Disclaimer: I still don't own "Same as It Never Was" or any of the characters in it. MIRAGE owns the turtles and their friends and enemies, while 4Kids TV owns the episode itself. As it always will be, Breaking Benjamin owns the rights to the song, "So Cold." Please don't try to file any lawsuits against me, because you won't get very much.
Author's Note: I decided to cut this story into two parts, because it turned out to be much longer than I expected it to be. I really don't care which part you leave me some reviews on, just leave me some sort of feedback please. I really enjoyed writing this and I put a lot of hard work and effort into it. Please let me know that I didn't do it all in vain. Anyway, I hope that every one enjoys the rest of my story. Take care everybody and GOD BLESS:)
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"So Cold"
By Madvy
Part II
Later, at an old crumpled building with walls that were barely still standing, the last rebel group was making preparations.
A group of men were sitting at a long table with headsets. One man was giving instructions over a p.a. system. "Resistance team seven, this is Ops-proceed with to target."
Next to them, an aged woman was studying a large map that lay flatten out on a table. A young boy no older than thirteen approached her. The woman handed the young troop a piece of paper. "Take this to Angel. Her commandos will have to destroy that fuel dump before it gets moved on Friday."
The troop saluted. "Yes sir!"
Mikey suddenly spoke out behind the female. "Yo, rebel leader! Look what the cat dragged in."
The woman turned and even through her aged features, Don recognized her. "April!" he cried.
"Donatello!" spoke the turtle's oldest friend. "You came back." She hugged him. "Splinter always said you would. Casey, too."
Glad to see another familiar face, Don chuckled. "Where is Case? That big bonehead."
But instead of an answer, Don was greeted with looks of sadness; April looked off to the side. Confused, Don followed her gaze and spied a picture of Casey on the wall. It was hanging in a shadow and had a ribbon tied to it. Seeing the memorial, Don felt even more pain well up inside him as he realized yet another one of his family members was gone forever.
Then, another recognizable voice spoke from the darkness. "Well, well, well. Donatello." A wheelchair rolled up from the shadows and stopped in front of the three.
At the sound of the voice, Don's senses instinctively went on alert. "What the?" He pulled out his bo staff and prepared for battle.
The voice continued. "Looking younger than ever. And how do we look?" The wheelchair's occupants came into view. In it sat a very aged Hun. His head was bald, and what hair he had left was white. He looked incredibly weak and tired. Connected by tubes to his chest was Stockman's one eyed brain in its usual container. Seeing Don's haunted expression, Stockman continued. "Just another one of The Shredder's apropos punishments." The brain turned to Hun. "Don't be impolite Hun. Say hello."
"Greetings Donatello," said Hun. Don was almost tempted to feel sorry for Hun. He sounded so miserable. But pity wasn't about to stop him from fighting the two. Past experience had taught him to always be on guard whenever Hun or Stockman was around.
But April came up and put her hand on his. Reassuringly, she said, "Relax, Donnie. They're on our side now. We saved them from being executed about five years back."
"This life is worse," mumbled Hun. "I wish I'd been put out of my misery."
"And I wish that you had been put out my misery, you miserable misanthrope," snapped Stockman.
Ignoring the two, Don walked over to Casey's picture and stared at it for a second. He had a look of sheer determination on his face when he turned around. "April, there's got to be a way to end all this. Can you get Leonardo and Raphael to meet me?"
"I can try," said April.
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Not far away, Shredder's pyramid-like palace stood firm. Inside, a woman was walking towards a huge door that had two Chinese dragons painted on them.
The white haired woman bowed and began to speak. "My lord, I have news."
Behind the door, a huge clawed shadow moved. "Speak Karai," it ordered.
"Our enforcers were involved in a skirmish near the turtle's old lair. Sensors have identified the attacker. It is the turtle, Donatello."
"So, the prodigal son had returned. Excellent," gloated the shadow. "I want Donatello's head brought before me-with or without his body."
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(Commercial)
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In the sky, the blimp passed over the moon lit city. A capped figure appeared outside the rebel's base. It stared at the ruins before running inside. Peering through a hole in the wall, the turtle paused before jumping through. He pulled out his solitary sword and listened for any suspicious sounds.
A soft thump behind him caused him to whip around at the source of the noise. "What the shell are you doing here?" spoke the invading being.
Relaxing slightly, the coated turtle lowered his sword. "Raph? April's guys didn't say anything about you bein' here."
Raph wasn't vexed by his brother's unwelcoming tone. "Oh, what's the matter Leo? I remind ya how we made us abandon Master Splinter, when he needed us most!" He stomped towards Leo, prodding his sibling with a finger.
Shooing off Raph's hand, Leo responded, "It's what he wanted Raph: to save us. If we had gone back there, we would have all been destroyed!"
Enraged, Raph yelled, "We coulda saved him!"
"You know we couldn't! He was gone."
Growling, Raph pushed Leo away. "Uh…no!"
Backing off, Leo took up a defensive position. "Alright Raph. I'm through talking. Let's settle this once and for all!" He raised his katana high above his head and prepared to fight Raph for the last time.
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Don watched his brothers from the shadows. He was amazed at how much Leo and Raph had changed over the years.
Leo was the more battle weary of the two. He bore long scars that ran parallel along his plastron, arms, and legs. He wore a long black trench coat and gloves that covered his hands. His face was the most scarred. It had a group of huge scars on his head and one that ran over his eyes. It appeared like it had been delivered during a brutal fight. Whatever sharp weapon that had provided those blows had done more damage than just leave battle marks. Leo's bandana was gone. It had been replaced by eye patches that covered both his eyes, displaying his inherent blindness. But despite his handicap, Leo still seemed to have retained his innate sense of awareness of his surroundings.
Raph looked to be in slightly better shape. He wore a heavy, leather jacket and his hands were gloved like Leo's. Though he had scars as well, they were smaller and far less as numerous as the ones on Leo's body. He still wore his red bandana, but his left eyehole was stitched together, signifying that he had only one good eye available.
'Ironic,' thought Don. 'Raph was always the one to go looking for trouble and to wind up in skirmishes. I'm surprised that he isn't as beat up as Leo is. On the other hand, whenever Leo was involved in a fight, he always walked away with deeper cuts than the rest of us and a horde of bruises. Realistically, his fights usually end up being more brutal than Raph's.' Don smiled to himself. 'Raph was always better at keeping the bloodshed to a minimum, even his own.'
His thoughts were suddenly disturbed when he heard his brother's voices rise. He looked on as the two performed one of their ritual arguments, yet was stunned when he heard Leo say how he was ready to finish their fight once and for all. He watched, petrified, as his brother raised his sword to begin the battle. Don knew if he didn't interfere, their fight could become bloody very quickly. He jumped from his observing spot, whipped out his bo staff, and knocked the two competitors backward. Neither one was expecting a blow to the stomach, so they fell easily to the floor.
"Uh?" panted Leo as he raised his head.
Raph growled as he glanced up at his attacker, but gasped when he saw who it was. "What?"
Don stood transfixed between the two, holding his staff firmly in one hand. Don knew he would have to be as serious as he could to get the two other turtles to listen to him. "Leo. Raph. We need to talk." He stored his bo, and helped his siblings to their feet.
If you find your family, don't you cry…
With utter joy overcoming him, Raph embraced his brother. "Donnie?" He grabbed Don in a big bear hug. "No way!"
"Donatello," said Leo. "You're back. I don't believe it."
"Believe it," said Mike, as he and April joined the trio of reptiles. "And brainiac here wants to go up against the Shredder."
"We've already tried it Donnie," sighed Leo. "How do you think we lost Casey?"
In this land of make believe, dead and dry.
"The Shredder's palace is surrounded by an army of Foot police," said Raph.
"And Utominators," replied Leo.
"And Karai legions," Raph added.
"You can't even get inside to fight him," said Leo.
Hun and Stockman wheeled into the hallway. "And if you could, you couldn't beat him," stated the scientist. "The Shredder's new exo-suit is stronger than ever. I should know. I designed it."
"It's impossible," Leonardo sighed.
"Can't be done Donnie. It's hopeless," concluded Raphael.
You're so cold, but you feel alive…
Hearing so many depressing statements was beginning to frustrate Donatello. "I don't know what happened to you guys, but the turtles I knew believed that nothing was ever hopeless." Don changed his tone of voice to a more pleading one. "Please," he begged as he put his hands on Leo and Raph's shoulders, "We can do this!"
Lay your hands on me, one last time!
Leo and Raph looked at one another for a moment, then smiled and shook hands.
"Alright Donnie," sighed Leo. "We'll do it one more time. But please, tell me we have a fighting chance."
"I've been working up a plan. Do we have any hardware? Exo-suits? Anything?"
"Well, we captured a Karai legion-bot that Doctor Stockman has been modifying," stated April.
"Good, that's a start," said Don. "And there's something we'll need from the lair."
"The lair?" questioned Raph. "It got wasted years ago."
"Not all of it," Don said.
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A short time later, Karai approached the doors with a huge shadow behind them once more. Bowing, she stated, "Master, the Utrom slaves have finished building the transmat. It will be operational in two hours."
"Excellent," spoke the sinister voice.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake, as the tunneler burst through the floor. Karai whirled around and drew her sword. The tunneler's door opened up and a staircase unfolded itself.
"Who dares!" yelled the Shredder.
From out of the machine's inner darkness, Michelangelo came busting out, followed by Leonardo and Raphael. Suddenly, a huge mechanical hand gripped the opening, as an oversized robot burst out of the tunneler. It shook the ground slightly as it landed in the palace's main room.
"Can the Shredder come out and play?" called Don. He was situated in the middle of the robot. Don had taken Stockman's modified Karai legion-bot and dressed the machine to his preferences. The Matrix trilogy had always been his favorite series of movies, so he had designed the robot to look and function like one of the bots that the soldiers of Zion had used in their final battle with the machines in the last movie. It had two large guns on its back, with clawed front hands and sturdy feet.
However, the Shredder was not vexed by Donnie's new toy. He had his own weapon of mass destruction that he was dying to unleash on his long-standing enemies. "So, the turtles have reunited," he sneered. Karai moved aside, as the huge doors opened and the Shredder stepped out in his full glory. His small Utrom body was attached to the head of an enormous exo-suit that had twice as many and twice as long claws on it. The suit was so heavy with armor, that it required four robotic legs to move it, yet it also had four upper arms that the Shredder could control freely. On his Utrom head, the Shredder wore his traditional helmet. Red lights glowed meticulously on the suit, as the Shredder the moved forward. "It is 30 years overdo," he growled. "But I will finally put an end to your pathetic lives!"
Show me how it ends; it's alright!
"Shredder," yelled Don. "Your rein of terror is over!"
"Legions, attack!" cried Karai. Hundreds of Karai bots ran out and surrounded the turtles. "Destroy them all!"
"For Master Splinter!" screamed Don, as he unrolled the guns on his robot's back. He fired round after round, as he blew away the robots, leaving pieces of machinery spread out all over the palace floor.
Some of the bots were able to sneak around the guys and were about to cut up Don's robot, when two shots rang out from the tunneler, destroying the Karai bots. April leapt out with a bazooka, fired two more shots and joined the fight.
Right behind her, Hun and Stockman emerged. Hun rolled the wheelchair down the steps and looked around.
"Hun, stop! What are you doing!" shrieked Stockman. "We're supposed to stay in the tunneler!"
But Hun wasn't listening to Stockman. Spying his old employer, he rolled over to the Shredder and began to plead. "Master! Please take me back!"
"What!" roared the Shredder.
"I'll serve you!" pleaded Hun. "Please…"
Stockman tried once more to decipher what was going on. "Hun, what are you doing?" But his efforts were in vain.
The Shredder was no amused by Hun's pleas. "Exterminating you two traitors will be an added bonus to today's great victory." He lifted his huge robotic foot above the two former villains.
"Aw, crud," was all Hun could get out before the foot smashed down, squashing the two of them beneath it.
"Hah!" cheered the Shredder.
Meanwhile, Mike, Leo, and Raph were still surrounded by Karai bots. The three had their backs up against one another as Mike gave an exhausting cry, "Come on! We gotta' buy Donnie a little more time. Keep the bots busy!"
Show me how defenseless you really are…
The three reptiles leapt into the air and began to battle the Karai legion-bots. Mike jumped up and whacked a Karai bot twice on the head, causing it to stagger backward. He dodged a blow from it and wrapped his nunchuck around the bot's arm. He then flipped it over his back and readied himself for the next attack. Two bots came at him from behind, but he leapt over their swords. He knocked one with his foot, and then brought the other around in a roundhouse kick. The bot fell in a heap on the floor. Suddenly, the bots began to surround him, until he was blocked on all sides, cutting off any escape. Mike watched them raise their katanas and gave one last hopeful cry. "Donnie! Donnie, I'm-" But his voice was cut short as a plethora of blades came tumbling down upon him, cutting him in more places than one could count. "Ah!"
Don had been blasting more of the Karai robots when he heard his brother's scream. Turning, he watched horrified as his brother was slaughtered right before his eyes. "Mikey, no!"
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(Commercial)
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Don's cry echoed through the palace. The bots moved aside to reveal Mike's lifeless corpse. Suddenly overcome with rage, Don forced his robot to charge forward, smashing two Karai bots in the process. "You'll pay for this Shredder!" he yelled. "If it's the last I do, you will pay!" He brought his giant guns around and opened fire on the Shredder. He poured out round after round, screaming as he spilled empty shells onto the floor. "Ahhh!"
Satisfied and empty inside…
Smoke accumulated around the Shredder, until he was consumed within it. As Don's ammo went empty, he steadied himself against the quiet and stared into the dust.
As if on cue, two gruesome, clawed arms shot out of the thick smoke and grabbed Don's robot by the arms. The Shredder emerged, completely unharmed, and brought Don right up to his face. "30 years, and this is all you have? Truly pathetic!" He pulled Don's robotic arms off, allowing the turtle to crash to the ground with a thud. "Disgusting creature!" sneered the Shredder. He kicked Don like an old soda can, sending him flying across the room, until he landed at the base of the tunneler.
But that's alright; let's give this another try.
Leo had been fighting the Karai bots quite ferociously, but that hadn't stopped him from seeing Don get kicked across the room. "Donnie!" he cried. Two more Karai bots with swords ran towards him. He jumped over the first one's swipe and cut the second in half. He ducked another blow from the first and sliced it through the middle. Then, he heard a familiar voice coming towards him. He spun around to behold Karai approaching him fast in an attack. He gasped and staggered back, but didn't run. Instead, Leo locked swords with Karai as their duel begun in a standoff.
"I beg you," begun Karai. "Leave this place or you will force me to do that which my duty commands."
The two pulled their blades away from one another and began to swipe at each other. Karai attacked first and Leo was able to block it with his own katanna. He took his own jab at her, but she jumped out of the way. Karai attacked again, but Leo flipped, her sword's edge missing his head by only a few inches. The turtle was on his hands and spun his body around, using his exposed feet to give Karai a swift kick in the stomach. But she recovered too quickly and grabbed Leo's foot. She hurled him around and tossed him, sending him flying right through a glass case on the side of the room. Leo hit the wall and crumbled, but he wasn't done yet. "Not this time Karai," he staggered. "This time you have to make a choice!" Gathering up his last bit of strength, he rushed at Karai. He jumped over Karai's swipe, yelling, "Once and for all!" He grabbed a discarded robot arm and threw it at Karai. She blocked it with her sword, and went in for another attack. However, Leo was able to use the momentum of throwing the robot arm to spin around and plant a well-earned kick into Karai. He twirled the other way, trying to land a punch to his opponent, but Karai was too quick and dodged his attack. Leo spun yet again, trying in desperation to land either a kick or a punch to the female ninja, but every time, his attempts kept failing. Rushing Karai one last time, Leo was able to push her away and move around to her back. Anticipating an attack, Karai whirled around and tried to cut Leonardo with her sword. However, Leo was one step ahead of her. He ducked, and brought himself up under Karai. He grabbed her elongated arm and flipped her. She tumbled down hard on to the floor.
Walking over, Leo used his foot to fling his sword into the air, where he promptly caught it in his hand. "I'm sorry Karai," he begun. "I never wanted it to be this way." He stopped at Karai's head and raised his sword, readying himself to deliver a finishing blow to the woman. Just as Leonardo had raised his katanna into the air, one last Karai bot snuck up behind him. In a flash, Leo whipped around, slicing the bot at an angle. The bot's top half fell on the floor, followed right after by its legs. Leo left his back exposed as he made sure the bot was truly destroyed. Seizing the opportunity, Karai took up her sword and snuck up behind Leo. In one devastating blow, she sliced right through Leo's shell, until she had hit the fragile tissue underneath.
Leo gasped. "Ahh…uh…" was all he could choke out. He dropped to his knees.
"Forgive me, Leonardo," was all Karai had to say.
Seeing his brother fall, Raph cried out. "Leo! No!" He charged Karai with eyes full of rage. Though he knocked her over, she pushed him on to her feet and kicked him, sending him through another glass case. Raph recovered, and grabbed a shard of glass from his spot inside the now shattered case. He hurled it at Karai and jumped, following the accelerating piece of glass. Karai deflected the glass with her katana and tried to slice Raph. But she had swung too early and Raphael was able to move to her side and deliver a stronger kick to the ninja, tossing her to the ground. Raph pulled into his caricature jump kick, but Karai pulled her sword up and swung at Raph. She was able to connect with him and send his body flying back. "Ahhh!"
Moaning and in pain, Raph staggered as he tried to rise to his feet. "Oh…ah…" He glanced over and crawled slowly to Leo's sprawled out, yet dead body. "Leo," groaned Raph. "Leo...uh…ah…" Raph tried to be strong, but his felt his strength suddenly drain from him. His hand fell across Leo's chest as his body gave out from underneath him. For the first time in 30 years, he felt at peace with his brother. Their feud finally ended as the red-clad turtle died at his brother's side.
Karai surveyed the damage she had done. Feeling a sudden pain of guilt, she turned as April's voice called her. "Karai! End of the line." April was holding a bazooka that was bigger than her head on her shoulder. She started up the gun and took aim.
In a last ditch effort to defend herself, Karai twirled her sword and rushed at April. But the older woman was ready for her. She pulled the trigger and fired. Karai staggered back in fear as the missile connected with her body. It was a direct hit. Karai's body was flung backwards and landed in a heap on the floor. April walked forward to see how much damage she had done to the murderer.
Karai felt the life draining out of her body quickly. She tried to get up, but could only utter, "Uh…master, I am finished." She was dead before her head hit the ground.
Don's robot was falling apart on him. One of his guns had fallen off and his robotic arms were gone. He hoped that this robot had enough fuel left in it as he slowly pulled is robot to its feet.
Show me how it ends; it's alright!
The Shredder laughed maniacally. "Ha, ha, ha. You are the last of your kind Donatello." Don glanced up at the tunneler, as the Shredder came closer to him. The Shredder approached him, and picked the turtle's robot up in his clawed hands. He brought Donatello's face right up to his Utrom body. He wanted to make sure that the turtle got a good look at his victorious face before he killed him. "And now, I will crush you, like the insignificant worm that you are."
Show me how defenseless you really are…
Don blinked as he stared into the Shredder's beady little eyes. "You always did claim victory before you actually won," he said. Don flipped a small latch open on the bottom of one of the handles of his robot. "This whole attack was to get you into position to do THIS!" With that, Don pushed the button that the latch was concealing. Grappling hooks shot out of the tunneler and wrapped themselves around the Shredder and Don's robot.
Satisfied and empty inside…
The Shredder gasped. "What! What is happening?" he cried. The tunneler suddenly clicked on as the hooks pulled the Shredder and Don towards the spinning point of the tunneler. "No! I am the Shredder! Uh! I am the Shredder!" But nothing the villain could scream could stop his exo-suit from getting closer to the tunneler. Don quickly squeezed himself out of his robot and landed beside the tunneler. The Shredder cried out again, as the tunneler's point began to drill into him. "Ah! I am…ah!" The drill found its mark as the Shredder was disintegrated in an instant.
But that's alright; let's give another try.
The tunneler turned off, leaving an eerie silence over the palace. Don stood over the wreckage, catching what little breath he had left. He bore a face, not of victory, sadness, or guilt, but one of relief. "It's done," he finally whispered.
It's alright…
Close by, April dropped her gun. She hung her head low, until Don passed by her. She glanced up at the heartbroken turtle.
It's alright!
"My brothers," he wept. "My poor brothers. This world, this future…it's a nightmare."
It's alright!
"It was a nightmare Don," said April. "But you, Leo, Raph, and Mikey, you gave us back our future."
It's alright!
Don felt tears welling up in his eyes. His whole world had come crashing down around him and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. With the exception of April, his entire family was gone; he would never see them again, never hear their voices, and never feel the love and joy he once felt when he was around them.
He was about to start crying when a familiar tingling sensation filled his body. He watched as he started to faze in and out again and again, just like he had done in the park earlier. "April!" he cried. "It's happening again! Something's pulling me away! It's stronger this time!"
Fearing what may happen next, April gave Don once last piece of advice. "Donnie, remember-there's always hope! No matter what!" She watched as the turtles disappeared with a final cry for what could possibly be in store for him. Satisfied, she murmured, "And, thank you."
It's alright!
With the Shredder gone and the smoke clearing, the sun finally arose into the sky, shining brightly over a newly freed world; a world that at last had some hope for the future.
It's alright! It's alright! It's alright! It's alright…
THE END.
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Author's Note: So, what did you all think? Not bad huh? It's pretty sad though; nearly everyone dies. :( Please don't get mad at me. I didn't write the original script for this episode; I just allowed my words to flow through what was already present. Keep in mind, however, that this world isn't the reality that the turtles normally live in.It's another world that Don only had the pain, instead ofpleasure, of visiting.The numerous amount of character deaths only exists in this world, not the one we are used to.Also, remember thatthis story doesn't end here.The current TMNT TV series has yet to finish up, so the newest episodes should explain what becomes of our heroes.But still, Idid like this story, even if it took me hours to get it all typed up and proofread again and again. I had to got stop and rewind various portions of my tape hundreds of times to make sure that I had all the dialogue and action just right. I wanted to make sure that I had all the details correct, down to the very last sentence. Anyway, for those who have seen "Same as It Never Was," I hope that I did the episode justice, while putting my own little spin on things. And for those of you haven't, well, I know I gave the entire episode away, but you should still try and see if for yourself. Granted, watching the episode on TV doesn't have the song or my fabulous descriptions in it, but it's still worth the half hour of viewing time. (By the way, I have discovered that Cartoon Network will be repeating "Same as It Never Was" on April 12th for all of us viewers in America. I hope everyone tunes in if they get the chance!) Anyway, I pray that all my readers were both pleased and entertained by "So Cold." (The story, not the song.) Although, I do hope that the presence of Breaking Benjamin's song didn't throw anyone too far off. I thought it was a great addition to the story. It really added more detail to Donatello's experiences in his journey across time and space. Still, leave me some reviews and tell me what you guys thought of this. And if my homework isn't too time consuming, I will try and have the next chapter of "Away From Myself" up by the end of the week. Thank you all for taking the time to read this long story and hopefully leaving a review. I love to read the feedback; it's really appreciated. I can't wait to catch the second half of Leo's far world adventure, "The Real World: Part Two," on Saturday. As my favorite turtle, Leo's solo adventure with Usagi has become one of my all time mostfavorite episodes to watch. Unfortunately, as far as I know, this scheduling is only accurate in the U.S. I do not know when these mentioned episodes will be airing in other countries. Sorry! I pray that everyone has a great week and as always, GOD BLESS:)
