Chapter 2: Divided We Fail

A/N: Here's the second chapter to this little tale. I want to thank those who have read and reviewed thus far as your kind words mean the world to me. Thanks to Illusionna for being kind enough to let me borrow her characters and take them on more adventures. I hope that all of you enjoy this chapter too.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related character are property of Nickelodeon. The Phoenix, her children, and any other characters from The Other Side of the City are property of Illusionna and are used with permission from the author. I only own the plot and nothing more than that.

The night was bright with stars though you couldn't see them with all of the city lights. The Turtles and the Children of the Phoenix raced across the rooftops, happy to be out for patrol.

"Okay, team, let's split up the patrols," Leo instructed. "Raph, you and Medusa go west. Mikey, you and Aries go east. Donnie, you and Arcos go south. I'll take north and we'll meet back here in two hours."

"I'm sorry, but we're not taking orders from you," Aries said.

Leo glared at him sternly. "We're all working together and I'm the leader, so I give the directions."

"We're the Children of the Phoenix," Medusa declared. "We can handle ourselves without you guys."

"Why don't you guys go east and west and we'll go north and south?" Arcos suggested.

"Look, my brother knows what he's talking about," Raph said. "It'll work better if we work together."

"But your leader wants to go off on his own," Aries pointed out. "Does he think he's too good to have a partner?"

"No, this is just the way it's worked out," Raph answered. "So, unless you can pull out a fourth member for your team out of your ass, this is the way it's gonna be whether you like it or not."

"You're only saying that because Leo put you with my sister," Aries countered.

Raph growled and moved toward the ram, but Leo cut him off.

"Enough!" he ordered. "You either listen to me, or you can go off on your own."

"I think we'll go off on our own," Aries replied. He motioned to his siblings and they headed south.

Leo sighed. "Change of plans, guys. Looks like we're all going to take east and west."

"I can't believe they just wanna go off on their own!" Raph complained. "What a bunch of morons!"

"I agree with Raph," Donnie added. "Sensei has always stressed that there's strength in numbers."

"I always thought they were gonna be our friends," Mikey said sadly.

"Cheetahs don't change their spots," Raph grumbled.

"I believe the saying is, Leopards don't change their spots," Donnie corrected.

"Whatever," Raph muttered.

"I know this isn't what we wanted, but we can't force the Children of the Phoenix to ally with us," said Leo. "Maybe they'll come around in time."

"I hope you're right, bro," said Raph pessimistically.

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Meanwhile, the Children of the Phoenix were doing their patrol route as well.

"I can't believe Leonardo!" Aries huffed. "Who is he to tell us what to do?"

"Well, he IS the leader and Master Splinter did tell him he needs to lead everyone," Medusa pointed out.

"If you think he's right, then go and join him!" Aries snapped.

"I'm just saying that we need to learn to get along with them," explained Medusa. "They aren't our enemies anymore. We have to trust them."

"It'll be a cold day in hell before I ever trust them," countered Aries.

"What do you think, Arcos?" Medusa asked him.

"I get why Aries doesn't trust them, but I see your point about getting along with them," answered Arcos. "I say we just let Fate take its course just like Mama says and go from there."

Aries made a noise in his throat but said nothing more about it. As they raced across the rooftops, they suddenly noticed a group of men surrounding a woman. One of the men grabbed her purse while the others laughed.

"That's not good," Medusa said.

"Let's help her," Aries suggested.

The Children of the Phoenix jumped down and confronted the group of men.

"Didn't your mom tell you not to disrespect women?" Aries asked.

The leader of the group glared at him. "Stay out of this, freak!" he snapped. "This doesn't concern you."

"If you're hassling women for no reason, it does concern us," Arcos replied.

"Give her back her purse and let her go!" Medusa commanded.

The leader of the group laughed. "And what are you gonna do if I don't?" he taunted.

"This," Medusa answered and flicked out her whip, trapping the man. She yanked on it and took him off his feet.

"Get them!" the leader commanded.

His henchmen advanced toward the mutants, but they attacked as one and managed to take most of them down. But just as Medusa was grappling with one of the thugs, the leader snuck up and stabbed her with a knife. She shrieked in pain, releasing her attacker and clutching her side.

"Dus!" Aries yelled.

Arcos roared and grabbed the man, throwing him against the wall while Aries ran to his sister's side.

Aries put pressure on the stab wound, but he knew they had to get out of there. "Arcos, tell the Turtles what happened and we're on the way to the Lair," he ordered.

Arcos took out his T-Phone and texted Leo what had happened. Leo answered back that he and his brothers would meet them there.

They ran to the Lair and put Medusa in the infirmary. It was hard to carry her, but both boys managed it. Phoenix and Splinter hurried in when they saw what had happened.

"Medusa!" Phoenix cried as she rushed to her daughter's side. "What happened to her?"

"We encountered a group of thugs, and one of them stabbed Medusa," Aries answered.

"Why are my sons not with you?" Splinter asked.

Aries hung his head. "We split up from them to do separate patrols," he replied.

The Turtles arrived then, but before Donnie could even examine Medusa, Phoenix had already healed her.

"Thank goodness the wound wasn't too deep," she said.

Leo rounded on Aries. "Why didn't you call us when you encountered those thugs?" he demanded.

"We didn't need your help at the time!" Aries snapped.

"Yeah, and now your sister got stabbed because you were too stubborn to take orders from my brother!" yelled Raph.

"Enough!" Splinter and Phoenix shouted.

"Aries, why did you split up?" Phoenix asked her son.

"Because I didn't want to take orders from him!" responded Aries as he pointed a hoof at Leo.

Splinter and the Phoenix looked very stern at this news.

"Children, we will stay here to discuss this matter," Phoenix said sternly.

Her children nodded. "Yes, Mama," they chorused.

"Leonardo, I will see you in the dojo," Splinter said. "The rest of you are to stay in the living area."

Leo bowed. "Hai, Sensei," he said as he followed his father.

When they were gone, Mikey turned to his brothers. "Eavesdrop?" he asked them.

Donnie and Raph nodded. "Eavesdrop," they replied.

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Phoenix paced in front of her children. "Aries, why would you make such a stupid move?" she asked him.

"I already told you! I don't want to take orders from that arrogant Turtle!"

"The Turtles and Splinter are not our enemies," she replied. "They were kind enough to open their home to us when we needed them."

"We didn't need them at all!" Aries retorted. "I'm sorry, Mama, but I just can't trust them after all we've been through."

"What do the rest of you think about this?"

"I agree with you, Mama," Medusa answered. "They've been so kind to us and they haven't even tried to hurt us."

"You're just saying that because you like the red one," Aries retorted.

"Aries, chut!" Phoenix commanded. "I want to hear Arcos' opinion."

"I agree with you, Mama," Arcos answered. "The Turtles have been very kind to us and if they wanted to kill us, they would have done so many times."

"Very astute reasoning, Teddy Bear," Phoenix praised him. "You too, Curly Que."

Aires stuck out his lip. "I don't care what anyone says," he said stubbornly. "I still don't trust them."

"That is a shame, Lamb's Ear," Phoenix said gently. "I hope that in time, you'll change your mind. For now, you are grounded for two weeks. Arcos and Medusa are exempt because they didn't make the decision to not trust our allies."

"They did at first and they followed me," Aries replied.

"But we realized how stupid we were to do that and feel bad about it," Medusa countered.

"Aries, you are still punished for disobeying Leonardo," Phoenix said. "You must learn to work together and listen to those who are wiser."

Aries said, but he really wanted to tell his mother where she could stick her opinion.

Arcos went to the living area while Medusa stayed in bed per Donnie's orders. Aries left to go to his own room for a bit while Phoenix went to clean up the kitchen.

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"Leonardo, what happened?" Splinter asked his son.

"I suggested that the Children go two ways and we would go the other two ways," Leo explained. "Aries didn't want to do it even though I explained to him that I was the leader of the group. He said he wasn't going to take orders from me and left with his siblings."

Splinter stroked his beard. "I see," he mused. "It appears that trust is not as easy to gain as I had thought."

"I guess not, Sensei," Leo answered. "I'm sorry I failed you. I guess I still have a lot to learn about leadership."

Splinter put a paw on his son's shoulder. "Leonardo, you take your role too much to heart," he said gently. "You will never fail me no matter what you may think. I will always be proud of you for doing your best. I hope that in time, Aries will begin to trust us. United you are stronger while divided you fail to achieve your objective. Perhaps you should remind Aries of this for he is the one who failed, not you."

"I'll try, Master Splinter," Leo said, bowing his head.

"That is all I ask," Splinter replied as he pulled his son in for a hug.

Outside the dojo, Mikey pretended to sniff. "It's a Kodak moment," he remarked.

"Mikey, you do have your phone, you know," Donnie pointed out.

Mikey brightened. "Oh, yeah," he said and took out his phone to snap a picture of Leo and his father hugging. "I can so use this for blackmail later."

"I heard that, Michelangelo!" Splinter yelled. "What have I told you boys about eavesdropping?"

"Busted!" Raph whispered.

Splinter gathered his other three sons to lecture them while Leo left to go watch television. He knew Splinter was right and that it was going to take time for Aries to trust them. He just hoped that it would be soon for he could feel that things were not going to be calm for long.

"I wouldn't feel frustrated, Leonardo," Arcos said. "Aries has always been like that. He'll come around, and Mama already punished him. For what it's worth, I do trust you guys and so does Medusa."

Leo smiled at the bear. "Thanks, Arcos," he said. "What are you watching?"

"A Giants game," Arcos answered. "Unless you want to watch Space Heroes instead."

"Nah, we can watch this," Leo replied.

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Aires quietly left the Lair and sat outside for a bit. Deep down, he knew his mother and siblings were right, but there was still something in him that said he couldn't trust the Hamato family. Maybe it would be better if he didn't stay there. With is mind made up, Aries left to strike out on his own, but little did he know that it was a decision that he would regret later.

A/N: Another chapter is done! Looks like Aries is running away. So, what will happen next and how will the others react to it? You'll find out in the next chapter. Also, I did leave in a few references to one of the movies in here too. Whoever can guess what they are and which movie they are from gets a virtual Turtle plushie. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.