Author's Note: Here we have a pretty long chapter, since I wanted to cover Battle for New York, but it should still be entertaining nonetheless! We'll certainly have some more characters returning, so that's something to look forward to, along with some Donnie and Cheyloe moments! At this moment, I would like to address a recent anon who left a pretty passive-aggressive review on my last chapter. I'm not doing this because I can't handle criticism; if you find something I need to improve on, please tell me because I want to improve and keep improving on areas.
Anyway, to this anon...I don't believe you when you said you read the story. If you actually read the story, you would've caught onto moments where Donnie actually does comfort the others. And you know what? He's going to be doing even more of that, because the story's not over yet! And if you bothered to read my Author's Notes, you would've read that I'll be adding missing pieces and stuff on the other characters in my story 'Turtle Dove Tidbits'. I don't have proof, but I've seen some other anonymous reviews on other Donnie-centric stories where you basically insult the author's writing in a passive-aggressive way because the choice of words is VERY similar. Once again, I don't have proof because you cleverly used the guest option. There's a difference between actual constructive criticism and just being insulting and passive-aggressive. So if I have a bias towards Donnie, you clearly have a bias AGAINST Donnie, because I've seen similar reviews ONLY on Donnie-centric stories. So you either skimmed over the story, or didn't read it at all.
Anyway, that rant's over, so enjoy the story!
Chapter 28: Reclaiming What Was Lost
Donatello wasn't exactly a fan of instant coffee. To him, the instant coffee that came in the plastic containers or small tins tasted like salt and bleach. He couldn't afford to be picky right now, as this type of coffee was the only kind available in the abandoned pizzeria's kitchen, along with some stale powdered creamer. He could smell a pizza in the nearby oven, courtesy of Michelangelo, and saw Leonardo and Raphael watching the small television brought from the lair. In other words, time to rest after everything that happened this week…and time to catch up on things with Cheyloe.
"Donnie, you're not still disappointed your retromutagen didn't work on Karai, are you?" The brunette asked, staring at him from her own cup of coffee.
The genius turtle shook his head, begrudgingly taking a sip of his drink. "Not really. I figured it wouldn't work, since she's considered a 'special' mutant." He glanced over at Leo and added, "I just hope she didn't get captured by those crazy new mutants."
"New mutants…you mean those guys Zeck and Steranko, right? Wait, Mikey now calls them Bebop and Rocksteady." Chey corrected herself. "And here I thought guys like that Rahzar and Fishface were enough of a threat to us."
She was correct in that statement. When they first tracked down the still-mutated Karai across the city, the turtles found she was also pursued by Anton Zeck and Ivan Steranko; maybe they wanted to use her as a bargaining chip against Shredder after that Kuro Kabuto incident. Then, when Donnie created enough retromutagen for three doses, they once again attempted to find the kunoichi when they ran into the duo again…only to find them mutated into a humanoid warthog and humanoid rhinoceros. After everyone except Leo and Mikey got captured, they had a final showdown with Bebop and Rocksteady on Coney Island's amusement park, with the turtles coming out on top.
Unfortunately, as he feared, the retromutagen didn't work on Karai, and she used what humanity she had left to tell the goodbye. Needless to say, the one most devastated was Leonardo, and they all went back to the pizzeria without saying much. Of course, that devastation passed on to Splinter, and no one said anything for the rest of the night. One thing was for certain in Donnie's case…talking to Cheyloe almost always helped him feel better.
"Even if the retromutagen doesn't work on Karai, that doesn't mean it won't work on the Kraangitized people of New York." Donnie concluded with narrowed auburn eyes. "We just have to figure out where they've went to and use it on them…then we can get rid of the Kraang."
The turtle paused when he felt a slightly-calloused hand rest on top of his, causing him to look up and into Chey's blue-green eyes. Thanks to April and a pair of scissors they fetched from the lair, her hair returned to its short length, apart from the bangs on her right side. She also started putting weight back on; she lost too much during all those months, by his conclusion. Staring into her eyes and the face he missed for all those months made him warm up inside, even though it felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest.
"I have faith in you, Donnie." Chey assured, her voice soft. "You'll get everyone back…I held onto that believe for close to five months and I still have that belief now." Her gaze suddenly shifted in Leo's direction, watching him sitting with his knees to his plastron. "I hate seeing Leo like this…Splinter, too. It's bad enough Karai's mutated, but knowing that her mind's going along with it…" She suddenly cleared her throat and forced a smile. "Why don't we talk about something that'll lift our spirits? So, did you and April get closer up at that farmhouse?"
Chuckling at the wink she gave and playfully shoving her shoulder, Donnie replied, "Well, we did get closer, it's just not in the way you think. Cheyloe, I, uh…I ended my pursuit of April. I thought about what you told me the time we met, and I made the decision to not try and woo her anymore."
The brunette almost dropped her cup at that declaration. "D-Donnie, when I said that, I never meant for you to quit on your crush. I just wanted you to look at it from a different angle and keep from getting hurt, that's all. I-I just…"
"Whoa, wait Cheyloe. You didn't totally influence my decision…you made me look at the situation differently." The purple-masked turtle explained. "All this time I've pursued her, I never really took her feelings into consideration or thought of what was in her best interest. An incident happened, and it made me realize I cared more about the strong friendship we have instead of a silly crush. So…we're going to work on being the best friends we can be, and I'm sticking with my decision."
Chey tried to think of an argument, still feeling guilty for possibly destroying Donnie's hopes of love in the future, but came up with nothing that would work. "Donnie…if this decision makes you happy, then I shouldn't complain. Whoever it is that's meant to be with you, I believe you'll find them. Maybe not now, but someday."
"Thanks, Chey. Well, I should probably get back to work on that new batch of retromutagen." As he got up from the table, he leaned forward and gave the brunette a hug around her shoulders. "…I missed talking with you so much."
"…Me too." She replied quietly, returning the embrace. "It's so good to have you guys back…"
Once the genius turtle disappeared to the back room, aka his makeshift lab, Cheyloe gathered up the cups and went to go wash them. As she got ready to run hot water and grab the dish detergent, a presence behind her made her stop and curl her nose. "Raphael, when was the last time you had a shower?"
"What…what makes ya think I smell that bad?" Once he saw her tap her nose, his expression relaxed. Right…superhuman sense of smell. "A-Anyway, uh, well…thanks for talkin' with Donnie. It wasn't easy for 'im up at th' farmhouse, ya know? But I'm sure he told ya all about it…and all the stuff with Leo bein' depressed about 'is knee, me takin' up the mantle of leader, and all the crazy mutants we saw."
"Honestly, I wouldn't be here talking to him if it wasn't for the guy that saved me." Chey admitted, turning in the red-masked turtle's direction. "I was with Karai in the sewers, and we got ambushed by those Kraang or whatever they're called. Karai got away, but I got shot…then I was saved by another mutant. I don't know if you guys know him, but he wasn't as bad as I thought he was…"
"Was?" Raph repeated, clearly confused. "Wait, big and bluish? He, uh, didn't happen ta have a spiky shell and wear a black mask, did he?"
"Why do you ask?"
"N-No reason!" Raph sputtered as he shuffled his way to the back room of the pizzeria. "I'm gonna go check up on Donnie…just don't stay up too late, okay? Yer the nurse, after all."
One the red-masked turtle disappeared, Cheyloe decided to make herself comfortable on the couch in the middle of the diner, both to watch the others and to be alone with her thoughts. She still felt, to put it lightly, overwhelmed over having Donatello and his brothers back in the deserted city, along with it being a miracle that she could be with them again. Yet she knew the family wasn't whole…Karai remained at-large and April and Casey still needed their families. Plus, Anna and Kaitlyn were both alive and well, or mutated with the rest of the New York populace. Finally, why did Raph know those details about the mutant that found her in the sewers? It could wait until morning, so maybe she could help Mikey in the kitchen.
Wait…where did Mikey go? She saw him finishing up on that pizza, then going into the back room where Donnie had his lab and-
Uh-oh.
Donatello truly believed that his baby brother ruined months of hard work tonight. After taking a nap, he awoke to find Mikey and Ice Cream Kitty messing with his chemicals and intending to add their bizarre concoction to his retromutagen. Despite his best efforts, a drop of the blue mixture landed in the antidote, potentially ruining it. However, beyond all belief, Mikey's concoction actually perfected the retromutagen. Too bad the dingbat couldn't remember the exact chemicals he added in the first place, which to Donnie made it feel like a total butt-pull. He would overlook it for now, as the true focus had to be on storming Dimension X, rescuing the mutated citizens, and putting the Kraang back where they belonged. He thought it would be a simple mission; he just had to get to his newly-made Turtle Blimp and go from there.
He didn't count on having to rescue a human couple from a group of Kraang. He also didn't expect to see who came to their rescue.
The Kraang had them outnumbered, ordering them to surrender, but Leo decided they would fight to the death. Even with the odds against them, they'd still go down trying. Without warning, what looked like a loaf of bread fell in front of the Kraang, followed by…was that Pigeon Pete? The pigeon mutant sported some sort of army helmet and began tackling the Kraang Droids to the ground. The surprises just kept coming, too, because the next one on the scene turned out to be the one and only Leatherhead, bashing a few droids together like a wild animal. While the alligator busied himself with tearing the alien robots apart, Donnie saw what looked like the long-lost Dr. Rockwell, aka Monkey Brains, levitating on the scene. The once-human-monkey sported an odd helmet and cuffs, using them to send psionic blasts at the aliens.
But the one that topped them all…was the arrival of Slash.
Donnie still felt sore from the time he got attacked by Raph's pet-turned-monstrous-mutant, even when the latter made amends during the Newtralizer incident. However, seeing Leatherhead, Dr. Rockwell, and even Pigeon Pete by his side and fighting the Kraang blew his mind; what was Slash up to this time? Once the aliens were sent running, the turtles expected the other mutants to somehow turn on them…instead, Slash approached them like they were long-lost family members, along with the other mutants. Whatever conversation they intended to have, it ended up being taken to the rooftops. So far, the only one visibly on-edge about the whole deal was Leonardo, and perhaps for good reason, too.
"Raphael! It's good to see you again, brother!" Slash greeted, bumping fists with the red-masked turtle before addressing the others. "The rest of you, too. I'd like you to meet my team, dedicated to fighting the Kraang scourge: The Mighty Mutantimals! You've already met my second-in-command."
"Leatherhead!" Michelangelo cheered, running to the alligator and hugging him.
The alligator chuckled, returning the embrace as gently as his massive arms could allow. "It's good to see you too, my friend…all of you."
Donnie stared over at Dr. Rockwell, who busied himself with picking bugs off his arm for consumption. The mutant chimp finally looked over and spoke in an annoyed drawl, "And what, dear boy, are you staring at?"
"…Dr. Rockwell?"
"Indeed." The former doctor confirmed, bugging his eyes out for emphasis. "The Kraang experimented on me, giving me psychic powers and accidentally restoring my vast intellect." Rockwell paused before flashing an amused smirk and glancing at his leader. "It seems as though he's gotten giddy over seeing our medic again. I'm surprised his thoughts aren't revolving around that red-headed girl like usual."
"Medic?" Donnie questioned, his eyes slowly lighting up at the realization. "Wait, could you be talking about-"
"And lastly, our team spy: Pigeon Pete!" Slash stated, showing off the mutant pigeon as the latter attempted to look tough. "He also operates as a decoy when the job's needed."
Leo offered an indignant snort and crossed his arms. "Decoy? Spy? More like bait, if you ask me."
"Uh, Leo? Pot, kettle, black." Donnie sniped before he turned his attention back to the Mutanimals. He honestly lost count of how many times the blue-masked turtle used him and Mikey as bait for the Kraang or Foot. "So wait, tell me about this medic you have, is she-"
"Well, if we're going to share that information with you, you'll have to come and meet our benefactor first." Slash made clear, rolling his eyes at Donnie's insistence. "Still good at pestering for info as usual, aren't you, Donatello? Never ceases to amaze me…"
The lead turtle suddenly stepped forward. "Just a minute, Slash…why should we even trust you? You tried to take us all out in order to get Raph on your side! You even tried to strangle Donnie and left him out of commission AND missing for a week! Then you teamed up with Newtralizer and nearly nuked part of New York!"
"It wasn't my fault!" The monstrous turtle retorted as he clutched his head. "It had to be the mutagen…it messed with my head, and made me do things I still regret."
Leo wasn't fully convinced, and the others knew that. Still, they didn't have much of a choice but to trust Slash, since they both had a common enemy in the Kraang. Plus, if they wanted him and his brothers to meet this 'benefactor' so bad, then it was possible the benefactor was someone they were acquainted with. Clearly, Donnie really wanted to confirm the identity of the 'medic', but as he opened his mouth to reply, he thought he felt an ominous presence behind them. Turning around, there was nothing, so the genius turtle figured his nerves were just frazzled from taking in this recent development. Donnie ended up rolling his eyes at both the glares exchanged between Leo and Slash along with the smugness emanating from Dr. Rockwell; and people thought HE was smug. Once this whole Kraang mess was dealt with properly, he'd take that monkey down a peg or two in the intellect department.
Shame that he didn't realize his feelings about an ominous presence were correct, because right behind the turtles and Mutanimals was a lone Kraang spy drone.
It took some time for travel, as they all had to be careful to avoid the droids and MOUSERS, but the Mutanimals ushered the puzzled turtles into a dark, abandoned warehouse on the lower side of town. Something didn't settle with them; was this actually a trap and the mutants worked for the Kraang the whole time? If that were true with Slash and Leatherhead, Raph and Mikey would be utterly devastated. Watching the Mutanimals scatter didn't help alleviate that suspicion in the least, and the turtles found a bright light shining upon them, along with a silhouette in the middle of it. They expected maybe one of those dead-faced human Kraang Droids ambushing them, but instead, they saw a face long-absent from their eyes.
"…Kurtzman?" Leo asked in bewilderment.
"Greetings, Turtles! Long time, no see!" The investigative reporter welcomed, ushering them closer.
"But…you're not mutated!" The blue-masked turtle gaped. "How did you…"
Kurtzman held his hand up, indicating to Leo to be quiet and let him explain. "When this invasion started, I tried looking for the four of you, but all of you were gone. I was almost captured and mutated, but thanks to the leader of these noble warriors, I escaped."
Leo crossed his arms and sneered. "I wouldn't exactly call the leader 'noble'."
Before Slash could start an argument with whom he considered his rival, the reporter kept on talking. "He wasn't alone, though. He came from the sewers holding a young woman who barely survived a Kraang attack. Poor girl…already had broken bones and got shot in the stomach, too. We had limited resources, but once the other Mutanimals came along and helped out, she got back on her feet and agreed to help us."
"Tell me something, Kurtzman." Donnie piped up. "Does this young woman happened to be named Cheyloe?"
"Actually, yes." Kurtzman nodded. "Cheyloe Doggett, a nurse at the local hospital. And a superhuman, to boot! So far, we haven't been able to locate the other two superhumans…Anna Wells and Kaitlyn Leisman. But right now, getting rid of the Kraang is top priority…because right now, they're planning something BIG."
"And how big are we talkin'?" Raph questioned. "Like another-invasion-big?"
Rockwell shook his head. "No, you ruffian! It's far, far worse than their invasion of New York. You might as well show them the evidence, Kurtzman."
At that, Kurtzman pulled out a remote and aimed it at a slide projector, turning it on and flashing a set of pictures on the wall. All of them, save for one with some strange lizard woman, centered on a Kraang-styled missile, but what that missile had in it remained a mystery to the turtles. "The Kraang are planning on launching a mutagen missile tonight. It has enough mutagen inside of it to mutate the world three times over, and they'll be launching it from Bleaker. The Mutanimals planned on stopping the missile, but we would need more man-I mean, mutant power to pull it off. One team needs to stop the Kraang guarding the control pad, and another needs to hack into the missile and send it into the sun…so that's where you come in, Turtles."
"Wait, what?" The lead turtle spouted. "Okay, I'm all for stopping the Kraang from mutating the rest of the world, but I'm not working alongside a psychotic killer like him." He pointed over to Slash to emphasize his point.
"I'm no longer like that, Leonardo!" Slash argued, clenching his hands into fists. "Why can't you accept that people can change!?"
"Leo, dude, please…" Mikey begged. "Don't be like that…we can trust the Mutanimals, right guys? Leatherhead trusts him, so we can, too!"
"Yeah Leo, lay off 'a Slash!" Raph retorted forcefully. "Hey, you were the one who was adamant Karai could change, right? Why can't ya make an exception for Slash!? Donnie, say yer piece, too!"
As the genius turtle opened his mouth to reply, a loud booming noise kept him from saying his side of the argument and either backing up or turning against Leo. To their horror, that boom turned out to be caused by a group of Kraang Droids; how did they even track them here? Donnie froze for a split-second when he made the connection with that bad feeling earlier; they WERE being followed!
"Kraang is here to capture the ones known as the Turtles, the ones known as the Mighty Mutanimals, and the one known as Jack Kurtzman."
"They found us!" Slash roared, now wielding his massive mace. "Mutanimals, attack!"
Not wanting to be outdone by Slash and to prove himself right, Leo pointed a katana at the aliens and cried out, "Turtles, let's go!"
Both the Turtles and Mutanimals engaged with the alien foes, this time a challenge thanks to the inclusion of the ape-like Biotroids. Great, why don't they just send a Kraathatrogon with them too, while they're at it? Nevertheless, both groups of mutants put up a good fight against the aliens while working to shield Kurtzman and whatever info they needed on the latest Kraang plot. The man in question went over to his desk and frantically went to grab what looked like a flash drive when a stray blast from a Kraang Droid hit him, sending him down quick.
"KURTZMAN!" All mutants shouted in horror.
The Kraang went too far, as they did many times before, and now they would pay. At least Leo and Slash had something in common for once when they both charged at the aliens in a fury. The other turtles and mutants also put a brutal beat-down on all the aliens, even the Biotroids. Just before the remaining Kraang were ready to return the favor, with the use of a grenade-like object in one droid's hand, all were blown away by part of the warehouse wall being thrown on top of them. The Kraang inside the crushed suits wouldn't survive, but that didn't seem to matter to the mutants and whoever threw the wall.
"Let me tell ya one thing…I hate aliens."
Donnie's eyes instantly lit up at the voice. Sure enough, once the dust cleared, their stood none-other than Anna and Kaitlyn, the latter cracking her knuckles and sneering. Both looked like they'd seen better days, but better that than the two being Kraangitized, as far as the Turtles were concerned. The genius turtle stepped closer and rubbed his eyes in bewilderment. "Anna, Kaitlyn, you're okay! But…how'd you know we were here?"
The dirty-blonde jerked her thumb at the ponytailed brunette. "Anna scoped all of ya out with that brain of 'ers."
"A fellow telepath, I see." Rockwell mused, scratching his chin. "And I thought the young redhead was the only one capable of such a feat."
"We can hear explanations later!" Leo interrupted, going over to pick up the fallen Kurtzman and the mysterious flash drive. "We've got to get Kurtzman some medical help and FAST!"
"…How do you think they're doing?"
Splinter looked up from his seat on the floor and laid his eyes on April. The redhead sat on the couch and fidgeted her finger in her lap, while Casey stood staring outside the window and Cheyloe readied her first-aid supplies for the worst. So far, the Turtles had been gone for close to an hour, and that meant an hour without a phone call or a knock on the back door. The rat got up and walked to the window with his arms behind his back. "I trust that they are all right, April. We must have faith in them to accomplish their mission. I believe that they are just fine, my child."
The reassurance brought a half-smile to April's face, but it didn't exactly reassure her. She couldn't help but be worried about the guys storming Dimension X by themselves, especially with the tales they told about that godforsaken place. Just when she was on the verge of going deep in thought again, the back door swung open and hushed voices could be heard.
"Is everyone all right!?" Chey asked, rushing to the door. She stopped when she saw her best friends trailing behind the Turtles, and sprung forward to hug the both of them. "Anna! Kaitlyn! You're okay!" Once the hug ended, she noticed the injured Kurtzman in Slash's hold. "Slash? What happened to Mr. Kurtzman!?"
"He got shot by the Kraang." The behemoth turtle murmured, setting the man on the sofa once it was cleared. "Don't worry, the Kraang didn't follow us here…Doc and yer friend made sure of that."
The brunette immediately went in to check on Kurtzman's wounds when she noticed something hidden in his closed fist. She gently parted his fingers and found the mysterious flash drive object, pulling it out and holding it up. "Wonder what this is?"
"It's…it contains details of the Kraang's mutagen missile plot…and a way to get into Dimension X from TCRI." Kurtzman breathed out, his eyes half-closed. "All of you…just put aside your differences so New York and its people…can be saved. I'm…we're counting on you…Turtles and Mutanimals."
Once the man finally passed out, Cheyloe sighed and reached for her first-aid kit. "You heard him…get going and stop the Kraang once and for all." She all but commanded. "I don't know what's been going on between you guys, but cut any crap and do what's important: getting New York and the citizens back. Do I make myself clear?" She noticed Leo and Slash exchanging glares and repeated, "I said, do I make myself clear?"
"Fine." Leo answered, his tone much more hostile than he intended. "But you still don't have my trust, Slash…remember that."
Donnie took the flash drive from the brunette and grimaced when he saw his brother and the behemoth turtle still glaring. "I'm sorry about that, Cheyloe…I don't know if they'll stop. Rockwell's smug, but even we're not that bad."
"I guess Leo's still mad at Slash for what he did to you and the others…but hopefully saving New York can clear things up." She suddenly chuckled and added, "I can understand him, though. I wasn't exactly too friendly with Slash when I met him in the sewers."
"How bad was it?" The genius turtle dared to ask.
Putting on a nervous smile, the brunette answered, "I tried to slice his face open."
The mission to stop the missile…proved to be a success. Unfortunately for the Turtles and Mutanimals, one of their opponents turned out to be the nefarious Kraang Subprime, who first discovered the lair. He still pranced around in that Irma suit like he didn't have a care in the world, and he still had that stuck-up, 'I'm always going to win' attitude. Fortunately, the mutants took him down a peg or two, and now the Turtles were secure in Dimension X while the Mutanimals took TCRI. Donatello made sure they had their homemade oxygen converters on hand, and Michelangelo took the extra step of assuming his 'savage' attire. But now came the hard part…how would they actually manage to use the retromutagen on all the enslaved New York populace at once?
The answer came from an unexpected source: another Technodrome.
To get to said Technodrome required the use of a Stealth Ship, and none of the Turtles sans Mikey had the know-how to pilot such a craft, to Donnie's chagrin. Of course, he had to worry about encountering any more Kraang, Kraathatrogons, and other Dimension X creatures more than Mikey one-upping him in the tech department; he would attempt to decode his bizarre know-how once everything was done. Next would be plugging the retromutagen into the mutagen supply present in the ship, bathing the New York denizens in it, and teleporting them back home in accordance to the plan he and Rockwell formulated. As long as the monkey kept up his part of the plan, they were good to go.
"Got that mutagen plugged in, Donnie?" Leo asked as he and Raph attempted to steer the Technodrome."
"Give me just a sec, Leo! I just have to configure the ship to accept the retromutagen…" Once the genius turtle plugged the tube of antidote into the ship and pressed a few keys…he got the results he didn't want: the ship on the verge of internal collapse. He placed his hands on the side of his head and shouted, "Oh no…no, no, no, no! Come on, work! Why won't it work!?"
Donnie suddenly found himself shoved away from the keyboard by none-other than Mikey. "Step aside, bro! I got this!" That prompted the freckled turtle to press random keys on the bizarre keyboard like a child pretending to type. While his brother attempted to tell him to stop with the foolishness, the ship suddenly lurched, and the mutagen suddenly converted into retromutagen with ease. "Ta-da!"
"Show off…" The purple-masked turtle mumbled. "It's ready guys, start aiming for the people!"
"Let's just hope the Mutanimals have that teleportation stuff ready!" Raph grunted, aiming the retromutagen blaster at an island of mutated people. "They won't last long without oxygen!"
"I know that, Raph! Rockwell hasn't been able to contact me yet, so they're probably dealing with the Kr-" He stopped mid-sentence when a circular saw burst through the sealed doors, revealing a cackling Kraang Subprime on the other side; when did this guy ever quit? "Oh, sewer apples."
"You think you puny Turtles can outmatch and outrun Kraang Subprime? Well THINK AGAIN!" The scarred Kraang burst through the door with a few Kraang Droids at each side of his damaged Irma suit. "Those troops would've destroyed you if it hadn't been for those irritating Anomalies!"
"Anomalies?" Leo asked, pulling out his swords to engage the aliens. "Wait, do you mean superhumans?"
As Donnie and Raph went to work on helping the mutated citizens return to normal, Leo and Mikey took the liberty of taking on Kraang Subprime and his lackeys. The scarred alien took a swing at the lead turtle and snarled out, "No, I mean used car salesmen! Of course I mean superhumans, you louse! Those mutation accidents have been a thorn in the side of myself and Kraang Prime for YEARS! Fortunately for us, the regular humans are so stupidly scared of them, they got rid of most of them!"
That statement seemed to rile the genius turtle up, prompting him to break away from the keyboard and use his Bo staff to take a swing at Subprime. "Don't you DARE say that! They just want to live normal lives like everyone else, not be treated like lepers!"
"Why so sensitive about the Anomalies, terrapin?" The scarred alien taunted, blocking one of Donnie's blows as Mikey handled the keyboard in the background. "Feel sorry for them because they're freaks like YOU?"
While the lead turtle and genius turtle kept up the fight against Subprime and knocked away his goons, the temperamental turtle and freckled turtle busied themselves aiming the retromutagen blaster at the islands of people forced into slave labor. Closing one eye, Raph pressed the buttons on the steering controls, blasting and bathing the citizens with the precious antidote. The confused people looked around before realizing they couldn't breathe, causing them to kneel on the ground and try to conserve whatever air they had in their lungs. Donnie took notice of this and broke away from the fight to communicate with Rockwell.
"Dr. Rockwell, are you there!?" He asked, staring at the T-Phone screen. "We've got the first group of humans de-mutated! Get that teleporter working NOW!"
The mutant monkey appeared on the static-y screen, missing his helmet. "I'm here, Donatello! We had a small setback, but I'm activating the teleporter now! Just focus on curing the rest of the captured humans, my boy!"
"Got it!" He put his T-Phone back in his belt and turned to Raph and Mikey. "Keep at it, guys! We'll hold Subprime back! Don't let up!"
"Ya don't have ta remind us, Brainiac!" Raph grunted, being jerked around by the ruckus going on in the ship as he focused on the next island of humans. "Just be a little gentle, all right!?"
"Dude that sounded weird the way you said it." Mikey teased, waggling his eyebrows before being shoved away.
The second and third islands were bathed with the precious retromutagen, and the fully-restored humans struggled to breathe before light engulfed them one-by-one, taking them out of the accursed Dimension X. Kraang Subprime wouldn't let up, despite being on the verge of defeat, and he managed to get the Turtles huddled together while they finished de-mutating the humans. Finally, he had them in his hold and they would be struck down once and for all. But just as he swung his circular saw down onto them, the terrapins found themselves engulfed in the same light and disappearing, leaving the scarred alien to suffer the crashing of the Technodrome into a nearby landmass.
Back in New York, the Kraang Droids patrolling the city stood stunned as the citizens of New York appeared in front of them. They all prepared to shoot and recapture the stunned humans, but found themselves teleported back to Dimension X, more than likely not able to return to Earth for a long time. The people also found the power in the city steadily restoring itself to life, causing them to cheer in jubilee at being back home safe and sound. The Turtles found themselves landing on a random rooftop and witnessing the humans celebrating…all of them unaware of who exactly saved them.
Down below, April and Casey walked outside of the pizzeria with the now-recovered Kurtzman in tow. The redhead glanced around at the rescued denizens when she felt a familiar and longed-for presence nearby, prompting her to turn around and see who it was. Right there, standing on the sidewalk, was her father, finally returned to normal and returned to HER.
"Dad?" She whispered out, breaking out into a smile and running towards Kirby. "DAD!"
Watching April embracing her father after he'd been torn from her twice, Casey couldn't help but smile at the scene. Now it was time for him to go find his dad and little sister and make sure they were okay. If his mom could see all of this, despite him not being able to do much with this, she'd still be proud of him. Maybe not proud of his vigilante doings, but at least proud of helping his friends save New York.
"I can't believe we actually did it…" Donnie spoke in awe. "The plan actually worked…we saved New York!"
"But what about the Mutanimals?" Leo questioned as his ocean-blue eyes searched the rooftops.
"What about us?"
The Turtles turned around to see the Mighty Mutanimals themselves arriving on the scene, looking triumphant and relieved that the mission succeeded. Michelangelo instantly went over to embrace Leatherhead, and Donatello and Rockwell congratulated each other on their plan going off without much of a hitch. Raphael complimented Pigeon Pete on actually being a good member of the team, and Leonardo took the moment to approach Slash.
"Slash…" Leo began, clearing his throat. "I should've had more faith in you. You actually have changed…I just hope that you can accept this knuckleheaded turtle's apology for doubting you."
"Well, I did learn from the best." Slash complimented in a teasing tone, but quickly turned serious when he added, "And that's you, Leonardo. You inspired me to make this team and lead them to the best of my abilities."
The two groups suddenly heard someone climbing onto the rooftop, and they looked to see Cheyloe, Anna, and Kaitlyn coming up and running towards them. "You guys did it!" Chey cheered excitedly, excitedly grabbing Donnie's hands. "I knew you could do it, I just knew it!"
"New York is restored…I hope it stays that way for a long time." Anna sighed, staring at the people below in solace. "I hope I never see another one of those disgusting aliens for the rest of my life."
Kaitlyn crossed her arms and flashed a satisfied smirk. "Ya did good…all of ya. New York's back ta normal, and it'd better stay that way, got it? Now, how 'bout I fix ya a full-course meal as a reward for riskin' yer butts?"
Mikey immediately whooped at the idea, pumping his fist in the air and asking, "A full-course meal? Can we have pizza and cheesecake in it, too!? You make the best cheesecake in the world, so you gotta make it!" He stopped himself from getting more excited and stated, "But first, we gotta give a big Booyakasha for winning!"
Despite how ridiculous it sounded, none of them were going to pass up the chance to do a victory shout, not even the Mutanimals and superhumans. All of them raised their fists in the air before giving a loud cry.
"BOOYAKASHA!"
Donnie shared in the victory cry, but froze a second later when he felt something touch upon his cheek. That something turned out to be Cheyloe's lips touching his cheek in the form of a congratulatory kiss. She kissed him…she actually kissed him on the cheek. The stunned turtle placed his hand to his now-warm cheek, blissfully unaware of the warm smile the brunette gave him. This wasn't even like the kisses April gave him on the cheek…this was totally different, and totally awesome.
"Best…victory…EVER."
So now we're finally getting back to some normality, aren't we? The next chapter will have some Donnie and Casey bonding, and some April and Chey bonding, while Donnie learns more details about the mysterious boy he encountered on his vision quest. So...stay tuned!
