Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012.
Raphael had to admit, the jerk version of his late little brother looked absolutely menacing right now.
Donatello stood regal and tall despite the array of weapons he carried. Four, thick leather belts strapped his artillery securely to his scarred carapace, two of them streaking diagonally and intersecting at the center of his plastron and at his carapace while the other two ran horizontally, one on his chest and the other on his waist. What's more, all of his belts had little pockets to hold shuriken, kunai, smoke bombs, manrikigusari and many other small-scale equipment he brought with him. As for his weapons, they ranged from several sheathed katana to different variants of yari to heavy-looking kanabo. Light, spiky armor plating padded his arms and legs.
"Woah," April breathed out and her mutant friends nodded in agreement.
"You are lucky to have escaped the explosion of your flying object due to Kraang's Energy Cannon," the leader Kraangdroid started, "yet you have escaped the explosion of you flying object due to Kraang's Energy Cannon to only fall into a death of excruciating pain made by – "
"Kraang this. Kraang that," Donatello managed to mock even with the katana his teeth chomped on. "Geez, now I remember how boring you teme are. Even in this dimension, you're really that stupid in speaking simple English?"
"Kraang finds your comment about Kraang of much insult for Kraang – "
"Would you just shut the shell up and make your move already?"
Anger was not etched on the metal faces of their robots, but the malevolent aura the Kraang radiated off was incredibly impossible to miss. Squeezing the triggers of their energy guns so tight that they might get stuck in, the Kraangdroids rained down energy bullets at the purple-masked turtle who used the weapons he had armed himself with, including the katana in his mouth, to deflect the deadly projectiles.
The multitude of weapons he bore gave everyone the same conclusion: That they restricted his movements and rendered him as slow as the average, non-mutated turtle. So it surprised everybody when he started to jump and prance around to dodge the energy bullets, as if he weren't carrying enough weapons on his carapace to arm an entire samurai battalion. Donatello moved with fluid grace, his artillery ringing in time with his actions. Nimbly, he made his way toward the Kraangdroids and brought down his ono on the nearest one, leaving it embedded in the artificial body. With his hand now free, he produced a few shuriken from one of his chest belt's many pockets and with skilled precision rivaling even that of Splinter's, lobbed them at the Kraangdroids, all making their mark on spots that were vital on ordinary humans.
"Donatello, watch out!" Leonardo cried when he saw one Kraangdroid come in too close.
The alt-dimension brainiac turned his head to him, the katana in his mouth arching sideways and successfully decapitating aforementioned enemy in the process.
"Mmph?" He sputtered out for he had his teeth clenched tightly on his sword's handle.
Leo and the others just sweatdropped as the beheaded Kraangdroid collapsed into a heap of metal limbs on the floor.
"Nevermind."
Nodding, the disfigured turtle brought out a smoke bomb and threw it at the mob before approaching his allies. A swift, downward stroke with the katana in his hand and the chain that restrained the ninja mutants and April fell to the floor. All four staggered to their feet and stretched to spread their blood's circulation throughout their slightly numb bodies.
"I can't believe I actually feel fine about saying this," Raphael muttered, rubbing the back of his head, "but thanks."
"Don't mention it," Donatello waved off, then handed the turtles some of his weapons. "Take these. Use them for the moment being."
With grateful nods, they accepted the artillery loaned to them. Their leader, on the other hand, was hesitant at first to take the pair of katana presented to him, especially since one of them had been gripped by something other than the hand…
"Haha! Leo's afraid to get alt-dimension Donnie's slobber on him!" Michelangelo teased.
Before the blue-masked turtle can fume at his baby brother, Donatello interrupted with a soft chuckle.
"Nothing to worry about, Leonardo," he said, the usual irritated tone in his voice strangely absent. "I don't actually drool a lot. Not as much as Michelangelo when he's asleep, though."
"Hey!" Came the expected retort, making him laugh a bit.
Now at that, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and April stared at him with wide eyes. Had the ever stoic, ill-tempered version of the deceased brainiac just cracked a joke? And laughed at it, too? Donatello instantly stopped sniggering when he noticed the stares he received.
"What? Was it something I said?"
An energy bullet cut through the rather awkward moment. Literally. The four turtles quickly took their stances around April, forming a defensive circle with their human companion barricaded in the center.
"April, think you can take charge of their Energy Cannon?" It was Donatello who asked, somehow looking over his shoulder, past his weapons and at her.
The girl raised an eyebrow at the strange question. Nonetheless, she nodded.
"Good. We'll cover for you while you make your way to it." The alt-dimension brainiac then pointed to a mountain of crates nearby. "When I give you the signal, you shoot those crates. Got it?"
Another, yet unsure, nod. At this, he smirked as he watched the Kraangdroids advance further towards them from the gray cloud his smoke bomb had caused.
"Kraang will have revenge on the ones who call themselves the turtles!" The leader Kraangdroid declared, its monotone voice laced ever so slightly with irritation.
"Well, the ones who call themselves the Kraang should start moving instead of blabbering around, shouldn't they?" Leo challenged.
As a response, the enemies began shooting furiously again. The turtles charged in, distracting the Kraangdroids and giving April the chance to advance towards the Energy Cannon. Amidst the confusion, Leonardo found himself back-to-back with the more mature-thinking version of his second youngest brother.
"Hey!" He hollered at him as he fended off the Kraangdroids on his side. "About your Senken Kujaku no Kuroenbu…where'd you learn it from?"
"My trip through space and time sent me hurtling through different time periods as well as dimensions," Donatello grunted, twirling the yari he had armed himself with then skewering a few Kraangdroids with it. "Some guy taught it to me when I landed in Feudal Japan and I was surprised – "
"YOU'VE BEEN TO JAPAN IN ITS FEUDAL ERA?"
"Oh, that? Yeah. Spent about ten months of my time there. I saw the hijutsu to be a pain and quite troublesome at first, but it saved my life when I battled Dimension 1034's Shredder – "
The brainiac stopped himself before he could fully give away the fruits of his interdimensional escapade. He turned slightly to the blue-masked turtle to see him heavily distracted with the numerous enemies he was dealing with and sighed in relief.
'That was a close call.'
Inhaling deeply, the multi-weaponed warrior separated from Leonardo, giving himself more room to swing his yari about and to scan the area for the other turtles. Raphael's thrilled, and not to mention rather colorful, battle cries echoed throughout the warehouse, and just by hearing them, he could tell that NYC's resident hotheaded mutant was more than happy to finally beat the living daylight out of the Kraang. A distance to his right, Michelangelo took out his fair share of Kraangdroids with growing difficulty, his left arm limp and to his side.
"MIKEY!" Donatello couldn't help but call out in worry.
Leaving his yari still pierced through an enemy, he pulled out a manrikigusari from one of his waist belt's pockets and with it, yanked a Kraangdroid close to him. He then dashed through the skirmish, using the metal body as a shield against the energy bullets.
"Michelangelo, what's wrong with your left arm?" He asked once he reached his youngest ally and dropped his shield.
The orange-masked turtle gave him a skeptical look at first, but then complied and showed him his limp limb. There was an unnatural bulge in his forearm, tender and swollen.
"I got smashed into the wall hard earlier and it received most of the force. I think it's broken or something."
Carefully, the alt-dimension brainiac took and felt his arm, apologizing earnestly when he heard Mikey wince.
"You're right, it's broken," he concluded, then fumbled his belts' pockets. "No bandages? Chikuso! I knew I forgot something!"
"Relax, dude," Mikey cooed, "it's gonna heal over time. We're mutants remember?"
"Still, we're not taking any chances. I gotta splint it so that it would repair normally."
Sighing, the disfigured turtle brought out two kunai and set one on either side of the fractured area, positioning them so that they wouldn't cut Michelangelo. Then, he untied his bandanna mask, wrapped it around the area to secure the kunai and knotted it over the nunchaku wielder's neck, forming a makeshift arm sling.
"There, that should do it," he said with a small smile, "but be careful and don't move your arm around too much. You might rip the sling and the dressing. I'm gonna make you a more appropriate sling when we get back to the lair, OK?"
Mikey was gazing at Donatello's exposed face. As with his body, there were scars on his face, the one slanting between his eyes and extending to his right cheek being the most prominent of them. But what really stunned the youngest of the ninja mutants was the lack of the fierce, angry blaze in his burgundy eyes which now held a warm, caring spark in them, one similar to that of his deceased elder brother's.
"Uh, Michelangelo?" The brainiac questioned, effectively snapping him out of his daze.
"Hmm? Yeah, yeah, OK," Mikey replied with a sheepish nod, then noticed the looming threat shadowing over them. "Donnie, look out!"
But Donatello had long sensed it. He quickly spun around and stabbed a senbon each into the Kraangdroid's right eye, the left side of its neck, the right side of its abdomen, groin and left ankle. With the connection to its mechanical body severed and malfunctioning, the unfortunate Kraang had no other choice but to abandon ship and flee from the scene, whimpering like a frightened puppy.
"Dude! That was AWESOME!" Mikey exclaimed, patting the brainiac's left shoulder with his good arm. "What's that move called? Can you teach it to me?"
"Goten Kougeki," Donatello simply stated, "and I just might, but for a cost."
"I'll give you anything!"
"I want your share of pizza for two months."
"…"
"Ha! Knew it! Too scared to part with your precious pizza, aren't you?"
"No, wait! Lemme think about it. How about for one month?"
"A month and a half."
"Three weeks. I'll even throw in my pizza gyoza!"
"Eh? Deal!"
/
'Note to self: When on a hunt for the Kraang, bring helpful equipment. A LOT of helpful equipment.'
April managed to make it to the Energy Cannon, but not without a few Kraangdroids noticing her. After pulling out the hoko impaling a nearby fallen enemy and remembering those days when she auditioned for majorette in her school's marching band, she struck the incoming Kraangdroids with all the strength she could muster.
"Need any help, Ape?" Raphael inquired, landing by her side and taking out the Kraangdroids for her.
"Yup! Thanks, Raph!" The girl expressed and came to the Energy Cannon's controls, hoko still in hand.
"You know how to handle that thing?"
"Uh-huh. I've been watching how the Kraang worked this thing when they shot down Donnie's helicopter."
She gripped the control board's only joystick and pressed the red button on top of it. As soon as she did so, the Energy Cannon shot out a bright pink beam at the mob of Kraangdroids, proving her knowledge over it correct and unfortunately, gaining unwanted attention from the enemies.
"They've seen us!" Raph gasped, then glared accusingly at his human friend. "Thanks a lot!"
"Hehe…just returning the favor?" April mumbled shamefacedly as the red-masked turtle dived back into action. "Hey, Donnie! I'm ready to rock and roll!"
"That's great!" Donatello shouted back meters away. "Wait for my signal!"
The brainiac pushed his way through the sea of metal bodies, lodging his weapons into those who tried to block him. An energy bullet had hit his right shoulder, but he rushed on, barely registering the burning sensation it left. Now just three feet away from the mountain of crates he had pointed at earlier, he conjured a few small, black pellets from one of his chest belt's pockets and threw them at the crates. Seeing the deed done, he then dashed away as fast as he can.
"TURTLES, FALL BACK!" He roared, heading hurriedly towards the exit. "APRIL, NOW!"
The girl again pressed the joystick's button but to her dismay, nothing happened.
"Nothing's happening," she mumbled, "Donnie, nothing's happening!"
Just then, the Kraangdroid had their holds on her wrists. April tried to break away when the leader Kraangdroid gripped her jaw roughly and forced her to look into its emotionless eyes.
"You are a pain in my ass," it hissed.
"AND I'M GLAD TO SEE YOU'RE LEARNING ENGLISH!"
Donatello jumped, thrusting his kunai into the leader Kraangdroid's head. Using his kanabo, he bashed away at the other robots, freeing April.
"Whatcha waiting for, shoujou?" He asked, panting.
"I don't know! The cannon just won't work! I think it's malfunctioning or something – "
She was interrupted when the alt-dimension brainiac smashed his kanabo onto the Energy Cannon's control board full-forcedly.
"OK, now it's malfunctioned."
"But now, we have nothing to worry about how to blow this place sky-high! Come on, April!"
Before she had the chance to question him, he had scooped her into his arms and started to run again, carrying her bridal style. Behind them, the Energy Cannon began to spark and jerk, pink rivulets of static energy gathering in its core. Just as the turtles and their human companion exit the warehouse, said structure exploded in a shade of neon pink, taking with it more than a hundred Kraangdroids and countless crates of Mutagen. The force of the blast sent the five on their bellies to the ground with their hands on their heads.
"Wow," it was Michelangelo who spoke up, "that sure was a 'blast'!"
His companions just grumbled and shook their heads as they got up.
"What? No more 'bang' left in ya?"
"Would you just stop it, Mikey?" Raphael growled, dusting himself. "Your puns are getting on our nerves. And we already have to stand your presence!"
"Whoa, Raph! Chill! No need to 'blow up' now!"
"I'LL SHOW YOU A 'BLOW UP'!"
Before the sai wielder could, however, Donatello had come in between the two, a stern look on his face.
"Enough of this! You gaki are causing to much noise for our already sensitive ears," he chided, "Raphael, leave Michelangelo alone for the time being. It would be troublesome for you to break his fractured arm further."
Raph looked behind the brainiac and at his baby brother. Sure enough, his left arm was in a sling that was…purple?
And that was when everyone except Mikey noticed Donatello's mask-less, scarred face.
"I forgot to bring bandages, OK?" He reasoned, blushing a bit. "I had no other choice. Besides, the sooner Shellbrain heals, the sooner we can play 'Does Mikey Bend That Way?'."
"That sounds good to me," Raph waved off, smiling at the idea of his favorite game.
Michelangelo visibly paled as he swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Now, let's go home before the police get here," the disfigured turtle said with a sigh, "and…I got something I wanna admit…"
"What is it?" Leonardo inquired.
Donatello stopped in his tracks and faced the turtles and the girl with warm, burgundy eyes.
"I've not been entirely…honest with you guys."
A/N
WAAAAAAAAAH! Sorry for the late update! I have quarterly exams that I need to bust and my folks had their eyes on me while I studied!
OK, so I have a reason why I only added in one new chapter. The next part is gonna be like a flashback since alt-dimension Donnie's gonna tell everyone the real story of his past. Better watch out for that one! ;)
Alt-dimension Donnie's Senken Kujaku no Kuroenbu was also partially inspired by the part in the TMNT 2007 Movie where Leo got armed with multiple swords and stuff! BADASS!
This would probably be the last time I'll ever write the Kraang in. I mean, those guys are just so hard to depict with their bad English!
Japanese Vocab Corner
Kunai – Japanese throwing dagger, usually has a hole on the end of its handle so that one can tie a rope through it.
Manrikigusari – A chain, usually five feet or more in length, with a weight each on both ends and can be used as some sort of bolas.
Yari – A spear that can come in variants.
Kanabo – A Japanese heavy club, can be spiked on the hitting end.
Senbon – Acupuncture needles that are used in battle to pierce an enemy's pressure points and/or small, vital areas like the jugular, the eyes, the groin, etc.
"Goten Kougeki" – Translates into "Five-Point Attack".
Hey, has anyone noticed that in alt-dimension Donnie's flashback in Chapter 6, his Raph wounded him on the same area where alt-dimension Donnie said in Chapter 3 that the Foot did instead?