Ninja Turtles 1. Prolouge

_Seventeen years ago…._

* * *

A single rat crawled onto the streets of New York City.

It was a normal day for Splinter as he casually looked for scraps on the sidewalk. The occasional squealing of a woman or the teasing of feral cats were things that he had experienced almost every day. So when the screeching of tires caught his attention he was immediately drawn to the action.

It was a large armored van that was swerving to avoid…Splinter stood on his hind legs to get a better look…a blind man that had wandered into the crosswalk. It was different than his usual routine and he was grateful for the small excitement since his life in the sewers provided hardly any. The truck seemed to have avoided hitting anything else besides a small pile of trash after someone had heroically moved the blind man out of harm's way. He was about to turn away when suddenly one of the doors to the van swung open and a small shiny cylinder flew out.

It arched through the air and found its mark on the head of a small boy that held a clear jar in his hands. The child shrieked in pain as his hands dropped the jar in surprise. It fell through the air and landed in the water that still flowed from the day's earlier rainstorm. From there it was carried down the street and found its way into one of the rain gutters disappearing from Splinter's sight.

He looked back at the boy who was now surrounded by concerned adults and saw that he had given no care for whatever it was that was inside of the jar. So Splinter decided to investigate.

Crossing the street was rather troublesome but after years of trial and error, he managed to reach the storm drain without injury. He peeked inside and found that there was a safe path down the wall before he entered. His eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness from the bright sunlight he had just left as he scanned the water for the glass jar and at first he only saw shards of it beside the flowing water.

When he reached the ground he saw what remained of the glass jar and the cylinder that had flown out of the van. He saw their contents spilled onto the ground, green glowing ooze and five baby turtles.

The poor things were completely covered and seemed to be just as shocked as he as he edged his way closer. The ooze was cold under his paws as he examined each turtle with speculation. They would surely die if he left them there; they were much too young to be out on their own in this harsh environment.

Splinter took a look around and saw an empty coffee can lying on its side. He scampered over quickly and pulled it back. And one by one, he ushered them inside so he could take them home to his burrow.

* * *

The turtles were sound asleep when he approached the burrow with the can carefully dragging behind him. Exhausted by the trip, Splinter barely found the strength to carry them all into the abandoned drain pipe that hadn't been used in over a decade. With the last one's shell clasped gently between his teeth he ended up fast asleep the minute he stepped into his home.

It wasn't until he felt movement between his teeth that he woke from his deep slumber. The turtle that had been in his mouth had moved over to where the other four had been grouped up but there was something different about them. Splinter rose to his feet only to hit his head on the ceiling of his burrow. The shock of it sent waves of surprise and confusion through him as he looked down at himself and then back to the turtles. They had doubled in size!

* * *

Weeks had gone by and the six of them had both grown in physique and mental capabilities. They were all walking on two legs and had found a more appropriate and suitable home for their ever growing states. Although it was difficult most days to find enough food for the six of them, Splinter enjoyed his time alone ever since the turtle children had begun to speak.

Of course, it was a shock at first to hear them utter his name mere hours after he had first spoke his first few words but now, it had become quite an irritation. The youngest, or so he believed, would refuse to be quiet for a single moment and kept saying bizarre things like, cowabunga. The other four were much more willing to cooperate with his requests but at times they too would be less manageable. They enjoyed the sounds of their voices too much for Splinter's liking and he found his time alone to be suitable for meditation.

He pondered many things as he searched piles of trash and he found that most of his thoughts were of the children. His first intention was to care for them until they had grown enough to fend for themselves but they had managed to steal his heart with their cheekiness and innocence. There was one that had called him dad before they had gone to bed last night and the warmth that he felt was addicting. That little turtle was special, not only because she was the only female but because she had been the first to acknowledge that they were a family, and that he was their father.

He was determined to bring back something special for them this night as he picked up his pace before the light faded away. His search brought him to a dead end and a ladder headed for the surface. The idea was tempting for him to climb and to search the streets but in his current form it was too much of a risk. He was the size of a human toddler now and if he were to be seen by the humans, he would never see his family again.

His stomach growled as he scuttled down the way he came which forced him to stop and take another look back at the ladder. Just this once couldn't hurt.

* * *

The entire surface run took less than five minutes as he swiftly exited the manhole cover and found a dark alleyway with three full dumpsters. He couldn't believe his luck as he scampered over and with the first look found half of a pizza that had been thrown away accidentally. With it under his arm he silently made his way back to the manhole where his eyes came across the tattered remains of a book.

He loved books.

With his other paw he snatched it from the ground and disappeared into the darkness of the sewer.

He flipped through its pages and marveled at the beautiful pictures that it contained and could only wonder why someone would have thrown this out. Below the pictures were words that he struggled to read as he walked along with the pizza tucked under his arm securely. A few of the words had been smudged away and his reading level was still rather low.

_"__Leonardo Da Vinci….The Last Supper."_

Leonardo…

Splinter liked the name.

_"__Saint Ge….and the Drag…by Raphael."_

He paused from his studies to climb down a grate to get to the lower level before continuing.

_"__The Statue of Da…by __Donato…Betto Bardi__or better known as Donatello."_

He turned the page.

_"__Famous for the Sistine Chapel…..Michelangelo."_

Four artists from the Re…Renn…Renaissance? Four names for the male turtles. His sons.

But what of a woman? Didn't the…Renaissance have women? He flipped through the pages staring intently at each word trying to find a name for the young female turtle, his daughter.

Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo.

Frustration built inside of him as he turned page after page in his hands when finally on the last page where the book had ended he found a picture of a woman. A very pale and sickly woman with a strange collar sitting boldly in the painting staring at him as though she had been waiting for him to discover her.

_"__The Italian Renaissance came to an end but the English Renaissance, under Queen Elizabeth…"_

Splinter couldn't help but smile back at the woman whose expression hadn't changed in the past few seconds.

Elizabeth.

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**If you have made it this far in the story then I truly appreciate your time! **

**This fanfiction of mine is going to be based around the 2003 cartoons except it'll be a little different from those. So you know how they were sent to different dimensions and such? Well this is a dimension where things are just about the same except...The little boy had decided to get five turtles instead of four in which the fifth turned out to be a female. And just because of that choice Elizabeth had come into being and thereby the world is different. But not to fret! I'm going to be following a few storylines from the cartoon so that it all goes along swimmingly! If you want to follow along, that's fine.**

**I really tried sticking to the Renaissance Era for the name for her and since I couldn't find an Italian name that I liked I moved on past Italy and to the rest of Europe and Queen Elizabeth came up! Which I thought was fantastic because I think that she is amazing!**

**This is a little prologue to the main event so don't think it's over yet! More to come!**

**Leave me know what you think of my mad genius plan in the box below!**


	2. Chapter 1: Things Change

**_Alright so I told you there are reasons why you don't post the first draft...so I updated it with the second...sorry about that. There's a few little different things so maybe you should re-read it...or not...your choice..it got a whole lot longer..._**

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_Present day….._

Splinter sat upon the ground, his legs were crossed and his eyes were closed, a small burning candle was in his hand. The years ran through his head like a fond memory as he awaited his children's attempts to extinguish the flame without being seen. They all had come such a long way since the day he had found the Renaissance book all those years ago.

His children were his pride and all he cared for in this world so he took it upon himself to teach them what his 'father' Hamato Yoshi had taught him.

Donatello approached first.

His movements, silent to the untrained ear as he spun his bo-staff, rushed towards Splinter. But too keen was Splinter's hearing as he easily dodged his attack. With a flick of Splinters hand and a twitch of his tail, Donatello went soaring through the air and landed in a heap beside the weapons rack.

"Too noisy, Donatello."

The noise of Donatello's movements had no time to fade to silence before the spinning sounds of Michelangelo's weapons broke into the air. He was a little louder than Donatello which made it easier to strike with a few well timed movements by the teacher. His attempt was also thwarted as he flew through the air to where Donatello was still recovering.

"Too clumsy, Michelangelo."

Silence had a chance to fall as Splinter concentrated on listening to anything that could break its spell.

The dripping of the pipes above him.

The heavy breathing of his two defeated children.

The echoes of the subway that roared through the tunnels.

Then there it was! A footstep.

He shifted as he heard a hard grunt from his temperamental son as he flew over his head. The flame continued to glow in the darkness as his landing quietly echoed through their home.

There was another footstep, closer this time, that approached and the sound of rushing air. The blunt end of his daughter's weapon, the naginata, swiftly sliced the air beside the flame that seemed to suck the oxygen from it for a split second before she threw another series of swings. Splinter dodged them expertly as the flame came back to life.

Elizabeth suddenly moved back to the shadows as Raphael came back for a second attempt.

Splinter timed his approach and stuck out his walking stick at the last possible moment. His son didn't see the movement and quickly found himself flying through the air and landing on top of his siblings.

"Poor choice, Raphael."

But he could hear his daughter's soft grunt as she pushed off from the shadows and took a long swipe with her blade towards the candle. The same result occurred as the flame flickered but came back to life. She leaped over him trying to get to the candle.

"Not fast enough, Elizabeth."

He snapped his tail at where she was in midair and it wrapped around her ankle. With a quick jerk, he managed to pull it out from under her and she went crashing to the ground on the opposite side of the room. She moaned as she slammed against the wall and cursed under her breath.

Splinter watched her carefully but didn't notice the sudden movement from above him. He only heard the swiping of blades coming from the side of him and when he looked he saw the candle had been cut in half. The flame had jumped from his hand to the top of a katana that reflected the light of the flame to reveal his last child, Leonardo.

Everyone could see the smirk on his face before he arrogantly blew it out. It sent waves of anger and jealousy through Raphael and Elizabeth as Splinter flipped the power switch back on with his walking stick.

"Well done Leonardo." The room flooded with light as the remaining four turtles got back to their feet.

"Teachers pet!" Raph spat as Leo tossed him what remained of the candle.

"Ninja dropout!" he countered.

"Cheater," Elizabeth added under her breath as she slid her weapon into its sheath on her back.

"My children!" Splinter snapped bringing them all to silence.

"Oh my children," he whispered as he put his hand to his forehead and shook his head, "In order for you to become true ninja you must work harder." Elizabeth groaned inwardly as she followed her brother's examples and knelt in a semi-circle around their master. She looked down at the ground and tried keeping her hands relaxed as she silently reminded herself that she was technically the last one standing. Leo had just come in when Master Splinter was distracted.

She was working hard. She had more to prove than her brothers.

"Your path in life will not be an easy one," Splinter reminded them as Elizabeth brought her thoughts to a stop, "The outside world will not be a friendly place for you. You five, are different in ways that the surface dwellers would never understand. To survive, you must master these skills I teach you. The ninjitsu powers of stealth and secrecy. You must become kage, shadow warriors, and you must never be discovered by the outside world." The tension in the room was obvious as Elizabeth took a small glance towards her brothers. Three of them were staring up at Splinter same as she, but Mikey seemed to be staring at the fly that had been buzzing around them the past minute.

When he raised his hands from his lap, she cringed.

But he never got the chance to execute the insect.

"What is…that noise?" Splinter stated as a small rumbling came from the walls around them. It grew louder as the five siblings rose to their feet.

"Whoa!" Mikey exclaimed, "Earthquake."

"An earthquake in New York, possible, but not likely," Donnie stated as his four sibilings took a step backwards. He was caught off guard when a piece of their supporting beams suddenly fell through the air and narrowly missed him.

"We can speculate what it is when it's over, if we're still alive," Elizabeth snapped as one of the walls farthest from them imploded. At first the dust and rubble made them unable to see what had just entered their lair but the sounds of mechanical parts whirring echoed through the walls.

Out of the dust came small robots with large heads standing on two strong legs.

"What are those things?" Leo asked as the machines approached.

"New York City cockroaches?" Mikey joked.

"Whatever they are! They picked the wrong party to crash!" Raphael exclaimed as he pulled his sai from his belt and charged headfirst into the scene.

His brothers followed suit as Elizabeth stayed behind with Splinter as more and more began pouring out from that hole in the wall. Their numbers began to overwhelm them as stragglers began dodging her brothers attacks and approaching her and Splinter. She stepped forward, pulling her nagitata from her back and smashed their craniums rather easily before they could get any closer to Splinter.

But they just kept coming.

Six more had appeared from the two she had just destroyed and she struggled to dispatch them as loud gnawing sounds began coming from the support beam beside her. She took a small glance at it and saw at least three machines chewing away at it.

"Donnie!" she shouted as she sliced through another head, "The tunnel isn't going to hold!"

"Guys, we've gotta get back to Splinter!" Leo shouted as he looked up from his most recent victim, having not heard what his sister had just said. There were at least half a dozen little robots surrounding Splinter, who was getting besieged against the farthest wall.

Elizabeth ran towards him and leaped up to a bar on the ceiling, which Raphael commonly used to work out with, and swung over the robots back to her position at her father's side. She spun around quickly and stabbed one through the neck and decapitated it before it could take a piece of her leg.

She looked up from her opponents and could see that the support beam had been weakened to the point that there was no way that the ceiling was going to hold in that area. The weight of the tunnels above it would fall down on top of them if any more beams were damaged.

There was a crack that could be heard above the commotion in the room that got her attention.

It was too late.

"Stay back!" she shouted to her brothers as a large piece of the ceiling fell onto the ground beside her. Without thinking she turned to Splinter and tackled him as more of the ceiling caved down around them.

"Look out!" Leo's voice was prominent through the rumbling as she curled over her father, praying that her shell would be strong enough to keep off anything that would smash them.

Her brother's shouts were drowned out by the roar of the falling debris that slammed and thudded against her back. Dust was everywhere, in her eyes, behind her bandana, and in her mouth as she tightened herself around her father who hadn't moved since being tackled.

Then silence.

The two of them laid on the hard ground for a moment as she tried to catch her breath from the adrenaline that continued to pump through her veins. They were surrounded by darkness that seemed to have already swallowed them whole.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she began moving a piece of debris from her legs so that she could stand. There was a dull ache that pulsed through them as she slowly got to her feet feeling her body groaning to comply.

"I'm fine," Splinter coughed as she removed her bandana and wiped the dust from her face. Actually his head pounded and his ears were still ringing from the loud roar of their home collapsing. Her sudden movements weren't good for his frail body but he commemorated her on her quick thinking.

He groaned as another loud ring added to what he heard and it took him a moment to realize that it was coming from within his robes. He fumbled around in his dusty clothes and pulled out the device that Donatello had given him that he still struggled to understand. He shakily played with it for a few moments until the light came on and sent pain through his eyeballs.

"Which button do you press to answer this thing?" he said as he began pushing them in a random order, "Hello? Hello. Stupid device."

"Let me see it," Elizabeth insisted as her hand finally wrapped around the familiar wood of his staff. They exchanged the items and she pushed the speaker button.

"Hello? Master Splinter?" It was Donnie.

"We're both fine a few scrapes and cuts but we're no better off than you I'm sure. Is everyone there?"

"Liz?" he exclaimed in surprise, "Thank heaven! We thought you had been crushed!" She rolled her eyes in irritation.

"Some faith you have in me," she replied snidely, "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah we're fine," a second voice answered. It was Raph.

"Whatever those mechanical menaces were, they have eaten through the support structure of our home," Splinter added, "We must leave right away before they return. Meet us at the old drainage junction at south point."

"The old drainage junction?" Leo's voice chimed in as the sound of rustling paper came through the speaker, "Right there. Alright we'll meet you there."

"Stay out of trouble," Elizabeth tried to add before the phone went dead. She pinched her lips in irritation as she compressed the phone back down and handed it to Splinter.

"We should get going," he stated as he slipped it back into his robes. His walking stick began its periodic tapping on the floor as his daughter reached to the ground to uncover her weapon from the debris.

When it was loose enough to pull out she took a final glance around the room at all the destruction.

She was hesitant to leave.

This is where she learned to walk.

Where she made her first drawing of her family.

Where she won her first sparring match against her brothers.

Burnt her first batch of cookies in the oven.

And where Splinter had given her the weapon that was now strapped to her back, the naginata.

This place had been her home for as long as she could remember and silently hoped that Donatello would be able to find a way to salvage it.

"Come now child," he said as the soft tapping of his walking stick began again, "We still have a long journey ahead of us."

* * *

They traveled along in silence, neither wanting to take a break and to get to the drainage junction as fast as possible. Mechanical marching echoed through the tunnels but nothing appeared or attacked. It was strangely ominous as the sounds came and went as though they were passing by, invisible to their eyes. It was unnerving to the both of them.

"I hope that your brothers are waiting for us there," Splinter stated hoping to put his daughter at ease.

She didn't reply.

Out of all his children, she was definitely the most difficult to read.

Splinter was not familiar with women. Of course he had seen many different sides of them on the television but none seemed to be the same as his daughter. Elizabeth confused him as much as she did to her siblings. She could say one thing but mean something different and there were always hidden meanings in her words. She could be having a mental breakdown inside but she could hide it as though it were nothing. He couldn't help but be constantly worried about it.

She was more loyal to her brother's namesakes rather than her own. Where Donatello was the tech-savvy son and Mikey was the fun loving teen, his little girl was the artist of the family. Before their home was demolished the evidence of it could be seen everywhere in the lair, from the kitchen to the dojo.

And he loved it all.

At least until she hit the early teens.

From the day that they had been 'born' she was never alone by force, it was always her choice, and during that time, it was all she wanted. And when she was alone she became cold, unrelenting with her words and especially with her art. The princesses and dragons of her youth turned to shadows and swirling darkness. Her flowers and gardens turned to thorns and death.

It was disturbing.

"I'm not worried," she stated, "They'll be there." She began climbing a small mound of rubble that had been created by the robotic menaces before they attacked their home. She turned and offered her hand to him as he began climbing the pile.

"I'm alright," he insisted as he carefully jumped down from a large cement block to her side. Her words didn't give him much comfort as they continued down the tunnel. The past few months had seemed like déjà vu of events that had happened merely two years ago. She was closing up from her brothers and always wanted to be alone.

It terrified him to think that she might be going back down the path that he had tried so hard to pull her from. It took the combined efforts of the whole family to revive her spirit when that depression hit and with the way their relationship had become…he doubted that they could do it again.

"The drainage junction is just up ahead," Elizabeth stated as she pulled her weapon from where she had sheathed it, "and I don't hear anything."

They walked into the soft light that came from years old fluorescent lights that flickered ominously. Old pipes stretched into the ceiling and disappeared through one of the six walls. One had already been eaten through and spider's webs could be seen covering the openings. Water dripped from the others that were above them with a consistent beat. Their shadows stretched along the walls and gave them both uneasiness.

Tap, tap, tap.

There was no one to be seen.

"They're not here," she pointed out as she worked her way to the other entrance where it was possible for them to come through.

"I can see that," Splinter replied as he did his own scan of the area, "but perhaps it is a good thing."

"What do you mean?" she asked as she turned back to him. Her heart took an excess beat and she held her breath for a moment.

"We can talk without being overheard," he stated as he put both hands on his walking stick and gave her his familiar concerned stare, "I can sense that you are distracted."

"Sensei!" she groaned, "I'm fine!"

No she wasn't. Guilt was eating her up inside ever since she got the results from that test. She knew what that guilt was doing to her. She was hitting that low point all over again even though she fought so hard against it. And fought so hard to hide it.

Early on in their lives they each had sworn an oath to never examine their DNA for relations. Splinter had believed that if this information were to be known that it would drive them all apart and Elizabeth didn't believe him.

Donnie wasn't the only one who could work his way around his machines and during the late hours when everyone had fallen asleep, she had run the forbidden test.

She had to.

The results were instantaneous and she had stared at them long and hard before erasing everything from the memory drive.

She had to know.

"You can choose to ignore this," Splinter stated, "But it will only grow." She rolled her eyes as she moved back to stand in front of the second entrance to watch for her brothers.

"It's nothing," she said as she tried to keep her voice as casual as possible.

"Is this about your brothers?" he asked with the hopes that it was the same issue from her previous troubled time. She had never spoken of what it was that had sent her down that path and Splinter feared that she never would. He knew that it was bound to return eventually and when it did it might be too much for them to handle.

"No," she replied, "it's about me but please, don't worry about it, sensei. I'll be alright." Her words did nothing to soothe him.

"The worry of a father is not something that can be wiped away," he whispered as he tapped his walking stick towards her, "Elizabeth?" She looked from the darkness of the tunnel in front of her to where the light faded into it on the ground. Biting her lip she shook her head as she tightened her grip on her weapon. She couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't' go back and fix what she had done.

"Dad," she whispered as she turned to him, "I-I broke a promise. I…" She couldn't bring herself to say it as his signature disappointed face appeared.

"What promise?" he questioned as he searched his mind for answers. There was the promise to never go to the surface. The promise that they would always be a family. Or maybe the promise that she would never return to that disheartened state, although he understood how difficult it would be.

"I…I ran our DNA, my brother's and mine. But I have a good reason for it!" she spoke quickly, "I…just…I've been getting these…feelings. Like, well, you know? Urges?" Her face had begun to burn as she looked down at the ground and began rubbing her arm.

"And I just needed to know that…if I had a chance with someone…that hopefully we weren't related so that in case we…got together…that things wouldn't turn…awkward?" Splinter's face was still furrowed in his disappointed stare as he struggled to process what she had just told him.

She awaited his response as the sound of mechanical marching began to grow in the silence. Tears had begun to fill her eyes as she bit the side of her mouth trying to keep them from running down her face.

"Please, forgive me," she whispered as the ground in front of her began to crack in coordination with escalating chomping noises. The tears dried quickly as her attention focused on the shiny metal heads that began to poke up from the ground like prairie dogs. She spun her weapon in her hands and pounded them back into the holes like a dangerous version of whack-a-mole.

Splinter didn't reply as he watched two more cracks form in the ground and raised his walking stick in preparation to defend his daughter. The crack grew into a hole and two machines crawled out of each. He took a swing and his blow landed on the cranium of the first while another managed to snag his robes.

Elizabeth flipped her weapon around and crushed its head before it could do anything else. More holes had begun appearing all around her and she continued to fight them as though it was just some big arcade game. She didn't hear the crumbling sounds that came from beneath her feet as she sliced another in two after it had snuck up behind her.

Splinter looked over, his rat ears picking up on the rumbling and he saw the floor beginning to weaken beneath her. But before he could shout at her to leap to safety the rumbling grew too loud thundering as the floor gave way and sucked her down with it.

He landed the final blow on the last metal menace before he rushed over and frantically looked down the dark hole for any sign of his daughter.

There was nothing.

Not even her cries of surprise were heard.

She slid down the hole like a giant slide and soon found herself rolling through another tunnel. She grunted as she tried to straighten herself out to take a look around fearing that she had been dropped into a pit of machines. Luckily, she was alone.

And in a different part of the sewers that she had never been to.

There was nothing but rubble around her that was exposed by a small light that came from one end of the tunnel. She rose to her feet grumbling as she picked up her weapon, that had slid down with her. Checking herself for injury she slid it back into its sheath and moved back to the hole in the wall that she had fallen out of.

"Master Splinter?" she shouted into it, hearing the echo bounce around its walls.

"Are you alright?" the response came.

"Just fine!" she answered before pausing to look around.

"I'm coming down," he warned.

"Wait!" she called, "There's a light down here! I'm going to check it out." She moved from the exit and began approaching the light trying to ignore the echo's of Splinters voice. The light grew as she neared and it led her to the large doorway.

She could hardly contain her excitement as she sprinted back to the hole in the wall.

"Master Splinter!" she shouted into the tunnel, "You've got to see this! Come on down!" The echoes of her voice bounced up to him as he stood staring into the darkness. He, of course, was a little hesitant at the idea of jumping in but he trusted that it wouldn't do him any harm.

He leaped into the hole and quickly regretted the decision when he hit the wall that had begun to curve under him. He continued to slide until he fell through the exit where his daughter was waiting to catch him. She seemed ill-prepared for his momentum and they both went to the ground in another heap.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he rose from the pile and began brushing himself off.

"I'm fine," he replied as he helped her to her feet, "now what is it that you wish to show me?" He saw her face light up as she turned and began leading him down the tunnel with a bounce to her step.

"I don't want to spoil it for you!" she couldn't resist saying, "But I think I may have found a solution to our housing problem." She moved faster than he as they neared the entrance to the chamber.

Splinter's eyes widened at the enormity of the place and at the beautiful architecture that it possessed. There was so much space and he could sense that this was capable of becoming, home.

"As you are my witness!" she giggled as she rushed over to various areas of the room, "I call dibs here! And here! And up there!" He couldn't help but smile as she buzzed around the room calling out ideas for what each area could contain.

"Donnie will love this area to work at! A-and here! We can put a nice little pond right here with a relaxing bridge over it!" She kept going on and on with an eagerness that could almost match Mikey's.

Splinter allowed her to continue as he saw portions of her vision and his own for this space. He looked at where each room was located and could imagine his own space for meditation and for relaxation. The weapons rack could stand there and this large flat area in the middle would be perfect for a sparring area.

It was Elizabeth that managed to draw him back to the reality of the situation.

"We probably should get back up there, they should be there by now," she stated as she moved to his side, "I can't clean this place up by myself, well I probably could, but I'm not going to. But just so we're clear, I call that room there for my studio and that one there for my room!"

"You have my word," he replied, "But now we must return. Come. I think I have an idea where we may be able to find a way back." He took another look at the large cavern that would become their home before turning his back and disappearing back into the darkness.

It didn't take them long to find a familiar part of the sewer and regain their direction. The giant slide had led them only a few tunnels north than where their original destination was.

"Do not think that our previous conversation is over," Splinter warned as the faded sound of marching metal echoed around them as they walked down another garbage filled channel.

"Which conversation?" Elizabeth whispered as she took a hold of a ladder to the passage above them.

"Your broken promise," Splinter reminded her as she looked away embarrassedly.

"I understand…Do you think they'll be there?" she asked as she began ascending the ladder. She silently hoped that the rest of the conversation could wait until another time. Right now, all she wanted to do was to go to sleep as she reached the top of the ladder and crawled out. She reached down to help him out as he replied.

"They will come."

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**This chapter was based on the first episode 'things change' I seriously own no rights at all to the series even though I wish to heaven above that I did! I watched it like three times to get everything down but it was still rather tough. **

**There's no guarantee that this is at all written well... I warned you before...Third person is not my strong suit so some feedback would be really nice! please ^^**

**I hope that this still keeps you interested although it took me forever to get through this chapter and I didn't really have anyone to proof read it...So I hate to be saying that this is the first draft! And I should have learned from my first attempt at 'The Eye of Mahal' (my hobbit fic) that you never post the first draft...so I updated a few days ago and am posting the second! There's a few little things here and there that are different but it's pretty much the same.**

**But... stuff happens..**

**So anyways! Leave me a review with your thoughts and I will hopefully get to hear from you before the next chapter! **


	3. Chapter 2: A Better Mousetrap

**If you haven't re-read the first chapter I recommend you do that...I kinda changed a few things...**

* * *

The engine cut out to the silence that was there before their arrival and the lights went out to the darkness.

"Splinter!" Raphael yelled as he opened the door.

"Liz!"

"Master Splinter!"

"You're alright," Donatello exclaimed as he followed his three brothers the truck to where their family members stood where they all shared a large embrace.

"Where in New York city have you four been?" Liz chastised when the group hug released, "We've been worried sick waiting here for you…and what's with the car?" She paused for a moment as she felt Splinter's hand on her shoulder.

"We are glad to see you too," he said as he looked around at their shining faces.

"Master Splinter," Leo began, "So much has happened today!"

"Yes, yes," Splinter replied cutting him off, "There will be time to tell me all about it later but first, let's go home."

"We got no home," Raph stated, "Those monster's trashed our pad." Elizabeth and Splinter exchanged an excited glance as they began moving towards the large hole in the middle of the room.

"What's wrong Raph?" she sneered playfully, "Do you not trust us?" She couldn't hide the smile on her face as she bit her lip in excitement and giggled.

He felt his face flush.

"Follow us, my sons," Splinter replied, "Your sister has found a solution for that problem."

Without warning their sister eagerly leaped into the large hole in the room and made her brothers gasp with surprise. They weren't expecting Splinter to follow but he did a few moments after her. Being much more prepared for the ride down they both landed with grace as they waited for their family to join them.

Their cries of surprise echoed through the walls as one by one, they exited the slide and fell together in a heap on the ground.

"Wicked slide!" Mikey exclaimed as they began to rise to their feet.

"Come on!" Elizabeth ushered as she made her way back to the light up ahead, "We're almost there!"

"Liz?" Mikey called as they moved to catch up to them, "No offense, but this place doesn't look too great." She glanced back at him with narrow eyes with a small irritant growing in her mind.

"We aren't there yet, stupid," she replied as she turned back and continued to move towards the light.

"Look with your heart Michelangelo, and not your eyes," Splinter suggested as they neared the doorway to the large cavern. Elizabeth could hardly contain her excitement as she fought to keep herself from running back into the chamber. She would finally have all the room she needed for her projects.

The four of her brothers gasped as they passed through the entryway and before anyone could move, Elizabeth had jetted off towards her claimed areas.

"I could really tune this place up," Donatello said thoughtfully as Michelangelo sprang into action. Leo and Raphael moved around the area with wide eyes and couldn't contain their excitement as their own visions for their new home formed in their minds.

"I claimed these!" Liz spat when Mikey came near, "I found this place so I got first dibbs!"

"But that's the best room!" Mikey whined, "Please! Please please please please!" She stood firm as Mikey knelt down like a little child with his fingers interlaced.

"No!" she replied sternly as Splinter called up to them.

"Gather here my children," he ordered bringing the rest of the family away from their exploring. With hesitation Mikey and Liz moved down from where they were and joined the family in the center of the cavern.

"You see my children, change is good," he stated as he gave them a smile.

"We couldn't agree more," Leonardo joined in.

"Good," Splinter replied as his smile faded away, "Now let's see you boys clean up for a change. This chamber is filthy!"

"But sensei!" they grumbled as Splinter gave her a small wink.

"No 'buts' my sons," he replied, "Your sister and I will return to our old home and begin gathering our things while you get started. I expect to see some improvement when we return." As expected all four of them gave their sister a dirty look before turning and beginning their work. Splinter was going to get to the bottom of what she had done. This may have been his only chance for a while to speak to her alone. He had given the issue as much meditation as he could while they were awaiting his son's return in the drainage junction but it just provided him with more questions than answers.

"But it's practically the middle of the night," Donnie muttered under his breath, "Couldn't this wait until morning?"

"Unless you want to sleep in all this," Leonardo replied as he kicked a piece of debris, "You better get started."

"I wouldn't mind," Mikey chimed in.

"Of course you wouldn't. Your side of the room was always filth!" Raph teased as he playfully punched his shoulder.

"It wouldn't have to be if you would have kept your stuff on the right side!"

"Wait," Leo interrupted as he noticed his sister glancing back at them from the doorway, "What's wrong with her?" Splinter had already disappeared into the tunnel but she remained there watching them.

"That time of the month?" Raph teased.

"We're reptiles," Donnie corrected, "She wouldn't have that issue. Our reproductive organs work differently than mammals."

"She looks sad," Mikey stated, "Something must have happened while we were gone."

"It's not a sad look," Leo replied, "It's more like…guilt."

Liz looked away quickly when she realized that her gaze had attracted them all and quickly followed after Splinter. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying but she had accidentally zoned out and stared in their direction as she anticipated the impending confession she would have to make to them. She silently prayed that she wouldn't have to and that Splinter would let this one thing slide but she did not only betray him but her brothers as well.

"Do you think they'll get anything done while we are away?" she asked Splinter to try and distract him.

"They might but I fear there might be more of a mess than when we left," he replied, "But we can worry about that at another time. I wish to speak more on this promise."

"I-," she tried starting but lost the words she had prepared to speak.

"Do you understand why I had insisted that your true heritages remain unknown?" he started out as they walked farther and farther from the light.

"You said that it would tear us apart," she replied.

"But do you understand how?" he asked.

"No." Splinter let out a small sigh for a moment as he rubbed his chin.

He had found a parenting teenager's book in the trash many years ago and he knew that this was going to be 'the talk'. He had almost skipped the chapter because he hoped that they all would simply remain siblings rather than a pair of lovers in the family. The book had said that this was just another stage in life that they would have to learn and that it would be better for them to hear it from a parent rather than firsthand. But the book only spoke of humans and how humans mated, he was sure the author of the book had no intention for it to be used for mutant turtles.

He remained silent as he planned his approach to the topic and they ended up being halfway to their old home before he began.

"There is only you," he said, "and your four brothers. If you were to…choose one then what of the others?" He let out a soft grunt as he shook his head. It sounded differently in his mind but it took a moment for her to understand what he meant.

"So you're saying that I shouldn't pursue this because it could end up hurting someone?"

"No," he replied before pausing, "Yes…Give me a moment." Liz felt a twinge of irritation as Splinter returned to his silence and pondered his response.

"Shouldn't I have a chance? Neither of us knows what could happen if I try," she insisted, "I'm seventeen years old Sensei and I am much more mature than my brothers, that's obvious. We don't know what could happen."

"And that's reason enough to not pursue it," Splinter warned, "This is a matter that cannot be redone."

"Don't you think I know that? Why do you think I ran the tests so that I know who to avoid and who to go for. Trust me Master Splinter; I'm pretty sure I've thought all of this through," she could feel her irritation growing as they neared their old home, "Please trust me. If you had the chance, wouldn't you want to find love?" He pondered her argument for a moment as they began climbing a ladder. The thought had honestly never crossed his mind since he had become their father.

She let her comments hang between them until they reached their old home where they began gathering various items to pacify them until the morning. They could only reach their entrance to the home since the other was completely blocked off. Scavenging had become second nature to her as she sifted through the rubble and managed to find old cans of food and a few pillows.

Splinter's thoughts were on the idea that their family could expand and grow. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea but he knew that it wasn't a bad thing.

"If this is what you wish, I suggest that you tread lightly," Splinter finally said after he gathered a few of his items, "I do not know what it is that you are feeling at this time. But I do not want to keep the possibility of a family for you in the future." Liz's face warmed quickly as a compromising image filled her head. It sent a chill down her shell as she put together what he was saying.

"Wait," she looked across the wreckage at him, "You mean…Really! I can?" She dropped the things she had in her arms and couldn't hold in her excitement. She began dancing around the room merrily as she laughed with relief and glee.

"On one condition," Splinter interjected making her stop in her tracks and turn to him, "You mustn't reveal the results of the test to anyone. It must remain a secret."

"I promise," she replied as she began recollecting the things that had dropped from her hands to the ground.

* * *

When they returned to the chamber they could see the four brothers huddled in a corner exhausted from their long day. To Liz it was an adorable sight as she placed the canned food on a small table that the boys had managed to craft and tried fluffing the pillows that she had found.

"Do not wake them," Splinter cautioned as he picked up one of their makeshift brooms and continued their work. Elizabeth nodded and quietly moved to Raphael's side. Mikey's head was resting on his stomach and was snoring obnoxiously as she reached carefully to lift her older brother's head.

Raph seemed to wake slightly and glanced over at his sister as she slipped a pillow underneath his head. He gave her a small smile and mouthed 'thank you' before sleep overcame him once more. She let her hand linger there for a little bit before moving over to where Leonardo and Donatello slept.

Donatello didn't stir as she repeated her act of kindness to him. Leo on the other hand had a similar reaction to Raphael.

"Liz…?" he whispered as his eyes moved from side to side, "Is it time to get up?"

"No," she hushed as she carefully slid the pillow under his head that was resting on his arm, "Go back to sleep Leo. We've got a busy day tomorrow."

"A-are you okay?" he asked while half asleep.

"I'm fine," she insisted as she gave him a small smile, "Just go back to sleep." He complied.

Liz joined Splinter in the clean up for a few hours before they too turned in and let sleep over take them.

* * *

"Somebody's been messing with my hard drive," Donnie stated as he pulled up the memory onto the screen. It was the fourth day of their clean up that he had finally been able to get his computer systems hooked up but he couldn't remember this particular file.

"What is it Don?" Raph asked as he passed by with a box of his electronic parts that had been scavenged from the old lair.

"Just this file," he replied as he typed a few things to attempt to recover it. It was partially corrupt and from what he could see it had been hiding out there for a few months.

"What about it?"

"It shouldn't be there," Donnie managed to pull what information he could up and was shocked at what it said, "This is a…" Raphael dropped the box onto the table and tried to make sense of the numbers that were on the screen.

"A what?" he asked as his eyes crossed over the small amount of text at the bottom.

_DNA matches with sample 1: …._

_Sample 2: NO MATCH_

_Sample 3: NO MATCH_

_DNA matches with sample 4: ….._

"It's DNA test results!" Donnie exclaimed as he instantly began running the file through different programs to see if he could recover what had been lost, "And from what I can tell. The DNA samples were mutated reptile."

"Turtle?" Raphael speculated as more pieces of the results began to appear.

"Yeah," Donnie confirmed, "obviously these DNA samples were from us." He leaned back in his chair and stared at the screen for a moment.

Raphael paused, "Whose samples were whose?"

"I can't seem to recover it, the file is too corrupt," Donnie replied, "But I know what they were being compared to."

"What?" Raph took a glance around the room for a moment before leaning in to hear Donnie whisper.

"A female mutated turtle's."

"Wait, wait, wait," Raph said as he backed away in shock, "You mean someone was comparing all of our DNA to see if any of us were related to Liz?"

"That's what it looks like," Donnie replied, "but Splinter forbid us from anything like this. Mikey isn't smart enough to find his way into a program like this and he would have no idea how to hide it as well as it was." He did have a point, Mikey barely understood how to access the internet and it was difficult enough for him to delete his web history. Something like this was eons past his capabilities.

"Do you think it was Leo?"

"Possibly, but Leo would never disobey Splinter unless there was a good reason for it and I see no real reason for this to have been run. Maybe we should tell Splinter."

"No," Raph said quickly, "Just see if you can salvage that file any more if you can. If we let anyone know that we've discovered this they might come back and try to erase it permanently." He stole a glance at Elizabeth who sat beside their recovered boom box with a sketch pad in her hands. She looked as though she was in conflict with herself, something that happened often when she was drawing yet somehow she felt his gaze and looked up at him.

"You're just as eager to know as I am," Donnie stated drawing Raphael's attention, "About Liz."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Raph recanted as he began unloading the box of electronic parts. He felt his face begin to burn slightly.

"Oh come on Raph," he replied with a sneer, "We're both men here. You're dying to know if you're related."

"Yeah?" Raphael snorted, "And if you're so eager why haven't you already run the tests?"

"Because we all made a promise and I was just waiting for someone else to break so I wouldn't get in trouble," Donnie answered as he let a smile reveal itself, "So according to this two of us are viable candidates and the other two aren't, it's intriguing isn't it?"

"Yeah I guess so," Raph said quietly as he looked back at his sister who had gone back to her picture.

"I guess I could just run the tests again," Donnie speculated as he rubbed his chin, "Or just wait to see how this plays out. Someone wanted this information for one reason or another and eventually we will find out." He typed a few more keys in attempt to save more of the file but he only managed to get a letter or two from another sentence.

"Raph!" Leo called from across the chamber, "work isn't over yet!" Both Donnie and Raphael looked over to see him continuing to unload their recent recon mission.

"If you get anything more from that," Raph said before he moved to help, "Let me know."

"Will do," Don mumbled as he turned back to the screen and tried typing in another sequence.

* * *

"Hey Liz! Would you toss me the torch?" Don called down from his position in the air. He felt the harness adjust a little as his sister reached over to the table where his tools were located. She grabbed onto the handle of it and then carefully lowered him enough to hand it to him. There was a hard grunt from Mikey as he assembled another television to their wall of entertainment.

"What's wrong Mikey?" Don called down to him, "Don't know what to watch?" He leaned in to solder the last touches to his repairs as Liz readjusted the line carefully.

"I need more power, captain," Mikey replied in a mocking voice as he reached for an extension cord.

"No you don't," Liz chanted as she watched Don turn the blowtorch off and give her the sign to bring him down, "You're going to knock out the power if you get anymore!"

"No I won't! The turtle cave must be set for maximum entertainment potential," Mikey countered as he plugged the cord in. The lights flickered for a moment before returning to normal as Donatello and Elizabeth exchanged glances.

"Whatever," she muttered as she began disassembling her harness. She folded it over her arm and walked over to a box to put it back. There was a bright flash of light that came from their 'entertainment corner' that took her by surprise. It turned off as quickly as it came on and she could hear a low moan coming from her youngest brother.

"Turtle cave?" Donatello questioned, "That's so lame." Liz couldn't help but agree as she looked over her shoulder at them standing in front of the wall of televisions.

"The Shell-ter?"

"Nah, how about the Sewer of Solitude?"

"Terrapin station?"

"Splinter's School of Gifted Reptiles?"

"Do you guys have no original idea in your head?" she stated as she lifted a rouge box of DVD's to take to where they stood, "It's gotta be the Castle von Shell!" Donnie let out a chuckle as Splinter began clearing his throat.

"We shall call this place, home," he stated as he rose to his feet from their fourth hand sofa.

"Hmm, catchy," Mikey agreed as he made a shrugging gesture.

"Now what is keeping Leonardo and Raphael?"

"They're at the old lair," Donnie replied as he moved from the entertainment corner back to his table of machine parts.

"Yeah, getting the last of our stuff," Mikey added, "They should be back soon."

"With how well the sewer slider is performing, they should be back any minute." Donnie picked up a leg of a deceased foe.

"Well hopefully anyway," Liz pitched in as she began sliding the DVD's onto a shelf beside the wall of TV's. There weren't many so it was easy for her to alphabetize them before she joined Donatello with his reconstruction of one of the metal menaces.

"Even with them deactivated," Splinter began as he watched his son pick up the head, "That thing still creeps me out, Donatello."

"State of the art robotics, sensei," Elizabeth stated as she took the head from her brother, "This stuff is the best of the best even though it's disturbing and as scary as it is it looks like a little dinosaur."

"It's brilliantly crafted," Donnie stated, "I've just gotta find out how it works."

There was a rumbling that came from one of their entrances that made the four of them look over at where it was coming from. The one headlight from the sewer slider shone through first before the rest of it appeared with Raphael and Leonardo riding inside of it with the rest of their stuff.

"About time!" Liz called as it soared through the air and landed on the opposite side of the chamber, "Did you find my other pad?" Leonardo jumped out of the back with a frown on his face.

"Sorry Liz," he shrugged as he picked up a box of items to carry away.

"Alright, don't worry about it," she muttered as she began to help Raph unload what remained.

"What pad was it?" he asked as she began untying one of their straps.

"It was the red one with the bent up cover," she replied, "Nothing important."

"Why are you so upset then?" She handed him the TCRI canister that once held the green ooze that had given them this life.

"I just wanted it back; it still had some empty pages." She tried blowing off the question as she picked up a few of her recovered things and headed back to her room. It was actually the home of a very important sketch that she had been working on. It was a family portrait that she had been drawing in secret to present to them eventually but now it was gone, possibly forever. Back to square one.

She exited her room to see that Mikey had turned the wall of televisions on and that the five of them were watching it with intent. She quickly moved to where they stood to see a dorky looking scientist bragging about his accomplishments. Her eyes drifted to another object on the screen that was covered by a gray sheet that barely showed any silhouette of what was underneath it.

"For I, Dr. Baxter Stockman, have designed the solution to the city's ever growing rat problem! I give you the ultimate expression of rodent termination technology: the Stocktronic Mouser!" she heard the man on the screen present as he pulled the sheet from whatever was on the platform.

All of them gasped with shock as their mechanical home wrecker appeared on the television. It seemed to stare at them with its beady eye as the camera panned over it.

"The famous Baxter Stockman is trying to pass these killer robots off as a good thing?" Donnie exclaimed as he held up the head of the mouser that had been in his hand the whole time.

Raphael let out a loud grunt of frustration as he pulled a sai from his belt and punched through one of the flat screens.

"Was that necessary, Raph?" Liz snapped as glass and plastic fell to the ground. The screen gurgled and sparks flew from it as it came loose from its place on the wall.

"I say we head up top and kick some serious shell!" Raph said boldly as Splinter moved quickly and swiftly struck him on the top of the head.

"No! Absolutely not!" he snapped as Raph moaned at the headache that appeared, "You're last journey to the surface was a disaster! You cannot risk being seen by more humans." Her bothers moaned in unison as they looked around at one another. They hadn't been seen by a lot of people and besides who would believe them?

"You mean they can't risk it," Liz mumbled as she looked back at the television where the gruesome fate of lab rats was being portrayed as a demonstration of the mousers 'effectiveness'.

* * *

Splinter stood in the center of his children as they each tensed for attack. He eyed them cautiously being careful to listen while also watch.

Donatello was first again as he lunged at his master. With two easy blocks he was pushed away.

"Do not lean with your shoulder, Donatello," Splinter advised as Leo leaped into the air behind him. Splinter moved quickly and with one motion threw the eldest to the ground. He skidded a few feet backwards on his shell.

"Faster on your counter attack, Leonardo." Foolishly the youngest turtle rushed forward clumsily and with an effortless swipe, he found himself flipping through the air and landing hard onto his back.

"Mind your footwork, Michelangelo," Splinter managed to say before he heard his second oldest approaching behind him. With his walking stick he managed to disarm his son and push him against one of the pillars. He could see into his eyes that he wasn't there, his mind was somewhere far from this.

"You must learn to focus your attacks," he warned as he lowered his arms. Raph brushed by him angrily as he skillfully picked one of his sais from the ground.

"Yeah I'd like to focus my attacks on that Stockman guy! Why can't we just go up topside and show him a little mean and green?" He turned to look at Splinter before picking up the second.

"Because I forbid it!"

Liz stood off a ways grateful that Splinter had overlooked her as he walked back to his room. She waited a moment before she walked over to the weapons rack to put her naginata back where it belonged.

"Well Raph," Donnie spoke, "You could come over here and help me with these mouser parts. If I could just get one working, we might be able to trace it back to its source." She saw Raph inwardly consider the idea as he walked over.

They began speaking to one another in hushed tones as she gathered her sketch pad and pencils from where she had left them. She moved over to her usual spot and sat down, flipping the pages of the pad as she went. It landed on a half finished picture of her oldest brother as he sat in meditation. He did it rather often which made him a viable candidate for what she needed.

"I managed to recover more of that file," she heard Donnie reply to something that Raph had said, "I can't quite determine who had run it yet but I've been able to figure out more about the two that were partial matches. One is a biological brother and the other is like a second or third cousin from what I could see." Liz's heart suddenly stopped as she glanced over at them as calmly as she could manage. She felt chills running through her body as Raphael nodded.

"Did you find out who is who?" Donnie shook his head.

"No, I'm still trying to figure it out. It'll take me a few more days if I can keep working on it."

"Well," Raph replied in his normal voice, "I'm turning in for the night." He mockingly stretched his arms and forced a yawn as he returned the look Elizabeth was giving him. Warily of his words she gave him a half smile before looking back down at her sketch pad. He watched her for a few seconds more, not wanting to look away until he saw Leo walk over to gaze at her picture.

"What are you drawing?" Liz heard from over her shoulder. Without thinking she quickly moved the pad close to her chest to hide the page she was currently working on.

"Nothing," she replied as she looked up at Leonardo that happened to be watching over her shoulder.

"That looked like something," he teased, "Can I see?"

"No," she replied simply as she crossed her arms over the pad. Her face felt warm as she looked down from his gaze to her knees that were pulled up on the bench. What would he think if he saw that it was him? Was it good enough? Would he want to keep it? She hated when her brothers asked to keep her pictures. They were almost like a part of her, the part that she reserved for herself.

"Why not?" he whined playfully as he gave her shoulder a little nudge, "Just a peek? Please?" She couldn't hide a smile as she stated the same response.

"No," she quickly folded the cover back over and turned to place her feet on the ground, "I'm going to turn in too." It was no secret that her brothers would find some way to look at her sketches. Whether she wasn't paying attention or that maybe she had fallen asleep they would steal glances or the pad entirely. Of course, it irritated her whenever they asked about certain pictures but she was fine with it as long as they didn't question anything.

That's what got her into trouble two years ago, someone had blabbed to Splinter about her dark images which led to that whole mess.

"Since when do you and Raph turn in so early?" Leo asked as he watched her retreating back. Donnie offered a shrug while Mikey was too absorbed in a movie to offer his input.

* * *

Elizabeth stared up at her ceiling as she counted the seconds going by in her head.

Fifty-five…fifty-six…fifty-seven…fifty-eight…fifty-nine…Midnight.

She sat up from her cot and listened for anything that would show that any of her family members were awake. Moving as quietly as she could she stood from her bed and tip-toed her way to her door. It creaked as she peaked out into the chamber.

It looked empty in the darkness but she cautiously slid out of her room and stuck to the shadows with Donnie's tech station in sight. Halfway there she stopped as the sounds of another person in the room came to her attention.

She glanced around the column she had ducked behind and could see the silhouette of Raphael moving towards the exit. He didn't seem to have seen her and she continued to wait until he disappeared through the archway.

She moved again with a faster pace until she found herself in Don's comfortable computer chair.

"There it goes!" she heard Donnie's voice call as she froze. The mechanical whirring began again as she turned her head and saw the shiny surface of her brother's most recent project running Raphael's path. It didn't take long for her to then see her two younger brothers running after it and also disappearing through the exit.

She didn't waste any time as she turned the computer on and began to frantically search for the file that Donnie spoke of. She knew what it was and she cursed herself for being so careless. This was going to be the last time she ever underestimated Donatello's technical abilities.

Time passed and firewall after firewall she encountered as she fought to find the blasted file. She was pretty sure that Donnie had locked this thing up tight; frustrated she leaned back for a moment and began popping her fingers as she stared at the screen.

"Come on Don," she hissed as she continued working, "It's not that top secret." A realization popped into her head as she bit her lip in thought. She bounced out of the programming and returned to the desktop where she delved into an obvious file that had been tucked away in the corner of the screen.

She stared at what its contents were with confusion.

_Diary1, Diary2, Diary3…._

Donnie wrote a diary?

She clicked one at random and read the narration of their last home's demise.

"Seriously Don?" she muttered as she read his account of what had happened to them on the surface and about halfway through she closed the window and continued her search for the file.

It had to be here.

She began to hack into the computer from this point, fighting the firewalls and the Trojan horses that had been inserted to block her path. Her temper was beginning to become agitated as she fought and fought the programs and spyware traps that she continually fell into. And then suddenly there was a small icon appearing on the side of the screen. It flashed like a little beacon and took her by surprise. Intrigued at what this little file was doing stuck in the spiders web of the computer's programming she clicked on it.

And there it was.

She inwardly sighed with relief as the familiar text and results appeared but were surprised at how much he had managed to recover. He was closer than he had told Raphael. It showed who her biological brother was, Michelangelo and it was so close to revealing that Donatello was her cousin. The other two, by process of elimination, had no relation. Her memories of discovering the information came flooding back along with the guilt of having disobeyed.

It was too late for her but she prayed she could spare the rest of her siblings the fate she had bestowed upon herself and now Donnie.

Now that she had found the file she sat back and struggled to figure out what to do with it. She couldn't just delete it again; Donnie would find it as easily as he had done before. Her second option was to overwrite it, what she should have done in the first place.

She pulled the file back into its program and began to insert new information to replace the results. It wasn't easy but she had managed to pull together enough fake DNA sequences to replace her brothers and her own. Soon enough it showed that the DNA test had been for mutated dandelions and bananas.

Elizabeth couldn't help but chuckle at her handiwork when she decided to add a small message at the bottom.

'Nice try Don.'

She then proceeded to save the file and then deleted it in the same manner as she had done before when a soft roar of voices could be heard coming from their entrance. Moving as swiftly as she could she rushed over to it and saw all four of her brothers approaching.

"Where have you been!" she called down the tunnel, "I've been worried sick!" It was painfully obvious where they had been and it irritated her that they didn't even think that she would have wanted to go but she was grateful for the time alone.

"It's a long story," one of them said as they came into the light, with a human woman in Mikey's arms.

* * *

**Alright so this one is like super super super long...Like the longest chapter I have ever written...in my life! **

**And for some reason I keep imagining these guys as though they were from the 2014 movie...because I thought they were pretty awesome looking...except for Mikey, he's got a pretty fat head...**

**But anyways..I'm going to keep this short so I hope you like this and that you'll leave me a review!**


	4. Chapter 3: Attack of the Mousers

"You can't be serious!" Liz snapped as they laid her down on the sofa, "She can't stay here!"

"We couldn't just leave her!" Donnie replied as he slipped a pillow under her head, "She was being attacked by those mousers and she could be hurt! Will you take a look?"

"Why should I? First you go up to the surface and get spotted and then the four of you sneak out only to bring a human back! I mean come on guys! What were you thinking?"

"What wrong Liz?" Mikey teased, "Jealous that we brought a girl home?"

Irritation swelled inside of her as she felt her fists begin to clench.

"No, irritated that I could be related to a complete idiot like you! Am I the only one who knows how dangerous this is?" she hissed as she shoved him out of the way. He stumbled into Raphael who caught him out of reflex. The motion caught them all off guard even Splinter, who stood in the shadows not too far off; she had never been that forceful with Mikey before.

She looked the woman over for a few moments before reaching up to check her pulse. Her cold reptilian skin pressed against the woman's warm neck and the occasional pump came through. The woman stirred at the touch of her finger. Liz removed her hand as the woman's eyes opened. They seemed to be glazed over as she struggled to wake up.

"That's the last time I fall asleep watching TV," she muttered as she rubbed her eyes and put her feet on the ground, "What time is…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes adjusted to the light and focused on Elizabeth.

"Hi! How ya doing?" Mikey blurted out. Her eyes darted to him as she began screaming. He jumped back in surprise and began screaming himself. His shriek was enough to make anyone's ears bleed.

"Would you stop that?" Liz snapped at him as she rose to her feet instantly silencing him, "She's traumatized as it is! She doesn't need to hear your banshee screech any more than we do!"

"I'm asleep," she muttered to herself, "I've gotta be asleep! I'm asleep! I'm asleep! I'm asleep!" She grabbed the pillow and covered her head with it continuing to mumble.

"Well," Donnie began, "That didn't go very well."

"You think?" Leo replied.

Liz made no comment as she watched the woman continually peek out from under the pillow to check to see if they were still there. She looked awfully familiar but she couldn't quite pinpoint the exact time and place. It had been recently though.

"Hey you?" Raph tapped on her shoulder, "What do you know about those mouser robot things?" She let the pillow fall a little to expose her face.

"Well…" She paused, "At first I thought they were for cleaning up the city's rat problem but there were some things that just weren't making sense. Dr. Stockman began acting strange so I got a little nosey…Oh no. I'm talking to it…it? Them? You?" She began to panic once more as she ducked back under the pillow.

"Stockman?" Elizabeth glanced at Donatello.

"Okay," the woman whispered, "April, you're just dreaming. It's alright. It's just a dream. You're fine." She lowered the pillow.

"Are you sure?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just fine."

"Then maybe you're ready to answer a few questions?" Splinter's voice appeared and echoed through the chamber. He approached from behind the group and made eye contact with her. She rubbed her eyes with one hand before clenching the pillow even tighter as he neared.

"I-I…uh," her head leaned back and eyes closed once more.

"Wow," Donnie muttered, "You sure have a way with the ladies, Master Splinter. So…now what?"

"Maybe we should nudge her?" Leo suggested.

"I'll snap her out of it!" Raph snapped as Liz quickly moved in front of him.

"Don't you dare, Raphael!" she hissed as her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, "I think the four of you have done enough damage for one day." Shooting a glare at her other brothers, Raph jerked his hand from her grasp.

"And what have you done today, mom?" Raph countered as he returned the angry stare.

"Take a walk, Raph!" she spat. The venom on her voice put them all on edge as the human woman slept peacefully behind them.

"Will someone let me know when she wakes up?" Mikey said to break up the tension that pressed down on them all. He walked over to a table and picked up his iPod only to sit down in a nearby lawn chair. It diverted their attention for just a moment but Liz and Raph quickly returned to their stare down.

"Just let it go Raph," Leo whispered as he put his hand on his brother's shoulder, "Go get some sleep."

Raphael's hands clenched as he shook off Leo's hand and stalked off into his room, grumbling as he went.

She wasn't his mother! He had enough to worry about with Splinter and Splinter junior; he didn't need her on his case too. And what did she know? She wanted nothing to do with the family anymore! She was always off doing her own thing!

He slammed his door and grunted in his frustration as he threw himself onto his bed. Tucking his hands behind his head he stared up at the ceiling with his irritation growing in his stomach. Girls were more trouble than they were worth. Saying one thing but having it mean something completely different was too much for him to understand.

But he couldn't stay mad at her for long.

He didn't quite know why but she always made him feel like he wasn't just the hot head of the family. She could have a hot head sometimes too and it made him feel…he shook his head. He was supposed to be mad at her, not thinking of her like that.

But what about what Donnie had found, that DNA file.

There were so many questions he had about that thing and it pissed him off that it could be so difficult. He wanted to know so badly that he could taste it.

* * *

"You should get some sleep," Leo said to his sister who looked to be struggling to stay awake. It was early morning and she was the only one out of the five of them who kept a constant watch on the woman. She tried shaking the sleep from her head as she readjusted herself on the column.

"I'm fine Leo," she muttered as she shot him a look, "You need to sleep more than I do. You're the one who's been sneaking out at all hours of the night." He looked at her skeptically before countering her comment.

"Says the turtle that stays up all night."

She scoffed but didn't reply, he was right. She stayed up as much as she could but got in a lot of trouble whenever they found her slumped over her drafting table. It bothered Leo whenever they did. He made sure to check on her before bed as often as he remembered to because of what he had seen two years ago. It still scared him even though she hadn't made another attempt since that night.

"Leo I'm alright," she insisted as she looked away, "Why don't you go help Don with whatever he's freaking out about over there." They both glanced over to see him working feverishly at his station. He was cursing under his breath but neither of them could pick out full words. Occasionally he would pound his hand against the table in frustration, making his desk toys topple over.

"I'm sure he's just nervous like the rest of us," Leo replied as he looked back at his sister. She was leaning against the column, barely being able to hold herself up. There were bags under her eyes and she was still fighting to keep them open even as they spoke. Her arms were folded across the bumps on her shell that could have resembled a human woman's chest. Donatello couldn't quite understand what the cause of that specific mutation was since the rest of them hadn't gotten it either.

Embarrassedly, Leo had found them rather attractive.

"I'm sure he is," she whispered as she gently put her head against the column and took a deep breath. Her body was thinner than his in some areas like around the waist and her arms and her shoulders were narrower. Her shell was flatter than her brothers and had a few cracks in it from one too many hard falls during training.

He watched her often during their sessions and it was obvious that she had a grace that he would never obtain. It was just a part of her anatomy that she could bend a little farther or stretch for a little longer…and it drove him nuts. She moved like a wave on the ocean or like a leaf on the wind it was just beautiful to watch.

She had definitely changed since the night he found her crying her eyes out on the floor of her room. She was stronger, harder and definitely more protected. It might have just been him who noticed but she was much more independent than the shy and insecure child he had grown up with. For lack of better words she reminded him of Raph except much more level headed. But she wasn't immune to losing her temper, it happened often, but not in a physical manner, it was psychological.

And that made her even more dangerous.

"Leo," Liz whispered as she glanced back over at their brother from where she stood, "You really should go talk to him. I don't like seeing him like this and he'll listen to you." Leo snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at his younger brother.

"Why wouldn't he listen to you?"

"I'd just rather not," she replied simply as she uttered a yawn, "I'm going to make some tea. Want some?"

"Tea helps you sleep you know," he stated.

"Not me," she countered as she pushed herself off the column, "You should know that." With no chance to say anything Leo watched as his sister carefully stepped onto the main floor and walked away. She disappeared into the kitchen area before he moved towards the tech station.

"It's gone," Donnie mumbled as he put his head in his hands, "How could it just be gone!?"

"What are you talking about, Don?" Leo asked.

"Someone just overwrote one of my files," he hissed.

"Was it Mikey?"

"I'm pretty sure that this is way over his pay grade," Don replied, "They were even smug enough to leave a note."

"What'd it say?" Donnie moved the screen over so that it pointed to his brother. Leo's eyes traveled across the file and found the comment at the bottom, 'Nice try Don.'

"What's so special about this file anyway?" Leo chuckled as Donnie gave him a skeptical look.

"I thought that maybe you could tell me."

"Me? You know I have no idea how to get around a computer, right?"

"Yeah I figured," Donnie whispered as he rubbed his face and leaned back in his seat, "At this point I don't know who to believe."

"Do you think Liz could have? She's halfway descent at that kind of stuff," Leo suggested.

"No," Don said before he paused to take another look at the modified file, "but now that you mention it, she might have. But she would have had no reason to be looking into this sort of stuff. She's already got us all wrapped around her finger." Leo looked closer at the file, confused.

"What is this thing anyway? Bananas and dandelions?"

"It's nothing," Don answered as he closed the file, "Don't worry about it."

"If it was overwritten, what was the original stuff?"

"Just drop it Leo."

* * *

Liz stood beside the table in the kitchen fighting to keep her eyes open as she poured the boiling water into three cups. The water instantly began turning green as she picked up the small tray that they were on and began carrying them back out to where Splinter sat with the human woman.

"Has she budged at all?" she asked as she carefully put the tray down on the coffee table.

"No," Splinter replied as she handed him a warm cup, "Many thanks."

"Yep," she mumbled as she picked up her own and swirled the greening liquid.

"For whom is the third cup for?"

"Whoever wants it I guess," Liz carefully took a sip, careful not to burn her mouth, "Her, if she ever decides to wake up." She noticed a small pause from her father as she glanced over at him.

"You have been up too long," Splinter stated as he held the cup in his lap, "Why don't you get some rest."

"I'm fine sensei," she insisted as she took a deep breath and another sip of her tea, "I can wait until she wakes up." The taste was bitter and helped her focus on something other than her exhaustion as Splinter sighed.

"She will still be here when you wake. There is nothing to fear, Elizabeth."

"I'm not scared of her if that's what you're getting at," she stated, "I…nevermind." She took another sip of the bitter tea and fought to keep the grimace from her face.

What were they going to do?

They couldn't trust her and they couldn't just kill her.

They were entirely at her mercy and Liz didn't like it.

"Hmm," the human mumbled as her head twitched. It didn't look as though she would be waking any time soon as Liz rubbed her eyes in envy.

"When was the last time you got a full night's rest?" Splinter asked. She readjusted her stance against the column.

"A few weeks ago I think," she swirled the liquid in her hands for a moment before taking another sip, "I just can't sleep through the night. It's not a big deal."

"It is a problem," he stated, "You need your sleep, Elizabeth."

"I know, Dad," she hissed as she took the final gulp of her tea.

"Ugh…" the human whispered as her face tensed once again and her eyes began to flutter for a moment. Both Elizabeth and Splinter froze for a moment when her head budged but she remained asleep.

"Anything yet?" Leonardo asked as he approached from the other side of the lair.

"No," Liz replied as she began stretching and moaning with the strain of her muscles.

"Master Splinter," he said, "Will you please tell her to get some sleep?" Liz shot him a frustrated look as she let out a long and deep yawn.

"I have already tried, there is no changing her mind, my son," Splinter stated as the human woman began to stir once again, "You had better gather your brothers, she is going to wake soon."

"How can you tell?"

"Years of practice, my son."

"I'll get Donnie," Liz stated as she moved from her position on the column before Leo could say anything, "There's some tea still in the kettle. Give her some when she wakes up, it should help." She leaned over the coffee table and put her small cup on the edge of the tray before walking towards the computer station where Donatello was still angrily working.

* * *

"Hey! Earth to Mikey," Raph snapped as he roughly palmed the back of his brother's head.

"Ow!" Mikey whined as he reached up to wipe the drool that dripped down the corner of his mouth, "What?"

"She woke up, Leo's got her some tea and she ready to consider that we might be real."

"Awesomely radical, dude!" Mikey exclaimed as he pulled his headphones from his head.

"You keep talking like that, she's gonna pass out again," Raph smirked as he walked around his brother and headed for where his family had gathered.

The woman sat there, surprisingly calmer than Raph had expected. She took a sip of tea as Mikey walked over eagerly but much more relaxed than before.

"So," he began slowly, "You okay now?"

"Yes," she replied slowly as she began rubbing the cup in front of her, "Thanks. I keep thinking that this is a dream that I keep not waking up from or this is definitely the weirdest thing to ever happen to me." Raph held in a chuckle as Splinter began speaking.

"Young woman, we have much to discuss."

"Like what?" she asked.

"We have never revealed ourselves to the outside world. You have placed us all in great danger."

"But Master Splinter…" Leo started only to earn an elbow from his sister.

"She was in trouble," Raph finished, "You're always teaching us to do the right thing."

"The right thing can be done in a lot of different ways," Liz snapped before she could stop herself, "You're supposed to be ninjas remember?"

"It has been done!" Splinter interrupted, "There is no going back now. I'm afraid that we find ourselves at your mercy." The woman's eyes widened for a moment before she shook her head.

"I would never tell anybody!" she said quickly, "I mean, who would believe me?"

"She's got a point," Donnie replied, "Five mutant ninja turtles with a giant rat living in the sewers? Anyone with sense wouldn't believe it." Raph looked over at his sister who had her arms crossed and a familiar scowl on her face. She wasn't believing anything that this human was saying and he knew it.

"Yeah! We're unbelievable!" Mikey boasted as he flexed his muscles interrupting Raphael's train of thought.

"Sheesh! Where's your off switch?" he mumbled as he hung his hands on his belt. He glanced back over at his sister who was shaking her head obviously annoyed as Splinter rose from his seat and approached the woman. Raph could see that she was obviously a little nervous as his master stopped and stared into her eyes.

"I believe you," he stated after a few moments only to have Leonardo come up at his side.

"Is this another lesson, sensei? How to sense the truth?"

"No, this is called trusting your gut," Splinter replied with the hint of a smile on his face. A flare of irritation ignited inside of Raph at the look. Splinter was always doing that sort of thing with Leo and it bothered him a little bit. He couldn't quite figure out why it did but he managed to extinguish it as the woman spoke again.

"So," she began, "If I'm keeping your secret…what exactly is it? Who are you people…turtles…whatever?" The five teenagers looked at one another for a moment as Splinter calmly began telling their tale. Raph had heard the story many times before, how Splinter had found them all after the freak accident with the ooze that transformed them into what they now were.

The woman seemed to be incredibly interested in their story, paying close attention and nodding periodically. Occasionally she would glance around at the five of them before turning her attention back to Splinter as he told the tale with extreme vagueness. He never got into the personal details of their past and frankly, Raph, liked it that way. Liz was right about one thing and that this woman was still a stranger and they didn't know anything about her.

"And I gave them all names after great leaders of the Renaissance. My sons: Leonardo," Splinter introduced as Leo stood and bowed to her, "Raphael." He did the same and so did Mikey and Don when their names were said.

"Then my daughter, Elizabeth." She stood tall with her arms crossed and the same small scowl on her face refusing to bow.

"Liz," Leo hissed as he shot her a look that was ignored. Her actions seemed to put the woman on edge as she looked back to Splinter.

"So you've been living down here all this time?" the woman asked, "Then, how do you know martial arts?"

"That is a story for another time," he replied as one of the televisions behind him suddenly flared to life.

"Oh! Sorry!" Mikey exclaimed as he leaned to the side of the chair he was on to pull out the remote from under his legs.

_'__The police are completely baffled by this daring bank robbery, boldly executed in broad daylight.'_

"Hang on!" Donatello said as he moved from his spot behind the sofa to get a better look at the screen. Elizabeth and Raph both followed behind him and crowded around it. There was an image that suddenly flashed onto the screen of eerily familiar tracks as the announcer continued.

"Any idea as to what caused that?" Liz stated as she looked over her shoulder at the human woman with her eyes narrowed.

"It's the tracks of Dr. Stockman's mousers," she replied, "that must be what he was talking about!" She rose from the sofa and approached the television as more images of the footprints appeared.

"You mentioned him earlier. Do you know him?" Donatello asked.

"Well I worked for him, he's a genius but he's also nuts! When I was getting suspicious he turned the mousers on me when I got too close to what he was doing."

"He's the one that destroyed our old lair," Leo stated as he joined the group.

"Must have been one of his 'test' runs," she replied.

"But that was our home," Mikey chimed in.

"And now he's going for the big times," Elizabeth said, "I don't think the police are going to be able to figure it out in time."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Raph agreed, "We gotta do it ourselves."

"It's not going to be easy," the woman interrupted, "Stockman's building has got state of the art alarm and security systems. If you can get me in I can help!"

"We don't need your help, we've got a techno whiz of our own," Liz snidely replied, "And besides, we can't put you at risk."

"I helped design those systems," the woman snapped, "They're incredibly complicated and it would take you too long to figure them out for yourselves."

"But getting in to shut down his operation requires stealth and speed something that you lack."

"Liz!" Donnie butted in, "She's right. These are way beyond my turtle-know-how. She's got to come." Liz's face was covered with her obvious disappointment as she snarled under her breath.

"Okay it's settled," Leo stated, "We'll leave tonight."

* * *

The sewers were dark and the only sounds that could be heard were the loud footsteps of the human woman that traveled with them. Every step sent new waves of anger flowing through Elizabeth's body. She breathed louder than Mikey in his sleep and managed to step on every single piece of stray newspaper or soda can in the sewer.

But it might have just been nerves.

Elizabeth hadn't journeyed to the surface in many years and the anticipation was building inside of her. Exhaustion was also toying with her. She didn't bother trying to rest in the hours that they were forced to wait. Instead she did everything she could to keep herself awake in fear that her brothers would leave her as soon as her eyes closed.

There was a soft beeping sound ahead of them that caught Liz's attention.

Donnie and the woman approached a small circuit board carefully eyeing it coldly.

"Alarms in the sewers? Is this guy paranoid or what?" Mikey stated.

"Would you shut it?" Raph snapped quietly.

"Could April and I have some quiet?" Don hissed as they opened the panel, "This is delicate work." They began pulling a wire out with great care as Elizabeth rolled her eyes. She glanced back at Leo who gave her a half-hearted smile.

"Just relax," he mouthed.

She grunted quietly as his arm moved quickly to stop her from turning back.

"Liz…?" he began as he looked at her long and hard, "You didn't…"

"Got it!" Donnie proclaimed, interrupting Leonardo mid sentence.

The sound of metal grinding began echoing through the room as a hidden door opened from the wall next to them.

"Everybody in," Leo whispered as he moved past his sister and disappeared into the hidden passage obviously not going to finish what he was going to say. He was followed by the rest of his brothers leaving April and Liz for a moment. They made eye contact and Liz couldn't help but glare at her with suspicion and skepticism. April didn't wait for her to say anything and disappeared after them.

Before too long of wandering down this hallway they eventually made it to the air duct system and began crawling up into Stockman's building. April made her way to the front and led them to a hallway. She paused for a moment to allow the two guards to walk by undisturbed.

"Is this the place?" Raph asked as he swung open the vent door.

"There's a computer terminal in that lab. Get me in and I can create blank spots in the security system to get you through to Dr. Stockman's main lab," April stated as she carefully eyed both directions of the hallway.

"Don't look now but we've already got a blank spot right here," Raphael smugly replied as he nudged his head back towards Mikey. He didn't wait for Mikey's retort as he leaped from the hole in the wall and turned to assist April.

One by one the other turtles climbed out of the air duct and entered the door to the computer system. Liz entered the doorway, and kept an eye on the hall, as April sat down at the main control and began quickly typing into the screen.

"I'm in," she stated, "I'll blank the cameras at ten second intervals along the corridor outside. You've got to keep moving."

"We'll be right back," Leo whispered as he gave his brothers a hand signal to go.

The five of them sprinted down the hallway, timing everything just right as they turned right and then left and then right again.

"That door up ahead!" Donnie stated as they began slowing their speed. The polished surface of it gleamed in the dim lights as they approached it and waited for April to open them.

"Stay behind me," Leo whispered to his sister as he adjusted his stance and pulled his weapons from his belt.

"I can handle myself," she hissed as the doors slid open.

The room was dark and their long shadows were cast by the hallway lights behind them. Everyone held tightly to their weapons as they peered into the darkness taking slow cautious steps.

"This is too quiet," Leo stated blatantly.

"Guys," Mikey chimed in, "My turtle sense is tingling." Liz jumped at the sound of the doors shutting behind them as their metal clicked together and she cursed her exhaustion. The bright lights suddenly turned on, blinding the siblings temporarily. As their eyes adjusted the enormity of the manufacturing plant and the bright lights over head they moved closer to one another.

"Intruders!" a voice exclaimed from an intercom above them, "Here to steal my secrets? You'll leave here with nothing!" The whirring sound of machines approached them and long mechanical arms pointed their barrels at each member of the group.

"W-what are you?" the voice stuttered on the intercom before a thoughtful pause, "I'll have to dissect you and find out!" The arms suddenly began firing and the siblings scattered.

"Heads!" Raph shouted as he tackled his sister to the ground before a laser found its way into her side. She in turn rolled him over as a second mechanical arm joined in the barrage of lasers. Flipping backwards Elizabeth leaped from her brother and drew their fire as she began running from their sights. Naginata in hand she turned suddenly and with the metal of her blade reflected the laser back to its origin. The arm exploded as the second one let off a shot that barely brushed the top of her shoulder. Adrenaline didn't seem to help her as she overcorrected her stance and stumbled.

"I got ya!" Leo yelled as he dashed in front of her, crossing his swords above him, before it could let off a second shot. It fired. He could feel the heat of the laser on his face as it hit the surface of his blades and bounced back.

"Thanks," she muttered as they joined back up with the others and began running towards the control tower. Metal bits were scattered along the floor, along with parts of the ceiling as they neared. A new barrage of lasers met them before they got within range and the four brothers ducked for cover. Liz continued on jumping from one foot to the other and swerving to avoid the red hot lasers.

"Get down!" Leo shouted as he watched his sister get closer and closer to the tower. The way she moved still infuriated him almost as much as her disobedience to his orders did. Soon enough she had caught the attention of every mechanical arm and ducked behind a column to avoid their shots. Leo saw the opportunity and urged his brothers forward.

"Mikey!" Liz heard Raph call, "Slingshot!" She peeked out from behind the column and saw her little brother flying through the air and infiltrating the tower. The other two were beginning to draw more attention to themselves as Raph scaled the wall. Taking the moment she had she began scrambling up a ladder that she had spotted nearby and struggled to dodge the lasers that were still firing at her.

She finally reached the top and swiftly entered the control tower after hearing the mechanical arms deactivate. Her brothers were already inside and standing over a dark skinned man in a lab coat.

"What are you?" he said obviously frightened as the door behind him slid open. April stood there with her hands on her hips and a confident smirk.

"They're with me!" she replied boldly as the doctor turned to look at her.

"April? You're still alive?"

"And kicking!" she added, "I've got enough evidence to put you away for years, Stockman!" Liz noticed him beginning to inch his way backwards away from her advances.

"Evidence?" he stuttered while grabbing the control panel and attempting to stand, "Evidence for what Miss O'Neil?" A soft click echoed through the small room and an alarm began blasting through the large warehouse outside.

Raph sprang into action, grabbing the scientist by his lab coat and thrusting him against the panel before he could press another button.

"What did you do?" he growled as a smile spread across Stockman's face.

"I simply recalled the mousers from their latest mission. They should be here any moment!"

"April?" Leo whispered cautiously.

"I'll have to shut down the whole system," she thought to herself as she rushed to the panel. Donatello was instantly at her side as the faint steady beat of marching began to reach their ears. After a few tense moments the large bay doors opened and the haunting headlights of the mousers appeared, casting their eerie light on the ground below them. Liz moved quickly to her point of entry as Leo and Mikey stared through the gaping hole in the glass as they began covering the ground floor. As they got closer to the ladder Liz could feel her heart beginning to pound as she sheathed her weapon.

"Raph help me!" she cried as she began trying to dislodge the ladder from its mount on the control tower's floor. Completely forgetting about Stockman, Raphael dashed to her side and with his sai, struggled to remove the bolts holding it in place.

Taking the opportunity Stockman lunged for the elevator and managed to make it inside before the other two turtles, standing behind Donnie and April, noticed.

"This is what happens when you try to match wits with me!" he snidely called into the room as the elevator doors slid shut.

"He's getting away!" Mikey called.

"Forget about him!" Raph snapped as the ladder began to fall away from the tower, "We've got bigger fish to fry." It clattered to the floor, hitting a long line of mousers in its wake but Raphael's eyes moved from the floor to another area. His sister followed his line of sight and saw mousers beginning to crawl along the walls and up the base of the tower.

"April, any time now!" she yelled as they began getting closer.

"It's not responding!" April snapped in frustration the mechanical whirring and stomping became overpowering in all their ears. Liz stood slowly with her brother beside her as they watched the mousers crash through the windows on the far end of the room.

"Well," Raph began, "It's been fun guys."

"Never thought I'd go out like this," Liz joined in as she pulled her weapon from her back.

"I never thought I'd go out at all," Mikey stated. The four of them formed a semicircle around the two at the panel as more mousers infiltrated the room.

"At least we're together," Leo added as he made eye contact with Elizabeth. She felt her face flush a little and thanked her green skin for not showing it.

Their hearts stopped when the whirring and clanking did. Each small machine froze in its position around them as April sunk to her knees with relief.

"We stopped them!" Donnie shouted as he threw his fist into the air. His four siblings all shared a cry of joy as smiles spread across their faces and high-threes were given.

"Nice going April!" Leo stated as he helped her back to her feet.

"I-I didn't stop them," she whispered flabbergasted, "We've got to get out of here!" The celebration stopped for a moment as the five turtles waited for an explanation.

"I had to initiate an overload sequence! Nothing else would work!"

"They're gonna blow!" Mikey yelled.

The six of them moved to the window where one by one they jumped, Donatello with April in his arms. Assisting the one behind them and the one after that they made it to the ground safely as the control tower above them exploded in a shower of glass and debris. Fire rained down over them as they began running for the sewer's access points not caring to stay behind and find out what could happen next.

* * *

One by one they filed back into the lair congratulating one another on a job well done except Liz who struggled to keep herself upright and her eyes open. She tried to calculate how long she had been awake but her mind couldn't keep a single train of thought steady. Her arms and legs ached and she felt as though she were carrying a large pack on her shell that was ready to crush her.

"I see that your mission was a success," Splinter stated as her brothers crowded around him, eager to tell him the entire story. She hung her weapon on a nearby rack before dragging herself over to the sofa. She collapsed onto it and her eyes closed before she had a chance to fight it.

* * *

**Oh my goodness! I'm sorry this one took sooooo long to update! I kinda lost my fetish for a while there but I do believe that it has partially returned. **

**Thank you so much for everything you guys have done thus far! This story is actually a bit more popular than my other story...which is good! But 'The Eye of Mahal' is kinda my pride and joy. But I am very content with everything :)**

**Please leave me a review, I really want to hear what you think!**


	5. Chapter 4: Meet Casey Jones

Liz curled up on her favorite sketching spot as she listened to music and the sounds of her brother's sparring nearby. She wasn't quite the fan of listening to Mikey's constant taunting so she had a set of borrowed headphones on.

Leo was walking around the lair with Splinter by his side and Donatello sat nearby with a book in hand.

It had been at least a week since their success at the Stocktronic building and the morale at home was still at a high point. Even Elizabeth was feeling better than she had been lately, knowing that Donatello couldn't investigate her test further after she had eliminated the information. But despite that feeling she could tell Donatello had begun to act slightly differently. It wasn't by a large margin but enough for her to notice that the majority of the change had been towards Michelangelo.

She glanced up for a moment to take another look at her brothers positioning when she saw Raphael take a heavy swing and knock her little brother onto his shell. She lowered the headphones to her shoulders and watched in horror as Raph charged. Mikey blocked his attacks very well and managed to flip out of the way before Raph ran at him again.

"You think you're better than me?" Raph shouted as they locked hands.

"No," Mikey sneered, "You're just too cocky!" With a slick move Raphael was suddenly thrown into the air. He came crashing down on a table that seemed to shatter.

"Winner and still champion…"Mikey proclaimed as he threw his hands in the air, "Michelangelo!" Liz looked back to Raph who was getting to his feet but with a heavy pipe in his hand. Her heart seemed to stop as she saw the anger and furry in his eyes as he began to approach her brother.

"No…no," he growled to himself before he leaped into the air and knocked Mikey to the ground.

"Raph wait!" Mikey yelled as he threw his hands over his face. Liz sprung from her seat, by mothering instinct or sisterly obedience she didn't know which, and dived over him waiting for the strike on her back.

"Raph! Have you lost your mind?" she heard Leo scold instead of feeling the thud on her shell. She could hear Mikey's panicky breaths on her stomach as she turned over her shoulder and looked at Raphael. His eyes were filled with fear and realization as the pipe slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor. Carefully she lifted herself off of her brother who crawled out and took Donnie's extended hand.

"Are you okay, Mikey?" he asked as he helped Mikey to his feet, "What were you thinking Raph?" Liz sat onto her knees and looked up at Raph who had a look of distraught masking his face.

"I…I…Leo," he didn't seem to be able to form a complete sentence, "Mikey…" She moved to him and carefully put her arms around his neck. He welcomed the action as he began trembling under her.

"Hey Raph, relax, it's okay," she whispered, "It's okay." His heavy breathing was in her ear and she could feel the stiffness in his shoulders at her words.

"No it's not okay!" Leo snapped at her, "He could have really hurt him!" Liz fought to keep herself from snapping back as she released Raph who was still as a statue. She rose to her feet and faced Leo trying to keep herself from avoiding his piercing gaze.

"Well maybe Mikey should grow up a little bit and not push him so hard!" she replied sternly before turning to him, "What were you thinking Mike? Do you get a kick out of making him mad?"

"Raph shouldn't let it get to him!" Mikey countered although he instantly regretted the choice.

"Yeah?" she snapped as she got close to his face, "Well maybe you should have your head screwed on straight and realize when enough is enough!?"

"Elizabeth!" Splinter snapped, jerking her back from her little brother's face. She could feel her heart beating quickly and her palms getting tense with anger as she turned away from her brother and back to Raphael, trying to stay calm.

"Come on Raph," she whispered as she tried pulling him to his feet.

"No I..I gotta get some air!" He leaped forward and ran past her headed for the exit. She made a motion to go after him but felt Splinter's hand on her shoulder. They stood there a while before Donnie walked with Mikey over to the entertainment area. Liz and Leo stood in silence as Splinter returned to the outer ring of the lair.

"Why do you always defend him?" Leo hissed.

"How come you don't?"

"He's gotta learn Liz! You can't baby him forever."

"Whatever Leo," she rolled her eyes as she walked over to collect her sketch pad.

"What is your deal? You always choose his side of an argument, even when it's wrong! You even know it's wrong which is, by any means, absolutely ridiculous! So what if Mikey teases him! You think an enemy is going to stop teasing him just because he's getting angry? He's got to learn this himself!"

"Shut up!" Liz shouted, "Just shut up Leo!"

The lair went silent as she moved in closer to him.

"You think you can just blame one person? Raph doesn't just blow up out of the blue, if you took a moment to realize that maybe Mikey or someone pushes him to that point you wouldn't be so hard on him," she muttered under her breath, "cause you're really good at that!" She slammed her sketchpad shut and shoved past him not bothering to pick up her pencils that spilled onto the floor. He glared after her as she avoided Splinter's outstretched hand and ducked into her room where the door slammed shut.

"She is so infuriating!" Leo cursed as he clenched his fists.

Splinter sighed as he entered the inner circle of the lair to where Leo stood.

"Give her time, my son," he stated.

"Why does she have to be so stubborn?"

"A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets, my son." Music suddenly began blaring from her room and made her door rattle slightly.

"Why?" Splinter shook his head.

"If I had the answer for you my son, I would tell you. Elizabeth is a strong willed girl and that can make things difficult but it can also make things easier. She is your sister, Leonardo…"

"Sometimes I wish she wasn't," Leo interrupted, "Master Splinter, help me practice my leaping split kick? I need to focus on something else."

* * *

Liz sat in her room hunched over her drafting table with her forehead on its cold surface. Memories replayed in her head of her brother's taunting words when they were children. It made her feel inadequate even now, even though she worked just as hard if not harder than her siblings. Maybe it was a contributing factor to that dark time in her life but at this point she couldn't remember. There just seemed to be so much going on in her head at that time, she had just wanted it all to stop. Of course, what she did was wrong, she saw that now but what other choice did she have? No one listened to her, no one understood what was going on through her head and it just made things worse.

It wasn't the problems themselves, it was the loneliness that she felt knowing that no one could help her. The entire load was hers and there was no one else who could share the burden. She knew how difficult it was and she simply didn't want Raph to feel that, or anyone.

She slammed her hands onto her papers and shoved them off the surface. They floated gently to the ground as she growled loudly and sat back down onto her stool. She stared at the cleared surface before she grabbed another paper and slammed it down onto the table. Reaching for a pencil her hand instead grabbed air. She slammed her head back onto the table and gritted her teeth; they were out there lying on the floor.

Mikey shouldn't have pushed him so far. It wasn't Raph's fault, well not entirely anyways. Why does Mikey do that so much? He's so immature! Why did he have to be her brother? Why did they share the same blood? Fate must have some sort of humor to torment her like this. They were nothing alike and it was just so irritating.

Liz opened her eyes and stared at the unfocused table.

This is what Splinter meant, right? That it would drive us apart?

She shook her head.

This was just a sibling spat, there had to be tons of brothers and sisters out there that drove each other nuts. Her mind drifted to the idea of finding love. Was it even worth it now? Everything is going fine; did she want to screw it up by being selfish? Trying anything now would just split this growing rift between them even farther.

She screwed up.

Why was she the only one that ever did?

* * *

"See Don! We could have our very own battleshell! I've even got a name for it, I call it 'The Battleshell.' I got it all figured out, turbo boosters, double action traction, cool secret thingys shooting out the back! We should be tricking out the armored car!" Mikey exclaimed as he waved his sister's composition sketch that he had stolen from her sketch pad when she wasn't looking. Of course, it had a few more ideas and added details than was originally there.

"By we, you mean me," Don replied as he continued to solder parts together, "And I don't have the time! There's too much to do around here and besides, where would we keep it?" In a swift motion he crumpled it up and tossed it to the ground.

"We can find a place; just think about overhauling the wheels! Please!" Mikey's voice changed pitch, "Please, please, please, please! Did I mention you're my favorite turtle?"

There was a harsh hush that came through the lair that silenced them both.

"Leonardo is working on perfecting his ninjitsu skills. Something you both should consider," Splinter stated as he turned back to the eldest.

"Donatello," Mikey taunted, "Donatello. If you build it, we will ride! In turtle style!"

"Here motor mouth," Don rolled his eyes, "Make yourself useful. Put this somewhere nice." He reached over to where a hammer and sign sat and handed them both to his brother. Mikey looked defeated as he took the two and groaned.

There was a creak as he walked to a bare spot in the lair that looked as though it could use some décor. He looked over and saw his sister emerging from her room with headphones on and a sketchpad in hand. It was obvious that she was still angry with them all. Mikey had learned it very well by now, forcing herself to stare only at what she was going/doing, headphones signifying that she simply wanted to be left alone, that fast pace meaning she didn't want to be out there for long.

What she said had hurt a little.

He didn't mean to get Raph so riled up. It's just funny to watch him get clumsy and try too hard. And what can she say, she used to do it to them all as kids, whether she meant to or not.

Mikey put a nail up to the wall and tried tapping on it with the hammer. The wall rejected it as he swung harder and harder trying to get the nail through.

"What's this wall made of?" he grunted to himself as he hit the nail a little more. Upon closer inspection he realized that it had bent out of shape. He snarled in irritation as he put his arms down and walked back over to Don's table to pick up the sledgehammer and a spike.

"Alright tough guy, let's dance!" he mocked as he spun the hammer in his hand. Putting the spike up to the wall he hit it with a solid strike and the wall gave in and cracked beneath the force. Feeling pleased with himself he straightened the sign and took a step back. There was a crack that jetted out from the spike.

"Uh oh," he whispered as he took another step back. The crack branched out and soon began to spread to a large portion of the wall. Soon the wall caved in stirring up dust and mortar and crushing the sign.

"Mikey what have you-" Liz shouted as she dropped her headphones, "Wh-what is that?" Mikey stared at the giant blue wall with strange markings and carvings on it.

"I think it's some sort of door!" Donnie exclaimed as everyone approached it reverently.

"Be careful guys, we don't know what it is." He glanced at his sister who seemed mesmerized by the designs. She got closer, despite what he had said and reached up to touch it.

The doors whirred to life as they opened, spewing an awful stale stench. Whatever it was sent them all repelling from it. Mikey could hear Liz dry heaving at the strength of the smell as Donatello bravely approached it.

"That is some stank," he observed as he carefully stepped over the debris and into the chamber, "What is this thing?" The rest followed suit, Elizabeth being the last one in. The walls whirled to life the second she stepped onto the ground. A blue light emanated from the designs that circled the egg shaped room.

"It's beautiful," she whispered as her eyes rose to the shining blue crystal at the top.

"Hey! I found a lot of those crystal things when I was cleaning up the lair. They were all broken though," Mikey stated as Donatello walked over to the door once again.

"Where's the power source?" he asked the air as though the voices of the past would tell him, "There's no wires or anything." He walked back to where the rest of them were at when suddenly the doors closed shut behind him. The walls continued to glow as a vibration alerted them to the chamber's motion.

"Are we moving?" Leo muttered to himself as he felt the acceleration against gravity. The five of them stood awestruck at what was happening. The walls continued to glow as the acceleration continued and even grew.

"Where do you think this goes?" Liz asked seemingly more fascinated than frightened. Suddenly their descent slowed and they each braced for something to happen. When they came to a stop and a door appeared they were hesitant to even move.

"Where the shell are we?" Mikey asked as curiosity got the better of him resulting in him being the first out of the door. Wherever they were, it was dark and had a lot of broken windows. The rest of his family followed slowly, one by one.

"It looks like some sort of warehouse," Donnie stated as he walked over to a large silver garage door. He lifted it with difficulty, fighting rust and years of sitting.

"So the weird glowing chamber brings us up to street level?" Liz walked over to him and looked out at a fenced in area and the street beyond it.

"This place has been abandoned for many, many years," Splinter said as he continued to sniff the area.

"Wow," a smile crept onto Michelangelo's face, "This is some great space. It needs something."

"I think he's gonna try selling you something Don," Liz whispered as her younger brother continued to ramble off, eventually getting to his battleshell idea.

"You think he's laying it on thick enough?" Leo joined in as Donnie shut the garage door.

"I'll get around to it eventually," he said as he followed Splinter and Elizabeth back into the chamber.

"Come one Mikey," Leo called as he walked in behind them. It took a moment but Mikey quickly followed suit letting the door shut behind him. The ride was quiet for the majority of the way until Liz piped up about the small design she had been studying.

"These markings aren't like any sort of culture I am familiar with," Liz said to her family, "and there is no culture that uses magical crystals as a power source." The chamber slowed to a halt.

"I don't know who could have built this thing but if we are going to use it, we need safety precautions and extra security up in the warehouse," Leo commanded as they filed out the open door in a huddle.

"Piece of pie!" Donnie exclaimed as their main door opened.

"Piece of pizza pie!" Mikey joked as he turned to see who had come in, "Hey Raph! Welcome home! Man, you look like you got the shell kicked out of you."

Raph approached them all with a disheartened look on his face. He simply felt like a failure. Whoever that vigilante guy was, Raph just couldn't get through to him.

"Yeah it's a long story. But first I..I..I wanted to apologize. Mikey I'm sorry I got so out of control," he looked down at the ground and felt as though he couldn't look any of them in the eye.

"Ow," he heard Mikey groan, "I'm sorry too Raph. I shouldn't have been pushing you like that." He found the courage to look up and saw that Liz and Leo were both glaring at one another. Eventually she looked back to him and gave him a small smile as she lifted her headphones from her shoulders back to hear ears and separated from the group.

"What's with the change of heart?" Leo asked as he shot a look at their sister who had picked up her pencils and sketch pad.

"Let's just say I had a chance to think about how I've been acting. I'll explain everything over dinner, if that's alright, I'm starving."

"Now you're talking my language!" Mikey joked.

"What language is that? Nitwit?" Raph countered.

"Ha ha, listen to the funny turtle!"

* * *

Raph looked across the table at his sister who seemed to be more interested in the decorations on the plate rather than her slice of pizza. His brain still burned with the question of their chances since Donnie had told him that the possibility of ever knowing had been erased. It made him mad, sure, he wanted to know probably even more than whoever had run the tests but he had no idea how to do it himself. He wanted to know so much he could just scream.

She was the only one, besides Don, that he could be around for long periods of time without getting annoyed. Leo was nothing more than Splinter Junior and Mikey was just obnoxious. She had been doing it more often, but she stood up for him and was always there when he needed to talk to her. He felt so comfortable around her and he was obsessed with watching her draw. He knew she was strong and was perfectly capable of handling herself but all he wanted to do was protect her and keep her safe. To lock her away just for himself.

If there were thousands of teenage mutant turtles for him to chose from, Liz would have been the one he wanted.

"So a vigilante?" Mikey thought out loud, "Was he wearing a black cape and a mask?"

"No doofus," Raph snapped as he reached for another piece, "He was wearin a hockey mask. Likes sports equipment: hockey sticks, baseball bats, and the whole deal. Just beatin these purple dragon kids to a pulp. If you thought I had anger issues this guy will make you think otherwise."

"Did you get his name?" Donnie asked.

"Something Jones," Raph answered, "I don't remember. I was too busy trying to make sure I didn't lose him."

"Well there's gotta be a reason why he's been doing all of this," Liz wondered out loud as she shot a look at Leo who returned the frown, "People just don't freak out like this without some sort of provoking."

"I don't know but whatever happened to him must of been bad," Raph replied through a mouth full of cheese and pepperoni. Liz just nodded in reply as she took a small bite of her slice but continued to examine the plate.

* * *

"Are you sure about this Raph?" Leo asked as they grouped up beside the bridge, "We should tell Splinter." The lights were out as they began walking towards the main entrance.

"Yeah and have him stop us from going to the surface?" Liz sneered, "Right, nice idea Leo." It was obvious she was still angry with him and frankly he was with her too. She was just so…frustrating. It was different than the frustration he got with Raph or Mikey but he just didn't know how to describe it. It was like being mad at a puppy; you just couldn't do it because you loved it to death.

"Look we just need to find that vigilante wackbag and stop him for his own good. He's not a bad guy, just misguided," Raph insisted as the lights flickered to life.

Splinter cleared his throat with a hand on his hip and the other on the light switch.

"Busted," Mikey whimpered as they looked up at him.

"How many times have I told you not to sneak up to the surface?" Splinter snapped in his condescending tone.

"This month?"

"Five-hundred and twelve," Donnie replied matter-of-factly.

"It is dangerous for you to go up openly in the world above. You cannot simply walk amongst the humans. They will not accept who or what you are," Splinter walked down to where they stood with his hands behind his back, "It is as the great sage and warrior Kenji Hashimora once said 'Why walk when you can ride'?" A small smile appeared under his grey fur as he walked over to the chamber door and opened it.

"Take the truck!" he ordered as he put his hands behind his back with pride. Leo and his siblings stood in confusion for a moment as they looked at one another.

"Well," Liz said, "Let's go." They filed into the chamber one by one. Leo stood afar from his sister who didn't seem to notice his intentional act. The ride was silent until they came to a stop and the door slid open.

"We've got until Friday night to get this thing turtle ready," Raph stated.

"Well let's get started," Donnie joined in. Leo glanced over at his sister who didn't seem amused at the new project that lay before them.

Donnie instructed them to scavenge around the warehouse for parts or anything that could be used. Leo walked off in one direction making sure that Liz went the opposite way. That last thing he wanted to do was to be stuck inside this warehouse with her for the next four days but with her obvious disinterest in this, maybe she would just stay away.

This sudden hate for her seemed to just come out of left field. A hate that he just couldn't be mad at her…he shook his head. That didn't make any sense to him. He grew frustrated, nothing about her made sense! All he wanted was for her to jut stay away from him. She disturbed his inner peace whenever they fought like this and there was never a real fix to it. It would just eventually be forgotten or overlooked but she would never apologize or admit that he was right, she was too stubborn!

He threw an old oil can against the wall.

"Leo!" Raph scolded, "What's the matter with you?"

"Sorry Raph," Leo shook his head, "Just frustrated I can't find anything."

"We only just started. Relax bro," he patted him on the shell, "We'll get this thing in tip top shape by Friday." Leo glanced over his shoulder at where Liz stood which was, luckily, by the armored car, listening to Mikey telling her how he wanted it painted. He narrowed his eyes and felt his upper lip curling into a snarl.

He hated her.

* * *

The radio blared as Raph picked up a wrench and turned a bolt as he felt the chamber rumble from under the ground. It was lunchtime on Thursday and everyone else had left for the lair. He stayed behind just wanted this thing to be done. There wasn't much left to it except for the paint and a few little buffering areas but he wanted to be sure it all held together before they took it tomorrow.

He rolled out from under the battleshell as it came through the ground. His stomach growled as he anticipated the lunch that was hopefully on its way.

The door fell open and Liz stepped through with a plate of some sort of casserole and a bottle of soda.

"How's it going?" she asked as she walked over to an old table and put the meal down, "Everyone else came down for lunch." Raph sat up and got to his feet.

"Just a few more bolts that needed tightening," he replied, "What's on the menu?"

"Mystery meat casserole with a side of canned green beans and a pop for your convenience," she announced as she sat down in the metal folding chair.

"Aren't you going to go back down and eat?"

"I'm not hungry," she leaned back in the chair and raised her arms to stretch.

"You need to eat," he stated, "Here, eat some of mine."

"I'm not hungry Raph," she snapped harsher than she meant to, "Sorry."

"It's alright," he picked up a spoonful and put it in his mouth. He pulled up another chair and sat down to enjoy whatever it was in front of him.

"How are you doin? You know, after Monday?"

"Yeah about that," he put his spoon down, "Thanks for being there. I don't know what I would have done." She readjusted in her seat as though she had just gotten in trouble.

"No problem," she replied, leaning over to put her face in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She slid her bandana up and rubbed her eyes.

"Tired?" he asked as he resumed eating.

"Yes and no," she peeked up at him through her fingers, "Raph, I can talk to you right?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied, "What about?"

"I-It's…complicated. Like really complicated."

"Well I'll try to listen." She sat back against the chair and put a hand behind her head.

"Have you ever wanted to know something like really, really bad?" She flicked a piece of dirt off her leg.

"Yeah, haven't we all?"

"But you promised that you wouldn't and you did it anyway?"

"Liz," Raph leaned back in his chair with the soda in hand, "Where are you going with this?"

"I don't know," she sighed, "I just…"

"What did you do?" Raph tilted his head to the side as he took a sip of his drink.

"What makes you think I did anything? I was just wondering."

"Come on sis," he took another drink, "You wouldn't ask unless there was a reason behind it. I know you by now." He watched her breathe in. Her soft green skin expanded and he noticed her lips part a little to exhale. Her warm breath left her body and he longed to feel it on his skin.

"Raph I did something bad, real bad," her head bowed and turned to the side exposing her neck, "and I just can't deal with it. It's eating me up inside." Raphael's hearing began to fade as he lifted the soda again but kept his eyes concentrating on the area where her shoulder met her neck. The curves. The delicacy.

"Right. You feel regret," he sipped the dense liquid, "what else?" Her head came up, showing her collarbones. He couldn't help but imagine how they felt even with how hard he was trying to listen.

"I wanted to know. I wanted to know really badly and now that I do I don't want to. All it's going to do is tear us all apart and it's all my fault!" Her fists clenched but he was watching her wrists. He couldn't even find the words to describe them but he couldn't draw his eyes away.

"It's not going to tear us apart, Liz. Quit worrying." Another drink of soda.

"But it's already hurting us! I know! I can see it!" she paused, "You're not even listening to me!" Standing up suddenly she knocked her chair over as she stomped off to the chamber leaving Raph with the can still in contact with his lips. He put it down as she entered it and it disappeared into the ground.

"What did I do?" he asked the old warehouse.

* * *

Elizabeth lowered her mask as she put the final touches on the sides of the battleshell. Alone in the warehouse she stood back and smiled at her work.

"Not bad, Liz," she said, "Not bad at all." Turning from it she put down the can of paint onto the table and slipped off her mask as she felt the vibration from the chamber getting stronger beneath her feet. Her eyes drifted to the empty soda can that was left from her brother. Her frustration with him returned as she turned to where the chamber was now coming through the floor. The door opened and her brothers stepped through.

"Now that's a ride! Nice job Liz," Raph said as the four of them walked up to it.

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Donatello replied smugly, "Let's roll!" Liz stood there and watched as they all clamored to be the first inside. She leaned against the table a moment watching as they crawled in picking seats and aiming for shotgun. The engine roared to life, sending a shock through Elizabeth's spine.

"You coming, sis?" Donatello called from the driver side window.

"Paint is still wet!" she shouted over the thundering acceleration.

"It'll be fine! Besides, you definitely need some air! I'll let you ride shotgun!" he taunted as he continued to push on the acceleration over and over.

Begrudgingly she pushed off of the table and walked to the passenger's door. Mikey had already vacated the seat and was standing between the driver and the shotgun seat. Liz sighed as she grabbed a handle and pulled herself in. Donatello pressed a button that opened the garage door and before she could shut the door he had already begun to speed off to the street.

Central Park wasn't that far away as they sped off through the night.

Liz leaned against the window watching the bright lights pass by. It was so strange finally being out on the streets and on the surface. The air wasn't stuffy. The smell was so clean, like purified water. She cracked the window a little and shivered at the cold air that passed through. It was a thrill for her to feel the air on her face. This was New York! The city of dreams! The big apple! She had lived under this amazing place her whole life and here she was finally soaking it all in!

"Roll it up Liz I'm freezing back here!" Leo hissed. Liz glared back at him.

"Just trying to even out your body with your heart," she sneered as she hit the button in irritation.

"What is up with you two?" Donnie asked, "You've been fighting all week."

"He's the one that started it," Liz muttered.

"I don't care who started it! Both of you get over it!"

Liz rolled her eyes and resumed staring out the window again.

"What are you guys fighting about anyways?" Mikey asked.

"Just shut up Mikey," Leo snapped.

"And," Donnie interrupted, "On your left is Central Park. Eight-hundred and forty-three acre's of landscaped beauty in the center of the city!"

"Wait!" Raph shouted, "There he is!" The humming of a motorcycle came through the walls of the battleshell as the other four turtles leaned over to see.

"Floor it Don! Keep up with him!" Raph leaned over the seat to point out a turn.

"You go get him Raph! I whipped up something special for you. It's in the back," Don threw his thumb backwards. Liz followed it with her eyes and they fell onto a wicked motorcycle. Her mouth gaped open in shock as Raph walked to the back.

"Donatello you are the turtle!" Liz couldn't take her eyes off the amazing machine. She lusted after it more than she had ever done with anything else.

"Can you use a copilot?" she muttered as she unclipped her seatbelt and leaned farther off her seat. Raphael looked back at her with a smirk and nodded. She rushed off the chair eagerly as the battleshell turned and threw her into Leo's lap.

"Excuse you!" he whispered with venom.

"Sorry," she growled as she grabbed the sides of the seat and pulled herself to her feet.

"Here. There's only one, best if you have it," Raph tossed her the shiny red helmet. It was mesmerizing to look at as he mounted his ride. She slipped it on with trembling fingers before slipping into place behind her brother. She wrapped her arms around him and lifted her feet.

"Be careful!" Leo called but his voice drowned out with the revving of the engine. They burst through the door, flying through the air. Liz let out scream of joy as they slammed into the ground and turned sharply.

"Hang on!" Raph yelled as he suddenly lifted the front wheel. Liz clung onto him for dear life as they sped past the battleshell. She couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the feeling. It was like she was flying over the street with the cold air fighting to keep her still. Everything speeding by like the world was spinning under her.

Like she was free from everything.

No burdens.

No responsibilities.

And her sole purpose was to ride.

"Left!" Raph yelled, snapping her back to her senses. She braced for the turn and they entered Central Park.

"Over there!" Liz shouted through the helmet. She pointed to the bright headlight that flickered through the trees.

"Hold on!" Raph pulled the front wheel up again and they shot forward the air cutting through her like knives. The man on the other bike suddenly joined them on their road and Raph pulled up alongside him. The man realized that they were there and leaned in to knock them off the road. Liz clung to him as he hit the brakes before the connection was made and he pulled up to the other side.

"Slow it down!" Raph yelled to him. The man ignored his demand and shot forward. He made a sharp turn over the sidewalk and jetted off. Liz braced for the turn, for a wheelie or anything as Raph neared it. He threw the front wheel up and Liz felt her grip slipping as he slammed it back to the ground. They flew forward and managed to catch up with the biker.

"Pull over!" The man leaned into them again. Raph slammed on the brakes and sped up to the other side.

"I said pull over!" Liz watched in horror as Raph took his hand off the handle bar and reached over to the vigilante's. He pulled the brake and sparks began to fly from the front wheel. Liz clung to her brother as she watched the man fly over his handles and onto the street in front of them.

"Look out!" Liz shouted as Raph swerved to avoid him. She screamed as the tires squealed under them and they began moving perpendicular to their original direction. Liz shut her eyes and tightened her grip on her brother.

"You okay back there?" Raph snickered as they came to a stop. Liz looked up carefully, her heart was pounding and adrenaline was rushing through her veins.

"Let's go again!" she giggled as she loosened her grip. The man's groans brought them back to the situation at hand.

"Let's give him a little shell shock!" Raph snickered as he revved up the engine, "I'm gonna need you to drive after I jump off. Got it?" The motorcycle sped off.

"What?" Liz screamed in disbelief.

"Ready?"

"No! No!"

"Now!" Raph suddenly leaped from his seat and hit the man dead on but Liz was too distracted to be amazed. She leaned forward trying to get to the handles from where she sat. Her hands brushed them as she felt the front wheel beginning to wiggle. With a lunge she managed to grab them and straighten them out while pulling herself into the front seat. She twisted a grip and suddenly she shot forward but upon releasing it, it slowed back down enough that she was able to stop it with her feet.

She stared at the bike as it rumbled and revved beneath her. Her heart pounded as she began thinking about taking it for a nice little tour of New York. She shook her head and figured once around the block would be sufficient. She floored it and it sprang to life. Holding on for dear life she turned down the first road and felt that thrill all over again. Her hysterical laughs echoed in the helmet as she made another turn. The air was so clear, the night so pristine. It was magical!

Coming on her last turn she saw the bright lights of the battleshell coming down the same road, casting silhouettes of more people than she remembered. Its brakes squealed and it skidded around as Leo and Mikey leaped out the back. When it came to a stop Donatello opened the door and joined everyone.

She pulled up behind the extras and revved the engine bringing their attention to her. She kicked the stand out and gently let its weight fall on it. She took off her helmet and carefully put it back onto the handles.

"Friends of yours?" the vigilante asked.

"Brothers and sister actually," Raph replied as Liz unsheathed her naginata and spun it in her hand.

"I can see the family resemblance."

"Yeah, I'm the pretty one," Mikey joked as the first wave of the purple dragons began advancing. Liz stood her ground as they came at her two at a time.

The first had a heavy pipe in his hand and took a swing at her. She dodged it easily and landed a roundhouse kick to the side of his head. He went down as his companion approached swinging a heavy chain. It lashed out at her and spun around her weapon. There was a soft struggle for a second until she finally gave in and rushed at him. It took him by surprise as she hit him with the blunt end of her weapon. He staggered in a daze as she threw a punch in to his gut. He went flying backwards and hit the ground with a smack.

Suddenly Liz felt someone grabbing her arms from behind as another ran preparing a swing with his baseball bat. He man behind her shook her violently and her weapon was tossed to the side. She tried slipping from his grasp but he held firm. She fought viciously but nothing seemed to work as the baseball bat came in for impact.

"Let go!" she shouted as she threw a leg up having connect with the jaw of the oncoming attacker. His eyes rolled to be back of his head as he crumpled to the ground. She twisted and turned trying to wiggle herself free but nothing fazed this guy. He lifted her arms up high forcing her to bend over while laughing mockingly. She saw an opening and pushed off the ground to kick off of him. The move took him by surprise and he released her. Liz dived and rolled to the area to where her weapon had been thrown.

By the time she had turned back Leonardo had already dispatched of him. Anger flared inside of her as she rose to her feet. He didn't seem to notice as he sheathed his swords and began walking back to where the rest of the family was congregating.

"So you're all just weird green mutant freaks," the vigilante pondered as a smile crossed his big dopey face, "Alright, I like you guys." Liz rolled her eyes as she sheathed her weapon.

"You're not so bad yourself," Raph replied as he punched his shoulder. The action escalated until they both were on the ground wrestling. Her three other brothers…well one brother, one cousin and another that wasn't even related to her, looked up at her. She put her hands up and shook her head.

"He's not my brother." Funny thing was she wasn't even lying. Donatello knew that too but she doubted that he had figured out anything more since she erased the information. Her cousin may have been smart, but he usually missed what was right in front of his nose.

* * *

**Okay I lied, THIS is the longest chapter I have ever written! Goodness! Anyways I hope you enjoy this one much more than I did with finally figuring out how to sit down, shut up, and write it! ;)**

**Please leave me some feedback if you wish!**


	6. Chapter 5: Nano

"Come on Liz!" Mikey called from the battleshell, "April is expecting us like five minutes ago!" Elizabeth cringed at the name as she picked up her iPod from the table and slipped her headphones over her head. She turned and jogged to the vehicle's open door and slid in. The click of her seatbelt accompanied the slam of the door while Donnie opened the garage door. They sped out like they did before narrowly avoiding Casey who sat on his bike on the sidewalk.

"Hey watch it!" he shouted as Liz lifted her headphones and blasted her music. She stared at the streets and the people walking the sidewalks as the heavy bass line thudded in her ears. The buildings zoomed by too quickly for her to determine what they were for but she didn't mind. It was mesmerizing to watch anyways.

Too soon, they slowed and pulled into an alleyway beside April's antique shop. They came to a stop and Donnie turned off the engine. Liz was the last one out as they filed up to the back door. She slid her headphones down to her shoulders as Mikey pressed on the doorbell and after a few moments April opened it.

"Hey April! Green brother's movers and laborers reporting for duty," he stated with a grin.

"Hey guys. Thanks for coming I need all the help I can get. Mikey and Raph I need you two to move those big heavy boxes over there."

"Just let me put on my hernia belt," Mikey joked.

"Get on over there wise guy. Plus, I've got a heater that wont heat!"

"That's my job," Donnie replied as he held up a set of pipes he had managed to collect over the years. Leo pushed his sister forward through the door. April's small smile disappeared as they made eye contact.

"Hey," Liz muttered.

"Hey," April gave her a half smile, "You two can move that wall of antiques and please be careful."

"Your wish is our command," Leo replied as he walked in. Liz sulked in after him and looked at the interior. She couldn't help but be impressed. Everything looked amazing and in great condition. She lifted her headphones again and started her music as she approached an old record player. She wiped her finger on its surface and left a long streak as the dust bunched up on her hand.

Brushing it off on her shell she looked up and saw an old painting hanging on the wall. It wasn't too impressive, a simple fall landscape. She pinched her lips as she bent down to get the record player. It was heavier than she anticipated but she managed to get it off the ground and moved to the other side of the room.

"Careful!" she heard April yell as she turned back. Casey was attempting to help Raph with a china cabinet but was failing miserably. Liz moved quickly as she saw the china beginning to slide on the shelves. Grabbing a box with packing peanuts on her way she threw its contents to the floor managing to save the majority of the porcelain items that had begun to fall.

"Put it down!" she shouted as she dropped her headphones to her shoulders, "Put it down you lumbering ox! The woman says carefully, which means taking things out and then moving it!"

"Well why didn't she say so?" Casey said as he leaned down to get the plates that had fallen. Both Liz and April grunted in frustration as they looked at each other.

"Thanks," April said as she crossed her arms.

"Four brothers," Liz replied as she bent down to help, "I know how it is. Sorry I didn't get them all."

"Don't worry about it," she waved it off, "You're not so bad." Liz let a half smile escape.

"I guess you're not so bad either," Liz chuckled, "It's nice to have someone actually get it." It was a really odd thing to think but maybe it wouldn't be so bad having some human friends. April did seem to be a nice lady and she wasn't all that bad, a little charismatic but nothing too eccentric.

The day passed by quickly and before Liz knew it April was calling them over for lunch. It was a simple platter of sandwiches and chips with glasses of lemonade. Liz rushed over before the hungry horde of men realized what was going on and grabbed what she could. April gave her a strange look but Liz smiled and shrugged.

"Survival of the fittest," she snickered as she took a bite of the sandwich.

"A tough life?"

"You could say that," Liz replied as she sat down in a Victorian style chair, "It's a nice place you've got here."

"It was my dads," April stated as she slid onto the counter with her own plate.

"He had a good eye," Liz said as she pointed, "That painting on the wall over there is really nice."

"Dad always had a soft spot for amateur painters. I think he bought that from a friend of his. It's been there for as long as I can remember. I honestly hate it."

"Why?"

"It's just pain and boring. I've been meaning to get rid of it but I just can't. It was dad's you know?" Liz nodded and shoved a few chips into her mouth.

"Hey April."

"Yeah?"

"Sorry about before. You know, when we first met. It was wrong of me."

"Oh don't worry about it!" April waved her hand, "I understand why and there's no harm done."

"You're sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure I would have done the same thing in your shoes…skin or whatever," she smiled. Liz gave her one in return as she took a sip of the lemonade. There was a small commotion coming from where the boys sat and a crash rang out through the store. April sighed and put her hand to her head.

"Guys," Liz called, "Take it outside!"

* * *

"Thanks for all your help!" April called as they loaded up into the battleshell.

"It was our pleasure!" Donatello called from the driver window. He revved the engine and carefully backed out of the alleyway. Pulling out onto the street he glanced over at his sister who was staring out the window. He was happy that she had hit it off with April but that missing file was still at the back of his mind. He had gone through all of the data, dissected his entire hard drive to find any shred of that file. He even installed a secret camera this time to see if the culprit would return. But everything was quiet. There had been nothing on the feeds.

He had even been tempted to recreate the experiment. No one would even know. That was the joy of it. Nobody bothered his equipment since then. But just doing the experiment itself wouldn't be nearly as satisfying as finding out who had run it the first time. Setting a trap for them wouldn't be difficult at all. Raph was the only one he had spoke to about it but it was possible that they could have been overheard. They were still rebuilding the lair when he had discovered it and he didn't exactly keep his voice down. He counted on his siblings to tune out whenever he tried talking to someone about computer lingo but apparently someone was paying special attention.

He lifted the garage door and drove the battleshell inside.

"Man I'm starving," Raph said as he lifted his arms in a stretch, "What's for dinner Liz?"

"Whatever you can find," she replied as she opened the door, "I'm not cooking for you."

"Why not? You are the mother hen," Mikey joked as he followed after her.

"If I cook dinner, I'm the only one going to eat it doufus," she punched him on the shoulder. They filed into the chamber and rode it down. When the doors opened Leo was the first one to exit.

"I'm going to order a pizza," Leo called out, "Put in your requests now or else I'm ordering what I want!" He jogged across the lair with Raph on his heels in obvious disagreement. Don watched Mikey walk with Liz, his real sister, head towards the entertainment center.

It was so strange to think that Liz and Mikey were biological siblings. They were complete opposites. Donnie would have never guessed that he would be her brother but Liz had a cousin too. But whoever wiped that file made sure he would never know who.

He stalked over to his tech station a plan already formed in his head but how was he going to be easily overheard about how he found this 'spare hard drive' with backups from before the lair collapsed?

"Pizza is on its way!" Leo yelled out from the other end of the lair, "Dinner in fifteen."

Donnie's face curled into a grin. He pulled out his old laptop that he hadn't had a chance to integrate into his main system. It wasn't working well and he was going to have to take it apart anyways so he carefully pulled it apart and removed the hard drive.

As if on cue Leo announced that dinner was ready to be served.

Donnie took a deep breath, he wasn't used to lying straight to his brothers but this was for the truth.

"Guys guess what I found!" he called as he approached the dinner table, "It's my old hard drive!" The four of them looked up.

"Don't you already have one?" Raph asked.

"Well yeah but this is an old backup I made a few days before our old lair was destroyed! It works and everything's on it!"

"You mean everything?" Raph looked at him long and hard.

"Everything Raph," Donnie nodded. He watched Raph's face suddenly drop with realization.

"Well good for you," Leo said questionably.

"Enough techno stuff bro. Let's eat!" Mikey exclaimed as he grabbed the first slice. Don was inwardly pleased with himself as he placed the hard drive onto the table and reached for his own piece.

"So it has all your old files there?" Raph inquired as Don sat down next to him.

"Yeah," he glanced to the rest of the table; no one else seemed to be paying attention, "It's there."

* * *

Liz stared at her ceiling.

It was back.

That horrible mistake she had made had come back from the dead and was taunting Donnie and Raph once more.

She turned her head to her alarm clock. It was two in the morning; everyone should be asleep by now. She'd just have to do it again erase it all like she had before.

And the sooner the better.

She crawled out of bed wearily and walked to her door. Opening it she encountered the dark that the lair held.

* * *

Donatello waited in his room with a direct feed from his camera to his room. He planted the fake information and whoever had erased it the first time was sure to come tonight. They shouldn't be able to stand him being able to have access to it again.

He waited for hours but there was no movement on his screen. Around midnight he began to doze and quickly set a motion detector to awake him. Around two it buzzed in his ear loud enough to wake him but not to alert anyone else outside his room. He snapped awake and stared at the little screen. It was still dark but soon enough his screens flashed to life and revealed the culprit.

Liz?

He dropped the screen onto his cot and moved to his door. He looked down across the lair where the light was coming from and surely enough his sister was sitting at the controls. She was definitely not his first suspect. If anything he was hoping it was going to be Leo or even Raph, not Elizabeth.

He snuck down to the main floor and eased his way over to his tech station. As he got closer he paused to think of what he was going to do. Jump out of the darkness and yell 'Ah ha'? Grab her and wrestle her to the ground without waking anyone else? Yeah, that was going to be easy…He neared a column and ducked behind it waiting for an idea to strike.

"Where is it?" she hissed as her fingers flew over the keyboard. Donnie came out from behind the column preparing to take the innocent brother approach.

"Liz? What are you doing up so late?" Of course his voice scared her and he almost laughed when she jumped out of the seat. What he didn't expect was that she would throw a punch at him. He managed to dodge it easily enough and grabbed her arm. He swung her away from his equipment and they continued to wrestle on the main floor.

"Liz!" he hissed, "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer as they continued to brawl it out. He didn't imagine that it would go like this as she threw punch after kick and so forth. It took everything he had to keep up with her until he saw an opening and managed to tackle her.

"You deleted that file!" he whispered as she struggled, "You ran the test!" He could tell that she was taken off guard by his comment but she didn't stop fighting.

"Donnie you need to leave it alone! It's dangerous, please!" Her voice was flooded with desperation.

"Why? What did you find out?"

"Master Splinter was right! It'll tear us all apart!"

"Why Liz, why did you do it?" Don eased his grip on her as she became still.

"I wanted to know, okay. I had to know!" she struggled again but he held her down.

"What did it say? Who is your cousin?"

"No," he saw tears beginning to fall from the corners of her eyes, "I never should have done it! Donnie please!"

"Tell me!"

"I'll scream," she threatened.

"It won't hurt us. We're a family it will take more than knowing blood relations to ruin that." His words didn't seem to help as she began crying. He released her and she rolled to her side curling up in a ball.

"I should have listened. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry Donnie, I let you all down!" It was so hard to see her like that. He hadn't seen her cry in years and for her to be going at it this hard just tore him apart.

"Liz, the file is gone," he admitted, "I made up the story." She turned her head and looked at him.

"Why?"

"I wanted to know, too. Figured if I caught whoever had run the test they'd tell me. You're more resourceful than I thought." She let out a small chuckle as she sniffled.

"We both underestimated each other."

"Yeah we did," he readjusted himself so that he sat behind her, "But why'd you do it Liz? Why did you want to know?" She looked away from him.

"Why would any of us want to know? Why do you want to know?"

"Well the scientific part of me wonders if we could be an entirely new species and are capable of reproduc-…oh," he felt his cheeks warm up a little.

"Yeah," she said flatly as she sat up from her curled position, "Donnie, I think I'm falling in love."

"With who?" he asked quickly.

"It's not important. I don't want to be anymore." She pulled her knees into her chest.

"Liz, you might as well get it all off your chest now. If you can't talk to me then who can you?"

"Master Splinter knows I ran the test," she whispered not seeming to care what he said, "I didn't tell him the results because I knew he wouldn't care. We're all his kids, knowing the blood work wouldn't matter to him. I guess I could talk to him, but sometimes I feel like I just can't. I tried talking to Raph about it and he doesn't get it. My own brother is a lost cause."

"What about your cousin?" he asked, "Maybe he would understand."

"No I don't think he would. He's too smart for his own good." She wiped her eyes and looked over at him. His heart sank a little.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry Donnie!" she began crying again, "I knew it was wrong! I'm so sorry! I should have just dealt with it!"

"Liz relax," he whispered as he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her, "It's okay." The lights suddenly came on with Splinter standing by the switch.

"What is going on?" he asked them as Liz attempted to snuffle her cries.

"Liz was just having a nightmare," Donnie replied, "I went to get a drink and found her sleepwalking. I think she's okay now though." Splinter eyed them warily as Donatello helped her to her feet.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again as she turned and began walking back to her room.

"Me too." He frowned as he waved goodnight to Splinter and returned to his warm bed.

* * *

"Thanks for coming over you guys," April said as the five of them filed into her apartment, "With these strings of robberies being so close I'd feel safer with you guys around. I hope you don't mind."

"Don't worry April, we got ya covered," Raph said as he patted her on the shoulder.

"Well I ordered pizza and some drinks that should be here soon," she said as she walked to the door, "Make yourselves at home." Leo and his brothers didn't hesitate as they jumped onto the furniture and got comfortable.

"What movie should we watch tonight?" Mikey asked as he held up two different titles. Leo wasn't interested as he looked over at his sister who was sitting by the window. She was distant again, staring out of the glass as though she had a lot to think about. He couldn't help but wonder as to what had her in such an absent mood.

It was like she felt the pressure of his gaze and looked at him. He motioned for her to come over but instead she just slipped those stupid headphones on.

"Anyone know what's up with her?" Leo asked.

"She had a bad nightmare last night," Donnie replied, "I guess it's still bothering her."

"How would you know?" Raph asked.

"Well," Donnie began, "I woke up really early in the morning and went to get water and there she was. She was sleepwalking around the lair just around and round like she was doing laps. Then she just broke down crying. It scared me probably as much as it did for her. She's been kinda out of it ever since."

"Geez," Raph said, "Maybe we should talk to her about it?"

"It's probably best we leave her alone," Donatello stated before he tried changing the subject. Leo didn't follow it too much as his brothers laughed. He watched his sister for a while as her eyes moved from one thing to another on the street below.

"I'm just going to make sure she's okay," Leo interrupted as he rose from the couch. His brother's didn't say much to the fact but he didn't care. He sat down on the window sill and looked out the window pane at Casey who was sitting on the opposite rooftop before he said anything.

"I'm okay Leo," she said. It startled him.

"You don't look okay," he replied. Her eyes narrowed.

"Then quit looking," she snapped as she stood up abruptly and walked to the side window where the fire escape was. She opened it and slipped out not bothering to shut the window behind her.

"I've got the pizza!" April called as she opened the door. She put the boxes on the floor as the remaining three dug in.

"Save me a piece," Leo stated as he opened the window.

"That's not a good idea, bro," Donnie warned, "I don't think she wants to talk."

"Just eat your pizza," Leo said, "and save me a piece. I'll be right back." He crawled out of the window and climbed the fire escape after her despite his brother's protests. As he climbed the ladder he paused a moment to consider his choice.

"What do you want?" she called, "I know you're there." He sighed as he finished climbing the ladder. She was sitting on the edge of the roof, her feet dangling off the edge.

"You're not okay, Liz," he said as he walked over and sat down by her, "Want to tell me what's going on?"

"What's the point?" she muttered.

"So I can help you."

"Can you turn back time?"

"No-"

"Then you can't help me. So stop trying." She got to her feet and walked to the other side of the roof.

"Liz," Leo sighed as he followed her, "You can't keep us out. We're your family." She shook her head and sniffled.

"No," she whispered, "Leave me alone, please!" She began crying and all Leo could think of was that night he found her. That image of her on the floor in the fetal position with the empty bottle beside her turned his stomach as he put his hand on her shoulder. He quickly moved her into his arms and he held her there despite her struggles to get away. He hushed her until she stopped fighting and remained still.

"I love you Liz," he said softly, "We all love you. I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you but please just talk to me. I'm here for you." She began crying harder as she let gravity pull her to the rooftop. Leo eased her descent and knelt beside her.

"I can't do it anymore Leo," she murmured, "I just can't. You should have let me die." He shook his head and pulled her back into his arms.

"Hey, stop it."

"I'm a failure. I've let you all down. I'm sorry Leo! I'm so sorry! I just keep messing up."

"How could you have let us down? You're one of the best of us!" She shook her head in his chest.

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are," he carefully pulled back and looked her in the eyes, "You are the most graceful and beautiful to watch. You make me jealous that I can't move like that. I could sit and watch you all day if Splinter would let me. You're my amazing little sister and I'm very proud of you." He felt her take a breath.

"I'm sorry Leo."

"Stop saying you're sorry, sis. You're okay." He held her there for a while as she slowly stopped crying. With the sounds of the city around them he held her tightly as though she was going to slip through his hands. Here she was again, that little insecure girl that he had grown up with. She wasn't gone, just buried in the many layers and levels that Elizabeth had made.

"Let's go back inside," she suggested, "It's getting a little cold."

"Alright," he let go and they both rose to their feet. He followed after her as she descended the ladder and fire escape back to April's window.

* * *

Liz was gently awakened by Leo who motioned downstairs. She sat up so he could wake their brothers.

"I want another s'more," Mikey muttered as Leo tapped his shell, "What?"

"Shh! Noise downstairs," Leo hushed as Donnie and Raph stirred and awoke from the commotion. The five of them rushed to the alleyway window to see a giant robot standing over an unconscious Casey. One by one they jumped out and slid down a cable to the ground.

It was massive, at least ten or twelve feet tall, built out of what looked like spare parts. The top was nothing but five different drama masks attached to a tire.

"Don what is that thing?" Leo asked.

"Uh, insufficient data boss?" Donnie replied as the man that was standing behind the robot started panicking.

"This can't be happening! Martians! Just when things start going my way! We get invaded! Don't let them get me kid!" Liz didn't have a good chance to look at him as the robots masks flipped to anger. The robots hands reached high into the air and came slamming down on the ground in front of them. They all leaped out of the way just in time. It stood back up and Raph was the first to approach it. He took a few wild swings but it didn't phase the robot as Michelangelo came from behind only to get swatted away. He landed near Donatello who was rummaging through his bag for something.

Liz and Leo both tag teamed it as it whirled around wildly. Liz jumped off the wall and snagged onto its arm as Leo did the same on the other. Donatello rushed at the robot with his blowtorch in hand. He turned it on and began burning the robots back. The screech that came from the robot was loud enough for Elizabeth to let go of the arm and drop to the ground as the other arm, with Leo on it, struck Donatello and sent them both to the other side of the street.

"Don't let them aliens get you kid!" the man yelled, "Knock them flat!"

"What do you know about this?" Liz demanded as she turned her attention to him.

"Help!" the man shouted, "Kid!" Liz turned to see the robot lumbering towards them uttering a mechanical noise that sounded like, 'dad-dy.' She didn't get a chance to move as it grabbed her, Mikey and Raph into its arms and slammed them against the walls. Her vision blurred as she struggled to get back to her feet. Her head pounded and she fell back to the ground as the robot picked up the man and ran out of the alley and down the street.

"What was that thing?" April asked from the back door. She walked out in a pink t-shirt and blue shorts as the clanking sounds of the robots faded away. Her attention automatically focused on an unconscious Casey that had begun to wake up and she moved to his side. Leo and Raph both rushed over to help Liz back to her feet as her vision cleared.

"You alright?" Raph asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "Just a bump. I'm okay."

"Hey guys," Donatello called as he picked up a piece of the robot that had fallen off from his attack, "This stuff is moving."

With a concussed Casey in tow the six of them moved back into the shop before anyone else could come out onto the street. April rushed upstairs for ice packs and bandages for a wounded Casey while Donatello rummaged through the shop for something to examine the metal with.

"How's your head? You got a nice bump there," Raph asked Liz as she collapsed into a chair.

"I'm okay Raph," she muttered rolling her eyes. April came lumbering back down the stairs with the supplies in hand and immediately rushed to Casey's side.

"You got an ice pack, April?" he asked.

"On a shelf in the freezer," she replied without looking back at him. He nodded and moved towards the stairs narrowly avoiding a collision with Donnie who had found a microscope and was rushing to a flat surface.

Finding the pack quickly Raph returned and handed it to Liz despite her protests. Eventually she gave in and flinched at the cold as it made contact with her skin.

"Whoa! Definitely something you don't see every day!" Donnie exclaimed.

"What did ya find?" Mikey asked.

"Take a look," Don backed away and Mikey took his place gazing into the lens.

"Eww, what are they?"

"Nanobots, microscopic robots all working together."

"Are they dangerous?" Raph asked as he and Liz joined the rest of the family around the glass display where the microscope was located.

"They're moving randomly. Probably when they were cut off from the main group they became mindless, unmotivated."

"Oh," Mikey stated as he put his hand on Raph's shoulder, "Like Raph when he goes solo. He becomes mindless, unmotivated." Raph slapped his hand away.

"Speaking of mindless," Liz interrupted, "didn't that thing seem…lost to you?" Her brothers looked at her.

"Yeah, kinda like a little kid," Mikey added. Don took another glance into the microscope.

"Uh oh," he whispered, "It's reproducing itself. If each nanobot makes a copy of itself and if those copies make copies. This thing could really become unstoppable."

"Then we stop it now. Is there any way to trace this thing?" Leo asked.

"The nanobots have a unique power signature. Hey! I bet the tracker in the battleshell can get a lock on it!"

"And what happens when we find robo boy?" Mikey's voice was nervous.

"Well, as much as it pains me to destroy such amazing technology," Donnie picked up his blowtorch and lit it before aiming the flame onto the sample, "It does seem to be susceptible to extreme heat."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Raph asked. The other four looked at him for a moment as Casey moved.

"Let me just grab my golf bag," he managed to say before whimpering at the movement.

"You aren't going anywhere, mister," April snapped, "You wait right here until I can get more bandages." She moved towards the stairs.

"Liz maybe you should stay here too," Leo stated eyeing the ice pack she still had in her hand.

"No way," she grunted as she dropped it onto a side table, "A little bump on the head never stopped me before."

* * *

The battleshell beeped with the tracker as Donnie sped along the road.

"We're almost on top of them," he relayed back to his passengers, "It should be right through there!" Mikey's eyes fell on the junkyard to their right. A closed gate obstructed their path for a moment before Donatello plowed it over as though they were a pair of trash cans. He loved this car more than anything, it was so cool!

They drove in farther, flipping the lights off and slowing to a stop. The five of them crawled out and ran after Donnie with the tracker in his hand. His eyes fell on the stuff in the heaps that looked to be perfectly good electronics.

"Look at all this stolen stuff," Leo stated, "Where is that thing?"

"The locator says it should be right here," Don replied.

"I know it's been used before guys, but," Mikey said, "I'm getting a bad feeling about this." There was a rustle of junk that caused the five of them to turn. The robot leaped out of the piles almost squishing them flat. Its masks flipped to anger as it cried out while reaching for the metal surrounding it. It began to gather and accumulate the unused materials around it, doubling its size.

"Now, I'm getting an even badder feeling about this!" Mikey's heart dropped as he stared at the large machine. Its mechanic wail surged through his body as he put his hands to his ears trying to block the sound.

"Does anyone have a plan on how we're gonna do this?" he asked as his heart began to race.

"Same way we always do, together," Leo stated, "Hit it so fast it can't rebuild itself." The five of them ran at it in unison, distracting and attempting to get a shot at it. Leo was the first to strike and managed to sever its hand. Its howl echoed around them as they froze in agony, giving it a chance to reattach its limb and continue its attack.

Its hand lashed out and snatched Mikey from the ground. Its grip was ice cold and tight until it released him and then caught him by the foot. His head rushed and his foot popped in two places.

"Not good!" he shouted before it began spinning him.

"I'm coming Mikey," Donatello shouted as he dashed to the battleshell.

"Make it quick I'm going to hurl! Literally!" Donatello rushed at the robot with his blowtorch in hand. From his ever spinning world he saw his brother thrown back onto the ground.

"He's fast!" Don exclaimed.

"That's not a good thing!" Mikey shouted back as his stomach began to contract and acid began to flow. Suddenly he found himself flying through the air only to land in a pile of sharp metal and roll back down to the ground. His arms and legs burned as he looked up at his brothers and sister who quickly gathered around him.

"So…" he struggled, "I'm going to guess that plan didn't go so well." Raph threw his arm around his shoulders and pulled him to his feet.

"Plan B?" Liz asked.

"Plan B," Leo parroted. Each of them sprinted back towards the battleshell as Raph and Mikey struggled behind. When everyone climbed in, Mikey took the driver's seat and they accelerated out of the way of the oncoming metal giant. But not quick enough as the robot managed to snag the back of the battleshell and began to take it apart.

"Faster Mikey!" Don yelled.

"I'm givin' her all she's got, captain! She cannot take no more!"

"Raph you're on!" Leo shouted from the front seat, "It's shellcycle time!"

"Sure, I always have to do the crazy stuff," Raph sneered as he picked up his helmet from the floor.

"Keep it busy until we're in position!" Leo added.

"Wait up!" Liz reached behind the passenger seat and snatched a black helmet, "I'm coming with you."

"No way Liz," Raph stated as he climbed on.

"You don't have a choice," she muttered as she slipped on after him.

"Liz…"

"Raph just go!" Mikey glanced out the rear-view mirror and saw them both burst through the door. The robot released them and the battleshell shot away. Mikey fought to keep control of the vehicle as he watched his siblings circle the feet of the robot. He turned the wheel sharply to avoid a pile of scrap before flipping it around to give chase.

"Be careful Mikey!" Donatello shouted. Mikey tried to ignore him as he followed behind the robot that was now chasing his brother and sister.

"Now Mikey!" Leo commanded, "Ramming speed!" Mikey pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor and the battleshell shot forward. They hit the feet of the robot with a thud that threw the three of them forward. But Mikey refused to let off the gas and the robot's shrieks hurt his ears as it began to topple into the metal compactor. It fell with a loud echo of scraping metal that sounded like someone dragging their fingernails down a chalkboard. When it ended the sound of the compactor roared to life, crushing the giant into a small block of junk metal.

Mikey leaned back in his seat with a heavy sigh. His heart pounded and he couldn't help but smile.

"Ouch that did it," Raph said from his window. Mikey glanced over and saw they had driven up beside the vehicle.

"Yeah," he said cheerfully, "He's flat broke."

"Maybe not," he heard Liz mutter as there was a white static that began to fill the air.

"Ya know," he sighed, "I'm going to stop with the puns." The static grew and a large metal hand began to form out of the broken pieces.

"No seriously! They always come back to bite you." He quickly threw the vehicle back into drive and followed after his siblings as they bolted off on the shellcycle. Looking in the rearview mirror he could see the giant robot climbing out of the compactor as though he had just fallen into a hole and not something that had crushed it.

"How soon can you get into position?" Leo leaned over and called to Donnie in the back.

"Consider me there!" Don replied before opening the back door and falling out. Mikey swerved the battleshell and the robot continued forward after the shellcycle.

"Leo I hope you have a plan C," Raph's voice came through the radio, "I really hope you have a plan C."

"It's gaining!" Liz's voice accompanied his.

"Plan C, at twelve o'clock!" Leo shouted.

"Leo!" Liz's voice was frantic.

"A plan C now!" Raph's was just as urgent. They obviously hadn't heard him. Mikey watched through the windshield as the robot went from midstride to flying through the air. It shrieked sending shudders through him as it connected with the large electromagnet controlled by Donatello. It moved through the air quickly and centered over the smelter for the scrap metal. It fought against the magnet before suddenly dropping into the pot.

"Alright!" he shouted as he threw his fist into the air.

"Call in the troops," Leo ordered, "We've gotta go before the cops get here."

Within moments the shellcycle pulled up through the open doors. Liz and Raph climbed off both with smiles on their faces.

"We should have Donnie make you your own so you stop hitching a ride," Raph teased.

"But who would be there to watch your back?" she joked back, "Besides I think we make a fine team."

"Get that thing bolted down," Leo interrupted them, "We gotta grab Don and get back to April's."

"We gotcha," Raph waved him off. Mikey threw the battleshell into drive and swung by the base of the tower where his brother waited.

"Out," Donnie ordered, "You've done enough driving today."

"But I did pretty good!"

"Out."

They pulled out of the landfill and onto the road passing the cops as they went without arousing suspicion.

"Ya know I kinda feel back for the little bot." Mikey stated.

"Little?" Raph mocked sarcastically.

"You know, he was kinda like a little kid."

"Too bad he had such a rotten parent."

"Not everyone can be as lucky as us," Liz stated.

The rest of the trip was carried on in respectful silence. But Mikey's head was buzzing, not from the battle, but from his siblings. He may act like an air-head but he knew when something was going on between them. Ever since they lost the old lair, everyone has been acting really strange. Liz has been depressed again. Leo seems determined in a more…frustrated way. Raph…was Raph he guessed acting like his usual self and Donnie seemed distant. Lost in thought more than usual.

Nobody liked to talk about their problems especially to him.

But he knew how to keep a secret.

* * *

**Alright this^^^^ is the longest chapter I have ever written before. Thank you so much for your patience! I hope it's everything you hoped for while you waited! **


	7. Chapter 6: Darkness on the Edge of Town

Liz stared at the bottle once again. It was empty of course but the pain she felt seemed to still linger. She could remember the exhaustion and the dizziness as she collapsed onto the floor in the middle of the note she was leaving behind for her family. Ready to just accept the fate she had prepared for herself. Cries emitting from her sore throat and drool and snot dripping into the rug.

Shaking her head she snatched it from its spot on her drafting table. Turning it over in her hands she read the warning label on it for the millionth time.

'No more than 8 per day.'

She had consumed the last thirty from their supplies, hopefully enough to be a quick and painless death. But she was still afraid. Afraid of death and the unknown. If Leo hadn't come in when he had, she doubted she would have even gone through with it.

She shook her head.

It was stupid to even try. And through her stupidity, Leo had caught her in the act. That was the worst part. Not that she would have chickened out but that Leo of all her brothers knew what she had done. He had promised not to tell anyone, she had made him swear on his life before she passed out, but what kind of standing did that have now? He had that over her. If Splinter or anyone else knew…she didn't know what it would do to them. Leo had managed it the best he could but she saw the toll it took on him.

Leaning back in her chair she put it back onto the table and rubbed her eye. Outside she could hear her brothers laughing and calling to one another. In one smooth motion she went from her drafting table to her door. Cracking it open she peeked out into nothing but darkness.

"Nice wiring job, Don!" Mikey called.

"I guarantee it's not my wiring! Maybe it's a blackout."

"Maybe, now do you wanna get your foot off my shell?"

The sound of a match striking was accompanied by a soft light coming from the entertainment center. Liz carefully walked out towards Master Splinter who was now holding a lit candle.

"Ugh, keep that flame away from Mikey. He scarfed down a whole chili pizza for dinner," Leo stated as the four of them began to brush themselves off from their huddle on the ground.

"Clearly there is a power failure. I suggest you investigate and see if it can be fixed," Splinter said when they were all gathered.

"We're all over it!" Mikey replied excitedly as he kicked his skateboard into his hands and dashed off. Raph, Leo and Donnie quickly followed suit, Raph with his rollerblades, Leo with his scooter and Donnie with his bike.

"And hurry up! I do not wish to miss my favorite program."

* * *

"You've been cooped up in your room all day," Donnie whispered to his sister after they reached the surface, "Something on your mind?"

"You already know what it is," she muttered.

"Liz, you can't let it get to you. Everyone makes mistakes."

"Most don't cost people their families," she snapped.

"I think you're not giving us enough credit. It'll take more than just some test results to break our bond. I mean do you still even want to go through with it?"

"I-," she paused, "I don't even know anymore." Donnie didn't push the topic anymore for the moment as they scaled the side of a building. Once on the roof the five of them climbed onto the water tower and looked over the blackened city.

"Ya know," Leo began, "I don't think Splinter meant for us to investigate this far."

"You can never be too thorough," Raph replied matter-of-factly, "Especially when it comes to topside time."

"This whole side of town is dark. A substation must have gone out," Donnie exclaimed.

"Shouldn't there be some sort of emergency lights on somewhere?" Liz asked.

"Yeah, it's totally dark down there," Raph agreed.

"Which means there's only one thing for us to do!" Mikey grinned as he dropped from the tower with skateboard in hand. It was obvious what he was implying and soon enough they found a nice area in front of the museum to ride.

"Guys? You really think you should be doing this?" Liz asked as they climbed to the top of the stairs and began to ride down the railings, "What if someone sees you?" Donnie took a quick glance around suddenly feeling uneasy. His eyes caught a flash of movement on the wall of the museum.

"That's the beauty of it, sis! Nobody can see us! It's pitch black."

"Yeah, get with the program sis. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to session some surface terrain!" Mikey snickered. Donnie rode up to them quickly on his bike.

"Hey check this out!" he whispered as he threw a thumb over his shoulder. There were two dark figures scaling the wall to the room all dressed in black. They moved gracefully from the rope to the roof and disappeared from sight.

"Didn't we fight these clowns before?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah, and we nearly got waxed," Donnie replied.

"Who's up for some payback?" Raph unsheathed his said and spun them in his hands.

The five of them quickly moved in the shadows along the walls of the museum. An alarm was beginning to blare inside but with the power out all across the town, there would be no assistance from the police until it was too late. Scaling the building with ease the siblings descended into the hole the ninjas had made. Donnie could feel his heard pounding with exhilaration as they walked into the open room. Leo made the first move stopping the first ninja from taking something from a glass case with a shuriken.

"Gift shop is on the first floor boys, but they don't take kindly to shoplifters. And neither do we," he said as the second masked man drew his katana. The first lunged for the case again only to be stopped by a shuriken thrown by Raphael.

"Now, before you try to make off with the goods, you might want to consider a few things. One, you're outnumbered, two, don't let the pretty faces fool you. We're tougher than we look." At that very moment a group of five ninja leaped in from an open window, falling silently to the right.

"And three, we're about to get our butts seriously hammered!" Mikey exclaimed as the room continued to fill with intruders. They quickly boxed the five of them in, pushing inwards before attacking.

Leo quickly dispatched of his after slicing their weapon in two and throwing them into an ally. Raph rolled towards a group of three and dodged at the last moment, making his enemy slice through an old vase sending it crashing to the floor.

"You break it, pal, you bought it!" Raph snickered.

"Not the pieces!" Liz called out as she blocked a blow from her opponent, "Save the artifacts!"

"Do our best sis! Can't say much for these blockheads," Raph began skating past, "Speaking of buying…" He braced for impact and spun to land his skate onto the face of her opponent. He went flying into a gong nearby.

Donnie covered his ears as the ringing sent waves of pain through his head. He managed to regain his composure after pulling his bike off of his shell and quickly setting it up. Jumping onto it he wheeled away from the ninja behind him before turning quickly and running them over. Then in one swift action he drew his staff and mounted it under his arm.

"Charge!" he shouted as he began pedaling towards an oncoming opponent, catching him square in the chest. He went flying into a stack of crates nearby and a sound of cracking porcelain echoed through the room.

"That was Ming Dynasty!" Liz screamed, "Donatello! How could you!"

"Bowling for ninja's!" Mikey called as he wheeled by, knocking down three in one swoop like dominos, "Cheer up Liz! It's not like they were worth much!" A chain wrapped around his wrist pulling him towards an armed opponent. He timed the distance and lifted his skateboard to hit the man in the chest knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the floor.

"Way to pick up that spare," he grinned before reaching down and ripping the emblem off the chest of his unconscious foe, "And a trophy to boot!"

"A little help here!" Leo shouted as he blocked oncoming attacks from three sword wielding ninja's.

"We're on it!" the three brothers shouted as they rushed over on their wheeled vehicles. With exceptional timing the ninjas leaped out of the way and sent the five of them crashing into each other.

"I sense a teamwork training session in our future," Mikey said shakily. Donnie watched from the floor as two ninja's rushed by them with Liz hot on their heels.

"On your feet!" she shouted, "They're getting away!" Donnie leaped to his feet but it was too late, within seconds the remaining ninjas were on the roof cutting the rope Liz was trying to climb. She let out a cry as she fell and hit the floor with a loud thud. Leo moved quickly to her side to be sure she was okay while the remaining three turtles cornered the last ninja that had rushed back to the glass display and had the ancient sword in hand.

"Just put the sword back, sparky, and we'll call it a draw," Raph stated as they circled the individual. He then raised the sword as it emitted a soft blue color.

"Look out!" Leo yelled as the sword swung downwards throwing them all into a heap on the other side of the room.

"How about best two out of three," Mikey muttered as he rubbed his head. The sound of police sirens could be heard out on the street.

"What was that sword?" Donnie asked.

"Hold that thought, we gotta book," Leo replied before pulling his sister's arm over his shoulders and following his brothers out of the museum.

* * *

Back in the lair the five turtles huddled around their master. In his large paws he held the ripped piece of clothing and stared intently at the emblem.

"What does it mean, master Splinter?" Leo asked.

"Trouble," Splinter replied simply.

"You mean you know something about these ninjas? Where do they come from? Who do they work for?" Raphael inquired.

"And what do they want with a magic sword?" Mikey added.

"Nope not magic. Probably more like a self perpetuating oscillation frequency generator." Donnie replied.

"Uh in English Einstein?"

"It packs a shockwave that will knock you flat on your shell."

"Someone who wants that much power can't be up to anything good," Liz stated as she reached up to her naginata and gripped it, "We've gotta go after them."

"No," Spinter snapped, "A wise ninja does not seek out an enemy he does not fully understand."

"But sensei bushido demands that we fight for honor and justice and-"

"Bushido also demands that you honor your master's wishes," Splinter snapped, "I will meditate on this matter further. Good night." He turned quickly with the material in hand and disappeared into his room.

"Undergrounded again," Mikey groaned.

Liz rubbed her shoulder as she watched her brothers begin to disperse. The fall she took had begun the development of a deep bruise; she could feel it beginning to throb. She followed Donatello over to his desk and stood behind him as he started up his computer system.

"Think you're going to find anything?"

"There is hope."

"That sword was at least 11th century Japanese design. Maybe we can find out more about it through the museum's database." Donnie nodded and once the screen came to life he quickly pulled up the list and with a little searching the image showed up.

" 'The Sword of Tengu, also known as the Goblin Blade, was used by the Tokugawa Clan's elders to conquer Japan. It was said to lay villages to waste, bring castles to the ground and vanquish armies with just one stroke.' "

"I believe it," Liz whispered, "Historians must have had no idea what it is really capable of."

"I don't think we know either," Don replied as he rubbed his face with his hands. He leaned back in the chair continuing to stare at the picture. Liz looked over at her other brothers who had taken up various activities. Leo began meditating while Raph and Mikey were fighting over the remote. Her gaze came back to Donatello, their last encounter still fresh in her mind.

"Don?" she muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Nevermind." Her heart sank as he looked up at her.

"What's on your mind sis?"

She didn't answer.

"Is this about the test?"

Again she didn't reply.

"Here's how I see things," he began as he turned to her, "You're my only sister, nothing is going to change that but you ran the tests for a reason. You may regret it now and you're scared, I know, but you shouldn't waste the knowledge you have. I say give it a shot, you never know what could happen."

"I hurt one of them and the family falls apart."

"Stop it," Donnie's voice was stern, "Just stop it, Liz. It will be okay, I promise you." Liz looked down at the ground.

"Okay," she raised her head again and offered him her most sincere smile. His words seemed to help a bit but it would be a long while before she was ready.

"Go relax for a while; we aren't going anywhere anytime soon."

* * *

Mikey reached into his bag of potato chips and chomped down on the salty treat. His sister sat beside him with a weird far off look on her face that kinda gave him the willies. The quiet of the room, besides Leo's occasional grunt and Raph's growling, put him on edge.

"What's up with the big cheese, he's been zoning in there all day," he said trying to break the silence.

"It's that ninja symbol, it's got sensei all weirded out," Leo replied.

"Enough of this waiting around! I say we head topside, kick ninja butt, take ninja names and find out the whole ninja story ourselves!" Raph exclaimed as he kicked the head of their practice dummy. The fabric tore completely off and flew across the room into Mikey's bag of chips.

"Whoa, remind me never to get on your bad side," Mikey called.

"Too late," Raph reminded him as he began to stalk off towards the door.

"Raph," Liz rose from her spot on the sofa, "Give it some more time."

"Guys!" Donatello shouted from his computer, "Check this out!" Mikey got up from the sofa and moved to Donnie's side along with the rest of his siblings. "I hacked into the power company's computer system; it looks like there's another blackout out by the south street seaport."

"I smell a rat," Raph stated, "And I don't mean Splinter." Without another thought four of the five siblings began heading for the door.

"Hang on guys," Leo stood his ground, "Splinter told us-"

"Not to go after the ninjas. He didn't say anything about not investigating power failures," Raph sneered as he pulled out a sai and twirled it in his hand.

"Excellent, I have a few new surveillance toys I want to test," Donnie stated as he grabbed a duffel bag from beside his desk and threw it over his shoulder.

"Eh, wait up!" Leo exclaimed as he moved quickly to catch up, "It's tough being a leader."

* * *

The breeze was strong on top of the Brooklyn Bridge. Raph had to brace himself for every motion of air for fear he would fall into the river below. He was sure to stand close to Liz who seemed to have a more difficult time staying upright.

"Total blackout, just like last night," he muttered as his eyes moved to the city around them.

"You can actually see some stars," Liz replied, "You really can't get a view like this in the city."

"At least I came prepared this time," Donnie pulled out a pair of goggles from his bag. Mikey quickly snatched them from his hand and put them on.

"Awesome! Total turtle vision!"

"Night vision, actually," Donnie replied as he slipped them back off Mikey's head.

"How do we survey such a large area?" Leo asked.

"I came prepared for that too!" Donnie exclaimed as he pulled a chord from his shell. Like a pair of wings extending, a large canvas extended with a metal frame around him, "I've been dying to try this puppy!"

"You mean you haven't tested it yet?" Leo panicked.

"Dude, how are you supposed to test a flying machine in the sewers?"

"Gliding actually," Liz corrected as Donnie began taking a few steps back.

"We'll stay in touch via shell-cell. I've worked out all the theoretical dynamics," he launched and began to sprint towards the edge, "It's practically foolproof!" Raph and his siblings rushed to the edge as Donnie disappeared into the darkness.

"But is it Don proof?"

"Don?" Leo said into the shell-cell, "Don!"

"I'm okay, no problem. Uh-oh," Don replied through the phone, "Just forgot to compensate for the wind drag on my bo staff." Raph shook his head with a small smirk.

"Guys," the phone crackled, "I'm picking up something strange down on the river."

"What is it?" Leo asked.

"It looks like they're searching for something under the water."

"Who's searching?

"It's our ninja buddies again and they have the sword rigged up to some vibrational cannon," it cut out for a moment, "I'm over pier 16. I'm going in for a closer look."

"On our way," Leo replied as he moved to the chords holding the bridge up and began to run across them. Raph stayed behind his sister as they descended down. They heard Donnie cry out on the phone and stopped.

"Don? Don? What is it?"

"Mayday! Mayday! I'm going down!"

"Double time," Leo ordered. They all moved as fast as they dared and eventually made it back to solid ground.

"Don? Can you hear me? Say something bud!"

"Man!" the phone crackled, "That water stinks! And that's from a turtle that lives in the sewers." The four of them sighed with relief as they continued to run to his location. A loud splashing was the first sign that they were getting close.

"I've got a visual on the cannon," Leo stated, "I can only see two of them. But that just means the others are hiding." Raph could see the cannon too. It was larger than two school buses and bright blue lighting was coming out of the center. He could only guess that was where the sword was. His ears caught the soft pitter patter of feet and skillfully he dodged an attack from a man dressed in the ninja uniform.

"I hate it when he's right!" Mikey snapped as they found themselves quickly surrounded.

"Let's turtleize them!" the four of them shouted as they drew their weapons. It was like an arcade game; the more you pushed forward the more enemies you ran into. They just kept coming out of nowhere and soon the fight was taken onto an old wooden fishing boat. Leo moved quickly, dispatching two with a split kick and throwing one off the side. Donnie leaped onto the deck, his bo staff twirling overhead taking out three with one hit. Liz ran towards a rope hanging from the sails and launched herself over the side knocking two of the ninjas into the water with a hard kick. Raph quickly began climbing the ropes trying to gain a better hand when he spotted two ninja's high in the crow's nest. He saw their blade swing down and sever his ladder. Gravity took over as he began to fall. Flinging his sai out he managed to snag onto the mast and catch himself before he landed on the deck. A soft pop emitted from his shoulder and pain shot into his joint.

"Great," he muttered as he carefully dropped down after pulling his weapon out. His adversaries were there waiting for him with long chains and small scythes. They threw the chains and they flew towards him catching his wrist and legs. His balance suddenly disappeared and he fell over the railing, the chains digging into his skin.

"Don't ever say I don't cut you a break," Leo called as he swung down on a rope hitting the chains so they released, letting him fall to the floor below.

"It wasn't pretty but I'll take it," Raph replied.

"Avast ye scurvy sea dogs! Shiver me timbers! Blow me down!" Mikey laughed as the three ninjas in front of him backed him into a wall, "Okay about that blow me down part." He put his hands up as a white sail suddenly fell to the ground atop of them. Raph looked up to see his sister standing on a long pole with a large grin on her face.

"Thanks sis!"

"I got ya, matey!" she called down as she grabbed a rope and swung down. Raph watched her grace and elegance as she landed with precision and moved to where they had begun to gather.

"I think this teamwork effort gets a most improved," Leo smiled as he patted his sister's shoulder.

"School's not out yet," Donnie stated as he pointed back over to the cannon where a chopper flew close by, "That's one cool as shell chopper." The five of them watched as a large cable lowered to the middle of where the cannon was pointed and saw a seaweed and muddy object being hoisted up into it.

"What's up with barnacle Bill?" Mikey asked.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Liz replied as the chopper began to fly away, "Let's move!" They lurched forward and leaped back onto the docks headed straight for the cannon. There was a loud grinding sound and the splashing water got quieter before disappearing completely. The five of them split up and surrounded the platform that the cannon was on.

"Now boys," Leo stated as they arrived, "There's a small matter of some stolen property that we need to discuss." Raph moved to a side and watched the men back away from Leo and towards Donatello.

"Dudes," he said, "You really shouldn't be playing with dangerous toys." The men changed direction and headed towards him. He jumped up scaring them into another direction. Liz jumped up and they then ran into Mikey who simply growled. One of the men pulled out a small handheld weapon and began firing a laser at Mikey who ducked to avoid getting burned. Leo leaped from his side and knocked the man down. The laser didn't turn off and cut through the main controls on the cannon. The platform gave a hard lurch and Raph clung to the side with all he had. A loud alarm went off and the men began screaming.

"It's overloading! I can't control it!"

"Who cares? We're leaving!" Another chopper could be heard flying towards them. Raph leaped up onto the platform and when the chopper was close enough he leaped onto one of the railings along with the two men.

"Raph!" Liz screamed as the chopper began to fly away. Raph's fingers began to slip and he instantly regretted his actions. One of the two men across from him swung up and kicked his shell. His grip disappeared and he found himself freefalling towards the water. He landed with a hard splash that stung his arms and legs. He struggled to swim back to the surface and soon burst through the surface. When he looked back at the cannon it was now facing towards the city. He began to swim like mad towards the platform there was a sudden flash and the cannon began to spin in a complete circle. As it came around towards him the water around him splashed violently. There was another flash and the cannon was now permanently pointed right at him. The water suddenly pulled him under before he could get a breath. His vision darkened as he tried to fight his way back to the surface but he felt himself continuing to be dragged down.

Then as soon as it began the water's motion stopped and he was left in dark. He felt a hand under his arm and gasped for air when he broke the surface.

"I've got you," he heard as he took deep breaths to get himself right again.

"Liz?"

"It's alright Raph," she replied, "I've got you." Dragging him along in the water was obviously difficult for her as he was the heaviest of the five of them but with both their efforts they managed to make it back to the docks in one piece.

"Over here!" she called to the darkness. Soon the other three were pulling them to solid ground. Raph could see the sword in Donnie's hand as he coughed up what water he could from his lungs.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked.

"Yeah I'm fine," Raph replied.

"Idiot," Liz muttered as she let out a hard cough, "That was stupid, you know!" Raph looked down unsure of what to say as Don helped him to his feet.

"Jumpin' in after me was stupid too."

"Someone had to make sure you didn't end up in Davy Jone's locker!"

"Uh, guys we'd better get going," Mikey said warily as a large bright spotlight appeared down an alleyway.

"Are you okay to walk?" Leo asked them.

"Yeah, let's get outta here."

* * *

**It's crazy how long writing these takes. How many times you watch the episode over and over and over and over and over and over again. Your brain just fries! But anyways here's the next chapter I hope you enjoy and leave me some reviews, please. I'm trying to improve my writing so some tips would help a bunch! **


	8. Chapter 7: The Way of Invisibility

**Okay so caution, this chapter is a little graphic (not too much though). Reader discretion is advised. **

* * *

"I'm getting really tired of your excuses Don," Raph hissed as he stood over his brother who was welding a piece onto the battleshell, "You said the test results were on your hard drive. Tell me what they were already!"

"It's more complicated than that," Donnie insisted as he lifted his welder's mask and turned the torch off. The warehouse groaned around them. He was afraid to tell Raph that he had lied. Finding out it was Liz was a complete curve ball and her reasoning was enough to drive his silence.

"How is it complicated?" Raph snapped, "I wanna know Don!"

"It's just best you don't," Donnie replied.

"Then tell me who ran it and I'll get all my answers from them!" Raph cracked a knuckle.

"Absolutely not!" Don's heart skipped a beat, "Listen to yourself Raph! You're letting this all go to your head!" Raph seemed to have grown three feet in the past thirty seconds. His face was crunched in a snarl like an animal ready to kill. This must have been festering in his head for weeks.

"I want to know so bad I can taste it!" Don felt cornered, although they were in the warehouse and he had multiple exits he couldn't escape knowing the truth. Maybe this is what Liz meant by it would tear them apart.

No.

Secrets drove family apart. Keeping things from one another drove people apart, in any type of relationship. But he had promised he wouldn't reveal anything. His sister counted on him. She was beating herself up more than Raph could ever do to him.

"Tell me Don!" Raph grabbed him and threw him against the battleshell and held him there. There was a fire in his eyes that frightened him. If Raph knew the truth that he and Leo were the only viable candidates for Liz...their rivalry would soar! Well, if Leo cared at all but still. If they fought over her affections then it really would tear one of them away.

An intense fear crept into Donatello's heart. Fear for himself and for his family. Master Splinter was right, as always. The tear would start with Raph and then proceed to whoever was the most vulnerable. Leo or Liz. Probably Liz in her fragile state as it was.

"What's going on guys!" The voice startled them both. In the intensity of the moment neither of them had heard the lift going. Liz stood in the door with two plates in her hands, her eyes wide with fear and confusion.

"Nothing," Raph said as he released his hold on his brother's shell. Donnie watched as he walked over and took a plate from her, tense with anger. But in an instant it disappeared as he kissed her forehead and activated the lift. It disappeared through the floor leaving the cousins alone in the large warehouse.

"Don," she whispered as she rushed to the table and set the food down, "What happened?"

"You need to get out of the lair for a while," he replied as he dusted himself off, "I don't think it'll be safe for anyone tonight."

"What do you mean? I don't understand!"

"I told Raph."

"I know! That's how I knew you had found the test."

"It's driving him crazy; he wants to know so badly. Master Splinter was right. You are right. This is going to drive us apart." Liz closed her eyes and he could tell she was beating herself up again. He could almost see it happen inside of her head. She kept shaking her head and pacing.

"What should we do?"

"You need to get out of the lair for a while," he stated, "I can manage Raph but I'm worried about you. I'll call up April and see if you can stay a couple of days, just so you can clear your head. When you come back then we can figure out what to do."

"I'm not going to leave you here to fend him off by yourself. And it's not fair to him either that we keep him in the dark."

"No it's not but he's acting out and it worries me. Liz," he took a breath, "." She stopped for a moment with her back turned to him. He could see a quiver in her shoulders and a tensing in her stance.

"Leo," he barely heard it with how quiet she had said it. Donnie took a quick intake of air as he began rubbing his face. He sat down on a cold metal chair nearby and bent over with his head in his hands.

"But I don't know anymore," she added before picking up her black helmet and turning it over in her hands, "I mean it's just that…never mind, I'm going to go pack."

* * *

It was early morning as Liz mounted Raph's shell cycle since hers was still in the works. She pressed the button for the door to the warehouse to open as it did many times before. Revving the engine she tore out and onto the street. The power beneath her was exhilarating as she raced along the streets the streetlights passing like streaks of light rather than points.

She turned on a turn signal to get into the next lane to turn towards April's place when a large armored truck came up and blocked her. Frustrated she slowed down quickly and slipped behind it. There were lights on inside the back; she could see it through the windows. She could also see figures standing there looking out at her. Getting a sick feeling in her stomach she began slowing more and turned onto an emptier street. She sped off quickly trying to rid herself of the growing tension in her gut.

Suddenly she found herself flying through the air and crashing onto the ground. The side of her body that landed on the ground burned with a ferocity that caused her to cringe in pain. She rolled to her stomach and tried to stand before feeling a hard kick to her shell that forced her back to the ground.

"Well, well, well," she heard a deep cackling voice sneer, "Lookie what we got here boys! One of those green skinned freaks." Grabbing her naginata from her back she leaped to her feet and stood in stance. Three men dressed in rugged clothes with purple dragon tattoos visible began to circle her. One had a large green mohawk that matched the ugly green boots they wore. They didn't look to be older than 21. Another was at least mid-thirties with small green tuft of hair on his head and his tattoo covering most of his face. The last couldn't have been more than 15. She had large baggy pants and long blue hair that curled down her back.

"Don't look so good there sweetheart," she sneered, "Did you have a little accident?"

"Just go away and I'll ignore the fact that you busted up my ride," she spat.

"Oh but we gotta pay you back somehow," the dragon faced man chuckled, "Maybe we can give you a ride home?" Slowly they began producing various weapons she had seen before in previous encounters with this gang, chains, pipes and a baseball bat.

"Hmm can't you guys be any more creative with your choice of weaponry?" Liz joked as the mohawked kid took the first swing. She avoided the attack easily before twisting him around and slamming him hard onto the ground. The dragon face attacked next whipping the chain around his head before he felt the hard blunt end of her naginata to the back of his skull. Kicking him over to where his young friend was laying and moaning she turned to the young girl.

"What about this gang makes them so appealing?" Liz asked.

"They're my family!" she snapped, "They look out for me!"

"If they really looked out for you would you really be out here? Where you could get hurt?" Liz saw the girl look away, "Go home, to your real family. To the people who really care." The girl looked back with fear in her eyes.

"No, he doesn't!" she lunged at Liz with her bat. Liz had no trouble moving out of the way and tripping the young girl in the process. She looked back up with hatred in her eyes before she scrambled to her feet, a can of spray paint dropping out of her pocket in the process, and began running down the street.

Liz nudged the can with her foot. It was pretty much empty.

Glancing back to where the three came from she could see a colorful mural on the wall. Curious she approached the image to take a look.

But it was the last thing she saw before something struck the back of her head, knocking her unconscious.

* * *

"My sons," Splinter whispered as he lit a candle, "Tonight, our training shall focus on combining two essential disciplines. The way of balance and the way of invisibility." He then clapped his hands making the lights go out. The five of them were atop of bamboo sticks carefully trying to keep atop them without falling.

"Dude! You put in the clapper?" Mikey exclaimed before feeling a sharp sting on his hand, "Ow!"

"Michelangelo, the way of invisibility also includes the way of silence. I suggest you employ both if you wish to avoid my walking stick." Splinter made his first move towards Leonardo who dodged the attack carefully and precisely. Donatello then took advantage of the distraction and tried landing a blow to his master. He missed and landed shakily on a nearby pole. Raphael moved along the side of Splinter before leaping into the air and attempting to strike his master. He missed also and landed atop another pole with one foot. Michelangelo skillfully avoided the mess and retreated to the outskirts of the training area. He glanced around in the darkness before clapping, turning the lights back on.

"Peek-a-boo I see you," he taunted as he made eye contact with Splinter. Splinter took a swing of his walking stick at him, which Mikey blocked but not without losing balance for a moment. He fell off his pole but grabbed another before hitting the ground.

"Hey, don't I get points for creativity?"

"A creative mind needs to be balanced by a disciplined body," Splinter stated as he clapped his hands once more, "We must learn stillness and alertness. For they are the only defense against the unexpected."

None of them heard the lift doors opening and a bumbling Casey Jones wandering into the lair.

"Hey, guys?" he whispered as he stumbled around in the dark. He bumped into one bamboo pole which sent the rest of them crashing to the ground, the turtles and rat with them. Splinter was the first to react as he attacked Casey. Knocking the full grown man to the ground he slammed his walking stick against Casey's neck.

"Master Splinter, no!" Leo shouted, "He's okay!" Donnie clapped to turn the lights back on.

"Sensei, this is Casey. The nutca-…guy we told you about."

"You remember?" Mikey stated, "The igilante-vey."

"We figured it'd be okay to give him access to the lair, you know, for emergencies and stuff." Raph stated as Splinter eased himself off.

"Please forgive my rash action," Splinter bowed as the turtles helped him to his feet.

"No problem-o," Casey stated as he pulled his mask off.

"Although next time you would be wise to heed the ancient Japanese proverb, 'phone first!'" Splinter hissed as he walked back to where the bamboo had toppled over.

"Whoa Raph! Your crib is even more awesome than you said," Casey stated as he began to inspect the area, neglecting his manners and kicking over the poles that Splinter was cleaning up.

"You didn't come all the way down here for the nickel tour. What's the 411 street side?" Raph asked.

"Graffiti! It's everywhere. All over town."

"And I think I speak for everyone in the room when I say, 'duh.'" Mikey stated with a smile.

"We're New Yorker's, Casey. We've seen graffiti before." Donnie added.

"Not this kind," Casey snapped as he pulled a picture from his pocket, "I think someone is trying to send you a message. Hold on, weren't there five of you?"

"Liz has been at April's all day," Mikey stated, "Probably girl stuff, with the slumber parties and all that weird junk."

"She said she needed some time to herself," Donnie corrected, "So she's spending some time away from home."

"Do all the tags look like this?" Leo asked trying to get back to the subject at hand.

"Some are even more graphic," Casey continued before his eyes drifted to something behind the turtles, "Hey, cool sword. Looks just like the one from the graffiti." He pushed his way past them to get a better look.

"Casey no!" Donatello exclaimed as he reached for the sword. It charged violently and sent him flying across the room and into a bookshelf. "Remind me, who's idea was it to invite him down here?" He shot a glance at Raph who gave him one back.

The four of the turtles hurried over to pick him up but Splinter was there already getting him on his feet.

"I thank you for this information, Mr. Jones. But now we must return to our training."

"Wait, don't you guys want put the smack down on the guys who did this?" Casey said.

"Well yeah but it smells way too much like a set-up." Mikey stated.

"Someone is just trying to get under our shells," Donnie added, "Why should we stoop to their level?" Casey pulled a baseball bat out of his bag that had many other sporty items on his back.

"But this is a matter of honor. What about all that bushy-doo doo stuff you guys always talk about?"

"That's bushido! Which has nothing to do with payback for a bunch of nasty wall doodles," Leo snapped.

"Sorry Case but I gotta go with my bros on this one," Raph gave him a small smile.

"Aww man," Casey's shoulders dropped as they walked towards the lift, "Say!" He took a look over at the entertainment center. He rushed over and quickly made himself comfortable.

"So what's on the tube?" he bit into a piece of old pizza that sat on the couch that Mikey had left. The brothers looked at each other unsure of what to do.

* * *

Liz's head buzzed as her eyes struggled to open blinded by a light that suddenly appeared.

"Facinating," she heard a deep intelligent voice whisper. After adjusting, her eyes landed on a tall man in a white lab coat. She recognized him as Baxter Stockman. The scientist who had created the mousers that destroyed her previous home. His glasses were falling down his nose. He leaned over her and as she tried to move away she found herself to be bound to the table. She began to fight against the restraints as a high pitched whirring sound began.

Liz froze for a moment as her eyes frantically sought the source of the sound. A long metal needle came into view and the blade of a table saw extended towards her. She struggled against her restraints more as it got closer. As it came within centimeters of her shell the hissing sound faded away and it shut off.

"I'm not allowed to take any samples until you answer our questions," he said as he pulled it away from her, "I don't like waiting to do my research so I suggest you speak quickly."

Liz gave him a scowl.

"Who do you work for?"

She didn't answer.

"How long have you been on this planet?"

Again she stayed silent.

"Fine, if you don't want to cooperate. I'll just have to convince you otherwise." She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw him pick up a long metal pole with two prongs from small table beside him.

"This might sting a little," he chuckled as he pressed the cold prongs onto her arm.

Suddenly without warning Liz felt her body convulse and her muscles contracted. Her body flailed on the table against the restraints while her head was spinning from the pain. Her mouth couldn't even open to scream let alone breathe. Time slowed to a mere pain filled crawl as tears began to form in her eyes but after a few seconds the electrical surge stopped and she took a deep well needed breath. Parts of her body twitched uncontrollably as she struggled to keep her head in one place.

"That was its lowest setting," Stockman stated, "My little friend has the capability of multiplying that by at least fifty. Are you sure you don't want to talk?"

* * *

Casey was beginning to become a very unwanted houseguest. Leo was beginning to become very frustrated with his lack of manners and respect for their home. He had already helped himself to the contents of their kitchen and every left over from their fridge. But among his frustration he was also extremely worried about Liz. She had up and left this morning without so much as giving him an explanation as to why she was leaving.

Leo had always been protective of his siblings but with Liz he was always extra cautious even though she infuriated every fiber in his body. He had tried to meditate on the issue to relief his inner turmoil but thanks to their 'guest' it had gotten him nowhere.

He uttered a yawn as he picked up the remote and turned the TV's off.

"Sure is getting late," he stated loudly so that he knew Casey would hear.

"These the only DVD's you got?" it didn't seem to get through to him.

"Yeah," Mikey rose from his chair, "In fact, why don't you borrow some and bring them back?"

"That's okay, I'll just watch them here," Casey picked a disk and walked over to the player. Leo and Mikey gave each other a look as Casey began to fight with the machine demanding it to surrender the disk inside. In a quick fit of anger, he managed to crush the top of it in one hit. It sparked and sputtered as smoke began to rise from it.

"Uh, I think your player is broken," he had the nerve to say.

"Uh no problem," Donnie sighed, "I'll fix it, in the morning." More than enough stress was put on the morning part.

"Whatcha working on?" Casey asked as he approached Donnie's desk easily leaving the player without so much as an apology.

"Boring stuff," Don replied, "Really, really boring stuff." Leo watched as Casey quickly became uninterested and refocused on Raphael who happened to be hitting their punching bag nearby.

"Hey Raph! Let's wrestle!" He rushed over and tackled him.

"Let go bonehead!" Raph snapped.

"No way dipstick!" Casey countered as Donnie joined Leo and Mikey in watching the two beat on one another.

"Pukebrain!"

"Geek!"

"Dweeb!" Master Splinter rose from where he sat on the other side of the room. They rolled towards him continuing to spew insults at one another. He moved down to the main floor and waited for them to get closer.

"Dork!"

"Raphael!" The two of them stopped and looked up at him as he stood over them with his walking stick, "Normally I discourage excursions to the surface. But I think it wise for you to take our guest for a breath of fresh air." Raph rose to his feet quickly.

"Topside? I'm all over it!"

"Boo-yah!" Casey exclaimed as he raced for the lift. Leo rushed to Raph before he too could bolt away and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Raph," Leo got his attention, "Will you stop by April's and check up on Liz?"

"She's a big girl," Raph scoffed, "She can take care of herself, bro. Stop worrying!" His words didn't comfort Leonardo at all as he rushed off to join Casey in the lift.

"And that's how they defeated the thing that wouldn't leave!" Mikey chuckled. Leo shook his head and they all separated to return to what they were doing before the 'disturbance'.

It was quiet in the lair for about five minutes before Donnie's shell –cell went off.

"April?" he answered and paused, "Yeah, she should have been there forever ago, she left early this morning…No I haven't heard from her either…No I wouldn't think so…I'll give her a call though thanks for letting me know." Leo got up from his seat on the sofa and walked over to the desk.

"What's going on?"

"Liz never made it to April's."

"What?"

"She hasn't heard anything from her all day. I'm going to call her shell-cell and see if I can reach her."

* * *

Raphael and Casey leaped over rooftops spouting insults and trash talk to one another on their way to April's apartment. The night was still and the sounds of the city had quieted to a mere whisper.

"So why are we heading back to April's again, hose brain?" Casey asked as he leaped over an air conditioner.

"Check on my sister. Nimrod!" Raph spat as he followed suit.

"What's she doin there for? Lightweight!"

"Just up and left this morning, didn't give us a proper explanation. Gak face!"

"Huh! Women! They make no sense," they landed onto a shorter rooftop a couple blocks from the apartment, "Spray paint?" Casey stopped and walked to the edge of the roof to look down.

"Spray paint? What kind of lame trash talk is that?"

"No listen," Casey pointed over the edge of the building. Raphael hurried over and looked down to see three thuggish kids with paint cans in their hands. It looked as though they were just finishing up their most recent graphic image so Raph and Casey moved to another building and jumped down.

"Hi. We're the neighborhood clean and green, doing our part to stamp out taggers," Raph sneered as the three kids whirled around weapons in hand. One approached with a chain flying over his head while the other pulled out two small wooden baseball bats from a bag on the ground. The third turned and began running down the alley.

"Dude! You're totally stealing my act!" Casey exclaimed as he pulled out the same two bats from his own bag. Raph quickly took the chain wielder out with a single kick and Casey began to battle with the second. Looking for where the third one disappeared to he heard a hushed voice behind the dumpster

"We got one." He leaped over the dumpster grabbing the guy as he went and slammed him into the wall. Casey shoved his thug away and Raph landed an elbow to the guy's face knocking him out cold.

"Piece of cake!" Casey grinned.

"Don't be so sure," Raph replied, "Phone boy here called for backup." His eyes began to scan the streets and a small movement on the roof of a home across the street caught his eye. "And here it comes." What approached wasn't their usual ninja. These guys looked to be completely geared up for war.

"Whoa those things aren't human!" Raph sensed the fear in Casey's voice.

"In case you hadn't noticed, neither am I," he said quickly to reassure his friend. They moved quickly, charging at their opponents when they suddenly disappeared.

"Where'd they go?" Casey asked before they both were hit with insanely strong blows. The two of them flew to the back of the alleyway. Raph's shoulder burned from the broken glass and rocks that managed to scrape into his skin.

"They must have some kind a…whadya call it? Cloaking device."

"Cloaking device?" Casey repeated as he struggled to his feet, "What are they? Klingons?" Raph was too busy concentrating to laugh at the joke as a puddle splashed to his left. He dove for the area and managed to hit the one that was there. But he was easily overpowered after a few moments of frantic grabbing. Casey snatched a paint can from nearby and began spraying what was left around Raph, revealing the hidden ninja. He grabbed a hockey stick from his bag and nailed the guy in the head, knocking an orange piece of equipment from the suit but the strike also breaking his stick in the process. The ninja moved quickly in throwing the both of them to the back of the alleyway that was filled with metal and garbage.

After a moment the ninjas dragged the two back out satisfied they both were still alive.

"Target apprehended," the first stated.

"What about this one?" the paint covered one asked.

"Just leave him to us," the phone boy, who had woken up in the middle of the fight, stated, "It's payback time." His buddies began circling Casey's body as the ninja's took away Raphael. Casey sprung into action spraying more paint around that he had picked up while being dragged out of the rubble. The thugs dove away shielding their eyes as he rushed to his feet, grabbing the small piece of orange equipment he had knocked from one of the ninjas and disappeared into the city heading for the lair.

* * *

A bright light greeted Raphael when he awoke. He laid uncomfortably on a hard metal table with his limbs strapped down.

"Where am I?" he muttered to himself as he struggled to see past the light that kept everything in the room in shadow. A small machine came down from the ceiling and began poking various parts of his body.

"Hey! Watch where you're poking those things! When I get out of here-"

"This is some nice steel," a deep throated voice echoed in the room, "How about telling me who gave it to you!" A tall lumbering man appeared. His shoulders were incredibly wide and he had small squinty eyes with a hard chiseled jaw line that had three deep scars on his left cheek. His bright blonde hair was pulled back in a long braid that stretched clear to his mid back. On his left shoulder was a tattoo of a purple dragon.

"Your momma," Raph snickered as the man stabbed one of his sais beside his head.

"I'm sorry I didn't quite hear you," his hand slid from the table Raph found himself strapped to, "You know, I get a little clumsy when my questions aren't answered. People tend to get hurt. So let's start with what kind of big ugly freak you are!"

"You're one to talk pal." The man's face scrunched in frustration Raph took the chance to slip a small ninja star from his wrist to cut through the leather binds.

"Who do you work for? How long have you been on this planet? What is the level of your technology?"

"Planet? Technology? Man you're barking up the wrong shell."

"Answer me!"

"Come to think of it, who you work for? I mean you look way too dumb to be in charge of all this."

"I'm glad someone agrees with me," Raph was taken off guard by the extra voice that had added itself to the conversation.

"Get out Stockman! Your attempt was a failure, your methods too harsh."

"Attempt?" Raph questioned. Stockman gave him half of a smile.

"Yes, freak, I had a nice little chat with one of your friends," he walked to the wall and pressed a button that turned a large screen on, "She didn't give me anything I could use but I'm sure you'd like to see her."

Raph's eyes widened with horror.

Liz was strapped to a table, the camera above her. Half of her face drooped and drool was dripping down the side of her face under an oxygen mask. All along her arms and on her collarbones were pairs of small burn marks that made Raphael's stomach churn. One of her eyes blinked and a tear dropped down the side of her face as she saw the camera coming towards her. Half her lip quivered as she turned her head.

"What did you do to her!" he shouted anger bubbling in his chest.

"I'm glad you asked," Stockman's face curled into a smile as he hit another button, "She was a fighter. You would be proud of her." The image on the screen changed to Liz waking up on the table. She looked confused and Raph could see fear beginning to creep into her eyes as a table saw blade came towards her. His body began tensing as he struggled against the restraints.

Stockman came onto the screen pushing the saw out of the way and asked her the same questions that the lumbering idiot beside him asked. When she didn't reply Raph's neck got tight and chills ran down his back as he witnessed Stockman pick up something from the table.

_"__This might sting a litte." _

"LIZ!" Raph shouted as Stockman stabbed her with the end, "LIZ!" The sight would be burned into Raph's mind for the rest of his life. Watching his sister being electrocuted over and over again while Stockman screamed those same questions over and over made Raph's blood boil. She couldn't scream but the pain on her face before and after each electrocution was enough to compensate.

_"__I don't work for anyone! Please,"_ she gasped, _"No more!"_ Stockman leaned in close to her face.

_"__Tell me what I need to know!" _

_"__I don't know anything!" _

_"__Not good enough." _

"Stop it!" Raph screamed as tears began streaming down his face. Stockman paused the video at her face before the prod touched her skin.

"You see that face? That is what will happen when you don't tell me what I want to know. Oh and if you think I can't hurt her anymore from here, you'd be wrong." He pulled out a small remote from his pocket and turned the screen back to where she was now.

"Don't you dare!" Raph threatened as Stockman pressed a button.

This time she screamed. Screamed loud enough that it startled Stockman and he muted the screen but Raph could still hear her somewhere nearby.

"LIZ!" he screamed back, "I'M COMING!" The hand with the star broke free and he shoved the large bumbling man away. Using the star he cut out his other hand out and pushed Stockman back who had rushed over to reattach the bindings. He could still hear Liz screaming when he cut the rest of his restraints off. Delivering a kick to the man who had come again for round two he dove for Stockman's remote. They struggled for it before Raphael landed a punch on his face and ripped it from his hands.

Springing to his feet he snatched his sai from the table and dashed out the door.

"LIZ!" Raph shouted as he stopped at a railing. He found himself staring down into the harbor his reflection staring back at him before he pushed off and started running down the deck. His shell-cell began ringing and he answered it.

"They've got Liz! We're in the harbor by Lady Liberty! Hurry!" He shoved it back into his belt and threw open a door.

The room was empty.

"LIZ!" he yelled again, "LIZ!"

"Raph!" a hoarse voice squeaked, "Raph!" He rushed into a room that had two ninja's standing in front of another door inside it. He dodged one attack and hit the other with a kick before grabbing the first and throwing him through the closed door.

"Liz!" Raph rushed into the room where his sister lay. He threw off the oxygen mask and quickly removed her bindings. She was crying with relief and his heart ached with pain. She held onto him tightly as he scooped her up in his arms whispering into her ear and trying to console her.

"I'm sorry but I can't let either of you leave," Raph whipped around and saw Stockman and the large bulky man blocking the doorway.

"Hold on," he turned on his heel and tucked his sister close as he barged through a window. They flew through the air and splashed into the water below. Raph felt her grip loosen as they began floating back up to the surface.

Raph was a good swimmer but trying to keep himself and Liz above the icy water was near impossible. She was dead weight; a lot of her motor skills apparently were scrambled during the interrogation. With one arm Raphael held her head above the water and with the other he dug through the water towards the shore.

* * *

Mikey pressed his foot to the floor of the battleshell. He had a sick feeling in his gut that the tension between his siblings was getting worse. The four of them, including Casey, had split up to find Raph and Liz before they got to the lair with their invisible tails trailing behind them. Donnie's tracker wasn't too specific about above ground or under so he got stuck with the basket case in the small cramped quarters of his ride.

He didn't hear much from his brother from the cell phone call. But the look on Leo's face was enough to frighten him. Something happened, something bad.

"He called!" Leo's voice crackled from the radio, "Southern drainage junction."

Mikey jerked the steering wheel to the side and pulled the emergency brake. The tires squealed in perfect harmony with Casey's scream.

"Geez Mike, be careful!"

Mikey ignored him as he slammed his foot down and they sped off towards the nearest street to the location. His mind was going a million miles an hour as he felt fear and worry build in his chest. The secrets had to end. Something was stirring between them and it scared him more than anything.

* * *

The drainage junction was a large underground room that had dozens of pipes, suspended in the air, running through it. Under those pipes was a large underground whirlpool with tall pipes sticking up into the air like a pit of spikes. Falling into that would result in an inescapable fate of drowning if you weren't impaled first.

Donnie and Leo sat on one of the many pipes above them with the turtle vision goggles over their eyes waiting for their brother and those that followed him. Soon enough a bright green Raph emerged from a tunnel with a large bright green bulge on his back, Liz. They waited patiently for the expected foes to appear as Liz's voice echoed with the sound of the rushing water.

"What is it?" he asked her as the expected bright green figures began to circle them.

"I-I…" she stuttered, "M-my fault." Raph held her hand for a moment.

"Just rest the guys will be here soon," he whispered, "Don't waste your strength."

"I did it!" she gargled, "I did it!"

"Did what?"

"T-tes…T-test." Leo sat puzzled for a moment.

"Test?" he whispered to Donatello, "What's that mean?" Don shook his head and shrugged before pointing down to where a group of bright green humanoids began to gather. They sprang into action, knocking three down with one motion.

"Guys!" Raph exclaimed, "She's not doin' so good!"

"Get her out of here!" Leo grunted as he dodged an attack, "We'll cover you." He threw up a sword to block another attack when he stumbled forward, his balance gone.

"They're tougher than they look," Raph stated as he pulled his weapons from his belt and stood defensively in front of Elizabeth, "But they're not getting past me!" Leo quickly got back to his feet and quickly dispatched the three that surrounded him. Donnie took out two before rushing to Liz's side to check her condition.

"Hey! Who started the party without me?" Leo inwardly groaned as he looked up and saw the towering figure of Casey appear at Mikey's side. He continued fighting as his final brother and their annoying houseguest joined the battle.

"Their cloaking controls look to be somewhere around the chestplate," Donatello stated as he shoved a ninja away when they got too close to Elizabeth. Leo leaped into the air and swung at the ninja's chest his blade slicing through the wiring and metal like tissue paper. Sparks flew as the ninja became visible. While he was distracted with shock, Leo landed a kick to the side of his head, knocking him out cold.

The rest were dealt with in a similar way.

Except one.

"Drop your weapons and surrender!" the raspy voice echoed through the walls. The turtles looked back and saw Casey dangling over a railing by the back of his shirt. A ninja then came into view with his hand holding the lumbering man up.

"Don't do it guys! I'm not worth it," Casey shouted as he floundered above the whirlpool below him.

"You know, he's got a point." Don stated as he pulled his sister's arm over his shoulders.

"You're starting to sound like Mikey, Don." Leo replied as he tossed his swords down angrily. Raph followed suit.

"Hey where is Mikey?" Raph whispered. Donnie's eyes drifted up to a small movement above them. Mikey was balancing on a pipe stealthily above the ninja that held Casey prisoner.

"Now let him go," Leo demanded. The ninja cackled before he was struck from above by Mikey. Both the ninja and Casey toppled down towards the spiraling whirlpool. Raph sprang into action quickly grabbing an old pipe and extending it towards Casey, who caught it in the nick of time. The ninja however splashed into the water and disappeared into its dark depths.

With a hard swing Casey was back on solid ground along with Raph and Mikey.

"Thank guys, I owe you," he stated.

"We take cash, personal checks and most credit cards," Mikey joked.

"Man I am beat, why don't I crash at your place tonight."

"That's not a good idea," Don stated as he looked down at his sister who had fallen unconscious.

"We need to get her back. It's nothing personal Casey."

"It's okay I get it," he smiled as he adjusted his bag, "I'll see ya around guys!"


	9. Chapter 8: Fallen Angel

Three of the brothers stood around their sister who lay unconscious on Raphael's bed they pulled out from his room. Donnie stared at his computer screen waiting for results from a few tests he had run to examine the injuries his sister had. Splinter sat beside her with her hand in his paw. All of their hearts were heavy as she lay there as still as death. Raphael's the heaviest. The image of her face that Stockman was kind enough to burn into his memory was all he could think about. Her eyes widened with terror and tears. Her mouth drooping and her voice obscure and slurred.

"Raphael," Splinter's voice startled him.

"Hm?"

"Who did this to your sister?"

"Stockman," he answered simply as Donnie picked up a clipboard and joined the rest of the family.

"What did you find Don?" Leo asked.

"Do you want the good news or the bad first?" the four family members looked at each other before Splinter spoke.

"The bad news."

"She's got cardiac arrhythmias."

"Uh in English bro?"

"Her heart's electrical impulses in the heart aren't working properly. Too much electrical stimulation probably caused her heart to stop for a few seconds which then restarted with an irregular pattern."

"She had a heart attack?" Raph's own heart skipped.

Donatello nodded.

"She's also got some nerve damage her arms and legs, where the majority of the contact burns are. The good news however is that she'll make a full recovery. It won't be overnight but I'll have to keep her here at the lair until her condition stabilizes. But as long as she doesn't do anything to overwork her heart she should be alright."

"My sons," Splinter said softly, "You need to get your rest. I will watch over her for now."

"But sensei…" Mikey whispered before Don put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, bro. She should wake up in the morning…Hopefully."

The four of them walked away from the station and sat down on the sofa, unsure of what to do, leaving their father to care for their sister.

"Are you okay Raph?" Leo asked, noticing his brother's blank stare.

Raph nodded solemly.

"What happened?"

"I…It…" Raphael rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. He leaned over with his elbows on his knees and shook his head. "It was real bad, guys. I mean real bad! They jumped Casey and I on our way over to April's and they got the best of me. So the next thing I know, I'm waking up strapped to a table on a ship in the harbor."

"Did they hurt you at all?" Donnie asked.

Raph remained silent before his heart began to race. He stood suddenly and kicked what remained of their coffee table from Casey's outrage earlier.

"I wish they would have!" he snapped as Leo got up and carefully put his hand on Raph's shell as it quivered.

"It's okay Raph," he whispered.

"They made me watch," Raph said before pausing, "Leo…Stockman made me watch what he did to her."

Bullets of shock fired through the three brothers.

"He…what?" Mikey exclaimed.

"He made me watch. That sick bastard recorded it all and made me watch! Over and over! She couldn't breathe! She couldn't move! She couldn't even scream, Leo!" Raph couldn't help the tears that began to fall, "And that's not even the worst part."

"Raph," Leo wrapped his arms around his brother as he began sobbing into his shoulder. Donnie and Mikey both rose and joined them.

"He wouldn't stop hurting her!" The words kept spilling out of Raph's mouth, "Just over and over! She begged but Stockman wouldn't stop! And I couldn't stop it! We almost lost her! And then she started screaming! I can still hear it! He hurt her because of me!" The three brothers held onto him tightly until his breathing steadied.

"It's okay Raph," Leo whispered, "He is never going to hurt her again."

"My sons," the four of them looked back at Splinter who had dared to leave their sisters side for a moment, "It is time to rest. It has been a long day for us all. Your sister is sleeping peacefully and you should do the same." Raph looked at his brothers who all nodded in unison. Leo gave him a reassuring smile before he followed Donnie and Mikey towards their rooms.

The young burdened turtle rose to his feet slowly and moved towards his room. Stopping in the doorway he looked back at his bed where Liz slept. Splinter had pulled up a chair and was now sitting beside her with a book in his hand silently reading to himself. Raph's heart sank.

He turned into his room, shutting the door behind him and struggled to set up his hammock that he had salvaged from a junk yard. His mind was everywhere from what his sister had said to him in the southern drainage junction to the day he almost beat Mikey's head in. When completed he crawled in with a blanket and tried to sleep.

A few hours later he woke up in a cold sweat with his sister's screams echoing in his ears. The hammock threw him to the ground and he scrambled to his feet heading for the door. He threw it open and dashed to where she slept startling Splinter who had been nodding off.

"What is it my son?" he exclaimed. Raphael didn't reply as he scanned Elizabeth's face looking for any sign that she was in any pain. His nightmare still so vivid in his mind he fell to his knees taking her hand and beginning to cry once more.

Splinter had overheard what he had said earlier and it weighed on his heart heavily.

"My son," he whispered as he moved from his chair and put a hand on Raph's shell, "Watch over her tonight." His anger and rage were only masked by the concern he had for his children who had suffered so much at the hands of a mad scientist. He didn't know what to do to help either of them. The wounds to both their bodies and minds were deep and fresh and would leave lasting scars that could take years to heal.

The only thing he could think of at this moment was to leave Raphael with the comfort that his sister was safe.

* * *

Leonardo rolled to his side. The alarm clock read 4:32 in the morning. He grunted as he then rolled back to his shell and stared at the darkness of his room. He hadn't been able to sleep since he heard Raphael wake up. He heard Raph's door open and then a few minutes of silence and then quiet sobs. When he got up to investigate he caught sight of Raph holding Liz's hand while kneeling by her bedside trembling violently.

Raph doesn't cry. Leo knew that. Ever since they were children, Raph wouldn't cry for anything. His mind didn't dare comprehend what Raph saw. What they did to his sister. But the thought that they could bring Raph to tears churned anger in his heart.

He wasn't sure how to process everything that was happening in his family. It was just one thing after another and they didn't seem to have any time to be as close as they once were. It was like there was something festering in the back of all their minds, even though no one really knew what it was.

"Leo?"

The voice make Leo jump and almost fall from his bed.

"Mikey!" he hissed when he saw his brother's silhouette at the door, "What do you want?"

"I can't sleep bro," he replied.

"Well you're not sleeping in here," Leo stated as he rolled over, "Go back to your own room."

"But…I need to talk to you."

"What about?"

"Everyone. You're all acting weird."

"What do you mean?" Leo sat up and faced his younger brother.

"Ever since we lost the old lair…Everyone is just different."

"We've been under a lot of stress."

"No, that's not it!" Mikey snapped, "Leo I'm being serious here! Something is going on and no one is talking to me about it!"

"Nothing is going on," Leo muttered. Mikey's face grew stern and hard.

"Are you that blind!? Tell me that Elizabeth was acting normal before all this! Tell me Raphael and Donatello have been acting normal! Tell me Leo!" Mikey's sudden hostility startled Leo.

"We're just trying to readjust! Everyone is going to be a little off for a while until we get settled again!"

Mikey went quiet with a scowl, unlike any Leonardo had ever seen before.

"Why are you trying so hard to deny it, Leonardo? You're fighting it because you've seen it too. I'm not stupid you know! I see more than all of you would think. Raph and Donnie are up to something and Liz has something to do with it! I'm going to find out with or without you." Mikey stood suddenly and walked back to the door, "Goodnight." He exited quietly leaving Leo in a confused and anxious state.

* * *

"What news Donatello?" Splinter asked as he held his daughters cold hand.

"Well," Donnie began, "her heart has been beating consistently, no sign of abnormal rhythm. Her oxygen intake is lower than normal; I've already asked April if she can find me an oxygen tank as a precaution but other than that sensei, nothing has changed."

"Why hasn't she woken up yet?" Raph asked.

"There's no reason why she shouldn't be. Maybe it just took more out of her than we thought," Donnie answered. Splinter gave her hand a small squeeze and rose from the chair.

"Then we will let her rest. Come my sons there is work to be done." He could see in their eyes that none of them wanted to move from her side but at his urging they followed him away from her side. He quickly put them to work cleaning up the lair and making much needed improvements. Anything to keep them from worrying. That was his job.

Splinter soon found himself near his daughter's room. Looking back at his sons who were keeping busy, rather quietly, he opened the door and entered.

Her room was a little messy, her bed messy and crumpled papers all over the floor. One by one Splinter picked them up, carefully looking at each and every one. For a while they looked harmless, nothing out of the ordinary for her active imagination, except one.

It was puzzling why she would chose to draw a bottle. But not simply any bottle, but a prescription bottle, a very old one. Of course they always found curiosities in the sewers but this seemed too ordinary for her taste. The label had been smudged so he was unsure what kind of pills would have been in it.

Folding it carefully for further examination he slipped it into his robe and continued to tidy up. Her bed was made quickly and her rug straightened, her wastebasket dumped into a garbage bag he had brought. There was a sudden thud of plastic that rang differently than the others that made Splinter's ears twitch. He stopped what he was doing and began to fish out whatever it was that made the sound, within moments his hand wrapped around a cold empty container. He pulled it out recognizing it instantly.

His heart skipped a beat while hammering in his chest. His breathing became labored as he stared at it not being able to tear his eyes away.

"Oh my daughter…" he whispered as he tightened his grip on it and gritted his teeth pulling it into his chest.

"Sensei?" Splinter shot up to his feet grateful his back was to the door. He thrust the bottle into his pocket and turned.

"Leonardo," he put his paw over his chest, "You frightened me, my son."

"Sorry," Leo replied, "Just wanted to tell you Casey's here. He's wondering if we could go topside."

"Yes. Some fresh air would benefit your mood. Please be careful."

Leo nodded and quickly disappeared from the doorway, leaving Splinter alone with an added burden to his ever growing list.

* * *

"You all seem just so on edge. How's your sister?" Casey asked as they sprinted over the rooftops heading to the site where a crash was just heard.

"Is it that obvious?" Raph snapped.

"She's doing fine," Donnie answered, "She'll be up and going in a few days."

"That's good," Casey stated, "Too bad she'll be missing out on all the fun." The five of them arrived and noticed the broken window and voices coming from inside. Quietly the five of them eased their way down to the alleyway and waited for the criminals to exit. Soon enough six filed out with medium sized boxes in their hands.

"Psst," Mikey moved in closer getting the attention of one with a green tuft of hair on his head and chin and a tattoo dominating his face. When the man looked he landed a hard blow to the side of his head, sending the man to the ground.

"See guys, you never know what kind of fun you're gonna find on the late night training run," Mikey snickered.

"Now class, who can tell me what he did wrong?" Leo asked as two of the six bent down to help the guy up.

"You mean besides being a badly dressed, law breaking, good for nothing, low life street punk?" Raph stated while spinning a sai on his hand.

"Bust em up dragons!" the man shouted once he was back on his feet. The six behind him rushed forward as he dove back into the store, shutting the door behind him. Casey yelled with glee as he struck one down with his hockey stick.

"When are these dragon goons gonna learn?" Leo shouted as he kicked another to the ground.

"Green always beats purple, every time!" Mikey replied as he dodged an attack and landed a hit sending the purple dragon into the alleyway wall.

"They'll all be black and blue by the time I'm finished with them," Raph added.

The fight was quickly over with five of the six gang members on the ground moaning. The sixth was a young girl with long purple pigtails who made a quick dash during the fight.

"We got a runner!" Donnie shouted.

"Don't worry!" Raph replied as he threw down two more attackers, "It's covered!"

The girl turned the corner and ran face first into a hard chest. The force was enough to knock her backwards onto the dirty ground. Glass and rocks dug into her elbows as she looked up at the hockey mask that stared down at her.

"Goin' somewhere?" Casey asked before he tilted his head, "Angel?" The voice took her off guard but she didn't let it stop her. In the moment of confusion between the two of them, she leaped to her feet and sprinted towards a fence that spanned the alley. Jumping as high as she could she managed to reach the top but not before Casey snagged an ankle.

"Let go of me you creep!" she snapped as she kicked him off.

"Angel wait!" he managed to grab her foot once more, "It's me, Casey!" He lifted the mask and the girl stopped.

"Casey?" she dropped to the ground.

"It's been while kiddo," Casey smiled, "Wasn't your hair blue last I saw ya?"

"Yeah, it-," she stopped and turned away, "What're you doing here?"

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life!"

"What? The purple dragons?" she scoffed turning back around, "Ah no, they're my posse! My family."

"But you got real family at home," Casey insisted.

"Yeah? Well who asked you, loser?" she snapped, "If I wanna be a purple dragon, it's my own business!"

"Until you start breaking the law," Casey stated, "Then it's my business."

"Yeah? Well I don't see no badge on you," she countered.

"And I don't see no dragon on you, not yet. So why don't you quit while you still got a chance?"

"I aint quitting nothing! Tonight was the third test and I'm passing with flying colors. Tomorrow's my initiation and then I'm gonna wear my dragon with pride!" Angel quickly turned back down the alley with Casey on her heels.

"That dragon comes with a price. You don't know what you're getting yourself mixed up in," he said.

"Yeah," her hand tensed, "Maybe you're right." She turned quickly, hitting Casey on the jaw and sending him crumpling to the ground. She sped around him back to the fence.

"But I can still take care of myself!" Up and over to the other side she continued down the street until she was out of sight. Casey sat up rubbing the area she had struck as he heard four pairs of feet running his way. The turtle brothers came into view standing around him as he struggled to get to his feet.

"Casey what happened?" Raphael asked, "Who was that girl?"

"Her name's Angel," Casey replied, "I know her from the neighborhood. I promised her grandma I'd keep an eye on her, keep her out of trouble."

"So she's a purple dragon?" Leo asked.

"Not if I can help it."

* * *

Casey walked down the sidewalk hands in his pockets the wind gently trailing his long coat behind him. The two punks in front of him laughing loudly hadn't noticed he had been tailing them the past fifteen minutes. They turned into a fenced yard in the back of an old warehouse where a masked man stood in the light of a window. Casey paused for a moment in the shadows watching them as they gave a three fingered salute before the masked man moved aside to let them in the warehouse. Waiting as long as he dared Casey finally moved forward to where the man stood. They eyed each other warily before Casey put up his hand with the three finger salute. Nodding with recognition the man thumbed Casey inside.

Walking into the light, Casey heard a dull roar coming from inside. As he neared the noise got louder and he eventually came upon a large room with bleachers adorning every side. In the center there was a fenced off area with two thugs in the middle, circling one another like animals. A bell sounded and the bigger of the two lunged forward. With pipe in his hand it took only one swing for him to knock the other out of the ring. A sickening crunch sounded through the room before he connected with the floor. An explosion of cheers rang out as the victor raised his arms in pride.

"Is he worthy of the dragon!" the announcer sounded as the unconscious body of the defeated was picked up and dumped into another room.

Casey shook his head in disgust.

"Let's bring out the next initiate! Give it up for, Angel!" His heart dropped as he pushed his way through the crowd to see her climb into the ring, "Does she have what it takes to call herself a purple dragon?" Half the crowd began booing at her as her opponent elegantly flipped into the ring, the other half jeered. Moving forward closer to the ring Casey noticed a second opponent enter the arena.

"Wha, geez," Casey muttered to himself as the first opponent attempted to hit her. She dodged quickly and landed a kick that sent him sprawling to the ground. The second thug swung his fist and Angel ducked before landing a kick to his jaw. She flipped backwards creating space between them ending up closer to the first thug. He had somehow found a pipe and was now brandishing it ready to strike.

Casey couldn't wait any longer. Reaching into his coat he pulled his hockey mask and slipped it on before leaping into the arena. He pulled his bat from his belt and struck the man down before he could lift the pipe over his head.

"What are you doing here?" Angel screeched after she knocked down the second thug once more.

"You're new posse was about to cave your head in," Casey exclaimed. The room's noise level rose quickly as those surrounding the arena began recognizing who had ruined the fight. One by one they moved into the arena calling and crying for blood.

"Come on! I'm getting you out of here," Casey said as he lifted the bat to defend himself when suddenly the air was knocked from his chest. He flew across the floor and landed with a hard thud. His head went foggy and the light from the dim lamp above him was blocked by a large body.

A single hand wrapped around his face and pulled him from the floor.

"Hello Jones," the large body spoke, "Long time no see." Casey opened one eye for a brief moment to look straight into Hun's. He struggled against the death grip he had on his head as blood drained from his head.

"Think I don't know that's you under that mask, Jones?" Hun continued, "I got eyes and ears all over this town. Word is you've been disrespecting the dragon!" Casey felt Hun wind up and throw him into the ropes around the arena. He bounced off and back at Hun's feet. Glancing over at Angel who was now disappearing into the crowd Casey grabbed his bat and took a desperate swing at Hun who caught it with ease. He was pushed onto his back while Hun snapped the bat in two with his insane strength.

Casey struggled to get back to his feet and looked for a way out but too many thugs had circled blocking off any means of escape. Hun saw the hesitation and grabbed him while he had the chance and slammed him onto the ground, knocking the air from his lungs.

"Lock up this piece of garbage," Hun commanded, "We'll play some more with him later."

* * *

Mikey sat beside his sister as she took shallow and stressed breaths. He looked at every burn and mark that Stockman had left on her. Some had almost completely healed over but with what Donnie said, their damage had been done. He feared their damage may have changed his sister for the worst.

He tried not to let his anger cloud his mind. Anger for his sibling's ignorance to the elephant in the room. Anger for Stockman and this world full of evil. Anger that there wasn't a lot that he could do to change that.

"How is she?" Splinter asked. Mikey had been so consumed with his thoughts that he hadn't heard him approach.

"Same," he muttered, "Is she ever going to wake up?"

"Wounds need time to heal," Splinter said quietly. Mikey noticed heaviness on Splinters shoulders. His whiskers drooped more than usual. His eyes were red as though he had been crying, not getting enough sleep or a combination of both. His fur was uncombed and sticking out in various directions. He was also wearing the same robe he had on when Raph brought her home.

"Sensei- Dad?" Mikey began, "There's something going on with Leo, Raph and Donnie. I don't know what it is but it's bothering me, really bad." Splinter put a hand on his shoulder.

"Whatever it is, my son, it will not drive us away from each other. There are many words I wish to speak with you and your brothers, but I will wait until your sister is healed so that we all may have a chance to voice our concerns. Please be patient."

That answer wasn't what Mikey wanted and it only added to his anger and frustration but he didn't have a chance to come to terms. An alarm echoed through the lair catching them all off guard.

"Someone's trying to get into the warehouse!" Donnie exclaimed as he rushed to his computer to pull up the cameras he had stationed there. The five of them gathered around the small screen and saw what looked to be a young teenage girl trying to get through a boarded up window.

"She looks familiar," Raph muttered.

"Then let's go up and welcome her," Leo stated.

* * *

"Raphael?" Angel called into the warehouse, "Raphael?" With no response she kicked the wall and with her hands in her pockets stalked back to the road. "This is Eastman and Lair? Right?" Casey had told her this is the place to come for help. She wasn't going to leave him chained to that wall to face Hun and the other purple dragons.

There was a grind of metal and Angel spun quickly. A bright light shone from the warehouse and one of the garage doors opened. A monster of a vehicle revved as it slowly came out from the darkness. Angel shielded her eyes from the headlights and saw four shadows come into view.

"Alright kid," one of them spoke, "This had better be good." Shock ran through her body as her eyes adjusted and she could make out what they were. The green freaks the purple dragons were after. She knew that there were five and that they had caught one only the night before.

Fear emanated from her body at the thought as they approached her. If they knew she had been there when they caught the other, maybe they would hurt her.

She shook her head; Casey wouldn't hang with those kinds of people.

"It's Casey," she stated quickly, "He's in trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" the first one asked.

"The purple dragons got him."

"What happened?" Another asked.

"It's my fault," she stated, "But they're going to hold a brawl tonight. He's going to be the prize for whoever wins."

* * *

Raph stood in the back of the battleshell clothes covering his green flesh. His thoughts were filled with fog but he did his best to keep himself together, for Casey's sake. He wasn't going to let the purple dragons hurt anyone else he cared for.

"There's no way I'm going out like this!" he scoffed as he messed with the pant leg, "Tell me people don't actually dress this way."

"It's a good look for you," Mikey sneered, "Kind of a hip-hop, cat-burglar, storm trooper thing."

"Don't laugh green boy," Angel stated handing him his own set of folded clothes, "You're next."

"Hurry up," Donnie stated as he pulled on his own set of clothes, "We're running out of time."

Once they were dressed, one by one, they hopped out of the battle shell with Angel leading the way.

"Just be cool, and follow my lead," she stated as they approached an opening in the fence around a large warehouse. A thug stood watch as they walked by holding up their hands and showing the sign for entrance. He allowed them to pass without a second thought.

"Good thing it's only a three fingered salute," Mikey whispered to Raph. He couldn't help but offer his brother a small smile before it quickly dropped from his face.

They entered the warehouse that smelled of mold and body odor, it made Raph want to gag. Wall to wall there were at least a hundred purple dragon members sitting or standing, waiting for the big moment.

Which couldn't have come any sooner.

The lights began dimming and Leo quickly moved them together.

"Okay guys take note we got exits there and there," he pointed to the sides of the warehouse, "guards posted around the perimeter, and look pretty heavily armed. So can we please try to avoid a fight?" Raph glanced over at Donnie and Mikey who exchanged glances themselves.

"Yeah…right," Leo muttered, "What was I thinking?" Their attention was suddenly drawn to a set of engines spurring to life. A large cage began to drop from the ceiling, surrounding the arena. Hun stood in the middle of it, a microphone hanging from the ceiling. Raph's chest tightened and he folded his arms to try and remain calm.

"Tonight's cage match championship will determine which team will win the honor of ridding the purple dragons of a most hated enemy!" His deep voice was enough to get Raph's blood boiling. Another engine purred to life and down came Casey strapped to an X-shaped restraint. He listened to the room erupt into cheers once Hun placed Casey's mask on his face.

"So who's ready to battle it out for a shot at the vigilante?" the announcer boomed over the speakers. The room's dull roar turned into a shrieking match as people began rushing into the cage from all around the room. Spotlights danced over the crowd until the stream of opponents dwindled.

"Come on! Come on! Come on! There's got to be more takers than that!" the announcer shouted, "The honor of the dragon is at stake here!" The restraint holding Casey suddenly rose back up to its location before he was revealed.

"Well how are we going to get him down from there?" Donatello groaned.

"I know how to get to the catwalk," Angel replied.

"Go with her. Nothing fancy, just stick to the shadows, and cut him loose." Leo ordered.

"And what are you and Raph going to do?" Mikey asked.

"We'll make sure that spotlight stays on the cage. Now go!"

"Last chance to rage in the cage! Any takers?" the announcer jeered as the five of them moved into position, "Any takers at all?"

"Is this going to work?" Raph asked as they climbed into the arena.

"Do you know any other way to buy some time?" Leo replied, "Besides, I know you have some steam to blow off." The two of them entered the cage and the door swung shut behind them.

"Two new initiates have entered the competition! Let's show them how purple dragon's treat newbies!" Raph stood with his arms crossed curious as to how he would fight with clothing on when the first punch was thrown at him. It knocked him to the ground and then the bell to start the competition went off. He quickly righted himself and tackled the man. They both went to the ground limbs flying and flailing. For a moment he imagined the man as Hun and began to swing. The man quickly lost consciousness and Raph moved to a second target. Another quickly appeared as he wound up to strike him with an aluminum baseball bat. Raph backpedaled to the cage wall and grabbed the bars above his head. When the man was close enough he lifted his entire body letting the bat strike the steel bars where his body should have been.

The man cried out as the vibrations reverberated back to his hands causing him to drop the bat. Raph then dropped back to the ground and landed a kick to the man's chest, sending him to the center of the arena where he was tackled by another competitor. Raph sensed another body approaching and he turned to block a strike when he realized Leo had approached him.

"Remember Raph," he whispered, "We're trying to buy time. So we need to be sure there are a few left standing."

"Don't worry," Raph replied as his gaze reached outside the cage to where Hun stood, "I get ya." He was prepared to put on a show. A show good enough that Hun himself would want to join in.

After another couple minutes, their other competitors had begun to get tired. Raph allowed himself to get hit once or twice to give them 'hope' but he made sure the fight dragged on.

"Geez, I can barely move in this stuff," Leo muttered once they got close enough again, "What is the deal with humans and clothes?"

"You ever seen a human in their skivvies, trust me it aint a pretty sight," Raph chuckled. Suddenly he felt his coat and the back of his pants being grabbed. He cursed as the man picked him up and threw into the wall of the cage. Raph's skin crinkled with goose bumps as the chill air surrounded him. He looked down at himself realizing his clothes were gone.

The room went in a stunned silence.

"It's one of them kung-fu lizards!" Someone shouted.

"Turtle!" Raph snapped, "Turtles! Don't any you lamebrains know a turtle when you see one?"

"Raph?" Leo's voice dropped, "I think the biology lesson is the least of our problems right now." The door to the cage began to rattle violently and Raph turned to see Hun doing the rattling. Anger was splayed all over his face and his immense strength was bending the door. When it finally snapped he entered the cage, throwing the door to the side and stomped over to where they stood. The crowd roared with excitement.

"You!" Hun hissed as he and Raph made eye contact.

"What's the matter?" Raph sneered, "Still mad I walked out of your Q&amp;A?" Hun quickly snagged Raph and pinned him against the wall.

"Haven't you figured it out reptile? I let you escape!" Raph watched as his face curled into a sick grin, "By the way, how is your little female friend, Elizabeth was it? She didn't look so good when you left."

"Hate to break up the tearful reunion!" Leo shouted as he leaped into the air and struck Hun in the back of the head. The attack was enough to stun him which allowed Raph to drop to the ground.

"Don't you ever say her name again!" Raph snapped as he landed a kick to Hun's chest, "Don't even think about her!" Blow after blow Raph tried to strike him down but Hun was just too much of an opponent. Eventually he found an opening and Raph found himself flying into the side of the cage once more. Leo made a move cutting some debris down from the cage right over Hun that knocked him to the ground. But that wasn't enough as Hun got up and threw the same piece at the both of them.

Quickly Donatello and Michelangelo joined the fight, knocking Hun to the ground.

"Don't look now," Mikey said, "but Tiny still wants to dance!"

Without warning the cage began to creak and crumble eventually came down on the five of them. Hun was the first to stand up; taking Leo's weapons he prepared to strike them down.

But out of the corner of his eye, Raph saw someone move in the shadows and Hun collapsed to the ground after a dull thud was heard. Casey stood over him proudly with a bat in his hands giving the turtles a smile.

The moon was still high in the sky as the turtles pulled into an alleyway. Casey and Angel quietly slipped out of the back and walked to a complex across the street. The door opened and an old woman stood at the doorway. Donnie couldn't hear her exact words but when she saw Angel her face explained it all. The young girl and her grandmother eagerly embraced.

"Told ya I'd keep an eye on her," Casey stated as they parted.

"Thank you Casey," the old woman said her voice more clearer as she gave him a hug, "Thank you for bringing back my Angel! Now, I have a pie fresh out of the oven and I insist that you come inside to join us!"

"Pie!" Mikey exclaimed, "Yo Casey! How about introducing to your friends?"

"Forget it Mikey," Raph smiled, "We're ninja's, and we stick to shadows."

"The unsung heroes of the urban jungle," Leo joined in.

"The silent protectors of the way of bushido," Donnie added before Leo's shell cell went off.

"It's Master Splinter," he stated as he answered it, "What's up sensei? Wait…What!? Donnie get us back to the lair, stat! Liz's having another heart attack!"

* * *

**I know it's been over a month but this chapter was kinda hard to get through! Thanks for your patience and I hope to see you again next time!**


End file.

Ninja Turtles, Adventure