They smashed their way unceremoniously through the entrance to the lair.

April was there with a groaning Casey, holding an ice pack to his head.

"Hey, April, Do you know anything about a girl named Karai?" Leo asked, skipping straight to the point.

"Karai?" April asked, as Master Splinter entered the room. "What is she doing around?"

"She came in for a last minute save and tried to take down a large fly mutant."

"Stockman. Was she sentient?"

"What? Of course, why wouldn't she be?"

"It's... Complicated."

"Well, uncomplicate it."

"Is she really Donnie's older sister?" Mikey asked.

Splinter stopped dead. "Miwa." He whispered.

"Well, yeah, I guess, But they have kind of an estranged relationship. You guys might want to be careful, she had a rough life, and more often than not she's bad news."

"April." Splinter said, ghosting up beside her and placing his hands on his staff. "I don't know how often we've spoken, but you respect me, do you not?"

"What? Why-? Of course, I do."

"Then show me respect by granting me the truth. Donatello is my son isn't he?"

"What? How-?" She smiled. "I should have known it wouldn't take you long to figure that out. No way you guys could ever stay split for long. Yes, Yes he is."

"And Mi- Karai, She is my daughter?"

April's smile melted off her face. "Yes... Karai is Miwa... But she didn't live with you her whole life like Donnie did. She was raised by Shredder."

Splinters eyes widened. "NO!"

April winced, "She only found out the truth about herself recently, and she's been gunning for Shredder ever since. Revenge is that girl's middle name. I just hope she didn't drag Donnie into anything too heavy."

"And Shredder?" Splinter demanded. "Is he in New York?"

"I don't know... Probably. That snake never stays away when he could be someplace he isn't wanted."

"I must go and find them at once." Splinter announced.

"We're coming too." Leo added.

Splinter slammed his cane with a loud crack that filled the air like a whip." NO! I won't allow it! It's too dangerous!"

"Sensi please, We can help."

"Yeah, I can find Donnie with the tracker option I found while messing around with Raph's phone." Mikey added.

Raph checked the pocket on his weapons belt. "Hey, how'd you get that?"

"We promise, we'll be careful."

Splinter closed his eyes while considering this. "Perhaps it would be best for you to come, I might need your help convincing them to come home. But you must follow all of my instructions to the letter."

"Hai Sensi." They all agreed.

Splinter swept out of the lair swiftly. The turtle close on his heels. Leo made to follow suit, but something stopped him. He looked down at the locket around his neck and picked it up.

He turned it around and around in the palm of his hand. It felt like something was beckoning him from within there. It felt like something wanted him to open up the pendant. It felt like the amulet was almost speaking to him.

"Leo?"

Leo almost jumped out of his skin when April spoke to him. "Why aren't you following Master Splinter?" She asked.

"I... I'm going now." He walked over to April and took the amulet off his neck."Can you watch this for me April, something about it is... Distracting."

"Uh, sure."

He handed her the pendant and sped up to catch his family.

(scene break)

"The only thing I can't figure is how we're going to find him." Karai muttered.

"I've got that covered." Donnie said, following the map on his arm computer.

"Where are you leading us, Donnie?"

"Before we left the mall, I took the receipt book off the back desk. It had a sale in it for a very hefty sum to one Fitz Xander. So I googled him and he's a philanthropist who just donated a rare space-gem-embedded cross to his church. Right about... Here." He looked up to see the church across the street from them.

"I'm impressed. Nice work." Karai said.

Getting into the church was easy, even getting into the vault wasn't that hard. The people in charge of security must have had other more important things on their minds than protecting their material possessions.

"Now what?"

"I don't know... Maybe we could wait and see if he comes for it?"

"Who knows how long that could take, If he even wants the gem at all."

"Hmmm. How about this... I'll put a tracker into the gem, then if someone comes to pick it up, we can just follow it to him."

Karai smiled. "Now that's a plan."

Donnie put a tracker in the cross. "Now the only other question is... If he doesn't come for it, what's plan B?"

Karai smacked her fist into her palm."Maybe if we hang around Shredder's old haunts something will turn up."

"Maybe... Or maybe- Did you hear something?"

They turned to face the door. It opened. Splinter glided into the room.

"Sensi? What are you doing here?" Donnie asked.

"Donatello, I've been looking for you, and you've got Stockman's Gem. Take it with you and follow me."

"Let me come too." Karai said.

"No, I want to keep this between me and Don."

"What? But I can help."

"Sensi." Donnie said, then trailed off, wondering whether or not to go there or not. " Karai is Miwa."

"Leave her here, I need someone who can keep up with me." Splinter said curtly.

Karai flinched and hugged herself.

Donnie paused. "Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"I heard you, and I don't have time for this, take the gem and follow me."

Donnie nodded. "I see. Sensi... " He reached into his weapon belt pocket and held three throwing stars between his knuckles. "There's something on your face."

He slashed the stars across Splinter's face, tearing off the artificial fur to reveal the mechanical parts underneath. " This is getting old."

The bot punched a fist at him, He put up a palm to block the blow. An unnecessary gesture, Karai swung her foot upward, kicking the bot off balance.

It staggered a few steps over, then spun, slamming its tail into Donnie and smashing him across the room through the door.

He flew over the railing behind it and plummetted into the sermon hall below. Splintering a group of benches.

Karai grabbed the bot's tail, but one push of its powerful mechanical muscles sent it soaring out the doorway with her dragging behind it.

Donnie groaned and opened his eyes slowly. Only to see a giant pair of gnashing teeth sailing right at him.

Donnie rolled onto his hands and leaped away, gasping as he tripped over a stair before his ninja training kicked in and he threw out his hands and flipped back onto his feet.

The rat-bot landed on all fours and pounced again, dragging a straining Karai after it.

Karai realized that this strategy wasn't working and let go. She pulled out her tanto and flung it. Sending it flying into the rat-bot's neck. This, however, did nothing to slow it down.

Donnie leaped on top of an altar and pulled out his throwing stars. Sending them into the bots synthetic skin and ripping most of it off.

Donnie moved fast, leaping off the altar seconds before the bot smashed it into wreckage.

Karai bounded past, grabbing the Tanto and wrenching it, twisting the Rat-bots head off its neck where it hung, dangling from a small stretch of synthetic skin.

Donnie and Karai backed away from the sparking mess. Donnie heard a clunk from above.

He looked up to see another Rat bot clinging to the ceiling above, and a horde of Karai bots swarming into the building like spiders.

Donnie pulled out the cross he'd tucked into his belt. "You take care of nearly-Headless Nick, I'll lead these other bots into the city and lose them.

"Sounds like a plan to me, just don't take too long, I'll have this finished in a jiffy. Hyaa!" Karai charged the sparking monstrosity before her. Donnie raised the cross above his head and waved it. "You guys want it? Come and get it!"

The second Splinter bot pounced, Donnie slid out of its way and made a break for a dumbwaiter inserted in a wall cavity to his right. It seemed like an odd thing to have in a church, but he didn't complain as he shoved himself into it, hitting the back of it with a hard slam. That must have jostled something in it loose because it shot downward like one of its pulleys had snapped.

Donnie gritted his teeth when the waiter hit the basement floor, sending reverberation through his shell and arms that were really going to smart later when he stopped moving long enough for his adrenaline to tap out.

He shoved himself out of the waiter in time to miss being smashed under the Rat bot's feet when it landed on the waiter, crushing it into the bot's trademark splintered mass.

He darted across the room, eyes skipping over most of the objects in it till they landed on the ceiling.

Most of the basement was below ground, but it had high ceilings, and the top of it was just high enough above-ground that the architect put in a row of small windows to line the top. One of them was open.

Swinging his Bo, he pole vaulted himself up to the window, grabbing hold of and swinging through it in one swift motion.

He was slightly proud of himself for managing to squeeze through such a small space so smoothly.

He chanced a look back and saw the Karai bots swarming into the basement like a horde of ants through the dumbwaiter cavity.

Then he nearly leaped out of his shell as the Rat bot slammed itself into the window, wedging itself up to its elbows.

It flexed its machinery. Stretching tears in the sill and threatening to rip it out.

Donnie fled across the street, pole vaulting across a truck onto a rooftop.

He raced across the building and darted through alleys and squeezed through crevices.

Employing a few gymnastics to get on top of a telephone pole he paused, blending into the shadows.

Nothing moved but the wind, Nothing made a sound except for the wind chime someone had hung on their apartment patio.

His eye caught a movement down the street, but it was just a lady walking her dog, he watched them go, then returned to scanning.

" I should find a way to circle back to Karai." He thought to himself, turning to leave.

He only caught a glimpse of the Rat-bot's tail before it sent him flying through the air.

He pulled his limbs into his shell, crashed through a window, bounced around the inside of the building like a hockey puck then finally slammed into something that stopped him.

Groaning, he flopped out of his shell to try and get his bearings. He was under a desk.

He peeked over to scan his surroundings.

Far in front of him was a smashed store front window, right behind that was a pair of mannequins posing the latest women's fashions.

Behind that was a minefield of shrapnel and clothing. He felt sorry for whoever had to clean up this mess.

The Karai bot started to climb in through the window. Donnie ducked back behind the desk.

He turned around and started to crawl away. "Maybe I can get away without being seen." He thought, hoping fervently.

It wasn't impossible, the coat racks were circular and plentiful, this was as good as a park-full of bushes.

Watching for an opening he rolled out from the desk behind a cardboard cut out of some teen idol he didn't recognize.

Peeking through the space between the teen's side and the crook of their arm, he waited for an opportunity then rolled himself into a rack of clothing.

Getting on all fours, he scurried from rack to rack, curling into his shell whenever a bot came too close.

Scooting onward he spotted a back door.

"Almost there. " He thought to himself. Straightening up, he grabbed a mannequin's hand to pull himself up with, surprisingly sturdy.

He glanced to make sure none of the bots were coming for him, then started for the door.

The mannequin's hand clutched his in a crushing grip. Its head turned around to reveal glowing eyes.

Donnie gasped. For the Bot to actually put on a dress and pose as a mannequin betrayed an ability to adapt that was a fantastic feat of engineering. One that bode really badly for him.

The blue-sundress-and-bonnet-decked bot shoved him backward.

Another bot jumped out of a rack and kicked him into the fist of a hidden third that knocked him into the blow of a hidden fourth.

For a moment he was tossed back and forth, staggering away from one blow only to fall into the path of another.

Gripping his Bo he swept downward, knocking the bots off their feet and making a break for the door.

He broke through it into the stairway, leaping down a floor, he shot through a window and swung himself into the next building. A parking garage.

He ran alongside the cars until he spotted one that was mercifully unlocked and threw himself in it.

The middle seats had been taken out and the back seat was covered in blankets. He yanked the blankets off the seat onto himself and huddles under them. Waiting.

He heard the clicking of the mechanical gears as the bots moved past his hiding place and spread out to search for him.

He didn't move, didn't even breath until they were gone.

He stayed there for a moment longer. Praying that their sensors couldn't pick him up through the metal of the car and they weren't laying in wait to ambush him.

Finally, he pulled the blankets off and dared to look out. Nothing, all quiet.

He exited the car and tiptoes back the way he came. Once out of the garage, he slipped into the sewers and started to run back to the church full pelt.

"I hope that bot didn't give Karai too much trouble."

"Donatello." Splinter said, materializing next to him and stopping him with a palm on the shoulder.

"AAAGH!" Donnie screamed, then planted his Bo to ground himself as he lifted his legs up to triple kick Splinter in the jaw before spinning away. Bouncing off a wall and landing in the water up to his shins. He made a break for it, but was stopped by a large weight slamming into his back and dragging him down.

He fell face first into the water, and struggled, The water was only just high enough to cover his body if he lay down on his stomach, but that was enough to drown him.

Whatever was on his back grabbed him and dragged him up above water.

"Donnie! What has gotten into you? You just kicked Master Splinter!"

"Leo?" Donnie twisted around to see Leo on his back and the other two turtles flanking an irate Master Splinter. "Guys?"

"What the heck was that all about?" Raph asked.

"I would like to know that myself." Splinter said, rubbing his jaw.

"You guys scared the living daylights out of me! I thought you were another Stock-bot."

Splinter's irritation melted away and his face smoothed out. "Ah, I see. I apologize, I didn't mean to give you a scare."

Leo got off him and he stood up shaking the sewer gunk out of his Bo staff.

Leo and the other turtles shared a look and Leo addressed Donnie nervously. "Donnie, we think it's time you came home."

"Home?" Donnie asked, puzzled about what their concept of that could be when they didn't know where he lived. "What do you mean?"

They shared another look and Raph groaned. "Do we have to keep hitting around the bush about this? We know, Donnie. We know who you are. We figured it out the first day we met you."

Mikey walked forward. " Come here Bro." He opened his arms wide and enveloped Donnie in a hug. Donnie hugged him back. "You guys know?"

"Yeah, and we want you back." Leo added.

"I'd like to come back guys, but it's not that simple." He pushed Mikey away gently. "It wasn't my choice for this to happen, but we've got a lot of temporal anomalies popping up and causing trouble, and I promised I'd help contain it."

"We'd like to help." Leo said, even now he still retained that habit of speaking for the team.

"It's too dangerous. You weren't there, you didn't see the things we did, we had to accumulate ourselves to all the new opponents and dangers we came across gradually, if we had to face them thrown at us all at once we would have drowned. I'm the only one here who still remembers what to expect."

"Tell us." Leo pushed.

"I... Oh... There's just too much."

Splinter came forward. "Then answer a question of mine. What do you know of Shredder?"

"Shredder? That guy has always been bad news, Hounded us without rest. I'd have been toast if I'd had to face him by myself."

"By yourself?" Splinter asked, voice strained, " You mean you've faced him with others?"

"Yeah, we've all had a brush with him before, Leo's the only one who's fought him by himself."

Donnie didn't mention the three-month coma that followed that, but he didn't have to. Splinters eyes widened with horror anyway.

"Noo! Noooo!" He gasped, " I would never let that happen."

"This is what I'm trying to say." Donnie rushed to explain. "We weren't- you aren't equipped to handle what I'm going to face, We only got to that place through lots of painful experiences. I can't take you along with me when I go to stop Shredder!"

Splinter froze, A statue poised in a state of petrified horror.

Donnie kicked himself, he had let himself get too complacent. He'd forgotten this wasn't wasn't his father he was talking to. But a temporal echo of the man his father once was.

As mature as the old rat was, he still had a few lessons to learn as well. One of them was trust in his students' abilities.

He should have been able to guess what this Splinter's reaction would be after watching his own Splinter go through the same thing. The terror. Desperation. It had only lasted a few weeks in his own time. But that was time he didn't have to indulge his father with now.

"You don't understand, I've fought him before."

"I do understand! And I'm amazed you managed to come out alive!"

"Look, I know we always thought that Leo would be the one to kill Shredder, and I'm the weakest of the team, But I can do this! I can the family protector for once! Like how Leo and Raph protect us."

"Leonardo! Raphael! Please tell me I didn't ask them to fight Oroku Saki?" Splinter asked, looking mortified.

"Well, not exactly... But it was tacitly implied." Donnie said, folding his arm nervously and looking away. This was more feelings-talk than he was comfortable having after growing up in a home where feelings were usually communicated through koans or low-key violence.

Splinter put one palm on Donnie's shoulder and the other on his cheek.

"Donatello, look at me. I do not know what happened to you in that other timeline. But I would NEVER ask this of you."

"But so much happened in there, I... Oh.. You wouldn't understand."

Donatello I am begging you to understand. Whatever mistakes I've made, I'm sure I never intended to give the impression-"

Donnie shoved him away. "No! You don't understand! How could you? You aren't even him! You're just an echo of the person he used to be. I need to do this, Its the only way I'll get them back!"

He turned and ran, tears streaming down the side of his face. What was he thinking? They weren't coming back. They weren't what was out of place. He was the thing out of place.

He caught a sliver of movement out of the corner of his eye from another tunnel, and managed to twist out of the way just in time to avoid the second Splinter's claws.

The animatronics claws missed him and scratched a deep etch into a sewer wall, tearing off the synthetic fur on its hands.

It lunged and he held up his Bo to block its paws, so it bit the stick in half.

He yanked the Bo back and tried to hit it with his Bo halves like they were batons.

The Bo's hit Splinter-bot's palms with a smack and came to a standstill.

The rat-bots tail slammed him into a wall, and before he could get back up it wrapped around his neck and dragged him underwater.

He flailed and gagged, sucking a mouthful of fetid water.

Then the tail jerked him sideways, something had slammed into the Rat bot, dragging it away from him.

He pushed himself out of the water, coughing and sputtering. To his left, Splinter attacked his doppelganger. "I. am. sick. to. death. of. seeing. myself. attack. my. son." Splinter said, emphasizing each word with a blow that took off a shred of synthetic skin and sent sparks flying.

He heard sparking and sputtering coming from the third tunnel and let his eyes drift over to the source.

The Karai bots were making their way into the tunnels.

They spotted him and charged.

One of them leaped to strike him head-on.

He groped around the fetid water, fumbling for his Bo halves.

Raph flew past him, impaling the bot on his Sais.

Mikey wrapped three of them in a tight bind with his chain so Leo could fly by and dispatch them with a swipe.

He found his Bos and straightened up into a defensive position.

The dressed-up Karai bot lurched out of the water catching him by surprise.

"I knew that adaptability feature was going to cause me trouble." He thought.

It snatched the cross from his belt and kicked him in the stomach, winding him.

Before he could catch his breath it swung another kick his way, smashing him into the wall.

It dashed away from the melee, past Splinter and through the tunnels.

He sucked in a breath as best he could and followed it. sliding around the chaos and slipping into the tunnel after it.

(scene break)

Karai bounded up the side of the church, leaping high she landed on the large church bell and rocked it back and forth. Throwing a dagger at the top she cut the cord holding it in place and rode it as it flung away from the church, smashing through the Splinter bot and careening down toward the street.

(scene break)

Leo pushed forward advancing on the Bot, It pushed back.

It was really strange, fighting something who resembled a real girl he'd met just a few hours ago. A girl who could be his sister. The world had managed to get really strange in just a matter of days.

The Karai bot pressed into him- metal muscles vs mutant strength. He got impatient and swept its legs out from underneath it before plunging his blade into its chest.

"Hey give that back! "

Donnie bolted down a tunnel after another bot. Leo's heart beat sped up. he turned to chase the other turtle. "Don, Wait!"

Leo only made it to Master Splinter before something heavy smashed through the ceiling of the tunnel, blocking half the tunnel with its bulk and collapsing the other half under rubble.

"NOO!" Splinter cried. He stopped in his grief just long enough for the Bot to make a lunge for him.

Leo intercepted it and sliced it in two.

Splinter spotted a sewer grate embedded in the rubble, he darted over and grasped the bars.

"Donatello, Donatello!"

Donnie appeared on the other side of the grate. "I'm *cough* fine. But the bot got away."

"Stay there, I'm ordering you, I'll find a way around." Splinter said firmly.

Donnie seemed to wilt under his gaze. "But Sensi."

"Wooo!"

They heard something hit the side of the bell then slide down. Karai's face appeared on the other side of the grate next to Donnie.

"Hey Donatello, did you miss me?"

"Karai! you're ok!" Donnie exclaimed, both happy to see her and embarrassed that he'd dwaddled so long getting back to her.

"Where's the cross?" Straight to the point that one.

"A Karai bot wearing a blue sundress ran away with it."

"That's great! We can follow them right to Stockman!" She grabbed his wrist and ran along the tunnel.

Leo started, he searched his mind fervently for something to say to stop them. Splinter grasped the bars tighter. "MIWA!"

Karai stopped, jerking Donnie to a stop behind her. She looked back and met the despairing eyes of her father. She seemed hurt to see him like that. But not enough to stop, she turned away and continued running.

"No! MIWA!" Gritting his teeth and bracing himself, Splinter started pushing up against the grate. Trying to lift it out of the way.

Splinter managed to pull it up a foot. Knowing an opening when he saw it, Leo pressed down on his stomach and shoved himself through the opening, Raph and Mikey followed suit.

Splinter continued to try to pull the grate out of the way, the rubble enclosing the grate began to crumble and slide forward in a small avalanche, obscuring him from their view.

"Sensi!" Leo called back.

"I'm fine! go! stop them! I'll find another way around!"

Leo nodded, though he knew his master couldn't see, and turned to lead his Brothers through the tunnels.

(end chapter)

When I first read this chapter I got to the part where Donnie held three throwing stars between his fingers and thought to myself. Wait... How does a guy with three fingers hold that many throwing stars between them. Since I know I've seen Donnie hold more than two throwing star at once before so I re-watched the show. It turns out he holds multiple stars by holding more than one between each finger. Clever animators.

Sss

PCs take naps occasionally. These idle cycles can be used for charity.

World community grid. Org can hook your computer up to a grid, your spare computing power can help researchers access data that helps them cure diseases. With your help projects expected to be completed in five years can be done in one.