Cleo's POV:
I was in my English class and since I have school with April, who still haven't talk to me, I'm usual happy to see her. But with everything that's been going on, now I'm pretending I never knew her. I look outside the window and saw the flag as I concentrate on it, secretly practicing my telekinesis on it.

Flex!

I smirked as the flag moves by my power; it looked like it was just the wind blowing it. "Cleo?" I turn away from the flag and window, and towards my teacher, Ms. Wilmot, a kind woman in her mid-30s. "Did you bring your favorite poem?" "Yes, Ms. Wilmot." I said, I got up as I grabbed my notebook, which is already opened to the page of where my poem I wrote, I walked up to the front, and stood in front of the class and began to read my poem out loud.

A Wing And A Prayer by Michelle Butler

Under the wing of an angel, we feel protected,
Through prayers to God, we feel connected,

Peace is said to be offered on the wings of a dove,
Prayers can bring peace along with hope, faith, and love,

Wings of a jet plane provide steady flight,
I pray you remain steady and strong through this fight,
Butterflies have wings to fly playfully free,
And free from this monster is what I pray you'll soon be,

Birds spread their wings as they may leave their nest,
We're spreading our prayers that you'll always be Blessed,

Go fight and win this battle you didn't start,
On the wings of an angel and prayers from my heart.

Everyone and Ms. Wilmot clapped for me, even April clapped for me. "That was beautiful, Ms. Hamato." Ms. Wilmot said, "Thank you." I said, smiling at her and went back to my desk. "Since everyone finished their poems and there's only a few minutes left until the bell rings, you all can have some free time." Ms. Wilmot said. I would look out the window and practice my telekinesis on the flag again, but for some reason, something isn't letting me.

I didn't pay attention to anyone; I only listen to some of the students who are laughing at the joke one of their friends said to them. I began to drown their laughter in as I block April out, knew she was looking at me as I look at my desk, beginning to hear voices and see visions. I saw a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes in a towel, crying and screaming for help in the girls' locker room shower area. I also see the girls laughing cruelly at her, chant "Plug it up!" as they throw pads at her while one of them was recording a video on her phone. I glare slightly at my desk as I heard the poor girl screaming, crying, begging for help.

They disgusted me, it makes me wanna hurt them. Makes me want to twist their bodies like pizza dough and crack their skulls like an egg. I don't know why I thought of that, but it just made me. And that something about that poor girl wants me to protect her from those awful people who bullied her. The school bell rang as it snapped me out of the trance I was in, making me blink a couple times.

Everyone grabbed their things, got up and left the classroom. How long was I in that trance? I look at my ruler in my binder and my eyes widen in surprise when I saw it was bended and twisted. I slowly closed my binder, moved it and was shocked to see a big crack across my desk. Shoot! I accidentally use my telekinesis! I look around, luckily no one saw it, and I quickly grab my binder, and left the classroom. 

After school, I make my way to the sewers, after making sure no one saw me and arrived back to the lair, I went back to my room to put away my school things and switched my normal clothes to my kunoichi uniform. I walked out and heard a voice, "Hey Cleo!" I jumped and turned. Mikey was sitting in the pit in front of the TV next to a small box whose contents I couldn't make out. I settled down and grinned at him. "Hey Mikey, whatcha doin'?"

"I found a bunch of old anime tapes in the trash the other day, and I've been binge watching all day," he beamed. "C'mon, let's check 'em out!" I raised an eyebrow as I walked over and sat on the edge of the pit. The TV screen lit up and the letters 'SRMFF' appeared in on the screen. Then, a group of people dressed in knock off suits from Voltron appeared, and a girl with green hair cried out. 

"Oh no! Super bad times for all!" "Does great danger arrive? Where?"

I raised my eyebrows as I stared at the screen. Sure, dubbed anime tends to be bad, but this just sounded ridiculous.

"Killer beast-bots from planet seven are here, with steely resolve!" cried the nerdy one with glasses. "Captain Coolstar, what are we going to do?" Captain Coolstar then proceeded to slap the poor boy across the face. "Get a hold of yourself, man!" What looked like a small monkey in a yellow suit started whimpered quietly. The guy in red, whose shoulder it was sitting upon, looked at him. "Don't worry, Squeakums. We'll blast 'em with Mighty Super Robo Mecha!" "Team! Combine in teamwork mode!" "Super! Robo! Mecha! Force! Five! Team! Five! Go!"

"What the heck is this nonsense?! It's terrible." I jumped and turned. The others were all standing behind me, looking at the TV in confusion and distaste. Raph had been the one who spoke. "Terribly awesome!" Mikey responded, standing up and picking up the box of tapes. "I found these old tapes in a dumpster." "Tapes?" "Check it out!" "Dude, this is awful!" said Leo. "And you guys complained about Space Heroes." "Their lips don't even match what they're saying!" "It's dubbed anime, dude," I said. "What do you expect?" "Whatever. The point is, I could never watch a show this bad!" "Now, hold on guys," Donnie was rummaging through the box of tapes, examining them. "Maybe it looks weird, but it might be okay. We should at least give it a shot." 

I nodded. "I'm with Donnie. It can't be the worse show ever." Leo and Raph looked at each other for a moment before sighing in defeat. About an hour later, all four boys were sitting up close to the TV, their eyes glued onto the screen. I smirked at them from my seat in the pit. This show wasn't necessarily bad, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves much more. "So, she's the princess of an entire planet?" asked Raph. "Cool!" "Yep, and she also pilots the robot's left leg," said Mikey. "She rules! But that scientist dude made the robot!" "The story has such an intricate, layered plot," Donnie beamed. "Four stars!"

Suddenly, the screen changed to show the nerdy boy talking nervously to the princess. "P-p-princess, I'd like to invite you for space dinner, if you please. Yes?" "What? I, date a weakling like you? Not for 10,000 Zarkon crystals!" Dramatic music played as the boy cried out in horror.

At once, the others all started laughing. Donnie just sat there, staring at the screen with his jaw hanging open. Mikey nudged him playfully. "Haha Donnie, that is so you and April, dude!" "It is not!" Donnie snapped, then stood up. "Meh, this show is lame anyway, the plot makes zero sense! I'll be in the lab..." I watched as Donnie marched away, a much grimmer look on his face than before. I turned my head to look at Mikey. "Why'd you have to do that, dude?" I asked. "He's already upset enough about April already. You do not have to make it worse." Mikey hunched over. "I just... thought it was funny." I sighed. I wasn't feeling up for cartoons anymore. I stood up as I started heading to my room. I needed to keep practicing my telekinesis anyway.

(-)

(Theme song)

♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ​​​​​​♫
♫ Heroes in the shadows ♫
♫ Ninja power! ♫

♫ Here we go! It's the lean, skilled, ninja team ♫
♫ On the scene, cool teens doing ninja things ♫
♫ So extreme, out the sewers like laser beams ♫
♫ Get rocked with the pizza kings and queen ♫
♫ Can't stop these dudes and dudette ♫
♫ The secret of the ooze made the chosen few ♫
♫ Emerge from the shadows to make their move ♫
♫ The good guys win, and the bad guys lose ♫

♫ Leonardo's the leader in blue, ♫
♫ Does anything it takes to get his ninjas through ♫
♫ Donatello is a fellow, has a way with machines ♫
♫ Raphael has the most attitude on the team ♫
♫ Cleopatra, she's a special girl, ♫
♫ Does anything to protect everyone she loves ♫
♫ Michelangelo, he's one of a kind, ♫
♫ And you know just where to find him when it's party time ♫
♫ Master Splinter taught them every single skill they need ♫
♫ To be one lean, mean, skilled incredible team ♫

♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team​​​​​​​ ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Heroes in the shadows ♫
♫ Ninja power! ♫

(-)

Cleo's POV:
I enter my room and face my slightly cracked full body mirror. My powers gotten a little stronger and I knew I'll go out of control, if I let it control me. I focus on the mirror so much; it began to wobble. Not more than a few minutes later, the mirror glass shattered to the ground loudly. "Cleo?" I heard Raph's voice as I turn to it. Dang it! They heard it! I turn back to the shattered mirror and quickly use my telekinesis to put them back on the mirror and fix back up again.

Once I'm done, I quickly jumped onto my bed and grab my book I bought from a bookstore, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. I quickly opened it, pretending I'm reading the book while I lay on my back against my pillow as my door swung open. "What was that noise?" I turn to see Leo, Raph and Mikey standing by my door, I guess it was louder than I thought. "What noise?" I asked, pretending to be confused. Leo, Raph and Mikey look at each other, looking so confused, and turn back to me, "Never mind. Are you ready for training?" Leo asks me, "Yeah, give me a second." I said, Leo nodded and he, Raph and Mikey left.

I sighed in relief and look at my full body mirror to see my reflection perfectly, it was all fixed, not a crack in sight. I hope they didn't notice. I put my book away, grab my kamas and tessen, and left my room. Tonight, we were training with sneak attacks. Leo had set up certain obstacles for each of us to be tested on. Currently, it was Mikey's turn. Obviously, it was more simple than the others.

Leo simply had him go explore some of the buildings for a bit before setting up a trap in the form of an open pizza box with a single slice of pizza inside. "Get ready for when he comes," whispered Leo. I nodded and waited. Soon enough, I heard him shout out his catchphrase as he landed on the skylight, grinding it on his skateboard. He flipped off and was about to continue on when he spotted the pizza box laying where Leo had left it. 

"Hello? This slice belong to anyone?" Mikey called out. "Huh? Ha... then it's all mine!" Leo withdrew one of his katana's and began creeping around the roof. He went from one end to the other, climbing around the vents and atop the water tower. Mikey turned around only once before grabbing the pizza and bringing it closer to his mouth. Leo suddenly leapt down and immediately knocked Mikey up and off of his feet. He landed loudly on his shell and Leo held his sword down to keep him there. Then he held out his other hand, revealing the single slice of pizza resting in his grasp.

Then, he smirked before he started to eat it himself. "What the heck was that?" Mikey demanded. Leo swallowed the pizza whole before answering, "That was a stealth attack. And that's what we're practicing in today's training session." He smiled, spinning his katana and putting it back in its sheath. He held is hand out and helped Mikey to his feet. "No fair, I couldn't see you comin'!" "That's why they call it stealth, genius," Raph said, displeased.

"Why would you eat random pizza you found on a roof anyway?" asked Donnie. "Roof pizza is like one of my ten favorite kinds of pizza." I grabbed his shoulder. "Dude, you really need to expand your horizons a bit." "Okay guys, listen up," started Leo. "Two keys to stealth-misdirection and camouflage. Got it? Raph and Mikey, you guys are up." "Nah, I don't wanna do this anymore. Do you, Raph?"

But, as he opened his eyes, we had already disappeared from sight. I was hiding behind the water tower, Donnie I'm sure was still on top of it, and I'm not sure where the other two went. Mikey looked around, looking nervous before shrugging and bending over to pick up his skateboard. Suddenly, Raph jumped out of nowhere and grabbed Mikey by his shell, lifting him up into the air. "Shellwedgie!"

Mikey yelped and thrashed as he was held up like a newborn baby. "No fair! Stealth attacks are lame!" I couldn't help but giggle as I watched Raph mess around with him. Even if he could be too much sometimes, it was always funny seeing him play with the others. I heard footsteps from behind me and turned. Donnie wasn't even paying attention to the training but was walking away to the opposite side of the building.

I looked at him for a moment before walking over to him. "Penny for your thoughts?" Donnie looked over at me. "I was just thinking... April's always studying in the park around this time. Would it seem weird for me to just show up?" I folded my arms. "Well, considering you don't normally go there, cause you can't, it might be a bit obvious you went there to find her." He sighed. 

"You're probably right." I leaned over and patted his shell. He grinned slightly for a moment. Then he turned his head to look at me, a curious expression on his face. "So, what happened this afternoon?" "What do you mean?" "Today," he answered. "I went to get some lunch and I heard a crash in your room. It sounded like a mirror shatter, but when the others checked on you, they told me nothing happened." I felt my heart leap into my throat. Oh great, now Donnie knows. Should I tell him what happened? Yes, it was strange, but Donnie was the only person I could talk to about this stuff. But I don't know if he'll believe me.

"Um..." I turned my head back to make sure the others weren't listening before I continued, "No, nothing happened, actually." "Cleo. Sooner or later the others and I are gonna find out what's wrong with you. And soon will Master Splinter." "Nothing's wrong with me!" I snapped at him. "Even if I tell you... you guys aren't going to believe me." "So says we don't believe you?" Donnie questions me. "Cleo, you have to tell us before this gets out of hand." I stared up at him. I do want to tell them, but I'm scared I'll hurt them with my telekinesis if I go out of control.

Donnie's voice snapped me back to reality. "Look Cleo, I can tell your scared. But whatever it is, we'll help you if you tell us what's going on." I nodded, looking off at the city. Could I really tell them about my telekinesis? I was about to said something when I heard Donnie gasp. I turned to see him leaning over the edge of the building and looking down. I followed his gaze and gasped too.

It was April. She was in the little park, sitting on the swings with a book in her hands. But she wasn't alone. She was swinging next to a tall, dark-haired kid who was dressed in all black and gray clothes. I had to stare at him for a moment before I recognized him. It was that Casey Jones kid I saw at school and member of the school's hockey team, I saw him in the hallways when I go to class, but we don't talk to each other.

Did he and April know each other? They seemed to be talking about something important, but I could just barley hear them. "School isn't really my thing," said Casey. "When I graduate, I'm either becoming a pro hockey player or an international bounty hunter." I couldn't help but grin. Leave it to someone like Casey to have wicked dreams like that. "Those are quite the options," April told him. "Who wants a normal life anyway, right?" April didn't respond. She just sat still on the swing, messing with her hair. Casey stared at her for a moment.

"Hold still Red, you got a smug on your face." Casey leaned over and started wiping away at April's cheek. I heard what sounded like a puppy getting kicked and looked around. Donnie was on his knees, leaning further and further over the edge, looking furious. "She's on a... date?! I can't believe it! And with some punk human kid! What're they saying?"

Before I could yank Donnie back over and knock some sense into him, he had leaned so far over that he finally fell off. He fell down and slammed into one of the dumpsters below. I quickly ducked my head down so that Casey and April wouldn't see me. I could hear them talking to themselves, wondering what that noise was. "Dang it, Donnie..." I groaned.

(-)

Needless to say, Donnie's mood didn't improve when we got home. I was stuck in his lab with him, sitting on top of his desk as I listened to him vent. "Ridiculous... And-and they were swinging together. Swinging! And then she looked at him!" "Yeah, she kinda has to," I told him. "No no, she gave him that look! Like-like-like this!" Donnie turned to me and gave me a wide, doe-eyed smile, blinking his eyes sweetly.

I had to resist the urge to laugh. In reality, she didn't look at him that way at all. But Donnie wasn't thinking straight right now. He dropped the sweet smile, and it was replaced with an ugly grimace. "Ohh... why was she even with him? Because he's human, that's why! Big deal! Do you know how many people are human?" 

"Around 6 or 7 billion," I answered. Donnie rolled his eyes and continued on with his machine. He tinkered with it for a moment before bringing it over to Timothy's tank and hooking the two up together. "I'm almost done with your voice box," he muttered. "Okay... how's that?" "Speaking... to you... Donnie..." I smiled. "Hey Timothy. Nice to hear you again, buddy." "It works!" Donnie puffed out his chest. "Ha ha ha! Let's see April's boyfriend design something like this!" "I... like April... Donnie..." Donnie smiled sadly. 

"Yeah, you and me both, Pulverizor. I just have to face it. She'll never wanna be friends again." "April... friend...?" "Yeah, she's our friend, Timothy," I told him. "She'll always be our friend. She's... just going through some stuff right now." "Donatello, my son." We both turned our heads. Father was standing in the doorway of the lab. "I would like to speak with you." "Um, sure Master Splinter." Donnie got up from his worktable and walked away, following father out of the lab. I sighed and followed them out. 

They both headed towards the dojo while I went for the pit, jumping up and landing on the couch, a few moments later, there was suddenly a loud crashing sound from the lab. I turned around, the sound had come from inside the lab. Both Donnie and father suddenly ran out of the dojo and straight into the lab. That's when I heard Donnie gasp. "Timothy!" I immediately jumped off the couch and ran straight for the lab. I made it just past the front doors before I skidded to a halt. There was a huge hole in the wall exactly where Timothy had sat, and Timothy was gone.

(-)

"... I didn't know it, but I think all of my April talk made Timothy go after her." "You told your thoughts and feelings to a pile of guts in a jar?!" Raph yelled. "He's a good listener!" "But why?" I asked. "Why would Timothy go after April? To bring her back to us?" "I don't think so... I think he might want to bring her to me." I looked over at Leo and saw him trying to use his phone again. He had been trying to call April since we left the lair, but so far had no luck. "Any word from April yet, Leo?" "Not yet" he answered, dialing on his phone again. "How dangerous is this thing?" "Well, he obviously doesn't know his own strength. He could end up hurting her." Leo angrily hung up his phone. "Her T-Phone's still off. There's no way of tracing a signal." 

"Actually, she might be at the park," Donnie said, then quietly added, "on a date..." At that moment, the other three all skidded to a halt in front of us, finally pausing in their run over the rooftops. I slowly came to a stop behind them and turned with them to look at Donnie. "And you know this how?" Raph asked. "Um... maybe I was... f-following her..." The others all gave Donnie very serious looks as I face palmed myself. I really wanted to be on Donnie's side when it came to his feelings, but it was stuff like this that made it very hard for me to not slap him in the head. "Well, that's not creep-tastic," Mikey said sarcastically.

"Alright, so they're either at the park or April's headed back home," said Leo. "Donnie, you and I will take the park. Raph, Mikey, Cleo, you guys head to April's." "On it!" we said in unison. And with that, we split off into the night. Mikey and Raph both looked over the building, searching for April and, hopefully, not Timothy. While they were busy, I was dialing away at my phone, trying to call April. I was hoping that she might have turned her phone on, but so far, no luck. "Ugh, c'mon April, please..." I sat and listened as my phone started to ring. At that moment there was a loud explosion from behind me. I turned and ran to the edge of the building, looking over to the ground. 

There was a pile of flipped over cars just down the street from us. From the smoke, I could see several people running away and a pair of teens riding away on a bike. That's when I noticed a tiny dot of bright red hair flying by on the bike. "Guys, I think it's April! Look-!" I turned to see the other two staring down at the chaos, not even looking at me. I looked down and saw that something else was moving from the smoke. I squinted and suddenly saw a flash of green. A moment later, a giant, walking and moving mass of green good that was waving its arms and yelling loudly. It was Timothy. "What the heck has Donnie been feeding him...?"

With that, we all jumped down from the building and climbed down. We ran up behind Timothy, taking out our weapons as we did. "Not so fast, barrel full of uglay!" Mikey jeered. "Donnie's right, Pulverizer's been drinking mutagen," said Raph. "You're not going anywhere, pal!" "No... Must find April..." Timothy turned and started walking away, his arms held out in front of him. Mikey leapt up, spun in the air and landed in front of him. "What happened to you, Pulverizer?" he asked. "You turned into some kinda... mutagen man." Timothy's eyes narrowed as he let out a strangled, staticy growl. 

We all stepped back, holding our weapons up. I held my kamas tightly, not wanting to use them. Timothy suddenly yelled as he raised a foot and stomped on the ground. The force of that stomp sent us all flying up into the air. I was kicked backwards, and my side slammed into the fire escape on the building next to us. I fell to the ground as I heard another loud bang, and I looked up in time to see Mikey laying on the ground before the dumpster above him tipped over and trapped him inside. I looked over and saw that Timothy had Raph pinned under his foot, practically crushing him. He then opened up his large hand and slowly reached forward for Raph's face.

There was a flash, and out of nowhere Leo appeared, holding out one of his katanas. He had cut off the mutant hand that had been reaching for Raph. Timothy screeched and took several steps back, backing away from Raph. He cradled his slimy stump in his hand, looking sad and angry. Leo glared up at Timothy before starting to walk towards him. Then, Donnie jumped in from above and landed between the two mutants. "No! Don't hurt him!" he begged. "What?! That thing tried to melt my face!" Raph yelled. 

"All he wants to do is make April our friend again!" "No...!" Timothy suddenly yelled. "April not turtle friend... April only my friend...!" Donnie whipped around. "What? I thought you were trying to get April back for me!" At that, we all raised an eyebrow as we stared at Donnie. He realized what he had said and quickly corrected himself. "Um... us?" "Turtles hurt April..." Timothy continued. "Hurt me... Must destroy turtles...!" 

Timothy raised his slimy stump, and a brand-new hand slowly morphed from his slime. We all raised our weapons, and Donnie took out his Bo staff. Timothy raised both of his hands and started to make his way over to us. That's when it happened. His bright, mutagen glow started to fade as his slim became less thick, and he started to sink to the ground. The organs in his tank were starting to swirl around and mess up and he let out an exhausted groan. It was like watching a robot's battery die. "Uh oh... powering down..." 

With that, his eyes rolled back, and his tank fell over onto the ground. We all stood around for a moment before sheathing our weapons and walking forward. "What happened?" asked Leo. "He ran out of mutagen," said Donnie. "Quick! Let's get him into the Shellraiser!" It took a while for us to get Timothy in the Shellraiser. With the added weight, the van moved a lot slower than normal, so we had to stick to alley's as we searched for the right entrance back to the lair.

"Remind me why we're bringing Mr. Personality here back to the lair?" "What he did isn't his fault, Raph, it's mine," explained Donnie. "He was lonely. All my April talk made him want a friend." "I don't understand," I piped up. "You and I talk with him every day. Doesn't he see us as friends?" "His mind isn't his own right now, Cleo. I don't think he can think properly even if he wanted to," he said. "Anyway... the important thing is to make sure we don't let him get hurt. Timothy's DNA could be the key to retro mutagen. I could cure April's dad and him if-" Mikey gasped and we all turned. 

Timothy's long, stretchy mouth had slipped out of the tank and had gotten into some more mutagen on the shelf. It was all gone before we could do anything. Timothy suddenly jumped up, causing the van to spiral out of control. He leapt forward and ran out to the street, screaming April's name. Leo quickly pulled the van over and we all ran outside. "I thought he was out cold?" "He must've drunk more mutagen in the Shellraiser." I said, "We split up and find him." "There's no need to split up," said Donnie. "We know where he's headed."

We all started running out in the street, back around the block towards April's house. We headed up to the rooftops and continued there. It would be faster that way. Soon, we were able to catch up to him just as he rounded the corner where April's apartment building was. He was standing in the alley next to it, spying in on the front where April and the Casey Jones kid stood talking. We all reached the alley and didn't hesitate to jump off the roof. We all landed in front of him, withdrawing our weapons. "Where do you think you're goin', handsome?" Raph asked. "April's house?" "She's not expecting visitors at the moment," I said, raising my kamas. "Keep him in the alley! We can't let April's boyfriend see us." Leo's words made Donnie sneer, but he made no comment. "Leave... Mutagen Man... alone!" 

Timothy ran at us, and we each leapt at him. Things were pretty crazy for the next few minutes. It was a constant cycle of one of us hitting Timothy after the other. Just one big mess. He kept swinging and flinging his fists at us, only hitting us a couple of times. I ran around him in a circle and flung my kamas at him. They would slice through his slime and come back. I stopped in front of him just as Leo ran up to attack him. Timothy backhanded him out of the way, making him hit the wall. I gasped as I stared, and I was distracted long enough for Timothy to jump forward and shove me back several feet out of the alley. I slid on my butt until I reached the end of the alley and fell onto my back. I groaned, rubbing the dirt out of my eyes as I started to lean up. That's when I noticed that a person had been standing right outside the alley and they were now looking directly at me. A person with bright red hair, and a bright yellow shirt.

"April?" "Cleo?" It was April. She must have just gotten back from her date. I sat straight up, staring up at her. For a brief second, I completely forgot what was happening. This was the first time I had seen or heard from my friend in over two months, and I couldn't help but smile up at her. My smile quickly faded as I heard Timothy yell from the alley, and I looked to see that he was still on a rampage. I sprang to my feet and ran at April, grabbing her and pushing her up the stairs to her apartment. "Cleo, what's going on out there?" "No time to explain, there's a lot going on right now," I said quickly as I opened the front door. "Just stay inside, I'll let you know when it's safe again, okay?" I gently pushed her inside the building and shut the door. 

I looked at the door for a moment before I turned and ran back towards the alley. When I returned, things were still going crazy. "Destroy you all...!" "Donnie, we have no choice!" said Leo. "Whatever Pulverizer-whatever Timothy was, is gone now." "But, if we destroy him, I might never find a retro mutagen. What about April's dad?" "What about April?" Raph asked seriously. Timothy reared his head back and let out an angry roar.

"We need to distract him," said Donnie. "Misdirection and camouflage." I understood what that meant. I smirked as I quickly pressed myself against the wall and slid into the shadows. The boy's eyes all turned white as I slipped into the shadows as well. Donnie slipped into darkness and quickly disappeared from even my line of sight. Timothy ran at random dark spots in the alley, but he never came close to one of us. His arms fell to his sides as he gazed around. "Turtles... gone...?"

I could see the boys sneaking around in the shadows. I kneeled by the dumpster and softly kicked out a piece of trash. Timothy turned and walked towards it. At that moment Raph appeared out of the darkness, sliced and it Timothy, and then disappeared quickly. Timothy turned and started walking in that direction. Then, both Leo and Mikey appeared and started to attack him at the same time, knocking him back deeper into the alley. They quickly leapt back and disappeared as well. Timothy was becoming visibly angry now, glaring and clenching his fists. I leaned over next to a small trash can and called out. "Hey, Mutagen Man!" 

I quickly ran away back behind the dumpster. Timothy ran in the direction my voice had come from and kicked out the trashcan. "No, over here!" Timothy turned and ran at a dark mass that looked like Leo. He swung at it, revealing it to be nothing but trash. "Hey, Timothy!" I turned to look up. Donnie had returned. He was standing in the middle of the alley, holding a canister full of mutagen. Except, this mutagen looked different. It was brighter and was closer to blue than typical acid green. "Mutagen!" Donnie exclaimed. "That's right... this way..." Timothy didn't hesitate to start marching towards Donnie, his hands held out for the mutagen. 

"More... mutagen...!" Suddenly, Timothy sprinted forward towards Donnie. He swung down and smacked Donnie out of the way, causing him to drop the canister. It broke as it hit the ground. "No! Don't drink it, Timothy!" But Timothy didn't listen, and his weird, long mouth extended and lapped up the mutagen on the ground. For a moment, he looked very pleased with himself. Suddenly, his face fell as he staggered backwards. He looked much less scary and looked more terrified. "Donnie..." he groaned. "Something's... wrong...!" "I'm sorry, Timothy..." Timothy's movements started to become more jagged and twitchy as the goo in his jar started to turn blue and solidify. 

Donnie started walking towards him, not minding that he was moving and swinging. A second later he was completely solid and stiff. He had been frozen. "Wow! Awesome move, Donnie!" Leo praised, smiling. "Real scientific!" "Yeah. Real scientific..." Leo's face fell as he noticed the look of sadness on Donnie's face.

Donnie walked forward until he was directly in front of Timothy. He raised a hand and pressed it against the glass. "Don't worry, my friend," he whispered. "One day, I'll find a cure." Raph walked up to stand next to Donnie. I thought he was going to say something smart, but the comforting arm placed around Donnie's shell told me otherwise. "It's okay, Donnie. You did what you had to do," he said soothingly. "Let's just go home."

(-)

Donnie's POV:
It took half an hour to move Timothy from the alley to the Shellraiser. It took just as long to move him back into the lab. But, even after an hour my arms still felt heavy, along with the rest of me. The guys obviously had not a care in the world now and immediately went back to watching that new cartoon Mikey found. I couldn't be bothered to watch it. Too many painful reminders of how lonely I'll be for the rest of my life.

"How are you, my son?" I jumped, startled by Sensei's sudden presence. Did he really have to do that every time? I relaxed quickly, and soon went back to feeling like trash. "Sensei... I created a monster who could've squashed the girl I'm totally into. How do you think I feel?" I placed my head in my hands. "I'll probably never see her again..." "April's decision to stay away is her own choice," Sensei told me. "We must let her come back in her own time." "Yeah, but what if she never does?" "Never lose hope, Donatello." I lowered my hands as I thought about Sensei's words. 

Just then, I heard soft laughter coming from the exit. I turned to see Cleo sitting on the steps, laughing as she spoke on her phone. She had called April right after we got home to let her know that she was safe, and they hadn't stopped talking since. The fact that April hadn't hung up on her was good enough, but the fact that Cleo was smiling and laughing told me that the conversation was going better than what I would expect. And if April is okay enough to be speaking to Cleo (after what April did), then maybe she'll be ready to be friends with us again. Suddenly, the dialogue of the cartoon caught my attention. 

"Oh, Dr. Blip, you saved me with all of your might, brave intelligence! How I adore this!" 

I looked up at the screen just in time to see the princess lean forward and begin kissing the scientist's cheek multiple times. His cheeks went red as the camera zoomed in and started to fade, indicating the end of the episode. I couldn't help but picture me and April in that scenario for a second, but it didn't last long. I smiled. "Yeah, there's always hope."