All TMNT characters are © Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman, now Nickelodeon.
Author Note: Master Splinter was a happy adopted father until one day, a horrific nightmare alerts him that something severely drastic has happened to his son Donatello. Meanwhile, young Don does his best to hide what he has done while out on the surface world. It's a darkness within him that he doesn't want anyone, especially not his father, to ever find out about...
Main Cast: Splinter and fourteen year old Donatello. Please Read and Review, thanks!
Note: There's mature content due to the reality issues I often put in my stories, so it's not really for the little kiddies out there.
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Donatello's Darkness
Early in the morning, Splinter took Don away, leaving Leo to watch over Raph and Mikey. He told Leo he would need to do special training for Don and be back very soon.
Leo nodded, not questioning his father's actions nor asking about why Don was getting special training. Leo was a little jealous, thinking Don was getting special treatment. He decided to show Splinter what a good older brother he could be and a sensei himself by training Raph and Mikey.
Then Splinter would know what a great leader Leo could be if he could get Raph and Mikey more training to show off later. But the young Turtle found it hard to make his younger siblings obey him and he ended up fighting more with Raph while Mikey made himself more fat by eating all the food in the Lair. Leo growled. He wasn't off to a good start here.
Splinter took Don far away to a temple he had never seen before. The old rat made the shivering Donatello enter the temple first and he stared around him in frightened awe. It almost looked like Heaven. It had a celestial beauty about it.
"My son, sit." Splinter ordered, pointing to the hard marble flooring in front of a statue of a dragon. Don timidly sat cross-legged even though it was cold and hurt his tail.
"We must meditate now." Splinter said simply as he sat across from Don.
"Yes, Master Splinter."
"We're going to rid the demons that lurk in your soul, my son. You will be cleansed and no longer enjoy killing. But this will not be a pleasant process. You will feel much pain and anguish. No matter how much it hurts, you must not stop meditating. You need to face what is trying to destroy you with dark desires. Do you understand?" Splinter stared deep into Don's very terrified eyes.
"Y-yes..." Don let Splinter reach over and grab his skull to help him by entering his mind. In telepathy, he explained to Don that he was in his mind on the astral plane and with him now.
'My son, let's find the core of your troubles. You know where it is.' Splinter said, a floaty image along with Don's in the Turtle's mind. Don felt terrible dread and alarm go through him instantly. Not that part! That thing lived there!
'No, Master Splinter! I-I...I can't go there..! Please don't make me go there!' Don cried, so deathly afraid of the thing that instead of facing it, he let it control him instead. As long as he didn't make it mad, he was safer.
'You MUST face your troubles, Donatello! I told you not to back away from this cleansing! You MUST take me to the core of your troubles! NOW!' Splinter yelled, his strict sharp tones forcing Don to take him to where the thing lurked.
Splinter finally saw the terrible thing scaring and controlling his son. The thing was a hyper mutated version of adult Don snarling and crawling around on all four claws as it prowled around Don's soul. As soon as it noticed them the creature growled demonically, causing Don to hide behind Splinter.
Splinter himself felt a twinge of fright as he saw it. That monstrous beast was the very creature Donatello would turn into someday and kill him. Don's natural terrapin self was mutating separately from Don's mutated human mind, creating a dangerous rift in the young mutant's soul. The chemicals in the ooze were not done mutating Donatello.
There was no telling when the mutation would complete itself, but when it did, Don would become a horrible monster for certain. Splinter thought perhaps a demon had possessed his son, but now he could see that the demon was his son! He could not cure nor cleanse him, but he could delay the process of hyper mutation.
'Donatello, you must cage off this creature from your soul!' Splinter commanded, not telling him that the creature would be him someday. He was sure Don could find a cure to fix the issue in the future. He would explain such later, but now it was time to quarantine the beast.
"I-I don't know how!" Don cried, shivering and squeaked in fright when the hyper mutated Don roared at them both. It began to approach them walking upright then with long hooked claws out. It roared again, bloody spittle flying from its wicked jaws full of razor sharp teeth jutting out all directions. The beast had to be nearly seven feet tall it seemed. The shadow of the demonic creature covered both Splinter and Don then.
'You must face this! Do it NOW!" Splinter shouted and cried out as the beast grabbed him suddenly with one of its bone-crushing claws. The savagery of the monster's hatred burned Splinter's own soul then. 'AARGGH! S-stop him, my son!'
Seeing his sensei being harmed, Don was able to forget his fear. He sought out to try and tame the beast of his soul then. He whipped out his bo staff angrily, breathing hard and in desperation.
'Leave Splinter alone, you-you horrid thing! You terrible monster; just stop it!' Don screamed, swiping his bo out creating violet psychic waves of energy, causing the evil creature to shriek in pain and let Splinter go.
'Master Splinter!' Don cried, going to his fallen father and helped him upright. The beast wasn't deterred and recovered quickly. It roared again, raising its wicked hooked claws towards them. It crawled towards them on all fours, swishing its massive thick tail like a snake. Growling and hissing, it picked up speed and charged with the strength and speed of a freight train.
Don cast out his bo again and sent the thing flying away. It howled in rage and shook its head, trying to figure out why it couldn't topple Don like it used to. Before he would just cower and let the evil thing take hold of his mind. Then it could feed on the bloodlust Don fed it whenever he took a life. Now, he was fighting back and starving his evil within. It didn't like that one bit, so it attacked him once more with plenty of enraged roaring.
'I said STOP IT! You don't control me! I control you, you wicked evil thing! I'm not afraid of you! And I'm not going to let you bully me around anymore! You hear me?! NO MORE!" Don roared back in a similar matter at the beast and ran to fight it.
Splinter watched the creature get pushed back by Don into a magically created cage that appeared suddenly. The silver gleaming cage had a glittering light to it, like pure goodness. The beast viciously roared in pained protest as Don slammed the cage door on it. It rattled the bars, searing its flesh on the purity of the metal which was the serenity of Don's human side. In agony, it shrieked and hissed, but Don put his hands out and those psychic waves returned, calming the beast into sleeping.
In a flash of light, the two were transported back to their bodies and opened their eyes. Splinter smiled at Don who looked more peaceful and proud. He hugged him hard, tears dampening his father's fur.
"I did it, Master Splinter... I tamed that thing in my soul finally... It's locked away and can't come out again. I'm free!" Don said joyously, but Splinter's saddened worried expression dimmed his triumphant delight.
"Master Splinter?"
"You are not free, my son. You were not cleansed. That beast will return and...and you will become that beast someday...to kill me..."
"NO! No, no, no Master Splinter, never! I could never kill you, no!" Don cried, feeling doomed again. "I'll kill myself before I ever kill you..." Splinter grabbed his arms and shook him.
"Do NOT dare do such a thing, my son! You are intelligent and you can create a cure to stop yourself from mutating further. You are the one who can cleanse yourself. Don't even THINK about killing yourself! You will kill me that way too if you are gone from my life!"
"(sob)..A-alright, Master Splinter... I'll find a cure and then I really will be free...from my own darkness..." Don promised, tears falling. Splinter scooped him up and carried him home.
"I know you will, my son. I know you will." The walk home was a happier one with Splinter and Don hand in hand. Months after, Splinter did not have those nightmares of that demonic beast any more. Splinter was certain then that Donatello would be successful in finding the cure that would save them all.
THE END
THIS STORY IS CONTINUED IN THE "DESTRUCTION OF TURTLE TRUST" STORY AT - See my stories list: s/4870097/1/Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-Destruction-of-Turtle-Trust