Baxter Stockman gasped for air, the wind knocked out of him as the Shredder pushed him up against the wall. His own hands, or rather, feelers, scrapped against the metal that covered Oruko Saki's fist, which was clenched around his neck.

"I have given you six months, Stockman." The Shredder growled. "Six months to figure out what error you made with Shelby Bradford's mutation. Six months to analyze the formula. Six months to see where it went wrong. Six months to figure out if there's any way to recover this project or if your scientific endeavors are really just a waste of my resources."

"A-and you've been very generous-zzz-s, Mas-zz-ster Shredder. I jus-zz-st need more time." Baxter explained breathlessly.

Baxter speaking only resulted in a tightened grip around his neck, and he let out a suffocating noise as Shredder's eyes narrowed. "I have given you nothing but time." He stated gravely, releasing a blade from the metal cuff around his wrist, which grazed Baxter right between his big, red eyes. "My patience is waning, and it's waning quickly. The other pieces have already begun moving into place, and I don't have time for any more of your blunders."

If Baxter was still human, he'd likely have tears flowing down his face right now. In this new mutated state, all he could do was shake violently. "Pleas-zz-se, Mas-zz-ster. I can do this-zz-s. Give me one more chance!" He begged.

A few seconds dragged by, the tension rising in the air as the Shredder's one good eyes bore into Baxter. Finally, he released his vise-like grip around the fly mutant's neck. Baxter slid to the floor, coughing and sputtering to recover and catch his breath. "You have 48 hours, Stockman." The Shredder stated. "When those 48 hours are up, you will either present me with a solution to our problem, or you will face dire consequences." He stated, before slowly turning and exiting the lab.

Baxter stayed on the ground, still not fully recovered from not only the physical ordeal, but the mentally draining weight of the Shredder's statement. "48 hours-zz-s?" He muttered to himself. "I couldn't figure out what went wrong in s-zzz-six months-zz-s, what makes-zzz-s him think I can do it in 2 days-zz-s?"

He gathered himself off the floor slowly, but leaned against the wall, his head hung low in despair. "What am I going to do? What will happen to Bri?" He lamented softly.

What he didn't notice was a slight movement in the doorway. Stealthily peering out from behind the door was Brianna Stockman. She had tears in her deep brown eyes as she watched her father despair over the Shredder's terms. The ninjutsu master had failed to notice the small teen hiding behind the door as he stormed away.

She dropped from where she spied on her father and leaned against the wall, her hands shaking as she tried to keep her composure. She wished she could expel the image of the Shredder strangling her father out of her mind, but the scene was fresh and burned into her eyes. Without a sound, she lifted herself from the wall, and walked briskly towards her room in the dorm area.

The Foot Headquarters was rather empty. Master Shredder had given orders to ship many of her fellow clanmates out of state, and so very few ninja remained in New York. Those who stayed were only the most skilled, deadly, and experienced ninja- no one Bri had trained with in her time here. She got no greetings or casual conversations from her fellow Foot anymore, but at the moment, Bri found great comfort in the quiet isolation.

Well, it was almost quiet isolation.

In the hall where her room was, Aiden and Tyler Bradford made their way to their own rooms, and by the look of their sheen skin, they had just gotten done with a training session. Brianna quickly wiped the steaks of moisture from her cheeks, trying to reach into her room before they could say anything to her.

"Ayyy, it's the Brimister! Bri the Brilliant. Brianna my Mianna. Bri-" Tyler paused as Bri kept walking right past him to her room. He frowned. "Okay, nice talking to you."

Aiden looked back at Bri with concern. "What's wrong?" He called. When Bri ignored his question, he quickly jogged over to her and grabbed her wrist, preventing her from escaping into her room, which she had just reached.

"It's nothing." She lied, and it wasn't a believable lie either. It was easy to hear that sadness was causing her throat to constrict.

"Brianna." Aiden stated in a rather harsh voice. Bri looked up at him with tears lining her eyes. "Please. Talk to us."

"Yeah, sometimes talking helps." Tyler chimed. "And maybe we can help you with whatever it is you're sad about. Or at least try to cheer you up."

Bri sighed, taking her hand off her door handle. Aiden let go of her wrist. "It's my dad. Master Shredder... he gave him a deadline to figure out how to fix what happened with Shelby's mutation."

At the mention of their sister, Tyler shifted uncomfortably, and Aiden stiffened, his eyes narrowing. "What do you mean?"

Bri bit her lip. In the six months since she had found out the Shredder's original plan for Squadron Beta-X, she had never told Aiden or Tyler.

Well, now was just a good a time as ever.

"A while back, Master Shredder wanted to use that mutagen on other test subjects- not just Shelby." Bri explained. "It was meant to create a pack of loyal soldiers under the Shredder's control, but instead, Shelby kept control of her own free will. Something went wrong in the formula, and my dad can't figure out what. Master Shredder said if he can't figure it out in the next 48 hours..." Her voice trailed away, but the twins got the message.

"That's harsh, man." Tyler muttered sadly.

Brianna covered her face for a second as she leaned against the wall, before wrapping her arms around her stomach, looking absolutely miserable. "It is. And I know my father is brilliant, and I believe he's totally capable of figuring it out, but..." She shook her head, "I'm just not entirely sure he can do it in 48 hours under this much pressure."

Aiden looked at Brianna sadly, before leaning against the wall next to her. "What if we help?"

Bri glanced at him in confusion. "Huh?"

"Yeah, I mean, you're incredibly smart, and if we help-" Aiden gestured to himself and Tyler. "Maybe we can figure out what went wrong and save your dad."

"Save my dad?" Bri echoed, looking up at him.

"Yeah, we can totally figure it out!" Tyler cheered. "I mean, Bri, you're like, JUST as smart as your dad. You have like, two brains worth of brain. And then we add Aiden's brain and my brain- that's FOUR BRAINS!" Tyler clasped his hand on both Bri and his brother's shoulders. "We got this!" Then he paused. "I'm sorry, what are we doing exactly?"

Bri looked at Tyler darkly. "We have to activate the mind control serum in your sister's mutagen."

Both Aiden and Tyler stared at Brianna for a second, each unsure of what to say. Finally, Aiden lifted himself off the wall. "Then we have no time to waste. Let's get started."

Bri nodded, following Aiden as they began back towards Baxter's lab. Tyler watched after them, before wringing his hands and looking down at them sadly. "Oh man." He whispered to himself, his voice tight with emotion.