Chapter four: Boiling point
Authors note: I have avoided doing this chapter because of covid-19 and other things, sorry it took so long but here it is enjoy.
"Leo, for shell sakes just tell me".
"Okay, okay; listen you can't freak out, Promise".
"I can't promise, you know that; but I'll try".
Leo sighed and put a hand on Donnie's shoulder.
"It's been….., It's been four years".
"What"?
"It's been FOUR YEARS".
"Leo"!
Leo looked away how could he tell his brother; how could he face him.
(Come on Leo he deserves to know).
"Okay, okay, it's been four years".
"WHAT"!
Donnie placed his head in his hands, he felt tears forming in his eyes.
(If it's been four years that would make us 19, no this can't be happening).
A tear fell from Donnie's face, the sadness he felt hurt his heart but slowly that sadness was being taken over by another emotion, rage; he wasn't sad he was angry, four years had been taken away by that man, four years with his brothers gone, four years of inventions he was never going to get back, the tears stopped and the rage kept growing; he was no longer angry he was IN-RAGGED. He removed his head from his hands and tried to push himself off the couch, but fell right back down, he tried again and found himself actually standing, but with every step he was at the point of falling over, he pushed on through the pain with his limping legs.
Everyone's eye's followed Donnie as he slammed the lab doors open, they looked at each other and followed him into the lab, they stood at the door as Donnie hopped onto his computer and started to smash the keys as he typed, they all just stood there silent.
"Ummmmm Donnie"?
Donnie remained silent, he kept smashing the keys and looking at his t-phone, from which he had pulled from the top draw, one by one they each left Donnie and headed to the kitchen.
"It's weird he doesn't seem upset he seems angry"? Leo looked around waiting for an answer.
"Maybe I should talk to him, after all I am his little brother". Mikey smiled as if it was an achievement.
"No Mikey, Leo should talk to him".
"Ugggh guys I'll talk to him".
"April no, when Donnie's mad he tends to do stuff he doesn't mean".
"I'll be fine, just let me talk to him".
"Fine but be careful".
April walked to the lab entrance, she walked in and stood next to Donnie; Donnie was staring down at his phone waiting for something to download.
"Hey Donnie, what are doing".
Donnie didn't say a word, April was both shocked and confused, Donnie never ignored her; not even when she asked him too.
"Are you okay, I know this news must be hard to take in but you can talk to me".
Silence followed.
"Okay, fine if you don't want to talk I'll leave".
April stormed out the room and headed back to the kitchen, she sat down in the chair frustrated and upset.
"April what happened"?
"Nothing, he just ignored me, he didn't say a word; he just kept looking at his stupid phone; that kind of hurt".
"Hmmm, I'll go talk to him, I am his leader after all".
"Leo just give him some space; this must be a lot to take in".
"It's fine Raph we need to sort this out".
Raph shook his head as Leo walked over to Donnie.
(This isn't going to end well).
Leo walked out the kitchen and headed to the lab where he saw Donnie scavenging through draws and knocking things off shelfs, Leo stood at the entrance silently and watched as Donnie franticly searched the draws of his cupboards.
"Hey Don, what you doing".
Donnie remained silent until he found what he was looking for and let out a whispered "yes", Donnie then prepared a satchel full of equipment and grabbed the phone from his desk; he headed out the lab and to his room, all the while he limped. Donnie reached his room and flung the door open with one hand, Leo followed behind cautiously; he waited outside the door for only seconds until his brother emerged with his mask over his face, his belt strapped to him and his bow staff on his back; Donnie headed for the lair entrance, he slid his t-phone into the belt and jumped over the turn dial and nearly falling over from the impact of his landing; Leo ran after him and stopped Donnie in his tracks.
"Don where are you going, you need to take it easy".
Those three words set Donnie off, his eye narrowed and his heart started to beat faster as his rage grew into a storm of emotion. He felt himself becoming enraged, well more enraged than he already was.
"Take it easy, TAKE it easy, TAKE IT EASY, ARE YOU SERIOUS; IV'E BEEN TAKING IT EASY FOR FOUR YAERS LEO, FOUR….YEARS, Do you not know how angry I am, no; let me reframe that I'm not angry, no…no…no I'M PISSED AND IM GOING OUT IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU OR DO I NEED TO EXPLAIN MY SELF EVERY TIME I BLOODY DO SOMETHING, YOU'RE A TERRIBLE LEADER GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL LEO AND STOP TREATING ME LIKE I'M A FIVE-YEAR-OLD-BOY; I'M SO SICK OF IT AND I'M NOT TAKING YOUR CRAP ANYMORE".
Leo stood frightened and shocked, he wanted to say something but only air escaped his mouth, his tongue glued to the top of his mouth. Donnie turned his back and walked away, Leo watched as his brother went up to the surface; the moment played over and over in his mind.
(I'M NOT TAKING YOUR CRAP ANYMORE…..STOP TREATING ME LIKE I'M A FIVE-YEAR-OLD BOY….YOUR'RE A TERRIBLE LEADER).
(He….he hates me, no he's just angry he didn't mean it or did he; am I really a bad leader; have I been treating him like a baby).
Raph walked out and put a hand on Leo's shoulder, Leo flinched at the touch of Raph's cold hand, he turned to his brother and saw he had the same expression as his own.
"You ok bro, I'm sure Don didn't mean it".
"You heard".
"Who didn't hear it".
"I feel so stupid".
"I did tell you to give him some space".
"That's not helping Raph".
Leo sighed and Raph led him back inside, they came to the kitchen were Mikey and April were chatting, they immediately went quite as Leo entered; Leo sat down and everyone waited for him to speak, they waited and waited but he didn't speak. The sun rose over the city the next morning and gleamed into the lair, first out to the kitchen was Mikey.
( Okay what to make, egg's, pancakes, juice, leftover pizza, toast, coffee aaaaannnnnndddd cereal, yes a healthy breakfast)
Mikey started on the eggs and made his way around to the rest of the food, he placed the food one by one onto the island and started on the juice, he then ran to his brothers rooms and knocked on the doors, he headed to Raph's room and banged on the door; then he headed to Leo's and did the same. Both came out at the same time masked and looking like zombies, they dragged themselves to the kitchen. Mikey headed to Donnie's room only to fine it was empty; Mikey headed back to the kitchen and sat down; they all started grabbing plates of food and jugging down juice and coffee.
"Mikey where's Donnie".
"hohrnbegvo".
"Mikey chew before you speak".
"I don't know he's not in his room".
(He hasn't come back since yesterday, where could he be; I got to go look for him).
"I'm going to go look for him, he's been gone for a long time".
"Leo bro just give him some space, that information must have been a lot to take in".
"bjqrbfibqjbfwigbuu".
"MIKEY".
"Yeah bro give him space, it's not like he's going after mind control or anything".
"Mikey you're a genius".
"What, what did I say"?
"Guys grab your stuff were headed out, Donnie could be in trouble and we got to find him".
The brothers stocked up on gear and headed to the surface, the sun was up so they had to be careful where they went and what they did; the three brothers spent hours searching for Donnie only to come up empty handed; after two days of none stop searching they called it in and a headed back to the lair. The brothers jumped down into the sewer's and walked back to the lair without Donnie beside them.
(Why can't Don be like Mikey, annoying but stays put).
(Pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza).
(I can't believe I failed; I didn't even get close to finding him, no clues; no nothing, Donnie was right; I am a terrible leader).
The brothers stopped at the entrance as they saw Donnie limping back into his lab with coffee in his hand, they walked slowly up to the lab doors to see their brother sitting typing on his laptop; he had bags under his eyes and he was very jumpy.
Donnie jumped in fear as his brothers announced themselves.
"Hey D where you been"
Donnie looked up with his tired eyes and sighed like nothing had happened.
"Nowhere why"?
"You weren't in your room".
"Why do I have to be in my room 24/7".
Donnie gleamed at his brothers and continued to type, the three brothers stared at each other and walked into the dojo; they sat in a circle in silence.
"Is it just me or does Donnie seem different".
"Yeah, he's meaner than me".
Mikey and Leo gave Raph a judging looking.
"Look guys just give him some space, wouldn't you be angry".
Silence took over the room as each brothers mind ran wild with thoughts.
"And what is this about your brother being different"?
All "Sensei".
Master splinter looked his sons up and down and rubbed his beard.
"What troubles you my sons"
Raph and Mikey pushed Leo forward as they stood up, they then walked out of the dojo, leaving Leo behind to face splinter by himself as usual.
"Master splinter, we think Donnie might be angry".
"And what is wrong with being angry, emotion is something every person has, sometimes it is best to allow your emotions to flood out".
Splinter looked his son up and down; he rubbed his beard once more and put a hand on his eldest sons shoulder
"what really troubles you my son"?
Leo sighed and looked down to the floor.
"Sensei am I a bad leader, Donnie says he hates he because of my bad leadership skills and I just think…...".
Before Leo finished his sentence, Splinter swiped Leo's feet from underneath him; in which Leo hit his head on the hard wood floor, dazing him.
"My son, you can't always doubt yourself; instead of seeing the bad side of every situation, try and look for the good in that situation. Find out how you can improve, stop this path or you will always have doubt behind your shoulder; you know what you need to do, you know what has to be done."
"Hai sensei".
Leo stood from his spot and walked back to the lab with confidence, he took in a deep breath and walked straight up to Donnie; he placed a hand on his shoulder only to get it flicked off.
"Don, listen I'm…..".
"Don't even finish that sentence Leo, I don't want to hear it".
"Look Don I just want to say I'm….."
"Leo I don't know if you deaf but listen".
Donnie stood from his seat and stared Leo in the eyes, Leo looked all around Donnie's face; he looked tired and his eyes seemed unnatural; they were dark and evil like.
"I DON'T WANT TOO HEAR IT; NOW GET OUT".
Leo slowly backed up and stopped at the entrance to the lab, he grabbed the door and slowly closed it, bit by bit his brother disappeared behind the big metal doors leaving Leo standing outside staring at the doors; he stood there for a good solid minute and headed to the tv area; he sat in his usual spot and his brothers looked over at him.
"So I'm guessing he didn't want you company"
Leo shook his head and then headed to his room, he couldn't stand to be stared at; his little brother followed him and Raph stared at the lab, he stormed over to the doors and started to bang violently on them; after a minute of silence Raph opened the door, they flung open with great force smashing into the door frames.
"Go away Leo, I'm not in the mood".
"What the hell is up with you lately, D what did Leo ever do to deserve this; he is a great leader and you know this, can ya forgive him".
"Do really think if I didn't want Leo's company, that I would want yours; GET OUT, I WANT NONE OF YOUR COMPANY; I DON'T WANT ANY OF YOU TO BE IN HERE, JUST GET OUT".
"D just listen".
Donnie's brother walked up to him and started to talk to him, with every word Donnie's rage grew more and more like a fire raging through a dry forest; he felt his whole body heat up; Raph's finishing words finally made Donnie snap.
"But listen we all have roles so let Leo play his okay, you can stick to yours; fixing things for us".
Those four words echoed around Donnie's head like a broken record, playing over and over again, well that was the last straw, Raph was going to see a side of Donnie that was hidden deep inside of him and he was not going to like it.
(Fixing stuff, FIXING STUFF, is that all I'm here for; Fixing stuff; so I play no other role than to fix their broken stuff; what next my stuff to geeky for you Raph; why don't you just call it JUNK, YOU KNOW WHAT, THAT'S IT; THAT WAS THE LAST STRAW. I'M SO TIRED OF THEM TREATING ME LIKE I'M TRASH)
Flash back
"Finally, the improvements are finished for the T-phones, let's take a look".
Donnie restarted the phone and entered his password, he clicked on the new program and started it up, everything seemed to be working, he could see all the cameras, he could check all the spy roaches he had scattered around town and he could see trackers that he had installed in each T-phone.
"Huuuh, what's this; one of the cameras has stopped working; it's near our lair too. I got to go get it back online, I should bring one of the guys, I could use their help".
Donnie gathered a satchel full of equipment and headed out to the Lounge, Mikey and Raph were battling and Leo was on the pinball machine; Donnie knew getting their help wasn't going to be easy; but he really did need one of their help.
"Hey guys can one of you come help me get the camera back online, it gone out and…"
"Listen bro I'm going to stop you right there, see were busy and we have training in like 20 minutes, don't you think it could wait".
"I know we have training but this will only take like 12 minutes, 5 minutes to get out there, 2 minutes to fix the problem and 5 minutes to get back, so can one of you come"?
"Yeah sorry Don were busy".
"Busy doing what"?
"You're the genius figure it out".
"How about you Leo, want to come help"?
"Where's the camera"?
"It's like 5 minutes away and if we run it will be like 3 minutes away".
"I think you got it".
"But I could just really need some help, just this once; you know I hardly ever ask".
"D we all said no, so just go do it yourself, stopping being a baby".
Donnie sighed and slowly walked away; his brothers never wanted to help him so he didn't except much from them; he does all he can to protect them; the least they could do is help him.
Current moment
"You know what Raph, I'm done; get out of my lab before I do something I will regret"
"Don come on".
Donnie finally had enough, this was the last straw, no more mister nice turtle; Raph quickly ducked as a beaker came flying towards his face; he ducked out of the way as the glass shattered above him; he stood up but only to get another beaker thrown at him, it might have been the adrenaline but he didn't even feel the beaker hit his arm until he looked down and saw millions of glass shards sticking out of his arm.
"AAAAHHHHH, Dddd….Ddddonie what the shell is wrong with you; you threw glass at me; are your serious".
Raph held his arm as he ran for the bathroom, Donnie followed after him shocked out of his mind.
(Oms what is wrong with me, I just basically stabbed my own brother, what is happening to me).
Raph swung the bathroom open and immediately ran his arm under the water, he felt is arm sting as the water hit his open wounds, one by one he removed the tiny pieces of glass lodge into his arm; once all the tiny pieces were removed he had to deal with the giant piece that had gone deep into his arm, if Raph was to estimate he would probably say it was about 6cm deep in his flesh.
"This is going to hurt a lot".
"Raph bro I'm really sorry"
"SORRY DOSN'T CUT IT DON, JUST GET OUT; I WAS RIGHT YOU ARE GOOD FOOR NOTHING; I WAS JUST SAYING THOSE THINGS TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOURSELF; BUT NOW I TAKE BACK VERY NICE THING I SAID ABOUT YOU, YOUR JUST USELESS; ALL YOUR CREATIONS ARE RUBBISH; THERE JUNK".
Donnie snapped back into his shell of darkness; the rage he had managed to hold back was starting to surface and bubble, he became full of rage.
"Okay Raph, let's go".
Donnie lunged at Raph taking ahold of the glass so hard that he begins to cut his own hand open, more blood drips on the floor as Donnie squeezes the glass and yanks the whole piece out, a blood curdling scream was silenced by clenched teeth, blood and tissue follow the glass as Donnie throw's the glass across the room. Donnie then pushed Raph over and dragged him by his bandana to the lab; Raph also became angry and grabbed ahold of Donnie's legs making him face plant into the cold hard concrete, as Donnie face plants he kick's Raph in the back of the head; this makes Raph more angry; both brothers stand facing eye to eye, they both bare their teeth like wild dogs.
"You know what Raph I've had enough of your crap, calling me a dork; calling me a nerd; to be honest I don't care about those names, but I'm sick of you calling me DON AND D, I HATE IT; it's a stupid name and you know I hate it".
"WELL WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT HUH, FIGHT ME DON AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS".
"That's it".
Both brother's charged at each other while screaming at the top of their lunges, their faces meet as they started throwing punches and kicks, the brother's throw blows at each other one by one; pushing each other back with great force. They start running at each other at top speed; until Splinter stand's in the middle of them and Raph skids to a stop failing face first onto the concrete; but to Donatello this is only an obstacle; he jump's over Splinter with grace and land's right on top of Raph's shell, cracking his shell right down the middle; a giant crunch fills the lair and then the sound of pain follows.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH".
I hoped you enjoyed the story, I work a while on this and I think it turned out okay; I was thinking of creating my own fan fiction; on my own characters but I should probably finish this one before I jump ahead with anything else, but let me know if you would want anything like that; again due to covid-19 and other things it has taken awhile for me to finish this story; if there is spelling errors or errors in general, I apologise. But I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you in the next chapter.