"COME ON, I'll bring you to my brothers!" Pete screamed with joy as he pulled Lisa by the hand and guided her through the maze of buildings. After almost an hour of running and even having to avoid some foot soldiers. Pete brought Lisa to New York's storage facility which was located near the docks. Pete opened the door and flew excitedly, Lisa nervously followed, she didn't know what to think, she felt grateful that Pigeon Pete was able to get her safe from Rahzar and Xever but she still felt like being alone, still distraught over her new undesirable form plus she didn't know if she was ready to handle new mutants at the moment.

"HEY GUYS! I BROUGHT SOMEONE WHO NEEDS OUR HELP!" Pete called out to his "brothers" as he referred them to.

"Yes, Pete we can hear you!" A slightly annoyed voice beckoned in the dark. The owner of the voice was a primape with long arms, a Kraang helmet and gauntlets which flew out of the darkness and in front of the two. Lisa gasped and fell backwards, she crawled backwards until she felt a wall stop her she looked back to see not a wall but a giant tortoise with a spiked yellow shell, blue skin, and a black mask. Lisa screamed and got to her feet. "Whoa, hey relax girlie, we're not going to hurt ya!" the tortoise said defensively.

*THUD*

Lisa jumped to her feet reacting to the loud slam. Right next to the floating ape was a giant alligator with pale, grey skin and a large smile stretching across his long snout.

"Leather Head! I'm trying to calm this girl down plus we are trying to hide, ya think you can keep it down." Slash said.

"Sorry, brother. I just wanted to see our new friend." Leather Head said smiling at Lisa. Lisa, though terrified was at least relieved that they mean no harm. And she thought the Alligator named Leather Head seemed polite enough.

"Gentleman, please give the poor girl some room to breath!" another voice yelled from the cluttered darkness of the room, the mutants complied with the voice's commands and moved away from the reptilian girl. A thin figure walked out of the darkness to reveal a tall and thin man wearing a brown suit & tie with a tan shirt and fedora.

"Hello young lady. my name is Jack J. Kurtzman, Paranormal Investigator and Journalist for the New York Times." the older man said as he held out his hand for Lisa to shake. Lisa slowly held up her green, clawed hand and slowly shook it.

"Um…my name's L-Lisa, Lisa Armstrong."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Miss Armstrong. Now, I couldn't help but noticed that you're a bit reluctant to be here." Jack was able to read Lisa like a book. Lisa felt embarrassed and looked around the storage room. "But, I assure you, you have nothing to worry about. You can consider me and the Mighty Mutanimals here a protection program for mutants." Kurtzman said as he waved his hand towards the group of mutant animals.

"M-Mighty Mutanimals?" Lisa questioned with a confused look. "So…are you guys vigilantes like Muckman and that unknown Casey person?"

"Were more then that Lisa. Were the Mighty Mutanimals! YAAAAAAY!" Pigeon Pete said with his human arms flailing. The giant tortoise stepped closer to Lisa.

"I'm Slash, Kurtzman put me in charge as the leader." Slash said introducing himself. "That's Professor Rockwell, he's the brains of the group."

"Charmed I'm sure. Ooh, Ooh, Ooh!" Rockwell said with eyes popping in and out. "Leather Head, He serves as the brawn. Definitely the strongest guy I know, besides me of course." Slash said introducing Leather Head who waved at Lisa. "Then there's-"

"PIGEON PETE!" Pete yelled at the top of his lungs, startling Lisa again. "I'm the team's spy and the guy who saved you!…You know just in case you forgot." Pete said flying practically up to Lisa's face.

"Pffft, what!? You. Saved. Her" Slash said trying to hold in laughter. Pete looked at him with a sad look in his eyes. Leather Head nudged Slash on the shoulder and quietly growled at him. Making Slash nervously cough and look the other way.

"What Slash means is, How did you save her?" said Leather Head.

"OOOOH!" Pete said accepting Leather Head's white lie. "She told me that she was mutated by Doctor Slinkman she escaped and was being chased by Shredder's goonies! She spat acid at Rahzar's face, I headbutted Fish Face and got her to safety with one of the smoke bombs the turtles gave us!"

"Is this true Lisa?" Kurtzman asked her.

"Yeah, it's true, if it wasn't for him, I would probably be back at Shredder's lab…with him doing who knows what to me." Lisa said a she grabbed her arm, a chill running down her spine. Kurtzman put one his hands on her shoulders and crouched down to her level. "Listen, you don't have to tell us who you are…or rather who you used to be. I can only imagine how traumatic this must be for you but do know that I assembled this team of mutant heroes to protect people in your position, so if there's anything you need just ask us." Lisa was about to decline the man's kind offer so she could just go back to her run down home, but before she could say anything.

*GROWL* Lisa's stomach growled furiously as she clutched it with her hands. All of the excitement has completely distracted her from her crippling hunger. She looked up to see Kurtzman still kneeling down now with a smile on his face. Causing Lisa to blush slightly.

Lisa tried to explain. "I-"

"Say no more." Kurtzman interrupted. "We better get you some food!"

"I concur, Mr. Kurtzman" said Rockwell as he floated next to him and gracefully landed on the floor. "I didn't want to say anything earlier but I've noticed that the girl is considerably underweight. I think it's of the up most importance that we get her some nourishment."

"What do you say, girlie? You want some grub or what?" said Slash.

"No, I don't, I-I-I" at first Lisa tried to decline but she instead looked down and fell to her knees.

"I'M STARVING!" Lisa screamed as loud as she could. Kurtzman and the Mutanimals just smiled.

Kurtzman and The Mutanimals, making sure to keep out of sight, brought Lisa to a Japanese theme Restaurant in the outskirts of the city called The 24/7, Lisa never heard of this restaurant and that only increased her concerns.

"Whoa wait, what are you guys thinking!? We can't go into restaurants, not when were like this!" said Lisa.

"It's okay Lisa, The chef here knows us, he's a friend to all mutants, plus we only come here at certain hours so people don't see us" Leather Head calmly explained to her. With that the mutants and Kurtzman went into the restaurant to see a rotund Japanese man wearing black sunglasses, putting dishes away.

"Mr. Murakami!" Slash greeted him happily, getting the man's attention.

"Slash my friend! I trust the rest of the Mutanimals are here as well?" Murakami said looking in Slash's general direction. And yet it still seemed like he wasn't looking directly at him.

"Of course!" Slash Said. "Murakami my friend!" Leather Head greeted putting a hand around his back. "Oh, hello Leather Head, it's nice to see you to! Well, seeing is a loose term of course." Murakami said taking his glasses off to reveal his squinted eyes were a icy shade of blue and the whites of his eyes were much more bleached in white coloration.

"*Gasp* he's blind." Lisa whispered as quietly as she could so she doesn't offend.

"Ah, is that a new voice I hear!" Lisa nervously gasped knowing that he heard her.

"Mr. Murakami, this is Lisa. She's a friend that Pete successfully saved from the Foot." Kurtzman introduced her to him.

"So nice to meet you Lisa!" Murakami said putting his hand out to greet her but accidentally hitting Rockwell in the snout. "Ah!" Rockwell said covering his nose with his oversized hand. "Oops! sorry Rockwell." Murakami bowed in apology. Murakami went over to his desk to pick up a large knife with Kanji on the blade.

"I'm sure your all not here just to say hello, yes? What could I get you all to eat!" Murakami said happily holding his knife up.

"Just get us the usuals Murakami." Slash told the blind chef. "Lisa, what do you want?" Slash asked her as she sat down on the stool in front of the desk.

"Oh, I…"

*GROWL* "Uh…" Lisa groaned clutching her stomach. "I honestly don't care. I'll happily eat a rag soaked in French fry grease by this point." Murakami couldn't help but over hear her conversation with Slash.

"Excuse me, Lisa, but do you mind if I cook you a surprise dish? I think you'll love it!"

"Sure, like I said. I'm starving." Lisa said with a sad chuckle. With that Murakami went right to work. the ingredient cabinets all had bells that made different noises so he would know which ones he was opening, he dashed to the fridge and grabbed ingredients that he placed in sections that he would remember to grab them. He turned the stoves on to boil the pots of water and heated the oil in the fryers. Lisa was pleasantly shocked to see Murakami work at such profound speed and proficiency. He chopped the vegetables with impressive speed while managing to avoid hitting his fingers, he happily sang as he dipped shrimp into the fryers and the noodles in the boiling pot along with the other ingredients. Soon enough, Murakami had all of the Mutanimals meals ready and was happily serving them.

"All done! A bowl of Oyakodon for Slash, Tonkatsu for Leather Head, Ramen for Rockwell and…bread for Pete!" he said as he served every one of the members there food. Pete grabbing the circular, green bread from his hand.

"OOOOH GERMAN SODA BREAD!" Pete said excitedly. he placed the bread on the ground and started to peck at it furiously. Lisa sniffed the air with great gusto, her mouth was watering with her acidic saliva burning through the floor and her stomach growling even louder & more painful from the succulent scents that filled the small shop. "And last but certainly not least for Lisa." Murakami said putting a tray of twelve pan fried dumplings in front of her.

"PIZZA GYOZA!" Murakami announced proudly with a collective "ooooh" from the Mutanimals.

Lisa was very intrigued by the name of the dish, she loved pizza but then again who didn't? and she was highly anticipating the fact that she was going to have it in dumpling form. Completely ignoring the chopsticks she grabbed one of the dumplings and threw it into her mouth, she chewed and she felt as if she was blessed by an angel, it was easily the most delicious thing she has ever tasted in her life, the cheese, spices and pepperoni filled her mouth as they escaped from it's fried, doughy prison. Finally Lisa swallowed as her pupils dilated into huge sparkling saucers that expanded across her eyes. The Mutanimals looked at her with concerned looks on there faces all except Pete who was still preoccupied with the bread he was given.

"Hey, uh…girlie are you-" But before Slash could finish his sentence, Lisa grabbed the entire tray and threw the rest of the dumplings into her mouth, she savagely chewed the Italian/Japanese hybrid dish thoroughly as her toothy maw quickly and excessively opened and closed. She desperately tried to keep the contents of her mouth in as she loudly moaned and savored the delicious taste. Soon her acidic saliva kicked in and dissolved the cheesy contents prompting her to finally swallow. She gave out a loud, satisfied burp and exhaled with contentment. She looked to her left to see Slash, Leather Head, Rockwell and Kurtzman with shocked looks on their faces and the mouths wide open. Pete, just finishing his bread was confused to why everyone was looking at her like that. Lisa's face was more red then green, she looked to see Murakami and led out a yelp when he saw Murakami's face covered in bits of Pizza Gyoza. The blind man just stood there and smiled.

"Well, it sounded and feels like someone enjoyed there Pizza Gyoza!" Murakami said causing Lisa to feel even more embarrassed.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry! I couldn't-" Lisa frantically tried to apologize.

"Hahaha, It's quite alright child!" Murakami reassured the mutant girl as he wiped the leftovers from his face. "I could tell that it's been quite some time since you've had a decent meal, and I'm the happiest man in the world knowing that I'm the reason for the first decent one you've had in a long time!" Murakami said with a wide smile.

"Yeah girlie, don't worry about it, we understand." Slash said. Lisa has never felt so touched in a long time. Not only has these people decided to protect her and treat her to a meal but they don't even go and judge her. Kurtzman tightened his tie and headed for the door.

"So, Lisa I suppose you want another order right?" Kurtzman asked. Lisa didn't say anything, instead she slowly spun her stool around and glared at him blankly.

"You ask that as if there's the possibility that I'll say no!" Lisa said blankly causing everyone in the room to laugh.

"I'm going to purchase those tickets from the machine. It's only fair that Murakami gets paid for our patronage." Kurtzman went out to the door to access the ticket vender.

Lisa sat tapping the chopsticks on the table. She looked to see Leather Head staring at her with his wide, toothy smile. Lisa stopped with a confused look on her face. "What?" Lisa questioned softly.

"Your were smiling." Leather Head replied. "You have a really nice smile, you should do it more often." Lisa forced a frown as she blushed wildly. She couldn't help but to feel embarrassed and even uncomfortable. These people, these mutants were treating her so nicely even though they just met they barely know anything about each other. They don't even know about her life as a human, a homeless, thieving human.

"Thanks, Leather Head." Lisa said with another smile.

"So, girlie We…well okay I was wondering, you seem like a great person and I think mutants should always stick together…like I think that even jerks like Tiger Claw can be brothers if they realize that. So I've been meaning to ask you…Would you like to join the Mighty Mutanimals?"

Lisa's mouth was opened and the entire room was silent even Murakami stopped washing his dishes to look out in the counter top area. There was a few short moments of silence. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Lisa felt she was out on the spot and she didn't know how to answer.

"I…" Lisa tried to reply.

*SLAM*

With out warning Kurtzman was thrown through the door and onto the floor . Causing everyone to gasp and Murakami jumping from the sudden noise.

"MR. KURTZMAN!" Slash yelled and went to his aid. He picked him up to see a black eye on his face.

"Oh my god, is he alright!?" Lisa said with great concern as she got up from her chair, the other Mutanimals followed suit.

"Don't be too sure about that freak!" the group looked at the door to see a gigantically fat man carrying a cane and wearing a pinstripe suit, black undershirt and red tie accompanying him were two thin, identical looking mobsters on either side of him.

"Don Vizioso!" growled Rockwell. He and the others looked absolutely furious. Lisa was horrified to see this man. She's heard of Don Vizioso, he is one of the world's most notorious mobsters. He has gotten the nicknames "Vizioso The Vicious' and Vizioso The Butcher" with a personally kill count of 40+ people and he was known to be the first mob boss to successfully gain control of the Italian mafias of both America and Sicily.

"Mighty Mutanimals." Don Vizioso replied in a uninterested tone. "I have no business with you monsters, kindly leave so I can have dinner in peace, I haven't eaten anything all day!"

"No business!?" replied an angry Leather Head. "We ARE your business! You made us our business when you attacked our friend!" Leather Head growled with great aggression as he approached Vizioso, he stopped when the two twin mobsters aimed there energy rifles at him. Don Vizioso yawned. He was extremely calm despite being faced to faced with a giant, ten foot tall mutant alligator.

"You, blind man. Make me some ramen and put it in the biggest bowl you have NOW!" demanded Vizioso.

"Yes, yes sir" Murakami complied but was stopped by Rockwell. "You don't have to make him anything Murakami. Not as long as were here!" Rockwell said defensively. Vizioso started to become angry with a scowl in his eyes. He reached for under his suit and took out a large, bloodied butcher knife with "Vizioso" printed in cursive on the side of the blade.

"I said…I haven't eaten. Anything. All. Day." Vizioso said in a angered tone, his bodyguards aiming at the group.

"So what!?" Slash said also starting to get angry with Kurtzman in his arms. "Lisa here probably hasn't eaten anything in months and she hasn't complained all night!" Lisa looked at Slash with wide eyes. "Oh my god Slash, don't bring me into this!" Lisa thought to herself. Vizioso looked over at the reptilian girl and cracked a smile that would haunt Lisa's dreams.

"So…You're the escaped Komodo Dragon mutant." said with a deep giggle. Causing Lisa to swallow hard.

"How, how did you know about…"

"I work for Shredder now, Your like FBI's most wanted right now, he thinks of you as a very important part of his uh…little project." Vizioso said not wanting to reveal Shredder's plans to the Mutanimals. "I bet Shredder will reward me handsomely if I bring you back!"

"You WON'T touch her!" Leather Head said, his anger only increasing.

"You don't scare me Jambalaya, nothing scares me after seeing the stuff that Shredder and his mad scientist does to people! I'm bringing this little toy back to Shredder and this time I'm gonna enjoy seeing her break!" just as Don Vizioso said that his knife was shot with a blob of green, chunky slime and started to melt it away from it's handle, all eyes were on Lisa, she was breathing heavy, her yellow eyes wide and angry and strains of her strong acidic saliva dripping out and dropping on the floor.

"You know what I hate most in the world?" Lisa said trying to hold back tears of anger. "People who use intimidation to get there way, people who prey on the weak and try to STOMP them out! I DESPISE people like you and the Shredder. Your all nothing but disgusting parasites. And I…must…squash you.

Don Vizioso was furious, he did not take threats lightly and he spent a lot of money on that custom knife.

"SHOOT HER!" Vizioso commanded his thugs, they complied and opened fire. Slash, on instinct got in front of her and blocked the shots with his shell. "MURAMAKI, GET DOWN!" Slash told the blind chef as he shielded Lisa. Which he gladly complied.

"RAAAAAAAH!" Leather Head yelled as he cupped his heads into a single fist and smacked both twins into the wall, causing them to become unconscious and drop there guns. Vizioso took out a non-laser based pistol from his pocket and pointed it at the giant reptile. However his gun was pulled out from his hand by Rockwell's telekinetic force, his pistol and the twin's energy rifles all levitated and was pointed at the obese mobster. Pete flew towards the unconscious twins and started pecking at one of their heads.

"Thanks Slash," Lisa thanked him, he returned her gratitude with a smile. Lisa looked back at Vizioso and glared at him. She got out walked towards him and in front of the three firearms. Prompting Rockwell to drop them. Lisa coughed up some saliva and spat on Vizioso shoes. The saliva burnt through the soles and caused Vizioso to grit his teeth in pain.

"Oops." Lisa said with a deadpanned tone.

"You…haven't seen the last of…me!" Vizioso spoke through his teeth. He turned around and closed the door behind him. Once out of the restaurant, the mobster screamed at the top of his lungs as he threw his burning shoes from his feet.

"Nice one." Leather Head said, now in a relaxed state. Lisa clutched her arm and smiled at him.

"GUYS! He's waking up!" Slash said getting everyone's attention. He didn't let go of Kurtzman since he was hit by Vizioso and his bodyguards. Everyone circled around him and Slash and watched as he opened his eyes.

"Mr. Kurtzman, are you okay?" Lisa said with concern for the old man.

"Heh, hey Lisa, are you still up for seconds?" Lisa couldn't help but laugh at the man's statement.

The team got back to the storage facility completely drained and tired from tonight's events. Slash helped Kurtzman walk back as he was still weak from the attack. Lisa, for the first time in a very long time. Felt full and even happy. She ate two servings of well deserved Pizza Gyoza. Seeing her stomach actually distended was the only positive highlight of the entire night. Everyone started to become comfy. Rockwell & Pete got to there beds ready to sleep. And Kurtzman walked to his desk to have a seat.

"Are you sure you're okay Mr. Kurtzman?" Slash shared concern for the Journalist.

"Don't worry Slash, I'm the man who took a Kraang blast and lived remember, ugh…it'll take much more then some fat jerk and his punks to make me go down and stay down." Slash, despite his concerns showed Kurtzman a smile.

"Um…Mr. Kurtzman?" Lisa interrupted, nervously fiddling with her scaly hood.

"Lisa, what is it?" Kurtzman asked as he sat down and grabbed a tin of tobacco from his desk's drawer and filled a pipe with it.

"Earlier tonight, you know…at the restaurant? Slash asked me if I wanted to join your family/team and…the answer is yes I want to join!" Lisa said enthusiastically slamming her hands on his desk. Kurtzman and Slash looked at her with wide expressions, The other's looking from the sidelines.

"Well, who am I to decline the request of a lady? Welcome aboard Lisa!" Kurtzman happily said as he and Lisa shared a handshake. "We'll talk about the details of being a Mutanimal tomorrow. Tonight on the other hand…*yawn* I think we all deserve a night's rest."

"Leather Head, Will you please make a bed for Lisa, we don't want her sleeping on the floor or anything." Kurtzman said, lighting his pipe.

"Of course not, come with me sister." Leather Head led Lisa to a bunk bed which was previously never used by any of the other Mutanimals. Lisa walked up and sat on the lower bunk bed. She feeled around the bed until Leather Head came back with sheets and a ton of pillows. Which he laid on the bed for Lisa to sort the way she feels like. She stopped and exhaled in an annoyed tone. Lisa arched eyebrow and picked up a small teddy bear with a top hat and bow tie.

"Really?"

Leather Head giggled. "I just wanted to make sure that your comfortable."

"Thank you, Leather Head, you and everyone else have been so kind to me, I still don't know how to feel about…" Lisa trailed off.

"It's okay, you're a Mutanimal now and even if you didn't join us you would still be a sister to us. Especially to me and Slash."

"Thank you…again" Lisa said as she started to lay down

"Your welcome, again" Leather Head said as he left to crawl into his bed. A giant, opened container with blankets and pillows in it and photos of him and a turtle man. Which was about twenty feet away from Lisa's bunk bed and right below Pigeon Pete's birdcage.

An Hour has passed and Lisa just couldn't get to sleep. She tossed and turned, so much was on her mind she couldn't shut her mind off for one second. One day, just one day and her entire life has changed. a few hours earlier she was a homeless human girl, scavenging to survive until she was kidnapped and underwent painful mutation. The kidnapping and mutation surprisingly wasn't the thing that was keeping her up. It was the Mutanimals, the kindness that they gave her was overwhelming for her. She couldn't help but to cry again.

*sob* *sob *sob *sob* *sob* *sob*

"What's wrong?"

"AAAH-" Lisa caught her scream just in time preventing anyone else from waking up.

"Leather Head, you scared me!" Lisa whispered

"I'm sorry, but I heard you cry, I wanted to make sure you were okay…are you?" Leather Head asked her. Lisa pulled her blanket off and curled her legs up.

"I'm fine. Really I am, it's just besides the fact that I used to be human and was turned into a frea…I'm sorry, a mutant. It's just… you and the others have been so kind to me. Protecting me, giving me food and a bed. It sounds weird but, I-I-I don't know how to process that…"

"I understand." Leather Head nodded while Lisa looked at him intensely. "You have been neglected kindness and humanity for so long that the concept has became foreign to you." The moment Leather Head said that Lisa started to tear up again. He hit the mark exactly.

"Like Kurtzman said, you don't have to tell us how you lived as a human but do know this, we're family now, we were family the moment you have been mutated. So you can tell us anything and we'll listen." Leather Head and Lisa hugged for a solid minute. Once they unlinked their embrace Lisa got under the sheets again and Leather Head turned around to go back to his bed.

"Um, Leather Head!" Lisa spoke up causing him to turn around again.

"Do you think…um, just for one night, you could…" Before Lisa could finish her sentence Leather Head climbed into her bed and laid behind her. She nudged closer to him as Leather Head wrapped his arm around her in a reassuring embrace.

"What are brothers for?"