We were still trying to adjust to the news. Quite frankly, it was terrifying. To be alive, yet to have never existed in the real world...I was starting to forget what the word "real" meant anymore.

Being legends was one thing. To me, it meant fame and glory. It was an awesome sensation to know that almost everyone knew my name. And they knew about me. They knew who I was, what I liked and didn't like, the little quirks about my personality--at least that side of me that had been conjured up in someone's mind. That last thought, of course, was a little unsettling.

Just how much did people know? Had they heard about all the bad things I had ever done? Did they have a good opinion of me? Had they received all the correct information? Could they see into my soul? Did they know my deepest wishes, most intense emotions, and my darkest secrets?

I shuddered at the thought that anyone could know so much about me. It felt like an invasion of my rights and privacy--complete strangers staring into the wide-open, transparent abyss that was me. While the idea of being a worldwide hero held its appeal, the negativity of all that it brought with it far outweighed the benefits.

My brothers seemed to share my sentiments.

"This is a bunch of bullshit!"

"I know, Raph, but there isn't much we can--"

"Yeah? Well, I'm gonna find a way to put an end to this little game. Just watch me."

"Raph, we've been over this. We can't change our circumstances. This is how it is. We're legends. We're stuck here."

"I don't like it. I hate knowing that people can pry into my head, Leo. It makes me feel--"

"Weak? Vulnerable? I know..."

"Angry."

Raphael never could admit when he was scared.

Donatello had kept quiet throughout the conversation, silently surveying the room. "Hmmm...interesting..."

"What?"

"Well, it seems they've gotten every detail of the lair down perfectly--from the stains in the furniture to the cracks in the walls and the dust on the floor. It's incredible. See that bookcase over there?" He pointed to an old dilapidated piece of furniture that housed several dusty books. It had definitely seen better days. "The books are in the exact order I left them in just the other day. I know, because I had just finished reading 'War and Peace' for the tenth time, and set it on top of those two books." He motioned again toward the bookcase. The book in question wasn't in its proper place on the shelf, but was lying lengthwise on top of 'Prince Caspian' and 'Interview With the Vampire'. "How could they have known?"

Leonardo squinted, scanning the room in silence. "That's my question, Don. Something about this whole scenario just doesn't seem right."

"See?" Raphael demanded. "That's what I mean! This place is wacked, and that Merlin guy is nuttier than a fruitcake."

"Merlin speaks the truth." A soft voice interrupted us from behind.

I didn't know how long Splinter had been listening to the conversation, but the look of concern on his face led me to believe he'd heard plenty.

"We are here because we do not belong in man's world."

"Yeah..." Raphael said bitterly. "So what else is new?"

"You are correct, Raphael." Splinter said gently. "Nothing much has changed. But look around you. There are others here who can offer companionship...acceptance. That is something that was hard to come by in the world we once knew."

"Yeah, but Master, at least it was ours."

"Ours?" I couldn't help but let the depression win over me finally. "Raph, that world was never ours. We were always outcasts, ever since we were mutated. We couldn't even walk the streets safely. At least we're safe here..."

"Yeah, but at what price?" Donatello added. "We gave up our freedom for safety."

"What freedom?" Raphael snapped back. "We lived in a god-forsaken sewer, for pete's sake!"

"Yeah, but we could come and go as we pleased." Leo reminded him. "Even if we had to disguise ourselves, at least we were free to travel where we wished. Here it's...different. This--" He gestured toward the room. "--is our home. It's where we must return every night from now on. We're free to roam the land, but we can never escape it."

An eerie feeling crawled down my spine. We were prisoners. No matter how beautiful this place was, or how many promises Merlin gave, the fact still remained. We were stuck here. And that was even more confining than the strict limitations we were forced into obeying in what we'd considered the 'real world'.

What was worse was the realization that came shortly thereafter.

All was quiet for a while. I glanced from face to face, trying to sort out my emotions. It seemed I was fighting an internal struggle. On the one hand, I was happy and content in this new place, but on the other, I felt like a prisoner, and I felt exposed. As I looked at each of them, I realized that I wasn't the only one who was trying to get a grip on his emotions, trying to find an answer to this madness. I was thankful that we were at least all together. I don't know what I would have done without them. Still, we each had to figure this out in our own way. We were together, yet alone.

Donatello was exceptionally quiet, sitting apart from the rest of us. He seemed to be drowned in thought. I could only wonder what was going through his mind. I had never felt so utterly confused and lonely. It was as if this place, even with all of its beauty, was draining something from me--my happiness, my carefree spirit, my very life.

"Damn..." Donatello sighed, his eyes closing.

"Donatello?" Leo watched him, concern filling his features. "Don, are you alright?"

"Yeah...I--" He opened his eyes and stared at my brother. "Yeah, Leo...I guess. I just--" He paused as if to collect his thoughts. "Do you know how fictional characters are created?"

"I...well, yeah." Leo said softly. "Someone gets an idea, and they write it down on paper, and from there, it usually takes on a life of its own, like Mike's writing."

"Yeah." Don sighed. "Hey Mike, how do you choose the characters for your stories?"

"Hmmmm...well, they just sort of come to me, I guess. I think about the kinds of characters I need, and then I sort of create them in my mind--"

"Bingo." Don nodded in satisfaction. The rest of us just looked at him, completely baffled.

"What are you getting at, Don?" Raphael asked.

"It's simple. We're fictional characters, right?"

"Ummm..." Leo started.

"Yeah, I guess..." I mumbled.

"According to Merlin, anyway..." Leonardo added.

Raph shook his head. "I dunno...it's still hard for me to swallow--"

"Yeah, okay..." Don sighed. "Just suppose Merlin's right. Suppose we are. Then that would mean that we were made up in someone's mind."

Raphael crossed his arms, uninterested. "Yeah? And your point is...?"

"Somebody created us." Don looked around for emphasis. "Somebody knows us better than even we do. Someone has all the answers we seek."

"Wait...you're saying that there's someone out there who created all of this?" Raphael glanced down at himself, at each of his brothers in turn. "Like a God or something?"

Don nodded. "Something like that, yeah..."

I swallowed. "So someone created these bodies...our thoughts, emotions and feelings...from their imagination?" Even after Merlin's explanation of how we'd gotten there, I hadn't really considered the ramifications.

That meant that everything we were...everything we are was just a fleeting thought in someone's mind. And worse yet was the idea that every aspect of ourselves could be manipulated to fit that person's criteria whenever he or she wished.

She didn't know what to say. How would she feel if suddenly, one day, she realized that her whole sense of being had been part of someone else's imagination? A chill went down her spine as she looked into his eyes. There was something there that seemed shadowed...lost.

He smiled at her faintly, and fidgeted with the end of his bandana tail.

Good ol' Mike... she thought dismally. Always trying to hide those emotions with a smile.

"But yet...somehow you were able to make your own decisions. I mean, you're here."

"Yeah..." His smile brightened for a moment.

"Obviously, Ke--uhhh...whoever created you doesn't control your life. You have your own thoughts and feelings. Even since you first arrived there..."

She wasn't sure if the words she spoke were meant more as a comfort for him or for herself.

He nodded. "True. You're right. Still, we weren't entirely sure that this wasn't another story being written to amuse the 'Creator'. We couldn't know that everything we were thinking and feeling was of our own accord."

She thought about that for a minute. "Mike, do you believe in God?"

He sighed. "I'm not sure. I've always felt there was a higher power. Splinter taught us in the ways of Buddha, but I never really made up my mind--"

"Well, I do. And if I'm right--if there is a higher power, then you're really no different than me."

"What do you mean?"

"If there is a God who made us, then I have a creator too."

Mike pondered that for a minute.

"And don't I have free will?"

"Yeah..." He smiled, a little more genuinely this time.

"Then I bet you do too."

All was silent for a few minutes before Mike finally spoke.

"And what if there isn't?" His voice choked with emotion at the thought.

An inexplicable wave of sadness washed over her suddenly, so intensely that it brought tears to her eyes. She reached up to wipe them away and caught site of Michaelangelo. His eyes were also moistened with tears.

She took a deep breath. "Then..." she said softly. "I don't know..."

The night air held a cool breeze that gently blew through the trees, rustling the lush green leaves. In the darkness, they were little more than shadows, illuminated by the soft orange glow of the campfire. The grass beneath me was soft, and somewhat of a comfort. It was familiar, something I could identify with.

Splinter had presumed that everything around us had been created with great care, to fulfill every creature's comforts. I glanced up at the sky, at the brilliant white flecks of stars that lit up the darkness. They were so much brighter than I had ever seen them. I decided Splinter was right. Never had I witnessed anything more beautiful than this place...nor had I felt so hopeless.

Leonardo cleared his throat, looking as though he was about to say something, but stopped himself and glanced skyward instead. Splinter took his place, sitting in lotus position between Raph and me. He looked very serious, yet offered a small smile as he gazed at the fire.

For a long while, we just sat there--all of us, including Splinter, who seemed for once in his life, at a loss for words. I can say that I truly knew what we were all experiencing in that instant. There was a feeling of detachment, of loneliness and loss, and it was so much greater than anything I had ever experienced among humans. This wasn't a feeling of not fitting in or being rejected. It was the realization that none of us really knew who we were, that everything we'd ever known and loved was gone. It hadn't really existed.

"Computers..." Don said softly, pulling me back to the here and now. "Computer chips and circuitry...voices in my head..."

We glanced at one another and stared at him wide-eyed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Raphael frowned.

"Metal...melding with flesh..." Donatello continued. "Pain..."

"Donatello..." Leonardo said gently.

"Hey, Don, snap out of it." I tried.

"No." Splinter's voice was soft, yet stern. "Let him talk."

It looked almost as if Donatello had gone into a trance.

"Shell...cracked...bleeding...blood...my blood..."

My other brothers and I exchanged concerned glances.

"Ooohhhhkaayyyy..." Raphael raised an eyeridge.

"You have now entered the Twilight Zone..." I joked.

"Shhh..." Splinter's eyes were on Donatello, watching him in morbid fascination.

"Sensei?"

"He is remembering a past life."

"Past...a past life?" I pondered.

"Yes, Michaelangelo." Splinter looked at me, then at the others in turn. "Somewhere along the timeline of our lives, something happened to Donatello that was very traumatic."

"You mean, somewhere in someone's imagination, it did." Leo's eyes were questioning.

"Yes, Leonardo."

"So someone wrote a story about Donnie being hacked up by a computer?" My eyes widened. "Weird..."

"No, dingus." Donatello seemed to have broken out of his trance, and appeared to be back to normal. "I wasn't hacked up by a computer. I merged with one."

"Oh yeah..." Raph snorted and rolled his eyes. "That sounds sooo much more believable."

"Look, this isn't something I made up." Donatello insisted. "I just...suddenly I felt strange...like this weird sense of deja vu, and then my mind filled with these...images." He shuddered.

He was starting to make me nervous.

"I suggest we all meditate...try to focus our minds...perhaps we can come up with more of the answers we seek."

I closed my eyes, not sure I was ready to see all of what someone else's imagination had in store for me. Nevertheless, I drifted almost immediately, into a void of blank space...

"Zounds! It's Captain Demento and his killer robot cat, Klunk!"

I bounded through the isles of the toy store, clad in plastic space armor, a small gray cat close by. He was curled up in the belly of my jacket, tiny muffled 'mews' escaping as I explored the shelves.

"Shhh..." I scolded the cat. "You're gonna get us caught..."

I felt air on my face, cool and crisp. I opened my eyes. I was standing on top of a tall building, my brothers right behind me. The city below lit up the night sky, concealing most of the stars. I felt the hard wood of the nunchakus in my hands as I gripped them with clenched fingers. The world was so new. There was so much to explore...

We were backed up against the wall, swarms of Foot surrounding us. Leonardo's katana flowed swiftly, slicing an opponent's belly. I turned my attention to the three that were currently advancing on me. I slammed my weapon into one's head, knocking him out cold. The other two accepted my unspoken challenge. My hands moved quickly, but not quick enough. I felt the sting as a blade sliced into my arm...

The world came rushing back at a maddening pace. I opened my eyes, my head spinning. I looked to my sensei, my eyes widening in wonder.

"I remember it, Master Splinter! I remember it like it was yesterday. It was all so...real. I know it was real!"

I glanced down at my arm where I saw the blade cut into my flesh. There was no scar. But I was sure there had been...

The others were now awake and coherent too. Raphael flashed me a look of terror. I wondered just what it was he had witnessed himself do. His eyes quickly masked the emotion, burying it in the same place he always did with feelings he found unbearable.

Leonardo looked slowly down at his wrists, as if he was afraid of what he might find. He breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled up at Splinter.

"They're both still here."

"What do you mean?" I asked apprehensively.

"My hands, they--" Leo seemed confused for a moment. "Anyone remember a big komodo lizard...?"