i l l x f a t e d

“Heh I can assure you that this is the very best quality frozen pizza you can get in these sewers. None of my kin could provide anything better. In fact, I don’t even think Raph has an oven to prepare pizza in anymore..

“Heh you want to hang out with humans Mikey? I honestly thought you of all had the most human friends. Though I’m glad you took our safety so seriously and stayed under cover. Unlike that Raphael. No, the world isn’t ready for us. Not on TV and in the news more than what we already are. 

“Oh sure you could. Come on.

“Heh you want to hang out with humans Mikey? I honestly thought you of all had the most human friends. Though I’m glad you took our safety so seriously and stayed under cover. Unlike that Raphael. No, the world isn’t ready for us. Not on TV and in the news more than what we already are. 

“Related, as in he most likely has our DNA. Which one of us got into fights the most? Which one do you think spred their DNA out the most?”

He took a break and let Mikey think. Then continued.

“Did you know we are urban legends, Mikey? The foot clan too. It’s on the web, if you just dig a little. Several humans are curious about us and are aware of our presence. And Raphael was never concerned with being careful. Perhaps neither were you, when you moved topside to start your career as a writer. Were you ever intimate with a human? If so. Renoir could be connected with you. But most likely, it’s Raphael.”

Donatello gave Michelangelo a bored stare, cold even. After all he was trying to please a mere copy of his brother. He was indeed an actor, but perhaps not a great one. It was hard to just fake his emotions. Fake his intentions. Mikey was usually quite clever too, perhaps more so than he let on. His brother used to believe he could manipulate by being overly cheerful and humanistic so he had to make sure Mikey believed it was working. 

“You used to be curious about my inventions, didn’t you. And you would “help” me, However that meant something always got broken.”

“Related….?” 

He knew it was more unlikely the kid wasn’t somehow related to them, but he couldn’t fathom how it could be true based on the kid’s own memories. Don seemed perfectly confident in the possibility though.

“You think I hooked up with a human and what? Decided to not be in my own kid’s life? I don’t think so. So you must be talking about blood? Our blood was all over this city, even yours.  What if he was related to us? What would that mean? He’s a…clone or something?”

He didn’t understand any of the possible hows but he did know that Don knew more than he was letting on. And what could possibly be more important than investigating a random turtle mutant that appeared out of thin air and was likely related to them?  What kind of work could that possibly be?

He had to play it safe though. Not too many questions. Not too much conversation. His brother spooked easier than a deer.

“I didn’t mean to be rude. I was just asking if you had been close with a human. What I meant is, that if you are uncareful, like Raphael has been, someone might try to use their closeness to you to steal some samples of your DNA and sell it to someone with scientific interests. I’m assuming that's what happened with Renoir... heehhehhh....But don’t worry. I’m assuming it´s Raphael. Who knows what he's been up to. He's probably been interacting with most of New Yorks street scum, picking fights just for fun. He surely left his DNA all over New York without even thinking of it. Doesn’t that sound just like him?” 

“A clone. Maybe. In cloning of animals, It's possible that clones can carry different coat color and markings. I assume it's the same for mutants. Considering..Renoir does look different from each one of us. But personality wise, he does remind me a bit of you.”

He wasn’t sure how much he could endure of this clone talk without feeling it hit too close to home, so he was trying to control his emotions by avoiding eye contact. 

“You know me, I’m an introvert. That doesn’t mean I don’t like your presence.

So typical of the Mikey of this world to rable on about their “relationships” It was such a waste of time when none of them were real, or truly had any connections with him. Yet they believed it, and he needed Renoir for his work, so he had to make sure they believed he was who they thought he was.

This Michelangelo seemed to have the impression he didn’t like them, or wanted time together with them. If only he knew that was what he was fighting for. The real world, where Mikey messed with his things, where Raphael was out in the park, their father watching his shows. Everyone was in the right place. That was sound of home. But this reality was too obscure to even be close.

“Renoir is most likely created in a lab. He could be related to us. I highly doubt that he was made randomly.. If I was to find out more..He would need to come with me to my lab. I admit his story is peculiar, and the lab that we broke him out of had no information out of the ordinary on him. Though at the time, I didn’t care too much. I was busy.”

“Related….?” 

He knew it was possible but he couldn’t understand how. Don seemed perfectly confident in the possibility though. 

“What if he was related to us? What would that mean?”

He didn’t understand any of it honestly. But he did know that Don knew more than he was letting on. And what could possibly be more important than investigating a random brand new turtle mutant?  What kind of work would that be? 

He had to play it safe though. Not too many questions. Not too much conversation.

“Well, yeah. Weird. Crazy stuff. I’ll leave you to it though. You’ve got important things to do.  Just let me know if you want me around okay? If you need any help with any….anything. I’m more than happy to hang out and help out if I can.”

He felt like he was a little bit offering up his soul, but it 

was worth the risk. Don couldn’t possibly be as off as Leo was, could he? 

He took a break and let Mikey think. Then continued.

“Did you know we are urban legends, Mikey? The foot clan too. It's on the web, if you just dig a little. Several humans are curious about us and are aware of our presence. And Raphael was never concerned with being careful. Perhaps neither were you, when you moved topside to start your career as a writer. Were you ever intimate with a human? If so. Renoir could be connected with you. But most likely, it's Raphael.”

Donatello gave Michelangelo a bored stare, cold even. After all he was trying to please a mere copy of his brother. He was indeed an actor, but perhaps not a great one. It was hard to just fake his emotions. Fake his intentions. Mikey was usually quite clever too, perhaps more so than he let on. His brother used to believe he could manipulate by being overly cheerful and humanistic so he had to make sure Mikey believed it was working. 

“Indeed. Perhaps I’m worrying needlessly.” Good idea. If the Mikey of this world was too concerned about Renoir, maybe he would act too protective and keep the rookie out of harms way. If he indeed was harmed more in battle, there would be more opportunities for taking precious samples.

“Raphael is still a violent beast when he wants to be. Both to you and to me. So don’t rest just because there is someone else there to beat on. But you are right. Renoir has proven to be useful when it comes to dealing with Raphael’s violent outbursts and rages. At least he doesn’t take it out on himself so much anymore. And about their attachment. Haven’t you heard of Stockholm syndrome?”

“Renoir’s done good. Who would have thought it would take a wild mutant turtle to bring us a little closer together? Even us. I respect that you aren’t really interested in my company, or Raph’s, but we’ve talked more in the past few months than we have in the last decade.”

Don was smart and Mikey was sure he knew the answer to the question and suspected that  Donnie had maybe already figured it all out, but he asked anyway. Cautiously.

“Have you ever thought about, you know, where he came from? How he just appeared out of nowhere? I did at first but gave up when there didn’t seem to be any clues.”

"You know me, I'm an introvert. That doesn't mean I don't like your presence.

So typical of the Mikey of this world to rable on about their "relationships" It was such a waste of time when none of them were real, or truly had any connections with him. Yet they believed it, and he needed Renoir for his work, so he had to make sure they believed he was who they thought he was.

This Michelangelo seemed to have the impression he didn't like them, or wanted time together with them. If only he knew that was what he was fighting for. The real world, where Mikey messed with his things, where Raphael was out in the park, their father watching his shows. Everyone was in the right place. That was sound of home. But this reality was too obscure to even be close.

“Oh you know just..being concerned. I know Raphael has taken the most responsibility of the youngster, but I did help break him out of there. Plus, Raphael beats him to a pulp sometimes so I got to make sure he is patched up and that there are no infections. I did leave him there with Raph..hehhe..”

“He’s tough. He can handle it, even better than I can because he heals so stupid fast. It’s actually kinda nice to have someone to distract him from punching ust me. Now that I’m there I can make sure Raph doesn’t go overboard and you know I’d get you if things did go too far. “ 

"Indeed. Perhaps I'm worrying needlessly." Good idea. If the Mikey of this world was too concerned about Renoir, maybe he would act too protective and keep the rookie out of harms way. If he indeed was harmed more in battle, there would be more opportunities for taking precious samples.