Woo boy have I got shit to talk about!

So, I've been busy as hell at my job cause a lot of people decided that they needed to take a vacation at the same time and I've been working for two weeks straight. No breaks... So! I've finally finished this chapter, which is also an original chapter which is why it took longer than it should've for a regular chapter. I've taken a lot of time to make sure this was good, and I hope you all like it.

Also, I've started a new kind of project... I've created a Youtube channel. It's small, not a lot of videos just yet, and I'm slowly working on it. If you're interested in checking it out, my channel's called JessWantsToPlay. You guys have always supported me on here, and if you could support me there as well that would be just amazing. And if not, that's perfectly okay. :)

Happy Reading!


Ch. 3
This Is Halloween

Mikey's P.O.V.

Man, Gang Beasts is awesome! I'm so glad Ness let me barrow it. It's totally hilarious and I'm so good at it. None of the guys can hardly beat me! I've never seen Donnie get so mad over a video game before.

"I'm punching you! Why aren't you going down?"

"I'm just too strong for your Plato man, bro."

Donnie groaned angrily as he started pressing button furiously. Our characters started running around in the mini train station, knocking over orange pylons. I pressed Y and my orange chicken jumped over his purple business man. I started head-butting him, and a few seconds later he got knocked out.

"Hey!"

My character picked his up, dragged him over to the edge and dropped him onto the tracks. Donnie panicked as he started to jumped and grab the ledge, trying to get back up. But a second later there was a flash of light, and the train came and ran him right over.

"PLAYER TWO WINS!" I cheered. "BOOYAHKASHA!"

Donnie stared at the screen for a moment before throwing his head back in anger and tossing his controller.

"You know what? The graphics and mechanics of this game are all wacky and inaccurate. They're completely ridiculous!"

He folded his arms and frowned. I smirked as I slowly crawled closer towards him.

"You wanna play again?"

"…Yeah."

At once he snatched his controller back up and we started getting ready for the next round. Just then, I heard the turnstiles crank and footsteps. I turned to see Nia walked through, and she wasn't alone.

"Hey, you guys!"

I gasped. "Ness!"

I dropped my controller into Donnie's lap and leapt out of the pit, landing directly in front of them. I smiled wicked wide at the both of them.

"What up, girls!"

"Hey, little bro," Nia said, patting my head.

I gave her a smile, then looked over at Ness. "Hey you."

She giggled. "Yo, what's up?" she brought her hands from behind her back and she was holding two large paper bags. "Guess what I brought?"

I gasped. "Are those your mom's muffins…?"

She nodded. "Blueberry and cinnamon apple."

I squealed before grabbing a bag and speeding back to the beanbag chair. I flopped right down on it and opened the bag to see Rachel's glorious muffins. Taking a huge sniff, I picked one out and took a huge bite.

"Mmmm- mmm! Bros, you gotta try these!"

Using my free hand, I grabbed one and tossed it to Donnie. I grabbed two more and tossed them to Leo and Raph, who were sitting on the couch. They all took a bite, and immediately looked shocked.

"This is amazing!" Leo said.

"Thanks," said Ness. "It's my mom's special recipe."

"I'm gonna go give one to Splinter," Nia said.

Ness gave her the bag and Nia walked away toward the dojo. Ness sat down in the pit with us as we ate our muffins. There wasn't much talking. Just a lot of munching and sighing. Man, these muffins were good!

"What brings you over here anyway?" Raph asked, his mouth still full of muffin.

"Well, Nia asked me to come by today," Ness grinned. "She and I had something we wanted to ask you guys."

Leo swallowed. "Like what?"

"I'm glad you asked."

Leo and Raph both gasped. Nia had snuck up behind them and they hadn't even noticed. She giggled before leaping up and landing in the middle of the pit.

"As you all know, my band and I will be performing on Halloween night," she explained. "We were gonna walk in the parade and then immediately go to Central Park."

"Yeah, we know," said Raph. "So what?"

"So… there's going to be a lot of people there," said Ness. "A lot of people wearing costumes."

Nia and Ness were giving us all these weird looks. The guys and I all looked at each other. For once, I wasn't the only one who was clueless.

"What're you trying to say?" Donnie asked.

Nia gulped. "Well… I was wondering… if we all got you costumes…" she sighed. "Would you like to come and watch me perform?"

We all blinked and stared at her. Then I beamed.

"Dude, yes!" I leaped up and hugged her tightly. "That's awesome!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Totally!"

"Whoa, whoa, time out guys," Leo stood up. "Nia, are you sure about this? I mean, going on the surface with people is risky enough, but what if we get spotted by an enemy or something?"

"It'll be fine, Leo," said Nia. "Think. If you guys wear costumes no one will recognize you. And besides, it's Halloween! No one would probably take your appearances seriously even if you didn't have a costume on."

"She's right, dude," Raph stood up, looking surprisingly happy. "C'mon man, this could be our only chance to see Nia perform."

We all looked at Leo expectantly, and he stared back at us. He thought about it for a few moments, then sighed.

"Alright."

Immediately we all leapt up and cheered. Nia and I hugged each other tightly. This was gonna be so awesome!


Nia's P.O.V.

To say that I was excited was a slight understatement. I was beyond pumped! My first performance was only days away, and I had gone from totally nervous to completely fired up in a manner of weeks. The guys and I already had our songs practiced to near perfection, and we knew what we wanted to wear. Which is where I had just come from.

"Hey Nia!" Vanessa called out, waving me over.

I jogged up to her. "Hey dude."

"Did you and Angus get your costumes already?"

"Yep. Check it out."

I held out the little store bag and opened it. Vanessa leaned over to get a closer look. She started giggling.

"Ooh, it's perfect!" she said happily. "And I've already got the paints I need to help you guys."

"Yeah, thanks again for helping us out with that."

"Oh, no problem," she turned to face the store beside us. "Now, let's see what we can find for the turtles."

She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me through the front doors. The place was surprisingly packed. People of all shapes and sizes were shuffling through the aisles, trying to grab everything from costumes to candy.

"This way!"

Vanessa continued to pulled me forward through the crowds of people. I mumbled apologies as I bumped into some of them. She continued to push forward without mercy until finally she stopped in front of an aisle. I looked up at the signed above it that read "80's costumes".

"Here we go."

Vanessa immediately started rifling through the racks of costumes. I wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for, but boy, was she on a mission. She would search through one section of costumes before quietly swearing and moving onto the next one. I shook my head as I looked through the aisle myself. There were quite a few good-looking costumes in here, including a Modana outfit, a Greecer's getup, and a Ghostbusters jumpsuit. Man, if I didn't have a costume I'd definitely go for one of these.

"Aha!"

I turned my head to see Vanessa digging through a section, a happy look on her face. The costume she pulled out made me grin.

"Really? That's what you've been worked up for?"

"It's for Mikey," she said. "He requested this especially. Here, look…"

She dug into her back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She held it out to me.

"He made a list of costumes he thought would look good on the others. Look."

I took the list and looked down. There were several things on the paper, but only four of them were circled in sparkly, pink pen. If I had to guess, Vanessa was the one who circled them.

"These are actually pretty good ideas," I admitted.

"I know, right?" Vanessa held up the costume she had found. "And we've got one already. Now help me find the other three."

It took us about half an hour to find all the costumes we needed. Mostly because we were having too much fun messing around with the other things; putting on the masks, playing with the fake fangs and blood, ect. But, once we found and purchased them, we immediately headed to the lair.

"I'm so excited!" Vanessa skipped gleefully. "This night is gonna be so much fun!"

"I know," I said. "I can't wait."

At that moment, Vanessa's phone started ringing. It was her dad checking up on her, again. We both knew it would only take a moment for her to speak with him, so she walked a little down the sidewalk. I stood still, hands in my pockets, looking out into the street.

Suddenly, there was a loud smash. I whipped around and on instinct I reached behind for my hidden tessen, but it turned out to be just a broken window from the building next to me. Something small and black, probably what broke the window, started bouncing towards me. It was a hockey puck, and it spun at my feet before landing still on the concrete. I raised my eyebrow as I bent down and picked it up.

"What the…?"

I stopped talking as I heard doors bang open.

"Yeah yeah, I got it! Geez!"

I looked up to see a boy come out of the building with a hockey stick slung over his shoulder. He was tall, had dark hair, and was dressed in a mix of black and gray clothes. He spotted me and stopped moving. I raised my hand holding the puck.

"Looking for this?"

The boy grinned and continued to walk over until he was right in front of me.

"Hey thanks," he said, and I noticed he had a couple of teeth missing. "I didn't hit you, did I? I got a pretty hard swing."

"No no, you're good," I assured him.

The boy put the puck in his hoodie pocket. He stood there for a moment before grinning.

"Don't recognize yah," he said as he started to walk around me. "You new to this city?"

"Not exactly."

"Go to school here?"

"Homeschooled."

"Then what's a cute thing like you doin' on this part of town?"

I raised an eyebrow. This situation could either be going one way or the other. However, I wasn't getting any bad vibes from this guy, so I decided to play along.

"Oh, just wondering around, waiting to get hit by hockey pucks."

"Really? Aren't I the lucky one? What's your name, sweetheart?"

"You can call me Nia."

At that moment, I heard Vanessa calling me from the other end of the road. She said that she could see a short cut back to my place in the next alley over. I knew by that she meant she could see a manhole cover nearby.

"I need to go," I said. "Got stuff to do tonight."

"Figures," the boy slung his hockey stick over his shoulders. "Don't let the freaks scare yah too bad tonight."

I rolled my eyes and assured him it would take more than a few jerks in costume to scare me. He chuckled and turned to walk back into the building he came from. I was about to leave as well when I remembered.

"What's your name, anyway?"

He stopped walking and turned to look at me, a smirk on his still boyish face.

"Casey Jones."


Leo's P.O.V.

This was it. Tonight was the night. Tonight was Nia's first performance, and the others and I were going onto the surface. Not only were we going to be going out into public, but we were going to be walking in the New York Halloween Parade. Millions of humans with millions of costumes. It would be a miracle if anyone recognized us, costumes or not.

The girls had given us our costumes a couple of days ago. We had been a little concerned when Mikey had given Vanessa a list of what to get, but we were surprised. Our costumes were actually pretty cool. We were all excited to wear them tonight.

It was Halloween. The others were getting ready with their own costumes. Angus and Vanessa had arrived over an hour before so that Vanessa could to his and Nia's sugarskull makeup. I was alone in my room, staring at the costume set laying on my bed.

"Whelp, show time."

After getting dressed up I left my room and walked out towards the living room. Only Donnie, Mikey, and Angus were sitting in the pit. As soon as I entered the room they all turned to look at me.

Angus was already dressed in his black slacks, jacket, a white button up and an orange necktie that looked like it was covered in orange glitter. His sugar skull makeup was pretty awesome. His whole face was pale white, with dark makeup shading to make his face look thinner than it actually was. His eyes were surrounded with black makeup, and orange shading around them that looked like dramatic eyeshadow. And to top it all off, he had a black bowler hat on top of his head with a glittery, orange ribbon wrapped around it.

Mikey was dressed up in a large Mario costume. He had large blue overalls, a red shirt, white gloves and a large red hat with an 'M' on it. He had asked for this costume specifically when Vanessa and Nia had gone shopping, and he looked absolutely thrilled about having it. He was leaping up and down all over the place, making loud 'Yah-hoo's!'

Donnie, per Mikey's request, was dressed up as Marty McFly from Back to the Future. He had a white checkered T-shirt, jeans, a denim jacket, orange leather vest, even similar shades. Donnie had been a bit cautious at first when he saw his costume, but the prospect of going out tonight was too great, so he agreed to it. However, he now seemed to be eyeing his costume with pleasure rather than distain.

"Hey Leo!" Angus put his arms out and looked down at himself. "What do yah think?"

"You look pretty awesome, actually."

"Yo, dude!" Mikey piped up as he jumped around. "How do you like the Indiana Jones get up? Pretty sweet, huh?"

Donnie nodded. "Yeah, you look pretty cool."

I grinned as I looked down at myself. Yes, I was dressed up as the one and only Indiana Jones. I had a tan button up, a brown leather jacket, large cargo pants, and a brown hat on my head. I even had a whip hanging from my hip.

"Yeah, I like it. Nia thinks it suits me."

"Hey, where's Raph?"

There was a bang and I turned around. The door to Raph's bedroom had opened, and there stood Raph himself. For some reason, he had kept his costume hidden from the rest of us so only he knew which one Vanessa got him. Why, I have no idea. But that didn't matter as we all could now see it for ourselves. Raph was dressed in what appeared to be black pants and a leather jacket. He had on black gloves and was wearing a pair on sunglasses, and the left lense had a mini red lightbulb glowing on it. It was obvious what he was supposed to be.

"Duuuuude! She got you the Terminator one?!" Mikey yelped. "Aww sweet!"

"Damn, yah look pretty bad ass," said Angus approvingly.

Raph lifted his shades, and smirked.

"Hell yeah, I do."

"Am I to presume you will be leaving soon, then?"

It was Splinter. He had walked out of the shadows and was standing right behind Raph. He gasped, stepping a few away from Sensei.

"We'll be leaving soon, Master Splinter," I told him. "As soon as Vanessa and Nia are done."

He nodded. "I'm sure I do not need to remind you of the precautions you must take. You may be disguised, but you must remain vigilante and not let your guard down too much."

I nodded. "We'll understand, Sensei. We'll be careful."

Splinter nodded. At that moment we heard a door open and slight laughter. We all turned to see Vanessa and Nia walking out of the bedroom hallway. Nia looked amazing. She was wearing what looked like a black corset with sleeves, a black flowy skirt, and white leggings. She had her hair up in a high, thick ponytail and her face was even paler than usual with her makeup. Her now very dark eyes were surrounded with blue, flower-like patterns, along with a blue flower coming down on her forehead. Vanessa seemed to have also added some tiny, blue diamond stickers on the corners of Nia's eyes to add affect.

Vanessa had bright yellow tank top dress and black leggings underneath. Her curly hair hung around her face, and she had a large, bright red bow pinned on the side of her head, the same shade as her lipstick. She also had a belt hanging slanted on her hips. It was black and metal, and on the metal pieces were what looked like the colorful ghosts from Pac-Man. I suddenly had an idea of who she was supposed to be. At that moment, Mikey whistled loudly and suddenly jumped up to her.

"Woo! Hello, Miss Pac-Man," he cheered. "Aren't you looking sweet tonight?"

Raph made a hurling sound behind me, but everyone ignored him. Vanessa giggled and leaned her arm on Mikey's shoulder.

"A pleasure to see you too, Mario."

"You guys are adorable," said Nia, then she looked at the rest of us. "You all ready?"

We all nodded.

"Alright, let's get going," she said, and she turned to Splinter. "We'll be back as soon as we can, Sensei!"

"See yah!"

"Bye!"


Raph's P.O.V.

We all rode in Angus's truck to the parade- the guys and I were in the back while the girls rode inside. During the whole ride, we all felt a bit nervous about being so exposed, but that went away pretty quickly. We were all too busy looking at all the decorations, costumes and mayhem to worry about being out in the open. All the people that were out and about were too busy Trick or Treating or screwing around. Some of them even commented on our awesome costumes as we rode by. I didn't mind. Hell, this was amazing. I loved being in the open like this. It was so much less worrying than having to sneak around on rooftops and in dark alleys.

The plan was to meet Nia's and Angus's bandmates at Java Café and walk until we found the parade and melted in with it. Seemed simple enough. As soon as we reached the café we all got out of the car and Nia started looking around for her friends. Soon enough however, they found us.

"Nia! Baby!"

I raised my eyebrow and turned my head. There were three other guys- all who seemed to be Angus's age- who were all dressed in black slacks and had sugar skull paintings. That had to be them. The boy that had called Nia 'baby'- the one in a gray vest, fedora and purple painting on his skull face- waved at her. Nia gestured for us to follow as she ran up to the group. One of the other boys- who had a black fedora, vest and red paintings- grinned and said hi to Angus and Nia. The last boy- who wore black suspenders and had green paintings- merely stood there with his hands in his pockets.

"You guys look awesome!" Nia said enthusiastically.

"Ha! Who's talking," said the boy in the gray fedora. "You look so good, it's criminal! And Vanessa… doll, you're lookin' sweet as ever."

Nia and Vanessa laughed, and I frowned at him. For some reason I didn't like the way he was grinning at Nia.

"These must be your friends," said the one in the black fedora, who looked at all of us. "Hey, I'm Martin. This is my cousin Joseph, and our friend Ace."

Martin and Leo shook hands.

"I'm Leo," he said. "These are my brothers Raph, Donnie, and Mikey."

"Glad you guys could come," said Ace. "We're always lookin' for new friends to chill out with."

"Same here, dude," said Mikey proudly. "Chillin' is my specialty."

"Hey, there's the parade!"

Joseph pointing out towards the far end of the street, and we could see what looked like an endless crowd of people walking by.

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Nia asked. "Let's go!"

We all cheered and hollered in excitement. This was it! We all turned and started walking across the street past a large group of people in costume. We were almost past when I accidently bumped into someone dressed in black.

"Oh, my bad-"

The person turned. They appeared to be dressed like a giant bat, of all things. They seemed to bare their teeth at me before turning and leaving with their group. I stood still as I stared after them. That guy… he snarled at me.

"Raph, c'mon!"

I turned to see the others were several feet ahead of me and were still walking. I shrugged and ran after them.


Nia's P.O.V.

This was exciting! I've never been to a parade before. There were so many people I couldn't see where the paraded ended and begun. There were people dressed in all kinds of costumes. Pretty and scary, fancy and gross, people and animal. There were quite a few animal costumes actually.

We were passing up downtown at this point. The crowd just seemed to get bigger and bigger. People who weren't joining in remained on the sidewalks or perched up on their balconies, windows and fire escapes. There were several groups of bands out here too. We ran into a few who were performing at the park later, but also many who were here solely to play for the parade. And boy, did they liven the party up.

"Dudette, this is sweet!" Mikey said, jumping up and wrapping his arms around my shoulders. "Look at this! It's so awesome!"

"I know!" I hollered over the mix of people and music. "How're the others?"

"They're diggin' it! Look!"

I turned around to see the others looking in awe and amazement all around them. Donnie was examining and pointing out everything his genius eyes could see, Raph was smiling and laughing at the crazy and drunken antics of some older people around us, and Leo was in front, keeping his head high but admiring everything in surprise all the same.

"Aren't you glad I talked you into making them come?" Vanessa asked loudly.

I nodded. "Of course!"

"Your friends seem pretty cool, Nia," Joseph suddenly popped out of nowhere. "They're really chill."

"They're more like brothers, actually. But yeah, they're really great."

"Yeah. Just look at their faces. They look like they've never partied like this before."

He laughed. I rolled my eyes. You have no idea.

A large street band ahead of us started playing a new song. This time, everyone in the crowd started to cheer and laugh as it played. Vanessa gasped.

"I know this song!"

Suddenly, I was being pushed by my own group forward closer towards the band. People were raising their hands up in the air. Suddenly, Joseph ran forward and started singing.

Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Ace joined Joseph, arm in arm.

Come with us and you will see,
This, our town of Halloween

This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night
This is Halloween, everybody, make a scene
Trick or treat, 'til the neighbors gonna die of fright

It's our town, everybody scream
In our town of Halloween

I stared in awe as the crowd around us burst into sudden music. How often does that happen? Suddenly, Joseph grabbed my arm and pulled me forward as he continued to sing.

I am the one hiding under your bed,
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red

Then Martin was suddenly at my other side.

I am the one hiding under your stairs
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair

This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

In this town, don't we love it now?
Everyone's waiting for the next surprise!

'Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can
Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll SCREAM!

This is Halloween!
Red 'n' black, and slightly green
Aren't you scared?

To my surprise Vanessa skipped up, Mikey trailing behind her, and she sang,

Well, that's just fine
Say it once, say it twice
Take a chance and roll the dice
Ride with the moon in the dead of night

Everybody scream, everybody scream!
In our town of Halloween!

Angus leapt forward, voice as loud as everyone else's.

I am the clown with the tear-away face
Here in a flash and gone without a trace

I am the "who" when you call "Who's there?"
I am the wind blowing through your hair

I am the shadow of the moon at night
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright

This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

Vanessa and Mikey were both beside me, their arms draped around my shoulders. They both grinned at me. I hesitated for a moment before laughing and joining in with them.

Tender lumplings everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare
That's our job, but we're not mean
In our town of Halloween

In this town, don't we love it now?
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise

Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back
And scream like a banshee
Make you jump out of your skin!
This is Halloween, everybody scream

Won't yah please make way for a very special guy
Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin patch
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King, now!

This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

In this town, we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

As the music continued I turned my head to look at the others. My friends and the turtles were all looking esthetic at what was going on, and it seemed to pump them up. Raph was the only one not moving as much as everyone else. I giggled and playfully bumped into him.

"What's the matter, big guy? Feeling a bit shy now?"

Raph stuttered for a moment before pushing me back.

"As if! I'm just sick of being surrounded by you nerds."

I snorted. "Alright then. I better see you having a blast at the park though."

I trotted forward, leaving Raph to stare at me. I almost didn't notice that my face felt hot the entire time I was talking to him.

2 hours later and it was time to head to Central Park for the after party. Our group managed to break away from the mob of crazy New Yorkers and start heading there. Everyone seemed to be high on adrenalin at this point. Hell, I can't remember the last time I saw Donnie looking so gleeful like this, and Raph hadn't said one disheartening comment all night.

As we arrived at the park the music was blaring and people were shouting. There was a huge, impressive stage in the middle of the grassy field, which was much more lit than the last time I had been to the park. There were giant speakers, and several sets of instruments on the center stage. Vanessa and Mikey were yelping with glee as they leapt into a crowd of dancing people, and we quickly followed closely after them. All except Leo and Donnie, who looked as though they had no idea what to do.

"Guys, c'mon!" I called out. "The fun's just started!"

They both looked at each other for a moment, then they both grinned and followed me into the crowd. Suddenly, a guy dressed in a red suit and devil horns walked on stage and grabbed a mic.

"How's everyone doin' tonight!"

Oddly, his thick Brooklyn accent seemed to ruin the devil vibe he had going on. Nonetheless, everyone cheered excitedly at his words.

"Alright, we're about to get this concert started! You guys ready?!"

More cheers erupted.

"Alright then! Give it up for our first group… Lady Relics!"

He put down the mic and clapped before disappearing off stage as Lady Relics climbed up. The band was decked out in what can only be described as getups from Avril Lavine's earlier days. They introduced themselves, talked about the song they were going to play, and immediately started playing. They certainly weren't bad, but they were nothing compared to Brendon Urie in my opinion.

It was probably an hour later and we were all dancing at different ends of the garden. Leo and Raph had disappeared into a crowd of stragglers earlier, Donnie had left to get punch but never came back, Vanessa and Mikey were dancing only a few yards away from me, and Angus was standing close to the stage. He had offered to remain close so as to call me and the others up when it was our time to perform. I was dancing by myself for the most part, but there were so many people around me and I was having so much fun that I hardly noticed.

At that moment I felt someone bump against me. I turned to apologize, but saw that they were already walking away. They appeared to be dressed as a snow leopard, and a pretty one at that. I stared after them. For some reason, alarm bells started going off in my head. I turned back and started to dance some more, but felt distracted. The feeling of several eyes on me was apparent as I began to realize that several people around me started moving away, all of whom appeared to be dressed as some sort of animal. The thing is, their costumes looked rather convincing.

"What's wrong?"

Angus stared at me as I tried to catch my breath in front of him. I had just run across the garden in front of the stage to catch up to him.

"Angus, when do we go on?"

"What? Like, in 10 minutes. Why?"

"That's fine. Look, I need you to stall for time. I have to go check something."

"What? What's wrong?" his face suddenly fell and he asked in a hushed voice, "Is it the Foot? Are the Kranng here?"

"I don't know!" I snapped. "Please Angus, I don't wanna miss this but I will if I have to! Just try to buy us some time, and if I'm not here go on without me!"

Angus bit his lip, looking very distressed. He sighed, and gave a small nod.

"I'll be back in 10, I promise."

I turned and ran around, looking everywhere for my brothers. I couldn't find Mikey anywhere. No doubt he and Vanessa where too busy dancing. Thankfully, I managed to find Leo and Donnie. They were stuck in the middle of a crowd, standing behind Raph, who was apparently in the middle of an arm wrestling match with a guy dressed as Captain America. I sprinted towards them just as Raph managed to beat the guy, and the people around him went crazy. The Captain wasn't too happy though.

"3 out of 5!" he demanded.

"Hey, if you're willing to lose more, I've got no problem with that!" Raph smirked as he leaned back in his chair.

"Sorry to break up this comparison of testosterone levels," I piped up as I grabbed Raph's shoulders. "But these three need to leave. Like, now."

I pulled him out of the chair and away from the crowd without another word. Raph yelped and Donnie and Leo followed quickly behind me, asking me what I was doing.

"Nia, c'mon!" Raph whined. "I was kicking that guy's ass! Let me go back!"

"Now's not the time." I turned to look at them all. "Haven't you guys been noticing something weird about some of these costumes?"

All three looked at each other.

"No… why?"

"It's all these animal costumes," I whispered. "They look way to realistic."

"Like they're actual animals?"

"More like mutants."

Donnie and Leo looked at each other with confusion and concern. But I noticed that Raph was looking at the ground, a thoughtful look on his face.

"What is it?" I asked.

He looked up at me. "It's just… earlier before we got to the parade, I bumped into someone crossing the street. They were dressed up like a bat I think. I tried to apologize, but… they growled at me."

Leo suddenly put a hand on Raph's shoulder and whispered, "Look." We all turned our heads in the direction he was looking, and saw a dark figure amongst the crowd. It did appear to be someone dressed up as a giant bat, and they were very convincing. The person looking around them for a second before squeezing between two people and started to run off towards the gardens exit.

"Let's move," said Leo. "But keep your guards up."


Mikey's P.O.V.

"Mikey!"

I whipped around at the sound of my name. Angus was running towards me, hand on his head to keep his hat from flying off. He skidded to a halt in front of me, panting.

"I… need your help…"

"Dude, I'm kinda busy…" I whispered, nodding my head at Vanessa, who stared at us.

"This is important!" Angus hissed. "Nia and your brothers left!"

"What?! But you guys are about to go on-"

"I know! Look, somethin' fishy was goin' on and they had to go check it out. Nia asked to buy us some time, but I don't know what to do! I need your help, man."

I thought about everything that Angus had just said and began to think. A distraction, huh? I looked all around, thinking of ways to create a big enough scene to buy Nia's buds some time. My eyes fell on the huge speakers on stage, which were guarded by a stage tech. As I looked around more I could see a group of teens around my age skateboarding on the sidewalk. I smirked. The guys wanted a distraction? I'd give them one.

"I got an idea," I said. "Do you think you could distract the tech guy while I hookup my phone to those speakers?"

Angus looked on stage at the tech, then at me. "I can try."

"Move dude, move!"

Angus nodded and ran off.

I grabbed Vanessa's hand and we both headed to the left of the stage. We subtly tiptoed up the steps and remained hidden behind the speaker. The tech was looking at a clipboard in his hand, not moving at all. Suddenly, Angus came up from the other side, panting loudly.

"Hey…" he gasped. "There's, ah… a band that couldn't make it tonight. They were supposed to go on before Inside Elegance."

"What?!" the tech snapped, flipping through his notepad. "It doesn't say that on here! Did they just leave?"

"Yeah. Um… they said they had better things to do."

"That can't be right!"

The tech swore loudly before stomping off in the direction Angus came from. He looked back at us and gestured for me to come up. I crawled up until I was at the back of the speaker. It was covered with so many wires and buttons, but I was finally able to spot the aux cord. I took it and plugged it into my T-Phone. I turned to look at Vanessa.

"Any requests?"

Vanessa paused for a moment, then gasped as she pulled me in close and whispered into my ear. I grinned.

"The lady's got taste!"

I typed in the song title and pressed play.

Tonight, I'm gonna have myself
A real good time
I feel alive, and the world I'll turn
Inside out- yeah

I stepped out into the stage and looked out onto the grass. People had turned and looked confused at the sudden change in music. I looked out towards the teens with the skateboards and whistled out to them. They all turned, and I gestured for them to come to me. They all ran out to me,

And floating around in ecstasy
So don't stop me now
Don't stop me
'Cause I'm having a good time- having a good time

I yelled "Booyakasha!" as I jumped up off the stage and landed down on the skateboard. People gasped as I started rolling past them on the sidewalks. I did a couple of kickflips before leaping up and grinding along the tops of benches and tables. I could feel nearly everyone's eyes on me, and I loved it!

I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go go go
There's no stopping me

I'm burnin' through the sky yeah
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you

I glanced around me and saw what looked like a couple of security guards suddenly appear around the corner of the stage. I grinned as I turned forward and continued forward even faster. I could hear people around me shouting and cheering.

Don't stop me now I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time just give me a call
Don't stop me now ('Cause I'm having a good time)
Don't stop me now (Yes I'm havin' a good time)
I don't want to stop at all

Yeah, I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars
On a collision course
I am a satellite I'm out of control
I'm a sex machine ready to reload
Like an atom bomb about to
Oh oh oh oh oh explode

I've been going in circles, leading the security guards on a wild goose chase. People around me were laughing and clapping, some were even holding their hands out to high five me as I went by. Obviously, I high fived them back.

I was reaching the center of the park when I caught sight of Angus and Vanessa again. I smirked as I immediately headed towards them on the skateboard. As I reached them I leaned to the side and I started circling around them. Angus was laughing his head off as Vanessa beamed at me. I gulped hard, and I leaned forward and kissed Vanessa's cheek before circling off into another direction. I thought I heard her giggle before I left.

I'm burnin' through the sky yea
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic woman of you

I could hear footsteps and shouts behind me that told me the security guys had caught up with me again. I looked around and saw a huge crowd on the other side of the park on the sidewalk. I turned, swerving past people and jumping over more benches as I reached them. As soon as I did they all made a gap for me to pass through, and closed it off as the security came up.

Don't stop me, don't stop me
Don't stop me, hey hey hey
Don't stop me, don't stop me
Ooh ooh ooh, I like it
Don't stop me, don't stop me
Have a good time, good time
Don't stop me, don't stop me ah
Oh yeah
Alright

Oh, I'm burnin' through the sky
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you

Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time (wooh)
Just give me a call (alright)
Don't stop me now ('cause I'm having a good time- yeah yeah)
Don't stop me now (yes I'm havin' a good time)
I don't want to stop at all

I looked down at my T-Phone and saw that only a couple of minutes passed. I knew Nia was going to need more time than that.

"Good thing I turned on my playlist."


Nia's P.O.V.

We were staying as quiet as we possibly could. We moved smoothly and swiftly across the rooftops and staying hidden in the shadows as we followed the bat, who was running ahead of us. He made several sharp turns and circles, as though trying to make sure that anyone who might be following him would be thrown off. After a few more buildings he jumped over another ledge, and this time he remained in the air as his wings suddenly opened and carried him across even faster.

"Well, that's one theory confirmed," Donnie hissed.

We continued to follow him for several more blocks before he started to slow down. Finally, he stopped on the roof of a shorter apartment complex. We all immediately stopped and knelt over the edge to observe. The bat figure was no longer alone. There were several other animal mutants there as well. I saw the snow leopard that had bumped into me earlier, a fox, a jaguar, and a hawk of all things. They were all huddled close on the roof of the building. I supposed they were talking but they were too far to hear, even for me. All I could make out where whispers. At that moment, I took one quick look at that building and I froze.

"Guys, that's Angus's apartment building," I whispered.

They all stared at me and at each other before turning to look down at the building. I stared down, feeling worried. I couldn't imagine that they were here to break into Angus's home. But still, I had a terrible feeling in my gut.

The mutants started to move, and we froze as we kept our attention on them. The bat and the hawk flew off the roof and lowered down a few levels. The leopard and the jaguar stood on particular ends on the roof, as though they were keeping guard. The fox crawled over the edge and started to slowly and carefully climb down, using the edges of windows and the fire escapes to help him out. He suddenly stopped at a center window three rows down.

"That's his apartment…" I hissed, my voice shaking.

I heard the others unsheathe their weapons, ready for whatever came next. I was frozen in fear, staring at the fox as he managed to open the window and crawled inside. Seconds passed, and nothing happened. No noises or anything. Then, the fox appeared on the ledge of the window, holding something in his arms. He held it out and the hawk flew forward and took the object. And just like that, everything seemed to speed back up. The fox shut the window and the mutants all began running and flying away.

"What was that about?"

"Did anyone see what they took?" Leo asked.

"No, it was too small," said Donnie.

"Nia, what room does that window lead to?"

"Um…"

I looked down at the window, which was left as though it had been untouched. This was the back of the building, and I knew Angus's parents slept towards the front, and he was next to them. So that room was probably…

I felt my heart sink so deep into the pit of my stomach I was sure it wouldn't come back. I felt close to crying as I stared at the others. They stared at me with fear in their eyes as we all cried in unison.

"Paige!"

It was hard to remain stealthy as we quickly followed behind the group of mutants. My mind was racing and adrenaline was rushing through me, and everything else was simply a blur. If I had left Donnie, Raph and Leo behind I probably wouldn't have even noticed.

We chased after them for what felt like only a few minutes before they landed at what looked like an abandoned warehouse. The jaguar and the leopard opened what looked like a metal trap door on the roof that was hidden in the shadow of an AC vent. They, the fox, and the bat all jumped down the hole quickly, as though trying to hurry. But, I noticed the hawk floated down gently, holding the object in his hands close to him, and he quietly shut the trap door.

"Stealth mode," Leo hissed at us. "If they do have Paige we need to be very careful. We don't know what they're planning."

The other two nodded, but I remained focused on the building. Please, don't let it be Paige…

We all ran up and leapt up into the air, landing expertly on the edge of the roof. We all slowly shuffled to the trap door as to not make a sound. Donnie knelt down and gently grabbed the trap door and pulled it open. He didn't say anything, but gave us a thumbs up. He went inside, then Raph, then Leo and then me. We stepped down onto metal support beams that were right below us and I gently closed the door. As we tiptoed along the beams I looked down below me.

The building looked as if it were abandoned for years. It was dirty, several windows were broken or boarded up, and there were many suspiciously dark stains on the concrete floor below. But still, it was obvious that some things had been moved, some additional furniture had been placed, and an attempt at cleaning had been made. It was as if someone had been attempting to make this building fit for living conditions. And as I looked down I saw that I was right. Below me were the animals that we had been chasing, along with many others. From this height I could also make out an anthropometric snake, two wolves, a cheetah, possibly a Bobcat, a dog, about three raccoons, and a tall, snow white owl…

"Is that… Athena?" Donnie whispered.

For a moment I had completely forgotten about everything that had happened. Why was Athena here? How was she involved with these other mutants? Were they even mutants? Why were they in Angus's apartment.

"How did it go?" I heard Athena ask distantly.

"Wasn't too hard," the fox said in a deep, smooth voice. "Once Frostbyte shut down their security alarms it was an easy in-n-out."

Athena nodded. She then walked towards the hawk, who was still holding the object in his arms. She stared down at it, then pulled back a piece of what looked like a blanket. I was at an angle where I could finally see what was in his arms. A small, light-haired, two-month old baby in a purple onesie.

"Nia, no!"

Leo had to grab both of my arms painfully hard in order to keep me from leaping forward towards the group. Good thing he did, because the second I realized that they had taken Paige I was in protective panic mode. I thought only of what they might do to her and what I could do to stop it.

Leo held me close to keep me from moving as we continued to observe the group below us. I could see a smile on Athena's beak as she stroked the baby's cheek. Paige was either too sleepy to care or not afraid at all, because she wasn't crying or even squirming. Then Athena took Paige from the hawk, cradling her in her arms as she went to sit on a large, red chair by an old wooden table.

"Did you remember to leave the note?"

The fox nodded. "Yes. I left it in her crib."

"How long do you think it'll be before the aliens are gone?" asked the snow leopard in a toned female voice.

"Once they realize she's gone they'll move to another target," said Athena as she stroked Paige's hair. "Probably another old cat lady or something. But, she'll be fine."

"Aliens?" Raph whispered. "Do you think they're talking about the Kraang?"

Before any of us could say anything Athena started speaking again.

"Can you imagine how hard it must be to take care of a baby?" she held Paige up to look directly at her. "They're such small, weak little things. And yet, we do everything we can to protect them. Know why? Because they have the opportunity to contribute something good to this world. This little girl could find the cure for cancer, bring world peace, become the first female president…"

Paige seemed to curiously raise her hand to poke at Athena's beak. Athena smiled coldly as she grabbed the baby's little hand.

"Or become a useful ally in any organization. Who knows?"

I couldn't take it anymore. I snatched my arms out of Leo's grasp and leapt down, summersaulting until I landed on my feet on the ground. I looked up to see the group of mutants had turned around at the noise, looking surprised. I pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground. I vanished and then quickly appeared behind Athena. I went to take Paige from her, but something grabbed me from behind and suddenly threw me down on top of the table hard. I opened my eyes to see the snake was towering over me, hissing as she pinned me down by the neck. She wasn't choking me, just holding tight enough to keep me there. Still, the sight was unnerving.

"Lavinia?" I heard Athena call out. "Gosh, I didn't expect you to turn up like this."

I heard several jumps and the sounds of unsheathed weapons. I turned my head as best I could, and saw the other three had leapt down with their weapons out.

"And I see you brought your brothers. Lovely."

"Let her go, Athena," Leo ordered. "Let her and Paige go!"

The snake hissed a little closer to my face, and I glared at her. I heard footsteps and suddenly the fox was hunched over me, too. His eyes were a bright, unnatural shade of orange, and they were like daggers.

"This is the girl you're obsessed with?"

I couldn't see who he was talking to, but something in my head told me it was probably Athena. The snake's grip suddenly got tighter on my neck.

"Slicilia, let her up." Athena ordered.

The snake nodded, and finally released me. I snapped up and took several steps back until I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned and it was Athena. Without hesitation, she held Paige up to me. I quickly took her in my arms and held her close to my chest. She didn't appear to be hurt. In fact, she smiled as she gestured her hands up at my face, probably fascinated with my makeup. I glared menacingly at Athena as I slowly backed up to stand next to the others, who still had their weapons out.

"I don't know how you found us or what you were planning to do, but I can assure you this wasn't necessary," Athena said, arms folded. "We had everything under control."

"Under control?!" Raph snapped. "You kidnapped a baby! What's the matter with you?"

"We didn't kidnap her, we saved her!" insisted the snow leopard- I think the fox said her name was Frostbyte.

We stared at her in surprise. Paige made gurgling sounds as she tugged on my corset.

"You call snatching a baby from her home in the middle of the night saving?" Leo asked angrily. "And what were you even saving her from?"

The whole group looked at each other in silence. Athena sighed and sat down in the chair by the table. She looked irritable.

"You've probably noticed that the Kraang have returned."

"You know about that?"

"Of course I do," she stated. "Didn't really take them out last time, did you? Well, they've been bringing more mutagen back from their home, and they have been using it on people. But, not random people in the street anymore. No… they've been targeting specific homes and even families. Those amber alerts that have been constantly going off for months? I can promise you about 90 percent of those are the Kraang."

I stared at Athena. I can remember what it was like the first time I ever met her. Nearly everything she said to me would set off some odd alarm bells in my head, signaling that she was lying. The bells were silent now.

Leo stared. "They've been kidnapping people?"

"Even kids?" Donnie gasped.

"Not yet," Athena corrected. "They tend to take adults since they're stronger. But… they have been targeting places that has teens who are close to the legal age. Foster homes, orphanages, boarding schools… anyone who's at least 16 is in danger there."

Leo hesitantly lowered his katanas, but his grip remained firm.

"You're saying that's why you took Paige? The Kraang were coming for her?"

"But you just said that they were targeting teenagers," I said. "Why would they take her?"

"The Kraang might be dull, but they're thorough. If their experiments on adults are failing, they won't hesitate to test on younger subjects."

"How do you know all of this?" Donnie asked suspiciously.

"We are against the Kraang, turtles," snapped the bat. "We know where nearly all of their hideouts in the city are. We keep tabs on them and their targets."

"And if they try attacking a place with children, we intervene," said the hawk.

I swallowed. "And you bring them home… right?"

"If they wish to be."

I stared at Athena's dark smile.

"What? Where do you think my friends here came from?"

She stood up from her chair and stepped towards me. The group of mutants split apart as she walked between them, gesturing to each of them.

"The fox is Rogue. He was kicked out of his own house after his folks caught him smoking pot. He's the first I met and the first to be a part of my army. He's sort of become a second in command here. The bat and hawk are Slaze and Blade. They went to the same boys boarding school upstate, and boy were they happy for an excuse to get out. The cheetah and snake, Destructa and Slicilia. Both came from the same all girls orphanage. Bobcat is Whacker, she was almost kidnapped by the Kraang. She was so happy when we helped she begged us to take her in. Snow leopard, we call her Frostbyte. She's an amazing hacker, got sent to juvie 4 times already. Oh, and the three raccoons? They're the Trinity's. Triplets, all left at the same orphanage. The jaguar, Knockout, actually found us after escaping juvie himself. One of the best fighters in the city. The dog, Domino, he's one of the best drivers in the city. Used to compete in underground racing. And finally, the two wolves are Justice and Luna. Twins as well. Shifted from foster home to foster home, always given to parents only interesting in mooching money off the government. They decided to stick around after we saved Luna from being kidnapped.

Athena turned her back to us to look at her group of mutants. I could feel the pride radiating off of her.

"They're all a part of my team. My little army, if you will," she turned to look at me. "And we have only two purposes; rebel against the Kraang until they're gone, and to continue to grow."

"Grow?"

"We want to show the world that there is a better way than living the simple, mundane life of a human. There's a better way to survive! There's a better way to thrive!"

I held Paige closer to my chest. This girl was starting to sound crazy. And yet, something compelled me to listen to her. I blinked and suddenly Athena was right up in front of me.

"This is what I told you before, Lavinia," she said in a hushed voice. "When I told you that you were meant for something greater- we all are. My offer still stands, and it's waiting for you."

There was silence, broken only by the wind blowing through the broken windows. Athena backed up and walked towards her group of mutants.

"You may return her if you wish," she said. "She should be safe now. When the Kraang see that she is gone, they'll move onto their next target. But, be careful."

It was clear that it was time for us to leave, and soon. I could see the other three putting away their weapons and starting to back away. I turned and asked Donnie to hold Paige. He looked surprised, but complied. I turned and walked up to Athena.

"I understand why you did this, but it still wasn't right," I told her. "You knew… you knew that she was my friend's sister, and you know that my brothers and I are fighting the Kraang. You could have easily told us and we would've been able to handle it. If what you're saying is true, I'll be grateful, but don't do it again. And if it isn't true… I swear I'll find out what you're up to."

The other mutants all stared at me, then at Athena, then back to me. They looked surprised that I would speak in such a way to her. Athena stood still for a second. She suddenly turned her head almost completely around to look at me, making me flinch.

"That's what I love about you Nia, you're so determined. You must know the truth no matter what, even if it's staring you in the face."


Raph's P.O.V.

We ran across the rooftops, back towards Central Park. None of us spoke much. Nia was the quietest out of all of us, her gaze held forward as she took the lead. Donnie was running slower and more carefully since he was carrying Paige. I was surprised at the fact that she hadn't cried not one time this entire night. If I turned to look I'd probably see her asleep in Donnie's arms.

"Do you think what Athena said was telling the truth?" Leo asked suddenly. "About why they took Paige?"

"It seemed a little fishy, but I can't see why else she would take her," said Donnie. "She's barley 2 months old. She wouldn't be much use to her or her army."

"What do you think Nia?"

I wanted to hear here opinion on this. She was the one who was good at seeing when people were lying through their teeth after all. She didn't answer me though.

We leapt onto the final rooftop that was right next to Angus's apartment. But before we could move forward Nia suddenly gasped and turned to push us to the ground, flat on our shells. I opened my mouth to retort but she then clasped her hands over mine and Leo's mouths.

"Nia, what-"

"Shush!" she hissed at Donnie. "And get down!"

Donnie quickly knelt down next to us, holding Paige a little closer to his chest. Nia released her hands from us and slowly crawled over to the edge of the building. She just barley peeked her head up over the ledge, then quickly brought it back down. She looked back at us and gestured over her shoulder, mouthing the word, "Kraang."

None of us made a sound. Leo and I slowly got up and went to crawl over to Nia. Donnie started to move too, but I put a hand on his shoulder and shook my head, pointing at Paige. He nodded. Leo and I peeked our heads over the ledge. There was a large group of Kraang droids on the apartment building. Several were on the roof, and a few were hanging on cords by the window that lead to Paige's nursery. Just then, two more droids came out of the window, thankfully empty handed. They all made gestures at each other before they all returned to the roof, then appeared to be climbing up an invisible ladder.

"Stealth ship," Leo whispered.

He was right. As we continued to look I noticed that the texture of the sky above the droids didn't appear correct. Once the last droid was in the ship, I saw a hatch close and heard a loud whoosh as the ship flew away. We all stood up, staring at the sky.

"She was telling the truth."

It was Nia. I turned to look at her and saw that she had a slightly shameful look on her face. She must be feeling a bit guilty over what she said to Athena right before we left. Then, at that moment, she gasped. She snatched her phone out and looked down at the screen.

"We've been out for almost 40 minutes!" she gasped. "They're waiting for… I'm supposed to…"

"Go," I told her. "You and Leo head back to the park. Donnie and I will stay and make sure Paige gets back in safe. We'll meet you guys back there."

"But, I should-"

"Nia, Raph's right," said Leo. "Look at all that you've done tonight. You deserve this."

She bit her lip for a second. Then nodded. She ran over to Donnie and gave Paige a kiss on her head.

"Make sure she's safe before you leave," she ordered.

Donnie nodded. Then Nia suddenly ran over to me and hugged me tightly, whispering a soft thank you to me. I could've sworn she kissed my cheek as she let go and ran off, but it was so quick that I couldn't tell. I watched her and Leo sprint as fast as they could over the buildings and down into an alleyway.

"C'mon, let's get her inside," said Donnie.

I nodded.

It took us a minute to safely get Paige over to her window, but it was much easier with the fire escape. I held the window opened and stayed guard outside while Donnie went in to put Paige back. Then, from inside, I could hear him whispering to her.

"No no, let go… there, okay…"

Curious, I turned my head to look inside just in time to see Donnie lowering Paige into her crib. I watched as he made sure she was safe and secure, and then took a tiny blanket from inside the crib and placed it over her. I heard cute gurgles coming from inside the crib. Donnie leaned up and suddenly stopped moving. He was staring down into the crib, his eyes wide. Then he smiled one of the most peaceful smiles I had ever seen. It suddenly occurred to me that this was our first time seeing Paige in person, and not in picture form

I quickly turned my head as I heard footsteps. Donnie walked out of the window and quickly shut it, the same peaceful look on his face.

"Found their note."

He lifted his hand and was holding a small, folded piece of paper. I took it and opened it up.

Sir and ma'am, do not attempt to call the authorities. They'll be unable to help you. Your daughter was in danger and needed to be taken and hidden away for a short time. Rest assured, we will return her when the threat has past. Please remain calm and you will see your daughter again.

-A

"That's comforting," I muttered, crumpling the paper and tossing it over my shoulder.

"We better get going," said Donnie.

I nodded. We both climbed up to the top of the roof, and started running across buildings from there. We were quite for a moment, but it was really an awkward kind of quiet.

"What took you so long in here?" I asked him.

Donnie didn't say anything at first. He just kind of shrugged, looking embarrassed.

"N-nothing, it's just…" he chuckled. "She wouldn't let go of my hand is all. Had to wait until she fell asleep."

I felt an unfamiliar warmth in my heart at the sound of that. Maybe this is just how people feel when they're around babies. I grinned at Donnie as we continued to run.

It took us about 5 minutes and we were back at the entrance of Central Park. The street was crowded and messy, and a few people were walking into the park. We both ran in and could see the stage across the field, surrounded by dancing and observing people. It was too far away to see who was on stage, but we could hear the distant music.

"C'mon!"

We both started running towards the crowd, closer to the stage. The music and the instruments were getting louder and louder, along with the voices of the crowd. It was hard to tell who was on stage from here. As we got closer I saw the people on stage were wearing black and white formal wear, and had brightly colored faces. It was them. They must have already started before we made it.

I don't know why, but I expected Nia's band to be playing something more upbeat and hyped. I guess that's usually the case when it comes to a band's first performance in movies. But this song was slow, calming, yet it seemed to draw me in the same way an upbeat song would. I had just managed to spot Nia in the center of the stage, holding onto the mic, when I could finally hear her voice carry out.

I'll wake you up with some
Breakfast in bed
I'll bring you coffee with
A kiss on your head

And I'll take the kids to school
Wave them goodbye
And I'll thank my lucky stars
For that night

Her eyes were closes as she sang softly into the mic. Her voice was surprisingly smooth, and yet it seemed to carry throughout the entire park. I noticed most, if not all, of the people around the stage were paying full attention to the stage. Some had even pulled out lighters and turned on their phone lights to raise them up in the air.

When you looked over your shoulder
For a minute, I forget that I'm older
I wanna dance with you right now
Oh, and you look as beautiful as ever

And I swear that everyday you'll get better
You make me feel this way somehow

Her eyes opened, and they sparkled as her voice got louder, still remaining smooth.

I'm so in love with you
And I hope you know
Darling your love is more than
Worth its weight in gold

We've come so far, my dear
Look how we've grown
And I wanna stay with you
Until we're gray and old

Just say you won't let go
Just say you won't let go

More lights were up in the air now, slowly waving back and forth. I wanted to look to see how Donnie was reacting to the show, but I just couldn't seem to take my eyes off of Nia.

I wanna live with you
Even when we're ghosts
'Cause you were always there for me
When I needed you most

I'm gonna love you till
My lungs give out
I promise till death we part
Like in our vows

So I wrote this song for you
Now everybody knows
'Cause now it's just you and me
Till we're gray and old

Just say you won't let go
Just say you won't let go
Just say you won't let go

Oh, just say you won't let go

The last few notes strummed out, and the crowd erupted in applause as the lights and lighters waved around crazily. Nia gave a huge smile as she looked out into the crowd, still holding onto the mic.

"Guys!"

I finally managed to tear my eyes away and turned to see Leo, Mikey and Vanessa running over to us. They had been only a few feet away and we hadn't noticed.

"It's about time you got here," Vanessa chimed. "Did you see that? Wasn't it wonderful?"

"We got here right at the second half," said Donnie. "We got to see the rest."

"C'mon, let's go see them."

We all followed behind Vanessa as she lead us towards the left of the stage. We got there just as Nia and her group exited down the stairs. Vanessa cheered as she ran up and hugged her.

"You were brilliant!"

"It was so cool!" Mikey piped up. "I couldn't stop watching."

Leo nodded. "Phenomenal."

"Were you nervous?" Donnie asked her.

"A little," Nia admitted. "Especially right before we went on. But, Martin and Joseph gave me a little confidence boost and I was able to pull through."

"Of course you were!" the guy called Joseph yelled as he ran up and slung his arm around her. "Our little doll held the crowd like putty in her hands."

"Don't over exaggerate, cousin," Martin walked up to us. "It was only our first performance, can't be getting bigheaded yet."

Nia giggled at her friends. I felt an irritation in my chest as I glared at Joseph's hand, which was still wrapped around Nia's waist. Suddenly, I felt somebody nudge me in the arm and I turned to see it was Donnie, who was smiling weirdly at me.

"Hey, what did you think Raph?" he asked a little loudly.

I gave him and odd look that didn't go away until I turned back to Nia. Her expression seemed to change as her huge, brown eyes stared back at me. I then realized that everyone was looking at me, waiting for my answer. Damn it, Donnie… But I remembered how captivated I had been in the crowd, how incredible she looked on that stage, and the way she stared at me made my chest flip.

"You were amazing."

She blushed. She fricking blushed. I could see it through her make up and it took all of my strength to try not to blush back. I'm pretty sure I failed as I could feel my face heat up at the smile she gave me. At that moment we all turned and decided to continue with the party. I thought I saw a smirk on Donnie's face as we walked away, but it was probably my imagination.

It had been half an hour and we were still in Central Park. It was definitely past midnight now, and the party was going to be dying down soon. Donnie, Leo and Angus were all standing in a circle with Nia's band. Nia, Mikey and Vanessa were only a few feet away, laughing about who knows what. I, however, had gone back to that Captain America guy for another rematch of arm-wrestling. Needless to say, I won the rest of them. The only reason I left is because I got tired of him constantly asking for a rematch. Talk about desperate.

As I spotted Donnie I suddenly remembered the stunt he pulled earlier and felt irritated again. I walked up to him and tapped his shoulder.

"What?"

"What was that earlier?" I whispered.

He gave me a weird look before he glanced at the others. Realizing I didn't wanna be heard, he leaned in a bit.

"What earlier?"

"When you asked how I liked the show as loud as you could," I confirmed. "What was that about?"

"Oh." He definitely did smirk this time. He tried to hide it, but I still saw it. "I was just asking 'cause I knew Nia wouldn't. I was helping her out."

"Yeah right."

"Why? Are you upset that you liked it?"

"No."

"Are you upset that she cared what you thought?"

"No!" I inhaled sharply to keep me from getting louder. "I just… I don't know, I…"

"Are you upset that she made you blush?"

I froze as I stared at him. He looked back at me, not seeming phased at all.

"You weren't exactly hiding it, though somehow no one else saw it."

"What're you-"

At that moment the host in the devil costume spoke over the mic.

"Attention partygoers, this party will be ending soon so be ready to leave as soon as possible. However, I've been given a request for one more song before the night ends… how's about another slow song just to settle things down. We'll be shutting down afterward, thank you and have a fantastic Halloween!"

People started whistling as subtle music started playing. I looked around and people started to separate into pairs. I heard laughter and looked over to see that Vanessa and Mikey, who had just been talking to Nia, had vanished.

"Well, I don't plan on leaving without dancing."

It was Joseph. For a second I thought he was about to talk to Nia, but to my surprise he playfully nudged Ace.

"Hey-"

"No."

"Oh, come on! Wasn't homecoming last year fun?"

"You dragged me away from my date that night."

"And he ended up being an ass anyway. C'mon, I haven't danced with anyone all night and now I'm bored!"

"I'm not helping you out."

"Dude, guys help guys out in their time of need. Now be a bro and dance with me!"

"I don't want-"

But Joseph had already grabbed Ace's arm and was dragging him into the crowd. Martin, who had stood there and watched the whole thing, laughed out loud.

"I'm going to get one more drink," he said. "Fellas?"

He turned, and Leo and Angus followed after. Donnie took a few steps as well, then turned to me.

"Are you coming?"

I was about to say yes when I remembered that they had left Nia, all alone by herself. I glanced at her, then at Donnie and shook my head. He shrugged and walked away with the others. I looked at Nia, who was observing everything around her calmly. Then she spoke up.

"They ditched you too, huh?"

I laughed. "Yeah. Some friends."

We stood their awkwardly for a moment. Well, I was awkward. She just seemed to be standing there, looking around the park calmly. If she was feeling awkward she was hiding it very well. I shifted my feet in the grass, contemplating what I was about to do. Might as well try… a voice in my head told me. I took a deep breath.

Suddenly, we were both looking at each other and talking at the same time.

"Hey did you-"

We stopped immediately and started apologizing.

"Sorry, I just-"

"I didn't mean… oh."

"Oh… um…"

"…"

"…"

"Did you maybe-"

"Did you want to…"

"Oh, sorry…"

"No no, I am."

"It's fine, I just… I thought-"

"I was wondering if you'd like…"

"Only if you want to."

We stared at each other for a moment.

"Are we… asking the same thing?"

"I think so…"

We stood still for a moment. Then, with all the courage I had, I held my hand out. She looked down at it and I immediately began to chew myself out. That is, until she took my hand with her own. I've never realized how soft her hands actually were. We both looked at each other nervously before we both slowly walked out to the crowd.

You know I'd fall apart without you
I don't know how you do what you do
'Cause everything that don't make sense about me
Makes sense when I'm with you

We seemed to have magically found a path through all the couples until we found an empty spot in the grass. I looked at her as she nervously looked down at her feet. I grinned and gently pulled her closer to me, putting my hands on her hips. She looked up at me for a moment before grinning and putting her hands on my shoulders.

Like everything that's green, girl, I need you
But it's more than one and one makes two
Put aside the math and the logic of it
You gotta know your wanted too

I don't know when we started swaying, but we were. Just a soft back and forth, right where we were, same as everyone else around us. How could something so simple be making my stomach do backflips?

'Cause I wanna wrap you up
Wanna kiss your lips
I wanna make you feel wanted
And I wanna call you mine

Wanna hold your hand forever
And never let you forget it
Yeah, I, I wanna make you feel wanted

Anyone can tell you you're pretty, yeah
And you get that all the time, I know you do
But your beauty's deeper than the make-up
And I wanna show you what I see tonight…

"Oh my gosh…!"

I glanced down at Nia and saw that she was looking off to my right, a bright look on her face. I raised my eyebrow and looked off in the direction she was looking. My jaw fell to the floor. Mike and Vanessa were slow dancing together, holding each other surprisingly close, both looking very happy. Vanessa was just as short as Mikey was, so she was eyelevel with him as they danced.

"I'm surprised, but at the same time I'm not," I admitted.

"I know!" Nia beamed at the two. "Look at them, they're so freaking cute!"

"You don't think it's weird?"

"Of course not. Do you think I'd always be helping Donnie out with April if I did?"

I was about to tell her "I guess not", when I saw the look on her face fall. I just realized that that was the first time any of us had even mentioned April since the last time we had seen her. Nia was obviously still broken up about the whole thing, and mentioning April must've been too much or something. I couldn't exactly blame her. I missed April as much as the others.

Curiously, I glanced over at Mikey and Vanessa. As childish and stupid as Mikey could be sometimes, he was being pretty smooth at the moment. He must've been doing something right because Vanessa was completely falling into his embrace, her head on his shoulder. Damn.

I looked at Nia's sadden face for another moment before I moved my hands into the curve of her back, pulling her closer to me. She looked up and the broken look on her face had vanished. I swear, I thought I could see her blush underneath her makeup, but who knows? I half expected her to push me back, and I was prepared for it. But, she slowly leaned back into me until her arms were wrapped around my neck.

When I wrap you up,
When I kiss your lips
I, wanna make you feel wanted

I wanna call you mine
Wanna hold your hand forever
And never let you forget it
'Cause, baby, I, I wanna make you feel wanted

My body felt like it was doing a million jumping jacks, running a marathon and standing still all at the same time. I had the powerful urge to move around, but I mentally yelled at myself for being stupid and remained still. Besides, I didn't want to move from this spot. I forced myself to stop looking at the ground and looked higher up to look at Nia. I gulped when I realized she was smiling at me, and I could see her ears were definitely red. She seemed to stiffen up for a moment before pulling forward a little more and leaning her head on my shoulder. I blinked in awe for a moment, but smiled as I wrapped my arms around her figure more. We continued to sway on the spot, holding each other.

I just wanna wrap you up
Wanna kiss your lips
I wanna make you feel wanted

I wanna call you mine
Wanna hold your hand forever
And never let you forget it

Yeah, I wanna make you feel
Wanted
Baby, I wanna make you feel…
Wanted...

You'll always...
Be wanted…


Nia's P.O.V.

My head was spinning the entire drive home. Martin and the other two went back to his place in his car. They offered to let us spend the night, but we had to decline for obvious reasons. The boys were in the back and I was in the front again. We were all a little disheveled by now. We had loosened out costumes and undid our hair. Mine was all in my face it was crazy.

I forced myself to stop thinking about the dance for a moment and thought about Angus. I had to tell him what happened. I had to. His sister was kidnapped tonight. True, it wasn't for evil intentions, but still. He deserved to know. I felt terrible that I didn't tell him the second I saw him again, but we were literally getting on stage. He looked so happy and excited for our moment that I couldn't bear to break his heart yet. I'll tell him later. I promise.

After about 20 minutes, Angus parked in a dark alley near the music store. There was a manhole cover here that he knew was close to our home, so it was very kind of him. As soon as the car was in parked, the boys hopped out the back and I got out of the passenger seat.

"Thanks for everything Angus," I told him. "Drive safe, okay?"

"Totally," he said. "And we're on for tomorrow night, right?"

I nodded. Yeah, we need to talk. I was about to turn when I noticed Vanessa was staring solemnly out of the window behind me. I turned to see the others were working on opening the manhole cover, but nothing else. I was just trying to figure out what she was looking at when I heard Angus groan.

"Go on then!" he snapped. It wasn't angry, just kinda passionate. "What's stopping you?"

She whipped around. "What-?"

"I saw you guys dancing all night. I'm surprised you didn't do it during that slow song."

"Angus, shut it-"

"Go, Ness. What's the worst that could happen?"

Vanessa looked at him, then looked back behind me. A huge smile grew on her face as she suddenly leapt out of the car as well. Before I could ask what she was doing she strode confidently towards the others.

"Hey, Mikey."

Mikey raised his head to look back at her. He smirked at his brothers before standing up and striding over towards her as well. They met in the middle of the alley and he tilted his Mario hat upward.

"'Sup, Ness?"

Vanessa stood there as she raised an eyebrow, a smirk growing on her face. She took 2 steps towards him, her expression remaining. Suddenly, she grabbed his suspenders in one hand, pulled him forward and kissed him. Not on the cheek or on the head. A real kiss.

I gasped, clasping a hand over my mouth. I was too busy staring in awe that I almost didn't notice the other three staring at Mikey, their jaws on the ground, eyes wide and white. About five seconds past and Vanessa finally leaned back. She beamed sweetly at Mikey as she patted his cheek and slowly turned to walk away. Mikey didn't seem to register what was happening. His eyes were cross-eyed and he swaying back and forth, slouching forward slightly. He giggled as he raised his hand up and attempted to say something, but this caused him to lean back and loose balance, falling flat on his shell.

Vanessa, still smiling, stepped back into the car and shut the door. She poked her head through the window and patted my head.

"See you next Wednesday, Nia."

I nodded, unable to speak. They both said goodnight to all of us before Angus put his car in reverse and drove off.

"Mikey…?"

I turned around to see the others all crouched around Mikey, who was still on the ground. I raised my eyebrows as I ran over and looked down at him. His eyes were still crossed, his tongue handing out of his mouth.

"Oh great, she broke him."

"Not like there was much to break."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Raph."