Randall waited a few days before he came back to the lair. April had seen the news too and she was worried about what had happened out there. She didn't want authorities in her home looking for him or her friends.
Leo was making his brothers train ultra hard in the training area when he came in from the sewer. He just stood by and watched. He went to join Splinter in the living area close by. The wise rat was watching his sons though.
Randall saw the rat had a forlorn look on his face. "You're worried about him, aren't you?" he asked.
"Yes. I don't know how to help my son. It makes me feel so helpless." Splinter said.
Randall wanted to talk to the lead turtle alone later on, when he was done with training.
It was three hours later before Leo let his brothers leave from training. He was pushing them harder than ever before. Randall was glad he hadn't joined in. Everyone was plenty sore and ready for a rest. They were all staying down below ground for a little while until the President's order blew over a bit more.
Raph went to go grab something to eat out of the kitchen. Mikey went to crash on the couch to catch his breath, where Randall and Splinter were. Don went to his lab after he caught his breath.
Leo started to head to his room. He was tired too, but wasn't about to let on about it. Randall watched him head in that direction. He was wary about doing this, but he had to know.
Leo went into his room and sat down to meditate. Then, there was a knocking on his door. He knew it was Randall. He had sensed him following him. "Come in." he said.
Randall came into the room. "Doing meditation?"
"Getting into it, yes." Leo replied.
"Leonardo, I know over these many months that something's been bothering you. Ever since, you know, you just haven't been like how you used to be. What is this all about, really?" Randall asked.
Leo really didn't want to think about it. "Don't mention what happened. I just want to get away from that train of thought."
"At least I didn't actually say it. I want you to know, that I have never told anyone about it either." Randall said.
Leo looked at him questionably.
"If what brought this was because of… that, I know how it feels." Randall said reluctantly.
"How? How I felt my honor taken from me?! How I was violated!" Leo snapped at him.
"Yes! I know how it feels! When I was younger, back in my world, it happened to me too! It leaves you with the feeling that it was your fault somehow. You're in pain, both physical and emotional. I never mentioned it happened to me because it was too painful to talk about, up until now. It's not easy to get past the trauma of it. I was mad at the whole world for a long time. No one knew my pain. Or cared. Not that I was going to tell anyone about it either, at least up until what happened to you brought the memory back."
"It took place after college and a few years before the making of the Scream Extractor. It was part of why I was who I was too with my grumpy behavior. Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't let it ruin your life." Randall explained. "If you're wondering who did it, it was just some monster who had a hate towards reptiles. He said so himself. I never saw him after that, but it made me hide my emotions even more to myself."
Leo didn't know what to say. "Randall, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"I know. That was my choice to hide it. I'm just saying that you'll never forget it, and you need the time for yourself to heal from it. I didn't exactly have that. At least you don't have the demands of a serious job to go to every day to keep your home supported, as in the case of money, I mean. I couldn't afford to take time off work."
"I have the biggest responsibility of this family, to keep it in line. Once Splinter had given me this honor as leader, it's up to me to make sure they are safe. And I don't want it to happen to them. And with Splinter getting older, if he wasn't here anymore, it would fall to me to do the right thing, all the time, every moment of every day." Leo explained.
"I know. Of course, I never had quite the responsibilities that you have had, as a leader. You do often do a good job with it. At least you have given your brothers rules to follow that do make sense why. I'm agreeable to it. But, just think about what I said." Randall said.
"Thanks for your concern, Randall." Leo said.
"Let's just keep this between us." Randall suggested.
"I wouldn't tell unless you wanted me to." Leo replied.
"I don't."
"Well, it is something we can agree on."
Randall didn't know if it would get through to him, but he was glad he had had that talk with him. It had been on his mind for some time. He finally left the room so Leo could meditate.
After the lizard had left him alone in his room, Leo felt bad that Randall had gone through the same thing. He had had no idea. Even the monsters he had met had never mentioned anything of it. But Leo still had to face being the leader of this family.
Randall went over to Don's lab next and asked him if he was studying that goo he had taken that other day.
"Indeed, I have been, Randall." Don said.
Don went on to explain the compounds he had found in it and he had even shown it to Leatherhead. Randall wanted to study it too, should anything be needed. April didn't come down as much as he did.
Randall wasn't much into biology studies, but it was something that he was thinking of taking up a little, as his mind just thirsted for knowledge. This was something he and Don could work on together. He even seemed to understand Don's big scientific words, just as April and Leatherhead did.
….
Even while Donatello was going over the chemical compounds of the alien DNA found from the goo, there was an announcement on the news about new research equipment that sounded very promising. He wished he could have that equipment. It was from a company called NeoTech.
Even at home, Randall saw that announcement too. It sounded like something amazing.
But it turns out that the Purple Dragons were interested in that equipment too, and skyjacked a plane with it on it.
Don and Randall both were disappointed to hear it had been stolen. And then, a little over a week later, it happened again.
And then, there was going to be a third shipment of it.
On this night, Casey and Raph had wanted to play Poker with Master Splinter. Splinter was indeed interested in playing a game for once. He didn't play games very often, but this was one of those times. At least even he was taking time away from ninja training.
Casey was ready to give in. "Alright. Show me what you got." he said.
Raph showed his cards, Casey showed his, and Splinter showed his. "Read 'em and weep." The rat said.
Casey and Raph looked over. "What the-? A royal flush?" Casey was stunned.
"Aw, come on, Master Splinter, cut us some slack here." Raph complained.
Splinter took Raph's tokens away. "If one cannot afford to pay, one should not play. Suckers!" he said in a playful voice, which was quite rare.
Leonardo was once again training just about constantly, nearly all day for that matter.
Mikey was busy putting some of his comic books into special plastic wrapping to keep them clean and in good condition. Then, his cat, Klunk jumped onto one.
"Klunk, don't sit on that. It's very rare and hard to find." Mikey pleaded with his cat.
Klunk meowed and got off. "Good ninja kitty." Mikey praised him.
Then Leo stepped close to see what he was doing for a moment. "Hey, Leo. What's up?" Mikey asked.
Leo felt a little tickling on his lower leg, but took his focus back to training. He jumped up onto the bridge over the water. It spooked Klunk. Klunk had been rubbing his tail on his leg.
"Sorry, Klunk. He's Mr. Personality these days." Mikey said. Klunk meowed again. "Yeah, I agree. I'm getting rather tired of it myself."
With Leo's physical health now, the cover that had been on his stomach had come off and his plastron was just fine. It had some scarring that wouldn't go away anytime soon.
Randall had come down to help Don once again with something that he was working on in the train car lab. There was suddenly a beeping coming from his computer. There was an incoming message. Don went over to see who it was.
It was April.
"Hi, April. What's up?" Don asked. Randall came over to see her too.
"Hi, Randall." she said.
"Hi." He waved.
"Donny, you remember that equipment from NeoTech you were practically drooling over?"
"You mean the tech gear I see in my dreams?"
"It seems you're not alone. Turn on the news." April said.
Don grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. There was a report about the technology and it had been skyjacked last week, and now there was a new one coming in.
The others all came over and watched the report too. "I have hunch as to who's behind it. The Purple Dragons." Leo growled.
"I'm gonna go out and clip the Dragons' wings! I hate them all! Are ya with me?" Casey said angrily.
"I'm with Casey. Let's go out and catch us some Dragoons!" Raph said, holding up a fist.
"Sounds exciting and keeping them from getting their filthy hands on that gear." Randall rubbed his hands together, smiling smugly.
"I want that too. That gear deserves to be in better hands than theirs." Don said.
They were all in agreement to go out and stop this third skyjacking of NeoTech's stuff. But first, they had to find where the big jerk offs were.
They all went topside with the exception of Master Splinter. Even Randall was along. He was still wary of Leo's temperament.
Casey soon saw a punk on the street and went down to talk to him.
"I heard you got the 411 on the Purple Dragons, so spill." Casey ordered.
"I'm not scared of you. I'm not telling you nothing." The man said.
Leo wasn't going to take no for an answer on this. He lowered himself upside down on the fire escape they were on. He grabbed the man's coat. "Let me talk to him." he said.
Leo took the man to a high building and had tied his hands and feet together, and hung him upside down off of a gargoyle on the side of the building. The man screamed in terror. Leo hung off the gargoyle too.
"Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me?" Leo asked smugly.
"Fine! Fine! I'll talk!" The man said.
Everyone else was waiting impatiently while Leo had dealt with the man. Then, Leo surprised them when he jumped down on the dumpster.
"They're down by the Battering Tunnel." Leo declared.
Raph and Casey looked at each other. Leo must have done something good to make the man talk.
They all got in the truck and traveled there. It was really late at night at the moment. About 1 am. When they got there, Don parked the Battle Shell and they all got out to go check out the hideout.
"Turtles, Lizards, and gentleman, welcome to Fragrant, New Jersey." Mikey said.
The hideout looked more like it belonged to rich people, not street punks. But then, the Dragons had moved on up from that. They were still street thugs and always would be. They made good on so many steals.
"That's the Dragons' hideout?" Randall asked. He remembered dealing with the street gang in his own world and they had only lived in an old warehouse type of building.
Then some trucks pulled out of the warehouse part of the building.
"Looks like they're gearing up for another scheme." Leo said. "Don, you, Mikey and Randall follow us in the Battle Shell. Raph, Casey, you're with me."
Don, Mike, and Randall went to go get back in the truck and do as they were told. Leo, Raph, and Casey went to sneak into the building. This shipment wasn't going to get away this time. Don took off after the semis.
Inside the warehouse, the two older turtle brothers and Casey stayed hidden and watched what was about to happen. Dragon Face and other Dragons got into helicopters and took off. They managed to hijack the last one.
They made sure to sneak aboard and the pilots didn't even know they were on board. They were going to stop the Dragons from mugging another shipment.
The other Dragons were thrown onto a cart outside the copter. "Sorry, guys, but this copter's full." Casey said as he shut the door.
One of the pilots had heard some racket in the back. "Hey, what's happening back there?" he asked.
"Nothing. Just one the guys forgot to strap in," came the reply. Leo had answered. Now they could only wait until they caught up with the rest.
Don had followed the semis to a spot near the East River and they had stopped, waiting for the cargo to arrive from off a plane. He parked the Battle Shell in the bushes.
"I wonder how long it's going to take before we get some action." Randall stated.
"It should be real soon." Don said. "Just keep watching for boxes falling from the sky, or one of the others will let us know what happens next."
Randall hated the Purple Dragons just as much as the turtles did. He had never regretted killing the giant gorilla man that used to lead them. The turtles had been grateful to him for that, and so had Casey. Casey had hated Hun more than the others.
Mikey was starting to get restless and bored. "Play the video games back there at the station, just until it's time for action." Don said.
Mikey went and played some games. "Thanks, Don."
…
Soon, the choppers caught up with a NeoTech plane. Using some flying skateboards, the Dragons boarded the planes, knocked out the pilots and began putting parachutes on the crates, and opened the loading gate and started shoving the crates out of it.
Leo, Raph, and Casey used their copter's boards too to get on the plane, and Casey had found a parachute before he followed his friends reluctantly off the copter. They managed to get on unseen. The Dragons were too busy unloading cargo to notice them. But they were now down to the last two boxes by the time they had got on.
"We can't let them get away with this." Casey said.
"Let's clear the area first." Leo said. He and the other two began pushing the boxes.
The Dragons were unaware and taken by surprise as the last boxes came at them like they did. All the Dragons were pushed off the plane.
Down below, when the crates had hit the water, Don let Mikey know that time was up. They had to start being ready for action as the semis would be getting the cargos and taking off. And they had to wait for their brothers and Casey.
The plane was starting to go down.
"We need to get off this thing!" Raph shouted over the loud decent.
"I have a parachute!" Casey shouted, "in my golf bag!" He took it out and they all took a hold of it.
"You think this thing can hold all three of us?" Raph asked.
"We'll find out." Leo said. "Jump!"
They all took hold of the chute and jumped. The plane continued on its way for a crash landing in the water. Once in the air, Leo pulled the deploy control and the chute opened up. It managed to hold all three of them.
"Guess that answers our question." Raph smiled. Even Leo had a smile on. But there was still more work to do once they landed. They just hoped to land on the trucks, or their own.
"Leo, the convoy is moving." Don said on his speaker.
"On the way down now, Don." Leo replied.
Don hit the gas and he took off, following the trucks as they drove off with the stolen cargo. The other Dragons that had been pushed off had landed in the water or had deployed once they had been pushed off the plane.
There was one Dragon who was a big guy, but not as big as Hun had been, who had landed on the roof of a truck as it was moving. He was ready to take those freaks down. He had dealt with them before. He was one of Dragon Face's top henchmen.
The two turtles and Casey got close to landing. Casey let go first and landed on the truck. The wind took Leo and Raph back up for a few moments.
Casey tried to keep from being blown off the truck and the big man approached him. "You're gonna pay for this, you freak!" he said angrily.
The big man was just about to step on one of Casey's hands when the two turtles came back down and gave him a big kick in the face and chest, sending him backwards. He landed on his back.
Leo and Raph landed and held onto the chute. They took their weapons out.
Behind the last semi, Don was in the Battle Shell, keeping up. "Leo and Raph just landed on that truck. Come on, Donny, get me up there." Mikey said.
Don gassed the truck and began to speed up.
"I'll help ya." Randall said.
"Thanks." Mikey replied.
Back on the semi, there was a plan to get Don behind them. Leo sliced their chute and the chute flew behind them onto the semi behind them, keeping him from driving straight because he couldn't see. He started going all over the road.
Don saw this coming and went around the other way, on the left. It now got them behind the semi the fight was taking place on.
Raph threw the chute pack at the Dragon and he punched it away. Raph jumped over him, landing on the man's chute, which he pulled up, making Raph lose his balance. He fell on his back. The man let his chute go and his chute was in the air again, and Leo charged in. The man used his chute pack to protect himself from Leo's sword that went through it as Leo tried to skewer him.
Then, the man kicked the turtle away, with the chute pushing Leo off the back of the truck.
The others saw this happening from the Battle Shell. "We better get out there now." Randall said.
"Yep." Mikey agreed.
"I'll go up first to make sure you don't lose your footing." Randall said. They went to the side door. Randall went out first. He got on top and wrapped his tail around one of the top armor plates on the truck's roof. Then he helped to pull Mikey up there too. The two of them were now on the roof.
Mikey then got onto the hood. Randall stayed behind him so he could have him as backup to hold on. Randall might have had his special sucker fingers and toes, but even he could still lose his grip on things too. He kept his tail wrapped around the armor piece for safe keeping.
Raph regained his feet and fought the man, but he was kneed hard in the stomach, winding him and he was thrown back. Casey charged in next and tried to take him down.
Don tried to get closer. "Leo, hold on, bro!" Mikey said from the hood. Leo was looking back, trying to anticipate when to let go of the semi and get onto his family's truck.
Randall had a hold of Mikey's belt at the moment. He was watching Leo too.
Don got closer. "Let go now, Leo!" Randall called out.
Leo let go of the semi and Mikey caught him. Randall pulled a bit and Leo was now on board. "Thanks, guys." Leo said.
Behind them, the other man got out and pulled the chute off the windshield and the driver could see again.
"Aw, shell! They got the parachute off!" Don complained.
The semi caught up and even rammed the turtles' truck. That got Don mad. "Get off of my shell!" Don said angrily. He pressed a button and one of the truck's missiles rose up and took aim at the semi. Randall saw it happen. He was glad it wasn't aimed at him.
"Aw, crud." The men said in the semi. They jumped out of the semi as Don's missile shot into theirs, making an explosion and it went off the edge and into the water.
Casey continued fighting the big man on the semi. He got him down almost face first on the hookup area between the truck and the trailer. Casey almost saw fit to let him slip off or push him off. But he remembered what his pa had told him once about doing the right thing. He didn't let the man fall off and he pulled him up. He had also taken a piece of the man's Dragon garb off in his hand.
The man outsmarted Casey and left him hanging on that semi. When the driver of that semi saw what was going on, he jumped out the truck and it began to swerve.
The man jumped onto the next semi and it took off with him. "So long, freak!" The man called out.
With no one driving the current semi they were on, Casey and Raph knew they had to get off right now. "Raph, jump!" Casey ordered.
Raph and Casey went to the back and saw their brothers waiting for them. Leo and Mikey had moved down lower. Randall had stayed on top of the truck.
Raph was more likely to land safely, while Casey would need an extra hand. They both jumped onto the Battle Shell. Raph landed fine by himself. Casey landed next to him, but Randall and Leo got a hold of him just in case.
The semi in front of them twisted at the front and then fell onto its side. Don saw this and immediately slammed his foot on the brakes. The semi stopped and rested on its side right in front of them just as Don got the truck to stop. Then the semi exploded.
The rest of the convoy got away with the stolen cargo.
Now that they were safely stopped, Randall came down from the roof and he and his friends went back into the back of the truck, except for Leo. Raph and Mikey got the two chairs in the back. Casey and Randall sat on the bench in the very back, waiting for Leo. Casey stared at the Dragon mark on the piece he had grabbed.
Raph was wanting to just get the show on the road. "Come on, Leo! Get in!" He ordered.
"Let's go home, bro." Mikey added.
Leo stared angrily behind them with his arms crossed. Why couldn't they ever fully stop the bad guys?
"Now what?!" Raph yelled.
"We didn't finish the job! Again! We blew it!" Leo exclaimed angrily.
"We did the best we could. At least we stopped half the convoy." Don said.
"Half! We stopped half! And only because we got lucky! Is that good enough for you?! Is it?! We're always one step behind! We act like a bunch of amateurs! How many times are we going to get beat before you wise up and realize this isn't a game?!" Leo yelled at all of them angrily. None of the others replied back.
Then Leo stormed off toward the road's edge.
Raph didn't want to wait for him. He closed the back doors. "Hate to admit it, but he ain't wrong." Raph admitted.
Don started the truck and drove away from the wreckage. Leo heard them leave. He was in no mood to be around them. He would make his own way home when he was ready.
While driving, Casey got up and went to the front. "Hey, Donny, drop by the cemetery. I got an important stop I gotta make."
Don listened and headed to the cemetery that Casey told him to go to. It was after sunrise when they got there. The three turtles and Randall got out of the truck to watch Casey go to a grave.
Casey went to his father's grave and laid the Dragon symbol on the grave site. "Hi, Pop.
Brought you something. You spoke true, Pop. No matter what, you gotta stand up and do the right thing. But I guess I'm lucky, even when the odds are against me. I ain't alone. I got friends. Good friends." Casey stood up.
The others stood at the edge of the cemetery. They all heard what he had said. That was touching. That was how Randall felt too about the others as well. Casey had never talked to him about his father before.
When Casey went back to the truck, Raph got up front with Don. Casey took the other chair and Mike was in the other. Randall sat in his own spot. Don drove home. As they were going, Randall got up the courage to ask Casey, "What happened to your father?"
"He was killed by Hun and the Purple Dragons." Casey replied sadly.
"Sorry." Randall said.
"What about your parents?" Casey asked.
"I don't know. I was too young to remember how they died." Randall replied.
"Sorry." Casey said.
That night had shown just how much Randall and Casey could really be friends too, just as much as the turtles.
When they got back to the lair, they were all beat. Splinter had waited up for them. He had been concerned. He came out of his room. He wanted to make sure they were all alright.
He counted them all with his eyes, but he saw one was missing. "Where is Leonardo?" he asked.
"He got mad at us just because we didn't stop all the convoy from being stolen." Don replied.
"He stormed off and we wasn't in the mood to wait for him." Raph said. "He'll have to find his own way home."
"He needs the time alone to cool off." Don said.
"I can understand." Splinter said. He was growing ever more concerned about Leonardo's temper and behavior. Things just often happen that were out of their control. Why couldn't he understand that?
The others, even Don, went to bed. They knew that Leo could take care of himself. Even Casey stayed down here in the lair. The man took the couch. Randall took his mattress next to Don's lab, but the lizard couldn't sleep, at first.
Eventually, fatigue did get the better of him, and he fell asleep.
…..
Leo was so damn mad that they couldn't have stopped the Dragons from stealing all the technology for their own evil purposes. After he stood and sulked for awhile, he began his long walk back to the city. He understood why his family had left him alone out there; to come to his senses on his own without yelling at them some more.
The long walk home gave him the time he needed to think. But he was still so mad at the outcome of tonight's fighting. He wished the Dragons would just disappear. They were nothing but an annoyance to everything.
He knew that moving about in the daylight was risky. He found an empty water tower and stayed the day there. He didn't feel like sleeping. His adrenaline was still too high. He had his shell cell with him if he needed help. He sat and meditated for awhile and when he came out of it, it was near lunchtime. He finally was calmed down enough for him to feel like sleeping. He laid down on the tower's floor, closed his eyes to sense his surroundings, and felt nothing. He soon closed his eyes and fell asleep.
At sunset, he was up and waited for the darkness. Once it was there, Leo took off for home. It was a long run across the city, but it helped him to let go of some more of that hard anger he still felt at everything. It was well into the night before he went to the sewers again and made his way back to the lair.
The others were all awake by now and still waiting for him. They were a little worried that something had happened to him. Don checked his phone's tracker and found he was getting closer to the lair. He was fine.
The door soon opened and in stepped an angry looking Leo. He looked at the others and they all glared back at him. He returned it. He just went towards the bathroom for the moment.
"I wonder where's he's been?" Mikey asked.
"On a long run." Don said. "Hopefully getting rid of that toxic energy he's carrying around."
"I can't deal with Leo being like this much longer." Mikey said.
"Neither can I." Randall said. "And you guys thought I was bad."
"This can't go on, I know." Splinter said. He had thought of something, but he was only going to use it as a last resort. He would give Leonardo a few more weeks, and if something didn't happen soon, a breakthrough, there would have to be the consequences for it.