Author's Notes

(1) i DO NOT own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

(2) There are several OCs in this -this chapter and the next few are supposed to serve more as an introduction. Also, this is set along the 2003-onwards series.

(3) PLZ review!! I'm new to this whole thing!

Professor Robert Adkins had been trying to prove that human-animal hybrids could be created for years and his less than humane measures had ensured his fall from grace. Although he was now ridiculed and had lost his job as Genetic Engineering professor at one of the USA's leading universities, he had persisted with his difficult research. Using extensive computer simulations, as well as the use of a genetics lab under the sewers of the city of New York and generous funds, he had been searching for the right mix of genes needed to produce a human-avian hybrid.

His benefactor was not well known for his temper or patience, and the constant delays meant the Professor was down to his last warning, and he only had a few hours to get the balance right before the rich resourceful man he worked for phoned, demanding an update. If there were any more hold-ups in finding a new subject, it would be his head on the line.

Across from the computer terminal where the man worked was a large glass tank, filled with rocks and small hiding places. A light was rigged to give out a high temperature and create desert-like conditions. It looked like a tank for a snake, but the only occupant was Adkins first 'subject', a boy he had dubbed Tzu. He had been a prisoner for a couple of years, and Adkins was proud of him. Tzu was his first proof of what he had been trying to show his entire career –human hybrids could be mixed with amphibian and reptilian creatures. Tzu was currently under the shelter of a boulder, looking out of green eyes at his master without Adkins being able to see the hate in his eyes.

But his benefactor had set another test of his capabilities –if he could produce a human-avian creature, then Adkins could expect a high price for his creations and a limitless number of test subjects. Entering into this partnership had been his smartest move.

The computer bleeped, having finished running the last simulation. Adkins could hardly believe his eyes when he read the screen. There was what he had been searching for; before his eyes was the combination of human to avian genes needed to create a successful hybrid that was strong, fast and agile, able to fly just as a bird did. Now all he needed was a new human subject to test the theory out on. Still, there was nothing his new partner wouldn't be able to help him with.

Just then the phone rang, interrupting his celebrating mood. He eyed the phone; he knew that only one person had the number to this underground laboratory. He had cut it close. Lifting the receiver to his ear, he took the call.

"Have you made any progress?" said the voice of the scientist's benefactor. "I trust you know the punishment that you face if you have not fulfilled your end of our bargain?"

"I'm delighted to report that the first phase of the project is over, and since the simulations take up the most time, we are now onto the second and easier phase of the project. I have the perfect mix of DNA to create the ideal human-avian hybrid. All I need to do now is secure a subject and test the theory practically."

"I trust you are already looking for one, Adkins," the man said. "And be careful who you snatch. The last thing we need is a public scare like when you took the last one."

"I assure you, no one will notice that anyone has vanished, and if they do, they will not uproot the city."

"You'd better make sure of that," said the man before terminating the call.

Adkins looked at Tzu's tank. That boy had been so popular that his friends and family had caused a major fuss and whipped up a witch hunt for many weeks, slowing the rate of progress. This time would be different. He had been staking out a family with more than one child and he knew that, although they were tourists, they didn't have the money to stay for a suspended search once their flight was ready to go. And that plane was due to go in a couple of days.

He dispatched the assistants his benefactor had loaned to him, telling them which target to take and where it was likely they would find her. He had been careful to have her tailed, and he knew she always went the same route. It would be no problem for two highly trained ninja masters to grab an untrained and unsuspecting citizen girl.

On the surface, Arianna Jenkins turned down another alley of New York, following the same route she had jogged every single morning since arriving in New York. She had run it every day for a week, and knew every inch of her route. Now she was on her way back to the hotel, and she would be just in time for breakfast.

Arianna had always been sportive, the racer out of the three Jenkins siblings. Frank was the musical one, preparing to sit hid fourth grade at the piano and fifth grade at the violin, and Lucy was the academic one, always scoring the highest points in every test she took. All Arianna wanted to do was attend sports college and go on to teach at a school.

As she ran, the music pumping into her ears through the headphones allowed her to settle into her own rhythm. It also blocked out the noise of the traffic, and the sound of problems sneaking up behind her.

The first she knew of anything amiss was when someone grabbed her from behind, jerking her away from the end of the alley and into the shadows. She couldn't make out her attackers, and soon she couldn't move, cry out or see. She was tied hand and foot, with a gag tied firmly in place and a blindfold securely fastened over her eyes before someone jerked her over their shoulder.

But she did still have a sense of smell and soon a very unpleasant odour hit her nose. There was only one place that could stink like this, and that had to mean her assailants had taken her into New York's sewers. Her mind was racing with unanswerable questions. Who were these people? What did they want? Where were they going?

For an immeasurable amount of time she was carried like a sack of potatoes through the sewers of one of the largest sprawling cities in the world. Then she was set down but the blindfold was left on. She felt something cover her mouth and nose, forcing her to breathe in the paralysing drug that also knocked her unconscious. When she woke, she was no longer Arianna Jenkins.