We hide behind a structure just down the road from the laboratory. The moon is very low in the sky, warning us that morning will be arriving soon. We need to get in and out before then, otherwise we run a higher risk of getting caught.

   "What's the plan?" I ask Donatello. I don't bother leaving it up to Leonardo to make the decision. I'm not prepared to hear more of his negativity.

   Donatello looks uncomfortable that I put pressure on him. He glances at Slash and Leatherhead. "You two should wait out here," he suggests. "No offense, but it will be hard to sneak in if you guys follow us. But we could certainly use your help to break us out if we get caught."

   Slash nods once, while Leatherhead says, "As long as you destroy the Kraang tech, I will do anything to help."

   Donatello looks at April, Casey, Elizabetta, Charlotte, and Lucy. "If you five could disguise yourselves in lab coats, it would help us sneak in."

   Elizabetta frowns. "That's a great idea, Donnie, but where as we going to get the lab coats?"

   "Knock a dude out and steal his clothes!" Michelangelo blurts out happily, as if it's the nicest thing in the world.

   Lucy looks horrified.  "But that's mean!" she protests in her soft voice.

   "The Shredder isn't being too nice to us," I remind the blonde girl sharply, who flinches at my coldness.

   "I am not wearing some old guy's filthy clothing," Charlotte mumbles in agreement.

   Casey nudges Charlotte's arm with his elbow. "C'mon, sis! It'll be fun!" he encourages.

   "No," Charlotte disagrees stubbornly.

   I growl and hold a fist up towards her. "You'll do what Donnie says, or we'll leave you behind for the Shredder to take again!"

   Charlotte looks appalled. She slaps my fist to the side angrily.

   "Raph!" Casey breaks in to stop me from retaliating. "Leave her alone. It's not like she's done this before."

   Donatello shoos us all away from each other. "Yeah, uh, can we stay on topic, please? We don't have much time before the morning shift arrives. We should get in and out while there aren't many scientists around."

   Lucy lets out a small puff of air, clearing giving in.  "Stay here, ok?" she whispers to Lilac, who wags her tail and sits down obediently.

   We all look at Leonardo, instinctively waiting for him to give the order. He stares at us blankly for a moment, before saying, "Uh, go."

   We all follow Leonardo. We stick closer to the shadows as we creep up on the building. Four scientists are walking out of the front doors, chatting about something too technical for me to understand.

   "Grab 'em!" I whisper.

   Michelangelo and I leap out of the darkness and take them all down in one swift movement. We stash them in some bushes and rip off their lab coats. We hand them to Casey, April, Elizabetta, and Charlotte.

   "Just need one more," Donatello says. He glances at Leonardo. "You want the next one?" he asks.

   Leonardo just shakes his head.

   I exchange glances with Donatello and shrug. If he doesn't want the chance to knock someone out, then I won't force him.

   "I got it, then," Donatello volunteers. He readies himself as another scientist walks out. He puts the guy out quickly, hides him in a bush, and tosses the lab coat to Lucy.

   "Just so you all know, I don't approve of this violence," Lucy murmurs, though she is too afraid to meet anyone's gaze.

   "Use the identification badges in the coats to unlock the front doors," Donatello orders the three of them.

   April nods. She is the first one to come out of hiding. She walks casually to the front door, flashing a badge at a control panel. The doors immediately slide open and April waves us over.

   Casey and Charlotte follow her closely, with Elizabetta and Lucy close behind.  Us turtles take up the back. We slip inside right after the humans and roll off to hide behind some plants.

   The lobby is pretty large. There's a seating area, a set of two elevators on either side of the room, and a 'Customer Service' counter in the middle. All of it is painted in modern colors of blue and green.

   Casey walks right up to the man sitting at the counter. He has a short conversation about the weather to the man. That is our cue to race to one of the elevators.

   I lead the way with the others falling behind. I press a button and impatiently wait for the doors to open. Once the gap is wide enough to fit through, I race inside with my brothers piling after me.

   Casey makes a quick end to the conversation and jumps into the elevator with us.  April and Elizabetta come in right after him, making the area cramped. Finally, Charlotte and Lucy cram inside. Donatello presses a button and the elevator begins to rise.

   I have never been so relieved to get out of an elevator before. Being so close to Michelangelo's butt made me mentally write my death note. One blast and I am done for.

   I scan the hallway, but it turns up empty. Several different doors line the walls, each labeled with a different number.

   "Which door, brainiac?" I whisper.

   Donatello's eyes are fixed on a door at the end of the hallway. "Um, I'm going to guess the one that says 'Foreign Technology Analysis'."

   "Well, that's oddly specific," April comments.

   We sneaks down the hallway. We stay as close to the walls as we can. I can only hope that the security cameras aren't being monitored, as there is no real place to take cover if we get caught.

   I break the door down and whip out my sais. Five scientists turn around, their eyes wide with surprise.

   "What the-?" one of them gasps.

   "Take 'em down!" I command when Leonardo refuses to say it himself.

   We all race towards the scientists. They instantly remove some familiar laser guns from their pockets and start shooting at us.

   "Kraang guns!" Donatello exclaims as he dodges a laser beam. He uses his bo-staff to knock his offender off of his feet. The man's head hits the floor and he passes out.

   I smack the laser gun out of another man's hand and it crashes to the floor. I flip the guy flat on his back. He twitches and then falls unconscious.

   I look around to see that the rest of the scientists have been knocked out cold as well.

   Donatello is already sifting through the equipment. "Guys, this is incredible! It's like they're using the technology to create some kind of robots," he explains, his russet eyes wide with amazement.

   I flick a weird-looking gadget to the side. "And that's incredible because why? I've seen enough robots to last me a lifetime," I snort.

   "No, this is different," Donatello replies. He flips through some notes sitting on a desk. "They're creating robots to take the place of police officials around the city."

   "Like I said, I've seen enough robots," I grumble.

   Charlotte stands off to the side, leaning against a wall with her arms crossed. "Who cares what they're doing with the Kraang stuff? Just destroy it so we can leave," she complains.

   A sudden thought occurs to me. "Hey, Don. If we blew up the Kraang, how could this place have 'aliens' written all over it?" I question.

   Donatello eyes me as he realizes what I'm saying. "That wouldn't make sense, unless we didn't get rid of all the Kraang..."

   Elizabetta shudders. "I don't know about you all, but this place is reminding me a lot of TCRI," she says as she glances around. "I don't like the feeling I'm getting here."

   "All the more reason to leave!" Charlotte insists.

   I narrow my eyes at her. She is acting more panicked than usual. "Why are you in such a hurry to leave?" I ask suspiciously.

   Charlotte glares back at me. "I just don't want to get arrested for breaking and entering," she snaps defensively.

   "Don't fight..." Lucy whispers, her gray eyes glancing from each of us nervously.

   I curl my lip and threateningly walk towards her. "I think you're hiding something," I say.

   "Well, I'm not," she retorts, shrinking away from me for once.

   "Then why-" I start to snarl back at her, but I am interrupted by an excited noise from Michelangelo.

   "Look at this, dudes!" The orange-clad turtle is standing in a bowl-like structure. A piece that looks like a showerhead dangles from the ceiling directly above him.

   We all just stare at him.

   "I'm a human taking a shower!" Michelangelo says proudly, pretending to wash his non-existent hair. A button on the side of the structure catches his attention. "Oooh, I wonder what this does?"

   "No! Don't press-" Elizabetta starts to object, but she's too late.

   Our youngest brother taps the button, and liquid that looks exactly like mutagen starts to pour out of the showerhead, covering him. Michelangelo yells in pain as the liquid covers him.

   Fear gripping me, I leap forward to help, but Leonardo and Donatello hold me back.

   "Mikey, no!"