Song: Get Out Alive - Three Days Grace

The fighting stops.

A huge figure stands before me. He has a long, skinny beard and a robe. A sash is wrapped around his waist. His toes peek out from under his clothes, sporting sharp claws. They are definitely rat feet. He's a rat. A huge rat. And if that doesn't make it weird enough, he can also speak English.

"What is going on here?" The oversized rodent asks in a deep voice that vibrates the room once again.

"Master Splinter!" Leonardo exclaims as he stands up and clumsily bows in greeting. "W-we were just... Uh... We..."

"We saved a girl from the Kraang!" Michelangelo breaks in excitedly.

"I see this," the rat named Master Splinter speaks lowly. "You all have risked your lives by bringing her to our secret lair. If the Kraang had her, they must have had a reason for it. I expect you know what that reason is to have made such a fatal decision like this?" His gaze picks on each of the turtles. His chill nature is almost bothersome.

"No, Sensei," Donatello steps in, appearing taken aback. "She was passed out when we found her, and she doesn't remember anything that happened."

The rat mutant narrows his eyes, scrutinizing Leonardo and ignoring the fact that Donatello was the one to speak. "You do not know what has happened to her, yet you brought her to our secret lair?" He suddenly sounds angry. "Have you forgotten what I have told you repeatedly? You are not to bring unexplainable strangers home!"

Leonardo ducks his head apologetically. His cyan eyes are full of guilt. "I know what you've told us, sensei, but we couldn't bring her to her own home," he replies cautiously. "She was out cold and wasn't able to tell us where to take her. We couldn't just leave her on the streets, either."

"And there might be something wrong with her!" Michelangelo pipes up. "And the Kraang might come after her. Or the Shredder, since he's in on it. Or maybe-"

Master Splinter's eyes flare with alarm. "The Shredder?" He's enraged, as if the name frightens him. "If the Shredder is searching for her, then you will lead him straight here!"

Michelangelo immediately seems panicked. "But sensei, she's sick as a dog! I think," he glances at me uncertainly. "I just know she can't remember anything that happened back there, so she must be in super big trouble!"

Master Splinter examines me with slits for eyes. I instantly feel self-conscious and take a few steps backward.

"Look, I don't wanna cause problems," I say as I fight against my uncomfortableness. "I'll just go and I'll forget I ever saw this place, ok? I swear." Are they going to kill me since I know where they live? I hope not.

"No!" Michelangelo protests and runs to my side. "You can't go! What if something bad happens to you, dudette? You don't even know what those alien brains did to you!"

I shy away from his closeness. I know I'm not dreaming by now, but I still don't like being too near to the creatures.

"For once, I agree with Mikey," Donatello jumps in. "If you were experimented on and the Shredder is involved, then this isn't a fluke. He will find you again and he will use you as a piece in the game he's planning. The best thing to do is to stay here until I can work out what's going on with you. Once I fix the problem, you're free to go."

I blink. Is he telling me that I have to stay in the sewers? With them? But I barely even know them! They could try and experiment on me as well, for all I know. A human species must be fascinating to them, after all.

My hands feel clammy and I take another step back. "I-I can't stay here. I have a family that'll be expecting me home, and I have school." My argument is pitiful, but I have to do something. I really don't want to hang around mutant turtles and a rat.

"You can't be around other people," Donatello points out in a matter-of-fact tone. "If you're contagious and it goes airborne, you could infect the whole city. Amnesia is a serious side-effect, which means that the cause is just as potentially dangerous."

"Wait," Raphael bursts in, his arms crossed but his expression slightly anxious. "Say she's infected with something and it's airborne right now. Doesn't that mean we're infected, too?"

Donatello apparently expected that, because he nods. "Hypothetically, yes," he answers.

Raphael frowns. "Fantastic."

"But that's why I have to figure it out!" Donatello insists more desperately. He looks at the mutant rat, whom has fallen silent. "Sensei, if you don't let her stick around, then so many lives could be at stake. I know the Shredder is after her, but that's a risk we will have to take if it means helping the rest of the city."

Master Splinter has calmed down. His eyes are closed and he is stroking his beard, probably running through the possible outcomes in his mind. Finally, he makes a decision and looks at Leonardo.

"She must stay," he commands, and Michelangelo let out a squeak of approval. "Donatello, you must do everything within your power to understand what has happened to her. Only then may we all rest at ease knowing we are safe from harm."

Donatello dips his head obediently. "Hai, sensei," he complies. "I will start my research on it first thing tomorrow morning."

"Good." Master Splinter turns his gaze on me. I can literally see the wisdom swimming in the depths of his brown eyes. Instinctively, I feel respect for him. He is not someone to be reckoned with.

"I am Hamato Yoshi," he greets me as he takes a bow, though I feel the mistrust in his manner. "But you may call me Master Splinter."

Rather clumsily, I return the bow. "I'm Elizabetta," I respond in a shaky voice. Every inch of me feels threatened. I don't want to stay with them. I just want to go home.

"Hajimemashte," the rat replies. I don't understand.

"It means 'nice to meet you' in Japanese." I feel Michelangelo breathe against my ear. Maybe he isn't just a nutcase after all.

"Nice to meet you, too," I respond with a forced smile. I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna go home. I kept repeating that in my mind as if it will change something.

It doesn't.

Master Splinter smiles back at me, though it appears quite fake as well. Then he looks around at the rest of us. "You all have earned a rest. You may continue questioning her in the morning. Then she may be able to tell you more."

"Hai, sensei," the turtles say obediently as the rat disappears into another room.

Leonardo then turns to look at Michelangelo. "Take Elizabetta to the spare room. She can sleep on one of the mats in there. You're responsible for taking care of her until we figure out what's wrong with her."

'Taking care of her'? That phrase offends me a lot more than it should.

"You know, I may have a splitting headache, but I can still take care of myself," I speak up, trying to disguise my irritation, and failing. "Besides, I don't remember agreeing to stay here at all. You can't force me. I have rights."

Leonardo turns his dark blue gaze on me. "Are you really prepared to wander around alone, late at night, in New York City? Do you want to live with the burden of possibly releasing a plague into the whole country, which your family could catch just as easily as the next person?" When I don't say anything, he looks back at Michelangelo. "Right, that's it. Goodnight, team." He then fades in the same manner as Master Splinter.

Raphael vanishes without a word.

"Sleep well," Donatello says as he nods to me. Then he is gone, too. It's just Michelangelo and me left.

Michelangelo leads me to a dark room. He flips a switch and two large ceiling lanterns lit up. The light emitting from the lamps bounces off the walls, producing a golden effect. One wall is covered in a huge, beautiful painting of a bonsai tree. The rest of the walls are clothed in a brown and beige screen. The flooring is tatami mats.

"This is beautiful," I breathe. Talking at normal volume seems dangerous like it will ruin the peacefulness of the décor.

Michelangelo doesn't seem to think that, however, because he replies loudly, "I know right? This is my favorite room besides the kitchen. And the television room. And my room."

I take a few tentative steps forward. It's almost surreal to be in a room so gorgeous. "Who did all of this?" I ask softly.

"Master Splinter did a long time ago," Michelangelo explains. "It used to be his way of 'becoming one with the Japanese spirit,' or whatever. It looks like it was boring to me."

I felt a bit amused for the first time since I've regained consciousness. Michelangelo may be a turtle, but he sounds just like a teenage boy.

"You can sleep on this." The orange-clad turtle starts to unroll a mat that's leaned against the wall. "I'll bring you something for your head, hold on!" He vanishes and comes back almost instantly with a fluffy, white pillow in his hands. He sets it down at one end of the mat.

"Thank you, Mikey." It feels strange to call someone I just met by a nickname. But when his eyes light up as I say it, I jot down a mental note to always refer to it.

"I also brought some of my comics for you to read!" He drops five comic books onto the floor beside my pillow. "Just be careful with them; I like to keep them all in near-mint condition."

I smile a little. "Ok, Mikey, I'll take care of them. Thank you."

"My room is just down this hallway and to the right. Make sure you come and get me if you need anything! Or if there's some weird Kraang break-in. My brothers say I'm just paranoid, but you never know! It could happen one day."

I nod and try my best to keep a straight face. "Oh, yes, of course. You'll be the first one I go to."

Michelangelo gives me a large grin, says "Goodnight, Lizzy!" And then he leaves.

I lay my head down and snuggle into the mat as best as I can. It isn't the best place to sleep, but it's only temporary. As I fall asleep, I have one thought swirling through my mind:

I hope my family won't be too worried about me.