Tᴇᴇɴᴀɢᴇ Mᴜᴛᴀɴᴛ Nɪɴᴊᴀ Tᴜʀᴛʟᴇs: Oᴜᴛ Oғ Tʜᴇ Sʜᴀᴅᴏᴡs X Rᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ [Cᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇᴅ] 𓆉

06 || High Hopes

After calling out for the Brothers, Y/n didn't hear either of them coming. Maybe she needed to deal with this on her own. Y/n needed to find Casey, though. She wanted to make sure that the Brothers' and Splinter's existence stays a secret.

As soon as she left the kitchen, holding her hands in her pockets, she found Casey picking up his hockey mask and stick. "What are you doing?" She asked Casey. "You're leaving?" She questioned him, following the young man around his unknown path of the lair.

"If I can find my way out of here, I am." He says. "You know, I was doing just fine! Tracking Bebop and Rocksteady, and then you guys just T-bone my existence." He added. "So, I am going to find them or I am gonna go down swinging."

"Casey," Y/n says, still trailing behind him.

"Y'know, it's like they say-- 'If you want to get work done, don't spend time at the zoo'." Casey's little rant stopped the second he set his eyes on the 'legendary' truck. He has seen it before and he was amazed to confirm it. "Tartaruga Brothers?" He questioned, bringing a smile to his face. "That's--It's the truck I saw. It was them..." Casey said, cracking a smile. "Who are these guys?" He looks at Y/n with a short grin.

Y/n smiled at the massive green and yellow truck. She was happy to explain to Casey. "These four have done more for this city than you will ever know or they will ever take credit for it. So, if you wanna go down swinging, these guys hit harder than anyone." She says. "Come on, I'll show you the truck." The girl walked to the rear, opening the large door and turning the interior on.

The colorful lights shine down on Casey and Y/n, making them feel like kids again. "Wow..." Casey mumbled, pressing buttons and scanning every detail. He hears Y/n rustling in a crate, searching for something of her interest. "What are you looking for?"

"The only thing that I can actually eat here." She replied, setting different snack bags to the side. Then she found it and shows Casey one of her crazy, yet bright smiles. "Wasabi Peas." Y/n sits down on the couch and opened the container. "April O'Neil and I share these all of the time... But Raphie calls it; Y/n and O'Neil's rabbit food."

Casey chuckled at a name he recognized. "O'Neil. April O'Neil. I know that name. She's on the news right?" He leaned his hockey stick against the wall of the truck.

"Yeah," She says, setting a beverage next to her. "Channel Six. Do you watch her?"

"Sure, yeah!" Casey says nervously, obviously lying. "Every night her weather is very accurate..."

Y/n thought this guy was hilarious and awkward at the same time. "She's a reporter, Casey."

"Yes." Casey nods at her.

She tossed a few of the Wasabi Peas into her mouth, chewing and crunching. As she was enjoying her little evening snack, Y/n felt her hands change temperatures dramatically. "Keep it together..." She whispered to herself.

Then, Casey spoke again. "I am actually in between with jobs at the moment." He sits on the arm of the couch in the truck. "Trying to decide between a failed corrections officer and a lunatic vigilante."

To distract herself from her funny hand issues, she says, "You should definitely go with the lunatic vigilante." She says to him.

Casey smirked at the choice she chose. "You think it suits me?"

"I may have just met you, but I can't see you as a detective," Y/n replied, eating a few more pieces of her snack.

The hockey player nodded, thinking it was probably a great idea. But once Y/n was about to put up the Wasabi Pea container, Casey pointed something out to Y/n that made her freak out even more. "Y/n," He says. "What's going on with your... your hands?"

She peered down at them, a few Wasabi Peas in her palm. The girl's hands scorched them! His breath shuddered, and she had no idea what was going on with her. "Casey, s-something is wrong with me." Y/n held her hands against her chest, hiding the embarrassing changes.

"I think you should talk to the guys about th-that..." Says the vigilante.

****

In Donnie's lab, the mutant is up to something big. It's bigger than his usual experiments.

"Alright, Donnie, you got this..." He says taking a deep breath and doing multiple procedures to accomplish this new experiment on the purple ooze. "Dissolve the quadra-helix bonds and reverse the cohesion." He said tapping on a piece of equipment and realizes what he had just said while zooming in on the ooze in his dish. "Wait... Then that would mean..." He trailed off. "Is it really possible?" Donnie asked himself in disbelief.

After Casey left the lair, Y/n steps out of the Tarataruga to see if any of the Brothers or Splinter were in sight. She didn't see anyone yet.

Donnie got up from his chair with an eyedropper in his hand, staring at the ooze and what it's really capable of. "Oh, my God, oh, my God... Leo. Leo! Leo!" He calls out running through the lair. "Leo. My gosh, my gosh! This is amazing! Leo, Leo, okay. You're not gonna believe this. Okay, I made a solution from a sample of the purple ooze, right, to expedite the analysis from the isotope? But while I was waiting for it to catalyze, I started thinking, if the purple ooze can change humans into animals, perhaps if properly re-engineered," Don explained and told Leo to come closer. "Watch this, watch this... It could turn us..." He takes his own hand and demonstrates what this liquid could do. "Into humans." Three fingers multiple into a five-fingered hand.

Leo is obviously shocked and confused now since this has come into the spotlight. Y/n walked in at the wrong time, too...

"Hey, guys, I--" She walked in on Leo and Donnie, seeing they were in the middle of something very important. "Did I disturb something...?" Y/n asked them softly.

Donnie's lips parted and glance to Leo who is lost in deep thought about this ooze. The turtle holding the ooze in his hand and says, "Uh... Y/n, Leo and I are having a private conversation... Could we have a moment?"

Y/n nodded and exits the room. And Donatello continues the conversation. "Leo, if we get our hands on more of this stuff, it could be life-changing!" He said happily.

"We don't need that kind of change." Leo firmly said, killing Donnie's smile.

"Okay, you're right... To blend in with humans could compromise our strategic advantage. We have a system that works. We shouldn't mess with the formula." Don turns to walk back to his lab but is stopped by his leader.

Leo whispers to him. "Donnie, listen. You can't say a word of this to the others. Not even Y/n."

"But Leo, we could be like her!"

"Donnie, no..."

Donnie went on. "Leo--"

"I said no!" He barks, stopping his brother in his words. Donnie stared at him in surprise. "No... We can't."

****

Y/n didn't think much of it. Leo is always having private chats with Donnie, especially Donatello!

She needed to speak to them about her odd changes. As she waited, she stood by Donnie's computer wall, scrolling through her phone. Then, a text message came up. It was from her manager.

Manager: Y/n, you're late for the third time. Don't worry about your shift tomorrow. Your paycheck will be here on the 15th. Good luck with your new recruitments. 

It said. Y/n sighed in disappointment, clicked the off button on her phone, and set it in her lap.

She hated the job anyway. There were times Y/n thought about quitting because management sucked and customers were rude all of the time. Customers CAN be wrong, too, you know!

Then, all hell broke loose. This time, she couldn't control it.

When Y/n felt angered by her stressful job, getting fired and never feeling appreciated, Donnie's monitors flickered, and his beakers filled with fluid boiled or froze. And his small plants sitting on his desk began growing over the desk, meeting the floor. "AH!" She panicked, watching the candles in the lair blow out without an explanation, and the waterslide splashed a few times before it went silent. "GUYS! Something is wrong with me!!