Raphael woke up in a cold sweat, his heart punching against his rib cage with each panicked beat and every desperate gasp for air. Though he couldn't recall much from his nightmare, the teenager could remember the feeling of terror that seemed to devour any shred of safety or comfort from the hellscape he'd witnessed.

The subject of nightmares was something that differed in meaning and substance to each brother.

To Donnie, bad dreams were a thing of science with simple causes and solutions. They were just chemicals in your head triggered by situations in your life with a plethora of ways to remedy them. Yoga, certain scents, food or -only in desperate scenarios- sleeping medication were all resources the scientist believed could get rid of scary dreams at night.

From Leo's perspective, they were hidden messages the universe could possibly be sending in times of need. Guidance, advice, whatever you'd like to call it- the blue-masked turtle believed nightmares to be lessons, blessings in disguise, or most-likely warnings for troubles ahead.

Mikey on the other hand thought that all of his nightmares were real and usually needed hours of convincing from his brothers or sensei that everything was alright. At least, that's what it used to be like with the youngest turtle when they were all little. Now that he'd matured, albeit a minuscule amount, Mikey seemed to not have nightmares as often or did a good job of talking himself into calming down without his brothers' help.

Raph's philosophy on the matter was almost non-existent. Over the past fifteen years of his life, Raphael couldn't recall ever having nightmares. And if he had, they hadn't frightened the boy enough to remember them. 'Scary' just wasn't a word he associated with the visions and scenarios that ran rampant through his subconscious at night.

At least, not til last night.

But he had no other option; Raph would have to swallow his current anxiety. Considering how long he'd bragged about his immunity to frightening dreams whenever they watched a horror movie, there was no way he could talk about it to his brothers. Being the proud person he was, Raph had no choice but to shake the dream from his mind and climb out of bed.

The subject of his thoughts shifted dramatically when the sound of music began to slide into his room. From the small gap between his bedroom door and the floor, Raph could catch a few song lyrics here and there but decided to step out into the living area to investigate further.

Or, more accurately, to beat some sense into Mikey for turning his music up so loud at such an early hour.

For all Mikey knew, everyone else was probably still asleep and he was going to wake them all up from their rest with this noise. It wasn't even the kind of music Mikey usually listened to; Mikey was a fan of hip-hop, rap, all that modern crap 'regular teens' were listening to these days. Not 70's-era tunes like 'Old Time Rock and Roll', which seemed to be the song of choice as the ninja-turtle closed his bedroom door behind him and began his walk towards the kitchen.

"Mikey, do you have any idea how early-"

As Raphael rounded the corner to see kitchen area of their home, his words were cut short as his eyes took in the scene before him.

Seated at the island were Donnie and Leo, both looking more chipper than they usually did in the mornings. The duo sat next to each other, holding forks as they dove into the piles of eggs, bacon and pancakes that had been prepared for them. Despite obviously enjoying the meal before them, their gaze never left the duo standing at the stove, casually singing along with the lyrics and bouncing around the island with the rhythm.

It was a bit odd to witness such a mellow, almost merry tone from their new friend, considering the circumstances. If one of his brothers had been kidnapped, he definitely wouldn't be humming as he poured pancake batter onto a skillet. Maybe it was just a human thing, or this was how she coped with stress. Either way, it was still a weird scene.

"Good morning, bro!" Mikey hollered triumphantly, clad in his favorite Gordon Ramsay apron. Donnie had made it for Mikey last Christmas; he wore it for the entire month of January til Master Splinter finally told the turtle that he'd "turn him into an idiot sandwich" if he wore it to another training session. "Have some hot 'cakes, dude. They're so tasty! And circle-y!"

"I believe the word you're looking for is 'circular'," Donnie corrected through a mouthful of eggs, which made his words sound a little more like 'Eyh buhlive duh ward yer luckin for es 'irkuler'."

"Yes, 'irkuler'," Leo joked as he and Echo let out a string of chuckles at Don's garbled words. Raph walked over to the open seat next to Donnie and locked eyes with Echo for a short moment, long enough to exchange small smiles with rosy cheeks before the red-masked turtle started eating and the girl returned to making pancakes.

"What's the celebration?" Raphael questioned as he took a strip of bacon in his fingers and bit it in half with a satisfying crunch.

"New friendship, bro! Duh!" The youngest of the teens exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, waving around a spatula like a police baton.

"And the fact that I managed to track April's phone last night," Donnie explained once he'd swallowed his food. "With some help from Echo and her own cell phone, we'll be able to drive out to where she and her father are being held."

"Drive? How are we going to drive when we don't have anything to drive? Where are we going to get a car?" Raph asked, stabbing his eggs with his fork and taking a bite.

"That's another part of the plan provided by our new friend," Donnie stated and the turtles turned to face the girl at the stove as she poured the last of the batter onto the skillet for one final pancake.

"April's dad has an old hippie van sitting in a storage unit a few blocks from their apartment. He hasn't used it since our last vacation upstate, so he won't miss it," She flipped the pancake when one side seemed cooked enough. "Plus if using it is the only way we'll get them back, I'm sure he'll get over it if it gets a little dinged up."

"Then I'll be able to prove to you guys that the brain-aliens really do exist!" Mikey proclaimed for the entire kitchen and his brothers groaned in annoyance.

Mikey hadn't stopped talking about the "brain-aliens" the entire way back to the lair. Considering all the times the youngest of the bunch said he'd seen leprechauns, mermaids, and unicorns frolicking through the sewers, it was probably safe to say that it was just his over-reactive imagination. It usually got that bad around Halloween after chocolate and other sugary candy would fall through the sewer grates, giving Mikey the perfect opportunities to get high off of KitKats, Snickers, Air-Heads and Starbursts.

Raph was more of a classic Hershey kind of guy.

"Aliens?" Echo was the first to speak after Mikey's proclamation. It took half a second for the guys to remember what she'd told them about conspiracies that previous night. She shrugged and slid the last pancake onto Donnie's plate as she spoke. "If what Mikey said about you guys is true, how you were mutated by some strange chemical-"

"Mutagen," The nerdiest turtle politely informed her. "We call it mutagen." Don said with a small smile, but couldn't see it when Raph swung his hand to the back of Donnie's head for a signature 'shut up' smack. "Ow!"

"Mutagen," Echo repeated and continued. "If your story is true, then isn't there a possibility that mutagen could be from a different planet? I mean, if our government had created it fifteen years ago then why haven't they used it for modern war yet? An army of mutants varying in animal types could wipe out any overseas enemy almost overnight, don't you think?"

"That's a good point," Leo nodded after finishing off his breakfast. "Although I feel like PETA and other animal rights activist societies might have another thing to say about experimentation on that level."

"Not if they never found out, or didn't believe it was happening," Raph interjected, wanting to add his say in this suddenly-sophisticated conversation. "The idea of creating a mutant army would sound more like the plot to a science-fiction movie than an actual threat."

"Yes, I completely agree, dudes," Before any of his brothers or Echo could react, Michelangelo leaped up onto the kitchen table, barely missing the plates of food with his feet. In an instant, Mikey triumphantly placed his left hand on his hip before lifting his right hand and pointing his finger to the ceiling, continuing with this strange new British-esque voice he'd adopted. "If modern technology hasn't found the cure to cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, asthma, or polio, then the odds of society taking the notion of a magic slime capable of altering a living organism's DNA into a whole new creature seriously are almost zero."

The four of them exchanged surprised expressions among each other. although his brothers were the most shocked out of everyone in the room.

"What? I can be smart sometimes, too," Mikey folded his arms defensively, tapping his toe with impatience. Granted, Mikey did have some moments here and there where he showed a strange amount of intelligence in comparison to his normal every-day sum of smarts, though none of them had lasted long enough to produce a four-syllable word.

"Michelangelo!"

As if by instinct, the group tensed up and Echo turned off the music, stopping 'YMCA' in the middle of its third "Young man," as Master Splinter made his way from the dojo. Despite the early hour, the mutant rat was dressed and looking just as alert as he'd been last night. No morning cup of coffee needed.

"What have I said about standing on the table?" Mikey jumped down before the words even left the sensei's mouth and nervously locked his hands behind his back.

"To not to," The youngest of the bunch replied, his guilty eyes finding a spot on the floor. "Sorry, Sensei. Won't let it happen again." Splinter gave a curt nod in response, then turned his gaze to the girl and his other sons.

"Good morning, I trust from this happy tone that you all slept well?" Echo nodded, as well as the four turtles. The rat lifted his nose into the air and sniffed. "Bacon? Eggs?" He raised an eyebrow.

"We're celebrating," Leo explained. "We've come up with a plan to save April and her father. We're going out again tonight to rescue them." It was a short story, but Splinter didn't need the details to know that his sons were doing the right thing and felt a wave of pride wash over his heart.

"Very good, my sons," He praised as Mikey handed him a plate of food of his own, then Mikey handed one to Echo.

"I can pick up the van as soon as we're done eating," The girl said and began to dine on the breakfast she and Mikey had prepared. "I have to snag the keys from April's apartment first, then go downtown to the storage facility, so it'll take me an hour or two. But if I leave right away, I can have the van ready for you by tonight."

"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Donnie asked. "We don't know if the guys who took your friend are looking for you. They might be watching her apartment in case you go back." Echo chewed and swallowed her food.

"You guys can follow me through the sewers if you want and keep an eye out," It wasn't much of a plan, but she didn't want to be stuck in their home for much longer and picking up their hippy car was the best excuse she had. "That way if I get jumped, you can help."

"But we can't go out in the daylight," Leo stated. Mikey nodded in agreement, his chef hat almost sliding off his head. "We could be seen by humans. It's not safe for us-"

"I'll do it."

All eyes turned to Raph as he shoveled the last of his eggs and bacon into his mouth, then swallowed and stood up from his seat. Echo sent him a small smile, finishing her food as well and he folded his arms over his plastron.

"Since the rest of you sissies are too scared, I can go and make sure Echo is safe. You three can stay here and get ready for the fight." Before any of them could argue, Echo nodded and began to head for the door.

"Sounds good to me, thanks for the breakfast!" She called over her shoulder, then disappeared into the sewers with Raphael in tow.