All TMNT characters are © Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman.
All Spiderman characters are © Stan Lee & Marvel.
(Not crossover, just kids in Marvel Halloween costumes - same for Disney costumes.)
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!
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
Rose waited in the lobby of her workplace exactly at three thirty on the dot. She nervously held a brightly wrapped package in her lap as she waited. Inside the package was her special gift for her ex-lover.
She prayed he would accept it. After seventeen minutes passed, Rose worried that Don might not come afterall. But then after another minute, he appeared wearing a long white lab coat.
"I'm sorry I'm late." was the first thing Don said, adjusting his coat. It looked like he had thrown it on hastily before he came into the building.
Don wasn't in a particularly good mood all thanks to the 'talk' he was forced into having with Leo. When he tried to leave the Lair, Leo was there in his way.
He lectured on the importance of notifying whoever was home of his departure. Leaving a note was now mandatory. Don didn't agree to this new ridiculous rule when he could easily call them via phone.
Telling his brothers when he was going out wouldn't keep him safe or alert them if he ran into trouble. A heated argument swelled up between the terrapin siblings.
It ended with Leo knocking Don down onto his shell after the purple clad Turtle pointed out how Leo was NOT his father and never would be.
Leo left shortly after that, stiffly repeating how Don still had to tell him when and where he was going either verbally or by written note. Don struggled with his hurt rage and picked himself off the concrete floor.
Why was Leo...BULLYING him like this? Did he respect him less for dancing in an erotic night club? Don figured that could be it. He didn't want to doubt Leo's love for him then, but it was hard not to...
Don sat next to Rose with an exasperated sigh. She continued to ogle him. Under that lab coat was a bomber jacket, unzipped down close to his belt. He was wearing extremely customized jeans, the waist enlarged to accommodate his shell.
They were topped off by a silver studded black leather belt and a heavy chain that was secured to his wallet in his pocket. A fairly rough and tough New York look, or whatever one may like to call it.
Rose was taken aback by his somewhat suggestive outfit under the neat and proper lab coat. A rush of sudden desire shamed her. Don looked...deliciously ravishing in that outfit, which she deemed only fit for unruly street people to wear.
Ruffians or miscreants as she called those people. She was brought up to believe she was high society and better than those low-class street people who lived on the wild side of life. She used to distance herself from such people, mostly in fear.
She didn't know anything about them and that's where her fear came from. It wasn't like she hated them, she was just frightful of those kinds of people and their tough lifestyle.
Somehow sweet and gentle Don pulled off that racy street look well. He actually brought much justice to it and a newfound respect for that style overtook Rose.
Normally, she wouldn't be attracted to anyone wearing such clothes, but when she saw Don in that open bomber jacket, a wave of hot desire hit her. He was just so SEXY in that outfit!
Rose hadn't made any love to anyone ever since she had dumped Don. Of course, having any intercourse before she fully healed from her surgery would have been foolish anyway.
Her brother's friend James Walker had tried to go on dates with her, but she refused his offers. She was too stressed out over learning what Don really was all that time, not to mention taking it easy after the operation.
She had practically forgotten about her carnal desires for months. When Don told her he had done a hysterectomy on her, she began to take supplements to the maximum.
She wanted to avoid any possible effects of an inevitable menopause, yet she didn't know exactly what Don removed other than the womb itself.
Did he do a complete or partial? She wished she knew, but she didn't know how she could go about asking him for the details. He was still too angry at her to discuss much as she could tell from the night before.
She could go to a doctor. But she didn't feel like going to one since she was a doctor herself and self-consciously believed that she would be ridiculed.
They would ask her why she didn't know what was or wasn't removed. She certainly couldn't tell them that a mutant Turtle gave her a hysterectomy while she was unconscious and that she never got to ask him what he did take out exactly.
That was simply too weird and complicated to explain, so she never went to see a physician. Instead, she took plenty of estrogen, androgens, and progesterone just in case.
She actually overdid it on her hormone replacement intake and now her libido was raging. She didn't realize how 'starved' she was until that very moment she saw Don in that arousing outfit.
It was strange, since usually arousal came from the removable of clothes, not adding them. Rose was so used to seeing Don without clothes that she didn't think much of his constant nudity.
She thought back to the time when they were on Kameko Saki's island. He invited her to swim in the pool Miss Saki had given him and she accepted, wanting to learn how to swim faster.
The bikini she had was a worn-out one that she cherished since it was a gift from her late mother, who died of liver cancer. She related well with Don when she found out his father died of cancer as well.
After Don taught her how to pick up considerable speed in the water, he came out of the pool first and she followed him. Her bikini strings were overly long for decoration so she would look fancy as a betta fish.
When she was climbing herself out of the pool, she nearly fell backwards and Don grabbed her, plus the strings. Her top came undone and Don got a sneak preview of her moderately large breasts.
Embarrassed, she attempted to cover herself and Don turned around so she could tied the strings back up. Ever since that mishap, Don had gotten increasingly amorous towards her.
He had been fairly flirty before that 'flashing', but he really began to pursue her more so afterwards. Don's seductive actions and suave tone of voice used to get to her to the point where she began to skinny-dip with him in the pool days later.
It was the very first time she had ever done something so flamboyant and what her upbringing deemed improper. In the water, she gave her body to Don and enjoyed every second of it, as did he. They became so close ever since until she messed everything up by scorning him.
She hoped she could patch things up with him a little at a time since it was obvious he wasn't going to forgive her anytime soon. She took the first step by letting him know she liked his outfit under the lab coat.
"It's alright, Don." she answered timidly. "I really like your jacket. It looks good on you."
Don was a bit surprised, thinking she would either say something negative about it or nothing at all. His testing continued whenever he was near her, so he purposely wore his bomber jacket and heavy chain to make himself look a little on the wild tough side.
"Thank you." Don sat beside her on the long padded bench in the lobby to wait for Rose's science camp students, who were coming by bus. Rose felt uneasy as they just continued to sit and not talk.
Don kept peering down the hallway to the front entrance for that bus to arrive and he was basically ignoring her. Rose cleared her voice and she was pleased when Don looked to her quickly.
"This is for you." Rose said softly and shyly.
"Thanks." Don took the small gift and was simply going to put it in his pocket without opening it first.
"Won't you open it? Please?" she asked, feeling bad. She knew she had been terrible to him, but was it alright for him to be this mean and despondent to her? She really was sorry here! Sheesh!
"Alright." Don said without any enthusiasm and ripped the silver wrapping paper off. He opened the box to find a 14 karat gold half heart pendant that said 'BE' on top and 'FRI' on the bottom.
Rose revealed that she was wearing the other half of the friendship necklace by pulling it out from under her sweater. Don looked at her and then the necklace before he closed the box shut, a grim frown on his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked, dread filling her once she saw his sour expression.
"I can't wear it." he replied, looking straight ahead.
"Why...why not?" Rose stammered unhappily.
"How can I wear something like this when I don't see you as my best friend?" Don asked, his tone low and sullen.
Rose swallowed hard and did her best to hold back her tears. She had to prove herself here, not wimp out. She touched his hands holding the box and took it from him. She unclasped the chain and held it before him.
"Maybe in time you will...again." she said so quietly that it was practically a whisper. She waited to see if he would refuse her putting it on him. He nearly did, but lowered his opposing hands and let her put the necklace on him.
"Give me another chance, Don. You won't be disappointed." she promised, taking a huge risk by gently kissing his muzzle. Surely that would prove something to him!
The purple clad Turtle felt a powerful flame of emotion shoot through him as her lips touched his beak. If she didn't love him, she wouldn't dare do a move like that while he was indifferent with her.
Maybe...maybe she really did change? Maybe she truly loved him?
Wait up here! One little kiss wasn't enough. Anyone could fake those. He had to keep on testing her still. He wasn't totally convinced just yet.
"...We'll see..." Don finally answered, rather coldly on purpose. He hadn't forgiven her so he was going to stay unfriendly for a while here. Rose deemed his reply as hopeful on her end.
Just then a bus pulled up out front and a bunch of nerdy-looking kids exited the vehicle. Rose went outside to greet them and Don slowly followed her.
"Hello, Miss Chaplin!" chorused the kids. There were ten of them, six boys and four girls. The boys were dressed up differently while the girls were in long lab coats, except for one.
She was in a blue sparkly fairy costume that had an emblem with a black haired fairy on the front with the name SilverMist. The girl had black hair as well with a pair of fairy wings clipped to her back.
Out of the boys there were two robots, an astronaut, and three Marvel characters. Don stood near Rose as she greeted the children.
"Salutations, my students." she said, then gestured to Don.
"This is my colleague, Dr. Donatello Hamato." she told them.
"Feel free to call me, Don." he replied, smiling. Aw, young intelligent minds! What a wonderful thing to see in children these days. The city needed more scientists.
"Hello, Don!" the kids said together, except for the boys in the robot suits who called Don Dr. Hamato instead. Rose began to tell Don the kids' names.
"Don, these children are my students from science camp. Those two are William and Clifford Trekk." Rose waved her hand over to the two boys in the robot suits.
"Please, Miss Chaplin. I prefer Billy." the kid said in a snobbish tone. "And I prefer Cliff." said his twin brother.
"Yes, of course." Rose replied, overlooking their unsavory behavior. She was vaguely used to it since her brother often acted like how these twins did.
"Going on, this is Troy." The boy in the astronaut outfit pulled his helmet off and saluted.
"Peter, Eddie, and Harry." The boy in the Spiderman costume pushed his plastic mask up and beamed. "I'm Spiderman!" he announced, pretending to shoot a fake web.
"Yeah, well I'm Venom!" roared Eddie, whacking Peter. "Big deal! I'm the Green Goblin! So there!" Harry interjected. "Brains over brawn you know."
"Right, ladies?" Harry asked, giving the girls in the lab coats a suave look. They snickered at him. Billy and Cliff held their noses in the air.
"How droll. Comic book characters." Cliff scoffed. "Very unscientific." Billy agreed.
The twins preferred to steer clear of their comic book loving classmates and pretty much everyone else for that matter. Well, anyone who wasn't up to par with what they believed was real intelligence.
"Trisha, Penny, and Stacy are in the lab coats. And this pretty fairy is Elizabeth." Rose concluded just as Lizzy stared in awe at Don's 'costume'. She took his hand in amazement, blown away by how real his skin felt.
"How did you manage to find such a realistic-looking costume?" she breathed.
"I made it myself." Don replied, figuring that was the best truthful answer he could give.
"And what are you supposed to be?" Billy asked rather snottily. "Yes, are you trying to be a ridiculous frog or something?" Cliff added, annoying Don.
"I'm an aquatic terrapin. A red-earred slider, in fact." Don said pulling his lab coat and bomber jacket down over his shoulders just enough for them to see his shell. As he did so, his muscles bulged impressively.
"Wow! Look at those awesome muscles!" cried Harry, pointing.
"He's bigger than Spiderman! Man, I wish I had muscles like that!" Peter said in awe. Don smiled, proud to be something like a beefcake role model for these boys. And a smart one at that!
"Wicked cool! Though...he's not as big as VENOM!" shrieked Eddie, playing around and making monster alien noises. The three girls in the lab coats giggled in unison. They really liked Eddie, much to Harry's dismay.
Troy enjoyed being silent so he mimed his approval. Trisha, Penny, and Stacy expressed their female adoration by asking how long Don had worked out and if they could touch him.
They kinda reminded Don of Irma, April's scary friend she used to have work at the antique store. He hoped they wouldn't turn out to be anything like Irma.
It was hard enough to get that woman to understand Don wasn't interested in her. It was bad enough that there was one Irma in the world, let alone three more.
Where Irma was, he didn't know. He faintly remembered something April said many years ago, that Irma was in Europe hunting men. Don pitied those men...
"Who ever heard of a biped turtle before?" Cliff said, asking a rhetorical question. He would be jealous if he didn't think buff muscles were stupid and a waste of time to obtain. Brains were all that mattered anyway.
"Very silly, indeed." Billy added. The Trekk twins didn't care much for animals, especially not lowly insipid reptiles.
"I think a biped Turtle is a wonderful creature, Billy and Cliff." Rose spoke up then, not liking how the twins were behaving towards Don.
"YOU do, Miss Chaplin?" the twins asked, surprised and confused. Last they remembered, Rose didn't care much for animals. She practically hated them! Why would she suddenly say anything favorable about them?
They liked their teacher since she was so smart, thus her opinions and views mattered. They deemed her, and anyone else who proved highly intelligent, more evolved than people who were not.
Only those who were MENSA material would receive respect from them. Only the best could fit within their social circle of super snobsville. The rest who could not fit in were simply dumb apes. Whatever they said was worthless nonsense.
"Yes, there's nothing more noble than a Turtle." Rose said, touching Don's right hand. Believing she was just saying all that, he hid it in his pocket and looked in the opposite direction.
"You sound like you actually LIKE those disgusting dirty animals, Miss Chaplin." Cliff pointed out. "Such cold slimy things. Yuck!" Without thinking, Don voiced himself quickly on that insult.
"Turtles are NOT disgusting or dirty!" Don said forcefully, getting even more annoyed. "Nor are they cold OR slimy!"
"Yes, Cliff, that was very uncalled for. Turtles are not filthy or slimy as Don said. They are quite warm and loving creatures."
"Bah, turtles are stupid slow animals. They are useless." Cliff replied, crossing his arms.
"Except in experiments." Billy added and the twins snickered.
"Cliff! Billy! I want you two to apologize right now! Donatello's favorite animals are turtles and you should not be so insulting! He is MUCH smarter than I!" Rose yelled at the twins, raising her soft voice to a loud angry tone. It was a rare thing to hear their teacher get loud. Ever.
"HE'S more intelligent than YOU, Miss Chaplin?" Billy gawked, unable to believe it. Now his attention was caught. How could a guy dressed up like a stupid turtle be smart?
"Yes, his IQ is well over six hundred." Rose boasted, pleased to impress the usually unimpressed Trekk twins.
"But that's humanly impossible!" Cliff cried, becoming instantly jealous. His brother was not jealous, but in complete awe. Finally a REAL mind worth speaking to! Even if he did have a weird like for dumb animals.
"Feel free to test me then if you don't believe it." Don challenged. Cliff did so and he was annoyed that Don got all his 'hard' questions right. Then Don asked him some scientific inquiries that stumped the young kid.
Rose noticed how viciously enraged Cliff was becoming. She suggested that they start trick-or-treating then, which prompted Eddie to scream like a monster towards the first victim, er, house.
Cliff grew increasingly spiteful of this 'man' who obviously was as smart as Rose said he was. Why, he was a freaking engineer! A rocket scientist! A god of intelligence!
"Dr. Hamato is so incredibly intelligent!" Billy gushed, a new fan of Don's vast knowledge. "I bet he has a Ph.D from Yale! I want to read ALL his books! I want his autograph too! My gosh, he's the only one I want to look up to now!"
Cliff glowered at Don as the group continued their trick-or-treating. Why did his twin brother have to look up to this 'man'? Why, he used to do that only to him! Cliff really hated Don with a passion.
Sunlight gleamed off Don and Rose's friendship necklaces as they walked and Lizzy had something to say about that.
"Miss Chaplin, is Don your boyfriend?" she asked point-blank, enthralled by romance.
She was fascinated by how cool and smart Don was. She hoped to have such a boyfriend someday. Just knowing her teacher did gave her much happiness.
"Well, I-..." Rose tried to say. Lizzy's question sent much miffed irritation through Don and he answered it himself.
"She broke up with me." Don said testily, much disgust and anger could be heard in his voice. Lizzy was confused.
"But then, why are you two wearing friendship necklaces?" she asked, baffled.
"We're...we're just friends now." Rose replied, doing her best to hide her hurt feelings. Lizzy could see it in her eyes and shied away, embarrassed to have stirred up trouble unwittingly.
"Oh." she murmured in fright and hurried off to join the others as they hit another house. Don sighed in disgust and shame. He didn't mean to sound THAT hostile, but he was still upset even after all this time.
Maybe he should start being a little nicer to Rose. He could tell she was trying to make things up to him, but he just wasn't able to forgive her. He simply didn't trust her anymore and that was what kept him from forgiving her ultimately.
Plus, he wasn't sure if she really loved him still. He feared if he forgave her without knowing that she truly loved him first, she could hurt him all over again like before. (And he was NOT going through THAT devastation a second time!)
It wasn't easy to forgive someone you didn't trust. Especially when that someone had stomped all over your heart after stabbing it to death...
The only thing stopping Don from telling Rose to take a hike permanently was his love for her. He had to be absolutely one hundred percent sure that she had no love to offer him before he really ended everything with her.
Her attempts to rekindle their strained relationship were admirable and Don was becoming even more torn since he'd like to forgive her, but he couldn't due to his distrust of her. He was straddling the fence so to speak.
After the kids collected their candy around town, they returned to the labs for the party. Dr. Weinter and his best assistants were there with plenty of candy corn and refreshments.
Dr. Weinter was dressed up like a wizard, but he acted like Santa Claus with his generous candy giving and hearty laughter. After he gave the kids difficult, yet fun formulas to complete, Weinter went to Don, who was off to the side by himself.
Rose was helping the children to finish the formulas on the blackboard. Weinter noticed how Don was looking at Rose oddly and asked if he wanted Rose to leave the party.
Karai emphasized how very important it was to please Don, one of her elite assassins. And Weinter wanted to do everything that he could to keep the very-capable-of-slaying genius happy.
"I will ask Chaplin to leave, Dr. Hamato." Weinter offered, ready to kick Rose out. He'd do anything to keep the assassin in a good mood. It was the smart thing to do afterall if you wanted to stay alive.
"That won't be necessary, Dr. Weinter." Don replied, fingering his necklace. "Dr. Chaplin is allowed to work on the project as well, effective immediately."
"Certainly, Dr. Hamato. I will notify her after the party." Dr. Weinter said. Don held a hand up and shook his head.
"No, I'll inform her myself." the mutant terrapin replied. Dr. Weinter nodded. Just then Penny asked for him to come over and inspect their work.
Don followed the jolly old overweight scientist and the terrapin inadvertently graded the formulas himself. When Don pointed out flaws in Weinter's formulas, the jolly old chubby scientist wasn't so jolly anymore.
Then Don had some real fun by educating the kids as a real professor would. They discussed how volcanoes erupted and how thunderstorms were created, along with electricity and fire.
Since Lizzy was interested to know, Don explained all about the Chelonia, much to Cliff's disgust. Rose sat very close to Don as he gave his educating speech about tortoises and turtles, though more about semi-aquatic turtles.
"They don't have thumbs, but five clawed digits instead. Plus, turtles are the only reptiles to have a shell." Don explained.
"If they have five claws, then why does your silly turtle costume have only two fingers, including a thumb?" Cliff asked disrespectfully, believing Don's 'costume' had a very stupid flaw. Ha! He wasn't THAT smart afterall!
"Clifford Trekk! Remember your manners!" Rose scolded, frowning. "There was an accident in the labs that disfigured Don's hands and he was forced to make his costume that way. There was no mistake made on his part. You should not be so quick to judge!"
Don was taken by surprise hearing Rose say such about judgement. It could be another hint that she may have truly changed, but he dismissed it. That just wasn't enough proof, as anyone could say that as well.
"Anyway..." Don continued, giving Cliff an annoyed look. "Who got the most Choco-Plenties?"
Stacy claimed to have the most of that candy, which prompted the others to check out their goodie bags to see who had more of a certain candy. Then they began to trade for ones they didn't have.
Suddenly, Karai appeared at the door, dressed as a witch. Don found that costume very befitting for her. She greeted her workers and showed her pleased wonder when she saw Don.
"Donatello! It is quite a surprise to see you here helping out with the party. I must compensate you for your kindness." she said sweetly, shaking his hand like a true business woman.
"You're welcome." Don said quietly, yanking his hand free shortly after she shook it for a second or two. Karai turned away from him and announced that they would be bobbing for apples in the next room.
The kids scrambled there in a hurry as did Rose, Weinter, and his assistants. Karai waited outside the door for Don to enter the hallway. When he finally did, she handed him two tickets.
"What are these for?" Don asked, his tone unfriendly and annoyed.
"Tickets for the nightly dinosaur display at the museum on 22nd Avenue. My company advertises their exhibits and I can get free tickets every so often. Please, take them." Karai said kindly.
She believed once she had Don converted to her side, Leo would be less wary of her. Don would be Karai's best referral to convince Leo that she was safe to trust again.
"I'm NOT going with you..." Don told her as he cautiously took the tickets. He would refuse them, but he wanted to get into that expensive museum for some time now.
"Of course not. I could not go even if you wanted me to. I'm much too busy." she paused as she noticed the bomber jacket under his partially buttoned up lab coat.
"You must let Leonardo borrow that jacket. I would like to see how he looks in it." Karai said, hinting that Don looked good, but Leo would look even better.
The terrapin frowned a bit as Karai went to the next room. Don sighed in annoyance and tucked the tickets into his pocket. Some of the kids were bobbing for those apples while Weinter and Rose handed out candied ones.
Don hung back, took a chair to a secluded corner and sat quietly with the back of the chair facing forward. He placed his folded arms on top of the chair and rested his chin upon his arms.
He wanted to forgive Rose, but he may be setting himself to get hurt again so he decided against it. He wished he knew how to invite Rose to go with him to that museum without letting her think things were ok again and she wouldn't care to prove herself anymore.
Then Don would never get to find out if she truly loved him should she be at ease again, free to harm him once more. He wondered if he was being too hard on her as well in case she did love him for real and he might be driving her away, causing her to give up in defeat.
He was not a happy Turtle and he closed his eyes, heaving a gusty gloomy sigh.
Rose noticed Don by himself, looking very troubled and downhearted. She worried if he was feeling sick from his hyper mutation disorder and made her way over to him, candy apple in hand. She held it before his face like a 'peace offering'.
"Are you alright?" she asked, pulling a chair up beside him and sat.
Don looked at her for a second, then closed his eyes and sighed again. He had two tickets for that museum and he wanted to take Rose along, but then again he didn't. He wished he could make up his mind!
"No..." he finally replied, looking more depressed. Instantly Rose was alarmed for his well-being and touched his forehead. She wasn't sure if a fever meant anything for that disorder, but Don's forehead was cold, like the rest of him.
"Are you feeling sick? Do you need me to get you some more serum?" she asked in a hushed tone, grabbing his arm and shaking it gently. He peered at her hand on his right arm, then looked up at her.
The look of concern in her eyes did seem genuine, which chipped a few small pieces off Don's wall of icy distrust. Dazed by that sign of true love, he looked away. He allowed her hand to stay upon his arm though instead of yanking it away as usual.
"No, it's not that."
"Then...what?" Rose asked, getting confused.
"I have tickets for that nightly dinosaur display at the Bonez museum..."
"The one on 22nd Avenue?"
"Yes. I wanted to go there, but... Not alone..." Don forced out the words the best he could smoothly, but his voice cracked at the end. UGH!
"Do you...want me to go with you?" Rose asked, feeling that there was light at the end of her tunnel with him.
"I dunno..." Don mumbled, sitting up straight and covering his face with his hands, abashed. He worried if he was even a little bit nicer to her, she would step all over him and break his heart again.
"We're friends now, Don. It's ok..." Rose said softly, pulling his right arm down and gingerly touching his face. "You can trust me. It's alright."
She could tell he didn't trust her by the look in his sad worried eyes, so she did her best to reassure him with tender patting and kind gazing. At least he wasn't angry anymore. Whew!
"Ohhhh, PLEEEASE kiss him! PLEASE!" Lizzy cried only a few feet away, mesmerized by the romantic drama. She was admiring these two and making up a plot for a love story she wanted to write based off them.
"I would Elizabeth, but I don't think Don will let me." Rose replied with mixed feelings. She didn't want to embarrass him or make him angry by forcing a kiss on him, as weird as that sounded.
Usually, Don loved kisses. But she wasn't sure if he'd accept any from her now, especially with an audience.
"Why not?" Lizzy asked, pushing her luck. "I'm sure you two kissed many times before, right?"
"Well, yes. So many times I've lost count." Rose admitted, blushing. Don sat, stonefaced, yet he wasn't frowning.
"Ohh...!" Lizzy breathed in bliss. Then she looked mad and put her hands on her hips as she glared at Rose. "Why'd you break up with him?! How could you do something like that?!"
"I was an inane fool before, Elizabeth. And I made some big mistakes. If I could do it over again, I would have never broken up with him... Never." Rose said more to Don directly, than to Lizzy. The purple clad Turtle was struck by the sincerity of her demeanor.
"Well, good! Miss Chaplin, you should apologize to Don and make him happy." Lizzy told her, expression softening.
"I did apologize to him, Elizabeth. But I don't think he'll forgive me..." Rose said, again more towards Don than Lizzy.
"How come?" Lizzy asked, looking at Don now. The Turtle widened his eyes and leaned back from the kid's sudden expectant staring. She wanted them to kiss and make up...NOW!
"Well, I just don't trust her anymore." Don admitted, saying things he wouldn't ever say this easily to Rose.
"Ohh... She must have really hurt you..." Lizzy said, understanding. She pondered for a while then came to a conclusion.
"Well, she's really REALLY sorry now and she won't hurt you again. I know Miss Chaplin and she's really a good person. I think she really loves you, otherwise she wouldn't have apologized at all. And-" Lizzy was about to go on when she heard Harry making a joke about her and she went to retaliate.
Don left as well, going out to the hallways. Rose tried to go after him when Karai stopped her. She pulled her aside and into an overly spacious equipment and supply room.
"Why are you upsetting my elite assassin?" Karai asked her, ready to punish her. She wasn't very fond of Rose since her brother Chaplin was always hitting on her. That fool came out of his coma the day before. Karai wasn't pleased.
Now that Chaplin was well, he would chase after her again. This was something she was not looking forward to since she was trying to get pregnant by Leonardo. Rose was not one of her favorite workers due to her relation to Leo's rival.
"I am sorry, Mistress Karai. But I was not trying to upset Donatello. I-" Rose tried to say, but Karai interrupted, snapping at her.
"Silence! You were annoying him! I witnessed it!" She frowned. "Why do you continue to pursue him?"
Karai thought Rose was playing games here to bother Don maliciously, possibly because her brother Chaplin, the ultimate Turtle-hater, told her to.
"Because I love him!" Rose cried fiercely. Karai widened her eyes, looking astonished. She was fairly convinced that this was so by how ardently the scientist stated her feelings. But she had to point out something.
"Last I remember, you had broken all ties with Donatello. Why do such and then desire him back? I do not understand." Karai said, waiting to hear a good explanation for all this.
Rose did her best to illustrate what had happened and tried to get on her top boss' good side in order to ask a question she wanted to ask for a long time.
"I-I've been m-meaning to ask you for a r-raise, so I can make things up to Donatello. He doesn't trust me anymore and I need to earn his trust back. I was hoping gifts might help..." Rose paused and looked at Karai meekly.
Hearing that Don didn't trust Rose made Karai more open-minded suddenly. She was having a similar issue with Leonardo. Maybe she could strike a deal with Rose...
"You will have all the money you need to mend your relationship with Donatello..." Karai began. Rose gawked in surprise. She didn't expect to get an endless cash supply. Wow!
"...IF you are willing to convince your Turtle that I am trustworthy as well. You will get a secret account by tomorrow to use as you please. All you need to do is win Donatello's trust over to me within a year's time and you shall never grieve about finances ever again. You will be elevated to a higher position as a bonus too." Karai finished her offer.
"What if I can't convince him?" she asked, worried. Karai instantly had a sneer on her face and glowered at her.
"You MUST convince him, by any means if necessary! Should you truly prove yourself to him, he'll gladly consider ALL you have to say! If you win his heart and trust, he will jubilantly walk into Hell for you!" Karai said harshly, not willing to accept any failure on this.
She NEEDED Donatello to trust her so he would get Leonardo to trust her again. She was creating a chain of trust here and she didn't want Rose to be the weak beginning link. She had to be a strong start to this 'chain' if she ever wanted to successfully win Leo's trust back.
"I warn you, do NOT play the Turtles for fools. They are quite...deadly when scorned." Karai added, not completely trusting Rose, but she had no choice if she wanted this 'trust chain' made.
"Yes, I've noticed." Rose replied, nodding. She was curious to why her boss wanted Don to trust her though and asked.
"It is none of your concern. Just do as I have instructed." Karai said quickly and opened the room's door to leave. Rose sighed and left the equipment supply room too, closing the door behind her.
The kids were ready to go home and Dr. Weinter was ushering them out the door. Karai had left and was nowhere to be seen. Rose went with Weinter to wave goodbye to the kids as the climbed onto the bus that was waiting for them outside.
Rose was about to help Weinter clean up after the party, but he told her not to worry about it and shoo'ed her away. She got her things to leave, wondering where Don went.
'Maybe he went to the museum already?' she thought and figured she would look for him there. As she walked down the sidewalk alone, a strong chilly breeze made her shiver. It also blew off the knitted cap she was trying to tie on.
She chased it to a series of abandoned houses covered in graffiti. Then she heard some gangsters talking in an alley nearby. She was about to bolt for it when she recognized Don's voice amongst the voices.
Rose got as close as she could without being seen and listened in. What she heard made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Don was a member of the Purple Dragons?!
"Can you do the job or not?" DragonFace asked spitefully, still not a fan of Don. "I mean, lately, you've been REALLY slacking off with testing new recruits. You can at least knock off Slick Jimmy, can't you?"
"You know I don't work for free. When I get paid, you'll see blood. It's as simple as that." Don shot back, annoyed to be pulled aside by DF to discuss duties. He had taken his lab coat off back at the labs and was only in his bomber jacket and jeans.
"You can loot Slick Jimmy's pad, freak! He's loaded!" DF didn't want Don to find out that he had been snagging his pay for the last few weeks. Unfortunately for him, Don already knew, but didn't get a chance to punish him for it.
Rose peeked around the corner to see her beloved sweet Don roughly grab a green haired man with a purple dragon tattoo on his face and viciously slam him upwards on the brick wall with one arm. DF's feet dangled helplessly as he realized he had been found out.
"So are you...with MY pay!" Don growled, reaching into his back jean pocket for his backup dagger. "You hated me ever since I've joined the gang, DragonFace! But guess what! I'm going to end your hatred once and for all..."
Don pressed the dagger's point under the man's chin and waited for him to start promising to return his money and show some respect. DF sputtered out all kinds of apologies and did promise to give the money back.
DF fell to the trash littered ground and irritably stood up as Don put his dagger away. DF muttered, "Damn freak..." under his breath. Instantly, Don kneed the thug in the gut, sending him back to the dirty ground.
"Let's try and be friends now, DragonFace. You respect me, I respect you. We're all happy." Don said sarcastically and reminded him where to return his money. Or else.
Rose scurried away when she heard Don leaving the alley and ran as quietly as she could. She kept running, blinded by her swirling frantic thoughts.
Don was one of THOSE people! Those extremely scary gangster street people! She never knew! Rose was so frightened that she kept running blindly until she was snagged by some unlawful teens wanting to do great harm to her.
The six boys snickered as they yanked her purse away and dragged her into a secluded area with high bushes so they could rape her. She screamed and fought with all her might, but they had gagged and restrained her.
With tears streaming down her face, Rose felt like her world was ending and she closed her eyes in defeat. The teen hovering over Rose suddenly fell backwards after a loud cracking sound was heard.
Rose opened her eyes wide and looked. Don was there beating the crud out of the teens with his bo staff, making them beg for mercy. They begged for their lives as soon as they realized it was him.
"We're sorry, man! We're sorry! We had no idea she was yours!" a teen cried, flailing his arms in defense.
"Please, man! Let us live! PLEASE!" cried another teen, holding his broken arm.
"This is the first strike. Second strike and you're done." Don growled and the teens hurried away the best they could with their broken bones.
Don twirled his bo expertly in a fancy motion before putting it back into its holder behind his shell. He tore the restraints off Rose and with a choking sob, she embraced him gratefully.
"Ohh, Donatello! I-I was so s-scared!" she hiccuped, hugging him harder. "Thank you for saving me...!"
"So, it's true... You ARE a Purple Dragon..." said a familiar voice. Don looked up to see Raph a few feet away, perched on the metal fence. He had eavesdropped on Don when he was in the alley with DragonFace.
'Oh, shell!' Don thought, furrowing his brow as he looked away with intense shame.
To Be Continued in Chapter 36! (How's THAT for a cliffhanger, huh? :3)
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! :) (Don't miss the art and upcoming comic for this story at my DA gallery!)
Current events/ In the next chapter(s):
How will things be between Raph and Don when they discuss Don's Purple Dragon membership? How will Rose take it now that she knows Don's a Purple Dragon too? Will Karai's plans to create a 'trust chain' be successful in gaining Leo's trust?
Angel comes out of her coma and Mikey realizes how deeply he feels for her now. When they go to an all night party and get extremely drunk, they wake up to a shocking surprise the next morning. Will this ruin their relationship?
Who will Don ultimately choose, Rose or Cleo?Will Bishop's mutant breeding farm be a success or a tragedy?
Will Casey be loyal to his terrapin friends or to his new duties as a cop?
The Turtles are running out of time for a real cure to their dire hyper mutation problem. Will they receive it in time? Later, Carter (from the 90's 'Red Sky' series) and Sydney (from the 2k3 series) will make an appearance. This and lots more!
Keep reading to find out more on the story! Until next time! ^_^