~~**~~**~~
If you don’t create change, change will create you.
~~**~~**~~
Don’s Journal — Nov 2010
Months have passed since the incident at Winters’ tower, and life has gone on for the most part. Leo and Raph seem to have come to some sort of truce. Although they still disagree about almost everything, the underlying anger about it has dissipated. Almost like they could finally agree to disagree. That was a great relief to Mikey and I. It almost felt like the past several years hadn’t even happened.
Mikey quit the birthday party gig immediately, as soon as he finished up the last few parties he had booked for that month. I guess he decided the money wasn't worth the pain. And, I think he enjoyed being home, now that Leo was back and Raph didn’t sleep all day anymore. But no one said anything about it, we just let it be.
But, I kept my IT Support job, for now. The money was just too good. I think I have gotten used to having the extras, and it sure was nice. Nice to be able to buy groceries, first aid supplies, and medication, without having to depend on scavenging, or April and Casey’s generosity. Not that their continual gifts weren’t appreciated, but it sure was pleasant to be able to stand on our own and support ourselves, for once.
I know my brothers wanted me to quit my job, but they never said anything to me about it. It was like the unspoken rule, I think they were enjoying all of the little, and not so little extras, that having money could provide. Like not having to worry where our next meal is coming from, or if we will have the medicine to heal any illness or injuries that might befall us.
That’s another thing. Even though I worked 10 hour days on the IT job, I still went out every night for patrol and training. I did not get cut any slack, nor did I expect it. I would have been upset if my brothers thought that I could not handle myself in battle, just because I sat and talked on the phone for the majority of the day. That would be a great insult to me. Not to mention the added bonus of such a great stress relief at the end of very frustrating days, nothing like a training run to make you forget about some rude customers.
Well, like I said, it was all going quite well for us. It seemed like we were finally going to get some relief from the constant drama that was our life. Even the petty criminals seemed to be taking it easy those last few months.
Until the Foot attacked us while we were out on patrol one night. Guess it was too much to ask for the peace to last. Even after Karai’s cryptic farewell message to us at the Winters Corp tower, we had all hoped that our rivalry with the Foot was a thing of the past. Guess we were wrong.
Just goes to show you that all good things must come to an end. Even I could not have fathomed what that attack would leave behind. My family was unprepared, to say the least.
~~**~~**~~
There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction. — Winston Churchill
~~**~~**~~
One year earlier — Oct 2009
“No, sir…I had done all I can for you, sir…I will forward your trouble ticket to our warranty department, and they will be contacting you within the next two to four business days…yes, sir, please feel free to call me back if you do not hear back from them…”
Don’s voice could be heard all the way into the living area of the lair, as he tried to finish up his last tech call of his shift. Leo was sitting on the couch next to Mikey, only half listening to the news on the TV, trying to see if Donny would be getting off the call anytime soon. They were already several hours late leaving for patrol tonight, and Raph had already left to meet up with Casey to get a head start.
Leo didn’t like putting off patrol, but even though he was the leader, he felt like he couldn’t say anything to Donny about working so many hours. After all, it was his paycheck and technical skills that provided almost all of the comforts they had in their home. Leo couldn’t bring himself to complain, it would make him seem ungrateful for all that Donny did for their family.
Mikey did not seem to be bothered by the delay. He was immersed in his latest comic book, not concerned or noticing how late it had gotten. Mikey was used to Donny’s odd hours from the two years that Leo was gone, in training in South America. He had learned to be patient with Donny’s work schedule. After all, it only took one customer to have a bad problem to keep Don on the phone for hours. Mikey had learned over the past two and a half years to just ignore it, and patiently wait for Donny to come out from his computer lab.
After all, Donny had been very generous with his family. Not only did he make sure all of the necessities were taken care of, he had gotten several extras for their family, including brand new memory foam mattresses for each of them. All of the turtles enjoyed being able to sleep on their shells, it was a new and wonderful experience, as were the other comforts they now enjoyed.
“You’re welcome, sir… Thank you for calling, goodbye,” Donny sighed heavily, dropping his headset onto his desk and quickly signed out, turning off his computer. He raised his hands to rub his temples as he took several deep breaths.
“Are you alright in there?” Leo asked, from his place on the couch.
“Yeah, just give me a minute,” Donny looked up. “I’ll be right back,” Donny got up from his chair and made his way to the bathroom to splash some water on his face and get some headache medication. That last call had been something else.
Mikey looked up from his comic. “He done?”
“I guess,” Leo answered, “Get ready, I want to leave as soon as possible. We don’t have much night left.”
“No problem, Leo,” Mikey jumped up from his slouched position on the couch. “Just say the word; I’m ready when you are.” He quickly moved towards the door access to the sewers.
Leo sighed, “Okay, Mikey, let’s give Donny a second, then we’re leaving.” He hoped Donny wasn’t too tired after such a long work day. From what he had been able to hear, Donny had several bad calls in a row. Hopefully tonight wouldn’t be too stressful.
Don looked up at himself in the mirror, water running off his face and hands. ‘Why do I even bother to put up with this abuse? Oh, yeah. The money.’ He wondered if this was what humans felt. Burned out, in a seemingly dead-end job, too dependent on the paycheck to try to quit or move on, feeling trapped by the money they needed to earn to survive. ‘At least I don’t have a bunch of bills to pay. Just 5 mouths to feed. And a wanton desire for shiny new parts that don’t come from a junkyard.’ He had to admit, it was nice to work with technology that was new, instead of second-hand or broken before he even got his hands on it.
‘Not like anything stays unbroken in this house, between Raph and Mikey, I have loads of practice fixing things.’ Don reached in the medicine cabinet for some Advil for his headache, which had been growing steadily worse all afternoon. ‘Well, no time like the present.’ He felt guilty holding up the others, making patrol run so late, and rushed to dry his face. He left the bathroom to go to the dojo to retrieve his bo staff.
As Don walked out into the living room from the dojo, he saw that Mikey and Leo were already standing at the door, ready to leave. Don flipped his bo over the back of his hand and then tucked it up and over his shoulder, sliding it down his back until it caught on his belt. A gentle push and it easily slipped into the holster that holds it to his back.
“Ready?” Leo asked, Mikey bouncing on the balls of his feet, anxious to get going.
“Yeah, I’m ready,” Don sighed, “Let’s go.”
“You sure you’re alright?”
“Yeah, Leo, I’m good,” Don replied. “Let’s not keep Raph and Casey waiting any longer. Who knows what kind of trouble they’ve been able to find without us.”
“Come on, Leo,” Mikey spoke up. “I thought you were ready to go, so let’s get to it!”
~~**~~**~~
No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.
~~**~~**~~
Thunder and rain collided with the sound of metal striking metal, and metal striking wood, on the rooftops of New York. Four brothers and one friend were surrounded by an apparently endless hoard of Foot ninja, fighting for their lives.
After catching up with Raph and Casey, the group had barely gone two blocks when they were ambushed by the Foot. Leo knew that the Foot must have been waiting for them to show, this was no ordinary patrol they just happened to stumble across. The Foot was here for a reason; Leo just did not know what that reason was, yet.
After not seeing or hearing anything from the Foot since the Winters’ incident, months ago, it was a horrible surprise, to all of them. All four turtles fought as one, with Casey providing back up as needed.
As the fight continued, it became obvious that these Foot ninja were much better trained than those they had fought in the past.
“Is there no end to these guys?” Mikey called out to his brothers, fending off three ninja at once.
Raph called back, “The more the merrier, I’ve been itchin’ for a good fight!” He smirked at the enemy he fought, swinging the knuckle of his sai up and hitting the ninja he was facing on the head, knocking him out. He turned quickly to engage another ninja, trying to stay near his brothers.
Leo saw a lone ninja with what looked like a gun aiming at Don, who was too focused on fending off several ninja to see the danger. “Look out, Donny!” Leo cried out, too far away, and fighting off too many enemies of his own to watch Don’s back.
Don pivoted on his left foot, spinning his bo staff, trying to see what the danger was. He saw a massive flurry of darts flying towards him, and tried to protect himself. But, his headache had blossomed into a full blown migraine, compromising his vision and reaction time.
Don was able to block most of the incoming darts, but three made it through his defenses to hit him on the arms and neck. Quickly pulling them out, he turned to fend off several ninja that thought he would be an easy target now. Don spun around with his bo parallel to the ground, knocking three Foot to the roof, causing the rest to back up, giving him some much needed breathing room.
Don staggered, trying to hold on, to not give in to whatever was in those darts. He shook his head, fighting off waves of dizziness, struggling to focus on his surroundings.
Leo attempted to get to Don’s side, but he had a lot of opponents surrounding him, blocking him from helping his brother. Leo could see that Don was losing his fight against unconsciousness, blinking and shaking his head, looking very unsteady on his feet.
“Raph, get Don and get out of here,” Leo called out, seeing that Raph was much closer that he was to Don’s position.
Raph looked over to where Don was struggling to remain standing. “On it, Leo,” he replied, powering through the seemingly endless sea of Foot. He reached Don just as Don fell to his knees, slumping over in unconsciousness. Raph caught him before his head hit the rooftop, swinging Don up on his shoulder, in a fireman carry.
Mikey and Casey joined Leo in clearing a path, keeping an escape route open for Raph and Don, trying not to get too far away from each other.
“Got ‘em,” Raph called, “Let’s go!” Raph moved quickly through the cleared path his brother’s had made and leapt to the next roof, holding tightly to his precious cargo. His brother’s and Casey were quick to follow, blocking any Foot that tried to keep them from escaping.
As they made good on their retreat, Leo was surprised to see the Foot backing off. ‘This is really not normal Foot behavior, what is going on here?’ Leo was very concerned about this change. First the enemy is more skilled than usual, now they were being allowed to retreat without being followed? ‘Now is not the time to worry about this. Don’s safety comes first, then I can get to figuring out what the Foot has planned.’
