A/N: Hey, this is my first story and I hope you like it. Please review so I know you're enjoying it :)
Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT. At all.
It had become an everyday thing now – going out, searching for these canisters of green gloop. They never thought anything of it, and still didn't; it was just a way of life for them now. It wasn't just April's life which had changed that fateful day – the Hamato family's lives had changed too. From being stuck in the sewers all day every day, not being able to leave or to meet anyone new, to suddenly going outside almost every day with their new friend, fighting with new enemies. It was odd, to say the least, but they'd gotten used to it now. Now, they couldn't imagine life without April, and they couldn't imagine not going up topside, even though a few months prior they hadn't even known what a pizza was.
Raph smiled as he thought about their fortunate lives. They were lucky to have met April; although they had saved her from the Kraang that night, she had saved them from solitude their entire lives. And now, they were out looking for mutagen, stealing it from the Kraang and taking it from the streets.
It was Donnie who had figured out that the Kraang would have this mutagen, and it was Leo who had figured out where they would be. Entering the abandoned building through the skylight was simple enough; it was already smashed. Having to withstand his genius brother going on about how amazing electro magnets are, while their 'fearless leader' came up with a plan? That was another story entirely.
"Donnie," said Raph. "For the last time, we can't understand what you're saying!"
"Yeah, dude. Speak English for once!" agreed Mikey.
"Well, I'm sorry if you guys are too –"
"Guys, ninjas are supposed to be silent!" Leo glared over at the other three from his position on a wooden beam; one of many in the ceiling of the room.
"Then why are you talking?" asked Mikey.
"Oh, for the love of –"
"Mikey, shut up before I make you." Raph said, pounding his fist into his palm.
"What did I do?"
"What didn't you do?" said Donnie.
"Guys, knock it off! You're gonna get us caught!" said Leo, pointing down to where the Kraang were standing, each of them holding guns, although one was holding a glass canister of mutagen. There were wooden crates stacked around them, although the content of the unmarked crates was unknown.
"Leo, we can handle a few Kraang. Why are we sitting up here?" asked Raph, gesturing to the wooden beams supporting them and the roof of the building.
"Because," said Leo. "Master Splinter told us we need to practice our stealth, and this the perfect chance to try it out."
"But dude," protested Mikey, "it's so boring up here!" he flung his arms out wide to exaggerate his point and Leo smacked his palm against his face.
"That's it, I'm going." said Raph, and before Leo could stop him, he had jumped down from the beam, pulling out his sais as he fell. He landed on top of one of the Kraang and plunged the sais into it's robotic head, pulling them out as purple sparks erupted from the head of the robot.
"Guess we're gonna have to-" Leo stopped upon noticing the absence of his other two brothers and sighed when he looked down to see that they had joined Raph in the fight.
Leo jumped down and joined in the fight next to Mikey, who smiled at his brother. "Nice of you to join us, bro!" said Mikey as he swung his nunchuks, knocking a Kraang into the wall.
"I can't believe you guys didn't listen to my instructions – again!" said Leo, ignoring his little brother.
"All we need to do it get the canister." said Raph, kicking away a headless Kraang. "And that's what we're gonna do. We don't need all that 'stealth' nonsense – we're doing fine!"
"Got it!" shouted Donnie, holding up the canister of green slime for the others to see.
"Great, now let's get out of here!" said Leo, jumping back up to the beams.
"You mean run away?" snorted Raph as Mikey and Donnie followed Leo.
"Now, Raph!" said Leo sternly, and Raph sighed as he ricocheted off the wall to land on a beam. The four then sprinted across them, dodging the bullets from the Kraang, and jumped out of the smashed glass of the skylight.
"This gets us up to a grand total of four." said Donnie sarcastically, looking at the canister in his hands with an expression not unlike distaste.
"Sweet!" said Mikey, bouncing forwards. "Can I see?" without waiting for an answer, Mikey snatched the container from Donnie's hands with admirable speed, and inspected it curiously.
"Mikey," said Leo, frowning at his brother. "This isn't any different to any others we've found. Why are you so interested?"
Mikey narrowed his eyes, still looking closely at the container. "I dunno." He replied. "This one just seems...different"
"That's the most ridiculous-" began Raph, but was cut off by Donnie.
"He's right!" the genius exclaimed, staring at the gloop. "It's slightly bluer than the others we've collected."
"Let's get back to the lair so we can check it out," said Leo.
As they made their way back through the sewers, the brothers discussed the next best plan of action.
"We need to focus more," said Leo. "That way, we'd get more done. We should split into teams next time."
"What teams?" asked Mikey curiously.
"Depends on the situations," replied Leo.
"What if the Kraang get to them first?" wondered Donnie. "Do you think they'd turn all of the humans into mutants?"
"What if they brainwash them?" suddenly said Mikey. "They would make them go after us! We'd be hunted down like in 'monsters from hell'!"
"Mikey, don't believe everything you read," warned Leo. "Those comics are just made up."
"Oh yeah?" countered Mikey. "Tell that to the Squirrelanoids!"The green glow from the canister of mutagen lit up his face, showing his wide eyes and fearful expression. "Ow!" he cried out as Raph slapped him upside the head.
"Stop scaring yourself while we're in a dark sewer!" said Raph, and Mikey gulped, looking around and wishing he wasn't at the back of the group.
A squeak sounded from behind Mikey and he squealed, throwing the container of mutagen in the air in surprise. He watched helplessly as the canister fell into the rushing sewer water running next to the concrete they were using as a footpath.
"MIKEY!" shouted all three of his brothers.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't throw you in there after it." demanded Raph, angrily approaching his youngest brother.
"Uhh..." Mikey looked at Raph, a sheepish smile on his face.
"Come one guys, it's long gone. Let's just go." Said Leo, and the group continued their trek home, but not before Raph gave Mikey a slap upside the head. Mikey looked behind him and glared at the sewer rat that had scared him, before running to catch up with his brothers.
"Mikey, I can't believe you!" exclaimed Donnie as they arrived home, throwing his arms up in annoyance.
"What? I said I was sorry!" replied Mikey, frowning as he launched himself onto the bean bag in the pit.
"We spent ages searching for that mutagen, and you just go and throw it away!"
"I didn't mean to!"
"You never do!" Donnie clenched his fists and stormed off to his lab, Mikey watching him leave open-mouthed. Donnie never shouted at him like that if it was an accident.
"Mikey," said Leo, walking over and sitting cross-legged in front of the TV. "Donnie's just annoyed because he's run out of mutagen to experiment with. You know he's blaming himself for April's dad and Timothy. Plus, I'm sure he was looking forward to seeing how that mutagen was different to the others." Leo flicked through the channels a few times before smiling as he landed on a rerun of space heroes. It was one of Leo's favourites; Captain Ryan had sent one of the rookies out into unknown territory and he hadn't returned. Now, they had to go out and search for the missing team member.
"Yeah, I guess..."
"Nice job, knucklehead." said Raph, from his spot on the sofa. "You managed to annoy Donnie." Spike nodded his head wisely from his place on Raph's shoulder before munching on a leaf carefully handed to him by his owner.
"You know what?" said Mikey suddenly, standing up. "It's obvious that you guys don't want me around because of that stupid mutagen, so I'm gonna bring it back myself."
When he got no response from either of his brothers, Mikey sighed before turning and running out of the lair into the darkness of the sewers.
"What'd he say?" asked Raph, patting Spike on the head.
"Huh?" said Leo, turning his head towards his brother without taking his eyes off the action taking place on the screen. "Dunno, something about being stupid."
"Oh," replied Raph, and went back to fussing over Spike.
