April O'Neil sighed as she made her way down the sewer passages; she could feel something wasn't right.
She found the ladder to the Turtle's lair easily, and slipped down, climbing slowly
"Hey guys! Guess who?" she called out happily, hoping that her feelings of doom and gloom were wrong.
What she found startled her.
There was something sleeping on the couch.
April's first thought was that Splinter was dying, and she walked over…
"Splinter, Splinter is that you?" she asked cautiously…
There was a flurry of movement, and April saw something gray with fangs leaping at her, and a flash of steel against a dark background of panic.
And then she fainted.
*~*
"April? C'mon Ape wake up!" she heard a voice coach in the darkness…
"Mmm… Mikey?" She blinked. She was lying on the floor with a pillow under her and a cold cloth on her forehead.
"April, you gonna be all right?" Leonardo asked, glaring at something beyond April.
April heard feet scuffle.
"I… I didn't know she was your friend." Said a meek voice, embarrassed and shy. April sat up, and blinked at what beheld her.
A gray cat stood there, her silvery hair draped around her shoulders; her whiskers and ears drooped. April knew a little about cats, and she could tell this one wasn't well.
She stood and glanced at the Teenage Mutant cat… then turned to Leonardo
"What's going on here?"
"April, Ali, Ali, April. Now, don't go trying to rip her throat out again, OK?" Mike said, crossing his arms jokingly.
"I wasn't trying to rip out her throat. I was trying to knock her out." Ali said defensively.
Mike rolled his eyes.
"Can't take a joke, KitKat?"
"Can't take a hint, shellback?"
"Uh…"
"She's got you there, Mike!" Don laughed.
April smiled at Ali amiably.
"So, where you from, Ali?"
"Somewhere I'm sure."
"Oh…"
*~*
A man loomed on a dark throne of skulls before a long walkway. To the sides of the walk were two pits, each full of pitiful, moaning underlings.
His hair was a dark gray, the occasional bright silver shone in the dim light of the chamber, his eyes were a bright, vivid blue.
"We have returned with the rat, master." Came a soft, hissing voice to the side of him.
"Rat? IMBICILE!" stood this dark lord. "I said CAT! C- A-T cat! I said nothing of a RAT!"
"You said Rat sire." The voice said defensively, then in a swirl of shadows, Master Splinter, the elderly rat whom taught the turtles the art of ninjitsu, appeared, suspended from two chains that no one could see. He lifted his head weakly; his half-ear swiveled slightly
"A cat?" he thought quietly to himself.
"You idiot! You were supposed to bring Alicia back to me!" the dark man growled as he stood. He wore medieval style armor, and his eyes shown with such hatred and malevolence that Splinter was frightened by it.
"Sire, the rat is only the beginning! There are four warrior animals there, aside from the cat! And the rat will draw all five of them here!"
A man appeared close by Splinter. He was small, and pale, and very rat-like himself in appearance (save the fur).
"I am sure of it, Sire!"
"Mm… very well then." The lord said dismally "It will be good to have more warriors like Alicia on our side; the Fianna of Night will not prevail without its Star Maiden!"
"What has been done here?" Splinter blinked, "Alicia?"
*~*
Ali Kat sighed as Donatello helped her up onto a lab bench at Donatello's lab. April had left shortly before, befuddled at the Cat-Girl's answers to her questions.
"I don't see what this is about," she said grumpily. "I am a warrior, I do not get sick!" she insisted.
"Well, I'm a warrior too and I get sick when I don't take care of myself." Said Don, with a slight smile
"It's OK to get sick, it just means you're normal."
"But I'm NOT normal! I'm a cat!"
"And I'm a turtle who's smarter than most of the human population on Earth." He grinned back. "Now we could go on arguing on like this all day or I could find out what's making you sick, get you some medicine and get us all outta here and get Splinter back." Don challenged as he picked up something that looked like a palm pilot.
"Humph." Ali replied, crossing her arms.
Don glanced up at her, and sighed.
"Look, just give it a chance, all right? It's not like I'm asking you to sharpen your claws on a scratch post instead of the curtains… don't even think about it!"
"I'm taking offence to that, Donatello!"
"Please, call me Don, if we're gonna be lair mates you might as well." He said. He took out a small, thin stick that shone with a thread of silver.
"What's that? Is that supposed to heal me?"
"Nope. Just a thermometer…"
"Oh… uh…"
"It measures how hot you are inside."
"Yeah, everyone knows you're cute on the outside!" Michaelangelo said as he walked into the Lab.
Donatello rolled his eyes.
"Quit hitting on her, Mike." He grinned. "It may upset her stomach."
"Ow! That hurt Don-san!" He grimaced.
"Ali, open your mouth and stick this under your tongue."
"I don't know… GAG!" Don putting the thermometer in her mouth rudely interrupted Ali's words.
Mike hopped right up on the table next to Ali, and smiled slightly
"Hey, Kitten, don't worry, Don-san's good at repairin' stuff! You should be all set!" he chuckled.
Ali turned her eyes to the ground, looking totally wrong, sitting in a technology lab with buttons, dials, knobs, do-hickeys and thing-a-ma-bobs, with a leather halter top and a leather-and-chain mail skirt. He frowned slightly, then looked up
"Hey, Ali, how about you an' me go clothes shoppin' for ya? I mean living in those things must be a drag… especially when they get wet in the rain… oh wait, you're a cat, you don't like getting wet…"
"Abtually, Mibe, I wike toob swim." Ali said discontentedly.
"Hey! Keep your mouth shut Ali, Mike, stop talking to her!" Donatello said, putting his hands on his hips.
He could be such a mother hen.
About a half-hour later, Donatello stood looking in disbelief at the results of the testing.
"What the HECK?! It says here that you have, uh… MICHAELANGELO! WHERE DID YOU PUT THE REAL RESULTS?!"
Mike burst out laughing, and handed the real results to Donatello.
"IT SAYS YOU HAVE A NICE TAIL END!" he hooted. Ali didn't look amused, glancing at the end of her tail, which ended in a white tip.
She shrugged.
"I'm glad you agree, Donatello, Don I mean… what are the results?" she asked, inquisitive.
Don scratched his head
"Malnutrition, lack of vitamin C…"
"I have that CD!" Mike chirped. Donatello glared at him.
"Like I was saying… a lack of vitamin C and… well… frankly you could put on a few pounds. When's the last time you ate, regularly?"
"I don't remember… I know I have been in this city for ten sunsets."
"TEN DAYS? Geez, no wonder then." Don said, and glanced at Michaelangelo.
"Mike, this girl needs some serious vitals! Fats, oils, meats, milks, breads, and of course, tomato sauce! You know what this means…"
"PIZZA PARTY!" Mike cried out happily, and left the lab hurriedly.
"Don, what's a pizza party?"
"Well, Ali, it's when you order this big, flat open-faced pie and eat it to some good tunes!"
"Tunes…?"
"Ah… I'll explain later."
*~*
Leonardo looked up as Michaelangelo jumped up and down coming from Donatello's lab, and raised an eye ridge.
"What? What's wrong with the cat?" he asked cautiously.
"The babe's hungry, man! Don's prescription was the all-might Pizza Par-tay!"
Raphael lay on his bed, the door opened as he listened to his brothers.
Of course Ali was hungry, but when did he have time to pinch food between patrol? Mike would have noticed it missing, anyway.
He shut the door, full of disgust with himself.
*~*
Ali yawned as she walked back into the lair with Don in the lead, since she didn't know her way around yet. She flicked on ear irritably as she glanced around, looking a little better since the change of scenery was something she needed.
Leonardo sighed as he sat reading on the couch, he glanced up, nodding at Don but ignoring Ali.
"Where'd Mike an' Raph go, Leo?"
"Something about malnutrition needing a pizza party? Don…"
"Ah… well… you know Mike was just there and I thought heck we hadn't had pizza for three days…"
"Don, there are more important things at hand."
"Uh…"
"Yeah."
Ali sighed as she leaned against the wall, listening to them argue.
"Besides, if she's malnourished that's her own fault…"
"What was I supposed to do about it?" Ali snapped "It's not like I can simply ask someone 'Excuse me, I'm starving and I'm rather ill, would you mind sparing some bread?' How do you think I met Raphael? I had to eat, and I stole a loaf of bread from a woman walking down the rivers of stone you have in the city above. Raphael didn't like me stealing, though I WAS hungry, and knocked me into the river in order to stop the thief from getting away. There, it's said. I brought dishonor upon myself for stealing. I'm not proud of it; I'm shamed of it. Now, stop treating me like an enemy, Leonardo! I'm some one you can trust… why don't you trust me?"
Leonardo glowered at the cat.
"I treat you like an enemy because as far as I'm concerned, you are one. I don't trust you at all, you know where Splinter is and you won't take us there."
"Because if I can't defend you, you will die!"
"That's a load of crap!"
Donatello blinked… Leonardo said… crap?
"Then why do I bother staying here? If you want to die… just ask Leonardo. I won't be happy to do it, but why let something suffering such as you continue to exist?" Ali spat at him… then she put a hand/paw to her forehead, and sighed. She looked up at Leonardo. "I'm sorry what happened to your teacher, and I'm sorry that you and Raph don't get along, and I'm sorry that I snapped at you, Leonardo. I just wish there were some way I could prove to you that I am not a traitor to this cause. My life, as well as all your brothers', your teacher's, and yours, hangs in the balance. We are all in the same situation." She said softly… then turned… nearly knocking over Michaelangelo in the process.
"Hey Kitten! Where ya going? I got the pizza!"
"Forget the pizza, we're going to go save your teacher. I want to be over and through with this as soon as possible…"
"But Ali, you're still sick!"
"It doesn't matter, if we catch him unaware, we might have a chance. But, we must strike like lightning then fade out still leaving him blind."
"I like the way you talk, Kat." Raph agreed, pulling out his sai. "So let's run and…"
"Run? We don't need to."
"Huh?" all the turtles asked.
Ali smiled softly, and walked to the wall she had first traced something over. She glanced around, and picked up her belt off the stand table next to the wall, and slipped it around her waist, buckling it securely. She picked up her quiver and her bow, and looked at the wall.
She ran a hand over it, making sure of something. Then nodded.
"It's here." She whispered softly. She reached into her side pouch, and from it drew a bit of silver chalk. She raised it to the brick as she began to whisper…
"Guardians of Night and time, hark to my call and rhyme, open the gates of shadows bare, to the Palace of the Shadow Lord, we must be there. The raven has wings with which to fly, love travels on the lullaby, we must travel a distance great, I bid to thee, open the gate!"
There was a bright flash of light, and Ali stood back from a swirling nexus, ablaze with florescent colors.
She turned to the turtles, shouting over the noise of nothingness
"Come! The gate won't last very long! As soon as I pass through it will close; hurry!"
"I don't like this…" Leo growled, but went first through the gate, standing just inside. His feet felt as if they were on an icy fire!
The vortex around him was stunningly beautiful; colors that his mind could not comprehend were swirling around inside. As he was about to touch the color of the emotion of pure joy, which was so beautiful that to normal animals it would be blinding, Ali called into him, her voice echoing in the void
"Be careful! Don't too long at one color!"
Leonardo casually turned to a bright, sunshine yellow (the true color of regular happiness).
The other turtles stepped through hesitantly, and as Ali walked through, the portal closed around them…
"What the…?" Raph started, but Ali breezed past them, she seemed to know exactly where she was going.
The turtles looked at one another, and could only shrug.
And Ali led the way into the colorful void.