Three months. It had been three painfully quiet months for April, Casey, and Irma since all their friends had left. After Irma, Maya and the baby had returned to their pod for Maya's training, Mikey had become a shell of himself.
The orange masked turtle had suddenly gone from needing desperately to be by his family's side to wanting nothing to do with anyone. He barely ate and couldn't seem to find any relief from going anywhere in the house without finding something that reminded him of his mate. The three older turtles and Miwa were beside themselves about what to do. Anytime they tried to talk to their baby brother, he would just smile at them and tell them everything was okay.
Vixen had stepped in and decided that it was time that she do something. Training at the farm house wasn't working and it wasn't just Mikey who had a distracted mind.
Flashback
"We're doing what now?" Mikey asked sounding VERY unenthusiastic about Vixen's suggestion.
The Hamato siblings and Alopex were all kneeling in front of Vixen after training. It was bittersweet to be instructed again when they were being taught by someone other then Master Splinter.
"I said we are going into the woods to focus on becoming one with nature. Mastering this training will allow you to become at peace with yourselves," the fox explained.
"Become one with nature…lady in case you didn't notice we're ninjas not hippies," Raph said as he crossed his arms defiantly.
Vixen glared at the teen before walking over and pressing two fingers into a pressure point in the turtle's neck. Raph instantly went tense as the woman pressed painfully in a way that very much reminded the turtle of how Master Splinter would. As quickly the pain came, it disappeared when Vixen released his neck and gave him a warning look.
"You four may have mastered your weapons, stealth, and hand to hand combat but you have yet to master the first of the ninjitsu disciplines, the seishin syuyou," Vixen explained as she walked in front of the teens.
"Spiritual refinement?" Miwa questioned.
The fox stopped and stared at each teen before she explained, "It is abundantly clear that all of your spirits are troubled. They are burdened with doubts,
fears, and worries. You must allow your spirits to release these burdens if you ever wish to take back your home and find your father." The teens all looked hesitantly at each before Leo slowly got to his feet. He looked at Vixen with determination in his eyes before he replied, "When do we
begin?"
End of flashback
During that time all the remaining teens could do was continue to prepare for their inevitable return to New York City. The three were constantly watching the news to see if there was any word from anybody inside the city. Irma was constantly working on the retro mutagen taking over where Donatello left off with his notes. Casey had insisted that the raven-haired girl learn at least some self defense moves for when they went back to New York. April enthusiastically agreed and decided that she would be the one to teach Irma some self-defense moves to protect herself.
When April wasn't training Irma, she was demanding Casey be her sparing partner. Out of all the guys, it was Casey that she preferred to train with. She loved the turtles, but they couldn't seem to bring themselves to push her during spars as if she were breakable. Casey brought his hockey mentality when he trained. He always puts in 110% and he expects you to do the same.
It was one morning that started out very much like any other for Casey and April. They had only just finished stretching when the sound of trees moving
caught their attention. Both teens quickly turned their attention to the source of the sound but saw nothing.
"What was that?" April asked holding her weapon out in front of her.
"I'm not sure," Casey replied.
The black haired teen slowly made his way towards where they heard the noise with April closely walking behind him. They stopped when they heard the
rustling noise once again and held their breaths to see what would emerge.
"It might be them," April said sounding hopeful.
Casey pulled his mask over his face and grabbed his hockey stick before he replied, "Maybe, but I ain't takin' any chances Red."
The pair stood their ground, ready to defend themselves if need be as shadows began to emerge from the trees. They sighed in relief however when they
saw the familiar faces of the Hamato siblings and the two foxes. However, they couldn't help but notice the change in their friends. Vixen and Alopex seemed more focused as if they were about to go after a large prey. Miwa and the turtles…seemed almost feral.
"Woah," Casey said as he dropped his weapon.
"What happened out there?" April asked as the group approached them.
Leo looked at both humans before he replied, "A lot...let's go inside, we have a lot to talk about."
The red head gave the turtle a hopeful expression before she asked, "Does this mean what I think it means?"
Leo gave her a small smile before he said, "We're going home."
…
Donny walked into the barn to find Irma bent over the lab table studying the notes he had left behind when he went to train. He couldn't help but smile as he
stopped and stared at her as she worked. Her hair had grown slightly longer since he left. She still wore her skull shirt but had long since swapped the skirt out for a pair of jeggings and sneakers she borrowed from April which showed off her long legs.
The purple masked turtle watched as the girl gently handled his lab equipment and notes about the retro mutagen. As he watched her, the purple masked turtle felt his heart race. No one, not even April had ever been so careful when touching his things. Donny was very protective of his lab equipment and notes,
practically snarling at anyone who got to close. Seeing Irma in his lab working somehow felt natural. Suddenly his work to make more retro mutagen became their work when he had discovered a kindred spirit in the spunky girl. It didn't hurt that she had a gift for trolling Casey Jones.
"Honey I'm home," Donny called out making the girl look up and smile.
"Well hello to you to survivor man," Irma teased as the turtle walked towards the table.
"You've been busy. Any luck?" Donny asked as he observed the canisters of mutagen.
Irma sighed before she replied, "I feel like I'm going at a snail's pace making this stuff. It's like watching paint dry."
"You often watch paint dry?" Donny teased earning himself a glare from his lab partner.
"I put you back together and I can take you apart Hamato. Remember that," Irma teased back before she gently slapped the turtle's arm.
Donny smirked as he recalled back in New York. This girl who had literally been thrown into their shit storm was the one who had helped him keep his shit
together. She was the one who stitched him up after he'd been shot.
"So, how was your spiritual enlightenment thing?" Irma asked pulling him from his thoughts.
Donny was quiet for a moment before he replied, "Enlightening." Irma snorted before she said, "Wanna elaborate on that a little for those of us who weren't there."
The purple masked turtle gave Irma an apologetic smile before he explained, "There was a part of the training where it was just Miwa, Leo, Raph, Mikey, and
me. We were sitting around a camp fire one night and then…we saw Splinter."
Irma looked at him in shock before she said, "Splinter? As in your dad Splinter? I can't believe he found us all the way out here. This is great news!"
"He's not exactly here," Donny said.
The girl gave him a confused look before he explained, "He didn't come to us physically. He found us on the spiritual plain and appeared in the fire. He told us
we needed to defeat our enemies on a spiritual level before we could ever hope to defeat them in the physical world."
Irma let everything sink in for a minute before she looked worried and asked, "If your dad's spirit found you…that mean he's-"
"He's alive, we know that for sure. He just got separated from his body somehow," Donny quickly explained.
Irma let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding before she mumbled, "Well at least we have some good news."
Donny smirked before he said in a sing song voice, "I've got more good news."
"Oh?" Irma said interested.
"We're going home," the turtle replied.
Irma smiled from ear to ear before she wrapped her arms around the turtle's neck and hugged him tight. Donny was caught off guard and stumbled back. One arm quickly wrapped around Irma while the other shot out to grab the desk to stop them from falling.
"That is amazing news!" Irma cried before she pulled away from him, not noticing the shocked blushing expression on the purple masked turtle.
"L-Leo wants everybody in the house for a meeting," Donny stammered.
Irma quickly grabbed Donny's hand to lead them towards the house and said, "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
...
"The place is barricaded. We have no idea how until we get there of what we're dealing with. This is going to be an extremely risky mission," Leo explained.
"So, we basically can't make a plan until we get there," April said nervously.
"Not exactly. We have something they don't that will give us at least a fighting chance to get back into New York City," Miwa replied.
Casey looked at them all confused before he asked, "What could we possibly have that can outsmart the krang?
Raph just smirked before he wrapped his arm around his baby brother beside him. Mikey smiled at everyone before waving awkwardly. The three humans
looked at Mikey in surprise before looking over at the remaining Hamato siblings and glaring.
"Hey, at least hear us out," Donny said defensively when he saw the looks in their direction.
"When we went to Dimension X, Mikey and Maya ran ahead of us. They got a five-minute head start but for them it was months. He is the only one that knows how to survive in their world, how to fight in it, but most importantly he knows how to take it down from the inside. When we get back home, a lot of our victory will be because of what Mikey knows," Leo explained.
Mikey didn't know what to think. He couldn't remember a time when his brothers had put as much faith in him as they were doing now. It was awesome that
they were going to depend on him for once but at the same time, the idea of being responsible for so many people was in a word…terrifying.
'Wonder if this is how Leo feels all the time' Mikey thought nervously.
As they all planned their strategy Mikey doubts began to voice their opinions louder and louder in his mind. It was almost becoming deafening. However, as
they began to roar they were quickly silenced and replaced by another voice.
'Beloved, do not fill your head and heart with such negativity. You are better then that'
Mikey almost broke into tears right then and there when he heard the voice of his mate. The past three months had been torture without her there beside him. Hearing her voice was like finding a beloved comic book that he thought lost forever.
'They're putting so much faith in a dude that they have to save 90% of the time. I'm terrified I'm gonna mess this up May' '
Beloved, you are so much stronger then you give yourself credit for. Your family is with you, allow them to give you courage when this one cannot be there to
do so.'
Mikey knew she was right. He promptly gave his head a shake and looked around at the people who surrounded him. All of them believed that he could help
him get them home and he wasn't going to let them down. He remembered the words that his father had told him when he had appeared in the forest and
smiled with confidence.
'Thanks for talking sense into me love.'
'Anytime beloved. This one will see you soon.'
"Mikey, you okay?"
The orange masked turtle looked up to see everyone staring at him. From their perspective they had been trying to get his attention when they noticed him
staring off into space and drooling with his tongue hanging out of his goofy grin.
Raph was beside him giving him a weird look before he asked, "You back on planet Earth Mikey?"
"Ya I'm good. Just imagining that sweet first slice after we kick the Krang's ass out of our home," Mikey replied with a confident smirk.
"That's the spirit Mikey! I'll even buy the first round," Casey replied.
Casey had hung around long enough to know that although Mikey put on a good show, he wasn't a terribly confident turtle. So anytime the kid actually tried
to believe in himself, Casey was more then happy to give him an extra boost.
"Just remembers priorities little brother. First, we get our home back then eat our weight in pizza," Miwa chimed in.
"Sounds good to me bra. Alright ninjas, here's what we gotta do…"
…
April couldn't believe it. They were finally leaving her childhood home to go back and fight for the city that they all loved. A lot had happened since they got
here, and they had all learned so much that it was a bittersweet moment as the house disappeared in the rear-view mirror. The red head turned around in the
front passenger seat and looked over at her aunt who was sitting stoically as they drove along.
The fox met her gaze before April asked, "Penny for your thoughts?"
Vixen smiled at her before she replied, "Just preparing myself. It has been a very long time since I was in New York City."
"Well Splinter will be happy to see you I'm sure," April said.
Vixen stared at the ground for a moment looking uncomfortable before looking up at her niece and replied, "I'm not telling him…at least not right now."
"Why?"
Both April and Vixen looked over to where the question came from and found that they had an audience. Everyone was staring at them minus Casey but it was clear he was interested in the answer as well.
"Why wouldn't you tell him?" Miwa asked again.
"I am not the person he knew all those years ago," Vixen replied.
"If it makes ya feel better, he doesn't exactly look like the guy you knew all those years ago either," Raph chimed in.
Vixen couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the comment before she said, "I am very aware that we both no longer human in appearance, that is not what I meant."
"What's the problem then?" Leo asked being surprisingly blunt.
The fox stared at the curious teens before she smiled sadly and explained, "I am not the optimistic young girl that he knew…I have grown from experiences
both wonderful and tragic as has he. It has made us different people. There is no guarantee that we will like the people that we have become so it almost
seems fitting that we should simply introduce ourselves as the people we are now instead of the people we once were."
The car became silent as everyone absorbed what the woman was saying to them. It was a foreign concept to them that people could leave, change, and then
come back into your life again as a complete stranger.
"I think I get it," Raph said suddenly breaking the silence.
"Sometimes they don't have to go away to do it, but they do become somebody else…but you still miss the person they used to be and you never forget what
they meant to you," the red masked turtle added as he recalled Spike becoming Slash.
Vixen smiled at the teen before she said, "I do want to tell him. However, I do believe there is an alien invasion we need to take care of first before we worry
about that.
"Agreed," they all said at the same time.
The van went into silence once more but this time it was to mentally prepare themselves. The time had finally come. After all the talking and all the waiting,
they were finally going back to fight for New York.
For the delay I was having some technological grief. Anyway don't forget to review and tell me what you think!
