Cleo's POV:
Remember Snakeweed? You know, the ugly guy that got mutated into an even uglier weed mutant? Same guy that we thought got blown up and turned into purple and green goop? Yeah... turns out he's not as dead as we thought. He's actually been around for a while since we last saw him. And yes, that's not a good thing. Me, Donnie, and Mikey all ran to the ledge of the roof we were standing on.

We looked down and saw Snakeweed heading our way. At once we all jumped down and landed in the street just in front of the mutant weed. He squalled at us before turning and running away. We ran after him just as Leo and Raph ran up and caught up with us. Just ahead I could see what looked like a pizza delivery boy driving by on a motorcycle. Snakeweed kept running and jumped over the guy, but then grabbed him with one of his Venus flytrap hands. The boy yelled in terror as he was snatched off his bike and dragged off.

"No!" Mikey shouted. "Not the pizza guy! Take Donnie!" "How 'bout take no one?" I said as I glared slightly at him. "Snakeweed's gettin' away!" Donnie called out warningly. We continued running faster, trying to catch up to the mutant. Then Snakeweed made a sudden turn and lunged into an alley. "Somebody help me!" the pizza guy shouted. But just as we reached the alley Leo stopped running and held his hand up, signaling us to stop. "We've got him trapped," he said. "Good!" Raph withdrew his sais. "Then let's go weed whacking!" "Tree trimmin'!" Donnie said, Bo staff in hand. "Gardening!" Mikey piped up, looking pleased with himself. "Boom! Haha, oh yeah! Mikey put the sprinkles on that sundae!"

Raph sighed irritably, and I rolled my eyes. "That's one weird sundae," I mumbled. "Let's go!" said Raph. But even as he stepped forward Leo held out his arm to stop him. "Hang on, Raph. We're not charging a twelve foot, regenerating mutant." "Then what are we doing?" Raph snapped at his brother. "We'll take Snakeweed from above..." Leo said as he pointed upwards at the roofs. "Tie him up in the clothes lines. C'mon." Leo turned and hopped up, climbing the side of the building and making his way to the top. But Raph didn't follow. 

"That'll take forever!" he said. "And we have to stop Snakeweed now. I mean, he's kidnapping people!" "Not just people!" Mikey piped up. "People who bring pizza!" "We take him from above!" Leo ordered firmly. "Let's move!" He turned and continued climbing up. Not having any problems with his plan, I leapt up and followed Leo up the building. I heard the others jump up and follow from behind. As soon as we made it to the top Leo ran over to the edge of the building, and we followed.

"On my count," he whispered as he reached for the handles of his katanas. "One... two..." He withdrew them, and we did the same with our own weapons. Once the unspoken 'three' came up, we all stepped forward and looked over the edge of the building into the alley. The only problem was... it was empty. "Where'd he...?" Leo trialed off, staring into the alley. Raph glared at his brother. "And the award for Worst Leader goes to..." "How am I the worst leader?" Leo said reproachfully. "If we did this my way, Snakeweed would be toast by now!" 

Mikey shuddered. "Ugh... That'd be some nasty toast..." Donnie's eyes then widened as quickly he reached forward and pulled his little brother back away from Leo and Raph, who appeared to be squaring up to each other. Even I took a step back when I saw this. "Here we go again. Will they ever stop fighting?" I thought with annoyance. "This way would've worked if you hadn't wasted time second guessing my orders!" Leo said angrily. "Well, don't give bad orders, and I won't second guess them!" Raph retorted. I frowned at the two bickering boys. Taking a deep breath, I took a step forward.

"Guys, break it up," I told them. "Fighting's not gonna fix anything." "Yeah? Well, it makes me feel a whole lot better," Raph said, not looking at me as he continued to glare at his brother. I huffed. "That doesn't stop it from being stupid, Raph." "So what?" Raph said, turning his head towards me as he gestured to Leo. "If it wasn't for his stupid orders we'd have Snakeweed right now! But no! We have to listen to Fearless and-" "Nobody's perfect, Raph!" I cut him off. "The sooner you realize that, the sooner these fights over leadership can end! I don't know about you, but I'm sick of 'em and-" "Cleo, don't," Leo said shortly. I turned my head to stare at him. What was he on about? "Leo..." "It's fine," Leo said lowly, and he glared over at his brother. "You know what, Raph? If you think you could do better, why don't you lead?"

"What?" I snapped. "First good idea you've had all day," Raph said firmly. The two leaned forward, glaring and growling at each other. I stood there, looking from Leo to Raph and back again, thinking of what to say. Then, Mikey walked up. "I got this," he whispered to me, and he stepped up to his brothers. "We'll compromise. I'll lead." At this both Leo and Raph turned their heads to glare daggers at their youngest brother, fire in their eyes. Mikey winced and he slowly inched back to stand next to Donnie. Leo and Raph turned back to each other. "Fine, Raph. The team's yours. I'm outta here." With that, Leo turned and started to stomp away. 

"Leo, wait! Leo!" I called after him. I thought I saw Leo hesitate slightly when I called his name, but a second later he continued on, and started to run across to the next building. "I can't believe he's gone," Mikey said miserably. "Aw, don't worry, Mikey," Donnie said, putting hand on his brother's shoulder. "Leo, uh... he just needs some space." Mikey turned his head to give Donnie a deadpanned sort of look. Donnie lowered his arm, looking disappointed. "You meant the pizza guy, didn't yah," he asked shortly. "Yeah..."

This whole time I had been standing still, staring off in the direction that Leo had gone. From behind me I heard Raph clear his throat loudly. I felt my face formed a scowl as I turned to look at him. "What?" I asked lowly. "Are you gonna ditch us too?" he smirked, folding his arms. "Or are yah gonna stay with us?" "Dunno. Are you really offering me the chance to leave? Cause right now I'm very tempted to." Raph's face fell as he blinked, staring at me. Clearly, he didn't think that I would say that. "What're yah talkin' about?" "What am I talkin' about?... WHAT AM I TALKIN' ABOUT?!" I said angrily, stomping over to him. "I'm talkin' about you and Leo fighting! What the heck, Raph?! What was the point in any of that?!" 

"To talk some sense into our Fearless Leader," Raph said forcefully. "He's got no idea what he's doing anymore, it's about time that he-" "That he what?!" I cut him off. "Try to make you leader just because you pissed him off?! If that's your idea of 'talking some sense', then you're nuts!" Raph stared at me as I glared at him. I couldn't believe what was happening. Raphael was pissing me off to the point where I was practically yelling at him. I could sense that I had struck a small nerve by now because I saw Raph's eyes narrow slightly. Probably because I hang out with him and got his temper since I was little, but unlike him, I can control my anger. 

"Cleo, I don't wanna fight with you," he said lowly. "Neither do I, but you're giving me no choice," I snapped. "Just because Leo gets mad and runs off, doesn't mean that you're the leader! Leo was chosen for a reason, Raph, and you have no right to take his place!" Raph's hands twitched as they went into slight fists. His jaw was locked as he looked at me, and almost unreadable expression on his face. I say 'almost' because I could see the small bit of anger in his vivid, green eyes. A few seconds passed and all we did was stare at each other, waiting for the other to speak. 

By now I had begun to calm down slightly, but as I looked into Raph's eyes, I could see he wasn't calming down a bit. Finally, he spoke. "We're leaving." He turned around and walked past Mikey and Donnie, who were staring at him in surprised before turning back to look at me. I felt my brows furrow as I started to walk towards him. "Raph, stop." "We're leaving, Cleo." "Dude, Leo's out there and your just gonna let him run off? What if he gets into trouble or-" "Then go!" I flinched as I stopped walking. Raph had whipped around and was glaring at me with frustration in his eyes. "Go on," Raph said, gesturing behind me. "If you wanna go run off with Leo, fine. I won't stop you! See if I care!"

Donnie gasped and I heard Mikey let out a tiny whimper. I blinked at Raph, my eyes widening. I couldn't believe what was happening. Raph was... yelling at me. We were fighting. We never fight, and he never yells. Not at me. Yet, here he was, yelling right at me. I could feel my heart starting to race slightly and my face began to heat up. My hands were held firmly at my sides as I felt anger and hurt pulsing through me, and I felt my hands clench into fists. Then, before I could stop myself, I yelled right back at him, "Fine! It's not like I want to be around a selfish hot-headed jerk like you! Sometimes I wonder how your even my brother!" 

Not giving any of them a chance to respond, I spun on my heel and sprinted across the rooftop and leaped over the edge to the next building. I heard Mikey and Donnie call out to me, but didn't stop, and I didn't turn around. I couldn't. I wouldn't let them see me this way. I wouldn't let them see me mad. I wouldn't let them see the tears that were threatening to spill from my eyes; tears that were present because one of my brothers in the whole wide world had fought with me... And fought with him, too...

(-)

(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:
I took several long breaths, trying to calm myself. I was sitting on the edge of a fire escape, my face buried in my hands. It worked, but only a little. I sniffed loudly as I lifted my head up, wiping my currently wet cheeks. I sat up as I inhaled deeply through my nose, and slowly exhaled through my mouth. I still couldn't believe what had happened. Raph and I had just fought for the first time.

Now, there have been several close calls in the years that I've known him, but I've never gotten into an actual fight with Raphael. Somehow, I was the only person that he never blew up on, and that was saying something, considering he blows up on everyone. And the fight wasn't even the worst part. It was the look on his face. I've never seen Raph look at me so angrily in my life.

"Dang it," I sighed, rubbing my forehead. At that moment I heard what sounded like a loud banging sound. Like someone was kicking metal around, and it was coming from the roof above me. I turned my head to look skyward. For a few moments there was silence, and I almost thought that I imagined the sound. But then I heard more noises. Sounds of grunting, yelling, and- more specifically- the clang of a katana colliding with metal. 

"Leo..." Instantly, I sprang to my feet and started to jump up the fire escape. The higher I went the louder the noises got, until I could hear them clearly without fail. I grabbed the ledge of the roof and pulled myself up. As I had hoped, I saw Leo up there. What I didn't expect to see was a small group of Foot soldiers surrounding him. But just when I considered going to help him, Leo took down the last soldier, knocking him to the ground.

"Ahh, I feel so much better," he said, grinning slightly. Wanting to make my presence noticed, I pulled myself up and hopped onto the roof. "Leo." Leo turned and blinked when he saw me. "Cleo? What're you doing here? Where are the others?" "They went home," I said as I walked up to him. "I didn't feel like joining." "Why?" Leo leaned in slightly, looking at my face, and then his eyes widened. "Cleo... have you been crying?" I quickly lifted a hand up to my face. Had I missed a spot while wiping the tears away? "I... well-" But before I could finish Leo suddenly put his hand up to silence me. He looked around for a moment, then looked up at the large billboard that stood on the roof we were on. I looked over there too.

Hiding behind one of the board lights was a dark, slender figure. It must've been another soldier. Before we could do anything, the figure leapt up and landed down in front of us. I knew instantly from those curves that the soldier was a girl. She stood up, and I saw that her uniform was different from the Foot soldier's. She seemed to be wearing a black, full body suit that was skintight, and had silver, armor on her arms, legs, and torso. On her face was a black, metal mask that covered everything from her nose down.

Only her bright, brownish eyes were visible. As she stood, she faced us, but I noticed her eyes fall onto Leo. "Not bad," she said in a low voice. I glanced over at Leo and was surprised to see his eyes had widened and his jaw hanging opened slightly. His expression reminded me a bit of how Donnie looked the first time he saw April. "Uh... thanks," Leo said, and I swore I heard the slightest tone of nervousness in his voice. I rolled my eyes a little.

Then the girl turned her head to me. She looked me up and down, and I noticed her eyes land on my kamas. She chuckled. "So, there is another kunoichi in this town," she said. "I was hoping the rumors were true." I raised my eyebrow slightly. What was this girl playing at? She straightened up slightly and started to walk towards us, her hips swaying slightly. "You two might actually be a challenge," she said, a slightly chuckle in her voice. Leo, his face now firm, gripped his katanas as I slowly started to reach for my kamas. The girl reached behind her for the handle of her tanto sword and unsheathed it. 

I saw the gray cloud of smoke a split second before it came at us. My reaction was instant. I raised my arms and turned my head to block my eyes from the oncoming blinding power. Leo, however, wasn't so lucky. He got a face full of the stuff and covered his eyes, coughing roughly. The next thing I knew I was shoved to the side, and I landed on my back. I quickly sat up and saw Leo laying on his shell. The girl was standing over him, her foot on his chest and her tanto pointed at his face.

"Guess not," she said humorously, and she turned to look down at me. "I'll admit, I've seen more graceful slipups." I straightened up into a crouched position as I made an irritated noise, frowning at her. She then turned to look down at Leo, and she removed her mask. Between her bright eyes and her face, she was stunningly pretty. "My name's Karai," she said, grinning down at Leo, who was staring up at her with that dreamy expression again. I was just about to get up and make her get off of him when she leaned back and took her foot off of his chest.

 She grinned at both of us as she sheathed her tanto. "See you around." And with that, the strange girl named Karai turned and ran off into the darkness. Me and Leo stood up, staring after her. "What was that?" Leo asked. "No idea," I turned to look at him, and gasped. "Leo, your eyes!" "Uh?" Leo turned to look at me, but that only made the image worse. Leo's eyes were completely bloodshot. He must've taken more powder to the face than I thought. "C'mon," I said, grabbing his arm. "Let's get home." I pulled him as we quickly went back to the lair.

(-)

"This really isn't necessary, Cleo." "Oh, shut up, Leo." I continued to ignore Leo as I turned on the cold water in the sink. I grabbed a small hand towel and put it under the running water. When the rag was completely soaked in cold water, I turned the faucet off and twisted the rag to get rid of the excess water. I wrapped it into a ball as I turned and walked over to Leo and sat in the chair next to him. I leaned over and placed the rag to his left eye. He flinched for a moment, but then held still and allowed me to apply a bit more pressure. "Good thing it wasn't permanent blinding powder," I said. "That would take more than water to fix that." "Yeah." 

We sat there in silence for a few moments, not saying anything as I continued to hold the rag to his eye. After what felt like 10 minutes, Leo broke the silence. "So, are you gonna tell me what happened?" "What're you talking about?" "I'm talking about why you left the others." I stared at him, not saying anything at first. I reached down and took his hand, bringing it up to the rag so that he could keep it on his eye. I lowered my hands and let out a soft sigh. I didn't know how else to say it, so I decided to just come out with it.

"Raph and I had a fight." Leo sat straight up, the rag leaving his face. I noticed that his left eye now looked less red than before. "What?" he said. "You guys fought?" I reached over and pushed his hand up so that the rag went back to his eye. "Yes, okay?" I spoke. "We fought. I got mad at him for pissing you off, and he wanted to leave. I said it was a bad idea and that he was being stupid and... he snapped at me." I looked at Leo, waiting for some kind of response. Leo stared at me for a moment before glancing at the ground, apparently in thought. Then he looked up at me. "Cleo... did he make you cry?" 

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Leo seemed to know my answer though. He removed the rag from his eye as he suddenly jumped out of his seat, an angry look on his face. "I'm having a word with Raph right now!" "Leo, no!" I ran forward and jumped in front of him, grabbing his shoulders to make him stop. "No, stop! You don't need to do anything." "Yes, I do! First I'm talking to Raph, and then I'm going to Splinter." "No, you're not!" I gripped his shoulders tightly. "Leo, you don't need to be involved. This is between me and Raph, no one else."

"He can't do that to you, Cleo," Leo said firmly. "After all you've done for this team, he has no right to do that to you." "Raph fights with everybody!" I said exasperatingly. "He was bound to fight with me eventually." "But he never fights with you!" "I know!" I snapped. "But there's nothing you can do. This is my problem and I'll deal with it. Okay?" Leo opened his mouth to argue, but I raised my hand to silence him, and he closed his mouth. I sighed as I lowered my hand.

"Look, I can't stop you from telling father, and who knows if you don't tell him he's bound to find out some other way. But I don't want you getting involved with this. The fight was between me and Raph, and if he still wants to argue I'll tell him I've had enough," I glanced away from Leo. "Though, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't talk to me at all. He and I have never fought, so... I don't know how he'll act..."

My voice trailed off as realization washed over me. How would Raph react the next time he saw me? Whenever he fought with the others, he would give them the cold shoulder for about ten minutes then go right back to his normal self. Meaning that he would act as sarcastic as he usual did. But what would he do the next time he saw me? I felt a hand on my back, and I looked up at Leo.

He seemed to know exactly what I was thinking, and he rubbed my back comfortingly. "If you don't want me to get involved, I won't," he said. "But if he gets out of line again, I won't hesitate to put him in his place." I nodded. "Thanks." Leo patted my back before lowering his hand. There was a short silence. "C'mon," I said. "I saw the others in Donnie's lab when we came in, we should go see if they found anything out about Snakeweed."

Leo nodded, lowering the wet rag from his right eye. Both of his eyes were now looking much better than before. They still had some red left in them, but they appeared to be fine. We turned and headed straight for Donnie's lab. I could hear voices inside as we went near the door. When we reached the lab, I slid the door open. Donnie, Mikey and Raph were all around Donnie's desk. Donnie was sitting in his chair, drawing on what looked like a map. Raph was standing over him, arms folded. Mikey was sitting backwards in a rolling chair. Once me and Leo entered the room all three of them turned to look at us. 

"Cleo and Leo are back!" said Mikey, but when he looked at Leo he frowned. "And Leo's been crying!" I looked over at Leo and realized that the small bit of red remaining in his eyes did make it look like he had been crying. I had to suppress a giggle as Mikey jumped from his chair, ran up to Leo and hugged him. "Aw, you missed us!" This time I had to cover my mouth to hide my giggle. Leo rolled his eyes, and he moved his little brother off him. "I got hit with blinding powder," he said roughly. "Sure," Mikey said, smirking. "Big softy."

Leo ignored his brother and walked over to the desk. Raph, arms still folded, stepped forward in front of him. "And where have you been?" he asked angrily. "Don't see how that's your business," Leo retorted. Raph glared at Leo for a moment before turning his head away. "Fine. Whatever." "Dudes, can't we just be cool with each other?" Mikey wrapped his arms around both Leo and Raph's necks and tried to draw them closer together. "Let's hug this out." Raph elbowed his little brother in his stomach. Mikey let out a painful grunt as he hunched over, rubbing his plastron as Raph walked away. 

"Okay..." he said hoarsely through the pain. "Now the healing can begin..." "Looks like you're the only one who needs healing, bro," I said, patting his shell. "Hey!" Donnie piped up, standing from his seat. "I think I've figured out where Snakeweed's hideout is!" "Where?" Leo asked urgently. "Okay," Donnie pointed down at the map he had been drawing circles and lines on. "The radial pattern of recent Snakeweed sightings indicates his lair is at the epicenter of 47th and-" "Actually," Raph said, cutting Donnie off. "You're on a need-to-know basis. And guess what? You don't need to know." Leo frowned. "Hm."

Without saying another word Leo turned and walked out of the lab. I turned my head and watched him leave the room. When he left, I whipped my head around to glare at Raph, who had his arms folded, a smirk on his face. "Leader or not," I said firmly. "Leo is still a part of this team, and he has a right to know." Raph didn't respond to my statement. In fact, he completely ignored me and turned back to look down at the large map. My eyes widened slightly as I stared at the back of his head. So, he was going to give me the cold shoulder then. Only question was how long was he going to give it to me? "Cleo, you okay?" 

I looked over at Mikey, who was looking up at me with concern. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Why?" "Well... you were pretty upset before..." I heard the sound of a chair sliding along the floor and turn my head. Donnie had stood up from his seat and was looking at me with obvious concern. Raph didn't move, his eyes still looking down at the map, his expression unreadable.

I bit my lip as I thought of what to say. "It's okay, Mikey," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine now, really." Mikey looked up at me sadly, not looking convinced. I patted his shoulder before turning and heading towards the exit. "Dude, say something!" I heard Mikey say angrily. I had a strong feeling that he was talking to Raph. But he didn't say anything, and the lab remained silent as I walked out and went into the living room.

(-)

Believe it or not, looking for Snakeweed was the last thing I wanted to do right now. I know it sounds stupid, but that's how I feel. I would've really preferred to stay in the lair with Leo. I didn't wanna leave him the way he was right now. But Leo said that if the others did find Snakeweed, then they would need all the help they could get, and he told me to go ahead. No matter what anyone else says, Leo's still my leader, so of course I listened to him. But still! The whole walk through the sewers was awkward as hell! Raph was still giving me the cold shoulder and refused to even look at me, and Donnie and Mikey continued to look at me with concern. I didn't let them ask me if I was okay, though. We were out here for one purpose: to find Snakeweed.

We were currently walking around the section of the sewer that was further away from our home; the bit that was a lot more slimy, wet, and gross. Which was why Raph, Donnie, and I were walking on side, and not in the actual drainage street. Mikey, however, was walking right through the nasty drainage water. "Man, it really stinks around here..." Mikey grimaced as he sniffed the air. "It is a sewer, Mikey," said Raph. "I mean more than usual," Mikey sniffed again, and groaned. "Ugh... Where does all this stuff come from anyway?" 

"Uh..." I glanced over at Donnie, who had looked up from his map, and nodded my head towards Mikey. "You wanna tell him?" Donnie cleared his throat as he stepped over to his brother rather awkwardly. "Uh, Mikey... it's, um..." Donnie leaned over and whispered into his brother's ear. I almost couldn't hear what he was saying, but Mikey's reaction was a dead giveaway as to what our brother had told him. "What?!" Mikey yelled as he leapt out of the drainage street. "Don't they know we're living down here?!"

"That is the whole point of a sewer, Mikey," I said. "Plus, I think it's better if they don't know we're down here." "Keep it down, guys!" Raph hissed at us. "Wow," Donnie muttered. "You sound just like Leo." Raph whipped around, glaring at his brother. "You say that one more time, and I'll shove your head in this sewage!" He turned around and stomped forward, now having to step through the sewage water due to the closing path. "And now you sound like you again," said Donnie as he joined his brother in the water. 

I frowned as I looked down at the water. "So much for dry shoes." We continued on for about 20 more minutes and still, we found nothing. We passed through so many tunnels and made so many turns that we almost got lost. But finally, we made one final turn and... well, we hit the jackpot. I mean, it had to be Snakeweed's lair. What other place would have glowed, green slime all over the floor and have weird, plant like tubes growing up all around the area.

"Wow..." Mikey said as he stared around. "C'mon..." Donnie muttered as he glared down at his map, not even noticing the mess in front of him. "Snakeweed's lair should be around here somewhere." "You don't say?" Raph said sarcastically. He and Mikey both walked forward into the area, and I stayed behind, waiting for Donnie to realize where he was. "Uh, Donnie?" "What?" I huffed irritably before reaching up, grabbing the top of his head, and pulling it upward. Donnie's jaw dropped as he took in the sight. 

"That's what," I stated as I walked forward. The slime and the weird tubes were even grosser up close than they were at a distance. I looked around at all of them and saw that they were filled with clear, green liquid. I noticed Raph looking inside a nearby one and decided to walk over and check out what he was looking at. I thought I saw him glance over at me, but he looked away too quickly. I looked down inside the tube and yelped. Inside was unmistakably a woman. "Holly molly!" I gasped, clutching my chest.

From behind me I heard the other two gasp, and I knew that they must've seen what was in the tubes as well. "And he's growing humans!" Mikey said fearfully. "He's not growing 'em, shellbrain," Donnie hissed at him. "He's holding them captive." "For what?" Raph folded his arms. "He's a plant. He can't eat 'em." "He's probably turning them into fertilizer," Donnie said smartly. "Ugh, is that really where fertilizer comes from?" Mikey asked, looking grossed-out. I face palmed. "Oh, boy..." "Actually, most fertilizer comes from..." Donnie leaned in and whispered into his brother's ear. 

Mikey's eyes widened and he shook his head. "What?! Is there anything that doesn't come from that?" "Pizza," I piped up. "Enough!" said Raph. "Let's cut 'em loose." Raph pulled out his sais and started slicing the tubes open, the poor people spilling out of them. I rubbed my hands together before reaching into the tubes and pulling a woman out of one. For the next few minutes, we pulled all of the poor humans out of the tubes. Once they're all out, they slowly started to come to. Me and the guys made sure to stay hidden as they woke up, and slowly, they started to leave.

"Not only was that a job well done," Raph stood up and folded his arms, looking proud. "It was a job well done without Leo." I huffed as I rolled my eyes. "Great," I said. "What do we do about Snakeweed, then?" Before any of them could ask, there was a loud, hissing yell. I whipped around. Snakeweed was standing there amongst his taller tubes, and he looked furious. "My fertilizer!" he growled angrily. "What now, boss?" Mikey asked. I pulled out my kamas, ready for a fight. What I wasn't ready for was one of Snakeweed's vines coming up from behind from behind us and knocking us down. 

The vine came back down to crush us, but I jumped to my feet and swung my left kama up. The blade sliced through the vine, but the appendage grew back quickly. Donnie suddenly came up and whacked the vine out of the way when it came down to hit me. But soon a second vine grabbed him by his ankle and threw him. Donnie yelled as he flew through the air and slammed against the wall. By now the other two had already gotten up and we were all running at Snakeweed. The mutant launched one of his flytrap hands at Raph and knocked him back, and me and Mikey skidded to a halt.

"Wow, we're totally losing!" said Mikey. One of Snakeweed's vines came down at us, and we all separated. Raph slid back and made to charge, but the vine knocked him back so that he hit the wall. "Really?! I hadn't noticed!" Raph snapped at his brother. "Then get your head in the game, bro!" Mikey yelled. "You're supposed to be the leader!" A second later Snakeweed's flytrap shot forward and knocked him down. I heard a loud yell, and I looked up to see Donnie had leapt up, his Bo staff raised, aiming for Snakeweed's head. But the mutant blocked the blow and knocked Donnie out of the way. Donnie landed on the ground in front of us, but quickly leapt away with the rest of us to avoid the oncoming vine. 

"Get back in there!" Raph ordered. "And do what?" Donnie said as he got up. "Go for the head." "I just did!" "Do it... better!" "Great!" Donnie snapped. "Four times in a row! He'll never see that coming!" "I got yah, Donnie!" I called. Me and him both ran up to Snakeweed at the same time, him from the right and me from the left. I threw a few shuriken at Snakeweed, and the mutant turned his head towards me. This was enough for Donnie raise his staff, jump up, and deliver a blow to the side of Snakeweed's head. Snakeweed squalled, but he lifted one of his vine and smacked Donnie down.

I turned my head to glance back at Mikey and Raph. "Now what, chief?" the younger one asked. "Go... for the head!" Raph said, but he didn't look too sure about his answer. "Fifth time's a charm!" "Mikey, don't!" I yelled. But Mikey was already running at Snakeweed, his nunchucks raised. One of the weed's vines suddenly snuck up on the poor turtle and wrapped around his ankle.

Mikey yelled as he was lifted up and spun around multiple times before he was thrown back. Mikey hit the ground and flopped around before smacking hard into the wall. "Mikey!" Raph and I yelled. We both instantly ran towards Mikey, dodging all of Snakeweed's vines. This distracted the mutant long enough for Donnie to deliver a blow to his face. I doubled back and ran up next to Donnie, ready to help him. 

"Raph! Little help here?" Donnie yelled. "Just... hold him off!" Raph called back. I stared up at Snakeweed before looking back at Raph kneeling over Mikey, who appeared to be unconscious. Snakeweed squalled as he launched his vines at us. Donnie blocked the blows with his staff while I sliced as much as I could with my kamas. A vine shot out towards Donnie, who blocked it, but the vine wrapped tightly around the staff and pulled. I ran forward to cut it when two other vines wrapped around my waist, and I yelped as they lifted me up into the air. My kamas were knocked out of my hands and fell to the ground.

"Mikey's down!" Raph called out. "So, what do we do now, Raph?" Donnie asked desperately. Raph didn't say anything but looked down at Mikey and back up at Donnie. He let out a small yell as he grabbed the sides of his head, looking like he was about to freak out. "I'll smash you rotten turtles into the ground!" Snakeweed yelled. "Raph!" I shouted. Raph snapped his head up to me and gasped. He seemed to have just realized that Snakeweed was holding me up.

The vines started to squeeze me tightly, and as I let out an angry noise I reached into my pocket, pulled out a shuriken, and stabbed the vine. Snakeweed squalled as he suddenly released me. I wasn't prepared for the fall, and instead of landing on my feet like I usually did, I landed right on my side. A sharp stab of pain suddenly went through my torso when I landed on the metal floor. It felt like someone had just jabbed my ribs with a knife. 

Through my pain I looked up to see Donnie had wrapped Snakeweed's vines around his staff and was pulling the vines through the pipes in the ceiling, keeping Snakeweed tangled and held back. Donnie leapt through the last pipe before letting go of his staff, locking it in place to keep the vines tangled. I quickly got to my feet as Donnie leaped up and ran over to Raph, who was staring blankly at Mikey's unconscious figure. "Raph!" Donnie grabbed Raph's shoulders and started shaking him. "We don't have much time before he grows back! Let's grab Mikey and get outta here!" 

Raph shook his head, and he finally seemed to have come to himself. He and Donnie both grabbed one of Mikey's arms and put them over their shoulders. "Cleo! You alright?" Donnie called as they stood up. "I'm fine!" I said, putting my kamas in my belt. "Let's beat it!" Now supporting the unconscious Mikey, Donnie and Raph started to run out of Snakeweed's lair. Ignoring the searing pain in my chest, I got up and ran, too. "I'm coming for you, turtles!" Snakeweed yelled. "You hear me? I'm coming for you!"

(-)

It was a lot of work not to moan in pain as I ran beside the others. My chest was hurts like a lot, but I knew that Mikey had to be in worse condition. He was the one who had to be carried home, not me, so I remained silent. It was only a short time later that we finally got into the lair. "Sensei!" Donnie called out when we got home. "Help!" Raph yelled. Father poked his head out from the dojo, a look of concern on his face. He stepped out of the dojo and started marching forward. "Set him down," he said, pointing at the couch. 

The boys set Mikey gently on the couch as father walked into the pit and sat beside him. I leapt into the pit but soon regretted it since the force caused pain in my chest. "Where is Leonardo?" Father asked urgently. "I don't know," Raph said miserably. "Sensei, this is a disaster, and it's all my fault! I don't know what happened. I just... froze up. I mean, I have no problem risking my own life, but my brothers... and Cleo..."

I whipped my head around, and I was surprised to see Raph was actually looking at me. He had been giving me the cold shoulder all night, and now is when he chose to finally look at me. Father lifted his hand and touched Mikey's face, examining him. A moment later he turned to look sternly up at his son. "Now you see the price of leadership, responsibility," he said. Raph hung his head. "Yeah... I hate it." "So, you understand Leonardo's burden?" Raph lifted his head and nodded. "We need him back," he said. "I... need him back." 

"Then go get him," Father said. "But Sensei, I don't know where he is." "He's going to the Byerly Building," Donnie piped up. I turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. "How do you know that?" I asked. "April texted me," Donnie explained as he held up his T-Phone, then his eyes widened as he jumped to his feet. "April texted me...! Oh, this is the best day!" Mikey let out a loud, painful groan. Donnie blinked and looked down at him. "Well, I mean... it's had its ups and downs..."

I couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped me, but as soon as I did pain shot through my chest again and I winced, clutching my side. "Cleo?" Donnie said. Father, who had been heading back for the dojo, doubled back and looked down at me. "Cleopatra, what is wrong?" I didn't answer immediately. Now that my adrenaline had lowered and I had started to relax the pain in my chest had return, and it felt worse than it did before. "Cleo, you okay?" It wasn't Donnie who had asked, it was Raph. And it was this that made me look up at them. They were both looking at me with concern in their eyes. 

"Not really," I admitted. I took a small breath, but even this cause severe pain in my lungs. I groaned as my legs gave way and I fell to my knees. At once the other two ran over to me and I felt father put a hand on my back. "Cleo, what is it?" Donnie asked. "When Snakeweed dropped me," I blurted out. "I landed on my side. I... I think I hurt my ribs..." I grunted as I hunched over, wrapping my arms around my torso. "Why didn't you say anything?!" Raph asked angrily. "Mikey... was hurt..." I said, taking small breaths so as not to hurt my ribs. "We had to get him home... you didn't need to... worry about me too..."

I squinted my eyes as the pain continued. Now that Mikey was safe and secured there was no reason for me to hold back. "Raphael," I heard father speak. "You must go find Leonardo." "But-" "We'll take care of Cleo and Mikey, Raph," said Donnie. "You gotta find Leo." I glanced up at Raph. He gave his brother a small nod before standing up. He looked down at me, and I saw so much hurt and concern that I was surprised. Raph reached over and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaping out of the pit and running out of the lair.

"Donatello," Father said firmly. "You must attend to Cleopatra. I shall watch over Michelangelo." "Hai, Sensei." I looked up as Donnie put an arm around me. "Can you stand?" he asked. I nodded. "But it hurts." "That's what I thought. Here, hold onto me." I slowly lifted my arms and put them around Donnie's neck. He put one arm around my back and the other under my legs and gently lifted me up. He then carried me out of the pit and brought me into his lab.

(-)

Raph's POV:
We were all crouched around Mikey, who was still unconscious. Leo, who was sitting by Mikey's feet, held up a slice of pepperoni pizza to Mikey's face. Mikey's nose twitched, and a second later he opened his eyes. "Mmm... pepperoni..." "Works every time," said Leo. "Mikey!" I lunged forward and wrapped my arms around my brother. "Don't scare me like that, buddy! I thought we lost you!" I leaned back and looked at Mikey, who was looking a bit groggy. "Dudes, I had the weirdest dream..." he said lazily. "I dreamt the stuff in the sewer was made out of-" "Eh, forget out it Mikey," Donnie said quickly. "It was just a dream." 

Donnie looked at me and Leo and held a finger to his lips, indicating that we shouldn't tell Mikey anything. Leo held out the pizza slice and Mikey took, stuffing it in his mouth. I turned to Leo and grabbed his arm. Without saying anything I pulled it up and dragged him away from the others so that they would overhear us. "So, what's with the girl who tried to kill you?" I asked. This was something I needed to know. I mean, I go out and try to find Leo, and I find him talking Foot kunoichi. Leo said her name was Karai or something like that. He didn't get to explain why he was with her because Snakeweed showed up. Luckily, we were able to take care of him, but that didn't mean that I had forgotten about that girl.

"She didn't try to kill me," said Leo. "She saved me." I raised my brows. "She threw a knife at your head." "She threw a knife near my head," Leo corrected, holding up Karai's tanto. "She's in the Foot Clan," I said bluntly. Leo sighed. "Nobody's perfect." Leo patted my shoulder and walked past me. I groaned. Leader or not, he could still be an idiot sometimes. "Hey, where is Cleo, anyway?" Leo asked as he looked around and noticed that Cleo wasn't in the room. "She's resting," Donnie said, sounding a bit glum. "How's she doin'?" I asked. Donnie sighed. "Well... she could be better." "Why?" Leo ran up to Donnie. "What happened?" 

"We went to go find Snakeweed's lair," Donnie explained. "We found it and we found Snakeweed. We fought, but..." "It was my fault," I blurted out. "I didn't know what I was doing, I... I just..." I let out an angry noise as I clenched my hands into fists. It was my fault that Mikey got hurt. It was my fault that Cleo got hurt. Everything was my fault. "What the heck is wrong with you?!" a voice screamed in my head. I felt a hand on my shell, and I looked up. Leo was giving me a look that said, 'it's okay'.

"Dude, what's wrong with Cleo?" Mikey asked, looking fearful. Nobody answered him. I glanced over at Donnie. "How bad is it?" I asked, scared to hear the answer. Donnie glanced down, rubbing the back of his neck. Then he sighed heavily. "She's got three fractured ribs." I felt Leo's hand tense up on my shell and I clenched my fists tightened. Three ribs... No...

"Is she okay?" Mikey asked worriedly. "She will be," said Donnie. "But she's going to need a lot of rest. And... she won't be able to train until she's healed." "Is there anything we can do?" Leo asked. "All we can do is make her comfortable," Donnie answered. "Fractured ribs will heal themselves over time, but it'll take a few weeks, give or take. All I can do is give her pain killers to help with the pain, and I already gave her some earlier." 

"Raphael," I heard Sensei's voice. "A word." I looked up. Sensei had just come out of the hallway where our rooms were. He must've been seeing how Cleo was doing. "Coming, Sensei," I said. I stepped out of the pit and walked over to him. He gestured for me to follow him, and we went further into the hall. "Raphael, Leonardo spoke with me earlier," Splinter turned to face me. "He claims to know of a disagreement between you and Cleopatra." I blinked up at him. Cleo told Leo about the fight. And Leo told Splinter? That little tattletale! 

"He says that Cleopatra was very upset afterwards," Splinter's eyes narrowed. "My son, is this true?" I gulped, pausing for a moment. Then I hung my head. "Yes, Sensei..." There was a pause. I didn't look up at Splinter. I could feel his eyes glaring at my head. "Raphael, am I right to assume that you regret fighting with Cleopatra?" "Yes!" I said quickly, looking up at him. "Will you ever have a fight like this with her again?" "No, I won't!" Sensei lifted his walking stick and pointed down the hall to Cleo's room. "Then go apologize to her." Now I remained silent. I turned my head to look at Cleo's bedroom door, staring at the 'STAY OUT OF MY ROOM!' and 'KNOCK FIRST!' posters taped to the surface. 

What should I do? What should I say? I was used to fighting with my brothers... but Cleo... Would she even forgive me? Would she ever speak to me again? The thought of Cleo never speaking to me again... well, it scared me. Yeah, that's right, I was scared of something. "I... I don't know if I can, Sensei," I admitted, still staring at the door. "I mean... what if apologizing isn't enough? What do I do?" Sensei sighed. "Raphael, there is an old saying," he spoke softly. "A good man will apologize for his mistakes... but a great man corrects them." I looked up at Sensei, who looked back at me with gentle eyes. He took a step forward and put a hand on my shoulder. "I shall leave you to decide which you would rather be." And with that, he lowered his hand and walked away.

I glanced back at him before looking forward at Cleo's door. I took a deep breath, and I strode over toward it. As I got closer, I could hear music coming from inside, indicating that she was listening to her phone. I lifted my fist, paused, and knocked. The music's volume lowered. "Come in." I grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door. Cleo's room was always cool looking to me.

Posters of her favorite music artists and a few pictures of guitars were taped to the wall. A large black beanbag sat in the far-left corner. She had a slightly cracked, full body mirror that sat across her bed, with a dark purple comforter that we had given her years ago. Cleo was laying on her bed, resting against a few pillows so that she was propped up. She wasn't wearing usual clothes or her ninja outfit, but instead the pajamas April bought for her a few months ago,

and she was holding a smaller pillow against her chest. The second I walked in she snapped her head up to look at me, a look of surprise on her face. I couldn't blame her. I had been flat out ignoring her since we fought. "Hey," I said as I closed the door behind me. "Hey..." she said softly, clutching the small pillow closer to her chest. "Um... 'sup?" "Nothin'." There was an awkward silence.

Then Cleo reached her hand down and patted the surface of her bed, inviting me to come sit. I walked over and sat on the edge of her bed, the springs making a slight creaking noise at my weight. "How's Mikey doing?" Cleo asked. "He's awake," I said. "Leo gave him some pizza, so he should be fine." Cleo chuckled, and suddenly winced and clutched her pillow tightly. I looked at her and waited for her to relax before speaking. "How're you doing?"

She gave a small shrug. "Eh... yah know," she grinned slightly. "I could be a whole lot worse. I could have four messed up ribs instead of three." I grinned as I chuckled. She could be so funny sometimes, even if she was hurt. There was silence again, and it was still filled with tension. I turned my head to look at Cleo, and she was looking at me as though waiting for something. "Cleo," I started. "Listen, I... I just-" "Forget it," she said. 

I looked at her. She didn't look angry; she didn't look upset. Heck, she's smiling at me. "No," I shook my head. "Cleo, I-" "Forget it," she repeated. "I know what you're gonna say Raph, and it's okay. I forgive you..." I blinked, staring at Cleo, my mouth hanging open. But she just kept on smiling at me, that same kind look she always had was in her eyes. I gulped slightly as I scooted closer to her.

"You were right," I said. "I don't deserve to be leader, I'm not right for it. I didn't listen to you, and you and Mikey got hurt. I... don't care if I risk my life, but... when it come to you guys..." I felt her touch my arm and I stopped talking. "It's okay, Raph," she said soothingly. "Yes, you made a big mistake, but you've learned from it. And... look, people make mistakes, okay? It's one of the things that make us human." I rolled my eyes as I chuckled. "Yeah, right," I said smartly. "In case yah haven't noticed, Cleo, you're the only one here that's human." 

There was silence again. Then, Cleo slowly and gently scooted closer towards me, making sure to go slow enough to not hurt herself. I looked at her as I waited to see what she was doing. A second later she reached up, put a hand on my shoulder, and pulled forward. She leaned her face in and kissed my cheek. I clenched my jaw and froze up even as she leaned back. "You're more human than you think, Raph," she said. "You all are." I stared at her, unsure how to respond. She just continued to smile at me. A second later she lifted her arm up towards me. "We're cool?" I grinned and chuckled as I leaned forward and gave her a one-armed hug. "Yeah. We're cool."