A/N Welcome to my first every ninja turtles fanfic! Hooray! Hopefully this will turn out to be a swashbuckling action/adventure alien invasion story (I know that sounds stupid, but I promise it won't be!! Aliens can be cool, just read Pulse by pi90katana). This will involve all the turtles fairly equally and don't worry, there will be angst all round!

This first prologue is short, but the chapters will get longer!

Please review, and if you spot any typos/grammar errors please tell about them so I can fix it!

Casey was desperately trying to keep his eyes open.

True, he was pretty sure Raphael wouldn't notice if he did doze off, just for a little while… but he didn't want to run the risk. The last thing any sane person would want was for Raphael to be mad. Well, madder.

Instead, Casey fixed the ceiling with a wide-eyed stare that would stop him slipping into slumber, and murmured at appropriate intervals:

"Yeah, that must suck, dude"

"It's damn infuriating!" Raphael fumed. "He's not the oldest, no matter what he thinks, and just cause for some reason Splinter reckons he'd make a better leader, he's all over my case!"

"Mm-hmm…"

"Like, now I'm gettin' Leo-lectures about stuff like cleaning up my room! Watching out for Donnie and Mikey – fuck it all, they aren't freakin' babies! Who the hell does he think he is?"

Casey sighed. It was going to be a long night.

It was a cold night, and Donatello shivered as he picked through the mounds of towering metal, twisted with the debris of countless appliances that had been discarded long ago. A cold wind blew as he finally found a fairly new computer, and he hugged his heavy overcoat more tightly around him. He was glad he had decided to bring his outer-world disguise, even if it was a pitch-dark night, and he was fairly certain no one would be out in the horrible weather. At least it was warm.

He began pulling apart the hard drive, looking for workable circuit boards. He didn't have enough room in his satchel for the whole computer. He worked quickly, wanting more and more to get out of the rain and back home where, nice and warm, he could fully appreciate the beautiful construction of the electronics he was dismantling.

Leonardo was pacing. First he would walk to the couch. Then the kitchen. Then the doorway. Couch. Kitchen. Doorway.

"Leo." Michelangelo's voice held a note of warning. "Leo, why don't you just sit down, dude? You're going to walk a wrinkle into the floor."

Leo sighed. "Sorry." He walked slowly over and collapsed forlornly beside Mikey on the couch.

"Why don'cha go work out in the dojo or something?" Mikey blurted, between handfuls of popcorn. Leo wrinkled his nose slightly under the spray of pre-chewed kernels, wondering how it was that Mike didn't choke to death – he was eating so fast.

"Splinter's in there meditating." Leo fidgeted slightly, looking – well, cranky, Mikey thought. He forced himself to focus on the movie, and didn't react as Leo shifted so his legs were crossed. Then stretched them out again. Then lay down so that his head was on the armrest. Then he rolled over. Then –

"Dude! Go to bed! Do something! Go away!" Mikey howled, flinging the empty popcorn bowl at Leo's head. The Tupperware container bounced off a stunned Leo's forehead and smacked straight back into Mikey's face, and he squeaked in surprise.

At the sight of Mikey's speechless indignation, Leo burst out laughing.

"All right, Mike. Whatever, I'll go to my room. Enjoy the rest of the movie". He climbed to his feet and headed out the door, but not before slapping the back of Mikey's head on his way out. No Tupperware assault should go unpunished.

Splinter was meditating in the dojo, but he was anything but relaxed. Brow furrowed, he concentrated all his energies on the unseen presence flickering around the edges of his consciousness. There was something out there, he was sure he could sense it. The presence was growing, coming nearer, and it felt strange – he was sure he had never encountered anything like it before.

It felt alien.

Unseen by all, dark figures were moving through the lightless sewer tunnels underneath New York. Focused with purpose, and dark of intent, they stalked underneath the streets; minds clear of all save one goal.

Prepare the way, for more were coming