Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been nearly a month since the defeat of the Kraang and Foot simultaneously. For the most part, things had returned back to normal for the Hamato and O’Neils. April went back to school and spent as much time as she could studying and catching up on what she had missed over the past few weeks. Cindy returned to work, working long hours to make up for all the time off she took. The only one who wasn’t recovering was Kirby. Every day that passed with no sighting of the Kraang fueled his paranoia like gasoline to a fire.

It had been incredibly boring with nothing to do on patrols. The Hamato waited around Murakami’s for a sign of the Purple Dragons, but they seemed to be lying low after the attempted alien invasion.

“Man, I wish we had something to do.” Raph groaned.

“I got my hopes up for beating some Dragons, but I guess not.” Miwa answered.

“Think we should call it a night?” Leo asked.

She sighed and sat up from where she was lying on the rooftop’s edge. “Might as well.”

“Maybe we should stop by April’s?”

The siblings turned to look at Donnie, surprised by his suggestion.

“What?” He asked. “It’s her birthday tomorrow. And it’s friday, so it’s not like she has school in the morning.”

“Well, yeah, but I’m pretty sure Dr. O’Neil’s not gonna let her out for the night.” Miwa frowned.

“But there’s no harm in trying, right?” Donnie asked.

Mikey frowned at Donnie getting flustered. “Yeah! Let’s try it!” He said, jumping up. “We haven’t seen her in forever!”

“Twenty days isn’t forever.” Donnie shrugged. “But it still is a while.”

Miwa and Raph shared a look as they started towards the apartment. They had both had the feeling Donnie had a crush on April for a while now, but over the past twenty one days, they were convinced he did. Maybe he didn’t noticed or even know, but he talked about her constantly, and was always texting her back and forth.

Raph tried to talk to Miwa about it, but she told him to stay out of it. “Look, I don’t know if you have a thing for her or you actually think you have a shot at the witchy bitch, but you're the closest to April.”

Miwa was blushing at his words, “I know April would also want you to butt out. Let her and Donnie hash it out. However it ends, it’s their business, not yours.”

They went over to April’s actual apartment, the one that had been vacant since Kirby’s kidnapping, and knocked on the outside window. 

It took a couple minutes, but April finally answered by opening the window. “Guys! Great to see you!” Her smile dropped and she held out her hands to stop them from coming inside, “Yeah, uh, you mind staying on the fire escape?” She asked.

"What's wrong?" Miwa frowned.

"I'm sorry," She sighed, leaning her head on the windowsill. "Dad's alien abduction nightmares are getting worse. He's been so freaked out, he won't let me do anything. I had to beg him to let me go back to school, and now I can only go to school and back."

Kirby seemed to have been listening around the corner, because he came into the room with a big frown. "I'm sorry, April. It's just... What if the Kraang are still out there... Waiting? Working? They already took you once." He grabbed her hand and ran his thumb over her pink finger tips. "I'll do anything to protect you."

"I know, dad." April turned her hand so she could hold his. "But, Splinter's been showing me how to take care of myself, but I won't get any better cooped in here twenty-four-seven." She smiled and gestured to the Hamato outside the window, "And I'll be with them, I couldn't be more safe."

Kirby let out a shaky breath, tapping his foot up and down as he thought over what she said. He looked up at his young friends and knew she was right.

"Trust us, Dr. O'Neil." Mikey smiled. "We've been looking out for Shredder and those freaky brain things for weeks! Haven't seen a trace of 'em!"

Kirby sighed again and rubbed at the dark circles under his eyes. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but... Don't forget your sword?"

April laughed and hugged him, "It's actually a dagger."

Inside the newly refurbished cathedral Shredder bought as a hideout, said Master took a seat on his throne. Fujiwara entered from the new doors and took a knee at the steps. She looked up at the Kraang robot head on a spike by his throne with amusement. He waved for her to come closer, so she stood and pressed a button on the top of the robot's head. Through a purple projection from the robot's eyes, a holographic video call from Kraang was began.

"Greetings, one who is called Shredder." Said the Kraang.

"Do you have my shipment?" Shredder asked, uninterested in small talk.

"The shipment that is secret will soon be transported to the one called Shredder."

"And how will you deal with any... Complications?" He asked, standing from his throne.

"Kraang complicates the complications with greater complications." To give him a taste of what Kraang meant, the Kraang showed him just half of their new robot design.

Shredder was less than impressed with the design, but the size and weapons would do.

“Time for Ninja Dodgeball!” Mikey cheered once they got back to the lair.

April looked around at the setup they put together near the main entrance to the lair. “This looks like a regular dodgeball set up,” She pointed out, “What makes it Ninja Dodgeball?”

“You’re playing against ninjas.” Raph told her with a smirk.

April shrugged, yeah, that made sense.  They settled into teams of two, Miwa, Donnie, and April, versus Leo, Raph, and Mikey. Just as they were about to start the match, Splinter came into the back tunnels to find them.

“I know you’re still joyously reveling in the defeat of our enemies, but that does not mean you can skip out on your training.”

“We are training,” Miwa rolled her eyes. “Just in a fun way.”

He frowned at her, “And there is a great question still unanswered.”

“What if cupcakes could talk?” Mikey suggested. When they looked at him like he was being an idiot on purpose, he shrugged. “I had a dream about it, dude! It was wild, yo!”

“No.” Splinter answered him. “Are our enemies truly defeated?” His ears flattened against his head, “The Shredder is a crafty and patient foe who bides his time.”

Miwa scoffed at his worrying. “Come on, sensei, you said it yourself. He lost whatever sense of honor he had left.” She quoted honor with her fingers.

“That does not mean he is gone for good.”

“Maybe we should’ve finished the job then.” She muttered. “Instead of running just because of a little fire.” She knew her father was touchy around fire, especially since it lead to her mother’s dead. But that didn’t excuse them leaving before Shredder paid for what he did to her.

"Yeah, but when he does show up, we'll take care of it." Raph waved off the concern.

"もういい!" Splinter stomped his staff on the ground. "You five are growing lazy and overconfident! You are through shirking your training!" He left to go stew in the dojo.

"Well, that was kind of harsh." Mikey muttered. "We are training."

"And it's kinda hard to get some field work in when there's no goons on the field." Raph crossed his arms in a huff.

"Maybe Master Splinter's right." Leo said. "Maybe we are getting too cocky."

Miwa scoffed at him.

"Ha!" Raph laughed, putting his arm on his sister's shoulder to show he was backing her. "It's not cockiness when you got the skills to kick massive-"

"Wait!" April shouted, silencing the siblings. Her eyes were wide, "Donnie, do you still have the Kraang's Communication Orb?" She asked him.

"Yeah?" Donnie answered. "Why?" He asked, dreading the answer.

She didn't reply, but walked into the lab to confirm her suspicions. The orb was flashing purple like it had when the Kraang were sending messages about the invasion.

"Damn it." Raph cursed, seeing it.

"It must have received an incoming signal. How did you know?" Donnie asked, taking the orb to hook it up to his translator. "It's been quiet for weeks."

"I heard it."

"But I muted it while I translated it last time."

April frowned, "Well, I heard it." She stated again, angrily. Then her face softened and she went back to subconsciously scratching at the pink stains on her fingers, "It sounds different this time though. It's... Clearer."

"Can you understand it?" Miwa asked.

She shook her head in the negative. "No, but it feels... Familiar... Maybe I heard something similar when that had me hooked up to that mind control-hypnosis-whatever helmet." She shivered at the memory of the fiery pain she felt.

"Well, however we found out, the important thing is that we did." Leo said.

"And this can only mean one thing." Donnie frowned.

"Cupcakes can talk?" Mikey joked, trying to lighten the uneasy atmosphere.

"No, dum-dum!" Donnie rolled his eyes. "The Kraang are back."

Timothy blew some bubbles in his container, so April walked over to talk to him. Back when they first brought him in, Cindy came up with the idea that they should all take turns talking to him everyday, so that he could still feel human. April had been away thanks to her dad's paranoia, and she doubted that anyone but Donnie had kept up their end of the deal. "Sunita is really worried about you." She told him. "But don't worry, Donnie is working on helping you."

"The encryption's tougher to crack this time." Donnie said, "But I think I got it. It seems that the Kraang are transporting some kind of cargo tomorrow night." He opened a file on his computer that pulled up a diagram of a ship similar to the one Miwa blew up at the docks. "And they're using a stealth ship for it!"

"We gotta find out what that cargo is." Miwa drummed her fingers on the desk.

"And, how do you suppose we track a ship that turns completely invisible, genius?" Raph quipped at her.

"We cover it in honey so it attracts bees." Mikey suggested, trying to play chess with Timothy, even though he had no clue how to play. "Then, we follow the bees."

"I'm loosing brain cells by the minute." Raph glared at him.

"We can track it with this," Donnie pulled out his radar device he used to track down the last one. "It's still aligned to the radar dishes we placed throughout the city. It'll create a triangulating pulse-"

"English, Professor Brainyoff!" Raph snapped.

"Dude, what crawled up your shell tonight?" Mikey asked. Raph went to slap him, but Mikey caught his wrist.

"It'll detect the Kraangs' spaceship, Raph." April explained, exasperated on Donnie's behalf.

"Like I explained last time." Donnie added, giving April a high-three. "April, can you stake out a rooftop and feed us the ship's coordinates?" He asked, since she understood what he was trying to do more than his siblings did.

April took the device but frowned, "I don't know, Dee. Dad barely lets me out of the house anymore, if he found out I was helping you guys with the Kraang again..."

"Please, April?" Donnie asked. "I can't trust these dum-dums to give me the readings I need."

"Hey!" Leo frowned, offended.

"Why don't you ask your dad for help?" Miwa suggested. "He might agree to it if he's there to protect you." She had to stop her self from cracking a smile at the expense of Kirby. It wasn't his fault, but he was still so weak and frail that he wouldn't be able to do anything. Hell, April probably weighed more than he did at this point, and she doubted if April was over 115 pounds.

"And, he's a scientist." Leo added, "Maybe he needs something like this to help him recover."

April bit her lip and sighed. "I'll... I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, April!" Donnie beamed.

April returned the smile half-heartedly. "I better go. I got some homework to do and you guys should get some rest. I think Sensei's gonna start riding you guys about training again."

"Don't think he'll let you off the hook." Miwa chuckled. "Even on your birthday."

"I'll see if dad'll let me out for training." April shrugged.

"And a party!" Mikey reminded her.

After April left, the siblings went back to discussing the plan before going to bed. "The bigger question is how to stop that ship." Raph pointed out. "We'll need something fast to catch it."

"Maybe Miwa's girlfriend can get us another rocket launcher?" Mikey teased Miwa.

"Ha ha." Miwa glared at him.

"Actually, I got something for that." Donnie grinned. He lead them to the garage where he had built what he called the T-Rawket. It was built from a Coney Island amusement park rollercoaster-like ride car and was a fully functional rocket engine.

"You want us to fly in that?" Miwa got sick just looking at it.

"Yeah, where we going, Jupiter?" Raph jeered.

"Jupiter? But that place is infested with space yeast!" Mikey jested. He liked saying the most out-of-pocket nonsense he could, just to get a reaction out of his family.

"Just trust me," Donnie frowned. "It'll work."

The morning of April's seventeenth birthday played out the same as most days had since her father's return. He made her breakfast, and they ate mostly in silence with the curtains drawn shut. But then he surprised her by saying they could go to the Hamato's hideout, when the family would wake around four in the afternoon, as long as they went together. He jumped at every shadow on the street, but they made it there without an incident occurring. If she had told him about the Kraang's return, there was no way he would've allowed it, so she kept her mouth shut and shot her friends a text asking them to do the same.

Once they arrived, April had expected a party, but they greeted her the same as any other day. Splinter led them in a common sparring session while Kirby waited in the main station. April thought things would be a normal day, but that all changed when Splinter ended their session.

"Oh, and one more thing." Splinter said, rising from where he bowed to his students. He looked at April and smiled, "Happy birthday, April."

That's when the chaos started. Mikey threw down a smoke bomb that revealed a handmade birthday banner and confetti exploded all over the dojo. Kirby had called Cindy over while they were training, and she brought an ice-cream cake in a cooler for them to enjoy.

April hadn't expected to receive any presents, but she was happily surprised with what she received.

Kirby gave April her own credit card, something he was able to joke she could've used while he was imprisoned. Cindy got her a new cellphone after Donnie made her old one explode. Splinter gave her one of his favorite Japanese poetry books, complete with handwritten English translations in his own handwriting. Miwa had bought April a brown bomber jacket that April had talked about once while they were out shopping together. Leo gave her a limited edition copy of a Space Heroes comic that was in impressive condition. Raph gave her some old boxing gloves, joking that he'd show her how to throw a proper right hook. Donnie made April a belt with a back holder for her tanto's sheath, so she wouldn't have to carry it around in her backpack. And finally, Mikey gave her a decorated sketch book he put together himself, with an impressive portrait of April on the page that said This book belongs to.

But, after the party was over and Kirby was ready to go home, April knew she needed to talk to him about the Kraang stealth ship. But she couldn't bring herself to mention the Kraang to him, so she instead lied about needing his help with homework. He had once loved to study any animal he came across, but when they climbed the fire escape to reach the roof, he screamed seeing the bats hanging from the roof.

"April, you guys in position?" Miwa asked her over the tPhones.

"Roger, I think." April replied, watching her dad look over the radar. She hung up and walked back over to her dad.

"It's kind of late for a school project, don't you think?" He asked her.

"It's... Extra credit, Dad." She lied through her teeth, trying to think of something they would need radar for at school. "We're tracking pigeon migration. Yeah."

He hummed, and April couldn't tell if he bought the lie or not. He looked back down at the radar device that started beeping rapidly. He raised it up higher, confused on why there was a sudden gush of wind, like something was flying over them, even though he saw nothing. He frowned, and looked at April, completely terrified. "What is going on here?" He demanded.

In the distance, he watched a shape materialize and de-materalize right in front of his eyes. "Is that the Kraang?" Kirby gulped, his voice caught in his throat.

"Come on, guys." April cheered on her friends. "Bring it down!"

The siblings were worried about Donnie's plan to get them in the air, but after he explained the T-Rawket more in detail, they relaxed a bit. The thought of being shot into the air by a rocket engine was terrifying, but when he explained they would use the gliders once airborne, they knew his plan would work. Thanks to April and Kirby's coordinates, it didn't take long for them to find the invisible ship once in the air. They all smacked face-first into it.

"I think we found it." Leo groaned.

Once they got a feel for it, they were able to blindly find their way to the top of the ship and inside through a hatch. It dropped them into the middle of the ship were they were greeted by a trio of Kraang in the flying pods.

Miwa gave a small wave to them, "Squids," She greeted.

"It is the ones called the Turtles and Human Female, also known as Tsumiki Kazuko, also known as Hamato Miwa." Said one the Kraangs.

"Kraang, we must alert Kraang."

Raph laughed at the pitiful crew, "Three little floating blobs of brains? That's it?" He asked.

"We could take these guys in our sleep." Leo smirked.

"We could take these guys in our sleep and with our eyes closed." Mikey put his hands behind his head.

That's when they got the feeling something was behind them. More afraid of the unknown than the Kraang in front of them, they turned their backs and drew their weapons.

"Oh, sewer apples." Raph commented at the large shadow thudding towards them.

It was a large gorilla looking android that was cyan in color until the fur reached its forearms and shins, then the color deepened into a dark blue. It stumbled towards them and that's when they took note of the creepiest part of this robot's design.

"Where's it's head?" Raph asked.

It stomped through them, slapping each of them to the floor easily as it reached the Kraang at the front of the control room.

"Biodroid, engage." Spoke the Kraang in the middle. It floated up to the top of the robot, where the head was missing, and attached the pod. The biodroid raised its arms while Kraang activated one of the weapons.

The siblings had been wondering why the Kraang would give the robot nipples, but then they swung open and out popped chainsaws on tentacle tendrils. It looked ridiculously stupid, but they couldn't help but feel intimidated.

"Okay, maybe we were a little cocky." Donnie admitted.

The Biodroid wound its massive fists back over its head with its fingers interlocked. It smashed it down at the siblings, who dove to avoid the hit.

The chainsaws came after Leonardo, who dodged and ducked to avoid them while using his ninjatō to combat them. One wrapped around his upper arm, cutting a bit into his flesh, and threw him backwards. The other one went after Raphael at the same time, who blocked it with his sais. The tendril was able to force him backwards, slamming the turtle into the side of the ship with a groan. Now both chainsaws aimed for him, and he was barely able to hold them away from where they made his neck their target.

Michelangelo jumped up and tried to distract the robot by slamming the handles of his nunchucks into its massive shoulders. His attempt to get the biodroid's attention worked, and it ceased attacking Raph. The squid spun to face Mikey, and that's when the robot punched him across the room. One of the chainsaws came for Mikey, but he dove out of the way before it was embedded into his skull.

The blade hit a control panel by Mikey's head, causing it to short circuit. The wall opened and revealed the shipment the Kraang was carrying.

"The shipment!" Miwa said to her brothers, "It's mutage-" She was kicked by the attacking gorilla robot. She flew into the controls of the ship, landing on a squealing squid as she did. A large hole in the bottom of the ship opened because of her accidentally hitting one of the buttons as she tried to sit back up.

The gorilla robot threw Leo and Raph into the wall, causing the canisters of mutagen to become loose. Donatello tripped over one as it rolled towards the opening in the floor. He nearly tumbled out the bottom of the ship with the mutagen, but Mikey was able to catch him by the arm and help him back inside.

"No!" Donnie shouted, watching the mutagen fall to the street below.

"Damn it!"

"Fuck!"

"That's not good!"

"Aw, snap, dude!"

"All the mutagen is gone!" Raph looked at Mikey and Donnie, furious at them. "You two are the biggest fuck-ups ever!"

"I didn't see you do anything!" Mikey snapped.

"Yeah!" Donnie backed up him. "You could have grabbed one single canister!"

"Guys! Focus!" Leo yelled at them while he and Miwa were trying to hold back the Biodroid.

"Kraang, the console that is broken must be made unbroken." Said one of the Kraang by the console.

Donnie slammed his bō into the back of the robot, but all that did was make the back end of the Biodroid fall open. From there, two cannons activated and pointed at Donnie. "Butt cannons?" He yelled. "It has butt cannons?"

"Who designed this thing?" Miwa asked. "An edgy twelve-year old?"

"Biodroid engage." Ordered the Kraang driving the cyan colored robot.

The cannons started firing at the siblings, shooting holes through the ship and further blasting apart the control console.

"This thing's going down!" Miwa yelled. "We gotta go!"

"We can't, it'll crash into the city!" Donnie argued. He looked over at the Kraang desperately trying to fix the steering. "Mikey, drop those Kraang!"

"Done and done!" Mikey traded out his nunchucks for some shuriken. "Throwing star time!" He announced, and threw two into each of the flying pods.

The pods instantly started to spark and fizzle, which gave Donnie the opportunity to smack them out the bottom of the ship. He hit a button on his titanium bō, which released a blade that turned the staff into a makeshift naginata. He jumped up and landed on the console. He stabbed it into the orb that steered the ship so he could better manage it. The ship was getting closer and closer to the ground, but he was doing his best to maneuver the ship around the unsuspecting buildings. He knew that his piloting was functional at best, from the screaming and crashing coming from behind him as he made sharp turns, but they were almost clear of the city.

"New course, the ocean!" He yelled at his siblings.

"Out! Now!" Miwa ordered her brothers.

Using their grappling hooks, they made it out of the ship.

As they landed, Miwa noticed her phone had blown up with messages from April. "April's in trouble!"

An intense, shivering wave of numbness rolled over April's body as she watched the glowing, greenish-cyan liquid rain down from the sky. She wanted to move, to fall to her knees and scream in anguish, but she was frozen in nothingness. Her gut told her to look skywards, and she listened almost robotically. She saw a canister heading right for her head. In a matter of seconds, she'd be covered in it. She should've been afraid, but her emotions had seemed to shut down. She waited for it, almost accepting that she was soon going to be turned into something. Something horrible, no doubt. But she didn't care. Maybe if it was her, than someone else would be spared from ending up contained in another jar in Donnie's lab.

But in April's silent acceptance of her fate, she had made one disastrous miscalculation. She wasn't alone on the roof.

"April!"

In the blink of an eye, April felt a pair of arms wrap around her and she was spun. It took a moment for her to even process what that could've meant. The shattering glass, the droplets of blood, neither made sense. And then she heard her father screaming.

April was shoved backwards against the cold, granite tiles of the roof, but she was able to clearly see what had happened.

Her father was covered in mutagen. Her father stumbled backwards, screaming and covering his face, and then he fell off the rooftop.

Finally able to think clearly, April ran over to the roof's edge, "Dad!" Just as she was about to jump down, the swarm of bats they past on the way up flew past her face. The squeaked in distressed shock, and attacked whatever was in their path to freedom. Tiny claws scratched into April's face, making her fall backwards onto her back again, her hands protecting her face from the attack. She tried to swat at the bats swarming her head, desperate to follow after her father.

When the squeaking and fluttering of the bats stopped, April thought she was safe for a second. She uncovered her head just to see a large figure cast a shadow over her. She turned her head and broke down in sobs when she saw what her father had become.

He had turned into a mutant bat. His head was now large, and misshapen with a large green vein running down it. His greying red beard was still present. His ears looked like bat wings. He had green eyes, a flattened bat nose and razor sharp teeth. He was covered with orange fur on his lower body down to his legs. His right arm was small while his left was normal size. He had a long purple and green vein running down his body. He had long purple wings with an arm attached to the top of each, and each hand had claws. He also had a short tail.

"Dad! Oh, no! No!" April sobbed.

The mutagen Kirby let out a feral scream and flew at April.

April started running, jumping across the rooftops to get away from him, but he pursued after her like a man on a mission. Or a beast hunting its prey. Instinctively, April grabbed for her tanto attached to her belt, but she couldn't bring herself to remove the blade from the sheath. "Stop!" She yelled at him. "It's me, Dad! April!" He dove down for her, but April stopped short of tumbling off a rooftop's edge.

He flew past her, but quickly turned around and started after her again.

"Please don't ground me," April muttered and pulled the tanto free from its holder. He almost got her, and that's when she brought the sheath of the tanto hard against his snout.

Kirby whimpered and howled in pain and flew backwards, landing back on their apartment's rooftop, holding his nose. He looked back at her, almost like he was shocked and saddened that she had attacked him.

"I'm sorry, Dad!" April called after him. They stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Each time April tried to inch closer to him, he'd inch backwards in fear. They reached a stalemate when she made it back to the apartment roof.

"Get away from her!"

April barely had the chance to look over her shoulder before the Hamato teens were throwing themselves at her dad. Weapons drawn. "No! Don't hurt him!"

They turned to look at her in midair, almost comically.

Kirby took that opportunity to take flight again. He smacked the five ninjas down with his wings and flew back at April. He grabbed her by the shoulders with his clawed feet and took off with her.

"April!" Donnie tried to grab her ankle, but she was already gone.

"Can this night get any worse?" Raph asked, sarcastically.

"Oh no."

They turned to look at Leo, who was examining a broken canister of mutagen. "I think that mutant was Dr. O'Neil." He said with a frown.

"How could you tell?" Mikey asked.

"You see many giant, red-bearded, middle-aged bats lately?" Leo answered with a glare.

"We're going after her." Miwa told them.

"But what about all that mutagen?" Raph asked, spinning her around to face him rather aggressively. "We got canisters spread all over the city!"

Miwa smacked his hand off her shoulder, "It's gonna have to wait, Raph. April and her dad come first."

They retreated back to the sewers to regroup and come up with a plan to deal with this new problem.

"Do you think he's a vampire?" Mikey asked. When all he got was stares in return, he kept going. "What if he bites her and turns her into a vampire?"

"That's not how it works." Donnie muttered. "Vampire bats aren't actually vampires, and if they bite someone, it won't turn them into a vampire."

"How do you know?"

"Vampires aren't real, dumbass." Donnie pouted, chewing on his mask tails.

"But he's a mutant bat!"

"Mikey, stop." Leo frowned. "You're not helping."

Mikey gave him a mischievous grin, "I wasn't trying to help."

"Sensei," Miwa caught Splinter's attention as he exited the kitchen. "Say we're, uh, trying to catch a stray pet. Like a cat."

"A cat?" He asked, squeaking a bit at the end.

Miwa cringed at his overreaction at the mention of a fictional cat. "Or a... parrot? Um, what's the best strategy?"

Splinter let out a small sigh and smoothed down the hackled fur around his neck. "Food, of course." He answered while stroking his little beard. "Any animal can be lured by food." He raised his eyebrow at his children, "So what is this truly about?"

"We're trying-" Leo went to answer, but Raph practically pounced on him to cover his mouth.

"Nothing, Sensei." He answered, locking his emerald eyes with Leo's sapphire ones. "Just... talking about parrots like we usually do."

"Hmm." Splinter hummed, not buying the obvious lie. He turned and walked back into the dojo with his tea cup in hand.

Leo slapped Raph's hand away from his mouth.

"Food!" Miwa cried in exasperation. She was shocked she hadn't thought of something so obvious. "What do bats eat?" She asked Donnie.

"Rodents and other small invertebrates." Donnie answered. "Also bugs, if they're large enough to be spotted."

"Oh! We can use Sensei as a lure!" Mikey said.

"Absolutely not." Splinter's muffled voice came from behind the dojo's white shoji blinds.

"So, where are we going to find a large bug?" Mikey asked, trying to ignore the fact that Splinter clearly heard him. "Dress up some sorry sucker in a giant fly costume?" He jokingly suggested with a laugh.

The four elder siblings looked to each other before turning back to him with smirks.

Ten minutes later, they dressed Mikey in a rushed fly costume. Donnie quickly threw together some spray painted stop signs to make the wings, while Miwa and Leo used some old tubes to make four extra arms for Mikey. With a headband holding antennae made with plastic straws, and goggles that somewhat resembled fly eyes, their disguise was complete.

"I kinda feel like bait." Mikey pouted.

"Oh, don't think of yourself as bait, Mikey." Miwa put her arm around his shoulder, knowing exactly what to say to him. "This is your new superhero costume."

"Yeah, you can call yourself-" Raph started to tease Mikey, but was interrupted.

"Turflytle!" Mikey decided. "Tur-fly-tle!" He sounded out with his fingers. "Oh, yeah! I love it! Too awesome! What are my powers?"

Miwa and Raph shared a small snicker.

"Umm," Leo tried to think of something. "You can... Hang from a rope and make noise?"

"Sweet." Mikey grinned.

She wasn't sure when she had passed out, or what caused it, but April found herself coming too on the top of a very tall apartment building that she did not recognize. She shakily got to her feet, realizing she was trapped on a window sill, and would fall to her death if she slipped. It took her a moment to remember how she could've possibly gotten here, but when a shadow flew over her, she remembered all too well.

Her father perched over her on the rooftop, looking down at her with a confused expression. One of the hands on his wings dropped something at her feet.

April looked down and squealed when she realized it was a dead rat. She looked back up at him, and he smiled like he was proud of himself. "Gross!" She snapped at him. "You don't expect me to eat that, do you?"

He frowned at her anger.

"Go get me some real food." She told him. She felt terrible for ordering him around like a dog, but she needed to find a way down, and she knew he wouldn't let her down willingly. "You go, Dad! Go!"

He whimpered and flew away.

April looked down at the rat by her foot and frowned. Gently, she nudged it off the side of the window ledge and timed how long it would take for it to hit the ground. Fifteen seconds. Doing some quick math, she figured she was about ten stories off the ground. She stuck her foot around to the right side of the ledge and found there was some footing there. Slowly, she started inching her way around to hopefully find a way to climb down.

Using the gliders, the Hamato flew towards the direction April's tPhone was pinging. Raph held Mikey suspended by rope, carefully surveying the skies for the orange mutant bat.

"Turflytle is on the patrol, buzz-buzz." Mikey said. "His bug eyes spy every crime, buzz-buzz."

"Will you stop saying "buzz-buzz" after every sentence?" Raph groaned. 

"Could do that, buzz-buzz." Mikey giggled. "But I probably won't, buzz-buzz."

"Just sayin," Raph went on shaking the mechanical wench that was holding Mikey, "I'd hate to drop 'ya!"

"Not funny, buzz-buzz!" Mikey grabbed the rope tightly.

"Stop tormenting each other." Miwa flew in the middle of Raph and Mikey. "We're trying to find Dr. O'Neil, and it's hard with you two yelling!"

"Donnie, any sign of him?" Leo asked.

"Nothing yet." Donnie tapped the side of his telescope goggles. "Raph, shake Mikey around a bit more."

"What did I just say?" Miwa glared at him.

"He's not flying like an insect." Donnie argued with her. "He needs to mimic a fly's flight pattern."

"No problem." Raph smiled sadistically at the all clear. "Hold on, buzz-buzz." Raph began to fly erratically, shaking the wench as he spun and did loop-de-loops in the air.

Mikey screamed in terror and delight, "This is better than rollercoasters, buzz-buzz! Probably, buzz-buzz!"

After about twenty seconds of this, Donnie screamed for everyone to brace themselves, "Dr. O'Neil at four o'clock!"

"He's heading straight for Mikey!" Leo warned, trying to fly between them and the mutant bat. "Pull it up!"

Raph began to work at the wench, trying to reel Mikey up to him as the bat smacked past Leo. He pulled up on the rope with his hands when he realized he wouldn't make it in time, and barely avoided Mikey getting caught in his jaws.

The mutant scientist looped around, preparing to strike again.

"He's coming around!" Miwa yelled. "Get him down in the streets!"

Raph dove down, still trying to work on the wench's lever to pull his brother in for safety, but his jerk on the rope had burnt the shit out of one of his hands. He weaved through the buildings, doing his best to make sure Mikey didn't smack into the side of one.

"Time for Turflytle to take out his arch-nemesis, Wingnut!" Mikey declared, trying to look over his shoulder at the bat. He smacked Kirby in the face with his nunchuck after the bat got too close for comfort.

"What, from that stupid comic series?" Miwa asked, trying to figure out where that name came from.

"You are not giving Dr. O'Neil a mutant name!" Donnie yelled at him.

"Miwa, take the hit!" Leo cleared her from above.

With a deep breath, Miwa undid her straps on her glider and dropped down onto the bat. She latched herself onto him by wrapping her arms and legs around his neck. He tried to wrestle her off by diving into a corkscrew. "Dr. O'Neil!" She pleaded with him. "Kirby! We don't want to hurt you! We want to help you!"

Donnie pulled out his phone when he got a call from April, "Guys! I see you! I'm on your left!" He flew up a bit to try and spot her, using his goggles again. He found her on the rooftop of an apartment building. He flew towards her while the others dealt with the bat problem.

"Miwa!" Mikey called out for his sister.

"I'm fine!" Miwa called, grabbing a hold of Kirby's long ears, using them to steer him. "Stick to the plan!"

"There's a plan?" Raph and Mikey asked in unison.

She yelped as Kirby tried to bite at her legs. She thrusted her wakizashi into his mouth, careful to keep the blunt side upright so he didn't cut his mouth open.

"The warehouse!" Leo reminded them. "We trap him in the warehouse!" He threw down his grappling hook to wrap around Kirby's right wing to help his sister steer him in the right direction. Mikey quickly did the same on his left.

"We're gonna have to crash!" Miwa warned them as they were coming up to it. Thankfully, the rooftop was made of glass. They flew right through the glass ceiling, and Miwa steered him into the big cage Donnie made shortly after their first run-in with Leatherhead. Luckily, the crash seemed to stun him long enough for her to jump through the opening. She and Leo locked him in and jumped backwards just short of being split open by his large claws.

He thrashed around, trying to take off flying, but found he couldn't spread his wings enough.

"Sorry, Dr. O'Neil." Miwa frowned at him. "It's only temporary."

April and Donnie ran into the warehouse not long after they got there. April pushed past Leo as he was tending to the bleeding burn on Raph's palm.

"Yo, we did it, Don!" Mikey held up his hand to high-three Donnie. "We caught the Kirby Bat!" He stuck his tongue out playfully.

Donnie elbowed him in the chest, "Mikey! What did I say about the mutant names?"

"Dad!" April knelt by the cage, trying to look him in the eye, but he was frightened and backed away from her. She put her hand through the bars and rested it on his forehead, and he relaxed a bit. She looked back at her friends, trying not to cry. "What are we gonna do with him?" She asked. "I mean, keep him caged forever? Feed him a steady diet of mice and flies?"

"Actually, bats loves moths and spiders too." Donnie tried to look on the bright side. "So, we could vary his diet a-" April let out a choked sob and he stopped. "Sorry."He muttered.

"This is all my fault." April sobbed into her hands. "If I hadn't lied to Dad-"

Mikey put his hands on April's shoulders, "Listen, don't blame yourself, April. It was technically our fault."

"What?" She asked.

"Well, we're the ones who pressured you to get his help." Mikey started to list off the process of events, while his siblings watched in horror. "And we're the ones who accidentally spilled the mutagen. But we can fix it. Donnie's working on that anti-mutagen thingy for Timothy, so we can just add your dad to the list."

"It... It was you guys?" April shot to her feet, her eyes burning. "You guys spilled the mutagen?"

The four siblings behind her gasped in shock, Miwa even covered her mouth. "April, your-" She tried.

April ignored the hot, thick tears flowing down her cheeks, "This is your fault!" She screamed. Behind her, Kirby started screeching as her anger rose.

"April, your eyes are-"

"Shut up!" April screamed.

"I swear, by Darwin's beard, I'll cure him." Donnie looked down at the floor, unable to look her in the eyes.

"You mutated my father!" She screamed.

Kirby let out a screeching howl and his wing-hands broke open the top of his cage. He flew out of the top and lunged at the closest person April was yelling at. He grabbed Miwa by the shoulders and lifted her into the air, trying to fly off with her.

"What, no!" April yelled after him. "Dad!"

Miwa used the flat end of her tessen to beat on his foot until he dropped her. Her head hit the railing of the second floor and she fell limp against the floor.

"Miwa!" Screamed the brothers, running to her.

Kirby hissed at them and flew off into the open night.

"Why isn't she waking up, Leo?" Asked Mikey, through tears.

"I gotta get her back to the lair." He said, trying to stay strong. "I got smelling salts there."

"Her head's bleeding." Mikey whimpered.

"I know, we gotta go." Leo stood up as Raph carefully picked up their sister. He looked over at April with a frown, "April, you gotta let me-"

"Don't touch me!" She screamed, recoiling back as he tried to put a hand on her shoulder. "You stay away from me and what's left of my family! I never wanna see any of you ever again!"

"April!" Donnie called after her.

"Let her go, Dee." Raph said. "Miwa needs us."

“Where is my mutagen, creature?” Demanded Shredder, slamming his fist down on his throne’s armrest so hard it cracked the marble.

“The complications became overly complicated.” Said the Kraang on the hologram, looking away in shame. “The ones known as the Turtles and Hamato Miwa stopped the shipment.” Kraang will make amends.” The Kraang ended the call.

“These creatures are useless.” He cursed under his breath. “It is time to expand my army. On my own.”

“This is all very grave news.” Splinter frowned, stroking his beard as Leo applied a warm, damp cloth to the back of Miwa’s throbbing head. “Very grave indeed.”

”I mean, I get why,” Miwa groaned, her eyes squeezed tightly shut from the pain of her head. “But it doesn’t feel fair that she’s blaming us for this. We didn’t mean to…” She trailed off. “I still get why she’s mad.”

“Do not dwell on the past, my children.” Splinter said, stroking Mikey’s head as he hugged his father. “Right now, the most important thing you can do is track down every last canister of mutagen. Search every street if you must.”

“What about April, Sensei?” Asked Donnie.

“You cannot force her to forgive you before she is ready. She will come around, I’m sure.” He answered.

“What if she’s never ready?” Asked Raph. “What if she just runs off with our tanto and we never see her again?”

Splinter frowned at the thought. He didn’t want to think that he’d never see his young student again, but if that was what she truly wanted… “That is up to her. And that tanto with a gift, Raphael. She can do with it as she pleases.”

April wanted nothing more than to throw herself into bed and sob until she couldn’t anymore, but she spotted blood on her shirt as she ran up the stairs to the apartment. She threw down her tanto and belt, and stomped to the bathroom to clean up. She wasn’t even sure when or where she had gotten hurt, but part of her knew the blood was her’s. Maybe her dad’s claws had broken her skin.

Turning on the bathroom light, April looked in the mirror and screamed. She screamed until a neighbor pounded on the wall and yelled at her to shut up.

April hadn’t just had tears running from her eyes, but blood as well. She had been crying blood. But that was only the start. The whites of her eyes were green, a pale green, but noticeably not white. And her eyes, where a brilliant blue color used to look back at her, was now an almost illuminating green. They were practically neon green now.

Her trembling fingers reached up to touch the sides of her eyes, and that’s when she saw the pink stains on her fingers was spreading again. Now the very tips of her pinky fingers were pink.

“What the fuck is happening to me?” She sobbed, falling to the ground.

Chapter Text

With a new gadget made by Donnie that would detect mutagen, the Hamato spread out across the city to search. Donnie happened to end up closest to April’s apartment, so before he even thought of trying to make up with her, Raph stopped him.

“Don’t get so bent outta shape over April, Donnie.” He said into the phone. “She’ll come around.”

“I guess you’re right.” Donnie replied, frowning as he passed by her apartment building. 

“Anyone find something yet?” Miwa asked.

They all responded in the negative.

"No sign of any mutagen, but you're not gonna believe what I found!" Mikey said into his end. He went on to describe a stuffed animal of an iguana wearing a top hat. "Isn't that cool?" He asked. "I mean, why would you throw his out?" He started making up a voice for it, like he did his other stuffed animals back home. "Ello, gov'nah! How do you like my monocycle?"

"Monocle." Donnie corrected.

"Whatever." Mikey sounded annoyed at the correction.

"Mikey, do you realize that your playing with what could be a distant cousin?" Raph mused.

"Focus, guys." Miwa groaned.

Donnie nearly missed his scanner starting to go off, flashing green as he started walking back into the city. "My ooze scanner's going crazy! Mutagen's gotta be close to 4th Street!"

"On it." They replied, letting him know they were on their way.

"These scanners are about as useful as a trench coat on a turtle." Raph grumbled into his end.

"Give it more than a night, Raph." Leo said with a sigh. "It's our fault those containers went missing. We gotta find them before some random Joe ends up mutated."

By the time his siblings met up with Donnie, he had found the mutagen and was climbing down a fire escape with it tucked under his arm.

"Aw yeah!" Mikey cheered, throwing his new stuffed animal in the air in celebration. "How many does that bring us up to?" He asked.

"One." Donnie answered, crushing their resolve. He frowned and looked back at his scanner, still going off. "But look at the bright side; Only sixty-three more to go!"

As they turned to go back to hunting alone, Miwa heard the mew of a familiar cat. She looked around, but couldn't see the cat she knew the sound belong too. The witch that wanted her to know she was watching. "On second thought," She said to her brothers, stopping them from disappearing from her sight. "It might be safer if we stick together."

"Pssh," Raph's lip curled in a playful smirk, "Why? We can take care of ourselves."

Miwa glared at his defiance and crossed her arms. "Tough shit, I wasn't asking. We move as a group."

Mikey yawned, "We've been looking for mutagen for days now, dudes." He complained. "This is so boring. I wanna scream!" Mikey stretched backwards like he was attempting a backbend, as he did, he let out a mixture of a yawn and a yell that lacked any real emotion behind it.

"Mikey!" Miwa snapped at him, making him straighten back up.

"Okay, okay, we get it." Leo groaned, rubbing his temples. He looked at Miwa and shrugged, "Maybe a break would be good?" 

She sighed, annoyed that he was right. But she also knew that Shini was, at the very least, watching them. Which tied her hands with what to do. She couldn't take them to Murakami's, that would put the old man in danger. April's was outta the question. "Fine, I have an idea."

The three younger brothers whooped for joy at the suggestion of a break.

Miwa led them up to an old training spot of her's back when she would still go to the surface solo.

"What are we doing, exactly?" Raph asked, raising an eye ridge. The gesture of which stretched the large scar that went diagonally from right to left across his face. A scar that was caused by the Shredder, because Miwa wasn't there to protect him. Because he wasn't ready to protect himself from such a big threat.

"Training session." She answered, already known the responses that would follow. Like clockwork, Leo was the only one happy with the decision, while the other three groaned dramatically. "Stop whining." She rolled her eyes at their complaining. "Sensei told me to take a bigger role in your training, so that's what I'm gonna do."

She pointed across the street to the entrance into Chinatown. "See Dragon Gate over there?"

"Yes." Leo answered.

The others mumbled a reply that she took as a confirmation.

Seeing as he was once again the only willing participant, Miwa put a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Leo and I are gonna defend it. Like King of the Mountain, okay?"

"Uhh, but there's two of you." Mikey pointed out. "You can't both be King of the Mountain."

Miwa blew out a deep breath that kept her from getting frustrated with his obvious attempt at distracting them from the exercise. "Fine. I'm the King, and Leo can be-"

"The Queen?" Suggested Mikey, who smirked at Leo.

Leo turned red at the jab, wearing a smile of mixed emotions.

"Leo can be whoever he wants." Miwa answered through gritted teeth. "The point is, we're defending it. The only way you can get past us anyway you can. Got it?"

"Whatever you say, your majesty." Raph gave a deep bow to her. "Let's get it over with." He finished with a pronounced, bored frown.

"Appreciate the enthusiasm, Raphael." She shook her head before signaling to Leo to follow her.

While the two elder siblings got into position, Raph put his arms around Mikey and Donnie and turned them away from the other two. "Guys, I got an idea."

"Is it going to annoy them?" Mikey asked.

"It'll annoy Leo, at the very least." He shrugged with a smirk.

Mikey grinned and eagerly agreed to Raph's plan. Donnie was a lot more deadpanned about his enthusiasm, but both of the sunset duo knew he wanted to get back at Leo and Miwa too. It all came with being the younger trio of the five.

Leo took the first of their opponents, Michelangelo. He drew one of his swords and met Mikey in the middle of the string lights and lanterns connecting the rooftops. The two master ninjas balanced easily on the fragile tightrope that held their weight surprisingly well.

Mikey pulled out his headphones from his belt and connected them to his tPhone. He giggled at the confusion and agitation on Leo's face and closed his eyes as he started playing music.

"Mikey, what are you doing?" Leo asked.

Mikey blew a raspberry at him and charged Leo. Just as Leo moved to strike him, Mikey flipped onto his shell, bouncing both of them off the lights. Leo fell, but caught himself and his sword before they fell to the ground. By the time he flipped himself upright, Mikey was moonwalking on the Dragon Gate next to Miwa in victory.

"I made it!" He taunted.

"That's not fair!" Leo frowned, looking at his sister like she was the referee in this match. "That was not a real fight!"

Miwa shrugged and turned up her palms. "He made it, Leo." Either she had caught onto Raph's plot, or the idea of teasing Leo was too good to pass up. "Switch me."

Leo grumbled and walked back across the line to grumble to himself while Miwa and Donnie met in the middle.

Donnie pulled out two fistfuls of shuriken and waited for Miwa to get into a stance with her tessen. Donnie threw them out in seemingly random directions, but nothing he did was without reason. Having calculated the angles they'd bounce off, he watched Miwa jump and dive to maneuver against the throwing stars ricocheting all over the street before coming for her.

Miwa threw her tessen to the side, blocking several of the shuriken, before she used the magnetized upgrade Donnie gave her to direct the flow of the fan with her hand into the other weapons barreling towards her. With her other hand, she pulled out the wakizashi from a similar holster Donnie gave April for her tanto. She rushed Donnie, who was too distracted from his perceived victory to realize she had worked around it. At the last second, she bumped him in the plastron with the hilt of her short sword to knock him off balance.

Donnie fell from the street lights, but caught himself in the same way Leo had. He pouted as his sister held out a hand to help him back up.

"Nice effort," She tried not to snort at the angry pout on his face. "But you can't just plan one trick and hope it'll work out. And maybe don't arm your enemy with a weapon she can control remotely."

Donnie stuck his tongue out at her, and she returned it before they both returned to their opposing sides of the street.

"You're the tie-breaker, Raph." Miwa said.

"Was there ever any doubt?" He scoffed, rolling his shoulders back while cracking his neck to the side.

Still a bit upset at his loss, Donnie stuck out the last couple inches of his bō staff, which Raph tripped over.

Recovering, Raph showed off his impressive balance by somersaulting to the middle of the lantern lights before flipping himself upright again. He quickly looked over his shoulder and made an I'm watching you motion with his fingers, pointing to his eyes then turning them to Donnie.

Miwa had Leo take Raph, "So you can make up for what happened with Mikey." She joked.

Leo whispered a mock under his breath in Japanese and joined Raph in the middle. "So what's your trick gonna be?" He asked.

Raph couldn't help himself from laughing at his brother's expense. You'd thought after all these years of watching the vein in his forehead pop would've gotten old. But you'd be wrong. "Tricks?" He mocked. "What are you talking about?" He threw his sai at Leo's head, who blocked the weapon with his own.

"Hey! Ninjas never throw their weapons!" Leo chastised him.

Raph rushed Leo while he was still distracted with lecturing him, and practically tackled him off the lights. Leo plummeted to the street below with a hard groan, but Raph's teammates of Mikey and Donnie caught him, ensuring their victory.

Leo moaned more in shock then actual pain, and looked up at his four siblings standing on the Dragon Gate roof.

"By the way, Miwa throws her weapon all the time." Raph said with a smirk, dangling one of Leo's ninjatō over the roof teasingly.

"Tessens are different." Leo said through gritted teeth.

"What about this?" Raph asked, tossing the sword from the roof.

Leo dove and caught his precious blade in his hands before it hit the ground. When he looked down at his possession, he was shocked.

In Raph's crude handwriting, he had written Lame-o-nardo on it.

Leo panicked and tried to wipe the letters off with his fingers, and thankfully, it smudged off, though it left a faint outline of the letters. At least he hadn't used permanent marker. Still, he couldn't believe Raph would do it in the first place. After Leo had tried to keep the peace between them all night! Every night!

"I, you!" His words came out more a choked sob than an angry roar. Leo hadn't even realized he was crying until he heard it in his own voice. He replaced his swords and stomped off down the street, wiping at his face and ignoring his siblings calling after him.

"Raph!" He heard Miwa yell. "That was uncalled for!"

"Oh relax!" Raph replied, a chuckle lacing his voice. "It was funny! He shouldn't take things so personally!"

When the four siblings returned home without Leo, they found Splinter waiting for them with anger burning in his maroon eyes.

"I see Leo tattled." Raph muttered.

"He did not." Splinter stated firmly. "This said it all," He pulled out Leo's graffitied sword from behind his back. "And he even tried to defend you, Raphael."

Raph rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"What I do not understand, is why?" Splinter went on. "Why must you four gang up on your brother?"

"What?" Miwa defended herself, "I didn't do anything! I didn't know Raph was being an ass until the sword thing!"

Splinter hummed, his ear flicking at her language. "Fine. I can see that you are telling the truth." He turned back to his sons, "What about the rest of you?"

"It was just to let off some steam." Raph shrugged. "Maybe I got carried away but he-"

"Deserved it?" Splinter interrupted, quoting something that his children often said when blaming each other. "How so?"

"He went along with Miwa's training exercise?" Donnie shuffled his feet awkwardly, avoiding looking his father in the eye.

"And that means you should defile his property?" Splinter asked. "And purposely make him upset? If it was Miwa's exercise that bothered you three, why take it out on Leonardo?"

They didn't answer, because they already knew the answer. Splinter knew the answer as well.

Because Leonardo wouldn't fight back.

The boys went to go apologize to Leo, but quietly decided to let him cool off for the night when he didn't answer his door right away.

Miwa followed her father into the dojo, feeling the need to further defend herself from his disappointment. "I swear, I didn't realize they were trying to pick on Leo. But Leo always takes things way to seriously, you should've seen him before the sword."

Splinter frowned, "That is no excuse, Miwa. Your team is your responsibility. Their strength is your strength, their resolve is your resolve. Their emotions are your emotions. You should've stopped Raphael before he pulled out the marker."

Miwa wanted to laugh, "Please! They barely respect me as their leader as is! I can't take sides every time they fight or else I'll always have too! It'll never end!"

Splinter's frown turned into a frustrated glare. "Miwa, a leader should not worry about respect. Your job is to help your team flourish, grow. That cannot happen when followers turn on each other. It breaks down trust in each other, which can be a fatal flaw."

Miwa huffed and turned to leave the lair. "Maybe I shouldn't be leading the team then."

"My daughter, how can your brothers believe in you when you do not believe in yourself?"

"I do believe in myself!" Miwa hissed. "But you clearly don't!"

Splinter watched her leave and he held his hands to his head, rubbing at his temples. Never in a million lifetimes, would he have been prepared to raise five teenagers at once. He pondered how much better he'd be doing if Shen was by his side. She'd know what to do.

Fujiwara waited inside of Bradford's dojo for her Master's new training exercise to begin. She pulled out her phone to check to see if her mother had sent her any new messages. There was one waiting for her, but she knew she wouldn't be able to respond right away, not with Master Shredder's paranoia about the Hamato clan hacking their phones. Which did have some merit, seeing as she believed the lanky purple one would probably be able to do so.

Her mother's message was just as formal as when she spoke, which made Fuijwara smile. Things were great back home. Mori's treatment was going well thanks to Master Shredder's generosity.

Fujiwara slowly turned her phone off and sent it off in a puff of purple smoke. She stood, sensing three Foot soldiers closing in on her from behind. One was using the wooden beams on the higher levels to move above her, which meant they were surely planning an overhead sneak attack. She threw herself backwards in a cloud of smoke, disorientating the attacker that tried to run her through with a katana.

She summoned her crescent blades and used one to block the sword's second attempt at ending her. She was taller than her opponent, which she used to back them into a corner and disarm them of their blade.

Another came at her with a kanabou, but she was able to jump over the swing. She kicked them down as she landed on their head, before she jumped again to kick the katana wielder to the floor. The kanabou wielder was back up before she landed, and the hidden soldier in the rafters jumped down to try and strike her with a bō.

Fujiwara moved her blades together, connecting them with her chain, which she used to block the overhead strike. She twisted the chain around the staff and threw the Foot over her shoulder while she backed up to get a look at her opponent's positions. The katana came at her, but she met the blade with her own. She swung her body around as they jumped back to gain some distance, smacking her heavy Hypno Stone into their side. The kanabou went over her head, and she ducked to kick the owner in the face. They moved out of the way and raised their arm to strike again, but Fujiwara retreated again with her smoke escape just as another katana stab was aimed at her back.

She watched the Foot with the bō switch the weapon out for two tsuruhashi. This one charged her, but she flipped over them and swung herself around the rafter above. She threw herself back down into their back, knocking them down to the floor. She spun and delivered a roundhouse kick to the stomach of the attacker with the kanabou, while her hand came up and disarmed them. She caught the katana wielder by the wrists as they tried to split her head from her shoulders with the weapon. She brought her knee up and kicked them in the face then threw them over her head.

Fujiwara adjusted the black wrapping on her arms that had come loose from the scrap. She turned to take a seat on her knees, expecting her Master to come in and review the exercise. Instead, the Foot soldiers all rose back to their feet in a uncanny manner. She frowned and turned back to them, summoning her kusarigama again.

The one holding the warpicks rushed her, but she jumped over them, boosting herself by placing her hand on their shoulders. She flipped in the air, preparing to knock them back down with a similar move that did it the first time. She tried to kick at then, but this time, they ducked under her kick. She didn't have time to process their retreat, because another of the Foot came at her with a punch. She tried to deliver one of her own, but this one also maneuvered around her easily.

The spiked mace attacker came at her with another overhead strike. She raised her hand to grab them by the wrist, but their other hand came up and grabbed her own. She tried to pull away, but they lifted her arm over her head twisting it up behind her. She grunted from the discomfort that would quickly turn to blinding pain if they kept going. Were they trying to dislocate her shoulder?

She phased her hand through their grip as she retreated into smoke. When she materialized, the katana soldier was waiting to take her head off.

"Enough."

The three stopped attacking her at the Master's order. He walked down the stairs from the second floor, where he must've been watching.

"The Kraang swore that these robot Foot Soldiers would be deadly." He remarked. "They were true to their word." Even with the metal medashibō covering his mouth, Fujiwara could tell he was smiling underneath.

"For a second there, I thought they were going to finish me off," She rubbed at her shoulder blade. "But you would not let them do that. That would break the deal my mother made with you, would it not?" She could tell her words had annoyed him, and he ignored her question.

"I am leaving for Japan to take care of urgent business." He replied. "As per my agreement, and your competence over Bradford's, you are in charge of things here until I return." He watched a twinkle of excitement flicker in her golden eyes, which made him narrow his own. "You are notto make any moves against the Hamato until I return."

"But I-"

He interrupted her by releasing the blades of his tekkō-kagi to threaten her. "Disobedience comes with a stiff penalty, 子."

She lowered her head as he walked past her to leave. Before she arrived, her mother had assured her that this stay in the States wouldn't be long, and that Master Shredder was a kind and generous soul. It had been nearly three months now, and it was clear her stay was no where close to over. In that time, Fuijwara had been threatened with mutilation and death more times than she could remember.

At first, she thought her family's kinship with the Foot and the deal between Shredder and her mother would keep her safe. Now, she wasn't sure that it was true. But she'd serve him for as long as he needed, for his money was her brother's only hope.

The next night, things were tense in the Shellraiser. Leonardo was giving all of his siblings the borderline silent treatment, only speaking when he was spoken too, and giving very little to his responses.

"Are you still mad at us, Leo?" Mikey asked, trying to give his eldest brother his signature little brother puppy eyes. He pulled a comic book out from behind his back as a peace offering, "I'll give you Mutant Pus Monsters issue 23 if you're not mad."

Leo moved Mikey's hand away from him so he could see the road ahead. "I'm not mad." He answered blankly.

"Well, from now on, I think we should try to be better at teamwork." Miwa tried to listen to her father's advice of building the team up. "So, starting tonight, we'll be doing team building and trust exercises."

"Ugh." Raph grumbled from the weapon's control station.

"You guys need to be a little better at following my orders." Miwa met Leo's eyes in the review mirror. "And by you guys, I mean you three." She gestured to those behind the driver's seat.

"Aww, it's too bad I can't play my violin while I look for mutagen." Raph rolled his eyes while mocking her by puffing out his bottom lip.

"What's your problem lately, Raph?" Miwa snapped. "Ever since the invasion, you've been a bigger ass than usual. Are you still pissed you're not leading the team? Because, last I checked, that didn't go so well for you." She knew it was underhanded, and even malicious to bring up Mikey's head injury from Raph's failed leadership exercise. But right now, she didn't care.

"Stop the Shellraiser!" Donnie interrupted, waving his mutagen scanner. He spit out the mask ties in his mouth to keep talking. "I'm picking up another mutagen canister."

Leo slammed on the breaks, throwing everyone in the back forward into their stations.

Miwa went flying the most, seeing as her station didn't have anything to prevent her from being launched face first into the driver's arm rest.

They filed out of the Shellraiser, each from the back rubbing at a bruise forming on their heads. Raph tried to push Leo to the ground, but Leo backhanded him before he had the chance. Miwa threw herself between them before punches started flying.

Donnie led them in the direction his scanner was picking up, biting at his talon from the tension behind him. They came up to an old building, "We're here." He said, not looking over his shoulder. "Signal's coming from the basement."

"Okay," Miwa said, "Let's not make any sudden moves before I give the-" She stopped herself when Raph broke through the gated off basement stairs outside the building. She grumbled and tried to look to Leo for help, but he just followed after the other three turtles without meeting her eyes. "Orders." She finished, exasperated.

"I found it!" Mikey called out once Miwa had joined them in the basement. "Oh, yeah!" He did a little victory dance as he went to go pick up the canister. "Go ninja, go ninja, go!"

"Don't!" Leo screamed out as Mikey's fingers laced around the container.

The mutagen was connected to a thin string that triggered the doors to lock them in the room.

Miwa whirled on her brother holding the mutagen, "See?" She didn't mean to yell, but her tone was much louder than she had meant it. "If you would just listen-"

"Easier than I thought."

Miwa grimaced and the siblings turned to find Shinigami using her fingers to wave at them from atop a wooden crate. "Long time, eh, Miwa-chan?" She asked with a smirk that came with the satisfaction of using the kunoichi's real name. She snapped her perfectly manicured fingers, and a dozen Foot soldiers crept out of their hiding places, surrounding the Hamato teenagers.

"Your lady friend is getting really good at setting ambushes!" Donnie complained to Miwa as they took defensive stances.

"Ha!" Raph laughed at the worry in his voice. "They're just Foot Soldiers. Won't even break a sweat." Raph attacked first, rolling under a katana swing before delivering a solid right hook to his target's face. Something felt off underneath the mask, but he didn't have time to question. He sprung into a kick, sending another one of the Foot across the warehouse's basement. They bounced across the floor, but caught themself on their knees. The soldier made a familiar robotic speech pattern, and their mask's bug-like eyes lit up a light red.

"Uhh, what?" Raph asked.

The soldier on their knees pulled out a mace and dashed at Raph. He used his forearm to block the weapon, but the spikes caught on his wrapping and cut into his skin. Raph grit his teeth and struggled against the inhumane strength, using his free hand to block a katana blade with his sai. He groaned, pushing back on the opposing weapons. A third soldier came from behind and kicked him in the shell, knocking him down.

Donnie tried to swing his bō at a Foot, but the opponent ducked under his arms. Donnie turned to try again, but Raphael was flung into him, sending them both into the brick wall. Raph practically bounced on Donnie's shell as he flipped himself back to his feet.

Mikey struck one of the soldiers in the head with his nunchuck, but the blow didn't budge them. "They armored up or somethin'?" Mikey asked aloud.

Leo's blade clashed one of the Foot's, and he through his weight to the side, disarming them. He spun to strike at the one coming up behind him, but it caught his sword easily in its hand. It balled its hand into a fist and punched Leo hard in the jaw. Leo stumbled back before he kicked to the ground with a groan.

Miwa watched her brothers get pushed back into a corner. She glared at Shini, who smiled innocently in return. She jumped down from the crate they were fighting on, and joined her brothers as they backed up. "Fall back!" She ordered.

"What?" Raph asked, looking over his shoulder. "We're running away?" He scoffed, outraged by the suggestion.

"It's not running, it's a tactical retreat." Leo argued with him bitterly.

"Move!" Miwa ordered, practically shoving Raph behind her as she blocked a tsuruhashi with her closed tessen.

"I don't care!" Raph pushed back past her. "I don't run from the Foot!" He threw himself back into the fight, but was knocked back from a fury of armored punches. He wiped at the blood coming from the edge of his mouth with wide eyes. He was shocked at sigh of the scarlet against his leaf colored scales.

"This way!" Leo yelled, having cleared a path to the broken down elevator.

Raph didn't argue this time, he swiped his sai at the hand that tried to grab him. Secretly, he hoped he drew blood, just to even the score.

"Bring me one of them." Ordered Shini. "Preferably the cute one." She added with a giggle.

The Foot ran after the retreating Hamato.

"Go, go, go!" Miwa yelled, pulling Leo by the hand after all their younger brothers cleared past them. They all started to climb the elevator shaft, but the Foot were right behind them.

Mikey screamed as a Foot soldier grabbed his ankle. He kicked at the hand desperately with his other foot. "Off of me, you bug-eyed creep!"

Leo jumped from the side he was climbing to knock off his brother's attacker. They both fell about twenty feet, but Leo was able to catch himself.

On the other foot, Mikey's attacker fell all the way to the bottom of the shaft, smacking their head against the ground first. Purple sparks flew up from its body, and the force of the ground made one of the eyes pop out.

"Kraangdroids?" Donnie asked.

"Move your shell, Donnie!" Miwa shouted up at him. "Go!"

Raph reached the top first, and opened the gate that closed them in. He reached down to help his siblings out, first Donnie, then Mikey, and Miwa.

Knowing that they were dealing with robots meant that Leo could use lethal force. He took out one of his swords from its sheath on his back and stabbed the head of his attacker.

"Hurry, Leo!" Miwa tried to go back down to help, but Raph blocked her path. His fingers almost met Leo's, but by this point, there was just to many of the soldiers pulling Leo down.

Leo grunted, and pulled his hand back, trying to hold himself on the wires.

"Leo!" Raph yelled.

The old wires snapped from the weight of the turtle and several robots. Leo fell from view into the dark elevator shaft, screaming.

"No!" Raph tried to throw himself down the shaft, desperate to help his brother.

Miwa, Donnie, and Mikey grabbed him by the arms and pulled him away from the elevator. Raph fought their hold, his talons digging into the old carpet and leaving scratches on the wooden floor like a feral animal. "Raph, calm down!" Miwa yelled at him.

"He's gone! And it's all my fault!" Raph yelled at her, kicking at her breastplate, desperate to free himself. "Just like the Technodrome! Not again!"

"Leo's resourceful!" Miwa argued with him. She didn’t want to even entertain the idea that Leo didn’t survive the fall. "He'll be fine, but we gotta regroup!" 

Just like the Technodrome? What did that mean?

By the time they made it back to the lair, Raph explained what he had meant when mentioning the Technodrome. Apparently, Leo had almost died because he stayed behind to ensure it crashed into the ocean. He said he had a plan after seeing the engine failure sign, but it was still an incredibly risky move on his part.

Mikey piped up to tell her that Leo likely did it because of what he overheard Splinter tell his eldest son. Both father and son were so worried about Miwa making an unnecessary sacrifice, that Leo sent her away and then took that upon himself.

Miwa wanted to be pissed, but she couldn’t lie to herself. When she fought Shredder in the cathedral, she was fully willing to die to ensure her mother’s revenge. If her father hadn’t dragged her home, she could’ve died that night.

"Where is Leonardo?” Splinter asked, finding his children sullen on the couch or pacing in front of the television.

Miwa explained what happened, waiting for her father to freak out.

“I see.” Splinter said. It was obvious he was trying his hardest to keep his tone and face as calm as possible, but his thrashing tail gave away his concern. “I knew it would come to this eventually.” He closed his eyes.

“Come to what, Sensei?” Miwa asked, ceasing her pacing.

“Shredder wants to take revenge on me for many things. He will stop at nothing until he is satisfied.” Splinter explained, his claws scratching into his staff. “He believes that I took your mother from him, Miwa. And he told me he would take all of you from me in return.” 

“So, what do we do?” Mikey asked.

Splinter’s ears flattened before he turned to his daughter. “Miwa, would Shinigami harm your brother?”

Miwa bit her bottom lip, she could taste the lipstick on her teeth. “No.” She decided. “She's not one for torture just for the sake of it.”

“Tell that to April’s face.” Raph argued, though he lacked his usual fire.

Miwa cringed at the memory of April’s black and blue face from her first encounter with the witch. “That’s because April fought back. When she kidnapped April for the Kraang, she said herself that Shini didn’t hurt her. And if the fall knocked Leo out or subdued him momentarily, then she would restrain him. He wouldn’t be able to fight back.” She added that last part with a frown.

“Then your objective is clear; Rescue your brother before he is handed over to the Shredder.”

When Leo came too, he quickly realized he was trapped. He was dangling from the ceiling in a very large turtle trap. It must’ve been specially made for him and his brothers. He tried to strain himself around, trying to get a feel for his cage, but he couldn’t move more than a couple inches. Turtle traps usually opened from the top, and there was no way he could get his arms out and above the cage. He was stuck until he was rescued.

“Oh, you are awake.”

Leo tried to look down at who was talking, though he knew the voice. It was no good, he was trapped hugging his knees to his chest, he couldn’t look past his feet. At least he recognized he was in Bradford’s dojo.

“I think I would get a small fortune if I sold you to a science lab.” Shini hummed, walking into his view. “I would get a kick out of watching the press.” She added with a giggle. “Talking Ninja Kappa Found in Sewers.”

“Sweet.” Leo replied with a deadpanned expression. “Captured and now totally humiliated. Awesome night, sis.”

“Oh, don’t be so sour.” Shini giggled again at his expression. “Fortunately for you, Master Shredder wants you all alive so he can deal with you personally.”

“And where is he?” Leo asked. “You’d had me strung up for hours, I’m guessing. He’s sure taking his sweet time.”

“Master Shredder left for Japan last night on business.” She replied, taking a seat on the railing of the second floor. She was swinging the gemstone at the end of her kusarigama chain around lazily. “Which means you get to be my little pet until he returns.” She smiled with a purple flash in her eyes.

Leo looked away from the witch when he felt a pull of his consciousness. “Wonderful.” He retorted.

"You'll have to forgive me, I'm still trying to process what names were real which were fake." She said, as if being lied to had hurt her. "You four kappa are named after artists from the Renaissance era, but I have trouble remembering which is which. I know that the funny little one is Michelangelo, and the lanky tall one is Donatello, but I confuse you and the red one."

"Twins will do that." Leo said to add to her playful confusion. They had stopped calling themselves that years ago, after Raph threw a tantrum that he wanted to be separate from Leo. It was around the same time Raph came out.

“Serious but not angry,” Shini drummed her fingers against the metallic railing. “The cute kame cladded in blue. You must be Leonardo. "I am curious about one thing." She went on. She held up Leo's sword so he could see it, the faint letters of Raph's taunt still showing even after he spent all of the previous night polishing it. "I assume you did not write this yourself. Did one of your... siblings do this?" She paused before acknowledging his relationships.

He could see her purple lips curl, though he didn't know which way to read her expression. It was either disgust or amusement that they called themselves siblings. That was fine, she could think anything she wanted about his family. But he knew what they were to each other, and how much they cared for one another. Even if they had trouble expressing it sometimes. Leo was their protector, their peacemaker, and he took his job seriously.

"Just sibling rivalry." He answered curtly.

She gave a small vocal acknowledgment of his response.  She stood from where she had been sitting and snapped her fingers. The robotic Foot soldiers that had been standing formed a small circle beneath Leo's cage and knelt. Shini looked back up at Leo with a smug grin. "Is it not nice?" She said. "These new Footbots follow my orders to a T. No arguing, no prodding. They do whatever is ordered of them. It's like hypnosis, only without the hassle."

"Yeah, convenient." Leo sighed. "Nice."

"I have been teaching the Footbots new skills. But I'm bored of training them." She gave a false frown as she spun her crescent blades between her fingers and around her hands. "I'm turning the training over to someone new." She threw her blade up to the chain holding Leo's cage. He fell, and the next thing he knew, the cage was opened.

"Footbots!" Shini ordered, tossing Leo his ninjatō swords. "Attack without mercy."

As Leo started defending himself, he made eye contact with Shinigami.

"Okay, so I hacked into some security footage." Donnie told his siblings after calling them into his lab. He pulled up a street camera that showed an unconscious Leo being loaded into a van by Foot robots.

"They took Leo to the Bradford Dojo!" Mikey pointed out the street name.

"Let's go." Miwa said.

Within ten minutes, they were lurking on top of the dojo's rooftop.

"Can't sneak in," Donnie whispered to Miwa. "Security camera."

"No sweat, I got this." Raph smiled before he held his hands up to his mouth. He made some kind of bird call and seconds later, a pigeon landed on his outstretched arm. Followed by at least a dozen more.

"Are you some kind of Disney Princess?" Miwa smirked at him.

He glared at her in response.

"It's not just one," Donnie informed Raph. "The entire roof is bracketed by surveillance."

Raph gave the pigeon on his arm a gently rub on the head before he sent it off to work its magic. The pigeons swarmed around the cameras, perching on top or pecking at them until they were covered or useless. Raph stood and casually walked over to the skylight and opened up the top for them to sneak through.

"Snow Raph." Mikey giggled as he past Raph.

Raph chose to ignore that for the time being and silently thanked his winged friends for the help.

They found Leo on the second floor on his knees, tied up with ropes and had his beak duct taped shut. He looked fine, aside from a large bruise on the back of his neck which he probably sustained from the fall in the elevator. Their shadows blocking the moonlight must've tipped him off that they were there, because his eyes darted up to find them. Just as quickly, they went down again, and he shook his head, but looked like he was trying to pass it off as a stretch.

Raph, Donnie, and Mikey quickly knocked down the robots while Miwa jumped down to free him. Leo was yelling behind his gag while trashing his head.

"Hold still!" Miwa scolded him. "I can't understand you with this gag." Carefully, she trapped his head under her arm and cut the tape along his beak so she didn't hurt him. She peeled the tape off his beak, but then he started to yell out a warning.

"It's a trap!" He told them.

Shini appeared from a cloud of smoke with a dozen more Footbots behind her.

"Nice, Leo!" Mikey frowned. "You couldda said somethin!"

Raph stepped in front of Leo while Miwa undid his bindings. "You got two choices, Sweetheart," He warned her with a crack of his knuckles. "Let us go, or walk away from this inside a body bag!"

Shini covered her mouth, her golden eyes wide and playful from the threat. "Oh my! Sorry, Raphael-kun, I cannot let you go." She looked past him to Miwa. "Master Shredder still wants to invite you to join us in the Foot. He would be delighted to have you." She looked back at the turtles, "It's not really that personal with you kappa. You could walk away if you turn over the nezumi."

"As if." Donnie scoffed.

Shini shrugged, "The rat will track you here sooner or later. You could just hand over his location now and save us all the trouble."

"You're not taking anyone else tonight." Miwa unfolded her tessen.

"I suppose we'll see, かわいい女の子." Shini snapped her fingers and pointed at the group, "Restrain them!"

Leo stabbed through two as they came for them. "They learn as they fight!" Leo warned them. "She made me fight them, they know all my moves!"

"Useful, no?" Shini leaned back on the railing as she watched them fight.

"Then how do we fight them?" Raph asked, getting kicked into a punching bag.

"If I order you to run away, will you listen this time?" Miwa asked her brothers. She was currently wrestling one the androids for her tessen back.

"It's not running away, it's a tactical retreat!" Mikey responded with a grin despite being beaten with his own nunchuck.

They ran back towards the lair, but they knew they had to get away from the Foot before trying to make a break for the underground.

"So, what's the plan, sis?" Mikey asked as they dodged shuriken and kunai.

"I... I don't-" Miwa started, but then she caught Leo's eye. She didn't know what it was, but he had something. She nodded sharply, telling him to give the order.

"King of the Mountain!" Leo told his brothers. "Be unpredictable!"

"Your quota is five each!" Miwa told them. "Meet me underground in ten minutes! Split!"

Her brothers probably noticed her loop back around to attack Shini, but none of them argued with her decision. This time.

She and Shini fought a bit, trading blows and swipes with their steel in a dance that was growing more and more familiar. Eventually, they both came to a silent agreement that they couldn't keep going.

"I don't know what that lunatic is planning, but keep my family out of it!" Miwa warned her. "If he wants me, if you want me, then come after me! Stay away from my brothers and my sensei."

"Or what?" Shini mused with a raised eyebrow.

"Or I'll add your name to the list of scum I need to kill." Miwa frowned. "Right after Shredder's."

When she met back up with her brothers, she smiled watching them make up with each other. Mikey had forced Raph and Leo into a group hug while Donnie pat Leo's shell from the side.

It had been nine days since her seventeenth birthday, since the day her so-called friends had mutated her father into a giant bat and caused him to get lost somewhere in the city. Part of April knew it was just an accident, like Mikey said, but she also couldn't help but be so angry at them. Deep down, she knew she'd forgive them sooner or later, but she couldn't think about them right now.

April had put off going back to school as long as possible, thanks to the new changes to her appearance. She had done everything she could think of to reverse it, mostly using Master Splinter's Healing Hands technique, but nothing worked. Finally, she got a call from the school last Friday afternoon, informing her father's answering machine that if April didn't start attending school again, she'd be held back in her junior year. So, she found some big, bulky, dark sunglasses to cover her glowing green eyes, and wore some old gloves she found in her aunt's old box of clothes she gave April.

"So nice of you to join us, Ms. O'Neil." Said Mr. Rayos, her homeroom teacher. "You may remove your glasses and gloves, you will not be needing them for Pre-Calculus."

April heard some of her classmates snicker behind her, but she ignored them the best she could. She had gotten used to people laughing at her from an early age. She pulled out a letter she forged in her dad's handwriting to give to her teacher.

Please excuse my daughter's accessories. The glasses are to help with her migraines, and the gloves are to help with her anxiety.

Regards,

Dr. Kirby O'Neil, MD, PHD

Rayos read the small letter over and over again, and April could tell it was annoying him. Every teacher on April's schedule knew about April's many difficulties, and had each met with her father many times over her special needs. She knew that they wouldn't attempt to contact him over matters like this anymore. Unless April collapsed in class, they didn't really get paid enough to care. And since April started buffing up from training with the Hamato, she hadn't passed out in gym class in months.

"I suppose this is where you were last week?" He asked her, handing back the paper.

"Yes, sir." April nodded.

"Very well, take your seat and try not to distract your classmates."

April took her seat just in time for the bell to ring. As her teacher turned to start going over the sum of n terms in an arithmetic sequence, April pulled out her notebook to start taking notes, even though she understood the formula well.

"Psst."

April watched Irma slip a note from her seat in front of her, while passing off her whisper as a yawn. Unfolding the paper, April read the impressive calligraphy-like handwriting of her friend.

Are u ok?

April quickly scribbled down an I don't want to talk about it, and put the paper in Irma's hand she held folded in a cup by her side.

For just once in her crazy life, April wanted to feel like a normal teenage girl doing normal teenage girl things. No bat dad, no ninja friends, no aliens, no crazy ninja clans, no strange changes in her appearance. Of course, all of that was true, but for once, she wanted to just ignore it all. She didn't ask for any of it, after all.

After school, April made a beeline for her aunt's apartment, knowing she usually had Mondays off of work. She hadn't just been dodging school, but Cindy as well. All day long, she had been trying to come up with something to say to her, but she found no words would do it justice. How was she going to explain that her brother had been taken away from her again, so quickly after his return?

Cindy answered the door with a smile, but it quickly dropped when she saw tears coming from under April's sunglasses. "What's wrong?"

"Everything." April whimpered.

"Did somebody die?"

"No." But he might as well have.

"Then we can fix it." Cindy opened the door for April to enter the apartment.

April pulled off her gloves and lifted her hands to take off her glasses. She heard her aunt gasp at her appearance which only caused more tears to flood from her illuminating eyes.

Chapter Text

Miwa had to take a break from the new show Mikey had found tapes of. She thought Space Heroes was bad, but at least the english dubbing matched the lip flaps. She decided to check on Donnie in the lab, who had been working on another batch of retro-mutagen.

Right away, she knew it wasn’t going well, thanks to Donnie’s grumbling and cursing under his breath.

“Another batch lost?” She asked with a frown.

Donnie let out a maniacal chuckle that gave a little more nuance to his siblings jokes of him being a mad scientist. He pulled off his goggles and threw them across the lab in anger. “It froze!” He complained, pointing at a frozen vile of mutagen.

“I’m sorry, Dee.” Miwa frowned at the anger he was directing at himself. “Do you want a hug?” She hadn’t expected him to say yes, but he nodded slowly. She put her arms around his neck and hugged his back, knowing this was how he preferred hugs when sitting.

Donnie leaned in her hold and let out a rumbling sigh. “I have to find an antidote.” He said.

“I know.” She wished she could help him. It wasn’t fair that he was the only one who could do this, but his family was completely out of their element. It had to be Donnie.

“For Dr. O’Neil and Timothy.” Donnie went on, looking over at the blob of organs. “It’s not fair that he’s a barely sentient blob of intestinal goo. Why couldn’t they at least still know who they are? Like Sensei or Dogpound?”

“I don’t know.” She answered.

“I swear, if it’s the last thing I do, I’m gonna find a cure!”

“I know.”

A ding from Donnie’s computer made them pull away from the awkward sibling hug. Donnie rolled his chair over to his computer and wiggled the mouse to turn the screen on. He frowned at whatever he was looking at.

“What’s wrong?” Miwa asked, walking over to him.

Donnie was on the FriendLikeMe website that Mikey had first befriended Dogpound through, back when he was still Chris Bradford. He had a chat log pulled up with some college student asking for help on their homework, but that’s not what caused Donnie’s frown. On the right side of the screen, a notification was pulled up that said April had logged on.

“She’s still friends with you?” Miwa asked. She hadn’t meant for her words to sound so harsh, but Donnie’s frowned deepened all the same.

“Guess she never unfriended me.” He answered.

They both waited for the notification of April deleting Donnie from her Friend List, but it never came. Another notification came up that read she had reposted something onto her profile before logging off again.

Miwa was going to tell Donnie to ignore it, that April wouldn’t want Donnie to go through her profile, but he was already clicking on the notification. Miwa was also curious, and since she was still Donnie’s friend online, it wasn’t technically invading her privacy if she set up the post so only her Friends could see it. Both knew it was mental gymnastics to reach that conclusion, but Donnie had already opened up the notification.

A picture popped up of April with two other teenage girls. April was wearing sunglasses and thin winter gloves, despite it being nighttime in May. One of the girls was Irma, who Miwa recognized as the girl they had saved from being kidnapped by Derek Stocker. The other wasn’t one either Donnie nor Miwa recognized, but they could guess who it was based on a description April had given once.

With jet black hair dyed neon green at the ends, and heterochromatic eyes, they both knew it was most likely Sunita. Timothy’s younger step-sister who moved from India with her mother when she was little.

She was very pretty, but her most stand out feature was her eyes. The right was a rich chocolate, while the left was a bright green color. Based on the her lack of eye makeup and the bright green lipstick, Miwa could guess that Sunita knew this about her appearance and even liked it. Having matched the lipstick to make her eyes pop even more. Miwa liked her style, even if Sunita looked tired and anxious behind her forced smile in the picture.

“Come on, Don.” Miwa pulled Donnie away from the computer. “I know you haven’t slept in days.”

Donnie didn’t fight her tugging, and followed after her silently.

What they both missed, was Timothy’s stringy lips escaping the side of his container. They stretched up and dipped into the remaining quarter of mutagen left open on Donnie’s desk. He slurped up the remaining mutagen, his eyes fixated on the photo opened on the laptop.

April groaned, rubbing at her eyes as she closed her locker. She quickly fixed her sunglasses before she turned back to face the hallway.

Last night was a long one. She was out until four in the morning looking for her dad, a routine she’d had since her father’s mutation. She was able to track him down just based on her gift that Splinter had been teaching her to rely on, but every time she got to close to him, he’d fly off and she’d be back to square one.

She hadn’t been getting much sleep lately, but strangely she didn’t feel all that tired. At least, not physically.

“Morning, April.”

April turned to see Sunita and Irma walking up to her.

Sunita looked just as tired as April felt, with dark bags under her eyes standing out against her brown skin. They were in a similar boat, both having a loved one as a missing mutant. Though, Sunita didn’t know what had happened to her step-brother. For all she knew, he had run away. Of course, April knew the horrible truth. Timothy hadn’t run away, he was a puddle of goo in Donnie’s lab.

She had almost told Sunita that, but stopped herself because she knew it wouldn’t help.

“Hey, your brother’s not missing or dead, I know where he is! He’s a blob of organs floating around in a jar! Follow me to the sewers, I know the turtle scientist who’s been trying to turn him back to normal with no success!”

April couldn’t do that to the Hamato, even if she was mad at them. It wasn’t their fault, and bringing unwanted trouble to their home would just make a bigger mess.

Was it hypocritical of her to blame them for her mutant dad but not for Timothy? Probably. In all honesty, April wasn’t even all that mad at them anymore. After she and her aunt had talked it out, she knew she shouldn’t have blamed them for what happened. But April needed time.

“Hey, guys.” April greeted them.

“Irma!”

The three girls looked down the hallway to see a hockey puck sliding down the tiled floor. Following closely behind was a boy that April hadn’t ever spoken to, but she knew his name well. Hell, the whole school knew the name Casey Jones.

He was a new student that had transferred from a school in New Jersey after his dad got a new job in the city. Before he even attended a single class, the whole school heard that he had gotten arrested for some kind of scuffle with the police back in November. Thankfully, his dad was apparently a top level attorney, so Jones hadn't even spent a night in jail. April heard that he was on the school's hockey team, and he was a grade below her with Sunita. The only other thing she knew about him was that he was a troublemaker in class, especially when the teachers called him Cassandra instead of Casey.

He was actually kinda cute, now that April was looking at him. He had black hair that looked fluffy despite the shine of grease highlighting it in the fluorescent lights. It was pulled out of his face by a black and white bandana. He had olive skin and dark freckles that stood out across his face. His ears were also pierced, the right having two cartilage piercings in addition to the regular earrings, and he had a ring above his left eyebrow.

"Casey." Irma smiled at him in a friendly manner.

April was shocked that she knew him on a first name basis, and even more shocked when he put his arm around her shoulders.

"Ladies," Casey winked his deep brown eyes at Sunita and April before looking back at Irma. "You remember tonight, right?" He asked her. "You skipped out on me last time."

Irma's eyes widened and her glasses drooped down her nose when she looked at the floor. "Oh my god, Casey, I am so sorry!" She apologized, which made him frown. "I completely forgot! I can't tonight, I have intern stuff!"

"Irma..." He whined, leaning on the wooden hockey stick while pouting. "I need you! The test is tomorrow, and if I fail trig, coach'll kick me off the team!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." Irma apologized again. "I'd blow it off if I could." She then looked at April, "My friend April could tutor you."

April's mouth fell open at Irma volunteering her services without even asking. "I can?"

"You can?" Casey looked at April with wide, sparkling eyes.

April was about to say no, but then she saw Irma mouthing please, please, please, please, with her palms pressed together. April sighed, knowing she didn't have much of an excuse. She couldn't exactly tell them she was going out hunting for her bat dad tonight, and its not like tonight would go any different then last night. Plus, April owed Irma for letting April cheat off her notes for the last couple weeks.

"Fine, you got yourself a tutor, Jones." April conceded. "But only for tonight."

"Awesome!" Casey beamed, smiling wide. At first, April thought he had a gap in his teeth like Donnie, but actually was missing his two front teeth. April wondered if that was because of a hockey accident.

"Meet me outside the school at seven," April picked up her bag so she could make it to class before the bell rung. "And don't be late."

"You got it, Red!"

That night before patrol, Miwa had left early to go pick up some more bleach for her hair. She wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings as she walked. She was more distracted by her hair constantly falling into her face. She had decided to start growing it out, but now it was at that awkward length above her shoulders where she couldn't do much with it. It was still too short to pull up, but long enough to get in her eyes.

Her foot had caught a hockey puck before her brain had realized it was coming right for her.

"Yo, sorry!"

Miwa looked up and her eyes widened. Standing in front of her was a teenage boy holding a hockey stick, and April. Despite the sunglasses covering her eyes, Miwa could tell she was glaring based on the way her lips pursed ever so slightly. "Uh, no problem." Miwa cleared her throat. She kicked the puck up with her shoe and then used her knee to bounce it back to the boy's hand.

"Dude, that was so cool!" He smiled. "Where'd you learn that trick?"

Miwa smiled the best she could, but she felt April's cold eyes fixated on her. "Oh, uh, my brothers and I are pretty active."

"I bet." Winked the boy, eyeing her up and down.

"Come on, Jones." April walked past Miwa. "I thought you wanted my help."

"Hold up, Red!" Jones frowned and shrugged to Miwa before he walked after April. "What was that?" He asked her.

Miwa watched them walk down the street for a bit before she shook her head and went on her own way.

"Speaking Donnie."

Donnie smiled and stood up from where he had connected a voice box to Timothy's container. "Hey, it works!"

"Works." Repeated Timothy. His eyes flickered over to Donnie's laptop. "April."

Donnie hummed in confusion and followed the gaze. A new notification on Donnie's FriendLikeMe page had popped up. This time, it opened before Donnie had the chance to click off of it.

April had reposted a picture from an friend's account. It was April, Irma, Sunita, and a boy giving finger guns to the camera. The caption read, Victory noodles! C's get degrees, right?

Donnie frowned at the picture. That must've been the boy that Miwa mentioned she had run into with April yesterday. Miwa said she thought they were on a date. On one hand, Donnie was happy that April could have fun with friends. But on the other, he missed having her around.

"Like April, Donnie." Said Timothy.

Donnie took one last look and the picture before looking back at Timothy. "Yeah, you and me both, Pulverizer." He sighed, admitting it out loud for the first time. Donnie walked over to the container and sprinkled in some ground up food for him. "But she's mad at us right now, buddy. I don't know if she'll ever want to be friends again." He went back to his desk and pulled out a beaker so he could work on another batch of retro-mutagen.

"April friends?"

"Yeah, I-"

"Donatello, my son."

Donnie turned to find Splinter standing in the doorway of the lab.

"Your siblings are waiting for you to begin stealth training." He said.

Donnie looked at the time on his phone before he nodded. "Sorry, I'm coming." He followed after his father, having forgot to secure the lid on last night's mutagen find.

Timothy forced his lips through the side of the container so he could enjoy the real meal waiting for him on the desk.

"Good enough! Now!"

Timothy pushed his body out the sides of his prison until the bolts securing his jar snapped. He rose to his newly formed feet and he stalked over to the computer. He grabbed the monitor.

"Find April! April find!"

Splinter had barely explained the two rules of stealth when a loud crash came from Donatello's lab. "What was that?" His ear twitched to the side. They ran to see what had happened.

Donnie wanted to cry when he saw the massive hole in the wall. His lab was a mess, but more importantly, Timothy was gone. "Timothy!" He muttered in desperation.

"What the what?" Mikey asked, pushing past Miwa to look at the damage. Raph then shoved Mikey to get a look, and then Leo shoved Raph.

Raph glared at Leo while Mikey elbowed him in the plastron. Raph then pushed Mikey's shoulder again.

"What happened?" Leo asked, ignoring the brothers getting ready to brawl. "Are you guys okay?"

"Timothy somehow escaped." Donnie explained.

"How?" Miwa asked.

Donnie frowned, "I don't know." He admitted. His eyes caught something, or rather, didn't catch something. He walked over to where his laptop had previously been sitting. "Uh oh."

"What's uh oh?" Miwa grimaced.

"I-I think he went after April." Donnie explained.

As the siblings left the lair to try and find Timothy before he found April, Donnie admitted what had happened. "I didn't know it, but I think mentioning April made Timothy go after her."

"You told your thoughts and feelings to a pile of guts in a jar?" Raph let out a dry laugh.

Donnie flushed at his brother's teasing, "He's a good listener..."

Miwa cursed and put her phone back in her pocket, "Damn it! She still has her tPhone off. How dangerous is this thing?" She asked Donnie.

"That thing is Timothy." Donnie clicked at her. "And he obviously doesn't know his own strength. He could end up hurting her."

"Well, what's the plan?" Leo asked. "Because with her phone off, there's no way of tracing the signal."

"Actually, I think I might know where she is." Donnie admitted.

Miwa, Raph, and Mikey all turned to look at him in the Shellraiser, while Leo’s eyes kept flickering from the road to the back.

"And you know this how?" Raph asked.

"From her online profile." Donnie ducked his head into his shell. "I saw a picture of her and a group of friends at Murakami's restaurant."

"You're stalking her online?" Mikey asked, his aqua eyes bulging at the idea.

"No!" Donnie defended himself. "It opened because I was looking through friends pictures." When his siblings all raised an eyebrow in eerie unison, Donnie explained further. "Hey, my friend Ash is passing his college history class because of me! He sent me a picture of his recent Tudor history report with the teacher's notes praising him!"

"Why are you such a nerd?" Raph scoffed. "Even when you have friends it still involves nerd stuff!"

"Big picture, guys." Leo interrupted. "She's either at Murakami's or she's headed back home."

Miwa sighed, knowning she shouldn't have judged Donnie after she had done the same thing the night prior. "Right, Donnie, Leo, you two take Murakami's. Raph, Mikey and I’ll head to April's."

"On it!"

“Find April!” Roared the Pulverizer as he stomped down the streets of New York. He tried to get people to help him, but they kept running away. He pointed the laptop towards the people running away from him, trying to get them to understand what he wanted from them.

Eventually, he had enough of trying to chase someone down. When a man tripped over his own fleeing feet, the Pulverizer took the opportunity to grab him. “Human find April!” Ordered Timothy, showing the man the laptop’s picture. The man went limp in Timothy’s grasp, which made him grunt in anger and drop the man.

“What… What is it, Jim?” Asked officer Perkins as they pulled up in their squad car.

“Some kind of granola-crunching hippie, Bill.” Replied the older officer.

They both fully stepped out of the car and called out to the terrifying looking suspect. “Get on your knees and put your hands over your… Jar!” Ordered officer Vega.

“Police find April!”

The Pulverizer was relieved to see someone who would help, who was required to help. He began to walk towards the two officers, but he frowned when they pulled out their guns. Why were they pointing their weapons at him?

”Stop where you are! Whatever you are!” Yelled Perkins, backing away as the suspect approached them with what he assumed was a stolen laptop.

The thing got too close and Vega fired a warning shot into the air to warn the suspect to freeze. The single shot only angered the suspect and it crushed the stolen goods in its hand before it started swinging its green oozing arms around at them. Both officers began to unload their guns at the suspect.

“Stupid humans!” Roared the Pulverizer. His acidic skin bubbled and dissolved the bullets as they tore through his body. “Hurt me?” He smacked the closest office into his car, burning away his face after his fist made contact with his skin. He kicked the other one across the street. “Out of way!”

“Officer down! Repeat, officer down! Be on the look out for a bottle of goo with arms and legs! It is on the loose and incredibly dangerous!”

"I'm really proud of you, Casey." Irma bumped her friend in the shoulder as he walked his bike down the street with the trio of girls. "But, how about we shoot for a B next time, yeah?"

"Gettin' a C was hard enough!" Casey whined, pouting playfully.

"You barely got a C." Sunita said, having also taken the test that morning. "And you can't just rely on April and Irma for every test. What happens after they graduate next year and it's just you and me?"

Casey stuck his tongue out at her, which made the tired girl smile.

Casey shrugged, "School isn't really my thing, but I made a deal to graduate with my dad."

"He had to bribe you?" April asked, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"What works works." Irma let out a snort as she laughed. "I had to bribe him to even open his trig textbook."

"With what?" April asked.

"She hooked me up with a awesome new police scanner app!" Casey beamed, putting his arm around Irma. Despite the playful shaking, the seven inch height different wobbled Irma dangerously close to falling over, though Casey wouldn't let her get hurt.

Changing the subject before they mentioned Casey's police record, Sunita asked, "So, what are you going to do after graduating?"

"I'm probably going to keep going with TCRI." Irma said. "While I go through college, they got a killer scholarship program!"

"When I graduate, I'm becoming either a pro hockey player or an international bounty hunter." Casey punched the air to demonstrate his point.

"Those are quite the options." April snickered.

"Ehh," Casey shrugged. "Who wants a normal life anyway?"

"I do." April answered, looking down at her gloved hands. It's all she ever wanted, but now she knew that was unlikely to ever happen. She looked back up, able to clearly see her friends frowning at her, despite the sunglasses and the limited moonlight. "I think I'm going into journalism." She answered the question.

"What about you?" Irma came to April's rescue from the stares by turning her attention to Sunita.

"Private investigation." Sunita answered quickly and seriously. "Maybe then someone will actually try to find my brother."

April grimaced, guilt racking her body at Sunita's pain. She didn't know exactly how hard the police had been working, but she knew why they couldn't find him.

"But, you really should take studying more seriously." Sunita added to Casey, quieter this time.

Casey's laugh broke the tension, "Study, study, study! Is that all you ladies do? You gotta learn to relax, cut loose at little."

"I cut loose!" April said. "You have no idea the kind of crazy things I do."

"What, like wearing sunglasses at night and gloves in May?" Casey cocked his pierced eyebrow with a smug grin.

April chuckled a bit, surprisingly relaxed around her new friend. "You like pushing buttons, don't you, Jones?" He reminded her of Miwa and Raph. "I bet you-"

"April!"

April turned to her left where the scratchy sound of her name came. Her jaw dropped and she gasped when she realized what she was looking at. How did he get out of the lab? Since when could he do that? As he stomped towards her, April reached into her backpack, slowly gripping the tanto's hilt. Despite herself, she couldn't just leave it collecting dust in her room while she was angry at the people who had gifted it too her.

Casey and Irma threw themselves in front of April, both gawking at the mutant goo monster with different trains of thought.

"What is that?" Irma asked, her eyes wide, her small body doing little to shield April from the monster's sight.

"Whatever that thing is, it's pure evil and completely cool-looking." Casey laughed, holding his fists up like he was going to fist fight the Pulverizer. "I can handle this, sweetheart." Casey said to Irma, who was shivering in fear.

"Guys, move!" April warned them, pulling the tanto free and tossing her backpack to the side along with Casey's abandoned bike.

"April find!" Roared the Pulverizer through a thrown-together voice box.

Casey swung a crowbar at the jar, having pulled it out of a dumpster earlier that night.

The Pulverizer grabbed the steel bar and began to dissolve it, like Miwa had described his slime of being able to do.

This threw Casey off, "Uhh." One hand pushed Irma to the side, knocking her over as the Pulverizer lifted Casey into the air and tossed him at a wall. Casey fell limp, but that didn't stop the Pulverizer from walking over to him. He raised his acidic foot, ready to crush Casey into the concrete before melting him into it.

April sliced at foot, making the blob turn to face her. She hadn't done any damage, but luckily Casey was okay. "Back off, Pulverizer!" She warned, not wanting to hurt him.

The Pulverizer shrunk away from April, pleading with her to stop. "April friend! Find! Find!"

April remembered that Donnie said his mental facilities weren't all there, so she lowered the short sword. "You-"

A soda can collided with the jar, sticky brown liquid staining the enforced glass. "Leave them alone!"

With all the chaos in the last thirty seconds, April had forgotten that Sunita was there. The shortest and youngest of all of them stood right next to Casey's bike and April's backpack. Her small frame was shaking, but her eyes were focused and serious. "Get away from them, you walking anatomy class!"

"Su-su-"

April watched in horror as his lips tried to form Sunita's name. She only now realized what Timothy was truly after. Find. He repeated it, but only now did she know what he meant by it.

"Sister!" Timothy finally roared. April and Irma both tried to stop his hulking form from getting close to his target, but he smacked them both to the side without stopping. He didn't need April anymore.

April's head smacked the asphalt of the street, and her sunglasses flew from her face. Dazed for a moment, she had forgotten what had hit her, and why she was bleeding. She crawled after them pitifully while Sunita's screaming got further and further away.

"Get up, Red!"

Casey easily lifted April up by the arm as she fumbled with her sunglasses. "That thing got Sunita! I'm goin' after it!"

"I'm coming with you." April said firmly.

Casey looked at her, confused for a second. He didn't argue, his eyes looking at the blade clutched in her hand. "I got room on my bike for two." He added with a smile.

Irma ran after them, pulling out her phone to make a call as she did.

"Sister! Me!"

Sunita had stopped screaming after her throat had gone raw. Her arms and legs felt like jelly as she uselessly thrashed in the ooze's slimy hold. Whatever had grabbed her was pleading with her, but she couldn't understand what it wanted. "Get off me." She whispered in a strained, hoarse voice.

"No! Me!"

She kicked at the jar, sending bubbles floating up around the organs. "Let go!"

"Me!"

Sunita let out a scream that sounded more like a pitiful whine as it's grip on her waist tightened. It rose her up so that she was forced to look at it straight in the face. Sunita hocked back a loogie, prepared to spit at the monster to show what she thought of it, but then she noticed it's eyes. A light, caramel chocolate color blinked slowly at her, begging to be recognized.

It didn't make sense. She couldn't reasonably explain why she felt it was true, but now that they were looking at each other in the eye, she knew in her heart that it was true. She spit to the side and then moved her hands from the ewwie-gooey disgustingness of his hand to rest them on the jar.

"Tim?" She asked.

"Me." He confirmed it.

She opened her mouth again, to cry or scream, she didn't know. She suddenly dropped from his grip, landing awkwardly in the arms of someone she'd never seen before.

"Hands off!"

Sunita looked up at the girl who was holding her. She was asian, with golden amber eyes and ebony black hair that was bleached blond at the ends. It wasn't until the girl had started running away from Timothy, that Sunita realized she had somehow cut off both of his hands. "Wait!" Sunita tried to scream, but the girl couldn't hear her damaged voice. She tried to raise her hand to punch the girl, and force her to stop, but her arm only came up to rest on her own chest.

The girl had run around the block and gently sat Sunita on the sidewalk, resting her against a ledge so she was propped up. "Run home, you're safe now." Said the girl, before she ran back towards the monster.

Towards Timothy.

"No, wait." Sunita called after her, tears finally falling down her cheeks. "Please. Don't hurt him."

"Sister!" Pulverizer tried to run after Miwa, but his leg was trapped by Mikey's quick work with his nunchuck.

"Not so fast, barrel full of ugly!"

"What happened to you, Pulverizer?" Mikey asked, trying to be friendly like Cindy had wanted of them. "You turned into some kind of... Mutagen Man!"

Mutagen Man kicked at Mikey, but tripped himself in the kusarigama chains.

Raph stood over the jar and pointed at the monster, raising his sai to threaten the handless creature. "You're not going anywhere, pal!"

"No! Find sister!"

"Timothy, try to think clearly." Miwa rounded the corner after dropping off the girl with green hair. They trapped Timothy in a dead-end so that he couldn't escape past them. "You could've hurt her! You could've hurt April!"

"No hurt! You hurt!" Mutagen Man argued, regrowing his hands. "I help! Find sister!"

Leo threw himself into the jar, kicking the stumbling creature away from his siblings.

Donnie pull out a syringe and walked towards Timothy slowly. "Timothy, it's me."

"Donnie! Hurt!" Roared Mutagen Man, swinging at Donnie.

Donnie ducked under the arm, and looked at his siblings, silently telling them not to attack. "You're right. I'm sorry, Timothy. You were lonely and I didn't help you. But I can now."

Mutagen Man lowered his arms, his brain trying to process what Donatello was telling him.

Donnie took that as a good sign and took another step closer. "Timothy, you've been drinking mutagen, haven't you?"

Timothy's voice box's monotone let out a garbled sound. Was it a whimper or a growl?

"But that's okay!" Donnie said quickly. "I think that actually could help! I think you could be the key to the retro-mutagen!" Donnie held out the syringe towards Mutagen Man, "If you come back with me to the lair, I think I could use your DNA to find a cure!"

"No!" Mutagen Man grabbed Donnie, crushing him easily in his palm. "Leave Mutagen Man alone!" He tossed Donnie into the brick wall.

Miwa and Leo cut off his hand as it reached toward Donnie, dripping with acid that would melt their brother. He screamed and slammed them both into the opposite wall with his other hand.

"Try not to hurt him!" Donnie groaned, getting back to his feet. "Lead him away from the street!"

Raph and Mikey both caught Mutagen Man's attention while he regrow his hand again. Raph rolled under his arm, backing himself slowly into a corner. "Little tough when he's swinging acid hands at me!"

Mikey dove under a car that had been unfortunately parked in the alley. The car quickly rose up and was brought down, intending to smash the turtle who fled just in time. Mutagen Man's foot stomped down on Mikey's plastron, cracking the resin that had been used to patch the crack caused by the Shredder. Mikey screamed and thrashed under the foot.

Raph and Leo ran at him, both stabbing for him. Mutagen Man let their weapons sink through his slime before he was able to solidify it enough to lift both turtles off the ground. He slammed them back to back, hard enough to make their shells colliding echo down the street.

Miwa held her arm back, preparing to throw her tessen to free her brother's. Mutagen Man's stringy lips slipped from his container and they wrapped around her arm, binding and squeezing her to make her drop the war fan.

"Sister mine!"

Mutagen Man began to slowly ooze acid down his arms. Leo and Raph struggled in his grasp as the acid came closer and closer to them. Mikey pounded on the foot holding him down, but soon, Mutagen Man started to release acid down his legs, putting the small turtle in the same danger as his brothers. Miwa tried to fight off the lips binding her, but they coiled around her neck and began to cut off her oxygen.

"Don-ie..." She choked, her eyes rolling back.

Donnie transformed his bō into and hammer, and used it to smash the fleshy binds holding his sister. Mutagen Man screamed and dropped the red and blue turtles. Together, they pulled Mikey free from the mutant blob's foot as he howled in pain.

"Destroy all!" Roared Mutagen Man in Donnie's face, making the scientist frown and take a step backwards in guilt. He let Mutagen Man smack him into the wall, falling against the ground in a huff of pain.

"Donnie, we have no choice." Miwa said, helping him up. "Whatever the Pulverizer, whoever Timothy was, is gone now." She looked at her brothers fighting off the mutant. "I don't like it either, but we can't let him hurt anyone else."

"But if we... Get rid of him, I might never find a retro-mutagen." Donnie argued in defeat, looking down at the staff by his feet. "What about April's dad?"

"What about April?" Leo snapped at him. "Her friends?"

Donnie looked at the ground, knowing they were right. He bit his tongue as he thought. "I need you to distract him long enough for me to get back from the Shellraiser." He stood up straight with his bō, his face sullen but his resolve strong.

"Two rules of stealth!" Miwa yelled to her brothers. "Misdirection and camouflage!"

Donnie ran at Mutagen Man, pole vaulting over him at the last second to clear him. Mutagen Man tried to run after Donnie, but by the time his hulking form had turned, the tall turtle was gone. I hope this works, Donnie thought to himself as he ran to pick up the latest chemical mixture of his failed retro-mutagen attempts.

With Donnie's quick distraction, the four other Hamato blended into the background and vanished from view.

"Bad gone?"

Miwa ran to the side of him, but when he turned, she had silently jumped up and climbed the gutter pipes. He stomped over to where she had been in the corner of his eyes, but Raph jumped down from the rooftop to slice at his legs. Mutagen Man reached for the short turtle, but he had vanished behind the dumpster.

Mikey threw a couple of shuriken at the container, just to draw his attention. He quickly scaled the fire escape before the blob had spotted him.

Miwa and Leo both came down at him from opposing sides, blades slicing at the shoulders. He kicked for Leo, but Miwa threw her weight into a kick of her own, that knocked the heavy jar of organs into the wall. When Mutagen Man stood, they were gone again.

"Over here, Mutagen Man!" Taunted Michelangelo from the rooftop, his voice echoing down the alley, making it impossible to figure where he was hidden.

Mutagen Man spotted a shadow and punched at it, but all he did was knock over a trashcan.

"No, over here!" Called Leo.

Mutagen Man swiped at the other shadow, but it was just bag of trash.

"Hey, Timothy!" Donnie returned, holding a canister of powder blue mutagen. "Mutagen!" He held it over his head. Mutagen Man stomped towards him, licking at his lips. "That's right!" Donnie nodded, coaxing him closer. "This way, come closer." He spoke slowly and sweetly, but his face couldn't help but betray his hatred of his actions.

"More mutagen!" Mutagen Man swiped the canister from the turtle's hands. He melted the opening and thrusted his lips into the thick liquid.

"No! Don't drink it, Timothy!" Donnie pleaded with him, looking away from what was about to happen.

"Donnie? What did you-" Raph started to yell, but stopped when he saw Miwa hold up her hand. Gently, she pointed at Mutagen Man, and then Raph saw what was happening to the ooze in his body.

"Donnie, something wrong!" Whined the voice box, his stringy eyes watching his legs began to crystalize in ice. He reached for Donnie, who didn't move to run, nor help.

Donnie closed his eyes as his hand almost reached him, before Timothy froze solid. "I'm sorry, Timothy."

"Wow! Awesome move, Donnie! Real scientific!" Leo held out his hand for a fist bump, but Donnie didn't look at his blue-shelled brother.

"Yeah," Donnie whimpered. "Real scientific..." He repeated. He took a step closer to the jar and placed his hand over the hate filled eyes. "Don't worry, my friend. One day, I'll cure you... For good. I promise."

"Its okay, Donnie." Raph put his arm around Donnie's shoulders. "You did what you had to do."

"Let's go home." Donnie muttered.

Sunita looked down at the cracked screen of her phone, tears streaming from her mismatched eyes. The last couple hours were a blur. She was in a lot of pain, but somehow April and Casey had found her and helped her home. When her mother and father asked what had happened, Sunita had said something about getting jumped. She couldn't remember the details of the lie, which would get her in trouble sooner or later, but she couldn't be bothered to care about that.

She replayed the video she had recorded over and over, trying to rational it.

Her brother had somehow become and monster, and hurt her without meaning too. She was saved by some random girl wearing green and black. She then was helped by four giant, monster turtle-men, and the five of them had turned her brother into ice before they kidnapped him and drug him away.

These turtles, where they the ones Timothy had talked about before going missing? They had to be. But Sunita thought they were imaginary...

It didn't matter anymore. Sunita knew they existed now, and she wasn't going to rest until she found them and freed her brother. Puddle of goo or not, she wouldn't stop looking until he was home again.

"I'm surprised you called me." Leo said, meeting April on the roof of her apartment.

Despite the vague wording, April knew what he meant by that. I'm surprised that you called me, of all people. "I couldn't count on Mikey to keep it a secret, Raph wouldn't have come, Donnie would be overly apologetic, and Miwa would be pushy."

Leo hummed, agreeing with her reasoning.

"I... Could count on you to keep this between us until..." She trailed off, looking away from the turtle.

Leo didn't ask if her "until" meant until she forgave them. "Did your friend get home okay?" He changed the subject.

April gave him a quick smile, "Yeah. She's shaken, but she'll be okay." Her eyebrows knitted together and she scrunched her face up, freckles disappearing under the sunglasses she wore. "How did you know she was my friend?"

"Based on your descriptions of your friend, Sunita, and the fact that Timothy kept calling her "sister."" Leo told her, deciding to leave out Donnie looking at her online profile.

April frowned, "That really was him?"

"Do you know any other snot-colored blob mutants running around?" Leo asked. When he could tell she was glaring, he cleared his throat. "Donnie's been keeping mutagen in the lab. He's been trying to find a way to cure mutation." He explained. "Somehow, Timothy was able to get a hold of the mutagen and had been drinking it, we don't know for how long."

"Is he okay?"

Leo sighed, upset by the turn of events. "We had to keep him from hurting people. He's currently frozen in Donnie's lab." He watched her frown deepen, her sharp teeth biting into her bottom lip. "Donnie's going to thaw him out once he finds a cure."

"If he finds one." April muttered.

"When." Leo clarified, putting his hands on his hips.

April sighed, knowing he was right. "Thanks for coming, Leo."

"Anytime." He didn't tell her that they all missed her, she already knew that.

Chapter Text

Miwa ran into the kitchen, tripping over her feet as she tried to pull on some pajama bottoms. "What's burning?" She yelled, throwing open the door and coughing from the blast of smoke.

The answer was everything.

The toaster was on fire, something was burning on the stove, oven mitts were covered in flames, and three of her four idiotic brothers were scrambling to put it all out. Donnie finally managed to get the fire extinguisher to spray, and he proceeded to cover the whole kitchen in the foam.

Miwa ducked behind the door to save herself. "What are you three morons doing?" She asked, looking at the disaster that had previously been their kitchen.

"We tried to make breakfast." Leo answered her, a lid to a pot on his head as he sat up from rolling on the floor to put out the flames on his mask tails.

"Why?" Miwa asked.

"Yeah, isn't Mikey the one who usually cooks?" Donnie asked, wiping off the foam on his fingers with a towel.

"Mikey!" Raph screamed out in hunger. "Mikey, get up!"

Mikey groaned, rolling over in his bed, covering his head with the comforter. He tried to ignore Raph's screaming, but after he started pounding on the door, Mikey had no choice but to get up. He felt awful. Had Mikey gotten sick? Did he eat too much jalapeño cappuccino pizza last night? He stumbled over to the door without bothering to put on his orange mask. He past by the rearview mirror he had set up.

Wait what?"

Mikey rushed back to the mirror, looking at the top of his head in horror and disgust. He screamed.

"I'm a mutant!" Mikey's scream came from his room, whining and cracking.

Miwa looked at her brothers, wiping off the counter with her bathrobe as she did. "Uh, is he just now realizing that?"

Mikey burst through the kitchen, sniffling and sobbing like he was five years old and needed Raph to fight the monster under his bed. "Guys! Look at me! I'm covered in turtle-zits!" He pointed to the top of his head, where five, ready-to-pop zits were sticking out of his scalp.

"Oh, gross!" Leo gagged.

Donnie recoiled backwards, like he was afraid of it being contagious.

"Talk about shell-acne!" Raph backed away from Mikey as his brother sought out comfort and protection. "You look like a green chimichanga!"

"Don't worry, Mikey." Miwa scoffed at her brother's reactions. "It's just part of being a teenager. You guys have seen me with zits."

Mikey looked a little relieved by his sister's words, and he looked at his elder brothers for validation of her nonchalance. "Have you guys ever had them?"

"Heck no." Leo was grimacing.

"Gross, no." Raph replied.

"Turtles don't get acne, Miwa." Donnie informed his sister, sliding behind the counter to stay as far away from Mikey as he could. "I don't know what that is," He thumbed at Mikey, "But it's not puberty."

Miwa's smile dropped and she unfolded her arms. "Then, how serious is this?"

Donnie looked at Leo with a curled lip, "I might need your help."

Leo fought down a gag and nodded.

With breakfast forgotten, the teenagers went to the lab. Leo secured a sample of the pus inside the zit without popping it, and handed the slide over for Donnie to look at.

Sliding the slide under the microscope, Donnie peered into it while typing notes into his laptop at the same time. After about five minutes, Donnie turned to his siblings. "Okay, Mikey. The good news is these so-called zits aren't gonna hurt you. And more importantly, they won't interfere with you making us breakfast." Donnie booped Mikey on his beak, which only made the smaller turtle frown.

"That's a relief." Mikey muttered sarcastically.

"The bad news, Donnie?" Miwa popped her hip to the side while raising an eyebrow. Breakfast was not more important than Mikey.

Donnie frowned, like his mention of breakfast was his way of trying to joke about the situation. "The bad news is they'll continue to spread all over his body."

"And then they disappear in a couple hours, right?" Mikey laughed nervously.

"No." Donnie answered. "Eventually, your entire body will mutate into one single, huge, giant, gargantuan zit!"

"No!" Mikey screamed. He ran back to his room and locked the door.

The siblings looked at each other and ran after him, trying to coax him back out.

"Mikey, come on." Leo knocked on the door with a soft, gentle voice. "It's not as bad as you think." He looked over his shoulder at Raph with a glare, "And Raph promises not to make fun of you."

"Yeah, yeah, I promise." Raph said, leaning on the door. "I won't call you Crust Muffin, or Fungus Face, or Godzitla, King of the Pus Monsters."

"Helpful, Raphael." Leo clicked.

"Get out here!" Raph pounded on the door.

"No way! Not while I'm covered in gross, slime-filled zits!"

"Technically, they're pustules filled with oil and sebum, which is even grosser than slime." Donnie corrected.

"Helpful, Donatello." Leo groaned, smacking his forehead with his palm.

"Yeah, not helping, Donnie, but thanks." Miwa pushed past all her brothers. "Mikey!" She kicked at the metal door.

"Forget it, guys! I'm too hideous to be a ninja! I'll stay locked away in here forever!" Mikey was obviously sobbing so hard it sounded like he was hyperventilating, which only worried his siblings more. "And even longer, if I have to!"

Mikey gagged when he felt something on his tongue. Slowly, he stuck it out to observe it in the mirror. He quickly slapped his hands over his mouth to choke on his sobs. It was spreading to his mouth.

Bradford swallowed down the growl that was building in his throat and knelt at the steps of the throne.

"Bradford, Xever, welcome." Fujiwara smiled. The witch was lying lazily in the marble throne, her head resting on one of the armrests while her legs were wrapped over the other.

Bradford's claws scratched into the glass floor so hard they broke through. He felt through the floor, hearing the muffled laughter of the fish bastard next to him.

"Impressionante!" Cackled Xever. "You went from stealthy ninja, to idiot man-dog!"

“How I detest this clumsy body!” Snarled Bradford as he crawled out of the pool. He fought the urge to shake the water from his fur, not wanting to stain the sanctity of his master’s chambers with his mutant filth. “What I wouldn’t give to be human again!”

“I do not have all night.” Fujiwara yawned on the throne.

“Don’t get too comfortable, Shinigami.” Said Xever with a poisonous hiss. “Shredder is the only one worthy of that throne.”

She sat up a bit, narrowing the golden eyes that seemed to never dull even in the darkest of shadows. “And he put me in charge while he’s in Japan, did he not?” She dropped the playful smile she often wore and traded it for a look one would expect for an assassin for hire. “So learn some respect, or I remove your robotic legs, and drop you in the sewer. Understood?”

Xever grumbled something in Portuguese, but didn’t object any further.

Now, listen," Fujiwara sat up right in the throne and motioned to the robotic Foot Soldiers standing at attention next to her. "I need someone to help maintain the Footbots on a daily basis. Someone who's loyalty can be bought," Her purple lips turned into a sadistic smirk, "Or forced through easy intimidation. Someone like-"

"Barren Stockman." Interrupted Xever, unimpressed with the idea of bringing back the cowardly scientist.

"Stickman?" Bradford let out a barked laugh. "That little creep tried to kill us! Who knows what he-"

"Master Shredder wants him back." Fujiwara interrupted. "He may be annoying, but he is a genius. Stockman is perfect. You think you two yokai can handle it?" She mused.

"Leave it to us... Chefe." Xever waved away her insult with a roll of his eyes. He refused to let this little brat get under his scales.

Donnie was typing away on his laptop while his siblings ate some pizza with the news on.

"Any idea what's happening to Mikey?" Leo asked.

Donnie frowned and shook his head. "I don't even know what caused it, let alone how to stop it."

"Let's ask him," Raph shrugged. "Mikey, bring your pizza face over here! We got questions!"

Mikey dropped down from where he was trying to sneak into the kitchen for some pizza, his little face red in anger. "It's not funny, Raph!"

"Okay, okay, I'll stop." Raph suppressed his giggles, wiping a tear from his face. "Come zit down." He burst out into laughter again, "Zit down! I crack myself up!"

"Raphael!" Splinter shook his head, walking over to where his children were gathered around the couch. "You should know better than to make fun of one's appearance. After all, how would the humans above react to yours?" He asked, with a frown.

Raph deflated and slumped down on the couch, "You're right, Sensei. Sorry, Mikey." He muttered, and held his arm out for Mikey to sit next to him.

Despite the teasing, Mikey immediately climbed next to Raph, leaning on his older brother's shoulder with a sad chirp. "Just kick me out, Master Splinter." Mikey whimpered. "I can't be a ninja when I look like a moldy pickle."

"And why not?" Splinter asked. "I do not like my appearance effect me."

Mikey frowned, "Yeah, but you look cool! I'm just a runt with bumpy, gross skin."

Splinter's ears flattened and he stroked his beard as he looked at his son. "Michelangelo, do you know what has caused this condition?"

Mikey tensed against Raph and he pulled away to hide in his shell. "No, I didn't do anything!"

"Mikey?" Miwa asked, standing to look at her brother hiding in his shell. "What happened?"

Mikey popped back out, "Okay, okay, I confess!" He reached into the mission pouch he had around his waist. "I, uh, kinda... I sprinkled a little... Mutagen on my skin." A pulled out a jam jar full of mutagen powder.

"What the fuck?" Miwa screamed.

"What?" Leo asked, horrified.

"Are you kidding me?" Raph snapped, shoving Mikey away from him.

"Why? Why would you do something so stupid?" Donnie demanded.

Mikey whimpered but stood to defend his thought process, "To be better!" He fought the tears in his eyes, but knew they would win sooner or later. "Stronger, bigger? I don't know... You guys treat me like nothing but the comic relief!" He watched his family's mixed reactions. Most were sadden by his words, but two were growing more and more furious with every syllable. "So I found this vial in Donnie's lab. The label says it'll make you super cool!"

"N-no!" Donnie sputtered, yanking the vial from Mikey to show him the full label. "It says you're supposed to keep it super cooled! As in temperature, which is why it was in the cooler!"

"Michelangelo." Splinter's maroon eyes were full of sorrow and anxiety for his son.

"I already have mutagen in me," Mikey went on, sniffling like a baby again. "I thought it wouldn't be so bad..."

"This was a reject batch of retromutagen, Mikey!" Donnie yelled at him, the eleven inch height difference only further solidifying Mikey's shortcomings in the young turtle's mind. "It's dangerous!"

"Well, you could have made it a little more clear!" Mikey snapped, fully crying now.

"Stop going through my lab without my permission!" Donnie shouted. "Stop touching my stuff and then this won't happen!"

"Enough yelling." Leo pulled his brothers apart while rubbing Mikey's shoulder, doing his best to avoid the painful looking bumps. "It's not going to help."

"Leo's right." Miwa said, still glaring at her youngest brother. "Donnie, now that you know the cause, can you fix it?"

Donnie didn't reply, but instead stomped off to his lab. He was muttering about people touching his things over and over as he did.

Donnie asked Leo to take some blood samples from Mikey while he transferred all the data he could into the lab's computer for a faster run of said tests. The family watched Donnie get to work in silence, each taking a break to glance at Mikey every other moment.

A purple flash on the screen made Donnie frown, "Oh, no."

"Please tell me that's a good "oh, no." Mikey pleaded.

"It's a terrible "oh, no." Donnie replied, his eyes still scanning the monitor. "According to your blood tests, the mutagen in your system is unstable. It's not pus that's in your zits, but the unstable mutagen." He finally looked at his little brother, "You only have roughly three hours until you... Well... Pop..."

"What... What happens then?" Mikey whimpered, hugging Raph's arm for safety.

"I'm not sure." Donnie admitted slowly. "The mutagen will have completely left your system at that point." He turned back to the computer as his voice cracked, seeking solace in the facts instead of his feelings. "The good option would be you would revert back to a regular turtle."

"That's the good option?" Leo asked.

"Do we even wanna know what the bad option is?" Miwa asked, squeezing Mikey's shoulder carefully.

"He dies." Donnie's resolve broke and a tear slipped from his maroon eyes, underneath his mask, and rolled down his wasabi colored cheek. He quickly cleared his throat and wiped his face with the back of his scarred hands. "But now that I know what caused this, I think I can engineer an antidote from the samples."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Mikey bounced over to his brother and threw his arms around him. "I love you, man!" Donnie tensed at the contact, which made Mikey quickly pull back. "Sorry."

Donnie shrugged it off, "Its fine."

"You must start right away, Donatello." Splinter said. He had been so quiet, the siblings had almost forgotten that he had been there. "Let us know how we can help you."

Donnie pursed his lips and stood up to examine his desk from afar. "I'm just missing one key instrument, though." He told them. "A molecular centrifuge to mix the solution."

"Don't you already have one?" Raph asked, gesturing vaguely at Donnie's toy shelf of science junk.

"That one's too big, it wouldn't work." Donnie told him.

"No problem! Money is no object!" Mikey declared. He rushed to his sister, "Mimi, can I borrow some cash?"

Miwa rolled her eyes and went to reply, but Donnie interrupted.

"The only place I've ever seen a molecular centrifuge was at TCRI."

"But we blew that place up when we took down the Kraang." Raph reminded him. "What could be left?" He asked, folding his arms.

Donnie sighed and looked at the increasing number of mutagen zits on his younger brother. "We don't have a choice, we gotta look."

Bradford was disgusted as he inhaled another breath of one of Stockman's shirts he had stolen from the scientist's old quarters in Master Shredder's mansion. He shoved the pink shirt back into his pocket and went back to trying to find the scent in the air. He hadn't realized he had been on all fours until he past by a shop's window and caught his reflection.

"Ugh," He growled to himself in hatred. "Look at you. You were once a feared warrior. Now you're a common mutt, hunting squirrels like Stockman and taking orders from an overzealous, stuck-up brat." He looked down at his massive paw, the one that was twice the size of his right. "Stockman... Maybe he could actually help me..."

Fate must've finally accepted Bradford back into her good graces, because he finally got a whiff of the scientist's floral, cinnamon-y scent.

"Gotcha!" Bradford smiled a genuine smile for the first time in months. He got back down on all fours, knowing this clunky body moved better this way. Only for a while longer. He told himself as he bounded towards the scent.

Towards the ruins of TCRI.

Inside the ruins of TCRI looked like the ending of an alien invasion movie. Burnt remains of Kraangdroids littered the floors, black scorch marks reached the ceilings, and every lightbulb had exploded from the high heat of the flames that took down the upper floors.

"You guys did a number on this place." Miwa commented with a wolf whistle, thankful she was wearing shoes, unlike her brothers.

"Everybody spread out and start looking." Donnie said once they reached the room Donnie had designated as the room that had previously held the centrifuge.

Miwa and Leo took to examining what was left of the upper floor. Mostly, they were just there in case one accidentally stepped somewhere that would fall out from under them. Donnie looked in the general vicinity that he had briefly spotted the centrifuge. Raph and Mikey took to searching the middle of the room, kicking through the broken Kraang parts to find something similar to what they were looking for.

Mikey grabbed the first cylinder shaped thing he found and ran over to Donnie. "Is this the centri-fudge?"

"Centrifuge," Donnie corrected and looked over his shoulder. "No, that's a beaker." He went back to carefully moving the broken technology around him, praying that their only hope wasn't broken beyond a quick repair.

Mikey was back within seconds, holding another item in his hand, "Is this the center-fudge?"

"That's a microscope." Donnie crackled. Two seconds later, Mikey was back to standing in front of him, bouncing on his toes while waving something in front of Donnie's face.

"Is this a centi-fudge?"

Donnie looked up and nearly slapped Mikey for what he had brought over. "That's the same beaker! Oh, we're never gonna find it!" Donnie whined, hiding his face in his hands. "This place is-"

"Shh..." The hushed noise from their sister was enough to make them still.

"Listen," Leo whispered, "You hear that?"

"Yes! Yes! Perfect!"

The ninja quickly hid in the shadows as the owner of the voice came into view. "Bioenhancers, DNA catalysts! Soon, I'll be able to create my own mutant army! Powerful, unstoppable-"

"Dorkster Blockhead?" Miwa laughed, falling gracefully from the second floor to loom behind the oblivious scientist.

He dropped the Kraang head he was holding when she spoke. "It's Baxter Stockman!" He turned and when he saw them, he let out a high pitched gasp. "Tsumiki Kazuko?" His eyes squinted as he observed the shadows moving behind her. "Turtles?" As the turtles closed in, he jumped to his feet, hugging the cardboard box full of Kraang goodies to his chest. "Here? Now?"

Donnie caught sight of something inside the box. "He's got the centrifuge!" He shouted. Putting on his angriest face and using his height to his advantage, he cornered the scientist and held up a fist like he had seen Raph and Miwa do so many times. "Hand it over, Storkman!"

"Stockman!" Corrected the scientist. He dropped the box and cradled the centrifuge in his arms like an infant, "And no! I found it first!" He straightened up, only standing two inches shorter than Donatello, "MOUSERS! Attack!"

Two dozen Mousers came flooding through the broken wall and charged the teens.

"Ahhh!" Mikey screamed. "Don't let 'em pop me!" His elder siblings quickly surrounded Mikey in a tight circle, keeping him tucked in the middle.

Leo sliced several in half as Donnie decapitated several more. Raph stabbed two with each sai and used their limp robotic forms to beat down more that came at him. Miwa threw her tessen, aiming it to take out half of their robotic foes with one hand, while holding her wakizashi out to shield her brother with the blade.

"Move!" Leo shouted, throwing himself into his siblings, knocking them all down, apart from Mikey. Luckily, the youngest turtle noticed what he had and moved out of the way as rubble rained down from the roof. Along with what was previously the ceiling, fell a ten foot Akita mutant, who flattened the remaining Mousers as he landed.

"Dogpound?" Whimpered Stockman at the sight of the beast.

"Well, if it isn't weaselly little Stickman!" Grinned the mutant dog.

"Back off, Dogpound." Leo was able to get to his feet the fastest. "We found him first." He said, raising his ninjatō threateningly.

"Stickman, Hamato, and the Turtles?" Dogpound's laugh sounded like a mix between a chuckle and a bark. "And I thought I was having a bad day!"

Stockman watched the four turtles and the teenage girl fight with Dogpound. Slowly, he started to tiptoe backwards. Time for Baxter Stockman, super villain, to make his narrow escape. He thought to himself, victoriously.

Dogpound's large left paw grabbed Miwa around the waist and he threw her like a baseball at her brothers.

Mikey ran after Stockman, "He's got the centri-fudge!" He raised his nunchuck, preparing the use them to trip or knock out the scientist, but Dogpound leapt for the exit.

"No." Stockman's fearful whisper was barely audible as the dog mutant towered over him. All the blood drained from his face, leaving his rich, dark skin an ashy color.

"You're coming with me." Dogpound snarled. He grabbed the scientist by the side and easily lifted him up to trap him under his arm like a football.

"No, no! Please!" Stockman pleaded. "I'm extremely fragile!"

"Throw me the centri-fudge!" Mikey yelled at Stockman, jumping up to grab his salvation like a child begging for a toy being held above their head.

Dogpound barely looked at Michelangelo, his mind too focused on his true goal. He swung his tail into an already crumbling beam as he fled the room.

Mikey tried to run after them, but was pulled back by Leo before the roof collapsed on him.

The siblings regrouped back in the lair, trying to figure out what to do next.

"I can't believe that mutt beat us!" Raph shouted, punching at a training dummy. "I want a rematch!"

"I'm pissed too, but we need to focus on Mikey." Miwa replied, watching Mikey pace in front of the television. The zits had spread to his shell and plastron now, and the older ones were swelling up so much that you could see the mutagen inside them.

"Right," Leo said. "We gotta get that centrifuge to cure him."

"They're getting more unstable." Donnie looked away from his little brother. "If any of them get popped, they could cause a chain reaction."

"What?" Mikey welled up with tears again. "So I pop either way?"

"Nothing's going to happen." Miwa put her hand on his shoulder. "We just gotta keep you safe, which means you can't leave the lair again. It's too dangerous."

Mikey whimpered and sniffed back a sob. "But I never got to visit a wax museum, or learn Pig Latin, or open a mummy's tomb where the mummy comes alive, but he's so cool we form a hip-hop ground and travel around the world together in a gold UFO!" Mikey whined and hid his face in his hands. "I wanna do that!"

"Right..." Raph sighed. "Listen, Mikey, we're gonna get that centrifuge. We'll do whatever it takes to fix you."

"Wow, Raph! Thanks!" Mikey went to hug him, but Raph held his hand up to stop him.

"Dude, don't pop yourself on me." Raph said, seriously.

"Okay, let's think." Miwa turned to Leo, Raph, and Donnie. "Dogpound and Boxcar. Where could they be?"

"The old city dump?" Leo suggested.

"Nah, they turned it into a retirement home." Miwa replied. "The abandoned nuclear plant?"

"Now it's a nursery school." Donnie answered.

"What about Batter's old lab?" Mikey bounced on his toes, waving his hand in the air like a student waiting to be called on in school.

Raph scoffed at the suggestion, like it was the dumbest thing he had ever heard. "Why would Dogpound capture Dexter and take him to his old lab? It makes no sense!"

Mikey's face turned sour and he stomped his foot in anger. "See? You guys never take me seriously!"

Leo frowned, "Maybe we-"

"It was a good idea, Mikey." Miwa said, dismissing their youngest brother. "But not even that fleabag would be dumb enough to take him somewhere so obvious."

"We could try Bradford's Dojo." Raph said.

"That's a possibility." Donnie nodded.

"Maybe they went back to TCRI?" Leo added.

"Why would they go back there? It doesn't make any sense." Raph laughed sarcastically. "Leo, don't fill in for Mikey just because he's benched."

Mikey turned and walked out of the lair without even bothering to sneak out. They wouldn't notice, they were too busy being better than him. But Mikey couldn't wait. He had a hunch, and he knew it would waste his time trying to argue with them.

Fine. If you guys aren't gonna listen to me, I'm not waiting around to explode.

Bradford let out a barked scoff, "So, a giant tank of mutagen, eh? Planning on making some mutants?" He asked.

"Uh, yes." Stockman answered as they made their way to the computer set up. "A whole army for us to command! Just me and you!"

Bradford growled at him, making the scientist understand that he did not believe the bullshit he was spewing.

"Anyway," Stockman cleared his throat. "Now, not that I'm complaining, but why are you keeping me alive?"

"Shinigami and Master Shredder want it this way." Bradford answered. He trapped Stockman between himself and a wall, "Believe me, I still owe you big-time for trapping us in your little Maze of Doom."

"So, you've beaten me to the punch and found Stockman, sim?" Asked Xever, walking in on the scene.

"How did you find us?" Asked Bradford.

"Figured this would be the most likely place for the coward to hide." Answered the fish. "Why haven't you taken this traitorous lump of flesh to Shinigami?"

"I will, after he turns me human again." 

Xever let out a choked gasp, his yellow eyes widening. "What? You can turn us human again?" He demanded, snapping his jaws at the scientist still pressed against the wall.

"Uh, yes. Yes, of course!" Stockman wiggled past the two mutants. "My intellect knows no bounds!" He chuckled awkwardly, "None." He added, trying to convince himself.

"Good." Bradford narrowed his eyes. "First order of business..." He nodded to Xever, who smirked.

Xever pulled out a collar bomb and strapped it around the scientist's neck as Bradford held him in place. His sharp claw hit the button that activated the lock mechanism.

"Is this... Mutagen?" Stockman whimpered, his eyes fixated on the two cyan cylinders that his eyes could see in his peripheral vision.

"I call it Insurance." Replied Bradford with a low growl. "Double-cross us again, and boom!"

"We get to see what you turn into." Continued Xever with a sadistic cackle.

Bradford laughed, "Some kind of lowly bug I bet."

"Some kind of lowly bug I bet."

Mikey knew he would be right. Of course Dogpound would bring him here, it has all the science-y stuff! He knew that Dexter would be here, hatching a plan, and wearing a dog collar! Okay, well, maybe not the dog collar part.

From where he was hiding on the second floor, he could see the center-fudge being used by Stockboy. He unsheathed the hidden blade in his nunchuck handle and slowly began to lower the chain down to the centerfugie.

"If you're going to make him human, then I want to be a man as well." Said Fishface. "I want to live as a man, love as a man, not as a fish. Do you hear?"

Before Mikey could pull up the chain, Dogpound grabbed it and pulled him down. Mikey quickly flipped himself to land on his feet. If he landed on his shell, he'd pop. He heard the disgusted gasps of the villains at his appearance, which gave him an idea.

"Don't touch me!" Mikey warned, faking a cough into his elbow. "I'm highly contagious! I got the mutant plague! See?" He showed off the mutagen filled zits. "So, how about I take that gadget and get out of your fur?" He backed around the corner of the desk and reached for the centi-figi.

Dogpound slammed his fist in front of Mikey, inches from breaking every bone in his hand. "I'd rather you stay." He laughed, "And people think I'm ugly!" He looked at Fishface, "Watch, Stickman. I'm gonna tear this turtle apart myself."

Mikey jumped backwards as Dogpound swung his heavy fist down at his shell. Mikey jumped off the wall and swung his nunchuck at the dog, but his fist uppercutted Mikey back into the rafters. Mikey landed awkwardly on his hands and knees, "Come down, zits!" He pleaded, feeling them stir from where they had burst through his shell.

Dogpound climbed up and joined the turtle in the rotting old wooden rafters.

"Easy, D-Pound!" Mikey pulled out his nunchucks more as a warning than anything else. Dogpound ignored his words and ran at him. Mikey slapped away his paw with the handle and then boosted himself over the dog mutant. Dogpound's tail took out a beam as he tried to turn in the enclosed space, and he charged at the small turtle again. He slammed his paw down on the wooden plank that Mikey was previously standing on, and it splintered and fell down to the floor below.

"Hey, pretty boy!" Yelled Fishface. "Don't take out the whole ceiling!"

Dogpound broke through the rafters holding up both mutants, and they both started to fall.

Mikey caught himself with his kusarigama chain, and Dogpound dug his claws into Mikey's leg. Mikey yelled out in pain and looked down at the dog mutant, whose scarlet eyes were wide with fear. That's when Mikey realized they were hanging above the large vat of mutagen. The wooden plank Mikey's blade was stuck in was starting to give way. Mikey screamed and swatted at Dogpound's paw with his nunchuck. Each hit only made the blood trail on his leg longer and longer, but eventually there was no more flesh to sink into.

Dogpound let out the more animalistic howl that Mikey had ever heard as he fell into the vat. Kicking, screaming, sinking slowly, Dogpound vanished beneath the bubbling ooze.

Mikey climbed up the chain until he was safely in the rafters again. He jumped back down and ran to grab the centri-fudge while Saxter and Fishface were distracted with watching Dogpound's shape morph inside the liquid.

By the time the solution was finished, Mikey barely had a face anymore. Donnie barely had time to pour the solution onto the acne pads before Mikey began to quickly dab at his zits.

"Did you have to put the antidote on those?" Leo asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"No," Donnie answered with a smile of his own. "But it's funny!"

When he was done, the only marks that remained were pale scar looking markings on Mikey's shell. But he didn't seem to mind, Mikey was back to his energetic self. He was bouncing all over the lab in joy, hugging everyone in sight. "Oh, yeah! I'm super cute again! You're the best, Dee!"

"I must commend you on your resolve, Michelangelo." Splinter smiled at his son's regular appearance, stroking his head as the turtle nuzzled into his robe. "You thought you needed to improve yourself, but you had everything you already needed inside. In here." He poked Mikey on his plastron, over where his heart would be.

Mikey turned to his siblings with a smug smirk, "See, guys? Who was right about Boxman's hideout? Huh? Me! Yup! You had no clue!"

"Lucky guess." Miwa rolled her eyes. "But, you were right."

"Yeah, sorry we didn't listen." Raph trapped Mikey's head under his arm. "Guess you're not always talkin' out your shell."

"Stockman! Welcome back." Smiled Shinigami as Stockman was forced on his knees in front of her. "I see you got Master Shredder's present." She giggled, watching him scratch his neck gently around the collar.

"I-I think there's been a misunderstanding!" Stockman stuttered. "I-I was going to make mutants for Shredder! I promise! This seems a little unnecessary!"

She shrugged, "Then take it up with the Master. I am sure he is open to your constructive criticism." She giggled again when his whole body convulsed in a shiver. Lifting her eyes, she took in the sight of the new mutant in front of her. "Bradford! You have certainly lost some weight since yesterday." She expected him to growl at her, but instead, his jaws formed a smile.

"I feel the mutagen coursing through me." He said, his voice still the deep, growling baritone it had been before he took another swim in mutagen. "I'm faster, stronger, more powerful than ever! I feel like a ninja again!"

"I am happy for you." Shini hummed, making him narrow his orangish-yellow eyes.

He had grown about another foot or so, and his body was long and lanky, but anyone could tell that he had only gotten stronger. He was also made of bone in some places now, looking like a skeletal wolf. His golden akita fur had darkened to a silverish-black color. He had a longer snout, larger teeth, and and every bit of him that was bone looked razor sharp. Especially his paws, that were completely bone.

Chapter Text

April played with the eyebrow ring in the mirror. She liked it, but she was starting to wonder if she should've gone with silver instead of gold.

"Red, if you keep messing with it, it's going to become irritated." Casey said, his steady hands placing the stud on Sunita's golden nostril piercing.

"Right." April said, and put her gloved hand down. Knowing her body, the piercing was already on its way to healing completely. She probably wouldn't need to wait before changing them. She looked over at Irma, trying to ignore the fact she tensed when the golden chain that connected the new upper lobe earring to the piercing she has had for years now, brushed against her ear.

"I'm impressed, Jones." Irma smiled, admiring the sliver canine bite piercings that bordered the top and bottom of the corners of her lips. "I had no idea you had such a steady hand for piercings."

Casey shrugged, gathering up the soiled needles inside a plastic box before he tossed it in the trash. "I used to help my mamá at her shop." He said, throwing off the gloves he wore.

"She let an eight year old help in a piercing and tattoo parlor?" Sunita asked, bringing up the age Casey was before his mom moved back to Puerto Rico.

"Okay, so I watched." He laughed. "So what? I did an awesome job for no cost!"

"I dunno about that." Irma smiled mischievously. "They seem a little crooked."

"Oh no, my feelings, Irma!" Casey acted like she had shot him in the chest before laughing again. "You've never had a better piercer dude!"

Irma laughed and punched him in the arm before helping him sit up from where he had slumped against her couch. Irma had more piercings than the other three teenager's combined. She had two nostril piercings on each side, two high nostril pricing on each side, a double eyebrow stud on her left eyebrow, and at least five in each ear. "I guess I can give you a little credit, Jones."

April laughed and rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. April was glad she had taken the night off from searching for her dad. She enjoyed spending time with her friends, they made her feel like a normal teenage girl. But she couldn't help but notice that she'd be enjoying herself a lot more if her other friends were here as well.

As Shini walked with two Footbots into the Kraang facility, her mind was still reeling from her prior conversation with her Master.

Kneeling on the glass floor of the  cathedral, she could feel her Master's eyes burning into her, despite him appearing on a hologram. "So, Fujiwara, not only do you disobey my orders in my absence, your petty scheme failed miserably."

She would've cursed aloud if he was unable to hear her. She knew it was Bradford that ratted her out. "It was those stupid Footbots." She argued back, keeping her eyes on the floor. "They could not keep up with the Hamato. But one good thing, Master: the Kraang have been upgrading them. So-"

"Hear me, Fujiwara." He raised his voice ever so slightly, but it was enough to make the sixteen year old push herself further against the cold floor. "I have only one job for you until I return. The Kraang have designed me a new Foot Soldier. You are to test it, but you are not to make anymore moves against the Hamato."

"Understood, Master."

"You will wait for my command. Do not defy me again." He went on. "The consequences would be... Unfortunate."

Shini had no way of knowing what he meant by that, but whatever it was made her skin crawl. Her family's service to the Foot Clan of old had gotten her this far, but she had pushed too hard. If she wasn't careful, she'd end up dead. Or worse, her family would be punished.

She stopped at the floating platform that held the new soldier design, and floating orbs formed into stairs for her to climb. Waiting for her was an impressive robotic design, she'd give the Kraang that.

The robot was about 198cm high, and looked as if it had been modeled after Bradford, before he was a mutant. It was even cladded in the red ninja suit that Bradford had previously worn before he outgrew them.

"Not bad." She commented and looked over at the Kraangdroid standing next to her. "How soon until it's online?" She asked.

"By Kraang's calculations, twenty-four Earth hour-units before-"

"Twenty four hours?" She hummed. "Very well, I shall return to test it tomorrow night."

Kraang feels Kraang must inform the one known as Shinigami that the new robot design that was ordered by the one known as Shredder has not been programed to that which is known as properly."

Shini raised an eyebrow while she crossed her arms.

"Kraang sees no foreseeable problem, one known as Shinigami." The robot said after a couple twiddles of the robotic chatter.

"Good." She said, turning to leave. "You do not want to keep the Shredder waiting, now do you?"

April tensed when she felt something off on her way home from Irma's. Part of her wanted to ignore it, knowing that it wasn't the same feeling she got when she was close to her father, but found herself running in the direction anyway. By the time she found it, she had already been spotted.

Miwa looked up, shocked to see April standing in the same alley as her. "Oh, hey." She said and pulled her tessen free from the robotic skull of the Kraang robot she had been fighting. She kicked the limp body over to a pile of several other Kraangdroids that had also been attacking her. "Did your friend get home okay?" She asked.

April nodded. She was talking about Sunita, which meant Leo really hadn't said anything to his siblings about their little meet up. "She did."

"That's good." Miwa replied. "Uh, how have you been?"

"The usual." April responded, rubbing at her temples. "Headaches, body aches, strangeness."

Miwa chuckled a bit but caught herself and played it off as a cough. She was unsure of April would appreciate her laughter. "I, uh, dig the new piercings."

April's eye brows raised, almost like she had forgotten about them. "Oh, thanks."

They sat in silence for a moment before a shadow moved in front of the moon. April tensed and reached for her tanto, but Miwa looked up. It was just Donnie on the rooftops.

"Miwa, we found two more mutagen can-" Donnie paused when he spotted April in the light alleyway. "April?"

"Hey, Donnie." She gave him a weak smile. It almost immediately vanished when she saw his own smile, wider and more genuine then her's.

"Does this mean-"

"I gotta go." April interrupted. She walked as fast as she could around the block before either sibling could stop her.

"April?" She heard Donnie call after her, but she kept walking. "Some things are just beyond our control."

April was ready to call them, talk to them... But she was just too tired tonight. She hadn't slept in about a week and it was finally starting to catch up to her.

"Donnie, give her space." She heard Miwa say.

April had meant to call them the moment she knew they'd be awake in the afternoon. She had turned back on her tPhone and had gone to dial one of them, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She tried to think of what to say, but her thoughts kept getting jumbled together. She decided to head over to the lair and think about what to say on the way, but halfway there, she stopped and sat down on the sidewalk. "Ugh!" She groaned aloud. Why was talking about her feelings so hard? 

"You good there, Red?"

April startled and grabbed for her tanto. She jumped to her feet and moved to unsheathe her weapon, but that's when she recognized the wide brown eyes, lopsided grin, and messy black hair. "Casey! You scared me."

"I can see that!" He laughed.

She sighed and let go of the hilt of her sword.

"So, is hangin' out with ya always gonna be so crazy?" He asked, raising his pierced eyebrow that she now matched.

"You have no idea." April responded with a grimace.

Casey, noticing her hesitation put on a bigger smile. "Sounds fun. You headin' somewhere?"

April hummed and looked at her tPhone. Not until I know what to say, she decided. "I got time, if that's what your asking." She gave a closed mouth smile. She had caught Casey looking at her teeth before. He said it was cool, but she hated them.

"Wanna come with me to the ice rink?" He asked, getting off his bike. "I'm gonna practice a bit before the game on Friday."

"It's Sunday, Jones." April pointed out.

"Gotta be at the top of my game." He responded. "So, you down?"

"Sure." April shrugged.

"Sweet." He looked her up and down. "So, we close enough for you to tell me about that crazy sword you almost took my head off with?"

April laughed. "Not yet, Jones."

"Bummer." He shrugged his shoulders.

Miwa sighed and leaned against Leo as Mikey turned on an episode of Super Robo Mecha Force Five. She couldn't believe all four of her brothers liked this stupid show, but at least they weren't bickering and she could somewhat make sense of the poor English translations. "You gotta loop it over middle strand." She told Leo without looking away from the tv.

Leo held a small section of the longer part of her hair in his hands, having asked her to show him how to braid hair. "Then just keep repeating?" He asked.

"Mmh hmm." She responded.

"Shh!" Mikey shushed them. He threw some popcorn into the air so he could catch it with his mouth, but Raph snatched the popcorn before it fell and popped it into his own mouth.

The episode opened on the Force fighting a giant octopus like creature, only with ten tentacles.

"Unleash Mighty Super Robo Mech Laser Force Energy Blast, now!" Ordered Captain Dash Coolstar, the main character and pilot of the Mecha's torso.

The giant V-shaped laser on the robot shot out a red beam that vaporized the octopus creature. The four other characters began to celebrate the defeat of the villain, but the only girl character, who was only known as Princess huffed and folded her arms with a pout.

"Why not laughter and merriment, Princess, eh?" Asked Dr. Blip, the nerdy character.

"You have all forgotten my glorious royal birthday, Dr. Blip!" Answered the Princess. After a dramatic reaction from the four other characters, the Princess kept talking. "I am hurt beyond all recognition! I never want to speak to you again!"

The left leg of the robot shot off into the space, the part of the robot that the Princess piloted.

"Princess!" Yelled Dr. Blip, as if she could hear him.

"Woah, dude." Mikey said, looking over at Donnie. "This show, like, totally paradoxes your relationship with April." He snickered while poking fun at his brother's crush on April. "Kinda owe in the corazon." He smiled as if he said something profound, "That means heart in Spanish."

"It's parallels, and it does not!" Donnie turned red. "It's just a cartoon."

Leo finished the braid and tied it off with a rubber band, "Besides, the Princess has quit the team like, twenty-seven times. She always comes back."

"Look, I think we should face reality." Raph said with a slight frown. "It's been over a month. April's gone for good. We'll probably never see her again."

"But, she said she'd talk to us soon?" Donnie said, confused.

"Yeah, that's what you say when you don't wanna see someone ever again." Raph rolled his eyes.

"I dunno, Raph." Miwa said. "She didn't seem... Mad anymore?"

"I don't like it either, but I-"

"I'll be in my lab..." Donnie frowned and shuffled away from the tv. He was tired of Mikey shooting him looks every time Princess Zee and Dr. Blip interacted in Super Robo Mecha Force Five. He was so lost in thought, he almost missed the Kraang's Communication Orb going off on his desk. "The Communicator!" Donnie ran over to it and started hooking it up to his computer. "How long has it been going off?" He asked aloud, though he didn't expect a response. After the first sentence, he yelled for his siblings to come look at what was being translated.

Ten minutes later, Donnie was reading off the translated notes from the orb while they sped down the streets in the Shellraiser. "From what I could translate from the orb, it seems the Kraang are building some kind of advanced heavy weaponry."

"Any guess what it could be?" Miwa asked.

"Ooh!" Mikey raised his hand. "Lasers disguised as burritos! Yes! It all makes sense now."

"It does make sense." Raph agreed, turning in his seat to smile at his little brother. "If you had the brain of an avocado!"

Mikey frowned and blew a raspberry at Raph, who responded by poking Mikey on the bridge of his nose. Mikey snarled and rose to his feet to attack Raph.

"All right, guys, stay focused!" Leo lectured from the front seat.

"Right, the plan is simple." Miwa said, rubbing her temples from exhaustion of the bickering already starting. "We find the weapon, we destroy it. And then we get Mexican."

"Mexican?" Leo asked, looking back at her.

She shrugged, "I want burritos now."

Shini watched the robot quickly adapt to both Bradford and Xever's fighting. So far, neither had been able to land a hit on the robot, but it had. It was amusing to watch it tear through them easily, but she quickly grew bored.

"All right." She stood from the platform she was sitting on. "That is enough."

The robot stopped attacking and awaited for a new command.

"It functions well enough." She looked at the Kraangdroid that had been watching next to her. "The program seems fine."

"The robot that is the Dark Suit Robot designed for the Shredder functions at one hundred percent. But the programming has what is known as bugs." It explained.

"Bugs?" Shini asked.

"The robot that is the Dark Suit Robot was originally designed for Kraang. Kraang is having the hard time in removing default Kraang programming."

All Shini heard was that the robot wasn't working the way Shredder wanted, and he'd be back from Japan in a few weeks. It had to be done by then. "What is the problem?" She asked, huffing.

"Program is designed to capture the one that is April O'Neil." Answered the Kraang. The robot's head then snapped to the side, looking at the Dark Suit Robot. "Kraang has made an error."

The Dark Suit Robot began to shake violently, and Shini braced herself for it to explode. Instead, the robot looked up at the ceiling, "System override. Do not destroy Hamato. Capture April O'Neil for the Kraang."

"What?" Shini barely had time to gasp before the robot's feet turned into jets and the robot flew through the ceiling. She cast a simple shield spell over herself to protect herself from the debris. "What was that?" She demanded the Kraangdroid, broken on the floor from the falling rubble.

"Kraang warned the one that is Shinigami. System programming has what is known as bugs."

Shini snarled and swiped her crescent blade down with her chain, splitting the Kraang squid in half inside the robot's chest. "You two!" She looked down at the bruised and beaten mutants on the floor below her, "After it!" She demanded.

"Your little toy just beat us to a pulp!" Argued Bradford with a vicious bark.

"Surely the Shredder's right hand can handle what we could not?" Xever smirked at her.

"役に立たない愚か者!" She cursed as she left to follow the robot.

April and Casey were completely alone in the ice rink, which let Casey have free run of the place. April watched him from the bleachers, impressed by how many times he was able to make a goal, or whatever the hockey term was. She had no idea how well he played against other players, but April thought he was good.

Casey skated over the divider April sat by, leaning on the wall that would've normally had glass up to protect the bleachers from flyaway hockey pucks. "How'm I lookin'?" He asked.

"Shooting straight." April replied.

Casey chuckled, which made her pout. "You don't know much about sports, do 'ya?" He asked.

"Is it that obvious?" She asked, feeling herself flush.

"Don't worry, Red. The infamous Casey Jones will teach ya some time."

April laughed at the infamous comment.

Casey eyed her up and down before he raised an eyebrow. "So, what's your deal?" He asked. "Never see you hanging out with anybody but Irma and Sunita. Antisocial much?"

April frowned and shook her head, avoiding his chocolate gaze. "Not really." She said. Thanks for bringing up what I wanted to avoid, Casey. She thought. "I... I had five really close friends but I messed up. We don't talk anymore."

Casey's usual grin faded to the most serious expression April had ever seen on the sixteen year old's face. "Look at us in the same boat." Casey chuckled dryly. He skated back out to the middle of the rink to start making trick shots with the pucks again. "Me and my best friend, Nick, were against Tromatown in the playoffs, right? He came up behind me just as I was about to sink the winning goal, and wham!" Casey threw himself onto his back so hard that April was afraid he broke something. Just as she moved to try and get onto the ice to help him, he got back to his feet and skated back towards her like nothing had happened. "I smacked his helmet straight off with my lucky twig. Swollen face, split lip, black eye. My best friend since second grade suddenly hated my guts. Hasn't spoken to me since."

April frowned at the genuine pain on his face. "But, it's not like you meant it."

"Right." Casey shrugged. "Some things are just outta our control, y'know? I thought if I let him beat the shit outta me, then that'd fix things. It didn't. All that did was get us both in trouble."

Now he was just beating a dead horse that he didn't even know existed.

Casey's bright smile returned and he got off the ice. "Give me a sec to grab my gear. I'll walk ya wherever you're goin'."

April tensed, confused on how he already knew what she was thinking.

"What?" Casey asked, looking at her with an amused smile. "You said you had time before goin somewhere, right? I'm more than a handsome face, Red." He laughed.

April rolled her eyes at his comment. She opened her mouth to call after him with something sarcastic, but the noise died in her throat when she felt something off. She dived under the bleachers just before something crashed through the ceiling.

It was a tall man in a red ninja getup with black spiky armor. He was easily thrice April's weight, and it looked to be all pure muscle.

"A Foot Soldier?" April asked, unsheathing her tanto from the magnetized holder Donnie had made her. He ran at her, but the next thing that happened shocked April more than the Foot soldier.

Suddenly, Shinigami appeared from a cloud of purple smoke and caught the glowing purple blade that the soldier aimed at April with her kusarigama chain. "やめて!" Yelled the witch at the soldier.

The soldier's head tilted to the side, and April watched it's white eyes turn red for a split second. "Threat detected. Eliminate threat and capture April O'Neil for the Kraang." The robot pulled out a glowing purple whip and slashed it at the witch. The whip cut through the chain and slashed the witch across her shoulder, making her scream. It punched her hard in the stomach, and she went flying into the bleachers before it looked back at April.

April jumped over the divider and pushed herself out to the middle of the ice to avoid the whip that reached for her.

The robot followed after her. It struggled for a second on the ice before it made a chitter that sounded like a Kraangdroid. Then it stood up straight and started skating after April as easily as Casey could.

"Yo!"

April struggled to her feet, shocked that she had forgotten about Casey's presence.

"If there's one thing Casey Jones has, it's crackerjack timing!" Casey leapt onto the ice, his hockey stick in one hand and a bag of hockey pucks in the other.

"Casey! Run!" April yelled at him.

"What, so you get all the fun?" Casey responded with a smirk. He fired one of the hockey pucks at the robot, and it hit it straight in the helmet. "I got him! You go!" Casey yelled at her.

The robot got back up and turned to Casey with glowing red eyes. "Threat detected. Eliminate threat and capture April O'Neil for the Kraang." It repeated.

April slid on her back to wrap her legs around the robot's. She twisted her hips as hard as she could, but she knew it wouldn't bring the robot down. Instead, as it looked at her, she stabbed at it with her tanto, pinning it's foot to the ice. "No, I got it! You go!" April barely had time to shakily get back to her feet before the robot removed her blade and tossed it to the side. It aimed the whip at her again, but something wrapped around her waist, pinning her arms before she had the chance to react.

Shinigami easily pulled April free from the robot's whip with her kusarigama. April flew through the air as Shinigami pulled her off the ice and into the bleachers.

April groaned as her spine hit the wooden seats. She looked up and saw Shinigami smiling at her.

"For a silly bird, you do not fly gracefully." She smirked.

April opened her mouth to retort something vemonous, but the witch cut her off by throwing April her tanto while undoing April's bindings.

"Go. It was not supposed to attack tonight." Said Shinigami, her eyes becoming serious once more as she watched the boy with the hockey gear avoid her Master's deadly robot with some noticeably good moves. "I must subdue it and bring it in."

April stood as she watched Shinigami practically float through the air towards the robot. She expected the witch to turn on her at any second, but after she watched her genuinely duel the robot, April understood that the witch was telling the truth. "Casey, we have to run!" April shouted.

"What about your friend?" Casey asked, getting up from where he had tackled the robot into the net.

"She's not my friend!" April yelled. "But she is helping!"

"I can't just-" Casey was cut off by purple smoke surrounding his body. He was lifted off the ice and flung towards the exit by Shinigami's magic.

April ran over to Casey and found him unconscious, but breathing. She looked back at the witch struggling with the robot and sighed. She did her best to heave Casey across her back, holding his shoulders over her own, leaving his arms dangling around her waist limply. She couldn't exactly run, but she hobbled out of the ice rink as fast as she could. However, she barely made it a block before she couldn't carry his weight anymore.

Carefully, April laid Casey against the wall of a shut down business. She didn't want to leave him, this was New York after all, he could get robbed or worse. But she couldn't stay and nurse him awake either. "Sorry, Casey." April whispered, hating seeing him hurt for defending her. Again.

Pulling out her tPhone, April dialed the first Hamato in her contacts as she heard the echos of an explosion coming from behind her.

The Kraang only had three guards outside of the warehouse they were using as a new facility. Probably because a lot of them died when the Technodrome crashed into the ocean. Or when they blew up TCRI.

"There's our entry point." Miwa said from across the street, pointing at the east side of the building. "We just need a distraction."

"Dude, I got the best plan!" Mikey said, waving his arm in the air.

Raph moved to make a joke at Mikey's expense, but was silenced by Leo nudging him in the side. After the whole wanting to double mutated himself so that they'd take him seriously thing, the siblings all promised to at least hear their little brother out before deciding on what to do next.

Mikey jumped up to a light that was aimed at a billboard, and pulled it down easily with his combined weight and strength. He bent the metal down just enough that he could stand in front of it and cast a shadow on the ground in front of the Kraang's warehouse.

"Why do I feel slightly nauseated?" Raph asked Leo, who elbowed him again in turn. Raph replied by smacking the back of Leo's head.

"Check it out!" Mikey beamed, excited that they were all seemingly going along with his plan. "I've been practicing." He held his hands up in front of the light, which cast a shadow onto the street below. Despite only having six fingers to work with, Mikey made some shockingly good shadow puppets.

Below, the siblings heard the Kraang.

"Kraang, creatures known as rabbits have infiltrated Kraang's lab." Said the Kraangdroid on the left.

"No, Kraang." Argued the Kraang on the right. "Clearly a small, but obese pachyderm has breached Kraang's security."

"Kraang are both wrong." Said the Kraang in the middle. "It is a belly dancer wearing what is known as a flamenco dress."

With the Kraangbots distracted by Mikey's puppet skills, the four remaining siblings jumped down and quickly took out the robots before they knew what hit them. Mikey jumped down once they were taken care of, satisfied with himself.

"Wow, Mikey!" Leo smiled. "You've got mad shadow puppetry skills!"

"Like a turtle do!" Mikey giggled and gave his brother a peace sign with his fingers.

Miwa nodded to the open second floor window. Raph nodded by interlacing his fingers and making a step-up for them. Once by one, Raph threw his siblings up to the second floor window before taking a hold of Donnie's staff and climbing up himself.

Inside the normal looking building, was a very obvious Kraang warehouse. Silently, the siblings crept towards the center of the building, where they found a strange sight.

About a dozen Kraangdroids were standing around with Fishface and what must've been the double mutated Dogpound. All of their heads were angled upwards, observing a giant hole in the ceiling.

"Why didn't we just come in through there?" Raph whispered to his sister.

"Because they would've seen us, dumbass." She responded.

"Woah! Is that Dogpound?" Mikey gawked at the wicked new werewolf-like appearance.

"Did you see him mutate?" Donnie asked.

"I watched him fall," Mikey shrugged, "But I left before he crawled out. I thought he'd just be goo or somethin', but that is awesome! Check out his razor-face! He needs a new mutant name!"

"Mikey." Miwa sighed at his seeming forgetfulness of why they were there.

"Like Rahzar!" Mikey decided. "Get it? Like razor? And I get he goes rawr!"

"We get it, doofus." Raph rolled his eyes, restraining himself from slapping his brother.

"Isn't there supposed to be a secret weapon?" Leo asked.

"Judging by the hole, I'm guessing whatever it was escaped." Donnie responded.

"Which means there's some crazy Kraang weapon out there and we know for certain that the Kraang and the Foot are working together. くそ!" She cursed under her breath.

"And we don't know what it is." Mikey pointed out.

Donnie jumped a bit, and all the siblings turned to scowl at him for almost giving them away.

"Uhh, dude?" Mikey said, pointing to Donnie's belt. "You're vibrating."

Donnie grabbed his tPhone and his jaw dropped when he saw the contact name that popped up. "It's April!" He said. He cleared his throat and answered the phone while they started to sneak back out the way they came. "Hi, this is Donnae, Deener, Donon, Donno, Dino," Donnie kept stuttering over his words, making the siblings snicker to themselves.

"Donnie! Remember how you said sometimes things are out of our control?" April's voice was panicked and low, like she was whispering. "You were right! Things are really out of control!" April screamed and then her call was disconnected, leaving the Hamato slack-jawed at the turn of events.

"She needs us!" Donnie said to his siblings.

"Can you track her location?" Miwa asked as they made their way to the Shellraiser.

"Yeah."

"Good, Leo, drive!" Miwa ordered.

April yelped as she was tossed backwards into Shinigami. The taller teenager scoffed after they hit the ground and shoved the redhead off her. Shinigami jumped to her feet and clashed her crescent blades with the plasma sword that stabbed for her.

"Why is this thing after me?" April asked, rolling under the robot's legs and stabbed it in the back.

"Ask those stupid ika!" Shinigami replied with a hiss. She wiped the blood that had fallen from her nose onto her lips, leaving a bloody magenta smear on her beautiful face. She twisted her body around, wrapping the chain around the robot and threw it against a brick wall.

"And you're helping me why?" April asked, panting with a groan as the robot got back up.

"You are full of questions, are you not, little bird?"

April's eye twitched at the nickname. She ran at the robot, using the swing-set in the park to boost her aim. The robot's arms latched around her as the blade was thrusted into its abdomen. It held her so tightly that April couldn't expand her lungs enough to cry out in pain. Suddenly, April felt as if her whole body had turned to mist. She floated away from the robot, and she screamed, afraid she'd float away into the sky. Then the feeling vanished with a growing pit in her stomach as she fell to her knees, behind Shinigami.

"It learns as it fights." She told April, uninterested in the effect her magic had on the girl. "You cannot fight with one style."

I barely have a style. April thought bitterly. She tried to get to her feet, but whatever Shinigami had done to her left her body feeling like jelly.

Shinigami rolled her eyes at the redhead and ran her fingers over her arms while muttering a small incantation. A small shield spell over her skin would act as armor for the time being. The robot's whip was flying for her, which forced the witch to stop her spell. She leapt into the air, quickly running her hands down her legs to cover what she could. She kicked down at the helmet, while she swung the pendulum down into the hole O'Neil had put in the robot's abdomen. Purple sparks flew from where it made contact, but it wasn't enough to stop the robot. It grabbed her foot and held her upside down, dangling from her ankle. Shinigami phased herself through the iron grip and flipped herself up right.

Whipping around the corner, a graffitied subway car on wheels slammed into the robot, flinging it into the wall.

"Aw, yeah!" Cheered Mikey, hanging off the back of the Shellraiser in something that looked like a motorcycle's sidecar. "Firing manhole covers!" The first one just bounced off the robot's head, but that didn't bother the little turtle. "Eat it, Chrome Dome!" He began to rapid fire on the robot, but after a couple more hits, a purple laser shot from the robot's eyes, which cut through the manhole covers.

The Hamato inside the tank filed out and took a defensive position in front of April.

"Shini." Miwa glared at the witch, unfolding her tessen.

"Wait!" April moaned as she finally got her foot to support her weight. "She's been helping."

Before the Hamato could call bullshit, Chrome Dome threw one of the manhole halves at Mikey. Shini's kusarigama chain shot out and wrapped around the manhole. Like a whip, Shini spun herself in a circle and stomped down on the chain as she flung the projectile back at the robot. "More or less." The witch added with a golden wink at Miwa.

"Okay." Raph scoffed. "What's that then?"

"A new Footbot for Master Shredder." Answered the kunoichi. "Unfortunately, the ika have not properly programmed it and it went after the bird instead of following directions." She blew into her palms which resulted in purple dust floating down to make a shiny, lavender colored copy of April. The April clone ran down the street, which made the robot track after the illusion.

"What bird?" Mikey asked.

"Me." April responded, lifting her tanto into a defensive hold.

Donnie looked at the back of the robot, seeing several small holes in the abdomen. In the small of the robot's back looked to be a control panel of some sort. "I think I know how to turn that thing off." He said.

"Better yet, destroy it." Shinigami huffed, blowing hair out of her eyes.

"Are you sure your psycho boss would like that?" Miwa teased her.

"He will probably kill a few Kraang, but I will not be in harm's way." She answered with a smirk. "It is the ika's fault for making such a faulty machine."

Rolling his eyes at the flirting, Raph pushed past his sister to stand next to Donnie, "What's the plan?"

Donnie looked over his shoulder at Miwa, who nodded at him in turn. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but, Mikey, Shinigami, can you restrain his arms?"

Shinigami winked back at the Hamato group, making Mikey giggle, before she vanished into her usual smoke. She reappeared and canceled the illusion of April, which confused the robot. She threw out her kusarigama and wrapped it firmly around the armored arm. Mikey quickly ran to the left and trapped the other arm before the robot could free itself. Both wielders of the chain sickle planted their feet firmly in the grass and pulled with all their strength to keep the robot's arms from flexing.

"Raph, Leo, take care of the feet!" Donnie yelled.

Raph and Leo rushed the robot. Raph shot under the robot's legs, wrapping his own around the metallic leg. He stabbed both his sai into the foot just as the robot was starting up its rocket boots. Leo came from behind the robot and stabbed it through the knee, making the robot fake kneeling on the ground, pinning it down.

"Miwa, give it a target to lock on too!"

Miwa nodded and turned on the magnetization in both her gloves. She threw out her tessen, which flew over the shoulder that Shinigami was struggling to keep bound. She moved her hands around in a circle in front of her, like she was trying to conjure a ball of magic. The hand motions kept the tessen moving around the head of the robot, making it spin to try and shoot its laser eyes at the small object.

Donnie jumped up through the trees to give himself better leverage on his strike. He jumped down and landed on the robot's shoulders. Wrapping his legs awkwardly around the robot's torso, Donnie shortened his staff so that it was no bigger than an average knife. He stabbed it into the back of the robot and pried open the control panel. His tongue poked out of his mouth when he noticed the wiring was different from the Kraang wiring he was used to. Desperately, he just ripped out all the wires, but that only made the robot start to malfunction. The robot began to shoot out purple sparks from the lack of instruction in the body, making all the ninja cry out from the burning.

"April!" Donnie yelled.

April acted immediately. She rushed the robot and threw her full weight into the stab that pierced straight through the robot's stomach. The robot's red eyes turned black and it fell limp.

"Well, that was fun." Shinigami giggled, pulling her weapon free. The black wrapping on her hands had been cut and showed that her palms had been cut into by her own weapon from holding back the robot's arm. Unbothered by the cuts on her palms, she looked at the uneasy group. "We should do it again something." She bowed to them, like they were her sensei before poofing away.

April frowned when Donnie had to wiggle out from under the robot. He had a small cut on his plastron that was bleeding, and based on the location, she had caused it when she delivered the killing blow. "Donnie, I'm sorry."

Donnie looked down, confused on why she was apologizing. When he spotted the little bit of blood, his eyes widened a bit. He hadn't realized he was bleeding. "I'm fine, April." He assured her.

April groaned and rubbed her face in her hands. Her whole body ached more than usual. She needed a nap.

"Easy does it, April." Leo put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her as she wobbled on her shaking legs. "It's over now." He smiled at her.

"I just need to catch my breath." She answered him, shaking her head a bit. "Thanks, guys." She looked up to see all the Hamato smiling at her, as if the last month hadn't happened. "I... I just wanted to say..." April slapped her gloved hand over her mouth, "Oh my god! I forgot about Casey!" She turned and ran east without finishing her apology.

Confused, Donnie looked at his siblings, "That's what she wanted to say?"

April found Casey back inside the ice rink, trying to wrestle his gear out of the debris from the fight prior.

"Casey! Are you okay?" April hugged him tightly, knocking them both down onto the ice.

"'Course I am." Casey laughed at hug that resulted in a tackle. "Miss me much, Red?" He teased.

"I'm glad you're okay." April smiled, ignoring his smirk.

As Casey helped her off the ice, he batted her hand away from where he had hit his head. "So, did you owe that guy money or somethin'?" He asked. "And who was the hot chick with the witch hat?"

April frowned and looked away from him.

Casey smile quivered a bit, but he finally shrugged. "You're full of secrets, aren't ya, O'Neil?"

"More than I'd like." She answered in a melancholic tone.

"That's fine. I like a challenge. But we better run before the cops show."

About an hour after the Hamato got home, April entered the lair for the first time in a month. "Hey, guys." She said.

"April!" Leo smiled from where he was applying a small stick bandage to Donnie's plastron.

"You're back!" Raph laughed with the most genuine smile April had ever seen on the red turtle.

"What up?" Mikey greeted her.

Miwa put her arm around April's shoulder, "Welcome back." She smiled. "Told ya she'd be back, Raph."

"It is very good to see you, April." Splinter greeted her with a small nod.

"I missed you, Master Splinter." April bowed to him. "I... I hope we can start training again."

Splinter smiled, "Of course. Whenever you wish."

April turned back to her friends with a frown. "I never got a chance to tell you guys that... I'm sorry, for everything."

"You're sorry?" Leo asked, confused. "But we were the ones who screwed up."

"It was an accident." April repeated the words her aunt had said the moment April finished the story. "I know you guys would never do anything like that on purpose. And more importantly, you're my friends. I'm sorry I was so horrible to you, I just wanted to be mad. I don't ever want to hold a grudge ever again."

Mikey bounced forward and hugged April, "You the best, April! To mark this day of forgiveness, I offer you the Slice of Eternal Reunion!" He pulled a slice of pizza out from behind his back and held it out to April like he was handing her a holy object.

April's lip curled at the sight of the pizza. It was covered in mold and dead bugs. "It has lint, mold, and dead bugs all over it." She said, hoping he didn't want her to touch it. Even with gloves, she didn't dare get close to it.

"I know." Mikey shrugged and looked at the pizza. "I just found it under my bed."

"So, I don't mean to be that guy-" Donnie started.

Oh, so that's accidental?" Raph teased.

"But," Donnie said through gritted teeth. "Do you mind if ask what's up with the glasses and mittens?"

April bit her bottom lip before she sighed. "Promise not to freak out?" She asked of the whole Hamato family. When they all answered her with silent promises and playful mocking looks, she took a deep breath. She pulled the gloves off her hands and heard their individual gasps. She quickly removed the sunglasses and let them take in the full sight of her light green eyes that had replaced her light blue ones.

Fujiwara pleaded on her hands on knees, taking every ounce of strength she had not to cry in front of her master. "Please, Master Shredder! It was the ika that made that thing go after the girl! I had no hand in the matter! I was unaware the Hamato would be there, I-"

"That is enough whimpering, child." Shredder's voice was cold and cut through her controlled sobs. "I see this as another failure on your head. You must face some consequences for your actions."

"Then punish me!" She pleaded. "Please do not-"

"Silence yourself!"

Fuijwara forced herself to stop begging for mercy. She could hear the snickering of Bradford and Xever behind her as she choked on her sobs.

"I will not be paying for your brother's treatment until I see some results from your work." Shredder decided, his holographic face showing no emotion from his decision.

"But-"

"If you wish for your brother to live another year, you will provide the results I was promised. Until I see some improvement, your brother's life in is your hands, Fujiwara."

Chapter Text

Even though turtles couldn't sweat, Leo could've sworn he saw that the buttons Mikey furiously mashed were slick.

"Level eighty-three, dude!" Mikey cheered. "One more level and I'll beat your high score!"

"You can try," Leo teased, "But I'm the Master of Phovic Robo-X!"

By now, Mikey knew the eight-bit map like every pizza shop's menu. "Imma flip it!" He easily avoided the arcade machine spaceships and was able to make it to the final boss within a minute. But now was the hard part of the level.

Mikey's smile dropped when the screen flashed red and yellow and in flew the giant floating skull of the big boss. "No, no, no! It's Skullerax!"

"Eye beam! Use the eye beam!" Leo tried to help his brother beat the boss.

"I'm scared, man!" Mikey refused to attack and instead kept trying to evade the attacks. "What am I gonna do?"

Leo was about to tell him that he had to damage the boss in order to beat the level, but it was too late. Skullerax's mouth opened and he shot out a red beam that vaporized Mikey's spaceship.

"No!" Mikey whined as the GAME OVER screen popped up. He slumped over the controls and pretended to cry. "I was so close, Leo! So close..."

Leo put his hand on his brother's shoulder and pulled out his best Splinter impression. "You did well, my son." Dropping the accent, he used his hip to nudge Mikey away from the arcade machine so that he could beat his own high score. "Now watch a real sensei at work."

"Mikey!" Came the muffled, angry shout of Raphael that echoed through the main station of the lair. Mikey looked over his shoulder just in time to see Raph stomping towards him with the biggest vein popping out of his forehead, Spike balancing expertly on the angry turtle's left shoulder.

"You got pizza stains all over my collection of Modern Ninja Magazine!" Raph yelled at Mikey. "They're ruined!"

Mikey gulped down the lump in his throat. His plan of Raph never noticing hadn't worked out. "Dude, those things are, like, twenty years old." He said, trying to cool down his brother's fiery temper. "They're not exactly modern."

Raph clicked angerily, his beak snapping with the click of his sharp teeth. "They're vintage! It took me six years to collect them all! Six years!"

"Chillax, bro!" Mikey took the issue that Raph was waving in front of his face. "I'll clean it for you." He looked at the pizza stains on the front of the issue and licked his lips. He started to run his tongue up and down the front of the magazine.

Raph took a deep breath and sat Spike down on the couch before he wound his arm back and smacked Mikey in the back of the head. He took the magazine away from his little brother and rolled it up to start hitting him with it. "You mess up everything, Mikey!"

Leo looked up from Phovic Robo-X for the first time since he started playing, but only for a split second. "It's just stuff, Raph." Leo said. "Meager possessions. What does it matter?"

Raph scoffed and whirled on Leo. "What about your precious comic book collection, huh? Or Donnie's lab junk! Or Miwa's makeup shit? Why is it only meager possessions when it comes to my stuff? You always stick up for Mikey! Try seeing my point of view for once!"

Leo shrugged, still not taking his eyes off the arcade screen. "I get it. I just think, like Master Splinter says, material possessions are fleeting."

Raph kicked the machine that was distracting his brother clear into the wall across the lair. "All right, enough!" He shouted. "I'm tired of all of you!"

"What's Raph throwing a tantrum over now?" Miwa asked, coming out of her room with only half of her makeup done.

"You're always messing up, and I gotta pay for it!" Raph reeled on her now, spitting at whatever new target he could find. "You claim to be the leader, but I don't see you coming up with anything good lately! You let Leo and Donnie call the shots and take all the credit when things work out, and when they don't it's somehow always my fault! And let's not forget your stupid fake dating bullshit with Shinigami!" He turned back to Leo and Mikey. "And you two both got caught by the Foot! What kind of ninjas even are you?"

Donnie rolled his eyes at the shouting coming from the other room. Could it be any louder out there? Some of us are trying to concentrate, Raphael. Donnie quickly backed away from his beaker of his new batch of, hopefully, retro-mutagen. He put the safety goggles on his head so he could watch what happened with his own two eyes.

He watched the pink droplet dissolve into the cyan ooze before it quickly turned black. "Uh, oh." Was all Donnie could say before the beaker exploded.

The bickering foursome was broken up by firework-like projectiles shooting out of the lab.

"Hit the deck!" Miwa yelled, practically tackling Mikey down so that he wasn't hit by a purple colored ball of fire.

With all the chaos, Raph barely noticed the yellow firework heading right towards Spike. "Spike!" He screamed. He threw himself into the couch, knocking the sofa clear into the pool. Raph popped out of the water, clutching his little pet box turtle in his hands, desperate to see if he was okay. He wasn't aquatic, but surely a little water wouldn't hurt him. Right?

Spike popped his head out of his shell and looked up at Raph just like he always did. Safe and sound.

"Hey, there, little guy." Raph smiled and sat Spike down at the edge of the pool. He leaned down so that he was face to face with his beloved pet. "Guess you got two baths today, huh? You okay, Spike? Yeah, you're okay. Don't worry, old Raph won't let anything happen to 'ya."

Donnie ran out of the lab, coughing up smoke that came out every color of the rainbow. He dunked his head into pool and wiped at the stained colors on his scales. "I did not see that one coming." Donnie said between turns of hacking up more smoke than a bonfire. "Is everyone okay?" He asked after he got most of the soot out of his lungs.

Raph swam over to where Donnie was and pulled him down into the pool, shocking the scientist. Donnie tried to find his footing, but Raph dunked up under again, just to get his point across. "Are you crazy?" Raph finally roared once Donnie's head broke the surface of the water. "We're not okay!"

"Raphael, why are you attacking your brother?" Splinter asked, coming out of the dojo. Then the rat looked around the destroyed lair covered in colored powder. "What happened here?"

Raph hopped out of the pool and picked up Spike with a huff. "I'll tell ya what happened, Master Splinter! Donnie almost blew us up! Again! And worse, he almost blew up Spike!" He showed his father the pet to back up his story.

Donnie climbed out of the pool, still coughing up puffs of smoke, and now a bit of water. "Raph, dude, I'm really sorry. I-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it this time!" Raph snapped and pushed past Donnie to get into the lab. He returned holding a half used canister of mutagen. "Until the mad scientist gets his shit together, I'm holding this for safekeeping."

"No, Raph!" Donnie followed after his brother that stomped over to his room. "Be reasonable! That's my last canister of mutagen!"

"Tell someone who cares." Raph replied before slamming his door in Donnie's face. He sat Spike down on his little bed that the box turtle preferred over his actual tank. He put the mutagen canister on the seat of his drum set before he fell backwards onto his bed with a huff.

"They're just holdin' me back." Raph complained to Spike. "We should be out there fighting crime and tracking mutagen! From sundown to sunrise! But all they wanna do is play stupid games." He looked over at Spike, "You get it. Don't you, Spike?" He asked.

Spike let out a small purr like sound that Raph took as an agreement.

"Sometimes, I wish I was on my own." Raph went on. "Doing things my way. I'm tired of this team."

A series of banging on the door made Raph grumbled and turn over in his bed so that he wasn't facing the door.

"Hey, pouty-pants." Miwa opened the door and looked at him from the doorway. "I know you're still in the middle of your tantrum, but Sensei wants you to help clean up."

Raph shot up, "No way! Not a chance! Donnie can clean up his own explosion!"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, making him seethe. "Hey, if you wanna tell Sensei that you're not helping out, that's all you."

"Fine!" Raph stalked over to her and pushed her out of his room before slamming the door shut behind him. "I will!"

Spike watched the glass jar on the drum set seat roll and fall after the force of the door slam. It shattered and the glowing liquid slowly leaked out, leaving a pool just under Spike's bed. The box turtle titled his head to the side, intrigued by whatever it was.

Raph marched right up to Splinter, who was hunched over a broom so he could hold it properly. "Sensei, this is completely unfair!" Raph shouted. "Donnie made this mess! How come I have to help?"

Donnie frowned and worked his mop further towards his lab so he could avoid Raph's anger.

"Allow me to make a suggestion, Raphael." Splinter stood up straight.

Raph made a gagging sound and rolled his eyes, "Suggest what, Sensei?" He asked. "I'm sick of suggestions! What could you possibly suggest?"

Splinter simply touched a small nerve point on Raph's neck, causing the turtle to jolt. "Perhaps you should sit and meditate for a while." Splinter said after his middle child stopped yelling, though his emerald eyes were just as full of fury as ever.

Raph clicked and stomped back to his room. "Always me, right?" He yelled whiling complaining to no one in particular. "I've got the bad attitude! I'm the bad guy!" He kicked open his door, "They just don't get it!" Raph slammed his door shut and went to turn on the light switch, been then he noticed that the room was still lit. Only in an unsettling shade of neon green. Raph relaxed a bit, remembering that he took the mutagen canister from Donnie.

"They never have."

Raph jolted again and spun to find the owner of the deep voice. The first thing Raph noticed was that the mutagen canister was broken on the floor, and there was a trail leading further back into his room.

"They never understood ya. Not like me."

On all fours, out of the shadows crawled a humongous turtle mutant. It had turquoise-grey skin and greenish sharp spikes sticking out of not only its shell, but all over it's body as well. It rose to its feet as Raphael's heart dropped in his chest.

"It can't be..." Raph gasped. "Spike?"

"I feel terrible." Donnie muttered, hugging his knees to his plastron after he finished cleaning up his failed experiment. "It's my fault Raph's mad."

"He's always mad, Donnie." Miwa sprawled out next to Donnie. "It's not you."

"Well, it's partly you," Leo interjected, "But Raph just has to work on his insanely bad temper."

"Maybe he should switch to decaffeinated pizza?" Mikey jokingly suggested.

"I dunno." Donnie churred. "What if I actually did blow up Spike? He'd never forgive me..."

"But you didn't." Miwa shrugged.

"But what if-"

"What ifs aren't important, Donnie." Miwa sat up so she could meet her brother's eyes. "And even if you did, Raph would see that it was an accident. Eventually."

"I think he's right on one hand." Leo put his broom down and sat on the arm of the couch. "Maybe you should look into better fail-safes?"

"It's not that easy." Donnie shrugged in hopelessness. "Mutagen is completely unstable, you never know how its going to react." Donnie pulled out his tPhone after getting a notification and bolted upright. "Whoa! The mutagen tracker just picked up a new canister!" He ran into the lab so he could look at the actual device instead of his phone. "It's close!" He said to his three siblings as he returned to the main station.

Miwa stood up and stretched a bit, "It's about time for patrol anyway. Let's gear up."

"I'll grab Raph." Leo said, knowing he was the best one to deal with his temper at the moment.

"Better you than me." Mikey laughed, having the same thought process as Leo.

Leo knocked on the door, "Hey, Raph!" He heard Raph's voice muttering something before he answered.

"Yeah?"

"Got a mutagen mission, need you on deck." Leo answered.

"Right, uh... I"ll catch up in a minute. Go on without me."

Leo huffed, annoyed that Raph was still choosing to be difficult. "Fine. 'Cause we're not waiting." Leo turned on his heel to go grab his gear.

"I can't believe this is happenin." Raph chuckled as he sat down on his bed, dumbfounded. "I mean, this is amazing! Wait..." He frowned, "What am I gonna tell the team?"

Spike had been sitting on the floor patiently waiting for Raph's mind to process what had happened. But after the mention of Raphael's siblings, he snapped his jaws to get the smaller turtle's attention. "Tell 'em you got a new partner. One who knows the true meanin of being a warrior." He narrowed his bright green eyes.

"A new partner?" Raph asked, looking at his... pet?

Spike stood easily twice as tall as Raph did, but the large sewer tunnels allowed him plenty of room to stand to full height. "You and me." Spike went on. "No joking around, no goofing off like those other ones. We'll be the ultimate ninja team." He put his hand on Raph's shoulder and smiled the best he could with his deformed bottom jaw giving him a permeant underbite.

Raph smiled to himself, letting Spike's words sink in. "That would be... Awesome!"

Spike made a fist to emphasize his point, "We'll crush our opponents! We'll fight evil together! Non-stop, from sundown to sunrise."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Raph grinned and punched his palm. "You totally get it! You always did!"

"Hey, Raph!" Said Leo from behind the closed door.

Raph jumped and looked from Spike to the door a couple of times. In a hushed whisper he said, "All right, quiet. Just sit tight."

Spike narrowed his eyes as Raph ignored him to talk through the door.

"Yeah?" Raph asked, leaning against the door incase his brother tried to come in.

"Got a mutagen mission, need you on deck."

"Right, uh... I"ll catch up in a minute. Go on without me."

"Fine. 'Cause we're not waiting."

Raph let out a sigh as he heard Leo's footsteps disappear down the hallway.

"You don't need 'em, Raphael." Said Spike with a slight growl. "We can find that mutagen on our own."

"Hell yeah!" Raph cheered at the suggestion. "But if we're gonna do this, you'll need to gear up."

Spike smiled and followed Raphael out of his room. Raph poked his head into the dojo before he came back and motioned for Spike to follow him. He gestured to the wall of weapons that Splinter had.

"Take your pick." Raph said with a smirk.

Five minutes later, Spike had chosen a spiked mace as his weapon. He tore up one of Miwa's black tank tops to use as a bandana and wrappings.

"Wow! You look awesome, Spike!" Raph commented as they exited the sewers.

Spike hummed, "Never liked the name Spike. It was better than Snappy, but not by much." He broke off a decoration on someone's car that was a circular pendant with a S in the middle. He attached it to his belt. "Call me Slash."

"Oh, uh, sure." Raph said. "Wait, Snappy?"

"Ya don't think yer the only owner I've ever had?" Slash replied with a dry cackle. "How do ya think I ended up in the sewers in the first place?" Slash narrowed his eyes while he followed Raph on the rooftops.

If Raphael's gonna be free, we may need to loose some dead weight.

"This is so cool!" Raph beamed as they jumped from roof to roof. Despite the hulking size, Slash was able to keep up perfectly. "Just you and me! Raph and Slash, the crime-fighting duo!"

"Yep." Agreed Slash. "We'll right the wrongs of the world and wipe out whoever stands in our way."

Raph paused and looked back at Slash, "Hold on. How are we gonna find that mutagen without a tracker?"

Slash let out a short chuckle, "I got a nose for the stuff. I can smell it a mile away." He motioned to Raph to follow him, "Come on, follow me!"

"We got mutagen close by!" Donnie told his siblings. "Just on the other side of this building!"

Being the fastest, Miwa cleared the building first and spotted the mutagen canister siting on top of a dumpster.

"Ooze jar in full effect!" Mikey grinned and jumped past her to grab their objective.

"Sweet! Let's grab it and bag it." Leo said. "Looks like we didn't need Raph after all."

Miwa's arm flew out and she stopped Mikey from stepping out into full view of the street. "Hold up. Somebody's coming."

Some teenager on a motorcycle stopped by the dumpster and grabbed the ooze canister. "Cool." He chuckled in a drugged out tone that made Miwa think he was high on something. "A free energy drink! It's still sealed, too."

"I'll distract him," Miwa said. "One of you, grab it. But stay out of sight." She jumped down the rooftop and walked over to the teenager.

The brothers watched her talk with the pizza delivery driver for a moment, all equally disgusted by watching her... Flirt?

"She should stick with Shini or April." Mikey commented. "At least those interactions are entertaining."

"I'll get." Leo shivered in disgust but straightened up. He secured his grappling hook to a lamp post in the middle of the street. He swung down, with his arm extended to snatch the canister off the back of the cart, but he flew plastron-first into something else. He and Raph had the same plan and they collided into each other, knocking them both down.

Miwa stomped over to both of them, her face red. "What was that?" She asked. "He drove off, with the mutagen, you dumbasses!"

"It's Leo's fault!" Raph got to his feet. "I had it!"

"You're late, Raph!" Leo fired back. "How were we supposed to know you were going to show?"

Donnie and Mikey watched the three siblings bicker down below.

"Are they gonna argue all night?" Donnie slapped his palm to his face. "The mutagen's getting away!" He called down to them, though the three eldest didn't seem to hear him.

"Dude, I can totally see Raph's forehead vines bulging from here!" Mikey laughed. "Woah, Miwa's too! It's crazy, it's like they're the twins!"

"That's it!" Leo snapped. "I'm going after it myself.  You two can stay here and argue until the sun comes up." He ran off to chase after the direction the pizza driver went.

"Fine!" Raph spat. "You sure you can handle a pizza boy on your own?"

Miwa groaned as she was left alone in the middle of the sidewalk. She didn't even get the chance to tell her stupid brothers that she gave the driver her number so they could meet up after his shift. She even told him to bring the energy drink so they could get stupid together. She shrugged and decided to go wait for him to show, it'd only be an hour or so.

Raph got back to the rooftop he left Slash on, only to find it abandoned. "Slash? Hey!" He called out. "Where'd you go, man?" A large thud from behind him made Raph jump, but it was just Slash. "What happened to you?" He asked. "I told you to wait here."

"I trailed the human on the bike." Answered Slash, his hands behind his back. "I know where he parked."

"Raph!"

Mikey jumped over to join them on the rooftop, pushing past Slash as if he didn't realize he was there. "Donnie's disappeared!" Mikey's face was genuinely concerned. "He was right behind me, and then I-" Mikey blinked a couple times and comically turned around to look at the mountain of scales he had pushed. "Holy chalupa! Another turtle?"

"Relax." Raph tried to keep Mikey's voice down. "No, it's Spike." He looked at Slash to apologize for using the wrong name, "He goes by Slash now. He got into the mutagen."

Mikey looked from Raph to Slash, from Raph to Slash, from Raph to Slash with wide eyes. Then he shook his head, "Dude, that is awesome sauce, but Donnie!"

"Raphael, you said it yourself." Slash walked past Mikey, shooting him a look like he was a bug in his food. "We don't need these clowns. We gotta hunt that mutagen down. Now."

"But, what about Donnie?" Mikey whimpered, using his little brother powers to make his baby blue eyes wide. "He could've been captured by the Foot! Or the Kraang! We have to find him!"

Raph looked at Slash and back down at Mikey. "Sorry, Slash." Raph said after a pause. "My siblings come first. Always." He added a smile to Mikey. "No matter what." He put his arm around Mikey before he pulled away.

"How about I make the choice a little easier for you?" Slash said. Without a moment of hesitation, Slash raised his large fist and slammed it down into Mikey's shell. Mikey hit the rooftop so hard that he bounced back off of it.

Raph screamed out for his brother in horror, watching this sick version of a basketball being dribbled between the ground, a fist, and the edge of a rooftop. Finally, Raph shook himself out of his shock and he threw himself at Slash to make him stop. "Slash! What are you doing?" He demanded.

Slash's large talons dug into the concrete tiles as he was flung backwards. "I don't want to fight you, Raphael. Just go after the mutagen and leave me to my work."

"Your work?" Raph repeated. He watched Slash pull out a familiar purple iris colored bandana from his belt. He tied it around his bicep like a trophy. "Where did you get that?" Raph seethed.

"Where do ya think?" Replied Slash with a smirk.

"That mutagen warped your brain, man! This isn't you!" Raph pleaded.

"I am doing this for us, Raphael." Slash pulled out his mace and swung it at Raph, but the more experienced ninja was faster.

Raph pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it down so that he could escape with Mikey.

Leo followed the driver from the rooftops. He started to worry about if he'd be able to complete the mission without Miwa's help. He had lead Leo to a more populated area of New York, which meant Leo couldn't just go down to the streets and snatch the mutagen off the back of the motorcycle. Luckily, the driver hit a bump and it caused the mutagen to roll off the back of his bike and clatter to the ground.

Leo hid behind a few cars and waited for the street to be cleared of humans. Just as he found an opening, a middle-aged man came up from a subway station. Leo dove behind the cars he had been hiding behind prior and watched in annoyance as the man picked up the mutagen canister.

"Hmm. Some kind of antique lava lamp." Said the man. He shrugged and tucked it under one of his arms, "Bet it's worth a few bucks."

Leo groaned and slunk back to the rooftops to trail after his new target.

The man set up a small desk on the outside of Chinatown and opened his suitcase, revealing he had numerous trinkets that he spread out. He took a seat on the top of the suitcase, pulled out a newspaper, and waited for a costumer to come by.

Leo thought for a bit, trying to figure out how he was going to get his hands on the mutagen canister the man had slapped a lamp shade top over. If I return empty-handed, they'll never let me live it down. He thought. Plan. Need a plan. Looking down on the street, Leo got an idea once he spotted a metal trash can.

Despite the lashing that Slash laid out, Mikey was back on his feet after a couple minutes of catching his breath. "Did you find Donnie?" He asked Raph, who was standing on a higher level of the rooftops to look around where Donnie had vanished.

Raph almost answered 'no', but then he spotted a big green shape laying in the middle of an alleyway. "'Fraid so." He answered. He and Mikey raced over to their brother, both of them nearly throwing up at his appearance.

It had only been ten minutes since they escaped from Slash, and only fifteen since Donnie disappeared, but it was long enough for Slash to do some major damage to the second youngest.

Donnie was black and blue practically from head to toe, with some large slash wounds all over his arms and legs, and even on his shell a bit. However, the worst injury was Donnie's left arm. It had been broken so badly that his humerus bone had been dislocated from the ulna, and had broken through his skin. A small puddle of blood had pooled from the open wound that used to be the pit of Donnie's elbow. From the large claw marks on the inside of his arm, it looked as if Slash had ripped open Donnie's arm with his own hands before he snapped Donnie's arm.

Raph raced over to check his brother's pulse while Mikey threw up into a dumpster. "Donnie, wake up."

Donnie's eyes opened and his body shook intensely. His breathing was shallow and quick, his heart rate had skyrocketed, his pupils were enlarged. He didn't respond at all to Raph's questions, but instead starting rocking his head from side to side gently.

"What's wrong with him?" Mikey asked Raph.

"I-I think he's in shock." Raph answered from the little knowledge he had picked up from Leo. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't taken the mutagen from..." He slapped himself across the face to keep his head in the moment. No, stop it. Your brother needs you. Hate yourself later.

"We-we gotta get him home!" Mikey cried. He walked over so that he could help Donnie up, but Raph stopped him.

"No, it-it's not safe to move him right now."

"But we need Master Splinter! And Leo!" Mikey wiped at the tears coming from his eyes. "We need cover!"

"We won't be any safer down there then out here." Raph pointed out as he gently laid Donnie flat on the street. "Slash knows where the lair is. We just gotta stay together." Raph slapped himself again as he felt himself start to hyperventilate. Okay, okay... What would Leo do? How do I help Donnie? "Call Leo!" Raph's voice cracked as he shouted at Mikey. 

Mikey did as he was told while he also scanned the street too keep a look out for Slash. After Leo's tPhone went to voicemail a couple times, Mikey looked back at Raph. "He's not answering!"

"くそ." Raph cursed and looked back down at Donnie. The terrified glaze over his bright maroon eyes was starting to fade, and he was moaning a bit. Hopefully, he wasn't really feeling is arm. Or what would come next. Raph didn't have a choice, he needed to keep the wound from bleeding more. Raph dug around in Donnie's mission pack and found a travel sized first aid kit. It wasn't much, but it would have to do.

"Okay, Dee, I don't know how much you can hear me," Raph said. "But I gotta apply some gauze to your arm to stop the bleeding. I'm gonna hafta hold your arm down, and it's gonna hurt." He pulled out one of his sai and placed the handle horizontally in his mouth. "Bite down on this, 'kay?"

"Tastes like leather and sweat..." Donnie muttered behind the gag. Despite no one having heard him scream, his voice was barely audible and Raph could tell his vocal cords were raw.

"Yeah?" Raph asked, opening the gauze and bandages. "Keep tellin' me about it."

Mikey whimpered at Donnie's pained gasps and Raph's hushing that everything would be okay. He looked away from his brothers to keep trying for Leo and Miwa.

"Mikey!"

Mikey jolted at the sound of Leo's voice.

"Up here!"

Mikey craned his neck up to see a shadow just peaking over the rooftop. "Leo?"

"I need your help." Said the form. "Hurry!"

Mikey scaled the building to reach his brother, "Nah, bro! We need you! You wouldn't believe it, dude! There's another turtle!"

"That's funny." Leo's voice suddenly turned deep and snarling. Mikey tried to jump back down, but a large hand was slapped over his mouth while another was locked around his throat. Slash pulled Mikey further onto the rooftop with a sinister grin, "I actually believed it!"

Leo cut the bottom of the trash can out and climbed inside of it. This plan was a bit degrading, but without their human disguise of Miwa, he didn't have another way to get close enough. He slowly inched his way over to the desk, taking a break to peak out of the metal lid every once in a while. A couple of times, the man looked up from his newspaper, but didn't seem to acknowledge the trash can getting closer and closer. He finally reached the desk and poked his arm out of his disguise so he could finally be done with this mission, but that's when he spotted a man and a young girl round the corner.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look at all the cool stuff!"

Leo huffed inside the trash can and cramped his legs to his plastron.

"Oh, Daddy, look at the neat lamp!"

Leo stiffed and peaked out of the lid just to see the dad pay some money for the lamp, while the little blonde girl bounced up and down, waiting for her prize. Isn't it past her bedtime? Leo asked himself.

"I want it! I want it! I want it!" The girl took the lamp from her dad.

Leo fled from the trashcan to follow his third target of the night. Maybe it was better that his siblings weren't there to see his struggle. Tonight was definitely not his night. He followed the father-daughter duo to their apartment and studied the outside of the building. A light turned on in the top floor, far right apartment.

Tying himself a way to repel down the side of the apartment, Leo made it to the window and peered inside.

The window lead him right to the little girl's room, and he got a clear look that the girl had set up a bunch of stuffed animals around a tiny table. She seemed to be playing tea party with the stuffed animals. The girl had gotten the lid off the mutagen canister and was preparing to pour herself some into a plastic teapot. "Here you go, Ruffles McBearington." Said the girl to a bear in a top hat and a bowtie. "Once nice cup of green tea."

Stealth be damned, he couldn't wait. Leo flung open the window and climbed inside the room before the girl drank the Kraang ooze. He kicked the plastic tea cup out of the girl's hand before it made contact with her lips.

The girl looked at him in surprise, though she didn't seem all that afraid. After a moment of silence, she raised the mutagen filled teapot, "Would you care for some tea, Miss Turtle?"

"Miss?" Leo blushed at the mistake, but shook his head. "Sorry, little girl. I really need to grab your tea and take off." He said, reaching for the teapot and mutagen canister.

The girl frowned and hugged the mutagen close to her body. "I'll scream if you go, Miss Turtle! My daddy's room is right next door!" She took a deep breath, like she was readying herself to scream at the top of her lungs.

"No!" Leo cried, hanging his head in defeat. He squatted down in the tiny free chair and smiled as best he could, "I'll stay."

The girl let him pretend to drink tea, after he spent twenty minutes convincing her to dump the green tea into the canister, but whined when he was doing it wrong. "You're not supposed to drink it with two hands!" She said, huffing. "You have to hold your pinkie out."

Leo looked down at how he was holding the teacup. He was used to drinking tea like his father did. Leo flexed out his pinkie, which was really just the far right of his three fingers. "Uh, I don't really... Have? A pinkie."

"Are there other talking turtles like you, Miss Turtle?"

"Nope!" Leo answered quickly. "Uh-uh, just me. Miss Imaginary Turtle."

The girl looked out the window and pointed, "Then what's that?"

Leo followed her gaze and found Raph struggling against some mutant he had never seen before. "Uh, more imaginary animals that aren't real!" Leo jumped to his feet and swiped the mutagen canister. "Next time, I'll bring the tea!" He said, jumping out of the window.

"Bye, Miss Turtle!" Waved the girl.

It took Raph longer than he would've wished to realize that Mikey was gone. It wasn't until Donnie had passed out that Raph had realized that Mikey hadn't said something stupid in the last ten minutes. Or anything in the last ten minutes. He wanted to believe that Mikey had just gotten distracted and wondered off, but with Slash on the loose, he doubted it. With Donnie hurt, he doubted it. He hid Donnie from view of the street before he climbed to the rooftops to find Mikey.

"Mikey!" He called into the night.

A choked groan caught Raph's attention, and it madee his stomach drop. "Oh, no."

Mikey was hanging from a rope off of a building. He was tied around his middle, with his hands behind his back. Raph quickly pulled him up and undid his bindings. Mikey was much more bruised than Donnie, but he had no injury as bad Donnie's arm. Raph checked his breathing, which thankfully, was normal, though Mikey was now unconscious as well. He was also missing his papaya orange colored bandana.

"Why?" Raph screamed. "Why are you doing this?" He yelled to Slash.

"The others hold ya back," Answered Slash, though Raph couldn't pinpoint where his voice was echoing from. "Limit yer potential. Ya don't need 'em. Just like ya said."

"No!" Raph punched a dent in the water tank he was next too. "They're my siblings! I never wanted this!"

"Siblings? Please." Slash finally made himself visible to Raph. He was holding something large and limp in his hand. It wasn't until he fully emerged from the shadows that Raph saw who he was holding.

Slash tossed Miwa against the rooftop, at Raph's feet, like he was proud of his work. Miwa was missing the green sash she wore around her waist beneath her mission pouch. Her breastplate left an indent of Slash's foot. It had been stomped in on so hard that Raph doubted her lungs had much room to expand. She wasn't bleeding anymore than Mikey was, but the bruising on her body looked almost worse than Mikey's. Maybe it was because the green didn't mix with her skin tone.

"This one isn't even a turtle!" Slash laughed. "'Sides, there's no turnin' back now." Slash grabbed Miwa's right leg and dragged her over to the edge of the roof, dangling her over the busy traffic that would finish the job. If the fall alone wouldn't.

"Stop!" Raph stabbed Slash's tail in effort to make him stop. It worked, and Slash howled in pain. He spun and smacked Miwa into Raph like a baseball bat. Raph quickly scrambled out from under his sister while Slash was still wide eyed and examining the puncture mark in his tail. "I won't let you hurt 'em!" Raph shouted.

"I'm not here to fight ya." Slash tried to reason with Raph.

"But I wanna fight you." Raph replied and spun out his sais. "You're not Spike. You're not my pet, and you're not my friend. You're some kind of warped monster! A deranged, hideous freak!"

Slash roared in anger and raised his mace. He was able to reach Raphael before the smaller turtle could get anywhere close to him, and he smacked the spiked weapon as hard as he could into Raph.

Raph rolled across the roof, but managed to catch himself on his hands and knees. He snarled and spat out the blood that flooded from his nose into his mouth.

Slash tried to smash Raph into the roof's tiles, but Raph caught the heavy weapon's handle in between his sais. As they struggled to keep the weapon stagnant in the air, Slash tried to win over Raph again. "We could make a good team, Raphael. But ya can't let 'em hold ya back! Don't be a fool like your siblings." Slash flexed his right arm, the one that held the trophies of Miwa's sash, and Mikey's and Donnie's bandanas. Raph made an angry, guttural click in his throat in response, but Slash brought his leg up to kick Raph into the water tank.

Mikey watched the fight and slowly forced himself to his knees. He crawled as fast as he could over to his sister and began to shake her as hard as he could. "Slash is back! Raph's in trouble!'

"What's a Slash?" Miwa groaned, the non-black eye opened slowly.

"Spike's mutant name!" Mikey told her, trying to help her up despite his body not being in any better condition. "That's what attacked you!"

"Great job keeping the mutagen safe, Raph." Miwa heaved, her hand flying up to her chest. She felt the footprint Slash left on her breastplate. "I, I can't fight like this. Mikey, help me get this off."

"But that'll leave you vulnerable!"

"I can't breathe!" She answered with a choked gasp. Her hands began to pull the breastplate up while Mikey got his hands under the shoulder parts and began to tug it off. They both struggled to get it over her head, but once she was free of it, Miwa stood. She definitely had a Slash sized bruise on her chest, but she fought the tears that brimmed her eyes with each breath. "Let's go."

"Ya can't win against me, Raphael." Slash punched Raph away from him. "I spend years watchin' ya train, learnin' your moves. I know everythin' ya can do."

Raph cracked his neck to the side. He rushed Slash again, and when the heavy weapon was raised, Raph struck. He trapped the weapon in-between his sais prongs and flung himself into a kick. He nailed Slash in the face, and it sent him stumbling back without his mace. "Not everything!" Raph replied, standing up straight while guarding the weapon that he had pulled from Slash's deadly grip.

Slash roared again and thrusted his leg out, sweeping Raph off his feet. As Raph fell down, Slash got up and grabbed the back of his legs. He raised Raph up over his head before smashing his head down against the roof. He did it twice more before he flung Raph off the rooftop.

Raph broke through some wooden scaffolding that would send the building's process months behind, and landed on a much lower rooftop. The sliding over the granite roof burned Raph's shell, but he didn't have time to stew in his pain. He tried to sit up, but that's when Slash brought his foot down against Raph's plastron, trapping him beneath his immense weight. Raph coughed up some saliva, his eyes fluttering.

Slash removed his foot and bent over to pick up Raph by the arm. "Don't worry, Raphael. One day, you'll see I'm right. Until then, I'll keep ya safe and sound. Somewhere those clowns can't interfere."

"No!" Mikey jumped on the arm that was carrying away his brother.

"Leave him alone!" Miwa yelled, stabbing her tessen deep into his hand, forcing the turquoise turtle to drop Raphael.

Slash yelled in pain and swung his arm into the railing of the rooftop, knocking the two beaten ninja free from his arm. He glared at them as they both struggled back to their feet, standing protectively in front of Raph, who hadn't moved since he was dropped.

Mikey hobbled over to Slash, trying to hit him with his nunchuck, but the larger turtle simply grabbed the handle that came for his head. He lifted Mikey up with it before he kicked Mikey hard, right in the plastron crack that Shredder had given months prior.

Miwa threw out her tessen to smash Slash in the face while she came at him with her wakizashi. He deflected the blade with his talon, and swung his massive tail down into her back. She coughed up a little bit of red as she hit the rooftop, and again when Slash stomped down on her back. "If yer was a turtle, this wouldn't hurt as bad." He cackled and started to put more and more pressure down on her. Miwa screamed in agony until she couldn't take another breath.

"Get off my sister!" Raph tackled Slash off of Miwa, rolling them both nearly off the roof.

Slash flung Raph off of him, but the red turtle charged back at him as fast as he could. He kicked Slash with all his weight, knocking the large turtle off the rooftop. Slash grabbed Raph's ankle and pulled him down with him, keeping him out of reach of his meddlesome siblings. He and Raph bounced on the sidewalk, but Slash was the first up. He ran at Raph, but was kicked away by a new challenger.

Leo helped Raph stand before he drew out his ninjatō.

"I've always kinda respected this one," Said Slash with a smirk. "Got a true warrior spirit, just like us, Raphael. Too bad he's still to soft."

"Don't compare yourself to him!" Raph held his shoulder as he tried to stretch it out. It was more bruise than shoulder at this point. "You're pure evil!"

"What am I missing?" Leo asked, looking over his shoulder. "Who is this?"

"Long story." Answered Raph. "Look out!"

Slash's heavy fist smacked into Leo, sending him flying into a brick wall. "Then again," Slash panted. "He's always had a mouth. I'll shut him up permanently."

Raph limped over to Leo and used a smoke bomb to escape from Slash. Then only made it to the rooftops again, before Slash was upon them once more. Raph kicked up into the pouncing turtle while Leo sliced at his arm, cutting the fabric trophies free.

Slash roared and stumbled backwards, dangerously close to the high roof's edge.

"Slash!" Raph tried to run after him, holding his hand out to grab his. His knee buckled and he face planted into the roof tiles before he reached his old pet.

No. Spike. Was all he thought before everything went black.

When Raph came too, he was in the new Med Bay that Leo had decked out. He was laying on a pile of blankets, and his whole body hurt like hell. He sat up as best he could to find Donnie laying on the only futon in the Bay, his arm casted and with an IV stuck in his free arm. Donnie was probably drugged out of his mind, because he was just mouthing words to himself, smiling like he was telling jokes.

Miwa was sitting crosslegged not far from Raph with Mikey's head in her lap. She was only in a bra, and she was being examined by Leo with a portable X-ray machine that Donnie had made for Leo's fifteenth birthday. Even with her back to him, he could see the massive bruise on her back, and he could only guess her front looked just as bad. Splinter and April were both going over the Healing Hands technique, providing Miwa some relief from her pain.

"What happened to Spike?" Raph asked.

None of his family answered right away, but with Mikey throwing himself onto Raph, trapping him in a bear hug that made them both groan in pain, Raph understood.

"He's gone." Leo answered. He heard Raph's sharp gasp and he spun to look at him with wide eyes. "Not gone, like dead!" He clarified. "I mean he was missing when I looked over the edge of the building."

"He's out there somewhere." Miwa heaved, taking a deep breath at Leo's instruction.

"Donnie?" Raph looked over at the futon.

"It was pretty bad." Leo answered, "But I think he'll be fine. He'll be in a cast for at least a month though."

"Wish I could recover from a broken arm that fast." Miwa groaned. Mutant healing abilities was so unfair.

"I'd probably already be recovered." April joked, making everyone crack a smile.

Splinter stood from Miwa's side and walked over to kneel next to Raph. He put a hand gently on his son's shoulder, "I understand how you must be feeling." He said softly. "I know how much Spike meant to you."

Raph sniffled and retracted his head into his shell, refusing to let anyone see him cry.

"Raphael," Splinter went on. "Do you know what I do when I miss my loved ones from the past?"

"No."

"I focus on the loved ones I am surrounded by in the present." Splinter let Raph be the first to hug him, but once he did, he pulled his son in close. "It is okay to mourn for those lost, Raphael. But do not let that grief distract you from what you have now."

"Thanks, Master Splinter."

Chapter Text

In the early summer night air, the Hamato took their nightly patrol. The four leading the front constantly looked back, annoyed that they had lost sight of the two stragglers. A couple seconds after they stopped, Donnie came into view, still heavily banged up from his encounter with Slash. Moments later, April tumbled after them, panting and groaning.

"I never... Understood how turtles could... Could be so... Fast..." She slunk to the roof tiles, heaving so hard that Leo had to go check that she wasn't about to throw up.

"Come on, April!" Mikey laughed. "This is just the warm up!"

"The warm up?" April complained. "For two hours?"

"That's what ninjas do." Leo answered with a smile. "Training sometimes lasts four, five hours at a time. Awesome, right!" He beamed.

"Sides, no one dragged you out here with us." Raph said, crossing his arms. "You could've babysat Donnie back in the lair. Then neither of ya would be slowin' us down."

Donnie glared at Raph, "Sorry my arm in an inconvenience, Raph. Maybe if you..." He stopped himself when April elbowed him in the side.

Raph flinched just as hard as April did after her elbow struck the hard plastron. He hung his head and looked away from Donnie.

"Enough." Miwa stepped in between them and looked back at April and Donnie. "Don't be so hard on yourself, April. We've been training for thirteen years. You've been training for, like, six months."

"Yeah, and it took thirteen years before Master Splinter even let us leave the lair." Mikey shrugged. "You gotta a long way to go, sister."

"Not that long." Donnie said. "Given her progress, I'd say she could be at our level in... A decade?"

"Fully mastered by twenty-seven?" April groaned.

"Well, Sensei still isn't keen on you tagging along on missions." Miwa said. "Not with the Kraang still after you."

"Come on, sis!" Mikey put his arm around April's shoulders, shaking her slightly. "The best training she could have is hanging with the ninjas!"

"Miwa's right," Leo joined, taking a break from surveilling the streets below. "It's too dangerous."

"What if something happens to her?" Raph asked, agreeing with Leo.

April's face scrunched up, but not in her irritated glare. It was one of those I'm getting a sudden bad feeling expressions. "I..." She opened her eyes and lowered her hands from where she was rubbing her temples. "There's something on the street."

Confused, Leo looked back down. "I don't see anything."

"No, its... On the wall?" She replied, seemingly unsure of her own words.

"Are you feeling okay?" Miwa asked. She took a step towards April, extending her hand like she was going to touch April's shoulder, but the redhead shrugged off her hand.

"No, I'm serious." April stated firmly. She looked over the rooftop, and sat down on the edge. Slowly, she inched herself over it, landing on a smaller ledge. From there she jumped down to the ground. She tried to ignore the snickering coming from Raph at her attempt to get down the roof like a ninja and looked for what her feeling was telling her too. "Check it out!"

The Hamato followed her down to the street, and their jaws dropped when they found that April was correct.

Spray painted on the brick wall behind a dumpster was a message.

Hamato, 3317

Bayfront Street.

Midnight.

Below the message was a chess piece.

"What's that supposed to be? His logo?" Asked Mikey.

"It's a chess piece." Leo answered. "A bishop."

Despite the order, April trailed after the siblings to Bayfront Street as midnight approached. Rather than continuing to argue with her, they relented and waited for her to catch up.

"For the record," Raph said to Miwa as they made their way to a closed office building. "I still think this is a terrible idea. It's gotta be a trap!"

"Maybe." She agreed, "But something's up. And I'm gonna find out what."

Sneaking in through and opened window, the group found a room full of photographs of them. The Hamato, Shredder and his goons, the Kraang, April, even a quick snapshot of Splinter. There were computers full of a language similar to the Kraang's, but different enough that Donnie couldn't recognize any of the symbols.

"It's... us?" Donnie asked, shining his flashlight on the wall of photographs.

"And lots of Kraang." Leo added. "Lots and lots of Kraang."

"So, what's with all the creeptastic pictures?" April asked.

"Do not be alarmed." Said a familiar monotone voice. "This is nothing against you."

The group spun to find a Kraangdroid by the door, shutting it behind it. It was in the human disguise, but by now they all recognized the Kraang's robots. They instantly pulled their weapons free, ready to take out the robot and destroy all of this evidence.

"I am aware that my presence may frighten you." Said the Kraangdroid. "Do not do this." It urged them.

"We're not scared of the Kraang!" Raph shouted back.

The team charged the singular Kraang, but it moved much faster and normally than the usual droids did. As Raph reached it first, the Kraangdroid, rather hilariously smacked Raph to the left. It pulled a desk drawer free ad used it to combat against Donnie's tech bō. It smacked Donnie down before it used the same desk drawer to disarm Mikey of his right nunchuck and smash it over the shorter turtle's head.

"Mikey!" Miwa shouted, and sliced at the robot disguised as a man.

The robot caught the blade of her tessen and easily overpowered her. It used one arm to force her upwards, just holding the fan over her head. It caught the leg that came up to kick at it, leaving her in a vulnerable trap. "I am not here to fight you."

"Too late for that!" Leo rushed to free his sister from the dangerous hold. The robot jumped backwards in a back handspring, landing on the desk. It pushed itself weight onto a single finger to hold itself up and kicked the handle of Leo's ninjatō out of his hands. It pushed itself into a front flip and landed behind Leo. It held the twin swords up for Leo to see, before he tossed them to the side, holding its hands up to show it was unarmed. "That's... Why?" Leo asked aloud, confused by what was happening.

"Turtles, Hamato Miwa, April O'Neil, refrain from attacking." Said the Kraangdroid. "Believe me when I say, I am not your enemy."

Hesitantly, the Hamato all stood to listen to whatever this rust bucket had to say. Still, they stepped protectively in front of April and held themselves ready to fight again if the need arose.

"You can call me by my Earth name--Bishop."

"Why does this Kraang speak so goodly?" Mikey asked Donnie.

"I am no Kraang." Shook the head of the robot. Slowly, it unbuttoned the suit jacket and white shirt and revealed a Kraang squid piloting the body. "I was the one who created this robotic body. The Kraang copied me. I am a member of the Utrom tribe, a small group of Kraang defectors."

The Hamato hesitantly looked back at April, hoping her gift would tell them if this was bullshit or not, but she looked just as confused as they were.

Bishop continued his explanation, "We are what is left of the original Kraang species. We broke away from the Kraang Hive Mind many Earth millennia ago."

"Fascinating." Donnie took a step towards the Utrom, crouching awkwardly with his casted arm. He examined the chest cavity that held a cyan colored version of the Kraang controls they were used to seeing.

"Donnie?" Raph said, still uneasy.

"Thinking about it, it makes sense that the Kraang share a hive mind. A really stupid hive mind."

Bishop did up his shirt and jacket, "I have sought you out because I know you are the ones who need to hear what I have to say. Hamato Miwa, the Ninja Turtles, and April O'Neil, herself."

April tensed when he spoke her name, though she couldn't figure out why it bothered her so much. Bishop tried to take a step towards her, but Leo protectively stood in front of her, drawing his ninjatō half-way out of the sheath.

"Just a second, pal." Leo warned. "You better start talking."

Bishop turned back towards the door to flip on the light switch. He walked over to the wall of photographs and touched his palm to it. The wall spun to the side, revealing a large holographic screen that he used to scroll on, showing pictures of the Kraang. "The alien infiltration is long-lived." He explained. "Since human history started keeping records." He showed ancient looking depictions of the Kraang from all different time periods in history. "The Kraang have been trying to use mutagen to terraform the Earth for hundreds of thousands of years.

However, they could not used the mutagen in your universe without a specific chain of human DNA. They spent millennia capturing humans to reshape humankind's genetic code. Unfortunately, they have succeeded in their mission."

"They have?" April asked.

Bishop looked at her, "Yes." He answered. He opened his mouth to continue speaking, but then his head snapped to the side. "The Kraang are closing in on this building. You must go before they catch you, April O'Neil."

Immediately, Leo and Miwa started filing the team towards the window, but one wrist escaped Miwa's hold.

"No!" April shouted. She stomped over to the robot and grabbed him by the suit jacket's collar. "There's something else you haven't told us! Tell me, now!"

"There is no time." Replied Bishop, his monotoned voice making her irrationally angry. "There are some things you must discover for yourself." And with that, he tossed April out of the window easily, like a rag doll.

April was caught by Raph, who slapped a hand over her mouth to drag her into the shadows as the Kraang filed into the office building.

Inside the Shellraiser, the team came up with the next plan of action.

"Alright, so I think its obvious we need to head back to TCRI." Leo said from the driver's seat.

"Yeah." Miwa agreed. "Whatever data they have on human DNA, we need to wipe it out."

"I thought you guys blew that place up." April pointed out.

Donnie's phone beeped, and he pulled it out of his pocket. "Woah! It's Bishop!" Donnie pulled up the picture that Bishop had sent him on his station's monitor. It was a fully rebuilt TCRI tower.

"Did he bug the Shellraiser?" Raph asked, creeped out at the timing of the picture.

"How did they rebuild it so fast?" Mikey asked. "We were there a couple weeks ago and it wasn't like that!"

"Okay, so, we break in, erase all human DNA codes, and get out, right?" Leo asked, changing course to drive towards TCRI.

"Infiltration only." Miwa confirmed.

"Let's do this!" April said confidently.

"Great." Miwa said to her as they pulled into a street not far from the building. "You stay outside on lookout."

"Stay outside?" April scoffed. "On lookout?"

"We can use this." Miwa said to her brothers, ignoring April's pouting. She pulled out a keycard, "I stole this from one of the droids back in the office. We use it to get into TCRI." She smirked at the name on the badge. It had a picture of the human disguise the Kraang used, and the name under it was Kraangenhoffer, Norman.

April followed them to a rooftop they could use as access to a higher level floor. She watched as Leo fired and secured a grappling hook across the street before he gave them a thumbs up.

"Alright, April." Miwa said. "Stay here and maintain radio communication."

"Ugh!" April groaned. "I want in on the action, too!" She argued, but Miwa just shook her head.

"Don't worry." Donnie said, adjusting his casted arm in his sling, "We'll be back in two shakes of a Kraang tentacle."

April rolled her eyes at his chuckling of words. Wait outside like some stupid sidekick? She thought bitterly. No, she couldn't do that anymore. Their encounter with Bishop only confirmed something inside April. She looked down at her pink stained fingers and long nails. She needed answers and it seemed she needed to get them on her own.

Inside the floor they came into, the Hamato found rows and rows of Norman-droids inside cubicles. At first, they drew their weapons, ready for a fight. But after a couple seconds of nothing, they lowered their guards.

"It's okay. It's all right." Donnie said to Raph. "I think these androids are just... Charging." He moved the Norman's head to the side, and it revealed a large purple cord hooked into the base of the robot's nape.

"Weird!" Raph stuck out his tongue. "I wonder if there's Kraang inside of 'em." He moved the arms that were protectively covering the chest cavity, and sure enough, a sleeping Kraang was inside the robot.

Mikey laughed and went over to the robot. He started poking at the face and moving the lips. "Ew! Dudes, their faces are all rubbery and stuff!"

"Stop playing with it." Miwa pulled Mikey away from the robot. "We gotta move before they wake up."

"Incoming!"

The teenagers barely had time to move before April dropped from the vent they entered from.

"April? What are you doin' here?" Raph asked.

"I'm sick of not knowing!" She hissed. "I need to know why the Kraang are after me, and what they know! I'm not waiting on the sidelines anymore."

"April, I told-" Miwa started, but Leo got between the two of them.

"She's already here." He said to his older sister. "Besides, we don't have time to fight."

Miwa grumbled and cursed under her breath. "Fine." She said, glaring at the redhead, who's eyes reflected in the dark. "Just be quiet, stay close, and do not let Mikey touch anything."

Without anymore words, the group ran towards the elevator just as the Kraang started rebooting. Miwa swiped the keycard in the elevator.

The floor known as Level 40 has been accessed to Kraang.

With a collective sigh of relief, they waited for their destination. Slowly, the filtered out of the elevator in silence. They came across a room full of Kraang in little hover pods facing a screen. Upon closer examination, the group saw something they've never noticed before.

The Kraang had their eyes closed, and the tops of their heads opened just a bit. Out of the opening came six antenna-like appendages.

"What's goin' on, Donnie?" Raph whispered.

"It's a Kraang Sweet Sixteen Birthday Party!" Donnie cooed in a sing-song tone. "How am I supposed to know?" He clicked.

On the Kraang's screen, an image of the large Kraang they faced during the invasion popped up. It didn't say anything, it had its eyes closed and antenna out just like all the others.

April's eyes squeezed shut and she held the top of her head in her hands. She groaned and scratched at the top of her head until she felt like her head was going to bleed.

"April?" Leo asked in concern.

"Its Kraang Prime." She said through gritted teeth. "They're meditating. Communicating. I can hear them!"

"Woah, man!" Mikey smiled. "You're like, telepathetic! Do me next!"

"Shh!" April hissed. It sounded like the Kraang language, but somehow, April knew exactly what they were saying.

The experiment is nearly complete! Informed Kraang Prime. Despite setbacks, the mutagen will be ready as planned.

April repeated the words in a low, monotoned voice. "Soon, we will transform the Earth and all of its hideous people!"

"April!" Miwa grabbed her wrist as April stood up.

"Intruders!" April warned.

Kraang Prime's image faded and the Kraang awoke from their telepathic conversation in surprised squeals. An alarm began to go off as they spun to face them.

April shook her head, snapping herself out of whatever trance she had been in.

"April? Can you tell what I'm thinking?" Mikey asked as Miwa grabbed April and pulled her back to the others.

"Run!" She yelled as they drew their weapons.

"Yep!" Mikey confirmed it.

Leo rolled over to the elevators and started pounding on the buttons while the others started to block the laser fire.

"Some stealth mission!" Raph snapped.

"Dudes! Look!" Mikey drew their attention to a brunette woman with greying hair. "It's that freaky lady with the exploding elbows!"

Leo began to jab at the elevator button even harder than before. Just as the doors opened, the woman-android shot a rocket at the group, making them all jump to avoid it. It exploded inside of the elevator, destroying their chance of using that as a way out.

"Get down!" Donnie threw himself over April, knocking her to the ground as another rocket was aimed at her. Seconds later, April returned the favor by flinging herself over him to knock him clear of Kraang gunfire.

Miwa rolled underneath a silver Kraangdroid and sliced it in half with her tessen. She cut the hand free and used the Kraang's own gun to snipe the Kraang in the hover cars. "We gotta get to that door!" She pointed to a door across the room.

"It could be dangerous, you dumbass!" Raph argued.

"It can't be worse than in here!" She shot back, backhanding a Kraangdroid with the gun.

The Campbell robot stood between them and their exit point, her forearms folded backwards so that she could fire her rockets when ready.

The team rushed her and the other Kraang blocking their path, but April was stopped by a Kraang robot grabbing her around her wrist.

"It is the human known as April O'Neil." It said, locking its steel tight grip around her wrist.

April snarled and smacked it in the head with her tanto. She couldn't free the blade with only one hand, so she just began to wail on the robot like it was a baseball bat. The robot took a fury of blows, but the moment April's strikes showed her growing exhaustion, it caught the sheath and twisted her wrist to the side, making her drop it. Now unarmed, the robot pulled April off her feet and started to drag her into another room.

"Guys! Help! Help!" She screamed, kicking her feet as best she could.

Leo sliced through two robots while Donnie took care of one with his good hand.

"They got April!" Donnie yelled. He activated the button on his bō that shortened it, hoping he'd be able to wield it easier.

Leo tackled Donnie down as the Campbell robot fired a rocket at his shell.

Miwa continued to snipe at the piloting Kraang, "Raph! Take down Ms. Rocket Arms!"

Mikey covered Raph from the gunfire of the Kraang while he turned to charge the middle-aged robot.

"On it!" Raph confirmed. He ran up to her and jammed his sai into her left elbow, blocking the rocket from taking his head off. Raph dropped into his shell as she exploded. He popped out and grabbed his sai, a bit charred, but otherwise fine.

With the rest of the Kraang now down for the count, Donnie ran in the direction he saw April being dragged off in. "This way!" He called to his siblings, though he didn't stop to see if they were following. Miwa picked up the discarded tanto as they ran.

They came out into a large, spiraled hallway that they couldn't see the end of, but luckily they didn't have to run far. April rounded the corner, her eyes wide and panicked. "Run!" She cried. After she past them, they heard the echoed gunfire of Kraang blasters.

"You heard her!" Miwa said, pushing her brothers down the hallway after April.

April stopped in front of a door that opened for her. "In here!" She told them.

They blindly followed after her, but once the door shut, they realized they were trapped.

"So, why are we hiding in a dead end, oh, psychic one?" Raph asked as they all caught their breath.

"Relax," Leo sighed, trying to pull open the door on the opposite side of the cell. "Donnie, can you hack it open?"

April began to laugh. It started out as a creepy giggle, like one you'd hear from a little girl in a horror film. Then it turned into a malicious cackle, like a witch who had trapped a group of children in her oven.

"April, what-" Miwa's concern cut off when her lungs filled with something that was not oxygen. She coughed, her hands shooting to cover her mouth.

"They're filling the room with something!" Donnie collapsed first, heaving heavily.

"April? Why would you?" Mikey wheezed, trying his best not to breathe more than he needed.

April just continued to laugh as they dropped like flies, falling dangerously close into uneasy unconsciousness. "There is no escape, Hamato." She giggled, shaking her head.

"What is wrong with you?" Raph asked.

"She's being mind-controlled?" Donnie guessed, but April simply stepped over his form.

"Try again." She said callously. She caught Miwa's fist that came for her, twisted the kunoichi's arm, and kicked her into Leo before she had the chance to gawk at the quick response.

"It's not April!" Leo took off his mask and tied it around his mouth and nose, trying to filter out the bad air.

"Gotta be an android." Raph took out his sai. "Get her!" He stabbed for her, but the fake April caught both his fists, easily holding back his strength. She wound her head back and smacked him square in the forehead. With him seeing stars, she threw him into the door they had entered from.

Leo tripped Fake April with his foot while Miwa grabbed the back of her head and smashed her face into the control panel of the holding cell.

She screamed like the real April would, but only for a moment. The next, her smoking, purple, electrocuted figure exploded into black goo.

Raph shoved his siblings out of the now opened door, gasping for air on the ground. "Okay, so if that was a Fake April-"

"A F-April!" Mikey coughed out a name.

"A Fake April," Raph gritted his teeth. "Where's real April?"

"Wherever they took her, it can't be far." Miwa said. "Come on."

Not far down the hallway where they encountered the Fake April, they found a door with a laser gun protecting it.

"I bet whatever's behind that door is pretty important." Mikey said.

Miwa dodged and rolled through the laser fire until she managed to swipe the keycard on the side of the door. The laser turned off and the door opened for them.

Inside was a room full of deep green mutagen. Upon closer inspection of the mutagen lining the walls, they realized something floating inside. Dozens upon dozens of April clones, some dressed in April's usual street clothes, some in pajama-like garments.

"By Darwin's Beard!" Donnie's jaw fell open.

"This is freaky." Miwa shivered at the feeling of unblinking blue eyes on her.

"Weird." Mikey frowned.

Donnie peered around the room, gazing up at the clones in fascination. "They're perfect genetic duplicates of April when we first met her! No pink discoloration, blue eyes, white sclera!"

"Weird!" Mikey repeated.

"This must be the genetic code Bishop mentioned." Donnie realized. "It has something to do with April! That's why the Kraang have been growing them!"

"It always leads back to April." Raph muttered to Miwa.

"Still doesn't explain where the real April is." Leo said.

"Donnie, wipe those computers!" Miwa ordered Donnie, who was already at the computer panel.

He began to open files and sorted through them, using the little Kraang language knowledge he had as a guide.

"Hurry, Donnie! Faster!" Miwa snapped at him.

"I'm hurrying as fast as I can!" He snapped back with a click. "I only got one hand here!"

The family made a collective jump when they heard April's scream.

"It's coming from up there!" Miwa pointed towards a door on the second floor. Just as she and Raph moved to scale the walls, the door opened and three Kraang entered.

"The Hamato survived. Release the April O'Neil clones."

The walls drained of the oynx colored mutagen before the opened and the April clones stumbled free.

"You take care of those!" Miwa ordered Leo and Mikey. "Donnie, keep hacking! Raph and I will rescue April!"

April thrashed as the Kraang held her down and strapped her to a table. She tried to kick and punch, but their grips were too strong for her. She even tried to bite at them as they forced her head into a contraption that forced her head still. Anything to stop them, she kept repeating, but it was useless.

"The DNA that belongs to the April O'Neil clones is lacking, Kraang." Said one the Kraang.

"Kraang agrees with Kraang." Said another. It activated a machine that pointed a large needle at her. "Kraang needs more real April O'Neil DNA."

The needle began to come closer to her face, and April realized that it would pierce through her forehead and into her skull and brain. She felt like a caged animal being experimented on. She fought against the restraints but it did nothing but hurt her.  "How about I just give you some hair or something?" She pleaded. "That has DNA!"

"That is correct, April O'Neil. However, Kraang requires more DNA than hair or something."

April squeezed her eyes shut, dreading whatever was going to come next. But what followed was a serious of blows exchanged that April knew could only be good. She opened her eyes to find Raph fighting the Kraangdroids while Miwa was stabbing at the wires of the machine.

Raph got pinned by several of the Kraang, so Miwa jumped down to help her brother, but she was similarly pinned against the floor. Both siblings fought on the floor, but the machine was started up again. "Let go!" Raph screamed. "Get off!" Miwa shouted.

"Raph! Miwa!" April shook the table she was strapped too. She let out a trapped whimper as the needle inched closer and closer to her head.

"Do not struggle." Said one the Kraang. "Kraang will not cause serious injury to the one called April O'Neil."

"No! No! No!" April screamed, her eyes widening.

Her scream froze the machine centimeters from her head, but more than it, it caused the Kraang to start malfunctioning. The Kraang screamed inside their metal cavities while the robots deactivated.

Confused, Raph and Miwa fought out from under their subdued foes. Together, the ripped opened the restrains binding April and helped her off the table. Her eyes were glazed over, the eerie green color dull, and she could barely walk on her own. Raph took April off of Miwa's shoulder and picked her up with both his arms.

"You okay?" Raph asked her while Miwa sat the tanto on April's chest.

April groaned, one hand clutching her head, the other gripping the tanto. "Brain... On fire. Ready to pop... Other than that? Meh..."

They came back to the room they had left the trio of brothers in, and found they were about halfway through the April clones. Donnie must've finished wiping the computers clean of April's DNA because he had joined Leo and Mikey in the fighting.

"April! You're okay?" Asked Donnie, spotting Raph carefully jumping down to join them on the first level.

"Meh." Miwa answered for her.

"Great! Time to haul shell!" Leo yelled, slicing an April in half, that bled a black ooze.

"What is happening?" April asked, watching her friends kill copies of her.

"Where are you going?" Asked one of the Aprils.

"Trying to ditch me?" Asked another.

"Let's get outta here!"

"We gotta hurry!"

"Come on!"

The clones cornered the group, who tried to shield the real April from getting lost in the redheaded mass. "It's me, April!"

"Where are you going?"

"We gotta go!"

"Come on!"

April found her footing and stabbed one of the April clones in the white colored garments. "Don't listen to them! I'm the real April!" She shouted. She cringed, watching herself bleed and explode, but knew she couldn't stop. She was grabbed around the arm and was pulled into the sea of April's.

"I'm the real April!" Pushed forward an April dressed in the brown jacket.

"I am!" Yelled another.

The Hamato fought their best, but after they had taken care of the garment wearing Aprils, they couldn't know which April to attack next.

"Look at their hands!" Leo reminded them.

"Or the eyes!" Donnie added.

Lost in the chaos, April had managed to cover herself in the Fake April's black blood, but she kept slashing and stabbing until all the Fake April's had fallen.

"Did we get 'em all?" Asked Raph.

"Okay, this is just gross, dudes." Mikey whined, looking at his dripping black weapons. "There's April chunks on my chucks."

"Let's move!" Miwa shouted.

The fighting was relentless, but the team of six managed to make it back down to the streets, though they were still being pursued by Kraang.

One of the Kraang vans flew around the corner, stopping in front of them. They readied to fight this foe as well, but that's when Leo spotted the spray painted figure of a Bishop Chess Piece. The door flew open, and they spotted a Norman Kraangbot behind the wheel. "Get in." Ordered Bishop.

The team jumped in without question, closing the doors behind them to avoid the gunfire of Kraang blasters.

"Thanks for the save, Bishop." Miwa said after catching her breath.

"No thanks is required." Answered the driver. He looked past her towards Donatello, "Did you wipe the Kraang computers of the human DNA?"

"We did." Donnie answered. "By the skin of our noses."

"Did you know it was my DNA?" April demanded.

Bishop pulled down the street they had left the Shellraiser on, and parked. He looked back at April, his expressionless face only making her more angry.

"Answer me! Why me?"

Bishop looked down for a moment, before he nodded sharply. "I did tell you that somethings you needed to learn for yourself. But, I suppose it is time you knew." Bishop turned to face them all in the back seat. "Four hundred human years ago, the Utrom befriended a human man who offered himself as a way to combat the Kraang's mutagen development. That man's name was John Taylor."

April tensed.

"The Taylor family was originally willing participants in our quest to save this planet from the mutagen, however, we lost contact with John Taylor's descendants over two human centuries ago. We had believed the Kraang had found and destroyed them, but it turns out they had done something much worse." Bishop took out a small device that he used to pull up a holographic notes app with pictures of a redheaded toddler.

"That's me." April said through gritted teeth.

"Yes." Bishop answered. "We only found the Taylor family seventy-six Earth years ago, but by this point, the Kraang had already gotten their hands on them. Carol Taylor, also known as Carol O'Neil, was taken by the Kraang and experimented on while she was pregnant with you."

"My mom?" April whimpered.

"Carol O'Neil did all she could to protect you, but you were the result the Kraang had been waiting for. That is why you are so special, April O'Neil. Your DNA can perfect the mutagen in this dimension."

"I..." April felt like she was going to pass out. Or throw up. Or both. "But, that's not... I'm not..." She felt tears falling down her cheeks, but she couldn't stop herself. She bolted up right, her teeth bared and her hands around Bishop's throat. "I'm just a regular teenage girl!"

"No." Bishop's answer made her nails dig even further into his neck, but that didn't stop the robot from delivering the truth she desperately wished was false. "Your cellular makeup is a morphogenetic blend of human and Kraang DNA. You are not entirely human, April O'Neil. You are a half-human, half-Kraang... Mutant."

Chapter Text

It had been a long time since Casey had actually listened to his dad about his journal. It had been given to him ages ago by some therapist Casey never bothered to remember the name of. It was supposed to help him work through his emotions instead of lashing out and getting into trouble. Recently, papa got infuriated with Casey for his recent run ins with the cops. He ordered his son to start journaling again, or else he was going back to therapy. But Casey didn't need therapy or some stupid journal. He needed to protect his new city.

Angrily, Casey started to scribble something down in his notebook, just so his dad would get off his back.

Mutant monsters and robot ninjas are taking over my city. How long before those freaks hurt somebody close to me? Like dad, or Julia? April, Irma, or Sunita? Well, I'm not waiting around to find out.

Halfway through writing, Casey started sketching out designs for some ass-kicking gear. He could spray paint a skull on his hockey mask. Casey was no genius, but he liked sticking stuff together and seeing what happened. He was sure he could make some weapons for these freaks.

All my life, I knew I was meant for something greater. This is my calling. My destiny! A true warrior has gotta be prepared.

After reading to and tucking in Julia for the night, Casey crept to his father's study to find him fast asleep, drooling onto some important looking legal documents. Gently closing the door, Casey lowered his mask into place.

"Scum-sucking, mutated el monstruos of the world, prepare to meet... Casey Jones."

"My children," Splinter said, looking at his children kneeling before him. "You are truly becoming impressive warriors. But to grow as a team, you must know each other's strengths and weaknesses." He gestured for them all the stand and face each other.

The siblings all drew their weapons, but Donnie fumbled a bit with his bō because of his casted arm. Part of Splinter wanted to give his second youngest a handicap in this session, seeing as he was still injured, but he also knew Donatello well enough to know that he could outsmart all of his siblings if he paid enough attention.

"This competition is a free-for-all." Splinter went on. "Last Hamato standing wins." With that, he knelt underneath the bonsai tree, to show he would not be participating. "始め!"

Raph charged for Miwa first, but the eldest jumped over him, pushing herself off his shell like a springboard. Raph snarled as she went for Leo, and moved to go after her, but got caught by Donnie's staff. It looked as if he was trying to get his feet in a sweep attack, but with his broken arm, he could get enough strength behind his swing. Punching himself mentally, Raph took the dive and let Donnie knock him down. Despite his pride's sacrifice, Donnie just scowled at him for being nice. Raph felt his eye twitch, and he swung his leg out for his own sweep attack, but he was called out by Splinter.

"Raphael! You are out! No attacking."

"You want a real fight?" Raph asked, glaring at Donnie as he moved to take a seat on the side. "You got one." He threatened. So busy plotting out a little revenge, Raph almost missed watching the victor be named.

Mikey went for Donnie, knowing better than to get in the middle of Miwa and Leo's brawling. He charged Donnie and moved to get him with an overhead strike, but the taller turtle was faster. Donnie's staff went up and caught the nunchuck. As the chain wrapped around the girth of the bō, the handle looped around and smacking Mikey in the face. Mikey yelped in more shock than pain, and stumbled backwards. He dragged the nunchuck in his hand with him, which forced Donnie off balance and toppled them both.

Oh wow. Leo and Miwa are the two remaining, who could've guessed? Raph rolled his eyes at the predictability of the outcome. Still, that move against Mikey made him laugh, even if he was pissed at Donnie.

Miwa rolled and brought her wakizashi up to combat the spinning strike of the twin ninjatō. Both she and Leo threw their weight into their blades, which ended up pressing their sides together as they struggled to overpower the other. Miwa let out a sharp hiss of pain as he accidentally brushed past the rib that was still healing from cracked rib Slash had given her. She watched his face drop from the battle expression to his healer's expression, which made her move to scold him. But then he went back to battle mode and pushed her backwards with a heavy thrust of his body.

Miwa tripped backwards, but caught herself with one hand. She did a one-handed backbend into a standing position, cringing at the fiery pain shooting through her side. Her eyes darted over to her father, but when he didn't make a call, she knew she was still in this fight. "Looks like you've leveled up to the boss fight." She taunted Leo, mostly just so she could rub at the pain in her side for a bit longer.

"I'm gonna wipe that smirk off your face." Leo threatened her back.

A bit taken aback, Miwa ran at him first, punching at him with her tessen closed in her fist. Leo easily moved out her range and swung up his blades. They clashed against her own as they traded blocked punches and kicks. Realizing her right side was her weak spot, Miwa purposely let Leo's sword get a bit too close for comfort so she could trap his arm under her's. His blade definitely drew some blood, but she got him trapped. She reached for his hand with her free one and smacked the sword out of that one, so that now he only had one blade.

Leo kicked her backwards in the chest while he used his remaining sword to disarm her of the tessen. The war fan flew and stuck itself in the bonsai tree, and Miwa quickly ran after it. As she came around the bend of the tree, Leo kneed her in the chin, sending her to the mat with a groan.

"Well, Leo won it this time." Donnie commented.

As Leo and Miwa knelt by Splinter, Raph's head snapped to the side, like he was possessed. He tackled Donnie before the injured turtle had the chance to make a break for it. Raph pounded Donnie with his fists until the younger turtle ducked into his shell to protect himself from the assault.

Miwa and Mikey tackled Raph off of Donnie and held him against the ground while Leo turned to check on his brother. "Raph!" Miwa cried, anger flooding her voice. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Raph shrugged off Mikey and pushed Miwa down as he got back up. "He should've been grateful I threw the fight! I was just showin' him..." Raph's eyes widened when he saw that Donnie's nose was bleeding. "I didn't..."

"We have spoken about this time and again, Raphael." Splinter shook his head while he helped Donatello lean back to keep the blood from spilling down his face. "Anger is a dangerous ally. It clouds your judgement. You need to learn to control it, lest it controls you."

"I guess I got a little angry," Raph sighed. "But, I... I was just... Frustrated that Donnie didn't appreciate what I did."

"I didn't appreciate it because you only did it out of pity." Donnie's voice was a bit nasally from holding his nose. "I would rather you just beat me."

"Sorry!" Raph snapped. "Next time, I will just beat you!"

Raph decided to head out on patrol earlier than usual that night. Really, he just wanted to blow off some steam by breaking some stuff without his siblings jumping on him for it. And if some stuff included Footbots, Kraang, or Purple Dragons, well that was just a bonus. With one hand, Raph ripped some piping off the wall it was bolted too and threw it into a trashcan. He then stomped on the trashcan until it was as flat as a manhole cover.

"This always happens!" Raph growled in frustration. "I'm fine, until I let those guys push my buttons!" He punched at a brick wall, not carrying that it left his knuckles bloody and bruised. "Why do I always let them get on my nerves?" He asked, aloud. This is why Slash thought it was okay to attack his siblings. How many times had he seen Raph do the same? Raph let out a guttural click and slammed his fist into the wall again, leaving a large crack in it. Raph fell against the wall and rubbed at his temples with his fingers. It wasn't like he really meant to hurt Donnie. Right?

Casey watched the streets from the rooftops of his apartment building. He'd never tell his dad, but he was actually starting to enjoy jotting down notes in his personal notebook. At least with the notebook, he knew his dad wouldn't ask to check it everyone once in a while like he did with Casey's phone.

My city is infested. Aboil. A festering sewer. It stinks with evil. Pure Evil only Casey Jones can face.

He looked back down at his notebook where he was jotting down the times and what he had seen. 9pm-2am, nothing. Actually, crime fighting is pretty boring. Casey groaned, leaning his head against his hand. Casey felt himself starting to doze off, but the crashing of metal below him jolted him up.

Three gang members threw an older man against the wall of the alleyway, keeping him trapped from running for safety. "Check it out!" Said the shortest one in the middle. "Walking ATM!" He pulled out a switchblade that he spun around his fingers to further intimidate the man. "Lemme make a withdrawal."

The man whimpered and pulled out his wallet. He went to open it, but the man with the switchblade just took the whole thing.

"Attaboy. The watch, too." He encouraged with a fake smile.

Casey fired a hockey puck at the tall, beefy one while he jumped down the fire escape.

With the gang members distracted, the man getting mugged made a run for it.

Casey bounced a hockey puck on his stick lazily, wondering just how cool his mask must've looked at that moment. "You slime-balls picked the wrong night." Casey threatened.

"Nice outfit." Rolled the eyes of the middle man, who Casey guessed was the leader of this trio. "Who's this clown?" He asked.

Casey narrowed his eyes, "I'm the last guy you'll see before you wake up in the hospital." He caught the hockey puck in his right hand before he wound the hockey stick backwards like a baseball bat and charged at them. He hit the middle man in the stomach with the blade before he swung it up to nail him in the face as well. The two other goons charged him, but they were both slower than Casey. Casey swiped the large one off his feet by targeting his ankles and jumped backwards to avoid the other one's punches. He kicked off the wall of the alley and landed behind a trashcan. With a grin hidden by his mask, Casey kicked the trashcan at the man still standing. "Choke on this, punk!"

Raph watched the kid fighting the Purple Dragons with a mild interest. He was going to step in, but this kid got to them first. He had to admit, the kid had some good moves, but Raph wasn't sure how to feel. One on hand, he didn't have to deal with the Dragons because this kid got there first. On the other, who was this kid? Was he a member of some other gang? A Foot Soldier? Just some punk? He was content on just following the kid from the rooftops, but even after the Dragons went down, the kid didn't let up on his wailing. This guy's out of control. Raph rolled his eyes and jumped down to stop the fighting before the Dragons actually did end up in the hospital. Or the morgue.

As the guy with the hockey stick wound his arms back to crack open Sid's skull, Raph used his sai to disarm him of the wooden stick. The kid let out a sound of confusion, but Raph kept himself out of his eyesight by ducking behind him and stomping down on his back. He scrambled backwards and pulled out a baseball bat from the variety of weapons he had strapped to his back.

Raph waited in the shadows before he struck again. He had to admit, he got a little bit of sick pleasure out of hearing this kid's voice waiver with anxiousness when he couldn't spot his attacker.

"Who's back there? Show yourself!"

Raph finally made himself known before the kid started beating on a trashcan with the bat. He stepped out of the shadows and cracked his knuckles.

"Another mutant?" Asked the man, his voice sounding rather shocked.

Raph growled, "Got a problem with that?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Wait!" The kid extended the baseball bat so he could use it to point at Raph. "I've seen you before! You're in a gang with other turtle ninja dudes!" As he and Raph faced off against each other, Sid and Tsoi made a break for it. "Hey, you filthy scum!" The man in the mask yelled after them, "I'm not done with you!"

"Let me handle this." Raph rolled his eyes and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Outta my way!" The kid elbowed Raph hard in the plastron to break his hold.

Raph bit back a venomous string of insults. "You know," He followed after him. "Anger is a dangerous ally." Raph shoved the kid hard into some garbage cans, keeping him from going after the Purple Wimps. "Why don't you cool off for a while?" Raph asked.

The man gripped his bat harder and swung it over his shoulder threateningly. "That's it, lagarto, I'm done with you." He charged at Raph with a battle cry of, "Goongala!"

His strikes were wild and heavy, but also relentless. Raph hated to admit it, but he was being kept on his toes a bit. If he wanted to, he could crack this kid's skull open, but he wanted to at least try and work on his anger. So instead, he blocked each hit with his sai while trying to find an opening. Raph trapped the bat in-between his sai's prongs and used his superior strength to force the kid into an awkward bend. "I told you, back off!" Raph snarled at him. He swung his arms down, disarming the man of the bat before he kicked him into a closed dumpster. Raph moved to leave, but the kid struggled back to his feet, heaving.

"You let those muggers go!" He yelled. "You're gonna pay for that, freak!" He tackled Raph into the opposing wall and picked up his bat. He swung it for Raph's head, but the turtle rolled under his arm to avoid the swing.

Raph threw some shuriken at him, but the kid blocked them with his hockey glove.

The kid looked at the shuriken sticking out of his glove for a moment. "Gotta admit," He said, "Throwing stars are cool."

Raph smirked and spun out his sai again, "Let me show you my sai!"

The masked man laughed and pulled out his second hockey stick so that he was armed with both hands. He and Raph spent at least half an hour beating on each other, both too stubborn to give up. "Ain't," Panted the kid. "Ain't turtles supposta be endangered?"

Raph let out a dry chuckle, "Only the ones who can't do this!" Raph delivered a hard double kick to the kid's chest, which send him sprawling across the concrete. He coughed and groaned on the ground as Raph approached him. Suddenly, he was on his feet and was rollerblading away after some kind of contraption came out of his sneakers. Raph found himself enjoying this fight, despite the beating he was getting in return for his dishing. Donnie would love this guy. He thought. Raph chased after him, but now that he was on wheels, he was much harder to catch. Soon he found himself being smacked around from drive-by attacks. The kid aimed another overhead strike with his bat, one that would surely crack Raph's head open, but that's when the more experienced fighter spotted an opening. He grabbed the kid by the shoulders as he swung down, and rolled over him, so that he was back on his feet. He raised the kid up in the air and smashed him down on the hood of a car.

"That...hurt." Groaned the kid as he rubbed at his head.

Raph stomped down on his chest and raised his sai high in the air, ready to... Ready to what? Finish him off? Raph gasped at himself and stumbled backwards, tripping over his feet and hitting the ground hard. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest that it was all he could hear in his ears. He could tell he was shaking now, but he wasn't sure if it was from the adrenaline or the fear of what he almost did. "What am I doin'?" He asked himself. Again, he didn't notice just how angry he had gotten until he had gone too far. He really did have anger issues.

Scared, the kid broke out a potato masher rigged with electric batters and used it like a taser.

Raph screamed as the electricity coursed through him, and he when he came back, the kid was gone. Yeah, you better run. Raph thought as he started to limp his way back to the lair. Or skitch, or whatever.

When Raph got back to the lair, he was met with mixed welcomes. First, Miwa started to chastise him about missing patrol, but that's when Leo noticed how banged up he was. Mikey and Splinter tried to get him to talk, but Raph was just so tired and sore, he just didn't wanna talk about it.

"We got another bad guy to look out for." Is all he said before he slammed his door shut and collapsed on his bed.

Casey didn't feel like getting out bed that morning, let alone going out with his friends. But if his dad saw him after last night, he'd never hear the end of it. So Casey ducked out while his dad was busy making breakfast, shouting some excuse about hockey as he ran out the door. Or, more like hobbled out the door.

He tried to hide his face from his friends when they found him practicing hockey, at the still being repaired, ice rink, but without his hockey mask that he had spray painted, they could easily see his bruises.

"Woah!" Sunita gasped at his black eye, bruised cheek, and sloppily placed bandaid over his nose. "Casey, what happened?"

"I just, uhh, got mugged." Casey lied, pulling away from Irma, who tried to examine his face.

"Were you mugged by a bus?" April asked, adjusting her sunglasses up her nose.

"You should see the other guy!" Casey laughed, but winced when his lungs expanded.

"Did you report it to the police?" Irma asked. "Or your dad?"

Casey rolled his eyes, "I got beat up a little, so what? Nothing got stolen, plus, the police and I, aren't exactly on good terms." Casey shrugged.

Irma cocked an eyebrow. "Did you just say you got mugged?"

"What are you, Irma," Casey snapped, "My interrogator? Do I get a free phone call too?"

"Stop!" Sunita pushed herself between them. She looked at Casey with a frown, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Like I said," Casey scratched at the bandaid on his nose, "You should see the other guy."

Irma huffed, like she still wasn't buying it, but Sunita grabbed her by the arm and led her over to get some snacks while they waited for Casey to be done for the afternoon.

Casey grabbed April's shoulder and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "Hey, I saw something crazy last night." He looked up to make sure that Irma and Sunita weren't in earshot. "And I know you've seen some crazy shit too, but I don't wanna Irma or Sunita gettin' involved. They can't protect themselves like we can."

April had a feeling she already knew what he was going to tell her, and she frowned in anticipation. She hated lying to her friends.

"It was some crazy mutant dude! Like that thing that grabbed Sunita last month."

"Casey, I-"

Casey rolled his eyes in annoyance at her tone, "Don't look at me like I'm crazy, Red. We all saw it! Besides, we fought that robot dude with that witch chick a couple weeks ago. You know there's something going on."

April cringed at herself as she spoke again. "Casey, maybe you got hit a little harder than you thought when you got mugged."

Casey looked baffled for a second, before his expression turned to anger. "Fine, be that way." He snapped. He got off the ice rink and stomped over to the dressing room to grab his gear.

Donnie settled down with his soda in hand, but Mikey practically flung himself into Donnie's side with popcorn in hand. Luckily, he didn't hurt the arm that was still in a sling.

"Yo!" Beamed the youngest of the Hamato clan. "You ready for forty-eight hours of mega-thrusting, evil fighting, galaxy saving, Super Sentai action?"

"I was." Donnie shook the popcorn from his face and picked it out of his cast. "Until you spilled greasy popcorn all over me!"

Mikey just took the popcorn Donnie was gathering and popped it into his mouth. "My bad." He shrugged.

As Leo went to join his brothers on the couch, he was stopped by Raph.

"Hey, Leo. You got a minute?" He asked, slightly limping.

"Sure." Leo went into Raph's room and instantly began looking over the wounds his brother had sustained the night before. "Did you get hit by a bus?" Leo asked, even without his x-ray machine, he could tell Raph had at least bruised some bones.

Raph let out a dry chuckle, but cringed as his lungs expanded. "You should see the other guy." He commented.

Leo rolled his eyes.

"Look, I'm, uhhh... Sorry... For yesterday." Raph muttered.

Leo blinked in surprise, then his face relaxed back to a neutral expression. "I appreciate that, but don't you think you should be apologizing to Donnie?"

"I'm gonna." Raph snapped, though with little force. "But, I dunno... I just... Things between me and Donnie aren't..." He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "After the whole Spike/Slash thing, we haven't..."

"Things aren't going to get better if you keep icing each other out." Leo pointed out. He took some bandages from a drawer in Raph's room and started to wrap it around the poorly dressed leg wound.

"I'm not the only one who's fucking up!" Raph shouted.

Leo didn't react to the outburst. "I didn't say you were." He said calmly.

"I thought I had my anger under control, turns out I didn't." Raph huffed. "But, I... I really want to work on it." Before I seriously hurt someone. Or worse.

Leo looked up at Raph's emerald eyes and pursed his lips together. "What happened last night?" He pressed, his twin senses going off the map. "I know you said you fought some vigilante, or something, but something else happened. Didn't it?"

"What are 'ya?" Raph looked away. "A mind-reader like April?" He scoffed.

"No." Leo sat down on Raph's bed. "But I can read your mind." With a teasing smile he added, "And I'm not hearing any swear words or thoughts of violence, so what's up?"

Raph took a deep breath and looked at his brother. "You'll judge me." He said.

"Maybe," Leo said, "But I'll always care about you anyway."

"That kid I fought last night." Raph answered quietly. "I know I said he was another bad guy, but I don't actually think so."

"What do you mean?"

"I caught him defendin' some guy after getting mugged by the Purple Losers." Raph explained, scratching at his palm. "But, the way he was doin' it... If I hadn't stepped in, he might've killed one of 'em. Or all of 'em!"

"So?" Leo asked.

Raph looked at him, shocked.

"You've talked about taking them down for good more than once." Leo pointed out. "So, why did you intervene?"

"I dunno... I guess when I was... Watchin' it... Thinking it could happen, it made my skin itch." Raph sighed and leaned back so his head was on the pillow. "I guess I saw myself at the moment, when you guys get in my way and tell me to cool it? And then, when I was fighting him, I thought I was having fun. But then, I got him trapped against the hood of a car and I... I almost..." He looked up to see Leo's expression, but it was the same neutral as it had been when he started. "I could've done some serious damage." Raph finally admitted. 

The brothers sat in silence for good long while before Leo finally spoke again. "Thanks."

"For what?" Raph asked. "Apologizing?"

"No. For telling me."

"Yeah, whatever." Raph huffed and stood up. "I'm going out."

"Raph," Leo called after him, but the red-cladded turtle was already out the door.

Despite the bruising on his hands, Raph started punching a trashcan over and over and over again. He kept beating on it until he punched his fist through the metal. He snarled at the blood that oozed from his skin as he tore his fist free and he kicked the broken trash bin into the wall. What was he doing telling Leo all that? Now he was going to go to Master Splinter and snitch on him! And then Raph'd be banned from going on missions until he fixed his anger problems. Which meant he'd never leave the sewers again! And worse, now his brother knew what a fucked up piece of shit Raph really was.

Redressed in his crime fighting gear, Casey broke out his journal to start writing down times again. Now he was focused on taking down that gang of turtle ninjas, as well as that trio of muggers he let get away last night. He must've let 'em get away because they were friends! They were in the same gang or something, yeah that made sense.

The red turtle hits like a truck. He wrote after drawing a sketch of the turtle's dark green shell with red accents. My body feels like a punching bag that's been run over, like, ten times. He's a worthy opponent, I'll give him that. Too bad he's on Casey Jones's shit list.

As luck would have it, the second Casey looked up from his journal, he spotted the very same turtle stomping around on some rooftop. Casey slammed his journal shut and stuffed it into his gear bag that he tucked away on his apartment's rooftop. He started to strap on his two hockey sticks and baseball bat as he made his way across the street. He lost sight of the turtle, but only for a short moment. He heard a large crashing followed by a cat yowling and running down the street. He peered around the corner to see the turtle kicking the shit out of a brick wall.

"Stupid piece of shit!" He yelled. "Get over yourself, man!"

Casey watched him climb into the sewers, still screaming his head off. After waiting a moment, Casey lifted the manhole cover and scrunched up his nose at the smell. Sure, villains were scum-sucking filth, but did they have to choose the sewers as a hideout? Whatever. Casey followed the sound of the turtle screaming.

What Casey failed to notice, was he wasn't the only one who had followed the turtle into the sewers.

About four hours into the Super Robo Mecha Force Five marathon, Leo scoffed at the episode they were on. But not because he disliked the show, but instead because he hated how the team could've been so careless. "How can one guy infiltrate Super Robo Mecha Headquarters?"

"He used his laser tentacle to shut down the defense systems." Mikey explained. "Duh!"

Leo rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I saw it happen, Mikey. I'm just saying, Captain Dash would never let his team be so careless!"

Raph walked through the turnstiles of the lair and called out for Leo. "Hey, I uhh, need your help again."

Leo looked up lazily, but then shot to his feet when he saw Raph's bloody hand. "What the hell? What did you do?" Leo ran to the med bay to grab some supplies while Mikey and Donnie paused the show. Donnie cringed away from the bloody sight of Raph's hand.

"You guys watch so much TV, your brains are gonna rot." Raph commented, ignoring Mikey's frown at his hand.

"Dude, did you beat up a garbage can again?" Mikey asked. "That's a nasty gash."

"I'm fine." Raph muttered.

"You gotta stop doing that, dude!"

"I said, I'm fine! Butt out, Mikey!" When Leo returned, the show was resumed, and the brother's watched in silence.

Casey watched from behind the turnstiles, waiting for the perfect chance to act. Ugh, they even have bad taste in anime. He thought to himself. Who watches the dub? As Casey shifted in his stance, his hockey stick smacked into a pizza box that was sitting on top of the turnstile. As it clattered to the floor, the four turtles shot to their feet.

"An intruder!" Called out the one with the purple shell.

"You? Again?" Snarled the red one, charging at him.

Casey jumped over the turnstile and smacked him away with his hockey stick, but now it was four-against-one. The blue and orange ones grabbed him by the arms, while the purple one disarmed him of his weapons.

"You know this guy, Raph?" Asked the orange-cladded one.

"This is that vigilante I was talkin' about." Answered the red one, who's name was apparently Raph.

Casey struggled in their holds, but he wasn't strong enough to make them budge. "Get your stinking paws off me!" He yelled at them.

"What's all this yelling?"

Casey looked up to find a fine looking chick walking out of one of the sewer tunnels with a raise eyebrow. As she got closer, Casey realized he'd seen her before. He bumped into her on the street with April once! Did these freaks kidnap her or something?

"Intruder." Answered the blue-shelled turtle.

The girl walked up to Casey with narrowed amber eyes. Her fingers looped under his mask and pulled it up, revealing his face to this ugly criminals. Luckily for Casey, this time he had painted his face a white and black camouflage color scheme. The girl looked unimpressed however.

"He's just some kid." She said to the turtles. "Are you saying he's the one that beat the shit out of you?" She smirked at the red one.

"Hey, I dealt just as bad as I got." He glared at her.

"Let me go of me, you stupid reptiles!" He yelled at them. "Tell your pets to let go of me!" He yelled at her.

"Don't call them pets." She snarled in his face, raising a sharp, metal fan to his throat. "And you're not actually in the position to be making demands here."

"See, Master Splinter!" Said an all too familiar voice. "I told you I felt something off!"

Casey looked to his right to see April walking towards him.

"I am glad you are taking my lessons to heart, April. You are learning to trust your instincts. A well-honed intuition can be sharper than your eyes."

"April?" Casey gasped.

She squinted her eyes but then they widened as she ran over to him. "Casey? Casey!" She didn't recognize him through the face paint, but she knew the voice.

"You know this guy?" Asked the turtles and the girl with the fan.

"You know these guys?" Casey asked as they shoved him away from them.

"Don't hurt him!" April stepped between the six teenagers. "He's my friend." She said to the turtles and the girl. She then turned to him, "Casey, what are you doing here?"

Casey narrowed his eyes and took a step backwards, "A better question is; How do you know these freaks?"

"April." Said the girl, popping her hip to the side.

April sighed. "Casey, these are the... other friends I told you about."

Casey looked confused. "Wait, so they're not the bad guys?" He asked.

"No way!" April answered.

"But that one stopped me from fighting crime!" He pointed at Raph.

"I stopped you from killin' people!" Raph shot back. "Big difference."

April sighed again and rubbed her temples. "Casey Jones, meet Hamato Miwa, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and, well, I guess you're already well acquainted with the one and only Raphael."

"So, the turtles are all... Italian?" Casey asked.

"No." Answered the deep voice Casey thought he had heard enter with April. "I named my sons after my favorite painters and sculptors of the Italian Renaissance."

Casey shrieked and jumped backwards as a huge freaking rat walked towards him on two legs. "Rat!" He screamed.

"Casey, don't worry!" April tried to calm him down. "Sorry, Master Splinter, Casey's not a fan of rats." She frowned. She turned back to Casey, "Don't worry, he won't hurt you. He's actually a really cool guy."

Splinter nodded to Casey, unbothered by the outburst. "You do not have to fear me, my friend." He said. "Rest assured, I do not bite."

"He's a giant, talking rat?" He asked April.

April nodded.

Casey then hesitantly looked over at the turtles and the girl. "And they're giant, talking turtles?"

April nodded again.

"And what about the chick?"

"I have a name." Miwa rolled her eyes. "And I'm Master Splinter's daughter, and the turtles's sister."

"But you're a chick." He said again. "And not like, a giant talking chicken, but a normal-sized, talking, girl." Casey said slowly.

"Miwa is my daughter," Splinter confirmed it. "I was once human, like yourself."

"Right..." Casey shuffled a bit further back from Splinter.

Raph laughed, mockingly. "Big, bad vigilante boy's afraid of rats!"

Mikey bore a shit eating grin and showed Raph a cockroach he found on the floor. Raph screamed and jumped behind Leo for protection. Mikey laughed this time, "Kinda like you and bugs, huh?"

"So, what about that?" Casey asked, pointing at April's hands. "You get in a paint fight or something?"

April blushed when she realized Casey had seen her without her sunglasses and gloves. "I, uh..." Then her face scrunched up and her eyes closed.

Casey went to ask if she was okay, but the others shushed him, like April having an aneurysm was something they were used too.

"What is it, April? Splinter asked, calmly.

"Sensei, we're not alone!" April pointed down the sewer tunnels to show them a Footbot watching them. The glowing eyes of several more shown through the darkness.

"Raph?" Miwa yelled, unfolding her tessen again. "You lead the Foot right to our lair?"

"It's the kid's fault!" Raph yelled back at her. "He was following me!"

"My fault?" Casey scoffed.

Mikey pushed past them to charge at the Footbots. "Booyakasha!" He smacked one into the sewer waters and used his kusarigama chain to disembowel the robot's wires from the chest cavity.

Leo sliced a couple in two while Miwa countered with her tessen, decapitating the robots. Donnie stabbed at the Foot that came for him with his good arm while defending the one in a sling. April dive-rolled under a Footbot and brought up her tanto to stab it through the head. Splinter's tail shot out and he wrapped it around the neck of one of the robots. He used it like a wrecking ball to smash a couple more into the sewer walls. He then squeezed his tail and the robot's head popped off.

"You're the one who did this!" Raph wanted to clarify to Casey, as they were forced back to back.

"They followed you, too, dude!" Casey snapped, using his hockey stick to smack away a robot.

"Don't dude me, dude." Raph clicked at him, trapping the arm of one of the Footbots between his sai before he ripped it's arm clean off.

Splinter quickly finished off the remaining five robots, earning a woah from his children and a round of applause from April. "Stay alert." He said to them. "More are coming."

Sure enough, about a dozen more entered the lair. A specific one caught Donnie's attention, as its head scanned around the lair while the other ones ran in for a fight. "Hey! It'll give away our location!" He informed his family.

Splinter defended the seven teenagers easily from the robots assault. "Do not let that robot escape."

Leo and Miwa led the others through the Footbots, but quickly found there were too many to get outside of the main station. The robot Donnie had pointed out took off.

"Casey Jones is on it!" Casey yelled to his new allies. Despite his arguing with Raph, he did feel at least partially at fault.

Raph smacked him into the couch by ramming his shoulder into him. "Tell Casey Jones that I don't need his help."

Ignoring the red-cladded turtle, Casey went after the robot. They followed it out into the active subway tunnels, though luckily, the stations were all still closed down. The robot scaled the walls and crawled along the ceiling like it was a spider, probably trying to hide from it's pursuers.

Raph got out his grappling hook and aimed it at the robot, but Casey got in its path. Casey was pulled backwards after Raph's grappling hook was embedded into his hockey stick.

"What are you doing?" Casey groaned.

"Me?" Raph scoffed, pulling his hook free and running after the robot. "You got in my way!"

The robot jumped down from the ceiling and hid in a group of Footbots that had come down the tunnel.

"Where'd it go?" Casey asked, smacking around as many robots as he could.

"If that bot gets back to Shinigami and gives away our hideout, you answer to Splinter!" Raph threatened Casey as they took out the robots in their path.

"The rat?" Casey shivered. Then he spotted a robot trying to sneak away from the group. Thinking fast, Casey pulled out one of his spray paints and launched it at the robot with his hockey stick. It exploded over the back of the robot, staining the black fabric a bright orange color. "Yes!" He cheered.

Raph, however, was unimpressed. Or at least, he pretended to be. "Next time, tag it with a real grenade!"

They raced after it again, having just barely finished the dozen robots. Casey activated his skates and jumped onto the railways to catch up it the robot. "Move faster, man!" Casey joked at Raph's expense. "I know turtles are slow, but damn!"

Raph opened his mouth to retort something vicious, but then he noticed the shaking of the tracks. Having lived in the sewers all his life, he recognized those tremors. "Train!" He warned Casey. He threw himself over him, knocking them both down a tunnel and out of the path of the subway car that mowed down the robot. "You okay?" He asked.

Casey wiped at his brow, smudging the face paint off. "Thanks." He said.

They waited for the train to finish passing before they went to check on the unfortunate victim.

"Think it still works?" Casey asked.

"Better not find out." Raph responded and pulled out his sai to stab the robot.

The unflattened arm shot out for Raph, a kunai shooting out from it's palm. It almost got Raph in the neck, but Casey swung down his hockey stick and broke the arm before it reached it's victim.

"Thanks." Raph said. He stabbed the robot through the metallic skull.

"Don't mention it." Casey smiled. "Call us even."

April sighed as she finished, running her fingers through her hair. "And, that's the whole story."

"So you're part alien?" Casey asked, just to make sure he heard it right.

April frowned but nodded. "I'm sorry I lied to you earlier. I just... I have to protect their secret, you know?"

Casey looked over at the family cleaning up the robot parts. "I get it." He shrugged. "Sorry for snapping at you."

April bumped into him playfully, "It's okay."

"And if it means anything," Casey added. "I think it's pretty cool that you're half alien! Makes you unique!"

"I don't want to be unique." April admitted quietly. "But thanks, I guess."

Casey frowned, having unintentionally struck a nerve with his friend. "So, does anyone else know?"

"Which part?" April gave a dry laugh.

"All of it?" Casey chuckled. "The mutant friends, the fact you're part, Kang?"

"Kraang." April corrected. "And only my dad and my aunt."

"So Irma and Sunita don't know?"

"No. Like you said, I want to protect them from getting hurt. That's why I didn't tell you."

"Guess I'm special." Casey laughed. "So, am I ever gonna meet your dad or aunt? It's only fair right? You've met my papa and Julia."

"You can meet my aunt." April shrugged. "Right now, my dad is a giant mutant bat."

Casey blinked a bit as he processed her words. Then he burst out laughing at just how plainly she said something so crazy. "Damn, Red! You got a crazy fuckin' life."

"I would appreciate if you would watch your language in my home." Splinter said, making Casey jump backwards, away from him.

Chapter Text

It had been a week since Casey learned the truth about the Hamato clan, and now he was well on his way to being accepted as part of the team. April and Casey waited on a park bench not far from the nearest manhole to the lair, making sure the cost was clear and no one would see them go into the sewers.

"Y'know, Casey, it's awesome having someone else who know about the Hamato." April said to him, pulling one of her headphones to the side so that she could hear his response. "Other than my aunt, that is. And I'm glad I don't have to hide from you anymore."

"Gotta admit, the whole thing's pretty mind-blowing." Casey shrugged. “A bunch of Ninja Turtles living in the sewers with a rat master and a teenage sister? I mean, you couldn't made this stuff up!" He looked up from the comic he was flipping through and scanned the street casually.

"Coast is clear." April said without even looking up from where she had been texting Sunita.

Casey got up and stretched casually before he pulled out his gear from under the bench they were sitting on. "What were you and Sun talkin' about?" He asked.

April frowned, "Sorry, Case. Promised her I wouldn't say."

"Oh, so you'll tell me about being half alien and having giant animals for friends, but you won't tell me that?" He joked, not actually upset with her.

"Sorry, Jones. This has nothing to do with you." April teased as she pulled back the manhole cover. Truthfully, she had been trying to talk Sunita out of asking Irma out on a date. She thought it was sweet that Sunita had a crush on her, and it was nice that Sunita was trying to have a life outside of finding her brother. On the other hand, April wasn't sure if Irma was interested in dating at all, let alone Sunita. She just didn't want her friend to get hurt. Changing the topic, April looked at Casey as he pulled down his hockey mask. "So, what's with the mask? It's not like they don't know who you are."

"Same reason people have worn masks throughout history." Casey replied. "Cause it looks cool! Ugh!" He started down the latter. "Doesn't help with the smell, though." They splashed down into the sewers, and Casey gagged again. "Disgusting! How can you stand it?"

April shrugged and let out a dry laugh. "I had to live down here for weeks a few months back. You get used to it. Donnie keeps the lair filtered though, it'll smell better once we get closer." Then April inhaled deeply without a real reason, "Ugh! Actually, something does smell different down here. It's weird..." She trailed off and started walking in the opposite direction of the lair. "It's like moldy cheese and puke..." She said.

Casey watched her maneuver through the sewers like an expert while he kept to the side and used his flashlight to see where he was going. "Is this an alien thing?" He jokingly asked. "You following weird instincts and seeing in the dark?"

April ignored the innocent teasing for now and kept searching for the source of the odd smell.

"Ahhhh!" Came a scream from a tunnel next to them. "Squirrel! Giant, mutant squirrel!"

"Mutant squirrel?" April asked aloud, following the screaming. "That's a new one."

"Think that guy saw the crazy rat dude?" Asked Casey, still shivering at the thought of Master Splinter.

"Likely not." April answered. "Master Splinter rarely leaves the lair."

The man that had been screaming pushed past them as if the two teens weren't even there and kept running for the exit. April and Casey followed after him, but when he rounded a corner ahead of them, they lost his tracks.

"Where'd he go?" Asked Casey.

"I don't know." April covered her nose with her hands. "I can't smell anything but whatever that cheesy smell is."

"Hello?" Casey yelled out for the panicked sewer worker. "Crazy dude?"

April's hand shot out and she gripped Casey's wrist. "Something's wrong!" She said through gritted teeth.

"Ow!" Casey exclaimed, already feeling a bruise forming underneath her narrow fingers. "Red, you got a wicked grip! Let go!" He tried to pull away, but April was somehow stronger than he was at this point.

April's senses overwhelmed her and she fell down, dragging Casey with her. She finally let go of him as she covered her nose and mouth, gasping for clean air.

"Red, you're freakin' me out!" Casey said, trying to help her up.

April lifted her head, trying to speak, but that's when she spotted something on the tunnel wall next to her. The moment she tried to lean in closer and examine it, it sprayed something nasty in her face, like a skunk times a thousand. It took over all her senses, blinding her and trapping her inside her own little nightmare.

"You okay, Red?" Casey asked, patting her on the back as she violently coughed into her hands. "Maybe we should get you some fresh air?" He suggested.

April let out a blood curdling scream and pushed Casey away with the same unnatural strength she used on his wrist seconds prior. He was lucky he was wearing his mask, otherwise his face would've been smashed against the metal tunnel wall. He tried to shake off the dizziness that followed, and when his vision came back, April was gone. "April? April!"

In a meditation session with his sister and father, Leo struggled to hold his concentration. He was trying to empty his mind, but all he could think about was that terrible nightmare that plagued him each night. He groaned, giving up trying to achieve the calm bliss that came from meditation.

"Leonardo?" Splinter as suddenly, startling his son.

Miwa sniffled a giggle, which gave away she hadn't been as deep in meditation as Leo had thought.

"Sorry, Sensei." Leo sighed. "Can't seem to focus."

"I noticed." Splinter replied. He looked at Miwa and nodded to her, "May I speak to your brother in private?"

Miwa shrugged and left the dojo.

"What is it that troubles you, my son?" Splinter asked, facing Leo.

Leo sat cross legged in front of his father and took a deep breath. "I keep having the same nightmare, Sensei. Every night. I can't sleep more than an hour before I wake up panicking."

Splinter frowned his tail swishing on the floor as he listened. "What is the nightmare about?" He questioned.

"Its stupid." Leo replied bitterly. "We're fighting giant mutant snakes and because I'm so stupid, I let my fear of snakes win." He hugged his knees to his chest. "I let everyone down and they're dragged off into the darkness because I'm powerless to help."

"Do not call yourself stupid because you have a fear, my son." Splinter said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "This is not uncommon for someone who cares about another."

"You have dreams about snakes?" Leo asked.

"Not exactly," Splinter gave a small chuckle on his son's behalf. "But I do dream of my fears as well. I dream almost every night about loosing my family. And when I awake, I am confronted with this fear every time you and your siblings leave the lair."

Leo laid his head on his father's hand, trying to think of what to say next. "No offense, Father, but hearing that makes my snake phobia seem really dumb."

Splinter laughed again and hugged his son.

Miwa, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were watching another episode of Super Robo Mecha Force Five. Miwa was barely paying attention to the show, she was more interested in making sure Mikey didn't put knots in her hair as he played with it. Donnie finally got his cast off and was using a small, handheld dumbbell that Raph gave him to help rebuild strength in his arm. Despite Leo's trying and Splinter and April's Healing Hands, his arm was heavily scared from the compound fracture that Slash had caused.

"According to Casey," Mikey said, after they watched Captain Dash get stepped on by the team's own giant Mecha suit. "In the original Japanese dub, Coolstar gets squashed for real."

"That's just an anime myth." Donnie rolled his eyes at the notion. "The language doesn't change what happens in the animation. He clearly gets back up like nothing happened."

"Nerds!" Raph fake coughed into his hand.

"Maybe he'd be more interesting as a pancake." Miwa muttered to herself.

"You don't like Coolstar?" Mikey gasped. "He's my favorite character!"

"I think he's boring." She answered. Like the whole show, She thought to herself.

Casey ran into the main station, practically tripping over the turnstile as he jumped over it. "Guys! April! Sewer! Hurry!" He panted.

"Casey, what's wrong?" Raph stood, watching the teenage boy nearly dry heave like his life depended on it.

"Are the Footbots back?" Asked Miwa.

Casey shook his head as he tried to catch his breath. "We were on our way here," He explained, "Next thing I know, April starts freakin' out and runs off! I tried to find her, but she's gone!"

"Well, April knows the sewers almost as well as we do at this point." Donnie muttered. "So, she's probably not lost."

"Maybe she's lookin' for something?" Mikey suggested. "Or she was eaten by a giant sewer snake or something." He added.

"She was freaking out, how?" Leo asked, coming from the dojo after hearing the commotion. Leo pretended not to notice the shiver that racked his body when Mikey said Giant Sewer Snake, but Raph noticed, because he started smirking at his brother.

"Some crazy dude was screamin about a giant monster squirrel," Casey explained. "And April tried to go after him. Then she started going crazy! She slammed me against the wall and ran off! I tried callin' her, but I think she turned off her ringer because I couldn't hear nothing!"

"Alright, relax, Jones." Miwa said. "Just show us where you were before she ran off."

Casey led them down around tunnel 225 before he stopped and turned back to them. "It was somewhere around here." He said. "I think."

"You think?" Donnie scoffed. "Well, that's helpful."

"Back off, Stick Master!" Casey spun, shining his flashlight in Donnie's face. "I've only been down here like, four times!"

"Who are you calling Stick Master, Puck Head?" Donnie clicked in annoyance.

"Aren't you supposta be tracking her?" Casey sneered. "Why you yelling at me?"

"Stop it." Miwa grabbed Donnie by his good arm and started dragging him further down the tunnel. "Assert your dominance over the sewers later." As they got deeper and deeper into the maze, still trying to find April, Miwa scrunched her nose up in disgust. "Ugh," she groaned, covering her nose. "What is that smell? It's not sewer stink, it's stink stink."

"April said that too!" Casey said. "Right before she freaked out, she was talkin' about things smelling off." A squeaking sound made Casey drop his flashlight, which only illuminated a couple of rats munching on a takeout container. "Ew, I hate rats!" He shivered. He pulled out his hockey stick to try and get the flashlight away from the rats, but when one of them sniffed the stick, he dropped that too.

"Dude, rats are everywhere down here." Mikey laughed. "They're just nature's cuddly, little friends."

"Yeah, and don't forget our father is a rat." Smirked Miwa. "You gotta get used to them or else you're not gonna last long."

Casey took the flashlight and hockey stick from Leo with a grimace. "No thanks." He inched backwards, away from Mikey playing with the rats. A muffled sound made Casey jerk his head to the right. "Did ya hear that?" He asked. He peered his head into the adjacent tunnel, shining his flashlight to see if he could find anything.

What looked like a glowing blue mushroom was all that Casey could make out, which only made him more confused. Why were plants growing all the way down here? Curious, he reached forward and poked it with his gloved finger. It released a cloud of yellow dust that puffed out into Casey's face, filling his nose and his mouth. "Ugh!" He cried, stumbling backwards, coughing up whatever just exploded in his face. "That was so gross!"

"Dude, you put your face in a New York City sewer." Raph laughed. "What'd you expect?"

On the ground, Casey finally stopped coughing enough to answer. "I thought I saw..." He trailed off as he looked back into the tunnel. He froze when he saw something looking back at him. On two legs with glowing red eyes, Casey realized it was a giant ass rat looking at him like a piece of Swiss cheese. That thing was at least three times bigger than Splinter, and it licked its lips at him.

"Ahhh!" Screamed Casey, backing up into the wall behind him.

"Casey, what is it?" Asked Leo.

"I... I saw it, man! La Rata Demonio!"

"La whata domino?" Mikey repeated, unsure of what Casey had said.

Casey was whimpering on the ground, his eyes darting around the sewers like something was waiting to pop out. He shone his flashlight around, searching for whatever he said he had seen. Suddenly, he was on his feet again, using his hockey sticks to swat at the ground as if something was swarming his feet even though nothing was there. He screamed for "them to get off" him.

"Casey, what is wrong with you?" Miwa asked, concerned at the erratic behavior.

"They're everywhere!" Is all Casey yelled back. He tried to scale one of the tunnel pipes and rid himself of his nonexistent enemy, but soon he was back in the sewer water, ripping at his clothing and beating himself with hard slaps.

"Restrain him." Miwa frowned.

Donnie and Raph did so, holding Casey against the sewer walls, each holding one arm so that he couldn't hurt himself any longer. "Casey, chill out, man." Raph said.

"Let me out! Let me out!" Casey was actually crying now, jumping from foot to foot like he was dancing on hot coals.

"Casey, calm down." Miwa said. "What's wrong with you?"

"Don't eat me!" Casey wailed.

"Dude, turtles aren't cannibals." Mikey made a gagging sound. "Yuck!"

"Actually, some species of turtles have been known to regularly engage in cannibalism if no food is present." Donnie corrected him. "For example, snapping turtles and red-ear sliders are-"

"Donnie, not helping!" Raph glared at his brother. Once Casey stopped thrashing, they released him, but the poor kid fell to the ground and curled himself into a ball. He kept muttering a phrase in Spanish that they didn't recognize while wiping at his tears.

"Maybe we should get him back to the lair?" Suggested Leo.

"That's probably a smart idea." Miwa said. "Donnie, Raph and I will keep looking for April. Leo, take Mikey and bring Casey back to the lair." She looked at him on the ground, seemingly recovering from a panic attack or something. "And keep him away from Master Splinter."

April's scream came from a couple tunnels down, startling the Hamato teens. With them distracted, Casey broke away from them and ran off in the same direction as April.  "Te salvaré!" He yelled.

Running after Casey and April, they found them both in small pool in the sewers. Casey was yelling at April, telling her they had to go before the rats came back, but April didn't move. April was curled into a ball of her own, her hands covering her ears while she rocked herself back and forth. As the group got closer, they heard what she was whispering to herself.

"I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm a monster." She repeated in hopeless sob. Her crying only emphasized the unusual glowing effect her neon green eyes seemed to have in the dark.

While Leo checked on Casey, Donnie reached out for April slowly. His hand gently touched her shoulder, and that's when she snapped her head up to look at him.

"I don't want to be a monster, Donnie!" She sobbed. "I don't want to be a Kraang! Make it stop!" She outstretched her hands, showing him that the pink stains had progressed further up her hands, now coming up to her knuckles.

"April, you're... You're not a monster." Donnie frowned, not knowing how to help. "Everything is going to be okay. I..." He helped her stand, and took one of her hands in his so that she would stop scratching the back of her neck. He cringed when he spotted red on her abnormally long nails after pulling her hands away from her neck, but he tried not to think about it.

"This is freaking me out." Mikey pouted.

"It'll be fine, Mikey." Raph put his arm around his brother's shoulder. "They just... Need some fresh air."

"Shh!" Leo hushed the group, despite April and Casey's whimpers. "Do you hear that?"

Rolling down the tunnel they came from was a illuminated ball. Once it bumped into Mikey's foot, it opened to reveal it was a mushroom.

"What is that?" Raph cringed. The thing was blue and white, but had little spots of yellow that looked like eyes staring up at him. Then it stood, on limbs made of mycelium, which only made Raph more anxious of whatever it was. He stopped Mikey from poking it.

"It's kinda cute!" Mikey said.

"It's some kind of mutant mushroom?" Donnie knelt down to look at it, still holding onto April's hand. "Fascinating! We've only ever seen mutated animals before. Only Snakeweed is comparable, but even he was a human before hand."

Raph stopped Mikey from poking it again, but the mushroom jumped up to face height and sprayed Raph with a yellow mist of pollen. Raph yelled and tumbled backwards, coughing out the fumes he just inhaled.

 "It farted on Raph!" Mikey laughed, before the mushroom turned to him.

Donnie used his staff to smack the mushroom into the pool of water, but this upset April.

"No! Stop it! Turn me back, turn me back!" She begged an unknown assailant. "I wanna be human, please!"

"The rats! They're coming!" Casey crawled over to Raph, shaking him. "Get up, dude!"

"What is going on?" Mikey yelled.

"Forget it!" Casey pushed Raph away and took off running. "Get them off me!"

"Casey, come back!" Miwa yelled after him, but the tanned skinned boy didn't return.

"Raphael, are you okay?" Leo asked, kneeling by his brother as he coughed up the yellow pollen.

Raph shook his head, like he was trying to clear his thoughts. "I'm fi-" Raph's eyes widened with fear and he crawled backwards, away from Leo. "No, no, no, no!"

"Raph!" Leo reached for him, but Raph spun out his sai and stabbed at Leo's hand.

"Keep away from me!" He screamed. "I'm warnin ya!"

"Leo!" Miwa ran over to look at the gash Raph cut open on Leo's hand. "Raph, what the hell?"

Leo turned his hand and gripped her's, even though it was slick with his blood. "Something's wrong." He said. "Don't antagonize him."

Miwa took a deep breath, but nodded. "Raph, take it easy." She said. "We know it was an accident, right? Just breathe."

Raph backed away again, and raised both his sai in his shaking hands. "That's it! If you won't stay away, I'll splatter ya!" He ran at Leo and Miwa, but the two hugged to the walls of the tunnels and then knocked him to the ground when his shell was too them.

"Raph! Listen to me," Leo said. "You're not thinking clearly."

Raph jumped back to his feet and got into another ready stance.

"Donnie? Quick explanation?" Mikey asked.

"It's gotta be the fungus!" Donnie said. "It sprayed Raph and now he's acting just like Casey and April! That's gotta be the underlining factor."

"You're not gettin' me, roach!" Raph clicked at them. "I-I'll smash you until there's nothin' left!"

"Roach?" Miwa asked. "That's it!" She looked back at April with a frown then to her brothers. "Raph and Casey are afraid of cockroaches and rats." She said. "What if they're seeing their fears?"

"Then, April-" Donnie looked back at April, who was still crying and hugging her knees. "Oh."

Miwa took another step towards Raph, but he ran at her to attack again. His movements were rushed and unbalanced, however, so she easily avoided his blows. Mikey rushed in and knocked Raph down with a hard smack of his nunchuck.

"I don't like fightin' Raph!" Mikey said with a deep frown. "Sorry, bro! You're outta control!" He turned back to his brother.

Raph reached for his sai, but pulled his hand back when he saw it had landed in a puddle of cockroaches. He screamed and backed away from him beloved weapon now lost to the enemy. He looked back at the four giant cockroaches surrounding him, trying to figure out a plan to escape. His siblings were down here somewhere! They were in danger! He had to help them! But as they closed in around him, he found himself unable to do anything but shake like a coward. "No, get away!"

"We're not gonna hurt you, Raph." Said one of the cockroaches.

"Get back!" Raph kicked it away. "I'm not scared of you!"

As Donnie went flying, Mikey tackled Raph and wrapped him in his kusarigama chain, binding his arms. "Come on, dude! Stop fighting us!"

"Calm down!" The cockroach breathed over Raph's neck as he struggled against him. "Breathe with me!"

"Get off of me!" Raph screamed, trying to break free from Mikey's chains. "I'll kill ya! I'll kill ya, I swear to god!"

"No, no, leave me alone!" April wailed, staring down at her hands in horror. "Stop it, please!"

"April! April, listen!" Miwa put her hands on April's shoulders. "You're just seeing things! You're not a monster, I promise."

April looked up at the Kraang robot taunting her, but all she could do was cry. She looked down at her hands, at her fingers being stretched and sewn together by some cruel, twisted, sadistic god. "I don't want tentacles!" She screamed.

"We gotta get everyone back to the lair." Donnie said. "Maybe I can reserve the toxins if I get a sample of them!"

"What about Casey?" Leo asked.

"We have our hands full with Raph," Miwa answered with a frown. Mikey could barely hold Raph by himself, there was no way he could drag him back to the lair alone. "Casey'll have to wait." Let's just hope he doesn't beat himself to death before we can find him.

After getting back to the lair and filling in Splinter, Donnie got April and Raph into the lab so he could run some tests. He prepared a solution and placed down two cotton swabs to get samples from their unwilling friends. He approached April first, who was cowering the the corner of the lab, but had been compliant thus far. When he took the swab from her cheek, she screamed like he was hurting her and begged him to stop. Her desperate pleas made everyone's hearts hurt, but they couldn't do anything until Donnie's solution was completed.

"I'm sorry, April." Donnie whispered as he went back to his desk and placed her swab in the solution. Then he grabbed Raph and went over to the still struggling red-cladded turtle. At least Splinter was now here and helped Mikey hold Raph down so that he could swab Raph's cheek next. Raph nearly bit Donnie's hand in a desperate attempt to free himself, screaming he would kill them all and find his family before they devoured them.

"I was right." Donnie said after a couple long minutes of tortured screams. "They've both been exposed to toxins found in certain types of fungi. The mushroom-"

"Mushroom Man." Mikey corrected.

"Mushroom Man," Donnie repeated, "Must produce them as a defense mechanism.

"Defense against what?" Asked Leo. "Being stir-fried?"

"Let my family go!" Raph screamed. "Let them go now!"

"Raphael, try to close your eyes." Splinter said from next to his son. "Your mind is playing tricks on you. Your family is safe. We are safe."

"Shut up!" Raph screamed at him. "You disgusting things make me fucking sick! I'm not afraid of you!"

Splinter's ears flattened, but he said nothing against the abuse his middle child was spewing.

"He doesn't mean it, Master Splinter." Mikey frowned and hugged his father.

"I know, Michelangelo." Splinter patted his son's shell in response.

"Mikey? Mikey, where's Mikey?" Raph thrashed against his chains. "What did you do to my brother?"

Deciding it would be easier to look for Casey without Raph and April, the remaining Hamato teens left the lair with Splinter watching over their tormented friends.

"Casey?" Donnie yelled.

"Casey, where are you?" Called Leo.

"Ugh."

The brothers returned to where Miwa had stopped, hoping she had found Casey. Instead she had found something much worse.

"What is that stuff?" Mikey asked, his lip curling in disgust of the smell.

"It's Fungal Mycelium." Answered Donnie. "Where mushrooms come from."

"You mean like all these right here?" Mikey asked for clarification, gesturing to the walls and ceilings that were now covered in purple and cyan colored mold and mushrooms.

Donnie nodded and pulled Mikey away before he touched the closest one. "Fungus grows like crazy in the dark." He told his siblings. "If we don't stop these by sundown, the mushrooms'll spread all over the city!"

"And then millions of people will go crazy with fear." Miwa finished with a grim frown.

Donnie peered at a wall covered in mold, and knew that there wasn't a wall there previously. "Cut this?" He asked, not wanting to touch it.

Leo shivered and pulled out his swords, but Miwa stepped in front of him with a small smile. "I got it." She said and sliced through the mold with her wakizashi. Behind the false wall was a tunnel that was somehow covered in even more mold and mushrooms.

"So, what's the plan?" Asked Mikey as they walked down the fungus filled tunnel.

"Hopefully my solution will work on the fungus as well." Donnie answered. "But, I'll need to test it out on Casey before I know for sure."

"Why didn't you test it on April or Raph?" Miwa asked him.

Donnie frowned, "Because I dunno how well it'll work on either of them. Raph and April are both mutants. The solution might not cure them."

"Then how do we help them?" Leo asked. He felt useless knowing his brother and his friend were suffering from something he couldn't fix with medicine or a bandage.

"Hopefully it will work on them, but if it doesn't..." Donnie trialed off for a second. "We might need to have them wait it out. If the toxins infecting them run they're course, they might just get better after waiting it out."

"¡Las ratas!" Casey's muffled cries came echoing from their left. "¡No! ¡Las ratas, no!"

"We should split up." Miwa said to her brothers. "Casey's screaming is disturbing the mushrooms and we can't loose anyone else to the mushroom madness." She watched more Mushroom Men stirring around them, shifting past her boots.

"No, the best thing is to stay together." Leo argued. "If someone gets sprayed, we have to be able to help each other."

"Don't argue with me!" Miwa snapped at him. "You and Mikey follow this tunnel and try to find the head fungi. Donnie and I'll go after Casey." She tried to walk past him, but Leo caught her wrist.

"We need to stick together!" Leo said sternly. He looked at the Mushroom Men getting more agitated around them. "And stop yelling."

Mikey whimpered as the mushrooms got closer, and the siblings reluctantly pulled out their weapons.

"Look what you did!" Miwa hissed at Leo. She moved to pull up her medashibō, but remembered she no longer wore it after she revealed her identity to the Shredder. "Don't breathe in!" She told her brothers.

"Booyakasha!" Mikey let out his warrior cry, despite being scared of what these things could do to him. A mushroom jumped onto his head, desperate to avoid the attacks, and Mikey screamed. "Get it off! Get it off!"

Donnie raised his bō to swipe it off, but his lack of arm strength made him drop the heavy weapon a little sooner than he expected, and he ended up smacking Mikey on the head with the mushroom. "My bad!" He apologized.

Mikey dropped to the ground, groaning in pain from the head trauma, and that's when the mushroom sprayed him with it's dying energy.

"Mikey's hit!" Donnie shouted to Leo and Miwa. He tried to grab at his brother, but Mikey kicked him away.

"Stop laughin' at me!" He shouted, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Mikey, I'm not-" Donnie tried, but Mikey scrambled backwards and ran down the tunnel they just came from, screaming for his siblings to leave him alone.

"Mikey, wait!" Leo shouted after his brother. He sliced through the mushrooms in his way, but when he looked up, Mikey was gone.

Donnie stabbed at the mushrooms surrounding him, but he failed to see the six that had launched themselves at him from the wall. Miwa tackled him, trying to save him, "Get down, Dee!" She sliced open the mushroom that sprayed at them, and they both fell.

Donnie coughed up the toxins in his lungs, knowing how bad this could be. He reached for his sister, wanting to drag her out of danger. "Miwa! We need to get out of here!"

Miwa pulled her hand back, looking at him with anger and hatred. "Don't touch me, you monster!" She snarled at him.

"W-what?" Donnie shrank back from her.

"You heard me!" She shouted as she got to her feet. "You are a sorry excuse for a living creature! I hate you! I hate you!" She pushed past him and ran off, calling out for her other brothers.

"Miwa, wait!" Donnie pleaded, running after her. "I-I can do better! I promise! Do you want something? I'll make it for you! Don't hate me! P-please don't hate me!"

"No!" Leo ran after his siblings. "Come back! We have to stay together!" He stabbed a mushroom through the head and it let out dying scream of yellow pollen. His vision blurred and he dropped to his knees. He could make out the shapes of his brothers and sister running away from him, but he couldn't stop them. "No!" He shouted after them. "Don't go down there! It's dangerous!" He froze, feeling something wrap around his leg. He looked down and saw a white colored snake, twisting around his leg, slowly moving up. "No." His voice was quiet. "Please, come back." He pleaded for his siblings, unable to tear his eyes away from the sinister green that blinked back at him.

In the distance, he heard Mikey, Donnie, and Miwa screaming, and he knew what that meant. She was eaten by a giant sewer snake. Mikey's words repeated in his head, when his brother told him the fate of their friend April. That's what was down there. That's what he was trying to save them from. But now he couldn't. The more he tried to free himself from the slithering binds, the more that came.

His heart pounded so hard in his chest that he felt like he was going to explode. He tried to retract into his shell to find some freedom from his scaly tormentors, only to find more snakes inside. He screamed and tried to wiggle free, but more and more snakes wrapped around his body. Squeezing the life from him, biting at him and filling his body with poison that would surely do him off soon. He cried, still hearing his siblings screaming, but he was unable to help them. 

He had failed them.

April looked up from the floor she was on, crying at the mixture of her own red blood slowly starting to bleed neon pink. She didn't noticed that the Kraang had brought a new prisoner into her cell, and she just cried when she realized who it was. "Master Splinter?" She asked.

"Yes, April?" He asked, looking at her with a smile despite their circumstances. Unlike her, he was chained up, but that was probably because they knew he was a threat, and she was not. Not anymore.

"How did they capture you?" She asked. 

"Who, April?" He asked calmly.

"The Kraang." She answered.

"No one captured me, April." He said. "Your mind is not your own, right now. I am safe, and you are safe. We are in the lair. There are no Kraang here."

April looked around their cell slowly, not understanding his words. How could he say that? They were in a Kraang facility right now. She felt too weak to stand, but she tried to push herself onto her hands. But she slipped and fell against the floor. She looked back down and remembered that she didn't have hands anymore. Her tentacles had slipped in her blood. The remains of her human blood as the Kraang pumped their disgusting pink blood into her through the back of her neck. She could feel it now. She cried, and laid back down in her blood, wanting to soak in it so she could remain as human as possible, even if for a second. "Master Splinter?" She asked again.

"Yes, April?" He repeated.

"I don't want to be a monster." She whimpered.

He frowned at her and gently shook his head. "You're not a monster, April. I know how hard it can be to accept the hand fate has extended," He looked down at his own chained wrists, "But being a mutant does not have to be the end of your world."

April sniffled and gently shook her head. "If I was a rat like you, or a bat like my dad, that'd be different." She looked at her tentacle again in disgust, "But I'm not... They're turning me into one of them." She broke down into sobs again. "I don't want to be a Kraang! I hate them!"

"Oh, April." Splinter somehow was able to outstretch his hand and pat her head. "I am sorry."

Raph struggled against the chains but found he was unable to break out of them. But he didn't care, he would try as hard as it took. He would free himself, and he would rescue his friends and family from these evil, hideous, stupid fucking bugs. Despite how much he knew their words weren't true, that their voices were their's, he wanted to cry. Hearing these roaches use his father's and April's voices to try and fuck with him was beyond sick. They were great actors, he'd give them that. They must've been following them or something. How else would they know about April and the Kraang? He'd make them pay for that too.

Once he was free, he'd squish these bugs and go free his family from their clutches.

As soon as he was free. As soon as he was free. As soon as he was free. These bugs were dead. He wouldn't let his fear stop him this time. He wouldn't let it control him. Not with them on the line.

He wanted to scream at them to shut up. To stop using his father's and April's voices. But when he opened his mouth, a swarm of cockroaches came out. He gagged, but he couldn't stop himself from vomiting.

"Raphael!"

Raph cringed away as the cockroach masquerading with his father's voice came over to him and started to rub at his shell with it's disgusting padded feet. "Get off of me!" He wailed. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you, get away from me, I'll kill you!"

Casey was holding onto the pipes running throw the sewers, dangling over a sea of rats. He kicked at them as they jumped up, trying to eat him. Every time he moved, he felt the pipe getting ready to fall. He had to be careful, but he also had to keep those disgusting rodents away from him. He sobbed as they just kept coming closer and closer. He tried to scoot along the pipes so that he could get out of the main tunnel.

"No!"

Casey went rigid. That was Julia's voice. Why was she down here? Had she followed him and April?

"Julia!" He screamed for his sister. "¿Dónde estás? Julia?" 

"Casey!" She screamed again.

"I'm coming!" He yelled for her. He started scooting along the pipes faster, ignoring the creaking. He was almost there when the pipe gave out. He fell against the wave of rats, and cried as they trampled him and scurried over him with their disgusting little rodent feet. He tried to get to his feet, and smacked at them with his hockey sticks. He hit something large and hard. Casey dropped back to the floor now free of rats. They had done their job. They had delivered food to their master.

The demon rat loomed over him, licking it's mouth with a razor sharp tongue.

Raph punched Mikey square in the jaw, knocking him down to the floor. But unlike all those other times, Raph meant to hurt him now. He wanted to hurt him.

"Look at you." Raph laughed maliciously. "What a stupid clown."

"I'm not a-" Mikey hand shot to his mouth when he heard his own voice. High pitched and unserious. His hand made contact with his nose, and he heard a squeak.

"Pathetic." Miwa joined Raph to laugh at him.

"Should've just let you pop." Donnie sneered at him.

"A zit would be more useful than him." Leo rolled his eyes.

"Stop it!" Mikey cried.

Leo kicked him in the face, sending him sprawling across the sewer tunnel. "Shut up. You're just a stupid runt."

"Stop it!"

"Sensei should've just left ya." Miwa glared down at him. "You're a pathetic waste of a ninja."

"Stop it! Please!"

"Fuck up." Raph cackled.

"Please!"

"Who wants a little brother, anyway?" Donnie asked.

"Please, stop..."

"I'll kill you!" Miwa sobbed, holding her father's limp body in her arms. "I'll kill you for what you did!"

The Shredder just flicked his gauntlet free of her father's blood, sneering at her. "Foolish girl." He replied. "You can't do anything to stop me."

Miwa screamed and ran at him, slicing for his throat with her tessen. He vanished beneath her hands and reappeared a couple yards away, and this time he had Leo. He had Leo on his knees and he was holding him by the throat. "No!" She ran to help her brother, but it was too late. Shredder's blade had replaced his hand, and Leo's head fell from his shoulders. She reached Leo's head when Shredder moved again, now he had Raph. She tried to save him, but he too was killed. And then Donnie. And then Mikey. Soon enough, she was covered in her family's blood, sobbing.

"Come on, girl. Get on your feet." Shredder taunted her. "I'm not done yet."

Miwa looked up and saw that he had more victims lined up. April, Casey, Shini, and Murakami were all on their backs, tied up and silenced with duct tape.

"How about a game?" He laughed. "I'll let you decide which one goes home."

"No!" Miwa begged him. "Stop it! Kill me! Kill me!"

"Decide girl." He held a blade to April's neck. "Decide."

"Please stop!"

"Too late." Shredder stabbed April through the back. "Now they all die."

Miwa watched as he moved their bodies into the pile he made with her family. She watched as he took out a match and lit them ablaze with it. "Why?" She screamed. "Why?"

"Cause its just useless junk." Raph sneered. "Just toss it."

Donnie pushed his way inside his lab and found his family throwing out all of his stuff. "St-stop it! Wh-what are you doing?"

"Clearing this shit." Answered Leo.

"Stop touching my stuff!"

"You had your chance, Dee." Mikey said, not looking at him. "Too bad you're the worst, dude."

"Always blowing us up." Raph joined in. "It's your fault I lost Spike."

"R-Raph, I-I'm sorry!"

"I hate you." Raph said coldly and turned away from him.

"It's not just Raph." Miwa added. "Get out of our sewers. We don't want you here."

"No! S-sensei, please!" Donnie turned to his father with pleading eyes. "I-I can do better! I'll be useful! Don't do this, please!"

Splinter said nothing.

"Papa, please!" Donnie reached for his father, but his tail came up and swatted his hand away.

"My children have spoken." He said, emotionless.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"You failed, Cadet."

Leo looked up to see past the snakes slithering over him. Captain Ryan was looking down on him disapprovingly. "What?" He asked.

"You blew it! What kind of a brother are you? Are you a man, or a turtle, or a zero?"

How? What is happening? Was the snake venom making him hallucinate? Leo tried to ignore his hero berating him for letting down his siblings and friends. His cartoon hero...

"What if they're seeing their fears?" Miwa's voice rang in his mind. It took a minute for Leo to process what she had said, but it sunk in. That's right. He was in the sewers when he was attacked by mushrooms not snakes. They were looking for Casey after he got hit by toxins that made him see his worst fears. But if that was what happened to Casey, then... What happened to Leo?

Leo sat up slowly, becoming more bold when he realized the snakes biting him didn't actually hurt. They weren't real. None of this was real. Leo felt his way along the moldy wall, ignoring the sensation of slithering around his feet. They weren't real. They weren't real. He kept telling himself.

"You let us down, bro!" Mikey's voice screamed.

"You did this!" Donnie berated him.

"Some hero!" Taunted Raph.

"It's all your fault, Leo!" Miwa shouted. "It's your fault this happened!"

Leo wanted to cover his ears, to hide in his shell and surrender. But he knew he couldn't. He hadn't failed them, yet. He ignored the brutal visions of snakes attacking his siblings. He ignored the screams for help. "Fight it, Leo." He muttered to himself. He grabbed his blades from his back, even though they were covered in snakes. "Get your head straight. Fight it!"

Behind a vision of Miwa getting her head torn off by a giant sewer snake, Leo saw something he knew had to be real. A giant mushroom with one red colored eye was blinking at him. He had to ignore Raph reaching for him beneath the sea of scales, and move around the snake devouring his sister to find the stem of the mushroom. A broken canister of mutagen was laid beneath it. That's all it was. Just a mutant mushroom army. No snakes, no dying siblings.

A snake dug its fangs into Leo's foot, making him scream out. He stabbed down at the snake and realized he had stepped on an old wrench. "It's in your head." He repeated aloud. "It's in your head, it's not real."

"Leo! Make it stop! Help me!" Mikey begged. He was suspended in the air, one arm trapped in a black sewer snake's mouth, the other in a white snake's.

"It's in your head. Mikey is fine." Leo told himself.

"No! Help!" Donnie screamed.

"Fight it."

"I thought you were a hero!"

"Fight it."

"Leo, please!"

"Fight your fear." Leo took a deep breath and sprang at the snake eating Miwa. He past right through and landed on a pod of mushrooms. His lungs burned for air, but he knew that the air in here wasn't safe. He stepped through the snakes at bit at his legs jumped up to another level, closer towards the eye of the mushroom. When a snake spewed venom in his face, Leo felt it. But it wasn't a snake, so it had to be a mushroom. Anything that Leo felt, he stabbed and sliced at.

"Leo help me!"

"Why won't you save me?"

"I do dream of my fears as well. I dream almost every night about loosing my family. And when I awake, I am confronted with this fear every time you and your siblings leave the lair."

"No!" Leo screamed. He made one final jump, stabbing the giant mushroom through the eye. Two more giant snakes shot out from behind it and coiled around Leo, lifting him. Leo struggled to figure out what actually had him, but it bled just the same. He found the snakes in the center of the room were avoiding a ray of sunlight peaking down through a crack in the asphalt above. He scaled the wall that continued to shift between snakes and mushrooms and stabbed through the hole. Once he made it big enough, he used his other sword to reflect the light down into the tunnel.

The mushrooms below shriveled to nothing, and as Leo fell to the floor, the snakes slithered away. Leo sighed and closed his eyes.

"I promise, I feel fine now." April said to Splinter.

He frowned but looked over at Raph, "And you, Raphael?"

Raph let out a dry laugh and flexed his biceps, observing the black bruises he had caused trying to get out of the chains. "Ehh, I'll be fine."

"Mushrooms!"

The three looked up to find Mikey and Donnie panting, having ran back to the lair once their delusions cleared. "We got hit and lost! Leo, Casey, and Miwa are still out there!"

"I'm comin," Raph stood. He watched Mikey flinch away from him. "Mike, what-"

"¡Los tengo!"

"That sounds like Casey." April said.

Just outside the main station, Casey was dragging an unconscious Leo back. He had Miwa over his shoulders, and at first they thought she was out too, but she found her footing and flung herself at her father, sobbing like she was a child again.

"It's alright, Miwa." Splinter patted her head. "Everything is alright now."

Raph and Donnie took Leo from Casey and thanked him for finding Leo.

After Leo came around, he explained what had happened after they all got split up.

"How did you know it wasn't real?" Asked Miwa, her voice quiet.

"Captain Ryan." Leo answered, looking away from her. "After I started seeing him, I knew something wasn't right. I thought I was hallucinating from snake venom, but then I remembered why we were looking for Casey in the first place."

"But, couldn't ya feel them?" Casey asked, shivering at the memory.

"Yeah, but once I got it in my head they weren't real, I could ignore it." Leo shrugged, taking a sip of his tea. "Then, when I for sure felt something, I knew it had to be something other than a snake or..." He trailed off.

"It's alright, Leonardo." Splinter put a hand on his son's shoulder. "I am proud of you for facing your fears."

"Thanks, Sensei."

Try as he might, Splinter was unable to get his children to tell him exactly what they saw that day. He did what he could for them, but he knew if anyone could help them, it was each other. He just hoped they would realize that.

Chapter Text

The siblings watched with mixed enthusiasm as Donnie booted up Metalhead. Mikey waved in front of Metalhead's face while his progress bar ticked up in his eyes, but Donnie nudged him to the side so he could make sure Metalhead's head was on correctly. Donnie grinned his big, goofy, gap-toothed smile and turned to his siblings, "I give you the new and improved Metalhead!"

"Oooh!" Churred Mikey.

The other three looked less than convinced it was a good idea for Donnie to take him off the shelf in the first place.

"I've been upgrading his artificial intelligence," Donnie told them, patting Metalhead on the shoulder like a proud father. "So, he'll be the perfect training tool!"

"You sure?" Leo asked as he pulled out one of his blades. "Training with Metalhead usually ends in him breaking something."

"And then we have to clean it up." Miwa pointed out while unfolding her tessen. Raph glared at the robot while he spun out his sai and Mikey made his usual battle cries to try and intimidate the robot before the fight started. Or, maybe it was just a vocal stim Mikey liked.

Donnie took a step out of the circle that his siblings formed around Metalhead. "I programmed him to simulate dozens of fighting styles, including the Foot and the Kraang." He informed them, rocking on his toes in anticipation.

"Pssh," Mikey spluttered, "Can't stimulate my fighting style."

"Simulate, not stimulate." Donnie corrected Mikey, though his goofy grin didn't waiver.

"Let's just go already!" Raph said. He threw himself at Metalhead, who responded by bracing himself with his metal forearms to block the attack. Metalhead pushed Raph backwards and then punched him into the wall before the red-cladded turtle could react.

Next, Leo took a swing at Metalhead. He went for an overhead strike, but Metalhead caught his sword between his hands with little effort. Metalhead then twisted the blade out of Leo's hands and kicked him three times fast in the plastron before finishing him off with a roundhouse that also sent Leo flying. Leo groaned, and looked up just in time to duck his head into his shell before Metalhead threw his ninjatō at Leo's head.

Miwa ran in next, slicing at Metalhead with her tessen while aiming a stab with her wakizashi. Metalhead avoided both blades and jumped backwards to gain some distance. When she came at him again, he trapped the sword underneath his arm and blocked the tessen by grabbing Miwa's wrist. Spinning his torso in a full circle, he flung Miwa against the wall.

With Metalhead firing at Miwa, Mikey charged him from behind. The back of Metalhead's head opened up and shot tiny purple pellets at the youngest Hamato. Mikey changed from an offensive stance to a defensive one and used his nunchucks to block the pellets from hitting him. Just when Mikey thought he had the upper hand, Metalhead's fist detached and grabbed Mikey's head. The fist flew around the room and smacked into the siblings as they tried to get back to their feet.

"やめ!" Called Splinter, which made Metalhead cease his assault and joined the siblings on their knees.

"Can I get off the ride now?" Mikey shouted, still being flown around the room by Metalhead's fist.

"Donatello!" Splinter looked at his second youngest.

"Metalhead, stop training program." Donnie told Metalhead.

Metalhead's eyes flashed purple before his fist dropped Mikey and returned to its owner.

Mikey slid across the floor and groaned. "I think he put my chin up my nose." 

Donnie looked down as he felt his family's eyes on him, and he scratched at the new scar from Slash. "I'm sorry, Sensei. But overall, I'd say that was a pretty successful test!" He looked up, hopeful that at least one of them would agree.

"Successful?" Snickered Miwa with a bemused scowl. "Metalhead almost ripped Mikey's face off!"

"No," Donnie shook his head and retreated a bit into his shell. "Metalhead isn't programed to do that... I had it all under control."

"And when you don't?" Leo asked. "Who's gonna peel Mikey's face off Metalhead's fist?"

"I like my face!" Mikey cried in horror.

"Enough." Splinter held up a hand to silence their bickering. "Donatello has created a powerful tool. It is to our advantage to study an enemy's techniques, but you must use that tool wisely." He emphasized with a look at the purple-cladded turtle.

"Sensei, I-"

Metalhead's mouth opened and a speaker started playing an alarm. Raph looked ready to run Metalhead through with his sai, but Donnie turned to his creation.

"What's wrong with him now?" Leo asked, annoyed.

"Something tripped the security wires. It's approaching the lair, fast!" Donnie informed them with wide eyes.

The siblings raced out of the lair towards where the security wires were tripped. "Any chance it's April or Casey?" Mikey asked.

"Better not risk it." Answered Miwa. "It could be Footbots again."

As they got closer, they saw the purple flashes of Kraang blasters bouncing off the sewer walls. And echoing down the tunnels came a voice that none of the siblings expected to hear again.

Grating, greasy, and punchable, Raph's eyes widened at how fast he recognized it. "Nah, couldn't be." He shook his head.

A ten foot tall spider-like creature rounded the corner, snarling and hissing. It was Spider Bytez!

"You! Frog-things!" He yelled, running on his stubby human legs towards them. "You gotta help me! Those foreign triplets are after me!"

"We are not frogs!" Leo waved his sword in front of the spider man. "Wait, what?" He processed the last sentence.

"He means them!" Miwa yelled, blocking the lasers with her tessen as the Kraang followed after him.

Spider Bytez yelled and smacked the siblings out of the way so he could escape down the tunnel. The Hamato had readied themselves for a fight, but the Kraang ignored them in order to pursue Spider Bytez instead.

Miwa looked at Raph, who shrugged in return. They ran after the Kraang, seeing that they were heading for the surface. Donnie hit a button on his staff that signaled Metalhead to come meet him.

Lifting the manhole, they found Spider Bytez being electrocuted by the Kraang.

"Help! You can't do this! I'm an American, I have rights!" He shouted, desperate for anyone to come save him. They must've stunned himself how, because he no longer fought as they shoved him into the back of a van and drove off. "I want my phone call!" His muffled yells came from inside the truck.

"They're getting away!" Leo said. He looked back at his siblings, but both Raph and Miwa looked unbothered by the kidnapping that just occurred.

"Why is that our problem?" Raph asked.

"Seems like a solution to me." Miwa agreed with a shrug, leaning on her brother's shoulder to show her support. "That creepy-ass bug gave us nothing but trouble last time."

"Technically, he's an arachnid, not a bug." Donnie said.

"It doesn't matter!" Leo argued. "He asked for our help!"

"Yeah, well I say drop it." Miwa rolled her eyes. "Raph?"

"I second that." Raph smirked at Leo.

"I think we should go after them." Donnie piped up. "The Kraang want him, which means something must be going on. Something bad."

The siblings all looked at Mikey to be the deciding vote. The orange-bandana wearing turtle looked uncomfortable at his position, and shuffled his feet while he looked at the ground. "Uhh, the Kraang aren't really good dudes. And, it was kinda our fault that the dude got turned into a spider..."

With an annoyed sigh, Miwa stopped leaning on Raph. "Fine. So, how are we supposed to catch up?" She asked Leo, seeing as he clearly wanted to take the lead with this ridiculous rescue mission.

Answering her question, the Shellraiser zipped around the corner and stopped in front of them. The window rolled down to reveal Metalhead sitting in the driver's seat.

As the siblings piled into the tank, Leo frowned at Metalhead ignoring him. "He's in my seat." Leo said.

"Oh, don't be a baby." Miwa rolled her eyes. "Just let the robot drive."

Pouting, Leo grabbed the railing above the driver's seat because there was no room for him to sit anywhere.

"Nice job, Dee!" Mikey gave his brother a thumbs up. "When did you teach him how to drive?"

"Oh, I programmed him with all sorts of stuff!" Donnie beamed at the question. "He can drive like he's a race-car driver, or a law-abiding citizen! All depending on what the mission calls for him to do."

"I'm the driver..." Leo muttered.

Quickly catching up to the Kraang van, Donnie's smile dropped when he saw the new weapons the Kraang had added. From the sides of their truck opened what looked like to be rocket launchers pointed right at the Shellraiser. "Huh. That's new. Metalhead, evasive maneuvers!"

The rockets fired and Metalhead swerved all over the road in order to evade them. Metalhead was able to avoid getting hit, but everyone else was jostled around the back like shaking a box of candy. Poor Leo got it the worst, seeing as he didn't have a seatbelt to wear, and had to retreat into his shell to avoid taking some serious damage after being pinball-ed around.

"Raph!" Miwa yelled. "Garbage cannon!"

Thankfully Donnie had added an upgrade to his aiming device, which allowed Raph to take out both rocket launchers and severally damage the back of the van door.

"Woo-hoo! You the man, Raph!" Mikey cheered.

"Metalhead, pull up alongside!" Donnie got out of his seat and used the railing to maneuver over Leo's shell on the floor.

"Now we're talking!" Miwa smiled.

Opening the hatch of the Shellraiser, Raph, Miwa, and Donnie climbed through. "This bug better be worth it!" Raph shouted as they readied themselves to jump.

"Arachid."

"Can it, Donnie!"

Once across, the Kraang driving tried to shake them loose by swerving roughly. Miwa tumbled and fell down the side of the truck, only stopping herself from getting run over by using her tessen to stab into the side of the truck. Raph and Donnie heaved her back onto the Kraang van before she was smashed in between it and the Shellraiser.

Donnie turned his bō into a naginata and he stabbed into the top of the van. From inside, they could hear Spider Bytez yell for his rescuers to be more careful. Metalhead rammed the side of the van again, throwing all three siblings off the top. Donnie retreated into his shell, while Raph did his best to wrap around Miwa and cushion her fall. Leo and Mikey quickly exited the Shellraiser and ran over to help them. Metalhead started towards where the van had driven through a wall, but was stopped by Leo's sword.

"Way to go, Don." Leo glared at Donnie as he helped Miwa up. "Your robot friend nearly killed you, Miwa, and Raph."

"He stopped the truck, didn't he?" Donnie crossed his arms with a huff. "The Kraang know we're coming, he can help!"

Metalhead gave the siblings two thumbs up before he activated his rocket feet and floated into the air while demonstrating his flamethrowers and guns for added effect. None of the four looked amused, but Miwa just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with." She limped over towards the wall the Kraang crashed through and drew out her tessen. She held up her hand and counted off on her fingers, one, two, three. They charged into the warehouse only to find it completely empty, with no sign of the Kraang or Spider Bytez.

"They just... Disappeared?" Raph gawked. "That's impossible!"

"Well, there's gotta be a secret door or a hidden passage somewhere." Leo reasoned.

"Right, fan out." Miwa nodded to her brothers.

They looked around the warehouse, lifting up filing cabinets and moving bookshelves to try and figure out where they could've gone. Mikey opened up the same locker about ten times, trying to make a portal or something appear.

"Metalhead, use your scanners to check the structure for any hidden rooms or passageways." Donnie instructed Metalhead, who chirped in the affirmative and did as he was instructed. As he used a blue ray to scan around the room, Donnie looked at his siblings to see how they would react to such a handy tool, but none of them looked impressed.

As the scan passed over Mikey, he giggled and exclaimed that it tickled. Raph flinched at the feeling and glared up at Metalhead, while Leo and Miwa rolled their eyes in unison.

"Tickle ray?" Miwa said with a bemused expression. "Real useful upgrade, Donnie."

Donnie frowned and placed his hands on his hips. "It happens to be a three-dimensional volumetric scan."

Metalhead let out another chirping sound that only Donnie understood, because his frown only deepened. "But that doesn't make any sense. There should be tire tracks or item out of place but the Kraang left no trace at all. Just some junk and-"

Mikey's gasp cut his brother off. He had wondered over to an old vending machine and was shaking it to try and get something to fall out. "A Super Macho Pizza-Ritto! Woah! Yes!" He looked over at his siblings with his puppy-dog eyes activated. "Big sis? Can you give me two dollars for my Pizza-Ritto, please?"

"I don't carry cash on missions, Mike." Miwa replied with a blank expression.

"Oh." He pouted and went back to shaking the machine a bit. "Oh! Your arm is skinnier than mine, reach up there and grab it for me!"

"Do you know how long that's probably been in there?" She curled her lip up. "That thing is probably harder than a brick."

"Then I'm going in!" Mikey dropped to his knees and started trying to fit his arm through the slot so he could reach his prize. He only made it past the second bottom shelf, leaving his Pizza-Ritto just inches from his reach. Mikey started to thrash against the machine, and Miwa shook her head and pointed over at Mikey while looking at Raph.

Raph scoffed and walked over to where Mikey was still wrestling with the vending machine. "You're arm's stuck, isn't it?" He asked.

Mikey wore a fake smile while he tugged on his arm again. "Possibly? Maybe? On purpose?"

Raph groaned and grabbed Mikey's ankles. With a few hard tugs and screams of you're gonna rip my arm off, Raph pulled Mikey free. Along with Mikey, Raph pulled the front of the machine off, revealing something that was obviously made by the Kraang.

"Woah!" Mikey gasped. "It's like a vending machine from the future!"

"It's a Kraang computer!" Donnie beamed, flapping his fists by his head in excitement. "Mikey, you're a genius!" Donnie ran over to the computer and started looking it over.

"Uh, that's how I roll!" Mikey replied.

"Can that computer tell us where the Kraang went?" Leo asked.

"Metalhead, see if you can access its database." Donnie said to the robot. "It should tell us where they disappeared too."

Metalhead chirped and plugged himself into the computer through a Kraang version of a USB port.

"Uh, are you sure plugging Metalhead into unknown Kraang shit is a good idea?" Miwa looked at Donnie with folded arms. "After last time-"

"Trust me, guys." Donnie pouted. "The Kraang processor in Metalhead makes him perfectly compatible with their computers. What could go wrong?"

As if waiting for a cue to make Donnie look as bad as possible, Metalhead sparked Kraang purple and exploded backwards. He knocked down all five siblings as he flew back, leaving the computer nothing back ash, smoke, and flames that were quickly put out by the fire sprinklers.

Coughing up smoke, Miwa glared at Donnie. "Great, Donnie. Great!"

"Not only did we lose the Kraang, but we lost our only clue at finding them!" Leo said over her. "All thanks to Metalhead!"

Metalhead was still sparking, but Donnie took out his work gloves and slipped them out so that he could touch the robot without getting shocked. "It must've been a power surge. Are you okay, little buddy?"

Metalhead gave him a thumbs up.

Sirens wailed in the distances, meaning they had to get out of the warehouse before someone discovered them.

"We gotta go." Miwa sighed. "Come on."

"What about the Kraang?" Leo asked her.

"What about them?" She huffed bitterly.

"Yeah. Spider Bytez is their problem now." Raph backed her up.

Leo sighed in annoyance, "But we still don't know why they wanted him!"

"Who cares!" Miwa shouted. "I've been thrown off a van and blown up. I'm going home!"

Back in the lair, Donnie hooked up Metalhead check on the damage caused by the power surge. Luckily, his memory core didn't seem to have been very badly damaged. He smacked Mikey's hand way from Metalhead's open mouth before his finger accidentally hit something that would make his jaw close, and take Mikey's finger clean off. "It seems that the Kraang Security algorithms were too complex to decrypt."

"Less science-y, more English-y." Raph rolled his eyes.

Miwa elbowed him in the side, "Really? Your little dumb-dumb brain couldn't understand that?" She teased.

"I should be able to retrieve what he downloaded from the Kraang computer." Donnie went on. "But it might take a little time to decrypt."

"How long?" Leo asked, still pushing for them to go back and try to rescue Spider Btyez from the Kraang.

"Well, in technical terms..." Donnie muttered, as he looked at the flashing question marks on the screen of Kraang words he did not know the meaning behind. "A while."

"Whatever, we'll leave you too it." Miwa stretched out her hurt leg before she limped out of the lab. Her brothers followed her into the kitchen, where Leo started on why they should go back again.

"We know the Kraang rebuilt TCRI," He pointed out. "What if they got the portal working again?"

"Fine," She huffed. "I guess that is something we need to find out. Now will you drop it?"

An explosion coming from Donnie's lab cut their arguing short. Leo left to go find out what happened.

Metalhead's flamethrower was activated and Donnie was muttering something Leo couldn't pick up while he rubbed some burn cream on his shoulder. The moment he saw Leo, he sat down on the floor and let his brother take over applying the cream, so that he could evenly spread it over what Donnie couldn't see.

"Look, Donnie," Leo sighed, "I know you don't wanna hear it, but you gotta shut down his A.I."

"Shut down his A.I.?" Donnie repeated, trying to hide the way he clicked at the pain in his shoulder. "But that would be like turning off his brain!"

"He's just too dangerous!" Leo argued back.

"We need him, Leo. The Kraang and the Foot are armed up more than ever!"

"It's just not worth the risk, Dee. Metalhead was glitchy before he was plugged into that Kraang computer. And, he's already been taken over by the Kraang once before. Are you sure you can trust him?"

Donnie frowned but shook his head. "Maybe you're right. He does need more work before being out in the field. I'll take care of it."

"Sorry, Donnie." Leo nodded firmly, but wore a small frown. He gave his brother a light knock on his plastron before leaving the lab and letting Donnie do what came next alone.

Donnie turned around to find Metalhead staring at him, his head tilted to the side in an questioning way. "Woah!" Donnie exclaimed in the surprise and chuckled awkwardly. "Okay, buddy, we're almost done fixing you up." He tried to sound convincing, but Metalhead knew better. The robot's head turned down and watched Donnie pull out a screwdriver. "C'mon, bud, it's... It's for the best for now, yeah?" He said, walking towards Metalhead slowly, but the robot backed up, like he was afraid. Donnie placed a hand on Metalhead's shoulder, and that's when the robot freaked out.

Metalhead grabbed Donnie by his bō's sheath and flung him across the lab to get away from him. Donnie landed in a small pool of water he kept in the lab when he needed to cool down or needed a larger container for chemicals he was working with. Donnie was just lucky that he cleaned the pool out after having mutagen in it a couple days back. By the time Donnie got his bearings back, Metalhead was gone, and his siblings were helping him out of the pool.

"Donnie, what are you doin'?" Raph mused.

"Yeah, dude," Mikey laughed, "You know better than to go swimming after eating! That's how you get pizza cramps, bro."

"Where's Metalhead?" Miwa asked.

Donnie frowned and nodded his head towards the door to the lab that was slammed shut behind the four siblings. "He didn't want me to turn him off... He was scared of me..."

Leo and Raph ran to the doors and pulled on them, but they were locked in. "Open the door, you oversized toaster!" Raph yelled.

"Mikey, Miwa, garage!" Leo pointed over to the other door, where they were closest too.

Mikey and Miwa tried to lift it open, but it too was refusing to budge. "I think he welded it!" Miwa said through gritted teeth.

"Donnie, I told you he was dangerous!" Leo yelled at the turtle still on the floor. "I thought you were turning him off?"

"He was... Scared of me..." Donnie muttered to himself.

Sighing, Leo tried to control himself from yelling more. "It doesn't matter," He turned to his sister, "We gotta go after him before he trashes the city."

"We gotta find a way out first." Miwa reminded him with a roll of her eyes. "And we better find it quietly, because we don't want Sensei-"

Mikey screamed and pounded on the door that lead to the main station. "Help! Help! Master Splinter! Sensei! Killer robot on the loose!"

Raph wrestled Mikey away from the door and covered his mouth with his hand, "Quiet, Shell-brain! We don't-" Raph froze before his eye started twitching. "Did you just lick me?"

Mikey responded by giggling, which only made Raph's grip on him tighten.

The door opened to reveal a very displeased looking Splinter. "Do you five have any idea what time it is?" He asked. "Raphael, please release your brother."

Raph grumbled but did as he was told.

Mikey tried to deflect his question, "Uhh, it's pizza time!"

"Miwa, why was the door locked?" Splinter asked his eldest.

"Training exercise." Miwa lied. "It was a test to see who could escape the locked room first."

Splinter hummed, not buying her story. He bent over and looked the child least likely to lie to him in the eyes. "Leonardo?"

"Umm," Leo cleared his throat and tried not break eye contact. "The truth is, Sensei... We gotta meet April at Murakami's. Giant, sushi, mutant problem."

"Sushi?" Splinter repeated.

"Yep." Miwa stepped in, "Don't worry, we'll be back before dawn." She lead her brother's out of the lair. "Don't wait up for us!" She yelled over her shoulder to her father.

Splinter sighed and closed his eyes. Teenagers.

Inside the Shellraiser, Raph questioned what they were doing. "So, do we just, follow the sounds of terrified screams, or?"

"Metalhead couldn't have gotten far." Donnie replied with a shake of his head. He opened Metalhead's file on his computer to pull up his tracking device signal. "If his tracking device is still active... There! Leo, make a left up ahead!"

Parking as discreetly as possible, the five trailed after the robot from the rooftops. They caught him turning down a dead-end alleyway and stopping at a row of Port-a-Potties.

"What the-?" Miwa asked.

"Maybe he has to change his oil?" Mikey suggested.

"He's clearly broken." Raph rolled his eyes. Jumping down, they opened the Port-A-Potty Metalhead entered only to find it completely empty. "Uhh, what?"

"Wait! I saw this on a magic show!" Mikey said. "There's a secret door down here!" He said, pointing down into the toilet seat. Mikey climbed in and moved to put his head down, but his siblings tried to stop him.

"Mikey, do not-" Miwa tried, but it was too late.

Mikey jumped backwards, kicking the door shut with his foot as he covered his nose. "Ugh! How is that worse than the sewers?" He coughed and spluttered before opening the door again so that he could throw up.

However, when the door opened this time, they were met with something else. A pink and purple, swirling void appeared in place of the toilet stall.

Surprised, Mikey slammed the door shut and looked back at his equally shocked siblings. "You saw that too, right?"

"What was that?" Miwa asked aloud.

Hesitantly, Donnie opened the door again, only to reveal the inside of the Port-a-Potty again. "I don't understand." Donnie frowned in frustration. "It was just here!" He closed the door and started poking around the side of the stall, trying to figure out how to activate whatever that was.

Mikey opened the door again and was once more greeted by the vortex. "Ta-da!" Mikey grinned.

"What?" Donnie leaned back around the side of the left Port-A-Potty. His mouth dropped in shock when he saw that Mikey had somehow brought it back. Donnie shut the door and opened it again, but the void was gone. He tried a few more times, each slam of the door getting more and more violent until the door was about to break off its hinges.

"Dee, chill out!" Raph said. "Damn, it's weird when I gotta say it."

"H-how did you do it?" Donnie glared at Mikey, more out of frustration at himself than his brother.

Mikey seemed unbothered by his brother's glares and nudged him aside with a smug expression. "I just got the touch! LTD, Like a Turtle Do!" He closed the door and reopened it in a dramatic flair. "Boo-ya-ka-sha!" He over-pronounced his favorite expression with a deep, bow.

With a frustrated, guttural, click, Donnie looked back at the vortex. "It's some kind of dimensional gateway, like... Like the Kraang Portal! This must be how they disappeared. I wonder..." Donnie took the bō from his back and slowly pushed one end through the portal. He started pushing more of the staff into the vortex, but it soon started to suck him into it. "Ahh!"

Leo grabbed Donnie's vanishing arm, but was quickly pulled through the other side as well.

The three remaining siblings all shared a look and a shrug. They jumped through the portal as well, following the midnight duo.

On the other side of the portal, the siblings were dropped down into a secret Kraang base. Just moments after they were spit through, the portal closed behind them.

"Well, that's fantastic." Miwa muttered to herself. "Today just keeps getting better and better."

"No turning back now." Raph shrugged.

"So, is this Dimension X?" Leo asked.

Donnie shook his head. "Doubt it. If it was, we probably wouldn't be able to breathe. My guess is-"

"Not Dimension X. Got it." Raph groaned.

"Uhh, guys?" Mikey whispered, directing their attention upwards. "I found where they took Spider Bytez."

Her eyes widening, Miwa added, "He's not the only one they took."

Above them were rows and rows of captured mutants inside of laser-barred cells. Spider Bytez, Snakeweed, Dr. Rockwell, even Slash. Somehow, all of them were subdued inside the cells.

"It looks like a prison." Donnie observed in a hushed tone. "Oh, no! Look up there, second one to the right."

"Dr. O'Neil." Leo said sadly, seeing April's mutant dad alongside the other docile mutants. "We gotta get him out of here."

Quickly and quietly, the five climbed up the staircases and jumped over to land on the floating platform that held the unconscious Kirby-Bat. Miwa and Raph took out the two Kraangdroids guarding him before they alerted the others. As Donnie started looking around the device keeping him caged, Leo brought his attention elsewhere.

On the ground level, they spotted Metalhead at some kind of control panel.

"Is he working for the Kraang?" Leo asked.

"Dude! I knew something didn't feel right when he grabbed my face!" Mikey huffed to his siblings.

"Oh, so Leatherhead can grab my face all he wants, but suddenly when it's your face, it's a problem?" Donnie glared at Mikey. "And no, he's not working for the Kraang. He must've come here to free the mutants. All along, you guys thought he was going crazy, but he's here just to save them."

"Shh, we got company!" Raph hissed while grabbing Donnie's arm and pulling him down so that they couldn't be spotted from below. They watched as a trio of Kraang robots approached Metalhead from behind.

"We gotta help him!" Donnie leapt up, ready to defend his creation.

"Donnie, wait!" Miwa grabbed for him, but Donnie was already falling from the platform and attacking the Kraang. He quickly took out the three sneaking up behind Metalhead, but more entered the room.

Metalhead turned away from the computer and started shooting his gun at the robots. With the help of the Hamato siblings, the Kraang were starting to loose ground in this fight with their numbers dwindling.

"Kraang, release the mutant captives that are controlled by Kraang." Ordered the Kraang.

The Kraang closed to the computer clicked away on the keyboard before he was stabbed by Raph, but it was too late. The laser cages deactivated and the mutants all started to awaken. One by one, they jumped down and surrounded the teenagers.

"The ones that are turtles, that I call frogs must be destroyed." Said Spider Bytez in a robotic tone as he attacked Raph.

"Uh, is it me, or is Spider Bytez a lot less bite-y and a lot more Kraangy?" Mikey asked, maneuvering around the large legs that stabbed for him.

Dodging Snakeweed's vines, Leo spotted a device that was all to similar for his liking. One that he had first hand experience removing before. "I think they're controlling them! Like what they did with Dr. O'Neil during the invasion!"'

Miwa sliced off one of the tentacle vines that tried to bind her brother, but they were quickly backed into a corner.

"Eliminate the one known as Hamato Miwa," Said one the Kraang. "Capture the mutants that are known as the Turtles."

"So, what now, sis?" Raph asked.

"Open to suggestions." She replied. Slash grabbed for Donnie and she used all her strength to bat away his massive hands before they hurt her brother again. Kirby circled around them from above, preparing to dive for one of them.

Metalhead took control of the computer again and with a couple buttons pressed, the mind control devices embedded into the flesh of the mutants short-circuited.

"The device that is the control device is no longer controlling."

Now angered, the mutants were attacking wildly, which was helpful when dealing with the Kraang. But, too bad they weren't exactly friends with any of these mutants.

"Frogs!" Spider Bytez demanded, spinning a web around Miwa's foot and pulling her towards him while she was distracted. She was caught underneath his sharp pincer, as he snarled at her brothers, "Are you getting me out of here, or do I gotta do it myself?" He demanded.

"I want the bitch!" Squealed Snakeweed, wrapping one of his vines around Miwa's leg. The two mutants fought over her, tugging on her like a rag doll, making her scream out. She stabbed her tessen deep into Spider Bytez's pincher, which made him release her. As Snakeweed pulled him towards her, she kicked him hard in the exposed heart, which made him make a high-pitched hiss of pain.

"Can we stop trying to kill each other and focus on getting out of here?" She asked as Raph helped her up and then held a protective sai out at the surrounding mutants. "Or do you all want to be recaptured and used as Kraang puppets?"

"Whatever." Is all Slash said.

"Good call." Miwa huffed. "Donnie."

"Metalhead, see if you can open a portal." Donnie called over to Metalhead still at the computer. "We're getting out of here."

"All of us." Leo glared at their uneasy allies.

After a few more clicks on the computer and plugging himself in like he had done before, the portal reopened above them.

"Metalhead, you did it!" Donnie congratulated him. "He opened the portal!"

"Slash," Miwa said hesitantly, keeping her distance while keeping her posture calm. "Care to help us bust some bots?" She asked him.

"Don't tell me what to do." He glared at her before jumping up to the platforms above. He started to wail on the robots, even without his mace he was able to smash them into pieces with just his fists.

Dr. Rockwell attacked wildly, still unable to fully control himself, but he was able to mostly focus on those who had hurt him. The Kraang.

Even Pigeon Pete pecked at some of the Kraang robots.

"Every spider for himself!" Declared Spider Bytez as they all started to make their way towards the portal.

"The machine that opened the portal must close the portal." Said one of the Kraang, who had now all turned their fire towards Metalhead.

Metalhead pulled away from the computer so that he could defend himself, but in doing so had to unplug himself. The portal closed on top of Kirby, which angered the confused mutant bat.

"Metalhead, you gotta keep the portal open!" Donnie yelled down to his robot friend. 

Metalhead nodded to him and stopped returning the gunfire with the Kraang. The portal opened once more as the Hamato keep the Kraang from shooting their robot savior. Once Kirby and Pigeon Pete were through, that just left the Hamato Clan.

"Metalhead, we're leaving!" Miwa called down to him. "C'mon!" The five waited at the top for him, the robot stayed put.

"C'mon, Metalbutt!" Raph shouted. "Move!"

Metalhead made one of his robotic chirps that only Donnie understood. Donnie's maroon eyes widen and he shook his head in disbelief. "He can't come back with us." Donnie muttered. "He can't leave the computer or the portal will close."

"But, what about him?" Leo asked.

Looking back down, more and more Kraang were flooding into the room. With no one there to defend him now, Metalhead was quickly taking damage while keeping himself plugged in. He let out a chirp again.

"We don't have a choice." Donnie said sadly.

Metalhead looked up at them and pointed towards the portal before giving them a thumbs up. Then he turned back to trying to defend himself with one hand while keeping the portal open with the other.

"Thank you." Donnie said, returning the thumbs up before he joined his siblings in jumping through the portal.

Donnie placed Metalhead's head on his shelf with a deep frown. It had popped out of the mailbox the portal spat them out off, but it was damaged heavily and Donnie couldn't even access the memory data.

"I'm sorry, Donnie." Leo said. "You were right. We did need him. I'm sorry for saying all that stuff about him."

"I programmed him to be intelligent, but... I didn't realize how much he had evolved. He had... Feelings."

Raph put his hand on Donnie's shoulder and squeezed it. "Yer smarter than you think, Dee."

"Sorry about Metalbro, Dee." Mikey frowned.

Miwa nodded, agreeing with the sad sentiments. "Are you going to rebuild him? He was fun to train with. Sometimes."

Donnie just shrugged and turned away from the robot's head. "Maybe... One day."

Chapter Text

"God, that movie was awful!" Irma sighed as they walked down the streets from the movie theater. "The concept was just so... Disgusting."

"I thought it was cool." Casey laughed. "Twelve hours of no law? Do you know how much spray-painting I could get away with?"

Irma shook her head, "I don't think there's anything wrong with law and order. The justice system isn't as good as it could be, it's far from perfect, but for it to devolve into that? Awful."

"What'd you think Red?" Casey asked, looking over his shoulder at April. "Sun?"

April shrugged her shoulders and slipped up her sunglasses. "For a dystopian movie, the parallels were kinda scary. But as a slasher movie it was fine I guess."

"It was okay." Sunita answered, shifting the oversized jacket on her shoulders as she walked. The jacket she was wearing was massive on her five-foot even frame, but that wasn't surprising considering she said it was her missing brothers. The brother that both April and Casey knew was a couple inches over six foot. She yawned and rubbed at her tired eyes, the nap she had taken while in the theater during the movie did nothing to help her sleep-deprived brain. April, Casey, and Irma knew Sunita hadn't even seen the first ten minutes before she fell asleep, but none of them felt like pressing her.

"I think you ladies are thinkin about it too much." Casey rolled his eyes playfully. "It's just a dumb horror movie! It doesn't need to be all political and junk."

Irma hummed, "Still, I think-"

Casey screamed and jumped backwards as a rat ran down the street. He shivered at just seeing the creature, but April couldn't blame him after their shared experience of horrific, waking nightmare they found themselves in less than two weeks ago.

Sunita snickered at Casey's expense, "I can't believe the big, bad, Casey Jones is afraid of a little rat."

"Lay off him, Sun." Irma said, though she was smirking a bit too. "We're all afraid of something." She looked back down where the rat was and watched it run from a cat. "See? The rat is afraid of the cat."

"I can't believe that rat was afraid of this adorable little kitty." April said, walking over and picking up the cat. It shook and hissed at her, but it seemed petrified of April and just hung loosely in her arms. She handed it to Casey, and the orange cat quickly relaxed in his arms and began to purr as he pet it. "Does it have a collar?" She asked.

"Nope," Casey answered. "Poor little thing is all alone. Good kitty, good kitty for scaring away that rata tonta, estúpida y fea."

"Y'know, rats actually share a lot of similarities with humans." Irma said. "Which is why they're often used in scientific experiments."

"Can we stop talking about rats?" Casey frowned, scratching the cat under her chin. "This hermosa gatita doesn't have any tags. We can't just leave her here."

"Why don't you take her, Jones?" Suggested Sunita.

"Love too, but papa is allergic."

"Don't look at me." Irma said before Casey could use his beautiful brown doe eyes on her. "I'm more of a rat person."

"I got a snake at home." Sunita shrugged. "Don't think they'd get along."

"Uhh, dad doesn't like pets." April lied about practically every pet she and her father ever tried to own. The truth was, pets didn't like April. Then again, if she had a pet right now, her dad might try to eat it so...

"So, what now?" Sunita asked. "Gonna go to the animal shelter?"

"Can't," April said. "I gotta help my aunt out."

"Right, and I got a playdate with my sister." Casey agreed. "I'll see if we can get some cat time before papa comes home for the night."

Despite them both saying they had separate family matters, Sunita and Irma noticed they took off in the same direction.

"Something's going on between them, right?" Sunita asked Irma.

Irma nodded and narrowed her eyes as they disappeared down the street. "They're hiding something from us."

"Think they're secretly dating?" Sunita tried. "Why else would they keep ditching us?"

Irma hummed, "Doubt it. I don't think Jones is April's type." One of these days, she was going to find out where those two kept running off to. "I-" She froze and turned to look down the street they were just walking down. "I... I think something's watching us."

Sunita craned her head to look at the rooftops instead of back where Irma was scanning the street. She could think of four somethings. 

"Sunita," Irma's voice was suddenly low, a barely audible whisper. "Don't look back. Run."

"What?"

"Run." Irma's voice wasn't panicked as she pushed her friend forward. "Go after April and Casey. Go."

Sunita tried to follow Irma's instructions, but the second she heard her screaming, she stopped and turned to see what was happening. She expected to see those giant turtle freaks that had kidnapped her brother, but instead she saw a huge, dog sized rat attacking Irma. "Get off of her!" She yelled, running back to try and defend her crush, but quickly, she too was overtaken by the furry foe.

"I don't know, Master Splinter." Leo frowned, watching their father blindfold himself. "This doesn't seem fair."

Before her father could say something wise, Miwa interrupted from the mat with a bit of his wisdom that she had taken to heart. "It's not about fairness, it's about victory."

"Very good, Miwa." Her congratulated his daughter for remembering his words. "And, I assure you, Leonardo. It isn't fair."

The four siblings watched Leo prepare to face Splinter one-on-one. He drew out a single blade and charged his sensei, but the Master avoided the strike and moved behind Leo instead.

"Swing and miss!" Raph laughed, earning a glare from the blue-shelled turtle.

As Leo got back into a fighting position, Splinter explained the reason behind this exercise. "Blind fighting is more than honing your other senses." He told them. "It is about perception and giving the illusion of control." His ear flicked to the side as he heard Leonardo draw out his second sword.

Leo jumped into the air and swiped at Splinter, but the rat snapped backwards at a ninety-degree angle, using just his core strength to keep him from falling flat on the ground. He then was able to side-step before Leo even landed and was once again behind his eldest son. Leo continued to attack, but Splinter was able to easily evade his son.

"You may think you have the upper hand in the situation, but," He caught Leonardo's arms when he tried to pull and double overhead strike. He leaned down and said just over his shoulder, "You do not." He then disarmed Leonardo and kicked his legs out from under him. Carefully, he lowered Leonardo to the floor, where he was laid flat on his plastron.

All four siblings laughed now, teasing their brother.

"Looks like someone needs a shower!" Mikey mused.

"How's that floor tasting, Lame-O-nardo!" Raph cackled.

"やめ!" Splinter stomped his staff on the ground, silencing their mockery. "It is not hard to sense loudmouths." He told his children, still blindfolded. "Would any of you care to try and beat Leonardo's time-" Splinter groaned and his hand flew up to the side of his head. He quickly took off the blindfold he wore and started to pant heavily, almost like he was having a panic attack.

"Sensei?" Mikey was the first to notice, and stood to offer his father a hand.

"Do not touch me, you, vile turtle." Splinter's voice was not his own, and his tail smacked away his youngest son's hand. He suddenly turned, like he was going to pounce on one of them, but Raph was on his feet now and he planted himself firmly between his siblings and father. He struggled against Splinter's superior strength, but he refused to budge without a fight.

"O-okay, Sensei! We get it!" Raph strained behind gritted teeth. "Y-you can stop now!"

And just like that, it was over. Splinter jumped backwards and flung himself into the wall of the dojo so hard that the weapons hanging up clattered to the ground. He let out a shaky breath as his hand once again met his face.

"Master Splinter, what's wrong?" Leo asked, though he kept a safe distance along with his siblings.

"I am sorry, my children... This is... Something is wrong." He spoke slowly, as if he was having trouble finding words. "I believe... I fear that... I must meditate. We will continue this training another time." He stood straight on shaky legs and quickly entered his room before shutting the shoji blinds.

"Sensei, what-" Leo started.

"Leonardo, please." Splinter said. "I must clear my mind."

Sighing, Leo left the dojo with his siblings, each sharing a concerned look with one another.

"Yo, did you see that?" Mikey asked in a hushed tone. "Sensei gave me the crazy eyes."

After the scare Splinter gave them that morning, Mikey decided he needed a treat to relax. He put together his own bit of Neapolitan ice cream by using the last bit of each flavor they had in the freezer. His siblings might complain that he took all the ice cream, but its their faults for not getting any before he did. With his bowl in one hand, Mikey decided to go check in on what Donnie was doing in his lab.

"Do you know what got into Master Splinter?" He asked. He flung his spoon around as he spoke, which splattered ice cream all over Donnie's worktable.

Donnie groaned with the sudden loss of his most recent batch of retro-mutagen lost. "Mikey! You're making a mess! Keep your ice cream away from my experiment. I'm trying to cure our friends, remember?" He stood to get a rag to wipe off the mess Mikey made.

Mikey in turn accidentally drop a big spoonful of his ice cream into one of the beakers full of mutagen. He panicked and threw his body in front of it so that Donnie wouldn't see the mess he made when he turned back around.

"Hey, guys!" April greeted them, walking into the lab. "Anyone want a cat?" She asked.

"That's a weird question, why would you-" Donnie looked up to notice Casey holding an orange and white cat in his arms. "What the- Why would you bring a cat here?"

"Aww! It's so cute!" Mikey cooed, running up to stroke the cat's back. The cat seemed to like Mikey and jumped from Casey to the orange-cladded turtle. "Can we keep her, Donnie?" He sat the cat down on Donnie's work table, secretly hoping the cat would clean up some of the mess he made that Donnie hadn't gotten too yet.

"No, Mikey," Donnie said. "April, you know Master Splinter doesn't like cats."

April frowned, "I know. I just don't want her ending up in a shelter where she might get abused or put down."

"Wait, the rat is afraid of cats?" Casey mused, a dumb grin spreading across his face.

"Are you afraid of rats?" Donnie glared at him.

"So, what if the cat goes nuts and attacks him?" Casey asked. "She could feed off his body for months."

"Don't sound so thrilled about the idea, Jones." Donnie huffed.

Casey frowned and ran a hand through his greasy hair. "Look, I... I got nothin' against the rat dude. He's just... A rat, y'know?"

April looked at him, "I'm sure Master Splinter could help you get over your fear if you just ask him."

Casey shivered at the thought, "No thanks, Red. Again, nothing against him, but I'm better off just pretending he's not a rat."

Mikey looked back down at the cat, only to realize she was no longer licking the side of the bowl. Instead, she was over at the beaker Mikey had dropped the ice cream in, and was licking at the pink, white, and brown foam that was coming out of it. "No, no!" Mikey whispered, trying to grab the cat away, but it was too late. The cat the out a pained, choked yowl and started to glow the same cyan color of mutagen. Mikey watched in horror as the cat started to melt in front of him, and closed his eyes to avoid seeing it. "What have I done?" He whimpered. Then he heard a small mew. Shocked, Mikey looked up, expecting to see a puddle of melted cat ice cream, but instead he found something else.

Okay, the bottom half of her, where her hind legs would've been was more melted then the rest of her, making a blob like appearance, but she was still very much cat shaped. Her body was composed of the Neapolitan ice cream, with her head being strawberry, her torso made of vanilla and the waist and lower body made of chocolate. She had short stubby arms, the right made of chocolate and the left vanilla. Her tail was made out of vanilla and chocolate stripes.

"Everything okay, Mikey?" April asked, unable to see the table from Mikey blowing her view.

"Yeah! Yeah!" He spun around in a tight circle. "Everything's cold, I mean cool! Everything's cool! Cool like ice cream! Ice cream's cold!" When the six eyes only grew more suspicious, Mikey scooped up the cat and ran out of the lab through the garage.

"He's not gonna like, hurt the cat, is he?" Casey asked. He knew but now that Mikey would never do anything intentionally harmful, but he also knew he wasn't the most observant.

"No, he's an animal lover." Donnie assured him.

"No. No!" Splinter glared up at the evil crimson eyes that stared at him in the darkness. "I defeated you! You were gone!" No matter how much he ran for the eyes, he never got any closer to catching and defeating them once and for all.

I am never gone. Replied Rat King's disgustingly slimy voice. I live because you live.

"Get out of my mind!" Splinter hissed, his hackles raising. He tried to muffle the voice by covering his ears, but it oozed through his fingers no matter how hard he tried.

I'm even deeper than your mind. I'm inside your very soul. 

The darkness around Splinter shifted, and he was greeted with his past self. His younger, human self. He watched a shadow of his current being come over on all fours and snap his jaws around his human form's throat.

You will give everything to your King! Your Rat King!

"No." Splinter replied, turning his head away from the bloody display of his two selves. "You have no control over me."

The Rat King laughed in response. A laugh that shook Splinter more than any sound ever had before, save his wife's last breaths as she gurgled on her own blood. I have what I came for.

Splinter opened his eyes, shaking like the cornered rat he was. The only solace he found was the box of polaroid photographs he had beside his futon. He grabbed the box and started flipping through them manically, needing to burn every bit of them into his brain.

Donatello's first water filter. Leonardo and Raphael's tenth birthday, the last one they celebrated together. Michelangelo's first painting. Miwa holding a birthday card she wrote for her father. His children gathered around an artificial fire for Christmas. A picture of April's seventeenth birthday party, the six teenagers smiling and laughing while Kirby, Cynthia, and himself were in the background enjoying some ice cream cake.

These were what he needed to focus on.

A picture of himself, Shen, and Miwa leaving the hospital after she was born. Their official family  portrait. The family portrait the Hamato took a little over a year ago, where Miwa held the picture of her mother, father, and herself as an infant while sandwiched between Leonardo and Michelangelo.

Mikey opened the freezer and quickly pulled out some ice packs that Leo had put in there. "Don't worry, my little friend." He told his new mutant kitty. "This'll keep you from melting, until I use my scientific genius to figure out how to turn you back." He placed the dripping cat at the very back of the freezer, where it was the coldest.

The cat meowed out a sound Mikey took as a thank you and even leaned her head out to lick at his nose.

Mikey giggled and licked the strawberry ice cream off his nose. "My little Ice Cream Kitty!" He leaned his head into the freezer to lick the top of the cat's head.

"Mikey?"

Mikey slammed the freezer door shut and stood in front of it so that no one would open it. He found his siblings, April, and Casey had all entered the kitchen and were looking at him with mixed expressions. Casey was smirking at him, Leo wore a smile of concern, Donnie and Raph looked at him blankly, and Miwa and April had their lips curled in disgust. "I didn't do it!" He defended himself. "I swear, I never touched it, and-"

"What are you babbling about?" Raph asked.

"And why are you unthawing our icepacks?" Leo added.

"Icepack. Yes, that is what I need."

The group looked over to find Splinter walking into the kitchen, still clutching his head. He was relying on his staff to walk, which he almost never needed to do after becoming a mutant. It  had almost entirely fixed the limp he sustained after the Hamato Dojo burned down in Japan.

"Sensei, are you sure you're okay?" Miwa frowned at her father's pain.

"I need an icepack, for my head." He repeated. He took the one that Leonardo held out for him. "And, possibly a Cheesesicle." He decided, reaching past Michelangelo's head to grab at the freezer door.

"Uh, wait!" Mikey pushed his body in front of the hand, blocking it. "You can't open it! No, Sensei! Let me grab it for you!"

Splinter turned his head slowly to look at his youngest, genuine anger in his burgundy eyes. "No?" He asked. "You dare tell me, "no", Michelangelo?"

"I, I, I, uh-" Mikey shrank back, but still blocked the freezer from opening with his arms.

Splinter let out a squeaking scream and dropped his staff. He fell onto all fours, shaking his head, his tail unintentionally slamming into Michelangelo and sending him across the kitchen into the counter. He hissed when the siblings stood.

"Sensei?" April asked. She remembered the last time she saw him like this. Saw him move and act so... Feral.

Splinter's head snapped to the side when Mikey tried to move and he pounced after him. "I'm sorry! You can have a Cheesesicle!" He cried, jumping over the island counter. Splinter chased Mikey around the kitchen.

Casey whimpered and and slid down the island to cower on the ground. This was NOT helping his rat thing. He kept muttering to himself that the demon rat was only the fungus bullshit, but it was hard to believe it when he was watching a seven foot rat hunt a five-foot turtle.

"Hold him down!" Miwa yelled.

Raph, Leo, and Donnie tackled their father against the island, doing their best to hold him down while he thrashed on the table. Miwa joined in, the four siblings each taking a limb and trying to hold it still.

"Sensei, stop it!" Raph yelled.

"Papa, please stop!" Donnie pleaded.

April bit on her lip but she tried to rest her hand on his forehead, though it was hard with his jaws snapping. It worked on Dr. Rockwell, so she thought perhaps she could help get through to him too. "Sensei, please try to listen!"

"Father, it's us!" Miwa started.

Splinter squealed and pulled himself free, quickly wrestling his limbs away from his captors. His strength knocked them all across the room and he stood on the island, hissing at them all. "I've got what I came for." He spoke, his accent dropping and becoming replaced with a slight Brooklyn one. "Soon, New York, and the world, will be mine!" And then his right hand raised and punched himself square in the jaw. Splinter fell off the island with a loud groan and thud.

"Sensei!" Leo was the first to rush to his father's aide.

"Was that Falco?" April asked.

Splinter shook his head slightly and looked up at them all with shame on his face. "Yes, April. The Rat King has returned."

"The what?" Casey screamed.

Not long after the attack in the kitchen, Casey got a text from his sister, asking where he was. When he said he was still out with friends, she told him she was scared and begged him to stay inside. Afraid of what this meant, Leo flipped on the news and watched the chaos unfolding on the surface above.

Rats the size of bears were running around the streets, terrorizing the civilians. They flipped over cars, breaking windows and attacking anyone who dared try to run for cover. The news anchor reported that the rats allegedly came from the sewers. Whatever they were, it was clear that they were mutated somehow, based on their shear size, and the fact the majority of them had no fur nor muscle on their faces, and were just skulls.

"These revolting rodents are snatching people away on this edition of Grody to the Max. Lock your doors and stay inside."

Casey's phone rang again, and this time it was his father. He answered and walked back into the kitchen to assure his father that he was somewhere safe, even though he had already been attacked by a giant rat barely ten minutes earlier. April also received a call from Cindy, who was briefed on the situation and told to stay locked into her work office. April didn't inform her aunt about Splinter's condition, knowing that if she did, her aunt might just try and make it to the lair to see how she could help her friend.

"This is not good, yo." Casey said, coming back from his phone call. "They're everywhere, man! Papa said he's getting reports from Brooklyn to Broadway!"

April frowned at the way he shook and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you should sit this one out, Casey."

"We could really use your help, Sensei." Leo said, turning to his father. "Last time, you were able to tell us where Rat King was, and you took that creep down with one punch. Can you do it again?"

Splinter shook his head, still holding it like he had a burning migraine. "Last time was different, Leonardo. The Rat King has grown more powerful. I do not fear for myself, but for what he could..." He looked away from his children in shame. "Last time, I was barely able to stop him. To stop myself."

"Sensei," Miwa took a step towards him, but he backed away.

"No, Miwa. This time, I cannot help you." He groaned again and shook his head. "But I can tell you that he plans to destroy the human race and replace them with rodents as the dominant species."

"Dios, esto es lo peor." Casey muttered.

Splinter surrounded himself with those precious photographs before he tried to meditate again. Despite trying to clear his mind, flashes of the Rat King and the destruction of the city above made it impossible.

Revel in the madness, my brother. There is room for you in my new world.

"No!" Splinter yelled, trying to shake the image of a bloody man being mauled by a giant rat. "Get out of my head!"

It doesn't matter. You already belong to me. You just don't know it yet.

In all honesty, the plan was barely a plan. Miwa decided it was best to try and defend the public from the rats on the surface, and Leo figured that if the Rat King was anywhere, it'd be above watching his beloved chaos. Like the sadistic bastard they all knew he was. Raph, Donnie, and April took the Turtle Buggy, with Mikey pulled behind on a skateboard. Leo and Miwa left to get the Shellraiser, and Casey was a bit excited to test out his bike's new weapons he designed. Despite telling him he could sit it out, Casey refused to let his fear get in the way of people getting hurt.

"Why do I have to wear the cheese?" Mikey yelled, wearing a giant foam piece of cheese on his head that he quickly threw together with his art supplies.

"We have to lead them away from people. and you're awesome at being bait!" Raph replied over his shoulder.

Casey followed not far after Mikey, who by now had two of the bear-sized rats on his tail. "This is the worst thing ever!" Casey shivered as he drew back his hockey stick with one hand. He smacked one of them in the head, which made it turn and start after him instead.

"Uh no!" April yelled as Raph turned them down a street. Seconds after her cry, they spotted a pile of crushed cars and several rats in their path.

"You gotta get better at announcing things in time to avoid them!" Raph shot April a glare. They couldn't exactly stop, or else Mikey would be slammed into the back of the Buggy. Luckily, Leo rounded the corner in the Shellraiser and used the snow-shovel mechanic to clear the street.

"Sorry we're late!" Leo said through the wristband communicators Donnie made.

The back of the Shellraiser opened and Miwa came driving out on a motorcycle. She held out her hand for Mikey, who gladly took it so that he was safe from the jaws snapping just a foot behind him. He jumped from her bike to the Buggy, where he quickly strapped himself in.

Seeing it as their biggest predator, a swarm of rats overtook the Shellraiser and flipped it on its side. Leo tried firing off the weapons, but he mainly focused on making sure none of his furry friends made it inside the tank.

Casey managed to take down several rats with his decked out bike, using marbles to knock them down, and a homemade flame-thrower to scare them into alleys that were devoid of people. "¡Ninguna rata se mete con Casey Jones!" Casey jeered in victory. But when he turned down to try and meet up with the Hamato, a rat pounced on him from an alley. It knocked him off his bike and locked it's jaws around his arm, luckily Casey was able to deck out his hockey gloves with makeshift armor. He grabbed the baseball bat from his back and tried to beat down the rat, smacking it repetitively in the head, but this did nothing to deter the rat from wherever it was dragging him too. "It's got me!" He screamed into the communicator.

"Go after Casey," Leo said into his end. "I'm good!"

Raph made a dangerous U-turn while Miwa took off down the street towards where Casey's tPhone was tracking him.

"Up there!" April warned them, alerting the group to a group of rats standing on a fire escape above them.

"Split up!" Raph separated the Buggy into the two-person go-karts. April and Donnie on the left, Mikey and Raph on the right, they narrowly avoided the rats. Miwa, Raph, and Mikey tried to distract the rats while April and Donnie went after Casey.

With April driving, she rammed into the side of the rat, which knocked it down for a brief second. Both teens struggled out of their seatbelts, but the rat was already up again and stuffed Casey down a manhole, which silenced his screaming after a heavy thud. The rat tried to follow after his prey, but Donnie and April both caught the tail of the rat.

"Leave him alone!" April snarled. She hoped that her desperation would trigger whatever crazy Kraang power-up that gave her insane boosts of strength, but of course it never came when she wanted it.

Donnie stabbed the rat with his naginata blade, but he miscalculated the strength he put behind his stab. The blade cut right through the rat's tail, knocking both him and April down against the asphalt while the squealing rat escaped into the sewers below. Along with Casey.

"Sunita, leave him alone."

Casey groaned and immediately wished he was still unconscious. His head was killing him. He slowly sat up and once his vision stopped blurring, he realized where he was. Sort of. He realized he was in some kind of giant cage with two other people. Two people he knew well.

Irma had her hands on Sunita's shoulders, pulling her away from trying to remove Casey's mask.

"I was just checking if he was breathing." Sunita argued back, though she didn't touch Casey anymore.

"Hey, are you okay?" Irma asked, turning back to him. "Mister?"

Casey was confused at first, wondering why she would call him Mister of all things. But then he remembered he was wearing his vigilante gear with a mask. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice, "I'm fine, Miss. Where are we?"

"The sewers." Sunita answered with disgust.

"We're prisoners of some creep calling himself The Rat King." Irma finished, quoting the nickname with her fingers. "Seems he separated us by age."

Casey scanned the other cages and noticed she was right. They were the only teenagers captured, then their were several adults in each other cage, all around the same ten-year span in age. Luckily, it seemed no kids were caught by the rats.

"Welcome, esteemed guests!"

Looking up at one of the platforms above the large pool their cages hung over, Casey was barely able to make out a human-like shape.

"There's no need to fear, I will not hurt you." He said. "That, I promise."

"Let us out of here, you freak!" Casey yelled in his disguised voice.

"All in good time." Answered Rat King. He gestured his arms down to show off the giant rats. "There were simple, ordinary rats," He told them in a smug, proud voice. "Until I transformed them with my special mutagenic growth serum." He held up a canister of mutagen, though no one but Casey would really know what it was. "But these were not the soldiers I was looking for," He went on. "I have just unlocked the secrets of the ultimate army. "Rat people!"

¡Oh diablos, no! Casey instantly realized what that meant, why they were in cages. He felt ready to puke.

"And you, my friends, will become that army!" Rat King's words confirmed Casey's fears.

Sunita kicked at the bars of their cage in rage, but it only swayed it from side to side.

"That is... Not ideal..." Irma muttered, more to herself than her two cellmates.

"Ya think?" Sunita and Casey shot back in unison.

"The Rat King peered into my mind to see what makes me unique." Splinter informed the teenagers that returned. "With the knowledge of my mutation, he has decided to create an army of rat people."

"We gotta stop him, Sensei!" Raph stood, punching his palm to emphasize.

"I told you, he is too powerful." Splinter snapped at his middle child. "Even for me."

"C'mon, Sensei." Miwa backed up Raph. "I saw you fight Shredder! You didn't struggle that much against him!"

"Which is why you should heed my warnings more seriously, Miwa." Splinter's ears flattened against his head. 

"But, Master Splinter, if there's one time we could use your help, it's now!" Miwa argued against him.

"Enough!" Splinter stomped his staff on the ground. "I attacked you all the last time the Rat King was a threat! I nearly killed April. I nearly killed Leonardo. I nearly killed you, Miwa." Splinter looked away from his children. "And I injured Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. I will not put you all in danger again." He turned to leave, to lock himself in his room with some chains that he had taken from Donatello's lab while they were gone.

"I know it's hard to believe in yourself," April stood. "But we believe in you, Sensei."

"April's right." Leo put his hand on her shoulder to show his support. "But, if you think it's too dangerous, then we'll trust you." He looked over at Miwa and Raph with a look he rarely used. It was his, I'm taking this over look.

Miwa tried to chase after her father, but Leo's arm blocked her from following him. "What are you doing?" She demanded, smacking his hand away.

"We have to do this without Sensei." Leo told her with a frown.

"Bullshit we do!" She hissed at him. "We need his help and so does Casey!"

"We'll manage, we always do!" Leo raised his voice a bit. "Just drop it!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" She snarled in his face.

"Then make the right decision!" Leo snapped before he stalked off to his room to cool down.

With everyone stewing over the fight between the two eldest siblings, Mikey snuck into the kitchen with a great plan. He opened the freezer and greeted their new frozen pet. "Are you ready for the most dangerous, crucial mission of your life Hamato Ice Cream Kitty?" He asked.

Ice Cream Kitty just seemed happy to see Mikey, because she mewed out and swayed from side to side.

"Aww, Kitty!" Mikey cooed. "Alright, let's do this!"

The Rat King drew a syringe full of his mutagen serum and then spoke to the white rat on his shoulder. "That's right, Aristotle. Every time one of my rat people bites a human, they will infect them, causing the mutation to spread, and spread, until every human being in this wretched world transforms into one of us." The rat on his shoulder squeaked again. "What's that you say? The serum's not perfected? What do you mean? No, that was the old serum, but this new serum will work. Perhaps you're right. We should test it."

Sunita and Irma shared a concerned look as the rotting corpse of a man began to walk down the stairs of the tunnel with the syringe in hand. He walked right up to their cage with a sadistic smirk over his decomposing lips. "Yes, the younger ones are the best test subjects." He threw open the cage and grabbed Sunita's arm.

Irma instantly kicked the man in his boney body while Casey yanked Sunita away from him and threw himself in front of her for protection. "Back off, fucker!" He snarled at him. "No one's gettin' rat-ified!"

"Casey's okay!" April sighed in relief. "Wait, Irma? Sunita? Oh no." April fumbled for her sunglasses and gloves while the Hamato teens gathered around.

"We can't let the humans see us, April." Leo said. "You and Miwa have to free 'em."

"I'm going after Rat King." Miwa ignored him.

"I will go after him."

The group spun to find Splinter standing not far behind them. "Sensei?"

"I thought you weren't coming." Miwa looked away from him.

"It is time the Rat King is dethroned." Splinter replied.

"I knew you wouldn't let us down." April smiled at him.

"If I should lose control, you do what you have to do." He said darkly, which made April drop her smile.

"What?" Raph's voice nearly rose out of a whisper in shock. "We're not gonna-"

"はい, Sensei." Leo answered.

All eyes snapped on him, terrified and betrayed by his promise. Mikey frowned and stroked the cooler he had brought with them. "Nothing's gonna happen, 'cause I got my super secret weapon."

"Let's move." Miwa grit her teeth.

The Hamato spread out, making their way up the shadows to surround the Rat King while April snuck around the lower level, trying to find a way to get the suspended cages down. She found a series of crudely put together pulley systems that had one cage tied to each.

Miwa aimed her tessen across the pool from the Rat King. She lined up her aim with his throat, ready to watch him bleed rubies for all he had done to her father. She drew her arm back so she could throw her weapon, but her wrist was caught by Splinter, who had snuck up behind her. She looked back and saw those red eyes he had the last time the Rat King took control, but they quickly faded and he shook his head. His grip on her wrist tightened, however. "No! Get out!" He groaned.

The Rat King chuckled maliciously and despite being blinded, he knew exactly where to turn his head to look in her direction.

You're mine now, Splinter. Kill your daughter! Destroy your sons!

Splinter's eyes turned back to that crimson color and he easily lifted Miwa off her knees and drew her arm backwards. He made her drop her tessen and flipped her over so that his tail could wrap around her throat.

Suddenly, Leo had tackled Splinter off his sister and was grappling with him on the ground. However, Splinter was much stronger than Leo was, and quickly flipped the turtle on his shell. He took one of Leo's swords and stabbed it down at his eldest son, but Leo caught the pommel of the sword and pushed upwards with all his might. However, despite his trying, the blade slowly inched closer and closer to his throat.

"Leave my family alone, Rat King!" Mikey yelled. He opened the cooler he brought and threw it at the Rat King's head with a victory cry. "Oh, yeah! Ice Cream Kitty; I choose you!"

Ice Cream Kitty already knew what her role here was, and she carried it out flawlessly. She flew at Rat King, her melting hackles raised and claws out. She landed on his head and she started to shred at the bandages covering his decayed eyes, scratching every bit of oozing flesh that she could get her sticky paws on.

Ice Cream Kitty's attack on the monster controlling Splinter made him break his hold, and the father dropped Leo's sword.

"Is that April's cat?" Donnie looked at Mikey with wide, angry eyes.

"Absolutely not!" Mikey averted his gaze with his lie.

Splinter jumped away from Leo and launched himself at the Rat King, his own hackles raised. Afraid of what could happen, the Rat King managed to throw off the blob-cat and retreated even further into the sewers through a broken elevator shaft.

"Destroy them!" He ordered his rats.

Splinter continued after him, running on all fours to reach his target faster.

With a taste of bittersweet luck, the giant rats all turned their attention towards the Hamato siblings, which drew them away from the people in cages. However, they were still huge and hard to beat down. Mikey was at least having fun punching one of them repetitively in the snout.

Leo's sword was whipped out of his hand, but he didn't go down. He rushed the rat after he saw how close they were to the elevator shaft Splinter had gone down. A fall from that height would kill anything that didn't land properly. He grabbed the rat around the middle and began trying to grapple it over to the broken elevator, but the rat was able to start fighting him back, scratching at his shell. Leo kicked behind him, ramming his foot upwards into the jaw of the rat in an impressive strike of flexibility for the turtle. Still, the rat wasn't deterred and continued to push Leo back.

"Leo!" Raph ran up behind him and grabbed the left side of the rat. Together they easily wrestled the rat over to the shaft and delivered a combined double kick that sent it tumbling and screeching to its death.

Now that she no longer had bear-sized guards stopping her, April ran to the lever that held Casey, Irma, and Sunita's cage. She pulled it was able to make it drop. The three captives groaned at the rough landing, but it broke open the door and they were able to stumble out.

"April?" Sunita and Irma both asked in surprise.

"Where's Casey?" Sunita asked.

"How did you find us?" Irma questioned. "Did you follow the trail of rat droppings?" When Sunita glared at her over her shoulder, Irma cleared her throat and changed her question. "I mean, where's Casey?"

"We split up, remember?" April answered, using all of her consciousness not to shoot Casey a look that might give away his secret identity. "And it doesn't matter, we just gotta get everyone out of here."

"Right, let's free the others and get the hell outta here." Casey said in a forced deep voice that would've made April smirk if it was the right time.

They had eight more cages to get down, so each of the four teenagers got two levers each. April and Casey were able to get their cages down with relative ease, and Irma was able to get her's, though she struggled with her lack of upper body strength on the rusted levers. "Curse my weak nerd arms!" She wheezed, but got the first one down.

Sunita couldn't get her's to budge at all. She was five-foot even and only weighed a hundred pounds, but she continued to fight with the lever, kicking at it while swearing to herself in the little Hindi she remembered. She really only knew the curse words her mother would repeat.

"Let me give you a hand, miss." Casey said.

Sunita pouted a bit when she watched the masked stranger easily flip the switch she couldn't get to budge. "I loosened it for you, yeah?" She asked.

"Yep, totally." He replied, smiling under his mask at her stubbornness.

"Follow me!" Irma shouted to the group of panicked adults. "I saw the way out!"

April and Casey glanced upwards at the Hamato teens keeping to the shadows but knew it'd be easier for them to finish taking out the rats if they brought all the people out of the sewers. They took up the back of the pack and made their way to the surface.

Donnie beat down a rat with his staff, but he jolted when he heard yowling. He spun to find a rat trying to eat the frozen feline and he smacked it away with his war hammer mode. "We're gonna talk about that later." He said, casting a maroon glare at his younger brother.

Mikey avoided his gaze and continued to punch the rat he was fighting in the nose.

They soon took care of all the rats and loaded the ones that weren't dead into the cages. "That's all of em." Raph heaved, stretching his shoulders.

"Good," Miwa turned to the elevator shaft. "We gotta go help Sensei."

Leo blocked her path.

"Move, Leo."

"No." Leo said defiantly.

Miwa stood up, trying to use her status as the eldest over him, but that's when she noticed he was taller than her now. When did that happen? She and Leo were always within inches of each other. They'd both been five-seven for the past year. "He needs us."

"No, he doesn't." Leo said with a blank, controlled face. "I trust him to finish this."

"Seriously, move it!" Miwa yelled.

When she took another step towards him, Leo reached backwards and grabbed the hilt of his ninjatō, though he didn't draw it.

Raph, Donnie, and Mikey watched them with pits in all of their stomachs. Not even Raph had something smart to say. Ice Cream Kitty must've felt the sudden shift in the room, because she mewed softly, like she too was unhappy with the fighting.

The Rat King landed on a car-sized rat he named Caligula and ordered it to run.

Splinter was still not far behind. "You run like a coward when not in control!"

"Who said I'm not in control?" Rat King smirked over his shoulder. "Attack!" He yelled into the abandoned sewer tunnels.

Splinter's ears twitched and he angled his head backwards to see what was making that ungodly chorus of screeching. A flood of normal sized rats seemingly came out of nowhere at the Rat King's command, but Splinter was unbothered by the desperate attack tactic. He ran up the wall and balanced his weight on the rusted pipes above. He didn't like this. He knew these parts of the sewers were abandoned and left to crumble. He had forbade his children from venturing down this way because he had discovered firsthand how unstable the ground in these parts were. Rat King must've known as well, either from his own discovery or peering into Splinter's mind, which is why he was leading him down here in the first place. 

Sure enough, even the Rat King knew that his rat Caligula couldn't handle the crumbling floors in this part of the sewers, so he abandoned the giant rodent. He leapt from step to step, completely trusting Aristotle on his shoulder to lead him to safety.

Splinter stopped short of the collapsing tiles, but knew that if he stopped pursuing, the Rat King would only return stronger. He didn't have a choice, he had to end this, and he had to end it now. He took a running leap and was able to clear the majority of the floor he didn't trust.

It was like a game. Like Rat and Rat King. The Rat King continued further and further into the ruined drainage system and climbed up a bridge of live rats that sacrificed themselves for his safety. They fell down into a dark, deep ditch that Aristotle couldn't see the bottom of. He didn't know if water, sewage, or nothing but concrete laid at the bottom, but he would honor their sacrifice.

Splinter jumped and caught himself with his claws on the wall beneath the Rat King. He had made vertical climbs before, but never as steep as this. Still, his claws were as sharp as they were strong, and he trusted them to hold.

"Fall!" The Rat King commanded him.

Splinter squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out the voice in his head that almost made him let go. He couldn't fall, he couldn't fail. Despite the pain of a fire burning his brain, Splinter moved up the wall. The fire burned hotter and hotter as he did, but he knew that the pain was only a figment of a madman's delusions.

"Fall!"

"いいえ!" Splinter shouted with feral snarl. "I will not let you escape this time." He made his way up the wall and tried to strike the King down with his tail, but he avoided the hit. Splinter felt it hard to keep his actions straight and strong, but he found it was easier to resist the pull of the Rat King when in closer proximity. Still, there were moments where his mental strength wavered, and he found himself on his knees once more, struggling with keeping himself in control.

"That's right." Said the smug, living corpse. "Bow before your master, rat. There's nothing you can do that I can't see coming."

That gave Splinter an idea. He forced himself back onto his feet, "So, you still think you are in control of this situation?" He asked. Moving faster than he thought possible, Splinter snatched Aristotle off of the Rat King's shoulder. He felt the slight crunch of bones from the small creature in his hand before he dropped down into the abyss.

"Aristotle! No!" The Rat King bellowed in his own way of sorrow. For himself, not the creature. "You'll pay for that! I can still see through your eyes!" Then his face twisted in confusion when he saw himself. The bandage he tied over his empty eye sockets was gone. Suddenly a cloth was tied over Splinter's eyes and he was truly blind for the first time.

"Control is an illusion." Splinter said from somewhere to his left. Rat King struck for him, but the mountain of fur was gone. He was tripped and thrown backwards through something that crumbled under his weight. "It can be even more blinding than the inability to see." Splinter was gone again. "It can send you over the edge."

Rat King stood and punched right for where the voice was, but then he was met with a slight nudge in his back and he fell. And fell. And fell.

Crack.

"さようなら、王様."

Chapter Text

"Fujiwara," Spoke Bradford. "Shredder didn't authorize you for this operation. I think we should-"

"静かに!" Hissed the teenager. "I am in charge while Master is in Japan. If we score an ambush on the Hamato it will make us both look good." She turned her head back to where they were surveilling the streets. She knew they wouldn't wait long, and right on cue, the Hamato siblings ran across the rooftops on their evening patrol.

He was returning any day now. If she didn't get some bit of progress soon... It had been over a month since he cut off Mori's medical treatment. She wondered how her mother reacted when the money stopped coming in. She wondered if Mori understood just how much she had failed him. She wondered what her mother was doing. Trying to rectify her mistake no doubt. Had she taken back to being an assassin? She doubted it. Perhaps she could work out some other kind of deal with Master Shredder while Shini worked off her debt to the man.

Miwa spun and blocked the crescent blade that was aimed at her back. Shini had brought a dozen Footbots with her, along with the doubly mutated Dogpound, that Mikey now wanted to call Rahzar. It had been over a month since they'd seen the witch, and Miwa had sort of missed fighting her, though she would keep that to herself. She found herself smiling, despite the fighting that broke out, but quickly she noticed something off about the witch.

She wasn't playful. She wasn't smug. She wasn't flirtatious. She was being quiet and serious. That wasn't anything like the tall, beautiful kunoichi that Miwa had gotten used to fighting over the months since that night on the Byerly building. Knowing that if any of her brothers overheard the question she'd never live it down, she dared to ask what was wrong with the witch. "What's wrong with you? Nothing cute to say tonight?"

Shini didn't reply, though her stoic face betrayed her for a moment. She looked confused on why Miwa would ask such a question. The slight shift of facial expression brought something else to Miwa's attention. Shini looked extremely tired. And thinner. Definitely, thinner. It's not like she was as muscular as Miwa was to begin with, but Miwa knew she at least had the body of an Olympic gymnast, plus a bit more muscle.

They traded a few more blows, and it seemed like Shini was strategically moving Miwa away from her brothers. They ended up on a separate rooftop from them and the other Foot members. Her crescent blade clashed so hard against Miwa's tessen that the metal let out a loud screech as they met. Even the golden, hypnotic eyes were a bit duller. Miwa wondered if her Hypno Stone would even work at this moment. "Shini?"

Finally, the witch spoke. They continued to fight, to put on the show that they were doing what they were supposed to do as enemies. "Do you remember what I once told you about family?"

Miwa instantly knew what the raven-haired beauty was referring too. "You are not the only one who has a family, Kazuko." Shini had said that to her the night before the incident at the docks. The night that Shini had proposed a truce between herself and the Hamato Clan, in order to defeat the Kraang and stop their invasion plan. Seemed ironic now, seeing that the Foot and the Kraang were now working together in one way or another.

"Yes." Miwa answered.

Shini sighed and jumped backwards. As she did, she brushed her long hair over her shoulder for a moment, shifting the long bangs. Miwa could count the number of times she had seen both of Shini's eyes on one hand. This made a total of four. She had a light scratch on her cheek that the makeup the gothic kunoichi wore couldn't conceal completely. That was probably when they fought at the cathedral the night she revealed herself to the Shredder. She wondered if it would scar.

"It seems I have played too much, Miwa-chan." Shini replied. "I told you once that I would one day carry out why I was hired by Master Shredder. I fear that day has come."

The kusarigama chain shot out of nowhere, but Miwa blocked it with a kick of her boot. Miwa had no real reply for that, and Shini knew it. As much as Miwa liked Shini, she would always choose her family over the witch. Shini was brought here to kidnap Miwa and help kill her father, and now her brothers as well. Over Miwa's dead body.

Shini drew back in her chain and swung the Hypno Stone loosely by her side. Part of her regretted telling the opposing kunoichi about it. Now she had no power over her mind. With a flash of her purple eyes, she created five copies of herself and surrounded Miwa.

Miwa dodged and ducked under the chains that came for her, but didn't notice the real Shini sneaking up behind her until she was caught. Shini wrapped her arms around Miwa and trapped her in a bear hug. Miwa stomped her right foot down onto Shini's before she whipped her head back to smack into her nose. Shini groaned and kneed Miwa in the back of the leg, causing them both to trip and fall on each other.

At first, neither understood why they had lost their balance so easily, but then they noticed that the entire city was shaking.

"Earthquake!" Mikey shouted.

"In New York?" Asked Rahzar. It wasn't unheard of, but it wasn't common.

"Miwa, look out!"

Miwa turned her head away from where Shini was above her and found Leo running towards them. She couldn't process why he was coming over until he grabbed her and practically threw both girls off the rooftop. As she tumbled off the ledge, she realized that the brick wall they were fighting by was crumbling and fell on top of her brother.

The fall knocked the wind out of her, despite the new breastplate she and Donnie made, her ribs were still healing from their first encounter with Slash. But that didn't matter. The moment she found solid ground, she was back on her feet and climbing back onto the roof. Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were already surrounding the pile of bricks that trapped their brother and she joined them in trying to dig him out.

"Leo!" Mikey pleaded.

"C'mon, buddy!" Raph shouted. "Where are ya?"

They found him after about fifteen seconds of digging, his head was tucked into his shell, but the rest of him was covered in scrapes and quick forming bruises.

"His head is gone!" Mikey shouted.

Leo popped his head out and groaned. "Not gone." He answered, shaking his head, his ears ringing. "But I think my shell got knocked loose. What was that?"

"Some kind of localized quake." Answered Donnie. "But what caused it?"

"Are you okay?" Miwa asked him.

He nudged her hand off his shoulder and took Raph's instead to help him up. "Done playing with your girlfriend?" He asked.

"Hey, I didn't ask for your help!" She glared at him. "I was fine!"

"Only because I stopped you and your little 魔女 from getting crushed by bricks!"

"Speaking of, where did the Foot go?" Raph interrupted.

Miwa looked back over the ledge of the building but saw nothing.

The Hamato Clan watched the news coverage in an uncomfortable silence. Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe was the reporter covering the earthquake that occurred about an hour before. "Scientists are calling them Microquakes, but it shook so hard, this reporter's hard was badly messed up! No need for concern, I'm being treated by my stylist."

"Dude, his poor hair!" Mikey said, trying to break the tense between the two elder siblings on the opposite sides of the couch.

"Earthquakes in Manhattan?" Raph questioned. "Something is definitely up!"

Unable to deal with the daggers being glared between Leo and Miwa, Donnie went to the lab to try and do some research of his own. Mikey quickly followed after Donnie, while Splinter and Leo went to the dojo. Raph looked at his sister, but she was already on her feet.

"I wanna punch something." She said. "Grab a focus mat."

Raph shrugged and did what she told him. He wasn't one for feelings, punching stuff was his therapy. Still, he wondered what exactly was going on between Miwa and Leo. Was it the Splinter thing? That's when it started, he thought, but that was nearly a week ago. Why were they still on it? Was it the Shinigami stuff? Yeah, that was annoying, but its not like Miwa's done anything stupid since the incident at the docks. It wasn't normally like this when they fought. Usually, Miwa was the antagonizing force and Leo was the one defending himself, but now the dynamic had flipped.

About an hour later, Miwa went to take a break from hitting out her feelings, so Raph went to go check on what Donnie was up too.

"I've been graphing the earthquake epicenters." Donnie told Raph while Mikey was playing with a Rubik's Cube. "They're happening in a pattern that's not at all random." He showed them the map on the screen that designated five blocks that each Microquake hit. There were six in total now, each lasted about twenty seconds, but they formed a tight circle.

"Is that awesome or awesome bad?" Mikey asked.

"Awesome bad, Mike." Donnie answered with a tired sigh. "I've got weird energy reading coming from under the epicenter. I think some kind of tech is causing the quakes."

Raph hummed and put his hand on his hip. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" He asked. He didn't bother looking at Mikey, because he knew he was only halfway paying attention, and instead met his emerald eyes with Donnie's reddish ones.

"Well, unless Stockboy is suddenly a lot more capable, it's gotta be the Kraang." Donnie replied.

"What is troubling you, Leonardo?" Splinter asked, noting that his eldest son had followed him into the dojo. He knelt down and Leonardo mirrored him.

"I... I just..." Leo sighed and looked at the floor.

"Leonardo, I cannot help you if you do not inform me of what is wrong." Splinter said patiently.

Leo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He really didn't want to say it. He felt like if he spoke it out loud, then he would be betraying his team. His sister. "Why did you make Miwa the leader?" He asked.

Splinter left a pregnant pause before his answer. "I have already told you why, Leonardo." He side-stepped the question.

"I know."

"Your sister has quite the mind for strategy and is a fully mastered kunoichi. I placed her in charge because I believed she was ready to be the leader I knew she could be."

"You said believed, Sensei." Leo pointed out. "Does that mean you doubt it now?"

Splinter sighed, "I have answered that as well."

"Sensei,"

"I believe she wasn't prepared when I placed the position on her. She didn't immediately raise her hand alongside you boys when I brought up the fact that a team needed a leader. I believe she is struggling now because she doesn't fully trust herself as your leader, and in turn she doesn't believe you trust her."

Leo frowned, afraid of that answer. "I see."

"Growing up, Miwa was always close with Raphael. I am sure you're not unaware of how similar they are in personality and thought. Both are strong and have the ability to lead, however they both let their emotions overpower their minds. How I saw this in Raphael and not your sister, I am not sure. Perhaps it is because I too was the eldest child once." Splinter looked at his hands as he ventured back into his past with Saki. "My father instilled in me what it meant to be the eldest sibling; how I needed to lead my younger brother down the right path. I did not want Miwa to make the same mistakes as I did."

"But, she hasn't lead us down the wrong path, Master."

"No, she has not. And I am grateful that your bonds are as strong as ever." He looked back up at his son and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Now, why have you brought this up, Leonardo?"

It was Leo's turn to introduce silence in their conversation, but he filled the void soon enough. "Because I... I'm having trouble with some of her decisions. Nothing too serious has happened yet, but I... I think she's letting her emotions cloud her judgement, like you said."

Splinter nodded and stroked his beard. "Have you tried to speak to your sister about this?"

"Well, no..." Leo answered honestly. "Not really. She won't listen."

"Perhaps, but you will not know if you do not try."

"はい, sensei. Thank you." Leo hugged his father, who wrapped his tail around his son in return.

"Is there anything else you would like to speak with me about?"

Leo thought for a second. Briefly, he considered something, but decided against it. Leo still wasn't even sure if he fully understood it himself, and there was no reason to bring it up if it turned out to be nothing. "No, sensei."

"Master Shredder will be back any minute now." Fujiwara informed the three main goons as she walked into the cathedral's throne room. "He said he brought back a new secret weapon."

"I heard rumors it's a new mutant." Xever said. "Part woman, part tuna..." His jaw spread into a sharp smile. "All lover."

"I hope not." Stockman shook his head. "I'm allergic to fish." He then cowered and took a few steps away from Xever out of necessity of keeping his head attached to his neck. "Nothing personal, Xever!"

"All I know is he's a deadly assassin." Bradford informed them. "He was mutated by the Kraang decades ago as a child."

A dozen Footbots entered and stood at attention, signifying Shredder's arrival at the cathedral. Shredder entered not long after, passing the four kneeling on his way to his throne.

"師匠." Fujiwara greeted him as he past her.

He stopped when he reached Bradford, now that he was seeing his new mutated form in person.

"Master Shredder." Bradford greeted him sheepishly, he hung his head in shame.

"You look terrible, Bradford." Shredder said before he resumed his walk. Once he sat, he addressed them all. "I have returned, and I bring with me the most feared assassin in all of Asia."

Fujiwara swallowed down the venom in the back of her throat. Was he replacing her?

A tall, muscular bengal tiger mutant entered the chapel. He was large, roughly 198cm in height. He wore a sleeveless vest with an azure colored scarf around his neck. He also had weapons strung across his belt. The most noticeable feature of their new colleague, however, was his tail, or lack thereof. He had a short little nub of a tail, maybe only seven centimeters in length. He knelt at the throne of the Shredder.

"Tiger Claw." Shredder informed them all of his name.

Fujiwara snickered to herself, but that caught the tiger's attention.

His ear twitched and he rose to his feet. "This is the Foot Clan you promised me?" He asked Shredder, his voice having a thick Japanese accent. "I must say, Master Shredder, I am disappointed."

Fujiwara narrowed her eyes at his words, but Bradford let out an involuntary growl.

"I honor you, Great Tiger Claw!" Xever spoke up. "Can Stickman offer you some refreshments?"

Stockman jolted at his services being offered with how his consent. He trembled, not wanting to get anywhere close to the tiger that was now eyeing him.

"Milk, skim."

Stockman inched backwards out of the room, afraid to turn his back on the mutant even though Tiger Claw was already facing Shredder again.

Fujiwara looked down at his tail again. "Sensitive subject, I am sure, but トラ have tails usually, do they not?"

"Don't mock me, child." Tiger Claw replied, his yellow eyes reflecting in the darkness. ". It was a rival who sliced off my tail. One day I will find it, and she will pay the price!" Stockman returned and held up a glass of milk. Tiger Claw took it and began to lap out of the cup, like a cat drinking milk out of a bowl.

"If you cannot keep your own tail-" Fujiwara started, but was interrupted by Shredder.

"Silence, Fujiwara. You will treat Tiger Claw with utmost respect. He is my new second in command."

He was replacing her!

"What?" She gasped. "Master, I've earned that job!"

"And you have lost it from your failure!" Shredder reminded her. "Do not talk back to me, girl. You may still be of use to me, but I am vital for your family's life to remain in tact."

"はい, Master." Fujiwara concealed her face underneath her hat.

"Now, Tiger Claw. Take Fujiwara with you to capture Hamato Yoshi, Hamato Miwa, and the turtles. Fujiwara, do not disobey him."

Casey followed April on her own evening patrol she did every night. She told him it was to try and find her father while also working on getting her body more fit for kunoichi training. Despite starting out with more stamina, Casey was starting to slow down as they kept going. His gear was weighing him down and allowing April to get ahead of him. She seemed to realize this, so they took a rest for a bit so Casey could catch his breath.

Panting, he lifted his mask so April could see his face. "So, Red, vigilante-ing is cool and all, but how about a real date?"

April raised an eyebrow at his forwardness. She had gotten the vibes from Casey, but she hadn't really thought about it before. "Well, what do you call this?" She teased.

"C'mon, Red," Casey stood and put his arm around April. "I was thinking, you know, maybe something a little cozier. You, me,"

April heard something from the street below that Casey didn't. She ran over to the rooftop's edge, already knowing what the cause was without needing to see them. "The Kraang!"

"Nah, aliens would just mess up my mix." Casey shrugged. He followed her and knelt beside her.

A whole bunch of Kraang in the Norman robot suit were walking single file into a Kraang portal opened on the side of a wall. "There's so many of them." April muttered.

"So, these are the robots you guys told me about?" He asked her.

"The Kraang robots, yeah." April answered with a frown. "Lucky you, you can finally see where I come from." She briefly shot him a glance and saw that he was frowning at her bitter response but she quickly averted her gaze. "What are they doing? I've never seen them with a portal like this before." She and Casey quickly dropped off the roof so they were on ground with the Kraang.

"Let's ask 'em and find out." Casey suggested and pulled down his mask. He snuck up behind the last Kraang in the row and smacked it over the head with his bat. The robot stumbled to the side by punched Casey hard in the chest in response. April rushed in and sliced the Kraangdroid in half with her tanto. The Kraang inside climbed out of the chest cavity, which startled Casey and he smacked it into the brick wall with his bat. "Ew, those things are..." He looked at April's fingers that were almost completely pink now, threatening to cover her knuckles now. "Kinda cool." He finished.

April didn't pay his comment any mind and instead walked up to the portable portal machine they had left behind. She looked at the small triangle-shaped device and pressed the middle of it. It closed and fell into her open hands. "Let's get this to Donnie," She said to Casey.

"Why not let a real scientist look at it?" Casey suggested.

April shook her head at his dismissiveness of the purple-shelled turtle. "Trust me, Donnie is ahead of most scientists. What's your problem with him?"

"My problem! He's the jerkwad who can't hold a conversation. He's the hostile one."

"Donnie has trouble with change," April told him. "It took him a while to come around to me too. But he's real sweet."

"Yeah, sweet on you." Casey teased.

"Hmm?" April looked at him.

"Nothing, never mind." Casey shrugged his shoulders.

"And then you press this button," April showed Donnie, holding the device over her head and pressed the middle button. It opened as she stepped back, "And you have a portable Kraang portal."

"Wow!" Donnie couldn't contain his excitement from examining the technology. "The Kraang are always one step ahead. I wonder if this is somehow connected to the earthquakes. I'm gonna have to test it."

"Test it, how?" Miwa asked. "You're not gonna make your own earthquakes, are you?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Donnie." Leo said.

"Oh, come on!" Casey groaned at their back and forth. "How dangerous could it be? If you tortugas are gonna be slow about it, I'll check it out!"

"Don't be stupid!" Raph knocked Casey away from the portal before he could walk through it. "You're crazy! Nuts! Out of your gourd!"

"Raph is right, Casey." Donnie said. "We don't know what's on the other side. We already know the air in Dimension X isn't breathable, so if you go through without proper gear, you could-" Casey cut Donnie off by shoving him through the portal before he jumped through as well.

"Casey!" Leo and Miwa both said in unison before looking away from each other.

"If Donnie's hurt, I'm gonna strangle him!" Raph ran through the portal.

"What happened to staying on this side?" April rubbed at her temples.

"Well, we can't just leave the dudes!" Mikey said. He took a deep breath before diving through the portal like it was a pool.

"Okay, so, we're doing this." Miwa shook her head. April, Leo, and Miwa walked through the portal to chase after the morons who dived through. What they all missed was another microquake that knocked the portal off the wall and deactivated it.

The other side was nothing like any of them were expecting. Instead of being in Dimension X's toxic air, they found themselves in some kind of void. It was as if they were trapped in some kind of thunderstorm in the sky, though the lack of rain, wind, and thunder proved that wasn't so. In front of them were hundreds more of the portable portals.

"Okay, this is weird." Raph spoke first.

Looking through the portals, they all saw something different. They must've been looking in on other planets, which brought out Leo and April's nerdiness despite the situation. "April, look at this one!" Leo showed her a planet that seemed to be completely underwater. Large, neon blue whale-like aliens swam by them.

"Wow. It's beautiful!" April smiled.

"It's the the Grand Central Station of dimensional travel!" Donnie clapped his hands together, his fingers folded into his palms. "The Kraang must be using this void as a gateway between worlds and realities."

"Guys, the door closed!" Mikey shouted, pointing in the direction they had entered from. "We're trapped!"

"Try to calm down." Leo said. "There's thousands of doors! One has to lead us back to New York."

"Yo, look at this one!" Casey called them over to the one he was looking through. "This one's rough!"

Through his portal, they saw a blue-cladded turtle laying in a hospital-like bed, seemingly in a coma. Around him was a small rat mutant, and a tall man in a hockey mask observing his vitals.

"How is my son looking, Future Boy?" Asked the rat.

"Sensei Leonardo has been through a lot." Answered the man in the mask. "The Kraang really did a number on him, and I don't know if he picked up anything while he was in the Prison Dimension, but... He's stable, for now."

"His arm?"

"I... I won't lie, it doesn't look good. If Draxum can't get his hands on some serious mystic medicine... Well, my Master lost his arm as well."

The rat frowned and walked over to the left side of the bed. The turtle's left arm was bandaged from fingers to shoulder, but they could all see blood was already leaking from the new stitches they put in. "Oh, blue. My brave son."

They all recoiled from the image of what seemed to be another dimension's version of Leo, Splinter, and possibly Casey.

"Is that supposed to be... Leo?" Mikey whimpered looking at his elder brother.

Leo was visibly disturbed by the scene playing how, but he turned away from it and shook his head. "It's fine. I'm fine." He didn't look back at his siblings and friends, not wanting to see their faces. It was another Leo, but it wasn't him. So it was fine. "Let's move." He cleared his throat.

They turned away from the scene of the apparent Splinter removing the mask from the other Leo's face. April stared through for just a bit longer. For some reason, she had a horrible pit growing in her stomach that made her want to hurl.

"Guys, look!" Leo said from the head of the pack. He pointed into a portal with a disgusted frown, "I think this is Dimension X!" The skies were a deep shade of pink, and there was Kraang machinery as far as the eye could see. It seemed the Kraang had completely turned their planet into a machine world, which left very little able to grow and thrive.

"It's so... Sad looking." Mikey commented.

"Shh!" April closed her eyes. "I sense something coming!"

A platform rose up to the portal carrying the ape-like robots the Kraang called Biodroids.

"Close the door, Donnie!" Raph yelled.

Donnie spun out his bō into a defensive hold, "I think it's too late for that."

"Get ready!" Miwa announced.

Two Kraang in the flying hover-cars flew through the portal first, shooting at them. The teens dived away from the portal in order to avoid the blasts, but that's when the Biodroids entered the void.

"Biodroids, destroy!"

Mikey dodged the slow moving mechanical gorilla as it reached for him, but Donnie pole vaulted over him and kicked the attacking robot away. However, the other one now started going for Michelangelo. Mikey attacked it, but the large machine punched him backwards.

Casey jumped over the bouncing Mikey and activated the roller-skates in his shoes so he could move faster. He struck the Kraang driving the robot in the head, disorientating it as he landed and spun around for another shot.

The Biodroid stepped backwards, nearly trampling April, but she was pulled out of danger by Donnie. "Thanks, Dee." She smiled.

"It was nothing," He shook his head. "Duck!" He grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her to the ground as one of the hover-cars flew over them with their laser.

Leo got chased by one of the Biodroids, it swinging the chainsaws at him, but Leo was able to dodge them. Raph ran up and got a boost from Miwa, landing on the Biodroid's shoulders. He stabbed both his sai into the robot and prepared a kick to the Kraang driving, but the Biodroid's hand came up and grabbed him around the middle. It chucked Raph at Casey, who grabbed Raph's hand and spun around so that Raph landed on his feet. Casey then wound back his arm and knocked one of the hover-cars through the nearest portal. "Casey Jones shoots! He scores!"

The second Biodroid grabbed Donnie around the throat and slammed him against the ground. It wound its arm back, ready to deliver a devastating punch. Miwa's tessen shot up and sliced off the fist before it stuck her brother. April then jumped up and sliced off the other hand after it let go of Donnie. Donnie gave a double kick to the robot's chest, sending it backwards.

Leo jumped up to the Biodroid attacking Raph and Casey and sliced the Kraang driver clean in half. The robot felt limp as the Kraang died, and Leo looked down at the neon blood now staining his precious ninjatō. He flicked them off and tried not to think about it while they took care of the rest.

The handless Biodroid swung it's leg wildly in a sweeping kick, knocking Leo, Mikey, Miwa, and Raph through a portal.

"Oh no!" Donnie yelled, panicked for his siblings.

"Let's follow 'em!" Casey shouted.

Hearing that, the remaining Kraang in the hover-car held up a toothbrush-shaped device. It clicked a button with it's tentacle and the portal four-fifths of the Hamato siblings closed.

"They're gone!" April cried.

"Gotta get that remote!"

Donnie charged the Kraang, which panicked and threw the remote through another portal.

The Biodroid got back to its feet and started to fire the cannons located in the buttocks of the robot's design.

"Butt cannons?" April grimaced. "Really?"

"That is so cool!" Casey laughed, despite the fact they being shot at. After being chased for a couple hundred yards, he looked over his shoulder at Casey and Donnie. "I got a plan!" He told them. "Push it!"

They both nodded in understanding and let him take the lead.

Casey spun around on his skates and taunted the Kraang and Biodroid chasing them. Both came after him, so Casey jumped up and smacked the hover-car into a portal and knocked the Biodroid halfway through one with a single swing of his hockey stick. April and Donnie rushed over to start pushing the android through the side of the portal, and it tumbled off a cliff.

"That was too close." April sighed in relief.

Donnie ran back towards the portal that closed, keeping him from helping his siblings. He let out a whining sound when he remembered he couldn't reopen the portal from this side.

"Donnie, it'll be okay." April put her hand on his shoulder. "They're tough."

Donnie nodded softly.

"So, how do we get outta here?" Casey asked. "You're the expert, gap-tooth."

"Gap-tooth?" Donnie repeated with a click. "Look in a mirror lately, Cave-Mouth?"

"Guys, stop it." April sighed. She now understood Donnie's distrust towards Casey. He had a tendency to make nicknames for people, and Donnie didn't know they were meant to be harmless. "We just gotta find a portal back to New York."

Donnie and Casey just glared at each other for a second before they started looking around the portals for a way out. After about five minutes, April called them over to check something out. The same pink sky they saw earlier was in their view.

"Must be another part of Dimension X." Donnie concluded.

"But what's that?" April pointed down through the portal.

What looked like a giant white worm was being prodded with electricity by a few Kraangdroids.

"Ugh, eso es bruto." 

"Kraang is aware of spies in that doorway where Kraang is not but soon will be."

"I think we've been spotted." April said, pulling the boys away from the portal. She backed up right into a silver Kraangdroid, and the trio was quickly surrounded by the robots.

"Surrender is optimum."

"Non-surrender means disintegration, which is less optimum."

"Donnie?" April asked, looking up at him.

Donnie's talon tapped against his metal staff for a split second. "Play along for now." He told them.

Casey opened his mouth to argue, but April held her hands up in surrender. Donnie quickly did as well, and so Casey conceded. "For the record, I don't count this as a surrender."

The Kraang opened a portal into New York's sewers and marched their prisoners through. "You will continue marching from the place you are to the place you are not yet."

"At least we're somewhere familiar." Donnie muttered.

Casey groaned and clutched his stomach. "Ugh, cramps... Didn't they mention feeding us something? I'm hungry."

"No, they said they'd feed us to something, something called a-" April answered, but was interrupted by Donnie.

"Kraathatrogon, which is..." Donnie tried to recall his basic Kraang language knowledge for mentions of whatever that was. "Actually, I have no idea what it is."

Casey drew his eyebrows in together. "We can wait around to be eaten or we can make a move!" He spun, activating the taser he had hidden in his hockey glove and shocked the Kraang behind him.

April turned around and stabbed the one that had a grip on her shoulder while Donnie threw a shuriken at a vault on the wall. It released a hiss of steam that messed with the robot's scanners. "Let's go!" He yelled to April and Casey. He knew these parts of the sewers, if they went down a couple tunnels they could loose them in the lair. But April turned down another tunnel instead.

"This way!" She said.

Casey followed after her without question, but Donnie looked back at the way he knew. But he didn't have time to argue with her, and it was best if they all stayed together, so he followed her as well.

April led them down an old run down tunnel that looked recently refurbished.

 "Woah!" Donnie gasped, shocked that this was so close to his home and he had no idea. "The old pneumatic subway! Built in the 1800s. Nobody uses 'em now."

"What's that gross, slobbering sound?" April asked.

"I don't hear nothin." Casey said.

After a few more steps, Donnie shivered and covered his ears. "I hear it now."

"It's coming from up there." April kept walking, but Donnie shook his head.

"Can't we get noise-cancelling headphones first?" He asked.

"Just wait here," April told him. "C'mon, Casey."

Donnie watched them walk up a small staircase and whined. Again, he knew they should've stayed together. He followed after them, making a mental note to add headphones to the new work goggles he was developing.

The came into a large pool where the Kraang had several of the giant worms they saw earlier hooked up to machines.

"Ooh, those must be the kraathatrogons." Donnie whispered.

Casey tried to repeat what Donnie had said before he groaned in frustration. "Let's just call 'em Space Worms."

One of the Space Worms roared and smacked it's head into the ground over and over, which caused the tunnels to shake.

"It's the worms!" Donnie realized. "That's what's causing the earthquakes!"

"Why?" Casey asked. "Why bring them here?"

April drew her lip back into a snarl and a small whine escape her throat. "I think I know why. Look closer at the machines."

Donnie turned back to the machines with confusion. Then he saw what April did. At first, he thought the Kraang were injecting the worms with mutagen, but instead, the mutagen was coming out of the worms. 

"Oh, eww!" Casey stuck his tongue out. "Are they milking them? I didn't even know you could milk a worm! They don't have nipples! Do they?"

"Ugh, Casey, stop talking." April gagged.

"Fascinating!" Donnie smiled.

A Kraangdroid's head turned and spotted the three of them. "Kraang, we have been discovered in the place that was meant to be undiscovered. Unleash the Kraathatrogon!"

Casey gulped as they started to undo the restraints binding the worms. "I'm gonna need a bigger hockey stick."

Whatever portal they were flung through, the four siblings ended up in a New York City dumpster. "The others are trapped!" Leo shouted, jumping out of the dumpster to try and find the portal key with no luck.

"Yeah, and the smart member of the team is trapped with them." Raph grumbled, getting a glare from each of his siblings.

Climbing out of the dumpster angrily, Miwa stomped up to Leo. "This is all your fault!" She blamed him. "If you hadn't gotten us-"

Her angry lecturing was cut off by another microquake, though this one seemed much more intense then the last ones.

"Whatever," Leo said to the scowling Miwa. "We gotta find the source of the quakes. Donnie made some reading on them, right? Let's just go back to the lair and try to figure them out."

Watching them from the rooftops, Tiger Claw and Shinigami stood to follow them. Tiger Claw turned to his subordinate, "Fujiwara, you have your orders."

She nodded and poofed away in a cloud of purple smoke.

Tiger Claw pursued them for a couple more blocks before he jumped down into the middle of the street, stopping them in their tracks.

"Who the hell are you?" Raph asked, spinning out his sai.

"You may call me Tiger Claw." Answered the tiger mutant.

"I knew it!" Mikey pointed at the towering mutant. "I was totally gonna name him Tiger Claw." He pouted.

The feline assassin grabbed one of his guns and spun it out, aiming at the one in the front, Leonardo. "I ask only once," He said. "Summon your rat master."

Scoffing, Raph pushed past his siblings, straightening up his shoulders. "Sorry, pal. I'm not a cat guy."

Tiger Claw fired his weapon, causing the siblings to disperse to avoid the gunfire. Tiger Claw targeted Raph and kept firing at the red-cladded turtle until he blew up the side of a wall Raph kicked off it. It tossed Raph off the wall and sent him sprawling.

"Raph!" Leo ran at the tiger with his swords drawn. He blocked some of the lasers with his blades, but Tiger Claw's heavy foot came up and clocked him in the head and knocked Leo down too.

"You are nothing but cubs." Tiger Claw spoke. "A waste of my talents."

"You sure, bro?" Mikey asked, spinning his nunchucks around.

Tiger Claw quickly changed out his bullets and shot Mikey point blank in the plastron. A roped wrapped around the smallest turtle and he fell against the ground with a groan. He wiggled and tried to get away, but Tiger Claw grabbed him by the foot and lifted him up, showing him off to the siblings. "You are defeated." He told them. He held a second gun towards Mikey's shell, "Call out your master, or the little one dies."

"Don't do it!" Mikey yelled.

"What do we do?" Raph whispered to his brother and sister. "This is a trap for Splinter!"

Miwa sighed, "No shit, Sherlock. But what choice do we have?"

"Good cubs." Tiger Claw said as the three siblings laid down their weapons and got on their knees.

Splinter never got a phone call, he had even told Donatello he did not need a phone. However, once the children all had cellphones, he was convinced when Miwa pointed out she may need his help one day. The Cheese Phone was ringing. Truly an emergency. Splinter raced to the landline phone decorated to look like a wheel of cheese that Donatello had found. "もし もし? Miwa, what is the problem? Do not fear, my daughter, I am on my way. Tell your brothers everything is going to be alright."

Tiger Claw had the four on their knees, resting their chests on the ledge of a high apartment roof. All four were bound in rope now, and if they weren't careful, they could fall.

"I can't believe you called Splinter!" Raph hissed. "If anything happens to him-"

"We had no choice, Raph!" Leo snapped. "Unless you wanted to be down a brother?"

"The rat!" Tiger Claw snarled. "Where is he?"

The four stopped speaking and looked away from the tiger. "Do not test me, cubs. One push and you all go over."

"Just wait, Tiger Claw." Miwa glared at him. "Splinter's gonna kick that little stub of a tail so deep in your striped-"

"Silence, girl!" Tiger Claw struck Miwa across the face, his claw tearing a cut across her cheek that quickly started to bleed.

"Don't you dare hit my sister!" Raph struggled against his restraints, but stopped when he realized that Tiger Claw had tied him to Leo and Mikey.

Tiger Claw grabbed Miwa and ripped her away from her brothers and tossed her closer to the center of the rooftop. "I am tired of waiting. You three are disposable."

"Release my sons and return my daughter. Now!"

Tiger Claw turned to find the rat that Shredder had described to him. He was standing on the rooftop with a jade green staff. "An ancient proverb says: Even a cornered rat will bite a cat. Is that so?" He smirked.

"Come find out." Replied Splinter.

Tiger Claw fired the second gun that shot out bullets of ice that further expanded when made contact with a solid object. He missed every shot, as the rat was faster than he expected.

Soon, Splinter was standing between Tiger Claw and his children. His strong tail bashed the side of the rooftop and the bricks started to crumble. He knocked them up with his staff with a move that looked straight out of Casey's arsenal. He flung them at Tiger Claw and managed to hit him six times in quick succession.

Tiger Claw caught himself from falling over the edge with his claws. His tongue lapped at the blood that came from his nose after a brick collided with his face. He pulled a short sword out from behind his back as he got back to his feet. "I prefer to slice you into bite-sized pieces."

Despite being half a foot taller than the feline mutant, Splinter was much quicker than he was. He easily avoid the sword strikes and got a few stabs of his staff in as well.

"You'll pay for that, rodent."

Splinter paid no mind to the insults and continued to run circles around the frustrated tiger.

"Get him, Splinter!" Cheered Mikey.

"Enough!"

The fighting ceased when Miwa melted into the tiles of the roof. Her brothers yelled for her and Splinter tried to run over to where she vanished.

Miwa appeared across the street by the feet of Shinigami, who held her crescent blade to Miwa's throat. "No more fighting, Hamato-san."

Splinter stood and dropped his staff.

"It seems, you lose, rodent." Tiger Claw lapped at the blood on his muzzle again. "I cannot wait to see what Master Shredder has in store for you all."

Chapter Text

Despite the blade to her throat, Miwa called out to her father. "Behind you, Sensei!" She saw Tiger Claw pull out a small, silver bullet and aim it for her father's back. But it was too late, Tiger Claw shot out two bullets, and one missed, but the other ricocheted off the rooftop's edge and struck him in the side of the neck.

"Father!"

"Sensei!"

"Papa!"

Splinter grabbed what had struck him and realized it was some kind of poisoned dart. He swayed on his feet as his vision blurred before Tiger Claw struck him again. The tiger pounced on him and stomped down on his head, bouncing it against the tile. His eyes fluttered and then closed.

"Shinigami," Tiger Claw looked back up at the witch across the street. "Bring back the girl."

"Secure the 鼠 first." She replied. "We do not need our hands full with both of them."

He hummed, "Fine." He stepped over to bind the rat.

"Get away from him!" Snarled Raph. "Or I'll kill you!" He threatened, struggling again in the binds that threatened to throw the three turtles off the roof.

Miwa sawed through the rope that bound her and elbowed Shini hard in the stomach. As the witch moved backwards, Miwa made a dangerous ploy. It was stupid, but she had to trust Shini once more, it seemed. She purposely let herself fall off the roof they were on, aiming her tessen at her brothers' restrains as she did. Shini let out a surprised gasp and shot out her chain, which wrapped around Miwa's middle and left arm, binding her once more. Now that Miwa had a better sight of their binds, she directed the magnetized tessen to slice through their restraints. First cutting Raph from Leo, then Leo from Mikey. "Go!" She yelled at them as Shini started pulling her back up. "Run!"

Tiger Claw turned, dropping the unconscious Splinter as he did. "No!" He ran back for the turtles.

"Splinter!" Raph tried to run for his father, but was caught by Leo's arm instead.

"We have to come back for them," He said. "Move!" He shoved Raph and Mikey behind him as the tiger began to fire at them.

Mikey pulled out one of Donnie's smoke bombs and threw it against the ground, allowing the three brothers to get away in the smoke. In the cloud, Leo grabbed Splinter’s staff, vowing his father wouldn’t go long without it.

"No!" Roared Tiger Claw.

"Relax," Shinigami responded as she finally got Miwa back on her rooftop. The other kunoichi was struggling, but Shini blew some of her sleeping powder into her face, which knocked her out. "We have the two he really wants."

The Kraang allowed them to make a run for it, probably not wanting to get in the way of the Kraathatrogon. Despite their head start, the Space Worm was quickly gaining on the three teens as they ran through the sewers. It seemed like it was tracking their scents, because no matter which tunnels they turned down to try and throw off the worm, nothing worked.

Up ahead, Donnie spotted a hole in the subway tracks that must've been taken out for repairs that were never made. He fell back, allowing Casey and April to get ahead of him before he tackled them both into the hole, "Heads down!" The worm passed over them, but quickly realized it's prey was still in the same tunnel and started to loop back around towards them. It didn't take long before the worm was once again on their heels. It's mouth was split into thirds and was wide open as it roared at them.

"We've got the slow that thing down!" April yelled at them. She knew that Casey was getting tired of carrying his gear, and she wasn't fairing any better. Donnie may have had enhanced mutant stamina, but he couldn't run forever.

"I'm on it!" Casey kicked out his skates and turned around to skate towards the worm's open mouth.

"Casey, no!" April yelled after him.

"Don't be stupid, Casey!" Donnie shouted.

Casey reached behind him as he got closer and grabbed one of his spray paint-grenades he made. "Eat this!" Casey pulled the lid off the canister with his teeth and threw it into the open jaws.

The worm stopped dead in its tracks and began to shake its head violently, coughing up the orange spray. Then it rose up, filling the tunnel and roared again, now directed right at Casey.

"No!" Casey began to skate back towards April and Donnie. All he had done was piss it off.

"Hurry, Casey!" April yelled for him.

Donnie climbed up a ladder and held his bō out for April. "April, grab on!" She jumped and grabbed the end he held for her. He swung her upwards with surprising strength so that she was higher on the ladder than he was. Donnie then turned back to the tunnel and did the same thing for Casey now. "Jones! Hurry up!"

Casey jumped for the staff, but his fingers only found it the same time the worm found his leg. Casey screamed in agony as it's teeth ground against his flesh, it tore him away from the staff, threw him higher in the air before it swallowed him whole.

"Casey!" Donnie screamed.

"No!" April shrieked. Her scream shook the tunnel, and send them both falling against the platform. Her high-pitched wail irritated the worm and it quickly slithered down the sewer tunnel ahead of them. April tried to stand, to run after the creature and demand her friend back, but Donnie grabbed her shoulder.

"W-w-we have to go..." He stuttered. "T-too dangerous down h-here."

April whimpered and covered her eyes as tears began to run down her cheeks. "He's gone!"

"S-s-s-sorry, A-April." Donnie tried to console her by stroking her hair.

"Ow!" Mikey whined as Leo pulled the bandage tight against his skin.

"Sorry, Mikey." Leo muttered, securing the bandage.

Raph snarled and threw the icepack he was using on his head at Leo. Leo caught it and set it to the side without looking up, further infuriating Raph. He stomped over to Leo and grabbed him by the shoulders. "How the hell could you just leave them?" He demanded. "Shredder wants Sensei dead, and who knows what that creep wants with Miwa! If you two hadn't called Splinter, none of this would've happened!"

"Again, did you want Tiger Claw to kill Mikey?" Leo gestured to their younger brother, who shrunk into his shell upon their fighting. "We didn't have a choice."

"We could've stayed to fight!" Raph argued. "Instead of running like cowards!"

"Shini had Miwa, Raph. We couldn't have helped her right then, and Splinter was unconscious. How were we supposed to get to Miwa and drag Splinter home with those two on our tails?" Leo shook his head. "Think for once, pea-brain."

"Shredder has them both, now!"

"I know that!" Leo shouted back, standing up. "But Shredder wants Miwa alive for something, and Splinter can handle himself long enough for us to rescue them!" The eldest brother wiped at his eyes with the back of his hands, removing tears neither warm-colored bandana wearing turtle noticed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Now, are you going to stand here and scream at me, or are you gonna help?"

Raph felt bad about seeing his brother cry, but he also couldn't help the anger inside him. "Pfft, do you even have a plan?"

"Stop it, Raph." Mikey said firmly.

"And, yes, I do." Leo answered.

"I dunno, Donnie." April frowned as they crept back towards the office building where they first met Bishop. "I still don't trust him."

"Bishop has been nothing but helpful, April." Donnie replied, not understanding why she was still resentful of the Utrom. It wasn't his fault that he had to reveal April's Kraang-ness. It would've come out sooner or later anyway. "And if anyone else would know anything about the Kraathatrogon, it'd be him."

April sighed, knowing he was right. "How do you even know he'd still be here?"

"I... Don't," Donnie admitted sheepishly. "But, we have to try." Helping April climb the windows to the second floor, Donnie knocked on the window three times with his talon before pausing and adding another two. A knock Bishop told them to use if they needed him.

They didn't get a response right away, but then a flashlight turned on and blinded them. The window opened and a male voice said, "Great Caesar's ghost. Quick! Get in before you're spotted." Both tensed when they realized they were seeing a man that was not Bishop. He was a middle-aged white man with greying hair and blue eyes. "I'm an associate of Agent Bishop," He assured them. "The name's Jack Kurtzman."

Hesitantly, both April and Donnie entered the office, and Kurtzman quickly drew the blinds down and turned on the lights. "Donatello and April-" Donnie started.

"I know who you are." Kurtzman interrupted, his eyes still fixated on the window. "And I know about the other Hamato as well."

"Where's Bishop?" Asked April with a twinge of venom in her voice.

"Away." Answered their new acquaintance. He looked over at them, and once he saw that both looked less than pleased with his answer, he shrugged. "Sorry, that's all I know. Bishop isn't one for sharing much, but you'll get used it after knowing him for as long as I have."

"And, how long is that?" Donnie inquired.

"About two decades now." Kurtzman answered. "Apologizes, but I'm how Bishop got most of these pictures." He motioned to the photos in the office. "Now, this is about the earthquake situation, isn't it?"

"Don't suppose you already know what's causing them?" April asked, bitter suspicion lacing her tone.

Kurtzman seemed unbothered by her hostility, "Bishop and I have nicknamed this particular scheme, The Manhattan Project." Kurtzman lead them over to a table that held photos of the Kraathatrogons, as well as expertly done sketches.

Donnie picked up a sketch, realizing it had calculations of the height of the Space Worms. He quickly realized that these calculations were way off from the ones they had seen up close. "These say the worms are much bigger than the ones we saw," He pointed out.

"That's because the Kraang only brought the ones that fit through the portals." Answered Kurtzman. "They bring in the babies, they're more manageable that way."

"Then, how big are the adults?" April asked, leaning over the table to look at the sketch in Donnie's hand.

"Huge!" Kurtzman spread his arms out wide to show his point. "Bishop and I believe they could be hundreds of feet long." Kurtzman showed them a picture of the milking machine the Kraang were using on the worms. "The Kraang have been importing them from Dimension X to suck out their mutagen. Like milking a giant cow."

April stuck her tongue out and made a gagging sound, "Okay! Okay! We get it. So, how do we stop them?"

Kurtzman frowned and sighed. "Bishop left that part out."

"Convenient." April hissed.

"But I do know the Kraang ride these worms." He pointed back to the sketch at the top of the worm's head. "You see these antennae on its head? They pull 'em like the reins on a horse."

Donnie studied the sketch, reading all the handwritten notes at the bottom. "Do the worms need water?"

"They are kept well hydrated with Dimension X water, yes." Answered Kurtzman.

"That's it!" Donnie smiled. "I think I might know how to beat the worms!"

"How?" April asked.

"Salt!"

"Salt?" April thought about it for a second before she bore a sharp, toothy grin. "Donnie, you're a geniu-" She was cut off by her phone ringing. Hey Baby by Pitbull started ringing, which was a special ringtone April downloaded for one reason. One person specifically. "It's Casey!" She answered the phone with a nervously hopeful smile. "Casey?"

"Uh, hey, April. Uh, so I'm kind of, uh, trapped inside this giant worm thing. It's cool. I'm alive and stuff. My-my leg really hurts though."  His voice was soft, almost like he was trying to whisper, but the amount of pain he was in was clear over the phone.

"You're inside the worm? You get a signal in there?" She asked.

"Tryin not to think about it, Red." He chuckled lightly. "It's, uh, trying to digest me, I-I think. Could use, uh, a little help. Aghh!" He screamed and there was a sloshing sound, that made April gag. "I tried stabbing it, but it's not budging." He was back.

"Sit tight, Casey!" April got to her feet. " I mean, um, don't go anywhere. Donnie and I are on the way!" She hung up and turned back to Donnie and the confused Kurtzman. "He's alive! He's alive!"

"Great!" Donnie smiled. "And I've got a plan!"

Miwa despised the way they were treating her father, but she held her tongue. She knew that in a moment like this, he would want her to stay calm and collected. Still, watching them splash him with water and say such horrific things about him was enough to make her want to snap the nearest person's neck. Based on where they had her chained to the cathedral's floor, that would be Stackford. She was okay with that. He was whiny and annoying.

"Wake up, rat." Tiger Claw snarled, dumping a bucket of water over Splinter's head to wake him.

Slowly, Splinter's eyes opened and his foggy mind took in his surroundings. When he spotted his daughter, he would've rushed to her aid if he could muster enough strength to do so. He forced himself onto his knees, using his tail to replace his hands that were bound in iron chains behind his back. He felt a feral hiss inside his throat growing whenever one of Shredder's goons stood to close to his daughter, but he kept himself silent.

"Nice work, Tiger Claw." Said Fishface. "You finally captured the great Hamato Yoshi."

"Apparently, the 子供 he calls family refer to him as Splinter." Tiger Claw informed them.

Fishface let out a cackle that made Miwa switch her mental murder spree onto the walking sushi display. "Fitting, for a man who has been a great thorn in Master Shredder's side."

"So, is the poison going to finish him off?" Asked Rahzar.

Tiger Claw tilted his head to the side, "Most men would've perished by now, but it merely weakened him. He is a formidable foe, I will give him that."

Shredder entered the cathedral with Shini trailing close behind him. "Bradford, Xever, Stockman, leave us."

The three minions bowed their heads as they were excused and quickly left the room.

"Hamato Yoshi," Shredder spoke with disdain, stopping beside Miwa. "So you have come to be this? A wretched rat man waiting to be put out of his misery."

Miwa glared at the man beside her, but for the time being, he paid her no attention. Her eyes flickered over to Shini's golden gaze, which quickly looked away once they made eye contact.

Splinter let out a sound that was perhaps meant to be a weak chuckle, but his pained lungs made it barely come out. "At least I do not wear a mask, hiding what little humanity I have left."

What humanity? Miwa thought to herself. Shredder was no human, he was a monster through and through.

His words lit the flames of Shredder's rage and he kicked Splinter hard in the side, which sent him across the floor and into the steps of the throne. "It is because of you that I wear this mask!"

Splinter felt the stone crumble underneath his weight, and he felt a rib snap, but he once again silenced himself. He got back to his knees, though the action made his head spin and a wave of nausea almost overtook him. "All... These years, you still continue to deceive yourself."

"You dare?" Shredder kicked Splinter again, this time in the stomach, and when the rat doubled over, he grabbed him roughly by the right ear, lifting his head. "Now it ends! And once your life is through, your daughter will go through her life cursing your name the way she always should've! A cowardly, lowly rat!" He unleashed the blades of his tekko-kugi and brought down, but stopped when he heard giggling.

Miwa couldn't contain her laughter. She laughed so hard for so long, that she almost fell over against the cool tile. Her hands held her stomach as much as she could as she laughed and laughed. When she could finally breathe again, she blinked away the tears her outburst caused and saw that everyone in the cathedral was looking at her in confusion. "You think killing my father like that will make me see him as a coward?" She finally asked.

Shredder released his hold on Splinter and turned to fully face her.

"You'd kill your greatest enemy while he's poisoned and chained? What about honor?" Miwa asked. "Killing him here and now, while he's in this state would only solidify everything I've come to learn."

"And what is that?" He snapped at her, his tone deluded in confusion. Like everything Miwa was saying was destroying the fantasy of this moment he had built up in his head for years.

Miwa smirked, "That you're nothing but an honor-less murderer."

The air was left icy by her statement, both Tiger Claw and Shinigami frozen in anticipation of what would come next.

Shredder looked back at Splinter for a moment before he let out some sort of grunt. He retracted the blades of his weapon. " Hmm. You share your mother's wisdom." That was like a dagger in both father and daughter's hearts, but both chose to keep their expressions neutral. "Gather the Foot." He instructed Tiger Claw. "I will offer Hamato Yoshi one last fight." As he left the cathedral, he placed a hand on Miwa's head, but she yanked herself away with a shiver.

As Tiger Claw and Shredder left, Shinigami was left standing alone with the chained Hamato. She looked down at Miwa, who now was shaking. With anger? Fear? Shini couldn't tell. She looked over her shoulder, just to make sure no one would see her. She walked over to the rat and knelt beside him. She placed her hands on his shoulder and recited a short healing incantation.

Splinter's body instantly felt ten times better. He could still feel the poison wracking his body, moving throughout his system, but whatever she had done had eased it. "Why would you help me?" He asked the girl as she stood.

"To even the playing field." She responded and turned to leave the cathedral. As she reached the doors, she looked back to meet Miwa's eyes. "Good luck, Hamato-san, Miwa-chan."

Leo used some of Donnie's reinforced shuko to climb the outside wall of the cathedral. There were only two Footbot standing on guard at the top, and he quickly took them both down with his shuriken. Once he made sure the coast was clear of more, he snuck in through the cracked widow of the chapel turned throne room. It didn't take long for him to spot his sister and father down below. Splinter's arms were bound in chains behind his back, and he was laying on the floor by Shredder's throne with labored breathing. Miwa was about twenty feet away from him, her wrists chained in front of her. She was on her knees with her eyes closed, almost like she was trying to meditate. He jumped down and came up behind his sister silently. "Miwa, I'm here to get you both out." He whispered to her.

Her eyes shot open and her hand grabbed his wrist, stopping him from attempting to pick the lock of her restrains. "Leo? You shouldn't be here! Go!"

Before the blue-shelled turtle could argue, the fire pits that lined the pool below lit up, causing an ominous orange glow on the three Hamato. Shredder entered from a hidden staircase underneath his throne, along with him came Shinigami, Rahzar, Fishface, and Stockster. Leo drew his sword, ready to fight, but was stopped by Tiger Claw's low growl.

"No sudden moves, cub."

Leo turned and realized Tiger Claw had come up behind him and Miwa and held the same gun he used to threaten Mikey against the back of his sister's head. Leo let go of his sword and Tiger Claw pounced on him, disarming him of both his weapons and forced him onto his knees next to his sister.

"Leave the children out of this, Saki." Splinter said through gritted teeth.

Shredder only looked at Splinter before he stalked over to Leo. He bent over and got in the turtle's face, so close that Leo would've bit off his nose if he wasn't wearing the metal medashibō. "Where are the other turtles?" He demanded.

When Leo stayed silent, Shredder looked up at Rahzar. The werewolf mutant sniffed the air with closed eyes for a moment. "He is alone, Master Shredder. I can't smell the others."

"Seems only one of your sons cared enough to try and save you." Shredder said to Splinter as he turned away from the turtle. He used his blades to cut through the chains that bound Splinter's arms. "Watch, turtle, for it'll be the last fight you ever see. And as for you, Miwa," Shredder looked over at the raven-haired girl on her knees, who sat up straighter when his eyes fell on her. "It is time you see your father for the pitiful, cowardly vermin he has always been." He pulled off the navy blue cape he wore in an overly dramatic fashion that seemed like he was putting on a show for the daughter of Hamato Yoshi. "Stand, 芥, and face your doom."

Splinter got to his feet, but he was clearly having trouble standing. His legs wobbled weakly under his weight and he repetitively shook his head, trying to make his vision stay singular. He groaned with a hiss, his ears flattening for a moment.

Shredder went for the throat, but the blade missed as Splinter narrowly dodged. Shredder continued to make stab after stab, but Splinter continued to avoid him on shaky paws.

"You can do it, father!" Miwa said.

Her words made Shredder look at her, and Splinter used that opportunity to make a strike of his own. His tail smacked Shredder hard in the side of the head, knocking the samurai helmet loose. As Shredder attempted to fix it, Splinter kicked Shredder in the chest, knocking him down.

"Yes!" Leo cheered on his father.

Splinter attempted another attack, but Shredder came up with a kick that sent Splinter flying backwards. Shredder got back to his feet, "Is that all you have, Splinter?"

"Father!" Miwa jumped to her feet and tried to run and help, but her chains only allowed her to stand. She saw Shini lower her eyes beneath her hat.

Leo struggled against Tiger Claw's stronger hold, which only made the tiger cackle.

Silently, Raph and Mikey entered the cathedral through the same hole Leo did. Leo was holding up his end of the plan well, keeping all of Shredder's goons fixated on either himself, Miwa, or their sensei. Who was, unfortunately loosing against Shredder. It was unnatural for them to see Splinter get his ass kicked, it felt wrong. Like the rules of reality no longer mattered. Raph had to keep himself from letting out a guttural click that would give them away. He turned to Mikey and silently helped his younger brother begin to unload the unintentional fireworks they borrowed from Donnie's lab.

"Fight me, 害虫!" Shredder shouted at Splinter.

Splinter was panting now, his body having trouble keeping up with fighting the poison and the Shredder at the same time. He got back to his feet, but was quickly knocked down again by a vicious kick.

"Sensei!" Both Leo and Miwa cried in unison.

Shredder grabbed Splinter by the collar of the kimono he wore, the one that bore the insignia of the Hamato Clan. The clan they were both raised in. Shredder easily lifted Splinter up over his head in an impressive show of physical strength, even if Splinter's feet still touched the floor. "Pathetic! You hear how she cries for you? I will put her out of her misery of having to worry over a despicable creature like you."

Just as Shredder moved to stab Splinter through the neck, another one of the earthquakes hit. The villain lost his footing and dropped Splinter in the process. Splinter noticed that the quake had caused the glass floor that covered the pool below to crack, and now Shredder was attempting to stay on his feet while standing on the glass. Splinter bashed his tail against the glass as hard as he could, which caused the cracks to break, and send the armored monster underwater.

"Master-" The Foot cried, but were cut off by Mikey swinging overhead with his kusarigama chain, setting off his fireworks. Shinigami and Fishface attempted to block the smoking projectiles that came for them, while Stockman cowered behind Tiger Claw. The loud sounds made both Rahzar and Tiger Claw cry out and cover their ears, accidentally letting Leo go free.

Leo grabbed his discarded swords and swiped the chain the held Miwa against the floor, and she was up instantly. She used the chaos to steal her tessen and wakizashi out from Tiger Claw's snout.

"Oh, yeah! Rescue time!" Mikey cheered.

Miwa and Mikey kept Shini and Fishface at bay while Leo and Raph lifted Splinter and slung one of his arms over their shoulders. "Time to go, Mikey!" Raph said.

"Hells yeah, boy!" Mikey threw down a smoke bomb.

"No!" Tiger Claw roared in anger. "Get up, you fools!"

Fishface dived into the pool and pulled Shredder back to the surface, "Are you okay, Master-"

Shredder returned the favor by shoving the snakehead mutant away from him. "Do not let them escape! Go!"

Donnie and April returned to the same tunnel they lost Casey in, seeing his tPhone was still pinging in this location. "This it! He's just up ahead and coming this way!" Donnie said to April.

"Right." April set down her backpack that they made a detour to grab from her apartment. She got out all the salt they had managed to get from Kurtzman, April's, and Cindy's apartment, though the middle aged woman wasn't aware April had broken in to burglarize her spice cupboard. Salt's ionic strength can burn through a worm's neurosecretory cells. They just hoped it would work on a Kraang worm as well.

Donnie grabbed his staff and started beating it against the subway tracks, alerting the worm and making sure it didn't alter it's course. Sure enough, the worm appeared around the bend of the tunnel and started towards them. The worst part of this plan was that they had to wait for the worm to get close, and ideally, open it's mouth.

"Now!" April yelled at the tall turtle.

Donnie did so without question, trusting her extrasensory intuition. He wound his arm back and hit the salt container like a hockey puck. The worm screeched at them just as he did, which sent it right down the worm's throat. Donnie hit two more while the worm roared from the first one. They repeated this a couple more times, April telling Donnie when to strike, until the worm had finally had enough.

It slowed down and eventually came to a halt right in front of them. It began to wildly shake its head, making a sound that neither expected a worm to make, alien or not. Donnie jumped up to the platform just in time to avoid the worm's vomit that flooded the tunnel.

"Ugh..." Casey groaned.

"Casey!" April hugged him, despite them both being covered in the worm's vomit.

"My leg..." He shifted his right leg, allowing April to see what had happened. His pants below the knee was completely shredded and hanging loosely by his ankle. Down his thigh and calf, he had seven large lacerations caused by the worm's teeth that were pretty bloody, but April expected it to be much worse.

"You're gonna be fine, Jones." She told him. But she couldn't do anything for him right now, not while they were in danger of the worm coming back to its senses. "Donnie!" She looked over at Donnie, who was covering his head with his hands, spreading and closing his fingers repetitively. "Donnie, we gotta move!"

Donnie made a low grumbling down and shook his fists a few more times before he jumped down onto the subway tracks and easily scooped Donnie into his arms.

"Thanks, Dee." Casey muttered. He'd be embarrassed to be rescued like a damsel in distress, if he wasn't in pain and covered in worm goo. Donnie made a vocal sound that Casey didn't recognize, but decided not to say anything else.

"We have to go back to the Kraang hideout." April said suddenly.

"What?" Casey asked. "And fight more of those things?" He asked.

April nodded grimly. "I just got the worst feeling that Junior here, isn't our biggest problem." She thumbed at the worm.

Casey and Donnie shared a look. "Lead the way, Red." Casey conceded. He hoped that Donnie had enough medical junk in his mission bag to tie his leg over until they were done with this bullshit.

"Faster, guys!" Mikey said over his shoulder as he scanned the streets, looking for any Foot minions that may be pursuing them.

"You were foolish to come for us." Splinter groaned as they helped him up to the roofs. "You boys put yourselves in danger."

"Yeah, I thought I told you guys to run." Miwa said, taking the back of the pack.

Leo glared up at her for a moment before he continued to lift Splinter as best he could. "We'd never leave you."

"Leo's right," Raph said. "Leavin' ya with that fuckin psychopath was not an option."

"La... Language, Raphael." Splinter fell to his knees. His sons attempted to help him, but he held his hand up for them to stop. The toxins in his stomach finally won and he purged up all he had recently digested.

"Ew." Mikey gagged.

Raph smacked him in the back of the head.

"Raph, help me lean him against the wall." Leo said. Raph did so without question. "Here, Sensei." Leo pulled out a bottle of water he kept in his mission bag. "Just drink some water and rest."

"We need to get back underground." Miwa argued.

"I need to rest, Miwa." Splinter finished the water like he was dying of thirst. "Must get the poison out of my system." His hands were shaking, but he slowly started doing the hand symbols of the Healing Hands he was teaching April. Admittedly, using it on yourself would lessen the effects of the technique, as well as prolonged exposer to the healing, but he didn't have much of a choice.

"Let him rest," Raph said to his sister, "We'll just look out for any goons."

"Uhh, found 'em." Mikey said.

"Attack!" Roared Tiger Claw.

Shini tried to bind Miwa again, but this time, she was able to block the chains with her shoe and smacked the taller kunoichi over the head with her closed tessen. Tiger Claw shot at Leo with his ice gun, but the blue-shelled turtle was able to deflect the bullets.

Fishface pulled out a new, larger switchblade that was similar to the old ones he used before he became a mutant. He swiped it at Raph's head, but the turtle ducked under it and kicked the fish in the stomach.

"Fancy new weapon, Fishface." Raph smirked at him. "Let's see ya use it!"

Fishface snarled, "I'm going to chop you into tiny chunks and enjoy your flavor."

Rahzar was much faster than he was as Dogpound, but his hulking size was still to slow to land a hit on Mikey. "C'mon, Rahzar! Can't keep up?" Mikey taunted.

Leo's twin ninjatō met Tiger Claw's shinobigatana. "Your skills are nothing compared to mine." Tiger Claw growled. "You are still just a cub." He disarmed Leo of both swords, but missed the fact that Leo had a hidden blade. Leo swiped it, cutting a shallow slash into his shoulder. Tiger Claw yowled like a cat would and stumbled back a bit. He drug one of his claws against the wound before he tasted his own blood.

April was right. The worm that ate Casey was not their biggest problem. The Kraang were now trying to pull another Space Worm through that was at least three times bigger than the last one. She looked back down at where Donnie was doing some basic first aid on Casey's leg. He had used all of the travel sized sterilizer he had to make sure that the worm's bile hadn't given Casey some space infection. Now he had Casey holding gauze to his calf so he could finish wrapping the bandages.

"Good as new," Casey joked in a soft whisper. He gave Donnie a genuine smile, and the turtle replied with a short, sharp nod. Donnie rubbed his hands together, the sticky feeling of Casey's blood mixed with worm vomit was quickly becoming to much to handle. But he didn't have anything else to wash his hands of it.

"I have a plan," April told them. "Donnie, do you think you can get up there and reverse the polarity of the portal?" She asked, pointing upwards where a Kraangdroid was operating the portal's mechanics.

Donnie shook his head and hands before he looked at her. He nodded.

"Casey, you and I have to distract the Kraang while Donnie does his thing."

"No problem. Casey Jones is on it!" Casey stood as best he could and ran into the middle of the clearing with a very obvious limp. April followed after him, both calling out to the Kraang. "Yo! Alien freak-jobs!" Casey cackled.

"It is humans known as humans." Said one of the Kraang.

"No, Kraang. It is the human known as April O'Neil." Said another one.

"That's right, fuckers!" April drew out her tanto. "Come and get me!"

"Apprehend the one that is known as April O'Neil for the Kraang. Elimination of other human that is unknown to Kraang is authorized." They started firing at Casey, who skated away from April, making them choose who to go after.

Donnie scaled the facility quietly and took out the Kraang operating the portal with a quick stab of his naginata.

"Eat it, alien porquería!" Casey shouted as he shot off a hockey puck that decapitated one of the robots. "This is so cool!" He was grinning underneath his mask like a madman. He lit one of his exploding pucks with the sparks of the robot's head and shot it off, taking out a whole group of them.

April had gotten much better at defending herself, and was able to avoid getting grabbed by them. She sliced a few arms off of the androids and then kicked them to the ground so Casey could take off their heads.

Donnie pulled the cover of the panel off the side of the portal and peered inside. What the hell? The panel had similar Kraang wiring that Donnie was used to by now, but this one also had chunks of some kind of goo that was purplish-pink and glowing. He let out a small whimpered. He'd touched enough gross stuff today.

"Casey Jones; Fifteen! Kraang: Big, fat zero!" Casey jeered.

"Kraang, unleash another Kraathatrogon."

A leg less Kraangbot dragged itself over to a touch panel on the ground and pressed a button. The second Space Worm that was in the process of being milked was released from its restrains and turned it's attention to the two teenagers.

"Uh oh." Casey's smile dropped.

"You gotta be kidding me." April groaned. "Look out!" She tackled Casey to the side just as the worm slammed itself against the ground.

"I hate worms." Casey grumbled.

April bit down on her bottom lip, studying the worm. Recalling the sketch Kurtzman had shown earlier, she grinned. "I have an idea, Case. Something that Kurtzman said." She helped him to his feet.

 "Am I supposta know who that is?" He asked. His jaw fell open when he watched what she did next.

She placed her hand on the side of the worm and closed her eyes. "Good girl. Good girl." She soothed it. Then she climbed on top of it and held her hand out for Casey to take.

"Uhh?" He vocalized as he hesitantly climbed aboard.

"I guess I have a connection to it." April answered before he asked more. "It's not important, just hold onto this." She bend back one of the antenna and held it out for him to grab.

"This is better than being inside it." He decided. 

"Move it, girl!" April commanded the worm. "Take out those mean Kraang with the blasters!" The worm obeyed her and started going after the Kraang, whose lasers did nothing against the skin of the worm.

Donnie watched them ride the worm around the Kraang lab for a moment. April and Casey were both so cool.

"Do your thing, Donnie!" Casey's yell snapped the purple-shelled turtle out of his thoughts.

"We'll meet you back at the lair!" April shouted up to him. "Come on, Wormy! To the surface!"

"Leo!" Miwa realized Tiger Claw had overpowered Leo, and was now very close to doing something serious to her brother. She tried to rush to his aid, but Shinigami blocked her path.

Tiger Claw brought down his heavy paw, ready to claw open the little turtle's shoulder in retribution for what he had done, but was stopped by a mountain of brown fur grabbing his wrist. Splinter was back on his feet now, and moved with no pain from the poison he had been injected with. Splinter used Tiger Claw's shock against him and spun the large cat around before bring up his leg and slamming the cat's face into the concrete roof.

"It is time to end this." Splinter said.

"Sensei!"

The family embraced in a group hug despite the fact they were in the middle of a battle. Splinter pulled back first and gave each of his four present children a quick scan, "Are you alright?" He asked them.

"Ready for a nap, honestly." Mikey replied as they turned back to face the four Foot soldiers. He felt better about their odds now, five on four was just unfair. Especially if one of those five was Splinter!

Miwa quickly found herself defending against Shini again. "This game is getting old, Shini." She said.

"Agreed." Shini replied. "I do wish we could keep playing. You are so adorable, but I must finish my task." Despite the playful words, her tone was again lacking.

"Why?" Miwa asked, struggling her waskizashi against Shini's crescent blades. "I don't want to fight you, and I think you don't want to fight me either. So what does he have over you?" She asked. "What is it about your family? Don't give me any of the secretive, cryptic bullshit."

Another earthquake shook Manhattan, quickly knocking every fighter off balance. Shini tripped over the edge and fell backwards, and Miwa fell too when she reached forward just a bit to try and catch her.

"Miwa!" Splinter yelled in horror. He tried to race over and somehow save her from plummeting, but Tiger Claw stopped him with a hard stomp on the rat's tail.

"You're not going anywhere, rat." Tiger Claw grabbed Splinter by the shoulder and flipped him onto his back before he grabbed him around the neck. "You are mine now, Hamato." He hissed. A rock struck him in the back of the neck. "Who dares?" He roared.

Leo ran and kicked Tiger Claw in the face, knocking him off his father and off the roof. He knelt by his sensei, both they both turned when they noticed a hand gripping the roof's edge.

Miwa was dangling above the busy traffic, holding Shinigami by the wrist. 

Raph ran over to help, but sneered at the witch as he did. "Why'd ya save her?" He asked.

Shini hummed and poofed away in her usual smoke cloud.

"Thank goodness, Miwa." Splinter held his daughter close once she was back on solid ground.

"Where'd Fishface and Rahzar go?" She asked Mikey and Raph.

"Sent them packing with their tails between their legs." Raph smirked.

Another earthquake knocked them down, but this time they saw what was the cause. A giant worm, hundreds of feet in length burst through the ground with April and Casey on it's back.

"Way to go, Wormy!" April cheered on her new friend.

"This is so rad!" Casey laughed.

Miwa looked at her brothers and gestured to the two and the worm. They all shrugged in return.

Tiger Claw leapt back onto the roof, using a jetpack to add speed. He brought down his sword on the group, aiming to remove Hamato Yoshi's head from his neck, but Splinter was faster. He kicked Tiger Claw square in the jaw before whipping him back off the roof with his tail. Tiger Claw struggled in the air with his jet pack and flew right into the worm's open mouth.

"Okay, you two need a shower." Miwa covered her nose as they made their way back to the lair. "Why do you smell so bad?"

"Worm vomit." Casey replied with a shiver. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Let me look at your leg, Jones." Leo said, stopping by the turnstile so they didn't bring their bile covered clothing into the lair.

"You remember where Miwa's bathroom is, April?" Splinter asked her.

"Yeah, thanks." She said sheepishly. "But what about my clothes?"

"You can borrow some of my stuff while your's is washed." Miwa told her. "Or burned."

"Wow, this is pretty good." Leo commented on the dressing Casey had.

"Don did it." Casey told him.

"Really?" Leo was surprised. "He's usually not great with bodily fluids of any kind. Especially blood." Which was a little ironic, seeing as he had disceted a number of Kraang in search for retro-mutagen cures.

"Really." Casey nodded. "I owe him."

Raph leaned over the turnstile, "Then you should tell him that. He's in the sunroom."

"Sunroom?" Casey asked.

Once Casey showered and borrowed a hoodie and sweatpants that Donnie had, he went to the sunroom. It was exactly what it sounded like. It was a room that had a large crack in the ceiling that produced natural sunlight into the lair. It was decked out with some kind of device that amplified the heat a bit, which made Casey start to sweat. Donnie was basking on a large rock in the middle of the room with his eyes closed and his shell soaking in the sunlight.

"Hey, Donnie." Casey said. "Leo said you didn't wanna talk or something, but... Uhh, thanks again for helping me back there. I know it wasn't easy for you."

Donnie lifted his head and gave him a nod.

Casey smiled. 

Chapter Text

Stockman sighed as he finished up another batch of mutant ideas for Master Shredder. What he would give to be making a mutant army for himself instead of that psychopath that was now his boss. Over the last four days, since Tiger Claw was eaten by a giant worm and Hamato Yoshi and Miwa got away, Shredder had been on a tirade of abusing his subordinates. Bradford and Xever were beat in a sparring match that was really just a lay down and take it match. Whatever he had done to Fujiwara, the teenage girl was seen on the brink of tears racing to her room in the mansion Shredder let all his employees stay in. Stockman had avoided his wrath thus far, and he figured the best plan was just to work as hard as he could so that, hopefully, Shredder wouldn't do anything to him.

He'd been up for nearly forty-eight hours straight now, and he desperately needed some sleep. He took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes.

"Baxter Stockman," Shredder's voice shook Stockman to his core.

The now panicked scientist jolted to his feet and turned to face his Master. "M-Master Shredder! What a n-nice surprise!"

Shredder had Bradford with him, and he was still clearly enraged about loosing their last fight with the Hamato Clan. "I ordered you to build me a mutant army, and you give me this?" Shredder snapped his fingers, and Bradford stepped forward holding some of the mutant ideas that Stockman sent in about seven hours ago. The first one was a duck, and admittedly, a duck mutant wouldn't be that terrifying, but he still thought it was a good idea.

"No, Master Shredder, let me explain!" Stockman pleaded for his boss to hear him out. "Don't you see? It swims, flies, and we could use a-a Taekwondo artist! It'd be a triple threat!" Shredder responded by stabbing the paper, his blades narrowly missing Stockman's glasses. The scientist whimpered and shrunk backwards, further into his lab in a futile attempt to hide from Shredder.

"Can it, Stinkman!" Bradford snarled, stalking towards him with his jaws snapping. "This is the last time you mess up!"

"Mess up?" Repeated Stockman, confused by the statement. "But, look at you, Rahzar." He tried, remembering what the werewolf mutant had said after his second swim in mutagen. "You're twice the dog, man," He quickly added with Bradford snapped at his head, "You were before!"

Bradford roared in his face, covering his glasses in saliva. "Do you think I wanted this?" He demanded.

"No, Bradford." Shredder said, now in a relatively calm voice. Instantly, his guard dog backed off. "I have a more suitable fate in mind."

"Ma-Master Shredder?" Stockman whimpered.

"You have failed me too many times."

"No! I mean, please, Master Shredder! I have a son!" Stockman pleaded for mercy. "And I've got plans! Huge plans! Mutant pigs and rhinos-"

Shredder grabbed Stockman by the collar of his sweater and tossed him across his lab, breaking his computer. "Pigs?" He roared.

"A-a-and rhinos?" Stockman whispered, plugging his bleeding nose.

Shredder narrowed his eyes and held out a small detonator.

Stockman's heart was beating in his throat and his blood ran cold when he realized what it was. His hands shot up to the mutagen collar around his neck, like he was trying to block the bomb's signal with his hands. "N-no! P-please! I won't be of any use to you as a mutant! What if... What if it messes with my brain? My smarts is the only thing I'm useful for! Please, Master!"

The pitiful cowering only make Shredder scowl in disappointment. He pressed the button that activated the bomb. "I am not a man of idle threats."

"No!" Stockman whimpered and started trying to pull the collar off.

"Bet you end up a bigger freak than me, Stinkman." Cackled Bradford.

"There's nothing wrong with idle threats!" Stockman's panicked voice was an octave higher than his natural register. Stockman grabbed a screwdriver off his desk and started to try and pry the collar away from his neck as the beeping grew faster. Something landed on his arm, and that only made him scream. He heard the buzzing of a housefly, but he felt nothing at first. But the collar soon exploded, showering him in glass and mutagen.

Shredder and Bradford left as the transformation began, deciding to return once the screaming horror show was over.

April and Donnie had pulled an all nighter, which was really just working eight hours after patrol, on a new batch of retro-mutagen. Ever since April's revelation of being half Kraang, Donnie had a hypothesis that her DNA was the cure for mutation, and they had been working together for weeks trying it out.

"Two drops." Donnie told her.

April took the dropper and dipped it into the Petri dish that held her spit. She carefully squeezed out one then two drops and stepped away from the mutagen mixture Donnie was working on. Once they were sure it wasn't going to immediately explode, Donnie turned on the Bunsen burner. "Which batch is this one again?" She asked.

"Five hundred seventy four." Donnie answered. "But we're so close, April! I can feel it!"

April gave a small chuckle at his enthusiasm, "I thought I was the one with special feelings around her."

Donnie gave her a toothy smile and then he yawned.

"You've been up for a long time, Dee." April said. "Regardless of how this batch turns out, you should get some rest."

"You've been up just as long." Donnie argued with another yawn.

April shrugged, "I don't get that tired anymore." She admitted. "I only sleep like, two hours, and I'm good to go."

"Sounds nice." Donnie yawned again.

April smiled and shook her head. They watched the cyan colored thick liquid slowly turn orange. Donnie turned off the Bunsen burner and removed the orange liquid with a pair of tongs. He took another dropper and made a slide for the microscope. He peered through it with baited breath, "Okay, mutant cells. Please turn normal. Please turn normal!"

The mutant cells fizzled and contorted, and Donnie was scared this was another batch lost. Then it happened. All of the mutation disappeared, and the cells were normal again.

"Eureka! We did it!" Donnie cheered. "We really did it, April!"

"You did it?" April asked, checking that she heard him right. She peered into the microscope as well before she pulled back with a victory cheer. "Yes! Donnie, you did it!" She moved to hug him, but stopped herself.

Donnie showed it was fine when he opened his arms first, and she flung herself into them. He spun her around in the air as they both laughed and screamed out their victory.

"Did what?" Leo asked, walking into the lab with the others quickly following behind him. "What's going on in here?" He asked.

"Did you invent pizza that doesn't get soggy in milk?" Mikey asked, eating a piece.

"Only you would want that, Mikey." Raph grimaced.

"Only you would try that." Miwa added.

April jumped from Donnie's arms and quickly hugged Mikey, who was the closest. "Donnie, finally did it!" She cried happily. She hugged Leo, then Miwa, and finally Raph, who looked shocked at her contact.

"Retro-mutagen, you guys!" Donnie showed them the orange colored liquid. "The key to turning Dr. O'Neil human again." His eyes then drifted to Splinter, who had come in behind his children. "And you, Sensei."

Splinter's ears perked a bit, but his face didn't show any emotion apart from being acknowledged. "Human once more?" He asked. The idea was so foreign to him that it was hard to imagine it. He wasn't sure that he even remembered what it was like being human. He closed his eyes, "Save Kirby first." He told his son. "And then I will... Consider it."

Donnie frowned as Splinter left the lab. "I... I thought he would..."

"Don't take it personally, Donnie." Miwa put her arm around his shoulder. "He's probably just surprised its finally a possibility."

"Yeah, I mean, he's been a rat for thirteen years." Mikey said. "I wonder what he'd look like without fur?"

"Like his pictures before?" Raph scoffed.

"I don't remember what he looked like in person." Miwa admitted.

"I wonder what I'd look like as a human." Mikey muttered, his hand reaching for the retro-mutagen.

"We were never human to begin with, genius." Raph reminded him, slapping his hand away from the key to April's father's salvation. "You'd turn back into a little baby turtle again."

"I know that." Mikey pouted. "Still wonder."

"I've got enough for two doses." Donnie said, pouring the retro-mutagen into two test tubes. "One for Dr. O'Neil and one for Master Splinter."

"Can't you make more?" Leo asked.

Donnie pursed his lips, "It took over a month for this batch to become stable." He told him. "And it takes ten canisters to refine just one dose of retro-mutagen. We don't have any left." He looked back at April, "But at least we can find your dad and change him back."

"You really did it." April just laughed in glee. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She hugged Donnie again. "You're the best!"

Donnie blushed, "I-It was a team effort." He stammered. "You provided the Bunsen burner and saliva."

He struggled on his feet, twitching his head uncontrollably. He could see nearly 360 degrees around, and it was disorientating his newly formed legs. He wanted immediately try and find a way to reverse this, but he was just so hungry. He knocked over his trash can next to his desk and fell to his knees. He found a half eaten granola bar and threw up on it by instinct. His hands scooped up the liquefied granola bar made with his own vomit and slurped it up. By the time he realized what he had just done, he couldn't even be disgusted with himself.

"What am I?" He asked. "I'm nothing anymore! I'm a freak!" He buzzed angrily, twitching again. "I'll never be taken zzzzz-eriously as a zzzz-cientist again." Then he got an idea. He got to his feet and flew over to the whiteboard he had been studying mutagen on. He wiped away all his previous work and started jotting down everything he already knew about mutagen and the apparent creature he had been turned into. Shockingly, he moved much faster now, and he felt like his brain was processing faster too!

"Yezzzz! Yezzzz! Zzzz-Stockman DNA, combined with pure-strain human DNA... I'd be normal again! Better than normal! Twice the man Stockman was." He said bitterly.

"Stinkman!" Called out Bradford's low voice.

Stockman dropped onto all fours and scurried away from his whiteboard and towards the back wall of his lab.

"Where are you? I wanna see what you turned into." He cackled viciously.

Stockman tested his hand against the wall, and when he found it stuck, well he would've smiled if he was still capable of doing so. Once he was on the ceiling, he disabled the lighting in the lab, plunging Bradford and the three Footbots into darkness.

"Scared to show yourself, Stinkman?" Bradford asked. "It's not like you can get much uglier."

Stockman turned around from where he was about to fly out of the broken window and looked down on Bradford. He spat up some of his stomach acid, which burned the werewolf and made him howl in pain. Pleased with himself, he flew off to become better. He wasn't flying for long before he heard all to familiar voices.

"Alright, we gotta do this quick. Raph and Mikey, you can't let him escape. Donnie, spray him fast!"

It was the Hamato! They were close... And now, he had the power to squash them like bugs...

They found Kirby trying to attack a billboard of a woman with an overly long neck. It was sad to watch, especially for April. "Oh, dad."

"Alright, April, think you can get his attention?" Miwa asked the redhead.

"I think it'll be safer if she hangs back." Leo voiced his opinion.

Miwa's eyebrow twitched and she turned on him with a venomous glare, "Nobody asked you."

"We don't want a repeat of last time!" Leo reminded her. "April riles him up to much."

"But, I can help." April said calmly. She didn't want to get in the middle of whatever was happening between the two eldest Hamato siblings, but with her dad on the line, she would. "I can calm him down too." She looked back up at the billboard, which now her father was hanging upside down from.

"No offense, April, but last time you tried that, he took you to his nest and tried to feed you dead rats." Raph sided with Leo.

April huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm not sitting this one out."

"You heard her." Miwa smirked at Leo. "Let's go." Using their grappling hooks to get on the billboard, the Hamato slowly and silently surrounded Kirby. "Alright, we gotta do this quick. Raph and Mikey, you can't let him escape. Donnie, spray him fast!" They knelt just under where he was apparently sleeping while Raph and Mikey climbed up to the top of billboard, preparing for him to try and take off once he realized they were there.

"Dad!" April called out to him.

His eyes snapped open and he screeched in fear. He flung himself upright, nearly knocking Raph off the billboard as he did.

"Dad, it's me! April!" April pleaded with him. "Don't go, everything's alright!"

He screeched at her again, but then he tilted his head to the side. His eyes dilated slightly, shining with recognition.

April smiled, "That's right, it's me. You remember the Hamato right?" She watched as he took note of them all, hissing when Donnie pulled out the retro-mutagen. "They're friends, remember? Donnie has something that can help. It'll turn you human again."

"ZZZ-sentimental human!"

Kirby hissed and flapped his wing upwards to try and grab something that flew in front of the lights on the billboard. He missed, and it came into full view. It was a disgusting fly mutant with large, bulbous head and bulging green eyes. Antennae-like eyelashes on the sides of the nose, a vertical mouth and had an afro completely messed up to look like an arrow. He had a slightly shriveled lobster-like claw for a right hand and extremely long fabric-like wings sprouting from his back. He wore a pink sweater and blue jeans, which had many small rips made by the prickly body hair.

"Give me the retro-mutagen! Now!" He demanded.

"Ugh," Miwa cringed as the fly crawled down the billboard, "Another mutant?"

The fly disturbed Kirby and he flew away from the billboard.

"No, dad! Stay!" April pleaded with him. Kirby flew closer to April, but flinched backward when she reached out to touch his forehead. At first, April couldn't understand why he was seemingly afraid of her, but that's when she remembered her pink fingers. Kraang pink.

"Retro-mutagen!" The fly demanded and spat at Donnie's hand. The acid connected with his scales, and Donnie instantly screamed in pain as it burned into his skin. He dropped the spray device and the fly moved for it.

"No!" Leo grabbed the spray first, wrestling with the fly for it. "Get your claws off that vial!"

Mikey and Raph jumped down to help weigh the fly down, while April continued to try and calm her father down. Miwa got the vial away from the housefly mutant, but his lobster-like claw came up and smacked her with surprising strength. She slammed into the billboard and the vial fell from her hands and rolled off the railing.

"No!" Donnie tried to grab it, but it was too late. It shattered against the ground.

The sound startled Kirby and he took off.

"Dad, come back!" April yelled for him.

The fly buzzed in anger and grabbed April.

"Lemme go, you ugly germ farm!" April struggled in his grasp, even as he dangled her high above the street. She swung her legs up and kicked him in the eyes, which made him drop her. She only fell ten feet before he caught her again. She tried to beat him with her tanto, but he yanked her to the side and she dropped it.

"Silence!" He hissed at her.

"Wait a second..." Raph stood up straight when he heard the voice again. "I know who that is! It's Derek Stockboy!"

"Baxter Zzzz-Stockman!" Corrected the fly. "Come to my lab with more retro-mutagen! Or, the girl becomes just as disgusting as-zzzz me!" Stockman took off with the still struggling April.

"Wow. I can't believe Stockster is kinda threatening now." Mikey commented.

Donnie rubbed at the burn on his hand and whimpered. "I only have one vial left. It'll take at least a month to synthesize more! And that'd be if I had more mutagen, which I don't!"

"If April had just stayed hidden, this wouldn't have happened." Leo muttered.

"You're blaming her?" Miwa whirled on him.

"No, I'm blaming you!" Leo shot back. "If you would just listen once in a while when someone has something to say-"

"Don't go blaming me!" She jabbed him in the plastron with her finger. "I didn't know Stunkman was mutant! And I certainly didn't know he'd fucking abduct April!"

Leo shoved her arm away, "Don't worry, Donnie. We're not gonna be using the last batch on Stockman."

Donnie held the vial of retro-mutagen, frowning deeply.

"Donatello, you seem conflicted." Splinter noted, coming into the lab.

Donnie looked at him and nodded slightly.

"What is wrong, my son?" Splinter asked. "Miwa informed me of the situation. She and Leonardo have agreed to split up so that you can rescue April and find her father."

Donnie looked at the floor and sighed. "I'm so sorry, Sensei. This is all the retro-mutagen I have left. If-If I use it on Dr. O'Neil then..."

Splinter put a hand on his son's shoulder, "I may not be human, but I am fortunate enough to have my humanity. Save Kirby."

Donnie nodded softly.

"Would you like a hug?" Splinter asked.

Donnie nodded again.

Splinter embraced his son, who melted into his fur instantly. Once Donatello pulled away, they both exited the lab to meet up with the family in the main station.

"So, who's the soon-to-be-slap-shotted bicho that kidnapped April?" Casey bounced his hockey stick against his hand.

"Long story, Casey." Miwa shot a glare at the back of Leo's head. "But we need your help, big time." She put her arm around him with a smile, "And yes, you'll get to hit someone with a hockey stick. Probably more than once."

"Sick." He fist bumped her.

"Are you sure you're up for it, Jones?" Leo asked, walking over to them. "Your leg is still healing."

"I can handle any jerk who hurts my friends with a bad leg." Casey assured him.

"You heard him, he's fine." Miwa snapped. "Now stop trying to mess with my team. Donnie, you're with me and Casey!"

Donnie looked at Splinter who nodded. As his second youngest joined the two human teenagers, Splinter shook his head. He had heard both sides of the story from Leonardo and Miwa multiple times now, but he was unsure of how to fix the situation.

"So, we're bat-wrangling tonight while they get to beat up Stickster?" Raph asked, pulling a rope over his shoulder. "That seems unfair."

"C'mon, Raph, it'll be fun!" Mikey promised. "Especially with-" He pulled out a smoke bomb.

"Don't." Raph blinked blankly at him.

Mikey ignored Raph and threw it down. When the smoke cleared, he was wearing his Turflytle costume. "It's the return of Turflytle, dog!"

"You annoy me to no end!" Raph rolled his eyes. "Let's get this over with." He said to Leo.

"Buzz, buzz is buzz back!" Mikey jeered, just to piss off Raph. "Buzz!"

April struggled as Stockman forced her flat on her stomach. "Baxter, you don't have to do this. Donnie can help you." Her eyes drifted over to the large pool of mutagen that illuminated the lab. "It'll only take a few months, I mean hours!" She tried to fight him off, but he stomped down on her arm, which made her scream. Using that opportunity, he grabbed her wrists and tied them together.

"If he fails-zzz, I have a back up plan."

April again tried to fight as he bound her legs, but soon she was left unable to move. He easily lifted her and flew up to a sturdy hook that was hanging over the mutagen vat and he tied her above it. April was forced to stare down at the glowing ooze.

"You go here, and I press-zzz the button." He told her, "And you fall! And I jump in!"

April's eyes widened when he said that. "W-what?"

"We enter apart, and then we come together! You, me, as one." He laughed manically. "More human than I am now! More human than I ever was-zzz!"

"B-Baxter, I'm not fully human!" April confessed. "I'm a mutant hybrid!"

Stockman spun and flew up to her face. His lobster claw grabbed her by the hair, "Do you think I am zzzz-stupid?" He demanded. "You're no mutant! Not yet anyway."

"Baxter, I swear, I'm not lying!" April went on. "I'm half Kraang!" She sniffled, saying it out loud was the hardest part. "I'm not a normal girl."

"Zzzz-silence! You'd zzz-say anything to get free! This is the only way. Only way! Stockman-Fly cannot trust anyone!"

"Dropping us into a vat of ooze isn't going to help you!" April argued with him. "You gotta trust me, I'm not lying to you! Just... Just look at me!" Her pleas fell on deaf ears, or whatever flies had, as Baxter was preoccupied with dissolving a chocolate bar. A familiar feeling flooded through her body, and April realized they weren't alone. She knew it had to be her friends, so she kept her gaze on Stockman.

Stockman's head twitched wildly and he turned to face the far north side of the lab. "Hamato! You tried! Tried to sneak in!"

"Barren," Miwa started, "Release her and no one has to get hurt."

No retro-mutagen, no trade!" Stockman responded.

"I got your retro-mutajunk right here!" Casey shouted and shot a hockey puck at Stockman.

Stockman avoided the projectile with ease and flew back towards April. He spat up on the rope holding her, and it started to unravel from the acid.

"Donnie, Casey!" Miwa yelled.

"On it!" They responded in unison. The trio rushed Stockman.

Casey reached him first on his skates and slammed him hard in the head with his hockey stick. The hit didn't seem to faze the housefly and he tackled Casey against the floor before he flew back up to bat at Miwa's magnetized tessen flying past him. Donnie tried to hit him with his bō, but the fly saw the attack coming and kicked him away. Casey was back up and this time, he tackled Stockman to the ground, trying to hold the wings still, but the fly was still able to lift them both.

April tried not to think about what was awaiting her below, but with each millimeter that the rope dropped made it harder. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to stare at the blinding ooze any longer.

Casey beat Stockman with his gloved fists, but the fly flipped them upside-down and Casey plummeted back down to the hard tile.

Donnie gave Miwa a boost, and she reached the top of the mutagen vat. She balanced on the thin bit of glass and began to make her way over to the main ledge that held a folded up latter. "I'm coming, April!"

"No!" Stockman grabbed her off the glass and flew up to the ceiling, squeezing her tight. "You're lucky Mazzzter Shredder wants you alive!" He told her. "Or else I'd uzzze you!" Instead, he flung her across the lab, and she broke through a wooden crate as she landed.

"Baxter, stop!" Miwa coughed as Casey helped her out of the wreckage. Now that Donnie was trying to get April down, they both knew it was better to keep Stockman focused on them. "Let us help you! We don't wanna hurt you!" She lied.

Casey threw a paint grenade at the fly, but he dodged it exploded against the mutagen vat instead. Casey cursed in Spanish under his breath.

"Okay, Casey does."

April whimpered as the rope continued to snap. "Guys? Little help here!"

Donnie reached the small platform and prepared to jump for it, but Stockman turned back to face them. Miwa threw her tessen as a distraction, but Stockman caught it without needing to look at her.

"Not fazzzt enough!" He threw the tessen and it sliced through the remaining slivers of rope that was holding April up.

It was almost like time slowed in the brief seconds April had before she hit the mutagen. She only had time to acknowledge two things. One, that she was falling. And two, Donnie would end up falling in with her. In his panic of trying to save her, he didn't jump far enough to clear the vat, and he wasn't going to reach her anyway. "No!" She screamed as loud as she could.

Donnie realized he wasn't going to reach her right before she screamed. She was already inches below him, but he had time to see what happened. Her eyes turned completely white as she screamed, and then it felt like he had been smacked with an invisible wrecking ball. It slammed into him and he was knocked away from April and flung into the wall of the lab instead. And then, April's beautiful red hair vanished beneath the surface of the mutagen.

The human body was buoyant in mutagen, so they all got a clear look of her silhouette float near the bottom of the vat. Her body twisted and contorted, and they could see that whatever was happening had freed her of her binds.

"Two become one!" Stockman flew down to join April.

Miwa sat stunned on the floor, unable to think about anything other than the fact that Stockman had used her own beloved tessen as the nail in April's coffin. Casey and Donnie, however, were already moving to stop the fly. If they couldn't save her from mutation, they would save her from being fused with Stockman. Donnie launched Casey into the air and he nailed Stockman in the head by throwing his bat. Casey then landed on the platform of the vat and tackled Stockman off the side while he was still stunned. Donnie climbed back up to the platform and stared down into the vat, trying to figure out the best way to get April out.

Then it started to bubble, like someone was releasing air when under water. All Donnie could do is call out to her, so she would hopefully know which way to swim. If she still could.

April flung herself over the side of the vat, coughing up the thick liquid that was drowning her. "Are you okay, Donnie?" Was the first thing she asked.

Donnie was stunned. April was still herself. No wings, no tail, nothing. Just, April O'Neil. Red-hair, glowing green eyes, sharp teeth, long nails with pink colored fingers.

"A-april?" He asked, letting out a relieved chuckle. "You're okay? How are you okay?"

April climbed out of the mutagen, rubbing at her skin where she had fought the rope off while submerged. "I... I don't know." She admitted, looking down at herself in shock. "I just... I knew that you weren't gonna reach me, and I didn't want you to be mutated again."

Donnie's eyes widened at that, shocked that she would risk something like that for him. Then he slapped his forehead, like the answer was so obvious that it smacked him in the face. "You're immune to mutagen! It must be because you're half Kraang! That's why your DNA worked to create retro-mutagen! Amazing!"

"Glad you're good, Red!" Casey shouted as Stockman flew around, trying to fling him off his back. "Little help?"

"No!" Stockman yelled. "I'll devour you all!" He slammed Casey against the glass of the mutagen tank, which made him let go. "I'll drink you like blobs of delicious filth!"

"Don't be a sore loser!" April snarled at him. "I tried to warn you!" 

Stockman grabbed Miwa and flew up to the mutagen vat, "Let'zzz try again!"

Miwa kicked him in the crotch, which made him drop her with a screech. She narrowly missed falling into the pool April escaped from unharmed and found her tessen on the other side. She sliced at him when he tried to grab her again.

April, Casey, and Donnie tackled him off of her, but he still tried to grab at her.

"We've got him on the run, Leo!" Raph activated his communicator. "Get that retro-mutagen ready before I let him eat Mikey!"

"Got it. Miwa, did you guys get April?"

Miwa smacked Stockman in the head with her tessen, "Get your claws off of me! Yeah," She answered his question. "We're on our way!"

"You're not going anywhere!" Stockman hissed. "I will be human again!"

Rahzar busted through the right far wall with several Footbots behind him. "I heard you say retro-mutagen. I can become human again?"

"On second thought, we might be a little late." Miwa said in her communicator.

"Where is it?" Rahzar snarled.

"We don't have it!" Donnie answered, smacking Stockman away from Miwa while he was distracted.

"Then the other turtles do!" Rahzar finished. "Find them!" He ordered the Footbots.

Miwa grabbed April and Casey by the wrist and pulled them in close. "Time to go!" She threw down a smoke bomb.

"Buzz, buzz! Help me, buzz buzz!" Mikey screamed as Kirby was closing in behind him.

Raph reeled up the rope holding Mikey a bit, flying as erratically as he could while keeping his brother as safe as possible. He hit the button of his wrist communicator with his beak, "We've got him on the run, Leo! Get that retro-mutagen ready before I let him eat Mikey!"

"Got it." Leo replied. "Miwa, did you guys get April?"

"Get your claws off of me!" Their sister shouted into her end. "Yeah, we're on our way!" A bunch of background noise and voices overpowered her speaker for a moment before she returned, "On second thought, we might be a little late."

"Keep him distracted," Raph concluded. "Got it."

"Can't we just get him now?" Mikey asked. "Kirby Bat wants to suck my turtle blood!"

"Only if he catches you." Leo said with a frown. "I want to wait for April."

"Leo's right, Mikey." Raph flew higher so he could make larger turns without worrying about smacking Mikey into a building. "She's waited long enough for this."

Leo flew up on his own bat-wing glider that Donnie designed and kicked Kirby away from Mikey. The force of his kick knocked Kirby down onto a rooftop, and he laid still for a moment.

The trio of brother's landed and quietly took off their gear. Leo unfurled a tarp and flung one end over to Raph and Mikey. They slowly approached Kirby, watching to see if he was just recovering from the hard kick, or was unconscious.

"Wait!"

They stopped when they saw April jumping up to join them, followed shortly by Miwa, Donnie, and Casey. "April?" Raph asked.

"Let me talk to him." She panted. He stirred as she approached him, and hissed at her. He backed away, but didn't take off when she began to talk to him. "Stay calm, Dad. I... I know I must be a little scary." She admitted, looking at her hands. "I look different then the last time we really saw each other, but, it's still me." He let her kneel in front of him, but flinched as she put her hand on his forehead. "We're here to help you. Calm, calm." His emerald eyes softened and his nuzzled against her. "There we go. See? It's me."

Leo handed the retro-mutagen to Donnie, who approached slowly. "Sorry, this took so long, Dr. O'Neil." Donnie apologized. "Just a quick spray on your skin, and you'll be good as new."

Kirby looked at April with wide, scared eyes, but she helped him stand on his two legs. "It's alright, Dad. You remember Donnie, right?" Kirby sniffed Donnie as he got within arms length, but his scent must've been familiar enough for him to relax.

Donnie raised the spray, but Stockman flew overhead and stole it from him with a spit of acid onto his hand. Donnie cried out again, but he was more worried that he had failed again.

"I have it!" Stockman gloated, spinning in the air. "Mine! Mine! All mine!"

"Seriously?" Miwa sighed with frustration. "Again?"

Footbots flew past them, with apparent gliders built in that they had never noticed before.

"Flying Footbots?" Mikey asked. "This is getting out of hand, bro!"

Leo ran over to his glider and slid it back on. "C'mon, Hamato!"

Miwa muttered under her breath and jumped off the roof, stabbing a Footbot in the head and then using her tessen to steer it.

"Turflytle and his sidekick, Maggot Boy take flight once again!" Mikey cheered as he flew off to follow his eldest siblings.

"Maggot Boy?" Raph snarled. "Im gonna make you eat that stupid costume!"

Donnie used the grappling hook in his staff, but before he followed his siblings he looked back at the two teenagers and the confused bat. "April, you and Casey stay put and keep an eye on your dad. We're finishing this!" He grabbed the tarp and sucked it into his staff with some kind of vacuum.

Casey shivered as Kirby sniffed at his neck. "Gah! His nose is cold!"

"Dad, be nice." April commented, then she looked at him. She smiled.

"You're gettin one of those alien feelings, aren't ya?" Casey asked with a smirk.

"Nope," She shrugged and returned the smirk. "Just a bad idea. You down, Jones?"

Casey laughed, "Always, Red."

Stockman laughed in triumph as he hid against the side of a building. Finally! He tried to use the spray on himself, but found his lobster claw couldn't pull the trigger. He then switched hands, but found that his regular one couldn't firmly grasp the trigger and pull it at the same time. "No! No! No!"

"Taste the sting of Turflytle!" Mikey bolstered, spinning down on his glider to slap the retro-mutagen out of the fly's hand. "Buzz buzz!"

Raph flew lower and caught the vial. "Nice hit, Tur- Mikey!" He corrected himself. He groaned when a Footbot landed on his glider. "Hey!" He tried to shake it loose, but it pulled the vial from his grasp, and stabbed through the right wing. It pushed off of Raph, which sent him spiraling towards the ground.

Leo watched Raph fall and made a sharp turn so that he could save his brother before he hit the ground.

Miwa grabbed onto the now docile robot's hand and spun herself so that she was hanging from it. She pulled out her wakizashi and sliced the Footbot that held the orange canister in half. "Yeah, you like that?"

As the canister fell, Stockman went for it again, but he was slammed into by a much larger flying foe. April and Casey were riding on the back of Kirby, who was being steered by April. "Yes! Get him, Dad! Knock him out of the sky!"

Kirby hissed in response and licked his lips hungrily.

"So, we're riding your giant mutant dad?" Casey asked April, just for clarification. "This is so weird! And fuckin cool!"

"You can eat if you want, Dad." April said.

"What?" Stockman whimpered. "Don't you think that's a little ex-zzzz-treme?"

"You dropped me in a pool of mutagen!"

Donnie grabbed the spray inches from splattering on the pavement. "Got it!" He cheered. A Footbot cut the wire of his grappling hook, which made Donnie fall hard against the ground, while it swiped the canister from his hands.

Stockman lost Kirby in a small alleyway and buzzed around to yank the mutagen from the Footbot. "At las-zzz-t!"

"Down, Dad!" April commanded.

Stockman turned to look in front of him, only to slam face-first into a billboard. He dropped the retro-mutagen right into April's hand.

April grabbed the spray topper Donnie had put on it and ripped it off with her teeth. She dumped the whole thing over her dad's head, shaking every last drop out. Miwa grabbed April off of Kirby's back, while Leo and Raph got Casey. Mikey and Donnie came up with the tarp and trapped Kirby in it, sending him flying blinding against the ground.

"Oops." Mikey muttered, hearing Kirby screech in pain.

"Sorry for the rough landing, Dr. O'Neil!" Donnie grimaced.

The teens landed and ran over to the quickly shrinking mass under the tarp. After about twenty seconds of snarling, screaming, and writhing, Kirby's head popped out from underneath. His regular, human head, complete with the balding red hair. "Ugh, my mouth taste's like roadkill..."

"All right!"

"Yes!"

"We did!"

"Kirby-Bat ain't a bat no more!"

"Whoo-hoo!"

April flung herself over her father, who was still on the ground, holding his head. "Dad! I can't believe it! You're back! I missed you so much!"

"A-April?" He stuttered. "What's happening? Why... Why am I nude?"

April laughed and wiped at her eyes, "It's a long story."

Kirby stood, hugging the tarp around him like he was afraid the smallest breeze would blow it away. "Why are we outside?" He looked down at his daughter and gasped. "Wh-What happened to you, April?" He stepped backwards, away from her.

April gasped at his sudden rejection. She reached towards him, but once she saw the pink on her fingers she pulled back. "I...I..."

"Let's get everyone in some clothes before we explain." Miwa suggested, coming to April's side when she looked like she was going to cry for a new reason now.

Twenty minutes later, they were in Kirby and April's apartment, having just finished the story to a freshly dressed Kirby. The whole story. His mutation and the new revelation of April's origin. "Oh, April, I am so sorry." The father reached for his daughter, stroking her hair. "I... I have no excuse. You startled me."

"It's okay." April muttered.

"No, it's not." Kirby frowned. "You're still my beautiful girl. Don't ever forget that."

April flashed him a closed mouth smile before she hugged him tightly.

"So, I got a question." Raph said. "How long have you known about the Kraang?"

Kirby looked at the red-cladded turtle in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Raph glared at him.

"Raph," Miwa put a hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away.

"Look, you once said something really cryptic back when you were still imprisoned. You said that the Kraang have always been after April, and that's why you brought her to New York. So talk! She deserves to know!"

Kirby sighed, and pulled away from April so he could look her in the eye. "I guess, Raphael is right. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, April. I just... Wanted you to have a normal life."

April placed her stained hand over his.

"My memory still is hazy, so forgive me." Kirby rubbed at his head. "Not long after you're mother and I got married, she left a note and then vanished. I didn't know where she was, but... She had always been a bit... Odd, so I figured she'd come back. And she did, about ten months later. With you." He let out a dry laugh, "I didn't even know she was pregnant, and she said she didn't know either... It took a while to forgive her for leaving, but... I wanted you more than anything." He said to April. "She never told me where she went, claimed she didn't remember. I didn't want to believe her, but she seemed so genuine that I did."

"Bishop said she was abducted while pregnant with April." Donnie said.

"That's probably what happened." Kirby confirmed it. "Do you remember that old farmhouse you grew up in?" He asked April.

She nodded.

"That house had been in your mother's family for generations. It was old and rundown, and far away from my job, but she refused to leave it. That was, until one day... It started out normally, but then she suddenly turned to me with wide, scared eyes and told me we had to run. I didn't understand, but she was frantic and was already packing your stuff up. I tried to get her to talk to me, but she couldn't talk, she was so scared. You got scared and ran down to the basement because you didn't want to leave. You kept saying that Mommy was scaring you."

April frowned, the memory sounding a bit familiar as he told the story.

"I followed you down, trying to coax you out while your mother packed the car. That's when we ran into the Kraang. They were somehow already in the house, and they had you unconscious in their arms. They told me that we had to come with them quietly, and I said that was fine, because I didn't want them to hurt you or your mother. I convinced them to let me carry you, and they brought us both outside, where your mother was being held a gunpoint by another one. They ordered us to start walking into the woods, and so we did.

Your mother was calmer than when we were in the house. She whispered to me that I had to get away, I had to save you." Kirby started to tear up, and April gripped his hand tighter. "I didn't know what was happening, and she told me they were Kraang. She told me that they were after her, and I had to take you and run. I offered to let her take you, but she said that you were her only concern. We made a plan to make it back to the car and escape. She made a break for it and ran off into the woods, and the Kraang all pursued her. I looped back to the car and waited for her. But she never came out of the woods. Eventually, the Kraang came back and were shooting at us. I had no choice but to leave."

"Oh, Dad." April sniffled, holding her father.

"We never saw her again." The room was silent for a long time, apart from the sniffling of father and daughter. Kirby finally pulled away from April with a laugh. "Who said you could get your eyebrow pierced?" He asked, changing the topic to a more lighthearted one.

"No one." April answered, playing with the piercing. "I just thought Casey's looked cool."

"Who's Casey?"

"Casey Jones, pleasure to meet you, sir." Casey held his hand out.

Kirby eyed him up and down for a moment before he turned back to April. "Is he the one who convinced you to dye your hair?"

"My hair?" April asked. "I haven't done anything to my hair."

Kirby raised an eyebrow and showed his daughter some of her hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. "The pink ends? April, I may be old, but my eyes still work."

April's eyes widened when she saw that the very tips of her hair were pink.

Stockman tried to kick at the Footbots dragging him into the throne room, but with his wings bound he couldn't do anything.

"Well, look at you, Stinkbug." Bradford snickered. "I'd squash ya right here, but Shredder has other plans for you."

Stockman lowered his head as Shredder approached him.

"I have one last batch of mutants I want you to create." He grabbed Stockman by the throat and sliced off the chains binding his wings down. "Or I will pluck your wings like the lowly insect you are. Understood?"

Fujiwara dropped a piece of candy by Stockman's head after Shredder dropped him back to the floor.

"Yes, Mazzter Shredder." Stockman agreed, grateful he was allowed to live another day. He spat up on the candy and slurped it up. "Thank you for your genero-zzz-sity."

Chapter Text

"Kraang must evade those that pursue Kraang." Kraang told Kraang as they ran from their pursuers that were not Kraang. They escaped to run for it on the rooftops, but their pursuers could easily follow them. A quick hand of throwing stars took out the Kraang to Kraang's right, and Kraang knew that Kraang's pursuers were gaining on Kraang. Kraang jumped down a fire escape while Kraang on Kraang's left shot at the pursuers.

Miwa threw herself off the rooftop, aiming at the two Kraang who were trying to escape with the suitcase. She kicked one off the ledge of the fire escape and grabbed the other by the collar of its suit. She slammed the robotic face against the metal railing until its rubbery mask was peeling off. Then she grabbed the Kraang hiding inside the chest cavity and dropped it down from the second story. "Keep up, Nardo!"

Kraang's limp hand released its hold on the suitcase handle, and it fell right into another Kraang's hands, who took off down the street.

"Eyes on the prize, Mimi!" Leo retorted with a glare as he jumped down to go after runaway Kraang. "They're getting away with the plutonium!"

"うぬぼれ野郎!" Miwa hissed under her breath and flipped off the fire escape to follow after her brother. She saw Leo turn down a street, but she almost rammed right into him after he had come to an abrupt stop. "Watch it!" She started but stopped when she saw what he had.

Half a dozen Kraangdroids were torn to pieces across the ground. One was sticking half through a brick wall, the mechanical legs still twitching even though the neon blood gave away its driver was dead. The suitcase of plutonium the team split up to find was laying open on the sidewalk, empty. Their first thought was it was possibly Raph and Casey, given the brutality of the scene, but then, where were they?

"Who could've done this?" Leo asked her.

"Things just keep getting worse." She muttered. "What do you think they need the plutonium for?"

"No idea. But, whoever it was packed some serious power." Leo pointed out. "I haven't seen Kraang this badly smashed since Leatherhead." He grimaced. "Let's just hope they're on our side."

She scoffed at the ridiculous hopeful state. "Yeah, cause that's worked out so well for us in the past."

Both siblings got the feeling that something, or someone, was watching them from above. But when they looked up, they saw nothing.

"Great use of your time!"

April, Casey, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey turned from where they were watching Mikey beat the high score of the Space Heroes pinball machine to look at the fuming Miwa as she stomped through the door. Mikey frowned when he lost the winning shot.

"Who said you could just come back here?" She demanded.

"Woah, chill out, sis." Mikey said. "You and Leo said someone stole the platinum."

"Yeah, no use loosing our hair 'bout it now." Casey shrugged.

Leo put a hand on her shoulder, trying to water down her fire. "Miwa, don't take it out on them."

"Stop telling me what to do!" She snapped, shoving his hand away before she turned back to the others. "Did it occur to you morons that whoever that someone is, could be dangerous? They took the plutonium for a reason!"

"So some other vigilantes are out there going after those alien blobs." Casey raised his pierced eyebrow. "So what?"

"Yeah sounds like good news, less work for us." Mikey agreed.

"It's not good!" Miwa glared down at her youngest brother, still grateful she was taller than both him and Raph. "The Kraang stole the plutonium, and someone stole it from them!"

"Interesting." Donnie hummed. "Maybe Shredder's going after the Kraang again?" He suggested.

"Aren't they working together now?" April pointed out.

"Whoever they are, they're definitely not Shredder's goons." Leo replied with a shake of his head.

"Maybe it was-"

"If you bring up that stupid squirrels with lasers joke again, I'll slap the green off of you!" Miwa snarled at him.

Mikey pouted and backed away from Miwa.

"Alright, chill out Raph." Leo stepped in front of his sister. "You're mad at me, so stop taking it out on the team."

"I told you, stop telling me what to do!" Miwa threw a punch at Leo, which shocked the others. Leo caught her fist and pulled her into by holding her arm by his hip. She stomped down on his foot, which made him let go.

"やめ!" Splinter was suddenly between the two eldest, a firm hand holding both of them by the back of their necks. He wasn't squeezing hard enough to even pinch them, just enough to make them know that their actions were no longer going to be tolerated. "I expected better from both of you." He frowned at them. "I expected you to settle his dispute like adults, but if neither of you can, then I will treat you like children."

"Sensei," Leo started.

"Leonardo," Splinter interrupted, "I do not want to hear any excuses. You are both grounded until you can get along."

"What? Sensei-" Miwa tried now.

Splinter released them and stomped his staff on the ground, after Michelangelo had found it and brought back to the lair two days ago, on his fourteenth birthday. "Go to your rooms."

Miwa and Leo begrudgingly parted and stomped off to their respected room, both slamming their doors in frustration.

"Uhh, so like, what now?" Casey asked, looking back at April and the three remaining turtles.

"I guess we come up with a plan on where to go?" Donnie muttered, chewing on his mask tails.

"Anyone have a plan?" Raph asked.

After a moment of silence, Donnie spoke up again. "We could blanket the area and keep an eye out?"

"So, who's the leader now?" Mikey asked.

"I'll be the leader!" Casey beamed.

Raph scoffed, "No way, new guy."

"I'm the oldest one here!" Casey argued.

"Pretty sure April comes before November, Jones." April smirked.

"Look, no one has to be in charge." Raph interjected. Part of him wanted to offer up himself, but after what happened with Mikey back in February on his watch, he wasn't ready to try again.

"For once, I agree with Raph." Donnie said. "We should split into teams of two; one will take the alleyways, and one will take the rooftops."

Mikey didn't say anything, he just ran to his room, leaving the others confused. He returned a moment later, "Democracy!" He decided and showed them six scraps of paper, three with red dots and three with blue. "We'll decide on random, that way its fair!"

Although impressed by the quick thinking, Donnie couldn't ignore Mikey's misuse of the word democracy. "Okay, that's not exactly what Democracy is, but good idea. Red is roofs, blue is alleys?"

The others nodded in agreement. Mikey closed his eyes and shook his hands together like he was rolling a dice.  He then held out his hands to each of them, allowing them to draw a scrap between his fingers.

Mikey, April, and Donnie were going to take the rooftops, and Raph and Casey took the alleyways.

"Meet back here at midnight?" April asked.

Not long after leaving the lair, Mikey spotted something on the street below. "Woah, dude! Check it out, Don! April!"

April and Donnie joined him to see what he was looking at. Laying out in the open for anyone to see was a dozen torn apart Kraangdroids. They jumped down to get a better look at the scene.

Donnie pulled down the new work goggles he had finished and picked up one of the dismembered Kraang arms with his new work gloves. "Carbon scorching?" He asked, using the microscope he built into the goggles.

"Really?" April asked, looking at the Kraang head she was holding. She couldn't see it with her bare eyes, but she believed it was there if he said so. "Then they had to have been taken out by plasma weapons of some sort, right?"

Donnie nodded with a small smile. "Most likely. And if the Kraang operate on a Hive-Mind like Bishop said, then I doubt they just turned on each other randomly." He looked back down at the robot arm. "Still, this tech has got to be just as advanced as the Kraangs'! We gotta tell the others." Donnie jolted when a Kraang head was thrusted in front of his face, but rolled his eyes when he saw it was just Mikey goofing around.

"The Kraang is getting their Kraangs handed to them by those who are not Kraang!" Mikey said in his best impression of the robot's speech pattern.

Donnie just sighed while April gave him a soft, pity chuckle. She stood from where she was kneeling, ready to head back for their midnight meet up, but something caught her eye. She picked up a sharp spike-shaped object that was way heavier than she expected. "What is this?" She asked.

Donnie held out his hand, and she gave him the weird solid object she had found. Donnie scanned it with his work goggles before his breath hitched and his stomach dropped. "Oh no."

April and Mikey shared a concerned glance. "Kraang is of the impression that this is not good." Mikey said again in the Kraang voice.

"So, have they always fought like that?" Casey asked Raph as they snuck around the alleyways of New York.

"Ninja aren't supposta talk on stealth missions, Jones." Raph replied shortly.

"I ain't no ninja." Casey responded.

After a brief pause, Raph sighed. "No, they haven't. Things changed after we learned about the Kraang and started workin as a team. At first, Leo tried keepin the peace, but lately... I don't know what happened, its like he doesn't trust her judgement anymore."

"Know why?" Casey pressed.

"Fuck if I know." Raph groaned. "But, siblings fight, right? They'll get over it."

"Probably." Casey agreed. "I mean, I fight with my little sis, but she's eight so it's about dumb stuff like her sneakin through my stuff or wanting to do my makeup. Or wanting to paint my nails anything but black and silver."

Raph snickered at that. "You're sister does that to you too, huh? Bet she doesn't try and pin ya like Miwa used too."

Casey cracked a smile, "Nah. Sometimes I let her, but she always stabs me in the eye with the mascara brush."

"Ya like that kind of thing?" Raph asked, genuinely. "Even though you're trans?"

Casey shrugged, "I don't mind it. Doesn't make me any less trans, and she gets that."

"Hmm."

"What?"

"Nothin. Just surprised. I never liked that kinda thing. I don't like stuff on my face, or anything in or near my eyes." Raph admitted. "Miwa used to chase me around because I was the only other girl, but at least she stopped when I came out. Think she's bummed she doesn't have a sister though."

"Julia's always called me Casey, so it was easy telling her." Casey smiled. "She was four, so I don't think she really gets it, but she says I'm the best big bro, so that's good enough for me. I was lucky mama and papa were so accepting."

"My siblings were acceptin too." Raph was glad he had someone to talk to about this. Someone who really got it. "It... Took Splinter a while to come around, but he eventually did. Been nothin but supportive since."

"What changed his mind?"

Raph thought back at the memory. "He asked why I thought I was a boy and I said it's because I felt like one. I knew that I was one, even though I had a girl's body, y'know? I told him it was like I just had the wrong body. That's what did it, because he said he really understood after that. Guess being a man trapped in a giant rat's body is kinda similar?"

Casey laughed at the suggestion, and eventually Raph did too. So much for a silent stealth mission. Raph stopped suddenly, almost like he was put in a trance and his hand shot over Casey's mouth, which felt more like being punched to the human teenager. Casey groaned and went to push his brick-hard hand away, but then he heard Raph shush him with a serious gleam in his emerald eyes. They sat in silence for a moment before Casey heard what Raph must've. Kraang gunfire, and heavy blows that sounded like concrete being snapped in half like a twig. They ran in the direction of the fighting, Casey rubbing at his lips that he felt were quickly bruising from the mutant's heavy hand.

However, something stopped them before they made it. Something huge, turquoise, with beady, glaring green eyes.

Raph instantly put himself between Casey and Slash, not daring to repeat what happened to his siblings with his new friend. "Slash." Raph glared at him, straightening up like he was trying to be intimidating. It did little more than earn a raised eye-ridge from the black-bandana wearing turtle, that was at least twice Raph's size.

"Good to see you again, Raphael. Miss me?"

"Hardly." Raph lied. He missed Spike. Not this monster that nearly killed his brothers and sister.

See yer still hangin' round with weaklings." Slash said, eyeing Casey. "This one's not a mutant either."

"¿A quién llamas débil?" Casey glared behind his mask. "This your old pet turtle?" He asked Raph. "The one that-"

"Yeah." Raph answered shortly, not daring to take his eyes off of Slash. "What are you doin' here, Slash?" Raph demanded.

"We're takin care of the Kraang." Answered the larger turtle. "I got a new partner now." He motioned his head towards the street that they were heading towards before his interruption. A timely explosion shook the street a bit, and the next thing they knew, another mutant was blown backwards, holding a Kraang blob loosely in its jaws. It was about the same height as Slash, and seemed to be a lizard of some kind. It was orange and black.

It took a second, but Raph recognized the new mutant. He wasn't a mutant at all, according to Donnie and Leo, he was an alien enemy of the Kraang. "The Newtralizer?" He asked. "You can't be fuckin serious, Slash?"

"We're doin what you little Hamato weaklings couldn't." Slash replied with a guttural click. "Wipin out the Kraang." Slash charged into the fight, flipping over one of the Kraang vans, crushing a robot, while smashing another with a swing of his mace.

The Newtralizer climbed into the back of the van like he was looking for something.

"All right. I"ll take Slash and Newtralizer;" Raph started. "You hang back and call for-"

Casey skated past Raph with his favorite battle cry. "Goongala!"

"Casey!" Raph hissed after him trying to grab the teenager by the hood of his hoodie, but missed.

Casey jumped with his hockey stick in the air, like he was going to smash it against the Newtralizer's tail. The alien psycho didn't seem to notice Casey was even there, and just flicked his tail like he was stretching. But that was enough to fling Casey backwards into the street. Casey landed with an audible oof, and laid on his back for a bit, trying to reach catch the breath that was knocked from him.

"Look out!" Raph tackled Casey, rolling them both out of the way before they were ran over by a large truck.

The Newtralizer came out of the truck, fiddling with the weaponry on his wrists. "Slash, we have what we came for."

Slash had just about finished with the Kraang, and simply crushed the head of the android he was fighting with his hand. He tossed the robot aside and caught the small device Newtralizer threw at him.

Raph looked up from where he was checking over Casey, and debated running in for a fight or staying to help his friend. Reluctantly, he slung Casey's arm over his shoulder and helped him to his feet.

"I see you got a new partner, too, Raphael." Slash snickered at them. "A human? Why? Aren't those losers you call siblings bad enough?"

"Watch yer fuckin mouth!" Raph snarled. If he wasn't the only thing holding Casey up, he would've stabbed his sais all the way through Slash's tongue and ripped it out.

"Ya gonna betray him the way you betrayed me?" Slash narrowed his eyes.

"You're the one who betrayed me!" Raph retorted. "You snapped and tore open Donnie's arm! You gave Mikey one of the worse concussions Leo's ever seen! You nearly crushed Miwa's ribs against her lungs!"

Slash rushed Raph, who barely had enough time to shove Casey back to the ground before Slash slammed him into the ground. Casey threw one of his explosive hockey pucks at Slash, which collide and exploded against his head. Slash was bleeding from a wound that was partially cauterized by the explosion. He roared and turned his attention to Casey, but that's when the Newtralizer spoke up.

"We have things to do, Slash. Kraang to destroy." He hit an orange colored button on his gauntlet, and vanished.

Slash roared again in Casey's face, deafening the young man before he too hit the same button on the device Newtralizer gave him. Slash vanished, leaving both Raph and Casey laying on the ground in pain.

"I... I think we're in... Deep shit." Raph moaned as he tried to sit up.

"What?" Casey asked, his hands covering his ears.

Splinter allowed Leo and Miwa out of there rooms when he was informed that Casey and Raph hadn't returned to for midnight meet up. It was nearly two in the morning, and the others were preparing to go look for them when they limped through the main station.

"I don't think any damage is permanent," Leo told Casey. "But you're ears are probably going to be ringing for a few days."

Casey moved the ice pack as he nodded. He heard most of what Leo said, but it was like everyone was whispering over the intense ringing, and it was making his head spin.

"I was right." Donnie frowned, playing with his work gloves. "Slash is back."

"And just as violent as ever." Raph sighed. "Shoulda ran when I told ya too, Casey."

"Casey Jones doesn't run!" Casey huffed, only hearing ran and his name. "Until its like, a giant Casey-eating Space Worm."

Ignoring him, Miwa pressed Raph for more information. "What were they stealing this time?"

 "Some invisibility thing." Raph answered. "Or, maybe a teleport thing?" He felt everyone looking at him, silently demanding to know which it was. "I dunno! All I know, is they were there one second, and then gone the next!"

"Tell 'em that they disappeared!" Casey said.

"This is bad." Leo said. "Both of them were already a problem, and now they have tech that makes it harder to track them?"

"They just got lucky." Miwa muttered. "They won't get away next time."

"Oh yeah?" Raph asked her. "How?"

"Because I'll be there!" She stated.

"You will not." Splinter said sternly. "You are still grounded."

"What?" She slammed her hands down on the kitchen table as she stood. "Sensei, we're down Casey! They need my help!"

"Sensei, this is bigger than us." Leo tried to argue. "Let us help."

"Can you two set aside your differences?" Splinter raised an eyebrow.

Leo sighed and looked at Miwa. "I'm sorry for behaving like a child. You're my sister and I shouldn't fight with you."

"Apology accepted." Miwa didn't look at him.

After a couple seconds of waiting for her to say more, Splinter pushed. "Miwa?"

"You're forgiven for acting like a jackass." She responded.

Leo slammed the table with his fists, enough to leave two fist-sized dents in the surface. He muttered a quick excusal of himself and stalked off to his room.

Miwa scoffed at the display of emotion, but quickly did the same when Splinter pointed for her to follow Leo out of the kitchen.

April cleared her throat after their anger was left hanging heavy in the air like a fog. "So, we got two crazy mutants running around, blowing up the streets?"

"I think we should shadow the Kraang until they show up." Raph suggested.

"That shouldn't be too hard." Donnie started typing on his laptop, pulling up some kind of graph and a map of New York. "Since Slash and Newtralizer and using plutonium to power their weapons, we can look for traces of residual radiation."

"Well, it's a little late for another big move from the Kraang." April pointed out. "We'll have to do it tomorrow. Unless, you think they'd move during the day?" She asked Raph.

"Nah. No point, the Kraang don't do anything until after sundown."

"Fair point."

"Tonight it is then!" Mikey yawned.

Miwa listened to the small listening bug she planted underneath the kitchen counter through an earbud. She'd leave right before sundown, which would give her a head start on figuring out where they'd strike next. That'd show Splinter and Leo. She'd solve this problem herself, while Leo was still pouting in his room after his temper tantrum.

Slash and K'Vathrak teleported into the next Kraang facility on their list the moment the sun had official gone down.

"Intruders! Kraang must warn-"

Slash smashed the Kraang pointing it's laser gun with a single swing of his mace. K'Vathrak removed his opponent's head with a flick of his tail. He then stepped on the Kraang that escaped from the robot.

"Let's do this." Slash smirked as best he could with his deformed lower jaw.

"First, we find Kraang communications." K'Vathrak stated. "Then we blow this place to rocka, rocka, rocka!"

Slash's eyes widened at the apparent plan he wasn't aware of. "Blow this place? Too dangerous." He shook his head. "What about the humans out on the street?"

K'Vathrak rolled his eyes and snarled at the statement. "I thought you hated humans?"

"Don't like 'em, doesn't mean they deserve to die." Slash argued.

"Remember the day we met?" K'Vathrak asked. "The vow?"

Of course Slash remembered. K'Vathrak saved him from the Kraang after he had just escaped from their mind control bullshit. K'vathrak said that he had to help him, that the Kraang were the most heinous aliens in the ten dimensions. They imprisoned his new partner for years, spending that time torturing and experimenting on him. That's when they made a vow never to rest until they annihilated every single one of them. At any cost. Slash had added that last part himself.

"At any cost," K'Vathrak reminded him, his mind at the space place as Slash's. "Right, Brother?"

Slash sighed, but nodded.

Miwa had no clue what she was reading on the gadget she swiped from Donnie's lab, but it turned out she didn't need it. She heard a crash on the street over and when she peered down, she saw that it had been a Kraangdroid thrown through a window. She jumped down and stabbed the robot through the head with her tessen before she climbed through the window. She made it through undetected, and watched Slash and Newtralizer fight through the Kraang shooting at them. It wasn't until she was watching them, that she realized she didn't have a plan other than to defeat them.

"A Kraang Communication Orb!" Exclaimed Newtralizer in glee. He walked over towards the desk Miwa was hiding behind, and she prayed he wouldn't notice her, or else she'd just have to improvise. "Exactly what I was looking for!" He pulled out something from the wrist of his gauntlet and plugged it into the orb. He started scrolling through a holographic screen that popped up from his gauntlet.

"Wanna let me in on that plan?" Slash asked in an annoyed tone.

"In due time." Replied Newtralizer, not bothering to look at Slash. His eyes caught something a bleached yellow color, and he swiped the desk to the side, exposing Miwa. "Intruder!" He snarled.

She rolled out of the way as he brought his spiked tail down at her, and barely managed to jump backwards before Slash brought his mace down on her.

"All alone, Miwa?" Taunted Slash. "Sure that's a good idea?"

"I don't need my brothers to handle you." She replied, still unsure of what her play here was. He ran at her, but she slid under his legs and jumped onto his spiked shell. She brought her closed war fan down and held it against his throat, attempting to choke him out. He swatted at her, but was unable reach her on his back. Finally, he punched up, hitting her hard in the face. She let go and he flung her over his shoulder.

She rolled across the floor, but got back to her feet. Her nose was bleeding, but she wiped it away with the back of her glove, not willing to retreat.

"Eager for another beatdown?" He asked.

Newtralizer fired one of his plasma guns at her, which she deflected with her tessen in Slash's direction. Slash used his device, which Miwa now knew was definitely a teleport gadget, and appeared behind her. He swung his mace like a baseball bat into her breastplate, sending her flying.

Miwa landed roughly against the warehouse's wall, but she forced herself back up.

Newtralizer threw a disk-like weapon into the banner hanging above Miwa. It started beeping and Slash and Newtralizer activated their teleport devices and left. Miwa knew that neither of those meant something good, so she ran back to the window she entered from and dove out, just in time to avoid the explosion that followed.

Suddenly, something had grabbed her and had her trapped in a bear-hug like grapple on the ground. Her ears were still ringing from the explosion, and her vision was spinning so bad that she couldn't see straight, but she grabbed her tessen and stabbed whatever had her.

"Ahh!"

Miwa froze at the voice. "Leo?" She was released, and she scampered out of the hold and spun to find Leo, holding his bicep, which was bleeding heavily after she pulled her tessen free. Behind him, was a bunch of rubble that must've fallen from the higher stories of the warehouse. "Fuck! What are you doing here?" She demanded, running over to him, pulling her sash from her waist to wrap around his wound.

"Followed you." Leo hissed as she pulled it tight. "Knew you'd do something stupid..."

Miwa wanted to yell at him, but she couldn't. Not after she stabbed him. "Yeah, well... You know better than to sneak up on a kunoichi."

Leo rolled his eyes and allowed her to help him stand. "You all right?"

"Fine." She lied.

"Your nose might be bro-"

"What the-" Raph jumped down from the roofs, followed quickly by April, Donnie, and Mikey. "What the hell are you two doin out here?"

"And what happened?" Mikey added, seeing Leo's bleeding arm, and Miwa's bloody nose that was quickly turning black and blue.

"Is that my Plutonium detector?" Donnie frowned. "I had to make a new one because I figured Mikey broke it!"

"Hey!" Mikey pouted.

"Miwa snuck out to fight the Kraang, I saved her from being flattened by debris, and she repaid me by stabbing me." Leo summarized.

"You what?" April asked, looking at Miwa with wide eyes.

Miwa groaned, her face flushing under her makeup. "Two things! One; I went after Slash and Newtralizer. Two; He snuck up on me!"

"Dude, you gotta make yourself known." Mikey looked at Leo. "That's like, Splinter's number one rule."

"I did." Leo replied, massaging his arm. "But, I guess she didn't hear me because of the explosion."

"Aren't you two grounded?" Raph asked.

"So what?" Miwa huffed. "Its not the first time I've snuck out."

"So what?" Raph repeated. "Do you remember what happened the last time you fought Slash?"

"Chill out, guys." April said. "Look, they're already here. Might as well include 'em in the plan, right?"

"What about Splinter?" Donnie asked.

April laughed, hoping to defuse some of the tension, "Not my problem."

"Do you know where they were heading?" Leo asked Miwa.

"No." She answered shortly.

"Well, I still have my Plutonium detectors." Donnie shot a glare at Miwa before he pulled out his device. "Looks like they're heading to the docks."

"The Kraang orb revealed a new weapon," K'Vathrak told Slash as he reloaded his weapons. "They're testing it on the docks at midnight." He let out a guttural rumble from his throat as he shook his body, a motion that Slash came to know meant his partner was excited. "We can use it to wipe out the Kraang once and for all." He showed Slash the blueprints using his holographic projector, a large two legged machine. "We can destroy this whole stinking city."

"And every innocent human with it." Slash shook his head. "Are you crazy? I"m here to take out Kraang! Not people."

"Why should I care?" K'Vathrak asked. "I'm not people. And neither are you." He noticed Slash's angry expression, so he turned away before he blew up more. "If it comes down to it, I won't take any chances, Brother. Now here's the plan. You distract the Kraang while I hijack the Walker-"

"I'm supposta trust ya in that thing?" Slash asked.

"I know how to pilot it, you don't." K'Vathrak narrowed his eyes, jamming Slash in the plastron with his finger. "And you don't have much of a choice."

The Hamato quietly snuck around the docks, making their way up the crates to better survey the robots' activity. They watched a trio of Kraang pull open one of the portable portals, stretching it as far as they could. Out of the horizontal portal rose a large, two legged robot.

"Looks like they got a new weapon." Mikey whispered.

"No shit." Raph responded.

The robot was at least three stories high, and it folded out four cannon-like weapons that made all of them fidget in nervous anticipation.

"Kraang, over here." Directed one of the Kraangbots on the ground. It stood in front of one of the crates, "Move in the direction known as this way."

"Kraang targeting target." The cannons of the robot spun so that one was facing the Kraangdroid and the crate it stood in front of. It fired, and the crate instantly exploded in purple flames and smoke. It also blew off the top half of the Kraang.

"That was what is known as awesome."

"Rocka, rocka, rocka!"

"Over there!" April directed the other's attention across the docks where two shapes had moved in while the Kraang let out mechanical chirps of celebration. It was Slash and Newtralizer. "Lizard Breath coming this way!"

They all moved behind a crate and watched Newtralizer vanish and reappear on the top of the robot. The Kraang activated a weapon that electrocuted the alien lizard, and he fell down to the ground with a hard thud. The robot moved to step on Newtralizer, but he crawled out from under the giant foot moments before he was squished. The Kraang surrounded him with their guns firing, but Slash ran in to help him.

"Slash! Keep the Kraang busy!" Newtralizer commanded. "I'm going for the Walker!"

Slash roared in frustration as he was abandoned by his teammate, and left to defend himself.

"Kraang, attack all non-Kraang. Repeat, attack all-" Slash ripped apart the robot speaking with his bare hands.

Leo jumped into the fight, taking out a Kraangdroid with a front flip as he landed. Then he blocked the gunfire of one Kraang, redirecting it into another one. Then he literally disarmed the other Kraang, stole its gun, and shot off it's head.

Raph ran for Newtralizer, but the alien smacked him away with his tail before aiming one of his gauntlet weapons at him. Raph dodged and ducked the yellow bullet-like laser that came for him, and move in close enough to stab the Newtralizer in the side. The alien screeched and bit down hard on Raph's shoulder. He flung the red-cladded turtle backwards, licking his dripping jaws.

April ran in, helping Raph back to his feet. The Newtralizer studied her for a bit, before he let out a rumbling roar. "Kraang!" He rushed April and grabbed her before she could run. He lifted her by her head, preparing to pop her skull like a watermelon.

"Hands off!" Raph stabbed Newtralizer in the same wound he caused moments before, this time twisting his sai to worsen it. April twisted her body and kicked Newtralizer in the chin, a similar move to what she had tried to do to Stockman-Fly five days previous. He released her, and Raph caught her and rolled them both backwards to gain some distance.

"Duck!" Miwa shoved Leo to the side just as the Walker aimed at him. It blew up a crate behind them, which Mikey used as a launch to take out two Kraangdroids with his kusarigama.

Donnie attacked Newtralizer, using his staff as a pole vault to get himself higher than the lizard. Newtralizer grabbed him by the ankles and flung him back in the direction he came, his attention turned back to the Walker. He scaled the side of a crate, making his way back to higher ground so that he could take the robot from above.

"Kraang! Watch out for Kraang!" Shouted one of the Kraang as the Walker trampled the docks, not caring if it stepped on its fellow Kraang. "Stupid Kraang!"

Newtralizer took out the electrocution weapon with a slice of his spiked tail. He walked up to the glass covering cockpit and broke it with a slam of his tail. He grabbed the squid piloting and tossed it out, replacing the one who was driving the Walker. He started firing the lasers at the Kraang below with a rumbling cackle.

"Kraang Walker has been Kraangjacked by the alien amphibian! Kraang, retreat! Retreat!"

April watched in shock as the Kraangdroid she had been fighting, looked at her up and down before it ran off with the other Kraang.

Slash took down as many of the fleeing robots as he could, but screamed when the Walker stepped on his long tail. Without hesitation, Raphael ran up to him after he was freed. "You... You-" Slash started, but was cut off when he had to duck to avoid a spinning laser from the Walker.

"I'll destroy you all, rocka, rocka, rocka!" 

Slash grumbled and teleported himself up to the cockpit. "What are ya doin? They're helping us fight the Kraang!"

"This is my battle." Retorted Newtralizer. "I don't need them."

Slash roared and smashed the back of the cockpit with his mace, trapping Newtralizer in the much too small pilot's seat.

"Slash! How could you, Brother?"

"Yer no brother of mine." Slash clicked.

Newtralizer raised his gauntlet, preparing to fire one of his plasma lasers. Something lodged in the weapon, keeping it from firing. Then it was called back to its owner, Miwa, who had climbed up a crate.

Raph joined Slash on the top of the Walker, just as Newtralizer spun the top of the machine, flinging them off. Raph was caught by his brothers, and they helped him back to his feet.

"Rocka, rocka, rocka!" Newtralizer aimed the four cannons down at six on the ground.

Miwa threw her tessen again, and it sliced clean through one of the cannons. She circled her hands in a spinning motion, directing the tessen to repetitive the attack until she hacked away all four.

Newtralizer aimed his non-broken gauntlet at her, but Slash shook the whole Walker by banging his mace on one of the legs. Mikey got a boost from Donnie, and he wrapped his kusarigama chain around the legs. He threw the handle down to his team, who all grabbed it and started pulling as hard as they could. Slash joined in, and his combined strength was able to help them pull the chain tight and knock the robot off balance.

Miwa noticed a small opening made by Slash's attack on the cockpit. She quickly fastened a shuriken to a smoke bomb and threw it into the opening. The Walker went up in purple smoke and flames. Through the thick clouds, she watched Newtralizer fight with his teleporter before he vanished.

Raph turned to Slash, but he was gone.

"I am disappointed in both of you." Splinter said, standing over his two eldest as the teenagers sat on their knees. "You both deliberately disobeyed me."

"はい, Sensei." Leo lowered his head.

"So what?" Miwa asked.

"Excuse me?" Splinter turned his full attention to his daughter.

"I said, so what?" She repeated, louder this time. She got to her feet so that she could be closer to her father's face. "We defeated the Kraang's Walker! And the Newtralizer is history!"

"And in the process, you ran head first into danger without any backup and almost got yourself killed." Splinter said. Though his voice was even, they could all tell he was struggling to keep his emotions at bay. "And, you attacked your brother."

"That was an accident!" Miwa defended herself. "I didn't know it was Leo, I reacted like he was an enemy! You taught us that!" She pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"Do not point your finger at me, young lady." Splinter fought his hackles from raising. "And that was not my point."

"Then what is your point?" Miwa demanded.

"Miwa-" Leo started.

"Shut up, Leo!"

"Miwa, that is enough!" Splinter raised his voice. Then he sighed and looked back at his sons, three of which had their gazes averted. "You repetitively go into situations with no regard for yourself or your team. These last few weeks with your feud with Leonardo has only emphasized this fault. I think it may be best if you take a break from the burdens of leading this team."

Miwa's eyes widened, and she looked like Splinter had punched her in her bruised nose. "Wh-what?"

"For the time being, you are no longer leader." Splinter told her, his decision firm and final.

Chapter Text

"Why are you here, girl?" Shredder asked.

Fujiwara bowed her head, touching her forehead to the floor while on her hands and knees. "Please, Master. I have come to ask you to return to funding my brother's treatments."

"Why should I?" He asked. "You have done nothing to earn back my favors. And you dare come here and ask for something in return for your failures?"

Fujiwara kept herself from crying in front of him. "Then I ask of you to just let me contact my mother and brother again. I have not spoken to them since you moved them in Japan. I, I need to-"

He held his hand for her to silence herself, and she did. "Enough begging, child. It is unbecoming of a daughter of the Fujiwara family. You know what you must do to repay your failures. I do not want to hear another sound of this."

Fujiwara sniffled down a sob, and raised her head. "はい師匠. I will not fail you again."

He narrowed his eyes. "You better not."

With a crash of thunder outside adding to the drama of the scene, the heavy chapel doors flew up open. Panting heavily and shaking the rain from his fur, Tiger Claw turned his attention to his Master, and the young majo on her knees beneath him. He was now wearing an eyepatch around his right eye, and he had a chunk missing from his left ear. "I have returned."

"Tiger Claw?" Shredder asked, actually sounded surprised at the sudden interruption.

"How?" Fujiwara asked, getting to her feet. "You were eaten by a giant alien kaichū!"

The tiger let out a rumbling chuckle as he walked through the doors, as if he had never left. "And you believe such a thing could contain my hate? My hate is what kept me going. What keeps my heart beating.

As I tore my way out of the belly of the Kraathatrogon and found myself in an alternate dimension. As I battled through armies of the Kraang, across alien worlds that would drive lesser men mad. Finally, I am back here. Back to my enemies! If allowed, Master Shredder, I would like to have my revenge against Hamato Yoshi, against his hideous reptiles, against his petulant daughter, and against those who trapped me in that wretched worm's belly."

"I will grant you three of these wishes." Shredder allowed. "But Hamato Miwa is to be brought to me, alive."

"And if she puts up a fight?" Tiger Claw asked.

"Use whatever force you must, as long as it does not result in death or permanent injury."

Fujiwara lowered her hat so that her face was concealed. This didn't go unnoticed, however, as Shredder turned his attention back to her. "Fujiwara, you will go with Tiger Claw tonight. Destroy Splinter and the turtles at any cost."

"はい師匠." She repeated with a bow.

"Wh-what?" Miwa asked, again.

"As I said, for the time being, you are no longer leader." Splinter repeated.

Miwa took a step away from her father, the air in her lungs knocked from her like she had been punched in the stomach. She looked down at her brothers, expecting at least one of them to argue for her, but they all just looked away from her amber gaze. Then her eyes found the one that was response for this. "You asshole!" Miwa spat, bringing her sneaker up to kick Leo in the face.

Splinter caught her leg before it connected, leaving Leo startled by the almost attack. "Do not blame your brother for my decision."

Miwa yanked her leg away from his grip and spun back to face him. "No, but he's my replacement, isn't he?" She demanded. The look on Splinter's face said it all, and she laughed before he could answer. "Of fuckin course he is! Splinter's golden boy strikes again! Splinter's favorite gets special treatment, right?"

"Miwa-"

"Shut up! I hate you!" She yelled at Leo, who tried to speak up. She grabbed her bloody sash around his bicep and pulled it free, making him wince in pain. "Have fun, fearless leader! I'm fuckin out of here." She stomped out of the dojo, and was followed by Splinter.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked. "It is daylight."

"Out!" She responded. "Because I can! Don't fuckin wait up!" She flipped him off as she left the lair.

In all honesty, Miwa wasn't sure where she was going either. The first thing she did was find a bathroom in the subway and did her best to wash Leo's blood from her sash. After that, she pulled out a makeup kit she hid out here ages ago so she could touch up her face. After examining her nose, she decided it likely wasn't broken, just seriously bruised to shit. Her lip had been cut open as well, so she skipped her usual red lipstick. She brushed her teeth and left before Mikey dared to venture out this far.

Once outside, she debated on where to go. She thought about hitting up April, but decided she was likely to figure out something was wrong before Miwa could distract her from the subject. Then she thought about Casey. He had offered for her to go meet his father and little sister, but she was never awake during the morning, so she never had. And more importantly, Casey was the one who did all his own piercings, as well as April's. Splinter nearly had a heart attack when she came home one day with a helix piercing in both ears. She wondered how he'd react once she decided to go back home with facial piercings.

She made her way over to Casey's apartment, but once she got there, she realized she didn't know which floor he lived on, or which door would be his. She scaled the nearby fire escape, hoping she could get a look through one of the window's without a curtain. She was hoping for a sign of Casey, not knowing if she'd recognized his sister or father from only pictures on his phone. After waiting about twenty minutes, she tried his phone. It took a couple tries, but he finally texted her instead of answering her calls.

what?

I'm outside. Which one is yours?

stalker much? lolol third floor, apartment f.

Casey waited on his bed for her to ring the doorbell, but then he heard a faint sound behind him. At first, he thought maybe it was nothing, his ears were still ringing from last night. Then he heard it again. He turned to find Miwa looking at him through the window. "¿Que?" He ran over to the window and helped her threw it. "Why are you comin through the window like a creep?"

"It was faster than going through the building." She explained with a shrug.

Casey laughed and shook his head. "So, what are you doing here?" He asked as they sat down on his bed. Casey grabbed a teeshirt and pulled it on over his sports bra.

"I was hoping you could do me a favor." She said. "Or three."

Casey raised his eyebrow. "Favor how?"

"April said you're the one who did her eyebrow piercing."

"I am. You came to the great Casey Jones for a free piercing?" He asked with a smirk.

"Or three." She added.

"Or three." He laughed. "Sure, no problem. Give me a second." Casey excused himself and left her alone in his room for a moment.

Miwa was surprised at how clean it was. She expected his room to be a mess, like Raph or Mikey's, but it was almost as tidy as Donnie's. He had a pile of clothes at the foot of his bed, but other than that, it was perfect. His wall was lined with posters of hockey players and rock bands. The door creaked a bit, and Miwa turned, expecting to see Casey.

Instead she saw a little girl, about eight years old, standing in the doorway in her pajamas. She had the same dark eyes as Casey, but her hair was a light brown rather than the greasy black that Casey had. She also had very light freckles, and she had the same shit-eatting grin that Casey did.

"Oh, hi!" Miwa smiled at her. "You must be Julia. I'm Miwa."

"Are you Casey's girlfriend?" She asked, making Miwa's eyes widen.

"¡Julia, vete!" Casey was back, with a blush on his olive cheeks. He threw something at the bed, which Miwa caught. He then pushed past his sister and slammed the door on her.

"¿Ella es tu novia?" Julia asked.

"I said get!" He shouted through the door, like he was talking to a dog.

"I'm telling papa!"

Casey turned back to her, his face still flushed. "Sorry 'bout her. She's annoying."

"My little brothers are annoying too." She shrugged before a twinge of mixed emotions passed through her.

"So, what're we doing?" Casey asked, taking the bag he had thrown while wrestling his sister out of his room. "You joining the eyebrow club with me and Red?"

Miwa chuckled at the mention of April. "Actually, I was thinking of something else." She pointed to the bridge of her nose, right between her eyes, and then just under her lips. "I don't know what they're called but-"

"A bridge and snake bites." Casey answered. "Sure, I can do that."

"Sweet."

Casey grabbed some gloves from the bag and then pulled out a few sterile needles. He dug around until he found three sterile pieces of jewelry. He frowned when he looked at her face, "Uhh, you sure you wanna go for the bridge? You're nose looks a little fucked."

"It'll be fine. It's just bruised, not broken."

"It'll hurt."

Miwa scoffed, "No offense, Jones, but I think I can handle it."

He shrugged, "Okay, okay. I know better than arguing with you now."

Miwa hummed, "Damn right."

Casey made a small mark on her bridge before he lifted the needle. "Alright, here we go." He pushed the needle through her skin, "In through your nose, wiggle your toes."

"What?" Miwa asked, doing her best not move her face and screw up his work.

"Somethin' mama used to say when she did piercings." Casey answered, now going through the needle to place the earring.

"You don't talk about your mom much." Miwa said. "In fact, I think you've only ever mentioned her once before."

"Not much to say." He shrugged after placing the screw on the earring. "Cheated on my dad and than ran off to Puerto Rico with her new juguetito. Haven't seen her since."

Miwa frowned. "Sorry, Case."

"Whatever." He said, trying to play it off like it wasn't an obvious sore spot.

Miwa thought about saying something about her own mother, but there wasn't much to say either. Her mother wasn't perfect, no one was, but she had never done something like that to her father. And it wasn't like she knew from experience either.

"So, snake bites?" Casey asked, changing the subject.

Miwa nodded, and he drew under her lip where they would go. Her phone started to blow up with text messages and phone calls.

"You gonna get that?" He asked.

"It's nothing important."

Once he had finished, and she was smiling in satisfaction, Casey spoke again. "So, uhh, Splinter's cool with the piercing stuff?"

"You're asking now?" She raised an eyebrow.

"It's just, he seems like more of a... tradicional kinda rat?"

Miwa pursed her lips, admiring the silver studs on either side. "He'll get over it."

"Not what I wanted to hear." Casey grimaced.

"Relax. He'd only kill you if you gave me a tattoo." She winked.

"Is that a joke?"

"If you want it to be."

Casey's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say more, but then a knock on his door interrupted him. He answered it, and found a very displeased Arnold Jones on the other side of the door. "Hey, dad. What's up?"

"Casey, I thought I told you," His eyes flicked over to Miwa sitting awkwardly on the bed. "No hay chicas en tu habitación. Especially with the door closed."

Casey glared over his father's shoulder at his sister, who smiled smugly at him. "Dad, trust me, nothing happened."

"Did you put holes in this girl's face?" He asked, exasperated.

"Daaad." Casey groaned.

Miwa came over to the door and held out her hand, "Hamato Miwa. Nice to meet you, sir."

"Likewise, young lady." He shook her hand. He looked back at Casey, "Keep this door open."

"Dad, she doesn't like me that way." Casey sighed.

"I don't care, Casey Arnold Jones. You keep this door open."

After he left, Julia came back into the room. "Is she your girlfriend, Casey?"

"No, Julia." Casey blushed again, making Miwa snicker.

"That makes sense. She's too pretty for you."

"You little shit!" Casey grabbed his sister and spun her upside down, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, making her laugh.

"It's true!"

Miwa watched them for a moment, recalling back when she could do that with her brothers. She might still be able to do it, but it would be much harder now. She frowned, recalling the last thing she said to Leo. No, it's his fault. Don't feel bad for him, he's been out to get your title since the beginning.

"Miwa, you sure its not important?" Casey snapped her from her thoughts. He had his sister on his shoulders now, but they were both looking at her with large, chocolate eyes. "You're phone hasn't stopped buzzin."

"I should probably go." She sighed. "Thanks for your help, Casey." She stepped around the siblings and quickly made her way to the front door.

Casey put Julia down and went to chase after Miwa, but was again accosted by his father.

"I didn't want to say anything with your friend here, but isn't she the fourth girl you've brought here in the three months?"

"Dad, we're just friends! Irma, April, and Sunita and I are just friends!" Casey moved to leave.

"Do not leave this apartment until you empty the dishwasher."

Casey groaned and stalked over to the dishwasher. He was just about through emptying it when his phone started to blow up. He pulled it out of his pocket and was bombarded by message after message from Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey, asking if he knew where Miwa was.

Fujiwara panted as she tried to keep up with Tiger Claw. She had resorting to using her teleport ability, but that only moved her so far. And his strong, powerful legs was able to further the distance with just one stride across the rooftops.

Tiger Claw finally noticed this, or was done pretending he hadn't. He stopped and turned to her with a satisfied smirk on his muzzle. "Having a hard time keeping up, girl?"

"I was taking it easy on you since you are operating with only one eye and no tail." She retorted.

"You think you're clever? You're a fool!"

"I am the fool?" She scoffed, faking being insulted by placing a hand on her chest. "You have faced Hamato Yoshi and the kappa in battle, and have lost. What exactly is your grand plan for revenge here? Because no matter what Master Shredder said, he'll only allow them to die by his hand."

"You think I am unaware of that?" Tiger Claw growled at her insults of his intelligence. "I thought a fellow shikaku would already know how to take out targets like this." He sneered at her. "To destroy warriors such as these, you do not strike at their limbs. You go for their heart."

Now Fujiwara understood why she was instructed to join Tiger Claw on this mission. Hamato Miwa was tonight's target, not Hamato Yoshi or the turtles. She knew Hamato Miwa. She knew the places she went, and she knew her weaknesses. Tiger Claw's yellow eyes shone with impatience in the darkness. "To lure her out, we need to go after her friends. April O'Neil and the new human boy."

"The riders of the worm." Tiger Claw snarled, his claws begging to be used to disembowel them. "They will all pay for what they did to me. By my hand or the Shredder's, it does not matter."

"I have an idea on where she could be." Shini said after a moment. "At the very least, I know where we can get some answers." She lead Tiger Claw to the noodle shop where she had first met April O'Neil. She remembered the look that crossed the old man's face after she tricked the silly little bird into eating turtle soup, which meant he was more than just an unassuming blind man. His shop was empty, and he was sweeping the wooden floors.

Shini walked in first, "こんにちはおじいちゃん."

"Welcome, welcome!" Smiled the old man. "How many?"

"Two." Tiger Claw answered. He grabbed the old man and shoved him hard against the wall, knocking some of the paintings down. The old man groaned and tried to pull himself free, but he was trapped between a mountain of fur and a solid brick wall. "The turtles."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Replied the old man.

"Lying will only make things worse, Ojīchan." Shini said. "Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello."

"I, I don't-"

"We know you know what we are demanding, so answer. Where does Hamato Miwa live?" Shini pushed. Tiger Claw dug his claws into the wall next to the old man's head and pulled down, leaving large claw marking in the brick as if it was nothing but fabric.

"I don't know!" The old man turned his head away from the terrifying sound of Tiger Claw marking his up restaurant. "Please! Please!"

Shini hummed and placed her hand on his face. He was shaking from fear, perhaps she would feel bad if so much wasn't on the line. "Good. Now answer this; Where can we find April O'Neil?"

Miwa was close to turning off her phone and chucking it in the nearest trash can. She had muted all notifications so that she could listen to her music in peace, but with the sun close to setting, she knew her brothers would soon venture out to look for her. Judging by the texts she had received from both April and Casey, they were now aware that she had runaway and were probably out looking for her at that moment. And with April's stupidly good intuition and her brothers knowing her like the backs of their hands, it was only a matter of time before someone found her, no matter how much she tried to hide.

Figuring it was best to get some food before a night of hide and seek, Miwa decided to swing by Murakami's before he closed for the night. As she approached the shop, she noticed some of the lights seemed to be broken, and his door was wide open. Dread crept through her and she ran into the shop.

It was a mess. Chairs and tables flipped over and broken in half, paintings on the floor, large claw marks in the walls and floors, and Murakami sitting just behind the counter, shaking.

"Rōjin!" Miwa ran up to the old man and placed a hand on his shoulder. He flinched away from her, "Rōjin, it's me, Miwa. Are you okay?" She helped him stand and sat him down on a stool that seemed to be the only thing unbroken.

"They came looking for you." He said in a sullen tone. "They wanted to know where you lived, but I didn't know." He sighed, hanging his head in shame. "They asked about April-san and Casey-kun. To my shame, I told them everything I knew."

"It's okay, Rōjin." Miwa rubbed his back. "Who did this to you?"

"A girl with long finger nails, and a growling man with breath that smelt of fish."

Miwa scanned the claw markings on the wall. Was Tiger Claw back? But how? And Shini... Damn it! "They didn't hurt you?"

"No. The man spoke of honor, saying hurting a defenseless, old, blind man like me was a waste of time."

"Don't worry, Murakami-san." Miwa said through gritted teeth. "I won't let them get away with this."

"Do not worry about me, Hamato-san. Go save your friends. I fear they will not be as friendly with them." The old man brought his hands to his lips, almost like he was saying a silent prayer.

Miwa knew he was right. And knowing Shini, she had a plan. "Did they leave a message?"

"Yes. They want you to meet them at the old frozen meat factory just outside of Chinatown at midnight."

"So, just to be clear," April said after a groan of another missed phone call to Miwa. "She was in your apartment this morning, and she got away from you?"

Casey sighed, "I didn't know she was missing until after she had already left!" He paused, "I guess she was acting a little sketch, but... I dunno, I thought it was because of the piercings or something."

"Piercings?" April asked.

Casey nodded, "Gave her three." He pointed out the spots on his own face.

"Splinter's not gonna like that." April muttered.

Casey froze in place, and April had to look back at him on the sidewalk. "How not gonna like we talkin? Like... Chew my face off, not gonna like?"

April rolled her eyes, "Relax. If he's going to chew anything off, it'll be Miwa's ear for getting more piercings after he told her that he didn't want her getting more."

Casey gave a weak chuckle. "And when he finds out I was the one who did it?"

"I'll protect you from the scary rat, Jones." April smiled.

"What rat?"

April fumbled for her glasses and gloves while Casey stepped in front of her to shield her from view. "Irma? Sun?"

Irma and Sunita were standing down the street, having just exited a movie theater. "Hey, guys." Sunita muttered.

"What're you guys doin here?" Casey asked.

"Seeing a movie." Irma answered, thumbing over her shoulder. "We tried to invite you, but neither of you answered your phones."

"Sorry about that." April frowned, scrolling through her phone, trying to find where they had been lost in the messages and calls to the missing Hamato. "We got busy-"

"Going on a date?" Sunita asked, raising an eyebrow.

April's eyes widened beneath her sunglasses while Casey just chuckled awkwardly. "What?" They asked in unison.

Sunita rolled her eyes. "Look, it's fine you two are dating, but you don't need to sneak around. I don't mind."

"No, we weren't-" April cut herself off abruptly, her head snapping upwards to survey the roofs above.

"Weren't what?" Sunita pressed.

"Hello? Earth to April?" Irma waved her hand in front of April's face.

"What is it?" Casey asked her in a hushed tone.

"We're being followed." She answered.

"What?" Sunita and Irma both looked nervous at her statement and started looking around the streets.

April answered the question she knew Casey was asking with a shake of her head. Good followed or bad followed? Bad.

"All right, whatever it is, we split up and lead it away from here. Plan?" Casey asked April. She nodded and took off down the street without another word.

"What's-" Irma started.

Casey turned to the two confused, and frankly scared, teenage girls. "Look, you two go home. Don't run, but walk as fast as you can. Don't look back, April and I will text ya later." He took off before they could both answer, in the opposite direction that April went. He had to get his gear.

Irma looked at Sunita. "Hey, let's just do what they said."

"But, what if something bad happens to them?" Sunita argued.

"I think they'll be fine. Let's get you home."

Casey had his gear hidden not far from where he and April split up, having his own intuition tell him that he might've needed it tonight. He didn't stop running, even while he was pulling on his weapons, rudimentary armor, and mask. He decided to go to a car shop his dad had won a case against a few months back for poor safety regulations. His plan was just hoping that whatever it was, had chosen to follow him instead of April. Though, if it was the Kraang, he knew they would've chosen the redhead in a single tentacle shake. He thought about looping back and trying to find April, but he was too worried about being the target. If he did that, and whatever had picked him, then April would be in danger regardless.

A ferocious growl made Casey nearly jump out of his skin. He spun around, just in time to avoid a bipedal tiger jumping at him from the shadows. Those razor sharp claws narrowly avoided his chest, but the tiger caught himself on his hands and kicked Casey hard in the stomach, knocking him down to the ground. The air being forcibly expunged from his lungs was enough to make his head spin and his stomach threaten to empty its contents, but he forced it down. He laid as still as he could as the tiger came back for another strike, and when it was in arms length, Casey struck. He activated his taser and nailed the big cat right in the chest. The tiger yelled in pain and dropped to his knees. Casey ran past him, kicking out his skates to give himself extra speed to get away.

"Come on, tiger, dude!" He taunted over his shoulder. "Let's see what you..." When he looked back at the spot he left the kneeling beast, it was vacant. He only barely recognized the yellow eyes in the shadows before the tiger pounced for him again. "On second thought, I don't need to see what ya got!" Casey shouted as he rounded a corner. This had to be the tiger dude that had kidnapped Miwa and Splinter. When they told him about it, he thought that a tiger mutant was the coolest thing ever. He still thought that, but now that it was chasing him, he wished he was wrong.

Casey was faster on his skates, but when the tiger activated a fucking jet pack to catch up to his prey, Casey couldn't help but complain about how unfair this was. He rolled over the hood of a car, avoiding the claws for a third time now. The tiger's free hand came up and threw a bunch of throwing stars at him. Casey dodged and ducked under them, his worm bite making his leg ache. "Woah! You know, part of me always wanted to fight a man-eating tiger." He said to the enemy. "Know any real ones?" He slid underneath a parked truck just as the tiger lifted a car over his head and chucked it at Casey's head.

"Do you think this is a game?" Asked the tiger.

Casey used his hockey stick to spin around a lamp post and launched himself through the small opening of the garage door to the shop. The tiger was right behind him, his strong paws grabbing underneath the metal door and lifting it so that he could fit through. "Yeah!" Casey answered the question that was posed. "Keep Away from One-Eyed Freaks!" Casey grabbed a chain hanging down from the ceiling, and flung himself up to the second floor. "Or we could play a game of "Do Cats Always Land on their Feet?" Casey spun around on his skates, throwing two exploding hockey pucks at the big cat, aiming for his jetpack. They collided, and Tiger Claw yowled in pain.

"¡Hasta luego!" Casey called out, using the smoke and disorientation from the explosion to try and escape. He made it through the tiger sized hole in the garage door and managed to get to the rooftops before the predator caught up to him again. "If it wasn't for the fact that I'm gonna die, this would be so cool!" Casey laughed, not knowing what else to do with the knot of fear and adrenaline in his stomach getting tighter with each second.

The tiger man raised an eyebrow, "You are a strange one, Worm Rider."

"Thanks." Casey rushed away Tiger Claw, hoping the speed he built up would allow him to get from one roof to another, but he miscalculated. Tiger Claw's arm was long enough to grab Casey by his hood without even moving his feet. He pulled Casey back towards him, sharp teeth bare in a satisfied grin. Casey swung his bat at the tiger's head, but it snapped in half over the forearm that blocked the hit. He then slammed Casey against the tile, trapping him underneath his foot so that he couldn't wiggle away again.

"You will pay for what you did to me." Tiger Claw hissed, his ears flattening against his head. "The suffering you caused. The pain I endured!"

Casey struggled to speak with the amount of weight being pressed on his chest. "You're... You're not still mad about the whole worm thing, are you? I got eaten by one too, you know."

Tiger Claw snarled again and grabbed Casey's head, his paw was large enough to wrap around the teenager's entire head. "I would gut you now, if you weren't a valuable piece in the next part of tonight's plan."

Casey beat on the arm with his fists, but it was no use. He couldn't use his taser, he had no way of activating it like this. "I'm not helping you with anything!" He said, muffled against the fur. He felt himself being lifted into the air, but he couldn't see anything with the paw in the way.

"But you will," Tiger Claw let out a purr-like cackle. "Hamato Miwa will come for you."

No! Casey tried fighting more and more, but suddenly, he was falling. He realized that he had been thrown from the roof before he hit something hard, and everything went black.

April was looking behind her when she heard the familiar jingling of a chain. She stopped short, just in time for Shinigami to jump down, from seemingly nowhere, in front of her.

"Greetings, tori." Despite the usage of the bird nickname, the witch's face was serious and non-playful.

April unsheathed her tanto and held it horizontally in front of her. "You wanna do this, Shini? Fine." April snarled, knowing her sharp teeth were bared like a rabid animal. "But I'm warning you, I've been training with Master Splinter big time, and I'm ready to kick your butt!"

Shinigami raised an eyebrow and gave April a quick up and down glance. If she had something snarky to say, she held it back. Instead, she held up her hands, showing that she was currently unarmed. Though she and April both knew that could be changed with a blink of her golden eyes. "I did not come to fight, April-ch... April. I came with a warning."

April narrowed her eyes, unsure of what to do. She suspected Shini was attempting to use her hypnosis on her, because her intuition she had come to trust with her life, was now telling her that the Foot Clan kunoichi wasn't lying to her. Hesitantly, she lowered her tanto just a bit, keeping it at level with her waist in case this was all just a trick. "What?" She asked with a tone of disbelief she couldn't hide.

"Your friends are in danger." Shinigami said plainly. "Last night, Tiger Claw came back, and is currently hunting that boy with the mask."

April's eyes widened. Tiger Claw was that mutant tiger that kidnapped Splinter and Miwa, right? He nearly killed the Hamato that night. April wanted to run back in the direction Casey had gone, even though she knew she would be no match for such an opponent. But she stopped herself because this whole conversation still didn't seem right. "Why are you telling me this?"

Shinigami looked away from the redhead for a moment, before her captivating golden gaze met the neon green of April's. "Would you be able to convince Hamato Miwa to hand herself over to Master Shredder without a fight?"

It took April a moment to process her question. "No, why would I?" She answered.

Shinigami just giggled and shook her head. "I was afraid of that."

"Why does that evil bastard even want her in the first place?" April dared to ask.

Shinigami shook her head again, "He has not offered that information to me. I doubt he has spoke of his reasonings to any of the Foot."

"So, what are you telling me this?" April repeated her previous question.

"I have been here too long." Shinigami answered. "I cannot leave Master Shredder's side until he gets what he wants."

"Why? Just for money?" April snarled. "Is money worth more than six lives?" She asked, knowing that Shredder wanted to stuff Splinter and the turtles on his wall.

"We all hold certain lives above others." Was the raven-haired girl's reply. Then she vanished.

April gasped, and spun around, swinging her tanto to stab the witch she knew had appeared behind her. But Shinigami was faster. Her Hypno Stone came up and clocked April's across the head. Her hands then clamped around April's mouth and nose, holding them until the girl passed out.

Shinigami stood, ready to go meet up with the Foot's second, when she heard the ringtone of the little bird's phone. Peering at the name, she saw it was one of the turtles. She answered the phone, and placed it by April's hand. As she left, she could hear the worried voice asking why April wasn't saying anything.

Miwa broke a window and slipped through into the frozen meat factory. It was closed for the night, but she knew that she wasn't alone when she spotted the lights on behind the register counter. She passed by the freezer door, peering inside when she saw it was open for whatever reason. She could see the giant slabs of meat hanging from the hooks, and wondered how well she'd be able to hide in here from Tiger Claw. Perhaps his nose would distract him from her scent. She continued further until she came into the butcher part of the factory, where they prepared the meat to be portioned.

"Come in, girl." Tiger Claw's voice came from behind the slightly opened door.

Miwa steeled herself and reached for her phone, but then she felt something sharp against her back, just under where her breastplate ended.

"Now, now, Miwa-chan." Shini hummed in her ear, "Do not spoil the fun by inviting the kappa."

Reluctantly, she held up her hands, and allowed the witch to take her phone from her. Shini gave her a slight nudge and together they walked through the door. Miwa sniffled a gasp when she saw Casey laying motionless on one of the preparation tables. The only thing that gave her a little bit of relief was that he was still wearing his mask. Hopefully, that meant they didn't know what he looked like underneath it.

Tiger Claw noticed her bubbling anger and fear for her companion. "He is alive. For now."

"And if you want to keep it that way, you will come with us." Shini finished.

"This has nothing to do with him." Miwa glared at the eyepatch-wearing tiger. "Let him go."

"In due time. If you comply."

Miwa doubted his words, but she didn't have much of a choice now. She bowed her head, but when Shini began to disarm her of her wakizashi, she kicked the taller kunoichi in the stomach. She used her gloves to pull her tessen free from the holder on her wrist, and used it to combat the crescent blade that aimed for her head. She heard Tiger Claw preparing a pounce, so she swept at Shini's feet, knocking them both down and allowed the tiger to go over both their heads. Miwa kicked Shini off of her and made a run for Casey's tPhone that was laying by his head.

Shini's kusarigama chain wrapped around her foot, tripping her. She turned onto her back and stabbed her tessen deep into Tiger Claw's paw as he grabbed at her neck. He hissed, but it didn't stop him from lifting her and tossing her back into the freezer door.

Miwa shivered from the cold, and could see the breath she was trying to catch in the air. The chain around her ankle pulled her back out, and Shini swung her Hypno Stone down against Miwa's stomach. She spat up from the hit, but she wasn't spared any longer as Tiger Claw again threw her into the wall by a dishwasher. She managed to roll back to her hands and knees, protecting her head from the knives above her that fell. One caught her right thigh, but she was fine. Miwa stood, but froze when she saw Tiger Claw holding Casey.

He had activated a saw blade on the table, and was now holding Casey over it. Any movement unapproved, and he would drop Casey's head against it. "If you value his life, do not take another step." He warned her.

Miwa bowed her head again and dropped her tessen.

"Good. Bind her." He said to Shini.

Shini wrapped Miwa in her chain, binding her arms behind her back. She knelt in front of the girl in green, and their eyes met for a moment. Miwa wondered if it was a flash of regret in her lavender eyes, before her senses were overtaken by the witch's knockout powder.

Casey's eyes opened and he realized that he was in the Med Bay in the lair. A sight he was becoming all to familiar with. He groaned, trying to sit up, but he felt like he had gotten run over by steamroller.

"Easy, Jones." Leo's hand caught his shoulder and held him against the futon. "Don't sit up yet. You took a real beating."

"Thank goodness you're okay." April let out a sigh of relief. She was holding an icepack to her head, but she seemed fine.

Casey smiled at her, but then he recalled what happened just before he was dropped from the roof. "Miwa?"

No one answered his question. But they didn't need too. He saw Splinter on the far side of the Med Bay, holding Miwa's tessen in his hands.

Chapter Text

"What up, Big Daddy?" Smiled Zeck as he followed Stranko into his spooky hidden lair in New York. "Call me up for another fun night?" He wiggled his eyebrows. Truthfully, he never expected to hear from Stranko again.

The Russian didn't reply, or even look at the younger man. Instead, he continued walking until they came up to a large collection of artifacts behind display cases. "Alexander the Great's breastplate." Spoke the blond man. "The Spear of Destiny. Excalibur. Is most greatest collection of all time, da? Net! Is missing one thing." He pulled out a polaroid photograph from his breast pocket and showed it to hired thief. "Shredder's helmet, the legendary Kuro Kabuto. I want you to obtain it for me, and I maybe forget terrible past misdeeds." He glared down at the shorter man. 

Zeck let out a chuckle, "If I steal the helmet, you'll forgive me for my little... Mistake?" He averted his gaze away from Stranko's face.

"Little mistake?" Stranko exclaimed furiously. "You shoot me in eyeball!"

"Not on purpose!" Zeck defended himself. "You're the one who brought the gun out during sex! I didn't think you had it loaded! And, you got that cool new eye!" He now made eye contact with the artificial diamond encrusted eye he was avoiding earlier. "Used to be just another arms dealer but now, it's like, "Check out the cool eyeball guy!""

"I should pop your head like blueberry!" Stranko slammed his fists down on the table between them.

"I know something else you could pop." Zeck offered in a sultry tone. When that did little but make the blond Russian's eyebrow twitch, he changed tactics. "Relax, Daddy Stranko! I'll get you that helmet!"

"Is in Shredder's lair. Highest security. Tell me, Mister Zeck, is something you can steal?"

Zeck let out a scoff, like he was offended by his skills being underestimated. "See your Spear of Destiny there?" He pointed at the display case to the side.

"Da."

"Lick it." Zeck drug his tongue up the length of his thumb slowly.

Stranko glared at him again, but opened the case and did what he was told. Then he yelled and spun to face the smirking master thief. "Is made of marzipan!"

Zeck walked over to a pillar in the bunker and pulled out a spear from underneath a tarp. "I stole the real one yesterday." He handed it back to Stranko, who gripped it so hard it looked like he was going to dent the steel.

"Just watch step." Stranko said through gritted teeth. "I have sent five men to steal the helmet, one after other. None came out breathing. That Shredder, he has eyes in back of head."

Zeck just laughed, excited for the challenge. "Those eyes won't do him much good." He showed Stranko the tech suit he had underneath his clothing. "He he!" He laughed. "It'll be like taking candy from a baby!"

Over the past fifteen days, spirits had been very low inside the home of the Hamato, which felt empty despite having five people living there. The boys had been out every night since Miwa's kidnapping, from dusk to dawn trying to figure out where she was being held. The Footbots they fought weren't any help, and all the other Foot Clan members did was taunt them about never seeing her again.

April was certain that she was still somewhere in New York, but where, she couldn't say. Casey had recovered, mostly, but was beating himself up about getting caught. Everyone kept telling him it wasn't his fault, but he didn't want to hear it. He had been doing his own stakeouts, but he hadn't come any closer than the turtles had.

Splinter was nearly inconsolable with worry. He hadn't held a single training session since his sons had returned without his daughter. He spent most days in Miwa's room or in his own, looking at his photographs of her. He had only really left when Michelangelo called him out a few days back. He had exited his youngest room with five beads hanging from his beard. Orange, purple, red, blue, and green.

Mikey and Donnie tried to keep the peace, but Raph had been on a tirade ever since she was taken. The second eldest son made his opinions loud and clear for every living creature that could hear in the sewers. This was all Splinter and Leo's fault.

Leo hadn't even bothered trying to defend himself. He was almost as bad as Splinter was. He hadn't spoken more than a few sentences at a time, and when Raph verbally attacked him, he just sat there and took it.

Leo left the dojo after peering into his father's room, seeing him staring down blankly at the picture of Miwa's fifteenth birthday. Raph pushed past him with his shoulder, holding a box of pizza with one hand.

"Pizza's here!" He called. "For everyone but the fearless leader that got Miwa kidnapped by a psychopath!" He added, glaring daggers at the taller turtle.

Leo said nothing. He sat on the far end of the couch and stared vaguely at the episode of Super Robo Mecha Force Five Mikey and Donnie were watching.

"You got one pizza?" Mikey asked in shock as Raph set down the singular box. "I'm like a two pizzas all by myself guy!" He held up two fingers to prove his point and wiggled them in Raph's face.

Raph rolled his eyes and started eating.

"Would you relax?" Donnie said to Mikey.

Mikey pouted for a second, before he wore a smirk. "Booyakasha!" He shouted and threw down a smoke bomb. By the time the smoke cleared, the pizza was almost completely gone, and Mikey had his mouth so full that it seemed like a choking hazard.

"Mikey!" Raph slammed his fists down on the couch in frustration.

"I cannot believe you'd do that!" Donnie huffed. He grabbed the remaining slice and held it over his head so that neither of his shorter brothers could reach it.

"The sun's going to be down in about ten minutes." Leo finally spoke. "We need to come up with a plan. Donnie, can you map out all the places we've searched-" He tried to finish his inquiry, but was interrupted by his brother.

"Like the plan you and Splinter came up with that got Miwa caught in the first place?" Raph sneered while folding his arms.

"There was no- I didn't-" Leo groaned and rubbed at his eyes. "We have to rescue her!"

"Then we will!" Raph snapped, motioning towards himself, Donnie, and Mikey. "But until she's here again, you're dead to me!"

"Raph, stop it!" Mikey shouted, jumping to his feet. "Stop blaming Leo and stop blaming dad! It was Shredder who took her!" His eyes were watering, and he wiped at them with multi-colored neon fishnet gloves that Miwa had gotten him for his birthday. Which he only now took off when going on patrol.

"It was all Leo's fault!"

"No it wasn't! You don't believe that!"

"Yes I do!"

"No, you don't!"

"Enough!" Leo stepped between them. "Raph, you can hate me all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that she needs us to work together. Now, am I the leader of this team or not?"

Mikey facepalmed, like Leo was purposely trying to dissuade Raph from believing he had nothing to do with Splinter's decision.

Donnie looked away from Raph when he looked to him, shrugging his shoulders while spitting the mask tails from his mouth.

"More or less." Raph muttered.

"More or less?" Leo repeated. "So I'm only the leader until I tell you to do something you don't want to do?"

"I do wanna save Miwa." Raph glared at him.

"Then why the hell are you arguing with me? Let's go. I think we need to see if Shredder's lair has any weak points we can plant some spy bugs."

Raph huffed but grabbed Mikey by his shell and started towing in out of the lair. "Take those stupid things off." He said. "Astronauts can see you from space in 'em."

Zeck thought using an old abandoned cathedral as an evil villain's hideout was a little on the nose. It looked creepy as hell from a mile away, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He scaled the roof using his invisibly device and slid down to the glass entrance. He spotted an area of broken glass that he could've used, but decided not to use it. If they were aware of it, it would be heavily monitored and an obvious way for intruders to enter. Instead, he crawled up to the top of the glass skylight and used the laser cutter on his glove's palm to make a hole large enough to fit himself through. He made sure his cloaking device was still on and threw down some rope he attached to a hook on the side of the roof. He slid down the rope and made his way over to the throne, where Stranko said his treasure was hidden.

He heard heavy footsteps coming towards the room he was in, but he was so close that he couldn't stop now. Besides, he was nimble and flexible enough to avoid being hit by most things, and given his cloaking device, no one would know where to aim anyway.

Stranko was right on the money, there was an obvious hidden compartment on the back of the black marble throne. He found a button on the side and once he pressed it, the marble spun back to reveal a keypad. Using his high-tech goggles he scanned the numbers to find out which ones had been pressed the most, 1569. He hooked up a cable into the small opening on the top of the keypad, which activated a program that started entering all the possible combinations.

He heard the door open, and then a gruff, deep voice bark, "Footbots, search the place!"

Curious, he peaked over the side of the throne to see a large, bipedal wolf-looking thing sniffing the air. "Snaptizzle." He muttered. Didn't matter, the final combination that opened the safe was 1996-11-15. Someone like this Shredder would still use a birthdate or an anniversary? Lame. He opened the top of the glass safe and took out the helmet. He placed it into the backpack he brought with him and closed the throne back up. He connected his backpack to his suit through a cord, which made the bag invisible as well. Just in time too, because the wolf thing rounded the corner just after he vanished.

"Someone stole the Kabuto!" It snarled. "I can't see him, but I can smell him."

Then his heavy fist caught Zeck in the stomach, flinging him backwards into the glass. It shorted out his suit, and made him visible for a couple seconds. "Damn! He's even worse than Stranko said he was!"

"Footbots, destroy him!"

Zeck activated the laser feature on his helmet, which turned the purple mohawk into laser boomerangs. He ran around the cathedral, throwing out as many as he needed to take out the Footbots with a single hit each. "He he!" He laughed and spun in a circle as he reached the rope again. He pulled out his glue trap bombs and threw two at the charging wolf man. They exploded just before his feet, and he tripped over it, trapping him against the floor. The wolf snarled and tried to pull himself free. "Just a little glue," Zeck assured him. "No hard feelings, Zombie Wolf. I'm just doin my job." He threw the wolf one of his business cards, pulled himself up the rope and vanished into the night with a victorious, "He he!"

Bradford whimpered and tried to pull himself free, despite the pain that came from the glue pulling on his fur. He needed to get free before-

"Bradford, what is going on in here?" Shredder burst through the doors of the cathedral, his eyes narrowed in anger.

Bradford flattened his ears and did his best to bow to his master. "I'm sorry, Master Shredder. Someone took your helmet." He held out the business card, which was snatched away. Shredder read the card with his good eye before he crumpled it. "Anton Zeck, Master Thief? Get me everyone!"

As they drove down the streets in the Shellraiser, the brothers tried to ignore the feeling of emptiness now that Miwa's station was unoccupied. "I'm thinking we might have better luck finding her if we plant spyroaches in and around Shredder's lair." Leo told his brothers from the driver's seat.

"Ugh, those things again?" Raph complained, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Hey!" Donnie glared at him. "My spyroaches are useful! Unlike your whining!"

Raph swiveled around in his seat while popping his knuckles. "You wanna hear whining? Give yourself five seconds before I-"

"Raph, sit down!" Leo shouted over his shoulder.

"How are we gonna get them in Shredder's lair?" Mikey asked. "We've snuck in through the broken skylight so many times that those dudes have gotta have fixed it up. Or like, have some high tech security or somethin."

"Good point, Mikey." Donnie blinked in surprise. Then his head snapped down to look to at his monitor. Something was showing up on the thermal camera, but he couldn't see anything on his main one. "Uhh, Leo?"

"I'm planning on planting them outside the lair." Leo informed them. "Just outside the doors, that way they can sneak in whenever the door opens."

"Leo?"

"Brilliant plan." Raph snarled.

"Leo!"

"You got a better one?" Leo snapped, looking back at Raph with fury blazing in his brilliant blue eyes.

"Leo! Brakes!" Donnie shouted.

Leo did as he was told, but he still smacked into... Something. He heard the thud before the jolt of the Shellraiser knocked his head into the steering wheel before throwing it back into the seat. Sounds of groans came from the back of the tank, showing his brothers didn't fair any better.

"What did we hit?" Leo asked, rubbing his head as they exited to check out the street.

"What did Leo hit?" Raph corrected.

"A guy." Donnie told them. "An invisible guy! He only showed up on infrared."

"Is this a Kraang thing?" Leo asked him.

"No idea." Donnie replied.

As they felt around blindly for someone on the street, Raph spotted a discarded, techy backpack on the curb. He walked over to check it out, figuring if it was the Kraang, it probably had mutagen in it. Instead, when he opened it, he found a familiar samurai helmet. He let out an involuntary gasp, but it was covered by the sound of Mikey screaming, "Foot!" Raph snapped his head up and saw the rooftops crawling with dozens of Footbots, all fixated on him and his brothers.

"Ambush!" Leo drew his swords. "Raph, get your shell over here!" He called out, needing his brothers all to be in his sight, in fear of loosing another one.

"Guys! I think I know what they're after." Raph replied, and pulled out Shredder's helmet from the bag. Then he dropped it back in, and tossed it over to Donnie, who caught with the end of his bō and dropped in the middle of the circle the turtles formed. "Well, tonight just got interesting." Raph commented, joining the formation.

"Plan, Leo?" Donnie asked.

"Well, you know. Kick, punch, stab. The usual." Leo replied, eyeing the bag with a spark fueling an idea.

"Right in my wheelhouse, bruh!" Mikey smiled. He caught two of the four arms that came for him, and flipped over the four-armed robot. He pulled down on the arms he held, which snapped at the elbows before Leo came up and decapitated the robot.

Raph jabbed his sai backwards into the Footbot that came at him and roundhouse kicked it to the ground. He spun around to dodge an attack from a katana-wielding robot, and caught the blade between his sai. Raph knew that he had gotten much stronger in the months they've been fighting the Kraang and Foot, and easily broke the steel weapon with a stomp of his foot. He stabbed the robot with the broken blade.

Leo sliced through half a dozen Footbots, keeping his eyes trained on the backpack the entire time.

Donnie used his staff to smack around the robots like a baseball bat, then used a trick he learned from Casey to shoot a kunai straight through the forehead of another one.

Mikey hissed as a solid punch hit his face, but he swung his nunchuck back and beat off his attacker with ease. Another came from the side and tackled him to the ground. He ducked into his shell as a blade came for his head, and kicked the robot off of him.

"Fall back!" Leo ordered, seeing the dozens more Footbots swarming the street. "Let's get out of here!" He grabbed the backpack and threw it around his shoulder, holding the door open to the Shellraiser until all three of his brothers were safe inside. He threw a handful of smoke bombs at the robots before he locked the door and flew into the driver's seat. As the sped away, Leo hoped the thunk of the back tires had ran over one of the Footbots, and not the invisible guy Donnie had mentioned.

Zeck had come to in the middle of the fight between the turtle dudes and the robot dudes. He was thankful that his invisibility suit was still active, which allowed him to plant a tracker on the converted subway car. He chuckled to himself as it drove away, knowing no matter how far they went in this city, he could find them. "Anton Zeck is coming after you, my ectothermic friends."

Shredder stood in front of his clan with a cold hard stare and burning anger in his eyes. He knew full well this was the first time most of his subordinates had seen him without his helmet. The looks of shock and disgust at his deformed face, was enough to make him wish to skin them all, but he forced it down. "You will find my helmet." He instructed them. "Until it is returned to me, you will do nothing else! Nothing!"

Xever cleared his throat and spoke, "Uhh, Senhor Shredder, can't you just get another hel-"

Before he had the chance to finish his revolting sentence, Shredder kicked the fish mutant in the jaw. It sent the maroon colored fish-man flying backwards. Then Shredder grabbed the breathing device Stockman had made, and pulled it away from his gills. Not enough to begin to asphyxiate the fish, but enough to leave him gasping and thrashing beneath his master's boot.

"That helmet, the Kuro Kabuto, has been the symbol of the Foot Clan for over fifteen hundred years!" Shredder's voiced boomed in fury. "Fujiwara, inform Xever of the history of the helmet!"

The teenager looked rather caught off guard by the order, but quickly obeyed. "The clan's founder himself, the dreaded Koga Takuza was said to be the greatest ninja in the history of Japan. His skill with a blade was greater than any Samurai. Takuza laid waste to warriors and rulers alike. He stole the most sacred totems of his defeated enemies and fused them into an alloy stronger than any steel." She paused for a moment, trying to translate the words of the legend from Japanese into English in her head. "He, himself, forged the Kabuto, and it has survived undamaged to this day." She finished with a slight bow of her head, hoping that was enough.

It apparently was, as Shredder turned away from her and back at the suffocating Xever. "I am sworn to protect it with my life. You will find it and you will bring it to me. Understand?"

"Entendido, obrigado!" Xever choked out. The device was replaced and Xever heaved on the ground for a moment.

"Xever, you go with Stockman. Tiger Claw, go with Bradford. Do not fail me. I promise you, the consequences will be dire." As the two teams headed out of the cathedral without another word, Shinigami waited for her orders. She and her master stood in silence for a long moment, but she dared not break it first.

Out searching the streets from above, Xever and Stockman quickly covered a five block radius in a matter of minutes. When the fly mutant came back and shook his head, Xever sighed in frustration. "We'd better get that helmet back." He waved Stockman to follow him as they started on the sixth block. "Otherwise, we'll have to keep looking at Shredder's gross face."

"I don't think you zzzzz-hould zzz-ay that about a burn victim." Stockman said.

"Be happy," Xever rolled his eyes. "He looks worse than you." Stockman buzzed in anger, which only proved Xever's point. "Don't get mad at me. You know you look nasty."

"Yeah..." Stockman deflated and flew after Xever slowly.

Bradford snarled that his nose was failing him. That thief's obnoxious about of Axe body spray was blindingly strong back at the cathedral, but now he could barely track it. "The scent is faint, but I think he went this way." He pointed south while looking over his shoulder at Tiger Claw.

The tiger mutant ignored what he said, and instead turned north. "This way." He said with a sniff of the air. "He's on foot, but he's got..." He paused, closed his eyes, and sniffed again. "Devices. Electric motors, faint whiff of ozone."

Bradford cocked a furry eyebrow. "You've got a good sense of smell for a cat."

"I have been doing this much longer than you." Tiger Claw retorted. "Besides, we are warriors. Can't we fight side-by-side without letting species get in the way?"

"Absolutely." Bradford chuckled, holding up his paws in mock surrender. "Xever is always saying, "Oh, Tiger Claw must hate you because you're a dog.""

Tiger Claw looked rather offended by the statement. "That's ridiculous. I had a Shikoku when I was a boy."

"Tell ya the truth, I was always more of a cat guy." Bradford admitted.

After a moment of silence, Tiger Claw followed up with, "Although, I do want to eat Xever because he's a fish."

Bradford cackled. "I want to eat him just to shut him up."

"This is perfect! Perfect!" Leo was grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah!" Mikey cheered, though he wasn't sure exactly what Leo was talking about.

"What's perfect?" Donnie asked.

"Shredder's helmet." Leo looked in the rearview mirror at them. "We can trade it for Miwa!"

Raph scoffed, "Yer delusional, y'know that? Why would that insane bastard go through all the trouble of kidnapping her if he was goin to trade her back?"

"Leo, we..." Donnie frowned. "We don't even know if she's still in New York. Or... Alive..."

"She's alive!" Leo and Mikey both shouted in unison.

"You heard April, Dee." Leo said over his shoulder. "She's certain she's being held here somewhere."

"Still doesn't answer why you think he'd trade her for the helmet." Raph sneered.

"You got a better plan, Raph?" Leo repeated for the millionth time that night. "'Cause I'd love to hear it! Floor is your's, asshole!"

"Thing!" Mikey shouted, interrupting the two arguing. He was pointing at the road ahead, but whatever that purple flash of light was, it struck the Shellraiser before Leo could react. It tossed the tank onto its side, knocking all the brothers around like they were trapped in a pinball machine.

"Boom!" Laughed Zeck from the rooftop. Just as he moved to retrieve the helmet, he spotted that crazy wolf guy from earlier. And a giant tiger wearing pants and an eyepatch? God, there were so many freaks around here! "This town is really going downhill." He muttered to himself. He turned himself invisible, waiting to see which side he would have to sneak past to get the goods.

"The Kabuto!" Tiger Claw snarled, spotting the top of the helmet poking out of the bag that one of the turtles was holding.

"So, we get to retrieve Shredder's helmet and crack some shells?" Bradford asked, a smile creeping over his muzzle. "Tonight just got a whole lot better."

"It is better than babysitting the cub." Tiger Claw agreed.

"Is everyone okay?" Leo asked, rubbing at Mikey's shell as he laid flat on the sidewalk.

"I'm gonna get brain damage if you keep hitting things, Leo." Mikey groaned.

Leo went to apologize, but then he caught a red flash heading right for Raph in the reflection of the Shellraiser. "Raph, down!" He shouted, leaping over his brother, shielding him from Tiger Claw's gunfire.

Donnie turned the end of his staff into a war hammer and smacked the tiger away from the helmet he was flying towards with the help of his jetpack. The force of the hit made the tiger squeal like a kitten, but it quickly turned into a furious growl. He grabbed the backpack just in time to roll out of the way of Rahzar pouncing for it.

Leo drew his swords and cornered Rahzar with Raph, while Donnie and Mikey protected the helmet from Tiger Claw's arial assault. "Don't let them get the helmet!" Leo ordered.

"Mikey, Up-Ups!" Donnie yelled.

"Aww, yeah!" Mikey jumped up and grabbed one end of Donnie's staff. The taller turtle spun around in a circle, building the momentum of swinging his brother around before he launched the orange-cladded turtle at the tiger in the sky. Mikey struck Tiger Claw right in the snout with his heel, which knocked him down to the ground with a groan.

Tiger Claw was back on his feet before Mikey landed, but Donnie blocked the paw swiping for the youngest with his bō. He kicked the backpack towards Mikey, who caught it with a smirk.

In a double-team attack, Leo and Raph rushed Rahzar, one from in front and one from behind. They both sliced at his sides and when the large ninja tried to move from the attack, they kicked him down with a double kick. "Mikey, keep away!" Leo called to his brother. The youngest nodded and started to scale the nearest wall to get to the roofs. The three elder brothers quickly followed after him.

Tiger Claw grabbed Mikey by the ankle. Mikey yelled out of surprise and started kicking at the paw holding him. He used his free arm to throw the backpack at his nearest brother. "Heads up, Dee! Hot potato!"

"Got it!" Donnie caught the pack. He started climbing up the opposing fire escape, causing Tiger Claw to release his younger brother in desperate pursuit of the purple bandana wearing turtle.

Leo watched Rahzar using his strong bone-like claws to climb up the brick wall. He sliced the air-conditioning unit on top of the roof and kicked it down, nailing the wolf mutant in the face and knocking him back down to the ground. At the same time, a well aimed shuriken from Raph clogged one of the jetpacks propulsion units on Tiger Claw. He spiraled through the air lopsidedly as he tried to fix it.

The turtles tried to escape back in the direction of the lair by rooftop, but were quickly accosted by two more minions seeking the helmet. Fishface and Stockman-Fly cornered them against a billboard, keeping them from escaping any further.

"I believe you have something we need." Fishface spun out his switchblade lazily.

"Deodorant?" Mikey mused with a smirk.

Fishface jumped jaws first at the youngest turtle, but Raph kicked him in the cheek, away from his brother. Stockman-Fly went after Donnie, who threw the backpack to Leo before he started grappling with the fly in mid-air. Stockman-Fly shook Donnie free and flew after the retreating Leonardo, but Michelangelo caught him in his kusarigama chain and pulled him back towards the fight. The fly untangled himself and used his lobster claw-like hand to fly upwards, dragging Mikey with him. Stockman-Fly flew around in wide circles, trying to force the turtle to lose his grip. Fishface kicked Raph away from him, just in time for Mikey to land on top of him, the heavy shell nailing him hard in the head.

"Ei! Cuidado, Buzzkill!" Fishface snapped at the fly.

"Zzzorry, Xever!" Stockman-Fly apologized.

"Oh! Buzzkill!" Mikey repeated with a small frown. "I totally should've named him that."

In response, Stockman-Fly shot acidic spit at them, but none of them came close to hitting the brothers.

"Dude's got a gazillion eyes." Mikey rolled his aqua eyes. "You'd think him aim would be better!"

"He's not aiming for you!" Leo yelled, coming back with the pack. "Look out behind you!"

The creaking they heard came a bit too late, and they couldn't run. Donnie, Raph, and Mikey ducked into their shells as the billboard fell on top of them.

"No!" Leo screamed. He body checked Fishface across the roof and slid on his knees next to the debris. He started trying to lift the billboard, but couldn't get it up more than a couple inches on his own.

"Leo?" Raph asked.

Despite not being able to see his brothers, hearing Raph gave Leo relief that they were still alive. "Hang on, guys! I'll get you out of there!"

"It's no use, Leo. You can't lift it." Raph said. "Just go."

"What?" Leo let out a chuckle, shocked that Raph would suggest such a thing. "I'm not leaving you!"

"Do it, dude!" Mikey spoke now. "We're good."

"Go save our sister." Donnie said. "We can take care of ourselves."

Leo paused for a moment. He looked over at Fishface strangling Stockman-Fly and knew this was his chance to get out of here and circle back to the cathedral. "Fine. Take care of each other, be safe."

"Okay, mom." Raph's tone made Leo know he was rolling his eyes.

"Freaks, I got your helmet!" Leo called, seeing Tiger Claw and Rahzar had made it to the roof.

"You two, finish the turtles." Tiger Claw ordered Fishface and Rahzar, pointing down at the billboard. "We'll get the Kabuto!"

Raph ducked down as a blade was stabbed through the billboard, and acid spit was starting to dissolve it. "Plan?"

"My staff can lift it enough for us to escape out the back." Donnie told him, positioning the shortened staff upright. "But we gotta time it right."

"Right," Raph nodded. "Mikey, ready to do what you do best?"

Mikey smiled and held up a smoke bomb. "Always ready to be annoying."

"Come and get me, losers!" Leo yelled over his shoulder at his pursuers. He rounded a corner and spotted a dumpster that was open. Thinking fast, he jumped inside of it, grabbed a soda can and threw it down the street before closing the lid.

"Keep up!" He heard Tiger Claw snarl as he past the dumpster, followed by heavy footsteps and buzzing.

He sighed when he realized he was free of them, for the time being. Then he spotted something inside the dumpster that made him gag, before he got an idea. Trying not to think of what he was doing, he loaded the backpack up with his smelly distraction and hid the helmet safely under a trash bag. He exited the dumpster and was immediately attacked by something he couldn't see.

A laugh that sounded like a bad Michael Jackson impression gave away he was definitely not alone. "He he!"

Leo closed his eyes and listened for the sound of his invisible attacker. A whoosh by his right made him drive the hilt of his sword outwards, and he struck the enemy. He finally saw the invisible man clearly. He was a black man with a purple mohawk, roughly his own size, wearing a black and purple jumpsuit that looked decked out in tech. He probably wasn't with Kraang, and definitely wasn't with the Foot either. Leo didn't have time to question him though, he looked over his shoulder and saw that Stockman-Fly had spotted him from above.

"Nice haircut, buddy." Leo commented and dropped the backpack by the man's feet on the ground. "Here's your bag. Now, have fun with your friends!" Leo ran back to the dumpster to retrieve the helmet, while the man with the mohawk was swarmed by the Foot mutant henchmen.

"No, no, no!" Zeck panicked as he jumped back to his feet. He tried to plug in the backpack to his suit, but it was fried now. He ran down the street, but it was obvious he couldn't outrun the wolf dude or the tiger man for long.

"He's the one who stole the Kabuto!" Said the wolf.

"Then we shall serve Master Shredder his head!" The tiger growled.

Zeck heard gunfire behind him, but he didn't dare look. But then he heard the sound of a helicopter, and a familiar Russian voice yelling for him. Zeck lifted his hand and grabbed the rope just over his head and pulled himself up to safety in Stranko's helicopter.

"Big Daddy to the rescue." Zeck lowered his sunglasses to wink at the blond man.

"You got it, the helmet?" Stranko asked with a twitch of his diamond eye.

"It's my thing! Of course I got it!" Zeck scoffed and handed over the bag.

Stranko narrowed his eyes and looked down at the bag. "Why am I smelling the baby poops?" He opened the bag and found a pile of diapers instead of his prize.

"Ewww..." Zeck grimaced.

"I going to pop your head like blueberry!" Stranko leaned across the seat to get in Zeck's face.

"Y'know, that's fair." Zeck chuckled out a fear. "But, uh, my offer still stands for you to pop something else. I'll let you hold the gun this time?"

Leo thought about circling back for his brothers, but decided against it. This was his chance to sneak into the cathedral without Foot minions crawling all over, and who knew how long those morons would hunt after the invisible guy. Sooner or later, they'd realize he didn't have the helmet. And he trusted that they would be fine, they could watch each other's shells. Raph would keep Donnie and Mikey safe, and they'd keep him safe. So he went ahead with the plan of going into Shredder's lair alone. He snuck through the broken skylight and dropped down silently into the chapel.

Shredder was seated atop his throne, seemingly waiting for Leonardo. "Why does the fly walk into the spider's web?" Asked the man.

Leo's eyes widened at the horrific burn scars Shredder was covered in. He supposed it made sense that Shredder got hurt when he burnt down the Hamato Dojo the night Tang Shen died. Splinter had a flaming column of wood fall on his leg and he was badly injured. However, his mutation made the injury mostly go away. But Shredder, if Leo didn't know better, he'd think those scars were only a year old.

"Because all the Spider's henchmen are out." Leo answered, holding the helmet under his left arm.

Shredder looked down at the helmet, "You've come to make a trade?" He guessed.

"The helmet for my sister." Leo stated, holding out the helmet, taunting the unusually calm man.

He had expected more of a fight after the offer was made, but the evil monster in front of him didn't even flinch. "Very well. Shinigami, bring the girl."

Leo hadn't noticed the witch standing in the corner of the chapel, but he watched her bow slightly before she exited through a door Leo didn't know was there.

"She'll have to be brought up from the dungeon." Shredder informed him.

"Why are you so obsessed with my sister in the first place?" Leo asked.

"My reasons are mine alone." Shredder answered blankly. "And do not sully the girl's name by calling her your sister. Shen would be disgusted she would even think of disgusting Kappa as anything more than pets. Tools to be used and thrown away."

Leo knew he was trying to get a rise out of him, but his words still angered him. He was angry for his sister, he was angry for Tang Shen.

Shinigami returned with Miwa wearing a wool sack over her head. "What are you doing? Let me go!" She said, forced to her knees, her hands bound behind her back. "Stay away from me, you freak!"

"Now, the Kuro Kabuto." Shredder ordered.

Leo slowly lowered the helmet to the floor, but stopped an inch before he set it down. "How do I know you won't attack me after I give you the helmet?"

"Of course, I'm going to attack you." Shredder replied bluntly. "Did you think you were getting out of this without a fight? How foolish does your rat master have to be to train such a naive creature?"

Leo said nothing as he finished setting down the helmet. He drew his ninjatō and waited for Shredder to make a move.

The two ninja sat in a thick silence for what felt like centuries. Then Shredder was on top of Leo, slicing for his head with each heavy swing of his tekkō-kagi. Leo blocked with his twin blades, but Shredder's heavy boot came up and kicked him in the plastron, sending him back. Before Leo found his footing, Shredder was behind him and kicked him in the shell this time. Leo flew face first into the marble steps of the throne, and when he spun around, Shredder wore a look that almost seemed like a rabid animal baring its teeth. "Pathetic!"

Leo reached for his blades, but found his neck caught between two of the tekkō-kagi blades. He was trapped, unable to escape.

"But that is to be expected when your sensei is a weak-willed coward like Splinter."

"Says the man who's never beaten him in a fight." Leo retorted.

Shredder narrowed his cold, dead eyes. "You never should've tried to do this alone."

"He didn't."

Shredder looked over his shoulder to find the three other turtles with their weapons drawn. The one called Raphael was holding his Kabuto.

"Guys!" Leo smiled.

"Couldn't let ya have all the fun." Raph shrugged.

"We're not leaving without our sister." Donnie said firmly.

"Now, let's take Shred-head down!" Mikey chimed in, spinning his nunchuck.

Raph threw a shuriken combined with a smoke bomb, which exploded against the back of Shredder's breastplate. Leo used the smoke and Shredder's distraction to free himself. It took every ounce of strength he could build in his legs, but he kicked the man hard and far enough away from him, that the blades keeping him still were launched backwards with their owner.

Shredder flipped himself around with one hand and rushed at Raph. "Give me that helmet!" Raph threw it over Shredder's head and blocked the blades stabbing at him with his sai. But Shredder kicked him away before he spun to attack Leo, who had caught the Kabuto.

Donnie swung his staff at Shredder's head, but was blocked by the madman's gauntlet. Shredder kneed Donnie away from him before twisting himself into a roundhouse that knocked Donatello through the glass floor and into the pool. Donnie swam under the glass, avoiding a stab for his head, and instead thrusted his bō upwards, further shattering the glass and sending Shredder under the water. The man in the armor sunk to the bottom, while the aquatic reptile swam back up to the surface and pulled himself out.

Shinigami ran past them, avoiding Mikey's kusarigama chain to dive in after him.

The brother's surrounded Miwa and threw down a smoke bomb to escape.

Shinigami heaved as she drug her master out of the water. She wiped at her face, frowning at the makeup that had now been washed away.

Shredder seemed unfazed by his sudden swim. He walked back to his throne where the turtles had left his Kabuto, and smiled. He placed the helmet over his head and let out a victorious cackle. "Good work, Fujiwara."

"ありがとう、師匠." She bowed her head.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" Miwa shouted underneath the sack. Leo hadn't taken it off yet, more preoccupied by making sure all of his siblings had made it out of the cathedral. Once they were a safe distance away, and it didn't seem like they were being followed immediately, he stopped and set her down. "Stay away from me, you freak!"

"Relax, sis!" Mikey said, wiping at tears. "It's us!"

"We got you, Mimi." Raph said, pulling off the sack.

Miwa shined purple for a moment, before her form shattered and was replaced by a Footbot wearing a voice recorder, and a bomb counting down from twenty seconds.

"No!" Leo cried in despair. That's why Shini was there!

Donnie batted the illusion-broken robot off the roof into a dumpster below.

Chapter Text

"Kraang, prepare the plan which is called Plan 10: The Switching of Kraang Mind with Lesser Human Mind." Kraang told Kraang.

"Kraang will switch minds with Earth leaders who will mutate Earth for Kraang." Said another Kraang.

"Then all that remains is for Kraang plan known as Plan 10 to be tested." Said the first Kraang. Kraang turned its head to the side to speak to Kraang, "Bring in Test Subject X."

"This ain't good." Raph muttered, pulling out his sai to attack.

Leo held his hand up and lowered the weapon in front of his face. "Not until we know what they're up to." He said, trying to stomp out his younger brother's sparks before they burst into flames.

"Does it matter?" Raph argued in a whispered clicking sound. "They're not bakin cookies!"

"Ugh," Mikey made a gagging sound. "What would Kraang Cookies even taste like? Chocolate chips and brains?" He suggested.

Donnie covered Mikey's mouth with his gloved hands, knowing his younger brother would try to lick his hands once he did. "Quiet! Here they come!"

Two blue Kraangdroids entered the warehouse with a man in his mid-to-late forties. They were practically dragging the poor guy into the room as he struggled against their steel tight grips. "Take it easy, guys!" He pleaded. "This has gotta be a bad dream! You want money? I, I, I got money! You're not gonna probe me, right? I'll do anything! Just no probing!"

The Kraangbots working the big scary looking machine activated it and it started glowing the infamous, sickening Kraang purple. The large sphere at the top of the column tower opened on both sides, and out folded two arm-like appendages with lasers on each end.

"That's too big to be a probe, right?" Mikey asked, making Donnie cover his mouth again.

The two Kraang dragging the man strapped him onto a table and walked away, despite his pleading.

"The Kraang Neruo-Switcher will switch Test Subject X's mind with that which is known as a Pigeon." On the other side of the lab, one Kraangdroid brought in a pigeon in a birdcage and placed it in front of the right appendage.

"What?" The man shouted and started thrashing around even more. "I think I'd prefer the probing!"

Before Raph could look at Leo with his "I told you so" face, Leo motioned for the team to jump into action. They each took down one of the Kraang guarding the doors, but now their cover was blown.

"Turtles!" Announced one of the Kraangbots operating the machine. It hit a couple buttons on the panel it was working on, which activated the machine. It struck the cage containing the pigeon and the table holding the man before they could get close enough to save them.

Leo sliced his way through the right side, clearing a path for Donnie to try and stop the machine, while Mikey and Raph cleared out the left side.

Raph used his sai to open the wrist restraints holding the man and pulled him away from the table. The sunset colored duo looked at each other as they gently shook the guy, trying to snap him from the daze he was in without hurting him.

"Mister? You good, bro?" Mikey asked.

The man stood and then started cooing like a pigeon. He started walking around in circles and flapping his arms, like he was trying to take flight.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Raph exclaimed.

"Dude, that's messed up." Mikey frowned.

Inside the birdcage, the pigeon started going crazy. It beat its head against the bars, trying to escape while cooing uncontrollably.

"Kraang test successfully tested." Said the head Kraang of the experiment. "Kraang, eliminate Turtles for Kraang." With that declaration, more Kraang robots flooded into the warehouse from the upper floors.

"This is too freaky!" Mikey grabbed the pigeon-man and covered him with his body, shielding him from the gunfire of the Kraang blasters. "And it's not even Friday! What do we do with Pigeon-Guy?"

"Pigeon-Guy?" Raph repeated, looking bemused.

"Pigeon-Pete is already taken!" Mikey shouted.

"Mikey, protect Pigeon-Guy!" Leo shouted. "Don't let him get hurt! Raph, help me take out those Kraang, fast! Donnie, see if you can reverse whatever they did to that guy!" He got a boost from Donnie and made it up to the second floor and started cutting down every Kraang in his way.

Raph protected Donnie from getting hit by the lasers while he took out the Kraang the trickled down from Leo's reach. "Behind you!" Donnie warned Raph, but the warning came a split second to late. Raph was pinned against the tech-board on the left side of the machine.

"The Turtles cannot win against the Kraang." Said the Norman Kraangbot.

Raph spat at the robot and broke his arms free from its grasp. He jumped up and kicked the robot backwards, "Tell it to my foot!" The robot's body slammed into the right tech-board, which flashed purple from the contact. The machine started up again, but now it was firing all over the warehouse instead of its intended targets.

"Everybody down!" Leo yelled at his brothers.

Thinking fast, Mikey rolled onto his shell and kicked Pigeon-Guy out into the open right as one of the machine's beams was coming towards them. It struck the bird trapped inside the cage, as well as the bird trapped inside the man's body.

"Raph broke it, Leo!" Donnie yelled. "I can't fix it right now!"

"Fall back!" Leo yelled. "Raph, we're good to go!"

"I'm a little busy!" Raph said through strained teeth, wrestling with the Kraangbot. He shoved the Kraangbot into the console and stabbed at it, but it moved and he hit the machine instead. The console immediately combusted, and it sent both Raph and the robot backwards, unconscious.

"Raph!" Mikey yelled.

Leo flipped down from the upper floor and landed beside his brother. He flung him over his shoulders, carrying him in a piggyback hold. "I got him! Grab the pigeon and the man!"

Donnie grabbed the former while Mikey grabbed the latter, and the three standing turtles raced out of the warehouse before more Kraang could come after them. Once they were far enough away from the warehouse, they dropped the man off on a park bench and set the pigeon free before they sped off in the Shellraiser.

"How's Raph doing?" Donnie asked from the driver's seat while Leo looked over the still unconscious red-cladded turtle.

"He's out cold." Leo responded, "But not hurt. If only I had some smelling salts." He sighed. He had meant to put a new Med Kit in the Shellraiser, but he hadn't had time to make a new one ever since Miwa got captured.

Mikey smirked and raised his foot up, but Leo blocked it before he stuck his toes in Raph's face.

"Mikey, he'll strangle you if you do that, and I won't be able to help you." Leo said. He remembered that they all kept water at their station now that it was the middle of summer, so he grabbed the one from Raph's station. He gently poured the water over Raph's forehead. "C'mon, man. Rise and shine."

Only after a couple of seconds, Raph's hand slowly came up and pushed the water bottle away from him. He sat up even slower and looked around blankly at Leo and Mikey. "Turtles? Here?" He asked in a monotoned voice.

"Uhh, wha?" Mikey blinked in confusion.

Raph grabbed Mikey by the shoulders and shook him. "Where's the location of the Kraang where this Kraang is located?"

"You're with us, dude. In the Shellraiser." Mikey answered and pulled away from Raph. "I think he's got a concussion, dude." He whispered to Leo. "Or he's just doing a Kraang bit!"

Raph blinked blankly for a moment before he punched for Mikey, but his fist was caught by Leo. "What do you think you're doing?" Leo demanded.

"What's happening?" Donnie asked.

"Turtles! Kraang must destroy!" Raph answered. "Kraang will eliminate all-"

Leo jumped over the turtle attacking him, and pinned him against the floor. "It's Raph! He must've been brain-swapped with a Kraang!"

Kraang-Raph kicked Leo in the plastron until he lost enough of his grip that it could escape his hold. It grabbed Mikey and slammed him against the wall of the Shellraiser so hard that the whole subway car nearly tipped over on its side. As Donnie struggled to keep themselves up right, Kraang-Raph escaped out of the back of the Shellraiser and vanished into the night.

"No! He's gone!" Leo felt utter despair wash over him for a moment, before he snapped himself out of it by shaking his head. "We have to track him down."

"You think a giant mutant turtle would be easy to spot, huh?" Mikey commented after scaling a rooftop to see if he could spot him from afar.

"And there's no telling where our Raph is." Donnie frowned. "What do we do, Leo?"

Leo bit his lip and tried not to think about losing another one of his siblings. "We... We should get April."

"April?" Mikey asked. "Why?"

"Maybe she can help us find the real Raph!" Donnie filled in the blanks. "Good idea, Leo!"

"Kraang, transport Kraang to Med Bay for vitamin infusion."

Ugh. Raph's body felt heavy and clunky, like he had just gotten run over by something. He wanted to just lay down and sleep it off, but Mikey's stupid Kraang impression had woken him. Wait... That wasn't Mikey. Raph opened his eyes to see a silver Kraangdroid looking down at him.

"Kraang has been damaged, Kraang." Said the robot.

"Kraang?" Raph asked, already ready to pop the robot's head clean off its shoulders. "Who you callin Kraang?" Raph sat up and went to through a punch, but then he noticed something. His hand was no longer the leaf green he was used to, but a pale, creamy color. And he had five fingers! He reached up and touched his face. Instead of his beak, he found lips, and when he touched the top of his head, he found something soft, stiff, and wirey. "Oh, no!" Even his voice was different. He couldn't really force any emotion in his voice, everything he said sounded monotoned and robotic.

"Kraang has been damaged." Said another Kraangdroid in front of him. This was when Raph realized he was on some kind of stretcher and was being carried by the two Kraang. "Kraang is acting what is known as strange."

"No, I'm fine!" Raph lied. He tried to stand up from the metal bed, but fell flat on his face. Driving this robot was harder than he thought it would be, but he managed to stand up straight and kept his arms firmly at his side. "I feel great! I mean... This Kraang is feeling much... Kraang-ier. Got Kraang stuff to do, so Krang'll just be Kraang-ing off." He forced the legs to move backwards, but he had no feeling in his robotic legs and found it hard to walk normally.

Luckily, Raph somewhat recognized the pattern the Kraang installed in all of their hidden facilities by this point and was able to get himself into an unoccupied room without drawing much attention to himself. He stumbled over to what looked like a window and found a button at the bottom. It took a couple of tries to get his finger to aim correctly at it, but he finally hit it. The mechanical shade lifted and revealed nothing but inky black outside the window. Raph couldn't comprehend what he was looking at, until he saw a fish. Fuck! He was in the Technodrome! At the bottom of the ocean! He wondered how this day could've gotten any worse than it already was.

Kraang stepped out in front of a human male, which caused it to recoil in the emotion known as fear. "Human! Direct Kraang to fellow Kraang." Kraang ordered the inferior life-form. Instead of obeying Kraang, the human male ran off, letting out a long, loud piercing cry that expressed extreme emotion or pain.

Kraang turned around to find a human female looking equally as fearful as the human male had been. Kraang approached the human female, which caused her to move backwards, away from Kraang. "The Kraang this Kraang seeks are small, squishy, and rather handsome." The human female also ran away with a long cry of the word, "Monster!"

Kraang turned its head to the side and saw itself in the reflection of a human store's window. Instead of the handsome and clever human disguise of Norman Kraangenhoffer, Kraang saw the reflection of the red clothed Turtle, known as Hamato Raphael. "Indeed." Kraang agreed with the human female. "Kraang is trapped in the body of what is known as a monster."

"Kraang!"

Kraang turned its head again and found another human female. This one was the human female known as April O'Neil. "It is the one known as April O'Neil." Kraang exclaimed.

April O'Neil pursed her lips together in a conceited smile. "That's right, Squid Brain! You want me? Come get me!" She ran off down the street.

Kraang followed after her, but she had vanished inside of an alleyway. Then Kraang heard a sound coming from Kraang's left. And then Kraang's right. Suddenly, Kraang was trapped in chains and was being pinned down against the concrete by the three other Turtles.

"Hold his head down!" Leo ordered.

"Don't move, dude!" Mikey complained, trying to shove Donnie's hands out of the way so he could firmly tie off his kusarigama.

Once they had firmly got him pinned, they placed a paper bag over Kraang-Raph's head, or as Mikey decided to call Kraph, and dragged him back to the lair. The brothers were surprised to see Casey already in the lair, finishing off some of Mikey's leftover pizza.

"Uhh, what'd Raph do?" Casey asked, raising an eyebrow at the scene in front of him. "You can't kidnap your own brother. Can you?"

"It's a long story." Leo sighed.

"What are you doing here?" Donnie asked while he and Mikey secured Kraph's chains to the railing of the stairs.

"April texted but when I got here no one else was." Casey answered. "Expect for Splints in the dojo. I think."

"So, how exactly did he get his mind switched with a Kraang?" April asked, now that they had time to explain.

"He what?" Casey snickered, which got him a slight jab from April's elbow.

"Take the bag that is on Kraang's head off of Kraang's head." Kraph said. "Then release Kraang, and Kraang will disintegrate the Turtles relatively quickly."

Casey burst out laughing, which only got him more glares from the Hamato brothers and April. "What? It's funny!"

Splinter was suddenly in the main station, and grabbed a hold of Casey's earlobe, careful not to rip out the young man's piercings. He didn't hurt the boy, but knew this action would stifle his laughter immediately. "Leonardo, explain. Now!"

Leo sighed. "Uhh... So, what happened was-"

This whole body swap thing was getting old to Raph real fast. Every time he thought he had a handle on walking normally, one of his limbs would randomly jut out and he'd either punch himself in the face or trip over his own feet. At least this body didn't feel much pain, so it was more annoying than anything. But, it was also dangerous. He didn't want to draw unwanted attention to himself while he tried to find the escape pods, but it was difficult when he couldn't go three steps without looking like he was being electrocuted in some old cartoon.

He got stopped by one of the Kraang in a human disguise, and he had to force himself to keep his face blank and his voice flat. "Kraang that are Kraang, tell Kraang how to get to the nearest Kraang exit?"

"The query Kraang has stated makes no sense to Kraang." Replied Kraang. "Kraang is busy."

"Busy doing what, Kraang?"

"Come with Kraang." The android didn't stop to see if Raph was following or not and took off down the hallway.

Raph was able to keep up relatively well, but nearly walked into a wall when Kraang stopped in front of him. The robot didn't look at him, so Raph assumed it hadn't noticed his misstep. Together, they entered a control room of some kind that had Donnie and Nerd written all over it. But more importantly, Raph spotted a Communication Orb just like the one Donnie had back in the lair. Only downside, Raph had no idea how to use it.

On a monitor in front of Kraang and Raph, a picture of the large Kraang they fought back when the Kraang tried to invade appeared. Even though it was speaking in what Raph assumed was Kraanglish, or whatever, he understood all of it.

"All Kraang in Dimension X are mobilizing for the invasion known as the Invasion of Earth. Kraang, how is Plan 10 processing?"

Raph jolted, almost like a shock had triggered something in the robot's head, and he knew that the large Kraang was talking to him.

"Plan 10, as Kraang can see, is going Kraangtastic." Raph answered. This all felt wrong. Something inside of him didn't want to lie to Kraang Prime. Something inside of him just wanted to fall in line and be an obedient soldier for the Kraang... Was that the beehive thing Donnie and Bishop had mentioned? Making his thoughts go all fuzzy?

"Then let the switching of superior Kraang minds with inferior Human Leader minds begin!" Ordered Kraang Prime.

The Kraang robot that was in the control room with Raph left, leaving him alone with the Communication Orb. Double checking his surroundings, he made sure he was completely and truly alone before he climbed onto the table that held the large orb and started jabbing at it.

"And that's the whole story," Leo finished with a bow of his head.

Splinter had said nothing while Leonardo explained what had happened to Raphael. He had his eyes closed and he was stroking his little white beard. After a moment of silence, Splinter asked, "Do you have any way of tracking down the Kraang body your brother is inside?"

"No." Leo lowered his head even more in shame.

"We do know he's gotta be in a human disguise Kraang," Donnie tried to help. "A-and April can help us track him down!"

"Yeah, she's got that fifth sense!" Mikey beamed, giving April a thumbs up and a playful wink.

"Have patience, my sons." Splinter said. He put a hand on Leo's shoulder. "This is not your fault, Leonardo."

"Yeah, technically it's Raph's." Casey pointed out. "I mean, if he hadn't been so impatient, he wouldn't be in the, uh, uh," Casey's freckled nose scrunched up as he thought, his fingers snapping. "¡El calamar! The squid's den!" He finished his thought.

"Like you're one to talk, Jones." April rolled her eyes.

"I'm the leader now." Leo argued, stepping away from his father and brothers. "And so far, I've lost Miwa and Raph. I have to make this right." He started towards the exit of the lair.

"Leonardo," Splinter moved to stand in front of his eldest son. "I told you to have patience." He repeated. "You must not make the same mistake your brother did, nor should you go in alone, as your sister did."

Leo sighed. "Then what do we do, Sensei?" He asked, sounding more annoyed with his father than he had ever let slip in front of his brothers. "Just wait and hope Raph comes back?"

"I am saying you need a plan, Leonardo." Splinter said calmly. "Do not let emotion overcloud your senses."

April put a hand on Leo's shoulder and smiled at him. "He's right, Leo. Use that big, strategic brain of yours to come up with a plan!"

Leo gave a small smile at the compliment. "Okay, okay... Let's go over what we know. Raph-"

Both April and Splinter turned their attention towards the lab, apparently both hearing something that the others didn't.

"Uhh?" Casey hummed.

"It's the Communication Orb!" April announced, running towards the lab.

"It hasn't been active for weeks!" Donnie raced over to his computer while April started hooking up the Kraang machine to it. After a bit of adjusting the signal, Donnie got the video transmission to work.

They were greeted by a Norm-bot eyeball starting directly into the camera. "C'mon! Work you stupid piece of shit!" The robot cursed. "Hey? Hello? Donnie? I dunno if you can hear me, but I'm stuck in a Kraang body and I'm in the Technodrome! You gotta believe me! Uhh, I can prove it! When you were ten-"

Donnie muted the orb before Raph could finish his sentence. "Yep, that's him."

"What happened when you were ten?" Casey smirked, suppressing a giggle.

"Is that you guys? I-I can hear you!" Raph said.

"We got you, bro!" Mikey shouted at the screen.

Donnie opened another tab on his computer and pulled up a map of the waters of New York. He activated a system that showed a small pink dot where all the known Kraang bases were located, both in and offshore. "It still at the bottom of the ocean were we left it." Donnie said.

"Yeah, it's pitch black down here!"

"Dude, what's wrong with your arm?" Casey asked, laughing at the way the robot's arm kept twisting and spinning.

"I dunno, it's busted or somethin'! Get down here before they try to pull me apart!"

Behind Raph, a door opened and a silver Kraangdroid entered the room. "Who is Kraang talking to?"

Raph snapped up and tried to salute the Kraang. "Kraang is, uh,"

Another Kraangdroid entered from the opposite side of the room. "Kraang did not report for vitamin infusion."

"Kraang forgot?" Raph tried.

"Kraang never forget." Said the left Kraangdroid.

"Kraang is damaged and needs to be returned to the fully operational status that is fully operational." Said the Kraang on the right before the video feed cut to black.

"Look, this is all a big, Kraangy mistake." Raph took a couple steps backwards while his right hand was twitching beyond his control.

"Krrang, you are ordered to exit the human construct and be analyzed." Said the right Kraang.

"And if Kraang refuses?" Raph asked.

"Then Kraang must take necessary action to protect Kraang." Replied the one on the left.

Raph tried to run, but he was pinned down by the two Kraangdroids. He felt something at the back of his, or, the robot's neck, and then things when black for him as well. But only for a moment. The next, he felt like he was awoken. He tried to move his hand, only to see a pink tentacle in place of the rubbery pale he had gotten used too. Aww, Kraang. He climbed out of the robot's body and scurried across the floor as the Kraangdroids tried to grab at him. It surprised him that he could move so fast, or maybe they were just the same stupid Kraangbots he was used to breaking.

Either way, he managed to make it into vents unscathed. Unsure of what to do next, he just moved around the base trying to come up with some kind of plan. He shivered when he felt his head split open, but there was no pain. It was like cool air brushing on his head where there was none before. He could see a little antenna pop down from between his eyes and he gagged. He had no clue why this had happened, until he looked down into the room he currently above.

He got an idea.

"How'd you ever talk us into getting into this leaky death trap?" Casey groaned as the turtle's submarine made its way down into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean just outside New York.

"Hey!" Donnie glared over his shoulder at the sea-sick teenager. "The Turtle Sub is a fully-amphibious strike vehicle, seats six, and is turtle-powered."

From the back of the sub, the four others just heaved and rolled their eyes at Donnie's words. "Still couldn't find a better way to get this thing running?" Leo asked from his exercise bike powering the right front flipper.

"I've been busy!" Donnie defended himself. "And it works fine!"

Leo didn't reply, instead he pulled down the periscope to try and look for the Technodrome. He didn't even need it, because as they approached, they could see something glowing the eerie signature purple of the Kraang. It illuminated the bottom of the ocean for miles and was nearly blinding as they got closer.

"Coast is clear!" Mikey said from his seat. He was in charge of keeping Kraph chained up, so he was talking to the Kraang turtle as if it was actually Raph. "See? No trouble in sight! We're home free, bruh!"

"Expect for that!" April screamed. Seconds after her warning, something large swam by the sub, shaking it.

"¿El monstruo del lago Ness?" Casey muttered, looking at the big, Kraang whale thingy that was circling them.

"Hey, it's our ex!" Mikey laughed.

"Great." Leo muttered. Then the monster outside started nuzzling its large nose against the sub, like it had the last time they had run into it. "At least it's not bitter about the breakup."

"I am very confused." Casey looked at April.

"Don't look at me," She shrugged. "I was getting my ass beat by Shinigami when they told me about this."

The creature swam down into the dark sea that the Technodrome didn't lit up and returned a moment later holding a broken wing of a small plane in its mouth.

"Pedal!" Donnie shouted at his source of kinetic energy. "It'll follow us, we gotta be fast!"

"Actually," April spoke up, "It hasn't moved." Her hand went up to her head, like she was getting another one of her headaches. "I can kind of feel it... It's... Sad."

"Great, we broke it's heart for the second time." Leo rolled his eyes. "Let's just get Raph and get outta here."

Leo and April took the lead once inside the Technodrome. Leo made sure the path was clear while April did her best to lead them in the direction she felt Raph was. The hallways of the large spaceship were spiraling and all looked the same, which made the team feel like they were just going in circles. But no one said anything, trusting April would find Raph. Mikey and Donnie were in charge of Kraph, bringing him along in order to switch Raph back as soon as possible, while Casey provided another round of defense in the back of the group.

"Wait!" April called to Leo, who had just cleared the hall. "We got company!" She unsheathed her tanto and spun to face the direction they had just came. Half a dozen Kraangdroids rounded the corner, spotted them, and pointed their blasters at them.

"Enemies known as the Turtles, you will be captured by Kraang and will be destroyed." Said the front robot. "The human known as April O'Neil will be captured and brought to Kraang Prime."

"What am I?" Casey asked, insulted they hadn't mentioned him by name. "Chopped squid tentacles?"

"Stop." Said a Kraangdroid from the back. "The ones known as the Turtles have been ordered by Kraang Prime to be test subjects for Plan 10." The blue Kraangdroid circled to the front.

"Kraang has received no order as the order Kraang claims to have received." Said the first Kraang.

"If Kraang wants to question Kraang Prime of Kraang Prime's orders, be Kraang's guest." Said the blue one.

The five robots looked at one another before they turned back to the blue one. "Kraang has agreed to fulfill Kraang Prime's orders."

"That is what Kraang thought." Said the blue one. "Go on, go Kraang off." It shooed off the group before turning around. "You guys are late. How'd you get spotted so easily?" Despite the monotone voice, the robot seemed annoyed.

"Raph?" Leo asked, hesitantly.

"Uh, yeah, brainiac." The robot sassed back. "Who else woulva saved your asses?"

"Raph, this is too good!" Casey laughed. He and Mikey pushed past Leo and April so they could start poking at the pink tentacle in the robot's abdomen. "You feel like chewing gum!"

"You're all pink and tentacle-y!" Mikey giggled.

The robot slapped them both. "Stop it. That tickles."

The two rubbing the growing bruises on their cheeks didn't stop laughing even after the smack.

Raph shoved past them and walked up to Leo, April, and Donnie. "Got my sai?"

Even though he knew it was Raph, it still felt wrong handing over the beloved weapons to a Kraang robot. Leo pulled the sai from his belt and handed them over. The robot spun them the same way Raph always did. "Let's move. I know where they moved the brain switching thing." He lead them into a large testing room where the spherical machine was being activated.

"Neruo-Switcher is activated." A Kraangbot informed the other Kraangbots. "Kraang will become world leaders."

"Stop the experiment. Kraang has new orders." Raph said, marching the others into the room like they were prisoners.

"The ones known as Turtles are not part of-"

Raph threw his sai into the head of the lead Kraangdroid, silencing the robot. "They are now."

"Get 'em!" Leo ordered the team. "Donnie, get that machine ready!"

Donnie ran up to the console only to discover that it was a completely different set up than anything he had seen the Kraang use before. He clicked angrily and started scanning over the keys for anything familiar.

"Mikey, up!" Leo called out for his youngest brother. The orange-cladded turtle nodded and jumped up and used Leo as a springboard to get up to the second floor of the room so he could take out the sniper Kraangdroids before they took out the machine by accident.

In the chaos of the room, nobody on the Hamato team noticed that Kraph had been left unattended. The Kraang-turtle stood up and broke out of its restraints. It quickly ran at Raph, and the two wrestled on the ground.

"Hurry up, Donnie." Raph tried to yell through the monotoned voice. "I don't want to beat up such a good-looking turtle."

April stabbed through the head of a blue android before Casey yelled for her to duck. She snapped in half in a backbend that she knew Miwa would be proud of while Casey sent two hockey pucks over her and into two Kraang behind her.

Just as Donnie was getting the hang of the machine, Mikey was thrown into the control panel, which activated the lasers and started shooting off in random directions. "Uh oh! Get down!" He shouted.

"Red, look out!" Casey tried to push April out of the way of one of the laser things, but it didn't do any good. They both got hit by the laser, which knocked them both off their feet. He groaned, suddenly doubling over in pain. It felt like his entire body was one giant cramp. "Oww!" He whined. When he heard his voice, it wasn't his at all. It was April's. 

"Donnie!" April yelled from Casey's body. "Little help!" She lifted his mask and spat down some of the face paint that had dripped into her mouth from his sweat. "Ugh."

"Sorry, Casey. I mean April!" Donnie went back to trying to fix the machine while dodging the lasers. He used the motion sensors in the room to lock onto actual targets. First he switched back Raph and Kraph, then April and Casey.

"Finally! Back in green!" Raph laughed. He punched through the abdomen of the robot and pulled out the squealing squid. "Time for some payback!"

"Casey, stand up, we gotta go!" April held her hand out for the hockey player to take.

"Red, what the hell is up with your body?" He asked as they ran.

"What do you mean?"

"It felt like I'd been run over by a steamroller!"

"Oh, that." Was all she responded with. "Not a big deal. Master Splinter's helping me with it."

"Donnie, blow that thing and let's go!" Leo called as he made sure everyone was getting to the exit.

Donnie smashed the control panel with his hammer mode of his bō. "Done and done!"

"Hey, guys..." Raph said from inside the sub. "Thanks... For comin' to save me."

Leo grabbed Raph and hugged him tightly, making the red bandana wearing turtle jolt. "Don't do that again."

"Not planning on it." Raph rolled his eyes. "Let go you big softy."

Mikey practically tackled them, "No way! Its hug time! Donnie?"

Donnie hesitated for a moment before he joined the brothers. It was nice, but... Without Miwa, the hug wasn't complete.

"Seriously, let me go." Raph grumbled.

"Not yet!" Mikey huffed. "April, Casey, get in on this!"

Casey laughed, thinking he was kidding, but April nudged him forward and suddenly they were all in a hug pile on the floor of the turtle submarine.

"Listen, guys." Raph said, having given up trying to fight his way out. "I caught a glimpse of the invasion plan. They've got thousands of soldiers ready to go, and tons of weapons we haven't seen yet. And its coming soon."

"I thought we stopped it back in March?" Mikey said.

"Fraid not, little brother." Raph said solemnly. "We only set them back."

Chapter Text

https://youtu.be/cy57UnoAgCY?si=uIjMTlnSdYI9u0z6

1回目の食事

Miwa awoke with a start, having nightmares about getting captured by Tiger Claw and Shinigami. She tried to stand to a glass of water from the kitchen, but the unfamiliar clank confused her. She sat up more and realized there was a heavy weight around her wrists and ankles. It didn't make any sense why she was chained to her bed.

Then she remembered it wasn't a bad dream. It was real. Tiger Claw and Shini had captured her. The image of Casey's head being inches from the buzzing saw blade replayed in her head like something out of a gory horror movie. She remembered letting them bind her, and then staring into Shini's lavender eyes before she woke up here. In a cell. In one of Shredder's cells. She just hoped that Casey was alright. The honorable thing to do would be to let the hostage go after a negotiation, but she didn't figure the Foot Clan cared too much about honor.

With a heavy sigh, she took a look around. She could barely see in the dim lighting of wherever she was being held. All the lighting seemed to be artificial, so she quickly realized she wouldn't be able to tell time by the amount of sunlight passing through. Hell, she didn't even know how long she'd been passed out already. The other cells she could see were empty, meaning she was alone.

She stood and stretched out a bit. Her back was already killing her from lying on the cold, hard stone floor. She first tested out how far the chains around her wrists and ankles allowed her to move. She could reach her arms out about six inches away from the bars to her cell when she was sitting. When she stood it was a bit less than that.

She sat down to examine what she had left after they knocked her out. Her tessen and wakizashi were gone, and she didn't want to think about what happened to her beloved heirlooms. She wondered just how much they searched her before tossing her in here. She ran her fingers along the inside of her shin-high Converse shoes, trying to find the small kunai she had hidden. No luck.

She was weaponless. She was chained in a cell. She had no clue where she was. All she knew was she was the Shredder's prisoner, but at least her family was safe. She felt her eyes welling up, but she refused to let herself cry, especially when she heard the heavy clanking of footsteps coming from... Well, she wasn't sure. The echoes in the empty cellblock made it hard to pinpoint which direction it was coming from.

Not that she had to wait long to figure out who it was. It was him. Shredder was standing in front of her now, holding a tray of food.

"I'm glad you're awake." He said.

Miwa glared at him as he knelt across from her and watched him open a small latch near the bottom of the cell. He slid the tray of food through it. 「チキンカツカレー、ライス、味噌汁、蒸しネギ。」He told her.

Miwa felt her stomach growl and was reminded she hadn't eaten anything since she got a hotdog for lunch before Murakami was attacked. Even that room-temperature water he had brought made her realize how dry her throat was. Miwa forced herself to keep a neutral expression and closed her eyes, shifting her body around so that she was in the meditation form her father drilled into her and her brothers years ago.

"I know this is not the most ideal of situations," Shredder spoke, his voice as neutral as Miwa's blank expression. "But you must understand that this was for your own good."

Seriously? Miwa thought. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from spitting out a cackle.

"Eventually, you will." He finished. "However, that can wait. I want to know about you, Miwa."

You killed my mother, tried to kill my father and brothers, and now you're keeping me in a dungeon. What else is there to know?

"What are your hobbies, Miwa?"

Not being in a jail cell with a madman who tried to murder the rest of my family.

"Do you collect anything?"

More reasons to want to kill you.

"What is your favorite food?"

Whatever you're allergic to.

They sat in silence for a long time. Miwa could feel his eyes on her, but she refused to open her eyes to meet them. After what felt like hours, he bid her a good night before he left.

Miwa looked at the food he left with disgust. Even if it smelt amazing, which it didn't, even if she was starving, she wouldn't eat it. She kicked the tray back through the other side of the latch, laid back down, and tried to get some sleep.

2回目の食事

Miwa was awoken by the growling, stabbing pain in her stomach. She shot a sleepy look over where the tray of food Shredder had left her, with a momentary lapse in her conviction to starve rather than eat anything he brought her. Luckily for her stubbornness, the tray of food was gone.

With nothing better to do, and boredom quickly overtaking her every thought, Miwa decided to run through some shin-shin-tōitsu-dō  drills. Not being able to move around freely limited her movements, but distracting herself from her aching body and empty stomach made her feel better. Normally, she tried to clear her mind when doing yoga, finding this was the best form of meditation she could achieve. But now, she thought of how to get out of this cell.

She couldn't reach the bars while she was chained up, which meant she would have to find a way to get out of the cuffs first. She figured if she could swipe a hashi if and when her next meal was brought, she could use it to pick the lock. Of course, she'd have to figure out how to do that without getting caught. Then she needed to get through the bars of the cell. She would try to pick the lock with the chopstick, but she wasn't even sure that would get her free of her wrist binds, let alone her cage. On top of that, she had no clue where she was being held.

But she had to break out as soon as possible before her brothers tried to rescue her. She could be in the spider's web, the spider seemed to have a deluded idea about keeping her alive for some reason. But the spider also hated her brothers. If they tried to enter the web, who could stop the spider from devouring them? Her father surely, but the last time he had left the lair, he had nearly died. No, her only option was to get out before they came for her. It was the only way to protect them.

"Levante e brilhe, pirralho."

Miwa's eyes snapped open and she assumed a battle stance, only to be reminded she lacked her tessen. Fishface was on the other side of the bars, wearing a smirk on his deformed face. "Sleep well, girl?" He asked.

Miwa went back to moving through her forms, avoiding the magenta fish. "I don't remember ordering sushi."

He snapped his jaws at her, "Watch your tongue, girl! In case you didn't realize, you are  our  prisoner."

Miwa raised an eyebrow at that. "I believe I'm Shredder's prisoner. I doubt a little mermaid like you has any say with anything that happens to me." She smirked when he grumbled something in Portuguese. It was only when she heard a sloshing sound that she noticed the fish-man was holding two buckets. One had soapy water and a floating washcloth, while the other was empty. "What's this?" She asked.

"For you to bathe." He answered before slipping the full bucket through the latch. He then set the empty bucket next to the other one.

Miwa scoffed with a sarcastic laugh, "Fat fucking chance. How do I know there aren't cameras hidden here?" Saying it aloud made her more paranoid than she had expected.

Fishface rolled his yellow eyes. "Bathe, don't bathe, I don't give a shit what you do. Either way, I'll be back in an hour." With that, he stomped off down the hallway. With the way his mechanical footsteps fell, Miwa figured he had gone up some flight of stairs, but she had no real way of knowing.

Her eyes went to the bucket full of water. Truthfully, she felt filthy, and not just from her dirty clothing. She knelt beside the bucket and reached for the rag, but stopped short of grabbing it. She looked around the cell, trying to see if she could spot any cameras. She didn't see any that were apparent, but if Stockman-Fly worked for Shredder now, he could easily make cameras small enough that she wouldn't notice them. Especially in the dimly lit cell she was in. She settled for just washing her face and hands before she went back to trying to practice her yoga in peace. She regretted removing her makeup instantly. It was like her last bit of armor protecting her from the Shredder.

An hour had passed, and Fishface was back, now with a tray of food. He dropped it through the latch and left with the bucket of water. At first, she was confused about why he had left the empty one, before she glanced back at the tray of food she had to force herself to stay away from.

Oh, she realized in revulsion. Now hidden cameras weren't the only thing she dreaded in her small cell.

3回目の食事

As fruitless as it felt, Miwa had spent what she believed was the last two or so hours trying to pull her chains free. She had turned with her back facing the cell bars and placed both feet on the white brick wall behind her. Using all her strength, she was trying pull her wrist restraints free from the lock they were bound to. Despite how much it hurt, and the growing bruises that were surely forming, she didn't relent. Even when her eyes brimmed with tears, she refused to cry in this place.

A heavy thudding of footsteps broke her concentration, and she sat down on the cold floor. She quickly moved around so it looked like she was just leaning against the wall while her hands subconsciously came up to rub at her wrists.

The footsteps belonged to Shredder, who was again outside her cell with food. "You haven't eaten anything we have brought you." He said, kneeling so he could slid the food through the slot. "You must be hungry. I know Splinter is a fool, but surely he taught you to forego stubbornness when in difficult situations."

Miwa kept her eyes fixated over his shoulder, staring into the empty cell facing hers. If she looked at the food, she might give in and eat it. If she looked at him, she might break down.

"You look just like your mother,"

She couldn't stop the twitch of her body when he uttered those words. If she could, she'd reach through those bars and strangle him to death with his stupid-looking cape. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to recall her father's lessons when it came to a battle of words. He'd tell her to let his words wash over her body, not to let them take root inside her mind.

"You're just as beautiful as she was. You have her kohaku-colored eyes and the same bone structure. You have Yoshi's nose, but that can be overlooked."

Miwa never wanted to claw out someone's eyes more than in this moment. She wished she hadn't stripped herself of her makeup. Every word from his mouth made her want to throw up.

"I thought I instructed Fujiwara to take those 醜いイヤリング out of your face. Your mother would never approve of something like that. If that cowardly vermin knew your mother, as I did, he would never allow something like that, even from teenage rebellion. One day, you'll understand that is just another reason I had to rescue you from that rat."

That made Miwa feel a bit better. She had gotten the snakebites and bridge piercings to piss off her father, but now that she knew it made Shredder upset too? Well, she just wished that she had known in advance. She would've had Casey pierce every inch of her face.

She thought about speaking, telling him that he apparently didn't know her mother that well, but she knew her silence was chipping away at his armor more than anything else. So she sat in silence and just reveled in the fact that her father had told her that her mother had a belly button ring.

6回目の食事

Miwa wasn't sure how long it had been since she was imprisoned. With no way to tell time in the dungeon, she had been trying to keep track of time by counting her meals, but that system wasn't working well for her. For starters, she wasn't sure how many times of day they were attempting to feed her, and she had no clue how many she missed. Sometimes, when she awoke, there would be a meal she had refused still sitting untouched, sometimes there would be new food, sometimes there wouldn't be any.

She had tried to keep herself awake to keep better track, but she had no energy. She had never been one for naps, not even as a toddler, according to her father. But now, she had nothing to do but still in this dim cell. She quickly learned that starving herself drained her energy, and now that she hadn't had anything to drink since she'd arrived, she had even less. She had given up trying to keep up training, her body was too sore and her stomach was too empty. If she had been awake longer than three hours in the last twenty-four hours, she'd be shocked.

She had been trying to count the bricks of the cell, but her mind kept going back to how dry her mouth and throat were, or how empty her stomach was. As her eyes started to flutter shut again, she wondered how many times she'd open them again at the rate she was going.

「目を覚まして、美しい人よ。」

The bubbly and playful voice brought her back from the restless sleep. Miwa opened her eyes to see Shini outside her cell this time.

"You do not look so good, Miwa-chan," Shini commented as she knelt outside the cell and slid some food through the slot. "You need to eat and drink."

Miwa gave a hoarse, dry chuckle and shook her head. "No way. I feel great."

Shini raised her well-plucked eyebrow at the obvious and pitiful lie. "Are you aware of the 3つのルール?" When the dehydrated girl looked at her blankly, the witch shook her head. "Three minutes without oxygen," She held up her hand to count off one. "Three days without water," she counted two, "And three weeks without food," three. "Those are roughly the numbers that will kill an average human being. You will not make it much longer if you do not drink something." She slid the tray further into the cell.

Miwa wanted to laugh at herself. It had only been three or four days? "Well, forgive me if I find trusting anything you bring me, to be hard. How do I know you or any of Shredder's goons haven't poisoned it?"

"Oh, yes, you got us." Shini rolled her eyes. "Master Shredder has been driving the point to capture you and keep you imprisoned for months, so he could then poison you. And here I thought the purple one was the smart one."

Miwa glared at her but sat up slowly.

"It would make no sense to kill you now," Shini said bluntly. "Not after all the trouble Master Shredder has gone through." She finally pushed the tray as far into the cell as she could through the slot. "Eat, drink."

Miwa pulled the tray towards herself and propped herself up on her knees. She glanced up at Shini, expecting to see a smirk on her purple lips. Instead, the witch had turned away from her, almost like she was allowing Miwa to be vulnerable without any judgment. She was grateful for that because the food was gone in a matter of seconds and the water was dripping down her chin.

"Is that better?" Shini asked, her back still to the captured girl.

"Bit bland," Miwa replied, wiping at her mouth. After Shini laughed in response, she asked, "Is there any more water?"

"I'll bring more after your meal hour is up," Shini replied.

"Thank you," Miwa said softly.

"What was that?" Shini turned her head over her shoulder with that smug look Miwa had come to begrudgingly like.

Miwa rolled her eyes in response. "How long until your psychopath boss comes back?"

Shini hummed, "He plans to visit with you at least once a day."

"Joy." Miwa scoffed.

"He sent me in his place today because he was worried you would starve yourself to death. He knew you would eat if I were the one who brought it." Shini noticed how her words had soured the mood between the two of them. Now, the shorter girl had shifted back into her cell. "You know, Miwa-chan, isolation can be the cruelest form of torture, even when imposed on oneself. Human beings are social creatures who need interaction from others."

"I got nothin to say to him or any of his goons."

"What about me?"

Miwa looked back at the ebony-haired beauty. "You?"

"I have a proposition for you." Shini went on, ignoring the sarcastic snicker that came from inside the cell. "We make a new rule, between you and me."

"Which is?"

"If one of us asks the other a question, the other must answer it honestly."

Miwa laughed again. "Full offense, but you're not the most trustworthy of people, Shini. Why would I trust you now?"

"Because you have nothing to lose at this moment," Shini replied bluntly.

Miwa bit her tongue while she thought. She didn't trust this game for a second, but if she didn't play along, she'd go crazy out of boredom. Yoga and meditation could only take her so far. "Fine, then," She decided, "Will you report anything I say back to Shredder?"

"I will answer any question he asks me. So, you better answer the right question I ask you."

Miwa hummed, "That doesn't exactly make me feel any better."

"It was not suppose to." Shini giggled. "Now, I believe it is my turn to ask a question." She drummed her fingers against the cold floor and pursed her lips, putting on a show as if she were thinking of the most personal of questions. "What is your favorite color?"

"Well, now you've gone too far." Miwa chuckled, getting another giggle from the witch. "I like green," She answered. "Like a dark, sage green."

"I should have guessed that." Shini smiled.

"What's yours?"

Shini raised her hands and produced the lavender shimmer of magic. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen. I'll be seventeen in November. You?"

"Sixteen," Shini replied. "I'll be seventeen in October." She taunted in a sing-song tone. "How is your name spelled?"

「浜戸美和.」

"Beautiful harmony?" Shini translated the kanji. She eyed the younger girl up and down, "Fitting."

Miwa rolled her eyes, hoping the dim lighting hid her blush from the witch. "What's your name?" When she saw a sparkle in those golden eyes, she quickly added, "Your real name?"

Shini brushed the hair that covered one of her eyes. "Fujiwara Sakura."

14回目の食事

It had become a pattern by now. Shini brought Miwa all her meals now after Shredder was informed that the girl would only eat if it were the witch. Shredder still made it a point to visit the Hamato at least once a day, doing whatever he could think of to get the girl to speak to him. Nothing had proved useful yet, but he was nothing if not stubborn and persistent, a trait he shared with his prisoner.

"So you truly treat those turtles as brothers?" Shini asked.

"I don't treat them as brothers, they are my brothers." Miwa corrected while taking a sip of water. She set down the glass and looked into the captivating golden eyes looking back at her. "Now, it's my turn. You've mentioned your family in passing, and seeing as you already know everything about mine, I want to know about yours."

Shini sighed as if she was hoping this question would never come up. However, she didn't fight the question either. "What would you like to know?"

"Who are you worried about? What does Shredder have over you?"

"Those are two questions." Shini pointed out.

Miwa raised an eyebrow silently telling her to answer the question.

Shini brushed her hair from her eyes and took out her phone. She scrolled through something and then showed Miwa a photo. It showed a young girl that Miwa assumed to be a younger Shini, an older woman, and a young boy. "This is my mother and my younger brother," Shini explained.

"Is this a hospital bed?" Miwa asked, noting that Shini's younger brother was lying in a rather uncomfortable-looking bed, and what looked like a heart monitor cut off by him.

Shini nodded softly and put her phone away. "He has heart and bone cancer," She said solemnly. "He was diagnosed when he was seven."

"I'm so sorry, Shini." Miwa frowned. "How old is he now?"

"Eleven."

"So, what does Shredder have to do with your family? Is he holding them hostage or something?"

"No, nothing like that." Shini shook her head with a slight chuckle. "Back in Japan, Master Shredder is one of the richest secret millionaires ever. He's been paying for my brother's treatment at the best hospital Japan has to offer."

That surprised Miwa. She still thought he was a cold, heartless bastard, but that was generous of him. "I'm assuming that you're working for him in return?"

Shini nodded. "Hopefully, now that you have been captured, he has resumed his payments."

That sounded more like that evil madman Miwa was familiar with. "He stopped?"

"I was not providing results," Shini shrugged her shoulder. "I know that imprisoning you has taken you away from your... family, but I had no choice. We all want to protect our family, yes?"

Miwa sighed and looked away from the witch. "Yeah, we do." After a moment, she asked, "What's your brother's name?"

"Mori."

20回目の食事

"Where did you learn to do such beautiful keshō?" Shini asked as Miwa finished her meal. "I do not suppose your Sensei and," she paused, "Brothers, can help much?"

Miwa smiled at the brothers comment. "Trial and error, mostly." She shrugged. "YouTube videos helped too. And my brothers let me practice on them sometimes. Mostly Leo and Mikey, but Donnie also occasionally did."

Shini nodded, taking in the information. She motioned her hand for Miwa to ask her question.

"What does Shredder want from me?" Miwa asked. "Why capture me? Why is he continuing to come down here and try to have a conversation with me?"

Shini sighed dramatically. "Must we always go back to questions that kill the mood?"

Miwa scoffed, "Sorry, if my question kills the mood," She quoted with her fingers, "But you're not the one locked in a cage here. You're not the one sleeping in this cell with no clue of what tomorrow holds or if you'll ever see the outside world again. You're not the one-"

Shini held up her hands in mock defeat, "はいはい, you have proved your point." She took off her hat to fidget with the silver tassels. "I have no idea what he plans to do with you, Miwa-chan. I doubt even Tiger Claw knows. Master Shredder is a secretive man, even to those loyal to him."

Miwa deflated and slumped down against the wall. "Seriously? Nothing?"

"I wish I could give you a better answer," Shini said, though Miwa didn't know how to take that claim. "However, I have none."

"Well, alright." Miwa sighed. "What's your next question?"

30回目の食事

Miwa smiled to herself as the chopstick clicked in her lock. It took what she assumed was at least four hours, but she had finally got it to unlock the right wrist restraint. She was so happy that her first step to freedom had finally been taken, that she almost missed the metal clattering down the stairs that signaled Shredder's arrival. Mumbling a soft curse under her breath, she hid the chopstick under her and leaned against the wall. Now that she knew she could open the cuffs, she locked her wrist back up so that he couldn't see that she had managed to get loose.

Despite having kept her composure for this long, her emotions finally betrayed her. She could feel her stomach drop and her eyes widen when he stopped outside her cell today.

She had never seen him without his helmet, and it made no sense why he wouldn't wear it. Especially around his mortal enemy's daughter. She had always assumed a monster like him couldn't be injured from something so earthly like fire, but this was a reminder that he was human. His head and face were covered in horrific burn scars, specifically on the right side. His head was shaved bald, which she figured was because his hair wouldn't grow because of the burns anyway. The burns look as if they had affected his eye and ear. His eye was red and his iris and pupil looked dead. His ear was shriveled and was, at most, half the size of his left ear. Looking at his disfigured face, she found herself wondering if he could see or hear on that side. If the fire had taken little or all of his sight and hearing, it didn't affect his fighting.

He let her stare at him and when she was finished gawking in disgust and surprise he spoke. "Miwa, you must know I never wanted this to happen. You are an innocent child and did not deserve to be dragged into this conflict. That rat may be your father, but it would've been wrong to allow you to spend another moment being brought up by scum like him. I did what I had to do. What I knew was right, what I knew your mother would've wanted me to do."

Miwa refused to make another expression, but she wanted to roll her eyes so hard that she could see her brain. Was it always going to be the same stupid attempts at indoctrinating her into hating her father? At this point, his slander of her mother was starting to come across as creepy and pathetic, rather than rage-inducing. She still wanted to rip his tongue out and make him choke on it, but it was clear he was a delusional psychopath.

He waited for her to say something, or even look at him again. When she closed her eyes and went back to meditating, he turned to leave after setting down her food. "I... I hope that one day, you will understand that. One day, you will allow me to get to know you." And with that, he left.

31回目の食事

Miwa wanted to scream and cry when the chopstick broke in her left wrist restraint. Instead, she punched the brick wall over and over until her knuckles were bleeding.

"That was a rather surprising show."

「くそっ！」Miwa jumped at the sound of Shini's voice. She heard the witch giggling at her expense, which only earned her a glare.

"Someone is in a bad mood," Shini poked out her bottom lip, mocking the frown apparent on Miwa's face. Her eyes drifted down to Miwa clutching her hand and watched the blood drip from in-between her fingers. "Do you want me to kiss it better?"

In return, Miwa flipped her off with her uninjured hand. "You're right, I am in a bad mood." She used her foot to push the food Shini switched out back through the latch. "Leave me alone."

Shini removed the dark purple sash from around her waist and placed a small kiss on the fabric. "Here, wrap it with this," She held the sash out for the imprisoned girl to take. When all she got was an angry look in response, she rolled her eyes. "You will not be able to clean it until tomorrow morning, so stop being stubborn. We do not want your beautiful hands to get infected, now do we?"

Miwa ripped the sash from Shini's hands so hard that the golden jewels around the ends clinked together in a sound that echoed down the cell block. She wrapped her hand up and studied the fabric so that she didn't have to look at Shini. She had never noticed the apparent light purple markings that covered the sash. She assumed they were runes of some sort, not that she understood any of it. "I'm not hungry," She lied, "So unless you have somethin' to tell me, beat it."

Shini raised an eyebrow, "Is that an official question?"

"Sure, whatever."

With a small nod, Shini leaned forward on her knees. In a soft voice, almost like she was whispering, she said, "The kappa attempted to rescue you tonight."

In a cartoonish fashion, Miwa's mouth hung open. A flood of emotions overtook her like a punch to the gut that caused her to stop breathing for a moment. Fear, love, anxiety, appreciation, Miwa couldn't process any of it. 

Shini's eyes widened at the horrified response. "Are you displeased with this news?"

"What happened?" Miwa demanded suddenly. She practically lunged for the cell bars, only to be stopped by her restraints. "Did they get hurt?"

The witch thought about teasing the girl, reminding her that this wasn't how their little game was supposed to work. But when she saw the fear and desperation in her gorgeous amber eyes, she decided to be upfront and honest instead. "A thief stole Master Shredder's helmet; the Kuro Kabuto. Not long after he sent the whole Foot Clan after the thief, the blue-shelled Kappa showed up with the Kabuto. He attempted to trade it for you, but Master Shredder got back the Kabuto without making a real trade."

"Did they get hurt?" Miwa repeated in a fearful whisper.

"Not any more than they usually do when up against our clan," Shini assured her. "They rescued a robot I cast an illusion on it to look like you, but I suspect they got away before it exploded."

Miwa finally was able to breathe again and let out a shaky laugh. She tucked her knees to her chest and ran her trembling fingers through her greasy black hair. This was the first time she found tears falling from her traitorous eyes, so she kept her head down.

"You are displeased?" Shini asked again, still confused about the reaction given by the girl who was clearly crying now.

"Yes!" Miwa shouted through her tears.

"Why?"

"Because they're stupid!" Miwa answered with a cry. "I can't protect them now! Shredder is too dangerous for them, they shouldn't have risked it! If... If I lost them, I..." She sobbed silently into her hands.

Shinigami lowered her hat so that it covered her eyes, allowing Miwa a bit of privacy in this heartbreaking display of emotion. The meal hour passed in relative silence, with only muffled sobs to fill the void. When the time had finally elapsed, Shini stood and extended her hand through the bars. "My 肩巾, please?'

Miwa finally lifted her head, confused for a moment before she followed the golden gaze to her injured hand. A snarky comment entered her head, but she didn't have the energy to speak now. She slowly unwrapped it and handed it back to the witch.

Shini looked at the blood on her sash and snapped her fingers, which erased the thick, red liquid. "Just one more question for tonight, Miwa-chan. Will the Kappa try another attempt at freeing you?"

Miwa was looking at her hand, shocked that the bloody wound had almost completely vanished under the purple shawl. After sobbing in front of Shini for an hour, she finally met the other's eyes. "Yes, they will." She answered in despair.

47回目の食事

"So, what's Master Psychopath up to?" Miwa asked after finishing a bowl of rice. She placed the chopsticks down by her side, hoping that the witch wouldn't notice she was attempting to swipe them.

"That's a rather boring question, Miwa-chan," Shini replied.

"Foot Clan gossip is my only real form of entertainment, Sakura-chan." Miwa retorted with a slight smirk.

Shini rolled her eyes with the use of her real name. "He has been making more deals with those ika. I know he has Stockman working on something big, and it has something to do with mutagen, but I know not the inner workings of the plan."

Miwa hated the sound of that. Shredder plus mutagen equaled something horrible. "Is he still trying to make a mutant army or something?" She asked.

"Perhaps so," Shini answered. "Master Shredder expresses nothing but disgust and hatred for yōkai, but he also seems fascinated with them."

"Pretty much all of his lackeys are mutants now," Miwa pointed out. "If I were you, I'd watch my back. Wouldn't want that pretty face mutated."

Shini smiled, but inside she felt the same fear that the prisoner had voiced. "You think I'm pretty?" She asked. Her fake smile turned into a real smirk when she watched the Hamato girl blush and look away from her. "That was a question, Miwa-chan." She cooed.

The girl behind the bars ran her fingers through the bleach blonde ends of her hair. "I... I think it's pretty clear that I do."

Despite the teasing, the response took Shini off guard. She hadn't expected a confession from Miwa, but rather a veto to the question. Through all the endless flirting and playful tension, somehow it felt different now that it had been said aloud. She felt her cheeks starting to heat up and quickly lowered her hat to cover her face. "Well, as human daughters of nezumi senseis go, you are also very attractive." She said, trying to keep her voice playful.

Miwa snickered at that, "Thanks."

As the witch departed at the end of the hour, both girls thought about one thing. Perhaps if those bars weren't between them, perhaps if they weren't held on opposite sides of a war, perhaps then things could be different for them.

59回目の食事

"I met your mother first," Shredder told her. "I was in town when I caught two men trying to assault your mother. I saved her from them and took her to the dojo to make sure she was alright."

Miwa felt her eye twitching as she tried to keep her face neutral. I get it, nut job, you're obsessed with my mother.

"I had never believed in love at first sight, I thought such fairytales were nonsense. And then, I met your mother's eyes. The same eyes that she gave you."

Barf! Fuck off already!

"Shen and I were inseparable for a time after that. Finally, I had something all to myself, something away from the wretched Hamato clan, away from the man I mistakenly called father, away from the vermin I believed to be my brother. Shen and I had a secret world to call our own. I was no fool, I knew that she did not reciprocate my feelings for her, at least not yet. But she would grow to love me, I knew she would in time." His romanticized tone shifted dramatically into the dark, grimy one Miwa was used to by now.

"And then one night, Hamato Yoshi found us in the dojo's garden. In one glance, he stole Shen away from me! He stole the life that we were going to build together!"

As he ranted and raved about how Splinter had stolen her mother's virginity and innocence, which also, eww! Miwa couldn't help but think one thought over and over in her head.

Did this lunatic truly believe he deserved to be his murder victim's husband?

"But, after all that, I still loved your mother. I set out to convince her that she had made a mistake, by having Yoshi's child. But, I did not care that he was your father, his sins were not for you to bear. I could overlook Yoshi's part in creating you, Miwa, because you are also Shen's child."

Was he delusional enough to believe he deserved to be her father?

61回目の食事

On today's daily visit of batshit crazy delusion, Shredder told Miwa about the day her mother experienced an intense allergic reaction while she was pregnant. "Yoshi left your mother alone in their small koya while he was busy at the dojo. He had left her a blended fruit mixture to drink, but he had included papaya as an ingredient. Your mother went into anaphylactic shock and nearly died all alone. If I hadn't been close by to hear her crash into the sink, she would've died because of his foolish mistake. I was the one who saved her life by calling an ambulance, despite it being frowned upon by the Hamato clan."

Again, he had told Miwa a story she had heard before, and she couldn't help but notice the details he had left out of his retelling. First, that fruit smoothie was a gift from a fellow clan member for Splinter, not her mother. Second, her father left a note on the drink telling Shen that it contained papaya, but she hadn't seen it since it had fallen off in the fridge. Third, her mother's Epipen was in their bedroom, and it was her father who injected her with it. Fourth, her father was the one who rode with her to the hospital, and the whole way he was cursing himself for the mistake. And finally, that hospital visit was when they discovered she was pregnant with Miwa. Before that, they didn't know she was pregnant, and her mother was in some way thankful for what happened.

Her father had told her this story when she was around eight years old. He had done so in an effort to humanize Shredder, wanting her to understand that there was good inside of everyone. She found it revolting that that same man her father tried to humanize was now vilifying her father to brainwash Miwa into hating him. It was nothing more than a pitiful attempt to turn the daughter against her father. But if that was his goal, he'd need to do something much more elaborate than twisting a story she already knew.

70回目の食事

"Have the boys attempted to break in again?" Miwa asked, looking into the cup of water as she spoke.

"The kappa?" Shini asked for clarification.

"Yes," Miwa rolled her eyes.

The witch pursed her lips, "No. We've fought them a few times since the incident with the Kuro Kabuto, but they have yet to be so bold again."

Miwa sighed with relief and leaned against the cell.

"I believe the ika have been keeping them rather busy lately," Shini added with a suppressed giggle. "I heard the red one had a rather unfortunate experience with them not long ago."

Instantly, she sat up again. "Unfortunate how?" She pressed.

Shinigami shrugged her shoulders in response. "Whatever it was, it gave Stockman a good laugh. He watched it all through surveillance cameras."

84回目の食事

Miwa had no clue what had Shredder so angry today, but his version of the nice-guy approach had gone out the window now. She could guess it had something to do with her family, seeing as he was practically ranting about her brothers and father. About how disgusting they were and how stupid her father was for filling her brothers with a facade belief of defeating him. Miwa was used to him badmouthing her father by now, she had managed to tune most of it out.

But when she heard him call her brothers pets, something inside her snapped. The rage of hearing that term referring to her little brothers had always pissed her off, but now it was practically blinding. She lunged for the bars, forgetting that she couldn't reach them fully. Instead, she was held back like a rabid beast, seething in rage that she couldn't wrap her hands around his throat.

This sudden act seemed to shock Shredder, whose eyes went wide as she fought against her chains to reach him. But just as suddenly as the shock crossed his face, the anger returned. "See that, Miwa? Hamato Yoshi has made it his goal to turn you into nothing more than a feral piece of filth like himself. But I will not allow him to hurt you any longer. Getting you away from those revolting creatures was the only way to preserve the remaining shreds of Shen inside you."

Miwa glared at him, wishing desperately for the ability to kill him with a look. But no such genie granted this wish, so she had to do something else. Growing up, Miwa and her father had learned the different purrs, clicks, and croaks that her brothers made. It had almost become like another language Miwa was fluent in, though her human vocal cords limited her ability to mimic their sounds. But she thought it was the perfect way to get under his skin if she couldn't slit his throat with her tessen. Forcing her voice down into a rumbling groan, she hissed out a click at him.

Again, he looked shocked and appalled at her. Suddenly, his foot shot into the bars between them, metal clanking against metal, making a loud boom that shook the whole cell block. It took everything in Miwa not to draw back in genuine fear of the monster in front of her, but after he left, she allowed herself to feel a small sense of victory.

Then she noticed something. Where he had kicked the bars, she noticed the metal had bent to the side, partially separating one bar from the bottom of the cell. She twisted her body and reached for the dented bar with her foot. She could barely reach it with her toes, but she drummed her foot against it until it gave way and clattered to the floor, broken.

Chapter Text

Once she had picked the lock on her left ankle, Miwa was finally free from those chains, however long it had been. She pulled up her jacket sleeve and inspected the large purple and green bruise that greeted her. She was ready to crawl over to the broken bar of the cell, to see if she could pick the lock from below when she heard the footsteps of Fishface. She quickly arranged herself at the back of the cell and replaced the chains on her limbs without locking them back up.

"Well, if it isn't the sushi I ordered," Miwa said, repeating the same thing she said every time he came to deliver food and empty her buckets. She had gotten tired of saying it, but she never got sick of the angry look on his face. She drew her nose up in disgust when he sat down her food. "Ugh, can't a girl have a little variety? Can't you lay some masago for me?"

"This is a dungeon, not a Bed and Breakfast." He snarled at her. "You will eat whatever I bring."

"You mean whatever Shredder tells you to bring." She corrected him. "I thought Shinigami was in charge of my meals now?"

"Your little girlfriend is busy tonight, so you're stuck with me." He answered shortly. "Maldito pirralho, if Master Shredder didn't need you, I would teach you some manners!"

"Oh, yeah? And what does he need me for?"

"Just watch your tongue, girl!"

As he stomped off, Miwa looked at the broken cell bar that had rolled to the side of the cell. If she could reach it, she could use it in her escape.

"Hey, Leo!" Donnie said, coming out of his lab with a gap-toothed grin. "You want any upgrades to your ninjatō?"

Leo took a break from beating on the punching bag to look at his younger brother in confusion. "Huh? Why do you ask?"

Donnie drew his eyebrows up in confusion. "Well, tomorrow's your birthday, so I thought I'd ask..."

Leo turned away from Donnie with a small frown. "I didn't realize it was already coming up..." He hadn't been getting much sleep lately, and he hadn't realized that so much time had passed since Miwa was kidnapped. It felt like forever, but he thought that was because he missed her and was worried about her. Now he knew it had been nearly a month since she's been gone. "Sorry, Dee, but there's only one thing I want for my birthday." He sent a kick into the punching bag so hard that the rusty chain snapped and it went flying into the pool of the main station. "I want my sister back."

"Leonardo, may I speak with you?" Splinter said, motioning with his head for his eldest son to follow him.

Leo followed his father into the dojo, together they looked at Miwa's tessen sitting on the shelf next to Splinter's favorite photos. The one of him, Shen, and baby Miwa, the other of April's Seventeenth Birthday party. "I know you are anxious to free Miwa, but we both know that a plan that leads to a direct confrontation with the Shredder is doomed to failure."

"How did you-" Leo was about to ask how his father already knew of the plan he was thinking of, but one look from his father's solemn eyes stopped his inquiry. A father just knows. "But, even if we have to face Shredder, isn't it worth it to rescue Miwa?"

"I am not risking your lives over the small possibility of saving Miwa!" Splinter raised his voice slightly. With a sigh, he looked back at his son and placed a hand on his shoulder. "As hard as it may be for us to imagine, Miwa is currently out of danger. Shredder will not harm her."

"You can't seriously believe that!" Leo argued.

"I believe that Shredder believes that." Splinter countered. "Do not attempt this plan of yours."

Leo grumbled and left the dojo with a scowl.

"So, no-go on Operation: Save Sis?" Mikey asked with a frown as Leo exited the dojo. All three brothers had been listening outside the door.

"The plan needs some... revisions," Leo sighed. "But we'll go out on patrol tonight, same as always."

"April says she and Casey will meet us there." Donnie said, putting his tPhone in his mission bag.

"They've been spending a lot of time together lately," Mikey said aloud. "Think they were on a date?"

Donnie frowned, "Oh... M-maybe?"

Raph smacked Mikey up side the head, leaving the youngest rubbing at the hit.

Driving towards a location Donnie's GPS pointed out as a Kraang location, the brothers were arguing over their plans.

"Don't you think it's time to take Shredder down once and for all?" Raph punched the weapon's console.

"Of course I do!" Leo snapped over his shoulder after making a sharp right turn.

"So why ain't we?"

"Aren't, Raphael." Donnie corrected, even though that wasn't proper either.

"Because Splinter was right!" Leo slammed on the brakes. The three younger brothers glared up at him after each respectively went flying into their consoles, ready to bite his head off, but then they noticed his shoulders were shaking.

"Leo?" Mikey frowned.

"I don't know what to do! I don't know why Splinter put me in charge, I can't do this!" Leo ducked his head and limbs into his shell, tears threatening to fall. "It's all my fault! It's all my fault..." Leo felt something touching his shell that he couldn't figure out. When it didn't let up, he slowly poked his head out to see what was holding him. "R-Raph?"

Raph had his older brother in a tight bear hug. "Stop it. Yer not supposta blame yourself, that's my job."

"Woah..." Mikey whispered to Donnie.

"R-Raph, what are you doing?" Leo asked.

"Hugging you, dumbass," Raph replied. "Look, I... I know I've been... Difficult, but I... I don't actually blame ya... You know that, right?"

"I didn't actually..." Leo said softly.

"Damn, Leo!" Raph cursed. "I... I didn't..."

Donnie cleared his throat, "You haven't been very nice to him, Raph."

"Damn it, Donnie, I know that!" Raph snapped. "Wait, I..." Raph grumbled drumming his knuckles against his head. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm bad at words, but I don't... It's not your fault, Leo! It's not! It's Shredder's, okay?"

Mikey jumped from his seat and threw his arms around his two eldest brothers. "Donnie, group hug?"

Donnie shook his head from his station. "It's really not your fault, Leo. Don't blame yourself."

"Thanks guys." Leo smiled softly. "Alright, let's go."

"Nope!" Mikey shook his head when Raph and Leo tried to pull away from the hug. "You gotta say it, Leo."

"Say what?"

"You gotta say it's not your fault."

"It's not my fault."

"Good!" Mikey smiled and let go.

Mikey and Donnie exited the Shellraiser first, leaving Leo and Raph alone for a moment. Raph put his arm around Leo's shoulders. "I'm... I'm really sorry I made you feel like shit. I just miss Miwa."

"It's all good, Raph. I miss her too."

"I know. So, let's get her back." He held his hand up for a fist bump, but a shout from outside broke up the twins' moment.

"Foot Clan!" Donnie called out.

The A-Team brothers were immediately outside the Shellraiser, ready to defend their brothers. Donnie was batting off Rahzar's massive paws while Mikey was exchanging blows with Shinigami. Tiger Claw landed behind them, and it was clear they'd have to get past him before aiding their brothers.

Donnie twisted into a backflip while he drove the Warhammer modification to his staff down onto Rahzar's head. "Even after your second mutation made you fur and bone, you still weigh even more than you did before," Donnie commented. "How's that work?"

Rahzar snapped his jaws at the turtle with a growl, "How should I know?" He chased the purple-cladded turtle up and fire escape, but once they reached the rooftop the turtle hit him hard in the stomach with his hammer. Rahzar fell back down the stairs and landed head-first in a dumpster.

"Fifty points!" Donnie congratulated himself.

"Where's my sister?" Mikey asked the witch, their respective chains clashing as they avoided each other's blades.

"Not far," She responded. "She says 「やあ」by the way." She winked.

Mikey blew a raspberry at the witch in response and threw out a couple of shurikens to get some distance.

Shinigami spun her crescent blades together to deflect the throwing stars before catching one in between her fingers. She spun the excellently crafted weapon between her fingers, admiring how beautiful the Hamato's weapon was.

Raph ran in, aiming his sai at the feline's throat. Tiger Claw twisted Raph's arm down while grabbing the other one that came at him. He kicked Raph away just in time to duck under the ninjatō blades that swung for his head. Leo put his swords together and went in for another stab for the tiger's head, but the tiger grabbed his hands and kneed him in the plastron. As Leo flew backward, Tiger Claw grabbed him by both legs and slammed him down into the ground, knocking out the leader in blue.

"Leo!" Raph cried out.

Tiger Claw threw Leonardo back at the turtle in the red bandana as Rahzar and Shinigami joined him. "Take him back to your Rat, along with this warning;" Said the tiger. "Master Shredder is getting tired of waiting for your cowardly master to come out of hiding. If he does not face the Shredder soon, he will retaliate against the girl."

The conscious brothers gasped in unison.

The Foot soldiers turned back to return to the cathedral. "What is he planning, Tora?" Shini asked. She hadn't heard anything about this apparent plan of retaliating against their prisoner.

"That is not for you to know, girl." Snarled the feline in response, earning a snicker from Bradford.

Watching the villains escape, Donnie and Mikey turned to Raph for what to do. "Raph?" Mikey whimpered.

"For fuck's sake!" Raph cursed. "We gotta retreat!"

Donnie's eyes widened at hearing Raph say retreat. "S-seriously?"

"Shut up and help me get Leo in the Shellraiser." As they raced down the streets to get their brother to safety, distant thunder clapped in the dark night sky.

Miwa had just been able to roll the cell bar close enough with her foot that she could grab it when she heard footsteps descending the stairs. She placed the steel bar on the outside of the cell carefully, so as not to make any sound. She shuffled back into the cell and arranged herself the same way she had when Fishface visited earlier.

Shini arrived outside the cell with her eyes fixated on the small gap in her cell. "What happened here?" She asked as she sat down Miwa's food.

"Señor Psychopath, that's what," Miwa replied with a small smirk. "Someone threw a hissy fit the last time they visited me."

Shini hummed, but her facial expression gave the impression she was barely listening to the explanation. "Enjoy your meal, Miwa."

Miwa knitted her eyebrows together, "What? What about-"

"Master Shredder has some big plans that need my attention." The witch interrupted. "Be sure to chew carefully, you wouldn't want to cut your tongue." Shini met Miwa's eyes for a moment before she quickly left the dungeon.

Miwa stared after her in confusion. What big plans? Why would she be so vague with something so foreboding? "Be sure to chew carefully?" Miwa muttered. She looked back at the plate of food, hoping for an explanation. Slowly, she pulled the tray over to her and picked up the chopsticks. She started on the rice, but the second it touched the food, she heard the wood make contact with something metallic. Moving the rice away from the location of the sound, it wasn't long until she found one of the old Hamato clan shurikens buried underneath her rice.

She looked back up, almost as if to ask the departed witch why she had put a weapon in her food. Then she came to a conflicting realization. But why? Why now? Then she recalled the serious look on Shini's face and the words "Big plans" echoed in her head. Whatever that was, Miwa had no intention of finding out.

She grabbed the shuriken and the metal bar and stood. She slid her hand outside the cell door and used one of the points on the shuriken to pick the lock keeping her in. After nearly a minute of nonstop trying, the lock gave way and she pushed open the door.

She was careful to be silent as she made her way out of the cell block. She made absolutely sure that no one was around before she went ten feet, but she eventually came to another cell door that blocked off a staircase. This one was locked with a large padlock, so Miwa raised the cell bar and shoved it through the bars and into the opening. She knew it was going to be loud, which meant she had to be quick with this. She leveraged the bar against the door and pushed against it until the padlock broke open. She caught the padlock with the toe of her tennis shoe before it clattered against the ground and sat it down gently. Giving one last bitter look at the prison she had been locked in for so long, she opened the door and ran up the stairs.

The top of the staircase brought her out to a dark and dusty hallway. She'd never been in it before, but given the old-timey layout, she figured she had been under the cathedral this whole time. That bit of realization made her heart thump, giving her a bit of hope. That meant she knew her way home. She passed by the many doors that she could tell hadn't been opened in years and followed the marble floor that had no dust build-up. Eventually, she came to another door, which she quickly scanned back down the hallway to make sure she hadn't been followed before she opened it. Behind it was Shredder's chapel. It was on the far left of the room and behind the throne. It didn't surprise her that she never noticed this door before, but she was shocked that her freedom had been so close for so long.

She took a silent step out but froze when she saw the throne in slightly better lighting. Shredder was sitting there, still as a statue. She waited for what felt like hours, watching him intensely for even the slightest hint that he was aware of her presence. When she couldn't hold her breath any longer, she crept away from the door, leaving it wide open in fear of it closing and alerting him. She approached from the right, hoping she was correct in her assumption that the burns on his face had affected his sight and hearing.

"Miwa," He spoke calmly.

Shit.

She took a deep breath and stood to her full height, which still seemed to pale compared to their seven-inch height difference. "Shredder," She said to him for the first time since the last time they were in the chapel together.

"Despite these unfortunate events, it is nice to hear your voice." He stood and turned to look at her.

"Bite me." She snarled and raised the metal bar like a bō staff.

"I see, so that's how you got out." He eyed the cell bar.

"Next time, don't throw a temper tantrum." She smirked.

"You joke, but I can see you are afraid." He said plainly. "But I am not the one you should fear, Miwa. That rat has twisted your worldview, dishonored my clan, and destroyed your mother. I refuse to let him corrupt you further."

"You would know about corruption, wouldn't you, Saki?" Miwa's plan wasn't to fight him head-on tonight. She just needed an opening to escape. She ran towards him and when he moved to strike, she flipped over his head and brought the bar down on his head.

He blocked the blow with his blades and used the strength in his one arm to push her back. She slid across the floor, suddenly very aware of how much weight and muscle she had lost. Gritting her teeth, she swung the bar around to hit him but avoided the bat easily. She jumped and jabbed it for his head, but he moved his head to the side and turned out of the way. They went around like this until Miwa was panting heavily.

He caught the bar in between his hands and looked deep into her eyes. "Splinter taught you well, I will give him at least that. But you lack the experience necessary to deliver a killing blow. I will teach you that in time."

"Go to hell!" She kicked up at him, using the shuriken to slice his arm when he raised the blades to block her foot.

He narrowed his eyes at the small bit of blood that came from her attack, and grabbed her by the collar of her sweatshirt. He slammed her down into the ground and trapped her head between his blades. "This has gone far enough! Tiger Claw, 礼拝堂に来てください." Shredder spoke into a communication band in his gauntlet.

Miwa cried out in anger as the tiger approached her with more chains, but she couldn't wiggle out from under Shredder's boot, nor free her head from the blades. As Miwa was forced to stand, her hands chained in front of her, she saw Shini, Fishface, and Rahzar enter the chapel as well.

"Was the message delivered?" Shredder asked his second-in-command.

"Yes, Master." The tiger nodded.

"Good. Fujiwara, take the girl and get her cleaned up." Shredder ordered the witch.

Shini reluctantly stepped forward and connected her chain to Miwa's binds. "Cleaned up, Master?"

"It's time to finish things, once and for all."

With those dark, eerily foreboding words, Miwa's world was encased in lavender smoke. When it cleared, she stood in a windowless bathroom with Shinigami.

"Was that a setup?" Miwa demanded, her hands reaching for the throat of the taller girl, but was thwarted by Shini stomping down on the chain to limit the reach. "The shuriken?"

"No," Shini answered. "I sincerely hoped you would get out." Even though they were out of the dungeon and away from the scenery of their game, Miwa still believed she was telling her the truth.

"Then help me! Let me go!"

"I cannot. Not anymore. I am sorry, Miwa." Shini lowered her hat and poofed away. A second later, her voice came from behind the locked door, "I know not how much time Master Shredder will allow you. The shower is rather temperamental, a little goes a long way for hot water."

Miwa banged and wrestled with the door, but after a while she realized it wouldn't budge. Anger festering away into hopeless despair, she looked back at Shinigami's bathroom, all hope had now faded from her being. She spotted makeup on the witch's sink and a thought of rebellion struck her.

Leo woke up gagging, a strong, repulsive, and sharp odor hitting his nose. The smell reminded him of strong household cleaners.

"Easy, Leo," April said calmly. "You hit your head pretty bad."

As he was coughing and covering his nose, he noticed that April and Casey were both over him. "Ugh, Casey, you really need to take a shower, dude," Leo muttered.

"¡Ey!" Casey glared at him, "Big talk for someone who lives in a sewer!"

April snickered and showed Leo the broken smelling salt in her hand. "Sorry, I had to break open your last one. I'll get some more in the morning."

"What happened?" Leo looked past the two human teenagers to find Raph outside the med bay doors arguing with Splinter as quietly as Raph could.

"Tiger Claw took you down and left a cryptic-ass message," Casey replied. "Yo! He's up now!" He yelled out the door.

"This talk is not over, Raphael," Splinter said as the family gathered around Leo, who felt like he was being put on display. "You should lay down, Leonardo. You are still injured."

"I feel fine, Sensei," Leo lied, intentionally keeping his hands by his side to make sure he didn't rub where his head had met the pavement. "How long was I down?"

"Three years!" Casey said in a spooky voice but was elbowed by Donnie.

"About an hour." Answered Raph. "We had to get you back here to make sure your head wasn't smashed in."

"Which means, it's officially after midnight!" Mikey called out and put a small party hat on Leo's head. "Happy birthday, dude! What's it like being sixteen?"

Leo pulled the hat off and ignored Mikey's question. "What was Tiger Claw's message?"

"You told him?" Splinter looked at April and Casey, the latter of which dove behind the redhead for protection.

"¡Ey! I didn't know it was a secret!"

"He said that Shredder's gonna do somethin' to Miwa if Splinter doesn't fight him soon," Raph answered bitterly.

"Raphael!"

"He's gotta know, Sensei!" Raph snarled. "You said she wasn't in danger, but guess what? She is now! We gotta do somethin'!"

"You boys have gotten in enough trouble! I will face the Shredder, alone!" Splinter said firmly.

"No way, Sensei!" Leo argued. "Miwa's our sister and you're our father! We're going with you!"

"And we're going too." April crossed her arms stubbornly. "Miwa's our friend."

"Hell yeah!" Casey agreed.

As the arguing continued, suddenly all the teenagers' phones started going off in unison.

"Uhh, what the-" Mikey looked at his phone. "It's Miwa!"

"What?" Splinter looked over Mikey's shoulder while the others checked their phones.

"Her phone's been turned back on?" Donnie whispered. "Why now? I thought they would've broken it or tried to hack it."

"She sent us a video." April realized, looking at the group text they were all in.

The video opened up to show Stockman-Fly mixing together some chemicals. "Yes, yes, zzzz, Master Shredder! Whatever you desire, I can create! More mutagen, a few chemicals, zzzz, and some-"

"Enough, Stockman!"

Shredder's booming voice startled the fly mutant and something fell from above the camera's frame into the chemicals Stockman-Fly was working on. "Oops!" Stockman's sideways mouth grimaced a bit before he shrugged, "Zzzz-hould be fine."

"Is the mutagen ready?" Shredder demanded.

Stockman nodded and grabbed the vial of chemicals. "Prepared to your s-zzz-pecifications. The zzzz-erpant DNA is ready." He flew up to the top of a large tank of mutagen and poured the pink-colored chemical mixture into the vat.

"Good. Bring the girl." Shredder commanded someone off-camera.

Someone seemed to be filming with Miwa's phone because the camera moved to show Tiger Claw holding a bound Miwa over his shoulder. She twisted and tried to fight him off, but with her wrists bound behind her back, and her kicks delivered at an awkward angle, she couldn’t do much. It had been about a month since they had seen her, but they could tell this time had been rough on her. She looked much skinnier and more pale. Her hair had grown out a bit, but she was still wearing her signature makeup look, only the red eyeliner was replaced with a purple.

"Get your paws off of me, you striped fuckwad!" She cursed as Tiger Claw carried her over to a coffin-shaped cage and strapped her in by her wrists and ankles.

"Make sure she is secure," Shredder instructed. 

Somewhere off to the side of whoever was recording, Fishface was heard saying, "Smile for the camera, criança."

Only now did Miwa seem to notice the camera, because her eyes flicked up from Tiger Claw to her phone. They widened and her mouth opened, "No! Don't! It's a tr-" She was silenced by Tiger Claw placing a gag over her mouth. Tiger Claw stepped back and closed the cage with a smirk.

A couple of Footbots used a pulley to lift the cage off the ground and dangled it over the mutagen vat. Whoever was behind the camera zoomed in on Miwa's frightened face as Shredder spoke.

"Hamato Yoshi, you have avoided justice long enough, and now you have a choice to make. Pay for your sins, or watch Shen's daughter pay for them instead. You have one hour by the time this video is sent to face me. If you are even a second late, she takes the fall. Your students will know where to find me. This ends tonight, Splinter."

The video then ended by showing Shredder dangling a brown rat over a cage containing a white snake with little horns on the top of its head. He dropped the rat into the cage, and the camera lingered on the rat being disemboweled before it ended.

“You are more ruthless than I thought,” Said Tiger Claw in awe of his Master. “Mutating the cub you struggled to get ahold of for so long.”

Shredder looked up at cage swaying from Miwa’s thrashing. “I have no intention of mutating her. She is bait. When the turtles attempt to rescue her, I will drop them into the mutagen, mutating them into mindless serpents.”

Shini lowered the phone after she finished filming the brutal death of the rat. “If that is the case, why have her up there?” She asked. “I could easily make an illusion of her.”

Shredder glared at her questioning him, but answered her inquiry. “For the same reason I need the rat here. I want Splinter to witness his own pupils become one of the rat's deadliest predators. Then when his spirit is broken, I will shatter his body.“

”And as for the cub?” Tiger Claw asked.

“Once she witnesses the death of her father, she will realize that he was nothing more than a traitorous, vial piece of filth. She will have no more reason to fight me, and we can finally heal the scars Hamato Yoshi has caused her. She will mourn them at first, but this is necessary for her healing process. She’ll come to learn that they were nothing but stepping stones back to me and her rightful place by my side.”

The video ended, leaving the Hamato clan stunned at what they had just witnessed. The first one to do or say anything was Leo, who gagged and nearly threw up after seeing the ending with the rat and the snake. After the shock wore off, April said, "It looked like they were in Stockman's lab."

"Right, let's go," Leo said, trying to shake off his fear and revulsion. He looked at his father, expecting a protest, but instead, he only saw rage boiling underneath his fur.

Everyone filed into the Shellraiser but had to wait for April, who ran to grab something from the dojo before they left.

"We're on a time crunch, here!" Raph yelled at her.

"Sorry, I figured it was time this was returned to its owner." April fanned out Miwa's tessen before she held it out for Splinter. Raph slammed the door shut and Leo sped down the tunnels before the redhead had the chance to take a seat.

Splinter denied taking the tessen, instead pushing it back to April. "You keep it safe for her. You and Casey will wait in the Shellraiser for us to return."

"What?" Casey complained, lifting his mask to pout. "No way! We want in on the action too!"

"You will wait in the Shellraiser." Splinter's voice was very forceful, and they could all tell he was trying not to hiss. "I will not risk you two getting hurt."

"But, Sensei, I'm immune to mutagen!" April tried to argue. "I can help in a way no one else can."

"That may be true, April," Splinter closed his eyes, "But this is a dangerous trap the Shredder is baiting us into. For my own piece of mind, I need to know all of you are safe. You two will have the most important job of all tonight."

"And that is?" Casey pushed.

"Making sure my children get away safely."

"So, what's the plan exactly?" Donnie asked.

"Casey and April will wait in the Shellraiser and will act as getaway drivers." Splinter said after a moment. "You four are coming in only until Miwa is freed. Then you will take your sister and leave with April and Casey."

"But what about you?" Mikey frowned.

"The Shredder was right about one thing;" Splinter said darkly. "This will end tonight."

"I smell the rat," Tiger Claw announced to the eerily silent warehouse. He lifted his head and shot off a red flare that was redirected back down at him. The seven-foot rat dropped from a small hole in the warehouse's roof and stood to his full height. The four turtles quickly followed after him, Raphael landing on Stockman, knocking out the flying scientist.

From the cage above the vat of mutagen, Miwa's cries only came across as grunts as she tried to shout over the gag in her mouth. No!

"Welcome, my old friend." Shredder greeted Splinter.

"Let my daughter go!" Splinter demanded with a hiss.

"You are welcome to rescue her if you can."

Miwa watched half a dozen Footbots sneak up behind her brothers and she tried to scream at them to run. The lighting in the warehouse was practically nonexistent aside from the ooze beneath her, but she could clearly see the traps on the sides of the mutagen. But would they? But, as scared as she was, she was entranced with the fight she watched unfolding beneath her.

Splinter was insanely fast as he unsheathed the hidden blade in his staff and bounded at Shredder. One moment he was two hundred feet away, the next, he was jabbing the blade right for Shredder's throat. Shredder ducked under the rat's blade and kicked at him, but Splinter dodged the armored leg. Splinter swiped for Shredder's exposed flesh, but the Shredder avoided the blade expertly. Shredder thrusted his tekkō-kagi at the rat's neck, but Splinter batted away the blades with his weapon. Splinter again went for Shredder's opening, but the other master kept himself at a distance.

"Yes! Fight me, rat!"

Leonardo and Michelangelo took the left side of the warehouse while Raphael and Donatello took the right. Together, they quickly cut down the Footbots in their way as they circled around the mutagen to free their sister.

Donnie had gotten to the pulley holding her up first and was about to start working it when Rahzar pounced on him. He rolled across the ground with the turtle and let out a yowl when the turtle thrusted his naginata blade into the werewolf mutant's side. Donnie thought he was in the clear when he kicked the injured wolf away from him, but his foot hit something behind him. Suddenly a metal trap ensnared him, and he let go of his staff.

"Mmph!" Miwa cried under her gag.

"Donnie!" Raph shouted. He was distracted enough for Fishface to sneak up behind him and kick him into his own trap.

Miwa screamed again, trying to warn Mikey that Tiger Claw was behind him, but it was too late. The tiger easily lifted Mikey by his shell and slammed him down into the trap.

Splinter's ears twitched at the surprised yelps and cries from his sons, but he had to keep his eyes fixated on Shredder. He dodged and rolled under a swipe of Shredder's tekkō-kagi, but was accosted by a quick Rahzar. He held the rat down while Tiger Claw and Fishface rushed him with ropes, several Footbots joining in to keep him down.

"Sensei!" Leo strained against two Footbots with circular saws. They backed him up into another one of the traps on the floor, but Leo wedged his sword upwards to stop the trap from fully closing on him. He pushed against the trap by his head while kicking out the bottom to escape and jumped back to his feet.

"Get him!" Shredder ordered.

Shinigami appeared from thin air and tried to bind him with her kusarigama, but the eldest turtle jumped over the chain. He reached for a chain connected to the pulley system holding Miwa's cage and sliced through it. It rocketed him up towards the top of the mutagen tank before Shinigami could reach him. He let go of the chain and landed on top of the cage holding his sister. "Hang on, Miwa!" He reached his hand through the top of the coffin-shaped cage to undo the gag around her mouth.

She smiled at him for a brief second before it was gone and replaced by a look of absolute fear. "Leo, behind you!"

"Leonardo!" Splinter shouted from the ground.

Shredder jumped onto the top of the cage as well, slicing his blades at the turtle's throat. At the same time, both Shredder and Leo delivered hard kicks into the other's stomachs, knocking them both from the cage and sprawling onto the floor. The cage, however, fell after Shredder cut the chain holding it up, and Miwa vanished underneath the cyan-colored ooze.

April had briefly described what it was like when she had taken a swim in the mutagen. She said time had slowed almost to a complete standstill and she was aware of anything and everything that was happening in the few seconds it took for her to make contact with the slime.

But that didn't happen for Miwa. Time flashed before her so fast that she wasn't even sure that her scream had left her throat before she was choking on the thick sludge. She tried to keep her head above the surface of the ooze, but the cage she was trapped inside quickly sank and pulled her down to the bottom of the twenty-foot vat. As she was drug further down into the dark muck, she closed her eyes and mouth to try and stop the ooze from infiltrating her orifices. She twisted her head in a desperate attempt to find an air pocket inside the goo, but with each shake it felt like her neck was being jerked off her shoulders, stretching upwards like warm, gooey cheese on pizza. She screamed in pain but as her mouth opened, she felt like she had cut her tongue in half on her teeth. The more she tried to scream and cough, the more it felt like her mouth was ripping open.

Her family would save her. She was Hamato Miwa, the daughter of Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen. Her brother's names were Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. She had two best friends named April O'Neil and Casey Jones. Whatever she was becoming, it wasn't who she was.

Then there was a small stabbing. It started in her throat, just under her chin, but as the intensity of the pain grew, it spread down to the rest of her body. It felt like she had swallowed some glass that was now expanding inside of her, slicing her open from the inside. Once she was certain that the glass had completely cut through her shoulders, it curved up a bit.

But Donnie could fix this. Donnie was the smartest person in New York, possibly on the planet. If anyone could save her, it'd be him. She trusted him with everything.

Her skin prickled like she was getting goosebumps from the cold mucus-like slime. But the goosebumps just kept growing and they were itching like a burning fire. As she thrashed against the cold metal holding her down, she felt her skin peeling away from the goosebumps.

Donnie had retromutagen. Donnie could make retromutagen and fix her the same way he... He...

She felt the bones in her hands shattering and twisting into something else. Her fingers melted together to form nothing but lumps of flesh before something inside them started ripping. They ripped open and now she could feel the warmth of her blood mixing into the mutagen. She wanted to cringe, to curl into a ball and hold her aching, burning, tortured body, but she no longer had any control of what used to be her hands. She could feel the sensation of what felt like teeth biting into her flesh and tearing away the metal binds holding her to the coffin.

Donnie... Donnie would...

Her waist felt restricted and bruised as her body continued to stretch beyond what should've been natural. She felt squished against the cage, her body expanding and convulsing inside the ooze. She kicked, pushed, and fought against the metal until it shattered around her and allowed her body to form unrestrained.

Don..nie?

Her legs kick around aimlessly, unsure of the direction to go to escape the ooze. A pain shot through her hips, just beneath the tightly bound sensation of her waist. It felt like she had been pierced by a long needle, chaining one leg to the other. Then the pain exploded the opposite way, almost like the sick tailor of her misery was sewing her bottom half together.

Fami...

April screamed in a panic, doubling over in shock and pain. Her screams startled Casey, who had previously been trying to balance a hockey puck on his nose, and he accidentally smacked his head against the top of the Shellraiser as he tried to reach her.

"Yo! Red, what's wrong?" Before he could place a concerned hand on her shoulder, she grabbed his arm with every ounce of strength she had. She squeezed so hard that Casey felt like she was trying to snap his radius, and her sharp claw-like nails drew blood. "Ahhh!"

"Something happened..." She muttered, almost trance-like. "Something... Something horrible." She whispered.

"Miwa!" Splinter shrieked in agonizing despair.

"Miwa! No!" Shredder shouted.

"Miwa!" The four brothers cried in unison.

Everyone fell silent as the cage vanished beneath the surface of the glowing ooze. It wasn't long until they could see a river of red filling up the bottom of the tank where the cage had sunk. Raph could clearly see his sister's hand contorting breaking as it reached out for some bit of salvation. A muffled, deep groan could be heard from inside the vat, and out from the sea of blood at the bottom, something circled up towards the top.

A small, fist-sized snake draped over the metal rim of the tank and spat up the mutagen in its mouth. Then another one did the same, followed by a large snake's head finally breaching the surface, spitting up what had to be a gallon of the mutagen. It slumped over the side and fell limply to the ground.

Splinter's tail slashed the two Footbots holding him in half while he tugged the stunned Tiger Claw off his feet and knocked him back. Splinter leapt to his feet and stabbed the blade of his staff into the respiratory system Fishface wore, instantly taking down the snakehead mutant. Splinter caught the large, strange creature before it hit the ground, and cradled it in his arms. A series of high-pitched squeaks broke from his throat, the only way his mutated body allowed him to cry. "Miwa... My beautiful, sweet child..."

"Oh no..." No one had even bothered to look when Casey and April entered the warehouse, but those five words confirmed their fears.

"Splinter, behind you!" April suddenly shouted.

The sharp, diamond-shaped end of Miwa's tail rose into the air as her once brilliant amber eyes opened to reveal a piercing, serpent green color. The tail slapped Splinter away, knocking him clear across the warehouse. Miwa hissed at the Footbots attempting to capture her and sliced them clean in two. Her snake-hands clamped onto the shoulders of one of the robot and she bit down on the head of the robot, decapitating it with her razor sharp fangs. In a wild rampage of fear and confusion, she took out all of the Footbots while the sentiment Foot Clan members maneuvered to avoid the mindless serpent. She tossed the last robotic limb of her current target into a vial of chemicals while she tried to devour the robot.

"Tienes que levantarte, hombre." Casey shook Leo from his frozen state. Leo sucked in a breath of oxygen and shook his head a few times before he got to his weak legs. He raced towards the closest trap and freed Mikey while Casey and April rescued Raph and Donnie, respectively.

The robot's dismembered arm sparked the chemicals around it, igniting the warehouse in flames. This only further upset the confused Miwa.

"No!" Stockman-Fly cried out. "My lab! Why izzzz it always my lab?"

As smoke quickly started to fill the warehouse, Shredder blindly stomped his way in the direction Splinter had gone flying, until he found the rat. "You, Hamato Yoshi! You did this!"

Splinter turned his head to look at the man he once called brother. Something inside the rat snapped, and he hissed in devastation and fury. He ran at Shredder on all fours, but was accosted by falling debris that separated the Hamato and Foot almost perfectly.

Shinigami gave one last look at the viper mutant before she lowered her hat to cover her eyes. 「さようなら、美しい美和さん。本当にごめんなさい。」 She whispered before she vanished.

"No!" Shredder snarled at the flaming debris blocking his murderous rage.

"Master Shredder, we must go!" Tiger Claw grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Leave me!" Shredder shoved the tiger off of him, stabbing into the flesh of the assassin.

Tiger Claw yowled in pain, but held himself back from retaliating. "Hamato will suffer for what happened today! You have won!"

"Won?" Shredder looked up at the diamond-shaped tail that poked up over the wreckage for a brief moment. No, this was far from over. "I will avenge your daughter, Shen. I swear it."

Splinter was trying to claw his way through the debris, seeing nothing but red. "Sensei, we have to get out of here!" Mikey tried to grab his father, but the rat refused to budge.

"Splinter, please!" April grabbed Splinter's other arm, trying to help Mikey drag him backwards. "We have to get Miwa out of here!"

"Mi..wa..." Splinter stopped fighting and turned back to his daughter, circling the enclosed space of the warehouse, trying to escape the flames. "You are right..." He said softly.

"Miwa, it's me!" Raph tried. "You, you gotta come with us!" He stepped towards the cornered snake, but she hissed and snapped her jaws at him.

Splinter pushed his way to the front of the teenagers, making sure he was the first one she would attack if it came to pass. "Miwa, you must listen to me!" He tried to keep his voice level. "We must go!"

She lunged at him, coiling herself around him to suffocate her prey.

"My daughter," He wheezed out. "Please... save yourself..."

The main head of the snake tilted as her tongue flicked outside her mouth. Those green eyes that were clouded with desperation and fear relaxed, clearing away some of the fog. "Ssssensssi?" She spoke slowly, the word so familiar but so foreign at the same time.

"Miwa," He repeated her name again.

Her tongue flicked again before let out a pained hiss, the two snake heads she had for hands wrapping around her torso to bite at her flesh. She released Splinter and slithered towards the wall of the warehouse. She bashed her tail against it a few times before it gave way. She tried to slip out of the opening, but Raph blocked her way.

"Miwa, no!"

She spat a milky white venom into his face, causing him to scream and fall backwards.

"Miwa, wait!" Leo ran after her.

"Donnie, what are you doing?" April shouted watching Donnie on the side of the mutagen vat.

Casey came up and grabbed the turtle by the legs, pulling him down to the concrete before the turtle could dip his hand into the mutagen. "¿Estás jodidamente loco?" Casey yelled at Donnie. "You tryna be a snake too?"

Donnie shaking hand revealed a shattered test tube sticking out of his palm. "T-t-tr-trying... S-s-s-s-ample." He tried to explain.

Casey helped Donnie to his feet. "We gotta get outta here! The police and shit will be here any second!" He took the driver's seat while Leo helped Raph in the back.

"Easy, Raph." Leo said, pouring water onto Raph's face.

"Enough!" Raph pushed him away. "I can see fine now!"

April held Miwa's tessen tightly in her hands and she tried to keep herself from openly sobbing.

"You can fix her, right Dee?" Mikey whimpered to his older brother. "Make retromutagen for her?"

Donnie flexed his fingers, causing blood to pool underneath the bandages Leo had just placed. Using his other hand, he quickly signed that he had been trying to get a sample of the mutagen Stockman had tampered with.

"But can't ya fix her?" Raph shouted.

I don't know. Donnie answered. I hope so.

The liquid from the sky splashed away some of the lingering pain of... Well she wasn't sure of what... She wasn't even sure if she was she? Who was she?

She stopped to examine the creature starting back up at from the puddle on the ground. That didn't look right... The scales shifted to a form that felt more natural. The right snake morphed away and she stroked the scales on her face.

She was scared... She wanted to go home. But, where was home? And why did she know that going home was dangerous?

Chapter Text

"So, how we gonna break into the museum, Fong?" Sid asked the leader of the Purple Dragons.

Fong smirked at the question and held up a key ring he had swiped earlier in the day. "You want to steal? Steal a key."

The two followers of Fong grinned. "You're so smart, boss," Sid said.

"I know," Laughed Fong. "Now, let's go."

"Uhh, wait a sec," Tsoi grimaced as a thought crossed his mind. "What about that Tsumiki-Hamato girl? A-and her freaky gang of turtles?"

"Relax, dumbass," Fong rolled his eyes. "Heard through the grapevine that something bad happened to the little bitch not too long ago." His smirk widened and he cackled maliciously. "She's outta our hair now, boys."

April jumped down to the lower rooftop and took a second to catch her breath. She had been in kunoichi training for nearly nine months, but she was still shocked at how much stronger she felt. She wasn't full of herself, she knew that physically she didn't hold a candle to the turtles, Splinter, Miwa, or Casey, but she didn't feel like passing out after running half a block now. Hell, she could scale fire escapes and run across rooftops without breaking much of a sweat now. 

She frowned as the thought of her friend crossed her mind. A week had passed since Miwa's mutation, and despite going out every night since to search for her, no one had found anything. Splinter had left the lair to search the sewer tunnels for miles and miles on end without finding even a trace of the mutant snake. It didn't make sense to April. She was so certain that her gift, her Kraang-intuition or whatever, would lead them to their lost friend, but it was like Miwa vanished. She had hypothesized that it had something to do with the way Stockman-Fly had tampered with the mutagen that caused her mutation. In the video Shredder sent to their tPhones, Stockman mentioned that the serpent DNA had been prepared to Shredder's specifications. She guessed that whatever he had done to the mutagen had resulted in Miwa becoming "mindless", but she also couldn't voice her idea without any actual proof. After all, mutagen was unpredictable. Sometimes it left the victim's mind intact, like Splinter, Rahzar, and Fishface, and sometimes it fucked with their mind. Like her father or Timothy.

With a sigh, April continued on the stakeout path her team had been given for the night. She pulled out one of Donnie's binoculars to scan the street below. Her heart palpitated when she caught sight of a slight disturbance. A trash can started moving back and forth, but a second later, a cat came around the side of it, and her fluttering heart instantly sank. 

"That is not true!" Donnie huffed at Casey. "I've gone through years of intense physical training. Ninjas are some of the most skilled athletes on the planet." To emphasize his point, he did a double backflip over the edge of the rooftop to join April. He fell a whole story before he bounced off a cart's rain tarp, used the momentum of his jump to grab onto the fire escape propel himself upward, and landed gracefully next to the redhead.

Casey rolled his eyes in response to the obvious attempt to impress April. "Yeah, but you're just flipping around, dude!" He climbed up on the edge and pulled down his hockey mask. "Now, this is how Casey Jones crosses rooftops." He kicked out his skates and rolled off the roof, landing on a rope connecting the two buildings. He was able to easily balance on the thin rope and even hopped over the "Welcome to Chinatown" sign hanging in the middle. He jumped up, doing a front flip, to land on his feet.

"Lame!" Donnie crossed his arms.

April felt her eye twitch and she glared back at them. "Oh, will you two quit it? It's hard to concentrate when I have to hear you two bickering!"

"Look, no offense, Red, but, you haven't exactly been leading us in the right direction." Casey scratched the back of his neck. "We haven't seen even a scale of Miwa! And she's fuckin' huge now!"

"Don't talk about my sister like that!" Donnie clicked, glaring at Casey.

"Dude, she's literally, like, fifteen feet long now!" Casey stretched out his arms to emphasize his point. "All I'm sayin is, maybe she's gone. Like, she left town or somethin?"

"So we just give up?" Donnie asked, getting in Casey's face. "Some friend you are!"

"¡Dios mío! I didn't fucking say that!"

"Stop it!" April said sternly.

Donnie frowned and looked at the ground. "Sorry, April... I-I didn't... I just..." 

"Yeah, my bad, Red." Casey sighed.

"Look, we just have to keep looking. She'll turn up eventually." April tried to stay optimistic. "But, Casey, we've only got two weeks left before school starts up again. We try to find her before then or else we'll have to go back to sneaking out at night."

Casey shrugged, "Yeah, yeah, I know." Then he looked back at her with a small smile, "I already sneak out every night, y'know. My dad doesn't know about my mutant friends and alien robots like yours does."

April turned her head to look back at the street, "Wait, do you hear that?"

Casey and Donnie shared a puzzled look. "Uhh, no?"

"Is it-" Donnie started.

"It's not Miwa," April answered his question quickly, "It's the Purple Dragons!" She told them after seeing the trio of bumbling bandits breaking into the Chinatown museum. She held out the binoculars for the boys so they could use the night vision feature. 

Donnie reached for them, but Casey swiped them first. "Aww, yeah! Time to kick some dragon butt!"

As quietly as they could, Fong led Sid and Tsoi through the closed museum.

"What're we after, boss?" Sid asked, watching Fong walk past countless treasures that could set them up for life.

"That!" Fong pointed at the far end of the museum to a small display. Inside the glass was a centuries-old dagger that was rusted.

"Uhh, okay... Why?" Sid didn't see the value in that dirty piece of junk.

"Stranko's gonna pay through the roof for it, that's why! We hit the mother lode!"

"Oh, yeah?" Casey smirked when he watched the three stooges jump at the sound of his voice. "Well, you're about to get hit by a mother lode of Casey Jones!" Casey announced, pulling out his bat.

"And Donatello!" Donnie spun out his staff.

Both Donnie and Casey looked at April, who rolled her eyes with a small smile. She shrugged and unsheathed her tanto, "And April O'Neil."

Tsoi grabbed a priceless vase and threw it at the group. Casey pushed his way to the front of April and Donnie and used his hockey blocker glove to block the ceramic weapon. Casey left at Tsoi while Donnie went left after Fong.

Sid charged April, but she was much faster than he was and was able to avoid his heavy punches with relative ease. She jabbed him in the stomach with the hilt of her tanto and rolled under his legs before he could grab her.

Donnie was able to dodge every weak punch that Fong could throw at him. He used his staff to pick up an antique and bring it down on the leader's head.

Casey shot two hockey pucks near Tsoi, who dove between a large statue to avoid them. However, what he didn't see in the dark, was Casey wasn't aiming for the Dragon, but for the statue's head. Once the puck exploded, the large head fell from the statue's shoulders and onto Tsoi's head.

"Ha!" Casey laughed.

Fong tried to knock over a display cabinet, but Donnie stepped to the side and jabbed him in the stomach with his staff. With a groan, Fong tried to get back to his feet, but Casey knocked him upside the head with his hockey stick.

"Hey, we don't attack when they're already down!" Donnie glared at Casey.

"He was about to get up, I saved you!" Casey scoffed.

April struggled against Sid and Tsoi deciding to double-team her while Fong got back up and broke the glass that held the dagger. "Casey! Donnie!"

"I don't need saving, Jones!" Donnie clicked. "You were just trying to impress April! That's all you've been doing all night!"

"Oh, and you're not?" Casey rolled his eyes.

"A little help?" April groaned before Fong broke something across her head, knocking her to the floor.

Donnie flushed a bit and shook his head. "I'm trying to save my sister! That's all I care about right now!"

"Guys!" April interrupted their screaming at each other. 

"Hey, Casey's the one who kept breaking things!"

"Don't go blaming me, Gap-tooth! It's the Dragons who started it!" Casey went to gesture to Fong and the two other buffoons but realized they were gone. "Uhh... Uh oh. Woah, Red, what happened to you?"

April let Donnie help her to her feet, "I'm fine. Just remind me to tell Leo that you two aren't allowed to be on the same team anymore."

"Oh, man!" Sid complained once they got back to their hideout. "We got nothing!"

"That's 'cause you two are losers!" Fong panted. "I got the dagger for Stranko! No thanks to you!"

"Hey, I thought you said the girl wasn't gonna be a problem anymore!" Tsoi glared at his boss.

"Did you see the bitch?" Fong asked. "No, didn't think so. She's taken care of, but the mutant freaks and those two kids are still gonna be a problem..." He looked down at the rusted junk in his hand. "Can you even still open this thing?" He asked. He started trying to pull the dagger free from the sheath, but it took an embarrassingly long time for it to budge. The second the blade was free, it started to glow a neon blue color. “我勒个去？” He dropped the dagger in shock.

An irritating, high-pitched cackle echoed throughout the old building. The light from the dagger turned into a cloud of smoke that filled the entire room before a form took shape. "Greetings, Purple Dragons. You may now bow before your new master, Ho Chan!" The form placed a hand on his chest, indicating that he was Ho Chan. Ho Chan looked like the ghost of a tall Chinese man with long facial hair and some freckles on his face. He wore a large long Chinese robe with green, red, and gold patterns and pictures on it. His hat was about two feet tall with medallions around the bottom.

When the three men just stood there gawking at him, the spirit huffed. "I said bow!" He shot lightning at the feet of his new subordinates, who all dropped to their hands and knees out of fear. "That's better."

"What are you, man? Some kind of ghost?" Fong asked.

"You can call me Ho Chan," Spoke the spirit with a devilish grin. "I was once the greatest practitioner of the most ancient form of martial arts!" He showed them a few of his moves, which of course, left the mortal men speechless. "Which, to the ignorant, untrained eye, looks like magic." He held up three green orbs between his fingers and fanned them together to create a bigger one. "I would have been the ruler of the universe," He snarled before deflating with a whine. "Had I not been trapped in this ancient dagger thousands of years ago!" He fake sobbed into his hand.

"Ummm..."

Ho Chan leaned down into Fong's face wearing a wide smirk. "We are not so different," He laughed at their expressions. "Besides the fact that you are all simpering idiots."

"What does simpering mean?" Sid whispered to Fong.

"But I can make you buffoons strong!" Ho Chan announced. "Powerful! If you serve me."

Fong stood up with a smile. "Hell yeah!"

"Sign me up!" Sid punched his palm.

"I'm down!" Tsoi thumbed himself.

Ho Chan smirked, "As you wish." He raised his hands and generated lightning between his palms. He shot them with the lightning, electrocuting them and lifting them into the air. "Moron, I grant you the power of lightning!" The electricity coursing around Fong seeped into every pore of his body, allowing him to wield it. Complete with his mindless servitude to Ho Chan, he was gifted a straw hat to wear.

"Stupid idiot, you become thunder!" Ho Chan moved on to Sid. Sid held his hands out in front of him, creating a black void that exploded against the ground, shaking the building with the intense sound of thunder.

"And numbskull, you are wind!" Tsoi spun around in the air, creating a small vortex that threatened to topple the weak building. The three slaves dropped back to their knees to bow to their master. "Together, we will conquer the world!" Ho Chan grimaced as he watched a rat run across the table. "As for this lair... It'll serve... For now."

The two teams met up near the entrance to the lair, all six teenagers looking defeated.

"Any luck?" Leo asked.

"No sign of Miwa," Donnie answered sadly. "But we just had a crazy run-in with the Purple Dimwits."

"Oh, yeah," April sighed, rubbing at her temples. "Leo, for the love of god, do not put these two on the same team again."

"Why? What'd Casey do?" Raph smirked.

"Why is everything always my fault?" Casey frowned.

"You let them get away!" Donnie reminded him with a click.

"We let them get away..." Casey corrected him half-heartedly.

"Relax, dudes," Mikey shrugged. "It's just the Purple Dragons. They're harmless! They're like a level one boss battle."

"Yeah." Raph agreed. "Sides, it wouldn't feel right beating them up without..." He trailed off, leaving the night air cool and melancholy.

"The sun'll be up soon," Leo sighed. "We gotta call it a night."

“Oh!” Donnie smacked himself in the head before he started digging around in his mission bag. “April, I made these motion security cameras to help us look for Miwa! Think you can put them up around town?”

April smiled and took the bag of small cameras. They were about the size of a button and there were dozens of them. “Sure thing, Dee.”

“Give me a handful, Red,” Casey suggested as the two teenagers left to return to their homes. “We can put ‘em up together!”

Donnie frowned, watching them walk off.

Back in the lair, Donnie sighed while he played with a chain bracelet that Miwa had given him years ago.

“Don, could you sigh a little louder?” Raph looked up from his comic book. “I don’t think they heard you in China.”

“Sorry, just thinking about something Casey said.” Donnie replied.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” Mikey asked, plopping down on the couch next to his brothers.

“Well, maybe we’re having trouble finding Miwa because she’s not in New York anymore.” Donnie muttered.

“But, why would she leave?” Mikey got defensive at the idea. “This is her home! We’re her family!”

“But she doesn’t know that, Mikey.” Donnie tried to explain. “The mutagen messed with her head.”

“She called Splinter “Sensei”,” Raph pointed out. “She’s gotta remember something!”

“And she immediately followed that up with attacking both you,” Donnie said to Raph, “And herself.”

“So, what are you saying, Donnie?” Raph asked, gripping the pages of his comic so hard that they were crumpling. “We just give up on her? Move on?”

“No, I’m saying we should think about widening our search radius.” Donnie flinched at what Raph was accusing him of. “She’s scared and confused, and doesn’t know where she’s safe.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. Let’s use our awesome deduction skills!” Mikey said. “Where do snakes hang out?”

Donnie’s eyes widened, “That’s actually a good idea, Mikey. Based on the snake shown in the video and her mutated appearance, I’d say she’s a Cerastes cerastes.”

“Uh, no, dude.” Mikey looked confused. “She’s a snake.”

Donnie rolled his eyes, “The Cerates cerates is a species of snake, Shellbrain. The other names include White Horned Viper, Desert Horned Viper, and Saharan Horned Viper.”

“So, what does that tell us?” Raph asked.

“Well, they’re found in North Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula. Their typical habitat is hot, and dry, sandy areas with sparse rock outcroppings, and they tend to avoid coarse sand. Occasionally they are found around oases, and up to an altitude of-"

“Donnie, stop with the nerd stuff!” Raph snapped.

With an irritated click, Donnie summarized what he had previously been saying. “She’ll likely be looking for somewhere warm and dry. Maybe we can find her around water, but that wouldn’t be her first pick.”

“Why do you even know that much about one type of snake?” Raph asked.

“April and I watched the video a million times. Once I recognized the snake, I did some research.”

“Why’d you watch it so much?” Mikey asked, cringing at image of the brutal death of the rat.

“I was hoping Stockman might’ve labeled some of the chemicals he used to change the mutagen.” Donnie sighed. “No luck. And without a sample of the mutagen batch, and no Miwa DNA, my next batch of retromutagen isn’t looking very promising.” He frowned.

“Can’t you just use some hair from her brush or something?” Mikey suggested.

“I need her mutant DNA, numbskull.”

Leo came in from the dojo with a tired expression. He sat down on the couch and closed his eyes.

“Splinter still not sleeping?” Raph asked him. “It’s been days.”

Leo shook his head. “He’s either searching the sewers for her, or he’s meditating to try and get some clues about where to find her. Losing Miwa really messed him up.”

“It messed us all up.” Mikey said. “But, shouldn’t we be trying to heal together?” 

“The only way to heal things, is by getting Miwa back.” Raph hissed before stomping off to his room.

“We still got a few hours until sundown.” Leo yawned. “Let’s just hope April and Casey’s cameras find a sign of her.”

Ho Chan leaned over the table to get a look at the fortune cookie. He wished that he could taste it or even smell it. He read the so-called fortune inside. “You will be surrounded by great opulence.” He scoffed, looking around at the dingy factory he now called a Lair. Then he looked back up at his moronic slaves trying to figure out how to properly use the gifts he had so graciously given them.

“Stop messing around!” He snapped his fingers and his slaves came back to bow at his feet. “Now I need you to perform a very important task for me. Before I was awakened, I had visions of a girl who could sustain my being in this world permanently. I know she lives in this era, and I know she lives in this city. She has red and pink hair, and otherworldly green eyes. I see her in a yellow jumpsuit… Or, maybe just a t-shirt. And a brown jacket. Her skin is stained a bright pink and she bares sharp teeth. Her name is April O’Neil.”

"You're doing great, Sunita!" Casey said as he glided across the ice with his friend. "You don't gotta squeeze so hard." 

"Sorry," She released her hold on his hand a bit.

"Looking good, Red," Casey winked at April as he and Sunita passed her. "You're a natural!"

April rolled her eyes as she wobbled on the ice. "No, I'm not!"

"Easy, April," Irma caught her before she fell. "Don't get over confident with your strides, you gotta take it slow at first."

"Noted," April groaned.

"Hey, don't let it get ya down." Casey guided Sunita over to where April and Irma were still linked together. "Not everybody can be as cool on the ice as Casey Jones. I was practically born in the rink. My old man was on a pro hockey team before he quit to become a bloodsucking parasite."

"You mean a lawyer, Jones?" Irma raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's what I said." Casey said playfully. "Where'd you learn to skate, Irma?"

"Oh, my mom taught me years ago." Irma shrugged. "But I don't think I've gone ice skating since starting high school."

Casey yawned and leaned his chin on Sunita's head. "Well, glad I can still get ya active, nerd."

"Hey, I'm short, not a pillow!" Sunita wiggled as much as she dared while still on slippery ground.

"Sorry, Sun, I didn't get much sleep last night." Casey said.

"You barely sleep at all." Irma pointed out. "Casey, you gotta start taking better care of yourself."

"Whatever, mom." Casey huffed.

"What do you do that keeps you up all night?" Sunita asked. Then she looked over at the suspiciously quiet April, "Same to you, O'Neil."

"What? Oh, well," April started.

"April and I like to hang out alone sometimes." Casey answered. "Why, you jealous?" He teased Sunita.

"Hardly," She scoffed and pushed his face away from her. "You're not my type, Jones."

"I know, that's why I asked if you were jealous of me." He stuck his tongue out at her playfully.

"You mean, me?" April's eyes widened, pointing a gloved finger towards herself.

Sunita blushed and shook her head. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not interested in dating anyone right now. I'm focused on finding my missing brother."

"Man, you sound just like-" Casey caught himself before mentioning the Hamato.

"Like what?" Irma pressed.

"Nevermind, it's nothing." Casey said quickly. "Come on, Sun. I think you're ready for some backwards skating!"

"Casey, no!" Sunita squirmed as Casey pulled her away back towards the middle of the ice.

Irma huffed, annoyed that Casey avoided her question like the plague. "April, I know you and Casey are hiding something." She said quietly.

April stiffed, "What? What are you talking about?"

"You don't have to tell me," Irma sighed. "But neither one of you are good at hiding it."

April frowned at the hurt expression on her friend's face. Until recently, Irma was the only real friend that April had ever made. It killed her to hide such a big secret from her, but she didn't have any other choice. "Look, Irma, I-"

Thunder shook the ice rink, knocking both girls off their feet. Casey lost his grip on Sunita and she fell to the ground and started sliding across the ice. A hole was blown through the top of the newly repaired ice rink and three floating men entered from above wearing straw hats.

At first April was shocked, but when she recognized the men's faces, even behind the glowing blue eyes, she was even more shocked. "Purple Dragons?"

"Ha!" Casey laughed as he raced over to the edge of the rink to grab his gear. "Ustedes tres perdedores just got your asses kicked! Now you come into my house?"

"Umm, Casey, did you happen to notice these guys are glowing?" Sunita asked, sitting up to gesture at the lighting crackling around the guy in the front.

Irma got to her feet and pulled April up with her. Together they made their way over to Sunita.

Casey shrugged and cracked his neck. "Just makes more interesting targets."

"Damn it, Jones!" April hissed to herself. "Irma, you and Sunita get outta here!" She couldn't get back to her tanto that she left off the ice, so instead she just skated towards the suddenly intimidating dragon trio. Tsoi looked at her with a blank stare and blew her back with winds at the force of a tornado. She flew back and landed against the edge of the rink, leaving a decent sized dent in the wall.

"¡Ey! If you're gonna mess with anyone here, you mess me with!" Casey yelled and threw down couple of hockey pucks so he could launch them at the ambushers.

Tsoi created a small air pocket that caught the pucks before they were anywhere near the trio. Then he sent them back at Casey, who dove out of the way. Sid clapped his hands together, creating a sound shockwave that split the ice, trapping Casey's legs. Fong conjured lightning between his fingers and sent it after Casey, who blocked the electricity with his wooden stick. The force of the electrokinesis ripped Casey from the ice and sent him flying back into the hockey goal, that sounded off when he made contact with the net.

"Casey!" Irma cried out.

"Back off!" April warned the trio as they closed in on her. She tried to get up, but slipped on the ice. She looked over at her tanto sitting by her boots and wished she could get to it.

"Leave her alone!" Sunita yelled. She picked up some of the loose ice caused by the thunderous ice splitting and threw it at the trio.

Tsoi waved away the icy projectile and used the wind to bring Sunita over to them. Sid clapped again, making both April and Sunita double over, covering their ears. Deafened and confused, they weren't able to fight off their abductors.

"Put them down, you creeps!" Irma jumped up and grabbed onto Sid's legs, doing whatever she could to make them drop her friends when they started flying out of the hole in the building.

April looked back down at her tanto and healed out her hand, trying desperately to reach it. She watched it shake even thought there was nothing to disturb it on the bench. Then it flew into her hands.

Casey regained his consciousness just in time to watch all three of his friends get carried off by the superpowered Purple Dragons. "¡No! ¡Devuélvemelos!"

Carried in by Fong, Sid, and Tsoi respectively, April, Irma, and Sunita all thrashed in their kidnappers' hands when they were brought up to meet their captor. Ho Chan grinned when he spotted April. "Aha!" He floated over to her, eyeing her up and down. "Yes, I can sense it! You have power in you! A power you have barely tapped. Unfortunately, for you, it will belong to Ho Chan, now." He took off her sunglasses, drinking in the way her neon eyes seemed to glow in the dim light.

Then he turned his attention to the other two girls. He approached Sunita first, looking at her curiously. "Two different colored eyes? As interesting as that is, I'd hardly have use of this one."

"It's called heterochromia, dumbass!" She snapped at him. "What are you, some kind of ghost?"

"Perhaps that something is your mouth." Ho Chan muttered, disgusted with her vulgar language. "Indeed. I have been cursed without flesh for thousands of years." Then he looked at Irma, who returned the stare.

He took off her glasses, making her squint, "Hey! I need those, Ho Bag!"

Ignoring the disrespectful comment, he looked deep into her greenish-cyan colored eyes. "There's something about you." He said. "Something that I do not understand, yet. You will explain this power, or suffer my-"

April jammed the hilt of her tanto as hard she could into Fong's stomach. She then elbowed him in the face, knocking him over the railing and drew out her blade. "Leave my friends, alone! Or else!" She threatened.

Irma stomped on Sid's foot, making him scream as the blade of her ice-skate broke through his boot and sliced into his flesh. She head-butted him in the chin and broke out of his hold.

Sunita wiggled out of Timothy's jacket she wore and kicked Tsoi in the stomach when he grabbed at her.

"Useless peons." Ho Chan rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers.

Sunita and Irma both when rigid and fell unconscious at his feet.

"I said, leave them alone!" April snarled, though she had no clue how she was supposed to fight a freaking ghost. With another snap of his fingers, a blue light unraveled from his palm and wrapped around April like a rope. She tried to fight against the binds, but the more she struggled, the tighter they got. Ho Chan quickly bound Irma and Sunita in the same fashion.

"My power is ancient and vast," He told the struggling redhead. "But two of you exhibit a power I have never encountered." He looked gleeful at this declaration. "A power that Ho Chan will take to become flesh once more and rule the universe!" He cackled maliciously at the thought. "Now, we start the ritual!"

"You're saying you just let them take April and your friends?" Donnie yelled.

"Yo, I don't know how they did it, but those dudes got powers now!" Casey defended himself while gearing up for the fight ahead. "The one dude was like zap-zap, lightning shit! And then, the big guy was all like," Casey clapped his hands together, "And then the whole building shook! And the other one was all like whoosh whoosh!"

"You hit your cabeza, Jones?" Donnie scoffed. "They're just a gang of third-class wannabes! They don't have powers!"

"Then explain the Grand Canyon over in the ice, Smartass!" Casey pointed over to the ice while getting in Donnie's face. "I'm telling ya! They were all throwing lightning bolts and blasting wind and making earthquakes!"

"Like me after I eat broccoli!" Mikey tried to make a joke. "Heh!"

"Enough!" Leo pushed Casey and Donnie apart before they started beating on each other instead of the villains who took April, Irma, and Sunita. "Maybe Casey's right, or maybe he hit his head. Either way, we gotta save April and her friends. Let's go."

The five teenagers made their way over to the Dragon's lair. By the time they got there, the superpowered Purple Dragons were outside the Fortune Cookie factory on lookout.

"They look like the same losers as always." Raph muttered.

"No, check out their eyes." Leo pointed out. "They're glowing!"

"Check out their sweet hats!" Mikey smiled. "They're awesome!"

"Glowing eyes or not, they're still the Loser Dragons. How tough could they be?" Raph rolled his emerald eyes. "Let's get this over with so we can go back to lookin' for Miwa."

Casey jumped on his bike and raced towards Tsoi with his bat extended. "Goongala!" Tsoi turned his body to the side and then mocked like he was throwing a baseball, but instead it was a gust of wind that blew Casey off his bike and sent him sprawling across the street. Casey coughed and groaned on the ground, but the hockey gear he dawned help take some of the brunt of the attack.

"Okay, so they're a little tougher than I thought." Raph admitted, spinning out his sai.

Fong sent a bolt of lightning at the turtles, causing them to scatter to avoid it. Donnie spun his staff and jumped up for an overhead hit, but Tsoi came out of nowhere and blasted him back down. Donnie was sent through a dumpster, a jagged piece of metal breaking off and slicing deep into his left bicep.

Sid flew at Mikey who ducked under his outstretched arms and threw his nunchucks in the air over his head. Mikey flipped over Sid while catching his weapons, which he quickly used to smack Sid in the head multiple times in quick session. He finished off the largest Dragon with a solid kick in the chest.

Fong targeted Leo, who moved too fast for the new lighting wielder to hit directly. Leo did a barrel roll in the air, slamming his leg into Fong's side and knocking him into Sid on the ground.

Coming up behind Tsoi, Raph used the electric upgrade to his sais to shock the distracted wind-zombie. He tossed the limp body into the same pile as the other Dragons. "But Purple Dragons are still Purple Dragons." He added onto his previous statement.

"Now, lets get April and her friends." Leo said to his brothers.

Just as the three brothers were about to enter the factory, a sudden flash of lightning made them turn around. A spirit of what looked like an old Chinese Emperor was looking at them curiously. "Ah! Behold! Treacherous warriors!"

"Dude, an actual ghost?" Mikey's eyes widened as they got into a battle stance. "I thought this stuff only happened around Halloween! This is so freaky!"

"It is said that The Great Turtle helped the god Pang Gu create the world." Spoke the spirit, wearing a mischievous smile. "I wonder what three can do for me." Before the trio of turtles could react, he struck them with his magic. He transferred the powers from the peons into the turtles, orange was given wind, blue was given lightning, and red was given thunder. Ho Chan laughed and clapped his hands together in delight.

"But, Master, why?" Fong quivered on the ground, his body completely drained of strength after his power was stolen.

"Because you're losers." Answered the ghost with a roll of his eyes. "Get out of my sight before I send you to the Abyss of Infinite Morons!"

The Dragons ran off, their weakened bodies continuously stumbling and tripping over each other as they did.

"Guys?" Donnie whimpered, seeing his brothers mindlessly floating in the air like the Purple Dragons had been doing previous.

"Eso no es bueno," Casey muttered to himself.

"Your guys are my guys now." Ho Chan laughed. "Bye-bye for now!" He waved before disappearing back into the factory.

Casey watched Leo charging up a lightning bolt, "We gotta go, Donnie!" He turned to the purple-shelled turtle, expecting to see him on his feet. Instead, Donnie was still laying in the ruins of the dumpster, clutching his bleeding arm and shaking. "Donnie!" As Leo got closer, Casey grabbed Donnie by the arm and practically dragged him down the street to find cover. "Move, come on!" Casey spotted the Shellraiser and forced Donnie inside of the vehicle. He jumped in the driver's seat, turned the tank on, and drove away from the shop as fast as he could. It was hard to avoid the zombie-turtle's attacks when Casey couldn't see them, but managed to loose them in a small alleyway. With only minor damage to the Shellraiser in the process.

After Casey gave himself a moment to catch his breath, he turned around in the seat, ready to yell at Donnie. But, he stopped the verbal assault before it left his throat when he saw Donnie.

Donnie was curled up on the floor, rocking back and forth with his hands over his ears. Blood was still flowing from the gash on his arm, and now it was all over the back of the Shellraiser, as well as on Donnie's face. Over and over, he kept muttering, "Gone, gone, gone, gone,"

Casey stood up and approached Donnie slowly, "Yo, dude, you alright?"

"Gone, gone, gone, gone..."

"Hey, take a deep breath," Casey tried to console him. "It... It'll be alright."

"No!" Donnie shouted, tears falling from his eyes. "Miwa and now Leo, Raph, and Mikey! They're gone! Gone, gone, gone, gone!"

Casey frowned but let Donnie cry in silence. Once he started to calm down, Casey outstretched both of his hands. "Squeeze," He told Donnie. "It'll help."

Still rocking, Donnie reached out and took Casey's hands. He gently squeezed them.

"Come on, you can do it harder than that." Casey said, wearing a cheeky smile. "I can handle it." He almost regretted saying that when Donnie's grip tightened so hard that he thought the turtle was trying to break his fingers.

After a few more minutes of this, Donnie let go and wiped at his eyes with his non-bloody hand. "S-s-sorry."

Casey shook his head, "Don't worry about it. Look, I... I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, but... You know, they're only gone if we stop trying to get them back." He rubbed at his hands subconsciously. "If I lost my sister, I don't know what..." He looked back at Donnie, who still looked on the verge of crying. "But, I know we can get your brothers back tonight. Right now. And April too! And Irma and Sunita."

Donnie nodded and took a deep breath. "You're right..." Then he looked at his hands, suddenly very aware of blood. He let out a whine and got to his shaking legs to wash the blood off of him. Casey took the last water bottle in the Shellraiser to wash his hands clean of Donnie's blood once Donnie was done with it.

"Leo hasn't restocked the med kit..." Donnie whimpered.

Casey looked around, trying to find something to help Donnie's bleeding. He took off his bandana and poured the last bit of water on it. "Here," He offered, holding the bandana for Donnie to inspect.

"Thanks," Donnie gave him a small smile.

"No problem," Casey returned the smile and tied the bandana securely around Donnie's bicep. "Now, let's get your brothers, April, and my friends back." He held out a fist bump, which Donnie returned.

Just as they were starting to come up with a plan, the Shellraiser's monitor system altered them that something was in the alley with them. They crept out of the safety of the turtle tank, making sure to be as quiet as possible in case it was the zombie turtles. Donnie heard rustling behind the dumpster and directed Casey towards the sound. Casey and Donnie nodded and together they quickly rolled the dumpster out of the way and shoved their fellow alleygoers against the wall.

"You better start talking, punk!" Casey said in Fong's face.

"Who is that and what did he do to my brothers?" Donnie turned his bō into a mallet, which he held over the trio of Dragon's menacingly.

"He came out of this dagger, like a spirit!" Fong told them as he pulled out the dagger's sheath he had swiped the night previous.

Donnie took the old sheath to examine it under his work goggles. As it was scanned, the result came back that it was at least four thousand years old, dating back to the Shang Dynasty.

"He promised us great power, but once we had it, he controlled us like puppets!" Fong kept going when Casey raised his bat for more information.

"Who is he?" Casey asked.

"He, he called himself Ho Chan!" Fong answered.

Casey and Donnie shared a look and nodded. "Beat it, losers." Casey sighed, gesturing towards the exit of the alleyway with his bat. The trio of idiots scrambled to freedom while Donnie and Casey went back inside the Shellraiser.

Donnie got on his computer and started looking up anything he could find on Ho Chan. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find any reference of anyone from the Shang Dynasty era by that name. All he was getting was recipes for dumpling soup. “No! I don’t want soup!” He groaned.

“Why don’t you check out the museum page on the dagger?” Casey suggested.

“Oh! Casey, you’re brilliant!” Donnie beamed and did exactly as Casey said. The page held a myth about the dagger. “The dagger is rumored to hold the spirit of an ancient sorcerer who lived during the Shang Dynasty, from 1600 to 1046 B.C.” Donnie read.

“Oh, snap!” Casey exclaimed. “This dude’s old as hell!” 

“According to legend, the only thing that can defeat Ho Chan is the dagger itself.” Donnie finished.

“Okay, so, how do we stab a ghost?” Casey asked.

“We don’t have to,” Donnie answered. “Just putting the blade back in the sheath should seal him away again.”

“And, what about stopping your bros?” Casey asked, hesitantly. “We gotta get past them first.”

Donnie sighed. “They’re in some kind of superpowered hypnotic state, I don’t know how to get them out of it.”

Casey frowned, but then got an idea when the museum’s page got a pop-up add for a deal at a pizza place. “Maybe we can’t, but pizza can.”

“Don’t ya think we should’ve gotten more than one?” Casey asked as Donnie drove them back towards the factory.

Donnie smirked, “Nope, one is plenty. We won’t need to distract them if they’re fighting each other.”

“Smart!”

“I know.”

The hypnotized brothers were waiting outside the factory right where the Purple Dragons were standing previously. “Ready?” Casey asked, pulling down his mask.

“Not really,” Donnie still didn’t like the idea of fighting his brothers, even if it was to save them. “Let’s do it.”

Casey threw open the door to the Shellraiser to get their attention. “Yo! Miss me?” He asked. Leo threw a blast of lightning that Casey barely avoided. He kicked out his skates to draw their attention away from Donnie. “Come on, Leo! I know you’re faster than that!”

Raph clapped his hands, breaking the road in front of Casey and making him fall face first. “Creo que eso soltó otro diente...” Casey moaned. Mikey created a vortex around Casey that lifted him into the air and brought him over to the three zombie turtles. Leo started to charge up another blast of lightning now that his prey couldn’t escape from him.

“Hey, Shellbrains!” Donnie shouted, making their glowing blue eyes look up at him from underneath the straw hats. “Anyone order a pizza?” He opened the box to show off the hot and fresh meat-lovers.

"Pizza?" Repeated the zombies in unison. Mikey dropped the vortex lifting up Casey, his hand twitching like he didn't know wether or not to reach for a slice or obey his master. But, once Mikey charged forward, Raph and Leo were right behind him. Donnie dropped the box and ran over to Casey while the brothers fought over the box with their newfound powers.

"Damn, you guys like pizza, don't you?" Casey teased Donnie.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go get April and the others!" Donnie rolled his eyes.

April struggled in Ho Chan’s magical grasp, trying to force her body to break his hold on her. Ho Chan either didn’t notice her attempt to break free, or didn’t think she was capable of doing it, because he started writing ancient Chinese characters in the air to start the ritual. When he approached Sunita with the floating characters first, she was able to force out, "Get away from her.”

He turned to April, an amused expression on his lips. “You are powerful indeed. Fine, we’ll start with you.” He hit her with the magic instead.

April screamed in agony as her body felt like every ounce of life was being sucked from her being. Her head was spinning with the blinding pain, but she knew that if she could just free herself, then she could save Irma and Sunita. She had no clue how, but she did it before, so she tried to will her tanto to move again, just like it had back at the rink.

"Why don't we both just go up there and whack him while his eyes are closed?" Casey whispered to Donnie as they watched Ho Chan doing something to April.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Donnie answered.

“Why?” 

“Because I think he heard you.” Donnie replied, grabbing Casey’s head and turning him towards the ghost looking over at them.

“Whack me?” Ho Chan asked, exasperated. “You don’t whack a four-thousand-year old Master. You beg for mercy and then-“

With the spirit distracted, April was able to muscle through the pain and grab her tanto. “Run, you guys! Get out of here!” She yelled at Casey and Donnie.

Ignoring April, Ho Chan continued to monologue to the boys. "I will call upon my slaves to put an end to your physical existence while I finish regaining my-"

April sliced through the apparition with her blade, but it didn't do anything to the ghost.

"Stubborn child," Ho Chan gave her a mocking smile before he snapped his fingers. After a couple of seconds of nothing happening, he snapped again. Then again. Then again. And again, and again, and again. "What? They do not respond. It's like some power greater than my own holds them outside."

Donnie and Casey took out their weapons, ready to finish this. Donnie lowered his goggles and started scanning the factory, looking for the missing blade to the sheath he had hidden in his mission pouch.

"Goongala!" Casey charged in and drove his bat right through the ghost's head.

"Oops!" Laughed Ho Chan. "You missed!" He waved his hand, causing a wave of magic to smack Donnie off the second floor railing.

"Donnie!" April struggled in the ghost's magical hold. She saw he was pointing at something behind her. She followed his finger and saw that there was an old dagger sitting next to where Ho Chan was busy laughing at Casey's futile attempts to hit him. She turned over her palm and stared at the dagger, focusing every bit of energy she had into trying to will it towards her.

"Fine, I will handle you myself." Ho Chan decided. He ripped a hole in the wall and used it to start crushing Casey against the floor.

Donnie ran back up the stairs, trying to lift the wall off of his friend. "Hold on, Jones!"

"Come... Here!" April shouted, closing her fist. That action pulled the dagger off the table like it was tied to a string, and it flung into April's hand. She spun the dagger around and plunged it into Ho Chan's back. But instead of phasing through him like her tanto had, this blade stabbed into his very soul, making him scream.

"No!" Ho Chan form turned into a blue smoke that swirled back into the dagger before clattering to the floor. April, Irma, and Sunita fell limply to the ground.

Even though Ho Chan was gone, Casey was still being smushed, so Donnie tossed the sheath to April. "Put the dagger back in here!"

April still felt like her soul had been nearly tugged out of her body, so she crawled her best over to the glowing dagger and sealed it back inside the sheath.

"You alright, Casey?" Donnie asked, able to easily lift the wall now that there was no opposing force pushing it down.

"Ehh, it was just a brick wall." Casey waved off the injury. "Thanks, Donatello."

Donnie rolled his eyes and offered Casey a hand up. "Here, April," Donnie held out his hand for the dagger. "I'll make sure to put it somewhere no one will ever find it again."

"Promise?" She laughed, handing it over. April's ears picked up the sound of Irma starting to stir. "Donnie, you gotta get outta here before they see you."

"Right," Donnie nodded. "I gotta go find my brothers anyway."

Watching Donnie leave, April leaned over to Casey. "Do I even wanna know what happened to them?"

Casey shrugged, "They got pizza out of it."

"April? Casey?" Irma asked, adjusting her glasses that slipped off her nose.

"What... Happened?" Sunita groaned, sitting up. "Where'd that weird ghost asshole go?"

"You got a bad bump on your head, Sun." Casey laughed, nervously.

"Yeah, whatever you saw was just a nightmare." April nodded, backing up his lie.

"Right..." Irma narrowed her eyes at that.

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid." Sunita broke away from Casey as he tried to help her up. "I know what I saw, you and Irma saw it too."

"Sun-"

"Don't!" Sunita smacked Irma's hand away. "You three act like there isn't something weird going on here, but I know there is! A giant, mucus monster, giant rats, a fucking ghost, I'm not an idiot!" She pointed an accusatory finger at both April and Casey, "And you two are hiding something! At first I thought maybe you were secretly dating, but I know its something else. Tell me what it is! Now!"

Casey looked at April, unsure of what to do or say.

"Sunita, nothing is-"

"Why have you been hiding behind those sunglasses, April?" Sunita kept going. "What's wrong with your eyes? Why are they glowing? Weren't they blue before?"

April's hand shot up to her face only to realize she had forgotten to put the sunglasses back on.

"And what's wrong with your hands?" She kept going. "Why does it look like you're turning pink?"

"I-"

"Sunita, enough!" Irma stepped between April and Sunita, being a barrier between them. "I get it, Sunita, I do. But if April isn't-"

"Save it!" Sunita stomped off. "Unless its the truth, I don't want to hear it."

"Sunita, wait!" Casey yelled after her, but all he got in return was the middle finger.

Irma lowered her head and sighed. "Whatever you two are hiding, I won't demand answers." She said over her shoulder. "But friends shouldn't keep secrets from each other."

Chapter Text

"Hamato, the Kraang have perfected the mutagen. They're about to-"

"Halt, that which is referred to as "escaped captive."

"Leo! Come watch the final episode of Super Robot Mecha Force-Five Team Five with us!" Mikey called from the couch while trying to wrestle the popcorn out of Raph's hands.

"Hmm?" Leo seemed dazed as he drank some of the coffee that April and Casey had brought them. "Oh, I, I don't know." Leo was planning on going back to his room to look over the map of New York to cross off the places they checked last night for their missing sister.

"Hey, remember what we talked about!" Mikey frowned at his eldest brother's attempted avoidance.

Leo sighed and chugged down the rest of the coffee. He was definitely more of a tea person. "Okay, okay. Scoot over." They had all promised each other to take some time off from thinking about everything wrong in their lives every once in a while, lest they drive themselves crazy.

"I love this show so much!" Mikey squealed in joy as Donnie put the VHS tape into the player. "I wish they were real, and we were the fictional characters! What if someone somewhere is watching us on TV right now?"

"Or reading about us in a book or online," Donnie suggested playfully.

"That'd be one kickass TV show or book," Raph shrugged.

"Oh please," Leo rolled his eyes. "Who'd wanna watch... Teenage mutant ninja turtles?"

Only a couple of minutes into the episode, the tape started unraveling and spitting out of the player, cutting out the feed.

"No!" Mikey whined. "Donnie, save it! Fix it! Please!" He pleaded for his brother's help.

"Relax, Michael." Donnie sighed, getting up from the couch to take out the tape. "It just needs to be rewound. Maybe I can convert it to a CD."

Mikey followed Donnie into the lab, clinging to Leo's arm like he was watching a loved one get wheeled off to surgery. "Fix it, Donnie!"

Donnie's eye twitched and he put the tape down on the work desk. "Mikey, if you're going to keep begging, I'm not gonna do it."

"Hey, don't punish us because Mikey's being annoying." Raph said.

Mikey rushed to the table, accidentally slamming into it as he slid on his knees. "No! I'll be quiet! I can be quiet!"

"Mikey!" Donnie tried to grab the Kraang portable portal before it fell off the desk, but he wasn't fast enough. Once it collided with the ground, it opened, filling the room with a heliotrope colored smoke. The portal flickered after one of the sides was dented from the fall.

"What is that?" Leo asked, coughed as the smoke reached them.

"Kraang atmosphere." Donnie quickly grabbed four small rectangle-shaped devices and handed them to his brothers. "Here, these are filtration units," He explained, showing them how to hook the device against their weapon holders and how to use the tubes to breath properly. "They'll allow us to breathe it safely."

"Why do you have these on hand?" Raph asked after he was no longer choking on the toxic air.

"April and I were testing out the portal a while back," Donnie explained. "I learned the hard way that I can't breathe it. But April can, isn't that cool?" He smiled.

"Guess it makes sense," Leo said. "She is half alien after all."

"So, does that lead to Dimension X?" Mikey asked, looking back at the portal.

"Yeah, April and I-" Donnie was cut off by the Kraang's Communication Orb glowing with an incoming message. It wobbled a bit, going through the translation program before the message played in English.

"Hamato,"

"Leatherhead?" Mikey gasped, tears filling his eyes at the sound of his friend's voice. "He's still alive?"

"Shh!" Raph hushed him. "He's sayin something!"

"They're about to-" The message started over, "Hamato, the Kraang have perfected the mutagen. They're about to- Hamato, the Kraang have perfected the mutagen. They're about to-"

"Oh, no!" Mikey grabbed at the orb. "They must've got him! He needs our help!"

"He must still be in Dimension X." Donnie guessed. "I can't believe he's made it this long... As soon as the portal opened, his signal came through and activated the orb."

"So can the orb tell us where he is?" Mike asked.

Donnie hummed, "Maybe, if I can-"

Mikey ripped the orb away from the computer and ran towards the portal. "I'm coming, Leatherhead!"

"Mikey, no!" Leo grabbed at Mikey's arm.

Mikey punched Leo hard in the face without even turning back to look at him and disappeared through the portal.

"Damn! He got you good!" Raph helped Leo off the floor.

"We gotta go after him!" Leo ignored Raph and ran towards the portal.

The portable key fell from the air after closing, smashing the already dented side of the portal even more.

"No!" Leo rolled across the floor, still in the lab instead of the toxic environment of Dimension X.

"What the-" Raph looked down at the portal key on the ground then back up at where his brother had vanished. "Where did he go?" He shouted, panic rising in his chest.

"He, he's in Dimension X." Donnie answered, shocked and horrified at Mikey's desperate actions to get back his friend.

"No, no, no, no!" Leo shouted. "We gotta go after him!"

Raph grabbed the key and shoved it at Donnie, "Open it! Mikey needs us!"

Donnie took the key and examined it. "It... It's broken."

"What do you mean its broken?" Raph demanded.

"I mean its fucking broken!" Donnie shouted. "I, I can fix it, but it'll take some time."

"How much time?" Leo asked, grabbing at Donnie.

"I don't know! It's Kraang tech!" Donnie pushed Leo away from him. "It's unpredictable!"

"But Mikey needs us! Now!" Raph yelled.

"I know that!" Donnie snapped. "I... I know that..." He whimpered.

"Boys!"

The three eldest turtles turned to find Splinter standing in the doorway of the lab, panting as if he had just run a marathon. He must've heard their shouts echoing down the sewer tunnels and came back from his search for Miwa. "What is going on in here?" He asked.

Leonardo started pointing in the direction that Michelangelo vanished and back at the triangle-shaped device in Donatello's hand. "Mikey, he, Leatherhead, portal, gone!"

"Leonardo, take a deep breath," Splinter said, still not fully understanding. "Now," He turned to Raphael, the one son who wasn't on the verge of a panic attack or focused on a piece of technology. "Where is Michelangelo?"

"He went through a portal to Dimension X after we found out that Leatherhead is still alive!" Raph answered, not meaning to scream at his father but couldn't control his voice level. "Then it closed on us before we could follow, and Donnie's sayin that he can't open it up again!"

"I need time to fix it!" Donnie hissed.

"What about Mikey?" Raph whirled on him. "What if he doesn't have time?"

"Raphael, do not speak that way." Splinter said sternly. It was clear he was trying to stay calm, but his tail swishing behind him gave him away. Learning that his youngest was now missing after losing his eldest had clearly shaken the rat, even if he was trying to wear a brave face for his three remaining children. "Donatello is doing everything he can."

"But Mikey-"

"Michelangelo is crafty and resourceful," Splinter spoke over Raph. "He will be all right on his own until Donatello can reopen the portal and we can go after him."

"Actually, Splinter," Donnie looked up from where he was carefully taking apart the portal key. "I only have four air filters made. I stopped working on them when Miwa got mutated." He looked down. "I can throw one together for you but-"

"No," Splinter sighed. "You must go after Michelangelo as soon as the portal is reopened. I will remain here and continue searching for Miwa. You four can take care of each other, right?" Splinter added, looking back at Leonardo trying to stop hyperventilating.

"Ye-ye-ye-yeah." Leo heaved.

"Yeah." Raph answered.

"Good, give your brother some space to work." Splinter put a hand on both Leo and Raph's shoulders and led them from the lab.

It took eighteen hours for Donnie to fix the portal. Eighteen long hours. In the time, Raph had punched a hole through half of their training dummies, Leo had practically paced a groove into the floor, and Splinter had whipped the bonsai tree's trunk to half its previous width with his tail.

The moment it opened, the brothers were tripping over each other to get through the other side before it closed on them again.

"Keep each other safe!" Splinter called after them as Donatello was the last to go through. "Please, don't let me lose another child." He pleaded for anyone to hear.

When the brothers got their bearings, they were staring into an infinitely pink void. They could see hundreds of small floating islands, the closest of which held a mother Kraathatrogon, nursing hundreds of smaller ones. They could see dozens of Kraang ships flying past a celestial body in the sky that must've been this dimension's version of a sun. Eerily, it resembled an eyeball staring down at them.

"Well, that's horrifying." Raph shivered.

"So, this is Dimension X." Leo muttered. Everything about this place was chilling.

Donnie looked back from where they came only to discover the portal had closed behind them. "Oh, no..." He whined, taking a step backwards. "No, its not a problem. We just gotta find a way back through another Kraang portal." Donnie kept walking backwards as he tried to rationalize a way home.

"Donnie, look out!" Raph yelled.

Donnie stepped over the edge of the cliff, but instead of plummeting into the pink abyss, he found himself standing upside down on the other side of the ledge. "This is ridiculous!" Donnie exclaimed in frustration. "Gravity cannot work like this!"

"Apparently, here it can." Leo shrugged and offered Donnie a hand back upright. "Different dimension," He grabbed a rock and threw it over the edge of the cliff. The rock flew back up into his hand, "Different laws of physics?"

"That's stupid!" Donnie huffed. "Laws are laws for a reason!"

"Let's just hurry up and find Mikey!" Raph growled.

"Any idea where to start?" Donnie asked, looking at his brothers. "He's got an eighteen hour head start, and who knows if we even entered this dimension in the same place."

Leo pointed over to an island towards their, he wanted to say north but he couldn't be sure. "That's as good a place as any."

"And, how do we get there?" Donnie asked.

Raph took a running jump and soared through the air, landing on the island on a jump that nobody should've been able to make. He sighed once he made it, not being sure if that would've worked or not. He looked back at his brothers in the distance, "What are you waiting for?"

Donnie and Leo shared a look before they did the same.

"What are those?" Raph asked, once they reached him. He pointed towards what looked like creatures strung together of floating orbs. There were two of them and it looked like they were playing with each other, chasing one another around in the air. "Look at those little things! They're all cute and sparkly!"

The creatures seemed to have heard or at least noticed them and suddenly started floating towards them.

"I don't think they're little." Leo gulped as they got closer.

"Definitely not little!" Donnie exclaimed once they were right in front of the trio. Each orb was at least three feet by three feet and the creatures were made up of four orbs. The creatures started to shake violently before they shot what looked like lightning at them.

Leo and Raph jumped at the creatures, each using their weapon to rip the orbs away from each other. But the moment they were torn apart, they put themselves back together and each took one of the attacking brothers, electrocuting them.

"Leave them alone!" Donnie extended his staff and threw himself at the creatures, knocking them both to the ground. The creatures put themselves back together and charged at Donnie, who was saved by Leo pulling him up to a higher level of the island before they crashed into the second youngest Hamato. The three watched the creatures search around for them blindly before giving up the hunt and flying away.

"How did you know those things were blind?" Donnie asked Leo.

"I didn't." He responded.

"What the hell were those things?" Raph asked.

"If Mikey were here, he'd come up with a name for them." Leo said quietly.

"What if he's Kraang bait by now?" Raph lowered his head.

"Don't think like that!" Leo glared at him. "Master Splinter is right, Mikey's smarter than we give him credit for! He's fine, and we'll find him!"

Donnie took a look around in the forest-like level of the island they were on. "Guys, look at these crystal-trees. I think they're the same kind that was in the Kraang power cell!" Donnie grabbed onto one of the branches and started trying to muscle it loose.

"Donnie, I don't think you should mess around with that!" Leo tried.

Donnie broke off the branch and the moment he did, it started to glow purple.

"Donnie!" Raph and Leo groaned in unison.

"That's not good." Donnie dropped the branch, "Go, go, go!" He yelled.

The trio dove off the island as the crystalized forest exploded behind them. Now gravity was working the way it did back on Earth, and they plummeted nearly a hundred feet before landing on a Kraang platform.

"New rule!" Leo heaved, dodging a piece of crystal that nearly landed in his skull. "Nobody touch anything!"

"Don't hafta tell me twice," Raph gave a weak thumbs up.

"Donnie?" Leo looked at his purple-shelled brother.

"No promises." Donnie answered, rubbing at his head as he sat up. "Where to now?"

They jumped from island to island searching for Mikey for what must've been hours. After a while, they had to stop to take a break and catch their breath.

"Man! I kind of don't blame the Kraang for wanting to invade us." Donnie took a swig of the water Leo had brought. "Their dimension stinks!" He passed the water to Raph, who took a big gulp before handing it back to Leo.

"Aren't you having any, Fearless Leader?" Raph asked, watching Leo seal off the water.

"Mikey will need it more than I do." Leo answered. "We all know he doesn't drink enough water anyway." Leo looked around while Donnie and Raph continued to complain about Dimension X. "Hey, look at that thing." He pointed over to a small rock formation where a pale green creature was bobbing its head around. It was a little blob of a creature that seemed to having a blast in its own little world. "It's kinda cute."

"Mop mop." The creature released a high-pitched sound.

Leo stood to go over and look at it.

"Leo, didn't you say not to touch shit in this dimension! Cute equals bad here!" Raph chastised him.

"I'm not going to touch it, Raph." Leo rolled his eyes. He turned back to the creature, "Mop mop." 

"Mop mop,"

"Mop mop," Leo allowed himself a smile.

"Okay, enough mop-moping around!" Raph grabbed Leo by the shoulders and spun him around. "We got a little brother to find, remember?"

"Mop mop!" The blob creature's sound turned aggressive, almost like it didn't like that Leo's attention had been stolen away. The island they were standing on started to shake like an earthquake had hit, and the rocks the creature was sat upon started to rise high into the air. In horror, the brothers realized the little mop-mop was actually apart of the rock formation, and was a giant centipede-like alien with two large arms that drug it across the ground.

"You had to mess with something cute!" Raph yelled at Leo as they ran for their lives from the alien.

"You're the one who pissed it off!" Leo shouted back.

"I hate cute things! I hate them!" Raph huffed.

"Jump!" Donnie warned them.

Unlike the electric-orbs they faced earlier, this thing didn't give up its pursuit of them. It chased them from island to island, and it was large enough to topple some of them, flinging Donnie, Leo, and Raph into the pink void.

Donnie tripped and was about to be trampled by the large hand, but something shot around his shell at the moment, pulling him away from the creature's crushing palm. Raph jumped out of the way of the creature's beak-like mouth and started to fall away from the island, but he was grabbed by something strong. Leo turned to face the creature, but was smacked into his brothers.

"Fuck off, Rocktopus!" Shouted their rescuer.

"Mikey?" The trio gasped in unison.

The four orange diamonds on his shell confirmed it was him, but he looked so different than he had before he jumped through the portal. Most of the stickers and accessories Mikey wore were gone, leaving his shell and plastron bare. They could clearly see that he had gotten some new scratches on his plastron, and even some more cracks splintering from the massive one he received when they first fought the Shredder. He still wore his kneepads and elbow pads, but the cadmium orange bandana he had was gone and was replaced what looked like a hollowed out Kraang that was turned into a helmet. He had Kraang tentacles wrapped around all four of his limbs, the air filter hanging on his belt, several of the power cell crystals, his nunchucks, and a necklace made out of Kraang teeth.

Mikey ignored his brothers and pulled off some of the power crystals from his belt. He threw them at the ground, causing explosions that shook the island. The creature Mop Moped in frustration as Mikey created loud noises that disorientated it. Using a Kraang tentacle, Mikey climbed up the creature and whipped it in the head of the small blob Leo had noticed. This finally sent the creature bounding back in the direct they came from.

"Mikey! You're okay!" Raph sighed in relief.

"We were worried about you!" Leo ran up to hug his younger brother, but the orange-associated turtle shrugged him off.

"You guys are actually here?" He asked.

"What?" Leo lowered his arms, not expecting that reaction. "Of, of course we are. Mikey? Oh," He pulled out the water bottle, "Here."

"I'm good."

"What are you wearing?" Donnie asked. "Is that a Kraang on your head?"

"It used to be." Mikey answered shortly.

"Since when are you taller than me?" Raph asked, noticing the full inch Mikey had grown in the last twenty-four hours.

"I got a better question," Mikey narrowed his eyes at them. "What took you guys so long to get here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mikey," Donnie frowned. "The portal key broke and it took some time to fix, but we got here as fast as we could!"

"As fast as you could, huh?" Mikey muttered. "Whatever, we can talk later, I guess. Since you are here," He poked Raph in the arm like he was double-checking. "I guess I can use your help. Let's get movin, I tracked down where they're keeping Leatherhead." He looked down at his belt, "Oh, I need more bang rocks." He jumped up to another crystal tree, landing carefully in the branches.

"Mikey, don't touch-" Leo started.

Mikey made a guttural churr from his throat and a branch cracked and fell into his hand. Then Mikey used his talon to tap on the branch in sections, which broke off into pieces that he attached to his belt.

"How did you do that?" Raph's mouth fell open.

"Most things here respond to sound." Mikey replied. Then he picked up four fist-sized worms on the ground and threw three of them at his brothers.

"Ugh, what are these?"

"I call them Swing Worms." Mikey replied, his tone short and annoyed with all the questions.

"Why?" Donnie asked.

Mikey aimed the mouth of the worm at the island above them and squeezed it's stomach. The worm's tongue shot out and stuck to the bottom of the island. "You can swing with them." Mikey took off, swinging a full island before he waited for the slackers to catch up with him.

"How did you figure that out?" Raph asked, once they had managed to catch up to an ever increasingly annoyed Michelangelo.

"It just seemed obvious."

"Mikey, you're like a genius here!" Raph laughed halfheartedly. "I guess that makes sense though, since we're in Crazy Backwards Land."

"Gee, thanks." Mikey rolled his eyes.

Raph's smile dropped, "Woah, dude. It was just a joke."

"Whatever. Try to keep up." This time, Mikey didn't wait for them to catch up. They traveled for miles before Mikey finally landed on a island that was home to an obvious Kraang base. "Okay, good news, and bad news." Mikey said to his tired brothers.

"What's the good news?" Leo asked.

"There's thousands of Kraangdroids in there guarding Leatherhead."

"I said good news." Leo corrected.

"I know. Those are the bad news." Mikey nodded his head up towards the building, where two of those large rock creatures they fought the last time they saw Leatherhead were guarding the outside of the building. Before giving his brothers the chance to back out, Mikey threw one of his Bang Rocks to get the Rock Soldiers' attention. "Down here, losers!"

Granitor, the marble-colored one of the two turned his head in the turtles' direction and opened his mouth. Blue flames spat out, causing the brothers to scatter. Tragg was right behind him, spitting up lava as they closed in on the intruders.

"I got this," Mikey told them, "Just let me-"

"Donnie, right. Raph, left. Move!" Leo ordered his team, who obeyed the orders.

Mikey huffed in annoyance, watching them try and fail to fight the Rock Soldiers.

Donnie rolled under Granitor's legs and fire, only to be nearly crushed by Tragg's solid fists. He tried to go in for a hit but had to jump backwards to avoid being melted from the lava.

Raph kept Granitor's attention, allowing the flames to get mere inches from his scales before he retreated further backwards. Leo climbed up the rock giant's back, and sliced at the support of the neck. The moment Granitor's neck fell to the side, Tragg grabbed the blue-shelled turtle off his partner and lifted him up to his mouth. Leo kicked and tried to put himself free as he was starting to be lowered into the pool of lava in the giant's mouth.

"Leo!" Donnie yelled.

"No!" Raph screamed.

"Yo, Tragg! Granitor! Drop my brother!" Mikey shouted. He threw more of the Bang Rocks, this time aiming for the giant's chests. As the crystals exploded on impact, Leo was flung from Tragg's grasp and he landed on the metal platform with a hard thud. Mikey landed in front of his brothers as they helped Leo sit up. "I told you, I got this."

"I thought you needed our help?" Leo groaned, he could feel a large bruise forming on his shell.

"I need you inside the base," Mikey rolled his aqua eyes. "I can handle these two. Just stay put."

"Damn, he's so..." Donnie tried to put into words what they were watching.

"Un-Mikey-ish?" Raph tried.

"Mikey..." Leo frowned, watching his youngest brother fight off the giants alone. He was proud that Mikey was strong enough to do it, but the way he was acting... Something was up, and Mikey wasn't telling them.

Mikey used his Bang Rocks to drive the two giants into each other, slowly backing them towards the edge of the platform. Once he only had two left, he swung out his nunchucks and used the kusarigama blades to dig into the cracking granite platform. He took a deep breath before screaming as loud and as high as he could, which only expanded the cracks further. Crumpling under the weight of the giants, the platform underneath them broke away and the giants fell into the pink void.

"Mikey, you did it!" Raph held up a high-three.

Ignoring Raph, Mikey ran past his three elder brothers. "Let's move!"

Leo's worries only deepened seeing Raph's hurt expression and Donnie's anxious one. He took up the lead, following after Mikey who was gathering more Bang Rocks before they busted inside.

Sneaking into the building went as it always did back on Earth, using stealth and only attacking when necessary. Donnie started leading them in the direction he figured the prisoners were kept in, but Mikey stopped them and showed them another room instead. Peering through a window, they watched a Kraang forklift set up an Earth tree.

"Intimate that which is called Mutagen Transformation Sequence." Kraang told Kraang.

"That which is called Mutagen Transformation Sequence is initiated." Replied Kraang.

A Kraang version of a cannon fired mutagen all over the tree and seconds later, it was one of the crystalized trees found in the dimension outside.

"Mutagen Transformation Sequence is what is known as a total success."

"See that?" Mikey whispered to his brothers. "That's what Leatherhead meant when he said they'd perfected the mutagen. I saw them test it out on a cat too. It was gross and gnarly."

"If they tested it on plants and animals then... They're gonna use it transform everything on Earth, even the people!" Donnie exclaimed, seeing the notes on the screen inside the testing room. "They're gonna turn Earth into another Dimension X!"

"Then we gotta stop them." Mikey said flatly. "First, lets get Leatherhead."

"But-" Leo tried, but Mikey was already halfway down the hall.

They weren't running for long until they heard familiar roaring of pain and anger. "What do you want from me?"

"That which is known as "screaming.""

Leo sliced off the robot's head while Raph got the pleasure of breaking the Kraang version of the cattle prod it was using to electrocute the alligator.

"Leatherhead, are you okay?" Mikey asked, slicing through the chains binding his friend. "Donnie, get this off of him!" He yelled, trying to pull off the collar around Leatherhead's throat.

"Michelangelo," Leatherhead said slowly. "My friends, thank you for coming." He gave a weary, toothy smile as Mikey stroked his snout. "I feared you had not received my warning."

"Why are you white?" Raph asked, noting the lack of green scales that the alligator used to be covered in. Now his scales were a grey color, barely darker than his pale underside.

"Oh my god, Raph, you can't just ask people why they're white." Mikey glared at his brother.

"No, he's right," Donnie said, hacking through the collar's lock. "You seemed to have aged, Leatherhead."

"I believe that time passes differently in this dimension." Leatherhead responded. "Though they have had trouble keeping me in, I have been in this dimension for many decades now."

"You escaped?" Mikey asked.

"A few times," Leatherhead seemed rather proud of the new scars he had gained in this time. "I tried to find you all on Earth, but I was never there long enough. But when I discovered they had perfected the mutagen, I had no choice but to contact you."

Mikey hugged his old friend tightly, "Well, I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner."

"Do not fret, Michelangelo," Leatherhead responded, wrapping his tail around the young turtle. He then looked up at the others, "Where is Miwa?"

The brothers flinched at the question, hating to think of it every time. "She... She got mutated." Leo answered quietly. "We don't know where she is right now."

"Still?" Mikey whispered.

"The Kraang got to her?" Leatherhead asked, a growl in his deep voice.

"Not this time," Raph snarled bitterly. "It was that evil monster Shredder!"

"I see. I am deeply sorry, my friends." Leatherhead stood. "But, for now, we need to stop the Kraang before their invasion begins. Follow me!"

Without argument, the four brothers followed the grey alligator deep into the Kraang base. He ripped a hexagon panel off the wall, allowing them a viewing spot to see the main control room. High above their heads was a crystal tree, and below were dozens of portable portals with Kraang robots doing maintenance on them.

"That's not good." Raph muttered.

"That's our way home!" Donnie pointed out.

"So many portals. Why so many?" Leo asked.

"That is why." Leatherhead answered, directing their attentions to the opposing wall of the hexagon room. The wall opened, revealing dozens of empty Kraangdroid suits that were quickly filled with squids.

"They're getting ready for war." Mikey said.

"Not war; invasion." Leatherhead corrected with a growl. "That tunnels leads to the hive factory, where the Kraangdroids are manufactured. Their numbers are effectively limitless."

"So what can we do?" Donnie asked.

"We can go down fighting!" Leatherhead responded. "I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees!"

"The only sensible course right now is retreat!" Donnie argued back. "We're outnumbered, out-gunned, and out-powered!"

"No!" Mikey clicked at him. "Leo and Raph, block that tunnel. Donnie and I will sabotage the portal generator! And Leatherhead!"

"Crush Kraang." Leatherhead grinned.

"Crush Kraang!" Mikey nodded with the first smile since rescuing Leatherhead. "A lot! Let's do this!"

Leatherhead leaped over the turtles's heads with a mighty roar. The moment he landed in the middle of the room he got to work, clearly experiencing some kind of revenge therapy for all the years he'd suffered under the wrath of the Kraang. Even though he had clearly aged decades, Leatherhead was still as fast and as strong as ever, making quick work of the Kraangdroids that continued to enter from the tunnel.

Raph and Leo followed behind Leatherhead, their focus on clearing out the tunnel so they could block it off. "Raph, look to the right side of the tunnel!" Leo said as they stood shell-to-shell, taking out the Kraang. "Some kind of blast door!"

"Right, get it closed!" Raph finished the thought. Raph shielded his brother from the gunfire while Leo sliced opened the keypad by the entrance.

"Damn it, it needs a handprint or something!" Leo exclaimed.

Raph hummed and stabbed his sai into the shoulder of the Kraangdroid he was using to block the laser blasts. He used his strength to rip the arm off and tossed it over at Leo. "Here! Try this!"

Leo caught the arm and placed it against the keypad, "Thanks!" The touchscreen turned green and the tunnel wall closed, smashing the row of Kraangdroids that were trying to run through.

Using the Swing Worms, Mikey and Donnie cleared the Kraang around the control console. "Okay, we need to shut down all but one portal so we have a way home." Donnie stuck out his tongue as use pulled down his goggles, using his Kraang translator he made to try and work faster. "Then we set the whole thing to blow after we're through." He thought he was making progress, but after the first few layers of programming he ran into symbols in the squid language that he didn't recognize. "No, no!"

Leatherhead, Leo, and Raph quickly finished off the remaining robots, but soon the tunnel door was threatening to open again. The three of them started piling the dismantled Kraang bodies against the tunnel wall in an effort to delay them from entering.

"Donnie, work faster!" Leo shouted, catching a glimpse of the Kraang getting ready to wheel the mutagen gun into the control room. 

"Don't yell at me!" Donnie snapped, pounding on the keyboard in frustration. All that action did was change the shapes of the portals from triangles to ovals. "Damn it, close!"

Mikey used the Swing Worm to lasso Donnie and throw him away from the control panel. "Oh, just let me do it!" Mikey started bashing his hands over the keyboard, running his fingers across the keys with no rhyme or rhythm to his strokes. One by the one, the portals started to close until just one was left.

"Hope this one leads back to New York," Raph muttered.

"Go through without me," Leatherhead said to Raph and Leo. "I will keep them busy long enough for the four of you to-"

"Not this time, buddy!" Mikey shouted. He ran at Leatherhead and threw himself into a double kick, nailing the alligator in the chest and knocking him through the other end. He quickly glanced through the other end, seeing that Leatherhead had landed safely on a rooftop.

"Mikey, c'mon!" Leo shouted after making sure that Donnie and Raph had made it through the portal.

"One sec," Mikey jumped up to the large crystal tree and broke off a branch without using his sound technique. As he dove through the portal, he watched in satisfaction as the Kraang tree exploded.

Mikey churred happily as he finally felt actually clean again. He hadn't realized how much he missed the feeling. He looked in the mirror of his room, examining himself for the first time since he had jumped through the portal. He had a few more scars than he remembered getting, and some scratches on his shell and plastron. He didn't mind those though. His growling reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything but Swing Worm juice and Rocktopus meat for what felt like forever. His mouth was watering at the idea of a nice, warm, gooey slice of pizza.

As he exited his room, he found his brothers and father waiting for him in the main station. He had been expecting it, but seeing Splinter again rocked him a bit. "Sensei?"

"Michelangelo, thank goodness that you are-" Splinter was caught off guard by his youngest rushing into his arms. Splinter quickly wrapped his son in his arms, stroking his shell gently. "I am so happy that you are alright, my son."

"Yeah, don't go jumpin through anymore portals!" Raph teased Mikey.

"Now that we're home," Leo said hesitantly, "Spill it, Mikey."

"Spill what?" Mikey wiped at the tears that had been building.

"Time moves differently in Dimension X than it does here." Donnie said with a frown. "It took eighteen hours, seven minutes, and forty-three seconds to reopen the portal and then we entered Dimension X. We thought we were gone for at least a couple days, but Splinter said we were only gone for minutes. Leatherhead said he's decades older than he was the last time we saw him, and..."

"Mikey, you've grown at least an inch since we last saw you." Raph crossed his arms. "And you're covered in scars and stuff that you didn't have before. And all your stickers are gone."

"What's your point?" Mikey asked, his tone more hostile than he meant.

"How long were you actually gone, Michelangelo?" Splinter asked, looking his son in the eyes.

Mikey felt the tears prickling in his eyes again and he wanted to scream at himself. He spent all that time training himself not to try over missing his family. Slowly, Mikey pulled out his tPhone, that somehow had never lost a battery percentage, and opened his notes app. "I don't know." He finally said. "I kept track of how many times the Sun Eye closed for a few hours. I dunno if that counts as days, but..." The number he showed was 281.

"Oh, Michelangelo." Splinter hugged his son again.

"Nine point two-three months?" Donnie did the calculations.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Leo asked, joining in on his brother's hug.

"I... I dunno..." Mikey sniffled. "I just... I thought maybe you guys didn't care that I was gone and that's why I was all alone. That everyone just went back to looking for Miwa..."

"What?" Raph was horrified by his answer. "No turtle left behind, remember?" He tried to stop himself from screaming at Mikey, but... He was just so angry! His hands clenched like he was going to punch something, but Splinter's tail pulled Raphael into the hug before he did.

Donnie joined in as well.

"Michelangelo, I am so deeply sorry you felt that way." Splinter hushed his sniffling children. "Your brothers and I love you more than you could possibly know, never forget that. Your sister does as well. We will all be together again..."

Someday.

Chapter Text

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YAoh5lMpow

"What updates have you to bring me?" Shredder asked from atop his throne. "Have you found her yet?"

Fujiwara lowered herself into a bow. "She has a hidden location somewhere in lower Manhattan. I cannot get close enough to her without being attacked wildly."

"I did not ask you for excuses." Shredder narrowed his eyes at her. "Why have you not brought her back here?"

Fujiwara wanted to roll her eyes, but she stopped herself. "I shall go out tonight and lay a trap for her." Even after mutating her, Master Shredder was still obsessed with Hamato Miwa. She thought there was nothing left for him to take from the previously beautiful kunoichi, but it seemed he was not yet done with her.

In truth, Miwa was not mindless as Stockman's mutagen had intended, at least not fully. There were a few times that Shini had gotten close enough to look the snake mutant in the eye. The clouded serpent green eyes had shone in recognition, before the snake took over again and she was lost to her new instincts. Shini wondered if there was a way to undo the damage done to the girl's mind. She had heard that Hamato Donatello had successfully created a retro-mutagen a few months back. If that was true, then the turtles were almost certainly planning on using it to turn their sister back to normal. Shini had no idea how long this would take, but she owed it to the lost snake to give them the opportunity. She decided she would drag her feet on re-capturing Miwa, until she could no longer put it off.

"Master Shredder," Tiger Claw entered the cathedral with a bow of his head. Despite the fact that she despised the tiger mutant, Shini was glad that he had interrupted their conversation for the time being. "Forgive my intrusion, but the hour grows late. Have you made your decision?" Shini didn't have to guess who the tiger was referring too.

"They are dangerous allies," Shredder conceded. "But they have provided us with much technology, asking little in return."

Tiger Claw's brow furrowed as memories of the Kraang flashed in his mind. "They will betray you. You know this. They care nothing for the human race."

Shredder leaned forward, a malicious, callousness in his vile words. "Nor do I. Leave me, Tiger Claw, Fujiwara."

The two subordinates bowed to him again before exiting the cathedral. Not seconds after the heavy door closed did the Kraang head built into his throne pop up with a new transmission from his business partner.

"Kraang Prime," Shredder said in greeting as the hologram showed the leader of the ika.

"One called Shredder. Kraang must have your decision."

"If I help you," Shredder said roughly. "Will you uphold your end of the bargain?"

"Kraang will deliver the ones called Splinter and the Turtles. Kraang will begin their search in the place known as New York sewers." Kraang Prime acknowledged their agreement.

"And once I find Hamato Miwa, you will mutate her back to her human form?" Shredder pressed as he tightened his hands into fists.

Kraang Prime made a face that portrayed disgust, but agreed nevertheless. "Kraang agrees to return the one known as Hamato Miwa back to the human form of her body. But in return, the one called Shredder must then help Kraang conquer the city known as New York City. And then the world known as Earth."

"You deliver what I desire, I will uphold my end." Shredder agreed.

"Good. First things first, Kraang requests the one called Shredder deliver the one known as April O'Neil."

"Cold morning, huh?" April said awkwardly as she and Irma started their walk to school. She adjusted her sunglasses to look up at the snow falling from the sky, even though it was September.

"You're terrible at small talk, April." Irma said in response. "But I guess it is a little cold." With the dismissal, the two girls walked in silence for a bit before Irma sighed. "Sorry, I don't want to come off as snappy, its just that... Why can't you just introduce me and Sunita to your secret friends?"

"Secret friends?" April looked at her, shocked.

"Sunita was right, you and Casey are really bad at hiding it." Irma shrugged. "And, she's not going to forgive you guys until you stop with the lies and stories."

"I..." April sighed. "One of these days. I promise."

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

Irma and April turned around to see Sunita was behind them, bundled up in Timothy's large coat.

"Sunita, I-"

"Can you at least tell me what's up with you?" Said the youngest of the three girls. "Or why you carry around a fucking big ass knife?"

April looked down at her gloved hands and shook her head in the negative.

"Fine, then don't talk to me." Sunita stormed past the two seniors, but was grabbed by April.

"Sunita, I want to tell you, I do!" April pleaded. "Both of you," She looked at Irma, who raised an eyebrow at her glance. "But... Trust me, okay? It's better than you don't know."

Sunita rolled her heterochromatic eyes but Irma only sighed and shook her head. "What if I told you about something I've been keeping secret?" Sunita suggested. "A trade of secrets?" Sunita reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

As the bicolored-haired girl started to unlock her phone, April had a feeling they were being watched. She unzipped her backpack and pulled out her tanto just as they were surrounded by Footbots. "Footbots? During the day?" April asked aloud.

"What are Footbots?" Irma asked, grabbing Sunita and pulling her closer as the three were cornered. "Don't suppose these are your secret friends, April?"

"Definitely not friends!" April smacked one of the robots with her backpack, creating an opening. She pushed her two friends through the gap of robots, "Move, guys! Run!"

The three took off down the streets, April doing her best to deflect the projectile weapons they threw at them. April pulled out her phone to try and call Casey, but a throwing star was thrown into her tPhone, breaking it. "Damn it! Keep running, Sun!" April shoved the broken phone back into her pocket and grabbed Sunita's wrist to keep her from falling behind.

"Who are these freaks, April?" Sunita panted. "How do you know them?"

"Doesn't matter, they're bad news! Run!" April looked back at Irma, who was now the one lagging behind. "Faster, Irma! Move those little legs!"

I'm moving, I'm moving!" Irma wheezed. She was going to ask when April became the one who could run without breaking a sweat, and she became to one who was on the verge of passing out during the mile run in school. But she couldn't breathe enough to force out the words.

"This way!" April turned them down an alleyway. Halfway down the street, she realized she was subconsciously leading them to the safest place she could think of. The lair. But could she really take them down there? Expose the Hamato?

"This is a dead end!" Sunita exclaimed, realizing April had shoved them down a blocked off alley. "Its the end, and we're dead."

Damn it. She had no choice, it was the only place they were safe. There was no way April could fight off this many Footbots while trying to keep her friends safe. "Not yet. Follow me!" April pushed aside the manhole cover and pointed down the ladder, "Down here!"

Sunita nearly turned as green as her hair. "Can't we just hide in the dumpster?"

"They'll check the dumpster, just trust me!" April pleaded.

"April, you can't be serious." Irma grimaced.

April pulled off her sunglasses and tossed them in the dumpster. "Come on!" She hoped showing them a hint of the questions they had surrounding her would make them comply.

Irma and Sunita looked taken aback by her actions, but when they heard the metallic footsteps echoing down the streets, they both started down the ladder.

"Boo!" Casey grinned, sneaking up behind Raph.

Raph whirled around and punched Casey hard in the jaw, knocking him nearly off the rooftop. Before he tumbled over the edge, Raph grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him back to safety.

"Ow!" Casey groaned, rubbing at his tender jaw. "¿Qué demonios, hombre?"

"You should know better than to sneak up on a ninja, Jones." Raph rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Shouldn't you be in the sewers?" Casey retorted with equal venom. "What are you doing out here during the day? Anyone could see you!"

Raph scoffed, "I'm careful. Besides, we haven't had any luck finding Miwa at night, so I figured it might be easier to spot her during the day."

Casey sighed and sat down on the ledge of the building. "Dude, I know you miss her like crazy, but its too dangerous for you up here when the sun's out."

"You sound like Leo." Raph muttered.

"Ugh, that means I'm right, doesn't it?" Casey joked at Leo's expense.