Author's Note: I'd like to give a special shout out to my sister and author Sunny Lighter for collaborating with me on this story. I'd also like to thank the readers who have reviewed and are following the story.
As many of you probably already know, Sunny Lighter is the author of such stories as "Same Difference" and "Turtle Loops". Feel free to check them out.
The Robot Defender
The teens were doing their usual ninja stuff; meaning trying to find info on the Kraang and keeping an eye out for the Foot. One night, they all got a tip from April that some Kraang were hiding out in a warehouse and went to investigate. While the teens did that, their parents waited at home for them to return with April, who had come over. While they knew their children would be able to defend themselves, they still worried for their safety.
April found Yoshi meditating and Shen nervously pacing in the living room waiting for the children. Finally, April felt that she had to speak up.
"Shen, you need to relax," said April, "The guys will be back before you know it. They always come back. Yoshi trained them, so don't worry so much."
Shen sighed at that and said, "April, a parent cannot help but worry about their children, no matter how prepared they are. I'm sure your father is more worried about you than himself right now."
"You might be right," said April.
"You'll understand when you have children of your own one day," said Shen.
"Yoshi doesn't seem all that worried," said April.
Yoshi opened his eyes and looked at April as he said, "Who says I'm not worried? Meditation keeps me from panicking."
"Oh," said April while secretly thinking, 'I'm not sure I wanna see him panicking.'
Shen then heard the house phone ring and went to answer it. "Moshi, moshi? Oh, hello, Miwa. Oh, that's great. What? Really? Well, I guess that's alright. Let me see that when we get there before he does anything with it. Your father and I will be down there shortly. Oh, and April's here as well, we'll bring her along. Goodbye."
After hanging up the phone, Shen turned to her husband and said, "The children are heading to the lair. They completed their mission."
April heard that and smiled as she said, "That's great!"
Yoshi nodded and added, "Indeed it is."
"Oh, and I feel I should tell you, Donatello is bringing a droid with him," said Shen, "Miwa said he wanted to study it further."
"A droid?" Yoshi asked, "Do you mean a Kraang droid?"
"Yes, but without the alien inside," said Shen, "I told Miwa to let us have a look at it before Donatello did anything with it."
Yoshi thought about the idea for a minute and then said, "Alright, we'll do that."
And then he, Shen, and April headed out the back door and into the alley. Yoshi lifted up the manhole cover and Shen and April descended down into the sewer with him following close behind. Upon arrival at the lair, Yoshi, Shen, and April found the teens all hanging out together; and Donnie did indeed have an empty Kraang droid with him. At the moment he was arguing with Miwa.
"Come on, sis!" Donnie whined, "Let me take it apart now!"
"I said 'no'," said Miwa, "We're supposed to wait for mother and father before you do anything with it."
Leo then noticed their parents and told his siblings, "You don't have to wait any longer. They're here."
Miwa, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey all turned around and saw their parents coming through the turnstiles.
"Hi, mother. Hi, father," said Donnie. He then noticed his crush following close behind and blushed as he said, "Hi, April."
"Hi, Donnie," said April. And then she found a place to sit down and said, "I think your parents wanted to talk to you."
"Oh, right," said Donnie, remembering what he wanted to tell them. He cleared his throat and told them, "I've wanted to study the Kraang's technology for some time now."
"Oh, really?" Yoshi asked, "And why is that?"
"This technology is far more advanced than anything I've ever seen before. It's thousands, maybe millions, of years ahead of the technology of our planet!" said Donnie excitedly. He pulled out a piece of the droid and showed it off to the family and asked, "Do any of you have any idea what this is?"
There was a short silence until April said, "No."
"Me neither!" said Donnie, still excited, "But I would love to find out! Maybe I can even make something out of it myself!"
Shen smiled as her son was becoming more and more excited about the possibilities of using the Kraang technology Ever since he could walk, Donnie had always been a curious child; always eager to learn everything he could about something new.
"Alright, Donatello, you win," said Shen, "You may study the Kraang technology."
"That is so unfair! You can't just-" Donnie started complain, and then his changed to one of surprise and he asked, "Wait, did you just say 'yes'?"
"Yes," said Shen, "I can see how curious you are and I'm not one to stand the way of you and your curiosity."
"Also, If we are to fight more effectively against the Kraang, we must learn as much as possible about their technology," Yoshi added, "So, you have my permission to study the technology as well."
"Thank you guys!" said Donnie, hugging his parents. He let go and said, "You won't regret it!"
Donnie then grabbed the Kraang droid and pulled with him into his lab, happy as a little kid on Christmas morning. Raph rolled his eyes at the sight while Leo looked somewhat worried about his brother poking around the inside of a Kraang droid.
Over the next few days, Donnie studied the droid and was amazed at the complexity and power. With technology like this, he and his siblings could be invincible. He started brainstorming what to make. He went through many different weapon ideas until he finally decided to build a battle robot; he figured he could turn combat into a video game.
As Donnie started sketching designs, Shen came with some lunch for him and noticed his work.
"What are you working on, Donatello?" Shen asked.
"Oh hi, mother," said Donnie, "I've decided to use the Kraang tech to make a battle robot that I can control from anywhere."
This idea made Shen light up. Her son was currently inventing a way for him and his siblings to fight the Kraang without having to put themselves in harm's way. This was a dream come true!
"That's wonderful!" said Shen, "I can't wait until it's finished."
Donnie sighed and said, "It may take a while, though. I still can't get the design right."
Suddenly, Donnie felt something rubbing against his leg. He looked down and saw Spike crawling underneath his desk.
"Spike, what're you doing down there? Raph's gonna be upset if something happens to you," said Donnie.
He picked up the turtle and was about to bring him back to his brother. However, as he looked at the turtle in his hands, the wheels in Donnie's head began to turn. Donnie put Spike down on his desk and then took a couple of pictures of him with his phone. After he was done taking pictures, Donnie picked Spike back up and carried him out of the lab.
Raph was in the living room looking under the couch for his pet turtle when the voice of his younger brother got his attention.
"Hey, Raph, look who I found," said Donnie.
Raph looked up and smiled at the sight of his lost pet. "Spike! There you are! I've been looking all over for you, buddy," He said as he stood up and walked over to Donnie. He took Spike in his hands and said, "Thanks, Donnie. I owe you one."
"You're welcome, Raph," said Donnie.
"Where'd you find him anyway?" Raph asked, giving his pet a hug.
"He was in my lab crawling around under my desk," said Donnie, "While he was there, I got some design ideas for my new inventions."
Raph smiled at his pet turtle and said, "Ya hear that, buddy? You were Donnie's inspiration. Can't wait to see what you make."
Donnie smiled proudly and said, "You won't be disappointed with the results."
Donnie then left the room and descended back to his lab to work on his new project. Raph could not help but get curious about what his little brother was working on.
A week went by and Donnie was still hard at work on his new project. In the meantime, everything went along like normal.
One Saturday afternoon, April was visiting their house with her laptop. She had told the siblings and their father that she set up a message board to keep an eye out for unusual sightings around the city. People had sent in pictures and videos; her main hope was to find anything possible to track down the Kraang and save her father. One video in particular caught their attention, that of a gas explosion. Emerging from the smoke was a Kraang droid. This certainly seemed promising.
"What do think, Leo?" Raph asked.
"I think it should be looked into," said Leo. He looked over at his siblings and said, "Miwa's the most stealthy, so she'll go and check it out for us. If she finds anything out, she'll contact us. Got that, sis?"
Miwa smiled and said, "Loud and clear."
Miwa stood up from the couch and made her leave to do her reconnaissance mission. After Miwa left, Shen arrived in the house and noticed that her daughter was absent from the group.
"Where is Miwa?" Shen asked.
"She left a little earlier to go do some recon on a possible Kraang plot," said Raph.
This news was quite unsettling to Shen. She would have gotten a word out had it not been for the huge robotic footsteps coming their way from the back door. Everyone turned around and saw a yellow turtle shaped robot standing in front of them. The robot opened its mouth, revealing a megaphone inside, and a familiar voice came out of the speaker.
"Take me to your leader," said the voice.
Shen and April immediately started laughing after hearing that line. The boys on the other hand looked annoyed at it, while Yoshi seemed just as amused as the girls.
"Donatello, stop fooling around," said Yoshi, still finding the robot speaker trick amusing.
The next thing they heard was the sound of their brother's laughing voice. Donnie came out of the corner holding a remote control in his hands and laughing.
"Sorry," said Donnie, trying to stop himself from laughing, "I couldn't resist."
"What is this thing?" Leo asked.
Donnie smiled proudly and said, "I'm glad you asked. Ladies and gentlemen, and Raphael..." the statement made Raph annoyed, "This is my very latest, and possibly greatest, invention."
"Why does it look like a turtle?" Leo asked.
"I got the idea when Spike was crawling around under my desk," said Donnie, "It just felt right."
"So, this robot was inspired by my little buddy?" Raph asked. He thought things over for a minute and then smiled and said, "I like it."
"I knew you would," said Donnie with a smile.
Leo looked skeptically at the robot and asked, "Does it even have weapons or anything?"
To answer Leo's question, Donnie pressed a button on the remote. The robot made squeaking noises and revealed several hidden weapons such as lasers, flamethrowers, machine guns, and a baseball bat. This made everyone jump in surprise. Donnie smiled at their reactions and pressed a button on the robots head to retract the weapons.
"Does that answer your question, aniki?" Donnie asked Leo.
Leo nodded his head and Shen shot Donnie a stern expression and said, "Hamato Donatello, what did I say about weapons in the house?"
Donnie shrank and said, "Don't use weapons in the house."
"That's right," said Shen.
"Sorry, guys," said Donnie.
The others shrugged and told Donnie that everything was fine. Mikey walked up to the robot and started looking it over, fascinated by the work his brother did on it.
"How did you make it?" April asked.
"I reverse engineered it from the Kraang droid I brought home," said Donnie, "I figured it might come in handy next time that we have a particularly dangerous mission. If that happens, the drone can handle the dangerous stuff while we stay out of harm's way."
"Donnie, that's cool and all but we don't need a battle robot," said Leo, "It takes the whole point out of being a ninja."
"It's exactly the point of being a ninja. We adapt," said Donnie.
"It's true," said Yoshi, "Ninjas have improved their arsenal for centuries. How do you think we have such a wide verity of weapons?"
"Good point," said Leo.
"Hey, Donnie, does your robot have a name yet?" Mikey asked, "Cause if not, I have a great one in mind."
"No, actually," said Donnie, "I've just been calling it 'the drone'."
"Can we call it Metalhead?" Mikey asked, "I think it fits."
Donnie thought about the idea for a bit, and then said, "Okay, his name is Metalhead."
Meanwhile, Miwa had found the secret hiding place that the Kraang were using. She hid behind a large wooden crate, in full ninja gear for stealth, and watched as a Kraang droid entered the code into the keypad and then go inside a seemingly abandoned warehouse.
"Alright, my robotic friend, let's see what you're up to," Miwa quietly, and then climbed in quietly through an open window.
Once inside, Miwa hid in the shadows and listened closely to what the Kraang were saying to each other. As predicted, the Kraang did not even detect her presence.
"Is that which is the unstable mutagen ready for usage in the experiment that Kraang is ready to begin?" The first Kraang asked.
The second Kraang nodded it's head and answered, "The unstable mutagen will be tomorrow releasing in the city's water supply."
Hearing what the Kraang just said made Miwa's eyes widen in shock. The Kraang were often difficult to understand, but one did not need to be completely fluent in their speech to know that they were planning on poisoning the city's water supply with mutagen! This cannot be allowed to happen!
"Many infected humans will mutate," said the first Kraang, "This is being a good way to perfect the mutagen to the point of perfection."
"Kraang does not have many options for perfecting the mutagen to the point of perfection," said the second Kraang, "Let Kraang be reminded that Kraang is missing the key."
"Let Kraang be reminded that the losing of the key was not the fault of Kraang," said the first Kraang.
This made Miwa raise her eyebrow. What could they have been talking about? What was this 'key' that they needed. Was it some kind of chemical or metal or technology. And why were they calling the mutagen unstable? Was it not supposed to create the mutants that it made? Unfortunately, all of that would have to wait. Right now, she had to get the information to her family so that they could stop the Kraang before they could begin their evil experiment.
Quickly, Miwa whipped out her cell phone and started texting Leo what she had just found out. She could only pray that he and the others arrive in time to help stop the Kraang. After sending the text, Miwa stayed in her hiding place and listened to more of the Kraang's conversation.
A third Kraang arrived in the warehouse and said, "The mutagen supply for the experiment of Kraang will be arriving in the time known as soon."
"Excellent," said the second Kraang.
"And what news of the girl?" asked the first Kraang, "The one known as April O'Neil. Has she been acquired?"
The third Kraang shook it's head and said, "Negative. The one known as April O'Neil has not been acquired."
"What of the boy?" asked the first Kraang, "Has Kraang been able to obtain the one known as Donatello Kurama?"
"Negative. Both April O'Neil Donatello Kurama are always too heavily protected," said the third Kraang, "However, Kraang sees no real point in capturing the boy. The plan which is the invasion plan of Kraang can be accomplished with or without the one known as Donatello. In addition, Kraang already has many scientists in their possession. Missing just one will not adversely affect the plan."
The first Kraang punched the third in the robotic face and said, "The one known as Donatello Kurama is very valuable to Kraang! He has the potential to perfect the mutagen to the point of perfection in ways many other scientists cannot! Kraang cannot allow the one known as Donatello Kurama to do the thing called slip away!"
"Kraang did think of that," said the third Kraang, "Kraang apologizes."
The first nodded it's head and walked away to get back to work, while the second Kraang looked at the third and said, "Kraang is that which humans call an idiot."
As the second Kraang walked away, the third put its robot hands on the robot hips and said, "Well, Kraang is that which humans call mean!"
Had the situation been different, Miwa might have laughed at the Kraang's antics. However, she could not ignore what they were saying about needing her younger brother to perfect their mutagen. That explained why they were after the other scientists, including Kirby O'Neil. She also started wonder why the Kraang were talking about trying to capture April when they had her father the scientist. Were the Kraang worried about Kirby being uncooperative, or was their another reason? And what was this 'key' that they needed that they apparently lost?
Back at home, Mikey was making faces at Metalhead while April laughed at him. Donnie could see how impressed everyone was with the robot, so he decided to show off some more of its features.
"Okay, Mikey, cut that out," said Donnie, "I wanna show you guys something else."
Mikey backed away from Metalhead and allowed Donnie to show them what he wanted to. Everyone watched as Donnie connected Metalhead's controller to their video game console. After Donnie turned the TV on, they all saw on the screen their living room, exactly from the point where Metalhead was viewing.
Donnie smiled and explained, "With Metalhead hooked up to the TV, we can see what he sees. Watch this."
Using the controller, Donnie made Metalhead walk over to the window and look outside. Everyone looked at the screen and were impressed to see the streets and buildings outside the window. They could also hear the sounds of the city very well.
"He also has a microphone so we can hear what's happening around him," said Donnie, "And, as you all saw earlier, the speaker allows the controller to speak for Metalhead."
"Very impressive, Donatello," said Yoshi, "You've clearly put a lot of thought and hard work into this new weapon."
"When do you think you will be able to use it in battle?" Shen asked.
"I don't think we'll need it, mother," said Leo, "We can fight."
Shen was about to tell Leo something when suddenly, they heard an alert from Leo's cell phone notifying him that he had a text. He looked at his phone and read the message he just got from Miwa. His eyes widened in shock after reading it.
"Guys, we need to go now!" said Leo, "Miwa just texted me. She said that Kraang are gonna poison the city's water supply with mutagen!"
Everyone gasped at the news. "Are you serious?" Raph asked his older brother.
"Afraid so," said Leo.
"If that happens, the whole city will become a disaster area!" said Donnie, "There'll be mutants everywhere!"
"Might not be all bad," said Mikey, "There could be good mutants."
"Maybe," said April, "But we still can't let the Kraang mutated innocent people."
"I agree," said Yoshi, "They must be stopped at any cost."
"Then we have no time to lose," said Leo, "Let's move."
Raph, Donnie, and Mikey nodded and their heads and followed Leo to the lair to gear up for their mission. What they did not realize was that Donnie had left Metalhead's controller hooked up to the TV and Shen noticed it and got an idea. Whatever it took, she was going to protect her babies.
After gearing up, Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey jumped from roof to roof to the warehouse where their big sister was waiting for them. They stopped on one rooftop and looked over the area to make sure they were going the right way. Once they finally arrived at the warehouse where Miwa was waiting for them, the boys snuck in through the same open window that their sister used, unaware of the presence that was tailing close behind them.
Once inside the warehouse, the boys looked down and saw some Kraang droids carrying mutagen to prepare it for their plan. Leo turned to his brothers and signaled them to attack, which they did. Leo sliced one droid while Raph stabbed another with his sais. Next, Donnie tripped another droid with his staff and Mikey punched it into nothing. Two more came to attack the boys again, but were easily taken down by a tessen and then a flash with a blade. It took a moment for the boys to realize that the flash was their sister. Miwa started stabbing an already downed Kraang repeatedly, which made the boys cringe. Finally, Leo decided to put a stop to it and walked over to his sister.
Leo pulled her away and said, "Sis, that's enough. They're down. And it doesn't look like they're getting back up."
Miwa breathed and then said, "Sorry about that. Something they said earlier made me mad."
"What did they say?" Raph asked in confusion.
Miwa shook her head and said, "I'll tell you guys later. Right now we've gotta move."
"She's right," said Leo, "We have to stop them before the whole city becomes a mutant nesting ground."
The others nodded in agreement and followed Leo and Miwa to stop the Kraang, keeping to the shadows. They watched as the remaining Kraang prepared to go through with their plan to poison the water supply with mutagen. The ninjas got ready to jump out and attack them when they heard Donnie cry out. Miwa, Leo, Raph, and Mikey looked behind them and saw Donnie on his knees clutching his head as he moaned in agony.
"Bro, what's wrong?" Mikey asked.
"My head," Donnie moaned, "It feels like it's gonna explode or something."
"We better get out of here before-" Leo started to say, but was interrupted by the sound of the beeps and whistles of Kraang droids. They all looked up to find Kraang droids staring at them with their blasters aimed at them.
"Too late," said Raph.
The Kraang droids prepared to fire their weapons at the siblings when something suddenly fell from the ceiling and crushed some droids. The thing that fell on the droids turned out to be Metalhead, and it was standing around with its arms awkwardly.
"Metalhead?" Mikey asked.
"Where'd the robot come from?" Miwa asked.
"I'd like to know what it's doing here," said Leo. He then looked to his genius brother and said in a scolding manner, "Tetsuo?"
"Hey, don't look at me," said Donnie, who still had a bad migraine, "I didn't bring him."
"I'm controlling the robot, my children," said a feminine voice from Metalhead's speaker.
Upon recognizing the voice, the ninjas stared in shock and said, "Mother?!"
"What are you doing?" Leo asked, "And what is wrong with Metalhead's arms?"
"His hands aren't on his hips?" Shen asked from the speaker.
"No," said Raph, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Try pressing 'B'!" Donnie called.
"Oh," said Shen, "Thank you, Tetsuo."
After that, Metalhead's arms switched from the awkward position to on his hips. Several Kraang open fired on Metalhead, but to their surprise, said robot was quite resilient so their lasers did not harm him in the least: Donnie was quite proud of how thick he made Metalhead's armor.
"That's very nice," said Shen, "Now it's my turn."
Suddenly, a pistol came out of Metalhead's left hand. Metalhead aimed the pistol at the robots and started firing lasers at the Kraang, destroying their droids instantly. As Metalhead fired the laser in a circle, it sounded like Shen was enjoying it.
"This is what happens when you mess with a mother's children!" she said.
Next, Metalhead's right hand came off and flew right at the Kraang droids, knocking their heads clean off. After that was done, the hand returned to the robot and Shen seemed proud of the outcome.
"Not bad for a beginner, if I do say so myself." said Shen.
"Are you saying you were just winging it with those controls?!" Leo asked in surprise.
"Actually, I found a cheat sheet that your brother wrote lying on the coffee table at home," Shen explained.
"Anybody wanna explain the robot to me?" Miwa asked.
"Sis, that there is our brother's latest creation, Metalhead," said Mikey, "I came up with the name."
"Is there a story behind this I should know about?" Miwa asked.
"Yes, but we'll tell you about it later," said Leo, and then he turned to Metalhead and said, "Mother, we'll handle the Kraang, you use Metalhead to get Tetsuo out of here; he's in pretty bad shape."
"No, you all get away from here," said Shen, "I will handle the Kraang."
"We can handle them, Mother," said Miwa, "We've always fought the Kraang and won."
"I hear what you are saying, my daughter," said Shen, "But as your mother, I have a duty to protect my children."
Miwa was about to protest when Mikey spotted more Kraang about to attack Metalhead from behind and screamed, "Look out!"
Metalhead swiftly turned around with a flamethrower on it's right hand and fired at the Kraang. Next, Shen switched to the pistol and open fired at the Kraang; unfortunately, she almost got her children as well as the Kraang while she was shooting. Unbeknownst to the ninjas and their mother, a fallen Kraang saw the destructive capabilities of Metalhead and recognized it as one of their destroyed droids. This gave the Kraang an idea and it exited it's robot body.
Back at the house, Yoshi had returned home after bringing April back to her aunt and found his wife playing a video game in the living room, which he found a little odd since she was not that into video games. However, upon closer inspection, Yoshi found out that she was not playing a video game but using their sons' new invention to destroy Kraang droids.
"Shen!" Yoshi shouted, "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" Shen asked, "I'm protecting our children from the Kraang."
"That machine is untested," said Yoshi, "Using it in combat now could do more harm than good."
"I know what I'm doing Yoshi," Shen insisted, "Trust me, everything is under control."
"Shen, look out for those gas tanks!" Yoshi shouted.
Unfortunately, Yoshi called out too late and Metalhead's laser hit the gas tanks causing them to explode. The resulting explosion caused Metalhead to fly backwards into a wall. The words "Lost Signal" appeared flashing on the screen in red letters which made Shen and Yoshi panic; not only could they not control the robot, but that blast could have seriously injured their sons and daughter.
"No!" Shen screamed, "I've lost the control signal! Children, are you all alright! Can you hear me!"
"We're fine!" Raph's voice called, "A little banged up, but we're fine!"
As Shen and Yoshi sighed in relief, Shen noticed a Kraang on screen crawling up to Metalhead's view.
"Hold on," said Shen, "What's that Kraang doing?"
"I do not know," said Yoshi, "But it cannot be good."
Back at the warehouse, Miwa and the boys were still recovering from the gas explosion. While Leo looked Mikey over and Raph looked over Donnie, Donnie could swear he was seeing strange images in his head. In his mind, Donnie could see a Kraang taking control of Metalhead and forcing the robot to attack them. These images seemed to real to be just his imagination, he had to tell his siblings quickly. Opening his eyes, Donnie looked up and saw his older brother worried for him.
"You gonna be okay, man?" Raph asked.
"Guys, we have to get out of here now," said Donnie, "The Kraang are gonna take control over Metalhead."
"What?" Mikey asked as Leo helped him up, "Are you sure?"
"Yes," said Donnie, trying to get up, "We have to go now!"
"Bro, how could you possibly know what their planning?" Raph asked, skeptically.
"Just trust me on this!" Donnie barked.
"Uh, guys," said Miwa, "I think we might be too late."
The boys looked up to see Metalhead with a Kraang on its head and it's eyes glowing light purple. It slowly made its way to the ninjas and started talking in as threatening a tone as a Kraang Could muster with their robotic way of speaking.
"The ones that which are called ninjas will now be called ninjas that are..." the Kraang said through Metalhead's speaker and then opened its mouth and said through the megaphone, "... destroyed."
Mikey gulped and said, "Am I the only one here who's scared?"
Metalhead pointed the laser at the ninjas and they all flinched and Raph answered Mikey, "Actually, Naoto, I think I speak for all of us when I say you're not alone!"
"Run!" Leo yelled.
No sooner did Leo scream that than the ninjas dove away from Metalhead in time to avoid being shot by it's lasers. It did not take long for the still standing Kraang droids to join in start shooting at the ninjas. The ninjas did all they could to avoid Metalhead's attacks, but they were quickly running out of room to dodge. Things were starting to look hopeless for the ninjas until Donnie got a really good look at the inside of the building. He could tell that the way the Kraang and Metalhead had shot at one of the metal beams that that one in particular might come apart with just the right shot; with this knowledge, Donnie figured that there might be a chance to defeat Metalhead.
"Doesn't that robot have a weak spot somewhere?" Leo asked.
"Unfortunately, I made him too perfect," said Donnie, "Unless you can take his head off that is."
"This always works," said Mikey, and then he ran up to Metalhead in between the legs. Unfortunately, all that happened was Mikey hurting his foot, "Usually it works."
"It usually works on our other opponents because they're humans so there's actually something there to kick," said Miwa, "That won't work with Metalhead because he's a robot, so he's all metal!"
"Oh," said Mikey, who now felt a little embarrassed.
"Listen," said Donnie, "I have a plan to stop Metalhead, but I need the rest of you to keep the other droids busy while I do it."
"There's no way we're letting fight that thing by yourself!" said Raph.
"We don't have a choice!" said Donnie.
Not seeing anyway other way to defeat the robot, Raph nodded and allowed Donnie to face Metalhead alone. Donnie unsheathed his staff and faced his creation with the intention of facing him in battle while his siblings faced the other droids. As Miwa, Leo, Raph, and Mikey charged at the Kraang droids, Donnie dodged Metalhead's attacks and even made it fly back at him. Finally, they were close enough to the beam where all he had to do was get him over there.
"Hey, Kraang!" Donnie, called, "The one who is called your mother wears the boots that are made for combat!"
"The comment that is made by you shows ignorance of Kraang," said the Kraang, "The ones known by you as mother..."
"Just come get me!" Donnie snapped, not feeling the desire to be corrected by a Kraang.
Ignoring Donnie's comment about its mother, if it has one, the Kraang fired it's lasers at him. As the lasers came flying at him, Donnie leaped forward and jumped over the Kraang's head. The Kraang continued to fire at Donnie unaware that it had just fired at the beam that Donnie was hoping it would. After Donnie landed safely on the floor, the metal beam came falling down so, Donnie used his staff to block the blow that was surely to come upon Metalhead. By the time the Kraang had realized what was going on, it was too late to dodge and it was crushed by the falling beam. The others looked at the fallen beam, worried for their brother's safety, and saw Metalhead trapped between the metal beam and their brother's wooden staff, their brother at a safe distance.
Donnie looked up at his handy work, smiled proudly and said, "Booyakasha!"
"Sounds weird when he says it," said Mikey.
"Sounds weird when you say it," said Raph.
"That which is known as revenge shall be had upon those who call themselves the ninjas," said the Kraang.
Right after the Kraang said that, Metalhead's turned off and the Kraang opened it's eyes to glare at Donnie. Next, it jumped off of Metalhead and landed on Donnie's face, which made Donnie scream in terror. Luckily, the Kraang got off of his face and crawled away from the ninjas.
"Eww, gross," said Miwa, "Our brother has Kraang germs on his face."
"I highly doubt there's any such thing," said Leo.
"Even so," said Donnie, getting back up, "I'm washing my face when we get home. Ow!"
After Donnie got out from underneath his creation, Raph punched his genius brother in the arm and snapped, "That was for scaring us!"
"Sorry," said Donnie, "But it was the only way."
"Well, now that that's over, let's get back home and rest," Leo suggested, "Before the cops show up to investigate the strange sounds and lights."
Everyone nodded in agreement and helped remove Metalhead from the wreckage; it would not look good if the police found a destroyed robot in the building. After safely removing the robot, the siblings all retreated from the building together and headed home.
Back at home, the siblings changed out of their ninja garbs and into their pajamas and washed up before getting ready for bed.
As they were getting ready, Shen approached her children and told them, "I'm so sorry about what happened."
"You're sorry?" Leo asked.
"If I had not taken Metalhead into combat, the Kraang might not have gotten control over him," said Shen, "I endangered you all by using him."
"Mother, it was an accident," said Miwa, "You had no way of knowing that the Kraang would take control of Metalhead and use him against us."
"Besides, I'm the one who built him in the first place," said Donnie, "So, I'm just as much responsible for what happened."
"You may have invented Metalhead," said Shen, "But I was the one who chose to take him into combat without properly testing it. I was just so scared of losing you all to the Kraang."
The kids all smiled at their mother and Mikey said, "We understand; parents can't help but worry about their children."
"And I also know that you are ninjas, so danger is inevitable," said Shen, "But, even so, as your mother, it is supposed to be my duty to keep you all safe."
"That is all true," said Yoshi, "I have the same feelings as you, my love. If things could be different, then I would be the one risking my life instead. But, as things are, all I can do is believe in our sons and daughter and believe that they will return safely."
Shen smiled at her husband's words and said, "I will do the same, as best I can."
Yoshi then turned to his genius son and said, "Another thing that is puzzling me is how Donatello knew exactly what the Kraang was about to do before it happened. Shen and I could not predict its intentions and we could see it on the screen."
"I don't know," said Donnie, "I just knew somehow. It was like I was looking right into the Kraang's thoughts."
"How strange," said Yoshi, pondering what his son had just told him.
"Oh, almost forgot," said Leo, "Sis, you said you heard the Kraang say something earlier that made you mad. What was it."
Miwa took a deep breath and told her family, "Well, I found out why they were after Donnie, Mr. O'Neil and the other scientists. Apparently, they're using them to perfect the mutagen; which leads me to believe that it wasn't supposed to do what we've seen it do here. Hearing that they wanted use our brother as a slave just really got me angry."
"Whoa," said Leo, "Thank god they didn't know Donnie was with us."
Raph punched the couch cushion and snapped, "There's no way we're letting them use our brother like that!"
Mikey hugged his older twin and said, "Don't you worry, D, we'll protect you from those evil brain things."
Donnie smiled at his baby brother and said, "Thanks, Mikey."
"Wait, there's more!" said Miwa, "The Kraang are also still looking for April, so we should be sure to keep her close. I did hear them say why they were looking for her, but I know it can't be good. They also said that they had lost something that they called 'the key', whatever that is; I think it could be what they need to perfect the mutagen."
All of this new information was a lot to take in all at once, but the family understood how serious the situation was becoming. They all agreed to do everything to keep both Donnie and April safe whilst searching for Kirby O'Neil and keeping an eye out for 'the key' that the Kraang needed. One way or another, they would keep their family and friend safe and stop the Kraang.