Replaced Part 1

One, two, Stitch the arms;

Three, four, Open the chest;

Five, six, Pick up herb sticks;

Seven, eight, stuff them right in;

Nine, ten, then add some blood from them;

Eleven, twelve, Close it up;

Thirteen, fourteen, sew in the eyes;

Fifteen, sixteen, make it look like them;

Seventeen, eighteen, replace them one by one;

Nineteen, twenty, My brethren will live and they shall die.

Snoring away the male turtle laid there in a blissful sleep, after having a long night of smashing in heads and a bit of drinking for a good cheer.

Like all pleasant things, it had to come to an end.

Breaking the serenity that claimed the red clad turtle was rudely abrupt; his alarm that he swore he never set rang annoyingly jolting Raph out of sleep.

"Fuck.. en… Leo…" Raph groaned waving his hand in the air not bothering to turn or move his head, finally feeling the nice cold metal of his sai, Raph flung it in the direction of the noise.

With a loud crack and a whining sound ending with a pop, Raph was satisfied the bastard was dead to join the others that dared to challenge his wrath in the early hours of morning.

With no more interruptions, the turtle lightly snored again falling into a comfortable position in his hammock.

The sweetest dreams swept him up once more, making him mumble to himself wanting them to continue.

"RAPHIE!" the terror gleefully called out, sending Raph's dreams into a nightmarish spiral.

Instantly something large slammed down on top of his side, kneeing him in the chin.

Startled Raph screamed attempting to jump only feeling the dead weight pinning him tightly against his hammock.

With his arm under him, he was unable to backhand the sole brother who would dare to wake him in such a manner.

Flashing his eyes open, Raph growled, "MIKEY! YOU BASTARD GET OFF OF ME!"

"Ahh Raphie but you're so comfy," Mikey cheerfully mocked, bouncing and cradling against Raph's body, bringing the hothead's annoyance to new heights.

"Mikey, I swear! One…. Two…." Raph counted as a fair warning.

"Three?" Mikey leaned forward, poking Raph in the cheek, as a result the larger turtle snapped at the finger viciously.

"Mikey last…" Raph started to threaten, stopping suddenly, hearing a sharp whining sound just before the hammock ripped out of the wall.

With a large crash, both turtles hit the cement floor hard.

Sandwich between the floor and the pest, Raph moaned seeing stars before his eyes; of all the mornings, his brother had to jump him was the time when his hammock decided to betray him.

"Mikey… If you don't get off me right now, I swear your head is going to get a first class swirly and like hell, I will let you cry to Leo afterwards!" Raph said coldly narrowing his eyes showing he was done with the horsing around.

Placing his hands up in defeat, Mikey quickly removed himself scampering out of the door just seconds of being missed by the flying pillow that was aimed at his head.

Grumbling to himself, Raph groaned, feeling his aching body that wasn't to please with such treatment in this early daylight.

"Why can't he just wake me up like a normal person…" Raph sighed, getting to his feet, kicking his hammock to the side; he would have to get Donnie to fix it up again later.

The fresh smells of cooked breakfast, beckon the hungry turtle towards the table that had his meal waiting for him.

Though Raph wouldn't argue, Mikey can be a pain in the ass at times, he had to admit the brat was one hell of a cook.

No matter what he did to try to figure out how the youngest could make the food taste so great, Raph just finally shrugged it off, thankfully it was Mikey cooking not Donnie's, or worse Leo, who had the habit to feed an army. How much did the eldest really think he can eat, sure he had a large appetite like the rest of his brothers, but no one was that hungry to equal a meal for eight people?

Raph sitting in his usual spot, scarf down his runny eggs, dipping them with buttered toast.

"So I take it the alarm worked?" Leo slyly grinned sipping his tea proud of himself.

Looking up from his food, Raph snarled under his breath, "Which one?"

"What do you mean which one? You only have one alarm clock in your room Raph," Leo placed his tea down, grabbing a piece of toast spreading some jam over it.

"Well then…One gone to the big heaven of alarms… the other broke my hammock…" Raph huffed jabbing the bacon with his fork like it was still alive, and it was going to squeal away from him.

"Mikey did you break Raph hammock again?" Leo brought his attention to the youngest that sat down with his bowl of cereal; his palette wasn't calling for eggs that morning.

"Well…" Mikey shoved some Chocolate Sugar Bombs into his mouth in order to distract Leo from inquiring about the hammock, "I… welll," Mikey slurped and crunched his cereal not getting many syllables out between the food.

Disturbed Leo sighed, turning his head away, "Never mind."

Letting out his own sigh, Raph focused back on his meal, he could argue trying his efforts to teach Mikey a lesson by getting him into trouble, in the end what was the point?

Mikey would think of some lame excuse to weasel himself out of it; it only took a mouth full of cereal to make Leo not to bother, that was less effort the little brother had to perform in the past to achieve such a goal.

"Oh Donnie you're finally up, kind of late then normal bro," Mikey sprang to his feet heading for the kitchen to fetch his brother's meal.

Rules of the lair were that whose turn to cook had to serve and do dishes, Mikey didn't mind the rules, yet Raph, on the other hand, was just peachee when someone else's turn was up, hating when it was his day.

"Sorry I must have dozed off at my desk again…" Donnie yawned getting a questionable look from Raph.

Donnie never fell asleep at his desk last night he went to bed after Raph came in from after having a few beers with Casey.

Being an early night than normal Leo wasn't waiting up, and the lab door was wide open with its lights on. Though it still being late enough, on the other hand, Raph found Donnie consumed by his work rubbing his eyes sleepily.

It took him to carry the genius brother to finally to get him to surrender and call it a night, prying him away from his work.

Normally at that point, Donnie would give in finding the comfort of his bed, not bothering to return to his lab until the next day.

"Donnie how many times do I have to remind you; you have to manage your time better. You can't keep pulling these all nighters; it's not healthy," Leo lectured, playing his role of the eldest and the father figure.

Since their father passing away years ago, Leo has been observant when it came to his brothers, making sure to keep them healthy and safe.

"I'm really sorry Leo. I will try to avoid it from happening again," Donnie sighed slumping into his chair.

"Or I can just keep hulling your shell to bed," Raph offered to see if Donnie responded to the comment.

"No thank you, once every blue moon is enough," Donnie stated with a smile.

"Really, I guess your right, not like it worked so well last night," Raph shoveled more eggs in his mouth seeing Donnie suddenly became flustered.

"Oh right… that… I couldn't sleep… and went to my lab to occupy myself to drive my mind into a sleepy state," Donnie added quickly in, moving the coffee to the side.

"Well next time I throw you in bed stay there, or I will have to lock your room up, or tie you to your bed!" Raph grinned seeing Leo not approving the method one bit.

With a light chuckle, Donnie took only a piece of his toast with him rising from the table, "Let's not go down that path Raphael. If you don't mind, I have some work to do."

"Hey, you forgot your coffee, bro," Mikey hollered at the turtle, getting a shrug in response.

"Thanks for making it Mikey, but I think I will skip it this morning," Donnie called back disappearing into his lab closing his door tightly behind him.

"Woah… that was twilight zone," Mikey creepily pointed out, playing with his spoon, working his vocal cords to the show's theme song for extra effect.

A bit confused and ignoring Mikey sing along; Leo neatly placed his cup on his empty plate with his fork and knife, "What do you mean Mikey?"

"Come on, Raph you didn't even notice? You did try to provoke him," Mikey pointed out getting a raised eyebrow from the muscular turtle.

"Notice what?"

Annoyed at the fact he had to spell it out to them both, Mikey's cheeks puffed out like a puffer fish, "How Donnie made it sound like he forgot that you sent him to bed for starters. Donnie doesn't forget anything. Two, the coffee dude, he didn't even take a sip! Dudes, we all know how coffee junky gets by without his caffeine fix to function!"

Letting out a chuckle Leo shook his head, "Mikey. What are you playing this time?"

"Bro, I'm not playing anything; it is just weird that's all," Mikey crossed his arms.

"Is it really that strange that Donnie is finally taking my advice and cutting down his caffeine intake? You are aware I did have that exact conversation with him a couple of days ago, and he did agree to work on it, to not to be so reliant on such a substance."

"Fine I will let that slide… then riddle me this, how can someone with a photographic memory forget something as simple as Raph dragging him to bed?" Mikey nodded his head; sure they would catch on the out of place behavior displayed by Donnie.

"That is enough Michelangelo; you're making a mole hill into a mountain. Donnie is trying his best to change his bad habits; it's not uncommon for someone going through such a transition to experience different sensations, resulting them to behave indifferent. Give him some breathing room and no more of your pranks Mikey," Leo stood up, taking his plate, warning the younger brother not to start his playful games with Donnie.

"Oh come on dude, how can you just turn your shell on this," Mikey complained, looking at Raph for support.

Not backing him up, Raph got up himself heading for the showers, "He's right Mikey, you're only looking for something that isn't there, and you need to start growing up and stop playing childish games."

Annoyed by the response, Mikey stuck his tongue out at the red clad turtle, "This is coming from the guy who threatened to give me a swirly!"

"That is something else altogether, oh Mikey watch your shell the threat still stands!" Raph beamed seeing the younger brother gulping becoming small in his chair.

With Leo dismissing his concerns over Donnie, why would he believe him if he did run to the eldest over Raph giving him a swirly, he would think he was starting something yet again?

The shower relaxing him, Raph moved on with his day starting with a workout, even tuning his bike up. Not seeing Donnie once emerged from his den a part of him became overly concerned over the brother, what if Mikey was onto something?

Not that Raph would think Mikey of being right, he was the king of pranks and a pain in the shell, but Donnie had acted out of character when it came to him asking about last night.

It wasn't like Donnie to dismiss such information or become flustered when confronted over anything; he was normally calm and collective, unless he was hiding something.

Even that didn't make sense, what would Donnie have to hide? If he was hiding something, he wouldn't bother stating he fell asleep in his lab to avoid the fact he was there all night, not that anyone corrected him other, then Raph.

Sighing at himself glaring at the door, Raph pushed it open neglecting the warning sign stating 'knock before entering'.

"Yo Donnie are you in here?" Raph called out, peering into the darkness noticing a faint light in the back room that Donnie used to work on his bigger and most dangerous inventions.

The lighting was dimmer then it should have been for the lights to be on; Raph watched his step, avoiding some glass on the ground, was there an accident?

"Hey Donnie you need to clean your messes," Raph once again spoke out through the darkness almost smacking his beak straight into a shelf that he swore jump out of nowhere or was it moved out of place.

Donnie wasn't a neat freak when it came to the condition of his lab, but even he had his standards to where things went, that included his shelves' locations, in order to prevent anyone from bumping into them.

Finally making it to the archway to the other room Raph gawked at the sight before him.

He wasn't far off to find the lighting being suspicious after all, the lights were off and what actually illuminated the room was thousands of candles that appeared been burning for some time.

In the middle Donnie sat there still, meditating in the silence, deeper than Leo's normal routine.

Though seeing his brother meditating wasn't that much of an odd display to behold, for being a ninja, they all do it in their own time and quantities.

This was bizarre to see Donnie doing it in his lab; he was always the one that was strict in separating his life as a ninja to his scientific and engineer side of him.

The boundaries were drawn at the door to his lab, in there he was plain Donnie and outside, he was the ninja brother open more to the ways of his family.

Donnie always explained it was a way for him to be himself and not worry about being a ninja; he was proud of being one, but his heart was elsewhere and needed this separation to be complete.

The part that Raph was baffled on the more than anything of this display before him was Donnie having an open flame in his lab and in normal circumstances to have so many candles alit would give Donnie a panic attack any other given day.

Leaning his shell against the wall Raph sighed, it would be ignorant of him to disturb Donnie, he seemed fine, it must be how Mikey was reacting at breakfast that was putting him in such a mode.

There was nothing wrong with Donnie, Leo was right the brother was just trying to change things around for the better.

Leaving the room quietly, Raph wished not to disturb Donnie, not that him walking away would, considering his calling beforehand didn't even faze the meditating turtle.

Raph wishing he had some source of light; he stumbled through the dark again, finding his way safely to the door.

The turtle about to make his leave placed his hand on the door knob stopped suddenly when a ghostly whisper that came from everywhere, yet nowhere at the same moment.

help me, don't leave."

The voice, though it was hard to decipher Raph's brain filled in the blanks alerting him that it sounded just like Donnie?

Turning on the ball of his heel quickly, Raph moved forward, hissing in pain, hearing the crunching sounds under his foot.

Cursing under his breath, Raph forgot about the glass on the floor.

The glass digging deep into his flesh, Raph feeling the pain, raised his foot seeing the shards of glass sticking out of his skin, of all the stupid things he could do.

With the lab pitch black, finding the med kit was fruitless, and he could hop over to the light switch but what if he catches Donnie's attention?

There was another option open to him, he recalled Donnie keeping one of the spare medical kits in his wash station/bathroom in the lab.

If he goes in there he can just use the supplies to bandage up his foot and as well wash it out at the same time.

There was no reason for him to inquire Donnie's help, and he didn't want the brother start lecturing or feeling horrible for not cleaning up his messes.

Hopping over to the door with him still holding his bleeding foot, Raph entered the bathroom turning on the light.

The light casting into the lab showed no signs of a blood trail, bringing some relief to Raph that he wouldn't have to clean that mess up later, though he did debate if he should take the time after he bandaged up to clean up the glass before anyone else gets hurt.

Closing the door behind him, Raph got comfy on the toilet grabbing the med kit that was tucked beside it.

The first thing he needed to do was to get the shards of glass out of his foot, then he can clean it, finding what he needed he went to it right away.

It wasn't as bad as he figured it was going to be; the cuts were small, so there was no need for stitches though using some butterfly stitches wouldn't hurt to keep the wound closed.

Taking care of his foot, Raph slowly cleaned up sitting there waiting, not for anything particular, he just wanted to delay walking on it again.

Once he figured was long enough, he would leave, until then he relaxed closing his eyes, considering what story he should tell if anyone required an explanation for his foot being bandaged up.

The lifeless silence being disturbed by the sound within the lab, Raph suddenly heard the lab door slowly opening.

Cursorily Raph leaned forward, opening his door ajar to see who it was and to warn them of the glass on the floor.

The blue bandana flashing by, Raph was about to say something to Leo only be beaten by his other brother, "Oh, Leo why are you here?" Donnie's voice hoarsely asked carrying across the silent lab.

"You did ask me to come and see you after my meditation session, Donnie," Leo stopped before the shards of glass looking over them disapprovingly adding in, "Donnie you really should clean your messes someone can get hurt!"

Chuckling under his breath, Donnie pushed by Leo grabbing the broom that was leaning against a shelf, not before turning on the lights to bring illuminated the dark room.

"Sorry Leo, I was getting to it, and got distracted," Donnie admitted sweeping up the shattered glass tubes.

Sighing Leo shook his head, "It's fine Donnie, just for the next time around be more diligent in keeping your lab hazardous free. So what is it that you require from me?"

Taking one of the spare chairs, Leo sat down, crossing his legs.

With the glass out of the way, Donnie set the broom back in its place, pressing his lips together, rubbing his hand greedily behind Leo's back, while the eldest gave no sign of the odd behavior, yet Raph did.

Strange as it was, Donnie's kind, nurturing face became sinister, as if Raph was looking at a twisted version of Donnie in the mirror like in the horror movies.

His stance was off; a disturbing energy vibrated from him, shivering Raph blinked wildly; he must have lost blood or some kind of chemical was on that glass for this couldn't be right.

Nevertheless, he couldn't shake the feeling that only worsened when suddenly Leo shivered out of the blue catching the eldest by surprise as he suspiciously looked around disturbed, in order to figure out what was giving off such a bad vibe.

Immediately as Leo showed the signs of uneasiness, Donnie's aura changed, his face softened, while he went towards his desk taking out some needles and tubes to fill up with blood.

"I wanted to do a checkup Leo. I know its early this month, but I'm doing some experiments on how we eat, and our everyday lifestyle affects our overall health and growth," Donnie smiled making Leo eased up shaking off the previous feeling away.

"Really now?" Leo raised an eyebrow in wonder.

"Yes, you see like you told me I needed to fix up my act when it comes to my health, I agree and thought to help me to determine what I should do in order to achieve such a goal, is to see how everyone of us fairs with our life choices. We are turtles and just picking up some health book for humans is useless. Human's bodies are too different to compare with," Donnie pointed out, putting his hand out to Leo.

Inspired by Donnie's new view into change, Leo was more than happy to give Donnie his arm, not that he was one that had issues giving blood or having needles poke into him, unlike Raph for sample.

"Don't let him do it!" a voice cried echoing around, muffled by something, that Raph swore that he heard it call for help before, raising the flags again, this time he was certain it was Donnie.

Jumping to his feet, Raph hissed as the pain in his foot jolted up his leg, making him lose his balance, slamming into the sink.

"Raph?" Leo's voice seeped through the cracks of the door full of surprise and concern.

Rushing over opening the door quickly, Leo gawked at his brother who had his foot all wrapped up, wiped out on the bathroom floor.

"Hey Leo..." Raph could only say hissing between the pain from his head that started aching.

"What in the..." Leo started, then corrected himself almost slipping with a swearword, "Are you doing?"

Sighing Raph stumbled to his feet, ignoring the wild cold eyes from his leader pushing past him to leave the uncomfortable cramp bathroom, "Was bandaging my foot after stepping on the glass Donnie left on the floor."

Purposely avoiding any question on why he fell or the conversation revealing the fact he was hearing things, for Donnie would want to do tests if that was the case, Raph avoided the conversation bubbling within the older brother.

Raph with not another word started to make his leave; he had enough weird shit happening to him as it was to tack onto it with something else.

"Raph wait, let me look at it. I'm sorry I should have cleaned up," Donnie rushed forward only to get the cold shoulder from the hothead, that even surprised himself on his reaction towards his older brother.

"Sorry Don, I'm fine; I just need to go lay down. I can take care of my own wounds."

Biting his lip Donnie placed his hand on Raph's shoulder before Raph could consider shrugging him off again, "Please Raph let me take a look at it; I feel terrible."

"Like I said, Don, no need," Raph left the room quickly shutting the door behind him, before either brother could protest.

Not stopping there Raph continued his way towards his room, even ignoring the prying eyes of Mikey peeking over the couch.

Something was off, he could feel it, was there something wrong with him? Was he being paranoid? Donnie never corrected him from calling him Don, Donnie hated that nickname more than Raph hated Raphie. Every other time Donnie would stop what he was arguing or doing, to lecture you over how he despised that name, if someone was to address him, it was either Donnie, Donatello or his other nicknames that he wasn't fond of, as long as it wasn't Don.

Then there was that moment where the Donnie he knew and grew up with was gone, replaced with a double that strike a sickening dread into him. Was that too his imagination?

Sighing Raph entered his room recalling his hammock was still broken, he resorted in using his bed that was only there for such cases, but he didn't like the feel of it either way.