Chapter 16

-Shutdown-

Chūgi: Duty and loyalty. A warrior is first and foremost responsible for everything they say and do, and for all of the consequences that follow. And the consequences of releasing the mutagen and failing to set things right with April had set the events of this current reality in motion. So, it was up to Donatello and his brothers, under the code of honor to restore order to the world.

Donatello took a breath in order to steady his nerves, he was fine being the leader up until this point. But, what if he was wrong and this portion of his memory didn't line up with this reality? How could he lead his brothers in there when he wasn't completely certain?

Leonardo must've sensed Donatello's hesitation because he tactfully maneuvered his position to the lead. The burden of leadership was heavy but he would carry the brunt of it forever if it meant keeping even an ounce of that weight off of his brothers. "Remember the plan, guys. Keep the stone soldiers busy for thirty minutes."

"Yeah, yeah, Leo, let's do this." Raphael said.

"Donatello"

"Hold on a minute" Donatello interjected then took a brief pause to collect his thoughts. "I want you guys to know that no matter what happens in there, I love you."

"Aww, I love you too!" Michelangelo yanked Donatello into a tight embrace, and in an act of cute aggression, began ferociously rubbing his cheek against Donatello's. "You know you don't have to say it, though." Michelangelo released him after satiating his violent act of love.

"Yes, I do. And I should've told you before and I should say it every day." confessed Donatello. "Because, we don't know what'll happen tomorrow. Statistically speaking, our way of living has a high probability of ending in tragedy."

"Donnie, don't…" Raphael placed a gentle hand on Donatello's shoulder and gave it a subtle squeeze. This action from Raphael was an unspoken but nonetheless genuine I love you, too.

"Mikey's right. We already know how you feel. Never let that be one of your regrets." Implored Leonardo. "We may not know when death will come but the code teaches us that we don't have to fear it. And when we do die, it will be with honor because we are fight for what's right." Donatello smiled, Leonardo sure knew how to give a pep talk.

"Oh yeah! I am totally pumped now!" raved Michelangelo, "let's go kick some stone soldier butt."

"I second that." Raphael took the initiative by shoving passed Leonardo to open the door.

Unfortunately, Donatello's was right to second guess what he thought was beyond the doors. Instead of the four stone soldiers he'd predicted, there were only two, and that might have been good news if the two in question weren't Tragg and Granitor. The two elite stone soldiers stood guard around a collection of Kraang fliers, who were actively working their tentacles over the smooth surface of a computer panel, completely unaware of the world around them; hence the heavy protection. "Oh no." complained Donatello.

"What do you mean, "oh no"? There are only two soldiers this is gonna be cake." Raphael said.

"Oh," whined Michelangelo, "I miss cake, don't mention cake, dude."

"Okay, it's gonna be as easy as pie?" corrected Raphael.

"That's even worse. You know I haven't had pizza in months." Michelangelo lamented.

"Are you guys nuts?! Tragg and Granitor are the most feared rock soldiers in all of Dimension X!" bellowed Donatello, alerting Tragg to their presence. The general opened his mouth releasing a flood of lava in the Turtles' direction. The green team reacted quickly, jumping away from the attack, landing in different parts of the room.

Michelangelo slid to a stop and looked down at his toes to make sure they were all accounted for. He gave them a wiggle and smiled triumphantly as the Stinky Triplets responded. Sadly, his happiness was short-lived because Granitor was already on his tail. Oh Well, Michelangelo thought, it was better to be too cold than too hot.

Michelangelo dropped the weight at the end of his kusarigama swing the chain around allowing it to gather speed before releasing it. The chain wrapped around Granitor's legs and Michelangelo gave the weapon a swift yank, cinching the giant's legs together. Granitor countered by freezing the chain with his ice breath, it give way to fatigue and broke. "Major bummer."

Meanwhile, Leonardo and Raphael stood side-by-side, sai and katana at the ready, facing off against Tragg. "Did I ever mention that I hate rock soldiers?" Raphael tossed the comment over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off of the massive stone soldier.

"Yeah, Raph, you have." Leonardo admitted, "But, we only have to survive long enough for Donatello to do his thing." Leonardo pushed off of the ground and slid beneath Tragg's open legs, coming out on the other side. Then, performed amazing feats of parkour in order to gain speed for his attack. Leonardo brought down his katana, fully intending on severing Tragg's arm. However, to Leonardo's dismay, his katana shattered and the tip of the blade soared through the air, nearly stabbing Donatello's working hand.

"Donnie!?" Leonardo wailed, "you okay?"

"Yeah." He confirmed. "Just a few more seconds guys, I'm typing up the formula and giving the new commands right now." He said.

"My son…"

"GYAH-HA-HAA" Raphael and Leonardo turned to find Michelangelo, swinging haplessly from a baton of his nunchaku. Granitor swung Michelangelo around in circles until he was dizzy. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna hurl." Granitor brought the young turtle up to face level and opened his mouth, Michelangelo could feel the frigid air against his skin. Maybe being too hot wasn't so bad after all.

"…hear me?"

Initiating new protocol, came the Technodrome's metallic voice.

"Mikey! I'm coming," Task complete, Donatello pole vaulted himself through the air with his bo, catching Michelangelo narrowly missing Granitor's attack.

"Thanks, bro." Mikey said.

Raphael grabbed Leonardo's hand, swung him around onto his carapace and thrusts his body backward, propelling Leonardo through the air. Leonardo landed on top of Tragg's head and with the flick of his wrist he turned his katana so that it was perpendicular to the ground and brought it down as hard as he could. This time, his katana sank through Tragg's rocky skin, embedding itself to its tsuba. Leonardo gave his katana a tug and discovered that he had control over Tragg's head. This gave Leonardo an idea and he indicated his plan to Raphael through a series of hand gestures.

Raphael ran toward Granitor, rammed his sai into the soldier's legs and began his ascent. Once he reached the top of Granitor's head, Raphael stabbed both sai through Granitor's skull, taking a seat so he could steer properly. "Hey, I guess these guys aren't so bad after all. I'll like to see someone cut me off in traffic now." Raphael steered Granitor toward Tragg, both stone soldiers releasing a wave of their respective elemental powers. Ice met fire in a spectacular explosion of steam and rock. Raphael and Leonardo simultaneously disembarked, landing next to each other as Tragg and Granitor destroyed each other.

"…lies"

Complete planetary overhaul in four minutes.

"We need to run." Urged Donatello. "We have to get back to my lab and put it in lockdown. If we are outside when the retro-mutagen spreads then we'll change back into pet store commodities."

"Well, we ain't going back the way we came." Raphael jerked his thumb behind him, indicating that the entrance was congested by Kraang droids. In an instant, laser blasts filled the room, falling down like rain upon them.

"This way!" Leonardo said, spotting a hole to the next section of the Technodrome, created by Tragg's arm during the explosion. The Turtles took the olive branch presented to them and hurried through the opening. Once they were through, Raphael implored the help of his brothers to pull the Tragg's arm through the hole, thereby preventing Kraang droids from following.

"Guess you could say the Kraang are caught between a rock and a hard place." Quipped Michelangelo, earning him a stout whack to the back of the head courtesy of Raphael. "Ouch!"

"Guys, this is no time for jokes." Cautioned Leonardo, "We have about three minutes left to get out of here. Donnie, what's the fastest route?" No response. "Donnie?" he spotted his brother standing across the room in front of a giant glass water tank.

Leonardo crossed the room, ready to inform Donatello that this wasn't the time to feed his curiosities. But as the leader in blue approached the tank curiosity struck him as well. There was somebody floating inside. "It's-" He breathed.

"April?" Raphael finished, as he and Michelangelo joined Leonardo.

Like a wet specimen, April's body was perfectly preserved, suspended in a state that was every bit as haunting as it was beautiful. Her hair was fanned out all around her like a halo of fire. Her eyes were open, two silvery globes looking out into a world they could no longer see. Each of her features were as Donatello remembered them.

"Oh… April." Michelangelo placed a miserable hand against the tank. "Why?"

Realization hit Donatello like a ton of bricks, if the fight with April had transpired the way Leonardo said, then they weren't there to rescue her the day Kraang kidnapped her. "The Kraang needed her DNA." Donatello started. "This is awful…for two years they must've… they must've done unspeakable things to her."

"…an illusion…"

"I'm getting her out of there." vowed Donatello

Complete planetary overhaul in one minute

"Donnie we have to go. She's gone, there isn't anything we can do for her now," Leonardo said carefully, surprised at how well Donatello was holding up given the situation.

"That's not true! I can fix this." Donatello quickly set to work at the terminal near the tank, accessing the operations menu, punching in a combination of letters and numbers. Before long, the liquid in the tank emptied through a drain at the bottom and the door popped open with a hiss.

Donatello was at April's side in an instant. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't breathing. And upon closer evaluation he could see the blue tint on her lips and the deep indigo veins that marbled her transparent skin. She wore all the signs of drowning but still, Donatello insisted. "Don't worry, April. You'll be as good as new in no time." He ran a skilled finger along her neck trying to find a pulse that wasn't there. "No, this can't be real." he sobbed, "you're my sweet chinchilla." Donatello tucked a fiery lock behind April's ear, even like this she was still the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

Donatello turned around to enlist the aid of his brothers only to discover that they were frozen in time. "Guys?" as he stood to investigate, his brothers crumbled into millions of tiny particles that mixed in the air like a mini galaxy.

The galaxy zipped past Donatello's head and twirled faster, absorbing April's body as it, too, disintegrated. When the particles were all together, they twirled down toward a central point and solidified, taking on a cubic shape. The object spun around slowly, giving off a violet hue, flipping this way and that, never changing despite side or direction.

Unable to resist touching it, Donatello tapped a curious finger against the cube causing it to stop spinning and instead sink toward Donatello as if being drawn in by a magnetic force. It entered his chest everything became abundantly clear.

"Donatello, my son, can you hear me? Do not believe those lies. That world is an illusion."

The false world around him shattered away, revealing his true surroundings. He was in his lab, the one in the spiritual plain. And standing there, just an arm's length away, was Splinter. "Sensei?" croaked Donatello. "What's going on? Why am I here?"

"Why is not as important as how." He replied, letting out an exasperated breath, "I've been trying to reach you for days and if you hadn't unlocked your spiritual symbol, I fear you may have remained trapped."

"Spiritual symbol?" Donatello paused, "You mean that cube?"

"Cube?" Splinter thought for a moment before nodding his head in agreement, "Fitting. It represents stability, permanence and truth." He nodded a few more times, "it's also, often considered to be the counterpart of the sphere." He stroked his beard, "interesting."

"It represents truth?" Donatello gasped. "Of course. That other world. It wasn't real." He said. "It was Evixus, trying to assimilate my mind. I'm stupid for not seeing this earlier."

"Be calm my son," soothed Splinter, "think not on what should have been but instead on what is."

"Right. Okay." Donatello turned his attention to his spiritual computer. Images on the monitor were flashing, desperate for attention, warning of a powerful virus. "Not good." That was the understatement of the year. Nearly forty percent of his mind had been corrupted by this virus and there was no time to create an antivirus. "I can't stop it."

"Remain steadfast in your decisions and do not give up, your brothers and I want you to come back home," Splinter's voice cut in and out, he'd overstayed his welcome in the astral universe so he had to make this quick. "Remember that inside you beats the heart of a warrior." With those final words, Splinter faded away.

That's right. Donatello was a warrior, following the code of honor as best he could in this modern world. And while some of the tenets were dated there was one that never aged. That tenet? Yū: Heroic courage. Any soldier can claim they have it in droves during times of peace, but it is during battle that a warrior's true merit is revealed.

Donatello had two options during this particular battle: let the virus corrupt the rest of his mind thereby causing the end of humanity. Or, save the world by denying access to his mind… permanently.

"Sorry guys, but it looks like I won't be going home." When it came to protecting the ones he loved there was no hesitation. "Computer, initiate Safety Protocol Alpha." Donatello commanded, "System Shutdown Command: one, nine, eight, four."

Evixus was forcibly removed from Donatello's mind, thrown back, quite literally, into the waking world. The alien's body collided with April's empty chamber but he quickly regained his composure, "You may have won this battle but I have a consolation prize." Evixus hissed.

"Sir, the frequency has shut down." Said one of Evixus' lackeys.

"I am aware of that." Evixus said, never taking his eyes off Donatello's comatose form. "No matter, this is only a minor setback." he assured, "in the meantime, I want you to gather the finest biochemical engineers. I have knowledge of a certain formula they may be interested in."

"Yes sir." The lackey ran off, eager to please his master.

"We'll see how inclined you are to fight me when you have no one left to fight for." Evixus said. "The war will be mine."

A/N: That was fun! Next time we'll catch up with the others and see how they are d fairing without Donnie.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.