I BEG for more baby Donnie! Please grant me more of him!!!
HECK YEAH I AM BACK, AND I FEEL LIKE SOME KARAI & DONNIE BONDING YOU PROMPT GENIUS YOU!!!
"I still don't understand how you lose a toddler."
"He doesn't know who we are." Karai hops through the manhole after Shinigami. The glowing purple shimmer travels along the sewer tunnels. Karai ducks awkwardly underneath it. "Splinter was helping us blend in at a young age. In case anyone ever came upon us in the sewers, he wanted to keep us safe. Look- I'm sorry to get you involved but it's been hours, and if you don't want to look-"
"Don't make me into a monster, Leo." She dismisses outright. "We'll let you know if we find anything. You see what comes up on your end and try not to traumatize any more children."
"You're a riot."
"I know."
"Keep me updated."
He hangs up, and Karai rolls her eyes, "He's so sensitive."
"I can feel his buzzing aura through the phone. Consumed with fear."
"I know," She admits reluctantly. "Though I'm not sure I'm the best one to be out looking. I'm not even sure he liked me when he was big. What if he runs off? I could make this all worse."
"If he doesn't know them, he won't know you."
"That could be true..."
"What do you think the turtles look like when they're small?" Shini hums as she collects the sparkle trail in her palm. "Cuter than the big ones?"
"I don't understand why I couldn't tell him you have a plan," Karai responds wryly. "I am so not a kid person."
"A magician cannot reveal all her secrets." Shini passes her a wink before she adds, "Too many questions..."
"Is that why I don't get to know what it is we're tracking?" Karai taps the trail, but her hand phases right through. "And why it's sparkling?"
"Nope!" She giggles. "But don't worry, it'll get us where we need to go."
"If you were anyone else, Shini..."
"Oh, I know." Shini preens. "Your faith is sooo appreciated."
"We're here."
Karai pinches her nose at the stench. "You sure?"
Shini collects the last of the sparkles in a tiny glow on her palm. "He's around here somewhere."
"I was kinda hoping we'd turn a corner, and he'd be sitting right there." Karai gestures to the ground. "You couldn't be any more direct?"
She grins, "Where's the fun in that?"
"This isn't a game, Shini." She scolds as she takes in the area. "It's a manhunt. We have to find Donatello before he gets hurt down here."
"Silly me." She pulls down her hat. "Though perhaps our problem is the downward search. He is a ninja, no?"
She tosses up the ball of sparkles, and it goes up between the pipes. It explodes, and they see the green form at the same time that he yelps, clinging onto one of them as the glow fades.
"Donatello?" She walks underneath him. "What are you doing?"
Now that she knows where to look, she can see his shadow as he scrambles upright, quickly hopping from pipe to pipe above them.
"Donatello!"
His steps are shockingly soundless for a child, but he actually gives them a pretty good chase. Karai doesn't think the pipes can handle her weight, and she's not sure how to get him down without raising a weapon against him. As if reading her mind, Shini suddenly throws up her hand, and her bats hit the ceiling.
He squeals as they flurry around him, falling backwards as they pop into smoke clouds, and Karai catches him before he hits the ground.
"Let me go! Let me go!" He lashes out, smacking and kicking and forcing Karai to release him. "Papa! PAPA!"
She manages to snatch his hand as he goes to run, knees firmly planted as he hits at her armored hand. "No! Stop! Let me go!!"
"I can't do that." She insists as Shini crouches beside her. "You brothers sent me to find you!"
"They're liars!" He pleads, leaning as far back as he can. "They're not my brothers! I'm finding my brothers!"
"I could put him to sleep." Shini takes off her hat. "Just momentarily."
"And then what? We drag him home so he can run away again?" Karai supports him when his own flailing trips him up, preventing him from smacking into the ground, propping him up until he can regain his footing. "How would that help?"
She shrugs, "He wouldn't be quite so loud."
"Tempting," Karai admits as he finally stops spazzing, catching his breath as he looks between them. "But maybe later."
"Alright." She stands up. "I'll go see where the closest exit is."
Shini strolls off, and Karai is left with her kid brother glaring daggers at her. "So what do we do with you?"
"Let me go."
"That defeats the whole purpose of us coming out here."
"I don't want you out'ere."
"You and me both."
"Then go away!"
"I can't until I take you home."
"I don't want to go home!"
"Yeah, that's the whole problem."
"Those guys took my brothers away." He snaps. "I gotta find them."
"And how do you know they're not your family?"
"Because my brothers are small like me. And they're big, and they did something to Papa! So I got away."
"And what did they do to him?"
"You know!" He accuses. "You're with them!"
"I'm with your brothers." She points out. "If they're not your brothers, why would I be with them?"
She can see the gears turning. She lets him go.
"Well you're... you're..." Uncertainly, he presses, "My brothers don't know any humans."
"That's weird. They know me."
"No they- Don't..."
"Then how do I know their names?"
"You don't know their names!"
"Oh, you mean Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo? Those names, Donnie?"
"The fake ones told you!"
"They did, did they? And how do they know your names?"
He blinks at her, looking a bit lost.
She knows better than to provide more information than necessary. She's not about to invent a tale for him to trip her up in. "How do you know they did something to your Papa?"
"'Cause... he thinks they're my brothers. They're not."
"And you know this because...?"
"They're my brothers?" He waves at his body, looking more confident. "So they gotta look like me."
"They kinda look like you," She considers. "Only bigger."
"What do you know?" He scowls, "You're just a human. You don't know anything about mutants. I bet you don't know anything about turtles."
"You'd be surprised."
"If you know something about mutants, you have to tell me!"
"I do?"
"Yeah!"
Shini comes strolling back, and the little turtle tenses.
"I might be able to take us back to the lair from here," She says idly. After a glance at Karai's face, she adds, "If that's still something we want. I'm up for whatever if it gets us out of the sewers."
"I can't leave the sewers." Donnie shoots defiantly. "That's the rule."
"Well that's-"
"A good rule," Karai interrupts smoothly. "Since it keeps you contained."
Shini nods. "Of course."
"Who's rule is that, by the way?"
"My Papa's," Donnie crosses his arms, "Why?"
"You're the smart one, aren't you?"
"Yeah! I am!"
"So you know the rule is designed to keep you safe. And make sure he can find you again, right?"
"I guess..."
"So you're following it because you want him to find you."
"I... No, I.. I am?"
"That's what makes the most sense. You want him to find you."
"If he finds me, he'll take me back to those- those liars!"
"Oh, maybe you aren't the smart brother."
She stands up. He stomps, "Yes, I am!"
"You can't be, because that doesn't make any sense."
"No, I-! But I- I'm-! I-!" She lets him stress until he can actually work out what he's trying to say. "I-Mmaybe I am! Maybe!"
He looks around and then ducks his head, voice dropping. "A little."
"See, that makes sense." She crouches back to his level. "Very smart of you to notice that. I've seen him fight. A very tough warrior to defeat."
A firm nod, "Nobody can hurt my Sensei!"
"Not even those big turtles?"
"No!"
"Interesting. So it sounds like you might be safer with him than out here all alone, doesn't it?"
His eyes search her face. "I... Guess it does."
Shini muses, "Too bad we're all the way out here, then, huh?"
"I know," Karai agrees. "Imagine if we had been bad humans. Like the really bad ones who hurt turtle kids."
The longer that he thinks about it, the more that the determination melts away into a blossoming fear. He swallows hard.
"I... I don't know where I am."
"Oh!" Shini says, a little startled gasp as she leans over. "That sounds scary. All the way out here, lost?"
"Mmhmm," He looks up at her, big brown eyes pleading, "But you know where my lair is?"
"Not too terribly far." Shini pats his head, and he gives Karai an uncertain look. She can't help the teasing smirk, "I don't know. You weren't very nice to us, and now you want us to do you a favor? I wouldn't want to reward bad behavior."
His eyes water, and her smirk drops.
"I'm sorry!" He begs, rapid-fire. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Don't leave me here! I want my Papa! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!"
"Whoa, hey-" In a frantic motion, she reaches out to pacify him before it becomes a fit that could attract unwanted attention. He reacts as soon as she does, popping into his shell and landing on the floor.
His scream rings in her ears. He sounds legitimately scared.
"Wow," Shini says thoughtfully. "You truly are terrible with kids."
"Not helping," She gives her a side-glare and then kneels down. "Donatello, you don't have to hide from me. I won't hurt you."
A pathetic whimpering sound from the dark.
"Just pick him up."
"How is that going to help? We don't want to give him any reasons to run off, remember?"
"Alright... Alright..."
Shini shrugs it off, and Karai focuses on the sniff from the shell.
"You're... crying, aren't you?"
"No," His voice cracks. Shini tsks, "Look what you did."
"I didn't mean to," She insists, looking back at her. "Now what do I do?"
"I blame that question on your freako dad." Shini straightens, looking amused. "He's scared. You scared him. Give him a hug."
"Are you joking?"
"Do I look it?"
She lets loose a sigh, and it gets her a teasing smile.
Karai turns back to her brother.
His eyes are peeking out from the shell.
"Do you want a hug?"
He stares at her for a brief moment before slowly coming out.
"...Okay."
He holds up his arms. She stares at him. Shini leans closer to her and whispers, "He wants you to pick him up."
"I see that," She hisses back, before reluctantly opening her arms.
Her little brother- very little, she realizes when she carefully scoops the willing bundle up- is heavier than she expected. Probably due to the shell. She lowers herself down to sit, letting him curl into her.
He's not so confident anymore. "I wann'go home."
"There, there." She tries. "We'll get you back to Splinter."
"But my brothers..."
"We'll find them too."
Karai watches Shini mouth that she's calling Leo back. Karai gestures to the whole child clinging to her, demanding what the step is now, but her friend only blows her a kiss and walks away to put some distance between them. She drops her head against the wall in exasperation.
She watches Shini talk in a low voice, picking up on the pride that echoes back to them. She feels as he starts to go lax against her. She pats his shell a few more times.
It takes her a while to realize that he isn't just calming down.
"He fell asleep on me," She whispers in shock as Shini returns. "I'm wearing armor. And a total stranger!!"
"He is a child, Karai. One who has been running around for some time." She crouches. "You've earned his trust."
"I could do anything to him. That's- so dangerous! When I was his age, I would never have-"
"Your father was a monster." Shini cuts her off smoothly, sitting cross-legged across from her. "I would not have slept much at night with him in the other room."
"That's..." She wants to rebuke it. She doesn't know why she would want to do that. "He doesn't even trust his own brothers."
"He is confused, afraid."
"He should be more afraid of me."
"Why? Do you mean him harm?"
"Of course not. But I'm-"
"His sister, who's too up in her head to admit she likes the attention," She smiles in the understanding way that somehow always makes Karai's upside-down world right itself. "You have been worried about him. Allow yourself to be relieved that he is safe."
Her eyes fall to the small form.
She slowly brings her arms around him.
"It's a big world for such a little turtle."
"You got him," Shini cooes. "He's not going anywhere."
They sit in the comfortable silence.
"I guess he is kinda cute..."
She giggles. "I told you."
"For a turtle."
The brothers lurk anxiously in her peripheral vision as Splinter comes up to them. He takes the small tike from her.
Once they realize that he's fast asleep, they scramble over one another to examine him in worried, hushed tones.
They excuse themselves from the family huddle.
Karai goes back to the lair the next night.
She finds Donnie in the kitchen with Father, standing on his toes to scrutinize the pan that Mikey's making eggs on suspiciously.
"Miwa," Her father greets. "I did not expect you back so-"
"YOU!!" Donnie scrambles off his chair, scurries around the island, and then runs over to her. He stops to point up at her face. "You're real!"
"You think?" She smirks. "News to me."
"I'm being smart like you said." He bounces a bit. "I'm staying with Papa. He says he'll beat them up!!"
He swivels his head to glare at Mikey.
His now-big brother laughs nervously. "Hey, si... Karai."
Donnie looks aghast. "You don't even know her NAME!"
"Hey," She grins. "Evil lying turtle. What's up?"
He pouts at her, and Donnie looks back up at her, "Have you found my brothers yet?"
"Is that..." She glances at Father and then back down. "What you thought I've been doing this whole time?"
His brows furrow. "Weren't you?"
"That would make the most sense," She breezes past the interrogation easily. "And we've seen signs of them. But don't worry, we know for a fact that they're okay."
His face relaxes, "I want them to be okay."
"'Course you do."
She glances back at their father, and his smile tells her that she did the right thing. A small hand suddenly grabs hers and yanks at her arm. "Come sit! We're waiting for the faker to leave so Papa can make pancakes!"
She mouths a sorry to Mikey, and he only shrugs.
Karai sits where she's instructed and listens to Donnie ramble about the steps to making pancakes and the importance of measuring. He's scooted his chair closer to her, speaking with importance.
She nods along until he stops to watch Mikey leave, staring at him like a very tiny baby hawk. He goes with a sheepish wave.
"You know a lot about pancake baking, huh?"
"I've never seen a child absorb information like this one," Father offers as he stands up to head to the pantry. "He learned all this just a bit ago."
"It's 'cause I'm smart!" He looks between them. "Right Miwa?"
"So smart." She pats his head as he beams. "You're gonna bake a mean pancake when you get older."
"Or right now," Father lifts up a mixing bowl. "Would you like to try, Donatello?"
"I'm going to maKE PANCAKES?!"
She winces at the shrill excitement.
"If you calm down," Their father teases. "And Miwa agrees to assist you while I clean your... the mess left from the eggs."
"Miwa PLEASE?!"
"Sure." She smiles as his eyes shine. "Let's make pancakes."
There's a "yin to my yang" situation going on with Mikey never going down the manhole last, even on a chill day of skateboarding, as opposed to Raph almost always going last
