Hey guys! I know it's late and I'm sorry but with the holidays coming round I may not be able to post every week but I will do my best!
"So, how are you feeling? You doing ok?" Kara sat on one side of Dragan's bed with Donnie, April, and Mikey while Leo and Raph were on the other, Leo caressing her hand.
"Still sore, so that's a relief. It's nae everyday I get tae test out ma shields durability. I'm surprised it was able tae not only take the explosion but thare's nae a single crack on it." Dragan looked over at the shield leaning against her desk and smiled softly at it only to blink when she felt Leo squeezing her hand but didn't say anything.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say that thing is magical." Mikey said as he leaned forward on the bed.
"Magical? Please, Mikey, her shield didn't make full contact with the bombs, just the force." Donnie bent down in front of it, examining the front of her shield.
Dragan smiled at them and went to explain when Leo cut her off.
"Hey, guys, can I speak to Dragan privately for a moment?" He looked over at them all who simply nodded and left him be, Kara closing the door behind her.
Dragan glanced at him as they stood in silence. She could tell by the strained look on his face that he was trying to think of what to say first. She let out a sigh and moved her hand from his. "Why didn't ye tell me about ye an Karai? Do you..do ya really care about her that much tae just give in tae what she says? I cuild understand before, wi wantin' your family tae be whole again but now..I can't help but wonder if thare's more tae it than that."
Leo closed his eyes. "I admit; I use to have a crush on her but those feelings are gone because I have you. I thought because we were close she would listen to me, listen to reason, but..look at how it turned out. I almost lost the girl I love and my brothers..not to mention Kara still hates me." He hung his head low, his forehead touching her bed. "Please forgive me."
Dragan wrapped her arms around his head, pulling him close to her, sighing softly to herself. "Oh, Leo, why must ye hide away? Being in a relationship means ye don't keep secrets from the other. Ye share your pain just as much as your love an joy." She lifted his head up to see tears sliding down his face. He placed his hand over hers as she used her other hand to wipe away the tears before embracing him. "I forgive you." She whispered his his ear.
When Leo walked out everyone but Kara looked over at him, which he kind of expected. He let out a sigh and shook his head before walking over to them. "I will be staying here to look after Dragan. Don't call me unless it's an emergency."
The guys nodded and went towards the balcony. Kara just stood and went to follow after them but Leo grabbed her hand to stop her. "I know what I did was wrong. I won't go seeking Karai again. Ever."
Kara snatched her hand from him and glanced his way. She opened her mouth to speak but shook her head, narrowed her eyes at him, and left leaving Leo alone in the livingroom with his head to the ground.
At the Lair, Casey and April were hanging out with them, Casey playing video games with Donnie while the others watched.
"Take this! And this! Oh, and how about three of these? And the winner is: Casey Jones! Cha-ching!" Casey stood, gloating in his victory while Donnie threw down his controller. "Ah, old school games are stupid. I'm more into a modern, fully-immersive 3D experience."
"That's cause you're not doing it right, Donnie. Here, let me win back your honor." Kara plopped down between them, scooping the controller in her hand and leaned against him as she went to pick out her character.
"I'll give you a fully-immersive PD experience. P as in Pizza and D as in Delicious!" Mikey walked through throwing a pizza box at them.
"What, this is all we get, Mikey? And you keep the rest?" Raph glared at him.
"You're right, brah. I'm being greedy." Mikey pulled out a single slice and tossed it to Raph, the slice landing on his face.
"Remind me to smack you later." Raph pulled the pizza slice off and went to take a bite when a cockroach crawled onto the slice. Just as he was about to take a bite out of it, April stopped him. "Uh..Raph.." Raph looked down and sighed, flicking the roach off his slice and took a bite.
"You're not freaking out?" Casey and the others watched him in amazement.
"Eh, after you've been to a planet full of bugs, nothing bothers you anymore." Raph said in a calm manner.
"Even after Mona Lisa betrayed you, and you were almost eaten by a giant scorpion monster?" Donnie asked still somewhat confused.
"Can we drop the Mona Lisa thing already? Seriously!"
"Well, it's awesome you got over your bug phobia, Raph. That's really hard to do." April smiled at him, giving him a thumbs up.
"Yeah, maybe you can help me with my spider thing." Kara said from behind Mikey, snatching a box from him and sitting back down while taking a slice. "Though I doubt we'll see any large spiders anytime soon. Or ever. Ever would be good."
While everyone was eating, Kara had finished her meal and was staring intensely at the floor in silence. Donnie glanced her way noticing the look and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you ok?"
Kara blinked out of her thoughts and sat up straight. "Uh yeah, just thinking. After we eat we should go on patrol and try to find Shredder. After what we saw who knows what else that maniac has in store for us."
"Robots, mutants. We've already seen it all. What's the worse he can do?" Casey said with a smirk as he ate his last slice.
"Still, wouldn't hurt to look." April added in, smiling to Kara.
"Alright, gear up and lets head out then." Kara returned the smile before grinning at the others.
On patrol, the team split up into three teams. Kara and Donnie. Mikey and April. And Casey and Raph.
"So how's the plan coming along, Donnie?" Kara asked from the back of the Party Wagon.
"As long as the other teams stick to their borough, we should have no trouble looking for any signs of Shredder activity."
"Except for the fact that New York is huge and we're only in the Brooklyn area. Seems like we're trying to find a needle in a haystack.."
"We'll turn up something, Kara...everything ok? I noticed you still won't talk to Leo.."
'Why should I? After everything he has done this takes the cake." She let go of the telescope and leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Forgive and forget, right? He knows he was in the wrong and has made up for his mistake."
"Not this time. His mistake almost cost the life of Dragan..and.."
Donnie glanced back at her, becoming worried when he saw the pain in her eyes and slowed the party wagon to a stop. "Kara?"
"What..what would of happened if she wasn't there.." She looked at him with wide eyes before lowering her head, moving her hand over her eyes. "I can't forgive him."She said in a whisper.
Donnie unbuckled his seat belt and climbed into the back with her, hugging her close.
"I can't get over what would of happened if she wasn't there. It hurts to see my best friend the way she is but..I can't stop thinking of who would of taken her place instead. Mikey? Raph..You? I don't know what I would do if it was you." She buried her head in his shoulder, gripping the top of his plastron.
"Shh, it's alright. Leo..Leo has paid for his mistakes every time. And this time is no different. I don't know what goes through his mind but believe me when I say that he has his best interests for all of us, including you and Dragan. I'm sure your speech and seeing Dragan hurt made him realize that he was going at it the wrong way. But right now, we need to focus on the bigger picture. If you must take your anger out on someone, do it on Shredder."
Kara looked at him and nodded knowing everything that has happened has been his fault. "Come on, lets keep searching." She kissed his cheek and went back to the scope.
Donnie nodded and went back to the front and turned called Mikey and April but blinked when they were talking about their favorite shows. "I hate to break up this vastly important conversation but any sign of the Foot?"
"Nada, Bromeo." Mikey said into his T-Phone.
"This is pointless. Shredder is out of commission.." Casey said just before he hung up.
"Well, looks like they're going to be bored." Donnie sighed, putting away his T-phone.
"Guess we'll head back to point and figure things out from there." Kara lifted the scope from her eyes and leaned back, pondering. "Maybe we should widen our search outside the city limits then work our way inside."
"Wait, hold on." Donnie brought his T-Phone out again and saw the distress signal was on. "Looks like they're in trouble.."
"So much for being bored." Kara hopped to the front as he drove off to where the signal was.
-At the Place-
"Well..they have be around here somewhere." Kara looked around curiously.
"Yeah, their T-phones pinged off a nearby cell tower not long before we lost contact."
"What up?" Mikey said, landing right beside them with April.
"Knowing Casey they probably got into a pickup hockey game in the Bronx." April rolled her eyes while crossing her arms over her chest.
"I doubt Raph would let him get distracted while on patrol. But I could be wrong." Kara shrugged but blinked when she heard "Get away!" being screamed in a high pitch tone somewhere close by.
"I hear a voice, but no way it's Raph. It's way too high and whiny." Mikey shook his head til they all jumped at the voice now screaming. They looked over towards a dumpster hearing the thuds.
April lifted the lid and gasped when she and the others saw Raph pushing himself into the corner, eyes wide in fright. "Oh my gosh. Are you ok?"
"No, get off of me! Get away! I don't want to be eaten!" Raph flailed his arms in front of him and screamed more.
Everyone was looking worried and they turned to Mikey, who smiled. "I got this." He leaned into the dumpster, helping Raph out. "You just have to be sweet, sensitive, and caring." He turned to the trembling, huddled figure of Raph and smacked him hard across the face.
"Mikey! Why, you-you..you snapped me out of it. Thanks little bro."
"No problemo. That's my role in the group; to bring sanity."
"Or cause insanity." Kara chuckled making everyone smile but stopped when Raph seemed off.
"So where are they? They got away, didn't they?"
"Define "they"." April and Kara raised a brow, looking to each other.
"Stockmans got two new mutants. An ant that splits itself into copies, and a big, buggy spider freak."
"SPIDER?!" Kara shrieked in panic.
"They got away with millions of dollars and Casey because of me." Raph lowered his head in shame but looked up at the others.
"We knew you well, Casey. Ok, time to go back to the search." Kara went to walk away but Donnie and April both grabbed the back of her shirt to stop her.
"Um, are you sure it wasn't part of your hallucination? I mean, why would bugs need money?"
"Because they want to buy jetpacks. It's lame having to use your wings all the time, dude. Trust me."
"We have to get Casey back." April said, turning to Raph.
"Show us where all this went down, Raph." Donnie kept his grip on Kara as they made their way to where the fight had started.
"Casey's goalie stick.." Kara bent down picking up the remains of Casey's main weapon. "You wouldn't happen to have anything, would you, Donnie?"
"Well, looks like we're not gonna be able to track him by GPS." Donnie held Casey's cracked phone in his hand.
"There's another way to track them."
"A telepathic scan?" Donnie asked April.
"Tracking mutants is way easier than tacking humans. I've been practicing with my Aeon crystal." April placed her hand to the side of her head, her eyes now glowing white.
"Oh geez.." Kara closed her eyes knowing she isn't going to like this.
April lead them all to Shredder's old lair.
"Ah, of course. Somehow, we always wind up back here.." Kara groaned as they climbed through the front window.
"Firzzt we will end you then we'll get thozze stupid Turtles."
"Who you calling zztupid, zzstupid? Ha! Ha!" Mikey laughed as he landed a kick across his face.
Kara jumped in, slicing Karai free from the webs. "You just can't seem to keep away from my friends and I, huh?"
"And I see you got an upgrade." Karai grinned but gasped. "Look out!" She grabbed Kara and jumped away as the buggy mutant attacked.
"Ohmygoshthat'saspider. IT'S A SPIDER!" Kara jumped onto Karai. "Ah, what the? Get off me!" The bug mutant grabbed Kara and flew her around the room as she screamed and tried to get away from him. "Donnie! April! Someone help!" She screamed smacking him constantly across the face.
April threw her tessen but missed. "We need some wings." The bug mutant threw Kara at April and they landed on the ground with grunts of pain, just as the ants surrounded them, taking them away.
"No! Kara! April!" Donnie yelled as he went to go after them but looked up hearing Mikey yell and saw the bug mutant throw Mikey at him and retreat.
Raph had snapped himself out of his attack when he saw everyone was gone but Donnie and Mikey. "Was I...was I gone again!? What happened?"
"The bugs not only got Karai, they got Kara and April too!"
"Oh no..we'd better tell Leo this."
-At the Apartment-
"Uh-huh..Yeah?...Got it." Leo hung up his T-Phone and picked up the tray of food he made, it being a sandwich and juice, and made his way to Dragan's room where she was sitting and reading a book. She looked up and began to giggle seeing Leo wearing an apron.
"Pfft...that..that's a cute look on ya, Leo." Dragan giggled more while Leo stood there with the tray in his hands, blushing deep red.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He sat down on the bed, setting the tray down. "Was going to attempt to cook something but.." His eyes darkened as flashbacks of his previous attempts of cooking came to mind. "But something simple would suffice. Anyways..we got a problem."
"What is it?" Dragan lifted the sandwich and took a bite, staring at him.
-At the Lair-
"First, we should get that looked at." Mikey pointed at Raph's arm and they ran back home.
At the lair, Donnie was talking to Leo over the phone while Raph got his arm looked at.
"I'm fine, Master Splinter. We need to find the others. Those buggy freaks have 'em."
"If you do not allow yourself to heal, you will be of no help to anyone. This wound runs deep."
"It's just a bug bite.." Raph looked down at the bandage, gently running his fingers over it.
"I speak not of the wound here," Master Splinter placed his hand on the bandage before moving it up to his head, "But of the wound here."
"I thought I was past my bug phobia. But clearly I'm not and the team's suffering because of it." Raph sighed and stood to his feet, lowering his head.
"It takes time, my son. Damage to the mind and spirit are no less grave than injuries to the body."
"But Sensei, I was on an entire planet of bugs. That should have cured me just by exposure, right?"
"Not necessarily. It is clear you are still shell-shocked. Pardon the pun."
"What do I do to get un-shell-shocked?"
"Find your center. Meditation will enlighten your path."
"No offense, Master, but I don't think daydreaming will help."
"Not daydreaming. Meditation. I will teach you a personal mantra to chant. It will help you focus.
While Raph and Master Splinter were meditating and Donnie and Mikey were testing Donnie's new invention, Dragan and Leo entered the lair with Leo holding Dragan's arm.
"I'm fine, Leo. Ye don't hae tae act like I'll break any moment. I'm just sore."
"I know. I know. I'm just looking after you. It would make me feel better if you had stayed home though."
"Please, after what ya said, I am not gonna leave ma friend tae face one o' her worst fears. I'm well enough tae fight."
"Guys! We're here!" Leo yelled as they went into the livingroom.
"Good! You made it just in time." Donnie said as he and Mikey walked out of his lab.
"Is that a gurdle?" Dragan pointed at Donnie's doo-hickey making Mikey laugh.
"This izz the perfect new lair. High up in the cloudzz, where an izzect belongs. We'll fill the place with money and riches for Mazzter Shredder."
The ant mutant let out a squeal as the bug mutant landed close to Stockman.
"He's right. We don't need anyone now, Baxter. That money belongs to us!"
"No! It izz about loyalty! Friendship!"
Kara struggled to get herself free but the web was stronger than it looked. After awhile she finally gave in with an annoyed sigh. "So, Karai, we could use your witch friend. Where is she?"
"Doing what I asked so mind your business. And what about Leo? Why wasn't he at the fight?"
"Because he's taking care of his girlfriend. You know, the one who got hurt with the bombs YOU planted."
"His girlfriend..?"
"Yeah, they're dating. So back off him and stuff." Kara narrowed her eyes at Karai who looked away in thought.
"Um, Tyler? Hello? What about us?" April shouted to Stock noticing it was starting to feel awkward.
"Why, you will make a wonderful organic food zzupply." Stockman flew up to them, twitching and buzzing away.
"Food supply? You're going to eat us? He's going to eat us?!"
"Not on my watch!" Kara switched one of her blades on, slicing her hand free and then her feet before using her trapped hand to push herself at Stockman, bringing the other blade out and freeing herself. She jumped at Stockman and began to punch his head while he flew around yelling in a panic for them to get her off him.
"You're. Not. Getting. Rid. Of me. That. Easily!" She yelled with every punch, the others cheering her on. It wasn't a moment later til she felt something grab her back and pull her off of Stockman just as he flew into a pillar.
She looked back and her eyes widen seeing she was flying towards the freakish bug. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned around to kick it away but it grabbed her ankle and her other leg before throwing her onto the ground. "I'm going to enjoy eating you." The bug said with a sinister smile as he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against a pillar, using his saliva to hold her in place. He suddenly lifted his head, looking around. "They're coming."
"Ah! The trap izz set! Ready your webzz." Stockman, the bug mutant, and ants stood in line awaiting the Turtle's arrival.
"You just had to be Turflytle, didn't you?" Raph looked over at Mikey in his costume as he jumped up onto the ledge.
"Are you ready, buzz buzz. Ninja harness away! Aw, yeah!" Mikey was the first to fly off, then Raph, Leo, and Donnie, Dragan climbing up from the bottom.
"They'll never get pazzt us, my insect brotherzz." Stockman twitched when he saw his bug mutant friend go down "Wha? After them-ah!" He was next to go then the ant, it's copies following after them.
Dragan used the worker's elevator to get to the others when she saw Kara and ran towards her. "Kara! Are ya ok?!"
Kara groaned in pain, lifting her head up. "Dragan? What're you doing here? You should be resting!"
"I know. I know. That's why I came light." She raised her sword above her head and sliced through the thing around Kara. "An Leo has been taken good care o' me too." She smiled and looked up at him as he fought with his brothers. "Come on, let's go free the others." She and Kara ran to the worker's elevator and used it all the way up to the top.
"What are those harness things? Why don't I have a harness thing?" Casey yelled watching his friends in excitement.
"Because you tend to get caught a lot." Kara chuckled and set Karai and April free while Dragan took care of Casey.
"Get me out! I'm missing the fight!"
"Keep your shoes on, Casey." Dragan chuckled and set him free.
"Yes!" He went to stand up but he made the mistake of looking down and immediately hugged the pillar.
Dragan rolled her eyes and helped him to his feet. "Come on, we're headin' bak tae the ground floor." She lead him towards the elevator while Kara joined the others but began to lose her footing when Stockman used the crane to throw the pillars and break apart the building.
"Woah, woah! Guys!" She yelled as she began to fall but grabbed onto the pillar. Another crash and the vibration caused her to lose her grip and she started falling. "Crap! Crap! Crap!" She yelled til Donnie flew at her, catching her in his arms. She sighed in relief, almost melting into goo. "I think that's enough excitement for me."
"I'll get you down. Don't worry." He started jumping down to the floor as Leo sliced the pillars loose and captured the two mutants while Stockman fled the scene.
"Well, atleast we got the money. And Stockman's bug thugs." Leo placed his hands to his hips, smiling in victory.
"Abandoned, huh? Some friend he was to you guys." Raph smirked down at them while Donnie and Kara went over to them.
"That's kinda sad if you think about it."
"At least ye guys are safe now." Dragan put away her sword but winced gently, rubbing her shoulder.
"Come on, let's go home. A hot bath is calling my name." Kara and the others followed them home to just relax unaware of the dangers that would await them soon. "You still going to play nurse, Leo?"
"Actually, he had this really cute look wi an-"
"THERE'S NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT!" Leo shouted, his face exploding in red and he ran ahead of them making Dragan laugh while the others were confused.
Kara shrugged and linked her arm around Donnie's waist. "Sleep over then." She smiled happily up at him while Dragan ran to catch up with Leo, laughing the whole way and Mikey laughing as well thinking it's a chase.
You all know the routine! Rate/Comment! All feedback is much appreciated! And to those who celebrated it, Happy Late Thanksgiving! :D