Back to Where it All Began

L.A.: Okay, I know, I've been gone for ages. School started up and it has taken most of my time. Sorry! As a side note, I just want to say that I am amazed at how many people reviewed this story. 200 reviews is amazing! Usually ocs' stories don't get many reviews so the fact that so many people like my story makes me feel honored. Anywho, nice long chapter for making you wait. Enjoy!

"WHAT?"

I pulled back from the shell cell and winced.

I knew that when I called the turtles to tell them about Lindsey's location that they would be upset. I hadn't expected them to nearly burst my eardrum.

"I thought you were going to wait at the lair," Don said.

I laughed. "When have I ever been willing to be unproductive?"

"Chloe…" Don said.

"I get it, you're not in a joking mood," I said as I rolled my eyes. "Look, Lindsey's being held at Pier 16 Building 19. We're heading over there as we speak."

"We?"

"Me, Aristotle, and the wolves from the zoo," I said as I prepared to jump to another building.

There was a pause on the other end on the line.

"You stole wolves from the zoo?" Don asked. I could almost see him shaking his head in disbelief.

"I didn't steal," I said. "I just temporarily liberated them."

Don must have giving the others a weird look because I heard Mikey comment from the background. "She's Sophie, what did you expect?"

There was a loud sigh before Don came back on. "Okay, we'll head over there. You can go put the wolves back in the zoo and head home."

"What?" I made a crackling sound. "I can't…crrrrrr…hear…crrrrr…you…crrr."

"Chloe," Don said, a hint of impatience in his voice.

"Sorry…crrrr…breaking…up…crrrrr… see you there…crrrrr…"

"I made the shell cells. They have an expanded range so that there won't be interference and…"

I quickly cut off the shell cell before he could comment.

Sometimes, it's bad when Don makes all the inventions. You can't get away with pretending they are malfunctioning.

I knew that Don was going to be really ticked off with me when he saw me. And since he's the pacifist of the group, that's saying something. Hopefully, he would take out his anger on the Foot.

As I increased my speed for the next jump, I realized that Karai's kindness really wasn't kind at all. Running as fast as I could, it took me fifteen minutes just to get to Pier 16. I was mentally cursing her as I approached the building.

Building 19 looked like every other ware house. It was bland, square, and looked pretty much abandoned. Well, almost abandoned. There were two foot ninjas standing guard out front.

"Okay," I whispered. "Let's go but be…discrete."

The wolves raced out. Skipper tackled one ninja while Clyde tackled the other. The ninjas tried to struggle but froze when the wolves snapped their teeth.

Skipper grinned at me. "Look at me, I could be in a movie."

"Yeah, you could win an Academy award." I smacked my hand against my forehead while Aristotle shook his head.

"A word to the wise," Aristotle said, "wolves don't know how to be discrete."

After we had bound and gagged the foot ninjas and hid them away, we approached the warehouse once more.

I guess, I could have stolen one the foot ninja's costumes but with the ears, tail, and parade of canines behind me, I highly doubt I would have been able to pull it off.

I pressed my face against the window in the door and tried to make out what was inside. From the flashing red light off to the right, I could tell that the security system was still on. Frowning, I took a step back and surveyed the area. Off to my left, I noticed an air duct. Its cover was slightly rusted which meant it could be pulled away with ease. I glanced at the wolves and back at the air duct. One of them could fit through.

"Got an idea?" Aristotle asked.

"Working on it," I said as I peered through the window again. Squinting, I could barely make out a jumble of wires under the security system. A green wire snaked up to the flashing red light.

"Okay," I said as I turned back to them once more. "I need one of you to go through that air duct over there and pulled out the green wire from the security system so the others can get in."

I was met with blank stares.

"You do know we're color blind," Gigi said slowly.

I mentally slapped myself. How could I forget that? I glanced up at the sky and frowned. How much time had passed? The turtles weren't here yet, that I was sure of. I technically should wait for them but I was worried about Karai's ultimatum. What if I didn't get Lindsey out in time? Would Karai blow up the factory? That's what they did in movies, right? So, I had no choice. I had to find a way in and now.

As I stared at the air duct again, a thought occurred to me. Master Splinter told me that meditation could help me control my dog transformations. So, I could possibly use meditation to transform myself back into a dog. Granted, I sucked at meditation and my chances of this actually working were slim to none but it was at least worth the try.

I closed my eyes and cleared my head of thoughts. I then focused on being a dog. I imagined myself covered in white fluffy fur from head to toe. I imagined myself running on all fours, remembering the adrenaline rush I always felt when I broke off into a sprint or jumped in the air. I thought of my collar which still hung around my neck, about rolling in the dirt, scratching my ears with my back paw, and being able to recognize anyone from their smell alone. I thought of my family and friends and the strong urge to protect them whenever I was in my dog form.

"I am Sophie," I muttered. "I am Sophie."

Most of the time when I transform, it happens so quick that I barely notice it. This time I could feel the change. I could feel my bones cracking and resetting into their new form. My skin itched and burned as my fur began to grow. My new fangs dug into my cheeks and I had to resist the urge to sneeze as my nose elongated. It was a little unnerving but I quickly pushed those thoughts aside

When I did open my eyes, I found that I had fully transformed.

Aristotle grinned lazily. "Nice job."

The wolves just stared at me wide-eyed.

"Okay," I shoved my clothes aside. "Let's go."

After successfully breaking in, we began to slowly explore the warehouse. We stuck to the shadows to avoid detection. I have to admit; even though I was scared out of my mind, I was also kind of excited. It was like I had stepped into my favorite action movie. The only thing that bugged me was the lack of security. There were barely any foot ninjas around and the ones we did see we could avoid with ease. A part of me was worried that this was a trap. I pushed that thought aside. Possible trap or not, I had a best friend to save.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that I actually picked up Lindsey's scent. I followed it to a room in the back. I pushed the door open a crack and peered inside. The entire room was filled with cages full of animals. In the center of the room was Lindsey. She was tied to a chair and gagged.

I forced myself meditate once more, my thoughts this time geared towards being a human. Again, I felt my body transform back into a human. When I opened my eyes, I was human. Master Splinter would be so proud. Well, he'd kill me first for going off on my own but then he'd be proud.

I grabbed a lab jacket off the coat rack and put it on as I entered the room. Hearing the movement, Lindsey looked up as her eyes widened.

I grinned cheekily as I removed the gag from her mouth. "Surprised to see me?"

She looked me up and down. "Are you going commando?"

I stuck my tongue out at her as I started to undo her binds. "Seriously, that's all you can say? I'm here to rescue you. Man, you've been hanging out with me too long."

"What are you doing here?" a voice said behind me.

My eyes widened as I looked back. Akira was sitting in one of the cages looking rather unhappy. His fur was dirty and ruffled and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Akira, you're alright," I said as I went to his cage and opened the door.

"You shouldn't be here," Akira tentatively took a step out of his cage. "They know you were coming."

"I figured as much," I said as I looked around the room. I grinned. "Let's release all the animals."

"Are you serious?" Lindsey said as she rubbed her wrists.

"Nothing says oh crud like a herd of stampeding animals," I said as I began to open the cages.

"Smart idea," Aristotle wagged his tail.

After releasing all the animals we slowly made our way out. Akira was still very weak so I was forced to carry him on my back. We were like a miniature parade. As we headed for the exit, the lights came on.

A loud clapping filled the air as Kai appeared before us.

"Congratulations, you found a way in," He smiled menacingly," and you tried to save the animals too. How nice."

I glared at him as we watched the foot suspiciously. I knew we were in trouble. Sure, I had a small army of animals but there was also a small army of ninjas. It would be suicide to fight them.

"So, it is true," a voice said from above. I looked up to see a cloaked figure. His arms were crossed. "You can talk to animals."

I was about to respond when there was a loud crash. The turtles came in along with Karai and her lackies.

They gave each other weird looks.

"Dude, Karai's here. What the shell?" Mikey said.

I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder. Don looked down at me his face unreadable.

Kai was pale. His eyes darted from Karai to the strange hooded figure above us. I glanced back and noticed that the hooded figure had vanished.

"Go," Karai said before turning her attention back to Kai.

Raph stepped forward but I held up my arm and shook my head.

"Let's leave before they blow up this place." I didn't let them have time to comment on the absurdity of my statement. As we raced out of the warehouse, I could hear the yells of the ninjas fighting. Although, I think the turtles would have loved to duke it out with the foot, I think we were all glad that we didn't have to fight.

We had just made it outside when the entire warehouse was suddenly engulfed in flames. We all stared at it wide-eyed.

"Ha," I said. "It proves that I was right."

Mikey laughed while Raph just shook his head. Leo and Lindsey looked like they were having a tender moment so I turned my attention to Donnie.

He was off to the right, examining the herd of animals I had gathered.

"So," I said as I walked up beside him. "You aren't mad at me, are you?"

Donnie glanced over at me. "No," He smirked, "but you're getting micro-chipped."

"What?" I said as the others started to laugh. "That's not funny. Animal abuse!"

"Do you think they made it?" Lindsey asked as she shivered.

We sobered up as we looked at the burning building. For a moment, I thought I saw a hooded figure on the roof top. However, a moment later, there was nothing but fire.

"Karai survived," Raph said. "There's no way she'd let herself die."

We all nodded.

"So, what now?" Mikey asked as he put his arms behind his head.

"Well," Leo said as he rubbed his hands together. "We need to find a place for the animals but first…" He gave me a pointed look. "Chloe needs to return the wolves she borrowed."

L.A.: And, there we go. Only one more chapter left which will hopefully be posted in the next couple of day. Anyway, tell me what you think!