From The Shadows || TMNT 2012 FanFiction (BOOK 1)

Chapter 14. A Curse

     Donnie had gotten the machine out and attached all the required wires from the box to the helmet. He placed it on Carrie's head and took a step back toward the box.

     "What exactly does this do?" Carrie asks. Her confidence and determinism slowly turned into doubt. The device didn't look all that safe. It hardly even looked like a scientific instrument at all. 

     "It does quite a lot, actually. All these dials control different aspects. Some are testing for electromagnetic waves. Some of these dials are going to be detecting how quickly your nerves are firing off information throughout your body."

     "And how will that help us exactly?"

     "In theory, if this 'power' Noah created is stimulated, this machine should print out some pretty crazy electrical currents coming directly from you. That is if this power directly affects the brain as I predict. It would certainly explain the realistic nightmares."

     Carrie, along with the others, really didn't understand anything Donnie said. They also didn't care all that much. As long as it showed Donnie something important, that's all they cared about.

     "You ready?" Donnie asks.

     "Yes."

     "We're going to start small. If you start to feel uncomfortable or in pain tell me."

     The turtles stood around Carrie. When Donnie had used this on April, she went haywire. They were all nervous about the same thing happening or even worse things happening.

     Everyone watched Donnie intently as he began to slowly turn the dials on the radio-like machine. Nothing was happening, but the brothers were not letting their guards down. Donnie became a little more relaxed as he reached the max with the first dial. If that didn't cause any sort of reaction, he doubted Carrie would even have one.

     Donnie turned off the machine and sighed. "I guess I'll start figuring something else out."

     "But you didn't-"

     "We can't continue it," Donnie says. "Going too far is too dangerous."

     Carrie stands and walks toward the machine. "I can handle it."

     "No way," Leo steps in. "We can't risk anything. If Donnie says it's too dangerous, it's too dangerous."

     "It's not like we have anything to lose," Carrie says.

     "It could cause serious damage. Irreversible damage."

     "As I said, there's not much we can lose here," Carrie scoffs. "You guys need to learn all you can."

     Leo lowers his eyes. He couldn't believe she had said such a thing. For whatever reason, it hurt him to hear. "It's not worth the risk," Leo says.

     Carrie frowns. "It's worth it to me."

     "I think you're too angry to be making decisions right now, dude. Especially ones you might regret," Mikey points out.

     "Fine." Carrie takes off the helmet and sets it next to the machine. She would have tried to force it, but she knew all four of them would try to stop her. And she knew she couldn't do anything against them.

     She left the laboratory and left the brothers genuinely questioning her sanity. They had the advantage over Shredder. He may have Noah, the inventor, but they had Carrie, who contained the invention. The experiment could have been an opportunity, but they had no choice but to pass it up. It wasn't worth risking her safety.