Chapter 23: Rescue

Splinter darted across the rooftops with Karai at his tail. Michelangelo had just called to give them the location of where Donatello was. He knew the Mutanimals were on their way too. All he wanted to do was to get his son back. Donatello was just returned to them and now, he was gone once again.

"Sensei!" Master Splinter and Karai turned to the voice to see Leo, Raph, and Mikey jump onto the rooftop.

"My sons! Is he close?" Splinter asked.

Leo nodded. "We heard him roar coming from this direction."

"We must hurry!" Slash yelled, joining the chase. "I smell Foot Bots."

A muffled roar and crashes grew louder as the group jumped to the next rooftop. A hoard of Foot Bots surrounded a single figure as he fought them off. Donatello gave a muffled roar, raising on his back feet to strike through a couple bots. They all immediately rushed in to help.

Raph quickly ducked and slashed through the bots, wanting to get as close to his brother as possible. Nothing was going to stop him from being separated from his little brother ever again. Raph watched as a bot rushed his brother. Donnie tucked his head and rammed it and the bot into the wall of the building, crushing the bot. Donnie pulled away from the deactivated robot and turned his glowing red eyes on Raph.

"Oh, Donnie. It's okay. You're safe," Raph gently called, putting a sai away to reach out to his brother. Donnie narrowed his eyes, growling, and backing away. "Oh, Donnie."

The sounds of the battle faded away as Leatherhead crashed through the last bot. The only sounds were Donnie's low growls as he backed away from the group.

"My son, are you alright?" Master Splinter asked, walking forward. Donnie growled once again, keeping his jaw closed the entire time.

"There's something in his shell," Mikey pointed out. Tucked in his shell was a white slip of paper.

"I'll get it," Karai said, moving over to the large turtle. "He's not in his right mind." Karai slowly stepped forward, reaching out to Donnie. Donnie gave a low growl and backed away from her hand. "What? Donnie? It's me."

"What's going on?" Leo asked.

"I'm not sure," Karai said, backing away to calm him down. "He's not letting me get near. Give him some space." Everyone backed away, leaving a wide circle for Donnie.

Donnie rumbled low in his throat and gave each person a look before slowly shuffling away from the wall. He rumbled low in his throat as he walked over to where Rockwell stood. Donnie stopped just in front of him and tilted his head to the ground, slowly opening his mouth, and let a glass tube fall onto the ground.

Rockwell slowly reached for the tube, lifting it off the ground. He studied the red liquid for a second before realizing what it was. "It's blood."

"Blood?" Raph asked. "Why would Donnie have a tube of blood?"

Donnie cooed and backed away from Rockwell, running over to Karai. Donnie pushed himself to her side, wanting attention. Karai knelt down and slowly ran her hands over his head, quickly grabbing the piece of paper before he could pull away. She began to read it, "To Donatello's Family. Here is a sample of his blood from before he was mutated. I hope it will help. I am sorry for what happened. Baxter Stockman."

"Donatello's blood? This can solve everything!" Rockwell cried out, holding the glass tube tightly.

"So, Donnie went back to Shredder's lair to get this sample?" Leo asked, trying to put everything together.

"We should get back to the lair," Splinter stated. "Before any more Foot Bots come this way."

Karai looked down and gave Donnie a smile. "Come on, Donnie. Let's get you home."

"And once you're back in control, you're going to be grounded for a long time," Splinter said, looking at his son. Donatello tilted his head and rumbled low in his throat.

"Come on, Donatello. Just a little further," Snakelady coaxed. Donnie grumbled. He didn't want to keep going. He was tired and he hurt. Why couldn't he lay down and sleep? He went to the bad place, got the sticky, and gave it to Hairyman. He still didn't know why it was important.

"Up! Up! Donnie!" Smallturtle cried out, jumping over the metal boxes. Donnie followed the other turtle.

"Let's get him set back up in the dojo," Giantrat stated. Donnie recognized the entrance to the nice room and ran over to it, wanting to sit under the tree. The sun's rays were just starting to go through the tree branches. He would be able to bask! Maybe Loudvoice would sit with him and rub his shell the way he liked.

Author's Note: I just couldn't wait for tomorrow. I looked at the next few chapters and decided that the next chapter would be a good one to have some time on. This upcoming weekend is busy for me so I wouldn't have a chance to update until Monday.

Juanita27, the cure Donatello made for Karai was completely unique. Like in the series, Donnie said that Karai's case was unique and there was no grantee it would actually work. Being able to access better equipment helped but Donnie was going off of hoping it would work. Since it was made with Karai in mind, it wouldn't have any effect on Donnie. Also, I wanted to show how much Donnie is battling to maintain control between his rationale mind and animal instinct. I image that would be torture to not be able to use your mind for a brilliant person like Donnie.

Pilyartquitect, reviews are always appreciated no matter when you get them in. Also, you are the 125th review! Special shout out to you!

Aoifetello, basically I had Stockman get in a bunch of trouble for letting Donnie and Karai escape. If he didn't pull the alarm after 10 seconds, Shredder would have suspected something.

Sonic155, yeah, if you can't tell, I'm not a big Shredder fan either. Fever To Write, oh my gosh! Thanks so much for the praise! I'm so glad you like the story! I've actually got a few chapter written ahead of where the story is posted and I'm excited about the story so I'm like, why not update sooner? I've always been frustrated with stories I like for not updating frequently and since this has been going so well, I figure I might as well.

BipperCipher3, of course Donnie will get home. He didn't go to hell and back to get captured again. I may like torturing my favorite characters but I'm not that cruel. XD