Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the TMNT franchise in any way, shape, or form. No money is being made. This is just a labor of love for the series. Please don't sue me, Viacom!

Alternate Universe fic.

Warnings: Violence.

A/N: Sorry for how short this one is everyone! I ended it where it felt right to but didn't realize how dinky that would make it. ^^; Anyway, hope you like it! If you do, please feel free to follow, favorite, and/or review. I look forward to hearing from you! :D

Chapter 7

A fuzzy, olive green hand rose, politely indicating its owner's desire to speak. Leonardo and Donatello both blinked at the interruption but Donnie was the one that responded to it. "Yes, Kaiya-chan? You have a question?"

"Hai, Mother. Um… Uncle Leonardo gave the order to leave you behind?" Both Donatello and Leonardo, who had been the one talking at that moment, nodded. "But, yesterday…you told us that it was wrong to abandon family. Why would Uncle Leonardo do something that he had to know was wrong?" Kaiya questioned, the confusion in her voice was obvious. The other two children nodded in agreement with their sister.

Donnie's eyes widened before they flicked to his eldest brother, who was sitting on the couch next to their father. He swallowed uncomfortably when he saw the shock then misery on Leo's face. Donnie knew that hearing what he'd told the kids made all the guilt Leo had heaped on himself come right back. It made it sound like Donnie blamed Leo for leaving him behind, which couldn't be farther from the truth.

He had to fix this before the family meeting became a downward spiral for Leonardo. "I also recall saying that you need to know when a situation has become too much for the team to handle…when the risk is too great for you to tough it out. What Uncle Leo did…he had to do to keep the city, and the world, safe. The Kraang wanted to terra-form the Earth into something they could use, making it unlivable for everyone else. When the future of the world hangs in the balance, the fate of one person…even if that person is your brother…is pretty insignificant," Donnie said solemnly to the kids. Then he looked over their heads to Leo. He offered his brother a supportive smile and was pleased to see Leo return it.

"You will find as you grow older that there are few absolutes in life. There will always be exceptions. The key is to recognize when one is experiencing such an exception and to act accordingly," Splinter added serenely.

Donnie smiled more when Splinter spoke. Sensei always knew just what to say in any situation. He could only hope that the kids understood what their grandfather meant better than he did at times. "Does that make sense to you or do you have some more questions?" he asked them.

The children looked at each other for a moment. "I think we understand, Mother. I apologize for interrupting," Kaiya said.

"Kaiya-chan, you know how I am. I want you three to ask questions," he reassured, making her smile. "Be little sponges and soak up every bit of knowledge that you can," Donnie said with affection and touch of zeal.

"Tiger mom," Raph mock coughed. "Ouch!" he exclaimed when Donnie elbowed him. Donatello scowled at him in an embarrassed 'Hush you!' manner. This brief interaction between the two middle brothers brought some much-needed levity to the discussion and a few chuckles danced around the room.

Once the mild laughter died down, Hikaru spoke up, returning the discussion to its focus. "Did you…realize that they had left you?" she asked.

Donnie made a soft sigh. "Not at first," he admitted. "But I did realize that the longer I fought the mutant, the more likely it was that I had been."

"Were you angry at them for that?" Lewis asked.

Donatello swallowed hard at this question before looking at each of his contemporaries until he came to a stop at April. She looked downward wretchedly and wrapped her arms around her legs. "No," he said softly. April looked up at him in disbelief. He smiled warmly at her before returning his attention to the children so he could continue. "I had opportunities to keep myself out of trouble but I didn't take them. The only one to blame for my predicament was me and I knew it." April took a shuddering breath as she stared at him, still not quite believing him even after all this time.

"Were you scared?" his son asked again, this time rather timidly.

"No, I wasn't scared," Donnie said with a soft huff. "I was terrified."

Donatello squawked as he just barely dodged a fist aimed for his head. The wall behind him clanged loudly, protesting the new dent it had just acquired. Donnie spun his bo into position and lashed out with a side to side strike, hitting the mutant horse on either side of his head in rapid succession. Being pinned between the wall and the mutant didn't give Donnie enough space to fight properly with his staff. So he tucked it close to his body and kicked the horse man in the face, forcing the being to stumble backward several feet. "Perfect," he thought with a smirk. He spun his staff and body to build up momentum while he advanced on his opponent. As he completed a final pirouette, he leapt into the air and lifted his weapon high above his head in one fluid motion. He brought it hurtling down with every intention of cracking the mutant over the head. With a little luck, it would knock him out. Then Donnie would have plenty of time to escape.

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. The mutant managed to shift to the side enough to avoid the blow. Donnie's strike crashed to the floor with a resounding bang. The hallway was going to have more dents than a demolition derby by the time they were done. Donnie's eyes widened when he realized where he'd just landed. "CRUD!" Donnie flattened himself to the floor in time to feel the breeze from the mutant's kick. He quickly rolled so he could regain some distance.

Once he was far enough, he struggled up and assumed a defensive stance as he caught his breath. He tried to ignore the cries of his aching body. It had been a nasty fight so far. The horse man had gotten several good shots in; so had Donatello. They were both exhausted, but Donnie could tell that he was worse off than his opponent. He had to break this standoff soon if he was going to have a chance.

The horse man turned his head to the side and spat some blood on the floor. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "You have a respectable kick, little colt," the mutant commented with a touch of newfound appreciation.

"I don't suppose that's enough to convince you to let me go?" Donnie asked drily. The horse man laughed. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Donatello growled as he set his staff in motion again. He rushed the mutant with a yell, making it seem like he was going for a body strike. Once he got closer he changed tactics and went for the horse's legs to sweep them out from under him. He felt his staff connect and the mutant went down with a startled cry.

Donatello wasted no time. He flipped over the mutant's prone form and made a break for it. An elated grin spread across his face when his fingers closed around the escape rope that he'd been so determined to reach. However, the rope jerked the second he put his weight on it and he fell to the floor with a startled squeak. He watched the rope pool onto the floor in front of him. When he looked up the vent he saw that the night sky was gone and with it any hope of getting out. "Oh man," he thought, his breathing increasing with his anxiety. "What do I do now?!"

A powerful hand grabbed him by the back of his neck and lifted him off the ground. He yelped and grasped at the hand, desperately trying to free himself. Pain ripped into him as the horse mutant slammed him into the wall once, then twice.

After making two more turtle shell-shaped dents, the mutant allowed him to drop to the floor. Once Donnie was down, he struggled to get back up but all he could manage was getting to his hands and knees. He panted and tried to make the world stop hazing in and out of focus. Out of the corner of his eye, Donnie saw the horse man pull back his fist. He barely managed to get his bo up in time to block the strike. The force behind the punch shattered the staff as though it were glass. There was no time to react further. He took the blow squarely across his jaw.

Donatello collapsed in a heap on the floor. Wooden splinters rained down on him. His vision swam while he clung to awareness. He swallowed hard and tried to get his voice to work. "T-phone… self…destruct," he managed to rasp out. The communicator at his belt chirped and he felt a mild prickle as it overloaded itself. He allowed himself a weak smile even though it hurt so much. Now the Kraang wouldn't get anything useful out of his T-phone. Hopefully, the feature he'd programed in would do what it was meant to; he hadn't had a chance to test it after all.

He heard a brief scraping of hoof on metal. In the distance, there was the sound of Kraang droids approaching. He allowed his eyes to slide closed as he prepared himself for the finishing blow. "I'm sorry, April. Looks like I made a promise I couldn't keep," was the last thought that went through Donnie's mind before unconsciousness claimed him.

Three turtles and one human moved through the maze of sewers that would lead to Murakami's noodle shop. Michelangelo joked around. He was trying to keep the others from thinking too much. They were worried about Donatello. However, Mikey had such faith in all of his brothers that he couldn't even consider the possibility that Donnie wouldn't make it. He looked forward to seeing his brainiac brother. Together the partners in crime would tease everyone else for freaking out so much.

Raphael had a little less faith in the purple wearing dork than Mikey but he was still pretty sure that Donnie would be fine. His scrawny brother had proven him wrong before after all. Why not this time too? So he allowed himself joke with and harass Mikey. It kept him from dwelling too much on what could happen. When they saw Donnie at Murakami's, Raph was going to noogie his head raw for making them, for making HIM, worry so much.

Leonardo brought up the rear. He couldn't afford to get too caught up in Mikey's optimism. Once the initial lifting of his spirits had a chance to fade, Leo returned to his misgivings. He wanted so badly to believe in Donnie; he really did. But he had this nagging feeling that would not let him rest. He did his best to hide it. After all, it wouldn't do for the team to see their leader consumed with worry, anger, and guilt. So, he did the only thing he could do: start planning what they were going to do should the worst come to pass.

His thoughts were interrupted by someone tapping his arm. He looked down at April and resisted the urge to glower at her. What she said before still stung. She must have picked up on his feelings because she cringed at his look. "Leo, I-I'm sorry for how I acted. I was so angry about leaving Donnie and I took it out on you," she said quietly. "You were doing what was best for the rest of us and I didn't want to see it. I just wanted to get Donnie back."

Leo blinked a bit at her apology before he relaxed a bit. "It's OK, April. You're not the only one who's angry about all this," he replied while he rested a hand on her shoulder. "I want Donnie back too. And that's going to happen, no matter what," he reassured.

"This is all my fault," she weakly admitted. Leo's eye ridges furrowed at this as April continued. "Donnie went back to find me. I made Donnie stay to check out a room that turned out to be a dead end. If I'd just stuck with the group, then none of this would have happened."

After she finished, Leo couldn't help but grin. He even chuckled quietly. April was surprised at this response. She had expected him to be livid. "April, no one MAKES Donnie do anything." She started to argue but he held up a hand. "Oh, he lets us think that we can push him around but really…" he shook his head "…if it's something that truly matters to him, he becomes completely immovable."

"That doesn't change the fact that I went off on my own," April thought somberly to herself. She was determined to not be comforted about this. Not until she saw that Donnie was safe. She couldn't help but perk up when Leo's T-phone suddenly chimed out the cheerful tone that indicated that he'd just received a text message. Donnie was the only one who could possibly be texting Leo. If he was sending texts, then he HAD to be alright.

Leo had similar thoughts as he reached for his communicator, his smile brightening in relief. April watched his eyes move while he read the message. They only moved a little, so the message must have been pretty short. However, Leo looked like he was having trouble understanding it. The smile that had graced his face slowly fell to be replaced by heart-wrenching sadness. He gasped harshly and braced himself against the tunnel wall. His eyes never once left the message. April grabbed his arm to make sure he wasn't about to fall over, worry etched into her face. "Leo? What is it?" she asked fearfully.

Raph and Mikey had heard the ringtone as well, so they had stopped to hear the good news. Their eyes widened in alarm at Leo's unexpected reaction and they rushed over. "What happened? What's wrong?" Raph demanded once he was close enough. Leo didn't say anything. He just offered the T-phone to whoever wanted it.

Mikey took the device before Raph or April could and he read the message out loud. "'The self-destruct sequence on Donatello's T-phone has been initiated.' Wha…what's it talking about? What does that mean?" Mikey asked, his voice starting to show the distress everyone else had been fighting since the start of this ordeal. "Leo?"

Leo had slid down to the sewer floor while Mikey was reading. He held his head in his hands and he tried to pull himself together again. His voice was choked with emotion when he finally spoke. "It means Donnie's been captured. Or worse."

A/N: Poor Donnie. :( How will everyone cope without him? You'll have to read the next chapter to find out!

Thank you, everyone, for sticking with me up to this point! If you have enjoyed my story, please don't forget to follow, favorite, and/or review! It really brightens my day!