Chapter Text
Alternate Timeline 3919: . . .
Donnie felt…well, he wasn’t quite sure what he felt at that moment.
Earlier, he felt joy in the succession of his plan, the joy of having four hims! It was electrifying to say the least, and not to mention the quick way the mission was over with! They foiled the Purple Dragon’s plans and got what Donnie has been yearning over for a while. He can only imagine the stuff he could do now with the Dragon’s Tooth in his hands!
That next day it…did not go as he thought it would. His brothers did not even have a need for skateboarding, and if they all had a brain like Donnie’s, then why did they ignore such a thing? It was something Donnie had actually been looking forward to for once. He was hoping to at least beat Leo at it, and his hopes were raised momentarily before it was yanked out his reach, figuratively and physically. When Leo just stated that he needed a part from the skateboard, Donnie deflated and left to head topside to look for parts in Repo’s place.
When he returned later, pizza in hand, he was even more puzzled. His brothers had all gone and redone half of his stuff in his lab, which infuriated him, but…it was all genius, he was shocked he hadn’t thought of it himself. Then when they comically whipped out Donnie’s spare bandanas and some black markers, Donnie felt a part of him crumble inside.
“But…But I thought purple was my thing.”
His full realization came on later that night, while he was talking with Shelldon. He needed to get his dum dum brothers back, one way or another. The next day, there he was, with a genius plan! Hologram pizza, and trap them all inside! But, alas, he feared that his brothers had even grown smarter than him. Silly thing, but entirely possibly. God, Donnie wishes he can go back and rethink that over. They did a fake-out, all that jazz, and Donnie was left in shambles, looking up at the photos of his family and noting the memories each photo brought. Shelldon told him something that made Donnie’s eyes sparkle with glee. Beat himself up! He could do that. And the failed mission actually gave him a small idea, one that he utterly hates, but it is going to work this time, he’s positive of it.
And so, morning dawned and Donnie “gave in,” then to his joy his brothers did that Classic Donnie Overthink™ and pulled that string. Donnie had to push down his fear as the giant beach ball inflated, closing his eyes in the process. After that, everything was going to plan. One of them whipped out a needle (he wasn’t sure who, he’ll have to check the Lair’s cameras for that later) and poked the ball, making it explode into others. Donnie quickly ran towards his lab, stealthy enough that his brothers didn’t notice in their panic. Shelldon led them all back into the Mental Intelligence Reprogrammulator, and Donnie dashed to shut the door before they grew out of their panicked state. He pulls down the lever, sparks dancing all across the structure he built, but after a quick glance at his monitors of the three he sees it’s not working.
“Augh, it’s not working! They’re still too smart!”
He needed more power. His mind knows exactly what he needs for it to work, and in typical irony is directed right at The Dragon’s Tooth. He grabs it, desperate and inserts it into the convenient slot.
“Come on come on come on!” He mutters frantically, the glass shattering on the case containing The Dragon’s Tooth, a bright white light and smoke filling up the room. Donnie looked hopefully towards the container holding his brothers, but nothing emerged from it. He quickly went to the monitor withholding the important information about his brothers, and he almost collapsed out of shock. The silhouettes should be full to the brim with their respective colors, not- not like this. They were about 46% drained from what Donnie reads, to his horror. After processing what he is reading, he flings the door open to the container, finding three bodies lying flush to the ground.
“No, no no no no! This wasn’t supposed to happen, this wasn’t!” He panics, sitting each and every one of them up against the wall of the M.I.R, checking pulses. Okay, they’re alive still. They’re- they’re not dead. But Donnie fears what the consequences of his actions have done to their mental capacity. Are they normal again? Is his monitor just freaking out? Is he freaking out? That question he could answer, and it was a definite yes. He can’t shut down just yet, he has to make sure his brothers are at the very least okay, and comfortable. He calls Shelldon over, asking him to help with getting Raph to his room. He can easily carry Leo and Mikey, thankfully.
The anxiety really set in after he placed them all in their respective rooms, now in his lab, destroying the machine he spent a week building. He’s never using the damn thing again, that’s for sure. He needs to rid of its presence before it becomes unbearable to look at later on. He worries. His worries are set in stone for the rest of the night, wondering when one of his brothers, usually Leo or Mikey, would stumble into his lab like normal and ask him what he’s doing. At this hour, he expects Leo. He turns around at the small noise from the entrance, expecting said turtle, only to angle his gaze down at his father.
“Purple…what
have
you been doing?” Splinter asks, looking past Donnie and at the now almost deconstructed mechanism, “Your brothers are acting all weird. I walked past Red’s room and was sitting there, it was so odd. You have nothing to do with this, correct?”
“Of- of course not, father! This- this behind me turned out to be a failed project so I’m taking it down,
nervous chuckle,
” He turns away from his father, tension heavy as he continues to meticulously deconstruct it all. Can’t waste a single part when you live in the sewers, and your only source of money is robbing ATMs.
Splinter knew something was up; he may be older, and a bit more distanced from his sons than he would like, but he wasn’t stupid, “Purple, what did you try this time? You’ve done many semi-ridiculous things over the years, and would always love explaining them to me. Mind entertaining your old man with this?” Splinter notices the firm tension in Donnie’s shoulders, how his hand tightens on the screwdriver, “I…I swore I saw three of you earlier, is this some sort of cloning machine, perhaps?”
“ Exasperated sigh, Papa, that’s not what this is. Frankly, this was a mistake to build. The whole idea was to make the three as smart as I, so we could accomplish missions more easily, no harm done, all that jazz!” He waves his arms around to emphasize, “I did succeed in doing it, but alas I had not thought through the whole ‘what-ifs’ or the consequences. I still need to think about it more, but that’s what happened, father. Now why are you up, were you looking for Mikey to make you more cake?” He diverts the conversation away from himself, still not turning around back to his father as he continues to work.
Splinter was quiet for a minute, “Yes, actually. How did you know?”
“I’m your son, duh. I can get him in the morning, dad. You go rest okay, it’s only-” Donnie looks at his wrist for reference, “Only 2:45 AM. Pretty late for you Pops.” He ends the conversation with some sort of finality in his voice, and his father thankfully left him alone with his thoughts as he continued to disassemble the machine throughout the night.
***
The next morning Donnie was expecting to be normal. But it definitely wasn’t as he woke up from his spot on a bench in his lab, no familiar smell of food threading throughout the lair from Mikey’s cooking. He cautiously went to the kitchen, finding it eerily empty.
“Okaaaay then.” He starts heading towards the box turtles room, wondering what has gotten him sleeping in so late. It was either that or Donnie woke up before everyone. After double-checking the time, he concluded that it was around the time most of the family woke up. And Mikey is usually the first, while Leo or Donnie were last. And even if Donnie did miss breakfast, Mikey would always bring it to him or leave leftovers in the fridge, and there would still be the lingering smells of the fresh food. Today was off, and Donatello hated that.
The room was dark when Donnie entered, “Miguel? You awake in here?” He fumbles his hand around in the darkness, trying to find the switch. He eventually does, and lets out a startled yelp as Mikey is sitting up, staring at him. Just how long had Mikey been doing that? “Hey buddy, uh, glad I got you up, I’ll be in the kitchen okay bye!-” Donnie didn’t wait for a response as he left the room, but it felt like he was being watched. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that Mikey was staring after him. It sent shivers crawling down his whole being as he slowly made his way to Leo and Raph’s room.
Dad had said last night that Raph was doing that, sitting up and staring into nothingness. Already disturbed by Mikey, he really didn’t want to see Raph like that as well. With two data points, it is almost obvious Leo would be doing the same as the other two. But, two data points is two data points, and he can’t just go off of that. He finds Leo’s room in similar conditions to Mikey’s, and it sets him on edge before he even speaks.
“Nardo, it’s time to get your ass up, it’s 10 AM and I
just
had to wake Mikey up to make breakfast, and do
not
make the excuse with your insomnia because I
know
you slept silently last night.” He flicks the light on, and manages to hold back his yelp this time, as Leo stares at him in that eerie way as well. Okay…so their brains have been reduced to 45% to what they were. And yes, number wise that does sound vital, as they could not even have the ability to breathe if one part of the brain is malfunctioned…
Donnie waits for the rise and fall of Leo’s chest, but it doesn’t come right away. Okay, now Leo is looking purple in the face. When did he stop breathing!? “Holy shit Nardo, breathe!” He rushed over, and as soon as he said it, Leo was breathing normally again. Leo let out a few sputtering coughs, but was silent afterwards. Donnie is starting to hate this, because whatever he did made his twin not even talk. That’s always a sign of worry.
“Leon, talk to me, are you okay? Feel…I don’t know, dumber? Sorry, that’s harsh, but not the best maybe?”
“I feel nothing.” was the response Donnie got, but one he hadn’t expected, and so
immediate.
It was like Leo was listening to his commands, like Donnie was his brain instead of having ones of his own. His speech was slurred and raspy as well, which set up a multitude of red alarms. One flag meaning that his brain could be shutting down at this instant, especially the part that helps him talk. Don’t get Donnie wrong, he is smart, but more tech-savvy smart than biology smart. If he had to name the part of the brain that controls the talking, he’d either have to look it up or ask Leo. One of the options was out of the question, so looking it up on the internet it is.
Not helpful, just says he has cancer, which Donnie has severe doubts about.
“Okay…if you are indeed listening to my commands er…head down to the kitchen?” And Leo just- does that. Does exactly what Donnie says, no witty comment at him, just straight down to the kitchen. Eerie, yet again. Does this work with the other two? He trudged back to Mikey’s room, then Raph’s, asking them to head down for breakfast. They did, all in the same manner. This- this isn’t right. Whatever the machine did, it shouldn’t have been this. Mind-controlling zombies?
Wait. But…that must mean…
No. No. Donnie is not going to think about that right now, he can fix this- he always does! He’s the tech guy, duh, it’s a simple easy fix. He mentally smacks himself for deconstructing the machine, as he could have used the information stored in it to help him out on this case. At least the monitors were up still, and The Dragon’s Tooth. He hoped he didn’t drain the shit out of the device. Donnie lets his thoughts settle as he enters the kitchen, then feels himself freeze up when he sees his brothers standing there, ridgid. Their eyes were glazed over, somehow he didn’t notice before, and their limbs were shaky.
Donnie broke the unsettling silence, “Al- alright then! Nervous chuckle, Michael, do you want to make breakfast? And we- we can talk about future missions! Raph, I know you love doing that.” Donnie’s eyes trail after Mikey as he jerks his way over to the counters, movements jerky but otherwise familiar. Habits die hard, he supposes, as Mikey goes to fry some eggs. Raph had started talking, garbled and so low that Donnie couldn’t hear. What he could hear was utter gibberish however, making him more on edge than it should have been. Raph does this from time to time, usually when he’s really tired, or something along the lines of that. They’ll all tease and laugh softly at Raph when he falls asleep mid-talk, yet this morning was empty without the laughs and quips that each of his brothers would throw at Raph. What pained Donnie the most was Leo, and how utterly dull he looked.
He shoves the feeling down, suddenly turning tail back towards the entrance of the kitchen, “Well, I’ll be in my lab, fellow brethren, when Mikey is done you should all eat and go- go skateboarding! Yeah! You can do that, you all love that.” The three mutter something under their breath, maybe repeating what Donnie said, before going deathly silent again. As soon as Donnie had gotten to his lab, he dialed April, thankful that it was the weekend.
“April, I fucked up.”
***
“You fucked up badly, mister,” April quietly says, looking among the three brain-dead looking teenage turtles, then to the one clad in purple, who was fidgeting with his hands, “And why did you think that mind-melding with them would be amazing in the first place?!”
“I’m sorry! Just- I just got fed up, okay? Happy with the answer? Now, the weirdest thing is-”
“Donnie. It’s more than that, I know, but we’re oh-so having a talk later.” April puts on her best annoyed older sister look on her face, which worked the way she wanted it to. Donnie slowly nods before continuing his sentence.
“...as I was saying, the weirdest thing is that they listen to every command I tell them to do. Similar to mind-controlled people in the sci-fi movies, but this shouldn’t physically be possible, against all evolutions of science and Einstein’s claims-”
“Would they listen to me?” April interrupts Donnie’s spiral, “I mean, if they could listen to virtually anyone, that’s a really bad thing, Dee! If you ever decide to go back on missions- which I am warning you
NOT
to do- the villains can easily get them to fight on their side!”
Donnie winces at that, “True, true. You can try, but I won’t be surprised if they do listen.”
April pauses to think for a moment, eyes lighting up, “Hey, Leo, go do a sick move on the skateboarding ramp!” April’s voice rings throughout the lair, but the blue masked turtle does not move from the spot where he is standing, rooted there.
“That is exceptionally weird now, they only listen to my commands! Oh dear god, does that mean I’m leader now?!” Donnie freaks out a bit internally. He might be good at directing plans sometimes, but 24/7 now? He’s a follower, not a leader, he couldn’t be able to do this even if his brothers are brainless idiots right now!-
“Donnie, calm down. I see that you’re panicking. Have you thought of a solution to this yet?” April asks, choosing her words carefully, “Because if you need help, I’m here, remember?” Donnie looks at April, a familiarity radiating from her. That. That’s what he needed right now. Familiarity, a slither of something that happened before now. Because- because this is the last thing he wanted; his brothers waiting for every command from him, but no inch of originality left. Is this how Draxum wanted them to become? Mindless soldiers that slaughtered many at once? Donnie stashes that theory for when he does indeed find a solution, In response to April’s question, he shakes his head slowly, signing that the only way to really revert anything was to use The Dragon’s Tooth, and his studies showed that it only had a dribble of power left.
“Well that isn’t good. Let’s go see what we can do, hm? After all, when your plans go awry, there’s always a solution! Take Kendra and the Purple Dragons, we still beat their asses after everything was entirely your fault!”
“Not
true, but I see where your point is. Let’s go fix my what-I-hoped-to-be-a-fix machine.”
***
Donnie knew his brothers died the day when he turned on that dreaded machine. When instead of walking out themselves, they were left limp on the floor. The new formality is driving him insane, because he didn’t want to get used to his brother’s silence. They just- they follow him everywhere, and don’t stop unless he says so. It’s creepy; it’s been like this for months now, and Donnie had only recently told Splinter the whole story. Donnie instead went on solo missions, not trusting his own guidance and instructions anymore. He’s happy that Shelldon and April were with him almost 24/7 now, which is the only thing keeping him from the brink of insanity.
That is until he lost one while in a tussle with Meatsweats.
Meatsweats was able to hit Shelldon smack dab in the middle with a meat cleaver, a sickening crack echoing throughout the alleyway which they fought in. The drones stopped rotating as the robot crashed to the ground, beams of lighting dashing across his beloved creation. It was like something snapped in Donnie, and he was suddenly over Meatsweats, clobbering him with the rocket in his tech-bo, slamming it over and over and over and over and-
Warm hands pulled him back, but he didn’t care. He screamed, he yelled, he cursed at the mutant, who was bloodied and on the brink of death on the ground, face mangled up, burn marks scorching the villain. Donnie became well aware of the hot, sticky and warm tears running down his face, then of April’s voice as she ushered him away from the scene. He tries to escape her grasp, and he manages to do so by elbowing her hard in the stomach, leaping free as soon as she lets go. He saw the mutant stumbling towards his food truck van, limping and very much in pain, but Donnie could care less right now. He stumbles to the ground, to his beloved creation. His son, dare he say. The motherboard is cracked in a multitude of places, and the circuits were all fucked up and Donnie knew, he knows that he can’t save Shelldon. He didn’t even get to say goodbye. He feels April’s hand on his shoulder, but he could again, care less. Another part of his familiar life had been taken ruthlessly away from him, and there’s nothing he could do to repair the droid, at least with his memories attached.
He doesn’t know how long he’s on the ground, for all he knows it could have been an hour. He shakes as April helps hoist himself to his feet, limbs trembling as he stared down at the parts that are now just useless scraps. He waves April backward, opening his battle-shell and controlling the four claws to gently pick up the scraps and store them in his shell. He’ll find use for them. He will, he knows he will. He needs to nurse his blood family first, that’s all. He will and can repair Shelldon. He- he doesn’t know what he’ll do if he can’t.
***
Donnie was sure he’d never have to force his brothers to listen to his commands, but that day was certainly today. After intense training from their father, Donatello sent out quiet commands to his brother to retrieve the Shredder armor as quickly as possible. Him and Mikey were battling it out with the Foot Lieutenant and Recruit, when he heard a sickening crunch from behind him. He whips his head around just in enough time to see Mikey going down, a heavy weight rolling on the ground already. Blood was oozing everywhere, and Mikey’s head was definitely caved in. No. No no no no no no no- What- who-
“Mikey?” He croaks out, small but feeble. Something lit up inside him as he heard the cackle of the recruit behind him, smacking her hard against the face with his bo-staff, not even sparing her a glance. Nobody else came to attack, which for some unknown reason, enraged the turtle. Forgetting all the training Master Splinter had given him, he yells out in anguish as he attacks everyone and whoever was near him, covering the carts walls in blood splatters. The Foot Clan members managed to escape his wrath, limping towards the buttons and pressing them all at once. Donnie lets himself break down fully, falling onto his hands and knees besides his brother’s limp body, and by the even duller look in his brother's eyes told him enough. His brother’s body was gone, but Donnie knew that his mind had been gone for months already. But- but this is Mikey-
Donnie scoops Mikey up, gently, shaken but knew he had a mission to accomplish. Then he can nurse Mikey. He can fix this. He can. He can he can HE CAN HE CAN HE CAN-
April is gone. Taken. Kidnapped. And so was he, Mikey limp in his hands with Raph and Leo not doing the best as well. He wastes no time tearing down the cage, ignoring the Hamato ways, as his father would say. That’s all bullshit, he needs to get his family home. Let the Shredder be born, so he can face the full wrath of Donnie himself. He tells Raph to get the two home, taking out his iconic purple mask from a pocket he stored secretly in the clothes Father gave them, tearing off the red one. The red of blood will pop off more against the purple, anyways. He hears Raph trudge away with Leo following, no doubt heading towards home. Donnie will not let Draxum have this win, and if he has to murder him in the process, he will.
Alternate Timeline 8522: , , ,
Leo lets out a yelp when Donnie bursts out of his lab, looking like an utter mess, but a happy utter mess. It’s been only a month or so after the invasion, and loud noises still bothered Leo, but he couldn’t possibly be scared of his brother when he’s this excited.
…on a second note, maybe he should be.
“Yo Dee, what has got you so riled up at-” He looks at the time, “5:37 AM?” He asks, genuinely curious and willing to let his twin infodump to him.
Donnie flaps his hands around to calm himself down, “Well my dear brother, I have managed to create a rift between time and space! A- a portal, is what it is, essentially, but- but unlike you or Mikey’s, this one can rip apart into alternate timelines! We could go and literally visit us from the past! Oh the possibilities are endless! ” Donnie does a little happy dance, stimming more in his pure excitement. Leo watches, a tired but relaxed smile on his face. The last time Donnie was this excited about something was forever ago, so long that Leo could hardly recall (to be fair, he is severely sleep deprived at the moment).
“So what you’re saying is you want to time travel basically? Because Casey beat us to that one, dude.”
Donnie waves him off, “No no, it’s- alternate timelines are things that- that-” Donnie takes a deep breath, “Nardo, i’ve found out that Casey is from an alternate timeline. Alternate timelines form after a certain action at a certain time, as I’m almost certain that Casey’s apocalyptic future happened at a later date. The photo- the photo is taken after April’s graduation, and we wouldn’t have time for that if aliens were invading, correct?”
Leo nods, “Okay, I got a basic understanding of all of this now. Continue, Mi Hermano.”
And so Donnie does, “So that’s what an alternate timeline is, and they’re amazing Leo! Like- we could be huma- wait no, that’s an alternate dimension, er- oh! Instead of my amazing tech-bo, I could instead be wielding that idiotic looking mystic weapon back when we first got ours. Is the idea clear now?”
“Clear as day brother. How about this, we can go do some traveling
after
everyone wakes up and has eaten, okay? Not discouraging you or anything but I think Mikey will be ecstatic.” He lounges on the couch, rethinking over what Donnie had said. A small change that can lead to a huge outcome. Him, losing the key? Probably didn’t happen in another timeline. Something stirred up in him, maybe it was envy, caught his attention. Even without meeting other hims, he’s already jealous of their lives. Wow, that’s selfish of him.
“Oh- right right, sorry Nardo if I woke you, sleep in a bit more okay?” Donnie’s voice drifts away back to his lab, the early sounds of the city creating a nice ambience up above the lair.
“You got it brother.” Leo smiles.