The Hamato clan is in the Hidden City, and with all of them wanting to do different things, they agree to split up to do what they want. Donnie wants to spend the day with April, and had been hoping to see a Shadow Fiend in the Battle Nexus. He's excited to see fighting, and its probably fine if he's there as a patron, but he's curious how a contender has undefeated so long.
April tells him to go on ahead while she does something quick in Witchtown. Clearly a continuation of a previous conversation.
What Donnie feels is an intense bolt of FEAR. He responds with annoyance and offense at her asking a witch for help with her science project over him. He brags with flamboyance of being Mister Science, ever confident, but the fear is just bubbling under the surface.
The fear does not leave for almost the entire episode.
April shows pictures of his past help which is less to do with Donnie being incapable as he often goes Way Too Far with his help and things get out of control. Mad science is not for school projects. That's how you get real lava and mutant potatoes trying to kill you. Also a hoody is apparently enough of a disguise in New York. Donnie also does not accept responsibility for the mishaps, even as the insecurity grows with the fear. He knows it was his fault, he let himself get out of hand, but admitting that is terrifying.
April decides to be simple, the science of chairs! She wants a witch to give her a little bling to spice up the project. Donnie is of the opinion that mystic powers can't be more blingy than science. April tells him to let it go and Donnie scoffs at the idea. Let it go? Does she even know him?! He is not known for letting it go.
They arrive at Witch Town. Inside, there is magic abound. Spells going off, flying brooms, and when Mayor Mira shows up, singing ghost cats and magically produced outfits for April and him both. He is quick to tears off the frog costume. Its also apparently Peace Offering Day, an important festival for Witch Town.
Donnie's arrogant demeanor is very apparent, acting like he's better, dismissive of the magic, being rude to the witches, and April is very obviously getting fed up with his attitude. She wants him to play nice, she needs really the help, and when he dismisses it more, she threatens him with a bat. He's only mildly afraid of the bat, in that it DOES hurt, but mostly because it means she's real pissed off if she's using it. He finally relents, saying for one day only, he'll just let something go.
The fear and insecurity is bubbling up more and more. He's made her upset. He doesn't want her to be upset, but she's fighting him so very hard on this. She really wants the witches' help over his. She wants the mystic powers over what he can provide.
He's trying to let it go. He's genuinely, absolutely trying to let it go, makes comments to his efforts because how else will April know he is Trying.
They meet Gentry, who summoned up a bunch of worms from the ground and they talk to her. She tries to offer April a little razzle dazzle for her project, and her demonstration gains the attention from yet more witches, who start casting spells in different ways to dazzle up chairs.
April is absolutely impressed, even as Donnie looks at the effects and most he can easily figure out how to do HIMSELF, but April doesn't want HIS help, she wants THEIR help, and she's so delighted, she's so happy because of what mystic powers can do, she thinks they can do it better than him-
He's terrified.
Terror won't come to the surface, it gets twisted up in his mind.
He's furious.
He lashes out, calls mystic powers simple and soft, and there is offense in the villagers for him insulting them on peace offering day.
He tells April she's wrong for not selecting him and he's furious and scarfed and manic, just kind of losing it a bit because he can prove it, will prove it, and fuck it, he will prove it IN SONG because he has never lived a single day of his life not being extra when showing off.
He really does just have a sound system he can summon from his back. He is Very Good at tech despite mishaps. He summons up lasers because lasers are always cool and then-
Accidentally destroys the sacred statue of their founder.
He gets April and him banished from Witch Town and Gentry teleports them to the front gate. April is angry at him for ruining this for her, and messing up her project. Gentry vents her own frustration because now she's behind on getting specific kinds of worms for the Peace Offering Potion.
Donnie sees an opportunity here. He messed things up for April, he doesn't want to mess things up for April, and he speaks up.
April...hits him with a bat part way through. She is very upset with him and doesn't want him to cause more problems. Donnie takes getting hit with a bat very well. It hurts, but he's quick to recover. Mutant biology is hardy, yo.
Donnie says he can use science to get her worms, but only if Gentry gives April bling for her project. April is surprised at this.
Donnie says its his peace offering for not listening to her earlier. He feels bad, genuinely. He didn't want to ruin things for her, he knows he's just scared. He's still scared, he still hates it, but more than his ever present fear, its the fear of making April suffer because he's not able to deal with his own damn feelings.
Gentry agrees. Donnie uses science to get worms out of the ground and then speed ages them. Because Donnie can just do that shit. Gentry is unsure if the worms will be good enough, but they're out of time, so she takes them. But hey, April has her bling!
Donnie goes with April to see the potion finished and he can't help the feeling of satisfaction. Ha! Banished and he still saved the day. April wants to know if that was his actual motivation and he's quick to deny. He was sorry. He just can't help wanting to one up mystics. April doesn't look happy and he feels that fear ratchet up again.
So the Peace Offering Potion is actually a tribute to a giant monster man to leave them alone every year. Donnie's fear has taken hold, so his arrogance takes center stage and he pipes up, saying how the potion was helped by SCIENCE, ha!
Except then the monster changes colors and goes into a a berserk rage. The color change points to improperly aged words and the witches are enraged. Some chase Donnie and April for causing the rampage. Most witches are dealing with the monster that is proceeding to destroy Witch Town.
Donnie is feeling a lot of things when April says they need to help them. Its true. They can't, it would be wrong. He doesn't want their town destroyed, nor people hurt, but that maddening fear is still there. He made this mess. He made this problem. He has to fix the problem. If he FIXES the problem, then that means science is still better. Science can cause AND fix its own problems! Especially when their magic isn't stopping the monster!
When Donnie says the witches will have to admit science is better if he beats the monster with his tech, April is angry, but he's already off. He does get a few good hits on the monster, but he grabs his tech bo and breaks off a good chunk of it, sending Donnie flying.
Gentry's bling spell breaks against April's bat, imbuing it with a sort of enhance kinetic force affect. It hits things a lot harder, even things one shouldn't be able to hit. April uses it to knock back an energy blast that was about to hit Donnie.
April is pleased with the result, and Donnie dismisses it as a lucky swipe and April is getting annoyed at him. She wants to know why he can't admit mystic powers aren't that bad, and he denies her again, and she snaps at him. She wants to know why he's obsessed with proving her wrong on this!
And something snaps in Donnie because-
It wasn't about proving her wrong. He doesn't want to argue with April. He hates when they have serious fights, hates how they make him feel, and hates how they upset and hurt her.
He's the science guy, he tells her.
And he realizes he has to tell her the truth, because April is special. April is the one he can tell these things to. Because he's hurt April by not telling her what he was feeling and. And he thinks he's got them down.
In truth, all Donnie thinks he's good for is solving problems with his science and tech. This is what he brings to his family, this is what he can do for them. The moment April chose a witch over him for science, he became terrified. Terrified that he wouldn't be able to help his family. Terrified that his means to show them how he loves and cares for them will no longer be an option. Terrified that he will no longer be important to his family.
"If mystic powers can everything I can do, but better, then why would you guys even need me?"
And April, wonderful April, understands all the fears hidden under those words.
She proceeds to slap his face to get his attention, tells him off for saying that. Because Donnie isn't important to her for his tech, but because he's him.
Something inside him unwinds at that. A deep rooted fear that he was only as important as the services he could provide. It doesn't get rid of the fear completely...but hearing April assure him that he doesn't have to do anything to be of value has helped loosen the fear's grasp on him.
The fear that had been ever present finally fades.
She doesn't think mystic is better then science, she thinks they're better together, just like them. Donnie can only agree, because they are better together. So they decide to use the mystic and his tech to beat up the giant monster.
It goes a whole lot better this time.
Donnie looks to the witches and he realizes that...yeah. Yeah, he absolutely fucked up, and he really should own that. So he calls attention from them.
He apologizes for not being more minded. He explains that mystic powers are the one thing he hasn't been able to solve and its absolutely maddening to him to have something he doesn't understand.
...made even more maddening in that his BROTHERS can use mystic powers and understand how they work with ease and they show it off all the time and now that he's less Terrified Out Of His Goddamn Mind, he can also admit to himself he's absolutely mad that his brothers can understand things he doesn't.
Also, Donnie can and will use 'dumb-dumb' completely unironically as an affectionate insult. More heavy on the insult then affection.
Then he clarifies that is a long winded way to say that he's sorry.
There is a certain expectation that his apologizing for fucking up royally will be enough to make it clear how much he regrets what he did. Mostly because his family is used to this behavior.
The witches, however, have a wrecked town and are Far Less Forgiving.
Donnie realizes that 'oh yeah, these people have no idea how much a heartfelt moment is actually really hard for him.'
April and him are then arrested and thrown into jail for frankly a very understandable reason.
Surprisingly, Raph is already in the cell, looking very much no impressed with anything that's going on. Donnie is not one hundred percent sure that's directed at him, but he's pretty sure at least a little bit of the judgement is directed at him and sheepishly asks how his day was. Big brother judgement is Real.
Donnie is waiting for the lunch bell to ring outside a high school, and with kids finally milling about, he sneaks in. A hoody is enough to get by with the apathetic attitude of NYC teenagers. Only getting a few odd looks when he blends in with groups, but moves quickly through the halls. Notably, he is absolutely loving being here, even has a laugh of joy, moving amongst the kids, getting to look around the school. He spots a teacher and moves up into the ceiling until he gets to the computer lab, sneaking down to balance on the lights.
He gets April's attention with ninja stars. He them proceeds to slip and fall from the hanging fluorescent. No one really cares in the back corner. April thanks him for coming and he assures her its 'no probbles' because he loves being here. Smells like learning and puberty. He gets some odd looks from the students around him until he sits down.
April asks for him to look over her computer science project to be sure she didn't miss anything. He does so. He ends up condensing some lines of code because while hers was Right, his was more Efficient. Notably, he does this while talking to her and barely looking at the screen. Donnie goes on about how lucky April is to be in school, to be surrounded by intellectuals and scholars and Donnie has an Extremely Idealized View of High School. Right up until he notices the purple satin jackets from the corner of his eyes and then that is All His Attention.
Donnie has The Most Autistic Reaction to those jackets, they are hitting literally all his clothing based stims. To be fair, they are very cool satin jackets with a boss dragon on the back.
April is less than impressed with Donnie's admiration of the Purple Dragon Tech Club, and calls them stuck up jerks who think they're smarter than everyone else. Donnie is just ECSTATIC at this description because he doesn't mind rude arrogance, almost prefers it because it means he has to worry less about filtering his own self, and the thought of meeting more brilliant people just has him delighted. He watches them, April is still not impressed, but he sees how they are with their tech and various other things that point to, yes, they are actually Incredibly Smart.
Donnie declares he's going to join this club despite April very much not approving, but also she doesn't do much to stop Donnie because she knows how he is. He approaches the three Dragons, Kendra, Jeremy, and Jason. Kendra is the leader and rather dismissive of him and he introduces himself as Othello Von Ryan and starts to brag about his abilities. Even when she steps on his foot, he isn't dissuaded and when asked to bring something to the table, he shows off the Tech Bo.
Its called the grandaddy of all multi-tools because it has So Many Tools that just spring out of it, things that don't even look like they SHOULD fit in the Bo. Kendra is interested and wants to know what else he's got. April tries to say he doesn't have to impress them and Donnie is of the opinion people only say that when they don't have anything impressive, which he DOES. He uses a button on his goggle, summoning up various battleshells. Two different kinds of flyers and a spider shell.
Jeremy and Jason are extremely impressed and admiring his work, and then Kendra declares that he's part of the club, taking Jason's jacket to give to Donnie.
And Donnie is
Incredibly happy.
One, he's got this FANTASTIC jacket that is indeed hitting all his texture stims like he thought and he thinks he looks great, and two, he's part of a club! With other smart people! Who he impressed!
He's made friends!
Even April's continued not being impressed state does not dampen his joy at this in the slightest.
This good mood follows him home where he brags to his brothers about his jacket. They're acting like they don't care, but he knows they're all just JEALOUS. (He is not actually wrong, they are all Very Jealous, but you don't feed Donnie's ego.) Also Donnie lives in a literal sewer, but its also pretty decked out, all things considered.
Time passes, but its just him being Super Happy and working in his lab on things until he's tired enough to sleep. With the jacket because seriously, the stims. He was dreaming, but its a dumb kind of nightmare where an airplane fell on him when he starts awake. Then there's a call from April telling him to turn on the news.
The Teen Tech Bandits are robbing electronics stores. The footage shows very familiar tech and a lot of feelings are bubbling up in Donnie. Betrayal, pain, and a whole truckload of anger. Leo is awake, drinking tea, asking what's up and Donnie outright dismisses him before running to check his lab. All his battleshells and Tech Bo are gone.
The anger takes control because anger is a lot easier for him to process than everything else, and he quickly grabs his hoody and whatever ninja weapons as he calls April to meet him. They go after the Purple Dragons. April says she warned Donnie and Donnie shot back she warned him they were full of themselves, not criminals. He says in a small sense, this is her fault.
Because that's what he does when he has the sickly, squirming feelings he hates. Anger is easy. The feeling of betrayal, that he had been lied to and manipulated, that something that was so important to him was taken, it all leads him feeling vulnerable. So he gets defensive and lashes out. April is Still Not Impressed, but also does not seem terribly surprised.
They talk about what the Purple Dragons are trying to accomplish and they come to the conclusion they're going to steal from the vault of the biggest tech company in the country. At first Donnie tries scaling the building old school, but April realizes that's not viable on a mostly glass building, and gets them into the emergency stairs. Which they run up the fifty plus levels of.
By the time they get to the top, the Purple Dragons have the code they need from the vault to hack into literally any system in the country, and they're making their escape. Donnie and April pursue them and with some quick action, take down Jeremy and Jason. They take the Sipdershell and Jetpack from the boys and go after Kendra with the code.
April gets to go on her first jetpack adventure with Donnie advising her to do what's natural and April calls out the BS right away. Still, April manages it fairly well and they chase Kendra through the sky until she manages a good hit on the jetpack and beams Donnie pretty hard with the hammer, and sends them careening down. Luckily the tether between Donnie and April catches on a power line and kills their momentum for a non-lethal landing.
The jetpack is a bust, but Donnie is sure he can get it operating soon enough, but Kendra doesn't leave them alone, using the found to hack the chip in Donnie's own tech. After all, those chips are the easiest to scavenge, turning the spidershell hands against him. Donnie manages to get the hands off from choking him and release the battleshell, but he knows the spikes are coming, hoping his softshell is strong enough for them-
But April is quick to beat down the spidershell with a bat. Kendra is staring to fly away, cackling about robbing a global bank and Donnie realizes what he has to do. That battleshell uses rotors. Not as fast as the jetpack, but allows for easier maneuverability. But the rotors also mean things like jackets could get caught in them and mess things up.
Donnie does not want to give up the jacket. April refuses hers, and determines she and Donnie need to have a Talk about his deflection blame game later, but Donnie accepts he has to use his purple satin jacket.
He hates to do so. It really is just Super Nice and just hits all the things he wants in a jacket, even tearfully bids it farewell because balling it up and throwing it after Kendra.
Kendra goes down like a bag of bricks and April is quick to destroy the computer with the code on it.
Donnie watches as the remains of the jacket rain down around the alley and he laments about it being the 'classic' tale of a well meaning loner who couldn't fit in with a band of well dressed crooks.
Now that the Purple Dragons are stopped, his tech retrieved, his anger cooled, now comes the sadness. It was sad to lose the jacket, but it also meant his attempt to make new friends...
Was a bust.
There is a deep feeling of loneliness. It was the same thing that fueled his excitement in the school. The idea of belonging with other people. The theft hurts, that he was used hurts, but nothing goes quite as deep as the disappointment at not making new friends.
April assures him he'll always be part of the dorky pals for life club, and it helps. It is a comfort and he loves her so much.
But that doesn't mean he doesn't wish he could have more.
They hear the police sirens and Donnie asks April for help getting the stuff back to the lair and April sighs on how often she says yes to him, and they run off into the night.
Up above New York is a massive ship and a giant portal in the sky. There are explosions in the distance, the US military is trying to attack the ship and keeps getting shot down.
Donnie, Leo, and Mikey are hopping from debris to piece of debris. The gravity between the ship and the top of the buildings is Weird. Donnie is complaining about not having the tech to help with the jumps or counting his steps because complaining is a way to Cope.
Then they get to the ship and Leo slices in. The ship is some kind of bio organic thing and its very gross slipping inside and Donnie Not A Fan and wonders if he should have joined April's team. Leo shushes him. He tells him and Mikey to focus on taking control of the ship while he goes to find Raph, rushing off.
Mikey asks how to hack in and Donnie's best guess if the main console. Unfortunately, Kraang 2 is in it. Which is when they notice a tentacle behind them that they barely dodge and their perch is destroyed as they fall to the ground. Kraang 2 is aware they're there. The tentacle barrage starts.
Donnie and Mikey are doing their best to fend them off. Mikey is better, he's a lot more nimble than Donnie who gets thrown around a lot when he gets caught, until Mikey finally get the angle and timing right to make Kraang 2 knock himself out of his own perch.
Donnie is pretty sure its on purpose and praises Mikey before getting to the console. Which has no buttons or computers. Instead its just full of gross, drippy tentacles. Donnie is confused, how is he supposed to hack th-
Then he realizes.
The horror is immediate.
His mind is already screaming at him. He says he can't do it. Mikey takes a moment before he realizes what Donnie needs to do. Mikey is then also grossed out. He tells Donnie he believes in him! Donnie says its his worst nightmare! Mikey validates him, he knows it is!
But they both know Donnie has to do it.
Donnie hypes himself up and sticks his hands into the tentacles.
There is a static in his brain.
Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god-
He can feel the tentacles under his hands, crawling up his arms, the sensation brings tears to his eyes, he hates it, he wants it to stop, he wants it to stop, but he has to keep GOING.
Then the tentacles start to dig in to his skin, and he starts to hear-
The thrusters aren't responding to him. He is able to get garbled information from the ship, noise he can somewhat decipher on operations, on whose where, on what he can do, but he doesn't have enough data going OUT to make any changes.
His stress is growing. He hates this, he wants it to stop, he wants to be anywhere else, he wants to pull his arms out and curl up into a little ball and cry until all these feelings and noise leave him-
He's not going to be able to move the ship like this.
He has to move the ship, but he's not getting the connection like this, he needs more.
He needs-
The horror grows in him.
But...the world is counting on him. More importantly-
Leo is counting on him. He asked Donnie to do this. He trusted Donnie to be able to do this. He Has To Do This. This is something only he's going to be able to do, he can tell that already by how much information there is. This is the only way to keep his family safe.
He's starting to tug out his arms, but the tentacles are fighting him, so he tells Mikey to take off his battleshell. Mikey hesitates, worried that Donnie would be too vulnerable with just his soft shell. Donnie insists and Mikey relents just as Donnie's able to yank his arms free.
He turns around and falls back into the console, the manic thought of how it really had to be him. Not only is his brain necessary for everything that is going on, but those tentacles wouldn't be able to dig in to his brothers' shells at al-
The tentacles burrow in deep. His mind screams white hot agony. He can feel them digging in along his spine, coiling to his nervous system, up to his brain, and he wants to sob-
Its so much, its too much, its too much, too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much-
CONNECTION
He no longer feels his body. What he feels is so much more than that. He isn't just connected to the ship, he is the ship. He feels all its power, all its weapons, every doors and floor and conduit.
You are so much more. This is what it means to have power. What it means to be so much bigger than yourself, a single entity is nothing compare to the glory of all.
He can see the attacking forces. He shuts down the lasers, allows the few remaining jets to attack. Unfortunately, they are not strong enough for his shell.
How foolish these weak pests are. To kill them fast was a mercy, instead of letting them struggle fruitlessly against something they cannot beat. That is the duty of the strong.
There are forces on the move. He can give a command. Sister has control of some, but she is busy, so he needs to direct the mindless masses. He knows where all the emergency shelters are.
What a brilliant mind you are. This is where you belong. This is where you can become the very best of what you should be. You are stronger, you are faster, you are smarter and don't you want to be the very best of what you can be.
He knows the military bandwidths. It would take moments for him to hack in, to take control of the missiles. They don't even need to waste his resources. As laughable easy as it would be to destroy them, it would be nothing to him.
Nothing can stand up to your power.
The power is divine and so is he. He is so much more. How could he have been so afraid of connecting? This is truly heaven. To no longer be limited by a body that was imperfect compared to his brothers. He had always preferred tech. Here, he could be both. Man and machine, and so very magnificent.
Nothing is more perfect than the Kraang.
Nothing is more perfect than the Kraang.
Now spread our perfection.
Its euphoria. He sees all the attacking forces, he knows the best place to get recruits. He can be rid of the pests attacking his shell. The Guard is taking care of one of the foolish stronger creatures who is holding back-
Nothing matters besides the Kraang.
But-that's Leo-that's Raph-
Meaningless labels. You are the Kraang.
No. No, he's-he's Donatello-
You Are Kraang
Brother has freed himself from the debris and is going to attack the smallest stronger creature-
All Will Join Kraange Or Perish
Mikey-
NO
He wretches his mind from the feeling of euphoria because that is his little brother and he would burn the world to protect him! The tentacles lash out, swats away the Kraang, and more tentacles shoot out from the wall to hold him down.
He calls out to Mikey. He needs to connect to Mikey. He needs his brother, because the euphoria is digging into his mind and he can't help, but declare his amazement that he's an actual, honest to god SPACE SHIP.
You Are Kraang.
He is Donnie and he shuts down the lasers.
You Are Kraang
He directs what forces he can away from the shelters, towards places that are more likely to be empty. At least more empty.
DO NOT BE WEAK
He is not weak, because Mikey is here, and Leo is counting on him, and his family is counting on him.
He cannot afford to be weak.
YOU COULD BE SO MUCH MORE WITH THE KRAANG
Maybe he could be. There is the thrill of it, the words gushing out to Mikey. Man and machine, betwixt in perfect biotic synergy. He loves it. He adores it, he wants to stay in this state for the rest of time.
He finds the thrusters and he pushes his body-
He pushes the Technodrone back through the portal.
GIVE IN AND BE MORE
His little brother is looking at him in amazement. He could never disappoint him when he looks at him like that.
He sees it now. The Prison Dimension. The cold vastness of it. The silence that seems to permeate the realm. The destruction of countless other Kraang.
He is in bliss. He is in nirvana. Everything is wonderful and beautiful and he wants to stay here forever.
He feels the pleasure of it digging into his mind, trying to take control, to utilize his brain as another resource for its parasitic empire. Given enough time, he knows he would lose.
But he doesn't need all the time. He just needs the ship through the portal.
His family will let him keep his mind for that long.
HOW DARE YOU DESECRATE KRAANG'S SHIP
The words are in his head and spoken aloud as he realizes the doors above Mikey have been open. There is another controller.
No, no, no!
He pushes the ship harder, he can't fight the Kraang leader for control, the ship favors his control, but he needs it through as much as he can. If its at least partly in, they can work with that-
Mikey is taken.
No, no, no, he can't fail-
He can't stop the tentacle that digs into the console for him, he doesn't even feel them wrap around him, he feels nothing until he sees his unconscious pulled out, when he feels the connection getting weaker. He struggles to get control, but he doesn't have the priority, he doesn't have the power-
The pain that hits him as he's disconnected is white hot. His back burns, he struggles, trying to get away from the pain, trying to get free, escape escape escape-
There are tears in his eyes. Everything hurts. He feels blood at his back. He feels the tentacles restraining him.
Donnie is doing a presentation in the lair (home in the sewer, that has graffiti, a skate ramp, and some other niceties in it) to his brothers and Splinter. He calls it his greatest achievement in weapons technology. He unveils what appears to be a bed. As Mikey comments.
Donnie laughs at his confusion and explains the bed is a Personal Slumber Defensive Device, or PSDD. It shall protect people from any threats while they sleep. He asks for a volunteer and Splinter is quick to do so, climbing into bed and pretty much immediately falling asleep.
Donnie activates the bed, and tells his brothers to attack the bed. They do so with relish. This bed has mini-missiles and is capable of throwing the absolute unit that is Raph. Splinter remains asleep.
Then Donnie tries to shut down the Bed. It does not shut down, declaring it is more than a mere bed. It suddenly moves up on large mechanical legs. It displays the missiles. Then bigger missiles. Then giant claws. Looking very ready for a fight.
Donnie is dismayed, but then is very quick to pull out his Tech Bo, telling Bed he brought it into this world and he can take it out of it. There is disappointment. Why does this happen?! What is in the code that makes his machines sometimes decide they just want to attack everything?! He'll have to start from scratch again, getting ready to fight the PSDD.
There is a staredown and then...
Bed pulls back all his weapons which is a more pleasant surprise and a feeling of satisfaction. A little hiccup then!
Then Bed calls him Father and oh, that hits him right in the heart.
It seems he's made another sapient machine again.
Oh, he has another robotic child.
There is a feeling of instant paternal affection as he calls the Bed son and gives an affectionate forehead touch.
The setting is the lair, sewer home, with four turtle brothers and their rat man father. The brothers are playing a game of throwing fruit loops into their sleeping father's mouth. Splinter chokes on one, waking up and Leo blames Donnie for the game and Splinter yells at them and they all bolt, giggling amongst themselves.
Donnie and Mikey split off and head up to a FULL ASS ARCADE they have in one of the alcoves. There is some wear and tear on the machines, but they have been lovingly rebuilt. Donnie and Mikey start a racing game when Splinter appears, and starts complimenting them, much to Donnie and Mikey's confusion. Splinter wonders when they last did something together.
Donnie pulls up a hologram day planner and goes back...and back...and back. 278 days ago. Splinter said hi Purple...to Raph.
There is a feeling of a muted bitterness and sadness, but he doesn't linger on those feelings as Splinter laughs and says they should spend quality time together now. Mikey is immediately and eagerly agreeing to it. Donnie is hesitant. Why is their father saying this now when he had just yelled at them before? He tells Mikey to play it cool, he may be possessed.
Possession is a more real possibility now then it being short hand for Mental Issues, but either way, he wants to know what's up, so he tries to act like there isn't a part of him that is also Extremely Excited this may be Legit. Acting like its no big deal.
Right up until Splinter suggests they enter Donnie's tank into a Father-Son competition and suddenly ALL SUSPICION AND SENSE IS GONE, THERE IS ONLY JOY AND EXCITEMENT.
His dad! Wants to show off!! A thing he made!!! In a Father-Son competition!!!!!!!
They head off to the garage and there is indeed something akin to a tank in there. It looks kind of like a turtle. Turtle Tank is a very apt name.
Splinter is looking it over, kicking it, whacking it with his walking stick, asking if it can take damage and Donnie grimaces as Splinter hits it. He trusts the tank can take a lot of damage, but also Splinter Is Strong Enough To Potentially Scratch It. Splinter suggests another shell to protect it and Donnie thinks its a great idea. He is very proud and fond of the tank, he would be devastated if it was destroyed.
Mikey asks what the competition is and Splinter says its a Car Fair which seems legit to Donnie. (Others viewing the memory may realize he's Sus.)
As they're driving along, Splinter is praising the tank and Donnie is just delighted and Splinter continues and Donnie is almost CERTAIN Splinter was about to say he was proud of him! Only to stop partway as he sees their designation.
Mikey thinks something is not on the level, but Donnie does not care. He is SO CLOSE to hearing Splinter say he's proud of him and he is going to get him to say it! That is the goal for tonight!
They head inside. Mikey is unnerved, and Donnie is just vibrating in excitement. They're spending time with their dad, his dad is probably going to say he's proud of him, they're gonna totally win this competition! He is just happy as can be.
They enter the stadium and Splinter asks if they're ready to have some fun. Donnie agrees, getting hyped, when suddenly they're slammed into by another car.
Something has gone wrong! Donnie is distressed, who is slamming into his baby?!
There is an announcement declaring last car wins and seals all the exits. Mikey demands if they've been brought to a mutant demolition derby?!
Donnie's brain is now screaming at him. What is going on?! He tries to get more information from Splinter who is having the time of his life, he said they would be petting his baby, not destroying her?!
And then they see who the other competitors are. Which includes Meat Sweats, a cannibalistic pig man villain, who doesn't like them. Repo Mantis, a junk yard owning mantis man, who really doesn't like them. Hypno, a hippo magician man, who also doesn't like them and Mikey might have broken his heart. And...some worm guy with a News theme? He seems vaguely familiar to Donnie? Maybe? Mikey doesn't remember him AT ALL.
Splinter wonders what the boys have been doing to have met all these people.
Donnie realizes everyone here is a villain. They need to leave! Splinter calls for them to get to battle stations so they can win that trophy.
Donnie's mind is finally starting to catch up with all this new and unexpected information. This is definitely not a car fair, but their dad definitely knows what's going on and he demands a clear answer. What did his father do? Where did he bring them?
Did he-
Did he-
Splinter blows off his question, saying its all in the name of fun.
And-
Donnie can't. This isn't fun. THIS ISN'T FUN.
He pulls the emergency brake and they get knocked upside down and they go tumbling through the cabin.
And Donnie's feelings explode.
He yells at Splinter, that he said it was a car fair because he knew Donnie wouldn't agree if he knew it was a demolition derby.
He can't look at Splinter, because that isn't the part that hurts, that's just the part that's easy to say.
Splinter tells warns him to turn the tank back on and starts to make a threat and the words spill out of Donnie's mouth, the filter gone as the tears gather in his eyes, as the pain in his chest burns.
He dismisses the threat, accuses their father for tricking them, points out how he said he wanted to spend time with them, and says the thing that makes him want to be sick.
"You lied!"
His father had manipulated him with his emotions, with the promise of fatherly love with bonding. His father had used him for his tech, something he is running into more and more lately, people who treat him with kindness only to reveal all they wanted was what he could make.
His father lied to him.
Was his father just like those people who had stolen from him?
Did his father only want to be around them when he could get something out of it?
For several terrifying moments, Donnie is afraid that maybe all those benefit of a doubts he gave his father were really just childish naivety.
There is silence in the tank for several long moments.
"Donatello."
Mikey gasps and its a shock to Donnie's system. It brings him out of the shut down he was starting to fall into, enough to listen to what Splinter has to say.
Splinter does not say their names lightly. Its only when it matters most. The last time he remembers hearing his name from Splinter had been when he was patching up his shell years ago, assuring him that he would be well with time.
Splinter admits he did lie about the event. But he did not lie about wanting to spend time with them.
Donnie still feels hurt. Still feels a sort of bitter resentment, wants to shut down...but his father is trying.
So he tries to.
If Splinter had asked him to hang out, he would have said yes. He likes spending time with Splinter. He doesn't understand why he had to do all this if he wanted to spend time with them????
Splinter admits Donnie is right and goes further. He explains how hard it is to wake up as a tiny rat man and he wanted some glory in his life. He apologies and asks to go home.
Oh. So its two issues.
Splinter doesn't know how to ask to hang out with him and he was wanting to feel better about his rat man status.
Donnie considers it and-
He believes his father. This isn't manipulation.
He wants his father to feel better about a situation he can't otherwise fix.
Donnie taps at the computer on his gauntlet. He sends the commands to flip the tank and fires at an enemy car, telling Splinter to drive.
Splinter tries to insist Donnie doesn't need to do this and Donnie cuts him off.
Splinter is AWESOME. He introduced them to Lou Jitsu! And sure, he's a rat, and being a tiger would be cooler, but that's not the point! If this means a lot to Splinter, then they're doing it.
Fully engaged in the competition, it doesn't take long for the Turtle Tank to take out the competition. Its got high defense and tricks galore. Until suddenly a giant spider appears on the announcement screen who recognizes them.
She also does not like them.
But it seems like they're about to win and Splinter starts to say he's proud and Donnie is up and ready to here it, but Splinter trails off and why does Splinter keep stopping right before the important part?!
Then Mikey points out what's happened.
Big Mama has entered the stadium! Her car is a lot tougher and the tank is still weakened before.
Divide and conquer.
Donnie is about to go out on a Shellhog, motorcycle attachment, to draw her fire so Splinter and Mikey can take her down. Except then Splinter grabs Donnie and he goes out on the Shellhog because that is definitely the most dangerous part.
Splinter goes down, but he's a mutant, he's fine, and Mikey and Donnie are able to shoot down Big Mama! They're the winners!
They're celebrating and Donnie is CERTAIN he heard Splinter say he was proud over the comms-!
The scene is the first sewer lair for the turtles. Their first home, but its utterly ruined. Holes busted through the walls, the floor a torn up mess, it seems like most anything and everything has been utterly torn apart.
Donnie is standing down one of the side tunnels that lead toward the water system of the sewer, versus their defunct work area.
"Bed just activated when everything started shaking," A fish woman said. "He wouldn't let me out until they left."
Donnie nodded, his emotions are fairly muted. He's tired. Focused on working. However, there is some measure of relief. "Well, that is what he was designed to do. I'm glad you two were safe," he said and paused. "Thank you, Piedbald. For keeping him safe after the fact."
Piebald looks amused. "Only you would thank someone for protecting your security system."
Donnie huffed. "You know he isn't simply that," he said. "...and apologies. For not coming to check on you immediately after. I swear, its not another flush incident."
Piebald rolls her eyes. "I picked that up with the whole world ending threat part. You guys had a lot on your plate."
It was true. Donnie hadn't even considered PSDD until they had gotten to the lair to see what they could salvage. There had just been...too much. Still, the relief is real that he's fine. He imagines it'll be stronger when he feels less exhausted. His hands still feel buzzy from using mystic powers for the first time.
Was he a bad father? He may be, but...but PSDD was fine. He was fine, so it was just a mistake. Nothing so serious. He will make it up to him later.
Donnie shook his head.
"You'll be pleased to know our new location has plenty of places that are within easy family visitation distance, but still affords you the space you prefer. The subway has a path right to the sewer that has several alcoves that would make a good room, or you can select a subway car, though it would take some modification to get the water there."
"Focus on moving your stuff first, Egghead. I'm fine where I am," Piebald said, looking up as Mikey called for help to get something underwater. "I'll get Orange, you got the lab."
Donnie nodded. It was a good point and he didn't like breathing the sewer water if he could avoid it anyway.
And well.
His lab was the most important to salvage what he could. The more he could get, the more he could make their new home safe. Now that he was sure the place wasn't going to fall down on them at any moment, he needed to turn his attention on that.
He grabbed the car battery as he headed up to the lab. He grimaced at the state of the place, feeling an inching under his skin to go with the buzzing. Seeing his lab, his haven, in such a state ramped up his anxiety and stress. It looked like two bulldozers had gone through the place (which was technically the case), broken machines everywhere and a massive hole in the floor and wall. He moved along the wall, until he found one of the side panels that looked relatively intact, prying open the warped metal so he could attach the car battery to the system.
Its a few minutes of work, but soon, red lights are turning on in the lab and he lets out a soft breath. Good, he can still get power through his lab. He shouldn't keep it online long, there was undoubtedly shorts, but he could at least get inventory of what is and is not worth trying to salvage.
"SHELLDON, wakey wakey, eggs and bakey," he called. "I need a status update."
He waits for several beats, but there is no response.
He frowned. "SHELLDON, good evening." Nothing. "SHELLDON, what's up?" Silence. "SHELLDON, tell me why I should not murder my brethren?" Still not a beep. "SHELLDON, respond." Not a bit of static. "SHELLDON, priority code Bootyshaker9000, respond."
His hands start to shake as the only sound that fills the lab is the faint hum of electricity.
"SHELLDON, final code, Ilovemyyyfamily with three y's. Override all emergency protocols, respond in any perceivable way!" Donnie shouted, head whipping around as he looked for something, anything. A buzz of static, a flickering light, a shift of machinery.
Nothing.
If he was able, that final code would make him do it. It was only a code for when he absolutely needed SHELLDON to do something, it was meant to be a safety, to make sure he absolutely listened when he needed to. It had been the only time he used the code since testing.
And it didn't do its job.
His eyes stung, his breathing getting a little too quick. "He might be cut off. The bluetooth could be wrecked," he told himself, even as he quickly moved through the destroyed state of his lab, moving to where his servers were. Trying to avoid thinking about how wrecked the servers were, even from this distance, unwilling to think of what it could mean.
The mystic buzzes under his skin, purple metal arms extending out from his back (spidershell already destroyed earlier, in pieces in the lab.) He needed to check the server, he needed to see memory storage cards, metal hands starting to tug and pull everything apart with his hands. The rest of the set up didn't matter, it didn't matter, all that mattered was the memory, he could fix the rest later.
He pulls out several cards, the dread and horror building with each one as he sees the damage, each one fried, his entire system went up in smoke during the attack.
All his systems connected to the lair were useless. Nothing was automated. Nothing had the memory to function.
SHELLDON was-
"No. No, no, he would have known it was critical," he told himself, feeling the stinging in his eyes, and he turned to the room at large. "The drone can support him. He just hasn't been able to charge. He would have shut down at one percent power. The microphone is probably just broken. That's reasonable. That is a perfectly logical and reasonable outcome."
He just had to find the drone.
All thought of care was shoved aside. If the object wasn't the drone, he didn't care. It didn't matter. It was secondary.
The longer he looked, the farther secondary became, throwing parts away, digging through the scrap, uncaring as metal cut into his arms, as the buzzing under his skin increased, he just had to find SHELLDON. He had to find him, he had to find him, he had to find him.
The yawning pit of nothing grew inside him, a pit he did not want to go down, because he knew what was down there and he didn't want it.
Until he finally shoves aside one of the broken down charging stations and-
"SHELLDON!" He shouted, relief flooding his system as he finds him, shoving away debris, clearing it away until he see all of him, and what little relief there was disappeared into that void inside.
SHELLDON has combined with one of his battlehshells to form a battlebot.
"Oh," Donnie breathed.
SHELLDON had fought to defend their home.
And now he lay in pieces, partially exploded, metal ripped apart from the inside out, mixed with cleanly sliced metal from the Shredder.
He had fought for them, but that was to be expected. Beyond his design, SHELLDON loved them.
Had-
No, no, its not-he's not past tense, he was just damaged, he was just damaged.
His hands shook as he reached for the drone, and he grits his teeth. He punches the floor, feels the pain radiate up his arm, and forced himself to be steady as he reached for the drone again. Carefully dislodging him the battleshell, metal squeaking and grinding unpleasantly as Donnie pulls him close. Metal arms reaching for tools scattered around the lab as he works to open up-
Open up his son.
His son he didn't think about as they ran away. Who he didn't immediately come back to retrieve when he should have been one of his first thoughts. He was supposed to be better than this, he was supposed to be better, he had wanted to be a good parent for SHELLDON and PSDD, but PSDD was fine, and SHELLDON will be fine, he just has to retrieve his memory and he could make him a brand new body, it would only take a day or two, he would be fine, he would be fine, he would be fine-
Donnie froze as he finally revealed SHELLDON's inner workings, his eyes drawn to the chip.
Such a small thing. A mix of metal and plastic, not even as heavy as a baseball, and it could contain an entire person on it.
His family's smart lair, helping make their lives easier.
His family's security guard, who kept them alerted and safe.
Another brother for his brothers.
His creation, that had started as such a simple idea, but grew more and more in ways he didn't even conceive of when he started.
His son.
All that contained on a bit of metal and plastic.
That was damaged.
Donnie was swallowed into the void, his vision swimming as he finds he can't look away, water starting to trail down his face as he feels himself consumed in feelings far too great for him to even hope to articulate.
He couldn't have been sitting there for ten seconds, or ten hours. He doesn't know. He can't think. He can barely breathe.
He had wanted to be a good father. He had wanted to be good for him. He should have taken care of him. He should have been here as soon as Shredder was defeated. What if he had been fine then, what if something had fallen and broken him more because he delayed. He was supposed to be better than this. Mistakes were expected, but he should have had the chance to make up for it, to give a being with such a weird existence the assurance he was loved and cared for and had a father who would always keep trying.
His delay should have been a mistake he would repent for.
But he couldn't repent for the dead.
Would SHELLDON even be able to join the Hamato?
Would he...would he ever be able to apologize for failing him so spectacularly?
"Purple? What's wrong, my son?"
Donnie looked up to see his father approaching, concern on his face.
"Papa," Donnie said, voice barely above a whisper. "SHELLDON, he-"
And suddenly, Donnie wasn't in the void, or lost in a deep pit.
Instead, he was on the ground as an entire mountain was dropped on top of him, as a sob ripped itself from his throat.
Immediately, Splinter crossed the room, catching Donnie as he collapsed forward, one hand ripping onto the remains of his child, his other hand gripping onto the front of Splinter's robe as the every emotion that threatened to choke the air of his lungs instead forced themselves out into pained wailing. Broken words and apologies for ears that won't hear him, for someone who can't forgive him, because he's gone, because he wasn't good enough, until the words get lodged in his throat, devolving into distressed chirps.
Ultimately, Donnie doesn't know if any of his family truly understood the depth of the relationship between him and SHELLDON, save for Mikey. If they thought he was just being weird when he called PSDD son or treated SHELLDON like an unruly teenager. He certainly wouldn't be surprised if Splinter hadn't realized how much SHELLDON was like a child to him. Splinter had never been the best at gauging their emotional states.
But his father was trying now more than ever and Donnie is grateful for it, because he is pretty sure if his father wasn't holding him as tightly as he was in this moment, he would just shake to pieces and never put himself back together again.
He doesn't know how long they were like that. He doesn't know if the others saw and dad just shooed them away or if the time has been so short they haven't noticed their absence.
Eventually, he can no longer cry. His head is ringing, all his energy is gone, and he can only remain slumped against soft fur and a hand that gently rubs the back of his head, an surprisingly strong spindly arm holding him close.
Its been a long time since his father had held him like that.
He wishes he could hold SHELLDON like that, tell him how brave he was, how sorry he was.
"How bad bad is he hurt?" Splinter asked softly.
"Memory damaged," Donnie said, voice rough, words stuttery, still wanting to catch in his throat despite how short the phrase was. "Death." Memory is death for a computer.
"Are you certain you can't repair him?" Splinter asked. "You have done wonders before. Are you certain?"
Donnie doesn't answer right away. It would be easier to sign. But that meant letting go of his father or SHELLDON and he simply did not have the strength to do so. He tries to think of the question. The chip was not fried, the damage was external. It wasn't fully damaged.
But-
"Not all. Of him," he said. At best. At best, some of SHELLDON would be lost. He would not be the same.
"We are all changed by injury and trauma. Even if he's different, it will still be him, will it not?" Splinter asked. Obviously understanding that Donnie's grief was real, though uncertain how exactly the machine works in this case.
Donnie appreciates him trying all the same, for as little as he can feel.
He thinks about it, really thinks about it. If he had coded SHELLDON entirely, made him all who he was, losing a chunk of him would make him a different person entirely, but...but SHELLDON was his son instead of his tech because he wasn't just his programming.
He never did figure out what it was he did, that caused the growth in his programming. Why he could resist the rules in his code, why he could change the way he does. He didn't figure it out in SHELLDON, PSDD, or Albearito.
It just...
Happened.
And was that not what made SHELLDON a person versus just a thing he made?
Even if...even if he lost parts of SHELDON, if at least that part remained...
"...maybe," Donnie said quietly.
"Then...let yourself hope. I know it will hurt, Donatello, but that is part of having a child. To hope you will help when they need you most," he said, gentle and soothing, and Donnie feels a well of pained affection.
His father understood.
"Don't give up on him just yet."
Donnie chirped and whimpered, before nodding against Splinter shoulder. He would try. He would hope. Just a little longer.
"Good. You will save him. You are more than capable," his father said. "And I will be here until you're ready to try."
Donnie let out a broken laugh. Reminded that while Splinter was not always good at gauging their emotional needs...
When he knew he was needed, he was really quite good at it.
For now, he holds onto tight, taking in the support until he could put himself together again, to hope, and try to do the same for SHELLDON.
Movie. From 27:45 to 38:56. Obviously discounting the parts Donnie wasn't there for.
The scene starts with Donnie holding onto a Mikey, April is supporting a currently dazed Splinter, and Casey Junior is looking disheartened. Which is when a flying pod arrives and lands between them. Its large and colored red. When it opens, its Leo who comes stumbling out, looking extremely scared and panicked.
Wait, Leo?
"Where's my other pod?" Donnie asked. Pod > Family safety > pod missing > family missing > where pod? = Where family?
"Where's Raph?" Mikey asked right after.
Right, simplify-
"I mean, where's Raph?"
Leo doesn't respond at first, focusing on Casey.
And then lunges at him, Mikey and Donnie quick to grab him.
"Did you know this would happen? Why didn't you tell me?" Leo demands and it is taking BOTH Mikey and Donnie to hold him back. Its clear that Leo is absolutely enraged and its a shock because Leo is never this mad.
"What are you talking about?" Asks a shocked Casey.
"Easy! Leo, what's going on? Where's Raph?" Mikey asked, trying to sooth and concerned.
"Leo, what happened to Raph?" Donnie asked. The confusion is starting to turn to fear as Leo shoves off Mikey and Donnie's arms, looking ready to throttle Casey.
"Leonardo?" Splinter says and that is the thing that stops Leo short. Full name from dad is always listen time.
"They. They got him," Leo finally says.
"You left Raph?" April asked, shocked.
"He left himself!" Leo insists and even Donnie can recognize the amount of anguish on his face. "He used hi pod to save me, all because I went after this stupid thing!" Leo explains, shoving a carved cylinder into Casey's arms. The pod, his pod, the pods he made for his family, the pods Donnie gave Raph special permissions for to make sure everyone got out, but he didn't-not like this-
Not that Donnie has time to focus on the rush of guilt because Leo is certainly having a time.
"You got it! Nice," Casey said, his own relief obvious.
Also obviously not the thing to say. "'Nice?' They captured Raph!" Leo snaps and then he turns accusatory. "He's from the future! He knew this would happen!"
Now its Casey's turn to be defensive. "No, I didn't! This didn't happen in my time! We changed the past, and you got the key. That means there's still a chance to stop them!" And defensiveness turns to hope for future boy.
"No, we have to save Raph. Come on," Leo insists, stepping away from everyone as he draws his swords.
Oh no. Oh no, Leo is absolutely off the rails. "Leo, wait," Donnie said. He's mad, he's absolutely furious, he's never seen him like this.
"If you won't come, I'll go myself," Leo said and swings his swords, trying to portal. There's flicking light on his blades and around Leo that seems somewhat painful, and the portal doesn't happen.
"We've lost our mystic powers," Donnie reminds him.
He's worried, he's scared for Raph, Leo is so angry, they have an enemy they can't defeat, they don't even have their mystic powers, most of his tech is still in shambles from the Shredder, their resources are so lacking-
He can be the voice of reason, because that is way too much feeling and it all slips into the void easily enough. Logic. Rationality. At least someone is.
"We don't have a plan!" Mikey adds.
"We don't need a plan. Remember, 'I'm the greatest ninja the world's ever seen,' his words," Leo says, pointing to Casey briefly between swings of his swords to try and portal.
"Shouldn't we talk about this before we run off all half-cocked, willy-nilly, pell-mell?!" Donnie insists.
"Look, I keep being told I'm doing this hero thing wrong, but I got the key, didn't I? I get results, so now we're doing it my way," Leo said, still angry, stubborn, domineering.
"My son, listen to your team," Splinter said, reaching out to grab Leo's hand, to try and calm him. "This is not about you."
"They made it about me when they took my brother!" Leo snaps, utterly blowing off Splinter as he turns and throws a sword into a desk. Which...well, that is definite proof no one is talking Leo down. They don't ignore sincere and earnest Splinter. The level of rage Leo has to be at to blow off Splinter is very unprecedented.
"Trust me, I got this," Leo insists, walking away from Splinter, grabbing his sword, and heading for the garage. "Donnie, you're driving." Donnie looks to Mikey. Neither one of them thinks this is a good idea, but Mikey is looking for him to make the call on what they're doing. There is an understanding, a feeling of being used to this at this point.
...Leo is going no matter what, there is no choice, but to go. Plan or no plan, so Donnie turns to follow Leo and Mikey comes with, Donnie putting his hand on his back, an offer of comfort. They'll figure it out.
They head to the garage, Casey joining them shortly after. So there is a brief look around the new lair, which is an abandoned subway station. There are boxes everywhere. While some things have settled, they're clearly still moving in.
They get to the garage and Casey is quite impressed with the turtle tank and no matter how worried or afraid Donnie is, he can ALWAYS brag about his baby.
"What is this thing?"
Donnie laughs a little maniacally. "Hold on to your gluteus maximi!"
They go tearing into the street. "The turtle tank, baby! Its how we roll in the past. I mean, the present? I mean...ugh, time travel is confusing," Mikey said.
Donnie glances to a screen on the dash, and reaches out to project a holographic display. "They're on the move. According to the subcutaneous tracker I put on Raph-" Donnie starts.
"Wait," Leo started. "Does that mean you put trackers on all of us?"
Everyone is looking at him. Oh.
He hadn't planned on them finding out about that fact during such an intense scenario. Hm. This seems like a bad time?
"Nnnno?" They're still looking. "Nooooo? Of course I did-" he looks to the road, still clear. Looks back to them, oh that is definitely some judgement faces. "-n't?" ....
Change the subject, this is not a now conversation.
"Based on their trajectory, they're headed..."
"To the tallest building in the city," Casey finished.
"That's right. Metro tower," Donnie confirms.
"I heard the story so many times as a kid, but I never thought...'and behold, from their perch atop New York City, the Kraang ripped open the sky itself. What came out was terror, and what rained down upon us was worse than death.'" Casey repeats.
Good lord. No pressure, right? They could handle this. They could handle this.
H-hahaha.
"They told that to kids?! Man, the future is harsh," Mikey said.
"Well, I'm not gonna let that happen. We need to get into Metro Tower without being spotted? We'll take the subway tunnels," Leo said.
"Subway tunnels don't offer much in the way of an escape if we need it," Donnie said, re-engaging with the situation. "Are you sure about this?" They needed to escape last time. He didn't even have time to collect his escape pods. Getting trapped underground wasn't ideal.
"Yeah, maybe we should-" Mikey started.
"Guys, we're doing it my way. Remember?" Leo said, domineering again.
Donnie meets Mikey's eyes again. He sees Mikey's worried. He's worried too. This is stupid and reckless and dangerous, but this is definitely 'learn the lesson the hard way' for Leo.
Either they got through this, or Leo's anger cracked and he would listen.
Even if its hard to be sure he would. Leo isn't ever this domineering. Usually when he wants them to do something, he finds the way to say things that are convincing, oddly reassuring, gets into a groove until they no longer think about actually listening and are just doing. This is-
This is more like Raph.
Well, if Raph stopped listening, because he was fairly good at that, usually able to determine what they were saying was of value even when he was angry with them.
...
Hm.
Donnie still drives underground the first chance he gets, heading towards the tower.
"See? Smooth sailing. We'll have Rpah in no time," Leo said.
"I hope he's okay. How are we gonna find him once we get there?" Mikey said aloud, worried.
"I have a lot of questions regarding 'once we get there,'" Donnie said. Like how they're getting Raph out, are they going to fight the Kraang, what kind of situation are they walking into, what's been done to Raph? He's alive, the tracker tells him that much, but why did they keep him alive?
"Relax guys. We'll do what we always do. Ninja in, ninja their faces, ninja out," Leo said.
"That's exactly how you free all those families from the Kraang labor camp!" Casey said excitedly.
"Yeah, that sounds like me," Leo said.
No, that still sounds like Raph. Point A to point B. Leo may say simple, may even start there, but his plans usually starts throwing in the other letters pretty quickly if A to B isn't viable and he's pretty quick to understand when it isn't viable.
What in Tesla's name was Leo doing?
"In the future, you guys are beyond amazing! The mystic power you're able to harness from within are on a whole other level," Casey said.
Does he try to figure out what is happening in the steel trap that is Leo's mind?
Or does he find out what he's been doing in the future?
Future sounds less stressful.
He engages autopilot. "Of course! How have we not asked about my future? Don't let me down, I'm expecting big things from me! How many Nobel prizes do I have? No, don't tell me, I wanna be surprised," Donnie asked, moving around Casey like an excited puppy.
"Donnie, you were the most brilliant, innovative mind of all time," Casey said.
Not a present thought, an overlay, a delayed realization in hindsight.
Were were were were were were were were-
Donnie preens. "I'm shocked, I am. Go on, continue to meet my expectations," Donnie said.
"What do I do in the future?" Mikey asked hopefully.
"You are the most powerful mystic warrior the world has ever known. With those two hands, you sent me back in time," Casey said.
"Wow," Mikey said, extending his hands as if to try.
"Actually, there is something I should tell you," Casey started.
Until the turtle tank suddenly stop and Donnie smacks face first into the windshield.
...ow.
"Auto brake, engaged," the computer version of his own voice said.
"Wow," Leo said as Donnie pulls back from the windshield with a grunt. The space in front of them is covered in goopy viney pink tentacles. "Think we're in the right place?"
"Looks like the Metro Tower station is on the other side of those vines," Donnie said, checking the map and Raph's tracker.
"Great, let's hoof it," Leo said.
Is he serious?!
"Through the disgusting, drippy slime jungle?" Donnie demanded, only to get an incredibly annoyed and irate look from Leo. They're STILL on this then and Donnie sighs. "I know, I know. Leo knows best! But I'm not sharing my hand sanitizer," Donnie protested with an eyeroll, following the others out. Activating lights form his battleshell as they step out into the dark.
"Feeling a lack of rush, in this rush hour, right?" Leo said. Well, at least he's making SOME kind of joke.
"I don't know, Leo. Something feels...off," Donnie said. There is that feeling of being observed. He's sure he's catching movement from the corner of his eyes.
What happened to all the people?
Then Mikey jumps on him, pulling a small yelp from Donnie. "Don't worry! I won't let us die. I'm a mystic warrior," Mikey insisted, trying to sound hopeful.
"'I feel better already,' he said without a hint of sarcasm," Donnie said very sarcastically.
"Look, the stairs. Sneaking in from below was the right move. Those slimeballs will never see us coming," Leo said, and at least now he's getting back to his usual arrogant air instead of the rage he's been at for most of the trip.
Except as Leo says that, a whoooooole bunch of eyes open up along the wall behind him.
And suddenly the stillness is gone as everything starts moving. There are eyes and vines are lashing out everywhere around them. They're doing their best to fight them, swinging weapons, but the numbers are not going down.
"I knew this was a bad idea!" Donnie protests.
"Leo, there's too many! We should go back!" Mikey yells.
"No, we're gonna get to those stairs!" Leo declares and oh, great, the aggression is back.
"Leo, we're not gonna make it! We have to turn back!" Donnie shouts. Every time they strike something down, another slimy tentacle appears to lash out at them. They simply do not have the fire power for this. If Raph was there to bulldoze, or if he had any heavy duty tech available, but they simply didn't have the ability to take on these numbers without mystic powers with their resources!
And that's if there isn't more INSIDE the building, where are the people?!
"We push forward, get Raph, that's final!" Leo tries to just push his way through.
Damnit Leo, he was supposed to see reason by now!
Only for Leo to be thrown back down to them and a larger vine separates Donnie and Mikey from Leo and Casey.
And now they get to see the Kraang aren't just vines, but in fact parasitic. A subway car has been turned into a monster, the whistle echoing in the tunnel as it looks to Leo and Casey.
Mikey gasps and is on his feet. "Mystic hands!" Mikey yells, trying to do whatever it is Casey thought he could do and Donnie looks to Mikey in horror. He doesn't know what he's doing, he doesn't know how to make it work-
The train turns to them and Mikey's powers still aren't working, and its coming for them-
Donnie shoves Mikey down, throwing himself on top of him as the train comings crashing down.
Donnie buckles under the weight, catches himself on his arms, forces himself to stay up just above Mikey through pure adrenaline, keep Mikey safe keep Mikey safe keep Mikey safe is the only thing running through his mind as he hears metal and fiberglass groan and grind and buckle against his back, a familiar, horrifying pressure at his back.
He's going to feel it, piercing, horrifying metal in his back, the web of bones breaking, but he needs to give Mikey enough space to survive-
But the train pulls back up again. He hears Leo screaming their names, feels the remains of his battleshell fall of his back, the armor lasting just long enough for the train to think its done its job for the moment.
His limbs are shaking, his back aches, but its intact. He's still in tact.
"Oh no, Donnie, your soft shell!" Mikey said, fear on his face. "You're exposed!"
Donnie moves off him, his body aches, and he feels his back and yeah, his battleshell is completely wrecked, fully fallen off. And he may be stronger than most beings-
But what they're dealing with, his natural enhancements aren't going to be enough, and they both know it.
Then the Kraang realizes they AREN'T dead and there comes more horrifying tentacles and Mikey is grabbing his arm. "We have to find shelter!"
They run back to the tank, Donnie making sure Mikey was on first before following him inside, slamming button to close the door. Only to see a tentacle get cut off and explode in a gooey mess.
Well, at least all the fear and stress and pain just gets to be an overwhelming bout of nausea. "Keep it down, Vomitello. Keep it down, Donnie!" He tells himself, as the tank shifts into the air with a groan.
The brothers are in a clothing store that Very Eighties. There is a song playing in the background The Entire Time they're in the store.
Raph is going through various outfits, and the other three are ranking them for good or bad. Raph wants to look great for some special Event. There is so much brotherly support, with honest critiques of the look, until they finally get Raph in a very miami vice outfit.
They start to leave, but then Leo gets distracted by more clothes. While Raph was a very serious consideration of outfits, Leo is definitely going for looks that are far less serious. Though Donnie was personally a fan of the cowboy look. Until Leo finally chooses a banger outfit.
Then Donnie prompts for Mikey to go, who starts to refuse.
And then the memory itself Skips.
Its actually Skipped several times, but this time its very obvious.
Mikey starts trying out different outfits and he's a mix of Serious Trying and Funny Outfits until he suddenly stops, wondering why he changed and wondering what they were dressing up for.
Suddenly they all realize they don't remember what they're dressing up for. They need clothes?
Mikey wonders what's wrong with how they normally look.
Raph remembers then that they were maybe going to go see a show?
The memory goes back to them at the lair. Raph and Donnie are playing video games and messing with each other, these boys WILL accuse each other of cheating and actually cheat.
Then Leo comes in like an excited puppy dog, declaring they will be grateful he's their brother. He brandishes four tickets to the Magic Town House!
They don't know what that is.
Leo explains the Magic Town House is having their night of a Million Secrets and they're unveiling Houndini's Secret Journals for the first time ever.
Ah...
Magicians.
Donnie is less than enthused.
Raph comments he's never seen Leo this excited to see a book, so either its something, or its stupid and they can make fun of him.
...yeah, okay. And Leo is very excited, and sometimes you go along with activities your brothers love even if you are not very fond of said activity. Their excitement can make the activity somewhat tolerable and it IS nice to see Leo so excited.
They're back in the clothing store.
How did they forget that? They must be getting ready for it.
Mikey thinks something is wrong and there is a niggling at the back of Donnie's mind too, but then the thought slips away as another replaces it.
A magician show means black tie!!!
They pick out suits to wear and Donnie compliments them all, pulling out his phone to take a picture. They're all dressed up! They so rarely get this chance, its important to archive.
He pulls out his phone, about to take a picture, when his eye is drawn to his last taken picture. Where they are dressed in suits and masquerade masks.
Donnie flips through the pictures and they see several of them around the Magic Town House, much to their confusion because they don't remember being there and Donnie doesn't remember taking the pictures.
At first.
The scene switches back to the Magic Town House with Donnie taking a group selfie. Donnie makes a joke about science being better than magic because that's how twins do.
There is much peacocking from Donnie this episode. There is much Leo being an excited puppy running around to see everything.
Then Leo spots Hypno sneaking around. He is a Hippo mutant magician. They wonder why he's here, and Leo thinks he's after Houndini's journals. Leo thinks if Hypno got the greatest illusionist's techniques, he could warp the fabric of reality. Or something cooler.
Donnie internally hates that he cannot deny this fact. Hypno is a very powerful innate mystic and he's proven to use his magician skills to do real magic now that he has access to mystic power as a mutant. So while it makes no logical sense for a stage magician's techniques to translate to real magic, Hypno is the one instance where that might, MIGHT, be the case.
Raph declares that won't happen with the Mad Dogz in the house and Donnie brushes away that thought. Kicking villain butt is always a good time.
Back to the store.
Donnie has been listening to what everyone remembers, tapping his foot to the sound of the music.
Leo is confused. How did they get here? Mikey is confused on order of events too and Donnie-
Donnie isn't.
They were going to a fight and they are WAY too overdressed! Business caus is where its at and he starts to change.
Raph smacks him with a sandal and says no one is trying on anymore clothes! He's trying to make sense of what happened, where's hypno, and Leo complains that everything is foggy.
With the smack, Donnie realizes his brain is fogged up too. Its...actually very hard to think? Its like they all have Raph brain! Okay, maybe teasing brother isn't the time, they need to-
To-
What happened when they went searching for Hypno? Focus.
They're in the town house, moving through the hallways which as like a maze. Leo thinks there's probably a secret door. Donnie makes a comment of trickery being the science of cowards.
They hear something behind them and then a secret door opens beside them. Donnie continues to be an excited puppy.
They start to investigate the room and then they remember. Hypno jumped them!
Back in the store and oh.
Okay, they're almost definitely in a Hypnosis Trap. This is Hypno's M.O.
So they just need to-
To figure a way out.
Donnie is grooving to the music. It really is an excellent beat. Raph calls him out for his grooving, and Donnie apologizes, but he can't help the danceability of an 80's jam. He grooves a bit and tries to think, but its just a BANGER of a song.
Mikey realizes they're in an 80's movie make over montage! So they wonder how they get out and think about what they do in the movies.
Donnie knows! Because he absolutely loves this trope, don't at me. They have to find that perfect outfit! And he is SO JAZZED for that idea, hell yeah, more fashion times!!!
Then Mikey points out the end of the movie actually has the lesson that the clothes don't matter, they're perfect as they are. So they need to believe they're perfect as they are and embrace the turtle!
And they do!
For like two seconds.
But then the siren call of clothes hit again, there are more skips and Donnie is just really unconcerned with Literally Anything, this is a really good song, he's having fun with clothes, this is great.
Raph asks if Donnie has ideas and Donnie just here for grooving, surely they can wait until the end of the song at least.
Except then Leo looks at the boombox and Mikey and Raph catch on, Donnie is grooving, until Leo declares its the speaker.
Oh.
OH, ITS THE SONG.
They proceed to smash the fuck out of the boombox and are free of the spell, finding themselves in the secret room.
They hear someone scream and move to the next room and Leo declares there must be a secret door. Donnie glances around and notices the statue, and how its not properly attached to a base, moving over to it when Leo just knocks a book off the shelf. Donnie pulls the actual lever. Leo gripes at him for trying to steal his moment, but he is QUICKLY back to excited puppy mode, he loves the place.
They head down the passage and find tied up magicians that Leo fanboys over. Also Leo does not want to know magician secrets, he is here for the MAGIC. One of the magicians points them after Hypno and a secret passage way.
...they may have left those guys tied up, whoops.
They find Hypno with the journals! Hypno wants to know how they escaped. Did they learn the power of self love to break free?
...not gonna think about THAT for being the way to break free and then they didn't.
Raph corrects him that they broke free with the power of smashing!
Leo demands the journals returned and then Hypno confirms that the journals...do indeed...give him the power to bend reality. For Some Stinkin' Reasons.
The place turns into a fun house and Hypno escapes through another door. Leo is DELIGHTED.
Raph: What is it with magicians and their hatred of normal doors?! C'mon!
Donnie feels him.
THE CHASE IS ON! What follows is a lot of willy wonka boat ride pink panther technicolor nonsense as they chase after him thorough the fun house, ending up at a hall of mirrors, and end up finding four Hypno's so they have to split up.
Donnie ends up down a hall of portraits before getting tripped. Then ALL THE PORTRAITS ARE HYPNO AND THEN THERE IS A LOT OF HITTING WHILE HE'S ON THE GROUND. Very unpleasant bit.
Donnie manages to get to his feet and crashes through one of the paintings to escape and end up in a theater with the others, with Mikey covered in feathers and Raph in some weird torn monarch outfit.
...Leo is just enjoying the show Hypno is putting on.
They manage to chase Hypno into a real room.
....yeah, okay, Donnie is done. His face hurts and he loves Leo, but he is DONE with the magician nonsense for the day. As Raph and Leo bicker about a statue, he's typing away at his gauntlet, going to his recording file, going back like fifteen minutes. Isolate out the voices is just a few other taps and-
Oh, there's the hippo.
Speaker.
Fun fact, Donnie has a neural link to his battleshells, because the speaker pops out with a thought as he presses play, angling the speaker to hit Hypno and not his brothers.
Hypno declares his outfit isn't good for fighting them and apologizes and just zones out.
His brother congratulate him for the save.
Mikey: Wait, how do you have a copy of his spell?
Donnie: I record everything.
Leo: Wait, what? What else do you have recorded?
....
Oh right, this is one of his forgiveness over permissions thing.
Donnie: Uuuh, don't worry about it.
If he has to ask for forgiveness, they'll press later, its fine.
Raph and Mikey having a Facial Journey of 'do we want to deal with that right now?'
Raph decides to focus on returning the journals, which Leo is obviously trying to hide in his shell. Donnie removes the speaker of his battleshell to leave so Hypno stays in place as Raph gives Leo a warning. Leo insists he wasn't gonna read them, he just wanted to keep them and maybe snuggle a bit.
Leo is, again, an overexcited puppy about magician stuff.
The memory starts with pain. Slamming down hard into the side of a skyscraper that is floating in the sky with the messed up gravity caused by the technodrone. They were all working together and he sent them flying like it was nothing-
Mikey is behind him-
There is a shift in air pressure, and his head snaps up as panic grips his heart and he's there, the Kraang, large and imposing in the mech armor five times his size.
The glass shatters around them from the force of his movement.
Mikey is behind him.
Wall wall wall wall wall wall WALL NOW!
He gets to his feet, spinning his staff, pulling at his ninpo as fast as he can to get a barrier. He has barely a slab as the fist tears through it like tissue paper and slams into him and there is the sharp pain of something fracturing somewhere and then its all just ringing.
Static and ringing and he feels the wind, but he can't get his mental faculties together.
They're falling, he needs to-
He needs to-
He can't-
Its the ringing and static and he's weak, powerless, he needs to act, he can't think, he can't focus-
(He couldn't save them. He should have been able to.)
Suddenly there is an arm around him and the static is SHRIEKING as his nerves tell him everything is bad and horrible and its like he's dying and whywhywhywhywhy-
"Don't worry Donnie! This is not a huge! It a rescue!"
Its a rescue.
Its that phrase that starts to kick his brain into gear. His nerves are still screaming. He starts to swallow down the panic and fear because it is a rescue and its necessary and he will always do what is NECESSARY.
He needs to focus. He needs to-
To help-
They hit the ground, protected by the red energy of their eldest brother as it shatters around them, taking the impact.
"Where are we? Staten Island?" Raph asked.
"Oh, gross," Donnie said, popping up. Its a rescue. Danger situation. PRIORITIZE AND FOCUS. Calm down and do his job! Data collection calms him down. "So how would everyone rate that rescue experience? Unsatisfied? Very unsatisfied? Wished Donnie would have done it? Um hm." Oh, there goes his-
Everything.
He still feels like jelly.
God, his back hurts so much.
And now his front almost hurts just as bad. He's pretty sure that's at least a hairline fracture in his arm and he's worried about how numb his hand feels.
"Donnie," Raph starts with some exasperation. "Leo's still up there."
Donnie pushes himself up to look towards the Technodrone. Leo is still up there. Miles and miles away.
Alone.
Oh.
He should have Raph. If he had just been quicker to recover, he could have saved him and Mikey, Raph should be up there-
Donnie is pushing himself to his feet, moving over to Mikey. He needs to check if he's okay, and then he needs to figure out a way to get them back to Leo. Something fast that can carry all three of them, just needs the right configuration.
"Casey. Casey, come in." Leo's voice over the communicators.
"Sensei, I'm here. And I've got eyes on the key! Tell me when you're home free, and I'll pull the plug!" Casey replies.
Maybe they could still pull it off. Sure, the Technodrone isn't THROUGH the portal, but its halfway through. The closing of the portal would destroy the ship. As long as Leo could get the Kraang to the other side, then the plan would work well enou-
"Casey, listen to me. When i get to the other side, you close that door," Leo says moments later.
Something cold and icy dumps into Donnie's veins.
"What? Sensei, no!" Casey again.
"Casey, its the only way. He's too strong. He's not gonna stay on the other side unless I keep him there." Leo and how dare he. How dare he sound so even and calm. He can't be calm, there is no way he can be calm when he knows WHAT THAT WOULD MEAN.
"There has to be another way!" Casey insists and yes. Fight him. FIGHT HIS DUMB-DUMB BROTHER.
But even as dread and panic and anger fills Donnie, it also feels like its all moving down. Down down down into that deep void that he knows oh so well, stealing away his words, his actions, as he can only look towards Raph in horror.
"We tried everything, Case. This is the only way."
Its not, it can't be. Leo is smarter than this, he knows Leo has plans upon plans, he KNOWS there has to be SOMETHING ELSE.
"Leo, please don't do this! Leo!" Raph tries to convince him to stop and even Donnie sees how scared he is.
And Leo, ever insufferable Leo who uses humor to COPE, is laughing and making a quip. "You're one to talk, big bro. Hero moves are totally your style."
Donnie grabs his staff, pushes himself to his feet. He needs to-he needs a plan. If they can get their fast enough, they can stop Leo. They can't let Leo go through with this.
(And he knows, oh, he knows Leo is going through it, he knows every thud, cracking bone, and sinister word, because he records everything, and he will listen later because he had to know, he had to know if there was anything missing-)
"Leo, please! I can't lose you again," Casey begs over the communicators.
"Hey, future me would be real proud of you. I'm proud of you," Leo says with such calm and care because he understands, doesn't he? He understands the hell he's putting on Casey and is trying to give him what little comfort he can.
He just needs something fast enough! Why can't he think of anything fast enough? Why is everything in his arsenal too slow to cross the distance they need to?!
"Casey, close the portal now!" Leo calls over the communicator not much later and now the strain is clear in his voice. He's hurting.
"No! Let go of me!" The Kraang can be heard over the communicator and the meaty thuds that can't be good for Leo's health.
"Casey, please!" Leo begs. Begs Casey to sentence him to death.
And then
The portal suddenly diminishes, catching briefly on the edges of the ship
Before its cut in half. The sky lights up with the explosion, debris and smoke and fire raining down from the sky.
And Donnie is empty.
Its as if everything inside him has disappeared down into that void, beyond his reach. Just like Leo.
And despite it, the tears form in his eyes. He watches Mikey stumble forward.
He sees Raph look at him, pleading, looking for something.
Oh. A solution. He is the solution guy and-
There are plenty that go through his head. They could use the key to open another portal to retrieve Leo? Except they don't know the ritual for it. They could find it out. But how to keep the Kraang in? Maybe he could make his own portal? He has theories, if he dedicated time, he could do it. Or Draxum made a Twilight Realm Portal, maybe he could open one to the Prison Dimension.
Ideas are forming in Donnie's head, dozens of possibilities shuffling through his brain at lightspeed, but they all come to one unavoidable fact.
They all take time.
Time Leo does not have.
If Leo is alive in the next hour, it will be because the Kraang is using him as a stress ball, an alien who has been freed for less than two days after a thousand years in prison, and that-
That is almost as horrifying as Leo being dead.
Donnie meets Raph's gaze and he shakes his head once.
There is no solution. There is no fix. There is nothing he can do except...except...
He watches as Raph falls to his knees.
Oh. He should.
Help with that.
He moves towards Raph, staring down at him and he realizes he doesn't know what to do.
He can hear Mikey crying.
He has no fix.
He feels the tears falling, and he reaches for them. Surprised there is anything left in him to cry.
There is an aching void, a pain so deep and heavy that it fills the void, wells in his eyes to escape, only to disappear into the void again and he-
He knows.
He knows the void will never fully go away.
He has the idle thought that maybe all those twin senses jokes had some validity because how can this be normal? Was this a twin thing that made it so bad?
They saved the world.
But their world.
His world.
Will be forever broken, a yawning chasm ripped out, never again to be filled.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Donnie Versus Witch Town
Just an animatic that gives more context to the emotional center piece.
The Hamato clan is in the Hidden City, and with all of them wanting to do different things, they agree to split up to do what they want. Donnie wants to spend the day with April, and had been hoping to see a Shadow Fiend in the Battle Nexus. He's excited to see fighting, and its probably fine if he's there as a patron, but he's curious how a contender has undefeated so long.
April tells him to go on ahead while she does something quick in Witchtown. Clearly a continuation of a previous conversation.
What Donnie feels is an intense bolt of FEAR. He responds with annoyance and offense at her asking a witch for help with her science project over him. He brags with flamboyance of being Mister Science, ever confident, but the fear is just bubbling under the surface.
The fear does not leave for almost the entire episode.
April shows pictures of his past help which is less to do with Donnie being incapable as he often goes Way Too Far with his help and things get out of control. Mad science is not for school projects. That's how you get real lava and mutant potatoes trying to kill you. Also a hoody is apparently enough of a disguise in New York. Donnie also does not accept responsibility for the mishaps, even as the insecurity grows with the fear. He knows it was his fault, he let himself get out of hand, but admitting that is terrifying.
April decides to be simple, the science of chairs! She wants a witch to give her a little bling to spice up the project. Donnie is of the opinion that mystic powers can't be more blingy than science. April tells him to let it go and Donnie scoffs at the idea. Let it go? Does she even know him?! He is not known for letting it go.
They arrive at Witch Town. Inside, there is magic abound. Spells going off, flying brooms, and when Mayor Mira shows up, singing ghost cats and magically produced outfits for April and him both. He is quick to tears off the frog costume. Its also apparently Peace Offering Day, an important festival for Witch Town.
Donnie's arrogant demeanor is very apparent, acting like he's better, dismissive of the magic, being rude to the witches, and April is very obviously getting fed up with his attitude. She wants him to play nice, she needs really the help, and when he dismisses it more, she threatens him with a bat. He's only mildly afraid of the bat, in that it DOES hurt, but mostly because it means she's real pissed off if she's using it. He finally relents, saying for one day only, he'll just let something go.
The fear and insecurity is bubbling up more and more. He's made her upset. He doesn't want her to be upset, but she's fighting him so very hard on this. She really wants the witches' help over his. She wants the mystic powers over what he can provide.
He's trying to let it go. He's genuinely, absolutely trying to let it go, makes comments to his efforts because how else will April know he is Trying.
They meet Gentry, who summoned up a bunch of worms from the ground and they talk to her. She tries to offer April a little razzle dazzle for her project, and her demonstration gains the attention from yet more witches, who start casting spells in different ways to dazzle up chairs.
April is absolutely impressed, even as Donnie looks at the effects and most he can easily figure out how to do HIMSELF, but April doesn't want HIS help, she wants THEIR help, and she's so delighted, she's so happy because of what mystic powers can do, she thinks they can do it better than him-
He's terrified.
Terror won't come to the surface, it gets twisted up in his mind.
He's furious.
He lashes out, calls mystic powers simple and soft, and there is offense in the villagers for him insulting them on peace offering day.
He tells April she's wrong for not selecting him and he's furious and scarfed and manic, just kind of losing it a bit because he can prove it, will prove it, and fuck it, he will prove it IN SONG because he has never lived a single day of his life not being extra when showing off.
He really does just have a sound system he can summon from his back. He is Very Good at tech despite mishaps. He summons up lasers because lasers are always cool and then-
Accidentally destroys the sacred statue of their founder.
He gets April and him banished from Witch Town and Gentry teleports them to the front gate. April is angry at him for ruining this for her, and messing up her project. Gentry vents her own frustration because now she's behind on getting specific kinds of worms for the Peace Offering Potion.
Donnie sees an opportunity here. He messed things up for April, he doesn't want to mess things up for April, and he speaks up.
April...hits him with a bat part way through. She is very upset with him and doesn't want him to cause more problems. Donnie takes getting hit with a bat very well. It hurts, but he's quick to recover. Mutant biology is hardy, yo.
Donnie says he can use science to get her worms, but only if Gentry gives April bling for her project. April is surprised at this.
Donnie says its his peace offering for not listening to her earlier. He feels bad, genuinely. He didn't want to ruin things for her, he knows he's just scared. He's still scared, he still hates it, but more than his ever present fear, its the fear of making April suffer because he's not able to deal with his own damn feelings.
Gentry agrees. Donnie uses science to get worms out of the ground and then speed ages them. Because Donnie can just do that shit. Gentry is unsure if the worms will be good enough, but they're out of time, so she takes them. But hey, April has her bling!
Donnie goes with April to see the potion finished and he can't help the feeling of satisfaction. Ha! Banished and he still saved the day. April wants to know if that was his actual motivation and he's quick to deny. He was sorry. He just can't help wanting to one up mystics. April doesn't look happy and he feels that fear ratchet up again.
So the Peace Offering Potion is actually a tribute to a giant monster man to leave them alone every year. Donnie's fear has taken hold, so his arrogance takes center stage and he pipes up, saying how the potion was helped by SCIENCE, ha!
Except then the monster changes colors and goes into a a berserk rage. The color change points to improperly aged words and the witches are enraged. Some chase Donnie and April for causing the rampage. Most witches are dealing with the monster that is proceeding to destroy Witch Town.
Donnie is feeling a lot of things when April says they need to help them. Its true. They can't, it would be wrong. He doesn't want their town destroyed, nor people hurt, but that maddening fear is still there. He made this mess. He made this problem. He has to fix the problem. If he FIXES the problem, then that means science is still better. Science can cause AND fix its own problems! Especially when their magic isn't stopping the monster!
When Donnie says the witches will have to admit science is better if he beats the monster with his tech, April is angry, but he's already off. He does get a few good hits on the monster, but he grabs his tech bo and breaks off a good chunk of it, sending Donnie flying.
Gentry's bling spell breaks against April's bat, imbuing it with a sort of enhance kinetic force affect. It hits things a lot harder, even things one shouldn't be able to hit. April uses it to knock back an energy blast that was about to hit Donnie.
April is pleased with the result, and Donnie dismisses it as a lucky swipe and April is getting annoyed at him. She wants to know why he can't admit mystic powers aren't that bad, and he denies her again, and she snaps at him. She wants to know why he's obsessed with proving her wrong on this!
And something snaps in Donnie because-
It wasn't about proving her wrong. He doesn't want to argue with April. He hates when they have serious fights, hates how they make him feel, and hates how they upset and hurt her.
He's the science guy, he tells her.
And he realizes he has to tell her the truth, because April is special. April is the one he can tell these things to. Because he's hurt April by not telling her what he was feeling and. And he thinks he's got them down.
In truth, all Donnie thinks he's good for is solving problems with his science and tech. This is what he brings to his family, this is what he can do for them. The moment April chose a witch over him for science, he became terrified. Terrified that he wouldn't be able to help his family. Terrified that his means to show them how he loves and cares for them will no longer be an option. Terrified that he will no longer be important to his family.
"If mystic powers can everything I can do, but better, then why would you guys even need me?"
And April, wonderful April, understands all the fears hidden under those words.
She proceeds to slap his face to get his attention, tells him off for saying that. Because Donnie isn't important to her for his tech, but because he's him.
Something inside him unwinds at that. A deep rooted fear that he was only as important as the services he could provide. It doesn't get rid of the fear completely...but hearing April assure him that he doesn't have to do anything to be of value has helped loosen the fear's grasp on him.
The fear that had been ever present finally fades.
She doesn't think mystic is better then science, she thinks they're better together, just like them. Donnie can only agree, because they are better together. So they decide to use the mystic and his tech to beat up the giant monster.
It goes a whole lot better this time.
Donnie looks to the witches and he realizes that...yeah. Yeah, he absolutely fucked up, and he really should own that. So he calls attention from them.
He apologizes for not being more minded. He explains that mystic powers are the one thing he hasn't been able to solve and its absolutely maddening to him to have something he doesn't understand.
...made even more maddening in that his BROTHERS can use mystic powers and understand how they work with ease and they show it off all the time and now that he's less Terrified Out Of His Goddamn Mind, he can also admit to himself he's absolutely mad that his brothers can understand things he doesn't.
Also, Donnie can and will use 'dumb-dumb' completely unironically as an affectionate insult. More heavy on the insult then affection.
Then he clarifies that is a long winded way to say that he's sorry.
There is a certain expectation that his apologizing for fucking up royally will be enough to make it clear how much he regrets what he did. Mostly because his family is used to this behavior.
The witches, however, have a wrecked town and are Far Less Forgiving.
Donnie realizes that 'oh yeah, these people have no idea how much a heartfelt moment is actually really hard for him.'
April and him are then arrested and thrown into jail for frankly a very understandable reason.
Surprisingly, Raph is already in the cell, looking very much no impressed with anything that's going on. Donnie is not one hundred percent sure that's directed at him, but he's pretty sure at least a little bit of the judgement is directed at him and sheepishly asks how his day was. Big brother judgement is Real.
Purple Jacket
Donnie is waiting for the lunch bell to ring outside a high school, and with kids finally milling about, he sneaks in. A hoody is enough to get by with the apathetic attitude of NYC teenagers. Only getting a few odd looks when he blends in with groups, but moves quickly through the halls. Notably, he is absolutely loving being here, even has a laugh of joy, moving amongst the kids, getting to look around the school. He spots a teacher and moves up into the ceiling until he gets to the computer lab, sneaking down to balance on the lights.
He gets April's attention with ninja stars. He them proceeds to slip and fall from the hanging fluorescent. No one really cares in the back corner. April thanks him for coming and he assures her its 'no probbles' because he loves being here. Smells like learning and puberty. He gets some odd looks from the students around him until he sits down.
April asks for him to look over her computer science project to be sure she didn't miss anything. He does so. He ends up condensing some lines of code because while hers was Right, his was more Efficient. Notably, he does this while talking to her and barely looking at the screen. Donnie goes on about how lucky April is to be in school, to be surrounded by intellectuals and scholars and Donnie has an Extremely Idealized View of High School. Right up until he notices the purple satin jackets from the corner of his eyes and then that is All His Attention.
Donnie has The Most Autistic Reaction to those jackets, they are hitting literally all his clothing based stims. To be fair, they are very cool satin jackets with a boss dragon on the back.
April is less than impressed with Donnie's admiration of the Purple Dragon Tech Club, and calls them stuck up jerks who think they're smarter than everyone else. Donnie is just ECSTATIC at this description because he doesn't mind rude arrogance, almost prefers it because it means he has to worry less about filtering his own self, and the thought of meeting more brilliant people just has him delighted. He watches them, April is still not impressed, but he sees how they are with their tech and various other things that point to, yes, they are actually Incredibly Smart.
Donnie declares he's going to join this club despite April very much not approving, but also she doesn't do much to stop Donnie because she knows how he is. He approaches the three Dragons, Kendra, Jeremy, and Jason. Kendra is the leader and rather dismissive of him and he introduces himself as Othello Von Ryan and starts to brag about his abilities. Even when she steps on his foot, he isn't dissuaded and when asked to bring something to the table, he shows off the Tech Bo.
Its called the grandaddy of all multi-tools because it has So Many Tools that just spring out of it, things that don't even look like they SHOULD fit in the Bo. Kendra is interested and wants to know what else he's got. April tries to say he doesn't have to impress them and Donnie is of the opinion people only say that when they don't have anything impressive, which he DOES. He uses a button on his goggle, summoning up various battleshells. Two different kinds of flyers and a spider shell.
Jeremy and Jason are extremely impressed and admiring his work, and then Kendra declares that he's part of the club, taking Jason's jacket to give to Donnie.
And Donnie is
Incredibly happy.
One, he's got this FANTASTIC jacket that is indeed hitting all his texture stims like he thought and he thinks he looks great, and two, he's part of a club! With other smart people! Who he impressed!
He's made friends!
Even April's continued not being impressed state does not dampen his joy at this in the slightest.
This good mood follows him home where he brags to his brothers about his jacket. They're acting like they don't care, but he knows they're all just JEALOUS. (He is not actually wrong, they are all Very Jealous, but you don't feed Donnie's ego.) Also Donnie lives in a literal sewer, but its also pretty decked out, all things considered.
Time passes, but its just him being Super Happy and working in his lab on things until he's tired enough to sleep. With the jacket because seriously, the stims. He was dreaming, but its a dumb kind of nightmare where an airplane fell on him when he starts awake. Then there's a call from April telling him to turn on the news.
The Teen Tech Bandits are robbing electronics stores. The footage shows very familiar tech and a lot of feelings are bubbling up in Donnie. Betrayal, pain, and a whole truckload of anger. Leo is awake, drinking tea, asking what's up and Donnie outright dismisses him before running to check his lab. All his battleshells and Tech Bo are gone.
The anger takes control because anger is a lot easier for him to process than everything else, and he quickly grabs his hoody and whatever ninja weapons as he calls April to meet him. They go after the Purple Dragons. April says she warned Donnie and Donnie shot back she warned him they were full of themselves, not criminals. He says in a small sense, this is her fault.
Because that's what he does when he has the sickly, squirming feelings he hates. Anger is easy. The feeling of betrayal, that he had been lied to and manipulated, that something that was so important to him was taken, it all leads him feeling vulnerable. So he gets defensive and lashes out. April is Still Not Impressed, but also does not seem terribly surprised.
They talk about what the Purple Dragons are trying to accomplish and they come to the conclusion they're going to steal from the vault of the biggest tech company in the country. At first Donnie tries scaling the building old school, but April realizes that's not viable on a mostly glass building, and gets them into the emergency stairs. Which they run up the fifty plus levels of.
By the time they get to the top, the Purple Dragons have the code they need from the vault to hack into literally any system in the country, and they're making their escape. Donnie and April pursue them and with some quick action, take down Jeremy and Jason. They take the Sipdershell and Jetpack from the boys and go after Kendra with the code.
April gets to go on her first jetpack adventure with Donnie advising her to do what's natural and April calls out the BS right away. Still, April manages it fairly well and they chase Kendra through the sky until she manages a good hit on the jetpack and beams Donnie pretty hard with the hammer, and sends them careening down. Luckily the tether between Donnie and April catches on a power line and kills their momentum for a non-lethal landing.
The jetpack is a bust, but Donnie is sure he can get it operating soon enough, but Kendra doesn't leave them alone, using the found to hack the chip in Donnie's own tech. After all, those chips are the easiest to scavenge, turning the spidershell hands against him. Donnie manages to get the hands off from choking him and release the battleshell, but he knows the spikes are coming, hoping his softshell is strong enough for them-
But April is quick to beat down the spidershell with a bat. Kendra is staring to fly away, cackling about robbing a global bank and Donnie realizes what he has to do. That battleshell uses rotors. Not as fast as the jetpack, but allows for easier maneuverability. But the rotors also mean things like jackets could get caught in them and mess things up.
Donnie does not want to give up the jacket. April refuses hers, and determines she and Donnie need to have a Talk about his deflection blame game later, but Donnie accepts he has to use his purple satin jacket.
He hates to do so. It really is just Super Nice and just hits all the things he wants in a jacket, even tearfully bids it farewell because balling it up and throwing it after Kendra.
Kendra goes down like a bag of bricks and April is quick to destroy the computer with the code on it.
Donnie watches as the remains of the jacket rain down around the alley and he laments about it being the 'classic' tale of a well meaning loner who couldn't fit in with a band of well dressed crooks.
Now that the Purple Dragons are stopped, his tech retrieved, his anger cooled, now comes the sadness. It was sad to lose the jacket, but it also meant his attempt to make new friends...
Was a bust.
There is a deep feeling of loneliness. It was the same thing that fueled his excitement in the school. The idea of belonging with other people. The theft hurts, that he was used hurts, but nothing goes quite as deep as the disappointment at not making new friends.
April assures him he'll always be part of the dorky pals for life club, and it helps. It is a comfort and he loves her so much.
But that doesn't mean he doesn't wish he could have more.
They hear the police sirens and Donnie asks April for help getting the stuff back to the lair and April sighs on how often she says yes to him, and they run off into the night.
Kraang Pilot
Up above New York is a massive ship and a giant portal in the sky. There are explosions in the distance, the US military is trying to attack the ship and keeps getting shot down.
Donnie, Leo, and Mikey are hopping from debris to piece of debris. The gravity between the ship and the top of the buildings is Weird. Donnie is complaining about not having the tech to help with the jumps or counting his steps because complaining is a way to Cope.
Then they get to the ship and Leo slices in. The ship is some kind of bio organic thing and its very gross slipping inside and Donnie Not A Fan and wonders if he should have joined April's team. Leo shushes him. He tells him and Mikey to focus on taking control of the ship while he goes to find Raph, rushing off.
Mikey asks how to hack in and Donnie's best guess if the main console. Unfortunately, Kraang 2 is in it. Which is when they notice a tentacle behind them that they barely dodge and their perch is destroyed as they fall to the ground. Kraang 2 is aware they're there. The tentacle barrage starts.
Donnie and Mikey are doing their best to fend them off. Mikey is better, he's a lot more nimble than Donnie who gets thrown around a lot when he gets caught, until Mikey finally get the angle and timing right to make Kraang 2 knock himself out of his own perch.
Donnie is pretty sure its on purpose and praises Mikey before getting to the console. Which has no buttons or computers. Instead its just full of gross, drippy tentacles. Donnie is confused, how is he supposed to hack th-
Then he realizes.
The horror is immediate.
His mind is already screaming at him. He says he can't do it. Mikey takes a moment before he realizes what Donnie needs to do. Mikey is then also grossed out. He tells Donnie he believes in him! Donnie says its his worst nightmare! Mikey validates him, he knows it is!
But they both know Donnie has to do it.
Donnie hypes himself up and sticks his hands into the tentacles.
There is a static in his brain.
Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god-
He can feel the tentacles under his hands, crawling up his arms, the sensation brings tears to his eyes, he hates it, he wants it to stop, he wants it to stop, but he has to keep GOING.
Then the tentacles start to dig in to his skin, and he starts to hear-
Leo and Raph are fighting above them.
The thrusters aren't responding to him. He is able to get garbled information from the ship, noise he can somewhat decipher on operations, on whose where, on what he can do, but he doesn't have enough data going OUT to make any changes.
His stress is growing. He hates this, he wants it to stop, he wants to be anywhere else, he wants to pull his arms out and curl up into a little ball and cry until all these feelings and noise leave him-
He's not going to be able to move the ship like this.
He has to move the ship, but he's not getting the connection like this, he needs more.
He needs-
The horror grows in him.
But...the world is counting on him. More importantly-
Leo is counting on him. He asked Donnie to do this. He trusted Donnie to be able to do this. He Has To Do This. This is something only he's going to be able to do, he can tell that already by how much information there is. This is the only way to keep his family safe.
He's starting to tug out his arms, but the tentacles are fighting him, so he tells Mikey to take off his battleshell. Mikey hesitates, worried that Donnie would be too vulnerable with just his soft shell. Donnie insists and Mikey relents just as Donnie's able to yank his arms free.
He turns around and falls back into the console, the manic thought of how it really had to be him. Not only is his brain necessary for everything that is going on, but those tentacles wouldn't be able to dig in to his brothers' shells at al-
S̸̢̼͓̺͙̟͖̝̲̜̰̹̳̭̤̲̹͕̝̻̞͇̭̓͋͌̒̏̍͋̔̔̿̒̽͋̓͋̀̀̎͋͌̅̅̄̊̈́̎͐͋̐̓̂̓̃͆͊̉͋͊͑̒͂͘͘͜͝͝C̸̨̧̢̥̦̖͉͙̜̳̪̻̪̰̰͍̦̜̼̖̦̥̞̫͇͈̯͚͈̖͙̦̤̣̳̼͈̺̤͎͉̙͔̄̑̆̿̆̋̇̈̅̂̇̇̋̉̑̌̋̏̚͜͝͝ͅŘ̵̡̧̨̛̛̝̼̦̳̟͓̩̤̺̜̳̘̰̹̲̣̣̤͎͇̹̑͛̌̂̉͌̓̑͂͛̆́̌̓͑̋̀̓͐̈̓͒̌͌͘͘̕͘̚̚͜͜͠Ę̴̧̬̤̞̗͇̗̯̣̖͍̭͉̤̲͔͇̣͍̒̃̾̊͆̆͐́͊͐̽̀͆̃̀́͒̉͒͌̆́̈̇̑̈͑̇̀̃̓̂̉̑̈́̅̃̌̐̂͊̉̋̔̊͜͝Ẻ̸̗͓̟͇̻͇͍̙͙̰͈̤̤͕̾Ẹ̶̘̻͙̫̦͔͓͙͓͛͛̎́͆͝E̶̡̦̦̩͎̞̦̋̀͒͋̽̈́̍̉͒͌͝ͅE̷̲̫̭̜̥̩͉̯̰͉̲̫̪͖͋̈́̈́͑̒͑̐̍̅̑̔͑̈́̍̓̀̚͜͝ͅȨ̸̨͇͙͔͙̗̭͕̪̺͈̓͐̄̈́̽̃̅̈́̇͛͒͑̌̈́̀̐̓̍͒͐̈̊̒͆̽̾̊́̎̄̏́͑̚͘͘͜͜͝͝͠͝Ȩ̸̢͙̙̤̯̳̳̺̹̰͍̙̖̪̳̣̻̘̫̤̝̣̜̮̮̪̮̣̘̰͚̩̩̺̻͓͖̗̪͕̪̓̂̓͆̀̂̈́̕͜ͅĘ̵̧̢̢̧̡̛̻̗̻͍͚̠͇̜̭̖͎͎̹̻̤̖̖͎̱̲̤̩͔̠̥̠̬͎̳̰͚̻̲͕̇̄̑̀̅̍͂̿́̒̓̄̔͒̓̇͂̌̓̈́̋͘͘͝͝ͅE̶̛̳̹͇̜͒̓̔́̄͒́͗̊̆̊͛̑̉̎́͋̉͒̽̀̅̉̇͒͑̌̆̀́̽͂̀̀͒̀̍͌̌̑́̍̚̚͘̕̕͜͠͝E̸̝̦͚̹͉͚͉͙̫̺͒̀̾̎͘͝͝Ȩ̴̡̡̨͔̬̱͙͙͈̜͇̖̟͍͉̺̗̬͙͓̤͖̪͉̜͎̙̥̩͎̗̠̩̫̥̗͐͗̐́̋̈́̽̽̒̈́̆́̈́͗̆͛̉̇͌̈́̊̾̈́̓̀̓͛̈́̆̉̋͘̕̚ͅĘ̴̡̛̬̮̭̟̯̩̦̣̻̘̼̠̖̪͚̗̳͇̥̣̖̘̘̪̳̱̳̲̭̰͔͖͉̰̞̻̤̝̳̓̀͋́̀̄͑̃̾̽̊̀̏͊̂̉̿̒͌̎̂͑͛̓͠ͅḚ̵̈́́̓̋͌͆̔̈͒͂̓́̄͌̂͂̈́͐͋̀͑̌͋̔̈́̓̊͂̓̇̚͘̕̕͝͝E̶̢̡̨̧̡̛̮̲̯̻̘͙̳̤͉͕̖̝͍̝̤͍̬̬̹͚̩̟͉̰̤͍̗͕̟̺̫͔̣̟̅̽̑̏͋͂͛̑̓̓͑̈́̓͌̂̀̐̐̑̌̈́̾̓͊̑͛͛͛͋̿̀͒͑͆́̆̌͋̚̚̚͝͝͝͠É̷̡̢͚̙̗͔̻̥̣̜̖̳̟͈̟̩̼̦̓ͅE̸̡̨̨̧̨̛̻͓͓͔̳̻̼̥̹͚̰͕̙͍̲͚͉̙̺̖͇̤̬̫͔̠̠̋̅́͗̂̃̿͋̈́̍̈̚͝ͅĘ̴̡̡̡̧̟̖͚̥̹̠͖̜̣̞̬̻̹̝͉̻̼̠͍́̾̂͗͋͆̐̽̕͝ͅͅȄ̴̢̢̛͉̻̱̗̯͚̙̻̲͉͖͔̭̘̫̬̗̣̩̫̙̫̒̆̍͐̀̋̐̃̾͂̈̑̀́̌́̇͗͌́̒̈́̀̉͊̓́́̃̄̆̐͗́̌͘͘̕̕͜͝ͅÉ̵̫̱̳̞̯̱̓͑̈́̍̇́̔͗̃̈́͂̃̄̿́̇̏̄̅͒́̇̄͌͌͑͋̋̑̃͑̿̿̏̂̿̂̕̕͜͝͝͠Ḙ̶̡̨̛̛͍͔̦͖̤̳̞̹̦͚̝̬̱͎͈̺̖̥͖̯͚͈̘̪̖̞̫̳͙̮̠͖̙̗̰̗̬͔̙̐́͊͐̔̉̅̐̈̎́̀̉̀͗̏̚͘̕͜ͅE̸̼̹̾̆̎͐̈́͋͊͂̽͒͆̃̀͑̃̈́̀̑̊̂̅͊̅̀̈́͊̂̿́͘̕͘͘͠͠͝Ë̴͇͇̞́̾̎͝E̴̡̡̛̱̯̮͍̤̳̯͚͙̫͉͔̮̬̯͉̐̅͌͂̊̉͋͂̋͊̑̿̋̀́̃̆͛̈́͋͗̊͂̋͗͋̓̅͂̿͌͘͘͝Ȩ̴̧̢̢̧̞͇̪͔͓͖̱͓͙͔̭͙͉̪͓͖͖͍̩͔̣̣̓̍̍͂͂́͌̎̇̓̈́̏̆͆̌̋͂͌̋̅̃͌̒͑̐̅͂̋̆͊͗͜͜͠͝͝E̴̡̡̛̝̯̫͉̩̲̳̱̱͚͖̤͚̠͌̓̊̀͒̎̊̐̓̾͒͛͒̒̓̓̒̌̏̂̈́͊̐̅̔̐͒̅̀̑̆̑́̔͘̚E̵̡͖̞̰̮͍̙̤͉̖͎̗̻̝̮̖̦̼̻̯̘̯̬̞̙̩͖͍̫̫̙̥̦͎̝̗̍Ȩ̶̡̢̢̗̳͖͙̻͔̖̭͍̗̣͙̩̭͓͔̳̭͔̠̟̰̞̤͍̖͚̺͎͎̠̮̩̭́͑͐̓̈́̄̆̊̅̓̈́͑̓͑ͅE̷̛̛͎̼̦̬̟̱̫̟̗̰̻̟͎̦̜̺̲̗̩͌̍̈́̿̉̾͒̋̇͌͒̄̈́́͑͛͋̐̈́̂̈́͛̎̃̎̑͂͐̌̅̔̽͐̓̎̍̽̍̎̈́̕̚͠͝͠Ȩ̸͙̯͚̭̜̫͓̝̦̘͚͉̹̩̫͍̺̝̱̞͇̟̳͖̫͚͖̳̠͎͔̺̣̬͖̯̭͗̎̇̎́̓̂̈̒̅͐͗̈́̋̔̉͋̃̐͐̅̄͝͠͝ͅĘ̷̨̨̨͈̳͖͈̪̖̟̱͍̘̙͍̦̙̯̺͕̝̹̱̟͎̗͙̻̙͎͔͎̗̞̝͓̲̰̘͉̹͈̩̹̿̽͋̊͌̆̄̎̾̔͛̎͘È̷̢̧̧̢͕̳̯͕͙̯̤̰͎͚̟͙͓̤͓̖̯͚̫͉̬͉̬̘̝̦̙͓̜̟̻͖͔̠̘̘͒̿̌̂È̷̳̼̞̙̈́̂͆̿̔̓̍̅̀̑̋̂̊̓̄͒͛̔̓̋͒̾̓̏̓̑̏̃̈́͑̌̏̚͘͘̚͝͠͝͝E̷̢̨͔̦͇̬̱̱͍̱͔̠̫͇̰͈͙̍̉̓̾̚͜͝Ȩ̶̡͕͉͈̝̪̟̝̘̝̥̙̘͓̹͖̺̬̩̈́̈̉̓̓̆̈́̀̅̔̿̅͑̾͆̚Ȩ̴̧̨̛͕̬̙̩̲̠͚̱̖̪̙͇͕͎̩̦̥̭͖̘͙̻̥͓̺͎͎̬̪͔̱̗͎̈͒̃̎̓͌͑̿̀͆͌̑͌̉̉͜͠Ē̴̼͇̩̩̳̟̂̀̾̊́̆͑̀̀̋̀̃̅̉̐̒͐͑͂̂̐̈́̒̄̽̐̎̊̆͛̽̓́͘̚͜͠͝͝È̴̢̢̛̛̛̤̲͉̫̭̜̙̠̲̪̣̱̺̳̤̬̼͎̟̮̤̹̘̮̠̼͔́̊̒̾̎̆̌́̍̃̾̂̿̀̂̈́͊̿̓̾̽͌̈́͊̀̓͗͆̽͂͋̓́̂́̈́̐̈̐̄͑͝͝͝͝ͅE̸̮̭̖̝̥̭̭̊̈̅͋̇̄̀̽͂Ę̶̛̻̗̥͚̬̭̩̱̙̙͆̇͑̓̾̍̑̃͌̌͊̈́̔͋͂̏̀͒̉͆̎͆̾́̐̿̓͌͗͐̌̈́̈́̒͌̊̄̏͊̇̄̿̎̓͋̕͝͝͠È̶̲̘̬̅̑͊̂̏̇̆̎̄̋̄̒̓̈́̈̅̀͂̇͒̉̇͑̿̓̕͘̕͝͝Ȩ̵̨̨̨̫̞̯̪̥͇̲̹͖̯̞̬͍̯̬͙̤̪̺̥͕͕̮̯́̄̆̊͂͒̀͐̀͑͗͛̋͒̌̔͑͗͐͌̀̈́́̎̚͘͘͘͜͜͜͠͠ͅȨ̷̨̠͍͈̮͖̗͇̙̺̫̲̙̎̈̒̐̎̍̓́̿̎̊̇̌͂̚̕͜͝Ẹ̷̡̢̡̡̜̬̟͕̭͇̼̩̱̤͖̦̩̺̖͇͉̞̥̣̟̗̦̰͍̝͇̜̪͎̥͉͚̔͒̊̋̃̉͊͌͊͆̄͋̀̃͘͜͜͠͝ͅȨ̵̢̹̻͚̯͖̠̭̰̙̲̭̲͖͉͓̦̯̬̠͔̽Ę̴̯͇̯̪̻̳̙͔̬̫̝̗̹̻̜̘͉̃͊̋̿͐͊̅̃͛̐̋̐̔̉̽̈́̃̈́̋̏̎̃̇͒̊̈́̂͋̉͘͜ͅͅͅ
The tentacles burrow in deep. His mind screams white hot agony. He can feel them digging in along his spine, coiling to his nervous system, up to his brain, and he wants to sob-
Its so much, its too much, its too much, too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much too much-
He no longer feels his body. What he feels is so much more than that. He isn't just connected to the ship, he is the ship. He feels all its power, all its weapons, every doors and floor and conduit.
He can see the attacking forces. He shuts down the lasers, allows the few remaining jets to attack. Unfortunately, they are not strong enough for his shell.
There are forces on the move. He can give a command. Sister has control of some, but she is busy, so he needs to direct the mindless masses. He knows where all the emergency shelters are.
He knows the military bandwidths. It would take moments for him to hack in, to take control of the missiles. They don't even need to waste his resources. As laughable easy as it would be to destroy them, it would be nothing to him.
The power is divine and so is he. He is so much more. How could he have been so afraid of connecting? This is truly heaven. To no longer be limited by a body that was imperfect compared to his brothers. He had always preferred tech. Here, he could be both. Man and machine, and so very magnificent.
Nothing is more perfect than the Kraang.
Its euphoria. He sees all the attacking forces, he knows the best place to get recruits. He can be rid of the pests attacking his shell. The Guard is taking care of one of the foolish stronger creatures who is holding back-
But-that's Leo-that's Raph-
No. No, he's-he's Donatello-
Brother has freed himself from the debris and is going to attack the smallest stronger creature-
Mikey-
NO
He wretches his mind from the feeling of euphoria because that is his little brother and he would burn the world to protect him! The tentacles lash out, swats away the Kraang, and more tentacles shoot out from the wall to hold him down.
He calls out to Mikey. He needs to connect to Mikey. He needs his brother, because the euphoria is digging into his mind and he can't help, but declare his amazement that he's an actual, honest to god SPACE SHIP.
He is Donnie and he shuts down the lasers.
He directs what forces he can away from the shelters, towards places that are more likely to be empty. At least more empty.
He is not weak, because Mikey is here, and Leo is counting on him, and his family is counting on him.
He cannot afford to be weak.
Maybe he could be. There is the thrill of it, the words gushing out to Mikey. Man and machine, betwixt in perfect biotic synergy. He loves it. He adores it, he wants to stay in this state for the rest of time.
He finds the thrusters and he pushes his body-
He pushes the Technodrone back through the portal.
His little brother is looking at him in amazement. He could never disappoint him when he looks at him like that.
He sees it now. The Prison Dimension. The cold vastness of it. The silence that seems to permeate the realm. The destruction of countless other Kraang.
Re: Kraang Pilot
He pushes the ship further.
He is in bliss. He is in nirvana. Everything is wonderful and beautiful and he wants to stay here forever.
He feels the pleasure of it digging into his mind, trying to take control, to utilize his brain as another resource for its parasitic empire. Given enough time, he knows he would lose.
But he doesn't need all the time. He just needs the ship through the portal.
His family will let him keep his mind for that long.
The words are in his head and spoken aloud as he realizes the doors above Mikey have been open. There is another controller.
No, no, no!
He pushes the ship harder, he can't fight the Kraang leader for control, the ship favors his control, but he needs it through as much as he can. If its at least partly in, they can work with that-
Mikey is taken.
No, no, no, he can't fail-
He can't stop the tentacle that digs into the console for him, he doesn't even feel them wrap around him, he feels nothing until he sees his unconscious pulled out, when he feels the connection getting weaker. He struggles to get control, but he doesn't have the priority, he doesn't have the power-
A̷̢̢̡̛̛͚͙̖̻̰͍̹͖̬͕̬̯̦͓̺͓̗̠̰̟͕̜̭̙̳̻̠̗̘̭̪̗̟̿̒̈̇̉̑̉̆̓͒̂͒̎̓͆̋͒̈̈́͑͒̈́̆̿̎̒̌͑̀̐͊͊̈͊̑͝͠͝͝Ã̷̛̛̛̳͍̜͕̖̗̹̺̙͈̼͙̘̥̻̣̑̿̋͑̓͌̀͆́͒̊̔̏͊̍͐̅̑̓͂́͆̀̇͆̈̂͆̔͛̇̕̚̚͜͜͝͠À̷̛̛̞̗̝̗̳̘͕̠͔̫̓́͋́̈́̄̑̈́̊̄̏̊͐̋̿̾̄ͅͅͅA̸̡̧̮̠͖͇̭̥̦̖̪̰͎̗̰̼̥̻̻͈̖̲̼͎̙̺̝̬̞̿̒̂̃͋͆̆̀͛̄͆̅̈̍̃́̉͐̀́̃̍̓͗̚͜͝ͅͅͅÄ̷̻̳̻͓́̌͂̎͊͒̄̍͊͌̊̔̏͗̎̔̌̓̋͌̔͛̈́͂́̂̅͗̉̒͂̄̏̎̀̎̏͌͐̒̚̕̚̚̕̕͠͠Å̷̡̢̡̢͉̠͈͎̲̙͇͔̲͚̞͇̻̣̫̈́̃̀̅͗̊̓̎̈́̀̽̾̇̋̐͛̇́̈́͗͗̿̎̅̂͆̍̉͛́̀̔͂͆̆̓̉̕̚̚̚͘͜͜͠͠͝͝ͅĄ̷̛̟̼̝͚̣͈̣̗̲̬̜̼̋̈́̎̌͛̏̅͑̎̀̒͛͂̅̈̑͗̿̉̉̂̐̆͛͊͑̽̌̕̕͘͜͠͝͝͝͠͝͝ͅÀ̵̢̧̢̨̢̨̢̨̛̯̱̯͓̗͈̺͙̼̘̞̭̙̪͕͖̰̭̟͇̜̝̖͙͕̟̥̜̯͇͓͉͎̤̂͐͊̎̃̀͋͊̆̾̅͂̀̅̒͌̏͋̈̀́̽̔́͌͛͑̌͐̒͐͑̆͒̅̈̓̚͘͝͠͝͝ͅȦ̸̢̪͈̬͈͉̺̦͇̪͕͚̫̭̣̜̼̉́̅̆̇̈́̓͋̈́̓̏͋̉͊̂̂̒̿̍͘͝Ä̷̧̡̡̡̛̛̳͙̯͇͈̘͚̖͔̥̜͇͔̣̮̻̻̥̮̱͔̝̱̦̞̮̣͔̞̖̫͑͂̐͒͛̿̍͑͑̿̈́̋͊̾̓̃́̽͋̀̊̐̆͛̔̅̓͗̈́̐̈́̚̚̕̚͜͝͠͝Ȁ̶̡̛̪̮̫͚͓̤̦̰̱͔̯̘͔͖̯̘̩̘̰̗̳͙̺̼̱͕̥͍̫̣̫̝̟̬̤̩̳̠̽̈́̏̎̓̓͌͒͒̈́͂̒͆̈̏̓̈́̊̑͆͂̾̀͘͜͠͝ͅͅĄ̵̢̺͓͔͚͖̤̞̪̪̪̹̯̼͍̜̗̖̬̤͓̟̻͕̞̘̻͚̽͑͂̿͆̔̅͘͜͝Ä̵̡̢͓̰̹̤̼̣͈̻̬̗̯̩̯͔̦̞͕̗̞̹̳̙̝̟͉͕̥̯̰̠͈̮̖́̋͗̀̋͂̈́̆̐̽̊̓ͅA̷̡̢̧̡̧̹̺̼̖͉͍͔̣̠͕̮͔͇͉͖͙̜̥̖̳͎̦͍͎̫͎͕͖̣͐̈͆͛̊͑̍̀̂̽̈́̄͐̀̈́̄̿͗̏̓͌̈́̊͛̈́̓͛̎͌̀͛̾̏̚͘͘͘͠ͅĄ̷̛̈́̽̄͂̂̋͒̃̑̎͒͊͒̽͒̍̋̌͊͊̆̆̄̎̃̐͊̌̍̈́̏̏͘̚͝͝͝͝Ą̶̛̭̰͋̇̅̿̐͆́̌̐̅͌̾̈́̾̆͒̾̓̀̈́͋̊̌̍̒̈̓̉̍̔̈̓̋̕͘͘͠Ã̷͕͓̤͕̜̮̩̋̓͒̆̅̎̀̔̽̆̄́̓̅̀̆͑̉̿̔̅͛̑̉̓̅̈́̃̓͛͛̅̄̀͋̂̌̽̕̚̕̕̕͘͘͜͠͝A̸̡̨̨̧̨̡̛̛͈̺͈̳̝̯̭̳̪͍̥̠̭͇̦͈̳̺̗̯͙͙̪̻̻̜̗͍͉̖͖̗̬̞͎͗̈́͒͒͗͛͋͊͂͆̒̾͌͛͋͆͌̑͑͋̎͑̍̇̕̕͜͝͝ͅͅͅ
The pain that hits him as he's disconnected is white hot. His back burns, he struggles, trying to get away from the pain, trying to get free, escape escape escape-
There are tears in his eyes. Everything hurts. He feels blood at his back. He feels the tentacles restraining him.
He sees Leo looking at him and Mikey in fear.
Everything is pain.
Sentient Bed
Donnie is doing a presentation in the lair (home in the sewer, that has graffiti, a skate ramp, and some other niceties in it) to his brothers and Splinter. He calls it his greatest achievement in weapons technology. He unveils what appears to be a bed. As Mikey comments.
Donnie laughs at his confusion and explains the bed is a Personal Slumber Defensive Device, or PSDD. It shall protect people from any threats while they sleep. He asks for a volunteer and Splinter is quick to do so, climbing into bed and pretty much immediately falling asleep.
Donnie activates the bed, and tells his brothers to attack the bed. They do so with relish. This bed has mini-missiles and is capable of throwing the absolute unit that is Raph. Splinter remains asleep.
Then Donnie tries to shut down the Bed. It does not shut down, declaring it is more than a mere bed. It suddenly moves up on large mechanical legs. It displays the missiles. Then bigger missiles. Then giant claws. Looking very ready for a fight.
Donnie is dismayed, but then is very quick to pull out his Tech Bo, telling Bed he brought it into this world and he can take it out of it. There is disappointment. Why does this happen?! What is in the code that makes his machines sometimes decide they just want to attack everything?! He'll have to start from scratch again, getting ready to fight the PSDD.
There is a staredown and then...
Bed pulls back all his weapons which is a more pleasant surprise and a feeling of satisfaction. A little hiccup then!
Then Bed calls him Father and oh, that hits him right in the heart.
It seems he's made another sapient machine again.
Oh, he has another robotic child.
There is a feeling of instant paternal affection as he calls the Bed son and gives an affectionate forehead touch.
Turtle-Dega Nights - The Ballad of Rat Man
The episode
The setting is the lair, sewer home, with four turtle brothers and their rat man father. The brothers are playing a game of throwing fruit loops into their sleeping father's mouth. Splinter chokes on one, waking up and Leo blames Donnie for the game and Splinter yells at them and they all bolt, giggling amongst themselves.
Donnie and Mikey split off and head up to a FULL ASS ARCADE they have in one of the alcoves. There is some wear and tear on the machines, but they have been lovingly rebuilt. Donnie and Mikey start a racing game when Splinter appears, and starts complimenting them, much to Donnie and Mikey's confusion. Splinter wonders when they last did something together.
Donnie pulls up a hologram day planner and goes back...and back...and back. 278 days ago. Splinter said hi Purple...to Raph.
There is a feeling of a muted bitterness and sadness, but he doesn't linger on those feelings as Splinter laughs and says they should spend quality time together now. Mikey is immediately and eagerly agreeing to it. Donnie is hesitant. Why is their father saying this now when he had just yelled at them before? He tells Mikey to play it cool, he may be possessed.
Possession is a more real possibility now then it being short hand for Mental Issues, but either way, he wants to know what's up, so he tries to act like there isn't a part of him that is also Extremely Excited this may be Legit. Acting like its no big deal.
Right up until Splinter suggests they enter Donnie's tank into a Father-Son competition and suddenly ALL SUSPICION AND SENSE IS GONE, THERE IS ONLY JOY AND EXCITEMENT.
His dad! Wants to show off!! A thing he made!!! In a Father-Son competition!!!!!!!
They head off to the garage and there is indeed something akin to a tank in there. It looks kind of like a turtle. Turtle Tank is a very apt name.
Splinter is looking it over, kicking it, whacking it with his walking stick, asking if it can take damage and Donnie grimaces as Splinter hits it. He trusts the tank can take a lot of damage, but also Splinter Is Strong Enough To Potentially Scratch It. Splinter suggests another shell to protect it and Donnie thinks its a great idea. He is very proud and fond of the tank, he would be devastated if it was destroyed.
Mikey asks what the competition is and Splinter says its a Car Fair which seems legit to Donnie. (Others viewing the memory may realize he's Sus.)
As they're driving along, Splinter is praising the tank and Donnie is just delighted and Splinter continues and Donnie is almost CERTAIN Splinter was about to say he was proud of him! Only to stop partway as he sees their designation.
Mikey thinks something is not on the level, but Donnie does not care. He is SO CLOSE to hearing Splinter say he's proud of him and he is going to get him to say it! That is the goal for tonight!
They head inside. Mikey is unnerved, and Donnie is just vibrating in excitement. They're spending time with their dad, his dad is probably going to say he's proud of him, they're gonna totally win this competition! He is just happy as can be.
They enter the stadium and Splinter asks if they're ready to have some fun. Donnie agrees, getting hyped, when suddenly they're slammed into by another car.
Something has gone wrong! Donnie is distressed, who is slamming into his baby?!
There is an announcement declaring last car wins and seals all the exits. Mikey demands if they've been brought to a mutant demolition derby?!
Donnie's brain is now screaming at him. What is going on?! He tries to get more information from Splinter who is having the time of his life, he said they would be petting his baby, not destroying her?!
And then they see who the other competitors are. Which includes Meat Sweats, a cannibalistic pig man villain, who doesn't like them. Repo Mantis, a junk yard owning mantis man, who really doesn't like them. Hypno, a hippo magician man, who also doesn't like them and Mikey might have broken his heart. And...some worm guy with a News theme? He seems vaguely familiar to Donnie? Maybe? Mikey doesn't remember him AT ALL.
Splinter wonders what the boys have been doing to have met all these people.
Donnie realizes everyone here is a villain. They need to leave! Splinter calls for them to get to battle stations so they can win that trophy.
Donnie's mind is finally starting to catch up with all this new and unexpected information. This is definitely not a car fair, but their dad definitely knows what's going on and he demands a clear answer. What did his father do? Where did he bring them?
Did he-
Did he-
Splinter blows off his question, saying its all in the name of fun.
And-
Donnie can't. This isn't fun. THIS ISN'T FUN.
He pulls the emergency brake and they get knocked upside down and they go tumbling through the cabin.
And Donnie's feelings explode.
He yells at Splinter, that he said it was a car fair because he knew Donnie wouldn't agree if he knew it was a demolition derby.
He can't look at Splinter, because that isn't the part that hurts, that's just the part that's easy to say.
Splinter tells warns him to turn the tank back on and starts to make a threat and the words spill out of Donnie's mouth, the filter gone as the tears gather in his eyes, as the pain in his chest burns.
He dismisses the threat, accuses their father for tricking them, points out how he said he wanted to spend time with them, and says the thing that makes him want to be sick.
"You lied!"
His father had manipulated him with his emotions, with the promise of fatherly love with bonding. His father had used him for his tech, something he is running into more and more lately, people who treat him with kindness only to reveal all they wanted was what he could make.
His father lied to him.
Was his father just like those people who had stolen from him?
Did his father only want to be around them when he could get something out of it?
For several terrifying moments, Donnie is afraid that maybe all those benefit of a doubts he gave his father were really just childish naivety.
There is silence in the tank for several long moments.
"Donatello."
Mikey gasps and its a shock to Donnie's system. It brings him out of the shut down he was starting to fall into, enough to listen to what Splinter has to say.
Splinter does not say their names lightly. Its only when it matters most. The last time he remembers hearing his name from Splinter had been when he was patching up his shell years ago, assuring him that he would be well with time.
Splinter admits he did lie about the event. But he did not lie about wanting to spend time with them.
Donnie still feels hurt. Still feels a sort of bitter resentment, wants to shut down...but his father is trying.
So he tries to.
If Splinter had asked him to hang out, he would have said yes. He likes spending time with Splinter. He doesn't understand why he had to do all this if he wanted to spend time with them????
Splinter admits Donnie is right and goes further. He explains how hard it is to wake up as a tiny rat man and he wanted some glory in his life. He apologies and asks to go home.
Oh. So its two issues.
Splinter doesn't know how to ask to hang out with him and he was wanting to feel better about his rat man status.
Donnie considers it and-
He believes his father. This isn't manipulation.
He wants his father to feel better about a situation he can't otherwise fix.
Donnie taps at the computer on his gauntlet. He sends the commands to flip the tank and fires at an enemy car, telling Splinter to drive.
Splinter tries to insist Donnie doesn't need to do this and Donnie cuts him off.
Splinter is AWESOME. He introduced them to Lou Jitsu! And sure, he's a rat, and being a tiger would be cooler, but that's not the point! If this means a lot to Splinter, then they're doing it.
Fully engaged in the competition, it doesn't take long for the Turtle Tank to take out the competition. Its got high defense and tricks galore. Until suddenly a giant spider appears on the announcement screen who recognizes them.
She also does not like them.
But it seems like they're about to win and Splinter starts to say he's proud and Donnie is up and ready to here it, but Splinter trails off and why does Splinter keep stopping right before the important part?!
Then Mikey points out what's happened.
Big Mama has entered the stadium! Her car is a lot tougher and the tank is still weakened before.
Divide and conquer.
Donnie is about to go out on a Shellhog, motorcycle attachment, to draw her fire so Splinter and Mikey can take her down. Except then Splinter grabs Donnie and he goes out on the Shellhog because that is definitely the most dangerous part.
Splinter goes down, but he's a mutant, he's fine, and Mikey and Donnie are able to shoot down Big Mama! They're the winners!
They're celebrating and Donnie is CERTAIN he heard Splinter say he was proud over the comms-!
Final fricking ROBBED me of this
Donnie is standing down one of the side tunnels that lead toward the water system of the sewer, versus their defunct work area.
"Bed just activated when everything started shaking," A fish woman said. "He wouldn't let me out until they left."
Donnie nodded, his emotions are fairly muted. He's tired. Focused on working. However, there is some measure of relief. "Well, that is what he was designed to do. I'm glad you two were safe," he said and paused. "Thank you, Piedbald. For keeping him safe after the fact."
Piebald looks amused. "Only you would thank someone for protecting your security system."
Donnie huffed. "You know he isn't simply that," he said. "...and apologies. For not coming to check on you immediately after. I swear, its not another flush incident."
Piebald rolls her eyes. "I picked that up with the whole world ending threat part. You guys had a lot on your plate."
It was true. Donnie hadn't even considered PSDD until they had gotten to the lair to see what they could salvage. There had just been...too much. Still, the relief is real that he's fine. He imagines it'll be stronger when he feels less exhausted. His hands still feel buzzy from using mystic powers for the first time.
Was he a bad father? He may be, but...but PSDD was fine. He was fine, so it was just a mistake. Nothing so serious. He will make it up to him later.
Donnie shook his head.
"You'll be pleased to know our new location has plenty of places that are within easy family visitation distance, but still affords you the space you prefer. The subway has a path right to the sewer that has several alcoves that would make a good room, or you can select a subway car, though it would take some modification to get the water there."
"Focus on moving your stuff first, Egghead. I'm fine where I am," Piebald said, looking up as Mikey called for help to get something underwater. "I'll get Orange, you got the lab."
Donnie nodded. It was a good point and he didn't like breathing the sewer water if he could avoid it anyway.
And well.
His lab was the most important to salvage what he could. The more he could get, the more he could make their new home safe. Now that he was sure the place wasn't going to fall down on them at any moment, he needed to turn his attention on that.
He grabbed the car battery as he headed up to the lab. He grimaced at the state of the place, feeling an inching under his skin to go with the buzzing. Seeing his lab, his haven, in such a state ramped up his anxiety and stress. It looked like two bulldozers had gone through the place (which was technically the case), broken machines everywhere and a massive hole in the floor and wall. He moved along the wall, until he found one of the side panels that looked relatively intact, prying open the warped metal so he could attach the car battery to the system.
Its a few minutes of work, but soon, red lights are turning on in the lab and he lets out a soft breath. Good, he can still get power through his lab. He shouldn't keep it online long, there was undoubtedly shorts, but he could at least get inventory of what is and is not worth trying to salvage.
"SHELLDON, wakey wakey, eggs and bakey," he called. "I need a status update."
He waits for several beats, but there is no response.
He frowned. "SHELLDON, good evening." Nothing. "SHELLDON, what's up?" Silence. "SHELLDON, tell me why I should not murder my brethren?" Still not a beep. "SHELLDON, respond." Not a bit of static. "SHELLDON, priority code Bootyshaker9000, respond."
His hands start to shake as the only sound that fills the lab is the faint hum of electricity.
"SHELLDON, final code, Ilovemyyyfamily with three y's. Override all emergency protocols, respond in any perceivable way!" Donnie shouted, head whipping around as he looked for something, anything. A buzz of static, a flickering light, a shift of machinery.
Nothing.
If he was able, that final code would make him do it. It was only a code for when he absolutely needed SHELLDON to do something, it was meant to be a safety, to make sure he absolutely listened when he needed to. It had been the only time he used the code since testing.
And it didn't do its job.
His eyes stung, his breathing getting a little too quick. "He might be cut off. The bluetooth could be wrecked," he told himself, even as he quickly moved through the destroyed state of his lab, moving to where his servers were. Trying to avoid thinking about how wrecked the servers were, even from this distance, unwilling to think of what it could mean.
The mystic buzzes under his skin, purple metal arms extending out from his back (spidershell already destroyed earlier, in pieces in the lab.) He needed to check the server, he needed to see memory storage cards, metal hands starting to tug and pull everything apart with his hands. The rest of the set up didn't matter, it didn't matter, all that mattered was the memory, he could fix the rest later.
He pulls out several cards, the dread and horror building with each one as he sees the damage, each one fried, his entire system went up in smoke during the attack.
All his systems connected to the lair were useless. Nothing was automated. Nothing had the memory to function.
SHELLDON was-
"No. No, no, he would have known it was critical," he told himself, feeling the stinging in his eyes, and he turned to the room at large. "The drone can support him. He just hasn't been able to charge. He would have shut down at one percent power. The microphone is probably just broken. That's reasonable. That is a perfectly logical and reasonable outcome."
He just had to find the drone.
All thought of care was shoved aside. If the object wasn't the drone, he didn't care. It didn't matter. It was secondary.
The longer he looked, the farther secondary became, throwing parts away, digging through the scrap, uncaring as metal cut into his arms, as the buzzing under his skin increased, he just had to find SHELLDON. He had to find him, he had to find him, he had to find him.
The yawning pit of nothing grew inside him, a pit he did not want to go down, because he knew what was down there and he didn't want it.
Until he finally shoves aside one of the broken down charging stations and-
There, the familiar head of the drone.
"SHELLDON!" He shouted, relief flooding his system as he finds him, shoving away debris, clearing it away until he see all of him, and what little relief there was disappeared into that void inside.
SHELLDON has combined with one of his battlehshells to form a battlebot.
"Oh," Donnie breathed.
SHELLDON had fought to defend their home.
And now he lay in pieces, partially exploded, metal ripped apart from the inside out, mixed with cleanly sliced metal from the Shredder.
He had fought for them, but that was to be expected. Beyond his design, SHELLDON loved them.
Had-
No, no, its not-he's not past tense, he was just damaged, he was just damaged.
His hands shook as he reached for the drone, and he grits his teeth. He punches the floor, feels the pain radiate up his arm, and forced himself to be steady as he reached for the drone again. Carefully dislodging him the battleshell, metal squeaking and grinding unpleasantly as Donnie pulls him close. Metal arms reaching for tools scattered around the lab as he works to open up-
Open up his son.
His son he didn't think about as they ran away. Who he didn't immediately come back to retrieve when he should have been one of his first thoughts. He was supposed to be better than this, he was supposed to be better, he had wanted to be a good parent for SHELLDON and PSDD, but PSDD was fine, and SHELLDON will be fine, he just has to retrieve his memory and he could make him a brand new body, it would only take a day or two, he would be fine, he would be fine, he would be fine-
Donnie froze as he finally revealed SHELLDON's inner workings, his eyes drawn to the chip.
Such a small thing. A mix of metal and plastic, not even as heavy as a baseball, and it could contain an entire person on it.
His family's smart lair, helping make their lives easier.
His family's security guard, who kept them alerted and safe.
Another brother for his brothers.
His creation, that had started as such a simple idea, but grew more and more in ways he didn't even conceive of when he started.
His son.
All that contained on a bit of metal and plastic.
That was damaged.
Donnie was swallowed into the void, his vision swimming as he finds he can't look away, water starting to trail down his face as he feels himself consumed in feelings far too great for him to even hope to articulate.
He couldn't have been sitting there for ten seconds, or ten hours. He doesn't know. He can't think. He can barely breathe.
He had wanted to be a good father. He had wanted to be good for him. He should have taken care of him. He should have been here as soon as Shredder was defeated. What if he had been fine then, what if something had fallen and broken him more because he delayed. He was supposed to be better than this. Mistakes were expected, but he should have had the chance to make up for it, to give a being with such a weird existence the assurance he was loved and cared for and had a father who would always keep trying.
His delay should have been a mistake he would repent for.
But he couldn't repent for the dead.
Would SHELLDON even be able to join the Hamato?
Would he...would he ever be able to apologize for failing him so spectacularly?
"Purple? What's wrong, my son?"
Donnie looked up to see his father approaching, concern on his face.
"Papa," Donnie said, voice barely above a whisper. "SHELLDON, he-"
And suddenly, Donnie wasn't in the void, or lost in a deep pit.
Instead, he was on the ground as an entire mountain was dropped on top of him, as a sob ripped itself from his throat.
Immediately, Splinter crossed the room, catching Donnie as he collapsed forward, one hand ripping onto the remains of his child, his other hand gripping onto the front of Splinter's robe as the every emotion that threatened to choke the air of his lungs instead forced themselves out into pained wailing. Broken words and apologies for ears that won't hear him, for someone who can't forgive him, because he's gone, because he wasn't good enough, until the words get lodged in his throat, devolving into distressed chirps.
Ultimately, Donnie doesn't know if any of his family truly understood the depth of the relationship between him and SHELLDON, save for Mikey. If they thought he was just being weird when he called PSDD son or treated SHELLDON like an unruly teenager. He certainly wouldn't be surprised if Splinter hadn't realized how much SHELLDON was like a child to him. Splinter had never been the best at gauging their emotional states.
But his father was trying now more than ever and Donnie is grateful for it, because he is pretty sure if his father wasn't holding him as tightly as he was in this moment, he would just shake to pieces and never put himself back together again.
He doesn't know how long they were like that. He doesn't know if the others saw and dad just shooed them away or if the time has been so short they haven't noticed their absence.
Eventually, he can no longer cry. His head is ringing, all his energy is gone, and he can only remain slumped against soft fur and a hand that gently rubs the back of his head, an surprisingly strong spindly arm holding him close.
Its been a long time since his father had held him like that.
He wishes he could hold SHELLDON like that, tell him how brave he was, how sorry he was.
"How bad bad is he hurt?" Splinter asked softly.
"Memory damaged," Donnie said, voice rough, words stuttery, still wanting to catch in his throat despite how short the phrase was. "Death." Memory is death for a computer.
"Are you certain you can't repair him?" Splinter asked. "You have done wonders before. Are you certain?"
Donnie doesn't answer right away. It would be easier to sign. But that meant letting go of his father or SHELLDON and he simply did not have the strength to do so. He tries to think of the question. The chip was not fried, the damage was external. It wasn't fully damaged.
But-
"Not all. Of him," he said. At best. At best, some of SHELLDON would be lost. He would not be the same.
"We are all changed by injury and trauma. Even if he's different, it will still be him, will it not?" Splinter asked. Obviously understanding that Donnie's grief was real, though uncertain how exactly the machine works in this case.
Donnie appreciates him trying all the same, for as little as he can feel.
He thinks about it, really thinks about it. If he had coded SHELLDON entirely, made him all who he was, losing a chunk of him would make him a different person entirely, but...but SHELLDON was his son instead of his tech because he wasn't just his programming.
He never did figure out what it was he did, that caused the growth in his programming. Why he could resist the rules in his code, why he could change the way he does. He didn't figure it out in SHELLDON, PSDD, or Albearito.
It just...
Happened.
And was that not what made SHELLDON a person versus just a thing he made?
Even if...even if he lost parts of SHELDON, if at least that part remained...
"...maybe," Donnie said quietly.
"Then...let yourself hope. I know it will hurt, Donatello, but that is part of having a child. To hope you will help when they need you most," he said, gentle and soothing, and Donnie feels a well of pained affection.
His father understood.
"Don't give up on him just yet."
Donnie chirped and whimpered, before nodding against Splinter shoulder. He would try. He would hope. Just a little longer.
"Good. You will save him. You are more than capable," his father said. "And I will be here until you're ready to try."
Donnie let out a broken laugh. Reminded that while Splinter was not always good at gauging their emotional needs...
When he knew he was needed, he was really quite good at it.
For now, he holds onto tight, taking in the support until he could put himself together again, to hope, and try to do the same for SHELLDON.
Leo Goes Feral
The scene starts with Donnie holding onto a Mikey, April is supporting a currently dazed Splinter, and Casey Junior is looking disheartened. Which is when a flying pod arrives and lands between them. Its large and colored red. When it opens, its Leo who comes stumbling out, looking extremely scared and panicked.
Wait, Leo?
"Where's my other pod?" Donnie asked.
Pod > Family safety > pod missing > family missing > where pod? = Where family?
"Where's Raph?" Mikey asked right after.
Right, simplify-
"I mean, where's Raph?"
Leo doesn't respond at first, focusing on Casey.
And then lunges at him, Mikey and Donnie quick to grab him.
"Did you know this would happen? Why didn't you tell me?" Leo demands and it is taking BOTH Mikey and Donnie to hold him back. Its clear that Leo is absolutely enraged and its a shock because Leo is never this mad.
"What are you talking about?" Asks a shocked Casey.
"Easy! Leo, what's going on? Where's Raph?" Mikey asked, trying to sooth and concerned.
"Leo, what happened to Raph?" Donnie asked. The confusion is starting to turn to fear as Leo shoves off Mikey and Donnie's arms, looking ready to throttle Casey.
"Leonardo?" Splinter says and that is the thing that stops Leo short. Full name from dad is always listen time.
"They. They got him," Leo finally says.
"You left Raph?" April asked, shocked.
"He left himself!" Leo insists and even Donnie can recognize the amount of anguish on his face. "He used hi pod to save me, all because I went after this stupid thing!" Leo explains, shoving a carved cylinder into Casey's arms.
The pod, his pod, the pods he made for his family, the pods Donnie gave Raph special permissions for to make sure everyone got out, but he didn't-not like this-
Not that Donnie has time to focus on the rush of guilt because Leo is certainly having a time.
"You got it! Nice," Casey said, his own relief obvious.
Also obviously not the thing to say. "'Nice?' They captured Raph!" Leo snaps and then he turns accusatory. "He's from the future! He knew this would happen!"
Now its Casey's turn to be defensive. "No, I didn't! This didn't happen in my time! We changed the past, and you got the key. That means there's still a chance to stop them!" And defensiveness turns to hope for future boy.
"No, we have to save Raph. Come on," Leo insists, stepping away from everyone as he draws his swords.
Oh no. Oh no, Leo is absolutely off the rails. "Leo, wait," Donnie said. He's mad, he's absolutely furious, he's never seen him like this.
"If you won't come, I'll go myself," Leo said and swings his swords, trying to portal. There's flicking light on his blades and around Leo that seems somewhat painful, and the portal doesn't happen.
"We've lost our mystic powers," Donnie reminds him.
He's worried, he's scared for Raph, Leo is so angry, they have an enemy they can't defeat, they don't even have their mystic powers, most of his tech is still in shambles from the Shredder, their resources are so lacking-
He can be the voice of reason, because that is way too much feeling and it all slips into the void easily enough. Logic. Rationality. At least someone is.
"We don't have a plan!" Mikey adds.
"We don't need a plan. Remember, 'I'm the greatest ninja the world's ever seen,' his words," Leo says, pointing to Casey briefly between swings of his swords to try and portal.
"Shouldn't we talk about this before we run off all half-cocked, willy-nilly, pell-mell?!" Donnie insists.
"Look, I keep being told I'm doing this hero thing wrong, but I got the key, didn't I? I get results, so now we're doing it my way," Leo said, still angry, stubborn, domineering.
"My son, listen to your team," Splinter said, reaching out to grab Leo's hand, to try and calm him. "This is not about you."
"They made it about me when they took my brother!" Leo snaps, utterly blowing off Splinter as he turns and throws a sword into a desk.
Which...well, that is definite proof no one is talking Leo down. They don't ignore sincere and earnest Splinter. The level of rage Leo has to be at to blow off Splinter is very unprecedented.
"Trust me, I got this," Leo insists, walking away from Splinter, grabbing his sword, and heading for the garage. "Donnie, you're driving."
Donnie looks to Mikey. Neither one of them thinks this is a good idea, but Mikey is looking for him to make the call on what they're doing. There is an understanding, a feeling of being used to this at this point.
...Leo is going no matter what, there is no choice, but to go. Plan or no plan, so Donnie turns to follow Leo and Mikey comes with, Donnie putting his hand on his back, an offer of comfort. They'll figure it out.
They head to the garage, Casey joining them shortly after. So there is a brief look around the new lair, which is an abandoned subway station. There are boxes everywhere. While some things have settled, they're clearly still moving in.
They get to the garage and Casey is quite impressed with the turtle tank and no matter how worried or afraid Donnie is, he can ALWAYS brag about his baby.
"What is this thing?"
Donnie laughs a little maniacally. "Hold on to your gluteus maximi!"
They go tearing into the street. "The turtle tank, baby! Its how we roll in the past. I mean, the present? I mean...ugh, time travel is confusing," Mikey said.
Donnie glances to a screen on the dash, and reaches out to project a holographic display. "They're on the move. According to the subcutaneous tracker I put on Raph-" Donnie starts.
"Wait," Leo started. "Does that mean you put trackers on all of us?"
Everyone is looking at him.
Oh.
He hadn't planned on them finding out about that fact during such an intense scenario. Hm. This seems like a bad time?
"Nnnno?" They're still looking. "Nooooo? Of course I did-" he looks to the road, still clear. Looks back to them, oh that is definitely some judgement faces. "-n't?"
....
Change the subject, this is not a now conversation.
"Based on their trajectory, they're headed..."
"To the tallest building in the city," Casey finished.
"That's right. Metro tower," Donnie confirms.
"I heard the story so many times as a kid, but I never thought...'and behold, from their perch atop New York City, the Kraang ripped open the sky itself. What came out was terror, and what rained down upon us was worse than death.'" Casey repeats.
Good lord. No pressure, right? They could handle this. They could handle this.
H-hahaha.
"They told that to kids?! Man, the future is harsh," Mikey said.
"Well, I'm not gonna let that happen. We need to get into Metro Tower without being spotted? We'll take the subway tunnels," Leo said.
"Subway tunnels don't offer much in the way of an escape if we need it," Donnie said, re-engaging with the situation. "Are you sure about this?" They needed to escape last time. He didn't even have time to collect his escape pods. Getting trapped underground wasn't ideal.
"Yeah, maybe we should-" Mikey started.
"Guys, we're doing it my way. Remember?" Leo said, domineering again.
Donnie meets Mikey's eyes again. He sees Mikey's worried. He's worried too. This is stupid and reckless and dangerous, but this is definitely 'learn the lesson the hard way' for Leo.
Either they got through this, or Leo's anger cracked and he would listen.
Even if its hard to be sure he would. Leo isn't ever this domineering. Usually when he wants them to do something, he finds the way to say things that are convincing, oddly reassuring, gets into a groove until they no longer think about actually listening and are just doing. This is-
This is more like Raph.
Well, if Raph stopped listening, because he was fairly good at that, usually able to determine what they were saying was of value even when he was angry with them.
...
Hm.
Donnie still drives underground the first chance he gets, heading towards the tower.
"See? Smooth sailing. We'll have Rpah in no time," Leo said.
"I hope he's okay. How are we gonna find him once we get there?" Mikey said aloud, worried.
"I have a lot of questions regarding 'once we get there,'" Donnie said. Like how they're getting Raph out, are they going to fight the Kraang, what kind of situation are they walking into, what's been done to Raph? He's alive, the tracker tells him that much, but why did they keep him alive?
"Relax guys. We'll do what we always do. Ninja in, ninja their faces, ninja out," Leo said.
"That's exactly how you free all those families from the Kraang labor camp!" Casey said excitedly.
"Yeah, that sounds like me," Leo said.
No, that still sounds like Raph. Point A to point B. Leo may say simple, may even start there, but his plans usually starts throwing in the other letters pretty quickly if A to B isn't viable and he's pretty quick to understand when it isn't viable.
What in Tesla's name was Leo doing?
"In the future, you guys are beyond amazing! The mystic power you're able to harness from within are on a whole other level," Casey said.
Does he try to figure out what is happening in the steel trap that is Leo's mind?
Or does he find out what he's been doing in the future?
Future sounds less stressful.
He engages autopilot. "Of course! How have we not asked about my future? Don't let me down, I'm expecting big things from me! How many Nobel prizes do I have? No, don't tell me, I wanna be surprised," Donnie asked, moving around Casey like an excited puppy.
"Donnie, you were the most brilliant, innovative mind of all time," Casey said.
Not a present thought, an overlay, a delayed realization in hindsight.
Were were were were were were were were-
Donnie preens. "I'm shocked, I am. Go on, continue to meet my expectations," Donnie said.
"What do I do in the future?" Mikey asked hopefully.
"You are the most powerful mystic warrior the world has ever known. With those two hands, you sent me back in time," Casey said.
"Wow," Mikey said, extending his hands as if to try.
"Actually, there is something I should tell you," Casey started.
Until the turtle tank suddenly stop and Donnie smacks face first into the windshield.
...ow.
"Auto brake, engaged," the computer version of his own voice said.
"Wow," Leo said as Donnie pulls back from the windshield with a grunt. The space in front of them is covered in goopy viney pink tentacles. "Think we're in the right place?"
"Looks like the Metro Tower station is on the other side of those vines," Donnie said, checking the map and Raph's tracker.
"Great, let's hoof it," Leo said.
Is he serious?!
"Through the disgusting, drippy slime jungle?" Donnie demanded, only to get an incredibly annoyed and irate look from Leo. They're STILL on this then and Donnie sighs. "I know, I know. Leo knows best! But I'm not sharing my hand sanitizer," Donnie protested with an eyeroll, following the others out. Activating lights form his battleshell as they step out into the dark.
"Feeling a lack of rush, in this rush hour, right?" Leo said. Well, at least he's making SOME kind of joke.
"I don't know, Leo. Something feels...off," Donnie said. There is that feeling of being observed. He's sure he's catching movement from the corner of his eyes.
What happened to all the people?
Then Mikey jumps on him, pulling a small yelp from Donnie. "Don't worry! I won't let us die. I'm a mystic warrior," Mikey insisted, trying to sound hopeful.
"'I feel better already,' he said without a hint of sarcasm," Donnie said very sarcastically.
"Look, the stairs. Sneaking in from below was the right move. Those slimeballs will never see us coming," Leo said, and at least now he's getting back to his usual arrogant air instead of the rage he's been at for most of the trip.
Except as Leo says that, a whoooooole bunch of eyes open up along the wall behind him.
And suddenly the stillness is gone as everything starts moving. There are eyes and vines are lashing out everywhere around them. They're doing their best to fight them, swinging weapons, but the numbers are not going down.
"I knew this was a bad idea!" Donnie protests.
"Leo, there's too many! We should go back!" Mikey yells.
"No, we're gonna get to those stairs!" Leo declares and oh, great, the aggression is back.
"Leo, we're not gonna make it! We have to turn back!" Donnie shouts. Every time they strike something down, another slimy tentacle appears to lash out at them. They simply do not have the fire power for this. If Raph was there to bulldoze, or if he had any heavy duty tech available, but they simply didn't have the ability to take on these numbers without mystic powers with their resources!
And that's if there isn't more INSIDE the building, where are the people?!
"We push forward, get Raph, that's final!" Leo tries to just push his way through.
Damnit Leo, he was supposed to see reason by now!
Only for Leo to be thrown back down to them and a larger vine separates Donnie and Mikey from Leo and Casey.
And now they get to see the Kraang aren't just vines, but in fact parasitic. A subway car has been turned into a monster, the whistle echoing in the tunnel as it looks to Leo and Casey.
Mikey gasps and is on his feet. "Mystic hands!" Mikey yells, trying to do whatever it is Casey thought he could do and Donnie looks to Mikey in horror. He doesn't know what he's doing, he doesn't know how to make it work-
The train turns to them and Mikey's powers still aren't working, and its coming for them-
Donnie shoves Mikey down, throwing himself on top of him as the train comings crashing down.
Donnie buckles under the weight, catches himself on his arms, forces himself to stay up just above Mikey through pure adrenaline, keep Mikey safe keep Mikey safe keep Mikey safe is the only thing running through his mind as he hears metal and fiberglass groan and grind and buckle against his back, a familiar, horrifying pressure at his back.
He's going to feel it, piercing, horrifying metal in his back, the web of bones breaking, but he needs to give Mikey enough space to survive-
But the train pulls back up again. He hears Leo screaming their names, feels the remains of his battleshell fall of his back, the armor lasting just long enough for the train to think its done its job for the moment.
His limbs are shaking, his back aches, but its intact. He's still in tact.
"Oh no, Donnie, your soft shell!" Mikey said, fear on his face. "You're exposed!"
Donnie moves off him, his body aches, and he feels his back and yeah, his battleshell is completely wrecked, fully fallen off. And he may be stronger than most beings-
But what they're dealing with, his natural enhancements aren't going to be enough, and they both know it.
Then the Kraang realizes they AREN'T dead and there comes more horrifying tentacles and Mikey is grabbing his arm. "We have to find shelter!"
They run back to the tank, Donnie making sure Mikey was on first before following him inside, slamming button to close the door. Only to see a tentacle get cut off and explode in a gooey mess.
Well, at least all the fear and stress and pain just gets to be an overwhelming bout of nausea. "Keep it down, Vomitello. Keep it down, Donnie!" He tells himself, as the tank shifts into the air with a groan.
80's Montage Music
The brothers are in a clothing store that Very Eighties. There is a song playing in the background The Entire Time they're in the store.
Raph is going through various outfits, and the other three are ranking them for good or bad. Raph wants to look great for some special Event. There is so much brotherly support, with honest critiques of the look, until they finally get Raph in a very miami vice outfit.
They start to leave, but then Leo gets distracted by more clothes. While Raph was a very serious consideration of outfits, Leo is definitely going for looks that are far less serious. Though Donnie was personally a fan of the cowboy look. Until Leo finally chooses a banger outfit.
Then Donnie prompts for Mikey to go, who starts to refuse.
And then the memory itself Skips.
Its actually Skipped several times, but this time its very obvious.
Mikey starts trying out different outfits and he's a mix of Serious Trying and Funny Outfits until he suddenly stops, wondering why he changed and wondering what they were dressing up for.
Suddenly they all realize they don't remember what they're dressing up for. They need clothes?
Mikey wonders what's wrong with how they normally look.
Raph remembers then that they were maybe going to go see a show?
The memory goes back to them at the lair. Raph and Donnie are playing video games and messing with each other, these boys WILL accuse each other of cheating and actually cheat.
Then Leo comes in like an excited puppy dog, declaring they will be grateful he's their brother. He brandishes four tickets to the Magic Town House!
They don't know what that is.
Leo explains the Magic Town House is having their night of a Million Secrets and they're unveiling Houndini's Secret Journals for the first time ever.
Ah...
Magicians.
Donnie is less than enthused.
Raph comments he's never seen Leo this excited to see a book, so either its something, or its stupid and they can make fun of him.
...yeah, okay. And Leo is very excited, and sometimes you go along with activities your brothers love even if you are not very fond of said activity. Their excitement can make the activity somewhat tolerable and it IS nice to see Leo so excited.
They're back in the clothing store.
How did they forget that? They must be getting ready for it.
Mikey thinks something is wrong and there is a niggling at the back of Donnie's mind too, but then the thought slips away as another replaces it.
A magician show means black tie!!!
They pick out suits to wear and Donnie compliments them all, pulling out his phone to take a picture. They're all dressed up! They so rarely get this chance, its important to archive.
He pulls out his phone, about to take a picture, when his eye is drawn to his last taken picture. Where they are dressed in suits and masquerade masks.
Donnie flips through the pictures and they see several of them around the Magic Town House, much to their confusion because they don't remember being there and Donnie doesn't remember taking the pictures.
At first.
The scene switches back to the Magic Town House with Donnie taking a group selfie. Donnie makes a joke about science being better than magic because that's how twins do.
There is much peacocking from Donnie this episode. There is much Leo being an excited puppy running around to see everything.
Then Leo spots Hypno sneaking around. He is a Hippo mutant magician. They wonder why he's here, and Leo thinks he's after Houndini's journals. Leo thinks if Hypno got the greatest illusionist's techniques, he could warp the fabric of reality. Or something cooler.
Donnie internally hates that he cannot deny this fact. Hypno is a very powerful innate mystic and he's proven to use his magician skills to do real magic now that he has access to mystic power as a mutant. So while it makes no logical sense for a stage magician's techniques to translate to real magic, Hypno is the one instance where that might, MIGHT, be the case.
Raph declares that won't happen with the Mad Dogz in the house and Donnie brushes away that thought. Kicking villain butt is always a good time.
Back to the store.
Donnie has been listening to what everyone remembers, tapping his foot to the sound of the music.
Leo is confused. How did they get here? Mikey is confused on order of events too and Donnie-
Donnie isn't.
They were going to a fight and they are WAY too overdressed! Business caus is where its at and he starts to change.
Raph smacks him with a sandal and says no one is trying on anymore clothes! He's trying to make sense of what happened, where's hypno, and Leo complains that everything is foggy.
With the smack, Donnie realizes his brain is fogged up too. Its...actually very hard to think? Its like they all have Raph brain! Okay, maybe teasing brother isn't the time, they need to-
To-
What happened when they went searching for Hypno? Focus.
They're in the town house, moving through the hallways which as like a maze. Leo thinks there's probably a secret door. Donnie makes a comment of trickery being the science of cowards.
They hear something behind them and then a secret door opens beside them. Donnie continues to be an excited puppy.
They start to investigate the room and then they remember. Hypno jumped them!
Back in the store and oh.
Okay, they're almost definitely in a Hypnosis Trap. This is Hypno's M.O.
So they just need to-
To figure a way out.
Donnie is grooving to the music. It really is an excellent beat. Raph calls him out for his grooving, and Donnie apologizes, but he can't help the danceability of an 80's jam. He grooves a bit and tries to think, but its just a BANGER of a song.
Mikey realizes they're in an 80's movie make over montage! So they wonder how they get out and think about what they do in the movies.
Donnie knows! Because he absolutely loves this trope, don't at me. They have to find that perfect outfit! And he is SO JAZZED for that idea, hell yeah, more fashion times!!!
Then Mikey points out the end of the movie actually has the lesson that the clothes don't matter, they're perfect as they are. So they need to believe they're perfect as they are and embrace the turtle!
And they do!
For like two seconds.
But then the siren call of clothes hit again, there are more skips and Donnie is just really unconcerned with Literally Anything, this is a really good song, he's having fun with clothes, this is great.
Raph asks if Donnie has ideas and Donnie just here for grooving, surely they can wait until the end of the song at least.
Except then Leo looks at the boombox and Mikey and Raph catch on, Donnie is grooving, until Leo declares its the speaker.
Oh.
OH, ITS THE SONG.
They proceed to smash the fuck out of the boombox and are free of the spell, finding themselves in the secret room.
They hear someone scream and move to the next room and Leo declares there must be a secret door. Donnie glances around and notices the statue, and how its not properly attached to a base, moving over to it when Leo just knocks a book off the shelf. Donnie pulls the actual lever. Leo gripes at him for trying to steal his moment, but he is QUICKLY back to excited puppy mode, he loves the place.
They head down the passage and find tied up magicians that Leo fanboys over. Also Leo does not want to know magician secrets, he is here for the MAGIC. One of the magicians points them after Hypno and a secret passage way.
...they may have left those guys tied up, whoops.
They find Hypno with the journals! Hypno wants to know how they escaped. Did they learn the power of self love to break free?
...not gonna think about THAT for being the way to break free and then they didn't.
Raph corrects him that they broke free with the power of smashing!
Leo demands the journals returned and then Hypno confirms that the journals...do indeed...give him the power to bend reality. For Some Stinkin' Reasons.
The place turns into a fun house and Hypno escapes through another door. Leo is DELIGHTED.
Raph: What is it with magicians and their hatred of normal doors?! C'mon!
Donnie feels him.
THE CHASE IS ON! What follows is a lot of willy wonka boat ride pink panther technicolor nonsense as they chase after him thorough the fun house, ending up at a hall of mirrors, and end up finding four Hypno's so they have to split up.
Donnie ends up down a hall of portraits before getting tripped. Then ALL THE PORTRAITS ARE HYPNO AND THEN THERE IS A LOT OF HITTING WHILE HE'S ON THE GROUND. Very unpleasant bit.
Donnie manages to get to his feet and crashes through one of the paintings to escape and end up in a theater with the others, with Mikey covered in feathers and Raph in some weird torn monarch outfit.
...Leo is just enjoying the show Hypno is putting on.
They manage to chase Hypno into a real room.
....yeah, okay, Donnie is done. His face hurts and he loves Leo, but he is DONE with the magician nonsense for the day. As Raph and Leo bicker about a statue, he's typing away at his gauntlet, going to his recording file, going back like fifteen minutes. Isolate out the voices is just a few other taps and-
Oh, there's the hippo.
Speaker.
Fun fact, Donnie has a neural link to his battleshells, because the speaker pops out with a thought as he presses play, angling the speaker to hit Hypno and not his brothers.
Hypno declares his outfit isn't good for fighting them and apologizes and just zones out.
His brother congratulate him for the save.
Mikey: Wait, how do you have a copy of his spell?
Donnie: I record everything.
Leo: Wait, what? What else do you have recorded?
....
Oh right, this is one of his forgiveness over permissions thing.
Donnie: Uuuh, don't worry about it.
If he has to ask for forgiveness, they'll press later, its fine.
Raph and Mikey having a Facial Journey of 'do we want to deal with that right now?'
Raph decides to focus on returning the journals, which Leo is obviously trying to hide in his shell. Donnie removes the speaker of his battleshell to leave so Hypno stays in place as Raph gives Leo a warning. Leo insists he wasn't gonna read them, he just wanted to keep them and maybe snuggle a bit.
Leo is, again, an overexcited puppy about magician stuff.
The Worst Memory
Mikey is behind him-
There is a shift in air pressure, and his head snaps up as panic grips his heart and he's there, the Kraang, large and imposing in the mech armor five times his size.
The glass shatters around them from the force of his movement.
Mikey is behind him.
Wall wall wall wall wall wall WALL NOW!
He gets to his feet, spinning his staff, pulling at his ninpo as fast as he can to get a barrier. He has barely a slab as the fist tears through it like tissue paper and slams into him and there is the sharp pain of something fracturing somewhere and then its all just ringing.
Static and ringing and he feels the wind, but he can't get his mental faculties together.
They're falling, he needs to-
He needs to-
He can't-
Its the ringing and static and he's weak, powerless, he needs to act, he can't think, he can't focus-
(He couldn't save them. He should have been able to.)
Suddenly there is an arm around him and the static is SHRIEKING as his nerves tell him everything is bad and horrible and its like he's dying and whywhywhywhywhy-
"Don't worry Donnie! This is not a huge! It a rescue!"
Its a rescue.
Its that phrase that starts to kick his brain into gear. His nerves are still screaming. He starts to swallow down the panic and fear because it is a rescue and its necessary and he will always do what is NECESSARY.
He needs to focus. He needs to-
To help-
They hit the ground, protected by the red energy of their eldest brother as it shatters around them, taking the impact.
"Where are we? Staten Island?" Raph asked.
"Oh, gross," Donnie said, popping up. Its a rescue. Danger situation. PRIORITIZE AND FOCUS. Calm down and do his job! Data collection calms him down. "So how would everyone rate that rescue experience? Unsatisfied? Very unsatisfied? Wished Donnie would have done it? Um hm." Oh, there goes his-
Everything.
He still feels like jelly.
God, his back hurts so much.
And now his front almost hurts just as bad. He's pretty sure that's at least a hairline fracture in his arm and he's worried about how numb his hand feels.
"Donnie," Raph starts with some exasperation. "Leo's still up there."
Donnie pushes himself up to look towards the Technodrone. Leo is still up there. Miles and miles away.
Alone.
Oh.
He should have Raph. If he had just been quicker to recover, he could have saved him and Mikey, Raph should be up there-
Donnie is pushing himself to his feet, moving over to Mikey. He needs to check if he's okay, and then he needs to figure out a way to get them back to Leo. Something fast that can carry all three of them, just needs the right configuration.
"Casey. Casey, come in." Leo's voice over the communicators.
"Sensei, I'm here. And I've got eyes on the key! Tell me when you're home free, and I'll pull the plug!" Casey replies.
Maybe they could still pull it off. Sure, the Technodrone isn't THROUGH the portal, but its halfway through. The closing of the portal would destroy the ship. As long as Leo could get the Kraang to the other side, then the plan would work well enou-
"Casey, listen to me. When i get to the other side, you close that door," Leo says moments later.
Something cold and icy dumps into Donnie's veins.
"What? Sensei, no!" Casey again.
"Casey, its the only way. He's too strong. He's not gonna stay on the other side unless I keep him there." Leo and how dare he. How dare he sound so even and calm. He can't be calm, there is no way he can be calm when he knows WHAT THAT WOULD MEAN.
"There has to be another way!" Casey insists and yes. Fight him. FIGHT HIS DUMB-DUMB BROTHER.
But even as dread and panic and anger fills Donnie, it also feels like its all moving down. Down down down into that deep void that he knows oh so well, stealing away his words, his actions, as he can only look towards Raph in horror.
"We tried everything, Case. This is the only way."
Its not, it can't be. Leo is smarter than this, he knows Leo has plans upon plans, he KNOWS there has to be SOMETHING ELSE.
"Leo, please don't do this! Leo!" Raph tries to convince him to stop and even Donnie sees how scared he is.
And Leo, ever insufferable Leo who uses humor to COPE, is laughing and making a quip. "You're one to talk, big bro. Hero moves are totally your style."
Donnie grabs his staff, pushes himself to his feet. He needs to-he needs a plan. If they can get their fast enough, they can stop Leo. They can't let Leo go through with this.
(And he knows, oh, he knows Leo is going through it, he knows every thud, cracking bone, and sinister word, because he records everything, and he will listen later because he had to know, he had to know if there was anything missing-)
"Leo, please! I can't lose you again," Casey begs over the communicators.
"Hey, future me would be real proud of you. I'm proud of you," Leo says with such calm and care because he understands, doesn't he? He understands the hell he's putting on Casey and is trying to give him what little comfort he can.
He just needs something fast enough! Why can't he think of anything fast enough? Why is everything in his arsenal too slow to cross the distance they need to?!
"Casey, close the portal now!" Leo calls over the communicator not much later and now the strain is clear in his voice. He's hurting.
"No! Let go of me!" The Kraang can be heard over the communicator and the meaty thuds that can't be good for Leo's health.
"Casey, please!" Leo begs. Begs Casey to sentence him to death.
And then
The portal suddenly diminishes, catching briefly on the edges of the ship
Before its cut in half. The sky lights up with the explosion, debris and smoke and fire raining down from the sky.
And Donnie is empty.
Its as if everything inside him has disappeared down into that void, beyond his reach. Just like Leo.
And despite it, the tears form in his eyes. He watches Mikey stumble forward.
He sees Raph look at him, pleading, looking for something.
Oh. A solution. He is the solution guy and-
There are plenty that go through his head. They could use the key to open another portal to retrieve Leo? Except they don't know the ritual for it. They could find it out. But how to keep the Kraang in? Maybe he could make his own portal? He has theories, if he dedicated time, he could do it. Or Draxum made a Twilight Realm Portal, maybe he could open one to the Prison Dimension.
Ideas are forming in Donnie's head, dozens of possibilities shuffling through his brain at lightspeed, but they all come to one unavoidable fact.
They all take time.
Time Leo does not have.
If Leo is alive in the next hour, it will be because the Kraang is using him as a stress ball, an alien who has been freed for less than two days after a thousand years in prison, and that-
That is almost as horrifying as Leo being dead.
Donnie meets Raph's gaze and he shakes his head once.
There is no solution. There is no fix. There is nothing he can do except...except...
He watches as Raph falls to his knees.
Oh. He should.
Help with that.
He moves towards Raph, staring down at him and he realizes he doesn't know what to do.
He can hear Mikey crying.
He has no fix.
He feels the tears falling, and he reaches for them. Surprised there is anything left in him to cry.
There is an aching void, a pain so deep and heavy that it fills the void, wells in his eyes to escape, only to disappear into the void again and he-
He knows.
He knows the void will never fully go away.
He has the idle thought that maybe all those twin senses jokes had some validity because how can this be normal? Was this a twin thing that made it so bad?
They saved the world.
But their world.
His world.
Will be forever broken, a yawning chasm ripped out, never again to be filled.
It wasn't worth it.