The next day Leo came up with another plan to try and get more information out of Donatello. He had Raph break one of their Game Station controllers, and sent the red masked turtle to Don's lab with the pretense of getting the controller fixed..only in reality he would be trying to coax Don into revealing more of his plans.
When he got there Raph found the door open and heard sounds of rock music, Metallica by the sound of it, floating out of the room. Peering in he found Don hard at work on something with a welder, his face hidden by a pair of protective goggles. Behind Don, hanging from the wall was a large suit. It was completely black in color, the torso was large enough to accommodate Don's shell but streamlined enough to look sleek; It looked as hard as steel but seemed quite bendable and flexible. The arms and the legs of the suit were the same, strong and durable yet bendable enough to allow its occupant to move freely. The suit was completed with a pair of heavy duty boots that, seemed to have something in the soles and he guessed they were the anti-grav boots Mike had talked about. There was no mask but Raph sure that the large swath of black cloth on Don's work table would soon become one. Raph cleared his throat to try to get his brother's attention and knocked on the door frame."Uh, Donnie can I talk to you for a second." He said, raising his voice over the double noise of music and the hissing of the welder.
Don looked up at his brother, then looked back down at his work and continued what he was doing. Raph felt a surge of annoyance, but pushed it back down. He waited for Don to finish with what passed for patience, and what was for him a very reasonable amount of time. When he finally started to get annoyed again, Don finished his welding; shutting off the torch and standing upright, he reached over and turned the music down slightly. Still wearing his goggles over his eyes the brainy turtle looked at Raph, down at the broken toy in his hands, and then back up at Raph.
"Lose your temper again?"
Raph grinned sheepishly. "Uh, yeah.. do you think you can…" Raph started.
Then was surprised into silence when Don simply reached over to a table and picking up a screw driver handed it to Raph. Raph stared at the screw driver like it was some strange foreign object and then looked at Don.
"What am I supposed ta do with that?"
"It's a screwdriver Raph, I know you know what it is. I've seen you use it on your Shell Cycle."
Raph continued to stare at Don, his eye ridges furroughing.
Don sighed and pushed his goggles up on his forehead, he was still mask-less and Raph could see the annoyance on his brother's face clearly.
"You can fix a motorcycle but you can't fix a Game Station controller?" He asked condescendingly.
Raph's eye ridges furroughed even further and his look became quite dangerous.
"Maybe I can." He said slowly.
"Then do it. I don't have time to fix everything you destroy in your infantile fits of rage. I have much more important things to do you know." Don turned the music back up, yanked the goggles back over his eyes and turning whatever it was he was working on its side he flipped the welder back on. If Raph's skin color could have changed to match his feelings he would have been red from head to foot. The arrogance with which Don had spoken to him had pressed all the right buttons and the red masked turtle was now angry enough to shove the screwdriver he held in his hand up an unmentionable part of his brother's anatomy.
Don looked up at his brother, either unaware of or not caring about the red masked turtle's state of rage, and frowned. "Are you still here?"
The comment hit the last and final button in Raph's mind, one marked " Unbelievably pissed off." Red flashed in front of his vision, for a second he forgot he was there to talk to his brother and was about to bodily attack Donatello.
Then he heard Leo's cautioning voice in his mind and held back..Leo said he ain't actin like himself...he really ain't actin like himself.. Raph told thought and over again trying to get a grip on his anger. But he is actin like a friggin asshole.
Clenching the game controller in one hand and the screw driver in the other Raph turned and stalked off. Donatello looked up at Raph's retreating figure, shook his head and continued with his work.
Thunk
A screw driver embedded itself in the wood of the kitchen table just inches from Leo's plate, and the blue masked turtle looked up from munching on a sandwich to see Raphael stalk into the kitchen so pissed off he was snorting in rage.
"I guess it didn't work." Leo said putting down his sandwich.
"That friggin prick, if he wasn't Donnie I'da taken that friggin welder of his and shoved it down his friggin throat." Raph snarled storming around the room gesturing with his arms.
"Did you get to talk to him?" Leonardo asked.
"No Leo, I didn't. He was too busy pissin me off."
Leonardo frowned. "It looks like we'll have to try something else then. Did you see anything in there?"
"He's workin on somethin that's all I can tell, and he had some sort of suit hangin in the back of his lab. Looked like somethin Batman would wear."Raph said yanking a chair back and throwing himself into it with such force that it almost unbalanced and fell backwards.
Leo clenched a fist and hit the table. "I just wish he would tell us what he's up to"
"Even if we did know what he was plannin, what exactly do ja think we could do about it? Knock him out and tie him to the bed?"
"I don't know, Raph, I don't think that would even work, he'd get loose somehow I'm sure. I'm going to try to talk to him alone."
"Good luck with that, I don't think he wants ta talk to us. I'm bettin he's purposely tryin ta piss us off so we'll leave him alone." Raph crossed his arms across his plastron.
Leo nodded."You're right Raph, that's exactly what he's doing. Well I'm not going to let him do it this time, I know how to stay calm. If I can't get anything out of him then I'll send Mikey, Don seems to confide in him more than us."
" I hope you know what you're doin Leo, what if he gets worse?"
" We have to try Raph, what if he's telling the truth and he isn't our Donatello but another personality altogether? What if our Don's still there somewhere. We have to try and get though to him."
Raph sighed and nodded. " Fine, I'll go get Mike."
"Get Sensei too and meet me back here in the kitchen, if this doesn't work we're going to have to come up with a plan ourselves. We can't let Don go up top in that costume alone, if he runs into that Foot Soldier or Shredder he's going to get himself killed."
Looking bleak, Raph nodded.
Leo found Don in front of a table in his lab, hunched over a small device, working on it with a much smaller screwdriver. Leo stood for a minute, not speaking or moving, simply watching Don work. At first he didn't seem aware that his oldest brother was even there, but eventually Don looked up without moving his head.
"Can I do something for you Leonardo?" he asked with the slightest hint of annoyance.
"No I just came to see how you were doing."Leo said with a disarming smile, and a one shouldered shrug as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Really." Don asked his eyes going back to his work, his tone of voice indicating he didn't believe a word of it. "I'm touched by this sudden interest in my state of health."
"Well you've had a rough month." Leo said.
"Yes.." Don said vaguely not really agreeing with Leo's statement, but just saying the word. His eyes looked back up at Leo. " First Raph shows up in an ill concealed attempt to strike up a conversation with me..your idea I'm sure.. and now here you are. I suddenly feel so loved."
"I know what you're trying to do you know, Don. You don't have to push me away." Leo said looking sad.
Don let out a snort of derogatory laughter. "I'd have to do more than push for the three of you to get the point, really it's not as if I've been subtle. If I put up a large flashing neon sign saying "Leave me alone" would you notice?"
Leo sighed. "Now you're just being rude."
"Well nothing else seems to work." Don stood suddenly sliding his chair back and putting down his tiny screwdriver. He came around the table and went to Leo, grabbing his arm and leading him gently into the room, gesturing with his free hand.
"Look Leonardo, let's get something straight right now. In a few minutes you're going to start this, "Donnie, you're not acting like yourself" routine and even though I'd love to spend the whole day trading one liners with you I simply don't have the time." He lead Leo to the back of the room where the black suit hung on the wall, next to it hanging on a hook was his purple mask, just under the mask was his Bo lying against the wall.
"I'm sure by now Mike's already told you everything I said up top, I didn't really have any faith in his ability to keep his mouth shut. Knowing Mike I'm sure the words nut, crazy or something similar came into the conversation somewhere." The olive skinned turtle sighed and looked up at the black suit. "I didn't expect him to understand everything, but I did expect him to understand something."
Leo looked up at the suit then back at Don. "It's, uh, nice Don."
One side of Don's mouth turned up in an ironic smile. " Don't pretend Leo, I know you think its nuts too. I don't care, this isn't for you it's for me. Remember when you were ambushed by the Foot and Shredder that time? Remember when you got hurt so badly? When you recovered you were the one who defeated the Shredder that day in his building, it was you who had to do it. Now think of this as something that I have to do. I'm not crazy, I'm not suicidal, you know I'm not stupid, I know exactly what I am doing." He looked over to Leo. "Which leads us to the main problem. You three say I'm not acting myself, you keep wondering if I haven't lost my mind. I'm going to repeat what I said up there and what I've already told Sensei. It appears he hasn't yet shared with you the conversation he and I had earlier."
Leo frowned. "No he hasn't."
"Well I'll give you the cliff notes version." Donatello pointed to the purple mask hanging rather forlornly from the wall. " That mask up there belongs to a Donatello, but it doesn't belong to me. That belongs to me." He pointed to the suit.
"I am a Donatello, but I am not that Donatello." He pointed back to the purple mask.
"You think I'm him, that I've lost my mind because I've been acting strange. But I'm not him, I'm me and I'm not acting strange because this is the way I act. You can see the difference as easily as you can see the difference between that mask and that suit."
Leo's eye ridges were furrouging. "Say for a second that I believe you. Where is our Donatello?"
Don crossed his arms across his plastron and shrugged nonchalantly. "He's here somewhere I'm sure. Whether he's aware of what's going on or simply dormant I don't know. I'm not a psychologist, I don't know a thing about multiple personalities and the like. I don't even know how where I came from. I feel like I've been here all Don's life, but I know that before the accident I didn't exist. I don't really care to be frank. I'm here Leonardo, and like it or not I'm not leaving." Don turned and went back to his work table. "Please just go and let me continue my work."
"You know better than to believe I'll just leave it at that." Leo said stepping forward. "Whether you're our Don or not, crazy or sane it doesn't matter you're still my brother and I still care about you. I will not stand by and let you willingly walk down a road that will end up causing your death. I came here to ask you once more to tell me what you are planning and work with me, work with Raph, work with Mike and Sensei."
Don sighed turning in place and leaning his shell against the work table. His face softened a bit as he saw the expression on his brother's face and heard the emotion in his brother's voice.
"And my answer is still no, Leo." He said shaking his head. " I have my reasons, and all of them are for your own protection." He said looking at his brother meaningfully.
Leo shook his head in frustration. "The only thing I think your protecting is your own ego. Can't you see that if you go up against that metal foot alone you're going to get killed? The three of us faced him and we got our shells kicked. He has almost de-powered the entire super hero population of New York , what chance does one non-powered turtle have against him?"
Don just shook his head.
"I told you I know what I'm doing Leonardo. I would like for you to leave now."
Leo glared. "Don." He started angrily.
"Out Leo, right now." Don said raising his voice slightly, anger rising in his eyes.
Leo let out a frustrated sigh and headed for the door. He stopped in the doorway and turned back. "I am not going to stand aside and let you kill yourself Donatello, I would rather die myself." he said and then walked out the door.
Don slammed the door behind him and cursed. He turned and flitted angrily around his lab; kicking, punching and breaking things in a rage that would have shocked his brothers had they seen it. He had tried his best to keep his brothers out of his business, his various attempts to make them angry and push them away had worked quite well with the ever tempermental Raphael, but Leo and Mike had been immune to his attempts to provoke them; now it seemed they were determined to involve themselves no matter what. He knew he had not heard the last from Leonardo, the blue masked turtle would continue to try to talk to him, continue to try to convince him to let them help. Don shook his head, damn them they had driven him into a corner. He had been deliberately keeping them out of everything for their own good, but now he realized that it wasn't going to work any longer, as long as he was still in the lair they would not stop in their attempts to reach him. He came to a stop, tapping his fingers on a nearby table as he thought..then he shrugged. There was nothing to do now but leave the lair. He would not get any work done here anyway, his brothers would only hinder his work, and he needed full access to the city. He looked at his suit, it was almost finished but the anti-grav propulsion system in his boots needed to be tested. He supposed that his first night as a free turtle out on the town was the best time to test the boots. His gaze went to his lab table and he smiled to himself, the boots and some other things as well.
The nightly news on his TV caught his attention and he turned up the volume listening with growing anger as the TV anchor told about the metal Foot's newest attack..and showed shocking footage of the Silver Sentry himself being de-powered and beaten into the ground by the metal menace. Don watched the events his teeth clenching in anger and he slammed his fist against the table making everything on it jump. The great Silver Sentry himself had been taken down! It was unbelievable that such a thing could happen.
He looked to his table again, and picked up a newly finished invention that looked a bit like a Geiger counter- a device used to measure radiation levels- and a thoughtful look passed over his face as he held the device in his hand. The metal Foot Soldier had ran loose in his city long enough, it was time someone stood up and took action.
His smile grew again, as he turned to look once more at his suit.
It was time for a those tests.
Minutes later he had suited up, taking his bag and his new inventions and grinning he slipped out a grate in the back of his lab. He reflected back on his earlier deception, deliberately disobeying Splinter's order not to go up top; making his brothers think it was the only possible way he could get out of the lair. They would have no clue he was gone.
Perfect. He slipped his way through the sewers and to the surface, where a full bright moon was hanging in the night sky. He first performed several tests of his new suit and only when he was thoroughly satisfied with the results did he commence tests on another device he had come up with while lying in his bed, just after waking up from his coma. It was a tiny holo-generation device that attached itself to Don's belt and when activated produced an almost flawless hologram that covered the masked turtle from head to foot. With it he could walk through the middle of the city in broad daylight and no one would look twice at him..Because the hologram projected around his body made him look like just another ordinary human. It would have to be programmed with multiple images of course, and it was not a solid hologram but Don was more than pleased with its capabilities..and of course with his own genius. Using the device he was able to walk into a pizza restaurant, order a pizza to go, pay for it and leave without arousing even the slightest suspicion. He rewarded himself by sitting on a rooftop, and eating the entire pizza before finally turning his attention to the night's main goal. He took the device out of his bag and held it up in the light. He would need to find the metal foot first of course, but with the maniac's rampage it wouldn't be hard. Then he would have to be near the foot long enough to be able to get a full analysis on the suit. The hard part would be doing it without the foot's actually realizing what he was doing, if the Foot were to discover him he would be in trouble. He might be strong..but Don knew that he was not strong enough to stand a chance against the metal foot alone, or at least not yet. He thought about his Holo-Device but the chance was too great that the Foot's bag of tricks also might include some sort of special vision that would let him see through a hologram. No he would have to stick to the shadows and rely on his own ninja skills to keep him from getting himself killed.
A loud boom in the distance drew his attention and he turned to see a building go up in flames. Two of the few remnants of the city's super hero population flew over Don's head in the direction of the explosion and Don knew the metal menace had made himself known once more. Activating the antigravity generators in his boots he tossed his cape back out of the way and took off into the air after the powered heroes.
Hours later he was back into the sewers, monitoring device in hand grinning triumphantly. Not only had he gotten a full read up on the metal foot but had done it without the foot even noticing he was there. The metal maniac had had his hands full with the two super heroes, leaving Don to monitor him from the shadows of a nearby building. He had desperately wanted to help the two heroes in their fight but knew that the key to defeating the Foot was in the information he could learn about his metal suit. So even when the Foot unleashed his devastating attack that left the two heroes powerless Don kept to the shadows, getting a full reading on the energy discharged as the Foot de-powered the heroes. Only when the metal menace had had his fill of destruction and chaos and had flown away laughing like a maniac; did Don take the opportunity to get the two beaten heroes to a hospital. His mind raged at him for being a coward, but he presented his mind with the knowledge that the readings he had just gotten would pave the way to stopping the Foot for good; and told it to shut up. He now needed time to analyze the data and a safe place to do it in..a safe place that wasn't the lair. He pondered his options and finally came up with the perfect solution, the Battle Shell. It was big, stuffed to the gills with more equipment than he actually needed, it was armored and it had its own defenses, it was also mobile. Plus there was an added bonus in the fact that taking it would also hamper his brothers in any attempt they might make to find him after he left. He would just need to put the shell cycles out of working condition and any searching his brothers might be doing would be conducted on foot. He would certainly piss off Raphael by messing with his precious Shell Cycle but a pissed off Raph was better than a dead one.
His decisions made he slipped back into his lab and began to gather the things he needed, stuffing everything into his bag. He opened his door slightly and stuck his head out and listened to see if anyone was in the living room. He heard voices coming from the direction of the kitchen, and could just make out all three of his brothers and Splinter. Confident they would be too busy talking to hear him, he locked the door behind him to give them the impression that he was still in the room, and then he snuck across the living room; avoiding passing the kitchen by leaping up to the second floor railing and leaping back down to land right in front of the elevator that lead up to the warehouse above. He slipped as quietly as possible into the elevator hoping the slight swishing would not alert them and was relieved when the doors closed without incident. When the elevator opened in the warehouse above he first took some time to disable the engines of the Shell Cycles, then tossing his stuff into the front seat of the Battle Shell turned it on and simply drove away.