Chapter Text

***

If it weren't for the artificial light pollution, the moon would illuminate the streets and alleys perfectly fine on its own. Its pale light reflects off the puddles of water left behind by the melted snow. January 18. It's quiet with only a few people roaming around, and not a single person notices the four ninja brothers leaping elegantly over New York's structures, scouting after troubles to fight, canisters of mutagen to find, or mutants like Kirby O’Neil to check. If it were up to Raph, the most important part would be the fighting. Hot adrenaline warms his limbs from the otherwise cold air, it's is pumping through his fingers, waiting to punch something.

And right on time, something in the distance moves, and Mikey stops up. He points at the horizon: “Yo, dudes, Rahzar and Fishface are over there! Looks like they are holding some shiny stuff.”

His brothers stop as well in their tracks to get a better look. Just like the youngest brother said, two ugly mutants are moving not that far away.

Donnie: “A briefcase? That might not be a good sign.”

The ever impatient Raph cracks his knuckles: “Let's get them. I have been waiting to give them a good knuckle sandwich after last time.” He can already feel the anticipation run in his blood.

Leo stretches an arm out: “Wait. We shouldn't just run headless into battle. Especially when it's those two. We need to think of a plan to get-”

The others have already gone and left the leader. He sighs, but follows reluctantly. What else can he do at this point?

Surrounding Razhar and Fishface are robotic foot-soldiers moving just as swiftly as ever, though still impossible to miss once you know of their existence. The two foot-clan mutants, with the rest of their army, jump down from a tall building and onto the roof of a small, square café, not realizing they are being followed. Just like the footclan, the turtles climb the tall tower and prepare to lunge, however when the turtles finally arrive at the scene, a new unfamiliar voice can be heard. A female voice. The boys freeze and duck so as not to be seen. "Well, well, well, aren't I lucky?"

Razhar barks: “You again!?”

Down on the lower building in front of the foot-clan army is a tall and lean figure standing, covered in fur almost as dark as the night. Somehow, her growling is just as animalistic as it is clear even through gritted teeth: “Nice briefcase you got there; I wonder what's something so nice is doing with something as hideous as the foot-clan.”

She's tall, but Razhar is still taller: “You have to defeat us if you want it." Nevertheless, his intimidation tactics washes over her. It's almost scary how dry and cold she seems.

“So like Whac-a-mole where you smash the ugly bastards until you win a prize, but easier,” The mysterious figure spits out the joke with viciousness.

Razhar roars. Noise abruptly begins, blades shrills when they scrape against each other and creates sparks. Razhar's panting and Fishface's groaning. They don't move quickly, she is quicker. They can't even touch her. Their bodies are thrown around. She fights impressively furiously.

A humanoid black wolf protected by a bit of armor on her arms, legs, and chest, but is mostly clothed in a black elastic jumpsuit. Around her waist is a toolbelt attached with two Kamas and other ninja weapons, clearly matching her skilled martial art, as she easily and aggressively knocks down both Razhar and Fishface, multiple times. After a few seconds, nothing remains around her other than scattered robot parts of the foot-soldiers, and she goes to take the briefcase from the unconscious dog. Even though the briefcase weighs more than a bag of bricks, she lifts it as if it were mere paper tissues.

Donnie doesn't look at his brothers when he whispers: “I never thought I would pity the foot-clan.”

Mikey stands up and almost demonstrates his excitement in a too loud volume: “We should greet her-”

The wolf girl's ears flick back, and her head swirls around, but there’s nothing to see. Leo has already pulled Mikey down, and now they are all lying on the rooftop, completely flat and away from the edge to stay hidden. That was too close.

“We don't know if she is on our side.” Leo whispers sternly.

But the youngest brother is optimistic, for both good and for bad. “She's against the foot-soldiers. Like they say, an enemy of my enemy is my bro.”

Donnie: “That’s not exactly-”

Raph brings out two fists: “Whatever! I say that we beat her down just for good measure.”

Leo have lived with these three knucklehead his whole life, and they still manage to surprise him with their stupidity: “You really think we can beat her that easily? After that show!?”

“What do you want us to do? Let that maniac loose?”

“I don’t know if you know this word, but it’s really good. It’s called, thinking.”

As the two brothers starts their daily arguments, Donnie looks away from the group and down to the small Café. He gulps: “Uhm… Guys…” But nobody listens as his two older brothers are too focused on each other.

Raph spits into Leo's face: “I know I'm not gonna run away from a fight like a pussy.”

Donnie tries again to get the other's attention: “Hey…”

Leo dries Raph's spit off his face: “We follow her and see where she’s going with that briefcase.”

“Guys!”

“WHAT!” The two brothers glare at the nerd who has just interrupted them.

“She’s gone!”

And just like Donnie said, the lower building still has a beat-up Razhar and Fishface, it still has robotic parts scattered all over it, but no wolf mutant. Where could she have gone? How can they have lost that big mutant?

Suddenly, a large shadow looms over them. They turn around to find purple irises glaring, the burning animosity could burn down a village. The wolf girl still has the metal briefcase in her right hand and a Kama in her left, pointing threateningly with it. “State your names and clan.”

In return, Raph snarls, he isn't going to bow for anyone that easily: “As if!” The hothead grabs both his sais, not wanting to play her games, and attacks. She easily outmaneuvers him, grabs his arm, and throws him over her shoulder and into a wall. The wall cracks a bit under his shell. Leo, Donnie, and Mikey take out their own weapons.

Despite his katanas in his hands, Leo says, “We don’t want to fight you.”

“What do you think I’m trying to do right now?” His hotheaded brother yells.

Leo ignores his brothers to smooth out the situation: “The foot clan is our enemy too”

She doesn’t lose her frown, not one bit: “Name and clan or get crushed.”

“Ah, yes, I’ll gladly take orders from a deranged psychopath!” Raph rushes across the building.

“Raph! Don’t!”

Not listening to his older brother, an enraged red-cladded turtle throws himself over her with sais in fists. Without even gracing her, he has already been thrown away again, this time he lands on his feet like a cat by his brothers. His heels and hand glides over the puddles before they brake. When she rushes to the four turtles, three of them scatter, while the stubborn Raph stands his ground, which earns him a punch to the stomach so hard he flies many feet back. Ouch! Raph crashes into the brick floor.

He holds his chest. The ache stings through his body and down to his toes. It becomes even sharper when pops his shoulder blade back into place, something he has done a few times before, but this still felt different. He tries to find his stance again: “Alright… The girl knows her punches…”

Now they all try to fight her as a team; it goes as well as expected. They all get punched, kicked, or thrown into a pile by the edge, groaning in agony. It didn't even take her ten minutes to win. The girl puts away her kama and slowly approaches, as a wild predator to its cornered prey.

Leo yells: “Mikey! Smoke bomb!”

Stressing, Mikey fiddles with his tool belt to find any resemblance of a smoke bomb. A shuriken drops out of his belt. In his panic, he throws it after her, and she grabs it with her free hand. It was good throw, and would have hit her right between her furrowed brows. Then, her eyes widens as the hamato clan symbol shines in the moonlight.

“You are from the hamato clan?” Her before loud threatening voice became quieter.

“Yes?” Leo is unsure why she’s asking, but it only makes him sound suspicious.

Apparently the wolf doesn’t hear it his voice and she spreads a big smile, so sharp, white teeth nearly blind them. The suitcase lands on the ground with a loud thud. “You idiots should just have told me.”

She reaches a hand out to pick Leo up from the pile of turtles and lifts him by his shell up from the ground, to dangle five centimeters over the others before gently placing him down. With each arm, she grabs Mikey and Donnie to help them as well up in the air and gently onto their feet. She goes lastly after Raph, who, of course, smacks her hand away and stands up himself, grumbling. He would rather be knocked out by her, than let her manhandle him.

Confused, Leo begins: “I don’t understand…”

She waves her own kunai in front of him, where the so familiar flower logo is branded on.

Leo: “Wait, you are a part of the hamato clan too!?”

She responds sarcastically: “No, all my weapons just magically have the seal branded on them - of course I am. Or… was, since I thought I was the only one left.”

Mikey: “Wow that's awesome! I have always wanted a big sister!” He throws his arms out after a hug, but she pushes him back by the face, saying, “Yeah, no. I don't do family or friends… or people.”

Donnie turns his attention to the suitcase: “If you’re alone, then what is that for?” That suitcase. The metal suitcase she took from the footclan. It has tipped over when it was thrown to the ground. The ever so curious scientist reaches a hand out to open it, but it has already been grabbed by her.

“We might be from the same clan, but that doesn't mean we are on the same team, scrawny.”

“I’m not-!”

Raph pushes his scrawny brother out of his way: “Oh yeah? So I guess I'm allowed to break your arms and steal that if you don't tell us what is in it or why the foot-clan is interested.”

Leo shakes his head, and pushes Raph back behind the group, not wanting to escalate the situation. It doesn't stop the middle child to send her a death stare with a dancing fist in the air.

To everyone's surprise, she snorts, almost amused: “You got spunk.” She opens the briefcase and shows three very protected and very large batteries.

Raph: “Sooo, Nothing special.”

This turns his genius brother’s infodump button, which is too sensitive: “Actually, they are lithium iron phosphate batteries, also called, LiFePO4 batteries, which send out specific energy about 150 Wh/kg. They have a longer life cycle and and more stability at high temperatures. They also have an operating voltage of 3.3 V, charge density of 170 mAh/g, high po-”

“Thanks. We got the picture.”

Leo asks, “What are you going to use it for?”

She closes the briefcase and claps it a two times: “Let's just say I have a few small projects at home.”

Her casual body language pisses Raph off. Not happy with the answer, the hothead barks: “Are any of your small projects about revival, because you'll need it when I smack the living shit out of you.”

“Relax, it's just a few things to fight against the foot-clan and the Kraangs.”

Leo: “Okay… As long as it isn't for something evil or anything.”

“If we meet in battle, you might get to see some of them.” She raises an open hand to him.

He takes and shakes it. “We'll see you later.”

With that, she pivots around and begins to sprint over the rooftops and disappears out of sight. For a mutant wolf taller than the average man, she really knows how to merge with the shadows. The brothers are left in heavy atmosphere, still uncertain with what just happened. Only the freezing breeze is brave enough to make a noise.

Raph grumbles to no one but himself with the same contempt as if a classmate he disliked beat him in basket: “I'll crush you next time, bitch…”

“No, you won't.” Leo claps his shoulder.

***

In the turtles' lair, the odour of pizza can still be smelled from the empty boxes littering the floor. Mikey is lying on the car's tyre swing, sleeping with his head back so his mouth is open and snoring loudly. A fly could have made a nest on his tongue. An empty pizza box from the night before rests on his stomach. Leo is sprawled out on the floor, clearly having sat too close to the TV again after rewatching a space hero episode he can quote by heart. Raph is lying on the couch with his comic book in his face, it flutters in sync with every inhale and exhale. Even the usually highly caffeinated scientist is asleep. Donnie is sitting up, his head is forward, threatening to collapse at any moment. There's peaceful.

Ding, ding ding! They jolt when their t-phones are ringing, muttering groggily or falling to the floor if they weren’t already on it. Mikey plops into the pool and is now wide awake and has to swim to land. He is the first to pick up the phone. “Hallooo? It's like… 4 in the morning…”

April yells through, loud enough that the rest can hear her: “Mikey! The Kraangs! They have kidnapped my dad!”

Now all getting up, facing the phone.

Leo: “What? Why? Where?”

“At 5^th Avenue! In a warehouse! Hurry up!”

The four make their way to Shell Raiser and drive it as fast as they can out of the underground. Once they are on the surface the large vehicle swings through New York's traffic, to the location April said, but she calls again. “They are driving towards Lexington!”

Leo steers the car in that direction. There. On the horizon is a white van. It must have noticed them, since it picks speed up and they can do nothing else but slowly approach it.

“Mikey, take the weapons. Raph, stealth bike.”

“On it.”

Just as ordered, Mikey takes over the weapons. Raph gets into the shell bike that is mounted to Shell Raiser and drives off.

The bike is faster than its larger counterpart, and the driver is somewhat protected by hard, black metal. The only problem is, even though it's tanky, it isn't as robust as the train car. So when the Kraangs open the back doors to the van with their laser guns, Raph has to avoid the blasts as much as possible. One Kraang fires a seemingly normal laser gun, he of course avoids it, but unlike the normal laser gun the Kraangs use, it explodes the road, making big chunks of asphalt fly up. He looks behind him at the destroyed pavement.

“What the fuck.”

Another explosion can be heard, this time it wasn't aimed at him. The stone pavement in front of Shell Raiser shatters like glass, and the tank drives to fast to be able to stop in time. It falls half into the asphalt quicksand. It can't get out. Shit. Should Raph turn back to check on them? No, they are fine. He has to save Mr. O’Neil first.

He turns his focus back to the van, three Kraang droids are pointing different-shaped guns in his direction, and begin shooting at him once more. At first, he zigzags through, managing to evade every attack, but then one blast hits just the wrong spot in front of him, and a cloud of dust settles, making it difficult to see, and then... The ground in front of the bike is gone. He, with the vehicle, begins to tumble over and forward. He lands out of the bike with only a few scratches, nothing he hasn't tried before. The problem was Mr. O’Neil. The red-cladded turtle stands up and gets ready to chase the van.

Crash! Before he can react, a large black figure jumps on top of the van, so heavy that Raph can hear the metal bend. It looks like a real wolf, just thrice as big, and thrice as vicious. It might even be bigger than Splinter. The wolf monster transforms into a smaller and more human-like silhouette, although still very large. Something recognizable. Wolf girl?

With her claws on the van, she swings into it through the open doors and terrifyingly tears all the Kraangs apart. Sparks flies around her. Terrifying yet efficient. Terrifying yet beautiful. She jumps behind the wheel and stops the car. And everything falls into tranquility. Only his heartbeat can be heard.

His brothers run forth.

“Raph! You good, bro?” Mikey grabs his arm and shakes him back to reality.

They get to him, but all he does is stare at the van, completely baffled by what he has just witnessed. What did he just witness? What was that wolf? Who is she?

The brothers all run up to the now still car. The wolf girl picks open the lock to the cage with a bat mutant, Mr. O’Niel, and lets the bat fly out, before she kneels over the white metal boxes upon boxes with all kinds of Kraang weapons in them. She doesn't say a word to them, she doesn't even look at them. All her focus is on the many different sized weapons.

Leo breaks the silence with a polite: “Thank you for your help, miss…”

But the wolf answers in a monotone voice: “Whatever, I don’t care.”

Donnie and Leo exchange weird eyes before shrugging her off and going to examine the metal boxes as well.

Donnie: “Looks like prototype weapons.”

Mikey: “Cool! Can I try some?”

“Sure, if you want to blow us all into pieces.”

Mikey laughs sheepishly and backs away, but it doesn't take long before he begins touching and playing with the weapons anyway, without triggering them. Donnie and Leo, nonetheless, have to take it away from him.

Raph walks up to her, who doesn’t seem to notice him, too busy studying the weapons. “Were you just having a picnic around here, when you saw the kraangs or?"

No answer.

His jaw clenches. “Aren't dogs supposed to have a good sense of hearing or are you just too stupid to understand me."

Still no answer. Is she actively ignoring him or is that big lunch box really that interesting. “You know, you try and act like some tough, scary monster or whatever," it's subtle, but her body tenses by that word, and her hands stop moving. Raph continues, “And you say you don't care about people, but I think you actually do. You are just a big scared whimp, too afraid to face me.”

Finally, she whips her head around, and eyes him with this unreadable face before she stands up, towering over the 160 cm small turtle, with her 185 cm and a threatening aura. He doesn't flinch, not even when she snarls, not even when she points the gun directly at his stomach: “If you say that again, I will blast a hole through your chest and chew on your remains before I spit them into a trashcan.”

Raph could smack the gun away, yell creative threats or tell her to fuck off, but instead, Raph can’t help but smile a lopsided smile, almost amused: “I actually think I might kinda like you.”

Her sharp eyes glare at him, but his attitude is unwavering. Raph keeps his smug face. It feels like that the brothers have left and now these two mutants are alone in the van that is too small for the two personalities. They are trying to size each other up. The wolf settles for a chuckle herself and removes the gun. “You are crazy.” There is no trace of venom. So she turns her back again and grabs some of the pistols and one of the blasters.

Raph: “How did you do that before? The huge wolf thing?”

Once again, she shows this unreadable body language, just for a brief moment, before smugly saying: “It's called being good, look it up.”

He ponders whether he should let it go or not, but before coming to a conclusion, his brothers have taken her attention. Leo has put a hand to his chin. So Donnie asks: “What are you thinking about?”

“Why did they capture Mister O’Neil? It's not like they can use his knowledge as a bat.”

Mikey chirps in: “Maybe because they want to capture all mutants and open a mutant zoo?”

Wolf girl elbows her way in the center of the turtles: “I'll take the van and weapons to my place. They sometimes communicate through codes on the radio. Maybe I can decipher something.”

Donnie takes out his t-phone: “Okay, here is my number, so we can stay in con-”

“Not gonna happen. I don't care how smart you are, I can do this perfectly myself.”

This again. Raph points a finger in her face: “First the briefcase, and now the Kraang van? What's next? A building filled with mutagen? We should not just give all the enemies' stuff to you, while you give us shit in return. You might be in the clan, but you can't just do whatever and tell us nothing.”

The wolf glares at him darkly with her purple irises burning, and Raph returns it.

Leo settles in between them: “We shouldn't fight, let's just talk it out and find a middle ground.”

But she lets out a sigh: “No, red is right.”

“Wait, you think I’m right?” Even Raph is surprised.

She continues: “Trust and sharing is important or whatever, Yada, yada, yada, all that shit.”

Donnie: “Sooo… Do you have a phone?”

“I have one, but I haven’t programmed it to call or text.”

“That's fine, I always have a spare t-phone.” Donnie reaches down in his toolbelt and hands her the t-phone. She takes it, carefully examining the green object's sides and inside. The tallest turtle explains: “Your number is xxx-xxx-xxx.”

“Cool.”

They all fish up their own phones and begin dialing in the numbers. As Raph presses in the new contact, he asks her: “Do you want me to save you under "annoying wolf girl," or just “douchebag?””

She smiles a small smile: “Rachell would be optimal. Would you prefer "red idiot" or just "dickhead."”

“Raphael, but you do you.”

***

Later that day, they continuously drive through the barren city with only ghost seeing their big painted car. They are beginning to be worn down by the the many hours of looking at nothing other than the car's screen monitors. Shell Raiser's air has gone stale and musky without any windows to bring them peace. The seat are uncomfortably hard. Raph is leaning over his assigned desk, his chin in his hand. Mikey is playing on his phone instead of looking at the map, and even Donnie is beginning to drift into sleep.

Mikey groans: “Urgh, we’ve been patrolling all day!”

Leo acts like the responsible one, as always: “We have to look after Mister O’Neil, and whatever the Kraangs are up to. It's our duty as heroes.”

Raph: “If I knew being a "hero" was this boring, I would have helped the Kraangs a long time ago.”

Ding, ding, ding! Raph’s phone gets put on speaker, some nice new sounds from the car noise's monotony. Rachell talks through the phone: “I have found some stuff, meet me in the junkyard at xx-street.”

Immediately, the car rocks when Leo hits the speed pedal and swings around the corner, making them all tumble to the side. Shell Raiser drives so fast he hits a few trashcans here and there: “Finally something interesting.”

Raph: “I thought you liked this hero stuff.”

“I said it’s our duty, not that I liked it.”

***

When they arrive at the junkyard, it is even more deserted than the city at night. There are mountains of junk, a few TV broken screens here and there as well as some toasters and cars, but no life. Mikey digs into some of the trash, smiling excitedly. “Look what I found!”

If Raph spends any more time with his brothers, he’ll lose it: “More trash?”

“One turtle's trash is another turtle's treasure.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s just trash.”

Leo interrupts them: “Where is she?”

They check their phones, where in a group chat, a new message has popped up: “Look at the tallest pile of junk. At the bottom should be a red and rusty car without wheels. Open the door.”

The junk yard isn’t that vast, so it isn’t really a problem to find the tallest pile. They do as told, and truly, at the bottom of a trash mountain is a wheelless, rusty car with a tint of red where the painting hasn't peeled completely off yet. The door to the car is surprisngly smooth and oiled. Inside there is no seats, nor car floor, only a manhole cover on the ground. They lift it to see that it goes down into something darkness. Leo is the first to gain his bravery, or rather, Raph pushes him down, saying it's a hero’s duty. The rest jump down in afterwards. At the end of the short hallway is a shining metal door. It looks like an elevator. It opens up. It is an elevator.

They enter and they shoot up a level. The doors open behind them. The four turtles are greeted by the fresh smell of lavender and newly grounded coffee. It's a nice, medium-sized home. The kitchen and the living room are connected to one single enormous room. To the far right are traditionally Japanese sliding doors made out of paper and decorated with Japanese drawings. The sliding door is hiding a dojo, just like at their home. But unlike their home, there is a full set of samurai armor behind a display case. The teenage boys are teenage boys, so all four leap to the glass with big star-filled eyes. It's standing proudly and shining.

Mikey is the first to comment: “So cool! I wanna touch it.”

“Pretty neat, right?” They scream and spread out, only to realize it's Rachell’s voice coming just behind them. She’s standing there with iced coffee, having snuck up on the boys without them noticing. “It's only for decoration tho.”

Mikey: “Can I try it on?”

“Not even when I’m dead.”

Donnie looks around the home, and voices what they have all been thinking: “Where are we anyway?”

“On top of the big junk pile actually.” The straw sucks the last bit of iced coffee”

“But… We didn't see any house?”

Rachell nods, signaling them to follow. At the other end of the house are two doors. They are lead into a big white room. Everything is so busy. If the walls aren't decorated with shelves where different tools and vials of chemicals stand, then the walls are decorated with all kinds of technological weapons, like blasters and dart shooting bracelets. She plummets into her office chair and begins quickly typing into her giant holographic computer.

The guys stand there, with mouths agape and big, round eyes. She presses a button, and footage from her surveillance cameras shows every part of the junkyard, including the pile they are on right now. “The reason why you didn't see my house is because of this thing called invisibility. I learned that trick from the Kraangs’ UFO.”

No reply as the boys are too stunned to speak.

Rachell keeps her eyes on the computer, seeming as nonchalant as possible, but a small hint of annoyance shines through: “What?”

Leo: “How… long did it take to build you all this?”

Mikey: “And can I move in?”

“About six months, I guess.”

Donnie: “Wait, so you have been in New York? For six months?”

Rachell explains half-heartedly: “Well, technically, yeah. But I have mostly just been studying the foot-clan, kicking the kraangs ass, and then building my home. You know, being a total badass.”

Raph doesn’t completely buy the façade, so he pushes: “So, you have basically just been isolated and stalking people?”

Rachell snorts: “You make it sound like a bad thing. I see it more as, I came to New York to analyze dangerous people.”

Not buying that façade again, Raph pushes even further: “Have you really come to New York just to "analyze" the Kraangs and the foot-clan?”

This time Rachell doesn’t budge, and spits out anger: “Are we gonna chit-chat about my personal agenda or the kraangs' plans?”

To Raph’s dismay, Leo says: “Oh, right. So have you found out anything?”

With a few clicks of some buttons, Rachell opens a sequence of different video footage and lets them play in the background as she explains. Different times, different places, different mutants, but all individually captured by the Kraangs: “Mikey might be right about them wanting to catch all mutants.”

Leo: “The zoo?”

“At least about the capturing part.”

Donnie bends over to examine the footage closely before he turns to the rest of the group: “But why would they suddenly be interested in every mutant in the city?”

Rachell plops into her chair in a weird, but nonchalant sitting position and begins swinging lighly from side to side. She shrugs casually: “Maybe to experiment on them? The Kraangs have a pretty solid track record when it comes to experimenting on mutants.”

Donnie: “Then why not capture innocent humans and mutate them instead? It would be easier.”

Raph: “What about we break in, and pound them to meat soup until they say exactly what their plans are.”

Leo: “Think Raph.”

Donnie: “Those two words don’t match.”

Leo: “We can't just knock on their door, and then pound them until they confess. We don't even know where the door is.”

Rachell: “We can actually just break down their door.”

“We can?” They ask in unison, Raph too.

She turns to the computer again: “I found an inbuilt tracker in the van. The Kraangs often have one to locate missing vehicles. I turned it off but extracted its memory. These are the places the van has been the most in the last months.”

A map shows a lot of dots, some smaller than others. Donnie points at the largest dot that is located on the outskirts of New York City, where there are no buildings, only grass and a few trees: “This must be where they lock up all the mutants!”

Leo: “Alright, gang. We are going to the zoo to free some animals.”

Rachell: “I am seriously regretting inviting you here.”

Raph: “Imagine living with him.”

The brothers run out of the lab, and only Raphael stops to look back at Rachell, who is now scavenging through some of her weapons on the wall.

Raph: “You coming?”

Rachell sticks a gun to the belt behind her back, which looks like the normal laser gun the Kraangs use. “Coming.”

***

As the night sky is slowly bleeding into orange hues, they park the Kraang’s van on the outskirts, close enough to the kraangs’ base that they can see it, but far enough that they won’t get noticed that easily. On the floor is map spread, a satellite map of the small round building they are about to infiltrate. It has defensive walls around it. Their double doors are open. Raphael is ready to fight, while Mikey seems a bit bored. Donnie is sitting behind the wheel, waiting for a command and checking the area: “What’s the plan?”

Rachell spit through sharp teeth: “We speed this motherfucker as fast as possible before they can close the entrance. We'll get in and then we'll shower in their blood.”

Raph is the only one smirking optimistically.

Leo: “What?! That is a terrible plan. No, we need to be discreet. We drive the van slowly up; they will think we are also some Kraangs. We sneak in, and then we save the day.”

Rachell nod heavily almost as if she’s agreeing: “It's a great plan, except, it sucks. So let's just do what I said instead.”

“How does my plan suck?”

“First of all, we don't have the faces of Kraangs. Secondly, the Kraangs can see, which means they can see that we don't have the faces of the Kraangs. Thirdly, there is a big ass window exposing our FUCKING FACES.” She gestures aggressively to the window and then to her snout to emphasize.

“So mindlessly blasting a car through the doors is a better idea?”

Rachell snarls: “I’ve done this work a million times; I should be able to do it one more.”

Leo snarls back: “So have we. You might be good at this thing, thank you for your contribution, but I can take it from here, since I'm the leader of this team.”

“Well, big news, I'm not a part of this fucking team!” Rachell and Leo glare at each other, not wanting to lose the staring contest either, noses nearly touching, teeth showing.

Mikey smiles and raises a hand: “I can lead the plan.”

Both Leo and Rachell whip their head to him with death threats and lightning in their eyes. Mikey understands and ducks his head into his shell.

“You know what!? You and your team do whatever shit plan you have, while I smash down that building. Good fucking luck choking on those lasers!” Rachell storms out the back door and slams them behind her.

Leo scoffs: “Tsk. We don’t need her.”

Donnie: “She does raise a point tho. What are we gonna do when the Kraangs see us through the window? It's not like we can hide while driving.”

Leo searches through the metal boxes, and then a confident smile grows on his face when he finds just what he needs.

***

Everywhere around and on the building are Kraangs standing on lookout. Suddenly, they see a van driving towards them at an above-average speed, with an empty husk of a Kraang droid placed behind the wheel, which the turtles have found. The robots tilt their heads. Leo, who is hiding behind the wheel smiles: “It’s actually working right now.”

The Kraangs lift their laser guns and begin shooting the car.

Mikey: “It’s not working! It’s not working!”

“I know!” Leo removes the Kraang droid to get in the seat and races the van to the building, before the slowly moving doors can close together completely.

Meanwhile, behind the base is Rachell walking a big circle around the building, transformed into her giant wolf form. The dew on the grass and the wet mud brushes against her fur and paws, but nothing her hardened skin can sense. Since there aren't any trees or buildings to hide behind, she has to rely on her wolf figure, the tall grass, and the Kraang's stupidity until she gets fifty meters behind the fort. There is no way in, just a giant wall. That should be manegable. And even tho there still are Kraangs on top of the wall, there aren't nearly as many as by the entrance to see her before she can get in. Rachell sinks her weight into her paws, her wolf body gets ready to sprint. The Kraangs turn their focus and all run to the forefront. She hears a lot of shooting, and then an excruciating screech as metal scratches against metal.

This is the perfect timing.

Rachell sprints, and with her head first, she bashes through the wall. The wall scatters into big chunks and gets thrown everywhere in the yard. The turtles are still in the car. A car that is stuck halfway through the half-closed door, pinching them in place. And even though they are in trouble, they can't help but gawk at Rachell in her wolf-monster form. Her purple irises are on them for a brief second until the Kraangs’ attention turns to her, and they begin shooting.

The lasers send some painful electric shots through her body, but her wolf form is strong, nearly invincible, so she snarls at them, calculating who she should take down first. She transforms back to her normal, smaller, and nimble self and quickly cuts down every robot, biting their robotic heads off, tearing out the brains, and slicing through the metal, all while dodging the shots. Her normal form might not be as durable and strong as her monster form, so she has to be quicker and more agile, which is no problem. Her hands twitch, and she begins laughing a maniacal laughter. “Die! Die! Die!” It's a violent blood bath.

When the yard is cleared, and there is nothing left other than robotic parts and alien stains, she stands there, her hands ready for more, and her lungs are fast and loud. Rachell from one side to the other, turning around to observe any movement, eyeing if there is any life left.

Raph grins big, both impressed and awestruck: “I think you got them!”

Donnie whispers quietly in disbelief, not wanting her to hear him: “She is even more nuts than Raph.”

Leo tries to squeeze the nervousness out of his voice, but does a poor job: “Hey… Uhm... Can you help? We are kinda stuck here.” Had she not been there the turtles would have been able to find a way out, but ask for help anyway. When Rachell eyes the predicament the turtles have found themselve in, she sends him a smug face, that says it all. Just so she doesn’t have to. The humanoid wolf gets to the driver’s side, roars as she punches her claws through the metal and then rips the doors wide open, enough for two adult men to fit through. A she throws the door away like a frisbee, the turtles just stare at her. A bit with awe on Mikey and Raph's faces as if she is the coolest person ever, and a lot with terror on Leo and Donnie's.

Leo hesitates: “Thanks…”

They all get out of the car. Mikey, starstruck, begins bouncing up and down: “THAT WAS AMAZING! YOU ARE SO COOL! TEACH ME TO DO IT LIKE YOU!”

Rachell: “I doubt anyone can teach you that…”

Leo: “What is "that" anyway?”

Donnie adds: “How did you manage to be… “that”?”

Rachell scratches her neck with this unreadable face again, before spreading a cocky smile: “It is just me being awesome.”

Raph widens his eyes for a second. Oh. He has clocked it now.

Leo: “Yeah… right… But…”

Raph steps in between his siblings and her: “Enough with the gossiping. We are on a mission, what now?”

Leo: “We need to infiltrate the facility, fast, before-”

The sound of lasers hitting the walls, ground and metal begins again, this time they are louder and many more. On top of the wall are portals opening, and Kraangs flood through them. Each of the mutants take cover behind the big chunks of wall lying on the ground.

Donnie ducks behind one of the big chunk left after Rachell smashed the wall down: “Okay, what's the plan again?”

Rachell bashes a Kraang down and uses its body as cover: “Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo, you three get into the facility. Raphael, you are with me. I'm securing a route outside.”

Leo sighs. He’s the leader, he gives the orders, but ends up nodding as that was his plan too. He, Donnie, and Mikey make their way into the main building. Leaving Raph and Rachell alone in the yard to fend off the growing army of Kraangs. Amidst all the chaos and fighting, Rachell protects Raph's back, close enough for them to hear each other over all the noise: “You do know I can fend for myself, right? I don't need help.”

Raph: “Oh yeah, I know. You have made that very clear.”

And for a second, just a brief second, Rachell's masks drops: “You really didn't have to do that. With your brothers, I mean…”

“Don't mention it.”

A kraang rushes in, trying to get closer to them. Rachell snaps it in half: “ I still bet I can crush more aliens than you, tho.”

Raph: “Ha! You are so on.”

They get out of their covers and begin brutally taking down the tsunami of Kraangs with warriors' roars and threats.

***

Donnie's hand traces the wires on the wall, letting them point him in what direction to take. None of them have any idea what they are searching for, but they know they are searching for something important. With Donnie in the lead, Leo and Mikey sneak through the hallway, taking down every robot they can spot in their way. Donnie turns to the right, eying the patterns of the electrical current: “This way.”

They follow the expert until the hallway leads to another big double door, something the Kraangs are big fans of. Donnie begins to pick the lock, and it opens. Leo: “Let’s go.”

***

Raph tries to stab his sai through one Kraang after the other, but Rachell keeps stealing most of his kills, throwing daggers through the Kraangs in front of him with horrifyingly accurate precision. Just to add salt to the injury, she either does it while aerial cartwheeling over him and the Kraangs he is fighting, or she does it from the top of the wall. It's at this point that he begins to do the same thing. Every time she faces a Kraang, he immediately stabs it. They each get five bonus points when they take down one of the portals.

Raph rips an alien out of its home and throws it in Rachell's direction: “Getting tired?”

Rachell grabs it, and uses the slimy thing like nunchuck to slap some of the robots away: “Are you giving up already?”

“I can do this all day.”

Rachell throws the blob over her shoulder, going back to her sharp kamas. Raph alternates between his sais, and just fist fighting. The dust settles. They both search for more foes to destroy, but quickly realize the last portal was taken down 10 minutes ago, and there are no more. Both groan in disappointment.

Raph: “I told you we should have kept the portals.”

Rachell: “If we kept going, you would die of exhaustion, and I don't want to carry your sweaty body just because you overdid it.”

Raph tries to supress a laughter, but it sleps out as a small chuckle. They climb the wall to get a good view over their work, like a painter examines their art piece. Rachell sits down with one leg dangling over the edge and the other bend to her chest. Raph follows her example. The bricks are dusty under his palms, and he needs to brush the grime off. “I got 74 points, you?”

“Hah! 83!” Still sitting, she begins dancing a half-bodied victory dance with her arms.

He smiles lopsidedly: “You are so immature.”

“As if you've never done a victory dance.” Rachell punches his shoulder so hard he nearly loses balance and falls off. When he regains his balance, he snorts: “As if you know me.”

“Yeah, true. We don't know anything about each other.”

Raph shrugs: “We should probably do that tho if we are gonna work together.”

“So get talking.” Rachell turns towards him with her legs crossed. She looks excited, like a child ready for a bedtime story.

“Well, alright, since you insist. My master, and father, Hamato Yoshi, grew up in Japan-”

***

The three teenage boys have entered a round room, where the ceiling is so high, you can't spot the lamps hanging from it, only the light. In the middle of it all stands one giant tree of white crystals with a glass window around it to protect it. Fat, ugly larva-like creatures crawl behind the glass. Fat enough to fill a whole palm. Hundreds of kraangs walk from place to place with paper or other things, but none of them notices the three turtles, who had swiftly found a hiding spot above ground and near the glass walls. The ninjas need to make themselves blend in with the smooth surfaces. Although their weapons are put in their tool belt, they keep their hands free in case it's needed. There are mutants caged in flying boxes, just sitting there with nothing other than some water and a toilet. Mikey looks from one mutant to the other, tears swelling in his eyes. One of these mutants has the shape of his friend. “Leather-”

Leo puts a hand in front of his mouth, silencing his yell. They all go down, flattening their bodies on the higher platform as much as possible. “Shhh, we can't help him if we get caught.”

The younger turtle nods and removes the hand.

“Donnie, what is this?” Leo looks expectantly at the purple-clad turtle.

Donnie answers first in a false high-pitched voice: “It's the Kraang's sweet sixteen birthday party! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW!”

The oldest sibling has trained his whole life to not bitch-slap his brothers, so instead he gives a small, annoyed look, as if he sarcastically answers: “Sorry I asked,” through his face. They get back to the mission when a robotic voice echoes: “Is the Kraang who will proceed the procedure, what the humans call, "ready," to proceed the procedure, that is called: "Mind control mutants only" by the time, humans call, "breakfast"?”

“Yes, Kraang is ready to proceed with the plan in ten minutes.” Another Kraang answers.

Leo whispers to his team: “Mind control mutants only? What is that supposed to mean?”

Donnie: “Probably that they want to mind control mutants only.”

“What do they gain by that?”

Mikey: “Maybe they just want mutant friends?”

Leo: “No matter what, we have to stop them.”

Donnie: “If I can just get to the control panels, then I could free the mutants.”

Leo grabs both of his katanas and gets on his knee like a sprint runner prepares for a race, “Okay, you just go for it while Mikey and I cover your back.”

Donnie: “You don't have any other plans? Just run?”

“There isn't time, just go!”

The aliens all turn their heads to the three turtles, who make their way forcefully through the crowd. The Kraangs begin to defend themselves. Donnie reaches the middle, and he bats the flying Kraangs at the control panel away with his staff, as if they were golf balls, and then begins typing, going through everything, without knowing what half of it does.

***

Raph and Rachell are still sitting in the exact same place, in the exact same positions. Except Rachell is now leaning her head in her hand as Raph talks, engulfing every word. She hasn't even wiped the alien blood or dirt off her, having completely forgotten it existed. “So… that's pretty much my whole sewer life. Pretty boring, I know.”

Rachell answers sarcastically but with a glimpse of friendliness in it: “Oh, yeah, so boring. I mean, who on this planet hasn't been training under a ninjitsu master, and then gone on wild missions to save the world from a deadly ninja clan or alien robots? Super Boring.”

Raph smiles back: “Alright, alright, I guess it isn’t that boring.”

“And doing all that while being surrounded by mutants.”

“Well, since I'm a mutant, I don't exactly think I'll be bathing in normal humans' affection any minute now. Even tho I am pretty awesome.”

Rachell chuckles.

Raph: “What about you? Have you actually been alone all your life?”

This face, this perplexed and unreadable face, again. A whole minute in silence goes by. Then she looks smugly at him, this stupid smug façade to push him away, to keep a distance. “Guess I haven't met anyone who met my high standards. I mean, a person as godly as I am deserves only to be surrounded by oth-”

“Stop doing that.” Raph bites. He is tired of this.

“What?”

“Bullshitting. You said we should get to know each other, and I just shared my part. Don't be a fucking pussy and back out of a fight. Be honest.”

Rachell stares, shocked at him. She looks like she has just witnessed her first sunrise in a year. In the end, she lets her guard down with a simple sigh: “You're right… You're right.” Deep inhale and continues, “What do you wanna hear?”

Raph didn't expect her to change attitude so quickly, going from a cocky mask to this sincere expression. He didn't plan it through, and just said whatever was on his mind. “I don't know…” He doesn’t, so he picks a random subject: “What's your biggest fear?”

“Probably failing… Like, failing a mission. Failing to save somebody. Failing anything.”

“I… Understand…”

Rachell's eyes meet his. She suddenly seems so awkward.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Raph one word must have been just right, because she softens. Not much, just a little friendly smile. “Needles are also fucking terrifying.”

“Really? The big, bad wolf who can break down a wall and then crush an army of robots with laser guns? Needles?”

“Okay, mister tough guy. What's your biggest fear? Words longer than five letters?”

“Ha. Ha. Very funny. My biggest fear is waking up looking like you. Your face will make a mirror cry.”

Rachell laughs: “Your face cracks mirrors.” This earns her laughter from the turtle.

Raph nods and gesticulate with his arm: “Alright. I'll tell you, but don't mock me, or I will punch your eye blue and blue.”

“I can't promise you anything.”

Despite this, he goes for it: “Insects. Any kind of insects, especially cockroaches.” He shivers just by the thought, but she shrugs it off, saying: “A little less embarrassing than needles, but still pretty embarrassing. I can't judge tho.”

Raph: “Feels like judgement.”

Rachell humns. She leans back and into her straightened arms, and looks up into the sky that's only getting bluer and bluer by the hour. But she doesn't look at peace. Raph can see all the thoughts running behind those eyes, all these emotions, all these memories. Rachell says, “This is weird… Finally talking normally to someone who doesn't scream bloody murder. Not the bad kind of weird. It's just weird. I haven't done this for a long time.”

“Have you always been alone?”

“No. I did have two very close people, and a town with humans. Not that the townsfolk were that happy about me, especially later on…” Rachell pauses, biting on every word she just said and every word she will say moving forward. And then she continues:

“I have been a mutant ever since I can remember. The earliest memories I have were… me being experimented on by the Kraangs, that's why I can transform into a nearly indestructible wolf monster. Although the ability is somewhat cool, it was obviously not fun to be an experiment. So I escaped when I was around three years old, and my sensei, my father, Hamato Akio, found me and brought me in under my real name, Rion. I guess he was just that kind of man, because he later took in my friend when we were ten. Her name was Yumi, and she was a bitch at first, but I grew to kinda… like her…" Rachell says the last words with such a loving expression, Raph wouldn't have believed she could make five minutes ago. She looked like, her body could burst open by all that love, and she would still find a way to give more. “My sensei taught me everything I know, and I wish I could repay him for the countless things he has done.”

“Where is he now?”

Those happy, purple eyes are gone. Taken over by something far darker. “Two years ago, an assassin asked for shelter. I went out grocery shopping, but when I came home, our house was burned down. Akio was dead, weakened by deadly poison and then decapitated. The assassin who killed my father tranquilized me. The next morning, the fire was gone, just like Yumi, just like my father, and just like him. Tiger Claw.”

Her hatred was like freezing acid. His heartbeat stopped for a second, sending a cold feeling down his fingers that wasn’t blood, but shock.

“I have been hunting down Tiger Claw ever since. I did manage to cut off his tail last time we battled, but it isn't enough. Not even close.”

Raph: “So that's why you're in New York.”

“Bingo.”

“What will you do if you manage to kill him?”

“If?" Rachell shoots up in her sitting position, clenching her fists. “Once I have gotten my fingers on him, and once I have fed him his own Adam's apple…” Her eyes blazes with rage, her teeth sharpens, and Raph swore he saw her grow a few centimeters bigger before she calms down to a seemingly apathetic voice, and she goes back to a more relaxed body: “Then I don't know.”

Raph wants to say something, reassure her, but his mouth is left open when, Ding, ding, ding! His t-phone rings. He takes it and puts it up to his ears, instantly regretting it.

Mikey yells: “Get in here!”

They grab their weapons, jump off the wall, and enter the building. As soon as they are gone, the portals outside reopen, and Kraangs swarm around.

It doesn’t take long before the pair finds the ruckus. They find Mikey and Leo backing up, trying to defend Donnie, surrounded by a semi-circle of Kraangs.

The leader yells: “Donnie, how much longer?!”

“Don’t stress me!”

To Leo’s relief, Raph and Rachell make a passage through the crowd of Aliens: “About time!”

“Cover me!” Rachell puts away her Kamas and gets to the control panels, beginning to type. Leo, Mikey, and Raph widen the crowd and water it down to fewer and fewer Kraangs.

Rachell: “Donnie, what are all these files for!?”

“Files about mutant mind control.”

“What?!”

“Just help me open up the cages.”

The two scientists turns all their focus on the computers, before both yell out: “Got it!” and they slam their palms down on the button that sends a signal to the rest of the cages. The mutants jump out, most of them are running out of the room, taking down a few Kraangs on their way, but Leatherhead wipes out one wave after the other and joins his allies.

“Leatherhead!” Mikey jumps onto the alligators head, hugging it.

Then, a last wave of Kraangs from outside the facility begins streaming through the hallway and into the more and more crowded place.

Leo: “More are coming! Retreat!”

Rachell: “No! They can just capture all mutants again, and maybe we won't be able to stop their plan. We need to do something now, or at least ruin their progress for the meantime.”

Donnie: “I'll try and erase all their data, but it will take some time.”

Leo slices a Kraang droid mid-over: “Then hurry up!”

As the rest return to the battlefield, where the amount of Kraangs is slowly growing, Donnie and Rachell hurriedly type on the control panel. The others continue to take down robots after robots, but just as one is down, three more show up in the reopening portals.

Leo: “Now?”

Donnie: “Just a little more.”

Mikey is bouncing around on one of the platforms high above, taking as many robots out as possible. He swings a Kraang into a wall, destroying it, but another shoots his knee, and he falls on his hands. He gets surrounded. Fortunately, Leatherhead crushes his attackers. Mikey looks down at the burn on his leg, then down at Donnie and Rachell: “Now?”

Donnie: “No!”

Mikey carries on.

Raph stabs through one Kraang with his rageful roar, but he gets overwhelmed by the growing numbers and gets pushed into the wall, barely escaping them: “Donnie!”

Donnie screams: “I can't do this with all that pressure!”

Rachell pushes Donnie away when a Kraang shoots at them. She pulls out her blaster, she has been carrying: “Forget it! You guys run out! I deal with this.”

Leo: “What will you do!?”

“I'm exploding this whole building and if you don't fuck off, I will kick you through the walls.”

Leo: “We are leaving no one behind, whether a team player or not!”

“Fine! We need a good shot on that crystal tree.”

They nod. She jumps acrobatically over the crowd of Kraangs as they begin to shoot after her. Using the robot’s head as stepping stones, she nears the wall to get to the higher platforms, but some of the Kraangs grab her ankles and pull on her, slowing her down. She can get free, but it will take too long, so instead she looks around for the nearest person. “Leo!”

She throws the gun. It’s heavy, but he grabs it and continues his way to the wall, where he begins to climb up, until a horde of hands grabs his legs and pulls him down. He throws the gun to Raph, who catches the blaster and continues upwards. When he finally reaches the platform where the portals are open, he gets swarmed by robots, ten arms pinning him down to the platform. The gun is still firmly in his hand and out of the Kraangs’ reach. Mikey runs weakly past him, clearly injured, takes the gun, and jumps from the wall to the crystal.

“BOOYAKASHAAA!”

Midair, he shoots the crystals’ small twigs. From the twigs and down, the tree begins glowing with beautiful and dangerous hues. The Kraangs let go of everyone to flee the scene. Mikey falls, and Rachell catches him as if he were a bride. The heroes then sprint through the door, hearing a chain of explosions behind them. The explosions start small but get louder and louder as the light travels down the crystal tree. The mutants get to the Kraang's hallway, Leatherhead in the lead, then Leo, then Raph, then Donnie, and just behind is Mikey, carried by Rachell. The building begins to rumble, and everything seems to collapse.

Leo: “There! The exit! Hurry!”

They dash, heading for the exit, where sunlight shines in. Leatherhead is the first to get out, and the others follow shortly. Chunks of the roof give in and fall, of course, blocking the way just in front of Rachell. The blockage is wider than it is tall, so she can just see over it and see the brothers' terrified faces. She raises Mikey over her head and hurls him as hard as she can over the blockage. He crashes into Donnie, knocking the tallest turtle over.

That is the last thing she sees from their worried faces before several pieces of the roof block the view. She nearly doesn’t have time to transform into her wolf form. The building finally collapses with her in it. Everything stops moving.

The turtles and Leatherhead dig through all the rubble, lifting every stone, every panel up. They all call her name. Finally, they hear the rubble moving by themselves, and see a black wolf emerge from it, all gray from the dust. The boys and Leatherhead smile big and surround her. Still in her wolf form, she shakes her body like a dog out of water to get off the dust, covering the people around her with it. Rachell shrinks back into her normal form, that is now a bit bloodied, and yet she looks over to Mikey: “Mikey! You good, right?!”

Mikey: “That was the coolest thing I have ever seen! Do it again!”

Raph rolls his eyes and pushes the youngest brother off her: “He’s fine.”

Rachell bursts out laughing: “Wooo! Suck it Kraangs!” She brings both arms up in the air, cheering. The boys cheer with her, giving each other high-fives for a somewhat successful mission.

***

Later that night, everything had calmed down, with only YouTube sounds from Mikey’s phone and the TV as noise. Mikey is sitting on the couch, phone in one hand, pizza in the other, and bandages on his knee. Leo sits too close to the TV again as his favorite superhero kills evil aliens. Donnie is on his homemade computer, thinking.

Raph and Rachell sit on the edge of the pool as Raph wraps Rachell's arm in bandages. She has already gotten on her left leg, as well as a big bandage over her head.

Rachell asks: “How did you get Mikey to shut up?”

“Pizza solves a lot of issues in this house.” He finishes the bandages. “How does it feel?”

Rachell moves her arm a bit and wiggles her fingers, testing out her flexibility: “Weird. The bad kind of weird.”

“So you're not completely invulnerable in your wolf form?”

“Nothing is completely invulnerable. But surviving a whole building collapsing over me with only a few wounds? That's pretty good enough for me.”

“Why didn't you just transform into a wolf and run through the blockade? I mean, you have already run through a two-meter-thick wall at high speed with only a few scratches, why couldn't you just do it there too?”

Rachell looks away, and over to the others, but ends in a lopsided smile: “Is this your way of thanking me for saving your brother?”

“You are doing it again.”

Rachell turns back to him, but that sincere person he talked with on that wall wasn't there, “I was carrying Mikey; I don't want to accidentally crush him by running us both through a wall.”

“Are you sure that's all?” Raph frowns and crosses his arms. Maybe she will then understand, that he doesn't want her fakeness.

She puts a hand on his shoulder: “I’ll tell you another day, promise.”

Sigh. Fine. They both return back to the couch and find a comfortable sitting place there. Leo has the remote, so of course they re going to see some space sci-fi show. At least Space Heroes isn't airing.

With a mouth full of Pizza, Mikey looks over at Donnie's computer and asks, “What are you writing?” letting pieces and lets pieces of greasy cheese appear on Donnie's screen. 

Donnie groans and wipes the screen clean with some tissues on the living room table. “I saw some files and data that the Kraangs had saved on their device.”

Raph: “We destroyed that place. The data or whatever, don't matter anymore.”

“I wasn't able to download nor take pictures of any of it. But there were a lot of files saved under Shredder.”

“They are working together, and they have files over each other. Woah, big shocker.”

Rachell interjects: “This computer stored no other data that wasn't related to the Mutant Mind control Program… This facility was strictly only for that. My guess is that Shredder wants a mutant army to take you guys down.”

Raph: “Nah, he… He would, wouldn’t he?”

***

The moon is the only thing lighting up Shredder’s throne room; a bit of its inside is dark. It's so quiet that it makes Rahzar's fur crawl up. Shredder sits on top of it all, looking down on Rahzar, Fishface. A Kraang is standing at the left side of the throne Tiger claw on the right side. They both face the rest of the room. They are waiting for the two minions judgement.

Shredder's voice finally booms: “You two have greatly disappointed me again. You have already failed me three times this month! And now you couldn't even recover one briefcase!”

Razhar’s ears retrieves. He whimpers. Fishface closes both of his eyes and then stutters: “Master, in our defense, it's the same new enemy as-”

Shredder's eyes squint in anger. He leans forward with a threatening fist: “I don't care about this new enemy! Just get rid of her! If you do not serve her head on a silver plate, I will decapitate you instead!”

Tiger Claws' ears perk up now that his interest is piqued: “Who's this new enemy?”

“While you have been absent, this new little pest has been stealing resources from me. But it isn't important, the rat is our first priority after all.”

Tiger claw: “The pest… She doesn't happen to be a mutant black wolf?”

Fishface nods ridiculously fast. Tiger claw eyes Shredder: “Her name is Hamato Rion, and she is trained by none other than Hamato Akio. She is a fierce and formidable foe indeed, however, not unbeatable. Two years have gone by, and although I began my first year winning all our battles, I fear she is catching up. Now, it's mostly ties, except the last time we met, where my tail was taken, and I barely escaped with my life.”

Shredder leans back into his seat. He folds his fingers together, clearly thinking. Plotting. “Kraang!”

The robot twitters in anticipation to whatever Shredder will say.

Shredder: “When is the program finished?”

The program known as the mind control program was ruined by the ones called turtles. All the files Kraang had is now known as destroyed. Kraang has to begin again from scratch.”

“Do it quickly. I already have a subject in mind.”

Chapter Text

If anyone is interested, here’s the link to

The Rachell animatic voice claim

***

Although a little over two weeks have passed since the brainwashing facility was blown to bits, and although the loose mutagen all over New York has been retrieved and Kirby O'Neil is back as a human, the work is far from done. The turtles are still out, working, or working at least as much as they can.

As the turtles keep an eye over Spider bytez in the chilly evening, Mikey keeps playing games with Donnie, or rather, Mikey keeps playing games until Donnie answers and plays with him: “I spy with my little eye something green. Greeen. Greeeeen.”

In a weak voice, Donnie answers tiredly: “Is it Raphael again?”

“Yes! Man, you're so good at this!” The boy has too much energy.

Leo is leaning over the building's edge with a foot on the parapet. The pair of binoculars in front of his face allows him to follow the mutant spider as it waltzes through the streets without a care in the world. Clearly too stupid to realize it's a mutant in a human society.

Raph groans: “Why are we stalking this guy again?”

Leo: “Because the Kraangs are still trying to capture mutants. And he happens to be the only one dumb enough not to stay hidden.”

“So we are gonna protect him?”

“We use him to lure the Kraangs out. When they try to catch him, we take their van. Donnie can then use the van's inbuilt tracker to find any secret places we don't know about.”

“Do we have to save him in the meantime? That bug gives us nothing but trouble.”

“Think of it more as us taking the Kraangs down.”

“Uuurgh, fiiine. But only because I get to kick someone's ass.” He can't believe that his entire evening has been ruined tracking the loud-mouth bugger when he could have actually dedicated the time to cracking some criminals' dead.

A van stops too abruptly that the tires scream against the road, leaving burnt plastic. Spider-Bytzes fall to his butt and crawls backwards, trying to get away from the Kraangs. He screeches: “No! No! No! Not you again! Somebody! Help!” That's their signal. The four turtles move down the building to face the Kraangs. They collide into a fighting mess. Metallic robot arms against mutant fists.

On the sideline Spider Bytez sighs, loud enough for everyone to hear: “Oh. You frogs freaks again…”

As he punches a sai through one of the Kraangs's skulls, so it flies off, Raph yells out: “Hey! Show some fucking gratitude! My vote was on leaving you behind!”

Leo: “Raph! Focus!”

Raph growls but gets his head back in the game. Stab, stab, punch. That is until Spider Bytez mockingly yells out: “Help! Somebody actually helpful! Help!”

That bug is unbelieveable. Fucking unbelievable. Now that the hot head has kicked a Kraang down, he stomps to the spider. Leo calls out his name, ordering him to stop. A Kraang elbows the leader in the face to make him lose his balance. His bloodied noose scrapes against the asphalt. Ooof! Raph turns back to check on Leo, not really noticing the small tap on his shoulder. One of the Kraangs pushes him out of the way, hard enough to make him stumble, but not hard enough to make him fall. Now, Spider bytez is no longer lying on the street. The Kraangs have taken him and are closing the van as he screams for help. It’s too late. They drive off.

For some reason, the streets have never felt quieter. Dammit! Raph clenches the handles of his weapons, that are perfectly caved to his palms. They are ready to run after the aliens and beat something up. Leo gains his footing, but only stares angry at one person: “What the fuck Raph!”

That's when the rebel finally turns around, and his gritted teeth opens slightly. Raph’s eyes flicker between his brothers. They look at him with annoyance and disappointment. All he can do is stand there, waiting for an excuse or a clever comeback to come out of his mouth, but for once, there's nothing.

So Leo continues: “I should have known you weren't suited for this mission.”

“I AM! It's not my fault that he's a dick!.”

“No, but it's your fault for sabotaging the mission with your anger issues, again!”

Raph crosses his arms, not saying more. What is there to say?

Leo tells Mikey and Donnie, “Let's go, we might still be able to catch up.”

Raph: “Yes! Let’s go-”

Leo: “We are going. You are staying out of this.”

“Again!?”

“Yes! Again! Your temper is a liability.”

And with that, the conversation ends. Leo, Mikey, and Donnie run to the nearest buildings and begin climbing them, leaving Raphael alone under a lamppost just like before. Raph forces air through his nostrils, almost too quickly and forcefully, and his entire body shakes with rage. He strikes the lamppost, its vibrations echoe through the street. The impact is almost dangerous enough to topple it, but not dangerous enough to quell his wrath.

***

Anything on his way that can be hit is getting hit and thrown out of place. “My temper is not a liability, liability my ass, my temper making me a better fighter!” He kicks down a metal door that lands on stone stairs. It slowly glides down them, shrilling for every step, possibly alarming everyone with functioning ears in the building.

“If you wanted to wake up everyone in Manhattan-” Raph jumps up by that new voice and spins around to see the wolf mutant squatting on the building’s ventilators just behind him, “- You could have just kicked a car. The car alarm will continue blaring long after you run from the angry human mob.” Her smirk is so punchable in that moment.

Raph scoffs and crosses his arms: “I'm not in the mood for jokes.”

“Where are the other guys?”

“I'm not in the mood for talking either.”

“Are you in the mood for pizza?”

He huffs but does nothing more, allowing her to make this stupid, smug face, which is worse than her smirk. She says, “Then come on, you big baby.” Whatever, his stomach rumbles, and he has nothing better to do. She parkours off the ventilators and over to the junkyard with him just behind her.

***

The turtles have followed the car to the tall skyscraper that stands ominously in the middle of all the other buildings, and people don't even notice it. Not really. TCRI. The building that has loomed over them ever since they first realized it was the Kraang's headquarters. Donnie looks through his binoculars. First, at the van driving through an opening to a parking space inside the building, then at the windows in hopes of a peek inside, but as always, they are one-sided.

Mikey: “We did explode their other place.”

Donnie: “There's no way we can get into TCRI without proper gear.”

Leo: “We head home, gear up, and then come back here.”

Mikey: “Is Raph coming with?”

Leo: “Of course not. He needs to learn to keep his temperament in check.”

Donnie: “Honestly, he just needs to learn a lot of things.”

They make their way home.

***

When they enter Rachell's house, Raph is hit by the aroma of dough and tomato sauce. Everything has been cleaned up and spotless, the samurai armor included. He hasn't been there since last time, but it seemed almost the same as before, just shinier.

“Where’s the Pizza?”

Rachell: “Only losers buy Pizza. Real winners make them.”

"Uh-huh?" Raph finds his place on one of the stools behind the island table. Rachell turns on the radio, playing Photograph by Ed Sheeran throughout the house. When the fridge doors open, they reveal lots of different foods and ingredients. They are filled to the brim with it, too much for just one person to eat. In the middle of it all are two giant bowls of risen dough resting comfortably. “I thought you guys would be together, so I made an extra-large family portion, just for Mikey.”

Raph: “He would still have tried to eat our portions. Mikey is nothing but a black hole. Also just as smart.”

Even though Rachell has her back to Raph, he sees her shoulder move as she chuckles. He tries to lean a bit to the side in hopes of seeing what kind of expression she's making, but she has already stopped. Her focus is now on washing her hands, then drying them and spreading out flour on the kitchen counter to knead the dough into a circle. His eyes slide to the table, where the marble shines clean. A bowl of fruits decorates it with colors. Beside the bowl is a big gun, so heavy you'll need two hands to pick it up. “What’s that gun?”

Rachell: “Another explosive project of mine. It actually runs on the lithium batteries I got when we met.”

"You really need more hobbies." This earns him another laughter, this time louder. To better suppress his own proudness over that joke, he focuses on the gun. Raph grabs it, and just as suspected, it’s relatively heavy for something that size. That’s where he sees the big camera, also on the table. But it’s different from a normal camera, something he hasn’t seen before. It’s heavy too, with a broader figure, almost too big in his hands, and the edges are rounder. Some of it has cold metal on, some of it has cooled plastic on. He fears that if he scratches it too much, the blue painting will peel off. In its side is a black slit. “What’s this?”

Rachell: “It's a Polaroid camera. I found it broken and fixed it.”

“Why? Your phone has a camera, or are you too up your own ass to see that?”

Rachell takes it out of his hand, points it at Raph, presses the shutter, and a small photo on a thick piece of paper prints out. She fans the piece and takes a look at it with admiration. “I just think it's neat. Besides, fixing machines is relaxing to do. It keeps my anger issues at bay.” Rachell hands him the photo and the camera. He glances at the piece, and a pair of confused green eyes look back at him. Then up at her.

Rachell: “It keeps me calm.”

“Well, at least you are managing one of your many issues.”

“Hah! You're one to talk, do you even know the definition of Therapy?" Rachell sends a small laugh, but then goes back to the pizza on the kitchen counter. 

Raph scratches his neck, playing with the tail of his bandana in the meantime: “Hey… What do you do… To not smash everything, you know?”

Purple irises glances at him for a brief moment before moving on with the pizza by coating it with homemade tomato sauce. “I train, kick ass, cook, or create machines. But in the heat of the moment, I don't know.” She shrugs.

“You don’t know?”

“I'm flattered you are so surprised I finally don't know something." Rachell cuts the mozzarella into small flat chunks. “Well, it depends on the scenario. My father taught me some breathing exercises, which help a lot of times.”

Raph: “Oh…” Splinter has tried to teach him that too.

Rachell shrugs again as if to emphasize: “And I guess a hug has always calmed me down. But it's not like there is anyone to hug me now, so I just have to not get angry. Just gotta inhale exhale through the shit.”

Raph folds his arms across his chest, but his finger keeps tapping his shoulder, thinking on its own. He hopes she doesn't see it.

***

Leo, Mikey, and Donnie arrive back at TCRI. They pause at the nearest structure behind the tower. Leo points his grappling hook. He shoots, and a straight line between their structure and the tower forms. He secures it to a metal rod, and they glide from the first building to TCRI. When they have landed, they begin to climb. As soon as they reach the top floor, they take down each of the Kraang while blocking the cameras with doves or other things they can find. The last guard gets pushed off. The first step of the plan is clear. Now for the hard part, infiltrate.

Leo: “Don’t forget the oxygen box.”

Mikey: “I thought it was called the breathing box.”

Donnie: “For the tenth time, it's a filtration unit!”

With little to no hardship, they each prepare their filtration unit, so they can breathe while fighting in the toxic air inside. Donnie connects his phone to the ventilation, turning off the alarms amounted to the grid. They begin crawling through the ventilation, Donnie in front as he dismantles all the traps in the way. The vents are cramped, but they manage to squeeze through. They finally arrive in the giant room, where the Kraangs are working on their hologram computers. The three brothers hide from the ceiling beams and scout the place. In the corner is Spider Bytez sitting, caged behind glass.

Leo says: “Donnie, you get to the computers, find any information we need. Mikey, distraction. I'll free Spider Bytez.”

The others nod. Donnie swings his way over to the computers where a Kraang is standing. Mikey lands by the window. Hands around his mouth as a microphone. With a sound voice only a little brother can do, he yells: “Hey stinkfaces! See if you can catch me!” The job is perfect for him.

The Kraangs all begin to shoot at him, though he bounces around with ease, not getting hit a single time.

As the Kraang by the computer is shortly distracted by Mikey, Donnie jumps down and stabs it. It silently dies. If everything goes well, he will be able to connect his phone to the Kraang computers without being seen. The screen loads for a bit until the windows pop up. His eyes widen in shock. Oh no.

Leo is landing beside the cage, away from the Kraang’s view. Fortunately for him Spider Bytez just sits with his back to the turtle without any snarky comments like he was afraid of. The ninja whispers, “Stay silent. I’m here to free you.”

Spider Bytez doesn't say anything. Leo picks the lock. It opens after a few seconds. Wow, that was easy. He opens the door: “Get out Spidey.”

Spider Bytez doesn’t do anything.

“Or don’t…” Leo glances at Donnie on the computer, then at Mikey dancing around the room. “I’m just gonna go…”

Finally, Spider Bytez stands up, but when he turns around, his eyes aren't black like they were before; they are milky white. Empty. Leo walks back with his hand up as a peacemaking sign. Woah. The spider lunges its sharp arms at him. Leo avoids the attacks. Left, right, left. The noise from Spider Bytez has caught the Kraangs' attention, and they start shooting at him. In the midst of the chaos, Leo runs over to Donnie, Mikey too. Some Kraangs try to take them down as well, but fail when they are sliced and diced.

Leo: “Are you done?”

Donnie: “I'm still downloading a few files, but there is something…”

“What?”

Donnie points at the hologram where a red dot is blinking on a map. There plays some video footage of the junkyard’s center in the middle from different angles, while an audio sound plays below it. It recreates Raph and Rachell’s speech as they are unknowingly recorded: “When is the pizza done? It smells phenomenal!”

Rachell: “Of course it smells phenomenal, I made it. It's done in five more minutes.”

Mikey cries out: “Oh man! She is making pizza for Raph! I asked her a week ago to make me some!”

Donnie: “They must have put a tracker and a microphone on Raph.”

Leo: “Do they know about our lair?”

“There aren't any signs of that.”

They hear Spider Bytez’ roar behind them.

Leo: “We'll tell her later. Right now we just need those documents home.”

Donnie: “On it!”

Suddenly, another sharp spider arm shoots through behind them after Leo's side. He barely dodges but isn't hurt. They get ready to fight the other mutant. Mikey screams and points at Leo’s side: “Your breathing box!”

Donnie: “Filtration unit!”

Leo looks panicked at his destroyed filtration unit. He coughs raspy, the toxic gas slowly seeping into his lungs: “Mikey… The windows…”

Mikey makes a run for it, but he doesn't get far before Kraang shoots after him. The last thing that gets him is a blob of spider web that is hurled at him. It clings to his body as he flings into the wall. He loses consciousness, and the filtration hook falls out of his mouth. Donnie is left alone. He looks at them, horrified. Then, at the large round shadow engulfing his own. He manages to click three times on the side of his phone to send an emergency signal before he is knocked out cold.

***

Rachell places two plates on the table. One pizza is the usual pepperoni pizza, the other has bacon on it and is spiced with chili oil: “Dig up.”

Raph takes a bite, and his head explodes. If the pizza wasn't in his mouth, he would have dropped his jaw.

Rachell: “You like it?”

“Like it? This is amazing! This is probably the second-best meal I have ever tasted.”

“I would love to meet whoever made the best meal.”

Raphael is too obsessed with the food in front of him to respond. He hears a shutter and stops. Rachell is fanning a photo again and looks at it, clearly amused by whatever picture of him she took.

“Oi! Give me that!” Raph takes the photo to see his own disastrous face, smearing tomato sauce all over himself like a savage. He takes its corner to rip it apart, but Rachell puts one hand over his face, pushing his head backwards, and yoinks the picture from him with her other hand. Raph frees himself with an animalistic growl.

Rachell doesn't even look at him. She only checks the the small square in her hand for any scratches. Her eyebrows furrows: “Don't ruin it! These photo pieces are fucking hard to make.”

Raph: “I don't want to see that ever again! And don't even think about showing it to the others, or a photo of you is all that will be left.”

“Fine, I'll just keep it.”

“If you get to have an embarrassing picture of me, then I should have one of you too.”

Rachell slides the camera over to him nonchalantly: “Whatever makes you happy.”

“You have to do something stupid.”

Rachell placed her head on top of her intertwined fingers and bats her eyes: “Me simply existing is an act of stupidity.”

Raph catches a laughter he tries to push down under his breath. Regardless of what she does, he presses the button, fans the piece of paper, and a Rachell appears on the smooth surface. A photo of her looking into the camera with an entertained smile.

Raph mumbles, “You haven't done anything embarrassing.”

Rachell: “Is my normal face not embarrassing enough?”

Raph snorts: “Your face looks like every 'before' photo on the internet.”

Rachell snorts back and shows him his own pizza-smeared face: “Every time I look at this picture, I think: 'Man, over 3.5 billion years of evolution for this.'”

They both let go of their downkept laughter and they harmonize in the otherwise quiet kitchen. It's nice. When they begin to settle down, Raph's phone suddenly rings, not the normal ring tone, but an eerie alarm that contrasts with the earlier symphony. The phone blinks red and vibrates in his hand. He looks at her, scared. The phone turns on, and a map pops up with a red dot.

Raph: “They are in trouble!”

Without saying more, Rachell grabs the gun with both of her hands and throws it at him. He grabs it with both of his. She opens one of her windows and jumps out. Raph follows her. In their haste, they don't notice the white cars parked around the junkyard.

***

The pair finds the building where the rope is still secured in the air between facilities. Rachell takes the gun from Raph and points it at the top floor of TCRI. Shoots. As soon as the big ball hits the window, it explodes into a million small pieces with colorful fire. Toxic gases escape from the building. They can hear a battle happening up there.

Raphael feels his breath be sucked out of him as he’s too stunned by the blue, red, and purple sparks descending from the sky. Then stares, amazed at Rachell with her back to him as she stands there, ready to fight for his brothers. The universe slows down around him. The wind blows her short black fur and makes ever stand look light and soft. The colors surrounding her strong silhouette make her aura shine like a halo. She looks beautiful standing there, a beauty he hasn’t seen before.

She says something, snapping him out of the image. Rachell glides over the rope using the handles of her Kamas. He does the same with his sais.

When they arrive at the tower, five Kraangs begin shooting downward at them, and yet Rachell jumps the structure in lightning speed, almost teleporting from one window panel to the other, while not getting hit once. Two meters before the shattered window, she jumps one last time in a controlled way, only a trained ninja could, then punches the five Kraangs off, and they end up flying to their doom, past Raph, who has only managed to get 90% up. Raph can’t help but stare. Woah.

Her roar is loud enough for him to hear even outside in the wind: “I will fucking rip off your tentacle legs, sew them together, and send them to your mothers as a necklace! Come at me, bitches!"

When the turtle finally reaches the top and jumps onto the floor, he's prepared to fight. But his body freezes when he sees the scenery happening in the Kraang base. Not out of fear. In the center of it all is Rachell dancing a violent tango between the poor Kraangs and Spider Bytez. It is a massacre. It's short, and it is something special in his eyes.

She finishes the army, and the spider lies unconscious in its own blue spit before Raph can get out of his trance. She turns around to him with a smile that normally wouldn’t fit someone who has just killed twenty robots, and with alien guts painting her face, but it fits her perfectly. “What are you standing there and looking like an idiot for? Oh, wait, let me rephrase, stop standing there and looking like the idiot you are.”

Raph coughs his throat and shakes his head clear: “You could have at least left a few piñatas for the rest of us.”

Rachell rolls her eyes with that same damn smile, and walks over to the other end of the room: “C’mon, let’s get your brother’s out of this shit hole before more Kraangs arrive.”

In the corner, near some computers, there are his brothers, unconscious and wrapped in a web. Rachell cuts through the sticky cobwebs, but the brothers don't move.

Raph holds Mikey’s head in his arms: “Are they okay?”

Rachell checks their pulses and then their breathing: “Alive, just asleep.”

That fucking Spider. Raph grits his teeth together and directs his burning hatred to the spider still lying on the ground. That fucker doesn’t deserve to be asleep, not after hurting his brothers. Raph growls.

Suddenly, a hand grabs his arm. Rachell holds him tight with one hand. He expects a lecture on keeping his cool, he expects a command to keep his rage under control, but instead he sees Rachell glaring at the hologram with a blazing anger in her eyes he's never seen before. The hologram shows footage of the Kraangs walking away from flames. Flames are dancing around ruins and debris in what used to be a junkyard. What used to be her house. Everything has exploded. Everything has been engulfed in flames. Everything is destroyed.

Rachell hisses almost animalistically: “Get your brothers to safety.”

“Rachell?”

Midway into her transformation to a wolf-like monster, a demonic growl roars out of her: “NOW!”

The wolf pushes him down on his back with her fully transformed body. Its weight knocks out all air. Rachell's visible snarl lets saliva running down her razor-sharp teeth. Her eyes are white with nothing other than a beast behind them.

Raph gasps. He barely hears the groaning behind him.

The wolf jumps off him and attacks the spider mutant that is beginning to move again. She takes the bug down with her weight, and he starts coughing up more blue slime. It must have snapped him hard enough out of its mind-control because Spider Bytez mumbles: “What?! Where am I?”

The wolf sticks her teeth down into the spider's eye and rips it out, red blood gushing everywhere. She chews on it as if it were food.

Spider Bytez screams: “Get away!”

He shoots one of his arms at her. She grabs it with her mouth and rips it off. Another deafening scream. Before she can hurt him again, she is hit by a laser beam. A few more Kraangs has entered the room from the elevator. The beast dashes after the remaining Kraangs. One by one, they splatter their pink blood against the wall.

The last Kraang tries to wiggle free as she tears off its limbs and eats the remaining body. There are no enemies left, yet the wolf is still tearing the limbs off the corpses of the Kraangs. Inhaling them. Raph lies there on all fours, frozen in place, breathing in and out, watching the beast trying eat its insatiable, bottomless hunger away and failing.

Leo begins to move, muttering.

The wolf's ear flies in their direction. Slowly she turns her body towards them, growling. She’s not there. She will kill them.

Raph stands and goes in front of his brothers with his hands on his sais. Adrenaline pumps under his skin, yelling for him to do something. Raph: “Stop it.”

Like a wild predator, the wolf takes off and pounces after Raph. At the last second, the wolf opens its jaws to take a bite, and at the last second, he dodges it. The wolf tries again to take a bite out of him, and another, and another. He keeps jumping away.

“It's me! Raph! Snap out of it for Christ's sake!”

He feels the wall against his shell. Just before she can touch him, he jumps up to grab some wires and dangles from them. She hits her head through the wall, but she just shakes her body and turns around again. Raph jumps in front with a great distance. He stands between her and his brothers. His fingers are squeezing the sais.

Thinking of anything he can do.

Then he remembers her words: “I guess a hug has always calmed me down.”

Maybe, just maybe... Raph lets go of his weapons. Let them fall to the floor with clangs. They eye each other. This better fucking work.

The wolf presses her weight against her paws and her paws into the floor, and then she leaps in his direction. Raph holds both his hands out. Waiting for the car-sized animal to hit. He doesn't have to wait for long. She lands on top of him and pushes him down, knocking spit out of his mouth. And yet, Raph wraps his arms around her neck. She stops moving, just breathing heavily.

In the lowest, voice Raph can muster, he growls: “Rachell, if you can hear me, forget the stupid house, and the stupid Kraangs, snap out of it, you just gotta breathe. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breath out.”

They stay like that for a little while until her sculpture shrinks. She still ends being nearly 190 cm long, that tall bastard, but still marginally smaller and lighter than before. Her body collapses over him, knocking everything out of him a second time.

Her body goes limp, and her breathing becomes weak. He looks at her clearly asleep face. Then, his arms sprawl out to the side, and he sighs in both relief and exhaustion, but mostly exhaustion. His dumbass brothers can wait a little.

After a small while like that, Leo, Mikey, and Donnie wake up, caressing their heads. When they come fully to their senses, their eyes widen to round circles starring at the mess that has been left in TCRI.

Mikey: “Woah…”

Donnie: “What in the world?”

Leo: “How long were we out?”

They spot Raph still under a sleeping Rachell. The brothers surround the two, and Raph looks at them threateningly. He whispers through a clenched mouth: “I swear, do NOT wake her up.”

Mikey takes a picture with his t-phone: “Awww, you look so cute together.”

Raph continues to whisper: “I'll slap the green off you!”

Leo: “Calm down. You don't want to wake up your girlfriend.”

“She’s not-”

Rachell begins muttering, her eyes are still closed and her body is still not moving: “Shut the fuck up everyone, or I'll rip your guts out and strangle you with them.” She then proceeds to snore.

Leo: “Did she fall asleep again?”

***

They have somehow managed to get sleeping Rachell on Raph's back and are now walking on the rooftops. She weighs a lot, but he doesn’t mind. He's the only one who can handle the weight. All he can think about is how her heartbeat is slow and weak against his shell, he can barely hear it even at this close distance. Leo and Donnie are in the front. Mikey keeps looking at Rachell with his ugly face, as if he is observing some kitten snoozing: “She looks adorable when she sleeps.”

Raph shushes: “Shhh.”

“I need another picture.” Mikey raises his t-phone.

Raph: “Shhhush.”

A bright flashlight shines, blinding Raph for a moment. Rachell grumbles, still sleeping.

In a half whispery voice, Raph threatens: “Mikey!”

Mikey goes behind Donnie as a shield. Donnie: “You know you’re the loudest here.”

Raph half whispers, half-saying: “Am not!”

Leo sounds exasperated: “Can you guys just please hurry up.”

Raph, half whispering, half shouting: “Can you guys just SHUT UP!”

Rachell's weight gets removed when she pushes herself off Raph. Her head in her hand, as she groans.

Raph looks to the others: “Oh great, you woke her up!”

“US?!” Leo yells offended.

Before they can say more, Rachell dashes past them. Her silhouette gets smaller and smaller on the horizon as she runs away. The others take a step forward, but Raph stops them: “Don’t. I’ll talk to her.”

Leo: “Can you at least give us an explanation?”

“Later. Just go home.”

His older brother scoffs, but doesn’t push further.

***

The area is still hot. It stings his nose with burnt rubber and smoke. He can only imagine what her wolf nose would feel like.

Rachell sits in a seiza sitting pose in front of the remains of the junkyard. Everything is destroyed. The fire is dead, revealing ember in the pieces of bricks, wood, and metal. The piles are smaller than before, either consumed in the explosion or scattered with the wind. She holds something in her lap that he can’t see from that distance and from that angle with her strong build covering it.

Raph lands a few meters behind her, maybe five, but the distance seems larger.

Rachell bites: “Don’t - come any closer.”

“Sorry about your house.” Raph scratches his arm.

They go silent for what feels like an eternity. An uncomfortable silence. Raph steps a bit closer.

Rachell: “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“What?”

“You were afraid of waking me up. Weren't you?”

“No, that’s not-”

“You are afraid of me, aren’t you?”

“What? No. ‘Course not.” He takes another step.

With her body still facing away, hiding whatever in her lap, she whips her head halfway around, showing her brows furrowed, her eyes tightened, and her teeth clenched, a face others would deem scary. But for some reason, it just looks hurt. Rachell barks: “Fuck off! I will kill you!”

Raph takes another step.

Rachell barks again: “Do you have a death wish?! Scram!”

He takes one more.

And again: “Are you deaf!?”

The last step, and he stands just beside her, and then sits. Raph then leans to the side and places an arm around her shoulder. She doesn't lean into it, but she doesn't push him away either. Instead, she looks down.

Raph asks: "You wanna tell why you went all nutty?”

And Rachell’s high-built walls fall and crumble: “It's really nothing special. When I get too angry, I lose control and automatically transform into that wolf monster. Or when I go into it too often for too long, I just get a little bit crazier than I already am.”

“A little bit?”

A short, dry chuckle gets thrown into his face. He looks down at the thing in her hands. Rachell caresses the samurai helmet in her lap.

Raph asks: “What’s that?”

She explains: “There was nothing else left. But if I had to choose only one of my possessions to survive, it would be this helmet.”

Raph looks at the helmet, then up at her as she tells him everything: “My father gave me and Yumi this stupid, cheap samurai helmet because we became obsessed with a theater play in Japan and wouldn't shut up about it. It was mostly me rambling about it for hours and asking for anything samurai-related. Our sensei would sometimes give us a book about it, and Yumi would always let me talk her ears off. The two of them would give little, obnoxious, overemotional me everything in the world.”

A small sparkle shines in her eyes, but it is quickly drowned out by sorrow.

“The first time I realized I could transform at will, I was six. I kept abusing the power, tapping in and out of it. For every transformation, my judgment worsened, and I ended up losing my mind. That day is a blur, but apparently, after transforming fifteen times, I snapped, and attacked a family in the woods. Luckily, my father arrived and did something he never does. The most unbelievable thing. He hugged a monster like me. Calmed me down. Took care of me. And he continued being there every day even years after that incident. When I was eleven, it happened again. I got angry over something, I can't remember what, just something. I attacked Yumi. And just like our master, she calmed me down. The third time I lost my temper was when I was twelve. There was no one to stop me, and I destroyed houses, injured people… I ate a child.” Rachell presses the words and stretches them out, almost to punish herself more with them.

”My wolf form kept running wild in nature and attacking people for weeks until my father finally found me. I was, of course, exiled from the village. The worst part was that Akio and Yumi came along even if they didn't have to. We found an isolated place in the woods and lived the rest of their lives there.”

Silence. Raph squeezes her shoulder. And she almost whispers in this vulnerable voice: “Don't tell the guys any of this.”

“They should know.”

Rachell shakes her head: “They won’t understand.”

“Leo and Donnie might.”

She gives him this expression. A face that holds too many feelings in it for its own good. And Raph can only say: “Okay. I won't tell them anything. I'll wait for you to be ready.”

Rachell nods. They go quiet. Raph keeps his arm around her. She still caresses the helmet.

Raph breaks the silence: “Do… You want to live with us? Just while searching for a new house.”

Her eyes widen. He really said that even after today? Rachell didn’t think he would have even approached her, let alone offer her a place to stay. She can’t do anything but stare at him with this surprise. Until soft sparks ignite in her and shine through her again.

“That would be great.”

***

Donnie is on the computer, Leo by his side, Mikey on the wheeled chair, gliding around the lab.

Leo: “What are their plans?”

Donnie: “Shredder wants a mind-controlling technique to lead an army of mutants and kill us and Splinter.”

Mikey: “We have already guessed that.”

Leo: “Hasn't he already used a brainwashing caterpillar? They don't exactly work very well. Fairly easy to remove.”

“Yeah, but there are two things.” Donnie shows a sheet of different chemicals and calculations. “Shredder wants a permanent product, or at least something difficult to find an antidote for. And the Kraangs are halfway there.”

Leo: “So you can't make a cure.”

Donnie: “I probably can with what they have now.”

“Probably?”

“They are making it more advanced as we speak.”

Leo: “Alright. And what's the second thing?”

“They've shifted from producing multiple weaker brainwashing remedies to making one concentrated vaccine.”

Leo is just as surprised as he is confused: “Are they gonna target only one person or?”

“I don't know…”

Chapter Text

A calm, nice atmosphere lingers in the lair while the teenagers are busy doing their own things. Leo keeps the punching dummy in place as Raph trains his martial arts with it like it has insulted his mother.

The otherwise restless wolf has finally settled down on the couch reading a book about the industrial revolution in western Europe, something Donnie has lent her.

Mikey is lying on his stomach, feet kicking behind him, and the movie Braveheart in front of him. Completely swoon by the men in monochromatic clothes. Donnie is watching from the other side of the couch, eyes rolling every second to make it more bearable: “ Why is the movie showing William Wallace's family, when we don't know anything about them?”

Still reading, Rachell interjects: “Not to mention, why would the movie show Scottish people wearing kilts over 400 years before they began wearing them?”

Mikey sighs a tired sigh; it’s too tiring to explain everything for the two smaller-minded people: “If the movie shows it, it's because it's real.”

Rachell: “Or the producers were too lazy to research, so they just made stuff up to gain money from idiots.”

“It’s a good movie!”

Donnie: “Is it tho?”

It's hard being the only one, who has taste for fine art.

April walks in with a laptop in hand, “Hey guys! Look at-” but she interrupts herself when she makes eye contact with the mutant wolf, who is equally as perplexed and shocked by the human.

April: “Good day?”

Rachell: “Sup.”

Leo stops holding the punching Dummy to get in between and introduce the two. Raph leans against it with his typical Raph expression and closed body language, trying not to seem curious on how the dorky brother is gonna introduce the two girls. “Rachell, this is our friend, April. April, this is our new friend, Rachell. She is temporarily living here after the Kraangs exploded her house yesterday.”

Mikey: “She can transform into a wolf! Show her, Rachell!”

“For the seventh time! I'm not transforming just for nothing!”

April sits down on the couch next to Rachell, putting the laptop beside her: “Your house exploded? I'm sorry.”

But Rachell shrugs nonchalantly: “I’ll survive.” She doesn't meet the other girl's gaze.

April covers the side of her mouth and leans in, as if she were telling a secret the guys shouldn't hear: “If they get really annoying, my apartment is always free.”

“Thanks, I'll need it.”

Donnie straightens up on the couch: “What did you want to show us?”

“Oh, right!” April opens her computer to show them all the different open tabs, all about the museums. They group around the screen. “I have created a website where people can write stories and post pictures about strange occurrences that have happened to them. In the last three days, several people have spotted the same van and the same faces recurring multiple times in and around this museum.” Blurry images from different angles show the same person standing by the museum at different times.

Leo: “Kraang.”

“I went to the museum myself to see what's up. That’s where I overheard two Kraangs behind the museum. They talked about going into the building at midnight to take back their staff.”

Leo: “Staff?”

Donnie takes the laptop from her and searches up the museum names and exhibitions: “Hmmm. There is this king's staff?” The website reveals a black scepter with a faint pink crystal on top of it. “It's their new exhibition, debuting three days ago. Fits perfectly.”

Raph points at the museum description over the relic: “It says it's a thousand years old tho? Why would the aliens be interested in some ancient stick?”

Rachell: “The Kraangs have been here for over millions of years, so they could have just lost it?”

Raph: “So what are they gonna use it for?”

“Let me just use my telepathy and ask them.” Rachell puts two fingers to her temple and squints her eyes. “Ah, sorry, they are not available right now. I'll try again later.”

Leo: “We’ll just have to find out tonight.”

***

When they check the clock, it’s 11:30. The five mutants blur into the shadows when they surround the museum from different places. A van is already parked there. Just like trained ninjas, they sneak into the building, avoiding or blocking each camera. When they finally get past the camera station, the man is knocked unconscious, and the cameras are turned off.

Mikey whispers, “Oh no, the enemy must be dangerous. Hey Rachell, you should turn Wolf.”

“Not gonna happen.”

They continue to the upper level, the fifth floor. There, at the other end of the oblong room where all sorts of medieval artifacts hang behind glass, there is a pedestal with a cushion. Next to the pedestal is the glass case removed from it. In front of the pedestal stands a Kraang with the king's staff in his hand, and repairing it with tools. The crystal is glowing, showing the number 16 in it like a dice with one number.

Leo: “Take it!”

Raph is the first to jump in. The others do the same. The Kraang somehow evades most of their kicks and hands as it tries to run out of the room, not fighting back. It gets past them for a brief second before being pushed down to the floor by Rachell. She grabs the staff, and the number increases. The Kraang slams a hand on the crystal. A blinding white light consumes the room.

The turtles all cover their eyes, Rachell doesn't get to in time. She screams as she conceals her hurting eyes with her palms: “Son of a bitch!” The wolf gets pushed off by the Kraang, and it runs away.

When they all remove their hands, they are no longer in the museum, or in New York for that matter. They stand on top of a building, smaller than what they are used to. It's daytime. The sun blinds them a bit.

Mikey: “Uhhh, last I checked, it was night and we were in a museum in New York.”

Leo: “Donnie… What is happening?”

“Woah! Look!” Mikey points. The cars are a bit older, and the people are wearing warm clothes. They surround a long wall vandalised by beautiful graffiti. Soldiers all around.

Donnie: “No way! That can't be true!”

Rachell excitedly grabs Donnie’s shoulders and begins shaking him violently and joyously like a kid on a sugar rush: “They are taking down the Berlin Wall. We are in Berlin, 1989!”

Donnie screams out just as excitedly: “That is amazing!”

“I know, right!”

Raph: “We have time-traveled?!”

Donnie: “And teleported.”

"I'm gonna smack you."

 “It doesn't matter, we need to go back.” Leo points at the Kraang that has been running away this whole time they have talked: “Don’t let him get away!”

The brothers begin sprinting. Rachell takes out her T-Phone to take a picture of the Berlin wall, but Raph calls out: “Rachell!? What are you doing?! If we don't get that staff, we'll be stuck here!”

Rachell snaps out of her trance, now remembering the gravity of the situation: “Right!” and runs after them.

They are gaining in on the Kraang. The crystal of the staff is red with the number 497. Mikey is the closest, so he grabs after scepter. The crystal becomes faint pink again. The Kraang turns around and hits him in the face with it. Bonk! It lights up, and the five mutants with the robot disappear from the scene of Germany.

Mikey gets thrown back into Raph, and they land in the sand. Leo, Donnie, and Rachell continue their run after the Kraang but stop when it's heading to a medium-sized ship made of wood, securely tucked on the island’s beach. The Kraang runs up the plank and gets on board.

They stare at the ship, unsure for a bit, before Leo says: “Come on, guys!” There's ironically no time for stealth.

Fortunately for them, not a single human is on board the ship, but they still sneak around quietly, carefully, just in case. Raph wants to go after Rachell, but Leo pulls him back by his arm and away to another room, not thinking about how Raph is staring in Rachell's direction.

Rachell, Donnie, and Mikey get into an office place with cabinets, chairs, and all kinds of belongings. Donnie and Rachell check and analyze everything eagerly like the nerds they are. Mikey looks like a curious dog, touching whatever he can.

Donnie: “This looks like a 15th-century ship! Amazing.”

Rachell adds: “I'm guessing it's a Spanish ship.”

“Oh yeah, definitely.”

“When we get that staff, we have to go to Japan 13th century.”

Donnie: “We should get Leo's permission first. And if we do, I'm voting on the ancient Greek?”

Rachell: “Then the ancient Egypt after!”

Mikey jumps into the conversation: “We should also travel to year 0, where Chu Lulu takes over America!”

Donnie wipes his palm over his exhausted face: “That just never happened-”

“Yes it did!”

As the two begin bickering, Rachell finds an open notebook lying over an outdated map, missing all kinds of countries only the future world knows of. The map lies on a wooden desk with a chair behind it. She tries to read the notebook but doesn't understand the language. The papers flips to the first page where Christopher Columbus' signature is written.

“Donnie! This is Christoffer Columbus' ship! Santa Maria!” She shows Donnie the diary, pointing at the handwritten signature. “It's 1492, we are in the Bahamas on Christopher Columbus' ship!”

Donnie geeks out: “No way! That is so cool!”

Mikey: “Who is this Christopher guy?”

Donnie: “He was the first European to sight the Bahamas. He is credited for 'discovering' America," Donnie makes air quotation marks on 'discovering' with his fingers, “although the Vikings came here first.”

Rachell: “Also, he was an awful guy. A white supremacist who hurt the Native Americans in gruesome ways.”

Donnie: “That’s true.”

As Rachell and Donnie continue chattering about historical facts, Mikey sits on the chair behind the desk, not really understanding their gossiping, but his leg bangs into something hard. Under the desk is a Kraang staring back at him. The Kraang jumps up and swings the staff after Mikey. He dodges this time. So the Kraang runs out of the ship. They run after him.

On the deck, Leo and Raph are always searching: “You found anything, Raph?”

“If I had, we wouldn't be having this conversation, genius.”

The door to the downstairs slams open. The Kraang crashes out, with Donnie and Rachell behind. Mikey tackles the robot, and the staff flies out of its hand. They all gasp. The pink crystal rolls over to Leo’s feet. It doesn't activate. Phew. The crystal rolls a bit closer and hits his toes. White light again.

Leo: “Oh, c’mon!”

Always holding the Kraang down, Mikey asks: “Where are we now. Or rather when-”

Rachell and Raph yell: “Do not!”

Dunes of sand surround them in mesmerizing waves. There's no life other than them. Donnie looks at the sphinx nearby, its giant presence is just as awe-inspiring as it is impossible to miss: “Rachell! It has a nose!”

Raph: “Oh wow… A nose… Big fucking deal!”

Donnie: “You really need to learn more…”

Rachell takes out her phone to face the camera at the statue: “It looks relatively new, so we might be around 2500 B.C.”

“According to National Geographic, it's between 2575 BC and 2150 BC.”

“Since when was National Geographic a scholarly source?”

Raph coughs to Leo: “Nerds.”

Leo: “Guys! Focus! We need to get home.” He hands over the staff to Donnie, who takes it. Meanwhile, Rachell shoots lots of pictures in the background.

“Yes of course,” Donnie nods and he takes a look at it. First, he taps carefully, then turns the crystal around, changing the numbers to bigger, then smaller: “Rachell, can you come here for a second?”

She puts the phone away and walks over. He hands it to her. She turns the crystal anticlockwise. “The crystal is still red, so I don't think it will work right away. We'll just have to wait until it's pink again.”

Raph: “How do we know how far we should shoot? You know, to not make some time-paradox or whatever.”

Rachell: “We should start with low numbers, so we don't go too far into the future. And assuming the Sphinx is somewhat new, the lowest number to the future is around 4.161 years.”

The crystal becomes pink.

Mikey: “Neat!” The bouncy youngest brother yanks it out of her hand and turns it anti-clockwise. Everyone yells: “STOP!” but it’s too late, Mikey has already slapped the crystal, teleporting them away once more, but this time leaving the Kraang to the heat under the desert's burning sun.

When they look up again, the earth rumbles as a Camarasaurus walks towards gigantic trees. All kinds of dinosaurs are everywhere, only slightly hidden in the jungle

The other roars in unison: “MIKEY!”

Mikey laughs nervously: “The staff is a bit sensitive…”

Donnie rips the staff out of his hands: “Great… Now we have to wait for the timer in this godforsaken place.”

Leo: “Where are we?”

Raph: “Does it matter? There are Dinosaurs everywhere! We need to go home, now! Before becoming t-rex food!”

Donnie: “There aren't T-rexes living at the same time wi-” but he shuts up when Raph glares at him, fuming with anger. “I'll stay quiet,” Donnie whispers. 

Leo: “The crystal. Remember the crystal?”

“I’m working.” Donnie begins turning the crystal clockwise, and the number shrinks to minus.

Rachell points: “Donnie. The Camarasaurus!”

Donnie understands: “Oh, that's right!”

Raph: “What? Are you going to take a picture of them too?”

Rachell: “The Camarasaurus lived between 145 to 155 million years ago. And this plant looks relatively new. So if we want to get safely home and not waste any time on guessing, 145 million years is a good guess.”

Raph looks away with a tsk.

Donnie: “Brace yourselves!” As the bright light disappears, so does the natural environment, and they emerge in New York once more, this time standing on top of one of the so familiar tall apartments. It smells of piss and junk food.

Leo: “We’re back!”

Mikey smacks his head down onto the dirty rooftop, not caring about the dark puddles: “Sweet, polluted, city. How I have missed you.”

“Uhm… Guys…” They turn their head to Donnie, looking down at the street. There, walking out of the pet shop, is a tall Asian man carrying four turtles in a glass cage. A story they have imagined since they were three, but never seen.

Mikey: “Woah, human sensei.”

Leo: “We need to go.”

Rachell: “Yeah, we should really not mess up here.”

They turn back to the roof. Waiting for the crystal to get pink, then enter the right number and hit it. They time-travel and teleport for the last time. Now they are back in the museum. The clock is midnight.

Leo: “We gotta destroy the staff.”

Rachell takes the staff from Donnie: “We could also just keep it away from any enemies. It could be extremely useful if we fuck up a mission and someone dies, or the earth gets invaded. Also, I would like to get my house back.”

“You just want to travel to different times.”

“I like multitasking.”

“No! It's too big a risk. What if we get stuck in the past, or worse, if we change anything? Or what if the Kraangs get the staff, then they'll be unstoppable? Or what if we create some time paradox by encountering our past self, and the universe explodes?”

Rachell sighs: “Yeah, yeah… I get the point.”

“Good.”

Rachell gives him the staff. He raises it over his head and smashes the crystal into the floor, splintering it into a million pieces, taking her newfound dreams with them.

***

As the boys are watching the Reign series in the living room, Mikey laughs loudly, or awwws when something cool happens, Raph comes with sarcastic comments and insults, and Leo is the only one quietly trying to watch the series annoyed by his brother's chatting.

Donnie continues to correct its historical inaccuracies, until he realizes someone is missing, “By the way, where’s Rachell?”

Raph: “In the lab, fixing some machinery stuff.”

Donnie stands up and walks in the direction of his lab.

Raph: “Where are you going?”

“Checking in on her.”

“She wants to be alone.”

“I’ll just invite her.”

Just like Raph said, Rachell is sitting by Donnie's desk. Her samurai helmet is there too. She is toying with the disassembled machine in front of her, probably making a new Polaroid camera like she has been talking about. The wolf girl doesn't look up when she asks: “Are they still watching that stupid series?”

“Yeah. It’s really bad.”

Rachell: “I don’t understand why you are watching it.”

Donnie throws his thumb over his shoulder: “You should join.”

“Hah! No Thanks. There's a limit of stupidity I can endure.”

“Come on, you are the only person with a brain around here, other than me, of course.” Donnie has never had another person who could respond when he talked about Christopher Columbus; in fact, he has never had a person who could hold a conversation about basic trivia for more than five minutes. Donnie loves his brothers. They are the worst, Neanderthal idiots in the world, but he loves them. Sometimes, though, it would be nice to be met with something other than confused looks. “It's fun to have someone I can bash all the factual inaccuracies with."

Rachell doesn’t know why, but for some sappy reason this convinces her, something she thought her iron will could withstand, but she snorts: “I'll come in a minute. I just have to put in the Raspberry Pi and then connect the wires.”

Donnie points out: “Don't forget to note the gray divider that extends across the width of the opening. You know, to create a top edge for the printer to sit against and to keep the Pi separate from the printer.”

Rachell gives him a thumbs up, then goes back to playing with the wires. Moves the red wire over the black, and nudges the blue with a silver screw.

Curiosity takes hold of Donnie: “Why are you suddenly building a Polaroid camera anyway?”

“Yesterday, I was thinking about how cool it would be to have a Polaroid camera on me. It's just nice to have the pictures physically in your hands or hanging on your wall. There are stuff you are never going to see again, and it's a nice reminder. I doubt we'll ever go back in time, and it's the sensible thing to do. Leo is right, time travel is way too dangerous. It's just... Japan's history is so fascinating, cruel…. but fascinating.”

“The museum is still here. We could just enter it someday.”

Rachell turns to him with a beaming smile. She gives the finishing touches to the camera before leaving. When they join the group watching TV, the others scoot to the side to make room for them again. Rachell sits beside Raph so close their knees touch. “Thanks for finally joining us. You done with the camera?” He tries to stifle the tingly feeling in his chest that begins to flutter, but he can't. He can barely contain his curiosity when he places his hands on his knees, letting fingers brush her fingers on her knees.

Rachell: “Not yet. I'll finish it later today, but don’t worry, you will be the first person I take a picture of, so I can remember your stupid face in case your dumbass gets yourself killed.”

“You like my handsome face.”

Rachell pushes him with her shoulder and a big grin, and he can’t help but grin back: “You seem awfully happy right now. Did anything happen?”

Rachell opens her mouth to respond, but then Donnie groans about the series, and she enters the discourse.

Chapter Text

The hip hop is blasting through the speakers loud enough to make the lair’s brick walls vibrate. Only the NBA sport commentator in the TV could be more deafening than the music, demonstrating an excited, extravagant voice inflection. The TV flickers with vivid colors across the screen. The colors of the live footage of basketball players playing.

Rachell is on her phone with earbuds, watching kurzgesagt YouTube videos.

The living room is a mess with pillows, comic books, and fallen objects scattered everywhere. Even the dummies lie by the edge of the pool.

The four turtles play basket, with a stolen ball and two stolen hoops on each side of the living room. Leo and Raph against Mikey and Donnie, laughing and dribbling, pushing everything around them to get to the other side. Leo gets the ball and dribbles halfway before Donnie and Mikey block him. He throws the ball, and Raph catches it. He makes his way to the other hoop, jumping to dunk it, however, Donnie gets in the way and slaps it to Mikey, who maneuvers past Leo and to the other hoop, dunking it, scoring the b team a point.

Mikey cheers: “Go Miiikeeeeeyyy!” The shortest turtle holds onto the hoop, which in the end tips over by his weight and onto him with a crash.

“What is the meaning of this!?” An angered Splinter emerges from the Dojo.

The four stands straight up on a row with arms to their bodies and legs together, like soldiers to their superior.

Leo: “Sensei!”

Splinter says sternly like only a father can, “How many times have I told you not to play basketball in the lair?”

Mikey: “None, sensei.”

Splinter: “Because it should be obvious!”

Leo: “We understand completely. And we will clean up our mess and think about what we have done as a punishment.”

Splinter: “How about the punishment is cleaning up the lair and being grounded for a week?”

Leo shakes his head nervously: “That is not necessary.”

Splinter: “You are grounded for a week!”

The boys make defeated noises, well knowing they can’t do more. Splinter seems to walk away and to the entrance of the dojo.

Rachell doesn’t look up from her phone: “Wow, what a bummer. Sucks for you guys.”

Suddenly, a kunai rockets past her and hits her phone, pinning the cracked device to the floor.

Splinter: “You are grounded as well! No technology!”

Rachell gets up with a protest: “With all due respect, Sensei, I just sat here, doing nothing.”

Splinter: “Exactly. You did nothing when you should have prevented this mess. Now, begin cleaning, all of you.”

Now it’s the wolf’s turn to feel defeated.

Mikey mocks her: “Haha, must suck for you.”

“You are grounded too.”

“Grounded with yoouuuuu~”

Smack.

***

They have cleaned up the mess from yesterday. The TV is taken away from its place. On the table is a pile of books. Donnie has his tongue sticking out as he concentrates on his stomach, reading a guide over New York with a map beside him, trying to find good spots for a secret base for Rachell.

Leo is trying to meditate but can't focus since Mikey is bugging Rachell and Raph while the pair is doing handstand push-ups. The youngest turtle is playing coach, hyping or yelling at them, even though they ask him to stop, Rachell with mostly grunts and Raph with threats.

Mikey begins poking Raph's stomach: “Is this what you call a six pack, soldier!?”

Raph falls into Rachell and lands on top of the wolf.

Mikey yells: “Up again, soldiers!”

The two growl at him. He backs up nervously. Raph jumps after his younger brother with arms out, trying to catch the now running and screaming Mikey. With heat rising to his head, Leo grits his teeth, annoyed, shutting his eyes even more, as if that would keep the noise out. Rachell takes the book about New York City on the table and plops down on the sofa to find a place for herself without disturbing Donnie.

While running around, Mikey accidentally kicks Donnie's rib cage and stumbles over him, both now in pain. Raph jumps onto the turtle pile, so the two younger ones scream and cry for help, as Raph yells and wrestles with them.

Leo says exasperated: “Could you be any louder?”

“Oh, my apologies to disturb your nap in the common area.” Raph sits on top of his two younger brother abusing his martial arts training and using their limbs to strangle each other.

“It's not napping! It's meditation!”

Raph stands up so Donnie and Mikey can crawl away: “Whatever makes you sleep at night, chief.”

Splinter says meditation is important for regulating emotion, keeping a steady mind, and finding inner balance.”

Rachell comments sarcastically behind the open book: “Yeah, you seem really steady and balanced with that vein popping out of your neck.”

“That's because you are all interrupting me with your loud shouts!”

Donnie: “Aren't you the one shouting right now?”

Leo: “Urgh! I can’t take this!”

Raph: “You aren’t the only one going nuts here, we all are. Actually, you know what, now we are on the subject, let’s find a skate park.”

Mikey cheers over the idea, but Leo doesn’t: “This again? We are grounded!”

Raph: “We need some fresh air, otherwise we’ll just lose it.”

“What will Splinter say?”

“You have already heard my sleeping Splinter impression.”

Mikey: “C’mon, stop being such a stuck-up!” Mikey walks past Leo to join Raph’s side, and so does Donnie.

Raph: “Do whatever you wanna do, but we’re outta here.”

Leo sighs: “Guess I have no choice.”

Raph asks: “You coming, Rachell?”

With her nose in the open book, Rachell laughs a dry laugh: “Ha! And risk angering Splinter even more? Nah, I’m good having a bed and a place to eat.”

Mikey: “C’mon, it will be fun! What could Splinter do to you?”

Rachell: “Remove the roof over my head.”

Raph: “Come with us. I promise to cover you if we get found, which I doubt we will.”

Rachell looks up at the group. The dumbasses' encouraging smiles make the corners of her mouth stretch out unwillingly, and she chuckles: “Okay, okay, fine. If you can’t live without me.”

***

With a newly stolen skateboard under her arm, Rachell follows the boys on foot. They make their way over the park’s closed metal doors, no humans in sight. Even then, they keep a low profile. Only the tree leaves rustle a bit when they jump through them, otherwise, it's silent. When they arrive at the skate area made out of cement and metal rods, the boys eye the basketball area near the parkour area. The hoops reflect the dim light there. Rachell is about to head to the skate area but stops when Mikey asks: “Yo, we should totally continue our game!”

The boys all agree, but Rachell continues to go the other way alone.

Mikey: “You should join Rachell!”

But she shakes her head: “I came here to skate, so I’m skating.”

Leo, Donnie, and Raph nod and go to find the best orange rubber ball lying by the hoops, but the youngest brother pushes on, not understanding her refusal: “Come on, Rachell, you never play with me.”

Rachell: “What are you talking about? I always play with you.”

Mikey: “You never play football or basketball or one-on-one videogames.”

Rachell: “Well, I’m too good for that anyway, it wouldn’t be fair for you guys. I’m like a god in those things.”

Immediately believing her, his eyes shine as if she were his new idol: “Shut up! You gotta teach me something then!” He doesn’t notice her momentarily uneasiness that she tries to cough off and returns to a seemingly apathetic voice: “Maybe I will when you get to my level.” She shrugs and gets on her skateboard and onto the metal rods and down the hole. Mikey beams and runs to his brothers, already wanting to train.

***

When the wolf leaves the guestroom to join the others, Mikey stands outside her door and in the hallway, paper messily folded into a palm-sized ball. He has been waiting for her to come out of her room for fifteen minutes, which is a long waiting time for the turtle with ADHD.

Nonetheless, she's out of her hiding spot, so he throws it into the bin he has placed at the end of the hallway: “Did you see that?” He asks, wanting her approval.

Rachell shrugs: “It was alright.” And then she walks past him and to the kitchen. This only makes Mikey more determined to prove his worth.

***

“Careful, careful,” Donnie whispers to himself as a single drop hangs from the pipette in his hand and over the beaker with a sample of the retro mutagen he’s trying to duplicate. Rachell stands just behind him, staring through the protective glasses in anticipation. They have worked together with this new retro mutagen experiment for a week, and hopefully nothing should go wrong if they are careful enough.

“YEEE BOOOY!” Mikey slams open the door, making them both jolt, so three drops fall into the beaker instead of one, and the mixture lights up. The two run away. Donnie screams: “RUN!” The mixture explodes with the beaker, spreading shattered glass and retro mutagen mixture everywhere. Luckily, the trio stays untouched. Donnie and Rachell sigh relieved.

Mikey then fans his phone in front of Rachell’s face, showing three stars in a basketball game: “I got to my figure to max level! That’s gotta count as something.”

Rachell walks past him and to the closet: “I’m getting the broom.”

***

Mikey has found their confiscated basketball and dribbles it into the dojo where Rachell and Raph are training together, having fun and bantering over each other's martial arts skills, even though Rachell clearly smacks him down multiple times.

“Look Rachell!” Mikey dribbles between and around them: “See how awesome I am?”

“What is that sound?”  Splinter yells from his room. Mikey panics, pulls the ball into his chest, and runs out to safety out of the dojo before Splinter can see.

The tall rat eyes the pair, the only two in the dojo: “Did I hear a basketball?”

Rachell shakes her head: “Didn’t hear anything.”

Raph as well: “Must have been your imagination.”

Splinter thinks a bit, caressing his beard, but retreats into his room once more. Raph looks at Rachell: “This is getting out of hand. You gotta tell Mikey the truth.”

Rachell sighs: “I know…”

***

The evening has left the lair quiet and calm. Mikey knocks on Rachell’s door: “Hey Rachell. Now that we aren’t grounded anymore, we should go grocery shopping. Just you and me, the best pals, right?” When she doesn't answer, he opens her door. “And I also thought we could swing by the -” Her room is empty. The duvet and pillows on the mattress are folded neatly, and the interior is decorated minimally with only a lamp and a closet. She has been gone for a bit.

“She went to the park.” Mikey turns to see Raph standing there, “If you go now, you might be able to catch up to her.”

Mikey lights up and runs out.

***

To his surprise, he finds Rachell in front of the hoop. She hurls the basketball, but it only hits the metal before bouncing off, and bouncing off the ground until still. Rachell yells out frustrated, hitting and kicking the metal pole, which only vibrates unsatisfyingly. She creates a string of creative curses under her breath before walking to the ball and sitting down in a fetal position, rocking the ball back and forth for a while. Her ears are tucked back, and she seems almost small, bent over the ball. Mikey understands. For a moment, he isn’t sure whether to interrupt this vulnerable moment or not. But he does. He breaks the silence: “Rachell?”

She instantly jumps up and spins around, looking like a thief caught by the cops: “Mikey!?”

Mikey walks up to her with an unusually relaxed body and a friendly expression. But Rachell coughs her cool voice up: “How long have you been here?”

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he grabs the basketball and reaches it out to her, showing it as a peace offering: “Let’s play a game.”

This is where Rachell’s guards crash, and what else can she do than admit it. With her face down, avoiding eye contact at all costs, she says it: “Mikey… I have never played basketball before. I have never had any friends other than Yumi to play it with.”

Mikey: “So?”

This surprises her enough that her head jerks up: “What do you mean, 'so'?”

Mikey begins moving the ball from side to side: “We can still play, there aren’t any rules.”

Rachell: “But… I can’t play. I’m not the best at it. Isn’t that a little uncool?”

Mikey shrugs, as he keeps the ball moving: “I don’t care if you can play basket or not. You are an awesome fighter, and you make explosive weapons, and your cooking is the best. You are like one of the coolest people I have met. I just want to play basketball with my friends.” He grabs the ball and lifts it up for her to take it. It’s her choice. She stares at him. How can he not think she’s a loser?

A warm feeling of reassurance creeps up on her, and she smiles: “Okay, tell me what this thing is about.” She takes the ball and begins dribbling with it the best she can. He plays with her, cheering and giving tips on what to do. Incoherent tips, but tips nonetheless. And they are having fun.

Chapter Text

The museum is lifeless with only cameras as eyes, something Rachell and Donnie easily deal with without getting spotted once. They sneak into the five-story building, disconnect all the cameras, and head to the security room. The man sitting in front of the monitors is too occupied playing games on his phone to notice that some cameras are shut down.

What a lazy, unserious man.

Rachell grimaces at Donnie, and Donnie shrugs. She opens the cap to a vial containing a special mixture before dipping a cloth in it and putting the cloth over the man’s face. He falls asleep. Into the locket closet with his big body. Now, without a guard, Rachell and Donnie can peacefully walk through the museum, where mysterious artifacts from Europe hang on the fourth level, there are paintings of the French Renaissance on the third, and lastly, there’s the Japanese history on the second. Rachell stares with star-filled heart eyes at all the samurai artifacts, salivating over the display. They geek out about all the knowledge they know and don’t know, pointing at everything, and reading signs.

After two hours of nonstop gawking, they end the night and go home. If Donnie had his way, he could have stayed there longer, even after they had squeezed all the knowledge out of each exhibit. He could have told her about his projects, and she could have told him about hers; they could have talked in equal time, but Leo probably wouldn't have been happy if he found out that they had stayed there longer than absolutely necessary.

On the way, there is a warehouse where flickering purple, white, and blue lights shine through the windows like a dance club, but no music. Curiously, they approach the warehouse. Kraangs are standing everywhere, inside and out.

Donnie: “We need to get the others.”

“What are we? Babies? We don't need them. We’ll do fine alone.”

Donnie gulps a bit of spit. To Rachell’s frustration, when she looks back at him, his nervous face and fidgeting fingers, she can’t help but soften a bit and groans: “Urgh… Fiiine. We get them.”

Donnie makes a small victory dance with his arms.

***

Raph plays on the arcade games as Mikey either begs him to go up or down or to use the pixelated blasters. Raph moves each joystick and presses each button so hard that he pushes the heavy arcade game along with it, its metal underside scraping against the floor. Leo gets out of his room, stretching his exhausted limbs. “Could you be a little quieter? Some of us are trying to sleep.”

Raph doesn't look up from the screen, not wanting to lose: “You are the only one sleeping, so it should be fine.”

“Really? Nobody is here tho?”

“Splinter is meditating, and Donnie and Rachell went out to god knows where.”

“Weird.” Leo rubs his eyes and gets closer to the machine.

That’s when Donnie and Rachell arrive. Rachell: “Guess what we have found?”

At the sight of the two Raph clenches his jaws, but punches the arcade machine, cursing the game for being stupid.

On the other hand, Leo doesn’t give the two anything but a strict voice: “Where have you been?”

Donnie stutters as he tries to come up with a lie, but Rachell won’t have any of it and she spits: “Are you our mom?”

“No, but I am your leader, so you should tell the team where you are going when you leave.”

“You are only a leader on the field. Here, you're just another teenager.”

Leo points at himself with his thumb: “Only I can decide that.”

She massages her temples to remove the growing headache, and bites: “Could you stop your ego trip and just hear what Donnie and I saw?”

“What did you see?”

“The warehouse near the museum, there's a crowd of Kraangs.”

“Why were you near the museum?” Oh god, Leo puts on his lecturing voice.

This time Donnie answers: “To look and read about history.”

Raph looks at his feet, and scoffs. It’s not like he cares. Mikey goes back and forth with his head to whoever is talking, not really listening to either side. And Leo does not seem amused, but Rachell holds his gaze like a contest, even when he says: “We should keep away from any attractions with cameras.”

Donnie: “We disabled the surveillance cameras, so there should be no problem.”

Leo: “Yeah, but still-”

Rachell interrupts: “Warehouse? Kraangs? Isn't that more important right now?”

Leo: “Whatever. Let's just go.”

***

Just like last time the warehouse is surrounded by kraangs. Lights in all colors are emitting out the barricaded windows. The five mutants assemble on top of the building. When they get there, Rachell, Mikey, and Raph take turns to fist bump or high five each other, until Leo and Donnie arrive. The group peers in through the skylight. In the middle of the warehouse is a robotic dragon and an enormous cannon being repaired.

Rachell: “Awesome, a building full of Kraangs. It's like a piñata but better. Can't wait to bash it.”

Leo: “Settle down. We need a plan first.”

Rachell: “Mikey, how many smoke bombs do you have?”

Mikey tries to count on his fingers and shows five out of six before taking one egg out.

Rachell: “Good, give me one.”

Leo: “And what exactly are you planning on using smoke bombs for?”

“I'm gonna use them to bake cakes for the kraangs- Bitch what do you think? They are smoke bombs. They create cover while I destroy everything.”

“We are NOT going into battle head first. We will sneak in, observe their plans, Donnie will study them, Mikey and I will be on the lookout, and then we sneak out, like real ninjas.”

“So we'll just wait for them to finish their weapons? Sounds like a great idea.” She rolls her eyes.

Despite that, Leo continues: “We don't know what the weapons can do.”

“It's Kraangs’ weapons, they either shoot lasers or explode things.”

Leo and Rachell's scrunched faces get close into each other's spaces, so they can easily bite the other person's throat, if they wanted to, but they don't. Instead, they shoot daggers through their eyes. The other three just stare at them, Donnie nervous, Mikey a bit confused, holding the smoke bomb to his chest, and Raph with a raised eyebrow.

Leo: “We need to think before attacking!”

Rachell: “We need to act before they attack the city!”

Suddenly, the window glass shatters as a beam pierces through, passing just between Leo and Rachell, who barely manage to react by pulling their heads away from danger. The Kraangs begin shooting after the group, who all get away from the skylight. Great, they have been caught.

Raph: “For two ninjas, you sure can shout loud.”

Leo: “Everyone, retreat.”

Rachell: “Retreat!? While they are still alive!?”

“Yes! Just do as I say!”

She doesn’t. Rachell runs away from the leader, passes Mikey, and takes the smoke bomb from him. She jumps through the window, but manages to pivot in mid-air and send a fuck finger to Leo, after which she falls into the warehouse.

The turtles get close to the window to look at the show.

Before landing on her feet, she throws a smoke bomb at the Dracodroid. It lands. It creates a large purple mist to cover her. Aggressively and quickly, she kills every confused alien she encounters on her way, before reaching the dragon. The Kraangs try to shoot the things that move, but miss.

Raph is utterly infatuated: “What a woman!”

Leo isn’t: “You mean, what an idiot.”

Raph: “I don't know about you guys, but I'm going in!”

“Wait!” Leo raises a hand to stop the hothead, but Raph has already jumped in, followed by Mikey, then Donnie.

“We need to stay together like a team!”

The others are already heading into the smoke. Urgh! The leader of no team can’t do anything but bite his mouth in annoyance. He then turns around and starts walking away with big hand gestures: “Fine! If she wants to lead the team, she can! I don't care!”

***

Raph is the last one to kill a Kraang. It's robotic noise fades out with the sound of metal hitting the floor. They look around the large room where everything is smashed, both the dracodroid and the cannon. “Awww, that was too light. Barely a warm up.”

“See, quick victory, like I said.” Rachell wipes the oil off her kama blade.

Mikey: “Wait, where’s Leo?”

Rachell: “Probably gone home sulking.”

Donnie lifts the remains of the dracodroid to examine it for a bit: “Maybe we shouldn't have destroyed everything to this degree. Now I can't study it.”

Rachell hammers her kama-blade down through the metal in his palm and picks it up, making Donnie jerk his shoulder back, as he checks his hand for any wounds, but it's fine. “Relax, Donnie. The kraangs aren't innovative enough to create new stuff. They build hundreds of similar weapons with the same functions in hopes of a different outcome. Basically overhyped nutcases.” She inspects the technology on her blade, before throwing it onto the ground and stomping on it.

Donnie: “But what if they start planning new projects that we aren't prepared for because we don't study them?”

Rachell playfully punches his arm: “They won't. They haven't come up with any new ideas and won't in the future. And if they miraculously do, I just have to adapt and take them down from there. Easy.”

Raph: “Exactly! I'm on Rachell with this one.” The two idiots high-five.

Not completely convinced, but also doubting his own judgment, Donnie scratches his neck: “Alright. I'll trust you.”

Rachell stretches and walks out: “Let's head home. I'm making pizza.”

The boys cheer, raising their arms over their heads.

***

Without anyone else in the lair, there can only be heard the grunts and thuds from Leonardo kicking the dummy. Even when the corpse swings lifeless from side to side, it looks like it's begging for mercy. Splinter puts a hand on the poor thing, giving it a rest: “Where are the others?”

“I don't know, I don't care.”

In a stern voice: “Leonardo.”

The son faces his father sheepishly: “Uhm… I- Uhm…”

He doesn't know if he's lucky that the others are back to rescue him from Splinter's harsh tone, or if he's unlucky to have to listen to his annoying brothers and unreceptive Rachell again. Mikey talks Donnie's ears off about the new show he wants to watch. Rachell stings to Raph's comic, that he has been rereading, giving a smile and an elbow which he returns. They are even more annoying when they are happy. The fourth turtle turns to them and puts his hands on his hips: “So? How did your plan go?”

Rachell replies: “It went excellent, thank you very much.”

He isn’t sure if she’s answering earnestly or if she’s mocking him. Either way, he rolls his eyes and scoffs, but she doesn’t notice. Instead, she heads to the kitchen: “I'm making pizza for everyone. Extra cheesy margherita for master Splinter. Two pepperonis for Donnie and Raph. New Yorker for Leo. And Mikey?”

“Extra large Greek-style pizza, with jalapeños, anchovies, and jelly beans.”

“Right…” Rachell enters the kitchen and begins working, putting on wireless earbuds she found in a dumpster a few days ago, playing rock in them, and nodding along. Raph says he wants to listen as well, and she puts one of the tiny devices in his ear. While she works, he sits by the kitchen counter nodding with her.

Meanwhile, Splinter turns to Leo: “What has happened?”

“It's just the usual. The team doesn't listen to me, especially Rachell. She's as stubborn as Raph, but twice as rebellious! I can't get her to do anything! And the worst part is that she instigates awful behavior in the others! They all act like barbarians! Not like a team of ninjas. Do you know how hard it is to lead a team of barbarians!? I'm already under a lot of pressure, trying to make strategies in the blink of an eye, while also maintaining a cool composure, but then the rest of the team runs out to do their own thing anyway.”

Splinter plays with his beard, thinking: “Have you tried talking about it with her?”

“There is no way she will listen, let alone talk. You can't reason with her.”

“Very well. I will try and find out what I can do.”

***

Rachell takes all six pizzas out of the oven and places them on the table. Steam floats in the air above the warm dishes. She sticks her head out of the kitchen and calls: “Come get your pizzas!”

They all stop with whatever they are doing and enter the kitchen, where they sit down around the table to eat their slices. Rachell blows on her ham and chili oil pizza, waiting for it to cool down from sun-melting to simply face-burning. Leo nudges a bit to his food before he begins: “Hey, Rachell…”

She stops blowing on her pizza to look at him.

Leo nervously fumbles with his words through a string of “uhms” and “ahs”, not completely sure what to say: “So, do you know about space heroes?”

The wolf nonchalantly shrugs and glances at her pizza: “I've only watched a handful of episodes, so I have no strong feelings on the matter, but based on memory, it's a cliched show that tries so desperately to convince you how heroic the main characters are, even though in reality they behave like idiotic assholes, and it partially succeeds in deceiving its audience, since the demographic is made up of immature and impressionable boys, who unfortunately don’t realize they provide money to corporate greed and horrendous writing. But you know, no strong feelings. Why?”

Rachell looks up to Leo, whose lips are pressed into a long line, and his eyes are burning. Donnie is shaking his head, trying to warn her, while Mikey looks at the drama like it was TV, his cheeks full.

Rachell points the end of her pizza at Leo: “No way! You like that show, don't you!? Oh, that's fucking hilarious.”

Leo punches a fist down on the table so the plate rattles: “Why is Captain Ryan not heroic?”

“He literally slaps the crew, if they do anything he disagrees with, or he kills off old friends, who has turned evil either because of their own volition or because they were fucking brainwashed, how is that not an asshole thing to do?”

“What would you do if your crew became evil?”

“I would talk to them! How is that not the sensible choice?”

Leo spits: “Oh right, because you're the talkative type.”

Rachell spits back: “At least I'm not a leader who glorifies pricks.”

Leo glares at her while she looks annoyed at him. The rest of the family looks back and forth between them in silence.

Mikey whispers to Donnie, “This went from good drama to awkward.”

In the end, the wolf sighs and goes to a tired, serious, but calm voice: “If you want to talk about something, let's do it later today, and not while eating at the table.”

His plate gets pushed to the middle, and he leaves: “I’m not hungry.”

“Sweet!” Mikey begins chomping down on Leo's pizza. Rachell sighs again, but turns back to her own food, not feeling any happiness or glory or anything other than exhaustion and frustration.

***

In the dojo, the mat’s wool is worn down, which gives a soft sensation beneath his leg. Leo stretches down and leans his entire upper body to reach under his feet with both hands like usual. And like usual, he looks to one side then the other, but now he sees Rachell doing the side plank while raising and lowering a leg. Although her head is pointing in his direction, she looks forward and past the turtle, clearly counting in her head.

But Leo catches her attention when he lets go of his feet and walks over to her and asks, “What are you doing?”

Rachell tries to put on a monotone, uncaring voice, but a bit of frustration slips through: “If you have something to say, just say it already instead of wasting time insinuating it with vague questions.”

Some meters away, Mikey looks at Donnie: “Oh boy, here we go again…”

Not minding the others, Leo continues: “We're warming up, so you shouldn't muscle train, but stretch.”

Rachell: “I’ve been stretching.”

“Not enough.”

That’s when Rachell stops planking and stands up to face the significantly smaller mutant: “My apologies for not reading 'Leo's outdated guide on warm-ups.' I promise to follow the book to a t. Where can I obtain it? From the antique shop or among the ashes of the Alexandra Library?”

She stands her ground, but so does he: “Everyone knows that you need to be flexible if you want to do things, like high kicks.”

“Yes, flexibility is useful, but it doesn't mean shit if you don't have the muscles to carry your legs up.”

“You will, of course, pick muscle over technique. I bet you don't stretch enough to be any more flexible than me.” Leo drops into a split on the floor with a smug smile. In return, Rachell raises one eyebrow. She brings her leg up over her head and way further back than 180 degrees and behind her head. Leo first opens his mouth and eyes to circular balls, but then squeezes them back into an angry grimace, causing Rachell to send a smirk of her own.

Mikey interrupts: “My bros, chill, I am the most flexible.” The little brother curls in over himself to a form that should be anatomically impossible. But Rachell and Leo almost shoot lasers at him with their scary eyes.

 “I’ll just…” Mikey sits back down beside Donnie.

Rachell brings down her foot. Leo gets quickly up from his split with some elegant leg swings and stands on his toes to get closer to her squinting face. He points at her with his index finger. Leo: “Why are you always like this!?”

Rachell smacks his hand away and leans down to get closer to his level: “Like what?”

They snarl at each other, too busy with the staring contest to see that Splinter emerges behind them. Splinter twists a nerve in Rachell's neck and sticks two fingers into Leo's jaw. They both become paralyzed, with pained grimaces frozen on their faces.

Splinter talks sternly to the two incapacitated teenagers: “You are both skilled ninjas on the same side. You should be fighting together, not against each other.”

He lets go. They bow: “Hai sensei.”

“I might have an idea on teaching you how to cooperate.” Sensei reaches a hand out. In his palm is a blind fold.

Leo: “Do you want us to fight blindfolded? That's a bit harsh, isn't it?”

Rachell: “Hah, loser.”

Splinter: “You are not fighting each other. One of you has to fight blindly against the rest of the team while the other guides through the training.”

Rachell: “Okay… A bit more tricky, but should be manageable...”

He then shows his other hand holding Rachell’s wireless earbuds: “The fighter listens to low music so they can't hear the others, and the guide must shout.”

Rachell tenses. Yikes. This time, she doesn't retort anything.

***

Splinter and Rachell are watching from the side, while Leo is the first to be blindfolded. He stands in the center of the dojo with his three brothers circling him. His grip tightens around his katanas.

Splinter: “Hajime!”

Raph is the first to jump with his foot outstretched after Leo's back.

Rachell yells: “Mae Geri! Behind!”

Leo moves to the side. Donnie swings his staff at Leo's head.

Rachell: “Duck!”

Leo ducks. Both Leo and Rachell smile, surprised by how well it's going. Then the three begin attacking from all sides. Mikey with his nunchucks, Donnie with his staff, Raph with his sais.

Rachell: “Gyaku Nagare!”

Leo does a roll and away from danger, but as soon as he gets up, Raph is standing in front of him.

“Hakka no tachi!”

He swings his swords after Raph, who grabs them and kicks Leo in the stomach. Leo loses one katana and rolls backwards, but gets quickly up again on both legs. With one katana in his hands, he readies for another attack. Donnie goes after his legs with his staff.

“Legs!”

Leo: “Legs where?!”

Donnie breaks his stance to an unbalanced one, so Mikey can flick the blue bandana, and Leo falls onto his back. Rachell hides her head in her hands, embarrassed by herself. She has failed. She has lost. She whispers to herself: “Could this be more embarrassing.”

Leo slides the blindfold off and talks harshly: “Legs?! Really? Why couldn't you just have said, it was my legs!”

Rachell growls: “Just give me that stupid blindfold.”

Leo gives her everything she needs. Rachell cleans the devices quickly and gets in the middle of the mat with them on. The turtle sits down beside Splinter.

“Hajime!”

Raph punches after her face.

Leo yells: “Duck!”

Rachell doesn't duck. She blocks the attack, grabs Raph's arm and tries to swing him over her shoulder, but he makes a somersault over her and kicks after her face again. She dodges it and tries to punch him, but the punch is too high over his head and misses. Raph goes back, shifting place with Mikey, who throws his nunchucks after her face.

“Naname ushiro aruki”

Instead of following his instructions, Rachell smacks the nunchucks away.

“What are you doing!?”

Raph and Mikey both try to kick or punch after Rachell's face or stomach, but she easily dodges every move as if she were wearing no blindfold. Donnie swings his staff at the back of Rachell's head. He strikes her, so she loses composure for just a little bit, but finds it again to keep evading Mikey and Raph. She’s not able to hit them either. Donnie looks confused at his staff; how did he hit her?

“Warning, Leo?” Rachell says a bit too loudly.

Leo grumbles in a lower voice: “It’s not like you would listen.”

Rachell doesn’t quite hear him: “What?”

Donnie gets behind Rachell and pokes her back, pushing her forward. Rachell spins around and kicks after Donnie, but is a bit off, so he only needs to step backwards. Her body stops up. She waits for anyone to go after her. Her head keeps shifting from side to side.

Donnie: “Oh, I get it! Smell! Mikey, Raph, go around!”

The two nod. Rachell tries to sweep after the others with her legs, but misses once more. She gets on her feet and circles quickly, both hands out. The others run along with her, only following her back. Raph kicks after her shoulder blade and hits. She tries to grab him, but he keeps running. Mikey kicks her legs. She falls on her back with a thud. Urgh… She has lost. Again.

Splinter: “You three display a great amount of teamwork. Something that two others here can learn.”

Rachell rips off the blind fold and music: “Leo! What the heck!? Don't just shut up when you finally should talk!”

Leo crosses his arms: “And why do you think I shut up?”

“How the fuck should I know?”

“You didn't take any of my guidance.”

Rachell lifts herself up on her knees: “Just because I don't need your instructions every second doesn't mean you shouldn't help when it actually matters.”

“Oh, so it's only when it matters to you?”

“Pretty much.”

Splinter: “Stop arguing. We will keep practicing this exercise until you can cooperate.”

The two bow to him: “Hai sensei.”

They keep training, and the two keep losing, falling to the ground repeatedly. Leo is the last to get his butt kicked. Rachell has her hands on her head, hiding her face. She whispers to herself: “This is so fucking humiliating.”

Raph: “Sensei, it's fun to win over Leo and all that, but after the twentieth time, it has become a bit boring.”

Splinter gives up, tired too: “Let us stop for today.”

As the only two, Leo and Rachell bow to splinter. The other turtles just go out.

Raph is the only one who waits outside the Dojo to greet Rachell. She doesn't look up as she walks. She strokes her arm and walks slightly slouched with her tail between her legs, and her ears lowered to the sides.

Raph: “Hey, you good?”

Rachell doesn't reciprocate his eye contact. She makes a puzzling face, before landing on a cocky smirk and folds her arms as she leans over him: “I'm betting you are happy. Finally beating me in a fight, and it only took what? Two other people, a blindfold, and some loud music?”

Raph crosses his arms in a serious manner: “I've already told you, I don't want your bull.”

Rachell sighs, closes her eyes, and scratches her neck, letting herself be vulnerable in front of him: “That… Was really fucking pathetic, wasn't it?”

In hopes of cheering her up, he begins shadow boxing the air in front of her: “Don't sweat it, you will figure it out. What about playing on the arcade games? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

But Rachell shakes her head and goes to Donnie's lab, where Donnie is too. Raph wants to go after her, concerned if she's okay, but ends up going to the arcade games himself. Leo sits in front of the TV, sulking, scrolling through the channels.

April walks through the entrance: “Hey guys, what's up.”

Raph: “Give me five, I'm playing.”

Mikey sits beside Leo with popcorn, as Leo scrolls through the channels. The younger brother eagerly points at the TV: “What about that? Oh… Okay… Then what about-? Okay, fair… Oh this one is grea- Dude! Could you stop scrolling!?”

Leo doesn't answer. He just presses the remote controller again and again. April sits down beside him: “Sheeesh… Are you mad?”

Leo: “Can Rachell move into your apartment?”

“After my dad got back to normal, it's a bit complicated. He's still petrified of anything related to mutants or aliens. I had to call him three times on the way over here.”

Going back to the remote controller, Leo zaps through the channels, interrupting Mikey, who didn’t even get to watch 5 minutes of a series he liked.

Mikey: “Dude!”

April: “I'm guessing you and Rachell are having a bit of a rocky time?”

“A bit? She doesn't do anything I say, she disregards my orders and just does her own thing!”

Mikey eats his popcorn: “I don't know, I think she's pretty cool.”

Raph from the arcade games: “That’s because she is.”

Leo: “Well, if you guys love her so much, maybe she should be the leader.”

Raph: “She probably would be a better leader.”

Steam fumes from the blue bandana.

April claps his shoulder and asks calmly: “Have you tried talking with her?”

“Yes! And she just ignores everything!”

Raph: “You have? When?”

“Earlier today, during breakfast, remember?”

Raph spins around, so flabbergasted over Leo that he completely forgets and loses his game: “You began talking about space heroes.”

“It was like an analogy on teamwork and leadership.”

Raph massages his furrowed brows: “Oh my god, Rachell doesn't get analogies. She uses convoluted language, but doesn't understand when others do it. You have to say things straight to her. No wonder you two are at each other's throats all the time.”

“I-” Leo gives up and goes back to the TV, this time leaving the remote alone.

April: “You are not gonna?”

“Not right now.”

April places a hand on her chin as she thinks. “Hey Leo, I forgot that I ordered take-away from Mr. Murakami. Would you be the best and pick it up?”

“Why not get it yourself?”

“My dad will have a heart attack.”

Leo looks at Raph: “Raph?”

“Not gonna happen.”

Leo looks over at the lab: “Donnie?”

April smiles innocently: “Busy with Kraang stuff.”

Mikey raises a hand: “I can!”

April shakes her head and gives Mikey a look that begs him to shut up. So Mikey giggles, confused: “Oh wait, sensei asked me to do… Stuff… Later?”

April gives him a thumbs up, leaving Leo annoyed. April: “I have ordered pizza gyōza for everyone here.”

Leo: “Tsk. Goddammit. Fine. But if you just wanted me out of the house to scheme your small plans, then say so.” Leo gets up and leaves. When he is completely out of earshot, April turns to Raph: “Raph, send Rachell to Murakami.”

Raph nods and goes to Rachell's room. He opens her door. She stops doing push-ups on the floor over a map of New York she’s studying to look up at him. Raph begins: “Go to Murakami. April has ordered takeaway but can't walk around the city because of her paranoid father. The chef is blind and knows about us mutants, so it should be good.”

“Is everybody coming with?”

“No, just you.”

“Raph, it has been a long day…”

“You said you wanted to meet the best chef I know, right? Murakami is that chef. Maybe you could learn from him.”

He got her. She does want to know more about the cook Raph praises so much. Rachell groans, gets up from the floor, and leaves the lair.

***

Leo arrives at the ramen shop from the left side, Rachell arrives at it from its right. They meet, and instantly know.

Leo: “Of course…”

Rachell: “I should have seen this.”

They close the distance when they get to the door, so he asks: “April?”

“What about her?” Rachell doesn’t understand the question. She doesn’t understand the insinuation. And this takes him aback, but he finds his footing and tries something else: “Did April make you come here?”

“Raph asked me to, saying it is April's order. But I doubt they have actually ordered anything.”

“What are you gonna do now?”

Rachell places a hand on the doorknob: “I'm already here, so I might as well ask Murakami about recipes. You should come along if you want to eat something. Or don't, I don't care.” She opens the door but doesn’t go inside as she waits for the blue-clad turtle. Leo enters.

Murakami waits behind the cash register, facing them, the kitchen is open behind him for all to see: “Good evening. Just order through the token machine in the corner.”

Since Rachell doesn’t know Murakami, Leo takes the word: “Good evening, Murakami. Has April ordered pizza gyōza here?”

Rachell: “Pizza gyōza?”

Leo explains: “It's a costumed recipe he made. It's delicious.”

A choppy man with sunglasses, stands behind the counter, greets them: “Leonardo! It's nice to hear you. April has not ordered anything today.”

“Thought so.” Of course she didn't. He knew something was fishy about this, but he didn't think Rachell would be in on this too.

Rachell goes to the token machine and looks through the menu. She seems to have already forgotten the whole ordeal: “Omu-raisu with Mentaiko Sauce? Sounds good, but I have never tried it. It's so difficult to make.”

Leo: “You want to try it, Rachell?”

Rachell: “Of course, that's just what I said. What do you even mean?”

This shocks him again. Maybe it shouldn’t have, because all the signs have always been there. He can’t hide his overwhelming surprise or confusion, but Rachell doesn’t seem to be able to read his face either. She really has no clue how social interaction works, does she? Leo scratches his neck: “Uhm… Then… Let's ask Murakami if he wants to make it to you.”

“I don’t have any money tho.”

The ever so giving Murakami says, “It's no problem. The turtles are my friends, and I don't charge them. I can make one more exception.”

With a happy arm movement, Rachell exclaims, “Nice!”

As the two sit down, Murakami goes to work, elegantly swaying back and forth between making Pizza Gyoza for Leo and Omu-raisu for Rachell. His elegant movements remind them almost of martial arts, controlled and graceful. She looks at him in awe. “Mr. Murakami, you move so seamlessly between tasks, cut so quickly, and control the food down to the finest detail. You are an amazing chef. How does one become this good?”

Murakami makes a friendly sound when he says, “Oh, it's all about time, practice, and experience.”

He places the dishes on the table, and a bag with them. Rachell stares at her dish with the biggest smile imaginable. She then folds her hands and says in perfect Japanese: “Itadakimasu.”

Copying her, Leo folds his hands and bows too, and says in perfect Japanese as well: “Itadakimasu.”

She digs in. Eating it up with great pleasure.

Murakami asks: “Rachell, may I ask you something?”

Rachell doesn’t look up from her food when she answers: “Shoot. I never understood why people would beat around the bush instead of getting to the point.”

“How come your Japanese is perfect? Did you grow up with the turtles?”

“Thank God no. No, I was raised in Japan.”

Murakami asks in Japanese: “どこで育ったのですか? *Where were you raised? *”

And Rachell replies in Japanese: “私は白川村で育った。岐阜県大野郡にある小さな村、白川村で。合掌造りがたくさんある。* In Shirakawa, a small village in Ōno District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. There are lots of gasshō-zukuri. *”

Leo jumps in, speaking English: “Really? I have never heard of Shirakawa.”

Rachell explains: “Not a lot of people have. But it's a nice place, with lots of culture and traditions.”

“You like culture and traditions?”

“Well, even tho I prefer innovation over traditions… I do like to read about that stuff, since history and culture are complex and pretty great.”

“Wait? You really like traditions?”

Her tone becomes sharp once more: “However, I hate when people complicate their way of conveying opinions behind useless and loaded questions, like you do, Leo. If you want to say something, just say it.”

Leo stutters for a bit: “I-I just thought you only liked anything dangerous, like explosive weapons or being near knives.”

“Yeah, explosions and knives are objectively cool, but the most exciting part is learning from old weaponry stuff to make new weaponry stuff, and finding out how to use it. You know, the journey before the destination or whatever.”

“O-oh… Okay…”

Rachell then smiles, almost teasingly: “And don't pretend you don't like explosions and weapons, Mr. Space Heroes-lover.”

“Space Heroes is an awesome series.”

For some reason, she keeps this light, teasing aura he has only seen her share with the others, even when she says, “The Vinland Saga is galaxies better.” No frustration or venom in it.

Leo asks: “The Viking Anime?”

“It's an anime about how violence creates a vicious circle.”

Leo returns the banter: “Okay, miss maniacal-laughter-over-corpses-you-just-beat-up. You just love pacifism.”

“I will never be a pacifist. Violence is often necessary, and I love to crack skulls, it's fun, but it's not the only right answer, and not always the preferred outcome. It's just nice to hear someone's honest opinions and arguments about something they feel strongly about, even if we disagree. Also, the fight scenes are fire.”

Leo is too shocked by this sudden sincerity to return the lightheartedness: “Oh… I didn't know that…”

“I know. It's not like we talk that much.”

Even though Rachell says it half-jokingly, even though she chuckles at it, and even though she is more amused than serious, this comment digs into him and bursts something open: “That's because you never listen! I don't know how to talk to you! It's infuriating.”

Rachell finally looks up at him, her eyes big and mouth open, but she's quiet. Then turns back to the meal, now only poking it. And in this low, hesitant voice he has never heard from her before, she says: “Yeah… I know I'm a bad teammate. Amazing alone, horrible with others. So… Yeah… I'm… Sorry…”

Leo is surprised, to say the least. He would never have thought she would say these words, and especially not in this earnest manner. And for a full minute, he just stares at her, blinking several times, as if he's dreaming: “Wow… I did not expect that.”

 “The funny thing is, it isn't about whether you are a shitty leader or not. It's just… I have always overcome any obstacles on my own, even before Akio's and Yumi's deaths. But…” She inhales. She exhales.

Rachell tries again: “The first month after that day, I gathered all the information possible on Tiger Claw, hijacked a Kraang ship, and chased him to Russia. I kept track of his every move, trained daily till my bones cracked, I taught myself everything about alien blast canons, and whatnot. But somehow teaching myself about these blast canons is way easier than understanding whatever is happening in your head. It's pretty scary.”

“You find me scary?”

“More in the sense that I have always maintained control, but now here you are, a person I don't understand, with a group dynamic I have never tried. And now there's a risk of losing everything in this stupid power battle if I let you boss me around even when your plans are mostly decent. What if something bad happens, and everybody dies? Or what if it goes great? That would mean my plans are… worse…”

The car horns outside can faintly be heard. The humans talking harmonize with the city’s constant white noise. But other than that, the restaurant is silent. They hold their breath in this intimate, quiet moment. Leo sees her, like he has never seen her before, because now he sees a part of himself: “You know… your plans aren't actually bad at all…”

Rachell chuckles nervously: “Really?”

“Yeah, you just don't take other people into account. You are pretty invulnerable, but you are on a team with different individuals who each have their strengths, weaknesses, and limits that you don't have, so you gotta remember that your actions have consequences for others.”

Rachell: “How do you manage that? How do you even know all that?”

Leo laughs: “Lots of trial and error. You won't believe how many concussions and bandages we had to work through to get where we are now.”

Rachell laughs: “Man, leadership sucks. Glad I'm not you.”

“Yeah, trust me, it really does.”

Rachell nudges Leo’s shoulder with a fist: “But for what it's worth… You are doing a good job.”

Leo smiles big at her, she smiles small back, before they begin eating. Eating in a comfortable tranquility, and feeling their shoulders relax now that the boulder has been lifted. Until the tranquility gets interrupted by Leo's phone. Leo takes it to see Donnie's face behind a wooden box.

Donnie is clearly panicking on the small screen: “Remember the Kraang weapons from this early morning that we destroyed in the warehouse?”

“Yeah?”

He shows the weapons to the camera: “They are rebuilt!”

Leo and Rachell yell: “What!?”

Leo: “Is there any way you can-”

Donnie: “I don't know anything about it, and we can't get near it without getting exploded! Oh god, why did we think we could do it on our own-”

The dracodroid's heads get close to Donnie. He screams, and the call ends. Leo and Rachell stand up so fast that the stools they sat on fall. They run out.

***

The skylight glass is still broken, showing the three turtles running around with both the laser canons and the dracodroid after them. Mikey and Raph barely avoid the blasts ,and Donnie's bandana tail is on fire from the fire breath. The rest of the Kraangs are dead.

Rachell: “Any plans, chief?”

 “I'll take the cannons. You go after the dragon and do what you're best at.” Leo pulls out two smoke bombs and gives her one. “Follow my lead.”

He throws the smoke bomb after the still canon and spears the Kraang controlling it. Mikey and Raph stop running.

Mikey: “Leo!”

Donnie says: “That's great and all, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GIANT DRAGON!?” He is being chased by the dragon through the wooden crates and over boxes. A purple fog encloses the machine, and this time it's Rachell jumping down on one head of the robot.

Raph: “Rachell!”

She violently rips out one Kraang from its controls, then backflips onto the other head and cuts it off. Without any drivers, the dragon dies out. Leo turns the canon to the dracodroid: “Clear off, guys, I'm shooting-”

Rachell blocks the way with both hands in the air: “Don’t!”

They all look puzzled at her.

Rachell: “Donnie should have studied the robots so he would know how to turn them off, but I completely overdid the smashing. Let Donnie and I go through some of the stuff before we completely blow it up.”

Leo smiles gently and gestures with a hand: “Go ahead.”

Donnie and Rachell begin opening the robots, going through them together, discussing their inner workings. Leo gets down from the canon, and Raph claps his shell: “Wow, direct comments, and no sarcasm, cusses, or bite. You two must have figured things out.”

“Yeah, we just talked.”

Chapter Text

The smell of buttered popcorn still lingers in the air. In the darkness of the living room, there is only the TV lighting up the place. The colorful pictures keep getting interrupted by the remote control pausing or rewinding the scenes.

After weeks of spending time in the turtle's lair, Rachell has gotten used to the noise and chaos of temporarily living with four teenage boys, but it's still nice to have some quiet time once in a while, like when she was living alone before she met them. Usually, these quiet times are spent alone with Raphael or Donatello, but after having found peace and understanding with the leader, she must admit he's not too bad to hang out with as well.

Rachell is dressed in her punk rock pajamas with a hole in her pants for her wolf tail to stick out of: “Listen, I get what you mean, but you can't be serious that Luxus is hotter than Android 18. I mean, c'mon, look at her! She can bench press that dragon-loving loser any day.” The wolf mutant flails with big hand waves at the screen, showing a blonde anime girl to better demonstrate her point to Leo, who shakes his head.

“Sure, she is strong, but Luxus has this mystique to his character that makes him so much more fascinating!”

“Mystique my ass, you just like his hair.” She throws a soft pillow at Leo's head, and he chuckles over their banter.

Leo: “Can’t I like both? I mean, he's still way more attractive than the forehead over there.”

Rachell points at herself with a thumb: “Well, I swing both ways, so I should be the expert here. And the expert says you're factually wrong.”

“What are you two talking about?” Mikey appears out of thin air and over their shared popcorn bowl, probably initially to steal the food, but is now invested in their conversation.

Leo: “Mikey! Perfect timing! Who's more beautiful? Luxus from Fairy Tail, or Android 18 from Dragon Ball?”

Rachell replays the scene of Android fighting, in hopes to sway the youngest turtle in her favor: “Choose wisely.”

Mikey doesn’t even think about it: “Sorry, Leo, but I'm on team Android 18.”

Rachell cheers over her victory and high-fives the orange-clad turtle as Leo falls defeated deeper into the floor.

Leo whines loudly: “Nobody understands good art!”

“I am very glad to see that you are having a good time, but can you please refrain from yelling so much?” Splinter emerges from the dojo.

Leo: “Sorry, Sensei, we promise to be quieter.”

“May I ask what you are talking about that makes you cheer so loudly?”

Mikey: “Leo and Rachell were just discussing-”

Rachell senses the panic shoot through Leo. Before Mikey can finish, Leo covers his younger brother's mouth to stop the danger. Leo interrupts: “Nothing special! It's just TV, and you know how loud these two can get.”

Rachell: “And you don't?”

Leo: “I, in fact, don't.”

Another pillow is thrown in his head, this time a little bit harder, but with the same amount of playfulness as before.

“Just, please lower your volume. Some of us are trying to sleep.” Splinter turns around to go back into the dojo, and Leo can finally remove his hand, but Mikey is quicker, licking his brother's palm.

“Ew!” Leo retracts his whole arm.

Mikey: “Bro, what was that about?”

Leo whispers harshly as he dries the spit off his hand on the floor: “Mikey, you can't tell Splinter I like men.”

“Why not?”

This catches Rachell’s curiosity as well.

Leo hesitates: “He… Doesn't know…”

Rachell: “Wait, you haven't come out to your own father yet?”

Mikey: “What!? Why!?”

Leo scratches his neck: “It’s complicated.”

Rachell: “No, it's not. You go up to him and say: 'Dad, I'm gay.'” Rachell imitates Leo's voice and does it perfectly if she has to say so herself.

Leo: “But what if he doesn't understand?”

Mikey: “Dude, Sensei is the most awesomest ninja master in the world. Of course, he would understand!”

“Yeah, but…”

Rachell: “There's no 'but'. You need to do it one day or another.”

Mikey says excitedly: “And I can help you!”

But Leo hesitates: “I don’t know…”

Mikey has already forgotten they have to stay quiet: “C'mon, bro! I've always wanted to arrange a coming out party! I have watched how people do it on the internet, it looks like so much fun!”

Leo: “No. There won't be any party.”

Mikey cries out: “Why not?!”

Rachell flicks a greasy popcorn to hit and stick right in the middle between Mikey's eyes: “Not everyone wants to make a big deal out of it, Mikey. Let Leo figure it out on his own.”

Mikey sulks before he takes the popcorn and eats it: “It's not making a big deal out of it. It's making the perfect deal out of it. Coming out is something special, and I want to share it with you.”

Leo feels his walls begin to slip a bit: “Mikey…”

Mikey: “I just wanted to help.”

Those damn big blue eyes. Leo can't help but soften completely over his little brother’s puppy eyes: “Fine… Fine. You can help me come out to Splinter.”

Mikey beams: “I can!? Awesome!”

“But no big dramatic gestures! Nothing!” Leo inserts that last part as if it is the most important information ever given.

Mikey salutes with a hand to his forehead: “Ay ay, captain. No big dramatic gestures.”

Leo sighs, partially because he's relieved to get that out of the way and partially because now he has one thing less to think about.

Rachell: “Sooo… When will your coming out happen?”

Leo scratches his neck again: “I-I… I'll think about it…”

Mikey: “What about now?”

Leo: “We’re in the middle of the night. It’s a bit too late for that.”

“Then what about tomorrow?”

“Maybe? I'm not sure…”

Mikey jumps over the couch: “I'll prepare all my stuff for tomorrow!” He runs out as Leo reaches a hand up to stop him, but the too excited turtle is already gone.

Rachell says to Leo, “You do know he won't let you forget it until it's over, right?”

Leo sighs: “I know…”

***

The next day, Splinter stands calmly in the kitchen by the counter, brewing his tea, when Leo enters. The turtle in blue fidgets with his fingers and can't seem to keep his gaze from the ground. “Father.”

Splinter doesn't turn but pours the boiling water into his cup with green tea. “Yes, Leonardo?”

Leo looks back at the exit, where he can run out, but a mutant wolf and a mutant turtle stand in the way, both with supportive faces and thumbs up. They will stop him if he tries to run. Leo inhales and turns to Splinter again. There’s a long pause with nobody saying anything.

Rachell whispers to Mikey: “Oh boy, this is gonna take a while.”

Mikey says, “Time for plan B.”

Rachell doesn’t react to this ominous sentence, too focused on her other friend.

Leo finally begins speaking to his father, not realizing that Mikey leaves the kitchen door to get something, so only a confused Rachell is left as support. But she doesn't go after Mikey; Leo needs her, and she stands her ground to be there for him.

Leo begins: “There's something I want to talk to you about.”

Splinter finally turns around, curious as he stirs his tea.

Leo: “Can you sit down? Please?”

Splinter sits down at the kitchen table, and Leo sits down opposite.

Leo: “This is really hard to say, but it's important to me.” He doesn’t say more; his lips are glued together. Splinter waits.

HONK! HONK!

Suddenly, the kitchen is noisy with trumpets and confetti blasters in rainbow colors. Mikey storms through the kitchen with rainbow-colored flowers, clothes, and a cap. On the cap is a rainbow and a smiling sun. To Leo's horror, in Mikey's hand is Donnie's stolen computer showing a PowerPoint presentation with big, colorful letters saying: "I'm Gay"

Mikey cheers.

Rachell facepalms herself, shaking her head. She should have chased after him. “Oh god…”

Everything stops when Leo screams: “No!”

Before Splinter can see the screen, Leo slams it closed, so the computer almost breaks. He glares at Mikey, who stops throwing confetti around and stops blowing the trumpet. Dead silence. No one says anything anymore, not for this brief second, that feels longer than that.

Leo pushes Mikey out of the kitchen, and the honk dies out with him. “Two seconds, sensei.”

They leave a baffled and confused rat.

Leo pushes Mikey a bit too hard, so the youngest turtle stumbles over his own feet and falls to the living room floor. Rachell crosses her arms, observing the scene unfold. Leo towers over his brother, as Mikey sits up on the floor. Leo yells angrily: “What was that for?!”

Mikey: “It was backup! I thought you needed it.”

“I needed you to just stay behind! This is a catastrophe!”

“But you seemed so nervous, I just wanted to-”

Leo snaps: “You didn't help! You ruined it!”

Mikey shuts up. His throat becomes a heavy pit that falls into his stomach. He made Leo angry.

Leo glares at his younger brother, first with heated rage, but then he looks away, not into the living room, but past the scene and into his own puzzling mind. When a few puzzle pieces have been pieced together, he sighs wryly. “Rachell, can you take Mikey out for a bit? Just while I clean this mess?”

Rachell nods and goes to leave the living room. On her way, she helps Mikey up to stand and drags him after her, maybe a bit too forcefully. But Mikey just looks after Leo all the way out. Leo doesn't look at him.

***

When the eldest son returns to the kitchen, his father is still sitting there with this expression that seems too sympathetic to be true. They don’t say a word. He's smart; he has probably figured something out. Maybe it's too late.

Leo: “Well, that was weird, right, sensei?”

Splinter is soft spoken: “What is it you wanted to tell me?”

Has he clocked it? He couldn’t have, right? Leo gulps some spit: “Father… "

Loud heartbeat.

"I’m gay.”

Now it’s said. The words linger in the air for what feels like an eternity. Splinter finally opens his mouth and lets the tension in the air subside: “I’m proud that you are telling me. I’m proud of you.”

A shock shoots through Leo’s body. For some reason, this wasn’t what he expected. It was so easy? He didn’t expect a tantrum, but this is far better than what he had hoped for. Leo: “You aren’t gonna say more? Nothing?”

“You are my son, and who you love won’t change that,” Splinter says it so calmly, it almost feels like a dream.

Leo closes his arms to his side and bows: “Thank you, father.”

Splinter walks up to Leo and rests a hand on his shoulder. Leo looks up: “I’m really glad this went so smoothly, even though Mikey almost ruined it…”

Splinter: “Your brother must have just been very excited to share this with you. Don’t stay mad at him for that.”

Leo hears his words. “Hai, sensei.”

***

New York City's light pollution covers the stars that should have been able to shine through otherwise, but can't. Rachell and Mikey parkour over the city's dirty rooftops side by side, until Mikey sits down on one of the water towers. He takes off his rainbow-painted cap and caresses it with his thumb. “I don't understand what I did wrong.”

Rachell walks up behind him: “Some people just don't need any big gestures.”

Mikey: “So it isn't my fault that Leo's mad?”

“Of course it’s your fault.”

Mikey groans and lowers his head. The cap in his hand is soft with a hard beak. Rachell sighs. She sits down beside him. Rachell: “Listen, I know you just wanted to help, but Leo's gotta figure this out on his own. And knowing him, he will.”

“Do you think he'll always stay angry with me?”

“No, dumbass. He just needs some time, and he'll be good again.”

Mikey leans into Rachell's shoulder. With a small voice, he says, “Okay.”

She reaches a hand around his shell and shoulders and press him into her side, a comforting pressure.

They sit like that for a little bit, until Rachell's ears flick back. A noise of a creaking piece of wood can be heard.

“There you two are!” Leo lands on the same rooftop as them.

Leo finally gives Mikey the attention by resting a hand on his arm and gently saying, “How are you, Mikey?”

Mikey laughs a small, sheepish laugh: “I'm good if you’re good.”

“I’m good too.” Leo retracts his hand again. But then he stops. “Hey, I just wanted to say… You didn't ruin anything.”

Mikey: “I didn't?”

Leo: “No. In fact, you pushed me to finally say it. So… Thank you… For trying at least.”

Mikey throws his hands in the air: “So you aren’t angry?”

Leo: “No. I told Splinter, and he was very understanding.”

“Yeah boooiiiii!”

“Let's head home.” Leo is the first to take the lead.

Rachell wraps an arm around Mikey's neck: “Told you he would be good in the end.”

Mikey: “Yeah, I don't know what I was afraid of.”

Chapter Text

Once again, some humans have caught glimpses of the so-called ninja brothers on camera. Once again, Donnie has been dragged out of bed for some stealth training at midnight by none other than a strict Master Splinter. It was either this excessive training, or to be grounded for two weeks with no phones or TV, so of course the boys chose the extra training even tho they knew it would be hard. But can you blame them? They can't wait another two weeks to watch the season finale of Super Robo Mecha Force Five. However, that doesn't remove the bags under Donnie's eyes or his heavy limbs. Something even coffee can't fix instantly.

Splinter finds his place in the middle of this sewer room where they are gathered, and his four sons stand in a row before him, waiting for his lecture.

“Today, you four will together sneak around the sewers and find some place to hide.”

Mikey chirps with a big arm motion: “Oh yeah! Hide and seek! Do we get a prize if we don't get caught?”

“If I find any of you within an hour, we will do a round of Randori and then repeat the lesson until you can stay properly hidden.”

The four sons groan, but can't object. Splinter turns around to face the wall with closed eyes. “You have 30 seconds before I begin searching for you.”

Panic instantly goes through the teenagers, and they run in a random direction to a random, big room with four tunnels and water flowing through it. Leo stops the others to look from side to side. Mikey whines, “Dudes, what do we do!? I don't want to do Randori! My heads always end up hurting.”

Raph: “I say we go high. Hide above the pipes.”

The brothers nod, and all find their own spot above the pipes. 30 seconds pass. They hold their breaths. Donnie feels his sweat drip down from his temple. Suddenly, something moves behind him, and he looks back, anxious if it's Splinter. No, it was just a tiny rat.

Donnie exhales relieved, phew.

Slam! A green cane hits the back of his head. He loses balance and falls from the pipes to the hard brick floor.

Leo: “Donnie!”

His brothers jump from their hiding place to help him up as he massages his head. Ouch.

Splinter walks up to them just behind him: “You shouldn't have been so scared. Confidence is key, Donatello.”

Donnie groans: “Hai sensei.”

“Now, get in place for a round of Randori.”

The four teenagers groan, but do as they are told. It goes as well as expected, and they all end up lying on the ground with aching skulls. All because of Donnie. He should have been stealthier. Why can't he just be stealthy? No matter what he does, it seems like he can't quite keep up with his brothers. Mikey is way more acrobatic, Leo is way more versatile, and Raph is a stronger fighter overall. Great, now his head isn't the only thing hurting.

“Let us try this again.” Splinter turns around to the wall just like before and begins counting.

And just like before, the four sons run in a random direction to find their second hiding spot.

Raph: “Let's go high again, but this time, do it better.”

Leo: “No way, he'll just find us again. We need to change tactics. Let's go in the water.”

“What? You expect us to hold our breath for an hour?”

Mikey sings: “You are just scared, you can't hold your breath as long as I can.”

Great, now his three brothers are arguing again. Can this night get any worse? Donnie rubs his eyes.

Leo: “We might find a pocket of air.”

Raph: “Might? Well, that sounds reassuring.”

Donnie finally interjects: “Raph, can't you just do as Leo says for one minute?”

Raph: “Of course you're defending him now.”

Donnie: “Are we back at this again? Do you ever talk about anything other than Leo's leadership?”

“What did you just say.” Raph bites and doesn’t really ask.

Donnie continues: “Your brain is so limited that the only thing you ever talk about is Leo's leadership.”

“Say that again, and I will make sure you won't be able to talk for a month!”

“I am so scared.”

Raph takes Donnie's finger and twists it into a painful position. Donnie screams.

Leo goes in between them to split them up: “Okay, both of you, stop it. We need to find somewhere to hide.”

“Forget this! I'm out of here!” Raph storms off.

Leo: “If we don't do this exercise together, we'll get grounded.”

Raph yells back halfway out: “I'd rather be grounded with no TV than train with you morons a whole week! You drive me nuts!”

And then Raph is gone.

“Do you four even know what lesson I am trying to teach you? I can hear you from a mile away.” Splinter materializes out of the air behind them.

Leo: “Splinter!”

Splinter enters the room: “Where is Raphael?”

The brothers all hesitate with Uhms and Ohs, until Leo explains: “He kinda… left…”

Splinter sighs tiredly: “What has happened now?”

Donnie: “I… Might have pushed his buttons, sensei…”

Splinter: “And why did you do that?”

Donnie tries nervously to explain: “W-well, he was going on his whole Leo trip again, and I told him to just-”

“My son, how can you have such a brilliant mind and still not see the danger of playing with fire?”

“I just-”

“Get Raphael back here. Leonardo, Michelangelo, and I will continue the training until then.”

Donnie sighs. It's not like he wanted to talk to that hothead after this, and he doesn't even know how to. Raph is too temperamental to be reasoned with, but there's no use; Splinter asked him to, so now he just has to find a way.

***

Where should he look first? Donnie's instincts tell him the dojo, since Raph usually beats out his rage at this point, right? He could even hear some training noise coming from the dojo. Well, his instincts were wrong. Instead of finding an angry turtle, he finds an angry wolf training with Metalhead in the middle. It shoots lasers and bombs at her as she dodges and kicks the robot.

Donnie: “What are you doing?”

Even though Donnie enters, Rachell and Metalhead continue sparring. She replies sardonically: “Knitting, isn't it obvious?”

Donnie: “Metalhead, stop training.”

Metalhead does as commanded. Rachell glares at him. “What was that for!?”

“He isn't ready! He just got electrocuted on a mission, and I have to fix some bugs before he can train.”

Rachell crosses her arms: “He seems pretty ready to me.”

Donnie sighs his frustration out, but lets it be. He can't begin to argue with her either. “Okay, just… Please don't overuse him.” Donnie turns around to leave.

Rachell bites: “Fine, I won't use him.”

Donnie stops by the dojo's exit and smiles a small smile back. At least she can sometimes be reasoned with, unlike Raph. “Thank you.”

“Hey, what are you even doing here? Shouldn't you guys be training with Splinter?”

“Yeah, but something came up. Have you seen Raph? I kinda pissed him off.”

“Not since you guys left.”

Donnie groans and hits his head into the door. This wasn't going to be that easy, was it? “I need to find him and take him back to the others, but how the heck am I gonna do that when he's throwing a tantrum?”

Rachell begins stretching her arms and legs before beginning to go through some katas. “Welp, good luck with that.”

“Thanks…”

Donnie leaves. Where is he going to search now? He could always check Raph's room. Donnie faces the metal door labeled with signs that warn anyone not to enter the dragon's nest. Donnie's knuckles connect to the door, knock, knock. No answer.

“Raph, are you in there? Master Splinter wanted us to get back to training.”

Raph is either ignoring him, or he isn't in there. Either way, does Donnie have the right to look? He knows he shouldn't, but Master Splinter's stern voice echoes in his head. He can't go back empty-handed. Maybe a small peak is alright.

Donnie opens the door. Nobody is there. A part of him is relieved, while the other part is disappointed. What now? Donnie could search Raph's room for any clue to where he could have gone, maybe a note or something. Is Raph really the kind of person to leave a note? Doubtful, but what else is Donnie going to do? He can't search aimlessly through all of New York.

Donnie shouldn't enter, Raph deserves his privacy, but also, fuck him for storming off. Donnie enters.

The bed is messy as always, the comics are scattered around in piles, and the drumset is still standing out and about in the corner. On the bedside table is a large stereo, and lying on the stereo is an open notebook.

Curiosity takes over, and Donnie reaches out for the notebook. In it are many sketches, some of them colored, most of them with pencils. They are quite decent. Donnie's eyes widen as he goes through each page. He didn't know Raph could draw this well; his brother had never shown him any of his artwork before. What really captures his interest are the last few pages with detailed and colored art of Rachell sitting or standing in different places in Chinatown. Ten full pages with nothing but her with different faces and in different poses. Chinatown keeps being in the background. For some reason, this seemed too intimate, and like something Donnie shouldn't have stumbled upon, let alone continue to go through, but the soft pencil strokes are captivating. He should stop. He should have stopped a long time ago.

Rachell: “Great idea, looking through your angry brother's stuff.”

Donnie jolts as if he has been caught robbing a bank. It almost feels like that way. Rachell doesn't seem to register his fidgetiness, and towers over him with a hand reaching out and a deadpanned expression: “Have you ever heard about privacy?”

Donnie gives her the book, and she immediately closes it with one hand.

Donnie begins: “I thought I could get a clue to where he might be.”

Rachell puts the sketchbook back on a shelf over Raph's bed with the other sketchbooks: “Did you find any clues?”

“Not really…”

“Have you tried Chinatown?”

“No?”

“Raph really likes that place… Let's go there. Maybe we'll find the big baby.”

“Of course! That makes so much sense! I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. Let's try it out.”

***

Donnie rides over Chinatown's chain lights, and Rachell acrobatically jumps over him. “So, Rachell? Why did you come with me, exactly?”

“Since I wasn't allowed to train by somebody here, I thought I might as well tag along. I needed a good distraction anyway.”

“A distraction from what?”

Rachell chuckles: “Always so nosy.”

Donnie slicks back his non-existent hair: “It's part of my Donnie-charm.”

Rachell laughs: “Well, your Donnie-charm won't work on me.”

It doesn't seem like she's going to tell him what she needs a distraction from anytime soon, so instead, he changes the subject. “Where can Raph be? We've been looking for him in all of Chinatown, but he's nowhere.”

“Hmmm… He might not be here after all.”

“What about trying to find a skater spot?”

“We could try.”

They search the rest of New York, looking for smashed objects on the rooftops that Raph might have hit. Raph tends to punch and kick stuff and leave a trail of broken antennas behind him after an argument, but there's nothing to be seen.

The frustration only begins to boil under Donnie's skin. Why does Raph have to be so difficult? Why couldn't he just be more sensible?

Rachell places her hands around her mouth like a cone and roars: “Raphael! Come on out!”

Nothing. Of course, there will be nothing. But what else should they do? They don't know where he is.

The frustration becomes too much in his mind, and Donnie takes out his Bo staff, swings, and hits a wooden crate so it falls to the floor with a thud. Donnie sits down on the crate, defeated, with his face in his hands.

Rachell stands beside him: “Jesus, it's unusual to see you ticked off.”

Donnie: “It's just… Where could he have gone? Most likely somewhere to blow off some steam, but where?”

Rachell shrugs. She sits down beside him. They sit like that for some time. It's nice to just sit in New York's background noise.

Donnie breaks the tranquility: “I can't do anything right, can I?”

“It's fine. He won't be gone for long. We'll find him sooner or later.”

“It would be best sooner, since Sensei was very strict about me finding him.”

“Why?”

“I was the one making him mad. Well, more mad. I know he has to control his insanely bad temper, Leo says so, but I was still the one saying stuff.”

“You are brothers, you say annoying stuff to each other.”

“Well, I didn't have to. But I was already in a bad mood. Raph might be a big crybaby, but he's a better fighter than I. I… was the first to be caught in our stealth training…”

Rachell puts a hand on Donnie’s shoulder: “Don't let that beat you up. You've got your own strengths.”

Donnie doesn’t really listen: “Thanks…”

So she adds. “And everyone got their own shit to deal with. Raphael got his issues too, don't forget that.”

“I know… I just…”

Donnie goes quiet. The car horns can be heard, and so can the digital commercial signs talking. The air is fresh and nicely warm.

Rachell: “The reason I wanted to train with Metalhead was because today is my father's birthday.”

Donnie looks up at her, and his heart grows with sympathy for his friend.

Rachell: “My father didn't want much, but I insisted on doing something for him, so we would go on a picnic in a field of forget-me-nots with a cake I bought and decorated with my allowance, and then I would gift him these horrible handmade drawings. I still wish there were a field of forget-me-nots here in New York, but I doubt there is any…”

Donnie chews on her words, and a light bulb pops up in his head: “I got it! About 10 blocks and 4 feet away!”

Rachell seems more confused than anything: “What? Do you know where Raph is?”

“Just, come with me.” Donnie runs away, and she follows.

Just like he said, he leads her 10 blocks and 4 feet away to a small park crowded with trees and flowers. The closed gates are no problem for the two ninjas, and they simply jump over; however, they keep being in the trees' shadows for good measure.

Rachell: “Why would Raph be here at a flower-?” She interrupts herself when she sees the small field of forget-me-nots.

Donnie: “It isn't much, but…”

At first, Rachell is too shocked with both hands to her mouth to say anything. And then she smiles and looks at Donnie. “Thanks, Donatello.”

Donnie grins back: “No problem.”

Rachell stares at the blue flowers. She doesn't take her eyes off them. “We should probably go back to searching after Raph.”

“I have a feeling we are able to find him here.”

Rachell laughs: “For once, I don't know what you're talking about.”

But without explaining more, Donnie walks around the field to look for another mutant turtle in red. He knows he's here. Rachell follows him. Donnie is of course right. There, sitting on the stoned pavement, on his skateboard and with a sketchbook in hand, there sits Raphael observing the forget-me-nots.

Of course, he would be here. There's more to Raphael than just being a hot head after all. If Donnie had just realized that earlier, they might have found him quicker.

Raph looks up.

“Donnie? Rachell? What are you two doing here?”

Donnie: “Looking for you, obviously. Splinter wants you back, although I doubt they are still training by now.”

Raph scoffs, but he has calmed down by now.

Rachell: “What are you doing here?”

Raph: “I wanted to surprise you with this place later today. I just thought you might want some space. Guess I was wrong for a change.” Raph stands up, and with his feet, he kicks his skateboard into his hand. Rachell closes the gap between her and him. And then she hugs him. “It was a good surprise, Raphael.”

Raph stiffens at first, but then he hugs her back.

There's more to the hothead than what you would think. Donnie should have remembered that. He at least knows he will now.

Raph and Rachell disconnect from each other. Raph asks: “How did you even find me?”

Rachell: “Donnie found you.”

Donnie: “It was more a lucky guess.”

Rachell playfully slaps Donnie's arm: “C'mon, just admit that you did good.”

“Well, I guess so.”

Rachell: “See, you can do good things. Let’s go back to Splinter; his patience must have run out by now.”

Chapter Text

The lair is nearly completely empty with only Splinter in the dojo and April in the living room. The couch’s pillows are beginning to bug her numb legs, but she doesn’t move. She deserves the rest after training the same movements on repeat with master Splinter for an hour. Now it’s time to be lazy. Just herself with music and a magazine. Suddenly, the turnstiles move, and Rachell enters the living room with plastic bags in hands.

April: “Hey Rachell! The guys are out patrolling.”

“I know. They invited me.”

“But you didn't go with them? That's unusual.”

“I planned on tagging along, but I heard you were training with master Splinter to be a kunoichi, and thought I would join you.”

“We have just finished.”

“Cool. I'll put the groceries in the kitchen, and then you can show me what you have learned.” Rachell goes to the kitchen with the grocery bags.

***

April has gotten used to the sewer’s stench, yet it still makes it difficult to catch her breath as she runs after the too-fast humanoid wolf. Rachell runs through the underground tunnels doing occasional somersaults and other acrobatic moves just for fun as if the running wasn’t enough. The wolf sometimes has to stop and wait for the human, but keeps her body going by moving in place or doing jumping jacks. Every time she looks back to check up on April lagging behind, April is panting like someone about to collapse.

The human gasps after air through her grunts: “You are too fast.”

Rachell: “This is my jogging tempo. It's important to be fast as a ninja. Look at the other guys, especially Mikey. That kid is fucking unbelievable.”

April can’t believe what she’s hearing: “Wait, this is your jogging tempo? What's your normal speed?”

Rachell stops doing jumping jacks to put a hand on her chin, playing with her bottom lip and reflects over the question: “Around 25 km/hour? So about the same as the guys. Generally faster than Donnie's normal speed, and usually a bit slower than Leo and Raph's, but far behind Mikey.”

“How fast can Mikey go?”

“On a good day? At least 30 km/hr.” Rachell looks to the side, thinking about what she just said, and then adds: “If you ever tell anyone what I just said I won't hesitate to hunt you down.”

April zips her mouth, locks it and throws the imaginary key over her shoulder. Rachell gives the other a smile and runs ahead again, still doing gymnastics just to do something. In the end, she stops and waits at a ladder to a manhole cover.

When April catches up, they get onto the surface, where Rachell becomes one with the dark alley not to be seen. April just casually strolls over.

Rachell makes a series of jumps up the buildings, zigzagging from one wall to the other in elegant acrobatic flips. She gets to the top within ten seconds. There, Rachell doesn’t really seem to look down the alley, paying more attention to her fingers, but is still standing close to the edge, just enough to hear if April needs help.

April looks up, imagining how to copy the moves. First the human girl jumps to get onto a balcony, but can't reach that high, so she falls on her butt. She tries instead jumping after the ladder, lowering it, and climbing up. How humiliating. When she reaches the fire staircase, she tries to go from one railing of the upper platform to the other, awkwardly skipping the stairs and awkwardly struggling a bit more than she wish for. April jumps the last bit and gets her fingers on the edge of the rooftop to pull herself up, but her arms are tired after all the wiggling and carrying, so she tries swinging her legs from side to side instead. Her body fails her again. “Urgh… Can I get some help?”

Rachell hovers her open palm over April's hand, so April can take it. She does, and gets lifted up onto the roof by the taller girl.

“Thanks.”

Rachell goes in a fighting stance, still looking surprisingly friendly for a ninja trained mutant wolf: “Now, show me what you got!”

April: “Oh, so… I need you to hit after my face.”

Rachell shrugs and goes after April's face as told, not too hard or fast, but not too slow either. April blocks, and punches after Rachell. Rachell simply dodges it, not like Sensei who demonstrates everything in big bold movements for the untrained students to follow, but still something April somewhat recognizes. She kicks after the other’s stomach. Rachell quickly evades and grabs her foot, something April hasn’t trained. Chills go through her body. Rachell pulls on April’s leg, making her lose balance and fall on her side. Ouch.

Rachell let’s go of her foot: “While you have the basic techniques down, you lack the speed and strength to deliver unpredictable actions, which give your enemy time to react and think.”

April sits up: “Yeah, I'm just really tired.”

“Being tired is no excuse for half-assing anything. You fight to win, not to save energy.”

“But how do I win against someone who is better than me?”

“You need to be resourceful. Don't worry about rules, morals or fairness, all you should care about is victory, whether you have to use your brain or dirty tricks. Try again, but give me your all.”

April tries again. She doesn’t get far, getting either blocked, caught or dodged. In the end April falls, sprawling her short arms over the dirty ground. The rooftop’s sand prickles the skin under her palms.

Rachell leans over April, getting close to explain better: “You also need work on your footwork.”

“Work on your sight!” April throws the sand into Rachell's eyes. The wolf howls, immediately straightening up and covering her closed, hurting eyes, trying to rub it out. April trips Rachell with her foot and the wolf goes down. The human can now jump up, grinning and dancing: “I won!”

Well done. Rachell chuckles as she gets up, rubbing her face, eyes red and watery. She playfully punches April’s shoulder, still with this friendly expression: “Not too shabby. You want to go for a third round?”

“Uhm… Thanks, but I'm good.” She doesn’t want to taint her one win with ten losses.

“That's fine. Let's go around New York then.”

“Sure,” but April interjects, “if we get around in a reasonable speed.”

“Sure.”

Just like April asked, they get over the many apartments in her tempo, a tempo most people would find reasonable if they weren’t top trained ninjas. When they happen to arrive outside the foot-clan base something happens.

April ends her story: “So yeah, the boys did accidentally mutate my dad.”

“Woah, fuck, man… That must have felt shitty.”

“Yeah, I felt pretty shitty, but they didn’t mean to, and were sorry, so I forgave them and they brought him back, so we’re cool.” That’s where they get interrupted by Bebob and Rocksteady walking out of their base and to a black limousine.

April: “Look!”

Rachell gets down to better spy on the two in the car: “Who are those two?”

“Mikey call them Bebop and Rocksteady. Shredder's henchmen.”

“What do you know about their fighting skills?”

“Bebop has a suit that can turn him invisible, and Rocksteady is strong with tough skin. The henchmen give the boys a bit of trouble, but we always win.”

“We should follow them, see what they are on about.”

***

As wind blows through her hair, the exhausted April gets a ride on the back of Rachell, who maneuvers over everything, even over the big containers lying around on the shipping dock. The wolf jumps onto them and runs after the car with a disturbing level of stealth. The car finally stops, and the two foot-mutants gets out, clearly waiting for someone.

Rachell finds a good place to spy on top of a container. The container dangles in the air over the scene, held by chains to the hook of a crane. Quietly, April gets off the wolf’s back and observes with her.

Suddenly, another black car drives up to the mutant henchmen. Two humans get out, they have black hair, and prominent scars all over their pale faces. One is short and chubby, the other is tall and lean. They don’t look nice, quite the opposite, like they were part of the mafia.

Rocksteady opens a metal briefcase with dollars neatly sorted in it: “You got the goods?”

The two men take a look at the cash, then at each other. The chubby one opens the trunk to show all kinds of firearms, both small ones like guns, as well as a Bazooka.

Rachell's eyes become heart shaped, and she opens her drooling mouth. April needs to wave a hand in front of the snout to snap her out: “You good?”

Rachell shakes her heart-eyes away and whispers: “I'm going in.”

April whisper excited: “Hell yeah!”

“You stay here.”

April whispers mad: “What?! I can-”

“If you jump down there I will punch you so hard in the face, you'll fly back home and into a coma.” This is Rachell’s convoluted and harsh way of keeping April safe, and April knows that, but she still wants to protest. Too late, Rachell has already jumped. The large black figure flips in the air and lands heavy on to of the black car.

Bebob: “What the-”

Rachell cracks her knuckles: “We can do this the easy way: you hand everything over and you won't break any bones. Or my preference: the fun way.”

The tall mafia yells: “Attack!” The two brings out their guns, but get instantly knocked down like flies.

Rachell: “I hoped you would do that.”

Rocksteady takes out a giant hammer and leaps after Rachell. She jumps over him and tries to pinch his neck, but he barely feels it through his thick skin. He gets a bit dizzy at most. He finds his balance again. Bebop turns invisible and starts to sing high-pitched, as he tries to get a hit on Rachell. She dodges his hands, then kicks him in the face, causing him to visibly fall to his butt.

Bebob: “How did you-?”

“An invisibility suit clearly does not mean sneak attack.”

The boar turns invisibile and tries again, but Rachell grabs his arm and throws him over her shoulder, and into the metal containers.

Bebob: “C'mon! I was sneaky this time!”

“Being sneaky clearly doesn't mean odorless either. Two sprays with the deodorant is enough, you know?”

Rocksteady finds his posture. The rhino dashes towards Rachell, who stares at him with a bored face. This time he is running without swinging the hammer, just his horn first.

Rachell puts her weapons in her toolbelt, then a foot in front of her in a wide, secure stance and arms out, ready. In the collision she grabs onto Rocksteady's horn, and although he manages to move her feet back several meters, she maintains the same sturdy stance. She keeps holding him back with her hands to his face. Rachell manages to slow him down and for a few seconds they end up just pushing against each other, trying to topple the other beast first, with Rocksteady still able to push her back a fair couple of inches at a time. Rachell changes tactics, clutching Rocksteady's horn with one hand and grabbing his tank top with the other. She flips him over her and slams him head first into the hardwood floor, so only his body sticks out. Rachell takes the heavy hammer.

The two henchmen get back up, trying to fight her, but she prevails. She doesn’t get hit, not even once. At this point she could end it, but keeps the fight going for a fun warm up. She kicks them in the face several times, toying with them, having a blast.

The mutants are too busy to notice the two mafia men getting up. The tall one grabs the Bazooka and aims it at the three freaks.

The trigger gets pulled.

“No!” April pushes the Bazooka away, so the rocket flies into the water.

The tall Mafia shouts: “You bitch!”

Rachell turns around surprised. Without a second thought, she immediately knocks both of Shredder's henchmen down with Rocksteady's hammer so she can dash to April’s side.

The plump mafia man sees the wolf mutant approaching fast. Instinctively, he grabs April's arm to hold her in place and puts a gun to her temple: “Move and the girl gets shot.”

No. Rachell halts, still too far away from the mafia men to do anything without risking April’s life, so she gives him a smug laugh, and then looks down at her claws as if they were more interesting. Her face becomes almost apathetic with boredom. The only sign of stress is her other hand clenching onto the hammer.

Monotone, she says: “Do whatever you want with that girl, I don't know her. It's not my problem if you get blood on your hands and the police on your heels.”

“Please, we are part of the mafia. It doesn't matter if we kill one more.” He pulls the hammer to the gun back.

“Wait!” Rachell screams panicked with a hand out.

Although the Mafia stops, he smiles, knowing he has won.
Rachell groans furiously and throws the hammer away from her. When it lands it destroys the surface of the wooden floor. She raises both arms behind her head. Shredder's two henchmen take the chance and tackle her down to her stomach, putting their weight on her, as they restrain her stretching arms. She doesn't fight back, not even a little bit.

The chubby mafia sends this disgustingly self satisfied expression, “Good girl.”

The tall mafia man places the Bazooka down on the ground, now that he can change to his pistol and point it at Rachell's face, keeping his distance from the wild animal.

Blood pumps through April’s veins. Thoughts race through her mind. How can she win? They are bigger and stronger than her. And that’s when Rachel’s words echoes in her memories. And that’s when April figures it out. She lifts her leg and kicks it back and into Chubby's groin. He howls, falling to the ground and weakly covers his crouch with his sausage fingers. Both Bebop and Rocksteady grimace. Bebop even looks away, while Rocksteady places a hand over his mouth. April is free. Rachell takes the opportunity, by grabbing their clothes, so she can smoothly and quickly pull herself up into a jump, and then kick them in their faces.

The tall mafia points his gun at Rachell who dashes towards him. April punches the tall man hard through his forehead, knocking him out. He has fallen. They have won.

Rachell pushes April’s arm with a fist a bit too hard so the smaller girl nearly tips over: “Nice work!”

But then they hear car engines. The Chubby man has made his way into the car and is ready to drive the girls over.

Rachell sees the Bazooka by her feet. She grabs it and points it at the chained container above him. She shoots it, and and the giant metal box falls over the car. Plummets through it. Everything goes through the deck leaving only a big crater. The girls look into the water. The water turns red. Yikes.

April: “He didn't survive that, did he?”

“Nope.” Rachell pops the p.

“We are not going to say anything to the guys, right? I don't want to hear Leo's lecture about murdering a man.”

Rachell zips her mouth and throws the key over her shoulder. They straighten and casually walk away, both stretching their arms. Rachell still carries the Bazooka over her arm, cradling it like her own baby: “This was fun.”

April: “Why didn't you just shoot the car?”

“It was too close to us, and we would definitely get hurt.”

“Fair.”

Rachell asks: “Wanna go to the abandoned amusement park? I can get the rides to work.”

“Sure.”

Chapter Text

Daylight shines through the dojo’s ceiling, warming the turtles even more than they already are. The four turtles circle Rachell like vultures ready for the dead rabbit on the road. Except this rabbit can fight back.

They run in. Raph and Mikey from the top, Donnie and Leo from the bottom. Weapons in hand. She has none. Something an outsider would deem as unfair, until they see how quickly she moves in the action between the trained martial artist. You can barely see her move, only the teleportation itself. They all miss. They all get kicked. They all get thrown. Raph is lying on his back, but easily jumps back up and ducks down to his knees when Leo is thrown over him. He watches her dance as she swings Mikey at Donnie and hits him squarely in the stomach. Man, she's so cool.

“How many times do I have to repeat myself? Raph, guard yourself. Mikey, think.”

Still not giving up, still not completely down, they try again. This time, she grabs Raph's ankle and knocks him into Mikey. Donnie and Leo try to come from opposite directions, she jumps in between them, and for the shortest moment, she is almost floating sideways in the air, as the two can do nothing but stare in fear at the superhuman speed. She kicks Donnie in the stomach, and grabs Leo, and throws him over her shoulder.

“Donnie, stop thinking. Leo, stop hesitating.”

The boys end up in a huddle on top of one another, dizzy. This beautiful scenery clearly boosts her mood into a big, confident grin. For some reason, Raph wouldn't mind being thrown around if it meant she would look like that while doing it. She can teach him to become stronger. They can train together.

“Yame.” The rat master stands tall by the foot of the tree, having observed the whole massacre of his sons. As the last one standing, she’s the first to get to the master, bows, and sits down in Seiza in front of him. The others rub their heads or arms in pain before they do the same.

Splinter: “It is really wonderful that you participate in my sons’ training. It is always good with some variations.”

“Yeah, but I doubt I can teach them something better than you can. Especially when it's them.”

A self-satisfied “hehe,” slips past the rat’s lips. “You will learn someday.”

“In the meantime, what about that rematch you promised? I have a feeling I can get in a hit in this time.” Rachell punches the air, eager for another fight.

He chuckles but doesn’t want to dampen her fire: “Sure.”

The two find their standing places on opposite ends of the mat. Splinter with his cane, Rachell with her Kamas. Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey watch excited, despite having seen this many times before, knowing the inevitable result. Splinter is going to win. It isn't the first match, but it’s still just as exciting.

Leo: “Hajime!”

When Rachell attacks, she shortens the distance between them but keeps the light footwork. She’s concentrating on not getting demolished within the first second. She keeps that promise and holds her own fairly well, which is a great achievement when it comes to facing the great Hamato Yoshi. However, she wants more. One hit. One hit and Rachell has won the bet she’s made with herself so long ago. Splinter, on the other hand, does get a few tricks in, however, nothing big enough to count as a win yet. He aims his cane at her head, she flattens into a split, then swings around her legs, first after Splinter’s feet to put him off balance. He simply moves away. She kicks the cane out of his hand. She has actually kicked his cane away. She’s just as surprised as Splinter is, but they regain their postures. She attacks him with the scythes. He gets them out of her fingers. Dismantling her too.

A series of advanced techniques and quick strikes back and forth can be seen, where he gets in a few tricks, she gets in none.

Yet, Mikey says with faith in his chest: “Wow, she might actually hit him this time!”

Donnie: “You said that all the other times, and she hasn't hit him yet.”

But Mikey doesn’t lose hope: “Yeah, but she will this time!”

Leo: “There is no way. Sensei is leagues better.”

Raph interjects: “What are you talking about? Rachell is amazing, I bet she can do it.”

Leo: “If Rachell wins the bet today, I'll clean the toilet for a month.”

“Deal!”

Rachell and Splinter are still going at it, as the turtles cheer their names. She huffs and pants. Keep focus. Keep going.

Raph: “Come on, Rachell! You can do it! Show em what you got!”

She stares at Splinter, but he notices her ear flicking back at the red-clad turtle. He takes this opportunity and knocks her back to the ground, where he locks her arm. She has lost.

Raph curses under his breath as Leo cheers: “No toilet cleaning for me!”

Splinter let's go of Rachell. Although a bit irritated and disappointed, she stands up and bows, so the master says: “You did very well. If you continue training at this rate, you might even defeat me completely soon.”

Happiness bubbles up in her: “How soon? A year?”

“Six.”

Her bubbles get punctured: “I hope you mean months.”

Splinter claps her shoulder: “We both know the answer.” He turns to the rest, “Pack up. We are done for today.”

Leo, Donnie, and Mikey begin to leave the Dojo. Rachell is about to do as well, but is stopped by Raph going after her: “You were so close, I really thought you had it this time.”

Rachell teases: “Wow, has the big tough Raph graced me with a compliment?”

He begins jumping in place and punching the air, mimicking her fighting style: “How did you even manage to kick the cane out of his hand?”

“I can teach you some of it.”

He doesn’t directly say it, but he would love that. So now, they train. The dojo is only for them. Rachell instructs Raph on what to do with his body by showing the kata herself and then letting him repeat it. He tries to copy her movements. She corrects him a few times, getting close into his personal space and moving his arms and legs with her gentle hands. For someone who is so vigorous and boisterous, her contact when she moved his arms up are very comfortable. She doesn't comment on how his occasionally flushed cheeks brighten the already red bandana, maybe she hasn’t noticed, but he doesn’t mind if she does. He couldn't care less if she knew how happy he was. Every time he manages to do something correctly, he wins a thumbs up with an encouraging smile, and every time he doesn’t, he wins a warm giggle from her. Although he would never admit it out loud, he could stay in this moment for a long time.

But the moment doesn’t last. Donnie pops his head in: “Hey, Rachell! I think I have found a good place for your new base! Come look at the map.”

Rachell caresses Raph’s arms when she leaves: “I'll be back in five minutes.”

Raph smiles and waves while she closes the door behind her. And Raph waits in the dojo. Training some of the techniques. Five minutes pass. Then he begins to train his muscles. 10 minutes pass. Then he's on his phone. 15 minutes pass. Suddenly, the light is too bright and the three smells too fresh.

The irritation boils under his skin, and he kicks the tree so hard it trembles. Raph storms off to the lab, where he slams open the door: “What the hell!”

Rachell and Donnie, who are both looking at the computer, whip their head around to him. She was leaning over Donnie’s shoulder to get a better look at the screen. On the computer is a map with some places circled with different colors. But Raph doesn’t care: “I have been waiting for THIRTY fucking minutes!”

Rachell slaps her forehead with her palm: “Oh fuck, man, sorry, I completely forgot.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

Rachell nods to Donnie, who nods to her. A silent agreement, that she will talk to him later, which only made Raph angrier. She follows Raph out of the lab. He stomps all the way before closing the door, and meet her in the hallway.

“I should have seen it coming, of course, you would burn others off just to do your nerd stuff with him.” Raph spits “him" out with venom and an almost mocking tone.

Rachell’s brows furrow. She doesn’t completely understand what he’s insinuating, but she understands that there’s something there: “What are you hinting at?”

“You are clearly spending all your time with your favorite person.”

Now irritated, Rachell snarls back: “What's your deal? Donnie is the only one here who knows how to build. He helps me find a location for my new base.”

“Oh really? What was the museum visit about then? Why didn't you invite us?”

“We didn't tell Leo, because he would never allow it, Mikey would get bored and start the alarm by touching everything, and you are..." Rachell waved her whole arm up and down, pointing at his whole body, “you.”

Raph throws his arms out: “I would have come with.”

Rachell seems just as skeptical as she is annoyed: “Oh really?”

“What do you take me for?”

“Like the type of guy who would rather hit someone with a book than read it.”

“Wow, thank you, thank you for calling me stupid.”

“That's not what I meant. You aren't... You just wouldn't give a shit about nerd things, you've made that point very clear. So tell me exactly why we should invite you to a museum?”

Raph can't admit he doesn’t know the answer himself, so he throws the first excuse coming to mind: “You two would definitely get so distracted by gushing over some dead guy that you wouldn't notice an ambush until you were hit in your big heads.”

Rachell rolls her eyes: “Ever the hero.”

Raph yells: “Fuck you!”

Rachell yells: “Fuck yourself!”

Leo and Mikey are in the living room and can't hear the TV over the shouting match, so Leo yells: “Both of you! Shut the fuck up!”

The shouting stops when Splinter arrives behind them, asking: “What is going on?”

Instead of answering the sensei, Rachell takes a deep breath and looks Raph in the eyes with a newfound control and patience, trying to keep herself calm, but her voice is strained with annoyance: “Raph, if you have something to say, then say it.”

How can he do that? Not with this heat still inside his chest. Not when he had just waited for her as she was doing whatever with his brother. “There’s nothing to say,” he spits out.
Rachell waves her whole arm in one sloppy wave to shut down the conversation: “Fine, we’ll talk about this later. I'm gonna go back to Donnie, I still have business to do.” She opens the lab door, enters, and slams it closed behind her.

Splinter looks at the door first, then at Raph with confusion written all over his face: “Care to explain?”

“Rachell promised to teach me some techniques, but ditched me for my geek of a brother, because she is head over heels in love with him.”

Splinter looks even more confused and shocked at him, too stunned to speak.

Raph: “What?”

Splinter shakes his head as he walks away: “I am just not going to dig into that landmine of idiocy.”

What?!”

***

Bang! Bang! Bang! Raph knocks the window to April’s apartment so hard it nearly shatters: “April! Come out already!”

April finally opens the window while itching an eye with her knuckles: “If you have to wake me up in the middle of the night, could you at least do it calmer?”

Raph leans against the wall with the same Raphael attitude as normal: “Whatever.”

“What do you want? Can't it wait till tomorrow?”

It can’t. But how can he say that? Raph thinks a bit before hesitantly asking: “You know Rachell, right?”

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool.”

And before he thinks about what he’s doing, he opens his mouth: “Cool is an understatement. She is fucking badass!”

April smiles lopsidedly, now understanding full well what is up, “Oh really?”

Raph continues yapping, not realizing what he’s saying, but he can’t help himself: “Yeah, Rachell is the best fighter I know besides Splinter. She doesn't wait around for her hair to turn gray, but acts and heads straight into battle, and she always wins. On rare occasions, she loses, but that makes her so much cooler because every time she gets punched down, she stands back up and kicks twice as hard. She is really passionate and determined with everything she does. No half-assing anything. She takes training seriously. And she will do anything to keep me, my brothers, or strangers safe. Oh, and Rachell is also the only one who understands good humor. Also-”

The tsunami of words stops when he sees April's grin: “What?”

“Sounds like you have a crush ~”

Not wanting to dignify her teasing, he puts on his Raphael façade again: “Whatever.”

“It’s cute.” The nerves of this girl.

“Well, it doesn't really matter, because I think she likes Donnie more…”

“Why do you think that?”

“She's pretty smart and hangs out with him all the time. They snuck into the museum last week, probably salivating over some stupid history books or some shit. Donnie's probably a better fit for Rachell anyway. I shouldn't stand in their way if they are happy. It's good for him.”

“What about asking her about it?”

“Hah! No.”

This is new. Raph isn’t usually the one to cover his opinions. “Why not? You are always sooo… how should I put it? Honest?”

“Yeah, but this is different. She is not good with talking about stuff like fear, or love, you know, feelings. Not in the slightest. It's real bad. I'll just scare her off.”

“If words are no good, then what about showing how you feel?”

Raph scoffs: “Fine… I can try.”

“I’m going to bed. Tell me how it goes.”

***

Going through the turnstiles and into the empty lair, he quickly realizes there is nobody home. The TV is off. The dummy still. The water is calm. The others are probably on patrol. Raph checks the lab, and just as he suspected, it’s empty of people. The computer is still turned on, tho. He goes to it to press the turn-off switch, but stops himself. Raph sits down and goes through the computer.

There he finds a map where some of the places are circled with purple, a few with green, and even fewer with red. He prints the photo out, takes it, and leaves the lair.

***

The three brothers and Rachell sing as they jump, somersault, or backflip into the lair, laughing and high over their victorious patrol. 

Leo cheers, swinging his katanas into Captain Ryan hero poses that he has memorized: “The foots were ringing and singing while I was slicing and dicing.”

“I was like, 'no chuck' with my nunchucks.” Mikey does a back flip from on of the turnstilles to land beside Leo.

Rachell makes an aerial cartwheel to join them: “Karma is a bitch, but I'm a bicth with kamas.”

They all look at Donnie expectantly, waiting for his wordplay. Donnie hesitantly tries: “I got a laugh while hitting them with my bo staff?”

Leo boos like the the perfect big brother model he is: “Get new materials!”

“Yeah dude! Even Leo finds it bad.” Slap.

Rachell chuckles: “I'm gonna make breakfast before we head to bed. What do you guys want?”

Mikey: “Pizza!”

“Sushi it is.” She goes to Raph's room and hammers on the door with a fist so hard, the metal nearly cries bending, “Come on, you big baby! I'm making breakfast.”

No response. Is he ignoring her? She can deal with his yelling, she can even admire his anger when it’s pointed towards the enemies, and handle it when it’s pointed towards her, but a cold shoulder? Over something so stupid? And now he won’t eat? This pisses her off. Rachell hammers even harder on the door. She takes the handle, but it's locked. “I WILL TEAR THE DOOR DOWN IF YOU DON'T COME OUT!”

Leo and Donnie are watching from a safe distance. Of course the young Mikey without a sense for danger gets closer, filming the whole movie on his t-phone with a mischievous grin. He is still the turtle, that tried to befriend a four meter tall alligator mutant.

Leo: “Let’s just leave him alone.”

Donnie: “It’s not like you can force-feed him.”

“Of course I can!” Rachell kicks down the door, “Wake up fucker!” and enters. There’s no way she will let the idiot starve because of his stupid stubbornness. He needs to eat, and she will make him, even if she has to shove spoons down his throat.

Leo, Donnie, and Mikey stick their heads in, Mikey keeps filming. With a big hand gesture, she tosses the white duvet to the side, but there is nothing there. Only pillows. They stare at the bed for a bit.

Leo sighs: “And this is why we don't kick down people’s doors. It was pointless.”

Rachell: “Whatever, I'll just fix it later. What’s annoying is that Raph is not here. Probably stormed off again. He can just starve then, I don't care.” She storms out and heads to the kitchen. The turtles look after her, but stay by the rooms. Only Mikey seems to still find this funny.

Leo: “Donnie, have you found a location for her base yet?”

Donnie: “We are still brainstorming, but a lot of places are either occupied or too easy to spot.”

“Please hurry up.”

Mikey: “Why? I think she’s pretty rad. Her cooking is delicious!”

“Sure, she can be pretty 'rad' sometimes, but we already have a short-tempered person on our team. It's like having two very loud ticking time bombs in our house.”

“Eh, she would never hurt him.”

“I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about all our furniture.”

***

Raph lets the paper lead the way and travels from one dot on the map to the other in hopes of finding any place that could look like a decent home for Rachell. He has crossed all the green circles with his red marker: “The green circles were useless. Maybe the purple ones will be good places.” So far, he has only been led to places that were already claimed by other mutants.

The map finally leads him to the abandoned amusement park, where he checks all its corners and crevices. He ends in front of a booth, where graffiti is painted. Why would they ever think this place would be good? A lot of humans hang out here. Is this the wrong map? Of course the universe would think it's funny if Raph have wasted time, walking around New York looking at a map for Donnie's Starbucks obsession.

Robotic noises twitter in the wind, so he ducks under the booth.

Kraang: “Where is this place that is called the 'secret entrance' located?”

Another Kraang answers: “The place called 'secret entrance ' should be around what the humans call the 'shooting booth.'”

“What is a shooting booth?”

“I have no idea.”

Raph looks around the booth he is sitting in. He is in one of the shooting booths. Raph checks for a secret entrance, and just like the kraangs said, under the rug is a screwed hatch. He opens it to find a long hole, infested with the so familiar white and purple Kraang technology. Raph jumps down to find an even longer hall. At the end of it is a closed door. The camera over it only gets a glimpse of him before he destroys it, as well as the mechanical lock completely. The door opens, but an alarm goes off.

“Ah sewer apples.”

Suddenly, some green gas rises from the vents, leaving him dizzy. Ah… sewer apples… And he collapses.

***

Splinter, Mikey, Leo, Donnie, and Rachell each take their plates away and clean the kitchen table after themselves. There's a whole queue to the sink, where Rachell, for some reason, has found her duty to wash the dirty dishes. She has spend two minutes straight complaining that she is stuck washing up after cooking, well maybe the brothers and Splinter did offer to do it for her, but she still intends to do it.

Mikey rubs his stomach in round motions: “That was so goooood.”

“It was just rice and fish.”

“Teach me!” The little brother grabs her arm and shakes it, causing some of the water to splash out of the sink.

Rachell pushes him aside. “You know, when you don't experiment with every ingredient available, you are actually not a shit cook.”

Mikey bows with cartoonishly grand gestures: “Thanq. I take that as a compliment.”

Now she has said a compliment, she needs to add a tease: “But your eating manners are worse than a monkey's. The monkey would at least have more restraints.”

“You made so much good food, how could I not eat it all?!”

“That extra wasn't for you tho, you bottomless pit.”

Splinter: “Was it for Raphael?”

The wolf’s whole body stiffens, being caught in the act. Trying not to lose face, Rachell turns her back to the others as she washes the cutting board extra clean with too much soap and too much pressure. She tires to put on her most convincing monotone tone: “He can starve for all I care.”

Splinter is tired of the charade. “Teenagers.” He’s too old for this.

The teenagers leave the kitchen. Mikey and Leo barely get to the couch before they fall asleep on it. Donnie: “I'm following their examples.”

Rachell: “Fine, you do you. You can find me in the-”

Donnie has already facepalmed the floor. Rachell turns to the lab. On the way, she tries to call Raphael, but he doesn't pick up, and it just goes to the beep sound. “Hey cry baby! Get back home!” She closes the phone. Was she too harsh earlier? Maybe she shouldn't have yelled at him, but why was he being so weird about her searching for a new house? Her eyes wander from the t-phone to the computer, which is still on. Whooops, forgot to turn the computer off again. She looks at the printer screen, making noise and vibrating. Its screen is blinking. She can’t remember using the printer, tho?

Rachell turns off the printer. When she goes to the computer to do the same, she reads the text that says in bold letters: “FINISHED PRINTING.”

Curiosity and confusion begin to grow. She has to figure that out. The wolf checks the printer history. It says confidently that it has just printed the map out that she and Donnie have been working on. Rachell furrows her brows. In the living room, the boys are still lying peacefully, so Rachell has to “nudge” Donnie’s shoulder with her foot. A bit too hard for a nudge and a bit too soft for a kick: “Donnie!”

Donnie wakes up, but so do Leo and Mikey. They all look startled at Rachell standing with her knuckles on her hips.

Donnie asks in a tired, weak voice: “What is it?”

“Have you used the printer?”

“What? No?”

Rachell puts a hand towards her chin, playing with her lips, thinking. “Weird. The printer says it has printed out the map some hours ago.”

“Weren't you the last on it?”

“Do you guys think Raph has used it? He's away and won't answer his phone.”

Mikey asks: “What's that map about anyway?”

Rachell: “We have colored different locations. The reds are for the potential places for my base, the greens are where we can find other mutants, and the purples are where the Kraangs are often seen.”

Leo slaps his forhead: “Oh, of course! Raph was heated and wanted an outlet, so he used the map searching for Kraangs to fight.”

Rachell: “Oooh.”

Mikey: “Of course.”

Donnie: “Makes sense.”

They blink in complete silence. Leo adds: “We should still check on him tho.”

Rachell: “Yup.”

Mikey: “Yeah.”

Donnie: “Makes sense.”

They all stand there for a second more, just looking at each other. Then sprint to Shell Raiser.

***

Raph opens his eyes with a throbbing headache. He is in a Kraang prison chamber. Oh no. He instantly stands up and then hammers his fists against the door, where a Kraang is on guard. He hammers his whole shoulder into the door, but it doesn’t budge. Not even one bit. It’s no use. So Raph pats his tool belt where the weapons were supposed to be, but the slots are empty. Dammit.

Defeated, he sits down leaning against the door, and checks all the other hidden pockets and finds a smoke bomb, three throwing stars, and a Polaroid photo of a smiling Rachell. Donnie would have figured out a plan by now, wouldn't he?

He gets interrupted by his t-phone ringing behind his back. Leo and Mikey have already tried calling him, but now on the screen is an ID caller photo of Rachell, turning to the camera. She was caught eating some of her food as it was cooling. He takes the phone to hear Rachell’s relieved voice: “Thank god, finally! Where are you? We have searched for you everywhere!”

“I'm in a Kraang prison chamber. They have taken away my weapons.”

“Where?”

“I don't know. I was at the abandoned amusement park, then I went down a hidden entrance under a shooting booth.”

Leo shouts from the background, driving Shell Raiser: “We are coming, Raph! Don't go anywhere.”

Raph shouts back: “I'm in a prison chamber! Where would I go!”

He hears Rachell’s laughter erupt: “It's nice to hear you're alive enough to pick a fight.”

And he replies: “You aren't getting rid of me that easily.”

“I sure hope not.” She gives a small titter, but the call ends when his phone runs out of battery.

***

The mutants leave Shell Raiser and run into the amusement park. And Mikey begins as per usual: “Hey Rachell, you know what would be amazing right now?”

“I'm not 'turning wolf' for a rescue mission.”

Mikey whines, disappointed: “Awww…”

They search for the shooting booth and finally find the closed hatch. Rachell opens it and is about to jump into the hole, but Leo stops her: “Rachell, follow my lead, and don't do anything risky, alright?”

“Uh, yeah. Duh. We sneak in, find Raph, sneak out.”

“So no wrecking havoc, right?”

“You do realize I do stealth missions too. I have even done a lot with you guys.”

“I just thought you would only be stealthy if I ordered you to.”

“As if I would care enough about your orders to follow them.”

Leo says in an almost sad voice: “Oh…”

Rachell jumps down the hatch.

Mikey pats Leo's shoulder: “If it helps, you should know I sometimes care.” Mikey jumps down.

Leo looks hopeful at Donnie. Donnie shrugs: “I care if it fits.”

Donnie jumps down. Leo sighs and follows lastly.

They walk down the hall to find an open door. The lock to it was completely shattered, just like the camera on the ground.

Mikey: “Yup, Raph was here, alright.”

Two Kraangs turn around the corner and begin shooting. The mutants jump from place to place in the hallway as they sprint to the Kraangs. Leo cuts the one to the left, and Mikey cuts the one to the right. No more kraangs. They leave the entrance corridor to end in another hallway that goes from right to left. It curves slightly.

The turtles and Rachell sneak in as quietly as possible, but freeze when they see the Panorama window. Mikey: “Woooah. Guys. I think we are under water!”

Leo and Rachell shush him.

Mikey raises his hands and nods profusely as a sign of peace. Donnie stops and makes his usual thinking face. Rachell begins sniffing the air to find a scent of the hothead.

Leo whispers: “What are you thinking, Donnie?”

“Under water would be a perfect base for Rachell. We haven't thought of that as an option before-”

Rachell squints her eyes at him and leans close to his face, so her nose nearly touches his cheek. Rachell aggressively presses her index finger on her mouth and then on Donnie's as she shushes: “That's great and all, but we need to save the idiot first. I go to the right, the rest of you go to the left. Capiche?” How can Donnie not realize they are on a stealth mission to save the moron?

“Uuuhmmm… Right…”

***

Raph lies on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Not able to do anything to ease the boredom. Suddenly, the sound of robotic parts being scrambled can be heard. He gets up and looks outside the prison window. Rachell is squatting over a dead Kraang.

“Rachell!”

She begins picking the lock.

Raph: “Took you long enough.”

Rachell: “I'll take that as a 'Thank you for saving me from the consequences of my impulsive actions.'”

“I wasn’t being impulsive!”

“Of course you weren't. Every rational person would print out a map of the Kraangs' locations to blow off some steam.”

“Wait, the map was over the Kraang's locations? Why didn't you write that? That would have been nice to know.”

“Donnie and I had talked out a system, we don't need to write down every detail if we already know it. It's not like we thought you would- wait, why did you print the map out if you didn't know?”

Raph scratches his neck: “No reason.”

“Look who's bullshitting now."

“Okay, fine, I'll tell you when we get home."

Rachell finally gets the lock, and the door opens. There is no one else in the corridor except the two: “Where are the others?”

“We split up. They went the opposite way.”

“I thought you could just sniff people out?”

Rachell's eyes dart from side to side, her lips becoming a small line. Fortunately for her, the alarm goes off. They head off in the direction where the others are. They reach an open door, where fighting noises are coming from. When they arrive, Leo, Donnie, and Mikey are running around, trying not to get shot while taking down all the Kraangs they can in the meantime.

Leo: “Mikey! I said explicitly not to touch anything!”

“And I said sorry!”

Rachell: “Guys! I have Raph! Let's get out of here!”

The brothers all make their way to the door and run out. Raph and Rachell, who waited for the three to run past, are now just behind them.

Kraang: “Don’t let the mutants get away!”

The Kraangs begin shooting after them. The many hits miss and hit the corridors instead, making the building shake.

Donnie: “Everything is going to collapse!”

Rachell roars: “Again!? This is the second time! Godammit!”

The roof above them cracks, and a large metal tube falls, threatening to hit Donnie's head. Raph jumps in and pushes him to safety, but the metal tube falls onto Raph's lower body. With a loud crack, it crushes his right foot.

Leo: “Raphael!”

Rachell, with the help of his brothers, lifts the metal tube. She grabs the shorter mutant and carries him like a bride. They run out of the hall and climb up the ladder, as water begins flooding the place.

When they are finally all up and in safety, they can breathe normally. Exhausted, their bodies drop to the ground in the amusement park. And exhale in relief.

***

Leo, Mikey, and Donnie have all fallen asleep on the couch as the TV plays in front of them with no one to watch it.

Raph sits on his bed with his leg in her lap as Rachell wraps his leg in bandage. Her fingers are long and thin, like a pianist's, with black nail polish, and she works carefully with the gauze. They are so different from his three green, large, and thick digits, and he would like to see how hers would compare to his own. He knows she is too deep in thought to notice him staring, so he allows himself to stare a little longer.

Even though she has been living with them for some time now, she still smells of fresh lavender, a cheap shampoo and body wash that she often steals from the stockrooms of larger stores. But it still smells good. She has also stolen some more casual alt-clothes, which she is wearing right now. Raph winches, so Rachell asks: “Does it hurt?”

He lies: “Just a light throbbing, nothing much.”

Rachell tightens the bondage, making Raph half cry out: “Ouch.”

Rachell doesn't laugh or smile, she just looks at him with this conflicted face again. Raph tries: “What? Is the big tough Rachell worried?”

But it falls flat. She sends a small grin that doesn't look like a grin. Even though she faces away, his leg is kept on her lap.

Raph tries again: “I'll be fine. We are ninjas; we are used to getting beaten down by life. We just get back up and beat life again.”

Still not happy, Rachell forces the corners of her mouth up: “Yeah, that's true.”

Raph doesn't know what to do, so he begins punching her shoulder. She grabs both his fists, and he presses them into her palms, and she pushes back as if they were wrestling, but gentle and tender and intimate.

“See! I’m good!”

A real laugh finally slips from her. And she says warmly, “You are an idiot.”

“I’m amazing.”

Rachell rolls her eyes as she always does, but this time with compassion and love. The wolf leans to the side, getting even closer to him than already. “Sooooo, why did you print out that map?”

“Oh… Uhm… I just wanted to help you find a new home.”

“You don't have to. Donnie is already helping. I have an idea where. There's an unfinished tunnel from the closed building site that leads underground and underwater.”

Excited for her, he exclaims: “Nice!”

“So don’t waste your time.”

“It's not wasting time. See it more like repayment for all the training and the food... and the talks... and everything you do.”

“You don't have to repay at all. You guys let me stay, and that's more than enough for me.”

“No. I meant it as. I wanted to… I dunno… do something personal… To make you happy… You like Donnie so much more because he can talk about machines or history or physics or whatever, and I can't do that, so I tried in another way, and it didn't go as planned and I-” Once more, he stops himself when he sees her big eyes starring at him, completely surprised. “Never mind, forget I said anything. It's stupid.”

Their faces almost meet. Rachell leans in so close that he can see all the dark lines from her pupil to her irises. Raph doesn't do anything but stare at her with round, flickering eyes, as she tries to read him. “I like Donnie equally to your brothers.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Mikey is fun and lighthearted, but he tunes out and forgets everything I tell him. Leo is admirably committed to whatever he does, but if he says "I'm the leader" one more time, I'll break my own neck. Donnie shares my interests for complex things, but he has the backbone of a chocolate éclair and therefore, in any social setting, he overthinks all the words or scenarios instead of just directly saying what's on his mind.”

She pulls away and walks over to the door that still lies on the floor: “So yeah, I like your brothers equally.”

“And me?”

“You, of course, have faults too, like your arrogance and impulsivity.”

“Thanks?”

“But you are very street smart, your fierce dedication is praiseworthy, you got passion, a great heart, and lots of guts. You're direct with your likes or dislikes, you are honest, and you listen.”

“What I hear is, I'm better?”

She looks at him over her shoulder with a teasing grin: “Whether I like you more or less is up to you to figure out.”

She leaves the room. Raph plunges into his bed, sprawling his arms out, with a big smile plastered to his face. Rachell is awesome.

Chapter Text

Little motivational beeps of coins repeat every time Mikey's fingers run over his phone's video game and shoot down spaceships. He moves from side to side to keep up with his digital adventure, almost taking up the entire couch. Raph tries to block him out of sight with a comic book in front of his nose. He rests his still broken foot on the other end of the sofa, as far away from his energetic brother as possible. Meanwhile, Leo sits in front of the TV, too starstruck to notice anything other than what's happening in the Space Hero episode he's already seen hundreds of times. Captain Ryan is forced to fight against his former friend, who has now been brainwashed evil.

Captain Ryan: “I may not know what's happening, but I know it's bad enough that it has to be brought to an end.” The captain zaps his friend into an explosion of colors and confetti.

Leo gasps all his awww out: “Woah… My hero.”

Raph: “Your show is stupid.”

“Your face is stupid.”

“You are stupid.”

“I’m still smarter than you.”

“As if!” Raph is now ticked off enough to sit more up on the couch, or as much as his broken foot lets him.

“Great argumentation skills as always.” They turn their heads towards Mikey, who instantly feels their pressing auras, and defends himself: “I haven’t done anything, I swear!”

Leo asks: “Who here is the smartest?”

“Donnie?”

Raph rolls his eyes over his little brother not catching the context clues: “Urgh, beside Donnie.”

“Rachell-”

“Between ME and LEO!”

“Oooh, okay. Leo, no doubt.”

Leo mocks Raph with his face and overall existence, so Raph counters it by throwing his comic after him, still stuck on the couch, not able to get up. That smug blue-eyed smartass. He doesn’t know how lucky he is. “Whatever, I'm still the strongest.”

Leo picks the comic book up from the floor and places it a safe space so no on will slip on it: “Yeah, being a brick wall is waaay better than having a brain.”

“Being strong is the most important thing in a fight.”

“They are equally important - Buuut if one has to choose?" Leo stretches the las sentence and taps his chin as if he's even debating the answer to his own idiotic question, “Then brain, 100%.”

Raph whips his head to Mikey, calling out his distracted brother's name so he can settle the argument, but before Mikey can answer, Leo interrupts with a finger: “Mikey doesn’t count.”

“Fair.”

“Donnie!” For someone who always lectures his brothers on being quiet, he himself have no issue being as loud as a car alarm.

“If Mikey doesn't count, then neither does Donnie.”

“So who do we ask?”

“Easy, Rachell.”

Leo leans to the side with his hands around his mouth, making a cone. He yells in the direction of their rooms, displaying an impressive control over his volume: “Rachell!”

Rachell yells back even louder: “What?!”

What a woman.

Leo continues: “What's better? Brain or brawn?!”

Rachell roars a bit irritated: “I'm busy fixing a door! I don't care about your quarrels.”

The two brothers sigh. Looks like they can’t ask her either. But fortunately for them, a second option is available. Splinter appears behind them.

“Sensei! Perfect timing.” The teacher’s pet lights up but Taph agrees, their father is one of the perfect ones to ask. Leo turns his whole body to his father and mentor: “What do you think is the best quality? Being smart but not strong, or being strong but utterly brain dead?”

Raph rolls his eyes and scoffs. For someone who lectures on giving everyone a fair chance, Leo really does know how to to “subtly” hint his opinion like the oldest brother he is.

“Is the heart not the most important?”

Raph: “That's so stupid it isn't even one of the options.”

Splinter continues to give his daily dose of wise wisdom to even the smallest things that they didn’t ask about, well they didn’t ask for that answer anyway: “If you have the heart with you, whether it be for your allies, yourself, or for winning, then I believe you can do anything.” He thinks a bit, “But both are equally important.”

Raph twitches between different body languages and sounds, from confused to annoyed to angry to dumbfounded. Splinter looks in the direction of Raph's room: “Have you asked Rachell?”

“She's too busy fixing my door. How did that even happen?”

Mikey slips his phone over to Raph and shows him the video of Rachell yelling for him to get out and eat, then kicking the door off its hinges. What a woman! For some reason, he grins a bit, nearly like a middle school girl giggling over a boy band.

Leo grimaces: “That's not the normal reaction you give when someone kicks your door down.”

“Love can make one do… Strange things…” The father tries to put it as delicately as possible and not to judge his son, and just be happy for their happiness.

Raph takes the phone and replays the video with a fond smile. He couldn’t care less about the others' judgmental expressions.

Mikey grins: “Are you sure it isn’t something more than love?”

“Guys! Guys! You have to see this!” Donnie runs into the living room with his homemade laptop. They all gather together around him. Raph lies in the same position as before, and Rachell sits beside him. Donnie is in the middle of the couch, with Leo seated to his right and Mikey sitting slouched behind him. Splinter stands over them all.

The scientist explains: “When the Kraang communication device began to intercept radio waves, I tried to decipher the messages, but my computer could only register a handful of words. I realized the problem wasn't with my computer, but with the multiple messages being sent at the same time.”

Rachell: “Can you track down where the messages come from?”

“Already done it and I have found twenty locations that transmit radio waves in this specific frequency.” He shows a map with twenty blinking dots.

Mikey whines: “Awww… Why on the day Matpat has scheduled a video…?”

Leonardo pats the youngest brother: “I know, but we'll watch MatPat later, bud.” He turns to Donnie: “Do you know what they are going to do?”

“Since they send the messages to each other at the same time, I can't extract an audio track from the other. There were only a few words that I could pick up. Mutagen bomb, Thursday, 2 a.m.”

Mikey gasps and slaps his hands to his cheeks: “It's Thursday today!” Then he adds, “I know because of MatPad's scheduled video.”

Leo nods: “That's more than enough info.” The dork then stands up with an index finger in the air and imitates a deep, serious hero voice, “I might not know completely what is happening, but I know it's bad enough that it has to be brought to an end.”

Rachell tries to wipe the exhaustion off her face: “Space heroes?”

Raph answers equally as tired: “Yup.”

Leo: “Okay, where are the Kraangs?”

“The nearest one is only 5 minutes away on foot, the furthest is 30 minutes away.”

Rachell traces the different routes on the screen with her finger: “We should start attacking them all now in good time, before it hits 1. Then we won't miss any or come late.”

Raph claps his hands together excitedly: “Alright, why are we sitting here? Let's go!”

He’s then met with stares that are filled with so much judgment, a lawyer would have cried.

“What?”

The older brother flicks Raph's broken foot, so he jolts, hugging it in pain.

“And this is why brain is better than brawn, Raph.”

***

Leonardo drives the Shell raiser. Mikey is on the map where they have placed cat stickers on, so he won't forget the twenty mutagen bombs. Donnie is on the computer, and Rachell is behind the weapons. The drive is short, and the vehicle stops near a warehouse with Kraangs around it. The four mutants exit the Shell raiser to jump from one house to the other, searching for an opening to the fortress. But in the end, they meet up. Everything on the building had been barricaded: the walls, the doors, the windows, everything was encapsulated in cement.

Rachell squints her eyes while crossing her arms: “They sure don't want us in there. Even the ventilators are blocked.”

Donnie hands Leo his binoculars and asks: “How do we get in that fortress? I don't think Shell Raiser can drive through that.”

Leo looks down to the manholes, that he has seen so many times, he could almost draw them in his sleep, if he had the ability to draw: “What about going under the floor?”

Mikey swings close to the wolf drapping both arms around her: “Ooor, Rachell can transform into her wolf form and then smash through the wall!”

“No.”

“Rachell!” Mikey howls through fake and overdramatic begins leaning on Rachell as if the Ninja and skate board artist couldn’t keep his balance.

Rachell pushes him off: “Why is your answer to every problem my Wolfform? Foot clan? - Wolf. Kraangs? - Wolf. Purple dragons? - Wolf!”

Mikey begs with folded hands in front of his face: “C'mooon, it's sooo coooool! And the last time you did it was from that falling building, which was over a whole month ago.”

Like the mother hen of the group, Leo intervene: “Mikey. We have been over this, she has explained that it's exhausting. Let her be.”

Mikey turns his sad puppy eyes to the floor, “Awww, I just wanted to see it one more time…”

Even if she didn't look at him, his sad voice crept under her hard skin after a month of being worn down. And Rachell buckles under with a grand sigh: “FINE. I'll transform.”

The ever so worried turtle mother says, “You don't have to. We can always go back to the lair and find some machines or go around, or under.”

But Rachell shakes her head: “I'll just transform, take down the Kraangs, make an opening, and cover for Donnie detonating the bomb…”

“Okay. Then go ahead.”

***

Inside the cement wall and barred windows. It reeks of freshly poured cement, alien technology, and wet wood from the wooden crates. In the center is the mutagen bomb. A Kraang works with a keyboard unfamiliar to humans.

Pow! One of the walls is torn down at once. Debris gets flung in the air. It hits some of the Kraangs. Before they can react, Rachell, in her large wolf form, has already run through it headfirst and is now chewing on the alien’s metal parts like a dog toy, before spitting them out.

The three turtles watch from the gaping hole. Mikey bounces up and down, flailing his hands like a cheerleader. Leo takes both katanas out, but says to Mikey, “Okay, I have to give it to you. It looks pretty epic.”

Donnie calls Rachell’s name and shouts: “Look out!”

A Kraang pulls a lever so a metal cage falls over her giant body, encaging her. The turtles are about to jump in, but she simply transforms back to fit in between the bars, and easily frees herself: “I’m good!” She transforms back and continues her rampage.

The turtles head directly to the detonator. Mikey keeps watching her as if he's watching his big sister is... well, fighting aliens in robot suits. Two big stars replaces his eyes: “Fenrir is so rambunctious!”

Leo: “Fenrir?”

Donnie: “Rambunctious?”

Mikey: “Her wolf side! It's awesome!”

Donnie: “That’s not what rambunctious means…”

“Focus everyone.”

Leo pushes his brother across the room, careful to not meet any Kraangs or walk over the sharp shatters metal. Donnie gets to the detonator while being covered by his two brothers, still on the edge for something bad to happen. But nothing happens. Five minutes pass.

“It's defused and self-destructed.”

Suddenly, there is no noise of any shooting, no noise of any robots, and no noise of any aliens screaming. Rachell is standing behind them in her normal form, looking proud over her grand work. A masterpiece of art. She rolls her shoulder, stretches, and cracks her knuckles: “That was so much… Fun!” Her body can’t help but let out a bit of laughter, as it's filled with euphoria. She's hihgh on so many happy chemicals. It's addictive. Mikey runs to her to give her a high five, and she reciprocates it. “You should go Fenrir again on the next mission!”

“Fenrir?”

“Your wolf side's name.”

Rachell makes a disgruntled expression that say: "I can't believe what the fuck your dumb-ass is yapping about," but he doesn’t mind it. He just continues to grin.

“It’s a dope name for a dope beast.”

Leo high-fives her as well: “I must admit, this went surprisingly smoothly. If you're still up to the task, we could call Fenrir for the next bomb.”

Rachell thinks a bit before concluding: “Okay, if it's just one more, it won't hurt anyone.”

***

Raph throws his comic over his shoulder so it joins the eight other comics lying on the floor. He groans in hopes of making the painful boredom disappear. It doesn’t. So instead, he calls Mikey. Maybe his little brother has something interesting to tell. Yes, that's how bored he is.

Mikey answers the phone. He stands beside Leo and Donnie while the tech turtle is destroying the bomb from within. Hell is happening in the background. Robotic hands and plates fly everywhere. The aliens run screeching away from the beast.

Raph asks through the phone: “How is the mission going?”

“It's so much fun! It's smoother than butter on a baby's butt, all thanks to Fenrir. At this rate, we should be done with all twenty spots by an hour, tops.”

“Fen-who?”

“You know, her untouchable wolf-form. I named it Fenrir, I know, cool name, hold your applause.”

Raph’s face stiffens in terror, and he sits up. Maybe he can run to them.

“Hello? Raph? You there?”

“How long has she been in her Wolfform?”

“Its name is Fenrir. And I would say about... Uhm... five minutes?”

Thank goodness. Raph can fall back into the pillows. Now he can exhale in relief. But Mikey adds: “What is five times five?”

He freezes again. The noise in the background is suddenly louder in his head.

“Hellooo? Raph? Is the signal bad? I think you are cutting out, dude.”

“Give me Rachell. RIGHT. NOW!”

Mikey pulls away his phone from his ear, trying to massage the ache away. He turns to Rachell, who is still in her wolf form: “Rachell, it’s for you.”

But all he gets is the wolf growling, maybe she isn't able to hear him with the robot neck between its teeth. She flicks her ear to Mikey, signaling she has heard him, but gets hit by a laser gun. Rachell turns to the Kraang shooting after her and rips its head apart.

Mikey goes back to the phone: “She’s a bit busy.”

Raph gesticulate with his hands as if the other can see it: “Move your ass and give her the phone anyway or I swear I will come after you.”

Mikey whines, but does it anyway. Rachell transforms back to standing, slouches, and dries the saliva from her mouth with the back of her hand. She takes the t-phone up to her snout and shouts, aggravated: “What!?”

Raph pinches the tensing space between his brows: “Tell me, why are you transforming so many times?”

“Because it's fucking easier for everyone involved.”

“It won't be easier when you tear people's heads off.”

“Relax. I have only transformed like… uhm…” she thinks for a bit, counting her fingers, but her memories are hazy, “- two times for one minute?”

“Mikey says it's a lot more.”

“Listen, I can't remember the exact details, but I have everything under control. I'm just having fun.”

“If your 'fun' turns into a funeral, you won't have much fun for long.”

Rachell snaps: “Are you threatening me!?” He wasn’t. She can’t hear how unreasonable she’s being. She can’t hear anything other than the adrenaline pumping through her veins.

Raph says exasperated: “Just, don't do it anymore. Or I'll have to explain everything to the others.”

“Whatever! Mom! I won't do it anymore! But not because you said so!”

“Good.”

“But if you do tell the others anything, I will never forgive you.” For the first time in that conversation, she sounds lucid, and it's in the last sentence just before Rachell ends the call. Raph puts both hands over his head.

***

Leo walks up to Rachell: “What was that about?” He reaches out to tap her shoulder to get her attention, but she has already turned toward them in an almost grand and hectic motion. A bit different from her normal elegant movements, maybe she's tired?

Rachell throws the phone to Mikey: “Just Raph being annoying. Are you guys done?” She doesn't seem tired. Quite the opposite actually.

“Yes. Let's go to the next mission… Oh… By the way, you are drooling…” Leo brings his index finger to his mouth, not knowing where to point, so he ends up swiveling it around his face: “….everywhere.”

Rachell dries the waterflow of saliva off once again with her palm.

Now a little worried for his friend's well-being, Leo asks: “Are you sure you are good?” They all seem worried, but not alarmed. Why would they be?

Rachell gasps exasperated: “Don't be a whiner..” but then goes back to a manic excitement: “Let's go to the next place and kill some Kraangs!”

“Oooh Yeeeaaaaahhh!” Mikey is on board.

Rachell chants with her arms swinging up and down as she walks out of the warehouse: “Kill them Kraangs! Kill them Kraangs! Kill them Kraangs!”

Mikey follows behind her, chanting the same thing. The two others walk after.

Donnie says to Leo, “She seems to have a blast.”

Leo smiles: “Well, as long as she is having fun, we can continue with this.”

Rachell: “Less talk! More kill!”

The two join their chanting. “Kill them Kraangs! Kill them Kraangs!”

***

Inside Shell Raiser, there is quiet at first as they have to navigate to the next mutagen bomb.

Rachell: “Yo, Dj Leo! Turn on some tunes!”

Leo: “Radio coming up!”

He turns on the stereo so full-metal music is blaring through the speakers. They all nod their heads to it, screaming the lyrics slightly out of tune and cheering as Leo drives fast through the streets, hitting a few trash cans here and there. They feel the thrill radiate through the car.

***

Raph stares at his phone, one leg bouncing. It's lying on the living room table just an arm's length away. The screen is looking at him, mocking him. A mixture of annoyance and concern crosses his face. He calls Mikey again.

Leo and Mikey watch a Matpat YouTube analysis of space heroes, but get interrupted by the phone vibrating. The screen shows Raph's angry face photoshopped on a snapping turtle. They both roll their eyes. Mikey takes it anyway: “What now?”

“Rachell is fighting, while you and Leo's lazy butts watches?”

Behind them on a leveled pathway is Rachell in her wolf form. She chews on an alien brain's body before spitting it out, and her white, blank eyes see the turtles. Not like her friends, but as turtles to eat. The wolf gets on top of a box and tries to pounce on them with an open mouth, ready to dig into their craniums, but the wolf gets shot midair. She’s thrown off trajectory. She attacks the Kraang that shot her instead.

Leo, Mikey, and Donnie are blissfully unaware of what just happened. How close they were to becoming her meal.

Mikey says on his phone, “Nooo, we are not just sitting and watching, we are fighting too.”

“Yeah, you sound real active right now.” The sarcasm on his tongue is bitter.

“I totally am. Take that, you evil Kraang! Pow! Pow! Argh!”

Leo takes the phone out of his brother's hand: “Listen, Raph, I know what I'm doing, so stop calling!”

“Wait!” The phone hangs up. Grrrrr! If he weren't bedridden, he would kick something over.

“Is everything alright, Raphael?” Behind him is Splinter, curious about what ticked Raph off this time.

Raph huffs: “Everything is great.”

Splinter makes his way around the couch to stand in front of his son: “It does not look like everything is great.”

Raph waits for a bit to answer, contemplating on what he can say and what he can't: “Let's say, hypothetically, everything isn't great. And hypothetically, someone is doing something very stupid that can put everyone in danger, and you can either tell the others about it, and risk losing that one person because you swore to not tell anyone anything, or you shut up but risk that everything goes to shit.”

Splinter: “Is this about Mikey?”

“No, it's not about Mikey. It's about… a hypothetical person, who isn't actually stupid, but just has some issues… Okay, A LOT of issues.”

“Is this one of these questions again, where there are only two options?”

“I guess?”

“What about asking Rachell?”

Raph sighs: “I don’t think I can.”

Splinter puts a hand on Raph’s shoulder, and bends down to look his son in the eyes with a sincerity only an old, wise father can have: “Try talking to Rachell. If it does not work, figure out what she needs instead of figuring out what she wants.”

He leaves the living room, leaving Raph to think even more.

***

While Donnie is at the mutagen bomb, defusing it, Mikey and Leo have chosen to watch yet another YouTube video, this time a theory over the next space hero episode. Of course, Rachell is killing the Kraangs, but this time, there is a lot more blood splattering. The wolf turns towards the Turtles, who are either distracted by a video or the bomb, to feel her staring. She snarls at them.

Leo doesn't look up from the video playing, but assumes by the sudden silence: “You already done? That was fast.”

Rachell blinks her eyes back and forth from completely hazy white to a light grey-purple. She turns back into her normal form, but this time she breathes heavily. This time, she continues to stare at them as if she doesn't recognize them fully. This time, she is out of it.

Finally, Leo takes the phone from Mikey to show her the screen: “Hey Rachell, watch this clip-woah…”

As he looks around the warehouse, everything is destroyed, even the wooden boxes. And where there usually are some alien brains crawling, alive, trying desperately to find an exit, now they are all puddles against the floor and walls. He looks at Rachell, who seems tensed, angry, and not really there. He whistles: “You really did a number in this place.”

Rachell doesn’t answer. Just squints her eyes. Whose face is that?

“Are you sure you are okay?” Leonardo.

Rachell snaps: “I’m FINE!”

Both Leo and Mikey are taken aback by the snap and the glare. Not her usual annoyed glare, when they intentionally push her buttons, and she tells them to stop, but a glare as if she were a wild monster that really does want to harm them.

Leo: “Okay?...”

Rachell spins around and storms to the opening hole she has made.

Leo: “Where are you going?”

“Gonna kill!”

Leo: “Right, but Donnie hasn’t defused the bomb yet.”

“What bomb!?”

Leo gestures with his whole body at the giant bomb that was impossible to miss for anyone who wasn't blind or mentally unstable: “Uhm, the bomb in the middle of the room. The bombs that are our whole mission.”

“Fuck the bomb!” She snaps: “Let's move!”

“Are you sure you're alright? If you're too tired, it's no problem if we take over. There is only a single station left, and-”

Her growl is deep, deeper than her usual growling: “Don’t talk!“ She presses her hands against her temples, “Too much!”

Rachell stomps to Shell Raiser, opens the door, and slams it with a loud bang. The Turtles look at each other, shocked. What was that about? When the brothers enter, Rachell is slouching on the chair, kunai in hand, arms crossed, and legs on top of her desk. The three stare at her, then at each other, then at her.

 “What!?” That word alone could snap their bones in half.

Donnie and Mikey push Leo towards the wolf, and they stay supportively behind. He says, one meter between them, “We think you should stay in the Shell Raiser, while we-”

Under her breath: “Drive.”

Leo bends down to hear her better: “What?”

She throws the kunai past him so it sticks to the metal wall, and she yells in a demonic voice: “DRIVE!”

They all jump to their designated seats. Nervous and without a word. Leo drives fast, but carefully. This time, he evades all the trash cans in hopes of a smooth sailing.

“MUSIC!”

Leo: “I don’t think that’s a good idea-”

Another dagger rockets past him and hits directly the radio button, so full-metal music starts again.

Silence. Nobody is brave enough to say a word.

***

The wolf hammers through the cement wall. She sprints from one Kraang to the other, not even thinking or reacting to what’s in the way, not even the wooden boxes she tips over.

The ever observant nerd asks: “Is it just me, or does she seem way more uncoordinated?” He fidgets with his fingers.

Leo says wryly: “Let's just get this job over with and go home.”

They all walk safely to the mutagen machine, ticking down without trouble. Donnie begins defusing the bomb. First a minute goes, then two, and after three, he's done, but for some reason, there are still Kraangs screaming, but no one is to be seen.

They can’t hear any shooting either.

Donnie glides his hand over the screen, even though the bomb is destroyed inside, it was more to calm himself: “Uhm, where is Rachell?”

With three whole walls and one broken down, the warehouse is still very confining. The air is still. Leo's fingers twitches, ready to reach the handle of his katana: “I got a bad feeling.” Dun, dun dun! Leo's phone rings. He takes it: “Hey Raph, you're very close to Rachell, right?”

“How is she?”

While Leo and Raph are talking, Mikey and Donnie are searching the place for any trace of Rachell. Mikey hears her animalistic growl in a corner behind some supplies. He laughs nervously: “Hey Rachell, we are done…” Donnie walks slowly behind him.

Leo talks to the phone: “Well, she has started to become just a itsy tiny bit more aggressive, and by tiny bit I mean that she has gone completely cuckoo.” He whistles and makes circles with his finger near his head.

Mikey and Donnie slowly approach the corner. Mikey laughs nervously again: “You can stop being crazy now…”

Raph asks Leo over the phone: “How many times has she transformed?”

“Why does that matter? Can't you just explain?”

“Just tell me, so I can say if it's serious or not.”

“We have defused the last bomb.”

“HAS SHE TRANSFORMED TWENTY TIMES!?”

“Is that bad?”

That’s when Mikey and Donnie see it in the corner with its back to them. The wolf is eating some of the Kraang brains, ripping the body from the limbs and slurping the whole creature into her stomach. Donnie holds a hand over his mouth: “I think I'm gonna throw up…”

Raph shouts: “GET AWAY FROM HER!”

The wolf whips its head around. Alien blood is sliding down from her sharp teeth. Her eyes are completely white. Not like usual. These empty eyes have nothing in them other than hunger and rage.

Mikey and Donnie pull out their weapons. The wolf pounces on Donnie and pushes him down, barely held back by his bo staff: “Help!”

The wolf sticks its teeth down and snaps the staff in half. It then gets its head up to dig into his face. Mikey's nunchuck chains wrap around her snout. He tries to pull the wolf away, but only manages to hold her back for a few seconds. The wolf runs, and he unwillingly flies behind her with his chain, screaming: “HELP!”

Leo cuts over the bond, and Mikey rolls across the floor. Leo yells into the phone: “YOU KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN AND DIDN'T TELL US!?”

“I didn't think she would keep doing it!”

The wolf gets the shackles around her muzzle off. She stands before Leo like a bull. Leo goes into a wide stand. He has a phone between his head and shoulder and holds a sword with both hands.

She sprints towards him, and he dodges. She goes again, and he dodges that too. She jumps him one more time, he attacks with his sword, but she catches the blade with her mouth and breaks it into pieces.

Leo, Donnie, and Mikey retreat to the upper walking platforms. Leo: “How do we calm it down!?”

“A hug!”

“A what now!?”

The wolf jumps up to his level and begins chasing after him. Mikey throws a smoke bomb in her face, making her chase after Mikey. Donnie jumps in front of her, and she chases him instead. They keep shifting, taking her focus away. This dance goes on for a little while.

Raph: “It sounds crazy, I know, but just do it goddammit!”

Donnie asks Leo: “What does he say?”

“He says we should hug it!”

“He said WHAT?!”

Mikey: “I'll volunteer! Fenrir looks like a cute teddy bear!”

Donnie: “If you two haven't noticed, I’ll remind you, she has razor-sharp teeth, with jaw strength that can break METAL SWORDS!”

Leo: “Let’s just find another way.”

Raph: “Stop being chick-”

Leo ends the call. “I have an idea!”

They run out of the building while the wild beast is chasing them on foot. They begin climbing up the houses, but the wolf loses interest in them and runs after a cat instead.

Mikey jumps down behind the wolf and throws a shuriken at its back. The throwing star doesn't even scratch her, and just bounces off and onto the ground. But it's enough to catch her attention. She turns around to chase him.

When the wolf slowly begins catching up to him, Donnie takes over, making it run after him. Just like the dance before, when the wolf nearly bites his feet, Leo takes over and navigates it to the first warehouse. Leo brakes in the center of the room, but the wolf continues at full speed. “Mikey! Now!”

Mikey hits the lever and the cage that fell over her earlier, does it again, caging her completely. The wolf tries to headbutt the cage, but she is only pushing the somewhat loose cage a few centimeters before it goes back in place with the strong elastic rope tied to the top.

Mikey: “Awesome!”

“Now we just have to wait until Fenrir turns back to Rachell.” Leo then calls Raph, who answers: “I’m on my way.”

“No need, we have caged it.”

“If Rachell is too far gone, she won't turn back until she has been calmed down.”

“Then you come here and 'calm down' that wolf monster, but I'm not going anywhere near it. Also, why has Rachell told you everything, but nobody has told us anything?”

“I’m already on the streets, where are you?”

Leo taps his t-phone: “I'm sending you the coordinates right now.”

A sharp, shrill, and metallic sound breaks through the air. With its mouth, the wolf has pulled out a bar and is in the process of pulling out another.

Mikey: “Uh, Leo!? What do we do!?”

“You still want to hug it, right?”

When the second bar is away, the wolf begins chasing them, repeating the same pattern as before. They jump, sprint, roll.

Donnie: “When is Raph here?”

Mikey screams as the wolf chases him. Leo groans, feeling the bags grow under his eyes: “Alright. Alright! I'll do it.” He jumps onto the wolf's back and puts his arms around its neck. Bitter, he says: “There. Better?”

The wolf bites Leo's arm and throws him away towards the merchandise. She then proceeds to hunt down Donnie, while an offended Leo stands up from the boxes with both arms outstretched: “Why didn’t that work?”

Mikey: “Dude, even I know why. You gotta at least show that you like it.”

“Then you do it.”

“With pleasure.” Mikey gets into the middle of the room, he uses two fingers to whistle, “Come here, Frenrir, you good little doggo.”

The wolf stops in its tracks, while Donnie climbs to safety. In bullet speed, it dashes towards Mikey, who evades, now screaming and crying as he runs away from the wolf.

Leo: “See!”

Mikey jumps onto a wall and into a backflip and lands on the beast's back, beginning to stroke the fur on the neck. The wolf stops and just breathes. Mikey says in a baby voice: “Calm down, calm down.”

The wolf doesn't move, it doesn't shrink, and its breathing is erratic, but the wolf stands still.

From afar and in safety, Donnie yells: “It’s working!”

Mikey smiles: “See, we are all friends here. Who is a good doggo, you are, Frenrir, you are such a good-”

The wolf then proceeds to jump around, and Mikey clings to it like a bull rider. He's flying up and down, left and right, but he keeps clinging to her.

“What are you idiots doing?!” Raph is standing just a few meters from the entrance with a crutch.

Leo: “We tried calming it down with a hug, just like you said! But Frenrir doesn't react to anything!”

“Her name is Rachell! And does that look calming to you?!”

Mikey gets thrown off and into the wooden boxes on the opposite side of the room. The wolf marches towards the disoriented turtle.

Raph: “Hey Rachell!”

The beast twists around to stare Raph down like he was a threat to her territory. He throws away his crutch and drops his weapons. Both arms stretched out. The wolf gallops in his direction, but he doesn't flinch, not even when she tackles him onto his back. Leo, Mikey, and Donnie are on their way to save him, but stop when he puts a palm towards them. Raph doesn’t look at them, he only looks into Rachell’s glowing eyes: “Stop!” Raph cups her face, and says in a low, gentle voice: “Rachell, I know you will never hurt me or my brothers, well at least not intentionally. You are not some wild animal, you are like the toughest fighter I know, so you gotta beat those instincts.” He puts his forehead against hers. “Come back.”

They both close their eyes. The wolf slows its respiration as the figure becomes smaller and smaller, and her body goes limp again. Even though her face now rests on the pavement, and her body dangles over him, he puts his arms around her neck and back. Rachell sleeps.

The brothers come forth, Mikey pulls up his phone, and takes pictures overloaded by the cuteness.

Leo: “Okay… Maybe we weren’t as gentle as you were…”

Raph: “Yeah, no shit.”

Mikey: “I didn't know Raph could even do gentle.”

Raph sends him an angry scowl.

Donnie comments: “Wait, so this has happened before, right? At TCRI, right?”

Raph: “I'll ask Rachell to tell you everything when she wakes up. If she doesn't, I'll do it.”

Leo: “Promise?”

Raph: “Yeah, yeah.”

***

Rachell groans, holding a hand around her hurting stomach and a palm against her headache. Her head is too heavy to acknowledge where she is, the place is spinning, the light is too bright, and the sounds are too loud. Rachell struggles to get up a bit, and then realization dawns on her. Her eyes dart open, and she jolts up on the couch, looking frantically around to see each turtle occupied by their own thing. Mikey is in front of the TV, Leo with his comic book, Donnie with his laptop, and Raph just sits there, leaning over his knees, probably watching the TV too. They all swivel their heads to her. She hides hers behind a hand: “Urgh… Tell me how bad I was…”

Leo: “You don’t remember?”

“I completely blacked out after the third time.”

“That fits, you began acting differently at the third bomb.”

Rachell feels the shame rise to her cheeks: “I should have stopped before taking it that far.”

Donnie: “You should have told us way back.”

Mikey adds: “We could have helped you, you know?”

Rachell: “It's just-it's not fun to talk about something so embarrassing. Losing control. Being weak and all that.”

Leo: “Hah, that thing is far from weak. That's the whole problem.”

“Yeah… I understand if you want to kick me out… And if you never want to see my face again.”

The boys look at each other, a bit confounded.

Leo: “We won't kick you out.”

Mikey: “And we still want to hang out with you.”

Donnie: “Just no more big secrets from now on, okay?”

Now, consoled Rachell can smile big: “No more big secrets.” Even after all this, they still want to see her. How could she not have thought of that before? How could she not have told them? They are her friends, her impulsive, dumbass, loser friends, whom she would trade the world for.

Mikey: “Now that's out of the way, how does it feel to transform?”

Donnie: “What methods did you use to find out you could?”

Leo: “How many times can you do it without any consequences?”

Raph gets up on his healthy leg to stand between her and his brothers as a shield: “Do you blabbermouths ever know when to shut the fuck up?! Give her some rest.”

Rachell grabs his wrist: “It's no problem. I can answer any question… of course, as long as they aren't stupid.”

Raph: “Okay. You just punch them if they become too annoying, which they surely will. I'll be in my room in the meantime.”

He leaves as he hears the boys' tsunami of questions.

***

The two plastic figurines makes small sounds as they clash together. Raph lies on his bed as he flies them in the air high above his face while making fighting sounds to bring them to life.

The door opens. “Hey-” Rachell stops when she sees the toys fly out of his hands, thrown away to hit the floor with a noticeable crash, while he tries to play cool. He quickly settles into his pillow with hands behind his head and look apathetically into the wall.

”Sup?”

“You busy?” Raph can hear how hard she tries to contain her small giggle.

Raph scratches his stomach casually and looks around the room: “I was just doing sit-ups.”

“Right…” She gets close to the bed. He scoots into the wall so she can sit, but instead of sitting, she lies down beside him, their shoulders barely touching. She's too tall for the bed and leans her heels against the wall. Rachell still wears the homemade socks that fit her big paws of feet. There's cut a whole to let her three toes breath, and lets her claws out.

For some reason, Raph is fascinated by how often she paints her claws black, just for her own amusement, only for for the smooth surface to crumble in a fight. He has never been interested in fashion before, heck, he’s a mutant turtles wearing nothing but a toolbelt.

Raph asks: “Have the others finally clammed up?”

“An hour after you left. I had already begun regretting my decision 15 minutes in.”

“They are so fucking nosy.”

“You are too tho.”

Raph points at himself: “I am in a cool way.”

Rachell laughs, so her shoulder brushes his. Despite her muscular figure, she’s soft. She’s warm. “You don't have any questions for me?”

“Hmmm… What’s your favorite color?”

“I meant about the wolf thingy.”

“You should've specified.”

“So you don't care about it?”

“I care more about your favorite color.”

Rachell snorts and turns her head to him, making eye contact with him: “If you had asked me a year ago, then blue like the eyes of Yumi. Right now, I like green…”

“Green is a good color, just behind red.”

“Red is your favorite color?” She smiles sarcastically, but with a voice even warmer than her arm, “Shocker. Is it a 'the color of your enemies' blood' - type of thing?”

“I didn't say red was my favorite. I just said that green is good, but red is better.”

“Then what is your favorite color?”

Raph smiles: “Right now? Purple.”

Rachell jabs him lightly in his side with her elbow. Ouch. He hold his side. She teases: “Don’t make fun of me.”

Raph laughs back: “You make it too easy.”

Rachell jabs him again, this time with two fingers, still not hard. He jabs her. They end up laughing as they keep jabbing each other's sides back and forth. When the laughter and the jabbing have calmed down, they just look up. Raph has seen that ceiling every day and every night since he was two years old, and yet it has never been as pretty as now.

Rachell: “Do I look scary when I go batshit insane?”

“Pffft, you are already batshit insane.”

“And when I go berserk?”

“Not in the slightest. But again, I'm never scared of anything.”

Rachell points at the wall: “I think I saw a cockroach there.”

“Ha. Ha. Very funny.” He checks the wall anyway.

Rachell continues: “Leo said I looked like a wild animal, and Donnie said I looked like a monster. Mikey, of course, claimed it was the equivalent of a cute but deadly teddy bear.”

Raph waves it off: “They are all just pussies. You aren't scary at all. Some would say that you are actually scarier in your normal form. Normal-you have brain, techniques, and muscles. Your wolf side is just… A braindead brickwall…”

“I'm surprised that comes from you. Aren't you married to the idea of 'strength is better'?”

He contemplates before he asks: “What do you think is the most important in a fight?”

She thinks, but ends up shrugging: “Probably heart? If you have the love, the will, and the determination, you can find a way.”

“Guess so.”

“I mean, to whichever of your scaredy-cat brothers who got me out of that thing, they must have had enough will and courage to tame a wild, monster bear. I don't think they could use either intelligence or biceps to pull it off.”

Raph burst out: “Hah! You think they did it? You give them way too much credit.”

This leaves her puzzled: “Then what happened?”

“The three knuckleheads tried to ride you like a goddamn horse, calling it 'calming,' so I had to step in, AGAIN, and save the day.”

Rachell sits up to check if his broken leg has miraculously healed or not. It was still encased. “But your leg?”

Raph flexes his bicep: “What can I say? I just crawled up with sheer willpower and strength.”

“Why didn’t you tell them to-”

“I did, but they weren't very exactly good at it. Leo was so fucking bitter about it, Mikey called you a "good doggy" and Donnie didn't even try.”

Rachell lies back down to look at the ceiling, thinking: “I didn't know, there was a special way to hug. What did you do?”

"Who’s nosy now?” He laughs, but she looks at him with a more sincere face than before. He knows she wants an honest answer to her question, she always does.

But Raph turns towards the wall, so she can’t see him clearly: “Uhm… Forget it. It's not like it's useful to you anyway. You are the one being calmed down.”

“Fine. I'll just have to ask your brothers then, cause they would never embarrass you.”

“You are too strong a fighter to be beaten down by some silly instincts… That's all I said.”

Bubbles float in her stomach. Rachell looks at the ceiling with a big, genuine grin, she couldn’t wash off even if she wanted to. And they stay lying, side by side, like that for a while.

Chapter Text

The last foot print left by a human have been washed away by all the water, snow and sun. It's a fossil.

At the construction site is a large deep pit in the ground, big enough to be a house in itself. Concrete blocks lie organized in rows like dominos, the only things left of an abandoned hotel foundation. Rachell slides down the sloping earth and goes straight to a small cave hidden in the side of the pit’s four walls. There is a pin-locked metal door. She picks the lock and changes the code. The door leads to an underground tunnel that goes deep. At one point, the road splits into a three-fork road, all blocked by metal grids. Rachell removes the rusty bars on each of them but takes the right to a large cave at the end of the tunnel.

Three months fly by. Rachell has arrived back many times with the turtles.

First they lent some of their tools, then they helped molding parts of the cave and refining the sides of the cave into solid squares. The first few weeks Raph couldn’t help because of his leg injury, so he sat on the sideline and entertained them with his excellent commentary. He always ended talking with her long after his brothers went home and she continued to work. It wasn't the most fun to sleep in a dark, humid cave, on the extra guest mattress Donnie had found him with springs sticking out of it, but laying there and watching her work was worth it. Sometimes, he would take a nap, and wake up to her filling the walls with wires and ventilation holes. In the end, he had to drag her to bed.

Throughout all the hours, days, weeks, months, she keeps taking Polaroid pictures of the progress and the boys working. Of Raphael. When he finally could stand, he helped. He painted the walls with pastel colors, while she painted the ceiling: nothing specific, just abstract. The best days ended with them laughing as they splattered paint at each other, trying not to get hit themselves, but failing wonderfully. Light blue, purple, green, and red splotches lit them up like a rainbow in the sky, and they couldn't be happier.

The last bit of work was done alone. She banned the turtles from the area.

Chairs, rugs, and shelves have been set up. A kitchen area, a sleeping corner with a low bed, a sparring area with a mat, punching dolls, and weapons, and a living room with a TV, all slowly take shape.

***

Smokebomb and fighting. The same hologram footage repeats over and over again. With a press on the keyboard in his lap, Shredder zaps to the next video. Zoom in. Zoom out. The master in martial art is scanning the camera footage from the Kraang surveillance. Every video ends the same with all the Kraang droids and the ninja robots getting destroyed. Rion defeats his army multiple times focusing her fierce fire into deadly attacks. Despite all the anger and rage, her movements are precise. One footage after the other. He keeps watching it. Analyzing every pixel.

The wolf is good, but he has seen better.

A buzzing son increases as the mutant scientist, Baxter Stockman, flies behind the hologram to get hist master's attention. “The Kraangs have sent the formula as well as the ingredients.”

“Finally.”

***

The dojo is beginning to smell like sweat. It isn't unusual for four teenage boys to smell when they train for hours and hours on end, they have accepted that a long time ago, so they preserver, like every other day.

Splinter distracts himself from the smell by eyeing the youngest turtle’s hip hop dance moves, something Mikey always does instead of taking the fight seriously, and Leo on opposite end of the mat, going through all the rituals that follows sparring. Bowing, eyecontact, draw weapons.

Raph has never cared about all those manners, he’s too busy going though his own routine as an audience member on the sideline: tap his phone, place it on the floor with the home screen up and then tap it again, just to check it.

“She isn’t gonna call you faster the more you look at your phone,” Donnie rolls his eyes, half focusing on the fight, half doesn't really care.

Punch! Great, now Donnie has to train with a sore shoulder.

“Hajime.”

Mikey doesn’t even try to hit Leo. He only dances around his older brother, as he sways alongside the katanas' movements. Leo might be skilled, but he has to be faster than that if he wants to touch the too agile monkey kid. Mikey, on the other hand, taunts his brother by smacking the leader in the face or tucking on the tail of the blue bandana. The bouncy turtle ends up having too much fun avoiding the weapons too that he forgets about Leo's feet swinging under his legs so Mikey trips and lands on his butt.

Leo puts a sword close to the other’s face as a sign of victory. “Well played, monkey boy."

Mikey salutes: “You too, slow snail. You get it? Because you're super slo-"

“We get it."

Just like they usually do, they switch. It doesn’t even take them a minute.

Now it's Raph and Donnie's turn. The taller turtle twirls his bo staff around his body, reminding it of all the complex combos and strategies he has come up with for each attack the brawler can throw at him. He still needs to be careful though, even when Raph is unarmed with nothing but his bare hands. The Bo staff goes after the turtle's jaw. Raph dodges every move until he grabs the stick and knocks the end of it into Donnie's forehead several times. Bonk, bonk, bonk. After a dizzy tug of war where Donnie was losing humiliatingly he lets go of his stick, and Raph ends up running after him with it raised above his head, threatening to beat him like a drum. Donnie crumbles into a ball and resigns. This of course doesn’t stop his older brother from keep hitting the shell making a nice beat that Mikey can jam to.

It’s first when Raph eyes the blue clad out of the corner of his eyes, that he throws the staff to the ground, letting it rattle and roll over the floor.

Raphael measures the distance to the older one, waiting for the right timing as his hands grabs the handles of his sais. Leo is the only one rivaling his skills, so he needs them. The weapons are perfectly positioned in his large hands, and their hard sensations almost calms him down, but only almost.

They get ready.

“Hajime!”

With their weapons out, they run at each other, swing, dodge, and swing.

The katanas slices the air. Raph goes down in a split as Rachell taught him, sweeping the opponent's legs, which knocks Leo off balance for a split second. And in that split second, Raph kicks him to the floor.

“Welp, looks like Raph won most times today, fuss up the candy, Dee!”

Donnie begrudgingly hands Mikey a lollipop, not something he’s going to miss, it just sucks whenever Mikey wins over him in a bet.

Leo groans on the floor.

Raphael triumphs over Leo with a smug smile just to rub salt into the wound before helping his brother up.

“Yame.”

The four teenagers sit down, aligned with their age, Leo is of course, the only one bowing to their sensei.

Splinter is already tall, taller than them when they stand, and he only seems bigger when they are sat down as his students, “It is great to see that you are taking in some of Rachell's teaching. Maybe next month I can teach you different ways to counteract these katas. Until then, keep practicing the new techniques. You all did well today.”

“They did well, I did better.” Raph smiles self-satisfied and eyes his flexing biceps, not minding his three brother's offended expressions that say, “Can you believe this guy?”

Raph stops flexing when he feels his father’s cold cane hit his arm: “How many times do I have to say this, Raphael? Training is not competition.”

Raph isn't bothered and keeps his attitude: “Yeah, but if it was, I would win every time.”

"So you would not mind fighting me?”

“Oh, uhm... Well… I wouldn't say that I really wanted to-”

“What is the matter, Raphael? Are you not confident in your skills to win every fight?” Splinter is surprisingly scary when he’s grinning cocky.

Ding ding ding! What a relief. Raph pulls out his phone, and rushes up, stumbling over the bends in the mat: “Oh look, Rachell is calling, I have to go. Bye!” He runs off like the brave turtle he is.

Tired dad sighs. “Teenagers…”

***

The metal beams of the unfinished building are already swaying when the wind is blowing on it, so it doesn’t help when a mutant turtle made of muscles and ego jumps onto them. The metal creaks. He jumps down to a crane. The crane is leveled up on even more metal pieces and debris. This is Donnie and Rachell’s nerd paradise. There just needed to be some samurai museum, and the place would be perfect for her.

But there are no museums at this abandoned construction site. Only dry earth where no grass can grow, and metal beams upon metal beams connected to, you guessed it, more metal beams.

He scans the area for any movement, any life, but the most life there is, is the sunset’s light blinding him from all the reflections. Confident that there are no people or danger, he finally makes his way down to the pit like he has done so many times in the past three months. Still, he slides over the tiles with quietness only a Ninja can muster.

The entrance with a pin code on the metal door is different. There is no PIN code, just a fingerprint scanner. Over the metal door is a camera.

Weird. How does he get inside? Raph grabs the doorhandle and shakes it a bit, but it doesn't budge. He tries even harder, hoping that force could somehow open it. It doesn't.

Fine. Whatever. The red turtle checks his phone for any new messages, but there's only his lockscreen. The lockscreen is a photo of his brothers, Sensei, April, and Rachell, around the table eating homemade Pizza.

When opening the phone, his home screen is the exact same photo, just zoomed in on the wolf's grin as she nibbles the spicy meat. She is too busy arguing with Leo over which comic book is the best to notice Raph taking pictures of them all. It was a good photo of her. She's cool when she's passionate.

“Oh yeah, I remember that evening.”

Raph screams and throws the phone in the air so it makes a beautiful salto before Rachell catches it from just behind him. Her finger presses the shut, so when she glances over the screen, there is luckily only one big picture of them all at the table, which makes him seem less suspicious.

Raph: “Could you move more quietly? You aren't already creepy enough.”

Rachell hands him his phone: “You guys can just be more aware of your surroundings. Being quiet is as much a part of being a ninja as being aware of danger. Leo is the most alert of you four, and last week he fell through a hole in a building and face-first into a greenhouse floor.”

Ha, ha, ha, fond memories, nothing beats seeing his ever so preachy older brother get slapped by the universe: “That was pretty funny.”

“It was.”

“But you should still stop creeping up to people.”

“How?”

Half jokingly, he says, “How about you wear a collar with a bell? It would fit you.”

Rachell adds onto the joke: “How about I kick your ass? That would fit you.”

Raph can't help but grin, and honestly he wouldn't repress it if he could. Not from her. “Show me what's kept you so busy this past week that you haven't even visited us.”

Rachell puts her thumb on the scanner, and the lock clicks open: “Sounds like you have missed me.”

“God no.”

In comfortable tranquility, they walk down the tunnel, close enough to feel each other's warmth, but not close enough to make their hands brush. He inches closer to her. It's too late, they arrive at the fork end of the road. Shiny new metal grids are blocking all the ways. Rachell removes a large brick from the wall, showing a homemade computer connected to the third grid. She types in the password: “V!nlandS@gaW1nn3r”

Raph looks at her sweetly amused: “Really?”

“It’s a good show.”

“Nerd."

The grid gets pulled up, and they continue through the tunnel that curves slightly to the right just enough to hide the cave the first few seconds. It’s only when he gets close that he sees the large house made of one room. A room big enough to house all the mutants he knows and more. The kitchen is on the right, the bedroom in the nearest corner, training facilities in the back left side, and a computer and machinery area is at the far end. There are tall ceiling beams as extra support.  On the closed door at the end hangs a bathroom sign. The lights are soft. Orange hues. It no longer smells like a humid cave, but fresh from the cleaning products or the lavender perfume.

Raph doesn’t realize his mouth is half-open and smiling, impressed by the sight until  Rachell closes his mouth with a finger to his chin and she asks, “Whatchu think?”

“Not bad!” He runs first to the dojo, where weapons decorate the wall, and a punching bag and a punching doll hang from the ceiling. Three movable Mu Ren Zhuang occupies most of the space. On one of the shelves is the Samurai helmet shining bright and polished for the world to see.

Raph continues to the desk with the computers and tools, but almost has to stop and wait when the odor of motor oil stings his nose. Single explosive weapons lie in process strewn all over the place. Some of them are as light as a water bottle, some of them are as heavy as a child. The boxes contains various metals and springs, barely helping the messy work place.

The kitchen is large. The worktop is made of oak wood that's cold and smooth under his fingertips, and the drawers are painted dark green. The only black things were the large, silky stove and the sink, both already covered in dirty dishes.

He finds his way to the bedroom corner where the bed is low to the ground like a futon. The TV is mounted into wall with a meter and a half gap to the bed. Over the bed's headboard hang fairy lights. What catches his attention is the collection. Along with all the chains hang rows after rows of Polaroid photos. Some of the photos captures New York's artificial lights, some paints the sunset in the park. There's a single one where Rachell stands victorious over the defeated foot clan, flexing her muscles and Mikey's dumb, tongue-smiling face pops up from the corner, as he tries to take a selfie with both of them.

The majority of the pictures paints the turtles in their daily lives as they fight, train, eat, party, patrol the city or play video games. Alongside are a few with April and Sensei. The small amount where Rachell is on there too, she’s isn't alone. They are all just her and Leo, or just her and Donnie, or just her and Mikey, or just her and April, or just her and Splinter, but the most dominant pair is her and Raph. He can't believe that his dumbass brain, begins to smile so much knowing he takes up most of the pictures, not that he would ever admit it.

The only picture she had of only herself, and herself alone is the one Raph had took of her. Her white teeth are showing beautifully in her laughter and makes the pastel blue paint smeared across her face pop. Beautiful.

“Do you want some of them?”

Raph jolts. Rachel has once again snuck up behind him. He knows she doesn't intentionally do it, but if this continues, his otherwise healthy heart might burst out before 30. Maybe a bell wouldn’t be that horrible of an idea.

Rachell reaches over him and takes a picture down. On it are his brothers with his father and April occupying the sofa. They were turning to the camera, caught by surprise when Rachell had shouted, "Say cheese!” They all look like idiots, being caught in the mundane.

“This one is cute.” She studies it first before showing him.

“Nah, I'm always with those losers, I don't need more pictures to remember how annoying they look.” He doesn’t completely mean that. Dozens of photos displaying his family are hanging in his room or in a box secured under his nightstand, and he wouldn’t trade a billion dollars for a single one.

Rachell: “Just pick a picture. See it as your early Christmas gift, and your only one.”

That photo. He takes that picture of a laughing Rachell. The blue paint contrasts well with her black fur on her beak and violet eyes. He only has one Polaroid picture of her. It isn’t enough. “This one is pretty cool.”

“You sure? I look like a smurf.”

“Exactly. There are no other pictures showing your stupid face.” Raph points at the picture, “So I’m keeping this.”

Rachell gets her snout close to his nose: “You like my stupid face.”

Raph smiles as he pushes her face away with his hand. He easily manages to get her head out of his personal space, but now they stand there, she being an arm’s length away from him, he wants her to try and lean down again, so they can wrestle back and forth. “Wanna train?”

“Eh, just finished that. Buuut I have stolen ingredients for chicken noodles?”

“Perfect.”

***

Mikey doesn't mind the hard floor when he has his eyes glued to the TV. Donnie lies on the couch. He idly turns another page in his book on biology. Leo walks past and heads to the exit: “Let’s go patrolling.”

Donnie places his book away: “What about Raph?”

“We don't need him. Besides, he's either too busy being smooched by Rachell or beaten up by her.”

Mikey: “They have a strange relationship. Just like these two from the anime I'm watching.”

Donnie: “What are you watching?”

Mikey: “An anime. It's suuuper goooood”

Donnie: “The animation looks stiff.”

Leo: “And the lips don't match with the dialogue. You guys complain about space heroes, but at least it's dubbed right.”

Mikey: “Just give it a chance.”

They sit down reluctantly. Leo: “Fine, one episode, but I doubt we would ever like this.”

An episode passed, then two, then three. The two brothers are completely absorbed by the anime. Mikey makes a smug face to himself.

Leo says dramatically, “I will never watch anything else again.”

Mikey: “Told you so.”

The colorful art flashes on the TV and onto them. It's mesmerizing. 

***

Raph and Rachell sit cross-legged on her bed, facing each other, as they slurp their noodles. Rachell laughs and she points her chopstick at him: “There is no way you actually dressed up as a princess fairy.” She chews on the last pasta and places the bowl away on the floor.

“It was ONE time. And I looked fabulous.” Raph slurps his last portion before putting the bowl away too.

Rachell stretches out her arms to the sky, making her even longer, before lying on her side on her bed, looking at Raph. This warm crooked smile a sunset would envy.

Raph joins her and lies down on his side so they can face each other. They rest their heads in their palms.

Rachell: “You'll look adorable in anything.”

“What did you dress up as on Halloween?”

“We didn't celebrate Halloween where I lived, but if we did, there would be two possibilities. The first idea, and the most likely one, is I’ll just put on whatever costume Yumi would ask me to wear.”

“Sure you would. You never take someone else's order unless you already plan to do so. Or you must have really liked Yumi.”

“Oh, I was absolutely whipped, head over heels with her.”

“Wait, what?”

“Didn't you know? I like girls.”

His heart drops for a second, but he opens his mouth to congratulate her, until she adds: “and boys. You know, boy, girls, people, a little bit of everything. If someone is hot, they are hot, not my fault.”

He must make some kind of dumb face, because she snorts: “You look so relieved right now.”

Raph shrugs nonchalantly: “I mean it’s your life, doesn’t do anything for me. Just pitiful you’re still single.”

His brain floods with all the times Rachell has called a celebrity or a cartoon character hot. Why didn't he notice? It's so obvious. He tries to steady his voice to avoid showing anymore relief: “Single loser.”

Rachell continues: “The second thing I have always wanted to dress up as is the Grim Reaper.”

“Would be nice with your kamas and murderous hobby.”

“That too. But mostly because I will be hiding my face under a cloak, and whenever a child stares at me, I will take the hood off and stare back at them with an open, sinister smile, say that their time is up, and then smoke bomb my way out.”

“That… Is evil… Now I gotta see it.”

“Maybe I’ll try it out here in New York.”

Raph asks: “How long is it to Halloween?”

Rachell shrugs.

Without breaking eye contact, Raph pulls his phone up, and first when the device is in front of him, he checks it: “May 10th, and… oh damn, it’s nearly midnight…” He places his phone in his toolbelt and is raises his body: "I have to…" He interrupts himself when he sees the purple eyes. There was no heat nor sadness behind them, just a bit of disappointment and a lot of focus.

He lays his head back down to bed: “Never mind, they are big boys, they can handle themselves without me.”

Rachell’s expression is full of compassion that you only see once every decade. She places a hand on his cheek and caresses her finger over his scales: “Go find them. It's your responsibility and all that hero crap Leo loves to preach .”

Raph folds his fingers around hers: “Don’t wanna. It’s nice here.”

“We'll hang out another day. Right now, your brothers need you on duty.”

Raph squeezes her hand gently: “K.” He then adds, “You should come with.”

“I'll follow you to the middle of the city.”

The happiness returns to him now knowing they’ll be together a little longer. “Cool.”

***

As promised, Rachell follows him into town. They are midway near the center, half jogging, half walking across buildings, running and jumping only when necessary. Not because they are tired, they aren't. They just want this moment to last longer. Neither talks much; they mostly travel.

Rachell: “I'm surprised we haven't met the others by now. I remember Leo was strict about patrolling from 9 pm to 1 am.”

Raph shrugs and continues heading to the center. He doesn’t notice that she has turned to the left and is running in another direction, so he says: “Eh, they are probably just busy binge-watching some new favorite show.”

Grunts and fighting sounds can be heard. He looks to the sides and sees the kunoichi hunt down Rahzar and Fishface.

“This day went from perfect to better!” Raph enters the fighting ring with his said out. Foot-bots get in front of him, cutting him off. An all-you-can-beat buffet. He takes them down, not aware that Rachell gets further and further away, as the duo leads her to the Foot clan base.

It's not until most of the robots are dead, and he looks around, that he spots how far away Rachell is getting. He follows them.

The three mutants reach a sky-tall building where a long billboard stands in the middle, threateningly waving unbalanced on a single thick wooden pole. The mutants are only a few dozen meters away from the Shredder’s base. Rachell reaches Rahzar and hammers him into the roof. THUD!

“Finally caught you chicken heads.”

Fishface attacks with robotic legs. She simply dodges them, and with some hand swoops she spins the fish around. He lands across the roof. She steps forward into the middle of the henchmen. They both get up, preparing for a real fight. She prepares for a fun warm up. “It has been a long week, I'm tired, so the beat up will be quick and painless. Mostly.” Rachell cracks her knuckles with a sinister grin.

The two go after her in sync. First, she ducks and focuses on Fishface, striking him in the ribs, shoulder, and neck, causing him to fall over. Then Rahzar attacks with his long claws, but she jumps over his arm and strikes with two fingers on his neck. His arm plops down, paralyzed. He attacks with the still-working arm. But she ducks under it and attacks his ribs, causing him to flop.

She has won. Quick and easy. She stares at them, but then her ear flicks. There’s something.

Raph runs over to her: “Wow, that was-”

Ssshhhhh. Rachell puts a hand up, listening to whatever she thought she heard.

Before he can blink, she climbs onto the advertisement sign, but when she whips her head behind it, there is no one. She walks along the rails behind the sign, scouting every possible hiding spot, but nothing. When she has walked from one end of the billboard to the other, she says more relaxed: “I had a weird feeling that we were being watc-”

On the edge of the roof, Shredder is standing, his right hand around Raph's neck, suffocating the turtle over the road. Raph claws onto Shredder's forearm and tries to kick free, but Shredder doesn't break the hold.

Rachell snarls, pulls out her Kamas, and jumps down. Shredder has already seen her; he stares her down darkly. Although she keeps snarling and clutches her kamas, she stops there: “If you do anything stupid-”

Shredder interrupts: “Your skills are truly impressive, but not perfect. Not yet. I can mold you into one of the foot-clan's best soldiers.”

She bites: “Is this how you recruit people? No wonder your army is nothing but weaklings and cowards.”

“Drop your weapons and surrender.”

Rachell bares her teeth even more with a deep rumbling. Shredder's little finger lets go, leaving only four fingers holding a struggling Raph. She gasps and immediately drops her weapons.

“Now step back.”

Rachell puts both hands up and walks diagonally back towards the wooden pole carrying the billboard.

He adds the last order: “Now I want you to kneel.”

She squints her eyes. She goes further back closing the gap between her and the pole.

“Kneel!”

Rachell kicks the pole. It breaks mid over. It begins falling over Shredder. Shredder looks first at the falling advertisement, then at her, who is running as fast as she can towards him. He throws Raph over the building, and readies himself for the attack, but she doesn't attack him; she slips past him and over the building, diving after Raph.

“Nooo!” Shredder has to avoid the billboard.

The air whizzes past them as they fall. The ground races closer. When Rachell finally wraps both arms around Raph, she kicks the wall so hard that they are flung to the lower building across the road. With her body wrapped around the smaller mutant for protection, they tumble and roll over the roof to land near its edge.

Their faces are squeezed tightly shut until they realize they are alive. Rachell gets up quickly, blood sticking to her black fur. She takes his wrist and almost rips his arm off: “We need to run! Hurry!”

Raph only gets time to give a single nod. Shredder is there, on their building again. They glare at each other. Raph brings his fist up. Rachell gets into a wide stance in front of Raph. Without taking her eyes off Shredder, she pulls her t-phone out of her tool belt and throws it to Raph. He catches it staggered. Rachell orders: “Go.”

Raph slides her phone into his toolbelt and says, “If we both fight, we can beat-”

“NOW!”

Shredder is already in front of her, swinging a fist after her head. She barely dodges. His fist caresses the sweat off her nose. She goes to the side and tries to hit a paralyzing nerve in his ribcage, but he easily blocks it and manages to kick her back. He attacks again, this time she evades. He keeps attacking, and she keeps evading everything, but just barely, as she slowly leads him away from Raph. She tries a few times to attack back; every time she does, he gets a punch in, a kick in. 

Shredder swings an arm after her, she jumps over it, and strikes after the neck, but the man has already moved in superhuman speed, turned around, and made eye contact with the startled wolf. He swings his tekkō-kagi after her, and it scratches her arm, making a small shallow cut, but a cut nonetheless. Rachell keeps her eyes on Shredder, trying to hit the right paralyzing spot, or at least get something through his defenses. She can't. He's too fast, elegant, and confident in every move, only a master would be. Every time she attacks, she just gets hurt worse.

Raph attempts to kick Shredder in the back. Shredder grabs his foot and swings him away. This time, he falls off the roof.

“Raphael!” Anger flares up under her skin. Her eyes turn white, her shoulders grow big, and she runs towards Shredder on all four paws.

He stops his fighting stance and straightens upright, knowing he has won.

When the wolf leaps towards him, when she’s less than a meter away, a large metal net flies over it and chains it to the floor. Tiger claw shot it from a taller rooftop.

The wolf monster growls and struggles to get up. It barely does. The nails in the floor begin to move loose.

“Your wolf form is fascinating, but I don't need it.” Shredder leans down. He grabs something from his tool belt before showing his open palm. White dust. He blows it into her face. Drawing the dust into her lungs, her respiration slows down till she closes her eyes and her head lowers, and she falls asleep under the chains. She shrinks into her normal form again.

Raph climbs the building, scratched up and bruised, but he still climbs. He finally stands on the top: “Rachell!”

Shredder carries her unconscious body over his shoulder. Tiger claw is walking behind him. They don't even bother to give the turtle a single glance.

Tiger Claw: “What about the turtle?”

“Let him live, for now.”

Raph leaps towards them as fast as his wobbly legs can. Tiger Claw kicks him in the stomach and through a wall, so he falls off the building for a second time, hitting another wall and then the ground.

“Come back…”

Everything goes black.

***

Rachell slowly wakes up to the buzzing noise of fly wings. The room is spinning. The light is too bright. She tries to move her heavy limbs, but not only are they weak, they're tied tightly by steel chains to a table.

The laboratory is big, despite most of it being empty space. The table she is lying on is on a single round platform in the middle of the room lifted by a wide pole high above shallow water. There are two doors, but the platform is too far away from them, so she can't simply jump to the exits if she wants to escape.

In front of her is an unmasked Shredder talking to Baxter Stockman. He turns his head to her and walks closer into the light, so the light brightens the disfigured skin: “Try to move all you want - your body is drugged with ketamine. You won't be able to fight back for a long time, and you won't be able to use that monster form either. Even if you somehow managed to free yourself from these shackles, you're on a platform over water with 120 volts AC. That's a lot of electricity.”

Ignoring him, she keeps trying. Trying to free herself. But her head and arms won’t do as she says, and only wiggle an inch or two at most.

Shredder: “Stockman! How much longer for the injection to be ready?”

“No more than 30 minutes.”

The fly shows a big, ugly, alien larva and a needle. Rachell is too drowsy to really think or make any facial expressions, but she can't stop looking at the needle either.

***

His phone's sharp ringing makes his headache throb even worse. Raph blinks his eyes open. And then all the memories from the night flood over him. Oh no. Rachell! He grabs his phone. “Leo! Come here now! They took her!”

Leo through the phone: “Raph, calm down. Who are they?”

“Shredder!”

“Shit… Where are you? We’ll be at the foot in a bit.”

Raph ends the call and gets up the building.

***

Raph observes the dark structure closely, if anything will move inside or outside of it. The colorful panorama shows no motion behind them. A handful of foot robots surround the place. Nothing new.

A hand is placed on his shoulder, and Leo reassures: “We are here,” but gets only shouts back, as Raph pushes the hand off him: “Where have you been!?”

Although the brothers are shocked by his snapping, they don’t move away. Leo: “Let’s calm down. We need to save Rachell first.”

“Let’s go.” Raph twists around and is just about to jump, but gets stopped.

Leo: “Hold on, let’s make a plan first.”

“We don't have time. Who knows what that psycho is doing to her.”

Donnie: “Probably the mind-control serum.”

Icicles run through Raph, and his body moves instantly ahead. Panic.

Leo turns to Donnie: “Not helping.”

The turtle in red makes his way to the foot-clan windows and takes down the robots one by one. Donnie and Mikey give each other worried looks. Leo sighs frustration.

Raph looks into the window and into Shredder's throne room, where Fishface sits on the chair, pretending to be that monster. The glass shatters when the hothead knees through it and lands on both feet.

Leo: “Raph!”

Fishface barely has time to react when Raph storms up to him and tries to stab him. Fishface jumps over. Raph growls, without the usual fun and without the usual banter. There’s no excitement to be found. After some back and forth, Raph finally gets a hold of Fishface by the neck with one hand. In the other hand, he clenches his sai, looming over the mutant’s face.

Raph: “Where’s she!?”

Fishface says nastily, “You're too late, she's probably become Shredder's little puppet.”

Raph roars, raising the sai over his head and hammers it down. If Fishface had eyelashes, his sai’s end would have brushed them. Leo pushes Raph away. Donnie and Mikey grab hold of the hothead. They struggle to contain his anger.

Leo: “What are you doing? Are you crazy?”

Raph still fights to get free from Donnie and Mikey, who can barely control him.

Leo continues: “A dead fish won't help us find Rachell.”

Leo is right; he knows Leo is right. Raph is still heaving for air with the same rage-filled expression, but he doesn't fight against Donnie and Mikey so much anymore. Leo turns to Fishface, who is still lying on the floor massaging his throat. Leo points his katana at the fish: “Where is Rachell?”

Fishface: “You won’t kill me.”

Leo: “No, but I won't hesitate to let Raph beat you up.”

“Go down the hallway, first stairs to the right, they will lead you down to the lowest level. Go to the left, past the prison chambers, and you will see the lab.”

Leo nods to the rest of his team: “Let’s go.”

***

The chains rattle against each other as Rachell has started to regain her senses in her muscles. She keeps clenching her fists and unclenching them and then clenching them again. She keeps raising her upper body and then falling down and then rising up again. And she keeps trying to enter her wolf form, but only manages to grow five centimeters bigger before her body gives in to the fatigue, and then she tries again. Repeating the struggle.

Whereas Shredder isn’t bothered. He simply mentions, “I can see that the drugs are wearing off.”

Baxter Stockman: “She is an abnormal mutant, both very large and with different abilities than most.”

Shredder: “Is that gonna be a problem?”

Baxter writes down notes on the chemical formula on the sheets of paper held together: “The substance will only take a bit longer to take full effect on her. About 7 hours for a small mutant, 24 hours with normal-human-sized mutants, 72 hours with larger mutants. But that's all.”

The centrifuge stops, so the blue liquid vial can be pumped into an injector. “Just like all the other mutants, she will slowly get completely under your control.”

Baxter flicks the syringe. It echoes. He then turns to Rachell. She panics, fighting to get out and away from the needle, trying even harder to transform. But she can’t. Baxter grabs her arm. Rachell struggles and looks up at the ceiling. The light hurts.

Baxter: “You will only feel a pinch.”

Pain explodes through her arm when the needle penetrates, and she screams, louder than she has ever screamed before.

***

The turtles land at the bottom level when they hear the scream. They all whip their heads to the end of the hallway with all the chambers, like Fishface said. Rachell! Raph is the first to head down, to reach the closed doors and tries to manually open them, first with his hands, then with his sais, but the metal don't even budge a little.

Raph: “Get over here and open the door!”

Donnie gets to the computer and links it to his phone. Sweat pearls slide down his mask. He hastily types. Raph keeps pounding the door.

***

The pounding on the metal door is so loud it can be felt through the lab and through their bodies. With the same voice as always, that same terrible voice, Shredder says, “The turtles are here. They seem very happy for you.”

Rachell sends him a death glare, wanting to tear his nonchalant face to pieces: “If you even think about hurting them-”

“I'm not gonna hurt them. You will.” Shredder then walks past her and nods to Baxter Stockman. The moment Baxter opens the chains’ locks, she has already jumped over Shredder, pushing him down. She raises her right claw and swings it, slicing it through the air.

Shredder: “Stop.”

She stops. No matter how much she wants to kill him, her body fucking stops. The claws scratch deep into the floor, just beside Shredder’s ear.

Shredder: “Get off me.”

Rachell snarls, but her body does so. Shredder stands up, they look eye to eye, both with a burning hatred.

Shredder: “Don’t fight back.”

“Fucking die.”

Then Shredder points at the floor, still keeping his tall posture, that is just as tall as hers: “Kneel.”

She doesn't move. Her body is twitching, and her fists are clenching, but she doesn't kneel.

Shredder: “I guess there is still time for that. For now, come with me.”

Baxter types on his computer and makes a bridge from the platform to the now-open exit, and Rachell reluctantly follows Shredder to the other door. When they have gone over the bridge, the bridge closes behind them. But before the exit doors can too, she hears Raph call out her name: “Rachell!”

The entrance doors have been opened, and Raph steps forth but gets pulled back by Leo before he falls into the electric water. Rachell stops the exit doors from closing with a hand and leans over the water. “Raphael!”

Raph yells at Donnie: “Make a bridge!”

Shredder grabs her wrists and pulls her back so the exit doors can close. Rachell looks at Raph, now they both feel only one emotion: terror.

Rachell: “I'll come back!”

The exit doors close fully. She's gone. Baxter Stockman spits acid on the computer keyboard and flies out of the lab. Donnie finally manages to make a bridge to the platform. The four turtles make their way over.

Raph: “Donnie! Open the door!”

Donnie gets to the computer, but it's completely melted in fly vomit. “I can’t do it! The computer is broken!”

Raph: “Then find a way to do so! Before they are gone!”

Donnie: “I can't… That computer doesn't work… I'm sorry…”

Raph grabs the screen and rips it out of the desk. The wires scream as they split in half. He shakes the computer. The screen is dark and only reflects his angry face.

“You useless piece of shit!” Raph hurls the exit door. It crashes into it and falls into the water. Some of the shattered parts bounce on the surface, some of it sinks.

He heaves after air. Feeling his brother's worry. Mikey is the first to break the silence and step closer to his older brother: “Raph…”

Raph turns around roaring, both fists ready to hit something. Mikey wraps his hands around Raph, who is too shocked to reciprocate. In a gentle voice, Mikey reassures: “It's alright, bro. It's not your fault.”

They fall to their knees, both hugging each other. Leo puts a hand on Raph's shoulder. That’s when Donnie sees the notes on the table, the mostly empty syringe, and the blue alien larva. He checks the paper: “Guys! These are some of the Kraangs' and Baxter's notes. This syrringe still has a bit of substance, and this is the brain-washing larva they used.”

Raph: “So?”

Mikey: “Yeah, a bit insensitive, dude.”

Donnie: “No, I mean, I can make a treatment.”

Raph jumps up.

Donnie: “It will maybe take me a day to research it, and at least another day to find a solution.”

Leo: “That's perfect! We can then try and hunt them down on the third day!”

Donnie: “We need to be quicker, because the substance is based on microscopic lifeforms that multiply and becom-“

Raph: “The short version, Professor Brainyoff.”

Donnie: “… She will become more mind-controlled every day, and after three days, there will be no cure!”

Raph picks up the syringe and the glass box with the larva: “What are you talking for?! Get moving!”

***

On the outskirts of New York, in an underground cellar, Rachell is lying on the hard wooden bench with a sketchbook open. She’s writing down the chemical formulas and their potential solutions to whatever is streaming through her blood and brain right now. Trying to figure out something, anything, but the last time she read about the mind-control substance was over three months ago, and she has no idea how the Kraangs have improved the serum.

For a cell, there are quite a few things: a bed, a mirror, a training mat, and a punching bag. On the walls are five framed targets. On them hang blurred pictures of moving turtles as well as a human Splinter.

She hears footsteps in the hallway and turns to the first page of her sketch book with some doodles of Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and a big Raph sketch in the center.

Shredder opens the cell door. He doesn’t seem pleased: “This is how you normally use your time?”

Rachell: “Don't you normally use your time on a throne?”

Shredder: “How do you know about my throne?”

Rachell: “You have a big ass throne standing in a mostly empty room with glass ceiling, how could I not know about it. Idiot.”

“How much do you know about me?”

“Not that much. I have only studied for some time.”

“How long?”

“Does it matter? I will become your zombie soldier anyway, right?”

Shredder squints his already small eyes even smaller: “I want to know that I've spent all those resources and time on a good soldier. So stand up.”

Rachell's eyes become white and she stands up, then they turn back to purple as she shakes her head and looks down at her fingers. She bends them to check if she can still control them. She can.

Shredder hands her five throwing daggers.

Rachell: “You know I can kill you with these, right?”

“Do not attack me,” he points at the targets, “Attack them.”

Rachell rolls her eyes, and even tho she is nearly in control, she doesn't fight her body, but throws all the daggers at once, hitting five bull's eyes.

Shredder: “Bull's eyes. Luck or skill?”

“Obviously skills.”

“In that case, can you do it again?”

Rachell bites: “Of course, it's not like they are living targets running around, you dumb dipshit.”

Shredder: “They will be soon.”

Rachell frowns even more.

Shredder retrieves the five throwing daggers and hands them to her: “Shoot.”

Rachell’s eyes blink white, but she clenches her fingers around the handles, and her arm jitters as she now fights back her body: “I’m not playing this stupid game.”

Shredder: “You seem to care a lot about the turtles. All four of them. Especially Raphael.”

“I don't give a fuck about this mind-controlling shit you are so obsessed about. You will never make me hurt my friends, master Splinter, or him. Besides, Raphael is such a big softie, he would let me if it meant saving me.”

She turns away and mumbles the last part, smilingly to herself: “That boy has no self-preservation when it comes to the people he cares about.”

Shredder: “Then I will make you kill his brothers, father, and all his friends while he watches, if you don't obey.”

Rachell gives him a death stare with so much burning hatred, she thinks her veins would burst into flames.

Shredder points at the targets: “Again.”

She shoots.

***

Raph paces back and forth in the lab while Donnie is reading the notes, writing down his own, and checking the microscope. Raph looks over Donnie's shoulder. Donnie: “Listen, I know you are stressed, I am too, but it won't go faster if you circle me. In fact, it will only distract me.”

“What do you want me to do? Stick my thumbs up my nose?”

“There's nothing here you can do.”

“Right…”

Donnie: “I didn't mean it like that…”

Raph has left. Leo and Mikey are both silently watching TV, not in the best mood either. They see him walk towards the exit.

Leo: “You good?”

“Going for a walk.”

Mikey: “Okay, if you need anythi-”

“Thanks.” He leaves.

***

Raph sits on a building, staring directly at the giant double doors to the foot-clan, hoping for Rachell to run out. Time passes, and he lies on his side, still staring in that direction, before turning his back to the foot clan. It hasn’t been long since he lay with her in her warm bed, and witnessed those purple eyes shine in that dark frame. And now he doesn’t know whether or not she is lying in that building, with her back to his or not.

***

Rachell lies in the prison's bed. She turns her back.

Chapter Text

A thick mist has settled on the ground, making even the building in front of you foggy. The four turtles sneak between the construction site’s many unfinished projects, something they have gotten used to in the months of helping their friend move in there. Donnie carries a small auto-injector with light teal liquid in it.

Mikey pipes: “Bro, I'm really scared.”

As always, the oldest brother reassures with a pat on his head: “It's gonna be alright. Donnie has a the vaccine that will do the trick instantaneously.”

And as always, Donnie chimes in with science facts nobody asked for: “Technically, this is an auto-injector, not a vaccine. The difference is a vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease, while-”

As Donnie goes into way too many details nobody cares about, Mikey grows tired and sighs: “I wish I haven't said anything.”

Raph grins: “Well at least you aren't afraid anymore, it's worse yes, but you win some you lose some.”

“You should be afraid.” A booming sound tears away the fun with one sentence. They all look up at Shredder standing on a crane, several meters over them. Beside him is Rachell, with an identical outfit to his, even with a matching helmet. Her eyes are white. The wolf saltomortales down and lands in front of them, not with a friendly posture, but as small super soldier. Two customized Tekkō-kagi around her hands slings out long blades.

The brothers line up with their weapons, except Donnie, who isholding the auto-injector close to his chest. They want to save her. That’s all they gotta do. Save her.

Rachell charges through their line up, swinging the sharp blades at them. They each narrowly avoid her sweep, Donnie flips over her and tries to hit the needle into her exposed neck. She grabs him by the wrist and rapidly kicks his body several times, until she finally kicks him past Leo and Mikey, and out of sight. He disappears into the fog.

Leo and Mikey shout his name, but there is no response. Leo grabs the auto-injector in the dirt and rushes at Rachell, Mikey behind him. They need to focus on her first, before they can think about whatever could have happened to their brother. If they don’t, they all might be next.

Leo attacks first by moving behind her, while Mikey attacks her from the front. Rachell grabs onto Mikey's leg and hammers him so hard into Leo's back and into the cement floor that they both spit out blood. They lie still. She stares cold and apathetic down at them, the people who gave her shelter, and the friends that she loves and cares for. A bystander wouldn’t have guessed that by her bored gaze.

She doesn’t realize that Raph has snuck behind her. It's first when the needle goes through the skin and the liquid is injected into her muscles, that she knows he’s there.

“C’mon Rachell. Snap out of it.”

She stands still. He waits for her to do something.

Rachell finally turns her head, eyes still white, face devoid of emotion. Raph is petrified.

Shredder laughs: “It is too late.” His laughter echoes throughout the whole construction site.

The wolf’s blade snaps across Raph's neck, lightning flashes through it and everything goes bright.

And Rachell wakes up. She wants to jerk out of bed and gasps after air, but it’s as if her limbs are fastened to the thin mattress by invisible seam. Rachell spreads open her eyes. They are still white and numb before she blinks them back to normal. Finally she sits up, head in hands. It was only a nightmare. The boys are okay. She’s okay. It was just a nightmare. Breath.

The jail cell opens.

The psychopath’s infuriating voice is too calm when he says, “Morning. I hope you have slept well, because you are going on a mission.”

If she could, she would drag him through this burning hell with her if she doesn’t escape, but even that she can’t. All her body can do is make her eyes keep blinking back and forth between snowy and purple.

“No funny remarks today?”

Rachell keeps her face hidden in her hands, not wanting to give him any satisfaction.

“Stand up.”

Even with all her strength, her body gets up with a blank face.

“Come with me.” He walks out, she follows. She fucking follows. Her head won’t even turn from side to side, as she tries to analyze for any escape route on the way out. They emerge from their chambers onto a grassy field on the outskirts of New York. It would have been a nice view in every other light.

A black limousine is waiting for them. A Kraang stands in front. As soon as it speaks, Rachell's eyes return to normal and she kicks the robot into the car door so hard that it leaves a dent, and the car alarm goes off. It’s so loud.

“That’s enough!”

Her fist stops in the air, shaking for wanting to rip out the Alien of its robot suit. Eyes white. She can’t move.

“Get in the car!”

Every one of his commands leaves a sickening taste.

She leaves the Kraang alone, unscathed and sits in the car. Shit.

***

Leo gestures with his hand to emphasize,“I told you we would find him here.”

“Do any of you have a marker?” The little brother bends close, examining his second oldest brother as a blank wall ready to be tagged.

Leo pushes him back, “In all other situations, it would be funny.”

Raph is still sleeping on the same roof in the same position when he wakes up to Leo tapping his shoulder. He sits up on the parapet, tired and groggy, but doesn't say anything. There goes a full minute where they wait for the otherwise snarky brother to say something. He doesn’t.

So Leo begins: “You good?”

Raph: “Have you found anything, Donnie?”

“I actually have!” Donnie reveal a picture of the green alien fungi.

Unimpressed, Raph goes: “A… booger?”

“It's made up of yeast and mold and other eukaryotic organisms, all built with protists is chitin in their cell walls-“

“In English.”

“It's a fungi that instantly dissolves specifically the mind-controlling creatures inside Rachell.”

Raph rockets up to shake Donnie’s shoulders: “You are a genius!”

Donnie attempts to talk, but it only goes into a wobbly sentence as his head shakes back and forth: “tH-aNk Y-oU…”

Raph stops: “Where is it?”

“It mostly resides in demension x, but I have found a few labs that have documented studying it. The nearest is a bio lab-”

But the turtle in red is already gone: “Hurry up snailheads!”

Donnie turns to Leo: “Luckily for us, he's going in the right direction. I really don't want to poke to his unstable moods.”

“Eh, it isn't that far off from the normal unstable moods.”

They catch up to him.

***

Shredder asserts his presence in the throne room by dramatically open both doors wide agape. A zombie Rachell marches behind him. How humiliating.

Rahzar and Fishface stand to the side with evil grins, enjoying the view of the person who has assaulted them so many times before being controlled by their boss.

Rahzar: “Well well well, if it isn't miss turtle lover-“

His taunting is immediately cut off when she jumps on top of his torso and slams him into the wall. Even though he's 70 centimeters taller than her and weighs twice as much, she flips him onto his back and presses her foot against his shoulder blade, twisting his arm and almost ripping it off. She's fixed on him with her purple irises ablaze.

Shredder: “Rion.”

Her body lets go of Rahzar's arm, her hands fall weak to her sides as she dismounts and stands upright midway to Shedder's throne.

“Kneel.”

Rahzar and Fishface kneels.

She doesn't.

Her face is apathetic and blank, but her body shakes as she fights against every nerve not to do as Shredder commands. Shredder thuds his fist into the armrest of his throne with a clenched fist, but it slips into a relaxed hand again. “I can't wait for tomorrow.”

Fishface asks nervously: “Master? May I ask? Why have you called us today?”

“There are a few things from this lab I want you three to get.”

He uses a remote to send one of Baxter’s mousers to him. A hologram of a lab shines in the air. Pictures of different things slide by. A computer screen, a graphic card, Ram, CPU, motherboard keyboard, wires, and other electronic things for Baxter Stockman. After that he shows a picture of chlorosulfonic acid, saying it's to destroy the sewers where the turtles are seen most often. Then he goes to show a few gasses and chemicals for the Kraangs and finally, a picture of a greenish clump that looks like snot, but there is too much of it in the vial to be it.

Fishface grimaces: “What's the booger for?”

“This is a fungi from dimension x. It's the main ingredient for an antidote for the mind-controlling.”

“With all due respect, sir, is it really a good idea to take her with us if-”

“Are you questioning my judgment.”

 “No, no, no. I only want to understand the situation, great master Shredder.”

“The ingredient itself will have no effect other than making people sick. If you have any more questions, you can ask the cooks in the sushi restaurant.”

Fishface quickly and violently shakes his head like a maraca.

“Leave. You should have received the list on e-mail. If you get in any trouble with the wolf girl, use the audio attached. If you find any trouble elsewhere, do what you need to do. Do not disappoint me.”

The three leave the room. She has spent all last evening thinking about leaving the footclan’s base, but now that she’s doing it, all the steps towards the exit doesn’t feel as satisfying as she has imagined.

When outside the base, they head for the nearest alley, wanting to move from place to place without humans preying on them. Fishface takes out his phone to see his mail, with all the ingredients and the address.

Rahzar: “How long can it-”

Rachell has shaken her head, back in control over her body, and she tries to make her escape to the nearest apartment, but as soon she reaches the top of the building, she hears an audio of Shredder's voice.

“Rion!”

It’s a recorded tape, she knows it. He has probably sent it to the two bastards through the mail. And even though it’s only a recorded audio, and even though she tries to fight back, her eyes go white, and her body gets down to the two clowns. Fishface smiles.

Rahzar sighs tired, “This will be such a pain...”

The other one chuckles, “I think this will be pretty fu-” Fishface gets kicked in the face so he collides into the graffiti painted wall, and his phone gets thrown in the air.

Rachell grabs it. Maybe if they can’t play the audio, she could stay in control for a little while. She jumps the building again, and then sprints as fast as she can away. Rahzar tries to rush after her. Usually she would just turn around and face the problem head on by headbutting it, but she manages to shake him off her tail and hide behind a dumpster while holding her breath, making sure he doesn't hear her. Her heart is beating fast in her chest, but she can let out a sigh when nothing seems to move. Until she hears a car alarm on the street, the same sound as that morning. Her eyes go white again and her body starts to jerk back towards the foot clan against her will.

Fishface’s accent is even thicker when he’s angry: “I can't believe you lost a 7 feet tall wolf mutant that weights like 200 pounds!”

“Yeah, you were real helpful laying on the ground.”

The two look up to see her coming back in stiff movements. The phone is still in her hand. They begin laughing victoriously as if it was some kind of joke. Rachell wants to crush the phone in her hand and then throw the metal in their faces, but her body won't even grant her that.

Fishface reaches a hand out: “Now, be a good girl, and give me my phone back.”

Rachell doesn’t.

Fishface: “Come on, it was a gift from Shredder.”

That name. It did something, and she can't fight it when her hand gives him the phone. The two smile big. She has never wanted to punch the two as much as now.

Fishface: “Follow us little dog.”

Every inch of her shakes as she slowly takes one step after the other.

Rahzar yells after her: “Hurry up! You won't let your master Shredder, wait too long!”

She sees Shredder's disgusting face in front of her, and her veins begin to burn, wanting to murder them all, but somehow, her body stops shaking, and she moves faster, to follow the two.

***

Donnie sticks his tongue out of his mouth as he picks the lock of the window into a red brick building. Only a window lock stands between them and the fungi.

Although they have just arrived, Raph isn’t patient enough: “Hey, slowpoke! Do you intend to open it up or not?”

“I’m working as fast as I can. Locks are complicated mechanisms that need time and delicacy to -”

Raph kicks open the window so the lock flies to over the slippery flaw and the windows become white with cracks. He enters.

Donnie, stares flabbergasted as his two other brothers enters as well. “Aaalrighty then.”

Inside is a storage room with all kinds of boxes on metal stands. An unlocked door, with a small, black tinted window, leads to a desolated lab. They begin going through everything from top to bottom of the lab.

“Ewww! What even are these things?!” Mikey waves a vial with blood and a closed beaker with urine. He puts it back and dries his hands off with his shell.

Donnie: “It's a bio lab, there’s gonna be all kinds of body samples.”

They all poke their heads out from the cabinet they were looking in. Mikey waves a glass in front of them containing real boogers. Ew. Gross.

They continue searching until Mikey finally finds it: “Guys! Is this the booger thingy!?”

Donnie reads the label and nods.

Raph: “Awesome, let's head home so Donnie can work on that antidote.”

“Wait.” Donnie peels the labels off.

Leo: “What are you doing?”

“Switching the labels if Shredder tries to find this.”

“Good thinking.”

The sound of heavy, metallic robot parts repeatedly crashing to the floor can be heard through the hallway.

“Somebody is coming.” The fearless leader should be renamed Captain Obvious.

“You don’t say.” Raph is the first to get to the storage door.

Donnie hides the vial with snot in the back of a cabinet, closing it again. They are all about to get out of the window, until they hear a familiar fish mutant’s voice: “I'm so glad Bradford finds Dexter's gear.”

A wild grunt can be heard. Raph swirls around, and he smiles. He knows that grunt. He gets close to the storage room’s door. Only this piece of wood and some glass windows keep him out of the lab.

Leo whispers harsh, warning him to not do something stupid. “We can't save her without the antidote, and we can't risk delaying anything trying to fight her and Fishface.”

“I know. I just need to see her. Just for a little bit.”

Leo shakes his head to Mikey and Donnie: “Go. I stay here with the whipped idiot.”

The two nods and get out.

Raph waits breathlessly, nose pressed against the window frame. It’s cold. The door opens and Rachell and Xever walk into the lab. Only this piece of wood and some glass keep him away from her.

Fishface asks: “So, are you conscious or are you some kind of zombie type?”

Rachell looks at him. He brings forth his phone facing up to the ceiling, hovering his index finger over it as if ready to press a button, but she just gives him the same blank face, with the same blank eyes. Rachell proceeds to search around the lab, first in the higher cabinets.

Fishface: “No growl? No trying to hit me? Not even trying to run?”

Rachell inspects every vial, and every box there is, but ends up putting it back in. She does it so delicately, you wouldn’t think her hands could tear through you. She works her way methodically through every corner and crevice. Fishface on the other hand, leans against the counter and waits for her to be done. Rachell crawls on all fours and sticks her face into the lower cupboards.

“You know, you’re actually pretty okay you don’t try to kill me every time you get in control. It’s nice to finally have someone who isn't that annoying. A menace, sure, but not the worst.” Fishface scratches his red white scales under his chin as he continues complaining, “Bradford is insufferable, Tiger claw is a danger hazard threatening to eat me, and Dexter is… Well, Dexter. But you're just following Shredder’s orders and don't bicker with me.”

Raph tenses. What can she see? What can she do? Leo rests a hand on his shoulder, asking him to go, but he shakes his head. So the brother sighs and leans against the wall, just waiting for Raph to give a signal. But Raph keeps looking at the scene playing out.

Fishface continues his monologue: “I still remember my sweet life without those idiots. I did Shredder’s dirty job, I was a crime lord, and got everything I wanted, money, alcohol, and girls. Oh, I was very popular with girls before I got mutated.”

Raph rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out.

Fishface: “I miss feeling those soft skin and kisses against my lips.”

Leo and Raph look at each other, making faces and snickering, poking fun at the creep.

“You know, your figure isn’t that bad for a mutant.”

Raph whips his head back to the lab, and Leo turn into disgust. What do the fish just say? They almost can’t believe their ears, but Fishface is clearly eyeing Rachell's butt as she is searching on her knees.

The creep continues: “Although you are quite muscular, you still have the silhouette of a curvy woman.”

Blood visibly boils under Raph's green skin. Leo grabs his shoulder again, this time firmer, and Leo sends the hothead the usual "Don't do something stupid" demeanor.

Fishace: “Maybe I can ask Shredder to practice some kiss-jutsu with you.”

The door gets kicked down with a bang, and Raph roars as he races towards Fishface. “I’ll kill you!”

Raph stabs after a frightened foot soldier, who barely evades. In the end Fishface manages to press Shredder’s audio. Shredder booms: “Attack!”

Leo barely gets to stretch his neck out of the door, calling Raph, and shouting no. He gets punched in the stomach so hard he is propelled across the room and to the broken window. Rachell marches slowly up to him, her hands clenching and unclenching, her tail is between her legs, and her face twitches and her head jitters. She writhers in agony trying to fight every muscle, every bone, every fiber from stepping closer to her friend.

“Rachell, I don't want to fight you.”

Rachell punches the wall near Leo's head, her hand goes through the bricks 5 centimeters from his ear.

“Partially because of that.”

Leo jumps away. She stops shaking. Now she just seems bored. Her body strikes after him. He jumps over her and onto the top of the metal shelves, but the metal shelves are pushed, making a domino effect throughout the storage room. Leo looks at the mess, but then gets pinned to the wall by the taller mutant. She freezes, staring at him. It’s as if electricity goes through her the way she jerks back and forth in her paralyzed body. Her eyes are twitching, and her fingers are bending to a fist and then stretching out. But her grip around his neck is like an iron hand, leaving only enough space for him to breath and not enough for him to leave.

“Raph, a little help!”

On the lab’s counter is Fishface pinned, Raph is about to punch him in the eyes again but stops when he hears his brother. Raph immediately rushes to the rescue, grabbing Rachell's arms from behind and pulling her away. She squats down and then pushes off the floor to put all her weight on Raph, who falls backward. She turns around and squats over him. She nails him to the cold ground. They see each other. Rachell stops. Her eyes become normal purple again. She cups his face. “Raphael, you have to leave.”

Raph puts his hands on hers, but the touch is already gone. She has already gotten off him, and turns to Leo, desperate. “Get out.”

Raph sits up: “Are you fucking kidding me!”

Leo takes Raph's arms and pulls him away to the window, “We need to retreat,” but Raph smacks his hand away, “No!”

Rachell shouts: “Go with Leo!”

Raph: “I'm not going anywhere without you!”

Clapping. A slow sarcastic clapping. Fishface laughs, standing behind them, leaning against the doorframe. He throws his phone up, then catches it and throws it again. They all scowl at him.

Rachell spits out “You motherfucking pervert.”

Fisface taunts: “You two are sooo cute. Like the two leads in a romance movie. Just sad that I prefer action.”

He presses the audio. Shredder says: “Attack!”

Rachell's eyes begin to flicker back and forth from white to purple. She groans. Needles stings every nanometer of her nervous system from toe to her head, and she covers her ears with her hands. Raph gets near her, worried, but Leo grabs his arms and pulls.

“Leo… Raph… I’m sorry for everything I’ll do.”

And once again, her body attacks, claws are lashed at Raph's face and they would have struck if Leo hadn't taken out his sword and cut her palm away, drawing blood.

“We'll be back for you later Rachell! Promise!” Leo pushes Raph, who finally runs after him. He leaps through the air without taking his green eyes off the wolf going after them. They manage to get on the rooftops, parkouring over every obstacle, while still being hunted down. Raph keeps looking back over his shoulders.

“Raph! Stop looking back! Just run!”

They continue running and she continues gaining on them, until she runs past Raphael and just behind Leonardo, her hand reaches out to grab the blue bandana. Raph knees her to the side, and she falls to the floor, holding an arm against her rib cage. The two turtles get a few blocks away, but Raph stops for one last time to look at her. Rachell is on the ground holding her ribcage. She reaches a bloodied hand out after him but brings it to her chest and looks away when she sees him staring back.

***

Shredder sits on his throne as always, when the three mutants walk in. Rahzar carries a box of electrical devices, Rachell with the chemicals, and Fish Face with nothing.

Shredder: “Did you get everything?”

Rahzar puts down the box, nodding. Rachell puts down the chemicals nodding. Fishface shows the little plate with snot.

“All three of you have access to Stockman's lab. You can leave everything there.”

They carry their load down to the lower level. When they arrive at the lab's door, Rachell puts her scarred palm against the scanner and it opens. They go in, the door closes behind them.

***

Leo and Mikey zaps through the TV in the living room. The leader isn’t really listening to any of them talking, and barely sees what channel he lands on, too focused on the saving strategy in his mind. He knows he can’t do anything more than let Donnie do his magic, but he still wants to, god he really wants to. For now, he’s trying to distract his youngest brother with flashy cartoons and let him talk about anything that passes his mind. Leo have invited Raph too, but he needs space so he’ll give him some, at least until they are ready for the rescue.

In his lab sits Donnie over a desk, mixing and matching different chemicals with the fungi and testing it under the microscope. He pushes his googles up and wipes away the sweat and heat against his skin and on his bandana that accumulates under them. Donnie immediately pushes them down, not taking a single bathroom break and continues. He has to. He can’t waste any time.

Raph is in the dojo and throws daggers at the tree where he has hung pictures of Shredder, Fishface and Rahzar up on. He jumps around, trying to mimic movement.

“Are you okay my son?”

Raph doesn’t stop. He continues to throw the remaining daggers and shurikens: “When I get my hands on them, I will end them once and for all.”

Splinter gets in front of the tree, blocking the son’s view: “Is it not more important, that you save Rachell?”

Raph is forced to stop and think: “Can’t I do both?”

“Do you think you can take down three very strong enemies while saving her in such a short span of time? And against the Shredder?”

Raph opens his mouth but closes it. He is good, yes, he knows that, but even he has to admit that last time he went against Shredder it didn’t go as planned. That thought stung. It really was his fault. Deep in thought he doesn’t notice when Splinter has silently closed the gap between, not until he shows his long outstretched fingers: “May I see the picture of Rachell?”

“It's in my room. I can get it if you want.”

“I mean the new picture you have kept on you since yesterday.”

What? How? How did he know?

“Uh… sure?” Raph brings out the picture of Rachell laughing anyway. Even as a smurf, she’s awesome. Splinter holds the corner of the picture gently as he looks at it from every angle, letting the dojo’s light change it: “It is very beautiful.”

Raph shrugs: “It’s just a picture.” It’s not.

“I wish I had an easy access to cameras in my youth, so that I today could hold the memories of Tang Shen's many different faces.”

His dad rarely shows these moments where he seems so worn down by experience, so melancholic and yet so calm. He looks content with it all anyway.

Raph then looks down the Polaroid, letting the light’s run over her face, her laughter and her eyes. What he wouldn’t give to hear her laugh again.

“Treasure it.” Splinter gives back the photo and leaves the room. Raph stares at it, then puts it towards his forehead. It's cold, not like the real Rachell.

“I’ll save you, just you wait.”

Chapter Text

The lights in the lab are buzzing and getting warm after being turned on the whole night. In his rolling chair is the tallest turtle bend over the desk, completely focused on his work. In this moment, he barely feels his spine scream in pain or the ache in his legs. Rubbing his eyes, Donnie puts a single white drop of his little mixture on the blue sample, creating a turquoise color mix.

He puts it under the microscope and checks it. Yes! He has done it! Donnie jumps up from his seat and begins dancing.

In the living are three mutant turtles sleeping soundly. Raph on the bean bag, Mikey on the tire swing, Leo on the couch. Donnie storms in: “Guys!”

Leo and Raph fall onto the floor, Mikey in the water. But they immediately get up to surround Donnie.

Leo: “Have you made the antidote?”

Donnie brings out four autoinjectors that could be toys in his big hands: “I didn't spend a whole night on it for nothing.”

They each take an auto-injector. In it is a glass vial the size of an adult's thumb.

“But be careful with the auto-injector. The glass capsule can easily fall out and shatter.”

The brothers examine the autoinjector, careful with the fragile thing.

Leo: “We'll hunt this wolf down before the summer howl-o-days arrive.”

The others facepalm.

Raph groans: “You really gotta start thinking what comes out of your mouth.”

***

First the sound of keys jiggling. Then a Click. “Wake up.”

As Shredder commands, her eyes slide open and she stands up with a bored expression. No sign of resistance or slowness. She just does it. Huh, Shredder did not expect it to go this easily this fast, but he returns to his normal. He spins around and she marches after him.

Shredder leads her to an underground arena with open cages in the walls. Tiger Claw, Rahzar, and Fishface all wait for their master. They bow for the psychopath as he passes them like the brain washed cults they are in.

The tall man in armor finds his way up to his throne, where all kinds of weapons hang on the wall behind him. He sits down getting a good view of everything. His three henchmen are eager after a command. She isn’t.

“Fight.”

Fishface gets out two baliswords, Tigerclaw his heat and freeze guns, Rahzar sharpens his claws.

The three attack Rachell who has nothing but her hands. She fends off pretty well, but struggles to get in multiple hits now with all three of them, only striking Fishface and Rahzar a few times. Tiger Claw is more slippery. He uses the two others as distractions. Tiger claw manages to freeze her right foot in place when she had her attention on Rahzar and Fishface.

Rachell plunges her hands into the ice, simultaneously knocking the others away from her, as they try to hit her. She finally gets her foot free and gets back at the three. Shredder isn't disappointed but isn't impressed either.

***

The turtles circle the footclan base, inspecting it from all sides. Full stealth. They can’t afford wasting any time, all they have to think about is the rescue part. They need to save their friend.

The glass ceiling Raph broke through almost three days ago is still shattered but with a military green plastic blanket over it.

They quickly destroy the foot bots standing on guard by the skylight and throws their bodies over the edge. Donnie carefully removes the military blanket, so they can sneak in unremarked by the foot-bots in the throne room.

They search every corner of the upper level, but there is nothing but robots. Every second wasted on empty rooms is just another nudge to their already growing anxiety. They go down the lower levels and finally end up in the lowest floor.

Noises of life can be heard on their right. They don’t know if they should feel hopeful or if they should dread what to wait for them. They run in that direction, swinging on the ceiling joist so they don't get seen by anyone on the ground.

The four turtles become one with the arena’s shadows, and hide just under the tall ceiling, observing the fight below them. Leo sees Raph's clenched jaw, intense glare, and furrowed brows, so the oldest brother holds a hand up, to make sure the hot-head won’t do anything.

After a long back and forth, Rachell finally knocks Fishface out cold, she manages to throw Rahzar over her shoulder and then tackles the 2-meter-tall Tiger claw to the ground. Her nails are digging deep through his clothes and into his skin, penetrating and drawing blood from his trapezius.

Shredder: “Stop.”

She stops. The henchmen and her find their place in a line in front of the armored man.

“You four are promising combatants, but not perfect. If we want to kill the Hamato clan, I need a perfect army.”

Tiger claw, Rahzar and Fishface say in unison like it was trained to their core: “Yes, master Shredder.”

The tiger, the dog and the fish kneel before him. Rachell still stands up, with a look of apathy.

“Kneel.”

Rachell kneels. A sight the brothers never thought they would see, and it sickens them to their stomach. Raph could kill the whole room.

The four mutant henchmen touch the ground beneath him, the master in power.

Raph glares at Leo, who makes a hand gesture, signaling for the brothers to go in. The four turtles jump down, with their weapons drawn. The henchmen, and Rachell, all react fast and move away so as not to get hurt. Shredder is first surprised, then he shouts angry: “Capture the turtles! Keep one alive.”

Tiger Claw takes on Leo, Fishface after Raph, Rahzar after Mikey, and Rachell approaches Donnie. Donnie backs up till his back touches against the wall. He is nervous. His eyes dart from the side to his brothers and then to his friend as sweat drips down his temple. But Donnie shows her the auto-injector anyway: “Rachell. Stop. It’s me, Donnie, your friend. I have the antidote here, so please stand still.”

Rachell kicks Donnie into the wall before she flings him to the side and into a cage completely dizzy. The injector has fallen out of his hand and lands in front of the cage. The capsule shatters on the ground.

Rachell marches over it, as if she can’t see it, and closes the cage with a lever. Donnie crawls to the bars and looks at the antidote he has worked so hard on in a puddle on the stone.

Mikey looks away from his fight with Razhar: “Donnie!”

Rahzar and Rachell grab the distracted Mikey, and both punch him into his own cage, where he can’t escape.

Raph and Leo are still fighting Fishface and Tiger Claw, and now Rahzar. When Rachell goes in to fight as well, Shredder brings a hand up, “Rion, get back! I want my own men to finish the job.”

Rachell goes to the side, almost as if she’s a soldier awaiting a new order from the psychopath.

But the three henchmen pushes the two brothers into a corner.

“So? Fearless? Got a plan?”

Not knowing what else to do, Leo remembers the brain-worm and turns to Rachell: “How does it feel being Shredder puppet? Bet you like doing whatever he orders you to!”

Rachell doesn't react, not even a little flinch or frown.

Shredder: “This won't work a second time. You are too late. You have lost.”

Raph points at Shredder: “If you are really so sure about that, then stop hiding her behind your goons like a coward!”

His three henchmen stop up to look at Shredder's response. He squints his eyes. Shredder stretches his hands to the wall and gets two kamas off it. In a hard throw, they land near the feet of the wolf. She takes them. Raph pats the antidote securely in his toolbelt and behind his back.

Shredder: “Make this fight count. It will be your last.”

Tiger Claw, Fishface and Rahzar all go to the side to watch the fight. Donnie and Mikey get close to their cage bars to get closer to the action. The room is waiting in anticipation.

Leo and Raph dashes around Rachell as she stays in the center. They end up on each of her sides. Leo attacks first, shortly followed by Raph.

Somehow, Rachell makes both of them fly through the air. Leo lands in a cage that Tiger Claw immediately closes. Raph hits his back against a wall. Cold liquid runs down his shell. He puts a hand on the liquid and sees the turquoise antidote smeared across his palm. He gasps. Oh no. This can’t be happening. Rachell begins walking towards him, both arms out so the lights reflect on the Kamas. An idea pops up in his head. He gets up, his palm still facing upwards.

Shredder: “End him.”

Rachell dashes, and just as she gets near him, with one Kama ready to slice through his skull, he raises his hand against her open mouth. Her arm freezes above him, her teeth biting down on his fingers to the point that his blood drips down her mouth and on the floor. But Raph keeps holding his hand in her muzzle, just staring determinedly at her face. Rachell still holds the frozen kamas over Raph's head. Shaking. Shredder stands up from the throne.

Raph says softly: “Pull yourself together.”

Shredder commands her: “Kill the turtle!”

Rachell closes her eyes, grabs around Raphs hand, and tenderly pushes it out of her mouth. She caresses his skin.

The relief burns away his anxiety and makes the corner of his mouth spread up, “Rachell.”

Rachell opens her purple, gentle eyes, with a small smile. They have done it! She’s back! Shredder shouts, he grabs three throwing stars and hurls them after the two. She blocks them with her kamas.

Shredder yells at his goons: “Get them!”

The three attack, but Rachell and Raph block them. Rachell says to Raph: “Free the others.”

Raph nods. As she takes care of the three henchmen, he maneuvers his way around them and to his brothers.

When he approaches the cages and is just a little away from the lever, Shredder jumps in front of him with both blades out. “I will murder you, and everyone you lov-”

A flying, screaming fish gets thrown into Shredder who simply catches the fish and lets him fall to the ground. Shredder looks at where the Fish was flung, at Rachell who stands over Tiger claw, with her right-hand fingers digging deep into Tiger Claw's neck.

A kama is sticking out of his shoulder. She doesn't look at Tiger Claw. She glares at Shredder, and pulls her weapon out of the Tiger’s deltoid muscle. He screams as he presses his bloodied wound. Rachell walks towards Shredder, who in return just stands there, staring her down. Blood drips from her kamas.

She points at Shredder with one, “If you want to hurt anyone in the Hamato clan, you have to get through me first.”

“You aren't a strong enough soldier. You can't even scratch me.”

“Well, you can’t kill me eaither.”

Shredder charges at almost superhuman speed. Rachell stays focused on just avoiding the razor-sharp blades and deadly kicks. She evades everything, and backs out of the arena and through the hallway, and past the chambers. She jumps and ducks, flying from side to side, backflipping onto obstacles, and jumps off. Shredder only manages to cut down the objects.

Raph pulls down each lever to the prisons. The brothers all run out of the arena, and begin heading after the trail of destruction.

Rachell makes a series of aerial flips and twists to the lab door. The door and bridge opens. She tumbles over the bridge. The wolf dances on top of the lab tables, as Shredder breaks everything, not touching her once.

Baxter Stockman flies in with a box of metal but drops it: “My things!”

Shredder yells: “Fight me!”

The turtles make their way to the platform, all making a half circle around Shredder, blocking the bridge. Shredder looks back at them and then at the mutant in front of him.

Shredder tries to cut through Rachell's skull, but she catapults onto his arm and uses it as a springboard to get to the others.

Mikey: “Bye bye Shreadhead!”

They all make their way to the bridge, but Shredder gets a grab on Mikey's shell and pulls him back, throwing him to the edge of the platform.

Shredder pins a knee on Mikey’s chest, and a blade to his throat.

“Mikey!”

“No one leaves, unless you want a decapitated Michel-”

Rachell has launched herself across the platform and into him. They fall of the platform.

The water blooms red.

Rachell stands on top of Shredder, her kama inserted into Shredder's right arm, even though he tries to hold her back, but she presses it deeper in. “I finally got you.”

“Me too.”

It’s first there she feels the pain like fire happening in her body. This is how she would imagine the sensation of lava pouring out of her.

Rachell looks down.

Shredder's left blade penetrates the side of her lower abdomen. She instinctively ejects herself from him.

Paralyzing pain.

She collapses on her back, left hand clenching around a kama, the other on her abdomen. The wolf crawls backward until her head hits the pole. Her eyes dart the ceiling, to the wall, to the pole, and there, just beside her, is a window at the bottom of the pole. The glass protects the end of a electroshock weapon.

The turtles lean over the edge to get a view of what is happening down there. Shredder puts a hand on his right arm and fights to get up. His gauntlet on his injured arm gets thrown in the water, but he keeps the other.

Rachell calls out “Donnie! Turn on the electricity!”

“What! No! Are you crazy?! That could kill you!”

Shredder gets on his feet and takes slow steps towards her. Three sharp blades out.

“Just do it!”

The turtles get ready to jump to her rescue. Donnie: “We’re coming down!”

“Oh for fucking Christ’s sake!”

Shredder is about to decapitate her for a second time. Rachell breaks the glass with her kama. Electricity shoots through the water and Shredder roars, as electricity goes through them both. She screams.

“Rachell!”

“Master Shredder!”

Baxter turns off the electricity by pressing a button on the wall. Both get paralyzed and drop unconscious.

Shredder only gets on both knees before Baxter Stockman flies down and lifts the limp Shredder. The fly flies away and through the open doors.

Raph jumps off. He kneels down and lifts her in his arms. He checks her pulse on her neck, then puts his fingers inches over her mouth. There’s weak air flow.

Raph can sigh everything out. Happy, yet nervous and worried, everything at once. He looks up to his brothers: “She's alive!” Now they can breath too.

Leo: “Can you lower the platform?”

Donnie gets to the new computer: “On it!”

Raph hugs her tightly before he carrying her up into his arms. He gets on the lowered platform.

***

The light is homely and mellow when she blinks her eyes open. The room isn’t large, but it’s nice and familiar. It smells like the lavender candles Donnie brought her after scavenging an abandoned mall, and the incense that Leo gave her. It's the guest room she has been sheltered in for nearly four months. The room is minimalistic, with only a futon, a closet, and a box of Polaroids as well as some tools to sharpen or repair her weapons. She has a cozy blanket wrapping her arms and legs.

April whispers, “She’s waking up.”

The four turtle mutants, April and Splinter are looking at her, all with worried yet kind expressions. April to her left, Raph to her right, the rest at her feet.

Donnie fidgets with his fingers, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m… fine?”

Rachell tries to sit up, but a shock pierces through her abdomen and reach to her teeth. Her body jerks and cramps. Ouch!

April puts hands on Rachell’s shoulders and pushes her gently down: “You’re injured, you shouldn’t be moving.”

“Luckily, no major organs were hit, so it should be healed up in a couple of weeks.” The family doctor smiles friendly so his gap between his teeth appears.

Rachell lies down: “Is Shredder…?”

Leo shakes his head: “He got away.”

“Dammit, why couldn't I just have killed that shitty bastard-”

“What are you talking about, dude?” The ever so optimistic and loving younger brother keeps his positive attitude, “You were awesome out there! It totally counts as a tie!”

Leo: “Besides, he doesn't matter. What matters is, that you're back, safe and sound.”

“Yeah… Thanks, guys.”

Leo: “No problem.”

Donnie: “Of course!”

Mikey: “You would have done the same for us!”

Splinter interrupts by putting his hand on Leo and Mikey, but says to Rachell: “Now, get some sleep.” The master turns to the metal door, and wait there to see them all begin to leave. But Rachell grabs Raph's wrist and pulls on him.

Raph yells to the others: “I’ll catch up!”

Leo nods and pulls the door after him, leaving only a slight gab for a stream of light to slip through. Raph sits down again beside Rachell's right side. They see each other.

Ever since he first met her, he has tried to learn her many many voices. It can be growling, snarky, and stabbing; he likes all of them, because they are rarely used against him or his brothers. Her usual witty, raspy and sandpaper voice has become sweet like honey when she whispers, “You look like shit...” he likes that one too, it just means she’s worried about him.

“It’s nothing.”

“Why haven’t you said anything?”

Suddenly, the futon seems more interesting as he looks away: “What’s there to say?”

Rachell squeezes his fingers.

So he begins: “This whole mess… It's my fault. I thought we could win. I thought I could protect you… But I couldn't, and I couldn't even-”

She caresses his cheek. Her palm is like being comforted by a bonfire. Soft and warm. She says: “It’s not your fault.”

Raph melts into the touch with his thick hand covering Rachell's slender fingers. She slides them behind his head and pushes him down as she sits up. Raph leans in. Their lips brushes in a kiss.

Rachell tastes fresh like mint. His heart might be beating as if he is winning a battle against an army and can taste victory, but his mind is calmer than ever. He would trade a thousand victories just for this moment to stay for a few more minutes. It’s nice. When they let go of each other, they just stare, smiling affectionate.

Raph: “Go to sleep.”

“You too. You look awful with bags under your eyes.” Rachell’s thumbs circles under his red bandana.

Raph nods. They let go. He opens the door and closes it, beaming. It’s as if he’s floating on clouds with colorful fireworks lightening the night sky around and inside of him. But then sees his brother and April’s big grins, and the sweet moment is ruined. God, he wish he could timetravel five seconds back in time to warn about the pests waiting outside. He should have stayed with her.

Raph crosses his arms and goes back to his normal attitude: “What are you dorks looking at?”

April: “You two are so cute together!”

Raph boasts: “We’re amazing together.”

Mikey says in a mocking voice: “I'm sorry for everything! It's all my fault!” He falls dramatically into Leo’s arms, who plays along.

Leo in an equal mocking voice cries: “No it's not your fault!”

Meanwhile, Donnie smooches the air and hugging himself so it can be heard outside the lair.

Raph: “You are just jealous I'm the first with a girlfriend. And the best one at that.”

They begin walking to the kitchen. Rachell has heard it all. And the pain in her abdomen has been subdued by the butterflies. She takes out the photo of Raph, the one where paint is smeared over his laughing face. She puts it against her snout, closing her eyes, feeling giddy and grinning like an idiot.

Chapter Text

It has only been a week since the brainwashing incident, and Shredder is already scheming something. That loser needs to get a hobby or something.

The teenagers know the underground like they know their own name, but Leo still insisted they should use flashlights to search the sewers for any footprints or other traces left by Bebop and Rocksteady. Not that it would be hard to miss a tall squealing pig in a purple jumpsuit and an even bigger rhino mutant, but they have to follow the leader’s order for some reason.

Raph keeps rolling his eyes at Rachell, and she keeps reciprocating the grimaces. At least he has one sane person here in this search party, other than him and maybe April.

The tunnels seem lifeless. Mikey looks under some newspapers on the ground just for good measure.

Leo stops the group: “Okay, team, we need to split up. Raph and Rachell, you go east. Donnie, Mikey: south. April and I will take the north. Have your phones ready if Bebop and Rocksteady show their faces.”

Raph sighs: “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, fearless leader.”

The group scatters in the different directions as told. Raph and Rachell scavenge the east end of the sewers that first seem desolate like the rest until Rachell flashes her light on the ground. She squats down and checks whatever footprint is left behind. “We're on the right track.”

Rachell stands up to walk further down, hoping to find Shredder's henchmen to fight.

Raph lights up the ground where she just checked to see the footprints for himself, and something glitters in the corner just under an empty can of beans. Now it's his turn to squat down and check what it is. A thick silver ring with a small pale gem rested in it. It must have fallen through the grid. The ring looks so small in his big hands, not something he could or would ever wear, but maybe…

Raph hurries up after his girlfriend. “Look at this!”

When she turns around, he waves the ring near her face.

“A ring? Guess some sorry sucker must have lost it.” Rachell takes a short look at it, examining it briefly before adding it to her middle finger. “Guess it's mine now.”

For some weird reason, seeing her putting on the ring he gave her made his stomach jump like an acrobatic monkey, even if she did it so casually. Not that he would ever admit it, he isn't some loser.

Raph coughs into his hand, trying to find his composure again: “So? You like rings?”

Maybe he can look after more rings and jewelry to give to her. They are dating after all, and gifting jewelry or flowers is the perfect way to show it.

Rachell continues moving forward: “I prefer those thick plain wedding rings you see in the shops.”

There’s nothing more romantic and big than a wedding. For some weird reason, the butterflies only grow wilder after hearing this. Pull yourself together, man.

For the first time in his life, the words stumble out of his mouth awkwardly: “Wedding rings? You like wedding rings?”

“Well, I like the looks of them. The whole wedding thing is too cheesy and fucking stupid.”

Raph feels the monkeys knock each other out and become heavy corpses in his stomach. “Yes, of course. Marriage is stupid.”

“Exactly, you get it. Marriage is for idiots who don't realize they get stuck in a made-up fantasy. I mean, why do you have to waste so much time and money on a big ceremony just to show you like someone? You could have done that with a hug and not waste everyone’s time. You don’t need some big cheesy gesture.”

Cheesy… Raph scratches his arm and hopes she doesn't notice it. She doesn't. “Right… So you don't want to get married?”

Rachell: “Of course not. And it's not like we mutants can get married anyway.”

Raph looks to the side and sighs: “Right…”

A familiar high-pitched voice screams: “Yo, these sewers are nasty as hell, I can't believe anyone would live down here!”

Another voice with a thick Russian accent replies, “They do have a very special smell, da.”

The couple enters the room where the two meatheads are looking at the tunnels’ numbers.

Rachell cracks her knuckles: “Bebop and Rocksteady. Came down here to get an ass kicking?”

The two idiots turn around.

Bebop: “Who here's gonna get an asskicking?”

Rocksteady: “Da, you will be the ones whose asses will be kicked.”

Rachell throws her ring over her shoulder to Raph: “Hold this. I don't want blood on it.”

Raph grabs it with a big smile and stays behind to watch her go into action. He whistles and cheers from the sidelines as she punches them into the sewer slop. “Give them a good sucker punch from me!”

He watches her so closely that he forgets the world around him.

“Your girlfriend is a bit scary.”

Raph jolts and pulls his sais out, but when he points them where the voice came from, he sees it’s just a small bird in medieval clothing. Martin Milton.

Raph puts his weapons away and says, annoyed, “You gotta knock or something.”

Martin Milton looks sheepishly at the ground: “Sorry. I just don’t know how to talk with people, so I use my illusion and telekinetic powers instead to hide, and then I forget that I’ve been hiding, so I kinda just pop out of the blue.”

Raph: “Since when did you have telekinetic powers too?”

“Pretty cool, right? I can throw socks at you and make you think you are fighting real snakes. It helps with the illusion part.” Martin Milton spins his index finger, and a sock begins floating from the ground to Raph’s face and turning into a snake.

Raph grabs the sock and throws it away: “Whatever.”

He goes back to watch his badass girlfriend fight, expecting the conversation to have ended, but it hasn’t.

Martin Milton keeps his too-friendly tone: “Why weren’t you honest with her?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You like sweet, romantic gestures like marriage and rings and flowers, don’t you?”

How did he know that? Raph needs to shake his shock off him: “Were you spying on us?”

“Just a little bit.”

“Yeah, that isn’t weird or anything.”

Martin looks sad at the ground: “I don’t have a lot of friends.”

“I wonder why,” Raph says it as sarcastically as he can to really show his disdain. Maybe that will push the bird boy away.

“Why didn’t you tell her the truth?” The bird clearly didn’t get the memo.

“It’s none of your business.”

“Maybe I can help you?”

Raph closes his hands into fists: “If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll make chicken skewers out of you.”

Martin Milton doesn’t even look slightly frightened, just curious. Raph is one second away from strangling the kid, but doesn’t get to.

“Fuck!” Rachell screams and plops to her knees in front of the two unconscious mutants. They were bound together with chains, but Raph only notices her bending over herself and holding her stomach.

Raph rushes to her.

He kneels beside her and gently places a hand on her shoulders to see what’s wrong. Rachell shows him her bloodied hand that has covered her wound from the fight with Shredder. It has been reopened again, and bleeding darkening her elastic jumpsuit.

“Let’s go back to the lair and stitch you up.”

Rachell looks at the knocked-out Bebop and Rocksteady, bruised and battered: “What about them?”

“The others can handle it from here. We need you to take care of that wound.”

“I’ll go back to the lair if you stay here and watch over them.”

Raph scoffs: “Fine.”

When Rachell stands up, she nuzzles her forehead into with a “thank you,” and she leaves him alone with the two idiots.

Raph touches his forehead. He can still feel her warmth tingle it and he smiles big with heart in his eyes as he looks into the tunnel where she went.

“You really like her.” Great, three idiots.

“Dude, what are you still doing here.” Raph spits out, but it wasn’t really a question.

“If you tell her that you want to give her jewelry, and be soft and romantic, maybe she will understand.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

“I mean it!”

“What are you? A couple’s therapist!? I can’t be soft with her! She only deserves the toughest, strongest warrior, and I’m that.”

Martin shakes his head and looks at him with sympathy: “I don’t think she wants you to be that.”

Raph throws a hand in their air: “What do you know!? If I give her flowers, she’ll never talk to me again.” Raph sighs and collapses to sit on top of the pile of sleeping people. “She’s so cool. Too cool for those kinds of things. Marriage, jewelry, big romantic junk. I can’t just give her flowers even if I wanted to.”

Martin Milton keeps standing there, fidgeting with his wings, and looking at Raph with sympathy as if he was pathetic.

Raph is too tired to snap, so he says: “Now, leave me alone.” He pulls out his phone and contacts Leo.

Martin Milton walks away.

***

Three days later.

“Whooosh! Whooosh! Pow! Pow!” Raph yells in his room. The Chris Bradford plastic figurines smash against each other between the replica of New York City, which he has built out of pillows and books on his floor. This is strategic brain training for future fighting, not toy playing.

“And now the evil unicorn man comes to-” he shuts up when there’s knocking on his door.

On the bedtable the clock blinks 8:30 PM. It wasn’t time for their evening patrol yet, and they had just trained. He turns his head towards the door: “Who is it?”

No reply.

Raph shrugs and goes back to his strategic brain training, but gets interrupted again with more knocking.

“What!” He roars, but no reply again.

Raph gets up and stomps to his door: “Mikey! How many times have I told you, not to-”

There’s nobody in front of his door. Has Mikey run away? Raph looks to both sides of the hallway, but nobody is there.

On the floor are fresh rose petals scattered into a trail that leaves the lair from his room. In front of his feet is a letter sealed with red wax formed as a heart.

Raph opens the letter to read a neatly handwritten poem in cursive:

Dear lover

Doth not behold for the reality above

And doth not hideth the truth

Followeth the trail of love

And thee shall findeth the romance's flourishing youth

What the hell is that supposed to mean? He rereads the poem even closer, but all he gets out of it is frustration. Maybe he should follow the rose petals and find out.

The letter gets folded into his pocket, and he lets the red lead him out of the lair and into the sewers. It takes longer than he expected, and his patience is running thin. He ends up in a big round room with water flowing through it, where there are only four tunnels: the one he came from, the one in front of it, and one on the left where a river of clean water comes from, and one on the right where the river heads to. In the middle of the river is a tiny wooden boat floating, secured in place with a rope to a pipe.

But that’s not what he sees. In the tunnel across from him, Rachell is standing, staring back with the same surprise he feels. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Raph: “I can ask you the same question.”

Rachell whips out a piece of paper from her toolbelt, probably the same letter he got.

Raph takes out his own to show her.

Rachell: “You think this is a trap?”

“All I know is that I got a bad feeling about this.”

Out of the blue, he feels a hard push from behind him, hard enough that he gets launched and flies through the air, same does Rachell. They collide over the river and get dropped into the boat that is about to tip over, but finds its balance.

Raph groans as he sits up: “You okay?”

Still lying in the boat, Rachell rubs her sore head: “What in the world was that?”

The boat begins rocking, the rope has been untied, and before they know it they are swimming over the river and into the dark tunnel.

Flash! Hard spotlights blind them. They have to blink their eyes open and let them readjust to the light before they can see the nightmare fuel in front of them.

Oh no.

On the sides of the river are soft Teddy bears holding heart-shaped pillows. Pink and red flowers decorate the walls and water. A single baby in diapers is pointing his heart-shaped at them with an uncanny smile. The song “Kiss the Girl,” from The Little Mermaid, echoes through their chests. From the roof hangs a banner saying: “The tunnel of love.”

Rachell looks terrified as she has grabbed the boat tightly, not knowing what all this is or what is happening. Raph is even more petrified because he knows.

“There you see her
Sitting there across the way”

Rachell whispers to herself: “Uhhh, wut?”

This snaps him out of his panic and into anger. The next time he sees that chicken will also be the last time. Raph groans through gritted teeth and massages his furrowed brows: “It’s Martin Milton. Don’t worry about him. I’ll take care of it. With a brick.”

“Am I supposed to know Martin?”

“A bird mutant and a dweeb. He uses illusions and telekinetic powers to mess with people’s heads.”

“Yes, you want her
Look at her, you know you do”

Rachell looks at the heart plushies with noodle arms and legs and a smile that would make grown men run away: “Okay…And why is he doing this?”

“Oh, he just… likes to… prank people.”

“What a weird prank.”

“Yup…”

“Sha-la-la-la-la-la, My oh my
Look like the boy too shy
Ain't gonna kiss the girl”

Rachell claps her hands together and stands up: “Welp, I’m going. This was a horrible surprise, and I hope I’ll never see anything this unsettling again.”

A seatbelt springs from the water and wraps around them, capturing them both together. They don’t even get to react. The boat speeds up like a motorcycle and zooms through the water, so it splashes onto them and into their mouth as they scream.

***

“Come on out, everybody! It’s time for our evening patrol!” Leo walks to the hallway where the turtles’ rooms are, but sees a trail of dead leaves and shredded tissues on the ground from Raph’s room.

He knocks on the door. “Raph? are you there?”

No answer.

Leo scratches his chin, thinking what the junk on the floor is about. He should find out whose mess it is, because he sure does not want to clean it up after having washed the floor yesterday.

He already has a likely suspect.

Leo enters the lab where in the middle, Mikey is patiently standing with his arms out and eating a lollipop that Donnie probably gave him. He’s not minding Donnie measuring his shell’s size and length, and writing the numbers down into the computer.

Leo puts his hands on his hips and says strictly: “Mikey, did you make the mess in the hallway?”

Mikey thinks for a bit: “Uhhh… I don’t think I did? Can you describe it?”

“There are dead leaves and tissue paper everywhere. I just cleaned yesterday.”

Mikey shakes his hands in front of him: “No, I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that.”

“Well, somebody has to clean it up when we’re done patrolling.”

Donnie looks up from his computer: “Can you give me five more minutes? I’m getting data to-”

“No. We are going now.”

Donnie throws his head back with a defeated groan but closes his computer nonetheless.

They exit the lair just to be met with more leaves and tissues, leading to the sewers.

Leo: “Okay, that’… weird.”

Mikey kneels to the ground and begins sniffing the pieces: “Yup, it’s definitely dead leaves and tissues.”

Leo: “Thank you for your observation.” He looks at Donnie, “Why is it here?”

“How should I know?”

Leo: “Could it have something to do with Raph?”

Donnie: “Maybe we should follow it and find out?”

***

The boat brakes so sharply that they are propelled forward and over it to crash into the land made of hard bricks. Ouch.

The seatbelt around them has fallen off.

“Rachell!” Raph helps her stand.

“I’m okay. You?” She brushes the rubble off her clothes.

“Yeah.”

“Where are we now?”

Another row of spotlights turns on, shining bright on them. They are in a big room with many green bushes. A suction cup arrow whizzes towards Rachell’s face. She instinctively evades. “What the-”

The arrow was shot from a cardboard that popped up from the bushes. On the cardboard is a cupid painted.

A second cardboard cupid pops up from the bushes, this time shooting at Raph’s back. He somersaults over it.

An army of cardboard Cupids pops up from the bushes and begins shooting arrows from every corner. Fortunately, the ninja training pays off, and they easily evade every arrow. This is more like it. Finally some action. He almost forgets why he was angry and stressing out in the first place.

In the midst of the chaos, Rachell says, “I gotta say, your friend is really committed to this prank.”

Oh yeah, right, that stupid bird. “He better use that commitment to survival too, because when I find him he’ll really need that.”

The Cupids keep shooting, and the pair keeps dodging. Slowly, the arrows settle down, and they get fewer and fewer, few enough for Raph to stand still for a bit. His foot kicks one of the arrows on the ground. Huh? What’s that? Attached to it a small piece of paper.

Raph picks it up, unfolds it, and reads it.

“I think you’re cool.”

— Raphael

His blood drains from his face. He gets gets cold, and he freezes in place. All the arrows on the ground have paper attached to them. Small weapons shot by demons of his worst nightmares.

Rachell laughs victoriously: “That wasn’t so bad, right, Raph?”

Raph tears the paper into chunks small enough that nobody will ever be able to read it, and throws it over his shoulder just before she looks. He says chirpy, “Yup! Easy peasy!”

“You good? You haven’t been hit in the head, right?” A single last arrow is shot, targeting Rachell’s temple. She doesn’t even look away from Raph when her hand instinctively grabs the arrow midair.

Her hand clenches around the paper attached to it, and it crunches. “Huh?” Rachell studies the arrow: “Some paper?”

Her thumbs are about to stretch the note out when Raph launches himself to rip it out of her hand: “Oh, it says nothing important, forget it.” He then begins to push her away and into the next and only tunnel left: “Let’s just go home.”

“Okay? If you say so?” Rachell is confused but walks away with him anyway.

***

The trio has followed the trail for a while now, long enough for the conversation subject to go from practical information and speculations to be about the newest wing nut comics.

“You cannot tell me that Screwloose and Wingnut are more interesting heroes than Arachnid-man!” Leo flails his hands around.

“Dude, arachnid-man is all about responsibility and duty, it’s boooring!” Mikey throws his arm over Leo’s shoulders and lets himself be carried.

“If I have a say in this, I would vote on-”

“Yes, Donnie, we know, you like the ‘finer’ taste of rObO MeChA manga.” Leo says with a mocking voice.

“It’s good art! And way more fascinating than-”

“Hold up. What is that?” Leo slides down to the river that reaches his belly. Some rope clings loosely to land, only slightly dipped into the water. The rope is pretty basic, nothing special, but it’s still a weird place to find it.

“Look over there.” Donnie points into the tunnel where the river goes. They squint their eyes. Shadows and silhouettes are barely visible near the end of the tunnel. The boys begin marching through. On the walls are plastic bags taped. Dead tree branches decorate the sides. From the ceiling hangs a torn birthday banner where the letters are painted over with white paint and replaced with markers.

“Yooo, this place would be perfect for a party!” Mikey cheers the last word.

Leo: “What could all this mean?”

Donnie: “I don’t know, but I doubt it’s Raph behind it. It’s too well made.”

Leo nudges the plastic bags with the end of his sword as if it was going to explode any minute. A smiley and some hearts were painted on it.

Mikey looks over his older brother’s shoulder, using him as a shield: “Weeeird.”

They march onward through the tunnel until the river stops, and they meet a brick floor. Filled trash bags are dispersed around the room, with cardboard impaled into them. The cardboards have badly drawn doodles on them, which are difficult to read.

Leo tilts his head and squints his eyes: “Is that supposed to be an old man?”

Donnie bends over to get even closer to the cardboard: “I think it’s a bird? I mean, it has wings, right?”

Mikey traces his fingers over the cardboard: “That’s totally that baby with wings you see on ads.”

Donnie: “Cupid?”

Mikey: “Bless you.”

A sound of a twig snapping gets their attention. Leo looks down on the suction cup arrow he has just broken on the floor. There are at least a dozen of them, all with paper attached to them.

Donnie reads one of the notes out loud: “It say, ‘I want to give you flowers - Raphael?’ Huh… Guess he has improved in his handcraft.”

***

Raph can feel himself ageing. His pulse is high and his body hot. The walk is never-ending, and it doesn’t help that he is constantly alert for any new surprises.

Suddenly, something nice brushes his side of his arm, and he feels Rachell’s fingers intertwining with his. Raph’s eyes widen, and he looks up at Rachell, who has a small smile on her face. “You know, Raph, this whole prank is really weird and kinda creepy. Buuut, you are here, so I can survive it.”

Raph feels his lips spread into a big grin. He tightens the grip around her fingers, and suddenly the world feels good again.

Then they enter the room. And the pride in him crumbles.

Everything is white. The walls, the balloons, the chairs, tablecloths, the long carpet, but worst of all, the altar in the middle, between four pillars. Flying over the altar is a large sphere. It shows him talking with Martin.

And in the sphere, the reflection of Raph says the exact words he said three days ago:

“What are you? A couple’s therapist!? I can’t be soft with her! She only deserves the toughest, strongest warrior, and I’m that.”

Raph steps in front of Rachell in hopes of blocking the footage, in hopes of grabbing her attention, in hopes of saving face: “It’s not what it looks like!”

Rachell’s expression shows shock and hurt. Her eyes are big, and they stare at the sphere, then at Raph, and then back at the sphere. The sphere continues to play the conversation.

The reflection of Martin says, “I don’t think she wants you to be that.”

“What do you know!? If I give her flowers, she’ll to me again. She’s so cool. Too cool for those kinds of things. Marriage, jewelry, big romantic junk. I can’t just give her flowers even if I wanted to.”

“Shut up!” Raph roars and rushes towards the altar with both of his sais. He punches the ball repeatedly with his weapons, but it’s made of tough illusion and imagination. It doesn’t break, no matter how hard it attacks, and the memory of his conversation only repeats itself.

It no use.

“Raphael?” Her voice is low. It breaks him out of his anger, and he turns around. She stands just behind him with this look. This vulnerable, sad, and serious look.

The video stops. The room grows silent with just the two of them.

“Is this true? Did you mean that?”

“I- I…” Raph opens his mouth, but no coherent sentence comes out. He sits down on the altar, resting his elbows over his knees, and looks at his hands that fold together: “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

Rachell sits down just beside him. Their knees brush each other. “Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to do this… romance stuff?”

“I thought you wouldn’t like these cheesy big gestures…”

The water isn’t dripping. The pipes aren’t buzzing. You can’t even hear the rats. They are completely and utterly alone.

Rachell says sincerely, “You know… If it’s you, I can learn to like this kind of cheesy stuff.”

Raph whips his head up to meet her gaze. “Really?”

“Only if it’s you.” Rachell places her snout close to his beak. He can smell the sweet apples she must have eaten not a long time ago when she whispers, “Dumbass…” Her voice matches the smell and her eyes.

The monkeys are brought back to life inside of him again, wild and passionate.
Rachell and Raph are alone in this room, this space, and it’s nice.

The warm quietness gets followed by Frank Sinatra singing through the ballroom, Somethin’ Stupid.

“Then afterwards we drop into a quiet little place and have a drink or two

And then I go and spoil it all by saying somethin' stupid like, ‘I love you’”

But this time, it’s alright.

Raph feels his bravery return, like when he face a new enemy. It’s exciting and thrilling and nice. He stands up and he reaches his open palm out: “You wanna dance, or something?”

Rachell chuckles, takes his hand, and rushes to the dance floor while pulling him close to her. Neither of them has ever danced with another person like that, and they are going back and forth into each other, trying to find a rhythm and trying not to step too often over each other’s toes, but they are happy.

“The time is right, your perfume fills my head, the stars get red, and, oh, the night's so blue

And then I go and spoil it all by saying somethin' stupid like, “I love you.”

The couple are in their own world. They don’t see the three pairs of eyes staring confused at them.

The trio questions themselves why Raph and Rachell are dancing in this big, dark, and silent sewer room where tables and chairs are rusty and broken, and the tablecloth and carpets are stained with water and holes. Even the colorful balloons seem sad. It doesn’t mix well with the two most pessimistic people they know being all chirpy.

Leo: “What is going on?”

Donnie: “I have a few theories, and they all lead to an asylum.”

Mikey: “Well, at least they seem happy.”

“I love you.”

Chapter Text

Raph should know more than anyone that being a mutant in a human society sucks. After all, he has made it his personal job to bitch about anything annoying and he does it for free. He has learned to live with it, but it's not exactly the most fun thing in the world not being able to watch a boxing game up close without infuriating humans screaming and running, not to mention having to either steal from hospitals to get painkillers or do DIY home surgery while biting down on a towel.

Soft lips snap him out of his thoughts and bring him fully awake. He almost loses his balance in his full planche push-up position, but quickly regains it. As he stares up from his spot to see her smiling back at him, he feels warmth rising through his cheeks and wants to mess up their push-up position. She has crept closer than before. Rachell keeps herself upright in the same stance as him while she laughs, “You look like a child's drawing when you get spooked,” her face is so close to his that he can feel her toothpaste breath against his nose. He wants to get even closer.

Raph smirks as he boops his nose against hers, “Maybe I wouldn't look dumb if you didn't suddenly kiss me.”

“Maybe I wouldn't suddenly kiss you if you didn't zone out like Mikey.”

“You did not just compare me with Mikey.”

Rachell throws her head back and laughs. It echoes in the otherwise quiet lair.

The rest of the instant ramen soup in the two bowls has gone cold and is mostly decorating the living room floor. Splinter is asleep in his room. Donnie and Leo are in theirs too. Only Rachell and Raph are up and training in the space between the turned-off TV and the sofa. They stand facing each other and count every single ups and downs together, trying to outdo each other. They've been at it for a while.

Rachell puts her beak to his again, “What were you thinking about anyway? Don't strain your brain too much.”

He was thinking about how damn blessed he was to have his goddamn idiot brothers to always be there to fix him up after a fight, mostly Donnie, even when the nerd complains about it, but Rachell has been the sole doctor in her house with Yumi and Akio ever since she was banished from her hometown. Those pricks. And after she lost everything and chased Tiger Claw around the world, she had no one to find medicine or stitch her.

Raph looks down at her stomach, where Shredder's mark is covered by fur. It's been three weeks since she faced Shredder, and her injury is now fully healed. There's almost no sign of it except for a scar.

It sucks to be a mutant, but thanks to their mutant side, they heal faster and are more resilient. She's fine.

“Hellooo? Earth to Raphael?” Every words gets stretched and toyed with.

“I was just thinking about how I’ll celebrate when I get first place in this push-up contest. I can already taste it.”

“Don't overexert yourself. If you die of exhaustion who is gonna give me a victory kiss?”

“Bring it."

They get down one more time, then again, and soon they reach 50. Raph loses balance and places his feet down to a normal push-up position. Although he just lost, he has never felt happier when he sees her stupid grinning face, “Okay, fiiine, you win this time.” He smirks and she returns it twice as beautiful.

Rachell leans in to place a small peck on Raph's lips, and she says: “Thanks for the victory kiss.”

They part only to meet again in small pecks and lets their lips feel each other's touches that sends more adrenaline through them than any training or fight would. The kiss deepens. They both sit up and continue pressing their faces close. Rachell has to lean down and cup his cheek while Raph is sitting up on his knees. Her thumbs run under his mask, and his run over the back of her hand.

“The awesome M K is hooome!” Mikey screams the last part as if he was singing, but just barely. He salto over the turnstiles with his skateboard under his arm. Over his shoulder is a pink, glittery backpack with a sun and multiple animals on it. So much was happening that it would blind even a first grader.

But he doesn’t get the applause he wanted, instead he gets two annoyed expressions.

Rachell snarls: “We are busy.”

“Could you two just not do you little smooches in the living room?”

Raph: “Could you just grow a brain and fuck off.”

Mikey mumbles to himself as he drags his feet to his room: “Bruh… Fine, I didn't even want to show you what I won.” He very much did, but if they aren't going to give him any attention, he'll just drag Donnie away from his book reading or whatever scientist do.

Raph turns back to Rachell and leans in with closed eyes for more, but she has turned her attention to Mikey: “Yo, Mikey, where did you get that backpack anyway?”

“You guys wouldn't believe me!” The little golden retriever immediately spins around as if he has been starved for attention. He probably would say he is, but Raph very much disagrees on an objective level. This happens all the time. Mikey tries to thirdwheel their moment, they say no, he sulks, Rachell ends up giving in anyway and inviting Mikey. You would think the youngest brother would become the thirdwheel on the couple's date, but no, that's Raphael.

Rachell gets up to sit on the couch now waiting to hear the younger one’s adventurous story. Although Raph is fuming with a thin  pressed line for a mouth, he gets up to sit beside Rachell. He spreads his arms spread over the sofa-back to get one around her shoulders. At least he can be close to her this way. Mikey plops excited in between the two, demonstrating the backpack’s capabilities and stretchiness, annoying Raph even more, but Rachell doesn't notice. He chirps: “First Sunday every month, there's this race for mutants underground in the same place. You can win a prize; this time it was this cool backpack.”

Rachell asks half-jokingly: “If a kid had a stroke and then tried to explain the feeling, they would show this thing.”

“You're just jealous because I have the backpack, and you don't.”

Raph adds sarcastically: “Ah yes, so jealous of the kindergarten backpack.”

“I won this with my sweat, blood and tears! It was very hard to win!”

“You sure about that? Who else enters?”

“Dunno. Different jackpot means different topdog. Last month we could only win knives which isn't nearly as awesome at cutting pizza as my kusarigama knife. So I just watched the show, and booed when Fish Face won.”

Rachell's nose wrinkles by just the name: “Urgh, that fucking creep. Next time I see him, I'll pull both of his eyes out. That might teach him not to stare at girls.”

A light bulb pops up over Mikey’s head: “Yooo, you should totally join!”

“No.” Rachell picks the remote and turns the TV on

“C’mon! It’s so much fun!” The youngest brother really knows how to beg like a youngest brother, he has refined the skill for fifteen years.

 “It might be 'so much fun' for you," Rachell makes air quotes before turning back to the TV “but I would rather have my claws ripped off one by one than get into some stupid competition for sad losers.”

Raph adds: “Even that’s an understatement.”

But the youngest whines: “It's not stupid! You haven't even tried it, so you wouldn't understand. Remember what Splinter always says, don't ever judge a manga by it's cover.”

Raph laughs, “Either you didn't listen, or he said that after you read Promised Neverland and crawled into his bed that same night?”

But then Mikey ignores his brother and asks Rachell: “What if I say it's good ninja training? There are zero rules. Rule 1, you have to be on non motor wheels. Rule 2, you have to cross the finish line to win. Rule 3, there are no rules. So, you can fight anyone you want! That's exactly something you would love!”

“If I want to train, I just patrol New York, with or without wheels.”

“But you wouldn't win anything!”

“Standing over other people's bodies in triumphs is enough for me. Besides, what can they offer me anyway? A glittery smiley key chain to your backpack.”

Mikey smirks, knowing full well how to change her mind: “Four words words. BO-REAS D-90.”

Rachell instantly snaps her head like a ghost from a horror movie, and she has suddenly pulled Mikey's face close to hers. Stars shines as bright in her eyes as the big toothy smile, both of which looked almost ominous if you didn’t know her. “I’m listening.”

Raph asks: “Isn't that two words, a letter and a number?”

Rachell: “It's one word, a letter and a number, but who cares.”

Mikey looks from side to side before he whispers to Rachell as if it wasn’t just three of them in the room: “I got a tip that the judges have found it laying around, but don't know how to make it work, so they just display it next month. Don't snitch to anyone. I said nothing.”

Raph: “Got a tip or just bugged the judges till they answered.”

“I don't have to answer that.” It’s not like Mikey gets time to answer that, now that Rachell shakes his shoulders in excitement: “When and where is the next race?”

“July 7th at 8:00 pm at xxx-street, I think.”

Rachell bounces off and towards the exit.

“Wait!” Raph trips on the way up and calls out, “Where are you going?”

“I need to practice!"

“Hold up! I’m coming!” Raph follows her, and she waits for him before they head out.

The second wheel has now become the third wheel as he is left alone on the couch. “Guys, it’s in a month!”

Rachell yells as she goes around the corner of the exit: “Doesn't matter! I have to focus. You wouldn't understand!” Now the pair is gone and out of earshot.

Mikey mumbles mostly to himself: “Of course I understand. I'm always focused on-” Bright colors flashes from the TV. “Ooooo! A new one-piece episode!”

***

A month has passed and it's July 7th. 7:45 pm. The four brothers are grouped together in front of a cartoon. Rachell goes through the entrance, skateboard in hand. Raph is the only one standing up.

“Anyone wanna come?” That was what she said, but Rachell's voice sounded like she said, 'I'm offended that I, your best friend who have saved your asses at least once every month, is less important than your cartoon.'  but only Raph noticed that.

“Hey shitheads! The monthly race! You coming or what!?" She yells loud enough, that Raph sees a rat jolt and scatter away.

But his brothers seemed unbothered when they answered.

Leo is glued to the screen: “No thanks.”

Donnie is hypnotized: “I’m good.”

When the fourth turtle doesn’t say anything, she asks, “Mikey?”

“Ay ay captain!”

Leo looks offended at Mikey as his younger brother runs out: “ I thought I was the captain!”

Rachell: “Not anymore!”

***

The couple lets Mikey guide the way. Neither of them expected much, but was quickly proven otherwise when they hear voices talking over each other. The choir gets louder and louder the closer the trio get until they reach a large room.

“Tadaaa!” Mikey gestures big with his hands like a magiacian on a scene.

The room is decorated with mixed lamps on the walls an in the ceilings and multicolored benches on the side where just as multicolored mutants sit on them. Mutants they know and don't know. The room has two round tunnels going through it, both big enough to fit five leatherheads in it. One has a goal tape on it; the other side has a tv screen above it showcasing different parts of the track. The more notible seats are three seats higher up with a table and microphone where a female mutant cat, a male mutant dog, and Pigeon Pete sit. They are clearly the judges. Standing by the track are Leatherhead and an equally large red mutant python looking over everything like officers trying to control the mob. The snake has a blue denim vest on, but that doesn’t make her look any less intimidating.

Rachell grimaces: “Ew… People…”

Raph sends her the same face as hers, well knowing how she feels, and that makes them snicker a bit in the solace of understanding each other.

Once again Mikey bounces in between them and throws his arms around them: “What do you think? This is the coolest isn’t it?”

Rachell massages her temples and bites sarcastically: “Oh yes, loud room, lots of light, big surprise, love it.”

Mikey’s happy face fades away and he reposition himself to see their faces: “You don’t like it?” He was so excited to share his fun with them just a few minutes ago.

Raph massages his eyebrows: “Why in the world would you think Rachell would-”

Rachell interrupts: “Raph, I’ll take it from here.”

Raph nods: “I'm gonna take a seat close to the finish line so I can see you win.” She waves at him as he pushes his way through the crowd with more force than necessary.

Rachell looks at Mikey: “You could have warned me a little bit ahead.”

“So you don’t want to race?”

“I’ll race.”

“So you do like it!?” Mikey beams.

“No I hate this. There are so many people here, and so much fucking noise.” Rachell grabs her ears, not to cover them but to rip her eardrums out.

“Dude, I can win you that thingy if you really hate it here. No problem!”

“No, I said I would race, so I’m going to race. Besides, it might turn out… fun..” She hesitates on the last word.

“Okay… cool.”

Rachell begins to walk towards the finish line, but before she can get there, Mikey yells: “Thanks Rachell! Really appreciate you!”

His friend sends him a small smile and a thumbs up before going to the finish line, while Mikey flips in the air over the other mutants to get to Raph the fastest way, cartwheeling on the audience’s head in the process. He lands perfectly on his feet on the outer edge of the bench with his arms out, proud off his skills.

Raph ruins his moment by growling: “Sit down, dammit!”

Mikey sits down, but mimics Raph’s face until his older brother slaps him. Great, now Raph is stuck between his annoying brother and some stranger.

Then the hothead says: “They really take this thing seriously, huh?”

“They sure do. It’s not like mutants are allowed in human sports, so as the only mutant race no wonder it’s so popular.”

“You know little brother? It’s always surprising when you do have a thought.”

“Thanks!” Mikey smiles, until he finally process what his brother just said: “Hey!”

If Rachell didn’t hate the whole race thing before, she sure does now. On the line is Bebop on rollerblades, Fishface and Spiderbytez too, and a chameleon mutant on a kick scooter. Her nose wrinkles in disgust. How lucky can she be. In the end, she chose to take the far-right place beside the chameleon.

A large blue Turtle rolls behind her on a skateboard. “Hey you!” Slash gets her attention, and her annoyed scowl. But the big blue turtle is either too brave or too stupid to flinch, “You are standing in my spot. I’m always on the right side in everything I do, The town’s rule, sweetheart.”

Rachell opens her palms and read them like she’s holding a book, “Well these rules I have here says that you’re a massive bitch.” Rachell snorts. It’s dry and mocking.

The blue turtle is only a head taller than her, but he leans down to her eye level. He claps his Morning Star weapon into his hand: “You must be new around here. Haven't seen you before.”

“Thank goodness I haven't seen your ugly mug until now. Didn't know how lucky I was five minutes ago.”

Slash clenches his mouth together. Now he’s getting really pissed: “I can't wait to win over you, new girl.”

Rachell lifts a middle finger to his face: “Choke on my dust and die.”

A dog mutant, a cat mutant and Pigeon Pete find their seats by the the judges’ table. They tap the microphone, and Slash has to step over to Bebop’s side.

Pigeon Pete yells, causing the microphone to scream loudly. Everyone has to press their ears down or their species holes that are equal to ears until the noise becomes high pitched enough for none of them to hear it. Well except the mutants with good enough hearing to hear a dog whistle. Rachell has fallen to her knees on her skateboard as she keeps covering her ears: “Shut it off for fuck’s sake!”

Pigeon Pete turns off the microphones and lets out a “Sorry everyone!”

It’s first there that the dog, the cat and the wolf can finally rest their arms, but Rachell wishes she could rest her already exhausted brain that’s now also fighting tinnitus and dizziness.

“Rachell!”

“You good man? You look kinda sick…”

Rachell raises her hand and stands up. Her eyes are squinted, and her ears are back, but she’s still standing and ready.

“That’s my girl! Beat their asses!”

“You can do it big sis! You’re awesome!”

Pete has to yell louder than the crowd now that he doesn’t have a mic: “Ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between.” All mutants shuts up. “Remember, there are only three rules. Rule 1, you have to be on wheels! Rule 2, you have to cross the finish line to win the prize. Rule 3, there are no other rules!”

Leatherhead guarding the room growls loud: “This is only for contestants. If any audience member tries to do anything, there will be consequences.”

Everyone in the crowd gulp, except Raph and Mikey who has seen Leatherhead feed cookies to his snuggle plushie on their couch.

The six mutants get ready with their chosen wheels. Rachell tries to ignore the headache. She tries to concentrate on the familiar sensation of her blood pumping through her spine and out her fingertips.

Mutant cat: “Ready!”

Mutant dog: “Set!”

Pigeon Pete: “Go!”

Rachell is about to take off, but Spider Bytez shoots webs around her feet. Her wheels get stuck to floor, and her feet to the skateboard. The chameleon pushes her to the ground before he takes off. Rachell glances furiously up to see Slash laughing back at her, as she loudly begins cursing.

Raph: “Get up Rachell!”

“Dude! Don’t let them win!”

Rachell rips off the cobwebs and speeds ahead. Through the tunnel are all sorts of visible pipes and concrete blocks that she has to avoid or jump over.

The first two she encounters are the Chameleon and Spider Bytez. The spider mutant isn't even using his roller skates but climbing wall with his free other legs. Rachell swings from side to side fast enough she loops around the tunnel, riding the tunnel wall, over and past the chameleon. The chameleon starts to shoot its long tongue after Rachell, but she swings from side to side too quickly, trying not to get caught. Spider Bytez spots her behind. He starts shooting long webs at her through his mouth.

She can almost feel the acidic exterior when it’s shot past her. Shit.

As soon as his web misses and hits the cobblestone, the spider pulls on the web, and throws a piece of the stones after her, then lets go and tries to shoot a new web after her. He misses again, this time hitting a pipe, but pulls the cobweb like a lasso to hit her with the pipe. She sidesteps it. She looks back and forth between the chameleon behind her and the spider in front of her.

Rachell stops swinging from side to side and drive in a straight line. The chameleon shoots its tongue, the spider cobweb shoots its web. Rachell skates to the side barely avoiding the two, but she does. And the chameleon’s tongue and the spider web hit each other. Spider Bytez instinctively pulls back just like the Chameleon which causes them both to crash into each other and fall to the ground, bound by their own net.

***

In the audience Pigeon Pete screams through the turned off microphone: “This took a surprising turn.”

Mikey cheers at the screen, Raph cheers even louder. He grabs the stranger beside him and shakes them wildly: “That’s my girlfriend!”

Mikey has to pull Raph off the poor stranger.

***

Rachell continues forward, but it doesn't take long before she gets to Fishface. She barely passes the surprised fish, who is more difficult than the other two.

Fishface looks her up and down and says like it’s some kind of joke: “Hello again, long time no see.”

“I’ll fucking kill you.”

Fishface is about to overtake her lead: “Although I love the view of your behind, I have to win-”

“Ew!” Rachell jumps, throw her skateboard in the air, so she can use the steady ground to sucker kick him in the face, “I'm SEVENTEEN! You creep!”

As Fishface groans on the floor and massages his head, she passes him to the next turn in the tunnel. The next figure she meets is a dancing Bebob, that first sways around as if it was a dance competition. When he looks back he screeches: “You again!?”

Bebop turns invisible. The Warthog tries to punch her, but she gets under his arm and scratches his chest with her extended claw to reveal electrical wires from his suit, and he is visible again. Electrical sparks flies everywhere. “Yo what!? Not my suit! You’re gonna pay for that! At the finisssh liiiiine!” Bebop skates away, taking the lead.

Rachell tries to move faster, but can’t overtake him, she looks around the tunnel for anything she can use. There are only bricks and water pipes. That’s it!

“You! Ugly!”

“You did not just call this piggy ugly!”

“How many amps does your suit use?”

Although he’s confused, Bebob answers anyway: “About 20 milli amps? What? Why?”

Rachell takes out five kunais and throws them to perfectly hit the water pipes over the warthog spraying water all over the him and his open suit. The pig screams as electricity lights through him. Rachell just manages to jump over the water, careful to not get touched by a single drop. She can continue, but she has to stops up for a minute and turn around: “You aren’t dead, right?”

Bebob says: “That hurt!”

“Oh you’ll be fine.”

And she rides her skateboard down the tunnel where she meets Slash. The big turtle sees her out of the corner of the eye and turns around, morning star in hand. Rachell leans low against the skateboard and pulls out both of her Kamas as if she's getting ready to battle.

The battle-ready turtle can’t wait. He needs to let out some steam, and this is the best way possible.

They close the distance between each other. Slash is ready to take a powerful swing at her, but she ducks low. She plunges one of her curved kama blades into the ground, meeting with one of the many pipes on the side. She takes a sharp turn to the right and into another tunnel. The confused Slash turns around, just to get hit in the face with many red and yellow signs and arrows telling him, he should have turned right. Dammit. He protects his face as he crashes into all the signs.

Meanwhile Rachell can’t help herself and looks back after him as she skates. With a big smile, she yells: “Should have looked ahead, shitface!”

Her head hits a low-hanging pipe, and she loses her balance at the same high speed.

She turns too look ahead. Her head is fuzzy for a moment, a moment shorter than she can to take her weapons out of her pockets, but long enough to know she’s fucked up.

The track turns right. She is heading straight ahead into another tunnel leading to a sudden bottomless pit. Rachell falls backwards off the skateboard, trying to slow herself down. She skids across the floor and over the edge, only just saved by grabbing into the brick walls a little less than a meter from the edge. The skateboard flies down past her. She grabs it with her left hand. Now, she dangles over nothingness, beat by her own hubris.

“Yeah… I deserved that…”

But in her defense, who’s making these bottomless pits in the sewers?

***

A few of audience gasps, some cheers, but most begin to chitchat worried. Raph gets up from his seat. Both fists in front of him and with a clenched jaw. Mikey jumps onto the bench and waves frantically even though he knows she can’t see or hear him: “You got this! Use your ninja skills!”

The red python gets hold back by Leatherhead. The alligator signals to them: “Michelangelo. Raphael. Settle down.” They do but keep beeing on the edge of their seats.

Pigeon Pete: “Oh no! Looks like the wolf is in trouble! Will she be able to get out of this alive?”

Raph whispers to himself: “Come on, you can still win this, I know you can.”

His neighbor raises an index finger, saying unsolicited: "I think your girlfriend is gonna die."

Raph punches the neighbor in the face: “She’s too tough for that.”

Mikey blows raspberries at the stranger.

“Michelangelo! Raphael!”

***

Slash is back on his board. He passes the hole but walks back just to look down at Rachell with a big ugly laugh: “You should have taken your own advice.”

He moves on, now in a slow casual tempo. Almost mocking with her with not being worried. Rachell puts her skateboard in her mouth and begins climbing the wall. She manages to crawl up and out of the hole. Rachell gets the skateboard going at full speed after the big mutant.

***

Raph smirks: “Yes! I knew it!”

His neighbor asks: "Is she into polyamory?"

Raph gets ready to jump onto the stranger, but is held back by Mikey who doesn’t want to get thrown out. Mikey can barely hold the hot head back.

***

Rachell catches up to Slash. The big turtle sees her and starts to rush forward, surprisingly fast for his size. This time, he keeps an eye on the road ahead. He hears her trying to catch him from the right side, so he blocks the right side. She tries the left side; he blocks the left side.

Suddenly he hears her zigzagging rapidly back and forth from side to side. Slash quickly looks back, just to check, but she's gone. He looks to the other side, she's not there either.

Suddenly a finger taps him on the nose. Over him, in a handstand on his shell is Rachell looking down smugly. Slash snags his morning star and swings it at her over his head. But she flips over him, kicking his head in the meantime, before landing on her skateboard. He strokes his scalp but is still not down yet. Slash is determined. He is after that price.

With a big right swing he hits her to the side, and into the wall. She gasps after air. But shakes the ache away and then go back into the fight. She’s determined too. She has gone through so much shit. She needs to win, not because of the prize, but out of principles. This is a fight.

***

The screen changes to some of the other cameras. The spider and the Chameleon are still bound together, the warthog is still laying in the water, but Fishface is nowhere to be seen. The footage zaps to the camera that detects motion.

Fishface waves: “Judges! Turn on the microphone and scream like a madman!”

Pete shakes his head and talks exasperated to himself: “Not this again… Every time Xever enters the game, he tries to drag us outsiders into cheating with him. Well not this time! I refuse to -”

“Pigeon Boy! I got a whole loaf of bread~”

The mic is turned on, and Pete screams into it.

***

They race for dear life, using tricks when able. They try to get the upper hand, one takes over the other, and back again. At this point, they have almost forgotten the race and are to occupied wrestling, inching closer and closer to the next corner. Rachell punches him in the face, expecting him to collapse over the skateboard, but the big turtle only staggers a bit and has to slow down his speed enough for her to get in front.

He pops his jaw back in place and continues: “Not a bad hit. I respect you, but you don’t scare me.”

Rachell snorts, this time it isn’t mocking, “You aren’t too bad either, but I’m still bet-” Rachell’s smirk is replaced with a face of agony. She covers her ears as she loses balance and hits the brick floor, shooting even more pain through her body.

Slash stops up. He stares at the wolf groaning in pain on the floor.

***

“What the fuck are you doing!?”

“Yeah! Not cool dude!”

The turtle brothers don’t wait for any replies. They rush from their seats and want to make their way to the podium, where only Pete is now sitting. They want to rip the Mic away. They are blocked by the two giant mutants. Raph clenches his fingers around his sais: “Outta my way, snake!”

Mikey motions to Leatherhead, looking his tall best friend in his eyes, pleading: “Leatherhead, please.”

But Leatherhead shakes his head solemnly: “I’m sorry my friend, but we cannot interfere.”

Mikey becomes louder with the anger at this injustice: “Who says that? The rules? They said we can do whatever. The judges? They have already interfth- Interfths… You know what I mean!”

Now it’s the alligators turn to plead: “I’m sorry, but I’ll ask you to sit down.”

“Make me!” Raph kicks the alligator’s snout hard enough for him to walk a few meters back.

The audience gasps. They are all ogling this new live show in front of them.

Raph tries to run to the podium and reaches out after the mic. Something cold and slimy clasps around his torso, brings him up into the air, and smashes him into the stone floor. Dust raises. He rolls away before the python can grab him again with her long body.

Mikey hurries to the judge’s table, and tries to take the mic out of Pete hands. Leatherhead wraps his hands around Mikey’s, and holding the mutant turtle up in the air like doll: “Michelangelo. I’m doing this to help Pete, to help Slash, to help Rockwell. They have asked me to stay on this job. They are my friends.” His raspy, heavy voice breaks as he’s carries his first and best friend out of the room.

“I am your friend too!” A smoke bomb gets thrown. Leatherhead coughs. When the oxygen replaces the pollution in his lungs, he looks up and sees Michelangelo running back. Leatherhead doesn’t want to fight Mikey. Mikey doesn’t want to fight Leatherhead. But both of them are trying to help their friend.

Raph keeps wrestling and fighting the other giant, aggressively and violently.

***

Slash can’t do anything but just stand there. He is a brawler, a three meter turtle mutant made out of muscles and spike, he doesn’t know how to use his fists when another strong warrior is in agony. Her screaming has stopped tho, that must be a good sign. Now she’s just panting on her knees. Breathing heavily. So he tries reaching a hand to her: “You good?”

The ringing is clearly still there by how she doesn’t react to his words, but first notice the fingers out of the corners of her eyes. The wolf snarls and slaps the hand away. She fights to raise herself onto her feet, but every movement feels like a bat to the head, and she falls again onto one knee. She’s at least at bit taller than before, and her face shows anger, not pain: “You-”

Her deep growl is interrupted when Fishface swings by. He has the nerve to stop inches away from her, and he has the nerve to smile while doing so: “Well, well, well. Looks like the big bad wolf isn’t such a big bad wolf after all.” Fish Face looks up at Slash, now looking friendly, “Hello Slash. I am very honored that you let me into this race despite your threats of banning me last months. To show my gratitude, I will let you win. I mean, the fly boy can find his own machines. I’m not some errand boy-”

The Fishes friendly smile is not reciprocated. Slash clap his morning star in his hand: “You are dead meat for bribing the judges again.” He raises his heavy weapon. The other’s metal feet light up to signal fighting. But before the morning star can swing, and before the metal feet can kick, Rachell punches Fish Face so hard her tumbles through the air and at least 10 meters away from them, before going still on the floor. Blood drools out of his mouth and runs from his nose. The only way to know he isn’t dead is by his groans. She has never felt more satisfied hitting a jerk before.

Slash eyes the wolf. The wolf who before could barely find balance on her feet stand tall and strong. Rachell points at the enemy and through her pants she roars: “Fuck you!”

The big turtle asks, “You good? Has the mic stopped?” It’s first when he brings his hand up, that she whips around.

Her glare must be the scariest thing he has ever seen. And her deep growl is just as bad: “And you. fuck off!”

“What?” He knows she can’t hear him, but she could read his mothing and see his expression.

“I didn’t care about you speeding face first into a wall, you didn’t care when I flew off a fucking cliff. Don’t pretend you care now. You said you respect me, so give me all you got.” With her big paws pushes her skateboard back and forth, before getting onto it. But Rachell doesn’t move. Rachell looks up. A camera looks back.

***

“Michelangelo! Raphael! Did you two hear what I just said!?” Raph have long stopped fighting the snake, and has just let himself get half captured, only resisting a little bit so he can still screen light can still shine on him. He has watched it all. He has heard it all.

“What did she says?” Mikey asks as he flips away from the bigger but slower mutant.

Raph frees himself from the snake’s grip with only an annoyed grunt to the red monster. He doesn’t say anything, even when he pulls Mikey by his short bandana and towards their seats, that have somehow miraculously not been stolen. But again, the audience has probably been too busy enjoying the fighting in the middle of the room to think about their places.

Raph plops down with arms crossed, but Mikey sees a glint in his eyes, so Mikey whispers: “Why are we sitting down again?”

“You respect Rachell?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Good, then shut up and watch.”

This only leaves Mikey more confused, but it’s his older brother, and he knows Rachell the best, so Mikey trust him.

***

The tunnel slopes downwards. At the end is the finish ribbon.

Rachell is getting closer. So is Slash. Right behind her, he keeps swinging his morning star or grab rocks and throws after the wheels. She keeps dodging. He uses his size against her, she uses martial art techniques against him. 5 meters, 3 meters, 1 meter. The two mutants reach their hand out. Only a millisecond apart, Slash extends his claws and cuts the rope.

Slash pauses when met with cheering mutants. The screen above the tunnel is frozen on him framing him almost like an Olympic athlete winning with his chest over the rope, except he only won with half the length of his nail.

Mikey is the only one booing, and booing louder than anyone one could cheer but is stopped with Raph sending a shoulder punch, not because he didn’t want his girlfriend to, win it isn’t helping her to add another grinding voice to the obnoxious choir. Pigeon Pete becomes the one of the clapping the loudest for a short while, until Rachell snags the microphone and hammers it into the table. The crowd shuts up so there can only be heard the microphone’s metal hit the table. It’s a scary silence for most, but Rachell smiles in relief. It’s first there she feels how much her shoulders have tensed, how much her ears have been turned back and how tight her jaw was. Sweet, sweet silence.

The first thing to break the silence is Raph clearing his throat into his hand, and that’s the only acceptable sound for her. It’s the only sound not pounding her still ongoing headache or pushing her nausea. Rachell turns around. There are so many scared faces, but she only sees two of them. The two smaller turtles are sending small comforting smiles. They spread their arms, and she embraces them both. For the wolf, to win fight is to, but she wouldn’t trade a single kind of this hug for a lifetime of well earned arena tropies.

“Sorry dude, you were so close tho!”

“Nah, it’s fine. It was maybe, actually kinda fun.”

Raph and Mikey eyes each other, exchanges glances that said they had not had fun, that they are confused by her insane sentence, and worried if the constant ear stabbing have messed up her brain too. “Hey… uhmm. Wut now?”

Mikey scratches his head, allowing Raph to push him to the side and grab Rachell’s hands, “At least somebody here had a good time, because we are never going back to here again.”

“Oh, no, absolutely not.”

“Well, I can give you a comfort kiss, whatchu say about that?”

She has already smashed their faces together with such force, their teeth hurt each other a little bit. But the kiss softens.

Pigeon Pete screams: “And the winner is Slash!”

The loser, who has only had two minutes of peace, whips her whole body around to send lasers through her eyes in hopes her glare can roast the knock off turkey. She doesn’t know what’s worse, the fact that she lost or the fact that the turkey is still alive and yelling.

Her anger is overshadowed when Slash walks from the table and towards her, carrying the big heavy navigation machine that looks like a toy in his hand. She had so many plans and projects that could use it. But the not getting handed the machine is not what’s making the anger heat up, it’s that she lost.  It’s mocking her. She wants to punch it, she wants to punch him.

Raph places his knuckles to her arm. For some reason, for the first time in her life, it doesn’t feel like the world’s ending when she loses to someone, not while he’s there.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Rachell crosses her arms, looks up at the man who won over her and dead into his eyes as she sighs, “Okay, yeah, yeah, brag away, I deserve it,” expecting him to rub his victory in her face, but he is smiling, very subtle, but a smile, nonetheless.

And Slash says: “You deserve this. Here. Rockwell don’t need it anyway.”

The metal navigator machine is surprisingly light in her hands even though her long fingers can wrap it, no wonder why it’s used in under water technology. Many parts of its blue painted stripes have peeled off, which only shows it have had a life before now.

Slash raises a fist. Rachell smirks and pounds his knuckles: “You are not too shabby either.”

Two strong arms grab her torso and spin her around, she sees the smaller mutant turtle in red smiling proudly at her: “You really like to keep me waiting for that long, huh?”

When he lets go, Rachell throws the machine to Mikey, so she can return Raph’s hug threefold by scooping him up and crushing his shell so hard he can barely breathe. Slash and Mikey stares at the murder scene in shock. Despite the rough beginning, she gently puts him down, and plants another kiss on his lips. The otherwise hotheaded turtle immediately falls for the touch. She whispers: “Thanks for the comfort kiss.”

For the first time, Mikey doesn’t barge in between them. He grabs Raph’s arm and begins tugging the older brother to the exit: “Stop doing couple things! We need to PARTY!” The older brother reluctantly lets him be dragged, just wanting to go home.

Rachell wants to join them too, well, mostly Raphael. She’s interrupted mid step by Slash: “Hope to see you around, kid.”

“Yeah, but next time what about you are the judge on a something actually interesting, like a boxing arena? And maybe add a few more rules? Except the rule about reserved poses."

“I can add the rule about you being a massive bitch?"

She smiles: “Touché."

But her lighthearted face drops when he jokes: “Or the rule that you're a massive loser?"

Rachell snarls with a middle finger up to his face: “I dare you to say that again."

“Wow, wow, I didn't mean... I didn't actually mean anything by it. I'll shut up about."

Rachell grunts as an answer and is about to join the turtle brothersonce again, and once again, Slash stops her: “For what it's worth, you put up a good fight, and you could have beat me."

Mikey is still trying to drag his brother out of the exit, but Raph won't go any further. They are bantering, and bickering like they always do. He's waiting for her. She sighs, and looks back at Slash: “I have to go. But it was cool meeting you... Spike? Right? Raph's pet?”

“Kinda. I was his pet, past, but now I'm his equal, present.”

“Cool.”

“And you are?”

“I was his friend, past, I'm his girlfriend now. Present.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah," Rachell replies Slash, but her stare and softness is only reserved the red cladded turtle. And before anyone could stop her, she heading straight to him. Nothing else in in the room matters, only Raphael who made the world feel better, even when she lost. Only Raphael matters.

“What am I supposed to do with this thing?” Mikey has stopped by the exit and has let go of an increasingly exasperated Raph. The youngest examines the machines, and blows into it.

That’s where clarity finally hits her. Oh yeah! The BOREAS D90! Rachell pushes Mikey away by his face and grabs the navigator with open mouth and big heart eyes. She studies all the details as if the machine was her lover. And Raph studies her with a fondness he’s going to deny if Mikey asked.

Chapter Text

Mikey stretches his limp arms as he walks past the bathroom, and past it he hears Raph hymn happily for some reason, which is almost scarier than facing three squirrelanoids. So he back pedals back to the bathroom to see Raph still damp from the shower, now washing the shaving cream off his face, spraying on deodorant and cologne all over his body. The older brother hymning perkily was a sight to behold on its own, and on top of that he has just taken a shower, which is a miracle, not that Mikey can judge with his fewer than occasional baths.

“Wooooooaaah, duuude…”

Raph jolts by this sudden outburst.

Mikey points at the cologne in his brother’s hand: “Since when have you put on girly perfume?!”

Raph scoffs: “It's not ‘girly perfume,’ it's manly cologne.”

“Suuure, whatever you say.”

“I'm going on a date with Rachell later. She wants to show me something at the amusement park.”

Amusement park?! Mikey loves amusement parks! “Yooooo! Can I come with!?!”

“Of course not! You aren't coming with me on my fucking date!”

Mikey begins whining: “Why not?!” Raph usually loves to hang out with him, and Rachell too! And it was so long since Mikey saw her, whole three days ago in fact!

“It's a couple's thing. You wouldn't get it.” Raph goes back to the mirror, but is interrupted when Mikey pushes himself into his personal space, asking: “Do I need a girlfriend to hang out with you two?”

“Yes! Now, get the fuck out!” Raph forcibly pushes Mikey through the door and slams it behind him. Mikey has never had a girlfriend, not really. He has never been interested in anything past some fun flirting, but it sounds fun enough if he gets to hang out with people. Even though Mikey is alone in the hallway and sure Raph isn’t listening, he declares: “Then I will get a girlfriend!”

***

Although Savanti Romero wanted to destroy their timeline as they know it, Mikey wanted to thank the demon, because now he got a chance to see Renet one more time, which he can now ask her out and then hang out with Raph and Rachell. And now that their time travel adventure is over and the world is saved, Mikey can ask her out for real for real. She would probably love to see Mikey win over his brother in a dance contest, but Rachell is a bit tougher opponent.

When is a better time to ask out the girl of your dreams than under New York City’s beautiful night sky and in front of your brothers to show them how it’s done!

“It was nice fighting alongside you turtle warriors again, but alas, I have dip out.” Renet faces the group and waves with her time scepter, ready to leave.

Mikey steps past Leo, and winks at Raph, as if his brother haven’t already forgotten what he said. Mikey smiles up to her: “Hey, Renet, what if you and me did a little thing together?”

“Did a little thing together?”

“I can show you the best tv there ever is, and we can eat pizza! I’ll make the best pizza around!”

She pulls his face to hers and kisses him on his cheek: “Maybe in another time.”

He gained a kiss, but for some reason, this didn’t feel like a total win: “They do say nothing lasts forever. But do you want to be my nothing and last with me forever?”

Renet giggles as goes through her time portal. “Oh, you are so cute.” And then she leaves.

Welp, that didn’t go anywhere. What a bummer.

Leo pats Mikey’s shoulder: “Don’t be discouraged. There are plenty of other fish in the sea.”

Maybe that’s not a bad idea.

***

Now that it’s only himself and his skateboard patrolling the Big Apple, he might as well search for any friends to connect with. And there, in a run-down apartment with her window open is a boy resting half outside her window. He looks to be around his age. That’s perfect. Mikey jumps down and onto the balcony with the biggest smile he can flash: “Hey beautiful, are you WiFi? Because I feel a connec-”

The teenage boy screams, and before he can calm her down, he has reached into his bag and pepper-sprayed the turtle in the face. It stings!

Mikey rubs his eyes, as he stumbles backwards and off the balcony. Down he falls into the alley’s dumpster.

This didn’t go as planned.

***

“And then he pepper-sprayed me in the face!” Mikey has found himself retelling the story in the mutant animals secret warehouse. Their lair were filled with crates and good skating spots. As he whines about his misfortunes on the cold iron fence, Leatherhead and Pigeon Pete sits by his sides listening, while Rockwell is on the computers with too many monitors and Slash walks around training with his mace. Donnie is there too, looking over the shoulders of the monkey, half listening to the conversation in the background.

“I will never get a partner in this rate…”

Donnie asks half heartedly: “What have your plan been so far?”

“My plan?”

Donnie: “Yeah, you gotta have the perfect plan to ask out a girl, or boy, or whoever you like.”

"I don’t know who I like, I just want a date!”

Leatherhead: “There’s no need of a perfect plan…”

“I don't know, what to do! I have just flirted with people. Renet, then that boy on a balcony, then another person on a balcony, a thir-”

“Have you tried enlarging your scope?”

Leatherhead: “Maybe you shouldn’t need a date.”

Slash swings his mace after imaginary Kraangs: “Or maybe you should go after other mutants. Humans are only bad news after all.”

“But I don’t know any other mutants.”

Pigeon Pete: “You know us!”

“Will any of you guys go on my double date!?” Mikey’s eyes sparkles as he looks between Slash, Leatherhead and Pigeon Pete, for some reason…

The mutant animals exchange glances with gritted teeth and polite disgust behind their eyes. Donnie rolls his eyes and facepalms, not believing that his little brother just asked out the mutant animals so casually and confidently.

Leather head is the first to break the news to him: “It’s someone you should like in a romantic sense. You should take your time and get to know them and then fall for them like that.”

Mikey knows what dating means, but he’s desperate. Every day he doesn’t find a date is a day where he misses out on fun activities. Mikey throws his head back and groans. Love is such a pain! 

Pigeon Pete makes a “hmmm” sound as he scratches his beak: “Oh, I know this lovely cat mutant, Olivia. She’s a real catch and is searching for romance herself.”

“Really!? That’s awesome! She’s a catch, I am a catch! We are perfect for each other!”

Pigeon Pete: “I can tell you where to find her.”

Mikey has already jumped up from the fence and run out: “What are we waiting on!? Let’s go!”

“Right now?!” Pete flaps his wings and follows after.

“Wait, where are you two going!?” Donnie straightens up but doesn’t chase. He goes back to the screens with the Monkey.

***

The turtle gets led by the Pigeon into the well-known sewers. Just like Pete said, in an underground tunnel with obstacles and constructions perfect for skating is a group of mutants. The skateboards and roller blades makes echoes over the bricks as they roll back and forth in a hole is a dog mutant and a bearded lizard mutant. A giant red snake lady and a cat girl watch from afar. The girls is sitting on some ruins.

Normally Mikey would love the whole groups attention, and hang out with them, but right now he only got his eyes on the cat. Pigeon Pete gives Mikey an encouraging thumbs up before heading to the boys who greet him like an old friend. Mikey, on the other hand, finds a place directly beside the mutant cat, who first looks at him with big eyes.

“What up, girl?”

Olivia's eyes light up, and she smiles excitedly as if she has waited for this moment her whole life. Without him knowing, she has been waiting for romance because of all the books she has collected over the years.

Olivia: “The sky, that's what's up.”

Mikey laughs: “Good one!”

“I have a better one related to the sky. Listen.” She clears her throat, “Did it hurt when you fell from the sky? Because you are my angel.” The girl giggles, “I read that from a romance book.”

“It's good, but I can do one better. Do you believe in love at first sight, or do I need to walk by again?!”

Mikey has never understood love at first sight. Yes, he ca find people cool when he first meet them and is always up for befriending strangers, but even he knows that friendships takes time.

However Olivia giggles like a flustered kid, so he must be doing something right. And Mikey takes it as an opportunity to continue talking: “I'm pretty sure it's from a James bond movie, or maybe not.”

“I have never really watched a movie myself ever since I got mutated, and I no longer have any TV, and have never been in the cinema.”

Mikey slaps himself on his chest a little too excited: “No way! Me too! We have so much in common! What do you say if I invite you to a cinema to my home, this friday noon?!”

Olivia smiles big: “Like a date?”

“Yes! Exactly!”

“That sounds like so much fun! I'm in!”

***

If Leatherhead is right, which Mikey is sure he is, because his bestfriedn is always right, then Mikey needs to get to know Olivia more.

The youngest brother is rearranging furniture to look like there are three rows of seating, and sprinkles popcorn around the living room a bit. His tongue is out as he places his stuffed animals on the seats to remind of people in the movie cinema. It’s perfect.

Leo, Donnie, and Raph walk out of the dojo, confused by the scene.

The oldest brother begins: “What are you doing, Mikey?”

“I'm rearranging the living room to look like a cinema.”

“Uh, why?”

“For my date!”

The brothers seem all baffled, but it’s Raph who gets to ask first: “You got a date?”

“Yes, and it would be really nice if you guys left me and my daaate alone for the day, thank you very much. Now, get out and let me be to do the finishing touches to my masterpiece.”

“Oookay? If you say so?” Leo pushes two other brothers out of the lair, so they can stand by the empty, deserted rails, and look inside.

Raph: “Ten bucks, it's an imaginary friend.”

Donnie: “I think she’s real. Pigeon Pete talked about some girl a few days ago and Mikey asked for my smooth Donatello advice.”

“Yup, she’s imaginary.”

Donnie sends him an offended scoff.

Leo: “Maybe Mikey got lucky and met this someone.”

Raph: “You mean someone blind.”

“Yeah, you got a point.”

“Hi. I'm guessing you must be Michelangelo's brothers?” They hear a stranger’s voice from behind them. When they turn around there stands a mutant cat girl the same size as Mikey. They eye her with big shocked expressions before nodding. She normal and very much not blind. “So this is the right place?”

Donnie shows with hand gestures: “You go straight ahead, and it's the first thing on your right side.”

Olivia smiles: “Thank you!” and walks that way to the lair.

Leo elbows Donnie side: “What are you doing? We can’t invite just anyone to our secret lair.”

Donnie: “Relax, she seems harmless. Besides, Mikey can handle himself. I hope.”

His oldest brother scoffs as a respond but doesn’t push further: “Welp, guess the lair is off limit for a while. We should give the two some privacy.”

“I can't believe it. I'm calling Rachell.”

Leo and Donnie walks away, to head upwards while Raph calls Rachell over the t-phone. Her voice answers with casual: “Sup.”

“Mikey got a date.”

“A what now?”

“He has apparently asked out this girl, a real girl, a mutant cat girl.”

“You sure she's real and not some figment of his imagination?”

“I saw her with my own two eyes.”

“Is she blind? suffering from some kind of brain damage?”

“Come over and check it for yourself. I’ll plan on watching over them anyway in case she’s up to something. Or in case something funny happens.”

“I'll be there in fifteen.”

And with that the call ends.

Raph stands outside the lair, the same spot as before, waiting for Rachell to arrive, while keep looking into the lair. So far she hasn’t done anything suspicious. Raph knows Mikey can take care of himself, but his youngest brother have a tendency to let his guard down a little too much and just trust people, so she might get a hit in. A part of him wants her to just start going berserk, because they have been talking nonsense the past fifteen minutes and it’s kinda getting boring. He would love some action, although not on Mikey’s expense. Maybe this is a good thing for him. His little brother is growing up.

He hears her melodic voice calling his name and suddenly she runs up to him, hugging him tightly enough to carry him up from the ground. Raph hugs back just as tight. He doesn’t care if he laughs like a manly man or a dork, he’s just giddy to see her even though it hasn’t been long. Rachell let’s go, and for a moment they stare at each other. She’s wearing a black a red plaided dress and Raph can't stop finding her beautiful. He tucks at its end and looks it up and down as he asks: “This dress is new, isn't it?”

“Yeah, it stood outside this center owned by rich capitalists.”

“It looks good on you.”

Rachell can't help but smile. She hides it behind a palm, glad that she has fur to cover her heating cheeks. “Anyway, where's this girl you were talking about?”

“Look.”

The two heads pop around the edge to the entrance but hide behind the turnstiles to watch Mikey and Olivia sit in front of the tv still zapping through channels.

"This is gonna take a while. They have tried to pick a movie for fifteen minutes straight, but can’t decide because they keep yapping about loving every movie,” Raph gags.

"THIS ONE!” Mikey finally lands on a movie. It’s a romcom.

A new view, that Rachell comments on: “Since when do Mikey like lame romance movies.”

“I have never seen him even touch that junk.”

“Imagine changing your whole personality for some girl.”

Raph shakes his head: “He can be stupid, but I hope he would never be that stupid.”

Rachell adds: “She's a lot cuter than I thought she would be tho.”

“Hey, remember who you're dating.”

“I’m not a cheater. And she isn’t even my type anyway.”

“What's your type? Handsome? Smart? Strong?”

Rachell teases: “Well, that, but apparently also an arrogant loudmouthed douche bag.”

Raph teases back: “You love me when I'm an arrogant loudmouthed douche bag.”

“I suppose I do.”

Mikey and Olivia hear it all. They hear the couple snickering behind the turnstiles loud and clear.

Olivia asks Mikey: “They do know we can hear them, right?”

“Don't worry. Think about them as the other people in the cinema. I have heard there are a lot of loud people there, like-” Mikey jumps from one seat to the other, impersonating people you could find at a cinema. Olivia giggles at this, finding the young turtle adorable.

***

Mikey reaches a hand out to Olivia, who isn't used to climbing up buildings. She takes it and he helps her up on one of the rooftops. They don't mind Raph and Rachell who are sneaking after them like ninjas, except everyone is well aware of them.

Rachell asks not too discreetly: “Where do you think they are going?”

“My money is a big commercial sign they can sit on and eat pizza from a trash can.”

“I'm betting on just an actual trash can.”

Mikey finally shows Olivia to a small round table with a dirty tablecloth that has more holes in it than the moldy Swiss cheese on the paper plate. Beside the Swiss cheese are two plastic cups and a box with pizza, clearly stolen from a dumpster.

Raph: “Oh no, it's worse than I thought.”

Rachell shakes her head: “Much worse.”

Mikey takes out one of the two chairs so Olivia can sit on it, and he pushes her to the table like the gentleman he is. She seems like she likes it for some weird reason.

Mikey sits on the opposite side on the other metal chair which looks wet and cold. Nevertheless, the two begin talking and eating the Pizza.

Hiding behind a giant sign, Raph is too far away for him to hear their conversation, he can only observe the date as it goes on: “What do you think they are talking about?”

Rachell sits beside him, hiding as well, only peeking out to see and hear a little of what they are whispering about to each other. She mimics Olivia’s high-pitched voice in a dramatic manner: “She’s probably saying: "Oh, Mikey, this swiss cheese burns a hole in my stomach, but I'm eating it anyway, because you are too cute to say no to and I don't know what independence means."”

Raph instantly jumps on the joke with a big smile and mimics Mikey's voice: “"Oh, Olivia, I don't know what half of those words means anyway, because I'm illiterate."”

As they continue to mimic the other couple, they can't help but laugh over their creativity, loud enough that Mikey and Olivia knows what they are saying. Mikey and Olivia look over at the sign, well aware they are being followed by the two loud mouthed idiots.

Olivia sighs a bit tired: “Are they gonna follow us all day?”

But with a smile, Mikey says: “Think of it as the other people in the restaurant.”

“Nice thinking!”

The “couple” continues eating. Raph and Rachell continues to put their own dialogue on.

***

The shipping dock is as quiet as it can be with all the boats around, but no people to bother them. Olivia walk around the docks as Mikey bounces from item to item, having fun with his acrobatic skills. They talk about the recent comic books they have read.

Mikey: “Bro! Nah! You’re are so wrong. Wingnut wingnut and screwloose can totally take on arachnid man, their whole deal is that they win all the time with their super awesome technology!”

Olivia: “Dude, what are you talking about? Arachnid man can totally bench press those two with his superhuman strength.”

From a distance Raph and Rachell follow in their own acrobatic jumps over the shipping containers. Raph groans and spreads his arms in big motions: “Are they seriously still yapping about this comic books stuff.”

“Like you haven't done that before.”

“Yeah, but when I do it, I at least have something interesting to say.”

Rachell laughs and shakes her head.

Raph begins: “This is getting bor-”

Before he can finish, Rachell has taken his whole body and carried him off the ground and into a low dip so his surprised face meets her smile: “Let's get out of here. There's another amusement park not far away, I can make the roller coasters work.”

Raph smiles and lets himself be carried by her a little longer. “That would be cool.”

The pair doesn’t care about the two in the audience staring at them, Mikey with disgust, Olivia with pure fascination. They aren't that sneaky.

Mikey sticks his tongue out: “Eurgh, gross, why do they have to do that in public?”

Olivia says, swooning: “They are so romantic.”

“I know, it's sickening.”

Chapter Text

The buttered toasts crunch and crumble on the plates as family eats breakfast together, the usual scrambled eggs, and bacon. Reluctantly, Mikey pauses from shoving more scrambled egg on his second toast when his phone rings. On the screen is a photo of younger April with a bracelet and acne. Big sister A.

Mikey answers the phone chirpy as always: “What’s up April?”

It’s her voice, but with added strange mannerism and glitchy noise: “Mikey, meet me at China Town, alone. There's is some tasty food specially for you.”

“Cool! I'll be there in five.”

The call ends. Mikey happily pushes his plate to the others who are curious after having only heard half of the conversation.

Like the control freak he always is, the oldest brother asks: “You are not gonna eat the rest?” He has swallowed his mouth clear, as the only one of the brothers to do that ever.

“No need, April has found something and wants me to try it out.”

Leo gets up: “Cool. Where are we heading exactly?”

 “Sorry bros, she invited me specifically. I’m obviously her favorite.” The youngest turtle points his thumbs at himself and waltzes out.

The rest shrugs it off and continues with their food.

When they are done and cleaned the dishes, the turtles group together in the dojo to warm up. But Donnie takes a break when his t-phone rings. A photo of a yellow cartoon monkey shows up.

“Hey Michael.”

With an odd speech pattern and a scratchy sound Mikey’s voice says: “Donnie. April and I have found alien devices in China town. We need you but come alone.”

Donnie frowns: “Shouldn't the others hear about this too?

“No. We only need your technical skills. Come alone.”

The conversation is abruptly cut short. Donnie looks at Raph, Leo, and Splinter, who return the wide eyes, all expecting him to tell what it was about.

“Sorry master Splinter, I need to go.”

“Is it an emergency?”

“I'm not sure. All I know is, that Mikey and April need me.”

The leader includes himself into the conversation: “Do you want us to come with you?”

“No it's fine, I can figure it out. And I don't think Mikey wants you to come along anyway. It’s gonna be fine.” Donnie leaves. Raph sends grimace over how weird that was and Leo shrugs but acknowledges it. The training is about 10 minutes shorter than usual. April arrives.

So Leo times out the sparring and waves her over: “Did you guys find everything out?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn't you and Mikey call Donnie to do something?”

“I haven't seen Mikey nor Donnie all morning.”

Alarm bells begin screaming in their heads. Now it’s Raph's turn. His phone screams and on the screen is a zoomed in photo of Rachell talking excited about a brain junk article to Donnie, something Raph doesn't understand, but he adores her passion. As he puts the phone to his ear, he walks away from the three others in the room.

He wrinkles his nose when Rachell’s voice is her voice but something is different. Something is off: “Raphael. I'm at the warehouse at xx-street. Meet me there, alone.”

“What is going on?”

But he’s only met by an unsatisfying answer: “There is no time. Just come. I need to talk to you in private.”

The call ends, and Raph is left in the dojo with three pairs of eyes waiting to hear what the brief conversation was about, having only heard his end, but he’s left just as much in the dark as them.

For once Leo’s nosiness was welcomed, “What was that?”

“I don't know… But Rachell sounded off… She wanted me to meet at xx-street. We should go there, and check it out.”

April: “Doesn't this whole thing seem weird?”

The green cane is silenced a bit against the soft rug on the floor, but still loud enough for them to turn around and see Splinter standing there. “April is right. If she did not call Michelangelo, then who did?”

Leo furrows his brows, “I was thinking the same thing. It could be a trap.” He turns to April: “Okay, April, you stay here.”

“No way! Forget that! I’m coming with you!”

“Fine. Just stay close.”

“Be diligent my students. I sense something dire on the horizon.”

***

Bang. Bang. Bang. Her knuckles hitting the leather pads echoes over and over again. The metallic machine sound is drowned out by each of her punches as she practices with the mechanical boxing machine she has built. She dodges its blows and strikes again hard enough to knock it back and make it rock.

Suddenly Rachell's home glows pink as her Kraang communication device vibrates.

The wolf stops to take off her handwraps and throws them on her shelf. She connects the communicator to her computer's translator once more, like she has done many times before. A block of text appears one word at the time as Subprime gives his speech. To her surprise, the Kraangs are talking about an unknown army of enemies, she has never heard of before, unfortunately, without saying their names or describing their appearance.

Subprime: “We all know them, we all fear them, we all hate them, and for good reasons. The army of giant beasts have finally found Earth and have sent a scout ship to search for our hideout. Fortunately, they are as dumb as they are brawny and can't track our hidden location, but we can track them, so there's nothing to worry about as long as they are thousands of miles away. Any questions? No? Now get back to work!”

And just like that, the signal drops as if it has never been there to begin with. The globe communicator rests.

Rachell frowns, reading the text over and over again and again with a fist tapping her lower lip, as if she’s trying to figure out a puzzle. What does this mean? Who are they talking about? Rachell prints the text to paper and heads out the door.

***

Entering the quiet lair, she walks around, calling out all their names, but nobody responds, not even Splinter. The TV is turned off, the punching bag is still, and the food has been eaten, so it doesn't seem like they have been forcibly pulled out of their routine out of nowhere.

Rachell calls Raph’s phone, but he doesn't pick up, then Leo, Donnie, and Mikey; it's futile. Rachell enters Donnie's laboratory and goes through his desktop PC, but he has apparently not been on it since last night, where he has added some modifications to his submarine. Rachell sighs and shoots the group a message commanding them to tell her where they are right away when they can. She slips the phone back in her weapon belt and reads the Kraang message one more time, when loud steps can be heard in the living room, and booming voices call out.

Leatherhead: “Michelangelo!? My friends!? We have dire news.”

Slash: “Is anybody here!?”

Pigeon Pete: “Hello!?”

Rachell pops out her head, Rockwell is the first to notice her, thanks to his mind powers. “They are all gone, and won't pick up the phone.”

Slash: “New girl?”

“Rachell, actually.”

Leatherhead: “Do you know where our friends are, Rachell?”

“No clue. But if the four of them are together with Splinter, I wouldn't worry too much.”

Slash: “So, why are you here?”

“I just came here a few minutes ago because my kraang communicator went ballistic.”

Pigeon Pete: “Funny coincidence! Our friend, professor Kurtzman, told us about his telecom going crazy, but doesn't know what they were talking about, so we were hoping the turtles knew anything.”

Rachell gives them the paper with the transcription, and they read it, also not understanding.

The paper looks small in the big blue turtle’s hand: “Do you know who they are talking about?”

“This is all they said.”

Rockwell had a speech pattern: “Whoever or whatever they are talking about, if the kraangs are hiding from it, I'll only fear the worst.”

“Yeah, it's bad news, but it gets worse.”

Slash: “How?”

“The signal came from the technodrome.”

The other mutants gasp in unison: “What!?”

Leatherhead shakes his head: “That's impossible. It has been brought down.”

“Apparently not enough. I'm guessing they are trying to fix the thing.”

Slash: “Then we need to take it down.”

“Give me five minutes. Now that we are here, I might as well borrow a few things from Donnie's lab.” The wolf grabs four filtration masks to breathe under water, a tracker, and a grappling hook.

***

Outside New York and in the water, Rachell is rowing a boat with Rockwell and Pigeon Pete on, while Slash and Leatherhead are swimming beside them. They are slowly heading to where the Technodrome sank.

Rockwell complains: “Can't this boat go any faster?”

Rachell answers annoyed: “Can’t you two just fly?”

Pigeon Pete: “I need to save energy for battle.”

“And moving objects, people or myself with telekinesis demands a lot of mental effort. Not that you would understand.” The monkey could not have been mutated to any more fitting animal.

Rachell bites: “You know, as long I can throw a punch hard enough, only a few things are unmovable, and I don't need telekinesis for that.”

“Is the boat one of those things?”

Rachell barks: “It's clearly moving, but you won't if you don't shut the fuck up.”

“What an intelligent comeback, real classy. Are you sure you stole the right technology from Donatello? And not just picked random shiny trash?”

“For your information, I've helped Donnie in his work, not that you would know, when you're clearly too much up your own ass to help anyone.”

Rockwell sighs and rolls his eyes: “This gives me a lot of faith. The already stupid turtle asks the even dumber-”

Rockwell doesn't get to finish before Rachell has jumped up and grabbed him by the throat with one hand. She stretches her arm, holding his body dangling over the now rocking boat. Rockwell screams out scared monkey sounds and tries to kick free, but she's too strong.

Rachell glares at him and growls angry: “If you call me or Donnie stupid again, I will rip your teeth out and lobotomize you with them. Capeesh?”

“Stop it!” Slash yells it without looking back.

Rachell grunts, but carries the monkey back into the boat and lets him go. Rockwell massages his throat, completely scared and shocked: “Savage…”

Slash asks: “How much longer, Doctor?”

Rockwell checks the area for any intelligent life with telepathy to measure where they are: “We are here.”

The two aquatic mutants stop swimming and just float on the surface. The water is dark and the Technodrome is too far down to be seen.

Slash: “Woah, we gotta swim a bit to get all the way down.”

Pete: “I don't think I can hold my breath for that long.”

Rachell gives Pete and Rockwell the devices she has borrowed from Donnie: “Here, you two take these oxygen masks and holders, so you can breathe under water. Here's a tracker too. Just press it, if you need my help.”

Slash: “You aren’t coming?”

Rachell: “Somebody has to make sure the boat doesn't float away.”

Slash: “Alright mighty mutant animals! Let's move.”

Pete and Rockwell each grab onto one of their aquatic friends, to be carried faster through the water and down the Technodrome. When they arrive at the eneormous spaceship, they quickly find the entrance, where Leatherhead and Slash grab the metal doors and begins pulling them open. This alarms the kraangs, who gather ready by the entrance. They get quickly flooded by all the water, and the mutants swim into the hall, but it doesn't take long before the doors are sealed again, and the water drained. As the alarm screams in every corner of the mothership, the four move fast through the corridors. The two giants crush everything they meet. When they arrive at the room with computers, Leatherhead and Slash clear the floor of all the kraangs, so Rockwell can take over. The two giants block the door they went through, so the Kraangs can't enter.

Slash: “You think you can hack it, doc?”

Rockwell: “Of course I can, how difficult can it be for someone with my intellect?” But Rockwell freezes to stone when he sees the complexity of the different panels.

“You good?” Slash asks.

Rockwell: “I might not be an engineer, and only have a PHD in biology, but it will take me no time to figure this out.”

Rockwell begins touching the screens, studying everything. He presses some flickering lights like they are buttons, and two other doors open, giving the Kraangs a way in. Four Kraangs in gorilla suits walk in, same size as Leatherhead. Slash keeps his door closed. Leatherhead roars as he runs to the new enemies. But their hands change to stun batons, and electrocute Leatherhead so he falls unconscious to the ground.

Slash screams: “Leatherhead!”

The big turle tries to attack, but gets sprayed in the face by some gas, and knocked out cold. Pete and Rockwell try to attack, Rockwell with his telekinesis, and Pete with his beak, but the two are grabbed and restrained.

Rockwell’s helmet, which allows him to use his telekinesis, is removed, as well as the filtration masks. Then the gorilla suits drag the knocked out Slash and Leatherhead over the floor, and carry a restrained Rockwell and Pete, to throw them all inside a prison chamber.

They are captured.

That’s when Pigeon Pete takes out his tracker: “I’m calling Rachell for help.”

Rockwell tries to yank the device out of Pete’s hands, but Pete slaps back. Rockwell snarls: “We do not need that beast’s help.”

Pete: “We are in a prison, and our friends are unconscious!”

“I can get us out fine on my own!”

Pete presses the tracker, sending a signal to Rachell, and Rockwell yells: “No!”

***

Rachell, who has been lying in the boat with closed eyes, and hands behind her head, hears the tracker's beeping.

The wolf doesn’t even checks it. She immediately puts her mask on and points the grappling hook down at the water. It shoots a claw, and it rockets through to hit the side of the technodrome, and she jumps in. The graplling hook pulls her in such speeds, she slices through the water and arrives at the mothership in no time. Still holding on to the grappling hook line to not float away anywhere, Rachell examines the area with just her eyes. Is there any entrance? A vent! A vent that drains the water out. Rachell shoots the hook. It pulls her to it. When she's there, the wolf binds the rope around her waist, to not slip away from the side, and with a kunai, she screws the grid open and crawls in, grabbing the sides to push herself forward.

Rockwell's voice reverberates in her head as he calls to her telepathically: “This is doctor Rockwell. I'm sending you this message telepathically. We do not need your help. We are fine. I repeat, we are fine.”

Rachell: “Well, I'm already here. So just tell me where you are.”

Even telepathically he sounds annoying: “I do not need help from such a simple minded brute!”

“Oh, when I find you, I'll show you how much of a brute I can be.”

Rockwell gasps offended, too offended to notice Pete sitting by Leatherhead. The alligator is squirming in pain.

Pete: “Uhm… Rockwell?”

Rockwell raises an index finger: “Wait Pete, I'm busy with a delinquent.”

“But there's something wrong with Leatherhead!”

Rockwell gets down to check on Leatherhead, and just like Pete said, there's something wrong. His breathing is erratic, and his pulse is without a stable rhythm.

Rockwell gasps: “Wolf girl! Truce! We are in prison chamber, 46! You need to hurry! Leatherhead's heart beat is unstable! Electrocuted! I will perform CPR, but you need to get us out as quick as possible possible!”

Rachell arrives at room, half filled with water. Again. Nothing but stupid water. Urgh. She points the grappling hook at the ceiling and gets dragged out and into air, where she can finally move freely. Rachell kicks a grid open and gets into a a still wet hallway. There she's met by one of the gorilla guards. It has Rockwell's helmet.

It swings its electric pods after her, she dodges and cut two pods off, and steals the helmet before taking the brain out of the robot. Rachell carries the two electric pods and the helmet as she rushes down the hallway towards prison chamber 46 in lightning speed. On the way, she eyes all the technology and rips out all the specific technology pieces she can get her hands on, cutting it out from the defeated Kraang robots, from the computers she passes, or from the metal boxes on the way.

Rachell runs to the chamber, where Pete is knocking frantically on the door, calling her name: “We are here!”

The wolf throws all the technology to the ground and hurriedly opens the pad lock, where she cuts some wires and reattaches them together. After less than 30 seconds, the door opens. Rockwell is doing CPR on Leatherhead. “You need to carry Leather out of here, so I can get to a defibrillator.”

Rachell begins quickly assembling the technology on the ground she has stolen, as she says: “No, keep doing CPR.”

“But-”

“Just do it for fucks sake!”

With no other choice Rockwell continues to do CPR. Pete fidgets nervously in the corner. Within another minute, Rachell pushes Rockwell aside with her assembled defibrillator. She places the two electric rods on Leatherhead's chest. She says to Rockwell: “Tell me when to shock.”

Rockwell checks Leatherhead’s pulse, he has trained for this, and he goes back: “Now.”

Rachell shocks Leatherhead. Rockwell checks Leatherhead's pulse, counts a few seconds and says: “Again.”

Rachell does. Rockwell repeats like before: “One more time.”

Rachell shocks again. When the ape checks Leatherhead, he can breath over his friend: “He’s stable.”

“Leatherhead!” Pete cries out and hugs the still unconscious alligator.

As Rachell wraps the defibrillator together and puts it in her belt, Rockwell stares at her.

So she snaps: “What are you staring at, bitch.”

But the monkey is too dumbfounded to react to her talk: “How did you make the defibrillator?”

Rachell chucks Rockwell's helmet into his face, so he has to massage his now hurting nose. And Rachell stands up: “With my stupid mind and non-telekinesis hands.”

Rachell struggles only a little when she lifts Leatherheads upper body over her back and begins walking out the prison, dragging his legs behind her. Her eyes darts everywhere for any kraangs. There is none. Pete struggles to carry the Leatherhead's tail, trying to help. Rockwell uses his telekinesis to carry the still sleeping Slash, but still has the audacity to ask, “Where are you going?”

“The computer rooms. I'll need to get into the system, to get an emergency rescue vessel, as well as check out who their enemies are.”

Rockwell: “I hate to crush your dreams, but it is unlikely that you can simply gain unauthorized access to the computer systems of an alien race. Even I had trouble finding my ways in.”

Rachell: “If you want to hack into a computer system, then maybe don't get a degree in biology.”

They arrive at a computer room, where only a handful of kraangs are. They get quickly swept away by Rachell. Gone. Leatherhead and Slash get put up against the wall as Rachell begins typing into the computer, making her way through the systems.

Rockwell: “I will eat my own hat if you somehow manage to-”

Rachell gains access into the computer system and sends him a smug looking face: “I'm a great cook too, do you want your hat sauteed, marinated or in a puree?”

Rockwell finds himself dumbfounded yet again: “How did you…?”

“I’m just this great.”

She does her work, first looking over Technodrome's layout, to see if there are any emergency rescue vessels nearby. There are only a few, and they are far between, but the closest is a few doors down the hallway. It’s the only capsule in vicinity so they have to make it count. Technodrome seems very unstable, still damaged from the turtle’s encounter. Then, Rachell goes through the files. Maybe they have some documents about the so-called enemy they talked about earlier. The only lead she gets is a map over the world with a red dot, tracking something in the Antarctica. Rachell connects the map to her t-phone, so she can see it as well, and track them down whoever it is.

Rockwell: “Who are they tracking?”

“You have been standing here the whole time, and read everything I have just read, right?”

“Yes?”

“Then how the fuck would I know!? Do you think the computer just sends me extra unwritten information telepathically?”

Rockwell: “You are really rude.”

With a middle finger up, she says: “Fuck you.”

Pete who has been nervously standing on the lookout by the door, sees an army of Kraangs running in their direction. He screams: “Kraangs!”

The rooms gets flooded with robots. Rachell cuts down one wave after the other, while Rockwell uses his telekinesis, and Pete flies around, hammering his beak into the robots or grabbing them with his talons.

But some of the Kraangs turn their attention to the still Slash and Leatherhead. They try to shoot but are instantly defeated by Rachell and Rockwell.

Rachell: “We need Slash and Leatherhead out of here. First, I'll try and take the technodrome down. Rockwell, prepare your telekinesis. You need to carry them out as fast as possible. As in yesterday fast!”

Rockwell: “How will I get them out?”

Rachell hurries to the computer and presses a few things: “There’s a rescue vessel down the hall ready now.”

The doors down the hallway open.

Suddenly two gorilla suits and an army of kraangs swarm them. The room is crowded. The air tight. Rockwell, Pete, and Rachell barely dodge the shots. Leatherhead and Slash are ignored completely.

“Let’s get out of here!” Rachell hammers a fist down on the screen. Another alarm goes through the Technodrome: “Warning, Kraangs, the Technodrome will be what’s called destroyed! Warning!”

The kraangs stop to look up and around. Water leaks in and fast. Before anyone can say more, the room is completely filled with it. The kraangs have stopped shooting, confused and trying to enter something into the computers, but to no avail.

Rachell uses her grappling hook to fling herself near Slash and Leatherhead and puts on the spare mask on the alligator and donates her mask own to the turtle. Rockwell and Pete hold their breaths and swim up just behind her.

Rachell signals them to follow her as she grabs leatherhead by his arm, and shoots her grappling hook out to the hallway leading to an emergency vessel. The rope slings the two through the corridors. Meanwhile Rockwell and Pete has to swim, while carrying Slash with them with Rockwell’s mind and Pete’s body.

Rachell grits her teeth when pain shoots through her leg. Lasers flies past them. One of the kraangs has shot her. The kraangs are after them.

Blast, blast, blast. One shoots Rockwell’s hand, and he tucks it into his chest. The water becomes red. And for a moment the ape stops swimming. The kraang grabs onto his ankle and pulls him back. He’s caught. He is about to scream, but the kraang gets kicked off by Rachell, who has used her grappling hook to rocket into the robot. And again, she uses the device to kick off the rest of the kraangs keeping them away from Pete and Rockwell.

Pete and Rockwell who has stopped to look. She sends them a threatening glare they understood even without telepathy: “Move!”

Pete and Rockwell continue to swim, now carrying the two larger mutants.

Rachell fires her grappling hook once again to go for the last kraang in the corridor, but the kraang shoots the cord in half and she is stranded in the water. The kraang swims towards her and tackles her through the water by grabbing her stomach and swimming down the corridor with her. She rips its limbs apart and its brain out.

Rockwell and Pete have finally managed to get into the metal ball, their emergency vessel. It filters all the water out so now they get air. They gasp after it. Sweet, sweet air.

That’s when they see Rachell arrive outside the vessel. She gets in through the hatch, and gets on her knees to breathe and exhale sharply.

“Finally. Now, where’s the control panel?” Rachell checks metal ball, but there’s nothing. No screen, no panel, no hologram, nothing. The control panel is on the outside.

“Oh no… This can’t be true…”

Rockwell: “What is it? What can’t be true?”

Rachell: “I’m sending you four back.”

“What?”

Rachell hands him her t-phone: “Give this to my friends, Donnie will figure out who these new enemies are.”

Pete: “What is going on?”

“Just trust me on this.” Rachell inhales a deep breath in, and opens the hatch. Some water gets in, but is filtered out immediately before she closes the hatch. She pushes her way out to the corridors where there’s a control panel for the vessel. She can make it leave from here.

Pew! Pew! More lasers flies by. The kraangs has found her once again. But they can be dealt with after. Right now, her focus is on the control panel. The mighty Mutant animals need it.

She presses the buttons and thinks: “Rockwell, can you hear me?”

“Yes, loud and clear.”

“I can’t swim, so I might not make it to-”

“You can’t swim?!”

“Tell my friends they gave me a good year and they shouldn’t mope around. And tell Raphael I love him, and he looks ugly when he’s sad.”

“What do you mean!? Rachell! No!” But before he can think more, the vessel shoots out the Technodrome and to the surface.

Rachell has sent them, and now she’s fending off the kraangs as best she can in water. Slicing them down, crushing them, but gets quickly overpowered by the many. She is held back by the many robotic arms, and as she tries to fight free, her eyes slides down, her chest tightens, and everything goes to black. She doesn’t want to die.

***

Rockwell shakes Slash and Leatherhead as much as possible. Pigeon Pete asks: “What are you doing!? What is going on!?”

“Help me wake them up!”

Pigeon Pete does so. Now they are both frantically shaking the aquatic mutants. Finally, something happens. In unison, Leatherhead and Slash wake up to sit with pained groans. “What in the world happened?”

Rockwell: “No time to explain! The Technodrome is destroyed and Rachell is stuck in it! She needs help!”

As if the universe hasn’t proven him wrong enough times today, the metal ball begins rocking back and forth and they hear a loud gasp as the wolf girl fights her way into safety, but not without collapsing to he knees and palms first and coughing out water. Air.

Rockwell stares at her, at the half kraang robot that is mounted to her back and how it’s engines have been used to propel her up. But for some reason, he doesn’t try to touch the fine machinery, but her shoulder when he kneels down beside her: “Rachell?”

“Don’t you dare say a word,” Rockwell knows what’s she talking about just by the glare, but she doesn’t push his arm away, that is until Slash asks: “Are you alright kid?”

For some reason, her slap against his arm is way weaker than he has anticipated, but maybe he knows why.

"I’m fine. Quit starring and get this thing moving.” She bites and find the seat furthest away from them, looking at the water where the Technodrome is, or what’s left of it.

Slash mumbles: “Wow, and I thought I knew a bratty attitude before.” The giant jumps into the water, and begins pushing the ball. Leatherhead stares confused and a bit angry at the wolf and her crossed arms and bouncing legs. She doesn’t seem to notice or at least care.

"You gonna help me big guy?”

Leatherhead jumps into the water and starts pushing as well. They are all tired and sore, and there’s a long way to the main land. It doesn’t help the awkward silence.

Rachell’s leg hasn’t stopped bouncing once.

Slash hates this, he’s bored and tired and angry and he doesn’t even remember half of what happened. “Sooo, doc, Pete? You gonna tell me what happened?”

“Oh yes, if I have to say it succinctly-"

“The technodrom is gone. Rockwell saved the day with his amazing telekinetic powers. That’s all you need to hear.” Rachell snarls in a low growling voice.

Slash asks: “Yeah, I got that part, but how? And how did we all survive?”

"Oh, you see my gentlemen, let me explain it succinctly-" Rockwell interrupts himself when he feels burning eyes glare at him. Her teeth are showing her sharp canines that could rip his head off, but for some reason, he’s a lot less afraid than before.

"Excuse me Slash, while I talk to Rachell.”

"Uh… yeah, sure?”

"Privately.”

Rockwell turns his telepathy to the wolf for the third time today: Why do you look so angry?

Rachell snarls back in her head: Just take the credit! Why do you have to explain to them what happened?! Nothing happened, just still with it and get it over with!

Pigeon Pete looks back and forth as the two other mutants make big angry gestures and even bigger angrier faces.

I didn’t save them! You did!

Then give Pete the credit. Just keep me out of it!

We are a team, we are the mutantanimals, and most of all, I need to report to them what happened!

You don’t have to report shit! And especially not that almost everything killed us, and that I almost died!

This is all what your reaction is about?! Your ego!

If you tell them anything, I will kill you. This was what she yelled at him through her conscious thoughts, but he could hear all the unconscious ones too. Her eyes were squinting, her arms crossed and he teeth barred, but thanks to his telepathy, he knew how fast her mind went, it went at a lightning speed and in no good directions. She was freaking out, as the youth put it. She was scared.

Rockwell’s face softened, he put his hands down to his sides as he pushed himself up on the wobbly floor.

Rachell instantly straightened up, crossing her arms even tighter to her body and bend her leg up to her chest. She spit out loud: “What are you doing?!”

Rockwell stops. What is he doing? He doesn’t even have a plan. But a real scientist is always curious. A real scientist always asks. Rockwell steps hesitantly closer, making her press her back more into her seat: “Rockwell?!” She roars a warning. He steps a bit closer, studying her thoughts and behavior, and he sees the more he studies her behavior the more she looks like a scared wolf: “Fuck off Monkey, or I’ll kill you!”

The ball stops moving, and starts rocking when both Slash and Leatherhead heard this as a signal to intervene again.

"Look wolf girl, you were fun at the race, but if you come with any more threats to my friends again I will-”

“No no, it’s fine, you two stay out of this.” Rockwell shakes his head at them before he gets down on his knees in front her. Rachell has retracted her knees to her chest, her crossed arms to her torso and her back to the seat. She’s snarling and growling, her ears back.

Rockwell says calmly: “I wanted them to know everything you have done, but if you don’t want that, then I won’t.” Rachell’s ears loosens and aren’t as retracted as before and her growling becomes less loud. Rockwell continues: “But I want to officially thank you for saving me and my friends. And… I want to apologize too… Between you and me, I was the bad scientist.”

Rachell’s seems a bit confused at the last part, but has understood enough of the rest to relax more. Her anxiety isn’t gone tho. He can’t do anything about that.

The ape stands straight, or as straight as his monkey form allows him and he walks back to the other side of the ball where he sits: “Carry on gentlemen, don’t let me ruin your hard work.”

Slash and Leatherhead looks confused at him with so many questions, Pigeon Pete too, but that’s normal. They want to ask questions but before they can say anything, Rachell’s low voice cuts through: “I thought I was as good as dead.”

All eyes landed on her.

"I hate when that happens.”

”You thought you were going to die?” Slash says the same thing as her, but changing  the words slightly as if that would help in any way.

“I can’t swim.”

Slash yells: “You can’t swim?!” Leatherhead is just as shocked but he keeps his mouth shut at least. Rockwell sends an approving nod.

Rachell shrugs her shoulders and says in a monotone voice: “Never been taught how to.”

“Are you insane!? You could have died! Why haven’t you told us you couldn’t swim? That is the most stupidest-”

“I’m alive aren’t I.” Rachell spits onto his feet,

"Only by a hanging hair apparently! Rockwell told us you needed help!”

Rachell jumps up and points in Slash’s face: “If you weren’t there, I didn’t have to baby four big mutant babies. I don’t need help. Have never needed it, will never need it.”

“But what if you’re on your own, huh? You’re just going on to some suicide mission then?”

“You don’t think I have almost died before alone? This isn’t my first rodeo.” She spits out the last sentence again, but something is showing in her eyes. Something fragile.

Leatherhead plops down. Even on the bench and her standing he’s taller than her. But his raspy, heavy monster voice says with sympathy: “I’m sorry you had to go through that alone.”

Rachell forces her eyes shut and turns away from them as if not looking at them would make all this disappear.

Rachell becomes quiet. They wait for her to answer. She doesn’t.

Leatherhead asks: “But you aren’t anymore.”

Rachell grunts, “What? You gonna tell me, you guys will be my new therapy group?”

“You went to the turtles today, didn’t you?”

The sole mention of them made her body somehow relax. Rachell chuckles, “Yeah…”

“It’s good to have someone to rely on. We had Rockwell to rely on after all.”

Rachell turns around with a lighter: “Hah! You think that monkey saved your asses?” She sits down on the bench, while they gather around, both to hear the story and to get some rest after the whole mission.

When she finishes, Slash asks: “Why would you hide all that?”

Rachell shrugs nonchalantly: “It’s nothing important, the mission is over and we are all alive.”

“I guess so…”

Awkward silence again.

Rachell scratches her neck: “I mean… I’m not good with people, or feeling other than temper… sooo…”

Slash: “I’m not good with my temper.”

Leatherhead: “Me neither.”

Pigeon Pete: “And I eat too much bread crumbs!”

Rachell chuckles and shakes her head. Somehow, this has lifted the pressure enough for her body to spread out on the alien boat. The sudden ache, soreness and overall exhaustion hits her like a train, but somehow, she feels better. “You guys don’t seem so bad.”

Slash: “What do you say about we teach ya how to swim? Some swimming lessons?”

Rachell chews on his words before she says: “That would be great.”

Slash: “See, we found a map that tells us where the enemies are,”

“However not who or what they are.” Rockwell interrupts.

Slash continues: “We destroyed the technologies and without a scratch, and with a stronger bond than ever.”

Both Rachell and Rockwell makes grimaces as they make a hand motion that said “more or less” without telepathy.

“I would still say this mission went pretty successfully then, albeit some small bumps on the road.”

Rachel snorts: “Yeah, but absolutely not on my top 50 missions.”

“You have a list?” Pete coos.

“I have a list over lots of things. Favorite TV series, favorite food, favorite battle ship, favorite airplane to fly-”

“Favorite way to shut up?” Slash jokes.

“Yup. Nr. 1 - If your name is Rachell, don’t.”

Slash shakes his head, still smiling, “No wonder you like the turtles so much. You fit exactly into their family.”

“I sure hope so. I plan on staying there for as long as possible.”

“You gonna marry Raph?”

“Of course not, it’s a stupid concept, especially when we mutants can’t even benefit from it, at least not like humans. But Raph would look cute in a bride dress.”

“You would kiss him in bride dress?”

“I would kiss him with clown make up.”

Rockwell mutters: “I don’t fathom how you would kiss that brute at all…”

“Okay, smart guy. What kind of person do you like?”

***

The turtles’ snorring only makes her already tired body even heavier. Rachell drags her feet through the turnstiles to see Mikey nose deep in the cushioned seats, completely gone. So is Leo in the bean bag. Donnie has his face planted on his desk, his breath whistles with every exhale through the small tooth gap.

Rachell lastly checks Raph in his room, who seems to have fallen asleep as well, even in the sharp light that he hasn’t bothered to turn off.

With the silence of a trained ninja, Rachell sits down beside him, running her fingers over his relaxed brows there are usually wrinkled. Then over his cheek that are usually clenched. His soft features are almost just as endearing as his angry scowl. And she can’t help but fall more for him.

Raph blinks his eyes open, and he sees her beautiful smile. The light encircles her almost like a halo. He could get used to waking up like this.

Rachell teases: “Morning sleeping beauty.” She means it tho. He is beautiful.

Raph couldn’t be happier to see her again, although a bit confused too: “Rachell?”

“I came here to show you guys something. It’s about the kraangs. Some weird things has happened.”

Raph grabs her hand and gently squeezes her finger as he places them to his mouth: “Can’t it wait? We have just escaped Shredder’s stupid trap, and I’m beat. Let’s just sleep for a little.”

Rachell chuckles as she lays down beside him. She has to curl up in his too small bed for her: “Weird way to ask me to stay here with you.”

Raph sends a lopsided smile: “Well, I got you to lay down, so I would call that pretty successful, like I always am.”

“Sure” She remembers what she almost forgot, “oh and one more thing.”

He yawns but then waits for her to finish. “Slash and Leatherhead are going to teach me how to swim.”

Raph frowns: “Didn’t you go on and on about how you didn’t want me to teach you?”

“Well, I got a wake up call by almost drowning today, so now I’m kinda forced to take some swimming classes. It would be nice if you would join as a teacher from time to time.”

“Hold up. You almost drowned?” He sounded too awake and worried for her liking. So she nudges his wrinkles away from between his furrowed eyebrows.

“I’ll tell you about it another day. You severely need your beauty sleep.” Rachell nuzzles her head into his forehead. She caresses his cheek as he holds her hand. It doesn’t take him long before he’s lights out. It must have been one heck of a day for him. And doesn’t take her long before she dreams too.

Chapter Text

Pumpkin lanterns light up the streets. The lit candles cast cut out images of smiling faces with sharp teeth, perfect for setting the Halloween mood for this night trick or treating. Children in costumes giggles as they run from house to house. April accompanies her class across, something she has been debating doing all months, not wanting to scare her already stressed out dad. But he said he wanted her to have fun, and he knew he didn’t let her out that often, so going out with her whole classroom would be healthy for her and for him. April hadn’t had that much time to prepare a costume, so she’s only wearing a helmet painted to her skin color and features a black mohawk hairstyle on top of it. One of the boys walks alongside her, painted green like a zombie. Jack has his usual jock clothes on. “Man, after all those tests and assignments, it's great to relax with trick or treating.”

She has known him long enough that he is just using any excuse to come in contact with her, meaning he would either begin to talk about his football match or his maths grades. It’s nice to have something so normal and mundane in her new life ever since she met the turtles. “Yeah, I know right? It's nice when we aren't under constant stress by monsters.”

Jack laughs: “Yeah, the teachers are the real monsters here.”

It wasn’t really what she meant, but April isn’t going to tell him about her encounters with mutants, ninjas, and aliens, so instead she nods: “Yes.”

Jack keeps the conversation with his social charm: “Speaking of monsters, have you heard of the rumors about these gigantic creatures seen around on the south pole? Like the Minotaurs thingies, but with dinosaurs' heads.”

“I'm sure it's just rumors.” April knows mutants are scattered everywhere in the world, but she doubts that these “Minotaurs dinosaurs” are going to be any threats. And even if that’s the case, tonight is Halloween, and she needs a break. Tonight April will just relax and enjoy herself.

“If you say so.” He sends a smile and gets even closer to her, “I believe your judgment way more than some news. You are a smart cookie after all, red.”

April looks away to hide her blush. The class arrive outside a door, and all scream for trick or treating when the door opens. The man living there doesn’t even greet them; he simply looks at all the 20 teenagers with their bags up in the air. His face becomes pale and his eyes big as if he’s afraid of giving out all his candy to these 20 teenagers. He slams the door. Okay, that was rude. Jack is the first to get up and knock on the wood, then walks back down the stairs, waiting for an answer. Nothing.

Jack tries again, this time a bit louder.

April brushes his arm: “He isn't going to open up. Let's move to the next house.”

Jack really does trust her judgement, so he stops his knocking. But when they turn around, they are met by five big wolves on the road. Growling and snarling. They don’t look like normal animals, they are bigger and looks almost smarter. But April isn’t afraid, she has seen Rachell in action, and that side could easily go through all these puppies. Well, April have never tried fighting that wolf side, but at least she has seen worse. The pack of wolves pounce. Screaming, the class scatters in different directions into small groups or in pairs.

April frees her tessen from her belt and finds a fighting stance just like Splinter has shown her. Maybe she can take their attention away long enough for the others to get to safety. Before a open mouth can bite her, and before she can hit the snout with the sharp blades, Jack grabs her arm and pulls her away. “This way!” He begins running, and she runs after him. Suddenly, she wishes there were more lights and less Halloween. Actually, she just wishes there were less wolves, that would be good too. Their legs and pumping hearts lead them into a playground. This doesn’t help on her wishing the city to be less creepy. They are boxed in by four walls. At least no wolf is there.

Jack exhales: “Phew, we are safe.”

A gurgling noise can be heard from a man in the dark corner. The man sits crouched, shaking, hands over his head and with his back to them. Carefully, they walk up to him in a slow, unsure pace.

April is the first to find courage and say something: “Are you okay?”

The man doesn’t respond. They get closer.

“Sir?” Jack puts a hand on the man. The man spins around, eyes glowing blue, mouth wide open to show fangs. The man hisses and jumps over the boy. April kicks the man in the face, takes Jack's hand, and runs with him. Out of the playground and through the alley.

The jock screams: “This is insane! What is going on!? And when did you learn that?”

They stop up, when faced with more vampires and wolves. April gets her tessen out again and stands between Jack and the wolves: “Stay behind me.” This time she’s going to do this right.

But the vampire man from before crawls silently over Jack’s back and bites his neck. Pain shoots through his entire body as the vampire venom flows in. And he screams.

April tears the vampire off the Jock: “No!”

Jack shakes and staggers back as he puts his hands over his hair and begins making gurgling noises too.

“Fight it!” April can’t reach out to him as she gets attacked by wolves and vampires. They jump her from every side. She barely evades. April manages to kick a few away, struggling and panting. The many monsters get closer. Jack straightens up, his eyes glowing blue too and his teeth have grown sharp. April uses her mind powers to push the other monsters away, and then tries to talk to Jack telepathically. Please come back. They are classmates and friends. He doesn't respond, just hisses. April panics and begins running away. “I’m getting back to you!”

She thanks her Kunoichi training for helping her escape as she turns around the corner into an alley and hide behind dumpsters. The hidden t-phone gets pulled out of her oversized pockets.

***

Wet pumpkin guts and filth cover his fingers, but Raph is too focused on carving a pumpkin face out to care; he just wants to make it scary. He’s doing a pretty good job if he says so himself. The red turtle places it on his lap and takes a photo of the grin with his t-phone.

Raph scoffs. The Space Hero’s bright colors are ruining the scary mood in the photo. He wishes he could turn off the TV, but Leo has learned to hid the remotes, and is sitting too close in front of the TV button, so a throwing star is only on the table if the show goes on for five more minutes. Leo has been sewing a t-shirt the whole evening to night anyway while watching his stupid show.

A bit of blood is still on the leader’s fingers after the needle, but the patient older brother doesn’t mind. He has been hurt worse.

Raph snorts: “Your clumsy hands should really stop doing craftsman’s ship. Face it, no matter how many hours you waste on it, you will always end with trash and blood.”

Leo doesn’t even dignify his taunts with a look, “Shut up, Raph, this is gonna be so good.”

Raph rolls his eyes, but tries to look at his working brother, curious to see how awful the result will be. Leo brings the T-shirt in the air and exclaims like a fanboy: “Yes! This is gonna be perfect!”

“What's gonna be perfect?”

When Leo looks at where the muffled voice is coming from, he’s met with a scary Zombie mask right looking right over his shoulder. The fearless leader screams and jolts away, just to see it's Mikey, laughing his ass off: “Dude! You should have seen your face! Hahaha!”

Leo tries to cough the subject away and go back to space hero: “Ahem, uh, my costume is minty vintage, featuring Captain Ryan's rare B-uniform Captain's Jacket from season 3.”

Raph coughs: “Nerd.”

A thud takes their attention. It was a cardboard box that has just landed behind them. Donnie goes through all the items in it, which is mostly different costumes they have gathered over the years: “Hmm. I can't decide if I should go as a zombie wizard, Albert Einstein or Smooth Donatello.” The genius idiot tries the wizard hat on and begins bowing to an imaginary fanclub, thinking about how he could impress the girls on the street.

Mikey turns his attention to the red turtle: “What about you?”

“I'm already in my costume. This is the one night we can go out and people won't look at us like we're freaks.”

“I thought you and Rachell were gonna dress up in a couple costume?”

“Nah, that shit is too cheesy.”

Leo laughs: “Didn't you indirectly ask her what she thought about a couple costumes, and she laughed over the concept for five minutes straight?”

“Shut up.”

“I remember vividly how much she was crying over the food laughing and hammering her fist in the table as she showed you pictures of couples.” Donnie said in the tone of a scientist, but meant it as the younger brother adding salt to his Raph’s wound.

“Could you all just drop it?!”

Mikey continues the teasing with a singing voice: “You can always dress up as a fairy princess. Bet Rachell would love that.”

“It was ONE time!” Raph grabs around Mikey's neck to give burn noogies on his bald scalp. Donnie's phone rings on FaceTime. “Hey April, we are just getting ready-”

He is interrupted by her panick: “Vampires and werewolves are running loose around New York!”

Raph overhears the conversation and interjects: “It's called Halloween! Look it up!”

“I'm serious! Jack and everyone have turned into real monsters, you have to- argh!” The video call ends as it shows the last freeze frame of Jack's face over April's shoulder.

Oh no, she’s in trouble. Whether it’s real monsters or not, they need to save her.

***

When they get to the foggy surface and arrive on the road, there aren't any people. A lot of wolves sniff the air. The vampires are hiding in the shadows and can barely be seen.

As a man of scientist, Donnie whispers mostly to himself: “Wow! April was right!”

Aaaaah! It’s April’s scream. She’s nearby.

Leo: “This way!”

***

He spits into her face. Drools run down his mouth and ruin his zombie make up. April tries to push Jack back while simultaneously trying to get through to him: “Jack! Stop! This isn't you!”

The newly made vampire gets kicked back but only responds with hisses. Jack launches at her, grabs her arms and holds her still to bite. A staff gets in the way. Donnie slings the vampire off her. The turtles are here!

Raph grabs her right arm, and Leo grabs the left and they help her up: “Let's get off the ground.” Like the ninjas they are, they all begin climbing the buildings. April is still struggling a lot with only one and a half year of training, but Mikey gives her hand.

They get away from the ground. The ground where wolves are growling and searching after food in flocks, while Vampires hide in the dark.

 “I can’t believe this.” Donnie is completely baffled and in shock by this, not knowing how to react or how to feel, and for a good second he just stares in silence.

Yet Leo demands: “Donnie explain!”

“How should I know!” Donnie screams back, finally snapped out of his frowzen state, “This isn't some result of chemical or technology, this isn't supposed to exist!”

“I’ll call Rachell.” Raph pulls out his t-phone and finds her contact. The phone vibrates as it waits for her to pick up.

Mikey chirps: “Good idea! Maybe she's behind this!”

 “And why would she be behind this?”

 “She's a mad scientist AND a werewolf. It's the perfect explanation.”

 “She’s a mutant wolf, dumbass.”

***

Sparks fly around her. Rachell is dressed in her grim reaper costume that she has put together for over two months now and have spent noon to get on. The many laces, the nail polish and the make up is such a hassle, but she needs to be at her best on her fist celebrated Halloween.

Rachell wouldn’t directly scream it out loud, but she has been so excited for this night all month. However, since she got into her costume early, there was some time to kill. Rachell has always hated the waiting period, so she tries to keep her busy mind preoccupied by being productive on one of her big projects. A project that has been in development ever since the technodrome - Wait, no. Don’t think about that. Focus on the metal.

Rachell doesn’t carry her wolf skull mask she has made. It’s lying by her side on top of the blueprints. Instead, she’s sitting with a protection mask, while cutting metal with a Plasma Cutter. Hot fire and the sound of melting metal is just as loud as her project is big in size. But the wolf stops it when her phone vibrates against her leg. Rachell lays the tool away and opens her customized face protector to better answer: “Shit, am I late again? I was so caught up in this thing I have been working on that I lost track of time.”

Raph: “So you haven’t been in the city?”

“No, not yet, why?”

Mikey tries to jump over Raph’s shoulder and talk into the phone: “Have you turned everyone into werewolves?”

“Huh?”

Raph pushes Mikey’s face off him: “There are monsters lose on the street.”

“Yeah… It's… Halloween?”

“Real monsters. Real vampires and werewolves.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in five.”

***

The call is interrupted when April points down at the middle of the road where a little girl with her teddy bear is surrounded by four wolves and two vampires. She’s clenching her nails in to her teddybear.

The turtles jump down, each landing on the wolves, squashing them. The wolves howls and whimpers in pain. The turtles knock out the vampires. Leo takes the girl up in his arms, and she clings to him for dear life, now letting go of her plushie. The wolves growls and barks, calling out, and getting the attention from all the monsters around them. A crowd of monsters forms around them on the street.

Although Leo pulls out one of his katana, he says: “Don't kill anyone. They are still humans… Kinda. I think?”

April gets slowly and carefully down from the building but hides in the alley. The turtles fight back the monsters without harming them too badly, just trying to survive. Leo makes his way to April and gives her the girl. But when he sees his brothers still busy fighting off the many enemies, he returns to the others, “We need to get out of here!”

Donnie yelps: “I'm just trying to not get bitten.”

A white portal opens over Donnie’s head and a hand grabs his shell, pulling him up into it. His high pitched scream is cut off when the portal closes. Everybody is shocked. April puts a hand over her mouth. Raph yells out: “Donnie!”

The same white portal opens beneath Raph’s feet and he falls into it. Leo and Mikey look nervously around anticipating for their turn. Leo gets pulled into a third portal. He’s gone. They all disappeared. Mikey is alone with the wolves. With his nunchucks under his arms he backs away from the pack: “Good doggies, nice doggies, cool doggies. Don't eat me, doggies!”

A portal opens to his side. Renet pops her head out and takes his hand. Mikey smiles big, happy to see his friend, and he enters the portal too.

Leaving April alone in the alley. The little girl looks up at the teenager, scared and on the verge of tears: “Where have all the Mr. Turtles gone?”

Her high-pitched voice catches the monsters' ears. Suddenly a cold icecikle trickles down April’s spine when all the glowing eyes are turned to her. They look at her. Hungry. The predators approach the two girls. April shifts the girl to a piggyback ride, and back down and into the alley. The monsters growls, ready to pounce the two.

But then the werewolf in the lead gets knocked to the ground by a large black figure in a hooded cloak. Rachell glances back and through the white homemade wolf skull on her head and to the two humans: “April! Get on my back!”

April wraps her arms around the wolf mutant’s neck and legs around her hips. The little girl still attached to April. Rachell jumps up the buildings and escapes the monsters in quick actions. When they are on the rooftop, April gets off. Rachell looks down the alley. Her purple irises shine through the the white painted metal, that encapsulates half her upper head. “They can't get up here, right?”

“I don’t think they can…”

The vampires begin jumping high, crawling their way up the obstacles. How the universe loved proving them wrong.

“Get moving!” Rachell pushes April in a direction away from the danger behind them.

April keeps the little girl on her back as she follows Rachell over the rooftops. They run.

***

Donnie is the first to get pulled through the portal and flies across to landing belly first on the couch, his chin hitting the floor. Renet opens another over the bean bag that Raph falls into, head first into couch, legs upwards and into the air. Leo gets pulled into a spin like a beyblade, tripping and landing on top of Donnie. Renet opens the last portal, sticking her upper body through and navigating Mikey gently through.

The time guardian who also happens to be their teenage fangirl says in a loud singing voice: “Turtle warriors! Are you cold?” Her voice doesn’t fit there era not the situation.

Mikey throws his arms open: “I'm cool now that you are here!”

Raph snaps bitter: “You better spit out why the fuck the world has become so nuts!”

 “Count Vlad Dracula has escaped! And It's kinda my fault.”

Donnie shakes his head: “That's impossible, Dracula is a fictive character from a book!” The scientist can believe in aliens, that’s just other life on other planets. Mutants? Sure, biological defects caused by ooze from another dimension that interacts with one’s DNA. Dracula?! That’s stepping the line.

Renet says: “Let me give you the 7-11.”

Raph: “You mean the 4-1-1?”

“My boss, Lord Simultaneous, wanted me to check up on the prisoners, which include Dracula for causing too much chaos as an immortal. He got the jump on me and stole my emergency back-up time jumper. All Time Masters have one in case we get stuck in the past. I was able to track him back here, but I was too late, and he has already spread his vampire minions through the city.”

Leo asks: “And the werewolves?”

“He took his werewolf minion with him, Remus.”

Raph throws his hands in the air: “You really are the worst time traveler ever. The worst!”

Mikey defends Renet with his presence: “Back off, bro! She needs our help!” He turns to her, “Don't worry, girl. I got your back. And front.”

The leader tries to find a solution to all this insanity: “So how do we defeat Dracula and get back the city?”

With her time-scepter she makes a hologram of a talisman float in the air in front them: “There is this talisman called the mystical seal of protection. It lets the wielder be protected from all evil magic, including werewolf magic and vampires. And if Dracula gets staked with it, all the vampires and the werewolves should turn back to normal.”

Donnie: “How does the talisman work?”

 “It is mystical and is driven by magic.”

 “Sure… But what makes it different from Leo's katanas?”

“Normal swords won't do anything. The only weapon that can defeat this kind of evil is this talisman. Hiking honor!”

Leo studies the talisman a little bit as if he had any knowledge in magical artifacts: “Okay, but where do we get it?”

“Well…”

Raph: “You have no idea, do you…”

 “Another time guardian hid it so Dracula couldn't get his fingers on it, and that time-guardian died in battle, so no one knows where it is.”

Raph says sardonically: “Perfect…”

Donnie looks at the hologram still spinning in the air: “Hmmm, I think I have seen it somewhere. I can't remember where, but I have seen it.” He studies it close, letting a finger tap his chin and a tongue out of his mouth. For a genius he could have chosen a less stupid looking thinking face.

Leo: “You better remember fast, because the city depends on it.”

***

As her lungs begins to burn, her feet begin to swell, and the stinging pain begins to really twist April's side, she loses speed and slows down. April can’t follow the wolf without carrying a human, this is ten times worse. She panting for breath, until she falls to her knees and holds her ribcage. The little girl is still on her back. Rachell gets on top of a water tower and scouts the city.

April says through her inhales and exhales: “Please tell me we shook off the vampires.”

 “There aren’t any nearby.”

April gets down on all four: “Oh thank god!”

The little girl gets off her back but stays near. She whimpers: “What is happening?”

Rachell jumps down to the two, still cautious of her surroundings. Her ears are flicking back and forth, her nose is in the air and her eyes wide. She isn’t looking at them, she’s scouting the place like a dog on guard.

But April says in a soft voice to the girl: “It’s gonna be alright.”

Rachell still doesn’t look at them: “Really? The future seems pretty not alright in my objective opinion. I mean, have you seen all this weird cirkus-”

April punches Rachell’s leg and looks sternly at her.

Rachell responds: “What?”

“That is not helping!”

“You think fantasy is gonna get us out of this shit show?”

April stands up, and even though the mutant wolf is a tower against the human’s five feet height, April stands her ground: “Could you at least try not to be a total jerk?”

Rachell has fought a living plant the size of a house, but April’s angry eyes were still more chilling.

Loud sobs interrupt them. It’s the little girl. April gets on her knees, as the girl cries. April wipes off the tears from her cheeks and whispers soothingly: “It's okay. Everything is gonna be okay.” The little girl looks so fragile and small.

Rachell raises a hand, worried. She wants the girl to stop crying, she wants to comfort her, but how do you do that? What if she just scares the little girl even more? The little girl looks so small and fragile. Rachell’s hand stays in the air for a little bit. Her hands are big and could cover the girl’s face easily, with long claws on long fingers. Fingers that knows all the pressure points to paralyze a thug or even kill him. So, in the end Rachell pulls her hand back into crossed arms and goes to look over the buildings. She gets her t-phone and calls Donnie.

***

Donnie hears his phone ringing and goes to the others: “It’s Rachell,” before he puts the screen to his ear and responds her call: “Is everything alright?”

“Besides the fact that fate is so cliché it's ruining my first Halloween by breaking natural laws with an undead army, and beside the fact that I'm contemplating jumping off a building because I have to babysit a child to keep it from dying? Then everything is peachy.”

“Yikes.” Donnie takes his phone away and whispers to his brothers briefly: “She's not having a good time.” He shakes his head.

“Donnie, what the fuck is going on? Is it Kraang mind-control again? A mutant parasite?”

“You won't believe this, but an assistant time master in training has told us that Count Vlad Dracula is on the loose with his werewolf minion, and turning everyone into actual vampires.”

Rachell nods a long to every word he’s saying: “Mhmmm. I'm guessing there's a gas leak throughout the city, probably carbon monoxide, and we are all just hallucinating this nightmare. Explains my headache. If I’m fortunate, I'll pass out within an hour or two.”

Donnie: “Just get to the lair.”

“April and I are protecting a child, so we can't.”

“Then we’ll meet you under Houston in the sewers.”

***

They end the conversation. April stands up with the girl around her torso. “Does Donnie know what's up?”

 “Most likely not, but if we meet with them in the sewers at Houston, then I can see if he's poisoned or hit the head too hard.”

They begin jumping down the buildings as silently as possible, zigzagging between everything. Rachell is the first down and takes off the manhole cover. April is still climbing down, more carefully than the lifelong trained wolf was and therefore slower. Rachell places the manhole cover gently on the ground to not make a sound.

Suddenly, April's feet slip and she falls backwards. Both she and the little girl screams. Rachell catches them both, but it's too late, vampires and werewolves have heard them and are emerging from the corners. The little girl cries, clinging to April and hiding her head into her neck. April gives the girl to Rachell entrusting her to keep her safe. With one right amr, the ninja takes the girl. April turns to the monsters but says to her friend: “Meet with the guys! I'm catching up to you later!”

Rachell nods. The wolf jumps down the hole to the sewers. And begins running. Running in the direction of Houston until there are no sounds. At least no sounds of monsters. It’s first when she slows down, that she feels the little girl is clutching to her clothes and arm, crying so much that she drenches the cloak. Rachell grimaces. She’s awkward and doesn't know what to do. The girl is surprisingly light, like a porcelain doll. Rachell whispers to herself hoping it would ease her fear of the little girls: “I suck at this.”

Rachell tries to put the girl down, but the girl screams louder, and grabs tighter. Rachell sighs and keeps carrying the girl as she walks down to the mentioned street. The cloak drapes around the little girl, protecting her from the cold.

“I really suck at this…”

***

The brothers walk down Houston. Mikey gives winky eyes to Renet who in return giggles. They arrive at the place.

Leo says as mister obvious, “Rachell hasn't arrived yet… Do you think she has…?”

Raph shakes his he’s and swats the worry away: “Nah. She's probably just too busy fighting and saving people, or just killing enemies. Give her five minutes.”

“Aren't you worried about her? She is your girlfriend after all.”

Mikey winks at Renet: “I would worry about my girlfriend every second. Just sad that I'm single right now.”

Renet giggles.

Raph shrugs: “Rachell can flick a man through a wall in her sleep, I trust her.”

A girl's small sobs echo through the sewer. Leo whispers: “Someone is coming! Hide!”

The turtles all get off the floor, while Renet hides in one of the diverging tunnels. They spot Rachell in her costume carrying a something big enough to make a little numb in her cloak, something moving, something alive, something crying. The brothers all get down to her and Renet arises, almost excited to meet the turtle warriors’ ally.

It has been the worst walk in her life, so seeing these four familiar faces feels like greeting her childhood home. Rachell is exhausted. She can’t help but smile a bit when a grinning Raph hurries up to her to hug her, not noticing the child in her arms. He goes up on toes, and she moves down trying to kiss each other. He accidentally squeezes the confused child yelping. Raph leans his body a few centimeters back, to look down at it equally as confused.

The little girl waves wealky and nervous: “Hello mr. Turtle.”

Raph returns the small smile and wave.

Donnie has apperently forgotten to tell them, since Leo asks: “Why… Have you brought the kid down here?”

Rachell answers deadpan: “It was either that or letting her get eaten.”

The girls gulps and she screams again, remembering the whole nightmare that has just occurred.

Rachell looks desperate at the turtles: “Oh god, help. I'm really awful at this.”

Leo takes the kid, holds her close and strokes her shoulder: “It's alright. Everything is gonna be alright. You're safe.” His voice smoothed out to something soft and gentle, like reassuring older brother or a father.

Although the girl continues to sob, she’s not as loud and the hicks become less frequent.

Mikey gets his face close to her “Awww, she's so cute.” He’s smiling friendly and soothingly, which also seems to help.

Renet melts: “Children are always adorable.”

“I love children. I would be an awesome dad.”

Raph groans: “In what world do children not cry when they see your ugly face?”

Rachell eyes Renet up and down: “And you are?”

“Assistant time master in training, Renet. I'm so happy to meet you Rachell Hamato, it's a great pleasure to personally meet one of the turtle warriors allies.”

Rachell shows an uninterested thumbs up, “cool.” And then she turns to Donnie: “So you were not kidding?”

“Yes, she is able to travel time. We have seen her at work.”

“Yeah, I can wrap my mind around the time-traveling part. I just didn't think a ‘time master’ would exist, but you seem to be not poisoned. Sooo… Does that mean that Dracula, a fictional character, is real too?”

Donnie shrugs: “I can't say for sure, but it's the only hypothesis we have.”

Rachell seems skeptical and crosses her arms when she asks Renet: “So how do we kill this Dracula guy? Garlic?”

Renet shows the hologram again: “This talisman, called the mystical seal of protection, lets the wielder be protected from all evil magic. If Dracula gets staked with it, all vampires and werewolves should disappear.”

“Can't we just use our weapons? Given that most animals our size tend to die with sharp things penetrating them, I don't think a talisman is that special.”

“It is! It's made by magic, that will weaken all evil monsters!”

Rachell nods, her lips is pressed into a straight line: “Right…” But then she takes a look at the hologram, and something seems familiar with it: “Wait, I have seen that thing before…”

Leo, who continues to carry and stroke the little girl: “Where?”

Rachell’s finger plays with her lip: “I don’t remember.”

“Perfect… We have two people, who has seen the solution to our problem and neither of them can remember where.”

Mikey snorts: “Probably some science stuff like the museum.” He shrugs it off, just saying a lot of things.

Both Rachell's and Donnie's eyes opens wide, a bell rings in their heads. “Mikey! Repeat what you just said!”

“I just say a lot of things and have learned to turned myself out.” Mikey laughs sheepishly, but appears Donnie didn’t mean it as an actual question and just beams to Rachell: “The museum! Of course!”

“Fourth floor, mysterious artifacts from Europe!”

Leo asks Renet: “Do you think, you can get the talisman?”

 “I'm sorry, but my Time Scepter is almost completely out of power, we need to get there on foot!”

“Let’s move.”

Rachell: “What about the child?”

Leo asks the child: “Can you stay in the sewer? No monster can harm you here.”

The girl shakes her head, “I don’t wanna be alone. I’m scared.” Her voice is low and shaky. She has become a lot more quiet and calmer than before, but she is still trembling. Of course she’s trembling, she’s just a kid.

Rachell sighs: “Let's take her with us then.”

Mikey: “What if she gets bitten?”

“She won’t as long as I carry her.”

Leo adjusts the girl a little bit: “Uhm… Rachell, you don’t have to…”

Raph slaps his brother arm: “Just let her do it, man.”

Leo complies and gives Rachell the child. The wolf mutant piggybacks the girl.

***

When they have arrived in the sewers nearby the the museum, getting as close as possible, Leo lifts the metal cover to look out and scout for any danger. There are no monsters to be seen.

Mikey and Renet are standing below, Donnie behind them. Rachell, the little girl, and Raph are all three in the back. Raph occasionally waves to the girl with a soft expression, and the girl waves back.

With some hand gestures, Leo signals for them to move onto the surface. The rest follows him. They continue fast but stealthy to the museum stairs. The doors are open. They get their weapons ready, except Rachell who steadies the girl's leg around her torso. The little girl vocalizes noises to express her discomfort. Raph puts his index finger up to his mouth, then pats her head.

In the dark museum there is eerily quiet. It’s difficult to see. But something’s there.

Leo whispers: “Light?”

The scepter in Renet’s hand shines a small light, enough to show the many blue glowing eyes of the vampire minions hanging against the ceiling. They all look down on them with fangs out.

Leo: “Ah shit…”

The vampires get down from the ceiling. They approach with sinister grin. One of them in the lead is April.

Rachell: “April!?”

The little girl screams. April launches after Leo, trying to bite him. He gets on the floor and kicks her away and out the door. The other vampires begin swarming them.

The leader is the first to rush: “Get to the stairs!”

Donnie: “How?”

“Don’t get bitten.”

“You really foiled my plans there.” Donnie rolls his eyes, but follows the leader’s ninja instincts.

Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Rachell make their way to the other end by jumping from display case, to walls, to pedestals. They reach the stairs. When they turn, they see that Mikey is helping Renet, covering her back as they make their wait over the floor. They wait for for the pair, and the pair is held back by some of the vampires. Renet has to fight her way through the crowd by swinging her scepter, and apologize for every hit. Mikey is with her, helping her fend off the vampires with nunchucks, kicks and goofy sounds. Suddenly a vampire jumps over Renet. Mikey kicks the vampire off. He gets in a proud triumphant pose, happy to have saved Renet, and proceeds to do his victory dance.

“Mikey!”

It’s too late. A vampire gets its hand on the distracted Mikey and bites down. Renet looks at him briefly, as he gurgles, but she perseveres to her team.

Raph reaches out, ready to go back: “No! Mikey!” He is about to impulsively run in after his little brother. He would have done so if Rachell hasn’t taken his hand, and pulled him up the stairs, still stabilizing the little girl: “We can’t save him by getting bitten.”

The team runs up to the second floor and closes the doors even though the vampires had stopped chasing the team as soon as they reached the stairs. The vampires don't even try to knock on the doors. This gives the six remaining teenagers room to catch their breath, as they make their way through the room to get to the next stairs.

The girl hiccups loudly as tears run down her cheeks. Renet gets close to the girl and makes funny faces to cheer her up, which just worsens it. So Raph gets in between and pats the child’s hair: “You're safe. We'll find out how to save everyone. We just need to be quiet.”

The girl understands. She nods, and quiets down.

Rachell looks at Raphael in awe.

Raph has many beautiful sides: he’s beautiful when he’s punches a robot arm off, he is beautiful when he’s bullheaded enough to keep fighting, and and he is beautiful when he aggressively punches the foot clan. His edge, his rudeness and honesty. But the one side that shines the brightest is his green eyes and his voice when he says just the right words in his own way to show that he cares.

Leo, Renet, and Donnie walk up each step carefully to get closer and closer to the third floor. Rachell and Raph follow them, but she whispers to her boyfriend: “Hey, Raphael? How do you guys all know, how to…? You know… calm a child down?”

“It's just about being sensible. You just know.”

“I don’t.”

“Didn't Akio comfort you with stuff like… words and pats when you were sad or scared?”

“No? My dad only did it when I was mad and blacked out, so I can't even remember how he did it.”

“Then what did he do?”

“…If I was crying? We would train, or he let me watch an hour more TV with him, or he handed me his books to read…?”

“Wow… That explains so much…”

Rachell becomes genuinely confused by this: “What?”

Raph is about to open his mouth to add something, but they reach the third floor, where werewolves sleep on the marble ground. The group make eye contact, to signal each other to stay low. Be careful.

Leo gestures to the girl to stay quiet, and she hides her mouth in Rachell's hood.

They divide into two groups, and tiptoe to the sides against the walls, avoiding the wolves as much as possible.

Renet gets shortly distracted by some of the objects that hang on the walls, as if she couldn't possibly observe them as a time master, so she ends up stepping on a werewolf's tail. It springs awake howling, waking up the rest of the pack. The snarling beasts turn their red glowing eyes towards them.

Renet and Rachell head first, trying to maneuver away from all the wolves. Then Donnie, Raph, and Leo just after them in an attempt to get the wolves off their tails.

Leo screams as a werewolf bites his arm and pulls him down to then start swinging him from side to side like a chew toy. Raph tries to get to Leo but freezes as he feels sharp teeth against his ankle.

The two turtles shake .Foamy saliva builds in their mouths. Their muscles tears and fur grow on their skin. Donnie looks back while still running: “No!”

Rachell grabs his belt and pulls him to run faster. “Don't look back Donnie! Just hurry!”

This snaps him out of the cloud of thoughts. Donnie continues, and the group of now four people dashes up to the fourth floor. They shut the doors, and exhale, very shortly. Until the heroes see them. The villains.

Dracula and a werewolf turn around. The werewolf was the height of an average man, but twice as wide with muscles and biting and barking into the air. Dracula looks at them in astonishment. Behind the two villains is the Talisman on display.

Dracula: “What do we have here? An inexperienced Time-master, a green goblin demon, a sentient werewolf, and…” He eyes the little girl who is shaking on Rachell’s back in terror, “a small snack.” His tongue clicks in his mouth.

“Hold them back!” Rachell commands Donnie and the timemaster

She goes after the talisman. Dracula speeds in front of her, almost at a teleporting speed, but doesn’t anticipate her managing to punch him in the face. Dracula hisses. Donnie hits the distracted Dracula with his staff, making enough room for his wolf friend to pass through.

Donnie tries to hit Dracula again, but the vampire moves too fast and toys with him, almost amused by the mortal green goblin.

Renet shoots darts at the werewolf, but they do nothing but make it angrier. It tries to get her with its claws, and she tries to fend it off with her scepter.

Donnie swings one more time after Dracula's temple, but he catches it, breaks it in half with his hand, and throws the two halves away, so it lands at the foot of the talisman’s pedestal. Dracula catches and bites Donnie. Donnie screams.

Rachell picks one of the staff's ends up and smashes the glass. She assembles the talisman onto Donnie's bo staff. The sharp end ready to stake a vampire lord.

Dracula looks up, now clearly scared, holding his arm in front of his face. But nothing. Nothing happens.

Dracula looks up at Rachell who points the talisman at his face. And he laughs an evil laughter, and Rachell’s already angry face becomes even hotter. Yup, of course it didn’t work.

Renet yells: “You have to have faith in something!”

“That would have been nice to know earlier!”

Renet ducks and jumps from the werewolf’s deadly blows. The new vampirized Donnie runs past Dracula and bites after Rachell. She avoids him, and jumps around as not to get caught. She avoids being bitten, but also avoids harming him.

The time master calls out: “Believe in the seal!” God, she’s annoying right now.

“Are there any other options?”

 “God?”

“Doesn’t exist.”

“Destiny?”

“Debatable.”

“Astrology?”

“Don’t make me laugh.”

Renet: “What about yourself? Do you believe in your own skills?”

Rachell bites: “I always have.” The talisman doesn't glow.

Renet is about to ask something, but gets knocked down. Rachell steps forward, but it’s too late. The werewolf bites the time master.

Rachell steps back.

Renet gets on all fours and slowly and painfully turns into a wolf. Now, Rachell is facing a wolf Renet, a big werewolf, a vampire Donnie, and Dracula. Rachell walks backwards until her tail touches the wall. The Talisman is still clutched in her hand.

Forget this stupid seal and it’s stupid magic, she will just kill Dracula the old-fashioned way. The ninja reaches out after her Kamas, but that’s when she sees the girl trembling, tears in eyes. So Rachell doesn't reach after her Kamas, but takes her skull mask off and puts it on the girl's face. It’s big enough to cover the child’s face so she can't see what will happen.

The werewolf launches after them, Rachell jumps straight up and over the werewolf. She lands on its face with a mighty bang. Then jumps from wall to wall to then throws herself through the window. Rachell grabs the building with claws, hands and feet, using window and lamps to get them down securely.

Dracula heads to the window. Outside he can't see her on the streets. The wolf mutant, the little girl and the talisman are gone. Dracula turns to the rest of the room where all his minions are standing, including two turtles covered in fur on most parts of their body, two vampire turtles, a vampire April, and a wolf Renet.

“Search the city for the female werewolf! Bring back the Talisman!

The minions do his bidding.

***

Rachell has found herself again down in the sewer, hiding in the ceiling over the many large pipes. It’s odd, Rachell has never thought she would ever go around in the sewer system on a daily basis unless it was to kill Tiger Claw, now she can’t imagine not feeling secure there. Today is the first time in over six months that she hasn’t felt secure in New York’s sewer system. The water drips down into puddles. The tunnels are dark, but even humans can see some of it. Fortunately for her all she needs is her smell and hearing. There are no unfamiliar smell. No sign of monsters.

Phew.

It's first then that Rachell feels how tight the girl is gripping onto her left arm, as she sits beside the wolf. The girl buries her head into Rachell’s clothes. The mask is still on. Rachell keeps a hold on the staff with the talisman attached to its end, but she switches it to her left hand so she can reach hesitantly to the girl. Rachell is nervous, but she runs her fingers through the hair of the crying girl. Rachell begins making soothing sounds, as she strokes her.

The girl’s stutters in a breaking voice: “I just want to go home. I just want my parents.”

Rachell tries to say in a tender voice: “I'll bring you home to your parents, safe and sound.” Is it okay to promise this? To give the girl hope of something that might not even happen? What if they all die like this?

The girl sniffles, and she tries to wipe her tears, but the big mask is in the way: “You promise?”

Rachell takes she mask off her, so they can see each other. Rachell forces the corners of her mouth to turn up slightly: “I promise.”

“Okay.”

Rachell puts the mask on herself again. Now she has another reason to save the world. A small one, but an extra line one list. Water quietly and slowly runs through the sewer. A rat’s squeak can be heard. The darkness isn’t so dark after all. The girl isn't crying or screaming, but she's still uncomfortable, so Rachell shows her the talisman staff: “You see this talisman?”

“What’s a talisman?”

“It's this metal thingy. It's magic and repels all evil monsters.”

Rachell swings it lightly around in the air, as if there were evil monsters in front them to repel. Rachell feels stupid, but the girl seems amazed and hopeful, and that's all that matters. The girl takes the talisman with big eyes. Rachell leans back, just for a second before her ears flick. She hears something. Two people are walking down the sewer, they are sniffing.

Rachell looks down. There, Raph and Leo. They are halfway transformed into wolves with some fur, wolf ears, wolf nose, tail, sharp canine teeth and claws instead of weapons, but she can still recognize them. They stop. They keep sniffing. They smell her. Rachell takes out both her kamas. Preparing to jump down if necessary. She extends a hand to the girl, so she can carry the her, but out of nowhere the child jumps. No! Rachell's eyes widens, and she tries to catch the girl, but she’s already down. “No!”

The girl lands in front of the two turtles, pointing the talisman at them: “I'm not scared anymore! As long I have this stick, I will be safe!”

The talisman lights bright up, illuminating the area, and the two werewolves snarl, stepping away to not be touched by the light. The girl walks towards them, and they hurry back.

Rachell jumps down and looks completely shocked at the scene: “It works? It fucking works!” She can’t believe it. How does it even work?

The girl looks back at her, smiling from ear to ear. Smiling for the first time. Rachell kneels down to give a very small nudges to the child’s shoulder.

“Do you want to try it?” The girls reaches the talisman up to Rachell who just pushes it lightly back.

“No, you are doing such a great job.”

“Thanks!”

Rachell stands up: “Let’s get out of here.”

The girl agrees, now excited. They walk casually to the nearest ladder with nothing to fear. They get up and onto the surface, where only wolves roam in the open. But every monster gets away from the shining talisman, as if it was a force field with the radius of 10 meters.

Rachell continues to stay astonished. She puts a finger under her chin, thinking, and mumbling to herself: “Could the visible light have something to do with it? No, because the monsters don't appear to mind visible light. Perhaps it also emits electromagnetic radiation that pass through the skin and only damage the parasite infested in the host, like UV light. But how does the talisman know that she has faith in something? It doesn't measure her pulse directly. Does it have a hidden inbuilt camera to monitor her facial expressions?”

The girls asks: “What are you thinking?”

“Oh… Uhm… I'm just thinking… about dumb physics stuff… It's nothing… What are… you thinking about?” She still feels so awkward, afraid that any word would break the girl.

The little girl chirps: “I can't wait to defeat Dracula so I can go home to my family and eat Halloween candy.” Why must Rachell be stuck with such a chirpy girl?

Dracula appears on the street, so does his big werewolf friend and everyone Rachell knows. He’s taunting her: “Well, well, well you have managed to make it work?”

“Quit wasting everyone's time and drop dead already.” Rachell barks, “We have the thing to kill you, and we are not afraid to use it.”

“Then why don't you just come and get me.”

Rachell takes out her kamas and talks to the girl: “Try to attack him. I got your back.”

The trained ninja follows the girl’s light. The girl sprints as fast as she can after Dracula with a warrior's roar and tries to hit him with the Talisman, but she isn't running or hitting that fast, so Dracula just moves away from the light in inhuman speed. She’s too slow and he’s too fast. Rachell tries to strike after him too, but he goes further back from the light. Rachell has to step out of the safe zone for a brief second and then back into it to not get ambushed by other monsters. They can’t land a hit. Not a single one.

Dracula laughs: “Is that the best you can do? The giant beast is hiding behind a weak little girl? That's ridiculous.”

The girl looks up at Rachell, now worried again.

Rachell tries: “Don't listen to him, you are doing great.”

Dracula points directly at the small child: “Has the werewolf told you how the talisman works?”

“Yes! With magic!”

Dracula: “With faith. You have to have faith in something from the bottom of your heart for it to work. The only reason the wolf isn't holding the magic charm is because she doesn't believe in its magic, she doesn't believe you can defeat me and she doesn't believe in you.”

The light dims and flickers. The girl look desperate up to Rachell: “Is that true?”

Rachell answers awkward and nervous: “Listen… It's working right now, the light repels the monster, don't stop believing now.”

“But you don't believe I can win…”

Rachell hesitates, gesturing out with her hands. That was the last straw, and the light goes completely out. Dracula begins laughing. He points at them: “Attack!”

The monsters, including the turtles and April. Rachell has the choice to pull out a smoke bomb, she has the choice to fight back on her own terms, but she doesn't. Instead she gets down on her knees, so she's at the child's eye level. Rachell takes the talisman, lifts the talisman so they are both holding onto it. Rachell looks into the little girl’s eyes.

“You have believed in me wholeheartedly, I promise to trust you just as much.”

Rachell can almost feel all the vampires and werewolves nails graze her skin, but she doesn't remove her eyes from the girl. Suddenæy all the monsters are thrown back as a blast of light from the talisman erupts, even more powerful than before. Dracula has to protect himself with his cape, but he still gets engulfed. All the monsters utter sounds of pain as they begin to transform back into humans.

Rachell and the girl look where Dracula has been standing proud and tall, and now there is a small, frail man without hair and with spots of burns spreading over his skin. He is so thin one could see almost his entire skeleton under his clothes. He screams as he tries to crawl out of the light. Rachell takes the staff with the talisman. It continues to shine just as bright in her hands.

Rachell says to the child: “Look away.”

The girl looks away with hands to her ears.

Rachell walks up to Dracula. He looks at her with terror, begging for mercy.

The wolf mutants stares at him a bit annoyed, but mostly cold. She stakes the staff through his heart. He screams shortly, and then he turns to dust. Dust that blows in the wind.

Rachell goes back to the girl, pats the girl on her head. The girl looks up.

 “I'll wake up my friends, and then I'll take you home.”

***

Jack is accompanied by April to continue the trick or treating. He massages his head: “What happened? It's like I drank a liter of pure tequila and blacked out, but I don't remember going to a party?”

April laughs to hide what she knows: “Yeah, it's really weird. Let's just forget about it.”

They go through the street, passing Rachell who holds the girl's hand as they walk down the block to her home. Other people in costumes are fumbling around talking dazed about what had happened, but none of them remember much.

The little girl sees two adults and an older brother who is disguised as a pirate by her apartment searching for her. The girl races to them filled with joy. She hugs them, they hug her.

The mother begins: “Where have you been? We have been worried sick!”

Little girl: “There is so much to tell you! Monsters were attacking the city, but I saved the day with my new friend. I want you to meet her! She's so cool, she-”

The girl looks back on the street, but the wolf mutant has disappeared. Rachell has vanished into the thin air as if she was never there.

The dad says: “Okay, let's just go home, you can tell everything while eating some candy. Your brother has gotten unusually little this year.”

They all go inside an apartment.

Rachell is sitting on the edge of a building, observing the family, one leg is dangling, the other is bent to her chest. Her turtle friends either sit or stand behind her in various poses. Renet is there too. Mikey is flexing his muscle to impress her.

Raph sits down beside Rachell and rest his head on her shoulder. “You did good.”

Rachell grins: “I had to. You lazy traitors left me alone babysitting a child, and save a city, again. But different from the other times I saved your asses and the world, this time… it was real bad.”

“You say that, yet I have a feeling there were some nice elements to it.”

“Well, it was a memorable Halloween. Not one I would replicate, but it's an okay enough memory.”

Mikey jumps in between them wrapping his arms around the couple: “Tell us everything about it! I can’t remember anything after I was bitten. How was Dracula defeated?”

“I'm beat for today. What do you guys say about just watching some tv at my place? I'll cook you food.”

The boys cheers, and they all begin moving in a slower pace than their normal running. Donnie stretches his long limbs: “I'm voting on Super Robo Mecha Force Five!”

Leo: “Sure.”

Rachell: “I don't care, as long it has nothing to do with mystical beings.”

Mikey turns around to the time master: “Renet, are you coming?”

“One movie won't hurt. I do have all the time in the world, and I love watching oldies.”

Chapter Text

Raph stares at the dark blue eyes and the dark blue mask. It's such an ugly color, he's thought that before, but ever since yesterday, he's really had that color repeating itself to him until it's been burned into his retina against his will. Raph can't wait to prove that red is superior in everything and that his fighting method is the best. Why can't Mikey stop watching his stupid phone, and stop laughing and spitting nasty popcorn onto the screen. Donnie isn't any better, drinking soda and clearly thinking about his stupid projects instead of focusing on the fight that is about to happen in the middle of the Dojo.

The first round paired Leo and Mikey, last round paired Leo and Donnie. None of them took the training seriously. Now Raph is going to show them all how it's done.

Well, not everyone is annoying. Rachell sits beside his rat mentor, observing, and his dad is there to keep the training somewhat strict.

“Hajime!”

Metal clangs against metal. It doesn't take long before the lighthearted back and forth becomes more and more serious. They dismantle the other’s weapons, so they begin kicking and punching a bit too hard. Leo gets Raph in an armlock. With pure anger running through his muscles Raph carries his brother up, and then slams him on his back. Leo taps the mat, but Raph sits on top of the other's plaston. Knuckles begins to hit the oldest brother again and again. Leo protects himself. This isn’t how training is supposed to go.

Rachell gets up to split the boys. Splinter is faster and pushes them away from each other. When the two are torn apart, they stare each other down. As the dad is is frowning at Raph, Leo dries his nosebleed.

“That’s enough!” The father's says sternly.

“Why!? Our enemies don't pull any punches, why should we!?”

“You are brothers! This is only training!”

Raph pulls out a shuriken from his belt: “Sensei! Out of us four, only I take training seriously! The rest are just goofing off all the time!” He throws the shuriken to cut over Donnie’s straw, and his juice splatters all over his fingers and a bit onto his purple bandana. Donnie places his soda and mimics a baby’s cry: “'Wah, wah, wah! No one understands me!' Get some new material, you big cry baby!”

Splinter cuts them all silent: “Stop it! All of you! Nobody here should harm family!”

Raph wasn't trying to harm family, he was just trying to show them how to train right. They can't always just stay soft, they need to harden. The world is cruels and will not give them any chances or show any softness. Raph turns around: “Rachell! You are dedicated to training, you understand me!”

But to his disbelief, Rachell crosses her arms: “I might be dedicated, but I have never pummeled my family to a nose-bleeding after he tapped out.”

“You are taking their side!?”

“How many times do I need to tell you, there are no sides here.” Splinter sounds almost exhausted over having to repeat his lessons.

“Well it sure feels like it, when you are always stick up to Leo! I'm the best fighter of us four, so why is he the golden child!?”

The mentor tries to explain, “You might be a better fighter, but that does not mean you are always right. I want to teach you that each one of you is important. Each of you has value on a team.” His son might be bullheaded, but maybe if he shares his wisdom enough times, maybe something will get through. Although, not today.

“Well I'm out of this team! I'm quitting! Adios!” Their hotheaded brother storms out of the dojo.

Leo asks Donnie: “How many times has he quit the team by now?”

“26 times.”

Splinter points now his stern voice at his purple clad son: “Donatello, you have a brilliant mind, yet you see fire and pure gasoline over it.”

The three brothers becomes really quiet, even Mikey who hasn't done anything to provoke the situation. The little brothers knows exactly how to provoke his brothers into funny anger, but he certainly also knows when to keep to just listen.

Rachell looks at the door before she sighs and walks out: “I'll go after him.” The wolf leaves the dojo, to find Raphael exiting the lair. He stomps pretty quickly, so she has to level up her pace over her usual walking to catch up to him. “What are you planning on doing?” She observes how his red bandana tail sways from side to side when he gallops.

“I just need to get as far away from this place as I can! You all drive me nuts!”

“I'm pretty sure you don't need our help for that.”

Raph turns and point an index finger in her face: “Why didn't you back me up!? You are my girlfriend! You are supposed to support me through this kind of stuff!”

“Just because I'm your girlfriend, doesn't it mean I can't call you out on your shitty behavior. Actually, because I am your girlfriend, I should call you out on your shitty behavior.”

“MY SHITTY BEHAVIOR!?”

“You can yell, you can spit sarcastic comments, all that is fine,"

“Wow, thanks for allowing me to say my opinions, that's so nice of you."

Despite Raph's sarcasm, Rachell tries to keep calm, well as calm as she can be, “I know Splinter isn't a perfect dad, I know the three's softer views are annoying sometimes, and I know they don't always understand you, but completely beating your brothers up when sparring, is the same as flushing your relationship with them out the toilet. Do you really want to be on bad terms, just because of your ego?”

“Well, maybe I don't want to be on good terms with some fucking slackers! Maybe I don't want be brothers with them at all!”

“You don't mean that."

“Oh, do you see this? I'm walking away, because I'm not gonna be near those sloths." Raph walks backwards with his arms out like a showman.

Rachell sigh, breath in, breathe out. The wolf with her own anger issues tries really not to let the annoyance show, “Raphael, I know you. You'll go to the surface, destroy a few things and then realize you have been acting like a dickward.” She fails.

“I'm leaving the team," Raph turns his back to her and stomps away with big arm motions: “I'm leaving all of you, and you can't stop me!”

Rachell doesn’t follow him this time but answers irritated: “Then I won't!” He needs his space anyway to cool down.

“I'll be great at this hero stuff alone! I'm best alone! I don't need anyone! Not Leo! Not Donnie! Not Mikey! And especially not you!”

Rachell barks after him: “Fine by me!”

He barks back: “Fine!”

“Fine!”

***

A trail of broken antennas and object follows him. Raph parkour over Madison street, kicking and hitting everything in the way, still grumbling to himself, how he doesn't need anyone, and that they are all just annoying. What do they know. He's the bester on their team. And Rachell? Why would she stick up for them? Calling him a dickwards!? No, she's the dickward, they all are dickwards. He doesn't need them.

In the horizon are black silhouettes moving elegantly. A handful of foot-robots as well as Fishface are going to a warehouse. What a perfect timing. Exactly what he needed. Of course Raph follows them down and into the warehouse with a big grin. Inside the warehouse are wooden crates and metal fences everywhere, but they are just stepping stone for him to jump down on so he can face his enemies.

The turtle cracks his two knuckles with his palm, and cracks an evil grin, “You just made my day.”

Fishface spits: “And now I will ruin your life!”

They go head to head, and although a bit difficult, Raph manages to defeat the foot-bots and Fishface. In the end, all the bad guys are knocked out or shredded. And it didn’t even take him that long to win the fight. See, he doesn't need them. He'll be a solo vigilante from now on and do double the work they can.

He stretches over their parts, satisfied with his work: “Finally, some real training.”

But now when there isn't any fighting, metal or robotic noise, he finally hears something in the corner, behind a pile of wooden boxes. Raph sneaks up to look over it, and there he finds a small person with weird, colorful clothes and it has the head of a blue clam. The thing must be one of the ugliest thing he has ever seen... Well, now that he's thinking about it, it might not even be in top 10. The blue creature is sitting on a hovering chair, in front of some TV, where Shrek 4 is playing.

It cries: “They are so beautiful together!”

Raph might have been starring for too long, or too intensely, because the clam suddenly senses him, and it looks back to see a giant green mutant. The creature screams, making Raph scream too. The turtle jumps away. The clam keeps screaming. Raph takes out his sais again, as he stares confused and terrified at the thing in front of him, that keeps staring back as it keeps screaming. Screaming and screaming and screaming. Even when Raph just stands there. After two whole minutes like that, Raph goes from confused, to almost impressed by his lung functionality, to tired. Still screaming, and still holding eye-contact, it snaps its fingers, making the chair disappear. Then it flies to him and its scream fades into: “Aaaaaaaaaa- hiiiii theeere… I’m Wrym.”

Raph jolts back with his sais out again. The Clam begins examining the turtle by flying around him, with a curious finger under his chin. Raph tries to get away, keeping his distance, and holding his weapons ready to defend any attacks. But the blue thing just insults him with a weirdly melodic tone, “You are a peculiar little creature.”

“Little!? I have kicked footballs bigger than you! What are you even supposed to be? 

Wrym answers in a too happy voice for Raph’s liking: “Me? I'm Wrym! Your magical assistance." Well that didn't explain anything... “Now, what are you? Some kind of magical turtle god?”

“If I told you, I have to kill you.” Raph thinks a bit over what he just said, then begins smiling: “I'm a mutant turtle, now stand still!” Just as promised, the hothead attacks Wrym who simply and easily evades like a pesky fly. “Get back here, you ugly Clam!”

“Why? So that you can kill me?" Wrym flies up on the ceiling and sits cross-legged upside down on it, as if it was a floor: “No thanks. Not that you're even able to.”

“And why not?”

“You really have a hard time grasping the magic thing, don't you?”

Raph curses through gritted teeth: “When I get you, you little shit, I will-” Raph's phones begin ringing. He takes it out to see Mikey calling him.

“Are there more mutant turtles?” Raph jolts when hears Wrym voice just beside his ear. The little ugly thing has suddenly flewn over his shoulder. Like a curious and too energetic child, Wrym asks excitedly: “Is there a whole mutant turtle society?”

“Wouldn't you like to know.”

Wrym snaps with his fingers, and Raph is in the lair again. He looks from side to side to see the so familiar living room. On the couch is a version of him playing Mario cart with Mikey. Mikey is winning. Donnie and Leo watch the game beside them. Donnie sits quietly, while Leo shakes Raph, and makes loud distracting noises, as the increasingly annoyed Raph tries to push him away. They are in a memory from yesterday evening. And an annoying one at that.

But Raph has bigger questions: “How did you-”

Wrym gives him a 'really?' expression.

“Right, right, magic…”

“One point to the turtle! Here's your prize!” Wrym snaps his finger, and a flying gold medal appears. For some reason, Raph tries to take it, but it disappears into air. 

“Oooh, you can't touch it tho. This is all a mind world. Sorry. I can't manifest anything into reality, unless someone makes a deal with me. For example, someone gave me this really nice chair for some hair on their head. And another person made a deal, with this TV for a dream job.” Wrym snaps his finger, and the chair and TV from before appear.

“Deal? What deal?”

“You say what you wish for, I say what I wish for, we shake hands, and then we both get the thing! It can be anything!”

“Anything?”

“Anything!” Wrym snaps his fingers to make illusions of what he's listing, “Fame, cars, money, computers, girls, if you're into them of course... Alcohol, a house, a video game.”

“So… A genie kind of thing?”

“Almost correct! Except you'll have to give me something that I want, and I can make as many deals with you as your heart desires. - Oh, who's that?”

The memory shows Rachell walking into the room with a bowl of spicy, cheesy popcorns. She points at Leo, to move over so she can sit next to Raph, but Leo shakes his head and shows a written paper. Rachell somehow manage to read Mikey’s ugly handwriting, and then sit beside Leo instead. The oldest brother and the second oldest in the living room briefly stops shaking Raph to take some of the popcorns. It results with his blue eyes watering as he breathes fire out. Dumbass.

“So this is a mutant society! How exciting!”

Raph groans: “It’s whatever.”

Wrym snaps his hand and they are back to the warehouse, where foot robots and Fishface still lies.

Raph: “So you can make anything happen, as long I give you something?”

Wrym answers in the most child-like manner: “Basically, yeah!”

“Will it backfire? Like if I asks for a lot of money, then it will rain with heavy gold bars? Or I will be in the bank midst stealing it?”

Wrym giggles: “Haha! That's funny! But no. I'm not actively tricking you to make you wish backfire. But if you want to test it out, we can start out with a small deal. What do you want?”

“Can you… Give me some Pizza?” Raph should probably not indulge this strange being, he could be dangerous, but it probably won't harm to try this thing out wit a pizza.

Wrym: “What topping?”

“Pepperoni.”

“Good choice. In return, I really want to know who those other turtles and the wolf are.”

Raph hesitate: “Okay… But if you even try to lay a finger on them-"

"As I explained before, I can't bo anything in the real world. I can only bend it after I've made a deal.” Wrym takes out his hand, and Raph nervously shakes it. The handshake glows and a golden box of Pizza hovers over him. Raph tries to take it, but the pizza box can't be touched.

“Hey!”

“You need to hold your end of the deal first.”

“Fine…" How annoying, “The other mutant turtles are my brothers, and the wolf is my girlfriend, there! Happy?” The Pizza box falls into his hands, and when he opens it, a fresh-baked pepperoni pizza is there, still warm with its delicious smell. “It isn't poisoned, right?”

Wrym takes a slice of the pizza, and begins eating it, completely fine and casual.

Raph takes a small bite of it, and it tastes good. “It's good. Not the best, but it's good.” He speaks while chewing.

Wrym reaches out for a slice more, but Raph slaps it away. Wrym whines like a kicked puppy: “You really don't want to share?”

“I've shared enough my whole life. Food, the warm water, street thug pinatas, I'm not sharing any more, and especially not with some strangers.”

“Do you share all that with your brothers or with your girlfriend?”

“Mostly my annoying brothers. Rachell has been living at our house a few months after her house were blown to bits, but she lives alone now and visits sometimes.”

Wry flies around and bounces from place to place enthusiastically: “Woah! Family! Action! Romance! Your life sounds like the best kind of movie! I wish my life was this exciting! Romance is probably my favorite movie genre, but it's not like I can experience it.”

Raph chews his pizza and asks half heartedly: “Why not?” He couldn't care less, but he's bored.

“Have you looked at me? I'm a small blue flying clam!”

“Yeah, you might not be the most handsome, but there's someone for everyone.”

Wrym tears up: “You really think so?”

“Beside, who doesn't want to be with someone, who can grant you everything?”

“Hmmm… That's true. But I want to find someone who likes me, for the true me!”

Raph shrugs, and takes a bite more. It’s a pretty good pizza. “Who knows. There are a ton of aliens, mutants, and other creatures out there, I'm sure someone wouldn't mind."

“Are there more mutants out there!? And aliens!?”

“Oh boy, you won't believe it. There's a lot. It's pretty insane.”

Wrym flaps with his arms: “Oh how I wish I could live a day in your life!”

“Yeah, it's pretty great.”

“Wanna make a deal on it? I'll be you for a day, and you can get whatever you want! It's like the movie, Freaky Fridays!”

Raph grimaces: “You watch way too much TV… It will rot your brain.”

“Please, please, PLEASE!”

“I don't know. I have just been in a fight with my family, and I'm gonna do this hero stuff alone. I don't want you to waltz up to them as me, and then make me look like a fool.”

“I promise I won't make you look stupid.” The clam bats his eyelashes Raph is pretty sure he didn't have ten seconds ago.

“Yeah, right…” Raph begins downing the last slice of Pizza.

“What about this. I'll be you one day in the past, long before today, and then everybody will have forgotten about it? Sounds cool?”

“Alright… And in return… I want to have your powers for a day.”

Wrym eagerly nods, and reaches his hand out. Raph just has to swallow the crumbs. He does. The turtle shakes the small hand, and it glows, just like before. When Raph opens his eyes, he's alone in the warehouse, beside Fishface and the foot robots, and he's flying. He looks down to see he's in a tiny, flying body.

“Sick.” The now magical being begins cruising through the air in his new none turtle body, flying from place to place phasing through walls as he pleases. He snaps his fingers, and whatever he thinks about appears. “With these powers, I can easily defeat Shredder, and I would have done it without anyone's help.”

Raph flies to the foot clan base, searching every room for Shredder. On the way he messes with the awake people he finds, who end up staring baffled at the walls he flies through. Raph flies into the lab, where Baxter is typing things into the computer. Raph flies his head through the computer, scaring the fly that falls off his chair, and then he disappears just as he has arrived.

Baxter stockman scratches his big head: “What the… I have probably been working for too long.”

Raph finally finds Shredder, sleeping on his throne. The turtle in the clam’s body tries first to conjure a knife. When he tries to grab the handle, it disappears. Right… He then tries to fly into Shredder, fists first, but he flies through him. Raph looks down at his small unfamiliar hands that weren't meant for fighting, and then at Shredder, still sleeping. Well this sucks.

In the end, he flies around New York, getting bored quickly now that he can't do anything he, he can't even hit signs or throw trashcans. In the end he somehow finds himself half inside people’s houses to watch their TV, with his head through the wall. None of the humans notices him. They don't even seem to notice his irritated groans, when they zaps to another channel from a show, he actually found decent. What else is there to do? Maybe there's a reason the clam uses all his time rotting his brain with screen entertainment. After a few hours of nothing happening Raph lies on the chair Wrym showed before, since Raph can't sleep on the rooftops without falling through it and to the ground. Right now, he just gotta stay outside on the rooftop and stare at New Yorks many lights until he falls asleep. He's just waiting to become himself again.

***

Raph wakes up to ear bleeding screeches, earthquakes, and robotic noises. It's colder than usual. Way colder than usual. Raph is back in his own handsome and muscular body, but on a shaking roof, so the ninja jumps up to look what’s happening and if he needs to get away. The air is foggy, with green gas, and the apartments are all worn down into crumbling ruins of something slightly familiar yet different. Raph leaps to look over the edge of the building. On the roads are plants from dimension X, as well as kraang mutated people everywhere. Some normal kraangs in robot suits are dragging one of their giant mutant worms throughout the street, which explains the green slime everywhere. The worm fights back, tries to get free, but in the process, it hits the already unstable structure, making them collapse. It’s tail slams into Raph's building, making it cave in. The universe must really hate him. Raph acrobatically jumps from one falling piece to the other, in an attempt to lighten his crash. He lands uncatered in a shoulder roll, and onto the street. Alright, the universe doesn't hate him that much, since it made him that cool.

The many kraangs see him, and his proud grin drops to an angry scowl.

“DESTROY THE MUTANT!”

The dozens of robots shoots their lasers. Raph evades, throws shuriken, and destroys anything in the vicinity. It isn't abnormal for him to fight on a daily basis, what's weird are the ammount of enemies surrounding him. Even the foot clan doesn't have that many robots. He goes after some of the Kraangdroids in the middle, striking them down, until the worm screeches just behind him. It rushes to the small turtle, wanting to feast on something living and different and bright green. Raph gets his sais out, ready to fight his way out of a worm's mouth, but it doesn't happen. Instead, the head of the worm gets punched down to earth, crashing the asphalt and splattering into a puddle of insect goo. On it is a large black sculpture.

It's Rachell, but her clothes is different. Instead of a tight elastic jumpsuit, it's big and baggy, with a grey scarf and hood. Isolating her from the cold. The protective metals she wears have black crosses on them painted with graffiti, and a lot more belts and pockets covers every inch of her clothes to carry all sorts of weapons and survival resources. Suddenly, all the kraangs in the area are getting either munched on by Leatherhead, crushed and shot by a bearded lizard mutant, or cut midover by a cat girl. They all carry warm clothes, protected by metal plates with the same graffiti paint and the same X. But Raph doesn't mind that.  He could care less about all these people. He climbs up the worm and up to the wolf mutant. “Rachell! What is-!?”

Rachell kicks him in the face so hard, he flies off the worm and scrapes against the road.

Ouch! He puts a hand to his bleeding lip. “What the fuck!?” This doesn't stifle him from yelling.

She jumps down to tower over him, with frown only shown to warn strangers to back off. “Haven't Derby told you, to not get caught, newbie.”

“Derby? Who’s the heck is Derby?”

A tall and muscular bearded Lizard mutant walks up to them, and Rachell turns her attention to him as the Lizard grins: “Woah woah, Captain, go easy on the poor guy.”

But Rachell will have none of it: “Why did you recruit this air head on our team?”

Derby wrinkles his nose confused: “I didn’t?”

“Then how does he know my name?”

“Beats me.” The Lizard shrugs casually.

Before Raph's keen ninja reflexes can kick in, the mutant wolf has already grabbed him by the neck leaving enough air for him to breath, but not enough space for him to escape. She lifts him up and far above ground. If his girlfriend hadn't acted so threatening after kicking him in the face and pretended to not know him, he would have thought she was badass.

But Raph can only widens his eyes and gasp when she snarls, “Are you part of The Punk Frogs?”

“The Punk—what?” Every second since he woke up, he has only gained more and more questions in his mind.

Derby cautiously sneaks up on Rachell's side. “I don't think he's part of The Punk Frogs gang, or we would have seen the whole group by now. They would no doubt ditch any of their own behind.”

Rachell lets go of Raph so his feet meet the ground again, but she maintains almost the same attitude as before, the same walls he saw only during the first month he knew her. Why have they been rebuilt? The wolf spits: “How do you know my name?”

Okay, now he's just offended. “How do I- What!? You are my girlfriend, remember!?”

Rachell loses her stern look, like that was the last thing she expected her six months boyfriend to say. The wolf and the Lizard exchange weird glances as if Raph was unironically preaching them to join his talking cupcake cult.

“You might have kicked him a little bit too hard.” Derby has a hint of worry in the lighthearted comment.

“Do you think if I kick him in the face again, he'll get his sanity back.” Rachell chuckles to the Lizard, ignoring Raph’s presence.

“Maybe you shouldn't kick people in the face at all…” Derby smiles now a bit more nervously.

“But it’s fun.”

Out of nowhere, Pigeon Pete lands in front of them and the rest of the mutants gather in a semicircle by the worm, awaiting Rachell's command. The appointed leader gestures with her fingers to the group: “Pigeon Pete, and Alligator, you two scout the area for any danger. When you meet an army too big, call us. The rest of you search the buildings for any supplies. Food, medicine, technology, anything useful. If you find any mutants, examine them and evaluate.”

The mutants all nod and begin scattering in each direction, except for Raphael, who is left behind and not quite understanding what’s happening. Rachell head after a destroyed restaurant and Derby follows just behind. Raph runs after her, but the tall Lizard blocks his way and asks: “What are you doing?”

“I want answers.”

“Okay, shoot.” Derby seems a bit too casual for the situation.

“Not from you! From Rachell!”

Derby shrugs: “Sorry, buddy. No can do.”

Raph scoffs, and pushes past the Lizard anyways, and the lizard reluctantly lets him go. Raph shouts after Rachell, who has just entered a restaurant through the broken panorama window. He knows she can hear him.

“Rachell! What is going on?!"

“Less talking, more hunting."

Her monotone order doesn't stop him from asking, “Where's Leo? Where's Donnie? Where's Mikey? Sensei!? April!?” He's a middle child, a teenage boy and he's him, of course he's going to persevere.

Rachell keeps searching the place for anything, and doesn't even look back at him, when answering: “How should I know where your friends are?”

“Uh, they are kinda your friends too! Remember the four months, where you lived with us? Or did that just slip your mind?”

“I have never met you in my life before.” She says it so casually, he doubts if she's joking or not, but if she was, that would be a really sick joke, even for his standards. Rachell smiles big, when she finds some useful technology, and doesn’t notice Raph’s disbelief as he’s making a chain of angry and offended noises, faces, and gestures. He can’t believe her. Is this because of their little fight earlier?!

Derby walks up to Rachell with a bag of rotten who-knows-what: “Jackpot! I've found a lot of fruits, and vegetables! And cans of beans!”

Rachell punches the lizard’s shoulder, shoulders there are for once above her owns: “Not bad! We can expand the farm even more! But we should keep the beans just in case.”

Raph won’t let them ignore him: “Farm? What farm?”

Derby whispers jokingly to Rachell: “Maybe we should also find some medicine to that poor thing.”

“Or a straitjacket.” Rachell doesn’t seem as amused. 

Raph: “I can hear you!”

A Walkies Talkies buzzes from Rachell's many belts and Pigeon Pete screams through: “Five are on the way. I repeat, FIVE ARE ON THE WAY!”

Rachell commands into the walkie talkies: “Everybody retreat!” With that Derby and Rachell puts the things in bags, and over their shoulders. The two large mutants rush out, and up the buildings, as the wolf girl curses under her breath: “Shit, shit, shit.”

“We retreat only because of five Kraangs?” He knows he can handle a bunch of robots and ninjas, but Raph follows them anyway. That's when he sees it. Five thousands kraangs on the street. “Ah, sewer apples...”

A handful of kraangs begins flying, pointing laser guns at them and shooting. Raph is ready to evade and shoot back he always is. Derby covers Raph with his body, as if to protect him, but the turtle pushes the bigger reptile back and snaps: “I don’t need your help!”

With two scaly hands in the air Derby tries to calm the turtle down: “Easy little friend, I'm just trying to-”

Raph grabs Derby by the collar of his ripped t-shirt and pulls him down so he could bite his eyes out if he wanted: “If you call me little or friend again, I'll feed you to the five thousand robots.”

Meanwhile Rachell covers the two idiots, by reflecting the lasers back using her Kamas blade. She manages to shoot them down, but even more aliens fly up. “Could you two fuckheads just!-” But she interrupts herself with a raging groan and rips into their arms. They flee. Parkour. Don't get shot. Don't get captured. From just below them a kraang rockets up in front of Raph, pointing its lasers at him, and he is about to stab the Kraang, but Derby pushes him away, getting shot in the rib cage in the process.

Rachell: “Derby!”

Raph carries Detby over his shoulder, which looks almost like a scene out of a comedy show when the lizard is 190 cm long. The hothead runs to hide behind a wall with the lizard. “Don't do that! I can handle myself!”

Derby says weakly: “Sorry… I just wanted to help…”

Rachell, is now being pushed back near their wall, but she keeps trying to hold the flying kraangs off with throwing knives, shuriken, or explosives: “Stop the chit-chat and get moving!”

Derby asks her: “What's the plan?”

“We need to shake them off our tail. Let's go to Lexington Ave.”

Raph: “It's too far! I know where we should go! Follow me!”

“What!? No-!”

But Raph has already jumped down an alley, with Derby on his back. He let's go of the Lizard to take the manhole cover, and Derby stares confused, looking like a small child holding his wounded ribcage. Rachell sneers through gritted teeth, but jumps down to them. Some kraangs are getting to close to the alley. They don’t have much time and even less space. Rachell takes a lid from a metal trashcan and uses it as a shield. The martial artist gets into a stance.

Raph pops his head out of the manhole: “Down here!”

Derby wrinkles his beak again: “The sewers?” He tries to sound too polite, but the confusion and disgust is apparent.

“Just get down here already!” Raph jumps in, shortly followed by the two others. The kraangs do as well, but in the this dark labyrinth where all tunnels look the same the search party quickly loses their track. The mutants are hiding in the shadows, over the pipes and under the ceilings. After some time, the kraangs leave the sewers, and the trio can relax. They made it.

So Rachell pulls out some bandages from her tool belt and begins attending Derby’s wounds.

Derby beams to Raph with encouragement and a thumbs up: “Woaw, well done, dude!” His happy golden retriever face makes Raph’s blood boil.

Rachell mumbles: “Yeah, I guess the sewers aren't such a bad place after all.”

Raph waves them: “Come with me. I need to find my family. They'll know what is going on, and how to fix this mess.” He doesn’t wait for an answer and has already begun walking.

Rachell and Derby exchange weird glances again, but the people pleaser shrugs, and he tails after the turtle, trying to start friendly small talk. He might as wil be talking to a wall, except the wall wouldn’t spit threats into his face. The wolf sighs wryly, “This better be worth the trouble,” and reluctantly goes after them as well.

The walkie-talkie makes scratching noise, and the cat girl talks into it: “Rachell? Derby? Where are you guys? We are all at the base. I know you two love birds are all about making out when we don’t see it, but we need you!”

Rachell answers: “Olivia. Derby got hurt, so we are following some guy underground to xx-street. He says he can fix something.”

Raph: “I have a name!”

“Yeah, I just don't care.”

Olivia asks: “Who's the guy?”

“Don't know. Probably some lunatic.”

“I can still hear you!”

Rachell ignores the yelling turtle and continues talking to the walkie-talkie: “Meet us there. Come with medicine and manpower.”

***

They walk over the rails that seem deserted and abandoned by humans, but also untouched by the kraangs. Their footsteps are the only thing signaling life. When they arrive at the so familiar atmosphere near his lair, a group of mutants waits for them just outside. Leatherhead, some cat girl, must be Olivia, and Pigeon Pete.

Olivia asks her leader: “Is that the guy? He seems pretty cute for a lunatic.”

And Rachell sends a warning though her expression that might as well have been a slap with a stop sign. “Shut up, I’m too tired to feed your delusions with cute boy fantasies.”

Leatherhead asks Raph: “You said, you can fix something?”

“Just follow me.”

Against all reasoning, they do. He takes the lead and the rest keeps a small distance unsure if they’ll get ambushed any minute or not.

Pete whispers to his leader: “Are you sure this isn't a trap, captain? What if it's one of the other mutants?”

Rachell talks back in a tired and almost apathetic voice: “I can probably handle it, if it is. You just stay out of it.”

“Do you have a plan if it is a trap?”

“Get out of there as quickly as possible. Kill anything in the way.”

Olivia chirps in: “I hope it doesn't come to that. He's too cute to be killed.”

Derby whispers to Olivia: “He thinks he's Rachell's boyfriend.”

A big bright smile shines on her face. This new information only makes her more intrigued.

When they finally walk past the turnstiles and into the living room, nothing looks like what he knows. It’s forsaken. Everything is dusty, and plants and weeds have grown over the furniture. Raph calls out, as he walks through the place. The group stare at the rotten couch, the torn beanbag and the dusty arcade games. They are partially surprised that it actually exists and partially surprised by how it looks.

“Father!? Leo!? Donnie!? Mikey!?”

No response. The lair is empty for any hearts that isn’t from a bug. But even that is false, because he’s sure bugs don’t have hearts.

Derby brushes the dirt from a photo of Raph’s family he found on the table: “Uhm… Not to bring down the mood, man, can I call you man?"

“No."

“- but are you sure your family still lives here?”

“I know they do! I talked to them yesterday! And it didn't look like this. None of this looked like this yesterday! Not this place, and not New York. I left it after a small fight, and then…”

That’s when realization hits him.

“Of course! I made some type of deal with some weird magic genie-clam-stick. He asked to switch places with me with a day from my past! That idiot must have messed with time, so we couldn't save the world from the Kraang invasion! That's why you don't know me, because you have never met me!”

A group of round eyes stares at him, nearly afraid of the turtle and if he’s gonna siddenly bite them with rabies if they don’t keep their distance. Pigeon Pete looks at leatherhead, and whistles as he loops his finger near his head.

Olivia: “Woah.”

Rachell: “Told you he was crazy.”

“Wait! I can prove it!” Raph takes out a photograph from his belt and gives it to Rachell.

She looks at it, not impressed. “A blank photograph?”

“What?” When he takes it from her to see, there's nothing on it. He examines it for a bit too long, looking at it from all corner.

“Hold on!”

He whips out his t-phone, and checks his photos, but there are only photos from very early, the first months after Donnie had first made the device.

Rachell backs away: “Alright team… We should probably go. Get some fresh air… There's clearly toxins down here…”

“Wait Rachell! Don’t you dare walk out on me!" Raph roars with a mix of frustration and betrayal, “None of this is supposed to happen! I know I can fix this!”

Rachell is already walking to the exit, with Leatherhead, Pete and Olivia, but Derby stops them all with his hands out and says: “Guys. We could use this place as a hiding spot for now, right? Just while I'm healing.”

Rachell shoots judgemental glare: “You are kidding, right?”

The lizard jogs up to her: “What if he's right about something?”

Rachell snarls: “You truly believe that?”

Derby whispers to her, covering the side of his mouth as if it was a secret: “No, but he's clearly having a mental breakdown over his dead family.” Raph scoffs. Derby continues whispering, not low enough, “I think we should help the dude get better.” Great, Raph is being helped by this lizard. Just great. Raph hesitates on wether he should let him or just storm off out of principles.

Rachell sends more angry eyes and a snarl: “Why make it our problem? We are barely surviving!”

Derby continues to whisper: “C'mon… You helped us when we lost everything.”

“The group is already big as is. We have five mouths to feed and shelter and we are barely getting by. A sixth member would just drag us- " Rachell shoot a glance back at the strange turtle mutant who has heard the whole conversation. She looks at him like he’s a stranger to her. She really doesn’t know him… Her lips are pressed her lips together into an thin angry line before she bites, “Urgh, fine! Whatever! I don't care!”

Derby smiles big, and sends two thumbs up to Raph. Raph has never wanted to break anyone’s thumbs more than now, and he has lived with three infuriating brothers his whole life.

The leader claps her hands: “Everybody, we sleep here tonight. Examine the area for anything, and then we set up a camp. Andale, andale!”

Raph walks up to her: “Rachell, I swear, I can prove it. You gotta-”

Rachell interrupts: “Don't. I've saved your ass and followed you down here. Don't push your luck.” And then the wolf walks away, leaving Raph behind. He has completely forgotten how angry she was when he first met her.

***

The lab used to be full of chemical explosions or robotic fighting, it’s aggravating that it isn’t.

Donnie's chair creeks as he spins from side to side, occasionally flicking an empty beaker on the table in front of him. There are still machines and beakers, but they were used to be clean or filled with weird chemicals. He wouldn’t have thought that they things could seem so dead, and he wouldn’t have thought it would disturb him this much.

“Sooo… This was your brothers lab? It's pretty neat.” Olivia waltzes slowly up to him, like the cat she is.

Raph sends a small grunt: “Yeah, but the cool lab doesn't help the fact that he always annoys me, with his over complicated nerd talk and his useless overthinking… He's a smartass with too many thoughts for his own good, and he knows everything, except how to shut up…” Raph rests his head on the table. A part of him hopes he can find his genius brother in this beaker in front of him, but only a reflection of his own face glares back. “Donnie would probably know how to solve this shitshow…”

Olivia sits down on the table, sits down close to him: “So you miss him?”

“It’s only been a day.”

“Right… Right… Right…”

They fall into an awkward silence. What else is there to say. Nothing that he wants to say to her anyway.

Olivia: “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Raph jolts up so quickly, his toes hit the table, and he winces, holding his foot and jumping on the other until he falls to the floor. Olivia giggles at the dizzy Raph. “I hope that’s a no.”

Raph snaps: “No.”

“No, you don't have a girlfriend?”

“No! I mean, yes! I do have a girlfriend!” His roar is so loud, if she doesn’t fuck off by his volume, she’s a lost cost.

“Where is she then?”

“It’s complicated!”

Olivia leans over him: “Uh huh?”

He can’t believe it. He has been bitten by ticks that were less bullheaded than this cat.

Raph gets up and pushes past her and out. He slams the door to the lab, leaving a giggling Olivia. The turtle storms to his room, or what was his room once, until he sees someone in Leo's. He pops his head in to see Derby lying in the bed reading Leo's comics, that has been wrapped in plastic.

“Hey! You can't do that!”

Derby: “I’m sorry…?” He is always apologizing, why is he always apologizing!?

Raph rips the comic out of Derby's hands, and checks it for any damage, and then checks the plastic on the bed. “It's Leo's limited edition comics! If I can't read it, you can't either!” Sometimes it’s funny that Leo doesn’t allow anyone to touch his precious comic books, because that just meant Raph was gonna do it, sometimes it is obnoxious. But seeing this stranger, who’s already getting on his nerves, casually reading his brother’s forbidden stuff, it activates Raph’s fight or flight mode, and Raph is obviously gonna choose fight.

Derby seems just as friendly and optimistic as before. He sits up, but doesn’t move too much to not touch the bandage around his ribcage: “This Leo guy sounds really strict with his collection? Not letting his own brother touch any of it.”

Raph snorts: “You have no idea. Whenever we played Secret Santa, we would just give him merch from a store. I would always pick the easiest one. Donnie would go far and beyond, picking something so fucking specific.”

“But he would never let you guys touch it?”

“I swear, sometimes I think he loves these ugly figurines over his own family. Well, the figurines talk a lot less, so I kinda get it.” Raph doesn’t notice his mouth softening into a smile, “One time, Mikey played with them. Leo made Mikey clean the bathroom with a toothbrush after that stunt. It was either cleaning, or Mikey training to his arms falls off. Not that it teaches that little gremlin anything.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, and there was a time, where we wanted to distract Leo, so I gave Mikey one of Leo's stupid comics, and Mikey wiped his ass with it. It ended with Leo chasing Mikey around with a mop.”

“Sounds fun!” Derby chirps like a child getting excited by his grandparents’ adventures.

Raph smiles: “Leo is everything but fun. It literally hurts to listen to that dorks puns. But it's always fun to mess with him. He makes it so easy, because he falls for it every time, either at home or when we in the field. But when it really comes down to it, he just wants what's best for everybody… Even if he's being annoying about it… He's a good leader…”

“You must really miss them, right?” Derby becomes even more mushy than already. “I get that, they sounded really awesome. It's nice that you have good memories of how they were."

“If you keep talking about them in past tense, you will go from an 'are' to a 'was'."

“Hey man, I get it, it’s tough to lose someone you love, but you don’t have to be alone anymore. Now you have us, and if you ever wanna chat, I’m up for it.

Raph feels his face physically distort itself out of his control. He doesn’t know what’s worse, what Derby said or how his face keeps looking at him with sympathy. "They aren't gone! It's just this shit show of world that's wrong! When I find Wrym, everything will go back to normal! Fuck, why am I even talking with someone who looks like he drinks radioactive paint for a living.”

Derby sighs, but doesn’t push Raph more: “Alright… What does normal look to you?”

“Well for one thing New York isn't in a dead wasteland, my brothers are still here, and I'm together with Rachell, and the best of it all, I don't know you.”

Derby shakes his head, “You don’t know Rachell tho…” He tries to put it so gently.

“Oh yeah? Her biggest fear are needles, her obsession is technology or samurai history, and her biggest pet peeves is people who are in over their heads. If she's excited, she will violently shake you until she headbuts you, that had happened before..." Raph smiles over some of the times, where she was so excited to share something with him, that the clashed beaks together. Some ninja. “If she looks at her nails and say she doesn't give a shit, she really does. If she say some arrogant bullshit it's to push you away from any vulnerability. Is she plays with her underlip, she's nerding out. I know my girl, how's that?” Raph mocks him.

Derby's big round face is almost as delightful as when Raph beats his brothers in practice. Okay, maybe not quite as delightful, because that's the sweetest shit ever. Derby stutters: “How do you… Okay first of all, that's a lot of info and I have only seen half of it. Rachell is afraid of needles? What do you mean she does care when she says she doesn't? I know about the shake thing, and the nail thing, and the lip thing, but it's like I only got the half of that story. How do you even know all this?”

“You really have a hard time grasping everything I just told you. I can fetch my little brother's crayons and glitter if you want.”

Derby shakes his head to shake off the shock and bring back his cool: “Alright, let's say you're right-”

“Because I am.”

“How would you "fix" all this?”

“Easy. I just make a deal with the genie, and get everything back to normal.”

Derby sounds like he's still hesitating: “If the world has changed like you say it is… How would you find... that genie? What if he's changed place? Or what if he doesn't exist in this universe, time, thingy... at all?”

“There's only one way to find out. I'll go to Madison Street. That's the last time I saw the weirdo. Either I find him, or I don't. But in the end, I will. No matter what.”

“Yeah, but-”

“There is no but. I have to do it. The world is pretty much at stake, and so is my family.”

Derby finally sends small nods, “Alright… This is just…" He scratches his scaly neck so it makes an awful sound, "...really weird, and hard to believe…”

Raph walks to the door and places a hand against the wall where weed is growing: “I don't need you to believe it. I can find Wrym on my own.”

“Wait… Let us help you anyway.” On the way up, Derby has to put pressure on his ribcage to keep it together. “You clearly don't know New York, and Madison street is far away.”

“Fuck you! Of course I do!”

“Then where are the kraangs bases?”

Raph spreads his arms, squints his eyes and bares his teeth, he can't believe the Lizard just said that with a straight face and Raph can't believe he is still keeping his temer under control and not just beating the guy up: “Their main base is TCRI on xx-street, and they have many smaller bases around, like in a few warehouses and on the outskirt.”

“That was two years ago. Now there are hundreds of big bases, with at least five thousand men inside. If you don't know where any of them are, you are just as good as kraang food.”

Raph reluctantly says: “Urgh, whatever…”

“We'll help you tomorrow.”

“Fine!” Raph throws a hand in the air and walks into the living room. Maybe he can talk to Rachell again. She's the only sane person here. Well, she isn't, but she's the only person here he likes.

The cascading game noises draw him back to the living room. In front of one of the arcades, which is larger than Donatello, Leatherhead has crouched down to see the overly small screen and press the too small buttons. The Pigeon beside him is pushing and pulling the gators arm, barely moving it. “Go to the left! The left!”

Leatherhead booms: “How do I do that again?”

Raph groans annoyed and pushes them out of the way: “Watch and learn, newbies.” He plays the game like he does so often when he has nothing better to do. The buttons are a bit different under his touch over the year of no use and accumulating dust. Despite all, he gets a pretty decent score that he can gloat about. Just a bummer that Leo and Donnie aren't there to see it.

Pete: “Wow! You got the high score!”

“Yeah, I'm pretty great. But believe it or not, my little brother holds the high-score in my actual time... thing? He plays this way too much, it's probably why he's can't focus on anything. All his brain power go to this game.”

Leatherhead: “He must be really smart to figure out this game, no?”

Raph groans, even when time and world is messed up, the alligator idolizes Mikey, “Of course you would say that. In my timeline, you two are best buddies.” Leatherhead and Mikey will often walk around the sewers, swim in the water or snuggle together while Mikey reads them his comic book out loud, loud enough for the rest of the family to hear it. Raph doesn't want to admit it to the universe to not jinx it, but the giant alligator treats Mikey well, so he's good enough in his book. Mikey deserves the best kind of friends, and Leatherhead could be worse.

Leatherhead: “Really? I'm your brother's friend?”

“Yeah. He found you adorable, and wanted to patch you up. Mikey finds everything adorable, and wants to befriend everyone, even after you went berserk because we mentioned the kraangs and the power cell, and even after you lost control over your anger. He's just the kind of optimistic guy who believes people deserves a second chance, and love and all that mush.”

“You know about-”

“Thanks for the hand! You have all been a great help setting the camp up.” Rachell roars sarcastically. They look back to see that Rachell has gathered blankets, pillows and sleeping bags drops it all on the couch with a thud. In the middle of the living room, she has taken some of their dishes from the kitchen, as well as a pot with water.

Leatherhead: “Oh, sorry Rachell… We got distracted.”

“Hey, alligator. Do you have a heater? Mine's out of batteries.”

Leatherhead doesn't have a name in this changed present, afterall, it was Mikey who named him.

Leatherhead takes out, what looks like a small lamp with a handle and a flat top. It's build of different metals you would find in a junkyard. He places it in the middle. Rachell turns it on and places a bowl with beans on top of it, as well as the pot of water. The heater not only warms the food and water up to boil, but also gives out heat to the surrounding area.

Olivia pops her head out from the dojo: “What's that smell!?”

Rachell stirs the pot: “Beans.”

Olivia celebrates, “Yes! Something other than grilled vegetables.” her high pitched scream is only something a 13 year old fangirl can make at a boyband concet.

Pete sits down beside Rachell: “I would have preferred bread, but I guess beans will do for now.”

The group sits down around the heater, as Rachell is stirring the bowl with beans. Derby sits on Rachell's right, and Pete to her left. Raph pushes Pete aside to get in between them. The wolf doesn't notice him at all, but Pete does. “Excuse me?” He sounds more like an angry chicken than anything.

“You got a problem?”

“I was sitting here, and I find it a bit rude that you pushed me aside.”

“It's just a seating.”

“Then why do you want to sit exactly where I sat?”

“It's not about you, it's about Rachell.”

Rachell snaps her head to the two now that her name has been thrown into the drama: “What are you yapping about?”

Raph gestures “I've already told you. I like you.”

Rachell points to the other side of the group circle: “Fuck off!”

Raph sighs. He gets up and sits where she pointed at, which means he is sandwiched between Leatherhead and Olivia. Olivia, who's content with that plan. Probably the only one happy. Even Derby mouthed to him: “Sorry dude," which Raph ignored. The plates get a portion of beans, and the portions get eaten.

When that's over, the heater is turned off, and they all go into each of their sleeping bags, except Raph who has to deal with his own and his brothers’ blankets and the cold. He knows he can get into his own room, and sleep in his own bed, but he stays in the living room, and stares at Rachell's prifile, as she's tucked into her sleeping bag. She lies far far away from them by the exit, on her back and with her kamas by her side. He isn't sure if it's the people outside or the people inside she's dreaming about. It's probably both.

Another’s sleeping back rustles when Olivia scoots closer to him to sit just beside him. “Tell me more about your brothers. Do they also have girlfriends? Were they as handsome as you?”

Raph slides away from her to create some distance: “No. To both.”

Olivia slides closer to him, and he scoots away again. But she gets closer to him one more time.

Raph glares at her: “I don't know what you are thinking about, or what you think you're doing, but don't.”

Olivia giggles with an innocent smile, “What? I'm just existing here. You know, it's cold, and body warmth is pretty good at fixing that.”

“Not interested.”

“C'mon! It's like a enemies to lovers trope!”

Raph tries to close her off: “I have a girlfriend.”

But Olivia continues to push with that same smile: “I don’t see her.” The girl is really delusional.

Raph looks in the direction of the sleeping Rachell: “She's just over there.”

“Wait, you actually think you two are together?”

“In my original time, we are.”

“You do know she likes Derby, right?”

“What?” He asks as if he didn’t hear her right, well knowing Rachell would never fall for a guy like Derby.

But Olivia tries to explain: “Yeah, Rachell and Derby completly denies it, but they are totally secretly dating! All the signs are there." She gets a little bit to close to whisper into his ear, and he moves further away. This doesn't stop her for continuing: “Pete and Leatherhead are a couple, and so are Rachell and Derby. They even make a cute couple, even though they won't admit it. We would make a cute couple too!”

At this point, there's no way of saving her. That cat has lost it. Raph bursts into laughter, “You really think Derby is her type. The push-over? That's funny.”

“Who else would it be?”

“Uh, me, Duh.”

Olivia thinks for a few seconds, if you would call it thinking: “The main female strong warrior having to choose between the bad boy and or the nice guy? That's actually really endearing and would make a good Rom drama! But in the end she'll choose the one she fell for first, because he's her true love.”

“You've read so many romance books, you've lost touch with reality.”

“I mean it! Rachell and Derby are always working together, and cracking jokes, even more than she does with the rest of us.”

“Yeah, right. You just described a good friendship.”

“Also, she needs someone laid back to balance out her hotheadedness.”

“She wants someone, who can directly tell her their likes and dislikes. Someone who'll call her out on her bullshit behavior and- oh my god…” Raph puts his face in his palm. “She was just being caring in her own way, and I acted like a dickward…”

“I... don't think, I follow…?”

“It doesn't matter. Just leave me alone. I don't want to be infected with whatever you're on. I just want to get this nightmare over already.” Raph tucks into the couch, completely ignoring Olivia.

***

The underground tunnels are just as foggy and cold as the surface. They are trying to find a manhole cover they can peak out of, and where there isn’t an army standing outside. When Rachell pops her head out ans scans the remote alley, she get out, and they follow one after the other. Derby winches and holds to ribcage when he gets crawls the ladder as the last person.

Rachell helps him up with a hand: “If you die now, it would be so embarrassing, I would have to mock you on your grave.”

“Oh, you like me enough to get me a grave? I thought you would just throw my body in a ditch.”

“Now that you're saying it… Not a bad idea.”

Olivia folds out a paper map: “We get it, you two are in love. Stop flirting, and tell us where to go.”

Rachell takes the map and lays it on the ground: “We should get some medicine and more bandages. But we have already raided the hospitals in this area, so we might have to infiltrate some of the kraangs bases and steal their supplies. SoHo is that way.”

The big lizard asks sheepisly: “What if we take to Madison street?”

“No. SoHo.” Rachell stands up and folds the map back together in agressive claps.

Derby backs off, but Raph doesn't. “What kind of shitty leadership is that?”

Rachell whips her head around: “What did you just say?” If she couldn't already kill a man with her bare hands, her glare alone could.

The rest of the group backs away and shakes their heads at Raph, begging him to shut up, but he ignores their plea. “Shouldn't you be a team!? Maybe you are the leader, and you are definitely smart when it comes to machines or history or whatever, but that doesn't mean you can just shoot teamwork down without even hearing what they got to say. Sure, most of the time, they are idiots, but sometimes they can help in ways you wouldn't have thought about yourself. Sure, you got brain, but there are ideas out there, that wouldn't have crossed even your big head.”

Rachell squints her eyes and bares her teeth in a threatening growl. And the group hold their breaths. But she sighs, not angry, not annoyed, just calm and almost defeated. “You are right…”

The rest of the group yells: “What!?”

Rachell looks at Derby like a commander to a soldier and points the map at him: “You have fifteen seconds to explain, why Madison street. It's infested with kraangs, and really far away.”

Derby begins to find an excuse, but is too surprised to find one and just stutters: “Oh… Uhm… There's a hospital near it, that we haven't touched.”

“There's a hospital closer than the one at a Madison street, and is even less guarded.”

Derby stutters even more: “Uhm… I…” God, he's so weak and pathetic.

Rachell snaps: “If you can't give even one good reason for an idea, don't waste time bringing it up in the first place.”

Raph gets in between: “It was my idea. Derby to give a hand find the genie.”

The wolf pinches the bridge bewteen her furrowed brows: “Again with the genie…” The leader turns to Derby: “Why do you want to help the lunatic on some wild goose chase!?”

“I… Erm… I…”

Raph interrupts: “If it's such a big fucking problem for you cowards, then don't help me at all. I don't need it! I can and will find him alone.” He gets up the building and leaps over the alleys and signs and roads heading after Madison street. The group stares in his direction.

Rachell can't believe what she's about to say and do, “God fucking dammit. After him.” And she begins following after the turtle in acrobatic movements up there. He's surprisingly agile. “Hey nutjob! Wait for us!”

Raph stops up. Derby begins climbing the structures as well with Olivia's help. Leatherhead goes in the sewers, and Pigeon Pete flies. Rachell is the first to catch up to Raph, and the two begins jogging and jumping around in a slow enough pace for the others to follow.

Raph smirks: “Thought you said I was crazy.”

Rachell answers in a monotone voice: “You are, but you're also entertaining. it would be a shame to let you die.” This time, he knows the voice is a facade.

“As if some kraangs could kill me. I'm too strong for that.”

Rachell goes into a less annoyed and more amused tone: “You sure are something.”

When they arrive at Madison street, Raph stops to look over the edge of a building and down to where the warehouse was supposed to be, but isn't. Instead, a guarded fortress with cement walls stands in its place. Tall and ominous. Raph grits, “The warehouse should be there.”

“You want us to break into the fortress?”

“I kinda have to.”

“We don't have to do shit. Listen, you got spunk, and I can respect that, but I won't risk my team's lives for your fantasy adventure.”

“I'm not asking you to. I can sneak in all by myself.” Raph makes his move to the fortress, and begins examining it from all sides to find a weak point, where he can storm.

The rest stays where they are, unsure on what to do, except Rachell who’s cursing herself. Why is she the way that she is.

Derby asks the leader: “You are gonna help him, aren't you?” well knowing the answer. After all, he has seen her risk her life multiple times over the short year he got to know her. Maybe he doesn't know her as well as the turtle claims, but he knows this.

“Unfortunately, yes…” The wolf turns on her walkie-talkie: “I'm going into the base. You four stay out.”

And just like she said, Rachell begins moving in as well, while the rest group together on a building, observing the scene. She sneaks up behind Raph, who's moving a long side the wall. “There aren't any vents if you're looking after that.”

Raph jolts up. She puts a hand over his mouth and pulls him in. Raph moves her hand away: “I was counting the guards on the wall.”

“Twenty.”

“Perfect.” This is his signal jump up the walls and begins tearing through the guards, aggressively and quickly. For just a brief moment he glances down and see her starring big with a small smirk.

Rachell sees his small glance in return, and she sees the way he punches back into the fighting zone, brave and full of fire. Although Rachell will never say it to anyone, not the rest of her team, not the weirdo, and especially not Olivia, she can't help but be impressed his brutal and straight forward attacks. Rachell joins him. He looks up at one of the watch towers, where there are two kraangs. They get hit in the head by explosives and burns to nothing. IRachell had thrown them.

They jump down to the yard, taking out any enemies who sees them, and sneaking past those who don't, until they arrive at the vent and crawl into the building to get out to the hallway. Just like before, they cut whoever is standing in the way, as they search the establishment. Rachell grabs medicine, bandages and food whenever she finds it, and Raph keeps looking around after any sign of a talking, flying, magic clam. But there isn't.

After a while, the more frustrated Raph takes out his irritation on the aliens, making more and more noise, which catch the attention of more and more Kraangs. Rachell takes care of four kraangs, and Raph begins violently stabbing two down.

He loves her, but she doesn't help when she sarcastically says: “What about we just hit the alarm? It would probably be less noisy.”

“He isn't here!" He kicks the robot bodies into a prison chamber with the alien brains, “Why isn't he here!?”

“The magic genie doesn't exist? Wow, shocker.”

“I'm not in the mood for jokes.”

“Let's just get out of this place." Rachell settles the last box of medicine into her hidden pockets with one hand as she points the hallways with wires and alien blood with the other, "It's only a question of time before-” The alarm goes off. “That happens…”

Kraangs begins storming through the hallway, and what was easy before, is getting tedious now, as they try to make their way out.

Her walkie talkie scratches, and Derby talks: “What is happening?”

“It's nothing. We have just overstayed our welcome. You guys stay out of it.”

In the background she hears Pete shout over Derby's shoulder: “They are opening portals!”

“Shit, shit, shit!” Rachell and Raph run through the hallway, and to the exit doors. But the doors are locked. They cut down the guards, as more kraangs arrive. Rachell kicks the door; it doesn't budge. She opens the lock, while Raph covers her as best he can, but it's getting more and more difficult with the growing crowd.

Raph hits a robot over the head with a metallic limb: “Seriously!? You are picking the lock now!?”

“No, I'm playing Tetris with wires, OF COURSE I'M PICKING THE LOCK TO THE FUCKING DOOR!?”

“For fuck's sake! Just transform!”

“What!?"

"Your wolf form! Tear down the door!"

Leatherhead hears them through the small device ands his voice makes the walkie talkie scratch even more: “Do not transform! We have no tranquilizers left. We won't be able to get you back!”

Raph punches one robot head off after the other: “Just do it! I know you won't loose control! And if you do, I'll calm you down.”

The rest of the group screams: “Don't do it!”

Raph's leg is shot. He falls to the floor by the impact. Rachell stares at him, and then at the tsunami of kraangs, and then at the door. Rachell transforms. She runs into the kraangs, knocking the first wave out, before running to Raph, who gets onto her back, and then she storms through the doors. The group stares scared at it.

In the yard there are even more Kraangs, but with Raph on Rachell's back, she storms through them all, through the cement wall, before transforming into her normal form, still carrying Raph over her shoulders. She makes a run to the group, jumping up to the others and they speed out.

***

They are staying in a farmhouse on the outskirt of New York's, where's there’s a few houses and a lot of trees to hide in. Their hideout is hidden behind all the plants, and has its own garden, with its own lemon, apple and other fruits they have planted.

Inside the house, they sit around the burning fireplace. Leatherhead is sitting on the couch with Pete and with a blanket over them. And for once Olivia isn't all in Raph's face, but is instead tending to Derby's ribcage with the medicine they have retrieved.

Tranquility embraces them like a warm blanket. 

Rachell is sitting in the corner with Raph, each on their own stool. She’s gently and slowly bandaging his big and injured leg on her lap. “Does it hurt?”

“Yeah, it could be better…” He has learned his lesson to not try and hide an injury from her, if he doesn't want her to be more forceful and poke the wound from bad to worse.

Rachell lets go of the bandage, pushes his legs off her lap and stands up to leave the room. Where is she going? The other's might not have noticed her tensed jaws or her how her right index finger taps a different rythm, or how her eyes are dry and without light. But he notices: “Don't stress out.”

Rachell freezes. For a second she just stands frozen until she turns around with the smug face: “Pffft, you really think I of all people would ever-”

“Not this again. Stop doing that. I hate it.”

Her purple irises turns to the ceiling and she laughs: “Stop doing what?”

“Bullshitting. Cut the act and be straight with me.”

The wolf is taken aback, enough that she lets her ears twitch back, and her fingers tap herself, showing how stressed out she feels for a second. Rachell sits down on the stool again, her guards lowered just a little bit: “Alright… It's just… Now two people are down…” She doesn't say more. She can't.

So Raph continues: “It's nothing. When life shoots us ninjas down, we get back up and slaps the living shit out of it.”

“Yeah, but…”

"We'll just punch them back," Raph begins shadow punching out in the air after her, lightly hitting her arms. Rachell grabs his fists. He takes them back and begins flexing his arms: “As long I have these guns, I can shoot back and way worse than those cheap lasers.”

Rachell's laughter erupts, so loud and warm, the rest of the group has to look back, worried if they had heard it right or if the house was possessed. They have never heard that sound coming from her before. They didn't even know she could make it. And they hear Raph laugh too. Their laughter actually harmonizes surprisingly well.

Rachell says with a bit of warmth and no bite: “You are actually crazy.”

“You're one to talk. You were born with so many screws loose, your brain is held together by duct tape and hope.”

The group stares shocked, eyes widened, mouth agape, and scared for the murder scene that is surely about to happen. Rachell smiles a lopsided smile and retorts: “Oh yeah? At least I have something up here. If you really spoke your mind, you'd be speechless.”

“Some babies were dropped on their heads, but you were clearly thrown at a wall.”

“Your brain can rotate in a peanut shell to the end of time, and it will never touch the sides.”

As they keep going to see who can come with the more creative insult, and as they keep laughing and as they keep sharing this tender and intimate moment, they don't care about the rest starring bewildered.

Not taking his eyes of the pair, Leatherhead asks Pete: “What is happening, Pete?”

Pete is just as flabbergasted: “No idea…”

Olivia: “Love triangle…”

Both Raph and Rachell have now gone over to just laughter, until it slowly fades out naturally, as they try to breathe normally. Their ribcages are hurting, and their stomachs warm. They stare at each other. She smiles at him, and he can't help but smile back. He can't help but find himself in the night sky again on the fourth of july. Raph puts a hand on her cheek and leans up to kiss her, but Rachell jumps away, completely startled: “What are you doing!?”

Raph backs off, not knowing what to say or what to do. Stammering after an answer that won’t arrive. Rachell stands up and leaves the room to go up stairs. Raph hits his own forehead, repeatedly: “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

He feels the others stares, and then snaps at them: “What!?”

They all turn their faces away from the angry turtle, and into the fire, as if they haven't seen anything.

***

The mutants are sleeping in each of their sleeping bags, while Raph is in the corner with a blanket over him, that barely helps him from the cold. But he’s there, staring at the door, hoping Rachell would come back. She doesn't. So he opens his t-phone, to look at the photos. They are still his photos. He knows he has taken them. But they stopped last year, march month. He stares at the photos with his brothers, and the photos of his sensei. He misses them. Raph presses Leo's contact in, and calls, but after 30 seconds, Leo's voicemail replies. He calls Donnie, 30 seconds, voice mail. He calls Mikey, the same happens. And he sighs.

“Pssst.” Derby has wiggled his way in front of Raph. Raph ignores him, still starring at the photos.

“Pssssssttt!”

Raph ignores.

“PSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTT!”

Raph finally snaps half whispering half shouting: “WHAT!?”

“Shhhhh.”

Raph shows a threatening fist: “Don't you shush me!”

Derby sits up in the sleeping back, so they sit face to face. The lizard is still taller. That giant bastard: “So you didn't find the genie?”

“We're still here, so obviously not.”

“Huh… Maybe he doesn't exist?”

Raph snarls: “Are we back to this again?”

“No, no, I believe you! I meant it as… What if he died? Like… What if in this timeline, something happened to the genie? What if the kraangs has killed him?”

“Maybe? How should I know! I would think he was immortal or some shit.”

“You don't know?”

“It's not like I believed in any of that myself a few days ago.”

“Can you tell me what happened?" The lizard crawls closer, "Maybe we can figure this out, if we walk through everything that happened that day.”

“The day began as usual. Rachell visited to make breakfast, scrambled eggs, and bacon, and my brothers were doing their own thing, until we ate together.”

“Oh man, I haven't had bacon in over a year now.” Derby begins to salivate, distracted by his thought of actual food that isn't just beans and vegetables.

Raph bites: “Are we gonna talk about bacon, or something important.”

“Yes, sorry, carry on.”

“Then we just went on with the day. Rachell and I trained, which helped a bit, because I woke up in a pretty bad mood. Everything was just pissing me off that day I guess. My family started the training session with my father, and I might have given Leo a nose-bleeding…”

“Woah…”

“I mean, I'm the only one out of my four lazy brothers who takes training seriously. We are out here and fighting to save the world and they are just goofing off all the time! Is it really too much to ask, that they don't hold back?”

“What happened next?”

“I said I would quit the team and do my own thing. Rachell said I was acting like a dicward… Which might have a little bit truth to it.”

“Uh huh?”

“Then I chased the foot-clan down to this warehouse, where I beat them all up. When it was over, I heard some TV. The genie was watching Shrek.”

“Shrek?”

“The clam was a big fan of pretty much anything TV. It was probably because his life was so boring. And it's probably the reason he wanted to experience a day in my life. So we made a deal. I wanted to try out his powers, and he wanted to go back in time and be in my body for a day.”

“And this is why the kraangs have taken over?”

“Probably. I mean, I did save the world multiple times. I am just that good.”

“Alone?”

“Well… No. I always did it with my brothers, and friends, and Rachell…”

“For someone who wanted to go solo, it seemed like you're good in a team.”

“Yeah… Maybe…”

Derby lights up, “Am I one of your friends in your original timeline?” If Raph could see Derby's tail, it would probably be wagging.

“No. We don't hate each other tho. I've never talked to you before, only seen you at underground race events.”

“Oh yeah, I remember loving skateboarding. I haven't been to any of those races for a while! But I can't remember ever seeing you.”

“That's because I first heard about it a few months ago. Worst day ever.”

The Lizard must not have heard the last part, because he grins, “Man, your original universe sound way cooler than this one.”

“Oh it is. That's why I need to get back to it.”

“I wish I could give you something, but I'm completely blank. Sorry dude.” Derby stretches his body, and yawns, and he goes into his sleeping bag. “I'm going to bed. If I think of anything, I'll tell you. But let's just start searching tomorrow.”

Raph falls asleep too.

***

“Get up everybody! We are doing our morning training and then farming.” Rachell claps her hands to wake the living room up.

One after the other, they groggily groan, stretch and slowly wake up. Raph is the first to stand up, and the first somewhat ready, while the others slowly do their morning routine. He limps up to Rachell and begins: “About yesterday-”

“Forget it.” Rachell shoots him down, dreading a fight.

To her surprise, the stubborn yelling machine just nods, and says in a not so angry tone: “Okay.”

He limps out of the room, to lean up against the wall waiting for the rest to follow. Olivia pops her head out. “If you want to sway Rachell, shouldn't you make some big romantic gesture right now? Confess your love?”

“Uh, no. If she wants space I’ll give her space.”

“I'll lend you my twilight book. You can learn to be more like Edward.”

“Maybe you should learn to think.”

She pats his shoulders and walks out. Rachell has heard it all.

The rest follows shortly after out to an area near the farm, with soft dirt to land on. There is a bench to rest your body. Rachell begins instructing, Olivia, Leatherhead, and Pete on martial art lessons, using different weapons, and asking them to attack her, but when Derby and Raph take out their own weapons, Rachell glares at them: “What do you think you're doing?”

“Thinking about how my sai is really good for farming - no! I want to train as well.”

“Not with those injuries, you are not.” Rachell takes the weapons out of their hands and pushes them into the bench. “I've already cleaned those wounds, I'm not gonna go through that again!” She turns back to the others.

Like a child, Raph crosses his arms, but reluctantly stays, while the rest of the group begins training.

Derby: “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh-what?”

“She won't let us go out and search, not while we are like this, will she?”

“No way. I'm not staying in this shithole until my leg is healed.”

“You don't really have a choice- hey where are you going!?” Derby calls. It's futile. Raph is already up and away. Rachell, groans annoyed and pauses the training.

The wolf uses her large silhouette to block the road in front of the smaller turtle. He can fight, they all knew that. But can he get past The Rachell? The group stays in the background to watch, curious to what will happen now. It wasn't exactly that anything the temperamental turtle had done had caused the equally temperamental wolf to kill him, as they had previously expected. So what will happen now?

“Didn't I just tell you to plant you ass on that bench.”

“I'm not just gonna sit down and wait for my fingernails grow out and scratch the floor.”

“You can barely walk, if you go out there, you'll be killed.”

“Do I look like a five year old? I can handle myself!” Raph tries to walk past her, but she grabs his arm, twist it around and sweeps him into the dirt.

“If you can't even get past me, you won't survive two thousand lasers.”

Raph gets up and tries to run past her again, but she throws him over her shoulder and down the same place as before. Raph gets up in a fighting stance, while she still blocks him. He knows he can't take her down directly, heck he even doubts he will be able to out manuaver her with his leg, but he tries anyway. The red ninja rush from one side and around to the other to get past her, but he gets thrown into the mud. Rachell bends over to meet his green eyes with her bored, “Give up?”

Raph brushes the grime off his face with his knuckles, and tries again. And again. And again.

The group that has been watching for a while has had time to begin farming their plants, finish work, and then prepare a small meal and water, before they gather together around the bench. Olivia gives Derby a portion of grilled vegetables, and Leatherhead and Pete sit with them. They watch the couple fight, the sun going down behind them. “Is he still trying to get past her?”

Pete shakes his head: “He should have learned by now, it will never happen.”

Derby: “I think he knows. He just don't know how to call quits.”

Leatherhead: “Maybe they do fit together?”

Olivia: “I'm still betting on Derbchell as end game.”

Derby lets out a small tired sigh and a small tired smile, “Not to sound offensive, but you might need cut down on the romance books. Rachell and I are not interested.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

Rachell throws Raph into the ground, that is caved in. Raph blinks. Rachell towers over him while using her knees as support. She pants tiredly: “You got tenacity… I'll give you that.”

Raph groans as he tries to move his sore and weak body, but it only wiggles a few centimeters, so he asks her in a low voice: “Come closer.”

Rachell does, expecting him to call quits. But instead, he grabs the clothes by her shoulders, and with his legs and last strength, he throws her to the dirt, so she lies on her back, head by his head, and in the opposite direction. “Now it's a draw!”

A draw? Rachell bursts into laughter, having not expected that. Something she hasn't felt for almost three years. That idiot. What is wrong with that idiot. He must be the most insufferable, most stubborn rude asshole she has ever met. Rachell can't stop laughing from her stomach to her mouth and to her shut eyes. And Raph laughs with her. Both too tired to move a muscle.

With much warmth and no trace of venom she manages to breath out: “You are fucking unbelievable!”

“Still a draw!” Raph says triumphantly. "Not to bad if I have to say so myself."

Rachell could barely remember how nice it felt to genuinely laugh with someone, and of course it's the Lunatic that dropped down from a collapsing building three days ago. The laughter fades, and they stare up into the night sky. It’s colorful. It’s beautiful.

Raph mutters: “The sky sure is something.”

“Uh huh?”

“You can't do anything but appreciate it.”

Rachell snorts; the small movement now hurts her ribcage and stomach, “I would never have taken you for someone who appreciates anything else than arguing.”

“What can I say? I'm a turtle of many surprises.”

“Is there any other surprises? You also like ballet or what?”

“Not my thing. Hiphop is objectively the best. But you can't go wrong with good fights, a good pizza, metal music, art, or me winning over my brothers in anything. And stars apparently.”

“They are also pretty damn nice things.”

“But the stars are a rare sight here in New York.”

“Really? Ever since the kraangs took over earth, and the power went out, I see them every night.”

Raph tries, “What is it now it's called… The big dipper?” he probably fumbled the name.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Can you see it?”

Rachell points: “Over there.”

"There?" Raph tries to point at some of the white dots between some of the other white dots that he is guessing, she's pointing at. Their elbow pushes against each other and the back of his hand brushes hers, and that would have been enough for him, but still lying opposite to him, she grabs his big wrist and pushes it a bit, before adjusting his finger a little more: “There."

No matte how long they have known each other, every touch from her forces a stupid smile on his face, and he's proud to show it to the world. “I still don't get it… It just looks like a cluster of stars.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“Dunno. It's your favorite constellation, isn't it?”

“Wow, lucky guess.”

Raph: “Nah, you have told me.”

“Right… In that parallel time line or universe or whatever where we are together… Right…” Rachell smiles skeptical, but it’s a smile. Raph becomes quiet for a moment.

“…I'm sorry about yesterday… Shouldn't have tried to kiss you.”

“You really shouldn't have done that. I know you think it's love or whatever, but you are just confused because of your family's death.”

Right now, he is hesitant with his words; he has never been good at thinking things through, considering what to say or do and what would be wrong. Raph has always just said whatever came to mind, but it felt frustrating to start all over again with Rachell. It felt so shaky, something he hadn't felt in over half a year. It's as if they are at the beginning, and if he says too much, she will be scared away. How can he tell her that he... “I do... love you...” He has never said those words before, never tasted them on his tongue, he didn't even know she could pronounce them.

Rachell retracts her arm back to herself and looks away from the sky. “No, you don't. You don't even know me-”

So Raphael lists: “Your real name is Rion Hamato. You changed it after your father, Akio, and your best friend Yumi fujimoto died. They were killed by Tiger Claw, when you were 15 and ever since then you have been hunting that motherfucker around the world to here. That's why you spend so much fucking time on your Polaroid cameras. The fleeting moments. You are just a big nerd overall. History, physics, chemistry, whatever, the list goes on and on, but you're a pretty big fan with explosive technology, cooking, and samurai history. You are also just really badass, and have a love for fighting. Ninjutsu and pressure points techniques. Your favorite music genre is rock. Your favorite color was blue, because of Yumi's eyes, and your favorite food is anything spicy, especially Korean, unless the food is mixed into a soggy slump. You hate anything mixed, you hate the sight of needles, and you hate dishonesty. There are so many things I can add, because you have a strong opinion about everything, even the smallest useless things, like 21 being the best number. You say you don't care, and you want to act all big and tough, but you are scared, and you do care, and you feel a lot.”

Raph turns his face to the side to see her purple eyes starring at him in complete shock. “I know you, Rachell.”

Rachell immediately gets up to walk back to the house. Raph stands up too, but doesn't chase her. When she arrives at the house, the group asks her if she's okay, where she retorts an arrogant comment: “Of course I'm fine, I just need to get a shower, now that I have thrown a man in the mud all day.”

She storms past them and inside. The group looks at the staircase where she disappeared and then at Raph who now wants to walk inside, but gets blocked by the group.

Leatherhead: “What did you two talk about?”

Pete: “I hope it wasn't anything bad.”

“Relax. I would never hurt her. It's none of your business anyway.”

He walks past the group, and inside the house, to eat the now cold vegetable, the others have served him, and begins eating. When that's done, he rinses his wounds and changes the bandage. It doesn't take long before they have all gone to bed.

***

And Raph can't sleep yet again. He keeps either looking through the photos on his phone, where the battery is getting lower, and then at the door, hoping Rachell will appear.

“Pssst.”

Raph snaps at the lizard: “Would you cut it out with that pssst!”

“What did you tell her?”

“I just told her, that I know her real name, her family and her likes and dislikes. I could have gone on and on, because that woman has a strong opinion about everything.” Raph can't help but chuckle fondly over it.

“We should search after that genie now that the coast is clear.”

Raph nods, and the two leave their sleeping bag and blankets to get to the door, but a tall black silhouette stops them. “And where do you two plan on going?”

“Uhm… Nowhere?” Nice acting, lizard brain. Very much not suspicious.

Rachell doesn’t buy it, even she knows something is up: “Oh, really?”

Raph says straight forwards, “We are going after that genie, whether you like it or not.” She's probably telling him to go back, that this whole made up fantasy is insane, and that she's going to knock him out before he can go. He doesn't care. The moment she looks away, he'll sneak out.

Rachell sighs, closing her eyes and pinching her furrowed brows, before looking back at them: “Fine. I'll come with you finding that genie.”

Derby: “Really?!”

“But Derby, you stay behind. You tell the others we won't be back for some time, so you'll lead the group.”

“Ay ay captain.” He salutes.

Rachell makes a gesture asking Raph to follow, and the pair head to New York, in a slow pace as both are tired, and Raph is injured. He has never seen this part of New York before. It's pretty creepy, and he would like to just get this over with and return everything back to normal.

“Sooo... Do you have any clue to where this genie thing might be?”

“Madison was the only obvious one. Other than that, nothing.”

“So, what do you know about him?”

“Like I said, pretty much nothing.”

“Awesome… Great…”

“Well, he likes his TV. He kept yapping about romance, comedy and freaky friday. If he had a brain, it had certainly rotted by now.”

“That's unfortunate for him. There is only a single place in New York, where they have any signal.”

“Maybe we can find him there?”

Rachell shrugs: “We can try.”

They continue in mostly silence. Awkward silence.

“By the way, I never got your name?”

“Really?”

“I could also just continue calling you delusional.”

“I'm Raphael, but most people just call me Raph.”

“Raphael, like the arch angel?”

“Raphael, like the painter. My father had a thing for Renaissance painters so much he named me and my three brothers after different artists.”

“Am I good friends with your brothers in your original timeline?”

“Are you finally buying into my delusion?”

“Do you want me to help you or kick your ass again.”

Raph chuckles and answers her question: “You would rather have your teeth pulled out than admit to them, that you like them, but you would do anything for my brothers. You are actually best friends with them. Pretty hard to believe, because they are very punch-able.”

“And you aren’t?”

“I’m awesome.”

Rachell teases: “Don't act like you don't love them either.”

“Yeah. I guess I've kinda realized they aren't that bad.”

Raph begins talking about his life from the original universe, and Rachell listens, and asks questions. The two head to the radio tower, and has easily snuck past anything dangerous, but keep treading carefully into the tower. They go higher and higher up, as they look through every corner and furniture and hiding spots. They arrive in a mostly empty room, with many screens to the cameras, but the screens are all turned off.

“Do you think you can make the cameras work?”

“Maybe?” Rachell opens the power in the wall and begins playing around with it. As she does her work she asks Raphael: “What would you do, if we don't find him?”

“We have to. I can't live in this crazy world.”

“It's a risk you need to consider.”

“So what? I'll just be stuck on this kraang invaded earth?”

“Well, I've been here for a year, and I've learned to manage it. And… at least I've been stuck with friends… And now you…”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah…”

The cameras get turned on, and they can see around the tower. The screens flash from one area to the other, and Raph stares at them, nervous, waiting to see just something. Suddenly, one of the cameras shows a room, at the top of the tower, where there's a sound. It's music and voices. TV.

“It must be him!” He rushes out the room and through the hallway, Rachell just behind him. When he finally arrives where the camera showed, he hears it. He hears the TV. Raph rushes to the corner, and there, right behind some boxes, is Wrym watching Friends. Wrym says in an upbeat voice: “Turtle! I have been waiting for you!”

Raph growls: “You!”

He jumps over Wrym, who simply screams and flies up, to not get caught. In the air, Wrym looks down at the turtle on the floor and then at the wolf staring at the little blue clam, completely baffled by him. Wrym flies down to her and she instinctively takes out both her Kamas and goes into a fighting stance, but the small Wrym stops up in front of her, smiles big and friendly, as he reaches a hand out: “Hi there, I'm Wrym. Wait, I've seen you before? Aren't you the turtle's girlfriend?”

Rachell doesn't say anything. She just stares at him.

“It's very impolite to not answer people.” The little clam's singing voice doesn't help the case.

Raph roars and gets to the floating creature: “What the hell happened!?”

“Oh, yeah, right. You… Uhm…”

“We made a deal, and then I woke up to this nightmare!”

“Yeah… So turns out that whole hero gig wasn't something for me… I accidentally got your family killed because I couldn't fight and was too scared… Whooops…”

“Whooops! You killed my family, and fucked the world over, and you say whooops!?”

Wrym says sheepishly: “Sorry…”

“Sorry doesn't cut it!" Raph points at the magic being, wanting to rip all the immortality out of the small ugly body, "Fix this mess, or I'll punch these sais so deep up your ass, you would look like chicken skewers.”

“I can fix this, I can fix this… Let's just make a deal-”

“No more deals! Just fix it!”

“That's not how my magic works! I can't change reality, unless we both give each other something.”

“Fine, then make the world go back to normal. What do you want?”

Wrym looks around nervously in the room after something: “Uhm… Uhm… Something simple… Something small… What do I want?”

Rachell: “Can't you just say something easy?”

“It has to be something I want.”

Raph: “Ninja stars?”

“No, no, no! I've learned I can't be trusted with weapons…”

Rachell: “What about a smokebomb?”

“That's... also dangerous…”

Raph: “What about my phone? It has games.”

“I already have my Tv…”

“Oh for Christ’s sake! Then what do you want!?”

Wrym stutters as he panickily looks around.

Rachell eyes Raph: “Man, why did the immortal magic being have to be a flying train wreck.”

Raph says equally as exhausted as her, “That's an insult to train wrecks. He's as useful as a chocolate tea pot.”

Rachell smiles lopsided: “And has the same amount of braincells as one.”

Raph smiles lopsided back: “If he ever made brain eating zombies come to life, he would be safe.”

“He's the living proof, that an intelligent designer doesn't exist. I mean, even a god wouldn't be that cruel.”

“That would mean nature made that big of a mistake, which I doubt.”

The two snickers.

Wrym: “Awww, you two are so cute together! Even though, you are making fun of me…”

“We aren't together now… You ruined that as well, with my family, humankind, and, oh yeah, the whole planet!”

“Then I want you to get together!”

Raph: “Yeah, that isn't weird or anything…”

Wrym: “You are right, you are right… I'm just a helpless romantic… But you are right… I'll think of something else…”

Rachell: “Hold on. You just want us to get together, right?”

“You don’t have to-”

Rachell reaches a hand out: “I want you to fix this mess. In return, I'll get together with the idiot, or some shit.”

Wrym looks surprised at her, and then at Raph, whose equally as shocked. But then a smile appears on his lips. God she's so cool. Raph shrugs to wrym, still looking at her with that smile. Wrym shakes her hand: “Okay.”

Before he can say more, Rachell has already pulled Raph up by his shell, and planted her lips on his. Raph first stiffens, before he completely melts into the kiss and cups her face. He lifts a foot to lean into her. Wrym wipes a tear away, smilingly. The world glows golden, and Raph can't feel Rachell anymore.

He blinks his eyes open to see, that he's back in the warehouse, his leg is healed, the foot-clan is still there, and Wrym is still drying his eyes. Time hasn’t passed at all.

Wrym cries: “Your love saved the world! It's so beautiful!”

“I need to go home!” The red turtle rushes to the door but stops in his track to turn around to the flying clam: “Hey uhm… Can we make another deal?”

“Yes, of course! What do you want!?”

“I want you to have a normal life. Partly because I think it's too dangerous that an idiot like you have these powers, but also… You said you wanted friends and a girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever you're into... Right?”

“You will do that… For me!?”

“Yeah… You probably need people around you to not make dumb mistakes…”

“And I want you, to shake my hand!” Wrym reaches his hand out, they shake, and wrym glows bright, until a normal human man stands in front of Raph. Wrym looks at his new body with eagerness before dancing around in it. “I can't believe it!” The now human Wrym swings his arms out to hug Raph, but Raph pushes him off: “Nah, I’m good, bud.”

“Thank you! Thank you!” Wrym runs dancing out of the warehouse, cheering.

***

Raph rushes into the lair to see Mikey and Leo playing with figurines, while Donnie is in front of the TV. “Guys!”

Donnie says in the most unenthusiastic voice possible: “Yay, Raph is back…”

Raph jumps in front of Donnie and shakes him violently: “Donnie! Say something smart!”

“Uhm… I'm watching a documentary over-”

Raph places a hand over his mouth and goes to his little brother: “Mikey, say something stupid!”

“Something stupid?”

“Perfect!” Raph goes to Leo, who opens his mouth, worried, but his brother in red hugs Leo tightly from the side, and carries Leo up from the ground, so Leo just dangles confused. “Don’t say anything.”

“What is happening?”

“I see you boys has made up.” Now it's Splinter's turn to be hugged by Raph. Splinter first has his arms out, but ends patting his son’s head, also very confused. “Are you alright, my son?”

Raph let’s go of his father: “Is Rachell here!?”

“She is in the laboratory and-”

He doesn't get to finish before the turtle is gone. Raph runs through to see Rachell looking through some of Donnie’s drawers.

“Rachell!”

She barely gets to turn around, before he has pushed her into the table and on his toes, one arm around her neck and the other behind her head, and kissing her, his foot lifted once more. First surprised, but then she lets go of the screwdriver to kiss him back. And for a while, they just kiss, not even noticing his family in the door, staring confused. Rachell pulls away, and with a smile, that is happily surprised and puzzled, she says: “It hasn't even been a day, and you already got a concussion without us?”

“Let's just say, I'll never gonna leave you idiots again, or else the world will end in absolute disaster.”

Donnie says to Leo: “20 bucks he will within New year.”

Mikey: “My bet is on December.”

Splinter interrupts their giggling: “Boys. Do not push. Raphael seems to have learned his lesson for now, and that is all that matters.”

Raph turns to the rest: “Oh boy, have I learned it. You wouldn't believe what just happened-” He begins telling the story, as the others finds a chair to sit down and listen.

Chapter Text

The kitchen lights are on. One of them buzzes. Steam lifts from the still warm pizza. On the table is a newspaper with a blurry picture depicting the backside of the head of a giant triceratron in the Chilean Antarctic Territory. The picture is just beside a story about a man searching for his kitten.

Mikey sits on a stool and plays games on his t-phone, occasionally smashing his head down in the pizza-box to grab a slice with his mouth and then go back to his screen. The three brothers rush into the kitchen, all with their weapons. They surround the table where Mikey is sitting. Hyperventilating.

Leo: “What’s wrong?!”

Raph: “Are you hurt?!”

Mikey has an easygoing smile and gestures by waving his hands for the others to relax. They don't. “I've called you all here for something very important.”

Leo: “Is it the rat king?”

Raph: “Shredder?”

Donnie: “The kraangs?”

With the same nonchalant attitude, Mikey spreads his arms in a dramatic pose: “It's even more important.”

Raph: “Just tell us already!”

Mikey brings a red Santa hat that was hidden behind him in his toolbelt and puts it on his head: “Secret santa!”

“Mikey!”

The three brothers loom over him with flaming heads. The first one to grab him by the shell is the ever angry Raph, ready to give the youngest brother a good slap.

But Mikey doesn’t lose his enthusiasm: “Everybody, chill. It's first December, which means we should all get into the holiday spirit!”

Leo: “We thought the city was in danger.”

“The city is fine.”

Raph: “Yeah, but you won't be in five minutes.”

“Remember the holiday spirit!”

Raph shakes Mikey like a rattle toy, although not as long as he wants to as Rachell rushes through the drapes, April just after her.

The kamas are ready: “Where's the threat!?”

“The only threat here is Mikey's immaturity.”

Mikey slips out of Raph's grip and throws his arms out accidentally hitting Raph and Donnie in their noses. “Glad you came! The more people in the Secret Santa's game the better.”

April repeats confused: “Secret… Santa?”

Rachell growls: “You woke me up at 4 in the morning for a game!? You said it was a serious emergency!”

“Holidays are serious emergencies!” Mikey takes off his Santa hat, and dramatically demonstrates it with an outstretched arm, before he pulls out some folded paper: “Who wants to go first?”

A throwing dagger slices through the air, rips the folded paper out of his hand and pins it to the wall. Rachell snarls furious as if her throwing the dagger wasn’t enough.

Mikey doesn't flinch, he doesn’t even blink. After all, if she really wanted to hurt him, she would have a long time ago. The boy picks the paper, leaving the dagger sticking out of the wall: “Great, Rachell goes first!”

Flabbergasted, Rachell eyes Raph and makes bewildered hand gestures that said: “Do you see this shit?”

Raph returns it with a “I know, right?” face.

Mikey hands the paper over across the table to his friend. She only eyes it from a distance then eyes him now with more confusion than anger.

So Mikey explains: “I can't read it. Rule one in Secret Santa.”

Rachell rolls her eyes and takes it: “It just says-”

Mikey flails his hands: “Bab, bab, bab! You can't say the name either!”

“What can I do?”

“The rules are simple. You draw a name and give that person gifts at least once a week until the morning of December 25th, which should be the last and biggest gift. But you have to keep it a secret to everyone, that's why it's called secret Santa. On the 25th we all take turns to guess our Santa.”

“Sounds stupid.”

Raph: “It is.”

Mikey begins handing out the hat, and the others begin picking out names, most of them still annoyed, which means all of them except Leo who had too much of a soft heart to stay that angry. Besides, he prides himself for being the best gift giver in secret Santa. In the end, the youngest turtle get his way when they all go along with it.

Mikey picks the only name left. He reads it. Oh no. He collapses on his knees, screaming and crying: “NOOOOO!”

The rest of the teenagers smirks sinister. They might have a soft spot for the youngest, but he’s still a gremlin who deserves this.

Rachell: “I might like this after all.”

Mikey climbs up his brother’ leg with puppy eyes: “Donnie, switch with me please, he is impossible!”

His traitorous brother moves away letting Mikey fall to the floor. “That's against the rules!” He adds the perky singing on his way out just to add salt to the wound.

Mikey drapes over his oldest brother: “Leo, big bro, fearless leader-”

“Not gonna happen.” The fearless leader walks out on him too. ‘Fealess’…

Mikey spreads his arms to hug one of his best friends: “You would love this one!”

But Rachell pushes him off her: “I love sleeping at least 6 hours, but we can't all get what we want.” On the walk out her tail slaps Mikey’s face. It was probably intentional, since it gently brushes Raph’s hand, who’s just behind her.

Raph turns briefly to wave at Mikey: “Can't wait to see my presents. It better be good.”

Mikey finally hugs April and begs her: “April, you're the only one I have left, Raph doesn't like anything!”

“Sorry, I can't- Hey!”

Mikey has already yoinked the folded paper from her hand only to see his own name smile back: “Ah, man! I can't be my own Santa, I'm a terrible gift-giver.”

April takes the paper from him, “Sorry Mikey, you just have to be creative. I'll count on you!” She pays him, but leaves him too in the kitchen. Alone. Betrayed. He facepalms the table.

***

Although each of the three teenagers are too busy with colorful paper and scissors Raph and Rachell sit cross-legged on the floor and their knees touching. Leo has found a comfortable position on the couch, trying to not involve himself too much between the lovebirds, even though they invited him.

Raph shows Rachell a string of colorful paper hearts with all kinds of swirly cuts in them. Rachell folds out to show a chain of detailed samurai cutouts holding hands. They turn to Leo waiting for him to unfold his own masterpiece. The turtle shows a chain of paper, all uneven and sticky.

They couple look unimpressed.

Mikey waltzes into their space with confidence. Never a good sign. He hides something behind his back. “I've had a brilliant idea.”

Raph: “That's never reassuring to hear when it comes from Mikey.”

Leo: “What is it?”

“A gift! For Raph!”

Raph: “If it's bad, you get shell noogies.”

Mikey presents the blender. In it is red, thick and clumpy mush sloshing from side to side. The blender is bound by a big orange bow as a last pitiful effort to dictate a train wreck. The group grimaces with visible disgust and fear.

“It's Pizza with the best toppings on, jalapeños anchovies and jelly beans, and then I mixed it with bologna and chocolate milkshake.”

Raph put his hands in front of his mouth not to throw up.

Mikey brings it out further to give it to his older brother: “Am I the best gift-giver or?”

“This is for ruining my appetite.” The hothead hunts down a screaming Mikey, who keeps the blender balancing in the air. The hothead finally catches him. The noogies are as painful a broken cranium can be. No that Mikey have ever tried to break his skull, but he believes it would feel like this.

Rachell and Leo return back to the Christmas decorations letting the kids play their games.

“I want some glitter.”

Rachell hands him the blue glitter jar.

“Thanks.”

Donnie steps out of the hallway that leads to the lab, and yawns in a groggy voice: “What's all the ruckus for?”

They are all too busy with their own thing to look up at the tallest turtle.

The glitter spreads all over his hands, and stomach and sofa. Leo answers anyway: “Mikey handed a present to Raph.”

Rachell: “It's more of a violation against natural law than a present.”

Donnie: “Well at least he has gotten a gift. It's Sunday, evening, and I haven't gotten anything yet.”

“You have also slept from afternoon to now. You'll probably get something later.” Leo finally looks up at the still half sleeping turtle. Oh. Huh? What in the world?

Donnie rubs his eyes: “Yeah, I don't know why. I feel like I have been knocked out. I can't even remember falling asleep.”

Leo points at his own head: “Donnie… You got something on your face.”

The two other brothers wrestling on the floor finally glance up. Not even two seconds of silence goes by before they crack up so hard that Raph falls off Mikey, and Mikey forgets to escape.

Donnie takes his phone to his face, so the camera can tell him what they are all looking at. There is a beard and a monocle drawn with black marker around his lip and mask. On his forehead is a small mechanical device attached with tape.

When it’s peeled off, it looks small and familiar, like something he has read about on his computer. And then he lights up with a high pitched scream: “No way! This is a high performance System on a chip with secondary storage!”

Mikey: “Bless you?”

“This is the best gift ever! I need to analyze this beauty!” The nerd zooms to his lab.

Raph plops behind Rachell. He can barely look over her shoulders, but at least he’s close to her: “You didn’t give the mad scientist anything that can create nuclear bombs, right?”

Rachell waves it off: “It's a harmless gift. It's also the best for him, so I guess I'm winning this game.”

Leo: “It's not a contest.”

“Of course the sore loser is saying that.”

“How am I a sore loser!? I hit bulls eye with my present! If anyone wins, it's me.”

Rachell snorts: “Mikey has Raph and I have Donnie, so you either have Mikey, me or April. Mikey doesn't count-”

Mikey: “Hey!”

“-as he gets excited about anything colorful, destructible or edible.”

Mikey: “Fair.”

“April didn't hate her gift, but didn't love it either. And my gift straight up sucked.” Rachell smirks, leans back into Raph’s plastron with both hands behind her head and crossed legs. “No matter how you look at it, you're not in first place. I am.”

Leo: “How did your gift suck!? It's figurine merch from the Vinland Saga! You love that show!”

“I love watching it. I couldn’t care less about plastic dolls in dramatic poses.”

Leo says defeated: “Awww…”

Rachell sits up and turns around, unintentionally squeezing Raph into the feet of the sofa: “You know what, Leonardo? I respect the attempt, so here's a proposition. If you ever get me one amazing gift, you automatically win the contest.”

Leo: “Just one thing?”

“Just one.”

“Deal!”

The two idiots shake on it.

***

Donnie whistles impressed over a box with some technology he just found by the arcade games labeled for him.

Rachell smirks proudly behind. Leo wears a space-hero shirt on as he walks up to her and gives her a small box with five throwing knives.

She gives a lopsided smile as she shows twelve kunais in her belt.

In the background is April sitting with a comic, while Raph chases Mikey with a spoon as Mikey carries wolf ear headbands and a wolf tail he wanted to give his brother. Raph finally tackles Mikey down, and licks his own hand, and threatens with it, hovering it over the youngest brother’s head.

April slips a colorful ADHD larva in front of Mikey. The youngest brother is happy again and has shortly forgotten Raph's hand. Just shortly.

***

The group train their martial art in Rachell's house. Leo vs Raph, Donnie vs Mikey.

Rachell gets out of the shower in a gray bath robe, and with red flannel pajamas under. She looks beautiful when she’s fierce and passionate. She looks beautiful when she’s relaxed and happy. Raph just finds her beautiful when she’s her. Leo knocks him down.

Rachell glances over to the kitchen table where a knife wrapped in a red bow is lying.

Rachell chuckles at the winner on the training ground as she waves at her million kitchen knives. Leo loses focus, and Raph takes him down.

***

All the mutant teenagers sit in April's apartment, watching Netflix.

Kirby O'Neil walks by, already anxious by the mutants, which grows to panic every time April isn't sitting on the sofa.

The group points towards the kitchen for the fourth time where April is getting popcorn. Kirby relaxes, well at least as much as much as he can, and goes back to his office leaving the door open just in case something bad happens.

April wants to sit down. On her spot is a framed Photo with her and Splinter training. It's signed with all the turtle's and Rachell's signatures.

April can’t believe she has known them for so long, that this homemade photo frame would mean the world to her.

A sweet feeling bubbles in her stomach that grows a smile and she places the gift on the shelf above the couch.

***

The turtles all wear their vision suit as well as longer cloaks to protect them from the cold. Rachell wears warm clothes as well.

The five mutants parkour through the city, even though a 1 meter thick layer of snow has settled over the rooftops and even though they have all slipped multiple times, except Mikey who somehow managed to glide through just fine. Having warm clothes and 15 years of ninja training apparently doesn’t save you from the loss of friction.

Raph takes a picture of the Christmas decoration. The light blurs with the buildings’ colorful advertisements. His T-phone doesn’t have the best camera lense, but it’s what he got.

Mikey: “All these Christmas lights looks like those bugs with shiny butts!”

“They are called fireflies, interesting insects in the family with elateroid beetles-” A snowball hits Donnie in the face, stopping his monologue.

Raph is making another snowball: “This is way more interesting.” He throws it and it hits a tired Donnie.

Leo: “We should wrap up for today.”

Raph: “Awww, Really!? There have been no fights again! These patrols have been so boring recently.”

Donnie: “Yeah New York has been really quiet this whole month.”

Mikey: “Maybe because they all celebrate Christmas?”

Rachell jumps on a big advertisement sign: “The Kraangs are aliens from another dimension, and the foot-clan are filled with nut-jobs. I doubt any of them celebrate a christian trad- AH!”, she slips and slides from one end to the other and falls into the snow on the roof. There’s enough to cover her tracks so the only trace of her is the Rachell formed dent in the snow.

Raph helps her up. Rachell shakes vigorously like a dog, spraying everyone near her with snow: “I HATE water. Everything with it sucks!”

Donnie: “You hate bathing and drinking?”

“Everything beside that. Swimming, being on ice, running in rain or snow. It's the worst!”

Mikey: “Don't say that! Everything you listed is so much fun! Swimming is fun! Ice skating is fun! Snow ball fights are fun!”

Rachell leans over Raph, putting her outstretched arms over his shoulder and rests her head on top of his: “I still can't swim that well, and I can't ice-skate at all, I'll just decorate the ice with my nose-blood and front teeth. And throwing cold wet snow-balls after each other? Yeah, so fun.”

Mikey forms snow balls in his hand.

Leo: “I have to agree with Mikey here. Snowball fights can be fun. We play it with a twist to make it more interesting.”

“What twist?”

Mikey: “Basically, the game is about saying your wish, and then throw your snowball at a person. If it lands, they have to fulfill your bidding. I call it: ‘Bidding Ball.’ Like this.” Mikey hurls a snowball: “Wash my laundry!”

Leo ducks so the snowball hits Raph in the face instead.

The older brother gets feisty. He laughs manner, excited to fight back. Raph forms ammunition of his own: “Clean my room!”

He hurls, but instead of aiming after Mikey, he aims after the oldest brother.

Leo laughs: “You are so on! No Mercy!”

Mold, shoot, dodge, mold. The five teenagers take cover using their ninja instincts, to better throw snowballs left and right. Everyone is an enemy.

But despite being ninjas, masters of stealth, they are still teenagers having fun. They snicker, saying what they want, running around over buildings, and hiding behind objects.

Their laughter and cheers harmonize with each other like a choir. There are of course occasionally slips on the ice, but now get up quickly to avoid getting hit. They have forgotten the cold and the bruises.

Rachell runs to a roof deck door and hides behind it with a not deadly weapon in hand, ready to attack Mikey who is too busy dancing in front of both Donnie and Leo to notice her.

Leo: “Clean the bathroom!”

Donnie: “Grab Pizza Gyoza!”

Suddenly Raph sits behind her. Rachell turns around and sits beside him, they lean their shoulder against each other. Raph has a snowball in hand, and he says: “I want you to stay over.”

Raph slowly brings the snowball to Rachell's shoulder, giving her long enough time to punch him in the face and run away if that’s what she wanted. She stayed, getting the cloak wet. She chuckles: “You dork.”

Raph shrugs.

Rachell leans into his ear and whispers: “I want us to do this snowball fight again next year.”

Rachell throws the ball over her shoulder and high up, many meters in the air so it ascends to over the middle of the rooftop. Raph leaps up without he’s and finds the spot he thinks the snowball will land.

The brothers are completely stunned by this event, the three stop moving, forgetting their own war. Mikey stands still and Leo and Donnie have their arms in a mid throw.

Raph grabs the snow, that crumbles a bit by the impact, but keeps its shape enough that he can press it against his head. It covers his mask. Rachell, who has witnessed the whole scene, burst into laughter, a sweet, melodic laughter. Raph would bathe in a pool of snow if it meant he could hear that laughter for the rest of his life.

Mikey: “What the-”

Thus! Leo and Donnie both throw their snow balls so hard in Mikey's face, that he falls.

That’s the last one.

They begin packing up and leave to find a sewer near the lair.

Leo and Donnie are talking, mostly Donnie who explains his projects that Leo knows nothing about, but he’s a good older brother and nods, while Raph and Rachell are just behind.

Mikey is in the back of this chain. The turtle in orange suddenly stops when he sees purple light shooting from a window. Mikey goes to check it out. There he sees it. He lights up with an idea.

***

24.

They begin the day with baking and cooking. Rachell is on the Honey Glazed Ham duty, Raph is on the Mashed Potatoes, and Donnie with the Buttery Garlic Green Beans.

The cookies on the tray has been cooled down and are now ready for the artistic Michelangelo and the not so artistic Leonard to decorate them. Rachell goes over to them, and fist bumps Leo: “Nice work.”

Leo: “Thanks, that bakes me so happy.”

Rachell rolls her eyes with a loving smile.  She nuzzles his head with her palm aggressively affectionate, “Oh, shut up, you dweeb,” before she takes one of the cookies from the tray.

Mikey dances the cookies over the table to greet eachother, the one that resemble leather head and the one that resembles himself as if they were figurines.

He makes noises and pretends that they talk mimicking funny voices: “You're the best friend I can ask for, Mikey. No, Leatherhead, you are.” He makes the two cookies hold hands.

Leo tries to play along with a kraang cookie and a funny voice: “The one that is called leather head, and the turtle that is called Michelangelo, shall now be what is called, destroyed.”

They tap the cookies together lightly so they won't break.

Raph sees it from the counter and shakes his head: “Dorks.” Argh! The brave warrior jolts when a cookie is in front of his face. Rachell shows the cookie that looks like him. Angry. “Look at this mini Raph.”

“That doesn't look anything like me.”

“You're right, this one is less angry.”

“If you love it so much, why don't you marry it?”

Rachell leans close to his ear: “I'd prefer marrying the real deal.”

Raph becomes one big pink exclamation mark with three giant dots for a face. Rachell walks away, she takes a bite off the mini Raph's head. “Mmmhhh, sweet.”

She goes over to check on Donnie.

Leo has gone back to decorating a cookie, so it looks like a wrapped present. Mikey looks over his shoulder. “By the way, have you found out what big present you're gonna give Raph tomorrow?”

Mikey: “Oh yeah, totally. I got this in the bag.”

“What? Really? I still have no clue what to give Rachell. She's so difficult, and I only have one day to win our bet.

“I can help you.” Mikey begins whispering into Leo's ear. For once it’s the blue turtle who nods for every word.

***

Later that evening the turtles eat together what they have made. Rachell and Splinter shares the conversations and stories. Raph takes a picture of them all with his t-phone.

Afterwards, some Christmas Tv, just before they go on evening patrol, watching all the lights and and statues and Santa balloons, but no battles.

Lastly, Bedtime. Rachell is staying over in Raph's bed to sleep beside him. Embracing him and being embraced by him, as well as embracing becoming immobile and the very possible risk of waking up with cracked bones from his too small bed.

Mikey yells: “Goodnight everyone!”

And everybody answers with a: “Goodnight!”

But Mikey continues: “Goodnight Sensei! Goodnight Leo! Goodnight Donnie! Goodni-”

Raph: “Just go to sleep goddammit!”

***

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The noise keeps going. Mikey drums his brothers’ doors so it echoes through the lair: “Wake up! WAKE UP! It's gift-giving time!”

The brothers and Racchell walk out tired and a bit irritated over being abruptly woken up. Even Leo who have multiple times ripped his team out for morning training. Today was meant to be his day off. Even Raph, who easily wakes up for his morning training and couldn’t care less who he wakes up. Today was meant to be his day off. For Donnie tho, he had finally fallen asleep after pulling two all nightwear in a row.

Leo: “Aren't you a bit too old to wake up us early?”

Donnie sips his coffee: “That and various other things.”

Mikey pulls Leo's arm to the living room: “C'mon! Get your butts in gear!”

They all make their way to the living room. Rachell asks: “Is April coming too?”

Leo: “She said she can't, since her dad is still freaking out whenever he or April leaves the house, and she doesn't want to stress him out during the holidays. She'll just meet us later this week.”

“Ah...”

The mutants find their place by the couch. Mikey is bouncing up and down energetically: “Rachell, you guess first. Who is your secret santa?”

“We all know who our secret Santa is, so what's the point?”

“It's part of the game! You have to guess!”

“It’s Leo.”

Leo: “Correct, it's me. Normally we have to give the last big present after the reveal, but I'll give it last with Mikey, since it's very big and can't fit the lair.”

Rachell is intrigued.

Mikey says: “Leo, your turn!”

Is it Raph?”

Raph acts like he doesn't care and throws him a small cardboard box that can fit into their hand. Leo opens it, and he shines a big smile, so his white teeth light up the whole living room: “No way! An exclusive captain Dash coolstar gold edition variant!? This like the rarest figure ever produced from the Super Robo Mecha Force Five- line!”

Raph: “Whatever.”

Mikey: “Now, Raph has to guess!”

“We all know it’s you.”

Mikey: “Yes it's me! But I'll have to give you the gift last, since it's also so big, sooo… Donnie, who is your secret Santa?”

“Rachell.”

A small medical thermos box drops on Donnie's lap. He wants to jolt up by the sudden weight, but then checks it out: “A pharmabox? But I already have one?”

Rachell snorts: “Open it, you dingus.”

Donnie opens the box, and his mind explodes: “Is that Cas9 Nuclease V3!?”

Rachell nods smugly.

“I'm gonna do so many experiments with this baby! Thanks!”

“Don’t mention it.”

Mikey claps slowly: “Interesting, interesting. But it doesn't stand a chance against my genius mind.”

Leo stands up and places a confident arm around Mikey's shoulder. Rachell, Raph and Donnie look at them with their own way of showing interests.

Mikey: “Come on!”

***

They run through the city. There's still dark since it's winter morning. They end up on a roof where they have been before. Mikey stops excited, while Raph, Rachell, and Donnie all look confused around as there are no wrapped presents in sight.

Rachell: “Okay? What is it? Where’s the present?”

Mikey points at the skylight. Raph and Rachell look through it.

Raph hugs Mikey tight. Rachell pivots around and bows to Leo: “I'll humbly bow for the new crowned winner.”

Raph: “Less talk more smashing!”

The two of them jump down the skylight that leads to a lab filled with Kraangs, new advanced weapons, and new technology. Donnie witness the chaos from afar and from a safe distance: “That is the perfect gift for those two dumbasses.”

“Seems like we won this.” Mikey fist bombs Leo.

Donnie shakes his head: “It isn't contest.”

Leo: “Of course the sore loser says that.”

Crash! Pow! Raph and Rachell bring chaos and havoc in the lab.

Chapter Text

For once there’s more nature traits in New York City, meaning the the layers of snow covers the all the lamps, without any Christmas decorations to make it sparkle. The turtles follow Rachell on top of many containers on the shipping dock.

It isn’t difficult to spot a 185 cm mutant wolf carrying warm clothes and a flashing military backpack. The back pack is colored with badges either she or her friends have found, like a few Japanese themed badges, one with the bisexual flag and a few animals, most of which Mikey has picked out for her.

She treasures every each of them, at the same time she wants Mikey to shut up after asking for the seventeenth time: “Are we here yet?”

“Yes, it's around here, now stop asking every ten seconds, or I'll smack you.” Rachell leads them to the dock and close the water, where she begins searching after something in her backpack.

Leo: “Okay? What is it you wanted to show us?”

Rachell finally finds a remote control that looks like an old Nokia phone. She presses the middle button, and something in the water moves, something big.

The top of a mini submarine emerges, about 10 meters long. Assembled from different kinds of metal. The boys drop their jaws.

Rachell: “Who wants to check out the inside?”

The boys has allready jumped on top of the submarine, nearly pushing each other in the water, trying to be the first to open the hatch. They fight, elbows and pushes each other as they can't open it.

Rachell: “I’ve locked it.”

“Oh…”

Rachell unlocks the hatch with her remote control. They fight each other, trying to open it.

Rachell rolls her eyes, pushes through, and opens the hatch herself.

Raph pushes Donnie out of his way, Leo swings Mikey back, and Mikey bites Donnie to give him the fourth place.

Why does she treasure these idiots so much again?

Rachell gets in last.

The submarine’s inner control panel has less space than what you would think from the outside, since there's only one room, about 7 meters long, and a door to the bathroom. From left to front to right is a giant panorama window, and under the windows is control panel attached along the walls. In the middle of the controls, is Boreas bolted, the device Rachell won in the underground race.

“Yooo” and “woah” are being uttered and mumbled from the guys each time they see something new in the submarine. They check out each their corners of blinking buttons.

Donnie: “So this is why you wanted me to check all those blueprints?”

“Wanted to check if my calculations were right, so I wouldn't drown.”

“What does this button do?” Mikey points at a button and is about to press it.

Rachell grabs his hand and says sternly: “Just pretend that every button can make this submarine explode.”

“Can it?”

“It will certainly guarantee someone exploding.”

“Hehehe… understood…”

Donnie checks out the wall with all the blinking lights, numbers and other statistics analyzing and reporting the submarines status.

Leo looks through the periscope imaging how Captain Ryan must have felt that time he flew his space ship through an ocean planet and fell in love with an alien mermaid. There probably isn’t a merman here, but there could be.

Raph slouches down on the mattress on the floor, before checking the small refrigerator beside it. And then the weapon collections by the wall as well as some mechanical training gears. “This isn't fueled by some stupid mechanics like bicycles, right?”

Donnie sends an offended face.

Rachell: “Remember the lithium-ion batteries?”

“Yeah?”

“Turns out the foot-clan has a lot of those, or at least had, until I began using a good chunk to fuel this submarine.”

“Nice. Somebody here should take notes.”

Donnie: “Do you know how hard it is to build complex machines with only scraps!? Oh right, you can't even build an Ikea shelf.”

Raph gets up and cracks his knuckles: “Find a way to rebuild your own face after I'm through with you.”

Rachell: “Fight outside! It took me six months to build this, and I’ll you all if you destroy it in six seconds.”

Leo: “Why did you begin to make this anyway?”

“Cause it's objectively cool. But also because…” Rachell shows her t-phone with a list of news depicting blurry pictures of giant triceratons walking in the distance.

“It all started mid July when my Kraang communicator went haywire, alerting about enemies scouting the planet. Later that same month, news was flooded with pictures of anthropomorphic triceratops roaming around the Chilean Antarctic Territory which correlates perfectly to whatever the Kraang's are tracking on their atlas. So, I'm going to check it out.”

Raph: “You aren't seriously going to Antarctica because of some news.”

“No.”

Phew. Raph exhales relieved.

“I'm going to Amazon in Brazil.”

“WHAT!?” All four yells. They don’t want her to leave on a dangerous mission alone far away. What is she thinking? Is she out of her mind?

“I know it sounds crazy, but there are reasons to be worried. If my calculations are true, the enemy is heading to America. I've linked their map to the submarine, so I know exactly where these triceratops are.”

Raph is just as scared as he’s angry, not knowing what to say or what to do, so he yells: “Do you know what's even in the jungle! Poisonous snakes and insects-”

Donnie: “Snakes are venomous not-”

“I will smack you!”

“I’ll shut up.”

Raph continues: “You are not going far away into a jungle filled with possible dangerous enemies and death!”

Rachell: “It's not like I'm heading into battle without thinking. Beside, I can handle myself.”

“Can you handle yourself against venomous snakes and frogs?”

“Frogs are actually-”

Raph glares at Donnie and he shuts up again.

Rachell places a hand on Raph's shoulder. It’s firm, it’s comforting, it ground him. She gets down to his eyes: “I promise to be careful and not die.” 

“You better not, or I'll pull you back from hell.”

Rachell’s curled up lips presses hard against his cheek.

Leo asks: “How long will you be away?”

“It will probably take three weeks to get there, and max five days to investigate. I'll be back before two months has passed.”

Mikey hugs her tight: “I’m gonna miss you.”

Rachell hugs him back with one hand and pats him on his head with the other: “I’ll call you every day.”

Raph: “Don't you need any signal or something?”

Donnie: “I have made it so the t-phones don't need any reception.”

Raph briefly looks at the too enthusiastic nerd explaining how he made the t-phone, but as usual Raph ignores his brother to look at Rachell: “When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow at 3pm.”

Raph sends a small gentle punch to Rachell’s deltoid: “Come and say goodbye before, alright?”

She sends back a less gentle punch to his deltoid, “If you insist.”

Raph chuckles. He’s going to miss her. But she’ll be fine.

***

The group heads to the manhole that is nearest to lair. Mikey shoots differents tittles, so that Leo, and Donnie can plan out which series to watch first.

The road is deserted enough for the three brothers to enter a manhole. Lampposts light up the street, but no citezen is there in the night.

Rachell stops, just under one of the lampposts that lights her face yo. Raph grabs her hand and squeezes it: “You coming or what?”

“I have to go home and prepare stuff. But I wanted to give you something.”

Leo is the last to go down to the sewers: “What are you two waiting for?”

Raph answers Leo: “I'll be there in five.”

Leo sends a thumbs up before joining the TV conversation again in the sewers.

Raph asks Rachell: “What's up?”

“I have two gifts for you. Like our anniversary gifts.”

“Our anniversary is may 13.”

“Yeah… but the ‘first time we met’ anniversary is tomorrow.”

“January 18th. Remember how much I disliked you?”

“I got you to love me now.”

She did. Not that he would ever admit it, and especially not to her right now. They can wait a little for that line.

Raph makes a big hand wave and grins: “Oh, shut up. Just give me the gifts already.”

Rachell chuckles as she searches in her backpack.

A red polaroid camera, that resembles a bit like her own, just larger.

“It isn't some cool stuff, but I noticed that you're taking lots of pictures, so here an actual good camera.”

Raph inspects it. It’s perfect.

Rachell rustles in her backpack again. She pulls out two big smart watches with black plastic armbands. One has a bigger armband than the other.

Raph asks: “A smartwatch?”

Rachell puts the smaller smartwatch around her thinner wrist: “Try it on.”

He does so. When shaken and pressed the screen greets him with a silhouette in t-pose. Rachell's silhouette, blinking red and in a rhythm. He double taps it and there's a heart rate monitor that says the number 42, as well as an ECG strip. Rachell checks her own smartwatch and then show him her screen where a silhouette of him blinks.

“It's a heart-rate monitor, so we can see our own and each other’s pulses. Got a little help from Donnie, but without spoiling the gift.”

Raph goes through the different icons: “Neat.”

“It uses batteries, it's easy to customize and it's waterproof so you can and should take baths with it. You move a lot, and it will stink quickly. But don't take it off for long periods of time. If you do, my watch would alarm me with a "lost connection to owner" message, which is the same message that pops up if you did kick the bucket.”

“Why doesn't the watch just say, that I kicked the busket?”

“Because you won't die. I forbid that.”

Raph snorts: “Thanks, guess I'm immortal now.”

“Also. Since I know you worry so much-”

“And for a good reason.”

“I'll tell you now my pulse will spike during exercise between 7am to 9am and 12pm to 4pm. Don’t worry, my maximum heart rate is generally around 140. Don’t get too spooked when something changes there.”

“Should I also figure out all this…?”

“Nah, you’re staying in New York, so it would be really pathetic if you died here. All I ask of you is to not get into too much trouble while I can't save your ass.”

Raph sends a small, dry laughter, wanting to follow up with some banter. It’s replaced with a stunned laughter when Rachell places a small kiss on his lips, only a peck.

It tastes sourly sweet, like a mix of lemon, apples and raspberries. He wants to deepen it, but she has already moved her head away. And she whispers: “Just wait for me to come home, alright?”

Her angry roars are just as strong and perfect as when she whispers this caring voice that only he knows. He knows she cares and loves his brothers, but this side is just for him to see.

Raph goes up on his tip toes, cups her cheeks and pulls her down into a deeper kiss. His foot levitates backwards and off the ground as an excuse to lean closer to her, and feel her smile into his mouth. This isn’t their first long kiss, where they just hold each other, but every kiss feels better for every moment he spends learning her new habits and thoughts.

They stay like that for a while. They both break it, looking at each other. They could just stay like that and be together there forever if the world would let them.

She would give him a gift and he would ask how she made it even when he only knows how to fix his stealth bike. She would go into every details about her thought process and he would pick every detail and emotion and turn it into some banter that she would laugh at.

Rachell is the first to turn half around, still looking back at him. Raph walks backwards, still smiling at her.

Raph yells after her: “You better take care if yourself, or I’ll come after you.”

The idiot miscalculated the length of the road and falls through the manhole. Splash! Raph lands on his butt, startled.

He hears Rachell yell after him: “You too! Dumbass!”

“See you tomorrow!”

Rachell doesn’t answer. She has already left.

***

It’s the next day.

The warm sunset light shines through the Dojo’s grid.

Splinter is sitting with a timer of five minutes. Two pairs are fighting each other on the mat, while the fifth person sits and has to wait their turn. This time, April has a say in this, and is one of the five students.

Leo sitting and observing the katas, taking mental notes on does and don’ts, but most importantly on how he can improve the others weaknesses and utilize their strengths.

For one thing, teach Donnie how to hit a bouncy Mikey.

Donnie: “Could you stop flicking my head!?”

“Come and catch me first!”

April is trying to hit Raph, who takes her down multiple times. Raph do an Oshi-taoshi on her so she gets put down on the ground. April taps the mat and he lets her go. She stands up again. They are ready for a tenth round.

April: “I’ll get you this time.”

“Tenth time is the charm.”

April points at his watch: “I like your new smartwatch.”

Raph grins at the screen, being awfully happy knowing Rachell is training too: “Yeah, Rachell made-”

April sweeps his leg and and he falls. Finally, the new girl student can jump excited for a win. Splinter's alarm goes off: “Yame!”

The students stop and bow.

Splinter: “Michelangelo swap places with Leonardo. Leonardo, you are going up against April. Raphael and Donatello you two-”

David Bowie’s sci fi song cuts the mentor, and everyone’s attention goes to Leo's t-phone. “Oh no… The Neutralizer is attacking the Mighty Mutant animals! They are having trouble!”

Mikey: “What are we waiting for? Let’s help them!”

Leo, Donnie, and Mikey run out. Raph jogs, but has to say one thing to Splinter on the way: “Tell Rachell I'll call later.”

Splinter nods, and the four turtles with April all moves.

***

“Anybody home!?” Rachell roars through the lair so Splinter can feel it in his bones, even in the dojo. She certainly fits in with his sons and can easily match their volume. Splinter walks out to greet her in the living room: “Just as loud as ever, I see.”

Rachell answers sarcastically: “What? Me? Loud? Pffft, never.”

“And just as sarcastic as the first time I met you.”

“What can I say, sarcasm is one of the best forms of humor.”

“But I would still say you have mellowed out since our first encounter. You were filled with so much anger and distrust, and now you do not seek vengeance, but protection over the people you care about.”

Rachell laughs awkwardly as her eyes dart and she sends fingerguns. She doesn’t know how to handle the sincere compliments so she changes the subject: “Thanks, sensei… So, anyway, where are the others?”

Splinter knows she’s deflecting but he lets her: “They are on a mission to stop the Newtralizer and help the Mighty mutant animals.”

“Oh damn.”

“Raphael says he will call you later.”

“He doesn't have to stress about it. It's better they focus on Newtralizer so they won't break their necks.”

Splinter puts a hand on her shoulder: “They also want you to be safe, and so do I. You are a part of the Hamato clan, and we all hope you will get back home as soon as possible.”

And with her deepest gratitude, she smiles and bows to the sensei: “Hontou ni kansha shite orimasu, sensei.”

Splinter bows to her as well.

***

Home.

Exhausted and bruised, but they are home.

Leo falls to the couch, just like Donnie, who doesn’t reach after his computer, which is unusual for the screen addicted turtle.

Mikey plops onto the beanbag: “I'm never gonna move ever again. Not even my pinky finger. Unless it's for the TV of course.”

Mikey turns on the TV.

Raph pulls out his phone, leaning by the entrance of the living room.

Rachell answers the phone: “Sup? How did the mission go?”

“Oh boy, do I have a story for you. You wouldn't believe how much just happened.”

“Well, I'm under water with all the time in the world, so tell me everything in excruciating details.”

“Alright, so first off we went through the tunnels trying to find any signs of the mighty mutant animals-”

***

As time passes by, he continues to talk to her, every day. He talks to her in his room, he face-times her in the dojo as they train, he talks to her in the kitchen.

Each and every day she spends at least one hour calling with each of the turtles without any fails, just like she promised.

***

Donnie and Rachell FaceTime while Donnie explains his theory behind the chemical compounds, and how that should recreate the retromutagen once more.

Raph walks by with a heavy box of metal, that he has promised Donnie to help out with, if Donnie in return helped with fixing his stealth bike.

Raph drops the box and leans over Donnie's head to say hi. Donnie asks him to leave. It takes some back and forth before Raph leaves.

***

Leo’s phone is raised and adjusted on beanbags and pillows to face the TV show, so Rachell can watch TV with him. He has already watched the episodes, but he loves rewatching every second, and dissecting every word telling about the story, the world building and the creators behind it. She follows a long, nodding, listening and asking, but he is of course not immune to her occasional banter, and couldn’t be happier with it.

Raph walks in, takes the phone to greet Rachell. In the end he overtakes the conversation. Leo is a bit annoyed, but continues watching the TV.

***

As Mikey cuts the onions, he tries his best to dry off his teary eyes, which makes them more itchy. Sometimes he rests the phone against some pots, and sometimes he hovers the phone over the pans, so Rachell can watch with him.

Rachell: “And then you just put it on the frying oil and stir it until caramelized.”

Mikey takes the phone and shows her the pan: “Like this?”

“Perfect.”

“Awesome! Oh, do you know what would spice it up?”

“Mikey. No. Do not mix in any ingredients in if I haven’t mentioned it.”

“But imagine! Onions and vegetables with-”

“No!Anyway, while stirring it, you should also cut the other vegetables. Begin with-”

Mikey gets pushed away, and Raph steals the phone from his younger brother: “Sooo, how far have you gotten?”

“I've passed French Guiana, and only a few hours from Amazon.”

“About time. I nearly thought you swam the wrong way.”

“Is the big tough Raph missing me? Knew you couldn’t live without me. I promise I’ll be quick.”

Mikey: “I know you two are all lovey dovey and all that stuff, but what am I gonna do with this?” The pan is burning.

Both Raph and Rachell look at him with expressions that said: Really? Mikey places a lid on, putting out the fire: “Never mind I got it!”

…

…

…

“Sooo, what now?”

Raph sighs and turns to Rachell: “I’ll call you back later.”

“Cya.”

Raph ends the call.

***

The worn down game controls are lose but still manageable even after all those year. They click with satisfying sounds that matches to whatever happens in the battle games on screen.

Raph is always so focused and on his controls screen when playing against anyone, but especially if it’s Leo. Donnie observes them from the couch, mostly in silent as he moves with the action.

Mikey, on the other hand, swaps between cheering on Raph, and crying for Leo to use double jump, instead of playing like a grandma.

Raph wins over the grandma, of course he does, and of course he dance his victory dance.

Leo: “You are so immature.”

“Immature? Probably. Better than you? Absolutely.”

Leo sulks. Raph dances the second controller in front of the blue bandanna: “Do you want a rematch? I promise to go even easier on you. I’ll take a nap, and you wake me up when I shave won again.”

Mikey: “I want to play now!”

Leo pushes the controller away from his face: “Shouldn't you be calling Rachell?”

Raph gives the controller to Mikey instead: “She is walking through the Amazon rain-forest and wants to be stealthy. If she wanna call, she'll call, but right now she’s filming a bunch of stuff and send it later.”

Mikey and Raph begin playing two characters on a grassy platform, trying to knock the other down, with flashy pixelated effects.

Leo: “Cool?”

Raph focuses on the screen: “Yeah, there's a lot of cool looking things. But also a lot of ugly bugs. Nearly as ugly as you.”

Leo sniggers: “Oh yeah? I'll show you ugly.” The oldest brother tackles the second oldest.

Raph: “My game!”

“Don't worry, dude, I've paused it.” Mikey hasn't paused the game and keeps hitting Raph's not moving character.

The two oldest brothers tumble on the floor trying to get the upper hand. Leo grabs onto Raph's wrist in an attempt to twist it into an armlock, but accidentally opens the smartwatch where red light blinks faster than usual.

Leo freezes. Raph takes the opportunity and locks the leader down on the ground.

Raph: “Hah! Got you!”

“Wait wait wait! Your smartwatch!”

“I'm not falling for that trick twice.”

“No, I'm serious!”

Raph finally looks at the watch where Rachell's silhouette is blinking rapidly. Raph lets go of Leo and sits down. Mikey and Donnie surround him from the sides. The living room feels more cramped, and the video game sounds are awful.

Mikey: “Woah, dude, your watch is going absolute wild!”

Raph: “What time is it?”

Donnie: “7 pm…”

“She's probably just hunting down those creatures. Having a blast most likely.” Raph double taps the screen. 140.

Donnie: “Everything does seem fine…”

Raph: “See. No need to worry.” His eyes are glued to the screen. Waiting for the numbers to either go up or down. To tell him something.

The light blinks faster, and the number is rising.

147.

155.

163.

172.

The numbers for the blood pressure is getting lower. Raph’s own heartbeat grows too with his ragged breath. What should he do? What can he do? “Donnie? What's happening?”

Donnie stutters: “I-I-I don’t know.”

Mikey: “ o, the blinking is chilling out again!”

Raph sighs relieved, as the blinking and the numbers begins to decrease.

Donnie: “No, this is bad. Everything decreasing drastically.”

Nerves gets stuck in his throat. Raph looks at Donnie with fear. Then at his smartwatch where the heart-rate decreases. 57… 38… 26… 10… 5…

Raph is gasping for air. And then the message pops up.

“LOST CONNECTION TO OWNER.”

No, no, no, no no!

Raph taps on the smartwatch. But the message stay there and laughs at him. Nothing happens. He wants to crush the watch and demand an explanation.

Donnie places a hand on Raphael’s shoulder: “Calm down. Try and call her.”

Raph gets up and yanks his phone out. He taps her contact. The phone rings for 30 nerve-racking seconds as he paces around. His brothers look after him, worried. Then he hears her sarcastic voicemail saying: “I'm either busy kicking ass or actively ignoring you. Leave a message or whatever after the beep, you know the drill.”

Beep.

Raph yells: “Rachell, I need you to pick up the phone!”

He ends the call and tries again. The same voicemail as before plays, this time he ends it.

He tries again, and again, and again, but all he's met with is that voicemail.

Raph has paced around so much, he hasn't noticed he's standing by the entrance to the lair.

Donnie begins weakly: “Raph…”

Raph ignores Donnie, and tries one time again, his hands are shaking.

Nothing.

Raph strangles the poor technology as if it’s the one to blame. The metal whines between his grip.

Donne: “Stop. You’ll crush the phone.”

“Rachell is maybe in danger, and all you care about is some stupid phone!?”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Raph tries again. He has to.

Leo gets up and puts a hand on his shell. His voice is low: “She is not going to pick it up.”

Raph snaps and smacks his brother’s hand away: “She will! She has to.”

Press contact. 30 seconds passes, but voicemail. Only voicemail.

“Calling her won't help. We can't do anything. Let's just sit down, and figure things out. Talk, play games.”

“You think goofing around, gossiping about feelings is gonna help!?”

“What else can we do?”

“Let’s take to Amazon and find her!”

“We can’t leave New York. Have you forgotten, that the Kraangs and the foot clan are here? What about the world?”

“What about Rachell?!”

Silence.

Leo sighs and reaches a hand out: “Give me the phone.”

Raph only pulls it into his chest, snarling at his older brother. Both Mikey and Donnie are on the edge.

The oldest brother tries to keep calm: “Let's not fight now. Alright?”

Raph looks at Leo, then at Donnie and Mikey, then at the phone: “Shit.” He clings to device harder and runs out of the lair.

“Raphael!” Leo calls out his name as he gets to the turnstiles.

Donnie: “Maybe we should give him some time alone.”

They look at each other. Leo looks at the exit.

***

The stealth bike is perfect for maneuvering, good now that the police is after him for driving 200 miles through Newark.

Raph could care less. He can only think about her. Why isn’t she picking up the phone? Is she okay? Is she alive?

Thankfully the stealth bike is dark enough to become one with the shadows. Raph can easily throw the cops off when they are too close.

The alley covers him. The cops drives past. Raph tries turn on the motor vehicle. It purrs a bit. It dies out again. Raph uses more force. Same thing. Purring and the sound dying out.

No, no, no.

The tank is completely empty. Shit. Raph hammers both fists into the bike with a scream. There’s no time to push the thousand pounds metal slop to a nearest gas station, while staying hidden from humans.

Raph climbs the buildings and heads wherever south was. He is going to Amazone on foot if he has to.

On the run, Raph keeps calling, then stopping, then calling again.

30 seconds waiting, 30 seconds, voicemail. He tries one more time.

Finally something. A small notification. A text.

It's from Mikey.

“Hey bro. We are here when you come back.”

Raph stops running. He doesn't answer the text, but he stops running.

The brute punches the nearest wall hard enough to leave cracks and dents in the bricks. He screams and cries, and kicks and punches. He can’t hear his own vocal cords break. He can’t feel the skin on his fingers break. A wall is punched through. A metal ventilator is destroyed. Wooden crates are splintered.

It isn’t enough.

Nothing’s enough.

He need to feel something break.

Raph grabs his T-phone that he has apparently thrown to the ground without noticing it. He crushes the metal and glass. The sharp edges draws blood from his palms.

He hurls it into the wall, or what’s left of it.

The metal clangs when it hits the floor.

Oh no. No, no, no. He needs that.

Raph kneels to pick up the pieces in hopes he could force them back together. He can’t.

The screen is frozen on Mikey’s text.

“Hey bro. We are here when you come back.”

Raph collapses onto the dirty roof, and takes out the photo of Rachell, the one where she’s laughing with blue painting smeared all over her face.

Raphael puts it to his forehead, praying against the cold, smooth surface for this not to happen, for this not to be real.

Shit.

Chapter Text

More than a week has gone by.

The air is thick with the smell of toast and the warmth of frying pans. Mikey makes four toasts, scrambled eggs and a smoothie. He pours three glasses of juice and puts the smoothie in a big glass. Then some water, bread and cheese for Splinter. Leo, Donnie and Sensei come through the curtains.

April also comes into the kitchen with a token around her shoulder: “Hey guys!”

Everyone greets her.

“Yo A! Sorry, I didn't know you would come, so I haven't made you anything.” Mikey puts plates down, one for Leo, one for Donnie, one for Splinter and one for himself. He puts the last plate of toast, scrambled egg and smoothie on a red tray.

“I have already gotten my breakfast. I just thought I would swing by with these.” April shows a package with Pizza Gyoza.

Mikey hugs her: “I love you!” He reaches a hand out to steal them for himself only to be disappointed when they move away.

“They are for Raph. Leo told me yesterday he hasn't eaten anything in over a week. How is he?”

“It’s not… Great…” Leo hesitates on the three words.

Splinter: “He needs time to grieve.”

“Yeah, but he shouldn't be locked alone in his room. He should talk to us. We miss her too, you know. Rachell… was my friend… I should… I don't know… Help him in some way.”

The air grows so heavy and forces them to crumble and look down on the floor. None of them can believe she is dead. She has to be. Rachell would never leave them hanging like that for over a week. Especially when they have all tried to call her at some point, even Donnie who said it was pointless.

Splinter: “It is important that we show Raphael that we are here, and he will eventually open up.”

Leo: “But for how long?”

“Until he’s ready.”

All at once the group of teenagers feel their chests tightening.

Mikey picks up the red tray and even puts the Pizza Gyoza package onto it. “I'm getting him breakfast. You can just eat without me.” The youngest brother heads to their rooms. He knocks on Raph's door.

“Pizza express to Raph! Come out and eat with us!”

A groan escapes loud enough that it can be heard through his locked metal door: “Just leave water outside.”

“Come on, bro. You need to at least get something down.”

“Beat it, Mikey!”

Mikey exhales, and places the food tray on the floor, and leaves his older brother alone.

None of them have been allowed inside. Raph wouldn’t let them see how much of a mess the room is.

it's a mess. Dark and destroyed. Raph lies in his bed, looking at the many videos he has of Rachell trailing every detail with his eyes.

***

Leo, Donnie and Mikey are all gathered by the TV, binge watching their cartoon as every evening. But all the evening this week has felt different. Very different. And not only because of their missing brother.

Leo has tried to keep a stoic face when he listened to Mikey cry more than usual over the TV characters. It always ended with a pair of red swollen eyes.

Donnie was the only one not crying, but he has been quiet all week without any sarcasm or screaming. The most noise he made was when he worked on his projects, which has taken up more of his attention than usual to the point that he too have forgotten to sleep, eat and train with them.

April jumps over the turnstiles.

Mikey sniffles and beams at her: “Hey A! you want to come with on our patrol?” His eyes swollen and red, just like Leo’s, but unlike Leo, Mikey smiles big.

April: “Are you two sure you want to…? We can always just stay here.”

Leo: “Heroes can’t take a break when duty calls.”

“Yeah, but you two don’t seem like…”

“We’re fine. We just to get patrol over with. You coming with or no?”

April sighs: “I’m with you.”

They turn off the TV. They get Donnie from his lab, who at first declined, but didn’t really have a saying since he had declined three times this week for whatever machine he’s been working on.

They gather by Raph's room.

Leo knocks: “We are leaving on patrol! You are welcome to join!”

There is no response.

Leo: “Okay… If you feel better, you can just find us.”

The group leaves.

***

Raph is sitting on his bed, looking through his phone. First the texts. Then some pictures.

Knock knock!

He hears knocking again, but doesn't say anything.

Splinter asks: “May I come in?”

Raph unlocks the door but keeps the door half closed while standing in the way to his room so his father would not see the destroyed drums or the torn out papers. Yet Splinters sees it. How could he not? It’s everywhere on the floor.

“Do you want to meditate?”

“I’d prefer not to, Sensei.”

“I will rephrase myself. I want you to meditate with me.”

Raph grumbles, but follows Splinter to the Dojo.

***

The group gets around quickly, April is still slower than the rest, and can't completely keep up with them, but she's on their tail, and the boys only have to wait a few times, a few seconds. Suddenly, three Kraang robots in their Norman disguises walk out from Antonio Pizzeria, each with a stack of Pizza-boxes without knowing they are being observed.

April pants: “Didn't know Kraang liked Pizza.”

Donnie: “Didn't know Kraang could eat human food.”

Mikey: “Dude, of course they can, human food is the best.”

Leo: “I have a gut feeling this isn't just about Pizza.”

The kraangs gets into their van and drive off.

Leo: “Don't let the van out of sight.”

Mikey: “Best mission ever!”

***

They follow the van to the outskirts of New York, where there are no buildings or trees, only tall grass and a Kraang fortress in the middle of it all. They are far away from the kraang’s base, but they already recognize it. It’s the same facility as the one they blew up with Rachell first time they met her. It’s as if the three turtles have simultaneously swallowed a brick.

Donnie: “Are you kidding me!? They have rebuilt the mind control facility?”

Leo explains to April: “Last January, we found out that the Kraangs were making some brain-washing research that only affected mutants. Turns out it was for Shredder. It was actually when we first met Rachell…”

Donnie: “I can't believe it's only been a year. It feels way longer and that we knew everything about her. Probably because she always spewed out her opinions. And now… She's gone…”

Mikey: “I would give anything for one of her sarcastic jokes right now…”

They all go quiet for a little bit, and letting it sink in.

As the leader, Leo is the first to shake his head: “Alright… Team, we have to focus on the mission. If Rachell was here, she would say something like… “Stop moping around like losers. Get your shit together and go check out the kraang building already.” And she will be right. There's a rebuilt kraang facility right there, we need to infiltrate it.”

Mikey: “But we busted their plans! So why is it back?”

Leo: “We just have to find out. Mikey, you'll be the distraction.”

“Why am I always the bait!?”

“Who votes for Mikey as bait?”

Leo, April, and Donnie all raise their hands. Mikey sulks defeated.

As a demonstration, the leader puts on metal claws, to climb the wall. The rest do the same.

They creep through the tall wet grass, as low to the ground as possible, not minding the mud.

When they get too close the Kraangs on top of the wall sees the plants rustling and begin shooting in that direction, not knowing what moved, just knowing that there’s movement.

Like bait, Mikey is the only one that jumps up, making derisive sounds and faces, that are almost his defaults by now.

The Kraangs all focus on him. They don't notice the turtles climbing up the wall until they are all taken down and pops out their destroyed robot bodies. No guards are left on the walls. Mikey makes his way up to the others as well and then joins them in the yard. They cut down the rest of the Kraangs there, easy and quick. Until there is nothing left, besides the alien brains squirming on the ground.

Leo: “Huh… This went a lot easier than I thought it would.”

Donnie: “Yeah, there aren't as many guarding as last time. There aren't even any portals.”

Mikey: “You make it sound like a bad thing.”

April: “It could be that they are not protecting whatever they have here because it's in the early stages and unimportant.”

They shrug and make their way to the closed doors, which lead inside the facility. The corridor are mostly empty with metal boxes scattered around. At the center of the the building is a lab, bigger than most human labs but nothing compared to the aliens’ usual ones.

The three Kraangs with the stack of Pizza open the door to a room full of all kinds of junk food on the floor and up against the wall.

Mikey lights up like a kid on Christmas eve and rushes to the room.

The others scream out his name, but the hungry little brother knocks down the three Kraangs before nearly teleporting from one box of junk food to the other in excitement, opening everything, not really noticing the the enemies standing around him, with laser guns up.

The group gets in and cuts them to pieces.

When the fight is over they stop for a brief moment to see the giant glass cylinder in the middle, where pink living, moving, breathing fungi dances around like jellyfish.

Leo: “What is that?”

Donnie: “They look like the fear fungus! Just… Pink?”

Mikey can't choose what to eat first. He eyes a hot Pizza on the desk and gets to it, putting a slice up to his nose: “Dude! This is the best smelling Pizza I have ever smelled!”

Leo: “Mikey! Do not eat anything here!”

“But this is a dream come true! There is so much good food here! It's a food paradise!”

Donnie: “Do I have to remind you, it's food in a KRAANG EXPERIMENT FACILITY!”

Mikey bites down on the Pizza and his eyes pops out of glee.

“Mikey! No!”

He eats the whole slice and burbs happily. “Yo dudes! This is the best Pizza I have ever tasted!”

Mikey digs in for another but his hand gets slapped away by Leo who says sternly: “Stop it.”

Now that there’s no kraang left, there’s suddenly silent and space for them to study the pink fungi.

April: “If your missions tend to be this easy, I should come with more often.”

Donnie: “Hah! if they tend to be this easy, I would actually get a good night sleep.”

Leo butts in and aks the brain of the group: “What do you think all this is?”

Mikey reaches out to take another slice, but Leo slaps it.

Donnie looks at the big cylinder glass in the middle of the room, and he begins typing on the computer, finding data: “I might be able to find out what those things are.”

Mikey stretches his body and yawns: “While you do that, I'm gonna take a nap. I’m like… really tired.” He smacks his smiling lips, or whatever is equivalent to it, and lies down. Donnie continues typing. April checks the room for danger, just like Leo.

“I'm downloading some files over to my phone.”

Leo: “We better hurry before-”

The doors to the room closes, and ten portals opens up around the room.

“That happens…”

Kraangs walk out the portals. Donnie types faster on the computer.

Leo rustles Mikey: “Mikey, wake up.”

Mikey keeps snoring with a big grin. He doesn’t wake up.

“Mikey? Mikey!”

April defends herself against the kraangs: “What's wrong with him?”

“He won’t wake up!”

Donnie: “What!?”

The oldest brother piggybacks the youngest. Mikey's arm and head are slouched lazily over his shoulder. Leo holds him up with both hands as he dodges every laser shot: “Donnie, we need to go! Now!”

Donnie takes his phone out of the computer, then closes the Pizza box that Mikey has eaten from, and brings it with him: “I might need this.”

The doors are closed. They need to unlock the panel. Leo covers Donnie. April tries to take down as many robot as she possibly can. Mikey laughs in his sleep.

Leo asks: “Are you up?” before getting hit in the face by the other’s coughing fit. Mikey coughs up pink and glittery dust.

“Arg, that's disgusting.” He turns his head away but the pink glitter has already sprinkled on him.

“The doors are open!” The tallest turtle looks back, only to see Leo asleep and smiling with Mikey resting on top of him. “Oh, you gotta be kidding me!”

April hurries to them, and tries to swing the lightest one over her shoulder, but she can't lift the turtle: “He’s way heavier than he looks.”

The room gets filled with Kraangs, all standing with their laser guns pointing. The heroes are surrounded.

“Surrender to Kraang and kraang will not terminate those who are called the turtles.”

With no other choice, Donnie and April raise their hands over their heads.

***

Against his will, Raph accompanies his father in the dojo, as Splinter is meditating and Raph is not doing anything. He is just sitting beside his sensei, trying to breathe in and out while thoughts rush through his head and he grimaces his face together in pain. Raph has never been good at meditation, it was more Leo’s specialty out of the four of them. And even Donnie and Mikey could find inner peace with a few minutes and maybe some music, but never him. When he did something, he always put his whole soul and full emotions into it, if not anger then another emotion equally as strong. Inner peace has already been out of his grasp in his normal head, so how is he supposed to go on about it now of all time?

Rachell isn’t here.

He checks if Spinter is looking, father isn’t.

Taps the smartwatch that he has kept onto. How could he let it go? The message still says the same thing.

“LOST CONNECTION TO OWNER.”

Raph sighs.

“You are not meditating.”

Yikes.

“How is meditating supposed to help?”

“Meditation is about finding inner peace. Balance. Being with yourself. I was not a fan of it at first either. Then I lost my family, Tang-shen and my daughter.”

“How… How did you… You know… not feel awful. You have lost so much, more than I have, but I can't do anything. And here you calm, calm and annoying. It’s pissing me off.”

“There are a lot of factors. Time is a crucial, but so are the four of you, my sons. You, and your brothers are my new family.”

Raph looks down to his watch again. Caressing it. He then tries: “Okay… How do I do this meditation stuff?”

“Sit up in a comfortable position. Close your eyes, and observe all your thoughts. Let them wash over you like water over stone. Let everything go.”

Raph tries to follow him, follow his instructions, but all he sees is Rachell and he can’t let go of that feeling. He can’t let go of the way her shoulders moves when she’s chuckling, or the way she smiles at him teasingly with such comfort, or the way she pours her whole being into everything she does. He can’t let go of her. So Raph groans irritated: “It isn’t working!”

Splinter opens his eyes wide open and stairs into the sky: “April?”

Raph stops his complaining and just freezes.

Splinter then says: “I will tell him that.”

“Tell who what?”

“April sent me a message. Your brothers, they are in trouble. She said you need to drive Shellraiser to some brain-washing facility?”

Raph sprints up: “I know where that is, tell her I'm on my way!”

***

Shell raiser parks close to the Kraang facility. He climbs the wall and when he gets over, he sees no Kraang other than the robotic parts sprinkled around. Raph also sees the wall where he and Rachell first had a talk, but he shakes his head and gets inside the building.

There have not been a show on the almost empty hallways. For once it’s fine with him. Just means he can get to his brothers faster.

April: “Raph! Over here!”

In one of the prison chamber are Donnie and April standing by the window. Leo and Mikey lie on the two beds, sleeping, still smiling.

Raph: “What's up with sleeping idiot one and two?”

Donnie: “Long story. I'll explain when we get out. Okay, I'll tell you how to pick up the lock. You fir-”

Raph violently stabs the lock, and the door opens.

Donnie: “Or you can do that.”

Raph goes to Leo and slaps him, but he doesn't wake up. Leo laughs. Creepy. Raph is about to slap again, but Donnie pulls him away. The blue turtle coughs pink glitter up.

“Careful. After they laugh, they cough something up. If you get that in your face, you'll fall asleep as well.”

“So what are we supposed to do?”

“Just carry Leo. I'll take Mikey. And try not to get infected.”

Raph throws Leo over his shoulder with the blue turtle’s head on his shell: “Somebody needs to lay off all the cheese.”

Donnie carries Mikey the same way while April leads in the front with the heavy pizza box. They get out without any difficulties.

Donnie: “It's good to see you outside of the lair.”

“…Yeah… Let's just save these dumbasses…”

***

Shell raiser speeds through New York and towards their lair, April is in the front seat. Donnie examines closely Leo's mouth with a magnifying glass. Raph stands over his shoulder, looking with him, but not understanding anything. Donnie doesn’t hear that Raph’s chewing on something. “You know what it is?”

“My best guess is a toxin from a mutated fungus.”

“Just like that blue fear pollen?”

“Well, kind of, except this shuts you down and leaves you gleeful instead of frightened. They're probably hallucinating very bizarre images right now.”

“They high?”

“Not exactly but close enough.”

“Whatever it is, can you fix it?”

Donnie finally looks at Raph: “Not right now. I don't have the tools, but I can when we get home- what are you chewing on?”

“That Pizza you have stolen.”

April: “WHAT?!”

Donnie: “ARE YOU INSANE!?”

“What? I'm hungry, and it smelled good. Is it from Antonio?”

“That pizza was a Kraang experiment!”

“Ah sewer apples.” Raph drops asleep. Just in time with Leo and Mikey both begin laughing and coughing.

Well at least you aren't infected, Donnie.” April turns her head. Donnie has also fallen asleep too. There's a whole cloud of pink glitter in the back of the car. “Ah, great…”

***

Darkness. There’s nothing but darkness in the void as Raph floats through it. He can’t do anything but look confused around.

“Where am I?” He asks himself.

“Raphael?” That voice. That familiar voice. It’s hers. Raph turns around, and he's in that underground tunnel, that leads to Rachell's house.

***

April parks Shell Raiser just outside the lair. She gets dizzy out of it, trying to keep herself awake. “Splinter! Help!”

Splinter shows up: “April?!”

April falls on all fours and coughs exhausted: “The boys… Infected… Pink glitter… Be carefull… Don't fall asleep…”

April closes her eyes and collapses to the floor. Splinter gets down to her and shakes her shoulder, but she’s unconscious. April smiles. April laughs, and then she coughs up pink glitter just like the others have done.

The glitter reaches Splinter.

What is it?

His head grows unbalanced and light and heavy. His eyelids are fluttering. Splinter puts both hands on his head as he sways from side to side. The sensei falters to both knees, but then he puts away his cane, sits up with a straight back in a comfortable position and begins humming, saying the Japanese rhymes that he always does to heal. The hands of a master gold into various positions. A white aura glows around him. He places his hand on his chest. Then he goes back, doing the same thing with humming and folding his hands.

***

The sun is shining through the school windows and into the hallway where students are getting ready to party their exams away. April walks down her school, test results in hand that all shows the highest possible marks one can get. A+. Every other student greets her with friendly smiles, high fives her, or praises her high marks. Jack walks up to her. He wears his usual jock jacket: “Hey, April, nice going!”

“I know right! I can't believe I got the highest marks on all test results.”

“I do, you are one smart cookie after all.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, I thought… Now that the exams are over, and prom is around the corner, what about we go there… Together?”

April puts a loose hair strand behind her ear as she giggles: “I would love that.”

She freezes when she sees four mutant turtles waltz towards her, all with backpacks over their shoulders, greeting the other students. In full daylight.

April waves at them: “Guys! What are you doing here?”

Leo smiles: “Don't you remember? We six saved the city. Now mutants are all students here as well.”

It sounded so obvious, how could she have forgotten? Her school have become famous for being the first school to house five mutant students.

April laughs over her horrible memory: “Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Sorry.” And then she turns to the school entrance and walks out where her dad has parked. He seems happy. “April! How did the exams go?”

April walks up to the car: “I aced it of course.”

“Wow, I'm so proud of you. Let's go to the restaurant or to the Drive bio, do something to celebrate it.”

“We can, but you don't have to. I know how easy you get stressed out and anxious at night, especially when we go outside.”

“Don't worry, sweetie. Since you and your friends saved the city, I have gotten completely over my nightmares.”

“Wow! That’s awesome!” April gets into the car when she hears him calling her name. She looks out the car window where Rachell is standing with her casual clothes, if you can call punk clothes casual. The wolf leans over the car when April rolls down the window and the wolf grins: “Splinter wants to talk to you.”

“Is he here too?”

It’s as if the world glitches, and the tall wolf mutant becomes an even taller Rat mentor.

“This is not real. Wake up April.”

The dream glitches back. Nobody is outside the car. Not Splinter, not Rachell.

April looks to the side of her smiling dad. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, everybody is happy. But April is scared. She sees it now. This is not real.

***

April gasps as she jolts up from Splinter's lap. She heaves for air. The Dojo. Donnie, Leo, Mikey and Raph, they are all laying on a row beside her, all smiling to various degrees, Mikey having the biggest grin, Raph having one that is barely noticeable. Splinter gets to Donnie, and places Donnie's head on his lap. The master places two hands on Donnie's temples. Donnie laughs, then coughs pink glitter up.

April: “Be careful!”

Splinter: “The pollen does not harm me, as long as I concentrate.”

Mikey, and Leo laugh together, and then they cough together.

“April, you need to help me reach out to my boys.”

April nods and gets to Leo. She places two hands on his temple and focuses.

***

A big white lab houses Donnie like a second home with all kinds of technology, chemistry and experiments. On the shelf there are many trophies. Donnie drops some fluid into a plate, then puts the plate under the microscope.

“Wohoo! The cure against Alzheimer is done!” He jumps up from the chair in excitement and begins to dance his victory dance.

“I need to publish my findings, so I can win yet another Noble Prize. Oh how I love being smart.”

“Donnatello.”

Behind him is his father.

Donnie continues to shout with glee: “Sensei, you won't believe what I just did!”

Splinter: “You do have a great mind, but this is not where you should use it. You have to wake up!”

Donnie looks around in the white lab. Then back, but Splinter is gone. Donnie looks into the microscope. “Oh, goddammit!”

***

In the middle of the control center of an enormous spaceship is Leo seated on a throne with all kinds of cartoon people on the control panels. Space heroes. They fly away from a planet. Suddenly a fleet of over a thousand ships is blocking their escape route. Leo points out in the room with a smirk.

“Crew, fly straight in.”

Crankshaw flips out, crying how they are going to die, if they fly towards all those. Leo slaps him and with a deep heroic voice the turtle goes: “We might be outnumbered, but our will is outweighing theirs.”

The spaceships flies, as the fleet prepares their laser canons.

“Fire!”

The crew fire the fleets canons, hitting every target, and the fleet buckles under to become scraps of metal floating in space, as Leo's ship flies elegantly through.

The whole crew praises Leo, clapping their hand and cheering his name. Captain Ryan places a hand on the turtle’s shoulder, saying how proud he is, and that Leo is the best captain the crew has ever had. Leo smiles big. A warm fuzzy feeling spreads through his stomach.

Suddenly April stands in front of him. Leo sits up with open arms, and he's loses his deep heroic tone to go back to his high-pitched excited giddy voice: “April! Did you just see how cool I was!?”

“This isn't real! You need to wake up.”

Leo looks around on the smiling crew.

***

Both Donnie and Leo jolt up to sit, breathing heavily, gasping for the missing air. Splinter and April sits behind them.

Leo: “How did you do that?”

April shrugs: “I don't know, but it works.”

Splinter: “The mind is a powerful weapon.”

April: “You two get back, while we wake Mikey and Raph up. Mikey is the one laughing and coughing the most, and I don't want you to be captured again.”

Splinter goes to Mikey, April to Raph. They place their heads on their lap and their hands on temple, just like before.

***

Wind blows his small bandana tail. Mikey is riding on Leatherhead's back over a rainbow, Renet is hugging him from behind. The world is like a picture color book for children, with lots of smiling animals, trees, and a smiling sun. All kinds of junk food is singing as it is raining from the sky.

Suddenly Splinter is blocking the rainbow road. Splinter eyes the area, a bit baffled over the world, and a lot disturbed by it.

“Yo Sensei! Come and ride with us!”

Splinter shakes his head back to concentration: “Michelangelo… This is not reality. You have to come back to a world… Without smiling trees…”

“What!?”

***

Mikey jumps up on both legs, completely mind blown by the revelation. He looks frantically from side to side to only see the boring reality in the dojo, and then makes a saddened face, as if he were a kicked puppy. “Awww…”

Leo: “Yeah…”

Donnie: “We get you…”

April interrupts their moment: “Uhm, guys?”

They turn their attention to April who is still on the sleeping Raph. She panics as she says: “Raph won’t wake up.”

Leo: “What? Why?”

April: “I don’t know.”

Splinter sits down beside her: “What do you see?”

***

Soft music is playing through the speakers. Raph sits on a booth chair, with the kitchen table and a plate between him and Rachell. He leans over the table, to get closer to her. Rachell leans over the table to get closer to him. She laughs over a joke he said, but it fades out to a more saddened tone.

“Hey Raph…”

Raph looks up at her serious face, but then at the radio beside him. It's playing Photograph by Ed Sheeran. Raph turns up the volume, then reaches out a hand. Rachell rolls her eyes. She smiles a smile with as much burning love as he feels. She takes his hand, and they begin dancing around her house.

Their hands are intertwined, well, as intertwined as three fingers can be with five.

***

April tries to get closer, but it’s as if she’s looking through an invisible forcefield: “Raph is inside Rachell's house. They are dancing…”

April hears Leo from reality: “Can't you go in and say what you said to me?”

April hammers her hand on the force-field: “I'm trying to get close, but it's like… There is something keeping away…”

Donnie’s voice echoes in her mind: “I'll try and make an antidote.”

There’s a change in the atmosphere. “Wait! Something is happening.”

April sees the couple stop moving, just as the music crashes.

***

He has been punched down by ninjas and mutants, but nothing hurts more than when he feels her fingers loosen and slip out of his.

Rachell steps back. Raph tries to go after her, but she pushes him slightly. Her eyes darts away.

Don’t do this.

Raph asks but doesn’t want a real answer: “What's wrong? We were having fun, weren't we?” He knows the real answer and for once wishes she would lie about it. Hide it.

“You know what’s wrong.”

Raph doesn’t want to hear that, so he says desperately: “Let's just dance! C’mon…”

Rachell bends down, so they can have eye contact. Her purple irises meet his green.

“Raphael… I’m dead.”

Raph grabs her hand and clenches after her touch as if he could pull her back to reality. His face is pained: “No, I’ll stay like this, just a little more. You can’t do this to me!”

“This isn't real. You have to let go.”

“I don't want to let go, I don't want to forget you.”

“Letting go, doesn't mean forgetting. It means acknowledging what has happened, and moving on. I'm not here, but your family are. They love you. And they need you, just like you need them.”

Raph closes his eyes, and he sighs: “Okay… Okay…”

Rachell places a gentle hand against his cheek, and he does the same with her. She leans in, her lips just brushing his, for a far too short time, before she disappears into a white mist. The white mist becomes the bright light in the Dojo, when he looks up in the same ceiling as always.

Raph has a raised hand, stretching out to where Rachell's face was. He's back to the real world, back in the dojo, back to his aching body. A body that is shattered without her. Many eyes are staring at him all filled with sympathy.

Splinter asks: “My son, how are you feeling?”

Raph sits slowly up. His chest is heavy and his throat dry. And his world is in pieces.

Raph bites: “I'm fine! Just leave me-” But he chokes on his words. He pulls his knees up into a protective ball, and hides his face and tears in them. “I’m not fine…”

Raph feels everyone's arms squishing him tight from all sides. Splinter sits down in front of him, and places a hand on his head. Raph looks up.

Splinter: “I’m proud of you.”

***

Later that day. Evening. The four turtles enter the living room, April is behind them. Mikey stretches his whole body. They have just completed their mission.

Leo: “Now that that facility is taken down, and we don't have to think about some weird pink mushrooms again, let's watch some TV.”

“Hell yeah! Crognard the Barbarian, baby!” Mikey dives into the Sofa and reaches after the remote, but Leo takes it from him.

“No, they are showing my favorite Star Wars movie, we are going to watch that.”

Donnie takes the remote from Leo: “You have watched that movie fourteen times! Let's watch a new episode of Super Robo Mecha Force Five.”

Leo, Mikey and Donnie are arguing over the remote, trying to physically get it from the other two, and take control, but none of them has it for more than two seconds. April just sits, tired and waiting for them to figure everything out. Raph goes to his room, when Splinter stops him and asks: “Care to join?”

“In a bit. I just have to get a thing.”

Splinter nods and sits down with the rest of the family. Leo gets the remote from the two others and changes the channel. Mikey makes big sad eyes to the ground.

Donnie sighs: “Urhg… Mikey…”

Leo too: “…You are too much… you can get it… Here.”

Mikey yoinks the remote and changes it to another channel, where Crognard will soon play. “Oooh yeeeeeaaaaaaahhh!”

“Hey! Idiots! Say cheese!” Raph stands behind them. They turn their heads around to look dumbfounded. Raph holds the red polaroid camera. There can be heard a shutter, and a photograph gets printed out. Raph checks it and smirks: “This camera really captures your ugliness.”

Like the older brother, Leo waves Raph to the couch with a laughter, “Take a seat at the ugliness club. There's popcorn.”

Raph puts the new photo of into his toolbelt so it's placed just beside Rachell's picture and the smartwatch he has taken off. Raph plops down in the middle of the couch. They all scoot close together.

Chapter Text

Slash idly gazes into the darkness of the sewers. The large turtle holds his morning star loosely above his shell. The telepathic monkey knows this, yet Rockwell insists that they continue to scout the sewers.

Rockwell hovers above the ground. He shines his flashlight on a newspaper. The newspaper shows a not particularly sharp triceratops far away. “There, you see?” Rockwell lifts the newspaper up to Slash, who reads it. “Two weeks ago, Kurtzman tracked this creature near New Jersey, but it disappeared. I thought it was a hoax until these reports started popping up again, saying it was in New York.”

Not convinced, Slash asks, “You sure a normal person didn't just see some of us and think we were a dinosaur?”

They continue walking. Suddenly, low, rumbling voices. Just like normal voices but with foreign words.

Slash: “You think it's Leatherhead? Pigeon Pete?”

“No, they're searching the north side of the sewers. I can sense its presence.”

Almost inaudible footsteps and small noises begin to draw closer as Slash holds up his morning star. “Uh, doc?”

“I can't understand its thoughts. It seems panicked, chaotic, almost... sad?”

The ceiling gives way. The two mutant animals dodges. An orange triceratops figure jumps down from the ceiling.

Slash: “Unbelievable! He's real!”

The dinosaur attack.

***

“Yes! The final episode!” With his big baby blue eyes, Mikey pushes the videotape into the TV and finds his place between Leo and Donnie.

While Leo is sitting with them, waiting for the episode to begin, he protests weakly: “Raph is gonna be super ticked if we watch the Crognard finale without him.”

“Oh, yeah? Well the Crognard finale's gonna be super ticked Raph didn't show up on time to watch it.” Mikey plays the episode.

The episode begins with Crognard fighting against a dragon. Like most action kids-cartoon, the characters throw heroic puns at each other as they fight, telling their attacks out loud and how the opponent is gonna lose. It ends with Crognard being eaten and his pet screaming out his name. The end credits roll, leaving the turtles speechless with big open mouths and bigger questions.

Mikey screams: “That's it? After all those adventures, he just bites it? What kind of anti-climate ending is that?”

Donnie: “Anticlimactic. Wow, talk about a bummer ending. Hey, do you think-”

Dun dun dun! Leo's ringtone. The ID display shows Raph's yelling face photo-shopped onto an angry character from Space hero. “Sh, sh, sh, you guys! It's Raph. Uh, be cool, be cool.”

The two brothers quiets down as Leo clears his throat and picks up the call in the most convincingly natural way he can manage: “Uh, hey… man… what's, uh, what's what's going down?” He fails.

“You jerks didn't watch the Crognard finale while I'm stuck on Shredder patrol, right?” Raph stomps back and forth on the edge of rooftop. He's dressed in his Shinobi clothes.

Leo tries to sound convincing again: “Who, us? No, of course not. But I bet if we did watch it, we'd have found it incredibly anti-climate- I mean anti-climactic.” He fails.

“Yeah, well, you better wait until…” Raphael wasn't able to finish just as the brown thin figure of Rockwell calls his name.

“Raphael! We need your help!”

“Rockwell?”

The ape is standing near an unconscious Slash when Raph arrives at the foot of the building. The ape is covered in injuries while Slash is bruised and battered almost beyond recognition. But the blue turtle’s pulse is steady under Raph’s fingers just like his breathing.

Raph asks: “Doc, where are they?”

Rockwell: “Where is "it." And the answer is "gone." For now.”

“What kind of "it" can knock Slash out cold?”

“A being not of this world. Something beyond monstrous. Something I fear will-”

“DINO-MAN!” Slash shouts awake.

Raph gets startled by the sudden outburst. He wants to punch his friend despite being relieved over the revival, but everythig is put on hold by the words being registered. Dino-man. And a cold realization cuts him like a blade to the neck.

“Wait… It couldn't be… Is it the dinosaur with horns and some weird crown shit on its head? What's its name again… Tri-tricero-”

Rockwell: “A triceratops! Exactly!”

Suddenly it seems like dirty street is more interesting to study as Raph looks down and away, pained. Then up at Rockwell. The telepathic ape is shocked, then eyes him with sympathy. And the doctor says in a bit softer tone than usual: “Don not haste. It's a very dangerous creature, possibly the most powerful creature we have encountered.”

Raph pushes his way through and opens the manhole.

Slash asks after him: “Where are you going?”

“After that Triceratops.”

Rockwell: “Do be careful. We don't know what it will do. It's in pain, confused and scared.”

“And it hits like a bus!” Slash adds.

Raph is already halfway down: “I'm gonna ask it a few questions first. I need to know something. Besides, it's not the only one here hitting like a bus.”

***

“C’mon, c’mon, pick up, pick up.” Donnie unknowingly taps his phone’s back side as his holds the screen to his ear. He’s once again met by Raph’s personal voicemail, and he ends it before his aggressive instructions are explained. “Maybe he's in trouble.”

Leo: “Any luck on your end, Mikey?”

Mikey is typing and searching on Donnie’s laptop: “Nada. The Crognard fan sites all say that really was the last episode. What a bust.”

“I meant have you texted Raph!?” But oldest brother turns to the laptop screen and almost disappointed asks: “Really, though? There wasn't, like, a movie or something after?”

Rockwell’s voice echoes in their heads as it says telepathically: “Raphael is searching the sewers for the triceratops.”

Mikey: “Thank you narrator!”

Leo eyes Donnie, Donnie returns the distressed expression. They feel their hearts sink to heavy stones in their stomach: “You don't think…”

“I hope not.”

***

Empty sewer tunnel after empty sewer tunnel. This must be the most frustrating search he has ever undergone. No trace, no answers, no luck so far. How can a giant dinosaur hide this well in a small sewer? And finally  he hears something. Someone. They speak a foreign language, but the laughter is the same laughter as everybody else. It's an older woman's voice, then a small boy's, then a deep booming man. The audio stops, to only repeat again with the exact same unknown words. A video?

Raph goes after the sound.

***

Rockwell helps Slash stand somewhat up, as the enormous guy leans over the smaller ape mutant. They are both severely exhausted by their bruises. The turtles rushes to the pair to help them into the lair.

Donnie speaks almost too fast in his nervousness: “When you said "triceratops" you didn't mean the triceratops that has been going around on the news for over half a year, right? The ones that have been said to be moving from Antarctica to here, right?” He knows the answer. What other triceratops could Raph be looking for.

“It is sadly that, yes.”

That stone in Leo’s stomach has returned now heavier as his fear has been confirmed: “Oh no… This is not good…”

Mikey and Donnie understand what he means.

As the only one left out, Slash doesn’t: “I don't know if it's the concussion speaking, but I feel like there's something I'm missing here?”

Leo begins: “Do you know Rachell?”

Slash: “Of course. Raph's girlfriend. Us Mighty mutant animals have been hanging out with her a handful of times, both on missions and other. Leatherhead and I taught her how to swim after a mission where she almost drowned. And she has asked Rockwell for help with some technology stuff.”

Rockwell looks up at Slash, also saddened.

The eerie atmosphere is heavy, even for the big strong turtle, and Slash asks despite being afraid of the answer: “What? Where is she?”

“Dude… She's dead…” Mikey feels the words come out like venom, still wrong in his mouth.

Slash is taken a back: “What?”

With sorrow in his eyes, Donnie explains: “Two months ago, she went on a mission after the triceratops, but… She never came back. We are assuming she's dead. We don't know how exactly she died… Maybe it has something to do with the triceratops, but maybe not.”

Slash: “That's why… And now that hothead is blindly going into hot water…”

Leo: “We need to stop him! Donnie?”

Donnie: “I'll turn on the t-phone signaling. I have programmed it, that way we all know where each t-phones are.”

***

Raph approaches the sound until he gets to the entrance of a giant place. He stretches his neck to look in the giant sewer room while still being mostly hidden.

There, in the corner, sits a gigantic creature with a triceratops head and a large scaly hand, curled into itself. Even sitting in a ball, it's bigger than Raph. It might even be bigger than Leatherhead.

The other arm is missing. The triceratops looks a hologram from his wrist band, where a video plays, then the video ends. He presses the armband again and the same video plays again. He studies it as if he's reading every detail. It must be his wife and son.

The temperamental turtle feels his heart grow for the big guy and he feels the growing pains sting to his fingers tips. He feels for the alien. So he steps into the room. The triceratops whips his head up, they only get to eye each other before the triceratops races up and grabs his giant battle axe.

Raph puts out both arms as a sign for peace. “Easy, big guy. Look, man, I don't want to hurt you, and I'm not sure I can.”

The triceratops swings his battle axe so hard down after the stranger. The mutant jumps out of harm’s way and the blade cuts down into the brick floor. The triceratops gets it out and swings it after Raph again, but hits the wall instead when the acrobatic turtle jumps over it, and then the mutant jumps from wall and up to some pipes, high above the alien's reach.

The triceraton booms: “You're a fast mutant.”

“Been taught from the best.”

The triceraton points at him with his axe: “Who is your admiral? And where are they?”

“I don't have an admiral. I'm alone. Kinda.”

The Triceratops stares at the Turtle, now that he can't hurt it.

Raph begins: “Listen, I really don't want to fight. I know how it feels to loose someone too.”

“You don't know anything!”

“I've have been on the brink to lose my family a lot of times, and it's fucking terrifying. And two months ago I did lose... someone very close...” It felt weird to say. Awful and wrong. "She went far away… and I never got to say how much I loved her, and now I can't think of anything else. It hurts… Like a lot.”

Something flickers behind the triceratops emerald green eyes. The Triceraton looks down at his axe, seeing his own reflection in the blade. “What's your name?”

“Raphael.”

“Raphael… My name is Zog. I failed a mission recently, so I got exiled from my home. My arm got cut off.” The triceraton raises his bandaged stump. “I'm left with no weapons or technology other than this pitiful axe.” Zog points it at Raph in a non-threatening way. “I lost my home, my family, my honor. I have even lost my ship, when I went out to search for Kraang technology that could get my space capsule back working. So I can see my family one last time. I didn't say goodbye.”

Raph feels his heart break again. So he says: “I want to help you.”

“Hmmm. You are very springy and you know this place better than I do. I lost my ship on top of what I think are ruins. I don't know more than that.”

“Can you describe it?”

“I don't remember much. All I know is, that it's nearby and on top of a lot of metal.”

“I can help you out. Just promise you won't crush me to a pancake.”

“I promise.”

“Wait, I have one more question before we seal the deal. It's why I came here. It's about Rachell. She actually went to Amazon, which is a rain-forest thousands of miles away from here. She did it because she read some stupid newspapers… About you triceratops… Do you know anything? Have you seen a mutant black wolf?”

The Triceratop squints his eyes but ends up shaking his head.

“That's all I needed to know.” The turtle in red gets down, and he reaches a hand out. Zog only stares at it confused.

So Raph explains: “You shake it. It's an earth thing.”

The giant puts his hands around it and shakes violently, almost ripping the arm with it. When the giant finally stops, Raph caresses his nearly broken hand with tears in eyes: “Let’s never do that again.”

“Where are we going to look first?”

“I'll call my brother, Donnie. He's an expert when it comes to tech.” Raph checks his phone. It's blinking red. He furrows his brows and open it. The map is there. Three dots, blue, purple, and orange are moving from the lair to his location, red. What the- Raph calls Donnie.

He regrets putting the device near his ear, when Donnie yells to the other: “Guys! It's Raph!”

“Yes, yes, it's me. Why is my phone blinking and showing me a map?”

“I turned on all the t-phones locations.”

“There's no need, I have everything under control.”

“We are still heading your way.”

“Good. I need you to do something. I'll explain when you get here.” He ends the call and turns his attention to Zog: “My brothers will be here any minute. Meanwhile I can show you the map.” Raph stands beside the giant, to show him the map, while the giant needs to squat down to see. Enlarge the map. The screen suddenly seems ridiculously small: “Okay, you got any idea, where you-” What? A fifth dot is blinking on the map. On the construction site. It's green, the color she picked. “Rachell?”

Zog studies Raph as he zooms in on the green dot.

His body starts moving on his own. “Sorry, I know I said I would help you, but I need to do something first. I promise to find your ship afterwards.” Raph races frantically in the direction of the construction site. Before he knows it, the triceraton runs just beside him. He’s awfully fast and silent for such a big guy.

“I'm coming with you.”

Raph nods as a response and lets the Triceraton run with him.

***

It has been so long since he has visited the place, but he remembers it vividly. It still fits his nigtmares perfectly. Nothing has been touched. Every trinket and metal is lying where he last saw it. Raph gets to the construction site. He checks his phone, it's still blinking, but there are only missed calls from Donnie and Leo. No sign of Rachell yet. Raph calls Leo.

Leo: “Why are you moving!?”

Raph: “Meet me at the construction site.”

“What?”

Raph ends the call and clicks on Rachell's contact. He last tried calling her two weeks ago.

He waits with hope, hoping just to hear something new. But already at the very first word, he knows it's Rachell’s same automated voicemail, the voicemail that has been burned into his memories without his consent: “I'm either busy kicking ass or actively ignoring you. Leave a message or whatever after the beep, you know the drill.”

Beep.

“Rachell! Are you there!? I need you to answer, I need to know if you're okay!” He ends the call, then zooms in on the stupid map to see the stupid dot mocking him. The dot isn't in her house. It's where the skeleton of the a building is standing. In construction, unfinished and abandoned.

Raph commands the dinosaur: “Stay here,” before jumping up the building’s metal beams. The Triceratops looks at Raph with squinted eyes. He walks to the building and begins climbing.

When the teenager reaches the top, where there’s no way to climb further up, the universe begins to break a little more around him. His respiration is fast. His blood cold. His eyes dart from side to side. Nothing, no-one is there. In frustration he screams: “Rachell! Rachell! Come on, this isn't funny!” Tears pricks the corners of his eyes and his voice cracks under the straint. “RACHELL!"

No response. Raph looks at the map. He walks around along the metal beams, until his head hits something and he gets pushed back by a force. Fuck! He looks up, but only sees the night sky. His three fingered hand reaches a hand touches an object. A smooth, hard surface, like metal. Whatever it is, it's invisible. Raph glides his hands along the metal, and presses something, and the ship shows itself. It looks like a black diamond. It opens up a door and he steps inside the diamond.

The room is big, with mostly black and orange colors.

He sees it.

On the walls, hangs all kinds of different weapons and other artifacts. And there, in the middle of it all is a blinking t-phone, blinking red too. A sense of doom washes over him. It’s a heavy feeling, that grabs onto his throat and chest and squishes all air out. And yet he takes the t-phone down. It's smothered in old, black and brown crusty blood. Raph hardly dares to open the screen, but he does, well knowing what will greet him. On the screen is a photo of Rachell taking a selfie with the four turtles in the background, master Splinter and April, all celebrating a successful mission with a dance party. It has 176 missed calls from Raphael.

The phone opens with the pin code he knows too well. His thumb goes through the messages, but there's nothing new. Goes through the search history, there's nothing new. Raphael goes through the photo gallery, and there are five videos he hasn't seen before. Raph opens the first video.

Rachell is filming a trio of tapirs in the distance. The sun is rising - it's morning. An dreadfully beautiful view. Rachell chuckles to the camera, a sound he has missed so much it hurts to hear again. Ans she chuckles: “Look at these ugly bastards. I nearly mistook them for Fishface, Rahzar and Tigerclaw. Although I doubt these motherfuckers are just as dumb.”

He feels the corners of his mouth go up a bit, but then the corners of his eyes pricks. He goes to the next video.

Rachell films a scorpion, also from a safe distance: “Well hello to Shredder’s cooler brother! Not that it's a big achievement."

Raph lets out a small laughter. And goes to the third video.

She films herself in a small and mostly deforested area: “Wow, look at that!” A black Diamond ship, that looks exactly like the one Raph is in. The only difference is this ship has a smaller black diamond attached to it with an orange electric rope. Rachell shows that the smaller diamond has a holographic screen with what seems a foreign language, under it is what looks like a keyboard, with the same foreign letters. “I'm not gonna bore you to death with this crap, so I'll just end the video now. Update you in the next tape.”

Raph goes to the fourth video. It's dawn.

She looks so normal when she is filming herself sitting cross-legged, like when she sat crosslegged by his desk, working on her own trinkets and he watched. It might as well has been a normal day in the lair. “I tried to call but I can't reach you guys, not sure why. So I'll just film for now, to remember everything I want to say, or just send it when I'm back in the submarine.”

Rachell inhales, and continues: “So basically I spend like 10 hours, figuring out this stupid fucking language- can't wait to punch the idiot who made me do this.”

The camera records two pages, before getting back to her wolf like face. “What I've gathered so far is, that they call themselves Triceratons. An alien species who have fought the kraangs for centuries over dimension X, but the brains used their advanced weapons to destroy these dinosaurs home, so now the dinosaurs want to invade and kill everything on Earth since it's the kraangs' hiding place. They plan on using some kind of secret weapon, called "The Heart of Darkness." Pretty lame name. I don't know what the weapon is tho, all I know that if this ship launches with this smaller antenna, we're all basically doomed, which is why I have disabled and destroyed some things here, good luck getting home, sucker!” She screams that last part a bit too loud: "Now I just gotta-."

A big figure moves fast behind her. She whips her head around and the videos stop, last frame on what looks like an orange laser beam shooting past.

No. His heart beats so fast, that he can feel it in his throat. Raphael continues to the fifth and last video. Presses it.

The camera moves hastily, so he can't make out anything, except a lot of colors flashing back and forth. He hears her rapid breathing, hyperventilating. There are also sounds of trees rupture and falling in the background. He can't see it, but he knows what she's running from. Suddenly, she groans loudly as her body tumbles down a slope, and the camera flips around in dirt, grass and stones. Everything stops moving when landing by the foot of the small cliff, so the video can show parts of her stretched out arm holding the phone. Rachell lies on the ground, still breathing, but in pain.

Please move. Move. C'mon move. Please.

Rachell doesn't look at the camera when she fights trembling to get up. Yes!

Two deep voices bellow: “I think the mutant fell down there.”

Zog: “Don't let it get away!”

Rachell let's go of the phone. It leans up against some stones, so it continues to film her. In a cruel way. Rachell jumps up, but loses balance and stumbles to the dirt. She crawls away from the camera to lean her back against a tree, only two meters from the phone. Raph sees her. Her entire left arm is blasted off and she's clutching the stump in an attempt to survive, just a little longer. Blood slithers from her stomach and head, blinding her right eye and darkening her clothes. She trembles, her ears back and her tail, half cut off, between her legs. “Shit, shit, shit.” She whispers.

The wolf turns to the camera. Her purple eyes are shiny, yet she smiles a forced smile. The speech is gast and out of breath: “Leo, I'm sorry I always gave you trouble, you are a great leader, and an even greater brother. Donnie, thank you for teaching me so much and listening to my rambles. Mikey, continue being your own wonderful, colorful and whimsical self that everybody adores. And Raphael…”

He speech slows down.

“Raphael, if you see this... you mean everything to me. Your humor, your fiery passion, your willpower, your empathy, how you feel... I love every part of you. And I know you love me too, but you should grieve for a bit, cry your heart out, keep me fondly in a memory, and then move on. All I want is for you to be with your family, find another girlfriend, and kick ass!… You are gonna continue to do great things. Thank you all for giving me the best last year.”

Trees crashing gets louder as they get closer. Rachell fights her way up to stand. A gigantic foot stomps in front of the phone, so the phone falls and starts filming the violet sky shining through the top leaves. It's sickening beautiful.

Raph can only her roar: “I'll murder you shitheads!”

The sound of slicing can be heard, and the sound of a tree breaking and falling followed after. The phone gets taken up and all the camera films is the triceratops’ face. The video stops on that disgusting face. The Triceraton Raph had planned to help. Zog.

Raph is back in the ship, on all fours, hyperventilating over Rachell's phone, not knowing what to do, other than stare at the screen, the video now stopped.

“Don't take it personally, Raphael. The mutant was in the way, and was the reason I failed my mission. She was the reason I lost my arm and my colleague.”

The Triceraton stands behind him, in the open doorway. Raph raises his head, gritted teeth and tears streaming from his white eyes, ready to murder. He roars all his anger and grief out as he launches after the Triceraton, kicking the giant out of the ship but it lands on both feet onto the beam.

Zog continues in a calm voice: “Thanks to you, I have found my ship and with this kraang technology, I can replace my broken antenna and send a signal back to my empire. I can restore my honor. I will be forever grateful to you. Please, don't make me kill you a painful death too.”

Raph roars again, punching after the Triceraton with his sais between his fingers. Zog grabs his arm, swings him in the air and slams the turtle down into the hard metal, so he spits out, and faints for a couple of seconds. The strong teenager groans and tries to get up, only moving his hands and legs a few centimeters. The Triceraton pulls out an axe. Zog raises it over his head to end it.

But Mikey's chain gets around his axe and yanks it out of his grip. Donnie and Leo both kick him backwards in the stomach. The Triceratops walks a few steps back. The warrior still stands unbothered as if nothing had happened. Donnie puts a hand on Raph's plastron. Leo gets in between them and the Triceraton with both swords. Behind him is Mikey standing with nunchucks.

Zog sighs: “I don't have time for games.” He whips around and smacks the smallest mutant with the back of his hand. Mikey falls of the building. Raph gets up on all fours, and the three brothers yells: “Mikey!”

Their little brother saves himself with his chain of his nunchucks around one of the beams. He hangs on. “I’m okay!”

The brothers grit their teeth and turn their attention to the Triceraton who is standing in the door of the ship. Zog throws Rachell's t-phone at the feet of Leo and says: “You can keep this for the rest of your short lives.”

He turns around and the door closes. He attach his kraang tech to the panel, fixing what has been done. The ship lifts up, begins spinning and shinning with orange light. It sends out a beam before disappearing in a small explosion. Leo, Donnie and Raph all hold their arms over their faces. The tails of their bandana blow in the wind. They lower their shields, and the ship is gone, leaving everything without a trace. Raph picks up the phone. It's still working. It's bloodied and cold, but what matters is that it's still working.

Leo: “What was that?”

Raph puts the phone to his chest and then looks at his brothers. Mikey stands now with Leo, Donnie. They expect him to explain, so he does: “They call themselves the Triceratons, they are enemies to the Kraangs, and will wipe out life on the earth, including things that aren't alien robots.”

Leo: “Did the Triceraton tell you that?”

“No, Rachell did.”

“Is she alive!?”

Mikey beams too excited: “Awesome! Where is she!? I've missed her so much! Come out of your hiding big sis!”

Raph shakes his head and shows the t-phone: “I found this on their space ship. There are some recorded videos that explains some things, like that they want the kraangs' secret weapon, "The Heart of Darkness." or whatever.”

Leo: “The heart of darkness? What is that supposed to mean?”

Raph shrugs. He gives the phone to Donnie: “She didn’t get to finish.”

Mikey stretches out his arms: “Want an awkward sibling hug, big bro?”

“Nah, I’m fine.”

Mikey hugs anyway. Instead pushing the youngest brother away, Raph pats him on the head. Leo rests a hand on Raph's shoulder. Donnie doesn't know what to do, so he goes through the phone gallery, without opening anything, and he says: “Thank you, Raph. I promise to give the phone back to you, when I have finished watching the video.”

In return, Raph gives him a small, tired smile,

Leo: “Do you need anything? We can stop by Murakami? Or we can watch some cartoon? Or train?”

“I think I need to do one, thing, and then we can go home an watch some TV.”

***

Rachell’s home. A place they have avoided ever since. The boys get inside the house that is left empty. The air is thick and dead. The place is a bit messy, but nothing too bad. The worst part was the dust and all the moldy food in the refrigerator.

The boys begin to clean up, removing the grey layer from the table, removing the food in trash bags, cleaning the messy bed, organizing the tools on her desk.

After some time Raph somehow finds himself standing at the wall with all the polaroid pictures. He leans his head against it. Inhales and exhales. And then he begins taking down the polaroids, putting them in a cardboard box. He also places his two pictures of Rachell he has been carrying around this whole time, along with the heartbeat armband inside the box. A box he plans on keeping secure, maybe by his bed or in his closet.

“Hey, I've cleaned the bathroom as you asked. There wasn't much work so I sent the five last videos to the group chat, and I've cleaned Rachell's t-phone… It should be as good as new.” Donnie gives Raph Rachell's T-phone, and Raph says sincerely: “Thanks…” He puts the phone in the cardboard box with the rest of the photos.

Leo asks him: “What do you want us to do now?”

Raph: “I think we are done here.”

“Then lets head home.”

“Yeah, lets head home.” Raph carries the cardboard box with him as he walks alongside his brothers, who each hold some garbage bags.

***

Zog connects his space ship to the even bigger one. A triceraton’s space diamond that is bigger than any building in New York. When Zog gets out, he's greeted by the big captain Mozar and two average-sized Triceratons, both with laser pistols.

Mozar says: “Haven't I told you, if you show your face again, your arm taken by that worthless mutant won't be the only thing you’ll lose.”

“I know where The Kraangs are hiding their last outposts, with their leader.”

Mozar lifts a hand, so the two triceratons beside him let down their guards: “Good to have you home, Sergeant.”

Chapter Text

The evening is calm. So long no danger in sight. The turtles are driving Shell Raiser through the street, patrolling to see if there is any trouble. April is with them, standing on the extra seat.

April: “I can't believe there are more aliens out there, trying to invade Earth.”

Leo: “Yeah, it's wild. Now we have two big threats looming over our heads, literally.”

Raph: “How long have you waited to say that pun?”

Leo widens a big grin, ready to explain it, but Raph stops him: “Never mind, I don't want to hear it. Let's just try and find that weapon.”

Mikey: “How are we gonna go about with that?”

Leo: “We could infiltrate a building, and snoop around in their files, or interrogate one of them.”

Donnie: “I hate to break up the conversation, but someone's been following us for the last five blocks or so.”

April: “Weird, I didn't sense anyone.”

Donnie: “You can see for yourself.”

The computer screen shows an expensive black car, where the driver is revealed to be Norman Kraang, wearing sunglasses. The car catches up so they drive side by side. They all look at the screen, to see the Norman Kraang look back at Shell Raiser. Even though he can't see them, he lets them know he's there. The Kraang drives past them and ahead.

Donnie: “Stay with him, Leo.”

They try to stay on his tail, but in the last swing, they get to an alley with a dead end and no car.

Leo: “He’s gone?”

They exit Shell raiser and examines the alley’s dirty walls and corner. April sees the some grafiti on the wall by the dumpster. “Check it out. Turtles 3117 Bayfront Street Midnight.”

Mikey points at the simplified illustration of a bishop: “What’s that supposed to be? His logo?”

Leo explains: “It's a chess piece. A bishop.”

Confused and curious, they get back into Shell raiser and drive to the location. A meat house.

Raph leans over Leo to see the camera screens filming the butcher’s place: “For the record, I still think this is a terrible idea, Leo. It's got to be a trap.”

Leo: “Something is up, and I gotta find out why.”

Mikey: “Dude, this is the my favorite meat-house! Come on, I know a back entrance.”

They head to the meat warehouse and sneak into the back entrance just like Mikey has said. Leo quietly gives them the signal, to be on their toes as the kraang droid enters the room. It barely gets to say a word. Raph is the first to charge swinging his Sais after the droid's head. It moves faster than any normal kraang and punches Raph to stumble backwards. It knows martial art!?

Bishop begins: “Do not do this.”

But the teenagers don’t listen. The whole group charges. The droid knocks down Donnie, Raph and Mikey and kicks April away. Leo attacks his swords after its arm, but the Kraang grabs both blades. That’s impossible!

The swords are ripped out of his hands. He gets kicked back. Everyone enters again. Leo gets up. Bishop spins around Leo's katanas but ends up grabbing the blade and handing the handles to the leader, showcasing it as a peace offering.

Bishop: “Turtles, refrain from attacking. Believe me when I say, I am not your enemy.”

They begin to understand that this alien is not a Kraang. Leo grabs his sword and sheathes them back in.

Bishop introduces himself: “You can call me by my earth name, Bishop.”

Mikey: “So you aren't a kraang?”

Bishop: “I was the one who created this body. The other Kraang copied me.” He unbuttons his shirt to reveal his squishy, brain-like alien body. “I am a member of the Utrom tribe, a small group of Kraang defectors. We broke away from the Kraang Hive Mind many centuries ago.”

Donnie: “Fascinating. It makes sense the Kraang share a hive mind. Albeit a really stupid hive mind.”

Bishop buttons his shirt: “I have broken my Utrom vow not to intervene in earthly matters, but I must warn you, the Triceratons are coming.”

Leo: “Yeah, they want to invade and kill everything on earth, right?”

Bishop: “They are coming, and they are carrying enough firepower to destroy the entire solar system.”

Mikey gulps: “Can you repeat that last part again?”

Bishop: “The news gets worse. The Kraang have finally fixed the Technodrome and are about to invade once more.”

Raph: “Got any more terrible news, Bishop, or is that it?”

Bishop: “If the Triceratons arrive when the Technodrome rises, they will hone in on this planet and vaporize it.”

Raph: “Sorry I asked.”

Bishop: “The triceratons seek a secret weapon.”

Leo: “The heart of darkness!”

“Precisely.”

Donnie: “I'm scared to ask, but what is “The Heart Of Darkness” exactly?”

“It's the most powerful weapon in the world, a black hole generator.” The pause makes the moment only more scary, and the group exchange nervous expressions. Bishop must have read their faces because he says: “Yes, it’s really bad, so let’s begin to save earth.”

***

Back in the lair, Slash and Rockwell are still recovering from the injuries sustained at the hands of the Triceraton from the last night. Leatherhead is waiting for Slash to wake up.

Splinter reassures him: “They are still asleep. Do not worry, Leatherhead. They will heal in time, but they need rest.”

Leatherhead: “Thank you, great Splinter, for caring for my friends.”

The turtles arrive with Bishop. Mikey is the first to call: “We're are back! And we have brought a new pal!”

“Kraang!” Leatherhead goes berserk, and charges after Bishop as the other screams.

“No wait!” April tries.

Bishop stays calm: “I do not want to fight.”

The alligator attacks, but Bishop puts him down. The turtles restrain the big mutant, and Mikey calms him down.

“Leatherhead, calm down, dude! It's okay. This is Bishop. He's a good Kraang, an oolong.”

Donnie corrects him: “Utrom. He's not like the others.”

“I do not trust him.” Although Leatherhead grunts this, he has calmed down enough to refrain from attacking.

Mikey: “Well, you gotta trust him for now, LH. He's totally cool. He's gonna help us fight the Kraang.”

***

The chalkboard with ocean waves drawn on it stands in the middle of Donnie’s laboratory. The group is gathered in front of it, while Leo tapes pieces of paper on it with ugly drawings to illustrate the Techno-drone, a submarine, and a hot air balloon, almost like a commander strategizing with his subordinate.

“All right, here's the plan. Raph, Donnie, Mikey, and Leatherhead, you take the sub. Infiltrate and stop the Technodrome before it launches, and if it does launch, the rest of us will take it out in the Turtle Blimp.”

“The Technodrome!? What is going on?” Splinter enters the room.

Leo tries to set Splinter’s mind at rest and he explains briefly: “You just have to trust me when I say the whole world is at stake, and only we can save it.”

Splinter: “Go, then. I will help Slash and Rockwell. If you need me, I will stay close to the cheese phone.”

***

In the center and the control of the technodrome, the panels are almost in a mostly empty vacuum space. On the holograms over the Kraang's keyboards floats holograms calculating the status of the mothership.

Subprime flies in a small robotic drone, as it types on the control panel of the Technodrome with a naked Kraang Prime just behind.

Sub Prime cheers: “Finally! After one and a half Earth years of repairs, miscalculations, and general mess-ups, the Technodrome's ready to fly again. Voila!”

The Technodrome begins to activate, but it shuts down just as quickly.

Prime asks impatiently: “What is that which is known as the problem, Kraang Subprime?”

Sub prime: “Oh, uh, just a sec, oh, bloated one. Just got to give her some more juice.”

***

Leo, Bishop, and April watch from the hot air balloon, the Turtle Blimp, as the submarine sinks into the water. TNT is amounted on the underside of the hot air balloon.

Leo: “All right, let's hope Raph's team can take down the Drone.”

Bishop: “And if they cannot, we must destroy it at any cost.”

The world is at stake, and Leo can feel the burden on his shoulders. He stares at the machines, hoping for everything to go right.

Deep below, the turtle submarine arrives near the Technodrome. When it’s parked the group get out of the sub and swim to the Technodrome, where they enter via the infiltration chutes and land in the hallway.

***

Meanwhile, in the core, Sub Prime is flying around, trying desperately to fix a couple of things. He laughs: “Kraang Subprime will get this baby started in two shakes of a tentacle.”

The little alien brain starts the machine again. Prime laughs a stilted, horrible laughter as the ship moves and rises to the surface.

Sub Prime: “Yes! I did it! I rule!”

Prime screams joyous: “The technodrome rises!”

And just like he said, the Technodrome starts to lift in the air and rise out of the ocean, for the turtle blimb to watch in horror. The turtle blimp is a fly compared to the mothership. The giant ball goes still over the water.

Leo calls his brothers: “Raph, you guys have two minutes to blow that thing before we do.”

Raph bites back through the phone: “Back off, man. We're headed to the core now.”

***

The turtles and Leatherhead are inside the Technodrome, sneaking through the corridors.

Raph whispers: “Heads up guys.” Just in time as Mikey steps over an alarm beam. Mikey laughs sheepishly as Raph groans annoyed and considers whether he should slap his little brother or not. But it’s too late to make a decision.

Probes begin to activate and the turtles attack the small machines, avoiding being hit by their lasers. Mikey gets himself electrified, but Raph stabs all the robots. Leatherhead aids Mikey and helps him up while Raph stabs angrily the alarm. It stops.

“Finally, I can hear myself think.”

Donnie: “Where to, Leatherhead?”

Leatherhead points in a direction, and they run there, taking out all the Probes, guards and other robotic Kraangs on their way, until Mikey and Raph get a head and meet two gorilla robots, biotroids. The two screams, running away from the giant suits.

Mikey runs back and past Donnie and Leatherhead: “This way!”

Donnie and Leatherhead follows the two, to be met with two Dracodroid.

Mikey screams: “Not this way! Not this way!”

The group runs in a third direction, but meets an army of Kraangs with laser-guns and electric staffs pods.

Kraang: “Raise what is know as, forelimbs.”

Leatherhead: “No retreat, no surrender.”

He roars but gets electrocuted. He collapses. The turtles lifts their hands over their heads.

Raph: “Now, this is definitely bad.”

***

In the core, a Kraang with its blasters to its chest goes to Sub Prime and Kraang Prime with a message: “Kraang Subprime, that which is known as a balloon is heading for that which is known as-”

Sub prime: “Oh, just spit it out already.”

“Okay, look.” The kraang points at the hologram where an outside camera films the turtle blimp flying towards them with all the explosives.

Sub Prime: “You gotta be kraanging me!”

The blimp explodes on the Technodrome. Meanwhile, the Leo, April and Bishop are using their gliders to fly around, so that they won’t be harmed as well. Purple and black fog surrounds the area where the Technodrome was hit, but the Technodrome is still flying stable.

Leo: “Okay, now fly in.”

Just as ordered, Leo, April and Bishop fly into the hole they have created, carefully avoiding the many Kraangs’ lasers. When they finally reach the bottom, and get on the floor where all the Kraangs are shooting from, they each take down the Kraangs. It doesn’t take them long before every obstacle is defeated. They can finally catch their breath.

April asks: “Where to, Bishop?”

“This way.” They follow Bishop into a tunnel.

***

In the core, Sub Prime is typing on the computers, trying to boot everything up, but gets interrupted when an army of Kraangs is carrying Leatherhead with them in, followed by a captured Mikey, Raph and Donnie, all three with hands up.

Sub Prime: “Well, if it isn't the Turtles and that stupid alligator thing that shouts "Kraang" all the time.”

Prime: “Welcome, Earth creatures. You are about to enjoy that which is known as the invasion of Earth.”

They laugh as Leo, April and Bishop arrive up on the ceiling. The three gets ready to save the rest of their team and to ambush the giant brain.

Weeewooo, weeewooo. Suddenly, another alarm starts goes off. Everybody look up and around.

“What now?” Sub Prime goes through the cameras, checking everywhere, until they detect motion in space. Sub Prime zooms in. There, in space, not too close and not too far, there floats a fleet of Triceratons with the triceratons mothership, giant enough to be a small country on its own.

Prime stutters shocked: “The- the Triceratons?”

Sub Prime cries out dismayed: “Not the Triceratons! Not here! Not now!”

The giant diamond shaped space ships sinks down into Earth's atmosphere at such speed, that flames burn around it. A Triceraton with metallic teeth, white eye and a scarred face, takes over the center of the screen. Leader and commander of the Triceratons. This message gets shown on every TV, every phone, every screen on earth.

The Triceraton talks calmy: “Greetings, sub-life-forms of Earth. I am Captain Mozar of the Triceraton Empire. Let it be known, your planet is infested with Kraang, an insidious alien bent on mutating Earth into their own home world. We Triceratons will eliminate these hideous aliens, freeing you of their vile plans. Unfortunately, your Earth will be annihilated as well. That is all. And, please, have a nice day.”

The screen goes back to normal.

Donnie: “Holy chalupa! It's actually happening. Double invasion.”

Leo, April, and Bishop swings down from a rope, and kicks out the majority of the Kraang army from the platform, so they land in the running blades under the platform, and gets cut into pieces.

Leatherhead attacks Kraang Prime. The enormous alligator jumps onto the even bigger brain, that screams, trying to get the Alligator off. Sub Prime gets kicked down and stomped on by Bishop.

Sub Prime: “Get off my robo-back! Bishop? You filthy, swindling Kraang!”

Bishop: “I am an Utrom, just as you once were, brother. Or shall I call you Sub-Subprime?”

“Don't call me that. You know I hate that!”

Bishop turns his attention to his allies: “Hurry, my friends, get to the hangar.”

Leo: “Thanks, Bishop. Let's go!”

The turtles with April head out, and arrive at the room with all the Kraang's smaller scout spaceships.

Leo: “It's too late to blow this thing. Pair up and grab a ship.”

They rush their separate ways. Raph jumps into one and yells: “Dibs!”

But Leo jumps in the way and pushes Raph back to take over the scout ship with a big grin: “I’m driving!”

Mikey gets into a scout ship alone, having the whole control for himself: “Awesome! I never get to drive!”

Donnie and April share the third spaceship. Donnie drives.

The three spaceships all fly out the Technodrome, and head after the giant Triceraton diamond. A fleet of five Triceraton spaceships flies past them.

Leo: “They're not just targeting the Technodrome. They're heading for the city.”

Raph: “Then push this thing faster, Leo!”

The three scouts spaceships goes after the Triceratons, but the Triceratons know their technology better than the group knows Kraang's, so the Dinosaur easily maneuver around and begin shooting after the heroes.

Barely holding to the the control panel, the heroes fly all over the place, swimming from side to side and trying their best to shoot anything down.

April is navigating Donnie, saying where the enemies are shooting from: “That way!”

Donnie follows her lead.

April: “9 o’clock!”

Donnie moves up. He smiles: “We make a pretty good team, even though our odds for survival are 967 - 1…”

Mikey is having by far the most fun. He’s having blast as he speeds his rocket through the air, laughing and cheering. “Whoo-hoo! Yeah, dog! And Sensei says video games are useless. How else could I learn to do this?”

Mikey begins to use his lasers to take down two of the fleets.

From afar, Leatherhead is swimming Bishop out of the Technodrome, into the water and swimming them both to safety.

Raph: “They made it, but the Technodrome's still flying.”

Leo: “Not for long it's not. Look!”

The triceraton’s Raptors are also shooting after the Technodrome.

April and Donnie are being chased by two raptors circling around the statue of liberty. One of the lasers shoots April and Donnie's stealth ship.

Donnie screams: “We've been hit! We're going down. Grab onto something!”

They grab a tight hold on the control panel as the scout ship begins to crash into Coney Island. The two are disarrayed, but alive. Donnie is the first to get out of the machine and met by fresh air. Leatherhead and Bishop arrive.

Leatherhead: “My friends, are you okay?”

April groans: “I've always hated roller coasters…”

***

“Captain Mozar, we have the Technodrome on target.” A triceraton under the main platform and by the many computers salutes Mozar.

Mozar answers: “Excellent. Destroy it. And unleash the Heart of Darkness upon the city. We will make sure the Kraang never take this world again by annihilating it.”

***

The two remaining kraang scout ships watch as the triceratons' fleet retreats. Mikey flies in one of the scout ships cheers: “Yooo, they are leaving! Yes!” But then he gasps.

Above the Technodrome, the bottom of the Triceraton ship opens its doors up to reveal a massive laser. Red rings light up the ship as the cannon prepared to fire.

The Triceratons use their devastator to destroy the Technodrome, in hope of killing Kraang Prime and Kraang Subprime. The death of two kraangs and the destruction of the Technodrome also cause an explosion big enough to hit the two spaceships. Raph and Leo's ship splashes into the water near the Island, the Statue of Liberty is standing on. The two turtles lay on the floor, patting their heads.

Leo asks: “Did we… make it?”

Raph: “I think so. At least the Technodrome's down. Maybe the battle's finally over”

The two climb outside and watch the Technodrome in flames. But the flames get drowned out when the mothership sinks into the water for a second time. It’s a beautiful display. A hope for a better future. But the hope has to wait.

Dun dun dun! Leo picks up his phone: “Yeah?”

Mikey screams as he continues to fly in his scout ship still intact: “Dude! Dude! There's a ship holding some kind of energy string. It's carrying some kind of giant thingy!”

Leo: “You're not making any sense.”

They look up and see a black hole generator being held by orange electric ropes, connected to three Triceraton rockets.

Leo: “They are heading for Washington square!”

Mikey: “I got this, chief. Oh, yeah! Turtle spaceship power!” Mikey speed the stealth ship towards the weapon but a barrier knocks his ship down. “Mayday! Mayday! We're going down, dog!”

He plummets down to New Yorks houses in a threatening speed, but his scout ship crashes perfectly between two buildings, and he is saved.

Leo calls April through the t-phone: “April. I need you and Leatherhead to get Splinter and the rest of the Mutanimals. Gather as many of our friends as you can. I'll text everyone a place to meet up, cool?”

Raph: “What’s the deal, Leo?”

Leo: “The deal is, we're gonna need all the help we can get.”

***

Later that night, the Triceratons arrive at Washington Square along with the black hole weapon. They land it in the middle of the paths, away from all the trees and for all to see, but no human is brave enough to stay for long and within minutes only the Triceratons and their weapon remain. They start to get to work to activate The heart of Darkness. Leo and Bishop watch from their hiding place behind some bushes. Raph, Donnie and Mikey are hiding from various spots close by, all ready to sneak in with their ninja stealth and stop the enemies.

Bishop whispers: “Those Triceratons are scientists. Their job is to program the black-hole generator.”

The screen the scientists are working on turns into a foreign language again.

Bishop comments: “Looks like they have changed it to their own language to work faster.”

Donnie: “That's not gonna be a problem. We have already deciphered it, so I might be able to stop it.”

Leo: “In this situation there is no room for "might."”

Orange light beams hit the ground from the sky and five gigantic Triceratons appear.

Donnie: “Of course, those are the soldiers… Of course…”

Leo: “We're gonna need the rest of the guys here fast.”

The Triceratons presses a button and the weapon releases a purple shock wave, so all the light in the city goes out, leaving the park dark, only lit up by the moon.

Donnie: “They're draining the city's energy supply to power up the weapon.”

Mikey: “You mean no TV? That ain't right!”

Leo: “All right, team, this could be our last battle. Are you ready?”

They begin to sneak past the Triceratons and do a good job of being unheard. That is until Mikey steps on one of the Triceratons tails. The Triceraton looks down and sees the nervous Mikey, waving back. Then it roars: “Earth creatures! Attack!”

The Triceratons begin shooting. The heroes all jump and dodge the shots. While jumping in the air, the turtles throw shuriken after the laser guns, and as they hit the guns, the guns spark and die, so the Triceratons have to get their maces and axes up.

The turtles try to attack, but every single one of them gets slammed to the ground and beaten up until they get away and try to attack differently. Leo is the one who manages to dodge most things. Bishop's body gets destroyed in the chaos, and his brain body runs out from the battle now that it has no protection.

Mikey screams: “Leo! This isn't working!”

Leo answers: “I’m thinking!”

Raph: “Think faster or we'll all become mush!”

Mikey tries to attack a Triceraton with his nunchucks, it does no damage. The Triceraton grabs Mikey's arm, and slams him into the ground until he's unconscious.

“Mikey!” Leo rushes to Mikey's aid, but can’t land a hit and instead gets punched away. The Triceraton brings Mikey up by his neck. Mikey struggles to get out. He kicks. Nothing helps him. The Triceraton brings its blaster up to Mikey's face. A Shuriken blocks the blaster, and the blaster dies. This distracts the Triceraton just enough for Mikey to jump out of the grip.

“We heard you might need some assistance.” Splinter stands ready with all the mutant friends the turtles has acquired over the years.

Raph: “Yes! Reinforcement!”

Rockwell and Pete arrive. The ape uses his telekinetic powers, so an flying car crashes into a Triceraton. April and Leatherhead had also arrived along with Slash, Muckman and Mondo Gecko. They are ready to fight.

Suddenly, orange beams light down on Washington Square and ten more Triceraton soldiers stand in front of the heroes. The Triceratons against the mutants.

Raph: “Oh… Reinforcement…”

The two parties clash together in a muddled clump. All the mutants try to attack again. Leo gets slammed and thrown into Bishop's robotic body. Even though he’s protected by his shell, his back hurts. But that doesn’t matter. He has to go back and into the fight.

Mondo screams a fierce warrior roar with a cracking voice: “Cowabunga!!!”

Mondo skateboard into a bored Triceraton with his full force, but splats against its leg as if he just ran into a wall, and Mondo faints a bit.

“Ouch.”

The Triceraton scratches where the small gecko supposedly hit, like a human scratches the spot after a fly has landed on the skin. Another Triceraton notices the knocked out Mondo, and lifts the mutant up by the neck.

April sees this. She grabs one of the working blasters on the ground, but it's very heavy, and she can barely carry it over her knees. The Triceraton puts a hand over Mondo's face. And with single hand movement he rips the gecko’s skull from the body. April, Mikey, and the mutant animals all stare. Frozen. “Mondo!”

The triceraton discards the dead body away. Muckman runs to his friend's side, tears in eyes, Slash and Leatherhead run to the blood, standing over their former comrade.

Splinter knocks three Triceratons down. So there are only twelve of them left. “We must stop the black-hole weapon from being triggered.”

Leo: “Slash, Leatherhead, take that machine down now.”

The angered Leatherhead roars and runs ahead, but ends up wrestling with a Triceraton, and even Leatherhead doesn't seem to have the upper hand against the three meter tall Triceraton. Slash gets past the soldiers and tries to break the generator with his morning stars, but to no avail. A Triceraton towers behind Slash. The Triceraton gets pushed by a flying car thrown by Rockwell.

Mozar teleports behind Rockwell, grabs him by his head and throws him to the ground, before crushing his helmet.

Rockwell screams: “No! You vile, extinct- Oh drat!”

A barrier captures Rockwell in a bubble. More Triceratons throw a bubble cage to Slash, capturing him so he drops his mace.

Slash: “No! You Dino-fucks!”

Mozar towers over all the fighting and chaos, in the center of it all. Seeing as his men has captured a few, killed one, and none of them are even scratched once. Mozars roars: “This battle is over. You have all lost.”

Leatherhead charges after the captain but becomes trapped in a cage too.

Mikey screams: “Leatherhead!”

The young turtle rushes to go save his alligator friend but he gets grabbed by Mozar in the process.

Mozar laughs: “Foolish little one. You are coming with me.”

Raph shouts: “Mikey!”

Splinter: “Michelangelo!”

It’s too late. Mikey only gets to scream before a light beam shines down on them and they disappear, leaving a distraught family.

Leo is the first to snap out of the panic: “What should we do, Sensei!?”

Splinter yells: “Retreat. Everyone retreat!”

They all begin to run away, until Donnie sees something, on one of the blasters on the ground. Donnie takes the small device, and exit.

***

Mozar teleports back to the mothership’s control room with a screaming Mikey caged in a bubble. Mozar walks over a platform, with other Triceratons beneath him, who all stand up and salute their captain as he walks by. Mozar reaches the end of the platform, where a Triceraton is waiting.

The Triceraton asks: “Captain Mozar, sir, you have captured an Earth creature?”

Mozar: “A mutant species of some kind, rare to the planet.”

Mikey is on his knees in the bubble: “I used to think dinosaurs were cool, but not you guys. Why are you doing this, dino-dude? Why are you killing off my friends? Why do you want to destroy Earth?”

Mozar answers: “Why? Because of the Kraang. We will not let them take this planet. They want it as a hiding place from Dimension X, a back door where we Triceratons cannot detect them. So we will simply destroy your planet and all of the Kraang hiding there.”

Mikey: “But we don't want the Kraang here either. Can't we all just get along?”

Mozar declines: “No. The decision has been made by the Triceraton Emperor. It cannot be changed.”

Mikey gets the blade out of his nunchucks and hits it against the bubble so it bursts open. The turtle jumps out and tries to attack Mozar, but another Triceraton simply grabs the small mutant and restrains his whole torso with one hand. Mikey kicks out: “Get off of me dorkasaurus!”

The Triceraton holding him: “Should I kill it, sir?”

Mozar: “No, ready the Psionic Extractor.”

Everyone pauses from what they are doing to look up with horror. The Triceraton with Mikey in his hand says horrified: “The Psionic Extractor? But, sir, we only use it on our greatest war criminals. It is too horrible and cruel even for the likes of-”

Mozar: “Silence! Do as I command.”

The Triceraton turns around and nods to the rest of the crew. A hologram of Mikey and a brain shows up in the air. An arrow blinks to the brain.

Mikey chuckles nervously: “Wow. Hehe… That looks like it's really gonna hurt.”

Mozar: “More than you can possibly imagine, creature.”

***

New York City is in flames. Triceratons are everywhere, shooting and killing people. A small girl is sitting on the street, crying with her Teddy bear in her arms.

The turtles with master Splinter and April are sneaking in the shadows.

Leo: “We got to go back for them, Sensei. We can't just leave them there.”

Raph: “What about Mikey!? What if they kill him!? Or torture him!? Or some other sadistic shit!?”

Splinter: “First we must destroy the black-hole generator. That is our priority. If we can not stop this weapon, the entire world is doomed.”

Leo: “We gotta go after Mikey. Even if we stop the generator, we still have to get him back.”

Splinter: “Go, then. Save your brother. April and I will stop the Triceratons and rescue our friends.”

April is highly doubtful: “Uh, by ourselves? Uh, you're, uh, kidding, right, Sensei?”

Splinter: “We will ally ourselves with someone even more powerful than the Mighty Mutanimals.”

Leo: “Who?”

Splinter: “The Shredder.”

***

Mozar looks like a giant statue compared to Mikey who sits restrained in a large chair. A big spear is near Mikey's forehead.

Mikey tries to wiggle his way out, but the cuffs around his arms won’t move: “Hold up, dino-dudes. Let's talk about this. For reals, though.”

One of the Triceratons says: “This machine will drain all of your knowledge of Earth and the Kraang.”

Mozar: “And in the process, your psyche will be sliced, diced, chopped, and removed from your puny brain.”

Mikey whines and only tries to fight harder to no avail: “I don't have the biggest psycho, but I like what I got.”

Mozar ignores the turtle: “Activate the Extractor!”

The machine activates, the spear spins around itself and gets closer and closer to the turtle's head. Terrified Mikey closes his eyes, as the beam shoots. Then he starts laughing hysterically, seeing colors and animals and food fly by him. His voice is distorted as he squeal overjoyed: “Wow, yeah, so cool. Look at that. It's like a triple rainbow, brah. Whoo, yeah! My teeth feel like batteries. I'm faster than light.”

The Triceratons look concerned at him. Mozar angry. This wasn’t the plan. This wasn’t how it’s meant to go!

Mozar shouts: “Turn it off! Turn it off now!”

They do but the turtle continues to laugh, making the Triceratons even more confused about his strange behavior. Mikey is no longer restrained, his pupils are so big, they almost fit out the entire white space of his already big eyes.

Mikey jumps around: “Dude, why did you stop? That was better than, like, a hundred million roller-coaster rides in outer space!” The smaller mutant clings to Mozar’s face. “Can I do it again? Can I? Please?”

This only makes Mozar’s blood boil more “Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP!” The captain goes to his crew by the computer. “What knowledge did you extract?” He removes Mikey from his face. Mikey crawls around on the floor, still making laughing noises, and then dances around, still high on the experience.

One of the Triceratons in the crew answers: “Very little useful information, Captain. The only thought the creature seems to have is for a substance called... pizza.”

Now tired, Mozar grunts: “Destroy the pathetic alien.”

The triceratons grab Mikey and throw him back in the chair. They point their blasters at him. Mikey is snapped back to normal, scared to die. Mikey screams after Mozar who simply walks away: “Hold up. I know stuff.”

Mozar doesn’t even look back at Mikey when he replies: “You know nothing.”

Mikey continues: “I know all the secret bases where the Kraang hide in Dimension X.”

Mozar stops up and turns around, now interested.

***

April stealthily rushes past all the cars, trying not to be seen by the Triceratons. She gets to the doors, which opens by themselves. She enters and goes through the base to get into the throne room. It seems to be desolated at first until she senses something. Suddenly, her arms are twisted behind her back and the invisible Bebop turns visible, laughing like the pig he is. She can't get free.

Bebob sings tauntingly: “Really? Who do you think opened that door for you?”

Splinter jumps from the windows above and hits Bebop in the head with his cane, knocking the wild boar out. April stands beside Splinter.

“Bad move, rat. Breaking in here, are you desperate or just fools?” Tiger claw shoots his ice blasters after them. The two dodge.

April steps back and away from the footclan: “We're not here to- Whoa!”

She bumbs into a big hard surface like a cement wall. The big rocksteady stands behind and he laughs talking in third person as ever: “Ha! Is Rocksteady late for party time?”

Rocksteady first tries to grab after April with his arms, then trying to spear her with his horn.

Splinter evades Tiger Claw's shots: “We have not come to fight you!”

Tiger Claw gets closer to Splinter, so Splinter hits the assassin’s big body multiple times with his cane. Then Tiger Claw attacks with both arms, Splinter grabs them and they stand there, face to face.

Tiger Claw: “Foolish move, bringing a cub here.”

Rocksteady grabs April, and lifts her up from the ground. She weights nothing for the big rhino.

April: “Help!”

“April!” Splinter reaches out after April. Tiger Claw takes the opportunity and points the gun at Splinter's head. Splinter doesn't move, because he feels Shedder's presence in the room.

Shredder makes everyone pause with his bellowing voice: “Stop! I wish to know why Hamato Yoshi has come here.” Two blades branch out of his gauntlet. “Perhaps to end his miserable existence.”

Splinter: “I’ve come here, because there’s something bigger than the two of us and our petty rivalry.”

Shredder: “There’s nothing bigger.”

April: “Aliens are invading earth. If we don’t do anything, there won’t be any place for us to fight. We will all die.”

This silences the whole foot clan. Everyone.

Splinter: “Our feud is meaningless in the face of this invasion, Saki. The world will soon be destroyed. Will you sit by and watch? Or will you help us save it?”

Shredder squints his eyes.

***

Leo, Donnie, and Raph all hide behind a car, and look through its windows. They find the Scout ship Mikey was driving earlier, the one that crashed between two buildings.

Leo points: “There's Mikey's ship. Told you I saw it come down this way.”

Donnie: “Wow. Not a bad park job either.”

“AAAAAH! MORE ALIENS!” A couple run out of the car, screaming at the sight of the mutants. It startled the turtles, too.

Raph groans: “Ugh, humans are so annoying sometimes.”

Whatever. They don’t matter. They have a brother and a world to save. The three turtles jump inside the scoutship. Leo takes control, while Raph and Donnie look at the rest of the panel with its weird keyboard.

Donnie: “The Triceratons Mothership is approximately roughly half the distance from the Earth to the moon.”

Leo presses the control and the scout rumbles. “All right, I think I'm getting the hang of this.”

The leader tries to control the ship but it ends on the road, spinning from side to side. Raph and Donnie scoff annoyed at Leo, who laughs sheepishly. Finally, they manage to get it up and set off into space. The boys levitate around in the capsule as the ship speeds through the different layers of Earth’s atmosphere.

Raph barely gets to say: “Turtles were definitely not meant to go to space.” Before he vomits.

Donnie gets to the panel and begins typing. “Hold on. Let me turn on the artificial gravity.”

Donnie gracefully lands on his feet, while Raph and Leo land on their faces.

The tall turtle gets to laugh at them for three seconds before he is hit in the head by puke. He screams in disgust, and wipes it off. The three stand up and find their footing.

Leo: “Guys, I see it. The Mothership.”

The mothership is looming with all its power in front of them. Big, tall and proud.

Raph: “Let's find Mikey as quick as possible!”

Donnie types a few things into the keyboard so a pink x-ray footage pops up on the screen: “I'm detecting a unique life signature coming from the closest craft. It's got to be him. And check it out. I think I finally figured out the cloak on this baby. They'll never find us now.”

***

The Triceratons are looking at a hologram that clearly detects the cloaked scout ship with its radars.

Mozar: “Idiots! They think they can hide from us. Tragic mistake.”

Mikey: “Ha! My brothers are gonna come rescue me and kick your dino-ass back to the Stone Age. That's right- straight back to the 1960's.”

Mozar doesn’t care about his threats: “We shall see. Commander Zorin, deploy a squadron of fighters. Sergeant Zark, activate the Plasma Cannon.”

Many small raptors lift off to fly after the scout ship.

The turtles see it all unfold and they feel their hair begin to rise up.

Donnie: “Okay. Um, this is disturbing.”

Raph: “Ugh, don't make me throw up again.”

Donnie: “I think the Triceratons are locking on to us with their weapons.”

Just like Donnie suspected, the small fleet of raptors speed up heading straight towards them. The Triceratons see them.

Donnie: “Floor it, Leo.”

Leo hits the control hard, and their ship jerks as it rushes through space, dodging the fleet. The fleet turns around and follows after them. Pew! Pew! Laser gets shot. They hit them.

Leo: “How can they see us, Donnie?”

Donnie: “Let me text them and find out. I HAVE NO IDEA!”

They get hit by one of the lasers and fly into another ship, but they continue pushing forward.

Leo: “Raph, man the defenses!”

Raph takes control over their canons and starts firing lasers at the fleet. He charges, yelling and starts punching a fleet ship with robotic tentacles until it sparks off and explodes the Raptor. Everyone cheers but more Raptors start to fire.

They continue to head through, being shot and getting hit by all the raptors. They get hit again and again. One laser beam after the other.

Raph: “Look out, Leo! Left, left!”

Leo: “Would you just let me drive?!”

Donnie: “We're not gonna make it. There's just too many of 'em, Captain.”

The brothers stop their arguing, when the other raptors fly away as the mothership opens up. It moves its end to point at their ship. Just like it did before with the Technordrome. It’s going to fire at them.

The three stare at it nervously as orange light gets brighter in the Mothership's giant canon. The mothership shoots. The other turtles scream. Donnie wraps his arms around his brothers and presses the device he stole earlier from a Triceraton in the park.

They hold on to each other tightly, shutting their eyes as the device teleports them inside the mothership. The laser strikes the stealth ship and it explodes into a million pieces.

Inside the mothership, the turtles appear. They open their eyes.

Leo cheers: “We’re alive!”

“You snagged a teleporter?” Raph let’s go of the group to yell angrily at Donnie. “You mean we could've just beamed here!”

Donnie responds Raph: “There's only one charge, and I-”

It’s first then the trio hears the many guns charging around them. Four triceratons points their blasters after them.

Donnie: “Oh, man, we're in trouble.”

Mozar stomps in between his men and the turtles. He holds Mikey from the arm, dangling him in the air.

Mikey says almost too upbeat for the situation: “Guys, that was awesome. Thanks for the sweet rescue. So who's gonna rescue us next April? Splinter? Leatherhead?”

***

Triceratons roams in the abandoned city, on street and rooftops. The humans have either left the area or died. Suddenly Bebop appears, dancing in front of one of them, making the Triceraton laugh, until he gets pushed off the rooftop by Rocksteady. That’s one of the Triceratons taken care of.

Shredder's henchmen as well as Splinter and April moves towards Washington Square. They mostly avoid being seen, and avoid fights. Splinter knocks one of the giants over. The Triceraton gets up again in an attempt to shoot Splinter, but the blaster gets cut over by Shredder. Shredder hits and kicks the Triceraton multiple places before the creature passes out.

Like a team they all continue to Washington square.

One of the Triceratons scientist smiles: “Finally. The countdown begins.”

The weapon beeps as the numbers go down. No time for stealth. The group of unlikely allies all run into battle. Lasers shoot right and left.

***

The turtles are brought to their knees, by the Triceratons, Leo is the only one not restrained, since he's the only one not moving or fighting back.

Donnie pleads: “Captain Mozar, please. Don't destroy the Earth. Our world has so much potential.”

But Mozar says: “The humans of your world are as thoughtless as the Kraang. They pollute the planet, erode its ozone willingly, and they don't even need mutagen to do it. Escort them to the airlock and be eject them.”

Leo: “You can destroy us, Mozar. That's okay.”

His three brothers look flabbergasted at him. Even Raph stops fighting for a moment.

Mikey: “It is?”

Leo continues, ignoring his brothers: “But I'm asking you one last time before I take this whole ship down. Let the Earth survive or be destroyed.”

Mozar: “Empty threats.”

A Triceraton grabs Leo's but he’s too fast. Leo jumps away and cuts the teleporter out of the soldier’s belt. He grabs it, activates it and throws at the window covering the roof.

“No!” Mozar screams.

The teleporter activates as it touches the glass. A hole emerges in the window sucking one triceraton out and into space, after the other. Leo grabs onto one of the objects mounted to the floors to not get sucked out as well. Donnie grabs Leo’s foot, and Raph's onto Donnie's. Mikey is the last on the chain. Mozar flies past, snatching Mikey in the process. Mozar tries to blocks parts of the hole, but it’s too big and it keeps sucking out the air around him.

“Mikey!” Raph swings a grabbling hook to Mikey, while the young turtle manages to steal Mozar’s teleporter.

Mikey: “Guys, check it out! Booyaka-”

The four turtles get teleported back to earth, slung across the street. The road is stable and rough, but it’s theirs. And the oxygen is fresh in their lungs.

They lean up against a car, gasping. But they are abruptly taken back into disorder. A hole gets blown through the car with a laser beam. They scream. To their even bigger surprise, when they look through the hole they see the Triceratons and their friends and enemy mutants fighting with Shredder. Shredder who is taking a few of the triceratons down with Splinter. The turtles rushes to the weapon. They gets stopped by the too powerful dinosaur soldiers.

April runs to Slash's aid and tries to open up the capture bubble. She doesn't succeed. The thing is too hard.

Rockwell: “No! There's no time!”

Slash: “Just go April!”

A triceraton tries to fire at her, but Tiger Claw blocks the gun with his ice blaster, making it explode. The tiger yells: “Go!”

Splinter and Shredder are both fighting alongside, and against the Triceratons. Something Yoshi hadn’t thought he would be doing for a long, long time. Something he tought he would never do again.

Splinter: “Hurry, Saki! We have no time!”

Splinter rushes to the timer that only has a few ticks left. Right before Splinter can stop the clock, right before the countdown ends, tragedy strikes. Shredder, seizing his chance to end his personal war with Splinter once and for all, stabs his blade through Splinters back and through his chest, much to the shock and horror of the turtles and April. After Splinter falls to the ground, gravely wounded as Shredder stands over him triumphant, the turtles scream out in despair at the death of their beloved adopted father.

The sons rush across the square to Splinter. April is horrified by the scene. And out of sheer anger and pure grief, she lets out a pained groan, then clutches her head, and she yells furiously, unleashing yellow burst wave of energy as she uses it to knock Shredder away from her dying mentor, also knocking the villain's helmet off.

It was already too late.

The countdown ends.

Splinter breathes out his last breath and closes his eyes. Everything in his mind fades to black. And he dies. Shortly after the death of an old, wise rat, the black hole starts to appear in the night sky and starts to suck everything up. Water, lampposts, buildings, everything levitates. The Triceratons teleport away.

Bebob cries: “We’re all doomed!”

Rocksteady reaches out to his friend and partner: “Hold me close comrade!”

The two hug each other tight for dear life as they get lifted from the ground. Same goes to the rest of the mutants. Leather head reaches a hand out to Rockwell, Rockwell takes it. Rahzar and Fishface gets flown up to the sky too. All of them know this will be their last moments.

Tiger Claw and an unmasked Shredder, witnesses the death of their mutant comrades. The tiger looks at Shredder and calls out furiously: “Shredder! What have you done!?”

Shredder responds: “Hamato Yoshi is finished. The Earth can be destroyed, for all I care. I have finally won!”

The turtles and April sit by Splinter's corpse. The young teenagers mourn for their beloved mentor's lifeless body. The world is ending. Their world is shattered. And they can’t do anything. Mikey hugs his deceased father, while breaking down crying in despair.

The entire earth is starting to crumble into the void as many humans, animals, vehicles, and buildings are slowly being pulled into the sky to be swallowed by the black hole.

All of a sudden, a white spaceship appears above the turtles and April and the doors opens revealing a white figure. A robot.

Fugitoid: “Hurry! We haven't much time!”

Despite it all, Donnie asks: “Can we trust him?”

April begins to struggles her way to the white space ship: “Do we have a choice?”

With no other way out, the Turtles and April climb aboard, and the spaceship quickly departs before all of New York City and all of the surrounding land and water is torn from the planet surface.

On the Triceratons' mothership, Mozar and the rest are watching their victory.

Mozar cheers: “Long live the Triceraton Empire!”

The rest echoes with him: “Long live the Triceraton Empire!”

The alines disappear, teleported away from the solar system.

***

With the Earth breaking apart and getting completely sucked into the black hole, the white space ship, Ulixes, flies away in sonic speed. The others hold on tightly, with Ulixes barely escaping the gravitational pull. But they manage it. The ship finally flies stable and still. When the look back where the Earth once was, there is now nothing but a cosmos of stardust and silence.

April collapses, her hands to the temple. They are all staring at the screen, shocked by what just happened.

April: “Did that just happen?”

Leo: “The Earth, Splinter, everyone, everything.”

Donnie: “Gone lost forever in an infinite gravitational singularity.”

Mikey whimpers as he finds a place to sit down, now that his body feels dizzy: “Holy shit.”

Fugitoid: “Watching your entire world vanish into the quantum singularity of a black hole is rather distressing. Bloop, bleep. Can I offer you some hot cocoa?”

Fugitoid hands Mikey a cup. Mikey takes it with a small smile, but then he looks at the white robot: “Dude, who are you?”

Fugitoid: “My name is Professor Zayton Honeycutt, and you, my friends, are about to embark on a wondrous adventure.”

April 4^th.

Chapter Text

The earth is gone. The group are divided in the control room either standing or sitting in disbelief. It’s as if a guillotine has sliced down their skulls, and now they are left with the remains of their shattered heads in their hands, trying to assemble the pieces again.

Leo is the first to snap out of his train of thoughts. “All right, Fugitoid, or whatever your name is, what just happened?”

Raph grabs fugitoid by the shoulders and shakes the robot: “This has got to be some kind of sick joke, right? RIGHT?”

Raph shakes the robot even more, when the Fugitoid doesn't answer immediately. Fugitoid slaps him away, and walks past the red turtle, who first looks in dumbfounded at the android, and then at Leo, with a face that said “Did he just slap me?"

In a too cheery tone Fugitoid says: “Calm down, Raphael. First things first. I have a job to do. Now, please, I've got a ship to fly while you all stand about gawking.”

April: “That's not good enough. Where are you taking us?”

Fugitoid goes to the middle seat where metal surrounds him, only exposing his eyes and up. “All questions will be answered in time. Hold on to something! Oh, too late for that. Apologies.”

Mikey: “Not cool bro.”

Suddenly, Ulixes rockets through space. They scream, trying to hold on to anything. Everything goes fast as the room shakes and lights flash. The universe turns around them, and they suddenly stop, all dropping to the floor.

Raph: “What just happened?”

The earth is there, whole and intact as if nothing has happened.

Leo presses his palm against the window: “Earth!? It's back!? How!?”

Donnie points: “We went back in time, about 10 months back based on where the Earth is in its revolution around the sun.”

Leo: “10 months!? Then that means everyone's back? Including Master Splinter?”

Fugitoid: “Yes, Leonardo, but only for 10 months, and then, the Earth is doomed once more. Apologies.”

April: “I get it. We stop the Triceratons before they ever get a chance to use the Black Hole on Earth.”

Fugitoid beams like a TV hos to a quiz: “Exactly!”

Raph: “Can we go to earth and warn… Past us? About everything? Warn Sensei? Warn… Rachell…”

Fugitoid: “We can't interfere with the past, no matter how much we want to. It makes the predictable unpredictable, maybe even lead to a catastrophe, and can therefore get in the way of saving earth.”

Raph looks down at his feet solemnly: “Right…”

April pats Raph’s shoulder. “But if we stop the Triceratons from using that weapon before January, then Rachell won't leave New York, and she might be alive when everything is done!”

Raph looks up at Fugitoid with hope. Fugitoid shakes his head and waves: “It’s too late for that.”

Raph: “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Fugitoid: “Today is 4th of June 2013, and we need to save earth before the 4th of April 2014. The mission will take a long time, and the longer it takes, the more events will be sealed, and can not be changed indirectly, no matter how much we wish for that. I don't foresee that we will be able to change anything more than a month before April 4th. My apologies.”

Raph bites frustrated: “How long can it take to destroy a weapon!?”

But Fugitoid doesn’t lose his light tone: “It's fairly complicated. The Triceratons are spending this time searching the universe for the three fragments of the black hole weapon. Many years ago, the Utroms broke the machine into three pieces, hiding each fragment in the safest parts of the galaxy they could find. We must find them before the Triceratons find the fragments and reassemble them.”

Raph scoffs and crosses his arms in his usual Raphael attitude, but with something deeper.

Leo knows it, but he can’t say anything else other than: “Sorry Raph. I miss Rachell too, but earth is our number 1 priority, she would want that. We should hurry, and do it right.”

Mikey: “Relax Leo, if we mess up, we just time travel back, right?”

Fugitoid: “No, no, no, no. A Black Hole prevents repeated localized time travel because even time is subject to its attraction. If we fail, Earth is lost forever. But on the bright side, whoever gets a second chance?”

Leo: “How do you know so much?”

Raph: “Yeah, why do you care? And who are you?”

“My name is Professor Zayton Honeycutt. I'm a friend to the Utroms. It was Bishop who sent me. And, plus, I've always wanted to see Earth. Have I mentioned I'm both scientist and a cyborg. Observe.” Fugitoid opens his head with a human brain inside. Mikey goes close to the brain, observing it with awe.

“Dude, I wish I was a robot with a human brain! Or even better, a robot with a robot brain!” Mikey begins making the robot dance.

Raph: “I just wish you had a normal brain.”

Fugitoid goes to his station once more: “Everyone, hold onto something.”

Leo grabs onto one of the five stations, just like Donnie, Raph, and April. Mikey hugs April tight. The ship takes off light years away and enters a new galaxy. A galaxy far, far away from the solar system the heroes know. Colorful clouds and stars are painted over the black canvas.

Amazing.

Leo: “Wow. It's so incredible.”

April points: “Look at all those comets!”

Raph pulls out his phone and tries to take a picture of the window, but his reflection is in the way, and he can do nothing but scoff.

Fugitoid talks like a tourist guide: “Wondrous, is it not? Titanic gas giants, neutron stars on the verge of collapse, swirling cloud nebulas where baby stars are being born.”

Mikey: “Aww, baby stars are so cute.”

Crash! Something has crashed into the wings of the spaceships.

Fugitoid: “Wonderful. Could you assist me on damage assessment, my friends? I've plenty of space suits to wear.”

Mikey: “Space suit?”

Fugitoid leads them to a room where space suits and other pieces of equipment hang. They all stand at the entrance with mouths agape and stars in eyes.

Mikey: “Dudes! I think we just hit a level nine Booyakasha!”

The five races around the room and to their own assigned spacesuits, grabbing everything they can carry, even fancy technologically advanced weapons that remind them of their own, but with more capabilities. Leo got new technologically advanced Katanas, Raph grabs his new Sais, and Donnie his new Staff, while Mikey plays with his Tonfā. April spins her small laser pistil in her hand.

Donnie: “Amazing! This is like a full-on geek explosion!”

Fugitoid explains while the teenagers suits up: “Astro-Suits equipped with oxygen convertors, gravity boosters, and even alien language translators.”

They are all comfortable in their new space suit and helmets. Leo has the biggest closed mouth smile only a space nerd can summon.

He imitates Captain Ryan: “Mr. Crankshaw, set phasers to destruction!”

Fugitoid stands at the door to an empty room that leads to another door out. “Everyone ready? Ah! Do not stray too far from the ship. Seriously. This is my stern face. See it?”

He points at his robotic face. They look at it for two second max.

Mikey: “I call first!”

The too excited teenagers yell at each other as they push through and shoves Fugitoid out of the way to get into the room first. The door closes behind them. Fugitoid sighs. The five teenagers get out and into space, swimming around.

Mikey dances and easily flies from place to place: “Booyakasha!”

Raph struggles a lot more and just floats, spinning around himself as he gulps: “Why did I think this would be cool? Please don't hurl. Please don't hurl.”

April lies back and lets herself be carried: “Whoa. So amazing! It's like a huge, black ocean that goes on and on forever. It's like a dream!”

Leo uses his suits to fly through space: “This is nuts! Look at me, I'm flying! I'm Captain Ryan, hero of the galaxy! Oh, yeah!”

A small asteroid, smaller than an adult’s hand, hits Raph's helmet with a too light of an impact to do any damage.

Raph: “Huh? Oh. I'm gonna hurl again!”

April: “I don't ever want to go back into that ship. I just want to float off into the stars.”

Fugitoid flies past them using his boots and to the ship’s wings, where the damage is. “Is anyone going to join me in damage assessment? You should learn these things, people.”

Donnie follows Fugitoid onto the wing and lets his boot connect to the metal. He watches as Fugitoid talks and points at the hole.

Fugitoid places a finger under his robotic chin: “Well, this is pants. I could easily fix the hole, but we've lost too much hyper-charged hydrogen... That, coupled with a tachyonic jump, it looks like we'll have to-”

A small asteroid hits him in the head. He looks up to see an asteroid belt with hundreds of stones ranging from small pebbles to house destroying. The asteroids are heading their way.

“Oh no.”

Donnie stutters: “Asteroids! Big... huge... asteroids!”

They all fly from one asteroid to the other, shouting as they nearly get hit every time. They need to blast some of them and save the others from being crushed, as they try and get to the spaceship. They finally reach the space ship and get into the control panel where Fugitoid is.

Fugitoid commands: “Everyone, to their stations!”

Donnie: “What stations?”

“I don't know. JUST PICK ONE!”

They each pick one station to see a holographic screen and a keyboard. They activate the ship, so it can fly through and dodge the asteroids as best as possible.

Mikey cheers: “Woohoo!”

April: “Left, Professor. Now, down! Down!”

Raph murmurs sick: “Ugh, get me off this boat ride already.”

They pass the last asteroid. They are finally out and away from danger, but the ship is leaking a trail of gas behind it.

Fugitoid chuckles in his too optimistic voice again: “Hehe! A couple of near misses with a few dozen planetoids won't deter us! Am I right or am I right?”

Leo isn’t having it: “Are you kidding me? We almost bought it back there!”

“Exactly. Almost. "Almost" is a beautiful phenomenon, isn't it?”

Donnie checks his screen and sees the leak and the lowering gas-fuel. “We still need to refuel, Professor. What are we gonna do?”

“Drop by an alien space port, of course. I mean there's one right there. No biggie. Planet Varanon.”

Donnie reads the data over the planet: “Your computer's data says the planet is home to space pirates, rogues, thieves, and smugglers.”

Raph: “I like it already.”

Fugitoid: “Lovely place. Never been there, but I've heard it's gorgeous in the spring.”

***

They arrive at what seems like a desolated area with not much water and even fewer trees. There are unfamiliar houses and even more unfamiliar species roaming the town. Stalls with all kinds of alien technology, jewelry and food are set up on the sides of the street. Ulixes parks, and the five teenagers walk out, eyeing everything.

Fugitoid is with them for a little while, “This space port is not a part of the Federation, so do be careful,” before he splits up.

Mikey: “No problem Mr. Fugitoid.”

The group of earthlings wanders through the strange town.

Leo: “All right. Let's split up and check out the place. We'll meet back at the ship in twenty minutes. Cool?”

They split up, Donnie and April. Mikey and Raph. And Leo alone.

Raph stops by a stall with all kinds of technology weapons, he looks at an axe made of black metal and a purple blade. Raph grabs the axe: “Woah, check this out.”

Mikey looks over his shoulder before he picks it from his brother and begins swinging it, nearly hitting Raph in the face, who has to dodge the sharp blade. Raph rips the axe out of Mikey's hands and slaps Mikey over the head: “Mikey! Be careful, before you cut someone's head off!”

Mikey chirps: “I love it! Can we buy it?”

Raph: “We don't have any Dollars on earth, what makes you think we have alien money?”

Mikey: “What about asking Fugitoid?”

“Forget it. These weapons are probably too expensive. We can't ask him to waste money, when he has just saved our lives.”

“Awww…”

“I'm just gonna take pictures of it, as a cool reminder.” Raph opens his t-phone, now both of his screen backgrounds are photos of his family. He raises the weapon up in the air and takes a picture of it.

Mikey goes through the other weapons, touching every one of them: “If Rachell saw all of this stuff, she would have totally been geeking out and shaking us in excitement.”

Raph’s heart drops like a heavy stone again. It becomes an aching pit in his stomach. “Yeah…”

Mikey says quietly: “I wish she was here. I miss her.”

Raph can’t say anything else than, “Me too…”

The happy, whimsical atmosphere is gone. Now depressed and grief-struck once again they both stare at the weapons. They don’t move or even touch the weapons anymore.

But then Mikey hears the food market behind him. An alien howling out about how delicious his cooking is. Mikey: “Whatcha say about grabbing a bite? I'm HUNGRY!”

Raph chuckles a small melancholic chuckle, but lets go of the axe. He puts an arm around Mikey and they walk over to the food stall together.

Mikey bounces over to the cook: “Food, food, food. I need food! Space travel makes me so hungry!”

The alien cook makes big gestures with his arms: “Welcome, my friends. We have many delicacies from across the galaxy. Raw Merusian meat, Ovuuan doughnuts, sweet and sour Viffurisioids.”

The glass displays all kinds of food, that looks very different and unappetizing none the less. Raph grimaces and puts a hand over his mouth as if he is about to throw up for a fourth time that day.

Mikey pressed his face into the window to look closer: “Aww, man. No Pizza? So hungry.” When Mikey stands up, he sees what looks like big cupcakes. “This looks normal enough.”

The turtle in orange takes the cake up to his face and opens his mouth, the cake does the same, as it shrieks with sharp teeth. Both Mikey and Raph scream.

***

Meanwhile Donnie and April are looking through a collection of crystals. They are examining every one of them. Donnie picks one up, and it makes a holographic version of him. He first looks at the crystal: “Fascinating.” And then he looks at the hologram that mirrors his movements and his smirk, “Wow, I am quite handsome.”

April rolls her eyes with a smile. She picks up a crystal that changes form and color. She asks the alien behind the stall: “What is this? Is it some kind of space crystal?”

The alien answers: “It's a Tallik gem from the Vox System. It gives shape and color based on thoughts and emotions.”

The crystal changes to what looks like April's dad. His red bear and everything. She gives a small, saddened smile, and the red bear and beige skin becomes blue.

Donnie places a hand on her shoulder: “It's gonna be okay, April. If we retrieve the black hole generator, you can see him again.”

April: “It's alright. We've just traveled to galaxies no human or Earth mutant has ever seen.”

The crystal changes to the head of a hurt Rachell looking back at them, and they both stare at it. And just like that a simple crystal has reopened the wounds again. The wounds that they haven’t had time to remember. The wounds they have tried to keep hidden and forget for a brave face for such a long time. April caresses the small silhouette of Rachell’s head and pulls it into her chest. It’s hard and cold, not like the real Rachell.

Donnie says tender: “She would have loved space.”

April: “She really would.”

***

Meanwhile, Leo is walking through the many stalls, looking around, greeting every alien he meets with a friendly nod or a wave. But then his body freezes. He stops up, when he sees a group of people, who all looks like humanoid wolves. The group is laughing, sharing alcohol. Leo gasps, and looks around, then at them. His arms becomes heavy, but his feet becomes light, wanting to walk up tothe wolves. He knows they are strangers; he knows they aren’t like her, but something inside him draws him to the group. He decides to walk up to them, just to say hi. It’s stupid, but what else can he do?

Leo laughs awkwardly as he scoots into their half circle: “So… What has brought you here? A squirrel?”

The group stops their banter and grow silent and just as awkward as he feels, but one of the alien wolves begins: “Erm… Who are you?”

“I'm Leonardo. I'm from the planet earth.”

“Never heard of it.”

Another alien wolf interjects: “Ooo, that reminds me, we need to buy more cryptone for our next adventure. Who knows what's on that planet.”

The aliens walk away and Leo stares after them, reaching a hand out, pained, but sighs and doesn't go after them, giving up. It was stupid of him.

He shakes his head and continues, dragging his feet through the mud. And that’s where he eyes an alien guy leaning up against one of the stalls. He looks like a merman, with visible gills, fins, and two scaly legs under long shorts. The guy has a lot of long blue fins on top of his head that look like locks of hair. Leo scoots close to the guy.

With shy laughter the turtle tries: “Hehe… Let me guess, Capricorn?”

The alien merman says: “Let me guess, first time off your planet?”

“Is it that obvious?”

Suddenly, a pair of gigantic legs, that are bigger than most tree trunks on earth stomps in front of them so the earth trembles. Leo looks up at the giant.

The alien roars from above: “Who's this Bleeb? What's the deal here, Valex? I thought you were my Trebuton.”

The merman points at Leo and scoffs: “This stupid Bleeb is bothering me, Chupo. Could you stomp him for me?”

Nervously, Leo tries to find an excuse: “Stomp me? Whoa, no. This is just a big misunderstanding. I was asking for directions. Yeah and could you guys know where- aah aaaaah!”

The feet goes after him and he runs away.

***

The cupcake is biting Mikey's nose as he tries to tear it off. Mikey falls on his back and wrestles with the thing for a while. “Get it off! Get it off! GET IT OFF!”

Raph kicks the cake so hard, it splats onto the display, and then glides down to the ground. Mikey begins to squash it repeatedly with his foot. The cook is starring at them with open mouth, completely in shock.

When Mikey is done, he turns his attention to the cook: “Do you have any food that doesn't try to eat me?”

The cook cries: “What have you done? That Jovoxian Cake was the last of its species! It costs 240 Zemulaks! Pay me now!”

“Um, I'm all out of space bucks, dude, but I have some moldy pizza you might be interested in.” Mikey shows the Alien a moldy Pizza.

“You pay or you suffer!”

The Alien grows larger as he bares two rows of sharp teeth and four arms with glittering knives. Mikey and Raph gulp.

***

Leo sprints with the big Alien on his tail, bringing earthquakes with him wherever he goes. He passes April. The sudden shake in the ground makes her drop the crystal she was holding.

Horrified April apologizes: “Oh, no. I am really, really, sorry.”

But the alien behind the stall keeps its calm: “No problem, ma'am. That gem is on sale for only nine hundred Zemulaks.”

April: “That sounds like a lot of Zemulaks.”

Donnie says unsure: “Maybe the professor has some kind of credit card or something?”

The Alien is now angry, getting out weapons to stab the two. April and Donnie run away, and try to hide behind some of the houses where they meet Raph and Mikey, also hiding.

Mikey: “Oh, hey, guys! What up?”

Raph: “Why are you hiding?”

Donnie: “Angry Alien, you?”

Raph: “Same.”

Suddenly the Alien cook appears. The group screams and races from the Alien cook. Then they see Leo heading towards them with literal big feet behind, also screaming. He gets stomped on, so only his upper body is out, and he flails with his arms after his friends.

“A little help?”

Raph jumps onto the hairy legs and attack. Mikey, Donnie and April tries to get Leo out.

April: “What did you do?”

Leo: “I may have flirted with a guy.”

Raph: “You are in this mess because you couldn't keep it in your pants?”

They finally get Leo out from the feet and up standing. He sees the two other angry aliens with weapons chasing after them. They all scurry away from the three angry aliens.

Leo: “What did you do?”

Donnie: “April dropped a crystal.”

Raph: “Mikey was hungry.”

They continue to sprint, mostly looking backwards at the chaser, not seeing the human-sized insect-like alien with five body guards standing in the middle of the street. Lord Dregg holds a glass vial in hand. Leo crashes into him, making him lose the vial on the ground, so it shatters and the dust gets blown away. The three angry Aliens stops chasing, terrified to come anywhere near Lord Dregg, and scatters away.

Leo tries to help the insect up on his feet: “Oh, I'm sorry, sir. Let me help you.”

But Dreg knocks Leo away: “Do not touch me, sub-creature! Do you fleshlings know who I am? I am Lord Vrinagath Dregg, ruler of Planet Sectoid, Lord of all insect life in the universe, and bringer of your deaths!”

Raph puts an imaginary phone up to his ear: “Uh, could you hang on a second? I just got a phone call here from someone named "I don't give a flying-"”

Donnie interrupts by holding an arm out and says sarcastically: “That's great. Thanks, Raph! Nice diplomacy there.”

Dregg: “You insolent sub creatures! Attack!”

His five bodyguards begins to attack.

April: “I sense we are gonna get our butts kicked.”

They begin to battle the guards, knocking them all down, and killing them. Quickly and efficiently.

Dregg wails: “My vreens! Gone!”

Raph attacks Dregg. He gets punched back.

Dregg: “I will make your end swift!”

Leo and Mikey charge at Dregg, but they can't really harm him for his thick, protected skin and fast movements. They get punched too and smashed into each other three times. He sends spores out after Donnie. Donnie bolts back, and the spores land behind him and explode, knocking Donnie away.

Only April is left. “Okay. I was just shopping for a map because I'm completely lost in this part of the galaxy…”

Dregg's spider hands wraps around April in their strings, causing her to fall. He drags her to him. She tries to get out of his grasp: “Whoa! Let me go, freak! Stupid spider hands!”

Dregg raises her up in the sky to examine her face: “What are you? Some kind of Terran?”

April: “I'm human! On my planet, we squash bugs like you!”

Dregg: “You kill insects?!”

He roars, ready to eat her. April shoots lasers with her gun into his open mouth, until he lets go of her. The group makes their escape.

Dregg begins flying after what he thinks are them, until the hologram stops, and he has been chasing after the crystal hologram, Donnie has stolen.

The group gets to Ulixes, where Fugitoid is waiting by the open doors.

Leo shouts: “Fugitoid, start the ship! Start the ship!”

They dashes past the confused robot, who looks at what they are running from. Lord Dregg is after them.

Fugitoid: “Aw, great! I can't believe you ticked off half of the known intelligent races in the entire universe!”

They retreat into the ship, starts the motor and flies off, leaving the insect to curse them: “I will haunt you until the end of time!”

***

Inside Ulixes and in the control room are the teenagers dancing and singing.

April: “Thank god, I don't ever have to see that insect again.”

Fugitoid: “It's a bit late for celebration, because Lord Dregg is a very powerful man with a giant army of strong soldiers.”

Mikey: “Relax Fugidude, we are far away and in space. There's no way he will ever find us! Space is massive!”

Fugitoid: “We'll just have to lay low for the meantime. Let's go!”

Chapter Text

The turtles and April search for the three fragments of the heart of darkness. The black hole generator. However, it takes them a long time since they are pursued by Lord Dregg, and the fragments are well hidden.

Although April finds everything exciting and beautiful, she misses her home and misses her father.

Leo misses Master Splinter and spends hours in the virtual reality room talking in a fake version of his home to a hologram of Splinter. The others are worried about him. April wants to have a heart-to-heart talk with Leo about feelings, Mikey wants to distract him with easy things like fun video games and play, Donnie will start reciting studies that show how bad it is for your mental health to become addicted to digital copies, and Raph will physically push Leo out of the hologram room and then sit with him physically.

Raph is much more angry, aggressive, and impulsive than normal because of his grief over Rachell, but he never really wants to talk about his feelings. Instead he gets touchy when the others ask.

Donnie has an inferiority complex due to the fact that he's not the most intelligent person in the group who knows everything. He doesn't know about any of the planetary life or technology like Fugitoid.

Although Mikey is the most fun-loving of the heroes and is most excited to meet new alien races and experience new adventures, like the rest of the heroes, they all miss their home on Earth.

But they have to keep moving, because if they don’t find the three fragments, their home will be doomed.

Late July on Earth.

“Captain Leonardo's Logbook, No. 14. It's already been over a month, and we are no closer to saving the Earth and Sensei. The fragment is well hidden, and it doesn't help that we have some crazy creep constantly on our tail. This week has been crazy because now Lord Dregg has hired an assassin, or whatever that space shark thing is, to capture us and bring us back to the bug so the evil overlord can execute us personally. Despite all this, we keep our heads up and push forward. We can make it through. Captain Leonardo, out.”

***

Meanwhile, the turtles are searching for the black hole generator and Fugitoid trains April's telepathy and her other mental superpowers. When she asks how he knows so much about human brains, Fugitoid replies that since it's the only part of him that's human, he knows a lot about it.

April asks: “Professor, can I ask why you became a robot?”

“Well, then allow me to enlighten you. I am from D'Hoonib, a planet of humanoid scientists obsessed with penetrating the highest truths of the universe. I was working on a new form of psionic technology when our friends, the Triceratons, came looking for me. The Triceratons attacked because I refuse to build them weapons. They were furious, destroying everything in sight. My robot assistant placed my brain inside its own body. It saved my life. Man merged with machine and I was reborn. When the Triceratons found out I was still alive, they deemed me a criminal, a Fugitive Android.”

Fugitoid opens its head to reveal its brain. Everyone gathers around it. They are so close Mikey pokes it and laughs. “Spongy.”

Raph slaps Mikey's hand away. “Mikey! If you had a brain, would you want somebody poking it?”

Fugitoid laughs, “It's okay,” but his laughter fades into something sad. “But I do have a great fear of losing my humanness. I don't want to be thought of as just a machine.”

April: “We never think of you as just a robot, Professor.”

Suddenly, something hits the ship. An alarm goes off. They go to the control panel to see that they are being attacked by Armaggon. Before they can barely ask what to do, Leo has already run away and put on his space suit and helmet to get the Armaggon away.

Donnie screams into the leaders ears through his communicator: “Are you CRAZY!?”

But Leo is already out. That's when they find out on the computer who is attacking them. An assassin.

Leo who has no experience fighting in space against the experienced assassin doesn't stand a chance and loses the fight pretty badly, so instead he tries to get Armaggon away from Ulixes, and succeeds. Raph and Mikey have put on their spacesuits and opened the doors to help Leo, but he's already swimming back to them. They rush to pull him inside and fly Ulixes away as quickly as possible.

But because their ship is damaged, they have to park Ulixes on the closest space station they can find, not knowing that the AI computer on that station is working with Armaggon.

It's a trap.

Once they're in, the computer sends power through Ulixes and stops it from working. Fugitoid checks the battery, which is made of dark matter, and fortunately it's intact. They jump out of Ulixes to see where they are, but the computer also sends electricity through Fugitoid to take control over his robotic body. Luckily, his body is only slightly damaged, and yet Fugitoid runs away. The heroes chases after him. That’s when he tells them to stay away.

When they ask why, he says he's a walking fussion bomb, but has been keeping it a secret.

It won't be the last time he keeps a secret.

Armaggon attacks them inside the station. However, with the right creative strategy, Leo manages to make both the AI computer and the shark chase him to the computer's interior while the others fix Ulixes.

Leo blows up the computer's interior and runs back to the exit. Ulixes, where they have parked outside except for Raph who is still inside the station and with a cable to the spaceship so he can catch Leo and be pulled out simultaneously. Leo barely manages to grab Raph and they all fly out of the exploding building.

Alive and safe.

Early September.

 “Captain Leonardo's Logbook, 21. This was a bad idea, we should have listened to April, but we didn't. Whatever, it's in the past. Now we know. We should have stood together, and even though there were some complications at first, we ended up with finding our bonds again, like the heroes and the family we are. If I'm going to be stuck on a space mission with someone, I couldn't be happier that it's with them. Would Sensei be proud of us today? This was Captain Leonardo, see you later.”

***

Leo is standing on what looks like New York's rooftops, looking happy over all the buildings, cars and gasses. All the things he knows. Beside him is the tall Splinter standing.

Suddenly everything glitches and he's back in a white room, with bright light. Leo sighs, and looks at the door where Raph is leaning with his usual attitude. He was the one turning the hologram off.

“The hologram room is for training only, and for a good reason. Talking to fake versions of people will only make you more crazy.”

Leo: “I don't want to know what's healthy from you. You have been going nuts with training non stop ever since we came here.”

“Well, training is at least better than talking to some imaginary master Splinter all day. I miss him too you know.”

Leo sighs: “Yeah, I know. We all do.”

“So either train with me, or get some fresh air- if machine made air counts as fresh.”

Leo tries to to lighten the mood: “I think we both should get some of that machine oxygen.”

But Raph dismisses him: “Nah, I'll be training for a bit.”

Leo walks to his brother, and pats his shoulder. “Just don't overdo it.”

Raph grunts and goes into the holographic room, where footclan ninjas begin to surround him. Leo walks out and to the others, who are all by their stations.

Mikey is the first one to notice: “What's up Leo? Are you done with the hologram?”

“Raph kicked me out.”

Donnie begins to infodump: “Were you talking to Splinter again? Leo, there has been research has been conducted on how excessive distractions with imaginary people on digital devices tend to increase the likelihood of-”

Leo exhales tired: “Not now” stopping the flow of citations.

April: “Are you gonna be okay?”

Leo: “Yeah… But I’ll a lot better once we have saved earth and everything will go back to normal. Don't worry about me. Maybe worry more about Raph. He has gone all out with training ever since… You know…”

April: “We are all worried for everyone here. That's what family do. We take care of each other.”

Fugitoid raises a finger: “I hate to break this wholesome bonding moment, but I think I know where to find the first piece of the black hole generator.”

Mikey stretches: “I'm getting Raph.”

***

With a fist raised, threatening to hit something or someone, Mozar demands: “Where is it? The Triceraton who finds the fragment first will be promoted one full rank.”

One of his subordinates replies: “There is a strange interference blanketing the planet, sir. But I believe the fragment is located somewhere on this continent.”

The captain orders: “Assemble an away team. Do not alert Central Command to our location. It will be Mozar who finds the fragment.”

***

The screens in the smaller scoutship beep and chime as it analyzes the Triceratons' ship ahead of them and near the red planet they will land on.

Raph: “They can't see us on radar, right, Fugitoid? You sure this is gonna work?”

“I’m certain.”

Mikey: “Woah, what are they gonna do on that planet?”

Fugitoid: “The Triceratons are convinced the first piece of the Black Hole Generator is on that planet. We just need to reach it first.”

April: “I'm just gonna say it now. Something's not right about this mission.”

Donnie begins moving the holograms in front of him: “Activating cloak.”

April: “That world, it's radiating a strange power. Like pure evil. We're flying into danger, Professor.”

Fugitoid: “Evil, you say? Nonsense. This is Xaava-Dal. The oldest, most beautiful paradise planet in the universe. It is gorgeous down there.”

They land the scoutship on the dark, muddied dirt. The clouds are pink and purple, the trees are dead, twisted and black, with blue veins, and red clumps on top of them. The ground is a mix of black, red, and purple. Black demonic creatures hides in the trees, observing them with yellow glowing eyes.

Raph: “This supposed to be paradise?”

Fugitoid hesitantly answers: “Well, I am, you know, occasionally wrong.”

Mikey: “Woah, this place is so-”

April bites: “Pure evil maybe? Like I sort of warned about earlier? Yeah, no one listens to the psychic.”

They walk through the forest. Donnie is looking at the hologram screen that hovers over the end of his staff. “All of the flora and fauna here are very strange. I don't understand these readings at all.”

One of the small demonic creatures appears on their ways.

“Whoa. Aww! Little space monkey, cat-rat thing. Aren't you, uh, cute?” Mikey gets down on his knee and tries to tickle the creature, but it bites him. He yanks his hand back, screaming. It still hurts.

Raph spits: “Nice one, genius. Now you probably have space rabies.”

Mikey imagines foam slither out of his mouth as he says worried: “Space rabies? Waaahhh!”

Despite this, they continue onward.

Fugitoid: “This world, it was once a vast, beautiful garden. It held ancient repositories of all the sacred knowledge in the cosmos. Not a single piece of technology was ever built here. The Aeons must've fled. Without their divine power, look at this world.”

April: “What are Aeons?”

“Powerful, ancient aliens. The first beings to evolve in the universe. Now they've all… gone.”

Donnie swings his staff around, almost threatening to hit something or someone with it. His eyes twitch. “This energy is really screwing up my readings!”

Mikey rolls his eyes: “You're the smart one. Just fix it!”

Donnie spits back: “I don't want to hear anything from the stupid one!”

Mikey sizes Raph up and down and points with his thumb: “At least I'm not the angry impulsive one.”

“I'm the handsome one. And check out what I have here.” Raph shows Mikey his fist, and the younger brother gets close to it. Raph flicks Mikey’s helmet, maybe a little too hard, and laughs: “Haha, stupid.”

Now for once in his life, Mikey raises his voice as he feels his cheeks heat up: “Stop it! I'm tired of you picking on me! I'm tired of all the Shell wedgies, wet willies, and reptile rug burns, and-”

Leo snaps: “Mikey, Raph, enough! We're on a serious mission here. So stop it!”

But Donnie bites too: “Don't act all high and mighty! I'm doing all the work among the four of us!”

Leo: “Stop acting like a child and just fix the staff!”

Donnie screams: “Just fix fit!?” His scream is loud enough to make the trees winch, or was it something else? Something screeches from the above, They looked and saw bat-like creatures flying toward them.

Leo: “Everyone, take cover!”

They hide behind trees and rocks as the black creatures fly down and look after them. The creatures leave when something afar rustles in the forest, and the heroes can get out from their hiding spots.

Fugitoid: “Very strange. These creatures are definitely not native to this planet.”

Raph: “Let's just move. Now we got demon bats and Triceratons to deal with. I hate outer space so, so much!”

***

Meanwhile, Mozar and his small team have arrived. The three Triceratons get out of the rocket to be faced with the dead nature. Then they turn to the holographic screens on their armbands.

Mozar: “We should have just beamed down.”

One of his Triceraton crew says: “The planet's energy blocks off the outside world.”

Mozar: “No matter. Find the fragment, or I will leave you behind on this nightmarish world.”

Triceraton: “I have a reading. This way, sir.”

***

The Turtles follow an angry Donnie who's violently choking and shaking his staff as if it has insulted his face.

Fugitoid: “Well, this isn't good. We're going around in circles.”

Donnie: “I'm trying! But it's a bit difficult when the scanner isn't working! Do you know how hard this is!? I'm always trying, because I'm the only one on the team that has a brain, but all I get is shit!”

Mikey pushes Donnie away and says exasperated: “Would you stop whining! You are more annoying than Raph!”

“Me!? Annoying!?”

Raph is about to throw himself after the turtle in orange, but Donnie interjects between his brothers: “You two are the annoying ones here. I'm the only helpful one.”

Raph flicks Donnie’s staff: “Yeah, really helpful with cursing over some piece of metal.”

With gritted teeth, Donnie says “It's better than what you have ever done. You're either complaining about the mission, complaining about us or crying over Rachell! Get a new record, you big baby! I don't like the missions either, I never complain about you guys no matter how insufferable you are, and Rachell was my friend too, we all miss her, but you don't see us still moping around and dragging everyone down.”

With a fist up, Raph approaches the taller turtle: “Maybe because you didn't know her like I did!”

Donnie: “It has been seven months! She fucking dead!”

Raph explodes: “That’s it!”

He attacks his brother, he jumps Donatello. The two wrestle into Mikey who then becomes a part of the ground brawling too, all trying to get the upper hand over the rest. April and Fugitoid are watching, April wants to pull her hair out, Fugitoid is concerned. Mikey gets kicked and falls to the ground, as he holds his stomach. Raph sits on top of Donnie, hitting the taller one's shoulder and shell to the ground repeatedly. Leonardo gets a grip on Raphael and struggles to hold tho hothead back. In the end, Raph pushes Leo away with his elbow.

Leo: “Get off of him, man!”

April tries to help Donnie up, but in blind anger he pushes her away, and her back hits a big hard surface. Donnie attacks Raph, and the three turtles are back at it again, now with Leo brawling at each other, making the dirt dust up in the air, until laser beams shoot over them. They all look at Fugitoid, who has shot them via his arm.

“You must all stop! Don't make me smack you. You see this? This is my smacking hand. I'll use it!” Fugitoid shows his hand.

Mikey: “He's right, guys. What the heck is wrong with us?”

Donnie: “Yeah, I went too far, I'm sorry.”

Raph: “Met too.”

April: “We have more important stuff to deal with. Like this.” She removes the vines from the wall she hit to reveal illustrations carved into the stone.

Leo: “Must be from some sort of ancient civilization.”

Fugitoid runs his finger over the lines: “A mountain with a sun at its peak carved in the shape of a gemstone. What could it mean?”

The sky gets darkened with a swam of the black demonic creatures. The group turns around, before they take cover. The creatures fly past them.

Leo sighs: “Too close. Thank goodness they're-” He hears one of the creatures land just behind him. “They are not gone, are they?”

The demons bite after them or strike with their claws, and the heroes try to fight back, but mostly end up hitting a teammate and pushing the friend into danger, as they curse at each other for being in their way. They are almost more dangerous to each other than the demons are to them.

Leo gets caught by one of them. April shoots at it, it screams and drops the turtle to the floor. Leo hammers angrily a fist to the ground, but gets up to continue to fight. Mikey kicks after one of the bats Raph is attacking, but it flies off and he kicks Raph in the side instead. The rest of the Bats are flying away.

“I could’ve handled it!” Raph roars and pushes Mikey, maybe a little too hard accidentally, and Mikey stumbles over his feet to fall to ground, where his helmet window hits a rock. The glass shatters.

Raph screams terrified: “Mikey!”

Mikey screams and gasps after air: “My head!” But after a few hyperventilating inhales, he realizes: “Huh? Dudes. We can breathe air here. Sweet!”

The group exhales relieved and removes their helmets.

Raph: “Donnie, you telling me we could breathe this entire time?!”

Donnie: “Back off my shell, man!”

But he doesn’t do that. Raph runs after Donnie, tackling him. And once again there’s infighting. The two wrestle in the mud. Mikey and Leo try to separate them, but get caught in the anger as well, now all hitting and pushing each other.

April: “Stop it guys! This isn't you! It's the world that's affecting you!”

With all the roars and scream and grunts, a dead person would be awoken by the noise. The creatures screech from above. There have come many more than before. They swoop down after the heroes.

Fugitoid: “There's too many! Run for your very lives!”

They run away from the flying figures.

Mikey: “They're closing in, dudes!”

But then everything gets quiet, as the bats stop at the view of a statue and leaves. The group is safe.

Raph: “What just happened?”

April looks up at the statue in front of them, just as big as a house: “That statue.”

Mikey hugs the stone: “Yes! Thank you, statue. You are awesome.”

Donnie spits sarcastically: “Great, Of course they built the one thing that can protect people in the middle of nowhere. What even is it? Some mystical guardian?”

Fugitoid: “It's a depiction of the Aeons. The beings that fled this world.”

April: “Guess the demons drove them off a long time ago.”

Mikey: “What a bummer.”

Leo can’t believe what his brother just said, even for his stupidity’s standards, “Bummer? Have you seen this nightmare of a world! It's fucking awful!”

Raph: “Back off! Just because you're the leader, doesn't it mean you can do whatever!”

Leo: “Don't start on that leader thing again. You've always been jealous of me.”

“Jealous!”

Raph is about to explode, only held back by Donnie and Mikey restraining his arms.

Raph: “Maybe that's because you were always Splinter's favorite!”

Leo stares darkly, with a serious expression. Raph lunges towards the other with Sais in hand. Leo moves swiftly as only a trained ninja can. But everything stops. They fall into a hug, surprising Raph, and calming him down. Leonardo tightens his arms around Raphael, and he says: “I love you, brother.”

Raph stutters: “Leo, I-I'm sorry.” He drops his weapons. “I don't understand what's going on.”

Leo: “The planet. It keeps messing with our heads. We gotta remember that. We have to focus.”

***

Elsewhere, Mozar is also succumbing to the effects of the planet's negativity and takes his anger out on his two lackeys as they try to calm him down until one of them spots Fugitoid, and they follow the robot.

***

It isn't long before the heroes reach the temple, and after narrowly avoiding some of the temple's traps, they find the first piece of The Heart of Darkness. Unfortunately, Mozar and his men arrive before the turtles can claim it and a battle ensues. The young heroes, with no experience or knowledge over the Triceratons' weaknesses, can’t keep up with them in the match. Eventually, Mozar rips the first piece of the Black Hole Generator from them and escapes.

April realizes that the pillar that the first part had rested on also hid the Aeons' Sun Star, the object that made their planet so beautiful. They realize they need to bring it back to the top of the temple and do so. Despite being attacked by the winged creatures again, April is able to reach the top of the temple and place the Sun Star in the recess there. A blue shockwave shoots through the sky.

The effects are immediate. The trees grow blue and colorful leaves, the ground grows grass. And they all feel their anger lifts from their body like a boulder. The Sun Star has returned, the planet is restored to its beautiful state, and the winged creatures turn out to be the Aeons themselves. The lead Aeon reveals that when the aliens entrusted them with part of the black hole generator. But as a result, they ended up locking up their Sun Star and everything became corrupted. Now their Sun Star has been restored and the Aeons owe the heroes their thanks and reward April with a small piece of the Sun Star, saying it will also bring them luck and great power before they leave.

Early October.

“Captain Leonardo's log, 34. I thought talking to aliens in a bar would be nice enough, but after Vrax tried to scam us, things got weirder. The bar was pretty cool though, especially because no one looked at us weird and I got chatting to a guy, though I doubt we'll ever see each other again. I have to go back to the other’s now and wake Mikey up, he's been asleep for quite a while. See you later alligator."

***

April and the turtles stretches their limbs and yawns as they walk into the control room. Even after all these months, the bed still aren’t what they are used to, and it doesn’t help that the boys has to share room.

Fugitoid drive Ulixes through space: “Got a good night sleep?”

Leo: “Anything new on the Triceraton front?”

Fugitoid: “Yes. Indeed.”

The teens says in chorus: “Really?”

Fugitoid: “I have located the black hole generator inside their mothership.”

Raph: “Finally some action.”

Leo: “Wait Raph. How do we find the black hole generator in that massive thing? How do we even get in?”

“Blasters? Teleportation beam? Ninja stealth?”

“We need to know the ins and outs of their ship. That way can lay down some strategies.”

Fugitoif makes a thinking noise before he adds: “Hmmm. What do you youngster say about going to a club? There's one only a few astro miles away.”

Mikey is already stoked: “Hell yeah! A club! I have never been to one!”

But Leo asks: “How would that help us save earth?”

Fugitoid: “I promised to find a way to break into the Triceraton Mothership, did I not? If you want to steal the first piece of the Black Hole Generator, the first step is to-”

Mikey: “Distract them with pepperoni! Look at the size of this!” He waves a long stick of pepperoni the food computer has made for him.

Raph: “Mikey, pay attention! This is important stuff! Ugh. Continue, professor.”

Mikey gets up to Raph and hits him in the face with the pepperoni, so the older brother begins chasing him.

Despite the chaos, Fugitoid continues calmly: “The first step is to acquire a schematic of the Mothership from a shady information dealer named Vrax Belebome.”

April: “Perfect!”

Fugitoid turns to her: “But you need to stay here.”

“What!”

“It's a place where Terrans aren't welcome.”

“Urgh… Fine.”

***

Ulixes parks alongside all kinds of vehicles. The turtles enter the club where drunk aliens are hanging out, dancing, talking. The neon lights illuminate their skin and the smell of sweet alcohol stings their noses. The aliens are too busy barsking in the club’s glory to notice the new people. Not a single eye darts towards the mutants.

Raph: “For once a place we can blend in.”

Fugitoid: “Vrax Belebome will meet me at the corner in a bit. While I'm discussing with him, you can go have fun. But do NOT get in trouble!” The android leaves the turtles to stand awkward and alone in the middle of the entrance.

Leo: “What now?”

Mikey peeps: “I wanna try the alcohol!”

Raph: “You're too young for that.”

Donnie: “Not to mention we don't have any money.”

While the three are talking, Leo eyes a cute alien guy standing in the corner with a cup of something that looks alive.

Leo says: “I don't know about you, but I'm going over to that cute guy.”

Raph: “Yeah, do that again, because last time you flirted with someone you didn't get squashed enough.”

Leo: “Relax Raph. This is a place to have fun and meet people. As you say, we can finally blend in.”

“Yeah, blend in, not talk.” Raph turns to Donnie. “Can you believe him?”

Donnie: “I'm actually on Leo's side. I want to talk to that beautiful girl over there, put on my smooth Donatello charm.”

Raph turns to Mikey, and asks his name to get someone on his side.

But Mikey says: “I want to talk to people too! Maybe hit on a chick or two.”

Raph: “You guys are unbelievable! The one thing we should have learned is, every time we even look at an alien here, we get blasted, crushed or eaten.”

Mikey places an arm around Raph’s shoulders: “C'mon bro! Fugitoid said we should have fun.” Then he points across the room and to an alien girl sitting alone in a booth. “And that chick has been starring at you since you came here. Go talk to her.”

Raph pushes Mikey off: “No way, I don't know her. I'm not talking to some stranger. Besides, I'm not ready for that.”

Leo: “Dude, it's been eight months for us. You need to have some fun. Enjoy yourself. Move on.”

Raph: “I have moved on!”

Mikey pushes Raph towards the alien: “Then go get that hottie.”

Raph grumbles as he walks reluctant to the booth where the girl is sitting. He stops up and looks back at his brothers, they are all smiling, supportive and with thumbs up. How annoying. Raph groans and goes to the alien girl: “Hey.”

The alien smiles big showing sharp teeth: “Hey sweetie, first time off your planet?”

Raph raises both hands in the air: “Nope, Fuck this. I'm out.”

He leaves the confused Alien to go sit at the bar, and gets on his phone to re-watch old videos of Rachell. He hasn't been able to delete any of them. He mumbles to himself, that he will never meet anyone like Rachell, so it doesn't matter anyway.

Leo says to the others: “Well at least he greeted…”

Mikey smells something and begins walking in that direction.

Donnie excuses himself to Leo: “Right… I'm going to check on the girl… Uhm… just to see if she's alright.” Donnie walks over to the girl, and they begin talking.

Leo: “What are you gonna do Mikey? Uhm… Mikey?”

He sees Mikey is gone, but shrugs and goes to the Alien guy.

***

Fugitoid gets scammed by Vrax, however the turtles get Fugitoid's money back, and Mikey is especially teasing about it. The Alien wants revenge, by putting nanobots in Mikey, making him sleep. April puts Leo, Donnie, and Raph into Mikey's head and they defeat the aliens.

Mid october.

 “ The log, cold. We've gotten the first piece of the Triceratons after fighting in the arena, but are now stranded on an icy moon with all our technology destroyed. It's not looking good unless we get our hands on some irrilium soon. It's so cold in here. I almost miss the Arena."

***

The heroes have once again found the Triceratons mothership and are sneaking up close. With the blueprints of the ship and a radar to read the generator's signals, they can figure out where the piece is. They plan how the turtles will sneak in. The turtles take an invisible scout ship and cloak its radar so they can't be found. April sulks while she stays behind with Fugitoid and watch over their big spaceship in case there is an emergency and they need to escape.

The turtles enter the mothership and follow the plan to the black hole generator, but don't get very far before Mikey's curiosity alerts the Triceratons and they are quickly captured. But before they can be killed, Emperor Zanmoran commands that the arena is short of warriors, so the turtles are thrown into a prison cell to await their battle in the Triceratons’ arena. That's when they hear a voice from a fellow prisoner behind the wall next door. Zeno. He begins to explain the Triceratons’ weaknesses and vulnerabilities that they can exploit as well as prepare them for other alien races they may encounter. With this knowledge, the turtles enter battle. And battle after battle they win without killing a single person. Both Emperor Zanmoran and the Triceratons are still entertained enough for the turtles to stay and come back.

Meanwhile, April and Fugitoid figure out that the turtles are in trouble and need their help, so they sneak into the mother ship and split up. April goes after the piece of the generator while Fugitoid searches for his friends, but is captured and brought to Emperor Zanmoran who orders him to find the rest of the Heart of Darkness. Fugitoid refuses.

In return, Emperor Zanmoran commands to bring Zeno to the turtles. Their jailed friend from before turns out to be an invincible Triceraton warrior and a giant. The reason he had been thrown in prison was for treason against the Empire by opposing the use of the black hole generator in the war against the Kraangs. Emperor Zanmoran tells Fugitoid that if he helps him find the generator, he will spare the turtles. Fugitoid hesitates and the turtles say no, so the Emperor tells Zeno that if he kills the turtles, he will win his freedom.

Zeno throws his axe at the Emperor and says he will never work for cowards. The Emperor then orders all the Triceratons to execute the Turtles and Zeno. Zeno fights with the turtles to get them up to the Emperor, where they capture, bind and muzzle him as their hostage so they can run away. The guards run after them but don't shoot for fear of hitting their leader.

In the meantime, April has found the first piece of the black hole generator and carries it using the triceratons' Bubble Prison technology, but is quickly spotted, so she runs away from the guards. She collides with the turtles running with Emperor, Zeno, and Fugitoid. This frees Emperor for just a few seconds, enough so he rips the restraints from his mouth and commands the guards to still attack no matter what. The guards do as commanded, but Zeno holds them back to give the heroes time to escape. Our heroes escape with a generator piece, but as soon as they are in their ship, they are met by hundreds of hunter raptors preparing to take them down. Too many to win, Fugitoid prepares to fly and maneuver past.

They are shot several times and their spaceship is damaged in several places, but they continue to push forward. Fugitoid presses a button, and they warp through space and away as fast as possible to a random location, close to a blue planet and hundres of astro miles from the triceratons.

The heroes celebrate their survival, but when the Fugitoid tries to take control of its ship again, it doesn't respond. It’s fuel has been shot through and their ship can do nothing. As they worry about what they can do, they realize that the nearby planet is getting closer and closer while their ship is being pulled by its gravity. Their worries turn to panic.

And in the midst of it all, their spaceship hits another spaceship on its way down. The other ship goes off course and crashes with them.

Donnie: “What was that!?”

Raph: “Who cares?! What should we do?!”

Fugitoid: “I recommend we take plunging into the lethal, crushing gravity of that gas giant philosophically.”

Donnie: “What is that supposed to mean?”

Fugitoid: “It means we're all gonna DIE!”

Chapter Text

Mid October

As Y'Gythgba and her commander, G'Throkka, fly their ship without sound or comment, she yawns her tiredness away, waiting for her communicator to give them an interesting mission. Crash! Something big hits their ship, sending them hurtling through the moon's atmosphere. Their room shakes. Their buttons and levers stop responding. The two salamandrians scream.

G’Throkka yells: “Collision course red. We're going down! Brace yourself, Lieutenant!”

They plummets into the icy cold moon and collide with its hard surface. Both are alive and breathing, but their ship is destroyed.

***

As Fugitoid examines the ship, April and the turtles walk out of Ulixes and onto the deserted land, where a blizzard is brewing. The land is uninhabited, with frozen mountains and snow. The teens shiver with their arms around their body, trying desperately to keep themselves warm.

Donnie is reading the hologram screen to his staff. “Whoa. Temperatures on this moon are negative-180 degrees Celsius.”

April asks Fugitoid: “So cold, even in this suit. Aren't the turtles gonna freeze?”

Fugitoid shakes his head: “No, the suits permeate a warm, invisible force field, like a second skin. Cozy, right?”

Mikey: “Uh. I'm pretty sure my shell froze to my butt.”

Fugitoid scans his ship for all the damage.

Leo: “What's it looking like, Fugitoid?”

“If I had to categorize our situation, it would fall somewhere between "probably doomed" and "unequivocally doomed."”

Raph: “Wait. So no power? We won't be able to charge our suits!”

Donnie: “And worse, we've only got a couple hours of oxygen and heat left.”

Mikey: “Oh man, and we just got that weapon thingy…”

Donnie: “Who cares about that when WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE!”

Trying to find her peace and find out if there’s anything else on the land, April walks from the group. She sees what looks like a small ice dragon.

Her voice becomes motherly: “Wow! You're a strange, little snow creature, aren't you?” She turns to the rest. “There's life on this planet, guys!”

Fugitoid: “Nonsense. This moon is made of methane ice. No life can survive here. Beep!”

April: “I feel like you have been wrong before and the psychic here is still standing right.”

Carefully and slowly, Donnie waves his staff, scanning the area for anything. “Yes! Irrilium metal. Lots of it! About ten klicks away. Ooh, looks like it's refined, too.”

Fugitoid: “Excellent work, Donatello. We could use that metal to patch up the ship!”

The heroes don’t feel the two blue Salamandrians watching them a few meters away on the same mountain.

G’Throkka: “There they are, the ones who rammed our vessel.”

Mona Lisa: “Yes, and they're heading towards the Irrilium.”

The Salamandrian gives a throaty croak.

G’Throkka: “We must capture it before they do.”

Mona Lisa: “Let us destroy the interlopers and take the Irrilium for ourselves. They robbed us of glorious battle.”

G’Throkka: “Still, when I gaze upon them, I see their courage. Others would have despaired, but they go onward as comrades. I can respect them.”

The turtles with April and Fugitoid are heading up the mountain being lead by their scanners.

Donnie points with his staff: “There. The Irrilium is somewhere up on that ice peak.”

Meanwhile an almost uncaring and lighthearted Mikey skates around and between his friends: “Oh, yeah! Check me out! Michelangelo on ice!”

Donnie: “You're using up oxygen too fast, Mikey!”

Mikey: “What's more important, bro? Breathing or my art?”

April: “Guys? Something's not right. Weird vibe alert.”

Fugitoid: “My sensors suggest we're about to be visited by-”

Down from one of the mountain peaks has the two Salamandrians jumped with technology swords. They both point their swords at the group.

Leo: “Newtralizers!?”

Mona Lisa roars: “You downed our ship, dishonored us. Now you will fight us.”

Fugitoid gets in front with open body language, trying to calm everybody down. “Wait! Wait, wait, wait. We are all honorable beings here. We did not intend to damage your ship. Please, we can help one another in this desperate plight.”

G'throkka lowers his sword, contemplating the cyberg's word. “It is true we are all trapped. Cooperation is survival here. But you are outworlders.”

Fugitoid: “Everyone is an outworlder on a world not their own.”

Mona Lisa bites: “Such a bold response to the Salamandrian commander and lieutenant.”

Raph goes up to the much larger woman and points her in the face. “Listen, sister! We don't want to fight ya. You're clearly outnumbered.”

Mona Lisa spits: “Numbers mean nothing. I do not fear you or your friends.”

Leo steps up to the commander in the most friendly way he can, with a big smile and open arms. “We’re all cool here.” He extends his arm. “I'm offering my hand, put it there, bro!”

Bewildered and angered G’Throkka yells: “What? I consider conciliation, and you offer the hand of combat?”

Leo: “Combat? No! You don't understand!”

Fugitoid scratches his metalic cheek: “Ah, yes. I should have warned you. To Salamandrians, the hand extended gesture means…”

G’Throkka roars: “Attack!”

The Salamandrians begin swing their swords after the group only like only trained people can, and the group defends themselves. Leo, Raph and Mikey are  on the Commander, Donnie and April on Mona Lisa.

Fugitoid paces around the center with his arms up: “All of you should stop fighting and rationally consider the damage to your faceplates! One crack, and death is imminent.” But the cyborg gets pushed down by G’Throkka.

Mona Lisa roars: “Those who dishonor us shall be destroyed!”

Raph attack G’Throkka and misses. “You really got some imagination, honey.”

Fugitoid stands up in the middle of the battlefield. “Please, everyone!”

April gets thrown past Fugitoid and into the mountain. Fugitoid looks back at her to see if she's okay, but then Donnie gets tossed into him, knocking them all three out.

Raph jumps from G'throkka and runs up to Donnie and April. He helps his friend up. “Are you guys okay?”

They all sit up, in pain and feeling their sore body, but they can talk.

April: “Yeah…”

Donnie: “I’ll be fine…”

Raph turns to Mona, now angered. “That's it! You are going down!”

He dashes to the tall Newt, but she's too fast and too strong. She first punches him up in the air and then kicks him across the area.

Donnie: “Raph!”

Raph hold his ribcage: “Okay… She knows her punches… I can respect that…” But this doesn’t stop him. Raph tries to get up again, and swings a fist after Mona Lisa once more, but she knocks him down yet again. The two Salamandrians get the rest of the group either lying on the ice by the mountain wall or get them down on all fours. Raph gets wobbly up on trembling legs, in a stance again with both hands up, ready to fight the world for a fifth time.

Donnie stays by the mountain: “Raph… Just lay down… You aren't going to win, and you are using up too much oxygen.”

Raph: “I'll lay down when I'm unconscious.”

Mona Lisa: “I admire your persistence, interloper, but you will be killed for your dishonor.”

Raph roars again, racing to her. She punches him again, hard enough to fly 5 meters away from the rest of the group. His friends get weakly up and look back from their spots to see if he's alright. He grunts, his body is bruised, but he gets up on one knee, and tries to find a stand. However, Fugitoid takes the spotlight when the cyborg gets between the Salamandrians and his friends. “I am a pacifist. But even pacifists have to stand their ground once in a while.”

Fugitoid opens his canons built into his arms. He lights up as he begins shooting after the two Salamandrians, who evades to the sides. Mona Lisa throws a sharp, blinking blade, Fugitoid ducks, so it flies past him and it lands on the mountain wall. It explodes. The mountain starts to tremble, and big chunks of rocks fall down and onto the heroes, except Raph, who was too far away.

“No!” Raph stumbles to the boulders and tries to move them away in hope to dig out his family and friends.

G’Thokka: “We must dig the creatures out and resume the battle. It is a dishonorable death.”

Mona Lisa nods and the two Salamandarians kneels beside Raph and begins to remove the boulders.

Shocked and confused Raph utters: “You guys are… Helping?”

Mona Lisa: “It would bring great dishonor to us and you outworlders if we let you die under circumstances rather than in a fight.”

Raph nods and continues removing the rocks. Maybe she isn’t so bad after all. They remove the last boulder to see a small opening into a dark room, around his friends and brothers. April is using her psychic powers and the Solar Star to keep them from being crushed them.

Raph: “Guys! Are you alright?”

“Raph!” They yell out relieved to see the light.

All the heroes crawl out. April collapses to the ground, exhausted by holding everything up for so long.

G’Throkka shows his sword: “Now, we finish this.”

Leo: “Woah woah woah. We are all stranded here with little oxygen and heat. We should be working together.”

G’Throkka: “I offered you peace, and you insulted me!”

“About that…” Leo doesn’t get to finish. Over twenty giant Ice dragons appears from both sides of the road and on the wall over them.

April: “I said there was life here, but does anyone ever listen to me!”

Leo: “Everybody to the irrilium!”

The turtles with April and Fugitoid run ahead, getting through the blockades of ice lizards with the parkour skills they have been taught.

Mona Lisa screams after them: “Cowards! Stay and fight!” G'Throkka and Mona lisa stand their ground. They group together, eyeing the Twenty new enemies. Raph is the only one who stops up and looks back. A part of him can’t leave them now when they have helped him. And a part of him respects the two. Raph sighs annoyed, and leaves the group to run back to the Salamandrians. G'throkka has already killed five, and Mona Lisa decapitated three. Thee big commander is now surrounded by four, just like her. Raph jumps up, kicks one off the wall, so it falls from the cliff. He then jumps against the wall and onto the second one in front of Mona, stabbing its neck, and lastly, he backflips over Mona and lands on the third behind her. Raph sticks angrily his two sais into its eyes. It screams in pain before it flees. Raph gets off, and stands close to the edge of the cliff.

Mona Lisa: “I could have killed them myself!”

“Trust me, sweetie, I know that. See it as a thanks for helping my friends.”

G'throkka kills off the last three. But a fourth dragon climbs up from the cliff and opens its mouth to bite Raph's Back. Mona pushes him away and cuts the head off. Raph can’t help but stare at the scene in amazement. The world slows down, and his heart skips a beat. Woah.

Now there should be no dragons in sight. Mona Lisa goes to her commander. The two surround Raph so he's sandwiched between nothing but the cliff and them. He has nowhere to run. Mona points her blaster at him.

Raph: “Wait, before you blast me off, consider this. We all want to get out of this mess, we should work together.”

G’Throkka: “Your bravery speaks of a heroic heart, stranger.”

Mona Lisa: “Why are you here?”

Raph: “We got shot down by the Triceratons, we are stranded, trying to get our ship to work again.”

Mona Lisa: “You hit our ship.”

“By accident!”

G’Throkka: “Perhaps we need not be enemies.”

Raph: “Thank you. So, do we have a deal?”

Mona Lisa: “I respect your tenacity, but you're in the way.” She shoot the ground Raph is standing on.

Raph says sarcastically: “Woah, thanks…” before he falls. Just before anything happens, he gets a hold on the mountain with his sais.

G’Throkka asks the lieutenant: “Why did you shoot the ground and not shoot the creature?”

Mona Lisa shrugs: “There is no significance to my- Look!”

Ice dragons begin to appear, and a lot more than before. Forty at least.

***

Meanwhile the rest of the group are continuing onward up the mountain to the irrilium. The snow stops crunching under their boots once they get into a passageway between two walls with a small crack above them allowing light in.

Mikey: “Oh god… I got a bad feeling about this…”

Donnie: “Me too, Mikey…”

Leo shushes: “Everybody, stay quiet, there can be danger around every corner.”

April is in the back, sneaking with them. She turns around, expecting to see Raph, but he's not there. “Uhm… where’s Raph?”

Mikey yelps: “Oh no! What if he got eaten!” His shout was enough for ice dragons to appear around the cave and inside.

Leo draws out his katanas: “If we don't focus, WE ALL will get eaten!”

The dragons begin to bite after the team. The team tries to defend themselves, but get mostly beaten and swung around.

***

Mona Lisa is panting and fighting the ice dragons off as good she can. She has already taken down ten of them, but they keep coming all at once, overwhelming her.

“My oxygen and heat is depleting. What do we do commander?”

That’s when she sees that the commander is frozen in a thick ice-cube.

“G'Throkka! Commander!”

Raph climbs up from the cliff, grumbling angry to himself: “I'm never asking aliens for anything, ever again.”

But when he gets to the road again where Mona Lisa is fighting, he sees her struggling. Raph heads roaring into battle, helping her kill the rest of the creatures. Mona Lisa takes out the last one. They are now all dead. And Mona turns to Raph. Heaving after air, they observe the scene now desolated with ice lizard’s body parts scattered over the road. And she says: “Stranger.”

“Yeah?”

“You truly are a noble creature.” Mona leans down to face him. Raph doesn't move at first, he gets flustered and looks from side to side, but doesn't back out. “My name is, uhm, Raphael.”

“I am called Y'Gythgba.”

“You are called…Y-Y-Y'gytz-uhm…” He tries to say her name, but fails embarrassingly. “I got an idea. Back on Earth, there's this painting of, like, the most beautiful woman in art and stuff? Um, so how about if I call you Mona Lisa?”

Mona Lisa puts her tail on Raph's back and pushes him towards her, so their helmets bumps together. “As you please, Raphael. Someday our noses will meet in the flesh.”

Raph's eyes turns wide. He smiles, but the smile drops. He takes a step back, and wants to scratch his neck but the helmet is in the way. “Wait… I'm not sure if I'm ready yet…”

Mona Lisa Widens her eyes, surprised, so he interrupts himself: “I'm not rejecting you! I like you. But… Let's help your pal, and then catch up to my friends first.”

Mona Lisa lets go of him: “Perhaps if I use a low output... Yes, I believe he'll be fine in no time at all.”

***

Leo feels the air getting knocked out of his lungs, when he’s slapped into the hard wall. And the rest aren’t doing better. Leo's team is thrown around like ragdolls, while they try to avoid being frozen.

Mikey: “There has to be like a million-billion-gajillion ice dragons!”

Donnie wants to correct: “That’s not-”

April: “It doesn't matter! What do we do? We can't keep fighting!”

Leo gets thrown into a wall. One of the dragons tail is about to hit him in the face, but lasers shoots the dragon's tail, making it scream and change strategy.

They all look where the lasers come from, Raph is running alongside Mona Lisa and G'Throkka.

Mikey: “Whoa, Raph's with the bad guys?”

Raph: “We are friends now.”

“I am Commander G'Throkka.”

The group, now backed with reinforcement are making their way through the passageway.

Mikey: “That name's cool and all, but I got something better. How about Laser Lizard? No, no, no. G. I. Newt. Nah, I got it! Sal Commander!”

Leo and Sal exchanges confused looks. Leo shakes his head: “Let's just go get the irrilium…”

They make their way out. Raph and Mona just behind, killing off one of the dragons. As soon the two have gotten through and out, Leo blasts the exit, so the dragons can’t follow. Everybody exhales, and moves up. Finally, some peace.

Mona Lisa and G'Throkka walk in front. Donnie and Fugitoid after, Leo, Raph, Mikey and April in the back.

Raph begins: “Hey… Mikey?”

“What’s up?”

“What do you think about… I don't know… Could a mutant turtle date a newt?”

Mikey: “No way! You got a crush on that Salamander hottie? She's like, bigger, stronger and probably a better fighter than you… Wait-” Mikey stops in his track when he realizes it.

Raph exclaims happy: “Exactly! What a woman.”

Leo: “What is it with you and falling for girls that could easily kill you if they wanted to?”

April: “I'm just glad, you are opening up again to a new love life. You deserve it.”

“Am I opening up too fast? Should I wait?”

April: “Rachell would have wanted you to have a good life.”

Leo adds with a pat on his shoulder: “She even directly said it.”

When will Raph’s limbs not get heavy by this thought? “Yes, but I still love Rachell. I still want her here. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this…”

They get cut off when Donnie cheers. “Finally! The satellite!”

The satellite is enormous, it needs at least three people to carry it.

Fugitoid: “We have to hurry, before-”

Suddenly, one after one, the Turtle's and April's helmet sends off an alarm about low energy.

“That.”

Raph, Mona and Fugitoid picks up the satellite and jumps downs the mountain, gliding down the side, the rest follows them.

Donnie looks through his scanner: “Ulixes should be here!”

They get to the level his staff says, but there's a Blizzards, making it impossible to see, and even more impossible to move in. Despite this, the group keeps pushing forward and to where Donnie is leading them. Leo and Mikey fall unconscious.

Raph calls out their name.

April: “We have to hurry!”

They continue, until they finally reach the crashed plane. Raph, Mona and Fugitoid let's go of the giant ball. Fugitoid gets to work, cutting through the metal to the core. G'Throkka falls unconscious.

Mona Lisa screams: “G’Throkka!”

Fugitoid begins to work on deactivating the satellite, and going through all the security, as he talks to himself: “Faster, Honeycutt. No time, no time.”

Donnie slowly falls unconscious too with April.

Mona sees Raph fainting: “Raphael!”

Raph and Mona falls, leaning up against Ulixes.

He says: “I really like you, Mona.”

“I like you too.”

They both faints, leaning and shivering against each other.

***

Raph wakes up in the cabin he shares with his brothers, in his bed. The red blanket is warm. The lights are off, but he is in his bed. He hears Leo's, Mikey's, Mona's, G'Throkka, and Fugitoid's voices. Raph gets up, Donnie is still sleeping in his bed with a purple blanket. Raph goes to the main control room, where the light temporarily blinds him, and if the light didn't blind him, Leo's, Mona's and Mikey's white teeth would.

Mikey grins: “Raph! Welcome back dude!”

Leo smiles: “Good morning sleeping beauty!”

“Is everyone okay?”

Mona Lisa walks up to the smaller turtle with over a head difference: “Everybody are unharmed and unscathed.”

Raph looks at Mona, Mona looks at Raph, both smiling. So he begins: “Good… So about that nose thing…”

Mona takes Raph's hand, and leans down, so their nose touches. Raph's foot lifts up, like a princess in movies. Leo and Mikey grimaces.

“Ewww…” Mikey pulss out his T-phone to take a picture. “Blackmail!”

But they can’t stay for long. Later, Mona Lisa and G'Throkka leaves in their fixed spaceship. Raph watches them through the window, as they disappear into space, saddened over it.

Leo squeezes his shoulder: “You’ll see her again some day.”

“Yea… I sure hope so…”

Fugitoid: “Buckle up everybody! We are going to Utrom to find the second black hole piece!”

Chapter Text

Late October.

“Captain Leonardo, no. 66, I think… After having helped the Utroms, they gave us the information needed to find the second and third piece of the Heart of Darkness. I hope we find them soon. I can’t wait to get back home to Splinter and earth. But I have to, we shouldn’t do a sloppy job, or else we never see our planet again…”

***

In Dimension X, G'Throkka and Mona Lisa talk to the Kraang’s high General, Sub Prime, hoping to enlist the Kraang's help in fighting the Triceratons and Lod Dregg, but Sub Prime laughs in their faces and refuses them. Then Mona says out loud that they can always ally with the turtles again. This infuriates Sub Prime and the Salamandrians are attacked by an overwhelming amount of kraangs and locked up by the Kraangs.

***

In the meantime, the Turtles and Fugitoid have gone to Dimension X to ask the Utroms for information on where to find the other two pieces of the black hole generator. April is in Ulixes, sulking that she can't come along on the adventure.

The turtles and Fugitoid are looking for the city, unaware that they are being pursued by the Kraangs.

When they find the Utrom city hidden under an invisibility sphere, they are met by Bishop, who makes a secret hand sign with Fugitoid to see if it's the real Fugitoid with the real turtles.

After proving their innocence, he leads them to the Utrom government, where the Queen of the Utrom resides.

Fugitoid asks for their help, to give information about the whereabouts of the other two pieces, but the government has doubts and doesn't dare to say, as they have made an oath not to interfere in other people's battles.

Before the turtles can push further, the Kraangs break through windows and doors and attack. In the chaos, as the turtles try to defend themselves, the queen is captured by Sub Prime, who runs with her through a portal to the Kraang headquarters. Only Raph and Mikey manage to chase after through the portal before it closes, and Leo and Donnie and Fugitoid are left behind to protect the Utrom from an army of Kraangs.

Raph and Mikey sprint through the HQ corridors and after Sub Prime, but are repeatedly held back by the Kraangs, who they knock down and move on until Sub Prime has escapes and they are lost in the enormous building. While searching for the Queen and the General, they suddenly hear a familiar voice, Mona Lisa. Raph immediately breaks the lock to the prison cell to meet Mona Lisa again, who picks him up from the ground with ease and holds him so he's at her height, before meeting his nose and he kisses her nose back.

Out of everyone, Mikey has to separate them and tell them to focus on finding the queen. G'Throkka asks what happened, so Mikey has to explain everything and that they need to find the queen. G'Throkka and Mikey start planning how to find the queen and what to do, but when they look to the side again, Raph and Mona are nose kissing again and have completely forgotten about the outside world. Raph lifts his foot. Mikey and G'Thokka facepalms.

***

Meanwhile, Leo, Donnie and Fugitoid are fighting with Bishop and the Utrom to get rid of the kraangs. Bishop tells the turtles that if they help capture all the Kraangs, the Utroms will give information about the black hole, and Leo promises to help.

***

At headquarters, the Kraangs question the Queen about where the pieces for the generator are, but the Utrom Queen refuses to tell them. Sub Prime threatens to destroy all the Utrom and their city if she doesn't give the information, but the Queen still refuses. Suddenly, a purple smoke cloud explodes and the room is covered in it. G'Throkka takes the Queen while Raph, Mona and Mikey take down the Kraangs. They open a portal back to the city and run through. Some of the kraangs along with Sub Prime run through the portal themselves and the Utrom along with Bishop, Fugitoid and the turtles all clash in a great battle.

The war is fierce, but in the end, the turtles and the Utroms win and manage to capture most of the Kraangs. Bishop holds down Sub Prime and says:

“You've lost, brother. Give up!”

Sub Prime screams: “No way!”

The last remaining uncaptured Kraangs help Sub Prime escape. And the Utroms have won. As a thank you, they tell the turtles where to find the last two pieces of “The heart of darkness”.

The second fragment is in Varuna's cosmic ocean. The last fragment is in the lost world of Magdomar at the edge of the known cosmos. Leo swears that the Heart of Darkness components will be destroyed once and for all. The Salamandrians also gain a much greater respect for the aliens.

The battle is over and they are all more relaxed and back to their antics. Before Raph can kick Mikey's butt for teasing the romantic relationship between him and Mona Lisa, Mona grabs Raph and dips him into a romantic hold with nuzzling noses, and once again the pair forget about the outside world.