[A/N: This story is a crossover between TMNT and the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". I don't own anything TMNT or the idea for Frank Capra's classic story. The only things I own are Kurai, Jaaku, and Cyrus. Hope you enjoy this fanfic! ^.^ ]







Part I - The Past

It was a snowy Christmas Eve in the conurbation known as Manhattan. Everything was finally at peace, save for a few voices praying silently to anyone that would listen.

"Please God, watch over Raph tonight."

"God, help my son, Raphael, in his time of need."

"Whoever is listening, please help Raphael out tonight, I love him."

Similar prayers continued traveling through space and time until they reached the heavens above. There, two figures dressed in white could be seen looking down on Earth. The first, more important-looking one turned to his associate and smiled. "Hello, Joseph. Trouble?" He asked.

Joseph nodded his head somberly and spoke. "Looks like we'll have to send someone down. A lot of people asking for help for a guy named Raphael."

"Raphael?" The first looked down for a moment thoughtfully, and then gazed back at Joseph. "Yes, tonight's his crucial night. You're right. We'll have to send someone down immediately. Whose turn is it?"

"That's why I came to see you, sir," Joseph told him. He took a step closer to his friend before saying, "It's that shoemaker's turn again."

Sir let out a gentle laugh. "Oh Cyrus. Hasn't got his wings yet, has he?"

"We've passed him right along because you know, sir, he's got the IQ of a rabbit..." Joseph started to say.

"But has the faith of a child," Sir continued. "Simple. Joseph, send for Cyrus."

Joseph nodded as he reached inside of his pocket. He pulled out a small, silver bell and let it ring once. Almost immediately, another man came running up to the first two. He was dressed in a white suit and wore a white bowler's hat over his neatly brushed blonde hair. To complete his look, he wore a pair of glasses that seemed to make his blue eyes brighter. A flustered look was upon his face as he approached Joseph. "You sent for me, sir?"

Sir nodded. "Yes, Cyrus. A man down on Earth needs our help."

"Splendid. Is he sick?" Cyrus wondered.

The grin from Sir's face faded as he shook his head. "No, worse. He's discouraged. At exactly 10:45 PM Earth time, that man will be thinking seriously about throwing away God's greatest gift."

Cyrus gasped and appeared concerned. "Oh dear, dear, his life! Then I've only an hour to dress. What are they wearing these days?"

"You will be spending that hour getting acquainted with Raphael."

A charming smile fell over Cyrus' face. "If I should accomplish this mission...I mean, uh, might I be earning my wings? I've been waiting for over 200 years now, sir, and people are beginning to talk."

Another mellow laugh came from Sir. "Cyrus, you do a good job and you'll earn your wings."

Cyrus jumped up excitedly and gave Joseph a huge hug. "Oh thank you, sir. Thank you!" Realizing how uncomfortable Joseph was with the embrace, Cyrus let go and calmed himself down.

Joseph shook his head. "Poor Raphael," he mumbled to himself. He turned his attention back to the young angel. "Sit down."

"Sit down?" Cyrus asked. "But I've got to..."

"If you're going to help someone, you'll want to know something about him, don't you?"

"Well, naturally, of course I..." Cyrus started to say.

Joseph held his hand up and Cyrus ceased to talk. "Now keep your eyes open," he told the youngster. A large screen appeared in front of them and flickered to life. On the screen was an overhead view of Manhattan. The picture began to zoom in until it showed four young turtles frolicking about the sewer tunnels. The one in front, who was clad in red, yelled for his brothers to hurry up.

"Who's that?" Cyrus asked curiously.

"That's our problem. Raphael," Joseph answered.

"That little guy?"

"This is his past, Cyrus. Now please just watch and listen."

They turned attention back to the four turtle boys and watched as they played a game in the sewers. A young Raphael, Leonardo, and Donatello crossed the middle of the sewer, stepping through an inch of dirty, freezing water. Their brother, Michelangelo, looked timidly at the crossing which was a good two meters lower than the platforms they were standing on. His brothers cheered him on as Raph shouted, "Come on, Mikey! Don't be a scaredy cat!"

"I'm not afraid!" Mikey protested. Hooking onto his brother's bait, Mikey jumped down into the crossing and began walking across it. Suddenly, the turtles heard a loud rumbling and their attention turned from Mikey to the source of the sound. A huge wave of water came crashing through the sewers, heading straight for Mikey.

"Mikey, get out of there!" His brothers yelled simultaneously. Mikey frantically tried to escape the monstrous wave, but it was too late and the poor turtle was swept away.

"Mikey!" Raph screamed. Without thinking, he jumped in after his brother. He swam to catch up with the drowning Mikey. He grabbed his brother and began to swim towards the edge of the crossing. Three digits finally caught a semi-loose brick and grabbed on for dear life. He pushed his brother onto the platform before loosing his grip momentarily. A few meters away he found his grip again and managed to pull himself from the freezing water.

"Wow! What a lifesaver!" Cyrus exclaimed as the scene faded to black.

"Yes. Cost him his hearing in his right ear," Joseph responded seriously. A silver remote control appeared in his hand and he changed the channel to show a different scene. The screen showed how the turtles had saved the city from the notorious Shredder a numbered amount of times.

"Those turtle's sure are something," an excited Cyrus commented.

"That they are." Joseph changed the channel once more to show Cyrus the story of how Kurai the kitten was turned good by Raphael's kindness and how they fell in love. After the scene was over with, Joseph changed the channel one last time, showing Cyrus more current affairs.

The scene now showed the inside of the turtle's sewer den and Kurai talking to Leo about something. She held a small crystal in her hand and showed it to him. Joseph zoomed in on them so that he and Cyrus could hear what they were talking about.

"...and don't let this out of your sight. If it fell into the wrong hands, well, I'd rather not say," she told him as she started to hand it over to him. Raph, who had decided to pop in between the two, intercepted the jewel.

Leo tried to snatch the crystal back from him, but Raph pulled it out of his reach . "Give it back!" Leo pleaded.

Raph laughed and asked what the object was. Kurai managed to take the crystal back from her boyfriend and shook her head slowly. "Raph, this isn't something to be played with. It's a Yana Crystal from Dimension X and it hold a massive amount of power within it."

"Oh," Raph responded. He tilted his head, looked at Leo, then back at Kurai. "So why were you going to give it to, Leo?"

"Leo was going to take it to someone who can harness the crystal's energy, then destroy. This thing is too dangerous to be active," she explained.

"So, uh, why don't I just take it for you?" He asked, giving her a big hug.

Kurai glanced over to Leo, who nodded his head in agreement. She turned her attention back to Raph and handed to crystal over to him. "Take it over to Brooklyn. Once you get there, find a man named Jonathan Dep. Give the crystal to him and leave immediately. Is that clear, Raphie?"

Raph nodded and gave Kurai a quick kiss on the cheek. "Transparent," he answered. With that, he left the den and headed for the streets.

He exited the underground from a manhole and jumped onto the dark pavement. He looked around, seeing no apparent threats. His pose relaxed slightly as he headed for Brooklyn. After a while, he began hearing footsteps creeping along behind him. A grin spread across his face as he inconspicuously reached for a sai. He could hear the footsteps get closer and decided to make his move. He spun around quickly and slashed his weapon through the air.

A bemused expression came about him as he saw no one behind him. Thinking that his mind had been playing tricks on him, he shrugged and turned to continue his journey. A metallic fist swept across his face hard, causing him to lose his balance and fall to ground. He landed on his side harshly and the wind was temporarily knocked out of him. He looked up to see who his attacker was and frowned as he gazed upon a Foot Soldier with brass knuckles.

The Foot Soldier expressed amusement as he waved over a few more of his kind. A dozen ninjas surrounded the fallen turtle, the one with brass knuckles standing in front of the rest. He held out his hand. "Give us the crystal, turtle," he demanded.

Raphael sat up slowly and glared at the individual. "What crystal would you be talkin' about?"

The leader knelt down and slapped Raph with his metal hand. "We have no business with you, turtle. Give us the crystal and you'll walk away unscathed," he bargained.

"No," Raph answered simply. He then spit on the Foot Soldier and laughed.

The Foot Soldier wiped the spit from his brow and stood up. He took a step back from the group and snapped his fingers. The rest of the ninjas then began to pummel, kick, and beat the crap out of Raph until he lay on the ground a bloody pulp.

The crystal rolled from the spot he had been keeping it and the Foot Soldier smiled. He picked it up from the ground and whispered into Raph's left ear, "Thanks, turtle." He got back to his feet and followed through with a kick to the back of Raph's head. He threw down a small smoke bomb and the area was immediately filled with a dark mist.

Raph struggled to get to his feet to chase the ninjas down, but couldn't see them through the smoke. Once it had cleared, he gazed around the environ, trying to catch a glimpse of the Foot Soldiers. A angry scream came from Raph as he started a long walk back to the den.