Love Never Lost

Parasitica: Part 4

Brooke's POV:

I assist Donnie as he rushes through creating the antidote before the virus takes over his mind.

Donnie: "I'm not gonna make it. I'm not gonna make it!"

Mikey: "Don't stress, dude. You're almost done."

Me: "And I'm still here if Mikey needs help when the inevitable comes."

I may be getting nauseous and have a slight migraine, but I can still save my family. I promised I would, and I'm not backing down now!

Donnie: "Ok. But if I turn, one of you has to knock me out so you can finish the antibody."

Mikey: "Ok. So, what do we do?"

Donnie: "First, the hybridoma culture has to incubate for 10 minutes. And then it has to spin in the centrifuge for another 5. I'm not feeling so well."

Donnie stumbles back with a groan before he starts to snarl as his eyes turn black. Mikey goes to knock him out with a nunchuck, but Donnie grabs his arm and bites it.

Mikey: "Brooke, I need help!"

Me: "Ok. Place the petri dish in the microwave for 10 minutes."

Mikey goes to grab the dish but passes out onto his shell.

Me: "Mikey. Mikey!"

Mikey wakes up with a start and places the petri dish in the microwave. Ten minutes of slapping himself and a lot of nausea-induced bathroom breaks later, he puts it into the centrifuge for another five before the antidote is ready. Mikey and I form a plan before injecting him with a small sample.

{Time skip}

Mikey walks out to stand before the others while I hide behind the lab doors.

Leo: "Michelangelo, you have come to join us."

Mikey: "Yes, I finally understand what is so awesome about this egg."

Mikey turns to me with a nod, and we leap forward with our plan. Mikey injects Leo & Donnie while I inject Raph.

Raph: "What have you done?"

Mikey: "Pulled your bacon out the frying pan, bro!"

Raph: "Donatello, you said Michelangelo was safe. You said you turned him."

Donnie: *distorted* "I did!"

Mikey: "Did you, Donnie? Did you really?"

Me: "Mikey, I was there. He did, and Raph did the same to me. You almost passed out, like, 29 times."

Raph: "And what about you?"

Me: "Humans are immune to the virus and only have minor side effects."

Mikey: "I stayed with it long enough, and, I did it!"

Donnie: "You finished the antibody yourself?"

Leo: "And you were just pretending to be one of us?"

Mikey: "Yep! And Brooke was there to remind me of what you said when she wasn't getting sick from Raph's bite."

Raph: "But that's smart."

Mikey: "Just call me Dr. Einstein."

The others groan.

Mikey: "Oh, I forgot to mention, it may cause drowsiness."

They all fall to the ground asleep when the wasp egg hatches and emits three mutated wasps. We fight them off as they try to approach the others. We lead them to the Shellraiser when I hear Raph's voice as it usually is.

Raph: "Hey, wasps, come and get it!"

He and the others briefly fight the wasps off before getting surrounded.

Leo: "Looks like we're gonna be wasp food after all."

Mikey activates the Shellraiser cannon, and the wasps explode from the impact.

Mikey: "Saved your lives again, dudes. I am on a roll today."

{Time skip}

Donnie & I fix the damage to the Shellraiser while Leo & Raph mop up what's left of the wasps.

Raph: "I can't believe Mikey actually came through."

Leo: "I can't believe he fired the Shellraiser cannon inside the lair."

Mikey: "I told you you should let me shoot it more often."

Donnie: "Hey, Brooke, how's your shoulder?"

Me: "A little sore, but I'll be fine. Now that the side effects have worn off, I feel better already."

Donnie looks it over and nods in conclusion.

Donnie: "Well, it'll definitely leave a scar."

Mikey: "Pizza me."

Me: "You got it, Dr. Einstein."

I hand Mikey a pizza slice when Leo speaks up.

Leo: "Wait, didn't you use my favorite comic book as toilet paper?"

Mikey freezes as he dons a nervous smile. I step between them to distract Leo, if only for a minute.

Me: "Hold on. Where's Raph?"

Leo: "He went off into your room. Think he might still be out of it?"

Me: "He's out of it, but not from the virus."

I walk off to mine and Raph's room, opening the door to see him on the ground with his head between his knees.

Me: "It's not that bad."

Silence.

Me: "This could've happened to anyone. We all get battle scars at some point."

Raph: "But it didn't happen to anyone, and it isn't from a battle. It happened to you because I couldn't control what some freaky insect did to me.

Me: "But it wasn't you, at least not the real you. The real you was fighting a battle in your mind and had no idea what was happening outside it. This was not your fault. Wow, that sounds so weird when it's not you saying it to me."

Raph chuckles before looking up at me.

Raph: "So, we're good?"

Me: "If you're not mad about me kicking you into a pool of sewer water."

Raph: "Well, I like my girl strong, brave, and crazy enough to stick with me through everything. From slien robots, being hunted by alien robots, anger issues, fights, mutant cockroaches, mutant wasps."

I pull him up to stand.

Me: "And everything that comes with it, so long as I'm fighting alongside you.

Raph: "Oh, it's gonna take a lot more than 'all that' to keep me from fighting with you, Gorgeous."

Good, because I'll need all the help I can get with what we're about to go through: Saving the world from Kraang, Shredder, and Dimension X.

End of Episode 23