Author's Note: This AN is being written 5/16/19, the day the story is being published. I have not worked on this story since 11/20/18. The prequel has been on hiatus as of 12/31/18 and I am in the process of rewriting/ doing severe editing of the original story. The first 10 and a half chapters of this story were written over seven months ago. The rest of the story is currently on hiatus but the 10 written chapters will be irregularly uploaded until they are all up and eventually I will write the remaining ones.

Anyway, this first chapter is a recap of the first story and the time passed between the two. The chapter is written in Mikey's perspective but the recap is told from Donnie's perspective.

New York

Present Day

Anyone who has been to New York City knows it's a beautiful place. Known for its skyscrapers and bustle, it was a great place to visit though the natives didn't share their appreciation. They all loved it despite the fact they'd never do anything but complain about it.

But back to the beauty of it. It was night, the sky dark. The moon was full and its light rained down on the urban roads and buildings. There was some pollution clogging up the air but from a distance, it too added to the view. Alongside the tips of the highest structures, it gave New York this certain feel no other place had.

Far from this beautiful night, though not that far at all, there was another beautiful sight however it was a different kind of beauty. One that not anyone could see. Far below the parallel streets of New York, the sewer lines match their complexity and organization but like any other place, the sewers were disgusting.

One would wonder how something amazing as New York's surface could lie in this swampish region but deep into the sewers, there was a haven from the grotesqueness of it all. This haven was known to its inhabitants as the Lair.

The Lair had been nearly empty for the good part of the past ten years and now it was anything but empty. The occupant who had been there previously was gone, reduced to ashes in a box beside a small shrine, but the newcomers were animated on this fine night.

In the common room, a tiger sat at a table with the two mutants who he'd consider his adopted children if they hadn't been brought together out of survival. The blue-masked turtle and the human girl in shiny new armor were listening to the tiger's words with interest. He was teaching them an ancient Chinese game he'd learned long ago. The three shared Japanese heritage but since they'd met in China, the tiger felt it was important that they learn about Chinese culture now that they had access to the material things of the modern world. Living in a forest, they never had the pieces to the game but to their delight, they found them in the lair and the three of them were engrossed into it.

On the opposite side of the common room, a rhinoceros was telling a story about his life in Russia. A huge turtle in a black mask was soaking up every detail like a sponge while a chimpanzee muttered about exaggerations. Nearby, an alligator and a red haired girl were doing the same but the story was about America rather than Russia. A good story nonetheless.

Above in the dojo, a red-masked turtle could be seen wrestling with a human boy dressed in black. They were rolling around and growling with effort to come out on top but it was clear the mutant was still being careful not to injure the human. At the other end of the dojo, a fish with metal legs was showing a warthog a spinning kick. The fish laughed loudly as the warthog executed the move with a flair that gave the attack a bit more oomph but looked hilarious.

The lair was lively after so many years of tranquility and in the middle of all the liveliness stood a turtle in an orange mask. At his side was a gecko wearing saggy pants. The turtle ran around the lair and up to each group every few minutes, pestering them, before running off to pester another. The gecko trailed behind him with the same excitement but not the same volume.

"Mikey, can't you calm down for just a minute?" Leo asked, looking up from the round of mahjong.

"Nope," Mikey said with a happy grin.

Raph and Casey momentarily stopped their tumbling. Raph got up and looked out from the dojo. "I bet I could make you sit still."

"No, you could not," Leatherhead rumbled as April took a break from her story. "Believe me, I have tried many times. I found it was best just to embrace his excitement."

"That sounds horrible."

"It was. That was why I retreated to an oasis while Michelangelo, Bebop, and Mondo Gecko raced around the Outback on their jeep," Leatherhead responded.

"Man, I miss that jeep," Mikey said. Mondo nodded silently. He hadn't been saying much lately but his eyes suddenly brightened.

"Can we bring the jeep to the lair?" he asked, his voice breaking mid sentence.

"No," came the reply.

"You're no fun," Mondo grumbled.

"I'm clan leader. If I say you can't do something, it's because it's ridiculous not because I'm no fun," Leo told him. "Otherwise I'd be really excited about having a car. I don't think I've ever seen one before."

"We saw one on our way to the Shredder's lair," Karai reminded him.

"Oh that's right."

"A car would be nice," April commented. "Maybe Donnie'll build one in his spare time if he can get the parts."

"Hey, where is Donnie anyway?" Casey asked. The group looked around and saw that neither Donnie nor Rahzar were present.

"I know! I'll go look for them!" Mikey shouted after a moment and raced off into another room with Mondo close behind. The rest of the mutants and humans gave huge sighs of relief now that they could have some peace.

Mikey and Mondo wandered through the lair. First, they checked the garage. When they first arrived, Donnie had talked about turning it into a lab but they soon realized that it was the only room big enough to be a suitable sleeping area for the largest mutants so that idea was abandoned. Donnie and Rahzar weren't there.

The two knew better than to check the dojo. Raph, Casey, Fishface, and Bebop were in there right now and they knew that their clanmates weren't in the room behind the dojo that Leo and Tiger Claw currently shared.

They peeked into the old storage room where Rockwell slept and keep his research. Donnie and Rahzar weren't there either. They checked the room that had once been a guest room of sorts. Bebop and Fishface shared that room and there was nothing there but a couple of cots and a stack of CDs.

That just left the bedrooms. There were four of them, one for each turtle back when they lived here when they were younger. Mikey knew who slept in each room but he had a hard time remembering which room was which. He knew which one was his and Mondo's but he couldn't remember which one was Donnie's and Rahzar's so he ended up looking into Raph and Casey's and Karai and April's before finding it.

"There you are!" Mikey exclaimed when he opened the door. Rahzar and Donnie were sitting on each of their beds across from each other. Each had a book and pencil in hand. "Whatcha doin'?"

Mikey tried to grab the book from Donnie's hand but he pulled it away. Mondo entered the room and tried the same with Rahzar but the super mutant just held it up out of his reach. After a few seconds the lowered his arm back down. Mondo tried again, Rahzar pretended to try to jerk it away but let Mondo grab it. Mondo smiled gleefully.

"We're journaling," Donnie said. "It's private stuff, you're not supposed to read other people's journals."

"Especially not Donnie's," Rahzar said. "Skip past all the boring parts and it's like a teenage girl's diary in there."

"You've read it?!" Mikey questioned with a look at Rahzar. "Why did he get to read it?"

"Because he's my best friend," Donnie responded.

"But I'm your brother!" Mikey whined. "Can I read it?"

"Fine," Donnie sighed, knowing that Mikey could probably get away with anything, and let Mikey grab it. "Just don't go back to far, just read what I wrote today."

"Yes!" Mikey exclaimed then calmed down. "So what's a journal?"

"It's like a book where humans write about their feelings and what they do," Mondo explained as he leafed through Rahzar's journal. "Jason used to have one but he liked talking to me better so he gave up."

Mikey nodded and flipped open to where there was a bookmark.

"Dear journal, I haven't written an entry in over four months. I've been busy and I haven't had time to write. I had a dream that changed my life. But before that I was working on-" Mikey cut off from his reading. "Blah, blah, blah, science stuff, blah. Skip. Master Splinter, my father, came to my brothers and I in a dream and he summoned us back to New York. Ten years after the Shredder tore our family apart, he finally contacted us."

Mondo handed Rahzar back his journal, more interested in what Mikey was reading.

"I've lived in Antarctica for nearly all of our time apart. I'd never tried to leave but with the help of Dr. Rockwell, April, and Rahzar, I was able to build a ship in about three months," Mikey continued reading. "Woah dude. You build a boat?"

"A ship," Donnie corrected. "Like a plane, not a boat. I don't think we would've been able to get here by boat."

Mondo scoffed. "We did."

"You got here by boat?" Donnie questioned slowly. "From Australia?"

"That's right," Mikey said.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just hitch a ride on a plane?" Rahzar asked, confused. He tilted his head. His flaccid ears flopped over to one side like a dog's.

Mikey shrugged.

"Have you ever tried getting a mutant alligator onto a plane?" Mondo asked. He finished the sentence with a cough.

"Try not to talk much. You're vocal cords are still recovering from when you strained them," Donnie told him. Mondo opened his mouth to respond then closed it and nodded.

"Anyway. I'm really glad Rahzar, Rockwell, and April came to New York with me. I don't know what I would've done without them. Though I do wish they hadn't thrown themselves into a fight the second I was reunited with my brothers," Mikey continued. He looked up at his brother. "Bro, me too. Me too. I can't believe I'm back with them after all this time. We haven't talked much but while I was in Antarctica, Raph was in the Andes, Leo was in the Chinese forests, and Mikey was in the Outback! And they weren't alone either. Raph lived with these guys called Slash, Fishface, and Casey. Leo continued his training with a mutant named Tiger Claw and a girl named Karai and he was educated by another mutant called Rocksteady. Mikey had all these crazy adventures with some mutants called Leatherhead, Bebop and Mondo Gecko. But as happy as I was to see my brothers, my joy didn't last long as Master Splinter died soon after we finally found him. He'd suffered a fatal injury and was only keeping himself alive long enough to see us with his spiritual power. I don't remember a lot about being a ninja but that would've been really interesting to study if my father had not died."

Rahzar flattened his ears to tune out Mikey. He picked up a pencil and continued writing.

"Master Splinter was killed by the Shredder. Master Splinter told us that the Foot Clan was growing powerful and was ready to launch an attack on New York and that it was up to us and our new companions to stop him," Mikey read. "We spent the next month training. My ninja training came back to me pretty easily despite all the time that has passed. Its like what they say about bikes, once you learn, you cannot forget it. Leo and Raph spent the last ten years improving their fighting skills so there's a pretty good chance they'll be training Mikey and me over the course of the next few months."

Rahzar growled as he dropped the pencil. His claw split and he flapped his paw around in pain. Like Mondo and many other members of the new Hamato Clan, he had not fully recovered from the fight with the Foot.

"Some of the others had a hard time training. I don't think April had ever thrown a punch in her life. Thankfully I manage to convince her to manage communications instead of joining the fight. On the other hand, Rahzar seemed like he was born to fight. He's amazing. Rockwell had a little trouble repurposing his telekinesis but it worked out in time for the final fight," Mikey read. "The battle with the Foot was hard. The Shredder actually had his own small army of mutants but they were no match for our clan. The Shredder himself was much harder. He kicked out shells. Leo got a pretty nasty cut on his face and Raph got one along his jaw. Both will probably leave scars but I tried treating everyone's injuries to the best of my ability."

In the journal, Donnie taped the list he'd made of everyone's injuries. While they were all being treated, he'd put the list on the refrigerator.

"It's been about two weeks since the Foot's defeat. Leo's friend Tiger Claw is worried that a Pseudo Foot Clan will rise. We're not really focusing on that right now. We've got to situate the lair to fit all of us. Most of us are sharing a room with someone. I don't mind much, I like being roommates with Rahzar but April and Leo's friend Karai are rooming together in Leo's old room which is kind of weird. They're very different people, I hope that April get her own room eventually." Mikey paused as he skipped over some more parts where Donnie talked about his thoughts on everything that was happening. "Mikey found extras of our old masks the other day. I don't really want to give up my techno glasses so I pushed them up so I wear them on top of my head, ready to flip down if I need to do a scan or something, while my mask rests in its appropriate place. It's a nice representation of my ninja heritage and my life of science."

"My brothers seem to have similar mindsets. When Raph lived in the Andes, he wore a red bandana around his neck. It confused me at first but he told me that it was the remains of something Fishface had held onto during his life as a human. Also it kept bugs off his neck. Mikey lived in the Outback, he had an orange sun sat to keep the sun off of him. Their masks don't really interfere with their other accessories but Leo had some complications," Mikey read. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Tiger Claw had given him a mask too. He didn't want to throw it away so he tied it around his bicep while he wore the mask Splinter had given him on his face like the rest of us."

"There are a lot of us living in the lair now, sixteen to be exact. It's a bit crowded and there's a big food shortage. When we were little, getting food was a problem but we're not little anymore and there are so many of us now. Scavenging isn't really going to support all of us anymore so I'm thinking about trying to make some sort of farm," Mikey continued. He stopped and looked up from the journal to its owner. "Dude, that'd be really cool."

"Are you done now?" Donnie asked holding out his hand.

"No!" Mikey pulled Donnie's journal against his chest. "There's still so much more!"

"I talk about how I feel about everyone, the fight with the Foot in a bit more detail, the work we've been doing around the lair, and how I treated everyone's injuries, your's in particular. The temperature change from Australia to New York did a number on you," Donnie told him. "Can I have my journal back now?"

Mikey grumbled and handed it back.

"Thank you."

"Mikey," Mondo tapped at Mikey's arm. "We should keep journals! Jason once told me that if you write something down, you'll never forget it. You told me that when we met, you were sad because you kept forgetting. If you journal like Donnie and Rahzar, that won't happen anymore!"

Mikey's face lit up. "That's a great idea! Donnie, Donnie, Donnie, Don, Don, Donie! Can I have a journal?"

"I don't have an spares on me…"

"I do," Rahzar said. He reached over to the lone dresser in the room. He pulled open a drawer that was filled with journals.

"Wow!"

"Those are all filled," Rahzar told Mikey before he could get too excited. "Donnie and I grabbed all of ours when we came here. I'm not sure about April and I don't know if Rockwell kept any. He was the one who told us to so I guess he probably did. Anyway, that one in the back corner should be empty."

Mikey picked up the journal and began looking through it at all the blank pages.

"I only have one and paper might be kinda hard to come by," Rahzar told him. "You and Mondo may want to do some kind of joint journal. Like you write one day, he writes the next day or something."

"That's a great idea!" Mikey exclaimed.

"We could call it the Booyacabunga journal," Mondo said dramatically.

"Thanks Rahzar!" Mikey said. "Come on, Mondo, let's go write our joint journal."

The two raced out of the room. Donnie and Rahzar exchanged a look. Rahzar fiddled with his broken claw.

"That brother of yours has a lot of energy, doesn't he?"

"Yes," Donnie said. "Yes he does."