A/N: Eclipse belongs to GeekyCookie1. Axel [mentioned] and Zane belongs to MariChat3.

"I've had questions about myself and my parents my entire life, wondering if I ever did anything to make them give up. It takes a while to find those answers, but until then, all I keep getting are questions and questions."

THE SEVEN TEENS along with April and Kaz were on patrol, jumping from rooftop to rooftop—though April and Kaz were having a bit of a hard time keeping up with them.

"I never understood how—how turtles could—could be so—so fast." April said, panting as she tried to catch her breath.

"No—no kidding." Kaz replied, panting, trying to catch his own breath as well.

"Come on, guys," Leonardo said. "This is just the warm-up."

"The warm-up? For two hours?" Kaz asked, breathing heavily.

"That's what ninjas and kunoichis do. Training sometimes lasts four, five hours at a time." Boy Danger explained.

"Awesome, right?" Leonardo added.

April groaned. "Are you kidding me? I'm gonna puke. What about a real mission?"

"It took fifteen years of training before Master Splinter let us go on a 'real mission.' You two got a long way to go, sister." Eclipse said.

"Not that long. A decade or two will fly by like that." Donatello said as he snapped his fingers.

"For a turtle."

"Maybe we should take them on more missions, Leo, Danger." Donatello said.

"It makes sense." Captain Violet said.

"Yeah, the best training they could have is hanging with the ninjas." Michelangelo said.

"Uh-uh, no way. It's too dangerous. What if something happens to them?" Leonardo asked.

April brought a hand up to her head. "My head. Guys, I think someone's watching us."

Suddenly, Boy Danger felt his ears prickled while his nose prickled at two new scents that he picked up in the air that he didn't recognize. "She's right," he said as he looked around before spotting two figures. "Right there!"

"Get them!"

They all took off running after the figures spying on them, April and Kaz close behind them. Leonardo, Boy Danger, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, Eclipse, and Captain Violet had no trouble chasing them, but April and Kaz had more difficulty keeping up. They stopped at the edge of a rooftop that was too far to jump.

"Grappling hooks!"

"Aw, yeah!" Michelangelo said, excited about the chase as they all took out their grappling hooks.

As they all made to the next rooftop, April was the only one that struggled with hers since it wouldn't work, and ended up using Donatello's rope that he sent back over to her. Once they were all on the rooftop, they made it to the edge where they watched the two men running down the fire escape, entering a window. Then, they jumped and landed on the balcony, taking a peek inside to see darkness inside the room.

"It's quiet, too quiet." Donatello said.

Leonardo took out a hidden knife and slipped the blade under the window, worked it a little, and forced the window open slowly. After putting the knife away, they rolled inside the room quietly as April and Kaz quickly stepped inside. They took out their flashlights and turned them on to see around the room better when Michelangelo suddenly gasped, backing up a little only to bump into Donatello. They lifted their flashlights to see a board filled with pictures that were connected with either red strings.

"It's us." Donatello said as he pointed at a picture of himself, Michelangelo, Eclipse, Leonardo, Boy Danger, Captain Violet, and Raphael when they were spying on the kranng before the whole Spider Bytes incident.

"Not just us," Eclipse said, spotting the other photos. "Photos of mutants and kranng."

"Lots and lots of kranng." Leonardo added.

All over the board were photos of the five mutant turtles, the mutants they befriended and fought, the kranng, Henry and Briana as Boy Danger and Captain, or even photos of Henry, Briana, Mara, Kaz, April, Zane, Casey, and Calista in school.

"So, what's with the creep-tastic pictures?" Raphael asked.

Captain Violet glanced around the board before her eyes landed on the table where she spotted a file labeled Princess Briana Gem Sentry. A part of her wanted to grab it and look through it but another part of her didn't want too, afraid of what she'd find on the inside.

Boy Danger felt his ears prickled and he cast a subtle glance over his shoulders upon hearing the sound of the floorboards shift. He saw the looks on the others' faces and knew that they heard it too—with him and Raphael being the closest ones to where the two men had to have been hiding, they exchanged cautious glances and nodded slightly to each other.

"Well, I guess we've seen enough here, guys." Raphael said. "Let's get outta here."

Both Boy Danger and Raphael started for the door, but at the last second, turned around and grabbed the men on either side of the doorway, holding them against the wall. Raphael held one of his sais against the man's throat while Boy Danger did the same thing with one of his twin swords to the neck of the man he held.

"Don't hurt us, we're friends." The man Raphael held said quickly.

"Stalker's more like it." Eclipse retorted.

For a split second, Boy Danger could've swore that his nose prickled at the scent of the man he was holding—he didn't recognize it and yet, for some reason, he could feel the wolf inside of him telling him to let the man go—but he didn't, doing his best to ignore the wolf.

"This isn't how I imagined seeing you." The man that Boy Danger was holding said softly, his eyes scanning him up and down as if he was trying to keep him to his memory.

"What?" Boy Danger questioned.

"After all these months, finally face-to-face with the talking ninja mutants, Henry Hart, April O'Neil, Kazimieras Smith, and Princess Briana." The other man said, not realizing how Captain Violet tensed at the way he chose to addressed her.

Both Raphael and Boy Danger released the two men, letting them move freely while they backed up to stand next to the others. Boy Danger couldn't help but stare at the man he had held against the wall, now looking him up and down to see his appearance: the man had blonde hair and brown-hazel eyes. He was wearing a short-sleeve white shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers.

"The two of you better start talking, pal," Leonardo snapped. "What's with the photos? Who are you?"

"Well, my friend here is Kurtzman, and well, I'm—" the man trailed off for a second before looking over at Boy Danger. "Daniel Hale."

Boy Danger froze at the name while the others tensed, slightly looking at him for his reaction to find his body slightly shaking and his hands forming into fists as he pushed his teeth together.

Daniel Hale.

His father.

His actual father.

"You've got to be kidding me," Boy Danger said through gritted teeth. "No—no! This isn't—"

"Henry... I'm—"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence." Boy Danger warned seriously, crossing his arms over his chest as he clearly didn't want to have that discussion right there and then. He turned his attention back to where Kurtzman was. "Can we get back to why you have all those photos of us?"

Daniel frowned slightly, having been expected this reaction from his son while Kurtzman continued to explain. "I was a journalist on the case of the missing scientists last year, and then I discovered something much bigger." He turned on a light and placed a book on the table. "The kranng." He opened the book and allowed them all to look. "The alien infiltration is long-lived," he started, flipping through the book. "Ancient, in fact. The kranng have been trying to use mutagen to transform the earth for thousands of years. But they couldn't use the mutagen in our inverse without a specific chain of human DNA. They spent a millennia capturing people, shaping humankind's genetic code, until finally..." he held up a picture of a baby, and April gasped.

"That's me."

"Your mother was taken by the kranng before you were born," Kurtzman explained. "Then, she was experimented on."

"My mom?"

"That's why you're so special, April. Your DNA can perfect the mutagen in this dimension."

"I—I think I need to sit down." April breathed.

"And you," Kurtzman said, looking over at Kaz. "A boy who has the DNA of the mythical bird of fire that symbolizes rebirth, renewal, and immortality: the phoenix."

"Wait, what?" Kaz questioned, a confused expression on his face.

"Your father may have created the serum that gave you your powers, using the mutagen that the kranng gave him to mutate your cells—but mutagen wasn't the only thing they gave him," Kurtzman explained. "The kranng were the ones that gave your father the phoenix DNA he used in the serum that he injected into you when you were a baby. That's why you have those fire and flying abilities—and your genetic code could be exactly what your father needs to create an army of super-powered inhumans to take over the Earth."

Kaz blinked, taking all of the information as he shook his head. "Okay, now I need to sit down." He mumbled to himself.

Daniel looked over at Boy Danger and tried again. "Henry—"

"No."

"Please, just—"

"No."

"Yeah, you're definitely my son with how stubborn you are," Daniel said, a low chuckle leaving his lips. "Though that wolf of yours is probably making your stubbornness more heightened."

Boy Danger didn't said anything and only turned around, a frown on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. As far as he was concerned, he didn't want anything to do with Daniel. To him, Daniel may have been his father but the man wasn't there—he didn't want to face the man that was his father, who was only popping up into his life just now. Not only that but he did the best he could to try ignore the fact that his mother had been lying to him about this his entire life, hence the reason why he's been avoiding her like crazy.

Suddenly, the door crashed open and kranng-droids burst into the room. "Aw, crap." Daniel said.

"They found us," Kurtzman said. "I don't know how, but they found us."

"Kranng, the humans known as 'Kurtzman and Daniel' have allied themselves with the ones who are called 'the turtles, Boy Danger, and Captain Violet.'" One droid said.

"Observe, Kranng," another droid responded. "Disintegrate first. Capture for interrogation later."

"Okay, the way they talk is really annoying." Daniel muttered to himself, letting his eyes turn yellow—and the moment they did, his fingernails turn into claws and his teeth grew sharper.

The group scattered as the droids started shooting. Boy Danger pulled out his twin swords and used them to stab one of the droids but slicing off another's droids head.

"Henry, what are you doing?" Daniel questioned, using his claws to scratch a droid in half, causing its body to fall apart. "You're shapeshifter—a part wolf mutant."

"Worry about yourself!" Boy Danger snapped. "I didn't ask to be half wolf! So, whenever you like it or not, I'll use my swords!"

"That's not the way your wolf works, son," Daniel said, choosing not to mind the sudden glare from the title he chose to addressed him. "The more you avoid it, the harder it'd be for you on a full moon. Once you accept your wolf, it'll be like having a partner—"

"I said no," Boy Danger said firmly, glaring at the man. "I didn't ask for this, and I'm definitely not gonna put the people that I care about in danger all because of a stupid wolf inside of me!" He swore that he heard the wolf inside of him growled at the insult, but he could care less about it.

As Boy Danger left to continue fending off against the droids, Daniel couldn't help but shook his head at his son's stubbornness, realizing that it might be twice as harder to get his son to accept what he really was.

"Retreat!" Leonardo shouted.

Leonardo and Boy Danger hung back as the others dove through the window ahead of them and onto the fire escape.

"I can't leave without my notebook—or the file!" Kurtzman said, reaching for it on the desk. He managed to grab the file, keeping a tight grip on it but flinched and drew back as the kranng shot at him. He stumbled backward, tripped, and fell out the window.

Michelangelo flung his chain and wrapped one end around Kurtzman's ankle, saving him. "Gotcha!"

Michelangelo set Kurtzman carefully down in the alley below, as everyone else jumped down to him.

"This way. Move!"

At the end of the alley, a white van pulled up and stopped at the entrance. A kranng stepped out of it in a large pod with spider-like legs and began firing at them. Yelping, they all dodged the lasers and turned and ran. The kranng pursued them, but they all ducked into another alley and right into the ShellRaiser. Leonardo took the wheel and stepped on the gas as the van revved out of the alleyway and straight for the kranng, which screeched and scuttled out of the way.

"Everyone, brace yourselves!" Leonardo warned. He put the ShellRaiser into reverse and slammed into the kranng. Then, he put it back in drive and drove away.

"Here's the plan," Kurtzman began. "You infiltrate TCRI, then wipe out all the data that the kranng have on April's and Kaz's DNA."

"Infiltrate TCRI?" April questioned.

"I thought you guys blew that place up." Kaz said.

"We did." Captain Violet said.

👑👑👑

"THEY REBUILT TCRI? Already?" Eclipse commented. They were all currently standing, staring at the TCRI that had somehow already been rebuilt.

"We break in, erase April's and Kaz's DNA codes, get out," Leonardo said.

"Infiltration only." Boy Danger added.

"Let's do this." April said.

"Great. You, Kaz, Kurtzman, and Daniel stay out here on lookout." Leonardo said.

"Stay outside?" Kaz asked.

"On lookout?" April added.

"No problem," Kurtzman said. "Take this. It's a key card I stole from one of their vans. It'll get you into TCRI."

"Thanks, Mr. Kurtzman," Leonardo said.

"Good luck."

The five mutant turtles, Boy Danger, and Captain Violet then made their way over to TCRI as they landed onto the next rooftop. Leonardo had fired his grappling hook toward the TCRI building, forming a zipline over. Then, they turned to look behind them and saw April and Kaz climbing onto the rooftop.

"Alright, April, Kaz, stay here and maintain radio communication." Leonardo ordered.

"Don't worry," Donatello said. "We'll be back in two shakes of a kranng tentacle." Then, they slid down the zipline while April and Kaz exchanged glances, already thinking the same thing.

The seven of them snuck inside but were met face-to-face with a kranng droid inside a dark office room. They freaked for a second, but calmed down when they saw they weren't moving.

"It's okay," Donatello said. "I think these androids are just charging."

"Dudes, their faces are all rubbery and stuff," Michelangelo, playing with the droid's face. "Check it out. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Donnie stinks. Blah, blah, blah."

"Mikey, quit it before you wake them up." Eclipse said.

"We gotta move before they wake up." Boy Danger said.

Suddenly, both April and Kaz dropped down from the shaft and landed by the others. "April? Kaz? What are you doing here?" Raphael questioned.

"I told you, I'm sick of sitting on the sidelines." April responded.

"No way we're getting left out of this." Kaz added.

"Fine," Leonardo said. "Just stay quiet and stay close—and do not let Mikey touch anything."

The droid suddenly stood up, its eyes flashing pink. "Wasn't me!" Michelangelo said.

"I think they're done charging," Captain Violet said. "Let's get out of here!"

They darted through the cubicles while the other droids powered up. Boy Danger skidded to a halt at a corner and raised his hand for the others to stop as he saw the droids step from the cubicles.

"Kranng, does this human suit make Kranng look fat?"

The surrounding droids stood and both Boy Danger and Leonardo led the way down the hall, stopping in front of the elevator as Boy Danger impatiently pressed a button for it to open. Then, the elevator doors slid open and they all dashed inside. Leonardo slid the key card that Kurtzman had given them through the scanner and the door closed.

"The floor known as level forty has been accessed to kranng." A robotic voice said.

The elevator started moving and they all gave out a breath of relief. "Not bad so far." Leonardo said.

"Don't jinx it." Eclipse told him.

Then, silence fell over the group expect for the music that played through the speakers.

"This music is making my ears bleed." Raphael said.

After several minutes, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. After a moment of seeing that it was safe, they stepped out and stopped at the entrance to a room and looked to see a bunch of kranng floating in the air while a holographic image of Kranng Prime levitated in the middle of them.

"Donnie, what's going on?" Raphael asked.

"It's a kranng's sweet sixteen birthday party," Donatello said sarcastically in a high-pitch voice before glaring at him and snapping, "How am I supposed to know!?"

"Ah!" April gripped her head. "It's Kranng Prime," she got up and unconsciously walked towards the kranng. "They're meditating, communicating. I can hear their thoughts."

"Whoa, man," Michelangelo. "You're like 'tele-pathetic.'"

"Telepathic." Captain Violet corrected.

April listened for a moment. "They're talking about invasion." She paused, listening a bit more before she gasped, and covered her mouth.

The kranng started shrieking. "Um, guys, what are we thinking?" Michelangelo asked.

"Run!" Leonardo and Boy Danger said.

They darted back to the elevator and this time, Leonardo repeatedly pressed a button.

"So much for a stealth mission." Eclipse commented.

"Uh, guys?" Captain Violet said. They turned and spotted Ms. Campbell from April's school. "Look out!"

Ms. Campbell shot a rocket at them as they all scattered and jumped out of the way, just as the elevator opened and the rocket exploded. Then, kranng droids started firing at them as they drew their weapons and began to cut down the droids. More droids continued to appear and one of the droids said, "It is the humans known as 'April O'Neil and Kazimieras Smith.'"

"Aw, sewer apples." Kaz mumbled under his breath.

"April!" "Kaz!"

👑👑👑

"GUYS, LOOK OUT!" Boy Danger and Eclipse each tackled Captain Violet and Donatello to the ground as a rocket shot past them.

"Raph!" Leonardo called. "Take down Miss Rocket Arms!"

"Already on it," Raphael responded, running toward Ms. Campbell. She started powering up for another rocket, but he threw one of his sais into her elbow, causing an explosion.

Then, they ran for the door where April and Kaz had been dragged away by the kranng. They bolted out into the hall, only to halt when they saw April running back toward them. "Run!" She shouted, darting past them. The others ducked as kranng-droids came around the corner and started shooting at them. April halted outside of an open door and waved them inside. "In here!" They quickly bolted inside and the door shut behind them.

"So, why are we hiding in a dead end?" Raphael asked.

"In a detention cell?" Eclipse added.

Leonardo pressed a few buttons on the pad beside the door, and then tried pulling it open with no luck. "We're trapped." He said.

Gas started seeping into the room and April started laughing.

"Poison gas!" Donatello said. "April, why are you doing this?"

Captain Violet started coughing. "We gotta get out!"

"There is no escape, turtles." April said.

"April, what's wrong with you?" Donatello snapped. "Are you," he coughed. "Mind controlled?"

April slapped him. "Try again." She delivered a few quick punches, then uppercutted him, and kicked him to the floor.

"Donnie! No—" Michelangelo quickly covered his mouth.

Boy Danger coughed. "It's not April, Mikey."

"It's an android," Eclipse added.

"Get her!" Leonardo said.

"I hate having to do this, but..."

Donatello charged at the droid and swung his staff, but she caught it easily, then flung him against the ceiling. The droid stalked toward him and tried to tackle him, but he kicked her over his head and face-first into the door lock. It electrocuted her as she screeched and after a moment, she exploded into some kind of black goo and the door opened.

They all ran out into the hall, taking a moment to catch their breaths and get the oxygen back into their lungs as they coughed.

"It was some kind of replica," Donatello coughed. "A fake April."

"But she looked so real," Michelangelo said. "Like tofu bacon."

"Let's hope it's the only one." Eclipse stated.

"Come on," Leonardo coughed. "We gotta find the real April and Kaz." They all started running down the hall.

"And tofu bacon does not look real." Raphael told Michelangelo.

"It tastes real, though!"

They froze outside a big door that was guarded by a red light sweeping across the floor. They all stopped in time but the light spotted Michelangelo and started firing at him—though, he dodged the shots easily.

"How are we supposed to get to it without getting shot?" Raphael demanded.

Captain Violet reached into her belt and took out a shuriken. She aimed at the shooter on the ceiling and with a flick of her wrist, she set her shuriken straight through it, making the beam vanish. Then, they approached the door and Leonardo slid the key card across the scanner. The door slid open and the group ran into the room, which was full of April's clones in stasis tubes.

"By Darwin's beard," Donatello stated. "April clones."

"Weird," Michelangelo said.

"They're perfectly genetic duplicates."

"Weird."

"I bet the kranng have been growing them to harvest her DNA."

"Weird."

"I got it, okay!?" Donatello snapped at Michelangelo.

"So, where's the real April and Kaz?" Boy Danger asked.

👑👑👑

SOMETHING DIDN'T FEEL right. He knew it, because for some reason, his body felt like it was growing hotter and hotter as if it could just burst into flames any moment now—and for the first time, Kaz could feel exhaustion threatening to come over him from how hot he seemed to be growing. His body ached with exhaustion and heat, unable to fight back against the droids.

Suddenly, the needles above April stopped.

"April! Kaz!"

"Oh..." April started, both she and Kaz looked up to see Raphael on top of the machine. "Great, saved by Raph. I'm never gonna live this down."

"Well, we've all been there, April." Raphael responded. He unsheathed his sais and jumped down. He knocked out a couple of droids, but then several more grabbed him. "Let me go!"

"Raph!" Kaz and April called him as the droids forced the mutant turtle to the floor.

"Do not struggle," a droid said. "The one known as 'April O'Neil' will soon expire."

"No! No!"

For the split second that Kaz closed his eyes, his body bursted and lit up into flames, sending the droids that held onto him up into flames as the fire hit them, forcing them to let go. April, on the other hand, closed her eyes as she screamed. Then, the noises stopped and she opened her eyes, surprised to find the kranng incapacitated while the needle above her was off.

Kaz opened his eyes and was surprised to find his body on fire, yet even more surprised when the flames on him weren't even burning him at all. Then, the flames died out, letting Kaz's body return to normal as Raphael got April out from her bonds and then pulled the two away.

"You guys okay?" Raphael asked.

"Exhausted," Kaz groaned.

"Brain on fire, ready to pop," April responded. "Other than that, meh."

"April!" "Kaz!"

The others dropped into the room, being quick to join them. Donatello had pushed his brother away and hugged April. Relieved, Captain Violet didn't hesitate to hug Kaz, her heartbeat racing in her chest.

An alarm started going off, and they all ran back out into the other room, only to discover that all of the April clones had been released and were now surrounding them. 

"Where are you going, guys?"

"Trying to ditch me?"

"Let's get out of here."

"We got to hurry."

"Come on."

"It's me, April."

"Where are you going, guys?"

"Come on."

"Let's get out of here."

April tried to shove the clones back. "Don't listen to them, I'm the real April."

Several of the clones grabbed April's arm and dragged her into the crowd.

"Which one is which?" Michelangelo asked.

But then, April held up her tessen and sliced through several of the clones.

"Yep, that's the real April."

The others drew their weapons and started attacking the clones, reducing them to goo until there was only one April left.

"Okay, that was just gross, dudes," Michelangelo said as he shook the goo off of his nunchucks. "There's April derp on my chucks."

"Let's move!" Boy Danger said.

They bolted out of the room and made their way the building with the kranng on their heels. Outside, a white van pulled up in front of them as the door opened to reveal Kurtzman and Daniel.

"Get in!" They quickly got in and Kurtzman drove off. "Escaping from the kranng in their own van." He laughed.

"Thanks for the save, Mr. Kurtzman and Mr. Hale." Leonardo said.

"I owed you one," Kurtzman said. "So, did you wipe out the kranng computers?"

"We did, by the skin of our noses." Eclipse said.

"The only reason we survived was because of April." Raphael said. "Whatever you did back there saved us all."

April sighed. "I have no clue what I did. I was freaking out, and then, 'zap' the kranng were toast."

Kurtzman pulled up in an alley, as the others and Daniel got out of the van.

"You walk from here," Kurtzman said. "Well, I'm off. Somebody's gotta keep an eye on the kranng. If you ever need my expertise, Daniel knows how to find me."

"Thanks, Kurtzman."

Then, as the man nodded and as the others walked away, Kurtzman stopped Captain Violet by moving any further. "Here, you can have this." He told her, handing her the file that had her name on it.

"You sure?" Captain Violet asked, slowly reaching out and taking the file into her hands.

Kurtzman nodded. "You might want some answers," he said. "Besides, I'm sure my partner—Axel would want you to have it—he's the one that made the file."

Captain Violet nodded slowly. "Thanks."

Kurtzman nodded and drove off while Captain Violet moved to where the others were. As the others moved closer to the manhole cover, Boy Danger didn't as he remain in his spot yet, still wouldn't look over at Daniel.

"You coming, Danger?" Eclipse asked.

"You guys go ahead, I'll meet you at the lair," Boy Danger said. For a split second, he looked over at Daniel before quickly looking away, giving a small sigh. "I have to go talk to my mom."

👑👑👑

"WELL, WHAT'D YOU find, guys?" Leonardo asked once they got back to the lair and were all gathered inside the lab.

"This doesn't seem possible." Donatello said, looking at April's DNA sample.

"What is it? What's wrong?" April asked.

"Based on all the info we've culled from the clone lab, your cellular makeup is actually a morphogenesis blend of human and kranng DNA." Donatello explained.

"Wait, are you saying...?"

"You're not entirely human, April." Briana continued. "That's why you have psychic powers. In fact, you're a half human, half alien mutant."

"A mutant?" Everyone exclaimed.

"Aw, yeah!" Michelangelo cheered. "Welcome to the family."

"And, Kurtzman was right about your DNA too, Kaz," Donatello added. "There is Phoenix DNA mixed with mutagen in your genetic code. If your father really is trying to make a super-powered inhuman army, then that could be why he's after you—your genetic code is exactly what he needs to make one."

"Then, that means..."

"You're not just a human, Kaz," Briana confirmed. "You're a... super-powered inhuman."

A shocked silence fills the room.

👑👑👑

LATER ON THAT same night, Briana found herself standing on a fire escape as she knocked on a window before waiting. Then, the window opened and Zane stared at her from the other side with a confused look.

"Bri? What's going on?" Zane asked.

"It's a long story, but, uh, remember when you..." Briana started nervously before she trailed off. "You told me about your dad?"

Zane nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Briana then held up the file that Kurtzman gave her. "To make a long story short: we met your dad's partner and he gave me this, but—uh, I thought you might wanna take a look at it."

Zane nodded slowly, letting her come into his room as she handed him the file. She waited and watched as Zane opened it and looked through the file. A few minutes passed, Zane looked up with wide eyes.

"Wait, so, my dad... knew about you the whole time?"

"Everything," Briana answered. "There's photos of me as a baby in there—there's photos of me with Henry, Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, and Clips when we were kids in there. Your dad knew where the lair and me were the whole time."

"Why though?" Zane questioned as he closed the file. "It doesn't make sense."

"I guess, that's for us to find out," Briana said. "You told me that you never thought that your dad was really gone, right?"

Zane nodded.

Briana continued. "Well, neither do I. I mean, he has a whole file on me and then, suddenly, he vanishes and is presume dead? You even told me that his body wasn't at the scene of the crash so, him being dead doesn't make sense."

"I know, but nobody else believes it." Zane responded.

"Well, I do, and I'm gonna help you find your dad," Briana said, holding out her hand towards him. "What do you say? Let's do this, together."

Zane smiled softly, reaching his hand out and taking hers. "Together."

👑👑👑

HENRY HAS NO idea how long he spent up in his bedroom, pacing as he tried to figure out how to confront his mother about it. Then, he shook his head and walked out of his bedroom where he walked downstairs, turning confused when he spotted his mother inside the kitchen, cooking for once. Normally, he'd be the one that had to make dinner since his father was at work and his mother was out who even knows where.

"Mom? You're home?" Henry asked, walking over to the kitchen.

"Yeah, I thought I'd make dinner this time." Kris said with a smile.

Henry had to hold back the urge to correct his mother as he bit his bottom lip. Shaking his head lightly, Henry took a deep breath.

"Mom, I have to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Who's Daniel Hale?"

Instantly, Kris froze at the name as her eyes widened in panic and her skin paled. She turned the stove off to not burn the food and slowly turned towards her son.

"I'm not sure I get what you're asking me, Henry." Kris lied.

"I had a DNA test done," Henry lied somewhat, just not telling her that it was done by Donatello and Briana in the lab at the lair. "His name popped up with yours."

"What—when did you have a DNA test done?"

"That doesn't matter," Henry said, slowly starting to get annoyed with his mother avoiding the question. "Why won't you answer, mom? Who's Daniel Hale? Is he my father?"

"What, Henry, I—why would you get a DNA test done?" Kris questioned.

"For the love of—because recently, I noticed that I'm not exactly normal, okay!?" Henry snapped, a frown on his face. "I've been feeling weird like there's something inside of me, so I took one, just to find out that there is wolf DNA inside of me!"

Kris froze at his words, barely even registering her son's anger. "No, he was right," she whispered. "This can't be happening."

"He? You mean Daniel Hale, don't you?" Henry questioned angrily. "It's true, isn't it? He's my... father?"

Kris didn't answer as she glanced down at the floor, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Mom, answer me!" Henry said desperately. "I have to know!"

"Yes," Kris whispered as she looked up at him, tears glistening in her eyes. "Yes, it's true—Daniel is your father."

Henry sucked in a deep breath, feeling like the whole world had just stopped in that one moment.

"Does dad know?"

"Henry—"

"Does dad know?" Henry asked angrily.

"No, Jack doesn't know," Kris said, fighting hard to hold back her tears. "Henry, I swear, I can explain—"

"Explain what!? That you cheated on dad, which is the only reason I even exist!?" Henry snapped, his frustration getting to him. "You didn't even bother to tell him! You lied to him and me!"

"Henry, I promise you, I love your father," Kris said, desperately wanting to explain. "But at the time, Jack and I were fighting constantly and it was a really bad time in our marriage, and—"

"So, what? You just went out and slept with another man because you and dad were fighting?" Henry retorted angrily. "You cheated on him and because of that, you had me."

"I know it wasn't my best moment, but I don't regret it—I can't," Kris said, her eyes watery. "Because it gave me you."

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I had a wolf DNA inside of me," Henry snapped. "That I'm half mutant."

"I..." Kris hesitated before she nodded slowly. "Daniel told me that you were like me, but... I was hoping he was wrong. The older you got, I think deep down, I knew he was right—I... I just didn't want to admit it."

Henry didn't said anything as he glared at her, his eyes starting to get watery but he refused to show it as he blinked his tears away.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to try to bond with dad when I was little—to try to find something that I had in common with him? I never did, and I thought it was because maybe we just didn't like the same thing but now... it's because I'm not even his." Henry said. "You have no idea what it's like to have a father, just to find out that he's not even your actual father!"

"It doesn't matter, Henry," Kris said. "Your father—Jack loves you—"

"Because he thinks I'm his! But I'm not!" Henry shouted angrily. "I'm not his son, and you kept the truth from both of us!"

Kris wanted to said something but looked past him and her eyes widened again as her skin paled once again. "Jack... Daniel..."

This time, it was Henry that froze as his eyes widened and his skin paled. He slowly turned around to find both Jack and Daniel standing there—Jack had a hurt expression on his face while Daniel stared at Kris with a look that read I warned you.

"Henry—"

Henry didn't bother to hear what Daniel was gonna tell him as he ran out of the house, ignoring his mother's calls for him as he left. He climbed a fire escape all the way to the rooftop where he ran and jumped onto the next rooftop over and over. He didn't stop till he was a good distance away from his house and the moment he landed on the rooftop, he let himself fell onto his hands as he slammed his fist against the hard roof.

"Damn it!" Henry cursed. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

He did his best to try to take in deep breaths as he squeezed his eyes shut, fighting to hold back the tears that threatened to fall as the image of Jack's hurt expression on his face popped in his head.

His mother may have lied, but he was the one that hurt him—and it was all his fault.

"Let it out," the wolf inside of him said from inside his head. "Let it all out."

Henry hesitated but unable to hold it all inside, he finally gave in as he screamed in anger, frustration, and stressed. But what Henry didn't realize was that as his eyes turned yellow, that scream of anger, frustration, and stressed turned into something else.

A howl.

👑👑👑

ELSEWHERE THAT SAME night, that very same howl traveled to beyond the outskirts of the city and over to where a man had been hiding with his two sons and a few others. Upon hearing the frown as his ears prickled, the man couldn't help but frown, realizing what it meant.

"Dad? Was that..." one of his sons trailed off, not wanting to make his father upset.

"You heard that howl, Scott," the man's oldest son retorted with a sharp glance. "It obviously is."

"Derek, Scott," the man said as he turned towards them with a smirk. "Get ready, boys. We're gonna pay your uncle a visit... in New York City."