Despite his family's concerns, Don insisted on patrolling alongside them. He claimed that it was to stay in shape, but in truth, he didn't want to feel even more left out than he already did.
He tried not to take any major risks. He stayed mostly in the vehicles and on the rooftops. He created a protective vest that was strong and flexible in the front, with plenty of elastic sewn in at the shell, so that he would have room to grow. He only joined in fights when necessary, and he took special care to protect himself whenever he did so. He stayed in the back, allowing his brothers to shield him, and the second any sort of projectile, be it throwing star, arrow, or anything else came out, he disappeared into the shadows. He promised that he would only make exceptions when lives were at risk, or when his special skills were needed.
But tonight, he had an important mission.
As Don had worked on the data from the satellite feeds, he had noticed an aberration. He and Valeria had studied it, and they had both come to the same conclusion. There were communication signals being sent from Earth to the Triceraton homeworld, and they were originating from New York.
At first, Don had been terrified. He assumed that it meant that there was a hidden contingent of Triceraton remaining on earth. But then, it occurred to him that Bishop's spies embedded within the Triceraton army had been able to communicate with Bishop on Earth. Who's to say that it didn't go both ways? Perhaps the Triceraton had human spies here in New York, equipped with some sort of intergalactic communicators. That was a slightly less terrifying prospect, anyway.
Don managed to build a receiver that would better pick up on the New York to Triceraton communication. Whatever this group was, they weren't using the same ship-to-ship communication system that Don had programmed the EPF satellites to track. They were going directly to the Triceraton homeworld, which could be just the breakthrough that Donatello and Valeria needed.
Don set aside his work on the ultrasound machine and focused solely on monitoring the data feed for a few days. He was still unable to determine if Triceraton soldiers were hiding in the city, or if they were human sympathizers.
Donatello brought his concerns to Leonardo, and together they decided to locate the source of the signal and check things out.
Don stayed close to Raphael as they approached the point that the signal was originating from. When they reached the edge of the rooftop, all four brothers leaned over. Don pulled his infrared scanner out of his trusty brown duffle and put it on over his eyes.
"What do you see?" Leonardo asked.
"Three heat signatures in the apartment. They're big, but I don't think they're big enough to be Triceraton."
"Maybe they're not home," Mikey guessed.
"Is there an active transmission right now?" Leonardo wondered.
Donatello flipped the infrared goggles up and checked his tablet. There had been a message sent right before the turtles left the Lair, but now the data feed was silent. "No. I guess we wait."
"In the meantime, why don't you tell us what you've overheard so far?" Leonardo suggested.
"Not a lot," Don answered. "What I have heard is far more interesting than the ship-to-ship gossip I've been getting before, but the transmissions are few and far between."
"No names have been mentioned?" Raph wondered. He was really worried about Traximus. They all were.
"No," Don sighed. "I can tell you all about the affair between the chief engineer and the security officer on board one of the ships, but these guys here hardly talk at all."
"What is it that they do say?" Leonardo asked, indicating the apartment.
"Strings of numbers, mostly. I don't think I've ever heard any chit chat."
"That's worrisome," Leo grumbled. "Could be anything - coordinates, some sort of code..."
"I'm worried too," Don confirmed. "I'm keeping track of absolutely everything. The numbers don't make sense yet, but we'll get to the bottom of this."
Leo wondered who 'we' was. His family? EPF? Don and this Valeria person?
Donatello opened a spreadsheet on his tablet and frowned. It contained a log of everything that had been sent from this location. As far as Don could tell, whoever was in this apartment was sending messages, but not receiving them. That didn't necessarily mean that they couldn't receive data or messages, only that Don hadn't observed it happening yet. He really wanted to get to the bottom of this.
Don worked silently for fifteen minutes or so. His brothers quietly chatted on the other side of the rooftop, just to kill some time.
"Stop itching your sides," Leonardo said, startling Don out of his reverie. How had Leo appeared right over his shoulder like that?
"What?" Don asked.
Leo smiled. "Stop itching your sides. You've been doing it all night."
Don looked at his hands as though they were those of a stranger. "I have? I didn't even notice."
"One of your absent-minded tics, I suppose," Leo decided. "Best to stop a bad habit before it forms at all."
"Yeah," Don agreed.
A few minutes later, he caught himself beginning to itch again. Don got up to stretch, in order to distract himself. "I wish that I could get a hold of whatever device they're using to transmit their data. It's got to be some pretty sophisticated tech," he said to Raphael.
"I'd be willing to sneak in and check it out for you," Raphael volunteered. "All this standing around ain't my style."
"There are three heat signatures in there," Don reminded him. "Best to stay safe and wait for another transmission."
Raphael shrugged and tossed a stray pebble into the air, then caught it. Donatello leaned back against the wall next to him. "At least it's a nice night," Don observed. "Early summer and not a cloud in the sky. Feels like we could see forever."
Raphael gave a low chuckle. "See any Triceraton ships headed our way?"
Don laughed. "If only it were so easy."
Just then, Don's phone began to vibrate. It was an alert from his workstation at home. "Another transmission!" he gasped.
Leo put on Don's infrared goggles while Don kept his eyes trained on his tablet. He turned up the volume as Raphael and Michelangelo huddled beside him.
"All three heat signatures are together in the rear bedroom," Leonardo announced.
At the same time, a deep, masculine voice could be heard from the tablet. "Delta 142.3532, gamma 869.3521, epsilon 49, q-86v2."
The feed quieted down again. "It's over," Don announced.
"They're leaving the room," Leo told his brothers.
"That was English. They must be humans, right?" Michelangelo asked.
Don tapped his chin. "Or Triceraton using translators. Why would they do that, though?"
Raphael growled. "Damn curtains. Wish we could see inside."
"Patience, Raphael," Leonardo preached, sounding way too much like Splinter for his red-banded brother's liking. "We don't have to figure everything out tonight."
"They have to come out of that apartment eventually," Michelangelo said. "Can't we just stick up a surveillance camera or something?"
Don grinned. "Like this one?" he asked as he pulled a small item out of his bag. "Want to do the honors and plant it?"
Michelangelo did just that. Then, Don made sure that it was working properly before the turtles began their walk back to the Battle Shell.
"You gonna tell Bishop about this?" Raphael asked.
"I don't talk to Bishop," Donatello replied. "But, I will tell Valeria. She can do whatever she wants with this information."
As they passed a pizzeria, Don's stomach growled. He cringed and put a hand over it. They'd just eaten an hour and a half before. "Excuse me," he mumbled.
Raphael shrugged. "Better than you puking again."
"It's so concerning to me that anyone on earth is communicating with the Triceraton Homeworld," Leonardo said. "Even if it is just human sympathizers."
"How do you even know that's what they're doing?" Michelangelo asked Don.
"The existing SETI network, plus the new satellites that were launched just before I broke out of Area 51 are all devoted to interpreting data coming from, or in this case going to, the Triceraton part of space. I'm no expert in intergalactic communication, but I know enough to be able to figure out the basics of what's going on here."
"Even if this turns out to be something relatively innocent, we need to be prepared either way," Leonardo advised.
Donatello nodded "I agree. I'm not only working on intercepting communication. I've also started designing a system that will hopefully keep earth safe in the event of an invasion."
"Is it a Death Star?" Michelangelo bubbled. "Please tell me it's a Death Star!"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not a Death Star," Don apologized.
Michelangelo moaned in disappointment, and Donatello pet his shell. "Don't worry. It's still kind of cool, in its own way."
Raphael had stopped walking and was looking behind them. "What's up Raph?" Leonardo asked.
Raphael spoke tentatively. "I don't know. I just thought I heard…."
As Raphael fell quiet, the others tensed up as well. A mountain of a man stepped out of the shadows. "Hun!" Leonardo spat.
"Hey, Hunny. It's been a while," Michelangelo greeted.
"Don't call me Hunny," Hun growled.
"Hunny bear? Hunny pot? Hunny Pie?" which do you prefer?" Mikey teased.
In response, Hun tossed something hard at Michelangelo's chest. "I believe this is yours, freak."
Michelangelo caught the item and looked down. In his hands, he held the remains of the camera that he had just planted. "It was too young to die," he mourned.
"That's enough, Michelangelo," Leonardo yelled. "What's the meaning of this, Hun?"
"Stay out of my affairs, turtles," Hun growled.
"Your affairs?" Don asked. "What does any of this have to do with you?" Hun had fallen off the turtles' radar years ago. Since Karai gained control of the Foot Clan, he'd been keeping quiet. Now that Don thought about it, that did seem a bit suspicious.
"Doesn't matter. This is my part of town," Hun snarled. "You aren't welcome in it."
"Since when have you been able to stop us?" Michelangelo laughed.
Hun leaned over to get eye-to-eye with Mikey. "I'm warning you nicely."
"Do you know what's going on in that apartment?"
Don couldn't help but ask.
"Astronomy club," Hun snickered. "But we're not serving party food tonight, so I doubt you'd be interested, tubby."
Don ignored the cheap shot at his expanding girth. "Astronomy club? So, you are connected to all this!"
"Quit sticking your ugly snout in where it doesn't belong," Hun warned.
"Pretty sure this is exactly where it belongs," Don barked, refusing to back down.
Hun whistled and a half dozen Purple Dragons stepped out of the woodwork. The turtles reached for their weapons, and Raphael and Leonardo stepped protectively in front of Don.
Donatello really didn't want to fight, but he pulled out his bo anyway. Just as he did, his stomach growled loudly again. Hun laughed out loud. Why did this battle have to go down in the alley next to a pizzeria? How embarrassing.
Hun made the first move, going straight for Raphael. Raph dodged away from Hun's huge fist and caught him around the wrist. He leaned in and body-checked Hun back a step.
A Purple Dragon leaped forward with a baseball bat, and Leonardo chopped it in two with one of his swords. The Dragon used the jagged spike that remained to slice at Leo, who took a step back towards Don.
The remaining dragons surrounded the combatants. Donatello used his bo to sweep the legs out from under a couple of them. Michelangelo then knocked one unconscious with his nunchucks. Don and Mikey smiled and nodded at each other, then jumped into the fray.
Raphael was keeping Hun distracted while Leonardo systematically took out Dragons. Michelangelo sidled up next to Raph and resumed teasing Hun. Mikey's jeers kept Hun on his toes, allowing Raphael to land some punishing blows.
Donatello backed his shell against Leo, bumping it to let his brother know of his presence. Leo kicked the nearest Dragon away and spoke over his shoulder. "We've got this. Why don't you head to the Battle Shell and we'll meet you there when we've finished these guys off?"
Don twirled his bo and cracked a Dragon across the chest, sending him crashing to the pavement. "But you guys are outnumbered!"
Leo ducked low to dodge a fist, then leaped up again and snap-kicked his assailant in the shoulder. "It's no big deal, we've got this."
Hun managed to bat Raphael into Michelangelo and the two turtles fell to the ground. Don immediately pole vaulted over to them, making sure to plant his bo down on a nearby dragon's foot as he did so. He kicked Hun hard in the arm, just as he reached for Raphael.
"I said stand down, Donatello!" Leo yelled.
By now, Raphael and Michelangelo had regained their feet, and Leonardo had made it to their sides. Raphael cracked the butt of his sai into Hun's ribs. Leonardo spun into a lotus kick that caught Hun in the back. The giant crashed to the ground. Michelangelo hit him with a nunchuck in the back of his shoulder on the way down.
Donatello stepped back out of Hun's landing zone. The pavement shook under his feet. One of the Purple Dragons was immediately there. Don sent a fist back, but the Dragon saw that Don was slightly off-balance and hip-checked him. Don dropped low to prevent a fall, placing one hand on the pavement, then popping right back up. The encounter was harmless really. Nevertheless, Leo shouted, "Don - Battle Shell! NOW!"
Don knew better than to continue fighting Leo on this, especially now that Hun was down and the battle was essentially won. He hoofed it towards the van. "Better skedaddle," he heard Hun yell in his wake. "It's buy-one-get-one night at the burger shack!"
"Big talk from a guy who just got his massive butt handed to him," Don heard Michelangelo quip. He had to smile a little at his brother jumping to his defense.
Don got to the Battle Shell and let it idle. Sure enough, his brothers joined him less than two minutes later.
"So what do you think Hun has to do with all of this?" Don asked by way of greeting.
"Who knows," Leo grumbled. "We'll figure it out in time. But Don, you can't be doing that!"
"Doing what?" Don asked innocently.
"Jumping into fights that we could easily handle without you," Leonardo clarified.
"Excuse me?" Don snapped. "I hardly jumped into anything. We were ambushed, for crying out loud!"
"You had plenty of chances to run, but you refused!" Leonardo pointed out.
"And it's a good thing that I did because Hun was just about to get a hold of Raph before I intervened!"
"I would've rolled away if I wasn't so worried about knocking you down in the process," Raphael defended.
Donatello had nothing to say to that. Raphael probably would have gotten away. His brothers were elite ninjas, after all. They knew how to handle themselves. "Fine. I'm sorry. Next time I'll run."
Leonardo was still perturbed. "Next time you'll listen?"
"What more do you want from me?" Don asked.
"For you to follow through on your promises," Leo answered. "You know, next time."