Here's chapter two. I hope everyone enjoys it. I don't own tmnt.

If anyone's having problems with the link, I'm sorry. I think I fixed it.

Chapter 2

"I am not liking this, not liking this one bit," Raph grumbled as the eight turtles ascended the weird glowing stairs, leading to open air.

"I'm with you, Raph," replied Lyn, glaring down at the tribunal.

"Whoa," Dani gasped. "What is this place?" she asked as they glanced around. Buildings that looked to be of Japanese design with a prominent dragon theme, mostly colored green and yellow, surrounded them with nothing but an open sky beyond. No landscape.

"Let's find out," suggested Leo as he headed to the edge of whatever they were on, followed by the others.

At the edge, everybody gasped. "We're, we're…" Leo stuttered.

"In the middle of the ocean," Rae finished, taking note of the dolphins swimming beside the ship. Glancing upward, the turtles spotted the orange sails and black flags at the tops of the masts, with a symbol they were unable to make out.

"We've been shanghaied!" Mikey exclaimed. Nobody knew what to say.

Raph growled. "Aw, this is messed up. I say we find a way off this tub and forget we were ever here!"

Lyn shot him a skeptical look. "You honestly think we could?"

"What do you think Leo?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know what to think. They said there's a great evil coming." Leo hesitated as Lyn turned her dubious look on him. "Maybe we should-"

"Hey guys? Land ho!" Don exclaimed.

"Where is this?" asked Dani.

"Sure as shell ain't New York City," replied Raph.

Leo narrowed his eyes. "I think it's Japan," he realized, remembering the distant mountains and the atmosphere from his first visit.

Everybody froze.


With little options presenting themselves, the turtles had no choice but to wait and hope for the best as the ship drew closer to land. Leo, Raph, and Lyn watched the tribunal while the others wandered the ship, not daring enter any of the buildings.

"This cruise into mystery is getting real old real fast. This stinks, Leo. Big time," Raph muttered.

Leo hated being in the dark as much as Raph, but chose not to comment as he turned his attention to his sister. "Any movement from the tribunal, Lyn?"

"Not a peep nor a twitch, Leo. I can't even tell if they're blinking."

"Then I say we go down there and make a move!" Raph growled, all too ready for a rematch.

"There's still too much we don't know about the tribunal. About this threat they mentioned," Leo cautioned.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Raph protested. "They kidnapped us! They sicced their wooden soldiers on us and tried to make us take each other out! They're the threat." He jabbed his finger at Leo's chest. "And you still wanna wait and see?"

Lyn stepped between them. "Raph, I'm completely on your side with the tribunal. But just going down there and attacking them is going to get us killed or worse! Let's find out what's going on and then crack their skulls if we need to."

Raph growled silently. When the tribunal had ordered him and his brothers to fight their own sisters, he'd wanted smash those goons' heads in with their own helmets. And reduce their wooden mannequins to firewood and toothpicks. He grimaced. Losing like that rankled in the extreme. Although he had to admit, Lyn had pulled some pretty cool tricks. She'd hooked one of those wooden clowns with her swords and flung it right over her head, sending it careening into another, then hooked another one and spun around with it, taking down at least six more before another one snagged her with a sweep.

Every one of them had put up what he believed was a good struggle, none falling to their enemy easily. Don and Dani had worked surprisingly well together, covering each other's backs and fighting off every blockhead within five feet of them until one managed to jump right on top of them, literally. Raph knew some of them had needed to fight with half a tonfa due to Leo's swords before one of them struck him from behind. He and Rae had driven back at least ten of them before several others to land a couple front kicks causing the two turtles to crash into each other. Then another one whacked Mikey when he tried to check on them.

Out of all of them, though, Maddie had fared the best. She might be called the shy one, but in battle she transformed to an entirely different person, a personification of the saying "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." More like bite like a dragon, Raph thought. Maybe it was because she was accustomed to fighting with tonfa, or the fact that her siblings were all down, or she wanted revenge for the last time. For whatever the reason, after the other turtles were defeated, she held her own against those logs with legs in a stunning display of a gymnastic movement, cheetah speed, and wolfish ferocity. The turtles weren't easily awed by a fighter, being warriors themselves, but Maddie left them bug-eyed with dropped jaws as tonfa flew every direction, wooden clowns wound up on the floor, and tonfa blades literally bent, before one of the bozos picked up Mikey and threw him right into Maddie, stopping her in her tracks. And unfortunately, none of those goons stayed down. They'd been trapped and cornered.

"Hey guys, we're here!" called Dani, breaking Raph out of his thoughts.

Here we go, he thought. Mikey's words echoed in his skull "What the shell have we gotten ourselves into?"

I wish I knew Mikey. Raph thought.


"What did they pack these things with?" Raph grunted as they walked up the path. "Bricks?"

"No bro, that's just your head!" Mikey joked.

"Keep yapping Mikey! Soon as we reach the top-" Raph threatened.

"Are they always like this?" asked Dani.

"No. Usually they're a lot more annoying," replied Leo, smiling slightly. "You get used to it. Just make sure nothing you value falls within fifteen feet of them if you don't want it broken."

"We don't break anything!" Mikey protested.

Don heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Mikey, do you want a list number of things I've had to fix because of you and Raph?"

Mikey stopped short, chuckling nervously. "I don't think it's necessary, do you Donnie?"

The purple-clad turtle shook his head. "I rest my case."

"You know Egghead, I seem to recall you breaking and blowing up a lot of stuff," Raph retorted.

Don blushed. "Yeah, when I was a kid!" he protested.

"Okay guys, let's change the subject," Leo interjected.

Silence reigned as the turtles climbed higher and their thoughts returned to the ninja tribunal, the tension thickening. No one really wanted to discuss the mysterious warriors; too much was unknown, and they didn't want to start a serious argument as they needed to stick together if they were going to survive whatever was going on. A few minutes floated by before someone found another topic.

"So," Maddie asked timidly, hoping to break the uneasy silence, but also genuinely curious, "what's Splinter like?"

The male turtles smiled. "Strict, but great," Leo replied. "What about Thorn?"

"You first." Dani grinned.

"Where to begin?" Leo eyes glazed over as he remembered the past.

"Well, like Leo said, he's strict," Don began after a short pause. "One minute late for practice and there's shell to pay. He's real serious about honor too, and did his best to pound it into us. Disobedience resulted in either flips or an extra practice where we would beg to sleep afterwards."

"Really? Lady Thorn never said or did anything if we were late for or missed practice." Dani remarked.

"Wait, you mean you could just skip whenever you wanted to. So not fair!" Mikey whined.

"Oh, not really. She had her own way of making sure we turned up for practice." Lyn smirked. "Right Rae?"

Rae shook her head. "You just can't let me live it down, can you?"

"What does that mean?" Mikey asked Maddie.

Maddie glanced at Mikey, then on the trail ahead. "Well, you see, Lady Thorn teaches us techniques and katas, then she'll have us use them in a sparring match against her." Her voice was soft. "You know, to make sure we can use them in an actual combat situation. Anyway, Rae skipped practice for an entire week once. When it came time for sparring, she didn't have a clue what she was doing." Maddie giggled as Rae glared. "Kind of sad to watch. None of us ever skipped practice again unless we were sick."

A sly look crossed Leo's eyes. "Maybe we should suggest that to Master Splinter to make sure Mikey turns up," he suggested.

"Dude, no way!" Mikey backed quickly away from his older brother. The others chuckled.

"What does Splinter do for fun?" asked Lyn.

"Boring stuff," replied Mikey.

"It's not boring!" Leo protested. His brothers glared at him. "Okay, maybe his soaps are. But the other stuff isn't."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Sure, meditation, drinking tea, soaps, occasionally some gardening. Not boring at all. I'll admit ninja training isn't boring, but everything else is."

"He gardens? In the New York sewers? Really?" Rae inquired. "Maddie's heavy into gardening too." The yellow-clad turtle's eyes were focused on her brother.

"Nah, he's just got some bonsai trees," Don corrected. "Although he's thinking about starting a garden at Casey's grandma's farmhouse."

"Whose grandma's farmhouse?" questioned Lyn.

"Casey," Raph replied. "A human friend of ours. We'll tell you about him later. Is Thorn boring like Splinter?"

"Raph," Leo warned.

"Come on Leo, Master Splinter knows I think his hobbies are boring."

"Anyway," interjected Dani, breaking up the argument, "you want to know about Lady Thorn?" The male turtles nodded.

"She's pretty weird and pretty cool. Loves sci-fi and superhero movies, and comics."

"Sounds like she and Mikey would get along great," commented Leo. Mikey grinned from ear to ear.

"She also loves listening to classical music. Could probably teach a music appreciation course in college."

"Okay, not perfect then," said Mikey, frowning.

The sister glared. Leo smacked Mikey upside the head. "Ow!"

Raph chuckled. "For future reference, that works pretty well when Mikey says something stupid."

"We'll keep it in mind," Lyn grinned slyly.

"Thanks a lot guys," Mikey muttered. The other turtles snickered.

"Anything else?" asked Leo.

Lyn adjusted her backpack. "Well, she taught us capoeira along with ninjitsu."

"Capo-what?" Mikey scratched his head.

"Capoeira. It's a Brazilian martial art that combines music, acrobatics, and dance," Dani explained.

Leo frowned. "Master Splinter never taught us that. And he didn't mention Master Yoshi knowing it either."

"Lady Thorn didn't learn it from Master Yoshi, Leo. She was owned by a woman before Yoshi and learned it from her." Her eyes narrowed. "Didn't you know?"

"Master Splinter never told us about Thorn before we found out you and her were alive. It was too painful for him," Raph replied. "And he didn't get a chance to tell us much about her before we were kidnapped because we were busy making sure Donnie didn't have a mutation relapse."

"Wait, what?"

Mikey explained, "Long story short, one of our enemies caused that mutant outbreak by faking an alien invasion, we fought the mutants and one of them infected Donnie here, so he eventually transformed into a snarling monster who tried to eat my leg, then we had to steal a weird piece of jewelry from the Foot to get our enemy Bishop to cure him—" Mikey inhaled air, "and we've spent the last few weeks making sure he's better."

The girls stared, Raph and Leo frowned to themselves, and Donnie chose to memorize his feet. An awkward silence ensued.

Before the discomfort could degenerate to tension, the ground began to rumble. "Is this an earthquake?" asked Mikey. "Because earthquakes are never a good thing!"

"It's no earthquake!" Leo pointed to the top of the mountains. "Look!" Rocks and boulders tumbled down the side of the mountain, picking up speed as they raced toward the turtles.

"Oh, crud!" Raph swore.

"Run for it!" yelled Lyn.

The turtles sprinted up the path; their backpacks light as balloons. Mikey and Leo led the pack, Leo searching desperately for a spot where they could take shelter.

"Up there!" he yelled. A tunnel loomed before them, promising safety. Leo started lagging behind, making sure the others got to safety. Mikey reached the cave first, followed closely by Dani and Rae. Next, Don and Lyn dove inside with Raph hot on their tails.

"Maddie!" yelled Lyn. Leo glanced back and nearly choked. Maddie had tripped on a jutting rock and fallen behind earlier. She'd risen, but the boulders had reached the path and it was impossible to tell if she could make to the cave in time.

Leo and Lyn hurried Maddie's side, taking her hands as they raced back through the deadly maze of flying rocks. They leaped across the smaller pieces, ducked the flyers, and dodged the huge hunks. Don called out warnings when the bigger chunks reached the path and for the most part succeeded in guiding them to the cave. But he failed to realize the boulders were starting to crack the stone that made up the path.

Just as they neared the entrance, the ground gave way, sending them plummeting and screaming. Nothing but hard ground waited for them at the bottom. And they highly doubted the water would afford them a softer landing.

"Hang on!" Raph yelled as hands grasped the wrists of the falling turtles. Rae gripped Leo, Dani clutched Lyn's hands, and Mikey gripped Raph's knees in a death hold as the hothead hung over the edge. Raph in turn held onto Maddie. Rae, Dani, and Mikey pulled, pausing when a series of booms broke the silence. They glanced upward.

One final boulder hurtled downward straight for them. And there was no way to avoid it. They could only watch as it hit a jut in the cliff and flew into the air, about to fall right on top of them.

"HIYA!" Don yelled as he pole vaulted into the air and slammed his feet into the boulder with all his strength. The rock sustained little damage and Don was knocked backward, but it was sufficient. He'd altered the trajectory enough so that the rock missed his siblings and plunged down the mountain and into the water without harming anyone.

Mikey, Rae, and Dani wasted no time in pulling the others to safety and everyone rushed into the cave lest another rockslide try to take their heads off. Partway into the cave they collapsed, breathing heavy, their backpacks suddenly weighing one hundred pounds.

"Could have warned us about the possibility of rockslides, couldn't they?" Raph glared, wanting a little word with the ninja tribunal. A word involving his sai.

Nobody answered, though several couldn't have agreed more.

"Thanks guys," said Maddie, her eyes conveyed her gratitude.

"Hey, no big deal," Mikey replied, a smile crossing his face.

"Yeah. You're our sister. It's our job. Even if we haven't known each other that long," added Don.

Leo and Raph nodded, smiling. Lyn, Rae, and Dani simply grinned.

Maddie beamed, her uneasiness around her brothers evaporating. Her sisters noticed.

"Well, saving each other from a rockslide is one way to kill the tension between people," Dani commented.

Everyone's smiles widened.

"Come on. Let's get going," Leo suggested, leading the rest of the siblings up the path. No one spoke for a while, enjoying the silence. Words weren't necessary. A camaraderie had formed between them, forged in the flames of working together and tempered by their admittedly hastily placed trust in each other, and finally cooled and finished by the success of saving a life they all care about. A bond stronger than flesh and blood bound the siblings together now, one that would last forever.

As time passed and they continued to hike, their packs grew heavier, but no one dared stop, fearing another rockslide. None of them wanted to spend the night outside. And maybe they just wanted to prove the tribunal wrong about them.

Their thoughts drifted to their respective senseis. Splinter had to be worried sick about his sons, as did Thorn regarding her daughters. What would they do when they found their respective children had not returned? Both would comb the city and ask human friends. Neither would give up. But how could they possibly think to look for their children in Japan in mountains that were most definitely not in any tour books? Maybe they could find a way to contact their senseis once they reached the top. The thought drove them and they pushed themselves up the path, despite the heavy packs weighing them down. Besides, the sooner they found out what was going on, the sooner they could return to their senseis and reunite them. Hopefully.

As the sun began to set, the eight turtles finally spotted the top of the mountain. The path led to a monastery, the entrance shaped like the head of dragon; those who dared enter walking right into the dragon's mouth, to be devoured unless they treaded carefully. Uneasy feeling filled each turtle as the door adorned with the inverted signal of the Foot opened and closed once they were inside. No turning back. No one but each other now.


And so is the end of chapter two. I added the rockslide because I felt I needed to add some action and the rockslide was a substitute for the battle, since I decided to skip the one against the Makuzai no Bushi. And I really wanted to get Maddie comfortable with her brothers. She's still timid, but at least she's relaxed with them.