Remember [Book 1]

10 - Donatello

Even after a failed Purple Dragon stop, I was sitting in the back of the Shell Raiser thinking. The music that was blaring only seemed to be outside of the heavily armoured subway car. Dull and unfocused. I was more focused on how I was going to apologise to Naomi and Mikito. I didn't seem that untrusting, did I? Naomi and I were getting along there for a while anyway. She's the one that helped pick out the music.

Mikito and I never really spoke or saw each other. Partially because she was always with Mikey or Splinter. She seemed nice, though. Energetic and honest. They were both very nice girls and I didn't see how they could have thought I wasn't trusting them.

Suddenly the Shell Raiser stopped, bringing me out of my thinking. I got up first, wanting to go apologize and to see if they wanted to go on a Shell Raiser ride after I fixed it up a little. As I opened the door, however, I heard a thump and a groan.

Turning my attention to the ground I saw the Pulverizer. Behind me, Mikey cried out. "Donnie! Come on! I wanna see if Mikito's okay!"

"Well," I stopped him from going any farther. "We have a problem."

A simple side step out of the Raiser and beside Pulverizer was all it took for the others to see him. I kneeled down beside him and helped the suited man to sit up. He rubbed his head with a groan. Great...

"Fantastic," Raph practically finished my thoughts. I turned up to him as he crossed his arms. "First this doofus gets in the way of a perfect Purple Dragon beat down, and now he knows where our lair is?"

"Oh," Timothy groaned, lifting up a finger. He was looking in a direction near my red masked brother but not at him. "Don't worry. I blacked out most of the way here." He paused then groaned, holding his side. "You can survive with just one kidney, right?"

I was about to answer him when Mikey practically pushed past us. I steadied Pulverizer and then helped him up. His question now gone past my mind, I asked, "How do you know who we are?"

It took a while for our new guest to speak. When he did, he grinned, "Oh, I saw you months ago!"

"Where?" Leo asked in awestruck horror. I didn't blame him...

That's when Pulverizer started to explain how he saw us on a rooftop one night fighting a giant mechanical man. I felt my jaw set as I realized he was talking about Bexmin Stockholm and the lost T-Pod. I really needed to make another one of those but less deadly.  As I was deep in thought over that night's incident, Pulverizer seemed to be in better health and was exclaiming what we sounded like that night.

He pointed to me at the very end and paused. Why did I have the feeling he was about to say something bad? "You were the strong, silent type." A long pause hushed over us as the three of us frowned at the teenager. He seemed to be uncomfortable too so he decided to speak up again, "You guys inspired me to be a hero! I looked at you guys and thought to myself, 'What do they have that I don't?'"

"Years of training under a master of Ninjitsu?" I asked in a rhetorical manner. He shouldn't have an excuse anyway.

Pulverizer shook his head. "A sweet costume. Where'd you get yours by the way?" He smirked and crossed his arms.

"We didn't," I told him again. "We're mutants. We're like this."

"Riiiight," the newcomer said sarcastically. He came up to me and I took a step back for a moment. Why I don't know. He poked me though. It made me uncomfortable. "Awesome!"

"Not awesome!" Raph snapped as he took a steep toward him. Pulverizer took a few paces back. My brother turned back to me and Leo and growled, "We cannot let him stay here! We're already full on room because some mutants had to stay for our company!"