Moonlight Mutation (A TMNT Fanfic)

Chapter 37: Weakening Will

"You interrupted me," he utters. Her fur prickles and she swallows. He lowers his blade closer to her neck. "Remember your place."

"Yes, I'm sorry, Master Shredder," she says.

"While you're here," Shredder continues, retracting the blades back into its gauntlet, "did you find anything about your brother's whereabouts?"

She slowly stands back up, shaking her head. "No, there's no trace."

"Keep looking."

She nods and turns back towards the door, starting to walk at a rather brisk pace as she reaches a paw to her eye and brushes it. She inhales sharply, clearing her throat once before she disappears from Destiny's view. The wolf mutant frowns.

"Diaval, try again. The serum won't work to its full potential if you don't get used to it," Shredder says as his mismatched eyes focus back on Diaval. His words should sound kind, but there's not a hint of anything remotely warm in his voice. It's as if he cares more about the results of a serum than of Diaval's wellbeing.

Diaval shuts his eyes and takes a long breath in, both his hands clenching into tight fists. Immediately, Destiny has to bite back a screech as a searing pain explodes against the back of her head. She crumples against the ledge and secures her hands in her hair, strained whimpers fighting against her lips, begging to be freed.

"Destiny, you can't win," Diaval's voice murmurs. "Giving in's easier. If you don't, your friends could get hurt."

She squeezes her eyes shut, starting to tremble. "I can win, I know I can. I can win," she repeats to herself.

"Stupid wolf, your will is weakening," Shredder cuts in. Her eyes fly open and fall back on the man, but he isn't speaking out loud or looking at her at all. It's all in her head, just as she thought. "You can't resist forever. You will fall."

A hand touches her shoulder, the same rough hand that she's felt before. She tears her eyes from the people standing below her to see Diaval kneeling at her side. He gives her a blank look, his pale eyes staring deep into hers, and another stabbing sensation pierces her brain.

She shakes her head and forces herself to look away, her mind becoming foggier with every passing second. Diaval is still standing before the Shredder, still as a stone, and yet she can plainly feel his hand.

"It's all in my head," she breathes. "All in my h-head."

"Course it is," the fake Diaval says. "That's where the control is."

A tear runs down her face and she clamps her hands against her eyes, forcing out as much as she can as the coolness of her tears swells against the heels of her palms. More fog invades her senses. She starts to feel almost sleepy, drifting away from reality without a care in the world as the fake's hand applies gentle pressure to her shoulder.

"Join him, Destiny."

She rips her hands from her eyes, throwing her body weight sideways so that she rolls towards the window. At the same time, the fake disappears. Aching and still very disoriented, Destiny crawls through the hole in the window and out into the night.

The further away she gets, the better.

----------

By the time Destiny gets back to the lair, she can hardly focus on any one thing. She goes stumbling past the turnstiles in an almost daze, taking in the muted activity of the lair with exhausted eyes.

There's a muffled call from beside her and she turns just in time to become engulfed in a gentle hug. She blinks slowly, dragging her eyes from the plastron and green neck to the blue-masked face of Leonardo. He tilts his head as he pulls away from her, still holding her arms and keeping her in place as his mouth moves without making a discernible sound.

She blinks a few more times and shakes her head. "Uh...w-what?" she stammers.

He squints. "I asked you what happened," he repeats. "You look like you're about to collapse."

"No, no, nothing happened," she says. "I just did a lot of..." She glances down at her fingertips and nails. "...climbing." His deep blue eyes drift to her hands, instantly gaining a new spark.

"Holy shell...what did you do, use a brick as a scratching post?"

Destiny puckers her lips in a small frown at the new voice, turning her head as Raphael wanders up. The red-masked turtle smirks at his own joke, Destiny gives no reaction, and Leonardo snorts and shakes his head.

"Apparently, she just did a lot of climbing," he says.

Raphael arches an eye-ridge. "Yeah?"

"Climbing," Destiny says, yawning once and blinking back the tired moisture in her eyes. "Nothing else."

Leonardo's hands cradle her own, his fingertips prodding at the dried mess of her nails. She's faintly aware of their soreness but doesn't react.

"Is that all?" Leonardo asks. "Didn't seem like it on the phone."

Destiny's lips purse and her head droops slightly. She doesn't want to tell them about what she heard in the conversation between Shredder and Diaval. There's nothing they can do to stop Diaval or Shredder. Destiny has to face it on her own and she's fully prepared to do so.

"I saw Emery on a bike," she admits, but every word after is a little white lie. "She parked it and met up with the pink fish guy, Xever. She said she had done a sweep of the streets but couldn't find her brother."

Raphael and Leonardo meet one another's eyes at the same time.

"So they're looking for Tiger Claw?" Raphael laughs, but he cuts it off abruptly. "Good luck. He got swallowed by a Kraang worm."

"I guess so," Leonardo says before his attention falls on Destiny. "You need sleep."

"Mmkay," she mumbles, stepping away from him in the direction of the bedrooms. "Goodnight guys. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Des," Raphael says.

"Sleep well," Leonardo adds.

She gives a weak, half wave before dragging herself to her bedroom. Inside, she collapses onto her bed and hugs the pillow against her head. She shuts her eyes as a shudder rolls through her.

What is happening to me?