Chapter 3:

(Donnie's POV)

I swallowed a cry of pain as the Triceraton behind me roughly pushed against my injured shoulder in an attempt to make me walk faster and I had just about replied in-kind by kicking the douche-bag where the sun don't shine when Zira reached over to put her arm around my shoulders to interrupt the honorable act.

"Don't try to provoke them." She whispered in my ear as we arrived at some kind of moving sidewalk and quickly started to zip along toward the prison. "Triceratons aren't the most pleasant of company to begin with and their prison guards are even worse."

"I'll remember that." I whispered back as we arrived at some kind of station that I could only imagine was their front desk where the sidewalk stopped thus causing the guards around us to point their guns in our direction.

"Lift your hands!" One of them ordered with a growl and Zira and I reluctantly did as he said leaving me to look up as some strange glowing blue cuffs materialize around my wrists only for them to clank together a second later as the things were activated.

'Aiya!' I thought sourly as I glared at the things which seemed to cause some old scars on my wrists to flare up again after all these years.

This was really not my day.

I was interrupted in my reminiscence of childhood when Zira suddenly cried out in pain and I looked up just in time discover a new glowing tattoo on her shoulder. I managed to quickly dodge the machine as it tried to give me one as well but another arm just caught me from the other side a second later.

Well at least I had avoided getting it on my injured shoulder.

I minute later the ground was moving again and soon we were being shoved down a hallway of cell blocks where one opened of its own accord and we were forced to enter leaving the guard to growl at us in annoyance before the door closed again and we were left alone as our cuffs disengaged and I was allowed to rub my shoulder which was screaming at me for the harsh treatment.

"Well this is getting old." Zira stated glaring at the door momentarily before going to sit in one of the corners.

"At least we're still alive." I added though I already missed the weight of my staff on my back after just having it returned.

"You didn't happen to swipe another key card did ya?" She asked in response as I sat down across from her.

"They didn't give me a chance, guess they learned their lesson." I answered before looking down at my arm which caused her to notice my smile.

"You look distracted, and not in a good way." She proclaimed with a curious tilt of her head as I looked up at her again.

"I wasn't aware that there was a good way to be distracted." I answered honestly.

"There is, but unfortunately for you all of them require a bed, a drink or a lot of money." She muttered sourly which had me smiling a little more. It wasn't the best source of humor but it was enough to help me forget a few things.

"And if I told you that I had an idea involving an escape?" I asked simply causing her to raise an eyebrow at me curiously.

"– That depends on the idea." She proclaimed smugly and so I quietly lifted my left arm to show her my gantlet which our captors had been stupid enough to let me keep.

"So?" She muttered dryly but I wasn't all that shocked by her response. I had gone through a great deal of trouble during the creation of my gantlet to make it look as harmless as possible in the hopes that my enemy would think nothing of it until it was activated.

"You'll see." I told her as I folded my arms again to lean back in an attempt to get a little sleep as I waited for nightfall.

…

"Well isn't that stealthy of you?" Zira commented dryly after curfew had been called and I got up to slowly wave my left hand over the door, allowing the screen on the back of my hand to show me the inner workings of the thing so I could pinpoint the locking mechanism and force the door open.

"That's kind of the point." I told her simply.

"Yeah I noticed – how much you want for that thing?" She added suddenly and I laughed a little under my breath before turning back to look at her.

"It's not for sale." I told her seriously before carefully checking the dark hallway to insure no one was there. "Plus I doubt I'll be able to use your kind of money on my planet anyway."

"True." She agreed before looking back at me as she seemed to contemplate something, a look I realized I'd seen her use a lot but had yet to find out what it meant. "But why would you want to go back to that dump anyway?" She added seriously and I couldn't help but blink at her in disbelief.

"Because it's my home," I answered sternly. "And that's where my family is." I added purposely as she continued to study my eyes for something and I backed up a step to enlarge my personal space again. "What?" I finally had to ask but she just waved away the comment like a bug before walking down the hall in the opposite direction that I knew the exit was. "Where are you going?"

"I need that nano-brain." She said without looking back and I raised a skeptical eye-ridge as I remembered that particular little detail myself.

"Why?" I asked simply choosing not to follow her just yet.

"For the same reason you need it." She answered seriously before finally turning around to look at me as she reached the corner. "I need it to save my people."

"Your people?" I repeated slightly shocked by that but I didn't show it.

"You think your planet is the only one The Barron has tried to rule?" She stated angrily. "He got a hold of mine too; now I'm the last one left and if I don't save them no one else will." With that said she promptly rounded the corner and out of my sight leaving me to realize just how much of a jerk I had been.

"Aiya!" I swore again sourly as my conscience informed me that there was no way that I would be leaving her behind now.

…

"You have any idea where you're going?" I asked as I walked up behind her and she jumped obviously having not heard my approach.

"Yes." She announced sternly as she righted herself again in the act of pretending that nothing had happened. "It's in the general vicinity of the prison." She added before storming away in a huff.

"That narrows it down." I said sarcastically to myself as I lifted my gantlet again to attempt a search for the thing.

"So why are you helping me?" She asked a minute later and I looked up from my screen to find that she had backed up several steps to walk with me again. "You know I'm only in this to save my home, I don't give a shit what happens to yours."

"I'm aware." I answered before looking back down at my project and made a left as it zeroed in on the signal. "But I'm a doctor; I'm not built to abandon people when they're suffering."

"A doctor huh?" She stated as she continued to follow me though the prison. "That explains a lot."

"Glad to be of service." I said sourly before stopping at a fork in the hall and checked to make sure we were going the right way before heading to the right.

"How do you think your team's holding up without you?" She suddenly asked which nearly made me loose my concentration.

"They're fine." I told her confidently trying to make it clear in my voice that she should drop the subject, but she didn't seem to get the memo.

"I only ask because The Barron doesn't take too kindly to free will. He'll tear them apart if he finds them and if you're not there to patch them up then they'll –" Her words suddenly fell short as I turned on her so suddenly that she was forced to back up a step.

"I'm warning you Zira." I said in a dangerous tone of voice. "Drop it!" With that I promptly turned back around to start the search again leaving her to follow at her own risk.

"Well at least I know how to get you angry." She stated a couple minutes later as she caught up with me again. "Though I guess I shouldn't mention that Q.A.'s usually do better on their own." She added.

"No you shouldn't." I agreed sourly.

"It's true." She went on anyway. "They're real loners, spend any free time hauled up in their labs, working on projects, of course that's only if their not on the run."

"And why would they be running?" I asked even though I was trying my damndest to ignore her but unfortunately she knew just the right subject to reel in my interest.

"They're actually really rare." She answered simply. "Usually their families try to sell them, so you should leave yours while you still have the chance."

"Yeah because you obviously have my best interests at heart." I proclaimed sarcastically as I stopped walking in order to look at her.

"What can I say?" She countered sugarly. "I'm just a big softy inside."

"Look –" I started seriously as I rubbed my face tiredly. "I don't expect you to understand but my brother's are all I have, I would give anything for them – even my life."

"They're only holding you back." She countered seriously as she took another step forward so we were face to face. "And you and I both know you're not so naïve that you can't see that."

"They hurt you pretty bad didn't they?" I asked suddenly off topic.

"What are you talking about, your brothers never even –"

"Not my family – yours." I interrupted causing her to back-peddle slightly. "I get it now." I added softly. "You never had a real family, so you really don't know?"

"Don't know what?" She demanded sternly obviously uncomfortable with how the subject had so suddenly flipped.

"How cruel you're really being." I answered causing her to immediately drop her mask of anger and sarcasm for a moment which allowed me to see for the first time just how scared she really was.

However the moment was over quickly and her wall was rebuilt as I turned to walk away again leaving her to think over my words in silence.

…

"One of these days I'm gonna program this thing to come when I call." I stated mostly to myself as we finally located the storage room where our gear was being kept and I walked over to retrieve my staff yet again.

"I'd pay to see that." Zira commented as she collected the little nano-brain and zipped it into her suit for safe keeping.

"Okay." I announced as I made my way back into the hall with a strange feeling of deja vu. "Now let's get outta here." I added sourly.

"Oh what's the matter, don't want more floor wax for breakfast." She joked and I turned to glare at her for the unneeded reminder of that afternoon's mishap.

"Yeah – no!" I proclaimed dryly. "Two escapes in one day is enough for me thanks."

"Can't argue with you there." She stated as we started making our way back through the prison where we compared notes on the location of the drainage system that should take us to the exercise yard and from there all we had to do was climb a wall and we were home free.

…

Unfortunately that plan lost momentum when we got to the yard as the second I reached out to touch the wall the whole place lit up like Lightsville USA.

"Oh wonderful." Zira groaned as we looked around to discover a small army of Triceratons cordoning off every exit there was.

"Guess we'll have to make it three escapes." I stated under my breath before charging into the first guy before he could activate my cuffs or some other unpleasant thing, taking him off guard as I leveled him into the ground with one well placed hit to just the right area of his neck.

This gave me the chance to commandeer his lost shield which I promptly threw like a Frisbee into the next guy's head propelling him into the dirt as the thing bounced back to me like a boomerang so that I could then use it for it's intended purpose and guard against another oncoming attack leaving the poor goon to scream in pain as his fist crumpled against the metal.

In a mater of seconds I'd plowed my new found weapon into his gut which knocked the wind out of him long enough to level the unfortunate dino as well, but I didn't pause to pity him as I promptly threw the shield to the ground behind me for another Triceraton to catch underfoot and flail about like a windmill as he attempted to stop his sudden sliding motion before landing flat on his back.

I didn't have long to celebrate the success however before I was forced back into the fight by another guard who appeared at my side with an attack of his own which I quickly counted by kicking down on the edge of the shield causing it to flip up and nail him right in the jaw.

He continued to stand there for half a second, staring at the little birdies as I snatched my weapon from the air and swung it around to clock him across the head sending the jerk to the ground as well.

However as I continued taking out guard after guard with a creative array of moves it didn't take long for one to finally decided that he'd had enough and charged me instead. But unfortunately for him I was ready for such a move, as I quickly crouched to protect my injured arm as well as put myself at just the right angle to align with the diagram in my mind.

This in turn left the Triceraton to hit my shield like a bug on a window before I lifted at the appropriate moment to take him right off his feet sending him flying over my head to land in a heap on the ground.

Though my body was built to handle such a bold move my injured shoulder clearly took issue with it as I was quickly forced to pause in my assault in order to counter the pain which unfortunately gave one guard the chance to activate the electric charge that erupted through the tattoo on my shoulder forcing my muscles into submission as I collapsed.

"Coward!" I growled at him through my teeth as his goonies exploited their superior advantage to capture us once again leaving the one with the remote to sneer at me in displeasure before activating the thing again just for the hell of it.

"These two have spunk." I managed to make out over the ringing in my ears and any hope I had of instigating another escape was soon destroyed as the Triceraton Officer finished his sentence just before I lost consciousness. "They'll make prime candidates for The Games."

…

(Third:)

Earth

"Leo!" Mikey said in a quite voice as they continued to stare each other down causing both of his brothers to look at him but Raph quickly turned to walk away clearly unable to look at his other little brother at the moment. "Where is Donnie?"

"We'll find him." Leo announced quickly.

"That didn't really answer my question." Mikey complained and Leo sighed as he deflated slightly.

"Yeah – I know." He admitted as he turned to watch Raph walk to the edge of the roof where he looked out over the city.

"You don't think he's –" Mikey started to ask but Leo promptly interrupted him.

"No!" He said simply. "He's tougher than that." He added confidently.

"But Raph said he was shot – just before he – disappeared." Mikey repeated quietly. "What if it was a – a disintegrator or something?" He asked sadly making an effort to look away from the ground as if afraid that his brother's ashes now littered the rooftop.

"It wasn'" Raph announced and they turned to look at him again. "I saw – I saw it go – straight through."

Mikey whined slightly as he took that in. "Then he's gonna be hurt – badly." He added worriedly and Leo was about to tell him once again that it would be okay, that out of all the turtles Donnie was the last one they needed to worry about, but he was interrupted when Raph suddenly jumped off the roof.

"Raph!" He called and rushed over to find their brother running across the buildings again. "Raph stop!" He ordered following him for a moment which caused the other turtle to quickly turn on him again.

"No!" He growled dangerously. "I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna find my brother with or without your help."

"Raph we're all worried, but we need to –" Leo tried again only to be interrupted.

"Well you gotta funny way a showin' it." He bellowed angrily.

"Guys please don't fight." Mikey begged desperately but they wouldn't listen to him and he didn't know what to do in these kinds of situations as this was usually Donnie's area of expertise and from the looks of it that bottle of anger that Donnie always managed to keep corked was about to blow and he wasn't sure if his family would survive the impact.

"We don't even know where he is." Leo complained truthfully clearly not hearing his little brother. "And we're not going to do him any good running around aimlessly and wasting our energy." He added taking a few steps closer to his brother. "We need a plan, we can't afford to waste time."

"For once we agree." Raph stated with a glare before turning to walk away again.

"Raph!" Leo called after him as he reached out to grab his shoulder but the other turtle suddenly reeled back and hit him across the chest so hard that it sent the older turtle flying straight through a dilapidated wall of bricks.

"Leo!" Mikey declared as he rushed to his brother's aid leaving Raphael to stare at the damage he'd just done in horror.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." Leo told the orange-banded ninja as he was helped back to his feet where he quickly looked up to meet Raph's eyes again, trying to show the other turtle that he didn't give a shit about the unwarranted attack. But apparently that wasn't what his brother saw for he quickly bolted in the other direction like a scared rabbit.

"Raph!" Leo begged trying to get up to follow but found himself tripped up by the pile of bricks around his feet and by the time he got himself free again and over to the edge of the roof his brother was gone.

Just out of curiosity;

I'd like to know what everyone thinks of me adding the word 'Aiya' to Donnie's vocabulary. I had originally meant for only Olcadan to say it as it's actually Chinese and at one point I was even misspelling it, but now with Zira driving him crazy I feel the poor guy could use a personalized swear word to take the edge off.

Lol

…

Reviews: they feed me.

XD