HOME | DD

Description

Chapter 7: "Insular Cortex"

"UGWAAAH!"
April turned around at the cry to check if her companion was okay. There weren't many things that could cause Casey Jones to scream in horror, but a rat running over his foot in the dark was apparently one of them. Casey stumbled backwards and pointed his flashlight at a spot in front of him. The rat was still there. Its tiny, black eyes stared at Casey for a moment, but it didn't run away. It blinked a couple of times at the light before it promptly sat down on its furry little butt. It was almost as if it could sense that it was in an unexpected position of power.
"Stay back you little creep!" Casey ordered, and swung the flashlight threateningly, like a baseball bat. "You're not as cute as you think…!"
"Aww... Hi there little fella'," April said, and crouched down next to the rodent. "Wow. Amazing how it isn't scared of us, huh?"
Before Casey had the chance to disagree, the brave little rodent had without warning started galloping right towards him. Casey didn't think before hurling the flashlight at it, but missed with an inch. He then quickly grabbed the first thing in his backpack, which turned out to be a can of yellow spray paint. He backed away while trying to spray the tiny animal in the face, but without much success. Casey chose to throw the useless weapon at it, but completely missed the fast moving critter. In an act of desperation, Casey pulled out his hockey stick and instinctively swung it at the rat.
"No, wait!" April exclaimed, and ran over to him. "Don't hurt it, it could have babies."
"They make new ones all the time! And it doesn't make them less creepy," Casey replied, but stopped swinging his hockey stick around and only used it to keep the rat at bay. April hurried over to Casey's side and opened her bag. She picked up a sandwich wrapped in paper and wrinkled her nose at the smell. It was untouched except from one regretful bite in the corner. Either her aunt thought that the expiration date on tuna cans were merely a polite suggestion, or she needed new glasses. April tossed the sandwich on the ground in front of Casey, making the rat immediately stop. It gazed at the mountain of food in awe before digging in. Casey watched the scene for a moment with a conflicted look.
"I would've eaten that, you know…" Casey told her.
"Trust me, you wouldn't," April told him, and picked up the miraculously unharmed flashlight. "We're almost there, just… Leave the rats alone, okay? I don't think Master Splinter would be thrilled to see you using his relatives as hockey pucks."
"Maybe I should have stayed on the surface…" Casey thought out loud, and scratched his neck. "I mean, I wasn't exactly invited to your little science club to begin with. And you're the one with the mutant DNA and all that."
"You really know what a girl wants to hear, don't you, Jones?" April said, with a semi-smile. "And I don't think Donnie will mind me bringing a guest, or he would have said something over the phone."
"He would if you'd told him that the guest was me," Casey stated, and used his hockey stick to hit an empty beer can far away into the darkness. "I mean, have you seen the way he looks at me? I'm telling you, that geek's more vicious than he looks… Like a ferret."
April rolled her eyes, and didn't dignify the comment with a reply. She could see the turnstiles outside the lair now. "It won't take long, I promise," April told him. "It's pretty late already. And I can't miss dinner again, or my aunt will call the police for real this time… Donnie probably just needs some hair or saliva. Something with my DNA in it. Look, I even brought the math book so that you can practice until I'm done."
"Yeah, I could go for some practice," Casey answered, with a cocky smile. "But I won't be needing no book…"
Casey picked up a puck from his backpack and hit it along the subway track. He then proceeded by unfolding the wheels under his sneakers, thus turning them into roller skates. He went after the tiny, speeding object, and in a matter of seconds, the old subway had turned into a hockey rink. Minus the ice.
"Hey, give Raph a punch from me, will ya?" Casey yelled to April, with a grin. "I owe him one!"
"… I'll tell him you said hi," April answered, but the hockey player was already too far away to hear. April shook her head before turning her back to her company and entered the lair.
April passed the turnstiles but stopped almost immediately. She furrowed her brow as she scanned the area before her. She started walking again, but slower this time, while her eyes took in the empty room that clearly lacked any green occupants.
"They must be training in the dojo," April thought out loud. Her voice sounded anything but confident. A sudden scream made April snap her head towards the noise, only to realize that it came from the TV.
"… With the TV on?" April added, with a doubtful look at the newscast. It was currently showing a video footage of a riot in a bowling alley downtown. April looked around for the remote, but couldn't see it anywhere. She sighed and went over to the TV to turn it off manually, just in time to save herself from seeing a young man get hit in the face with a tenpin.
April looked around uneasily at the deserted place. She regretted turning off the TV. The complete silence that was now surrounding her felt anything but comforting. April couldn't explain it, but it was something eerie about it. Something unnatural. She wasn't used to the lair ever being this quiet. Not unless the guys were out on patrol or on a mission.
April suddenly realized something and she quickly reached for her t-phone. Was it possible that she could have missed a text from Donnie? The news was on. Maybe there was a mutant situation somewhere and they had to leave in a hurry? April had barely taken a peek at the display when a creaking sound caused her to look up.
Donnie opened the lab doors and popped his head out, as if someone had knocked and then immediately bolted. His eyes landed on April and his expression instantly brightened at the sight of her. "Hey, April! I didn't know you were here," Donnie greeted and left the lab to run over to her, but stopped halfway with a suddenly concerned look. "… You haven't waited long, have you?"
"I literally just got here, Donnie," April reassured him, with a smile as she pocketed her phone. "Are you here alone? It's so quiet."
"Yeah, now that you're mentioning it…" Donnie realized, and looked around with a thoughtful look. "It is rather peaceful in here. I guess I've been so caught up in my research that I haven't really noticed. It's a nice change though, don't you think?"
"It… Takes some getting used to," April admitted, but couldn't help but to think that the place was missing some noise and chaos. "So, where are the guys?"
"Oh, they're helping me," Donnie informed her. "You know, in their usual unconstructive, bullying kind of way… No surprise there. But at least they're contributing. Makes them feel involved."
April nodded absentmindedly as she was eying the turtle's lab coat. She couldn't remember if she'd seen one in Donnie's lab before. "Looks good on you."
"Thanks!" Donnie said, with a chuckle. "I guess you could say it's pretty handy."
Donnie demonstrated this by putting a hand in his pocket and picked up a yellow lollipop which he offered April. But April didn't even look at the candy. Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed the bloodstained bandage over Donnie's knuckles. "Oh, my gosh… Donnie, what happened to your hand?"
"Well… From what I've been told, it was an accident," Donnie answered simply, and put the lollipop in his own mouth instead. "It stopped bleeding a while ago, so I have no reason to believe that the wound is anything but superficial. I doubt I'll even have to stitch it..."
Donnie trailed off when he looked down at his injured hand. He blinked a couple of times and then held it up before him. He spread his fingers, studying them closely like someone who has just found a specimen of a rare animal. It was as if he couldn't stop looking at it. April raised a confused eyebrow. "What's wrong…?"
"I wouldn't say that something's 'wrong' per se," Donnie answered vaguely without looking up. "Strange, possibly, but…"
Donnie's eyes were fixed upon his hand for almost a minute before he spoke again.
"Have you noticed that we only have three fingers?"
April's look changed in an instant from concern to surprise, as if she'd just witnessed the anticlimax of the century.
"… That together with green skin and shells," she answered, and folded her arms. "What's so strange about that? You've had them your whole life."
"That's the thing, I haven't," Donnie told her, still not looking up. "Freshwater turtles have five claws in the same way humans have five fingers. There's no logical reason to why our mutation would stop at three fingers."
Donnie flexed his fingers a little while intently observing them, as if he thought that x-ray vision was really just a matter of determination. "The phalangeal formula in most reptiles isn't far from that of mammals. Humans have five sets of fingers with the formula 23333, which means three phalanx bones in each finger and two in your thumb. Most freshwater turtles have the exact same formula, which raises the question of where all those extra bones went? I suppose it's possible that the properties of the mutagen caused them to fuse together into three massive digits instead of five smaller ones. Or maybe they got absorbed- No, that doesn't make any sense, they can't just have disappeared… I wonder how the veins and muscle tissue are wired in our hands' anatomical structure-"
"That's fascinating, Donnie, but…" April interrupted him with a smile, and put a hand on his outstretched arm to lower it. "… I don't have three fingers."
This made Donnie finally look at April, who waved her very un-mutated hand in front of his face. Donnie watched her for a moment and then laughed apologetically. "I… I got a little off topic, didn't I?"
"Maybe just a tad bit," April said kindly. "I wish I could help you with this, but I'm afraid that my hands are a little too 'human' for that. Sorry."
"No, no, no. Don't be sorry," Donnie told her casually, as he loudly bit off a piece of the lollipop. "That's not why I wanted you to come here anyway."
"I sure hope not…" April said, with a semi smile. "But you sounded really excited on the phone. Are you close to finding a cure?"
The question made Donnie brighten up like a carnival. "Is 7 both a happy number and a prime? Closer than ever!" Donnie announced cheerfully, and motioned to her to come with him. "Come on, I'll show you."
"So what exactly did you need me to do?" April asked as she followed him. "You said that you could use some of my DNA for something, right?"
"I did say that, and yeah, I do," Donnie confirmed. "Though, 'some' is a rather ambiguous term in this case, since we probably have different estimations on how much samples we're talking about."
"You can take as much hair as you want," April laughed. "And I mean it. If it can give me my dad back, I don't mind wearing a hat until it all grows out again."
"Actually, it's not your hair that I need, so you don't have to worry about that." Donnie gave her a reassuring smile. "I promise you that your haircut will remain completely unharmed when we're done. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from wearing a hat anyway. I didn't mean that you shouldn't. Just that it's unnecessary. Though, I'm sure that you'd look great in one. Not that you don't look great already- I mean, you look absolutely normal. In a good way. Um…Here, let me get the door…"
Donnie swiftly opened the heavy doors before taking April's hand and led her inside, like a kid eager to show off his birthday presents. "Okay, brace yourself," Donnie told her, in a voice that could barely contain his excitement. "'Cause this stuff is gonna blow your mind. I'm telling you, I've figured out more about the properties of mutagen in the last 24 hours than I've done in weeks! I've been collecting some pretty interesting data on the mutation process, in reptilian physiology that is. And I've also been conducting some rather fascinating studies of the mutagen's effects on the specimen's natural abilities, and-
"… And been on quite a shopping spree, it seems," April said as she noticed the piles of unsanitary treasures from the city dump. "Donnie, you got more junk in here than… Well, a junkyard…! What are you planning to-"
April went quiet. Donnie had steered her right towards his work desk when she suddenly noticed the table and the cot next to it. More importantly, she noticed the two bodies lying on top of them. Leo looked up at her arrival, deep blue eyes immediately locking on to sky blue ones. Raph remained still on his bed. He barely even glanced in April's direction and seemed unwillingly sluggish. Both turtles' mouths were sealed with duct tape, but Leo's message was as clear as if his eyes had screamed it.
Run.
"… Um, Donnie?" April asked, as the scientist kept leading the way, using her arm as a kind of leash. "What exactly are you guys doing in here?"
"I told you. I'm trying to produce a retro-mutagen," Donnie explained, happy that April took such interest in his research. "And these guys are helping me."
Donnie let go of April's hand and passed Leo and Raph to get to his desk. He gave Raph a quick pat on the back, making the red masked turtle close his eyes in frustration.
April's eyes were darting from the red vials on the desk, to the scribbles on Leo's chest, and to Donnie who casually threw the stick from his lollipop in the trash. Her muddled mind was desperately trying to make some sense out of the situation. Was this some kind of joke? Was this all just an act to see the look on her face…? Or was there something wrong with Donnie? He hadn't mentioned why Leo and Raph was tied up. Had something happened to his brothers that made it necessary to have them secured like this? If they were a danger to others and themselves, it would explain the belts. But not the duct tape or why Donnie was acting as if everything was just normal. On a second thought, was this even Donnie…? Had he been brainwashed? But in that case, he surely wouldn't be so… So much like Donnie, would he?
April walked closer to the desk, eying the scientist who was currently busy skimming through his notes. She remembered something Splinter once told her. Always study the situation before you act. Information was a ninja's most powerful weapon. One rash decision based on what she thought she knew was all it took for a situation to go from bad to worse. She observed her friend with a wary look. "Donnie… Are you alright?"
Leo shook his head while staring intently at April. April raised an eyebrow at the leader in blue, but Donnie didn't even look up from his reading. "You know," Donnie answered as he flipped through the pages, "you're not the first one asking me that today. It's kinda funny, since I've in fact never felt better. Though I guess the cut on my hand kinda takes the gold star out of that achievement… But never mind that. I'm feeling great."
Raph hit his head hard into the mattress, burying his face deep into it. April could tell that he didn't agree. "And what about them?" she asked, and looked from Raph to Leo in concern. "Are they alright…?"
Leo shook his head again but stopped when Donnie looked up. "Well…" Donnie hesitated for a second. He then used his foot to push his revolving chair towards Raph's cot, and stopped right in front of him. The tall turtle leaned forward to take a closer look at his brother's face, studying it closely.
"Raph is a little tired," Donnie concluded, and rubbed Raph's head fondly. "But that's understandable considering what he's been through. He'll come around soon enough."
The hothead exhaled loudly through the nose in a disapproving way before Donnie skillfully pushed the chair back to his work desk. He stopped it to take a look at the readings on the laptop. "... Aaand Leo's condition has improved significantly, so… Yeah. Taking into account the amount of tests we've done today, I dare say that they both have recovered remarkably well."
"Or you could just remove the duct tape and ask them yourself?" April suggested subtly. "You know, just to be on the safe side?"
"Feels kinda redundant now, since I just confirmed that they're both physically fine," Donnie mused, and scratched his chin.
"Well… Can't you remove it anyway?" April tried again. "I mean, what's the point in keeping their mouths taped like this?"
"From a medical point of view? None," Donnie admitted, and glanced at his brothers. "But they didn't give me much of a choice… These two jokesters have been messing with me all day, and they would literally try anything to scare you off. Trust me, you wouldn't even believe half the stuff they've been calling me."
April didn't know what to believe. The thoughts that were currently going through her head turned more terrifying by the minute. She looked at the drawings on Leo's plastron. One of them said "Incision here".
"… Have you hurt them?" April asked after a moment of silence.
Leo nodded with a sincere look at April, while Donnie picked up a pen to add something in his journal. "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Donnie answered as he wrote. "I'm aware that some of these tests have been… well, let's call them uncomfortable. But I seriously doubt that anything I've done so far can be worse than the beating we get on a standard mission. Though, I have to admit that I never thought they'd be this squeamish about something as innocuous as needles… It's kinda endearing if you think about it. But for the most part, it's just troublesome."
April was still not quite sure what to make of this, or if this really was Donnie she was talking to. She looked directly at Leo this time, while Donnie was busy scribbling down some peculiar symbols in his journal.
"Do you want me to leave?" April asked.
Leo nodded intensely, before Donnie looked up in shock. "What? Of course not! Whatever gave you that impression? We haven't even gotten started yet."
Donnie quickly got up and walked over to Mikey's chair instead. He dusted it off with his hand in a courteous manner before petting it invitingly. "Please, sit down."
"What for?" April asked, with a frown.
"Well," Donnie said, and tapped his chin in a musing way. "I suppose that it's technically possible for you to stand up during the procedure. But I assure you that it's gonna be much more comfortable for the both of us if you sit. It will be easier for me to draw blood from your arm if you keep it in a relaxed position, like on the armrest-"
"Hold on a sec… Blood?" April asked in disbelief. "I thought you just needed a swab of spit or something?"
Donnie observed April for moment without saying anything. "… Are you scared of needles too?"
"What? No, and that's not the point…!" April said, with an exasperated gesture.
"Awesome!" Donnie exclaimed happily, and strolled over to the desk to fetch a syringe. "Then this shouldn't be any problem at all."
April stared at the sharp tool in Donnie's hand. Leo and Raph shared a look of panic, but since they could neither move nor speak, all they could do was to watch. Donnie turned back to April and made a gesture with his free hand towards the chair. "Over here, April. Just take a seat, everything's ready for you. It won't hurt a bit, I promise. Well, the first one may sting a little, but after the fifth or sixth sample or so, you'll barely even notice the needle anymore. Right, Leo?"
"Donnie, wait…!" April said, and took a step away from him.
The scientist tilted his head and observed her with a puzzled look. "… I don't understand. Your DNA could be the key to find a way to reverse the effect of the mutagen, in simpler terms: a cure. Everyone who has been mutated could go back to their jobs, their families, their normal lives. Including your dad. Why wouldn't you want to help me?"
"I do…! But I…" April hesitated, and bit her lip. "I… I brought Casey."
Donnie blinked. His expression was completely blank. "Say what now?"
"Casey is waiting for me. Right outside," April explained truthfully. "I thought you just needed some spit or hair, I didn't think I'd be here for more than ten minutes, tops. If you're gonna take blood samples, you're gonna need a lot more time than that, right?"
"That depends on the number of samples, but I'd say most definitely yes," Donnie concluded after a quick calculation.
"In that case…" April started, trying to keep her voice steady. "… I need to tell Casey that I'm gonna be here for a while. He's probably already wondering what's taking so long. I'll be right back, I promise."
"It's okay, you won't have to do anything," Donnie told her with confidence, and made a chivalrous gesture at himself. "You stay here. I'll go talk to Casey."
April, Leo and Raph stared at Donnie as if he'd just volunteered to babysit Leatherhead through one of his night terrors. "I…" April began. "… I don't think that's such a good-"
"It's no trouble at all," Donnie told her, with such a bright smile that it was impossible not to believe him. "You make yourself comfortable until I get back. I'll tell Casey that you'll be here a little while longer and that he can stay too if he wants. I'll find something he can watch on TV." Donnie headed for the lab doors, but turned around just when he was about to open them. "And who knows?" he added with a pondering look. "Maybe I can find something that he can help out with too?"
April smiled and waved to Donnie as he left. But the same second the doors closed behind the turtle, her smile faded and she dashed towards Raph and Leo. She stopped by Leo's side and tore off the tape from his mouth. "Okay, start talking," April said as she reached for one of the belts. "Because nothing you say can be worse than what's going on in my head right now-"
"Mikey's in the water tank!" Leo yelled, and coughed when his body instinctively tried to fill his lungs with oxygen.
"What?!" April exclaimed, and froze with her hand on the belt.
"The tank!" Leo clarified, with an urgent look. "Lots of water, no air! He can't breathe! HURRY!"
April looked at the algae tanks in the other side of the lab and started running, but stopped when she heard Raph's muffled voice behind her. "Oh, right," she said and hurried over to Raph and ripped off his tape as well. The action made the turtle groan and grit his teeth.
"… Ouch," April said, with an apologetic look. "Sorry, Raph-"
"GO!" Raph barked, with a pained expression.
April nodded and sprinted over to the water tanks. She skidded on a water puddle next to the winch but quickly got up on her feet. She looked from the control panel in front of her to the steel wire that pierced the water surface, like a nail in a coffin. There was clearly something heavy in the other end.
"How long has he been down there?" April felt the need to ask
"Less than half an hour, but at least fifteen minutes-"
"Too long!" Raph interrupted, his eyes staring at the tank in distress. "Just get him up from there!"
April immediately pressed a button. The machine started feeding more wire into the water, lowering the weight further down.
"Not that one, not that one…!" Leo yelled in panic.
"I know! I got it!" April snapped.
April tried a second button. The winch started to slowly reel up the weight and April exhaled in relief. She turned away from the machine to run back to the brothers, but the moment she removed her finger from the button, the winch stopped. April looked at it for a second and cursed. She had to keep pressing it. Like a dead man's switch. April sighed and firmly put her hand on the button again. She looked at the greenish water and then turned to the others with a skeptic look. "Did Donnie do this too…? What reason could he have to put his little brother in a freaking water tank?"
"Same reason he put his older one in there…" Raph mumbled, his voice significantly weaker now than earlier. Weaker than April had ever heard him.
"April, listen. Donnie is not himself right now," Leo tried to explain. "He's not fine, no matter what he's told you. His mutagen research has gone to his head. Literally."
"What do you mean?" April asked with a puzzled look.
"See that canister on the desk?" Leo said, and nodded at the boiling mutagen.
"… You mean that witch-brew with the creepy, green, toxic-looking fumes?" April asked with a frown. "What about it?"
"We think that Donnie has been inhaling that stuff without realizing it," Leo continued. "We don't know exactly what it does, but it… I think it has done something to his brain. It's like he doesn't understand that he's doing anything wrong. All he cares about is to finish the retro-mutagen, but there is nothing telling him when he's going too far…!"
"Sorry, I'm… I'm just having some problem picturing all this," April said, and shook her head. "I mean, he's still Donnie, right? He hasn't switched brain with anything, he isn't mind controlled… He's just Donnie. He could never hurt anyone. Not like this…" April added with an uncertain look at the water.
"He can, and he has," Leo said, with a grim look before continuing. "April, he's dangerous. Don't let him talk you into anything. You can't trust him. Not even for a second."
April went quiet and glanced at the lab doors. "… You really think he would hurt me?" April asked slowly. "Why would he want to do that?"
Leo honestly didn't know what to answer. He didn't want to think that Donnie was capable of hurting April, even in his current condition. But then again, he didn't think that Donnie would submerge Mikey in a water filled tank either. And he hadn't even hesitated.
"He doesn't," Leo eventually answered. "But he's unpredictable to the point where he doesn't even know himself what he might do next. It's not that he wants to hurt anyone, it's just that he doesn't care if he does…!"
"Right," April nodded, before giving a Leo a serious look. "So what do you need me to do?"
Before the leader could answer, a pair of short, orange tails of a bandana floated up to the water surface. They were soon followed by a freckled face and a pair of closed eyes.
"Mikey…!" Raph called out at the sight of him. "Come on, talk to me, bro. Hey…! Say something!"
The winch pulled Mikey higher up until his toes barely touched the water surface. He didn't open his eyes. If it hadn't been for the chains around his body and the fact that he was hanging above the ground, it would almost have looked like he was peacefully asleep.
Raph stared at his little brother's limp body, and how it was eerily swaying form side to side. "…No. MIKEY!" Raph yelled at the top of his lungs. "You idiot, you dork, you… WAKE UP!"
"Raph! He's okay. Just calm down," Leo told him. But the truth was that Leo had no way of knowing that. And he knew that he had no right to tell Raph to calm down when he felt like screaming himself. But Leo had to concentrate at the situation at hand, and he couldn't do that with Raph acting as if Mikey was... He couldn't think straight. He had to focus.
"April, hurry up and get him down," Leo instructed her. "It hasn't been that long. It's not too late."
April left the winch and ran up to Mikey's lifeless body. She felt a tug in her gut at the look of him. She had never seen Mikey like this. And she never wanted to see him like this ever again. She hurriedly reached out and grabbed Mikey's shell in an attempt to move him away from the water, but the sound of a door handle made April froze as if someone had fired a gun right next to her head.
Donnie closed the doors before he casually sauntered inside the lab. The white coat fluttered merrily behind him, but stopped the moment he noticed April. Donnie's expression went from cheerful to something April couldn't interpret. Donnie looked from the controls of the winch, to April, and then to Mikey, who was still dangling quietly from the wire. Donnie's face was now completely blank. Leo's heart was beating so much that it physically hurt his ribs and Raph stared at Donnie in sheer panic. The air stood still as if no one dared to breathe.
Donnie observed the scene for a minute before lowering his face into his palm with a sigh. "Aw, man… Why did you have to do that?" Donnie said, with the miserable look of someone who just had missed the last bus home. "April, I know that you're just trying to help me," Donnie continued as he started walking towards April and Mikey. ", and I can't stress enough how much I appreciate it. But I'm afraid that you just kinda messed up a fairly important test about how mutagen enhances natural abilities, and more explicitly the lung's capacity to provide a mutated turtle's body with enough oxygen under water within a set period of time."
"I'm… Sorry?" April said hesitantly, not sure how she was supposed to react. "It just… Kinda looked like he couldn't breathe down there-"
"No, no, it's okay. It wasn't your fault," Donnie said, with a petty wave as he stopped at the tank. He studied Mikey with a tilted head. "It's mine. I should have told you about it, but I guess my mind was too occupied with the blood test so I forgot to mention it. To be honest, I've got so many things going on in my head right now that it's getting increasingly difficult to keep track of them all. And then there are these reoccurring headaches that may or may not be relatable to that, so… Yeah. One or two things are bound to fall off the grid. Move over a little."
April moved out of the way to let Donnie pass her, and the scientist turned his steps towards the winch. She felt as if a dagger pierced her chest when he reached for the button she knew meant "down". Donnie rested his finger gently on the switch and then turned to April. "Could you move him a little more to the left? Just enough so that he doesn't end up in the water."
April blinked in surprise but quickly complied with the order. "Great, thanks," Donnie said with a smile and pressed the button. "Alright, nice and easy… Easy. Eeeeasy... Okay. Now, could you make sure that he doesn't hurt his neck? Oh, good. That's better."
Donnie kept giving out instructions and April kept following them until Mikey was lying flat on his back on the wet floor. Donnie glanced at him with an exasperated look. "Man, I did not look forward to do this test all over again… If you only knew half the hassle I had to go through to convince Mikey to do this in the first place. But don't feel bad, I don't blame you or anything. Without the proper context, it must have looked like he was drowning or something. Am I right?"
Donnie chuckled at the idea, but then stopped with a curious frown. "Actually, that reminds me of something… Nurse? Could you check if the patient's breathing?"
April was sitting on the floor with Mikey's head in her lap. His body was deathly still. She leaned forward and tried to listen for any breaths. Any sign of life from the freckled ninja. Her eyes widened when she could feel a faint expel of air against her ear.
"… I think so," April answered, and looked up but flinched at the sight of Donnie standing right in front of her. He then crouched next to Mikey to study him closer. April could see Donnie's eyes scan every inch of his little brother's body. They looked troubled. April raised an eyebrow. "I told you, he's breathing. Why aren't you acting as if that's a good-"
"Please step aside for a sec," Donnie interrupted, without taking his eyes off Mikey.
April didn't move. She wasn't sure if she should protect Mikey from his older brother or let Donnie do whatever he had in mind. Her finger brushed by the pocket where she kept her tessen. She didn't want to use it. Not just because she didn't want to hurt a friend, but partly because she wasn't sure if she could. Skillfully speaking. She had been up against Donnie a couple of times during training, and she had always done well. The problem was that she was almost certain that Donnie had been holding back. And something told her that if she would attack Donnie right here right now, the outcome would become a whole lot different. It wouldn't be her fighting a friend. It would be a high school girl with a few months of practice, fighting a ninja with fifteen years of experience.
She eventually scooted away from her spot, but carefully watched Donnie at work. The scientist sat down next to the orange clad ninja and snapped his fingers in front of Mikey's face. The younger turtle didn't seem to react.
"This could be a problem…" Donnie stated, and absentmindedly scratched his cheek. He then leaned closer to Mikey and started talking in a kind, encouraging voice. "Hey, buddy. How are you feeling? Look, April's here. She pulled you up from the water. Wanna say hi?"
Donnie waited a moment before putting his hand in his pocket. He soon presented a red lollipop which he held up in front of Mikey's closed eyes. "I know that you technically didn't finish the test, but… I think you deserve one anyway. And hey, it's not like it was your fault. Here, you want it? It could be strawberry," Donnie said in a tantalizing way, as he used the candy to lightly nudge Mikey's nose.
Donnie's hopeful look soon changed into concern when the proposal went unanswered. Mikey didn't appear to even have heard it. Donnie put the lollipop back before taking Mikey's shoulders in a firm grip and gently shook him.
"Mikey? Can you hear me, bro?" Donnie continued. His voice calm but his look serious. "I need to know if you're responsive or not. You don't need to know what 'responsive' means, just say something if you can. It can be literally anything, you can't go wrong. Please…?"
Mikey was still quiet, almost as a subconscious act of defiance. Donnie studied him for a second and then reached for Mikey's hand. He took a fingertip between his fingers, gave his brother a look, and then pinched it hard while observing the younger turtle's reaction. The action made Mikey's arm twitch slightly in an attempt to pull it away from the sudden pain. Donnie watched him for a moment before letting go off the hand. He sighed again.
"Hey! Enough with the poking and sighing already," April scolded, and lightly slapped Donnie's arm. "I don't know what any of that means. Just tell me if he's okay or not."
"I'd say that it depends entirely on your definition of 'okay', since it's not exactly an acceptable medical term," Donnie stated, while rubbing his arm. "But going by my own preferences I'd say… Not okay enough. But as far as I can tell, he seems to respond to pain, but not to any verbal stimulus, so… Okay-ish?"
"Again: I don't know what that means!" April pointed out, and folded her arms.
"Right, sorry... It basically means that he's responsive," Donnie clarified. "Which of course is great. I mean, it's a lot better than un-responsive. But he's also unconscious, which is… Well, not so great. I can't submerge him again in this condition."
April stared at Donnie and felt the hair on her neck rise. "You were gonna put him in that thing again…?" she asked slowly.
"Well, not anymore," he answered with a shrug. "It wouldn't just be dangerous; it would be plain idiotic. Unless I wanna study whether we possess the ability to absorb oxygen from the water through our skin, which could be handy to know. But the risk of mortality of such a test in Mikey's situation would be closer to 84% than 48.9%. I can't do that to him. I won't do that…"
Donnie eyed Mikey for a minute before putting a hand on his brother's plastron in a comforting way. The look on his face was that of deepest sympathy. "I'm sorry that you didn't get to beat Raph's record, pal…"
April raised an eyebrow and Donnie gave her a look. "It was important to him."
"Right…" April nodded doubtfully.
Donnie gave Mikey a quick pat before he got up from the floor. He then proceeded by taking Mikey's arms and carefully flipped him on the side instead. It took a moment before April realized what Donnie was doing. She recognized the recovery position from the first aid course she had attended in school. However, since the chains left both Mikey's arms and legs fairly immovable, the success of Donnie's attempt was debatable at best.
"He might have swallowed some water," Donnie informed her, as he opened Mikey's mouth to make sure that nothing was obstructing the airways. "And this way…" Donnie explained, and carefully placed Mikey's chin in a favorable position. "… he won't choke on his own vomit if he throws up. There, that should do it… Okay, I think we dare to leave him like this. And you-"
Donnie turned to April with a cheerful look that completely clashed with the unconscious body of his little brother at his feet. "Are you ready to be part of the biggest scientific breakthrough of the century? Heh, I think I just gave myself goose bumps there… Anyway, let's go. We won't get anything done by standing here, and the chair is right this way."
Donnie motioned to April to follow him as he started walking towards the desk. Raph gave him a narrow look before turning his attention to Mikey. "… Is he just gonna leave him there?" Raph asked Leo in disbelief. "What the heck's wrong with him?! Mikey was in that tank almost as long as me-"
"Shh! If he was in any serious danger, you can bet that Doctor Horrible over there would've taken care of it," Leo whispered in reply. "Just be happy that he didn't think that Mikey needed any antibiotics… And be quiet before he hears you!"
Donnie had stopped halfway to the desk and waited patiently for April to join him. She hesitated and looked around awkwardly.
"Did… you talk to Casey?" April suddenly asked. "Is he really okay with waiting for me? Maybe I should-"
"Don't worry about it, April. It's all been taken care of," Donnie reassured her, with a lighthearted chuckle. "If there's one thing I can guarantee you, it's that the infamous mug of Casey Jones won't be bothering us..."
April's eyes widened as Donnie's words sunk in. It felt like the air in her lungs had suddenly disappeared. She observed Donnie silently as her blue eyes slowly turned into an ice cold glare.
"What did you do?" April asked.
* * *

Next Time: Actually, since DeviantArt has this crazy idea of that a fanfic can be too long, I had to split chapter 7 in two parts. So you've actually just read the first one! Don't just stand here, hop on over to the next one and keep reading! Or take a cookie break.

Description

Chapter 7: "Insular Cortex"

"UGWAAAH!"
April turned around at the cry to check if her companion was okay. There weren't many things that could cause Casey Jones to scream in horror, but a rat running over his foot in the dark was apparently one of them. Casey stumbled backwards and pointed his flashlight at a spot in front of him. The rat was still there. Its tiny, black eyes stared at Casey for a moment, but it didn't run away. It blinked a couple of times at the light before it promptly sat down on its furry little butt. It was almost as if it could sense that it was in an unexpected position of power.
"Stay back you little creep!" Casey ordered, and swung the flashlight threateningly, like a baseball bat. "You're not as cute as you think…!"
"Aww... Hi there little fella'," April said, and crouched down next to the rodent. "Wow. Amazing how it isn't scared of us, huh?"
Before Casey had the chance to disagree, the brave little rodent had without warning started galloping right towards him. Casey didn't think before hurling the flashlight at it, but missed with an inch. He then quickly grabbed the first thing in his backpack, which turned out to be a can of yellow spray paint. He backed away while trying to spray the tiny animal in the face, but without much success. Casey chose to throw the useless weapon at it, but completely missed the fast moving critter. In an act of desperation, Casey pulled out his hockey stick and instinctively swung it at the rat.
"No, wait!" April exclaimed, and ran over to him. "Don't hurt it, it could have babies."
"They make new ones all the time! And it doesn't make them less creepy," Casey replied, but stopped swinging his hockey stick around and only used it to keep the rat at bay. April hurried over to Casey's side and opened her bag. She picked up a sandwich wrapped in paper and wrinkled her nose at the smell. It was untouched except from one regretful bite in the corner. Either her aunt thought that the expiration date on tuna cans were merely a polite suggestion, or she needed new glasses. April tossed the sandwich on the ground in front of Casey, making the rat immediately stop. It gazed at the mountain of food in awe before digging in. Casey watched the scene for a moment with a conflicted look.
"I would've eaten that, you know…" Casey told her.
"Trust me, you wouldn't," April told him, and picked up the miraculously unharmed flashlight. "We're almost there, just… Leave the rats alone, okay? I don't think Master Splinter would be thrilled to see you using his relatives as hockey pucks."
"Maybe I should have stayed on the surface…" Casey thought out loud, and scratched his neck. "I mean, I wasn't exactly invited to your little science club to begin with. And you're the one with the mutant DNA and all that."
"You really know what a girl wants to hear, don't you, Jones?" April said, with a semi-smile. "And I don't think Donnie will mind me bringing a guest, or he would have said something over the phone."
"He would if you'd told him that the guest was me," Casey stated, and used his hockey stick to hit an empty beer can far away into the darkness. "I mean, have you seen the way he looks at me? I'm telling you, that geek's more vicious than he looks… Like a ferret."
April rolled her eyes, and didn't dignify the comment with a reply. She could see the turnstiles outside the lair now. "It won't take long, I promise," April told him. "It's pretty late already. And I can't miss dinner again, or my aunt will call the police for real this time… Donnie probably just needs some hair or saliva. Something with my DNA in it. Look, I even brought the math book so that you can practice until I'm done."
"Yeah, I could go for some practice," Casey answered, with a cocky smile. "But I won't be needing no book…"
Casey picked up a puck from his backpack and hit it along the subway track. He then proceeded by unfolding the wheels under his sneakers, thus turning them into roller skates. He went after the tiny, speeding object, and in a matter of seconds, the old subway had turned into a hockey rink. Minus the ice.
"Hey, give Raph a punch from me, will ya?" Casey yelled to April, with a grin. "I owe him one!"
"… I'll tell him you said hi," April answered, but the hockey player was already too far away to hear. April shook her head before turning her back to her company and entered the lair.
April passed the turnstiles but stopped almost immediately. She furrowed her brow as she scanned the area before her. She started walking again, but slower this time, while her eyes took in the empty room that clearly lacked any green occupants.
"They must be training in the dojo," April thought out loud. Her voice sounded anything but confident. A sudden scream made April snap her head towards the noise, only to realize that it came from the TV.
"… With the TV on?" April added, with a doubtful look at the newscast. It was currently showing a video footage of a riot in a bowling alley downtown. April looked around for the remote, but couldn't see it anywhere. She sighed and went over to the TV to turn it off manually, just in time to save herself from seeing a young man get hit in the face with a tenpin.
April looked around uneasily at the deserted place. She regretted turning off the TV. The complete silence that was now surrounding her felt anything but comforting. April couldn't explain it, but it was something eerie about it. Something unnatural. She wasn't used to the lair ever being this quiet. Not unless the guys were out on patrol or on a mission.
April suddenly realized something and she quickly reached for her t-phone. Was it possible that she could have missed a text from Donnie? The news was on. Maybe there was a mutant situation somewhere and they had to leave in a hurry? April had barely taken a peek at the display when a creaking sound caused her to look up.
Donnie opened the lab doors and popped his head out, as if someone had knocked and then immediately bolted. His eyes landed on April and his expression instantly brightened at the sight of her. "Hey, April! I didn't know you were here," Donnie greeted and left the lab to run over to her, but stopped halfway with a suddenly concerned look. "… You haven't waited long, have you?"
"I literally just got here, Donnie," April reassured him, with a smile as she pocketed her phone. "Are you here alone? It's so quiet."
"Yeah, now that you're mentioning it…" Donnie realized, and looked around with a thoughtful look. "It is rather peaceful in here. I guess I've been so caught up in my research that I haven't really noticed. It's a nice change though, don't you think?"
"It… Takes some getting used to," April admitted, but couldn't help but to think that the place was missing some noise and chaos. "So, where are the guys?"
"Oh, they're helping me," Donnie informed her. "You know, in their usual unconstructive, bullying kind of way… No surprise there. But at least they're contributing. Makes them feel involved."
April nodded absentmindedly as she was eying the turtle's lab coat. She couldn't remember if she'd seen one in Donnie's lab before. "Looks good on you."
"Thanks!" Donnie said, with a chuckle. "I guess you could say it's pretty handy."
Donnie demonstrated this by putting a hand in his pocket and picked up a yellow lollipop which he offered April. But April didn't even look at the candy. Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed the bloodstained bandage over Donnie's knuckles. "Oh, my gosh… Donnie, what happened to your hand?"
"Well… From what I've been told, it was an accident," Donnie answered simply, and put the lollipop in his own mouth instead. "It stopped bleeding a while ago, so I have no reason to believe that the wound is anything but superficial. I doubt I'll even have to stitch it..."
Donnie trailed off when he looked down at his injured hand. He blinked a couple of times and then held it up before him. He spread his fingers, studying them closely like someone who has just found a specimen of a rare animal. It was as if he couldn't stop looking at it. April raised a confused eyebrow. "What's wrong…?"
"I wouldn't say that something's 'wrong' per se," Donnie answered vaguely without looking up. "Strange, possibly, but…"
Donnie's eyes were fixed upon his hand for almost a minute before he spoke again.
"Have you noticed that we only have three fingers?"
April's look changed in an instant from concern to surprise, as if she'd just witnessed the anticlimax of the century.
"… That together with green skin and shells," she answered, and folded her arms. "What's so strange about that? You've had them your whole life."
"That's the thing, I haven't," Donnie told her, still not looking up. "Freshwater turtles have five claws in the same way humans have five fingers. There's no logical reason to why our mutation would stop at three fingers."
Donnie flexed his fingers a little while intently observing them, as if he thought that x-ray vision was really just a matter of determination. "The phalangeal formula in most reptiles isn't far from that of mammals. Humans have five sets of fingers with the formula 23333, which means three phalanx bones in each finger and two in your thumb. Most freshwater turtles have the exact same formula, which raises the question of where all those extra bones went? I suppose it's possible that the properties of the mutagen caused them to fuse together into three massive digits instead of five smaller ones. Or maybe they got absorbed- No, that doesn't make any sense, they can't just have disappeared… I wonder how the veins and muscle tissue are wired in our hands' anatomical structure-"
"That's fascinating, Donnie, but…" April interrupted him with a smile, and put a hand on his outstretched arm to lower it. "… I don't have three fingers."
This made Donnie finally look at April, who waved her very un-mutated hand in front of his face. Donnie watched her for a moment and then laughed apologetically. "I… I got a little off topic, didn't I?"
"Maybe just a tad bit," April said kindly. "I wish I could help you with this, but I'm afraid that my hands are a little too 'human' for that. Sorry."
"No, no, no. Don't be sorry," Donnie told her casually, as he loudly bit off a piece of the lollipop. "That's not why I wanted you to come here anyway."
"I sure hope not…" April said, with a semi smile. "But you sounded really excited on the phone. Are you close to finding a cure?"
The question made Donnie brighten up like a carnival. "Is 7 both a happy number and a prime? Closer than ever!" Donnie announced cheerfully, and motioned to her to come with him. "Come on, I'll show you."
"So what exactly did you need me to do?" April asked as she followed him. "You said that you could use some of my DNA for something, right?"
"I did say that, and yeah, I do," Donnie confirmed. "Though, 'some' is a rather ambiguous term in this case, since we probably have different estimations on how much samples we're talking about."
"You can take as much hair as you want," April laughed. "And I mean it. If it can give me my dad back, I don't mind wearing a hat until it all grows out again."
"Actually, it's not your hair that I need, so you don't have to worry about that." Donnie gave her a reassuring smile. "I promise you that your haircut will remain completely unharmed when we're done. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from wearing a hat anyway. I didn't mean that you shouldn't. Just that it's unnecessary. Though, I'm sure that you'd look great in one. Not that you don't look great already- I mean, you look absolutely normal. In a good way. Um…Here, let me get the door…"
Donnie swiftly opened the heavy doors before taking April's hand and led her inside, like a kid eager to show off his birthday presents. "Okay, brace yourself," Donnie told her, in a voice that could barely contain his excitement. "'Cause this stuff is gonna blow your mind. I'm telling you, I've figured out more about the properties of mutagen in the last 24 hours than I've done in weeks! I've been collecting some pretty interesting data on the mutation process, in reptilian physiology that is. And I've also been conducting some rather fascinating studies of the mutagen's effects on the specimen's natural abilities, and-
"… And been on quite a shopping spree, it seems," April said as she noticed the piles of unsanitary treasures from the city dump. "Donnie, you got more junk in here than… Well, a junkyard…! What are you planning to-"
April went quiet. Donnie had steered her right towards his work desk when she suddenly noticed the table and the cot next to it. More importantly, she noticed the two bodies lying on top of them. Leo looked up at her arrival, deep blue eyes immediately locking on to sky blue ones. Raph remained still on his bed. He barely even glanced in April's direction and seemed unwillingly sluggish. Both turtles' mouths were sealed with duct tape, but Leo's message was as clear as if his eyes had screamed it.
Run.
"… Um, Donnie?" April asked, as the scientist kept leading the way, using her arm as a kind of leash. "What exactly are you guys doing in here?"
"I told you. I'm trying to produce a retro-mutagen," Donnie explained, happy that April took such interest in his research. "And these guys are helping me."
Donnie let go of April's hand and passed Leo and Raph to get to his desk. He gave Raph a quick pat on the back, making the red masked turtle close his eyes in frustration.
April's eyes were darting from the red vials on the desk, to the scribbles on Leo's chest, and to Donnie who casually threw the stick from his lollipop in the trash. Her muddled mind was desperately trying to make some sense out of the situation. Was this some kind of joke? Was this all just an act to see the look on her face…? Or was there something wrong with Donnie? He hadn't mentioned why Leo and Raph was tied up. Had something happened to his brothers that made it necessary to have them secured like this? If they were a danger to others and themselves, it would explain the belts. But not the duct tape or why Donnie was acting as if everything was just normal. On a second thought, was this even Donnie…? Had he been brainwashed? But in that case, he surely wouldn't be so… So much like Donnie, would he?
April walked closer to the desk, eying the scientist who was currently busy skimming through his notes. She remembered something Splinter once told her. Always study the situation before you act. Information was a ninja's most powerful weapon. One rash decision based on what she thought she knew was all it took for a situation to go from bad to worse. She observed her friend with a wary look. "Donnie… Are you alright?"
Leo shook his head while staring intently at April. April raised an eyebrow at the leader in blue, but Donnie didn't even look up from his reading. "You know," Donnie answered as he flipped through the pages, "you're not the first one asking me that today. It's kinda funny, since I've in fact never felt better. Though I guess the cut on my hand kinda takes the gold star out of that achievement… But never mind that. I'm feeling great."
Raph hit his head hard into the mattress, burying his face deep into it. April could tell that he didn't agree. "And what about them?" she asked, and looked from Raph to Leo in concern. "Are they alright…?"
Leo shook his head again but stopped when Donnie looked up. "Well…" Donnie hesitated for a second. He then used his foot to push his revolving chair towards Raph's cot, and stopped right in front of him. The tall turtle leaned forward to take a closer look at his brother's face, studying it closely.
"Raph is a little tired," Donnie concluded, and rubbed Raph's head fondly. "But that's understandable considering what he's been through. He'll come around soon enough."
The hothead exhaled loudly through the nose in a disapproving way before Donnie skillfully pushed the chair back to his work desk. He stopped it to take a look at the readings on the laptop. "... Aaand Leo's condition has improved significantly, so… Yeah. Taking into account the amount of tests we've done today, I dare say that they both have recovered remarkably well."
"Or you could just remove the duct tape and ask them yourself?" April suggested subtly. "You know, just to be on the safe side?"
"Feels kinda redundant now, since I just confirmed that they're both physically fine," Donnie mused, and scratched his chin.
"Well… Can't you remove it anyway?" April tried again. "I mean, what's the point in keeping their mouths taped like this?"
"From a medical point of view? None," Donnie admitted, and glanced at his brothers. "But they didn't give me much of a choice… These two jokesters have been messing with me all day, and they would literally try anything to scare you off. Trust me, you wouldn't even believe half the stuff they've been calling me."
April didn't know what to believe. The thoughts that were currently going through her head turned more terrifying by the minute. She looked at the drawings on Leo's plastron. One of them said "Incision here".
"… Have you hurt them?" April asked after a moment of silence.
Leo nodded with a sincere look at April, while Donnie picked up a pen to add something in his journal. "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Donnie answered as he wrote. "I'm aware that some of these tests have been… well, let's call them uncomfortable. But I seriously doubt that anything I've done so far can be worse than the beating we get on a standard mission. Though, I have to admit that I never thought they'd be this squeamish about something as innocuous as needles… It's kinda endearing if you think about it. But for the most part, it's just troublesome."
April was still not quite sure what to make of this, or if this really was Donnie she was talking to. She looked directly at Leo this time, while Donnie was busy scribbling down some peculiar symbols in his journal.
"Do you want me to leave?" April asked.
Leo nodded intensely, before Donnie looked up in shock. "What? Of course not! Whatever gave you that impression? We haven't even gotten started yet."
Donnie quickly got up and walked over to Mikey's chair instead. He dusted it off with his hand in a courteous manner before petting it invitingly. "Please, sit down."
"What for?" April asked, with a frown.
"Well," Donnie said, and tapped his chin in a musing way. "I suppose that it's technically possible for you to stand up during the procedure. But I assure you that it's gonna be much more comfortable for the both of us if you sit. It will be easier for me to draw blood from your arm if you keep it in a relaxed position, like on the armrest-"
"Hold on a sec… Blood?" April asked in disbelief. "I thought you just needed a swab of spit or something?"
Donnie observed April for moment without saying anything. "… Are you scared of needles too?"
"What? No, and that's not the point…!" April said, with an exasperated gesture.
"Awesome!" Donnie exclaimed happily, and strolled over to the desk to fetch a syringe. "Then this shouldn't be any problem at all."
April stared at the sharp tool in Donnie's hand. Leo and Raph shared a look of panic, but since they could neither move nor speak, all they could do was to watch. Donnie turned back to April and made a gesture with his free hand towards the chair. "Over here, April. Just take a seat, everything's ready for you. It won't hurt a bit, I promise. Well, the first one may sting a little, but after the fifth or sixth sample or so, you'll barely even notice the needle anymore. Right, Leo?"
"Donnie, wait…!" April said, and took a step away from him.
The scientist tilted his head and observed her with a puzzled look. "… I don't understand. Your DNA could be the key to find a way to reverse the effect of the mutagen, in simpler terms: a cure. Everyone who has been mutated could go back to their jobs, their families, their normal lives. Including your dad. Why wouldn't you want to help me?"
"I do…! But I…" April hesitated, and bit her lip. "I… I brought Casey."
Donnie blinked. His expression was completely blank. "Say what now?"
"Casey is waiting for me. Right outside," April explained truthfully. "I thought you just needed some spit or hair, I didn't think I'd be here for more than ten minutes, tops. If you're gonna take blood samples, you're gonna need a lot more time than that, right?"
"That depends on the number of samples, but I'd say most definitely yes," Donnie concluded after a quick calculation.
"In that case…" April started, trying to keep her voice steady. "… I need to tell Casey that I'm gonna be here for a while. He's probably already wondering what's taking so long. I'll be right back, I promise."
"It's okay, you won't have to do anything," Donnie told her with confidence, and made a chivalrous gesture at himself. "You stay here. I'll go talk to Casey."
April, Leo and Raph stared at Donnie as if he'd just volunteered to babysit Leatherhead through one of his night terrors. "I…" April began. "… I don't think that's such a good-"
"It's no trouble at all," Donnie told her, with such a bright smile that it was impossible not to believe him. "You make yourself comfortable until I get back. I'll tell Casey that you'll be here a little while longer and that he can stay too if he wants. I'll find something he can watch on TV." Donnie headed for the lab doors, but turned around just when he was about to open them. "And who knows?" he added with a pondering look. "Maybe I can find something that he can help out with too?"
April smiled and waved to Donnie as he left. But the same second the doors closed behind the turtle, her smile faded and she dashed towards Raph and Leo. She stopped by Leo's side and tore off the tape from his mouth. "Okay, start talking," April said as she reached for one of the belts. "Because nothing you say can be worse than what's going on in my head right now-"
"Mikey's in the water tank!" Leo yelled, and coughed when his body instinctively tried to fill his lungs with oxygen.
"What?!" April exclaimed, and froze with her hand on the belt.
"The tank!" Leo clarified, with an urgent look. "Lots of water, no air! He can't breathe! HURRY!"
April looked at the algae tanks in the other side of the lab and started running, but stopped when she heard Raph's muffled voice behind her. "Oh, right," she said and hurried over to Raph and ripped off his tape as well. The action made the turtle groan and grit his teeth.
"… Ouch," April said, with an apologetic look. "Sorry, Raph-"
"GO!" Raph barked, with a pained expression.
April nodded and sprinted over to the water tanks. She skidded on a water puddle next to the winch but quickly got up on her feet. She looked from the control panel in front of her to the steel wire that pierced the water surface, like a nail in a coffin. There was clearly something heavy in the other end.
"How long has he been down there?" April felt the need to ask
"Less than half an hour, but at least fifteen minutes-"
"Too long!" Raph interrupted, his eyes staring at the tank in distress. "Just get him up from there!"
April immediately pressed a button. The machine started feeding more wire into the water, lowering the weight further down.
"Not that one, not that one…!" Leo yelled in panic.
"I know! I got it!" April snapped.
April tried a second button. The winch started to slowly reel up the weight and April exhaled in relief. She turned away from the machine to run back to the brothers, but the moment she removed her finger from the button, the winch stopped. April looked at it for a second and cursed. She had to keep pressing it. Like a dead man's switch. April sighed and firmly put her hand on the button again. She looked at the greenish water and then turned to the others with a skeptic look. "Did Donnie do this too…? What reason could he have to put his little brother in a freaking water tank?"
"Same reason he put his older one in there…" Raph mumbled, his voice significantly weaker now than earlier. Weaker than April had ever heard him.
"April, listen. Donnie is not himself right now," Leo tried to explain. "He's not fine, no matter what he's told you. His mutagen research has gone to his head. Literally."
"What do you mean?" April asked with a puzzled look.
"See that canister on the desk?" Leo said, and nodded at the boiling mutagen.
"… You mean that witch-brew with the creepy, green, toxic-looking fumes?" April asked with a frown. "What about it?"
"We think that Donnie has been inhaling that stuff without realizing it," Leo continued. "We don't know exactly what it does, but it… I think it has done something to his brain. It's like he doesn't understand that he's doing anything wrong. All he cares about is to finish the retro-mutagen, but there is nothing telling him when he's going too far…!"
"Sorry, I'm… I'm just having some problem picturing all this," April said, and shook her head. "I mean, he's still Donnie, right? He hasn't switched brain with anything, he isn't mind controlled… He's just Donnie. He could never hurt anyone. Not like this…" April added with an uncertain look at the water.
"He can, and he has," Leo said, with a grim look before continuing. "April, he's dangerous. Don't let him talk you into anything. You can't trust him. Not even for a second."
April went quiet and glanced at the lab doors. "… You really think he would hurt me?" April asked slowly. "Why would he want to do that?"
Leo honestly didn't know what to answer. He didn't want to think that Donnie was capable of hurting April, even in his current condition. But then again, he didn't think that Donnie would submerge Mikey in a water filled tank either. And he hadn't even hesitated.
"He doesn't," Leo eventually answered. "But he's unpredictable to the point where he doesn't even know himself what he might do next. It's not that he wants to hurt anyone, it's just that he doesn't care if he does…!"
"Right," April nodded, before giving a Leo a serious look. "So what do you need me to do?"
Before the leader could answer, a pair of short, orange tails of a bandana floated up to the water surface. They were soon followed by a freckled face and a pair of closed eyes.
"Mikey…!" Raph called out at the sight of him. "Come on, talk to me, bro. Hey…! Say something!"
The winch pulled Mikey higher up until his toes barely touched the water surface. He didn't open his eyes. If it hadn't been for the chains around his body and the fact that he was hanging above the ground, it would almost have looked like he was peacefully asleep.
Raph stared at his little brother's limp body, and how it was eerily swaying form side to side. "…No. MIKEY!" Raph yelled at the top of his lungs. "You idiot, you dork, you… WAKE UP!"
"Raph! He's okay. Just calm down," Leo told him. But the truth was that Leo had no way of knowing that. And he knew that he had no right to tell Raph to calm down when he felt like screaming himself. But Leo had to concentrate at the situation at hand, and he couldn't do that with Raph acting as if Mikey was... He couldn't think straight. He had to focus.
"April, hurry up and get him down," Leo instructed her. "It hasn't been that long. It's not too late."
April left the winch and ran up to Mikey's lifeless body. She felt a tug in her gut at the look of him. She had never seen Mikey like this. And she never wanted to see him like this ever again. She hurriedly reached out and grabbed Mikey's shell in an attempt to move him away from the water, but the sound of a door handle made April froze as if someone had fired a gun right next to her head.
Donnie closed the doors before he casually sauntered inside the lab. The white coat fluttered merrily behind him, but stopped the moment he noticed April. Donnie's expression went from cheerful to something April couldn't interpret. Donnie looked from the controls of the winch, to April, and then to Mikey, who was still dangling quietly from the wire. Donnie's face was now completely blank. Leo's heart was beating so much that it physically hurt his ribs and Raph stared at Donnie in sheer panic. The air stood still as if no one dared to breathe.
Donnie observed the scene for a minute before lowering his face into his palm with a sigh. "Aw, man… Why did you have to do that?" Donnie said, with the miserable look of someone who just had missed the last bus home. "April, I know that you're just trying to help me," Donnie continued as he started walking towards April and Mikey. ", and I can't stress enough how much I appreciate it. But I'm afraid that you just kinda messed up a fairly important test about how mutagen enhances natural abilities, and more explicitly the lung's capacity to provide a mutated turtle's body with enough oxygen under water within a set period of time."
"I'm… Sorry?" April said hesitantly, not sure how she was supposed to react. "It just… Kinda looked like he couldn't breathe down there-"
"No, no, it's okay. It wasn't your fault," Donnie said, with a petty wave as he stopped at the tank. He studied Mikey with a tilted head. "It's mine. I should have told you about it, but I guess my mind was too occupied with the blood test so I forgot to mention it. To be honest, I've got so many things going on in my head right now that it's getting increasingly difficult to keep track of them all. And then there are these reoccurring headaches that may or may not be relatable to that, so… Yeah. One or two things are bound to fall off the grid. Move over a little."
April moved out of the way to let Donnie pass her, and the scientist turned his steps towards the winch. She felt as if a dagger pierced her chest when he reached for the button she knew meant "down". Donnie rested his finger gently on the switch and then turned to April. "Could you move him a little more to the left? Just enough so that he doesn't end up in the water."
April blinked in surprise but quickly complied with the order. "Great, thanks," Donnie said with a smile and pressed the button. "Alright, nice and easy… Easy. Eeeeasy... Okay. Now, could you make sure that he doesn't hurt his neck? Oh, good. That's better."
Donnie kept giving out instructions and April kept following them until Mikey was lying flat on his back on the wet floor. Donnie glanced at him with an exasperated look. "Man, I did not look forward to do this test all over again… If you only knew half the hassle I had to go through to convince Mikey to do this in the first place. But don't feel bad, I don't blame you or anything. Without the proper context, it must have looked like he was drowning or something. Am I right?"
Donnie chuckled at the idea, but then stopped with a curious frown. "Actually, that reminds me of something… Nurse? Could you check if the patient's breathing?"
April was sitting on the floor with Mikey's head in her lap. His body was deathly still. She leaned forward and tried to listen for any breaths. Any sign of life from the freckled ninja. Her eyes widened when she could feel a faint expel of air against her ear.
"… I think so," April answered, and looked up but flinched at the sight of Donnie standing right in front of her. He then crouched next to Mikey to study him closer. April could see Donnie's eyes scan every inch of his little brother's body. They looked troubled. April raised an eyebrow. "I told you, he's breathing. Why aren't you acting as if that's a good-"
"Please step aside for a sec," Donnie interrupted, without taking his eyes off Mikey.
April didn't move. She wasn't sure if she should protect Mikey from his older brother or let Donnie do whatever he had in mind. Her finger brushed by the pocket where she kept her tessen. She didn't want to use it. Not just because she didn't want to hurt a friend, but partly because she wasn't sure if she could. Skillfully speaking. She had been up against Donnie a couple of times during training, and she had always done well. The problem was that she was almost certain that Donnie had been holding back. And something told her that if she would attack Donnie right here right now, the outcome would become a whole lot different. It wouldn't be her fighting a friend. It would be a high school girl with a few months of practice, fighting a ninja with fifteen years of experience.
She eventually scooted away from her spot, but carefully watched Donnie at work. The scientist sat down next to the orange clad ninja and snapped his fingers in front of Mikey's face. The younger turtle didn't seem to react.
"This could be a problem…" Donnie stated, and absentmindedly scratched his cheek. He then leaned closer to Mikey and started talking in a kind, encouraging voice. "Hey, buddy. How are you feeling? Look, April's here. She pulled you up from the water. Wanna say hi?"
Donnie waited a moment before putting his hand in his pocket. He soon presented a red lollipop which he held up in front of Mikey's closed eyes. "I know that you technically didn't finish the test, but… I think you deserve one anyway. And hey, it's not like it was your fault. Here, you want it? It could be strawberry," Donnie said in a tantalizing way, as he used the candy to lightly nudge Mikey's nose.
Donnie's hopeful look soon changed into concern when the proposal went unanswered. Mikey didn't appear to even have heard it. Donnie put the lollipop back before taking Mikey's shoulders in a firm grip and gently shook him.
"Mikey? Can you hear me, bro?" Donnie continued. His voice calm but his look serious. "I need to know if you're responsive or not. You don't need to know what 'responsive' means, just say something if you can. It can be literally anything, you can't go wrong. Please…?"
Mikey was still quiet, almost as a subconscious act of defiance. Donnie studied him for a second and then reached for Mikey's hand. He took a fingertip between his fingers, gave his brother a look, and then pinched it hard while observing the younger turtle's reaction. The action made Mikey's arm twitch slightly in an attempt to pull it away from the sudden pain. Donnie watched him for a moment before letting go off the hand. He sighed again.
"Hey! Enough with the poking and sighing already," April scolded, and lightly slapped Donnie's arm. "I don't know what any of that means. Just tell me if he's okay or not."
"I'd say that it depends entirely on your definition of 'okay', since it's not exactly an acceptable medical term," Donnie stated, while rubbing his arm. "But going by my own preferences I'd say… Not okay enough. But as far as I can tell, he seems to respond to pain, but not to any verbal stimulus, so… Okay-ish?"
"Again: I don't know what that means!" April pointed out, and folded her arms.
"Right, sorry... It basically means that he's responsive," Donnie clarified. "Which of course is great. I mean, it's a lot better than un-responsive. But he's also unconscious, which is… Well, not so great. I can't submerge him again in this condition."
April stared at Donnie and felt the hair on her neck rise. "You were gonna put him in that thing again…?" she asked slowly.
"Well, not anymore," he answered with a shrug. "It wouldn't just be dangerous; it would be plain idiotic. Unless I wanna study whether we possess the ability to absorb oxygen from the water through our skin, which could be handy to know. But the risk of mortality of such a test in Mikey's situation would be closer to 84% than 48.9%. I can't do that to him. I won't do that…"
Donnie eyed Mikey for a minute before putting a hand on his brother's plastron in a comforting way. The look on his face was that of deepest sympathy. "I'm sorry that you didn't get to beat Raph's record, pal…"
April raised an eyebrow and Donnie gave her a look. "It was important to him."
"Right…" April nodded doubtfully.
Donnie gave Mikey a quick pat before he got up from the floor. He then proceeded by taking Mikey's arms and carefully flipped him on the side instead. It took a moment before April realized what Donnie was doing. She recognized the recovery position from the first aid course she had attended in school. However, since the chains left both Mikey's arms and legs fairly immovable, the success of Donnie's attempt was debatable at best.
"He might have swallowed some water," Donnie informed her, as he opened Mikey's mouth to make sure that nothing was obstructing the airways. "And this way…" Donnie explained, and carefully placed Mikey's chin in a favorable position. "… he won't choke on his own vomit if he throws up. There, that should do it… Okay, I think we dare to leave him like this. And you-"
Donnie turned to April with a cheerful look that completely clashed with the unconscious body of his little brother at his feet. "Are you ready to be part of the biggest scientific breakthrough of the century? Heh, I think I just gave myself goose bumps there… Anyway, let's go. We won't get anything done by standing here, and the chair is right this way."
Donnie motioned to April to follow him as he started walking towards the desk. Raph gave him a narrow look before turning his attention to Mikey. "… Is he just gonna leave him there?" Raph asked Leo in disbelief. "What the heck's wrong with him?! Mikey was in that tank almost as long as me-"
"Shh! If he was in any serious danger, you can bet that Doctor Horrible over there would've taken care of it," Leo whispered in reply. "Just be happy that he didn't think that Mikey needed any antibiotics… And be quiet before he hears you!"
Donnie had stopped halfway to the desk and waited patiently for April to join him. She hesitated and looked around awkwardly.
"Did… you talk to Casey?" April suddenly asked. "Is he really okay with waiting for me? Maybe I should-"
"Don't worry about it, April. It's all been taken care of," Donnie reassured her, with a lighthearted chuckle. "If there's one thing I can guarantee you, it's that the infamous mug of Casey Jones won't be bothering us..."
April's eyes widened as Donnie's words sunk in. It felt like the air in her lungs had suddenly disappeared. She observed Donnie silently as her blue eyes slowly turned into an ice cold glare.
"What did you do?" April asked.
* * *

Next Time: Actually, since DeviantArt has this crazy idea of that a fanfic can be too long, I had to split chapter 7 in two parts. So you've actually just read the first one! Don't just stand here, hop on over to the next one and keep reading! Or take a cookie break.