Utsukushī Shikaku

Summary: April O'Neil thought all surprises were over when she met the turtles, after all what could be crazier than teenage mutant ninja turtles? Well, how about a group of teens called the Scarlet Carsons, vigilantes with pasts drenched in blood, who are not they seem. Surprised? TurtlesxOC's.

A/N: I have mixed feelings on this story- There are little reviews yet people are definitely reading it. So I'm gonna offer another chapter for inspection. Enjoy readers!

Disclaimer: TMNT belongs to Nickelodeon and it's fantastic.

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As soon as April set the box down, it was fair game. The first was Mikey, then Donnie, Raph and- well let's put it this way.

The pizza never stood a chance.

A good fifteen minutes later, only crumbs remained inside the cardboard container, cornered on the floor like the helpless prey it was.

Leo had shifted to the TV, the bad-acting of Space Heroes lighting up the small screen much the leaders delight. Raph and Mikey were fully engulfed in their own comic books, while April was buzzing up her laptop, eagerly checking blogs for any activity with Donnie taking some form of notes in a small book.

The purple banded turtle perked at April's small sound of surprise, her blue eyes widening in surprise. "What is it April?" Donatello closed the book, his attention fully on the human girl.

"Remember that picture I showed you earlier?" April asked, looking down at the mechanically gifted ninja turtle, "The one with the flower?"

"Yeah."

"I think I found out what it is- Look at this..." She absentmindedly patted the spot next to her on the stone step. Don tried to calm the blood bounded for his cheeks as he took a spot close to the fiery-ponytailed girl.

She motioned with the mouse to a photo of the scarlet colored flower painted on a brick wall. She scanned the comments and exclaimed, "I had a feeling it wasn't natural!"

"What's not natural?" Leonardo threw the question over his shoulder, eyes still glued to the TV set.

"Besides your obsession with a fiction character? Nothing- why ya ask?" Raphael piped up, much to the growing annoyance of the blue banded brother.

"It says here that this flower has been seen elsewhere- throughout the country, over the past year or so." April summarized, "No one has claimed ownership of it so far- the real kicker is that every tine this drawing has been spotted, a crime was reported a few hours later."

"So it's like some kind of sign?" Mikey sat up and closed his reading material.

"Exactly." O'Neil pursed her lips in a bow shape, "I wonder what it means though..."

"Hey, look at this-" Donatello read from the article's description, "'No known flora can be directly identified with the drawing. Some claim that the flower was made up the image simply a vision of whatever the original artist intended to depict a real mystery.'"

"Made up? Why make it up?" Mikey scratched his head, confused.

Leo thought for a moment, "Maybe it's not the flower, that's important, but the message behind it that matters."

"Or- it could just be one big coincidence." The hard-hitting red turtle added uninterestedly.

"There is no coincidence- only the illusion of coincidence." A deep, wise voice rang out in an echo effect living in a sewer creates. The tall presence of Master Splinter glides into the main room as all eyes shifted to him and the pearls of wisdom he dropped from his muzzle.

April thought about her Sensei's words- the meaning of a coincidence... Was there any coincidences?

As the end theme to Space Heroes played off in the silence Leo spoke up, "It's time for Evening patrols." He dodged the shuriken as it whizzed by his head, jamming into the manual off button displayed on the TV's front panels.

"Can you stop doing that?" Don mentioned to Raph, "If I have to fix another one of those buttons- I might lose it!"

"Yeah, when I start to care I'll let you know-Oomph!" The red banded turtle rubbed his head as the green crystalized staff of his patriarchal figure jade swift contact with it.

"Shouldn't you be headed home April?" Michelangelo asked, referring to the late time.

The girl in turn shook her head, "My aunt's outta town for a few days- besides, I'm due for another Kunoichi training session tonight."

"You sure you're ok being down here?" Donatello looked at his crush with honest concern.

"No place I'd rather be." Her smile was honest, and he in return couldn't help but smile.

With that the four turtles suited up, and headed for the exit- "We'll see you in an hour!"

"Be careful my sons!" Splinter called out one last time as the echo replied back a 'Hai Sensei'.

April placed her laptop away and met her teacher, "I'm ready, Sensei."

This brought a small smile to the rat's face, "Let us begin."

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One of the many things the group of heroes was thankful for was the forced habit New-Yorkers had developed overtime- the outgrown habit of look up. Four figures dashed across rooftops, from building to building with ease. A low, morose fog, had sunken into the city-quite opposite of the way it has been a few hours ago when the sun was still in the sky. While this weather provided an extra layer if security for them, it made their job tougher. The lamplighters gave off an eerie, illusory glow that could easily play with the mind of those who were not careful.

"Man-" Donnie swiped at the heavy layer of smog mere inches in front of his face, "This fog is so thick; you could cut it with a knife."

Mikey perked at his brother, taking his nunchucks and, drawing out the hooked blade, sliced the mist into a smiley face.

"We should split up to cover more ground." Leonardo addressed, "I'll go with Don and Raph- you have Mikey."

Raphael only crossed his arms, not amused in the slightest, "Why do I have to be stuck with Mikey?"

"Because," The blue leader narrowed his eyes, "I had to be stuck with him last time."

Michelangelo only stood there, waving his arms like a maniac, "I'M RIGHT HERE YA KNOW!"

A unanimous 'SHHHH!' came from the trio, quieting him from trying to give away their position.

"Sorry..." He squeaked, sitting on a nearby box, gazing out at the reflective city lights.

Blue and purple headed east while Red and Orange stayed put, watching and waiting out, in a haze of New York City signature-smog.

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Ophelia cursed her heels as she ran down the barren street, dodging into a nearby alley way. She panted, trying to catch her breath, the coast behind her clear for now. She honestly regretted not taking her tessens; however her initial worry of it being discovered on the high school's campus was a legit reason for her to leave them with Cass. Unfortunately for her, the based foot clan found her quicker than she originally anticipated. The dangerous encounter left her body several lacerations- one just above her left breast and a gash on her right side; her body throbbed with a faint aching and the brisk cold brushed her exposed legs. It was only seconds later where three black ninja dropped in the passage, drawing katanas out.

Oh perfect... The brown haired female backed up as the group approached her, she was about to run for it when she tripped back, twisting her ankle in a way that wasn't originally intended to bend. She collapsed on the hard ground, her joint pain springing from her ankle.

Her eyes widened as she looked for any exit but the brick walls and a thick, wooden fence trapped her like a wild animal. Swallowing the lump forming in her throat, she concluded her options were stretched to her limit- so she moved on to the last resort.

Ophelia screamed.

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Blue and purple froze as a blood-curtailing scream rang out in the night. Following the sound, they came upon familiar foot ninja surrounding a helpless female human. Immediately they kept into action, catching the group off-guard and defended the helpless girl. One of the ninja got close enough to shove the girl back into the brick wall, the crushing sound of her skull hitting the mortar caught Leo's ears just in time to see her crumble to the ground in an unconscious heap. The blue leader swiftly disarmed that fateful ninja with his weapon and kicked it into a nearby dumpster. Eventually the infantry retreated, with whatever dignity they had to save.

Leo watched them how with cold eyes before Donatello called his attention back to the damsel.

"She's still alive but she has some serious cuts Leo," The purple banded turtle diagnosed, "We need to get her to a doctor."

"I highly doubt any hospital will accept us Don." Leo hated to be the obvious one but no human in their right mind would come ten feet near them.

"Well, we can't leave her here. What do we do with her?"

Leo immediately had a flashback to Space Heroes. Captain Ryan had gone down to the jungle planet of Kacælor with one of his lieutenants, to see if any peaceful life existed on the surface below. While traveling they ran into a beautiful looking creature that had passed out near river.

"What do we do with her captain?"

Captain Ryan stood up, "We may be explorers, Lieutenant, but we are also men- we cannot leave her here to whatever fate may come of her. Let's take her back to the ship; she may be able to tell us more about this planet."

Shaking himself back to reality, Leo reminded himself of the situation, of the beautiful girl in Donatello's arm that need attention. "Take her back home, it's the quickest way to have her attended to."

"What? Leo you know Master Splinter doesn't want us bringing humans to the sewer!" Donatello hissed quietly, fearing any of Shredder's goons were lying around to hear them.

"Well, he'll have to forgive me this once! It's for the best." Leo scaled the nearby fire escape, "I'll find the others- go!" Before Don could argue further, the leader had vanished off into the night.

The mechanic only sighed, picking the girl up bridal style and headed for the nearest manhole cover- this was not going to be pretty.

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Raphael was just about at the end of his rope- nothing had happened do far and that was enough to bore him but it also bore Mikey as well and when Mikey was bored... Have mercy. He had gone from vividly watching the street to gazing at the street lights to his fingers... A progression of which was destined for a fatal end. Then he began to bother him of no less, asking unnecessary questions to gauge some kind of response. The response nearly cost him his toes, the rebellious brother was about to wail of Mikey when their attention was caught by a whistle.

Peering over the edge of the building the two watched as a blonde haired teen stuck her tongue at a group if purple dragons, egging them on to follow her down an alley just in their view.

Michelangelo had to admit the girl looked rather pretty, with rich, blonde hair and a small, lean frame bouncing up and down in the asphalt street. Raphael was more concerned with the wild-looking band of street crud that had followed her into the dead-end street.

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"Nah-nah- Can't catch me!" Annabelle ran down the straights until she met the brick wall. Spinning around, she cornered herself against four burly guys with axes to grind- literally.

"Nowhere to run now girlie!" One of them taunted as he flashed his shank in her direction. "You're trapped."

"Perhaps I'm not the one trapped," She drawled on, a playful smile on her pink lips, "Perhaps you are the ones trapped in my scheme to conquer the world!"

The men exchanged confused glances, "This chick is nuts." One muttered under his breath.

"She's right though."

The new female voice from behind them spooked the gang, turning to see a smoking-hot teen with curling, fire-engine red hair; eyes shielded by reflective sunglasses.

"You all have five seconds to drop all you have before we get rough." The red-head's hands went to her hips, installing a sense of control over the atmosphere.

The main guy seemed to have had enough, launching toward the woman. She countered easily, taking the blade from his hand, twirling it with simple flourish, before placing it back in his awestruck hand.

"Try it again punk." She jested, stunning the man into actual trying to stab her again. She stopped his hand, restrained it- then proceeded to smack him across the face multiple times with little difficulty. Finally, she grasped his upper arm, swirling it around and into the dirt covered ground.

The others aimed to kill the girl and went for their weapons, only to find them gone.

"Looking for these?" The blonde girl motioned to the various weapons at her feet.

The gang members finally quit, taking off to save their skins. The leader picked his body off the ground, sneering, and "This ain't over brats" before running after his gang.

"Nice going Cass." Annabelle sent her friend a high-five.

The red-head called Cass only shook out her hand, "Damn his head was hard."

"Did you do it?" They took the weapons and deposited them in a nearby dumpster.

Her partner nodded, "They'll find him in the morning." They then began to casually walk away as if nothing had happened, straight out into Raphael and Michelangelo's vision.

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"How did they handle all those purple dragons by themselves?" Raph was baffled.

"Kitties got claws..." Mikey chuckled, "Meeeeeoooooowwwwww."

The two brothers turned to see Leo appear behind them.

"Wassup?" The red masked spoke up first.

Leo pulled his brothers from the edge, "Don and I picked up a wounded girl on Fremont Street. She was being tormented by foot ninja."

"Uh, aren't we not supposed to take humans to the lair?" Mikey gently deadpanned the reminder their father figure told them.

"I know why he said." Leo didn't like being told the same fault again, "Just trust me ok?"

Just before he could turn around, the red masked turtle caught a spark race through his brother's eyes.

"So... Was she ok?" He ran to catch up him.

Leo raised an eye-ridge, suspecting something immediately, "Sort of? They really messed her up. Why so perked Raph?"

"Just wondering; can't a guy be concerned over the safety of a citizen?"

"Riiiggghhhtttt..."

Michelangelo watched his brothers bicker and rolled his light blue eyes,

Brothers' man, what can ya do?

He looked back down on the streets, where the redhead and blonde stood before, however the figures were gone. Frowning a bit, he scanned the streets, seeing no sign of them anywhere.

Where'd they go?

"Yo, Mikey, let's go!"

The orange masked turtle turned from the street without a second thought.

If he would have looked down- he would have seen the two women propped against the wall, listing to their every word with surprise and nervous looks on their faces.

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April struggle to keep her breath calm as she balanced on one foot, upon a stack two-by-fours, surrounded by a bed of burning coals. The faint smoke tickled her nostrils, making it hard her to concentrate on her breathing as instructed.

"Concentrate." Splinter sat across from her, pouring a cup of tea, "Let your mind drain of all worries and distractions, feel the energy flow in, out and through you."

Her eyes were closed, her hearing was almost gone- her body was perfectly still, trembling long stopped-

This feeling… it's so amazing. Like I'm here- but my spirit is elsewhere….

"MASTER SPLINTER!"

April's eyes shot open at the unfamiliar voice awoke her ears once more and she caught herself from falling. She jumped across the coals and rushed to the main hall where she saw Donatello rush with a figure in his arms.

"What is it, Donatello?" The rat answered his son's call.

"There was an attack on the surface; this girl was attacked by the Foot clan." He motioned with his head to the girl in his arms. "She has serious wounds."

April got a look at the girl in the light and gasped, "Ophelia!"

This surprised everyone- "You know this girl?" The sensei asked politely.

"She was a transfer student at my school," April quickly explained, "from Japan. Her name is Ophelia Saīto." Her attention turned to Don, "Where did you find her?"

"Fremont Street- in the second alley, across from the Laundromat-" He distinctly went on, "Leo ordered me to bring her to you. We didn't know if we could get her hospitalized soon enough."

Splinter narrowed his eyes at the hurt girl, examining the blood coming through her shirt, "I will attend to her wounds- though I will need your assistance Ms. O'Neil."

April pointed to herself, "Me, I don't know a thing about medicine."

"Yes, but this is a friend of yours," He lowered his tone; "Also, she is a female."

April's lips went to an 'o' shape as she nodded, following her master into his room, leaving Donatello to await the results.

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The turtle trio raced around the seemingly endless maze of sewer line that ran below the feet of millions of New Yorkers' feet.

"Slow down Heroes Boy!" Raphael called as Leonardo barely broke the sound barrier, "Where's the fire?"

The azul banded fighter forced his body to slow with little success, "The order was my responsibility Raph, I just want to know if it was the right choice, besides Donnie's probably is getting chewed out for it."

The strong gust of wind knocked them into the thin layer of unidentifiable liquid below them. When Leo got to his knees, a pair of neon yellow sneakers, laced with white and yellow laces. His head eyed them up to the face of the figure, whose forest green eyes sparkled with a hint of mischievousness.

"Hi."

Immediately they three drew their respected weapons, the blonde gasping, "Oh no! What am I gonna do?" She giggled before suddenly speeding around them in circles then stopping near another human figure. When the group looked again, their hands were empty, their weapons on the floor at the girls' feet.

Raphael immediately recognized the redhead, but up close she was fuller in detail. Her hair was made of red loose curls that came to the ends of her shoulder blades. She was wearing a white tank top, with black leather jacket, skinny jeans and heeled boots; the sunglasses that once covered her eyes were folded against her voluptuous chest.

"I heard you boys ran into a friend of mine tonight." Her wild eyes were crimson eyes that glistened like rubies.

"You know her?" Leo countered, eyeing his katana on the ground.

"We're kind of friends- I want to know where you took her-" Her words were strong, "Or else."

"And we're not the type to lead strangers around the sewers of New York." Raphael eyed back even stronger, his emerald green clashing with her scarlet irises. She motioned to the blonde who nodded, disappearing for a second as Mikey materialized next to where she originally stood. The crimson eyed negotiator drew a gleaming silver dagger from the inner lining of her coat, slowing drawing it to his throat.

"Now," She kept her tone level, "I'm gonna ask again. Show us where she is or I'll fillet your friend here." As she eyed the anxious red/blue duo, "Don't do anything rash now."

The leader watched his youngest brother barely move, drops of sweat trickling down his face as his pupils shrunk in fear. Leonardo looked at his second brother from his peripheral vision, who only nodded in compliance. The blue masked turtle sighed, "Alright."

"Excellent," She smirked, "Lead on then." The blonde speedster had picked up their weapons, with no sign of returning them any sooner. Pivoting on their heels, they slowly walked on, the girls and a threatened Michelangelo following.

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April wrung out the wet dish rag as she ran the piece across Ophelia's barely breathing chest. The wound was simple to what Splinter allowed himself to see and turned his back when she removed her white blouse. April had to admit, this was very honorable of the elder rat, not willing to expose the girl to any more humiliation than necessary. After wrapping her torso in bandage, she drew the blanket up to cover her.

"She's clean." She told her sensei as he allowed himself to turn around.

"Thank you April, I appreciate your compliance." The figure nodded to show his gratitude.

"It was nothing- I just hope she'll be ok." April frowned at the unconscious frame of her friend lying before her.

"The cuts are mainly superficial, she may have a scar but she will recover." Splinter's voice was just comforting to her. After her father was taken and she joined the turtles, she had drifted under his wing of parental care. He wasn't her father, no one could replace him, but Splinter was a wonderful father figure, although sometimes he was a bit over protective.

Donatello's cries from the outside of the door caught both their attentions as they ran out to see a blade pressed to Mikey's throat and Leo, Rah, and Don currently helpless on the floor, weaponless.

"HEY!" April yelled, running to disarm the girl who currently was threatening the orange banded turtle's life. She succeeded in getting Mikey away, but now the metal was near her face, seconds from impaling her eyes.

Everything seemed to freeze as a firm "STOP!" stopped everyone.

Standing in the doorway was Ophelia, awake and not happy.

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Chapter 2 is done! I hope people take interest in this; I have great plans for it. Please read and review!

-Phoenix