A/N: Soren and Isabella belongs to MariChat3.

Enjoy!

"Now, I know you're all curious about what happens next but before I can tell you that, I have to tell you about what's been happening in New York City first."

IF THERE WAS one thing that Jake hated more than his own cousin, it was the fact that he felt absolutely weak and pathetic while being bedridden, waiting for the mutagenic formula that was mixed with the bit of Briana's blood that Stockman-fly had harvested to finish progressing. The slow, steady rate that it was progressing at wasn't fast enough for him and it seems that he wasn't the only one that was getting frustrated with the progress.

"It's taking too long!" Shredder snapped. "I grow severely impatient!"

"Sir, normal mutagen is unstable and can warp your mind," Stockman-fly said from his console with Soren and Isabella as the three were working on the progresses for both formulas. "But with this new serum, we can control the outcome, but it will take time."

"Make it work faster," Jake snapped. "Our enemies are only growing stronger the longer we're here."

"Master Jake, the serum we made for you is even more unstable with the additional of Princess Briana's blood added to it." Isabella said.

"Not to mention, dangerous since it wasn't easy to make due to the fact that her blood and mutagen cannot mix," Soren added. "If the progress is rushed, there is a chance where you could explode."

Despite the fact that he knew just how dangerous the serum was, Jake hated the thought of his enemies growing stronger. If he was going to take back what was supposed to be his, he had to be stronger and that meant that the serum had to work. He didn't have time for maybes or possibilities.

Not now, not ever.

Oh-oh-oh

At the sound of the voice again, Jake could only roll his eyes from where he laid on the bed, tuning out of the words being spoken between his adoptive father and their henchmen. He tried to move his toes but the lower half of his body remained still, with no feeling whatsoever in his lower half.

'Wait, all I have to do is wait.' Jake thought secretly to himself. 'And then, when the serum has done its job, the world will know my name and I'll show my enemies that no matter what, nobody can stop me.'

👑👑👑

A FAMILIAR MUTANT snake slithered into the alleyway before diving underneath a dumpster to avoid the bullets that flew at her. A group of men with guns in their hands slowly stepped into the alleyway, carefully walking around with their guns aimed in front of them for protection.

Just as one of the men moved in front of the dumpster, her right snake hand slowly slithered out from underneath before biting the man's ankle, sinking its fangs into the skin. The man cried out in pain before falling to the ground, the venom already kicking in.

"Under the dumpster!"

Immediately, bullets were fired in the direction of the dumpster while the mutant snake quickly slithered out of the way, avoiding the bullets. The mutant snake avoided the bullets before quickly wrapping itself around one of the men and biting his neck, sinking its fangs into the neck and letting the venom kick in. The mutant snake released the man in time to avoid the wave of bullets that were sent at the man before his lifeless body fell backwards, collapsing on the ground.

The mutant snake hissed, snarling its fangs at the men. From behind, a man aimed his gun and before the trigger could get pulled, a sudden movement came from behind the man. Before anyone knew it, the man was grabbing onto his throat with one hand, gasping for air as blood oozed out of his throat. The mutant snake hissed and moved out of the way while the rest of the men watched in horror as their comrade fell to the ground, unmoving while the blood continued to pour out.

"Shapeshifter!" One of the men cried out, raising his gun, only for his gun to get cut in half before a pair of claws had been shoved into his upper chest area before getting pulled out.

The man's body fell to the ground while a figure stepped out from the shadows, his glowing red eyes revealing himself to be David. He chuckled as he glanced down at his bloody claws before looking back up at the remaining men, a maniacal smirk creeping onto his face.

"Oh, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this." David said, the wolf inside of him gave a small howl of pleasure, clearly enjoying the thrill and the adrenaline of getting to kill just a few of them.

"Kill him!"

David only laughed before leaping out of the way and dodging the bullets. With each wave of bullets, his reflexes and senses kicked in as he avoided the bullets, using his claws to slash at every one of the remaining men, blood gushing out from the wounds he left behind. With three men left, one of them dropped his gun before reaching into his belt, pulling out a Chinese knife and charging at the shapeshifter.

However, David grabbed the man's arm and twisted it behind his back, whirling the man around and forcing him to drop the knife. Then, David pressed his claws against the man's knife but without another word, he opened his mouth as if to show off his sharp teeth before digging them into the croak of the man's neck, his screams sounding like music to David.

As David pulled away, releasing the man as his body fell to the ground, he couldn't help but give a low chuckle before licking his lips to get rid of the blood it was covered in while blood just also happened to dripped from his claws. He looked towards the remaining two men left, who although were trying not to show it, but were clearly shaking from fear.

"Oh, gentlemen," David taunted with a smirk. "As much as I'd love to let you two live to deliver a message to Connor Argent, I have a better way of giving the message: with your deaths."

But this time, David, nor the mutant snake, could react as four figures hopped down. A pair of glowing yellow eyes and suddenly, Derek had already used his claws to slice through one of the man's throat while Scott did the same thing with the other, both bodies falling to the ground lifeless with blood oozing out.

"David..." a familiar sigh reaches his ears as Daniel steps out of the shadows with his nephews and daughter behind him. "Really?"

"Oh, spare me the lecture, big brother," David said with an eye roll. "Deep down, you know they had it coming. Besides, it would've been me or the snake that killed them. What difference does it make? Not to mention, your son and his little pack did ask for help in finding the girl."

"This hatred and need for vengeance of yours is going to get our kind killed." Daniel said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

David only rolled his eyes at his brother again, waving his words to the side. Daniel shook his head before turning to the mutant snake. "Karai."

The mutant snake— Karai gave a small warning hiss but when the man didn't seemed fazed by it, she relaxed slightly before lowering her body to the ground, her form changing. Then, in her place, rather than a mutant snake, Karai stood there while wearing her silver ninja armor from before she was mutated.

"You're like him— Henry, aren't you? All of you?"

Daniel nodded.

Derek, however, smirked slightly as he looked her up and down. "Hello, foxy."

Karai narrowed her eyes at him while Scott looked embarrassed and Natalie scoffed at him. "Dumbass." She told him.

"Ignore him, he's an idiot." Scott told Karai, ignoring the glare he got from his older brother. "But where have you been? Your family's been looking for you."

"I know, but I had to find..." Karai stopped for a second as she clenched her fists at the thought of the man she's been searching for; the man that she's swore to kill. "Him."

"As much as a vengeance talk sounds fun and all," David interrupted while the sound of sirens reaches his ears. "Let's get out of here."

And as the sirens drew closer, the group quickly disappeared into the sewers before anyone could spot them, leaving the bloody scene of the lifeless bodies behind.

👑👑👑

SHE HAS NO idea how long it's been that she hasn't talked to her parents. From that moment that she (and Henry) has found out the truth, Piper has completely avoided her parents and technically, her brother— though, she wondered if she could even call him her brother— as well as she hasn't talked to anyone but her two closest friends; Chloe and Kyle. But as of lately, Piper found herself longing to be able to talk to someone— someone who would understand how she was feeling...

Someone who knew what it was like to feel the way that she was feeling.

And that's how Piper found herself staring at an old message from weeks ago after they found out the truth.

To: Piper
From: Henry
If you're ever ready to talk about it, you know where to find me.

She knew that Henry had been giving her the space that she needed— wanted, but at the same time, she wasn't so sure if she truly did want space from him. Yes, she wanted space from her parents as she wasn't talking to either of them at the moment, but from Henry— the one that had raised her himself, no, space from him didn't quite feel right to her.

But she couldn't help but wonder if he would even want anything to do with her now after what they just found out.

After all, they weren't even related by blood.

So, why on earth would Henry still care about her? She was the reason why he never got the chance to be a kid, because Henry gave it all up just to make sure that she got to be the kid— to make sure that she wouldn't have to go through what he was going through.

It was all for her, and yet, all she wanted was for her big brother to give her a hug and make everything feel like it was going to be okay.

Just like he always did.

The thunder shook the house while lightning flashed in the sky and the loud sound made a five-year-old Piper give a small, quick scream before she quickly covered her mouth to keep herself from screaming again. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly in hopes of hiding the tears that threatened to spill before jumping again at another loud sound.

She kept her eyes shut, refusing to open them— even when she could hear the sound of her bedroom door slowly creaking open or the soft sound of footsteps walking over to her.

"Pipes, you okay?"

Immediately, Piper wiped her eyes to get rid of the tears before she reopened them, finding a eight-year-old Henry standing beside her bed with nothing but a concerned look on his face that held nothing but worry was written in his eyes and it made it all too easy to read in between the lines— to know that he was worried about her.

Piper quickly wiped her eyes as she nodded. "I'm fine."

But Henry saw past her words and noticed how she jumped at the sound of thunder again while lightning flashed. He could feel his big brother instincts jumping into place at the sight of the terror written on her face.

"Pipes, you know you can tell me anything," Henry reassured her. "I'm not going to make fun of you."

"Even if it makes me look like a big baby?"

"Even then," Henry confirmed. "Is it the storm?"

Piper nodded slowly, sniffing as she wiped her eyes again. "I'm scared."

"It's okay to be scared, Pipes," Henry told her. "Everyone gets scared sometimes, even of thunder storms."

"But you don't," Piper argued. "You're never scared."

"That's not true," Henry said. "I get scared sometimes, Pipes. Maybe not of a storm, but I do. It's normal for people to be scared of stuff sometimes."

"Even you?"

"Even me."

Piper jumped when lightning flashed in the sky and thunder boomed again, almost letting out a scream this time but she held back and suddenly threw jolted forward, throwing her arms around her brother's neck and hiding her face in his shoulder.

"Do you want to stay with me in my room, Pipes? While the storm's going on?"

Piper didn't move her arms or say anything as she only nodded, holding onto her brother as Henry carefully picked up his little sister and carried her to his bedroom. He set her down on his bed, letting her climb into the blankets while he climbed in next to her, pulling the blankets on top of her so she wouldn't get cold.

Piper held onto the blanket tightened when there was another crack of thunder again.

"You're okay, Pipes. I'm right here," Henry said with a soft smile. "I'll never let anything or anyone hurt you."

Piper sniffed, holding up her pinkie finger. "Promise?"

Henry smiled softly, gently grabbing her pinkie finger with his. "Promise."

Piper squeezed her eyes shut tightly at the memory, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill. For her entire life, Piper has always had Henry by her side to make sure that she was safe and protected as he was always putting her own happiness before his— or not even just her happiness, he put her childhood before his own, making sure that she got to be a kid rather than growing up too fast.

Growing up, she didn't notice the pressure that Henry has always put on himself and it wasn't until the kraang invasion that she really noticed it— how the invasion changed her entire perspective on her big brother. And lately, whenever she found herself thinking back, Piper would recall how her brother would sometimes seem so focused on getting her out of the house or distracting her from their parents.

Back then, she had always been so confused about why Henry would make excuses for their parents if they ever missed something of hers or didn't know what she liked but now, she could see that all he was doing was protecting her of the reality of Jack's and Kris's marriage— protecting her from seeing just how truly broken their marriage was or never letting her know about how their parents would constantly get into fights every now and then— and knowing all of that, it just made her want her big brother even more because Henry has always been that one constant figure in her life that has never let her down before.

And so, Piper grabbed her phone, scrolling through it as she left her bedroom and headed towards the stairs to leave, in search of her older brother.

👑👑👑

TO SAY THAT he was worry was an understatement. Splinter was extremely and deeply worried as he still hadn't heard anything from his children since they left. At the very moment, he had been trying to focus on mediating to try to calm his worries down but his thoughts wouldn't stop throwing question and question at him.

Did they make it to the Crystal Empire safety? Had they gotten captured on the way? Have the Foot Clan found them and brought them to Shredder? Had the Dark One revealed itself and captured— or killed them?

However, his thoughts were interrupted at the sound of footsteps and he slowly opened his eyes, standing up to leave the dojo. He walked out of the dojo but froze when he spotted a familiar teenage girl standing there as his eyes widened slightly, speaking softly.

"Miwa."

Karai looked nervous as she rubbed her arm before keeping her eyes down on the ground while she slowly approached him. "Father." She responded when she reached him and hugged him.

Splinter froze at the hug and slowly lifted his arms, wrapping them around his daughter as he returned the hug. The newly reunited father-daughter duo stayed like that for a few seconds until the two pulled away from the embrace.

"But how...?"

"After the last time I saw you, I was able to break free from Shredder's control," Karai explained. "I know I should've come here but I didn't want to risk hurting anyone, so I left the city and I practiced on learning how to control myself. Then, I spent the last few months searching for Shredder."

"Your brothers and sisters have been looking for Saki all over New York for him," Splinter informed his daughter. "However, his old lair has been abandoned and it seems that he's nowhere to be spotted in the city."

"Because he's not hiding in the states," Karai added. "I found an old hideout in Japan and I found a map to the Crystal Empire there."

Splinter could feel his worries growing stronger, especially since as of lately, he's been having visions of getting struck down in a fight. Although it was as if he could feel his end coming soon, he wasn't worried about himself and more worried about his children, wondering if they had walked right into a trap when they had left.

"I came to ask Leo, Henry, and everyone else for help." Karai added again.

Before Splinter could say something, a familiar voice— one that belonged to a little girl, called out. "Henry? You here?"

Both Splinter and Karai turned their heads towards the entrance to find Piper standing by the turnstiles.

"Piper? Is something the matter?" Splinter questioned, getting the preteen's attention.

"I was looking for Henry," Piper said, pulling out her phone to show him the message. "He say that I'd knew where he'd be but, I guess he's not here. I tried calling and texting him but he won't answer."

Oh-oh-oh

Splinter furrowed his eyebrows at the sudden voice of what sounded like a woman singing, now appearing to be calling out to him. However, there may have been no words spoken, but he could easily tell what the message was.

His family needed help— all the help they could get for what was coming their way.

Oh-oh-oh

They needed him.

"Father?"

Splinter blinked, snapping back to reality as a new wave of determination grew in him. If the visions he was seeing were true— if this was the last thing he could do to help his family before his time comes to an end, then so be it.

He was going to help his family— and bring as many as of their allies as he can to face for what was coming their way.

"We must go."

👑👑👑

JAKE DIDN'T KNOW how or why but suddenly, everything felt different— he felt different. It was as if he could feel his body growing stronger, as if the formula was doing its job and repairing his organs from the inside of him. He could feel his body changing form as the formula was starting to finish making its way through his body.

And he wasn't the only one.

"Stockman..." Shredder spoke, getting everyone's attention as Soren, Isabella, and Stockman-fly looked their master's way.

"Yes, master?"

"It's working..." Shredder revealed as his veins began to glow green while blades began to grow out of his skin. "It's finally working!" A series of blades shot out from his skin and a set of curved claws grew out of his knuckles. A evil chuckle left his lips as Shredder's eyes began to glow green.

"Soren... Isabella..." Jake spoke up as well, a smirk growing on his face. "You finally did something right. The serum— her blood... It's happening!"

As those words left his lips, Jake's form started to change completely: his skin started to take on a golden reflection that appears as either green or gray, his eyes became dilated and amber, his teeth turned rotten with a yellowish color, his hair grew up to his shoulders and is disheveled, his nails became black and grew longer as if he hadn't cut them in ages. For a split second, dark green sparks of psionic energy could be seen at the tip of his fingertips and Jake could feel the power inside of him, but just that.

Just power—magic. No pain of his organs getting tore apart because of it and no spitting out blood whenever he used the magic.

And once the transformation was done, Jake couldn't help but let out a maniacal laugh as he smirked.

"And this is the moment where everything started to get out of hand."