Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the TMNT franchise in any way, shape, or form. No money is being made. This is just a labor of love for the series. Please don't sue me, Viacom!

Alternate Universe fic. The timeline is the same as the TV series until just after "The Pulverizer Returns". However, right now we're nine years in the future.

Warnings: This chapter is quite innocent. However, that will change as the story goes on. If you feel that you can't handle violence and very mature themes, you may not want to continue past the line below. Chapters that contain these issues will be label as such.

OK, everyone else good? ... GREAT! Glad to have you here! :D Thank you very much for stopping by and giving this story a chance. I know how valuable your time is, so I am flattered that you have decided to spend some of it here. I promise to do my best to not let you down! If you do happen to enjoy what I have written, please feel free to favorite, follow, and/or review. I would LOVE to hear from you!

Prologue

My name is Hikaru, I'm eight years old, and right now my siblings and I are in deep trouble. The day started out simple enough. We left the lair with Mom to do a trash scouting run. Humans throw out so much still useful stuff it's shocking, really.

Anyway, Mom sent us down one of the safe tunnels and the next thing we knew, we were set upon by Foot Clan ninjas! I wanted to call for help but Kaiya chose this moment to be independent. 'Don't bother Mother!' she said. 'We can handle this.' she said. "Yeah…sure. We can SO handle it," I can't help but think as I just barely manage to block a sword strike with the shaft of my chigiriki. We are little kids fighting teenagers and adults! Sure, our training will let us handle a couple of them but not this many for long.

I give my opponent a hard shove, barely throwing him off balance. Then, I use the moment to set my weapon's ball and chain spinning before nailing him right in the groin. He yelps in pain and crumples like an old lawn chair. I can't help a satisfied smirk. Sorry, but playing fair will not get me home alive. His face is at my eye level now so I take the opportunity to deliver an uppercut. He passes out instantly thanks to the extra oomph of the natural armor on the backs my hands. Yay for keratin! I quickly look around to survey the situation.

We are doing better than I thought. Kaiya is a tornado of fists and hooves and little Lewis is kicking some serious shell with his tonfa. "This is great! Maybe, Kaiya-chan is right. We CAN handle this!" I think with a surge of pride even though I can tell that all of us are getting tired. I shouldn't kid myself. This is luck, pure and simple.

I watch in horror as our luck runs out. Lewis whacks away his opponent and suddenly falls to one knee. He clutches one hand to his plastron in agony as he gasps for air. I know that look. Someone forgot to take his medicine today.

Kaiya sees it too. We both run over to our fallen brother to place ourselves between Lewis and our remaining four enemies. I hear metal ring through the air as Kaiya finally pulls a pair of kunai from her belt and twirls them into position. Even she must think we're in danger now. Kaiya-chan prefers to fight hand-to-hand so she never pulls her kunai unless she has to. I look around at the ninja we managed to down and several of them are struggling back up. "C-can I call for Mom now?" I ask restlessly.

Kaiya stamps a hoof in annoyance and shakes her head, sending her forest green mane into motion. "No! We've got this. We're fine!" she declares sternly while trying not to sound as out of breath as she really is.

"You must be in a different fight than I am," I mutter under my breath as I do a quick head count. Of the twelve ninjas we started fighting, only three are down and staying that way. We can't make a run for it anymore; Lewis' heart can't take the strain. I force myself to not glare at him. He already feels bad enough because he realizes exactly how much of a mess we're in.

Unlike the stubborn mule we have for a sister! I train my glare on her instead. "Tell me Kaiya-chan. Where is the LOGIC," I sneer out the word she loves to use so much as she angrily bares her teeth at me "in fighting to the death when we can call for backup?!" I grit my own teeth to fight the tears that I can feel pricking at my eyes. I hate crying. It's so embarrassing! "Forget this!" I growl out, squeeze my eyes closed, and raise my voice to make a desperate plead. "MMM-"

I don't even manage to complete my call for help before two of our opponents are suddenly sent flying sideways; slammed into the tunnel wall by a heavy wooden staff. My eyes light up as the remaining ninja turn to look in shock. I can hear Lewis make a sigh of relief despite his need for oxygen. Kaiya seems surprised, worried, and as relieved as I am to see the blur of green tear through the Foot soldiers. A final twirl and the last Foot gets a staff to the face. The ninja stumbles backward while holding his nose only to have his feet swept out from under him. As the enemy falls to the ground with a rewarding thump, our rescuer straightens up while putting the seven-foot bo back in its holster.

"MOM!" I cry as I run over to grasp him tightly around his waist. Yes, you heard right. My mom's a guy. And yes, I know that's not normal. Biology is my best subject. Moms are normally female. No, there's nothing weird about my mom! Well, other than he's a six foot three mutant turtle. He hasn't told us how a male becomes a mother to three little misfits like us but he promises to tell us. One day…when we are older. Always when we are older. I have to ask myself, "How much older do we need to be?" But that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that we are safe thanks to his uncanny ability to tell when something isn't right.

"Are you hurt?" he asks as he gently runs his hand over my smooth head. His brown eyes stare into my hazel ones for a moment before he starts an injury check.

"I'm fine!" I quickly assure him. "But, Lewis…" I trail off and point at my poor little brother, who is still struggling to breathe.

Mom looks where I'm pointing and his eyes widen in alarm. He rushes over to kneel in front of Lewis. A quick pulse check and he knows exactly what's wrong. He gives Lewis a disapproving look while reaching into the duffel bag at his side. Lewis' ears swivel to the side and droop while he looks pathetically up at Mom. "I make that medication for a reason, Lewis. You wouldn't have this problem if you would just take it," Mom scolds while he takes out a small oxygen tank and helps Lewis fit the attached mask over his face. "You know the routine. Slow, deep breaths…good."

"I know. I'm sorry. I-I just forget because I don't feel bad before I take it," Lewis tries to defend himself but he knows he had no excuse. One of these days, being forgetful is going to get him killed. "I'm sorry," he says again as he looks downward.

"Don't talk. Just breathe." Mom sighs with a touch frustration then reaches out to tuck back some of the sea foam green mane that has fallen into Lewis' eyes. "I know. I wish you didn't need it, but you do," he says gently as he allows Lewis to take the tank from him.

He turns to my sister who tries not to meet her brown eyes to his. "Kaiya." She flinches at the tightness in his voice before looking at him. "Why didn't you call for help? I put you in charge of your siblings because, up until now, you were the most responsible. You put all of you in danger with this recklessness. What if you had been killed? Or captured? Do you really want to find out what the Shredder does to prisoners?"

I hear my sister sniffle. She shakes her head at his strict questioning. "I thought we would be fine…that we could handle it ourselves," she softly answers him as she wipes at her eyes and hangs her head. "You and your brothers were taking on the Foot when you were young."

Mom's eyes soften a bit at the signs of waterworks. He takes her hands and pulls her close. "Kaiya-chan, we were seven years older than you are now. You still have a lot of growing and training to do before you're ready to handle the Foot on your own. And even then, you have to learn when you're in over your team's head. Determination is commendable…but not when you know you're putting more than yourself at risk." He tilts his head to the side so that he sees around her bangs and into her eyes again. "Do you understand?" Kaiya looks at him for a moment. Her ears twist and droop like Lewis' but she nods.

He gives her a small smile and takes hold of her head to examine a large bruise that's forming around her eye. His eyes narrow briefly at this. He then moves on to check her for other injuries. After a few moments, he seems satisfied as he stands up. "Thankfully everyone's going to be fine. So just be more careful next time. You're going to worry me into an early grave," he says with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Let's get together what you three found. I don't want to still be here when they start to wake up."

"HAI!" three voices chime out and we all start gathering the bags we'd abandoned in our fight. Well, all except for Lewis. He started to try and help, but Mom places one hand on his shoulder and easily pushes him back into a sitting position. His ears pin back as he starts to complain but one firm look and he goes quiet. He sulks as he watches us work. I smirk at him and then strike the classic 'We Can Do It!' war poster pose that has become such a statement of female independence. He turns red and I stick my tongue out at him. I can't help but tease him. That's what little brothers are for!

Kaiya gathers up a bag that happens to be close to one of the ninja and suddenly he starts to stir to life. Her eyes widen and she reflexively lashes out, returning him to slumber with her keratin reinforced fist. She glares fiercely at him for a moment, making sure he's out for good this time. "Mother…the Foot Clan is our enemy, right? Wouldn't it be more logical to kill them instead of merely knocking them out?" she asks as she turns to face Mom, who eyes are rather large. He seems startled that Kaiya would ask such a question. Kaiya sees this and suddenly seems worried that she asked something bad. She relaxes when Mom blinks away the startled expression and becomes more thoughtful looking.

He furrows his eye ridges as he folds his arms neatly across his plastron. "Yes," he finally says, startling all of us. "It would be logical to kill them. It would reduce their numbers at least temporarily while the clan scrambled to find and train replacements." He bends down to sling several of our bags over his shoulder. "However, logic should never be the only consideration in making a choice; it's dangerous. It must be tempered. For example, it would have been logical for you and Hikaru to abandon Lewis in order to save yourselves. Did the thought even enter your mind?" Kaiya's eyes widen before she shakes her head vigorously. "Why not? Sacrifice one in order to save two. It is logical," he states so matter-of-factly it's frightening.

"Because it's wrong!" Kaiya states loudly, bringing a pleased smile to Mom's face. "It may be logical, but it's just wrong!"

"It's morally rep-repre…um...repreh…" I join in only to get hung up on the word I'm trying to get out.

"Morally reprehensible?" Mom offers with a soft chuckle.

"Yeah, that!"

He grins enough to reveal the gap in his teeth while shaking his head. "Don't use words that are too big for you, Hikaru-chan. It's better to use a word you know well than to struggle with a word you are unsure of." I turn a decent shade of red and sheepishly play with the tails of my mask. "None of you guys need big words to make yourselves seem smart," he says quite proudly as he turns to head down the tunnel. We all quickly move to follow him with our own bags.

His voice becomes more serious as he continues. "However, you and your sister are both right. It is morally wrong to abandon family; just as murder is wrong. That is exactly what we would be doing if we killed every Foot soldier we defeated. We'd be murdering them. Sensei taught me and your uncles to only kill if we have no choice. And now I'm teaching the three of you the same thing: never take a life unless there is absolutely no choice. Do you understand?" We nod in unison. Mom smiles as he gets this look in his eyes. I know that look and I can't help but get a bit excited. It's quiz time. "So, why don't we kill people?" he asks of us.

"Because it's morally wrong!" Kaiya and I answer together but we get drowned out by our little brother.

"BECAUSE WE'RE THE GOOD GUYS!" Lewis declares loudly with his arms and oxygen tank raised enthusiastically over his head and a huge gapped-toothed grin on his face.

Mom finally laughs. "Excellent! You're all right; because it's morally wrong…" he pauses as he takes the oxygen tank from Lewis since that shout clearly says he doesn't need it anymore. "…AND because we're the good guys." He pokes Lewis' nose playfully, making Lewis giggle. "Alright, let's go home. Follow me."

A/N: Alright! That is it for my prologue. I'm sure that this is not necessarily the start you expected and I know you have questions! I promise they will be answered with time. Thank you for sticking with me to the end this part. I really do hope that you liked it. If you did, please feel free to let me know with a follow, a favorite, and/or a review. I look forward to hearing from you! :D