A.N: Hey! Thanks to everyone who have reviewed my story so far. I'm still new to this place, so I'm not really sure how to thank you each individually. I guess I'm going to write some more now. Enjoy, my Lovelies! ^_^
Disclaimer: No ninja turtles belong to me...Yet. *Plotting world domination*
It had been two hours since both April and Raphael ran from the lair, and Leonardo was beginning to worry.
"If anything happens to them," he worried, pacing the lair floor, "it'll be all my fault." Donatello, on the other hand, wasn't listening. He had his welding mask pulled down over his face as the blue flame from his welding torch licked at the metal of his newly-created machine.
"Yo, Donnie," Mikey called, leaning obnoxiously over his immediate older brother's shoulder, "Whatchya building? Wait, are you making us jetpacks?!" Mikey bounced up in down in excitement. Pulling his welding mask off, Donnie turned to Mikey with an eyebrow raised.
"Of course not, Mikey!" he said, wiping his hands on a towel, "I'm trying to recreate the machine the Kraang used to shoot April and Raph." Mikey scratched his head.
"Why would you do that?" he pondered, "They were already shot by the laser. You wanna shoot them again?!" Donnie shook his head tiredly.
"No, Mike," Leo cut in, "Donnie's going to reverse it so maybe it'll make April and Raph normal again if we shoot them with it." Mikey stared at him with a blank expression. "You didn't understand a word of that, did you?" Leo asked with a sigh. Mikey blinked his eyes and shook his head.
"What?"
"Nevermind, guys," Donnie cut in, "I think it's done!" As if the words were cursed, as soon as they left Donnie's lips, the machine went up in flames. The small explosion covered Donnie face with black soot. "Uh, maybe not," he added with a cough.
"There's only one option, guys," Leo admitted, puffing out his chest, "We have to go back to the Kraang's building and use their laser." Suddenly, the door to the lair burst open, revealing Raphael, a small smile on his lips. Without a word, he walked right past his brother, his shoulders slumped forward as he realeased an audible sigh.
"Hey, uh, Raph?" Mikey asked, approaching his red-clad brother, "Why are you so happy?" Raph shook the look off his face, which was quickly replaced by a scowl.
"I ain't happy!" he replied, "Why should I be happy?" But then his scowl turned, once again, into a dreamy smile. "Ain't she something special?" Then he shook his head again, his smile being replaced by a confused and disturbed look. He stared at his shaking hands. "I don't know whats wrong with me," he mumbled, "I don't like this feelin' in my gut." Once more, the turtle's face relaxed as his smile and sigh returned. "April's just so pretty..." Raph covered his face, growling at himself, before running into his room and slamming the door. His three brothers just stood there, their eyes wide and their jaws dropped.
"Whoa," Mikey whispered, "Does Raph seem a lil'...bipolar to anyone or is it just me?" Donnie was rubbing his chin in thought, his eyebrows knitted together in pure concentration.
"I agree, Mikey. That was wierd," he admitted, "It was almost as if Raphael was having an internal battle. It seemed the Real Raph was trying to fight the In Love Raph for dominance. Raph's anger must not be strong enough to win, but it was close."
"Do you mean," Leo cut in, "that Raph knows what's going on? Then why can't he just snap himself out of it?" Donnie put his finger in the air, a sheer symbol that he was about to go into a long-winded explaination.
"The laser had the same effect on both April and Raph, as you all probably know. The laser stimulated the love chemicals produced in the brain, and it was just natural for them to fall in love with the first person...or turtle...they saw." At this Leo's face turned red as he ducked his head a bit. Donnie continued. "April is usually a very kind and loving person anyways, so the laser's effects on her were at full power. With Raph, on the other hand, he's usually hostile and violent. The Love Ray, as I will call it until further notice, did indeed effect Raph as well, but his aggressive personality is trying to fight it off, but unfortunately, as the saying goes, love conquers all." Mikey scratched his head.
"So," he mumbled, "What you're saying is they're doomed unless we change them back with the Kraang's laser?" Donatello nodded, cocking his head to the side.
"Yeah, uh, precisely."
"I guess we don't have a choice," Leo sighed, "Call April, Donnie. Tell her we have a mission. We're going to get them all back to that building, and we're going to fix them."
Two hours later, the turtles and April were back in a very familiar situation, as Leo peered through the skylight of the Kraang's building. Only this time, Raph was sitting on one side of April, Donnie on the other. Donnie made it his mission to keep April and Leo apart. Not for Leo's well-being, but to keep his own jealousy at bay. The battle inside Raphael's head and heart had ended, the new Raph taking control. He kept glancing out of the corner of his eye at April, and when she would turn to look at him, he would turn away.
"April," Donnie said, trying to break the awkward silence as Leo kept an eye out for Mikey, who was scoping the other side of the building, "How are, uh, you?" He mentally slapped himself at the feeble attempt to make a conversation. April leaned back to see around Donnie. When her eyes landed on Leo, she smiled dreamily.
"I'm fine, Donnie," she replied with a happy sigh, "I just can't stay mad at him." Donnie pouted and crossed his arms as he turned away. He could almost hear the hot steam coming from his ears.
"Dudes!" Mikey called, swinging onto the roof, "Kraang bots at ten O'clock! They got the laser one floor down." Leo patted Mikey on the back, giving him his silent praise.
"Okay, Mighty Mutants," Leo said, hands on his hips in a hero pose, "Let's bash some bots." April's eyelashes fluttered as she sighed and smiled, while Raph put his head in his hands.
"How many times do I gotta tell ya?" he exclaimed, "Don't call us dat!" The four turtles (and April) climbed down through the skylight and immediately began looking for the stairs. "There!" Raph shouted, pointing at a door that read 'Stairs'.
"Good work, Raph!" April praised, running a hand across his back as she hurried toward the door. Raph's face turned red like his mask as he smiled and chuckled to himself. As April threw open the door, she screamed. Standing between them and the stairs were about ten bots.
"The turtles have come to this place to destroy the laser the Kraang have created in this place. Do not let the turtles leave this place, or let the turtles near the laser the Kraang have created in this place for the Kraang's purposes of the laser," one of the Kraang bots shouted to the others.
"Finally, some excitement!" Raph exclaimed, pulling out his two sai and heading head first into the fighting.
"Raph!" Leo yelled, blocking a laser blast with his sword, "We don't have time for this! We have to find the laser! Now!" Raph grunted and acted as if he hadn't heard a thing Leo had said.
"Raph, please!" April shouted, trying to stay behind Donnie as he protected them both with his staff, "Listen to Leo!" Raph's eye twitched at the battle in his mind. Ignore Leo's commands or please April? April won. Raph tucked his sai away and threw a smoke bomb onto the floor. Being the closest to the door, which was still in his clear line of vision, Raph ran towards the door, grabbing April's wrist in the process. Through the shield of the smoke, April groped around until she found Leo's hand, and he grabbed Donnie's, who grabbed Mikey's. Once the long line made it through the door, they ran down the stairs.
"Raph," April called out of breath, "You can let go now." As he ran down the steps, two at a time, he was just going too fast for her to keep up. Raph scooped her up.
"Dis'll be fasta," he grunted. Both Leo and Donnie snorted at Raph's feeble attempt to seem tough for April. A light appeared at the bottom of the dark stairwell, around twenty Kraang bots guarding the laser. April jumped out of Raph's arms as the four turtles came to a halt.
"Donnie," Leo yelled, "Get to the laser! Mikey and I'll destract the Kraang and make sure April and Raph are in the line of fire!" With a salute, Donnie used his bo staff to vault himself over the Kraang, who paid him no mind.
"Destroy the ones called the turtles," one of the Kraang ordered. Blasters began firing as Leo ducked and rolled out of aim.
"April!" he called, pointing at her with one of his katanas, "Stay behind us!" April rolled her eyes before jumping up and toe-kicking a Kraang bot four times in the face. It's head blew up and the little brain inside it crawled away. She shot a look at Leo, her eyes pleading for praise.
"Or not," Leo replied, bashfully rubbing his neck, "Good job." April smiled. Donnie, on the other hand, was having a tough time. He had made it to the laser and began letting it charge.
"I have to do this at the exact moment," he whispered to himself, "If it charges too little or too much, it'll be disasterous." As he waited impatiently, five Kraang bots engaged him, a blast from one's laser hitting him in the plastron.
"Oomph!" He flew back and hit the wall, failing to get back up.
"Don!" Mikey shouted, knocking two Kraang bots away from him with his 'chucks. Smoke was beginning to rise from the machine, and Mikey knew what that meant. It was over-heating. In a panic, Mikey looked around for someone who could fix it. Donnie was unconscious. Leo was trying to pry April's arms off him, and Raph was being surrounded by ten Kraang. Mikey gulped.
"I guess this is up to the Turtle Titan," Mikey said weakly, running to laser. "Stay away from my brother, Tin Skin!" Mikey shouted, knocking three Kraang bots away from his unconscious genius-of-a-brother. The laser was shaking and smoking. "What do I do? What do I do?!" Mikey asked out loud, pressing random buttons.
"Mike!" Leo yelled, positioning April directly in front of the April, where Raph was already at, attacking a Kraang bot. He was unknowing to the plan that was about to unfold. "It's going to over-heat!" Leo yelled, "Do it! Now, Mikey!" A big red button caught Mikey's eye and, with a forceful finger, he pressed it. At the exact moment, Raph jumped on a group of Kraang bots and out of the laser's aim, but April was hit directly. Everything got quiet for a moment as April clutched her stomach in pain. Both Leo and Raph ran to her as Mikey wrapped his unconscious brother's arm around his shoulders.
"April!" Raphael shouted worriedly, "Are ya okay?!" April straightened up as the pain in her stomach ceased.
"Whoa," she said, putting a hand to her head, "What happened?" Leo grabbed April's shoulders and shook her.
"April, quick!" he said, "Do you want to kiss me?!" April's eyes went wide as her cheeks turned pink. She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.
"You know you're one of my best friends, Leo," she began, "But I just don't like you like that." Leo smiled and released April's shoulders. He sighed with relief.
"I was hoping you'd say that," he said, "You see, the other day when we were here, you and Raph were both shot by the laser, and it made you fall in love with me and Raph fall in love with you and..." He stopped and clutched his head. "Oh no! The laser didn't hit Raph again!" As if on cue, Mikey came running towards them, practically dragging Donnie along behind him.
"Take cover!" he shouted, "She's gonna blow!" Raph and Leo covered April while Mike covered Donnie, and the laser exploded, little pieces of metal raining onto their shells. When everything was quiet again, Donnie sat up, rubbing his head.
"Did it work?" he asked confused. One look at the destroyed laser and he turned to look at Mikey. 'You touched the laser, didn't you, Mikey?" Mikey crossed his arms in defense.
"Hey, I just saved your sorry butt!" Mikey shouted, "AND I shot April with the laser and fixed her!" Donnie smiled a wide gap-toothed smile and turned to look at April, who was no longer paying Leo any special attention. But the puppy-love look on Raphael's face told another story.
"What about Raph?" Donnie asked, an eyebrow raised. Leo put a hand to his forehead.
"He moved at the last second," Leo said tiredly, "Now he's going to be in love with April forever!"