Summary: A simple shift can change the course of life. An unknown obsession. A home invasion. Even a test. When the clan's separated, Raph, Don, and Sophia are set on retrieving the others from a threat meant to sell them. But along the way, a truth is revealed and it turns the Hamato's world upside down. [Raphael x OC] [Donatello x OC] [Michelangelo x OC] [OC x OC]
Genre: Family, Drama, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Rating: Teen - for crude language and, at a time or two, disturbing imagery

Author's Notes: Welcome, Dudes and Dudettes, to "Shift", the sixth installment within the Cause and Effect Saga. Hasn't been much of a break since "A Tale of Heroes" wrapped up. This just goes to show how anxious I've been to get this book done. LOL.

If you've just stumbled upon this series, you may be a little lost since my plot elements carry over several books. It's what I do. That said, for simplicity's sake: Nia belongs to Raphael, Melody belongs to Donatello, and Sophia belongs to Michelangelo. Sophia's mother is Adeline, who's new friends with Nia parents, Gavin and Mia. Gavin and Mia have a past with the main OC Hugh Reese, who met the guys in book 1 "Finding Balance". He's married to Marina.

Got it? Now, hope you enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: Nick belongs to Eastman/Laird/Nick. Nia Hamato/Anders, Melody Hamato/Gray, Sophia Moretti, Hugh Reese, and other OCs are mine. I'm in no way making any money. Thanks.

Prologue

New York City. Island of Manhattan. Home to over a million city-dwellers and countless other pests. While overpopulated in Chet Black's opinion, the forty-year-old had bitten the bullet and crossed the Hudson from New Jersey. An important mission lay on the other side, one which lured him to its grotesque underbelly on September twenty-fourth.

If anything, at least someone else held the flashlight while he navigated.

"God, Chet, how long do we gotta we keep searching?" Walter Fowler's whine echoed throughout the moist tunnels that the duo traveled. His goulashes kicked the murky water below, and Chet scowled when a cool wetness stuck his pants to his calves.

"Until we reach the signal's origin, Idiot," he said. Above, New York's activity thundered through layers of concrete, pipes, and dirt like some mindless cattle herd—a nerve-wracking sound for someone who'd grown up within a fourteen thousand populace.

"You sure this isn't some wild goose chase? Heather and Shirley put up great fronts. But Roy?"

"Roy saw them too; I know he did." Chet's fingers gripped tighter around the hand-held device his dry eyes focused on. The grid pattern spread across its round screen didn't account for the tunnels; however, a compass near its bottom gave a general idea of his directive. So, he turned left. "The idea of those things…it's been eating at me for months, ever since Black Lotus."

"That place blew sky-high almost a year ago," said Walter. More sloshes echoed as the light beam danced behind Chet. "What makes you think this trip will be worth anything?"

The middle-aged man spun. He inhaled a nauseating amount of ammonia that wafted up from the chilly waters, his gaze narrowed at his Chinese-American partner. "Why voice your skepticism now? You had all month to back out if you wanted."

"And do what? Drink beers in my dead-end trailer? Please." Walter's slanted eyes rolled as he glanced down to accommodate their half-head height difference. "I couldn't let you go alone. Besides, money's at stake. Lots of it. I'd rather waste time down here with a possible fortune in our future than muddle through another day as an EMT. Pay's horrible for the work we put in."

"But you believe what we saw?" Chet's question sounded more like a test, and he clenched his free hand in case Walter gave the wrong answer.

"I—it was dark. Who knows what those things were?"

Chet's fist shook. So far, Walter was failing.

"Still"—the Chinese-American raised his flashlight so it shined on the device in his partner's hand—"anything living underground must have a reason. It's just taking forever."

"We've waited this long."

"Is the signal really coming from a cyborg?"

"After what happened in June, you doubt it's real?"

"Not that. I mean, is it coming from the right cyborg? The one Master Changeling contacted you about?"

"He guaranteed it. Said she would have no way to change such a signal. It's in her DNA, so to speak."

"Then those beasts Roy and Shirley helped out of Black Lotus…"

Chet drew the compass closer to his face, noting the 'origin' ping on the outskirts of its circular grid. "Will likely be with her, if Changeling's account holds true. Let's double-check our restraint plans. If our element of surprise fails, things could get…difficult."