Before (Part 1)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Their eyes shot open as the high-pitched squeal echoed through the air. They could tell that it had come from far away, but not too far. The machines gathered together in their large head-quarters, knowing that this sound was cause for an announcement from their leader.

"Kraang has heard the call. The subject known as Madi has unlocked her powers. Now, Kraang shall get its secret weapon back that Kraang lost over five Earth-years ago. Searching for the secret weapon begins NOW!"

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Madi was sitting in Donnie's lab, wearing her new fancy techno belt as she worked on her homework, while Donnie sat beside her, experimenting with the new projector-shields that he was creating for him and his brothers. She liked sitting in his lab with him. Especially since it was always so quiet.

Whenever she was in the living room studying for a test or working on homework, Mikey was always playing video games and being nosy, and Raph was always working out and listening to loud music. It wasn't that she didn't like music, it was just hard to study when it was blasting in her ears. Madi would've studied in the dojo while Leo was meditating, but she could tell that he would easily get annoyed when she would write and make small noises, like the sound of her pen scraping against the paper.

So now, here she was, in the perfect spot to study. Plus, if she ever got stumped on a math question or needed help understanding something about her science lessons, he was always there to help out a bit.

"Hey, Donnie?" she asked him.

"Yeah?" he asked, looking up from the belt he was working on.

"Mind helping me with this math equation?" He slid his chair over to her side, looking over her shoulder at the problem. "I keep trying to do this problem, but the answer I always end up with seems wrong." she told him.

After going over the problem multiple times, he finally figured out what was stumping her.

"Oh!" he said realizing what had gone wrong. "There's supposed to be a one over here." Madi sighed and rolled her eyes, an embarassed grin on her face.

"Of course there is. I'm sorry, I just haven't been paying much attention in class." She told him with a deep sigh, then finished her homework.

"Is it the dance?" Donnie asked. Madi stopped, but didn't look up from her homework. There was a long silence before she spoke up.

"Can I tell you something personal?" she asked him.

"You can tell me anything, Madi." he told her. Madi looked past him at the door, making sure that it was closed, before speaking up again.

"Do you know how it feels to be....I don't know....all happy about something? And then have the rug pulled out completely from under your feet?" she asked him, not looking into his eyes. Donnie nodded, then told her that he knew exactly how it felt. "That's exactly how I felt when August almost asked me. I was so exited for the dance ever since what happened. I wanted something to get my mind off of things. I even got an amazing outfit for the occasion. But now I can't go because I don't have a date."

Donnie did his best to hide his smile, knowing how surprised Madi was going to be when she heard the news on Friday night.

"I totally get it, but didn't April say you could go with them?" he asked her.

"But I can't go with them because then I'd be a third-wheel. I know how much April likes Jacob, and ever since he transferred back to our school, she's been really happy. I'm already enough of a nuisence to them since I make them come down to the lair every morning and night to pick me up and drop me off. I don't want to ruin their night." Madi told him.

"Madi," he took her hand and gave her a small smile. "You're not a nuisence. If you were, then I would've told you to get out of my lab a long time ago."

"Thanks, Donnie. But I'm not going to the dance." she said as she stood up, gathering all of her homework together.

"And why not? Who cares if you have a date or not, wouldn't it just be fun to hang out with your friends?" 

"It won't be very fun if all of my friends have dates that hang around with them all night. And since everyone has a significant other that they're taking with them, then the answer is 'no, it will not be fun'." Madi told him, starting to get annoyed. She carried her books off of the table and headed towards the door. Donnie quickly stood up and followed her.

"But what do you need to do to get a date?" he wondered out loud as they stepped into the living room. Raph was beating up the punching dummy, while Leo watched Space Heroes and Mikey ate pizza in the kitchen. She growled and turned to face Donnie.

"Look, Donnie, I think it's sweet that you're trying to convince me. Really, I do. But for the last time, I'm not going to that stupid dance!" she declared loudly. Mikey sighed sadly.

"Does this mean we're not going to the dance, either? Dang it! I was so looking forward to wearing my Turflytle costume!" Mikey whined. Leo's, Raph's, Donnie's, and Madi's eyes widened. She turned around to face the other three, trying to decide what emotion she should be feeling at the moment. The other three turtles glared at Mikey, thinking of all the horrible things they were going to do to him when Madi had finished lecturing them.

"You were going to go to the dance?" she asked them. They were all silent. "But...why would you? Do you have any idea how much danger you'd put yourself in? If anyone even suspects that you might now be who you say you are-"

"Of course we wouldn't be who we'd say we were. We'd all have costumes, so no one would know-"

"No, Mikey. This isn't just about costumes. What if someone actually decided to have a conversation with you? What if they wondered who you were? What if they asked for your phone number? Face it, if  the people at my school found out about you, then you'd be dead."

"You don't know that-"

"Yes, I do!" Madi yelled at Leo. "You think it's dangerous for me? It's ten times as dangerous for you out there. No, I'm not going to let you guys risk your lives just so that I can go to a school dance."

"We were going to surprise you if Mikey hadn't-"

"Mikey just saved your lives, Raph. If he hadn't said anything, then things would've ended way differently here. By the end of this week, you guys may have died if he hadn't spoken up. Right now, you three owe him." Madi lectured Leo, Donnie, and Raph. She held her homework tightly to her chest, then walked into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Madi threw her books onto her mattress, growling as she pulled her dress out from underneath her bed. The smooth blue fabric felt light between her fingers as she traced the stitched patterns. It had been an amazing blue dress that looked like it had been made in the 1600's.The sleeves rested just before her wrists and the bottom of the dress trailed on the ground behind her when she would walk. The collar had a small v neck that sat below her collar bone, and countless flowers and swirls were stitched into it. It was truly beautiful.

All of this stupid drama had been caused by the dumb dance in the first place. She grabbed one shoulder of the dress in one hand, then the opposite shoulder with the other. Using all of her strength, she tore the dress down the middle, making it unwearable. The two pieces of fabric fell to the floor.

"There, now maybe they won't keep nagging me about it if I tell them I don't have anything to wear."

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