Leo couldn't understand any of it.

His mind kept retreating to the call from hours ago, that felt more like years ago. He could still hear the venom and mockery dripping from Andrew's tone, Rowan's shrieks and the usual insults she would spew with a poisonous passion. He remembered sobbing to himself in his eerily dark room, letting out his frustration and despair, and the door swinging open as his father rushed in and inquired what was going on. The outburst he managed to choke out, feeling like a heavy weight in his throat. That his beloved girlfriend had been kidnapped by the Foot Clan.

But his body was moving smoothly around, defeating Foot soldiers that attacked him and his brothers only some minutes ago. Fluid, trained hands swung his katanas around, feet landing kicks on the thin bodies of the black-suited soldiers. Not even a single grunt of effort came out from his lips, much more from his enemies. They just fell down easily on the concrete floor, some unconscious and others just tired from all that fighting.

"I could do this all night!" Raph exclaimed, beating up three Foot soldiers in less than one minute. Another one jumped behind him and the Meathead of the team made a sharp turn and beat him up at once. Well, not as somebody else he knew but...he managed to do it. His green eyes looked around, searching wildly for another soldier to fight and pass his time.

But there was no other in sight.

"Aw man." he slumped in disappointment, pouting like a petulant child. He wanted so much to fight again those soldiers, those easy targets that he can beat them even if his eyes are blindfolded. And he needed to explode all that anger he was trying to cool off all these hours. Especially ever since Leo announced that Rowan had been kidnapped by the Foot. He knew that he and Rowan never had the best connection as friends and adoptive brother to adoptive sister but, he couldn't let it pass away like nothing happened. His brother, the Fearless leader was in soul pain. His feelings were hurt badly. Although Raph understood that his older brother tried to hide it, for their sake, he didn't want him to be like that. He's their freakin' leader and leaders have to be strong under the worst circumstances. And now, Leo had to do it. Even if his girlfriend, the annoying and so stupid Rowan, now a hostage of their most hated enemy.

"Raph, if you keep breaking your toys, we're not gonna buy you new ones." Leo teased with a grin as he let a Foot soldier fell down. The red-masked turtle rolled his green eyes and walked to his brothers' side, looking more relaxed but the will of hitting more ninjas stuck in his mind. It burned in his chest like millions of fireballs creating inside his shell.

"Dude, it's like we just cleared a video game on "easy." Mikey eyed the unconscious soldiers, baby blues gleaming with joy. Man, he wished Rowan was there with them. She could've enjoyed this little fight with her heart and body. But no, she wasn't there. She was at Shredder's lair(possibly), bored and maybe tired. Mikey couldn't understand why the two vampires managed to take Rowan and not April. Maybe April was luckier than Rowan. Maybe April had the luck to fight with one but not with two like Rowan. But, he wasn't sure about it, yet. What he knew though was that he missed his adoptive sister. Rowan was the only female figure he ever saw and lived with him. That cared about him, his older brothers and sensei-father. Plus, she was funny, a bit harsh and bitter with him and his brothers sometimes but he knew that she wasn't a bad girl.

"Mikey, if Master Splinter has taught us anything, it's that real combat is not like a video game." Leo corrected, eyes stuck on the soldier he beat up a few minutes ago. His ears caught Donnie exclaiming a "Hey, coins!" but he disregarded it completely. Something else filled his curiosity and raised it up a higher level. "The Foot soldiers haven't been much of a challenge lately. Wonder why." he added, face morphing in question, wonder and some kind of sadness. Whenever he talked about Foot clan, his mind ran to Rowan. Then, his mind ran back to the good memories they had, even their small or big arguments. And, in the end, he scolded himself of letting her go up to the surface with April, since she was in danger and hunted from a bunch of enemies. Hers, his, their, whatever.

But, you can't always have what you want, can you?

He missed her though, he missed her so much.

"Well, maybe we're just that awesome." Raph cut his thoughts in half and he tried to give a sly grin to his brother. He had to do what he promised Splinter; be strong. Not only because he didn't want to give a bad example to his brothers but he knew that if Rowan was there she would have scolded him and called him "Oh, ya little baby!" right on his face. "That sounds right." he said by the time Donnie popped up next to him, a beaming and full of cockiness smile decorated perfectly his lips. "You know who I'd hate to be?" he asked, earning a blank look of Raph's and a mixed emotional face from Leo as Mikey was listening to music from his T-Phone, completely ignoring the trio.

"The guy who has to tell Shredder about this." Donnie replied to his question, hands showed the beaten up Foot soldiers. Leo and Raph smirked; both thought that Shredder would be mad and...beat up somebody.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Danny rolled his eyes.

As Shredder kicked Dogpound with fury, grunts coming out from both mouths.

"You promised me an army of the best, most lethal ninjas in the world! But the turtles have decimated them! The ones left are hardly worthy of wearing the emblem of the Foot!" Shredder barked at Bradford, anger instead of his usual venom filled his sentences, the words, his movements...Everything. Danny crossed his arms over his chest, a slight frown raddled on his face. It was funny for him to see his master being so angry at the fact that the turtles beat all his soldiers.

A silent scoff added to his boredom; none of these ninjas were the best to fight. None of them deserved to be lethal ninjas like Shredder wanted. Those were just toys to play with. He wondered why Shredder didn't use the ninjas he left to secure his other Dojo back in Japan. They were better than those, New Yorker ninjas like he liked to call them at moments.

Bradford lowered his head, crimson eyes looking the glass below him with fear. "I can find more soldiers." he begged, voice cracked under his fear and anxiety of what would his master do next. He was afraid, scared and in shock. He never saw his master acting like that, only for a bunch of soldiers. "Just give me time." he pleaded, praying inside him for Shredder to give him the time he needed. The time he needed to find some good soldiers.

Shredder, however, had another opinion.

"No more time!" he crowed, gauntlets slicing against the air, "I need more soldiers, I need better soldiers, and I need them now!"

Dogpound rolled away as Shredder's sharp knives stabbed on a glass with spider webs transferred all over. Danny's lips cracked a pout but he didn't dare to make any move. Or talk. He thought that their guest could do their work if she decided to...

Are you fucking serious Porter?! an angry voice shrieked inside his head, echo came to his ears, You'll sacrifice Rowan's safety just to do what Shredder wants to?! Where's all that care?! That love you have for her?! Whose the guy that brought her to her cell? Who's the guy who took care of her injuries even if she was unconscious? Who gave her that kiss on her sweet lips, promised to be back whenever he finds the chance? Isn't that you?

His head shook; red hair moved against the air; his heart regretted what he thought previously. Danny prayed for one of his hands to slap him across his face, hard. How could he think those things? He never wanted to harm Rowan. Not in the way Shredder wanted to. She had enough injuries, cuts, and bruises all over her pale, soft white skin. Enough bruises that will take time to heal. A bite on her neck that will remind her the way that vampire drank her blood hours ago. Danny loved this girl with his soul. She didn't deserve all of these. She didn't deserve all that pain, the lack of freedom, the lack of fresh air. None at all.

"But that's impossible!" Bradford protested and his dog ears lowered on his orange fur his head had as Shredder's traces thudded all over the throne room, his black and blind eyes narrowed at the mutant dog. Danny's brows linked, his forehead creased and unseen wrinkles of expectation encircled his eyes. Shredder stopped; his head snapped at the chained Kraang on his left. "Perhaps not. Perhaps there is a method for building an army of Foot soldiers powerful enough to destroy those turtles once and for all, a method we shall steal from the Kraang." he then said.

His guest just narrowed its golden eyes and wrinkled its nose.

______________________________________________________________________________

Just like they were used to, the night found the four turtle brothers standing on a roof opposite TCRI. Leo and Donnie were looking downwards for any Kraang activity while Mikey and Raph stood behind them, ignoring everything. Mikey was currently playing with a pink small ball, irritating Raph who just growled in frustration at his little brother, eyes closed like he could take a nap.

Truth was that the night didn't come out as he wanted to be. No Kraang to fight, no Foot Clan not even those stupid Purple Dragons were in sight. What happened tonight? Seemed like when Rowan kidnapped, everything put on a hold. Like pressing pause on a YouTube video or even when you're listening to music and somebody calls your name. Raph saw it like that right that moment.

Leo kept gazing down from the roof, however, not completely focusing on watching for any villain activity. He had some time to think over again about his sweet and beloved girlfriend. He tried to imagine her inside a cell, bored, angry...All those things someone like her could feel. His greatest wish was to talk to her once again, listen to her sweet voice again. Maybe he could use Splinter's help. He sometime showed him a way to connect with people away from him through medication. Maybe he could do that and see where Rowan was. For now...he had to tell his brothers that patrol was over for that night.

He stood up and looked behind him, to Raph and Mikey, then to Donnie, announcing, "All right, guys. Let's pack it in. Nothing's happening." He managed to do a fake pout as Raphael opened his eyes and stood up. "I was afraid this day would come;" he commented, "We've run out of butts to kick." With a kick of his leg, Mikey's pink ball had been sent flying across the roof and then down to the street, earning a "Hey!" from his baby brother. He was clearly disappointed by that. Where would he take out all that anger he had? On the dummy back at the lair? Boring. How about training? Nah, this is what Leo does whenever he's angry. Last chance; Mikey. The orange cladded turtle is the perfect toy to play with whenever he's mad. Plus, Raph thought that the bond he and Mikey had as brothers mustn't break. Instead, fulfill it with more happiness, punches and running. Yeah, that'll be good. For him.

Donnie rolled his eyes and Leo glanced for one last time downwards, spotting a movement across the road to TCRI. "Wait. Maybe not." he said and kneed down to the edge, eyes stuck on the skyscraper. His brothers encircled him, different shape of heads flitted down them, eyes with different colors shot their gazes at a fat black-suited figure that reminded strongly...

"Foot clan!" Mikey exclaimed.

Raph's left eye ridge raised upwards as his electric green eyes still looked at the fat Foot ninja scanning the empty area around him. "I don't get it. Just one guy?" he questioned, clearly not getting what happened with this clan lately. Their soldiers were easy, none of them showed up whenever they wanted them to and now...this guy? Well, wow.

Mikey snapped his head at his brothers, eyes taking an evil shine, almost deadly. "Maybe they only need one guy. Maybe this guy is the meanest, baddest, most deadly ninja we've ever seen." he said in a theatrical way, hands following the voice's lead.

The poor ninja tried to jump on an air vent which was higher than him, as he was sort, but he ended up on the concrete floor with a grunt. Donnie grinned, a roll of his red-brown eyes skywards followed up next. "Or not." he sarcastically replied to what Mikey said some minutes ago with Leo smirked smugly in reply. That guy was so dumb. He didn't even deserve to fight with them. How hilarious.

The Foot ninja managed after centuries for the turtles to punch open the vent and jump in... only not fitting in the hatch. Mikey smiled in adore for that guy as he found it cute seeing him struggling to get in. "Anybody else find this dude kind of adorable?" he asked his brothers, awaiting an answer from Rowan... Oh, yeah, he forgot that she wasn't with them. Dude, why you're doin' this to yourself? Your sis is in the Foot Clan for who knows how much time. Gotta get used to that for a while. he scolded himself and a saddened smile cracked up to his lip line.

"Well, he's not much, but he's all we've got. Let's go." Leo ordered, clearly not happy for seeing the soldier. Why the hell couldn't they stop spaying the city? He was tired and all he needed was to turn back to the lair, ask Splinter what he wanted and sleep. He hoped this fight to end quickly.

The four turtle brothers jumped down to the alley and prepared themselves to run towards the Foot soldier but more surrounded them. "Ambush!" Leo ordered and the turtles drawn out their weapons, Raph exclaiming "All right!". Then, they busted into a fight, where they beat up the Foot soldiers with ease and fast. One of them motioned them to retreat and all of them jumped on fire escapes and lost in the shadows of the city and roofs.

The fat ninja jumped down to the road, feet marching towards the alley the fight took place. "Everything okay?" he asked, voice being huffed inside his black mask, "I heard-Whoa!" Donnie's bō stick threw down the ninja, the edge had been pointed towards his masked face. The ninja raised both hands in the air, yelling, "Wait, Donnie, it's me!" Donnie shot a none existed eyebrow upwards, like this would switch his serious expression. A confused "What?" came out from his mouth as he titled closer to the ninja. His brothers behind him shared a look full of confusion as they never heard a Foot soldier talking and saying their nicknames, as much this voice reminded them somebody. But who?

Doonie's widened to saucers when he saw...

"The Pulverizer?"

The young boy was still wearing his turtle suit with the red mask almost similar to Raph's and he was shrugging to the four turtles. Mikey titled his head on his left as he tried to remember where else he saw that costume. In a comic of his? On TV? Somewhere. That costume reminded a kids show, a comic he didn't know. Ninja...Turtles or something. His eye ridges uplifted as his lips cracked a slight pout. Never mind, he could always search it on the internet.

"Hey, guys! How awesome is this?" the Pulverizer asked, one of his hands raised high for a high-five and the turtles looked at him grumpily, clearly not believing that he was the guy they wanted to fight. "Bet you guys were wondering when you'd see me again." Pulverizer continued with the turtles rolling their eyes, same thought glued inside their minds; None at all kid.

"No." came a reply from Raph whose eyes hooked on a rubbish bin, totally irritated for seeing that dumbass. Wait what? Dumbass? Oh great. He's becoming a clone of Rowan in a male version. Just great.

Pulverizer moved to his side, hand touching his shoulder and a finger pointed at his face which had made a sharp turn to him, green eyes set on fire. "Raphael, still the jokester, I see. Good one." he then commented before Raph cracked his hand, teeth grinded. Pulverizer stepped away, hand rubbing the hurt one, mind impressed with the strength that turtle had. Well, he will gain that strength as soon as his training kept going well. Speaking of ninja things... "Hey, what do you guys think of my new threads? I'm a ninja now!" he exclaimed, taking a heroic position his face brightened up.

But he gained another confused look of the turtles.

"How in...what are you doing with the Foot?" Donnie demanded, mask wiggled with the move of his hand. "Well, last time, you told me I needed to practice. So I joined a Bradford dojo to hone my craft. I wowed 'em with my smooth moves. And boom! They liked me so much, they asked me if I wanted to join the Foot clan!" Pulverizer replied with the turtles looking at him with disbelief. "Wow, they must really be hurting for dudes." Mikey commented silently as Pulverizer's eyes looked around the turtles, clearly searching for something...Someone. "So...um...do you guys know where Rowan is? She's not with you tonight?" he asked hope and adore for the girl-idol of his, glint on his black eyes.

The turtles remained silent.

None of them wanted to talk about that. Especially Leo. But...didn't he know that already? This kid was in the Foot and as a member, Shredder should have announced that not only him but to the whole clan. Right? Donnie crossed his arms and shook his head. "She wasn't feeling well. And she's not our priority that moment." he lied as Pulverizer seemed to forget about that fast.

"I've only been with 'em a few days, and I've already made the rank of ashigaru-sha..."

________________________________________________________________________________

Tania pulled the curtains aside, coal black eyes gazing at the night sky, rich in navy blues and fading purples. Despair lingered in her dark eyes, and why? Why did she have to spend her days alone and confined to her grief? Rowan, her only friend in so many years, had been kidnapped by the Foot, by the Shredder. And April just came out alive. The redhead didn't give much attention to any of this. What kind of friend was she anyway?

She sighed: Screw her, her mind said, she's so selfish. You don't have to think over that redhead because she's doing what she's doing. Tania moved back to her queen-sized bed her mother bought her months ago because her old one broke. White blankets shifted under her as her ass sat on them and her hands curled around them. She felt the texture of a small slip of paper. Confused, the ghost girl brought it up to her eyes, reading Rowan's calligraphic writing:

If I'm in trouble, please call this number and tell her what happened.

Below the note, a phone number was written along with a name: Jewel King. Tania searched for that name on the internet as it reminded her somebody. The research didn't take much time as she discovered that this friend of Rowan's was no other than the famous teen model and former gymnast Julia Annabel King. Her brows knitted together; none of that would make any sense. Jewel King had died years ago in a mysterious murder people still wondered about from time to time. And most importantly, how did Rowan know this girl?

Tania knew that she was a dancer but how the hell she met Jewel King? From what she read from online articles, from the days she was still alive, this girl never went to things like that. Like she said to a famous teen magazine, six weeks before her death, Teen Vogue, she was never into them. Nor did she like them. They were boring. So...how did those two meet? Maybe Rowan was hiding something. Something that involved both her and Jewel. A dead girl that was apparently alive.

And she had to find out.

For now, though, she had to call Jewel and announce the bad news.

Snatching her phone from one of her nightstands, Tania dialed the phone number she read on the paper, eyes jumping from the light screen to paper every two seconds until she copied it correctly. She pressed the bright green phone icon and awaited for Jewel to answer.

Ring...

Ring...

Ring...

Ring...?

"What?!" the voice behind the line was certainly angry. Furious even. But definitely a girl beneath the rage that could rival a certain red-masked turtle's.

Tania's eyes widened as she almost flinched at the venomous tone. But she mustered the strength and bravery she had left and swallowed down her saliva. "Are you Jewel King?" she asked, surprised her shock ebbed out of her voice, breaking out of its own stupor.

"Apparently so. Since you called this damn number."Jewel shot back, gravel filling her voice, strongly reminding Tania of a deceased R&B singer. Ani? Aly? Aaliyah? No idea.

"Well, sorry to bother you but I've got to tell you something. About Rowan." Tania replied and the other line remained silent for a couple of minutes; minutes that Tania took advantage of to relax her tensed muscles. "Shoot. What happened to Rowan this time?" Jewel questioned, bitterness no longer laced in her words. Tania exhaled a trembling breath, free hand curling into a tight fist and nails digging into her flesh. "She's been kidnapped." she then replied as she heard Jewel cursing silently on the other line. "You sure? 'Cause if she's playing games with my mind-"

"Sorry dudette. It's true." came a calmed down reply from Tania.

"Oh great. More problems for me. Lemme guess, Shredder? Is that the unlucky bastard who kidnapped her?"

Her brows shot up, almost disappearing into her hairline. "How do you-" she tried to say but a scoff of Jewel's cut her phrase in half. "I know more than you think. I don't do the whole thank you shit...so bye." And with that, their conversation ended with Tania staring at her phone, bemused as ever. How much did this girl knew? How did she know about Shredder? No resident knew about him and she...she talked about him like he was an old friend of hers. Or enemy, she didn't know.

Her back fell on the mattress where another sigh escaped her pink lips and her eyes shot up to the white roof above her. There were many things that she didn't know, that's for sure. Things that she discovers as time passes. There was no explanation to what she heard from Jewel though. If that model knew things about Rowan, why shouldn't she tell her right away? How many secrets does Rowan keep? Secrets that none of the turtles knew, not even her, April or Splinter. That was messed up. She needed Rowan herself to solve her problems after she solves hers. This is so fucking confusing.

"Tany? Tania?"

Her head snapped at her door, to her mother whose brown eyes were looking at her with worry. "Hey, Mom." Tania called and sat up on her bed. Her mother, a 39-year-old woman with dark blond hair and brown eyes, always reminding her of Kiera Knightley sat next to her, a hand patted her daughter's black curly head. "Are you okay baby?" she asked, a smile of comfort sliding up to her lips. Tania eyed her; she sized the options to tell her the truth or lie for one more time. She still hadn't told her mother the fact that her friend's, and boy she likes are mutants, not even their adventures or what happened behind her back. Not even close.

Of course she trusted her mother, the woman who gave birth to her and protected her. Of course she loved her and she wanted her to be safe, happy again but... Tania couldn't expose her deepest secrets. She didn't know why her mind didn't allow her to tell her the truth. Lying to her beloved mother was her only choice, solution, call it whatever you want. Something screamed that she had to keep her in the shadows. Something deep, like an instinct.

"Baby? What's wrong?" her mother landed her back on Earth. Tania blinked twice, her mouth slightly open. "I'm okay mom. Just..."

"Just...?" came a worried question from Mrs. Mansterfield.

Tania gulped and her fists tightened against her white blankets. Her eyes didn't stop staring the woman opposite her so as her heart, racing into her chest, the dump-da-dump echoed in her ears clearly. "It's just a friend of mine, a classmate from the Literature class. She broke her leg and she's at the hospital." she lied; her mother's face features finally relaxed. "If that's so, alright. It is okay to be concerned about her. Just don't lock up in your room again, okay?" she said, worry shone again on her brown orbs before her red lips filled with a smile. "Come here you..." she said and dragged Tania into a hug. The ghost girl hugged her mother back, eyelids shut and her lips offered a smile. "I love you so much, TanyTania." she whispered.

I do too mommy. Soon, everything will be alright.

________________________________________________________________________________

Splinter crossed his arms over his chest covered by his red-brown kimono. His eyes were shining with anger and decision while his sons stood opposite him quietly. He was angry with his sons' latest activity, angry with what happened to Rowan yesterday. He wanted to show his four beloved children a lesson that he hoped it will help them to fight better against the enemy. What happened to Rowan mustn't happen again.

"You four have defeated much of the Foot clan with ease." he said while Raph whispered to Leo, "Why does he make that sound like a bad thing?" with Leo morphing slightly in confusion. Splinter's eyes narrowed in angry slits and his body drew a closer distance with Raphael. "Because you have grown complacent!" he started to step up and down, his clawed hands folded on his back, eyeing each of his turtle sons with the same, angered look, "Each of you has become dependent on your own weapon. But there are times when you may not be able to fight with what you know. And when that happens, you must adapt to your environment."

He faced his sons, his features softened a bit. As much he wanted to be that caring and overprotective father he always is to his children, so much the need to transfer a lesson to them was important for him as a sensei and instructor to them.

Mikey uplifted an eyebrow, his hands snatched a comic book he had secured on his belt. "Oh, yeah? What if there's only, say, a comic book?" he asked and showed the comic. Splinter's punched he and the comic down, a groan of pain came from Mikey as a form of reply. Splinter smirked slightly; "Anything can be a weapon." he replied.

Raph rolled his green eyes as a green hand of his lifted up to his shoulder and his forehead creased. "Sensei, you can't seriously send us out there armed with nothing but a comic book." he probed, arm touching his other and crossed over his shell. Why did Splinter lecture them? For nothing? Raph already knew that he and his brothers had beat Foot soldiers with ease just because they are awesome. This lecture, lesson or whatever Splinter considered meant nothing for him, let alone the fact that he was bored. He wanted to finish with earlier and head back to his room and Spike, his beloved pet turtle. He wanted to talk to him, express all his feelings, emotions he forced down all night long. And he wanted that now.

"For a ninja, anything can be a weapon." came from Splinter with all wise and striction reply

Leo's masked face from a totally serious and obedient expression, switched into a confounded one, eyes hovering to the mats under his legs and to his sensei. "So what do you want us to do?" he asked while he tried to keep his seriousness on his face. After all, what kind of leader we were? Giving the example to his followers (his brothers and Rowan) and they must do it the best they can, right? Even though he didn't understand what Splinter meant, he had to follow his orders. That's what a good student, like him, does.

"I want you to embrace the unfamiliar. Switch weapons!" Splinter ordered and the four brothers shared a look of confusion, surprise, and happiness by Mikey. Each brother had mixed emotions about Splinter's decision. Each of them couldn't speak, even when they actually changed weapons with each other.

Leo took Donnie's bō staff, his eyes stuck on the big wooden stuff with some kind of impress and curiosity of how he would handle it. If he asked Splinter, he would probably tell him to learn it by himself. He eyed Donnie, who took Raph's sais and tried to hold them the way his older brother did. Maybe Donnie could help. After he gets used to his new weapon.

Mikey looked at Leo's katanas with impress and happiness for the fact that he thought he would take his older brother's role as a leader. He then raised them up and eyed his brothers with a jeering smirk looming up to his lips. With a "Look, I'm Leo!" he tried to make one of Leonardo's usual poses and mimicked his voice. "Guys, shh. We have to be quiet. Ninjas are quiet. Quiet down." Raph and Donnie cackled wickedly while Leo, the one in who everybody laughed to, made a childish pout and held Donnie's staff tight. "I sound nothing like that!" he anticipated. Raph jeered him and everybody else laughed out loud.

Donnie eyed his frustrated older brother and leader with gusto while he kept holding Raph's twin sais. He tried to remember how its older owner held it and fought with it, mind running recalling previous fights and spars. It wasn't hard for him to remember, nor to adopt that way. The difficulty was in handling it right without him getting hurt in the end. Good thing that April didn't watch them that day. She would probably laugh with him and he couldn't know what to do. This girl just made him feel awkward about everything. He just wished for a better future for them. And be together.

"Face each other!"

The turtles prepared to spat, each other feeling awkward with their new weapons. Raph looked at the pair of nunchucks and he somehow imagined them as his sais while Leo opposite him held the bō staff the way he used to hold his katanas. Although Donnie knew how to hold the pair of sais, his hands couldn't obey his mind and connected the twin sharp weapons like they were his staff. Mikey held the katanas up to his head, knives locked to each other. He was smiling; this smile managed to hide his anxiety. He couldn't understand why his sensei did this lesson. He was confused and a little bored. Leo's katanas were heavy on his hands but he didn't dare to drop them or complain. He didn't want to disappoint Splinter and he didn't like to do that kind of things. Since it was important for his sensei, Mikey hadn't any opinion about it.

"Hajime!"

Raph spun the nunchucks, feeling for a moment that he had the total control of them. Unfortunately, the two chucks hit his head hard and the red-claded turtle yelped in pain, falling on his knees from a bad headache. Leo tried to stack but the staff became an obstacle to his legs as his whole body fell on the mats with a thud. A yelp of Mikey's heard all over the Dojo as the katanas stabbed on the mats some inches close to his legs and head. Last but not least, Donnie tried to hold right the sais without thinking of his bō staff but he ended up hurting his chin.

"Yame!"

The boys eyed Splinter with fear and clearly disappointed that they didn't go well to their spat. "That was messed up." Mikey commented while his brothers stood up. Splinter was serious, and strict though something deep in his head told him to laugh and stop that lesson. "You will continue to fight this way. It will teach you resourcefulness and versatility." he ordered while Raph unchained himself. A beaming smile cracked up to Mikey's lips and he brought his face close to his older brother. "Not so easy, is it?" he jeered with Raph narrowing his eyes and taking one of the nunchucks. "Hey, I'm getting the hang of it!" he shot back with the chuck hitting the back of his neck.

"OW!"

Mikey laughed out loud as he stepped out of the Dojo.

Raph and Donnie followed him suit with both holding their weapons carefully. Leo remained behind, waiting patiently for his brothers to leave. When they did, Leo turned to his sensei and father figure who directed to his room, to the rice paper sliding door. He didn't size what he would tell to him.

He just wanted to tell it.

And make him believe in miracles.

Rowan.

"Sensei, can I please ask you something?"

He turned to him, a small smile cracked up to his lip line but always being calm. "Of course, Leonardo. What troubles you my son?" he asked and Leo walked a little further to him. "Sometime, you taught me how to connect with someone through medication."- he nodded and let his son continue- "But, I don't remember how. Can you please show me that again?"

Splinter nodded once again and walked to the tree with Leo following him suit. Both teacher and student kneed down to the mats, both father and son's hands placed on their legs like they always do when they medicate. "It is not difficult to connect with someone. It all requires concentration and search for the person you want to talk or see his or her actions." Splinter said, his eyelids closed and Leo arched an eyebrow, his eyes looking at his sensei with question. "But how?"

Splinter opened his eyes, red-brown orbs turned to look his son. Even if Leo didn't tell him the real reason why he wanted him to remind him that, the rat master guessed it in a flash after his pleading;

He wanted to talk with Rowan.

Splinter knew how much his son loved his adoptive daughter, he knew it ever since she accidentally came to their lair and slept on the couch. How much impressed Leo was with her character and way of talking. Being always feisty and aggressive a bit. His son told him that he liked so much this girl when he was a ten-year-old little turtle. When he turned thirteen, he expressed to his father that he was in love with Rowan. He remembered him blushing and bubbling when she kissed his cheek while hugging him tight the day she graduated with the kunoichi title and took her tanto.

"Master Splinter... is it usual to be in love with your best friend?"

Splinter shot a smile to Leonardo, his eyes shining with tease but happiness. How much that reminded him and Shen! Those two were good friends before they finally be a couple and then married. Now, he was seeing that to his son. He liked a girl, his best friend. That was a pleasure for him even if that gave a hint of nostalgia as he knew that his beloved children were growing up and soon... They won't need him to be their protector anymore.

"Of course it is my son."

"Sensei?"

He blinked; Leo tilted his head, eyeing him with expectation. "Excuse me Leonardo." he excused, "You have to concentrate deeply. Think that it is a usual medication and you must have in your mind the person you want to connect with." Leo frowned slightly but said nothing else. Instead, he stood up and murmured a "Thanks for the help, sensei" walking away. The rat master smiled; he knew that his son will manage to connect with Rowan. Why?

Because he believed in him.

______________________________________________________________________________

"Yo, April! Are you even listening to me?"

Her sky blue eyes blinked once; they blinked twice and then three times. She then turned her ginger redhead to a girl with purple hair in a pixie cut and olive eyes which were glaring her. "What? Sorry. I was... thinking." April said and offered a small smile at the girl next to her. Irma Langenstien rolled her eyes beyond the heavens and a grump face completed her irritation. "Yeah. Thinking. Seriously April, you were thinking the whole day! Can't you just pause those thoughts or even... forget them?" she then asked and April just gave her a nod in reply.

The Roosevelt High was full of teenagers walking on the large halls, some standing on the lockets and calmly chatting while others just stood in the middle of the hall and talk fiercely to each other. The firebreaks in California were their main issue as they were all surprised by how this fire burned lots of houses and people. Another weird issue that April's ears caught was some firebreaks in Greece this time at a region close to Athens which caused the death of 90 people, men, women and children at every age.

She felt Irma's elbow hitting her limps hard and she drew her attention back to the goth dressed girl and best friend. "For Christ's sake April, can you please focus on me for once?" Irma inquired clearly angry with April and the fact that she ignored her completely. "Okay, I'm all ears." April replied, earning a scoff of Irma's who kept talking about a gothic club she found the other day and how many people she met.

Truth was... April's mind was running away. Away from her best friend, school or any other usual activity of hers. She was thinking about Rowan, her current fight with Karai and... her dad again. She always thought of her father and she somehow blamed the turtles for not finding him after all these months- seven, eight, she didn't count- and they just did other things. Like now, the turtles were trying to stop another plan of Shredder's using some help of a guy that happened to meet them in a fight. They ignored that her father was kidnapped by aliens. They ignored her pain! Her feelings! Everything!

There were sometimes she wanted to demand, scream on their faces that they were selfish. That they care about nothing except their lives. Most of all, Rowan. Yes, she was an old friend of hers and always cocky with her but... she just didn't give a fuck about her emotions, her feelings. She just kept telling her, "Zip it Apes. You gotta be grateful that the guys at least are trying to find Kirby. On the other side, if you want to find your papa alone... do it. It'll be a pleasure for me and them." and then she walked away like their conversation ended. April usually shot a death glare on her back and her fists shook under the fury her heart had.

But deep down to her heart she knew that Rowan was right.

Her ears caught a growl of frustration from Irma and she stopped walking and looked at her friend. Or maybe, angered friend. "You know what? I'm seriously starting to reconsider that you're a good listener." Irma whined and crossed her arms over her black t-shirt. "I am, Irma. But... you know. I can't stop thinking about my dad." April replied, a saddened expression drawn on her face and her eyes transferred down to her black shoes. "It's been months since his kidnap and... no one ever searches for him." she added with a small crack on her voice which Irma noticed. The purple haired wrapped a comforting hand around her yellow dressed shoulders and gave her friend a small smile of understanding.

She is thankful that April is her best friend, a part of her life. Though she has some small things that makes her to growl and urge her to kick her legs, like the "I'm the princess and I want you all to obey me" character or even her "Oh my gosh, help me!" side, April was always by her side and helped her with her problems. Especially with her parents who can't stop being overprotective to her. And she wanted this friendship to stay alive for years.

"Wanna go for a burger? I bet it'll calm you down. Oh, and it'll stop my hunger." she suggested, earning a small smile from April whose eyes now looked back at her with happiness instead of sadness and misery. "Sure. A huge burger will help." April replied and Irma rolled her eyes, this time not from annoyance.

But from relief.

________________________________________________________________________________

Danny flipped to the opposite roof and hid in the shadows. Foot soldiers along with Fishface and Dogpound landed behind him and focused their gaze on TCRI. "You two," Danny ordered to two black-suited men who gave a sharp nod, "go in the building and steal as many canisters you can. A van will await you from behind. Take plenty of them." Another nod of the two Foot members and they disappeared from the roof and optical way. Dogpound walked closer to the teenage boy, crimson eyes looked below them, to the Pulverizer who was trying to search for traps. "I never understood why master Shredder agreed to let this guy join the Foot." he muttered to himself, although Danny and Fishface heard him. "He explained why, Bradford. He's a bait for the turtles." Danny retorted as he eyed the turtles talking briefly to the clumsy boy.

"Still, I can't understand." came a confused reply from the mutant dog.

"That's something we can discuss later, shall we? I want to chomp some tortugas." Fishface said and leaped off the roof with the soldiers and Bradford following his steps. Danny stayed behind as he watched the fight between the four turtle brothers and the clan he was working in. He noticed that the four brothers had different weapons that he was used to seeing whenever he fought with them and how hard it was for them to fight and control them.

Rowan won't believe in her ears, he thought teasingly and leaped down to the fight, kicking away Leo. His katanas met with the blue-masked turtle's katanas and he let a smirk to cross freely the left side of his lips. "And I thought that you would be staying in your stupid lair and cried for your loss." he jeered with Leo shooting him a venomous glare. "I have better plans." he fired back, anger and hate filling his tone.

"Really. You don't even know where she is and you can't save her."

He saw Leo's features softened for a while but then they twisted into anger and fury. A battle cry came out from his lips and his eyes turned white as he attacked again. Metal locked to metal again as the two boys shot hated glares at each other. Danny swept kicked Leo's big legs and the Leader in blue flipped back, knocking away a Foot soldier at the same time. "Give it up, Leo. Rowan's ours." Danny said before his ears caught a door sliding open. He looked back; the two soldiers he sent to get mutagen were out and nodded to them to move. The Foot Clan members retreated, climbing on a van. Danny paused and looked back to the turtles; he looked at Leo with tease and satisfaction.

"I'll tell her that you miss her though."

He then ran away and let his four nemeses complaining.

Donnie's face morphed in shock and his reddish-brown eyes looked at his brothers with the same feeling shining on them. "Guys, mutagen! The Foot are stealing mutagen!" he exclaimed and Raph retaliated a passionless expression. "Shredder with mutagen? Well, that can't be good." he replied. None of them couldn't believe that Shredder would do that and mutate people only for an... the army he couldn't even have. And they thought that the Kraang wanted to mutate people.

"Psst! Over here!" whispered a voice.

The turtles turned around and saw Pulverizer waving at them. They sprinted over the trash bin he was hiding and stood there, all of them eyeing with irritation, bored and tiredness. It's awesome to fight Foot but it drains all of your energy and makes you feel much exhausted than being lazy. "You don't have to hide, Pulverizer. The Foot are gone." Mikey said with a roll of his blue eyes as the kid cleared his throat. "You shouldn't use my real name." he replied with a deeper voice, confusing the orange masked turtle a bit. His brothers just kept looking the Pulverizer with a grumpy face, especially Raph whose hands had been folded on his chest. "Your real name is "Pulverizer?"" Mikey asked with an uplifted eye-ridge and the Pulverizer sighed silently, eyes closed for a moment. "No... It's Timothy."

Donnie snatched the fabric of his black suit and brought the boy, now called Timothy, up to his angered face. "Stop talking like that, Tim." he retorted. Timothy stepped back and smiled widely to the four turtles who still kept looking him with annoyance. "Guys, you'll never guess what Shredder's gonna do with the mutagen!" he exclaimed.

"He's gonna create a mutant army to destroy us?" came a pestering reply from Donnie.

"Yeah, but there's... there's a lot more to it than that!"

"Really."

"No....You guessed..."

Donnie sighed in defeat and narrowed slightly his eyes at Timothy. "Pulverizer, you're in over your head. Go home." he pleaded while Leo placed a hand on his right shoulder. The genius turtle turned to his brother and heard what he said. "Not until he finds out more about Shredder's mutation plan." Pulverizer, Timothy smiled in satisfaction and moved his hands like he was punching some invisible for the turtles, exclaiming happily; "Yeah, baby! The Pulverizer stays in the game!" He then hiked one of his hands up, ready to receive a high five, or three for the turtles.

It never came.

"Okay then. I'm off! I'm practically invisible!" he yelled before he ran out of the alley and hit on a random car with the four brothers wincing. "I'm okay! Sorry! Again. I'm gonna go spy now!" they heard him yelling in joy and then he disappeared from them. A sly smile cracked on Raph's lips as he punched his knuckles and said to his brothers; "So what if Shredder's building an army of mutants? They're still no match for my sais!" Mikey and Leo shared a high three and laughed with him.

Donnie remained silent and looked at the direction Pulverizer followed.

Man, wish Rowan was here. She may not like him but she would never let this kid do things like that. he thought sadly, I have a sense that she and Foot Clan have a strong past.

He hoped for Timothy not to do anything else dangerous.

________________________________________________________________________________

Luck was never by Donnie's side though.

The warehouse, where everything changed in a kid's life forever, became ashes slowly behind him. Call it dumb luck or even... logic but he and his brothers managed to save themselves and the mutated Timothy trapped in a huge cannister- which kept the mutagen in- within ten seconds. Now... He just looked at the poor kid with sadness. He could've prevented him! He could've saved him!

But no.

Everything happened so fast, incredibly fast and he just stood up on a crate, looking at the child he was supposed to protect screaming in pain as the acid the mutagen contained burned his white skin. He just watched him! Oh, how right Splinter was! Now he knew how he felt when he lost his family and a very good friend. He now knows.

Because Timothy was a friend of his.

Like Rowan is a good sister of his.

He wanted to cry but there were no tears in his eyes. It was like there was a lack of them. Like his heart lacked from emotions. He felt so numb, motionless... a walking dead turtle. Nothing affected him, nothing came to his hearing, taste, touch... he was just numb. His eyes were stuck on the cannister of Timothy's who returned the sad look without saying a word. Without laughing.

That was it.

Timothy was gone.

A mutant replaced him.

"Donnie?" he finally heard Leo asking in worry. Donnie stood up and turned to his brothers, reddish brown eyes glancing at the flames dancing in the warehouse, defeated under its power and let itself to burn freely. He snuffed; his looked turned back to his brothers and shot them a small saddened smile. "Let's go home guys." he only said and grabbed the 'canned' mutant Timothy.

The others followed him in silence.

After minutes, they returned back to the lair where Splinter awaited for them. They all told him what happened to Timothy as soon as they placed the cannister on the floor. Now they were looking at it with impress. Mostly Splinter who couldn't understand why this child did that to himself. "Do you think Timothy is happy with his new state of being?" he asked his sons, stroking his braid. "Seems that way. He wanted to be a mutant, and he got his wish." Leo replied while Donnie slapped away Mikey's finger from the glass and stopped him hitting it. "Donnie, we're letting you keep him, but you gotta stash him in your lab so I don't have to look at him." Raph said sarcastically while Donnie looked at Timothy, saddened as ever. Regretful as ever.

He placed a hand on the glass; he gave a small smile to him.

"I promise, Timothy... One day, I'll turn you back."

And I'm gonna do it.

_____________________________________________________________________________

He stepped down to the stairs, his footsteps echoing in the deadly silent dungeon he decided to head-to that night. The room was mid-lighten, not even a single sunlight rushing in and brightening it.

It was nearly 6:00 A.M and Danny was supposed to be sleeping inside his bedroom instead of being there and trying to be silent as death. He knew that if one of those stupid soldiers caught him doing that, he will seriously be in trouble by Shredder but... he didn't care. He didn't care about it at all.

There was a certain girl he wanted to see.

And she was sleeping peacefully on the concrete floor of her small cell. He looked at her with happiness and adore as Rowan's breast and chest was moving up and down calmly, her beautiful features being calm, peacefully like they never were. Her mass of hair mixed with small tresses of blue highlights laid behind her head and they looked like a beautiful blood lake that didn't dry nor waved under a huge wind. They just remained motionless and pretty.

He couldn't help himself by giving a small smile at the girl he fell in love with months ago. He just couldn't stop himself.

Suddenly, her features tightened, clenched like her fists do whenever she's angry and her breaths came out fast, faster than ever. Her head moved left and right and Danny noticed tears falling down to her cheeks and wetting her hair. His jaw clenched and he dared to step closer to the locked up cell, eyes stuck on the girl. "No... no...DON'T!" he heard her yelling with more tears flowing down. Momentarily, he snatched a pair of keys he had in his pocket of jeans and searched wildly for the one which matched with the lock of that cell.

"Mom! No, no, no! Don't!"

He found it after seconds and inserted it in the gap. He twisted it twice until he heard the usual unlocking sound and the door opened wide. Rowan was still yelling her mother's name and her body was moving like crazy. Danny knew that her mother died in a car accident when she was ten but he couldn't understand why Rowan called her name. What he knew though was this; Rowan was watching a nightmare. Specifically, a bad nightmare.

"Please don't...MOM!"

In a flash, he sat next to her and started to shake her sleepy body as she kept calling her mother not to do something he, obviously, didn't know about. "Mom! Mom!" Rowan kept yelling as the boy shook her entire body and yelled on the top of his lungs;

"Rowan! Rowan, wake up!"