Hi, fellow TMNT fans. I'm not dead. Holy shell, I apologize for taking so long to update. Plot bunnies for other fics multiplied like, well, bunnies, and school kept me very busy. Rest assured, I didn't forget or abandon this. I had kept my outline so I can get back on track with this fic. I have 11 chapters planned, so this roughly marks the halfway point.

Pizza For Algernon (5)

Transformation

The turtles waited with bated breath for any sign of the Kraang coming after them. They'd been sure to drop plenty of egg smoke bombs and leave no trace of their trail back to the lair. Still, they could never be too careful. To their surprise and relief, after days and then weeks passed, they heard nothing. Raph was the first to kick back and relax.

Seeing no immediate threat imposed on his family, Leo didn't see the need to be so wary and paranoid. He turned his attention back to training with Splinter.

Donnie continued to remain on his toes. He often wondered why their enemy never came for them. He and his brothers just made off with the Kraang's prime target for their Superneuro Mutagen testing. Donnie found it odd that the Kraang seemed to abandon their experiment and just forget about it. Maybe they were busy developing a new model of their current project.

Over the next few days, Mikey became a different turtle. It was as if he was a snake instead, who shed his old skin to wear a completely new one. Skateboarding, playing video games, and eating weirdly flavored pizza were no longer his favorite pastimes. Raph peeked his head inside Mikey's room once, and made a double take to realize with shock that Mikey's skateboard and consoles were actually collecting dust halfway under the bed. Mikey spent every chance he got poring over Donnie's collection of science magazines, which had greatly captured his interest and newly found scientific curiosity as of late. He left his favorite comics virtually untouched, claiming that they were nothing more than mindless entertainment.

"Hey, you got anything on quantum mechanics?" Mikey asked Donnie one day.

Donnie shot his younger brother a skeptic look before fishing out the used, outdated college-level textbook he had found in the dumpster. "I dunno, Mikey...this stuff is pretty dense."

Mikey waved a dismissive hand. "No worries. I like a good brain-tickler."

"Have you been taking your aspirin?"

Donnie's question of concern made Mikey stop and turn around. The younger turtle returned an assuring grin. "Yeah, sure, I keep up with my meds."

"Same dosage as last week?"

"Actually, I had to add one more pill," Mikey admitted. "Last night my head hurt even though I took the aspirin."

Donnie frowned. "We'll have to find you something stronger to alleviate the symptoms. Something tells me that we can't rely on aspirin forever."

Mikey shrugged off his brother's concern. "The best medicine for me is reading science, anyway. My head doesn't hurt when I'm reading and thinking. They get my synapses firing. It's like an adrenaline rush, really. Nothing like a burst of dopamine to keep me happy!"

Donnie still couldn't get used to Mikey's elevated vocabulary. "Uh...sure. I'm glad you're still doing okay." Donnie returned to inspecting Mikey's brain cells under the microscope. Then he took notes in a journal tracking Mikey's progress. "His vocabulary is building and growing more advanced each day," Donnie wrote. "He has been asking to read bigger and harder scientific books. I expected an exponential increase in cognitive ability, but not at this rate." He returned to peering through the microscope. The cells had grown bigger than the last time he checked. He kept them alive by immersing them in a sample of Mikey's blood and keeping them incubated in a warm, nutrient-filled solution when he wasn't inspecting them. Donnie kept a careful eye on these cells. Frankly he was surprised they hadn't lysed yet. Cells this big should've burst a long time ago.

It was only a matter of time, though Donnie fervently hoped that worse symptoms wouldn't manifest in his little brother. He decided to take a break and he stowed away the brain cells into the incubator. He flopped down on the couch to watch TV with his brothers.

Except Mikey wasn't watching TV. Instead of sitting way too close, blocking everyone's view, and with eyes glued to the screen as usual, Mikey's eyes were glued to the borrowed doorstopper of a book spread open on his lap.

Donnie's eyes flew wide at the sight. "Y-you're already halfway through that book?" He sputtered.

Mikey nodded. "I read pretty quickly. Almost thirty words per minute."

"That's...unreal," Donnie breathed. "Even I can't read that fast."

"I'm full of surprises, aren't I?"

"You certainly are." Donnie hoped there wouldn't be any nasty surprises around the corner.

Algernon perched comfortably on Mikey's lap, reading at the same pace as his new turtle friend.

The newest episode of Space Heroes ended, and Raph turned off the TV with a tap of the remote before turning to Mikey with a devilish grin.

"Hey Mikey, since you're so smart now, what's nine times nine?"

Mikey had absolutely hated learning multiplication tables. He especially had a hard time with multiplying by nine. Raph used to gleefully drill Mikey on his tables, and rap him on the head if he said the wrong answer.

Mikey wouldn't get bungled on the wrong answer this time. "Easy. Eighty-one," he quickly replied.

"How about double digits now?" Raph said this with an ominous wiggle of his three fingers, like he was trying to scare the living daylights out of Mikey. "What's eleven times...uh, zero?"

"Zero, of course. Anything times zero is zero."

"Okay, how about eleven times twelve?"

"One-thirty-two. Did you know there's a mental shortcut to that? I got the middle digit by adding one and two."

Raph scowled, clearly up for a challenge. "No shortcuts this time. Bet you can't figure out...uh...um...the square root of sixty-four times a hundred, divided by two, and raised to the power of four." He crossed his arms in smug triumph.

Mikey had to scrunch up his nose in concentration, but for only a second. His reply rang with confidence. "Twenty-five billion, six-hundred million."

A long silence reigned over everyone.

"Check the calculator if you don't believe me," Mikey said.

Donnie whipped out the calculator function on his T-phone and punched in the numbers. Leo and Raph leaned in and peeked over Donnie's shoulders. "Holy shell," he breathed. "Mikey was right."

"Booyakasha," Mikey cried. "Got you beat, Raph."

"Unbelievable," Leo remarked. "You did all that in your head?"

"Sure did."

Raph didn't look convinced. He hated to admit defeat. "Well, maybe you were reading my mind. The mutagen gave you psychic powers or something."

Mikey shot him a crooked grin. "Raph, that was pure mental math, plain and simple." He ignored Raph's fuming sputtering and turned to Donnie. "Algernon and I will likely finish this book by tonight. It's skimpy on string theory, which Algernon and I are most interested in and want to study in greater detail. You have anything else like this?"

Donnie frowned. "That's the biggest book I got." Never in any universe, the existence of multiverses permitting, would he ever get to witness Mikey taking great interest in string theory, of all things. "When I'm sure the Kraang aren't around, I'll poke my head above the surface to find more books for you."

That delighted Mikey. "Thanks, Donnie."

Mikey's impressive display of mental math made a lightbulb go off in Donnie's head. "Mikey, I've got a billion things on my to-do list, like making upgrades to the Shellraiser. There's a lot of number-crunching to do on the engineering schematics before I can actually put in the upgraded parts, so I'd really appreciate you taking care of that for me."

Mikey gave him a jaunty salute. "Sure, not a problem!"

"I can help with delicate tasks like laying down circuitry," Algernon offered. "I'm small enough to squeeze into spaces that your hands may not be able to reach."

Donnie smiled down at the mouse. "I'd appreciate that, too, Algernon." Despite the concerns whispering from the back of his mind, he really liked the new Mikey. The addition of Algernon certainly didn't hurt, either.

Meanwhile Leo pulled out his own T-phone to make a call. That confused Donnie, since all the turtles were here, but then his eyes almost bugged out of his head when Leo said with excitement into the phone, "Hey, April, you'd better head down here and check out the new Mikey. What do I mean? We'll explain everything when you get here. Oh, and bring Casey with you. He should see this, too."

"How did you get April's number?" Donnie exclaimed.

"Swiped it off of your phone, of course," Leo replied. "Come on, Donnie, you can't keep her number to yourself. It's important that we can all be in touch with her."

Donnie felt his cheeks grow flaming hot. "I was going to give it to you all eventually."

Raph scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"You didn't have to snoop into my phone."

Leo winked at Donnie. "Don't worry, I didn't look into your treasure trove of unsent love letters."

Leo's teasing prompted Donnie to chase him around the couch. Raph made a loud show of saying "Love letters? Bleehhhh." Then he held his finger halfway through his open mouth and stuck out his tongue.

Mikey got up, with Algernon in tow, to read in his bedroom where he could have more quiet time. Mikey's departure made Donnie stop running. His abrupt halt made Leo run into him and they fell over onto the floor in a clumsy heap. Peeking past Leo's foot on his head, Donnie watched Mikey close the door behind him.

Mikey never missed out the chance to play around. He had never been the bookish, brooding type. The effects of the Superneuro Mutagen never ceased to amaze and surprise Donnie.

Mikey planned to read more on quantum mechanics, but a pounding headache assaulted him and he ended up trying to nap it off instead. Nowadays Mikey needed complete, total darkness to properly rest. He had to take down anything that glowed in the dark, from his lava lamp to the stars taped all over his walls and ceiling. But even the darkness in his bedroom now failed to completely relieve his headache.

Algernon curled up next to him in the bed, his large round ears pulled back as he experienced the same pain.

Mikey rubbed slow, soothing strokes over the mouse's back. "It'll be okay, Algernon. It'll go away when we wake up," he murmured.

It took him longer than usual to slip into a fitful, dreamless sleep.

April leaned back, blinking slowly. "Wow," she finally said. "I'm impressed."

"I'm a little creeped out," Casey said with a squint of his eyes. "This isn't the Mikey we know."

The two hadn't believed the claim that Mikey was capable of anything beyond elementary school math. That is, until they dropped by the lair and he woke up from his nap to demonstrate his brain power before them.

Mikey frowned at Casey. "You're calling me creepy?"

Casey scratched at his unkempt hair. "Sorry, I had to say it. No, I'm not calling you creepy. But how is a bunch of aliens sticking mutagen into your brain not creepy?"

"I have to say that hearing Mikey talk like this is a bit weird," April admitted.

"A bit? It's like talking to an alien disguised as Mikey!"

April ignored Casey's remark. "It's something we can get used to, though. As long as Mikey's not hurt, I don't see any reason to worry." She smiled at Mikey. "This might even be a change for the better."

Donnie wanted to think so. But he couldn't push back the nagging doubt that something else was in store for Mikey. His accelerated intelligence seemed too good to be true. Especially when the Kraang were involved.