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As the two turtles passed through the now-dead and gnarled trees of the forest, Donnie's eyes caught on to a half-ripped poster. Seeing the supposed date printed on the paper sent a shiver down Donnie's body. "Mikey," he said, his voice small laced with a nervous tone.
"Eh?" was all that Mikey grunted as they continued walking. Donnie took this as a 'Yes, Donnie' and opened his mouth to speak.
"What...What year is it?" he asked, hoping that the thoughts in his head were just paranoia.
"I dunno'" Mikey replied, shrugging his shoulders as they got to a half-destroyed, crumbled subway. "You lose track of time when you live around all this."
"Then could you answer me this?" Donnie asked carefully as they walked down the stone steps of the subway. Black sludge and dirt covered the walls and floors so Donnie watched where he was walking as he followed his brother into the dark and abandoned tunnels. "How old are you?"
Mikey looked over his shoulder and hardened his gaze at Donnie before answering quietly; "I'm- We're 45."
"45? We?" Donnie repeated, his voice unusually high pitched. Mikey kicked one of the turnstiles, causing the railway in front of the turtles to open and reveal a hidden stairway. Mikey pulled out the torch from his belt and gestured for Donnie to follow him.
"Watch where you walk, Donatello," Mikey informed as he shone the light down the steps, showing several shards of shattered glass and pieces of metal and ripped wood. "Yeah, the others are alive out there...probably."
The casual uncaring tone of the way that Mikey had just said that began to worry Donnie, who was also beginning to feel extremely homesick. Did this mean that there was an older Leo and Raph? An older Donatello?
The turtles reached a wooden door which Mikey pulled open, showing a clean-looking white hallway with several doors being passed as Donnie was lead through the numerous corridors. "These are all dorms," Mikey stated, watching Donnie as he looked around in awe. "We keep the outside looking old and abandoned as the enemy wouldn't think of looking here after coming into the subway. This area," Mikey pointed at several other doors, "is the emergency corridors. It's where the injured recover. We also had a small training area made before-" a lump caught in Mikey's throat before he recovered and changed what he was saying. "So yeah. I'd better bring you to the chief. I want you to come and meet the rest of the gang."
Donnie felt excited and anxious at the same time as Mikey lead him through the double doors where he found himself stood in a huge room surrounded by all kinds of advanced technology. A group of people surrounded a small table with pieces of paper and blueprints placed on.
"Hey chief!" Mikey yelled, grabbing everybody's attention as he lead Donnie over to them, causing them all to gasp loudly. "Where you at? I have somebody here for you to meet."
"Mikey, what have I told you about bursting in during our mission briefing?" a stern voice lectured, causing the turtles to turn around. Donatello's eyes widened as he stood looking up at a slightly taller and older April O'Neil, her fringe was cut into choppy layers and she had pulled her shoulder-high hair up into two separate pigtails. She wore a black t-shirt with tear marks in the sleeves and a maroon-coloured vest worn over it. She wore frayed navy shorts and black leggings complete with ankle-high combat-boots. On her left arm she wore black tape around her fingers and wrist and on her right arm she wore a black leather fingerless glove.
April covered her mouth with her two hands as she recognised the purple-masked turtle straight away. Tears began to form in her eyes, startling everybody that the strong and tough April was crying. "Donatello," she whispered, walking over to him and pulling him into a hug. "How is this possible?" she seemed to ask herself before tightly pulling him closer. "It doesn't matter...It doesn't matter."
"A-April?" Donnie murmured as April released Donnie and wiped her eyes. He extended his hand toward her as a gesture of concern but she smiled at him reassuringly.
"I'm alright, Donnie," she answered, straightening herself up. "It's good to see you."
"Good to see me?" Donnie repeated, turning to Mikey. "I thought you said we're all here? What does she mean, Mikey?"
Mikey and April glanced at each other before Mikey took a deep breath and put his hand on Donnie's shoulder. "You see, Donnie..." Mikey sighed, looking uncomfortable. "We're here, April, me...Leo and Raph too," he added the other two turtles' names with a bitter voice. "But Casey and Master Splinter..." he bit his lip and nodded over at something behind Donnie. "They're right behind you."
Donnie turned around, expecting to actually see his beloved sensei and his friend Casey but saw a wooden cabinet with several photo frames inside. On one of the doors was a large framed picture of Casey Jones with one of his masks nailed to the door underneath the photo. On the other cabinet door held the staff that Master Splinter always carried and a small patch of his kimono which was nailed to the door.
"Did they...Are they..." Donnie's voice was quiet as he had worked out that these items were memorials of their family. His hands began to shake as he stared at the patch of Splinter's kimono.
"Casey left us a few years back during a fight against the Shredder," April told Donnie.
"Master Splinter also left us two years ago. We buried him under the trees in the old park. He always loved it there," Mikey added, his brows creasing with worry as Donnie dropped to his knees in front of the cabinet and hung his head. April held out her hand in front of Mikey and shook her head at him.
"What about me?" Donnie asked, keeping his eyes on the ground. "Where am I?"
"It's been a long time now, Donnie," Mikey answered, trying to keep his voice steady. "During one of our missions, some human scientists and researchers..." Mikey shuddered before suddenly getting angry. "Working for the Shredder, they were! He promised them a special reward if they proved their use when making weapons. We had no idea..." his voice cracked. "We would have never thought that their gift from the Shredder would cost us a brother!"