Chapter 1 - Lost
A/N: A warning, I'm not a doctor. So anything you read that is not accurate is most likely made up. Please review!
Donnie will never forget the night they lost Leonardo and Master Splinter.
After they got separated from the others, it is clear that it will be the last they will ever see of them...
FLASHBACK...
April, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Kirby stayed safe at April's apartment, not knowing what was happening to the others. Mikey kept texting and calling Leo to no avail. Splinter was out of reach. But thankfully, they can call Raphael and Casey. Fear gripped their hearts when Raph texted that they're being chased by Kraang Prime itself. They waited nervously for either of their families or Casey to pass by safely and to tell them what to do. Because they absolutely have no clue. What do you even do in an alien invasion anyway?
The eldest of the bunch, Kirby, was still scared out of his mind and whimpering in the corner. No one could really blame him, especially since he's developed a sort of trauma from the Kraang for all those months he's been captured. The second eldest, April, doesn't have a clue on how to proceed. She's just new on this stuff. So that left Donnie in charge. He spent the last few hours blaming himself for forcing the Turtle Mech on Leo even though it's clear that they really need to evacuate the city. He also blamed himself for not being able to realize April's friend Irma was a Kraang sooner. He was the one who knows and understands Kraang technology better for god's sake! He should've known something was up!
But now he had had enough moping around. He was currently forming a plan.
"Dude, I know you're totally forming a plan. You've got this, 'I'm forming a plan' look. Sooo... what's the plan?"
"Yeah Mikey, I'm forming a plan. Not quite as detailed as Leo's but it's pretty simple. We wait for Raph and Casey. If they're not back soon, we will go look for them while April and Kirby stays here. Then we will go out, find some kind of vehicle..."
"Because the Shellraiser's like, totally destroyed!"
Donnie glared at Mikey, who immediately gave a sheepish grin. "Thank you very much for reminding me Mikey. As I was saying, we find another vehicle and go search for Leo. Then, assuming Leo is okay, we go search for Splinter and then get the heck out of here, all while avoiding Kraang at the same time."
Mikey stared thoughtfully at him. "Hmm... you're right. It IS so simple."
"Good. So now, we wait for Ra-"
"HEY! OPEN UP!" Someone yelled and banged loudly on the door. April rushed to open it and there stood Raph and Casey, who lookes sweaty, dirty, and covered in laser wounds. Donnie immediately went doctor mode on them.
"Oh good, they're just grazes. I swear you almost gave us a heart attack."
"Yeah. Not cool dude. Oh wait, Donnie? Is 'getting the heck out of here' next on your plan?"
"No, it's 'getting a new vehicle.'"
"Oh."
"I have a van I used back in the day when I was still a hippie!" Kirby grinned, trauma temporarily gone. "It's right in the garage."
"Okay, we'll use that."
"Wait, what are you guys talking about? What plan? What van?!" Raph demanded impatiently.
"Well, you see... Leo and Master Splinter's not back yet so I-"
"SAY WHAT?!"
"Look, it's a long story. But basically-?"
Mikey was suddenly cut off by a terrible crashing sound. Glass rained around them but no one paid attention as they stared, frozen in shock as a figure came tumbling into the room and crashing on the table, reducing it to splinters. April screamed and Kirby jumped away from the figure. They were all horrified when they saw the trademark blue bandana and the shellcell smashed on the floor next to him.
"LEO?!"
"Oh my god! What happened?!"
They all crowded around the beaten body of their brother. Donatello quickly analyzed his injuries with trained but worried eyes, but he soon gasped in shock and disbelief after he completed the inventory. Leonardo has horrible bruises covering every inch of his body, his carapace is cracked, he probably has a couple of broken ribs and dislocated bones. His arms and legs and face are covered in glass shards and splinters which are now bleeding from the impact on the window and table. He is also covered in different claw and bite marks which obviously came from some huge animal. There were some marks left from a chain in his left wrist that left it with a second-degree sprain. He also felt extremely cold to the touch and was trembling like he just took an icy bath in the middle of a frozen lake. But the most horrible and fatal of all was the mark of an extremely sharp blade on his throat. It extended from the bottom of his lip, across his throat, and ended past his shoulder blades. It didn't sever his throat completely, otherwise he would be dead by now. Leo probably dodged to the best of his ability, which reduced it to a minor cut. But the wound was bleeding badly already, if they didn't hurry soon, he might die from severe blood loss.
"He's losing blood fast!" Donnie informed them in horror. "We need to get him treated NOW!"
"Leo? Bro! I-If you wake up I promise to do anything you say!" Mikey whimpered.
"W-Who did this to him? I-I'll kill them... I'LL KILL THEM ALL!" Raph screamed in rage, his fists shaking madly.
"Wait, if he was thrown, then that means the ones who did this are outside!" Casey said. Raph's eyes blazed with the realization, but before he could move, figures landed in the room through the broken window. Everyone jumped in shock.
"Foot bots?!" Casey yelled in disbelief and backed away as two more landed in front of him. "They're the ones who did this?!"
"Oh no... guys! We gotta move!" April screamed. Right on cue, more Foot bots jumped through the broken window and quickly began filling the room with enemies.
"Go, go, go, GET OUT OF HERE!" Donnie yelled and pushed Kirby, April and Casey out the door and slammed it shut as the Foot attacked. Donnie blocked the way from the door and began leading the bots away from their human friends.
"DONNIE!" April cried out frantically outside. Casey began shouting curses as he pounded against the wood.
"Damn it! Come on guys, I can help!" Casey yelled and started to break the door from its hinges. Donnie gritted his teeth as he struggled to be heard above the noise. "Casey, go and protect April and Kirby! They need your help more than we do! Go to the van and get out of here NOW! We'll follow as soon as we can!"
"NO!"
"Come on Red! Let's get to the van! The guys can handle them... hopefully."
There was silence on the other side of the door and Donnie worried something got them, but it quickly changed to relief when he heard April again.
"Donnie! You better show up!" Donnie can almost imagine April glaring holes through the door at him and almost smiled. But it quickly disappeared as a Foot bot charged through his defense and stabbed a tanto deep into his shoulder.
"Dang..." He growled and quickly brought that piece of shrapnel down.
"Goddamnit!" Raph cursed and kicked a Foot bot straight in the face. "I can't get to Leo with these bastards in my way!"
"Dude, get him! I'll handle this!" Mikey said and suddenly abandoned his own enemies as he leaped through the air and landed behind the Foot bots in front of Raph. "You think you could get away easily after doing that to my brother?! HUH?!" He shouted in challenge. Many Foot bots turned to the noise and Donnie quickly took advantage of the situation and knocked out his own enemies.
"BOOYAKASHA!" He screamed and rushed to battle, his kusarigama at its full length, the blade shining as deadly as Leo's own katanas. He proceeded to slash and hack at his enemies and binded them in the chains, giving Raph enough room to slip through and reach Leo. Donnie leaped into the fray and twirled his bo staff around in a dangerous speed, knocking out the bots and piercing through them with the retractable blade in his staff.
"Remind me to not piss you off Mikey." Donnie grinned despite the pain in his shoulder.
"Just don't die and we're good bro." Mikey deadpanned and charged through more Foot. Donnie couldn't agree more.
Raph carefully scooped Leo up, eyeing his throat wound warily. He placed a hand behind his head to steady it before calling to the others.
"Come on, we gotta go!"
Donnie was about to run when he vaguely heard a noise and looked up outside the window just in time to see a volley of arrows piercing through the air at an alarming speed. He turned tail and ran, "GUYS!" he screamed. "ARROWS! RUN!"
They all scattered quickly but the arrows were faster. One pierced Don in the leg, making him stumble and almost fall, two thankfully just hit Mikey's shell. But Raph got the brunt of it because he got slowed down by Leo. Raph fortunately realized his situation, because he quickly tried to protect Leo's body with his own. In turn, several arrows hit him in the arms and legs. Mikey screamed his name and Donnie quickly held him back to stop him from charging and getting hit by the arrows too.
"RAAAPH!"
"I-I'm okay... g-get Leo and ru- Argh!"
He was cut off by a sharp kick to his side that sent him skidding across the floor. Raph grunted in pain and growled once he realized that he lost his place covering Leo's body. The arrows suddenly stopped, but something more dangerous stood with them now.
"It's... It's Tigerclaw!" Mikey screamed, quickly losing his newly-acquired seriousness earlier.
Said Tiger flashed them a cruel grin, showing off his extremely sharp teeth. "It feels good to be feared. Maybe you would say it again, but with a dying breath?"
He suddenly kicked Mikey across the room. Donnie yelled in shock as Mikey collided with the wall and banged his head hard.
"Are you the ones who did this to Leo?!" Donnie demanded. Partly to give his brothers time to recover, partly because he was curious himself.
Tigerclaw laughed. "Of course! That fool wandered off to our trap. I admit he fought bravely, almost succeeding in defeating the Foot all alone. But he can't match the combined strengths of Xever, Bradford, myself, and Master Shredder!"
Donnie gasped and Mikey choked in shock across the room. Raph growled in anger on the floor as he struggled to get up, "You... you AMBUSHED HIM?!"
"Oh yes, but to give him some credit, Leonardo was a very worthy and formidable opponent. Few get the honor of impressing me, so your brother is quite lucky. He fought until even his body failed him, but he succeeded in even giving Shredder an injury. His final wound, that cut on his throat, was a gift to him by Master Shredder himself."
Donnie doesn't know what to think. He was paralyzed and really horrified as the realization came crashing down on top of him.
Because of their stupid argument between that stupid Turtle Mech and a second base, he completely ruined the life of his eldest brother! This is all his fault! Leo fell to that trap and ambush because of him. Leo fought the Foot bots because of him. Leo fought Shredder's most powerful henchmen and Shredder himself all alone because of him! All because of his stubbornness!
Donnie made a mental note to kick that Turtle Mech all the way to China if he survived this.
He didn't realize that he blanked out for a moment there before he noticed that Mikey already reached his side and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, all the while listening to Tigerclaw and Raphael curse at each other. Mostly Raphael.
"You bastard! You heartless, furry bastard! Hell is kinder for the likes of you! I should kick your big furry ass and send you back to your kitty litter for doing that to my brother! DAMN YOU!"
Tigerclaw simply smiled at him coldly, "Don't you worry Turtle. I'll send you there first."
Donnie watched as Raph ripped off an arrowhead from his shoulder, seemingly not feeling any pain. He growled and held his sais out threateningly, which, knowing Raphael, probably meant 'go to freaking hell' in weapon language.
Donnie suddenly felt Mikey tap his shoulder silently, seeming to try and not draw any attention to them. Donnie faced him and Mikey gestured subtly at Leo's body, still lying on the floor after Raphael left to kick some kitty ass. He vaguely remembered Raph saying to grab Leo and run, but he couldn't leave another brother behind. He just can't!
"Mikey, get Leo and find April. She's probably at the garage by now. Get out of here through the van and try to treat Leo. Raph and I will catch up to you."
"But-"
"Go!"
Mikey scrambled up and ran across the room to reach Leo. Unfortunately, he wasn't stealthy enough to go unnoticed. Both Tigerclaw and Raph turned to look at him, the latter looking angrier than Donnie's ever known him.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Tigerclaw said and charged like a raging bull towards Mikey, who yelped in fear and grabbed Leo's arm in a deathgrip.
"GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHERS!" Raph cried and slammed like a bulldozer into Tigerclaw's side. Tigerclaw flew across the room and collided on the kitchen table where he bumped his head at the edge. He would hopefully be dazed for a while.
"Come on Raph! Let's get out of here!" Donnie yelled.
Raph didn't move an inch.
"Get Leo and run! He's more important right now!" Donnie tried again.
Don could obviously see Raph hesitating. Revenge was obviously on the forefront of his mind. But what about Leo?
"RAPH! LEO'S DYING! LET'S GO NOW!" Donnie screamed in despair.
Finally, that seemed to wake him up from his stupor. He scooped up Leo and ran out the door. Donnie grabbed Mikey and reached into his belt. He pulled out his smoke bombs and threw two quickly just as Tigerclaw was looking coherent enough to stand. Purple smoke quickly enveloped the room but too late, Tigerclaw managed to throw shurikens just before the Turtles disappeared.
~O~
The Turtles suddenly appeared on the sidewalk in front of April's apartment building in a puff of purple smoke. They could clearly see the damage in the room from down there. Suddenly, Donnie heard a sound and turned just in time to see five shurikens coming in for the kill.
He didn't have time to dodge so the shuriken instantly dug deeply into his arm. Mikey got one on his side, but the rest seems to be heading for Raph and Leo. Only this time, Raph didn't see the shurikens in time and it pierced his arms and hands so deeply that it made him drop Leo. Mikey immediately dove to catch him but was instantly kicked away by a metal leg. A metal foot suddenly appeared right in front of Donnie's face. He just had the second to think, "Fishface!" before he crashed to the wall of the antique shop, 'The Second Time Around'.
Suddenly, a loud wolf cry pierced the quietness of the night and a huge wolf touched down on the sidewalk. Donnie heard Mikey moan "Rahzar..." before he was kicked again by Fishface.
"Dang, you again?!" Raph groaned in pain as Rahzar threw a punch on his face.
"You really don't know how to keep your mouth shut eh Turtle?" Fishface taunted as he sent his throwing knives at Donnie while still kicking the heck out of Mikey. Donnie quickly dodged it but his bandana tails got pinned. He gritted his teeth and pulled, but it was caught tight.
"Oh, poor turtles. Caught at last 'ey? Well don't worry, I'll make your deaths more painful than your brother over there." He said and pointed his knife at Leo who looked horribly like a broken ragdoll next to Raph.
Donnie was about to distract them yet again with questions while he figured a way out of here before he was cut off by a loud HONK. He almost broke his neck to look at their savior, a big yellow van coming out of nowhere that rammed into both Fishface and Rahzar, sending the two tumbling across the street.
"GOONGALA!" A cry echoed in the van before the door was opened and April and Casey leaped out. April immediately headed to Donnie and helped rip the knives off his mask tails while Casey helped both Mikey and Raph.
"Come on! We don't have much time! Kraang Prime is chasing us! It mutated my dad again and would do the same to everyone if we don't get out of here NOW." April said and Donnie heard a vague sob before she headed off to the vehicle again. Donnie ran to Raph and helped Casey carry him to the van. Raph was injured, but not as terribly as Leo's... LEO!
"GUYS! WHERE'S LEO?!" Donnie cried in alarm and they all immediately froze in shock. Donnie leaped out of the van and looked out the street where they last saw him, but no one's there. Fishface and Rahzar disappeared too.
"They're all gone..." Donnie said in disbelief, his hollow voice echoing in the empty street.