Chapter One

Robot's in New York

The evening was quiet. Nothing much had happened in a while. Nothing from the Foot and even more surprising was not even the Purple Dragons were causing problems. Not even a small-time gas station robbery.

Raph shifted uncomfortably. The cold rooftop below was numbing his feet. He grunted a little as annoying pinpricks traveled up his legs while the blood rushed back into them, his legs now stretched out.

He was supposed to be out on patrol but since the night was so uneventful, he had stopped on a rooftop to enjoy the scenery. This particular rooftop offered the finest view of the city in all of New York.

Raph pulled out his sai and twirled it around his finger's absent mindedly. Sighing, he flipped his sai into the air, caught it and twirled it around his fingers once again. Having nothing better to do, he repeated the trick. He performed it as effortlessly as he had the first time. Challenging himself, he pulled out his sai's twin and proceeded to flip both into the air when something caught his eye.

His sai's clattered to the ground but Raph ignored them. His auburn eyes focused on the street two blocks away. He leaned over the roof's concrete railing straining his eyes to see into the darkness.

He knew cars weren't supposed to do that. He didn't as much as blink as he stared down at the car waiting for something to confirm what he had seen.

Raph blinked as the yellow and black Chevy Camaro stood up. It stood up and turned into a giant three story robot.

"You'd think I'd be used to this by now," he grumbled, pulling out his shellcell. It rung twice before his young inventor brother answered.

"What's up Raph?"

"Don, what do you know about cars that turn into giant robots?" Raph glanced at the robot that was crouching down, talking to something.

The line was silent a second before Don cleared his throat.

"Um, what kind of robot?"

He sounded nervous.

Probably one of his inventions gone wild, Raph thought, mildly amused.

"It's the height of a three story building and doesn't look like anything the Foot couldda come up with." Raph paused, thinking. "Or anything Earth couldda made either."

"Maybe Triceraton?" Don suggested.

"Looks nothing like Tritech." Raph hadn't taken his eyes off the robot. It had stood back up and was looking down at something. It suddenly turned back into a car and human jumped into the driver seat and took off.

Raph snatched up his sai and took off after the car.

"It's on the move! Tell Leo I'm following it!"

"You actually want Leo to know what you're doing?"

Raph rolled his eyes, holding the cell against his ear as he jumped over the city's rooftops. "Don, I'm nineteen. I've grown outta the 'leap then think' stage."

"Really now?" His brother's voice was skeptical.

"…all right. Maybe not completely. But I know when something big is happening. This is big. Now tell Leo so I won't have to kick yer butt when I get back."

"Alright Raph… Be careful."

Raph grinned to himself. "Of course."

He snapped the shellcell closed all the while keeping speed with the car below. The yellow Camaro didn't seem to notice him at all. In fact it seemed that the Chevy wasn't paying attention to anything. It almost ran over a stop sign in its haste to get wherever it needed to be.

The car stopped at an old warehouse. The rusty garage door opened, making a harsh creaking sound. The car eased into the dark garage and the door closed behind it, shielding it from view.

Raph waited for a few minutes before pulling out his shellcell for the third time that night and dialing Leo.

"Go ahead Raph."

Leo's voice was tense. He must have been feeling anxious about Raph being alone on a possibly dangerous mission.

"I followed that car robot thing to a warehouse and it has a human with it."

"Hostage?" Leo's voice dropped into his 'mission ready' tone.

Raph shrugged. "Don't know. The human climbed in willingly enough."

Leo's line was silent for a second before he spoke. "We'll be there soon. I want you to see what you can find out about them. But don't fight. Seriously Raph, don't engage them."

Raph snorted. "Don't worry. I'll jump headlong into a fight with a hundred Foot ninja but a forty foot robot is different story. I'm not suicidal."

Leo chuckled. "Good. We'll be there in ten minutes."

The line clicked dead and Raph closed his cell, tucking it safely into his belt. Suddenly, the garage screeched open. Raph ducked behind the lip of roof, looking over the edge from the corner of his eye.

The same yellow robot emerged from the dark opening, but this time it was followed by another one. A taller yellow and red robot stepped out from behind the yellow Chevy, looking at something behind it.

Just how many of these things are there? Two more giant robots sidestepped the yellow and red robot and emerged into the dim lit alley. They were polar opposites in size with one being a very small silver robot and the other a bulky black one. They stood behind the other two, looking rather relaxed.

Yet another alien stepped out of the garage. This one had to be their leader. He was a giant! From the poor lighting, Raph guessed that he was red and blue and had something covering his face. He was also talking to the kid that walked out behind him.

"Sam, are you sure you and Michaela will be alright? We are not sure where in this city Barricade is located. I do not want to put you two in danger."

The human, Sam, waved the comment off with his hand. "We'll be fine Optimus. You guys need to find him and you won't if you stay here."

Optimus nodded his head then turned towards the alley opening and said, "Autobots! Roll out!" Then he transformed into a semi truck and sped out of the alley with the other four robots in pursuit.

Sam watched them go then turned back to the garage and went inside, the door closing behind him.

Briefly stunned, Raph let what he had seen sink into his brain. Shaking it slightly, he stood up and quietly jumped onto the warehouses' roof, looking around for an entrance.

The ventilation shafts looked large enough to crawl through but Raph wondered if that was really a great idea. The metal was heavily rusted near the walls and the metal itself looked rather flimsy.

The windows were probably his safer option. They would probably be a lot quieter as well.

He slid down the wall and grabbed onto the ledge of a window that was sticking out. He slid the long edge of his sai in between the wall and the glass, prying it away from the concrete.

Quickly, he flipped up and inside the building, landing safely on the ground below. The building was silent. He quickly scoped out the rooms (there where only three), disappointed to discover nothing.

Absolutely nothing. Not even a crack in the pavement that looked like it was made from a giant robot's foot.

He would have expected some sort of high grade alien tech but it didn't even look like they had been there. On top of which, Raph hadn't even seen a trace of those two humans he knew were in there. He growled, mildly frustrated that his efforts had gone to waste.

His brothers' presences' entered the building and Raph rubbed his head in frustration. Now they were here and he hadn't found out anything useful.

"I'm assuming there's nothing to be cautious of since you're standing in the middle of the room?" Leo's calming voice came from beside him. Raph sighed.

"You assume right. Nothing's here," Raph's shoulders slumped.

"So…I was dragged away from Super Mario Smash Bro's for nothing? Man! And I was winning too!" Mikey whined, throwing his hands into the air and shaking his head.

"Actually, I was beating you." Don set his brown duffel bag on the ground and pulled out a large remote looking thing.

"Were not! Um, Don, what it that?" Mikey asked, peeking over his brother's shoulder at a safe distance. Lately the tech turtle had been blowing things up and Mikey had been a victim of said blow-ups one too many times for comfort.

"It's a heat tracker. It'll tell us where those things have been." Don answered absent mindedly. He was tinkering with the heat trackers dials and buttons, switching them until he was satisfied.

"Don, I don't even know if those things have a heat signature," Raph interjected.

"No," Leo stepped next to Don, watching him work, "It's a good idea. You said that they had a human with them right?"

"Two actually. By the name I'm guessing the other was a girl. Sam and Michaela," Raph offered. He could tell where their leader was heading with Don's plan. "We're gonna use it to track them down?"

Leo nodded his head. "Yeah. And if the robots do have a heat signature, it'll be a bonus."

Mikey glanced at his red bandanna clad brother. "If you couldn't find those humans, where are they? Underground?"

Don grunted. "Possibly. We live underneath an abandoned garage don't we?"

"Point taken," Mikey muttered. He moved his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, drifting off into his own world.

The little heat tracker whirled to life. "Whoa," Don breathed, "Look's like those robot's do have a heat signature. This place is crawling with thermal scans."

"Just focus on finding those humans." Leo ordered, suddenly on edge and fingering his katana hilts.

"Right," Don replied, slowly waving the scanner back and forth around the room. He adjusted some dials and moved across the room, not taking his eyes off the little screen.

Raph leaned against a large create, bored out of his mind. He had been hoping that with his discovery of the robots base he'd get some action but so far he was only getting his feet aching. There had to be something for him to do in this rickety old building. Or fight. Preferably fight.

"Leo!" Don's whispered voice sliced through the silence. "I've got a lock. They're still here. And pretty close too."

Raph joined his brothers, all whom where gathered around the technician and his scanner. His brainy brother adjusted the scanners dials yet again and continued to walk around the room. He stopped in front of a wall and moved the scanner up and down like he was making sure of something.

Don turned to them. "Look's like they're behind this wall."

Leo nodded. "Look for the switch." He started feeling along the wall for cracks to tell where the door was.

Raph halfheartedly followed his brother's example, shifting along the wall and floor with his eyes. Don followed suite, feeling along the wall for a possible door latch.

Mikey yawned. "Well, good luck with that," he said sarcastically, leaning against a crate. The boards snapped under his weight and he fell. Mikey let out a yelp of surprise that quickly turned to one of fear as he plummeted down through the air. He heard Leo shout out his name and Raph yelling something but by then, Mikey had wind whipping in his ears and he couldn't make it out.

Next thing he knew, he had been spit out into a room below the garage. "Ow. Oh my aching shell," he complained as he sat up, rubbing his neck. He looked up at the ceiling. The floor had been rotten through and when he put too much weight on it, it snapped. "Just my luck," he muttered.

He looked around the room that was probably just large enough for him and his brother to fit in. "Where the shell…?"

"Mikey!" His eldest brother's voice called down to him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" Mikey yelled back up. "I'm gonna find a way outta here. Keep looking for that switch!" When he didn't get and answer, he set about finding a way out.

Mikey stood and walked over to a staircase, half hidden in shadow. He looked up at the trap door it led to. "Well that's convenient…"

He scaled it with no problem and popped the hatch open with such noise only a ninja could produce. Light flooded the room and he clamped his eyes shut in reflex. He slowly opened them, letting them adjust to the sudden brightness. The room he had come into was furnished with a couch that looked just as ratty as the one back at the liar, lots of blankets, pillows and a beanbag chair that was occupied.

Mikey lowered the lid, leaving it open just enough for his eyes to show. A young teen was sitting in the beanbag chair, reading a magazine. He had short cut brown hair and was wearing a blue t-shirt with blue jeans and sneakers.

The teen glanced up at a girl that walked into the room. She had shoulder length, wavy brown hair and had a red, low cut tank top with blue jeans and sneakers.

"Hey." The boy greeted. She returned it and plopped onto the couch and the boy went back to reading his magazine.

"Sam," the kid glanced up at the name. "Do you think we'll be okay? I mean, we're in the middle of a war between two races of giant alien robots." The girl pulled a large comforter up to her chin, snuggling into it.

"Well," Sam closed his magazine, keeping his place with one finger between the pages. "I haven't been safe since I bought Bumblebee as my car. I've gotten used to the idea that I will never be 'normal' again." He gave the word normal air quotes. "Even so, I know that Optimus wouldn't let something happen to us. Neither would Bumblebee, Ironhide, Ratchet or Jazz. None of them would let us die"

The girl sighed. "I know. It's just that, Jazz died once and he was brought back by sheer will power and Ratchets endless hours repairing him. But us," she looked at Sam in the eyes. "We can't be repaired Sam. Not with tools. If something did happen then Ratchet wouldn't be able to bring us back to life with a fragment of the Allspark. We'd be gone for good." She shivered.

Sam seemed at a loss for words. He opened and closed his mouth a few times but nothing came out. Mikey felt for the guy. He had been in the same position many times. Having to reassure someone that everything would be okay even though you didn't know what was going to happen.

Sam set down his magazine and moved to the couch, putting a hand on the girl's cheek. They looked into each other's eyes for a second then Sam moved in and gave her a soft kiss. Mikey glanced away, letting them have some privacy.

"Michaela," Sam whispered, "I don't know what's gonna happen but I swear to you, I'll be there. You're not gonna face anything alone." He touched their foreheads together.

Michaela gave a shaky sigh and wrapped her arms around Sam's neck. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.

Mikey found himself smiling. He was always a sucker for the romantic parts of movies when the two lovers would reassure one another. He almost felt bad for what he was about to do. Almost. His annoying side kicked in before the emotion could dig in too deep.

Taking a deep breath, Mikey pushed the hatch off him and climbed the rest of the out of the opening. He walked behind the embracing couple whose eyes where shut, and tapped Sam on the shoulder.

The teen started, whipping his head around. Mikey waved at him.

"Hi. The name's Mikey. I've got a question about the giant alien robot that you where riding in."