Cleo's POV:
Training today was simple and easy. This was good, considering things haven't been simple or easy lately. It was nice to just have a normal day. Well, as normal as it can get with 4 mutant turtles. But there were several other reasons I was happy about today's training session. Today, it was a simple one-on-one sparring session. While Leo sparred with Mikey, and Donnie sparred with Raph, I would spar with April, meaning I didn't have to play fifth wheel. Don't get me wrong, I don't really care about being an extra, but it was still a nice change. And April is getting so good. She didn't actually get to hit me or even knock me off my feet, she's not that good, but she's getting so much better, and she's even better with her tessen than she was before. 

She still loves the little touch up I did on her fan too, which makes me happy. Practice is nearly over now. April and I were the first to spar; Father wanted to see how well she was doing first before moving onto the boys. She laid some pretty impressive moves, but I was still able to knock her off of her feet and claim victory. All in good sport, obviously. Leo and Mikey were next, Mikey coming out on top by being able to dodge all of Leo's hits and landing a few of his own. I laughed at how irritated Leo got at his brother, and Mikey defeated our leader.

"Yame!" Mikey leapt away from Leo, putting his nunchucks back into his belt. "Michelangelo for the win!" he cheered. "Yeah, dude! Thank you, ladies and gentlemen," he bowed, then I saw him wink in our direction. "Especially the ladies." "That was subtle," April muttered to me. "Since when is Mikey ever subtle?" I whispered. "Good point." "Alright, Mikey, beat it," said Raph as he and Donnie stood up. Leo and Mikey both walked off to sit next to us as Raph and Donnie walked into the middle of the dojo. They both took several steps from each other before taking out their weapons. 

"Don't worry, Donnie," said Raph, revealing that smirk he always saved for when he was feeling particularly confident. "I'm in a good mood today, I'll go easy on yah." "Don't do me any favors, Raph." Donnie then glanced away from Raph and looked over in our direction. I had a feeling I knew what- or rather, who- he was looking at. Sure enough, as I turned my head, I saw April looking back at Donnie, a small smile on her face. Donnie grinned, then looked back up at Raph. "Um... In fact, maybe...you'll be the one...who gets gone easy on... by me! So... yeah!" "Worst smack talk ever," Mikey whispered, and I nodded.

I made an effort to remain perfectly still for Donnie's sake, but I couldn't help but mentally facepalm myself. I mean, I'm not a grade A student when it comes to comebacks, but I'm sure I could give Donnie better pointers than that. I'm a pretty sarcastic chick when I want to be, and that tends to be beneficial with smack talk. That's based on experience, of course. "Hajime!" Raph let out a throaty yell as he lunged at Donnie, who charged forward. He swung his staff our, but Raph ducked and avoided it. 

He quickly spun around and made to strike at Donnie's back, but Donnie raised his staff and blocked the blows. Then he jumped behind Raph and shoved his staff forward, jabbing Raph in his shell, making him stumble forward. Donnie put the staff between Raph's legs and smacked his knees, making them give out. Then, he swung the staff towards Raph's legs and knocked the cocky turtle off of his feet and right onto his shell.

"Hey, I got 'im!" Donnie shouted with delight. "April, did yah see?" Curiously, I glanced over at April, and saw that she was giving Donnie a larger smile than before. It happened in an instant. One second, Raph was on his shell, and the next he had flipped over, and hand kicked Donnie's feet out from under him, making him fall onto his front. Donnie quickly got to his feet, but before he could even get his staff back Raph as on him. The hothead had taken one of his sais and managed to get one of Donnie's wrists caught between the blades. 

Raph swung Donnie around him a bit before catching the remaining wrist in his other sai, and swinging him in the front, trapping him. "Oh, not this again." "Say hi to them, Donnie," said Raph, then adopted a high pitch voice as he bent Donnie's wrist, making him wave. "Hi Mikey, Hi Cleo!" I snapped my hand up to my mouth, and it took every amount of strength I have not to laugh. Though I hate to admit it, I like the old 'Donnie Puppet' goof. Raph used to do it every chance he got when we were kids. But, seeing as how April's watching, I wanted to save him some embarrassment. 

But it appeared that my efforts were in vain. Not only did a small giggle manage to come out of me, but the others had no problems in letting it out. But while April had the decency to simply giggle. "Donnie!" Mikey cheered, laughing. "Haha, amazing! I didn't even see his lips move! He's like a puppet who can throw his voice... to himself. Wait..." "Yame!" Father called out. "Raphael, that is enough." Raph looked disappointed as he swung Donnie to the side, releasing his wrists. Donnie fell down on the ground and onto his shell. Then Raph marched over and sat right on his brother's stomach, making said brother lurch. "Thanks for going easy on me," Raph gloated, still sporting that smirk. He patted Donnie's chest before standing up. Donnie looked deflated as he laid there on the floor, and I knew it wasn't just because Raph had squeezed the air out of him.

(-)

(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 turned my head slightly. The last two to leave the dojo were Donnie and Raph. Donnie was glaring at Raph and appeared to be marching over to him, looking like he had something to say. Moving very quickly, I slipped past the curtains into the kitchen. I stood by the corner, making sure my feet weren't visible, and waited. Then, a second later, I heard Donnie's voice. "What the heck was that?" I heard him ask angrily. "What?" Raph asked in a rather happy tone. "Just havin' fun. You know how much Mikey and Cleo love the 'Donnie Puppet'." Cautiously, I leaned forward and peeked through the curtains. I could see both of them now; Raph was smiling, but Donnie looked angry. "Dude, April was watching!" Donnie said seriously, pointing out towards the living room. 

Raph rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure she liked it..." But as Raph turned, he saw the hurt look on Donnie's face and stopped. "... too," he finished after a second. "Wait... you still think you have a shot with her?" I blinked. Did Raph think that Donnie suddenly gave up in his pursuit of April? Even if he had, his feelings wouldn't have just gone away overnight, and he'd still be embarrassed by what had happened in training today. Donnie looked suddenly even more embarrassed. His cheeks flushed pure red as he glanced away from his brother, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Well... I mean, I..."

"Wow! That is so adorable!" Raph said incredulously. "And sad. It's sa-dorable. If you wanna impress April," he jabbed a finger into Donnie's chest. "Better leave me out of it." With that, Raph turned and marched away, leaving an embarrassed and hurt-looking Donnie behind. Thinking it was stupid to keep myself hidden, I pulled back the curtains enough to reveal myself. "Cleo!" Donnie gasped. "I-I... um, about all that, I... uh..." I gave my brother a sad smile as he stuttered and attempted to explain himself, as he always did. But, deciding to cut him short, I slowly walked forward and wrapped my arms around Donnie, pulling him in for a hug. Donnie was still for only a second before hugging me back. 

"It's okay, Donnie," I said as I leaned back, holding his shoulders. "You have no reason to be embarrassed. And you know what? Forget what Raph said. I don't think you're stupid for not giving up." Donnie's face was still red, but it was less so than before. He simply smiled and nodded. I reached up and patted his cheek before turning and walking into the living room. The others were already busy doing their own things. Raph was sitting on the couch, Leo and Mikey were all over by the pinball machine, Leo attempting to beat his own high score again. And April was sitting on the other end of the couch, messing around on her laptop.

At that moment there was a strange sound, like electronic music. And it appeared to be coming from April's computer. "Not bad!" said Mikey, as he and Leo walked over to her. "Needs more drums!" "What kind of music is that, April?" I asked curiously, dropping down next to her. "It's... not music," she said quietly. As soon as she spoke the music stopped, and the icon for it dropped down. "What was that?" asked Leo. April shook her head. "I don't know. Some random email I got. It just... started playing on its own." "Sounds like some kind of telemetric sine wave sub carrier," Donnie said thoughtfully. 2 seconds of pure silence followed this statement as we all stared at Donnie. "Uh, dumb that down a notch?" Leo suggested, looking just as clueless. 

"It's an interference modulation used to encrypt covert transmi-" Donnie's rambling was cut short as Mikey lifted his finger and pressed it to Donnie's mouth, silencing him. "Not enough notches," he said, shaking his head. Donnie glared at Mikey, slapping his hand away before saying, in an irritated tone, "A secret message!" "Who would be sending me a secret message?" April asked, staring at her laptop. "Well," Donnie spoke up, "If you want, I could take it and try to decode it. I could figure out what the message says and who sent it." "That's great!" April closed up her laptop and lifted it up to Donnie, who walked over and took it. He turned from all of us and headed towards his lab.

(-)

Last night ended with all of us gordging down on the rest of our pizza and falling asleep in the pit. Well, most of us. Donnie was still in his lab working on decoding that secret message by the time we all fell asleep. He hadn't even come out to eat after going into his lab. He must have really been working on that message. I felt my back pop as I stretched it out, yawning loudly. Moving my bangs out of my face and turned around to see that I had been laying on the floor, my head resting on the beanbag chair that Raph was currently sleeping on. I looked around me and saw that the others were still asleep too. Mikey was laying on his plastron on the couch, an empty popcorn bag stuffed on his head like a hat, and Leo was laying on a cushion in front of the TV, his mouth hanging open and drool dripping down. 

At that moment I felt something tugging on my sleeve, and I looked down to see Spike pulling on a piece of my sleeve with his mouth. I giggled, reaching over and gently tugging it from his mouth before picking him up and placing him in my lap. "Morning buddy," I said sweetly, petting his head. He closed his eyes, looking blissful as I pet his scaly head. I petted him for a few moments before setting him down on the ground. He smiled up at me before slowly crawling away, nibbling at a few pieces of popcorn on the ground. 

I looked around and saw 3 empty pizza boxes, and several bags of popcorn, two of which were still half full. I reached over and grabbed one of the half full bags. I reached inside and pulled out a small handful of popcorn and ate it as I saw Leo now sitting up, stretching his arms out. "Look who's awake," I said. Then, I heard loud shuffling and a voice mumble, and I turned to see Mikey starting to wake up, the popcorn bag still stuffed onto his head. I smiled as I turned back to Leo, who was looking around the room, looking confused. 

"Anyone seen Donnie?" he asked. At this I looked around. I hadn't noticed that Donnie wasn't in the pit with us. Though, I guess he would just come and fall asleep in here like the rest of us did. "Maybe he's in his bed?" I suggested. From beside me, I heard Raph yawn as he finally woke up, rubbing his eyes. "He was still in his lab when we fell asleep," said Mikey as he took the popcorn bag off of his head. Then he gasped. "Wait! Do dreams count? Cause last night, I dreamt that Donnie and I were rodeo detectives, and there wa-" "Can it, Mikey, I'm serious," said Leo. 

Mikey shrugged. "Okay, but you'll never know who stole the Buckaroo Diamond!" "You through?" asked Raph, who had picked up the wandering Spike and was feeding him a piece of popcorn. "Yeah..." Mikey paused for a moment, then... "It was the clown!" "Donnie?" Leo called out, but there was no answer. I frowned. It would make sense that Donnie wouldn't be asleep out here with the rest of us, but why wouldn't he be in his bed. Aw geez, he didn't fall asleep in the lab again, did he? "Maybe he's in his lab," I said. With that, we all proceeded to leave the living room and go into Donnie's lab. 

Even though I hated it when Donnie fell asleep in there, I was hoping that we would find him inside. Instead, all we found was an empty lab. I noticed Mikey walking straight towards Donnie's desk and looked at him. He stopped, then reached out and opened what was clearly April's laptop. "Guys, I think I know where Donnie went," he said. At once, we all ran over to the desk and stood behind Mikey. On screen was the same page April had been one, and the little icon that held the secret message.

"Oh, there," Raph said bluntly. "That's the secret message," said Leo. "Obviously, he must've followed it." "After he figured out what it was," Raph added. "But he didn't write it down or anything," said I as I was looking at all the papers on the lab desk. "Not even a little sticky note or something. How're we suppose to find 'im?" "What would Donnie do, what would Donnie do?" Mikey asked out loud. Suddenly, Raph reached over and picked up the laptop. "Gimme that thing!" he shouted, growling as he started shaking it in his hands. "Or," Leo grabbed Raph's arms to stop him. "What would Donnie do if he was doing and impersonation of Raph?" 

Leo reached over and quickly snatched the laptop out of his brother's hands before the hothead could cause any damage. Raph folded his arms and turned away, obviously pouting. Before I could comment, the secret message suddenly started stuttering, and a voice issued from it. "April, it's dad," the voice of April's father made us all freeze. "I pray you get this message. I've been moved to a secret Kraang facility. If you can, send help..." "Dad?" I whipped my head around. There, standing in the doorway, was April. She was staring at us, a look of fear in her eyes.

(-)

Donnie's POV:
"Sa-dorable... Humph! I'll show him!" I landed on top of a building's water tower before finally coming to a stop. I pulled my phone out and looked down at the map that I had taken a picture of from April's computer. The tracker in my phone told me that I was right on top of the place. I looked down but saw only a small building with graffiti on it. "That's strange." "Huh... Doesn't seem very Kraan-y." Nevertheless, I put my phone back into my belt before leaping off the tower. I landed on the fire escape, swung to the ladder, and forced it down until it dropped as far as it could go. Then I leapt off and quickly when around the nearby jewelry store and went passed the buildings' stone outer walls. I had to be careful. It may be very early in the morning, but the sun was getting higher and higher, and no doubt there would be come humans up and about by now. I quickly walked over to the small garage door and kneeled down the open it. But then I saw that it had a large metal lock down on it. I reached into the little pouch on my belt and pulled out a small pick. I put the pick into the lock, turned it a couple of times, and then the lock clicked as it snapped open. I grinned, putting the pick back into my belt.

I grabbed the hinges of the door and swung it up. I withdrew my Bo staff before ducking my head as I walked underneath the door. I looked around as I softly closed the door back up. The place appeared to be some type of mechanic shop, with cars held up in rows upon rows of metal shelves. As I walked deeper into the room, I heard a loud clatter and whipped around. There was nothing there. Gripping my staff tightly, I slowly walked forward, looking around the area. "It is one of the ones called 'the turtles'." A robotic voice said behind me. I gasped and whipped around. There, standing behind me, was a Kraang droid. It aimed its laser gun at me and started to fire, but I quickly dodged and leapt forward. I swung my staff and smacked the weapon away from, then hit the droid, then sent him flying back and landing on the ground. I backed away, then noticed a control panel next to me. I smashed it with my hand, and from above a huge car came crashing down onto the droid, squishing the bot and the alien inside it. "Looks like you could use a tune up, huh?" I said, smirking. "Yeah. Right? Am I right? Who's the hero now?"

Suddenly, from beside me, I saw a flash of pink, and several more lasers coming at me. I gasped and ducked all of them, even tucking my head into my shell for a moment to avoid one that was coming for my head. "Ho-ly! Cow!" I untucked my head with a loud pop and looked around. There were several more droids now, and they were all firing at me. "No response necessary," I said in a high-pitched voice. I quickly turned and ran forward, jumping over a car and landing behind it. The droids continued to fire at me as I remained ducked behind the car. Carefully, I slowly peeked my head up and looked to see if there was good cover on the other side. I saw that there was a good spot by one of the metal car shelves. 

The Kraang fired at my head and I had to duck again. Taking a deep breath, I leapt up onto the hood of the car and then jumped up, swinging my staff and smacking a nearby droid in the head, knocking him down. I landed on the ground, summersaulted forward, and knocked down another droid before leaping back behind a car that wasn't on a shelf. For a second, the shooting stopped. This puzzled me, because there was still one more droid left. I walked over and poked my head out, and suddenly the lasers were on me again. As they fired at me, several of them hit another control panel. Before I could do anything the floor beneath me dropped, and I screamed as I fell down, down, down.

(-)

Cleo's POV:
As soon as we had figured out where Donnie was going-Mr. O'Neil's message came with a map of his location-we left the lair. April really wanted to come, but we told her no. The Kraang were after her, and if she went into one of their secret labs, she might as well surrender herself to them. She was upset about that, but still agreed. It was about 8 am now, and the sun was still rising up in the sky. The others and I were sprinting across building after building, following behind Leo. We have to be careful, so that no one will see us. It's not a big deal if I get spotted, but if the others do, that could lead to trouble. "Guys, I'm worried," I said. "Donnie's never done anything like this before." "I know," said Leo. "Why would Donnie try to rescue April's dad by himself?" We all leapt off the building and landed on the edge of the next. Leo and I were halfway across when we noticed that both Mikey and Raph had stopped. We stopped too, turning to look back at them. It was then that I noticed that Raph was glancing around, looking guilty.

"Uhh... Maybe because I told him he has no shot with April?" he said, shrugging sheepishly. I look at him with a raised eyebrow, and with annoyance. "Oh, now he decides to admit what he did?" "You what?!" Leo exclaimed, walking back towards him. "Why would you say that?" "Because he has no shot with April." "Yeah, but you don't tell him that!" I raised my eyebrows. "Okay, I'm gonna ignore the fact that you basically just agreed with him and focus on the problem," I turned onto Raph, saying what I should've said yesterday. "Raph, you shouldn't have said that to Donnie. You had no right to put him down like that." "I swear, it's like Raph doesn't want Donnie to be happy." 

"Put him down?" Raph asked incredulously. "Please! One of us had to get it through his head that no matter what he does, it isn't gonna happen." "And why shouldn't it happen?" "Because-We... Well, look at us!" Raph snapped. "We're turtles, Cleo! Mutants! There's no way a girl like April's gonna go for someone like Don-" "Oh my gosh, would you stop using that as the only reason?!" I yelled. "April doesn't think of you differently just because you guy are mutants, and I know I sure don't! Heck, if I had a crush on any of you guys, I wouldn't let the fact that your mutants get in the way of it at all!"

I glared at Raph in silence after I said my piece, and he just stared back at me. Not in an angry or confused way, but as if he were seeing me for the first time ever. I glanced over at the other two, and I saw that they also looked stunned by my statement. But they also looked touched, rather than just surprised. I felt my cheeks warm up and I cleared my throat loudly. "What? I wouldn't, if we're not siblings." I said firmly. They all continued to stare at me for a few moments in silence. Then Leo broke it. "Well, none of that matters now. Right now, we have to get Donnie back before he gets himself hurt." 

Leo turned and continued running off the roof. I looked at the other two, and Mikey put a hand on Raph's shoulder. "The heart's a soft muscle, man," he said soflty. "A soft muscle. Squish..." Normally, this kind of humor would've made me giggle, but under the situation I kept it in. Mikey removed his hand from Raph and spun around, following Leo. It took us 20 minutes to get to the place our trackers were leading us. It appeared to be just a simple mechanic shop; not at all Kraang-y, but looks can be deceiving. Being careful, we all crawled down the building we stood on and snuck towards the mechanic shop. There was only one, small door on the front, and we headed towards it.

"You sure this is the right place?" Raph asked. Leo didn't say anything. Instead, he kneeled down in front of the door and picked something up. It was a large, sliver lock. "Either Donnie's here, or the garage mechanic stole his lock pick," said Leo. "So, the mechanic could break into his own place?" Mikey asked skeptically. "Come on, Leo. Think this stuff through, dude. Let's move!" Leo stood up and turned, glaring down at his little brother. Mikey faltered under his brother's gaze, laughing nervously. "Hehe, uh... you knew that." "Hm." "Alright... you say it." "Let's move!" Leo lifted the door up and walked inside. 

Mikey cheered happily, obviously to break the nervous tension, but this failed due to Raph walking up and smacking the back of his head before going inside himself. Mikey glared at his brother, rubbing the back of his head. "Punk." "He is, isn't he?" I asked. "C'mon Mikey, let's go." I easily put the door down as we all walked inside the shop. Shelves upon shelves of cars filled up most of the area. As I walked around a car that was sitting in the center of the room, I looked down to see, surprisingly, a Kraang droid crushed underneath it. "Pretty sure Donnie took this guy out," said Raph. "How can you tell?" asked Leo. "He looks bored to death." I rolled my eyes. 

Suddenly, there was the sound of a car engine rumbling to life. "Hey guys!" Mikey called out, and we turned to see him inside a car high on a shelf. "Check out my ride. Whooo!" The engine roared and the lights flashed. I had a split second to react and leapt out to the side as the car suddenly lurched forward, ramming headfirst into the ground before slamming down. I got up on my feet as the dust cleared, and was relieved to see that the others, including Mikey, were unharmed. As I turned more, I saw that the end of the car had slammed into a small control panel, and saw behind it a large spot where a car used to be had disappeared, revealing a dark passage down. We all walked forward and gazed down the hole. Donnie obviously must've found this and followed it to where the Kranng were. "Nice, Mikey!" Leo said, grinning. Mikey, who was still in the car, smiled. "Oh yeah, I-" "Do not say 'I meant to do that,'" said Raph. Mikey frowned, looking embarrassed. "Let's move," said Leo.

(-)

Okay, now this place is starting to look more Kraang-y. We all creeped along the steal/stone wall as we reached the corner, looking around before running forward down a short hall. At the end was a tall, steel door, and a dissembled Kraang droid lying beside it. "He must've gone through this door," said Raph. He marched forward, reached up, and started to pull at the door, trying to force it open. But, no matter how hard, no matter at which angle, no matter badly he wanted it to, Raphael could not get the door open. Finally, Raph got so worked up that he sprang back, whipped out his sai, and was about to start stabbing when Leo grabbed is wrist and stopped him. "Again, what would Donnie have done?" he asked firmly. I folded my arms and put a finger on my chin, thinking. 

Donnie would've known what to do, and he never just rushes to smash, hit or destroy whatever doesn't work. So, if we can't open this door by force, what could we do? What did Donnie do? My eyes wandered around as they fell upon the droid on the ground. I gasped as I remembered. "Guys! The droid!" I spoke. "Remember at TCRI? The elevator? There was a retinal scanner, it needed a droid to scan itself before it would even move." I walked around the others and over to the door. There, in the center, was a black, rectangular sheet of glass that looked just like the scanner at TCRI.

"Guys, pick up the droid." They did as I asked and they all grabbed the body and picked it up, bringing it over. I grabbed the head and pulled it closer and pressed it against the glass. I was right. There was a bright red light as it scanned the face, and a second later the door beeped, opening up completely. "We're in!" I said happily. The boys cheered as they dropped the droid. A second later there was a loud, ringing sound echoing throughout the halls. It was the alarm. "Cleo did it!" Mikey shouted, pointing at me. I whipped my head around and glared at him. As I did, I saw several Kraang droids running towards us from the other side of the hall. I gasped before reaching down and taking out my kamas.

The boys noticed this and turned around as well. "We've got company!" said Leo as he and the other two took their weapons out as well. You know, coming here to get Donnie back was beginning to be a lot more trouble that one would think is worth it. Having first find the place is one thing, having to get through it is another, but to have to deal is this many Kraang is a whole new level. It took us a while to get rid of the Kraang who had tried to sneak up on us, and even longer to take care of the ones who were past the door we had managed to open. But, it didn't matter to me. No matter what we face, nothing is gonna stop me from finding my brother, and hopefully finding April's dad.

As we walked down the hallway, we looked into all of the cell doors, all of which were opened. Perhaps Donnie opened them when he found Mr. O'Neil? I was looking inside another cell when I heard it. A loud, banging sound, coupled with the sharp snarling of some kind of animal. I wasn't the only one who heard it either. "I don't like the sound of that," said Leo. "Maybe if we ignore it, it'll go away," said Mikey. A second later we heard the snarling again, and this time it was louder. "Someone's not ignoring it!" Before I could respond something very big swung down in front of us, hanging from the ceiling. It looked like a gigantic lizard. It would've been taller than even Donnie if it were standing up. Its scaly skin was a sickening black and orange, and it was wearing some strange, white armor around his torso and limbs. 

The creature snarled at us before aiming what looked like a gun in our faces. It fired at us, and the little orange bullets shot forward. "Move!" Raph shouted. The bullets came right at us and at the last second, we all dropped to the ground, flat on our bellies. The bullets shot past us and hit a closed cell door. There was a loud boom as the door exploded, and dirt and dust filled the hall. We all coughed as we slowly got back to our feet. I waved my hand around, trying to push the dirt away. When the air cleared, I looked to see a gaping hole where the cell door used to be. As I gazed at it, I looked inside to see two figures. One was a bald, red-bearded man, and the other was...

"Donnie!" I shouted. I ran forward, leaping over Leo, who was still crouched on the ground. I threw my arms around Donnie and pulled him into a breathtaking hug. Donnie didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around me and instantly hugged me back. "Mr. O'Neil!" Leo said, shocked, addressing April's father. "Big, beady eyed, lizard-y thing with weapons!" Mikey screamed. I pulled away from Donnie to whip my head around. The large creature who had fired at us was standing in the middle of the hall, screeching loudly at us. "What the heck is that thing?" I yelled. "Donatello calls it the Newtralizer," Mr. O'Neil answered. "You named something without me?" Mikey asked Donnie, sounding heartbroken. 

But as Donnie looked down at him the Newtralizer started firing at us again, and we all shouted as we turned and ran the other way. We ran down the hallway and took a few turns, all of us following after Donnie. He led us to the end of one hall, where another set of doors were. The doors opened as we reached them, and we all ran inside. The doors closed tightly behind us, separating us from the Newtralizer. I took a couple breathes as I looked to make sure the others were here and alright. That's when I noticed Mikey was glaring up at Donnie with unnatural fury, and Donnie was giving him a clueless gaze. "You named something without me?!" Mikey asked angrily. Donnie rolled his eyes irritably. From the other side of the door there came a loud crashing and banging. The Newtralizer was trying to get inside. "We gotta get outta this prison," said Leo.

"Technically, this is a detention center," Mr. O'Neil started. "The difference being-" "Not now, Donni-Ohh... Sorry, Mr. O'Neil," Raph said, looking sheepish. Then he looked over at me. "Great. Now there's two of 'em." "Nothing wrong with a few more smart people, Raph," I told him. Raph opened his mouth to respond but was cut off as a second door from behind us beeped and slid open. We all turned to see many more Kraang droids, armed and at the ready. They ran inside and instantly started firing. I whipped out my kamas as I ran forward, slicing one upside the head and knocking him out of the way. I ducked under several lasers and sliced through a couple of droids feet, making them fall over. "Little help!" Mikey shouted. 

"How about some big help?" Donnie put his staff back into his belt as he ran forward and started messing with the Kraang computer. "Not really the time to check your email!" Leo said irritably as he sliced through several droids. "Donnie, what're yah doing?" I asked loudly. "I'm guessing if they had the Newtralizer locked up, it wasn't because he was their friend." And with a smirk on his face, Donnie slammed his hand down on the computer. The first door opened, and there stood the Newtralizer. He grabbed a Kraang droid that was nearby and threw him across the room, snarling loudly. "Apparently, he likes trashing Kraang," said Raph. "Who doesn't?" asked Mikey.

The Newtralizer raised both of his arm and started firing all around the room. I ducked down and ran behind the Kraang computer along with the others. Keeping my head down low enough, I looked out to see every single Kraang droid get shot and fall down onto the ground. A few seconds later, they were all down. "YEAH!" we all shouted, leaping to our feet. The Newtralizer glared at us before aiming his large gun onto us. "NO!" we all shouted again. The Newtralizer fired, and we all ducked to avoid being blasted. Like with the cell door, the bullets blew up the second door behind us. After seeing we were free, we all ran out of the room and into the hallway, screaming like mad. 

We followed Donnie, making so many twists and turns that I was afraid that we were lost. But eventually, another right turn leads us straight to the car lift that had brought us down here in the first place. As soon as we saw it, we all got onto the platform. "We gotta access the control panel," said Donnie, smacking the panel irritably. "I got it," Raph said, taking out his sai and walking forward. But just as he was about to strike, Donnie reached up and stopped him. "Raph, I got it," Raph smirked. "Oh, really?" "Really."

Donnie then took the sai from Raph and stabbed the control panel himself. I smiled to myself as the platform suddenly lurched upward, taking us back to the mechanic shop at superfast speed. When it reached the top it stopped suddenly, causing us all to fly off. We all went in different directions. I was thrown forward and landed on something hard. Recognizing the feeling of plastron, I realized it was one of the guys. I sat up and saw that I had landed on top of Leo.  "Sorry, dude," I said, getting up and reaching my hand out to help him. "No problem," he said, taking my hand and letting me pull him up. 

Suddenly, there was a loud screeching and a dark shape shot up the level we just came out of and landed on a car. It was the Newtralizer, and for whatever reason, he looked pissed. "Let's split up," said Leo. "Donnie, you get Mr. O'Neil out of here." The Newtralizer raised his hands and threw what looked like silver discs at us. We all leapt out of the way to avoid them. Mikey and I went to one corner of the room, Donnie went to go hid Mr. O'Neil, and Leo and Raph charged the creature head on. "We gotta help them," I told Mikey. He nodded. We both ran towards the huge shelves of cars and climbed up one. By the time we reached the top shelve and looked down we saw Raph leap away as the Newtralizer shot at him with his lasers. But rather than chase after him, the creature turned towards the shelves, and then stomped over there instead. Curiously, I leaned over the edge to see Donnie and Mr. O'Neil hiding behind a car. "C'mon," I said.

Mikey followed me as I climbed down one set of shelves. I looked down to see the Newtralizer standing on one side of a car, and Donnie and Mr. O'Neil standing on the other. The lizard lunged forward, and Donnie cried, "No!" pushing April's father out of the way. The Newtralizer snarled at him, and Donnie threw a smoke bomb in his face. While he and Mr. O'Neil managed to sneak away, I leapt forward and landed right on the lizard's shoulders. Before he could do more than reach up and jumped off and grabbed the corner of a shelf, hanging off of it. The Newtralizer snarled at me and stuck my touch out at him as I waved my free hand in front of my face. A second later, Mikey jumped down onto his head and leapt up to another shelf. The Newtralizer turned towards him, and he blew a rashberry in his face. As the lizard was distracted, I leapt off and landed on the round. I looked around the room and found Donnie hiding Mr. O'Neil behind another car in the corner. "Are you two okay?" I asked as I ran over to them. "We're fine," said Donnie. There was a loud thud and a few grunts, and I whipped around to see Leo and Raph laying on the ground. The Newtralizer then leapt down in front of them and pointed a gun at them. 

Where was Mikey? He was supposed to be distracting him. No sooner did I think this before there was the sound of and engine starting up, and suddenly roared. "Booyakasha!" I looked up in time to see a car fly off the shelf and land right on top of the Newtralizer before falling over onto its back, landing hard with a loud crash. "Mikey!" Leo, Raph and I yelled. We all ran forward towards the driver's side, but I couldn't see anything. "Mikey, are you okay?" I asked worriedly. Then, all of a sudden, Mikey poked his head out, smiling at us all. "Don't worry, I wore my seatbelt," he said happily, unbuckling said seatbelt and slipping out of the open window. Raph and I laughed as we both helped him to his feet. "C'mon," said Raph, rubbing the top of Mikey's head.

(~)

I'll admit, I've seen more comfortable passengers ride the Shellraiser. Mr. O'Neil was nervous the whole ride home. He kept fidgeting around, yelped every time we turned sharp, and kept warning Leo about the speed limit. But, despite it all, we bit our tongues and took it with a grain of salt. He had just been a prisoner to the Kraang after all. As soon as we parked by the lair entrance Mr. O'Neil was the first to get out. After telling him that his daughter was in the lair waiting for him, he wanted nothing more than to get out and see her. We all followed behind him and walked through the turnstiles. 

April and Father were all in the living room, obviously waiting for us. April was sitting on the couch, her head hung over, and Father stood over her all, looking calm and patient. "April?" Mr. O'Neil called out. April suddenly sat up and whipped around. "Dad?" she gasped. "Dad! Oh dad, I can't believe it!" At once, she sprung to her feet and ran towards her father, wrapping her arms around him. Mr. O'Neil hugged his daughter, looking relieved to see her. April turned towards all of us. "You guys saved my dad! Thank you so much!" "No problem, April," I said, smiling.

"Yeah. The guy you should really be thanking is Donnie," Raph said, pulling Donnie in and patting his chest. I slowly turned my head to stare at Raph. Was he trying to make Donnie look impressive for April? Donnie stared down at Raph, looking flustered. "Well, I-" "Seriously, you should've seen him!" Raph continued enthusiastically. "He was ho-waah! Sheeka! Oh-ha! Blew-blech!" "Raph," Donnie cut in, laughing slightly. "I-I-I think that's a little-" "We kept saying, 'careful Donnie, it's too dangerous!'." Raph piped up once more. "And Donnie was like, 'Danger? Ha! Nothing will stop me-!" 

"Thank you! Thank you, Raphael!" Donnie said loudly as he clapped a hand over Raph's mouth. He quickly released him and looked over at April. "Heheh... Th-those weren't my exact words, bu-" But he was cut off as April walked forward and gave him a soft, long, genuine hug. Donnie completely froze up, his eyes going wide. "Thank you, Donnie," April said sweetly, releasing him and walking back to her father. Donnie let out a cute little giggle before he finally fell back onto his shell. We all walked over to stand around him, all of us sporting similar smirks. "Well, I tried," Raph said. "Dude, I'd say you succeeded," Mikey said proudly. Donnie giggled again, raising his hand as he gave us a thumbs up. I giggled as I shook my head.