*3rd POV*

The turtles ran across a roof, while Mikey skated across it. "Yeah, bro!" Mikey said before they all leaped off the roof and went into a manhole cover all cheering and stuff. When they got inside, they began sliding down one of the tunnels.

They slid around happily, and they ran through the tunnels too. But once they got to the tunnel they were supposed to go through, they all tried to get through at once, only to get stuck. Leo, Raph and Donnie were all facing inward, while Mikey was facing outward. 

Mikey let out a fart chuckling. All the turtles groaned at the smell as it was disgusting. "Mikey, was that you?" Donnie asked disgusted. Mikey chuckled again. "Pepperoni." Mikey said as they kept struggling. 

*My POV*

We were April's room while she was tearing her closet apart. "Leonardo. We know those names. We know those names. Raphael, Raphael. Leonardo." April said before she found the box. EC, KC and I quickly joined her sides as she dumped out our fathers old lab stuff.

I got a file and opened it to show the fire that killed our Dads. We found something with the name 'Project Renaissance' on it and looked through it to see if there was an answer in there. But as we were going through the pages, we came across the symbol we found on the shipping container. 

We gasped. As KC dumped the rest of the stuff out of the box, we found our old video camera. We quickly grabbed one of the tapes and put it in the camera. "Good evening. This is April O'Neil, Erwina Chee, Isabella Marie and KC." Young April say. 

"Reporting live from our Daddy's lab. I know it sounds pretty boring, but actually, they do some pretty cool stuff." Young KC say. We smiled softly. "Time to put the camera away, girls." We heard my Dad say.

"Aw, Dad!" Young Me say, before we watched another tape. "And now, we will show you something amazing. It's supposed to be from a different planet in outer space!" Young EC explained but I paid closer attention to it.

"Mutagen." I mumbled to myself as I glanced to my back before looking back at the video camera. "Here we go. Ah!" We heard Sacks say as he gave a turtle some of the mutagen. "Mr. Sacks, what sort of experiments are you doing here?" Young us asked. 

Our Dads and Sacks chuckled. "That's a very complicated question. We're trying to change the world." Younger Sacks said. "Look at the camera!" Young KC said. "Hello, Splinter." Young April said in the video as it showed a lab rat.

We looked through more of the tapes, and I picked one up that was named Leonardo. I quickly put it into the camera, and we watched it. "And these are our little turtles, Leonardo." Young Me said as I gently pet Leonardo.

"Raphael." Young KC said as she pet Raphael. "Michelangelo." Young EC said smiling. "And Donatello." Young April said smiling as well. "The fans want to see you!" Young April said as it showed all four turtles together. 

Young KC had her finger up to the glass, but little Raphael slammed his head against it, cracking the glass, causing the younger us to back away. April began gasping. "We knew it." EC said smiling, and we looked up to see Taylor.

"The vigilante, I saw him. I saw them! I saw them. We've known them since we were little girls. They were our pets. They were our childhood pets, and they were named after Italian Renaissance painters." April told Taylor as she kept going through stuff.

EC, KC and I helped but listened to what Taylor said into her phone. "Mom, I wanna move back home." We heard Taylor say, and we rolled our eyes as she walked away from the door and into another room.

*3rd POV*

The turtles quietly opened a door. "Is he here?" Raph whisper. "I don't see him. Donnie?" Leo whispered. "My thermal scans indicate there's a 74% variable that there's a 61% chance he's not--" Donnie whispered but he was cut off.

"That he's not here, guys. That he's not here." Mikey whispered. "Okay. Fall in... quietly." Leo said before they all jumped down. Leo, Raph and Donnie landed quietly while Mikey...not so much. He landed loudly, causing his brothers to look at him.

"Dude." Raph whispered. They quietly made their way to the weapons wall to put their weapons away. "So, guys, if it wasn't already obvious with that O'Neil girl, dibs." Mikey said as he pointed to himself. Raph and Leo shushed him, but also glad he didn't want Izzy or KC.

"If Master Splinter catches us, he'll send us back to the Ha'shi." Leo whispered. "I ain't going back to the Ha'shi." Raph whispered as they put their weapons away. "Every time we're in the Ha'shi, it's because of you." Leo said as he lightly shoved Raph's shoulder.

"Well, bro, you won't have to worry about me dragging you down anymore." Raph said as he shoved Leo's face lightly. "What's that supposed to mean?" Mikey asked as he got in Raph's face. Raph shoved him away.

"I'm going out on my own. First chance I get." Raph said as they put their weapons up. "How are we gonna finish our hip-hop Christmas album, bro? You're the hype man!" Mikey said a little too loudly, causing them all to shush each other. 

They kept shushing each other and telling each other to shut up. "You spit in my eye." Raph whisper yelled to Mikey as he shushed Donnie. "Shh! He's not going anywhere. We all stick together." Leo whispered.

"Sorry I spit in your eye bro." Mikey apologized to his older brother. "Shut up." Raph whispered to him. "Guys? Guys. We got a bogey." Donnie said when suddenly a flashlight was shining on them, causing them to keep facing the wall, knowing they were screwed.

Splinter used his tail to grab Leo by his leg, tripping him. Leo grunts. "Where have you been?" Splinter asked. "We weren't..." Raph tried to say, but Splinter grabbed him by the throat lifting him up before dropping him.

"I forgot to soak my retainer." Donnie said trying to run off, but he was also tripped. "I'm totally sleepwalking! Look, Mikey's sleeping and walking. He's totally innocent." Mikey said as the others groan. Splinter trips Mikey as well.

"Enough! You disobeyed a direct order. Why did you go above ground? What happened?" Splinter demanded but he got no answer from any of them. "Very well. If that's how it's going to be, to the Ha'shi!" Splinter declared, making the turtles groan. 

*My POV*

EC, KC and I were watching April put all the clues up on the board as we were waiting for Thompson. I was drinking some coffee, watching all this play out with EC and KC. Thompson suddenly walked in. 

"O'Neil! All right, what was so important I had to get here?" Thompson asked as she looked at April. "Okay. Are you ready?" April asked. "Yeah." Thompson said. "Okay. *clears throat* You know how I saw the vigilante?" April asked.

"Yeah." Thompson said. "But I had no photos or evidence to show you, so I just sounded crazy." April said. "Yes." Thompson said a little excited. "Okay. But I saw him again. Well, I didn't see him again, I saw them, because there's four. There's not just one, there's four. And I was standing as close to them as you are to me right now." April explained.

"She does know that Leonardo said not to tell anyone right?" I whispered to KC and EC who nodded. "What'd they look like?" Thompson asked excited. "I'll show you." April said, before pointing to a picture of a turtle.

I facepalmed as I let KC have a sip of my coffee. "What?" Thompson asked confused. "Like this." April said tapping the picture. "Like turtles?" Thompson asked confused. "Well, they don't look like turtles because they are turtles. They're over six feet tall and they speak English." April said as Thompson just looked at her like she was crazy.

April sighed. "Oh, my God." Thompson said as she turned away. "I was awake all night, please look, I was awake all-night googling all of the thwarted crimes over the past three months and this symbol appeared at every single one. Look. Every single one of them. This one, look. Here, here, here, here, here, here. And it's an ancient Japanese symbol that means--" April said but couldn't remember.

"Family." EC, KC and I said for her. "Yes! Family, it means family." April said. "Oh, my God..." Thompson said as she held her head. "Wait, it's on my laptop." April said as she went to grab it. "I can't believe you brought me in to do this!" Thompson said with a laugh. 

"Here. It's... it's here, it's here." April said as Thompson sighs. "We're dead aren't we?" KC asked and EC and I simply nodded. "This is our fathers lab. This is the same lab where these things were born, or...or...or created, or mutated, or...I don't know the terminology, but will you please just look at what I'm showing you and listen to me? It's all connected. The turtles are the vigilantes, and the vigilantes are these turtles." April said.

"She just said the same sentence twice." EC whispered and KC and I nodded as I sipped my coffee. April showed her a video of younger us feeding Raph pizza. "I just want to be clear. You are now telling me that there are four six-foot talking turtles walking around New York City, and no one has seen them but you and these three?" Thompson asked pointing to EC, KC and I.

"That's what I'm telling you." April said. Thompson chuckles. "I don't mean to laugh, but is there anything else we should know about them?" Thompson asked. "They're ninjas." April said. "I'm sorry, what?" Thompson asked. 

"And they do karate." April said. "Okay, get out." Thompson said, and now the four of us were walking out of Channel 6 holding a box of our stuff. April sniffles as she was crying. We walked out of the building only to hear a voice.

"Girls!" We heard Vern say as we turned to him. "Damn it..." EC and I mumbled. "It could have been worse." Vern said. "We just got fired, Vern. How could it be worse?" April hissed at him. "Maybe it's good. Maybe you should take a little time, take care of yourself." Vern said.

"Oh, you piece of--" I went to say, but KC covered my mouth. "Come on, let me give you guys a ride." Vern said. "Not unless you're going to the Eric Sacks' estate." April said before we began walking off. 

"Girls...hey." Vern said. "I'm not giving up on this story." April said as Vern got in front of us. "You gotta put that to bed." Vern said to us. I got in his face. "Would all those other great reporters that you worked with, would they have 'put it to bed'?" I asked in a pissed off tone.

"No. That's different." Vern said. "How is it different?!" KC and EC yelled. "They all started exactly where we are, right?" April asked before Vern took her box. "I'm not driving the Channel 6 news van onto the Sacks estate." Vern said as we walked towards his van.

"Who asked you to do that?" April asked. "Uh, you did. And a 'thanks' would have been nice." Vern said. "Maybe one day you're gonna be thanking us." April said as we all got into the van. "So, what do you want with Eric Sacks?" Vern asked confused. 

"Our dads used to work for him. He's the only person that's gonna be able to tell me whether or not we're crazy." April said as we all got seated. "Crazy about what?" Vern asked. "We don't need you to laugh at us, also." EC said annoyed. 

"Oh, come on, girls. This is the Fenwick Express. It's a judgement-free zone, a cocoon of safety." Vern said as he looked at us. "Promise?" We all asked hopefully. "I'm insulted that you would suggest otherwise." Vern said before starting the engine. 

*3rd POV*

"Ooh, 11 hours in the Ha'shi. Are you sure none of you want to tell me where you were last night?" Splinter asked as Leo was doing the splits, holding two eggs on chopsticks, while having one on his head.

Raph was knitting while standing on a tricycle. Donnie was standing on a board that was supposed to be spinning as he was hitting a ping-pong ball back in forth. While Mikey was doing a handstand on a spinning chair.

"How you holding up fellas?" Leo asked as Splinter snapped his tail against Raph's leg, causing him to hiss in pain. "Ah! I ain't breaking if Donnie ain't breaking." Raph said as he was focused on his knitting.

Donnie was whimpering. "Experiencing intense nausea but not breaking." Donnie said before used his tail to spin the board he was on faster. "Guys? I'm in the zone! There is literally nothing that could break me right now!" Mikey said.

But he spoke to soon, as Splinter threw a box of pizza on the space in the middle. "Starting to break." Mikey said as he began shaking. "Of course, you've all tasted the five-cheese pizza. But this, cheese-mongers have speculated of its existence for centuries. Da Vinci's original masterpiece. I submit to you..." Splinter said before opening the box and said something in Italian.

"The 99-cheese pizza." Splinter said in English. "Oh! It's not possible." Mikey said. "Mikey, it's a trap! A pizza with that variety of cheese is a culinary impossibility!" Donnie said. "Shall I list the ingredients?" Splinter asked holding one of the pieces of pizza.

"No." Mikey whispered. "Cheddar." Splinter said. "Leo." Mikey called out. "Provolone." Splinter said. "Mikey, don't you do it!" Leo hissed. "Asiago." Splinter said. "Keep it together!" Donnie begged. 

"Taleggio." Splinter said as he went closer to Mikey. "I don't even know what that is." Mikey said softly as he stared at the pizza. "Mozzarella, of course." Splinter said. "All right, alright, all right! We left the lair because the Foot were taking hostages and we kicked some serious butt, and there was these girls named April O'Neil, Erwina Chee, Isabella Petry and Kawai-Chan who took our picture, *gasping* but we took care of it." Mikey said all in one breath.

"Idiot." Raph said. "Oh, no, my worse fears have been realized." Splinter said as he lowered the pizza. "Don't worry about it. Donnie erased the picture. We're not in danger." Leo said. "No. It's April O'Neil, Erwina, Isabella and Kawai-Chan who is in danger!" Splinter said as Mikey took the pizza from him.

"Ha!" Mikey said as he took it. "Find the girls. Bring them here." Splinter demanded. "But, sensei, you said not to go..." Donnie said but was cut off. "Find the girls!" Splinter demanded. "Find the girls." Mikey said smiling. Splinter gave him a look.

*My POV*

We had just got done explaining to Vern about April's story. "That's what we told Thompson, and she fired us." April said as we finished. "So, they're aliens?" Vern asked. "No, dumbass. That's stupid. They're reptiles." I hissed. 

"They help people, I guess." KC said softly. "Heroes in the half-shell." Vern said. "Okay." EC said. "Come on. It's not that crazy. I... the animal kingdom is full of... I used to have a dog that could moonwalk." Vern said as we were approaching Sacks' estate. 

Vern stopped and we got out. "Thanks for the ride, Vern." April said softly. "Yeah. No problem." Vern said as we got out and began walking to the gates. "You think he'd learn." I whispered to EC and KC. 

"Nothing better than dropping off four pretty girls at a rich guys' house." I heard Vern say sarcastically. We walked to the gate and April pressed the intercom button. "Hi, it's April O'Neil, Erwina Chee, Isabella Marie and Kawai-Chan, here to see Eric Sacks." April said.

The doors opened and we walked up to the door. Which Sacks opened. "April's arrived early this year." Sacks joked as we got to the door. "We're sorry to barge in on you like this, Mr. Sacks." April apologized.

"No, no, no. Please, please." Sacks said and stepped aside, letting us inside. "Thank you." KC said as we walked inside. I began to get a bad feeling as I held my head slightly, but I didn't pay attention to that.

"I've been working on a story. And I have this theory that there are these vigilantes that are fighting back against the Foot. I think that you and our fathers may have created them." April said as we stopped walking and faced each other.

"Uh, I'm not sure I..." Sacks said but EC cut him off. "Can you please tell us everything that you know about Project Renaissance?" EC asked. Sacks sighed. "Well, um, it was a dream. A dream that died with your fathers." Sacks said.

"What if it isn't dead?" April asked and mine, EC and KC's eyes widen. She's not going to do what we think she's going to do...right? "That's impossible. We lost all our research in the fire, all our specimens, everything." Sacks said in disbelief. 

April began to get her phone out. "April!" I whisper yelled but was ignored. "I've spent the last 15 years trying to replicate the results." Sacks said. "You didn't lose everything in the fire." April said as she pulled the picture of the turtles up and showed him.

His face turned to disbelief as he looked at the picture. I felt a certain thing on my back twitch as I tightened my jacket around me. "This can't be real." Sacks said. "It is real. We saw all four of them." April said.

"Do you really want to know about Project Renaissance?" Sacks asked. "Yes." April said happily. "Come with me." Sacks said as we followed him to a room that was all decorated in Japanese things. 

"I was born in Japan, at a military base in Okinawa. My father went to Vietnam. Didn't come back. I was an outside in a foreign land." Sacks said with a scoff. I groan as I held my head. "Izz, you, okay?" EC asked and I nodded slightly.

"A freak. I was a powerless and helpless boy, until a local sensei took me under his wing, and he saved me. Taught me lessons that I later shared with your father. 9th century Japan. And evil warlord ruled the land. He poisoned the water supply, bringing on the dark ages." Sacks said.

As we looked at the Japanese thing, it showed a lot of death. KC covered her mouth and I held her close as she held onto me. "Something's not right." EC whispered to us and we nod. "Death, and disease, and suffering ran rampant. Not unlike the Foot Clan and what they'd like to do to our city." Sacks said.

"How do you know what they want to do?" I asked, but the question was dodged. "Then one day, a hero arose. A great alchemist discovered the antidote to the warlord's poison. The cure-all for his evil." Sacks said as we kept staring at the display.

"I wanna leave." KC whispered. "Soon." I whispered back. "Your fathers and I were trying to recreate that cure-all. We developed a mutagen capable of stimulating self-repair on a cellular level." Sacks explained.

"What were you going to do with it?" KC asked softly. "Imagine New York City.. being victim to a chemical attack. This mutagen would be able to reverse its effects. It would save the city; it would save the people. Those test subjects, those turtles, running in their blood is the last of this precious mutagen." Sacks said and that made me worried.

I looked at my arm slightly since...well since I have mutagen in me as well. "And up until a few moments ago, I thought we failed. I thought they died in the fire. How...how could they have lived?" Sacks asked curiously.

"Because we saved them." EC said softly. "Of course you did. Girls, the mutagen possesses powers beyond our wildest hopes. Whatever resources you need, I'm here." Sacks said as he handed April a card. 

EC, KC and I stared at the card. "Let's work together. We'll find them. The course of human history may depend on it. I'll show you out." Sacks said as he began leading us back to the doors.