Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating an inter dimensional portal and grabbing all those lovely, hot men from Atlantis! But that's just semantics.

So, I know I've got TiA and my PoD to worry about right now. But for the last few years, I've been a fan of TMNT and MARVEL and written some fanfic for it. This has been my major piece of work when I haven't been writing for TiA.

I've been a MARVEL fan for years now and when I tried coming up with a fanfic for MARVEL and TMNT seperately, I couldn't seem to write anything that I liked and wanted to continue on. So, I combined the two and this story is the result. It's undergone several, cosmetic and not so cosmetic changes since I first wrote the idea for this story, so I hope that you, the reader, will enjoy this at least half as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Prologue

18th DECEMBER 2104, NEW YORK CITY, YOSHI INSTITUTE FOR THE GIFTED

Cody Jones cautiously navigated the halls of the Yoshi Institute For The Gifted, looking for the one room he wanted to get into. It was admittedly difficult for him to look at the oddly ancient appearing materials: he was used to the metal, to the coolness not this wood-like material.

He'd come to the institute to speak with his aunt – technically she wasn't his biological aunt, but she had been an honorary member of the O'Neill and Jones family for as long as he could remember – since she had said she couldn't come and speak with him at his home. A part of him thought it might have had something to do with Serling, his aunt never seemed completely comfortable around his AI droid caretaker, especially after Uncle Darius had programmed Serling to keep an eye on him at all times.

Cody paused at one door and carefully grabbed the wooden handle, almost afraid that the material would break under his light grip. A blaring alarm sounded for a single beat, but it was enough to have Cody leaping away from the door.

"YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED IN THIS AREA!" a voice ordered, sounding oddly masculine, stern and loud. "IF YOU WISH TO SPEAK WITH THE HEADMISSTRESS OF THE INSTITUTE, HER OFFICE IS TWO DOORS DOWN ON YOUR RIGHT."

Cody nodded habitually before making his way down the corridor to the prescribed door. He took a breath and knocked gently against the wooden door.

Come in Cody, a voice said in his head, sounding familiar.

He carefully opened the door and poked his head around, he saw his aunt sitting at the large wooden desk, reading something on a clear tablet. She didn't look up, rather gestured at the door and Cody started slightly as the door opened further, seemingly of its own volition.

"I said you could come in Cody," he aunt said as she finally looked up at him. "You know I don't bite." She smirked. "Much."

Her yellow eyes focused on him and Cody suppressed a shiver at the sight of the one clouded eye. As he usually saw her, her brown hair was left loose to run down her back, out of sight. He stepped into the room and watched as his aunt gestured once more, this time pushing and Cody watched as the door closed with a gentle click of the mechanism.

"Aunt Diana," he greeted her as he moved closer and embraced her.

She laughed softly, returning his hug. "Oh Cody," he heard her whisper. "So much like your great-grandfather." She chuckled. "And why are you here, young man? I have a class in a few minutes."

Cody pulled back from his aunt, sitting when she gestured for him to do so. "I was reading Casey's journal again," he said. "And I realised, it's only his and April's views on what happened. I was wondering if you could give me anything to tell your side of the story, or even Leonardo and the others that Casey and April didn't get."

His aunt leaned back in her seat for a moment before she stood and walked to the windows behind her. From where he sat, Cody could see that the floor to ceiling glass panels looked out on a courtyard where people from childhood right up to adulthood played with one another, no matter their appearance.

"There are things that you would never have read in the journal, Cody," she said softly, "because your great-grandparents never experienced." She sighed, her hands clasped behind her as she looked out on the courtyard still. "I have lived for over a hundred years Cody: I fought alongside my brothers and father and I buried them, one by one. The memories you want to look at, to know, are painful for me to relive, Cody, in looking and holding the things that my brothers held and know that they… never will again." She turned to look at him, her clouded yellow eye looking at him from behind the pale, scarred flesh around the orb. "And you want me to give you that?"

She sighed and sat back down. Cody felt guilty as he looked at his aunt, suddenly seeing her as she felt: old and worn beyond measure.

"I'm sorry Aunt Diana," he rushed to say. "I won't ask it of you again! Please, forget what I asked!"

She shook her head, raising a hand to stop him from speaking further. "You asked from genuine curiosity," she said. "Who am I to quash the desire to satiate it?" She sat up straighter in her seat and opened a drawer, pulling out a worn, old book, her name inscribed on the cover in gold lettering. "TIM?"

"Yes, Ms. Hamato?" the voice from before asked politely. "Can I be of service?"

His aunt nodded tiredly. "You can, Tim," she said. "Scan my journal and give Cody Jones a disk copy."

"Already done, ma'am," the voice answered. "Agent Barton had me do it years ago. He wanted you to have a copy in case the original was destroyed somehow. I can have disk copy ready within the hour ma'am."

His aunt nodded and put the book back in the drawer. "Thank you, Tim," she said. "That will be all."

"Of course, ma'am."

Aunt Diana looked at him. "You can stay and watch the lesson if you want Cody," she offered. "It won't be ready for an hour yet, and I know that TIM will have the disk brought to me."

Cody hesitated for a moment, torn before he nodded. "I'll stay," he agreed, brushing an unruly lock of red hair out of his eyes.

"Well then, take a seat over there," Aunt Diana said, gesturing to the sofa along the wall nearby. "My students are at the door and are waiting."

He nodded and moved quickly, sitting down on the sofa, relaxing when he realised how comfortable it actually was. Cody pulled up the screen of his gauntlet, ready to take notes like the students, and watched as his aunt gestured to the door that opened once more, allowing in the students that didn't even look at him.

I'm hiding you from them Cody, his aunt whispered in his mind. I don't think you want them to recognise who you are and ask why you're here.

He smirked and nodded at his aunt. Thank you, he thought, hoping she would hear him.

You're welcome, Cody. You're welcome. She glanced at him for a second. You do realise you owe me, right?

Cody let his smirk widen. Name your price, Aunt Diana. Name your price.

He watched and listened as she started to teach. Then, let me begin m'boy….

This is the prologue and I look forward to reading everyone's reviews. Like always, I've allowed guest reviews and I ask, as usual, that Guests identify themselves (Guest 1, Guest 2, etc., or however you want me to call you when I answer your reviews) and that I receive constructive reviews. Flamers will get a single warning before being reported. For a rough idea of what I'm looking for, see my bio page. Consider yourself warned.