Chapter 1 – Information from a friend

The candle flickered lightly in the dark. It Moved as the breathing of the meditating turtle and his sensei continued. Silence was the only sound filling the room together with the casually inhale and exhale. They were in deep meditation, each focusing on their mantra and on relaxing themselves. It had always been a nice thing for Leonardo to do. He enjoyed the silence, the quiet time to gather his thoughts so his mind could be fresh for the next battle they might have. He was the leader of the team, he had to be able to focus on the task ahead and be able to guide his brothers through it so no one would be hurt. He had to protect them with all of his might. Even if it meant him getting hurt in the progress. So whenever he had the time to sit down, relax and just gather his mind, he took the chance. He had only 13 minutes left of his meditation practice and he wanted to enjoy the last minutes he had left of his time is silence.

Deeply inhale, and exhale. Inhale, exhale. He was deep in trance which had only been done after 40 minutes of repeating his mantra. Inhale, exhale, focus on the mind, calm his mind.

BANG

"MIKEY COME BACK HERE!"

But of course in a family like this it was a rare occurrence. Leonardo's head shot up with the bang and looked towards the door. Mikey had pranked Raph again, Leo was sure of it. He looked back at Master Splinter who was still meditating. How his sensei could keep so calm sometimes was a wonder to him. He went back to meditating, or at least he tried to. It was not so easy with the loud running and the girly screams from Mikey. He fiddled in his spot, tried to find a comfortable sitting spot again. Once he found it he went back to his mantra, trying to block all the noises out. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

BANG BANG

"MIKEY YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

Leo couldn't help but sigh. One hour of peace was almost impossible, especially with Mikey around. He briefly wondered what Mikey did this time. Maybe coloured Raph's shell again, or filled his boxing bag with eggs and feathers again. Leo sighed deeply again. Where Mikey got his ideas from he had no idea. Not to mention the materials. Eggs weren't exactly something they could just go buy, also they were quiet expensive with the economy they had.

But then again he didn't know where Don got all of his stuff from either. Some things were from the junkyard, but most of his other things, chemicals and the more advanced machines he had no idea where came from. Of course he could be 'borrowing' them from the closed shops and old factories around the city, but some of Don's stuff was just… weird to be blunt. His brothers were a wonder sometimes he had to admit. How Master Splinter managed to raise them all was something Leonardo thought a lot about sometimes, especially with Raph and his attitude. Mikey and Don could also be difficult sometimes, but they didn't have the same kind of rebel attitude as Raph. Leo sighed again, he did that a lot when he thought about his brothers. Don't misunderstand him, he loved his brothers dearly and deeply, he would do anything for them, he would protect them with everything he had. But sometimes it was not just so easy. Raph's temper, Mikey's never ending energy, Don's overthinking, one day something was bound to go wrong, one way or another. But until then he would protect them, he was the oldest, so he had to.

"I see your brothers have once again managed to break your concentration." Master Splinter's sudden voice made Leonardo almost jump in his position. He had not expected it. But he couldn't help but nod his head at his sensei's words.

"Hai, gomenasai sensei." Leo said and bowed to his sensei who looked at him with calm eyes. Leo had once again failed his training.

"It is nothing to apologize for Leonardo, your brothers do make it quiet hard to focus. Even I have difficulty sometimes." Master Splinter said and placed a hand on Leonardo's shoulder. Leo knew his sensei meant it and felt a little relief wash over him. Maybe he didn't fail after all.

"But you must keep on trying to focus on your task ahead. If you lose your focus in a battle, it might cost you more than a mere scratch." And there it came. Leo knew the lecture off his little mistake would come sooner or later. He bowed once again.

"Hai sensei, I will not disappoint you." Leo said while keeping a gaze on the floor mat.

"You never did my son, and do not fret. A tree does not grow in one day, but before you know it, you got a forest." His sensei said in a tone which calmed Leonardo down. His father always knew what to say.

"Hai sensei" He once again said and looked up at his father with a small but true smile.

"Now, I think I would go for some tea and perhaps make sure your brothers did not kill each other yet." As his sensei stood up, Leo could still hear his brothers yelling and screaming from the other room and could not help but let out a little chuckle. He had to admit it, he was looking forward to see what Mikey had done this time. Even if his pranks could be annoying sometimes, then it was also quiet funny to see. Leo just hoped he hadn't broken anything again.

As he and his sensei started to walk towards the door he took a look at his sensei. Splinter was growing older and older and it was starting to become visible. He didn't walk as fast as he used to, he went from training personally with them 6 times a week till only 3 times per week, and he also meditated more. But even then he still had a rank back. He stood tall and proud and didn't want to let his age show, even if it did. Leonardo admired his father greatly, he was always kind and proud and even if something scared him, he would always stand up for himself and be brave. Leo only hoped to be like that once, maybe if he trained harder and more? Yes, he would do that and make his father proud! He would become the greatest leader of all time and keep his brothers safe from harm. As Master Splinter always said the leader should be a role icon for his team, he should be the one to show the way to victory and stay strong even if the odds were against him. And he would do just that!

But as they opened the door to the living room, dread fell over Leo as he saw just how much he had to work on it to keep his brothers safe. Pink footsteps were painted all over the ground and on some parts of the walls and some were more smeared than others indicating someone had been running with pink paint on their feet. The couch was tilted over and one of the seats had a huge splat of pink paint on it. Nearby laid a what looked like half-finished robot, though Leo was sure it was just Raph who had given it a high-3 with his fist. As Leo looked towards the kitchen he noticed some chairs were also tipped over and the dining table also had a huge splat of pink paint. Pink footprints lead towards the door to the sewers indicating that whoever got painted pink had left the lair. And leo had a good guess as to who it was. Leo looked towards the lab and saw the door was open. Mikey and Don were probably in there.

"Seems like Michelangelo has been busy 'pranking' Raphael as you call it." Splinter said and began to walk towards the lab.

"Sure seems like it, I just wonder why he would leave the lair all covered in pink." Leo said following his sensei.

"Well Leonardo, sometimes the best way to release air is to get some more. Let's just hope he went with Casey."

"I think so, Casey is Raph's best friend after all, they almost as inseperateable as Mikey and Leatherhead."

Splinter chuckled a little at this, it was true that his sons were very fond of their friends, and that he was happy for. He had been afraid of his sons to never learn what it would mean to have a friend besides each other. But luckily they had found someone who could accept them as they were and be willing to become their friend. He wanted his sons to live as close to a normal life as possible. But he knew it involved a lot of danger just because of how they looked like. Only a few humans had understood and accepted them as they were and those few humans gave a lot of hope for a better future for his sons.

As they approached the door they heard the laughter of Mikey inside and the sound of Donnie muffled voice, probably explaining something to Mikey. And as they opened the door they were greeted with Mikey sitting on the medical bed still laughing and Donnie fifling with a small round metal object.

"Michelangelo, care to explain why our kitchen and couch is more pink than brick?" Master Splinters voice asked monotone. Mikey sat up with a shock as he heard his father's voice and turned around to face them as he started to explain.

"Well I call it Master Piece Painter Raphael after the dude from back in the old days! I think it's beautiful!" He explained with a huge smile on his face. Donatello turned slightly on his chair and looked and Mikey with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought you called it 'Project get Raph out of the lair'?" Donnie said.

"Dude that's the old name! This one is much better!" Mikey explained while waving his hands around in the air. Leonardo looked back and forth in between his brothers with a confused look.

"So why do this project? You know it's still daylight outside what if he gets caught?" Leo asked franticly.

"Chill dude he went to Casey's to get a shower, he should be back soon enough, or actually considering its Raph it might take some time. Oh well as long as he brings a mega pizza peperone with him home!" Mikey explained.

"Why would Raphael need to visit Jones to take a shower? Why not use ours?" Master Splinter asked, looking at Michelangelo, wanting an explanation, but Donnie started explained instead.

"Well you see, the showerhead as always only been giving one kind of stream, the typical one which every shower has, but I thought why not upgrade it so we can also have a steam shower, mist, hard rain and many others! So I decided to do it today since we did meditation today at training so none of us would need a shower-"

"Ye but then Raph came up to Donnie a little later, and i tell you he was stinking worse than a skunk having had been to a garlic party in the public restroom, and he was demanding to have the showerhead back so he could take a shower-"

"But I being in the middle of upgrading it couldn't just give it back to him yet so I asked him to just sit down and watch some television until I finished with it-"

"But Raphie being Raphie didn't really have the biggest patient so he kept asking Donnie when he was done so Donnie grew annoyed by it and came to me to ask if I could pull a prank or something to help him getting Raph off his back, so I looked through a few of my stuff and found a bucket of pink paint from earlier pranks and decided that it would be exactly what Raph would want-"

"So Mikey came to me and told me his plan and i thought that would be perfect cause then he would need to leave to Casey's to get a shower and then leave me alone. But we just needed to come close to Raph to success, so I remembered i had this new Micro Flyer which I wanted to test out for a while and this would be perfect, so we attached a balloon to the Micro Flyer and send it after Raph -"

"And Raph just grabbed his sai and totally murdered the balloon so he got covered in pink paint! He was totally looking like a chick!"

"So Raph decided to chase Mikey around the lair for a good few minutes but when he gave up and went to the kitchen he still kept on bothering me with the showerhead so we decided to give him a little bit more paint"

"And so my master piece finished and look I even got a photograph of it!" Mikey finished up while holding a photograph of him taking a selfie with a very angry and very pink and angry Raph in the background about to grab Mikey around the neck.

"And seeing that Raph now is more pink than green and really needs a shower he had an excuse to go to Aprils and Casey's so he would leave me alone while I fix this showerhead. So basically a win win situation!" Don exclaimed while clapping his hands at the last sentence.

Master splinter looked from Don till the little picture Mikey had of the pink turtle and himself and closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

"I see, as long as he is only visiting friends it is fine." Master Splinter said in a calm voice and opened his eyes fixing them onto Mikey.

"But you must go and clean up the lair right away. Pink does not suit the kitchen very well." At this Mikey gave out a grunt and slumped down.

"Yes Master Splinter." He said in a monotone voice and left to start cleaning. But was stopped as he stood in front of the door by his father's voice.

"Oh and Michelangelo, don't forget to check to sewer for pink footprints, I rather not have any uninvited visitors."

"Yes yes, clean all pink paint including the sewer, yo Donnie, can I use the new mope?" Mikey turned and stared exited at Donatello hoping for a yes.

Donnie looked back and nodded his head.

"Yes of course, do you remember where it is?" He asked the now almost jumping turtle.

"Ye dude it's in the fourth closet right?"

"Yes, it should be behind the turtlewalker."

"Ok thanks D!" Mikey yelled exited and left the lab.

Splinter and Leo both raised an eyebrow and looked questionable towards Donatello.

Noticing their confused looks he sighed.

"A turtlewalker is a machine I made for distracting the enemies whenever we are chased, it has our footprints and may lead the enemy off curse." He calmly explained and turned back to the half-finished showerhead.

"Sounds promising Donatello, but may I ask, is the forth closet not used for non-finished projects of yours?" Master Splinter asked while stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Yes it is, why?"

Master Splinter opened his mouth to answer but Leo came first.

"What would the mop be doing in there and not in the cleaning closet?" Leo spoke and scratched the back of his head.

"Well Mikey complained about it not being fun to clean with it and came up with the idea to put a Walkman or so into it so you could listen to music while cleaning, so he asked me to put that in and I also made it automatic so you can now control it with a remote controller so you don't have to get wet feet yourself!" Don explained and looked over his shoulder proudly only to see his father shaking his head lightly.

"Donatello how much I know how boring housework can be, then I feel like I must warn you, not everything should be turned into technology, sometimes things are better off being their original selves. Besides it is good for Michelangelo to do some housework now and then." Master Splinter explained in a light tone.

Donny looked shocked up on his sensei, he had only wanted to make it easier for Mikey to clean and more fun! Besides it was a fun little project to do!

"But Master Splinter-"

"No buts, what you have created has been created, but for future reference, only use your materials and energy on necessary items, such as the showerhead."

"Ok sensei, but what about-"

CLASH BANG

"What was that?" Leo asked as all three turned towards the door. Donnie stood up from his seat and began to walk toward Splinter and Leo.

"AAARRGHH DONNIEEE HELP ME! IT'S TRYING TO KILL ME!" They heard Mikey's panicked scream and ran towards the door and opened it. They looked around the lair only to see the floor was almost swimming in water and the couch was flipped over once again and also soaked in water. A trail of water lead them to the bathroom which they followed. As they entering the bathroom they saw Mikey standing in the bathtub with the pole where the showerhead once sat on in his hand trying to fight off a half robotic half wooden mope which had a face on a screen up front and it showed an angry emoticon.

"Mikey I don't think that's how you clean the floor" Leo said jokingly with a little grin over the sight of his brother's horrified look.

"Not funny dude! Help me out here will you?" Mikey almost yelled back as he landed a successful hit on the robotic mop and it went still.

"Huh did I kill it?" Mikey asked as he slowly climbed out of the tub towards his family without turning his back to the mop.

"I don't think do, there is still light in the screen." Donatello said and pointed towards it. The screen was still having a green hue to it and sure enough not more than 10 seconds after Don told them the robot turned towards them with a beast face displayed on the screen. It let out a pitch high noise as it started to charge towards the turtles and their sensei.

"AAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!" Mikey screamed and ran for his dear life while his brothers and master Splinter got ready to fight.

-*MEANWHILE*-

"Soo let me get this right, you believe a pack of wolves would be able to take down a whole bear?"

"Ye,"

"Dude the bear would totally rip the wolves to pieces!"

"Narh man, the wolves are fast and they work together, if da bear goes for one, the others would distract it and make it confused. It's called teamwork."

"You got a point, but still the power of a bear would at least kill a few. So if it is 3 for 1, it's a loss for the wolves dude."

"Again they wouldda be too fast for da bear"

"Narh dude a bear can run like 75 km/hour! That's like a car dude!"

"Ya kiddin' me right?"

"Nope ain't kidding you bro"

"I don't believe ya"

"Dude its true! I read it over this website i found the other day!"

"Ya know the internet is lying most of the time right? Prob just some Canadians trying to sound tough."

"Narh dude this is real imma bet 10 bucks on it!"

"I thought ya didn't have an' money?"

"Got a few for helping my dad yesterday, so 10 bucks on it being real or not?"

"I don't have 10 bucks to spare, I gotta save"

"Dude you don't need to give me 10 bucks, if I win I will just keep them! So deal or no deal?"

"Hmmmm… ok deal"

And with that the turtle and the human shook hands at the deal. They were both sitting on the sofa inside Casey's living room and just talking. Raph had been taking a shower and Casey wanted to talk afterwards. He had said there were something he wanted to tell Raphael, man to turtle. Raph had an idea of what it was. But of course with Casey you could never be sure.

"So what was the think ya wanted to talk about actually?" Raph asked looking over at his friend. He saw Casey tense up. Something was wrong. Was it something with April? No his instinct told him that wasn't it. But what could it be then? He watched as Casey took a deep breath and then looked at him in the eyes.

"There are rumours running around. About a new gangsta group. I didn't catch a name, but they are said to be fast, straight to the point and brutal."

"Well might just be a few youngsta who think they are tough."

Casey shook his head.

"That's not it. These gangstas are special..."

This made Raph raise an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"It's said they are mutants Raph, mutants running around stealing and killing."

"Casey, no matta if they were pinkies like you or greenies like us, it won't matta in the end!"

"I don't know for sure, but I aint having a good feeling about it dude…" Casey leaned back into the worn-out sofa. Raphael frowned at this and looked at the floor. It was not everyday something made Casey feel bad.

"Well if this can make even the Casey Jones feel bad then i guess it is worth checking out. Wanna come with us tonight to check it out?" Raph looked up at his friend.

"Naarh dude I can't. Promised Mrs. Johnson i would look after her cat tonight"

"Wha? Ya got demoted to a cat-sitter now? What da shell?"

"Hey it's good money! She pays me like 50 bucks per hour!"

"…man next time you are paying for the pizzas."

"Haha no problem dude! What is Aprils favorite?"

"How da shell should I know?!"

"Could be that you knew"

"Nope!"

Casey shrugged his shoulders and drank the last of his soda before he leaned back into the sofa. He closed his eyes and gave out a sigh. he liked spending time with his mutant friend, they were best friends after all. He felt the sofa shift and he knew Raph was gonna go for tonight, maybe later they could hang out again.

"Ok Cas, I will look into dis new group tonight during patrol. For now, I will need ta get home before Masta Splinter gets angry," the red cladded turtle stood up and walked towards the back window. Casey stood up behind the turtle and gave a Raph a shoulder bump.

"Say hi to the others from me!" Casey said and smiled to his best friend.

Raph turned his head and give him a grin.

"Of course! Cya Cas and thanks for da tip!" The turtle yelled as he jumped out of the window and onto the fire escape, making his way down to the manhole.

Luckily it was starting to get dark, so he didn't have any problems with staying in the shadows.

He lifted the man cover and jumped down into the murky sewer water. It felt cool against his feet and ankles and it made a shiver run up his legs. It was not that he wasn't used to it, but it was almost November. It had been a hot summer but it quickly turned cold, and this year was just a little bit colder than usual.

He looked up and noticed pink footprints still covered the sewer floor, making a path for someone to follow to their home. Raph sighed and went over to touch the paint. It was still wet, which meant he just had to splash some water over it and it would be gone. Well better now than never, he thought and as he walked home, he splashed the dirty water up on the walking path and the footprints would disappear.

He thought back on the events earlier that day, sure it was Mikey's idea, but it was Dons flying fly thing which he used. Raph grinned to himself, so his brothers were going together behind his back?

"Well guess I'll have a lot of fun whenever I come home. Watch out little brothers, you will be the ones who will be pink next," he said to no one but himself and continued on his journey home.

-xxx- Author Note –xxx-

Goodday/evening everyone!

Here is the first chapter of my first story in a long LONG time… so sorry for the mistakes :l

This chapter was actually supposed to be longer, but I when I reached the 17 pages, I decided to split it up in 2 chapters, so expect chapter 2 to come up later on today ;)

I'm kinda writing this as it goes, so some of the chapters will take longer to upload than others, also since I got both school and work, it won't be everyday that I upload a chapter, sorry…

But I hope you enjoyed the chapter so far! I had a lot of fun with it, and I hope I stayed in character! Xd

Feel free to R&R, critics, suggestions and ideas are welcome too!

Lots of Love

-Dd

Ps. I don't own the TMNT™