Holy chalupa, guys! Three chapters in three days! I gotta say, in a world full of hardships, you all motivate me to keep writing. So, thank you.

This chapter was fun to write. It was very interesting to write about April before she discovered she was special. This chapter, I think, is a theory on what became of Metalhead before he showed up again in, I think, "TCRI." But I also wanted to write about just how much April cares about Donnie early on, even if she attempts to hide it.

With that said, happy reading!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to "TMNT."

October 28, 2012

APRIL'S POV

I spent my night on a rooftop... with a heavy metal turtle. I was told that this was Donnie's newest brilliant invention called Metalhead, and we were forced to watch the fight that Leo, Raph, and Mikey charged into at the warehouse on Division Street.

I was worried. Earlier today, I learned that the Kraang were going to unleash the mutagen into the city's water supply. But one of the Turtles was missing.

"Look at her," I heard Donnie speaking through Metalhead. "She's so beautiful. On this monitor, she can't tell I'm staring."

"You do know that's not muted, right?" I asked.

Donnie screamed from... wherever he was at that involved a monitor. Half of me wanted to laugh. The other half felt annoyed that he was staring at me through someone else's eyes.

"Of course!" Donnie answered nervously. "If it was muted, you couldn't hear me joking!"

There was a screech, and it was so loud I had to cover my ears.

"Man, I hope she bought that."

"That's the megaphone," I replied, not buying it at all.

"I know! So, how do you think the fight's going?"

We suddenly had to dodge away as a laser shot at us! We ended up falling down.

"AAH!" Mikey screamed from below. "THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! RUN!"

"Not great," I answered, slowly getting up.

Suddenly, Metalhead took off flying across the street and slammed himself inside through the glass. I thought about going home and letting the Turtles handle this. I also thought about going to the lair to talk to Donnie. But I decided to stay put for now, continuing to watch the fight. I could not see what was going on.

"AH, DUDE!" Mikey suddenly yelled.

I winced. The battle was still not going well. And then, there was an explosion. I gasped, now realizing that I had to find Donnie.

I started to run back to the lair to find him. But about halfway there, I found Donnie leaping over rooftops. I decided to follow him back to the battle. I had to stop a couple times to catch my breath. He was fast!

"ME!" I heard Donnie yelling.

I ran again. This time, I hid around the corner of the building as the battle continued. I wish I knew what was going on in the warehouse. I screamed when I heard another explosion.

"HEY, KRAANG!" Donnie yelled again. "THE ONE WHO IS CALLED YOUR MOTHER WEARS THE BOOTS THAT ARE MADE FOR COMBAT!"

I cracked up laughing at first and then fell silent, hoping no one heard me. Suddenly, it was all quiet. I tried to peer inside, but the Turtles were already leaving. I noticed Donnie had a frown on his face. I thought about catching up to them, but something told me to wait.

I went inside the quiet warehouse. All of the Kraang droids were decimated and there was not a single Kraang brain remaining. But then, I saw Metalhead hovering over something. I smiled and went over to analyze Donnie's invention. I noticed the antenna was missing.

"Hmm, so that's why Donnie rushed over. He lost his connection to Metalhead."

I also noticed some kind of bruising in Metalhead's chest. I tapped the robot on the shoulder and it was nonresponsive.

"You are one of Donnie's creations, my friend," I told the shut-down robot with a smile. "I need to find a way bring you back to him."

I glanced around the warehouse, hoping that not everything was destroyed. Whatever boxes were in the warehouse were broken apart. The Turtles had been successful in destroying the mutagen. But then, in a faraway corner, I found a forklift! I smirked.

But then I looked back at Metalhead. He seemed to be trapped in a broken beam. I tried lifting up the beam but I was not strong enough.

"Hmm... what else could I use?"

I tried pulling Metalhead out. But that, too, proved to be a fruitless attempt. Donnie truly put the heavy in the metal. I decided to try again with the beam. I laid down right next to the beam and used all my strength to push the beam with my legs and feet.

I screamed as I started to feel pain from it. However, the beam budged! I covered my ears as it fell to the ground. Metalhead was finally free.

"Whew!" I exclaimed, wiping my forehead. "Now to use that forklift to help Metalhead."

Once I figured out how to use the forklift, I drove over to Metalhead and placed him on it. I drove the forklift out of the open door and made the drive. Along the way, I glanced at my phone. It was one in the morning!

"My aunt's gonna kill me," I spoke. "I gotta get home. I'll get Metalhead to the lair tomorrow."

I took the forklift and Metalhead home. I hid both in the alleyway next to my apartment before venturing inside.

"April Michelle O'Neil, where have you been?" Aunt June yelled.

"I'm sorry, Aunt June!" I pleaded with her. "I lost track of time. I was..."

I glanced in the direction Metalhead was at.

"I was... giving a try at robot-building."

I chuckled awkwardly. Instead of yelling at me, Aunt June simply smiled.

"You have your father's spirit. He'd be very proud of you right now."

I smiled, and then I started to cry. I missed him very much.

"Oh, April. Come here."

Aunt June hugged me as I held on to her.

"I miss Kirby, too. He's the best little brother I could ever have. Now, go on to bed, April. You have school in the morning."

October 29, 2012

After I slept through my first three classes and survived the rest of the school day, I made a beeline for Metalhead. I had to cover him with a blanket so that no one would be weirded out. I kept my coat on as it was cold outside. As I drove the forklift around the city, I kept getting weird glances. But I didn't care. I was determined to bring Metalhead back to his owner.

I approached the alleyway closest to the lair. I got off the forklift and lifted the manhole cover fully off and to the side. I got back in my forklift and, to my amazement, dropped Metalhead in the sewer. Then, I glanced around.

"Aww, shucks! Now, how am I supposed to carry Metalhead around the sewers?"

I glanced around for another forklift, one that would fit in the manhole. I grinned when I found one in, again, a corner. I pushed the forklift onto the sewer.

BANG!

I glanced down and saw the forklift had hit Metalhead! I winced.

"Oops. I hope Donnie won't be mad at me."

I grabbed the manhole cover and closed it above me as I climbed down. But then I realized just how easy it was getting Metalhead and and forklift down. Getting Metalhead on the forklift seemed impossible!

"How do I do this?" I yelled.

I used all the strength I could muster to push Metalhead onto the forklift. After that, I had to use my strength again to push Metalhead to the lair. When I got there...

"It's not supposed to do that," Donnie cried. "RUN!"

The other Turtles screamed and ran in my direction.

"APRIL, HI!" Mikey yelled.

BOOM!

"What was that?" I asked.

"Another one of Donnie's attempts to upgrade his weapon," Leo answered, rolling his eyes. "He's already amazing with what he has. Why improve that?"

"Maybe I can talk to him. But can you help me with this?"

Raph laughed.

"No wonder Donnie likes you. He asked us the exact same thing about that Kraang droid he brought home."

"I'm surprised you managed to drag Metalhead all the way back here!" Leo said with shock in his voice. "How did you do that?"

"Lots of hard work, trust me."

"Well, where do you want us to take him?" Raph asked.

"Can you put it in Donnie's lab?"

"Aye-aye, Captain."

"But I'm the captain," Leo grumbled.

Mikey and I followed them into the lair. I saw Donnie cleaning up the ceiling. He glanced down at us and gasped.

"Wait, what are you guys doing with Metalhead?" Donnie asked. "I thought I left him in that warehouse!"

"You did!" Raph shot back. "April decided to carry him back here!"

"Wait, what?"

Donnie climbed down and approached me.

"April, why did you do that?"

"He's your creation, Donnie."

"Yeah, a creation I'm not proud of."

He slumped his shoulders and treaded to the dojo. I turned to see Master Splinter approaching me.

"Is Donnie okay, Master Splinter?" I asked.

"He was down earlier today. I thought my words had cheered him up, but now... Perhaps you should see what is wrong."

"I will. Thank you."

I followed Donnie into the dojo where I saw him practicing with his stick. But he seemed rather angry.

"Donnie?"

He did not hear me. He continued twirling and jabbing his stick. I felt nervous as I went up to the wall of weapons and picked out a stick of my own. I turned around...

WHACK!

Donnie gasped.

"April! I'm so sorry!"

"I'm just thankful to have this stick!" I said with a cheesy smile. "It kept me from harm."

He sighed, slowly released his weapon, and sat on the ground.

"What is wrong, Donnie?" I asked, putting the stick back. "What happened to Metalhead?"

"Things were going so well, April," Donnie answered mournfully. "And then I lost the signal. And then the Kraang took over and almost killed my brothers. I created a machine to kill. This wasn't what I wanted. That was why I left him in the warehouse."

"Donnie, what was your purpose of making Metalhead?"

"Splinter said yes to upgrading my weapon. So, I reverse-engineered the Kraang droid, hoping that it would fight for me."

"For you?"

"In case you haven't noticed, April, I'm not the best fighter in the world. And what is my weapon? It's a stupid stick. It can't slice things like Leo's swords. It can't stab like Raph's sais. And it's not as blunt as Mikey's nunchucks. What is my weapon good for?"

"What do you stand for, Donnie? Why do you fight?"

Donnie glanced over at me, the sparkle absent from his amber eyes.

"I fight for my family. I fight because I love them. And sometimes..."

He trailed off.

"I don't want to fight. I just want everyone to get along."

I put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"You are a peacemaker, Donnie. You invent things to help everyone, not just your family. And I can see just how eager you are to learn about everything."

"So when I faced Metalhead myself, I was fighting my own creation. I shouldn't have to!"

He slammed a fist on the floor.

"No, you shouldn't," I replied. "But you did it to help not just your family, but the city as well."

"Yeah."

Donnie sighed again.

"April, is this all I'm meant to do? Fight and sacrifice the things I love? Sacrifice the people I love?"

"No, Donnie, it isn't. So you had a setback with Metalhead. Don't let it beat you up! Don't let it question your beliefs! And please don't let it question who you are! You always have a choice, Donnie, to do the right thing. And sometimes, it's hard making the right choice. Sometimes, you'll want to do things your way. But you need to decide: is it better to help yourself, or to help others?"

I crawled in front of him and looked up at him, smiling at him.

"I brought Metalhead back here because he's your creation, Donnie. Metalhead may not be your upgraded weapon. But maybe he can serve a greater purpose for you, and for New York City. Didn't you say you were skilled in robotics?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"What if you repaired Metalhead so he can be a new training partner?"

Donnie finally smiled.

"I suppose it would be better than training with the same people every day."

"And Metalhead would become something you are proud of. Weren't you proud of him when you built him?"

"Of course!"

"You can be proud again, Donatello. You got this. And as for your weapon, I think it rocks. It only takes an olive branch to make peace."

Donnie chuckled.

"I never thought of it that way. Thanks, April."

"You're welcome."

"Donatello."

I turned around and saw Splinter walking in.

"How are you feeling, my son?"

"Better. Thank you, sensei."

"Good. Because I have a new weapon for you."

"Another wooden staff?" Donnie asked with some dread.

"The naginata."

Splinter took another staff out of the wall and demonstrated for us. He did some twirling for us and suddenly, a long blade appeared from one end. Donnie gasped, and this time, he was happy.

"I think we found my upgraded weapon."