"Hello?" April called out nervously. "Guys, it's me! Let me in!" She tapped on the sewer grate impatiently. It slid open a crack. "Password?" a mysterious voice asked. "For the love of -" She took a deep breath and steadied her tone. "- let me in, Michelangelo, you ingrate!" she whisper-screamed. The grate slid aside. "Alright, alright. Jeez." A turtle humanoid with an orange mask was waiting for her on the other side. April walked inside and gasped. "Is Raphael okay?" "Yeah, why?" "Because it looks like he had another one of those anger issues." The place was a wreck, with weapons strewn everywhere. April hopped over a stray katana. "Clean it up, at least." A menacing shape materialized, wearing a red mask. "I'll clean it up when I want to." "Nice to see you, too, Raph," April greeted him sarcastically, brushing past him. "Honestly, you're more like a toddler than a super-soldier." She dodged his oncoming punch. "You're getting better," Leo commented as he walked past her. "Thanks! Where's Donnie?" "You mean the nerdle?" Mikey asked helpfully. "Shut up, Mikey," Leo said, elbowing him in the stomach. Mikey doubled over in mock pain. "Owwwww, Leo! That hurt!" he whined. "You're supposed to be a super-soldier, so shut up and take it like one," Raphael ordered as he passed. Mikey straightened. "Fine." "Donnie's in his room. He hasn't come out all week. Check up on him, okay? I think the lack of missions are getting to him," Leo whispered, catching her by the elbow. "Will do," April promised.

She toed the door open a crack. "Donatello? You in here?" she called softly. "Wha-Oh. April, hey! I was just, uh -" He surreptitiously fidgeted with his mask and shoved something under his desk. "Don? What aren't you telling me?" she asked, and walked over. "You can't hide it from me. I'll find out eventually." "Yeah, but you also have to sleep eventually. It's human nature. I'll just move it somewhere else." April withdrew a can of Red Bull from her pocket. "I've got a ton more. Your move, punk." Donnie sighed, smiling a little. "Fine." He slid out a piece of silver metal, with a glowing blue center. "You've gotta be kidding me! You found part of the Allspark!" April yelped. "No. No, no, no, no! Bad idea! Destroy that thing, right now!" she whispered heatedly, lowering her voice so she didn't alert the other turtles. "No way! I've been working forever on this!" "No. You have no idea what kind of damage that thing will cause." "And you do?" he retorted. "Yes, I do! I've had close-up contact with that thing! It killed my boyfriend!" she yelled, unable to control her temper anymore. "What?" The rest of the turtles entered the room. "You have a boyfriend outside of us?" "Well yeah, I mean, you guys kind of are a secret organization. Besides - Oh, no." The ceiling began to rumble. "Get down!" April yelled, and pulled them out of the way.

She ran out, the turtles close behind, and climbed up the ladder. A giant blue and red robot stood outside, a boy at his side. "Optimus! Sam! Hey!" she called. Sam ran over to her, and Optimus followed. "We found traces of the Allspark leading here," Optimus said. "Mikaela! What are you doing here?" Sam asked. "Mikaela? No, her name's April!" Michelangelo argued. "You're kidding me! The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are real?!" Sam yelped. "Don't be so surprised. I hang out with them on a daily basis," April drily supplied. "Guys, this is Optimus Prime, an Autobot. This is Sam. He's my boyfriend. Optimus, Sam, this is Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, and Donatello. Super sorry you guys had to come, but Donnie found a piece of the Allspark." Optimus stooped down. "Where is it?" April gestured for them to wait, and climbed down into the sewer. She emerged a few minutes later with the Allspark in hand. "Here. Hide it." She placed it in Optimus' hand, and he nearly smiled. "Thank you, Mikaela. You may have just saved the world." She grinned. Just then, the entire street began to rumble, quivering underfoot. "Oh, shoot!" April yelped. Megatron appeared at the opposite end of the street. "Crud! Get down!" she yelled. The Shredder, a much tinier form, but still just as menacing, was beside him. "Move, move, move!" April shouted.

They raced into the sewer, all but Optimus and April. "You are a fleshling. You'll be killed if they discover you." Optimus looked down at her. "Hey, Prime? Chill," April replied. Just then, the turtles sprung out of their hiding place, armed to the teeth. "You'll be killed -" Optimus interjected. "No, Megatron's all yours. But we know Shredder, and you don't. Let us handle him," Raphael evenly replied. Optimus hesitated, then nodded. "Of course." He ran at Megatron, only to find April already on his back, hacking away at the metal to create a decent-sized hole. She grinned at him and slipped inside Megatron.

"Okay. Is there an off switch?" she muttered, fumbling around until she found her flashlight. She flicked it on, and was rewarded with harsh white light. "Maybe if I cut one of these wires. . ." she thought, looking around at the maze of blood-red cords. She grabbed onto one as Megatron stumbled back, then took off. "Whoa!" she screamed, and she heard Optimus yell, "Mikaela!" There was a roar of engines, and she assumed - no, hoped - Optimus had taken flight to retrieve her. She struggled to slip a pocket knife out of her pocket, but she managed it. She began to saw through the cord she held on to. She snapped it, and heard Megatron roar. Everything tilted violently, and she was on the loose end of a swinging cord. She used the momentum to swing to another wire. She let go - and missed. She plummeted to the ground. If she hit his metal leg cover, she'd die. If she missed it, she'd fall into the sky, where there was no guarantee Optimus was even there. Those engines could just as well have been Megatron's. Plus, Megatron would still be left standing, and she needed to prove to the Autobots and the Turtles she could complete a mission. A wire dangled a few feet below her, though, approaching at lightning speed. Before she thought it through, she made a grab for it and caught it. Searing pain shot through her arm, and she knew she had been injured. Maybe badly. It was impossible to tell. She'd lost the flashlight in the fall, but she'd tucked the pocket knife away as she fell.

She started to cut another wire, and broke it in no time. This time, Megatron stopped and actually fell a few feet through the air before regaining control, and April's heart lurched. She waited until she was closer this time, and reached for the wire. She cleanly sawed a hole in it, then destroyed the wires inside. Megatron fell, and didn't recover. She aimed for the hole in his armor, where she'd fall into the open sky. She prayed, "Please, Optimus, be there!" and jumped. She narrowly missed the sharp metal edges, and torpedoed through the hole. She was silent as she fell, because the air was being ripped from her lungs. She felt a bone crack and twist as she landed in a large metal hand, and she cried out in pain. Optimus cradled her. "Are you all right?" he asked her. She experimented with her leg as Optimus hovered. She tried to stand, but the pain was immense, and red crawled over her vision. "No. I think I broke my leg and twisted my ankle," she gasped, trying to speak through the pain. "We'll get you to a hospital. Don't worry." Optimus flew down, cupping April safely in his palm. Megatron crashed into an abandoned building a few miles out of town, down for good. "We'll need to take out Shredder!" she called. "I know, but you need to rest!" "No way! I can help!" she yelled back. "Not an option! Sam will take care of you!" he responded. He landed and placed her by the sewer grate. "Sam! Sam!" he called. April let out a strangled squeak. Sam climbed out. "Mikaela!"

He carried her down and placed her on a nearby weapons rack. He gathered supplies and splinted her leg and her ankle. "Thanks, Sam," she said gratefully. "Yeah, um, about Egypt. . ." he started. "Samuel, not the time," she interrupted him, her face red. "Also, I may have broken my arm." He placed his fingertips on her wrist, and her face twisted in pain. "Yes, you did." He made a cast and wrapped it around her arm. She kissed him lightly. "Here." She handed him a can of purple liquid. "Drink this. It'll help with the stress." Sam downed it obediently. Not long after, he felt sleepy. "Mikaela," he groaned. "I'm sorry, Sam," she whispered as his head drooped. "But you never would have let me go." She brushed a kiss over his forehead, climbed up the ladder, and entered the battle.

"Mikaela!" Optimus roared as he spotted her charging the Shredder. "Don't!" But it was too late. April launched herself at him, and she ducked as his blades swung over her head. "Hey!" She let her good arm swing upward, nails out. Her fingernails raked over his eye, slipping into the eye slit, and the Shredder roared in pain. The Shredder took note of her cast and directed his next attack there. His metal gauntlet made a solid connection with her bad arm, and she screamed. "April!" Raphael called in rage, and cannonballed at the Shredder. Spots danced across her vision, and she slumped to the ground. Don't black out. Don't black out. Don't black out don't black out don't black out! She struggled to her feet and limped, her bad arm screaming in pain. Still, she threw herself at the Shredder, avoided Raphael, and drove her knife into his unguarded side. Red spurted, and April rolled, landing hard on her bad leg. She was scooped up, and she looked skywards to find a purple mask.

"Donnie," she moaned. She smiled shakily. "You're okay. I've got you." He scrambled down the sewer, where Sam was just beginning to wake up. He yelled at her nearly unconscious form, then went over and began to cry. "What were you thinking? Going to battle in your condition! What was the big idea, Mikaela?!" he sobbed. "Well, I wasn't. . .going to let. . .the men. . .have all the fun," she panted, breathing hard. The other three turtles entered. "The Shredder's dead," Leo informed them. "As is Megatron," Optimus asserted. "Good. So, you'll all have each other's backs from now on? For helping reasons?" April asked. "If we can get there, the Autobots have our support," Raphael pledged. "As the turtles have ours,"

Optimus promised. "Good. Now I'm going to try to recover," April moaned, and finally let herself black out.