Donnie wasn't typically one to show emotion and he knew everyone else knew it too. He still didn't tend to wear his heart on his sleeve but having faced more than one near-death experience and preventing the destruction of humanity twice within a few years, he'd nearly lost everyone he loved too many times to keep up his longtime tough guy routine. And now, he knew his face was showing every bit of the terror he felt inside.

Shredder.

The name seemed to sear through his brain with every pulse of his pounding heart, along with the question of how it was even possible. His mind was already analyzing, theorizing, trying to come to some logical conclusion. But then a quiet moan reached his ears, Leo's weight growing a little heavier, and that seemed to snap him out of his trance.

Logic had to wait. Theory had to wait. All that mattered now was this enemy, Shredder or not, had hurt Leo, tried to take him just like Krang Prime had. And just like then, the thought filled Donnie with a rage like nothing else he'd ever felt. He hadn't let that sadistic alien take his brother away from him, and no way in shell was he letting anyone else do it. Not now, not ever.

"Hang in there, Leon," he urged, carefully hefting his brother's weight. "It won't be long, and we'll be out."

Raph's anxious voice came next.

"Donnie, you said ya had a way outta here?"

The genius turtle looked up to see his eldest brother looking at him, along with the others. He gave a firm nod and turned to April.

"April, can you help me?"

She nodded and moved to support Leo on his other side, while Donnie brought up the building's schematics on his wrist device again.

"This way, quick!"

The others followed alongside him and April, moving as fast as they dared. But Donnie could tell Leo was on his last legs; they had to get out, now. Soon they reached a boarded-up door, and Donnie looked at his eldest brother.

"Raph…"

The snapper immediately moved forward, twirling his sais.

"On it."

Slamming his fists together, he activated his ninpo and summoned his energy double.

"Try to keep it quiet," Donnie said. Raph gave him a flat look, and he let out an irritated sigh. "Well, at least a little quiet. But hurry!"

The eldest turtle's double grabbed the door, and though he tried to be careful the cracking was loud enough to make the others wince. Donnie watched the heat signatures on his projection, growing more and more tense as the sounds of pursuit grew louder.

"This should lead down to the bottom floor… there's a closed-up service entrance down there," he said in a tense voice. "There's nobody by it so I don't think the Foot know about it. I've got a drone I can send to the other side of the building to make some fireworks, and that should distract them long enough for us to…"

Just then, a warning sign began flashing on his projection. Donnie's heart began pounding.

"Temperature is increasing dramatically in the lobby!"

But before he could continue, a voice he knew too well, one that still haunted his nightmares alongside the voices of the Krang, rang out from outside.

"Let it burn, my Foot… the fools will not escape their end this time!"

Donnie felt a rush of dread, the sound of that voice driving home the knowledge that this was all too real. Somehow, one of their worst enemies had come back from oblivion… and Donnie knew that this one would be just as out for their blood and would stop at nothing. A cracking sound then began, growing steadily, and the Donnie knew exactly what it was.

"Fire!" Mikey gasped.

A soft but sharp groan reached Donnie's ears then, snapping his attention back.

Leo. They had to get Leo out of here.

"Raph!" he said harshly.

The eldest turtle's mystic double gave a hard pull, and the door finally came loose. Beyond was a set of stairs, clearly long out of use. As Raph's double tossed aside the door, Donnie glanced at his wrist device and his eyes widened when he saw the red moving upward.

"The fire's spreading fast! Down here, go!"

Supporting Leo with April, Donnie led the way down with the others close behind. He felt his heart give an anxious skip when he felt Leo slump even more; it seemed he was barely able to stay on his feet.

"Hang on, Leo," he urged. "Don't give up on us now, you hear me?"

He heard his brother take a shallow breath, then felt him tense as he struggled to straighten. His voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Loud… n' clear."

"Donnie, where's this lead?" Raph called, his voice almost frantic. The genius would have been annoyed any other time, but now he felt just as terrified.

"To the bottom floor," he replied. "We're almost there…"

The glow from his wrist device soon revealed a door, boarded up just like the one they left behind. Reaching out a free hand, Donnie felt it carefully.

"It's not hot," he said. "The fire's not to it yet."

Before he could say any more, Raph pushed forward with a look of grim determination.

"Stand back, Raph's got this!"

The others immediately moved to let him through, and he summoned his ninpo double again and grabbed the door. Not bothering to be quiet this time, he proceeded to rip it off its hinges. Flickering orange light and the sound of crackling flames came from beyond it, but he stepped through and gestured to the others.

"Go!"

Donnie hefted Leo's arm, shifting his weight before moving through the doorway with April. The room they entered was empty, but he could see the fire blazing in the lobby and spreading fast.

"We've got to get out of here!" Casey said, his voice back to its survivalist tone. Donnie gave a curt nod, then shifted Leo's weight again, enough to let him punch in a few keystrokes on his wrist device. With a soft click, two small helicopter-like drones emerged from his battle shell and sped off, zipping through the flames. Donnie couldn't help a slight twinge of pride at his foresight to fireproof them, but it lasted just a second before the alarm drowned it out.

"The fire's spreading fast! This way!"

He led the others to the nearest side of the room, then hissed out a curse when he saw the sliding door of the service entrance. Sheets of metal were layered haphazardly over it, too many. Prying it off would take time he knew they didn't have. The distant sound of breaking glass and popping explosions told him their diversion was in play, and he clenched his jaw as he tried to think. But a red glow behind Donnie alerted him to the fact that Raph had already formed a plan. He and April quickly shuffled to the side, and the eldest turtle let out a loud growl as he swung an enlarged fist, the sound of crunching metal puncturing the increasingly loud crackling of the flames, which had reached halfway through the room by now.

"Move, move!" Raph ordered, gesturing to the hole he'd punched in the door. Donnie glanced at his twin, who was now slumping in his and April's hold as if his strength was nearly gone.

"Leo, don't worry," he said. "We're getting out now."

When no reply came, his fear increased even more.

We're losing him.