Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1. It Began with a Dream

Raphael Meets his Match has long been one of my favorite episodes from the original TMNT animated series. I had been hoping that they would re-introduce Mona Lisa into the 2k12 series, but so far…nothing. And from what I've read about where the series is headed, I'm beginning to think that Mona will be destined to remain a one-time TMNT character. *But I'm still keeping my fingers crossed* Anyway, my mind has been overflowing with ways that Mona Lisa could be introduced into the new series, and this is just one of the many plotlines floating about in my head. (Also the most plausible.) This is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction, but that doesn't mean I want people going easy on me, I need all the help I can get! Please Read and Review. I will greatly appreciate your feedback. Any characters not from TMNT are strictly of my own creation and any resemblance to persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Also, disclaimer: TMNT characters are not mine. (I wish they were!) Now that I got all that out of the way…**Raise the Curtain**!

**When Mona Lisa Smiles…**

**Ch. 1 It began with a dream.**

New York City-one of the most densely populated metropolises in the northern hemisphere: a bustling, thriving, concrete jungle—but not tonight. Tonight…it was quiet. Something was brewing, and April O'Neil definitely didn't like it.

On any normal night she would've already been asleep by now. But tonight—she was completely restless. The red-head constantly found herself changing positions in an attempt to overcome her insomnia. Unfortunately, this had been going on for so long that she now had established a pattern: first she would lay on her left side, then her back, then her right side, and then her stomach. And then repeat. _Left, back, right, front, left, back, right, front, left, back, right, front. Ugh—I can't take this anymore! _She thought as she kicked off the covers and sat, frustrated, on the side of the bed. _Great, now what? _April cast a sideways glance at the T-phone on her nightstand, and smirked. _Oh yeah, that'll work. _She grabbed the phone and quickly typed in Donatello's number.

* * *

Donatello was enjoying a peaceful night at the lair, well as peaceful as it could be with his brothers around. Namely Raphael and Michelangelo, who were currently having a rather loud discussion, aka an argument, over which was cooler: Scifi comics or Modern Ninja Magazine. Donnie, as usual, excused himself from his brothers' average everyday activities, and holed up in his lab where he was tinkering with his inventions. When suddenly, April's ringtone echoed out through the lab like a manna from heaven. He gasped and his pulse began beating erratically. _Me—she called me!_

A voice from the other end of the line snapped him back to attention. "_Donatello. You realize you said that out loud right?_"

The turtle's cheeks reddened with embarrassment. "Oh…sorry." The only answer he got was silence. "So…why are you calling? It's kinda late for you isn't it?"

_"Yeah, well that's the thing—see,"_ April knew that if she wanted to get Donnie going she'd have to make an excuse. She carefully weighed her options before going on. _"I just found out that I'm going to have a huge—a huge—um—physics exam tomorrow and I've been up, you know, last minute studying."_

"Wait, you're in physics? That's not on your class schedule." There was a short pause and Donnie face-palmed.

_"HOW do you know my class schedule?! You know what, never mind, I don't even wanna know. Just help me with this okay?" April decided to interpret the silence on the other end of the line as consent. "_Alright, explain the basic principles of quantum physics."

Donatello had not gotten more than five sentences into his explanation when he began hearing quiet snoring in the background. "April? April, you there?" More snoring. _Well, good luck on your test tomorrow April._ He knew for a fact that she wasn't in physics: he'd made a copy of her schedule some months ago, for emergency use only, **of course.**

* * *

April had finally managed to fall asleep, but it was anything but restful. She tossed and turned as images filled her head. She was walking down a New York City street, for some unknown reason she felt like she'd been there before. She came to the steps of a building, some kind of old abandoned science laboratory, only it wasn't abandoned anymore. It was filled with Krang! Lots and lots of Krang! Suddenly, the blurred images focused on two of them.

"Krang, how goes the plan for the invasion known as the invasion of Earth?"

"So far, the invasion has been progressing that which is known as 'well.'"

A third Krang approached the other two. "The invasion which is known as the invasion of Earth will soon begin. Kraang Prime has instructed that the inter-dimensional gateway from here to the dimension of Krang be kept under what is known as 'high security.' Kraang Prime will not allow the ones who are turtles to ruin the invasion known as the invasion of Earth by inhibiting Krang's ability to send that which is known as the invasion force to Earth."

April awoke with a yell, her eyes wide, a cold sweat dripping down her forehead. She her head to check the clock: two o'clock in the morning. _Great I can sneak out without anybody seeing me. _She quickly pulled on her pizza boy disguise and slipped quietly out the window of her room. April pulled up the hoods on her jackets as she crept around the roof to the side of the building. She then used her awesome kunoichi skills to slide down the drainage pipe and land on her feet…or not. The red-headed teenager stood up slowly, brushing the dirt off her pained behind. She looked both ways to make sure that no one had been there to witness her embarrassing attempt at ninja awesomeness before diving for the nearest manhole. Once April was almost all the way in she pulled over her head and back into place, her light blue eyes glowing in the darkness. _Time to call the cavalry._


	2. A Raph-style Wake Up Call

**Raph-style Wakeup Call**

When April entered the lair all of the turtles were in their rooms, asleep. Well…almost all. Raphael was stretched out on the sofa hugging the television remote to his chest. The TV was left on some gory horror film with blood spewing everywhere that made April want to hurl. She walked over and turned off the television manually, because she knew she'd never be able get the remote away from Raph. Asleep or not, they were still ninjas, and April had no desire to get in a fight with the green-eyed turtle this early in the morning, or at all.

As soon as the sound of the television vanished the red-masked turtle began to stir. "Naw, Sensei, please five more minutes. I'll go to bed when it's over I promise." One large green eye opened and closed, sleepily. _Oh, it's only April. _Both eyes snapped open and the turtle jumped up to a standing position. Raphael's muscles tensed, his green face settling into a carefully guarded expression, but April could still sense his concern. "April? What are you doing here? It's two thirty in the morning! You okay?"

"I'm fine. But Earth isn't." Raph canted his head, confused. "Can you wake the others?"

Raphael's smirk was pure evil. "No problem." The teenage mutant ninja turtle cracked both sides of his neck as he moved down the hall to his brothers' rooms.

He headed towards Don's room first, but found it empty. _Must have fallen asleep in the lab again, _Raphael thought, rolling his eyes. Then he headed into Leo's room. Raphael used his stealth training to move silently over to Leo's bed, carefully circumnavigating the few comics and books that lay strewn about on the floor. He loomed over his sleeping brother, his bright green eyes glowing in the dark like a cat's. And then he pounced, pulling Leonardo into a headlock so he could give him a noogie.

To the red-clad turtle's surprise, Leo twisted in his grip and elbowed him in the stomach before throwing him to the ground. Raphael heard the gentle sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath and suddenly found himself pinned to floor, with a ken pressed against his throat. "Seriously, Leo? How long have you been sleeping with a ken under your pillow?"

The short blade was immediately lifted and thrown to the side. Leo offered his younger brother a hand and pulled him up. "Raph what the shell were you thinking! I could have killed you!"

"But you didn't."

"That's beside the point Raph. I almost…" Leo stood with his fists clenched.

"I did it because I knew you wouldn't, Leo. Hit first, ask questions later, that's my style bro, not yours. You like to know exactly what you're up against." Silence filled the air. Despite the guilt Leo felt at having almost hurt his brother, Raph's words gave him comfort and reassurance.

Leo then realized something else, Raphael was in his room. "Raph, what are you doing in my room?'

"What do you mean bro, I come in here all the time." It was true, Raph often came into his room when he needed something-or-other, and when he left he'd leave some kind of calling card, usually a post-it note with 'Raph was here!' or 'Red's my favorite color.' or 'Red rules, Blue drools!' scribbled on it.

Leo's brow furrowed. "Yeah, you sneak in my room and take my stuff, but you're supposed to do that when I'm not in it!"

Raph smirked. "Oh yeah? Who says?"

Leo's deep blue eyes narrowed fractionally, "Stop it Raph. Why are you in my room?"

"April's here."

"Now?! Why?"

The younger turtle threw up his arms in an over-exaggerated shrug. "Gee, why? Oh, I don't know, maybe she just dropped by to give us pizza at two in the morning. She didn't tell me. She asked me to wake up you guys. You get Mikey, I'll go to the lab and get Donnie. The brainiac wasn't in his room."

"Wait a second, why do I have to get Mikey?" Leo asked just as Raph was about to go out the door.

"Because it's two o'clock in the freaking morning and if he annoys me right now I don't think I'll be able to keep myself from putting a permanent dent in his head."

Raph walked back into the main room. April looked up at him from her seat on the sofa. The emerald green turtle answered the unvoiced question that hung in the air between them. "Leo's getting Mikey, I'll get Donnie. Should I get Splinter too?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll get Donnie, if you can get Splinter." Raphael nodded, and headed off towards the dojo.


	3. A Brother Lost

**Ch. 3-A brother Lost**

April informed the turtles of her vision and the Krang's invasion plan. The turtles decided to infiltrate one of their known Krang locations to gather more intel.

"You know what? Fine. If you can't handle the stealth mission then you can fight off the Krang at entrance, try and draw them out of the building." Leo told his brother with annoyance. _Why can't Raph just be part of the team for once? Somehow, no matter what my orders are he always winds up fighting on his own. We're supposed to be a team, but we can't be a team until Raphael gets his act together…as usual. Oh well…better to give him orders that he'll actually obey than giving him orders that will make him get mad and end up in trouble. _Leo sighed as he watched Raph engaging the Krang below them in the warehouse. _At least he's good at drawing Krang fire. _He thought dryly as Raph lead the Krang outdoors.

Leonardo jumped down from the rafters and landed quietly atop a stack of wooden crates. He took a careful look around before jumping the rest of the way to the warehouse floor. The blue masked turtle then turned to his brothers and motioned for them to join him down below.

Donnie headed straight for the Krang computer and began to hack it, quickly downloading as many files as possible to his T-phone.

* * *

Raphael quickly disposed of the first few Krang with ease, but it wasn't long before reinforcements arrived. Raph barely jumped out of the way when a krang in a blue ape body began firing its butt canons at him. Unfortunately for him, two more of the giant apes appeared, as well as a large group of Krang units. One of the Krang apes hit him and he went flying, injuring his left arm in the landing. Raphael swallowed his pride, knowing this was a battle he was doomed to lose. He pulled out his T-phone and called Leo on speed dial. It rang once, twice…_Leo, come on, if you don't pick up soon I'm a goner. _

* * *

Leo's T-phone went off, making all three turtles jump. The leader looked at the screen, and raised an eye-ridge. _Raph? _"Hello?"

"_Well, you took certainly took your time."_

Leo rolled his eyes. "Raph, why are you calling me from right outside?"

"_Oh, I don't know. Maybe I just wanted to say goodbye to ya before I get fried by the Krang."_

"Seriously, Raph? You can't handle it? I've seen you take way more than ten Krang at a time." Leonardo was shocked that his hot-headed brother was even asking for help, let alone acknowledging that he needed it.

"_Yeah, sure I have. But right now I've only got one arm and I got two oversized Krang apes to deal with."_

"Your arm? What happened to your arm?" Leo was now alarmed. _Raph was hurt?_

"_Leo, just get the shell over here! Ahhhhh!"_ Raph's yell was accompanied by the sickening thud of someone getting hit, followed by a cry of pain before a barely audible voice gasped out, "Help."

Leo's eyes widened, his heart beating wildly with fear. _Raph almost never asked for help. Not on the battlefield anyway. _"Raph?! Raph! Raphael! Answer me!"

Donnie looked over to Leo form behind the Krang computer, as did Michelangelo who had been trying to press the buttons on the computer panel. Leo returned the glance, his dark blue eyes clouded with fear. "Raph's in trouble come on, we have to get out there and help him."

Donattello nodded and Michelangelo looked concerned. _If Leo's afraid, then it must be really bad._

* * *

_Come on Leo, pick up…"Hello?"_

"Well, you certainly took your time." Raph could practically see Leo rolling his eyes at him.

_"Raph, why are you calling me from right outside?"_

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I just wanted to say goodbye to ya before I get fried by the Krang." As he spoke he stabbed a Krang bot in the head with his good arm. He was currently using his injured arm to hold the phone while he used the other to fend off the Krang. _Shell, my arm hurts!_

_"Seriously, Raph? You can't handle it? I've seen you take way more than ten Krang at a time."_

"Yeah, sure I have. But right now I've only got one arm and I got two oversized Krang apes to deal with."

_"Your arm? What happened to your arm?"_

Raph was losing patience fast. A few more minutes and he'd be turtle soup. "Leo, just get the shell over here!" Just as he finished his sentence one of the Krang apes backhanded him and sent him flying right into a brick wall, head first. The red banded turtle struck his head on a brick that was jutting out from the rest of the wall. The T-phone fell from his grasp, hit the concrete and the screen cracked. Raphael slowly pushed himself back up onto his hands and knees reaching for the phone, only to get kicked in the stomach by the same blue ape that flung him into the wall. Desperate, he used everything he had left to get out one quiet, barely audible plea. "Help." The last thing he saw was a giant blue foot coming at his face before everything went dark.

* * *

The turtles burst through the door of the warehouse, eyes widening in shock at what they saw.

Their brother was unconscious and completely surrounded by Krang. Two giant Krang apes on either side of Raph lifted his arms and began to drag him away.

Leo snapped.

He actually growled, making Mikey and Donnie jump. _I thought only Raph could make that noise. _Mikey thought as he stared at his older brother. Then before they could stop him, before he'd even told them the plan, Leo charged the Krang, his eyes white with fury. His brothers stood there in silent shock, Leo wasn't just fighting them: he was destroying them. Michelangelo and Donatello exchanged a sideways glance and then jumped in to help their brothers.

Leo slashed left and right, cutting through countless Krang bots on his mad dash towards his brother. The two Krang dragging Raph turned the corner of the building while Leo was being distracted by the other Krang. One of them held a portable portal open while the other dragged Raph's unconscious body into the portal. Leo sheathed his blades and turned the corner just in time to see the Krang holding the portal open jump in. Leonardo raced towards the portal as it closed, and, determined to follow, flung himself toward it, only to hit the brick wall where the portal had once been face-first. He immediately jumped back up, too worried about his brother to acknowledge the pain in his head. Leo put a hand against the wall, his head bowed low with defeat. "Raph…no." _My little brother. I failed my little brother. I failed him when he needed me most. _

When he came back around the corner, Mikey and Donnie had just about finished off the rest of the Krang.

Only one left, only one. Leonardo felt a wave of anger well up inside of him as he pushed his brothers aside. He pinned the Krang down with one kick. Forcing himself to remain calm, for now, he smoothly drew a katana from its sheath. "Where is my brother?"

Donnie and Mikey exchanged a wide-eyed glance before focusing in on the Krang their brother was questioning.

"The knowledge that the turtle called Leonardo wants from Krang is not knowledge that the ones called the turtles shall be getting from Krang."

Leo lowered the blade directly over the brain, pressing tip lightly against the squishy pink body. "If you don't tell me where you've taken my brother…" the leader finished his threat by pressing the blade a little bit harder, still hard enough to break the skin, but definitely getting close.

"The one called Raphael is being taken to that which is known as the Preliminary."

Leo's eyes narrowed. "What is the Preliminary?"

"The Preliminary is that which is known in earth terms as: a prison."

Donnie jumped in before Leo could ask another question. "But if the prison is a preliminary than what comes afterwards?"

"After the one called the prisoner has served that which is called the set term, they are put through Secondary; that which is known in Earth terms as: elimination alternative term: execution." All three brothers, even Mikey, went completely silent.

"Where is this Preliminary?"

The little pink Krang opened its inhumanly green eyes and smiled wickedly. "That which is known as the Preliminary can only be accessed by Krang. That which is known as the Preliminary is deep within the dimension of Krang, that which the ones who are turtles refer to as Dimension X. The one called Raphael is as good as that which is known in your earth terms as: dead."

* * *

Raphael groaned. _Ugh…what happened? I feel like I've been hit by bus. _He rubbed the back of his head and winced. _More like my head got hit by a bus. Wait—Where are my brothers? Were they captured too? No, they couldn't have been, they weren't with me during the fight, they probably don't even know where I am, which means the only one that can get me out of here is me. Great, how am I supposed to get out of here? But more importantly, where is here? Hmm…time to go hunt down some answers. _Raph walked to the door of the cell. This Krang cell was much more elaborate than any of the cells he'd seen previously. The walls were thick and made of the metal alloy that Raph had mentally dubbed Krang Chrome: a solid white and silvery alloy that was virtually impenetrable. He stood up and slowly approached the door, or what would appear to be the door. Unlike other Krang cells this one had a door that was blocked, not by a wall or a sliding door, but some kind of plasma screen.

The turtle reached out to touch it when she spoke: "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Raphael whipped around his eyes honing in on what he had thought to be a dark, empty corner. His bright green eyes could just about detect her movements, though he still could not see her face. "Why not?" He replied impertinently.

For a moment or two there was nothing but silence, at for a while Raphael thought she wasn't going to answer. Just when he had given up on a reply she spoke again. "That's a very high-tech plasma grid, it will automatically repel anything that touches it."

He raised an eye ridge. "So?"

"Observe." The turtle's mysterious cell-mate stepped into the light, and for a moment all Raph could do was stand there staring. She was young, probably around sixteen years old, if not younger. She had long, wavy brown hair, and dark brown eyes that seemed to draw him in with their intensity. But that wasn't all, she was green! Not as dark as he was but not much lighter than Leo. A lot of her front side was deep cream color, as well as the underside of her long tail. She had obviously been mutated into some kind of lizard, though what type, Raph had no clue. She was thin and shapely, but also lean muscled and strong. Raph was pulled away from his thoughts when she walked passed him, and tossed a small rock into the plasma field. The pebble went flying across the room and imbedded itself in the wall opposite the cell's plasma gate.

"Thanks for the tip. Didn't catch your name."

"It's Mona, Mona Lisa."

"Nice name."

"Well?"

"Huh?"

"Do you have a name, or am I going to have to give you one?"

"Oh, I'm Raphael. Call me Raph." He grinned at her. _She's pretty cute. Wait—did I really just think that?!_

She grinned back. "Okay Raph."

The red masked turtle glanced at their surroundings. "So…seems like the security doesn't leave many methods of escape."

"I've been in and out of enough Krang prisons to last me a lifetime, but this one is virtually inescapable."

"Do you mind my asking how you were turned into…you know—"

"A monster? An abomination? A hideous freak?"

"Hey, that's not what I was going to say, and as far as I'm concerned: none of those things apply to you." Something about Raph's words left Mona feeling oddly contented, perhaps it was the honesty or the utter certainty in his voice that convinced her he was telling the truth.

"Thank you." Mona's voice came out soft and quiet. "I apologize for my outburst, it's just that I haven't interacted with anyone since the Krang locked me up in here." She stated looking down at her feet, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment.

"Hey, it's all cool. I'm not exactly the socializing type myself." The conversation faltered at that leaving the turtle and the lizard in the midst of a rather awkward silence.

"Yes well you see…it all started nine-and-a-half years ago…"


	4. Mona's Story

"It all started nine-and-half-years ago…The Krang were conducting research on the effect of mutagen on human DNA. They were attempting to create a mutagen that would turn humans into super mutants, they tried it on many different test subjects, but there was one major setback. All the attempts failed. After additional research the Krang found the problem. What they needed was a human that was still growing. That's where I came in. The Krang stole me away from family when I was six and used me as a test subject. They turned me into…this. It wasn't until four years later that I was finally able to escape. I immediately went searching for my family—but it was too late. The Krang had already tied up all the loose ends of my disappearance and I had nowhere to start." Her eyebrows knitted together, her face darkening with anger. "I'd lost everything." The lizard turned her back to her cell mate, not wanting him to see the tears running down her face. To her tears were a weakness, a weakness she couldn't afford. Mona wiped her face with her hand and turned back to Raphael. _Was that…anger?_

The turtle strode over and pounded the wall with his fist, jarring his already injured arm. _No, that wasn't anger, _Mona Lisa decided, _it was fury. _She opened her mouth to console him, but was abruptly cut off. "I don't know if I'll ever get out of this place put if I do—I swear I will make them pay." She looked at the turtle in awe, his bright green eyes were on fire and his muscles were tense, but he held one arm close to his body awkwardly.

"After making no progress at finding my parents, I wandered the streets until one day I met an old woman. She took pity on me, despite my appearance and welcomed me into her home. Her only family was her daughter, who had been killed several years before in a car accident. She took me in and treated me as her own, despite my mutant physique. And for the first time in a very long while, I was happy. But then she fell ill and the next thing I knew, I was alone on the streets once more." She finished her tale and looked up to the turtle standing across form her. For the first time that night Mona Lisa really looked at him, taking note of his injuries.

"Let me see your arm." The turtle looked up at her warily, before stretching out his left arm slowly. The lizard girl reached out and held it lightly, checking the joint movement. She could feel the powerful muscles tensing under her fingers. "Relax: the more tense you are the more it's going to hurt. You're lucky it isn't broken."

"Well I think we define that word differently."

"Any battle you fight with Krang and still come out alive is a great accomplishment."

"Funny, my sensei once said the same thing, but about someone else."

"He sounds like a very wise man."

"Well, he's not a man. Not anymore anyway. He was mutated into a giant rat during a fight with the Krang. He had just bought us at a pet store and on his way home he was confronted by the Krang. He dropped our bowl and it shattered on the pavement along with a canister of mutagen. You can probably guess what happened next."

Mona Lisa nodded; she had witnessed the effect of mutagen firsthand, after all. "Wait—us?"

Raph looked up at her, his bottom lip pushed out with a confused expression on his face. _That look is so adorable. Huh? Why did I just think that? _Mona refused to dub the expression as adorable, though something in the back of her mind was whispering, _Oh but it is. _The brunette lizard shook her head to wipe away her thoughts. "You said us. 'He'd bought us from a pet store.'"

Raph nodded in realization. "Oh, I have three brothers."

"And they're also turtles?"

"Yeah." Raph rubbed the back of his neck nervously. The last thing he wanted was make her uncomfortable by talking about his family.

"I know that you probably don't trust me, but please believe me when I say that what's said between us will stay between us."

"You're right I normally don't trust so easily, but Master Splinter always tells me to trust my senses, and right now, they're telling me that I can trust you."

"Thank you." She said quietly.

"Their names are Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo." She looked up at him in surprise. "My brothers, Leo's the oldest and by extension the most annoying, he's always getting on my case about something or other. I know he only does it because he cares, but it really wears me out sometimes. Then there's Donnie, he's my younger brother. Donnie is an honest-to-goodness hard-core genius. He's also the smartest guy I know. And last, there's Mikey, my baby brother. He may be the loudest, most annoying, idiotic talking turtle in the universe, but if it weren't for Mikey, I probably wouldn't be able to put up with them."

Mona smiled at his descriptions, "They sound like great guys."

Raph grinned half-heartedly. "Best brothers a turtle could ask for. Wish I'd told 'em that when I had the chance." He sighed and slid down with his carapace against the wall in a sitting position. His knees pulled up towards his chest, arms folded on top. His head was slightly pulled inward towards his shell as he rested it on his arms.

The lizard girl kneeled down in front of him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Trust me Raph, it they love you as much as you love them, they already know."

* * *

Hamato Yoshi sat on the tatami mats in the dojo, in a deep trance. The giant rat was having trouble achieving balance tonight. His brow furrowed as he struggled to maintain inner peace. A familiar feeling entered his realm of consciousness. _My sons are in danger. _He thought, his white whiskers bent downward in a frown. The man turned rat opened his eyes and stood, giving up on his meditation for the time being. It was too difficult when his sons were in danger. The soft padding of footsteps drew his attention. _My sons are home._ He concluded, but then he paused in thought. _But normally they are much louder when they return...Something's wrong. _Splinter padded swiftly and silently to the main room of the lair, where April had already begun asking them questions.

* * *

April had been sitting on the couch for quite some time now, awaiting the turtles' return. She would have been watching television, but there was nothing to watch besides Super Robo Mecha Force and the news. Suddenly, she was alerted to the soft sound of footsteps behind her. She jumped up and turned around, weapon at the ready, to see Leo standing behind her. The red-head let out a sigh of relief. "Leo don't scare me like that. Did you guys get the intel."

The blue masked turtle only nodded, stiffly, she sent a confused look to Mikey and Don who were now standing behind him. Then she realized something. "Where's Raph?" Leo shifted his gaze to floor, no longer able to look her in the eyes, and the other brothers frowned. _Okay something is seriously wrong here. Donnie frowning was bad enough, but Mikey? Never in a million years. _Her big blue eyes widened with fear and shock as all sorts of scenarios began filling her head. She looked back to the oldest turtle in desperation. "Leo, where is he?"

Leo's gaze remained lowered and his fist clenched with barely contained anger. His family getting hurt was one of the few things that made Leonardo Hamato absolutely livid. And right now he was furious, not only at the Krang for taking Raph, but at himself for not acting sooner. He should have known that Raph's call meant the situation was dire. He should have been there to help his little brother. "They took him." He growled out, his fists shaking with barely controlled rage.

The quiet tap of a stick on the floor drew their attention to their sensei, who had just arrived. Splinter stood and stroked his beard with his eyes closed as he acknowledged what had occurred. "And do we know where your brother is now?" The old rat looked expectantly at the oldest of his sons, but instead he received his answer from Donatello.

"Hai, sensei. He's being held in a Krang prison in Dimension X. The only problem is we have no way to get there, much less know where in Dimension X the prison is located."

"Hm. Then I'm afraid we have no choice but to wait. A solution will present itself, with time."

"But we don't have time sensei! Who knows what the Krang could be doing to him! We have to save him!" They stared at the blue-banded turtle in shock. Leo had never yelled at Sensei, not once.

Splinter put a hand on his sons shoulder. "I know that you are worried about him Leonardo. But rushing into the Krang dimension without knowing where you are headed will only make matters worse. I may have already lost one child tonight, Leonardo. I am not prepared to lose another. Put your anger aside for now my student, your role as leader is to protect your brothers, just because one of them is missing, doesn't mean you may put the others at risk to retrieve him. If you will excuse me, my sons, I must return to my meditation."


	5. I want my brother back!

To those of you who have been reading this fic. I hope you are enjoying it. This chapter was not among the ones that I had originally planned, but I love drama and when the idea popped into my head I just had to write it in. At first I was going to make this one chapter, but by the time I finished Mikey and Leo, I decided I better put Donnie's in the next chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Ch. 5-I want my brother back!**

Michelangelo lay on his bed, hugging his pillow. He couldn't sleep. Not when he knew Raph was out there somewhere, in a prison, in another dimension. How could he sleep, knowing his best friend was in danger? Yeah, despite what others might think, Raph was Mikey's best friend. Yeah sure they fought, and Raph made fun of him all the time, but deep down at the bottom of his heart Mikey knew that Raph would always be there for him. Until now. That was hurt Mikey the most. The fear that one day he'd wake up with no one to wrestle with, no one to play games with or make fun of. The fear that one day his older brother would no longer be there to listen quietly to all of his worries and insecurities before washing them all away with a one-armed headlock/hug. _I WANT MY BROTHER BACK! _Michelangelo screamed to himself, tears now running down his freckled face. He thought back to their conversation just before they'd gone out that night.

"hey Raph what's up? Are you okay, you've been acting kinda weird today, dude."

"Really?"

"Yeah, like quiet and when I say quiet I mean like, really quiet. It's just not you dude."

"Huh, you always could read me better than the others."

"Bet your shell I can. Now spill the beans bro, what's botherin' ya?" Mikey said, his smooth calm voice making it sound like he was jokingly trying to act cool, but Raph could sense the seriousness behind it.

"Honestly Mikey? I have no idea. I just have this gut feeling you know? Like something's gonna happen." Raph looked down at his little brother's face, he seemed almost…worried? Now Mikey and worried are two words that should never go together so he added, "Don't sweat it Mikey. I'll be fine, little brother, really." The red masked turtle pulled the orange one into a half-hug half-headlock as was their custom and smiled, a rare genuine smile that Raph hardly ever let show. "Now let's get something to eat, I'm starved."

The orange-masked turtle smiled at the memory, before he realized something. _I knew. _He thought in horror. _He told me he had a feeling something was going to happen and I didn't even think about it when Leo sent him off on his own. Aw…shell. Maybe if I'd told Leo none of this would've happened. Maybe Raph wouldn't be in trouble. Man, it's all my fault. If only I'd told someone. _Mikey lay there tears running down his sixteen-year-old face once again, this time in genuine agony. He needed someone to hug him, to give him reassurance. He needed Raph. _I want my big brother back! _He always went to Raph for reassurance, especially when he had nightmares. Raph was the strongest of his brothers and Mikey always knew that he could scare all the monsters away. But Raph wasn't here, who could he go to now? _Leo. _

* * *

Leo lay on his bed clutching a paper in his hands. He brushed brushed his fingertips lightly over the drawing as the memory played in his head.

Six-year-old Raphael ran down the hall to his big brother Leo's room as fast as he could. Leo had been in bed for the past week because he was sick, but he'd gotten through the worst of it now he just had to rest. Little Raph opened the door, ran in and jumped onto his brother's bed. "Leo, Leo, wake up, wake up." He said as he shook his brother.

Leo rolled over so that his back was to his little brother and groaned, "Raph go away, I'm sleeping."

"No, you're not or you wouldn't be talkin' to me."

"Well I'm not sleeping anymore because you jumped on my bed and woke me up."

"Come on, don't you want to see what I brought ya?"

"No. Now go away Raphael, I'm sleepy."

The little red-masked turtle frowned, his shoulders drooping as he stared at his older brother's back and sighed. "Okay Leo. I guess I'll come back later."

Leo felt the guilt eating at his heart the second his little brother started speaking. He turned over just in time to see Raphael heading for the door, his head bowed low, those bright green eyes somewhat duller and tired-looking. Before Raph could leave Leo called out to him, "Raph wait. What have you got there?"

Raphael looked over at his brother, then down to the paper in his hands and back. "What this? Oh, nothing, it's not important."

Little leo canted his head at his younger brother. "Come on Raph tell me."

Raph looked unsure. "Well it was for you, but you didn't want it so I'm just going to throw it out now. No point keepin' it if you don't want it."

"What is it?"

"It's just a drawing, Mikey let me use his crayons."

"Can I see it?"

"I don't know…You probably won't even like it, it's not that good."

"Raphie, please?" Leo held out a hand, but his brother didn't respond. "I'm sorry that I didn't want to see it before, please?" Raphael handed him the paper. Leo turned it over and gasped. It was beautiful. It was a family portrait with Sensei, Mikey and Donnie were in the back and Leo and Raph were down in front. But Leo's favorite part of the picture was that Raph was hugging him with a full smile on his face. Raph shifted nervously on the side of the bed. "Raph this is…"

The red-masked turtle thought his brother's silence meant that he didn't like the drawing. "Look, Leo, it's okay, I was going to throw it out anyway." Raph said as he reached for the drawing.

"NO!" Leo yelled hugging it tightly to his plastron. "You can't throw it out Raph, its beautiful!"

Raph's eyes widened. "You…you really like it?"

"Like it? I love it. Thanks Raph." The blue masked turtle put the drawing off to the side and opened his arms to his little brother.

Raphael smiled and jumped on the bed again straight into his brother's waiting arms. He would have stayed there for quite some time if his brother hadn't started tickling him. "Leo-hahaha-Leo-ha-stop-ha-it-hahahahaha. Leo" he growled out frustrated. _Oh he's going to get it. _Raph wacked his brother gently on the head, making Leo stop. This time Raph pulled his big brother into a hug. "Feel better bro?"

"I do now." Leo replied.

Leo was pulled back to reality when he heard a soft knock at his door. He checked the time. Two o'clock. Who could it be? "Come in." A green figure stepped into the room, it was dark, but Leo could just make out an orange bandana. "Mikey?"

"Leo, I…" His voice faltered and Leo could see the pain in his eyes.

The eldest stood and pulled his baby brother to his chest. "I know Mikey, I miss him too."

Mikey hugged his big brother as tightly as he could. Hot tears prickled the corner of his eyes, "Leo, it's my fault. It was all fault. He knew…he told me, he knew. He knew, Leo."

Leo canted his head in confusion. "Mikey." No response. "Michelangelo, look at me." Mikey pulled out of the hug and looked at him. "None of this is your fault, understand. And what do you mean he knew?"

Mikey looked at him, his normally electric blue eyes, dulled. "That night, before we left the lair, Raph told me that he felt like something was going to happen. He sensed it Leo, I don't know how but he knew."


	6. Boy do I hate the Krang!

**Ch. 6-Boy, do I hate the Krang!**

Raphael paced the length of the cell for the umpteenth time that night, or day, or whatever time it was. His head hurt and his bones ached and his left arm was in pain. But he wasn't thinking about that. The only thing he could think about was getting out this stupid cell and doing some serious Krang busting. Now Raphael Hamato knew a lot of things. And despite what his brothers might have thought, he was actually smarter than they gave him credit for. He knew how to pick locks, and how crack key codes, and how to hotwire a vehicle. _Too bad I don't know how to get out of here, _he thought with annoyance_, but maybe-_He looked over at Mona Lisa, who was sitting against the side wall, apparently lost in thought. Then her chocolate colored eyes looked up at him, as though she had sensed his gaze on her. "You said you'd escaped from the Krang before. How?"

The brunette lizard patted the floor next to her in invitation. Raph walked over and plopped himself down beside her, leaning his carapace against the wall with his arms crossed over his plastron. Mona turned towards him, pausing to push some of the long, brown hair out of her face. "There's more than one way to escape a Krang detention center. The first time I escaped the Krang were transporting me to a new cell block. I outsmarted them and managed to stay hidden until I found a way out. And the second time, I used a pocket laser that I had reverse engineered from the Krang technology to cut into the wall and defused the lock."

"So basically, the only way out is if they take you out for some reason. Or you happen to be in possession of some high-tech gadgets that they haven't confiscated."

"Pretty much."

"Guess I might as well prepare to spend the rest of my life in here then."

"It wouldn't be all that bad." He gave her a look that basically said: Are you crazy? "You'd have me to keep you company."

"Oh and that's supposed to be a good thing?" Raph replied with a teasing smile on his face, only to replace it with a grimace of pain when she punched him the arm for the comment. "Ow. That was my bad arm."

"You deserved it."

"Deserved it! I didn't do anything to deserve that!"

"Says you." She smiled at the put-out expression on his face and the cell was silent once again.

"We're a lot alike huh?" She canted her head at him with one eyebrow raised. "I mean-we both hate the Krang-no, that's not what I was trying to say, I just…" Raph looked everywhere in the room except at her rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, nervously as he slowly tried to get out what he wanted to say. In the end his voice faded away and he swallowed.

Mona watched him stuttering nervously with a look of amusement on her face. _Where's all this coming from? He's really cute when he's nervous. Then again, he's pretty handsome anyway. Wait a minute-do I like him? _She wondered, watching her cell-mate as he shifted nervously. Mona Lisa glanced at him as she thought it over. _No. No, he's just a friend, that's all._

"I think you're pretty cool."

_Seriously? _She smiled and decided to tease him a little bit. "That's it? You give complements much?"

"Almost never." Raphael said in earnest.

She smiled at him. "It shows."

"There must be some way we can get outta here."

"Escaping is not something that the one called Raphael will be doing from this place."

Both of the cells occupants jumped to their feet as four armed Krang guards entered the cell and Raph stepped protectively in front of Mona Lisa. "What do you want Krang?"

"The one called Raphael will come with Krang."

"Or what?"

More Krang guards arrived with plasma guns. "Krang will be force to take alternative action." When the turtle didn't budge the guard continued. "Krang, seize the one known as Raphael."

Raph pushed Mona off to the side as he successfully knocked down the first two Krang units, before two others grabbed his arms from behind, holding him back. More Krang grabbed him, forcing his arms behind his back into some kind of high-tech handcuffs.

"Leave him alone!" Mona Lisa yelled as she attempted to pull the Krang away from him. One of the Krang struck her, throwing her to the wall, where she fell to the ground.

"Mona Lisa!" Raphael cried out, he could feel the panic welling up inside of him when she fell to the ground, unmoving. "Let me go, you dumb aliens!" He struggled even more vigorously as they began dragging him away. "Mona!"


	7. Choices, Choices

**Ch.7-Choices, Choices**

The Krang had dragged the turtle about a hundred feet down the eerie white and purple hallway before his struggling finally died down. Even so, the Krang kept their guns pointed at the back of his shell and head.

_Mona Lisa…No, Raphael focus. Where are they taking me? Okay no ideas on that one. What should I do about it? Ugh, my arm hurts. No, focus. The only way to escape is by attacking now while I'm out here. But, I won't be able to do much without my arms. Hm. If I could just…_Raph jumped up of the ground and did a back flip, bringing his knees to his plastron as he brought his arms up over his head. _Perfect. Now that I have my arms back I can—ah!_ Raphael screamed in pain as a powerful jolt electricity shot through his body. Electric cuffs. _Dammit, I should have seen that one coming, _he thought to himself while his body ached from the intensity of the shock. The Krang picked him up by arms and dragged him into the communication room. Raph stood slowly, his eyes examining the room carefully. It was a circular, one chamber room. With a Krang communication orb in the center, not unlike the one he had seen in the Technodrome when he'd been brain-switched with a Krang. The middle of the room surrounding the communication orb was three steps lower than where he was standing right now. _Perfect, _he thought, _Time for a little bit of improv. _He approached the communication orb and then pretended to stumble on one of the steps, pressing some of the buttons as he caught himself. _Good thing I figured out how to do this last time, _he thought as he 'accidentally' pressed the buttons he needed as he pulled himself up from his little 'fall.' Some Krang droids with guns told him to move away from the communication orb and he obeyed.

"Krang contact Krang Prime."

_Krang Prime? Why would they be calling Krang Prime?_

"Why have you contacted me, Krang?"

"The turtle called Raphael is now in the hands of Krang."

"Bring the one called the turtle before Krang Prime." Two of the Krang grabbed his arms and dragged him in front of the communication consol.

* * *

Donatello jolted upright in his lab chair when he heard a noise. _The Krang communication orb! _It had been almost a week since his brother was taken by the Krang. And to say they missed him was the understatement of the century. He jumped into his computer chair, changing the frequency so that he could better hear what was going on. Donnie gasped when he recognized the voice: That's Krang Prime!

"LEO, MIKEY, GUYS GET IN HERE QUICK!"

They were by his side in less than a minute with the addition of Master Splinter.

"What is it Donnie?" Asked Leo.

"It's the Krang communication orb. I'm getting a transmission. I've got audio, but if I could just find the right frequency I should be able to…there." An image of Krang prime appeared on the computer screen.

"_Why have you contacted me, Krang?"_

"_The turtle called Raphael is now in the hands of Krang."_

"Donnie they've got Raph! Can you pinpoint the source of the signal?"

"I'm working on it Leo!" Donnie shouted in exasperation, while simultaneously feeding the information to the computer.

"_Bring the the turtle that is known as the one called Raphael before Krang."_ Two of the Krang grabbed his arms and dragged him in front of the communication consol.

Leo gasped. Raphael looked horrible. His emerald green skin was paler than usual and he was covered in bruises and cuts. His head had two really dark bruises and he held his left arm awkwardly, probably because it was in pain. Other than that he was alive and well, which comforted Leo, even if only for a split second. But what happened next would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"_All of the ones who are turtles must be eliminated for interfering with the plans of Krang. Krang! Eliminate the one called Raphael, that which is known in earth terms as: immediately."_

Leo, Mikey, Donnie and Master Splinter held their breath and could only watch helplessly as the Krang pointed guns at their Raphael's head and then all of a sudden the transmission went blank.

* * *

Raph threw his cuffed hands up, shielding his head and breaking the cuffs. Then he jumped upward, and the two Krang that had been holding him inadvertently shot each other when they missed. The turtle grabbed their weapons and proceeded to shoot every Krang that crossed his path as he ran back to the cell block as fast as his feet could carry him. When he reached the cell he shot the lock mechanism, which of course set off the alarm and the plasma shield dropped. "Mona? Mona Lisa?"

"Raphael!" The light green lizard ran over and hugged him. "Are you alright?"

"Alright as I can be at the moment. What about you? Did they hurt you?"

"It's just a little light head trauma, nothing to worry about."

"Good. Come on, we're getting out of here."

"Wait, you escaped?" She asked him as they ran side by side down the corridor.

"Yeah."

"Then, why did you come back?"

"I'd never forgive myself for leaving you behind." Their eyes met and for a moment they just stared at each other. But the moment quickly faded as the sound of mechanized footsteps drew their attention back to the current situation.

Mona Lisa hacked into a utilities closet that was just big enough for the two of them and shoved Raphael inside. They listened as a group of at least a hundred Krang bots began running towards the detention center they just escaped from.

_Still, seems like a lot more soldiers than you'd think the Krang would need to combat a prison break. _Raph thought. "Why are there this many Krang soldiers guarding a prison?" He said aloud hoping to catch Mona's attention.

Mona Lisa turned toward him her expression grave. "Because it isn't a prison. The Krang only began to use it as such because of the building's advanced security. The Preliminary was built around a central supercomputer. That computer is the main database for all of the Krang experiments, research, and invasion plans. The computer doesn't only store them but it creates them. Every tactic and plan down to the remotest little scrap of data that has to do with the invasion of Earth is made by that computer. If someone were to take out the computer…" Her voice faded when she saw the look in Raph's eyes.

"Mona, if we don't get out of here now we may never get another chance."

"It's worth the risk, Raph." Silence spread between them and Mona Lisa closed her eyes. "Go."

Raph's bright green eyes went wide. Dark brown eyes snapped open and met his gaze. He sincerely hoped that she hadn't meant what he thought she meant. "Go now."

"What? No! What are you going to do?" His only answer was an intense stare and for a moment he could see the fire burning in her eyes. She didn't have to say a word, he already knew the answer. "You can't do it alone."

She lowered her gaze. "Go home, Raphael. Go home to your brothers while you still can."

Raphael could hear Master Splinter in his mind as clearly as if he were standing next to them.

_Do not forget your brothers, Raphael. They will always be there for you, my son, no matter what happens._

_Choices are often difficult, Raphael. Chaos ensues when the mind and body disagree. That is when a choice must be made. Let your heart decide, Raphael, and you will never go wrong. _

The red masked turtle snapped back to reality, with a newfound confidence. "I can understand why you feel you should do it yourself, but I can't let you go it alone."

"But your brothers, your family, if we…"

"I'll always be there for my brothers. Even if we don't make it back alive, they know I'll always be with them no matter what happens. Let's do this. For my brothers, my sensei, and the world."


	8. You Can't

Sorry this chapter took so long guys, I've been pretty busy lately and I just got back to the keyboard. Hope you like it, enjoy!

**Ch 8.-You can't**

"So, just where is this Supercomputer?" Raph whispered, padding silently after his lizard-like companion.

"From what I'd gathered from the structural specs it should be-"

"Wait, aren't structural specs like high-tech blueprints?"

Dark brown eyes were clouded with confusion as she stared at him. "Well, not exactly, but basically, yes."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh. So if this is one of the Krang's most vital and essential computers as you say it is how did you get the blueprints to one of their most closely guarded technologies?"

She looked at the ground. "I was on Earth infiltrating a top-secret Krang location. I hacked into their computer database hoping to find their latest invasion plan. Except this time I got something even better. A complete set of layouts and blueprints for many of the Krang's top military strongholds, most of which are located deep within Dimension X itself. That was when I found the file on the making of the Supercomputer and what it was for. Unfortunately, before I finished…"

"You got caught."

"Exactly."

Raphael looked at her, trying to rationalize exactly what they were about to do. "So, you know what it was for and how they made it. Got any ideas on how to shut it down?"

"We'll find one. We just have to." Earthy brown met neon green as their gazes locked.

Raphael cast a glance back at the empty hallway. _You'd think they'd be a little more concerned that we broke out…_ "So where are we headed?"

Mona pressed herself tightly against the corner before scanning the adjacent hallway for any guards. Nothing. "It's just around the corner."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go bash some bots and clean some hard drives."

Mona Lisa smacked him. "Slow down, hothead. What we need is a plan." When all she got was an expectant glance she face-palmed. _Looks like I have to plan this on my own. _She thought. "We have to take care of the Krang and shut down the computer."

Raph grinned and smacked his right fist against his left palm. "I'll be the one taking care of the Krang."

She smirked. "You think I can't do both?"

Raph smiled, crossing his arms over his plastron with a playful look on his face. "And they say I'm the hotheaded one."

The green duo approached the large white doors with caution. Raphael regarded the giant lock with frustration and vehemence. He hated computerized locks with a passion. _I wish I had a sai with me right now. I'd have that thing sparking like fireworks on the fourth of July. _

Mona tapped the emerald green shoulder, interrupting the red-masked turtle's intense glaring contest with the locking mechanism. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Mona Lisa used her long, deft fingers to remove the repair access panel just to the side of the lock. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on three different colored wires: Red, Blue and Green. "This could be dangerous…" She mumbled, prompting Raph to glance over at her nervously. The light green lizard positioned the green wire between her teeth and bit down as hard as she could, cleaving it in two. Raphael could only stare in astonishment.

The giant doors slowly slid open and Mona Lisa immediately headed inside, turning back towards her amphibious companion, who still hadn't moved an inch. "Well? You comin' or what?"

She did an about face and headed further into the room, her wavy brown hair swaying gently from side to side as she sauntered up to what appeared to be a huge and extremely intricate control panel. The room was cylindrical and high-ceilinged with the u-shaped control center standing about waist high at its core. In front of the control station was a rectangular tactical station that was currently displaying a holographic image of Earth and at the back a giant curved viewing screen spanning the entire height of the wall from top to bottom. The entire setup was then connected by glowing pink cables to four power cells, two on either side of the giant screen. After taking in the surroundings, Raph followed her in slowly stopping just behind her so that he could look over her shoulder as she worked. Her light green fingers flew across the control panel as she stared at the screen and tried to crack the encryption that would grant her access to the supercomputer's storage base.

"How do you know what you're doing?"

"I don't really. What little I know about Krang technology I learned by watching them. This is what they call a triploid encryption, it's extremely complicated, one mistake and-" An alarm rang out and alert lights began to flash all through the base, "that could happen. Great. We have about three minutes before this room is swarming with Krang."

Six Krang bots burst through the door and began shooting. "Mona Lisa!" Raph yelled as he tackled her to ground, both of them narrowly avoiding being shot in the head.

"Then again I have been wrong before." She noted dryly. They jumped over the control center to take cover. She turned to Raphael and yelled over the sound of the Krang plasma fire. "You're a ninja, you got any bright ideas?"

Green eyes narrowed, "Just one." Raph flung himself over the u-shaped barrier and charge the Krang, narrowly escaping several shots before he was close enough to attack. He grabbed the nearest Krang bot and held it in front of himself using it as a living (or somewhat living) shield. The turtle used his new shield's gun to take out three of the five remaining Krang before he flung the bot with all his might into the last two Krang. The little brains went running off every which way as he continued firing the gun at them. He picked up another gun and threw it to Mona Lisa who had emerged from behind the control panel.

"Nice work." She said, with an impressed grin on her face. The grin faded when she saw the look on Raphael's face.

"That was just the first wave, more are on the way. We need to be prepared." He picked up another gun in his left hand before he turned to look at the computer. "If we're going to destroy that thing we need to do it now."

He looked into her eyes and she nodded. "There's not enough time to decipher the encryption, we're going to have to find some other method of destroying it." She stated evenly.

The red-banded turtle narrowed his neon green eyes in thought. Before realization dawned on him and an unreadable expression covered his face. "Get out of here. Now"

Brown eyes looked up in confusion. "What? What are you going to do?"'

"The only way to destroy it is by rupturing the power cells." Mona Lisa's eyes widened. "Go Mona, I don't want you anywhere nearby when I do this."

"No! I'm not leaving without you, Raphael. You came back for me. You saved my life, and I am not going to let you sacrifice yourself! You have a family back home and friends that love you. You could die in the resulting explosion! You can't take the risk!"

"Yes I can. I am perfectly willing to die for the safety of my brothers, of my world. It's my choice, Mona, and nothing can stop me from making it."

The lizard girl saw the determination and conviction in those beautiful green eyes, and she made her choice. "Then I'm staying." Raphael opened his mouth, but she silenced him by pressing a finger to his lips. "You never left me behind. I'm not leaving you behind either." The turtle nodded as their eyes locked: neon green to chocolate brown.

They turned towards the power cells, exchanging eye contact one last time before shooting through them. Raphael ran back and grabbed her hand, pulling both of them down behind waist-high control panel as the room went up in smoke.

**To be continued….**


	9. Never Lose Hope

**Ch 9.-Never give up.**

Leonardo stared at the blank screen, terrified out of his mind. "Donnie what happened? Get it back up!"

"I-I can't. The signal's been terminated."

"And there's no way to get it back?"

"I'm looking Leo!" Donnie yelled as he frantically tried all frequencies for any kind of noise or chatter. Anything that could tell him if his brother was still alive. "It's gone. I can't reestablish communication."

"Did you trace the signal?" The eldest turtle demanded.

"Yes, but Leo…he was surrounded by Krang soldiers—the probability that he survived is less than-" Donatello cut himself off when he realized what he'd said. Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes when he realized his big brother was gone.

Mikey turned to his father searching his expression for some tiny little shred of hope that his brother was still alive, tears rolled down his face when he found none. The man turned rat had his eyes tightly closed with an expression on unbelievable pain on his face.

"Give me the coordinates." Mikey stared at Leo in astonishment. How could he go on acting like nothing had even happened?

For the first time since the communication ended their rat-master spoke. "Leonardo…you must release your anger my son, you cannot afford to take rash action."

"No." The blue-clad turtle growled with his deep blue eyes on fire. "No Sensei. I refuse to lose hope. Raphael is alive. He has to be. He's the strongest of the four of us, we all know that, but he's also an escape artist. Just look at how many times he's gotten us out of tight situations, and how many times he's snuck out of the lair on his own without us knowing it. If anyone could've lived through that situation its Raph."

"But the odds Leo…" Donnie started, his voice tapering off before he could finish.

"I don't give a shell about the odds! Raph's alive. And I'm not giving up on him." He looked Donnie in the eyes, then Mikey and finally Master Splinter. "I'm the leader. It was my fault that Raph got taken in the first place. I'm going to get him back. With or without your help." With that the eldest turned and left the room to gear up.

* * *

Leonardo had taken a couple of hours to create a couple of basic plans of action and clear his mind. _It's time. Don't worry Raph. I'll never give up on you, little brother. _Leo thought as he sheathed his swords and left his room walking down the hall and into his brother's. He looked around Raph's room for a moment, before getting down on his knees to reach under the bed. The blue-clad turtle felt around for a moment before his hand landed on what he was looking for. He dragged the box out from under the bed and sifted through the contents. Extra mask, some crayons, _why are those in here,_ a couple of weights, and _there they are_! Leo pulled the weapons out carefully as his eyes were immediately drawn in by the shine of their prongs. _Recently polished,_ Leo thought, _that's Raphael for you. _Leo gave them a light twirl, not nearly as impressive as his brother's, and put them carefully in his belt.

A light shuffle of feet behind him, made Leonardo jump and turn around. Mikey and Donnie stood before him both of them staring at the sai in his belt. "If you're going to try and talk me out of it don't bother." He stated evenly.

"We're not trying to, bro." said Mikey, his voice a little bit softer than usual. "We want to help."

"I can't ask you to do that Mikey-"

"Can it Leo." Both the oldest and youngest turtles turned to Donatello in shock. "You want to go on a mission into alien space to rescue our brother. You aren't going to get an inch without us. You need us Leo, and the three of us need Raph. We're coming."

Leo just stood there in total shock. _When did Donnie get so forceful? No, that's not important now. _"First thing's first. We have the coordinates. But how are we going to get there?"

"Simple." Donatello answered without pause, "We'll use the portable portal that April brought us when the Krang were trying to bring those giant worm creatures to Earth. I've created a special interface that will allow me to enter the desired coordinates onto a specially designed computer software that will allow us to teleport directly to that exact location."

"And how will we get back?" Leo asked, Mikey turning his head from one back to the other again.

"I have another portable portal that I snatched off one of the Krang in the fight where they took Raph. We can use that one to get out of Dimension X. However, since that one isn't connected to my computer software it will take us to that same hallway with all the dimensional doors that we were in last time. We'll have to find a door back to earth from there."

"It's a risk we'll have to take. How long before you can get it operational, Donnie?"

"It's already operational, Leo." When his older brother turned to him with surprise, Donatello shrugged, "You two weren't the only ones who've had trouble dealing. I thought that maybe if I built this stuff we could get our brother back sooner."

Leo smiled and patted the genius on the shoulder. "Good work Donnie." Donatello smiled back. The eldest brother pulled his little brothers into a three-way hug. "Let's go get our brother."


	10. Aftermath

**Ch. 10-Aftermath**

Mona Lisa squeezed Raphael's hand and pulled herself right up against his shell as the room shook with the force of the explosions. She was vaguely aware of his other arm wrapped around her waist as debris began to fall around them. Minutes seemed like hours, as she sat there with her eyes tightly closed, too afraid of what she might find. Suddenly a voice began to pull her away from her thoughts. "Mona? Mona are you okay? Mona Lisa open your eyes, come on, I know you can hear me. Listen: we're not dead! We're not dead Mona! Mona!" _Raphael? We're—not dead? _The lizard opened her eyes slowly, to find herself staring straight into two beautiful neon green ones only inches away.

"We're alive?"

"Bet your tail we are." He grinned when two arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him into a giant hug.

Mona Lisa pulled out of the hug for a moment and smiled "I can't believe it."

Raphael smiled back at her, and then he realized how close they were. _All I'd have to do is lean in a little closer and…No, no, bad Raph don't go there._ _The last thing you need right now is to a girl involved. Your life is dangerous enough as it is, bringing her into the picture would only make it worse. But she's so beautiful, so—perfect. _Then his body took matters into its own hands and began to lean in closer. Raphael was surprised when Mona began to do the same. So close. They were so close that Raph could feel her warm breath on his lips.

"We're alive." She said one more time as she stared into those beautiful green eyes of his.

"Not for the time period that is known in Earth terms as long."

They both jumped up from behind the control mechanisms fists clenched and ready to attack the Krang unit in front of them. Both Mona and Raph were covered in soot and dust from the explosion, masking their usual green color. Raph's bright red mask looked brown and his normally emerald green skin was covered in dark gray streaks and smudges.

The Krang bot turned and made a gesture to someone standing in the doorway. Krang bots began filing into the room, until they had created a circle surrounding Raphael and Mona Lisa who were trapped in the middle of the room where they stood back to back. When the soldiers stopped moving all motion in the room stopped and the Krang spoke again. "The ones who were prisoners will now be eliminated by Krang once and for all and become the prisoners who are destroyed."

Raph felt Mona's back pressed against his shell and thought _Looks like it's the end of the line. Oddly enough, I don't mind. After all, I'll have Mona to keep me company. Besides, no way am I going down without a fight!_ He closed his eyes and tightened the grip on the Krang gun in his hands. And right when they thought it was all over… _It couldn't be-_

* * *

Raphael watched in surprise as the Krang in front of him were slashed into bits by a big green blur that was currently screaming, "GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!"

The first blur, who upon closer examination was wearing a blue bandana was followed by two more blurs. A littler green one with an orange bandana and tall skinny one wearing a purple one. Raphael smiled wider than he ever had in his life. "Perfect timin' guys." He said loud enough for them to hear as they fought off the Krang.

"Raph."

He turned just in time to see his older brother slicing up a couple more Krang, but there were more coming up behind his back. Something shiny in Leo's belt caught Raph's eye. _My sai! Yes! _The red, currently brown-clad turtle ran towards his brother, using the older turtle's shell to propel himself into a backflip, not forgetting to grab his sai on the way. When he landed the sai-wielder spun his weapons before stabbing the two Krang bots in the head, making the little brains run off squealing. The blue-clad turtle turned around and made eye contact with his younger brother nodding his thanks. Raphael nodded back.

Then he turned and his gaze was immediately drawn across the room to where Mona Lisa was fighting the Krang shooting them left and right, hitting them in the face with her gun. _Yep, definitely my kind of girl. _He thought with a smile on his face. Until he saw what happened next. She moved to whack a Krang in the face with the gun, but he caught the blow when it was right in front of his face. The Krang pulled the weapon from her making her stumble forward. The Krang took the opportunity to punch her as hard as it could, laying one right on the side of her face. "Mona!" Raphael yelled, letting out a cry of absolute fury. The lizard girl collapsed to the ground her beautiful brown hair spread across her shoulders. Raphael ran towards the Krang that had attacked her, but soon found himself confronted by six more Krang.

Mona Lisa blinked a couple of times and began to push herself up, rage welling up inside of her. She was a little bit wobbly when she first stood, her body bent slightly forward as blood dripped down from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched. With a ferocious battle cry she leapt up into the air and front flipped bringing down her foot on Krang unit's head, snapping its robotic neck and taking it to the floor where she gave it a hard punch in the face for good measure.

All three of Raphael's brothers had turned their attention when Raph had stalked through the room looking like he wanted to kill someone. The Krang were pretty much defeated for now. Raphael himself had finished the six Krang bots just in time to see Mona Lisa kick the Krang bot to the floor. Leonardo finished off the last two Krang before moving over to where Donnie and Mikey were standing and joined them as they watched her take out the Krang that had hit her in the face. Leo winced when she punched the already defeated Krang unit in the face, making a loud, metallic-sounding thud. "Word of advice: Never mess with a lizard." Then the lizard mutant opened her mouth slightly and wiped the blood that was dripping down from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. _Whoa…_they thought.

Leo Mikey, and Donnie looked at their brother with one eye ridge raised. Raphael just smirked. "You guys have a way out of here?" He asked.

"Yeah," Donnie pulled out the portable portal and pressed the button to open it, "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Ooh I'll go first!" Mikey said and immediately ran through before anyone could say otherwise.

"He always that energetic?" Mona asked Raph with a sideways glance.

"You don't know the half of it." Raph said with a roll of his eyes.

Leo took a moment to actually look at her and take her in. She was probably their age. Dark brown wavy hair, brown eyes, green complexion with a long tail, probably a lizard, and a little bit on the skinny side as far as most girls were concerned. A little too skinny for Leo's taste, but not bad overall. Obviously Raphael's type, if the way she pummeled that Krang unit was any indication.

He returned to the real world as Donnie went through the portal. Raph gestured for the older turtle to go first but Leo shook his head. "No. I want to make certain you make it back this time."

Raph smiled and put a hand on his brother's shoulder, his other hand holding the lizard girls. He looked over at her. "Ya ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"On three?"

"Okay. THREE!" She yelled as she jumped through the portal, dragging Raphael after her. Leo smiled and followed a moment later.

Four turtles and a lizard walked through the dimensional interim at a leisurely pace, searching for the right portal to enter. "Uh, guys what's this one?" Mikey asked, his voice betraying a hint of nervousness. The four others came closer and peered into the triangular portal to see an entire battalion of Krang coming towards it.

"It's another part of Dimension X. They must have found out about the computer. They're probably on high alert."

"What computer?"

"Now's not the time Don. We need to get out of here, fast."

Leo took command. "Split up search for a way back home, hurry."

But at that moment the Krang battalion came through the portal and started firing on them. Leo pulled out his katana and deflected a few shots. "You guys find the portal, Raph and I will hold them off."

"So will I." Mona added.

Raph looked at her about to start arguing when Leo interrupted. "No time to argue." With that he jumped in and began slicing up the Krang. Raphael frowned, that didn't make him any happier.

* * *

Mikey searched frantically for the right portal. He looked into a portal, it was filled with goo and things that looked like giant jellyfish, then he looked into another one. Oh that's the one with April wearing a jumpsuit. Hm. What about that one? He went over and looked into it—Ah yes, home! Finally! "I found it guys!" Donnie ran over to his side and they turned to Leo, who was still busy slicing up Krang.

"You two go ahead, we'll be right behind you."

They nodded and jumped through. Leo called out to his brother, "Raph come on we're leaving."

"Roger that, fearless leader." Raph pulled back from the Krang he was fighting and gestured to Mona, who quickly joined him. The three of them ran for the portal all the way at the end of the inter-dimensional hallway. The Krang opened fire on them, pink plasma fire raining down on them. Leo was almost in the portal when he heard a scream from behind him. He turned just in time to see Mona Lisa fall to the ground, shot in the leg. He looked at his brother, who had an expression on his face that Leo had never seen before. And the red-banded turtle jumped back into the fray and ran to her, scooping her up in his arms bridal style despite her insistence that he leave her behind. "Go Leo." Raphael shouted at his older brother as he ran towards him. "I'm right behind ya." Leo nodded and disappeared through the portal. Raph ran as fast as he could with Mona, her arms wrapped around his neck. Suddenly a bright pink shot from one of the plasma guns hit the portable portal. Raph's heart pounded in his chest as he sprinted the last three meters. Those three meters felt like an eternity. At two meters the portal generator began sparking and at one meter it was starting to close.

* * *

Raphael jumped with all his might into the portal, emerging on the streets of New York once again, or more like the rooftops. When Raph realized he was about to hit the rooftop he pulled Mona Lisa against his chest to shield her from the impact and then they rolled over several times before finally stopping, the lizard mutant laying lightly atop his plastron. She opened her eyes and looked around in awe.

The turtle stood up and held her in is arms, before lifting her up and spinning around joyously. _We're alive! And we're home!_ The two of them rejoiced, taking no heed of the other three turtles watching them. Raphael lowered her to the ground as she leaned on her good leg. _It's probably just a bad plasma burn, _she thought to herself. She looked up into his eyes and still pumped with adrenaline, put her arms around his neck and pressed her beak to his. Leo, Mikey and Donnie's eyes were the size of dinner plates. Mona pulled away quickly, her ash-covered face turning pink with embarrassment.

"Guys did she just?" Michelangelo asked, pointing at them.

"Yes she did Mikey. Yes she did." Leo said with a smirk.

Mona looked anywhere but his eyes as she blushed and stammered. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so…"

The red-banded turtle grabbed her hand in his own. "No, it's okay. I don't mind."

The lizard girl smiled and blushed a second time. For a few moments they just stared at each other. Raph's brothers said nothing as they watched the scene play out. Mikey smirked and chuckled evilly before approaching his big brother and tapping him on the shoulder, killing the moment. "MIKEY!" Raph yelled as he tackled his younger brother to the ground. Mona Lisa giggled until the support that she had been getting from Raph was gone. _Isn't that just like a boy, _she thought. Leo immediately stepped up and wrapped her arm across his shoulders for support before she could fall over.

Donatello spoke, making the two brawling brothers pause, "Come on guys, it's been a long couple of days. Let's go home." Both Raph and Mikey nodded.

Raphael approached Mona and Leo, giving his brother a grateful glance that Leo returned with a gentle smile. The red-clad turtle swept the teenage mutant lizard up into his arms with a smile on his face, one that his brothers hadn't seen in a very very long time.

Of course leave it to Mikey to ruin the moment, "So Raphie, is she your guuuuuurlfriend?"

But instead of an angry outburst, or a foul-mouthed retort, that they would have expected, Raphael just grinned, looked down at the girl and replied, "Yeah Mikey. She's my girlfriend." And the lizard girl, laying half-asleep in the arms of her savior, smiled.


	11. Meet the Family

**Ch. 11-Meet the Family**

Splinter was brought out of his meditation when he heard yelling coming from the main room. He proceeded with caution as moved out of the dojo, where he saw his sons yelling and cheering and laughing together. He rapped his stick against the floor and all four of them straightened. Wait…all four! Raphael, his second oldest son was standing there with his brothers. Splinter wasted no time and walked swiftly over to his son and pulled him into a hug that Raphael was pleased to reciprocate. Mona watched with a smile on her face as Splinter hugged his son. "Raphael. You are alive. We were very distraught, my son. I felt the pain of losing a child. To think that I had lost another…" Splinter hugged Raphael even tighter at the thought. Then he pulled away and took a good look at him. Raphael was covered in dust and soot, maybe even a little bit of ash. He some mild burns on his right arm and his left looked sprained. His head had two big bruises on it that worried the old rat. "Leonardo, get a warm washcloth."

"Hai sensei." And Leo was gone. Donnie went to the lab to get his medical supplies box while Mikey helped Mona over to the couch.

"Naw sensei not now." Raphael spoke for the first time since Splinter had joined them. "She needs it more than I do."

_She? _Master Splinter looked in the direction that Raphael had gestured and his eyes focused on the form of a young woman, probably about his son's age with long brown hair, green skin and a tail? She's a mutant as well, interesting. "No need to be afraid, young one, what is your name?

"Mona Lisa."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mona Lisa." Splinter was not usually one to welcome strangers into his home, but he sensed that there was more to her than met the eye.

"She saved the world, Sensei."

Splinter looked over to Raphael with a questioning glance, obviously asking his son to elaborate but Mona Lisa spoke first.

"We saved the world Raph. We both took out that computer together." Then in a whispered tone that was barely audible she added, "I couldn't have done it without you."

Leo returned and handed the washcloth to Raph, who immediately began wiping the dirt and dried blood off himself. Donatello returned with his medical kit and had Mona lay face down on the couch so that he could easily reach the wound on her leg. When Donnie began patching them up, Master Splinter decided that the two of them could fill him in later.

"I am going to make some tea while Donatello tends to your injuries. I will make a cup for you as well, Mona Lisa. The herbs will help you relax."

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome." He stood and headed towards the kitchen. Muttering to his sons, "Sugu modori masu." The teenage mutant ninja turtles nodded in understanding, as did their guest. Splinter raised an eyebrow and addressed her. "Anata wa nihongo wo hanashimasu ka?"

"Hai, sukoshi dake." Master Splinter and Leonardo were impressed. Mikey and Donnie were surprised and Raph was flabbergasted. _She speaks Japanese?!_

Donatello finished patching up the wound on the back of her leg and wrapped it with a bandage. He then turned to his older brother and began inspecting his injuries.

Splinter handed the cup of hot tea to Mona Lisa and decided that it was time for an explanation. "Raphael, tell me what happened."

The green eyed turtle stared at his sensei for a moment in quiet contemplation. "Hai sensei, I will but I think that we should call April and Casey over first. I think they should hear this."

The old rat nodded and turned to his eldest son. "Leonardo, call them and ask them to come right away, my son."

"But Sensei, it's almost twelve o'clock."

"The sooner the better then. Raphael would not have asked for them to be here unless it was important, my son."

"Hai Sensei." Leo nodded and pulled out his T-Phone. _I should probably call Casey first…_

* * *

Casey Jones awoke to a horrible ringing noise coming from his bedside table. He grimaced, grabbing the offending object intent on chucking it into the nearest wall when his eyes came into focus and he saw the caller ID. The screen read Ichiban turtle…_Leo? At twelve o'clock at night? Must be an emergency. _The fog of sleep cleared a little as he sat up in bed, still holding the ringing phone in his right hand. _Maybe they've got some news about Raph! _He realized and answered the phone immediately. "Leo, what's up? You got any news on Raph?"

"_Yeah Casey, we found out where he was in Dimension X and got him back."_

"Is he okay?"

"_A little bit worse for wear, but he'll be fine."_

"Good. I'll be right over."

"_Wait, but I haven't even told you why—"_

"No need, dude. Raph's back and he wants to see his best bud. Duh. I'll be right there." The teenage hockey player hit the end button and started putting on his gear.

* * *

Leo just stood there for a moment after Casey hung up. _Hothead behavior never ceases to amaze me. _He thought, dryly. Then he mentally recognized the sound of Raphael's snicker. Deep blue eyes narrowed at his little brother.

"He hung up on ya, didn't he?" Raph said with a smirk.

"Yeah."

"But he's on his way?"

"Yeah, said he needed to see his best bud."

"Heh." Raph smirked.

"Now April. Oh man, she's gonna be so mad that we woke her up."

"You know there's a simpler solution right?"

Leo raised an eye-ridge and gave his brother a look. "Like what?"

"Like, you let me talk to her."

Leo handed the T-phone to his brother, "Better you than me."

Mona Lisa smiled at the brotherly exchange as she watched from her seat on the couch.

Raph scrolled through the contacts and called April's number.

* * *

April hadn't been getting much sleep since the Krang took Raphael. She felt guilty; after all, she had been the one that told the guys about her dream. The dream that had prompted the investigation of the Krang Location and led to the loss of one of the turtles. She now knew how the guys had felt when they spilled the mutagen from the Krang ship and mutated her father. Even though they hadn't treated her any differently, April still felt like this whole thing was her fault. Then she heard a familiar ringtone, and turned over to grab the T-phone off her bedside table. She checked the caller: ichiban turtle _Leo._ "Hello, Leo. Is there something wrong?"

A short silence on the other end of the line made her even more worried, until finally she heard a sigh of annoyance. _"Okay. First of all, I'm not Leo. And second-"_

"RAPH! You're alive!"

Raph winced when she yelled through into the phone. _"Yeah, yeah, yay I'm alive, Whoop-dee-doo." _He said, the sarcasm practically dripping from his voice.

"Raphael, how-"

"_Look just come on down to the lair, okay? I'll explain it all there."_

"I'll be right down." April hung up and started getting dressed.

* * *

"So, how'd it go?" Leo asked his little brother when he returned and jumped on the couch beside him.

"Great, she'll be here in a few minutes."

Leo stared at him in shock. "And she didn't even yell at you for waking her up in the middle of the night?"

"Of course not, Leo, I've been MIA for who-knows-how-long, she needed to know I was alive."

Leo gave the hot-headed turtle a sideways glance. "That was actually pretty smart Raph."

"What? I got a brain too ya know."

"Yeah, it's just that you hardly ever use it." Leo said under his breath, making Raph growl and tackle him, throwing them both onto the floor into a wrestling match.

Master Splinter rolled his eyes, "Kids." Mona Lisa laughed as the two eldest turtles rolled about on the ground. The other two turtles watched their brothers, Donatello rolling his eyes with a soft smile on his face. Michelangelo paused for a moment with his hand on his chin in a thinking position before he himself jumped into the fray, helping the eldest take down their red-clad brother.

"I will pound you Mikey!" echoed through the lair as the rest of the Turtle-clan, Mona Lisa included, laughed.


	12. Raph has a WHAT!

**Ch. 12-Raph has a WHAT?!**

Raph grumbled something about the wrestling match being unfair while his brothers gloated, but when he saw Mona laughing her head off he couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face. Their gazes locked and the laughter faded away, leaving only their gaze. For a moment all that he could see were her beautiful, chocolate brown eyes. Unfortunately the moment was ruined when Michelangelo stuck his face right in their line of sight with a goofy grin on his face. "Aw, this is so romantic."

Raphael face-palmed.

"Way to ruin the moment Mikey." Mona added, smiling at the youngest turtle's guilty expression. "So who exactly are April and Casey?"

"They're our human friends." Mikey said excitedly.

Mona frowned. "You sure they'll be okay with seeing a mutant lizard down here without any warning?"

"Hey just chillax, girl. You don't got nothing to worry about. Casey and April won't judge. And if they do then we can just sic Raph on em." He stated as he put an arm around her shoulders and pointed at his brother.

"Mikey!" Raph said in a warning tone.

Mona brushed some of her hair out of her face with her hand, annoyed. "I don't suppose any of you would have a hair tie?"

"Nope, uh-uh. Not exactly something a teenage mutant ninja turtle would need to have around you know what I'm sayin?"

"Yeah Mikey, it's just that my hair is really starting to bug me. I just want to get it out of my face."

"I like your hair down." Raph's brothers stared at him in shock before exchanging glances. _Raph giving compliments? This is even more serious than we thought._

"Thanks Raph."

"Perhaps this could be of some use." Master Splinter appeared at their side with a beautiful kushi and kogai kanzashi set. It was gorgeous, beautifully carved ivory with a delicately painted floral pattern. "They belonged to my beloved Tang Shen. You may use them for now."

"Thank you very much, Master Splinter. Although, I don't exactly know how to use them."

"You are quite welcome, Mona Lisa. And do not fret, I can assist you. Go ahead and pull your hair into a bun." The brothers gathered around and watched curiously as their sensei helped Mona Lisa with her hair. Raph watched carefully so that he could try helping her next time.

"Well? How do I look?" Mona asked nervously.

The brothers stared. "Great."

"Very nice."

"Awesome."

Raph didn't say anything, because he was too busy trying to stop himself from drooling. _She looks hot! _The bun had pulled the hair away, bringing out her face and highlighting her cheeks, a few short strands hung gracefully framing her face. She looked beautiful.

Mona Lisa blushed at the look that Raph was giving her, about to say something when a stray voice rang through the lair. "GUYS WE'RE HERE!" Raph was only on his feet for a moment longer before the next thing he knew he'd been tackled roughly to the ground.

Mona swiveled around as fast as she could, kneeling so that she could look over the back of the couch at the two teens currently rolling about on the ground. April immediately turned to the new mutant who was currently watching her friends with an interested yet confused gaze, but she remained silent.

"Whoa, whoa Casey, take it easy! I got a bad arm! Case, stop it!" Raph growled and Casey pinned him to the ground. Raph pushed him off with all the force he could muster. "Get off me." He muttered angrily.

"Gee, my best bud gets taken by the Krang and the only kind of greeting I get is a complaint?"

"It's no more than you deserve you pain in the shell!"

"Hey, we were going bonkers without you around dude. Never realized how much we depend on you till we didn't have you anymore. I missed ya buddy."

"Yeah, yeah, missed you too, dork." They fist-bumped and gave each other a pat on the shoulder.

"Good to have ya back Raph."

Mona turned to Leo, "They always act like that?"

Leo gave her a sideways glance. "Most of time…its worse."

That was when Casey first took notice of the lizard mutant. "Whoa, another mutant?"

"Got a problem with that?"

Casey burst out laughing. "Hahaha…Hey Raph, this one's just like you…ahahaha." Mona's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

Raphael smacked his friend upside the head for good measure and explained. "He's just laughing cause I said the same thing that's all, he'll dial it down…eventually. Just ignore him."

"Sure."

April glared at the human teenager and he immediately ceased laughing. "So what's your name?"

"I'm Mona Lisa, but you can call me Mona."

"She's Raph's girlfriend!" Mikey interjected. April and Casey only stared with their eyes the size of dinner plates.

"She's Raph's WHAT?!" Both of them shouted simultaneously.

Everyone turned to Raphael, who had taken a seat on the couch beside his 'girlfriend.' The red-banded turtle shrugged nonchalantly and put his arm around her. The others stared. Mona removed his arm from over her shoulders with a stern glance, before leaning back against his plastron and turning her head so that she could press their beaks together. The two humans stared in shock, while the turtles pretended that they weren't there.


	13. The EndOr is it?

**Ch. 13-The End…Or is it?**

Four turtles, a rat and two humans sat in the main room. Mikey and Leo sat cross-legged on the floor, Mona, Raph, and Master Splinter sat on one couch, while Donnie, April and Casey sat on the other, in that order. The red-banded turtle and mutant lizard exchanged a glance before Raphael began. "Okay, so I was outside fighting the Krang when one of the big blue ape droids kicked me in the face and knocked me out. Next thing I knew, I woke up in a top-security Krang cell, but I wasn't alone." He sent Mona Lisa a sideways glance, letting her know that she could jump in at any time.

She said nothing and Raphael was about to continue when April cut in. "You'd think the Krang would have realized that putting two mutants in the same cell was a bad idea."

Mona was the first to reply. "The Krang had specially designed the cell to keep me inside. There was no way we could have escaped, even if we were working together." April stared at her in confusion. "Let's just say I've been in Krang prison long enough to last me a lifetime. They didn't want me escaping again."

"Why did they want to keep you there in the first place?" Donnie asked.

"After my life was destroyed by the Krang, I became obsessed with the idea of bringing them to justice. I broke into their labs, hacked their computers. I've seen battle plans and Krang military tactics that were meant only for the eyes of Krang Prime. I hacked my way into their main database and began learning all I could. Everything from their origin to their current status, everything I could get my fingers on. And I kept learning, honing my technological skills, until I knew more about the Krang than I did about the human race. And I never got caught, until last October. I had heard that Krang Prime had developed some new invasion plans, again. Fool that I was I rushed in blindly, so bent on stopping them that I failed to notice it was a trap…before it was too late. They took me to the preliminary."

"Why didn't they just kill you?" Raph glared at Leo for the bluntness of the question.

"Oh I was far too valuable for that. You see, I broke in and sabotaged their computers and hacked their plans, but apparently during one of my earlier jobs, I downloaded a rather sensitive piece of information. Many years ago, before the Krang decided to take over the galaxy there was a planet called Telketron in the Krang system. Apparently, eons before our planet was even created, the Krang were a warrior race, vicious, mean and savage. Bitter rivalry and soon hatred was felt from both planets: Telketron and the Krang home world, Planet X. Finally, after thousands of years of conflict, the two planets formed a peaceful alliance and their system prospered. Until Kraang, an ancestor of Krang Prime, wanted to return to the planet's warrior ways of the past. Kraang concocted a great scheme to destroy the alliance and frame the Telkenians for the fault. Not long after, half of Planet X was destroyed by what appeared to be Telkenian attacks. The destruction led to an immense fallout between the planets and eliminated all hope for peace. Kraang used the event to his advantage and rallied his people, who would later be named the Krang in his honor. Kraang's forces killed millions of Telkenians before detonating the planet. You can imagine that the Krang history books don't exactly match the story I've just told you. But I found the truth complete with evidence. I downloaded it onto a special data containment unit and hid it where no one could ever find it. Not even the Krang. They want that data unit back. If they kill me, well…"

"They can't afford to kill you, unless they want to risk someone finding the data chip and plunging them straight into a period of civil war." Donatello stroked his chin as he put the final pieces together.

"Exactly. They tortured me, threatened to experiment on me, everything they could think of failed. No one was able to extract the information. It was about six months before they finally decided to give up and let me rot in the cell."

"Wait, wait wait. Back up. You were in that prison cell for an entire year, and you're still sane? Dude." Casey stated in awe, Mona Lisa rolling her eyes at him. "But seriously, what did you do?"

"Hope. There was little else I could do." Raphael put a soft hand on her shoulder, as though letting her know he was there. "Thanks." She whispered, barely audible.

"You said the cell was impenetrable, inside and out?" Leo's voice cut through the silence like a katana through pizza. The lizard mutant nodded. "Then how did you get out?"

A small smile formed at the corner of her mouth, "I told Raph there were two best ways to escape a Krang fortress: hit 'em when they take you out of the cell, or use some kind of high-tech gadget to break out of the cell."

"Obviously, since all my gadgets and weapons had been confiscated there was only one way out." All faces turned to Raph who took over. "The Krang came to the cell and took me out, not without a fight, mind you, but they dragged me away down a corridor and into some kind of communication room. I activated the communication orb, thinking I might be able to contact you—"

"We received your transmission and were able to view it for a while, but the communication cut short right when the Krang were about to-to…" Donnie's voice faded into nothing and he stared at the ground. "We thought you were…"

Raph stood moving behind where his little brother was seated on the couch and bent down, pulling him into a backwards hug. "It's gonna take a lot more than Krang to bring me down, Don." He said softly as he hugged his brother.

Donatello savored the moment before his brother pulled away and became the rough, tough, hot-headed turtle once more. "I raised my hands and the Krang shot the cuffs, one of the shots bounced off the wall and damaged the communication orb, otherwise I would have tried to reestablish contact. I went back to the cell and sprung Mona. We were going to head home, but Mona told me that the reason we hadn't seen any other prisoners was because the base was actually home to one of the Krang's most important computer systems."

"Destroying that computer saved thousands of lives, including yours." The light green reptile added.

The turtle clan stared at Raph, their faces a mixture of fear and shock. Master Splinter gave his second son a stern glance. Raphael's shoulders drooped but his eyes narrowed in determination. "I know it was risky sensei, but you always said that we have to put the group before the individual. If we hadn't taken the chance, people would have died. People that I could have and did save."

"You took the correct course of action, my son. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"How did you destroy it? A computer that vital to the Krang cause would have had all kinds of protective measures." Donatello stated quietly almost as though thinking aloud.

"I attempted to hack into the database, but I only ended up setting off an alert. The computer was protected by an extremely complicated encryption."

"After the alarm went off it was only a matter of time before the Krang shut us down. There was only one way to destroy the computer: by rupturing the power cells." Raph's brothers could only stare wide-eyed.

Donatello opened his mouth several times before he found his voice. "How many power cells were there? You said cells as in more than one."

"Four."

Donnie's eyes were practically bulging out of his head. "F-f-four? The resulting explosion should have unleashed enough force to level the building." He stated meekly in confusion.

"That was my calculation as well, but the room was built for maximum security. The Krang probably had it reinforced so that it would remain structurally sound, even in a case of bomb warfare. But we didn't exactly come out unscathed either, you know. Raph had the burns on his arm and we were both covered in rubble and debris."

"Considering the type and size of the explosion you should have been…"

"Lizard's luck I guess." She shrugged.

"No kidding." Mikey stated, still slightly awed.

"And what may I ask do you plan to do now that you are once again free, Mona Lisa?" Splinter asked her. Bright green eyes watched her, waiting nervously for her answer. "Have you any family or home that you must return to?"

"The Krang captured me when I was six. I don't remember my family." She said, eyes never leaving the ground.

"Then you may be part of ours."

"No, I couldn't possibly-"

"It is no trouble at all, my dear. You have said yourself you have nowhere else to go. There is an extra room at the end of the hall you may occupy for as long as you like, though it may take a while to get it properly furnished. For tonight you may sleep in Raphael's room. I'm sure he will not mind the couch for now."

"Hai, Sensei." Raphael agreed.

Splinter nodded. "Then it is settled. Also, Mona Lisa, your computer hacking skills as well as your extreme knowledge could prove useful in my sons' battle against the Krang. Would you consider training alongside April to become a kunoichi?" Raph stared at his sensei, his brothers, and finally Mona.

The lizard girl smiled and nodded. "Hai, Sensei." She replied, before standing as best she could giving the rat a small bow of respect and gratitude.

"Yeah, girl! You one of us now!" Mikey shouted as he threw an arm around her, almost knocking her over. "Welcome to the Family sis!" He said as he squeezed the air out her with a bear hug. The rest of her new family just laughed at her facial expression nodded their approval, Raphael giving her a small, yet genuine smile and she smiled back.

Raphael had never been one for expressing his feelings. Usually he hid his insecurities behind a mask of anger and indifference, dubbing any other emotions signs of weakness. He feared his naturally emotional nature would make his brothers think him weak. But when he saw Mona Lisa standing there and saw the smile spreading slowly across her face, it didn't matter. As long as Mona Lisa was there, he didn't need the mask. As long as Mona was there he could be himself, free from the opinions of others. And whenever Mona Lisa smiles, for a brief moment time stops and nothing else matters.

* * *

**I have a plan for a sequel, but I want to know what you guys think! Should I go through with it? Let me know! Thanks for reading! :)**


	14. Word from the Author

**Word from the Author: **

**Hey guys this is Leah, just giving those of you who've been keeping up with this fic a heads up! I've just started the sequel so please check it out and let me know what you think! I really can't thank you guys enough for all your kind support! It really makes me happy to know that you guys like what I'm doing! The sequel is called The Misadventures of Raph and Mona, so head on over. **

**-Leah by Michelangelo**


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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles