— Arrivederci & Au Revoir —

     IF she was being completely honest, then Eloise would admit to feeling like a part of the loser's club. She swears that Pennywise was chasing her down the sewer tunnels. However, there were many other factors that should concern her far more than a fictional demon-clown chasing her through the sewers.

She should be more concerned about the possible aspect of alligators actually living in the sewers like urban legends say. And more likely, the turtle mutations catching up to her just as they said they would.

Eloise decided she worry about actually getting out of the sewers first. Then she could worry about them finding her again when she was surrounded by the millions of New Yorkers. She squinted—the sewers were far too dark for her human eyes. Therefore, she was forced to pull out her phone and use the flashlight.

She was thankful that cellphones could also be used as a flashlight, otherwise, she would have been hella screwed. To be fair, she kind of already was. Eloise cursed when the jangling of her backpack did not let up amidst her running.

However, if she were to slow down then they would definitely catch her. And if she were to put her hands behind her to hold the bag still, she would not be able to see in front of her.

The moist ground splashed with every step she took, and the smell of the sewers was starting to get to her head. She had not realized it before, but somehow the home of the turtles did not smell bad at all, nothing like the sewers. Instead, it smelled of pizza and other hot foods.

She was surprised and wondered how they managed that, but after catching sight of the lab and the many impossible things in it—the smell was not all that much of a shock. Eloise was so unfocused that she almost missed it.

Thankfully, she caught it just in time and reeled to a heavy stop. It was her golden ticket out of this place, a long ladder leading up to a manhole. Or at least, she thought it was a manhole cover. She could not be too sure since it was so far, but what else could it be?

Smiling, Eloise quickly put her phone in her mouth before beginning her climb up. Suck on that, Donatello! 10% chance her ass!

She was already starting to climb and there was still no sight of those turtles. Eloise was halfway up when she heard it. It was a cough—from down below.

Her heart had never stopped so fast—she jumped slightly before allowing her head to tilt down. Eloise's palms turned sweaty and she started having a much harder time holding onto the ladder grails.

Because down below, standing as casual as ever were four mutant turtles. They all had their heads tilted up to her, dumb little smiles painted across all their faces. It had been the blue one—Leo—who coughed.

"So..." he started, bouncing on his feet, "you from Jersey?" He snickered at the end, and Raph did the same.

It must have been some inside joke, but it made Eloise shutter and she started climbing much more desperately as well as quicker. Oddly enough, the turtles were not following, and they were making no moves to even touch the laddering.

Donnie was not even looking at her, but rather he was clicking a few buttons on his wrist touchpad. The screen illuminated his face ever so slightly giving him an almost mystical glow.

It was Mikey who tilted his head.

"Whatcha doing?" He hummed, as though truly not understanding why this girl was climbing up that ladder.

He was messing with her. He had to be. Obviously, he knew why...

And Eloise's thoughts came to a standstill, for when she made it to the top (and the turtles still made no move to follow her) she realized why they had been so calm. It was why Eloise should have looked harder when she started climbing, and it was why Eloise was about to cry.

Because at the top was no manhole covering—no it was a sewer grating. And it was not the open kind of sewer entrance either, the kind that allowed passage of objects. No, this was barred off—only small openings in the gratings.

It was already night out and everyone who passed by was in a rush—there was no chance for Eloise to be heard over the rushing off the traffic either.

Eloise's eyes widened in astonishment, she could not believe this. She haphazardly gripped the bars of the sewer and started shaking them, but alas there was not so much as a creak. Panic set in, and she did not dare look below.

She could hear Donatello addressing her, but she gave the turtle in purple no mind. Eloise did not focus on him in the slightest. Her phone suddenly slipped from her mouth, and she did not bother to look and see where it landed. Instead, with the flashlight now gone, her only light came from the moon and the rest of the city outside of the grates.

Eloise was crying now, jerking her body to try and break the bars. There was not a chance though, it only frustrated her further and made her struggles louder. While she was not screaming exactly, she was howling.

Not literally, obviously.

But the sounds of her cries and struggling could be heard by the turtles, the gritting of her teeth, and the actual fear in her form. It made Raph pause as well as the others.

Donnie had stopped trying to tell her that running was useless, and all four of them looked at each other. Slowly, the realization came across their faces and they shuttered. At first, they were sure she had to be a spy of Big Mama or the Foot. But now it was painfully obvious that she was a civilian who somehow ended up in their home.

No enemy of them would be acting like this. This was the pure panic of someone who had never crossed a yokai. It was the reaction that their father used to warn them about for years, so they understood why showing themselves to regular humans was a big no-no.

"Crap," it was Donnie who muttered it, all the others nodded along in agreeance.

In another second, because Eloise had been trying to move so wildly, she lost her footing and in seconds she was falling. This time, she really did give a loud screech, but there was nothing for her to grab onto. She closed her eyes, waiting for the harsh fall to come.

Perhaps this would kill her instantly, then she would join her mother and brother. It was a shame no one would know what truly happened to her though.

However, the turtle brothers fought villains for a living. They were not the kind to just allow someone to get hurt on their watch. Even Donnie, who claimed to have no emotions, hated hugs, and apparently has some sort of plan for world domination would never let a person die like this.

Especially because he knew that with her angle and velocity when she hit the ground she would either die or break dozens of bones in her body as well as acquire a concussion.

Leo was already trying to whip up a portal, but what a surprise, it did not work. That left Donnie.

In seconds, his battleshell thrusters activated and he was off the ground. He met the girl halfway, gripping her around her waist and clutching her close to his plastron. The height difference was relatively extreme as it was with most humans the turtles came across.

Already, Donatello could see that this teen girl only came up to his shoulders—if that.

He cursed himself and his brothers for thinking she was a spy. Obviously, she was not a spy.

Eloise was confused at first, but then she quickly realized just what had happened and who was holding her. She tilted her head up, her cheek rubbing against the plastron. She met warm brown eyes gazing down at her curiously.

It was the turtle in purple—Donnie. And he was apparently using that jetpack she had seen in his lab.

Cool!

Eloise clutched him tighter, allowing her fingers to graze over the green leather skin of the turtle. It was interesting. She had only ever held a turtle maybe once at a petting zoo, and she remembered the rough ridges of its skin and the hard shell it adorned.

Donnie was not like that.

Sure, his skin was rather leathery and rough, but it was not quite as rough as the wild turtles. Perhaps he used some sort of lotion? Or maybe that was just the way it was for humanoid turtle mutants?

Eloise did not notice the slight shiver Donnie got at her playful fingers.

Donnie's brothers were turtles with arguably rougher skin than his (perks of being a soft-shell) and his father a rat-man. April O'Neil was about the only human that was in their lives who did not try to kill them. But even with her being their best friend and practically sister, close contact included hugs and occasionally cuddles in the winter when the turtles (screw their cold blood) got too cold.

The cuddling was also a group deal normally.

All in all, never had April grazed Donnie's skin with such soft and curious gestures as this human girl was. Hell, Donnie was pretty sure he had never even held April this close or this intimately before. Yet, here he was with some random stranger, hovering over the ground with his jetpack and allowing her to stroke his form.

However, Donnie would be lying if he said the touch was not slightly calming. He would never admit that though.

Breaking eye contact with the sapphire-eyed girl, Donatello made sure to hold her tighter as his jetpack brought them lower. Creating a jetpack to work without a remote of sorts should be impossible, hell for the rest of the world it was. And yet, after years of hard work, Donatello actually did it.

Albeit, being the prodigy he was, he did start his calculations and first blueprints when he was five. But, if it worked it worked.

Soon, Donnie had touched the ground and the girl was still clutching onto him shaking like leaf. Although, an oddly wild grin beginning to write itself across her face. Catching sight of his self-proclaimed "twin brother", he scowled at the suggestive eyebrow Leonardo threw his way.

Rolling his eyes, Donnie got ahold of himself and released the girl while trying to take a step back. Unfortunately, the girl had other plans and did not let go of him, in fact, she clutched him tighter.

Donnie huffed and his hands awkwardly flapped about as he had no clue where to put them. It was then that his anti-social and introverted nature could not come out more.

"Uhm," he grunted, still flapping about with his hands and his mouth tilted downward, "you can let go of me now!"

Realizing that she was still holding the turtle, Eloise shot away from him and attempted to run in the other direction while also fighting against a wild grin. She had just flown with a jetpack! That was freaking awesome!

She made it three steps before she ran into a Leonardo, literally. Eloise groaned at the impact, taking a step back and rubbing her nose. His plastron was much harder than Donnie's and it did not feel good to hit her nose on.

Actually, any part of her face did not feel good to slam into.

"Hey, hey," Leo casually slung an arm over her shoulder, forcing her to turn around and walk with him back to his brothers, "where are you going, friend? Don't tell me you're leaving already!" He overdramatically motioned with his other arm, making sure to keep a tight grasp on her so she would not escape.

It was not that hard, because not only was Leonardo much bigger than she, but his mutant strength far outpowered her own. Eloise shivered as he pulled her tighter to his side, the side of his shell beginning to dig uncomfortably into her.

Leonardo spoke in a very cocky tone, and his voice was very distinguishable. All the brother's voices were. But Leo had a certain spunk to his tone that was unmatched by anyone. That same spunk was alive in every movement the terrapin made.

"Bro!" Raph threw his hands in the air, "you're scaring her!"

"Not any more than you are!"

"What do you expect? We're giant mutant turtles, most humans don't take too well to that,"

"Unless they're April!"

"Does she look like April to you?"

In seconds, the atmosphere changed to chaotic. Somehow, the four brothers managed to get into an argument, each raising their voice over another. It caused Eloise to gape in disbelief and in the midst, she had been forgotten—Leo's arm long gone as he faced off with Raph and Donnie.

Eloise took a careful step back followed by another one and another. She turned, intending to race away; however, before she could, she was stopped.

"Oh no you don't!"

Eloise screamed as a rope shot from somewhere behind her and hit her square in the back before wrapping around her arms. She cried while falling helplessly to the concrete ground, wiggling like a worm. Alas, the ropes were too tight and she was trapped.

Thankfully, she landed on her back, but upon tilting her head up—her face paled at the crackling of the electric bo-staff inches away from her face. Donnie stood at the other end of the staff, his goggles were drawn over his face.

"Who are you and from whence you came!?" He shouted in a crazy manner—the chaos only rising.

Eloise screamed in response.

"What the—? DONNIE!" Leo hollered in fright while Raph and Mikey stared at their purple psychotic brother with open mouths.

Donnie glanced back to his brothers in confusion before rolling his eyes.

"Dude!"

"Okay, geez, fine!" Donnie grumbled, pushing a near-invisible button and causing the electric part of his bo-staff to disappear.

He slowly pulled it away from the girl's face, staring down at her suspiciously. He cringed; however, at the wide-eyed fearful look, he got in response. Fine, so maybe being feared was not all it was cracked out to be.

He averted his gaze from the girl, "sorry," he muttered so quietly that literally nobody heard it.

Donnie stepped back, allowing Leo and Mikey to take the lead.

Eloise sighed in relief when the blue and orange-banded turtles hastily untied her. Mikey was the one to help her up, muttering an apology for his "completely psychotic brother". Elle was thankful to get off the sewer floors, cringing at the slight dampness to her clothing now. She did not want to think about how dirty that water on the ground had been.

"You know," Raph pinched the bridge of his nose, "after that, I can understand how some might perceive us as scary now," he said while delivering a pointed glare at Donnie.

Donnie shrugged in response.

"Makes it easier for me to work and be left alone in peace," he explained earning a groan from his brothers.

"Alright, let's cut the crap, are you working for either/or the Foot Clan, Big Mama, Meat Sweats, Repo Mantis, Hypno..." and like that, Leo started listing dozens upon dozens of names that Eloise had never heard.

Other than the few she heard on the News. The only thing she could think was how these mutants must have had a lot of enemies. Like damn, what number was the guy on? Fifty!

"Or potentially, has our father put you up to this to teach us another lesson?"

Okay, what the hell?

The turtle boys were all watching her, gauging her reaction. Eloise's brows furrowed with indignation.

"The fuck? Who even are those people? What even are those names? Like, what in the world is happening? All I did was dance in a damn grocery store..." since living in New York, Eloise was proud to say she had ditched her natural valley girlish way of talking. But as she spoke, her tone was panicked and she was beginning to freak out, it came back full force—almost like she was still in L.A. "and those god damn nasty security guards called the cops!"

"Like who even calls the cops for something like that? It was like so stupid!" She was about ready to sob at this point, her voice coming out much more high-pitched.

All the turtle boys threw long looks at each other, looking completely lost. The only human girl they had ever dealt with was April, and she definitely did not act like this. Is that a valley girl dialect?

It was nothing like April's strong Brooklyn accent. Donnie's grip tightened on his bo-staff as her voice became more high-pitched and panicked. He mentally cursed, this was the first signs of an incoming breakdown.

"And yes, okay, you left your damn car door unlocked—so I just hid inside...!"

"Wait," Donnie stopped her while the others looked at the girl incredulously, "you were in the turtle tank with us? You stowed away in our vehicle?!"

He was mostly alarmed because how the hell did none of them notice a whole ass person inside with them? Wow, Splinter really was right. The boys seriously did need to start being more aware of their surroundings.

"Yes! Keep up, Roger!"

Donnie's face contorted into something akin to offense. "Roger? My name is Donatello, and that is Donatello to you—!"

"I know that you idiot!" Eloise spat, now becoming a jumbled mess of emotions. "Why are you like even named, Donatello? Roger would fit you better!"

Donnie was making a multitude of faces at the girl: all ranging from flustered to upset to angry.

"Yeah, well I am not changing my name for youuuu..." Donnie said dramatically, holding out at the end, and Eloise quickly got the hint.

"My name is Elle!"

"...Elle!" Donnie finished with a harsh point in her direction.

"Wow," Leo placed a hand on his twin's shoulder, "it's like a match made in hell, Roger..." he teased.

Donnie growled, slapping Leo away who was laughing.

"You know what? It is now Othello Von Ryan to all of you!"

"Oh, please, do not start up with that again!" Leo slapped a hand to his forehead while Raph and Mikey booed Donnie from the background.

Donnie, on the other hand, stood stubbornly with his hands on his hips. It was quite the scene in the sewers, the say the least.

Eloise stood up, rubbing her head and mentally pulling herself together.

"Alright," she breathed, catching the attention of all four brothers, "let me get this straight. I am in the sewers, with four—"

It was Donnie to cut her off, a small almost unnoticeable smirk on his face. "Turtles,"

"Mutants," Raph piped with a helpful smile.

"Ninjas," Leo added in a cocky tone, swinging his Odāchi.

Mikey finished happily, "and don't forgot teenagers!"

"Okay, wow," Eloise was beginning to calm down as did the others.

"I know, I'm a lot to handle," Leo charmingly smiled, striking a pose only for Donnie to shove him down.

Leo yelped while Donnie smirked.

"Teenage..." Elle shook her head, and her words were soft and breathless, but the brothers easily picked up on them, "mutant ninja turtles..."

Leo's face perked up as did the others, and the blue-banded turtle was suddenly leaping for joy. He pointed to Elle excitedly, moving so he was next to her. Eloise yelled in shock when Leo grabbed her in his arms and spun her around. He lifted her like she was nothing, the tall terrapin smiling brightly at her.

"That's it! That is so it, guys!" He placed her back down before dancing around his brothers. "Teenage mutant ninja turtles! It had a ring, that is so it!"

His brothers watched him unimpressed, especially Raph who frowned.

"Eh, I still like Mad Dogs better," Raph shrugged while Leo rolled his eyes.

"Dude, that like doesn't even hold a candle to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!"

"Oh, whatever Leo!"

Eloise's head was still spinning, and she was trying to get a grasp on how Leonardo managed to lift her so high without batting an eyelash.

Raph held up his hand, stopping the classic arguments he and Leo tended to create. Red and blue would always go head-to-head. The huge alligator snapping turtle crossed his arms and turned to the proclaimed "Elle".

"Alright, Elle," he tested the name on his tongue, "some proper introductions. I'm Raphael—but you can call me Raph,"

"Leonardo—or just Leon, the latest and greatest baby," Leo flitted around her in an attention-seeking way.

"Michelangelo," Leon cried as Mikey shoved him out of the way to stand in front of Elle. She blinked in surprise. "But just call me Mikey!"

There was a long pause, and everyone turned to Donnie only to see him not paying attention. He was typing something quietly on his wristpad. Eventually, he glanced up, jumping at all the eyes deadset on him.

"What?" He asked in confusion, drawn-on brows furrowing.

Leon slapped his face and Mikey groaned while Raph rolled his eyes.

"You already know Donnie, anyway," Mikey waved off.

"That is Donatello to you though!"

Everyone ignored Donnie's sour words.

Elle tilted her head.

"Wait," she smiled, looking between all of them.

They watched her with fascination, wondering what she was about to say.

After a moment of biting her lip in thought, she finally voiced what was floating around her mind, "Are you all named after Italian Renaissance artists?"

"You know it, friend!" Mikey cheered. "And one day, my art will be just as great as the original Michelangelo!"

Donnie lost his previous attitude and was wearing a smile, "Yes, we are all named after some of the greatest Renaissance artists that the world knows..."

Leo's blue eyes lit up like the sun, "wait, I'm named after someone?"

His brothers all paused and turned to him, Donnie went quiet. He was frozen with his hand in the air, staring at Leo as though he was stupid.

"What? You're named after Leonardo da Vinci—not that there is any resemblance to your talents or mental state whatsoever..." Donnie muttered the last part quietly while Leo looked shocked.

"And when was anyone going to tell me this!? I'm named after Leonardo da Vinci, how cool!"

"What the—? We've known this since we were born, you—!"

Raph grabbed Donnie and placed a large hand over his mouth to stop the genius from cursing an amazed Leo out.

"To be fair, Don, we all thought we were named after our respective colors until like ten," Raph paused, "well everyone except you..."

Raph slowly let go of Donnie who shook his head with a groan. Elle was watching the scene unfold with amusement. Leonardo might just be her new form of entertainment. He had enough spunk and charisma to fill an entire stadium.

She laughed and it made the attention fall back on her. Shaking his head, Raph got back on point.

"Alright, first things, first—please don't tell anyone about us!" He stressed the last part and placed his hands in a prayer motion.

The other three nodded and threw her puppy eyes.

Elle jumped, "you guys can count on me, my lips are sealed," she made a locking motion with her mouth.

"See, I knew we could trust her!" Leon chirped, casually leaning on his hip.

"Alright good, for obvious reasons no one can know about us," Donnie explained, peering down at her with the most obnoxiously complacent look Elle had ever seen—and it ground her gears, "and since you've, oh-so-kindly agreed to keep the secret," he said that part sarcastically, "we bid you a kind farewell and hope that our paths never cross again...!"

Elle was lost for a moment before the situation caught up to her.

"Wait what?"

Leo and Mikey actually looked slightly sad, Donnie went back to his wristpad, and Raph looked guilty.

"Sorry, our life isn't exactly the safest, and with our situation, it's just better that we don't interact in any way apart from this..." he was rubbing the back of his neck guilty.

Donnie suddenly looked up from his tech, "and tell absolutely no one of you ever even peeking in the sewers," he pointed to her seriously, "there are some nasty mutants out there who will not hesitate to get this information out of you should they ever find out you know," his warning was not light, and his warm brown eyes were intense.

It made shivers run down her back. She briefly wondered what those eyes might look like if they were so intensely focused in a different way.

"Gotcha," she gave an awkward thumbs-up.

Donnie nodded, but his attention was quickly taken to the way the girl nervously ran her fingers through the ends of her hair. Her hair was not all that long, stopping at her shoulders, but it was certainly colored interestingly.

Definitely purple, perhaps with a tint of blue.

And before he knew it, "is your hair purple?"

Why-oh-why did he just ask that? He mentally cursed himself, but it was too late to back out now.

Elle's eyes widened in surprise at the nice tone this previously sarcastic turtle had gained. She was quick to try and respond, but her response was cut off by said turtle's brother.

"No way, that is so blue!"

Donnie glared hotly at Leo. "No, that is purple, Leon..."

"Blue," and Leo lightly thwacked Donnie on the back of his head.

Donnie glared, slapping him back a little harder, "purple!"

They were now in a slap-fight, screaming "purple" and "blue" over the top of each other, continuously getting louder as to outdo the other.

"Enough!" Raph snapped, something he rarely did (but this was just too stupid).

Thankfully, it made the two immediately cease all action and stare at Raph in surprise. The red-banded turtle ignored them and turned to a bemused Elle.

"Nice meetin' ya! But you need to go, c'mon, I'll take you to the nearest manhole covering, it's just up ahead," he motioned for her to follow.

With a wave toward Mikey and Leo, Donnie did not wave only stared intensely—Elle followed after their older brother.

"Arrivederci, human!"

Elle turned around, only to find it was Donnie who spoken in that odd but alluring tone of his. Leo and Mikey both nudged him but Donatello snickered in response.

It was an odd way to say goodbye, but surprisingly enough, Elle actually knew what that word meant.

"Arrivederci" happened to be one of her favorite words at that. It was an Italian phrase for goodbye, but it could also mean till we meet again.

Donatello most likely intended to use it for the first meaning, but Elle was quite fond of "till we meet again". She preferred it to be used that way, and so—even if that is not how Donnie meant it—that is how Elle decided to take it.

She figured it suited him—he was named after an Italian artist, after all.

In milli-seconds, and Eloise honestly did not know how this phrase popped into her head. She took Spanish Freshman year, and that was it—she had never learned any other foreign language. Especially not French, but somehow, it was a French phrase that popped into her head.

Even more surprisingly, even though she had never learned French, that very phrase slipped out. And in the most perfect of French accents, Eloise pronounced a gracious...

"Au Revoir, monsieur!"

Internally, she was shocked, there was not a cringy or rough American accent that butchered the soft syllables of French. In fact, if she did not know herself, she might even be able to pass for a native French girl with that ease.

Truthfully, there was no reason that she should have known the meaning behind her words. Au Revoir was a rough equivalent to arrivederci, it meant "goodbye until we meet again" in French.

Monsieur was translated to sir.

However, Elle was unable to be confused by her own smart words for the look on Donnie's face was priceless. He blinked in surprise, but it appeared that he knew the meaning behind her words.

Firstly, he was not expecting her to even know what arrivederci meant. Let alone for her to respond back with a similar meaning in a completely separate language.

Donatello did not speak much French. He was fluent in Japanese (all the brothers were), Spanish (Leo spoke most of it as well), but Donnie taught himself Latin and a bit of French. He had been too busy the past few months to get back into learning the foreign language once again, but it was definitely on his to-do list.

At the smile on Elle's face, Donnie realized that he had allowed his "emotionless bad boy persona" to fall for he was staring at her curiously. He fixed this, making his face go blank.

It was too late, Elle smirked knowing she got under the mad genius's shell. Turning around to face Raph, she hurried after him leaving the other three brothers. She turned around briefly but was surprised to see all three of them already gone.

As though they had never been there in the first place.

New thoughts suddenly occupied her mind, and that was just what she was going to tell her Aunt Taylor.