Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012.
"I don't know what it's about," Michelangelo said, "but alt-dimension Donnie really was defensive over it. I mean, isn't something with the letter 'X' in it full of secrets and conspiracies and stuff?"
"'File X', huh?" Leonardo murmured, rubbing his chin in thought. "Sounds…shady."
"'Sounds shady'?" Raphael repeated with an irritated tone in his voice. "It IS shady, Leo! That guy's totally untrustworthy! Earlier this morning, when I went for a trip to the bathroom, I saw him in the dojo. He was training all right. But here's the catch: He had a lot of different weapons with him. And he knows how to handle them all!"
"Spooky and cool at the same time," the youngest whistled as he wrapped his arms around himself. "I think he's planning to kill us…"
His brothers just stared at him as if he was wearing a live duck for a hat.
"What? You know that he practically hates our guts! It's like in those horror-thriller movies where a seemingly friendly guy moves in with the protagonists and starts getting close with them when he's actually a real psycho who finds slaughtering innocent people fun!"
"Mikey," Leo sighed as he and Raph facepalmed, "stop being so paranoid! This version of our Donatello is a bona fide grouch and all, but he's not gonna kill us. That's just pointless! Besides, he's not even friendly in the first place."
The orange-masked turtle seemed to relax a bit at his words, but then tensed up.
"But what if – "
"Oh come on, Mikey!" The leader exclaimed, stomping his right foot. "Fine. I'll prove it to you that he's not a homicidal maniac like you think he is."
"How?" His two younger brothers questioned together.
"I'll dig a little deeper," he replied, remembering April's words. "I'm gonna talk to him."
And with that, he left his siblings in the kitchen, both gaping.
"NO, LEO!" Mikey finally cried out as he ran for the eldest. "LEO! IT'S SUICIDE!"
"He's out of his mind," Raph mumbled, then shrugged his shoulders. "Hey! Call me when Fearless gets his shell walloped!"
/
Donatello was still staring at his target's picture when he heard a knock on his lab door. Grumbling in frustration, he turned off his TSJ, walked to the door and opened it, only for his burgundy eyes to meet ocean blue ones.
"What the shell do you want, Leonardo?" He groused, not at all pleased to be disturbed.
"I just want something clarified," the blue-masked turtle stated as he took in a deep breath. "Why do you – how should I say it – despise us?"
The brainiac was slightly taken aback by his question. Nonetheless, he tch-ed sharply in annoyance.
"Why shouldn't I? You're all baka, naïve, easily depressed, irritating, careless – "
"And we let our own brother die?"
His eyes widened in surprise and he quickly turned his back on the intruder to hide his quickening respiration.
"I-I shouldn't have brought that up," Leonardo stammered, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I mean, he's you after all, and I guess it disappointed you when you learned that we did nothing to save him. But please leave Sensei, Mikey and Raph out this. I was the main reason why our Donnie got killed. It's practically my fault – "
He was cut short when he felt himself yanked violently from his place in the doorway and slammed into one of the lab's walls, cracking it in the process.
"STOP SAYING THAT, YOU BASTARD!" Donatello shouted, his right arm across the katana wielder's throat while his left one was pinning him to the wall. "STOP TELLING ME THAT IT WAS ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT! FOR KAMI'S SAKE, STOP TAKING ALL THE BLAME JUST BECAUSE YOU FEEL RESPONSIBLE FOR IT! STOP CLAIMING THAT YOU CAUSED THIS SHIT WHEN SOMEONE ELSE DID!"
Despite his aching carapace, Leonardo was gawking at him in shock. The door to the lab was left wide open and Michelangelo and Raphael were peering through, beyond themselves in disbelief. His yelling and colorful language also seemed to catch Splinter's attention for the old rat had abandoned his meditation to find out what all the commotion was about.
"I…uh…" The disfigured turtle then let out a low, animalistic growl as he let the eldest of the teenaged mutants fall on his rump to the floor.
Avoiding any eye contact, the alt-dimension brainiac went to his room, packed his things into his duffel bag and swung it over his left shoulder. After grabbing his bo-staff and without another word, he left the lair and the mutant family behind.
He had no honest intention of ever coming back.
/
Ah, nighttime in New York. I gotta admit, I missed this sight pretty much with all its tall skyscrapers, heavy traffic and flashing lights. Now, without those pathetic excuses for ninja around, I can fully appreciate it as I leapt from rooftop to rooftop.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted several dark figures moving stealthily on the buildings on the other side of the street. Wanting to have a better view, I landed on a nearby clothesline and focused my gaze. I identified them to be a small group of Foot ninja.
I felt my mouth tug into a smirk. Pulling on the strap of my duffel bag, I silently went after the Foot.
I guess you're wondering why I'm stalking the Foot teme, right? It's actually pretty simple: If I follow the Foot, they'll lead me to Shredder and then, I can finally kill him and move on to the next wretched dimension. For short, Operation X.
And what pushed me to do this, you ask? Well, let's just say I have a score to settle with Shredhead after he practically became overlord of the entire world and slew my family. My dimension's Shredder, that is. And why is this dimension's Shredder involved? He really isn't, but do I look like I give a damn about it?
For what my dimension's Shredder did, every Shredder from every dimension will pay for it. Thanks to my TSJ, I was able to travel to whichever dimension I wanted and fulfill the vendetta. I don't care whether or not Oroku Saki took up the identity as Shredder. If he was ever innocent or even a good guy in some dimensions, I don't give a damn. As long as I can eradicate his existence in every dimension, I'm a happy mutant turtle. After all, an eye for an eye. But in Oroku Saki's case, it's his life that I'm after. Every Shredder is marked for a slow and painful death by my hands.
To be honest, I never really cared about this dimension's turtles, nor of their future. Those gaki are just my tickets to a place to crash in. Shell, almost everything I told them about me is a lie. Ha! They sure are ahondura!
"It's practically my fault…"
What this dimension's Leonardo said earlier was stuck in my head. Chikuso. Before I can even stop it, the unwelcome memory flashed in my mind, making me relive it all over again.
"It's my fault, Raph, not his. If I had been more alert of the Foot's actions – "
"WOULD YOU STOP TAKING ALL THE BLAME, LEO? HOW CAN IT BE YOUR FAULT WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S WOUNDED HERE, HUH?"
"Come on, Raph. Don't take it out on Donnie – "
"WHY SHOULDN'T I? IF HE HADN'T BEEN SO CARELESS, YOU WOULDN'T BE SKEWERED BY THE FOOT'S SHURIKEN IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
My brother in red turned to me with such hatred in his acid green eyes.
"You know it's your fault why Fearless took the bullet for you, right, Donnie? YOU SHOULD BE THE ONE IN BANDAGES, GENIUS! NOT HIM!"
"RAPHAEL! ENOUGH!" I heard Sensei yell through my sobs. "No one is to blame for Leonardo's actions. It is in the past so leave it as it is! Your brother Donatello is going through so much already!"
Raph was still glaring at me and I can do nothing but cry. What he said next shattered my entire world.
"I have no brother who will let others sacrifice their lives for him."
I came to a halt and gripped my pounding head. I could tell that the Foot were way ahead of me now, out of my reach. And Kami, the memory was just getting worse.
I dashed off as fast as I could. Raph had left the lair and when no one was looking, Leo had gone after him. I had that gut feeling that they're gonna have an argument instead of a peaceful discussion. Leo's not in the right shape for one at the moment and Raph's not in the right state of mind to handle one either. I told Mikey to stay behind and keep Sensei at bay. I don't wanna have him scar his innocent mind.
After a few minutes, I finally reached my two elder brothers. They were facing each other and both were armed with their weapons and were panting heavily. I didn't want to analyze what had happened but my logic unwittingly did it for me: Raph and Leo had done something much worse than verbal conflict.
They had actually been fighting. Pure physical contact. Metal clashed against metal. Sai versus katana. Red versus blue. Brother versus brother.
Before I knew it, I was gasping desperately for air. The blow it inflicted on me was so severe, so mind-numbing. Raph was the one in front of me, his shell facing me. Shakily, I reached out to him. I wanted – no – NEEDED his support, his answer that everything was gonna be fine.
"Raph…" I heard myself whisper oh so feebly.
Then, what happened next was a blur. There was a gleam of silver and my left arm was engulfed in searing hot pain like none I have ever felt before. My right hand took hold of it, coming in contact with an eerily familiar red liquid.
Blood.
In seconds, my whole left arm was drenched in it. The slash was long and deep, extending from my bicep to halfway down my forearm. I was gasping because of the pain now and from my cut-open arm, I lifted my gaze. I regretted what I saw.
Raph had turned to me, his eyes white and his mouth curled into a snarl. The sai in his right hand was dripping fresh blood.
MY blood.
I looked on in utter fear into his blank eyes. My own brother had wounded me.
Raph blinked and his eyes were acid green again. He saw my bloodied arm and turned to his bloodstained sai, dropping it when reality came crashing down on him.
"Oh, God. Donnie, I'm so sorry. I…I didn't mean…God, no…."
There were two other clangs and Leo had come to my side, unarmed and also looking at my arm in shock.
"Donnie! You're bleeding!" His usually calm voice took on an infuriated tone as he turned to Raph. "WHAT THE SHELL DID YOU DO TO HIM?"
I backed away from them slowly, my eyes stinging from the tears that had begun to fall. My brothers saw me and were trying to approach me, their arms thrown wide apart to usher me in.
My brain told me to collapse into their welcoming arms and let them handle everything. My heart screamed to me that I deserved it for being so weak and that I should ask for more of it. But I ignored both of them and instead listened to what my leg muscles said: Run.
I outran my brothers with speed I never knew I had, my blood leaving behind a red trail. I found Mikey and Sensei waiting for the three of us in the lair. I wanted to wrap my arms around them and cry into their shoulders, but I knew better. So I pushed past them, retreated to my room and slammed the door shut. I could tell that they were alarmed to see me bleeding as I arrived.
Thinking fast, I pressed my right palm hard into my wound, biting down my lower lip to suppress a yelp. When I was sure that the bleeding had stopped, I fumbled the space underneath my bed. Once I had my grip on the med kit, I pulled it out and flipped it open. Then, I grabbed the rubbing alcohol, a stitching needle and some thread and began working on my wound. After finishing it, I wrapped it up with a healthy amount of gauze bandages.
The whole procedure and the blood loss weakened me, so I settled to slump down on the floor and lean heavily on my door. From outside, I could hear Sensei's scolds and lecture, a sign that Raph and Leo had finally come back. And then there was loud whimpering. Mikey perhaps?
Then, it struck me like a lightning bolt. I was the reason why Leo was badly injured. I was the reason why he and Raph had a fight. I was the reason why they were going to be punished by Sensei. I was the reason why Mikey was crying right now.
My family was slowly splitting apart, and I was the reason why. This was all my fault.
I felt new, hot tears streak down my face and I screamed.
"IT'S ALL MY FUCKING FAULT!"
There was a knock on my door and I knew I had caught their attention. Panic numbed my mind and I didn't know what to do until I saw the device on my bed. I got on my feet and picked it up. It was a near-finished project of mine. This gadget's supposed to allow you to travel through time and, as I theorize, into different dimensions, providing you with a trip through time and space continuum. The "Time-and-Space Jumper", as Mikey called it when he once came in while I was working on it…
Eureka! With the TSJ, I can travel back in time and undo that incident where Leo got badly injured and all of this mess I created will never happen! Sure, the TSJ's not yet complete, but there's no harm if I try it out now, right?
"DONNIE! OPEN UP!"
As I was packing my things into a duffel bag, I looked at the door. The knocking had turned into banging now and I knew my family was worried about me. I swung my duffel bag over my right shoulder and gave the door one last glance.
"Sorry, guys, but I have to do this for your sakes. Just…please wait for me. I'll be back as soon as I can…"
Without hesitation, I pressed the TSJ's command button and the device shot a bright, lime green beam at my door. Instantly, from where the beam hit, a black hole sprouted – a portal into the plane where time and space meet. The portal seemed stable at first and I began to walk to it. That was until its lime green outline started to vibrate and shake uncontrollably, warping the black hole abnormally and into irregular shapes.
And before I realized it, I was vacuumed into an empty abyss so black that I thought I had passed out before doing it myself…
What brought me out from my deep reminiscence was a rather annoying ring. Panting and with my head throbbing wildly, I unzipped my duffel bag, reached into it and pulled out the T-Phone. It actually belonged to this dimension's Donatello and honestly, I don't know why I brought it along with me. Must have fell into my bag when I was packing up.
I looked at its screen and saw that it was this dimension's April O'Neil calling me. Reluctantly, I pressed the answer button and held the phone to my earhole.
"What the shell do you – "
"Donatello? Thank goodness!" She exclaimed, interrupting me. "You…come…turtles…help…"
"Slow down, shoujou. Could you go to a place where there's better reception? I can't hear you clearly with all the static – "
"Kraang…attack…too many…can't handle…warehouse – "
And the line went dead.
Something in the choppy conversation we just had made my heart skip a beat. Was it because of the fact that the baka were in a tight situation and needed my help? Before I can even think of an answer to my question, I had already begun to punch in a series of command codes on the T-Phone's screen and the GPS navigational program popped up, showing me the location of April's phone.
In an old, abandoned warehouse on the New York City docks.
I knew I had to do SOMETHING, but the docks were just too far away and by the time I'd reach it, it would be game over for the turtles and April, even if I abandon Operation X right here, right now.
As I tried to think of a better way, I saw a Channel 6 News helicopter hover above me and immediately, I ducked for cover. Then, a light bulb came to life in my head. I turned to my duffel bag then back to the helicopter.
I had a crazy idea in mind that you and I both know would most likely work.
A/N
The whole chapter alone is 2,873 words! I blame alt-dimension Donnie's flashback for making it SO painstakingly long! No more space for an appropriate Author's Note! DX XD
The next few chapters are most likely the action part so stay tuned!
Japanese Vocab Corner
Kami – God, but is also hilariously a Japanese equivalent to both Paper and Hair. XDDD
"Chikuso!" – "Darn it!", but can also mean "Dammit!" or "Shit!" (knowing alt-dimension Donnie, I think he preferred the latter choices).
Shoujou – Young Woman, but can also be used to call a girl "Miss".
Yes, the Channel 6 News helicopter was referenced from TMNT 1987-1996, wherein it's the same channel that that TMNT's April O'Neil worked for as a news reporter.