A/N: Eclipse belongs to GeekyCookie1. Zane belongs to MariChat3.

Enjoy!

"You didn't think that LeatherHead was gone for good the last time we saw him, did you?"

EVER SINCE SHE fell into the mutagen, Briana has still felt different than she once did and although she wasn't in pain at the moment, the burning, aching pain would come and go. There was also the fact that Briana would occasionally get sent into a coughing fit where she coughed up blood or the fact that she was noticing that her skin was starting to get really pale.

At the moment, Briana was jumping onto rooftops and the moment she landed on the rooftop of her destination, she started walking but stopped when a wave of dizziness hit her. For a split second, her legs grew weak and she found herself falling onto her knees before bringing her hand up to her mouth as she was sent into a coughing fit. Once she was able to get herself to stop coughing, Briana removed her hand from her mouth and spotted the droplets of blood before she frowned slightly and quickly wiped her hand, making sure to get rid of the blood.

Once the dizziness had vanished, Briana pushed herself to her feet and jumped down, landing on the fire escape where she then knocked lightly on the window and waited. "Hey, Bri, come on in." Zane greeted, letting the girl come in after opening his bedroom window.

"Hey," Briana said with a soft smile. "Still couldn't find anything from the file?"

"Nothing," Zane confirmed before he gave a sigh. "Everything my dad has in the file—he made it really cryptic. It's gonna take a while for us to decipher it."

Briana nodded, taking his words in before she couldn't help but recall Karai's words in her head from when she and her brothers and her sister had managed to rescue her from the dungeon.

"He's in there. Jake and Shredder have him locked in there."

"Who?"

"Detective Carson."

Briana could feel her nerves starting to kick in but she knew that she had to tell Zane—to let him know that he was right about his father not being dead—that his father had been alive the whole time.

"Do you remembered when me and the others went to save Karai and bust her out from Shredder's dungeon?" She questioned and at his nod, she continued. "Well, there was this wall—or well, I guess that's what Jake and Shredder wanted us to think but it felt off to me—like I was being drawn to me and... Karai told me that he was in there. That Shredder and Jake had been hiding him this whole time."

Zane remained silent for a few seconds as he took those words in. He could feel the relief in knowing that he had been right all along—that his father wasn't really dead, but at the same time, there was the concern sweeping in for his father. His father might still be alive for now, but if he was stuck as Shredder's prison, how long did his father even have left? Would he even get the chance to see his father again?

"Do you think he's..." Zane trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Briana immediately shook her head. "No, I don't. If your dad is trapped in Shredder's dungeon then, that means Shredder and Jake were looking for this file but your dad gave to Kurtzman before he got captured. I doubt they'd kill him when they want this file—or me so badly."

"Which means we still have a chance at solving this." Zane finished for her, his tone sounding a bit more hopeful at her words.

"And a chance at getting your dad back." Briana added.

At her words, Zane raised an eyebrow at her. "You're still gonna try to get my dad back?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Briana asked. "He's your dad, Zane. Just because I don't know anything about my family or even remember them doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to see your dad either."

"It's Shredder and Jake though," Zane reminded. "Like you said: they might want this file but if it came down to it, they'd choose you over the file. The last thing I want is you getting captured when you were just trying to help me find my dad."

"Even if that happens, I'll be fine," Briana reassured with a soft smile. "Besides, I made you a promise, remember? I don't turn my back on my word, Zane."

Zane couldn't help but smile at her words, finishing the sentence for her. "I know, that's your ninja way."

"Exactly," Briana said with a grin. "We'll figure this out together, just like Sherlock Homes and Watson would."

"You know, if we're gonna be the next big detectives, you're definitely Watson." Zane said with a teasingly note in his tone as he headed towards his closet to get the shoe box where he hid the file she gave him.

Briana opened her mouth to said something but rather than saying something, she brought her closed hand up to her mouth as she was sent into another coughing fit while his back was turned. The moment that she was done coughing, she quickly lowered her hand and hid it behind her back just as Zane turned to face her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Zane asked, giving her a concerned expression.

Briana nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"You sure? You've been coughing like that a lot since you fell in the mutagen with Karai."

"I'm okay, I promise," Briana lied yet she kept her usual smile on her face to convince him it was true. "Really, I just had something stuck in my throat, that's all."

Zane stared at her for a while, unsure if she was telling the truth or not. He knew that he wasn't the only one that noticed how she's been coughing a lot lately and that the others were getting a little worried too but no matter how many times he or one of the others asked, Briana kept giving them the same answer and reassuring them that she was fine.

Not wanting to push her on the subject too much, Zane nodded at her then turned back to his closet as he picked up a shoe box and opening it. He reached inside and grabbed the file then setting the box back down and walking over to his desk as Briana followed him. He set the file down on his desk and opened it to reveal his father's notes, codes, and the photos he had—there were a few question marks next to some of the notes or codes with questions that Zane had written for them to try to see if they can decipher it.

"You really think we'll find the answer in this file?" Zane asked.

"He was looking into all of this—into me for a reason," Briana said. "There's gotta be something in the file that can help us."

Then, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her T-phone, turning it on and clicking on her camera. Then, she took a photo of everything that was inside the file and once she was done, she placed her phone back into her pocket.

"I'll try to see if I can find anything on my laptop that can give us a code about any of this." Briana said. "I'll let you know if I find anything immediately."

Zane nodded before he turned to her, sending a small smile her way. "I know you said that you're fine, but are you sure that everything's alright? You know that you can tell me or the others anything, right?"

Briana almost wanted to disagree in that moment. Although she knew that she could talk to him or any of the others about anything, there were just some things that she felt like she had a responsibility to keep it herself. Her doubts, her insecurities, and every negative emotion she buried deep down that she kept hidden behind her walls—to her, those had to stay hidden from them if it meant to protect the way that they saw her as; the sunshine of the group or the glue that not only made them a family in the first place but the one that held them together, none of them were allowed to see how broken and lost she was because she knew that would break them and she wouldn't let how she felt break them.

So, at his words, Briana gave him a soft smile as she nodded. "I do," she answered. "Don't worry, I'm okay."

"You're positive?"

"Positive."

👑👑👑

BY THE TIME that Briana had made it back to the lair, she hopped over the turnstiles and began to make her way towards the lab. At the same time, she ran into Michelangelo heading the same way as her with a video cassette that had its film leaking out. "Hey, Mikey," Briana greeted her brother with a smile. "What happened?"

"I got carried away again," Michelangelo said with a sheepish smile.

Knowing what that meant, Briana couldn't help but giggle at his words. Though, she could feel her brother's gaze remain on her and she could see the concern that flashed onto his face as she curiously tilted her head a little. "What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing, just... you're okay, right?" Michelangelo asked worriedly. "You've been coughing a lot and you look pale— like really pale."

Briana sometimes wondered if she really looked bad if it had everyone either staring at her or always asking her if she was alright and although she didn't feel great, she still hadn't said anything to them, just because she didn't want them to worry about her.

"I'm okay, Mikey, promise." Briana repeated again, giving him the same smile that she had given Zane to convince him.

Michelangelo gave a small nod, though he was still unsure of whenever she was telling the truth or not. The two of them then entered the lab together where Donatello was at his computer, trying to override the systems of the portable kraang portal as he had been trying to hack that thing all night—well, all night until Henry had forced him to get some sleep when his eyes had been really red from staring at the bright screen all day.

"Uh, Donnie? Can you fix this?" Michelangelo asked.

Donatello slammed a fist on the desk, still focused on the portal as he didn't realize that he had startled the two when he slammed his fist on the desk. Michelangelo turned to leave, only to encounter a giant, three-fingered claw. He yelped, falling on his shell. "Monster hand! Monster hand!"

"That's just part of the Turtle Mech I've been working on." Donatello explained, returning to the portal.

Briana helped Michelangelo get back onto his feet before she looked over at Donatello. "So, it has to be huge then, right?"

Donatello sighed. "Yeah, so huge, I can't find a power source for it," he grew more frustrated. "If I can just... get it... working!" He slammed his fist on the desk again. This time, the force knocked the portal off the desk, causing it to switch on as it floated above a clothed, car-like invention, then opened just as the others came running in.

"What did Mikey do?" Raphael asked. 

"I didn't do it!" Michelangelo quickly defended.

"It's true, the portal turned on by itself." Briana added.

A strange, pink-purple haze began leaking through the portal. "What is that?" Eclipse asked as the haze seeped across the ground.

Donatello glanced at his computer screen. "It's kraang atmosphere." He got up, rifled through a couple drawers, and came back with a handful of tubes that were connected to high-tech devices. "Here. Filtration units. They'll allow us to breathe it safety."

They each grabbed one, connected the devices to their belts, and put the ends of the tubes in their mouths, which made the haze feel like oxygen now.

Donatello looked at the portal. "Guys, I think this goes to Dimension X."

"Where the kraang come from?" Leonardo asked.

"Yes, it--" he was cut off as the communication orb started going off ringing. It then showed a holographic image of a familiar mutant alligator.

"Turtles! Henry! Briana!"

Both Michelangelo and Briana gasped in relief. "LeatherHead. He's alive!"

"Shh, he's saying something." Raphael said.

"They're about to--" The message replayed. "Turtles! Henry! Briana! The kraang have perfected the mutagen. They're about to--" It switched off.

"Oh, no! They got him!" Michelangelo shouted.

"We gotta go help him! He's our friend!" Briana told them.

"He must be in Dimension X," Donatello said. "As soon as the portal opened, his signal came through and activated the orb."

"So, the orb can tell us where he is?" Michelangelo asked. 

"Maybe, if I can--" Michelangelo cut his brother off as he snatched the orb. "Mikey!"

He started banging the orb against the clothed machinery. "Where's LeatherHead? Where is he?" 

Donatello took the orb from him as it glitched and shut down. "Mikey!" While Leonardo and Raphael sat Michelangelo down on the nearest chair, Donatello added. "I can fix this, but it may take a while."

"Okay, we need to come up with a plan." Henry said.

"Yeah!" Michelangelo cheered.

"Part one is, Mikey stays here and so does Briana." Leonardo added.

"Wait, why?"

"You've been messing up too much lately. We can't take the chance."

"Why am I staying?" Briana asked.

"Because you clearly haven't been feeling good since you fell in the mutagen," Leonardo told her and the moment she opened her mouth to argue, he quickly added. "Whenever you admit it or not, the rest of us can tell you don't feel good."

"This is LeatherHead we're talking about! I'm fine!" Briana complained stubbornly. "I'm going!"

"No, you're not," Leonardo said firmly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You're staying here with Mikey while the rest of us go save LeatherHead."

Briana wanted to complain over his decision but the moment she saw the firm look on his face and how her other brothers and sister were in agreement with him, she groaned in annoyance as she crossed her arms over her chest, looking away. As the others but Briana made their way to the desk, Michelangelo sulked and whimpered. "LeatherHead."

Briana pouted a bit before looking towards the portal. She shared a look with Michelangelo as the two shared determined expressions, charging toward the portal at the same time while the others had their backs facing them.

"Mikey! Briana!" The others yelled upon noticing them. 

But it was too late as the two leapt into the portal. "Booyakasha!" And then, the two were gone.

"We gotta go after them." Eclipse stated.

"Let's move!" Leonardo and Henry said in agreement.

"Wait, the environment in there could be toxic--" Donatello began.

"There's no time!" Leonardo interjected as he, Henry, Raphael, and Eclipse jumped through the portal followed by Donatello.

Each and every one of them were yelling as they fell through the vortex. Once the spinning stopped, they were thrown out of the portal and hit something cold and metallic while the portal closed behind them. Leonardo pushed himself to his feet and looked past their platform, his eyes widening. "Guys? Look."

They followed his gaze and their eyes widened to find that they were definitely in a different dimension. The sky was two shades of pink and there were many floating platforms and round metal orbs and crystal-like trees and all sorts of creatures that they'd never seen.

"So, this is Dimension X." Leonardo concluded.

Then, they were all knocked to the ground as a Kraathatrogon passed. Its baby-back-face giggled at them as it flew past.

"Freak-show." Eclipse sing-songed.

Henry got back onto his feet, looking around as he started walking backwards. "There's no sun, no anything." He backed toward the edge of the platform. "How can it--"

"Look out!" Raphael warned.

Henry lost his footing, falling off the edge as the others quickly ran to the edge. But they were confused to see that Henry wasn't even falling but was standing upside-down on the other side of the ledge below them.

"What the heck!? Gravity doesn't work like this!" Henry exclaimed.

"Apparently, here it can." Eclipse responded, helping Henry back over onto their side of the platform.

"Yeah. Different dimensions..." Donatello picked up a metallic stone and threw it across the platform. Like a boomerang, it flew back past them twice. On the third pass, he lifted his hand and caught it without issue. "Different laws of physics."

He dropped the stone, which floated to Raphael. He caught it, stared at it, and threw it to the ground with a growl. "Let's just hurry up and find Mikey and Briana!"

"Any idea where to start?" Donatello asked. 

"I think that's as good a place as any." Leonardo said, spotting a platform beyond the horizon that held a kraang base on it. 

"Let's do it." Raphael ran for the edge of the platform and jumped, landing on the platform across from them. He glanced back at them. "What are you waiting for? Come on!"

The rest of them backed up a few steps, then took a run-up to the edge and leapt off. They landed on the platform besides Raphael and continued to jump across platform to platform. They arrived at a tower, and Leonardo spoke up. "Why aren't we seeing any kraang around here?"

Eclipse shrugged. "No clue, but at least they don't know we're here."

Raphael landed between them and pointed ahead. "Expect for those."

They followed his gaze to see eight little orbs, split into two groups. They flashed like fireflies, catching their attention instantly. "Aw, look at the little guys. They're all cute and sparkly." Raphael cooed. 

As if they heard him, the orbs started flying toward them, getting bigger and bigger as they got closer. "Wait, are they little?" Henry asked.

The orbs flew in front of them, twice as big as they expected and sparking with electricity. "Nope." Donatello squeaked.

The orbs sent bolts of electricity at them that knocked them off the tower and onto the platform. Leonardo and Raphael leapt up to attack the orbs but however, they separated to dodge the two and shocked the two mutant turtles instead. Donatello tackled the orbs and Eclipse tossed some of her shurikens at them, but the orbs separated again and the shurikens missed. But before Boy Danger, Donatello, and Eclipse could attack the orbs again, Leonardo and Raphael grabbed them and pulled them into the crystal trees, motioning for them to stay quiet. The orbs flew around, looking for them and once they were gone from earshot and eyesight, they all sighed in relief.

"What the heck were those things?" Leonardo asked once everything was quiet.

"If Mikey were here, he'd come up with a name for them." Raphael heartedly joked. Then he sulked. "He and Briana are probably kraang bait by now."

Donatello then spoke up while he was messing with a branch of the crystal tree. "Guys, I think these are the same kind of crystal that was in the kraang power cell."

"Uh, Donnie, I don't think you should mess with that." Eclipse warned.

The branch snapped off and began glowing bright purple. "What is that?" Leonardo asked.

"Something not good," Donatello said. "Go, go, go!"

They jumped for the next platform as the crystal exploded behind them, the aftershock knocking them hard onto the platform. Shards of crystal landed around them and a larger, sharp shard landed right beside Henry's head.

"New rule," Henry said firmly. "Nobody. Touches. Anything." Both Raphael and Eclipse gave a thumbs-up in agreement at those words.

They continued to jump across the platforms, avoiding the crystal trees and being quiet as possible. After jumping a few platforms and metallic planets, they stopped on a platform large enough for them to catch their breath. "Man, I kind of don't blame the kraang for invading us. Their dimension stinks." Donatello said.

"No kidding." Eclipse said in agreement. "Heck, I'd invade our planet if I was stuck here."

Leonardo looked around and smiled. "I don't know." He pointed to a little nub on a large rock formation. "That thing's kind of cute."

The nub spotted them and squeaked. "Meep, meep." Leonardo walked over.

"Leo, the one thing we know about this dimension is don't mess with anything cute." Raphael reminded.

Leonardo ignored him, speaking to the nub. "Mop, mop."

"Meep, meep." The creature replied.

"Mop, mop." Leonardo tickled the nub, making the creature laughed, letting out a little green smoke.

"We literally just agreed on a rule where we don't touch anything cute, Leo." Henry said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "That thing is gonna try to kill us."

Leonardo turned to them with an 'awww' look on his face. "Oh, it's so small though. How can it--?"

The rock started moving as it rose from the ground to reveal that the nub was connected to a much larger creature that resembled a combination of an rock and an insect monster.

"It's so small, huh?" Eclipse said sarcastically.

They all turned and bolted while the monster pursed them, close behind.

"I hate cute things! I hate them!" Raphael shouted as they jumped to the next platform. 

"I hate this place! I hate it!" Henry exclaimed.

They jumped across floating drum-like objects and long cylinders to the next platform, but the monster caught up easily. Suddenly, two shadows tackled them across the platform and back behind the monster. They piled up to see that the two shadows that saved them were Michelangelo and Briana, each one equipped with small crystals and kraang tentacles wrapped around his upper arms. For Michelangelo, his orange mask was almost hidden under what looked like a kraang skull helmet while Briana's skin looked more pale-- more ghostly-like pale.

"Stay away from our family!" He shouted at the monster.

"Mikey? Briana?" The others questioned.

Michelangelo screeched at the monster, who backed away in pain. Briana threw a few of the crystals at it. "Buzz off, Rockatopus!" The rocks exploded in the monster's face, and Michelangelo proceeded to jump up and kick the small sub. The creature lost its balance and fell off the platform.

"You guys are okay!" The rest of the others ran up to them with relief written on their faces. Despite looking relieved, Leonardo sent Briana a firm look as he pointed a finger at her. "You, though, were supposed to stay at the lair! You're even more pale now than you were before!"

Briana waved it off with a shrug. "I'm fine, don't worry so much about me, guys."

Raphael raised a brow at those words. "In case you forgot, it's our job to worry about you."

"Well, what took you guys so long then? Mikey and I have been here for months."

"Months?" Henry questioned, confused.

Michelangelo shrugged. "Or maybe a few hours. Neither one of us has a watch."

"But we went through the portal, like, 15 seconds behind you two." Raphael pointed out.

"Time passes faster here," Briana said. "Which is why it feels like Mikey and I were here for months. It's a temporal differential--it defines as time and space physics. Now, let's get out of here."

Michelangelo nodded. "That thing's gonna keep coming back, and we've got to rescue LeatherHead. 

Briana felt her eyes widened in realization. "Oh! Better stock up on bang rocks." She jumped for the closest crystal tree.

"Briana, be careful!" Donatello warned.

Briana made a few strange squeaking sounds and a small crystal broke off the branch. It glowed light blue for a second before floating into the air as she grabbed it without it exploding. 

"How did you do that?"

Briana jumped back down. "Mikey and I figured out that a lot of stuff here responds to sound." She grabbed several caterpillar-like worms crawling around and threw them at the others.

"What are we supposed to do with these?" Eclipse asked.

"Like this," Michelangelo replied. He and Briana squeezed their worms, and long tendrils attached to the platform above. The others copied their movements, the worms swung them to the next platform as their landings were a bit rough, but they made it. Briana and Michelangelo followed close behind them, landing easily on their feet.

Raphael sat up and smiled. "Wow! How'd you two know how these bug things work?"

Michelangelo shook his worm and shrugged. "Just seemed sort of obvious."

They all got back to their feet, turning to them. "You two are like geniuses here." Donatello said.

"Mikey figured out most of it," Briana said with a shrug. "I just helped."

"In Crazy Backwards Land, Crazy Backwards Dude is king." Michelangelo said before squeezing the other end of the worm and letting green juice stream into his mouth, much to the others' disgust. "They're tasty too." He swallowed the juice.

"Once you get use to it, it's not so bad." Briana told the others with a shrug, before squeezing the other end of the worm and letting some green juice stream into her mouth as well. She swallowed it. "Now, let's go save LeatherHead!"

👑👑👑 

USING THE WORMS that Michelangelo and Briana gave them, they arrived at the kraang base a lot more faster than before. Michelangelo appeared beside Leonardo and Boy Danger, hanging upside-down with his worm. "Okay, I got some good news, and I got some bad news."

"What's the good news?" Henry asked.

"There's thousands of kraang droids in there." Michelangelo replied as Briana dropped down beside them.

"I said, good news." Henry repeated.

"He knows." Briana said as heavy stomping echoed from the doors of the base, and the rock giant from TCRI appeared alongside a white one. "That's the bad news."

The white giant roared, loosing a stream of blue fire, and the black giant barfed lava. The white one spotted Leonardo and Henry, blowing flames at them. They jumped out of the way, into the crystal trees behind them.

"Bri and I got this!" Michelangelo shouted. "Just--"

Leonardo cut him off. "Donnie, right! Raph, Henry, Clips, left! Move!"

With that, they all ran toward the giants.

Briana blinked. "That isn't gonna work." 

Michelangelo looked at her with a smirk. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Briana nodded. "Definitely."

Just as the others weren't having much luck and the black giant was about to finish Leonardo off, Michelangelo shouted. "Hey, Traag! Granitor!" The two giants looked over at them. "Put him down! Now!"

Michelangelo hurled his crystals at the giants and Traag released Leonardo, stepping back. Both Briana and Michelangelo landed in front of the others.

"Don't worry," Briana told them. "We got this."

Then, the two of them charged at the giants as Briana and Michelangelo took turns throwing crystals at the two giants. Both giants backed towards the island's edge and Briana stepped back as she motioned for Henry to cover his ears so, his sensitive hearing wouldn't bother him, which he did with a confused expression. Then, Michelangelo stood his ground and gave a high-pitched shriek. The ground beneath them cracked and the cliff gave up under the two giants, who fell into the void below them. 

Without even a moment to recollect themselves, Briana dashed for the tower with Michelangelo following close behind. "Let's move!"

👑👑👑 

THE MOMENT THAT they were inside the base, the seven teens made their way through the corridors without detection. Across the halls, they spotted two kraang droids guarding a door. Leonardo reached for his swords, but Briana stopped him and shook her head at him. Then, both Briana and Michelangelo grabbed their worms and used them to grab the kraang, pulling them from the robot husks and throwing them to the ground.

"Smooth." Both Eclipse and Raphael commented in unison.

The seven teens looked through the door to see the inside of a testing room with an oak tree and two kraang energy cannons. Three monitor screens showed Kraang Prime watching the action.

"Initiate that which is called mutagen transformation sequence." The cannons aimed at the tree. "That which is called mutagen transformation sequence initiated."

The cannons then fired mutagen at the tree until it was covered with the cyan ooze. The seven teens shielded their eyes from the bright flash of light and when they turned back, the oak tree was replaced by a crystal tree. A glass dome was lowered over it while the monitors turned off and the room emptied. Once the room was empty, they snuck inside.

Donatello gasped, staring at the tree. "You see that? That's what LeatherHead meant when he said they've perfected the mutagen. They're gonna use it to transform everything on Earth, even the people! They're gonna turn Earth into another Dimension X!"

"So, I'll be a genius there, too?" Michelangelo asked with a smile.

"Yes, Mikey," Donatello replied as he raised his voice in annoyance and frustration. "Thank you for finding the one mildly positive thing among 10 billion screaming nightmares!" He quickly covered his mouth as a door opened and the teens quickly took cover in the shadows and ducked out of the room before the kraang could spot them. 

Henry's ears pricked at the sound of a familiar roar. "LeatherHead."

"You're the only one who can hear him," Leonardo said. "Lead the way."

Henry nodded and then led the way as he followed the noise, letting his hearing show him the way. He led them through the hallways without getting noticed and reached a corridor with only two kraang droids. A roar caught their attention as they hid in the shadows. 

"What do you want from me?" A familiar voice shouted.

"That which is screaming." A droid answered.

Leonardo and Raphael took out the droids and Michelangelo knocked out the kraang before they could react. Both Michelangelo and Briana turned their attention towards their mutant alligator friend, who looked in terrible shape.

"LeatherHead! Are you okay?" Donatello worked on the object that held the mutant prisoner while Michelangelo and Briana stroked their friend's nose. "What can we do for you? Can you--?" The object disappeared and LeatherHead collapsed on Michelangelo and Briana. "Ow!" They finished their question in a small voice. "Get off of us!"

LeatherHead got to his feet as did Michelangelo and Briana. "Thank you, my friends," he said. "I feared you would never come."

Briana grinned, glad to have him back. "Of course we came, LeatherHead! You're our friend!"

"Dude, did you quit moisturizing or something?" Michelangelo asked as he noticed the alligator mutant was gray with age. "You look, like, a ton older."

"It's the temporal differential, Mikey," Donatello answered. "He's been here for years."

LeatherHead nodded. "Yes. I have been in this place for many decades now, spying on the kraang." He put one hand on Michelangelo's shoulder and the other on Briana's shoulder. "When I discovered that they had perfected the mutagen, I had to contact you." He grabbed his crystal cane. "The time has come. Their invasion begins now. Follow me!"

He charged out of the cell and just as a kraang was approaching, he roared at it, causing it to run away in fright. 

"He's a little cranky." Michelangelo whispered.

The seven teens followed the alligator mutant through the base and into the vents. At the other end, they entered a large black-and-pink room where a large crystal tree pointed down toward a power console and a platform covered in numerous triangular portals.

"So many portals," Leonardo said. "Why so many?"

An alarm went off and LeatherHead pointed ahead. "Look!"

The walls on the platform level opened to reveal a full-on invasion force of kraang droids. Donatello whimpered, backing into LeatherHead. "So, looks like we're done here?"

"The tunnel leads to the hive factory, where the kraang droids are manufactured. Their numbers of effectively limitless." LeatherHead explained.

"So, what can we do?" Donatello asked.

"Go down fighting," LeatherHead said. "I would rather die on my feet, than live on my knees."

"Well, I wouldn't. I have kneepads!" Donatello argued. "The only sensible course right now is retreat!"

"No!" Briana suddenly shouted, as her brothers and sister turned to her. "Leo, Raph, Henry, Clips, you guys find a way to block that tunnel. Donnie, Mikey, and I will sabotage that portal generator. And LeatherHead..."

"Crush kraang." LeatherHead finished for her.

"You read my mind, buddy!" Briana said with a grin. "Now, let's do this!"

For a split second, her brothers and sister stared at her with surprised expressions, their eyes wide in shock from what they were seeing. Not once had they ever seen Briana take charge and seem so confident at the moment and they each couldn't help but wonder if this was a part of her that she just hadn't discovered she had yet.

Then, they executed the plan as they all jumped down. Leonardo, Raphael, Henry, Eclipse, and LeatherHead began to take out the kraang while Donatello, Michelangelo, and Briana took out the droids operating the terminal and started hacking.

"Okay, we need to shut down all but one portal, so we have a way home." Donatello summarized. "Then set the whole thing to blow once we're through." He entered a code and waited, only for the console to declined. "No!"

While the rest of the others continued to take out the kraang, Donatello continued to try to hack into the console with Michelangelo and Briana covering him in case any of the kranng droids tried to attack him. 

One of the portals then took on an oval shape. "No." Donatello noticed and tried again. The other portals took on other shapes; one even took on the shape of a shuriken and the other a star. "No. No!" He started typing again as all of the portals shut down expect for one and then, he set the overload sequence for 30 seconds.

"We got 30 seconds!" Donatello called out to the others, running for the portal. "Time to go, now!"

"Go through without me. I'll keep them busy." LeatherHead said.

"Not this time, buddy!" Briana argued, kicking the alligator mutant through the portal. She glanced through to see it led to the New York rooftops and LeatherHead was climbing up from the edge.

"I'm okay." He reassured.

"Guys, come on!" Briana shouted towards her siblings.

One by one, she watched as her siblings jumped through and LeatherHead catching them before they landed on the streets. The last ones to go through were Briana and Michelangelo. 

Her eyes widened as she remembered something. "Mikey!"

"Oh, right!" Michelangelo fired his worm through the portal, retrieving a crystal branch. There was a bright light as the portal fully closed. "Donnie! I got you a power source for your Turtle Mech!" He showed the crystal.

Donatello smiled. "Mikey, you are a genius."

Michelangelo shook his head. "Not anymore." He removed his helmet with a sullen look. "Now, I'm just back to being regular Mess-Everything-Up Mikey."

Henry shook his head. "No way. Saving that power cell was brilliant, and you did that here."

Michelangelo regained his smile. "Yeah, I did!" He scratched the back of his head. "Maybe I'm not such a screw-up after all!" Then he realized his hands weren't holding the roof anymore and right before he was about to fell, Henry snatched his arm out and grabbed his wrist while Michelangelo gave a sheepish smile. 

Once everyone was standing on the rooftop safe and sound with LeatherHead, Donatello spoke up. "That overload should have taken out their whole facility. Their invasion will be set back for months!"

"Yeah, but how long is that with the time differential thing?" Eclipse asked.

Donatello shrugged, shaking his head. "I don't know. Hours? Maybe a day."

Leonardo and Henry shared a glance before looking over at the others. "Guys, there's a storm coming." Leonardo said.

"Are we ready to fight?" Henry finished for him.

Raphael, Donatello, Eclipse, Briana, and LeatherHead smiled. "Yes!"

They all looked at Michelangelo, who was quietly smiling. "I need a minute." After a second, he opened his eyes and grinned. "Okay, now I'm ready." He and the others shared a high-three. "Booyakasha!"

👑👑👑

LATER THAT DAY, the seven teens had been back at the lair for the rest of the day and since then, Briana has only felt worse while the burning, aching pain returned once more. Every part of her body ached with pain while it felt like her insides were being tore apart and at every movement, even a small one, made her dizzy. Briana bought a hand to her mouth just as she was hit with another coughing hit, only this one sounded worse than the others and lasted a bit longer than the previous ones she had as well. 

Once she finally got herself to stop coughing, Briana spun around at the sound of a throat being cleared and found the others standing behind her. "Um... it's not what it looks like?" She tried to play innocent.

"Okay, this has gone on long enough," Leonardo said as he shook his head before staring at her, giving her one of his firm looks. "What's going on with you?" 

"Nothing, I swear!" Briana tried to lie, but her raspy voice from all of the coughing she's been doing gave her away. "I'm fine."

"You can stop with the lies," Eclipse told her. "You're a terrible liar, anyways."

Briana could feel the room spinning as her eyelids suddenly grew heavy, the feeling of her insides being tore apart inside of her came back as she bit the bottom half of her lip. "I... I'm fine. I just... need... to... sleep."

The last Briana heard was her name being called before everything went black.

👑👑👑

IMMEDIATELY, THEY HAD all gathered in the lab while Briana was laying on the table, unconscious while her chest moved up and down slightly. Everyone was waiting for Donatello to finish examining through the microscope. "Donnie, what's going on with her?" Raphael asked.

"Take a look at this." He said, sliding his microscope over to them. They all took turns looking through it.

"Everything's green." Henry said.

"That's the mutagen," Donatello said. "That's her blood sample with mutagen in it."

"But the mutagen didn't affect her when she fell in with Karai," Eclipse said. "She didn't turn into a mutant."

"That's because her magic did protect her but," Donatello explained. "It looks like her magic isn't compatible with mutagen and while I was studying it, the mutagen is tearing everything apart inside of her."

"What, like, her cells and organs?" Leonardo asked.

"Everything."

"But you can get it out of her then, right, D?" Michelangelo asked. "And then, she'll be okay and back to normal again."

Donatello grew quiet at those words while the others stared at him with raised brows, none of them liking the sudden silence. "Donnie? You can get the mutagen out from her, right?" Michelangelo asked again.

"I--I don't know."

Silence filled the lab for a while until immediately, they all started shouting at him.

"WHAT!?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YOU DON'T KNOW?'"

"What's gonna happen to her then!?"

"You're the science guy, D, so science us an answer!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Donatello snapped. "In case you forgot, Sensei told us that she's half human and half demon! It's her magic that I don't understand!"

"Can't you just use the retro-mutagen on her?!" Raphael questioned.

"I've tried!" Donatello yelled. "The retro-mutagen only sped everything up! All that stuff is gonna do is cause the mutagen to destroy everything inside of her faster! I have no clue how her magic works!"

"Well, what's gonna happen if you can't think of something in time?" Eclipse asked.

"Um, in scientific terms..." Donatello said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Go boom."

Once again, nobody liked that answer. "SHE'S GONNA EXPLODE!?"

"That's enough! We must hurry," Splinter said, stopping them from arguing again. "Bring her to the dojo. I believe I might know what to do."

As instructed, none of them wasted any time in setting Briana on the floor of the dojo before leaving the dojo so the mutant rat could focus, leaving just the two in the alone. Alone in the dojo, Splinter took a kneeling position to Briana's right and closed his eyes to concentrate and breathed deeply while a white aura formed around him. 

Then, Splinter made multiple hand signals as he began to chant simultaneously. "Rin, pyo, to, sha, kai, gin, rets, zai, zen." As he chanted, he placed his hands on Briana's stomach and the faint white aura spread to her as well. Briana gave a small groan of pain as she twitched.

"Rin, pyo, to, sha, kai, gin, rets, zai, zen." While Splinter chanted at a faster rate, Briana could feel the burning, aching pain intensifying as there was a sudden strong force in her body. "Rin, pyo, to, sha, kai, gin, rets, zai, zen." The mutant rat continued to chant more faster while Briana gave another groan of pain and her face scrunched up in pain. "Rin, pyo, to, sha, kai, gin, rets, zai, zen, cha, no, qui, tai, ka mi, to, no, ra, fa, su!" He chanted faster and this time, Briana's ghostly-pale skin turned green now as she gave a louder groan of pain. "Rin, pyo, to, sha, kai, gin, rets, zai, zen, cha, no, qui, tai, ka mi, to, no, ra, fa, su! RIN, PYO, TO, SHA, KAI, GIN, RETS, ZAI, ZEN!"

As Splinter opened his eyes, Briana couldn't hold back the scream of pain that left her lips while a ball of green energy shot out from her body and into the air, blowing up. When the ball was gone, it was deathly silent and Briana forced her sapphire blue eyes to open a little to find her father staring down at her with a concerned look in his eyes, yet the relief was seen on his face as she woke up.

"Daddy...?" Briana asked tiredly, her eyelids starting to close again but she forced them to stay open for a second. In that one moment, she looked like a scared child that woke up from a nightmare.

"Everything is alright, my daughter," Splinter reassured her, the relief in his tone was highly noticed by her. "You're alright now, get some rest."

And for the first time since the night where she fell into the mutagen, Briana had finally let herself drift off to the best sleep she's ever gotten. 

"So, LeatherHead is back with us and I'm okay now--like, really, okay this time. But here's a fair warning, you might want to brace yourselves for the next chapter cause, it's definitely a wild one."