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miss-andromeda · 9 months

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It's Nice To Have A Friend - Excerpt

Promise I'm getting to the asks! But here's a little excerpt of the newest chapter of All's Fair, called It's Nice To Have A Friend 🩷

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After what felt like forever, they were finally back at the lair - Kraangdroid still intact.

While Mikey was indulging in a slice of pizza, Raph was feeding Spike, Leo was reading a comic and April was working on a paper for history class, Andi and Donnie were dissecting the technology in the droid's exoskeleton - and reveling in how sleek and complex it looked.

"This technology is light-years ahead of anything I've ever seen!" Donnie marveled to Andi, holding up a small gadget with wires sticking out the bottom. It looked vaguely like a miniature control panel for a droid - like that was what the alien hit with their tentacles to make the droid whirr to life. "Do you know what this is?"

Noticing that he was talking to her, Andi set down a piece she was examining (the wires strewn made her question if it was like a bone for the Kraang) and glanced at what he was holding up to her. Immediately, her eyes widened and her smile grew. "No, but it looks awesome! Maybe that's like a heart for them, since the aliens in their abdomens are like their brains?"

"Maybe...ah, I can't wait to find out!" Donnie nearly squealed, making April smile and shake her head in amusement at them as she continued typing. It was always funny (and a little bit comforting) to have Andi be so interested in technology (regardless of what it was,) but when Donnie was added into the equation, the reaction was doubly hilarious.

Meanwhile, Splinter was carefully holding a new bo for Donnie with the utmost respect, and the serious look on his face told Donnie that he had better not break this one so carelessly as he had during the battle against the Kraang.

"Look, Spike. Donnie got another stick to break." Raph remarked, carefully balancing Spike on one hand while his other tickled the small tortoise under his chin.

"With all due respect, sensei, I can't keep fighting alien technology with a six-foot staff." Donnie admitted, sitting himself up so his head was resting about the staff. "I was hoping to upgrade my weapon."

Andi perked up at that; maybe that meant they would finally get around to working on that battle mech. She glanced down at the technology in front of her and started getting ideas...maybe that control panel Donnie had held up earlier could play a part in it?

"Hm. A seven-foot staff. Interesting." Splinter mused as he held the bo at his side, snapping Andi out of her daydream and making her giggle at the obvious joking tone in his voice.

"No, I meant using modern technology." Donnie clarified, subtly referring to the Kraang parts in front of them.

But, continuing the joke, Splinter spoke in the same tone. "Ah, a solar-powered staff." That made Andi start laughing - while also writing in the notes app on her phone that that was actually a good idea for the future.

"I'm serious, sensei!" Donnie protested, slightly pouting at Andi as she continued laughing - but he couldn't deny how cute she looked when she laughed.

"I know." Splinter merely replied, dropping the joking tone and going with a more fatherly one. "And yes, you may upgrade your weapon."

But Donnie was already prepared for Splinter to deny such a request. "That's totally unfair! You can't just-" But then he realized he misheard and glanced up at Splinter. "Wait, did you say yes?" That made Andi roll her eyes and snicker under her breath, while also remarking, "Geez, Don, learn to listen once in a while."

He then turned to look at her, raising a nonexistent eyebrow and his lips quirking up ever so slightly. "Okay, whose side are you on?"

Andi merely laughed again, meeting his eyes with a knowing smile. "Master Splinter's, duh. Once again, learn to listen."

Splinter smiled to himself before commencing with the explanation. "Ninjas have improved their arsenal for centuries. We are masters of adaptation."

"That is great!" Donnie cheered, still holding the control panel and standing up. "'Cause with this technology, I will be INVINCIBLE!" His mind immediately started racing with ideas. "What should I make? Electric sais? Multi-shot shuriken? Plasma swords!" He squealed. "I just gave myself goosebumps!"

But then he remembered the mech idea - and grinned at Andi in the process. "Actually, what say we finally get to work on that robot?"

She met his eyes with a bright smile. Finally, they were on the same page. "Let's do it!"

He could've melted with how pretty she looked.

"But remember, technology is a means, not an end. It is you who must prevail in battle, not your weapon." Splinter added as Donnie and Andi picked up the broken droid and started to drag it toward the lab - clearly not listening to his advice. "Combat is not a video game."

"That's it! We'll turn combat into a video game!" Donnie excitedly told both himself and Andi, with him adding a "thanks, sensei!" and Andi smiling at him over his shoulder and yelling a warm "thank you, Master Splinter!"

And as they made it to the lab, she grinned at Donnie with a gleam in her eye. "This is gonna be fun."

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As the sounds of blowtorches, hammers and laughter emerged from the lab, the others resumed their own activities. Mikey was now asleep on the tire swing, Leo and Raph were playing against each other in virtual hockey, and April had retired from working on that paper - and was now checking up on a message board that she and Andi had started a few days before. And apparently, someone had sent in a video for her to watch.

"Hey, guys! Check out this post I got!" April called to the boys, a curious look in her eye.

"Hang on, April. I just have to destroy Lame-onardo." Raph assured her before reverting his attention back to the game.

Both of them had regained a sense of focus at that, hands keenly maneuvering their characters around to hit the puck. The game was all tied up at this point - one good power shot would secure either one of them a victory. Their characters moved around at the same time and in the same direction, only raising the stakes-

Until Raph got sick of the stalemate going on and slammed his hand down on the button for a power shot, destroying Leo's character with the puck and getting him the necessary victory point.

Leo gave him an unimpressed stare as Raph reveled in his victory with a little dance, before giving his brother a proud smirk and shoving him aside, before going to join April on the couch. "So what's up?"

Unbeknownst to him, Leo had followed him and hit him once in the head as penance, before looking to April's computer.

"Andi and I set up a message board to collect unusual sightings around New York." She filled them in. "People send in pics, videos...sometimes we even get stuff that could help us track down the Kraang and find my dad. Like this video of a gas explosion." A video then played, showing clouds of gray, murky smoke - and a single Kraangdroid walking out of it.

"A Kraangdroid." Leo remarked, admittedly both intrigued and a bit unimpressed (seriously? That was the best the citizens of New York could do?). But upon hearing that ill-fated word, Mikey was startled awake with a "WHERE?!" before yelping in panic as he fell into the wading pool.

The three glanced at him with a mix of annoyance and unamused, before Leo decided to get them back on track. "We'll check it out tonight."

"Why not now?" April asked, her tone now adopting a hint of impatience. If they waited until nighttime, then that would give the Kraang ample time to either move their location or carry out whatever new plan they had.

Leo's answer was both obvious and simple. "Because it's daytime. We can't let anyone see us."

But April wasn't about to take that as an answer. "Well, I can." She only replied, closing her laptop and standing up, heading directly for the entrance.

Leo immediately stopped her. "April, think about this. It could be dangerous." While he did respect her tenacity, she didn't have nearly (or really, any) experience with the Kraang as they did. If she wasn't careful, she could easily end up like her father - or worse.

But speaking of Kirby-

"You know what else could be dangerous? Standing between me and my father." April told him sternly, the look in her eye telling him that she wasn't backing down for any reason.

Unless...

Almost as if on cue, Andi stepped out of the lab, giggling to herself at a joke Donnie had told her before. "Let me just go to the bathroom first and then I can show you the gun." Her smile was on full display as she caught sight of the Mexican standoff between Leo and April. "What's going on here?"

Leo was about to ask if she could talk some sense into April, but the latter simply told her, "I'm gonna investigate a nearby Kraang base. See if I can pick up on any plans."

Immediately, the color drained from Andi's face and her eyes went wide - and her smile faded instantly. "Wait, what? Are you crazy?!" She rushed over to face April, grabbing her shoulders in a desperate attempt to stop her. "Did you forget that you were nearly another hostage of theirs?! They're probably looking for you! What if they find you?! What if you're taken again?!" She then got even more scared as her green eyes met April's blue ones. "What if they do something worse?"

For a split second, April's determination and confidence faltered. But then she remembered seeing her dad being taken in that helicopter...and the steely look in her eye returned. "I'll be careful, Andi. Nothing's gonna happen to me." She assured her, pulling her into a hug to calm her nerves.

And while it didn't help her completely, the vague scent of her honey shampoo was enough to make Andi let out a shaky breath. "You'd better be, O'Neil. Or I'll kill you myself." She muttered, making April smile softly at her and pull away.

"I'll be back before you know it."

She then turned around and left the lair, leaving Andi to watch her and wrap her arms around her own abdomen.

"Is she always like this?" Leo asked her in an attempt to snap her out of her anxiety. Which kind of worked as Andi sighed and nodded. "Determined? Absolutely."

Donnie had noticed what was going on from the lab and was now standing in the doorway. Seeing Andi like this made him feel like his heart was in his throat, so he resorted to what he tended to do when she was in pain or scared - a strong distraction. "Uh, hey, Andi? Maybe you can show me the gun now?"

She tore herself away from the path April had taken and met his eyes, slightly nodding in agreement. "Yeah, um...sure." She agreed, taking one last glance at the entrance before walking back with Donnie into the lab.

"She's gonna be okay...you know that, right?" He tried to comfort her, making her give him a weak smile.

"For both her sake and mine, Don, you'd better be right."

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Full chapter coming soon...hopefully 🩷

@tinkabelle19 @happymoonangel @jasminarts01 @android-cap-007 @thelaundrybitch @raphsmuneca @eveandtheturtles @m1dnyt3-w0lf

#all's fair in love and science #tmnt 2012 #oc andi rhodes #donatello #excerpts

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