Ch. 5
Mutagen Man Unleashed

I sat and stared at my phone for what felt like hours, though it had been about five minutes. I was hoping to hear something from April this time. We had still heard nothing from April in ages. Personally, I felt it was a bit ridiculous and immature that she had gone this long without much contact, but at the same time I understood. The only other person who you could physically tell missed April was Donnie. He was still beyond devastated. I had walked in on him last night sending her another late-night voicemail. He promised to stop, but I knew better.

I sighed, putting my phone into my pocket. Maybe some lunch would distract me. I left my room and headed for the kitchen. I could hear movement from inside and thought that Mikey was in there, possibly cooking up something himself. I smiled and opened my mouth to great him as I pulled back the curtain. My mouth froze and I felt my forehead heat up as I saw Raph standing in the kitchen, holding a box of ramen.

"Oh, hey," he said.

I coughed. "Hey there."

There was silence for a few moments. Raph tensed as he glanced down at the box in his hands, as though he were determined not to look at me.

"I was gonna make some ramen. You want any?"

"That… sounds really good right now."

He nodded, blushing as he turned away. I blushed, too. Things have been different between us since our slow dance on Halloween. Something changed that night. Not drastically, just a little nudge. But it was enough to notice. We both felt it. We both knew it.

I walked over and took a seat at the table as Raph continued what he was doing. He set down the boxes and took out a pot from the cupboard. I watched as he filled the pot with water and put it on the stove. The fact that I was attracted to him wasn't that shocking anymore, I was just curious as to why? Why was I attracted to him? And why now? Looks don't really matter to me, and I've never thought any of the boys were ugly. Now that I think about it, they were all very handsome for some mutant turtles. So, was it just his personality that I loved? He was always kind to me. He was funny, cool, fun to be around, and he never went easy on me when we trained or sparred. He gave it his all just as I did, because we both knew that that was how it would be in a real fight. And… I guess he was more than just handsome for a turtle.

"Here yah go."

I jumped slightly as my mind went back to reality. Raph placed a bowl full of noodles and a pair of chopsticks in front of me. I saw that he was looking a little embarrassed and I cursed. Had I been staring at him the whole time? Did he see me staring? I mentally cursed at myself as I sadly began to eat my noodles. Raph sat next to me but didn't look at me. We ate silently for a few minutes. Several bites later, he spoke first.

"So… what were you up to?" he asked. "I haven't seen you since training this morning."

"Um, just going over some song lyrics in my room," I answered. "Martin wants me to learn some new songs for us to practice. He's trying to get a friend of his to let us play at his uncle's wedding. He says events like those are where opportunities come in."

"I still can't believe you're actually in a band. I mean, you've always been amazing at music but to actually do it…"

My blush increased. He thought I was amazing. Raph's face turned darker as he hunched over his ramen, eating without interruption. I ate some more too, trying to take my mind of my shaking feet.

"Just don't let anything go to your head," he warned. "And watch out for the groupies. I've read some scary shit online about fangirls that went coo coo over celebs."

I laughed as I shook my head. Raph smiled as he watched me, looking much more relaxed than before.

"I never understood how some girls can get celebrity crushes like it's nothing," I breathed, catching my breath and feeling a little more relaxed myself. "I can't imagine crushing on someone like that and not have them notice."

Raph laughed. "Ha! You're one to talk! Didn't you keep a picture of Brendon Urie under your pillow for, like, 3 months?"

"He's a beautiful man with a beautiful voice, don't shame me!"

Raph snorted, spitting out some of his ramen in the process. I folded my arms and shook my head, deliberately looking away from him. Still, I couldn't help the small smile as I heard his deep laughter. As he calmed down I turned and went back to eating my ramen. He took several breaths and I looked over to see him beaming.

"People have crushes on other people without them knowing all the time," Raph wiped a tear from his eye. "You see it all the time on these cheesy, romantic chick-flics. And it's always the dude for some reason. You ever notice that?"

"You're cute when you smile."

We both felt the silence come up and crash like a wave. Raph raised his brow as his mouth hung open, still half-smiling. I snatched my bowl up and immediately started slurping down my ramen as fast as I could. As soon as it was empty I set it down, got out of my chair and ran out of the kitchen, determinedly not looking at Raph.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…!" I hissed at myself.

Why did I say that? Why the hell did I say that?! There was no warning or anything. It's like it didn't even go through my head before I said it, it just came right out of my damn mouth. Jesus, the look on his face… What went through his head? He's probably laughing right now about how stupid I sounded.

"Hey Nia!"

I jumped and turned. Mikey was sitting in the pit in front of the TV next to a small box whose contents I couldn't make out. I settled down and grinned at him.

"Hey Mikey, whatcha doin'?"

"I found a bunch of old anime taps in the trash the other day, and I've been binge watching all day," he beamed. "C'mon, come check 'em out!"

I raised an eyebrow as I walked over and sat on the edge of the pit. The TV screen lit up and the letters 'SRMFF' appeared in on the screen. Then, a group of people dressed in knock off suits from Voltron appeared, and a girl with green hair cried out.

"Oh no! Super bad times for all!"

"Does great danger arrive? Where?"

I raised my eyebrows as I stared at the screen. Sure, dubbed anime tends to be bad, but this just sounded ridiculous.

"Killer beast-bots from planet seven are here, with steely resolve!" cried the nerdy one with glasses. "Captain Coolstar, what are we going to do?"

Captain Coolstar then proceeded to slap the poor boy across the face.

"Get a hold of yourself, man!"

What looked like a small monkey in a yellow suit started whimpered quietly. The guy in red, whose shoulder it was sitting upon, looked at him.

"Don't worry, Squeakums. We'll blast 'em with Mighty Super Robo Mecha!"

"Team! Combine in teamwork mode!"

"Super! Robo! Mecha! Force! Five! Team! Five! Go!"

"What the heck is this nonsense?! It's terrible."

I jumped and turned. The others were all standing behind me, looking at the TV in confusion and distaste. Raph had been the one who spoke.

"Terribly awesome!" Mikey responded, standing up and picking up the box of tapes. "I found these old tapes in a dumpster."

"Tapes?"

"Check it out!"

"Dude, this is awful!" said Leo. "And you guys complained about Space Heroes."

"Their lips don't even match what they're saying!"

"It's dubbed anime, dude," I said. "What do you expect?"

"Whatever. The point is, I could never watch a show this bad!"

"Now, hold on guys," Donnie was rummaging through the box of tapes, examining them. "Maybe it looks weird, but it might be okay. We should at least give it a shot."

I nodded. "I'm with Donnie. It can't be the worse show ever."

Leo and Raph looked at each other for a moment before sighing in defeat.

About an hour later, all four boys were sitting up close to the TV, their eyes glued onto the screen. I smirked at them from my seat in the pit. This show wasn't necessarily bad, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves much more.

"So, she's the princess of an entire planet?" asked Raph. "Cool!"

"Yep, and she also pilots the robot's left leg," said Mikey. "She rules! But, that scientist dude made the robot!"

"The story has such an intricate, layered plot," Donnie beamed. "Four stars!"

Suddenly, the screen changed to show the nerdy boy talking nervously to the princess.

"P-p-princess, I'd like to invite you for space dinner, if you please. Yes?"

"What? I, date a weakling like you? Not for 10,000 Zarkon crystals!"

Dramatic music played as the boy cried out in horror.

At once, the others all started laughing. Donnie just sat there, staring at the screen with his jaw hanging open. Mikey nudged him playfully.

"Haha Donnie, that is so you and April, dude!"

"It is no!" Donnie snapped, then stood up. "Meh, this show is lame anyway, the plot makes zero sense! I'll be in the lab…"

I watched as Donnie marched away, a much grimmer look on his face than before. I turned my head to look at Mikey.

"Why'd you have to do that, dude?" I asked. "He's already upset enough about April already."

Mikey hunched over. "I just… thought it was funny."

I sighed. I wasn't feeling up for cartoons anymore. I stood up as I started heading to my room. I needed to keep practicing my music anyway.


Training that night had only been a little stressful for me. I was deliberately avoiding being alone with Raph as best as I could without making it look like I was avoiding him specifically. But, even as I trained I could feel him stand close to me. I could feel his eyes on the back of my head. I wasn't sure how to feel, but I wanted none of it tonight.

Tonight, we were training with sneak attacks. Leo had set up certain obstacles for each of us to be tested on. Currently, it was Mikey's turn. Obviously, it was more simple than the others. Leo simply had him go explore some of the buildings for a bit before setting up a trap in the form of an open pizza box with a single slice of pizza inside.

"Get ready for when he comes," whispered Leo.

I nodded and waited. Soon enough, I heard him shout out his catchphrase as he landed on the skylight, grinding it on his skateboard. He flipped off and was about to continue on when he spotted the pizza box laying where Leo had left it.

"Hello? This slice belong to anyone?" Mikey called out. "Huh? Ha… then it's all mine!"

Leo withdrew one of his katana's and began creeping around the roof. He went from one end to the other, climbing around the vents and atop the water tower. Mikey turned around only once before grabbing the pizza and bringing it closer to his mouth. Leo suddenly leapt down and immediately knocked Mikey up and off of his feet. He landed loudly on his shell and Leo held his sword down to keep him there. Then he held out his other hand, revealing the single slice of pizza resting in his grasp. Then, he smirked before he started to eat it himself.

"What the heck was that?" Mikey demanded.

Leo swallowed the pizza whole before answering, "That was a stealth attack. And that's what we're practicing in today's training session."

He smiled, spinning his katana and putting it back in its sheath. He held is hand out and helped Mikey to his feet.

"No fair, I couldn't see you comin'!"

"That's why they call it stealth, genius," Raph said, displeased.

"Why would you eat random pizza you found on a roof anyway?" asked Donnie.

"Roof pizza is like one of my ten favorite kinds of pizza."

I grabbed his shoulder. "Dude, you really need to expand your horizons a bit."

"Okay guys, listen up," started Leo. "Two keys to stealth- misdirection and camouflage. Got it? Raph and Mikey, you guys are up."

"Nah, I don't wanna do this anymore. Do you, Raph?"

But, as he opened his eyes, we had already disappeared from sight. I was hiding behind the water tower, Donnie I'm sure was still on top of it, and I'm not sure where the other two went. Mikey looked around, looking nervous before shrugging and bending over to pick up his skateboard. Suddenly, Raph jumped out of nowhere and grabbed Mikey by his shell, lifting him up into the air.

"Shellwedgie!"

Mikey yelped and thrashed as he was held up like a new born baby.

"No fair! Stealth attacks are lame!"

I couldn't help but giggle as I watched Raph mess around with him. Even if he could be too much sometimes, it was always funny seeing him play with the others. I heard footsteps from behind me and turned. Donnie wasn't even paying attention to the training, but was walking away to the opposite side of the building. I looked at him for a moment before walking over to him.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Donnie looked over at me. "I was just thinking… April's always studying in the park around this time. Would it seem weird for me to just show up?"

I folded my arms. "Well, considering you don't normally go there, 'cause you can't, it might be a bit obvious you went there to find her."

He sighed. "You're probably right."

I leaned over and patted his shell. He grinned slightly for a moment. Then he turned his head to look at me, a curious expression on his face.

"So, what happened this afternoon?"

"What do you mean?"

"Today," he answered. "I went to get some lunch and saw you run out of the kitchen. Raph was still in there and he looked kind of bothered. Did you two get in a fight or something? He wouldn't tell me."

I felt my heart leap into my throat. Oh great, Donnie saw that. Should I tell him what happened? Yes, it was embarrassing, but Donnie was the only person I could talk to about this stuff. And I had to tell someone.

"Well…" I turned my head back to make sure the others weren't listening before I continued, "No, quite the opposite, actually."

And so I spilled it, going into detail about how the afternoon went. When I got to the part about what I had said to Raph, I said it in such a low whisper that Donnie had to lean in to hear it. When he did, his eyes widened and so did his smile. He held a hand up to his mouth as he chuckled.

"Nia, that's got to be the most adorable thing I've ever heard."

"It's not adorable, it's embarrassing!" I snapped at him. "You didn't see the look on his face… I bet he was freaking laughing when I left."

"You're wrong. He didn't look at me much, but I could tell he was blushing," Donnie grinned. "And, for your information, he was smiling too."

I stared up at him. Blushing and smiling? Really? I turned away and stared off into space, thinking it over. That must have meant he was happy, right? So I didn't muck up anything then! My heart leapt again, but this time it was a lighter and happier jump. I found myself smiling to myself. Donnie's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Look Nia, you really don't have anything to worry about. From what I can see, you probably have a better chance at being something with Raph than I do with April. So relax, I'm sure you'll be fine."

I nodded, looking off at the city. Could Raph and I… actually be something? Boy, what a thought. I was about to ask how I should go about doing that when I heard Donnie gasp. I turned to see him leaning over the edge of the building and looking down. I followed his gaze and gasped too.

It was April. She was in the little park, sitting on the swings with a book in her hands. But, she wasn't alone. She was swinging next to a tall, dark haired kid who was dressed in all black and gray clothes. I had to stare at him for a moment before I recognized him. It was that Casey Jones kid I met on Halloween. Did he and April know each other? Did they go to the same school, perhaps? They seemed to be talking about something important, but I could just barley hear them.

"School isn't really my thing," said Casey. "When I graduate, I'm either becoming a pro hockey player or an international bounty hunter."

I couldn't help but grin. Leave it to a kid like Casey to have badass dreams like that.

"Those are quite the options," April told him.

"Who wants a normal life anyway, right?"

April didn't respond. She just sat still on the swing, messing with her hair. Casey stared at her for a moment.

"Hold still Red, you got a smug on your face."

Casey leaned over and started wiping away at April's cheek. I heard what sounded like a puppy getting kicked and looked around. Donnie was on his knees, leaning further and further over the edge, looking furious.

"She's on a… date?! I can't believe it! And with some punk human kid! What're they saying?"

Before I could yank Donnie back over and knock some sense into him, he had leaned so far over that he finally fell off. He fell down and slammed into one of the dumpsters below. I quickly ducked my head down so that Casey and April wouldn't see me. I could hear them talking to themselves, wondering what that noise was.

"Damn it, Donnie…" I groaned.


Needless to say, Donnie's mood didn't improve when we got home. I was stuck in his lab with him, sitting on top of his desk as I listened to him vent.

"Ridiculous… And- and they were swinging together. Swinging! And then she looked at him!"

"Yeah, she kinda has to," I told him.

"No no, she gave him that look! Like-like- like this!"

Donnie turned to me and gave me a wide, doe-eyed smile, blinking his eyes sweetly. I had to resist the urge to laugh. In reality, she didn't look at him that way at all. But, Donnie wasn't thinking straight right now. He dropped the sweet smile and it was replaced with an ugly grimace.

"Ohh… why was she even with him? Because he's human, that's why! Big deal! Do you know how many people are human?"

"Around 6 or 7 billion," I answered.

Donnie rolled his eyes and continued on with his machine. He tinkered with it for a moment before bringing it over to Timothy's tank and hooking the two up together.

"I'm almost done with your voice box," he muttered. "Okay… how's that?"

"Speaking… to you… Donnie…"

I smiled. "Hey Timothy. Nice to hear you again, buddy."

"It works!" Donnie puffed out his chest. "Ha ha ha! Let's see April's boyfriend design something like this!"

"I… like April… Donnie…"

Donnie smiled sadly. "Yeah, you and me both, Pulverizor. I just have to face it. She'll never wanna be friends again."

"April… friend…?"

"Yeah, she's our friend, Timothy," I told him. "She'll always be our friend. She's… just going through some stuff right now."

"Donatello, my son."

We both turned our heads. Sensei was standing in the doorway of the lab.

"I would like to speak with you."

"Um, sure Master Splinter."

Donnie got up from his work table and walked away, following Sensei out of the lab. I sighed and followed them out. They both headed towards the dojo while I went for the pit, jumping up and landing on the couch. I glanced over and saw Raph sitting a few spots away from me, reading a comic. I gulped and turned away. How did I not see him there? Okay, calm down… remember what Donnie said! He wasn't upset or embarrassed. Be cool… I pretended not to notice him as I pulled out my phone and pretended that I was messing with it.

"Hey," I said shortly.

I heard movement and I could feel him turn his eyes onto me. I could feel my nose start to turn red.

"Oh, hey."

I paused for a moment in confusion. Raph's voice didn't sound nervous or uncomfortable like I had thought it would. In fact, it sounded kind of happy. I turned my head towards him and saw that he was grinning at me. Not only that but he had closed his comic and set it down next to him. I did the best I could to contain my surprise as I smiled back, quickly thinking of something to talk about.

"So, what was up with training tonight? I thought you stopped giving Mikey shell wedgies years ago?"

"Huh? Well, I figured it wouldn't hurt to do an old-school trick of mine, you know?"

"You gotta be easier on him, you might actually hurt him someday."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Ah, you've always been overprotective of him. He's tougher than you think, he'll be fine."

I folded my arms and shook my head. A couple seconds of silence passed before I heard movement. I noticed that Raph was sitting a little closer to me than he was before.

"So… about earlier…"

I felt myself freeze as I felt my face start to heat up. Oh God, no…

"Look, don't ask, okay?" I told him. "I don't know what happened, so, please don't laugh."

Raph raised an eye brow at me. "I was just gonna say sorry."

I blinked. "Sorry?"

"Yeah."

"For what?"

"Well… after you said it, I know I just kinda sat there like an idiot, but I was just surprised. I didn't mean to embarrass you or whatever," he rubbed the back of his head, now looking embarrassed himself. "I guess… I'm trying to say sorry, or whatever."

My face burned less as my chest swelled up more. He didn't say that there was anything wrong with what I had said, so that was a good thing. He also wasn't embarrassed when he brought it up. I feel so much better right now.

"It's okay, dude. It was kinda my fault anyway."

Raph grinned at me and I grinned back, now feeling less nervous than before. Raph glanced around, clearing his throat.

"So, ah… did you mean it?"

"What?"

"Did you mean what you said then?" he held his face in his hands as he batted his eyes at me. "Am I really that cute when I smile?"

I reared my hand back and punched him in the shoulder. He flinched backwards, his mouth opening as he started laughing.

"Shut up! You're not funny!"

"I wasn't trying to be funny!"

Raph held his shoulder with his hand as he reared back and continued to laugh. I punched him a couple more times, now starting to laugh myself.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound from behind us. I turned around, still trying to catch my breath. The sound had come from inside the lab. Both Donnie and Sensei suddenly ran out of the dojo and straight into the lab. That's when I heard Donnie gasp.

"Timothy!"

I immediately jumped off the couch and ran straight for the lab. I made it just past the front doors before I skidded to a halt. There was a huge hole in the wall exactly where Timothy had sat, and Timothy was gone.


"…I didn't know it, but I think all of my April talk made Timothy go after her."

"You told your thoughts and feelings to a pile of guts in a jar?!" Raph yelled.

"He's a good listener!"

"But why?" I asked. "Why would Timothy go after April? To bring her back to us?"

"I don't think so… I think he might want to bring her to me."

I looked over at Leo and saw him trying to use his phone again. He had been trying to call April since we left the lair, but so far had no luck.

"Any word from April yet, Leo?"

"Not yet," he answered, dialing on his phone again. "How dangerous is this thing?"

"Well, he obviously doesn't know his own strength. He could end up hurting her."

Leo angrily hung up his phone. "Her T-Phone's still off. There's no way of tracing a signal."

"Actually, she might be at the park," Donnie said, then quietly added, "on a date…"

At that moment, the other three all skidded to a halt in front of us, finally pausing in their run over the rooftops. I slowly came to a stop behind them and turned with them to look at Donnie.

"And you know this how?" Raph asked.

"Um… maybe I was… f-following her…"

The others all gave Donnie very serious looks as I face palmed myself. I really wanted to be on Donnie's side when it came to his feelings, but it was stuff like this that made it very hard for me to not slap him in the head.

"Well, that's not creep-tastic," Mikey said sarcastically.

"Alright, so they're either at the park or April's headed back home," said Leo. "Donnie, you and I will take the park. Raph, Mikey, Nia, you guys head to April's."

"On it!" we said in unison.

And with that, we split off into the night.

Mikey and Raph both looked over the building, searching for April and, hopefully, not Timothy. While they were busy, I was dialing away at my phone, trying to call April. I was hoping that she might have turned her phone on, but so far no luck.

"Ugh, c'mon April, please…"

I sat and listened as my phone started to ringing. At that moment there was a loud explosion from behind me. I turned and ran to the edge of the building, looking over to the ground. There was a pile of flipped over cars just down the street from us. From the smoke, I could see several people running away and a pair of teens riding away on a bike. That's when I noticed a tiny dot of bright red hair flying by on the bike.

"Guys, I think it's April! Look-!"

I turned to see the other two staring down at the chaos, not even looking at me. I looked down and saw that something else was moving from the smoke. I squinted and suddenly saw a flash of green. A moment later, a giant, walking and moving mass of green good that was waving its arms and yelling loudly. It was Timothy.

"What the hell has Donnie been feeding him…?"

With that, we all jumped down from the building and climbed down. We ran up behind Timothy, taking out our weapons as we did.

"Not so fast, barrel full of uglay!" Mikey jeered.

"Donnie's right, Pulverizer's been drinking mutagen," said Raph. "You're not going anywhere, pal!"

"No… Must find April…"

Timothy turned and started walking away, his arms held out in front of him. Mikey leapt up, spun in the air and landed in front of him.

"What happened to you, Pulverizer?" he asked. "You turned into some kinda… mutagen man."

Timothy's eyes narrowed as he let out a strangled, staticy growl. We all stepped back, holding our weapons up. I held my kamas tightly, not wanting to use them. Timothy suddenly yelled as he raised a foot and stomped on the ground. The force of that stomp sent us all flying up into the air. I was kicked backwards and my side slammed into the fire escape on the building next to us. I fell to the ground as I heard another loud bang, and I looked up in time to see Mikey laying on the ground before the dumpster above him tipped over and trapped him inside. I looked over and saw that Timothy had Raph pinned under his foot, practically crushing him. He then opened up his large hand and slowly reached forward for Raph's face.

There was a flash, and out of nowhere Leo appeared, holding out one of his katanas. He had cut off the mutant hand that had been reaching for Raph. Timothy screeched and took several steps back, backing away from Raph. He cradled his slimy stump in his hand, looking sad and angry. Leo glared up at Timothy before starting to walk towards him. Then, Donnie jumped in from above and landed between the two mutants.

"No! Don't hurt him!" he begged.

"What?! That thing tried to melt my face!" Raph yelled.

"All he wants to do is make April our friend again!"

"No…!" Timothy suddenly yelled. "April not turtle friend… April only my friend…!"

Donnie whipped around. "What? I thought you were trying to get April back for me!"

At that, we all raised an eyebrow as we stared at Donnie. He realized what he had said and quickly corrected himself.

"Um… us?"

"Turtles hurt April…" Timothy continued. "Hurt me… Must destroy turtles…!"

Timothy raised his slimy stump, and a brand new hand slowly morphed from his slime. We all raised our weapons, and Donnie took out his Bo staff. Timothy raised both of his hands and started to make his way over to us. That's when it happened. His bright, mutagen glow started to fade as his slim became less thick, and he started to sink to the ground. The organs in his tank were starting to swirl around and mess up and he let out an exhausted groan. It was like watching a robot's battery die.

"Uh oh… powering down…"

With that, his eyes rolled back and his tank fell over onto the ground. We all stood around for a moment before sheathing our weapons and walking forward.

"What happened?" asked Leo.

"He ran out of mutagen," said Donnie. "Quick! Let's get him into the Shellraiser!"

It took a while for us to get Timothy in the Shellraiser. With the added weight, the van moved a lot slower than normal, so we had to stick to alley's as we searched for the right entrance back to the lair.

"Remind me why we're bringing Mr. Personality here back to the lair?"

"What he did isn't his fault, Raph, it's mine," explained Donnie. "He was lonely. All my April talk made him want a friend."

"I don't understand," I piped up. "You and I talk with him every day. Doesn't he see us as friends?"

"His mind isn't his own right now, Nia. I don't think he can think properly even if he wanted to," he said. "Anyway… the important thing is to make sure we don't let him get hurt. Timothy's DNA could be the key to retro mutagen. I could cure April's dad and him if-"

Mikey gasped and we all turned. Timothy's long, stretchy mouth had slipped out of the tank and had gotten into some more mutagen on the shelf. It was all gone before we could do anything.

Timothy suddenly jumped up, causing the van to spiral out of control. He leapt forward and ran out to the street, screaming April's name. Leo quickly pulled the van over and we all ran outside.

"I thought he was out cold?"

"We split up and find him."

"There's no need to split up," said Donnie. "We know where he's headed."

We all started running out in the street, back around the block towards April's house. We headed up to the rooftops and continued there. It would be faster that way.

Soon, we were able to catch up to him just as he rounded the corner where April's apartment building was. He was standing in the alley next to it, spying in on the front where April and the Casey Jones kid stood talking. We all reached the alley and didn't hesitate to jump off the roof. We all landed in front of him, withdrawing our weapons.

"Where do you think you're goin', handsome?" Raph asked. "April's house?"

"She's not expecting visitors at the moment," I said, raising my kamas.

"Keep him in the alley! We can't let April's boyfriend see us."

Leo's words made Donnie sneer, but he made no comment.

"Leave… Mutagen Man… alone!"

Timothy ran at us and we each leapt at him.

Things were pretty crazy for the next few minutes. It was a constant cycle of one of us hitting Timothy after the other. Just one big mess. He kept swinging and flinging his fists at us, only hitting us a couple of times.

I ran around him in a circle and flung my kamas at him. They would slice through his slime and come back. I stopped in front of him just as Leo ran up to attack him. Timothy backhanded him out of the way, making him hit the wall. I gasped as I stared, and I was distracted long enough for Timothy to jump forward and shove me back several feet out of the alley. I slid on my butt until I reached the end of the alley and fell onto my back. I ground, rubbing dirt out of my eyes as I started to lean up. That's when I noticed that a person had been standing right outside the alley and they were now looking directly at me. A person with bright red hair, and a bright yellow shirt.

"April?"

"Nia?"

It was April. She must have just gotten back from her date. I sat straight up, staring up at her. For a brief second I completely forgot what was happening. This was the first time I had seen or heard from my friend in over two months, and I couldn't help but smile up at her. My smile quickly faded as I heard Timothy yell from the alley, and I looked to see that he was still on a rampage.

I sprang to my feet and ran at April, grabbing her and pushing her up the stairs to her apartment.

"Nia, what's going on out there?"

"No time to explain, there's a lot going on right now," I said quickly as I opened the front door. "Just stay inside, I'll let you know when it's safe again, okay?"

I gently pushed her inside the building and shut the door. I looked at the door for a moment before I turned and ran back towards the alley. When I returned, things were still going crazy.

"Destroy you all…!"

"Donnie, we have no choice!" said Leo. "Whatever Pulverizer- whatever Timothy was, is gone now."

"But, if we destroy him, I might never find a retro mutagen. What about April's dad?"

"What about April?" Raph asked seriously.

Timothy reared his head back and let out an angry roar.

"We need to distract him," said Donnie. "Misdirection and camouflage."

I understood what that meant. I smirked as I quickly pressed myself against the wall and slid into the shadows. The boy's eyes all turned white as I slipped into the shadows as well. Donnie slipped into darkness and quickly disappeared from even my line of sight. Timothy ran at random dark spots in the alley, but he never came close to one of us. His arms fell to his sides as he gazed around.

"Turtles… gone…?"

I could see the boys sneaking around in the shadows. I kneeled by the dumpster and softly kicked out a piece of trash. Timothy turned and walked towards it. At that moment Raph appeared out of the darkness, sliced and it Timothy, and then disappeared quickly. Timothy turned and started walking in that direction. Then, both Leo and Mikey appeared and started to attack him at the same time, knocking him back deeper into the alley. They quickly leapt back and disappeared as well. Timothy was becoming visibly angry now, glaring and clenching his fists. I leaned over next to a small trash can and called out.

"Hey, Mutagen Man!"

I quickly ran away back behind the dumpster. Timothy ran in the direction my voice had come from and kicked out the trashcan.

"No, over here!"

Timothy turned and ran at a dark mass that looked like Leo. He swung at it, revealing it to be nothing but trash.

"Hey, Timothy!"

I turned to look up. Donnie had returned. He was standing in the middle of the alley, holding a canister full of mutagen. Except, this mutagen looked different. It was brighter, and was closer to blue than typical acid green.

"Mutagen!" Donnie exclaimed. "That's right… this way…"

Timothy didn't hesitate to start marching towards Donnie, his hands held out for the mutagen.

"More… mutagen…!"

Suddenly, Timothy sprinted forward towards Donnie. He swung down and smacked Donnie out of the way, causing him to drop the canister. It broke as it hit the ground.

"No! Don't drink it, Timothy!"

But Timothy didn't listen, and his weird, long mouth extended and lapped up the mutagen on the ground. For a moment, he looked very pleased with himself. Suddenly, his face fell as he staggered backwards. He looked much less scary and looked more terrified.

"Donnie…" he groaned. "Something's… wrong…!"

"I'm sorry, Timothy…"

Timothy's movements started to become more jagged and twitchy as the goo in his jar started to turn blue and solidify. Donnie started walking towards him, not minding that he was moving and swinging. A second later he was completely solid and stiff. He had been frozen.

"Wow! Awesome move, Donnie!" Leo praised, smiling. "Real scientific!"

"Yeah. Real scientific…"

Leo's face fell as he noticed the look of sadness on Donnie's face. Donnie walked forward until he was directly in front of Timothy. He raised a hand and pressed it against the glass.

"Don't worry, my friend," he whispered. "One day, I'll find a cure."

Raph walked up to stand next to Donnie. I thought he was going to say something smart, but the comforting arm placed around Donnie's shell told me otherwise.

"It's okay, Donnie. You did what you had to do," he said soothingly. "Let's just go home."


Donnie's P.O.V.

It took half an hour to move Timothy from the alley to the Shellraiser. It took just as long to move him back into the lab. But, even after an hour my arms still felt heavy, along with the rest of me. The guys obviously had not a care in the world now and immediately went back to watching that new cartoon Mikey found. I couldn't be bothered to watch it. Too many painful reminders of how lonely I'll be for the rest of my life.

"How are you, my son?"

I jumped, startled by Sensei's sudden presence. Did he really have to do that every time? I relaxed quickly, and soon went back to feeling like crap.

"Sensei… I created a monster who could've squashed the girl I'm totally into. How do you think I feel?" I placed my head in my hands. "I'll probably never see her again…"

"April's decision to stay away is her own choice," Sensei told me. "We must let her come back in her own time."

"Yeah, but what if she never does?"

"Never lose hope, Donatello."

I lowered my hands as I thought about Sensei's words. Just then, I heard soft laughter coming from the exit. I turned to see Nia sitting on the steps, laughing as she spoke on her phone. She had called April right after we got home to let her know that she was safe, and they hadn't stopped talking since. The fact that April hadn't hung up on her was good enough, but the fact that Nia was smiling and laughing told me that the conversation was going better than what I would expect. And if April is okay enough to be speaking to Nia(after what April did), then maybe she'll be ready to be friends with us again. Suddenly, the dialogue of the cartoon caught my attention.

"Oh, Dr. Blip, you saved me with all of your might, brave intelligence! How I adore this!"

I looked up at the screen just in time to see the princess lean forward and begin kissing the scientist's cheek multiple times. His cheeks went red as the camera zoomed in and started to fade, indicating the end of the episode. I couldn't help but picture me and April in that scenario for a second, but it didn't last long. I smiled.

"Yeah, there's always hope."