Destiny lets out a soft groan as her eyelids open, a bright light shining in her face and blocking out everything around her. She lifts her hand and shields the invasive light away. Her head is pounding and her limbs feel far too heavy.

"Des? Destiny, are you okay?" Leonardo's voice echoes in her muted ears.

"Destiny?" Donatello asks. "It's okay. Tap your pointer finger once if you can hear me."

She taps her finger and she hears a faint breath of relief. She blinks a few more times as the light disappears and her vision finally clears, showing each of the turtles, Casey, Diaval, and Splinter standing around her. She moans again, placing a hand on her forehead.

"What...did...did I pass out?" she asks as someone that she still can't make out gently helps her into a sitting position. She takes a brief moment to confirm that she's definitely in Donatello's lab and not anywhere else, serving to calm her just a little bit more.

"You had a panic attack," Donatello responds. His expression crumples with guilt and he rests his hand against her knee. "I...I'm sorry, Des. I should've given you a warning. I thought—"

"They're n-never that bad," Destiny whispers, covering her face with her hands. "T-This...hah..." She coughs.

"You really scared us, dudette," Michelangelo whispers.

"S-Shredder...he's m-making another s-serum?" she asks through her fingers, her voice soft and terrified.

The brothers look at each other. A strong pair of arms surrounds Destiny and she finally takes notice that it's Leonardo holding her up and keeping her so steady. She leans against his chest and wraps her hand around his wrist, shutting her eyes and focusing on the sound of his rather rapid heartbeat. He's just as scared as she is, or so it appears.

"He...he is," Donatello answers gently. "But—"

"Not gonna let it happen," Diaval's rough voice cuts in. Destiny's eyes snap open and they're instantly on her pale friend. His face is a mask of minimally seen rage and his jaw is pulled taut. "Nothin's gonna happen t'you. Won't let it."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Raphael says, "but Diaval's right. Shredder isn't going to get his hands on either of you."

She doesn't respond, staying completely attentive for just long enough to see the surprise that flits across Diaval's face before she buries her face against Leonardo's plastron, tears starting to trickle down her cheeks. The blue-masked turtle's hand tightens against the small of her back.

Splinter's soothing voice enters the conversation for the first time. "Perhaps Destiny should stay back from the patrol today. She can rest, regain control and calm herself," he suggests.

"I'll stay back," Leonardo offers without a moment of hesitation.

"You can't, Leo. We need you," Raphael argues.

Donatello sighs. "We need all turtles in on this. We've got to stakeout, watch for the next step in the plan and stop it..."

"Diaval will stay with her," Michelangelo says. "Right, dude?"

"Mhm," Diaval agrees. Leonardo opens his mouth to argue, but then shuts it again as Destiny takes a deep breath as she presses herself impossibly closer to him, her fingers curling around his chest strap the way a child clings to their favourite blanket or stuffed toy.

"I'll stay with wolfie. I could use chill time," Casey offers. "I'll call April too. We'll...watch movies or something. Nice movies with songs and...nice things." He lifts his chin and clears his throat. He's just as rattled as they are, but nobody says a word.

"That sounds like the best course of action," Splinter agrees. "Come, my sons, you must plan your next move against the Shredder. Leonardo, I trust you'll make Destiny comfortable."

"Hai, Sensei."

They trickle from the laboratory, Diaval leaving only once Leonardo gives him an assertive nod to assure him that it's all taken care of. Once alone, Leonardo carefully lifts Destiny into his arms and carries her out to the living room.

"Leo," she whispers, still holding onto his chest strap. "If something happens to me—"

"Ssh, no. Don't think like that, not right now," he murmurs. He keeps his tone gentle and free of scolding. He leans down and presses his lips to her forehead. "I just want you to be alright, Des."

Her pointed ears pull back against her curls. "What if he takes me from you again?"

He sits down on the couch, her head nuzzling against his jaw as her breath fans his collarbone, and he closes his eyes as he keeps holding her. He opens his mouth slightly, trying to say something remotely comforting that stays along the lines of "that won't happen", but all that comes out is a soft, "Then I'll fight to get you back."

----------

The credits of yet another movie scroll by on the TV screen. Destiny shifts in her seat, tugging her tail out from where it's pinned beneath Casey's legs. Diaval is sound asleep, cocooned in his cloak, and April and Casey are propped against one another with their eyes closed and breaths even. Casey snores every now and then. April makes soft muttering noises.

Destiny drags herself to her feet and glances around, noticing that there's a few lights still on in the dojo. She starts towards it, her footsteps soundless.

"Master Splinter?" she calls as she enters the dojo. There's a few candles set out near the tree, but there's no sign of the rat. "Sensei?"

The door at the far end of the room slides open and Splinter enters, one hand on his emerald staff. "Destiny," he greets. "Are you feeling better?"

She nods. "Yeah, I am." She sniffs, rubbing her nose. "Uh, the others are just sleeping and I saw the lights..."

"Ah," he murmurs. "I was about to start meditation, but that can wait if you need something."

She runs a hand over the bandage on her arm. His stare doesn't waver from her, making her feel exposed, and she purses her lips. "Well, I don't know if you remember this, but you sent me on a quest..." she begins, her words slow.

The rat exhales, bobbing his head up and down a few times. "I see. Come, sit."

He moves to the candlelit space and seats himself down, gesturing to the spot in front of him. Destiny takes it, folding her legs under her as she rests her hands in her lap.

"You remember?" she asks.

"Indeed," he answers. "I'm glad you completed yours."

"I wanted to ask you more about it."

"Yes?"

Destiny feels her skin prickle and she gulps. "The quests were supposed to be about healing, right? Leo left his with his leg all better, so I—"

"You expected to leave it being completely fixed," Splinter interrupts. "You wanted to leave your quest cleansed, back to the way you were before."

"Yes," she whispers. Her expression grows troubled as she lifts her head. "I thought that I'd be able to feel normal, maybe sleep without nightmares and stop being so scared all the time. I wanted to..." She pauses, dwelling, but soon gives up. "Forget," she states, unable to find a different word to describe it.

He allows a small laugh to escape him. "My child, healing is not about forgetting the hard times, it's about learning to live with them and allowing them to make you stronger. Did your quest not teach you anything like that?"

The wolf girl looks down, her tail curling around her. "I think so, but..." She shakes her head. "There was this giant wolf, an exact replica of myself, that appeared to me on the spirit plane and when I was at my weakest, she entered my heart. I thought it meant I had gained a new kind of strength but, Sensei, I fainted because someone even mentioned mind control and Shredder in the same sentence. I should be better than this. I—"

"Destiny, breathe," Splinter coaxes.

She stops rambling to suck in a deep breath. Once she's done so, he stands and moves to the shelf of belongings nestled against the wall. Reaching up, he lifts a tiny glass bowl from the top shelf and brings it back to their spot. Destiny eyes it with one eyebrow lifted.

"Destiny, what do you see here?" he asks, setting the bowl down.

Destiny stares at it. There's a tiny island of earth in the centre of the dish and nestled in that is a pink, plastic palm tree next to a small roll of scotch tape. The glass itself is cracked in multiple places, held together with tiny pieces of said tape.

"It's a cracked glass bowl," she answers.

"Correct," he says, lifting it back into his hands. "This is the bowl that I was given when I purchased the turtles fifteen years ago from a pet store. I dropped it when I was mutated and the glass shattered, spilling the turtles into the mutagen that was on the ground. Now...what do you think I did?"

Destiny stares at him, wondering whether this is a trick question. "Um...you picked up the pieces and taped them back together?"

"Yes." Splinter's whiskers twitch as he smiles. "It took hard work and there are little bits that are still missing, but it's been put back together. While it looks the same as it did before in shape, there are cracks all over it that will never disappear." He stops to gauge her reaction. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Her tail lashes as she fidgets. "Maybe...but you should explain anyways."

"Before, you were this glass bowl. You were whole." He reaches into the bowl and pulls out the tape. "You were dropped and you broke apart, but..." He holds up one finger, making sure she doesn't interrupt. He sets the bowl down and rips off a piece of tape from the roll. "You weren't abandoned. You were picked up and put back together, bit by bit. Here is Leonardo, watching out for you from the moment you met..." He places the tape over the cracks and grabs another piece. If he notices the blush on Destiny's cheeks, he doesn't say it. "Here is Diaval, staying with you while you both worked through the effects of the serum..." He smooths the second piece down. "Here is Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, Casey, April, me..." He points to different spots where the tape is already there and slowly turns his gaze to her. "You are whole again, but with some cracks. That's why you have us to help you through. Do you understand?"

Her eyes itch at the edges and she has to swallow a lump in her throat before she can speak. "I'm...a taped up glass bowl," she squeaks.

Splinter laughs, his shoulders shaking as he sets the bowl down between them. "Bad memories will always be there, Destiny, but as you grow older, you will come to realize just how much they shape you as a person. One day, perhaps, you may thank your foes for what they've done, because in a way, they made you who you are."

She scoffs. "I'm going to thank Emery for scarring me? I'm going to thank the Kraang for turning me into a mutant?"

"You would be very different if those things hadn't happened." Splinter's russet eyes fixate on her, full of wisdom from the years. She doesn't respond, only nods once. "You are still so young. You don't know how to understand everything about yourself yet, but one day you will. Your quest was just another stepping stone towards the ultimate goal of knowing who you are and being at peace with it."

She drags her hand along the rims of her eyes. "Thank you, Sensei," she murmurs.

He looks at her for a moment, an emotion that she can't place falling over his features. He smiles a little and stands to put the bowl and tape away, her watching his every movement.

"Destiny, do you know of the Yokai?" he asks as he turns back to her.

She shakes her head. "No. Why do you ask?"

He settles back into place and rests his hands on his knees. "Yokai are mythical Japanese creatures. The wolf in your quest reminded me of one known yokai, an okuri-ōkami, or the sending-off wolf."

The wolf girl perks up and scoots closer to her teacher, her tail thumping against the floor. "What does the ōkami do?"

He arches a fuzzy eyebrow. "You would like to know?" She nods eagerly. He smiles. "Very well. It's a powerful, terrifying being. It is said that the ōkami follows travellers along their path, and should they stumble or trip, the creature sets upon them and tears them apart."

"That doesn't sound too pleasant."

"Ah, but they do come with a blessing. If an ōkami is following after a person, the other creatures or dangerous yokai in the surroundings leave the traveler alone, terrified of the beast's presence, except for the yosuzume." Splinter chuckles lightly.

"Yosuzume?"

"A small bird. It sings a song to let travellers know when the ōkami is following you so that you can be extra careful."

"Helpful."

He nods. "Indeed. You can also trick the wolf. If you trip, but play it off by pretending to sit down and rest, maybe add in a word or two of how exhausted you are, they will leave you alone."

Destiny laughs. "That's kind of silly...but cool."

Splinter nods, his eyes clouding as if he's remembering a distant memory. "Oroku Saki and I used to pretend we had Yokai friends when we were children," he murmurs. "Once, I thought I saw an ōkami."

"Really?"

"I heard the song, and I thought I saw the creature within the trees." He stops, shutting his eyes briefly. "But, I'm not sure it was there. I could've been dreaming."

The wolf girl smiles, her fangs glinting. "Are there other yokai?"

"I believe I have a Japanese mythology book somewhere. Would you want to read it?"

Her eyes light up. "Yes please!"

There's a soft tapping at the dojo door and both mutants look up to see Diaval standing there, his hair still mussed with sleep and his eyes drooped.

"You okay?" he asks before a yawn splits his face.

"Sensei's got a book about Japan," Destiny says, scrambling to her feet. "Have you heard of yokai?"

Diaval blinks, puckers his lips, then nods. "Karai likes 'em."

"Sweet! We can read it together!"

Splinter smiles fondly at the two of them as he heads off to find the book in question.

----------

The turtles return to the lair looking beat up and exhausted, having been on their stakeout for an incredibly long period of time: long enough for Casey and April to have gone home. Destiny and Diaval look up from their book and Destiny immediately frowns upon noticing the minor injuries dotting their bodies.

"What, or who, happened to you?" she asks.

"Bebop and Rocksteady," Leonardo grumbles, wincing as he massages his shoulder.

"Raph ticked Rocksteady off. We got our shells waxed," Michelangelo adds. He keeps one hand firmly planted to his head.

Raphael growls at his brother, but decides against picking a fight and slumps onto the couch instead. Donatello examines his t-phone while Destiny retrieves an ice pack from the kitchen, which she applies to Michelangelo's bump upon her return.

"According to the lab's records, two things are missing: mutagen—" Donatello starts.

'Which they threw at my head," Michelangelo interrupts bitterly.

"Which they threw at Mikey's head," Donatello adds, "and Reagent-X, an ingredient needed to make a mind control serum."

"So what's the game plan?" Raphael asks.

"Reagent-X still needs an additional chemical solvent in order to work," the purple-masked turtle says.

"Let's just hope Bebop and Rocksteady haven't found all the components yet," Leonardo says.

"So...what now?" Diaval asks.

"Rest," Leonardo answers. "We'll start up again after we've gotten some sleep." He blinks a few times as a yawn leaves him. "Yeah, sleep."

With a ripple of agreeing mutters, the other brothers settle in for a nap. All the turtles pass out almost instantly, bathing the lair in a cacophony of snores. Diaval and Destiny watch them, then look at each other.

"How long were they gone again?" Destiny asks.

"Uh..." Diaval pokes his fingers, pouting. "Dunno." They look at them again, then shrug and let it be.

----------

Much later, the teens gather around the TV set to watch a breaking news story on Grody to the Max. April is with them, having stopped by to drop some groceries off.

"The Kraang's disappearance was as mysterious as their arrival, leaving some to wonder just who we have to thank for—" Joan Grody stops herself as she's drawn to some commotion nearby. Her eyes widen. "Keep rolling."

Destiny sighs as she shakes her head. "If only she knew..."

The news camera falls on the giant form of a creature that looks like he's made of garbage. People are clambering around him, taking pictures and grinning.

"Sir, sir! I hear people calling you a hero. Care to comment?" Joan asks, thrusting her microphone at him. The creature groans and shies away from the media. "What kind of creature are you? A mutant? A sewer monster? What's your name?"

Exciting music plays as the word "MUCKMAN" appears in giant, dripping letters across the screen, freezing the image of the mutant in place.

"Muckman? Joan Grody should have left you in charge of names, Mikey," April comments.

"I would have gone with...the Noxious Avenger," Michelangelo announces.

Donatello strokes his chin as he examines the freeze frame. "I bet he's one of Stockman-Fly's experiments gone awry," he suggests.

"I say we find this guy and, assuming we can tell his butt from his face, kick it," Raphael decides, punching his palm.

"He might be on our side. They said he stopped a mugging," Leonardo says.

Donatello perks up. "What if Shredder wants the Reagent-X to control Muckman?"

"Like I said," Raphael says. "Find butt, then kick it."

----------

The turtles, Destiny, and April watch from a rooftop as Muckman runs from a screaming group of fans.

"You see that? Only a guilty man runs," Raphael says, squatting down and perching his elbow on his knee.

"Or a scared one. He might want to stay out of sight, just like you," April points out.

"Let's go. We don't want to lose track of him," Leonardo urges.

The group turns and heads for the alleyways that the man of trash just disappeared down. They see him as they round a corner, hunched over his outstretched palm. An eyeball, one that appears to be sentient, stares up at him.

"They don't care about me. I'm just a joke...a sideshow they can point and laugh at," Muckman cries.

"Dude, are you talking to your eyeball?" Michelangelo asks.

He startles and spins to them. His one remaining eye widens and he gasps. "Turtle men?"

"Well, technically, we're turtle teens," Donatello corrects.

Muckman's eye narrows as he starts panting heavily. "It was you! You did this to me!"

A tornado of trash surrounds him as he bellows, making the six teens step back. He roars and sends the trash flying at them, and while everyone shields themselves, the trash only hits the turtles, leaving Destiny and April unscathed. Muckman stomps closer, his breaths heavy and his furious gaze boring into the boys.

"You made me into a freak!" he shrieks.

A bulbous sack on his shoulder fills up like a balloon and he spits yellow muck onto the turtles, making them groan and retch. April and Destiny step between their friends and the mutant, April's tessen glinting in the evening light.

"Don't do anything else you'll regret," Destiny snarls, morphing into her wolf as a show of intimidation.

"We're warning you," April says, taking a step closer as her fingers adjust against her weapon.

Muckman raises his hands defensively and shies back. "I don't want to hurt you, little girl."

He looks down the path next to him, just able to catch sight of Joan Grody and her cameraman running towards him. He dissolves into a pile of trash and slides away, allowing April to see the advancing reporter as well. She hurries to her mutant friends as the turtles stumble back to their feet.

"Get up, they're gonna see you," April warns.

"Oh no, they're not," Michelangelo insists.

As Joan rounds the corner, Destiny returns to her human form and Michelangelo sends out a smoke bomb, hiding them from view.