Phew! Not quite so long this time! Yeah! As always please enjoy and leave a review and let me know what you think! :]
Raph impatiently tapped his foot getting angrier every second. "What de hell is takin' dem so long!?" He snapped throwing his hands into the air.
"Please Raphael-San. Try to stay calm." Murakami said placing some Pizza Gyoza in front of the two teens. "I am sure your friends will come."
"Thanks Murakami-San." Casey said taking a gyoza and eating it whole.
Raph sighed and sat next to his best friend also taking a gyoza. "Yeah thanks." He added. "And I'm sorry. I'm just worried 'bout dem." Raph and Casey had been sent to Murakami's to wait for Mikey and April while Donnie and Miwa went back to the lair with Leo to start healing him. Miwa had been reluctant to leave him and they really didn't need everyone to meet the two. The problem however was they were already two hours late and it was driving Raph crazy with worry.
Murakami gave him a reassuring smile, "All is well, Raphael-San. I understand your concern."
Suddenly both Raph and Casey's T-Phone went off causing Raph to nearly run over Casey in his haste to get to it. "What!?" He nearly screamed into the device.
"Umm…" Donnie's voice over the T-Phone said, "I think you and Casey better get back here… now."
"We're on our way." Raph said not wanting to waste time talking before closing the phone and looking over to the other two. "Let's go." Casey nodded and ran out. Raph bowed to Murakami with a smile. "Thank you Murakami-San for everythin'. If ya hear anythin', please let us know."
Murakami nodded and bowed towards him, "I will do my very best Raphael-San. Good luck." With that Raph ran out and after Casey.
They made their way to the lair in record time, but the hot head nearly barreled into his best friend when he suddenly stopped at the entrance. "What de heck Casey!?" Raph snapped before walking around his stilled form. However he didn't get far when he saw the reason for Casey's sudden stop. There in the center of the lair was one of the largest creatures he had ever seen and it had a big mouth. "Umm…"
"Raph! Casey!" A familiar voice cried. Running up to them was Mikey.
Raph snapped out of his trance and smiled at the slightly younger boy. "Mikey!" He cried happily hugging him when he finally reached them. Pulling apart they walked into the room, Raph keeping his eyes firmly on the creature with Casey trailing behind. "What happened? We were supposed ta meet at Murakami's. And what de heck is dat?!" He added gesturing to the creature that was now watching him.
"I'll explain everything, but first, guys," Mikey said now speaking to them all. Donnie, Miwa, and Master Splinter were all present, "I'd like to introduce you to Leatherhead. He helped us escape and has been trying to fight the Kr- the bad guys too." Mikey said suddenly correcting himself midsentence.
"Hi." Raph said with a deadpan apparently being the only one who was willing to get any closer. Donnie, Miwa, and Master Splinter were all still standing at the entrance to the lab. "I'm very curious ta learn about it, but I want ta know one thing first." Raph said drawing the attention. "How's Leo?"
Donnie's expression softened, "He sleeping now and seems to be in some sort of coma." He answered. "His leg is broken and so is his arm. He has two fractured ribs and several sprains along with bruises and cuts. I fixed everything I could, but now only time will help."
They all looked down in sadness for a moment before Raph looked at Mikey then at Leatherhead, "So… what happened?"
"What happened was…" Mikey began before trailing off, "Well, I don't really remember, but I know that Leatherhead saved me, but…" Again he trailed off looking at the ground sadly, "We got separated from April."
"What!?" Donnie cried racing forward, "What happened?!"
"I don't know." Mikey said sadly, "We were running away and when we looked back, she was gone."
"The Kraang have taken her." Leatherhead said, speaking for the first time. "I tried to free her, but she told to run and save my friend Michelangelo."
Mikey turned towards the monster with wide eyes, "She did?" He asked softly.
Leatherhead nodded, "She did and before I could protest the roof collapsed on us and we were forced to move."
"You left her!?" Donnie snapped angered at the monster and forgetting his fear. "How could you just leave her with the Kraang!?"
"KRAANG!" Leatherhead suddenly roared his eyes going milky white as they glazed over and went to slits and he stood angry beyond reason. In his anger he reached out and grabbed the first thing his huge hand could.
Donatello's face.
Donnie let out a scream worthy of a 9 year old girl as Leatherhead swung him around and around in the air by his head. At once everyone jumped into action going to help him, but Mikey was quicker jumping up onto Leatherhead's head and holding him.
"Dude! Leatherhead chill!" Mikey cried starting to pet his head. "Calm thoughts dude! Calm thoughts!" Amazingly that seemed to work and Leatherhead calmed down enough to drop Donnie who quickly scrambled away. Once he was completely calmed his eyes went back to normal pupils and his breathing was regular. Mikey then rounded on Donnie with a glare, "Why did you say that?!" He snapped.
"Say what?!" Donnie cried as Miwa helped him stand. "What did I say!?"
"The K word." Mikey said with a roll of his eyes like it was obvious.
"K word?" Casey said confused.
Raph scratched his head, "You mean Kraang?"
"KRAANG!" Leatherhead cried reaching once again for whatever he could get.
Which was Donatello.
Again.
Donnie let out another scream and Mikey once again jumped up onto Leatherhead and calmed him down. He then jumped down and glared at Raph. "Dude!"
"Okay, what does he have against my face?!" Donnie cried standing and pointing at his face with anger.
"My apologies. I just can no longer control myself when it comes to those monsters." Leatherhead said looking down ashamed.
Donnie shook his head still angry, "We have to go save her!" He cried glaring at the Leatherhead and Mikey. "We need to save her now!" He started walking towards the exit when Master Splinter placed a hand on his shoulder stopping him.
"Wait, my son." He said causing Donnie to look at him. "It is unwise to race straight off into battle without any plan or team."
"Yeah especially since we just barely got out of there not 2 hours ago." Miwa snapped.
Donnie shook his head, "No you guys don't understand, April's in danger."
"Of course she is, she with the Kra- uh… the K things." Casey said barely catching himself.
"No." Donnie went on before going into the lab and coming out a moment later with his lab top. Everyone gathered around it. "I've been going over the information I got from the Shredder's computer and it's frightening." He then clicked away pulling up many different files. "He's going to use his mental connection with the Demon Shredder to siphon all of its power to him. The catalyst is going to be his helmet."
"We already kind of figured dat out, Donnie." Raph said crossing his arms a little impatiently.
"I'm not done." Donnie said with a glare before going back to work. "What I found out was that as we have seen the Kra… uh the K words are now working with the Shredder to raise their master."
"Again, we figured dat out a few hours ago when de monsters and de Foot were fightin' against us at de same time." Raph added rolling his eyes.
"Will you let me finish!" Donnie snapped finally fed up. Everyone turned and glared at Raph who had the grace to look sheepish. "Anyway, what I found out was the K words are too weak in this dimension to open the portal so they needed someone or something from here. There're references to different creatures they've used to try and breach the plain of existence, but none of them have worked."
"Leatherhead said they were trying to use him to open the portal, but he didn't have the brain power." Mikey said with a snap of his fingers.
Everyone looked over to the large creature who nodded, "Indeed they did try. They then decided to use me as part of an army they were going to build for their demon master."
"That's right." Donnie said nodding his head. "So they moved on to things that have a strong brain capacity. Namely; humans. And not just any human… April." He finished, clicking on a file that pulled up stats, pictures and history on her. "They're going to use April to open the portal. And it says here that they're now on schedule to open it."
"Meaning we only have a few weeks left." Miwa supplied looking around the room at the fellow scared faces.
..::-::..
Donatello felt absolutely helpless. It had been two days since the fight at the Foot building and Leo still had not woken up and his breathing was labored. Donnie really wanted to take him to the hospital, but there would be too many questions and that was the last thing they needed right now. He also couldn't sleep. He was so worried about April. They hadn't encountered any Foot or Kraang since the fight and she was still missing.
It also didn't help that they had to tip toe around Mikey newest friend Leatherhead for fear that he would explode on them. He was however doing pretty good and his insight was helpful. More stress was never helpful to him though.
He needed a break.
"Hi mom." Donnie said entering the hospital room. She looked better than she had a week ago, but he could tell she was still weary.
"Hi sweetheart." His mother replied somewhat tiredly. She was still hooked up to more machines than she should be, but they had removed one of them since his last visit so that was good, right?
"Sorry if I'm bothering you." He said softly coming to sit next to her.
His mother scoffed, "Of course you're not bothering me. Donatello, do you know what your name means?" She asked looking at him with a knowing smile. She knew he knew and she wanted him to answer anyway.
He nodded obliging her, "It means gift."
"That's right and as I've always said you are my precious gift. Why on earth would I be upset that you're here?" She said taking his hand and holding it close. "I could never ask for anything more. I love you so much it hurts."
"Are you in pain now?" Donnie asked suddenly worried.
His mother chuckled, the smile lighting up her beautiful face, "No honey. I feel fine." Donnie opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off, "I really do, but I wonder what you're doing here?"
"What do you mean? You're sick and I wanted to visit you." He answered somewhat confused.
His mother shook her head with a smile on her face. "And I am always happy to see you, honey, but I know you're not a fan of hospitals. And I know my baby boy. Something is wrong." She went on getting serious. "What is it?"
Donnie looked at him mother a little amazed. Even in here where she is so sick, she thought of him and could see the truth behind his mask. "Do you know my friends?" He asked softly. She nodded so he went on, "Well there's something really important we have to do and it's going to be really hard. I'm… scared we won't… win." He finished lamely. He wished he could tell her everything, but that would be too dangerous. If she believed him, Donnie knew his mother would fight tooth and nail for him to stay hidden and out of sight. To stay safe. But Donnie promised and he took an oath. He wasn't going to do that, he was going to fight with his friends and defeat the demon. He was going to save April.
"Oh my sweet precious boy." She said opening her arms to him. Donnie happily complied and leaned down giving her the best hug her could with the awkward position of her in bed and him standing. They pulled away and she continued, "There is nothing you can't do. Never forget that and remember if you don't win, it's not the end of the world. You can always try again."
Donnie forced himself to be patient with her. That was not an option nor necessarily true. "Actually mom, this is something we can't lose. There is no try again on this one. I can't tell you everything, but we're… fighting for everyone and if we lose… we lose… everyone." He finally got out.
At once his mother was alert. "Donatello what are you talking about?" She asked sternly. Donnie shook his head, "Donatello David. What is going on?" She continued getting more and more serious.
Again Donnie shook his head, "Mom, please." He said softly and her face softened slightly. "I can't tell you, but please just trust me." He begged.
She looked at him for a long moment before sighing and nodding her head. "Alright, but you better tell me the truth when whatever you're doing is all over, understand?"
Donnie nodded agreeing with her. "Alright I promise I will."
She nodded too. "Good. Now on to the problem of failing… hmm… what are the names of your friends again? Full first names." She asked suddenly looking at him.
He was a little surprised, but complied anyway. "Um, there's Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo-"
"Stop." She said cutting him off. He blinked not knowing what she was doing as she thought hard for a moment before turning to him with a smile, "Honey you and you're friends aren't going to have any problems."
"Why do you say that?" He asked completely confused.
She smiled again, "Because you four are the angels of lions who give the gift of healing." Donnie's eyes widened. "I think you'll be fine."
"How… what…?"
His mother chuckled. "Each of your names means something and sometimes a name can tell a lot about a person. I think they fit, don't you?" she added with a wink.
Donnie smiled and nodded, "Yeah, they do."
His mother took his hands in hers once more and smiled lovingly at him, "Listen to me, my precious little gift, whatever you're about to do, you need to believe you can do it. Faith can be a very powerful thing if you let it give you strength. You can do anything you put your mind to and you can beat this, whatever it is. I know you can because I have faith in you." She finished and he felt his heart swell.
Leaning down he gave her another hug, tears coming to his eyes, "Thanks mom."
He pulled away and she smirked giving a punch to the air, "Now go, fight, win!" She cheered before chuckling.
Donnie nodded, "You keep fighting too, mom."
"Sweetheart as long as you're here I will never stop." She answered with a loving gaze.
Donnie leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek before turning to go, "I love you mom. I'll let you get some rest."
She leaned back in her bed and smiled at him, "I love you too honey and good luck my precious little gift. I know you can do it."
..::-::..