Author's Note: Thus endith the prewritten chapters. Now you all must wait for me to get around to writing the rest of them. Please don't forget to review. I'm not asking much by asking you to write, 'great job' or 'neat' am I? Remember...reviews equals new chapters faster. Keep that in mind...thanks to all who have been reviewing though. You people make reading my email worth while.


Chapter Nine: Rules Were Made to be Broken

Chris rolled his head to the side and stared at his clock blankly. Seven-thirty PM and he was lying in bed bored out of his mind. They weren't used to not having a morning and evening filled with ninja practice or training runs through the sewers. Their weekends always consisted of one full morning—from six am until eleven am—in the dojo sparring against one another, meditating, or working on their katas, as well as a full evening—from five pm until nine pm for the older kids, eight for the younger—spent reciting rules and demonstrating the different techniques and tactics their fathers (mostly Leo) would call out for them. The time left in between was usually spent doing homework or vegging in front of the television.

That night however, with more free time than they were ever used to in their young lives, no one was sure what to do.

Chris growled as he moved to the wall he kept his katanas on and carefully pulled them down. Their father's had nearly been killed by some unknown villain and they were being told they couldn't do squat about it? That was bull.

Looking down at the gleaming steel in his hands, he shook his head and placed them back on the wall. Though they were the weapons he was best with, he was skilled enough with the other weapons to still do some serious damage with. Knowing he wouldn't be able to hide those under his jacket, he quietly crept down the hall to Henry's room. Henry had decided earlier that day that he would spend his free time helping his two aunts get things together for the move topside which gave Chris just the chance he needed to invade his cousins room.

Glad the boy was a neat freak and never had any real problem with his cousins coming and going from his room; Chris opened the door and walked in like it was his own room. Heading for the small chest at the foot end of the bed, he carefully opened it and smiled at the arsenal he saw before him.

Henry had stock piled shurikens into the chest for reasons Chris wasn't sure he wanted to know. Removing a belt and sash that held more than enough deadly little stars, he quickly put it on before reaching in and discovering the cloth that held the two shinning sais. Giving a smirk, he carefully tucked those between his body and the belt before closing the chest and putting his jacket back on.

After closing the door to his eleven-year-old cousin's room, he turned and moved two doors down to Chip's bedroom he was forced to share with Dale. Lucky for them, Dale was already asleep on the couch, his head on a pillow of spilt popcorn and half inside the tipped bowl the salty treat had once been in.

"Yo Chip, c'mon, we're goin' out." Chris said, leaning against the door and quietly calling out to his accomplice.

Without a sound, the door opened a minute later and Chip strolled out, a smug smile plastered on his face.

Turning, the two moved down the stairs and across the lair to the dojo and up the rickety old metal staircase to the second floor where more cousins were housed. Sliding past the first three bedroom doors, they paused outside the fourth and looked around. No one seemed to be following them.

Slipping into the semi-dark room, they glanced around before finding their gear-head cousin attempting to put her own computer back together. They weren't sure why she'd decided to take it apart to begin with, but then with Delaney, no one was really sure why she did much of anything.

"Lane…we need you to loop the security cams for us." Chip said.

"HA!" Was her response, her head buried deep in the bowls of her monitor.

"C'mon, we mean it. Chip an' me wanna go topside for awhile."

"Yeah, well I meant it, too. Ha! I'm not looping those cams for you. Well, not for free anyways." Delaney answered, pulling her grease and dirt smudged face out from inside the monitor to look at her two older cousins like they'd gone crazy.

Chris looked at Chip with a raised eye ridge as he smirked and looked back at her.

"Ya know, I'm sure Uncle Don would love to know who it is that's been hackin' into his computers anyways. Maybe we should go wake him up and tell 'im. Whaddya think, Chip?"

"Yeah, sounds like a plan to me. Unless…Lane changes her mind, that is."

The pair watched as the color drained from the girl's face. The last thing she wanted was for her father to find out what she was capable of with a computer. It had taken her a long time to figure out the proper codes and sequences to get into his computers and the last thing she wanted to do was try to figure out all new ones.

Gulping, she set her tools down and stood up.

"Alright fine. But as soon as you two are out, I'm turning them back on. You'll have to use your training to get past them coming back in. If dad finds out I'm doing this…"


Tabby watched silently as her cousin Delaney used the family computer to hack into her father's system and loop the footage for their tunnel security cameras. As Chip and Chris started out the door, she smiled brightly and slipped out silently behind them.

It wasn't that she didn't take what happened to her father and uncles seriously, she did. In fact, it terrified her beyond words to think she'd almost lost him. But she had promised Andy the day they met that she would meet him in a near-by park that night so they could hang out and he could tell her all about the ghosts and goblins of their fair city. Since she had no way of getting in touch with him to say she'd suddenly been sentenced to house arrest, Tabitha figured going out for an hour or two wouldn't hurt anyone. Especially not since her mother and Aunt Angie were above ground working and her father and uncles were all sleeping. She'd be back before anyone knew she was gone.

Little did the three teenagers know, that at that very moment, Raph and Leo were perched on a rooftop just above the manhole they'd chosen to emerge from.

The two brothers were sitting on the ledge, engaged in a very rare civilized conversation, discussing the night before. Neither of them was quite sure what had happened or who these new ninjas were; all they knew was that the new gang was up to no good and could seriously kick shell—also that the leader seemed to believe Mike to be the leader for some reason.

It was as the pair talked about what they should do next time they encountered the new ninjas that the soft sounds of metal scraping pavement caught their attention. Glancing down into the alley, they watched as two shadow figures emerged and took off running towards the street. A moment later another figure emerged. This one looked around for a second before slinking off into the shadows and around the corner of a building; heading the opposite direction of the first two.

Not sure what was going on, or who those three mystery figures were, Leo motioned for Raph to follow the first two while he went after the third.


Shadow watched the scattered people moving from one side of the street to the other from her perch atop a street light. The sky was dark and overcast, giving her the perfect cover to sit and watch patiently for any sign of the turtles or their children to appear. She felt confident that if any or all of the turtles were to show up that night she would have no trouble taking each of them out personally.

Glancing down as two figures dressed in dark clothes went walking under her light perch, Shadow felt her hairs stand on ends. Those had been two halflings, she could feel it. Feeling a small smirk itch at her lips, she quickly covered the lower half of her face with her scarf once more before dropping to the ground without a sound.

Chip and Chris stopped dead in their tracks as a dark figure landed before them. The air around them quickly filled with anger and they could tell just from the way the figure was standing it was deadly and far from being happy.

"Whad da shell do you two t'ink yer doing!?" Raph exclaimed angrily as he stepped into a yellow circle of light in front of them.

Chris felt his heart drop when he realized it was his own father that caught them sneaking out and about.

"Just needed some fresh air, Uncle Raph." Chip answered as he shrugged and tried to walk past his uncle.

"You kids were told ta stay in da lair! Where da hell do ya's get off t'inkin' dat didn't apply ta ya's?!" Raph reached out and caught Chip by the back of his jacket as he walked by and half tossed him back in front of him. "Dere's a reason ya's weren't supposed ta leave, ya know?"

"Yeah, we know. Now ask us if we care." Chris answered, his eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Raph glared at his son angrily before looking at his nephew. He couldn't believe the nerve those two kids had. He'd just started to open his mouth to fire back his own smart-mouthed response when a figure dressed all in dark blue moved in behind the two teens. His anger towards the teens temporarily forgotten, Raph's lip curled in a snarl as his hands went to his sais.

"Get back down ta da lair." He growled softly, looking past the two boys.

Glancing over their shoulders both jumped and quickly spun to stand next to Raph.

"Dere's a manhole in dat alley. Go down it an' get back ta da lair." The grown turtle ordered, his sais drawn and ready. He could hear the sounds of cloth hitting the pavement and looked to see both his son and nephew standing there with weapons of their own drawn.

"We're not goin' anywhere, Dad."

"Yeah, we're gonna help ya."

No sooner had those words left Chip's mouth that Shadow sprung into action. For a time, it seemed the three turtles had the upper hand on the single ninja female. They each had managed to get in a few good hits here and there before Shadow had decided she was done playing games with them.

Striking out with her foot, Shadow connected with Chris' stomach causing him to double over in pain. In a move too fast to almost be seen, she grabbed the boy's shoulders and threw him hard into a near by building.

Raph watched as his son smashed into the brick wall before crumbling to the ground. Chris sat on the ground, clutching to his spinning and throbbing head. Looking to his right quickly Raph knew he had to get Chip back down to the lair before he too was thrown into a building, or worse—run through with one of the all too deadly weapons the kunoichi was wielding.

Growling low in his throat as he stepped between Shadow and his nephew, Raph blocked her sais with his own and shoved her back as hard as he could.

"Chip! Damnit! Get Chris outta 'ere! Get back down ta da lair! NOW!"

Without even a second thought, Chip grabbed his jacket, replaced his weapons and went to help his cousin back to his feet. He glanced over his shoulder as his still sore and wounded uncle did his best to keep Shadow occupied while the two boys moved quickly for the alley where a sewer cap was located. Shoving the heavy metal off of the opening, Chip waited for Chris to go down before dropping down after him.

Once Raph was certain both boys had made it into the sewers safely, he turned and bolted for the dark escape route he'd pointed out only moments before. Swearing under his breath as he felt darts bouncing off his hard carapace, he was glad the boys hadn't been within sight when Shadow began shooting them. Even the smallest prick of the poisonous needles could bring about their death. Pausing long enough to pull the cover back over the hole, Raph fell to the concrete platform and glared through the darkness towards the two teen boys.

Placing his sais back in his belt, the red banded turtle stepped up to the two and grabbed the back of their shirts, hauling them back to the lair just as he once did when they were far younger.


"Well, actually, it's believed that the Landmark Tavern on 11th Ave is haunted by a little girl and a Confederate Soldier. And at the skating rink in Central Park, there have been apparitions of two young girls seen skating figure eights." Andy said, smiling as he looked at his now terrified new best friend.

Tabitha gulped hard and tugged her jacket tighter around herself. The cold November air nipped at her nose and fingers and, on top of the stories Andy had just told her, chilled her straight through her jacket. She could feel chill-bumps prickling up her arms and the hair on the back of her neck start to rise. Giving a small shiver, the girl glanced over her shoulder half expecting to see a ghostly figure walking up the path towards them.

As her eyes swept the area carefully, she felt a yell of surprise escape her lips and her body leaving the ground as she leapt into the air and spun around. There behind her in the shadows stood her none too happy uncle, brown eyes gleaming out from the shadows in narrow slits.

"Un-Uncle Leo! What are—"

"Tabitha you were told not to leave home for any reason. You deliberately disobeyed us." He answered, sticking to the darkness so that Andy was unable to fully see him.

Tabitha gulped hard again, suddenly far more afraid of her uncle and father than any ghost or ghoul that could be roaming the area.

"Go home Tabitha."

"But Uncle Leo, I just wanted to—"

"GO!"

Giving Andy a small wave goodbye, Tabby started for the street, vanishing into the darkness as if she herself had been a mysterious apparition. Andy could feel the harsh glare of the man Tabitha had called her Uncle Leo and shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably.

Gathering all his courage, the young boy smiled brightly and stepped forward, his hand outstretched in greeting.

"Um, good evening sir. I didn't know Tabby was grounded, sir, otherwise I would have told her we could get together another time. My name's Andy Jac—" Andy trailed off as he watched Leo turn and go off after Tabby.

Frowning and knitting his eyebrows together, the boy cautiously took off into the darkness after them, listening intently as the sound of a metal sewer cap moved back over the blacktop and gently clinked back into its resting place.

Tabby gulped softly and offered a sweet, innocent smile to her infuriated uncle. "Uh…heh heh…hi Uncle Leo."

His blood boiling, Leo glared hard at his oldest niece. Turning her around in front of him, he gave her shoulders a quick and sharp push to get her walking down the long and silent sewer tunnel back to their lair.