The Turtle and the Monster

Chapter 1: Sick

A/N: Taking a bit of a break from my Nickelodeon stories to bring you this 2003 series story about Don's secondary mutation and how he handles it and the aftermath of it. For those waiting for an update to my other story, I'll have it when I get inspiration, but sometimes taking a break and writing something else is a good thing to do so you don't get stuck, and that's what I'm doing. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story and I just hope I can keep going at it and not leave you guys in limbo. If I do, then I apologize in advance.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon. The 2003 Turtles belong to Mirage Studios. I only own the plot of this story and nothing more.

Summary: Don was never one to get angry, but after he undergoes a secondary mutation, he begins to fear that he will become this monster again. Can his family help him through it? A 2003 series story.

Donatello hated being sick.

He had been fighting a cold for months and was surprised that it hadn't gone away. He had done everything he could think of even taking some of his father's dreaded medicine that tasted like something that had died in the garbage, but even that hadn't cured it. What was going on?

He was in bed reading a book because his joints were aching again. His brothers were supposed to go out on a mission, and Don hoped they'd take him along because they needed him. He paused as he read a paragraph about Frankenstein's monster and how it had killed a victim. Man, that guy had been crazy! Even though they were ninjas, the Turtles made it a policy never to kill unless it was absolutely necessary. Yes, they had all killed at some point, but Don had been uneasy about it and always thought there were better solutions than that.

He marked his place and jumped out of bed when he heard his brothers getting ready. He got his gear and made his way downstairs where his brothers were about to go out.

"Donnie, you should stay here," Leo said.

"I want to come along, Leo," Don insisted. "You guys may need me."

"You're sick, Donnie," Leo replied. "You need to stay home."

"Leo, I'm fine!" Don protested. "I can come along."

"Let the Brainiac go," Raph said. "You know you won't hear the end of it unless he does."

Leo sighed. "Okay, Donnie, but if you're not up for it, I want you to come back home. Got it?"

"Got it," Don answered.

"Great," Leo said. "Let's go."

They piled into the Battle Shell and left for their mission. Don seemed fine, but then he began to feel nauseous. Okay, that hadn't happened before. Wait, maybe it would pass if he just took deep breaths. He did so, but the nausea got worse. He ended up vomiting after Mikey told a gross story about something Andrew Zimmern was eating on that Bizarre Foods show Mikey enjoyed watching.

"Ewww!" Mikey yelped. "Leo, Don just barfed!"

"I'll be fine," moaned Don. "I think that's the last of it."

"I say we turn around and take Donnie home," Raph suggested.

Leo shook his head. "There's no time. We have to keep going or we'll never stop those bugs. We'll take Donnie to April's. She can take care of him."

At the prospect of being nursed by April O'Neil, Don's mood lightened considerably, and he smiled to himself as they headed to her apartment.

But that happiness was short-lived when he saw that Casey Jones was there. What was he doing there? And why was he all dressed up? Was he going to propose to April? Don wasn't sure if he could handle that.

Leo explained what had happened and asked if April could watch Donnie. She agreed as did Casey though the man didn't look happy about it. She urged Don to lie down, and Casey covered him with a blanket and urged him to rest which Don tried to do. The lights went out, and Casey went down to find a flashlight but tripped on something. April had been sitting by Don's side but let out an exasperated sigh and went to go make sure Casey was okay.

Once again, Don was disappointed that April had been taken from him, but that changed as horrible pain started radiating from his knee. Don gasped and tried to call for April, but she didn't hear him. He continued to scream as the pain increased and his bones began changing as he began changing. As soon as it was over, he had grown taller and definitely didn't feel the same as sharp teeth replaced the ones he'd had in his mouth before. He looked around and then blinked as April and Casey came up the stairs.

The last words he uttered were, "Help me" before his mind was completely taken over by the monster he had now become.

A/N: And I'm going to end the chapter here. It's a bit short, but I had to end it there because it was fitting. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but I'll do my best not to leave you guys hanging for too long. And I hate the show Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. Just too gross for my tastes. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.