If you're starting here you're going to be very confused, so go ahead and check out my profile page for a list.

I'm returning to my original way of writing so anything to do with Donnie personally will remain in his point of view (Donnie's POV) while Raph, Leo, Mikey and anyone else will be in third person (3rd:)

I find it's easier to write like this now that I'm focusing on their missions.

I hope everyone is still enjoying my world; for here is Part 4

The Paths We Take

Prologue:

(Donnie's POV)

Year 11 – Age 15

I couldn't help but jump when lighting struck yet again quickly followed by the thunder. "It's right over us." I informed my brothers as I counted the seconds between the raging of the storm before heading back up the steep incline to pack another sand bag down to the swiftly over-flowing river.

"That lighting rod thing will hold, right?" Mikey asked nervously before ducking as said phenomenon split the sky again.

"Yeah." I answered once I could be heard over the boom. "It'll hold."

"This is nuts." Raph stated miserably; throwing the 4 sand bags he had hauled over onto the shore. "It's gonna rain more today than the last 12 years combined." He reported.

"Let's hope not." Leo proclaimed dropping his own bags before heading back for more.

"Leonardo!" A voice suddenly called and we quickly looked around for the source to eventually locate it in the form of another ninja we had come to know as Takeo.

"What?" Leo asked him distractedly while simultaneously throwing another bag over his shoulder to climb back down the hill.

"Bring your team." The man ordered. "You've been summoned."

"What's going on?" Our leader asked calling off the sand-bagging escapade as he led the way back up the hill.

"Yeah; we're kind a busy here." Raph proclaimed sourly as he followed. "If ya haven't noticed?"

"An emergency on the coast." Takeo declared over the thunder. "Lives could depend on it." He added seriously which immediately got our attention.

…

Takeo ~Strong like bamboo

…

"Sensei." Leo stated as we arrived dripping wet in the main hall where 4 of the 6 elders crowded around awaiting our arrival.

"My sons." Splinter answered waving us over to where Ichi stood trying to calm an old man in a fit of hysterics.

"Leonardo." The tiger mutant said as we joined the group. "We had expected to test you and your team later; but I'm afraid fate has spoken first."

"What happened?" I asked quietly; realizing quickly that he was talking about our Jounin test which we were supposed to perform in the coming week.

"A ship capsized in Ise Bay." Ichi explained seriously. "We're still receiving a distress signal but the sea is too rough to attempt a rescue. But you four are specialized for the water; do you think you could reach them?"

"Please!" The old man at his side suddenly added and my brothers and I quietly turned to look at him. "My son is on that ship." He stated shakily obviously at the point of tears. "He's all I have left, please help him!" He begged.

The man's plea ate at our hearts as we turned to Leo for his call. "How far to the bay Donnie?" He asked immediately.

"40 minutes." I reported after only a second of thought. "I can track the signal when they're in the water."

Leo simply nodded before turning to us with a purposeful look. "We leave in two; get your gear."

…

The four of us immediately separated to locate what we would need for the mission upon entering our home. I had only to stop at my room where I quickly located my newest project; a silver gantlet which looked like any ordinary piece of armor but in reality had countless purposes.

Strapping the thing to my left arm I simultaneously grabbing my water-proof first-aid kit and booked it back toward the front door where Leo and Mikey were already waiting and Raph arrived a full second later as we quickly ran back out into the storm where Splinter, Ichi and the old man waited to see us off.

It took only a second for me to copy the distress call's signal and I nodded toward Leo who quickly led the way into the trees. Without being limited to roads and paths; we were able to navigate the forest straight through to our location and arrived within minutes of the estimated time I had given earlier.

The rain was now coming down so hard that it actually hurt and the waves beat against the shoreline so violently that sections of the sidewalk were falling away. Luckily no one lived in the area anymore but that didn't make it any easier to navigate the war-like zone.

"That way!" I called and pointed down toward the shoreline leading my brother's toward the landmark closest to the collapsed ship. We traversed the chaos quickly; fighting the wind and rain and waves the whole way before finally we were close enough.

"Here!" I shouted over the noise and once again pointed Leo in the direction we would need to go to find the ship.

"Alright!" He shouted back trying to protect his eyes from the rain as he broadcasted orders. "Stay together; sound out if you find anything." We all confirmed that we had heard him and he nodded back before turning to face the water. "Move out!" He ordered and we all jumped into the raging sea.

…

Nearly an hour into the swim my tracker proclaimed that we were right on top of the wreckage but it was Mikey that found it first; as he quickly pointed out the newest shipwreck sitting at the bottom of the ocean.

Leo motioned for us to fall-in and ordered Raph and I to check the ship while he and Mikey swept the area for survivors and my brother and I surfaced for a brief second to take in some air before diving down to the ship.

We only had a general idea of the people that had been onboard and all I knew for sure was that there was a seven-man crew including the captain and at least four of them were human.

Unfortunately humans could only survive for a few minutes underwater and even most mutants were guaranteed to last maybe twice that so I really had no idea what I would find inside and a part of me really didn't want to look, but knowing Raph had my back made it easier to finally enter the boat.

Using the walls and rails to pull ourselves along; we checked everywhere we could think someone might attempt to survive at but nothing presented itself. The phrase 'no news is good news' came to mind but somehow that didn't make me feel any better.

Deep in the confines of the ship we eventually found a large air bubble and headed for it. "Did you see anything?" I asked as Raph surfaced next to me.

"No." He answered looking back down at the water intending to keep an eye out for anything that might be a threat. "Looks like everyone got off." He guessed.

"Let's hope so." I added and quietly positioned myself to make another dive as I returned to the water with my brother right behind me.

We maneuvered back through the wreckage still looking for forms in the water as we headed outside again; however before we could make to the door it the ship suddenly rocked and tipped over onto its side turning everything on its head in the process.

Even though we were able to quickly re-coordinate our bearings and continue moving through the wreckage after it had settled; a loud bang that suddenly echoed through the halls had us stopping and looking at each other in concern.

We were able to swiftly navigate the twisted scenery and arrived back at the last air-lock door in a matter of seconds. However where there was once a light at the end of the tunnel only darkness awaited us now.

I instinctively moved to the side allowing Raph to go first and he immediately threw his back into the door but in a true testament of turtle-luck the water pressure kept it closed and he couldn't generate enough leverage to force it open.

We were trapped.

…

(3rd:)

Swimming in the current underwater; the waves were almost nonexistent but the storm still made it difficult to see anything that might be floating on the surface. So Leo had to rely on Mikey's sharp eyesight to alert him to anything that might be people.

He hated separating his team but the ship had to be checked and Donnie was the one best qualified to keep survivors alive; not to mention Raph was the best choice to carry those survivors to the surface if it had to be done quickly.

They worked well together; what one naturally lacked the other naturally made up for, just like Mikey naturally compensated for Leo's shortcomings.

If their family had to be separated this was the best way to do it.

A minute later Leo heard a click and turned to relocate Mikey who was pointing up at something and he quickly followed the motion to squint at a dark spot on the surface that didn't seem to match the rest of the water.

He gave his little brother a thumbs-up and motioned to start their ascent again and led the way up to the still violently ragging waves above. When they reached the surface he motioned for a halt as they checked to make sure the dark spot was indeed what they were looking for. Thankfully it appeared that it was and they quickly broke water to swim to the side of the life boat.

"Hello?" Leo called up to the raft; gently grabbing the side just enough to stay attached to it but not enough to make it uneven. "Is anyone there?" He asked after receiving no response.

He couldn't see over the edge but he didn't dare try to climb in; the thing barely looked big enough to support the crew that it was supposed to save let alone take on his weight as well.

"Mikey." He called quietly when he still didn't get an answer and the younger turtle quickly moved closer so he could hear his leader's orders over the storm. "Get on my back." He told him. "See if anyone's in there."

The orange banded turtle nodded in understanding and moved around behind his brother as he prepared to take the weight. Thankful Mikey was the lightest of them not to mention he was an expert at keeping his balance; so he was quickly able to climb onto Leo's shoulders and looked up over the rim without pushing them both down so much that it defeated the point.

"They're here." He called in a somewhat panicked voice and Leo realized instantly that something else was wrong. "But there's only 3 of them."

…

Raph tried again to force the door open but still it wouldn't budge; he was about to put everything he had into it when Donnie suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

"No!" He clicked off. "– find another." Even thought their turtle language was designed to be used underwater there were still a lot of words they couldn't say for fear of letting liquid into their lungs; but he still got his point across and his brother nodded in understanding before following Donnie back into the main part of the ship.

'There has ta be another way off this tub.' Raph thought to himself sourly as they checked the windows they could find; but none of them were big enough for them to fit through. 'Isn't that like a safety regulation thing or somethin'?' His brain added absentmindedly as he resurfaced in the slowly decreasing air bubble they had located before.

"Now what?" He asked out loud once Donnie joined him above the water again.

"Hang on; let me think?" He requested grabbing hold of something attached to the wall to keep himself up.

"Well ya better hurry up; we're kinda runnin' outta air in here." Raph reported obviously. True they were turtles and they could go for hours without having to resurface but they would eventually need oxygen again. Plus Leo and Mikey were going to need their help; they couldn't spend all night down there trying to find a way out of that stupid junk heap.

"Air!" Donnie repeated suddenly.

"That's what I said." Raphael told him with a questionable look in his brother's direction.

"No, air." He repeated unhelpfully looking back down at the water as he tried to locate something. "There should be oxygen tanks on this ship."

"Ooo K." Raph agreed still not all that sure where he was going with this.

"If we can break one open it should provide just enough force to open the door." Donnie explained finally before diving back down into the ship.

"If ya say so." The other turtle told no one particular before following him. If there was one thing he knew about Donnie it was that; regardless of what they understood if he said it could be done then it could be done.

A minute and a half later his brother located a closet that seemed to perk his interest and motioned for his help to open it. Thankfully it wasn't metal therefore it wasn't heavy and the red-clad ninja was able to pull the thing open with little trouble as he revealed a couple of oxygen tanks behind it.

Once he had a tank out; Donnie motioned for his brother to grab the table at the other end of the room and Raph quickly went to examine it. Unfortunately it was bolted to the floor (or in the case of flipped physics; the wall) but it looked like he would still be able to get the leverage he needed to pull it free.

Maneuvering over he stationed his feet against the ground and gripped the edge of the table. Normally he would have taken a few deep breaths to prepare his body to use its strength but given the situation that might not be such a great idea. So instead he just closed his eyes for a second and pulled up with everything he had.

The sound of bending metal creaked through the water as the table protested the action; but Raphael wasn't in the mood for its refusal right now. There were people waiting for them to get out of there; so he quickly readjusted his hold and finally pulled the thing free a second later.

Suddenly finding that he was floating again he quickly resituated himself and swam the table into the hallway where he thankfully discovered that it was just wide enough that he could maneuver it through and quickly relocated Donnie at the door again.

His brother gave him a thumbs-up before showing where he wanted the thing placed then motioned for Raph to get back while he placed the oxygen tank. He then carefully tied a strap to the tip and swam back to hide around the corner with his sibling where he gave the rope one last experimental tug before pulling it at an angle as hard as he could.

There was a loud bang then a thud which was quickly followed by a rush of bubbles before everything was once again quiet but looking around the corner they couldn't help but smile upon finding that the plan had worked better than they thought.

Raph had assumed that the table was meant to hold the tank in place but it looked like his brother had planed for another use; to hold the door once it was open.

He hadn't even considered it before but now that he thought of it the whole thing would have been a complete waste of time had the door just closed again right afterwards.

Good thing his brother was a genius.

A minute later Donnie led the way through the steel blockage as they were finally free of the underwater prison and quickly headed back to find their brothers. However it would seem fate had something else in store for them.

Raph saw it before his brother and immediately pulled him back into the shadows before whatever it was could see them; forcing Donnie to struggle to keep the air in his lungs during the sudden reverse in course and turned to glare at his sibling disapprovingly. But he was ignored as Raph quickly pointed out the object of his interest.

Donnie seemed to forget rather quickly that his brother had nearly drowned him as he studied the thing in obvious confusion and after a minute turned back around to give Raphael a quizzical look as it became obvious what question assaulted both of their minds.

'Why the hell were there lights underwater?'

…

"3?" Leo asked his brother obviously just as confused as Mikey was.

"They're not moving." The younger of the two reported; nervously looking back at the forms lying in the bottom of the raft and with the raging sea around them he couldn't even make out if they were breathing either.

"Okay come down, I'll get in." Leo told him gently.

"No I can do it." He argued immediately swallowing his fear as he continued to study the motionless forms. He really didn't want to be the one to find out they were dead but there was no way he could lift his older brother into the boat without tipping it over and they both knew it.

"You sure?" Leo asked and Mikey quickly turned back to nod at him. "Okay; on 3." He reported and his brother swiftly got ready to make the leap. "1 – 2 – 3!" He counted off and immediately lifted the other turtle up just high enough that he was able to flip himself up into the lifeboat.

Mikey steadied his nerves as he looked back at the people and carefully moved over to feel for a pulse in the first one. He couldn't help but jump when he found the man's skin to be as cold as ice but swallowed his fear again and reached out to check for a life force.

Nothing

The little turtle closed his eyes and carefully used what Splinter had taught them to calm himself down and quickly moved onto the next victim. Unfortunately it was the same story there; as well as the last one too.

"Le-o" He tried shakily before coughing in an attempt to strengthen his voice. "They're all – gone." He reported and for a second he didn't respond; but Mikey could just imagine his brother closing his eyes to allow this knowledge to wash over him.

"This doesn't make any sense." Leo stated after a minute. "Why?"

"I don't know." Mikey admitted examining the bodies again looking for anything that might account for their untimely demise. "They're not bleeding and I don't see any bruises, maybe poison." He guessed.

"Why would anyone poison a shipwrecked crew?" Leo stated before suddenly going quiet. "Mikey; get out of there!" He ordered in a hiss and said turtle immediately jumped over the side to drop back into the water; using the boat to slow his decent so he didn't make a big splash and quickly circled the raft again to come up behind his brother making sure to hide in the ship's shadow as he looked around to find what Leo had seen.

But when he saw it he couldn't help but raise an eye-ridge at the strangeness of the picture. About 20 feet away there were – lights – swishing back and forth across each others path under the water; obviously looking for something but what the heck were they doing there?

That's when it hit him "Wasn't that where the ship was?" Mikey asked in a whisper.

"Come on!" Leo ordered quickly diving again as they cautiously headed for the lights in search of their two missing brothers.

…

(Donnie's POV)

We watched the flashlights curiously for a minute before I suddenly had a thought and looked back at the doorway we had just escaped from.

I had been thinking that the water pressure alone shouldn't be enough to keep the door as tightly closed as it had been. So when I discovered the bent and damaged locking mechanism that I knew had been fine before we entered I realized that my suspicions had been confirmed.

I carefully reached out to tap on Raph's shoulder and pointed him toward the anomaly as well which quickly had the angry turtle glaring at the door before looking back at the lights.

It would seem that someone had gone to a great deal of trouble to lock us inside and now it appeared they intended to come back to finish the job. Thankfully it didn't look like they had seen us yet but if we stayed where we were much longer that wasn't going remain true.

So we quickly started making our way to the other side of the ship using the shadows to blend into the darkness; however before we could get very far Raph suddenly tackled me into the wall of the ship once again.

Ignoring the fact that; that had been the second time in as many minutes that my brother seemed intent on drowning me; I looked around for the danger once again only to find it was a freaking submarine.

'Well, someone certainly has a lot of money to spend on this escapade.' I thought to myself; raising an eye-ridge at the underwater ship before looking back around to relocate the lights still approaching from behind.

We might have been able to navigate the lights and remain undetected but the sub was another story entirely. It likely had radar or heat sensors or both and that was going to make it nearly impossible to get by without being detected.

"How – hell – these guys sneak up – so fast?" Raph's clicked off quietly in a choppy version of our old language.

"Don't know." I admitted trying to make myself apart of my surroundings as one of the lights passed extremely close to our hiding spot. If it had been an older shipwreck we could have easily blended in with the moss and ocean scenery but instead the damn boat had to be white so just one little pass-over from one of those flashlights would immediately end with us being detected.

On top of that if we were forced to fight we ran the risk of losing our storied oxygen. True we could resort to pulling air straight out of the water but that was a technique we had not yet completely mastered and would probably end up damaging our lungs if we had to do it for too long.

It was at that moment that I found myself absentmindedly looking down at my gantlet again; knowing that there was at least one way I could get us out of the situation; however I hadn't had the chance to test it yet but looking back at the submarine I quickly shrugged to myself in dismissal.

We were going to be found eventually at least this way I could get some use out of it.

I gently reached out to tap Raph on the shoulder causing my brother to look at me as I pointed at the device on my arm and motioned for him to cover his ears. He gave me a look but did as he was told as I expertly located the hidden button on my newest gadget which activated a holographic control-panel over the underside of my arm.

I saw Raph's eyes widen a little in astonishment as I was able to touch and interact with the hologram without pause and activated the technique I wanted and not only that but I was able to do it all with just my left hand; as the touch screen on my palm was designed to have everything I needed incase I was in a position that I couldn't use both hands.

After just a few seconds I was done and quickly set a timer before removing the gantlet from my arm to set it on the ground and covered my ears as well. Second or two later the holographic screen flashed yellow and a sound wave shot out in all directions so quickly that we could actually see the ripples in the water as it passed.

Thankfully it seemed that the altercations I had made to the thing worked like a charm; for it didn't hurt our ears as the weapon quickly did its intended purpose and attacked any electronics it could reach without harming the animals in the area which included us.

The flashlights were the first to go as their batteries suddenly burned out and fried their protective casings and a second later the sub went down as well; as the thing stopped moving with a noisy screech and soon an emergency warning system sounded from within the ship.

"What – hell was that?" Raph asked looking at the incapacitated underwater ship in confusion and I smiled knowingly as I re-secured the gantlet to my arm.

"Just – new gadget." He answered simply before looking around at the area to find that it was creepily void of sea life now; but the fact that there were no dead fish proved that my design had worked flawlessly.

We arrived at the sub within seconds I quickly started looking for a name or number that would help me identify the ship and tell us what was going on. But there wasn't one which meant that the thing had been built and piloted illegally.

So maybe the 'Earth Protection Force' couldn't be everywhere but they were usually pretty good at keeping the waterways clear of crime. After all; the ocean was the world's last resort to transport food and supplies; it had to be protected at all costs.

It was then that Raph suddenly tapped me on the shoulder again as I attempted to muddle out this new riddle and looked around to find him pointing off into the distance. Following his finger I found two shadows swimming in our direction and knew immediately that they were Leo and Mikey.

However just before we had started to head toward them we suddenly found ourselves distracted by pounding coming from within the submarine and my brother and I quickly shared a look before moving closer to the wall to listen.

Now that we were paying attention we could clearly hear the sound of people beating on the inside walls, yelling and screaming to be let out.

Raph quickly gave me a questioning look but I immediately shook my head. I may have been trying to disable the ship with my attack but I would never design something that would intentionally hurt someone; even my enemy.

Whoever was inside that ship; wasn't there by choice.

The start of Part 4… I'm so excited ^-^

Read and review please