Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT…that honor goes to Nick.
Donatello, despite his growing fatigue, kept toiling along late into the night. Such late night work was not unusual for him. His screwdriver was busy as he finished a device to connect to the inter-dimensional communicator to tune into the signal block. He was finally able to triangulate the frequency of the block and his new device would allow him to piggyback his communicator's signal along with it in order to allow the message to get through.
"Just a few more millimeters…and…" – he yawned – "almost done…" his eyes began closing, and he jerked his head up, shaking it to try to keep himself awake. Yawning once more, he stated with satisfaction, "There, that should do it."
He placed the screwdriver down in order to grab his pencil and finish up on his notes.
"Should be working perfectly now," he murmured to himself. "I just need to…" but at this point his exhaustion won. His head leaned onto his notebook and he slumped forward onto his desk, snoring lightly.
"Hey Donatelloooooo…" came a sing-songy voice from outside the door, "you awake? I saw your light was still on and was going to see if you wanted to head topside and catch a late night flick with me. Mike and Leo are sleeping…so –"
Raphael snickered slightly to himself at the sight of his brainiac brother sleeping at his desk, surrounded by various tools and papers.
"That Don," Raph whispered, "such a workaholic."
Raphael grabbed a blanket from a closet in Don's lab and draped it over the sleeping turtle's shoulders. He cared deeply for his brothers, but was too proud to outwardly show it most of the time.
"There! Don't tell anyone I did that for ya," Raph said as he turned to leave and head to the movies solo. "Especially Mikey; he'd never let me live this down."
Don mumbled something unintelligibly in his sleep.
"Glad we agree," Raph quipped.
Leonardo awake with a yawn and a graceful stretch only a master ninja could achieve. He glanced at his alarm clock, noting it was 5:55 am. Per usual, he had risen before it had gone off, his own "internal alarm clock" serving him well. Sometimes the leader wondered why he bothered to set the thing at all.
Perfect! He thought enthusiastically. Time for early morning practice!
He always awoke earlier than his brothers to go train before they joined him at 7 am. Most of the time, he had to wake them up himself. Leo was the only one of the four who could be considered a "morning person." Donatello was usually up late working on some project or another. Raphael liked to head to the surface at night where he could blend in better, and sometimes would go to the movies. Michelangelo would read his comics, play video games, or indulge in any of his many other hobbies. Leonardo had attempted many times over years to convince them that to stay in top fighting form they needed to get proper rest. Most of the time, his brothers would listen to his leadership, but this was something none of them would bend on, especially since the defeat of Shredder, Krang, and Dregg three years ago. There had not been a large threat to arise in New York since that time besides the usual gangs, crime lords, and occasional mad scientists, so the three of them had been slacking off quite a bit. Leonardo had brought his concerns about this up to Splinter about a year and a half ago, and while the mutant rat had indeed agreed with his diligent son, he also remarked that they were all adults now and had to find their own paths in life. At that point, Leonardo had given up (although not without lengthy lectures on the topic at least once a week), but 7am training was something the blue banded turtle refused to let go.
Once in the dojo, he smiled warmly at Splinter who was already on his mat, meditating. His adoptive father being there before him was one constant Leo could always count on.
Splinter sensed Leo's presence and opened his eyes slowly.
"Good morning, my son," he said in greeting.
Leo bowed to the once human ninja master and replied, "Good morning, Master Splinter."
Leonardo then began his katas, getting engrossed in the grace and fluidity of his moves. It was all second nature to him, as much a part of him as pizza was to Michelangelo. Splinter watched his oldest son with pride. Leo reminded him of himself when he was a young Hamato Yoshi, full of energy and dedication to ninjitsu. Splinter still held these qualities (although age was beginning to slow him just slightly), but it was a comfort that Leo had followed in his footsteps to carry on the true ideals of the Foot Clan before Oroku Saki had taken over and warped them like a twisted metal.
An excited voice bursting into the dojo broke Splinter's train of thought.
"Leo! Leo!" Donatello ran into the room, stopping the leader mid-kata. He sheathed his twin katana behind his shell and turned his attention to his younger brother.
Leo grinned wryly and in making a rare joke said, "Gee, Don, I've never seen you so excited about morning training before."
Don shook his head, taking a moment to catch his breath. "No…Leo….the communicator…I think I got it to work. We have to listen to the message!"
Leo turned to Splinter. "Is it acceptable if we are late to practice for this, Sensei?"*
Splinter nodded. "Yes, my sons, go. I sense this is something of dire importance, especially considering the lengths someone went through to block the message from you four. I can only hope it is not who I think it is…"
Leonardo froze momentarily as a chill ran up his spine.
"Who, Master?" he asked carefully.
Splinter waved a dismissive hand at Leo. "Do not dwell on it for the moment, Leonardo. I could be getting ahead of myself."
Leo nodded quickly in acknowledgement and left the dojo with Don. Splinter's expression grew grim as his two sons retreated and the sense of foreboding grew…
After much protest, Leo and Don managed to drag Raph and Mike out of bed – only after promising Raph he could have the TV for the afternoon and Mike he could heat up some pizza to munch on.
"I cannot think on an empty stomach, dudes!" Mike remarked when they were gathered in Don's lab.
Raph crossed his arms across his plastron. "Funny, I wasn't aware you could think at all!"
"Har, har, dude!" Mike frowned. "We're only here cuz I helped Donnie get his inter-dimensional whosiwhatsit working!"
"You!?" Raph asked skeptically.
"Well," Don interjected, "he did give me the inspiration to figure out what I needed to do."
"See?" Mike blew a raspberry at his red masked brother. "I'm inspirational! Donnie even told me that I'm a genius! So this –"Mike motioned to the communicator before them, "—is all possible because I'm sooooo smart."
Raph scoffed, "Mikey you're about as inspirational as foot fungus…and if you're a genius, then I'm the mayor of New York City."
Mike scowled, "Dude, there is no way you are mayor of New York City!"
"Seriously, Mikey," Raph shook his head, "oftentimes I wonder just how many times Splinter dropped you on your head when we were babies."
Leo rolled his eyes.
"Enough you two," the leader admonished, "let's allow Donnie to work his magic."
"Magic nothing!" Don grinned widely. "This is real science!"**
Donatello switched on the communicator and the unblocking device. The view screen was static as Don worked on clearing the signal. First to come out were some garbled words trying to break through the interference. Don continued his effort, trying to clarify the transmission. The broken voice sounded vaguely familiar to him, but it was hard to place it with it being so fragmented. He adjusted the dials once again, and eventually a fuzzy image filled the screen.
"Is that…Dask?" Leo asked, leaning in to get a closer view.
"Ya, dude, I think it is!" Mike agreed in wonder. They hadn't heard from the Neutrinos in years.
"…Turtles…need help," the disjointed words came through. "Technodrome…Krang…soldiers everywhere…"
The four turtles exchanged incredulous glances. Had they heard correctly?
"Dask! Where are you?" Leo asked, his voice urgent.
Donatello grimaced and sighed in resignation. "It's a recorded transmission, Leo. He cannot hear you. It was sent about a week ago."
"Did he say 'Technodrome' and 'Krang'?" Raphael brought up. "I thought we defeated that pink Jell-O blob…and the Technodrome was in shambles! What's going on?"
Leo frowned thoughtfully. This was honestly a situation he had never figured they would have to face again. Krang was resourceful, but the Technodrome had appeared beyond repair, or so he had thought. It had been three years since he had even heard the word mentioned…and this did not sit well with him at all. If Krang had indeed managed to get the Technodrome functioning again, and if Shredder was still working with him…
"Well, dudes, what are we waiting for? Let's haul shell to Dimension X and help the Neutrinos! Donnie, fire up you dimensional portal thingamabob and let's boogie! Our compadres could be in trouble!" Mike broke Leo's train of thought. Almost as an afterthought, the youngest brother added quietly, "Kala could be in trouble."
The other three heard Mike's last comment. None of them had forgotten his obvious crush on the female Neutrino when they were younger.
"Mike," Leo began calmly, "we cannot just go rushing into this without a plan. There are just too many variables, too many unknowns. I think we should consult Master Splinter first."
Donatello nodded in agreement. "Plus…my portal generator…you guys must remember how unstable that thing always was."
"Who could forget, Donnie-boy?" Raph grinned evilly. "Not one of your greater successes. It ranks right up there with your personality ray on my list of 'Don's Inventions that Suck.'"
Don shot Raph a dark glare, but didn't respond to the comment. "And it's been years since we last used it. I'm not even positive that it functions anymore."
"But…Kala…" Mike whispered.
Leo put a comforting hand on Mike's shoulder.
"We're all concerned about our friends, Mike, but like I said before, we need a plan. Come on, let's go see Master Splinter."
Mike hung his head and offered no farther resistance as he followed his brothers out of the lab and toward to dojo to see Master Splinter.
A/N: *I know in the last episode, Splinter told the turtles that he was no longer their sensei, but they were equals to him, but Leo does not strike me as the type to let go of that formality. I think he has too much of a respect for Splinter to ever completely drop that title.
**I had to throw an Invader Zim line in there. Always one of my favorites of Professor Membrane's, so I thought it would be funny if Don said it too.
And, if you are reading this, I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!
