Nalong - Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Nyeh, not feeling creative enough to play with this today. I don't own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I don't get paid for this. Please don't sue.

A/N: Heya all!
YES I can FINALLY post this! A big thank you to all my wonderful reviewers!

In the past I promised cool stuff headed Don's way, here is some of it.

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Donatello had a strange little smirk on his face and Annie could not figure out for the life of her what he found so funny. They had been carrying water for the better part of the day, and still the turtle was smirking as though the guards had made some grievous error, little did she know, they had. They had made the error of having Donatello haul water from the river back to camp, well actually the error had been showing him where they kept the equipment and what it was.

Don knew only too well what it was and how it was supposed to be used, but he didn't let on. Instead he played dumb, allowing Annie to show him how best to carry the two water buckets on the six foot long stick, or tenbin, provided to them. Donnie had a feeling that someone missed out on a little memo. Oh well, too late now. He smiled again. He couldn't wait to tell his brothers about this one. The cheerful disposition also succeeded in one other thing. It was making the guard angry, which only made Don smile more. He had a feeling he would pay for it later, but right now he didn't care.

"You keep smiling like that and they will never let you do this again." Annie warned.

Donatello nodded while taking in the information. They were near the river now. He had heard earlier that 50 people were in the group carrying water and another 165 were working in a field right next to the river they were getting the water from. In all that made 214 prisoners nearby and Donatello made it 215. He was absolutely shocked at the sheer number of people held in this place. Their captors didn't seem that organized, yet here he was among all these people. It made him sick knowing that humans would do this to other beings for the sole crime of being different. He knew the same thing had occurred throughout history, but that didn't make it right.

He looked out across the river as he filled his water buckets. The river was slow-moving and shallow. It also seemed to make up some sort of border to the complex. As far as he could tell the river looked pretty safe to cross, and that anyone who made it across would have escaped the confines of the prison. He wasn't ready to leave yet himself, as he would never leave without his brothers, but maybe the others could get away. From what Annie told him he probably wouldn't be getting this job again, so if he made a move it would have to be now. He turned to Annie who was nearby.

"If I created a distraction large enough for these people to get across the river would that be sufficient for them to escape?" He whispered in English after making sure the guards were far enough away that they couldn't hear.

"Donatello, are you nuts!"

"Uh no, don't think so, and please call me Don. Are they free if they get across the river?" He questioned insistently.

"Yes, but…"

Donatello nodded as he put the stick back over his shoulders. It cut Annie off for a moment, but she was not to be deterred.

"They'll take you to the Course." She whispered harshly as though it was the worst thing in the world. "Very few come back from there, and most of those who do go crazy in the following days."

"But they'll be free right?" Don confirmed. He now knew something about the punishment he would receive. It wasn't certain death, and therefore a risk he was willing to take.

"Yeah, yeah they'll be free."

"Start letting them know that they'll have a chance to escape on the next trip down. Also make sure it passes through the people in that field there." He said quietly.

"Why are you doing this? Don, you'll get yourself killed."

"Because Annie, it's the right thing to do. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He said simply, effectively ending the conversation. Annie nodded and started passing the message among the women carrying water and working the field.

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April was surprised by the knock at her door. She wasn't expecting anyone, which just meant that it was probably one of the turtles wanting to get away from his brothers. The only problem with that little scenario was that it was the middle of the day. Opening the door she found just about the last person she expected to see and she fought to contain her surprise at Splinter's presence on her doorstep. Upon finding the wise rat there warning klaxons sounded in her mind. Knowing his obvious discomfort was a result of standing out in the open like he was she hurriedly invited him in. Once they were seated in the living room Splinter was the first to speak.

"April, I am sorry to disturb you my child but have you, by any chance, heard from my sons?" Though his voice remained calm April knew that inside he was seriously troubled.

"No, I haven't heard from any of them for a couple of days."

"They did not come home from their training run last night and I am deeply concerned for their safety." The rat explained.

"Hmm… That's not like them. You don't suppose…" April was horrified at the thought that had just drifted, unbidden, across her mind.

"No." Splinter said quickly and with certainty. "They are alive, somewhere; for now anyway."

April breathed a sigh of relief. If Splinter said they were alive, then they were alive. Now it was just a matter of finding them.

"Could they have gotten trapped outside and were just unable to make it home?" April inquired hopefully.

Splinter sighed. It was enough to tell April that while he could hope that was the case, each turtle had a shell cell and Donatello had taken his usual bag of tricks with him. They would have contacted him by now if they had been able to. April sighed. Her mind momentarily drifted to Donnie's duffel bag. He carried that thing everywhere. Some part of April always imagined him as being a guy who, if he were human, would like cargo pants. Not for the whole baggy look, but for the pockets. Her mind drifted to what would turn up in Mikey's pockets if he had any, and she quickly decided that she didn't really want to know. Shaking her head she pulled herself back to the situation at hand.

"I'll call Casey. We'll find them Splinter." She stated with confidence. The far less confident if they are out there to be found at all hung in the air between the two. Despite Splinter's strong belief that his sons were alive even he had his doubts, especially in regard to how long they would remain that way. He nodded and April hurried to the phone in the kitchen.

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When Donatello was about half way back to the river he got the message from another prisoner that someone was going to create a distraction and that they were supposed to try to escape. As a result he was fairly certain that it had traveled through most of the group. This time when he filled his buckets he didn't hang them back on the tenbin. Many weapons began as farming equipment and one common theory was that the bo staff was one of them. Theoretically, one such use had been to carry water in just this manner. That was what he had found so funny earlier; his idiot captors had essentially given him his weapon back. As far as he was concerned the tenbin across his shoulders was a bo, and he was about to use it as such. One should really think twice before putting a six foot long stick in the hands of a bo staff specialist enemy. Water now completely forgotten and one bucket floating down the river Don leapt at the nearest guard.

The guard was taken completely by surprise. During the day there were almost never any escape attempts. Any attempts were usually made at night, and even then it was generally the men making them. No one had ever had the audacity to try to escape in the middle of the work day with guards all around. No one until they had tangled with the ninja turtles anyway. The lack of attempts was part of the reason that the newest and weakest guards were put on duty during the day, and particularly supervising the women. Don knew that he had the element of surprise on his side.

He felt the end of the staff connect with the head of the guard standing nearest him. Shortly a shout rang out and everyone around him hurried across the river. Don smiled knowing that several of them would make it away. He watched as the guards started pulling out their shock sticks. The next guard was only a few feet away and was struggling with one of the women, manhandling her in a way that no one deserved to be treated. Don slipped along the edge of the crowd hurrying to the river and rushed behind the guard. He tapped the guy on the shoulder.

"Don't you know that's not how to treat a lady?" He asked sarcastically. The guard just stared at him. Don sighed and slid the 'bo' across the ground pulling the guard's feet out from underneath him. As the guy fumbled for his shock stick Don yanked the object from his hands and broke it in two over his knee before heading down to the next guard. Don had to smile at the chaos he had caused, especially since none of the guards seemed to know he had been the one to start it. He worked his way quickly down the line taking out as many of the guards as he could as quietly as possible knowing that it wouldn't be long before their back-up arrived. Guards were quickly and cleanly dropped to the ground while fellow prisoners hurried to the river.

Finally a guard began to give Donatello a run for his money. Don had had his shell to the guy to start with, and had barely heard the soft electronic whine. Just in time he whipped his weapon around and caught the offending shock stick.

"What do you think you're doing you FREAK?" The guard growled at Donatello. The shock stick was pulled away from the bo and another attack was attempted. Don watched carefully and deflected the second attack with ease.

"You can't keep us here." Don hissed back, voice barely above a whisper. "We have done nothing wrong." With the strain of holding the guy back Don's voice was a little higher than his normal range, but he wasn't trying to hide anything anymore.

"You were born!" The irrational guard yelled at the turtle in front of him. "Just like the rest of them." He swung a leg around in an attempt to knock Don from his feet, but the turtle had been prepared. He jumped and flipped over the head of the guard and was now standing behind him. Pulled the bo around he landed a blow to the guard's side. The guy went down, but didn't stay there. He was soon up and attacking again.

"You were also born." Don pointed out, Leo would be angry enough when he found out what Donnie was doing right now and he reluctantly disguised his voice again. "And you don't seem to hold it against yourself, nor do I hold it against you. Why is our existence any different?" He didn't really think that logic was gong to work with this guy, but he had to at least try.

"Ah, but you are a freak of nature, something that was never meant to be."

"Nevertheless I exist, and that very existence tells me that I AM meant to be."

"No!" The guard shouted, he was starting to get flustered and Don could see the mistake coming that would be the guy's undoing.

"I'm done talking to you." Donatello spun the bo over his head gaining momentum and landed a powerful blow to his opponent's midsection. The guy doubled over in pain and before he had a chance to do anything else Don had brought the bo back down on his head and knocked him out. Risking a glance at the river Donatello could see that most of the slaves, or rather former slaves, had made it to freedom on the other side. Part of him wished that he could join them, but he had to wait for his brothers. He could not leave without them. Too many of the women he had spent the day working with were still on this side of the river, so Don went back to busting heads; logic wasn't going to work on these guys.

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Donatello wasn't quite sure how it happened. He had been focusing too much on the guards in front of him to notice the one behind him. Too late he heard the shock stick charging. His part in this escape came to an abrupt end as the shock stick connected with his neck.

"How many got away?" Someone ordered.

"Well, 36 remain, including this one, and we started with 215 among the two groups, so… 179 inmates escaped sir." The voice was young and sounded scared.

Those were the last words Donatello heard before everything went black, and even as he passed out Don smiled one more time.

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A/N: Ok, I promised more about the numbers. tmntyyh was correct in guessing that MT does indeed stand for Mutant Turtle. Also Mickis asked about the 1-4 at the end of the guys numbers. The numbers 1 - 4 in my mind are more a threat level that the guards who put them in the system, namely Sandy and Alan, associated with them than anything else. Sandy and Alan perceived Raphael as the biggest threat; remember he confronted Alan, so he was given number 1. Leo, who tried to assist Raph in carrying Don showed some initiative, but didn't physically do anything to them. Mikey didn't really do much while they were around, but he was awake. And finally Donatello was stuck with number 4. He was, as you may recall, unconscious through the whole interaction, and it's really hard to consider an unconscious being a threat. There is one more number that has a meaning associated with it. So far no one has guessed that one. So I shall keep it to myself for a little while longer grins evilly .