Disclaimer I do not own the TMNT, or any other related characters, except my own, yada yada yada...
A/N: Now, I know the whole turning the turtles human thing has been done before, and for the most part, it doesn't seem to sell. But I had a really interesting dream about the story I am about to embark on, and I'm hoping that my take on it hasn't been done before, and if it has, just let me know and I will cease and desist. ( There are too many stories to go through to find evidence of this!) Also, this is going along the lines of the new cartoon series. So please, sit back and enjoy !
Chapter One: A Rude Awakening
A veil of darkness...Voices...whispers...
Do not fear, my friends. I'm here to help you.
Where are those lights coming from? They're burning through my forced-opened retinas...
You are truly remarkable!Simply amazing!
What is that noise? It sounds like a drill or something. The pressure on my temples is increasing.
Do not fear. I'm going to give you what you really want! I'm going to give you a new life!
It's dark again...the pain is unbearable...
Leonardo sat upright suddenly in his bed, beads of sweat dripping down his face. He squeezed his eyes together, feeling his heart race inside of his head. His nightmare had been horrible, and he could still hear the whirring noise vibrating in his ears. Leonardo shook his head as he swung his feet to the cold bare floor and he lowered his face into his open palms.
"It felt so real," He whispered into his dark room. It was then that he noticed something wasn't right.
As Leonardo kept his hands to his face, he realized his skin felt different, as did the shape of his face. He slowly moved his finger tips around the set of high cheek bones, the firm chin, and the full bottom lip that sat in-between the two.
"This can't be happening!" Leonardo whispered again. He then took a deep breath as his fingers slid upward, and when he reached the hairline above his forehead, Leonardo gasped and jumped, falling out of his bed and onto the cold floor. He quickly pushed himself up to a sitting position and braced himself as he drew up his hands to eye level.
" There is no way this...is...real..." Leonardo's eyes grew, seeing not six, large green fingers, but instead he saw ten, long pink ones, and just to make sure he wasn't still dreaming, he give the signal for his brain to wiggle them, and they did just that.
"No!" Leonardo jumped to his feet, and ran to the doorway of his bedroom. He flipped on the light switch, then ran to his make-shift bookshelf where a few of his many candles sat in front of a broken mirror, and he stared in complete disbelief at his reflection.
"No! This isn't real! This is not happening!" He said as he stared into his large brown eyes. Leonardo then ran his hands back over the short black hair that now sat on his head, and his heart rate jumped back up. He then forced his eyes down his body, going over his slightly tanned arms, his wash-board stomach, and right down to the tips of ten toes. And just to make double sure he wasn't dreaming, he wiggled them as well.
"I don't believe it. I'm...human!" Leonardo looked back into his face and again touched his chiseled facial features. A chill passed through him, and Leonardo then also realized that not only was he human, but a naked one, and he quickly wrapped his bed sheet around his waist, then went back to his mirror.
"Wait a minute," Leonardo looked around his bedroom. " How did I end up here? I wasn't home. We were out on patrol, and-" Leonardo felt a sheering pain cut across his temples, and his memories disappeared.
"WHAT THE SHELL?"
Leonardo turned toward his door as Raphael's voice echoed across the quiet lair, and it was quickly followed by Michelangelo's well known high-pitched shriek. Leonardo dashed to the platform that circled around the top level of their underground lair, and his eyes first met with Michelangelo.
"Leo? Is that you?"
Leonardo stared at the shaggy dark blonde hair that sat upon his youngest brother head, noting the fear and confusion that weighed heavily in his eyes.
" What's going on? What happened?" Michelangelo also had his bed sheet wrapped around him, and he pulled it closer around his shoulders. "Why are we like this?"
"That's what I wanna know!"
Leonardo looked around and found Raphael. The light from his room bounced off his shoulder length auburn hair, and like Leonardo, Raphael had placed his bed sheet around his waist, and he held it tightly in his right hand.
"Okay, this officially means I'm not dreaming." Leonardo said to himself with an added sigh. Raphael walked around to meet up with his brothers, and the three of them could do nothing but look at each other in confusion.
"Wait! Where's Donnie?" Michelangelo turned and shuffled the ends of the sheet as he quickly moved into Donatello's bedroom. Raphael flipped on the light switch, and they found their missing brother sleeping soundly, tucked under his comforter and his pillow over his head.
"How did your girly screamin' not wake him up, Mikey?" Raphael folded his arms over chest as he leaned against the doorframe.
Michelangelo shrugged his shoulders under the sheet. " I guess he's used to it!"
Leonardo knelt down next to Donatello's head and held his breath as he slowly lifted the pillow, and he peeked at the dark brown hair that laid under it. Donatello then moaned and turned over onto his back, and the pillow hit the floor. His brothers watched intently as he yawned, and his brothers tensed as his left hand went to scratch the top of his head. After Donatello settled back down, Leonardo softly tapped his shoulder.
"Donnie, wake up." Leonardo whispered.
Donatello stirred again and mumbled. " I told you, I'll fix it in the morning."
Raphael sighed heavily, then walked over and shook Donatello's shoulder. " Get up!"
Donatello growled, then yawned as he sluggishly sat upright. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, then stretched his arms into the air, and as he brought them back down, his hazel eyes slowly flickered open.
"What the-" Donatello slammed his bare back into the wall behind him as his vision came into focus. " Who are you? How did you get in here?"
"It's us, Einstein!" Raphael said as he looked around for a reflected surface, finally settling for the back of a computer CD. " Look!"
Donatello stared wide-eyed at Raphael's human hand as the CD was shoved in his face, and he moved his own hand up slowly, aiming his forefinger for the center hole.
"I need to stop staring at that computer screen so late at night." Donatello joked as he brought the disc to his face. " I'm starting to see...things..." He blinked several times at the short dark brown hair on his head and he ran his fingers across the bridge of his modest nose. He met with Leonardo's eyes, and all of the questions he had reflected back.
" What is going on?"
Leonardo sighed. " I was hoping you would know."
Donatello looked back at his reflection in the CD. " I don't see how this could happen!"
"Uh, Donnie?" Michelangelo pointed to the bed as he turned his eyes away. " You might wanna cover that thing up."
"What?" Donatello looked down at his lap, then quickly pulled his comforter around his waist as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry."
The sound of a sliding doors echoed up from below them, and they looked toward the doorway as the downstairs lights flickered on.
"Master Splinter is awake." Leonardo stated.
"What are we gonna do?" Michelangelo panicked. " We can't go down there like this!"
"Well we can't stay up here forever either, Mikey." Raphael moved to the doorway and looked down. "Sooner or later, he's gonna come up here when he notices we ain't down there for our mornin' practice."
Leonardo stood up then joined Raphael at the doorway, and after sharing a terrified look with his brother, Leonardo led them down the metal staircase to the lower level of their home.
Splinter had seated himself in a lotus position just below the steps of his bedroom, waiting for his sons to appear so they could begin their morning mediation and ninja practice. As he inhaled another relaxing breathe, his nose caught the scent of something usual, and as he opened his eyes, Splinter gasped at the four teenage human boys clad in bed sheets that stood in front of him. The black haired one that stood in front of the others spoke first.
"Master Splinter, I-"
Leonardo then found himself slammed to the ground, and the angry eyes of his father stared him down.
" How dare you break into my home!" Splinter pushed his walking stick harder against Leonardo's chest. " How did you find this place?"
"Sensi, please!" Leonardo grabbed the ends of the stick, trying the relieve the pressure that was crushing his rib cage. " It's me, Leonardo!"
Splinter at once recognized the voice of his pupil, and he slowly released his walking stick. "Leonardo?" He stared into his sons' brown eyes, and was still not sure if his own old eyes were playing tricks on him. He stood back up and watched as the three other humans pulled Leonardo to his feet.
" It really is us, sensi! Sort of!"
Splinter turned to the blonde one, knowing it was Michelangelo's voice he had just heard.
He studied the other two, knowing at once from the expressions on their faces they were Donatello and Raphael.
" My sons," Splinter began, his voice still laced with disbelief. "This is a great shock. I had feared the worst, and while I am grateful all of you are alive, I did not expect this."
"The worst?" Raphael repeated.
"Yes," Splinter bowed his head down. " I was afraid you had all perished somehow."
The four exchanged glances, feeling more confused with each passing minute, and Splinter realized his sons had no clue as to what he was talking about.
"The night I had sent the four of you to the surface for a training run, all of you disappeared without a trace. I searched tirelessly for you, but I found nothing." He paused, and what the rat said next stunned the former mutants.
" All of this happened three months ago."