Cleo's POV:
"C'mon!" Raph said enthusiastically. We all grabbed our weapons, turned and started walking for the exit. "Where are you going?" We turned. Father was walking towards us. I couldn't help but notice the stern look on his face. "Heading out for our evening patrol," Leo explained. "There will be no patrol!" Father snapped. I flinched. Leo stared. "Sensei...?" "Last time you fought the Shredder, you barely escaped with your lives!"

"But, Sensei," Raph said. "Next time, we'll be ready." Father's eyes narrowed. "Yes!" Suddenly, he gripped him and pulled him forward. Raph yelped in pain as father pulled his arm back in a painful twist. "Because you will stay down here until you are ready! No patrol, no games, no rest! There is only training!" He released Raph's arm and shoved him forward into us. "Starting now!" Think what you want, say I'm overreacting, but for the first time ever, I was scared of my own father.

(-)

(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:
"More, Sensei?" Mikey asked. "Yes! More!" I stood there, hunched over as I continued panting. I've never been so tired from training in my life. The only reason I wasn't doing something this second was because the boys were paired up at the moment. "Sometimes it's good to be a fifth wheel." Donnie and Mikey, both still panting, charged forward. Leo and Raph grabbed them by their arms, flipped them over, and threw them on the ground. "There is no intention in your strikes!" Father snapped. I yawned sleepily, rubbing my eyes. 

*Whack!*

I yelped as I felt father's staff smacked my arm painfully. "Pay attention, Cleopatra!" he said forcefully, and he jabbed his staff forward. "Spar with Donatello!" "Yes, father!" Shaking my head to force the sleep out of me, I walked forward as Donnie slowly stood up. I crouched slightly; arms held out in defense. I charged forward, and so did Donnie. I raised my fist to aim a punch, but Donnie ducked. He grabbed my wrist and twisted it behind me, but not enough to hurt me.

"You were not focused enough, Cleopatra!" Father yelled. "Do it again! We will practice all night if we have to!" "We have been practicing all night," Donnie said incredulously, releasing my arm. I heard soft mumbling, and I looked down. Mikey was laying on the floor, apparently asleep, mumbling. "Pizza... mmm..." "Wake him up!" Father demanded. Raph smirked. "Gladly."

Raph reached down and grabbed Mikey by his shell. He then flipped him over and slammed him onto his shell. Suddenly, Mikey shot up, wide away, and screamed. "Ahh! Shredder's here!" "Relax, you were just having a nightmare," Leo soothed, helping his little brother to his feet. "Aren't we all," Raph grumbled. "Impossible," I leaned an arm on his shoulder. "We'd have to be asleep to be in a nightmare." "... Good point." "Sensei," Donnie spoke up, breathing heavily. "Can we rest for a sec?"

"Rest?" Father turned to look at us. "Hm... The Shredder will not rest... until you are all dead!" I cringed, quickly hid behind Raph. He glanced over at me, but I didn't look at him. "Sensei," Leo began. "We've been training nonstop for weeks with hardly any sleep. They need a break." "'They'?" I asked, frowning at Leo. "Don't you mean 'we'?" "Yeah! Like you don't need a break!" Raph snapped. "That's right, Raph. I don't," Leo said firmly. "Ah. Well then, I'll give you a break!" 

*WHACK!* 

In one, powerful hit, father knocked us all off of our feet. We fell back and landed in a pile on the floor. "If I were the Shredder, none of you would be breathing right now," he said as we sat up. "Understand?!" We all stared up at him, not saying a word. Then Mikey fell back on Leo, asleep once more. "... Perhaps a brief rest is in order," said father, and he started walking towards his room. "We will resume later." Without hesitating, we all fell back on each other. I laid my head on Donnie's lap and instantly fell asleep.

(-)

Father must have been feeling very generous after me and the guys passed out yesterday, because he decided to let us have this afternoon off. And boy, did we take advantage of it. After catching up on some very much needed sleep we all found our own ways to relax. Donnie had gone into his lab, no doubt to work on something important and scientific. Mikey had run off to the kitchen to get a snack, but I haven't seen him since.

Leo was in the pit, still practicing with his katanas, but was watching 'Space Heroes' at the same time. I was lying back on the couch, listening to my music on the T-Pod, and I was laying my head in Raph's lap. I would touch my right side of my hair and sadly glance at it since my hair pin is gone. I lost my hair pin I got from my family on our birthday/Mutation Day during our fight with Shredder. Needless to say, I have no idea where it went, and I know I can't replace it.

After what felt like half an hour, I felt Raph tap my shoulder. I pulled out one of my earbuds and looked up at him. "What?" "Watch this." Raph reached behind him and pulled out a shuriken. He held it up and took careful aim before tossing it with a lazy flick of his wrist. The star hit the power button, and the screen went black. "What?!" Leo froze and let out an exclamation of surprise.

Raph chuckled, and I rolled my eyes. "Hey! What are you doing?" Leo snapped, turning to look at Raph. "Oh, sorry! It was Spike's idea," Raph said as the little turtle crawled up his shoulder. "He said 'Space Heroes' is too stupid for him." "That's saying something, considering he hangs out with you and Cleo all day." "Excuse you?" I asked, quickly sitting up.

"Oh, nice job, Leo!" Raph stood up, and I saw Spike had crawled off of him and was now eating his leaf. "You made him angry. So, I'm gonna mop the floor with your face!" Raph pointed a threatening finger into Leo's face. Leo shook his head and moved his brother's hand. "Alright, Raph. Cool off." "I can help with that!" I whipped my head around in time to see a bright blue balloon fly pass me and hit Raph's face, water exploding all over him. I turned my head back to see Mikey standing there, grinning widely as he juggled two water balloons in his hands. "Dr. Prank-enstein strikes again!" he called happily.

Raph stomped over to Mikey, fists clenched and growling, fire trailing behind him. But Mikey just continued smiling. "Dude, you should see your face right now," he giggled. "You look so mad!" "Mikey," I warned. I saw Raph grin evilly. "Okay, Spike. You'll like this show," he cracked his knuckled. "It's called 'Does Mikey Bend That Way?'!" Mikey finally seem to have gotten the message. He screamed as he turned on his heel and ran, Raph sprinting behind him. "C'mere, you!" "Ahh!"

I set the T-Pod down as I stood up and walked next to Leo, both of us watching as Raph jumped on top of his little brother and started pummeling him. "Well, he did ask for it," I thought. But after a few moments I felt that Mikey had had enough. "That's enough, Raph!" I said, grabbing his shell. "C'mon, let him up!" Raph smacked Mikey's head once more before standing up, letting me pull him back. "He was asking for it!" he growled, still glaring at Mikey. I sighed as I walked forward to stand in front of him. "I know, Raph. That's why I didn't' stop you immediately. But you still don't have to-"

*Splash!*

I felt a water balloon suddenly explode on my back. I gasped and seized up; the water was ice cold. "Gah!" I yelped. "Cold!!" I heard Mikey laugh from behind me. "Dr. Prank-enstein shows no mercy!" Dispirit to rid myself of the cold, I glared at Mikey. "Would it kill yah to use warm water?" I asked accusingly. Mikey giggled mischievously. I groaned. "I can't even... ugh..." Raph started laughing, and I glared at him. "It's not funny!" "Yeah, it is!" I sighed. "I'm gonna go see what Donnie's up to..." I turned and started walking towards Donnie's lab. The others obviously had nothing better to do and followed me. 

I opened the lab doors and walked in. Inside was what looked like a large go-kart with five seats. It had two seats attached to each other on either side of a fifth seat in the very middle. It took me another second of looking to realize that the center seat looked like a wide motor bike. Donnie was kneeling beside the go-kart, wearing a protection mask and handling a blowtorch.

"Hey, Don." Donnie switched off the torch and lifted his mask. He smiled. "Hey, Cleo," he looked down at me and frowned. "Why are you wet?" I looked down to see the upper part of my ninja clothes was wet on one side. "Oh, you know," I wave an airy hand. "Mikey had a few water balloons... things got crazy." "Ah." "You're still working on that go-kart?" Raph asked. "It's not a go-kart," Donnie lifted up his blueprints. "It's a terrain patrol buggy with detachable sidecars and a motorbike center." 

"Cool!" I smiled. "I'm guessing I got the motorbike?" "That would be correct." "How come Cleo gets the bike?" Raph asked irritably. "Because I specifically built the bike to fit for Cleo and carry her weight," Donnie explained. Raph didn't respond and folded his arms, looking irritable. I smirked and leaned on his shoulder. "No hard feelings, bro?" Raph rolled his eyes, smirking as he shoved me off.

"Dude, hasn't Splinter been riding us hard enough?" Mikey asked leaning an arm on the go-kart. "You gotta find a way to relax." "We all deal with stress in different ways, Mikey," said Leo. "He's right," I added. "Like, Leo has his 'Space Heroes', Raph has his comics, and I have my music." Donnie nodded. "Yeah. This is how I deal." "And this is how I deal..." Mikey suddenly flung his arm forward and threw a water balloon.

Leo ducked to avoid being hit, and the balloon hit Donnie's face instead, water exploding. I face palmed. "Good grief..." Donnie groaned angrily, grabbing his protection mask and throwing it on the ground. He leaped past Leo and started chasing Mikey, who had started running. "You're next, Leo!" Mikey called. "Dr. Prank-enstein makes house calls!" I sighed. "What am I gonna do with these boys?"

(-)

I'll admit, I'd rather train with Leo in charge instead of father right now, but that didn't mean that I was keen on training at all. "Hoko no kamae!" Leo ordered. We all raised our hands up, taking the position. All of us, except Raph. "Raph! Hoko no kamae!" "Hoko no way! It's bad enough Splinter's driving us into the ground. Now you too?" "We have to keep training," Leo stressed. "Because right now, we don't stand a chance against Shredder." "Yeah," Mikey pointed up at the ceiling. "And he's up there... somewhere... waiting for us!" 

Suddenly he whimpered and shuddered. "I just freaked myself out!" "We're all freaked out, Mikey," I said soothingly, patting his shell. "I hate to say it, but the fact that we've been laying low might be the only reason we're still alive," said Donnie. "Exactly," said Leo. "So, until we're ready, we stay down here." "Unfortunately, that's not an option." We all turned. April was standing in the doorway, her phone held in her hands. "April?" I asked. "What're you doing here?" "You guys need to hear this," she said, waving her phone.

Within a few minutes we all entered the living room. Me and the guys sat on the couch around April. Mikey had gotten gather, and he stood over us, observing. "I managed to slip a mic onto the Purple Dragons," April told us. "I was able to record what they said, and it's not good..." April flipped through her phone before pulling up a file. She clicked it, and a recording started playing. "Check it out, free pizza!" I blinked. "You stuck the mic on a pizza box?" April shrugged sheepishly, and we focused on the recording. For a while all we heard was vulgar, poker talk. After a few minutes though, the topic changed to something a bit more interesting. 

"We're meeting Shredder tonight. He's got a plan to destroy the Turtles and the girl." "How? He doesn't even know where they are." "He says they're in the sewers somewhere, and that's all he needs to know to wipe them out." The recording ended here. "Our home is no longer safe," said Father. "The Shredder must be stopped." "But how can we stop a plan we don't even know?" Leo asked.

Then he pulled out a throwing knife and threw it behind him. The weapon hit the water balloon Mikey was holding, and it exploded. Mikey hunched over, looking deflated. "We have to go topside and find out what they're planning," said Raph. "Raph's right," said Leo. "There's no other way." I stood up, putting my hands in my pockets. "Father?" I asked. He sighed. "Go," he said. "Stop Shredder."

(-)

It hadn't been hard to actually find the Purple Dragons. It had been even less hard to follow them. They had led us to a building that looked like it was some sort of church. Though, I had a good feeling there was nothing holy going on in there. "This is the place," Leo whispered. We all piled up by the corner, trying to stay hidden and keep the church in our sights.

It took me a second to realized that I was being sandwiched between Raph and Mikey. "Mikey, kinda squished here." "Oops! My bad," he said quickly, moving to stand next to Leo. "Donnie, you're crowding me," Raph grumbled, shifting his arms uncomfortably. "Sorry," he whispered, and he started to back up. 

*Clash!* 

The sound of a trashcan being disturbed sounded loudly. Mikey yelped as he jumped, accidentally smacking his shell into Raph's face. Mikey instantly latched himself onto Leo's arm, shaking slightly. "Dude!" I spoke. "Sorry!" he said nervously as he let go of Leo. "All that Splinter talk about how we're not ready has me thinking... maybe we're in over our heads."

Raph raised his fist and smack Mikey's head. "You're always in over your head!" "I'm saying now we all are! And that scares me...!" "It's okay to be scared, Mikey," Leo said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Yeah," I said. "Me and Donnie are scared." "See?" said Leo. "We're all a bit scared. Raph is scared, too." "I am not scared!" Raph said.

He walked forward and crouched next to Leo, looking at the church. I saw Leo smirk before lifting his hand and poking the back of Raph's head. Raph yelped and spun around frantically, reaching his arms back to grab whatever was messing with him. He quickly tried to cover it up with a low, awkward cough. I chuckled. "Still not scared?" I asked. "No! I'm not!" Leo chuckled, and Raph growled. A second later he gasped. I didn't need to ask why when I heard a low, terrifying growl.

Not even a second later a large, tall creature appeared from around the corner. He was huge, at least 6'. What looked like large spikes were protruding from his left shoulder and on the knuckles of his left hand, which was considerably larger than the right. His fur was mostly brown and white, and his eyes were bloodshot red. I instantly recognized it as the giant mutant dog from the night we fought Shredder.

"You should be..." he growled in a low voice. "Bradford?" Leo gasped. "Rad-Brad!" Mikey exclaimed. "Well, look what I found," he grinned. "Five soon-to-be ex-ninjas." "I'm sure glad it's okay to be scared," Mikey whimpered. Donnie gulped. "You and me both." "This is no time to panic!" Leo said as he withdrew his katanas. Bradford stood at his full height, and I felt myself falter slightly. He was huge!

"You sure about that?" I asked. "Okay, maybe a little," Leo said shortly. At once the rest of us withdrew our weapons. I gripped my kamas tightly. Bradford snarled heavily as he stomped towards us, dragging the spikes on his left hand on the concrete. "He keeps getting taller!" Mikey whimpered. "Then I'll cut him down to size!" said Leo.

He charged forward and jumped, swinging his katanas at Bradford's head. Bradford blocked it easily with his enormous left paw. He growled at the turtle and pushed him back. Bradford aimed a punch down at Leo, who jumped out of the way just in time. He leaped back and landed in front of us. "Uh... let's stick together on this one," he said. "I like that plan," I said. Bradford smashed his paw down, and we all jumped out of the way. Raph yelled as he charged at Bradford, wielding his sais. 

But the mutant dog simply blocked it with his smaller, padded paw. Donnie went to Raph's aid, running forward and shoving the end of his Bo staff into Bradford throat. He growled before swinging at both turtles, who dodged. Leo ran forward at Bradford. He jumped up, lifting his katanas, ready to strike. When he came down Bradford used his claws to block the swords, also trapping them in his grasp. Leo tried to kick the dog in his face, but Bradford just lifted him higher and punched him away. "You asked for it," I growled.

I held my kamas out as I charged forward to the mutant dog. He raised his fist and brought it down to smack me, but I jumped up in time to avoid being hit. I raised my kamas as I shot forward towards Bradford's face. He blocked my blades with his huge paw and grabbed me with the other. He then threw me back, and I slammed into the wall. I slid to the ground into a pathetic heap. "Cleo!" I looked up to see Raph running towards me. He kneeled beside me and grabbed my arm, helping me to my feet. "Thanks," I groaned. 

I heard a loud bang, and I looked up to see Mikey and Donnie laying in a pile on the ground. "This is hopeless!" said Donnie. "Keep your head in the game!" Leo ordered. Suddenly, Bradford made to punch both of them. They quickly leaped out of the way. "I just wanna keep my head on my body!" Donnie yelled. "C'mon! What are we retreating for?" Raph asked. He charged forward. He aimed his sais up at Bradford, but the dog delivered a powerful blow to the turtle. He flew back and landed inside a dumpster. He shoved his head out. "That's a good reason..." he said, his voice strained. "Mikey, smoke!" Leo ordered.

Mikey reached behind him and pulled out a smoke bomb. He fumbled around with it before accidentally dropping it. It landed on the ground with a pathetic puff of smoke. "Mikey," I groaned. "What was that?" Raph shouted. "I'm stressed!" Mikey screamed. "Excuse me if my aim's a little off!" "Are you really gonna have this argument now?" I hollered. Bradford's fist came down again, nearly hitting Leo and Donnie.

"How hard is it to hit the ground?" Raph growled. He pulled out his own bomb and threw it down. Unfortunately, it fell into a hole in a grate. Raph knelt to grab it, but it fell through the hole. "Not so easy, is it!" Mikey snapped. Leo yelled in frustration. "Oh, will you guys just-!" He pulled out a bomb, and this time it exploded, as needed. The second the purple smoke appeared I turned and ran, my bros following behind me.

(-)

"Man, that was embarrassing," I groaned, placing my face in my hands. "Tell me about it," Raph grumbled irritably. The other three remained quite as we all sat on the couch. There was really nothing we could say that could explain how badly we had failed. Father walked up to us and stood in front of Leo. Leo looked up at our sensei, then hunched over shamefully. "We couldn't take him," he said lowly.

"Dogpound was just too powerful...," said Mikey. Leo looked up. "Dogpound?" "What? Cause he's a dog, and he pounded us into the-" "We get it," Leo sighed. "I don't see how we're gonna get close to that meeting now..." "Maybe we just need to find a new place to hide," Donnie said, and he turned his laptop so we could see the screen. "I hear the sewers in Florida are nice this time of year." "No!" April reached forward and shut Donnie's laptop. "I'm not letting you guys give up." "Well, what do you suggest?" I asked.

April stood firmly in front of us. "I'll spy on the meeting." Our reactions were instant. "No way!" "Nuh-uh!" "You can't!" "Forget it!" "Heck no!" "Absolutely not!" Father finished firmly. "I can do this!" she insisted, and she turned to father. "You've been training me to be a kunoichi!" "For a few weeks," he stressed. "What choice do we have?" she looked at us seriously. "Shredder's gonna attack your home and we need to find out how. And I'm the only one who can do it." As much as I still didn't like April putting herself in danger, she was right. This place was my home- my family's home, and we couldn't just sit here and do nothing.

"April's right," I stood up. "We can't just sit here and wait for Shredder to knock on our door," I looked at April. "But it's too risky letting you go alone. I'll go with you-" "NO!" the boys shouted at once. I jumped. "What? She's still a rookie- no offense- and I can't let her go on her own. I'll just stay close by and-" "Don't even think about it!" Raph growled. "I am thinking about it!" I snapped. "I can't just sit by and wait for-" 

"Cleopatra!" I stopped talking and turned my head to look at father. "Your concern is understandable," he said. "But it is too risky letting the two of you to try to get inside, you may draw attention to yourselves. You will remain with your brothers." "But father-" "Do I make myself clear?" I blinked, staring up at father. He was giving me that look; the look that said, 'you will listen, or else'. I sighed and lowered my head slightly. "Yes, father..." I heard him let out a low sigh. I lifted my head and turned to look at April. "So... what did you have in mind?"

(-)

"I don't like this," Donnie said seriously. "Me neither," Mikey shook his head. "Giving the enemy a free pizza? Never a good idea." I rolled my eyes as I sat on the ledge, looking down at the hooded figure that was April. She was holding what was clearly a pizza box, which had a mic taped to it, just like the one she had slipped onto the Purple Dragons. She knocked on the door, and it opened slightly. "Come on..." I muttered.

Not even five seconds later the door slammed in April's face. "Dang." I watched as April turned from the door and ran into a nearby alley, still holding the pizza. Then Leo's T-Phone started ringing. He pulled it out, saw it was April, and answered, putting it on speaker. "Looks like the Foot Clan are smarter than the Purple Dragons."

"They'd almost have to be, wouldn't they?" said Leo. "Thanks, April. You did your best." Suddenly the church bells sounded. A few spooked pigeons took flight. "At least we still got the pizza," Mikey said happily. April laughed on the other line. "Oh, I'm not done yet." "Wait, what is she doing?" Donnie asked, leaning over the edge. I looked down to see April toss the pizza box into a nearby trashcan. "Not the pizza!" Mikey cried. "She's gone rouge!"

I giggled and continued to watch April. She removed her hood before knocking on the door of an apartment building next to the church. The door opened, and a man appeared. Him and April conversed for a few moments before April pushed past him and went inside. "She's so cool!" Donnie said dreamily. We sat there and waited for only a few minutes. Suddenly, I saw April walking up the fire escape of the apartment building, now rid of her jacket. "There she is!" I said, pointing in her direction.

We watched as April as she crouched on the railing of the escape for a moment. Then she leapt forward and landed on the ledge of the church roof. But I saw her wave her arms out, as though about to lose her balance. A second later she fell back, almost falling until she grabbed the edge of the roof. "Oh, no!" Donnie whimpered. I clenched my hands into fists as I waited. "C'mon, April..."

A second later April finally managed to pull herself up and stepped on the roof. Donnie let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "That a girl," I said. April walked along the church ledge for a moment before climbing through a hole in the stain glass window. A few minutes later Leo's phone rang again. He quickly answered it and put it on speaker, and Shredder's sounded from the other end of the line. "... in approximately fifteen minutes. The chemical is extremely rare, so you will not get another chance..."

"Chemical? What chemical?" Raph said over Shredder's voice. "How 'bout we listen and find out?" Donnie said irritably. "How 'bout I break your shell on my knee!" "How 'bout you two shut it for a minute while we try to hear Shredder's evil plan!" Leo snapped. They instantly shut their mouths and listened, but it was too late. "... Which will destroy them once and for all. Now go!"

"We missed it!" Leo groaned. "Oh, great! Nice going, guys!" I groaned as I rubbed my forehead. Now what? We didn't have enough info to know what Shredder's plan was. Then Donnie ran to the ledge of the building. "We gotta get April out!" "No!" Leo grabbed his shoulder. "If we rush in there, we put her at risk. We wait." Donnie still looked worried, but he remained still as Leo let go of him.

We all waited patiently as we watched Dogpound, the Dragons, and a few Foot walk outside and towards a few vans parked in front of them. Suddenly, I saw April slide down the fire escape, staying hidden in the alley. "I'm gonna hitch a ride; see where they go." "No, you've done enough!" Leo hissed into his phone. "Now get outta there!" At that moment I saw Dogpound freeze in his tracks.

A second later he turned towards the alley April was hiding in. "Leo!" I yelled, pointing down at the mutant. "Bradford heard you!" he yelled. "April, run!" We all heard April gasp on the other end of the line. It was too late. I whipped my head around and watched in horror as Dogpound grab April and shove her into the van. "Let's go!" I shouted.

I jumped off the building, and the boys followed my lead. We landed in the road just as the van drove off, Dogpound hanging on the back. "No! We're too late!" Donnie shouted. "Ah, crud!" I snapped. "April!" Leo shouted into his phone. "April, are you there?" "She's not gonna answer, Leo," said Donnie. "What do we do?" "We gotta get April outta that van, but- but Dogpound's in there! And we're not ready to fight that guy! Oh, Splinter was right! We should've stayed below!" "Leo, calm down!" I said, grabbing his shoulders. "We couldn't stay below forever! Our home is being threatened! We had to come up!"

"But we aren't ready!" he said desperately. "And we let April put herself in danger! You were right, Cleo! We shouldn't have let her go alone; we should've let you go with her!" I stared at Leo as he continued to have a panic attack. From next to me I heard Raph sigh. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this..." he turned to face Leo. "Get it together, captain! You're our leader, so act like one!" I blinked, staring at him.

Anyone with a brain cell could tell that was a line from 'Space Heroes.' Leo suddenly straightened up and turned to grin at his brother. "You're right, Raph. That was the anxiety ray talking." I rolled my eyes. "Fanboys..." "That's it?" Raph asked. "You're not gonna slap yourself?" Leo shook his head. "Let's save April." Raph nodded. "And our home." "But we'll never catch 'em on foot!" said Donnie. Leo smirked. "We're not going on foot..."

(-)

Donnie's Patrol Buggy was awesome! Just awesome! And the fact that I had the motorbike center was even more awesome! "Yeah! This is rad!" Mikey yelled. "It's not ready!" Donnie yelled warningly. Leo, who had control of the whole kart at the moment, suddenly made a sharp right turn, and I let out a happy yell as we turned into an alley. "This thing is awesome!" Mikey shouted. "Does it have a radio?" "No, it doesn't have a radio!" Donnie snapped loudly. "You should install one!" I shouted. "It would make this thing a heck of a lot cooler!"

Donnie ignored me. "I'm telling yah, it's not ready!" Leo ignored his little brother by pulling the accelerator. The Buggy gave a sudden spurt of speed, and we went zooming down the street. I gripped the handlebars of the bike and let out another happy shout. "Seems ready to me!" Leo shouted. Suddenly his steering wheel popped off. He yelped and quickly put it back on. "Eh... okay. Don't pull on that and we'll be fine."

I rolled my eyes. It took what felt like forever for us to find Dogpound's van. We found it alright; along with Dogpound, who was now riding on the back of an eighteen-wheeler holding a tanker. "Oh, perfect..." "Run 'em down!" Dogpound shouted. "Raph, get ready!" Leo shouted. "For what?" "This!" Leo then pulled at a lever to his right, and suddenly the Buggy split up into three sections. Leo and Donnie where still attached on my left, and Raph and Mikey were still attached on my right.

I, however, was riding solo. "Oh, crud!" I cried. I quickly grabbed the handlebars of the bike as I felt the tires hit the ground. I shook slightly before I finally got a grip of the motor and started riding steadily. I quickly turned the bike so that it went around the large tanker and drove forward. "Leo!" Raph shouted. "You could've been a little more specific!" "Where's the fun in that?" Leo turned to me. "How you holding up, Cleo?"

I adjusted the biker helmet on my head. "Yah know... it ain't so hard!" I shouted with glee. "This is awesome!" He laughed, and we continued on. We all drove up until we were right behind the large tanker. "Get ready!" he shouted to us. I turned the bike so that I was riding right next to Leo and Donnie, who were still attached. On the back of the tanker, I saw two large words bolded in blue.

"Chlorosulfonic acid?" Donnie gasped. "Leo, I think I've figured out Shredder's plan. That acid reacts violently with water!" "So, if he dumps it in the sewer..." "It'll all be incinerated in seconds! Including the lair!" "And Splinter!" Leo shouted. "We gotta stop him!" "I'm down with that!" I said, and I cranked up the speed on my bike.

We continued to follow the tanker and the van for a while. Then, out of nowhere, the van changed courses and turned left. "Donnie!" Leo ordered. "You and Raph stay with the van and save April. Mikey, Cleo, you're coming with me. We have to stop that tanker!" "Sure thing!" I spoke. "Uh, if you haven't noticed, I'm stuck with Raph!" "No problem!" Raph said, smirking. He reached down and pulled a lever, and Mikey's cart detached itself from Raph's. 

Mikey shouted as he and his cart flew back. "Hey, that was fun!" said Raph. "Told yah!" said Leo. He detached himself from Donnie, and we were all riding freely now. As instructed, Donnie and Raph went back to follow the van. Me, Mikey and Leo stayed on course and continued to follow the tanker. "Mikey, let's slow this thing down!" ordered Leo. "Fire grappling hooks!" "Got it!"

Each of the boys fired grappling hooks from the front of their carts. The hooks latched themselves onto the truck for a moment, then the ropes snapped. "Donnie did say they weren't ready!" Mikey shouted. "I know!" Leo snapped. "Come on, guys!" I hollered. "We can do this!" The tanker suddenly made a sharp turn and skidded to a halt at the end of the road. Dogpound jumped off of the tanker and slid on the ground. 

He grabbed a manhole cover and threw it out at Leo. The turtle managed to jump out of his sidecar before the cover hit the car, shattering it. Leo landed in the street, pulling out his katanas. "Is that all you got?" he asked. Dogpound let out a furious growl and started stomping towards Leo. Me and Mikey skidded our vehicles to a halt on either side of Leo. "I'd say that's a no," said Mikey. "A big, fat no!" I said as I jumped off the bike after I took off my helmet.

Me and Mikey withdrew our weapons, and we all charged forward. Dogpound brought his heavy fist down to slam us into the ground, and we all jumped out of the way. We were coming down, ready to strike him. Dogpound punched Mikey out of the way, and he knocked into me. We both fell back and tumbled onto the road. "Not... cool..." he groaned. "Agreed..." We both pushed ourselves up and got to our feet. I looked up to see Leo get knocked down. Before I could do anything Mikey leapt up and swung his nunchucks at the mutant dog's head. Dogpound growled and punched Mikey, sending him flying. 

"Over here!" I shouted. Dogpound turned his head as I threw my left kama at his head. It scraped the top of his head as he ducked to avoid it. I swung my right kama up towards his face, but he blocked it with the spikes on his large hand. I jumped up and did a summersault over his head and landed on the road behind him. I grabbed my other kama and whipped around just in time to block the strike he aimed for me with his spikes. I pushed his hand back and went to swing my kama when he grabbed me with his large hand and threw me. I landed in a heap on top of Mikey's shell. Not long after that, Leo joined us, landing next to us.

Dogpound approached us, looking menacing. Suddenly Leo threw down a smoke bomb, and we disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. We soon reappeared on the upper floor that was under construction. "You guys... okay?" I panted. "Yeah... we cool..." Mikey breathed. I nodded. We all turned our heads to look down below at the tanker. A Foot soldier stepped out of the vehicle and took out a long, red hose that was no doubt attached to the acid inside the tanker. 

He then started to pull it closer to the open manhole. "Don't let him dump that acid!" Leo ordered. Dogpound's fist came up and tried to squash us. Mikey leapt back and jumped off the construction. Dogpound made to swing at him but missed. Mikey quickly ran up to the Foot soldier handling the hose, drawing out his nunchucks. Dogpound growled as he jumped down and started running towards Mikey.

"Oh no, you don't!" I yelled. Me and Leo jumped off of the construction and sprinted towards Dogpound. Leo raised his katanas and aimed them at the mutant, but Dogpound punched him back. Leo quickly leapt back, his weapons raised. Dogpound picked up a nearby car and swung it at Leo. Leo jumped out of the way and swung his katanas down. Dogpound blocked them and grabbed Leo by his shell, tossing him back. 

I shouted as I ran up to him, kamas raised up. Dogpound raised both of his fists and threw them down. I jumped back out of the way to avoid the blow. I jumped up and raised my foot to aim a kick at the dog's head. He ducked and swung his larger fist forward, forcing me into the ground. I barley had enough time to look up before he kicked me back, and I slammed into Leo and Mikey, making them fall over. "Hey guys..." I groaned dryly.

I looked up to see Dogpound charging at us, his fist raised in the air. We all scattered out of the way just in time to avoid being smashed. I groaned as I looked up to see Leo swing his katanas at Dogpound. The dog blocked the blow and grabbed Leo's wrist, forcing it up. This caused the katana in his hand to stab into the side of the tanker. Yellow liquid started to leak out. Leo kicked Dogpound, and the mutant let go of the turtle. 

Leo fell, taking his katana out of the tanker. The yellow-colored acid started pouring out freely. Dogpound grinned evilly and stalked away. "What did Donnie say about this stuff?" Leo asked. "He said it reacts violently with water," I told him. Leo gasped, then quickly turned to Mikey. "Mikey! Throw the water balloon!" "Uh... what water balloon?" "The one you were gonna hit me with!" I leaned back slightly and stared. Mikey was indeed holding a bright yellow water balloon behind his back. "Dude, you are good...!" he said.

He tossed the balloon out at the spewing acid, and Leo grabbed him and pushed him out of the way. We all ran over and jumped to the other side of a car just as the tanker exploded. I covered and ducked my head as smoke and debris flew everywhere. Slowly, we all stood up and looked over the car. The tanker was destroyed.

"Nice shot, Mik-" But Leo was cut off as Mikey threw a second water balloon at his face. The balloon met its target, and water exploded all over Leo. "Dr. Prank-enstein for the win!" Mikey said, throwing his hands up in victory. "You had two?" Leo asked incredulously. "Where do you keep them?!" 

"Some things are best left unknown, Leonardo," I stated firmly, but I was still grinning. From behind us I could hear two pairs of footsteps. I turned around to see Donnie and Raph running up to us. Obviously, they had been successful in rescuing April. "Well, looks like we missed the fireworks," Raph said, grinning.

"Oh yeah," I said, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "They were spectacular! You should've seen 'em up close!" Raph chuckled, putting an arm around my waist. "Donnie, the go-kart worked great!" Leo said, folding his arms. "Nice job!" "Thanks Leo!" said Donnie, then he frowned. "And it's a Patrol Buggy!"

(-)

"Nothing says 'victory' like the sweet taste of pizza!" Mikey said happily as he ate a slice of pizza whole. "Amen to that!" I agreed, taking a bite out of the crust, which was all that remained of my slice. The other boys didn't respond, and instead decided to eat their own slices. Donnie was about to take a bite out of his own when he paused. "Something wrong, Don?" I asked through a mouth full of crust. Donnie sniffed his slice. "Eh... this pizza smells kinda funky. Where'd you get?" he asked Mikey. "It's the one April threw out." 

I don't think I've ever spat anything out quicker than when I did right then. The second I heard this I spat out the bit of crust I had and coughed, trying to get any remains out. The boys were no better. They had thrown their slices on the ground and were coughing and retching with disgust. "What?" Mikey asked, looking annoyed. "We live in a sewer, now your clean freaks?"

"Dang it, Mikey!" I threw my remaining crust at his head. "That's disgusting! I practically ate the whole thing!" "So what?" he asked. "You've been living with a bunch of guys in a sewer for years, now you decide to act all girly? Heh, more for me!" Mikey then scooped up the sliced the boys had dropped and gobbled them up. "Expect a big fat 'I told you so' when you wake up with a stomachache tomorrow," I told him, arms folding. "I ain't gonna get a stomachache!" he retorted through a mouth full of pizza. I rolled my eyes. 

"My children..." I turned my head to see father standing behind us. "I owe you my gratitude... and an apology." "An apology?" Leo asked as he stood up. "Fear clouded your minds," Father continued. "However, it was not the Shredder who fueled that fear, but me. You overcame that fear and performed admirably." I stood up. "Thank you, father," I said, bowing my head respectively. He smiled. "Of course, Cleopatra. No training today!"

I blinked, staring in surprise. The boys looked at each other, grinning gleefully. "Unless Michelangelo throws that balloon." We all whipped our heads around. Mikey was standing there, a water balloon held in his hand. He saw us looking at him and giggled nervously. "You are so gonna get it!" Raph yelled. Without another word all three of the older boys charged at their little brother, wrestling him to the ground. I giggled at their harmful play. "Cleopatra," Father spoke softly. "May I speak with you for a moment?" "Oh! Uh, sure." 

Father nodded and turned as he headed for the dojo. I glanced back at my bros, smiled, and followed him to the dojo. As I entered, I noticed something different. There was a small tray near the tree, and it appeared to have two small cups and a kettle on it. "I thought we could have some tea," Father said as he walked pass me. Honestly, I wasn't sure how to respond. I watched as he sat down on one side of the tray. He looked up at me and smiled. I smiled too, and soon walked over and sat on the other side of the tray.

"I can't remember the last time we had tea," I stated as father grabbed the kettle. "Yes," he nodded. "It has been quite a while since we've had conversation." "Yeah. We haven't really talked in the last few weeks. It's mostly been... well, training." Father said nothing as he poured tea into each of the small cups. I fiddled with my hands a bit until he set the kettle down. "Thanks," I said. We both took our cups at the same time and sipped from them. "So, what was it you needed?" I asked. "Is something wrong?" "No, nothing's wrong." 

But he didn't continue after that. I took another sip of my tea and waited for him to say something else, but he didn't. "Father...?" Finally, Father sighed. "Cleopatra, the night you fought the Shredder, after you returned home, I asked you if there was something you wanted to tell me... I could see that something was troubling you, but you kept your silence. I respected that and allowed you to come to terms with what was wrong. But now I must ask you again, is there something that you wish to tell me?"

I sat there, holding my cup of tea. Of course, I knew I had to tell father about what had been bothering me. I wanted to tell him; I did! It just... it was difficult. "Something I wanna tell you? Definitely. But... I don't know how to say it exactly." Father nodded. "Take your time. I'm in no rush." I nodded. "Okay... Well, it's just like Leo told you," I started. "We went to go take care of the mutagen bomb the Kraang had set up. We got there, but we ran into Bradford and Xever. We took care of both of them with no problem, but... Shredder showed up..." I paused. 

Father gestured for me to go on. "We weren't ready for him...I wasn't ready for him. But... that's not what got to me." "Then what did?" "Well..." I sighed. "I saw that he was about to attack Leo and Donnie, and... I went to protect them. It didn't last long, and I was knocked down..." I gulped. "He had me pinned on the ground, he should've killed me. But-but..." "Cleopatra?" I looked up at him seriously.

"Father... he didn't do anything." Father blinked. "What do you mean?" "He just stared at me, and..." I shook my head. "Father, the way he looked at me... it was like he saw a ghost..." Father looked at me for a few moments. He appeared to be deep in thought, thinking everything over. I gripped my cup and took a few gulps from it. Father stroked his beard, keeping his eyes closed for a moment. 

"This is very strange," he said, his voice low. "This is something very uncommon for the Shredder." "So, what should I do?" "For now, do nothing." I blinked. "Father?" "This is very strange, yes. But it does not seem to be a threat at the moment," he reached over with his free hand and held my shoulder.

"I am not asking you to forget it. I am simply asking you to put it aside for now and put your mind at ease." I thought about that for a moment. "Maybe he's right," I thought. "I mean, worrying about something that might be nothing won't get me anywhere." "Okay, father," I said. "I'll leave it." Father nodded, smiling at me as he rubbed my shoulder. He let go and went back to drinking his tea, and so did I.

"Ah! Cleo!" I heard Mikey cry. "Help me! Help...!" I turned my head to see Mikey run pass the entrance of the dojo, our older brothers following very closely behind. I laughed, and father chuckled. "It appears Michelangelo is in need of your assistance, my daughter." "Yeah, I better go save his shell again," I set my empty cup down. "Thanks for the tea and the talk, father." Father nodded. I stood up from my spot, bowed, and went for the exit. At the doorway however, I stopped. 

"Father?" I turned, and father looked up at me. "Would, um... would it be ok if we did this more often?" I asked. "I mean, we use to do it when I was little, right? I think it could be nice to do it some more now." Father smiled. "I think that is a wonderful idea, Cleopatra." I beamed at him. "Cleo!" "I'm coming!" Giving father one last smile, I turned and started running after the boys. "Come on guys! Stop chasing Mikey! I think he learned his lesson!" I yelled as I laughed.