Hello everybody! :3 I do apologise for this chapter being so late...writer's block and I've been on a course all week :) Thanks for reading! ^_^
"M-Mutants?" Donnie looked back at Angel in surprise. "You work alongside mutants?"
"Oh yeah," Angel replied casually. "When I left Red's base a few years back, I befriended a mutant plant who Mikey had previously named Snakeweed. He was so violent at first," she sniggered, "but we soon dealt with that aggression! He's such a good boy now."
Donnie felt a little uncomfortable with Angel's happy-go-lucky nature when she was surrounded by such a sorrowful setting. He guessed that it was better for her to keep smiling, rather than let the devastation of losing her friends stop her from fighting back...For that, Donnie admired her, greatly.
"Michelangelo, April," Angel started, turning her back on them as her small troop of soldiers began packing up their equipment and walking away in a different direction. Angel looked over her shoulder and the smirk from her face lifted as she genuinely smiled sweetly at them. "Our base may not be as hip as yours; but I want to check over everybody so that you're all healthy! Besides, it'll be good for Donnie to meet his future allies, yes?"
Mikey and April had to agree with this and allowed Angel and her soldiers to lead the way. Donnie reluctantly followed them, watching as Mikey kept his large and scarred hand on April's shoulder as support before glancing at the other arm before looking at the trees ahead of him.
Donnie noted mentally that Angel was leading them further and further away from the city until they got to a small swamp-like area. Grabbing a thick piles of vines, Angel pulled them back and revealed a tunnel-like passage and waited for everybody to enter before following them inside.
Donnie stroked the rocky walls of the tunnel that had been fitted with glass lamp lights with candles inside, old wax covered the glass and walls. "It looks a bit rundown now but we copied April's style; fool the enemy. It gets more high-tech when we pass these doors," Angel explained to Donnie as she pointed at the double wooden doors ahead of them.
Mikey shoved them open and allowed Donatello to step through, looking around in awe at the bright ivory-coloured walls covered with flashing purple and black markings and lights. Donnie recognised the markings immediately and spun around in worry. "The Kraang?" he stammered.
"Yeah," Angel agreed, folding her arms and looking around thoughtfully. "We discovered this abandoned Kraang base about two years ago along with their technology which was extremely helpful to us. Welcome to my base," she finished as they stood over a balcony that looked down on a huge room filled with alien technology...and familiar faces.
"You'll find that we take in-" Angel was cut off as a vine shot out from out of nowhere and wrapped around her waist, pulling her over the balcony. Donnie pulled out his staff and ran down the metal steps, clicking open the blade as soon as he noticed Snakeweed holding Angel...who was laughing.
Donnie stared blankly at Angel as she freed herself from the vines and used his body as a makeshift bridge, smiling as she did so. He slowly placed his Bo staff back into his harness and stared in complete confusion as Snakeweed lowered his vines and allowed Angel to jump down and pet him gently on his head.
"He's not the bad guy that you know from your time, Donnie," Angel said in a soothing voice. "We saved him from being tortured by the Shredder a while ago, he's been on our side ever since."
"Same goes for the rest of us," a gruff voice stated. Everybody turned to look at the owner of the voice and saw Slash, Raph's mutated pet turtle, Spike, standing in front of them. "The mutagen that we mutated from came back to haunt us after the Kraang left Earth for good; taking the mutagen supply with them meant that Shredder no longer had access to any of it."
"So he tried extracting it from your bodies!" Donnie finished, realising straight away why the mutants here seemed to be so loyal to his friends. "So you guys all teamed up," he murmured, his brain going to work, "with Fishface, Stockman and Rahzar being the exceptions."
A high pitched ringing came from Angel's pocket as she grinned apologetically at the others. "Sorry, guys," she said, taking out a small phone-like device. "I need to take this call," she added, before walking out of one of the top exits and heading outdoors.
"Will she be alright?" April asked, concerned. Her response was not one that she had anticipated as all of the mutants and Angel's soldiers all laughed at April's comment.
"Don't worry about Angel, April," Slash answered, "she can handle herself, trust me."
Donnie turned around to speak with his orange-masked brother but saw an empty space where he had been stood not so long ago. He turned to April, "Where's Mikey?"
"He said he was going to see Leatherhead..."
"You know...You don't have to keep diverting yourself away from them, Raph; they're your family, even if you do fight," Angel's voice was oddly gentle as she placed her arms around Raph's waist and pulled him backward so her face snuggled into the top of his shell. "Why do you keep pulling away from him?"
"S'not our Donnie," Raphael muttered. "For a moment, back there; it was like our family was whole again. I need to face reality, Angel, the Donatello we knew is not the Donatello that is here right now?"
"Raphael," Angel snapped in a stern voice. Raph glanced at the woman with his eyebrows raised while she scowled up at him. "Use that brain of yours, for once," she continued, hardening her expression. "Of course he's your Donatello! He's your brother! All of you need to stop hiding the truth from him and start to face reality yourselves. Take care of your family, before you lose anybody else."