Spirit or Luck
On the streets of New York City on a cool breezy night, people left and right were heading home. Some people were even on their way to their evening jobs. The streets were slowly becoming empty as the night went on. April was sitting on a bench looking at her surroundings through her green hoodie she wore to stay warm. When the coast was clear, she went up to a manhole and opened the cover then started to head down the ladder. When she reached the bottom she removed the hood then started walking to her destination. She hummed a tune along the way to keep it from being so quiet. As the red head got closer to where she was going, sounds of yelling got louder. She entered into a giant room. But it wasn't just any room. It was a lair. A place where her friends lived.
April leaned against a post staring out with a grin on her face. Nothing like having a bunch of boys as your friends, they keep you entertained with their nonsense. But the fact that April's friends were mutated ninja fighting turtles made it even more entertaining. They were part human after all. They had thoughts, feelings, and everything else a normal human had. It was just their appearance that the world couldn't accept. April was happy to see her mutant friends with a lifestyle similar to hers. She walked closer to the living room watching as a red clad turtle and an orange clad turtle wrestled in the middle of the living room.
"UNCLE! UNCLE!" cried out the orange clad turtle, while the red one was twisting his arm.
"Raph, seriously! You're going to break Mikey's arm. Knock it off," a blue clad turtle demanded as he sat on the couch.
"Why do you have to take the fun out of everything, Leo? I wasn't going to hurt him... badly," Raph said crossing his arms across his chest.
"Maybe it's because you're too rough," Mikey glared. Raphael brought a fist up and pretended to hit Mikey.
"AHH!"
April walked up to the couch and sat down. She looked around seeing her purple clad turtle friend sitting quietly on the floor leaning against the sofa with his laptop propped up on his lap. She looked back at Raph and Mikey and smiled.
"Can't you guys ever play nicely? Seems like you guys always do this when I come over," she smiled.
"Well if Mikey would stop bugging me, we wouldn't have a problem," Raph snarled and looked at his youngest brother.
"Maybe if you could have some fun once in a while I wouldn't have to bother you," Mikey snapped back leaving him and Raph head to head.
Leonardo rolled his eyes. The purple clad turtle closed his laptop, got up off the floor, and started walking into his lab, then closed the door behind him. April frowned at the sight, leaving everyone looking back at her.
"Don't mind him April, he's fine. Just quiet today is all," Leo gave a small grin.
"If Dorkatello would get off that computer of his and relax he wouldn't be so mopey," Raph rolled his eyes then noticed Leo glaring at him.
"He's not moping Raph, he's just trying to find out what Shredder and his clan are up to."
"He's probably exhausted, he didn't sleep at all last night," Mikey cut in.
"And how would you know that Captain stupid?" Raph questioned.
"When I got up for a midnight snack he was still in his lab," Mikey replied with an innocent look on his face.
"Maybe I should talk to him," April looked at the floor questioning herself.
"Go a head April, I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Leo smiled at her.
April got off the couch and headed to the lab while Raph and Mikey started wrestling again. When she got to the door she gently knocked on it. She waited a few seconds, which then turned into a whole minute. Just as she was about to turn to leave, the door cracked open with one tired eye peering through.
"Hey Donnie" She smiled.
"H-Hey April," he stuttered.
"Can I come in?" she smiled.
Donatello opened the door completely to let April in then closed it. He went back to his desk and started fiddling with whatever he had on his laptop. The purple clad turtle almost looked sad but mostly exhausted. There was an awkward silence in the air, until April spoke up.
"Is Shredder planning something?"
Donatello stopped typing on his laptop, "When isn't he? But with our last encounter with the Kraang, I saw a few of them in a small lab working on something with the mutagen. I didn't make out the whole conversation, but I did hear them say something about how the Shredder and Kraang will gain victory with it."
"With the Kraang and Shredder working together, they could be creating something deadly," April shuddered.
"I know and that's why I must keep trying to figure it out. We all know that Shredder has been after Master Splinter. I have to protect my family at all costs," he frowned.
"The devotion your whole family has is amazing, you all would protect each other with your lives."
"You have no idea." He gave a small grin. Then gave a big yawn with his eye lids getting heavy.
"How are you going to solve the problem?" She asked becoming very interested.
"I have no idea yet, I've been spending days trying to figure it out. I have a strong feeling Shedder got Baxter Stockman to help the Kraang with whatever they're trying to create," He said rubbing his temples.
"You can't put a stop to it if you're exhausted. Donnie, you staying up all night worries your brothers and I. Can you please-" she stopped looking down at the floor and frowned, "Can you please get some rest, we can try to figure it out together tomorrow?" She looked back up at Don and gave a small smile. Donnie gave a small smile back and closed his laptop.
"I guess I could do that, you did ask nicely after all," they both giggled.
They both stood up getting ready to leave the lab. April took a look at her T-phone and was shocked at the time.
"Hey, do you mind if I stay the night? It's really late," the red head asked.
"Of course you can! Your spare pajamas are in my bedroom," Don's face turning extremely red, "I'll go get them for you hee hee..."
They both walked out of the lab into the living room. No sight of Donnie's brothers anywhere, they must have gone to bed already. Don didn't sleep much in general but when he got the chance he took advantage of it. He was just glad there was no training tomorrow.
He walked into his bedroom, grabbing spare clothes that sat on top of an empty dresser. Donnie turned around to see April at the door. He walked over, then handed them to her with a hint of pink in his cheeks. Before she headed off to bed in the spare room, Donnie got her a blanket and pillow. The red head thanked him and they went their separate ways for the evening.
Donnie laid in his bed thinking. As if he ever stopped. But specifically he was thinking about April, how he fell in love when he first saw her. The way the moonlight hit her smooth pale skin, bright vivid blue eyes, or her fiery red hair. The purple clad turtle would do anything to have her all to himself. Donnie thought a lot of things about his future. And he couldn't wait to achieve them, or at least try. His brain turned into different thought. What would his future be like? Will the world accept him and his family? Will Shedder be defeated? Will the Kraang take over? Many questions started going through his mind, until finally his eye lids started getting heavy and darkness slowly started to surround him.
It's going on nine o'clock clock in the evening, April and Donnie have been in the lab all day trying to hack systems, computers or anything to get their hands on for Shredder's plan. No luck so far. Leonardo came into the lab.
"Ready to go on patrol?" He asked.
"Ready," Don nodded. April grabbed all her belongings and followed them to the topside.
April started her journey home while the boys headed up to roofs of buildings. Running and jumping across the gaps of buildings silently with their ninjutsu training. They stopped on a roof near TCRI, Leonardo pulled out his binoculars and started searching for any suspicious activity going on. A few hours have passed and absolutely nothing has happened. Raphael was sitting on the roof chilling, Michelangelo was daydreaming about different flavored pizza, while Donatello was doing equations in his head to preoccupy himself. Leonardo just kept look out.
"This is stupid Leo! Why are we even here?" Raph complained.
"To see if we can get any clues on what Shredder or the Kraang are up too. They've been too quiet lately," Leo didn't make any eye contact.
"Well I think we should go bust some Purple Dragons," Raph cracked his knuckles, "those wimpy freaks have been on the news for multiple crimes lately and we haven't even attempted to stop it!"
"Raph, the police have been getting to the bottom of those crimes. We don't need to interfere, especially when we have something bigger on our hands," the blue clad turtle turned around narrowing his eyes to his younger brother.
"News flash fearless! Standing on the roof tops of New York City doing absolutely nothing is going to solve our problems!" Raphael rolled his hands into fists.
"Guys quiet dow-," Mikey tried to quietly interrupt, but his oldest brother cut him off.
"I don't know if you noticed Raphael, but if we don't keep look out, something awful could happen and it will be on our hands!" Leo cried out in frustration.
"Then why don't you-" Raph's words were cut short by an ambush of Foot ninjas.
There had to be about 30 foot clan members. The turtles came shell to shell looking at all the foot soldiers. Leo yelled go, he and his brothers started attacking left and right. Luckily for the turtles it was becoming a breeze. The sounds of their weapons hitting, cracking, and or breaking the foot ninjas was music to their ears. Finally it was quiet, but something was off. They boys came back shell to shell.
"Guys, am I the only one sensing something isn't right?" Michelangelo whimpered holding his nunchucks closer to his plastron.
The teen turtles kept their sight up, "No you're not Mikey," Leo gave a sharp breath.
Within seconds, another group of Foot ninjas came out by surprise. Groups of four each grabbed a hold of the turtles holding them down. With each one trying to escape the foot's grasps, the harder it became. The ninjas knocked Leo, Raph, and Mikey to their knees. Donnie on the other was still standing with foot soldiers holding him, he desperately tried to get out if their grasp, kicking, hitting, and punching but no luck. Leo saw another foot soldier out of the corner of his eye, he looked to see the ninja holding a six inch syringe filled with a black nectar.
Leo's eyes became wide. He feared for his brothers life not knowing how dangerous this liquid could be. The blue clad turtle watched as the foot soldier got closer to his younger brother. Raphael and Michelangelo caught on to the sight.
Leo cried out in fear, "DONNIE!"
In that moment everything seemed to go in slow motion. Donatello looked at all three of his captive brothers, the foot soldier came behind him stabbing the syringe in the back of Donnie's head with a loud crack. The syringe entered through all of the flesh, past the skull, straight into his brain. Donatello fell to his knees with a blood curdling scream. The foot soldiers continued to hold him down as the other soldier began to insert the black liquid into his brain. Donnie continued to scream in pain, tears began to run down his cheeks leaving the under eye part of his purple mask darker then the rest.
Don's brothers watched in horror. Mikey eventually looked away, while Raph and Leo tried desperately to escape to save their younger brother. The soldier took out the syringe, Donnie began to see stars, he felt his stomach do a full 360. The soldier gave a signal for the clan to retreat. The foot soldiers let go of the turtles and left the premises. Donnie leaned on his hands, he could feel his throat and chest convulsing. Tears continued to run down his face, it became harder to breath. Then finally his stomach gave a forceful expulsion of bile and half digested food. He takes a breath, then another force of pressure bursts sour tasting liquid through his mouth. Donnie continued to puke until it lead him to dry heave. The purple clad turtle didn't move form his spot, his body was trembling, his breathing was deep and uneven. He desperately tried to catch his breath.
He starred at the ground that was covered in a disgusting colors on yellows, oranges, and pinks with white chunks. He noticed blood dripping on his right side. He was in too much pain and shock to feel it running down the back of his head. Leo, Raph, and Mikey ran to Donatello. Leo and Raph got on each side of their younger brother and helped him up. His knees were violently shaking, struggling to keep the weight of himself upright. Michelangelo stayed behind for extra support.
Master Splinter sat in the dojo meditating. He couldn't help but feel something was wrong, he took several deep breaths to calm himself. Only a moment has gone by until hIs ears twitched to the sound of his sons coming in. He gave a small smile but it quickly faded to the boys yelling.
"Master Splinter!"
Splinter came barging out of the dojo to find his sons kneeling around an unconscious Donatello. He was laying flat on his plastron, blood stuck on the back of his head, neck, and right shoulder. His breathing was low and slightly uneven, but Splinter knew that he is surrounded by darkness and is safe for the moment. All four of them carried Donatello to his lab on to the medical bed he saved for emergencies. Usually Donnie was the one that fixes everything but this time as different. They kept him on his stomach so their Sensei could examine the wound. Splinter took off his genius sons mask and handed it to Leonardo. There was a small hole in the back of the head.
"Michelangelo could you please get me a warm wash cloth?" His youngest son nodded and walked to the sink. He came back and handed it to a Splinter. The old rat started gently washing away the sticky blood stained residue off Don's green skin which seemed to have gotten extremely pale. Raph grabbed a pillow and tucked it under his younger brothers head for support and comfort.
"My sons," Splinter paused, "what happened?" He looked at his sons with sad brown eyes.
"Foot clans members attacked us!" Mikey exclaimed.
"They held us down and stabbed Donnie with a giant needle," Raph looked at the floor trying to control his anger.
Splinter took a good look at all three of his sons, looked at his unconscious son, then returned his gaze back to the others.
"Sensei, there was something in that syringe the foot had," Leo frowned.
Master Splinter pondered in his thoughts, "Then we will have to keep watch on your brother for the night."
"Hai Sensei," the turtles said in unison.
Raph and Mikey left to go to bed, while Leo and Splinter tipped Donnie to his side so they could hooked up a heart monitor to Donnie's chest, then slowly laid him back on his stomach so there was no pressure on the wound. Beep... Beep... Beep. The pulse was slower than normal, Splinter put a gentle hand on his sons head using his thumb to stroke his brow. 'You are safe at home, my son,' he thought to himself. Splinter sent his eldest son to bed. After Leo left the lab, Sensei positioned himself on the floor in front Don's Medical bed to go into a meditative sleep, just to make sure nothing happened to his son.
New York City was under a heavy thunderstorm. Thunder so loud it boomed all across the city KABOOM! Lighting so bright you could see it from the next city. Rain came pouring down like a heavy cold shower, causing the streets to quickly become empty. Although the moon was in clear sight.
Master Shredder was sitting at his throne with a Kraang bot standing next to him. He seemed impatient. He took a deep silent breath to calm his aggravated nerves. The Kraang bot spoke out.
FLASH! KABOOM!
"The one known as Shredder, seems not to be in patients," it beeped.
There was a pause. "I am waiting for my results."
It wasn't longer after the words left Shedders mouth that the doors opened. Baxter Stockman started walking down the red carpet with a single Foot soldier behind him. There was hardly any light in the room. If anything, most of the light came through the rain covered bay windows with the waning moon shining down on the inside. It gave the room a creepy vibe. When they came before the Shredder they both took a knee bowing.
FLASH! KABOOM!
"Stockman?" The Shredders voice was deep and cold.
"Shredder," Baxter brought up his head to look at his leader face to face, "the toxin has been completed, and it's already been given to one of the turtles."
Shredder wasn't amused. He glared at Stockman expecting more information. Stockman began to shake in fear. He knows how ruthless the Shredder can. No fucks to give basically. You do something to displease him, he'll kill you without a second thought. If anyone ever visits the Shredder, the thought process is all about him.
FLASH! KABOOM!
"We gave it to the purple masked turtle, he's the smartest of the bunch." He tried not to stutter.
Baxter Stockman spent weeks to months in the Kraang lab working on a project plan to figure out a way to destroy the turtles. They know of their power, and energy. They're strong. Shredder and the Kraang have come close to victory over the mutated turtles, but it was never good enough. They always rose up. More powerful then they were to begin with. It angered the Shredder, sending his soldiers to train longer and harder. And he will stop at nothing until they are all dead.
"And what exactly is this toxin going to do?" Shredder asked not even moving his gaze.
FLASH! KABOOM!
"Manipulation," an evil grain crosses Stockman's face.
"Excellent." Shredder roared an evil laugh that echoed the chamber, as the thunder and lighting roared the evening sky.
Beep...
Beep...
Beep... Beep...
Beep..Beep..Beep..
The sound of beeping slowly started to fade in getting louder and louder. It eventually it became faster. Donatello's eyes slowly fluttered open, his vision blurred, mind set a little foggy. He gave himself a few moments to collect his thoughts and memory. He came to realize he was laying on his stomach, his muscles were sore and stiff. He could barley get them to move on command. He had a pounding pain on the back of his head. He gave a small groan. It was all the energy he had to do. His vision was slowly coming into focus, from the looks of the floor he concluded that he was in his lab. Donnie continue to lay in position until he was awake enough to get himself up. Before he could attempted anything he heard the lab door open and foots steps coming towards him.
"Hey sleeping beauty, how ya feeling?" It was Raphael. He knelt down to Donnie's level, and frowned a little. He noticed dark circles around his younger brothers eyes. It's hard to believe for how long he's been passed out, he can still be exhausted. Don's skin gained only the smallest amount of green back in his skin. He appearance didn't look any better without his mask. Donnie got enough strength to lift his left hand and rub his eye.
"I hurt... Everywhere." Don spoke in a whisper. The red clad turtle helped Donnie sit upright on the bed, swinging his legs over the edge.
"Hey! Donnie's awake!" A familiar excited voice came from the lab door. Soon enough a group four walked in. This was perfect, his whole family was in the same room with him. He felt safe and happy. Looked up to see even April tagged along. Donnie's heart fluttered, he loved it when she visited, it always made him feel better. He gave a small smile. April walked up to her best friend, then handed him a glass of cold water and four aspirins.
"Leo told me everything that happened so I brought these for you, there's a bottle of them in the kitchen if you ever need more," she gave him a sad smile. Besides the fact Donnie hated seeing her sad, he grin grew wider knowing she's always looking out for him and his brothers. He plopped all four pills in his mouth then chugged the water, not realizing how thirsty he was.
"My son, I'm glad to see you're awake," his Sensei smiled.
"Yea dude, I made some lunch if you're hungry. You've been out for hours, I figured you'd want some food," said Mikey.
"Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. You guys go a head I'll be there in a minute," Don smiled.
"Call us if you need anything," said Leo. Raph put a hand on Don's shoulder and smiled then left the room with everyone else. Except April, she stood across from her turtle friend.
"You feeling ok Donnie?" April asked failing the attempt to hide her upset expression.
"Better then last night, whatever the foot did really packed a punch. I'm gonna run a blood test as soon as-" April cut him off by holding up her hand.
"Donnie please. Take a few days to recover, with the blow to your head your body won't be able to handle more sleepless nights."
He frowned at her words, he hated not trying to find the problem to fix. But he couldn't help the fact that she was right. Donnie put his head down looking at the floor. April came up to him and grabbed one of his hands, bring his gaze up to her. Dear god she was perfect. Her hands were warm and so much smaller than his. April starred at his maskless face. She was amazed how different the boys looked without them. His chocolate red brown eyes were piercing and beautiful, April could get lost in them if she starred long enough.
"Your absolutely right April. I'm sorry, whatever the foot did clearly didn't work. I'm alive, I'm still breathing. I don't feel any different. I may look like shit buuut I feel fine," he gave her a reassuring smile. She couldn't help but smile back. Then his stomach growled loudly causing his face to burn.
"Hungry much?" The red head giggled.
"You have no idea," they both laughed.
Donnie wrapped his arm around April's shoulder for extra support then got off the bed. He legs were a little shaky but manageable. They both walked out of the lab heading toward the kitchen to have a nice family lunch.
It was official, day one of Donatello doing his normal everyday things. Though training has been put to the side so his head could heal. To his own surprise, he feels pretty good for getting a painful blow to the back of the head. He strangely feels happy. Don promised the family he'd stay out of the lab for the first few days to recover. He sat with his brothers and April in the living room to watch an action packed movie. Donnie put on a smile that came from nowhere. Michelangelo saw it, completely confused.
"Dude, why are you smiling?" Mikey's voice caught everyone's attention. When they all looked at the orange clad turtle they followed his gaze which was looking back at Donatello.
Donnie didn't pay attention until he felt eyes looking at him, he looked around then looked at Mikey, "What?"
"Why are you smiling?"
"Am I not allowed to smile?" Donnie asked arching an eyebrow.
"Well yea, but it just happened so suddenly. I was wondering why?" Mikey shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know," Donnie shrugged back, "I'm just in a great mood."
"Dude, I think that blow to your head made you a little koo koo!" Crossing his eyes to look at his nose.
"I'm fine. Really, I am. If I notice any change I'll do a test on it. At the moment I just want to enjoy my time with my family," Don's smile returned.
No one said anything. Everyone slowly brought their gaze back to the television. Don got lost in the movie, while Mikey stared at his brother in worry. There would be no way for someone to get hit like that and be happy as a clam. Mikey had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He no longer wanted to watch the movie, he got up off the ground and headed for the dojo without anyone paying any attention. Mikey sat next to the wise old rat who was meditating. The youngest turtle sat crisscross and joined the meditating, which was very unusual for the impatient turtle.
"Something troubling you my son," Splinter asked without opening his eyes.
Mikey didn't reply right away, he finally got his hyper nerve to relax and be still, he took time to find the right words to explain his feelings, "Donnie," was all he came up with.
"What about him?" Both sitting I a meditative state.
"I'm afraid..." His words trailed off. He opened his eyes to find his Sensei looking at him, "I'm afraid something terrible is going to come of what happened."
"You're not the only one who thinks of this my child," he frowned.
"What can we do? Is there anything we can do to... Help?"
"The only thing we can do is wait and look for signs," Michelangelo frowned at the response. His Sensei was right but it still bothered him that something could happen to his brother at any moment. And he'd do anything to prevent it.
April has been stopping by the lair everyday for the past week. The turtles and Splinter were doing the exact same thing every time she came down. Even though things lately have been on replay, something was being thrown off pitch. Donatello. He gets more quiet as the days rolled on. He always walks around with a smile on his face, so often the red head hasn't seen any other expression from him. It was starting to become creepy. April was sitting in between Leo who was watching Space heroes, and Donatello who was starring off into space.
April looked at him for a moment, she noticed Donnie's pupils were extremely dilated, you could barley make out the color of his iris. She also noticed beads of sweat everywhere on his green skin. Did turtles even sweat? He also seemed anxious, he tapped his finger tips vigorously on his knee pad.
"Donnie?" She blurted out scaring Leo practically out of his shell. Donnie whipped his head at her.
"Hmm?" His gazes darted back and forth between her eyes.
"Are you feeling ok?"
It took him a moment to answer.
"I feel amazing," he slowly turned his head back to where he was staring.
April couldn't believe her eyes. How does anyone sit there with an awkward grin on their face and act like that? She sat there staring at her best friend puzzled, trying to think of what possible was put in his brain. April pulled out her laptop and searched for symptoms Donnie had. She hit 'enter' on the keypad and then gave the page a moment to load. By the time the internet page loaded her laptop died from a low battery. She cursed under her breath, setting the device next to her on the couch.
She looked back at Donnie who seemed to be lost into the television. The grin was still there, and his fingers were still tapping at a fast pace. She drew her eyes to his chest, his breathing was short, fast and silent. Did his heart rate go up? He did give a bit of a slimmer shape to his body, and with all the sweating it looked like the purple clad turtle went for a ten mile run. She didn't get it, and it would bother her if she didn't figure it out. Donnie quickly got off the couch and walked to his lab shutting the doors behind him. April starred at Donnie until the door was shut, she then looked back to see Leo staring at her.
"You see it too huh?" He frowned.
"Yea I do. Leo... we have to do something!"
"Like what? We can't give a blood test, none of us know how too. And Donnie isn't stable enough to do it himself."
"So you're saying wait it out?" She asked getting frustrated.
"It's what Master Splinter said to do," he crossed his arms almost hugging himself, "April we're all scared but we have to face the facts that we can't completely help him like he can help any of us."
April looked at the ground, Leo was right. If this happened to any of them Donnie would have had it solved by now. She looked at her dead laptop that sat on the sofa, then back at Leo.
"I'm going to figure this out," giving Leo a determining look. She grabbed her laptop and quickly left the lair to go top side. Leo didn't know what to think at this point, but he did know that he had the most faith in April. She was smart, not as smart as his genius brother but really smart. Leo looked at the locked lab door and sighed.
"Donnie I seriously hope you're ok," the blue clad turtle told to himself. He turned his attention back to space heroes to block any negatively from his mind.
No body loves you!
You're a piece of shit!
Everyone hates you!
Even you hate yourself!
Go fuck yourself!
The world will never accept you!
Freak!
You are worthless!
Worthless!
WORTHLESS!
It's been another three days and it has been crash and burn in Donnie's world. The creepy smile he had plastered on his face for almost two weeks has faded to the most depressed expression. Don would have extreme mood swings. They always varied between anger and sadness. It all started on day one of the emotion crash. Michelangelo was making breakfast for his family, Don came in to make his normal pot of coffee. It started with no word exchange, which meant that Donatello had something on his mind that upset him, then it turned into sobbing, and when Mikey tried to comfort his brother it turned into rage. Picking up the coffee cup and chucking it at the wall as hard as he could, shattering the clay form.
Even Master Splinter didn't know what to do, it was always out of the blue and for no reason. The turtles have already tried to contact April but no answer. The ninjas have been living on egg shells whenever Donnie was around, and it scared them. No matter who it was, or how they tried to help it wasn't fulfilling Donatello's needs. Even Donnie himself didn't know what he wanted. There was a voice in his head that would never shut up. It always made him feel bad or tell him what to do. It devoured his mind completely, he didn't even have the control to ask for help.
Another day has past, the turtles and Splinter stayed in the dojo most of the day training. Mostly trying to avoid Donatello at all costs. They did feel guilty about it but he was too dangerous to be around. If they had to leave the dojo for whatever the reason was, it was always one person at a time, and they kept look out for the purple masked turtle.
"It's so boring in here! Why are we hiding from Donnie? I could easily knock him?" Raphael complained.
"Because his out bursts are violent, he'd knock you out before you get your fist up," Leo replied practicing his kata.
"Why would you even think about hitting Donnie? He's been through enough as it is," Mikey frowned looking straight at the red clad turtle.
"I'm just saying that I'm not afraid of Donnie. He's a scrawny wimp, and we'll be fine," Ralh crossed his arms.
"Raph! Have you seriously been oblivious to what's been going on lately. Something is seriously wrong with Donnie and we can't fix it!" Leo was getting frustrated.
"Hey! I'm sorry that I want to continue my life and not be trapped in a room. I'm worried for Donnie to ya know, but we shouldn't have to hide from him!" The red masked turtle was starting to lose his temper butting heads with his older bother.
"You guys didn't see what I saw the night Donnie was attacked. Whatever our enemies are up to, it's dangerous and it's having a huge effect on all of us!" Leo argued back.
Before Raph could open his mouth the old wise rat spoke up, causing everyone's attention to look his way.
"What is it that you saw that night Leonardo?"
The eldest son was caught off guard by the question. There was a short silence in the room.
"Well, when we told you about the needle... There was a black ooze in it."
"A black ooze?" Everyone's attention turned to where the voice came from. It was April, leaning against the dojo door holding her laptop, "Well if I would have known that I would have gone into further research."
"April! Be careful, Donnie is on psycho watch! You better get in here!" Mikey exclaimed.
"I saw Donnie walk into his lab just as I came in," April looked confused.
Everyone except Master Splinter followed the red head female out to the living room, where everyone took a seat. It was silent for a moment, almost too silent. Everyone brought there gaze to the closed lab door in concern. Once April started talking their attention was focused on her.
"I don't know how much this will help, but I've been researching symptoms that I noticed Donnie had," she brought up her laptop and started to type as she talked.
"What did you come up with?" Leo asked.
"Well... The main thing that came up was LSD," April looked up from the screen straight at Leo. Her lips made a flat line.
"Drugs?! Are you kidding me April!" Raph flew his arms in the air.
"Dude, shut up!" Mikey glared at Raph.
"Go on April," said Leo.
"The only thing I could do is create a theory of what Shredder might be up too. LSD is a drug people take to basically feel good, a 'trip', without going into detail. It releases dopamine in your brain, which is the 'happy' chemical," April continued to look at her laptop screen.
"Woah, that explains why Donnie acted all weird and smiley for the last two weeks," Mikey said in awe.
"When the drug starts to wear off the person may feel kinda sluggish and maybe even a bit depressed or unhappy," the boys looked at each other wide eyed.
"That's freaky," Raph looked back at April.
"Why would Shred-Head give Don a drug like that?" Mikey asked.
"That's just it. I have no clue. Plus this drug lasts for 8 to 12 hours. Whatever Donnie has is lasting way longer than that. It also says for some people that do it too often or take to much end up staying in the trip for the rest of their lives."
"What!" The three turtles yelled in shock.
"I think the Kraang created a substitute similar to the drug to weaken us," April frowned.
"Then I say we go find some Kraang and beat them until they tell us how to fix it," Raph stood up.
"I can't believe I'm saying this but Raph's right, we need to-" Leonardo's words were cut off by the shout of their Sensei who just opened the dojo doors.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Everything happened so fast, no one could think of what to do. The second everyone's eyes followed their Master's gaze, a chair was violently kicked across the room. Everyone watched in horror as Donatello's body fell but stopped in mid air. His neck was caught by a wire noose that hung from a pipe, which failed to break his neck. Donnie instantly reacted, he put his hands up to his neck trying to get himself down. The wire was cutting into the skin by the weight of his body. He violently kicked around, gasping for air so he could try to breath, tears ran down if face from the pain. Blood started to run down his neck to his shoulders.
Leonardo finally came out of his shock trance and ran towards Donnie, grabbing his katana. He cut the noose which caused Donnie's body to fall on his shell with a loud thud. The genius turtle was still trying to get air to his lungs. Leo quickly but carefully cut the wire around his neck. Master Splinter was by Don's side gently peeling the wire from his neck trying not to cause more damage. The rest of the gang gathered around within a distance. The only sound in the lair was Donatello's wheezing. April and Mikey were holding back the urge to break down and cry.
Why would he commit suicide?
What is Shredder and the Kraang up too?
How is it that Donnie set up this whole thing, and no one even heard him come out the lab?
Why?
A/N: This is my first official fanfic. Please keep in mind that I'm not the greatest writer, I do this to spew out my imagination before it builds up and explodes my brain. Only joking but seriously... I apologize for errors of any kind. I would also like to say that certain things in this story (like LSD for example) may not be 100% true, I wrote what I remembered a while back when I first researched it. Clearly I was to lazy to do it again. And this was a big project for me, it literally took me about a month to write 10,000 words... I'm also busy I have an excuse. Welp, endings are coming soon. I hope you enjoy. :)