Cleo's POV:
Training was a little bit simpler today. Father was having us go over and practice some katas. Why? Well... simply because, I suppose. Father stood still by the tree, watching us silently. Me and the guys were all standing in a line, and we were all practicing our katas. Me, Mikey and Donnie were going reasonably slow so we could focus on getting the moves perfect. Raph, not surprisingly, was zooming right through his katas. Clearly, he thought he had it down. 

Leo, however, was really getting into it and was going in super slow motion. "What, are yah fighting a guy in slow motion?" Raph snapped as he watched Leo's movements. "I suppose I could do it faster, if I ignored my form. Like you." "Ignore this form!" Raph suddenly turned around and charged at Leo. I sighed as I straightened up. "Can't they go one training session without fighting?" "You want me to take this one?" I muttered to father.

He shook his head, and advanced onto the two. "Oh well..." He reached forward with both of his hands and seized the two turtles by the pressure points in their necks. They both yelped, and I cringed. "Yikes! That spot hurts!" Father separated them both before releasing them, and they crumpled to the ground. "Competition is an excellent motivator, but not when it turns you against each other," he said, and he waited until the two boys got up before continuing, "So now, you will spar two on two." Leo grinned as he folded his arms. "Okay. I'll take Do-" "You will take Raphael," Father said firmly. 

"You two must focus on working together, not competing with each other." "Okay... So, me and Raph against Mikey and Donnie?" Leo chuckled. "Eh... isn't that a little unfair?" I stared at Leo, confused. "What did he mean?" "Wait! What're you trying to say?" Donnie asked in an accusing tone. "Um, how can I put this gently?" Raph smirked. "We're way better than you guys." "That was totally gentle, Raph," I said bluntly. "It's cool, Cleo," said Mikey. "They're only better at fighting." Raph snorted. "Uh, that's what I meant." Mikey blinked, then frowned. "Oh? Fine!" The boys got into their positions, facing each other. I turned my head to look at Father.

"I have to play 'Fifth Wheel' again, don't I?" Father said nothing but nodded. "Alrighty, then." I walked over to a spot next to father, and I sat down with my legs crossed. The boys all stared at each other before getting into positions at the same time. I took note of the confident smirks Leo and Raph wore, and the determined looks on Mikey's and Don's faces. There was a short pause... "Hajime!" The reaction was instant. Leo went at Mikey; Raph went at Donnie. And within seconds, both of the younger ninjas were knocked to the ground. 

Leo and Raph laughed, giving each other a high-three before swapping places. Just as the fallen boys had gotten back up, they were smacked again; this time, Raph went for Mikey and Leo went for Donnie. The younger turtles fell down a second time, and this time they stayed down. "Yame!" I sighed. "Welp, I suppose it could've been worse," I stated as I stood up. "Not likely," Donnie groaned, still laying the ground. "You were right, Sensei," said Raph. "Working together is fun!" I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, when it works in your favor." "Exactly!" I groaned. "Aw, geez..."

(-)

(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:
Needless to say, Donnie and Mikey were still sulking about being second best for the next few days. I don't blame them. It was a bit embarrassing. Yeah, Leo and Raph were great fighters, but so were Donnie and Mikey. They continued to show their disappointment as they both sat on the couch- Donnie on the actual cushion, Mikey laying upside-down. "C'mon guys, chin up," I said as I sat near them on the couch. "It was just a little fight. There's no reason to get all bent outta shape." "Eh, let 'em pout," said Raph, who was reading a comic just a few seats away. "They're just being sore losers." "You're not helping," I said. "Not trying to help." "Then zip it." I said with my arms crossed. I turn back to Donnie and Mikey. "Look, it doesn't matter who's better or who's worse. We all have important roles to play that makes this team function." "Cleo's right," said Leo, who had just walked in, holding a plate with a slice of pizza. "Look guys, Raph and I may be better fighters, but you're still an important part of this team."

I smiled at Leo as he sat down in front of the TV. At least he was making an effort to make his brothers feel better. "Hm. As important as you two?" Donnie asked, not sounding convinced. Leo and Raph didn't answer, and they looked at each other for a moment. "Uhm... Very important," Leo said finally. "We shouldn't compare ourselves. It's like apples and oranges." "Yeah, if apples were way better, which they are," Raph muttered. "I personally like oranges," I said, frowning at him. "So, the truth comes out," Donnie declared as Mikey slide off the couch and stood up. "You guys think of us as some kind of... B Team!" "Good one, Dr. Name-enstein," Raph smirked as he looked over his comic. "We'll call you the 'B Team'!" "Thanks!" Mikey paused, then glared. "I mean... hey!" "There's no shame in it," said Leo, and he gestured to the TV, which was playing 'Space Heroes'. "Look! They've got a B Team, too!"

"We'll need back up," Captain Ryan turned to what looked like two background characters. "You two in the shirts! You're coming with us!" The two characters saluted in agreement. Captain Ryan, Crankshaw, and the two others got beamed out of the ship and onto the planet. As soon as they did Ryan and Crankshaw leapt out of the way as their 'B Team' was blasted into smithereens. "Rodriguez! And... that other guy! They're gone!" exclaimed Crankshaw. "Well... that's why we bring them along," Ryan said plainly.

"Thanks a lot," Donnie said dully. Leo chuckled. "The point is, they had an important function." "Right. An important function," I stood up and walked over to Leo. "So, if Donnie and Mikey are 'The B Team', then what does that make me? 'The Lonely C'?" "No way!" Raph said quickly. "Cleo, you're a way better fighter than Mikey and Donnie!" "Hey!" the younger turtles said in unison. "He's right, Cleo," said Leo. "You've always been great fighter, and that's saying something, considering we all had years of training after Sensei took you in as a baby." I blinked. I hadn't expected all of that. "Well... what does that make me then?" 

"Easy!" Raph set down his comic. "Mikey and Donnie are the B Team, right? And me and Leo are... the A+ team. That makes you the A Team. "Oh..." I paused. "Should I feel flattered that you think I'm that good or insulted that you still think I'm beneath you?" "That depends on you," he said. "But, yah gotta admit, it does make sense. When's the last time you beat me one-on-one?" "It's... been a while..." Raph snorted. "Oh, shut up!" Raph rolled his eyes and went back to his comic. I rolled my eyes. "Well... being solo on the A Team is better than being the Lonely C, I guess..."

At that moment I heard the sound of the turnstile. I turned around to see April walking in, and she had a look of distress on her face. "April," Donnie got up and ran up to her, and we followed him. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" "I just got mugged by some Purple Dragons!" she said miserably. "They stole my phone!" "Don't worry," said Leo. "We'll kick their butts for you!" "Yeah, we'll teach those punks to mess with April O'Neil!" Raph said as he punched his fist into his palm. April shook her head. "Guys, it's just a phone. I'll get another one." "She's right, guys," I said. "A phone can be easily replaced. It's not worth it." "C'mon," Donnie urged. "What's the point of being a ninja if you can't help your friends when they get robbed." 

"April and Cleopatra are right," we heard father say. "It is best to let this go." "What do you mean?" Leo asked. "Why shouldn't we get her phone back?" "One cannot predict the consequences of battle," Father said as he approached us. "Every fight has the potential to stir a hornet's nest. A simple cell phone does not justify this risk." "What risk?" Raph asked. "It's the Purple Dragons! Even Mikey and Donnie can beat them!" "Hey!" "Don't worry, Sensei," Leo told him. "We'll be careful." And with that, they turned and hopped over the turnstile. I rolled my eyes as I looked at father. "Need me to make sure they don't get into trouble?" "It would be greatly appreciated," Father sighed. I grinned. "No problem!" I gave him and April a casual salute and ran after the guys.

(-)

Of course, we remembered where the Purple Dragon's hideout was, so it was easy to track them down. Especially since they decided to take a break from mugging people and hang out at their hiding spot. By now we had learned all of their names, but I never bothered to remember them. The leader, Goatee, was sitting down not doing a thing. Mustache and Bulky appeared to be throwing knives at a picture on the wall. It took me only a moment to realize that it was a picture of a turtle, taken out of a magazine or something. Mustache took out another knife and threw it at the calendar. It hit the picture dead-on. "Right in the shell!" he jeered, and he turned towards his friend. "Let's see yah beat that!" 

Bulky stood up and took the knife out of Mustache's hand. "Watch and learn..." With a flick of his wrist, he threw the knife. The weapon missed the picture completely and it the wall above it instead. Mustache laughed as Bulky glared at him. "That's it, no more bets!" "C'mon! Your luck'll turn around." Suddenly, and without Leo's call, Raph lunged forward and kicked Bulky so hard he flew back and hit the opposite wall. Goatee spat out his drink and spluttered. "The turtles?!" Raph glared. "Sup?" One by one, me and the other three jumped down to join Raph. 

"Get 'em!" Goatee shouted. Mustache yelled as he lunged forward towards Mikey. Said turtle smirked as he brought out his nunchucks. "Bring it-!" "Comin' through!" Raph seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and kicked Mustache out of the way. Mikey dropped his arms, glaring at his older brother. I heard shuffling from behind me and I turned. Bulky was getting back up. I withdrew my tessen and held it out as he stared at me, then glared as he charged. "Wait for it..." At the last second, I shifted to the right, and Bulky ran right past me. He skidded to a halt and turned. I grinned and made a 'come hither' motion with my tessen. Bulky ran up to me again, arms held out. I spun around and moved to the left to avoid collision. 

He was getting irritated now, and suddenly tried to grab me. I jumped up and over his head, landing behind him. Before he had time to move, I kicked my foot out to the back of his knee, and he fell down. I kicked his other knee, and now he was on both of his knees. I jumped and did a front flip, landing in front of him. Before he could do more than gape at me I leapt up and brought my knee up at the same time. My kneepad collided with his chin, and he flew back and landed on the ground. I landed back on my feet and straightened out. I sheathed my tessen and blew my bangs out of my face as I grinned.

"Well, that was easy." "Nice one, A Team!" I heard Raph shout. I rolled my eyes. "Geez, not that." I whipped my head around and saw Goatee and Donnie running at each other, ready to fight. "I got it!" Leo jumped down in front of Donnie and kicked Goatee away. "Hey!" Donnie shouted, looking annoyed. "Let's get outta here!" shouted Goatee. He and Mustache started running away only to find their route blocked by Raph and Mikey. They whipped around to run the other way, but that path was blocked by Leo and Donnie. "Looks like we got 'em," I said, folding my arms as I walked up to Raph. "Right where we want 'em," he agreed, cracking his knuckles. Leo grabbed Goatee and pushed him hard against the wall. "You punks stole a phone from a friend of ours," he said. "We want it back!" Goatee snorted. "Tch, whatever. We steal a lotta phones." "Well, let's see 'em. Now!" Leo demanded. Goatee glared a Leo for a moment, then groaned. "Fine."

Leo released him. Goatee started walking and lead us to where they stashed all their stolen goods. There were cameras, laptops, speakers, a couple of iPods, a whole bunch of stuff. And yes, they did have a lot of phones. "Hey, that looks like it," Donnie said, pointing at the pile. I looked down to see April's familiar red iPhone resting on top of a stolen laptop. "Problem solved, boys," I said as I knelt down and reached for it. Suddenly, the ground beneath us began to shake. I lost my balance and fell back on my butt. "Does anyone else feel that?" Mikey asked. "I do!" I said as I staggered to my feet. "What goin' on?!" Bulky shouted. Before anyone could answer the floor suddenly cracked and split open. I yelped and leapt back to avoid falling in. A second later a small, silver, robotic thing jumped out of the new hole in the ground. It was only about two feet tall and had razor-sharp jaws, and was glowing red. Not long after, more and more little robots started to arrive, all jumping out of the hole.

"What the heck?" Leo shouted. The little robots leapt over to the pile of stolen electronics and snatched a few objects into their sharp jaws. Then they leapt back into the hole, and at the same time more robots appeared and grabbed a few things. "The heck is going on?" I exclaimed. Leo stiffened. "Wait! Where's...?" He whipped his head around, and gasped. I turned to see Goatee sprinting up a flight of stairs. He waved his hand, which was holding April's phone. He laughed as he gave us a mock salute and ran off. "He's got the phone!" Leo shouted as he withdrew his katanas. "B Team, get 'im! We'll handle the metal!" "Hey!" Donnie started. "We are-" "Just go!" Leo snapped. I saw Raph grin as he shouted, "And if you guys can't handle it, don't be ashamed to call for help," he turned, and I felt him grab my wrist. "C'mon, A Team!" "Whoa!" I yelped as he pulled me away.

After a few moments Raph let go of my wrist and withdrew his sais. He threw one out, and it skewered one robot through its head, embedding it into the wall. "More freaking robots trying to cause trouble," I said as I pulled out my kamas. "Why not?" I looked down to see a robot running near my feet. I kicked it and it went flying out to the other side of the room. I ran forward and swung my blade down, slicing through two robots that were on either side of me. I felt something jump onto my back, and I knew it was a robot. 

I swung my right arm back just enough to stab the robot. I flung my arm out and the remains of the robot flew off. I heard a loud, cat-like whirl, and I turned to see a few robots had hopped back into the hole. One of them was about to jump in when Leo stabbed its head, keeping the thing on the ground with his foot. "C'mon," he said. "Let's see where these things are coming from." "Sure thing, Chief," I said as I sheathed my kamas. Both boys jumped into the hole, and I followed right behind them.

(-)

The tunnels that the robots must've made were huge! And super long. It felt like it went on for miles. There were a couple of times where we lost sight of the robots, but we caught up to them with no issues. Finally, after what felt like an hour, we saw the robots jump down the end of the tunnel. "This must be the place," Leo said as we stood around the hole. I leaned over and peered below. I could see several more little robots running around, all with stolen valuables in their jaws. From somewhere below I heard a low chuckle. "Well done, my pretties!" "Stockman?" I gasped. "C'mon!" said Leo. Without another word we all jumped through the hole and landed onto the floor below. I straightened up and looked around. Standing there, still wearing that ugly pink sweater, was... "Dexter Spackmen!" Raph declared. "It's Baxter Stockman!" Stockman corrected. "I was close!" "Not really," I muttered.

"So, you're here to stop me again!" said Stockman. "Well, you don't stand a chance against my Mousers!" The robots chomped their jaws at us, and I stared down at them. "Mousers?" Leo asked. "Mobile Offensive Underground Search Excavation and Retrieval Sentries!" Stockman declared proudly. I blinked. Okay... "Seems a little forced," Leo stated simply. I shook my head. "Nah. It's totally forced." "Since my test robbery was so successful, it's time to move on to bigger targets!" Stockman grinned. "These are about to make me very, very rich." "And we're gonna make you very, very hurt!" Raph growled as he and Leo started to advance. I was about to move forward as well when I stopped. I could see Stockman's hands itching for something that was in his pocket.

"Guys, wait-!" Stockman suddenly pulled out a silver bottle and pressed down on the top. Thick, red spray shot out and hit the guys right in their faces. "Protect your eyes!" Leo shouted. The boys covered their faces as they started coughing. I quickly backed up to avoid the possibly toxic spray. But something was wrong. I've gone into Donnie's lab dozens of times, and each time he was either building something or messing with chemicals. 

So, I knew that anything toxic gave off a strong sent. But... I couldn't smell anything. "Wait... we're fine," said Raph. Leo paused. "You're right..." he glared at Stockman. "Get 'im!" "Get me? No, you will be the ones who will be getting got!" he frowned. "'Gotten'...?... Get them!" Instantly the Mousers charged at us. I withdrew my kamas and quickly sliced through the nearest ones. Within a matter of seconds, me and the guys had sliced and diced all of the Mousers ones.

"Ha! All gone!" Raph jeered. Stockman smirked. "Good thing I made extra." Stockman pulled out a remote and pressed the large, red button on it. There was a loud ringing noise, and suddenly a large door next to us slid open. Inside were what looked like hundreds upon hundreds of tiny Mousers. I gulped. "I don't feel too good about this, guys," I said truthfully. "They're two feet tall and they can't even hurt us," said Raph. "We'll be fine!" 

*Bam!*

I turned to see two double doors burst open, and several large groups of Mousers piling through. "You were saying?" I asked. Raph didn't reply. Instead, he and Leo crouched down, getting into their fighting stances. A second later we all leapt up and charged down at the wave of Mousers. I crouched down and swung my arms out, smacking a few Mousers out of the way and slicing through others. One crawled onto my leg and nearly ripped off the holster that held my tessen. I stabbed it and threw it off. 

"We're getting out numbered!" I yelled as I kicked one away from me. "I'm calling it," Leo called to me and Raph. "Time to go!" "I'll allow it!" said Raph. "Me too!" Leo started to sprint for the exit, and me and Raph followed. Another Mouser jumped onto my shoulder, and I knocked it off with the end of my tanto sword. Choosing not to look behind me and see the wave of Mousers chasing us, I continued forward as we ran into the outdoors.

(-)

By now we had resorted to running and jumping across the rooftops to avoid the Mousers. Leo was still leading us, but I was still just ahead of him. Personally, I didn't think the Mousers would be too much trouble, but I wanted to keep as much distance between us and them just in case. After what felt like an hour of running, we finally slid to a stop on the roof of an apartment building. I hunched over and grabbed onto my knees, panting. "Yah think we lost 'em yet?" Leo asked. I heard a loud whining sound. 

I looked over the ledge and saw a huge group of Mousers running across the street and stopping at the building we were at. "I'd say 'no'," said Raph. "Time to go!" I spoke. We all turned and continued running before jumping to the next building, and we pressed on. "How are those things tracking us?" Leo asked exasperatingly. "It's gotta be that stuff he sprayed us with," said Raph. "Makes sense," I said. "Most of the little buggers only attacked you guys and not me, 'cause I didn't get sprayed."

Leo shook his head. "Alright... we better call Donnie." "You wanna get bailed out by the B Team?" Raph snapped. "Forget that!" I groaned. "Geez, not this again!" I wanted to say some kind of retort to Raph, but Leo spoke before I could. "Maybe we won't have to." I followed his gaze and saw him staring at a tall water tower that was just ahead of us. We hopped over the building and skidded to a halt in front of the tower. Leo withdrew his katana. "Whatever this stuff is, we'll just wash it off." I quickly leapt back as Leo sliced a thick pipe that led into the tower. Water started spewing out of the pipe and fell all over the two boys. "Ah! Cold!" Raph yelped. I giggled. "That oughta do it-" But Leo was cut off as a loud screech sounded behind us. I whipped my head around and saw a couple of Mousers crawling up over the ledge of the roof. "Of course, we could call Donnie just to say 'hi'," said Raph.

(-)

"Of all the places we could've stayed until you called..." "There was nowhere else to go!" said Leo. I groaned as I looked over the edge of the water tower. It was the only place we could stay until we got some help from the others. Already there were several Mousers below, snapping their jaws up at us. "Leo..." I warned. "It's ringing." There was a short pause. Then, sure enough, I could hear Donnie's voice on the other line. "I'm kind of in the middle of something..." "Yeah? Well, so are we," I mumbled. "This bites," Raph groaned. "What's the matter?" I heard Donnie ask. "Oh! Don't tell me the A+ Team needs our help. Is Miss 'Solo A Team' not doing it for yah?" "Hey!" "Shh!" said Leo, and he went back to Donnie, laughing nervously. "Uh... no! Haha! No, of course not! No, w-we're great! I was just, uh... you know, checking to see if you guys needed any help."

"Liar!" I hissed. "We got this. We followed Fong to the defunct futon factory on Fifth." "Say that 5 times fast." I thought. "Anyway, we got an awesome plan to get the phone back. How are you guys doing?" I turned my head to look at Leo and saw a conflicted look on his face. "Leo, I swear..." Leo looked at me, then at the phone, and groaned. "You know, good... ish." I looked down below us and saw that there were many more Mousers than before. By now most of them had begun chomping on the wooden support beams. 

"Oh, yeah," I said sarcastically, throwing my arms up. "We're just totally peachy!" Leo looked down below to, and gasped. "Woops! Call waiting! Gotta go!" Leo quickly hung up the phone and put it away. I groaned. "You've gotta be kidding me..." Leo sighed. "You were right," he said to Raph. "We've gotta beat these things on our own if it kills us." Me and Raph turned to stare at him. "Uhhh..." "Seriously?" I asked. "Okay, bad choice of words." There was a loud creaking sound, and the support beams finally gave way. The tower collapsed, bringing me and the boys with it.

(-)

"As fun as this is," I called to the other two. "I'd really rather not deal with these little buggers!" A Mouser leapt up and made to attack my face, but I blocked it with my left kama, and stabbed it with the other. "C'mon, Cleo!" said Raph as he skewered another Mouser. "Try to have fun with it." "Look guys!" called Leo. "Mouser kabobs!" I turned my head to see Leo holding up his katanas, each one holding several Mousers. Despite my earlier comment, I laughed. "Nice!" Raph stabbed two Mousers with his sais and threw them over the edge of the roof. 

He turned around, panting slightly. "These things are a cakewalk!" "I can tell," I said bluntly. Keeping a grip on my kamas, me and the guys jumped over the edge of the roof. I flipped down the fire escape and landed in the alley. The guys soon followed. A couple of Mousers joined us. One fell onto the concrete, and Raph stabbed it. Another dropped into a trashcan. The boys looked into the can as I turned around. There was a third Mouser right behind us, and it quickly leapt towards us.

"Whoa!" I dropped down to avoid collision. I heard a loud clang, and I turned to see the guys had moved the trashcan, and the Mouser fell in. There was a loud whining sound, and I turned my head to see another Mouser at the end of the alley. I took out a shuriken and threw it, and it hit the robot. But even as it went down several more appeared and started running towards us. "Cleo, move!" I jumped back and turned. The trashcan now had its lid on and was laying on its side. Leo and Raph stood behind it, each having a leg on top of it. 

They waited for a moment before kicking it out. The can hit most of the Mousers, but a lot still remained standing. The little robots ran at us and charged at them. "Fun little things, aren't they?" I called to the boys as kicked a robot up and stabbed it as it came back down. "I could do this all day!" Leo shouted. Raph yelled. "Same here!" I kicked, stomped, and sliced through a few more Mousers. I turned my head to see where Raph was heading. The Mousers were pushing him right into the middle of the road, and to my horror I saw the headlights of an oncoming truck. "Raph!" me and Leo called.

Raph froze as he turned his head to stare at the truck. At once I leapt forward and pushed him to the other side of the street just as the truck passed by. We tumbled on the concrete a bit as we came to a stop. Panting, I pushed myself up and looked down at Raph as I sat back. "You... okay?" I panted. Raph nodded, panting as well. "Yeah..." he sat up. "That was... so fun..." "Yeah," I staggered to my feet. "Totally fun." I held my hand out to help him up. Raph grinned as he grabbed my hand, and I pulled him up. "You guys okay?" Leo asked as he ran up to us. Before we could answer, more Mousers came running out of the alley. 

I groaned. "The heck...!" "It's almost too much fun," said Leo. Without needing to say so, we turned and started sprinting away. "This is so stupid!" I yelled inside my head. "If we had just told Donnie what was up we might've been able to take care these stupid things!" "I'm... so... tired!" I huffed, hunched over as we finally stopped running. "And I'm sick... of these stupid robots!" "So am I," panted Leo. "This is crazy! Maybe we should call-" "We can do this!" Raph urged breathlessly. I rolled my eyes as I straightened up. "Then what do you propose we do?" Raph didn't answer immediately. Still hunched over, he turned his head to look up at the streetlight. "I got an idea!"

(-)

"This better work, Raph." "Don't worry, it will," he told me. I nodded as I looked down. We were all currently standing on top of the streetlamp, waiting for the Mousers to arrive. Sure enough, a large group of them soon came around the corner of a building. "Up here, metal-mouth!" Leo yelled, banging his katana against the light. The Mousers screeched up at us. Several of them ran at the pole and started chomping down on the pole. Me and Leo turned to look at Raph, who nodded. I pulled out both of my kamas as both me and Leo jumped off of the light. The Mousers screeched up at us as we landed on top of them. "Miss me!" I jeered as a Mouser snapped at me and I jumped away and landed on another one. "Watch out, Cleo!" I heard Leo yell.

I turned my head to see him standing on top of a fire hydrant. I leapt off the pile of Mousers and landed on the concrete. Leo jumped off the hydrant just as a Mouser latched its jaws onto the nozzle. A second later it yanked the nozzle off and water shot out and spread all over the street. "Your move, Raph!" I called up to him. Raph took out one of his sais and hopped off the streetlight. He used his sai to glide across the power cord and he jumped off, landing on the sidewalk next to me and Leo. Then the streetlight, whose metal had been chewed by the Mousers, creaked loudly before leaning forward, falling to the ground. The light bulb burst, and electricity shot out through the water in the street and electrocuted all of the Mousers. The electricity died out and the Mousers fell down.

"Huh... it did work," I said. "'Course it did," Raph smirked at me, then looked at Leo. "Told yah we didn't need those guys..." No sooner did he speak before there was a soft, distant screech. I whipped my head around. Down the street was a single, stinking Mouser. It made a loud screech, and many, many more appeared. "Oh, come on!" Leo groaned. We all turned and high-tailed it out of there, the Mousers all following behind us. I turned my head to look around, looking for a place to hide. 

Then, as we turned into an alley, I saw what appeared to be an old tool shed. "There!" I yelled. I ran forward and led the boys inside. They both slammed the doors shut. Raph helped me pick up a 2x4 and shove it through the door handles. Suddenly, we heard the Mousers slam against the doors from the outside. Leo and Raph leaned their backs against the doors, and I stood between them as I pushed my hands on the surface. 

"Still think we don't need help from the B Team, Raph?!" I asked angrily. Raph stared at me for a moment, then he reared his head back and groaned. "Okay, I admit it! I wish Donnie were here, I bet he could find a way to get these things off our tail!" Before I could reply a Mouser burst its head through the door, just between Leo's legs. We all yelped. "Make the call!" Raph yelled. Leo nodded and quickly pulled out his T-Phone. As he started dialing, I took out one of my kamas and used the end to knock the Mouser back outside. But even as I did two more appeared behind the hole instead. "Donnie's not answering!" Leo said suddenly. "Try Mikey," I told him quickly.

Leo went back to his phone. Suddenly, a Mouser managed to shove its way through the hole in the door and lunged itself at me. I yelped and fell back in surprise. The thing landed on my chest and screeched in my face. I groaned as I stabbed it with my kama and flung it off. "Mikey's not answering either!" Leo said worriedly. "Something's wrong!" Raph shook his head. "I shoulda known they'd need us to bail them-" Bam! The doors finally burst open. Leo and Raph yelled as they flew forward, both landing on either side of me. The Mousers screeched and wined as they advanced on us. "Where did Donnie say he followed the Purple Dragons?" I asked as I quickly got to my feet. "The futon factory," Leo said as he started to back up. "Then we better hurry up." Leo turned and looked at me for a moment. Then he nodded. "Let's go!" he ordered. We followed him without complaints.

(-)

It took us less time to get to the futon factory than expected. Probably because we were still being chased by the damn Mousers. We were all standing on the rooftop, looking through the skylight. We could see everything and everyone in there. Dogpound was inside, so were the Purple Dragons, and another person that I couldn't see clearly at the moment. But the ones who got my attention where Donnie and Mikey. They were both chained to the wall, hanging by their wrists. "These dudes are so gonna pay!" "You guys get the plan?" Leo asked. "Let's just hurry up before those hunks of metal catch up to us!" Raph hissed. Leo and Raph then resulted to bickering again. I rolled my eyes as I gazed down into the room. The phone was right beneath us, laying on a table next to a computer. I watched as Dogpound started to walk around the table and move towards where Donnie and Mikey were chained. Curiously, I pressed my ear flat against the glass and listened.

"While that's running, I got a few questions for yah," Dogpound folded his arms. "I'm only gonna ask this once; Where's the girl?" "What girl?" Mikey asked. "That blonde-haired kunoichi that's in league with you, obviously." "What do you want with her?" Donnie asked, sounding angry. "That's none of your business," Dogpound snapped. "It's only Shredder's." I blinked in confusion. What did the Shredder want with me? Obviously, he wanted to kill me, along with my brothers. But what did he need me personally for? 

"Sorry to disappoint your boss," Donnie growled. "But we're not saying a thing." "Yeah!" said Mikey. I grinned slightly at the guys' bravery. Then I heard Dogpound chuckled darkly. "Fine by me," he said. "The phone might not be able to tell me where she is, but I can get the answer out of one of you instead." I pulled my face back and looked down to watch Dogpound walk back over to the table with the computer. "Oh heck no!" I thought. "He did not just threaten my brothers like that!"

"Cleo, focus," Leo hissed. He and Raph had stopped arguing. "Right, sorry," I said quickly. I sat back and straightened out, pulling both of my kamas out their sheathes. "On my mark," Leo whispered to us. "Ready... Now!" We all jumped at the same time, and burst through the glass, weapons in hand. We landed on the floor with no problems and looked up to face Dogpound. "The turtles? And the brat?" he growled. "Not so fast, Dogpound!" Leo yelled. "And... Dexter Spackman?" "Baxter Stockman!" Stockman yelled. 

Dogpound growled as he leapt over the desk and charged at us. He made to swing at Leo, who leapt over him and ran forward. Dogpound turned to glare at him. Then Raph sprinted up to him, and just as the dog turned his head, Raph kicked him in the face. I turned my head to see Leo slam his katana between April's phone and Stockman's hand. Leo reached forward and grabbed the phone. "Finally!" "How did you escape my Mousers?" Stockman asked Leo. "We didn't."

After he said this, dozens of Mousers began to fall down from the hole in the skylight. They toppled over the heads of Dogpound and Stockman, distracting them. Me and the other two ran to Donnie and Mikey without hesitation. Leo raised his katanas and sliced through the chains holding his younger brothers. "Guys!" I said as I stood in front of them. "Are you okay?" "Chill, Cleo, we're fine," Mikey said, grinning slightly. I nodded. "Good." "We're here to save the day, as usual," Raph gloated. "Oh yeah," Donnie said sarcastically. 

"Looks like you guys are doing great." Raph glared and snapped, "You try fighting off 2,000 robots!" "Speaking of which," I turned around. "We might wanna take care 'em!" Donnie and Mikey withdrew their weapons, and we all began attacking the charging Mousers. I stabbed at the ones by my feet and sliced through the ones that jumped at me. One tried to jump at my face, but I stabbed it and threw it back. Then there was a loud growl. I turned my head to see Dogpound, a furious look on his large face, was now running at Leo. "Mikey!" Leo yelled. "Keep away!"

And he threw the phone. Mikey yelped as he jumped back and caught the phone in his hand as he fell to the ground. Dogpound changed courses and began running after Mikey instead. Mikey jumped over the mutant dog and ran up the flight of stairs, screaming with misfortune "Donnie, what's the deal?" I asked as I sliced through two more Mousers. "Why does Dogpound want April's phone?" "It's not the phone, it's what's on it!" Donnie grunted as he swung his staff and hit a couple of robots. "They're trying to hack into the GPS log. If they get in, they'll know every place that the phone's ever been! Including the lair!" 

"That's enough motivation for me!" I called. I yelled as I kicked a nearby Mouser far away. From the corner of my eye, I saw Donnie kneel down and reach for the remains of a sliced Mouser. He picked something out of the metal skull and examined it. "Wow! A gamma camera!" he exclaimed. "It detects radioisotopes! That must be what he's tagged you with!" "Oh! How do we get it off?" Raph yelled. "You can't," said Donnie. "It wears off gradually. But if someone else got sprayed they'd give off a stronger signal."

There was a yell, and I turned to see Mikey fall from the upper level. Dogpound jumped and landed right behind him. He lifted his large paws and prepared to strike. But Donnie jumped forward and whacked his face with his Bo staff. He leapt back to stand next to Mikey. Having a bad feeling about this, I shoved my kamas into their sheaths and ran forward. "We have to get Stockman's spray," I heard Donnie tell Mikey. "It controls the Mousers." "You mean that thing?" Mikey asked, pointing. "I'll handle this, dogman," said Stockman, holding up his silver bottle. "One spritz, and they're Mouser chow-" 

"No!" I yelled. In one fluid movement, I took out my tessen, opened it, and flung it across the room. Stockman barley had any time to move his fingers before my weapon embedded itself into the bottle. Red spray oozed out in great quantity, coating both Stockman and Dogpound. From the side, I saw all the Mousers that had been advancing on Leo and Raph pause, turn, then start advancing on Stockman and Dogpound. "Yes!" I cheered.

The Mousers showed no mercy as they charged at Stockman and the mutant dog. Dogpound yelled as he turned and started to run off. Stockman tripped over the sliced remains of a Mouser, and Dogpound picked him up. The dog turned around, and spotted April's phone on the floor. Before I could move, he grabbed it and picked it up, chuckling. Suddenly, a small knife flew by and hit the phone, sending it flying until it hit the opposite wall and shattered into pieces. "Hang it up, Dogpound!" called Donnie. "Your call just got dropped!"

Another wave of Mousers charged forward, intent on attacking Dogpound and Stockman. Dogpound turned and ran, sprinting forward and busting through the wall. The Mousers continued to run after them until they were all out of sight. "Here, Cleo." I turned to see Mikey holding my tessen up for me. "Thanks, dude," I said, smiling as I took it back. Me and the guys all walked over to the giant, Dogpound-sized hole in the wall, staring off to where said mutant had gone. "Nice job, guys," Leo said to his younger brothers. 

"Yeah!" Raph threw his arms around Donnie's and Mikey's shoulders. "From here on out... you're the A- Team!" "That's probably the best we're gonna get out of 'im," Donnie said plainly, but grinning all the same. "Hey, at least we're all A's," I said cheerfully. Raph suddenly pulled Mikey into a head lock as he began leading him away, giving him a noogie. "Ow! OW!" Leo and Donnie put their arms around the other's shoulders as they began walking away. I sighed as I put both of my hands behind my head and followed them.

(-)

For the first time in a while, we came home to a happier environment. Leo and Donnie were having fun playing with the pinball machine, Raph was sitting calmly while feeding Spike, and I was sitting near the latter. From behind me, I heard music start to play from the large speaker. I turned around to see Mikey standing there, bobbing his head with the music. Then he stepped onto the flattened cardboard box and started break dancing all over it. I laughed as I watched him dancing like he was having the time of his life. 

He ended his 'routine' with a small backflip. He folded his arms, turned his head towards me, and winked. "Sweet moves," I commented, grinning. "Why, thank yah, dudette," he said, bowing. I laughed. Then from the corner of my eye I saw father walk into the room. "I hope you all see that by choosing your battles poorly, you created your own crisis." Donnie, who was leaning on the pinball machine, shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, there's definitely some irony in there..."

"Okay, it got a little out of control," said Leo. "But we learned our lesson. And at least we got April's phone back." "You did?" April suddenly burst into the room. "Sweet!" Donnie held out his hand and opened it up. Nothing but the shattered remains of April's phone laid in his palm. "Uh... the important thing is, it didn't end up in the wrong hands," Leo said quickly. April sighed. "Gee... thanks, guys." "Aw, no worry, April," Donnie reached behind him and pulled out an extra T-Phone. "You can have one of my custom-built T-Phones." "Oh, cool!" she said, beaming as she took the phone from his hand. "Just don't say 'T-Phone, self-destruct'," Mikey told her.

The second he said this the T-Phone suddenly exploded slightly, sizzled, and died, smoke issuing from it. "Or else that happens..." Mikey finished nervously. "Nice going, Mikey," Raph called out. "Minus two for the A- Team." Mikey turned to frown at him. "Hey, not cool, dude." "Yes, it is!" Raph laughed as Mikey glared at him. I groaned. "Seriously?" "Alright! That's it!" I stood up from my seat. "What?" Raph asked. "Family meeting!" I shouted. "All turtles in the pit! Now!" Leo, Donnie, Mikey and Raph turned to look at each other, looking surprise. 

In fact, they looked like they didn't know what to do. I don't blame them. It's not every day that I burst out like this. After a split second however, all three boys quickly ran over and jumped into the pit. I looked down at Raph. "Raph. Now." I told him. Raph set down the large leaf he was feeding Spike and stood up, setting his pet onto his shoulder. I frowned at them all as I folded my arms. "Alright," I started. "Listen up, all of you. I don't care if you're joking or not, I've had just about enough of this A Team, B Team stuff already!" Leo blinked and I thought I saw Donnie gulp.

"I mean, think about what we've been through tonight just because you let that get to you. You're not gonna let something stupid like that happen again, are you?" "No!" "Of course not!" "Then why am I still hearing about it?!" The boys didn't have an answer to this. They all looked at me for a few seconds before they hung their heads, looking shameful. Even Raph looked disappointed in himself. I sighed, loosening my arms but not dropping them. "Look," I began. "If you guys keep doing stuff like this, it's only gonna tear us apart. Look at tonight; without each other, none of us stood a chance. But you guys were being too prideful to see it!" 

Still, the boys said nothing. I unfolded my arms and took a step closer towards them. "We're a family," I said breathlessly. "We're a team. You guys are supposed to be brothers, no matter what. Yes, you're all different. Yes, there are some things about each of you that make you nothing alike. But... that's a good thing! It's good that you're different! Each of you has a role that helps make this team function." At last, the boys finally glanced up at me. I looked at each of them, thinking of what to say next. 

I looked over at Leo. "Leo," I started, and he straightened up. "You... You're the Leader. You always have a plan set for us. Who goes where, who does what, and who goes with who. You always make sure that there's a way for us all to get out alive, because that's one of the most important things about being a leader; to make sure everyone comes home alive. You always have to make the right choices... and you're the only one who can," I grinned at him. "Leo... you're our leader because you are a leader." Leo stared at me, blinking several times. He seemed a loss for words. A second later he grinned at me. I smiled back. I looked around at the other three.

"Raph..." Raph folded his arms and didn't look up at me. "You're the Muscle of the group," I said. "You deliver more punches than you take. You always try to be the biggest and strongest... and I think it's because you think you have to be tough for the rest of us. On the battlefield you always give it your all. Maybe it's because you like the thrill, maybe it's because you think it's right, or maybe it's both. You always do everything in your power to help us and yourself, and that alone makes you strong." Raph looked up at me, looking surprised. Then, his face lifted into a small grin. "So far so good..."

"Donnie..." Donnie snapped his head up to look at me. "Donnie, you're the Brains," I said. "You have more intelligence than all of us combined. You can come up with over a billion different solutions for over a billion different problems. You work so hard to learn so much so that you can help us be prepared for everything. You come up with so many theories-so many ideas-and many of them could mean the difference between victory and defeat. And... your inventions help us more than you believe. Who built the Patrol Buggy? Who built the T-Phones? Who helped fix the electricity so that we could have heat and light? Where would we be if it wasn't for you?" Donnie folded his arms behind his back as he ducked his head slightly, his green cheeks going very pink. But as he glanced up at me, he smiled. I smiled, giving him a small nod.

"Mikey." Mikey took a small step forward, his big, baby blue eyes gazing cutely up at me. "Bro, you're the Wild One," I said simply. "You have more raw talent than the rest of us put together. You're always willing to take incredible risks-mostly 'cause you're a bit cocky-and they always help us in the end. There's no one who's more willing to do what he has to than you, as long as you're able to put your own special touch to it." Mikey was practically beaming by now, his signature smile plastered on his face. I smiled back at him before looking at the others.

"None of you are beneath or above each other," I said. "We're a team, and you need to remember that. No more of this A Team, B Team stuff. 'Kay?" The boys all turned their heads to look at each other. Then they all looked at me, grinning, and nodded. "We understand," said Leo. "Yeah, don't worry, Cleo," added Donnie. "We'll behave ourselves," Raph told me. "We won't do it again," Mikey blinked his blue eyes up at me. "Promise." I nodded. "Good." I turned away from them and walked away. I glanced back over and saw the boys where in a small huddle, whispering to each other. I rolled my eyes as I stepped out of the pit and began to walk towards my room. On the way I stopped to look at father, who was smiling at me.

"What d'yah reckon?" I asked. "Think I talked some sense into them?" Father smiled more. "I think you are incredibly wise, my daughter," he said. "And I think you care too much about your brothers to not tell them the truth." I smiled. "Yeah, I think so too." Father gave me a small nod. I nodded back and started to head for my room again. "Cleo," Leo called to me. I stopped walking and turned. The boys had broken their huddle and were now all looking at me. Curious, I walked back over to them, standing outside the pit. "Yeah?" "If everything you said was true," Leo began. "And I know it is, you're saying we all have our own roles to play as a team." I nodded. "Well... what do you think your role is?"

Now that made me think. I glanced down as I bit my bottom lip- a habit I've had since I was little. "That," I said. "is for you guys to decide." I grinned slightly at them before starting to turn away. "But we already know," I heard Donnie say. I stopped again. I slowly turned around to look at them and saw all their faces shared the same grin. All I could say was a simple, "Oh?" "You talk about all the stuff that we do," said Leo. "But you never give yourself any credit. Cleo, you give this team your all every day." "You're just as strong and skilled as any of us, and sometimes more so," Donnie added. "You've never let us down," said Raph. "And you're a totally awesome sis!" Mikey piped. I giggled at this. "And you're always there to help us," Leo continued. "Both on the battlefield, and at home." I blinked. "What?"

"C'mon, Cleo, don't be stupid," Raph said, smirking. "Who's always stopping me from pummeling Mikey to a pulp? Who keeps me and Leo from fighting 24/7? Who's always keeping Donnie from blowing himself up every time he tries to invent something?" "Who's always making me laugh because she pretends that being a nerd is awesome?" Donnie asked, grinning. "I was never pretending," I said honestly, grinning at him. "Who's sweet as candy and always plays video games with me?" Mikey smiled at me. By now I could feel my face start to heat up. The guys were being so sweet it was unbelievable! Don't get me wrong, they could all be a bunch of sweethearts when they want to be. Even Raph! It was still surprising that they were springing this all on me right now, but at the same time I actually liked it.

Leo took a few steps towards me, and I could tell by the smile on his face that he had something good to say. "Who's got the biggest heart in the world and loves us with every fiber of her being?" he smiled more. "Cleo, don't you know what you are to us? To this team?" There were a number of things I could be. A fighting buddy, a best friend, a sister... But I had a feeling that none of those where on Leo's mind. So, I gave a small shrug. "No, please tell me." "Isn't it obvious?" Donnie asked. I shook my head. Mikey walked over and sat on the couch, facing me. His blue eyes gaze up at me as he gave me his cutest smile. "You're the guardian angel, Cleo," he said softly. "You're our guardian angel." I don't think I've ever beamed more brightly at my brothers than I did right then.

(-)

Shredder's POV:
I should have known that Bradford would come with disappointing news. That's all he's ever given since he first encountered the turtles and the... I clenched my fist angrily. That girl. That stupid, puny little girl has been haunting my mind since I saw her face. I hated her for that, but at the same time I couldn't blame myself. She looked so familiar, at least her eyes. I feel like I have seen her before, but I do not know where. I cleared my mind of this thought as the door to the chamber opened. It was Bradford, and he was not alone. He was carrying a small man in his large hand. Bradford stomped forward and the man started struggling. "Ow- Hey! Let go!" he demanded, wining like a child. Bradford ignored the man's protests. He didn't stop until he was in front of me, and he threw the man on the floor by my feet.

"Here he is, Master," said Bradford. "Ah, so this is the one who made things difficult tonight." I stood from my throne as stepped down the flight of stairs beneath it. The man straightened up, his back facing me. He turned around once I stood before him though. "Baxter Stockman," I said lowly. "Your interference has cost me Splinter and all of his disciples." I reached forward and grabbed Stockman by the collar of his sweater. He yelped as I lifted him up into the air. I raised my other hand and the blade shot out from my gauntlet. He turned his face away, whimpering. What a pathetic, little man. "You should pay with your life!" I growled in anger. 

"Fortunately for you, I may have use for your skills." I retracted the blade back into my gauntlet and dropped him. Stockman yelped again as he fell into a heap on the floor. He turned to look at Bradford, who growled and clenched his fists. After Bradford took Stockman away, I make sure no one is around, I took out a flower hair pin, the same hair pin I took from that girl from our last encounter between myself and her and those turtles. "I do not know who you are. But I will find out, and once I do, not only will I finished off Splinter and those turtles, you will have no choice but to accept me...... even by force if I have to."