Raph's Nightmares

Project

I cling on to Mikey rather desperately. I know he must be startled but for once my reaction doesn't surprise me. I can't recall a time when I've been so happy to see him, to see my room, my stuff scattered on the floor. It feels incredibly good to be home and to have Mikey - a real Mikey - in my arms. Maybe the hug is too long already. I don't care. I'm feeling even comfortable knowing that he will eventually call me a 'softie'. I can put up with that as long as he doesn't disappear into a thick cloud of dreamy smoke.

He struggles a bit and I finally let go of him.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?" his eyes avert mine and he looks around, as if the answer could be there, hidden somewhere.

"Wake me up"

He smiles goofily and makes the kitty in his hands bounce. She purrs and ice cream starts dripping from his arms to my floor.

"She did. And I better get her back to the freezer before she melts. Right, kitty?" He nuzzles her and she purrs again, lovingly. I can't stand looking at them for too long. Their relationship reminds me too much of Spike, and that's not the kind of feelings I need to have right now. I have to focus on more important things. Like getting Leo safely out of that creepy dream.

I smirk and yank the kitty off his hands. He screams and kicks me in the back of my knee, then I turn to pound his head, while the cat hisses and tries to get me with her paws. 

"Just CALM DOWN!" I bellow and Mikey freezes, but the cat still dares to meow. I glare at her and take a deep breath. "I just want to try the same on Leo, ok?" I reluctantly give the kitty back to Mikey and force a small smile. 

"Do the same you did to me". 

Mikey smirks a bit and holds the kitty close to his chest, causing a small stream of strawberry and chocolate ice cream drip down his plastron. Gross. 

"HURRY!" I point to the door and he flinches, starting to run almost at once. 

"I- I was going to! Jeez, you were hugging me just five minutes ago!"

I push him gently forward, so he doesn't get distracted by anything else.

"I know, but that's over. Now move your shell or that kitty of yours will melt to death".

There he goes, almost running. Sure, save the kitty. Don't care about your brother, just run because the kitty is in danger. I roll my eyes but can't help the smile crawling to my lips as I follow him into the lab. He enters and slams his fist on the wall, making Donnie drop a chemical and glare up at him.

"MIKEY! You scared me!" He automatically dives behind the desk and starts cleaning it up with a rag, grumbling under his breath. Mikey ignores him and stomps  over to Leo, holding the kitty over his head, so the ice cream drips directly on the top of his head.

"Behold the ultimate awakening solution! Kitty paws!!"

He licks the ice cream when it reaches his lips and smiles brightly before setting his pet on Leo's forehead. She looks at him, tilting her head, and meows weakly, trying to reach out to Mikey. He frowns and rubs his chin, already sticky with ice cream. I sigh and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Get her back to the freezer. She seems to have run out of energy". 

He slouches a bit but does as I've told him, hurrying off to the kitchen with the cat safely wrapped in his arms. I take a rag and wipe ice cream off Leo's face, smiling a little. 

"I'll take you home, bro. Don't worry". 

He turns and moves his head out of my reach, wincing slightly. I sigh. Well it's not that bad. He still avoids my contact but the situation has clearly improved. At least he's not trying to bite my hand off.

I glance over at Donnie since I've noticed his eyes are burning holes in my back. I don't make eye contact for long though, quickly lowering my gaze. He walks over to me; of course he has noticed the change in Leo as well. Just putting a hand on my shoulder I know he's asking for an explanation that I know might sound weird the moment I put it into words.

"He's trapped in some kind of dreams realm by a strange sorceress. She looks pretty kraangy though".

Yup. It's sounded as strange as I have expected. Donnie raises an eyebrow and glances at Leo, as if he could confirm my story. 

"Okay...".

There is an awkward silence between the two of us. He is trying to find something reasonable in my story and I was just staring at Leo, thinking about what to do if Ice Cream Kitty fails. I flinch a little when I feel Donnie's hand on my shoulder. I guess I'm still a bit jumpy after all the weird things that have happened. My eyes look for his with a questioning look. He points at his desk and squeezes my shoulder.

"What, the - the chemicals?"

He nods silently and I follow him behind his desk. He points first at the microscope, then at some jars he has next to it, full of liquids that present different tones of blue. I guess he's mixed some of the chemicals we brought from TCRI, because I don't quite recognize any of them. He nods slowly.

"I'd ask you to look through the microscope, but I know there's no use".

I roll my eyes and try hard not to smack his head. He smiles a bit and rubs his chin.

"All the things that you brought from that lab.... They are ingredients of a new perfected mutagen. I don't have all of them and, really, I can't imagine what they can be like... Probably something kraangy".

I nod, interested. Probably it's the first time in my life that a speech of Donnie's makes me feel so interested. Maybe I'm changing. I even hugged Mikey before. Oh well.

"The thing is, according to the only flashdrive I could decode, they have failed dramatically when trying it on alive mutants."

"Alive? What do they want then, kill them, inject them and then bring them back to life?" I say sarcastically but suddenly my mind realizes it's the kraang we are talking about. "Wait, is that even possible?" 

Donnie looks into my eyes for a while, as if expecting me to come up with something obvious. I look back at him, shrugging. 

"Of course they can't bring people back to life" He finally utters, pointing at Leo. "They can put them in a deep trance, near to death, and then see what happens".

I gasp and glance at Leo before turning to the scientist again. 

"But... they don't have the body. They can't inject him. They can't..."

Donnie shrugs and sits on his chair. He looks down at his hands and starts fiddling with a pencil in his hand, what gives me a hint that he's thinking something really negative about this situation. 

"Well, technically..." He looks up at me, and his sad expression makes me take a step back. "Remember what April said about Leo chasing her? I think that - wherever he is wandering - they can make his mind strong enough to pull his body up and walk somewhere else... Like a sleep walker. Only stronger. Let's say... Aware of what he's doing".

"As if controlling a character of a video game".

"Very similar, yes."

"Then we need to hurry".