Disclaimer: Don't own TMNT
Life had a strange way of reminding you that things could always be worse Mikey conceded. You'd think being number one on the hit list of every bad guy in town, forced to live in a sewer and being a talking mutant turtle would be enough.
Feeling the body lying next to him begin to twitch and shake he readied himself for the full blown convulsions which were to follow. Helplessly he could only whisper words of comfort to the tormented soul next to him; the repeated experience had taught him any more would do more harm than good.
Yes life had a funny way of showing you things could always be worse.
After all the villains they had faced and hair raising experiences they had been through, they had never thought that the Purple Dragons of all people would be the ones to bring down one of their own.
After being in a coma for a month Donatello's family waited with baited breath for the day he would wake. Standing vigil over their fallen brother/son as he lay in his lab that had been converted into a med bay, they held on to the belief that this horrific ordeal would be over with as soon as the Bo wielder opened his eyes.
It wasn't until he awoke that they realised that this nightmare had twisted into something worse. Donatello had awoken in the early hours of the morning; Raphael had bellowed the news to his family as it had been during his rotation. It was only as they gathered round they realised something was seriously wrong, no matter what they did or said no reaction came from their bed bound brother.
Out of their depth they had immediately called upon their family friend Leatherhead to assess what was wrong with the genius. Waiting for their friend's verdict anxiously while their crocodile friend ran every test he knew. After hours of waiting Leatherhead emerged from the lab grim faced only to confirm what they had all feared.
The results of that encounter could never be undone, and they had to face the cruel reality that their beloved genius Donatello was now brain damaged. His once ingenious brain was now his crippling disability.
Raphael had predictably been the first to react, hurling his Sais into Donatello's computer baying for the blood of every purple dragon on the street and storming out of the lair. For once no one made a move to stop him too consumed by their own turmoil.
Leonardo had taken one last regretful look at his damaged brother and walked away, the hopelessness of the situation hovering over him like a dark cloud. Failure and guilt painfully twisted his stomach. Leaving only his father and youngest brother to watch over their ill fated brother.
Splinter had taken his sons limp had in his own, for once lost for wisdom or guidance he could normally offer his sons in spades, he resorted to gently drawing circles on the back of his son's hand, a familiar trick he had used to get his sons to sleep when they were young.
Mikey's couldn't believe his families reactions, they had all reacted like Don had left them. But he knew his immediate older brother the best, he wasn't gone just a little lost. 'He'll come back, they'll see'. Determined he took his brother's hand gripping it tight. Donatello had played nurse to him countless times thought their lives and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to return the favour.
'Beep, Beep, Beep.' The alarm clock whined incessantly, abruptly waking those in its presence. A groan was emitted from under a blanket cocoon; a hand emerged fumbling around for snooze slapping the surface of the nightstand until it eventually hit the snooze button. All was quiet until...
'Beep,Beep,Beep.'
"UUUGHHH!"
Defeated, the turtle emerged from his cocoon slamming the off switch on the alarm; he sat up and stretched his joints popping in protest.
He turned to the bed other occupant, unsurprised to see his companion awake staring aimlessly at the ceiling. "Morning bro" he chirped in greeting, grinning when his brother's gaze meet his briefly before returning to staring aimlessly. Being the only acknowledgement Mikey needed he jumped out of bed, grabbing the wheelchair and pushing it close to the bed. "Rise and shine bro" putting an arm under his brother's knees and the other behind his shell with some difficulty he managed to lift his brother and place him into the wheelchair. Thanking his lucky stars that April had managed to obtain one as his back cracked in protest.
"Time for breakfast. I wonder why it's called that? I bet you would know. Master Splinter says it's the most important meal of the day, can't be that important if he won't let us eat pizza for it. Dinner is my favourite, or is it lunch?" He wheeled his brother towards the kitchen and placed him at the kitchen table, as he began bustling around in order to prepare breakfast for everybody.
"Meh! As long as I get pizza I don't care. Oh speaking of pizza, I really want to try experimenting with flavours. Oh ooh, how does sour worms and gummy bear pizza sound? We'll have to wait until you can chew better first, but it will be awesome! Definitely can't be worse than Hawaiian. I mean dude who looked at a pizza and said I know pineapple? Crazy Hawaiians, although I have to admit that they have the coolest sense of fashion, I bet I'd look good in a Hawaiian shirt."
Mikey continued to ramble uninterrupted as helped his brother slowly eat his breakfast, spoon feeding him every drop as Don's grip was now too weak to hold the spoon.
Thankfully though the purple banded turtle still knew how to swallow without choking, although had some difficulty chewing.
"Morning my sons" came the raspy voice of their sensei as the giant rat swept gracefully into the room.
"Morning Master Splinter" Mikey greeted his father.
The past few months had taken its toll on their ageing farther as he now leaned heavily on his staff, stress having a heavy impact on his health.
At first Splinter had been determined to care for his damaged child but the burden had been too much to bear. He could no longer lift his son as he could when they were children, which made many tasks such as getting Don up in the morning, washing him and many other tasks impossible. With a heavy heart he had placed his son in the hands of his youngest. At first he had been anxious unsure if Michelangelo was mature enough to be trusted with the enormity of this task ahead, but Michelangelo was nothing if not full of surprises, he had listened carefully to Miss O'Neil and Leatherheads advise and warnings, was prompt in giving his brother pain medication and helped his father with Donatello's daily exercises.
Splinter was proud of all sons yes, but he had never been so proud of his youngest, he'd been the only source of light in these dark horrific times.
Smiling Splinter gracefully accepted his bowl of his son and ate quietly. Although his smile wavered when he saw the two empty chairs, it had been this way since Donatello had been allowed out of the confines of lab. His two eldest were rarely to be seen.
Leonardo was forever training in the dojo or meditating in his room. Clearly his eldest couldn't settle and his normal routine was doing nothing to ease his mind. While this worried the father he knew that trying to get his son to talk before he was ready would be like trying to get water from rock. He trusted that Leonardo would come to him when he was ready.
Raphael was another concern his hot tempered son would forever be a source of worry. Since his vow to wipe out the purple dragons, Raphael sightings were now rare and far in between. With only dirty dishes letting him know that his son had returned at all.
While the blue and red banded turtles would deny this until the cows came home, the pair were more alike than they thought. Both were stubborn as mules and the more you pushed the harder they pushed back.
Splinter could only pray neither of his eldest would do something they would regret.
A body slammed into a dumpster with a crash, the man gasped, desperately trying to scramble to his feet when a foot came down hard on his back and a sai was pressed against his throat.
"I'll ask again, where is Hun?"
"I-I told you I don't know!"
"Wrong answer" He growled before smashing the butt of his sai into the guy's forehead, knocking the man out cold. Lifting the lid of the dumpster Raphael callously dumped the body into it.
He didn't have time for anymore timewasters, he was running out of time and none of these good for nothing punks knew everything.
The longer he waited the deeper Hun went into hiding and there was no way he was going to let that ponytailed prick was get away with what he had done. He needed to go deeper into enemy territory, spying the Oroku Saki Empire in the distance he sneered; after all if none of the purple dragons knew where Hun was then there was another group who would.
