(Levi's POV)

We all get assigned to a turtle shortly after they have the discussion of the origin of the mysterious portal.

I get assigned to " ", the one who likes to act like his word is law and whatnot. Yeah, no. That's not how I work. I don't do that whole 'following the rules' shit. I make my OWN rules. I don't really care about any other rules. My biggest concern is how long my Molly is going to last me. And how I'm going to smoke it. I guess I can try to sneak off into the tunnels...but I don't want to get lost. And I don't know if THEY know what pot smells like. Because if they DON'T know, then if I smell like it they'll just think I smell weird, and won't ask questions. But if they DO know what pot smells like, I'm boned.

So, yeah, I get assigned to Mr. keep-a-cool-head-about-everything, and the others get assigned to the rest. What's worse is that we have to SHARE ROOMS WITH THEM! I don't care if they're a separate species, they're still teenage boys.

It's like some weird-ass co-ed dorms or some shit.

"Hey um...?" Mr. Blue-turtle-face says awkwardly.

"Levi." I finish for him.

"Yes, Levi. I'm Leonardo, or Leo, if you prefer. Listen, I wish that Sensei hadn't had to assign everyone together either, but, well, I guess he thought it was safer that way. I've known him since I was born, so I trust him. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to this stuff." He finishes, then starts again. "I know you all might not fully believe us...but down here with us is actually the safest place for you guys when you have info on where we live. There are people that would stop at nothing if it meant that they could get to us. And, even if we don't know you ladies that well, we wouldn't want you getting hurt for no reason." He turns to look at me for the last part, completely serious. Maybe they aren't all bad, afterall. I mean, we DID just appear out of nowhere into their home, and not only did they NOT hurt us, but they even offer to look after us and help us find a way back. They DON'T want us to be in harm's way. I can respect that.

"You really are serious, aren't you?! Wow! If it were me, I probably wouldn't have even stopped to interrogate us. I tend to be all 'fists first, questions later' when it comes to people who threaten my family." I reply, putting my hands in my pockets, I laugh while looking up. "I sound like a total hothead, don't I? Lexi always tells me that I am, and I see what she means. What I'm saying is that I'd rather hurt strangers to keep my family from being hurt. Do you see my point?"

He nods and shakes his head wistfully. "Yeah, I do. You sound just like my brother, Raphael. The one with the red mask that has the shy one bunking with him. He tends to be like that most of the time. But, as much of a hothead as he is, he wouldn't hurt four girls unless he knew that they were a threat. Plus, he's always so confident in his own strength, he probably thinks that you guys wouldn't stand a chance against him. And for once, I actually agree with him. Here's a tip: don't get on his bad side. I don't think he'd actually hurt any of you, but, just to be safe."

I nod at him. We seem to be able to get along, so far. Hopefully, I'm not TOO much like his brother. The one in the orange mask...ummmm, Mickey, maybe? Told me that they fight a lot. And, as much as I usually don't care about fighting with others, I wouldn't want to get in a fight with any of them.

Well, here we go, I guess.

(Lexi's POV)

I just HAD to get assigned to the stuttering nerd, didn't I?

I mean, no offense to Nessa or anything, but gosh, is he irritating. He needs to CHILL OUT, I'm not going to bite him or anything. Geez, I'm starting to sound like Levi.

Anywho, he manages to tell me that his name is Donatello. Like that inventor dude! I'm pretty sure they're all named after renaissance people. Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael? Yup. They must be. NOW who's the nerd? I have nothing against nerds, really. I AM one. But, MAN, he needs to, no pun intended, come out of his shell a little more and stop being so nervous. He seems pretty nice, though, so far anyway.

"W-well, I-I just called one of our friends, April. She said that she should be here in an hour with some inflatable mattresses for you guys. Leo's gonna meet her at the surface and grab them from her. We haven't told her why we needed them yet, because we don't want HER to become more involved than she already is."

I look up at that.

"Is she...a human?" I ask, looking skeptical. He chuckles nervously.

"W-well, yes, yes she is. B-but, she's been involved since she was six! We were her ummmm...pet turtles. Her dad and a guy named Sacks injected us with mutagen. It made us what we are today." Don says as he pushes up his large glasses. "And well, there was a fire in their lab and April saved all of us. Sensei brought us down here and taught us everything we knew. He was an experiment at their lab, too. But, he'd been there longer, or something, I guess. I don't know. But, he mutated to an adult sized rat within weeks while we've been growing at the pace of humans." He adds on, getting really into the whole story and the scientific miracle of it.

"Honestly, by most science, you guys shouldn't be real. That technology is years ahead of us, yet, here you are. How? Do you know what made up the mutagen? How it changed your DNA?" I inquire, honestly curious.

"That's the thing, none of us know! I mean, I've taken DNA samples from each of us and found the species of turtle and rat that we all were before, but the I haven't been able to separate our regular blood from the mutagen. Because, it's in our very flesh, and our blood. The mutagen is inside us. I've tried to separate it, but I don't have the right tech for it. Sacks did, somehow. I want to recreate it at some point to take a small sample of our blood and extract the mutagen, so I can run some tests, maybe recreate it." Donatello continues, sounding really frustrated that he hasn't a clue of EXACTLY what the mutagen IS. I mean, it's obvious that it MUTATES people, and animals, it's in the name. MUTagen. But, I think he wants to figure out everything there is to know about it. Such a thirst for knowledge.

I think this stuttering nerd may grow on me.

(Nessa's POV)

I'm literally SOOOO freaked, right now.

I can't believe that this is real! I GUESS it's kind of cool, but these mutants are scary. Especially this really grumpy turtle that has been assigned to me. Grumpy might not be the right word. I don't really know how to describe him, though.

He kind of reminds me of Levi, with the whole "punch first, talk later" kind of attitude. I can't even COUNT the amount of times that she's almost gotten expelled from school for fighting. Luckily, though, they always find that the kid was egging her on and basically TELLING her to hit them. So, she only gets suspended. They also both have that same "I don't give a crap" mentality. If there was a dictionary of words that Levi says, and it recorded every word she said, I bet that more than HALF of them would comprise of the words, "i don't care" or "whatever".

At least Levi doesn't scare me.

Like, I thought he was going to KILL me! He had his what-ever-you-call-it weapon thing pointed at me.

I THINK, though, that he cares more(at least about his brothers) than he lets on. He seems to have some sort of 'tough-guy' persona going on, exactly like Levi.

Well, Levi's a girl, but still.

"Hey! You, pipsqueak!" The red masked turtle suddenly says. I look around and then up at him. "Yeah, you." I nod for him to continue, refraining from informing him that my name isn't 'pipsqueak'. He laughs a little. "Not much of a talker are ya? Anyway, let's be clear. I ain't someone you can just come cryin' to, alright? I ain't your enemy, but I ain't your friend, either. Got it?" He states. I nod my head in affirmation. "So long as you can remember that much, we should get along okay. Oh, and, while you're staying in my room, don't touch any of my stuff. Capesche?" I nod even harder. He smirks, probably glad that I'm not being difficult. I have no idea why I would be. As terrified as I am, they've all actually been pretty decent to us. Even though we landed in their home unannounced, and pose a very tiny, but real threat to them. They've promised to keep us here, out of harm's way.

I don't trust it.

I've never really trusted anyone til I met Levi, Lexi, and Drea. Habit, I guess. For all I know, they're actually being genuinely decent, and NOT trying to backstab us. But, I've been betrayed too many times by too many people.

Hopefully, this time will be different.

(Drea's POV)

Wow! This is SOOOOOO COOOOOOLLLL! Kind of scary and weird, but DEFINITELY cool. And I got assigned to the coolest turtle! Mikey!

He's SOOOOO much more chill than Levi is. Levi is mostly just 'whatever' about everything, and is, sorry Levi, a bit of a stick in the mud. This guy keeps making funny jokes and he's REALLY nice!

"Hey, babe! Watch this!" Mikey says, winking at me and then doing a backflip right over my head. I clap for him and he bows to me. "Glad you enjoy my stunts, babe!"

"What does babe, mean?" I ask, because he keeps calling me that, and I don't understand why. I don't even know what it means! I mean, guys used to call me that ALL the time back home. Usually Levi and Lexi would pull me away from them. They are such killjoys!

"Oh...it's ummmm...a...nickname! Yeah, it's a nickname for a beautiful girl." He adds on the end, holding his hand out for me to take. I put my hand in his, not being squeamish about touching their rough, leathery skin like the others. He smiles and pulls me up onto his shoulders. I giggle in delight.

It's been FOREVER since I've been allowed to have this much fun!

I sure hope that it lasts.