Chapter 2

Sibling Rivalry

A/N: Well, thanks for the reviews. I've only gotten one so far, but that's ok. This chapter will be much better since it has the Turtles in it. I hope you like it. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Turtles. I wish I did, but that won't happen. I'm not making any money off of this so please don't sue me. Turtles belong to Mirage Studios, Inc.

Dream sequence

It was a quiet early morning in New York. There were no people in the streets at this hour. If there had been, they would have been startled to see a giant green turtle being pursued by an army of men dressed in black on the rooftops.

Leonardo couldn't believe it. What had started out as a training run had turned into running from the Foot Ninjas. Where had they come from? Why were they there when the Shredder was gone?

Leonardo unsheathed his swords and got ready to fight. The Foot Ninjas attacked, but Leo managed to fight them off. Then, a second wave came, but they were defeated too. Suddenly, the Foot Tech Ninjas came, and they were hard to fight because they kept disappearing when they pushed a button. However, Leo refused to give up and defeated them.

Leonardo thought he had won, but he was mistaken. More Foot Ninjas came, followed by the burly man called Hun. Leo managed to fight them off, but it wasn't easy. Then, he looked behind him and saw the Foot Elite. They disappeared and landed beside Hun and the Foot Ninjas. Suddenly, Leo caught a glimpse of a figure on another building. It was the Shredder! Leo couldn't believe his eyes. Then, the Elite vanished and appeared right behind Leo. He tried to fight them, but he was too weak. He was pushed off of the building by one of the Elites and realized his swords were gone.

Leo's room

Leonardo awoke with a start. He couldn't believe the nightmare he'd just had. He looked around his room, but no one was there. Maybe I'll go down and get some tea he thought. That should make me feel better.

He crept quietly downstairs. After all, he didn't want to wake his brothers or Master Splinter. He knew they wouldn't be too happy if they woke up this early.

"Having a hard time sleeping, my son?" a soft voice asked. Master Splinter was sitting in the shadows and had heard his son come downstairs.

"Yes, Sensei, I am," Leonardo replied. "I had a really bad dream a few minutes ago."

"What was it about, Leonardo?" Splinter asked.

"I relived the attack," Leo replied.

"You mean when the Foot Ninjas ambushed you?" Splinter asked.

"Yes," Leo answered. "It was so vivid, I felt as if I was there again." He shivered a little as he said this.

"It is peculiar to see you have a nightmare," Splinter said. "Usually, your brother, Michelangelo, has them."

"I know," Leo said. "I haven't had a nightmare since I was younger. I used to dream about falling off of a building, remember?"

"I do remember that," Splinter said. "That was when you had your fear of heights."

"Do you think that this dream signifies that I have a fear?" asked Leo.

"Yes, it does," said Splinter. "But unlike your fear of heights, this fear is one that cannot be conquered."

"I thought all fears could be conquered," said Leonardo. "I've read that in books."

"Books can be misleading," said Splinter. "This fear is a personal fear."

"What does that mean?" asked Leo.

"It means that you will have this fear for a long time," replied Splinter. "Remember when I told you about my Master Yoshi getting killed by the Shredder?"

"Of course," said Leo. "How could I forget that? It was that story that helped me realize how evil the Shredder was and still is."

"Well, since then, I have had a fear of my own," said Splinter. "I have had a fear that you or one of your brothers would get killed by the Shredder. When you were attacked that fateful night, I thought my fear had come true."

Leonardo was shocked. He couldn't believe that his sensei had such a fear haunting him. "Do you mean that I have a fear of getting attacked?" he asked his sensei.

"Yes," replied Splinter. "You also have a fear of failing your family. I remember when you told me that you felt you had let us down."

"Yes, I did," said Leo. "I still do feel that way. I feel that it was my own fault that I got attacked because I went out there alone. I feel that it's my fault that April's building got blown up." He started to tremble and embraced himself as if he was cold.

Splinter put a hand on his son's shoulder. "It was not your fault that this happened, Leonardo," he said gently. "You did not know what would happen to you that day. Neither of us expected that the Shredder would return."

"Do you think that the dream is an omen?" asked Leo. "That it's telling me he's back?"

"I do not know," answered Splinter. "I do feel that it was a peculiar dream, but I can't say that it is an omen. However, if you have the dream again, or another like it, tell me immediately."

"I promise, Sensei," said Leo.

"Good," said Splinter. "Now, I will get us cups of tea, and then I want you to go to bed. You and your brothers have a big day tomorrow."

After he had gotten his tea, Leo sat next to Splinter on a cushion. The two talked about other things that were going on in the world around them. Leonardo expressed his dislike for the suicide bombings that were happening in Iraq. Splinter agreed and said that the people over there needed help.

After he drank his tea, Leo went back upstairs to bed. He wanted to be awake and alert for tomorrow's big training session. But before he drifted off to sleep, He thought about the dream. What did it mean? Was it an omen of the Shredder's return? Why was he even having it? He just hoped that he wouldn't have it again that night.

Erin's house

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The alarm clock rang out shrilly, announcing that it was morning. Erin groaned and turned over to switch it off. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched, yawning loudly.

She sat up and recalled the dream she'd just had. It had been a good dream with David Ellis in it. She felt that she had to record this in her diary. Erin turned to her nightstand where she had left her diary the night before, but she discovered it wasn't there. She looked at Maureen's bed and saw that it was empty. That meant that Maureen had stolen Erin's diary, which was something Erin had forbidden her to do.

Furious, Erin stormed out of their room and down the stairs. In the kitchen she found her mother putting bread in the toaster. Maureen was sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal in front of her. In one hand, she held a spoon to dip her cereal in. In the other hand, she held Erin's diary.

Erin marched over to Maureen and snatched the diary out of her hand. "Bored with your other books?" she asked sarcastically. "Or, did you deliberately do this to make me mad?"

"Neither," said Maureen. "I was just curious. You were so secretive about David that I had to know if you liked him or not. Now, I have the proof that you do." She snatched the diary back and waved it around.

"Give it back to me, you little brat!" snapped Erin. Maureen kept waving the diary around, making it so Erin couldn't get it.

"Maureen, give your sister her diary back," ordered Mrs. Finnigan in a stern voice.

"Okay," said Maureen, looking subdued. She gave Erin the diary back.

"Now, apologize to your sister," said Mrs. Finnigan firmly.

"I'm sorry, Erin," said Maureen. "I won't do it again."

"Apology not accepted," said Erin angrily. "And you'd better not do it again!" She stormed out of the room to hide the diary where Maureen couldn't find it.

While Erin was gone, Mrs. Finnigan turned to Maureen. "Why did you do that to Erin?" she asked her youngest daughter. "You know how Erin is about her diary. It's very valuable and private to her. How would you like it if she stole something of yours that was valuable and private to you?"

"I'd be very mad," Maureen replied.

"Well, don't do it again," Mrs. Finnigan warned. "I don't want you girls fighting like this."

Then Erin returned, shooting her sister a mean look. "Thank God I don't have to take you to Central Park with me," she said.

"Actually, you do," Mrs. Finnigan said. "Laura's mom called, and they have to leave for Pennsylvania. Laura's grandma is not doing well, so they went to be with her."

"Great," Erin muttered. "Just what I need, my little sister tagging along while I practice for the most important variety show ever."

"Now, Erin, don't make such a fuss," Mrs. Finnigan said. "Your sister will be good, won't you, Maureen?"

"Yes, I will," Maureen answered.

"That's my good girl," Mrs. Finnigan said. "Now, you both have a good day at school."

"You just made it worse! "Erin snapped. "You'll regret the day you made my life miserable! I hate you!"

The Lair

Morning dawned bright and early in the sewers. Rats scurried around, trying to find as much food as they could. To most people, the sewers were disgusting, and citizens avoided them at all costs. But to the Turtles and Splinter, this was the only home they had ever known.

Michelangelo was sitting on the couch, flipping through channels on the remote. He stopped it on MTV, where a Britney Spears music video was being shown.

"Mikey, turn that crap off!" ordered his brother, Raphael.

"But, Raph, I like her!" protested Mikey. "She's hot!"

"And you don't stand a chance with her," said Raph. He snatched the remote from Mikey's hand and turned the channel. It landed on Animal Planet, where the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin was holding a snake.

"This is the most venomous snake in the world," said Steve in his Australian accent. "If I make one wrong move, he might bite me."

"So why are you holdin' it, ya big dork?" asked Raph sarcastically.

Suddenly, the snake lunged at Steve, but he dodged it just in time. "By Crikey, he nearly got me!" he shouted. "I'm just gonna leave him where I found him."

"What an idiot!" said Raph, rolling his eyes. He turned it to Cartoon Network. The Powerpuff Girls were on.

"All right!" exclaimed Mikey. "My favorite show is on!"

"I thought American Idol was your favorite show," said Raph.

"It is," said Mikey. "I have a lot of different favorite shows."

"You are such a nut," said Raph.

"Will you guys keep it down?" asked Donatello. "I'm trying to do some research."

"Sorry, Donnie," said Mikey. He turned the volume down on the T.V.

"You're doin' research this early, Donnie?" asked Raph.

"Yes," replied Donnie. "I want to get this research done for my next invention."

"What are you inventing this time, Don?" asked Mikey.

"I can't tell you that, Mikey," answered Don. "I have to do my research first."

"Whatever," said Raph. Then he looked around. "Hey, where's our fearless leader?" he asked. "He's usually up by now."

"Maybe he overslept," 'suggested Mikey.

"Or maybe he's meditating," Don added. "You know how Leo likes to get focused before a training session."

"Well, I'm goin' to wake him up," Raph said. "I'm starving."

"You will do no such thing!" a soft voice said firmly. Splinter had come out of his room and overheard his sons talking. "You will let your brother rest," he said.

Then, Leonardo came downstairs. "Hi, everyone," he said. "What's up?"

"It's about time you got up," Raph said. "We've been waitin' on you."

"Sorry, guys," Leo said. "I didn't mean to oversleep."

"Did you have a bad night?" Mikey asked.

"Yes, I did," Leo said. "I had a bad dream last night."

"Was it about a monster?" Mikey asked.

"No, Mikey, it wasn't about a monster," Leo replied.

"Well, it must have been pretty bad to cause you to oversleep," Don said.

"What was it about?" Raph asked him.

"I don't want to talk about it," Leo answered. "Let's go get some breakfast."

After breakfast, Splinter and the Turtles went to the dojo for practice. It began with an hour of meditation to focus the mind. Then, Splinter paired the Turtles up for sparring. Donatello and Michelangelo paired off while Raphael was paired with Leonardo.

During practice, Splinter noticed that Leonardo wasn't doing as well as he usually did. This was probably because of the events of the night before, but it still bothered Splinter to see his son in such distress. Leo tried to block Raph's moves, but it wasn't working. Raph always managed to beat him each time.

"Are we done now, Sensei?" Mikey asked when Splinter called the practice to a halt.

"Not yet, my sons," Splinter replied. "Now, you must try to disarm me. If one of you is successful, you will all be excused from afternoon practice. But, if all of you are unsuccessful, you will have afternoon practice and will have to clean up after dinner for a week. Now, who will go first?"

Michelangelo grinned and swirled his nunchucks playfully. Then, he ran at his sensei and tried to disarm him with his nunchucks. But Splinter anticipated it and caught Mikey's nunchucks in his walking stick. He flipped Mikey over, causing the Turtle to land on his back.

Donatello was next. He ran at Splinter, and using his bo staff as a vault, tried to knock Splinter's stick out of his hand. But Splinter kicked Don's bo out from under him and flipped him over neatly.

Raphael growled and twirled his sais in a menacing manner. He ran at Splinter and tried a roundhouse kick, but Splinter dodged it, causing Raph to land next to his brothers.

Splinter looked around for Leonardo, but couldn't find him. Then, Leo dropped from the ceiling, his katanas ready. Splinter swung his stick and disarmed his son. Leonardo was surprised which caused him to lose his focus. Splinter caught Leo's foot and flipped him over. He landed right next to his brothers.

Splinter shook his head. "I guess you four will be cleaning the dishes," he said with a small smile.

That night after dinner, the Turtles were in the kitchen cleaning up. Don was washing the dishes, Leo and Raph were drying, and Mikey was putting them away.

"I can't believe we have to do this," grumbled Raph. "It just goes to show you that our fearless leader isn't so perfect after all. This is the second time he's proved that."

"What's that supposed to mean, Raph?" demanded Leo.

"The first time was when the Shredder kicked your butt," said Raph with a smile.

Leo turned pale. He couldn't believe Raph had mentioned that. No one had talked about it since it happened. Leo turned and ran out of the Lair. Mikey tried to go after him, but Splinter stopped him.

"Let him go," said the rat. "He needs some time alone."

A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter. I hope you liked it. Please review it. I bet you can't guess which episode of the new series the dream Leo had is referring to. I just hope you like this chapter. Please read and review. I need more than one review here!