Hikari woke up blurry eyed and dazed, she didn't remember falling asleep and she didn't think she would after what happened yesterday. As her mind cleared up, she felt the warm body sleeping on her. Memories of her conversation with Leo played in her head and reminded her how they both got here. She closed the dead laptop that was left on long after the movie was over, and slowly moved over to check the time on her T-Phone.

The movement was enough to jostle Leo, who was sleeping on her shoulder, and wake him up. He sat upright sluggishly and yawned, "Morning."

"Not exactly morning, but close enough." She groaned, wincing as the bright light from her T-Phone shone onto her eyes. It was only 3 am and far too early to be awake."

"I should probably head back to my room. I really don't want the others seeing me walking out of your room in the morning." Leo shuffled out from under the warm covers.

"You think they'd believe we were intimate?"

Leo stiffed at the question and stuttered with a blush forming on his face, "Well- Maybe?! I don't know! Everything's so new and I really don't want them asking questions right now."

"I understand." She smiled, "I don't think I can answer any of them either."

Leo relaxed after hearing that. Things were easier now that they were more open with each other, but he still felt like he had to ask, "But we are together now, right?"

"Only if you want to be."

"Yeah. I do."

Hikari laughed, "I don't think you're supposed to say that now."

"Oh, ha ha." Leo rolled his eyes and walked over to the door, turning back to her with a warm gaze, "I'll see you later."

"See you in the morning, Leo." She said with fondness. After Leo closed the door behind him, Hikari was left with a silent room and her thoughts. She tried settling back to bed, snuggling under the blanket and enjoying the lingering warmth. But just as her body lulled itself into slumber, she jolted up in a state of panic, her heart beating as any semblance of sleep was stripped away. She knew trying again was futile, so she got out of bed and picked out her outfit for the day.

She was careful not to wake anyone else up as she went about her morning routine. She brushed her teeth and did her own set of morning stretches before training. Once she was done with that, she decided to watch some TV to past the time. After a while, she noticed Mikey out of his room. "Morning, nii-chan." She greeted.

"Morning. You're really early today." Mikey yawned, his feet bringing him over to the couch while his mind was still in bed.

"Couldn't fall back asleep." She said nothing more about it. Mikey knew better than to pry.

"Wanna help me with breakfast?" He changed the subject, "I'm thinking we make some French toast. I found this stuff called cinnamon and Donnie told me it's like sugar but better."

"That's how he said it?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, that's how I remember he said it." Mikey shrugged as he walked over to the kitchen.

That got her to laugh, Mikey always had a way to cheer her up and keep her mind off the bad stuff. She hopped off the couch with enthusiasm, "All right. Let's do it."

By the time the two finished cooking up a storm, the lair was filled with the aroma of sugar, eggs and cinnamon. Donnie woke up to an amazing smell and following it straight to the kitchen, "That smells amazing…" Donnie squinted at the innocuous plate of French toast Hikari had placed before him, then looked at her suspiciously, "What did you do to our brother?"

"Relax, Mikey knows what he's doing." She then said the next part in a low voice, "Also, I made sure to keep the pizza sauce away from the bowl."

Before Donnie could add anything else, Raph joined them in the kitchen. Hikari went to pick up another plate Mikey was cooking and placed it in front of Raph.

"Morning." Raph woke up a little when the warm scent of breakfast hit him. He noticed her straight unbraided hair and called it out, "Lazy day?"

She nodded, "I'll probably tie it up before training."

Now that Raph was here, Donnie was confused when he realized who the last turtle missing from the table was, "Where's Leo?"

"Yeah, he's usually the first one down here." Mikey turned off the stove with the last few plates of French toasts finished.

"Must've had a busy night, huh?" Raph looked over at Hikari who didn't say a word to that. Just then, Leo showed up to the kitchen ready for training as always. Raph switched gears and turned to him with a knowing grin, "Speak of which, nice to see your lazy shell down here."

"Please, I come down last once and you're gonna give me slack for that?" Leo scoffed as he went to make his tea.

"Yup."

"Knock it off, you two. Save it for the dojo." Hikari stopped their bickering as she sat at the table with her plate in front of her, "Now it's cinnamon time."

Hikari took a bite just as Donnie and Mikey did. Their faces dropped and they all started coughing and wheezing. Donnie glared at the deceitful plate of food like he wanted to blow it up right there, "How much cinnamon did you put in this?!"

"Mikey!" Hikari said in-between her coughing fits, "You said you followed the recipe!"

Mikey was busy chugging down the milk carton with his head in the fridge. Once he got his vocal chords back, he wailed in defense, "I did! But I didn't think it was enough, so I might've added more?"

The burning sensation and dry coughing weren't stopping so Hikari grabbed the nearest cup to her and started drinking it, which so happened to be Leo's tea. "Hey, get your own tea!" Leo tried to grab his tea back from her grasps.

Desperation drove her to drink half of Leo's green tea before the bitter aftertaste made her stop, "Eugh, I still don't know how you drink this."

"That's didn't stop you just now."

"And I'm already regretting it." Hikari's eyes widened suddenly and started whining with her tongue out, "Ahh! It's mixing!"

Leo watched as Hikari gagged and complained about the awful taste combination of green tea and cinnamon. He smiled fondly at her over-the-top dramatics, fully letting himself enjoy the moment.

Raph already knew that Leo went to talk to Hikari last night. But seeing that dumb lovestruck look on his big brother's face after all this time made it clear that something happened really gross between those two. He glanced over at Donnie and that Brainiac had the face he made when he figured something out but wouldn't tell them the answer.

Those two were idiots if they were trying to keep it a secret, but Raph was waiting to see how long it would take from them to trip up and expose themselves with how obvious they're acting.

Training went about as normal, at least it was normal for his children. Splinter had long gotten used to his sons' antics when he came to training, but he always took this as a chance to boost their strengths and help them overcome their personal weaknesses. When he offered to train Hikari, he wondered what kind of student she would be given her past and her prior combat training. He wasn't surprised to learn that she was as studious and devoted as his eldest when it came to training.

What Splinter didn't expect was how hard she was willing to push herself. He kept a close eye as Hikari was training with Leonardo and Splinter noticed that he was training her more intensely today than he normally would. However, she wasn't complaining like his brothers would have. Instead, she seemed to thrive off the challenge and match his pace the entire time.

The scene reminded him of the first and only time Tang Shen asked her to teach her ninjutsu, their training wasn't very productive thanks to playful banter from the two of them and the laughter they shared with each step. Although she decided ninjutsu was not for her, the joyful memories they made that day always came to mind when he thought of his lost love.

He was delighted to see that his son had found someone special to hold and share these memories with. But he did laugh internally at their foolishness if they thought they could hide their new relationship from him.

Once training ended, the five of them were on their way out to enjoy their free time before Splinter stopped them, "Leonardo, Hikari. A word please."

"Oooh, someone's in trouble." Mikey laughed as he and the others left the dojo. Though, it didn't take a ninja master to guess that they were probably eavesdropping. No matter, this was a conversation he'd hope he would get to have with each of them.

"Is something wrong, sensei?" Hikari asked.

"No, everything is fine." He stood before them, "I am just waiting."

Leo and Hikari shared a look of confusion before he asked, "Waiting for what?"

"Someone to tell how long this relationship has been going on."

With that, Leo felt his face heat up as he stuttered, "M-Master Splinter, it's not that we're hiding it. We just started last night."

That last part sounded much worse than Leo intended, and he tried his best under Splinter's inquisitive gaze, "N-Not like that, I swear!"

Hikari stepped in to save Leo from combusting into a nervous blushing mess. "It's all so new, we don't even know what to say. We figured it'd be best to take it as it comes." She explained and gave Leo a calm loving look. It was enough for Leo to ground himself and mirror that look back at her.

He smiled at the new couple. How he wished Shen could be here to see one of their child grow close to someone like that, to one day learn to love someone like that.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to sound confrontational. I'm merely curious about this new development." His tone then shifted into something more serious, "As a father, I should also make sure that you are aware of everything you need to know as a new couple."

Hikari might not know what Splinter meant, but Leo definitely did. He stiffened like a board and immediately started protesting with his face now completely red, "Nope, We're good! C'mon Hikari."

Splinter chuckled as he watched Leonardo pull Hikari out of the dojo. It might be a little much to enjoy it, but it was his duty as a father to embarrass his son ever so slightly.

After barely escaping the bird-and-bees talk, Leo and Hikari split ways to go about their normal routines. However, neither of them really focused on their tasks. Donnie called Hikari out on her daydreaming more than usual during their reading lessons. Leo found it harder to get into a meditative state when all he could think about were the possibilities now that they were finally on the same page.

Raph and Donnie were pretty much sick of those two when they caught Hikari looking at their big brother with puppylove eyes while he was geeking out to Space Heroes again. Even if they won't act like it, they were happy for the two of them.

So far it seemed like Mikey was the only one who didn't notice the shift in their relationship. Hikari wished she was more surprised than she actually was. It was always hit or miss with Mikey but she was sure he'd pick up on it before they had to tell him. But tonight was a night for the five of them to just bond, it was Mikey's turn for a movie night and he seemed to take the term very literally.

After 3 zombie movies in a row, she couldn't bring herself to care about this new group of protagonists and their troubles. How can film, something that can show her such amazing stories, let her down by giving out such a bland piece of work?

As the main character started freaking out at his first zombie moment, she was as unenthusiastic as the others.

"Big deal."

"So what?"

"Seen it."

"Boring."

Mikey, on the other hand, was appalled at their reactions, "Boring? No way! This is Primo Zombie Mayhem!"

"I can't take it anymore." Raph groaned, "We've been watching Primo Zombie Mayhem for HOURS."

"Duh, that's what makes it a zombie marathon." Mikey said it like it was obvious, "We gotta watch it all."

"But it's just the same plot points again and again. This guy's going to make it while his best friend gets eaten." Just as Hikari said that, the main character wailed in anguish as he watched his best friend get torn apart by the horde. She waved her hand at the TV, "See?"

"Nee-chan, you can't give up now." Mikey whined as he draped himself onto her, "This is your first zombie marathon!"

She rolled her eyes and lifted his arms off her shoulders, "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, I'm gonna make up for some of it."

"I'm going to bed too." Donnie got up from the floor, "If I don't get enough REM sleep, I'm gonna be off all day."

Mikey refused to move as everyone else was heading to the bedrooms. They probably could've forced Mikey to go to bed, but Mikey would've just snuck back out to watch it on his own anyways. Leo, being the responsible big brother, gave him a warning before they were out of earshot, "Careful, Mikey. You know how your imagination runs away with you when you watch scary movies alone."

"Aw, gimme some credit, bro! A few brain-eating undead are no thang." Mikey waved off the warning without taking his eyes off the TV.

"My room door's open if you need me." Hikari left with the others as she turned to Leo, "He's not gonna sleep tonight, is he?"

"Nope." Leo said.

"Who needs them? Those sleepyheads don't know what they're missing." Mikey laughed as he continued shoving popcorn down his mouth.

He was on the edge on his seat, tensing up at the child in the group wandered off after hearing a meow, "Don't pet that! It's a zombie cat!"

"No, dude! They're zombies! Go for the head!" Mikey cried out as he watched another character losing his mind and blindly throwing stuff at the group looming towards him.

Wails of anguish and pain came loud through the TV as the final act picked up. There were humans dropping for every two zombies they killed. It was a losing battle and there was only one man last standing. It was the climax of the film and Mikey couldn't be more invested, "Pssh, Leo thought that would scare me? As if."

After the credits for the last movie of the marathon started rolling, Mikey let out a big yawn and turned the TV off. He dragged himself into his room and got into bed. But the darkness and silence shrouding over him just gave way for his crazy imagination to run free. He was suddenly hearing noises and getting eerie feeling that something was looming over him. He couldn't stop fretting and fidgeting in his bed, anxiety and paranoia filling his body. He knew he wasn't going to fall asleep…

"Hey bro!" Mikey came bursting into Raph's room with skateboard in hand, "Who needs sleep, right? You uhp for a late night skate run?"

Raph didn't appreciate that rude awakening and Mikey was about to face his full fury. Raph stomped out of his bed and shoved the clock by his side into Mikey's face, "What's wrong with you?! Do you know what time it is?!"

"Uh… Guess that's a no!" Mikey then ran out of Raph's room when he threw the clock in his hand at Mikey, "Ah!"

With Raph not interested, Mikey went to Hikari's room. She did offer after all so Mikey was gonna take it. Learning from earlier, he peeked into her room, "Nee-chan! You wanna go…" He paused when he noticed that Hikari wasn't in her room, "Oh no! The zombies got her!"

Mikey immediately rushed to Leo's room and started banging on his door, "Leo! Hikari's gone!"

Leo opened the door with a stunned look, "What?"

"She's not in her room, I think the zombies ate her!"

Leo sighed and ran his hand down his face, "Mikey, there are no such things as zombies and they didn't eat her. How would they even get into the lair without us knowing anyways?"

Mikey didn't have an answer for that, at least one that Leo wouldn't argue with. "Well. She's still missing, we gotta find her! I'll go get the others."

"No!" Mikey turned to Leo at his outburst. Now he was looking to Leo for answers and Leo couldn't stop his voice from pitching, "I-Umm, she's probably just in the bathroom or having a stroll through the sewers to help her sleep better. I wouldn't worry about it."

"But-" Mikey started before Leo cut him off to reassure him.

"Trust me, Mikey. If something happens, I'll let you know and we can go after her."

"Ok…?" Mikey was still so confused after Leo closed the door in his face. Well, Leo knew her better than anyone. So, if Leo said he didn't need to worry about it, he was sure that Hikari was fine. Since he really didn't want to wake up Donnie, he decided to just go out by himself.

Leo could finally breathe again after he heard Mikey walk away. He whispered just loudly enough for her to hear, "Coast is clear."

Hikari rolled out from under his bed. Hearing Mikey run down the hall didn't give her a lot of time to find a better hiding place. Luckily, Leo kept his room far tidier than his brothers. He helped her up and held her in his arms for a little, "You know, this could be much easier if we just told him."

"I know, but the others have figured it out and I'm curious to see how long it'll take Mikey to piece it together." Hikari smiled coyly, "You can't deny it's a little fun to pulling all this off without him even noticing it."

He rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything against it. "Come on, this is the best part." He led her back to his bed and picked up the Arachnid Man comic they were reading together.

Mikey landed the jump and slipped through the mostly quiet alleyways of New York. The city never truly slept after all. The noises and the rush of adrenaline he got when he was on his board helped him relax after all those annoying thoughts wouldn't leave him alone.

"Ahh, better. Just had to take my mind off-" Mikey was grinding down a handrail when he saw a bunch of shadows limping down in an alley, "Zombies?!"

That split moment was enough for Mikey to lose focus and fall off his board. The crash attracted the attention of the zombies as a few started making their way over to him. He got back up in a hurry and started skating away, "Sorry z-dudes! Gotta go!"

He stopped immediately when he spotted another horde on the other end of the alley, "Oh man, they've got friends!"

With the hordes closing in on him and no other means of escape, he put his board on his shell and climbed up the fire escape. "They're everywhere!"

Mikey kept running, jumping from rooftop to roomtop. He needed to go home! He needed his family!

Hikari yawned as they got through the last few pages of another comic. Granted, she never thought reading comics would lull her to sleep after the night before. But something about being there by Leo's side just put her at ease. She was ready to doze off when she jumped at the loud banging footsteps and the shouts echoing down to the room, "Guys! Guuyys!"

The two rushed out of the room just as Raph and Donnie did. The two brothers gave suspensions looks to the couple both by Leo's door, it didn't help that Hikari was in there with her hair down and in her sleepwear just now.

The four of them stood in awkward silence and Leo was definitely not ready for his brothers to confront him about this, "Umm…"

"Zoommbiees!" Mikey's panicked wail snapped them back into reality.

"We're definitely talking about this later." Donnie said as the four of them walked over to the main area where Mikey was freaking out.

"What the heck are you yelling about, Mikey?" Raph asked, "I thought you went skateboarding."

"I did! And there was a full-on zombie apocalypse!" Mikey exclaimed with flailing arms, "For real! They tried to eat my brain!"

"Talk about a light snack." Raph scoffed, much to Mikey's dismay.

"Mikey, you're letting all those movies get in your head." Hikari said.

"Yeah, zombies aren't real." Donnie reasoned, "They're rotted in Haitian Voodoo Folklore that has nothing to do with the horror movie tropes popularly associated with zombies."

Raph was starting to get annoyed with all of Donnie's lore mumbo-jumbo, "Will you stop? I'm trying to stay mad at Mikey."

"Enough!" The five stood with their backs straight as Splinter walked towards his children, "We must not be so quick to ignore a potential threat. As ninja, we seek to exploit this weakness in others. But we must be vigilant ourselves."

Dread started showing on everyone's faces but Mikey's. Leo asked with a wary tone, "Are you saying we should-"

"Investigate!" Splinter cut him off with a slam of his cane, "Perhaps what Michelangelo saw is no cause for alarm. But we ignore a warning at our peril. Now go!"

"There goes another night…" Hikari sighed as she headed for her room to get dressed.

"Thanks a lot, Mikey." Raph glared before he, Leo and Donnie all went back to get their weapons.

After they all geared up, they took to the rooftops and headed for the part Mikey had been skating earlier. After three loops around the same block, they were about to leave before Mikey convinced them to camp out at the spot they attacked him. Now they were sitting on top of a rooftop for the third hour. Hikari yawned again as Donnie gave them the same update for the past two hours, "Still nothing."

"Oh, that's a shocker." Raph snorted.

Mikey could see that none of them believed him. Granted, he did drag them all out in the middle of the night, but he wouldn't lie about something like this. "You gotta believe me! It was like a never-ending zombie conga line!" Mikey cried.

"Oh yeah? Did they look like this?" Raph started groaning like a zombie with his arms stretched out.

"Or this?" Leo joined in with his feet dragging on the ground as he limped towards his little brother.

Mikey ignored his big brothers and kept a close lookout until he finally spotted him, "No, they looked like that!"

The four looked to where Mikey was pointed at, sure enough, there were shadows shuffling down the streets in a crowd. Hikari felt her brain reboot when she saw the group of groaning bodies moving down the pavement, "Oh my stars…"

"Unbelievable…" Donnie picked his jaw off the ledge as he took a closer look with his binoculars.

"That there are actually zombies?" Leo asked.

"No, that Mikey was right." Donnie replied.

"Well. Either way, time to smash some zombie skulls."

"I don't think they're zombies. Look." She pointed to the zombies all heading down the same direction, "Zombies are supposed to be mindless. They're way too organized, not to mention all the stuff they've got with them."

"Power consoles, dissemination grids, nanoprocessors… This is no trip to the convenience store. This is a mad scientist's wish list."

"Someone sounds jealous." Raph remarked.

"We're not looting it, Donnie." Hikari crossed her arms knowingly.

"I wasn't going to-" Donnie sputtered in indignation before trying to defend himself, "But think of all the stuff-"

Mikey had an observation of his own, "Weird, they weren't carrying any of that before."

"Come on, guys." Leo stood up, stopping another pointless argument from starting, "We need to find out where they're taking it."

The team blended back into the shadows as they followed the lumbering group to their destination.

The destination turned out to be the New York Sleep Research Institute. A building at least six stories tall, only overshadowed by the daunting towers surrounding it. The building was ominous enough on its own with the dim pink-ish light leaking though the glass window panes. The team hid behind a concrete sign with the Institute's name as they watched humans come from every direction and all entering the building with gadgets or tech in their possessions. Mikey was quite smug when he turned to the others, "Told you this was big."

"Ok, I admit there's something going on here." Leo conceded, "But I think Hikari's right, they aren't exactly zombies."

"Then they're infected mutant, like in that movie Toxic Tomorrow!" Mikey said, like that was the answer.

They all looked at him unimpressed before Hikari reminded him, "Mikey, everyone we know besides April are mutants."

"Oh, right." They did their best not to facepalm at Mikey and focused on the mission at hand.

The team snuck around and started using their climbing claws to scale the side of the building. It was taller than they were used to, but they made it to the rooftop with their arms only being slightly sore. The first thing they noticed besides the skylight was the honestly ridiculous amount of satellite dishes on a research facility building. There were at least twenty lined up in rows of two.

Mikey saw this and his eyes brightened, "Sweet! They must get so many channels!"

"Or they're using these to broadcast the signal that's controlling these people!" Donnie pointed out.

Hikari felt a chill go down her spine as she approached the skylight, "I'm getting that freaky feeling again, you know the one that I get whenever we're close to-"

"Kraang." Leo finished her sentence, looking down at the all-too-familiar pink glow and Kraang tech. They unlocked the skylight and dropped down onto the support beams. Now that they were inside, they had a much clearer view on what was going on.

"Woahh…" Mikey's gasp pretty much voiced everyone's thoughts on the sight they see below them.

The humans they were following before were dropping off their loot into a nice pile at one side of the room, there were even more that were moving material and just standing around. In the center of the giant open room was a huge piece of machinery that was so tall it had almost reached the ceiling. There were power cords hanging just above them connected to this odd metal obelisk, and right by the giant computer module were a group of Kraang holding a woman hostage.

"The humans that are in the state known as unconscious are very effective at bringing to Kraang that which is the equipment desired by Kraang." One of the Kraangdroids said.

"Indeed, Kraang!" Another agreed, "Soon the planet which is known as Earth will be known as the planet which is ruled by Kraang!"

"No!" The woman cried, "You can't do this! I won't let you!"

"Kraang, take the human which is known as Dr. Sloane and do the thing that the time has come for the doing of." They couldn't tell which Kraangdroid said it, but they could see the distress and defeat in the woman's posture.

"Kraang shall do the thing." The Kraang holding the woman started pulling her away, she didn't even fight them as she was dragged away.

"Well, that clears everything up…" Donnie paused, "I think."

Mikey kept his eyes on Dr. Sloane the Kraang were taking away, "Where are they taking that doctor lady? We gotta help her!"

"With all these zombie sleepwakers in the way? Let's smash the machine first!" Raph said with his fist in his palm.

"Hold on, it's still connected to all those people." Hikari points to the mindless crowds, "We don't know what breaking it could do to them."

"It could be like pulling a drive out of a laptop without ejecting it." Donnie speculated, only to be faced with the blank looks from his team, "Which is bad."

Leo nodded, "We should talk to that scientist then. Let's go."

They followed Dr. Sloane into her office, if the name on the door was any indication, and hid away from the light in the room. The Kraang that were holding her had tossed her onto the ground, "You have served the purpose that is the purpose that Kraang intended. The usefulness of that which is you is at a point that is ending."

"What-What are you saying?" Dr. Sloane asked with fear shaking her voice.

"Kraang does not know how Kraang can say what Kraang has said in a way that is clearer than Kraang has already said it." The Kraang took aim at her before a glowing blade came bursting out of the robot's chest. The other one had its head ripped off its metal neck.

"God, they must really like hearing themselves talk." Hikari remarked drily as she pulled the energy blade out of the Kraangdroid and let the empty body drop.

"Hi." Leo said awkwardly as Mikey and Raph caught the escaping Kraang brains, "Don't worry. We're the good guys."

"Thank you for saving me! You're… turtles?" Dr. Sloane's eyes widen when she got a better look at her saviors. It was an interesting sight for sure, four humanoid turtles with weapons, and a teenage-looking girl with silver eyes and a glowing weapon on her arm.

"It's a long story." Leo answered.

"And what about you?" She turned to the silver-eyed girl.

"I'm not human if that's what you mean. All you need to know is I'm with them." Hikari said with her arms crossed.

Dr. Sloane was surprised with how blunt and rude this girl was. But all of this was the least of her concerns right now. "Fair enough, I don't think I want to know considering how strange my life has been lately. I'm Dr. Annie Sloane. You can call me Annie." She introduced herself, doing her best to ignore the turtle in red forcing two Kraang brains into one of her filing cabinets.

"What exactly were you working on here, Annie?" Donnie asked her.

"I was developing remote brain scanning technology to recreate people's dreams. But the Kraang made me use my research to control people's dreams, and from there, to control sleeping people. They forced me to build that thing out there." She explained, "Now they want to use my 'dream machine' as a model to an even bigger one. They'll be able to control the whole city!"

"See? We gotta smash it!" Raph seemed far more excited than anyone should be about destroying stuff.

Annie immediately warned him against it, "That could damage the sleepwalkers' brains. It'd be like disconnecting a drive without ejecting it."

"Ha! See?" Donnie smirked with vindication.

Leo was done with his brothers' pettiness and got back on track, "I don't suppose you built an off switch?"

"They didn't want to and they never left me alone with the machine, but I figured out a way." Annie walked over to her desk and pulled on a flash drive, "This program will safely wake everyone up, then trigger a self-destruct sequence. Just plug it in and it does the rest. But make sure you get everyone out. The self-destruct part could get explode-y."

"Sounds like a typical Wednesday night." Hikari rolled her eyes and the others seemed just as nonchalant about it.

Annie couldn't help but shuddered. Even if they weren't human, she could tell they were just children. How often did they have to do this to react to aliens and a building blowing up with such little regard?

Annie handed the flash drive to Leo, who promptly said, "Oh-uh… You never saw us, OK? We're kinda not supposed to let people know we exist."

"Yeah. Well, I wasn't supposed to help aliens enslave a bunch of New Yorkers, either." She sighed before reassuring them, "Your secrets safe with me."

Now that they had a plan, they went back out to the main room with the machine and kicked the door down. "Pack up the sleeping bags! This slumber party's over!" Leo shouted as they made their dramatic entrance.

Instantly the sleepwalkers reacted to the noise, moving towards them with their arms stretched out. Donnie pulled out his bo staff and looked out to the crowd, "Uh, is it just me or are the sleepwalkers coming after us now?"

"A bunch of slow-moving, out-of-shape people who aren't even awake? Excuse me if I'm not shaking with fear." Raph scoffed.

Mikey was aghast with how casually they were treating this, "Dude, didn't the zombie movies teach you anything? It doesn't matter if they're weak. They get you 'cause there's so many of them. Lucky for you guys, I'm a zombie expert. I know just what to do! Bash 'em in the head!"

"Mikey, last I check they aren't zombies and we're not supposed to hurt them." Hikari reminded him, shattering the idea before Mikey could smash his nunchuck into someone's face.

"Oh, right." Mikey blinked, "In that case, the zombie expert says RUNNN!"

They were puzzled as they watched Mikey dashed up the stairs to put as much distance as he could from the sleepwakers. Raph scoffed as he and the others faced the crowd, "Run? Look how slow they are! They still haven't gotten to us!"

"So if we can't hit them, then what?" Donnie asked, still in his defensive position.

"They don't seem to do much, I think we can just push through them." Leo said with his katanas down.

Hikari looked up to where Mikey was and saw a couple of large computer towers lined up against the wall. She mapped out a route in her head before pulling out her uni-weapon, "You do that, I'll take the high route. Pass me the stick."

Leo handed it to her just before Hikari reacted and blocked the oncoming shot with her guard, "Dang it. Almost forgot about them."

Leo threw a shuriken at the Kraangdroid's head, "We'll keep you covered. Go!"

Hikari tightened her grip on the flash drive and ran up the same stairway Mikey did, leaping up onto the computer tower and used her whip to pull herself up onto the support beams. She was about to drop down onto the main machine when two pairs of Kraangdroids showed up on each end. Two facing her started firing while the other two behind her were closing in on her, she blocked them all with her guard the shield switched into blade mode, stabbing the first one before kicking the second one off the beam.

Unfortunately, the two from behind had pinned her down as she kept her death grip on the flash drive. She couldn't risk using her energy on them in case it also destroyed the drive. She was desperate enough to consider twisting in their grip and risk all of them falling off, when she felt the heavy weight keeping her down disappear from her back. She stood up to see Mikey with his nunchucks out and a proud grin on his face. She had never been more relieved to see him, "Mikey…"

"Come on, our bros need us!" Mikey said as they both jumped down. The other three weren't doing so good. With so many humans around them, they couldn't fight like they normally would. Not to mention that the sleepwalkers were still under the Kraang's control, so the brothers were up against a whole wave of enemies they can't even fight.

"Uh, Leo?" Raph shouted as he was getting boxed in.

"I know. I know!" Leo used the sides of katanas to stop the sleepwalkers from grabbing him. He was pushing them back, but it was only a matter of time.

Donnie was already trapped under the horde. A kraangdroid had a blaster aimed at his head as he started saying his last words, "Oh, boy. This is a lame way to go. Tell April I love her! I mean, uh… Tell her I'm very fond of… or I have feelings that while complicated…"

"Tell her yourself, bro!" Mikey shouted as he dropped down onto the kraangdroid, "Because that was getting too long to remember anyways."

After pushing away the horde holding Donnie down, Mikey ran over to Raph and shoved enough humans to the side to clear a path for himself and his brothers, "I told you guys! You can't just walk into a zombie horde! You gotta stay on the move!"

Hikari, on the other hand, dropped down next to Leo and changed her whip into a staff. She then did a wide sweep downwards, knocking the calves and knees of the sleepwalkers surrounding them. As the sleepwalkers fell to their knees, she turned to Leo with a coy smile, "Hey."

"Hey." Leo mirrored the same smile back at her, "Nice seeing you here."

She kicked the knee of a sleepwalker coming towards them with just enough force not to do any real damage, "Gotta even the score, I've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Didn't you hear me? You gotta keep moving!" Mikey's yelling interrupted their oddly timed moment. The two switched back into mission mode as they made their way back to the other three. Mikey had led them to the rope he used to climb up to the support beams earlier to save Hikari. They all started climbing upwards to get away from the horde.

"The good thing about zombies is that they don't climb." Mikey remarked before noticing a few sleepwalkers making their way up the rope, "Aw man! They break all the rules!"

They kept climbing up the rope, stopping when they suddenly heard Mikey cry out, "I've got it! Hikari, give me the flash drive!"

Seeing the determined look in his eyes, she didn't hesitate tossing the flash drive to Mikey, "Here!"

"Wait, Hikari-" Donnie tried to protest but Leo stopped him.

"You know what, Donnie? Mikey was right to drag us out here. And he was right about running from the zombies. Maybe we should stop doubting him and listen."

Mikey was more than grateful for the trust his team and family was placing on him. He followed the path he mapped as he swung himself off the rope, making his team cling the rope a little tighter as he landed onto a kraangdroid, "Booyakasha!"

As the crowd started reaching for him, he leaped off the metal body and landed onto another one he saw. He continued using the metal robots as stepping stones until he made it to the main computer. He immediately stuck the flash drive into the USB slot with a victory cry, "And he sticks the landing! The crowd goes wild!"

The computer started reacting almost instantly. The signature pink glow that came from the dream machine turned warning-level red, the entire thing started to flicker and smoke as sparks started flying around.

The others made it to the upper platforms when they saw the dream machine turning itself into a giant firecracker. "He did it!" Donnie exclaimed.

"Now we've gotta get these people out of here." Leo looked over at the group of oblivious sleepwalkers that were slowly waking up.

With the humans regaining conscious, the turtles weren't sure how to get them out of the building without exposing their existence. Hikari stepped towards the crowd of walking humans, "I'll deal with them, go help Mikey."

Leo nodded, "I'll see you outside."

The team split ways with the turtles going to help Mikey fight off the Kraang while Hikari was in the middle of the crowd, trying to get their attention, "Everyone! We have to go now!"

"Huh… What's going on?" Someone in the crowd muttered as people started looking around and realizing they weren't in their homes anymore.

One man heard Hikari's shouting but was far too irritated with the bright red lights and the sudden awakening, "What's that girl talking about?"

"Go home, kid. It's past curfew." Another man groaned aloud at her.

Hikari was fed up with them, her voice was starting to strain with how loud and desperate she was getting. She was ready to tear her throat apart but no one was even paying attention to her, "Eugh! Listen to me!"

Hikari suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, she tensed until she noticed it was Annie. Hikari was so distracted with getting them all out that she didn't even sense Annie near her. "Don't worry, I got this." Annie said before standing in front of the crowd and shouted in an authoritative tone, "Everyone, follow me! We have to evacuate now!"

It was insulting how easily Annie commanded the crowd. They listened to her as everyone ran out of the building, Hikari knew the humans wouldn't listen to her because she was just a spark, a helpless child in the eyes of these grown-ups. But she understood that what they might think of her didn't matter as long as they were safe. As she and Annie were following behind the group, Annie couldn't help but be concerned, "What about the Kraang?"

"We've dealt with them before." Hikari said without a hint of doubt, "The guys can handle it."

Just as they all made it out onto the streets, the ground shook as the explosion rattled the institute. The now fully awake humans were getting frantic and asking questions amongst themselves, "What's going on here? How did I get here?"

Annie turned to Hikari and whispered, "Go, before they notice you."

Hikari nodded before slipping away into the crowd and around the back of the building. She waited for the turtles to drop down, reuniting the team once more as they all headed back home.

After they got back to the lair, they all stood before Master Splinter Leo recounted their mission and the Kraang's entire plan, "You were right, sensei. The Kraang would've turned everyone in the city into their puppets."

"I was right… about Michelangelo being right." Master Splinter corrected him, "Perhaps next time you will think twice about ignoring a warning… even one from your little brother."

"I can't believe Mikey figure it out." Raph said, "He couldn't even figure out that those two were a thing now."

That got Mikey's attention as he blinked, "Wait, when did they tell you?"

The others all looked at Mikey in shock. Donnie sputtered in disbelief, "You knew?"

"Yeah…." He looked at his family, wondering why they were acting so weirdly about this, "I thought we were waiting for them to tell us."

"When did you know?" Leo asked.

"The moment you walked into the kitchen and could look her in the eye."

That answer stunned them into silence before Hikari couldn't stop herself from chuckling and petting his head, "Never change, Mikey."

As he was enjoying the moment, he suddenly remembered something and grabbed Hikari's hand, "Oh, Vampire movie marathon's on next! Better study up, dudes! This stuff is important!"

Hikari was helpless to stop Mikey from pulling her towards the TV while the other three were already dreading it. Hikari just rolled her eyes and smiled, "It's not like we have anything else planned."

A/N: Like I said, Mikey continues to surprise me. Also, this chapter is actually from the TMNT: New Animated Adventures comics. This one is a personal favorite of mine because we need more Mikey Recognition in canon.

Just because Hikari and Leo got together doesn't mean that their troubles are over though, relationships aren't easy and I have some ideas in mind for them :)

Stegz, my friend. You don't even know the half of it. Because the Kraang are so intertwined with both the turtles and Hikari, they are going to be a constant force throughout a good half of the story.

Next chapter is probably going to be one of my personal favorites from season 1 so I hope I do it justice.

Please feel free to leave some comments to share some love. Feedback and reviews give me life and motivation.