Mom's about to drag me to the trailer. You know the drill by now.

Guest: Okay... so I guess Shredder does care about the bomb... makes me wonder what would've happened if the bomb had gone off in the show. Shredder would've been like forget this. But wow can't wait to read what's gonna come next.

Me: Thanks. I kinda wonder now what would've been his own reaction to that in the show. I mean, he sorta allies himself with the Kraang in the show, but not here. Here he's like "Aliens, screw off. This is my city". Glad you all like it. I hastily threw this together from my memory because the original got deleated, but I made the next few chapters too, and I won't give up that easily.

Guest: Mikey : Choose the green wire - Donnie : Mikey I'm trying to fouces ! - Mikey : Sorry ... so how's April ? - Donnie : Mikey ! - Mikey : Karai secretly ships you with April - Karai : No I don't ! - Donnie : (groans ) please just go away

Me: You guys always make the best dialogues.

The sounds of his siblings fighting for their lives was drowned out completely by Donnie's concentration. Every brain cell, every movement, every fiber of his being was focused on this death trap before him.

Defusing bombs was not a commonly practised activity in any part of the world. And it was clear why. Defusing a bomb was like a cruel puzzle, with death lurking around every corner. Every action had to be carefully calculated, every move precise. Failure meant death.

Death wasn't an option for Donatello, certainly not when his brothers would fall with him. He had to succeed, to save the city, to save April, to save himself.

But the odds weren't in his favor. Every time he reached into the panel, the wires seemed to tangle themselves around his hands, like the wrath of Demeter. Her beauty conquered by rage, plants, vines, trees bending to her will, coming down to crush her enemy.

Luckily, though his brothers sometimes judged him for it, Donnie read a lot. And once he had picked up a little innocuous book that had just happened to cover the topic of defusing bombs. One thing he remembered was that grey wires were safe, and could be removed first. But this was alien technology from another dimension. He could get them all killed if he followed Earth rules.

"Hurry it up, Donnie!" He heard his red-banded brother shout, though he didn't take his eyes from his work. "We're getting creamed out here!"

"I'm working on it!" He shouted back, wiping some sweat from is forehead.

Xever knocked a Kraang that had been near him off the platform. He turned on the turtle and hissed, "Well, work faster!"

Donnie laughed. "Oh, and I bet you could do so much better."

But, too late did Donnie realize Xever had taken his words the wrong way. He'd taken them as a challenge.

"I bet I could." Suddenly, Donnie was shoved aside.

Donnie yelped slightly at the impact, but he had no time to worry about any bruises he may have gotten because behind him, Xever was drawing a knife and holding a wire. The wrong wire.

"No!"

Too late. Xever had cut it. The counter on the side of the bomb, which had been showing five minutes, now displayed one minute in counting.

"Idiot!" Karai shouted from the heat of battle.

Donnie payed Xever back with a rough shove and began pouring over the bomb all over again. Everything had been thrown off. That pompous idiot had doomed them all! He had to cut one of two wires, but since Xever had just cut a wrong wire, Donnie now had no clue which one to go with.

There was a green one and a black one, identical, mirrored in every way but color. But, cut the wrong one, and the bomb would go off, and everything would be for nothing.

"Green or black..." Donnie muttered, his heart felt like it was going to burst. "Which one do I choose?!"

Then, from the fight, his youngest brother called out the most useless thing he could. "Go for the green!"

Go for the green? Did Mikey seriously just give Donnie tips on defusing the bomb? How could he expect to help at all? The green... even in a fifty-fifty probability situation like this, could he really trust Mikey to be right...? Was it really possible that...

Donnie shrugged. "Eh, why not?"

He cut the green.

The platform seemed to stand still. The wind was silent. Everything held its breath. Then, the bomb shut down.

Donnie let out a giddy laugh, his eyes bugging out with disbelief. He'd done it! All because of...

"Hey, guys!" He shouted out, standing. "Mikey was right about something!"

"Oh, yeah," Raph said, but his voice dripped sarcasm. "That's real great, Don."

Donnie turned around to see why his brother was being such a grump, but the moment he did, he wished he hadn't. The Kraang forces had increased tenfold. They were trapped, outnumbered, outgunned, about to be obliterated.

And then, he appeared.

Seemingly from nowhere, Shredder appeared on the platform with several other Foot. Donnie could only gape in awe as their father tore into the group with his gauntlets out, slashing and hacking the Kraang forces to pieces. A path was slowly cleared, allowing the Foot through.

Donnie couldn't believe it. Father had come to save them. He'd really come!

Once the Kraang were mere scrap, Shredder approached the group. He looked up at the bomb, in front of which Donnie stood proudly.

"You all did very well, my children." That had to be the warmest tone Shredder had ever used with them. Even behind the mask, Donnie could clearly see the smile hinted by his eyes. He was proud of them. Donnie felt like he was glowing!

Shredder then cast his gaze to Bradford and Xever with disdain. Both humans each laid unconscious on either side of the platform. At a single, non verbal command, the Foot picked up them both, ready to carry them back to the lair.

Shredder turned to leave the platform, the turtles followed diligently.

"You all deserve to be rewarded." Shredder said as they followed him off of the death trap of a platform.

Donnie perked up a bit at this. "In that case..." Shredder turned at his voice with a questioning gaze. Donnie smiled widely, gesturing to the bomb behind them. "Can I have that mutagen for my experiments?"

Shredder looked to the bomb, then back to Donnie. He chukcled. "I'll allow it."

Donnie grinned wider. "Thank you, Father."

Now his lab was newly stocked up with mutagen ready for the testing. And he knew exactly who he was gonna use it on first.

Oh, the suspense.