Together As Mutants (Book Six)

Chapter 10: Scientific Breakthrough

When Sarina walks into the lab on this particular morning, she comes face to back with someone she doesn't recognize. A tall human boy wearing a lab coat sits in front of the computer, typing rapidly. She can only see his shaggy brown hair, worn in a low ponytail.

Her hands glow. "Stand up, slowly, and you will not be hurt."

The typing stops and the boy raises his hands, doing as she says and turning around. She falters, her palms flickering when she sees his russet eyes. The boy smiles, nervous, and she sees a gap between his front teeth.

"Donatello?" she asks.

"Yes! I...I am so sorry, I didn't even think about what you would do if you saw me like this," he rambles, cheeks pink. He tugs the lab coat tighter to his lean frame and reaches up to adjust his glasses.

"Like...this? What is going on?" Sarina demands. She moves closer, leaning in to inspect his features. "And since when do you need glasses?"

"I don't, as a turtle, but my eyesight got a little blurry once I...ahem, transformed. Luckily, I had a pair from my childhood!"

"You wore glasses as a child?"

"One of my first lab experiments went wrong and I ended up nearsighted for a week or two while the effects wore off. I made myself glasses to help that." He shakes his hands about. "But! That's not the point! I did it, Sarina!"

"I'm guessing you're referring to..." She gestures at his body. "This."

"Yes!" He grins, reaching out to grasp her shoulders. She startles a little at the feeling of slender human hands and not the broad mutant ones that she is used to. "I have created a cloaking device for mutants, something that could change the way we live!"

"While I love your theatrics, please get to the point. I am dying to know what this device is," she pleads.

He steps back and pulls back the sleeve of his lab coat, revealing a peach-coloured patch on the inside of his forearm. It's about the size of a bandage.

"See this? I've been working on this for months, maybe a year already," he admits. "It's something I like to call, in simple terms, a human patch. It's like a patch that people use to help get over nicotine addictions, except the mutagen I've infused it with temporarily turns me into a human!"

He giggles with glee and rubs the patch with pointer finger, momentarily making it glow a soft orange. Sarina grasps his hand and drags him closer, eyes flashing once, then twice as she too touches the patch.

"Remarkable," she murmurs. "How did I not notice your creation sooner?"

"We both get very into our heads while we work, darling," he says, leaning forward to tap her forehead. "Also...I wanted to surprise everyone, and you aren't the best at keeping quiet."

"I cannot argue with you on that." Her gaze darts down as the lab coat slips open and she gasps, reaching out and yanking it closed before she can see too much. "Donatello, do you not have any clothes underneath this coat?"

His face turns red. "I mean...human male clothes aren't exactly in high demand around here."

"Fair. I will call Casey and ask him to bring some clothes, stat." She pulls out her t-phone, then pauses before looking up at her boyfriend again. "Should I ask him to bring clothes for your brothers, too? No doubt they will want to try this."

"Oh, good idea."

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Destiny pushes open the door to Leonardo's bedroom. "Leo?" she calls. "Do you have Splinter's incense sticks? He can't find—"