Leo sat in the middle of the dojo, his eyes closed. Shelby sat up above in the tree, watching him like a hawk watches her prey. To her flanks, both a little higher up in the tree, Raphael and Michelangelo were perched in waiting.

Suddenly, Donatello slid out from behind the tree trunk, running silently along the wall to prevent the turbulence of the air he stirred from touching Leo. Mikey swung lightly out of the tree, landing without a sound to Leo's right as Donnie took position in front of him. Raph somehow managed to push off from his perch without causing the branch to creak, and he landed on the ground silently, his weight distributed across the floor evenly. Shelby slid carefully down the tree. In her ears there was a soft scrapping, but she reminded herself that her ears were far more powerful than Leo's and she was far closer to the sound. She was good, she had this.

The four stood still for a moment. Shelby took a deep breath in and out, careful not to make a sound as she crouched, unsheathing her twin ono.

In a blink of an eye, Raph and Mikey leaped from their position, weapons aimed for the blue-clad turtle. Only a second later, Leonardo- eyes still closed- leapt straight up into the air. There was a fleeting moment before both Mikey and Raph collided with one another. Leonardo came down hard, landing on top of them before pushing himself off of them with another leap.

While he was in the air, Donnie took the opportunity to strike. He ran forward, swinging his bō staff with every muscle fiber he could manage. It cracked Leo in the side, sending him flying into the wall. Donnie and Shelby locked eyes for a moment and she nodded, rushing towards their target. Her goal wasn't to kill Leo, as it would be for a real enemy, but to disarm and disable. Donnie was the first to reach his brother, who had now recovered and unsheathed his twin katanas.

Donnie swung his bō again, and this time Leo was ready. Listening for Donnie's weapon's movement through the air, Leo managed to block the strike. However, he had forgotten to factor in other attackers. Shelby leapt at him, hooking her ono around his wrists and yanking up, ripping the katanas from Leo's grip. He gasped in pain from the twisting of his joints, and from in between Donnie's legs, Mikey slid forward and grabbed the dropped weapons. Raphael then yanked Mikey back by his ankles.

Disarmed, check. Shelby landed a hard kick with the plantar surface on her foot, pushing Leo both into the wall and Shelby across the room. She slid to a halt as Raph ran forward, landing a swift knee in his brother's side. Mikey was on his heels, throwing out his nunchucks, which extended and wrapped around Leonardo, trapping his arms to his side. When Leo tried to right himself on his feet, Donnie used to his bō staff to quickly put Leo back on the floor.

"Yajman." Master Splinter's firm voice rang out across the dojo. Instantly, everyone froze in place, before dropping their guard and recovering a casual mindset. Donatello helped Leo up as Mikey unraveled the chain around him. "Well done, all of you."

"Yeah, you guys were too good." Leo groaned, rubbing his abdomen. "I wasn't expecting to get kicked twice within seconds of each other."

"What can I say? Shelby got one in and I couldn't let her show me up." Raph teased, cracking his knuckles.

"Considering I softened him up for you, I'd say I still showed you up." Shelby countered with a smirk.

"Whatever, Bradford. We'll see who's talking after I stomp you at pinball later." He sneered.

"I think next time there should be two people blindfolded. Even out the odds a bit. Leo's good, but 4 against 1 is almost never a fair fight." Donnie commented.

"Unless it was us against sensei." Mikey stated.

"Actually, that's a pretty good idea, Mikey." Leo complimented.

Mikey blinked. "What did I say again?"

"So close, yet so far." Raph muttered sarcastically.

"Sensei, next time we do stealth training, could all five of us work together and fight you?" Leo questioned earnestly.

Master Splinter ran his fingers over his long, thin beard. "I do not see why I couldn't; if you five are going on missions together, it would be beneficial for you to all practice together instead of training against one another."

Shelby perked up as she listened to Splinter's train-of-thought. "Missions?" She inquired.

"Aww, sensei! You ruined the surprise!" Mikey exclaimed in defeat. Splinter gave his son a slightly confused look.

"We were gonna tell you after dinner." Donnie smiled.

"We know you haven't passed your seishin-teki-kyo'yo' training yet, but you've been training really hard and... Well, we thought we'd give it a shot." Leo stated, grinning slightly.

Shelby cracked her knuckles anxiously, the temperature around her dropping ever so slightly. Mikey, the closest to her, shivered. "Do you think I'm ready?"

"Eh, it's hard to say. If you're not and you go all mutant crazy on anyone, I'll make sure I put you in line." Raph stated, causing Donnie to elbow his side. "Hey!"

"This is all very exciting stuff," Mikey began, "but we don't patrol, for like, another three hours, and I'm starving. I say we order some pizza! Topping call off, GO!"

"Sausage." Raph stated.

"Pepperoni." Leo added.

"Cheddar." Splinter continued.

"Mushroom." Shelby spoke.

"ONIONS!" Mikey exclaimed.

Donnie opened his mouth to speak, but Mikey quickly lurched forward and placed his hand over his brother's mouth. "Sorry, dude. I said last one to the dojo doesn't get a say in pizza toppings."

Donnie pushed Mikey's hand away. "That's totally unfair! First of all, I didn't hear that rule, second, sensei definitely got here last!"

"Yeah dude, but sensei's exempt from the rules. That's what happens when, you're like, the boss." Mikey rolled his eyes.

Master Splinter nodded. "I also pay for the pizza."

"Yeah that helps."

~~~~~

With the pizza ordered, life in the lair continued as normal. Donatello called April and asked if her and Casey could pick up the food on their way over for the night. Master Splinter and Leonardo stayed behind in the dojo for more meditation. This allowed Raphael to take over the TV, but there wasn't much on, so he settled for the news, only half paying attention as he spun one of his sai absentmindedly. Donnie let Shelby borrow his laptop to do some online classes. She typed away while Donnie and Michelangelo observed. It was very peaceful.

That was until Casey arrived.

"Yo, yo, yoooo, my mutant peeps- and peepette." He winked at Shelby. "Casey is in the house!"

April was close behind. "I picked up some breadsticks as a peace offering for bringing Jones here." She teased lightly.

"Hey!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Mikey asked, hopping up, his eyes locked on the boxes in April's hands. "Let's-"

"Whoa." Raph's voice suddenly interrupted. "Guys, hold up, you're gonna wanna see this."

"Aww, come on." Mikey muttered angrily.

The rest of the teens obeyed, gathering around the sofa and turning their attention to the television. Flashing at the bottom of the screen was 'BREAKING NEWS'. The reporter on screen looked deeply concerned as he spoke. "Over the past few days, deadly attacks have taken place all over the northeastern region of the country. The culprit? Believe it or not, monsters."

"Monsters?" Shelby echoed.

"The police have been slammed with calls about various monstrous creatures viscously attacking people in the streets. The most gruesome of these attacks occurred today at around in the afternoon in Philadelphia. What was supposedly a giant scorpion creature massacred an entire family during their backyard party. The only survivor was the adult daughter of the homeowner. She was away at work when the monster stampeded through her neighborhood."

"Woah..." Casey muttered. "That's deep, yo."

"That's terrible." April whispered with tears in her eyes. "That poor girl."

"I have to get Leo. Raph, rewind that." Donnie stated. Raph obediently rewound the broadcast to the correct spot. Shelby had mentally checked out of her homework completely, and slowly closed Donnie's laptop.

Donnie arrived with Leo and Splinter moments later. Raph pressed play, and the broadcast began again. The information wasn't any easier to hear the second time around. 13 monster attacks throughout the east coast, and trickling across the Appalachians.

When the segment finished, the room was silent for a moment. "So..." Shelby started. "Mutants outside New York City."

"How did they get there?" April wondered outloud, glancing at Casey as if he had any idea. He shrugged.

"This has to be the Shredder." Leo decided, glaring at the TV. "Ever since he got a hold of that mutagen..." He glanced at Shelby, who shifted awkwardly, looking at her hands in her lap. "Well, we should have saw this coming."

"What are we supposed to do about it now? I mean, there's, like, 10 different cities experiencing attacks right now. We can't be in ten places at once." Raph stated.

Mikey looked around the room. "Well, there's 8 of us if you count Master Splinter. If we each went to our own city, then we've gotten 8/10! That's, like, 80%."

"We can't split up like that." Donnie shook his head. "And we can't leave the lair unguarded. This could be a plot to lure us out of the city and hit us where it hurts- home."

"We can't just not do anything." Casey countered, shaking his head as he kept his eyes trained on the news. "One of those jerks killed an entire family. That's not something we should ignore."

"No, it's not." Leo agreed, standing up and facing the group. "Gang... We're going to Philadelphia."