up from his picture, forgetting it instantly, and grabbed his boat before racing back to his parents, "REALLY?!" He all but screamed.

His Mother nodded, and his Father couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him.

"Hai." His Mother smiled, taking the lollipop out of his mouth, and flicking it into a nearby bin. "But you must be back here before the last fisherman is in for the night, understand?" She ordered, and the boy knew well, that it was an order he must follow.

So he put on his serious face, and saluted her, "I will!" He beamed, running back to the entrance of the shop and slipping on his shoes before bolting off, without so much as a goodbye...

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The last couple of weeks moved on at a fast pace for the Hamatos. And yet, April felt as if her life had hit the slow button, and no one knew how to set it back to normal.

She felt lost and confused, uncertain of herself, her future, and even her past!

She wanted answers. Reasons. She felt a dire need to know everything, every small and seemingly insignificant detail, hoping it would help her to make sense of her already messed up life.

Why did the Kraang choose her, and her family? How long had they been meddling with them? Were they responsible for her Mother's disappearance when she was six? If so, why? Where was she? Was she even still alive?

And the part she struggled with the most, was that it seemed no one could help her find these answers.

Kurtzman unfortunately had no other information to give her, but promised to contact her the minute he did.

She wished she could of asked her Father. To clarify the past, maybe make connections, and help piece things together. But he was currently who knows where, eating who knows what as a giant bat...

And her Aunt was just as much in the dark as tge rest of New York.

In her time of feeling lost and dazed, April had gone to Donatello to run more in depth tests on her. Hoping something would come of it.

There was unfortunately not much he could figure out with what little he had to work with, but he was able to determine that she was a perfect 50 percent Human, and 50 percent Kraang mutant. Which he noted was a phenomenon in itself.

He explained that Mikey had allowed him to use one of his scales months ago to see his genetic makeup, in hopes it would clear up some questions the genius had about mutations, as well as help find a way of making Retro-mutagen. He discovered that the mutagen was unpredictable, which they had all already known, but that it was so unpredictable that it never mutated someone perfectly.

There were always flaws within their DNA codes afterwards. For some mutants it was obvious deformities, a mind that wasn't entirely theirs or strange and unexplainable powers. For the turtles, it was the fact that despite being more human then animal, they had retained many of their turtle attributes and traits.

They growled and hissed, had double eyelids, a larger lung capacity, and cold blood. And though all three would deny it, many had caught them basking in the sunlight coming through the grates, or even cuddling up to the warm blooded members of their family when the sewers were particularly cold.

Donnie determined that their DNA was about 53.4 percent Human, Splinter's human DNA to be accurate, and 46.6 percent Turtle, which annoyed the perfectionist genius to no end.

April's alien DNA however, was purposefully constructed so that it wouldn't overwrite her human DNA, in fact, it was like it had entirely removed half of it. And then replaced it perfectly.

From this, he also came to a dark conclusion which he didn't wish to share with the girl. But after hours of pestering, he caved, and told her that her alien DNA must of been introduced to her very early on. Most likely when she was still in utero.

From this, April realised that the Kraang had kidnapped her Mother when she was in her first months of pregnancy. And experimented on her...

This seemed to only add more onto her already tipping plates. And she would be lying if she said she didn't regret pushing Donnie to talk.

Beside all the physical stuff she now had to deal with, April also found she had a new problem. Nightmares.

They were already bad since her father mutated, she'd have dreams of him trying to take her, or just stalking her in the night. Even the very thought of bats had become terror inducing for her.

But now, she struggled with a mixture of different horrible dreams.

Of her Mother and Father being taken, mutated and experimented on. And her, some disgusting half alien freak, who would be the one causing their pain.

She couldn't help it. She despised the Kraang. So it was only logical to despise the part of her that was them. To fear it...

She tried her best not to let it get to her, to try her hardest to focus on other things. She didn't want to bother anyone anymore with her new revelation, and to be honest, it was so much better to not think about it at all.

So when Michelangelo had asked if she'd be down to do a shopping run for some 'secret supplies', she didn't hesitate at the chance for a distraction, and even managed to drag Casey along with her.

Yet, As her luck would have it, the second the two teenagers left the store, a storm began rolling in. And soon, engulfed the city in a dark, downpour.

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The two teens ran for the nearest alleyway, luckily the sounds of thunder and intense rains blocked out the noise of the manhole cover scraping, and any running civilians out on the street were too preoccupied to notice them.

Casey threw his hockey gear down first, then jumped in after, waiting for April to throw him down the bags. Then she slid the cover back, and descended the ladder herself. Landing in the tunnel with a thud, and wiping her hands on her thighs.

Due to the ongoing storm, the sewers were now much darker, beside the occasional light coming through the grates as lightening sounded in the distance. But the sewers were also extremely damp, with water flowing through the waterway faster then normal.

"Well, that came out of nowhere." April said sourly, deeply regretting not grabbing her coat before leaving as she peered at her now drenched clothes.

She squeezed out some water from her ponytail and picked her bags back up. "Thanks again for the help, Casey."

"It's no problem, Red." Casey said, flipping his gear onto his back. Just like her, he had been caught short by the rain, but a little water wouldn't get on his nerves like it did the redhead, and he was content to just shake it off. Literally. "But uh, what's stopping the other two humans from doing this?" He motioned toward the shopping bags with his head.

"Donnie's busy in his lab, and Miwa said she was busy with... something?" April pouted, then huffed in confusion, "You know what, she didn't actually say?"

Casey smirked to himself as the two began walking. From the short time he had known the two other humans, he had noticed an reoccurring theme of them both being 'occupied' alot. The boy was always holed up in his lab, working on some sort of cure for April's dad. And the girl, she was just easily irritable, and clearly found him to be the most annoying person on the planet.

Unfortunately for her, Casey didn't mind annoying her. It reminded him of his sister, the way she would roll her eyes and scoff all the time.

"Antisocial much?" Casey grinned smugly to the redhead.

"No." April replied back sarcastically, "She just doesn't like hanging around dorks."

Casey pouted, earning a laugh from April. "Rude."

"You know, Casey, it's awesome having someone else who knows about the Hamatos." April spoke up, relieved. "I had no one to talk to about this stuff. Especially after Dad turned into a mutant bat..."

The scruffy teen nodded sympathetically when she mentioned her Father. He couldn't imagine losing his own Dad in such a way. Especially since he was the only parent he had left.

Moving away from his past, Casey steered the conversation from the topic of parents, "Gotta admit, the whole thing's pretty mind-blowing. Bunch of ninjas and giant turtles living in the sewers with their rat Master? I mean, you couldn't make this stuff up."

Casey sniffed at the air, and winced, pulling down his mask, hoping it would help with the smell.

April noticed this, and glanced to his spray painted hockey mask. "So what's with the mask? It's not like the Hamatos don't know who you are."

"Same reason people have worn masks throughout history. Cause it looks cool!" He breathed in again, this time mentally gagging. "Ugh... Doesn't help with the smell, though. Disgusting! How can you stand it?"

Letting out a dry laugh, April looked around the familiar tunnel. "I had to live down here for weeks. You get used to it."

"Sick, dude." Casey grimaced, looking around for a dying animal.

That was when April decided to take a deep sniff, and the repulsive smell soon hit her aswell, "Ugh! Actually, something does smell really weird, like moldy cheese and puke!"

Just as the two looked around for the source, a scream from in front caught them off guard.

"Squirrel! Giant mutant squirrel!" A sewer worker screamed at the top of his lungs, bowling straight passed them before disappearing round a corner, his echo still with them.

"Weird..." Casey remarked, and the two followed. Dropping their bags at April's call, as to not invite the food obsessed mutants to follow them. But as they got around the bend, they realised the man was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Questioned Casey, confused. Looking down the many corridors of the tunnel. "Hello? Crazy dude?"

As they searched, a whispering sense in April's mind warned her of something. But of what exactly, she wasn't sure. "Something's wrong..." She informed the other teen. Before closing her eyes and listening.

"What is it?" Casey asked, following after her as she walked towards a small pipe on the side of the wall.

April peaked into the pipe cautiously. And there in the shadows, were a pair of tiny beady yellow eyes, glowing in the dark. They seemed to lock onto her, before the creature chirped, blowing a cloud of golden dust into her face.

She fell backwards, coughing. Clapping a desperate hand over her nose and mouth as the dust went into her airway.

"You okay, Red?" Casey asked urgently as he got down beside her. "What'd ya see?"

However, as April looked up to the scruffy teen, her eyes shrunk in fear as the boy's face contorted, and shifted into that of a huge bat, screeching and baring it's fangs at her.

April let out a terrified scream and scrambled to her feet, booking it down the tunnel before the bat could grab her.

"April? April!" Casey tried calling after her, but she was gone faster then he could keep up. "What was that about?"

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Beneath the tree in the Dojo, Splinter and Leonardo sat side by side on their knees, practicing their meditation.

Splinter had fully calmed his mind, a sense of peace and confidence about him. One who knew the ways of spiritual refinement would of been able to see his maroon coloured aura shining through.

Beside him, his eldest son's blue aura flickered. Leonardo would normally have been able to accomplish such an easy meditation without hassle. But today, he couldn't seem to enter a spiritual trance, no matter how hard he focused.

He tried once more, his blue aura coming about, until it faltered once again. Leaving the turtle feeling defeated. "Ugh..."

"Leonardo?"

"Gyah!" A yelp of undignified alarm left Leo's mouth as he flopped sideways. His Sensei stood over him with an amused but also concerned look. "Oh, sorry Sensei... I can't seem to focus."

"I noticed." Said Splinter, noticing his son's wince, and flicking his ears. "What is it that troubles you, my son?"

With a distressed sigh, he decided to confide in his Father, knowing he always could. "For the last couple of nights...I keep having this same nightmare, Sensei." He said, getting to his feet and beginning a slight pace, "Every night. I let the team down... They're dragged off into darkness, and I'm powerless to help."

Splinter hummed, running a hand down his wispy beard. "This is not uncommon. All leaders must face the fear of losing their team." He then turnt to his son in empathy. "I face this every time you and your siblings leave the lair."

Leonardo reflected on his father's words, before a paw lay gently on his shoulder.

"My son. Thank you for telling me." He spoke softly, his son nodded and accepted his open invitation to once again kneel with him, and talk. "Sometimes, it can help to talk to those around you, especially after going through something stressful. No matter the reason, even from a bad dream."

Leonardo nodded again, and rejoined his Sensei. He knew he was right, bottling up emotions was how stress built. And with stress, came an unfocused mind. And panic attacks.

And they were never fun for the leader...

He remembered his first one vividly, as it was just after their first fight with the Shredder. They had barely made it home alive, and their Father warned them that Shredder was now a new and constant threat that they had to prepare for.

Leonardo went to his room that night feeling like a failure.

He should of been more prepared as the leader. Stronger, smarter, quicker. He should of been able to protect his siblings, but instead, him and his brother's were almost killed, and his sister... they all knew that Saki wouldn't kill her, but to think of his dear sister being kidnapped by that monster ran Leo's blood cold.

He remembered the feelings all crashing in on him, his chest tightening, his breath quickening. Until all he saw was blurred vision.

The next thing he knew, his Father whispered comforting words, and telling him to count his breaths. It helped, and soon he was aware that he was on the floor of his bedroom, his siblings gathered around worried, and his Father knelt next to him. Calming paws holding his shoulders and reminding him to breath.

Since then, he had only a few more. But meditation, clearing his mind of stress, and talking through his feelings with his Father, helped him find the balance he needed.

He let out a burdened sigh, and broke down his nightmare to his Master. Leaving no details unleft, and allowing his Father to take some of the weight from his shoulders.

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Meanwhile, across the lair in the pit, Michelangelo, Miwa and Raphael were currently watching SMRF5.

Raph had taken up residence on the couch, while Mikey lay on his plastron on the floor, twiddling his feet lazily in the air behind him. His sister was laid beside him, with her elbow on his shell and her chin resting in her hand. She wore a black leather jacket, ripped jeans and a white hole-y t-shirt with a band symbol on it, and was clearly quite comfortable using her brother's shell as a pillow.

Miwa had put on her jacket due to the storm brewing on the surface. The sewers were currently filled with a chilly draft, one that sent a shiver down your spine. The temperature luckily was not so much the problem, but the damp, and extreme wetness from the rain wasn't helping the sewers at all. And the turtles, were luckily not so easily effected by the damp conditions.

The younger of the three had brought some pizzas home an hour ago, which the teens were happily digging into as they watched their anime. Leonardo had declined, as he wanted to work with their Sensei on his mediation. And the other teenager, had not been seen since morning training, thought that wasn't uncommon.

However, from behind the three teens engrossed in the television, the lab doors creaked open. And a rather tired looking Donatello came out, wearing a purple parka coat, white top and black jeans. While also holding an empty purple coffee mug with 'Sience is cool' written on it by Mikey, which the genius clearly intended to fill back up.

But before he could make it to the kitchen, his siblings caught sight of him sneaking away.

"Ah! So he is still alive!" Raph praised, laying the sarcasm on thick.

"Ha ha. Very funny." Donnie said rolling his eyes.

Miwa, unlike her turtle brother, was more stern towards him, and his lack of appearance. "Seriously, we haven't seen you since breakfast?"

The brunet gestured towards his lab with a huff, "I was busy workin-"

"Working on the retro-mutagen." Raph finished his sentence snappily, "We know."

The kunoichi of the group frowned as the teen just shuffled away into the kitchen.

It was becoming a habit of Donnie's to disappear after training, and then not show his face again until dinner, sometimes even patrol. Even with April and Mikey helping him, he seemed to just lose track of time too easily.

On many occasions in the last few weeks, Leonardo had brought the teen food, just to make sure he actually gets food, and stays on top of his eating chart.

But with Leo busy, Miwa decided to take matters into her own hands.

She waited until Donnie had finished in the kitchen, before turning to face him from the couch as he strolled passed again. "Hey science guy? You eaten lunch yet?" Miwa asked, eyeing the now nervous teen carefully.

Looking down at his now full mug, Donnie went slightly red as he realized he'd skipped yet another meal. "Uhh..." He went to protest that his coffee was fine until dinner, but his sister had other plans.

"Sit." The half blonde girl simply pointed at the cushion behind her, with a stare that was basically threatening him to challenge her.

With an irritable exhale, Donnie trudged his way over to the couch and threw himself down, being careful of his coffee. He knew there wasn't any point in fighting with her. Ignoring the three satisfied grins around him, he snatched up an offered pizza slice, and moodily ate away.

"You love us really!" Mikey beamed back at him, before his attention turned to the anime once more.

On the TV, Captain Coolstar had just been stepped on by the Mighty Super Robo Mecha, which was taken over by the villain. And a quiet, "I'm okay!" Could be heard from the captain.

"I heard in the original Japanese version, Coolstar gets squashed for real." Mikey mused back to his siblings.

"That's just a cartoon myth." Donnie corrected him, sipping away at his much needed caffeine.

"Nerds..." Raph groaned quietly to himself, pinching his nose ridge.

At this point, Leonardo had finished his session with Splinter, and was making his way over to his siblings, when all of a sudden, Casey Jones burst through the turnstiles, hollering at the top of his lungs.

"Guys! April! Sewers! Hurry!"

The teens were up and running in an instant, and Mikey even spilled Donnie's coffee he had set down on his way.

"Casey, what's wrong?" Raphael asked, rushing to his side.

"Are you being chased?" Leo hurriedly questioned, not knowing another reason for his sudden panic. By now, Splinter had also made his way over, being drawn by the commotion.

With urgency clear on his face, Casey shook his head and explained. "W-we were on our way here, and next thing I know, April starts acting freaked out, then runs off! She's gone!"

"Wait, wait… You LOST April!?" Donnie snapped accusingly, glaring daggers at the other teen.

"Relax, bro!" Mikey chimed in with a hand on his brother's shoulder, trying his best to defuse the situation. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation, like she was eaten by a giant sewer snake or something."

Going a few shades paler, Donnie's eyes widened and he bolted for the turnstiles, making sure to push passed Casey on his way out. "We gotta go!"

Sensing the urgency, Splinter addressed all of his children quickly, "Go, find April. I shall remain here in case she comes to the lair." His children and Casey all nodded, before the six disappeared into the sewers.

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Casey led the group back through the sewers, until they came across a large tunnel junction with multiple smaller passages along it's sides. The grocery bags the two humans had brought down with them, still lay thrown to one side, with food and colourful bits of paper strewn across the floor.

"I think I lost her around here." Said Casey, rubbing his neck while looking over the discarded bags.

"You think? That's not vague or anything." Donnie said with sarcasm, pulling his hands out of his coat pockets, to fold them over his chest.

"Back off, Stick Master!" Casey grunted out, taking a step toward the other teen.

"Who you callin' Stick Master, Puck-Head?" Donnie retaliated, getting up in his face.

"Easy, fellas!" Leo said passively, stepping between the two before a brawl broke out. "We don't have time for this." The two boy's both crossed their arms, and looked away guiltily as the leader made his way passed them and decided to try the first tunnel. Being followed closely behind by the others.

"Let's wait until after we find April before you two kill each other. Deal?" Miwa smirked to her brother, who shoved passed Casey when he trudged away.

The team continued on through the tunnel, with Casey following behind them on high alert. As they went, they slowly became aware of their surroundings changing ever so slightly. Mushrooms seemed to be sprouting out of the floor and random crevices along the wall. Glowing mushrooms.

Before any of the teens could question it though, Casey sped up to give Donnie another shove, only to stop dead in his tracks and shriek.

The teens stiffened up, and spun round, only to see Casey pointing his hockey stick at a singular fuzzy rat, currently eating some moldly takeaway of the floor.

"Ah! Rats!" Casey said, startled by the small rodent before him, "Why'd it have to be rats!"

"Dude, they're everywhere down here!" Mikey beamed and picked up the critter, rubbing it on his face with a grin as the rat happily squeaked away. "They're nature's cuddly little friends!"

"What's wrong with you..." Said Casey in disgust, taking a few steps away and sitting on one of the raised tunnels.

"No one can say for sure." Miwa smirked back.

Just then, a quiet chirp sounded behind Casey, and the boy straightened himself up.

"You hear that?" Jones whispered quietly, drawing the other teens to be still, and listen closely.

Small chirping came from the pipe beside the hockey teens head, and he leaned in for a closer look. And there, deep inside, were three tiny glowing eyes staring back at him.

Before Casey could do anything else, the eyes narrowed at him, and shot a gold cloud of dust right in his face.

The teenager yelled out, coughing and gagging, "That was hideous!" He moaned, wheezing as the dust went into his lungs. Making his whole body feel heavier.

The other teens laughed as Casey fumbled his way back up. "Dude! You put your nose in a New York City sewer. What'd ya expect?" Raph snickered, slapping the other round the back.

The vigilante shook his head, a few gold particles coming out of his hair as he looked back to the pipe. "I thought I saw-" He never finished his sentence however, as he glanced back down the tunnel, only to see two red eyes leering back at him, before scurrying past the other end, chittering as it went.

Casey had to do a double take, only to wish he hadn't. As stood crouched down the tunnel was a human sized rat, chittering to itself, before fading into the shadows as it ran away again.

"GYAH!?" Casey let out a scream, and scrambled away from the tunnel.

The others shared a sudden concerned glance. But as they looked down the passage they saw nothing but more strange glowing mushrooms.

"Casey, what is it?" Miwa questioned, getting a strange uneasy feeling about all of this.

"I-I-I saw it man!" Fearfully pointing back down the tunnel, Casey said, "The Demon Rat!"

"Demon... Rat?" Raph asked dumbfounded, glancing to the others who shrugged with him.

But Casey's attention was not on him, or anyone else. As the boy heard the faintest sound of hundreds of feet coming down the main tunnel, until a flood of rats came pouring out from every passage around them. Scampering around the floor, and climbing all over the others, and now, him aswell.

Casey screamed, and began batting rat after rat away, as they jumped all over him, trying to get in his clothes and hair. Their tiny paws were all he could feel, and he hated it! "GET THEM OFF ME!"

The others watched quizzically as the boy throw his hockey stick around at the thin air, screaming and fighting an invisible presence.

"Uh...should we do something about that?" Miwa asked confused, jabbing a thumb in the lunatics direction.

They looked to Leo and waited for his answer. And at his nod, Miwa and Raph jumped forwards, and pinned the hockey fiend to the wall. Hoping to stop him before he harmed himself or them.

"Ah, I wanted to do that." Donnie murmured, earning a chuckle from Mikey.

Yet, even as he was pinned down, Casey continued to yell and fight. "Let me out! Let me out!"

"Calm down man!" Raph yelled at his friend, easing up his hold to give him some room. "What is your malfunction?" He asked concerned.

But when Casey peered up to his friend, all he saw was a swarm of rats slowly crawling up Raph and Miwa's bodies, before their mouths and eyes opened wide, and rats climbed out of them.

The scruffy teenager dropped to the ground at the sight, holding back tears as he repeatedly shook his head in fear.

"What's wrong with him?" Raph murmured worriedly. But his siblings couldn't answer that, as they too looked lost as to what was happening.

A familiar scream echoed down one of the passages in front of them, and they froze as they realised who it was.

Donatello was already bolting down the tunnel, with the others hot on his tail. Though Raph was lagging behind a bit, as he practically dragged Casey along.

As the team rounded a corner in the passage they finally found April. Crouched down low by a drop off and frantically swatting at the air.

"No, no! Keep away from me, Dad!" She yelled out into the sewer, sobbing softly as she wrapped her arms around her drawn up knees. "Please don't eat me!"

"April?" Donnie asked, dropping low beside her, and gently trying to ease her away from the edge. "It's Donnie. Your Dad isn't trying to eat you. He's not here."

When he placed a hand on her shoulder, the girl's eyes grew wider, and she tried shuffling away from him. But she would've gone right over the edge if Donnie hadn't of grabbed her wrist and pulled her backwards.

But for April, it wasn't her boyfriend saving her, it was her mutated Father, dragging her off into the darkness. "No! No!" She cried, and tried pulling her arm back towards herself. "Keep away from me!"

"April! Calm down! It's alright!" Donnie tried pleading. Once she was away from the drop he let her go, and she instantly coiled in on herself, crying and begging her Father to leave her alone.

By now the others had also caught up with them, with Raph supporting Casey, who kept trying to break away from him.

"April too?" Miwa asked reluctantly, to which Donnie nodded solemnly.

Suddenly, the leader froze, and spun round to face the way they had came in. "Hold up, what's that sound?"

They all peered around to see a tiny bouncing blue ball rolling down the passage towards them. Where it then stopped a few feet away and flattened itself out.

A blue and white striped circular creature glanced up at them with it's three eyes dotted round the sides of it's body. Squeaking up at them from a tiny mouth in the centre.

"What is that?" Asked Raph unsurly. They watched as the flat disk got up, showing off it's skinny noodley body with long arms at it's sides and legs to match.

"It's a mushroom!" Mikey grinned in delight. "With feet!"

"That's...weird" Miwa remarked, staring at the creature.

Michelangelo didn't hesitate in bending down and cooing over the small fungi, "Aww, it's so cute!"

The little mushroom didn't seem to appreciate Mikey's gesture, as it growled lowly before leaping at the larger mutant, attaching itself to his face.

The youngest turtle screamed and jumped to his feet, pulling at the creature clinging to his head. "AH! GET IT OFF OF ME! GET IT OFF OF ME!" He repeatedly smacked and banged his head against the floor, but the creature wasn't fazed in the slightest, "GET IT OFF OF ME!"

Leonardo moved forwards and ripped the mushroom off of his brother's face, and threw it back down the tunnel where it came.

However, the mushroom, once on it's feet again, curled itself into a ball and bowled down the passage towards them.

"It's on the move!" Leo called, as all the ninja's pulled their weapons free.

Raph pulled free his sai and smirked confidently, "I got this!" He declared, letting go of Casey and darting ahead to tackle the ball.

"Fascinating. Evolved fungi." Donnie said intrigued, watching as the miniature ball literally ran circles around Raph, avoiding all of his hits.

"A mutant?" Miwa asked for confirmation.

To which the genius nodded, "Seems like it."

Just then, as Raph went for another swipe, the mushroom jumped up, and sprayed him with more of the golden dust. Disorientated, Raphael collapsed to his knees, coughing.

"Raph!" The siblings yelled his name as he went down, and Leo took over the task of taking out the mushroom. But it continued to bounce around, attaching itself to the Leader's face, then the kunoichi's before heading back to Mikey.

The turtle cried out, covering his scaly head, "Not the face!" Only for Donnie to step in and hit it over the drop off like a baseball.

"Oh! Homerun!" Mikey cheered, and Donnie smirked back to him. But all fun was immediately taking away as the situation worsened.

April began screaming again, becoming more frantic as she dodged an invisible foe trying to grab her. And Casey took the opportunity to sprint away down the tunnel, crying about the rats following after him.

"Casey! Get back here!" Miwa yelled, but he was already long gone, not wanting the rats to catch up to him.

"Dudes! What is goin' OOONNN?!" Mikey screamed with them, panicking.

Turning his attention back to his brother, Leo bent down beside him, helping him up. "Raphael, are you okay?"

Groaning at the discomfort in his head, Raph gladly took his brothers hand. Only to look up and see that it wasn't the green three fingered hand he thought it was.

He gasped loudly, and jerked himself aggressively backwards. "No, it's you! Anybody but YOU!" Before Raph, stood a human sized Cockroach, it's legs and antenna constantly moving, and it's pinchers, ready to bite. "Keep away from me!"

"Raph? Take it easy, man!" The roach said, ignoring the kelly green turtles warning.

With a fearful growl, Raph tightened his hold on his sai. "That's it! If you won't stay away, I'll splatter ya!"

Leo went wide eyed as Raphael suddenly lunged for him, but he managed to dodge quickly to the left, leaving his brother to hit the far wall instead.

"Raph! What's wrong with you?" Leo asked. Now the remaining four teens stood with their weapons ready, though none of them really wanted to fight their brother.

"Donnie? Quick explanation?" Mikey whimpered.

"Um, working on it." He said just uneasily.

Raph got ready to charge again, snarling in disgust at the four human sized bugs making their way towards him. "You're not gettin' me, roach. I've smashed you once, I'll smash you again!"

"Roach?" Leo asked dumbfounded, staring at the others who were equally as confused.

Raphael lunged again, this time managing to knock Mikey down, before Miwa and Leo rushed forwards to pull him off. As they did so, Raph saw multiple normal sized cockroaches crawling off of them, and onto him. He began freaking out and fighting against them as the tiny bugs crawled over his arms and plastron, hundreds of them all holding his arms down.

But in reality, Mikey and Donnie had run forwards and tied him up with Mikey's chain, keeping him from attacking them again.

Mikey got behind his brother and pulled the chains tight, making sure his brother wouldn't break lose. "C'mon, dude! STOP IT! Calm down..." He begged, before yelling in song for Raph to,"Breathe with meeeee!"

"Get offa me. Get off!" Raphael cried as the giant roach wrapped it's arms around him and refused to let go.

At this moment, April backed up into Donnie, who was stood with the other two watching over Raph. She screamed, and ducked once she bumped him. "Keep away!"

Making sure not to touch the paranoid girl, Donnie spoke calmly, "April, listen to me. There are no bats. I promise- Ow!"

April had whipped around and smacked Donnie upside the head, which somehow got his brain into a working mode again.

"What is going on here?" Leo questioned, only this time, there was an answer.

"Fungus!" Donnie declared.

"Language, please!" Mikey scolded, still holding Raph down. "There's a lady present."

"Lady?" Miwa scoffed offended, "As in one?"

"You don't count." Mikey said simply with a joking grin.

Miwa narrowed her eyes dangerously on her brother, "Oh I'm going to de-shell you!-"

"No, stop!" Donnie yelled, catching theirs, and the Leader's attention. "Whatever's happening to Raph is happening to April and Casey. It's like... Like they're experiencing their worst fears. And I think I know why..."

TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT

After one hefty, and difficult journey, the four sane teens managed to drag April and Raph back to the lair, where their Father was waiting.

Splinter stepped in and effortlessly lifted Raphael up by his sides, helping pile the two effected teenagers into the lab while Leonardo explained what had happened so far.

As soon as they were in, and the doors were locked behind them, and Donnie ran to his desk and started rummaging for some acne pads, while he gave instructions to Metalhead to mix a variety of chemicals in a beaker.

The others weren't sure what he was up too, but remained quiet as he worked.

Splinter had given Michelangelo the chains for Raphael ans instructed him to set calmly with his fearful brother, while he went to hold April still as Donnie asked.

The brunet approached the redhead carefully, figuring if she were to lash out at him, at least he wouldn't have bruises. "Okay, April. This'll be quick." He got closer, holding an acne pad in one hand.

"No, please!" April begged, as her Father stepped ever closer. He growled as his mutated hand ran across her cheek, making her quiver in fear and recoil at the touch.

Donatello felt guilty making her feel afraid, before he pushed forwards, knowing that he needed to figure this out.

He went back to desk, examining the pad in his hand. After Metalhead had finished mixing the chemicals, he passed over the beaker, which Donnie gratefully took.

He then dunked the entire pad into the beaker, and watched as it turned the liquid inside a orangey golden color. He sighed, and turned to the others, "They've been exposed to toxins found in certain types of fungi. That Mushroom must produce them as a defense mechanism."

"Defense against what?" Leo asked, shaking his head. "Being stir-fry?"

Across the room, Raphael was currently losing his mind, watching these massive cockroaches with his families voices talking around the desk. "I'm freaking' out. I'm freaking' out! I'M FREAKING OUT!"

Suddenly, another one popped into his eyesight from behind, it's antenna running down his face. "It's okay, dude. It's me, Mikey."

"Give your bro a hug. It'll make you feel better." The roach leant in closer, which made Raph try to shuffle away, but the giant bug used it's legs to pull him in, cradling his head in it's multiple arms. "Come on now. Where's the love? Aw, it's right here between my arms!"

In pure and utter disgust, Raphael held his breath as the cockroach hugged him. "I think I'm gonna hurl." And true to his word, he does.

Back at the desk, the others had stepped in closer, hoping to figure out a plan. "So this toxin, is making them face their fears." Miwa asked for clarification.

"Pretty much, yes." Donnie said simple, not wanting to waste time explaining the fully extent of the mushrooms spores.

"Well, I'll be fine then." The kunoichi said with relief, "I don't have any fears."

"Ah! Lucky!" Mikey pouted from where he was currently cleaning up Raph's puke.

"We all have fears, my daughter. Even if we do not realise it." Splinter said firmly, still wearing a frown of uncertainty at the situation unfolding. "Some people live with their fears daily, while others bury them deep within. Our worst fears, and our truest fears, are all very much reality."

The teens looked grimly around the room after their Sensei spoke.

"Is there a cure to this toxin." Splinter asked his smartest child, who looked back with a frown.

"Unfortunately. No." Said Donnie, shaking his head.

"You mean their stuck like this?" Mikey exclaimed in the corner.

"Not exactly." Donnie said, gesturing for him to calm down. "The toxins produced by a normal Fungus would usually wear off in a few hours."

"So, we just have too... wait it out?" Leo asked hesitantly, to which the genius nodded back.

"The only problem is, these are mutated fungi. Their spores may last longer." Donnie said, rubbing a thoughtful hand on his neck. "We should probably go and find Casey if this is the case. We wouldn't want him to hurt himself-"

Mikey let out a scream as Raphael broke free of his chains, using Mikey cleaning his vomit as a distraction to unhook himself and bulldoze himself towards the exit.

"So long, Roaches!" Raphael cried as he unlocked the doors and disappeared back into the sewers.

"Raph!" Leo yelled after him, as he and the others gave chase.

All except Donnie who stayed only seconds longer. "Sensei, could you look after April?"

The old rat nodded, "I will care for her here. Get to the others, my son."

The teenager nodded gratefully, and left his girlfriend in his Sensei's care.

"Good luck, my children."

TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT

They managed to chase Raphael down to the same tunnel system as before, which they were thankfully for, considering Casey should be nearby.

But the red-clad turtle wasn't making it easy for his family to help him.

"Raph! Stop!" Leo hollared after him, the last thirty minutes chasing after him was wearing on them all.

"Stay away, Roach!" Raph shot back, determined to keep away from the four insects chasing after him.

"I got an idea!" The kunoichi suggested, she then grabbed one of Mikey's chains and started making a lasso out of it.

Speeding up a little more, she threw the lasso ahead and managed to secure it round the turtle's shell, before yanking him forcefully backwards.

"Miwa!" Leo scolded her, as he and the other's ran to Raph's side to grab him.

"It worked, didn't it?" She tutted back.

"Gah! Lemme go! You disgusting bugs!" Raphael screamed, feeling the hundreds of legs and arms grabbing hold of him and dragging him onwards with them.

Leo let out a sigh of relief, thinking how this was going better then expected. "Well, one down, one to go..."

The group stopped dead at the abrupt change in scenery. The once normal walls and floor of the tunnels was now coated in glowing mold and fungus, and hundreds of tiny mushrooms were poking out of every crevice.

"This wasn't here just now..." Miwa remarked warily.

"Ooh! What is that stuff?" Mikey awed at the neon coloured walls, still dragging Raphael behind him as the team moved on.

"It's fungal mycelium, where mushrooms come from." Donnie explained, crouching down to examine the strange fungi.

"You mean like all these right here?" Said Mikey, scared. He pointed at many of the none moving mushrooms, eyeing them down in case they too suddenly sprouted legs.

Donnie frowned at the sight, "Fungus grows like crazy in the dark. And more so, where it's damp." As if hearing it's cue, the thunder outside reverberated around the sewers.

"Damn storm..." Miwa muttered bitterly.

"If we don't stop these by sundown, the mushrooms will spread all over the city." Donnie said urgently, "Millions of people will go crazy with fear." Taking notice of a weaker patch of fungus on the wall, the teen placed his hand on it to investigate.

Only for his hand to go straight through the wall with a squelch, revealing a tunnel passage completely over taken by the mushrooms.

They peered through the hole, into an insane neon cave, scattered with fungus and mushrooms on every surface. The glowing colours vibrated around the tunnel as if the entire floor was breathing.

Wiping his hand quickly with a grimace, Donnie followed after the others as they made their way down the passage.

They gazed at the sight before them, making sure to keep together.

As they walked gingerly down the passage, Raphael began pulling at his chains yet again, making Mikey hush him in a gentle tone. "Don't worry, Raph. I'll protect you." He said, comfortingly. Walking past a few smaller fungi which began chirping and crawling after them.

"There's gotta be thousands of them down here..." Miwa said, eyeing the walls disgustedly.

Leo nodded, and continued leading the team forwards, watching his step as he went. "Let's just hope they haven't noticed us yet-"

As soon as he said this, he let out a gasp as multiple mushroom men scampered in front of them, blocking their path. They dropped down from the roof, and came crawling out of covered pipes, surrounding the teens on all sides.

"Ah! Fungus balls!" Whined Mikey, not wanting his face to be grabbed again.

"Keep an eye on Raph." Leo ordered the team, as they all freed their weapons, "No matter what, stay together."

At that, the mushrooms lunged them all with screeching chirps, meeting the ninjas head on as they sliced and whacked the shrooms away.

The miniature mutants were fast, but with the more they took out, the teens got better at stopping them.

At one point, Mikey even began stomping on them, laughing as he referenced a video game. "Check it out! Super Mikey Brothers!" That was until, one stray fungi latched itself onto his plastron.

"Aah! Get it off! Get it off!" Mikey cried as the little mushroom crawled away from his hands, round the back of his shell.

Donnie rushed over to slap it off, only to realise it had vanished, "Where'd it go?" He scanned the turtle's shell, and finally saw it again when it attached itself to Mikey's face.

"AH!" Mikey screamed, waiting for Donnie to hit it off. But as the bō staff came down, the mushroom jumped. Leading Mikey to be batted round the head in result. "Ow!"

"Oops, sorry!" Donnie winced sheepishly as Mikey saw stars. "My bad."

Dropping to the floor dazed, Mikey didn't have time to realize he fell right next to another mushroom. Until he opened his eyes to see the golden cloud hitting his face.

He shot up instantly with a gagging cough at the repulsive taste, trying to clear his throat of the spores. But the more he hacked, he realised his stomach was churning in an uncomfortable way, and his throat didn't feel like dust was blocking it...but fur.

He clutched his mouth in horror, only to forcefully lurch over and vomit out a hundred squirrels with whip like tongues, all shrieking at him as he screamed in fear.

In his hurry to escape the squirrels, Mikey accidentally bowled straight into Raph, unhooking his chains from around him. And as both teens sat upright they screamed at the other before them.

"COCKROACH!" Raph shouted accusingly at the giant bug.

"SQUIRRELANOID!" Mikey cried, as the alien looking Squirrel bellowed at him.

Raphael was fed up with being chased, and the swarm of cockroaches coming form the other side of the tunnel drove him to chase down the giant insect in front of him. "That's it! I'll squash you!" He yelled, running after Mikey, who was screaming for help, the Squirrelanoid hot on his trail.

"Guys, wait. Stop!" Leonardo tried calling after them, but they were soon out of sight. He growled at the frustration of losing his team to these mutants, before turning in time to see more of the mushrooms dropping down from above. Raining down clouds of golden dust onto his other siblings.

"Guys, watch out!" He shouted, luckily Miwa was able to dodge out of the path of the spores, rolling beside him, where they both saw that Donnie wasn't as fortunate.

Donnie dropped to his knees and coughed at the nasty dust now in his airway. He clenched his fists and eyes and waited for his spinning head to stop.

But as he went to take a breath in, all he smelt, was smoke.

His eyes shot open wide in alarm, and he stared at the ground below him in horror. Lifting a hand that was now coated in black powder. Ash. It covered everywhere, everything.

His breathing picked up, and he feared what he'd see when he looked up.

"Donnie!"

That voice...

Donatello flung his head upwards to see Timothy stood above him, unfrozen, and human, wearing that dumb turtle suit meant to mimic Raphael.

He then noticed that there were others behind the chubby man. Kirby, though he was very much still human, Slash and Leatherhead, eight strange men and women, all clothed in maroon ninja garbs with the Hamato sigil.

And behind all of them, two dark shadows lingered in the back of the group, who's faces he couldn't quite make out.

They all stood inside the ash filled passage, until a raging fire quickly overtook the tunnel they were in, engulfing it until it was all Donnie could see past them.

"No!" He instinctively backed away, fearing the red blaze as the flames grew ever brighter. He felt his hands begin to shake, and his breathing felt heavier as the memories of the true fire flooded his mind. "I-It's not real! None of this is real!"

"Donnie. How could you?" Donnatello glanced up at the chubby man, who's faced seemed to be liquefying into a green gooey mess.

"What...?" The teen asked quietly.

"You said you'd save me. That you'd help me..." Timothy said, his voice slowly distorting as his face melted away.

"I am!" Donnie tried to reassure him, "I'm trying to help, I-"

"And me?" Kirby asked from behind the now melted pile of green goo, his figure now that of a bat, though this creature was much more animal like then his actual mutation. "You did this to us...!"

"No..." Shaking his head, Donnie said, "I'm trying, I swear-"

"Your a liar." Timothy and Leatherhead said together, getting closer with the rest of the group.

"Your a monster." Slash and Kirby sneered, their mutated eyes glaring into him.

"Your a murderer!" The chorus of the eight humans rang out, their anger sounding in very word.

"No...no I'm not!" Donnie yelled in protest, clutching his eyes shut and shaking his head to be rid of his demons. "Your not real! None of you are real!"

But the voices continued to blare at him, an unavoidable noise, which deafened him. "Liar! Monster! Murderer!"

"Yamete! Yamete kudasai! 'Stop! Please stop!'" Donnie pleaded with the hallucination, before getting to his feet and bolting away from the growing fire. "Mō kikitakunai! 'I don't want to hear it anymore!'"

"Donnie!" Leo called after the retreating boy, but he too was now gone.

"Leo on your left!" Miwa shouts, pushing him aside as another shroom shot a cloud at them. Only to get hit by the mushroom herself.

She hacked on the gold dust, before shaking off the headache, reaching out for her little brother in front of her. "Leo, we need to go-"

"I expected better from you, Daughter."

Her amber eyes widened, as she glared upwards to see the Shredder stood above her, leering down at her with his half dead eyes.

"You!" She sneered, reaching for her tantō, only to find that it was missing.

"You are the oldest." The Shredder reprimanded her, the way a Father scolds his disobedient child. "Yet you throw the responsibilities away"

"I... what?" She stumbled for words as the man began to slowly circle her, trying to make sense of this fear.

The metallic man dropped his head, "How many times has your brother nearly died trying to save you."

Miwa suddenly thought of many moments, the technodrome incident was one she remembered all too well. Leo had sacrificed himself for them, and they all thought he'd died.

She blamed herself silently for weeks, because...

"All because you couldn't step up as leader." Shredder continued, a bitter tone in his already harsh voice. "Coward."

"That's not it..." Miwa tried to defend herself, "I'm not cut out for that! That pressure, the responsibility. It's too much!" She was reminded of the day their Father told them their team needed a leader. She remembered Leo's hand shooting up excitedly, and how she had told herself that she hadn't volunteered because she knew he wanted it more then her. That he deserved it?

She remembered feeling jealous at first. That their Father had so quickly chosen him, not even considering any other options.

But really. He was cut out for it. And she...wasn't.

She never truly realised how guilty she felt, allowing her brother to take up that challenge that should of been hers. Not until he almost died. Not until she saw the panic attacks he went through, the stress, the bullying from the others. It was all her fault...

The Shredder circled round to her front, and faced her coldly. "You should be protecting them."

"I know..." Miwa murmured defeatedly.

"You truly are a disappointment." He spat, "Daughter."

"Don't call me that..." She snapped quietly, her fists clenching hard at the ground.

The hallucination eyed her, "Have I struck a nerve?"

"I may be a disappointment..." She said through clenched teeth, tears threatening to fall. "But I'm Yoshi's disappointment! Not yours!"

He merely laughed at her outburst, before reaching down and grabbing hold of her wrist. But she managed to free herself quickly, and race away from the Foot clan leader, back to the tunnels behind her.

"Miwa, come back!" Leo yelled, trying to grab out to her, but a mushroom sprung up from the floor at the same moment his sister dashed by.

Spraying him in the face, before he could stab it with his katana.

The Leader dropped to his knees, gagging at the spores now in his mouth and lungs. An abrupt and powerful feeling of fear and dread knotted his stomach, and clouded his mind. "No! Everybody's gone... It's my fault! I failed them! It's all my fault!"

He was suddenly struck around the face by someone's hand, and he looked upwards to see Captain Ryan standing before him. A disapproving frown on his face. "It's your fault, Cadet Leonardo! You blew it! What kind of a leader are you!? Are you a man, or a turtle, or a zero?"

Leonardo tried to snap himself out of it, recognising this all as fake. But no matter what he dide, or told himself, nothing worked.

By now, even more mushrooms started to appear, gathering in a single file line and starting to slowly surround Leo, dancing around and messing with his already confused mind.

Two of them soon leapt up and sprayed more spores into the turtle's face, which left him coughing and stumbling around. Until he found himself losing the ground beneath him, slipping and falling off of a nearby drop off where he plummets below.

After what seemed like only a few minutes, Leonardo found the strength to pull himself back to his feet. Finding that he was now in an unfamiliar and strange cavern, covered in even more fungi.

"Where... am I?" He groans at the excessive pounding in his head, only to come face to face with his family. But these versions of them, all stared soullessly at him, no trace of any emotion on their strange faces.

"It's your fault, Leo!" Miwa said with a harsh voice. Making Leo recoil at her tone. But then, the other's joined in with her.

"You let us down, bro!" Mikey whined tearfully.

"You did this!" Donnie said accusingly.

"Hah! Some leader!" Raph barked hatefully.

His Father stood in the back, only dipping his head in disapproval. His silence was enough to cut Leo like a knife.

"NO! NO! Come on." Leo yelled to himself, slapping his face and getting to his feet. "Fight your fear, Leo. Get your head straight. Fight it!"

A low growl rattled from behind made him turn around, where a massive mushroom, the size of a building, sprouted out from the floor. Multiple eyes were littered around it's cap, and one exceptionally giant eyeball sat in it's centre, staring at the intruder in it's new home.

As Leo scanned over the behemoth fungus, he noticed the empty canister intertwined in tentacle like stems at it's base. "Mutagen."

The giant shroom began to deeply growl, but the voice itself, was not audible to the world. "Taste... Fear... Feed...!"

"It's in my head!" Leo winced, and dropped to his knees. He couldn't block it out.

As the mushroom watched the strange looking mutant collapse before it, it sensed through it's smaller minions that there were others like him. Running around this place it made it's home and destroying his spawn.

"More fear...! Stronger... Spread, my spawn!"

The monstrous mushroom let out a high pitched shriek, which made Leonardo cry out in pain. He felt as the spores in his mind thickened, making his fear feel worse, more intense by the second.

And all around the sewers, the other's also had their worst fears, become their truest fears...

TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT

The Shredder continued to pursue Miwa, he's gauntlet scraping across the floors as he merely walked after her.

And yet, Miwa was now panting from the panic, from the sprint she had been running for almost ten minutes. But no matter how far she ran, he was always behind her. A shadow, threatening to shallow her whole.

"Coward!" He bellowed down the tunnel after her.

"Leave me alone!" Miwa snapped, and dropped to her knees. She was tired. Tired of running, tired of HIM chasing after her!

So with her mouth twitching in a grimace, she stood and prepared to fight him, ignoring the fear, and the thumping in her mind.

But nothing could prepare her for what she'd see when she turnt around...

"Miwa..."

"No..." She whispered, her words sounded strangled as she looked over her Mother. Standing before her, like she wasn't a ghost of her past. But this version of Shen, held no loving smile like all the photos she'd seen. Only hatred, shame, and... disappointment. "No no no no, your not real!"

Miwa tried ignoring this false impersonator of her Mother, crouching down, and closing her eyes.

"I thought you were brave." Her Mother's voice was a harsh sneer, making Miwa cringe at the pure hate coming from her.

"But I see now," Tang Shen continued bitterly, "Yoshi has given me a coward for a daughter."

"No. You don't mean that." Miwa shook her head, still not meeting the women's eyes. "You-"

"Your the oldest!" Shen scolded, "The next in line for the Hamato Clan! And yet you are nothing more then a scared girl, getting her baby brother to take up the responsibilities of eldest. Because you are not fit too!"

"Mother, stop..." Miwa said, holding back tears she wished wouldn't fall.

Shen moved away from the girl, still holding no love in her voice. "If you were Saki's daughter, at least then you'd actually be a respectable kunoichi."

Her fast breathes stopped, and she slowly moved her head upwards in confusion. "What..." As she looked up, she saw her Mother stood confidently beside the Shredder.

"You should have been mine." Saki spat hatefully, "Just as Shen was mine."

Miwa shuffled backwards, her eyes holding onto the hallucination before her.

"Even if I must hunt you down, I will make you mine. Daughter." He made a move forwards, which startled Miwa into getting up, and stepping backwards.

She turnt on her heels, and ran. Yet as she looked back, her Mother watched with a wicked grin, perfectly still, while Saki gave chase, like a mad animal after his prey.

"Stay away from me!"

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As Casey Jones sprinted away, the Demon Rat kept closing in from behind, surfing on top of a swarm of smaller rats with a echoing shriek. Casey screamed and continued aimlessly charging through the passageways, until he decided to dive straight into a tunnel at the side. Hoping the vermin would go straight passed and not notice him.

Which, they luckily did.

He released a deep exhale, and leant against the wall heavily. He felt like he'd been running for hours, unaware to the fact, that he actually had been.

However, now he was faced with something far worse then rats...

He wandered down this new tunnel cautiously, jumping and yelping when a odd rat or two would scamper around his feet.

That was until a faint rhythmic beep caught his attention, causing him to turn slowly to the side, and towards the source.

At the far end of the tunnel, Casey spotted a white door, with a small rectangular window along one side, standing out against the dark sewer tunnels. It clearly didn't belong there.

Casey felt his heart skip a beat, and the fear that followed was instant. He recognised that door.

How could he not...

It was his truest fear after all. His biggest regret...

A voiced seemed to flow from behind the door, calm and warm.

Instinctively, Casey backed away, pale. And the sounds of the faint beeping grew slowly louder behind the closed door.

"Casey..."

He backed further away, until his back hit another tunnel wall.

"Come here..."

Wires seemed to wiggle their way out from every corner of the door. Wrapping around it like an unbreakable chain. Even if he wanted to open that door, which he didn't intent too, there was no way now with those 'chains' in place.

Casey couldn't move, not forwards nor backwards. That was until the voice called out once again...

"I want to see you..."

"I'm sorry." Casey stared at the door, tears threatening his eyes. He pulled himself up and ran for the tunnels. Facing an army of rats was better then this.

"I'm sorry, Mom..."

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April screamed as hordes of bats flocked above her, and her father swooped down yet again, trying to grab her.

"April, you must calm yourself! Clear your mind." Splinter tried breaking through the fog in her head, holding her arms as she fought against the 'bats'.

"No! Let go of me, Dad!" She screamed yet again, but this time, she was confused to see that her Father had actually let go.

He froze in front of her and scurried away to the far corner of the lab, where he tried to forcefully place himself amongst the pipes, quivering in fear.

"D-dad?" April asked, sudden concern for her scared Father made her forget that she'd been running from him almost seconds ago. "What's wrong?"

As she tried approaching him, he hid further into the darkness, shrieking at her to stay back. She remained confused, and went to reach an unsteady hand toward him, only she froze, and cried out in terror.

Her once peachy coloured hands were now pink, monstrous, and almost tentacle like.

She hurried to the nearby algae tanks and began crying when she saw her reflection.

She was a mutant. A half Kraang mutant.

All throughout her hair sprouted the strange antenna all over her head, her mouth looked like it had split into two down the middle, her whole face looked like it belonged inside her body, not outside. And her once ocean blue eyes, were now yellowy green, and alien like.

"NOOO!" She sobbed and tried to scrambling away from her reflection, only for Kraang-droids to appear around her, forcing her away from the water and back towards the lab.

But through teary eyes she realised, this lab wasn't the one her boyfriend spent his every waking hour in, it was a Kraang laboratory, silvery and pink, cold and lifeless.

And she, being one of them, was forced to watch as their latest experiment took place.

More specifically, the experiment on her poor, confused mutant Father, and her weeping Mother. Both strapped down on tables, the same table she had found herself in weeks ago, with the same extraction needle directly above them.

"No! Leave them alone! Please!" She cried, and tried throwing things beside her at the Kraang approaching her parents.

But a pair of powerful robot arms wrapped themselves around her torso, keeping her pinned against it's body and away from her family. Another droid had also taken hold of her arm, and wasn't releasing her anytime soon. "Let me go! No! Mom! Daddy!"

Splinter held the frantic girl tightly, as she lashed out, breaking glass and cutting herself in the process. "It is alright. It is not real, April." He tried calming her, but it was pointless. The demons in her mind were too strong.

She didn't even notice Metalhead, who was busy trying to help bandage up her bleeding arm.

Splinter prayed his son's were finding the others safe, and that this nightmare the children were under would soon end.

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Michelangelo came dashing out of the tunnels and into an open drainage area in the sewers, he could hear the Squirrelanoid still hot on his tail.

He whimpered and ran down into the large bowl like middle, and tried to figure a way out between his frazzled mind.

Just then, thunder roared from above him, and a flash went off. Lighting up the dark area, where he realised his siblings were stood around him on the upper floor.

Their eyes were black, and blank, holding no emotion or love.

"Guys!" Mikey cried gratefully, knowing his family would help him. "Help! The squirrel-"

"There he goes again." Raph groaned, shaking his head annoyed, "Always in need of saving."

"Always whining about something." Donnie confirmed with him.

"You really are an idiot, Mikey" Miwa scoffed, folding her arms over her chest.

"And so immature." Leo added too.

"Wha... why are you guys saying that?" Asked Mikey tearfully.

"You always were the weakest." Raph spat.

"The stupidest." Donnie sneered.

"The slowest." Miwa hissed.

"We should just leave you to face your fears. Maybe then, you'll be half the ninja were all are." Leo said hatefully, to which the others nodded, and began slowly backing away from the drainage area with sickening laughs, disappearing into the shadows.

"No! Wait please! I'm sorry! I won't mess up again! I won't!" Mikey cried, tears running freely down his face as he pleaded with his family. Unaware that the Squirrelanoid was now right behind him, ready to pounce. "Please come back!- AGHH!"

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Raphael tracked down the roach for what felt like ages, before coming up to a opened up area in the sewer.

But it was so dark in there, he couldn't tell where he was, all he knew, was that the walls surrounding him had widened out.

He held his sai steady, and tracked carefully through the pitch black hole he found himself in. That was when his foot kicked something on the ground.

He reached down, feeling around, until he felt cloth between his fingers. "What?" He started, bending down to examine the fabric.

At the same time, a strike of thunder shook the city, and a flash of white lit up the place he was in. For a split second, he saw them. A million cockroaches swarmed around the place, like a sea of insects, crawling all around him. But the worse thing, was that they were scurrying over the skeletons of his family.

The fabric he held, was Miwa's sleeve.

He dropped it with a yell, and fought back the puke that was threatening his stomach.

"What...happened..." He said in a low voice, not truly trusting his words not to come out in a scream.

"I guess you could say, you didn't happen."

Raphael shot up from the ground, sais already in his hands as he faced the cackling voice in the darkness. "Slash..."

"I'm impressed." The voice commended proudly, "I didn't think you'd actually turn on them."

Another flash went off, showing off Slash as he towered before the smaller turtle. His arm, had four bandanas, and a ripped up hood wrapped around it.

"What did you do..." Raph asked quietly, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his sai tighter. Not truly believing that this was happening, that Slash was here...

"I made things the way they should of always been. Me. And you." Slash said grimly. "And you!" He laughed deeply, rumbling the area they were in. "You didn't even try and stop me!"

"I..." Raph stared into the darkness, the fear of losing his family becoming greater, "I didn't protect them..."

A wicked, empty sounding laughed floated around him, as the thunder continued to flash, showing him repeated images of the cockroach infested bones he failed to save.

And even his best friend he thought he could fix, the friend he thought he could save, that he turned into a monster.

A monster, who killed his family...

With a deafening growl, Raphael threw his sai away and pounced at where Slash had been stood, the feeling of failing his family, his friend, it all came out as a roar of pain as he tried to beat away the monster he created.

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Donatello ran from the flames, from the mutants and people chasing after him.

Taunting and haunting him. "It's your fault! You did this to us! Your a monster! A murderer!"

"Damare! 'Shut up!'" Donnie screamed, at the ghosts, but as he turnt around, the figures were gone. No mutants, friends, or family in sight.

Even the fire that had followed him all this way, was growing dimmer, but still ever present.

Donnie thought that the spores were finally wearing off. But he was gravelly wrong.

And realised as much, when a sharp, scraping sound of claws dragging across the tunnels wall made him wheel around in fear.

Tigerclaw stood at the entrance, licking his paws clean of fresh blood. Donnie felt his chest tighten, and he unconsciously reached his hand over his scars.

"Uragirimono. 'Traitor.'" The Tiger growled, and began to stalk forwards. He walked under a drain, which flashed white with lightening as he went by.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Donatello shot back, trying to reach for his bō staff, only to find it gone. "I-I'm not scared of you."

The tiger continued closer, until another flash went off, but this time, he changed into a form that stopped Donatello dead.

"Do you fear me now, boy?" The Shredder's voice alone brought a dreaded fear to him. He began backing up quickly, trying to avoid him. "Murderer."

"I'm not a murderer." Donnie said, trying to reassure himself, but the doubt was hard to fight.

"Really?" Saki let out a sinister laugh, "I don't remember you hesitating."

Donnie stared dumbly for a moment, "W-what are you talking about..."

"You were a good soldier." Saki began confidently, "Never wavering away when I asked you for the Hamatos names. Their locations. You gave them up with such ease."

Donnie shook his head, feeling sick when he remembered the pride he'd felt when Saki had complimented his work. "I didn't know you were killing them!-"

"Then you are a fool!" The man barked, now before the boy's face. "From the first day we met, I told you of my vendetta. My want for Hamato blood." He towered over the teen, easily twice his size and weight, with an intimidating glare fixed on him. "And you helped me."

"I didn't know!" Donnie yelled, tears now streaming down his face.

"You wanted them dead as much as I did." Saki snarled. "You, wanted blood."

Donnie wrapped his arms around himself, shaking his head rapidly to the side. "I never wanted to fight! I never wanted revenge! I-" He stopped himself. And felt a single tear fall onto his hand as the past flowed eerily into his mind. "I did..."

He asked to fight...

He wanted revenge...

His hand reached to his chest as he remembered the docks. He tried killing Saki, which in turn, almost killed the Hamatos.

"But you didn't see your 'precious' family struggling to fight, after the explosion you caused." The hallucination of Saki said, reading his mind, and using his memories to fuel his fear. His truest fear...

He stood behind the boy, gripping his shoulders tightly. Donnie got a flashback to the fire, to the day Saki walked into his life. The heavy hands holding his shoulders, just like they did then. "All you saw, was red."

"Red..." Donnie murmured brokenly. Images dancing in his head. The red of the flames, the red of his anger. The red fur...

"You crave something to keep you going. Like I do." Saki said, drilling it into his head. His voice, strangely calming. And persuading... "You crave, your vendetta."

"Tigerclaw..." The brunet said it almost automatically, and the hands on his shoulders almost felt like they had shifted to paws. He felt the anger bubbling inside him. The hate...

Donnie suddenly shut his eyes, and gritted his teeth. This wasn't what he wanted, "N-no."

He whipped himself out of the man's hold and turned to him accusingly, "No! I'm nothing like you! I can live without wanting revenge!" He declared, not wanting his fear to become true. "I will!"

Saki stared at the boy for a moment, then a moment longer. "We'll see. Morikawa." His voice seemed to float hauntingly in the air, before he leapt forwards, blades first, causing Donnie to run past him down the tunnel.

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When Leonardo unclenched his eyes, he grabbed hold of his aching head, groaning as he looked to his left.

A scream of horror left his throat at the sight before him.

His siblings, his father, even and April and Casey, all lay dead at his feet.

He rapidly shuffled backwards, holding in another scream as their blood slowly trailed towards him, like hands crawling across the floor, trying to grab at his feet.

Then, they began to move. Their decomposing bodies twisted and cracked in unnatural was as they made their move towards him. Dragging limbs, and leaving blood and organs behind.

"F-fight it, Leo! Fight your fear!" He declared aloud, gettinga to his feet and running at the mammoth mushroom before him.

"Spread, spawn!" The fungus screeched, sending a horde of smaller shrooms Leo's way.

"Fight it!" The turtle yelled, slicing through the mushrooms as they jumped at him.

He got hit with another spray of the spores, and dropped to the ground coughing. He tried dragging himself to his knees, but the voice of the mutant mushroom echoed painfully in his mind.

"Feed!" It demanded, sending more mushrooms towards Leo. They attached themselves to his arms and shell, all stopping short in front of him. They began bombarding him with dust. Soon filling the enclosed space with a golden fog.

But Leonardo's determination remained strong, and he forced himself to his feet yet again. Ignoring the stinging the spores were causing his eyes and lungs. "K-keep going, Leo... Don't give in!" He said, slashing the few around and on him, before charging the rest.

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In a drainage system not far from Leonardo, the other's had all clashed together.

Raphael was currently dashing after Slash, blaming himself for his fear. "It's my fault! I should have protected them!"

But in reality, he was chasing Michelangelo, who was crying and screaming for his family to come back. "Guys! Save me!"

Across from them, Donatello had given up on running, and was now doing his best to fend off Saki, who was currently chanting over and over, about the boy's past. "No! I'm not a murderer!"

And in turn, he was actually fighting someone, but that was actually Miwa, who thought Donnie was Shredder. "I'm not your Daughter!" She screamed, charging at the armoured man and attacking him when he fought back.

Above all four of them, Casey sat rocking himself and screaming, a sea of rats closing in on him, as a faint voice called out to him. "No! Go away!"

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Leonardo continued to fight on. Until he cleared the way of any smaller mushroom men. But once the path was open, a new threat emerged.

Giant tentacle like mushrooms sprung up from the ground, and like massive whips, started to try and smack and grab him away from the main fungus.

But Leo stayed vigilant, and sliced the shrooms before they had a chance to grab him.

Seeing how it's tentacles weren't doing the job, the mutant mushroom shoot out some of it's smaller eyeballs on it's cap. And like cannonballs, they barrelled towards the turtle in blue.

Leo dashed away from the spores explosion, and toward the side wall, where caps were sticking out of the wall, giving him a stairway up.

As he got to the final mushroom he leapt ahead, holding his katana high to bring it down on the mutant. However, just as he approached the fungus, it shot another eyeball at the teen. Knocking him back to the floor in a golden explosion of spores.

As Leo urged his eyes to open, he saw only a black void before him. The only thing in this place with him, were his family and friends, haunting him, still accusingly him of their fates.

"It's your fault, Leo. You did this! You let us down, bro. Way to go. Some leader!"

He pulled his hands to his head, the feeling of dread, of fear all crashing hard against him. His chest heaved, and he felt the black space growing darker.

"I-I can't do it..." Leo wheezed through struggling breathes. Clutching tightly at his head, and pulling his knees towards his plastron. "Failure... I'm a failure!"

The pounding of his heart grew louder, harder to ignore, until it sounded loudly within his entire body. "I let them down... I-I let them all down. I I-"

As he unclenched his sapphire blue eyes, he saw his katana laying only a few feet away. Within the blades shine, a light of hope emerged, and he saw his Father's face.

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

As he took in deep, controlled breathes, his Father's face vanished replaced by his own determined scowl. "No." He said firmly, feeling the panic attack fade away to the back of his mind. "No, I can't give up!"

He closed his eyes again, his aura glowing a brilliant blue as his perseverance grew, and a rush of determination flowed through him.

He took hold of his katana once more, pointing the blade at the mutant before him. "Your spores won't work on me. I face my fear every single day."

The giant mushroom growled, and sent more tentacles after Leo. But as he pulled his swords in front of him ready to attack, his blade hit a line of light, peaking through a small crack in the ceiling.

Leo glanced up, and saw that the storm above had passed on, allowing sunlight to start coming through the drains. But the fungus had grown around it, all except that one sliver.

"So that's your fear." Said Leo, confident that he could fight back. "Sunlight!"

If it were possible, Leo thought the mutant had looked scared, knowing his weakness was now revealed. In a desperate last attempt, it unleashed as many of it's eyeballs as it could at the turtle.

But Leo dodged them effortlessly, even using the tentacles that came after him as a height advantage.

"Keep away!" The Humongous Fungus screeched as Leo kept climbing his way up. "KEEP AWAYYY!"

One of the eyeballs fell right for the leader, but he managed to grab hold of it before it imploded, and chucked it upwards, into the crack.

For a moment the cavern was once again plunged into darkness, except for the glowing of the mushrooms, until the eyeball exploded. Showering the sun's rays into the hole.

As Leo dropped from the tentacles, he held his katana in front of him, and used them to bounce the light at the other mutant. Blinding the giant mushroom, which let out a bellowing shriek of pain as it burned away in the light.

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Back in the sewers, the other afflicted teens were coming round, blinking away their fears one by one.

Raph cried out as he finally managed to tackle Slash to the ground. But as he rose his fists up to pound down on him, he realised he was stood over his younger brother.

"Keep away from me!" Mikey whimpered loudly, "Please don't eat me!" He was suddenly caught of guard as he was wrapped into a death grip of a hug.

"What the?" He groaned, looking over to see his red-clad brother holding him. "Raph!" He cried, and returned the hug tightly. "You didn't leave me!"

Raphael didn't say a word, just grunting in relief, and Mikey knew that was his way of showing he missed him too. But really, he was glad that nightmare was finally over.

They heard clashing from behind them, and saw Donnie and Miwa going head to head against each other.

The two were so engrossed in their fight, they didn't realise that they had bruised each other in the process. Instead, they simple growled, and glared hatefully at one another.

"Whoa! Guys stop!" Mikey yelled worriedly as he and Raph raced forwards. But the two stopped as the humans began swinging their fists more powerfully, clearly intending to hurting their foe.

Their hands locked together, and they began pushing against the other grunting. blinked away the dust that took over their minds. Then, they both blinked, and before them both, the Shredder melted away, and stood in his place was their other sibling.

"Donnie?" Miwa said with a gasp, taking a step back with wide eyes at the fact that she'd hurt her brother.

"Miwa?" Donnie asked confused, still on high alert as he scanned the area.

The two realised that they had been under the spores influence when they noticed the marks they had unknowingly inflicted on the other.

They both looked horrified at each other, and at the same time, tried explaining. "I thought you were Saki-" "-Shredder." They stopped and stared at each other, before hugging in relief that the other was ok.

Behind the two came another groan, as Casey pulled himself out of a pipe he had been hiding in to avoid the rats. "What happened?"

"Casey!" Raph smirked, and helped pull the teen toward the rest of the group.

"Guys! You're all alive!" Mikey cried, allowing his tears to flow as he joined Miwa and Donnie's hug.

"Hey, Mike." Miwa sighed, patting Mikey's head as he came over.

"It's good to see you too, Mikey." Donnie chuckled in the hug, before scanning around once again. "But... where's Leo?"

The teens all stopped their celebration, and looked worriedly around for the leader.

"We should head back to the tunnel." Miwa said with no time to waste, and the others followed quickly after her.

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The cavern floor was littered with withering and dead fungi. The once ginormous mushroom, was now no more then a pile of ash, being blown away by the breeze coming through the sewers.

Within a pile of crunchy mushrooms, Leonardo's unconscious form lay still.

"Leo!" The group cried as they rushed to his side. Raphael placed his hand under his head and rolled him onto his side, allowing his brother to breath better.

"Oh, no! Leo!" Mikey whimpered, pulling his brother's hand into his own. "Dude. Speak to me, bro. Do you need mouth-to-mouth?"

Without waiting for a reply from anyone, Mikey tried diving straight in to save his brother. But was instead met with a green hand shoving him gently to one side.

"Ab-solutely not..." He wheezed out, the thick dust still stinging his lungs. As Donnie and Raph moved ahead to help him to his feet, he glanced over each of the teens anxiously, "You're a-all okay?"

They all nodded back, comforting the leader.

"Whatever you did, you saved us. All of us." Raph said, gripping his brothers shoulder gratefully. "Thanks, man."

The blue-clad turtle beamed softly at his family, "No problem." And happily accepted their help getting him out of the cavern.

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When they arrived home, battered, bruised, and wheezing for air their Father rushed quickly forwards, and wrapped them all in a tight hug. Making sure not to leave a single child out.

Besides Casey, who quickly scurried into the lair as Splinter raced over the turnstiles. He had had enough rats for one day...

The old rat brought them all to the lab where April was waiting, now also free of the spores.

She welcomed them all back, and threw herself into a hug with Donnie, while the others collapsed onto the floor around them.

Leonardo was guided to a cot to take a seat and was instructed to remain seated, while Metalhead ran over with a oxygen tank and mask. In the off chance that the turtle's lungs began struggling with the spores still in his system.

After an hour of tending to wounds, and making sure Leo was ok to breathe, Splinter decided to stay with the children as they all retold their fears to each other, taking a seat beside Leonardo and asking how his son was.

"And then I started seeing crazy rats everywhere!" Casey yelled off to Raph, Miwa and Mikey who all nodded along as he retold his rat fear. "The demon rat! They were coming out of-"

"And then my Dad came out of no where, and tried to grab me!" April sniffled, sitting beside Donnie and running a gentle hand over his bandaged arm. While he did the same to hers, listening intently as she spoke.

"And then the sunlight destroyed him and his little mushroom freaks." Said Leonardo confidently, letting out an wheezy exhale as he finished.

His Father ran a hand through his beard, a inquisitive look on his face. "Impressive. And would you say you mastered your fear of letting the team down?"

"No." Leo shook his head, staring at his hands and thinking. "I-I just faced it, Sensei."

"And that, Leonardo," Splinter said proudly. "Is why you are a great leader." His son beamed up at him, and nodded his thanks.

Neither of the two noticed Miwa's expression sadden ever so slightly.

At this point, Splinter turned and noted the others had finished their tellings, and cleared his throat to address them all. "My children, and friends. You have all been through a very troubling ordeal. Not even the strongest of minds is able to fight fear head on."

"I am proud of you all for facing them." He spoke warmly, the kind of warmth only a Father could share. Which made the teens all feel a little better after everything they went through.

"Please know." Splinter added seriously, though he voice held a gentle tone still. "If any of you wish to speak about what happened, know that I am here. For all of you."

At first the teens remained silent. Looking about the room nervously, unsure if they should share their deeper fears.

That was except...

"You guys all left me alone to fight the Squirrelanoids." Mikey spoke up, and the group all glanced his way as he continued. "You all said I was annoying, and stupid, and not strong enough... you- you were better off without me..."

"And... it felt so real! Like you guys really do think those things-" The youngest turtle broke down into a soft cry. Sensei wasted no time rushing over to his side, pulling his son into a tight embrace. Hushing and calming him of his fears.

"You know we don't think that, Mike." Miwa reassured him, rubbing circles onto his shell as he sniffled in his Father's hold. "We'll always have your back, you know that." The others all nodded, assuring him that his fears would never happen.

"I saw roaches... as you guys know." Raph added in next, seeing Mikey talk gave him the courage to do so as well. He took a deep breath, and looked shamefully away. "I also saw Slash. He...killed you guys, and I let it happen." The others looked horrified between themselves, "I think I'm still kinda messed up over everything that happened. Still blaming myself for not doing better..."

"Your not like that, Raphie." Mikey said from Splinter's side. "You've got a good heart under all that shell."

Raph quickly moved passed the mushy feelings, and eyed his brother with a snicker, "You calling me fat?" He dove playfully at Mikey, who laughed and yelled at him to stop as the others chuckled along.

"I-I saw Mother." Miwa spoke up unsurly. "But she wasn't... how I imagined her. She was cold and mean, and even tried to convince me to go to Shredder. Saying I should of been his-"

A paw resting on her shoulder, made her go quiet, and she held her Father's hand in her own as she glanced up at him uncertainly. "Your Mother loved you dearly, Miwa. And as she said in her letter, she could not be more proud of you." His words gave her hope, but deep down, she still felt this twinge of doubt. "And as for the Shredder." Her Father added with a dark laugh. "He will not ever get you, my child. I promise."

She nodded at his threat with a knowing grin, "Thank you, Otōsan."

Splinter smiled contently, thought, he felt as if Miwa was not telling him something. He decided not to push the matter, as he knew his daughter was not one for opening up so easily. A topic for a later date.

"Dang man, all you guys got deep fears. And I just saw rats..." Casey sighed dejectedly, folding his arms behind his head. "Oh! And a Demon rat!" He added, but quickly cleared his throat and looked away from the ninja master beside him.

Splinter's ears twitched, and he eyed the boy carefully, "Is there anything else?"

"Nah, just a bunch of creepy fuzzballs." The vigilante said with a shake of his head, but then realised his words and went redder. "Uh. No offence?" He added quickly, to which Splinter hummed thoughtfully and stepped away.

"At first, I saw my dad... Then, I myself as a mutant." April recounted, hugging herself a bit tighter. "A Kraang looking mutant... I-I was helping them hurt my parents... And I couldn't stop it!"

April pulled her hands to her face, wiping away a few tears as Splinter came over to comfort her as well.

"I should never of told you those results, April." Donnie spoke up from next to her, a guilty expression clear on his face. "I'm so sorry-"

"Don't be." She reassured him quickly, wiping the remaining tears away with a deep breath. "I needed- wanted, to see them. And I know now, that I have to face and accept this part of me. It isn't like it's going away anytime soon." She sighed, and gently knocked her boyfriend's shoulder. "So, in a way? You helped me by finding out before I did in a much worse way."

"Helped?" Donnie asked coldly, before turning away from her entirely. "Don't say that..."

"Donnie?" Leo questioned, eyeing the distant boy.

"I... don't think I want- I'm ready to talk about it." He said, not meeting anyone's eyes as his coat sleeve grew more interesting to fiddle at.

At first the others wanted to push for him to talk aswell, but they weren't sure how to go about it in a way that would make it feel safe for him. Their Father acknowledged Donnie's wishes, and was about to say it was alright. But then someone spoke up.

"It might help?" Leo said, shrugging his shoulders with a well meaning smile, "Lessen the load, I mean?"

Donnie peered back up, and met his eyes. Eyes that told him he was safe, and this room was filled with people who cared for him. But at the same time... the crushing doubt of being a burden on them all, of being the root cause for so many of their problems, weighted him down so much.

The genius fought with his doubts for a while, fumbling his fingers around as he tried convincing himself to speak. But how much was he willing to share? To admit...

After bringing in a hesitant breath, Donnie sighed, "I-I... saw the fire again..." He said in a quiet whisper.

The familiar group around him had softer expressions, and stayed silent to allow him to speak. While Casey on the other hand, looked confused, but before he could ask anything, Raphael gave him a look to say, 'Be quiet, I'll tell you later.'

"Donatello..." Splinter began reaching out, but the teen wasn't finished.

"And Kirby." Donnie added, watching April gasp quietly at her Father's name.

"And Timothy.." He stole only a glance towards the tank, the faint sounds of the hallucinations still accusing him in his mind.

"And Leatherhead..." Mikey and the other Hamatos frowned at the mention of the alligator that had sacrificed himself to save them.

"And... all those Hamatos that Saki-" Donnie stopped this time, tears threatening to flow from his eyes. "Because of me-"

"Do not finish that sentence." Splinter's harsh tone caught everyone off guard. As they turned to the rat, who only held a look of pain towards the brunet boy.

"Sensei?" Donnie questioned, sniffling.

"You are not at fault. And you never will be." Splinter said, trying hard to dispel these thoughts in his son's mind.

"But It's true! All I do is ruin everything!" Donnie snapped back, catching even Splinter off guard as he abruptly stood up. Tears now falling down his cheeks. "I've destroyed so much...! Everyone that I've met either ends up dead or mutated!"

"Do you still blame yourself for what happened to my Dad?" April asked quietly, fearing she knew the answer.

Donnie spun round to her, with a obvious look on his face, speaking quicker then he could think. "Of course I do!-"

April threw herself forwards, wrapping him in a bear hug, that had him suddenly sucking in a breath, lost for words. "You shouldn't!" She cried loudly, holding him tighter, and wetting his parka with her own tears. "I don't blame you! So you shouldn't either!"

"Yeah, you can't blame yourself. It was more of a team effort to be honest." Raph tried his part at comfort, which earned him a glare from his brothers, and an elbow to the plastron from his sister.

"What he's trying to say is, that it was an accident." Miwa said, softening her hard expression to Raphael into one of calm for Donnie. "One you could not of predicted. And one we all had a hand in."

"Timothy wasn't your fault either." Mikey said with teary eyes himself. "He wanted to be mutated! And you tried to stop him! You did all you could do, D!"

"And Leatherhead sacrificed himself to save us from the Kraang." Leo added in. "His decision, was his own to make. And not your fault."

"As for the Hamatos, there blood isn't on you!" Miwa stated bluntly, "You didn't know what Shredder was doing. And if you did, you never would of helped him!"

"He used you, Donnie." April sighed into his chest, "And we know you carry all this guilt, but you need to realise..."

"It wasn't your fault." Leo smiled, taking a step toward his brother. "So it isn't your burden to bare alone." He lay a hand on his shoulder, before pulling Donnie into an embrace, joining April in her hold.

At that, Mikey also threw himself into the hug, weeping loudly, and was soon joined by Splinter and Miwa. Even Casey was dragged into it a separate bro hug by Raph.

The vigilante rolled his eyes at the red-clad turtle, but the minute the mutant turned away, he let slip a small smile. Thankfully for being included.

Donnie held back the sobs he felt coming, and shoved his face away into the nearest thing to him. "Sorry... I've made this all about me again. Your all struggling with your own fears-"

"Do not apologise, my son." Splinter said, running a hand over his head, as the boy lay against his chest. "You have nothing to be sorry for. We are a family, and we share our burdens." He looked to his other children, and sighed gently, thankful for this amazing family he had.

"Ok..." Donnie murmured, looking up from his robe. "I'm..." He went to apologise again, but at the pointed, soft, look from his Sensei, he stopped himself. "Really glad... I have you guys."

"Dang..." Mikey whimpered, before full out weeping into the family circle. "I love you guys!"

"We do too, Goofball." Miwa smirked, patting his shell.

"You know what this calls for, right?" The light green turtle asked, swatting his tears away, and making way for his cheery demeanour once again. The hug finally let up as the others looked to him, waiting. "An extra large pizza with anchovies, pepperoni, and extra mushrooms!"

"Mikey!" They all groaned in disgust at the idea, slowly losing what little appetite they thought they had.

"You can't be serious!" Donnie laughed, as he and April sat back down together.

"Okay, that is just wrong!" Miwa gagged, not ever wanting another mushroom in her life.

"Mushrooms…" Leo moaned grimly, feeling the sudden urge to be sick.

"You know what," Casey grinned evilly, "Make that two!"

"YEAH! That's the spirit!" Mikey beamed, giving the human a double high five as the two made their way out of the lab, on a quest for revenge pizza.

"You both sicken me..." Raph murmured defeatedly, making his way back to the television.

TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT

That night, sleep did not come easily for anyone in the lair, the teenagers all tossed and turned in their beds, unable to see anything other then their fears unfolding before them.

Michelangelo clung onto his Teddy bear alot tighter then usual, gnawing at it's ear in his sleep, and grumbling out pleas for the squirrels to leave him alone.

Raphael growled and kicked out every now and then, fighting something that wasn't there, and occasionally swiping at his arms and legs, as if bugs were all over him.

Even Miwa and Leo, normally the two stillest sleepers, had grimaces on their faces as they fought the voices and nightmares in their sleep.

"NOO!" Donatello screamed out loud, shooting up from his bed and clasping frantically at his heart through his t-shirt. He gulped down air, and tried to get his barings. But it was hard with the voices still echoing in his mind.

Grabbing the sides of his head, he muttered quietly to himself, "I-I'm not a liar..."

"I'm not... I'm not a murderer..." His lip quivered, and he brought his knees closer for comfort.

He gripped his sweatpants with white knuckles, and held back his emotions. "I'm nothing like him..."

"I'm not him-"

A sudden horror etched it's way onto Donatello's face, the realisation hit him hard, and he paled significantly. "Oh god... No, no, no, no, no..." He whimpered, and quietly let tears fall as he covered his face with his pillow. Muffling the noise of his cries.

His greatest fear wasn't of Saki. It was becoming Saki...

And he feared, that it would become true...

A soft knocking at the door had Donnie quickly scrambling to wipe his face, knowing he had probably woken up the youngest mutant with his scream.

"I-I'm fine, Mikey." Donnie reassured with a stutter, hoping the turtle wouldn't enter. "Just a nightmare."

The door creaked slightly open, much to Donnie's disappointment. But stood in the doorway wasn't the turtle he'd thought would be there.

"Leo?" Donnie asked in confusion as the turtle pushed the door open halfway, before a slight flush turned his cheeks red. "I uh, didn't wake you...did I?"

Leo shook his head, and leant his shell against the doorframe. "No. I couldn't sleep anyway." He reassures the other teen, who looked thankfully. Though what he'd said was a lie. "And by the sounds of it, neither could you?"

Donnie looked down at his sheets sheepishly, and tried to think of a quick excuse, but none came to mind. He slowly exhaled, and shook his head into his hands.

He didn't need company right now. He wanted to be alone, to process his thoughts by himself.

"You want to talk about it?" Leonardo asked, now taking a seat on the end of the bed.

Donnie wasn't sure when he'd even entered the room, but just chuckled and wiped his face again, "Why is this family so insistent on 'opening up'?"

"Because we care about each other." Said Leo matter of factly, "And your part of this family. Which means, we care about you."

The human dropped his head onto his knees, and groaned tiredly, earning an amused smirk from the turtle.

Leo thought his brother was just annoyed with their constant worrying, and unfortunately for Donnie, that wasn't ever going to change. But then, Leo heard a slight sniffle coming from beside him.

"Am I...a bad person?" Donnie's voice was low, muffled by the pillow on his knees as he kept his face down.

Leo's smile dropped instantly, and he straightened up. He thought back to the discussion earlier in the lab, and guessed that Donnie was still having doubts about himself.

"I think..." Leo began hesitantly, picking each word carefully before saying them out loud, "Your a good person who's been through bad things. And that makes you think your bad."

Donnie made an unintelligible noise, unsure of his brother's response. He rolled his head to the side, and peered up at Leo through his hair. "So... what does that make me then?"

Placing one hand on his brother's shoulder, Leonardo let out a deep breath. "It makes you, whatever you want yourself to be. Your past doesn't define your future, Don."

Donnie stared blankly at the turtle, before his eyes shifted downward to the floor. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of this conversation, but in a strange way, he did feel slightly better.

Leo was right. His past didn't define who he was, or who he'd become. And that felt like a relief to hear. He wasn't like Saki. And he decided right there and then, that he would never become like Saki.

Donatello sat up straight and throw his pillow behind him with an exhale. He was tired, and felt the all nighter he had pulled the day before catching up to him. But at the same time, he knew sleep wasn't going to come anytime tonight.

He wanted to be by himself for a while, but... he also didn't want to be alone.

"Want me to stay?" Leo spoke up, almost reading his brother's thoughts.

Donnie nodded silently, and handed him a pillow not covered in tears. Which the turtle took and propped along the side wall. Leaning his shell against it.

The human then turned in his bed to sit beside him. "So," Donnie began with a tired grin, "Do you want to talk about how you're doing?"

Leo was slightly caught off guard, but quickly changed it to a grateful smile. He too, was hoping to have a ear to talk too. But he thought his Father was asleep, and decided to wait until morning to speak with him fully. He tried to just sleep it off, which in the end, didn't work out.

So as Donnie asked to talk, he felt relieved to have a brother he could come too. "Yeah. Thanks, Otōto."

As the turtle brother confided in his human sibling, a proud rat hid silently behind the half closed door, also being awaken by the screams of his youngest.

He let out a contented sigh, and left the boys to speak privately. He also decided to call off morning practice, his children deserved a break after their hard day.

---

That's it for this chapter!

I hope you guys enjoyed it!

Ah! How was it? Too much? Not enough trauma? XD

Where some of the scenes a bit too much? I know this fic is mature, with alot of mature things happening? But the smallest part of me felt like I was going overboard? But at the same time, I'm really happy with how it came out!

And, I really wanted to flesh out Casey's character a little more, especially his family life, so I have given him lore lol. More to come on him in future chapters!

A question! Does anyone know if Casey's sister was ever given a name? I can't find it anywhere in the transcripts and online about her being named?

Also I just refound a song from a fee years ago, and the lyrics kinda match this fic so much? It's called Monster by Starset, I recommend giving it a listen if your into more heavy bands like I am! It's good! And like I said, it fits well with the fic haha!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you did, please leave a review! I love to see people's thoughts and opinions on this fic!

Till next time! \(•v•)/