Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1. Chapter 1

**This is a sequel story, or should I say the main story after TMNT OC Origin. Please read the origin story before beginning this one! You will have no idea what is going on otherwise.**

* * *

Things around the lair were once again starting to feel normal (well, as normal as you can get with four teenage mutant turtles, their rat master, and three turtle children). It had been two days since the brothers had discussed their plans in the kitchen. Mikey's leg and hand were healing very nicely to the point that Master Splinter decided that it was time to begin training again. Christine and Ruben were invited to attend and sit quietly to the side. Jacob, on the other hand, would not stay so quiet. He was given to April to watch for a while in the living area, with some help from Casey Jones.

The four teens set up to spar. Weapons ready it was Donnie verses Leo, and Mikey versus Raph. Mikey hopped around in his usual manner in hopes of not showing his brothers that his leg was still a little sore.

"Your sure you're fine Mikey?" Raph asked before attacking.

"Better than ever bro!" He tried not to wince.

"Hajime!" Splinter shouted to start the sparring.

Don and Leo circled each other slowly waiting for the other to make the first move.

Raph made the first move, jabbing at Mikey with full force. Mikey jumped over him as if it were a game of leap turtle. Growling, Raph turned to face him, Mikey chuckled, "Can't touch this!" He sang.

"I'm gonna…!" Raph cut off.

Don began twirling his staff in hopes of a distraction, though he knew he had little chance with Leo. Don decided he was bound to lose, and so he went after Leo with the intent of catching him off guard. Sweeping his staff at Leo's legs in order to knock him down, Leo surprised Donnie by jumping up and slicing at the bo, cutting it in three.

"Ah come on!" Don whined, "What do you guys have against my staff?!"

"Well if your weapon wasn't so easy to break!" Raph grunted as he block a kick from Mikey.

Leo swung his leg under Don and knocked him over, "Ahh!" Then he held a sword to Donnie's throat showing him that he was defeated. He then smiled over to Christine who was watching with complete fascination and awe.

Mikey went to swing a nunchuck at Raph, only to have Raph's sai hook the chain. Raph brought Mikey towards him, flipped on his back and kicked Mikey to where he flew and hit the far wall upside down. Ruben whooped for Raph, he was becoming very attached to the hot-headed turtle. Raph smirked. He liked having someone to admire his 'skills'.  
Mikey however, was seeing stars. "Aww man," he moaned, "Who put that there?"

Don got up and went over to the upside down teen. Grabbing one of his legs, he flipped him over and helped him to kneel next to Christine and Ruben who were patiently waiting for the next brawl.

Leo and Raph both circled each other with confidence. Raph again struck first, Leo blocked each attack with one sword. Getting cocky, Leo smiled and kicked Raph in the plastron. Falling on his butt wasn't Raph's favorite things to do. He lashed out stabbing, limbs flying until Leo spun and hit Raph's stomach again, causing his to lose his breath.

"Yame!" Splinter signaled to stop.

Raph seethed with anger. He growled and looked away from Ruben, not wanting to see disappointment. The four ninjas kneeled before there Master as they usually did during training.

"Leonardo," He began, "Do you know the difference between being confident and being cocky?"

"Hai sensei," Leo hung his head.

Knowing he had said enough for Leo to get his point he looked to Raph, "Raphael, your anger is still not under control!" He scolded.

"Hai sensei," Raph grumbled.

"Donatello, Michelangelo, very good use of distractions. It was a good effort." He nodded to them.

"Hai sensei," they said together.

"Leonardo, Raphael, do not allow our new guests to become a distraction to you. You must be alert and confident, not cocky. You must be able to control emotions. We are ninja," he leaned close, "Please act like it," he sighed. "Training is over for the day."

* * *

"Well that was pretty short," Mikey pondered but let it go quickly. He ran to Jake and snatched him from April.

"Hey!" She protested

Ignoring her he lifted Jakey in the air, "Do you miss me Jakers?"

The child screamed a laugh in response.

"Hey Raph! How was train…" Raph bumped into Casey's shoulder and stormed past him, "..ing?"

"He's just mad because Leo kicked his butt...again!" Mikey laughed.

Ruben tried to follow behind Raph to the punching bag, but Leo put a hand on his shoulder, "Just let him cool off first, he gets like this."

Though Ruben longed to follow, he stayed behind and sat himself down on the couch next to the also bummed out Casey. "So, Ruben is it?" Casey tried to make conversation, "How do you like living down here so far?"

Ruben shrugged.

"Hey, it must be better than living in a Kraang warehouse," this was obviously the wrong thing to say. The young turtle glared at Casey with loathing.

Images of torture and flashbacks of testing and watching other clones being dragged away, put in cages, and never seen again went through his mind. He put his hands to his head to block them out. When this failed, he stood and ran. Past Leo, past Raph, past the turnstiles. He ran towards anywhere that would be away from those memories.

"Guys! We've got a runner!" Mikey shouted.

"Crud," Raph started after the rouge terrapin.

"Raph! Wait!" Leo yelled after him, Christine tightened her grip on his hand.

"I'll bring him back fearless!" With that, Raph and Ruben were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Raph ran through the sewers, but the kid was faster than he looked.

"Ruben?!" Raph called out. He stopped at a small tunnel where he could see a small figure huddled deep within. "Come on bud, let's go back," He tried to enter the small space but his shell was too big to fit.

"Go away!" Ruben scooted farther back.

"What's the matter with you?!" Raph asked trying to pull himself back out of the tunnel, but quickly realized...he was stuck!

"It's none of your business!" Ruben snapped.

"Hey!" Raph snapped back, "Don't you know we can help you? Come on! We need to go back before our brothers come and drag us back."

"Our brothers?! Those are your brothers! Why do you even care about us?! We are nothing but clones created to kill you! You should kill us before we have the chance to hurt you!"

"Now you listen here," Raph stopped struggling and began to lecture, "What we do is our decision. We chose so save you, just as you chose to end the tests by being 'disposed' of. Don't get mad at me just because we won't let you finish the job"

"I'm not mad!" Ruben argued.

"Oh, where have I heard that before?" Raph rolled his eyes.

"I'm not! I just want to be alone!" Again he scooted back almost to the point where Raph couldn't see him anymore in the dark pipe.

"Wait! Kid...Ruben, I just want to help. I know what anger is. I know you are mad, but you don't need to be. The Kraang will never hurt you or the others again. Trust me, I would never let that happen," he hoped.

"Why can't I be mad?" Ruben voice was calming down, but only by a little, "Back there you showed me that you get mad. And your brother Leo said that you get mad all the time!"

"That's who I am though. I get mad, but I get over it."

"How? What the Kraang did...to me and others I used to know...I can't stop thinking about it. It angers me to think that they did that, and I wasn't able to stop it! I just decided to give up rather than trying to save them."

"Hey, there was nothing you could do! Get that in your thick skull. There. Was nothing. You. Could do!" Raph repeated slowly. "Now get over here and push me out of this tunnel, I'm stuck!"

Ruben laughed a little because he hadn't noticed how much Raph was struggling to get out. He crawled over and started pushing. "So if I get mad sometimes, you won't get rid of me?"

"No! Why would you think that? If you ever get angry again tell me! I can help you out. I've been dealing with anger for a lot longer than you have."

"Who will help you when you get angry?" Ruben grunted as he tried with all his might to push the older turtle out.

"I don't need help. I have found ways of dealing with it. I'll show you when we get back."

"If we ever do get back!" Ruben huffed.

"Sup Raph? Need help?" came the cheerful voice of Mikey, who was enjoying this way more than any of the others.

"You better be alone Mikey!" Raph called back.

"Um...depends on what you mean by alone…" Mikey giggled.

"Woah, you look even uglier from this angle," Donnie teased, "I didn't think it could ever be possible!"

"We'll get you out bro!" Leo called.

"Brilliant," Raph mumbled.

Leo, Don, Christine, and Mikey all grabbed ahold of Raph's legs, "Okay guys...and gal...on three!" Leo announced, "One...Two...THREE!" All four turtles pulled as hard as they could, though Christine was lifted off the ground. Raph didn't budge.

"Woah, what's going on?" Casey saw the turtles as they tried and failed to get their brother out. He and April had walked around the corner while looking for their missing friends.

"Raph got himself stuck," Leo explained. "Is Ruben in there at least?"

"Ya he's here," Raph called.

"Here, watch out Christy, and let Casey Jones help!"

Christy stood by April, who had left Jacob back with Master Splinter.

Together they pulled as Ruben pushed. Raph flew out, knocking them all down, and causing Ruben to spill out of the tunnel onto his plastron.

"Well that was exhilarating," Raph snorted sarcastically.

"Why did you run away little dude?" Mikey asked.

"I thought...I thought you wouldn't want me anymore."

"What made you think that?" Leo gave a glare to Casey since he had witnessed them talking before Ruben tried to escape.

"He was just a little upset when he realized he was getting angry," Raph motioned to the tot, whose flinched and bawled his fists.

"I've been working on a theory for something like this," Donnie started, "Bursts of anger are Raph's thing, Mikey is happy...a lot, I think that the kids DNA mostly comes from one of us at a time. I'm not sure, but I think Ruben's primary DNA cells may come from Raph. Same with Mikey and Jacob."

"Are you saying that their DNA only comes from one host?" Leo asked.

"Not particularly," Donnie thought aloud, "Jacob would have freckles and blue eyes if that were true. Ruben has gold eyes instead of green. I think that they do have a mix of all of our DNA but they must have a primary host."

"Could we go back now?" April complained, she picked up the shivering Christine, "Christy and I are getting cold in these drafty tunnels."

"Yeah, let's head back," Leo ordered.

* * *

"Like this," Raph grabbed Ruben's hand to show him how to make a fist. Raph then harshly punched the sack shaped like a human that hung near the living area.

"So this helps with anger?" Ruben asked him while studying his hand.

"Most of the time," Raph confessed, "but you can always talk to me. Though I hate to admit it, sometimes that works better."

* * *

"So Donnie…who do you think Christine's primary host is?" asked Leo.

"It's hard to say really," Donnie carefully set down a test tube he had been working with. He turned to face Leo, "She is pretty quiet, she may be too young to tell. I can say that it might to be one of us. She hasn't shown any anger like Raph and Ruben, and I'm pretty sure Mikey and Jacob were born hyper. Tell me when she starts resighting quantum theory, then we'll know," He joked.

"Alright I will," Leo left the lab to go and watch T.V. with Mikey, Jake, April, and Casey. Mikey was sitting the closest in a laid back, relaxed position with Jake between his legs, both stared happily at the screen. April and Casey were playfully fighting over the bean bag chair; April won after she pushed Jones onto his rump. Leo could hear Raph telling Ruben how to control anger. Like Raph knew anything about controlling it for himself. He thought a little of Christine and wondered what it would be like to have two inventive geniuses around the lair. This bothered him somewhat. If Donnie turned out to be her primary host for her DNA, would she leave him and hang out more with Donnie?

Mikey looked to Leo, who didn't seem to be watching 'Super Robo Mega Force Five' with them. "Hey bro? What's the matter?"

Leo realized how selfish he was being. If She turned out to like Donnie more, who was he to stop her? He looked to Mikey with a comforting smile, "Nothing, just thinking."

"I try to avoid that at all costs," He slashed one hand through the air as he spoke and supported himself with the other hand.

"We all know Mikey!" Raph called to him as he stood behind Ruben, adjusting the smaller turtles form whenever it wavered. "There you got it!" He praised.

"Hey it's cool now having our own mini-mes huh Raph?" Mikey gently rubbed the top of Jake's bald head. "Speaking of, by the way, where's Christine?"

"They are all of our clones Mikey," told Leo, "Wait, what do you mean? You weren't watching her?"

"Dude! That's your job!" Mikey retorted. He hurriedly placed the confused Jake on the ground and stood as quickly as his injuries allowed. Leo was up also. Raph had overheard too. April and Casey frantically looked at each other in horror. Soon all the turtles and friends were searching the lair.

"Christine?" Leo called.

"Come on out Christy!" April yelled.

"Where are ya mini dudette?" Mikey shouted.

"She's in here!" Raph signaled to Leo, Don, Mikey, Ruben, April, and Casey to be quiet. Soon they were all gathered around the entrance to the dojo.

Christine was seated next to Master Splinter trying to look as if she was meditating.

"Yep, she's your clone Leo," Raph stated as he walked away relieved.

"Actually, all of us are in her DNA Raph. Leo is just the primary host," Donnie explained as he followed,"

"Would you stop saying that! Geez, you're like a broken record!" Raph returned.

"Aww!" Mikey cooed, "That is so adorable!" He placed a hand on Leo's shoulder, who was smiling in relief at Christy as well, "Congrats!" With that he patted Leo's shoulder once again and went back to join Jacob in front of the T.V. April also patted Leo, smirked at Jones, then ran to be first to the bean bag chair.

Eyes never leaving Christy, he continued smiling like a proud father. He went and joined his master and Christine in meditation. After closing his eyes he took a peek with one eye to see if she had noticed. She had, and was peeking one eye back at him. Together they smiled and turned back to concentrating. Splinter gave a small chuckle before returning to his trance as well.


	3. Chapter 3

"Say Mikey. Mi-key." Mikey and Jacob were facing each other on the floor of the lab.

Jake was getting tired of this game and was squirming to get away.

"Come on!" Mikey was getting impatient. He wanted Jacob to be able to say his name, though he has never spoken any words to them.

"Mikey," Donnie didn't even bother turning away from his research, "You can't force Jake to talk."

"Says you!" Mikey retorted, "You can do it Jakey, it's so easy. Just say Mi, then say key!"

Jakey decided he would rather find something else to do. He stood and ran to the lower area with the couch. Raph was sitting by the T.V. reading a comic. Lowing himself down to sit by Raph, he grabbed a corner of it to get a better look. Raph hooked an arm around the tot and set him on one knee so the toddler could get a better look.

Mikey sighed and went to sit on Don's lab table. Hoisting himself next to the genius' laptop, he asked, "Why can't he talk yet?"

"He's only been with us for a little over a week," This time Donnie turned to look at Mikey, "Just give him some more time...It's actually been about ten days since we rescued them. Wow, how time flies."

"But Christy and Ruby can talk!" He argued.

"Well, they are way older than Jacob," Donnie turned back to his work. There was a long pause.

"Whatcha workin' on?" Mikey changed the subject.

"Just studying Ruben's blood sample."

"What for?"

"I'm comparing it to Raph's. If the Kraang were to use that same formula on Raph, he may also have an allergic reaction to it as well."

"Those alien creeps would never be able to get a hold of Raph," Mikey laughed at how insane that sounded to him. Raph getting captured? HA! He was always the one to get captured, and the Kraang couldn't even manage that! Only...Leo had been taken by Karai, but that was mostly their own fault.

"He doesn't need to be captured for the Kraang to be able to administer the sedative," Donnie offered, "They could use a dart for instance."

"Woah," Mikey thought about it, "are we all allergic to it?"

"That's the weird thing," Donnie put his hand to his chin, "I haven't seen Christine or Jacob's blood yet, but so far, it looks like only Raph and Ruben can't handle it."

"So I'm immune? Just call me super Mikey!"

Donnie looked at him with the most bored expression he could manage, "No," then turned away.

* * *

Christine, Ruben, April and Leo were all in the dojo. Splinter had decided that the children were old enough to start training, but at a separate time than the teen ninjas. He also thought it would be a good idea for April to join them. Leo was showing them some stances and katas. Both were catching on quite quickly. April had already mastered this part of the beginner's training, but was happy to relearn and watch the kids develop their own skills. Splinter was impressed with his newest pupils.

"Yame!" Splinter called, "That was very good. I am very proud of all of you. Training is over for the day. But I will tell you what I told my sons when they had come of age. Practice outside of training is essential to your success." With that, he went to his room and shut the door.

* * *

"What did you think of your first day?" Leo asked Christine as they entered the living area.

"That was fun! You guys do stuff like that everyday?" Christine replied.

"Ha! You'll learn better soon enough," Raph teased.

"What he means is," Leo explained, "It will get harder, but I know you can do it," he encouraged.

Ruben went over and sat by Raph and Jacob.

Donnie walked out of the lab, followed by Mikey. "Okay...I need to see Raph, Ruben, Christine and Jacob in my lab."

"What's this about Don?" Raph stood with Jacob still in his arms.

"I need Jake and Christy for blood samples, and I need you and Ruben to administer a sort of antidote."

"What?! I ain't sick or nothin'!" Raph complained.

"You're not sick, you're allergic to the Kraang's sedative."

"I hope you know what you're doing brainiac," Raph followed Donnie back into the lab, still holding Jacob, and Ruben followed close behind. Leo led Christine by her hand. Mikey didn't like needles much, so he stayed out by the T.V. where he could play some video games.

April decided to go meet Irma at the park since they hadn't hung out in a while, "See ya Mikey! Tell the others that I left."

"Uh huh," Mikey didn't really hear, he was too focused on some game with space ships and lasers.

* * *

"Alright, Raph," stated Donnie "You first."

Raph handed Jacob to Leo and reluctantly hopped up onto Donnie's table.

Donnie quickly injected the serum into Raph's neck before he had a chance to react. "Ow!"

"Alright Ruben, you're next," Donnie held up another needle.

Ruben backed away shaking his head. He bumped into Leo, who knelt down and put a comforting hand on Ruben's shoulder. "Raph's just a big baby, it won't hurt as bad as he makes it seem."

Ruben gave a small smile, but still wasn't reassured. All those syringes, his own screams, all this came flashing back to the point where he visibly shuttered. "Hey," Raph kneeled down too, "remember what I said? I will never let them hurtcha again."

Ruben nodded, and reluctantly allowed Raph to lead him over to Don's table. "Just sit still okay?" Donnie stuck the child swiftly, and just as fast took it out. "See? Not that bad!"

Ruben rubbed his neck a little but didn't lash out. He hastily followed Raph back to the comic book.

Donnie quickly got the next two syringes ready for taking blood samples, "Leo, could you lift them both up so that I can find a vein?"

Leo was already holding Jacob, so he set him on the table first.


	4. Chapter 4

The kids had been avoiding Donatello for a couple days, but he tried not to mind it. At least he was able to get some work done without interruption. Except, of course, that excluded Mikey, who always seemed to be hanging out in the lab for someone to talk to. He was still bummed out that Jacob couldn't talk.

Mikey sat on a counter bouncing Jake on his knee. He gave him a small smile, then sighed.

"Mikey, you can't just expect him to talk because you want to talk to him," Donnie was poking the goo he had scraped off the wall from when he had almost blew up the lab...again.

"I know D," he sighed again.

"Your doing everything right Mikey, it's not you," Donnie tried to lighten the sad turtle's mood, "Sometimes it takes human babies up to two years before they can speak!"

"He's almost two…" Mikey muttered.

Leo walked in and saw what Donnie was messing with, "Don, I hope you aren't planning on blowing this place all the way to New Jersey again."

"Ha ha, very funny, but there is something about this gelatin that has caught my attention."

"Well, put that stuff away, it's time for patrol," Leo commanded.

"Fine fine, keep a genius from his work," said Donnie as he covered the blob with plastic wrap and put it in the cupboard..

Mikey stood with Jake in his arms. He brought him back to his homemade crib and set him into it. He softly leaned on the rail in thought. He truly was worried. He couldn't wait for Jakey to talk on his own. There had to be something he could do! He made a mental note to ask Master Splinter for advice later. He waved goodbye to Jacob one last time before leaving with his brothers.

When Mikey caught up to his bros, they were already going through the turnstyles. Raph playfully pushed Michelangelo in front of him. Together they left for the familiar roofs that they patrolled.

-!Transition!-

"What do you want us to be looking for Leo?" Raph crossed his arms when they had paused on a rooftop.

"Anything that will lead us to where the Kraang are hiding the other clones," he responded.

"I thought we were going to have April listen to the Kraang's communication orb," Donnie voiced.

"I don't know if that is such a good idea guys," Leo started, "You've seen how attached April has gotten to the kids back home. If She learned that we plan on destroying the rest of them, she might try and stop us."

"She's not like that Leo," Donnie complained, "We owe her at least an explanation of what we plan on doing. If we get her help we will be able to find them much easier."

"But dude, what if she leaves us again?" Mikey took Leo's side on this.

Donnie flinched at the thought of April going away again. It took them a long time and an attack from Karai to get her to come back to them.

"Well whatever we plan on doing, I hope we don't plan on letting those Kraang get away," Raph pointed. All eyes followed the direction and noticed the familiar white van that the Kraang usually used, driving away at a faster than normal speed.

Leo was first to react, "Come on!"

The boys leaped across buildings trying to catch up. Donnie had an idea. He got out a slingshot he had stored in the back of his belt.

Raph noticed this and had to ask, "What is that for?!"

"Physics!" was the answer Don gave. He aimed the tracker and fired. The small object buzzed through the air. It met its target and stuck fast. "Yes," he quietly complimented himself with with a fist pump. He stopped at the next rooftop he jumped to.

"Donnie?!" Leo slightly looked back.

"It's alright guys!" He called to them, "I shot a tracker onto their van. They can't go anywhere without me knowing about it." He smiled and pointed at himself with one thumb.

The rest of the boys stopped and came to stand by Donnie, who was studying his t-phone. "Now what are you doing?" Raph questioned, annoyed.

"If you must know," Donnie rolled his eyes, "I'm calling the Shell Raiser."

Mikey laughed, "The Shell Raiser can't talk back dude!"

"No...I'm summoning it here."

"When did you have time to install an autopilot?" Leo was a little shocked.

"Well, it's always been there," Donnie rubbed the back of his head, "It just wasn't perfected...until now!" Donnie got excited when the Shell Raiser came around the next corner. It quickly got ironic when it passed right by them and took the next street, "Well, almost perfected," he shrugged as the rest of his brothers took off after the overly accelerated battle car, then he joined them.

Together they eventually caught up and Leo and Raph jumped on it's roof. Gaining their balance, Leo tried to open the hatch, but realized it was locked tight. Raph slid down the side and pried the subway cars doors open with one sai. Leo slipped inside with Raph close behind. Stumbling around the moving car, the two finally made it to their seats. Leo slammed on the breaks, taking the Shell Raiser out of autopilot.

Donnie and Mikey took their places in the car when the doors opened.

"Punch it Leo!" Raph yelled.

The turtles caught up to the slower van in no time. Kraang began to climb on the top of their own van, with lasers pointed at the Shell Raiser. Leo braked to avoid the shots. He then rammed the Armored car into the back of the Kraang van. This turned out to not be one of his best ideas, since most of the Kraang that had been on the top of the van were now tumbling to the top of the subway car. Gaining their balance, they began to shoot down at the roof of the Shell Raiser, but to no avail. Leo swerved and all but one crashed to the pavement below. Raph saw this and went to open the hatch. Before Raph could open the hatch the Kraang droid, without realizing, stepped on to it. Raph opened the hatch and sent the bot flying after his fallen comrades. Raph poked his head up and noticed that there was no one on the previously occupied roof. He shrugged and went back to his seat.

"Now, after that van!" Raph shouted.


	5. Chapter 5

**AHH YEAH! I love fight scenes! I'm trying to make it as much like the show as possible. So please, if you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to review!**

* * *

Crash! The white Kraang van went straight into a wall after being rammed a few more times in the side by Leo. He was very determined now to not let the alien parasites get away. The Shell Raiser skidded sideways to a stop. Four ninja brothers hopped out and surrounded the inactive vehicle.

"Surrender! We have you outmatched!" Leo shouted.

"What you say to do will not be done by Kraang," the back doors of the van opened, "It will be those known as the turtles who will be doing that which is known as surrendering!" A large cannon like weapon could be seen pointing out the back side of the van.

"Scatter!" Leo ordered.

All four turtles took off to avoid the canon. A shot was fired and the Shell Raiser was hit. It rolled about twenty feet before stopping upside down on it's roof.

"Ah come on!" Donatello exasperated as the broken subway car threw itself to the top of his list of priorities, his newest invention to fix.

Two flying pods shot out above the canon with their own firing lasers.

"How much room do they got in there!" Raph growled, but was slightly impressed.

Mikey jumped and dodged the lasers being shot at him. He began running around to get the pods off his back, "Why do they always chase mehehe?!" He whined as both pods were on his tail.

Leo leaped and twisted in the air, coming down hard with two katanas slicing through the wiring of the pod closest to Mikey. Donnie jumped at the other to take control but one hand landed on the slimy alien brain inhabitant. "EWW! I touched it! I touched it!" He jumped off letting the pod crash into the same wall the van had hit. He disgustedly shook the slimy goo off his hand as he watched the cause of his stress scream and crawl away.

"Don! The canon!" Leo warned. Donnie was too distracted to realize that the canon had found a target, and that target was him!

It fired, but he was too late to react. He was roughly pushed to the concrete when Raph leaped to save him. Both stood and brushed off. Raph gave a famous glare before his eyes got wide as he shouted, "Move your shell!" A laser shot between both stunned red and purple clad ninjas as they leaped away in time.

"I gots dis!" Mikey bragged. He leaped towards the canon as it shot at him.

"Oh no you don't!" Leo also knocked his brother away in time. "We need a plan!"

"Then think one up fearless leader!" Raph retorted.

"Working on it!" Leo snarled as he sprinted to the side fast enough to get away from a new rain of shots."

"Well I could just do this…" Donnie calculated and threw a shuriken at the canon operator's mechanical skull. Nailing it between the eyes, the droid flew backwards into the van. The brainy alien squirmed out of the side door with another high pitched scream they all did.

"Ahhh! I hate when they do that!" Raph threw a rock that knocked it onto it's side. The resulting image resembled an overturned cow frantically trying to force it's way upright. Raph smirked, even though the creature still didn't shut up.

"Hey guys! Check this out! I think he's stuck," Mikey was at the passenger side window of the van. "Ha ha, he can't move his arms!" Mikey proceeded to poke the rubbery mask of the Kraang droid in costume.

"You, as one of the turtles, will do what is known as pay for humiliating Kraang in such a manner!"

"Huh? Whatcha gonna do about it?!" Mikey taunted. The Kraang droid quickly leaned over and bit Michelangelo's finger.

"Ouch!" Mikey shook the now swelling part of his bitten finger.

"Serves you right!" Raphael teased.

Donatello surveyed the scene, "Well it looks like the crash dented the dashboard in to the point that this unlucky fellow was squished to the seat, trapping the alien inside. Fascinating!"

"Will he be able to get out?" Leo was cautious.

"No, he's stuck good. He can't even move his arms or legs," Donnie chuckled.

"Good," Raph pushed Donnie aside and took his place in front of the Kraang, wielding his sai.

"If Kraang could, Kraang would do what is known as gulp."

"Where are you keeping the rest of the clones?!" Raph roughly interrogated.

The Kraang droids head turned away from him. "Kraang does not know what the angry turtle is talking about."

"Don't you play stupid with me! I…"

"Easy Raph!" Leo grabbed ahold of the angering turtles shoulder. "We need to get the Shell Raiser and this van out of here before…" Police sirens were heard in the distance, as they were going to survey the disturbance.

"Oh no! The boys in blue!" Mikey stated.

The turtles rushed to the overturned Shell Raiser. They began to push on one side of the heavy subway car.

"Come on you rundown, rusty box o' bolts!" Raph snorted as the car barely lifted off the ground.

"Hey," Donnie groaned from the wait, "I resent that." They all sighed when the car landed on it's side.

"I resent your face," Raph childishly grunted as they began again to right the vehicle.

"Don't make me resent taking you both on this mission!" Leo huffed.

"I resent nothing!" Mikey cheered as the Shell Raiser was finally right-side-up.

They all headed inside.

"I bet you don't even know what that means," Donnie huffed as Mikey stepped in front of him to get in the car.

Mikey poked his head back out and stuck it in Donnie's bored, expressionless face, "So! I don't have to know what it means to use it! Words are words dude." Mikey was wagging a finger at Don as he spoke.

"Whatever," Donnie backhanded the finger out of his face and pushed past the younger turtle.

Mikey entered to see every teen in their spot besides him.

"Mikey go attach the tow hook to the Kraang van so that we can get the shell out of here!" Leo called from the driver's seat.

Mikey sighed and hopped out to the back of the subway car. He took the new hook Donnie had installed under the bumper and attached it to the bumper of the Kraang van. "Put the petal to the metal Leo!" Mikey shouted to the driver. Leo punched it only to pull off the already crushed bumper. "Uh, let's try that again." Leo brought the Shell Raiser closer to the white van. Mikey placed the hook onto the sturdier underbelly of the alien vehicle. "Try it now!" He called.

This time when Leo took off, the van was pried from the wall and towed down the street. Mikey watched until he realized that they left without him! "Wait! Guys!" He shouted.

"Should I stop?" Leo joked.

"Naw, keep going." Raph leaned back and put his hands behind his head as he chuckled, "let him suffer a little longer."

"Hey, if he injures his leg again," Donnie crossed his arms, "that is on you two. I just took his stitches out."

Leo pulled over the two vehicles to allow Mikey entrance. Mikey caught up and got on, "Thanks for forgetting about me!" Was his oblivious remark.

Leo smirked at Raph who evilly smirked back.

"What?" Mikey asked.

"Oh, nothing," Leo started up the Shell Raiser to bring it to a safer place to interrogate the Kraang droid further.

* * *

**Question! : What color should the masks of the turtle tots be?**

**Trivia Question! : How much time has past from the very beginning of the story till now? (Not real time, but like in the story time).**


	6. Chapter 6

"Guys, I have no idea. Where do we take this guy?" Leo asked.

"Not the lair," Raph replied.

"Well obviously!"

"Where do we know that is human free and abandoned?" Donnie joined in.

"What about one of Stockman's abandoned warehouses?" Mikey suggested, "He had a lot of those."

"No," Raph didn't really hear what Mikey had suggested, he just said no to him thinking it was another bad idea.

"What about the park?" "No, too risky." "An old Kraang warehouse?" "No, they could still be using those." "A rooftop?" "How the shell are we going to get that van on a rooftop?"

"Why can't we just take him to one of Stinkman's old warehouses? He had plenty of those." Raph offered.

"Hey!" Mikey wined, "I said that."

"We might even catch that mutant fly in the act of one of his schemes," proposed Donnie.

"You guys never listen to me," Mikey pouted.

"And for good reason," Raph didn't even turn to look at his youngest brother.

"Mikey which way to the closest abandoned Stockman warehouse?" Leonardo wanted to at least try and include the orange clad ninja in their conversation.

"Take a left at the next turn," groaned Mikey.

* * *

They arrived at the warehouse Stockman had used for testing out Fish Face's robotic legs.

Raph went in first to see if the coast was clear. It was, so he motioned for Leo to tow the van inside.

Donnie surveyed the damage on his baby. He was mumbling to himself the list of things that needed to tweaked, fixed and replaced. As he did this, the rest of the brothers went to check on their captive.  
"Good, he's still there," Leo sighed in relief.

"Well yeah! Where did you expect him to go?" Raph asked, "He is crushed into the dashboard like freshly pressed laundry."

"But we don't wear clothes," Mikey pointed out.

"Do I have to bring up the tighty whiteys?" Raph glanced to his annoyed little brother.

"What?" Leo looked to both of them for an explanation.

"Today is not that day for that story." Mikey smiled at his and Raph's inside joke.

"Ooookaaay…" Leo didn't get the joke, but decided to let it go.

"Alright," Raph told the Kraang, who was watching the group curiously, "you will tell us where the rest of our clones were taken!"

"Kraang will never tell what Kraang did with those known as 'Kraang's secret weapon'."

"I'd tell the guy where they are," Leo crossed his arms, "It would be a shame for your suit to get anymore damaged."

Raph raised a sai to the Kraang droid's robot face, "Enough said."

"Destroying Kraang's suit will only result in Kraang obtaining a shinier new one."

"That is true but it's my guess that if I was to stab the squishy pink surprise in your belly, you wouldn't get a new one." Raph lowered his sai in order to show the threat was real.

"Kraang sees the turtle's point. Kraang will download the coordinates in the prehistoric machine known as a cellular device." a slot that resembled a USB import opened on the side of the Kraang's head.

"Fine, but don't try anything! My T-phone is encrypted," Donnie plugged his phone into the slot.

Numbers and codes began showing on the screen. The Kraang finished with a computer robot noise.

"Now Kraang has finished, you will let Kraang go," The droid ordered.

"Woah-ho, not so fast bucket brain," Raph mocked, "For all we know those coordinates lead to the wrong place!"

"Good point Raph," Leo looked to him, then the alien, "But what are we going to do with him while we check it out?"

"Well I say the A team goes and checks it out while the A- team stays here with the squishy brain thing," Raph suggests.

"Hey," Donnie looked offended, "I thought we were over that! Besides, who's the one with the coordinates?" He waved the phone back and forth.

Raph snatched it quick, "Me! Let's go Leo!"

"Raph? Can you read coordinates?" Leo asked.

"Oh course I…" he looked at the complicated set of codes and numbers. He cleared his throat, "That's what I meant...the new and improved A team, me and Donnie, will go."

"Please just try and say Donnie and I for once. It's proper English," Donnie coaxed.

"Yeah, but that would be putting your name first," said Raph.

"Okay, okay guys, this is what we are going to do," Leo began reciting his plan, "I will let you and Donnie go check out the coordinates...IF...you call me and Mikey to join you when you find the newest hideout."

"Mikey and I!" Donnie corrected.

"Whatever! Come on Don, let's go!" Raph was almost dragging Donnie out by his shell.

"Remember to call us!" Leo warned

"And if the cooperates aren't right, pick up a pizza!" Mikey called.

"Co...or...din...ates. Coordinates," Leo moaned.

"Whatever bro, as long as we get a pizza," Mikey shrugged.

* * *

Raph and Donnie raced along rooftops. Donnie once again had his T-phone. They were following the coded instructions given by the Kraang.

Raph was just following Don since he had no idea where to go, "Are we almost there? Where are we going anyway?"

"I'm not really sure," Donnie confessed, "It doesn't give me the final coordinates, just which direction to go."

"Well that's convenient," Raph growled.

"Now it is saying...this way!" Donnie made a sharp right, leaving Raph sliding on one foot trying to turn so suddenly. He ended up grabbing a TV antenna to thrust himself around in Donnie's direction. It broke off. A shout from inside the building could be heard. Apparently they had missed the best part of a very important hockey game. A masked figure stormed out of the roof entrance. "Who's out here?!"

"Relax Case, it's just me," Raph stepped out of the shadows with a smirk. He had hid after hearing the shouts, "I gotta go though, I'm losing Donnie." Raph took off only to be followed by Casey Jones.

"Great, a tag along?" Donnie complained after seeing Casey when the two rebellious teens had caught up to him. Why did it have to be Casey? It should have been April, that would've been fine with him. But to Don, Casey was the exact opposite of fine. He knew that April need a human friend, but why someone that was so much like Raph?

"What? He followed me," Raph shrugged.

"Hey, I've proven myself worthy by now haven't I?" Casey was offended.

"Sure, why not? That's exactly what we need on our stealth mission," stated Donnie sarcastically, "Two hotheads to put us in danger."

"So, what's the plan? Where are we headed this time?" Jones questioned.

"Top secret," Donnie mumbled.

"To find where the Kraang are keeping the rest of our clones," Raph answered.

"Cool," Casey replied, "Where's your bros?"

"Back at a warehouse, keeping an eye on our Kraang captive."

"Shhh," Donnie shushed them, "I think we are almost there."

* * *

"Okay, truth or dare?"

"Mikey, we are on a mission," Leonardo explained, "Stop getting distracted."

"But Leo, we have been waiting for hours!" Mikey laid with his feet propped against the wall, clearly bored out of his mind.

"It's been twenty minutes, and I said no more, I'm not playing with you!"

"Fine," Mikey grumbled. "Hey Kraang, Truth or Dare?"

"Kraang will not play such childish games with the one known as Michelangelo."

"Then why don't you ask me then?"

"Kraang asks truth or dare?"

"Dare!"

"Kraang dares Michelangelo to set Kraang free."

"No way man! You'll run away," Mikey laughed.

"Kraang promises from the recesses of Kraang's mind that Kraang will not run away. Kraang is enjoying playing the game known as truth or dare," if a Kraang droid could sound sarcastic this one would take the cake.

"Okay! That's enough! You're not getting free, and Mikey...," Leo turned to his younger brother, "Stop talking to our prisoner!"

* * *

Donatello, Raphael, and Casey Jones crouched on a rooftop.

"The end of the Kraang's instructions end in the alley below," Donnie told the two others present.

"Then let's go check it out," Raph jumped to the fire escape.

"Right behind ya!" Casey called, "Let's go Einstein!"

"No way hockey puck! Raph, Leo said to call him first!" Donnie replied.

"Leo said to check it out, " Raph glared, "That's just what I'm going to do! If the Kraang lied, and the instructions lead us to nothing, they will be the first ones to know."

Donnie weighed his options, then gave in, "Mmmmm, fine…"

Donnie landed behind Casey in the alley.

"Donnie, there's nothing here!" Raph growled.

"Well great! This is where the coordinates lead to," Donnie checked his T-phone one last time.

"That Kraang is gonna pay," Raph pounded his fist.

"Well wait a minute," Donnie thought for a bit, "Remember Metalhead and the port-a-potty?"

"Yeah so," Raph replied.

"No," Casey shrugged when two ninjas glared at him.

"What if they hid the clones in another dimension again?" Donnie continued.

"Dimensions, got it!" Casey was now on track.

"Anyway!...If it as big of operation that they were running in the warehouse, krang are bound to show up anytime." Don finished.

"So what? Are we supposed to sit and wait for them?" Right on Raph's cue, a portal opened in the middle of the alley in front of them. Both ninja brothers jumped to the side, but Casey just stood there until Raph dragged him into the shadows.

A puff of green gas started pouring out of the portal followed by three Kraang droids in human suits. The turtles let them pass, and Raph held Casey back. Once the portal had closed, and the Kraangs had left, the three teens regrouped.

"We can't go in there!" Donnie pointed to where the portal once was.

"Why?" Jones mindlessly asked.

"Because we can't breath that gas dork," Raph smacked Casey in the back of the head.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Mikey isn't here to smack," Raph shrugged.

"Well we need to get back to Leo and Mikey and tell them what is going on." Donnie interrupted.


	7. Chapter 7

Master Splinter in the dojo deep in meditation. He disliked going to bed before he knew his sons were home safe. They had been gone for a while but this was usual, especially when his eldest used the free time outside for extra training. He was very proud of all of them and what they had accomplished, but he stilled worried none-the-less.

A quiet pitter-patter of shuffling feet found it's way into Splinter's awareness. He waited until he heard the shuffling take place in front of him to open his eyes. Sitting before him was a groggy-eyed Ruben who starred mostly at the ground.

"What is troubling you my son?" The child flinched at Splinter calling Ruben his own son. Splinter knew it had only been a short while since the children had arrived, but he already felt attached to them. They were his new adopted children whether they wanted to be or not. There was no where else for them to go, so this was their home now.

Ruben looked up, only to have his gazed returned with kindness and understanding in place of his own frustration. "S...Sensei? May I talk to you about something?" Ruben tested.

"We may discuss anything you would like. You have only to ask."

"You see...I'm scared that I don't belong here. Jacob isn't old enough to remember stuff that happened, and Christine has already forgotten most Kraang memories. I don't see how I will be able to get past it. I remember...too much."

Splinter listened closely to every word Ruben spoke, all the while stroking his beard, "I see you have put much thought into this. What is you plan to do?"

Ruben become aware of the fact that he hadn't. Where did he plan on going? To find his own little cozy spot in the sewers alone? "I actually haven't. I'm sorry if you are disappointed. It's just...the nightmares...they are getting worse."

This was the first Splinter had heard of nightmares from Ruben. The rat master was a little surprised by it. He knew that Michelangelo occasionally had them, but Ruben had not mentioned them ever before. "What takes place in these nightmares of yours?"

Ruben shuttered while remembering. Most of them he had blocked out and forced himself to forget, but others proved stubborn. "A lot of Kraang experiments," he puffed out.

Splinter had known of what the poor child had gone through when in captivity. He hated not being able to take these memories away from his vulnerable son. "You must not dwell on this past. It may have been your origin, but will no longer be your life in the future. Here I want to make your life as comfortable as possible. You belong here just as much as my older sons, and have every right to be here, as do Christine and Jacob," he added, "you may discuss anything with me Ruben."

"Thank you sensei," it seemed more fitting to say after Splinter's reassurance. He yawned greatly after barely have any well rested sleep.

"I am very proud that you have chosen to come and talk to me. Now I believe it is time to usher you off to bed." Splinter stood and began leading Ruben out of the dojo and back to his cot, now set up in Raph's room. There was no resistance, but the quite exhausted young turtle was finding it too hard to walk straight. Splinter chuckled and picked up the sleepy youngster; he carried him the rest of the way. He never realized how much he missed his son's younger years. They had their ups and downs, but now his highly skilled ninja students were quite codependent, if not independent.

"If you are truly mostly Raphael's clone, as I have heard, you may not feel like discussing certain things. Do not hold feelings in as he does. They will fester and cause anger that is seen often in Rafael."

-!Transition!-

Donatello, Raphael, and Casey Jones all trudge in through the unfixed hole in the side of the warehouse.

"Hey, I thought I told you to call." Leo said, confused upon their entry.

"Well," Donnie explained, "we may have a small, but fixable, problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Just get to the point Donnie! The clones are being kept in another dimension where the Kraang's atmosphere will be impossible to breath," Raph blurted.

"I was getting to that!" Donnie snapped.

"Guys!" Leo yelled at the two who were fighting, "Don, how do we get in? What are we going to do about the gas?" Then Leo noticed their new arrival Casey, "And how did he get here?"

"We are going to need to wait for Kraang to exit the portal to be able to enter. The Kraang atmosphere is easily overcomable, I will fix us up with gas masks. Oh, and we bumped into Raph's second clone on a rooftop after Raph broke Casey's TV antenna."

"We get gas masks?" Mikey asked "Oh! We will call them…"

"I'm calling them…" Donnie interrupted, "reptile respirators!"

"No dude, just no…" Mikey shook his head, "Now it has been ruined, we have to call them gas masks now!" He whined.

"That is fine with me," Leo rolled his eyes.

"But it makes sense! We are reptiles, they are respirators," Don insisted.

Raphael face palmed, "That sounds worse than one of Leo's hero war cries!"

"Kraang has a suggestion for those known as the turtles and the inferior vigilante."

"What now?!" Leo turned to the incredibly smashed Kraang droid.

"Kraang wishes for the turtles and the inferior vigilante to allow Kraang to take you all hostage as prisoners so Kraang won't be reprimanded for revealing Kraang's dimensional portal location."

"What?! No way! Your an idiot if you think that's a…" Raph started.

"Good idea," Leo finished.

"Wait what?" Leo's interruption made Raph lose his train of thought.

"Everyone huddle up," Leo demanded. After all were present in the huddle, Leo continued, "Think about it Raph. If we were to let the Kraang take us into the portal, we wouldn't need to wait for it to open again. Also this alien droid can get us farther in without suspicion."

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth Leo," Raph harshly whispered.

"You may never hear me say this again, but I agree with Raph," stated Donnie, "We won't be able to breath in that dimension! And who knows if that will be the dimension the Kraang will bring us to anyway. He may take us to their leader!"

"And the breathing problem?" Raph crossed his arms.

"Okay, we get him to open the dimensional portal, take him out, put on the gas masks, and destroy the clones…"

"Leo...how…?" Donnie started to ask.

"I was getting to that!" Leo grumbled, "We need to shut down those pods down. It may cut off their air supply."

"You want to suffocate them?!" Mikey protested.

"Well, that would be much more humane than a giant explosion." Leo defended.

"That would be cooler." Raph pointed out.

"Raphael!" Leo scolded.

"What?" Raph shrugged, "If it were me, I'd want to go down in a cool way."

"Yeah, like...in battle, or eaten!" Casey joined in.

"Like the times you almost got eaten by a rat, then a worm?" Donnie teased.

"A space worm!"

By now, Kraang was trying to listen in, but was not catching anything but, "A space worm!"

"But Leo! They are like us. How would you feel if it was us out to destroy you?" Mikey whined.

"It's not the same Mikey," Leo melted under Mikey's saddened gaze. He put a hand on the disappointed turtle's shoulder, "They are being train to kill us. If we let them to grow any older, their sheer numbers will overwhelm us."

"It's us or them Mikey," Donnie agreed.

"And what will they have after they destroy us?" Leo reasoned, "The Kraang will have no need of them then. They will either enslave or destroy what is left of them."

"What's left of them?" Mikey asked.

"We're not going down without a fight either," Raph smirked.


	8. Chapter 8

"Wait a minute," Donnie left the huddle to look over the Kraang droid, "how is he going to take us prisoner when he can't even free himself?" He motioned with both hands.

"Well, let's pull 'im out!" Raph suggested. With that him and Mikey both grabbed an arm and pulled. To gain better leverage, Mikey brought one foot up against the van. When the destroyed droid still didn't budge, he lifted his other foot up. With both feet resting on the van Mikey tugged as hard as he could. This only resulted in the arm flying off taking Mikey with it.

"Owww," Mikey rubbed the back of his head with the robot hand. He soon realized what he was doing, and threw the hand in a very girly fashion. "Ew!" He squealed as he chucked the bot arm across the warehouse. All eyes followed it as it landed on the other side. It twitched, then lay still.

"Well this isn't going to work," Raph growled and threw down his arm that he was still pulling on.

"Hmm," Leo tapped his chin.

"What are you thinking Leo?" Donnie asked.

* * *

"This...is a horrible idea!" Donnie shouted as the Shell Raiser made it's way down the street, making the very audible sounds of a vehicle on it's last leg. Behind it was the crushed krang van that, once again, was being towed.

"You said it yourself Donnie. The only way to get him out is for us to take him back to the lair so you could use your tools to dislodge him," Leo explained, "and you thoroughly checked the van to see if it had any tracking bugs already."

"But I didn't mean for us to actually do it!" Donnie argued.

"I can't believe you talked us into this Leo!" Raph joined, "What if he is able to track our position with his suit? What if he leads the other Kraang brains back to the lair?"

"He won't be able to track our whereabouts if it isn't programed into his suit. He's just a navigator bot. That's why he was in the passenger seat," said Donnie, "But what is Master Splinter going to think when we bring him back?"

"He doesn't have to know, does he?" asked Mikey.

"Mikey, he's going to see a crushed white Kraang van being pulled behind the Shellraiser!" Raph gestured with both hands to the back of the armored vehicle, indicating the van.

"We could disguise it! Make it look like the Shellraiser got longer!"

Raph made a pained sigh, as if it literally hurt to hear Mikey when he got this idea.

"If he finds out, we'll tell him the truth. This Kraang may be our only lead to making our way through the Kraang portal." Leo explained.

* * *

Splinter's ears perked at the sound of familiar footsteps entering the lair. He stood and entered the living area only to find the noise coming from Donatello's lab.

Commotion in the next room startled Ruben awake. He quickly looked to Raph's bed, only to see it still empty. Walking into the living area, he rubbed his eyes. He looked towards the dojo to see Master Splinter looking towards the lab.

Both young turtle and master watched as Donnie rushed around the lab gathering tools and other supplies. The others also stood and watched.

"Raph, grab my blowtorch from the table," Don instructed.

"My sons! What is the meaning of this?" Splinter demanded to know. Before he could fully enter, Leo stepped in front. Splinter looked toward the open garage door. "Whose vehicle is that being towed by yours?"

"You see," Leo cleared his throat, "It's a Kraang van."

Ruben gasped and reached for Splinter's robe. When Splinter looked down at the slightly shaken turtle, he quickly released his grip and looked at the ground. Splinter placed a hand on Ruben's shoulder to reassure him that everything was fine.

"And why is it so close to our home?" Splinter slightly grumbled.

"So that we can free the Kraang droid that's inside," Leo flinched defensively knowing it was the wrong thing to say, "But for a good reason!" Leo looked away from his father's enraged eyes. Ruben left to go to Raph's side.

"Explain!" The rat master growled.

"He is going to lead us through the portal that will take us to the rest of the clones."

"I thought April was going to use the Kraang communicator to track their whereabouts," Splinter raised an eyebrow.

"We thought that she might not be able to handle us destroying the rest of the clones since she has become so close to these ones." Leo spoke in a hushed tone.

Donatello rifled through more tools before finally deciding on one, and placing it on the table.

"Surely Leonardo, you have a plan?" Splinter asked skeptically.

"Yeah, yeah. He's got a plan alright. One that will probably get us killed," Raph snorted, before realizing the look of horror pasted on Ruben's face, "Um, I mean...home safely?"

Donnie rolled his eyes as he placed the last item, needed for creating five gas masks, onto the table.

"It is much too late for this my sons," Splinter voiced to all present,"You will continue your work in the morning."

"But sensei!" All teens whined in unison.

"Unless you all would like to stay up and train your ninja skills for the remainder of the night," Splinter suggested.

"Is it that late already?" "Oh, I'm tired." "Yeah, I'm off to bed." "See you in the morning!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the last chapter! It was rushed and no matter how much I changed it around, I couldn't get it to where it pleased me! This one pleases me though! It's long and I love how it turned out!**

**Somehow I messed up the spacing, but I can't figure out how to fix it, so it stays.**

**Comment, favorite, and enjoy!**

* * *

Ruben couldn't sleep, after hearing what Raph had said about going to find the Kraang, he was very worried. He thought of Raph as his older brother. He looked up to him. What if the Kraang captured him? Or any of the older turtles for that matter?! He liked Raph the most because Raph understood him, but even so, he couldn't handle losing any of his new older brothers. Yes, they were his older brothers now. There was no doubt in his mind at this point. He could see the care they held for the three clones. There was no way he could let them become captured and tortured the way he was.

Ruben finally looked over, squinting in the dark room. What he saw was Raph; sleeping on his side, shell facing Ruben. The young turtle sighed deeply. Was there anything he could do?

* * *

All members of the clan woke up early the next morning, despite the overwhelming pull of exhaustion from the four teens and Ruben. Mikey sat with Jacob at the island table, carefully avoiding the mess being thrown about the room by the young tot. Christine was sitting alone at the table, scooping small bites of the instant oatmeal she had come to love steadily into her mouth. Leo had made his way to the dojo to discuss his plan with Master Splinter. Ruben was punching the practice dummy, while Raph observed his stance and form. Casey had spent the night on the couch, as to not be left out of this mission. Donnie was analyzing the mutagen blob under a microscope.

"Master Splinter?" Leo asked, "Do you agree with my plan?"

"If you already know where the portal is located, I see not why you would need the extra Kraang in our home." Splinter pointed at the wall, in the direction of Donnie's lab, "It would have been much less of a threat to our safety to have just left the van where it crashed."

"Sensei, there were police on their way. Leaving him would expose the Kraang to the human world. I just don't think they are ready for that big of a shock yet."

Splinter took in a deep breath. He let it escape in the form of a long sigh.

"You told us long ago that the human world wasn't ready for us. What will they think when they find out an entire race of aliens from another dimension is trying to take over and inhabit our world?"

"I see your point Leonardo. But everyday we find out how accepting the humans can be of our mutated forms."

"Only because those who are accepting have gotten to know us!"

"Leonardo! You have my permission to proceed with this mission once night has fallen. Now I must meditate in order to clear my thoughts."

"Hai sensei." With that, Leo left his master to his meditation.

* * *

After the three in the kitchen had finished with their breakfast, Mikey decided that Jacob was in desperate need of a bath.

"Alright Jakey! It is definitely time to wash off all those cereal pieces."

Mikey brought the tot over to the kitchen sink, knowing that a bubble bath may turn disastrous. He lifted him up and over the edge of the sink to set him in. Thinking it over, he decided that he should test the water before potentially freezing the child. Placing the still dry tot on the counter instead, he turned on the water.

Christine watched curiously as Mikey turned on the water. After seeing the liquid spout from the pipe, she ducked down below the island.

Leo entered at the moment her head ducked and moved swiftly to catch the clattering oatmeal bowl headed for the floor. After adjusting how it was placed on the counter, he went over to the trembling child who was in an obvious state of distress; shaking violently with arms crossed over her knees, and showing not a hint of her crystal eyes.

He grasped her hand and asked, "What's the matter?"

Mikey noticed Leo leaned over beside the island, but was at the wrong angle to be able to see what he was doing. He turned off the water that was pre-tested and ready to go, and placed the fascinated brown-eyed tot in the lower leveled sink.

"The liquid," Christy whispered, "I don't want to sleep and grow anymore."

"Chris, I won't allow anyone to put you to sleep. The sink won't create the same liquid you are used to. Watch." Leo walked over to the sink and rubbed little Jake's bald head, "Show her Mikey."

Mikey realized what the issue had been, and quickly turned the sick back on, but not as fast as before. Lukewarm water trickled out and Mikey cupped as much as he could in his hands. He gently poured the liquid over Jacobs shell. As he did this Christine looked away and flinched. She slightly turned back her attention for a moment and realized that nothing had happened to Jacob, and he was just as cheerful as ever. She watched with renewed curiosity.

Leo smiled and went over to her once more. This time, he touched her smaller three-finger hand with his. She responded by grasping his hand for him to lead her over to the sink. He lifted her up to feel the continuous water stream. She hesitated again at first, but soon fought her fear away to reach out and grasp at the water. Turning her hand over and back to see all the effects of the water, she giggled. Forgetting all about her fear she brought another hand in to play in the steaming liquid.

"Alright, lets leave Jacob to his bath, and Mikey to the fun of washing him." Leo picked Christine up and set her on the floor. He grabbed her a hand towel to dry her hands with.

Together they exited the kitchen. Leo set her by the couch to watch T.V. with Casey, while he went to check on things with Donnie.

Upon entering the lab, Leo noticed two things: Donnie was messing with a blob of mutagen, and was not working on creating the gas masks he knew he had asked him to do earlier.

"Donnie! What are you doing? I asked you to finish the gas masks!" Leo complained.

"Alright, alright already! Leo, there is something about this glob of goo that is driving me crazy, and I can't place my finger on it."

"Of course you can't. You don't know what that stuff would do to you."

"No, not an actual finger. I can't figure out why this blob is so different from all the other experiments I have done with the mutagen."

"It doesn't matter right now! Just finish the masks, okay?"

"Fine." Donnie placed a protective covering over the beaker, but the small amount he was using was left under the microscope. He walked over to the packed bag, full of supplies ready to make the masks.

* * *

The boys decided that it was best to wait until it was almost time to go to free the Kraang droid from the van. Night was on it's way, and the ninja group were almost ready to go. Donnie made one last tweak to the final respirator, and placed it in a duffel bag.

"Okay Donnie, time to free the alien," Leo ordered.

"Does the stupid droid still think he is going to take us prisoner?" Raph interrogated.

"I haven't seen it this morning, so I do not know."

Mikey and Casey creeped over to the passenger side of the van.

"Is it the time in which Kraang will take the prisoners to the portal?"

Mikey peeked around the van, "Yeah he still thinks we are prisoners!" He called.

"Shhhh!" "Mikey! "Dude!" His brothers scolded.

"Oh. Sorry, I mean, he is ready to be free and take us prisoner as planned," Mikey performed and gave a thumbs up.

Donnie looked at Leo, "Well there's something you don't hear everyday."

Leo raised an eyebrow, "That a Kraang wants to take us prisoner?"

"No, that Mikey knows the plan," Donnie stated. He then proceeded in using an electric metal cutter to chop through the heavy van material to free the alien. The saw worked effectively, and the Kraang droid was free to roam in only about ten minutes.

Once the Kraang was completely freed, he stepped out of the vehicle on shaky robot legs. This was futile, since not two seconds later the robot suit clattered to the ground in a heap of metal. Not one part of his armor would ever work properly again it seemed.

"Well that's unfortunate," Raph snickered as he examined the pile of shredded robot parts, "Get a little crazy there with the saw?"

"No! I didn't do this!" Donnie defended, "It must have even more damaged than I had realized, but it came from the crash!"

"Sure it did," Raph looked down to see movement under the heap, "Ah crud. Leo, what're we supposed to do with mister 'squee' now?"

"Don't let him escape!" Leo ordered.

"Let's do this Casey Jones style!" Casey finally spoke and cracked his neck, ready for the brain to pop out of the pile. When it finally emerged, it tried to make a quick escape.

"Squee! Squee!"

"Oh no you don't!" Raph and Casey both said together as they leaped for the Kraang. The effect of them both jumping at the creature resulted in a crash of heads.

"Watch it!" Raph growled.

"Hey! You watch it!" Casey snapped back.

"Alien on the loose!" Mikey screamed. He too jumped at it, but he missed as well, crossing his arms over nothing in the air. Ruben made a mad dash to help as well. Splinter made no move to help at all; he only watch in amusement at the chaos unfolding in their home.

The victor came to be Donnie however. He had used a volley of shurikens to cage the creature, leaving no room for escape. "Gotcha!"

"Nice Don!" Leo praised. He set down the large crate over the Kraang. Splinter had used that same crate to capture a smaller version of a squirrelanoid.

"Well there goes that plan," Jones stood up from his panting.

"What are we supposed to do with it now?!" Donnie struggled in keeping his bo staff firmly on top of the crate, since the Krang was ramming the sides. He was careful not to step on the mess of shurikens scattered around the outside of the box. After a little more struggling, he finally decided it was best to just sit on the box. When the crate was still almost toppling, Mikey joined him. He then proceeded in picking the shurikens, and handing them back to Donnie.

"I've got a a few ideas," Raph pounded one fist into the other. The Kraang visibly scrambled back to hit the far side of the crate away from Raph.

"Knock it off Raph," Leo intervened. "We can just take him along with us and set him free in his own dimension."

"It's no wild animal Leo! Let's take it out now that we've got the chance!"

"Raph! There is no honor in killing a helpless creature."

"No honor?! It would try to kill us the first chance he'd get!"

"Remember the purple dragon who helped me out after I had shown mercy to him!"

"The Krang will show no mercy! They never have! They take what they want with no remorse! They want our planet and will do anything in order to get it."

"...Raph…," whispered a small voice.

Raph's mood suddenly changed when he realized who had spoken. "I'm sorry kiddo, I'll stop."

Ruben wrapped shaking fingers around Raph's much larger hand. Everyone stared in awe at the unusual behavior of the hot-head. Raph kneeled down, eye level with the child, and smiled.

"Dude, you feeling alright bro?" Mikey asked concerned.

"I'm fine. I don't want to yell in front of the kid…"

Leo broke the awkward silence that followed, "Well, we should be going. Donnie, do you have some sort of dog crate?"

"Now, why on earth would I have a dog crate?" Donnie and Mikey were still struggling to contain the Kraang.

"You like an evil scientist right?" Casey began, "Shouldn't you collect lab animals or somethin'?"

"Jones if I were evil, I wouldn't be risking my life to go and save the world again for like the hundredth time!" Donnie's voice rose in volume as he spoke.

"We could use the rope from our grappling hooks," Mikey suggested, then Raph evilly stared at the Kraang who soon sgueed in surprise.

* * *

It took only a couple minutes to get the ropes, tie up the Kraang, and load him in the somewhat repaired Shell Raiser.

"Can this death trap hold us Donnie?" Raph cautiously stepped inside, "It looks about ready to fall apart if you ask me!"

"Um, well...nothing. I'm sure it's fine," Don replied.

"How come I don't find that reassuring?"

"Well that seems to be everything," Leo interrupted, "Gas masks?"

"Check!" Mikey called.

"Interdimensional alien?"

"Check check!"

"Explosives?...just in case?"

"Che...uh, I don't know. Donnie?"

"Check, check, aaaand check." Donnie loaded a medium sized duffel bag into the subway car.

"Be safe my sons! Oh, and Mr. Jones as well," Master Splinter called as the Shell Raiser started up.

"Hai sensei!" Each called in turn.

"Sure thing Master Splinter dude!" Casey replied, then the car took off down the subway tracks towards the surface. Splinter heard a crash from the other room and followed the sound to the culprit.

Reaching the surface, the armored vehicle made it's way to the portal. Not one teen turtle, or street vigilante, noticed the hidden child, stowed away in the back of the Shell Raiser.

* * *

**Thank you for reading!**

**Answer to previous trivia: A week and a half! **

**New Trivia question: How many turtle clones are supposed to be in the Kraang's possession?**

**Comment Question for readers: What is your favorite pairing, as in turtle teen/turtle child (clone), in my story? [Ex. Don/none]/**


	10. Chapter 10

**Short, cute, sweet, aaaaaaand...well you'll see :)**

**Comment, favorite, and enjoy!**

* * *

Master Splinter entered the living area to investigate the loud crash that he had heard. What he saw was: one turtle tot tucked in her shell, and one excited turtle tot clinging to the broken shards of a water glass that must have been left in the main living area. He sprinted over in hopes of preventing any cuts.

Jacob let out a small cry, and whimpered at the small self inflicted puncture from the glass. Splinter gently pulled the shard away from the child and placed it out of reach. Scooping Jake up, he brought him over to the couch and set him beside the shell of Christine.

"My child, there is nothing to fear," Splinter rubbed soothing circles over her shell, "I will be back soon; I must tend to your brother's hand. Please do not touch the glass, stay right here."

Master Splinter brought Jake into the recently vacated lab for medical supplies. Finding the right size bandage, he covered the barely visible scrape with two of the rubber adhesive strips. He once again picked him up, and returned Jacob to the couch with Christine, who had come out her shell. She nervously rocked while holding her knees, one knuckle pressed against her teeth.

"Now Christine, I have a very important job for you," Splinter offered. Her gaze shot to his eyes, "I need you to watch Jacob for a couple minutes. Can you keep him on the couch for me."

She viciously nodded in response.

"Very well," he smiled at her, "Make sure that he does not play with the bandage on his hand." Splinter gently tugged at the child's other wrist that was already making its way over to mess with it. He motioned to the two band-aids, and told her he would be right back.

When retrieving the broom and dust pan he could hear gentle scolding coming from the other room. Not wishing to disturb the lecture, and wanting to listen in, he carefully peeked through the kitchen's curtain.

"I said no," she whispered, "Sensei says for you not to pick at it."

There were the sure signs of a pout in his face, but he did not touch the bandages. At least, not until Christine looked away to the direction that Splinter had exited, Splinter had already ducked away, not wanting to be spotted. Jacob quietly reached his opposite hand over again to take the band-aid off, but he had little luck. Christine snatched his hand again. Catching him off guard, he let out a yelp, and tried to pull away. The young girl held fast, a frown etched into her face.

"Please stop!" She scolded again, getting quite irritated, "No means no!"

Splinter let out a small chuckle. This reminded him so much of Leo, and how his younger siblings never listened either. He decided the poor girl needed a break from watching Jacob, so he entered to clean the mess the child had made.

* * *

The Shell Raiser was parked in an alley near the portal. Leonardo was first to check if the coast was clear, and stepped out. He ushered the rest of the teens up the fire escape and across the roof. Down below in the next alley was where the portal was located.

Raph was the one carrying the Kraang. He dropped him next to the edge.

"Now what?" Raph asked.

"You know what, we have to wait for the portal to open," Leo explained once again.

"I know. I was seeing if you came up with a better plan on the way here," Raph scoffed.

"Do you guys ever give it a rest?!" Casey asked.

"Dude, they go at this non-stop," Mikey responded.

Donnie shushed them, "Do you guys hear something?"

Three Kraang finally exited the portal, all in morphsuits, none with weapons.

"Well this should be easy," Raph chuckled.

Six more Kraang followed, all armed.

"And, you were saying?" Said Donnie, with an 'unamused' expression.

"Shut up," Raph twirled his sais and lept off the roof, down into the alley.

The short battle began with Raph stabbing straight through a Kraang droids head with both sais. He twisted as he landed, flinging the bot into two approaching Kraang. Three down, six to go. Mikey took out the next one with a nunchuck to the gut, which just so happened to be the Kraangs actual face. It squealed and fell to the side. Casey hit two more with a baseball bat. Donnie knocked another off it's feet with a swing of his bo staff. The last two looked at each other and ran, only to be caught by the last to join the party: Leo. He stabbed two katanas, one into each robot chest.

"Mikey, go grab the Kraang from the roof. Don, get the masks ready. Casey, Raph? Stay alert for more Kraang exiting the portal," Leo ordered, each teen nodded in turn as their name was called, all except Raph who crossed his arms.

"And what will you do fearless?"  
Leo rolled his eyes; he really did hate that nickname, "I'm going to help Donnie pass out the masks. Any other time consuming questions?"

Raph grunted, and everyone took off to do what was asked. Leo began handing out the prepared respirators as Donnie made sure they were all strapped correctly. After the Kraang was checked, explosives double checked, and all masks were triple checked, the teen boys finally made their way through the gas spilling portal.

Many Kraang droids were visible once inside. The ninjas, and Casey, ducked down behind more crates so as not to be seen.

Leo surveyed the scene. He noticed that the set up here was not the same as it had been in the warehouse. Yes, there were clones in large cylinder containers, but they were scattered and randomized, unlike the neat rows they were once in. This proved to be problematic, for they could not see a control panel. The ceiling was much lower as well. It was low enough so that the tops of the containers were connected to the roof and the floor. This meant that running atop the containers was not an option this time.

"Donnie, do you see a control panel?" Leo whispered.

"Not a chance with all these containers blocking our view."

"Some view," Raph snorted.

"Come on already! Let's kick some Kraang butt!" Casey quietly urged.

"There are too many of them," Leo pointed out, "We would get creamed!"

"Yeah!" Mikey joined, "And not the delicious whipped kind!"

"Whipped cream?" Donnie asked.

"Bro, you have not lived," Mikey stated.

At the entrance of the portal, a strange noise was heard. At first it didn't catch their attention, but it got louder. Coughing, wheezing and other sounds of a creature trying to breath could be heard at that point.

Raph was the first to look, "No…"

The Kraang began to notice too. All weapons turned to face the small child that wandered in through the portal.

"RUBEN!"

* * *

**AHHHH! I'm sorry! The cute part was cute right? The next chapter shouldn't take too awful long. I'm trying my best to update as fast as I can.**

**Nickelodeon owns TMNT, not me unfortunately.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I would like to place a warning: there will be blood in this chapter. I know, I said I wanted to keep it like the show, but I couldn't resist! Don't hate me, because I love you! Please review! I would really like to know how I did on this one!**

**Okay...STORY TIME! We are going back a little ways before Ruben enters the portal.**

* * *

It was easy for Ruben to open the subway car doors, but climbing up the fire escape to follow his brothers? That was a whole different story! One ladder rung after the other. He decided it was best not to look down. He got to the first floor's platform and was already worn out. How was he going to be able to keep anything from happening to Raph if he was this weak?

He finally got up to the roof. The sounds of clashing metal, and the beginnings of a fight were brought to his attention. He got quite worried, especially after the noise subsided, and it got very quiet. What if he was too late?! Rushing over to the roof's edge, he peered over the side. Nine Kraang lay sprawled in the alley, not turtles. They were okay for the time being. Ruben now noticed the portal. It was open! They were going to enter! He paid no attention to the green gas spilling out of the portal, or the masks that they put on. All he could think about were that his brothers, and Casey, were going into that dimension, and what could happen to them if they were to get caught.

Gathering up his wits, he clammered down the next fire escape after them. He sprinted straight for the portal without a second thought.

He barely got one step inside before his lungs filled with the foreign air. He coughed in order to expel it, but the damage was done. He tried to breathe again, but there was no oxygen to inhale! Ruben hardly noticed the far off voice screaming his newer name. He was wheezing and coughing, and before he knew what was happening, he was falling. Vision going black, everything going numb.

* * *

"NO! RUBEN!" Raph screamed again. His breath was fogging up the gas mask as he screamed and ran, but he didn't care. He took one last breath before ripping off the respirator and cupping it over the collapsing terrapin's own face.

He couldn't feel the sting of the lasers as they grazed his arms and legs. He couldn't feel the impacts as they hit his shell, propelling him forward, out of the portal leading back to New York. All he felt was the panic rising, his arms clutching Ruben, and the regret of not being able to get to him before he had blacked out.

The rest of the boys were right behind Raph. They knew there chance had been blown, but they still had to shield their brother!

Mikey dodged a laser and quickly chucked the tied up Kraang at the others. "Super speedy delivery comin' at ya!" It mowed a couple down, but it did not give him the satisfaction he had hoped for. He was too worried for Raph and Ruben.

Donnie paid close attention to every detail of the assault on Raph. Raph received multiple laser shots to the sides of his legs and shoulders, a few to his arms, but luckily none to his head. He drove forward like an armored vehicle with no brake fluid. Donnie admired this, but knew when the adrenaline subsided, Raph would be out of commision for at least a couple weeks. That was, of course, if they could keep him from any further injuries.

Raph didn't bother going up the fire escape to get to the Shell Raiser on the other side of the apartment building, he went straight for the streets. Luck was again miraculously on his side, for the city that never sleeps, seemed to be quite tranquil at this hour. Casey was right on his tail.

Leo stopped before the alley turned to sidewalk. He carefully checked to see if there was anyone out before waving his brothers forward.

Raph made it to the vehicle and leaned Ruben up against it before he himself collapsed. Casey was there to catch him, and lower him to the ground gently.

Ripping off his gas mask, Donnie was soon there as well to figure out a medical plan. "Oh man, Raph…" Donnie's voice was hushed, as if speaking any louder would cause Raph to wake up from a well needed nap.

Mikey fell to his knees before his injured brother, "Raphie…" He carefully tried to take his gasmask off, but was unable to with his shaking hands.

"How could this happen?!" Casey ripped the respirator off his face, and punched the Shell Raiser in frustration.

Leo sighed, slowly beginning to lose his cool. He gently took off his own mask, placed the smaller cinnamon roll of his fist against the alley wall, and leaned heavily on it. Realization suddenly hit him; they hadn't lost the Kraang! They would be hot on their trail. "We need to get out of here!"

"Casey...I can't believe I'm saying this...come here, I need your help," Donnie half begged.

Without a moments hesitation, Casey was at his side. Together they lifted Raph; Donnie at the armpits, Casey at the legs. Mikey hopped around them nervously, unsure of what to do, but wanting to help. Leo followed cautiously, he carefully reached down to gather up the unconscious form of Ruben. He cradled him in his arms, quickly checking him over, before entering the barely lit subway car.

Inside, Leo carefully handed Ruben over to Mikey. He needed to be able to drive away, and fast!  
Noticing the gas mask still on his younger brother, he gently undid the straps for him. Mikey looked at him with sorrow in his eyes and whispered, "Thanks Leo."

Mikey, used to Jacob's smaller body, was feeling somewhat awkward with the larger child in his arms. However, he took the responsibility head on, knowing full well he had the only hands available at the moment.

Donnie was busy checking and turning Raph in order to prioritize the injuries. There was a particularly nasty wound deep in his shoulder that was emitting a lot of blood. This was placed first on Donnie's list of 'what to mend'. He knew that every cut could possibly be life threatening if not cleaned and wrapped before infection set in. They did live in the sewers for heaven sakes; it wasn't the cleanest place he could think of.

Casey helplessly looked at his best friend. He knew Raph cared for his brothers, just as he cared for his own little sister. But this was different. Ruben was merely a clone of Raph, created by one of his worst enemies, the Kraang! Casey tried to shrug off the blame, Ruben was only a kid, but for some reason, it stayed. He glared over at the child, but came to be looking Mikey right in the eyes. He jerked his head back around, not wanting anyone to know the resentment he had towards Ruben.

Mikey was watching Raph anxiously. Suddenly he saw Casey's head turn towards him. Their eyes met, and before he knew it, Casey turned back around. Had he imagined it? Or did Casey Jones just try and glare at Ruben? Mikey got a tighter, protective grip on the young unconscious turtle. He knew Raph, or anyone else for that matter, wouldn't believe it, but Mikey was getting a nagging feeling that he should keep a close eye on Casey whenever he was near Ruben

* * *

**Drama! It's like 2003 Splinter's soap operas! Oh yes, and Casey Jones in 2012 series does have a little sister; he said so in the beginning of "The Good, the Bad and Casey Jones." It mentions his dad too, but no mother! How sad, but I have this aching feeling his little sister is going to be named Angel :)**

**Review, favorite, and enjoy!**

**If anyone is reading, please review. I really, really need to know if I'm going in the right direction with this story! It's my first, and I'm a bit of a perfectionist! More detail? Less detail? More cute scenes? More action? I appreciate it!**

**Nickelodeon owns TMNT! Not me, unfortunately. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Warning, mention of blood, but nothing too serious. **

* * *

Splinter's ears perked at the roaring sound of the Shell Razor's engine. Surely his sons couldn't be home already! He had just put both Christy and Jacob to bed, and was in the middle of searching form Ruben. He halted this newly started search to see why his students were home so early.

He entered the lab to see Leo step out first, "My sons? How could you be back so soon?" His ears flew back as an all too familiar scent hit his sensitive nose. He could smell blood.

Leo was followed by Mikey, who was carrying Ruben. Splinter held his breath in fear of whom was to follow. Then Donnie and Casey exited, carrying Raph between the two of them.

"Raphael," Splinter rushed to see what would need to be done.

"Donnie, how bad is it?" Leo crowded as Raph was placed on a cot.

"Yes, Donatello, what needs to be done?" Master Splinter asked.

"Just...let me think for a minute," Donnie took a deep breathe and began going over his previous evaluation in a rushed, incomprehensible whisper. "Aright," he began, "he needs stitches bad on his right shoulder, he's got a few deep gashes on his legs, and a lot of other grazes and wounds that need to be cleaned and tended to as soon as possible," Donnie relayed.

"Just tell us what you need," Leo urged.

Don gave instructions for all the medical supplies that he would need for the process of fixing Raph up.

Leo and Donnie both began gently cleaning the wounds. Casey sat in the living room with Mikey and Master Splinter as they checked over the still unconscious Ruben.

"Sensei? Is he going to be okay?" Mikey held his breath.

"Yes Michelangelo, he seems to be fine. He is just unconscious at the moment due to the lack of oxygen in that dimension," Mikey let out the breathe in a long sigh. Splinter sighed as well, but in sadness rather than relief, "Raphael tool all the damage from those alien creatures, the Kraang... Not one single shot hit Ruben," he added.

Casey flinched where he sat in the corner of the room. He should be in there with his friend, but Donnie thought it would be best for him to wait in the living area until Raph was completely treated and bandaged. Also, he didn't want to see his strong, heroic friend passed out on a gurney with blood soaked bandages. He doubted Raph would want Casey to see him that way either.

Mikey stepped back to give Splinter more room to look over Ruben. A sharp pain went through his foot. "OW!" He hopped around on one foot saying "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," then sat on the ground to inspect his foot.

"Michelangelo, what is the matter?" Splinter asked concerned.

"Ow, I think I stepped on something sharp." He turned it slightly to see the bottom of it to discover a small shard of glass protruding out. "It looks like glass!"

"Oh, looks like I missed some," Splinter concluded.

"Sensei?!"

"Well, we cannot all be perfect," he shrugged, "Just ask your little friend who broke the glass."

"I can't get it out! My fingers are too big!" Mikey whined.

"Here let me see," Casey Jones sat down in front of him.

Mikey instinctively pulled his foot closer to his chest and shook his head.

"Come on Mikey, I deal a lot with glass." Mikey raised an eyebrow (Well, where his eyebrow would be). "You guys have thicker skin. When I jump in through warehouse windows, I'm not so lucky," he explained.

Splinter glanced at him with sympathy, but Casey continued with, "It's fine, just let me see your foot. I can help!"

Mikey reluctantly lowered his foot to allow Casey to see.

"Oh, it didn't go that far in," he looked at Mikey with a touch of annoyance. "Here," he then quickly yanked out the shard, and put it on the ground next to him before Mikey could do so much as yelp.

"Ow! Gentle!" Mikey hissed.

"Michelangelo does not do well with pain," Splinter explained.

Casey nodded at him, and walked back the corner where he was previously.

Mikey went to stand, but Splinter stopped him, "Stay put while I retrieve a bandage. The last thing we need is for you to walk around the sewers and get something into that cut."

With a huff Mikey sat back down. He chanced a look Casey's way, but didn't see anger in his eyes. At the moment, it looked like deep regret, until he glanced at Ruben and the familiar anger returned.

Mikey frowned as well, which was a rarity, and felt odd for his face muscles, "Quit it! I don't like the way you look at him."

Casey was startled, but then glared at Mikey, "I ain't lookin' at 'im!" He pointed his large gloved thumb at his chest.

"You are though! It's not his fault," Mikey believed this with all his heart. No one so young would cause all this on purpose. "It's nobody's fault," He finished.

"How would you know?!" Casey growled.

"Because I do," Mikey talked at him, with sass in his voice."

"You don't know anything!" Casey let burst.

Mikey looked hurt, "I know enough not to blame children for things they didn't mean for to happen." He looked down and didn't speak another word to Casey.

"Mikey, I didn't mean...Ah! This is so messed up!" He grabbed his hockey stick and ran out the turnstile entrance.

Master Splinter returned with a bandage for Mikey's foot, "Where is Mr. Jones?"

"He left sensei," Mikey sighed, still hurt from the uncalled for comment on his intelligence.

Splinter looked down towards his normally high-spirited son, and his heart sank. He heard a sniffle coming from the direction of the bedrooms before he could give any words of comfort. Two small turtle tots stood by the practice dummy, watching. Christine had tears rolling down her eyes, but Jacob only stood there, undoubtedly confused.

"Christine, it is late, you should take your younger brother back to bed," Splinter coaxed as gently as possible. She nodded and pulled lightly on Jake's arm, but he shrugged her off as he watched Mikey's face turn to look at them. Seeing the sadness that showed, Jacob ran to Mikey and threw his arms around Mikey's neck. Not expecting the sudden hug, a look of surprise went over his face. Finally coming to, he hugged back, all of his sadness washing away.

At this moment, Splinter felt something. He sensed there was something different about Jacob that he hadn't noticed before. There must be more to this little bundle of energy than what met the eye.  
Jake slowly let go and looked deep into Mikey's eyes, "Mm...key...O...kay?"

"Yes," Mikey smiled, and hugged his again, "Mikey okay."

* * *

**Yay! My little Jakers! I didn't do much editing, so I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes. I just wanted to get this up as soon as possible for you guys! I still have to figure out what I'm doing with these stories. Any ideas for names of sequels?**


	13. Chapter 13

**I tried to upload this like a week ago, but for some reason every time I put this up it turns to code! I don't know how to prevent this, but if anyone knows, could you please inform me?**

**Anyway, if you are reading this, thanks for sticking with me and putting up with my long waiting periods for new chapters. I promise the next one will be up shortly, within the next few days at least :D No month wait this time!**

* * *

When Leo and Donnie finished stitching and cleaning Raph's shoulder, he looked better, but he still hadn't woken up.

"Don, why doesn't he wake up?" Leo asked as calmly as he could manage, "I know! I'll go get Jacob and…"

Master Splinter entered the lab, "Michelangelo is in need of a bandage." He rifled through a drawer for a bit until he found the right size he was searching for. He glanced at Raphael with a sad expression, but turned away and left without another word.

Donnie turned back to Leo, "No, let him rest. Besides, we don't know for sure if Jake's 'powers' are even real," he used air quotes when saying 'powers' for emphasis. "He lost a lot of blood Leo, he needs to rest," Donnie repeated.

"Okay, it's your call. It's just...none of us have been this hurt before," Leo admitted. "I'm scared Don. Real ninjas aren't supposed to get scared."

"You tell Mikey it's okay to be scared all the time," Donnie raised his eyebrow in questioning.

"Well he's...Mikey. I need to be a leader; be the one to show you guys there is nothing to be scared of," Leo protested.

Donnie looked at Leo while shaking his head, "There will always be things to be scared of Leo," He looked away, and back to Raph, "It's just our reality; most everything we come across is against us," he motioned to Raph, "This was bound to happen to one of us sooner or later."

"Not if I was a better leader, I could have...I don't know." Leo through his arms in the air, "How do I prevent him running straight into battle without thinking?"

"That's the thing Leo," Don looked right at him, "You can't. Raph will be Raph. Just like how Mikey will always be Mikey, and I will always be me. You just need to be you," He poked Leo in the chest.

"Thanks Donnie," Leo sat on the lab table. "You know, I'm really starting to like these talks we've been having recently."

"Well, I'm not a therapist; I'm just a turtle who's into science." There was a brief pause before, "Now lets go before we disturb him."

Leo and Donnie stood and exited the lab.

Mikey looked up from his hug with Jacob and straight at Donnie, "He spoke dude, he really talked!" He was so excited he was almost hysterical.

"That's great Mikey! But shouldn't they be in bed?" Donnie asked.

Leo now looked up to see Christine, hiding once time was quite different, however. He noticed the tears coursing down her cheeks. What had happened to make her so upset?

Running over to her, he reached a hand towards Christy, but she backed away in fear at the sudden movements. Leo slowed and stayed where he was. Given a little time she calmed down, and ran to his outstretched arms. She cried into his plastron. He held her close to him, slowly rocking the frightened child. After a while, he picked up and brought her back to bed. He would ask Splinter what had happened.

-!Transition!-

Casey ran; ran from his problems, ran from his fears, and ran from himself. He wasn't skilled ninja. A quiet thought crept through his mind, asking him, was he really that skilled at all? In being Casey Jones, he quickly pushed that thought aside. He could take anyone and everything that came across him. Then why had he ran? He was getting tired. How long had he ran for? He slowed to a stop. He sat along the wall in hopes of catching his breath. He need to break something.

-!Transition!-

April decided to go to the turtle lair pretty early. She knew that they probably wouldn't be back until daylight, that is what Donnie had texted to her. He didn't specify what they were going to do, but she knew it would have to be big if they would be out all night. She headed down the ladder of her usual sewer entrance and began to walk towards the turtle's lair. Down here she could smell the familiar scent of raw sewage, she could hear the familiar sound of running water as well, but there was something else.

"Hello?" She asked, after hearing it again. Glass. It was definitely the sound of glass pieces scattering across the cement sewer walkway. She decided to investigate. Whipping out her Tessen, she stalked towards the opposite tunnel in which she had originally planned to go.

The noise was constant and was getting closer. April peeked around the next corner. The noise had stopped momentarily. Before her stood Casey Jones, surrounded by glass shards that must have been bottles he had found in the sewer. Casey had his baseball bat out and was panting heavily out of fatigue.

"Casey?"

He looked up startled, but did not move from his hunched over position in which he was leaning on the bat. "Oh, April! Hey I was just, uh...practicing?"

"Practicing what Jones?! Giving me a heart attack?!" April put the bladed fan away, "Where are the guys anyway? Why are you here alone?"

"What is this?" Casey panted, "Twenty questions?" He gave a poor attempt at a chuckle, but let it die as he stood straight and answered her questions. "The guys are back at the lair. Raph got real hurt, I said something I probably shouldn't have, and I blame someone that probably doesn't deserve it. So now I'm here…breaking stuff, because that's all I know how to do."

April was pretty surprised by this sudden display of emotion. "This is not all you know how to do," she argued with her hands on her hips, "Now you can go ahead and stay here and break stuff if you want, but I'm going to see if everyone is alright." With that, she turned and left him there, alone.

Casey stood there, bewildered. He had been running and breaking things all night. In his frustration, he some how had made his way back to the manhole him and April usually used. He decided that he had done enough damage, and was too tired to think, so he headed home.

* * *

**Also sorry for how short it is :/**

**It's harder to write these ones. I find that action and cuteness are the easiest elements for me to write. I have so many ideas on my idea board for way in the future stories, but for now you'll just have to sit tight :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone! I'm so glad that I'm able to get this chapter out! Now I can start working on the much funner chapters :D! I'll be heading off to school soon, so I'm really sorry for the delayed updates. I try and write when I can, but I find that when I feel that I have to write, the chapters turn out bland and forced, and no one wants that. I have so many plans for this story! My idea document is overflowing! But enough about stuff that I already know, and on to what you came here for! :D So read it up! Please review for me :)**

* * *

After the late night, everyone in the lair was exhausted. Splinter thought it best to skip training for the day with Raph still unconscious, and everyone being so shaken up. April arrived around seven that morning and everyone had still been asleep; all except Master Splinter who had always been an early riser, and Leo who had stayed up all the rest of the night sitting with Raph to see if he would wake.

April entered and saw a light on in the kitchen, and the lab. Thinking it was probably Donnie in his lab, she went there first. She was surprised to see only Leo, leaning on a white lump of a sheet. She walked closer, and to her surprise, Leo had fallen asleep. She gently tapped his shoulder until he woke with a start. Heavy bags under his eyes and a far off gaze told April just how tired he really was.

Finally taking notice of her, he sat up straighter, "April! Uh, what are you doing here?" He tried his best to stay in front of the white sheet, but this only drove her curiosity. Her gaze locked onto a green hand sticking out the side. She eyed Leo suspiciously and he gave in; slowly getting up to reveal Raph's head that had been directly behind him.

April gasped, "Is he...is he…?"

"No! No he's alive...just really injured," his saddened glance towards Raph told April everything.

"...and you blame yourself...don't you?"

"I did...but I know that he saved Ruben's life, he wouldn't want it any other way. Any injury to Ruben would have been an injury he would gladly take upon himself instead."

"Okay, wait." She closed her eyes and put her hands up towards Leo, "Say again?" She put her hands back down and looked back to his face, "Start from the beginning. How does Ruben come into all this?"

Leo proceeded to tell her the events of the night before. How they had found the Kraang portal, how they imprisoned a Kraang overnight, how they entered the Kraang's clone dimension, and how Raph got hurt.

April listened closely to every word Leo said, "Well that explains why Casey is in the sewer tunnels, breaking anything he can place a hockey stick on."

Leo nodded and turned back to Raph. He placed his arms on Raph's cot and put his head on his arms as a signal that he no longer wished to talk. April got it, and left with one last glance at the poor unconscious Raphael.

In the kitchen is where she found Master Splinter not so much enjoying his cheesicle and morning tea. He looked at her and gave her a small smile, "Ah, April. Please, sit."

April, still in shock from seeing Raph in his present state, sat down across the counter from Splinter. "Leo told me all that happened," she looked up at him, "Is Ruben okay?"

"Yes, Ruben is fine," he reassured, "He is asleep in Raphael's room at the moment."

"That's good I guess," she sighed.

Splinter nodded, "Yes, we were quite fortunate to get everyone back alive yesterday." He sipped another drink of tea.

"How did Ruben even get there?" She asked, still figuring everything out.

He drank the last sip of his tea, then answered, "We are not sure. He will no doubt become a very good ninja someday."

"Yeah, if he isn't already," April blew her bangs out of her face.

"Oh, he still has much to learn, as do all my students. There is much more to being a ninja then what is physical. It is the mental aspect that holds them back. Mental awareness and focus takes patience and practice. At the age that you all are, I can't imagine making all of you sit still and meditate for more than an hour. Ruben must learn that acting so much on instinct is dangerous. This experience might just be what he needs to teach him about strategy and following orders."

"But no one told him that he had stay in the lair right?"

"Yes, but no one told him he had to go after his brothers either." With that, Splinter stood and left to the dojo.

April sat there alone trying to figure out what to do next. She figured being alone was no fun, and Leo was not in the mood for chatting anymore. Then a thought hit her. If Leo had been in the lab all night watching over Raph, Christine had been alone all night. She never went anywhere without Leo. April knew this and decided it best to go and check on her.

Upon entering the bedroom she blinked in the low light. Finally adjusting, she peered around. A small turtle could be seen on her bed.

"Hey Christy? Hon, you awake?" She whispered.

A quiet "Uh huh," was barely heard by April. She did hear it and went to sit next to her. Christine shifted in her cot to make room for April. She hugged her knees and sniffled.

"Hey, are you okay?" April wrapped her arms around the small child and brought her up onto her lap. Christine responded by wrapping her arms around April's waist.

"I...I don't like to be...left alone," She answered. "Where is Leo?" Sad, and tired eyes looked into April's, and it was almost too much for her.

"Hey, it's alright. Leo is just in the other room."

"...Okay…"

* * *

Eventually, Mikey and Donnie got out of bed. Mikey slumped off to the kitchen, Jakey right on his heals. After making a huge show of a yawn, he smiled and lifted Jake onto the counter.

"So, what's for breakfast today?"

Jacob waved his arms around in response, all while smiling and laughing of course.

"So you don't know any names of food yet," Mikey put a finger to his lips in thought and tapped his foot. "Well the first food word every turtle should know is...PIZZA! That's it! I'll make an amazing breakfast pizza with eggs, sausage, bacon, and of course we can't forget all the other breakfast foods, such as waffles, oatmeal, cereal and milk, toast…"

"As great as that sounds Mikey, I'm sure we would all love to, how can I put this lightly? Oh yeah, not try that at all," Said Donnie as he entered into Mikey's dome of excitement.

"You just don't know a good idea when you hear one," Mikey defended.

"Well let me know when you get one," Donnie crossed his arms.

"That was a good idea!"

"...Guys?" April tried.

"Oh sure, let's all gag to death with oatmeal and sausage!"

"...Guys!?" April spoke, slightly louder than last time.

"Well excuse me for trying to put some variety in our diet!"

"GUYS!" April got their attention. She was holding Christine on one hip and her other hand was on the other. She looked sort of like a crazed housewife. "Good, now knock it off, you're setting a bad example for the kids. Mikey, I'm sorry, but that did sound horrifyingly gross, and Donnie, you should go check on Leo. He slept in the lab all last night."

"Okay April," Donnie got up, and when he passed her, he said, "Just watch Mikey for me? He's feeling, well...creative with his cooking this morning."

April nodded, and Don left for the lab. "Okay Mikey, how about scrambled eggs, toast, and some oatmeal for Christine," She quickly added, "and not on a pizza!"

"Ah man, you guys are no fun!" Mikey pouted, and set out to make a normal breakfast.

It had been several minutes of humming, dancing, and roaming around the kitchen, for Mikey.

A single word burst through the lair at the highest volume he could muster, "PIZZA!" And it's origin? Little baby Jacob.

-!Transition!-

Donnie entered the lab. He saw Leo, once again fast asleep, head resting on Raphael's torso. "Leo?"

"Huh?" Leo sat straight up, like he never fell asleep, "Oh, hey Donnie." He spoke as he yawned, "What's up?"

"You, when you should be in bed."

Leo kind of nodded, but didn't really respond. He just looked at Raph with another prolonged saddened stair, before getting up, wobbling a bit out of fatigue, steadying himself, and exiting the lab. Instead of going to bed, he went to the dojo for some meditation and/or guidance from Master Splinter.

Donnie shook his head, and went to Raph's side, "Alright meathead, time to look you over." Donnie spent several minutes looking over Raph's cuts and stitches. He replaced many of the bandages and finished by checking his heart rate, and other vitals. "Looking pretty good. In fact, so good, you may even wake up…"

He was interrupted by a shrill voice of a child screaming "PIZZA," that of which, Donnie assumed, came from none other than Jacob.

"...soon." Donnie chuckled, knowing all too well that Mikey would tell him every detail of how Jacob said pizza for the first time.

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**Review, favorite, and enjoy!**

**Nickelodeon owns TMNT! Not me, unfortunately. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys! Me again! Here is another chapter! I think this one turned out pretty good :)**

**Enjoy!**

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Of course Michelangelo was very excited when he got to confirm what Donnie had heard from the other room. Jacob had indeed screamed the word "pizza," for no real apparent reason actually. April chuckled to herself as Mikey described how enthusiastic his little buddy was, and how someday they would hang all the time, play video games all night, and eat pizza.

When Mikey took a break from all the storytelling for a second, Donnie took the opportunity to inform them all that he was going to go and check on Ruben.

April thought it best to follow, and see how Ruben was really doing. She asked Mikey to watch Chisty for her, and she followed Donnie to Ruben's room.

Donnie sat on Raph's bed, next to Ruben's cot, and looked him over. Though he appeared perfectly healthy, his continued state of sleep proved otherwise. April walked over as well and instinctively placed a hand on Ruben's forehead.

"It's not hot, I don't think he has a fever."

"Leo, Raph, Mikey, and I have all been exposed to the Kraang's gas before. He shouldn't be sleeping this long," Donnie pondered.

"Maybe he is just exhausted," April shrugged, "Being extremely tired can cause people to make rash decisions. Maybe even chase after four older brothers going on a dangerous mission. One, that I might add, was never mentioned to me." She crossed her arms and glared at Donnie for leaving her out.

"I'm sorry April! But the guys thought we shouldn't tell you about it because you might not like the fact that the mission objective was to go in and destroy all the clones." He stood and went to her, arms out in explanation, "If you had gone with us and seen all of the baby turtle clones, all of which look like the ones we have with us now, but slightly different because of the mixes of genetics and such…"

April cut him off, "Continue Donnie," still with a cross look pasted to her face.

"My point is, that you might not have gone through with the mission," Donnie finished.

"Oh come on Donnie! You think that I don't know why we have to destroy the clones?" She defended, "I'm not so self centered that I'm gonna want to keep all six hundred clones in the lair."

"I know April, but the guys...hey look! Ruben is waking up!" April turned and Donnie gently pushed past her, "We'll talk about it later okay?"

April only huffed in response and rolled her eyes.

Donnie turned his attention back to Ruben and leaned over him to get a better look. Ruben's eyes shot open, and as quickly as before, punched Donnie right in the beak.

"OUCH! Really?! Again!" Donnie rubbed at his sore nose as April's shocked expression turned into a small smile, which she covered and giggled.

Ruben sat up and looked at the two in the poorly lit bedroom. Seeing that it had been Donnie he had once again punched in the snout, he instantly felt bad. Rubbing the back of his head, he apologized, "Sorry Donnie, I didn't know it was you." He looked down and away as Donnie's anger decreased.

"You really need to look before you punch pal. Pretty soon my face will swell so bad, I'll be as ugly as Raph!" Donnie teased.

Ruben looked up strangely, clearly confused.

"Oops, sorry. I guess old habits die hard."

Still confused, but not feeling up to taking it any farther, Ruben looked back down and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, Raph sure took a beating for you yesterday," Donnie mentioned, "Mind telling me why you were there?"

Ruben looked straight at Donnie "Raph got hurt?!" He looked to April, "Is he okay?" Concern etched into every part of his face.

April came over closer and sat on Ruben's cot, "No, I'm sorry, but he's not okay. She placed a hand on Ruben's shoulder, "Raph got really hurt trying to protect you. It's gonna take a long time for him to heal." She removed the hand on his shoulder to hold one of Ruben's hands.

Donnie was sort of confused on how April knew about everything that had gone down the day previous, but soon figured Leo had told her when she first arrived.

"This is all my fault!" Ruben cried, "I was having nightmares, horrible dreams about the...about the...Kraang. All I wanted was for you guys to be safe. I...I don't know what I was thinking...I just...I just wanted to keep anything bad from happening, but I caused it! I caused the bad stuff to happen, and Raph got hurt!"

April tried to wrap her arms around the sobbing seven year old, but he pushed her away, "No, don't be nice to me! I hurt my brother!" He tried to get away, throw off the covers and take off, but Donnie stopped him.

Ruben struggled but Donnie had his wrists, afraid of getting punched again, and was still much stronger.

April spoke, "You did not hurt your brother. None of this is your fault, and no one blames you for what happened." She placed her hand once again on Ruben's struggling shoulder.

"Yeah, and you need to calm down pal before you hurt yourself, got it?" Donnie added, Ruben slipping one wrist out of his hand.

Ruben shook his head even harder insisting on punishing himself for being so reckless, "I'm so stupid! I'm so stupid!" He repeated this until April finally brought Ruben into a hug. He struggled at first, but finally gave in. He started to sob into April's shoulder, wrapping his free arm around her waist, and did so until he could cry no more. Donnie let go of his wrist.

Donnie smiled at April. When she looked his way he leaned back on his elbow, but instead accidentally placed it on one of the cymbals of Raph's drum set. He clattered to the ground in a heap of banging drums and crashing cymbals, creating a harmony of destruction.

"Oh my gosh! Donnie? You okay?" April ran over and helped him to his feet.

"Well nothing's broken…" He looked at the smashed drum set, "Ooooh, except for that…"

April shook her head and turned her attention back to the young turtle on the cot.

He looked at her and asked, "Can I see him?" April looked to Donnie who rubbed the back of his head in thought.

"Oh, I don't know kid. He's in pretty bad shape right now." Donnie answered.

"Please?! Can I just sit with him?" Ruben pleaded.

Donnie sighed, "Oh I guess." But he gave Ruben a sympathetic smile, "Just...don't expect anything to happen too soon alright?"

Ruben wiped his eyes and nodded. "Just...don't tell him I cried...okay?"

"You got it," said Donnie.

Ruben looked to April for her to promise as well, "Alright," she smiled, "I promise."

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**Smooth Donnie, hahaha**

**I do not own TMNT, nor am I making any money from this fanfic.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Woah, long chapter huh? Well, thanks for staying with me! Enjoy!**

* * *

Leo swayed in his meditating position as he tried to steady his sleepy body. He started to fall to one side, and with a swift motion, he righted himself.

"Leonardo."

"Yes, sensei?" Leo did not open his eyes or even turn to his father's direction.

"My son, look at me."

Leonardo looked into his master's sad eyes and melted; shoulders slouched, head hung, but he raised his eyes, much like he used to do as a child. He looked back down and sighed. "Master Splinter, I…"

"Need to sleep? I agree." Master Splinter sat in front of Leo with perfect posture.

"I can't sensei. Not with Raph like this."

"Your health is just as important to me as Raphael's. Raph will heal with time, but for now, you must rest my son." Splinter placed a paw on Leo's shoulder, "I will not have you becoming ill when your brother's need you."

"Hai, sensei," Leo gave Splinter a head nod and stood. Without thinking, he got up much too quickly and stumbled right back down. He got up once more, taking his time, and succeeded in getting his footing. From there he took one step at a time.

While Leo left the dojo, Mikey exited the kitchen. "Hey bro, breakfast is rea...woah, hey you need help dude?"

Leo swayed a little, but said, "No, I'm fine Mikey. Just need some rest."

"No, I mean...getting there. You're about to fall down bro."

"I said I'm fine Mik...Woah!" Leo stumbled and was going down.

"Gotcha dude," Mikey caught him and placed Leo's arm over his shoulder.

"...Thanks…" Leo muttered.

* * *

Donnie, April, and Ruben all exited Raph's room in time to see Mikey leave Leo's.

"What were you doing in Leo's room?" Donnie asked.

"Putting him to bed bro," Mikey answered, "He for sure wasn't gonna make it on his own."

"That's nice and all Mikey," April butted in, "But who's with Christine and Jacob?"

Mikey waved his hand down in a 'oh please' movement while speaking, "They're fine. I was only gone, what?" he shrugged, "Two minutes?"

"You left them alone Mikey?!" Donnie was fuming, "Do you know anything about kids?!"

A yelp was heard from the kitchen and Donnie and April were off, Mikey close on their heels. Ruben looked towards the lab, but then decided that he should check on whoever made the noise first. After all Donnie said Raph wouldn't wake up for a while. Ruben slowly followed the three frantic teens.

Donnie made it first. The scene laid before him: a whining Jacob sitting on the counter next to the stove, with a finger from his right hand in his mouth, also displaying the scrunched face of pain. On the ground in front of Jake was Christy trying to reach him. Arms up, barely touching his toes, she reached, whispering words of comfort as she patted his foot letting him know she was there.

Donnie was next to Jacob in a flash. He lifted the tot up, and brought him to the sink as fast as he could, almost knocking Christine down in the process. April went to her and kneeled down.

"I didn't do it! He touched it even though I told him not to! Leo says not to touch the stove, but Jakey did!" Christine whined in a panic.

"I know, I know, it's all right. It's probably just a small burn, that's all," April gave her a reassuring smile, but Christy was not convinced.

"What's gonna happen to him?" She looked over and watched as Donnie was holding Jake's hand under a cold stream of water.

April rubbed Christy's small bald head, "It will probably just hurt for a couple days, but he will be fine." Ruben entered and put his hand on her shoulder as well. Mikey stood on the other side of the counter out of everyone's way.

Donnie, looked around, thinking for a moment, "Here," He gently pushed past everyone and brought Jakey over to the freezer, opened it, and set him down inside, "Hold hands with ice-cream kitty for a bit pal while I get some burn cream from the kit."

Ice-cream kitty meowed and wrapped a drippy hand around Jacob's. Jakey laughed and swung their arms back and forth.

Donnie headed for the curtain, but Mikey stopped him, "Is there anything I can do?"

"I think you've done enough, or more accurately, you didn't do enough." He turned to April, "You can watch the kids April, until I get back," He turned back to Mikey, but still spoke to April, "I don't think Mikey can handle it." With that he stormed off to his lab to grab the burn cream.

Mikey sighed a very exasperated sigh and hung his head low.

"You know he just has a lot on his mind right now Mikey," April comforted.

"I know April, but maybe I should go, I always screw stuff up."

"No Mikey, wait!" But it was too late. It was only her, three turtle tots, and a cat made out of ice-cream occupying the small kitchen space. She reached up and turned off the stove that Mikey had left on and shook her head. She looked at the steaming plates of food Mikey had made for them piled high on the counter-top. All except Christine's small bowl of oatmeal, piled to it's normal capacity, and cooked just the way she liked it. She knew if Mikey could get one thing right, it was always breakfast.

* * *

Donnie returned with the burn cream, but it took some persuasion to get Jacob away from the delicious cat. Jacob was brought over to the sink once more to rid his hand of the ice-cream. Running cold water once more, Donnie winced as Jacob squirmed and mumbled gibberish, "I know buddy, I know." He patted it dry, and applied the cream and a bandage.

Donnie set Jake on the ground and looked at the three kids, "Who wants breakfast?"

* * *

Mikey spent most of the rest of the day playing video games and watching cartoons. Leo remained in his room, though it did take a while for him to get to sleep. After breakfast Donnie took Ruben to see Raph, while April, Christine, and Jacob colored on Donnie's extra notebook paper, with his permission already given.

Ruben sat on Donnie's lab stool as Don checked Raph over once again.

"Well," Donnie started, "nothing's changed from this morning."

"Is he going to be alright?" Ruben asked for the hundredth time.

"Yeah, I suspect it may take a while before he's kicking and swinging again, but he'll be fine. You know Raph, he's as stubborn as an ox."

The room was silent for a couple seconds before Ruben asked, "What's an ox?"

"Oh man, we gotta work on schooling for you guys. You really don't know a whole lot."

Ruben looked hurt, and Donnie thought he ought to reword that, "I mean, like general knowledge wise. If we start working now, you'll surpass Mikey in...a couple of weeks? Maybe days!"

Ruben still looked at Donnie with confusion written all over his face.

"We have to work on your sense of humor too."

* * *

Splinter exited the dojo around lunch time; he noticed that Mickey was not looking himself. His slumped posture and dull face proved that there was something bothering him. His eyes wandered over to see April, Christine, and Jacob on the opposite side of the room, coloring from the look of it. He decided it best to check on his orange clad son.

Walking up behind Mikey, he spoke, quiet enough that the others couldn't hear, "Michelangelo, why are you not spending time with Jacob and the girls?"

Mikey sighed and set down the game controller, "I don't know Master Splinter. I think they will be safer if I stay over here."

"Oh? I've never known coloring to be dangerous."

"Not that," Mikey chuckled, "Donnie thinks I can't be trusted around the kids."

"Donatello does not have a say in whether or not you may spend time with your new brothers and sister. Only Leonardo, your leader, and I have that power."

"Yeah, but maybe he's right sensei. Maybe I am too reckless to be trusted to watch them."

"You are a skilled ninja warrior Michelangelo, you were not trained in the art of babysitting," Splinter smiled, "Do you think I was ready to take on the responsibility to take care of you four?"

"Well sure," Mikey admitted, "You had Miwa before us."

"Ah yes, but Miwa was not with me throughout her whole childhood, and she was not a turtle...nor a hyper active boy," he eyed Mikey, but continued, "I had to raise four growing toddlers without any knowledge of what you ate, or any of the fundamentals of caring for older children. I had to suffer through every cut, scrape and burn you all received; feeling guilty with every passing day. Till this day I still worry and blame myself for things that I haven't taught you."

"Well don't beat yourself up Master Splinter! We turned out alright." Mikey Smiled.

"Worrying is what a parent does...and older siblings." He stroked his beard, "Why do you think your brother Leonardo is so upset over Raph?"

Mikey shrugged.

"It's the same feeling that you feel for your younger siblings. You are protective of them, and want no harm to come of them." Splinter put a comforting hand on Mikey's shoulder, "You will learn from mistakes. Will you leave your brother Jacob alone with the stove again?"

"No Master Splinter...wait how do you…?"

Splinter raised a hand, "Father's instincts." Splinter smiled and began his short journey back to the dojo.

Mikey stood and ran over behind Jacob, but silently. He snuck up real close, and with the fun growl of a monster, Mikey grabbed him around the waist, being careful of his bandaged hand, and hoisted him in the air. Jacob screamed and Mikey roared and turned him around to face his attacker. Jacob's screams turned to screams of joy as Mikey swung him around. Splinter smiled, then left the room.

After getting both of them a little dizzy, Mikey plopped down next to April with Jacob on his lap and looked at the art that they had been making. April was drawing a flower while Christine watched in amazement, not knowing what the object was, and was having a hard time imagining one in real life.

Mikey looked over to where he had grabbed Jacob. On the floor were scattered papers that Jakey had been working on coloring all over. One in particular caught his eye. He grabbed it and took a closer look. On the paper were seven green figures, a red one, a black one, and one brown one.

"Hey Jakey," the young turtle looked at him, "what's this?"

Jake concentrated on the words he knew for a moment before saying, "...My...family!"

And looking closer Mikey could see that Jacob was right. The seven blobs represented the seven turtles, the red one must be April, and Casey would be the black blob, and the brown one represented Master Splinter. "Awww! It's adorable! It's all of us! Look April!" Mikey handed her the drawing.

"What is it?" She asked holding it a ways away from her and bringing it closer, then turning it side to side.

Mikey snatched it from her, "Obviously, it's a portrait of us!" He stated bluntly. He then whispered to Jakey but loud enough for April to hear, also while looking in her direction "Some people just don't appreciate artistic work when they see it."

April frowned. She put out her hand, "Let me see it again." He reluctantly handed it to her. "Oh, now I see it." She handed it to Jake, "It's very good." Jakey laughed and clapped his hands.

"Keep?" Jacob asked Mikey after turning to him.

"Of course!" Mikey hugged him, "What's a big brother for?"

* * *

**Don't hate me for the stove scene! But if you've ever had experience with kids, you know that they like to do things that they are not supposed to. It was actually based on something I did similar as a small child. I hadn't ever been burned and wanted to know what it felt like. I didn't like it! My grandma grabbed me (much like what Donnie did with Jacob), and took me to the sink to run cold water. Unfortunately, I was not able to hold the hand of a cat made out of ice-cream.**

**Hey, if you have any requests or suggestions for this story, let me know through a review or private messaging. I can try one shots or even short chapter books. The main story will continue of course, but it's always fun to have side stories as well :) I'll let you know if I will do it or not, or even something vaguely similar. It's always good to spark some ideas from my fellow writers and readers :D**

**I do not own TMNT :( **


	17. Chapter 17

**Wooh, long chapter again, sorry about that. Have fun reading and enjoy!**

* * *

"Hit the deck!" Donnie shouted as his not-so-retro-mutagen began to bubble. He took off towards where Ruben was sitting with Raph. Ruben looked up in horror. Donnie knew there wasn't much time so he stood between Ruben and the bubbling vial, put his arms over Rubens shoulders to blocked him from whatever was going to happen. Both squeezed their eyes shut.

A few seconds past. Nothing happened.

Slowly Donnie looked up and over his shoulder. A small puff of smoke came from the mutagen.

"Huh, I was sure it was gonna…" BOOM! In a flash Donnie held Ruben as the shock hit them. Very little of it became flying debris, but what did was blocked by Donnie's shell.

Raph shot up with a start, "WHAT THE...oww…" He went to grab his head but his arms were much too sore.

"Raph! Thank goodness nothing hit you," Donnie helped Raph lay back down.

"It feels like something hit me," Raph grumbled.

"Well actually a lot of things hit you, lazors to be precise," Don checked all Raph's vitals once again.

"Donnie! I thought you were gonna lay off the explosions for a while!" Mikey was scowling from the lab entrance, then he noticed who was awake, "Raph!" Rushing over he gave Raph an enormous hug, Raph jumped as his eyes went wide with pain, but he relaxed when it dulled. "We were so worried! How are you? Can I get you anything?"

"Water Mikey," Raph croaked through the hug, "Water would be nice."

"Water? Okay, I'm on it!" Mikey rushed off to the kitchen.

Donnie turned around to look at the instruments he had. Raph was startled by what he saw, "Uh, Donnie?"

Donnie didn't turn around, "Yeah Raph?"

"Don't freak out okay...but there's a...," he gulped.

"A...what?" Donnie turned to see Raph's face looking like he really didn't want to mention something.

"There's...a huge shard of glass sticking out of your shell," Raph looked relieved after he had finally said it.

"A WHAT?!" Donnie turn sideways to reveal a narrow, piece of glass protruding from the middle of his shell.

Raph coughed, "I told you not to freak out!"

Donnie reached behind him, and tried to grab it, but wasn't able to reach it. Mikey entered with the water and almost dropped it at the sight. "Donnie! Dude, there's glass in your back!"

"Don't you think I know that Mikey?!" Donnie yelled.

"Chilax dude, I got this D!"

"No wait, don't!" Donnie turned from him so that Mikey grabbed air instead. "Do you WANT to cut your hands off!"

Mikey put his two index fingers together and replied with sad eyes, "No…"

Donnie face palmed, head tilted down, eyes closed, he pointed to his tool box, "I have a pair of pliers in there. Please don't...break anything."

Mikey approached the toolbox. Slowly he opened it, peering inside. He rifled around a bit, causing clanging and clashing of vials, "Found em!"

Donnie glared.

"What, I was careful." He gestured to himself, offended.

"Uh huh," Donnie snarled, "Just get it out!" He turned around so Mikey could get to it.

"Alright bro, hold still," Mikey pulled and the glass shard was released. However, the force he used was against him and he crashed into the medical table where Raph lay. A groan of pain escaped Raph and Mikey quickly apologized, "Sorry! Sorry dude, are you okay?" He set down the pliers and glass on the table next to Raph.

"I'm...fine," Raph grunted. Ruben put a hand on Raph's arm, and Raph looked over at him, "Hey bud, how are you doing?" Raph slowly reached over and rubbed the childs head.

Ruben smiled, but it turned to a look of shame, "I'm sorry Raph. I didn't want you to get hurt...I didn't mean…"

"Shh. Hey, It's not your fault kid."

Ruben nodded, not sure what else to say.

"Boy that explosion was loud, but Leo didn't even hear it. Must still be extremely exhausted." Donnie said, but mostly to himself.

"Why, what's wrong with Leo?" Raph snorted, "Meditation too exerting for him now."

"No, he stayed up all night with you Raphael!" Donnie snapped, "So don't go giving him a hard time."

"He...what?" Raph asked, kind of shocked.

"He stayed by your bedside, all night," Donnie clarified.

"Yeah dude, he was like, 'blaaaa'," Mikey mimicked a zombie walk, and continued to do so through the next set of events.

April poked her head through the door, she entered with Jacob in her arms and Christine close at her heels, "Is everything...," April looked at zombie Mikey, then continued her question, "okaaay in here Donnie?"

"Yeah, everything is fine," Donnie answered, "Just another explosion with the retro mutagen."

Mikey finished with his zombie imitation, and joined the group, taking Jake from April's arms. She handed him over and continued, "You really should be more careful with that stuff Donnie, and...wait is Raph awake?" She looked over and Raph turned his head slightly to look at her.

"Sup," Raph, barely lifted a hand off the table to wave.

"Yes...unfortunately." Donnie rolled his eyes.

Raph scowled at the comment, "If I could I would whoop your shell Donnie!"

Mikey set Jacob down on the table, careful of the glass, "Watch your language Raph," Mikey warned as he covered where Jake's ears should be, "There's women and children present!"

"What has happened here?!" Master Splinter looked about the lab, demanding answers.

"Sensei! Look what I pulled out of Donnie's shell!" Mikey rushed the piece of glass over to show his master.

Splinter eyeballed the shard, "Donatello, are you harmed?"

"No, not at all sensei!" He turned and pointed at his shell with both thumbs, "This carapace is as hard as a rock." He turned around sheepishly as they all stared at him.

Master Splinter turned his attention to Raph, "Raphael, I am most grateful that you are awake."

"Rude awakening if you ask me," Raph grumbled.

"We must let you rest. Everyone out, Raphael needs to be in peace," Master Splinter ordered.

All started to file out of the room; Mikey still had the glass.

"Put that down!" Donnie warned, grabbing the pliers and placing them on a table. Mikey stuck his tongue out at him, but when he turned back around Donnie smacked him upside the head. Donnie put on an innocent face and looked at the ceiling, whistling all the while before Mikey turned back around. Mikey went to tackle him but Master Splinter yelled.

"Out!" Quickly, they all exited. All except for Ruben who stayed seated at Raph's side. Master Splinter approached him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"He's okay Master Splinter," Raph insisted, "I don't mind."

Splinter nodded, grabbed the forgotten Jacob from the table, and exited as well.

Raph and Ruben sat in silence for a while before being disturbed by Leo.

"A little late to the party, don't you think?" Raph teased.

Leo's eyes widened, "Raph! You're awake!"

"Of course I am, it's a little hard to sleep with all the yelling."

"Same, it's hard to sleep through explosions too." Leo's eyes wandered to Ruben, he stiffened, "Alright Ruben, now that you're awake too, we need to talk."

Ruben didn't look Leo in the eye, just stared at the ground in fear.

"Don't you dare lecture him Leo!" Raph growled, but slightly weaker than usual due to pain. "He knows it was wrong to follow us, and we should leave it at that."

Leo huffed, but gave in due to his fatigue, "Alright Raph, but once we are all at our best, we need to lay down some ground rules."

"Fine," Raph grunted.

Leo rubbed his eyes and swayed. Raph noticed and remembered what Donnie had said about Leo staying up all night with him, "Leo, go get some sleep."

"Okay Raph, you too." Leo began to leave but Raph stopped him again.

"And Leo," Leo turned around, "Thanks...for staying up with me…"

"Anytime bro," Leo smiled.

"I mean it," Raph continued, "You didn't have to...so...thanks."

"You're welcome, I'm glad you're okay bro."

"And I'm glad this kids okay," Raph smile at Ruben, who smiled back.

Leo sighed, "Yeah, I'm glad you both are alright." He looked down in thought, "We'll...we'll figure something out with The Kraang," Ruben visibly shivered, "For now, just get some sleep."

"Okay Leo," Raph yawned.

"Ruben, how about you come with me, I'll walk you to the others," Leo more of commanded rather than asked.

Ruben looked to Raph for confirmation, but the red banded turtle was already drifting off to dreamland. He reluctantly nodded, and Leo lead him back out into the main area where Mikey was playing a videogame with Jake on his lap, Donnie was sketching something on his notepad, and both April and Christine were gathered on either side, both clearly concentrating and confused.

Don had his tongue out in usual concentration fashion. He was drawing schematics for some new technology that neither Chistine nor April understood.

Donnie takes his pencil and points to the notepad, "There, see?"

Both girls shook their heads.

Donnie huffed in frustration, and tried to explain it one more time, but Leo interrupted, "Donnie, we can't all think like you do." Christine heard Leo and ran to him. He smiled and picked her up.

"Well you guys could at least try," Donnnie mumbled, "I mean, even early primitive civilizations were able to figure out the concept of…" He paused to see April glaring at him. "Not that you're worse than primitive or uncivilized!" Donnie tried to correct. When that didn't work, he tried changing the subject, "Leo, shouldn't you be in bed?!"

"Relax Donnie, I just went to check on the giant explosion that woke me up," Leo explained, "I'm off to bed now." Christine was clearly disappointed, but let Leo put her down, and head off to his room.

* * *

**Yay! Raph's awake! Aaaand back to sleep. Well they should be getting back to training soon. BTW, did anyone else freak out while watching "The Invasion," or season 3 premier?! I DID! I loved it! (But I won't spoil in case you haven't seen it). But you neeed to watch it! If you've seen it, watch it again. It was that good!**

**Let me know what you think of this chapter! :D**

**I do not own TMNT or anything associated with it! I am (unfortunately) making no money from this fanfic!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry this took so long! I had written a whole other chapter, and decided that it would fit best on the next book! So this is the last chapter of book 2! Onto book 3, only I have no idea what to call it yet. It should be up soon, so watch for that if you are interested :D **

**Love you guys! Please stick with me, I have much more to write! But for now, enjoy!**

* * *

Raph spent the next day in the lab without too much complaining, but his boredom was definitely getting to him; he was beginning to get a little more grouchy than usual.

"Hurry up Donnie!" Raph insisted.

"I told you Raph! If you wouldn't move, this wouldn't take so long." Donnie was getting fed up with being Raph's medic. Re-wrapping his wounds took excruciatingly longer than it should have. "This was much easier when you were unconscious," Donnie mumbled.

Leo walked in, "Ah come on, don't say that," Leo handed Donnie another roll of cloth bandage, "We're glad you're back bro," he said to Raph.

"Guys! Guys!" Mikey called to the three as he ran through the entrance to the lab, "I taught Jakey to say chocolate! Isn't that awesome?!"

They all looked at him horrified, Leo spoke up, "Mikey...please don't tell me you gave him chocolate," he begged.

Mikey looked very confused at this and stopped in his tracks, "Why?"

A loud crash was heard from the other room, and Mikey began to understand, "Oh… be right back." With that, he rushed out of the room.

Raph turned his attention back to Leo and Don, "Come on guys! Please let me go back to my room! I'm bored out of my mind in here," he begged.

"I don't know Raph," Leo sighed, "It's up to Donnie."

Donnie thought about it, "Well we do heal remarkably fast, and he did actually say please Leo. I don't see any reason why not, except…"

"Except what?" Raph rudely interrupted.

"Except, getting you there MIGHT be an ISSUE!" Donnie finished.

"Oh please, I'm fine! I can walk!" Raph swung his legs over the side of the exam table, and placed his feet on the ground. With a heave he was able to get himself up, but soon collapsed into Leo's arms when too much weight went on his more wounded leg. "AH!"

"I gotcha," Leo informed him. Raph huffed as Leo placed Raph's arm over his shoulder and began walking him to his room.

Ruben looked up from cleaning Jakey's pizza sauce off the wall to see Raph being supported by Leo on the short walk their shared bedroom. Raph gave a small wave with his free hand and Ruben smiled. Donnie was following close behind.

Mikey rushed in with a small turtle tot wrapped in a towel. He gave Ruben a clean cloth, and watched as Christine hefted the heavy soap bucket into the room in an awkward sort of waddle.

"Wait, I thought you fed him chocolate?" Donnie commented as he passed by.

"It was a chocolate pizza...don't ask," Mikey answered without looking at Donnie.

Donnie understood, and left them to their cleaning.

* * *

"WHAT...?! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY DRUM SET?!" Raph screamed as they entered the room.

"Oh," Donnie rubbed the back of his head, "I meant to fix that."

"FIX IT?! It's completely destroyed!"

"Not completely," Donnie defended, "Look, this piece is still intact." He picked it up.

"That's a drumstick…" Raph scowled.

Donnie made a nervous laugh as the top broke off and fell to the floor. Hiding it behind his back, though it was too late, he said, "Alright, so Raph, you look comfy," Raph glared at him as Leo was helping him down onto the bed, "and I guess that means that...I should...go!" Donnie quickly backed up and zoomed out of the room.

"You're fixing this Donnie!" Raph called after him with a shaking fist, "So help me, I will…!"

Leo grabbed Raph's shaking fist, "He gets it. Now get some rest, if you ever want to start training again."

"Ah, come on Leo, you know I'll be out of this bed within the week."

Leo was in the door frame and smiled sadly, "Sleep well Raph."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! **

**I don't own TMNT, just the cute little tots that I dreamed up :D**

_**AGAIN: **_**This is the last chapter of this book! Please watch out for the next book (whatever I decide to call it). It should be up soon!**


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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Family, Friendship