Chapter 13: The Waiting Game

Kana had refused to return and follow with the others as an unsuspected explosion occurred not too far off from the park, they all suspected it was Dragor causing trouble and chaos as he most likely finally arrived and figured out the final piece for the teleporter was somewhere here in Mexico that the gang already had in their possession.

Leo had to force April back to the Shellcharger where Raph was leaning and waiting for them at the side doors and helped them in. Donnie took over the wheel and powered on the vehicle quickly, Xen glanced around at everyone as April fell to her knees crying a bit and having Leo comfort her.

"Where is the other girl?" Xen questioned in confusement as she tended to take a liking to Kana. "She's not coming." Leo stated with a sad tone, Xen only lowered her head sadly and stared at the gem in her hands. Xen felt bad for having innocent people get involved with Dragor's evil devious deeds, but it also amazed her how these people she currently was with showed no intentions of ignoring the possible destruction plans that Dragor was attempting in order to save their world, especially when she could not with her own world from his destruction.

Xen clutched the gem in her hand and gave an angry expression, she vowed to herself she would put a stop to Dragor even if it killed her, she was tired of his evil and killing.

Donnie began to drive off and away from the park quickly, they were headed straight back to New York to get back home and find a way to destroy that power source gem.

Xen glanced at Leo as she sat down and relaxed her hands on her lap, "You must have elder bloodline in you." Xen stated directing it at Leo. Leo peered over his shoulder at her and only gave her a confused look, "Elder Bloodline? You mean the Elder Dragons? I'm a turtle… not a dragon…" Leo said confusing even himself, Xen only smiled and chuckled lightly which left Leo even more confused. "Elder Blood, you're not born with it silly, it gets put into you from elder dragons. Elders rarely choose to transfer their blood to someone else in order for that someone else to be able to defeat and be in relation with our species." Xen said as she pointed at him, "The gem reacted to your touch." Xen added trying to make sense for him. Leo thought for a second, "I don't remember such an occurrence… aside from the mutagen that turned us to what we are now."

Xen glared at him slightly, "Mutagen?" "Weird green looking ooze that turns living things into mutants by the touch." Leo stated as he pointed at himself when remarking the word, mutants.

Xen placed a hand under her chin as she thought, "It's possible elder blood is mixed in with it and may be why you have it and can correspond with us, but elder blood in a way also has a mind of its own and will choose if it accepts you or not." Xen said as she looked up and smirked at him, Leo was confused from the expression she gave him.

April was practically clinging to Leo as he and Xen talked, she was still really upset and sad but she managed to stop crying and listen in. Leo had suddenly and quickly moved a hand off her and turned, this spooked her as she jolted upward slightly to see why.

Xen threw an attack at Leo who stopped it, she was testing him. Xen attempted to throw a swipe attack with her hand but Leo had quickly seen it coming and grabbed her wrist, stopping the attack midway.

Xen smiled at him and let loose, Leo was only confused but knew she was testing him. "I put quite a bit of strength into that too, you still stopped it. Which means, you do have Elder blood in you. And it clearly accepts you." Xen stated as she sat back, "Wait, in a way does it mean he's like a chosen one or something? And how old are and rare are these elders?" April questioned.

Xen laughed, "Chosen one? Not entirely, but in a way, yes. Like I said, the elder dragons choose someone, they don't just randomly pick and grab someone and just say oh here, take my blood. And we are not considered an elder dragon until we live past five thousand years, elder dragons are marked as extremely powerful and wise dragons, it is rare for us to live past five thousand years. And like you said blue one, you all were turned into what you are now by some mutagen, so there's a chance the others here also have elder blood."

"His name is Leo, not blue one." April stated seriously, "How old exactly is Marwin?" April added as she was curious. Xen tilted her head trying to remember, "Almost six thousand years, maybe seven…?" Raph let out a laugh and marched over to Xen, "Is that so? Throw a hit at me then, let's test it!" Raph growled happily.

Xen only raised an eye but shrugged, she threw a hit with the same strength, Raph attempted to stop or block it but unlike Leo, it failed. Raph was slapped on the cheek and fell to the floor with a small thud, he quickly recovered and had a red hand mark on his cheek. Mikey and Casey both died laughing as they pointed at him, "Big bad tough Raph got slapped!" Casey laughed as he fell back.

Leo and April both couldn't help but to also let out a small chuckle as he pretty much deserved it. Xen only looked at Raph with a worried look, "You told me to…" Raph growled and marched towards Casey and grabbed him by the cheeks and squeezed them outward, "Ow Ow Ow! Ok! Im sorry!" Casey yelped.

"So how strong are these elder dragons of your species?" April questioned as she glanced back at Xen, "Oh they are much stronger than me and Dragor, but as I remarked, they are very rare as they tend to keep distance and hide away, they rest their last days away in slumber usually. Marwin is an exception, he chose to stay awake and active to protect the gem, I'm thinking Marwin willingly either chose to give his blood to someone for that mutagen you talk about, or his blood was extracted somehow by force before he passed away. That or it's from another elder dragon that was here, or Leo must've somehow got elder blood put into him at some point with remembering." Xen stated with a small sad tone as she lowered her head, considering there was more to this elder dragon puzzle.

"Guys…" Donnie began with a worried tone, everyone glanced at him in confusement. "It...is Dragor." Donnie added as he pointed at one of the monitors, everyone stood and came rushing over to see except Xen and Leo.

The monitor captured Dragor in the air not too far off, he was flying around, searching. "Do you think he's searching for us?" Mikey questioned as he tilted his head, "No way, he doesn't even know what our vehicle looks like, let alone that we have a vehicle." Raph growled slapping Mikey upside the back of the head. "He's more closing in the direction towards the park we were at, he's probably looking for Marwin." Donnie stated as he pressed on the gas more to speed up and farther away and quickly out of Mexico.

April backed up a bit as the others still watched the monitor, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and only stared at it sadly. April felt a hand on her shoulder and she glanced up, it was Leo who gave her a small smile. Xen had also walked on over to comfort her as she stood directly behind Leo also giving a smile, April sighed and smiled as well and put the phone away, even if Kana chose to stay behind and felt like a sister, she still had everyone else who was right in front of her to appreciate more and that were still here.

It took about forty hours to reach back to New York, April still has not received a call since they left Mexico, and Kana. Donnie drove into an alley after reaching further into the city, everyone was exhausted and worn out from the trip and with all that had gone down. The wall in the alley opened up and Donnie drove right through as it led down into the sewers and closed the wall as soon as they went in.

Everyone was pretty much passed out and asleep except Donnie, Raph and Mikey. Donnie flipped a switch to his right that opened the garage door to his lab, he pulled in slowly and parked and fell back into the seat with a tired sigh as he powered off the Shellcharger.

"Man, it's good to be home." Raph yawned as he stretched, Donnie opened the side doors as Raph was the first to walk out. "My sons." A voice came from the door of the lab, Raph glanced up as he exited the vehicle, "Sensai!" Mikey shouted with excitement as he pushed Raph to the side and ran towards Splinter giving him a hug.

Splinter put one hand on Mikey and smiled, "How was your trip?" Raph yawned, "Full of excitement." He stated with a tired expression. "I'm going to bed." Raph said as he walked past Splinter and Mikey and out the lab with a wave, Donnie approached out the side door and glanced up noticing Splinter.

Donnie gave a smile, "Where is Leo, April and Casey?" Splinter questioned as Mikey moved and stood to the side. "Sleeping, best to let them, they hardly got any the past two days." Donnie stated as he walked up to Splinter, Donnie glanced at Mikey and gave a small smile, "Me and Mikey will tell you all about the trip." Donnie said as he moved his smile from Mikey to Splinter.

Splinter walked next to Donnie and turned, placing a hand on his back and they all three walked out of the lab to have a conversation out in the living area.

Xen shot upward with a tired look on her face, she glanced around noticing she fell asleep in the vehicle, she also noticed that Leo was passed out on the couch and April and Casey were also asleep on the floor. Xen noticed they had arrived as they were parked and not moving, and the others were gone as well.

Xen stood up with a small stretch and walked to the open side door and stood in it and glanced around at the lab, the lab interested her as she did love to learn and investigate, especially regarding this new world she had recently arrived in. Xen had a smile on her face and suddenly dropped when she heard talking outside the door of the lab, she slowly stepped down and exited the vehicle and walked towards the door.

Xen peered out the doors and noticed Mikey and Donnie talking to a giant rat as they all sat on the couch except for Mikey who was sitting on the floor in front of them. Splinter quickly noticed Xen and instantly stood up in surprise because of the unexpected guest, and because Xen matched the description of Dragor that the turtles told him about.

Donnie glanced and followed his look up towards Splinter in confusement, he turned his look to where Splinter was directing his, "Xen, you're awake." Donnie said with a soft tone to reassure Splinter she was ok. Donnie was just about to get to the part and tell Splinter about Xen before she showed herself and alerted him.

Donnie scratched his chin lightly and smiled, "I was just about to tell you about her, she's with us, she wants to stop Dragor as well." Splinter only squinted and glared at Xen lightly and sat back down unamused, Xen tried to show respect that she wanted to not cause any harm and quickly grabbed the gem from her cloak pocket and showed it.

Donnie noticed this and pointed at the gem, "Dragor is after that, so me and her are gonna try and find a way to destroy it." "He wants it for this, teleporter? Correct?" Splinter questioned as he directed his attention back at Donnie who nodded in agreement.

Splinter stood to his feet and glanced at Xen, "Xen, was it?" Xen slowly stood up straight and lowered the gem slowly as well as she looked towards Splinter, Xen nodded her head. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you need." Splinter reassured her as he lifted his cane and turned away and walked towards the dojo to go to bed as well, Splinter could easily tell that Xen meant no harm as she has had many chances to take action if she really meant harm to his family.

Xen was confused as she looked at Donnie as Splinter left, Mikey just sat on the floor the whole time smiling. Donnie glanced at Xen and shrugged, "Well you heard him, if you want, we can get started on that gem?" Donnie stated as he pointed at the gem in her hands.

Xen glanced down at the gem in her hands and back up at Donnie giving a smile and nodded her head, she wanted to find a way to destroy it as fast as possible considering Dragor would not cease his search for it until he got his hands on it.

A few days have passed since they arrived back to New York, everyone was pretty much stuck at the liar and Adam had Casey stay with the turtles and April due to his work becoming occupied recently and unable to be home often.

April sat on the couch with the TV on as a random show was just playing, she was staring at her phone as she has not received a call at all since they left Mexico regarding Kana, nor from her parents and she started to become very worried.

Raph and Casey had left the lair a second time to get some fresh air but to also go buy some food, Donnie and Xen were in the lab still figuring out and experimenting ways to destroy the gem considering they had no luck so far, Mikey was playing on one of the gaming machine, attempting to beat Leo's high score.

Splinter like always was in the dojo either meditating or watching TV in his room within the dojo. It was pretty much a waiting game now.

April fell back on the couch with a sigh and almost began to fall asleep when her phone suddenly began to ring, she instantly shot up and answered not even bothering to look at the number to see who it was.

Leo was in the kitchen grabbing some snacks and walked out slowly as he noticed April finally received a call from someone, he then stopped as he also noticed April's face wasn't a happy one.

April lowered the phone slowly after she had it at her ear and talked, she was holding back tears and she decided to just stand up and walk out of the lair after hanging up and throwing the phone on the couch.

Leo stood watching April exit as he munched on half a chip and then glanced at Mikey as he let out a large sob of losing the game. Leo munched the other half of the chip as he decided to follow April to see what was wrong.

April had walked to a different tunnel away from the lair and chose a corner to sit at and droop down into her arms and knees, she held back her crying but it still came out slightly.

April heard footsteps approaching her and she lifted her head slightly to see, she noticed it was Leo who waved the bag of chips he was munching on at her. He leaned back against the wall next to April and tossed a chip into his mouth, "Want some?" Leo asked her as he peered at her from the corner of his eyes.

April glanced up at the chips then at Leo, over the few days that had passed, she has gotten the chance to train with him and Splinter while Donnie and Xen worked on the gem and because of Dragor, leaving the liar was practically forbidden unless supplies were needed otherwise.

April has also gotten the chance to talk with Splinter about the turtles and himself as he would tell a few stories as well about them. April remembered one thing that Splinter told her about Leo, was the fact he always wanted a sister and being with his brothers all the time always impacted him, not just because they were all boys, but the fact he was leader and had to always carry the burden for practically everything.

April gave him a soft smile, Leo only looked at her with a confused expression, "You've always wanted a sister, huh?" April remarked. Leo almost choked on a chip that he was chewing from what she said, he coughed once and stood up straight and moved his look away from April.

"Splinter told you, didn't he?" Leo questioned as he still did not look at her. April tucked part of her face back into arms, "Yeah…" Leo only sighed, "I haven't told anyone about that, only Splinter knew because I accidentally blurted it out in front of him when I was a kid. Not even my brothers know."

April turned her head slightly to face look at him and gave a confused look as she did, "Why haven't you told them?" Leo looked at April and gave another sigh as he sat down, "Because I don't want them to think I don't love them, and would rather choose a sister over them."

April remembered what Leo had told her on the balcony that day Jenna arrived at her apartment and attempted to send someone to kill Leo and Mikey who chose to protect her at the time, and in a result to that, Leo got his right arm injured but also stated she was considered family to them now over one choice she made to this day.

April was extremely grateful for meeting the turtles, though she never expected such an early turn of events on her first life experience. She didn't regret proceeding the incident in the alley that day at all and pursuing the turtles back down the sewer, she was mostly grateful that Leo chose to introduce himself, risking his exposure to help her when she twisted her ankle that one day.

If she hadn't met the turtles, she would be stuck at her apartment, cleaning, trying to find a job she would most likely hate and like always, never take the action into making friends. The turtles were more than just friends to her now, the fact they have done so much for her made her cherish them, as brothers. They were her family now.

April started crying again and this surprised Leo as he wasn't expecting it to happen so soon, but he noticed it was more of a happy grateful crying as she looked at him. Leo only looked at her confusingly, unsure what to do and wasn't sure if it was something he said that started to make her burst out crying again.

April knew he was full on in confusement with how much she tended to cry over little things lately, she also then began remembering the call she had received earlier and it broke her more.

Donnie let out a large sigh as he fell back in his chair, "This is getting nowhere! Maybe Leo could be of use if we tested his blood?" Donnie questioned, Xen covered her face with an arm as another experiment failed and caused a small explosion, she let out a small cough. "Testing his blood won't solve anything with this gem. He doesn't have full elder blood in him, so if you think that would help, it wouldn't. Not even the elders knew how to destroy it." Xen stated as she waved the smoke out of her face.

"Full elder blood?" Donnie questioned her as he sat up tilting his head. Xen moved her gaze towards Donnie, "Giving our blood to someone normally enhances their abilities and strength, whether it be physically, mentally, or spiritually. And in Leo's case, it seems to accept him both physically and spiritually, giving too much blood to someone though will normally kill them as our blood is a different bloodline compared to you mortals, that's why only Elders are capable of transferring their blood to someone else to give them those abilities."

"What would happen if a non elder gave someone blood?" Donnie asked her, Xen shrugged, "Depends on the amount of blood, but if we gave someone our blood, it would be like poison to you and slowly kill you or not. Or it might not have any effect at all." "Ok, what if someone who had elder blood in them got non elder blood transferred into them? Would it still poison them?" Donnie questioned as he blinked, becoming intrigued with this info about the Den Na' Vors.

Xen put a hand to her chin to remember for a second, "Well, take Leo for example. He only has half elder blood in him, so he can still have a chance of beating a Den Na' Vor, but that chance is low considering half's are uncommon, if anything they're good for blocking or holding us back rather than defeating and/or killing us. But if he got injected with say my blood, whether it be a small amount or medium, it wouldn't affect him honestly because of the elder blood being more powerful, half or not. But if he got injected with a large amount, then yeah, the poison would take effect and slowly kill him without treatment."

Donnie sighed and leaned back in the chair, "What's the treatment for it?" "Same blood type transfer, or more elder blood injected." Xen stated as she moved her gaze back at the gem on the table. Donnie let out another sigh as he stared at his computer monitors, "Your species sure are intriguing."

April took action without really realizing it until it happened but had no regrets towards it, she had jumped at Leo who was sitting next to her and hugged him while she was still crying. The sudden action surprised Leo, she was full of surprises and he knew this but still couldn't get used to it.

"The call…" April sobbed, Leo moved his surprised forward gaze to look at her and became a confused one, "It was the police…. My parents… died in an explosion… at the farmhouse…" April sobbed weakly.

Leo's eyes widened, 'explosion…' Leo thought for a second and came to realization as he remembered the incident back in Mexico. "Ap-" Leo began but was cut off as he and April both jolted in surprise and quickly faced the direction of the liar.

A loud crash was heard, and smoke had literally reached the tunnel they were in, the crash came from the liar, and based on what Leo was seeing just in a tunnel away, it was a very large scale crash of something that happened. 'Maybe another one of Donnie's experiments? No, too large...' Leo thought before he took action, "Stay here!" Leo growled at April as he knew how persistent she was.

Leo quickly stood up and ran back towards the liar, April gave a weak whimper and wiped away her tears, she gave a small growl not liking being told what to do and stood up and proceeded towards following Leo back to the liar.

Leo slid into the entrance of the liar and then glanced behind him as he heard April following, he only growled lowly and looked back into the liar as he and April noticed the wreckage, someone or something had crashed through the roof from the streets, literally.

Mikey was on the end of the entrance as he was behind the gaming machine in sudden shock, Donnie and Xen rushed out of the lab and stood at the entrance while Splinter had also come out of the dojo and stood at the entrance to see what had happened.

"Found you." A dark deep voice came from the crashed rubble, the smoke that surrounded almost the entire liar slowly faded away and everyone became surprised except Xen who growled deeply, "Dragor…"