Destruction of Turtle Trust Ch.29 - REVISED

All TMNT characters are © Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman.
Author Note: Older : See Chapter 1. Latest Story Summery and Cast Info: See Chapter 23.
Please Read and Review what your thoughts are for this story/chapter! Lots of action going on in this chapter!
Note: See the Art on my DA site called 'TMNT Draco and 3 Turtles' to see how the adult Turtles would look like in this story. There's mature content due to the reality issues I often put in my stories, so it's not really for the little kiddies out there. The swearing is no longer censored! Please check out my main site at www. cpbunnyart. com (remove the spaces) for the artwork of my fanfics & original stories! Enjoy! (( alaer. deviantart. com (remove the spaces) is being updated with new art/stories and still has plenty of my old art and stories))

Destruction of Turtle Trust

Karai was meditating in her private chambers, trying to ignore the raging thunderstorm outside her windows. When the lights went out, she became annoyed. All these distractions were bothersome to her.

When the generators didn't kick in, Karai felt uneasy. She went to her desk to retrieve a flashlight. This had better not be some sort of an attack from her enemies!

She figured it probably was and reached for the katanas strapped to her back. She unsheathed one blade and waited. Whoever it was, they were going to be sorry for interrupting her meditation.

After being 'dumped' by her beloved Leonardo, Karai was NOT in high spirits. She kept blaming herself for her short comings and the only way to get any peace was to meditate. Now, she couldn't even do that thanks to whoever was attempting to break in.

She heard a strange scrubbing sound, like wet smooth flesh rubbing against glass, at one of her windows. She shined her light there. Nothing, but rain washing upon the windowpanes.

She decided to call for her guards. The second she turned away, there was an explosion of glass shattering as the windows were broken, sending shards into her from behind.

She coolly faced the windows to show no fear, expecting to see Hun or Kano, perhaps Donatello. But she saw no one. She knew someone got in though.

She steadied her blade, shining her flashlight all around her room. Then she heard heavy labored breathing coming from overhead. She pointed her flashlight to the sound.

The bright whiteness fell upon Don, who was clinging to a support beam high above the raven haired woman. Karai felt a strong twinge of fear at the sight of him.

He had transformed just like Chaplin said the Turtles would, even though they had taken the cure. She noticed the blood smeared on his sharp teeth, giving him a baneful appearance.

Donatello hiss-growled at her like some demonic creature from Hell. Karai stood with sword ready, trying to anticipate his next move. He simply glared at her with intense hatred, emitting a strange low growl the entire time.

Although she was becoming unnerved, Karai forced herself to forget her rightful fright and played it cool. Shredder told her once you show a beast just a hint of fear, you will be not only devoured, but disgraced.

And never to be remembered, except for being a weak cowardly fool before you were butchered. She may have humiliated herself concerning matters with Leonardo, but she would not do so with Donatello.

She would redeem herself and prove to him that she was a friend. In return, she would gain his trust and he would willingly offer his strength to help her against Kano. But first, she would need to collar him, then cure him.

"Come down from there, Donatello! We must talk!" Karai shouted over the current thunder rumbling in through the broken windows. She had a plan to get him down to the labs so she could strap a collar on him for everyone's safety. Including his own.

Don couldn't talk with a mouthful of sharp teeth, but even if he could, he wasn't interested in talking with Karai. He let out a throaty eerie roar at her, making the hairs on the back of Karai's neck stand on end.

That roar was an odd combination of a beast snarling with Don's human-like screams intertwined into it. Karai found that sound unsettling. What if he was too far gone to even cure anymore?

Should she just dispose of him instead? No! She couldn't give up like that. If she was certain there was no other way, then she would destroy him. But not yet. She had to get him tranquilized and checked by her scientists first.

He came down with a loud thud and charged at her with lightning speed. She slashed at him in defense, cutting his flesh, yet he didn't bleed. His thick hide was too dense for her blades to truly penetrate in order to draw blood.

Her slashing added to his rage and made Don's bloodlust intensify. He slammed his fists down to crush her like an insect, but she dodged in time and bolted for the doors.

He jumped for her again, so eager to make her suffer that he crashed into the doors instead, breaking the hinges off the left door completely off.

Karai hurried down the many flights of stairs to the labs, all the while calling her men to avoid Don at all costs. The enraged terrapin chased after her, shrieking his extreme displeasure which shook the walls near him.

Don's crazed fury coupled together with his monstrous form made the Turtle a bit clumsy. He kept running into walls and slipping on the linoleum as he anxiously raced after his prey. Gradually, Don's civilized intellect was slipping away bit by bit as his bestial mind took a strong foot hold within him.

"Do not shoot him or confront him! That's an order! I repeat, do NOT engage battle with Donatello! He's very dangerous! I will fire anyone who dares to disobey my orders!" Karai shouted to her more stubborn flunkies on her intercom device.

She knew Don would easily kill the few remaining troops she had left. She had to correct this problem on her own. She had to save him. It would prove her worth to the Turtles in the end.

She entered the labs and ordered everyone out the back. She knew where the collars were kept thanks to Chaplin's constant reminders and grabbed one. She activated it and yelled at the scientists to leave now.

Confusion and curiosity made them hang around to ask questions until Don came in, crawling on all fours and snarling like he had rabies. They finally left as soon as they saw him.

Don couldn't resist the urge to chase them down when Karai got his attention by banging her sword loudly against a metal table several times. He turned to look at her and roared again, baring rows of sharp blood-stained teeth.

Karai narrowed her eyes and watched him carefully. She planned to jump over him once he charged at her again, hang onto his shell and snap the collar on.

But instead, she was rammed to the cold hard floor as he tackled her after knocking several tables out of the way first. Thrashing about, she got in a strong kick to his heavy tail and he jerked away, allowing her to escape his grasp.

She threw a smoke pellet into his face and as he hollered in pained rage, she leapt upon his shell. With sheer speed, she wasted no time clasping the collar around his throat. He roared in frustration as he tried to get the collar off and was instantly electrocuted for his efforts.

It didn't stop shocking Don since he didn't stop trying to break the device off his neck. His success was heard as broken pieces of the collar clattered to the floor. Karai frowned as she desperately tried to think of a new plan quickly.

There were tranquilizer darts in a case across the room, behind Don. Karai narrowed her eyes. She knew what to do. With her adrenaline pumping, Karai raced at Don. He roared and charged, ready to disembowel her.

She distracted him by throwing a katana to his face for him to block while she dived under him, past his legs. But his long tail whacked her in the head as she slid by. She crashed into a bunch of overturned tables and chairs, pain momentarily blinding her.

As she struggled to will the agony away, she didn't know her wallet had been pushed free of its holder on her belt. It had fallen open with a photo of Karai with Chaplin and Rose. It was taken during the time when she was considering marrying Chaplin for real.

Karai had forgotten about that photo and never took it out of her wallet. Don made his way over to Karai and he noticed the photo. Seeing Rose there made his civilized mind resurface and he backed away, feeling horrible.

He looked around himself, realizing the destruction in the room was his doing. With Rose's face fresh in his mind, he felt as if she was watching him even though she wasn't actually there.

Ashamed, he stood frozen while shaking his head. He had to get back to the Lair to cure himself! But as soon as he thought of trying to do something like that, he felt his mind slipping away again.

A series of darts pierced the right side of his face and neck suddenly, the shock and pain enraging him once more. But Karai kept shooting at him with more tranquilizer darts as quickly as she could.

She felt great relief when Don finally fell to the floor and was still. Sighing, Karai tossed her head back get her messed up hair out of her face and called for her men to come with a cleaning crew.

She retrieved her katana and used the blade to poke Don cautiously. He didn't stir or react to the jabbing so she was confident he really was asleep.

A look of pity befell her face as she shook her head. As she listened to Don's ragged breathing, she felt sorry for him, even though he was attempting to kill her. She knew why he was so upset. He really wasn't the monster here, she was.

But she was reformed and understood the Turtles better than ever now. Befriending them was the only recourse to make things right between them.

She knew what she needed to do now. She would personally make sure Don was cured permanently and convince him she was not the same bad person she used to be. And through him, she would win Leonardo back...

Elsewhere, Rose was working in the labs located in a different skyscraper that served as a secondary command center for the Foot Organization. She was resuming the work she owed Karai.

She tried to keep her mind on her work, but her thoughts kept returning to what that mutant crocodile man had told her back at Area 51. Leatherhead had seen how dreary she seemed since Donatello left the unclassified military base.

She felt partly responsible for what her brother had done to him. Chaplin had given poor Don the anti-cure which forced him to transform into a mindless savage.

She had a chance to stop her brother, but she didn't. Witnessing her beloved Donatello as a vicious beast haunted her. She had terrible nightmares afterwards of hyper mutated Don chasing after her.

He would always catch her and yell at her for breaking his heart and all this turmoil was her fault. Then he would kill her and she would wake up screaming.

She could have prevented all this madness by stopping her brother in the first place. She felt very guilty since she didn't want Donatello to suffer so much pain due to that hyper mutation process.

As soon as she knew that Don started out as an animal, Rose began seeing him as an inferior beast instead of the 'man' she loved. She was disturbed that she had been deeply in love with an animal all this time.

In her family, she had been brought up to keep very separate lives from animals. Her brother Chaplin didn't care for them nor saw much worth in them, except for using them in experiments, usually not humane ones.

Rose never really thought about whether or not animals had feelings or even if they felt pain on the same scale as humans could. They were just mindless living organic 'machines' basically. That was what she was brought up to believe.

After meeting Don and falling in love with him, Rose thought she had found her one and only at last. Instead, she later discovered that he was a product of an accident.

He was an animal transformed by human DNA to become a new species that should never have come into existence.

How could she have fallen for an abomination of nature, a freak AND carry his child? What did that make her? Less of a human? A freak too? She was horrified beyond all belief.

Then when he was gone, she slowly began to question her beliefs on these insignificant creatures known as animals. Enhanced with human DNA, Don was able to express himself on a level humans could understand well.

Rose learned from Don that animals indeed had emotions and suffered pain the same as humans did. Not that that made animals human, it just meant they were not those mindless inferior organic machines as she first thought they were. She was wrong to label Don as such.

What had he ever done to her? He was kind and loving, giving his all to her while she did nothing to help him as her brother gave Bishop the anti-cure to experiment on poor Don.

The only 'crime' Don had done was being a turtle. And she realized that couldn't really be seen as a negative thing. It wasn't bad or evil that he was a terrapin.

He didn't ask to be mutated or to know what it's like to be human. And feel human emotions. Besides the guilt, she felt pity for Don. What was he really? She had to ask herself, pondering these things over and over.

He was a 'lowly' reptile given a chance to become a sentient being with the gift of extreme intelligence. How could such a mutated animal be so perfect at behaving like a human?

He couldn't truly be human like her, or was he? That was what she needed to decipher one way or another.

Don saved her life and removed the fetus that almost killed her. She never even said thank you. She was worse than a barbaric animal, while the real animal appeared to be more human. Feeling like a heel, she was depressed and confused.

Leatherhead noticed this and questioned her to why she looked so down. She vaguely told him why. As she talked with Leatherhead, she realized how civilized this mutant crocodile was as well.

The croc-man's feelings were fragile and he told her how painful sorrow was to his kind, especially to those who were not mutated and without a voice to defend them.

He made tea for them and Rose couldn't believe how good it tasted. Maybe she shouldn't be thinking of animals as lowly creatures anymore...

"You humans can not hear our pain, because we can not vocalize it. Do not think only you can feel this emotion known as deep sadness." Leatherhead paused to sip his tea with the greatest of manners. Rose was amazed. He was not a barbarian as Chaplin and Bishop had told her.

"With my kind, everything is much worse. No one is there to comfort us. And because of my kind's unfortunate savage nature, those who fall prey to sorrow are seen as targets to be eaten. The strongest survive while the weak perish."

"You have no idea how deeply we understand these emotions. They provide our survival in a sense. If we are too upset to carry on, we will find ways to end our suffering through death."

"Joy, anger, sorrow... They are not simply human emotions, they are feelings we as all living beings feel. My kind's perception for these emotions are on a much higher level that you humans could never reach. We don't have the sins of man clouding our eyes to the true feelings deep inside." Leatherhead stopped again to sigh as he shook his head.

A vision of Donatello entered his mind then. He looked so devastated when Leatherhead told him the fetus had been killed. He wished he knew how to help him back then.

But maybe now, he could help him by opening Rose's eyes to how much she hurt Donatello. She appeared to want to know besides, which gave Leatherhead hope.

"What I'm trying to say is that you severely aggrieved Donatello. I understand that you do not want to be involved with bestiality, but this is different. Donatello is not simply an animal, he is human too."

"Same as me, he and I gained so much when we were mutated. We were no longer mere reptiles; we became human. With human emotions and thoughts. I was lucky to be blessed with so much intelligence, but Donatello is far more gifted than I." Leatherhead closed his eyes to smile as he gently shook his head.

"But he's still part animal... I don't know if I can accept that..." Rose said, feeling uncertain and strange.

She thought maybe she wasn't fond of Donatello enough to truly love him, but as more time passed without him, she felt lost without him. She didn't want to yearn for him believing it was wrong, but she did regardless.

Even though she now knew that Don was a red-earred slider terrapin before, her heart missed him. Her brain said no while her heart said yes. She didn't know what to do. Confusion and guilt plagued her.

"And he IS part human also. Doesn't that count for anything? I don't think it's fair to be prejudiced against my mutated brethren like that. We never asked to be what we are nor to be mutated... It was you humans who created the means to change our lives with those mutating chemicals."

Leatherhead began to feel annoyed. Again the humans wouldn't take responsibility for the terrible wrongs they committed to his kin! He had to state this for the sake of his kind who remained voiceless.

"I hate to be frank, but why don't you take responsibility for what you have done to us? You made us part of your kind, yet treat us still as lowly ignorant cretins when it is YOU who are thus!" Leatherhead said loudly, gritting his teeth. He stifled a snarl and forced himself to calm down.

"I'm terribly sorry for raising my voice. I'm just so upset that a kind soul like Donatello had to go through all the torment unnecessarily. He's decent, innocent, and compassionate. He'd never hurt anyone, but yet so many hurt him. It's...unjust."

The croc-man heaved a loud long sigh, then decided this was the best time to ask a certain question.

"I must know... Do you still love him?" Leatherhead looked over the young woman to see the answer in her eyes.

Rose avoided the Leatherhead's wise eyes quickly, but then slowly nodded her head. The croc-man nodded back in understanding.

"Then you should go to him. Ease his suffering. My friend...no, my brother doesn't deserve such emotional turmoil in his life."

Rose returned to New York soon after she talked with Leatherhead. She was gradually coming to a conclusion. If she wanted to be with Donatello without facing the same complications as before, she would need to alter herself.

Cautiously, she was injecting herself with reptile DNA secretly and analyzing the results every step of the way.

As long as she could change the genetic makeup inside her body without developing any reptilian features on the outside, she would deem her private experiment a success.

At the beginning of the fifth week, Rose developed a bump on her rear end and realized it must be a tail trying to grow out. She was becoming more green as well which she hid with a lot of foundation, concealing her new emerald flesh tone.

By the end of the sixth week, she stopped injecting herself when she discovered scales forming on her budding tail. It was time to find Donatello and let him know that she still loved him.

It would be ok to be with him now since she had 'joined' his species in a way. Don was a half-human reptilian creature and now so was she. That should fix any bestiality issues hopefully.

She wished she had done this sooner, but renouncing the beliefs she had been brought up on was not that easy to do. Plus, she had to be sure of her feelings first as well. Now, she was.

During the fifth week of Rose's experiment was when Don attacked Karai in his hyper mutated form. She had him safely hidden in a secret sector of the skyscraper while her most loyal scientists did their best to reverse Don's advanced mutation problem.

She had forbidden them to speak of word of this to anyone, especially to those loyal to Chaplin. She knew they would do something to harm Don and if he survived, he would be after her all over again thinking she was to blame.

So, Karai fiercely protected Don in order to prove herself to his brotherhood. She spent sleepless nights as she kept watch personally. Her scientists were not allowed to leave the skyscraper until they cured him completely.

The scientists were able to destabilize Don's advanced mutation over time and he slowly returned back to his regular form over a week.

They said they could have made such happen sooner, but an instant transformation would have put so much stress on poor Don that it may leave him insane. They believed a slower transformation would help keep his mind sound and healthy overall.

Karai observed Don closely as the days passed and he was returning back to normal. It would be at least another day before they could chance waking him up and discover how he fared.

Sleeping off and on had taken its toll upon Karai and as she took her usual short nap, she fell into a deep sleep instead. An odd dream filled her mind's eye. She was with Leonardo, who was grown, but his brothers were young hatchlings.

They were on an island somewhere and having lots of fun as a family of all things. Michelangelo was playing in the sand, making pizzas and laughing. Leo was telling him to be careful of the tide coming in.

Karai was holding both Donatello and Raphael in her arms as if they were her own children. Raph got fussy, so she handed him to Leo to hold. Raph socked Leo in the chin with his foot, causing Leo to drop him.

He chased after him as he ran towards where Mikey was playing. Karai laughed and cuddled Don sweetly, tapping his small beak fondly. Don happily nuzzled her and even gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Karai woke up suddenly when she heard Don groaning loudly while struggling against the restraints strapping him to the operating table. She glanced at the clock on the far wall and gasped. She had slept throughout the night and half of the morning!

For some reason, her scientists were not in yet. Where were they? She decided to tend to Don in the meantime. He had made a mess since one of the staff members didn't attach the waste bag to him properly.

Don slowly came to while his body cried in confused pain. It wasn't super horrible, but he did ache pretty badly. He felt someone wiping his tail and looked. When he saw that it was Karai, he fiercely tried to get free.

"Karai?!" Don shouted, his voice rusty and scratchy. "Why do you have me strapped down like this?! You! You-...!"

He stopped talking as he remembered. He was that horrible monster again. No... He felt sick to his stomach as the memories of when he was hyper mutated flashed to him one by one. He wished he couldn't remember them, but he did.

Devastated by his recollection, Don bitterly wept with his teeth and fists tightly clenched. He was so SICK of being a mutant! He just wanted to be normal and have a normal life by being a professor at a university somewhere. Not be plagued with these out of control mutations.

Did a real permanent cure even exist?! What if it didn't? Don rather be dead than live out a long life always dreading when he'll transform into that monster again.

"Calm yourself, Donatello." Karai said as soothingly as she could. "My scientists have been working on curing you for the past week. They returned you to your regular state slowly to ensure your sanity. A faster transformation would have ruined you."

"I'm already ruined!" Don shouted, pounding his fist against the table. "Ever since you came into our lives with all your damned bullshit!"

"Not one thing has gone right since you've come! Your 'cure' did nothing for me the first time; WHY THE HELL SHOULD IT THE SECOND TIME?!" Don screamed, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I suggest you stop being so emotional. I do not want you to become stressed." Karai said, attempting to finish her cleaning job on his tail. Don protested instantly.

"Quit prodding my tail, you insane Jezebel!" he complained, writhing. How dare she violate him!

"You don't want me to be stressed?! HA! That's hilarious! What's your next joke, Queen of Comedy?" Don scoffed, his sorrow overrun by acrid sarcasm.

"Silence!" Karai barked sharply. "I understand why you hate me so, but I'm trying to make amends for my misdeeds by helping you! If it weren't for me, you'd already be gunned down!"

"I'd rather die and rot in a ditch than accept ANY help from you, Karai! Everything you do for others ALWAYS comes at a price!" Don shouted, then lowered his voice to a hateful hiss. "And I'm not buying..."

Karai figured it was best to not reply as she continued to wipe his tail and legs clean. He growled irritably, squirming about and making the job harder.

Why was Karai playing nursemaid to him like this? She wasn't his mommy or anything remotely like that! It reminded him of how Leo babied him and the whole concept REALLY disgusted him immensely.

"Your stupid wiping is unnecessary, Karai! I can take a shower, but I guess since I'm your prisoner; that's out of the question, huh?" Don glared angrily at her, his eyes thin slits.

"You were never a prisoner here, Donatello. Not before. Not now." Karai said matter-of-factly.

"Then let me go..."

"I certainly would, but my scientists have not arrived yet to make sure you are fully cured. I can't bear to lose any of you to that advanced mutation. It is a disease in my eyes and I must cure you all from it." Karai said, doing her best to speak her true selfless intentions to one so distrusting of her.

"Save your brainwashing speech! I told you I'm not buying any of your lies! It's obvious why you won't free me... I am your prisoner." Don said bitterly, closing his eyes since he was nauseous at the sight of her.

He quickly opened his eyes when he felt the restraints on him loosen. A slight consideration crossed his mind in favor to her, but it was dashed as soon as it came. Just another trick for her to win him over. Well, she could just forget it!

"As I said, you Turtles are never a prisoner in my home. Do as you please. But know this. My love for your brother Leonardo is eternal. I love him with all my heart and soul." Karai said solemnly, her head slightly bowed.

Don was shocked by what she had said. You don't put control collars on those you love! She was such an audacious liar!

"You NEVER loved Leo, Karai! He was the one who loved you, unfortunately. But YOU sure didn't love HIM! You only USED him so you could use the rest of us! That's NOT loving someone!" Don shot back, making Karai look at him intensely with hurt.

"Despite what you think, I DO love your brother! I'd give my life for him! And you!" Karai yelled back, hating how her emotions were coming to the surface. But maybe it was for the best. Perhaps having Donatello witness her raw emotion may prove to him that she wasn't a heartless monster.

"Pfft! Oh, come on, Karai! Why would an insensitive 'person'," Don pulled his index fingers down twice as he said 'person' to emphasize himself better. "like you give your life for anyone? You're selfish, cruel, and your only motive in life is to use others!"

"I admit that I have done much wrong in my life. But now, I've changed. I want to redeem myself to you and your brothers by any means necessary. All I'm asking for is a chance. Please." Karai said truthfully.

Don studied her critically. He didn't see any deception in those usually cold eyes. He sighed in displeasure, frowning.

If he denied her a chance when she really wanted to change for the better, then what would that make him? He had to be careful all the same, just in case.

"Alright, one chance. But if you do anything to betray us again, that is it. Forever." Don said, making his point clear. Karai nodded, feeling hopeful. This was a start.

"Very well. I will do everything in my power to prove myself to you Turtles. I truly want to make amends with your clan. Tell your brothers that." Karai told him. She figured he would depart now and she would have to wait until her next encounter to continue proving herself to them.

Instead of bolting for an exit, Don went back to the operating table and sat on it, surprising her. What did this mean?

"Didn't you want to leave?"

"I'll let your scientists run their tests before I go. I want to work on my own version of the cure as well. Providing you'll let me do so, that is..."

"Whatever you need, it is yours. I want us to be friends, Donatello. Not enemies." Karai said.

"We'll see about that." Don answered. He still didn't trust her, but he would give her a chance. Once she blew it, then he'd have more fuel to convince Leo not to trust her, should he ever be swayed by Karai again.

The only good thing about his latest hyper mutation situation was that it had somehow 'erased' his accursed Purple Dragon tattoo. Now it looked more like a strange dark twisted bruise going up his arm.

In some places, the tattoo had been undone even. The Foot symbol survived his transformation, but it was severely blurred and could easily be mistaken for an oddly shaped scar or burn mark.

Karai allowed Don to have free access to all her laboratories, even ones not at her main base. For days, Don worked tirelessly. Karai had to force him to get some sleep and that usually involved them getting into shouting matches.

"How many times must I warn you?!" she yelled, annoyed how stubborn he was. When Don wanted or needed to do something, not much could stop him.

"Every being needs sleep! You can not stay up for over thirty hours nonstop! You must rest! It is for your own good, Leonardo!"

She inadvertently called him by his older brother's name more than once before, which irritated Don immensely. She had better not start seeing him as Leo for real and ask him to wear a blue mask or else...

"Karai, for the millionth time, I'm NOT Leo!" Don shouted back, his eyes red and tired. After a short heated glare, he turned back to his work again.

"Everyone knows, I'm a lot smarter than him." Don grumbled under his breath, his lack of sleep making him cocky and sarcastic. "Oh, tell me, please! Why is that? Hmph! I never fell for cruel back-stabbing lying user like you."

Karai heard his hurtful words and restrained her swelling ire. She had to make amends with Donatello, not fight with him no matter how much she wanted to.

"Fine, work until you destroy yourself! Your end will make your current labor meaningless! For the sake of your brothers, allow your body some rest!" Karai scolded and left him alone.

Don tried to continue working, but decided a small nap couldn't delay him much in finding a permanent cure. He settled back in his chair, which was very comfortable and nodded off.

Much later, he jerked out of deep sleep and the first thing he wanted to see was a clock. To his horror, he had slept more than ten hours. He felt as if he had wasted too much time and immediately went back to work.

Soon, he discovered that the labs in Karai's skyscraper lacked certain ingredients he needed to start making a cure. But with some fast research, he found what he needed in the labs at Karai's secondary command center.

He got the address and headed out. He met Karai in the hallways and naturally she asked him where he was going to in such a hurry.

As soon as she learned that he wanted to go to her other command post, she called her scientists there to be prepared. Not everyone was used to giant talking mutant Turtles afterall.

She ordered them to show Donatello great respect since she wanted to win him over as an ally and his intelligence would be beneficial to her scientific team.

Not that she was using that as her main focus to befriend him. She truly did want him as a real friend as she finally learned the true value in such. She wished she had learned sooner before she severely scorned the Turtles.

She didn't want Don going there on an empty stomach and convinced the hungry terrapin to some breakfast. The moment he finished, he was gone.

Unwittingly, Don was rushing to the labs where Rose worked at. He was pleasantly surprised and happy with how courteous and respectful the scientists were to him compared to the last ones, whom were rightfully fearful of him.

He didn't mean to scare those people, he couldn't help it back when he was hyper mutated and losing his mind. The scientists here treated him as if he was a normal human colleague and that really pleased him immensely. It felt good to be accepted.

But that joyful feeling disappeared quickly once Rose, who was late for work that night, entered the room while Don was holding a vague introductory meeting with the other scientists and their assistants.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Dr. Weinter. The traffic is to blame...for..my..tardiness..." Rose slowed her speech the moment she saw Donatello. Feeling awkward, she shied away and joined the back of the crowd.

"That's alright, Dr. Chaplin." Weinter said, waving off her lateness. "Karai has a new project she wants us to work on immediately. Dr. Hamato was about to explain to us what it exactly was before you came in. Go on, Dr. Hamato."

Don was trapped. He didn't want to explain 'the project' with Rose there. The scientists here weren't aware that the medicine he needed them to work on was for his hyper mutation problems, not some wonder drug to cure baldness.

If he defined it out with her there, she would find out that he was still changing into a beast. A monster. It was the most humiliating thing she knew about him.

She couldn't accept him for being a mutant Turtle, let alone a mindless terrapin beast of death. It made him feel wretched and worthless. And THAT made him feel angry and sad all at once.

Nauseated with hurt and rage, Don made an excuse to leave temporarily. He went to the rest room and splashed water on his face, then clutched the sink in distress. What was he going to do now?

"Donatello?"

Don was so distraught that he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings so Rose was able to 'sneak' up on him. She was looking at him with a curious hopeful stare which he found incredibly odd.

Wasn't she terrified of him? Why did she follow him into the men's room? The same question came to him again. What was he going to do now?

To Be Continued in Chapter 30!
I'd really appreciate more reviews, so please let me know if you are still reading this story by leaving a review! Per chapter is preferred, thanks! :)
Current events/ In the next chapter(s):
What will happen between Don and Rose? Will they make amends and get back together or have a bitter ending? And what about Cleo? Will Karai be able to regain the Turtles as her allies and befriend Donatello?

If the cure Karai gave the Turtles failed for Donatello, will it fail for the other Turtles as well? Will Leo stupidly go back to Karai over time like the love-sick sucker that he is?

Now that Casey's an officer of the law, will he be hard on the Turtles for the murders they commit and how will that wear on their friendship? When will Mona Lisa reveal her 'little secret' to Raph?
Later, Carter (from the 90's 'Red Sky' series) and Sydney (from the 2k3 series) will make an appearance in the story with the real cure to the Turtles' hyper mutation problem. This and lots more!

Keep reading to find out more on the story! Until next time! ^_^