Sirens wailed, drawing everyone from their game of space ball. "What is that?" Donnie asked the Fugitoid.
They raced along the corridor to the bridge. "It sounds like a distress signal."
Leo slipped into his station with Donnie. "Looks more like a beacon of some kind."
"I'm getting some kind of message from it." April hit a few keys. A voice filled the bridge, speaking in a foreign tongue. "I'll translate it." She hit another key and a low melodious voice consumed their ears.
"We are the last of our kind. We are dying. Our sun burns too bright for us now. We leave behind these records of our people so that others will remember us."
The voice ended and an eerie silence followed to be broken by Donatello. "I've located the source of the signal it's coming from the second planet in this solar system."
"We don't have time for a mercy missions. We have to find the Triceratons." Raph groused.
"Dude, they could totally have some alternate version of Crognard!" Mikey's eyes widened. "Or even better, a new pizza topping I haven't tried!"
"Does the message say anything else, Red?" Casey asked from the other station.
April shook her head. "No, it just repeats over and over."
"There does seem to be something odd about the signal, though I'm not entirely sure what it is." The Fugitoid tapped his metal chin with a metal hand, making a little clinking noise.
"Should we investigate, Leo?" Don asked from beside him.
"There could still be someone alive down there." April pointed out. "We can't just abandon them."
Raph snorted. "I say it's a waste of time."
Leo frowned. "Yeah, but if someone's in trouble, we have to do everything we can to help. Fugitoid, prepare for landing."
"Commander G'Throkka, we are receiving a distress signal." The female Salamandrian said.
"Is it near?" The large Salamandrian male asked.
"Yes, no more than three light years. Shall we investigate?"
He grunted. "Yes."
"It could be a trick by the Triceratons, commander."
"It could also be a potential ally, Lieutenant."
"Are you sure we got some kind of signal from here? This place is like totally deserted." Mikey walked behind the group as they walked through an ancient city.
"Yes, Mikey. I'm sure." April walked a few steps in front of him.
Leo gazed at the large stone columns and crumbling stone buildings. "These ruins kind of remind me of those back on Earth in Greece."
Raph threw his hands up. "That just makes this extra boring."
Casey walked beside him. "Hey, the Greeks were cool man. They had all kinds of different gods and lots of weird creatures." Raph snorted and pushed him. The two began to roughhouse as they neared a large structure. The only one that was still mostly intact.
"Can we at least try to pay attention people? We are on a strange planet. And I have found no record of any sentient beings coming from this solar system." Fugitoid followed Donatello into the mouth of the building.
"The signal is coming from this way guys." Donnie used his sensor staff to guide the way.
Raph and Casey continued to roughhouse as they began to weave their way through a series of passages. A pair of shadows moved across the end of a hall. Leo stopped, drawing one of his glowing katana. "Guys, I don't think we're alone in here."
"Nonesense," Honeycutt protested. "I scanned the entire area before we landed and there was no life on the surface."
Donnie came to a corner and was about to turn, when a large shadow stepped into his path. He gasped and fumbled with the sensor staff, nearly dropping it. "Friends." A deep gravely, yet familiar, voice spoke a moment before G'Throkka appeared.
Raph stopped where he had Casey pinned to the ground, a hand squashing his face. The turtle's face lit up as Y'Gythgba stepped into the light. "Mona Lisa!"
She smiled as he rushed forward to stop only a few steps away. Her dark eyes smoldered. "I am pleased to see you as well, Raphael."
Leo moved to the front of the group. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We encountered a distress signal and followed it to this planet." G'Throkka explained.
"Really? That's what we were doing too." Mikey chimed in.
"Uh, maybe we should look for it together." Raph suggested, looking rather nervous.
"This is agreeable." G'Thokka turned with Donnie and headed down the passage.
Raph and Mona hung back as the others followed. He looked away, not sure what to say, until she slipped her hand into his. He lifted his eyes to meet hers. "How have you been?"
"Well, enough." She said as they started down the passage after the group. "I am glad to see you too seem well."
"Yeah." He watched the others enter a chamber ahead of them. "I just wish we could spend more time together."
"We are both warriors, Raphael. Our place is on the battlefield. It leaves little time for personal pursuits."
Raph's eyes dropped to the floor. "Yeah, you're right, I guess."
She stopped as they were about to enter the room. She lifted his chin with slender clawed fingers. "However, that does not mean I too would not enjoy more time with you." Raph smiled and they rejoined their companions.
The chamber glowed from hundreds of glowing and pulsing orbs. "What are these things?" Mikey asked. "They're kind of cool looking."
"They appear to be some type of memory crystals." The professor moved across the room to what one could only call a computer console. It had a screen and several knobs, and in its center was a bowl looking device.
"So these things contain the memories of an entire race?" Leo asked.
"An extinct one too, so don't touch anything. That means you, Mikey." Don said without turning to his brother.
Behind him, Mikey jerked his hands away from where he was about to pick one up and grinned. "What? Who me? I'm not doing anything."
April gazed around the chamber. "Wow, they're so pretty." One globe on the far wall seemed different. It pulsed with a pink light. She approached it and stared into the light. The globe seemed to be speaking to her. Without thinking, she reached out and lifted it from its cradle.
Mona Lisa growled and rushed forward to take it from her. "Foolish terran. You have no idea-" As she touched the globe, a bright light swallowed them. Both females gave a cry.
Donnie gave a panicked cry of his own. "April!"
Raph repeated the sentiment. "Mona!"
"Lieutenant!" G'Throkka called into the light.
As the light faded, the group gasped. No longer did April sport a red mop of hair, but sleek leathery crimson skin. Her eyes remained their bright blue, but they too had changed to a more oval shape. She had also grown in height and broadness her body becoming that of a Salamandrian. The little yellow jumpsuit stretched and strained against the larger body. The front opened just enough that you could see the skin fade from red to white at her chest.
Beside her, Mona had changed as well. No longer did she possess the powerful body of a Salamandrian, but that of a human girl. Her hair was jet black and it nearly reached her waist. Red highlights burned their way through it, giving her features a sharpness. Her eyes, though brown, were flecked with green that shimmered in the light from the glowing orb. The paleness of her skin stood out against the dark hair and eyes. The space suit she wore hung loosely on her much smaller frame.
The girls stared at one another, both still holding the orb.
"By the stars! What has happened to you, Y'Gythgba?" G'Throkka took a step forward.
"Hey, how come April gets to play with them?" Mikey pouted and Leo shot him a glare.
"April?" Donnie moved towards the girl that now stood at eye level with him.
Raph pushed past him. "Mona!" He caught her as she started to fall to her knees. "Are you alright?"
She pressed a hand to her forehead. "Yes, I…" She stopped as she stared at the clawless hands. "What has happened to me?"
The Fugitoid yanked the globe from April's hands. "It seems you have switched species, a fascinating phenomenon. And one I have never before encountered."
Anger flared in Mona's eyes. "You did this!" She lunged at April and Raph caught her around the waist.
April took a step back and seemed to realize that her body didn't react like it should. She could feel the additional appendage of her tail and it twitched. She stared down at the leathery hands tipped in claws. Anger flared in her own eyes. "No, you did this by trying to take it from me!"
Donnie stepped in front of her, catching her shoulders. "Whoa, everyone calm down. We need to figure out what just happened."
April met his eyes and she was mystified by the fact that she could look directly into them and by the deep concern in them. "Donnie?"
"It'll be okay, April. We'll fix this." Donnie reassured her.
The Fugitoid looked at the glowing orb in his hands. "The memory crystals may help with that."
"Good. Don, you and the professor see what you can find. The rest of us will check out this place, maybe we can find some more clues." Leo suggested.
Donnie gazed at the chamber still glowing with numerous globes of light. "Take your time. This may take a while."