Chapter Text
Don was in heaven. Truly. Everything in his younger counterpart’s lab was simply beautiful. To Don everything looked so incredibly futuristic and that says a lot, he had been to the future after all. But he was impressed nonetheless. Just by looking at it, Don knew that these gadgets and inventions were far more ahead of their time than anything he had ever seen. As impressive as the technology of 2105 was Donnie’s lab had things just as advanced in the year 2020, only a few years ahead of Don’s own reality, 13 years to be precise.
“Impressive, am I right?”, said Donnie, “Never seen anything like it?”
Donnie sounded incredibly cocky as well as confident as he said this.
“Impressive, yes.”, said Don before he smirked, “But I’ve been to the future, soo-“
“You what?! Like a good timeline or a bad one?”
“Bad one?”
“Time travel isn’t all that new to us. We do live with a time traveler from the year 2044. A, well, bad future.”
“You live with a time traveler? Where are they?”
“CJ is currently on a road trip with our dear sisters.”, said Donnie.
“CJ? Sisters?”
“Yes, CJ. Casey Jones”
“Casey is a time traveler here? And you have sisters?
“Duh. Don’t you have sisters, you know Cassandra and April?”
“I mean April is kind of our big sister, but who’s Cassandra?”
“Who’s Cassandra? Cassandra Jones? Former Foot Recruit?!”
Don looked at his counterpart. This was something Don would pick up later. He really needed a proper explanation of just how a Foot Recruit became their sister.
“Let’s just come back to that one later, shall we?”
“Fine, you’re not getting around that one. What kind of world do you live in, if you don’t have Cass?”, Donnie mumbled that last part, but Don heard him nonetheless.
Don then saw a metal claw come out of Donnie’s metallic shell. The claw took Don’s hand and dragged him along. Don glanced at the matt metal on the younger’s back. Don remembered that Donnie was a spiny soft shell, they had mentioned it only yesterday, but that didn’t make him worry less. What would prompt Donnie to build such a device? As incredible as that shell was, why would a 16-year-old feel the need to build something like this? It worried Don greatly. Where Don and his brothers, as well as Donnie’s brothers, had built-in protection, Donnie didn’t. Don didn’t want to think about Donnie receiving a bad injury on his shell.
Don decided to maybe ask about that later. Only if he felt Donnie was comfortable enough with answering such an invasive question.
Don was pulled out of his thoughts by Donnie pulling up a purple hologram out of thin air.
“So, you mentioned a portal device from your last adventure in the multiverse?”
“I- yeah. How did you do that? What device-“
“Oh, that’s no device, it’s part of my Ninpo.”
“I really need to know more about that later.”
“We can talk about it over lunch later. All of us are still learning how to harness our full potential.”, explained Donnie, “Anyway- what did you need to build the portal device?”
“Well, it’s actually called Portal Stick, first off. And we need-“, Don began as he listed what he recalled he and Donatello used to create that machine. Hopefully, it will work in this reality too.
“Excited gasp! This will be amazing!”, exclaimed Donnie as he flapped his hands. Was he stimming? Don couldn’t help but find Donnie’s excitement endearing. But it will definitely take some getting used to, to hear someone voice their actions.
Donnie and Don worked on the blueprints first. After all, they need a plan before they can build it. As they worked Don kept getting surprised whenever a purple glow appeared. Donnie was casually using his Ninpo to grab something or even make it out of thin air. Don had met with Mystic before, but nothing was like Donnie’s powers. From what Don could see, the younger powers were the perfect balance between mystic and tech. Don needs to ask more about that later.
“I think those are done now.”, said Don as he put down the pencil.
The two genius turtles looked at their work.
“We should get the materials soon. I just need to see where we can get everything.”, muttered Donnie.
“How about we worry about that after lunch?”, offered Don as he pointed towards the clock in the corner of the room. They had been so wrapped up in their work, that they didn’t notice that Leon would burst into the room to collect them in only thirty minutes.
“Disappointed sigh, at least I can ask a few more things!”, said Donnie.
“Only if I get some more answers too, Donnie.”, said Don.
“Of course.”, said Donnie, “I’ll start then- You’ve been giving my brothers nicknames, except Raph oddly enough, yet you still call me Donnie. Why is that?”
Donnie asked his question and Don knew it wasn’t just curiosity. Was Donnie afraid Don liked him less because he didn’t get a new nickname? Hopefully not.
“Well, you’ve all taken to calling me Don, I assumed you would prefer staying Don. Was I wrong?”
“Well, no. I simply found it… odd.”
“Donnie, the truth, please.”
The pair of purple turtles stared at each other; Donnie eventually backed off.
“I assumed you preferred Leo and Mikey over myself and Raph. I honestly don’t understand why this is important to me, but you’re me, you should like me, right?”, Donnie sounded incredibly sad. Despite the cocky and quite frankly insane exterior was still a 16-year-old boy. One that craved approval and praise much like Don did too and having someone that understood your passion was rare. Don knew that well.
“I don’t prefer any of you over the other. All of you are amazing kids, in your unique ways. Preferring one of you is like asking me who my favorite brother is. That’s an impossible question to ask.”
Donnie laughed a little, he understood that sentiment. If someone asked him who his favorite brother was he wouldn’t know how to answer either.
“I suppose that is fair.”, Donnie said, “But you should also say that to Raph.”
“To Raph?”, asked Don.
“I may not be the best at picking up social cues, but even I noticed. You’re afraid of him. I don’t know why, and really don’t see any reason for that, but some people are afraid of him. He noticed it too. I’m sure of it.”
“I- well.”, began Don.
“You do not owe me an explanation. But maybe talk to Raph? He takes these things to heart a lot.”
“I will, later.”, said Don.
Donnie nodded. He may be the younger brother between him and Raph but that didn’t stop the resident genius from making sure his big brother was enjoying this too.
“Now it’s my turn to ask you something.”, said Don, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. But why are you wearing that shell cover?”
“Donnie stared at him for a few seconds.
“You are aware I’m a spiny softshell, right?”
“I am, but why would you need to build something like that, not that it isn’t impressive-“, Don began to ramble.
“It’s practical and well, I got hurt when I was younger.”
“Hurt?”, Don sounded so worried.
“Yup. When I was 5, Raph and I were playing, like we usually did, and Raph accidentally hit my shell. He used to have sharp claws. I still have the scars from that.”
While Don’s worry grew, Donnie told this story as if he was telling Don what he ate for dinner yesterday, like this was the most normal thing in the world.
“Raph hurt you?!”
“Accidentally.”
“But still! Where was your Dad?”
“Don’t go blaming people for an accident. It’s not like Raph wanted to hurt me, he was 6.”
“I- I’m sorry. Just the thought of someone receiving a scar that young is scary.”
“It’s fine. Raph came up with the idea for the Battle Shell after that, so it’s all forgiven.”
“Battle Shell?”, chuckled Don.
“What? Do you have something against my big brother's naming skills?”, Donnie was getting defensive on his brothers’ behalf.
“No, no, far from it. I name something Battel Shell as well.”
“You did? What is it?”
The previous conversation was forgotten and Donnie was now fully focused on likely being able to get to know more about the older turtle’s inventions.
“My Battle Shell is our van. I remodeled it to have a few weapons and armor.”
“You also remodeled a vehicle?! Where did you get the initial van from?”
“We- um- confiscated from the Purple Dragons.”
“You stole It from the Purple Dragons? I like your style.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“You wanna see the Turtle Tank?”
“Turtle Tank? You have a tan?!”
“Of course. If you’d follow me, my intelligent friend.”
Donnie led down to the garage. Before he opened the door he paused and turned to Don.
“Originally, the tank was the Moon Buggy from Jupiter Jim's Last Trip to the Moon. Mikey and I stole it from Repo Mantis.”
“Repo Mantis?”
“A Mantis mutant that owns a junkyard and is a repo man.”
“Why am I even surprised, it’s in the name.”
“Anyway-“, Donnie pressed a button and the door began to open, “The Turtle Tank!”
Don looked ahead at the glory that was the Turtle Tank. He has never seen anything quite as beautiful as it. From the sheer size to the perfect paint job, everything was amazing.
And apparently, Don’s amazement was obvious even to the other purple turtle. Donnie smiled at the amazement of the older. Everyone loved the tank but something about this older, calmer version of him loving the tank made Donnie swell with pride. He had always been proud of his inventions, but the tank had a special place in his heart. He loved showing it off, and showing it off to someone who understood the work that went into something like this was incredible.
“Do you want to go inside?”, offered Donnie.
“You’d let me?!”
“Of course, who am I to not show of my genius.”
“Your genius?! Donnie, I already know how much of a genius you are! I’ve seen the tech in your lab. It’s amazing. You are amazing!”
If Donnie doesn’t get him into the tank to distract him, he’ll cry tears of joy from the praise alone!”
“You haven’t even seen half of it!”, said Donnie as he dragged Don along.
Don noticed the big smile and shiny eyes of Donnie. Don knew how much a little praise could mean to someone, especially someone like Donnie. Someone who put his all into making things, things to make life, as well as missions, easier for his family. Don was the same, they both knew their families appreciated their work, but that didn’t mean they didn’t like hearing a little praise or a tank you once in a while.
Donnie showed off every little thing of the tank to Don. For the first time, he got to explain every little detail in full. His brothers knew sure, but they didn’t understand everything that was going on. Where his brothers listened, Don understood. The older even threw in a question here and there.
As Donnie was rambling about his masterpiece there was a knock on the side of the tank. The two looked towards the door of the tank, which they had left open. Leon stood there, leaning against the frame.
“Miguel finished lunch. If you are done being nerds, you can join us.”, said Leon.
“Nardo, you are just as much of a nerd as us.”
“Pfft- no.”
“How many bones are in the human body?”
Don thought that was an odd question.
“206.”, said Leon with no hesitation. Donnie looked smug at his brother. “Dammit.”, said Leon.
Donnie and Don stood up and walked up to Leon.
“Come on before Raph and Mikey eat everything! Mikey made ramen from scratch!”
“Ramen? You don’t need to tell me twice!”, said Donnie and ran towards the kitchen. Leon and Don looked at each other and followed him
Don didn’t remember the last time he had some good ramen. He looked forward to it.