(Theme song)

♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ​​​​​​♫
♫ Heroes in the shadows ♫
♫ Ninja power! ♫

♫ Here we go! It's the lean, skilled, ninja team ♫
♫ On the scene, cool teens doing ninja things ♫
♫ So extreme, out the sewers like laser beams ♫
♫ Get rocked with the pizza kings and queen ♫
♫ Can't stop these dudes and dudette ♫
♫ The secret of the ooze made the chosen few ♫
♫ Emerge from the shadows to make their move ♫
♫ The good guys win, and the bad guys lose ♫

♫ Leonardo's the leader in blue, ♫
♫ Does anything it takes to get his ninjas through ♫
♫ Donatello is a fellow, has a way with machines ♫
♫ Raphael has the most attitude on the team ♫
♫ Cleopatra, she's a special girl, ♫
♫ Does anything to protect everyone she loves ♫
♫ Michelangelo, he's one of a kind, ♫
♫ And you know just where to find him when it's party time ♫
♫ Master Splinter taught them every single skill they need ♫
♫ To be one lean, mean, skilled incredible team ♫

♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team​​​​​​​ ♫
♫ Teenage Mutant Ninja Team ♫
♫ Heroes in the shadows ♫
♫ Ninja power! ♫

(-)

Cleo's POV:
Have you ever tried to attack a full grown, angry lion? Well, that's how I feel right now. Except, instead of a lion, we'll be trying to fight father.... Yeah, no difference really. "Okay, here's the plan," Leo whispered into our huddle. "Donnie, you're gonna strike first." "No wait, you want me to come at Splinter?" Donnie hissed incredulously. "I'll get pummeled!" "Well, getting pummeled is your specialty," said Raph, smirking as Donnie glared at him. "Trust me. It's all part of my plan to catch Splinter off guard." 

"Uh, Leo..." Mikey spoke up. "Don't take this the wrong way, but against Splinter, your plans always get our butts whipped." Leo scowled down at his little brother. "Okay, new thought: Mikey, you attack." Mikey's face stayed neutral as he turned to look at me and Donnie. "He took it the wrong way." "Should of keep of keep your mouth shut, bro." I shrugged. "Eh, you asked for it." "Enough talk! Let's do this!" Raph said enthusiastically.

Leo gave a small nod. We all stood up and split from our huddle. Slowly and carefully, we all started approaching father, who was standing in the middle of the room, his back to us. We started to surround him, forming a far circle around him. He turns around to face us, his eyes still closed. He spread his feet as he got into a position. "Let's do this," I thought. Suddenly, Mikey ran forward, jumped up, and tried to kick father with both of his feet. Father opened his eyes. It was as though everything was happening in slow motion. 

Father turned around, grabbed Mikey's feet and threw him to the ground. He then kicked him in his chest, sending the turtle flying across the floor. By now Me, Donnie and Leo had started running at father. Raph had already jumped up and was coming down, both fists raised. Father ducked Raph's punch, and he moved out of the way when Donnie aimed a kick at him and missed. I ran forward and attempted to do a spinning back kick, but father hit my leg. My balance was lost, and I fell down, landing in a crouching position. "Okay..." I breathed.

Leo ran up and tried to kick father, who ducked. Donnie ran up and aimed at kick at father, but he just ducked under it, shot his arm out, and knocked Donnie off of his feet. Donnie spun in the air before father kicked him out, causing him to collide with Raph, and the two brothers fell to the ground. I sprang to my feet and ran forward, father's head turned away from me. I jumped up and somersaulted above his head. 

I landed in front of him swung my leg up to kick him. But he grabbed my ankle, swung his foot out, and knocked me off my feet. I fell with a loud thud, my side hitting the ground. I looked up to see that Leo was still standing. He ran up to father, who swung his arm out and missed as Leo rolled under it. Leo then reared his fist back and launched it forward. There was a loud smack as his fist made contact with father's face.

I gasped as I sat up straight. I couldn't believe it. Leo hit father! That's never happened before. None of us had ever been able to lay so much as a finger on father without him throwing us to the ground. Leo's eyes widened, horrified by what he had done. "Ah! Sensei, I'm sorry!" he cried, his voice high with panic. "I-" But he was cut off as father grabbed his wrist and flipped him over. Leo landed painfully on the ground, his plastron to the floor. Father held Leo's wrist up to keep him pinned as he lifted his free arm back, his hand forming a fist. "Uh-oh," I mumbled. "Oh man, Leo's a goner!" Donnie said worriedly. "Oh no-de do-de!" Mikey exclaimed. 

There was a small pause. Then father lowered his fist and released Leo's wrist. "Well done, Leonardo," he said proudly. "But just when you had the advantage, you hesitated. And that made you vulnerable." "Hai... Sensei..." Leo grunted as he pushed himself off the floor. "Now, that is all for today." Father folded his arms behind his back as he strode over to his room. But just as he reached the door, he stopped. "Unless you care for a rematch?" "No thanks!" "I'm good." "Yeah, I think we're all set here." I chuckled as I pushed myself to my feet. "I think we're good for today, father." 

Father slides the door open and entered his room. It wasn't until he shut the door that we finally moved. "Leo!" Mikey said as we all ran up to our blue-banded brother. "Not bad!" Raph said, sounding genuinely impressed as he folded his arms. "Dude, I can't believe you actually tagged Sensei!" Donnie exclaimed. "That was epic!" "Leo, that was probably one of the coolest things you've ever done!" I said excitedly as I slapped his shoulder. Then Mikey reached forward and grabbed Leo's wrist, looking at his brother's hand as though it were the Holy Grail. "The hand that punched Splinter...!" he breathed, beaming as he released Leo's wrist. "You know you can never wash this again!" Leo smiled. "I gotta say guys, it was all teamwork. We are definitely getting better." "Think we might be catching up to Splinter?" Donnie asked. 

"Yeah, maybe soon we won't need him to train us at all," said Mikey. We all laughed, humored by the idea. As we left the dojo, however, Mikey's comment made me think. Never needing father to train us? The very thought seemed incredible. There was no way that any of us could be as good as father was. But how much longer could it be before he decided he had nothing left to teach us? "Hey, Cleo?" Mikey called from the couch. "Wanna play video games?" I looked down at him as he held two controllers in his hands. Putting my previous thoughts aside, I smiled as I walked over to the pit. "Totally," I said as I jumped down and sat on the beanbag chair. "What're we playing?" "Super Mario 64. Yah wanna be Mario?" "Sure."

(-)

1 hour later found me and Mikey in the pit, still playing Super Mario. "Don't miss it this time," I warned him. "I won't, I won't!" he said quickly. By now Mikey had slid off the couch and was kneeling close to the TV, his eyes glued to the screen. I remained on the beanbag, my eyes on my character. "Here it comes!" I warned. I messed with the controls and made my character step onto a platform. The platform turned and moved over to the other side. I crossed it and got off to the other side. "Don't miss-" "I won't!" Mario stood still as I made him wait for Luigi to catch up. I could hear Mikey whispering to himself in excitement as he clicked away at the buttons on his controller. He's fallen off the platform twice already. 

"Easy..." he whispered. The platform turned back to him, and little Luigi stepped on it. The platform turned and he ran across, standing on the ledge in front of my character. "Yes!" Mikey cried. "Finally! You made it!" I hollered. Mikey was so excited that he started making his character do victory flips. At the last flip though, Luigi fell off the ledge. "LUIGI!" I snapped. Mikey threw his controller down, mumbling angrily like the pissed off gamer he was. "Mamma mia, it's impossible!" he cried in an Italian accent. 

With that I reared my head and burst into laughter, and a second later so did Mikey. No matter how many times we screwed up, we could always find humor in it. "Alright! One more time!" Mikey declared. "Mikey, you've failed three times," I said, recovering from my laughing fit. "Can't we just do another level-" But I was cut off as a loud, drawn-out scream of pain pierced the air. I jumped in my seat at the sound. But the fact of who that scream belonged to give me chills. "Father..." I dropped my controller and sprang to my feet, jumping out of the pit and running to the dojo. I could hear footsteps behind me as Mikey ran behind me. 

I ran into the dojo and skidded to a halt. Father was in the middle of the dojo, hunched over, kneeling on the ground on his hands and knees. "Father!" I ran forward and skidded to a halt on my knees in front of him. I heard several footsteps from behind me. I didn't have to look to know it was the others. "Sensei..." I heard Donnie breath. "Are you okay?" "I am fine..." Father groaned lowly, holding his head with his hand. "You sure you're alright?" Leo asked. "You don't seem-"

But he was cut off as a little tune of birds chirping and harps playing sounded loudly. "Hey, that's April's ringtone!" Donnie exclaimed. At that moment Raph and Mikey started making loud kissing noises, obviously mocking their brother's affections. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but giggle. Donnie frowned, pushing our brothers' faces away from him. He took out his T-Phone and answered. "Hey April," he said, then cleared his throat and said more smoothly, "I mean-Hey, April..." I snorted. "I mean-!" 

Donnie stopped talking and I could hear April's voice on the other line, talking frantically, though I couldn't hear what she was saying. Donnie frowned, then he turned his back and strode over, listening to whatever April was saying. "Uh-huh," he said. "Uh-huh... Okay... Alright, don't worry! We're on the way!" He hung up and put the phone in his belt. "What did she say?" I asked. "She said she's... surrounded by an army of rats." I raised my eyebrow. What? What was that supposed to mean? "Is she serious?" Raph asked, irritated. "Whatever it is, we should go check it out," Leo said, standing up. "C'mon ninjas."

(-)

I didn't understand what the issue with the rats could've been until after we had gone to the surface. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but when we got up there the streets were completely covered in rats. It looked like some kind of rat army was running ramped in the streets. I had to knock a couple off of me as me and the guys made for the rooftops. "Oh wow, the city is so beautiful in the daytime!" Mikey said as we leapt over another building. "Except for the, yah know... billions of rats." "It's a lot better without the rats, trust me," I said as I ran next to him. 

"Actually," Donnie said from the other side of Mikey. "The entire rat population of New York is only about 36 million and-" "I will smack you outta your shell!" Raph said sharply. "Uh, guys!" Leo called from in front of us. "We may have a problem!" We all ran up and skidded to a halt by the edge of the roof so we could look out into the street. A sea of rats was still covering the roads and the sidewalks below. I looked up at the telephone poll nearest us, and saw April was on top of it, clinging for dear life.

"Oh, rats!" Mikey exclaimed, then giggled. "Haha, get it?" "For the fourteenth time, yes!" Raph snapped. I ran up to the ledge and put my hands up to cup my mouth. "April!" Heard my yell, she turned her head and spotted us. "Guys!" she called out. "Dude, how the heck did you even get up there?" I yelled. "I don't know!" "We're coming April!" Donnie hollered. "Don't go anywhere!" "Where could I possibly go?" I rolled my eyes. Then me and the guys took out our grappling hooks, spinning the ends around our heads before tossing them out. 

The hooks all shot forward and embedded themselves into the post. One by one, we all jumped down and went towards the post. I gripped the rope tightly as I kept my feet on the post. Curiously, I glanced down below. Even from this high up I could see dozens of rats chewing at the wood of the post. "I suggest we start climbing, and fast!" I hollered to the others. They all contemplated, immediately climbing up their ropes. I was right next to Raph as we continued climbing. A rat crawled up on his shell, and he growled as he smacks it off. But even as he did another one crawled up on top of his head. He grunted angrily.

"These stupid rats are starting to get on my nerves!" "Rats aren't stupid," Donnie said from below us. "Despite their small brain size, their remarkably-" Raph grabbed the rat that was on his head and threw it down at his brother. The creature hit Donnie right in his face. "Ow!" Donnie glared up at Raph, who already had another rat in his hand, ready to throw it. "I warned yah," he said simply. "Raph," Leo said firmly, and we looked up at him. "Put down the rat and keep climbing!" Raph rolled his eyes as he tossed the rat away. I held onto the rope and continued climbing. "Hurry!" April called down. 

There was a loud creaking noise and suddenly, the post began to shift. It leaned sharply to the side, and I heard April yelp. I looked up in time to see April slip and fall off the top of the post. "Donnie!" I yelled. Donnie gasped. He then jumped off the post and swung around. He grabbed April in time before swinging back and landed on the post again. I sighed with relief. "As long as Donnie's here," I heard Donnie say. "You have nothing to..." The creaking started getting louder and louder, and the poll started moving around more. "Oh boy..." Donnie muttered.

I looked down below. Rats were still chewing at the bass of the poll. The post suddenly gave a huge lurch, and we started leaning to the side. I let go of the rope and grabbed onto the post. We all yelled as the thing fell towards the ground. But the cables attached to another telephone poll stopped the thing from falling. I gripped on the wood with all my might as my legs slipped off so I was hanging, my arms hanging over the other side. The others were all hanging off the post too, all gripping it with their hands and legs. "Okay," April said breathlessly. "I appreciate you guys coming to help, but how is this better than getting eaten by rats?!" "At least it'll be quick," said Mikey, looking up at her as he hung off the post by his hands. "With rats they chew, and chew, and chew, and chew... and chew..." "Okay, we get it!" April snapped. 

"Let's move," said Donnie. Carefully, I pushed myself up to stand on the post. The others followed suit. As soon as they did, we all turned and started to walk to the other end. Snap! One of the cables holding the post snapped, making the thing lurch. "Hurry!" Donnie urged. At once we ran over to the end of the post. Snap! The other cable broke. The other end of the post leaned down and hit the ground, and the end we were on rose up. When the opposite end hit the ground, our end snapped up, sending us flying. We all soared through the air for a few seconds before we all landed back on a roof. I tumbled into a few forced summersaults before coming to a halt.

"Ugh, rats..." Mikey mumbled, rubbing his head. I stared at him; brows furrowed. "Dude, do you want Raph to kill you?" Mikey shrugged. We all stood up on our feet and walked to the ledge. Leo stepped forward and pointed down at the army of rats. "Chew on that, ratfinks!" I raised my eyebrow as me and the others all stared at him, not saying a word. Leo frowned at us. "Oh, come on! That sounded cool!" I snorted. "Not exactly the coolest thing you could say, Leo." "Does anyone know what the heck is going on?" April asked, irritably.

 "I'm not sure..." Donnie said lowly, putting his fist against his chin to think. "But whatever this is, this attack is extremely well coordinated. Obviously, there is a higher intelligence at work here." "Well, that rules out Mikey," Raph said as the fun turtle glared at him. "I'm serious," said Donnie, sounding very serious indeed. "Someone or something is controlling every rat in the city." Raph's face fell. "Wait a sec... Every rat?" "That means Splinter could be..." Leo trailed off. I gasped. "Father!" I instantly spun on my heel and sprinted across the rooftop. "Cleo, wait up!" Mikey yelled.

(-)

I never stopped running even as the others yelled for me to slow down. I couldn't stop. Not yet. I didn't even think of stopping until I had jumped over the turnstiles at the lair entrance. "Father?" I called out. I walked down the steps, looking around for father. Then at least my gaze fell on him. He was laying on his futon beside the pit, his eyes closed, and his arms folded across his chest. "Father..." I ran forward and slid on my knees to halt beside his form. He didn't look hurt. In fact, he appeared to be sleeping. I heard footsteps behind me that told me the others had finally caught up. They all ran over to Father, and I saw April kneel down on the other side of him. "Is he okay?" she asked. "I don't know," I said honestly. 

"Donnie, you're the smart one! What do we do?" Raph asked urgently. I looked up at Donnie, hoping he had an answer. "... M-Maybe we should... poke him?" "You've gotta be kidding me..." "Good idea," said Leo. "Mikey, poke him." "No way! I'm not pokin' him, you poke him!" Leo frowned. "Okay, we'll put it to a vote..." "Mikey," the three older turtles said in unison. Mikey's eyes widened. Then he turned to look down at me. "Cleo! Help a turtle out?" "Mikey," I said. "Even if you and I both voted for one of them, it would still be 2 against 3." "I want a recount!" Donnie ignored our brother and handed him his Bo staff. Mikey groaned as he took the weapon. "Ugh... Fine!" 

Mikey stepped forward, but hesitated as he inched closer towards father, staff trembling in his grasp. Feeling like I should keep my distance, I slowly scooted back a bit on the floor. Mikey lowered the end of the weapon closer and closer towards father's face. The other three hovered over his shoulder as he got closer. "Easy! Easy..." Donnie warned lowly. "Careful not to squeeze..." Suddenly the naginata blade shot out, just barely missing father's nose. Me and the guys all screamed. The others all jumped back, tripping on each other. Raph even fell down and landed on his shell. Panicked, Mikey threw the Bo staff down and stepped back, looking frightened. Donnie walked forward and picked it up. 

"Okay," he said shortly as he shoved the staff into Mikey's hands. "Let's try it from the other end!" Mikey shook his head fearfully, but Donnie ignored him and pushed him forward. Mikey inched forward and quickly poked father's chest. He flinched back as though ready for an explosion. But it didn't come. Mikey straightened up. He poked father's chest a few more times. Then he walked all around him, poking our sensei in several different places. Still, nothing happened. "Wow, he's totally out of it!" Mikey lifted the staff again and started poking father's nose. He giggled. "Dudes! Check out the nose-nuggets!"

Donnie face palmed, shaking his head. I sighed with slight relief as I stood up. I walked over to Raph, who was still on the ground, and held out my hand. He took it and I helped him to his feet. "What do we do now?" I asked. "I dunno," said Leo. "Should we wait for him to wake up?" "That's probably all we can do," said Donnie. I folded my arms. The Waiting Game was something I was not in the mood to play. I turned around to look at Mikey, and saw he was still messing around with father's face. "Mikey, knock it off," I said seriously. 

Mikey either didn't hear me or simply ignored me. Either way, he continued to play with father's face. "Michelangelo is awesome!" he said in a very poor Japanese accent. "He is the smartest, handsomest, butt-kicking-est of all my-" Suddenly, father's eyes snapped open. Before we could do anything, he grabbed the Bo staff and swung it around. Mikey shot back and slammed into the stairs. "... sons," he finished weakly.

I turned my head back to father, who stood up, supported by Donnie's staff. "Oh, thank the lord," I breathed, running forward. "Sensei, are you alright?" Leo asked. "No, Leonardo," Father said hoarsely, giving Donnie his staff. "I am not. It would appear that your former adversary, Dr. Falco, has returned." I gasped. "Falco? That creepy scientist dude who turned Rockwell into a mutant monkey?" I asked, "Falco's behind this?" Donnie asked. "How is that possible?" Father held his head gingerly as he walked towards the dojo. 

Silently, we all followed. "Somehow, he has required a telepathic connection with every rat in the city," he said as we entered the dojo. "And he now calls himself 'The Rat King'." "Oh, great!" Mikey snapped. "So now we're letting the bad guys name themselves? We gotta take him down!" I rolled my eyes. "Way to keep your priorities straight, Mikey." "Yes, Michelangelo, you do," said father. "The Rat King will not rest until he has total control of this city... and my mind."

"Sensei?" Leo asked. Father didn't answer. He walked over to the bookshelf where his shrine holding the picture of his family sat. He reached up and took the picture down, holding it in his hands. "Everything I knew is gone. My wife, my daughter, my clan... even my humanity!" he turned his serious gaze upon me and the guys. "You five are all I have left." For some reason those words pinched at my heart. Yes, we were his students- his children. And yes, we were the only family he had. I knew he didn't want to lose his family a second time. 

But I can honestly say I can't relate to that particular thing. I never had a family before I met them, I don't even know or remember I do I have family before I was adopted. "Don't you worry, Sensei," Raph punched his fist into his palm. "We'll stop him." "But we gotta find him first," said Donnie. "When the Rat King attempted to take control of me," Father said. "I could see into his mind. You will find his lair in an abandoned utility junction beneath Harold Square." "Well, at least we know where he is." I spoke. "Let's go play exterminator!" Raph said enthusiastically.

Suddenly, father yelled in pain. He dropped his photo and hunched forward, grabbing his head. Me, Leo and April ran forward. "Father?" He must've noticed the fear in my voice, because he quickly looked up at me. Keeping on hand on his head, he put the other on my shoulder. "Have no fear, my daughter," he said lowly. "Fight him, Sensei," said Leo. "I will. Just... hurry." Father straightened up. He removed his hand from my shoulder and started to walk away, April standing next to him with her hand on his back. "It's okay, guys," she said reassuringly. "You go after the Rat King. I'll stay with Sensei." I nodded. I turned to look at Leo and saw he had picked up the photo. He stared down at it, not saying a word. "Leo," I said. "We gotta go." Leo nodded.

(-)

Once Leo had a plan thought up, we had immediately gone out. We decided that it was easier to get to the junction by going underground through the sewers. So, we did just that. "What's gonna happen to Splinter if we can't stop the Rat King?" Mikey asked. "Which, by the way, lamest villain name ever!" "Let it go, already!" Donnie said exasperatingly. "We're gonna stop the Rat King, and Splinter's gonna be fine," Raph said firmly. "Right, Leo?" Leo didn't answer. At that moment we all hear tiny squeaking. We looked down and saw a single rat scurrying across the ground and running off. "Shh! Quiet!" Donnie hissed. "Do you guys hear that?" No sooner did he speak before there was the sound of what sounded like millions of running feet, along with high-pitched squeaking. Before I knew it a large wave of rats came swarming in from the other end of the tunnel. "You gotta be kidding," Raph grumbled. "Oh, ra-" Raph snapped his hand over Mikey's mouth, preventing him from saying 'rats'.

"Uh, Leo?" Donnie asked. "Any ideas?" "Just one," he said. "Move!" We turned on the spot and bolted. The squeaking rats were right on our tails as we ran down the sewer tunnel. My head snapped up as I saw Leo jump up and grab onto the pipes on the roof. Donnie and Raph followed suit, and I did right after them. For some reason Mikey kept running for a bit instead of jumping. By the time he did the rats had caught up to him. Several were already crawling up his feet and legs. He yelled and kicked most of them off, raising his legs and latching them onto the pipes. Then one crawled onto his head and he yelled as it bit him. "Ow!" he cried. "Oh no, they've got the taste for turtle now!" 

"C'mon!" said Leo. "Just keep moving!" I gripped the pipes tightly as we made our way over the wave of rats. "This is so not cool," I sighed. "Tell me about it," Raph grumbled. The next few minutes were spent crawling across the pipes, remaining above the sea of rats below. Lucky for us, our years of ninja training prevented our arms from getting too tired to hold us up. "I'm just saying, I can think a billion better names than the 'Rat King'," Mikey said irritably as we continued to crawl the pipes. "There's 'Ratzilla', 'The Verminator', 'Lord Rattington'..." "Can it Mikey," said Leo. "We're almost there. The utility chamber should be on the other side of that wall."

"Uh... you mean that disgusting, furry, squirming wall?" Raph asked. I leaned my head to the side to look past him and saw that the wall ahead was completely covered with thousands of rats. "Eck!" I groaned. "How're we suppose to get past that?" Donnie asked. Leo hung there, thinking for a moment. Then his head snapped up. "Raph, those barrels. Ventilate them." "You got it." Keeping one hand on the pipe to hold him up, Raph reached into his belt and took out two shuikens. He threw the stars out and they each hit two, yellow barrels that resided on the floor next to the door. "Leo," Donnie piped up. "You do realize those chemicals are highly combustible?" But instead of looking worried, Leo smirked. "You don't say." He then took out one of his katanas and used it to slice through the thick, electric cord lining the wall above. The thing sparked as it fell and hit the barrels. They exploded. The force not only knocked the rats out of the way, but also blew a large hole in the wall. "Nice one, Leo," I said. Leo grinned, putting his sword back into its sheath. "Let's move."

(-)

Once we went past the wall it was only a matter of time before we finally found the utility junction. The place was just about as rundown and creepy as it could get. The place was filthy and falling apart, several levels exposed by the decaying floors. Only a few old, busted lights lit the room enough for us to see where we were going. And the whole place smelled of dust and decaying plaster. As we walked into the area, I could feel someone's gaze on us. I only had to look up at the exposed upper level to see a dark figure standing there, looking down at us. I knew at once that it was Falco, but he was... different. He had changed his wardrobe so that he was wearing a long, black trench coat and a huge black hat, but that wasn't all. Even from this distance and with his face hidden in shadow I could see what appeared to be his face, and it looked burned and disgusting. Whatever accident caused that; it must've also been how he gain his telepathic connection with rats.

"Ah, my old friends," he said, and his voice had more rasp than before. "We meet again." "Except last time, Falco, you weren't wearing a sad Halloween costume," Raph jeered. At that, me and the boys all started laughing. Falco wasn't amused in the slightest. "I am the 'Rat King'!" he bellowed. Our laughter died, and I noticed a large, white rat crawl up on his shoulder. Mikey coughed loudly. "Lame..." he said lowly. "Sorry," said Leo. "We don't have any treats for you, but we've got a few tricks!" This moment would've remained cool if Donnie's cute little ringtone for April had started ringing. "Way to ruin the moment, Donnie," said Raph. Donnie frowned sheepishly as he reached behind him and pulled out his phone. "Put it on speaker," I told him. He nodded and pressed the speaker button. "Uh, April, now's not really the best time..." "Donnie, it's Splinter!" April said hurriedly. "He's gone!" I gasped. "What?" "What do you mean 'gone'?" Donnie asked. "Gone where?"

"Here..." I inhaled sharply and straightened up. None of us had said that, neither did Falco. It was a voice that I knew all too well, and the sound of it right then made my hair stand on end. I gulped once before slowly turning around and looking up and the next level up. I watched in horror as father stepped out from behind the wall. Me and the guys all gasped, stunned into silence. Father was looking at us with a blank expression that I had never witnessed before. But what really gave me terrifying chills was his eyes. They were solid red and glowing brightly. "Oh no..." I shuttered. 

"What's wrong with him?" Leo asked. "It's like his brain is completely turned off," said Donnie. "You mean like Mikey?" Raph and Mikey asked at the same time, to which Raph glared and Mikey frown at him. "Dude, you're so predictable," Mikey said. "Mikey, this isn't the time," I hissed. I continued to look at father, at his red, emotionless eyes. Leo stepped forward. "Sensei, snap out of it!" he urged. "You waste your words," Father said in a monotone voice, and several rats appeared on his head and shoulders. "This is where I belong- with my brothers."

"He is mine now," said Rat King. "Imagine my delight when I realized that controlling your master would not only make me invincible but would also be the key to your demise!" Rat King reared his head back and laughed. In spite of myself, I couldn't help but feel that he was probably right. "Splinter," he ordered. "Destroy them." Remaining silent, father started to walk down the flight of stairs leading to our level. "S-Sensei, don't!" Leo cried. Father stopped, and his eyes widened. For a moment it looked as though he were back. But from the corner of my eye, I saw Rat King take off his hat and the heavy bandages on his face. Nothing but two, completely white orbs remained of his once normal eyes. Father stiffened, then continued his decent towards us.

"Are we really gonna do this?" Donnie asked as he unsheathed his Bo staff. "We don't have a choice," I said sadly, reaching and taking out my kamas. "Remember, we did beat him once," Raph said, taking out his sais. "Kind of..." "Yeah, and we can beat him again," Leo said, his face determined. "We can do this, guys. Do not hesitate." Father stopped walking, standing directly in front of us. The rats crawled off his head and shoulders and scurried away. Father reached over and withdrew his sword, holding it at his side. Leo unsheathed his katanas, taking a defensive stance. I breathed deeply through my nose and exhaled from my mouth. "Protect the guys, Cleo," a voice said in my head. "You have to." Leo stepped forward, and his next words hit me with the force of a sledgehammer. "Take. Sensei. Down."

Our movement was instant. First Leo, then Donnie, then me, then Raph, and then Mikey. We all ran forward and instantly jumped into the air. We raised our weapons, ready to strike down on our Sensei. But when we landed on the ground, our weapons hit nothing but the floor. We stared down for a second before something moved behind us. I whipped my head around. Before I had time to register what was happening there was a sickening blow delivered to my stomach and I went flying. My back slammed against the hard brick wall, and I fell to the floor. 

I coughed and panted as the wind was knocked out of me. I grasped my throat as I pushed myself up. I could see the others had been knocked out to other sides of the room. I looked up in time to see Donnie slam into a huge pipe then fall onto the ground. "Cleo! You okay?" I heard Mikey yell. "I'm fine!" I hollered. "Donnie?" Donnie shook his head as he sat up. "I just had a horrible realization..." "What?" I asked. Donnie whipped his head around, his eyes wide and fearful. "He's been goin' easy on us all these years!"

I followed his gaze and saw father had taken a stance; sword held high in the air. Suddenly Donnie sprang to his feet and ran forward. He jumped up in the air, spinning his staff as he let out a battle cry. He swung his staff down as he landed, but father dodged. Donnie ran forward, jabbing his staff at father's face. Father ran backwards, avoiding every jab Donnie threw at him. Donnie stopped running and jumped again, aiming closer this time. But father knocked Donnie's staff out of his hands with his sword, and it spun high in the air. 

Father reared his elbow back and brought it forward, slamming it into Donnie's chest. Donnie made a loud 'oof' sound as he flew back and landed on the ground. "Donnie!" Mikey cried. The young turtle swung his kusarigama chain above his head before swinging it out. Father dodged the chain, but instead let it wrap around his sword. He then yanked it down hard, causing Mikey, who was holding the other end, to fly out. He slammed against the opposite wall and fell.

At that moment Raph ran up behind father, sais raised. "Nobody hits Mikey, but me!" he yelled. Father dodged his attack and Raph ran past him. He spun around, swinging his sai back. But Father had moved away. He did a front flip and kicked his foot out, hitting Raph in the face. Raph fell back on his shell, his sais falling out of his hands. "Raph!" I yelled. I sprang to my feet, kamas in hands. Father turned towards me, sword at the ready. "Nobody hurts my brothers..." I let out an angry yell and I ran forward, kamas held at my sides. Father remained still, obviously waiting for me. I threw my left kama out towards father's face. 

It went straight for his head, but he dodged it. As he moved, I jumped up, raising my kama as I came down. Father reached up and grabbed my wrist before throwing me down on the ground. I let out a grunt that turned into a shout of pain as father stood hard on my shoulder. I opened my eyes, and for a split second I wasn't looking at my father. I was looking up at a mentally ill woman with long brown hair, wearing a black dress and holding a bible. Before I could even blink, there was a hard kick delivered to my stomach and I was thrown back into air. I landed on the ground and tumbled over and didn't stop until I felt my head hit something. A rock, perhaps. Little stars appeared in my vision, and I felt dizzy.

~~~

I snapped my eyes to see a little girl and the same mentally ill woman from a few seconds ago, I can see the little girl holding a baby in a white blanket in her arms protectively from the mentally ill woman as she kneels down in front of a cross of Jesus Christ, swaying back and forth as she prays. Then the little girl puts the baby in a box in an alley, along putting the familiar silver cross bracelet inside the box on top of the baby's blanket before running off. I heard a little girl screaming as the mentally ill woman yelled, "Pray for forgiveness, little girl! Pray for forgiveness for releasing the devil's child into the world!" "Mama, stop!"

~~~

"Sensei, please!" I heard Leo pled. I couldn't lift my head to look at what was going on. The dizziness in my head and the pain in my shoulder combined was unbelievable. I heard shuffling from next to me, and when I opened my eyes, I saw a fuzzy image of green and purple. "Cleo? Are you okay?" I blinked a few times. Donnie was crouched over me, a look of worry on his face. "Fine..." I said, my voice hoarse. Donnie held my arm and helped me sit up. I rubbed my head as I looked up. I gasped as Leo was pushed to the ground and father put a foot on his plastron. 

He held his sword near Leo's face, ready to strike. "Wait!" Leo cried. "Finish him," Rat King ordered. "Remember who you are!" Leo said, and he pulled out the picture of father and his family. "Hamato Yoshi!" Father hesitated; eyes narrowed. "Donnie! Raph! Now!" At once Donnie and Raph sprang forward and pushed father off of Leo and down to the floor. I stood up and ran forward at the same time as Mikey, and he looked just as anxious as I felt. Leo placed a foot on Father's back to keep him down.

"Please... father..." Leo pleaded. "We need you!" I took a deep breath. I walked forward and kneeled down in front of father. He looked up at me, and through the glowing red eyes I could almost see my father again. "Papa..." I breathed. "Please... come back to us..." Father stared at me, not saying anything. "Don't listen to them, brother!" Rat King said from behind us. "Your place is with me!" Father stiffened, then opened his eyes. He let out a yell as he flipped over, knocking all the boys aside and pinning Leo to the ground. Before I could move from my spot, father pointed his sword at me, keeping me in my place. 

I gasped. "No... Please, no!" Father lowered his head, closing his eyes. "My place..." He snapped his head up and opened his eyes. They were their usual bright brown. "... is with my children!" Father sprang to his feet, running straight for the Rat King. He reared his arm back and shot it forward, holding two fingers out. His fingers hit the Rat King, and the man shot back in one, powerful blast. He slammed into a pillar and fell into a heap on the ground, unconscious.

Me and the guys were still for a second, them standing up and me still on the ground. Then the guys ran forward and embraced father in a group hug. "Sensei!" they all chorused. Father smiled down at them. Then he looked down at me, frowning slightly. Ignoring all my surroundings, I instantly sprang to my feet and ran forward, wrapping my arms around his middle. "Father..." Father let out a small breath that sounded like a laugh as he placed a hand on my back, rubbing it gently. 

At that moment I heard loud squeaking from behind me, and I turned my head to see a large sea of rats appeared to have consumed the figure of the Rat King. And as they departed, his body was gone. I lowered my hands and turned, father's hand still on my back. "And that's the last we'll see of... Count Ratcula!" Mikey jeered, waving his fingers in the air. I sighed as I rolled my eyes. I glanced up to see father shaking his head at his son. Mikey frowned. "Yeah... Alright, it's 'Rat King'. But I'm namin' the next one!"

(-)

I peeked my head around the corner, looking into the dojo. Father was sitting there, meditating. "He said he was fine, Leo," I whispered to my older brother. "No worries." "I know," he whispered back. "But still..." Leo had a concerned look on his face. I placed a hand on his shoulder to show him that I understood. "You want me to come in with you?" Leo nodded. I lowered my hand as we both walked into the dojo. Father turned his head as we came in. "Hey, father," I greeted. "Hello, Cleopatra," he said as he stood up. "And Leonardo. What is it?" "Sensei," Leo said nervously. "Are you sure you're okay?" 

Father looked at his son deeply. "I am fine, thanks to you," he stepped forward and placed a hand on both of our shoulders. "You did well, my children." I smiled up at him as I bowed my head. "Thank you, father." "Well, you did hesitate," Leo said, and he was grinning now. "And hesitation leads to vulnerability." I chuckled. "Hey, ease up, Leo." "We did pretty good too, huh?" I whipped my head around. Mikey, Raph and Donnie were all standing in the doorway, grinning at us. I sighed, shaking my head. "No privacy in this place," I said, but I was grinning.

"Yes," said father. "I am proud of you all." "Who knows?" said Leo. "Maybe someday we'll be better martial artists than you." I raised my eyebrows. "Going a bit far, Leo." "Remember, my son," Father said wisely. "Everything you know, I have shown you..." Father grinned. He then grabbed Leo's wrist, spun around, and threw him across the room. Leo's shell hit the wall and he slid to the floor, his eyes rolling. I stared for a second before covering my mouth as I started giggling. "... but I have not shown you everything I know," Father finished. "It's great to have you back, Sensei..." Leo said hoarsely. Father chuckled. 

Me and the boys stood over Leo, laughing at him. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned. "Cleopatra," said father. "A word?" "Oh, okay." I glanced over to see Raph help Leo to his feet before walking over with father to the other side of the dojo. Father stopped walking but didn't look at me. "Are you alright?" he asked me. I blinked. "Yes, father. I'm fine. Why?" Father didn't speak immediately. From behind me I could hear the boys talking and laughing so I wasn't worried about them overhearing.

"When the Rat King took control of me, I could still see what I was doing," said Father. "But I couldn't stop myself from doing what I did." "It wasn't your fault, father," I said. "Like you said, you were under his control." "Yes, I know. But I cannot change what I saw," Father turned to look at me. "And when I was forced to fight you, I saw nothing but fear in your eyes." I stared at him. I finally understood what he was saying. He was talking about when he had me on the ground and stood on my shoulder. I had looked at him and remember the vision when we were fighting him. I don't know who she is. "Oh... that." Father turned to face me completely and he stepped towards me. "I'll ask again; Are you alright?" I gulped. Now that I think about it, I wasn't sure if I was completely alright. I could still remember the fear I felt when I had that horrible vision. "Well... yeah," I said unsurely, folding my arms. "I mean... that fight just brought up... well... I just had a weird vision, that's all."

That's when I noticed it. The silence. The boys weren't talking anymore. I glanced over behind me and saw the boys staring at me, their faces blank with shock. I couldn't blame them. The life I had before I met them was a subject that was never talked about. In fact, we don't even know who my real parents were or what happened to them. I looked back up at father, and he had an unreadable expression on his face. He took another step towards me, and he put a hand on my shoulder. "Cleopatra, I was not in control of myself," he said gently. 

"I would never hurt you or your brothers. I may not know what happened to your parents and I am so sorry that I made you see it." "No, father," I reached up and grabbed his hand. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault. Please..." Father looked down at me, his eyes looking deep into mine. I stared up at him before I felt my face break out into a small smile, hoping this would help him understand. I was in luck. Father smiled down at me as he gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "Very well," he said, and he released my hand. Then I heard footsteps and saw the boys walking towards me.

"But Cleo, can you remember anything from that vision?" Leo asked, "I think so. It was all a blur." I said as I rub the back of my head. "What do you see in that vision?" Donnie asked. I can feel the vision coming back and hearing the little girl screaming echoing in my mind as I said, "All I can see is a little girl and a woman next to her.... the woman looked mentally ill... the little girl was carrying a baby in a white blanket.... I saw her putting the baby in a box in an alley... I think that baby was me.... and I think that was the same alley father found me... All I can hear is the little girl screaming, as if she's in pain and crying for help." 

There was silence. No one said a word. "I don't know why I had that vision. I think something must have happened. Like, it's trying to tell me something." "We may not know what happened to your real parents, Cleo. But we do know is that you're not alone." Raph said. I smiled at him, maybe he's right. I may not know what happened to my parents, but I do know is that I have a new family right here.