Renee looked at the doctor through hazy vision. Her vision had been going every since this last round of chemo, and all her hair had fallen out. She had just lost a tooth the day before. Her entire body ached and ached, and once again, part of her wondered: would she have brain cancer if the Kraang hadn't performed all those horrific experiments on her?

The doctor sat down by the hospital bed. "Mrs. O'Neil, I'm sorry, but the cancer has metastasized. You have a second tumor pressing on your optical nerve now. All of your lymph nodes are affected. I've never seen cancer spread this fast. With or without continuing the chemo...we don't know if you'll live past the weekend. It's severe enough...we could lose you at any time. You may want to make sure all your papers are in order."

"But the chemo worked the first time," Kirby sputtered, standing up from his chair at her bedside. "Why isn't it working this time around?"

"I don't know. These things...just happen."

"Take me off the chemo," Renee said. "If I'm going to die no matter what, then I don't want to feel like this for the rest of my life."

"Renee, you can't!" Kirby said, almost frantic. "Miracles happen. If we're at least trying the treatment-"

"No."

"I'll leave you two to discuss things," the doctor said, and made a hasty retreat from the room.

"Please don't leave me," Kirby whispered tears welling in his eyes. He stroked a gentle finger along the curve of Renee's jaw. "I can't go on without you. You're my everything. My right arm. My partner."

Renee looked up at him through the darkened field of her vision. "Kirby...if it's my time, it's my time." A wave of pain shot through Renee's stomach and she hurriedly reached for the bucket beside the bed.

Kirby's facial expression tightened. "Baby, you'll make it through this round of chemo just like last time. Please don't talk that that."

"Didn't you hear what the doctor said? I'm going to die no matter what."

Tears spilled down Kirby's cheeks. "No. No. You can't. I—I need you. Who's going to help me with April? How—how can I even go on without you?"

"You'll find a way," Renee whispered. "Listen—there are things...things you don't know about me. Terrible things. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I—I never told you about my childhood."

"And—you're ready to talk about it now?"

Everything was becoming soft and warm and even hazier. She felt like she was floating, almost as if she wasn't part of her body anymore. She heard the words come out of her mouth rather than feeling like she spoke them.

"April is more special than you know. Never let anything happen to her."

"Of course I won't, baby."

The world grew fuzzier. "You are my light in the darkness. I risked everything for you."

"What do you mean?"

But Renee couldn't answer. All she could sense was Kirby calling out her name over and over, sobbing wildly, shouting "Come back!"

And then she sensed nothing at all.

Just nothing.

And then she woke to a sharp stabbing pain in her temple. She sat bolt upright, and heard a voice she hadn't heard in years. A voice that had filled her nightmares for just as long.

"The one known as Experiment 272 has been exhumed and resuscitated, Kraang Prime," a Kraang droid said.

"She will continue to be that which is useful to Kraang now that the cancer has been successfully eradicated using technology only available to Kraang," said a horribly familiar voice.

Renee flicked her eyes up to see Kraang Prime looming in front of her. She let out a scream that seemed to tear the inside of her throat to pieces.

"Apply the mind control device to her."

Renee couldn't even hear herself scream no as they brought the device into the room and plugged it into her temple.

The last thought that went through her mind before she was absorbed into the Kraang's control was of Kirby and the baby who would spend her entire life in danger.

My precious April...

And then all there was in her brain was the endless chatter of the Kraang.

"Seriously, April. My head is pounding like someone's taken a drill to it," Karai said.

April tore her eyes away from her mother lying on the floor and turned to face Karai. "Like I said. I don't know. But...that's my mom. She looks older than she does in the pictures I've seen of her." A hundred emotions at once surged through April. The lights flashed brighter.

Karai grabbed her head and shouted. "Ah! My head!"

April's eyes shot wide. All this time. She had been the ones making the lights flicker—and her head must have been hurting because she was using mental energy without thinking. Just how extensive were her powers?

"Karai—I'm sorry. The Kraang put some kind of implant in your brain that reacts to my...um...this is going to sound crazy...but my mental powers."

Karai's face went deadpan. "You've lost your mind."

"Yeah...I'm pretty sure I have. The Kraang injected me with something and now I have all these weird abilities."

Karai massaged her temples. "Sure. Why not? I'm married to a giant turtle and have been held captive by aliens for over a week now. I'll believe anything. So how are we going to get out of this mess?"

"I'm not sure. But...I can sense that Donnie's nearby. And there are about fifty Kraang outside the room all taking about what they're going to do to defeat me. I think that they think I don't care if I accidentally kill you and my mom."

"Wait—KILL?"

"Yeah. If I kill the Kraang with my brain, it will kill you guys too. Fortunately, I don't know exactly how to kill them on command. Unfortunately, I don't know if I can control when it happens." Frowning, April knelt down beside her mother. "We need Donnie to get this mind control device off my mom. It's rigged so that if I pull it out, she'll die. But Donnie could find a way to save her..." Tears welled in her eyes. "He has to." She smeared the tears away and rose to her feet. The lights flickered as determination flooded her. "But we have to save him first."

Karai clutched at her head as the lights flickered. "If that's you doing that, you need to knock it off."

"I'm sorry," April said. "I—I can't control it."

"Try."

April drew a deep breath. Try. I can try. I can try anything. She let out the breath slowly, and felt inside herself—searching the depths of her own mind to see if she could find the source of all the chaos and noise pouring into her from sources heretofore unknown. There. Something like a door, a door kicked down by whatever the Kraang had done to her. A door that let in dozens of voices—most of them Kraang, but also her mother, Karai, and Donnie.

What the hell is going on here, Karai's thoughts clamored. Fear. Anger. Confusion. Pain.

Donnie's thoughts were incoherent except for pain.

There were no thoughts in her mother's mind—only the whisperings of her autonomous nervous system.

It was too much. April slammed the door shut. A cold surge shot through her stomach, as if she was freezing and had just shut off her only source of heat. But after a few moments, everything quieted. Gradually, she came back to the world around her. She could still hear the Kraang outside, but it was with her ears and not her mind.

She swallowed. Now what?

Guys, I have some bad news. I just don't have it in me to finish this fanfic. I'm kinda over writing TMNT stuff and have moved on to other fandoms and focusing on my own original writing. The above is a section of a chapter I wrote almost a year ago. When it comes to Matters of the Mind, what I have written, I have written. I know it's probably a huge letdown, and for that I am extremely sorry. It's just that I've lost my passion for this fandom (I really only liked the 2012 'verse and it was only good up through the first two seasons, IMO), so I can't find the passion I need to finish writing it. Also, I lost my parents in a house fire about a year ago (2017) and it has really affected me as a person. And on top of that I've had some serious health problems. I've found the passion to finish my Miraculous fic "Metamorphosis" but that's it so far.

Again, I'm really, really sorry. Please forgive me.

So, to satisfy all curiosities, here is how I was planning to wrap this up:

-They rescue Donnie and Donnie is able to remove the implant from Renee's mind and Karai's, too

-Renee explains everything and has a tearful reunion with Kirby

-She explains that Experiment 274 is her daughter, who does not yet have a name

-When Kirby asks how she had another daughter, she says that when Kirby was captured by the Kraang they took a DNA sample from both her and Kirby and basically grew Experiment 274 in a lab.

-The Kraang's hope with Experiment 274 is that she would be a second April, who could fill their needs

-Kirby and Renee name Experiment 274 Robyn

-The Kraang come after April and Robyn and Renee again and there is a huge epic battle that I wish I could have written for you guys, but again, I just ran out of steam

-They discover a way to end the Kraang, but it will take April and Robyn's powers to destroy all of them.

-They need two people to go in and hold off the Kraang long enough for April and Robyn to do this - and once it is done, the whole Kraang population on earth will be extirpated and the threat will be gone, but the two people who go in will not come out. They will be killed.

- Leo and Donnie volunteer, but then Kirby and Renee say they will do it. There is a tearful goodbye and Kirby and Renee go in to distract the Kraang while April and Robyn do their thing.

-The Kraang are defeated, once and for all.

-In the aftermath, Donnie proposes to April and they say they will raise Robyn together.

-Leo and Karai also manage to adopt a daughter about Robyn's age.

-Splinter and Mei return from their honeymoon, only to be surprised by the events that have occurred.

-Everybody holds a memorial service for Renee and Kirby

The End.

I'm sorry, I know that wasn't as satisfying as reading the whole thing written out, but like I said, I just don't have it in me anymore. Please forgive me. I hope you will enjoy my other TMNT fanfics. Thanks so much for being a reader, it has meant everything to me to have your support.

Peace,

n00btmntfan