Nobody's Perfect

After the news about the Carnotaur, the family remained vigilant in their day to day life in case said creature got away from the Kraang. In the meantime, it had been a while since Raph and Casey had been able to hang out, so Raph was excited when Casey had asked him to go catch a movie that Saturday; they had decided to eat some pizza and then head to the theater to catch "Attack of the Werecats", a new horror movie about cat people that attacks humans in a city.

Finally, Saturday had come and Raph was ready to meet up with Casey and see the movie. Just as he was about to leave the house, however, he heard Leo call out, "Hey, Raph!"

"Yeah, Leo!" Raph called back.

"I have to help out with a group project and Miwa has gymnastics practice," Leo said, "You think you can help mother in the antique shop?"

Raph flinched and turned around as he called back, "Leo! I was gonna go to the movies with Casey!"

"You can do that tomorrow," Leo called back and then came into view as he continued, "Mother needs help today."

"So have Mikey help her," said Raph.

"Mikey bothers the customers," said Leo.

"So that automatically puts me on deck?" Raph asked.

"Raph, mother needs help, how about quit being inconsiderate and do what I say?" said Leo.

"Oh, I'm being inconsiderate?" Raph asked, "What about you?"

"What about me?" Leo asked.

"You're the one who doesn't seem to be taking my feelings into consideration," said Raph, "You know I've been planning to go to the movies with Casey all week!"

Leo was about to retort when Donnie came into the room and said, "No need to worry, Leo. I'm helping mother in the shop. Raph, you can go."

Raph smiled at Donnie and said, "Thanks, bro. I owe you one."

"No need," said Donnie, "It's what brothers do." and then Raph left.

"Don't you have some projects you wanted to work on?" Leo asked.

Donnie simply shrugged and said, "They can wait. Raph hasn't had a chance to hang out with his best friend in a while and they've been planning this day all week."

Leo smiled at Donnie and said, "That was very kind of you, Donnie."

"I learned from the best," said Donnie.

"Really?" Leo asked, "Who?"

"Mother, obviously," said Donnie, and then he left to help Shen in the shop.

"Guess I should've figured," Leo said to himself, "And I probably owe Raph an apology."

Raph and Casey met up at Antonio's Pizzeria and shared a pie together. While eating, Casey noticed Raph looked mad and decided to ask why.

"What's wrong, Raph?" Casey asked.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Raph asked.

"Raph, we've been friends for years," said Casey, "I can read you like a book."

Raph sighed and told his best friend, "I'm sorry, Casey. I'm just a little mad at Leo because he wanted me to cancel the movies to help mother."

"You could've," said Casey, "I would've understood."

"Nah, Donnie said he'd help mother," said Raph, "And it wasn't that I didn't wanna help my mother, it just felt like Leo wasn't taking my feelings into consideration before telling me to do that."

"Maybe Leo realized he was wrong and will apologize if you call him," said Casey.

"Wouldn't count on it," said Raph, "You know Leo, he rarely admits it when he's wrong about something."

Casey laughed and said, "Yeah, like when he thought Dustin Hoffman was in Star Wars. We kept telling him he wasn't, but he wouldn't admit that he was wrong."

Raph laughed and said, "Yeah, he actually had to look it up online."

As the two friends laughed at the memory, Raph forgot all about being mad at Leo. And so they finished their lunch and left to see their movie. As they were getting ready to enter the theater, Raph heard his cellphone and checked to see who it was. Upon seeing his older brother on the caller-ID, Raph sent him to voicemail and then turned off his phone. When Casey asked him what was up, Raph just said that it was nothing and went inside with Casey.

After about two hours, the boys came out of the theater having enjoyed the movie they had just seen.

"Wasn't that movie awesome?!" Raph asked.

"Sure was!" said Casey, "I especially liked the part where the hero was almost killed but he knocked the monster back at the last second!"

"But I can't believe they made his girlfriend a Werecat," said Raph, "Give me a break."

"Hey! Give us a break! We haven't seen it yet!" shouted a man from the line, "Thanks a lot, big mouths!"

As the man and his girlfriend entered the theater, Raph and Casey chose to ignore what just happened and leave. As they were Leaving, Raph decided to check his phone to see if anyone called while he was in the theater. He turned on his phone and found he had a missed called from his sister. Figuring it might be important, Raph called her back.

"Raph?" said Miwa on her end.

"Yeah, sis," said Raph, "Sorry I missed your call. You know how it is with the theater and cellphones."

"Never mind," said Miwa, "We need you to come home right away. Donnie's not doing to well."

"What's wrong with him?" Raph asked in concern, "Is it another headache?"

"Sort of. It wasn't just a headache," said Miwa, "It's kind of hard to explain over the phone. Could you please come over?"

"I'll be right there," said Raph, and then he hung up his phone, "I gotta go, Casey. Donnie's sick."

"Oh man," said Casey, "Well, tell him I hope he feels better."

"I'll do that, Casey," said Raph, and then he took off for home.

Once Raph got home, he found Donnie asleep on the couch while his family was gathered around him. Mikey noticed Raph come in and ran straight to him.

"Raph! I'm so glad you're here!" said Mikey, and then added in a fast pace, "While you were gone, Donnie was helping mother in the shop and was fine at first. But while he was helping a costumer who wanted to buy a lamp he got a headache worse than the last time and then he started screaming and moaning and then he couldn't stand up right and then he threw up on the floor and passed out."

As Mikey breathed steadily, Raph took in all of the information. Yoshi then joined in by saying, "This happened just after your sister came home from practice. She in turn called you and your brother."

Raph looked sadly at Donnie and said, "I should've left my phone on and switched it to vibrate."

Shen looked over at her second son and said, "Honey, no one blames you. None of us could have predicted this."

Yoshi then put a hand on Raph's shoulder and said, "And you did the right thing by checking your phone and coming straight home when you found out what had happened."

Raph looked up at his father and saw him smiling, which made Raph smile back. And then he looked back at Donnie, who was still asleep on the couch, and frowned in worry. He walked over to Donnie and knelt down beside him, inwardly begging him to wake up soon. Leo then joined him and sat beside.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier," said Leo.

"I'm sorry too, Leo," said Raph, "If I had answered your call, I might've gotten here sooner."

Before more could be said, they both heard a groan and looked over to see Donnie waking up. As Donnie opened his eyes, his vision was blurry at first, but he was able to make out two figures in front of him. He also recognized their voices as his older brothers as they called out for their parents and other two siblings. Once his vision was clear, Donnie saw Leo and Raph and smiling in relief as his family joined them in gathering around him.

'I hope he's okay,' he heard Mikey's voice say, although his mouth was not moving, 'He's starting to look kinda pale. Almost like a ghost. Oh jeez! Is he gonna haunt me if he finds out I ate all of his peanut butter cups?!'

"How are you feeling, little brother?" Miwa asked.

Donnie groaned and answered, "Weird."

"Donatello, this is getting out of hand," said Yoshi, "Your condition is getting worse more than better."

"Your father is right dear," said Shen, "I'm sorry, but I think we may have to take you to the doctor."

Donnie furiously shook his head and said, "No need. I'll be okay."

"Donatello, you got dizzy, threw up, and fainted. We can not just ignore that," said Shen, "I'm making you an appointment to see the doctor as soon as possible and that's the end of the matter."

"But-" Donnie tried to say.

"No buts," said Shen, "You are going to the doctor."

Donnie sighed and said, "Okay."

With that said, Shen went to make an appointment for Donnie for the doctor as soon as possible and Leo helped Donnie get to bed to rest up until dinner; Mikey even offered to read Donnie a story, which Donnie decided to let Mikey do even though Miwa reminded Mikey that Donnie is fifteen and Raph remembered to give Donnie Casey's message about hoping he gets better. Leo had suggested that Donnie take the night off from patrol that night, which he accepted after his family insisted. Yoshi was just getting ready to head down to the lair to train when he found Raph sitting on the couch. Something seemed to be troubling Raph, so Yoshi took it upon himself to find out.

"What is the matter, Raphael?" Yoshi asked.

Raph looked up at his father and said, "What're you talking about?"

"Raphael, you can not fool me," said Yoshi, "I can tell when you are upset about something."

"Because you're a ninja master?" Raph asked.

"Partly," said Yoshi, "But mostly because I'm your father and I have raised you your whole life."

"Oh," said Raph, "Well, I just can't stop feeling guilty about what happened."

"Raphael, we already told you that what happened to your brother was not your fault," said Yoshi, "And no one blames you. None of us could have foreseen what happened."

"But still," Raph began, "I had my phone off and missed Miwa's call to me when Donnie needed me. I'm probably the worst brother ever."

"Raphael, you were merely following the rules of the theater," said Yoshi, "You are a kind and caring brother and I am proud to call you my son."

Yoshi then left Raph to think over those words. However, as kind as his father's words were, Raph still could not shake the guilt he was feeling.

The nightly patrol started out fairly standard; just a car jacking gone wrong, a couple of muggings, and a gang fight, nothing all that surprising. At times they had half expected to encounter either the Kraang or the Foot Clan, but neither had made an appearance as of yet. However, the Raph's mind was more focused on what had happened that day. He felt he had let Donnie down by not being there right then; no matter how much his family told him otherwise.

"Okay, team, just one last sweep and then we head home," said Leo.

"Okay," said Miwa and Mikey, but Raph was silent.

Leo noticed Raph's silence and asked, "Is something wrong, Raph? You've been kinda distracted throughout the whole patrol and now you're just silent."

"I just can't stop thinking about what happened today," said Raph, "Donnie got really sick all because I didn't wanna break my movie plans."

"Raph, we already told you that that wasn't your fault," said Leo, "None of us could've predicted what happened."

"Yeah," said Mikey, "And Donnie was the one who offered to help mother, remember?"

"Still, I might've been there to help him if I had just switched my phone to vibrate instead of turning it off," said Raph.

Leo groaned and was about to say something else when Miwa said, "Wait, I think I get it now. Raph's feeling guilty."

"But we keep saying he didn't do anything wrong," said Mikey.

"When someone feels guilty, it often doesn't matter how much praise they get," said Miwa, "All of the praise in the world means nothing if people don't feel it inside. Raph's the only who can make things right for himself."

"What would that take?" Leo asked.

"I'm not really sure," Raph answered, and then he felt a vibration in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out his phone and saw that he had a text from Donnie. His eyes widened in shock as he read the message, and then he turned to the others and said, "We have to get back home! Mother and Donnie are in trouble!"

The others all jerked at the message and then Leo shouted, "Let's move!"

And then they raced home to help their mother and brother, Leo even messaged Yoshi to tell him so that he could help them as well.

Back at the antique store, Donnie was helping Shen clean up and lock up for the night and Yoshi was making a run to the store for some ice cream because they were low. As he was sweeping the floor, Donnie could not stop thinking about earlier that day. He was just helping a costumer pick out a lamp for their office and all of a sudden he felt dizzy and nauseous. Just before he passed out, he could have sworn he heard other peoples thoughts; they were thinking things like "Is he Okay?", or "He doesn't look too good," or "What's wrong with him?" This sort of thing had been happening a lot lately and he could not understand why.

"Is everything alright, honey?" Shen asked.

"I just can't stop thinking about what happened," said Donnie, "Why does this keep happening to me?"

"That is why you are going to the doctor," said Shen, "To find out."

"I know, but the headaches and nausea aren't the only problem; I keep feeling I can read other people's thoughts," said Donnie, "And that should be impossible."

"I have no idea what to make of that but-" Shen began, and then stopped when she heard the bell ring meaning someone had come in. She turned around to see who it was and said, "Sorry, we're just getting ready to close."

Shen gasped when she saw that it was the Purple Dragons, and they were armed with bats. They laughed sinsterly as they approached the startled woman and her son as their leader, Fong, spoke.

"Oh, I'm sure you can make an exception for us, lady" he said, coming closer to Shen and she in turn pushed Donnie behind her to protect him.

"Leave this place now," Shen demanded, as Donnie was secretly reaching into his pocket for his cell phone.

"Oh don't worry, we won't be long," said Fong, "Just as soon as you hand over all the money in your safe, whatever's left in the register, and the jewels here."

As Fong was threatening Shen, he was unaware that Donnie had ducked under the counter and crawled away to another table. Next, he reached his contacts list and clicked the first name he saw, Raph. As he started texting him what was happening, Donnie did not notice that another Purple Dragon, Sid, saw what he was doing. He was able to send the text just before Sid got closer.

"You will get nothing from here!" Shen shouted, "Now go!"

"Hey, Fong!" Sid said, "Look what I found. A hostage."

Shen, Fong, and Tsoi looked over and saw Sid with his left arm wrapped around Donnie's neck and in his right hand was Donnie's cell phone.

"Let me go!" Donnie choked out, whilst secretly thinking, 'Why do these kind of things always happen to me?'

Shen glared at him and said, "Release my son!"

"Do what I said, and we will," said Fong.

Tsoi looked closely at Donnie and asked, "Hey, isn't that one of those kids that gives us trouble?"

"Oh yeah," said Fong, recognizing Donnie. He smirked as he added, "Not so tough when your brothers and sister aren't here to protect to are ya?"

"Who says I need them to protect me?" Donnie asked.

Then, without warning, Donnie elbowed Sid in the stomach. The blow caused Sid to release Donnie from his grasp and Donnie took advantage and knocked him down to the floor with a kick. Tsoi tried to take Donnie down, but Donnie dodged his moves and beat him. Fong charged ahead only for Donnie to knocked him down easily. He was having an easy time handling himself until Tsoi and Sid both grabbed and held him down on the floor. Donnie tried to get them off, but both Purple dragons were too much for him.

Fong knelt down to his level and smirked as he said, "You were saying?" he then turned to Shen and said, "Now, unless you want anything bad to happen to your kid, I'd suggest doing as I said."

Shen was about to comply when a new voice shouted, "Booyakasha!"

The purple dragons barely had time to react before Sid and Tsoi were knocked away from Donnie by Raph and Mikey. They then helped Donnie back up just as Leo and Miwa entered.

"Ninjas?" the Pruple Dragons asked.

"Yeah, ninjas" said Mikey, as he and Raph ushered Donnie over to Shen, who embraced him.

"Don't you guys know that stealing is against the law?" Leo asked.

Raph and Miwa rolled their eyes at Leo and Mikey and Donnie smacked their foreheads. Shen simply shocked her head at he eldest son's chosen line.

"Tell someone who cares," said Fong.

Miwa stepped forward and said, "Look, the point is that either you guys leave this place or we'll have to get violent."

"Ooh, I'm so scared," Sid said and then he and the other dragons laughed their butts off.

Raph cracked his knuckles at the dragons said, "I would be."

Before they could react, Raph charged at them and punched Sid in the face, knocking him into the wall. Tsoi and Fong tried to strike at Raph, only to have Miwa quickly trough he teesen at Tsoi arm and cut him and then summer-salt and kick Fong outside into the street. While he was in the street, Fong looked up and saw that he was not alone. Right in front of him was Yoshi, looking down at him angrily with a grocery bag containing a half gallon of ice cream.

"I assume you are one of the men giving my family a hard time," said Yoshi.

"What do you wanna hear?" Fong asked. Yoshi simply responded by pounding his fist.

Back inside, Miwa and Raph were preparing to attack Tsoi together and he was backing into the counter. Just as he was searching for a weapon to use, something really hard hit him in the head and he fell to the floor unconscious. When he fell, Miwa and Raph saw that it was Donnie who had hit him with what looked like a rolled up poster.

Donnie smiled and said, "Not exactly my usual weapon, but it works."

"How long have you had that here?" Mikey asked.

"I bought this poster yesterday to go in my lab but forgot that I left it here," said Donnie, "And I'm glad I was so forgetful that day."

"What's in that thing? A pipe or something" Leo asked, "No poster should be strong enough to knock a man out."

"Oh yeah, it cost a little extra at the store," Donnie explained, "It's made of sheet metal."

"Sheet metal?!" everyone asked in surprise.

"Why would you buy a poster made out of sheet metal?" Miwa asked.

"In case someone decided to use it for shuriken practice," said Donnie shooting a look at Mikey, who let out an embarrassed laugh. Donnie unrolled the poster to reveal the image of a man in a business suit standing in front of the Stark Industries logo and continued, "It took me forever find one of these that I liked."

"You sure get sensitive about a poster of some guy," said Mikey.

Donnie rolled his eyes and said, "That's Howard Stark, the founder of Stark Industries."

"Sorry, man. So, anyone know what happened to Fong?" Mikey asked, and then he came flying into the store and landed with a thud unconscious, followed by Yoshi, "Oh, there he is."

"I think we can let police handle them from here," said Yoshi.

"Good idea," said Miwa, "We'll go get changed while you guys take care of that."

Shen agreed and has her and her brothers go upstairs to change out of their ninja clothes while she called the police and Yoshi restrained the Purple Dragons. When the police came, the family told what happened but lied about not knowing who stopped them; they had to keep their family secret after all.

Once the police came and took the dragons, Yoshi expressed how proud he was of his children for rushing back to stop the Purple Dragons from hurting their family. While the kids accepted their praise, Donnie decided to voice his own gratitude.

"Hey, guys," said Donnie, "I just wanted to thank you all for rushing back to help. So, thank you, Miwa, Leo, Raph, Mikey."

"Hey, what's family for, right?" said Mikey.

"Yeah, what Mikey said," said Miwa and Leo nodded.

"I'm just glad you and mother are okay," said Raph, and secretly thought, 'I'd hate it if I wasn't there when you really needed me again.'

"Raph, you don't have to feel bad anymore," said Donnie, "You're aloud to do things with your friends when you want to, and you're aloud to make mistakes."

"Huh?" Raph asked, "Hey, wait a minute? Did you have one of you mind reading moments again?"

"I didn't have to," said Donnie, "It's written all over your face."

Raph blushed red a little and Shen decided to talk to him, "Your brother has a point, Raphael. Nobody's perfect. What's important is that you learn from your mistakes."

"Yeah, and it's not like you avoided Miwa's call on purpose," said Mikey, "That would've made you a real jerk."

"I would never do such a thing!" Raph snapped, "Okay, Leo's I did. But that was a mistake. I was just mad, that's all. I never wanted Donnie to get sick; I would never want that to happen!"

"And that's how we know we can always count on you," said Leo.

"Maybe Donnie can count on you to go with him and father, to the doctor tomorrow," said Miwa, "Donnie might get nervous and could use his big brother; needle phobia, you know."

"I'm not scared of needles!" Donnie snapped.

Raph simply shrugged and said, "Sure. Why not? After all, someone's gotta take care of Donnie."

"Raph!" Donnie growled, while his other siblings laughed at him.

As their children fought, Yoshi and Shen were glad to see that Raph was back to normal. And they were also worried about Donnie's doctor appointment; what would he find when he looked? Would they find anything that could explain what has been going on?

Author's Note: And there's my chapter. I hope it was worth the wait. I'll try to not take as long in the future. However, I can't promise any exact dates. After all, one can't rush these things.