〈—⇥THIRD-PERSON POINT OF VIEW⇤—〉

A resounding thud echoed throughout the sewers.

"What the shell was that?" Raph asked in alarm as he placed down his comic and hopped up.
Leo, who was sitting next to him, jumped to his feet. The eldest brother switched off the TV and tossed the remote on the couch he previously occupied.

The four brothers had just been doing their own thing – reading comics, watching TV, tinkering with Kraang tech, and skateboarding in secret – when the sound reverberated through the sewers.
Donnie stopped fiddling with the alien technology he had found on patrol earlier that day and got up from his seat, abandoning the strange machinery on the kitchen table for now. He padded over to his brothers, looking curious. The genius was about to say something when Mikey skated over to the other turtles, looking frightened.
"It's the Cream Cheese monster!" The orange-clad brother yelped, putting a foot to the floor.

Splinter rushed out of the dojo and into the main room. "My sons, are you alright?" He asked in a distressed voice. April followed the rat mutant out and pulled up next to him, her face a picture of worry. The sensei was too concerned about the safety of his home being compromised to scold his youngest son on skateboarding in the Lair.

"We're fine, Sensei, but we don't know what that was," Leo replied.

"I think there's something else in the sewers," April said reasonably. "That sound might've been someone coming down, or the manhole cover falling. We should check the entrance first."

"Oh, good," Raph grinned as he twirled his sai. "I was getting bored of the training dummy!"

"We don't know that it's something hostile," Donnie pointed out, obviously the first one to counter Raph's excitement for a fight with a logical argument. 

"But what if it is?" Mikey began to freak out, waving his hands in distress. "What if it's an alien squirrel? Or a life-size slice of sentient ham?!"

Raph gently elbowed his brother in the side.
Mikey rubbed his right lumbar, pouting.

Splinter lightly cut through the bicker. "If we are to go, then we should all go together," he said, fingers resting on his braided goatee in thought.
The rat mutant nodded at his eldest. "Lead the way, Leonardo."

The leader in blue nodded once, determinedly. "Alright team, let's go!" He grabbed his ninjaken, which had been leaning on the couch, and slid them into their holsters on his shell.

Raph sheathed his sai; Donnie spun his Bō staff next to his red-clad brother, and Mikey kicked his skateboard away, making sure his nunchaku were with him.
April double-checked the sharpness of her Tessen, looking to Splinter to show him she was ready.

The six followed Leo's lead as he ran out of the Lair, navigating the dank sewers. They wound their way through the many paths under the city until the family came to the tunnel that held the main entrance to the sewer: the manhole in the back alleyway.
From the manhole, imbedded into the wall, descended ladder rungs so tradesmen and maintenance could scale down into the sewer. Usually, it went unused, and the inhabitants of the Lair knew the sewers were only intruded upon by humans (sans April and Casey) every six months at the most frequent.

But today, a strange, dark grey being lay unconscious on the ground in front of the ladder. A semicircle of streetlight shone down from the half-covered manhole at the top of the ladder, revealing the bands wound around their body. They were lying on their right side, facing towards the vast expanse of the sewer tunnel, allowing the family to fan around them and examine their features. 

"I think they're female," Donnie said, but it was evident in his red eyes that he was as intrigued as the others.

The being looked like the turtles, but she didn't have a shell; instead, a lizard tail curved around her feet. Her hands, which were splayed out in sleep, had four fingers; her feet had four toes, and each of the smaller ligaments sported small white claws.

Across her back, two ninjaken similar to Leo's were sheathed in holsters. She had a dark green bandana tied around her head, two holes cut out for her currently closed eyes.

"Holy chalupa," Mikey gasped after a few more moments of silence. "Another mutant?"

"Another reptile," Donnie stated matter-of-factly. "A lizard. A humanoid one, at that."

Leo bent down and gently wrapped his fingers around the mutant's left wrist. "She has a pulse," he announced. "She's alive." He withdrew his hand, then gently turned her softly diamond-shaped head to the side to reveal a nasty bruise forming on the right side of her cranium.

"I don't care what she is. I want to know who sent her," Raph growled.

Donnie hummed in thought. "If she had meant to come down here, I don't think she would have that," said as he pointed to the bruise.

"Maybe she's just clumsy?" April offered, her eyes lingering curiously on the sheathed ninjaken.

"Great! Now we have two Mikeys," Raph sarcastically groaned.

"Hey!" The orange-clad turtle protested.

"Raph, we don't know for sure that she's a bad guy," Leo touted as he stood back up. "She probably just got lost or something."

Raph folded his arms, unconvinced. "Then what do we do with her?" He asked.

"We should bring her back to the Lair," Splinter decided, looking concerned despite his calm voice. "At the very least, we give her a place to stay until she heals."

"Wait a minute, is that the best idea?" Donnie asked sensibly. "What if Raph's right and she's here because of Shredder? We can never be too careful."

Splinter pondered this for a moment. "And what if she is just another one of us?" He countered, his tone unaccusatory. 

The genius brother hesitated; it was in his sensei's nature to give someone the benefit of the doubt... but then Donnie nodded as he understood Splinter's point of view.

"Can you nurse her to consciousness, Donatello?" The rat master asked his son.

"Sure. It's just a bruise; it'll heal itself over time. Let's get her up." Donnie started forward, but Splinter held out a hand. 

"I will take the mutant – as you said, she may be dangerous. Raphael, can you close the entrance?" Splinter asked. 

Raph nodded and climbed up the ladder rungs, grabbing the manhole cover and sliding it back into its comfortable depression so it completely covered the hole.

Darkness rushed into the sewers once more, the change making April blink and lean onto Donnie to stabilise herself.

Raph jumped off the ladder and hit the ground as Splinter delicately took the lizard mutant into his arms, supporting her back by bridal-carrying her. The family started back towards the lair, Splinter guiding the way this time.

"Are your eyes better now, April?" Donnie asked, leading the girl by her hand.

"Yeah," the redhead said, not unkindly, and Donnie let go of her hand. April smiled at her friend. "Thanks D," she said.

Leo kept close to his sensei as the others followed, having fallen silent now. He wondered when the new mutant would wake up – but of course, his mind was brimming with more questions than that, each one bouncing in his head: what if she was sent here? By who? Can she be trusted? Where did she come from? What's her story? 

Suddenly, the new mutant's eyelids opened.

Splinter gasped in surprise.

The mutant looked around, confused, her reptilian eyes slit for the lack of light. She felt far too tired and dreary to attempt moving her limbs – staying awake alone was enough to sap the sleep-accumulated energy out of her.
The lizard looked to the rat mutant carrying her, then anchored her sight on Leo. 

"What... what are you?"

Before anybody could reply, her eyes closed again.

〈⇥⇤∆⇥⇤〉

〈—⇥ALAINA'S POINT OF VIEW ⇤—〉

I was drifting in blackness. Inky darkness, as far as I was aware of. 

I tried to move, but I couldn't.
Little by little, I built up the strength. 

With excruciating slowness, I wrenched my eyes open.

I found myself staring at a dark ceiling made of rock. I realised I was lying down on a small, battered mattress. A strange smell clouded my nose. I gagged, sitting up and feeling the springs boing as I shifted my weight.

I was in a spacious room. The mattress was tucked in the corner of the room, a few paces away from a large desk. Behind the desk were three stacked shelves that held a myriad of strange things: dismembered mechanical faces, samples of dirt, utensils I didn't recognise. On the desk were vials and jugs, each filled with multicoloured chemicals. The largest jar held a batch of green liquid, which almost appeared to be glowing. 

I swung my feet to the side of the mattress, experimentally standing up. I teetered for a bit, but regained my balance. I spaced my legs out to keep myself steady.

I heard movement, and my hands instinctively went to the sheaths behind my back. I gasped as my fingers closed around air. My ninjaken were gone!

Another mutant who had light green scales walked into the lab through the door opposing the mattress. He was holding a cloth, and a purple bandana wrapped around his eyes. A hard shell protruded from his back. He wore bands like armour that were similar to mine, and strapped to his shell was a six-foot wooden staff.

"Oh! You're up," he said, walking over to me. He wiped his hands on the cloth and tossed it onto the desk.

"Hello?" I asked, my tone making it a question. He looked like he could definitely hold his own in a fight, but he wasn't appearing hostile.

A burst of pain pulsed from my head, and I exhaled sharply, my hand flying to where the pain began. I brushed against a bruise and groaned. The room began to spin. I fell back onto the mattress.

"Woah, it's alright," the mutant said carefully, placing his arms on my shoulders to steady me. "Take it easy. You fell down the manhole and banged your head pretty hard. You've been out for an hour at most. I gave you something to dull the pain," he explained, and I spotted a gap in his upper teeth where a tooth was missing.

"Thanks?" I replied, confused. I took my hand away when the pain stopped. 
And then I could focus again on the main problem: there are other mutants.

"You're a mutant," I said.

The turtle nodded. "Yep."

I blinked, bewildered. "There are more of you."

He nodded again. "Yep!"

 "Where are my ninjaken?" I asked, deciding that there would probably be time to lock down this info later; right now, I needed to locate my weapons. 

"My brother has them," the mutant explained. "He trains with the same weapon, so they're in safe hands. I hope you understand it's just a precaution." He shrugged slightly, then smiled. "I'm Donatello, by the way, or just Donnie," he – Donnie – told me. The turtle looked a bit cautious, but like he was trying to be friendly at the same time.

"Thank you, Donnie," I replied. "I'm, uh..."

Donnie's expression became concerned again. "You don't have amnesia, do you?"

I shook my head. "No, don't worry. I'm Alaina."

Donnie smiled. "It's excellent to meet you, Alaina!" He said. "Oh, do you have a headache?"

I shook my head. 

Donnie twisted his mouth to the side. "Hmm. You should get some more rest."

I shook my head again, more adamantly this time. "No, I want to..." I blinked as I remembered something. "The others. I want to meet the others."

Donnie looked briefly conflicted, then sighed. "As long as you're not feeling unwell, I suppose we could get you up and walking." He nodded. "Follow me. I'll tell the others that you've woken up, then you can tell us your story."

I hesitated, weighing my options. I had asked for this, but it never hurt to be on your guard.

"You can trust us," Donnie said, understanding my hesitation. "We aren't going to hurt you. Nobody is. We just want to help you." His red eyes looked pleading, genuine. 

I exhaled. "Alright, thank you. Lead the way."

We both walked out from the lab into what was probably the main room. There was a tire above a pool on one side, a couch in front of a TV in the front centre, and a kitchen off to the right. From the left to the room we had walked out of was rested a pinball machine and a training dummy covered in black cloth, which looking like it had been abused and assaulted several times over. Further beyond the TV was a room lined with white rice paper, the walls decorated with red illustrations lit aglow by orange light coming from inside the room.

"Master Splinter, guys! She's awake!" Donnie called, after leaning away from me. The door leading to the rice paper room opened, and a tall rat walked out of it. He was wearing a maroon robe, and I could see his eyes were kind.

From further up the hall, three more green mutants like Donnie came to the main room. After a few seconds, a human girl followed them.

I inhaled. More mutants.

The shortest turtle mutant, who barrelled out of the hallway and skidded to a stop in front of us, had dark freckles on his cheeks and was wearing an orange bandana. He had baby blue eyes, which were shining with excitement. "You're awake! I'm –"
"Ahem," the second mutant came up behind the mutant and elbowed him, frowning. This one wore a red bandana and had a lightning-shaped crack on the tip of his plastron. The expression he wore was a little annoyed, probably due to the other mutant's enthusiasm.

"Take it easy, Raph," a new voice commented, unwavering. I saw the mutant whom I had met eyes with before blacking out for a second time. He walked over and stood next to the one wearing a red bandana. This one was taller than the other two, but still a little shorter than Donnie. His eyes were a striking sapphire blue, and he was wearing an equally blue bandana. He was carrying my ninjaken, and I felt relief when I saw them – and when I realised Donnie had been telling the truth. This mutant had his own ninjaken sheathed on his back. He looked curious and calm.

The green mutants were all wearing bands like mine. I noticed two had weapons placed on their backs and two on their hips, Donnie fitting into the latter category – obviously, since he wielded a staff.

The last to come was the human girl. She had red hair tied back, and wore a yellow shirt, denim shorts and black leggings. 

The rat mutant stepped forward. 

"Do not be afraid of me, child. I am Master Splinter, and these are my sons. You might already know Donatello; he is the brains of the family. Raphael is the brawn," the rat mutant smiled, gesturing to the turtle wearing the red bandana. 

"This is Michelangelo, the creative one. He is the youngest," Splinter pointed to the turtle with the orange bandana, who smiled warmly and waved to me. 

"This is Leonardo, the eldest and leader of his brothers," Splinter pointed to the turtle in the blue bandana.

Leonardo strode forward and held out my ninjaken. To my surprise, it looked like they had been sharpened. I tried to stop my eyebrows going up.
"I hope you don't mind that I took care of them, miss," he smiled as I took them from him, sheathing them in my holsters. 

"Thank you for keeping them looked after," I nodded to him, allowing a small smile to overtake my features.

The girl strode forward. "Hey, I'm April," she smiled at me. "The guys saved me on their first night out, and we're trying to get my dad back – it's a long story," she rambled, then smiled nervously. "I'll explain it to you later, if you'd like?"

I nodded at her, returning the smile.

"Child, would you like to tell us your story? I can make some tea for you," Splinter asked in a kind voice.

"Oh, tea – uh, won't be necessary, but thank you anyway," I hurriedly answered.

"Let's sit down," Splinter suggested, and lead the way to a table near the kitchen.

"I'm Alaina," I started once everyone had sat down, Splinter taking the head of the table.
"I used to be a pet lizard to a girl called Kara. Her parents found out about me and she had to release me back into the wild. My first step, though, was into some mutagen, which turned me like this, since Kara was the last living thing I came in contact with." I gestured to my humanoid body. 
"I ran into the forest and was found by a bear mutant, Sachari Yinto. He took me in, caring for me and training me to protect myself with ninjitsu before he died."
I paused to take a breath, smiling at the memory of my old mentor. 

"Woah," Michelangelo said. 

I nodded. "Indeed. He trained me for about fifteen years, and I'm pretty sure that's how old I am. I was exploring the city, maybe trying to look for a place to live, before I fell down the manhole. I always have leapt headfirst into things." 

I winced, remembering the pain I felt when my head made contact with the ladder. "I think this time I took that a little too literally, though."

Splinter stroked his goatee, his eyes closed. After a moment, he said, "I must go meditate." He got up from the table. "You said you were seeking sanctuary. You are welcome to live with us if you want, Alaina."

"Really? You wouldn't mind?" I asked, hopeful.

"Of course not. You are a mutant. You are one of us, child." Splinter gave me a genuine smile.

This time I didn't bother trying to hide my joy. Splinter chuckled before heading off to the thick-lined room, leaving us to ourselves.

We got up from the table and moved to the couch and TV, which rested in a dip in front of the couch. Two beanbags lay in front of the TV.

"So... d'ya like Space Heroes?" Leonardo asked, breaking the awkward silence.

I struggled for an answer. "Um... I've never heard of that. Or anything you probably have here."

Leonardo shrugged. "It's a TV show. Don't worry, you'll see it soon enough."

I took a seat on the couch, keeping to the corner to take up as little space as possible.
Michelangelo sat next to me, oblivious to my slight discomfort. "Have you tried pizza?"

I shook my head, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion.

The orange-clad turtle's gasp was loud enough to shatter the universe.

"NO PIZZA?!" He yelled disbelievingly (and a little melodramatically), and immediately turned around to face Donnie. "D, can you ask Antonio's to deliver? Pleaaasseeee?"

Donnie sighed. "Alright, Michael. I'll get us the usual." He took a few steps back and produced a phone-looking contraption from his belt, dialling a number.

"YAAYY!" Michelangelo did an air-punch, whooping.

"You're not going to scoff it all this time, Mikey!" Raphael growled, glowering at his brother as he took the opposite side of the couch. Michelangelo stuck his tongue out at the red-clad turtle.

"Hey, there's going to be a Space Heroes binge tonight, if you wanna join us," Leonardo offered, leaning against the couch's arm next to me. "We can eat the pizza while watching it? What do you say?" 

I nodded, smiling at him. "That sounds wonderful."

"WOOHOO!" Michelangelo high-fived April, who was hovering behind him.

"So, uh... what do I call you guys? Am I allowed to use nicknames?" I asked.

"Of course!" Leonardo smiled. "Or, at least you have my permission. Call me Leo."

"You can call me Mikey, Mikester, Mickie-D..." Mikey interrupted, rolling around upside down on the couch.

I giggled. "I think I'll stick with Mikey, thanks."

"You bet, dudette!" Mikey did a flip off the couch's top and landed in a crouch before awkwardly stumbling over. He laughed sheepishly before resuming his spot next to me.

"Yeah, I'll hold," I heard Donnie say. "You can call me Donnie or D, whichever suits you," he called to me.

"You can call that guy Raph, and you can call me April," April said, flopping down on the couch to Raphael's left yet leaving space between her and the red-clad turtle.

"Hey, does Raphael want to be called Raph by the mysterious new mutant?" Raphael asked. Man, this guy was making it clear he didn't like me all that well.

"Come on Raph, be nice," Leo leaned past Mikey and April and playfully punched his brother on the shoulder, making Raphael roll his eyes. 

Leo gave me an apologetic shrug, and I looked away.

Donnie hung up on Antonio's, taking the spot next to Raphael and April. Wow, this couch is long. 

Mikey ushered me his way, and I got the gist. I moved up and curled my tail around myself, letting Leo sit down at the end of the couch. 

"Thank you guys, you really don't have to do all this," I said, a bit embarrassed.

"Don't mention it! Trust me, we're happy to help you," Leo insisted. 

April passed Raphael the remote he switched on the TV. He cycled a few channels until he settled on the one he wanted. There were a few advertisements for food and household products such as vacuum cleaners, bleach, something called Durex, and a hardware store named Home Depot.

After a while of staring at the adverts, Leo hesitated, then turned to me, his blue bandana tails settling in the curve of his neck. "Hey, um, do you want a nickname too?"

"Okay," I agreed. "How about Ally?"

"Great," he grinned. I smiled back at him, feeling as though my face was going to crack for how much I had been smiling. It's been a while since I had felt this happy.

Before long, Donnie's phone started buzzing from the pouch on his hip. He excused himself from the couch and wandered to the entrance of the Lair.

A little while later, Donnie's yell of "PIZZA TIME!" echoed throughout the Lair, catching me off guard. Leo saw me spook and we shared a laugh before all of us ran up to the turtle, helping him with the boxes.

I grabbed my share of the thin white boxes, and eventually the pile that Donnie had hidden behind deteriorated until he was visible again. 

I inspected the boxes. They were decorated with red-lined drawings of a man twirling his moustache. The word "ANTONIO'S" was arched above him, and the word "PIZZA" arched on the bottom of the box. 

April took four boxes for herself and left four in the fridge for Splinter. Dang, this family sure did have an appetite; four for everyone! 

"How did you pay for these?" I asked Donnie when we all retook our seats. I propped the boxes on my lap, comforted by the warmth and more than intrigued by smell radiating from them.

He shrugged. "It's surprising how careless humans are with their money, given how much they chase it. Mikey finds a hundred and sixty seven dollars on average every day."

I raised my eyebrows. That was unexpected. One of the reasons Jack and Laura didn't want Kira to have any pets, apart from the fact that Laura was allergic, was the concern of money. You would've thought most humans had that same concern. 

The advertisements stopped after two more minutes, and a show came on. It called itself Space Heroes. Leo, Mikey and April cheered, making me smile.
Space Heroes looked like an adventure-style cartoon, all done in drawings and topped with cheesy animation and effects. 

I loved it already.

I opened the first one of my boxes, and inside sat a circular piece of food, cut into thick slices. There was crust on the outside of each rim, and the inside was decorated with a dried red liquid that I hoped was tomato sauce, sprinkled with meat circles.

Cautiously, I picked out a slice and bit into the small end. Flavour like nothing I had ever tasted before exploded in my mouth. It tasted beautiful.
A small sensation tingled in my mouth, kind of tangy. I guess those meat circles are spicy, but I don't care. The cheese, the tomato, the crust... it was all such a perfect blend.

I quickly gobbled down the next slices, until the whole first box was gone.

Leo chuckled at my enthusiasm, and I noticed the sound made Raphael glance at us from the opposite end of the couch.

"So, I take it you like pizza?" He asked.

I nodded. "Thank you all, for everything," I smiled at my friends, even Raphael.

I turned back to the TV, and I spent the rest of the night laughing and joking around with my new family.