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

Enjoy!

"Everybody has a family, right? Yes, sometimes they can annoy you or get you mad, but we all have them. Now, what's my point? I'll tell you later but for now, let's get on with it!"

EVERYONE STOOD BY the front door within the house, staring at their surroundings in complete focus while holding their own cleaning equipment. "Everyone ready?" April questioned.

"Casey Jones was born ready," he retorted, flicking his mask down.

"Let's do this," Mara responded, a smirk on her face.

Immediately, they all charged forward and started cleaning. Briana was dusting the living room while lifting things out of her way in order for her to dust. As she dusted, her eyes landed on a nearby photo that caught her attention real quick; a photo of April from when she was a baby with her parents, and Briana couldn't help but notice that both adults in the photo were smiling.

The more she stared at it, she couldn't help but wonder if her own parents, whoever they were and wherever they were, had a photo like this with her or even if they were missing her, wondering if she'd ever find her way back home to them. The more those thoughts filled her head, Briana shook her head with a frown as her fingers grabbed onto the edge of her black leather jacket that she was wearing, as if she was reminding herself what she already knows about her own parents.

That they didn't want her.

So, Briana pushed those thoughts about her own parents away and right when she was about to go back to dusting, she heard Leonardo complained. "Aw, Mikey, I just vacuumed!"

"Yeah?" Raphael stood up, taking off the bucket that had ended up on his head, throwing it down as Briana walked over. "Well, I'm about to mop the floor with him."

Michelangelo sat up. "Woooah, guys, check it out!"

Everyone walked over to see what the orange masked mutant turtle was looking at. "A trapdoor? I didn't even know we had a basement." April said, surprised.

"What do you suppose is down there?" Leonardo asked.

"Evil clown. Evil clown!" Michelangelo ran behind Henry, a look of terror on his face.

Briana felt her skin turned white at the mention of clowns, her eyes going wide with fear. The last thing she wanted was to face off a clown. Kaz noticed the fear in her eyes and reached over to grab her hand to give it a reassuringly squeeze, wanting her to know that everything would be alright and that she wasn't alone. Briana looked over and as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, she couldn't help but to give him a shy smile.

"Mikey, relax," Eclipse said. "It's probably just a bunch of boxes with old stuff in them."

Raphael took out his sais. "Only one way to find out." He stuck his sais under the trapdoor and pried it open. A flight of wooden stairs welcomed them to darkness.

"So, uh, who's going first?" Briana asked nervously.

Immediately, everyone but Henry called. "NOT IT!"

Everyone turned their heads to look at him, sending him pity smiles while Henry groans before going down the stairs. One by one, the others followed him down the stairs. Once darkness, Henry looks ahead of him and halts, his eyes widening at what's in front of him as a small gasp leaves his lips.

"Raph, turn your flashlight on."

He listens and turns it on, only for the light to hit a familiar ship as it causes for the rest of them to gasp as well.

"The kraang." Leonardo says.

"Whoa." Michelangelo whispers.

"It's impossible." Raphael mumbles.

"It can't be." Eclipse said in disbelief.

"It's a kraang stealth ship." Donatello concludes.

Casey grins. "Wicked!"

"But how did they find us?" Zane asks.

Donatello moves closer to the ship slowly, reaching out and brushing his finger along the side and taking some dirt off with it. "I don't think they did. This ship looks like it's been buried here for years?"

"What the heck is a kraang ship doing underneath my house?" April questions.

A moment later, a beeping sound emits from the ship and the door slides open with a puff of dust. Donatello steps back as nobody moves forward for a while.

Leonardo limps forward, a determined expression on his face. "Only one way to find out." He says, moving inside. "Come on."

The rest of them head inside after him as the group emerges into the main bridge. Within the center of the ship was stasis pod and inside of it could be seen a silhouette of a person. Kaz steps closer, trying to squint to see the inside of it.

"Is that a person in there?" Kaz asks.

Donatello bents down to get a closer look. "Okay, don't touch anything. I repeat," he stared right at Michelangelo. "Do not touch anything!" Michelangelo smiled nervously, stepping back as far as he could but ended up hitting the control panel and activated the ship. "Mikey!" Donatello turned to him as the lights started up. 

"Oops, I promise not to touch anything starting... now." Michelangelo said, giving an apologetic smile.

Then, the pod opened, releasing some smoke, as well as a strange scent that made Henry's nose twitched, which made him frown a little at the scent. The smoke cleared to show a woman with blonde hair wearing a purple cardigan and plain grey pencil skirt. She groans and blinks, revealing pale green eyes.

April gasps. "Mom?"

"Mom!?" Mara, her faces twisting in confusion, said.

Mrs. O'Neil groans and takes a step out of the capsule only to stumble. Donatello and Raphael sweep forward and catch her, holding her arms over their shoulders.

"Take it easy, ma'am," Donatello warns as she slumps forward, taking heavy breaths.

"Hold on," Raphael adds.

The woman blinks and when she looks up to see who is holding her up, she screams and elbows Raphael in the gut, breaking from their hold.

"Aah! Mutants!" She shrieks. She dashes for the exit but ends up tripping cause of her high heels and she falls, prompting Henry to catch her.

"Don't worry, Mrs. O'Neil," Henry said as he helped her back to her feet before gesturing to the turtles. "These are good mutants." She looks to the five mutant turtles, who are each offering a smile or a wave.

"Except for Donnie, he's kind of a jerk." Mara adds.

"Yeah, I—" Donatello starts before realizing what she said. "Hey!"

"Where am I?" Mrs. O'Neil asks, her voice laced with timid, light tone. "And how do you know my—" she turns to Henry only to look past his shoulder and see April as her face softens. "A—April? But... but how?" She stumbles towards her daughter, her breaths picking up. "Just a few days ago, you were only... six years old!"

Her eyes roll back into her head as she faints, falling back into Henry's arms.

"Mom!" April gasps, reaching out to her but then she faints as well, falling into Mara's arms.

"Snap," Michelangelo comments under her breath.

"Well, this is one way for a family reunion." Kyle mutters under his breath.

👑👑👑

THEY BRING APRIL and her mother upstairs to the living room, laying them on the couch to rest while they wait for them to wake up. A few minutes went by and April was the first one to wake up, a few more went by and it didn't take long for her mother to wake up as well.

April pours tea into cups for both her and her mother, who was sitting on one of the chairs in the living room. It was clear that the woman wasn't comfortable yet as she refused to look at anyone in the eyes except for her daughter. Then, the five mutant turtles peek at her in complete synchronization, Michelangelo waving and smiling when she notices them, but it only makes her huddle away.

Henry, on the other hand, finds himself staring at the woman, trying to see find just any reason as to why, not just himself, but the wolf inside of him felt uncertain about her. A part of Henry was starting to get annoyed with how many times his nose has twitched due to his heightened senses, trying to get the woman's scent to see if that would help him figure it out, but it's the same thing every single time.

It's definitely a strange scent that he knows isn't human but he doesn't know what it is yet at the same time, it feels familiar.

He just can't figure out from where.

"Here you go, mom," April says, handing her a cup of tea. "Just relax."

"Thank you, April. I'm still a little shaky." Mrs. O'Neil apologizes, taking a hesitant sip.

Mrs. O'Neil sighs and stares into the teacup to see her own reflection. "I... I know this is hard to believe," she says, slowly looking up at her daughter. "But the kraang ship has been here for years. It was your great-grandfather who discovered it. He made the mistake of awakening the kraang." Her fingertips tighten on the handle of her cup while everyone listens. "They paid him back by experimenting on him... and his entire bloodline. They knew we were the key to unlocking their precious mutagen. We were their guinea pigs."

"Aw! Guinea pigs are so cute," Michelangelo interrupts, grinning widely.

"I told you not to be stupid, you moron." Raphael snaps, flicking his brother's nose.

"Ow!"

Mrs. O'Neil continues, still looking at her cup. "After you were born, it was clear that you were very special. We knew it was only a matter of time before the kraang came for you. We escaped. Kirby fled with you to the city. I was recaptured and put into stasis." She finally looks to the other teenagers that had been listening to her story as well.

"All these years, I never knew what happened to you," April says. "I never knew what to think. Dad would never tell me."

"Now you know, and now we never have to be apart again," Mrs. O'Neil encourages, grasping her daughter's hands as they get to their feet. She looks around and frowns. "Where is Kirby, anyway?"

Casey swallows some of his tea. "Kirby?" He clarifies. "Oh, he got turned into a wicked kraang-headed mutant."

"Oh, yeah," Mara adds. "New York got invaded... again. The kraang were all over the place."

Kaz punches her arm while Raphael punches Casey's arms. "You two just had to pull a Mikey, didn't you?" The red masked mutant turtle asks.

"Haha! You pulled a Mikey!" Michelangelo teases before thinking back to what he said.

"They're just kidding, Mrs. O'Neil," Leonardo says. "Kirby's... uh... on a safari... in Puerto Rico! He won't be back for a while."

He sips his tea nervously, sticking his "pinkie" out. Mrs. O'Neil blinks before turning back to her daughter with a doting smile.

"I'm just so glad to have my April back."

April smiles as the mother and daughter embrace each other. Everyone smiles lightly at the reunion but Henry, who still can't seem to get rid of the uncertainty that he was feeling.

Michelangelo tilted his head. "Is it me, or does April's mom seem a little bit off?"

Raphael laughed. "Ha! Like you're one to talk."

Michelangelo shook his head. "I'm serious, dude. I got those ninja vibes, yo. I don't trust her."

Eclipse glances back at the woman and finds herself in agreement. There was something off about the woman and she didn't like it. She found herself looking over at Henry, who was staring at the woman with narrowed eyes while his nose kept twitching every now and then.

Eclipse glanced over at her brother. "You're not the only one who thinks that, Mikey."

As for Briana, she was trying to ignore it but she could feel the slight hint of jealousy growing in her stomach at the sight of the woman's doting smile for April or the sight of the two O'Neils hugging. For a split second, it made Briana wish to know what it would feel like to know what a mother's love felt like but then, she quickly shook her head, pushing the jealousy deep down and forced it behind the walls she kept up in her head, smiling softly at the O'Neil family reunion.

'Forget about what you want, Briana. This is April's moment, and I'm happy that she has her mother back.' She thought secretly to herself.

👑👑👑

"PLEASE TELL ME that I'm not the only one who thinks there's something off with Mrs. O'Neil." Eclipse was leaning against the kitchen wall as she watches her boyfriend pace, running a hand through his hair with a clearly stressed out look on his face that was most likely from being unable to figure out what was going on with April's mother.

"No, you're not," Eclipse says. "I don't trust her and Mikey doesn't either." She then shrugs. "I have no idea where he went though."

"Thank god," Henry said, relieved that he wasn't crazy about his suspicions. "Cause it's driving me crazy. Every time I'm near her or if she's in the room, my wolf senses act up and I can't figure out her scent. I don't recognize it but at the same time, it smells like a k—"

"Booyakasha!"

Both Eclipse and Henry move towards the window and glance out to see Michelangelo swinging his nunchucks at April's mother, who screams.

April blocked him. "Mikey! What are you doing?"

"Get away from April! I'm warning you!" Michelangelo shouted at the woman.

Mrs. O'Neil screams, running back inside the house as she runs past the two teens who were in the kitchen. Michelangelo tried to follow, but April pulled him back.

Eclipse facepalms. "Mikey..." she groans in annoyance.

"What the heck is wrong with you? Have you lost your mind?" April shook her head. "Don't bother answering that." She runs after her mother.

Michelangelo followed. "April, wait! I can explain!"

April ignored him and ran inside the house. "Mom!"

"April, hold on!" Michelangelo shouted, only to be blocked at the door by Raphael while Henry and Eclipse step into the hallway.

👑👑👑

EVERYONE BUT APRIL and her mother were gathered in the barn with Michelangelo sitting in a chair, a light on his face as they interrogated him. Everyone looked angry and disappointed while Henry and Eclipse looked uncertain and Briana, on the other hand, was standing next to Kaz as she bit the bottom half of her lip.

"Michelangelo..." Donatello stepped in front of the light, staring down at his little brother while his tone grew with every word. "You. Attacked. April's. MOTHER!?"

"Mikey, have you completely cracked your shell!?" Casey demanded.

"In what world do you think it's okay to attack someone's mother?" Zane questioned.

"I don't trust her!" Michelangelo explained. "She's all kinds of wrong. You guys got to believe me."

Leonardo raised his hand. "Oh, just like the time tiny elves stole your nunchucks and replace them with mozzarella sticks?"

Michelangelo nodded. "Yes!"

"Or the time you and Ice Cream Kitty entered a break-dancing contest?" Raphael asked.

Michelangelo nodded again. "Yes!"

"Stop it, Mikey!" Mara shouted. "Do you have any idea how much this means to April? If you ruin this for her—"

"Okay, guys, enough!" Henry interrupted. "Instead of interrogating him, hear him out."

"He attacked April's mother," Zane said. "What's there to hear out?"

"For one, he's usually right when it comes to those things," Eclipse said before she turned to her three older brothers. "He was right about where to find Stockman when we needed the centrifuge, but you three didn't want to listen to him but me, Henry, and Bri did, and guess who ended up being right? Mikey."

"Exactly, and I think he's right about this too. I mean, there is something about her scent that I don't like— whatever it is, it's not human." Henry added.

"She was locked in stasis for ten years," Mara said. "Wouldn't that end up changing her scent?"

Briana finally shook up. "Technically, that's not how it works. Being cryogenically frozen doesn't change somebody's natural scent."

"And to be fair, Mikey's never attacked someone without a reason before." Kaz added.

"Maybe after a good night's rest, he'll like her." Leonardo commented.

"Hopefully, he thinks about what he's done." Donatello adds.

"Fine! If you don't believe me, I'll prove it!" Michelangelo shoved past Mara and walked off.

"If this backfires on you guys, I don't want to hear anyone complaining to me about Mikey telling you guys repeatedly, 'I told you so.'" Henry told them seriously.

👑👑👑

APRIL WAS ABLE to find her mother at the other side of the house where the woman was staring at the trees as she walked over. "Mom?" She asked, approaching her. "Are you okay?"

"I was just thinking about when we picnicked in the woods, by the stream." Mrs. O'Neil answered, her eyes not leaving the woods.

April smiled as she nodded. "Those are some of my favorite memories."

Mrs. O'Neil then turned towards her and hugged her. "We should go somewhere, just the two of us." She pulled back. "Just drive off. Leave them behind, I don't trust them."

April felt her eyes widened. "I... I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"They're like family," April answered. "They've always been there for me."

"I'm your mother! Your family, not them. They're just a bunch of freaks!"

Then, the woman marched back into the house, leaving April behind who was hurt, shocked, and conflicted by her mother's words.

👑👑👑

IT WAS STARTING to get quiet— way too quiet, and Henry didn't like it. He, Raphael, and Eclipse were in the living room as the three were watching a Halloween marathon but Henry couldn't seem to focus on the bright screen, feeling his heightened senses all over the place. It didn't help that he could feel the wolf inside of him growing anxious with every passing second. But then, there was a scream and crashing sounds that made the three teens jump to their feet.

"What the heck?" Raphael asked.

"That was Leo," Eclipse said.

The three of them approached the basement to find the door close as they glanced at each other. Wasn't it open before or did Leonardo close it?

Henry stepped forward to open the trapdoor while Raphael drew his sais and Eclipse grabbed her kamas. Henry opened the door and his eyes widened when he saw Leonardo on the ground, struggling to get up.

"Leo!" Henry ran down the stairs and helped him up, Raphael and Eclipse close behind him. "You okay?"

"I think so."

"What happened?"

"Mikey was right. April's mom really is a creature."

Raphael felt eyes widened as he spun around. "What?"

Eclipse raised a brow at him. "You know, we did try to tell you guys that Mikey was right."

"And I meant what I said earlier, don't come complaining to me when Mikey won't shut up about being right." Henry told him.

Eclipse looked around the room. "Where did it go, Leo?"

"Right here."

Immediately, the three of them froze at the sudden dark tone in his voice. This wasn't Leonardo. They turned to find that 'Leonardo' had two tentacles for hands, and four more came out from his shell while his eyes were white.

The creature lunges at them, tentacles at the ready, but Henry reacts first, takes out his twin swords and slices one of the tentacles off. The creature screeches in pain and moves backwards.

Raphael swings one sai towards the ceiling. "Get out of here!"

The creature lets out a hiss and attacks again, this time going for Raphael. The turtle grunts and dodges to the side, sais flashing while Eclipse grips her kamas tighter.

"Go! You guys gotta warn April!" Raphael adds. Eclipse gives in and starts up the stairs to go warn her friend, disappearing above.

One tentacle latches around Raphael's ankle, yanking the turtle into the air as he drops his sais. Henry slices the tentacle off as the creature screeches, dropping Raphael onto the ground.

"Move it, Raph!" Henry demanded, pulling him onto his feet. "Go!"

Raphael retrieves his sais and the two bolt up the stairs as the creature's shrieks remain in the basement while Henry slams the trapdoor shut.

👑👑👑

"SO, THAT'S IT," April says, slumping back against the wooden swing and stares up at the stars. "She's leaving tonight and if I don't go with her, she's going anyway. She's too scared of the turtles."

Mara frowns lightly, gently rocking the swing while the tree branches above them creak in the wind. She didn't know why but the thought of April leaving, it was like she could feel her stomach dropped and she didn't know why. But at the same time, she couldn't blame the redheaded girl if she did go.

After all, this was her mother— her family. Why wouldn't April leave with her?

Even if Mara didn't want her to go.

"That's rough, Cupcake," Mara said, giving the girl a new nickname. "But I mean, I'll understand if you want— or even if you do go with her. I'm sure the others will too, she is your mom."

Mara suddenly finds herself looking over at April, who was still staring at the stars before the redheaded girl turned her head to look at her, their eyes suddenly making eye contact. Mara blinks, having never realized before just how blue April's eyes were and how they reminded her of the morning sky but at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder one thing.

Had her eyes always been that blue before, or was she just now noticing them?

Mara was the first to break the eye contact as she shook her head and cleared her throat. "Look, if you—"

"April! Mara!"

Eclipse bursts from the house and races towards them, panting heavily. Immediately, both April and Mara stand up, meeting the golden masked mutant turtle.

"Clips, what is it?" April asks as Eclipse halts in front of them.

Eclipse tries to calm her breaths as she warns them. "It's your mother, she's not..." she takes a few more breaths. "Mikey was right. That's not your mother and whatever she is, she definitely did something to the others. And now, I have no idea if Raph and Henry are okay."

"No," April says, taking a step back as she didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to believe that the woman who looks like her mother wasn't really her mother. "No, you're wrong!"

"Aw, come on, Clips, not you too." Mara said.

Suddenly, a startled yell comes from the house that grabs their attention. "Aw, sewer apples, she's still coming!"

"Move it, Raph! Go!"

Both Raphael and Henry burst through the front door and Henry slams it shut before the two dashes over to where they are, panting heavily just like Eclipse was.

"Thank god, you two are okay!" Eclipse said relieved, throwing her arms around the two once they're in reach.

"We're okay, little sis," Raphael reassures her, returning the hug. Then, the three pull away and he looks up at April. "Whatever Clips told you, she's right. Your mom isn't what you think she is."

"April!"

Henry, Raphael, and Eclipse tensed at the voice and everyone looks over to see Mrs. O'Neil standing on the front porch. "April, I told you to pack your bags." Her dark green eyes narrow as she starts to make her way towards them.

Raphael instantly pushes Eclipse and Henry behind him and then forms a protective stance in front of them, April, and Mara. "Stay back!" He demands but Mrs. O'Neil doesn't slow down. "What did you do to my brothers and my sister?"

Mrs. O'Neil ignored him. "April, now."

"I said stay back, mom... thing!" Raphael shouts, wielding his sais at her.

"Stop it, Raph!" April yells, shoving past him and moves to stand beside her mother. "Stop it right now!"

Mrs. O'Neil grabs April's arm sharply, making the girl yelp in pain. "That's it," she says lowly. "We're leaving, now!" She starts dragging April, making her struggle against her.

"What's going on?" April questions.

"I'm your mother!" But when Mrs. O'Neil turns around, her face is revealed to be pink and wrinkly like the kraang, and her eyes are purple.

April looks down and screams, noticing that her mother's hand has turned into a tentacle. Raphael, Eclipse, Henry, and Mara each have looks of shock.

"What the heck?" Mara says before her face hardens. "Let her go!"

The four of them dash forward, Raphael slicing the tentacle holding April with his sais. The creature roars and starts convulsing as Mara helps April to her feet. Henry and Eclipse take out their weapons and readied them.

The creature's fingers start popping and she starts to transform in front of them, causing April to stumble into Mara.

"Oh, my gosh." She whispers.

Mara looks disgusted. "Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Move!" Henry ordered, heading for the barn as the others followed while the creature chased after them.

Mara fell behind, grabbing the axe from the wood-chopping block.

"Mara, come on!" Raphael shouted.

Mara caught up with them as they all ran into the barn. Raphael and Eclipse close the door before the creature could get in as it roared, attacking the door. Henry felt the wolf inside of him growl and as his eyes flashed yellow, he pushed his body against the door to keep it shut, pushing his feet into the ground to hold him there.

After a few attacks, everything went silent but nobody dared to move. Henry felt his ears twitched and his eyes widened.

"Look out!"

Henry tackled them out of the way just as the creature burst into the barn from under the ground, right where they had been standing. They stepped back as the creature roared, its head splitting perfectly in half as it attacked with a tentacle, grabbing April. Eclipse cut through the tentacle with her kamas and April landed against the door.

Mara climbed some crates to try to attack it from above, but the creature grabbed her and it threw her around the barn before dropping her onto the floor. Henry and Raphael tried to double-team to attack it, but the creature climbed to the ceiling where none of them could reach it.

It shot green slime at Raphael, Henry, and Eclipse but they jumped to the side to avoid it. Mara came swinging, going for the creature with the axe, and it fell to the ground, roaring.

"There's no way to stop this thing!" Eclipse shouted.

"She was frozen when we found her. Maybe we can freeze it again." April suggested.

"No!" Mara replied as she landed on the ground. "We fry it!" She charged at the creature and slid underneath it. "Mara Sparks is ready to play some offense." She jumped to her feet and stopped in front of the circuit box, holding the axe. She got the creature's attention and it reached to grab her but Mara opened the box and moved to the side, as its hand slammed into the circuit box. The electricity went haywire, shocking it.

The creature fell to the ground, not moving and they all hoped that this was it— that the creature was done. But then, the creature turned its head in their direction, releasing another cry.

"Well, that didn't work." Raphael said as he, Eclipse, Mara, and Henry took protective stances in front of April.

"We just gotta beat it to pieces!" Mara raised the axe and the four of them charged.

But the moment they jumped up, the creature grabbed them with a large tentacle covered in suckers.

"Okay, this is disgusting." Eclipse commented, struggling to get free.

"Get your slimy suckers off of me!" Raphael shouted as they all struggled to get free.

"Mara, Raph, Clips, Henry, no! No!" April shouted, as she watched in horror as her friends got sucked in.

Then, they vanished inside of the creature.

"April, we can be together." The creature stated. "No more pain, no more sorrow." In the chest area, the faces of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Briana, Kaz, Casey, Zane, Kyle, Piper, and Chloe appeared, beckoning the redheaded girl to join them. "One of us."

"You are not my mother," April snapped. "No! No!"

The creature roared, grabbing April with its suction tube. "We will be a family again. It's all we ever wanted."

As the creature's sucker moved closer to its back hole, April screamed, sending out a physic blast. The creature exploded, a light flashing through the barn as blood, guts, and other parts were scattered around the barn. In the center of the barn was everyone else as they all slowly got to their feet, groaning.

"Are you guys okay?" April asked.

"Let me put it you this way," Donatello said groggy, falling towards the girl but she caught him before he could hit the ground. "I'm pretty sure I swallowed about fifteen pounds of slime."

Michelangelo groaned. "Ugh, I feel like if puke could puke, it would be us." He then turned around and vomited.

Leonardo patted his back then flashed April a smile. "Thanks, April."

👑👑👑

AFTER THEY HAD all gotten the showers that they all desperately needed, everyone gathered inside of the ship as Donatello was explaining to everyone what he found.

"So, when I downloaded the data from the kraang ship, I discovered the creature wasn't really April's mom. It just had her memories." He explained.

"So, what was it?" Raphael asked.

"Some sort of early infiltration experiment that utilized a combination of Mrs. O'Neil's DNA and kraang DNA," Donatello answered. "But it was too dangerous."

"So, the kraang put it in a deep freeze," Raphael said. "It all makes sense."

Henry looked over and saw April sitting against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. "Guys," he said as he looked back over while motioning to April. "Do we have to talk about this now?"

Mara walked over and sat down next to her. "April, you okay?"

April nodded. "Yeah, it just feels like I've lost my family all over again, even if it wasn't really my mom." She looked away. "Maybe she really is gone forever, but maybe... maybe she's still out there somewhere."

"You can't give up hope," Leonardo said, extending a hand to her. "Trust me on that."

April smiles softly, taking his hand as he pulls her up and Mara stands up on her own.

"And you haven't lost your family," Briana said with a smile as Michelangelo hugged his brothers and sisters. "Cause we're your family."

April smiled at her words.

"And I want to say to my bros..." Michelangelo started as he did a little victory dance. "I was right! In your face! In your face!"

Donatello waved his hands and spoke up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. Didn't you mention something about mutagen being spilled in the woods?"

Michelangelo thought for a second. "Uh..." he nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, do you remember where it is?" Raphael asked.

Michelangelo closed his eyes and concentrated. "Hmm..." he shook his head. "Nope."

"Oh, no," Leonardo said as he looked at them. "You know what this means, right?"

Henry gave a small sigh. "Aw, crap."

"Alright, back to my point! So, although sometimes family can annoy you or make you upset, it still doesn't change the fact that not only are they your family, but you wouldn't change anything about them. Whenever they're blood or not, family is the most important thing to have and to cherish because without them, what do you have?"