Ninja Turtles 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own tmnt

Tanglemorph and I decided I should create a link to her posted chapter, and I recommend you read that first. If you can't click on the link, copy and paste it into the URL box. Here it is: (take out the spaces)

www . fanfiction s / 3848265 / 1 / Reunion

Just a quick note before we begin. I know in the first chapter on Tanglemorph's profile, the girls have the same weapons as the boys. I'm making them have different weapons. And I'm making Lyn have a midnight blue bandana and Dani a royal purple. The girls also are going to have different personalities than the boys and different interests. Same thing for Thorn and Splinter. Oh, and no Omega markings. Just pretend Leo recognized Lyn by a crack in her plastron on the right side when he saw the picture. Just thought I'd let everyone know. Oh, and I'm starting right before the guys get abducted by the Makuzai no Bushi.

Enjoy!

Reunion

"Man, it feels good to be out and about again!" Don exclaimed as their game ended. As far as he could tell, the mutation cure he'd received several weeks before had eradicated any trace of the infection which had transfigured the brainy turtle into a vicious monster. Fear of relapse had led his brothers to insist on weeks of bed rest, but he'd nearly died of boredom, the only excitement being the discovery that their sisters still lived, in addition to learning about Splinter's mate Thorn. No words could possibly express the joy he'd experienced at the discovery. He'd missed his sisters at first when they mutated, before accidentally forgetting them. All his brothers had. But they could hardly imagine how Splinter felt upon realizing his mate still lived.

He'd believed Thorn dead, and they'd all wondered why Splinter had kept her a secret from them. The turtles could be excused because they'd been separated from their sisters when they were extremely young and had forgotten them. Splinter couldn't say the same, and he'd explained it to his sons as soon as the shock of finding the other half of their family subsided.

_"__Why didn't you tell us about Thorn, Sensei?" Donnie asked, his expression reminiscent of when he found a puzzle he couldn't solve. Why would Splinter hide the existence of someone who was so obviously important to him, judging by the tears he'd shed upon learning she was alive?_

_Master Splinter sighed. He'd known this question was coming. "I did not enjoy keeping her a secret. But you were too young to understand at the time. You remember, I did not tell you much of Master Yoshi until you were old enough to comprehend what he meant to me. And I did not tell you the whole story until you first met the Shredder, because I did not want hatred to permeate your training. How much more would you have despised Shredder had you known he killed the one who would have been your mother? And…" He paused._

_"__And…" Leo encouraged._

_Splinter's gaze drifted to the floor. "The thought of her always brought me pain. You were too young for me to burden at the time. And by the time you were old enough, I had come to terms with her death. I saw no point in burdening you where there was no need."_

_His sons understood. There was really no way they could've helped Splinter, understanding little about grief at the time. And perhaps they were already helping Splinter at the time, just by being the kids they were, making him laugh, loving him, and even driving him up the wall._

_"__Besides, had Thorn and I not been separated, she might not have found your sisters. And I would rather not consider what might have happened to them."_

_"__That's right!" exclaimed Mikey. "Everything worked out for the best. Now all we need to do is meet them." He turned to Leo. "How are we going to do that?" he asked eagerly._

_Leo rolled his eyes. "It's not that simple, Mikey. We don't even know where they live. Or if they know we're alive."_

_"__Dude, we've been all over New York, and Don here got on TV once. They have to know," said Mikey. "And don't say anything about them not remembering us," he added, seeing Leo opening his mouth. "We remembered them once we saw them. If they saw us, they'd remember us too."_

_Leo didn't argue. He was secretly hoping the same thing. It would be awful to meet his sisters only to find they didn't remember him. True, he didn't really know them that well after a fifteen-year separation, but it would be a nice start off if everybody remembered everybody._

_"__So how are we going to find them, bro?" Mikey asked again._

_"__Mikey, do you really think finding them is going to be easy? We've combed the sewers several times in the past and we never found a trace of them. How do you expect to find them?"_

_"__Dude, they're ninjas, remember? Just like us. Come on, we'll find them if we set our minds to it."_

_"__Michelangelo is right. Now that you know of them, I am sure we will all meet. I feel it in my heart."_

_Leo smiled. Mikey's faith strengthened Leo's hope, and Splinter's words drove away his doubts._

_"__However, I think it is best to help Donatello recover before we locate the rest of our family," the old rat added._

_"__Yeah, another mutation might crash the reunion," Raph agreed, leading Don back to the couch._

_Don protested rather violently, but in the end Raph and Leo, with Splinter's aid, convinced him and Mikey it would be better for everyone if he were recovered when meeting his sisters. He shouldn't have even attempted to journey topside, let alone followed Leo on patrol, but he'd started going stir crazy and snuck out after Leo left. Unfortunately for him, the leader had spotted him a mile into the patrol and dragged him home, though not before Donnie got the blood sample that turned out to be from their sisters._

_Two weeks passed before his family agreed to let him leave the lair with them._

"You okay, Egghead?" asked Raph, waving his hand in front of Donnie.

"What?" Donnie asked, realizing he must have blanked out. And his brothers were probably still wary of a relapse. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Skepticism darted across his brothers' faces. "Really, I am. I just got to thinking about our sisters."

Understanding and empathy replaced their doubt as Leo stepped forward, clasping his brother's shoulder. "I know. They've been on all our minds. I've laid awake nights imagining meeting them-"

A sudden _whoosh_ stopped their conversation cold as multiple shadows darted across the rooftops. All four turtles brothers tensed, eyes scanning their surroundings with surgical precision as they prepared for an imminent confrontation. With a _swish _and a _thud_, four strange figures landed before them, drawing tonfas. The brothers glared and drew their own weapons.

* * *

><p>The brothers slowly opened their eyes. Multiple areas of their bodies bore the effects of their battle; bruises decorated their skin and their entire frames ached. Once their vision cleared, they found themselves lying in the center of a dark but rather spacey wooden cell with straw on the edges of the walls. Light filtered inside through a small barred window on the door, allowing them to determine the wood was colored mostly dark green and that the ceiling stood high, giving off a vibe of dangerous, but not threatening; not yet at least.<p>

"Where are we?" asked Leo as Don noticed the chains on the side of the wall. The brainy turtle couldn't help but feel relieved that those shackles weren't restraining them to the wall.

"Wherever we are." Raph pounded on the door. "We're locked in." He snarled and drew his fist back, ready to slam his knuckles straight through the door when it creaked and slid open several inches.

"Or not," said Don.

"Okay, more freaky weirdness, anyone?" asked Mikey. His brothers detected a hint of fear, though Mikey tried his best to hide it.

Leo eyes darted around quick as they exited their cell and found themselves in a long hallway with multiple doors lining the wall. A cursory glance in each direction revealed no trace of those walking tree trunks.

"Uh, guys, our weapons don't usually float in the air by themselves, do they?" questioned Don. His brothers followed his gaze. Sure enough, on the wall opposite their door, encased in a bright light, their weapons floated.

"This keeps getting weirder and weirder," commented Leo. Coming from a turtle that had battled aliens and faced monsters straight out of horror movies, that was saying something.

"Weird or not, I'm getting my gear," Raph grumbled as picked up his sai and stuck them in his belt. He always felt naked without his mask, but without his weapons, the feeling tripled. His brothers followed suit.

"Um, if we have all our weapons," Leo said, "then whose weapons are those?" He pointed to another part of the wall. Four more sets of weapons hung in the same light.

"Maybe theirs," suggested Mikey, pointing to another opening door. The turtles tensed as a person stepped out.

The new arrival froze, as did the turtles. Neither side could believe their eyes. The newcomer whipped back towards her cell and yelled "Guys, get out here!" Her voice trembled with emotion, eyes glittering behind her yellow mask.

Three more figures emerged seconds later and froze as they laid their eyes on the turtles, their mouths dropping in stunned amazement.

"No way," Raph mouthed.

"It's, it's…" Mikey temporarily lost his ability to complete sentences.

"Our brothers," the girls breathed the same time as the guys mouthed, "Our sisters."

An immeasurable amount of time passed in hushed stillness. This was too easy, too convenient. None of them dared believe it was real. It was impossible, yet it was true. The crack in one of the girl's plastrons drew Leo's eye to her as the girls' eyes found a scar Raph had borne on his left arms since before his mutation. Memories long forgotten surfaced like a shark fin out of the ocean: their first meeting after hatching, days of crawling around in a glass tank, the day they were purchased, changing their lives irrevocably.

Finally, like the glass from a window whacked by a stray baseball, the silence shattered as they raced toward each other, grasping hands, arms, and shoulders, hugging, laughing, and even shedding a few tears. They could hardly believe they were together again; it felt like a dream they would wake up from any moment, except they didn't want to.

Eventually, everyone calmed down enough so the girls could collect their weapons off the walls. No one spoke for a time. Happiness and excitement had pushed back the worry and fear they all experienced when they woke up, and no one wanted to spoil the moment. For weeks, ever since they discovered their sisters were alive, the boys had dreamt of finally meeting their sisters and becoming a whole family again; the girls no less when they realized their brothers still lived. Despite the uncertain circumstances and possible danger, they couldn't help but be grateful they were brought together again, even if it was by freaky walking trees. There was so much to say, so much to do, so many possibilities and opportunities.

Leo finally broke the silence. "I can hardly believe it." His words understated his emotions.

"Neither can we," said the turtle with a midnight blue mask and two Chinese hook swords. "You didn't organize this, did you?" she asked, raising an eye ridge.

"Not our style," assured Don. "Well, not Leo's style anyway, and he's probably the one who would've organized something like this. So no, it wasn't us."

"Good, because then we'd have to have a little _discussion_ with you about organizing family reunions," the girl with the royal purple mask and chigikiri commented, smiling teasingly. The siblings chuckled.

Leo mock glared. "Very funny-" His eyes widened and he blushed.

"What?" asked the girl with the pink mask, nonplussed at Leo's embarrassment.

"I just realized. We're brothers and sisters, but we don't even know each others' names."

The girl with the Chinese hook swords smiled. "I'm Lynora. This is Rachel." She pointed to the turtle with the pink mask holding kamas. "Danielle." The girl wielding the chigiriki waved. "And Madeleine." The final sister wore a yellow mask and carried tonfa.

Leo returned her smile. "This is Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello." Each turtle nodded as he was named, Mikey waved enthusiastically. "And I'm Leonardo."

"So, how'd you guys get here? Mikey asked. "We got the snot knocked out of us by a bunch of wooden mannequins guys with tonfa!"

The girls nodded. "Same thing here," Dani replied. "Vicious fighters, but surprisingly nice enough to let you retrieve your weapons if you lose them?" The boys nodded.

Maddie glared downward.

"Uh, is she…" Raph asked.

"Maddie's fine," Dani assured him. "But since she uses tonfa, it kind of sucks for her to get knocked out by one."

"Ah,"

"Well, we're going to find out what's going on. You guys wanna come?" asked Leo.

"Definitely," replied Rae. "You're not leaving us behind."

The eight newly reunited turtle sibling started walking down the passageway. Upon trying one way and finding a dead end, they retraced their steps and followed the passageway in the other direction. All the other doors on the wall led to cells identical to the ones that formerly housed them.

Silence ensued for several minutes as they walked, everyone dying to ask each other a million questions and yet no one knew where to start.

"So," asked Don, in an attempt to break the silence and perhaps learn more about his sisters, "where do you guys live?"

"In the western part of the city, in an underground chamber," Dani replied. "What about you?"

"Pumping station under Central Park. Before that, it was the tunnels on the east side of the city. Your home must be really well protected; we combed the whole sewer system once while searching for Master Splinter and we never found a trace of your home."

"Master who?" asked Rae.

"Master Splinter, the one who taught us ninjitsu," Leo replied. "He said that your master Thorn was his mate."

"How'd you know about Lady Thorn?" asked Lyn.

"We found a picture of you guys while searching for giant turtle sightings. We had just realized you were alive," explained Don.

"Wait a minute! Splinter must be Lady Thorn's mate!" Maddie exclaimed, before blushing and clamping her beak shut.

Lyn hastened to elaborate. "Lady Thorn told us she had a mate as a normal rat, but she didn't give us any names."

Mikey glanced worriedly at Maddie, who stared resolutely at the ground. "Are you okay?"

The yellow-clad turtle's eyes shot toward Mikey, surprised. "Uh, of course!" She glanced downward.

"Relax," assured Rae. "Maddie's just _really_ shy around new people. Even her long lost brothers. Give her some time and keep talking and soon she'll be perfectly fine around you."

The male turtles nodded.

"Not sure it's a good idea to tell Mikey to keep talking," Raph commented.

"Hey!"

"Getting back to our earlier conversation," Lyn interjected. "Splinter is the name of Lady Thorn's mate and he's your sensei?"

"Yup," replied Raph.

"Wow." Lyn shook her head. "We're all ninjas and trained by two rat masters, who just so happen to be mates. Could life get any weirder?"

"You'd be surprised," Don replied.

Another thought occurred to Raph and he grimaced. "Hey, uh, did Thorn tell you guys about how she learned to be a ninja?"

"Yeah, why?" Dani asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Did she tell you how Master Yoshi died?" Raph hated bringing this up, but he wanted to make sure everyone was clear with each other on sensitive issues, lest someone accidentally blurt out something painful.

Lyn sighed. "Yeah, she did. Oroku Saki, also known as the Shredder. We saw on the news that he died, though."

"Not exactly," Leo replied.

"Huh?" Maddie asked.

"You didn't know?" Mikey asked. "Shredder's really this evil alien bug from this race called the Utroms. He gathered a bunch of Triceraton leftovers from the invasion and tried to leave to kill the Utroms and be all "evil alien terror of the universe," but we blew up his ship and the rest of the Utroms caught him and sent him to freeze his tentacles off on some kind of icy asteroid."

"Are you serious?" asked Dani, skepticism lining her face.

"Weird as it sounds, it's all true," Raph said. "Hanging around us, you get used to weird."

The girls' eyes widened.

"Just what have you guys gotten yourselves into these last fifteen years?" asked Rae, raising an eye ridge.

Don smiled and shook his head. "Long story, sis. A really long story."

"I'd like to hear it. The most we've ever done is take down punks trying to rob stores. Maybe all the action's on the east side of the city," Rae replied.

"No action? What about the Triceraton invasion? And the mutant outbreak? And all the earthquakes New York has? And the Shredder and the Foot and Karai?" asked Mikey.

"Okay, we fought Triceratons and mutants during those events. But we've never run into Shredder or the Foot," Dani answered. "Though we have seen Karai on TV," she added as an afterthought.

"Master Splinter says the four of us attract trouble worse than light does moths. More than likely you'll see more action than you can stand now that we're back together," said Leo.

"Maybe. But first things first, you need to tell us everything. I want to hear how you fought the Shredder," Dani replied.

"Which time?"

"You've fought him more than once?" Rae asked.

"We've lost count." Raph shook his head.

"Okay, how about this," Lyn suggested. "We tell you about our lives, you tell us about yours."

"Yeah, that'll work. It shouldn't take us long to tell you about our adventures." Dani grinned.

Leo grimaced. "Meanwhile, it'll probably take us weeks to catch you guys up on everything we've done."

"You couldn't have gotten into too much trouble." Dani raised an eye ridge.

"I beg to differ Dani," Mikey replied. "We've traveled into space, different planets, different dimensions, and fought all kinds of crazies, gangs, ninjas, government agents, and otherworldly creatures! And that's just the tip of the iceberg!"

The female turtles stared. Rae slowly rotated to face Lyn. "How come they have all the fun?" she complained.

Lyn shrugged. Rae turned back to her brothers. "You are so telling us everything!"

"We will. But later," Don replied. A door loomed before the turtles, small, but no less intimidating. Leo pushed the doors open and led the group inside.

* * *

><p>So, what do you guys think? I know I skipped the battle, and that might disappoint some people. In an early draft I did have the battle, but it just felt like I was retelling the episode and it just seemed kind of dull. I'm going to focus more on the in between scenes and the aftermath, at least till the Mystics attack the monastery, otherwise I feel that it'll just get boring, and I want to try to establish character bonding first. Please review!<p>

Oh, and if you're not sure what the girls' weapons look like, just Google Image them and you'll see. For Rae's kama, make sure to type kama weapons! And her weapon doesn't have a chain. Just in case anyone wants to know.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter two. I hope everyone enjoys it. I don't own tmnt.

If anyone's having problems with the link, I'm sorry. I think I fixed it.

Chapter 2

"I am not liking this, not liking this one bit," Raph grumbled as the eight turtles ascended the weird glowing stairs, leading to open air.

"I'm with you, Raph," replied Lyn, glaring down at the tribunal.

"Whoa," Dani gasped. "What is this place?" she asked as they glanced around. Buildings that looked to be of Japanese design with a prominent dragon theme, mostly colored green and yellow, surrounded them with nothing but an open sky beyond. No landscape.

"Let's find out," suggested Leo as he headed to the edge of whatever they were on, followed by the others.

At the edge, everybody gasped. "We're, we're…" Leo stuttered.

"In the middle of the ocean," Rae finished, taking note of the dolphins swimming beside the ship. Glancing upward, the turtles spotted the orange sails and black flags at the tops of the masts, with a symbol they were unable to make out.

"We've been shanghaied!" Mikey exclaimed. Nobody knew what to say.

Raph growled. "Aw, this is messed up. I say we find a way off this tub and forget we were ever here!"

Lyn shot him a skeptical look. "You honestly think we could?"

"What do you think Leo?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know what to think. They said there's a great evil coming." Leo hesitated as Lyn turned her dubious look on him. "Maybe we should-"

"Hey guys? Land ho!" Don exclaimed.

"Where is this?" asked Dani.

"Sure as shell ain't New York City," replied Raph.

Leo narrowed his eyes. "I think it's Japan," he realized, remembering the distant mountains and the atmosphere from his first visit.

Everybody froze.

* * *

><p>With little options presenting themselves, the turtles had no choice but to wait and hope for the best as the ship drew closer to land. Leo, Raph, and Lyn watched the tribunal while the others wandered the ship, not daring enter any of the buildings.<p>

"This cruise into mystery is getting real old real fast. This stinks, Leo. Big time," Raph muttered.

Leo hated being in the dark as much as Raph, but chose not to comment as he turned his attention to his sister. "Any movement from the tribunal, Lyn?"

"Not a peep nor a twitch, Leo. I can't even tell if they're blinking."

"Then I say we go down there and make a move!" Raph growled, all too ready for a rematch.

"There's still too much we don't know about the tribunal. About this threat they mentioned," Leo cautioned.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Raph protested. "They kidnapped us! They sicced their wooden soldiers on us and tried to make us take each other out! They're the threat." He jabbed his finger at Leo's chest. "And you still wanna wait and see?"

Lyn stepped between them. "Raph, I'm completely on your side with the tribunal. But just going down there and attacking them is going to get us killed or worse! Let's find out what's going on and _then_ crack their skulls if we need to."

Raph growled silently. When the tribunal had ordered him and his brothers to fight their own sisters, he'd wanted smash those goons' heads in with their own helmets. And reduce their wooden mannequins to firewood and toothpicks. He grimaced. Losing like that rankled in the extreme. Although he had to admit, Lyn had pulled some pretty cool tricks. She'd hooked one of those wooden clowns with her swords and flung it right over her head, sending it careening into another, then hooked another one and spun around with it, taking down at least six more before another one snagged her with a sweep.

Every one of them had put up what he believed was a good struggle, none falling to their enemy easily. Don and Dani had worked surprisingly well together, covering each other's backs and fighting off every blockhead within five feet of them until one managed to jump right on top of them, literally. Raph knew some of them had needed to fight with half a tonfa due to Leo's swords before one of them struck him from behind. He and Rae had driven back at least ten of them before several others to land a couple front kicks causing the two turtles to crash into each other. Then another one whacked Mikey when he tried to check on them.

Out of all of them, though, Maddie had fared the best. She might be called the shy one, but in battle she transformed to an entirely different person, a personification of the saying "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." _More like bite like a dragon_, Raph thought. Maybe it was because she was accustomed to fighting with tonfa, or the fact that her siblings were all down, or she wanted revenge for the last time. For whatever the reason, after the other turtles were defeated, she held her own against those logs with legs in a stunning display of a gymnastic movement, cheetah speed, and wolfish ferocity. The turtles weren't easily awed by a fighter, being warriors themselves, but Maddie left them bug-eyed with dropped jaws as tonfa flew every direction, wooden clowns wound up on the floor, and tonfa blades literally bent, before one of the bozos picked up Mikey and threw him right into Maddie, stopping her in her tracks. And unfortunately, none of those goons stayed down. They'd been trapped and cornered.

"Hey guys, we're here!" called Dani, breaking Raph out of his thoughts.

_Here we go,_ he thought. Mikey's words echoed in his skull _"What the shell have we gotten ourselves into?"_

_I wish I knew Mikey._ Raph thought.

* * *

><p>"What did they pack these things with?" Raph grunted as they walked up the path. "Bricks?"<p>

"No bro, that's just your head!" Mikey joked.

"Keep yapping Mikey! Soon as we reach the top-" Raph threatened.

"Are they always like this?" asked Dani.

"No. Usually they're a lot more annoying," replied Leo, smiling slightly. "You get used to it. Just make sure nothing you value falls within fifteen feet of them if you don't want it broken."

"We don't break anything!" Mikey protested.

Don heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Mikey, do you want a list number of things I've had to fix because of you and Raph?"

Mikey stopped short, chuckling nervously. "I don't think it's necessary, do you Donnie?"

The purple-clad turtle shook his head. "I rest my case."

"You know Egghead, I seem to recall you breaking and blowing up a lot of stuff," Raph retorted.

Don blushed. "Yeah, when I was a _kid_!" he protested.

"Okay guys, let's change the subject," Leo interjected.

Silence reigned as the turtles climbed higher and their thoughts returned to the ninja tribunal, the tension thickening. No one really wanted to discuss the mysterious warriors; too much was unknown, and they didn't want to start a serious argument as they needed to stick together if they were going to survive whatever was going on. A few minutes floated by before someone found another topic.

"So," Maddie asked timidly, hoping to break the uneasy silence, but also genuinely curious, "what's Splinter like?"

The male turtles smiled. "Strict, but great," Leo replied. "What about Thorn?"

"You first." Dani grinned.

"Where to begin?" Leo eyes glazed over as he remembered the past.

"Well, like Leo said, he's strict," Don began after a short pause. "One minute late for practice and there's shell to pay. He's real serious about honor too, and did his best to pound it into us. Disobedience resulted in either flips or an extra practice where we would beg to sleep afterwards."

"Really? Lady Thorn never said or did anything if we were late for or missed practice." Dani remarked.

"Wait, you mean you could just skip whenever you wanted to. So not fair!" Mikey whined.

"Oh, not really. She had her own way of making sure we turned up for practice." Lyn smirked. "Right Rae?"

Rae shook her head. "You just can't let me live it down, can you?"

"What does that mean?" Mikey asked Maddie.

Maddie glanced at Mikey, then on the trail ahead. "Well, you see, Lady Thorn teaches us techniques and katas, then she'll have us use them in a sparring match against her." Her voice was soft. "You know, to make sure we can use them in an actual combat situation. Anyway, Rae skipped practice for an entire week once. When it came time for sparring, she didn't have a clue what she was doing." Maddie giggled as Rae glared. "Kind of sad to watch. None of us ever skipped practice again unless we were sick."

A sly look crossed Leo's eyes. "Maybe we should suggest that to Master Splinter to make sure Mikey turns up," he suggested.

"Dude, no way!" Mikey backed quickly away from his older brother. The others chuckled.

"What does Splinter do for fun?" asked Lyn.

"Boring stuff," replied Mikey.

"It's not boring!" Leo protested. His brothers glared at him. "Okay, maybe his soaps are. But the other stuff isn't."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Sure, meditation, drinking tea, soaps, occasionally some gardening. Not boring at all. I'll admit ninja training isn't boring, but everything else is."

"He gardens? In the New York sewers? Really?" Rae inquired. "Maddie's heavy into gardening too." The yellow-clad turtle's eyes were focused on her brother.

"Nah, he's just got some bonsai trees," Don corrected. "Although he's thinking about starting a garden at Casey's grandma's farmhouse."

"Whose grandma's farmhouse?" questioned Lyn.

"Casey," Raph replied. "A human friend of ours. We'll tell you about him later. Is Thorn boring like Splinter?"

"Raph," Leo warned.

"Come on Leo, Master Splinter knows I think his hobbies are boring."

"Anyway," interjected Dani, breaking up the argument, "you want to know about Lady Thorn?" The male turtles nodded.

"She's pretty weird and pretty cool. Loves sci-fi and superhero movies, and comics."

"Sounds like she and Mikey would get along great," commented Leo. Mikey grinned from ear to ear.

"She also loves listening to classical music. Could probably teach a music appreciation course in college."

"Okay, not perfect then," said Mikey, frowning.

The sister glared. Leo smacked Mikey upside the head. "Ow!"

Raph chuckled. "For future reference, that works pretty well when Mikey says something stupid."

"We'll keep it in mind," Lyn grinned slyly.

"Thanks a lot guys," Mikey muttered. The other turtles snickered.

"Anything else?" asked Leo.

Lyn adjusted her backpack. "Well, she taught us capoeira along with ninjitsu."

"Capo-what?" Mikey scratched his head.

"Capoeira. It's a Brazilian martial art that combines music, acrobatics, and dance," Dani explained.

Leo frowned. "Master Splinter never taught us that. And he didn't mention Master Yoshi knowing it either."

"Lady Thorn didn't learn it from Master Yoshi, Leo. She was owned by a woman before Yoshi and learned it from her." Her eyes narrowed. "Didn't you know?"

"Master Splinter never told us about Thorn before we found out you and her were alive. It was too painful for him," Raph replied. "And he didn't get a chance to tell us much about her before we were kidnapped because we were busy making sure Donnie didn't have a mutation relapse."

"Wait, _ what_?"

Mikey explained, "Long story short, one of our enemies caused that mutant outbreak by faking an alien invasion, we fought the mutants and one of them infected Donnie here, so he eventually transformed into a snarling monster who tried to eat my leg, then we had to steal a weird piece of jewelry from the Foot to get our enemy Bishop to cure him—" Mikey inhaled air, "and we've spent the last few weeks making sure he's better."

The girls stared, Raph and Leo frowned to themselves, and Donnie chose to memorize his feet. An awkward silence ensued.

Before the discomfort could degenerate to tension, the ground began to rumble. "Is this an earthquake?" asked Mikey. "Because earthquakes are never a good thing!"

"It's no earthquake!" Leo pointed to the top of the mountains. "Look!" Rocks and boulders tumbled down the side of the mountain, picking up speed as they raced toward the turtles.

"Oh, crud!" Raph swore.

"Run for it!" yelled Lyn.

The turtles sprinted up the path; their backpacks light as balloons. Mikey and Leo led the pack, Leo searching desperately for a spot where they could take shelter.

"Up there!" he yelled. A tunnel loomed before them, promising safety. Leo started lagging behind, making sure the others got to safety. Mikey reached the cave first, followed closely by Dani and Rae. Next, Don and Lyn dove inside with Raph hot on their tails.

"Maddie!" yelled Lyn. Leo glanced back and nearly choked. Maddie had tripped on a jutting rock and fallen behind earlier. She'd risen, but the boulders had reached the path and it was impossible to tell if she could make to the cave in time.

Leo and Lyn hurried Maddie's side, taking her hands as they raced back through the deadly maze of flying rocks. They leaped across the smaller pieces, ducked the flyers, and dodged the huge hunks. Don called out warnings when the bigger chunks reached the path and for the most part succeeded in guiding them to the cave. But he failed to realize the boulders were starting to crack the stone that made up the path.

Just as they neared the entrance, the ground gave way, sending them plummeting and screaming. Nothing but hard ground waited for them at the bottom. And they highly doubted the water would afford them a softer landing.

"Hang on!" Raph yelled as hands grasped the wrists of the falling turtles. Rae gripped Leo, Dani clutched Lyn's hands, and Mikey gripped Raph's knees in a death hold as the hothead hung over the edge. Raph in turn held onto Maddie. Rae, Dani, and Mikey pulled, pausing when a series of booms broke the silence. They glanced upward.

One final boulder hurtled downward straight for them. And there was no way to avoid it. They could only watch as it hit a jut in the cliff and flew into the air, about to fall right on top of them.

"HIYA!" Don yelled as he pole vaulted into the air and slammed his feet into the boulder with all his strength. The rock sustained little damage and Don was knocked backward, but it was sufficient. He'd altered the trajectory enough so that the rock missed his siblings and plunged down the mountain and into the water without harming anyone.

Mikey, Rae, and Dani wasted no time in pulling the others to safety and everyone rushed into the cave lest another rockslide try to take their heads off. Partway into the cave they collapsed, breathing heavy, their backpacks suddenly weighing one hundred pounds.

"Could have warned us about the possibility of rockslides, couldn't they?" Raph glared, wanting a little word with the ninja tribunal. A word involving his sai.

Nobody answered, though several couldn't have agreed more.

"Thanks guys," said Maddie, her eyes conveyed her gratitude.

"Hey, no big deal," Mikey replied, a smile crossing his face.

"Yeah. You're our sister. It's our job. Even if we haven't known each other that long," added Don.

Leo and Raph nodded, smiling. Lyn, Rae, and Dani simply grinned.

Maddie beamed, her uneasiness around her brothers evaporating. Her sisters noticed.

"Well, saving each other from a rockslide is one way to kill the tension between people," Dani commented.

Everyone's smiles widened.

"Come on. Let's get going," Leo suggested, leading the rest of the siblings up the path. No one spoke for a while, enjoying the silence. Words weren't necessary. A camaraderie had formed between them, forged in the flames of working together and tempered by their admittedly hastily placed trust in each other, and finally cooled and finished by the success of saving a life they all care about. A bond stronger than flesh and blood bound the siblings together now, one that would last forever.

As time passed and they continued to hike, their packs grew heavier, but no one dared stop, fearing another rockslide. None of them wanted to spend the night outside. And maybe they just wanted to prove the tribunal wrong about them.

Their thoughts drifted to their respective senseis. Splinter had to be worried sick about his sons, as did Thorn regarding her daughters. What would they do when they found their respective children had not returned? Both would comb the city and ask human friends. Neither would give up. But how could they possibly think to look for their children in Japan in mountains that were most definitely not in any tour books? Maybe they could find a way to contact their senseis once they reached the top. The thought drove them and they pushed themselves up the path, despite the heavy packs weighing them down. Besides, the sooner they found out what was going on, the sooner they could return to their senseis and reunite them. Hopefully.

As the sun began to set, the eight turtles finally spotted the top of the mountain. The path led to a monastery, the entrance shaped like the head of dragon; those who dared enter walking right into the dragon's mouth, to be devoured unless they treaded carefully. Uneasy feeling filled each turtle as the door adorned with the inverted signal of the Foot opened and closed once they were inside. No turning back. No one but each other now.

* * *

><p>And so is the end of chapter two. I added the rockslide because I felt I needed to add <em>some<em> action and the rockslide was a substitute for the battle, since I decided to skip the one against the Makuzai no Bushi. And I really wanted to get Maddie comfortable with her brothers. She's still timid, but at least she's relaxed with them.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm sorry I haven't updated this in so long. The lack of reviews kind of killed my inspiration to write it and I've been distracted by other recent ideas, such as other stories. I've also got college work, but not enough to where I can use it as real excuse. I can't promise a swift update. Finals are coming up, I going to test for a black belt in taekwondo soon, and I have some other stories I want to work on. I promise, though, that I will finish this.

Chapter 3

The turtles walked slowly into their room, contemplating what had occurred. That vision had felt entirely too real, and Leo guessed it was a way of showing them what they were up against. Raph raged quietly to himself, not enjoying the fact that the tribunal had made them watch each other die. Lyn shared his opinion, though she wondered if the tribunal was telling the truth about this coming evil.

The others didn't know what to think. One opinion everyone shared was that the day had sucked in general. The only good thing that came of it was the appearance of Splinter and Thorn. The turtles could hardly believe their senseis had managed to find them.

_The turtles trudged to sanctuary of the monastery, weary beyond belief and downtrodden. The entire day, the tribunal had whacked them around in a game of dodge ball that they had absolutely no idea how to play. Leo and Raph knew bruises would decorate everybody's bodies tomorrow. And the tribunal taunted them, calling them weak and slacking in the face of a large evil. _Well excuse the shells off of us_, Raph thought sourly. _It's not like we know what the shell's going on here!

_He wanted to throw the tribunal off their high chairs or thrones or whatever and tell them to stuff it in their shells. How the heck were they supposed to know what was going on without information?_

_"__How could they possibly understand what is at stake when you have told them nothing!"_

_He froze. He had to be imagining that voice; there was no way he could have found them here…_

_"__Master Splinter!" the four brothers exclaimed._

_There he was. Master Splinter himself stood in the doorway of the sanctuary, wearing an expression he only used when he was truly angry, and one Raph never wanted to be the subject of. And he wasn't alone._

_"__Lady Thorn!" the girls cried._

_A white rat in an olive green robe stood beside Splinter, whom they all recognized from the picture they found as Thorn, Splinter's mate. Her expression was calm, but anger radiated from her being with such intensity the girls wondered if they should worry about the tribunal._

_Even as the Mokuzai no Bushi surrounded them, the two rats' determination never faltered. But their kids weren't going to let those walking trees attack their parents! If the tribunal wanted to keep their acolytes, they needed to call off their soldiers._

_The eight turtles leaped into the air, placing themselves between their senseis and the Bushi, positively itching for some smashing after the frustration of the day._

_"__Enough!" Kon ordered, and the trees backed off._

_"__The rodents are not permitted here, as the male one well knows." Juto glared_

_"__How did you come to find this monastery!" Chikara demanded._

_A short fat man appeared behind Splinter and Thorn, out of breath. He waved sheepishly. The turtles stared at him with curiosity, Leo with recognition._

_As Thorn checked over her daughters and studied the boys, Splinter refused the pleas of the Ancient One to wait._

_"__There is no time for discussion, young one," Chikara waved him off as the tribunal explained about the heralds seeking to resurrect the evil and the need to find the two missing artifacts, and that the tribunal still had the third._

_"__Then the tribunal can continue to guard it," Splinter growled. "Without my sons!" He grabbed Leo's arm and started leading his sons away while one look from Thorn had her daughters following._

_"__Do not test us, rodents," Juto warned. "Babysit your children if you must. It changes nothing!"_

_They just reached the door as the sanctuary began to shake and crumble. "What the shell is that?" Mikey yelled._

_"__No, impossible! How could they have moved so quickly?" The fear in Kon's voice was all too obvious. How dire was this situation, if it could scare a member of the tribunal?_

_The crumbling increased in speed and intensity, and the turtles could only watch, unable to do anything._

_Chikara ordered the acolytes away, but it was too late. Even Hisomi could not hold back the threat as dirt colored clouds engulfed the tribunal, leaving the turtles and their senseis alone to face the beast that burst through the chamber's ceiling._

_The face resembled that of a large cat. It grew wings of fire and wielded a giant deadly sword._

_"__Hiyashi Yaki!" Splinter exclaimed. "A fire demon!"_

_The demon's wings sliced the ceiling open like a knife through soft fruit, causing it to begin to collapse. Splinter and Thorn pushed Leo out of the way, only to be crushed by the falling wood._

_"__Turtles! Attack!" Leo yelled, grief in his voice. The others followed without hesitation, itching to run their weapons through this demon and make it pay for hurting their senseis._

_But even their combined efforts weren't enough. The demon smacked them down as if they were nothing. Don and Rae were slammed into the walls and knocked out._

_"__Mikey, try to free the tribunal!" Leo ordered. He realized they stood no chance against this demon alone. The orange-clad turtle raced to the tribunal, only to be buried exactly like Splinter and Thorn._

_The others could only watch helplessly as Maddie was sucked into the demon's stomach next while Dani managed to use her amulet to ward off the tentacles, only to be crushed by the tail when she lost concentration._

_The three remaining turtles leaped at the creature to launch their final attack, fully intending to take this beast down with them. Only to be blasted into the ground. The demon gloated its victory before vanishing._

_Suddenly, they were all sitting in a half circle around the sanctuary's pool. The tribunal sat before them on their thrones and Thorn, Splinter, and the Ancient One stood in the doorway._

_"__Perception is not always truth," instructed Kon._

Raph glared. _The tribunal could have just told us that; they didn't need to kill all our loved ones to teach us a lesson_, he thought as everyone entered their sleeping quarters.

The eight turtles had decided to share a room, as they didn't trust the tribunal and wanted to get to know each other. Nighttime after training proved the best time to do that. These last two days, the male turtles had learned that their sisters possessed no human friends and had never ventured outside New York City.

The boys spent at least four hours the first day telling the girls about April and Casey. The next night had been devoted to their other friends: Angel, the Justice Force, Usagi and Gen, the Professor, the Fugitoid, Traximus, Casey's mom, Renet, the Daimyo and his son, Mortu and the Utroms, Leatherhead, and several others.

They also learned a lot about each other. The girls learned about the guys and the boys learned about their sisters. Lyn enjoyed learning about medicine, biology, and anatomy and was the resident doctor of the family and made a habit of world building. Rae loved woodcarving and the supernatural, and had a knack for learning foreign languages. Dani claimed the title of family therapist and loved studying the brain, psychology, and sociology with a hobby lock sporting. Maddie enjoyed gardening, valued nature, and wrote blogs. The girls learned of Leo's love of ninjutsu and reading, Raph love of fighting and working out, Don's genius and inventing, and Mikey's creativity, cooking, and often lame comedic attempts.

Now, it was time for the guys to get to know Thorn, and the girls to know Splinter.

"How'd you guys find us?" asked Mikey. "And how'd you meet up?"

Splinter sighed. "The Ancient One had arrived at our lair to warn us of the tribunal, but he was too late. We found the site where you were ambushed and knew what had happened. I asked him to take me the tribunal. Nothing was going to stop me from protecting you."

"I arrived just as he said he would protect you, permitted or not," Thorn spoke up. All eyes turned to her." I was supposed to meet my daughters on a rooftop. When I arrived, they were not there, but I observed signs of a struggle. I searched many rooftops before I came upon Splinter and the Ancient One."

Splinter and Thorn smiled. Despite the terrible circumstances, it had been such a blessing to find each other again, and their reunion had been tender and loving.

"I found the same evidence on that rooftop as I saw on the one my daughters disappeared from and we realized the same entity had snatched our children. Splinter explained his circumstances and that he knew what had happened. I understood little, but I vowed to accompany him. He explained much to me on the way here." She glared. "I do not like what the tribunal has done."

"Nor do I," agreed Splinter.

"But let us not discuss such things right now. We are all safe and together again." Thorn smiled, in an attempt to alleviate the ill atmosphere and hopefully cheer everyone up. Nothing would be accomplished by dwelling on unpleasant topics.

The turtles returned Thorn's smile. "So, uh, Lady Thorn, right?" Leo began. She nodded. "Lyn told us you taught them capoeira," he mentioned, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, I learned it from my former master before I met Yoshi."

"Who was that?" asked Raph.

Thorn's expression was pained. "Her name Iara Oliveira, and she traveled to America from Brazil. She found me inside her home and took pity on me. When she practiced capoeira, I would imitate her moves from my cage in the living room. Her house caught fire inside the kitchen one day. The explosion hurtled my cage out the window, but she was trapped inside."

The turtles were stunned and horrified, Raph in particular. "I'm sorry, I—" He hadn't meant to make Thorn relive a painful memory.

Thorn shook her head and smiled gently, indicating she wasn't angry. "I roamed the city for some time after that before I found myself in the home of Hamato Yoshi. He took pity on me and nursed me back to health. Afterward, he introduced me to Splinter." She and Splinter smiled at each other lovingly. "I leaned ninjitsu from both Master Yoshi and Splinter until the Shredder took him away."

"Well, you don't have to worry about him now," Leo assured.

"I know. Splinter explained everything to me."

Silence permeated the entire room until Mikey broke it.

"Dani here said you're into comics and sci-fi movies. I love that stuff too." Thorn smiled. "And I'm an honorary Justice Force member!"

Thorn's eyes widened. "Really, now?" She smiled, all attention. "Tell me."

Successful in his attempt to cheer up Thorn, Mikey launched into the story of how he and his brothers had uncovered a plot to destroy the Justice Force and learned the truth of the Doc Dome-Stainless Steel Steve-Battling Bernice love triangle while the others tried not to doze off.

"Perhaps you can introduce me to the Justice Force when we return to the city," Thorn commented as Mikey finished. "And perhaps we can debate the merit of the comics and films."

Mikey beamed. "That would be beyond awesome!"

"Hmm, maybe this will keep him from harping about 'em on us." Raph smirked.

"Hey, just because you can't appreciate them—"

"Alright, that is enough." Splinter broke up the argument.

"So," Raph asked, unable to contain his curiosity, "the short, fat guy is the Ancient One?" Splinter and Leo nodded. "I always pictured him different. Ya know, more intimidating."

"Don't underestimate him Raph." Leo warned. "He's plenty good in a fight. Trust me, I've sparred with him."

"How is it that you're the only one besides Splinter who knows him?" asked Maddie.

Leo's expression darkened, hating to recall the reason that he knew the Ancient One

"A while back, Leo got really angry," Mikey began, and despite protest on Leo's part, his brothers told the girls about the anger that had overwhelmed him after the last fight with the Shredder, up the point where he returned after being sent away.

A thoughtful expression crossed Dani's face as she studied Leo. "Sounds like you had post-traumatic stress disorder."

"Ah, Danielle. The Sigmund Freud of her day!" Rae smirked. Dani glared.

"It's actually too bad you weren't around. You probably would've seen it before it got that bad," commented Don.

"Would've been nice to have you guys around," countered Rae. "From what I've heard, you guys see all the action."

"It's not all fun Rae," Leo replied grimly.

Rae shrugged. "Yeah, but still."

"I would have liked to have Don around." Dani muttered. "I'm in charge of technology at home because I'm the only one who understands it, but I _really_ don't like it."

Don smiled. "Don't worry sis. I can take over technology duty once we get back home."

Dani grin almost split her face in half. "Bro, you are the _best!_"

Don took a bow.

"Get over yourself, genius." Raph smirked.

Splinter and Thorn smiled, amused.

"Get some rest, all of you. You have a hard day ahead of you tomorrow," admonished Splinter. The eight turtles nodded and lay across their bedrolls. The night's events replayed in the turtles' heads, however, and sleep did not come easy.

Once the teenagers finally slept, Thorn and Splinter gazed at each other. Thorn's worried face reflected Splinter's. Their children were facing a terrible threat, a great evil, and neither parent appreciated the tribunal taking their children, and would have been more than willing to smash the Mokuzai no Bushi to pieces to reach their kids.

"Do you think the Ancient One is right? Our children are safe?" asked Thorn.

"In the monastery, they are perhaps safe enough," Splinter admitted reluctantly. "It is the dangers they will face in the future that worry me."

"Hmm," replied Thorn. Her eyes roamed over the turtles' bodies. "I know I have only known the boys for a short while, but already I feel as if they are my sons."

Splinter smiled. "I feel the same towards your daughters."

"I suppose it helps that we told each other near everything about them on the way here. Now remind me, how did they wreck the entire kitchen when they were but four?"

Splinter chuckled. "Donatello's curiosity had gotten the better of him the night before and he 'examined' the toaster. It exploded when one of his brothers attempted to make toast. They all knew Donatello was responsible and chased him around the kitchen, scooping handfuls of cereal to throw at him, along with plates, cups, bowls, and silverware. At the time, all our eating devices were plastic, so they did not break or hurt anyone, but everything was destroyed when I entered." His eyes danced. Even though the incident had angered him at the time, looking back it was rather hilarious. "At the time, it was the worst punishment I had ever inflicted on them. After ordering them to clean the kitchen, and performing fifteen flips, I ran them through two very intense practices and ordered them to watch soaps with me the entire day." He grinned. "It was a long time before they made a huge mess again."

Thorn laughed softly. "I remember when my daughters were that age. I warned them not to wander the tunnels without me, but they refused to listen. One day, I decided to stop bringing them back. They explored for several hours before returning, but they found they did not know the way back. Although they did not know it at the time, I had been following them secretly. I let them wander an hour before revealing myself and leading them home. The experience was enough to prevent them from wandering far again without me. At least until they were old enough to be on their own."

"Our children are a handful."

"Yes," agreed Thorn, "but we love them for it."

Splinter laughed. "Yes, indeed." The two sat together in companionable silence for a time.

"We had best follow our children's example and sleep. We will need our strength to keep them safe," Thorn admonished as she lay down. Splinter joined her.

"Goodnight." Love shone in Thorn's eyes as she gazed at Splinter.

"Goodnight." Splinter's love was no less intense.

The two drifted off happier than they'd been in a long time.

However, terrible nightmares of their children's deaths plagued them in their sleep and neither rested well.

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><p>So, what did everyone think? Please review!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, this chapter is short and not as good as I would like. But after I got my first reviews for this story, I felt like I couldn't wait much longer. So here it is! My thanks to Winter Empress Jules and Alwayslivetothefullest345 for reviewing. I appreciate it more than you know!

Once again, I don't own TMNT.

Chapter 4

"Get him on the ship! Now!" ordered Lyn, fear for Leo strengthening her voice. "Mikey! Rae! Get the cask!" She and Raph carried Leo between them. She fumed. Leo's idea had been a good one, she'd admit that, but the idiot had nearly killed himself carrying it out!

_So much for upgrading our weapons,_ she thought sourly. Just that day, each of them had imbued their weapons with energy from the Spirit Forge with Juto watching.

_Raph stepped boldly into the Forge, and flames engulfed him. When they receded, Raph stood there unscathed, energy brimming from his sai. Juto said indignant rage suited the red-clad turtle._

_Emboldened by Raph's success, the rest of them stepped into the Forge, bracing themselves as the flames rushed toward them, only to feel nothing but a breeze before leaving them with weapons that felt more a part of them than ever, as if a piece of their soul had been welded to their weapons, except for Leo. Though energy extended from his swords, he claimed to feel nothing different about them._

During the fight with the river demons, merely focusing allowed them to perform stunts with their weapons they'd never been able to execute before. It had felt freaking awesome, though Lyn had worried that Rae, Raph, or Mikey would end up crashing into the walls of the cliff out of sheer adrenaline. But it ended up being Leo that got hurt.

They all said drying up that river was impossible, but then Leo went and did it. They'd been impressed and amazed, but then Leo fell to the ground, completely drained.

_Idiot,_ Lyn thought as they boarded the ship. Only a week before, her brothers had told her and her sisters about Leo's tendency to nearly get killed, the worst out of the four of them. Gazing at Leo's shaking form, along with remembering several other incidents described or hinted at earlier, Lyn began to believe them.

With the casket safely stored onboard and the ship underway, Lyn checked her brother's pulse, heartbeat, and breathing. Fortunately, the former two were steady, and his breathing, while hoarse, was nothing to be worried about it, though his skin was rather hot.

Lyn quickly found a store of water and laid a wet washcloth on his forehead while helping him drink. He slowly regained consciousness. "Hey Lyn," he greeted weakly.

Lyn glared. "You're an idiot."

"Hey it worked."

Lyn chose not to argue. "Here, drink some more of this." She held the canteen to his mouth.

"I can drink myself, Lyn," he protested.

"Yeah, sure." Sarcasm dripped from Lyn's voice as she smacked Leo outstretched arm, preventing him from taking the canteen from her. "Ah, ah, ah. Any unauthorized movement and I _will_ strap you down," Lyn warned, shoving her finger in his face, "and I don't care what the Tribunal says, you won't be getting up for at least two days." She glared, daring Leo to contradict her with a glare that the exhausted turtle thought made Shredder look as harmless as a Girl Scout.

Despite the hot day, Leo shivered. "She's not kidding." Rae piped up from the doorway, surrounded by most of the others. "Trust me, I know from experience."

Leo reluctantly relaxed.

Lyn smiled smugly. "Good turtle. I'm going to get more water. Stay right there." She strode belowdeck.

The others approached. "Not going to try to get up bro?" asked Mikey with a half-smile on his face.

"And risk her wrath?" Leo replied, eyeing them as if they'd lost their sense. His sisters had told them Lyn was a strict doctor, but he hadn't imagined what it would be like to experience it first hand. She was worse than Splinter.

His brothers seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Bro," Don said, "It's a rare warrior who can intimidate you into staying put." He grinned. Lyn's coercions were nothing the turtles hadn't heard before from Splinter or each other, but something in the girl's posture and tone rendered her much more menacing than anything they'd seen before. Raph, Mikey, and he probably would've done the same thing to keep Leo from hurting himself more, but Lyn was the first to administer threats so efficiently and effectively.

Raph smirked. He'd originally planned on telling Leo off himself, but Lyn had just saved him the trouble. If he hadn't been so worried, he'd be laughing his head off at that confrontation. But after eyeing his brother's still weakened body, he decided to tease Leo about it later and returned his attention to his brother's condition.

"What's her official diagnosis bro? Any really bad injuries?"

"I don't think so," replied Leo. "Or else she would've told me what limbs not to use."

"You're not exactly injured," Lyn explained as she reentered Leo's room. "You're just really drained. Although I wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to check your brain for damages," she added as an afterthought

Leo glared. She shrugged. "Hey, from what I've heard, you have a tendency to get badly hurt."

"It's not exacly my idea!"

"Isn't it your idea to get into the situation?"

"No, it's not."

His brothers snorted. "Okay, sometimes yes, but most of the time it isn't," he amended.

"If you say so," Lyn replied absently, as if she was humoring him. "Drink," she ordered as she handed him a full canteen. "And try to stay off your feet for the rest of the day and you'll be good as new by tomorrow morning."

"Yes, ma'am," Leo replied, throwing her a mock salute. He quailed under Lyn's scorching glare in reply.

Lyn rolled her eyes, smirking at his reaction as she strode out to at the wheel to give Dani a quick scan. The chigiriki wielder probably wasn't badly hurt, but she still wanted to look

The boys took advantage of Lyn's temporary absence to laugh at the exchange. Leo glared. "I'll be sure to remember this when she's treating one of you guys for injuries."

They only laughed harder as Lyn returned.

"All right everybody, out! He needs his rest!" Lyn ordered, shooing everyone out. "And don't laugh, because you boys are next." Ignoring the sudden gleams of fear in their eyes, she turned to Leo. "I expect you to rest while I check the others over for injuries." She waited till Leo nodded before exiting, but left the door open behind her so she and the others could keep an eye on him.

Leo laid his head back. As much as she annoyed him, he could understand Lyn's position. If it were one of the others injured, he'd probably act the same way. Heck, he probably would've used threats as well, though he doubted he could administer them as effectively as Lyn.

Meanwhile, Raph, Don, and Mikey were learning just how Leo felt when Lyn checked him over. She gave them the full body look over and fussed over cuts that looked to stand a risk of infection. An altercation between her and Raph nearly resulted in a wrestling match when Lyn threatened to twist his left arm behind his back in order to examine a cut on said arm. Raph eventually submitted when Rae warned him that Lyn had plenty of practice on crooks and possessed a particular aptitude for joint manipulation.

After Lyn checked her siblings and herself over and assured herself that nobody would keel over, she returned to watch Leo followed by the others, with one sibling to man the wheel in shifts. Soon, the monastery appeared on the horizon.

Lyn lay on her futon, fuming. The tribunal cared more for that stupid headwear than the life of one of their own acolytes. She'd wanted nothing more that to drag her siblings and Thorn and Splinter back on that ship and hightail it back to New York.

Her brothers, though, seemed to gain a new depth of understanding upon seeing the threat: Shredder.

Lyn and her sisters knew the Shredder was dangerous, but had never met him. As soon as the siblings returned to their room, the girls had demanded a full explanation from the boys regarding their encounters with the Shredder.

The tale had been one of sorrow, blood, and pain, with little triumph in between. The first encounter, Leo's ambush and the destruction of April's building, the assault on Foot headquarters, TCRI, the boat, the aftermath of the Triceraton invasion, and, worst of all, the spaceship, which gave Leo the scar on his shell. Along with that arose the unavoidable mention of Karai, incidents with her as a friend and an enemy, most recently as the enemy who had driven them from their home and was likely still hunting them down in New York.

The boys' reaction to the Shredder helmet wasn't so surprising now. Hours later, and the unexpected revelation still plagued their minds.

Mikey grunted as he rolled over onto his side, then to his plastron. "Uhh, I can't sleep!"

Don yawned. "Neither can we."

"Shh, you'll wake the old guys." Raph jerked his head toward Splinter, Thorn, and the Ancient One.

"They're not sleeping, they're meditating," Leo admonished. "There's a difference Raph."

"Not in my book," Raph and Rae chorused. They grinned at each other.

"So much danger," Splinter muttered. "Never wanted this for them."

The Ancient then chastised Splinter for muttering and assured him and Thorn that their children were safe. Splinter was not reassured, telling everyone that he held the tribunal partially responsible for Yoshi's death.

The turtles expressed their confusion. Real Shredder? True Shredder? Utrom Shredder? Just how many Shredders were there?

The Ancient One and Splinter spared each other a short glance. "My children," he began. "It is time you know the true story of how this all began. Of an evil darker than all evil. A primal force of malevolence that was and is." He paused. "The _original_ Shredder."

"No one really knows what level of the dark depths spawned him," the Ancient One continued. "But in the year 300 A.D. in Hamato, the Shredder rose from some foul stinking pit in the form of a terrible Yokai, a demon that had but one goal, to subjugate the world, and to turn it into his own personal empire full of agony and destruction."

The turtles' eyes widened. "He spread his evil everywhere and seemed unstoppable. But there were five exceptional warriors in Japan at the time," Splinter intoned.

"You see, kame," the Ancient One said. "Japan was split into many clans at the time, warring amongst themselves for power. The clans were composed of warrior aristocrats, peasants, and slaves. One clan was exceptionally small compared to the others, consisting of only five warriors. But such was the warriors' skill that the clan and its land remained unconquered, despite many attacks. And you young ones have already had the honor of meeting those warriors. There was Hisomi, Chikara, Juto, Kon, and perhaps the most skilled and ambitious of them all, Oroku Saki."

"Saki!" Leo exclaimed. "Shredder's fake human identity. He was real?"

"Don't interrupt Leonardo," the Ancient One scolded. "Just listen." Once he was certain Leo would comply, he continued. "The leaders of all the clans met with the five warriors and promised them and their clan immunity from attack if they defeated the Yokai Shredder, and the warriors agreed. Craftsmen from many clans forged special armor for the warriors, and they rode into battle against the Shredder."

The turtles listened, breathless, as Splinter and the Ancient One described the furious battle between the five warriors and the demon Shredder. Though none of them were fond of the tribunal, their respect for the warriors increased as they learned of them defeating the demon, although the fact that it was Oroku Saki who had finished it off left them feeling, well, confused.

But all had not been well, for Oroku Saki had yielded to the seductions of the demon and its promise of unlimited power and allowed the fiend's spirit to live within him.

"Even as the land celebrated, Oroku Saki revealed his betrayal and attacked," Splinter continued. "Many perished on that day. Soon afterward, Saki eliminated his entire clan himself, except for the other four warriors, who escaped. Japan was plunged into an age of darkness. There seemed no limit to the evil of which Saki was capable of. He soon grew to be the most powerful warlord of all, and his name was spoken in whispers. The Shredder."

Silence penetrated the room as the turtles listened to the story; even their breathing could hardly be heard. Following Saki's betrayal, the four remaining warriors devoted themselves to defeating the Shredder, traveling the world to learn the mystic arts, growing powerful while attaining immortality until they were at last prepared to confront the Shredder on his own turf.

The battle between the four warriors and Shredder must have been a sight, each turtle thought as the old rat and human told of a confrontation that destroyed the Shredder's citadel and a battle between dragons which eventually defeated the Shredder and determined the demon's ultimate fate. And of the tribunal's tradition of training acolytes to help them. They also finally learned what the artifacts consisted of: Shredder's helmet, gauntlet, and body.

"So there was a real Shredder," Leo stated.

"And the Utrom Shredder was an imposter," Don added.

"Imposter maybe, but he could probably give the demon a run for his money from what we've heard from you," Maddie commented.

"Maybe," Mikey replied.

"But this Shredder's got butt-kicking magic powers that nearly killed the tribunal," Raph countered.

"And now someone's trying to resurrect him." Dani shook her head.

"And we're the only ones standing in the way." Lyn frowned, still trying to bring everything up to speed.

"Okay," Rae folded her arms, deep in thought.

No one spoke. There was so much to take in.

Finally, Thorn broke the silence. "Rest, my children. You will need it if you are to defeat him." She smiled gently. "I think if he does come back, he will find he has bit off more than he can chew with you." Everyone smiled slightly. Thorn's words were exactly what they needed to hear.

Once the turtles had fallen asleep, Splinter turned his gaze to Thorn. "You truly believe they will triumph," said Splinter. It wasn't a question.

"Your boys have proven their might time and again, Splinter. And all their lives, I have sensed great strength in my girls. Now that they are together, I believe they all will gain greater power. I know the odds are against us," she added, "and sometimes things happen. I have seen too much of the world to not know that. But I will always believe in them."

"Ah, Thorn." Splinter smiled. Some of the tension melted from his eyes. "Your words give me hope, in spite of my dreams."

Thorn smiled warmly in return. Despite experiencing the same dreams as Splinter, she believed in her children all the same. She had to. She refused to contemplate what would happen to them if they didn't.

"Let us all sleep," she suggested. Splinter nodded and lay down next to her, each drawing comfort from the other.

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><p>I hope I didn't disappoint anyone. Please review.<p> 


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Ninja Turtles, Adventure, Family