A.N – Anyone want to play spot the homage? I'll givey'all a clue, there are two. Interesting insert self indulgent fact; I actually wrote the previous cliffie completely by accident. This is the original end of Chapter 2, when I realised what I'd doneI split it.

Oh yea ... CHARACTER DEATH! Jus' kidding ...

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Chapter 3; "Man I Love Being A Turtle!"

Had it been Mikey who had once proclaimed to love being a turtle? Leo couldn't exactly recall, but it was certainly the sort of statement his brother was likely to have made at some point. It did not matter, for as Leo withdrew his head into his shell he couldn't help but share the same sentiment. From within the protective casing of his body he felt the vibrations of the thief's sword reverberate around his ears, the sickening crack of metal striking shell leaving Leo wincing in surrogate pain.

Lotus stared at the decapitated turtle in surprise, her blade had not struck any bone, muscle or flesh, nor was it slick with the blood of her enemy, yet her opponent lacked a head. Bringing her foot up she drove it fiercely into the back of his shell, deciding to make the most of this momentary lapse in concentration. Falling forwards onto his front Leo drew his head back out as he rolled onto his back to observe her attempts at escape. Reaching for one of his blades Leo vaulted to his feet in similar fashion to Lotus and hurried after her. Grabbing a hold of the stranger's shoulder Leo pulled her round sharply to face him, his own blade coming up to block her low moving one. Beneath her mask a smile spread over her lips, his fighting style was admirable, and his attacks timed well and with skill. She had to admire his self discipline, compared to the first that she had tackled that night he was unshakable. With their blades crossed at a low point both stood breathing heavily neither entirely sure what to try next. Her back arm hung behind her, fingers warily spaced out and flexing at intervals. Eyes flicked from Leo's face to her surrounding area picking up the shadows that moved to encircle her. In this momentarily lapse Leo moved his hand reaching out to dis-robe this fighter. Fingers wrapped around the black cloth that covered her face, tugging the mask up and away from her face. With her vision blocked she pushed her blade against Leo's forcing some distance between the two of them, but to her dismay, sacrificing her anonymity.

Throwing the black cloth to one side Leo locked eyes onto the face of the 'Lotus'. In the streaming moonlight he noted two keen brown eyes, high cheekbones and a mop of cascading, thick brown black locks. Her full lips betrayed her upset at being seen face to face, her beautiful cheeks sucked in as time stood still.

"It's a chick!" the youngest exclaimed in surprise. "Raph ... we got our asses ... ow!" Mikey stopped as Raph hit him up the back of the head. The three brothers who had been moving to block the exit paused to stare at her.

The cry galvanised her to action, the hand extended behind her moving to the small knapsack at the small of her back. Grasping a handful of lotus pollen she smiled at Leonardo sweetly. "You have a most beautiful home." she announced with a soft Japanese lull, her initial attempt to throw her potent pollen into Leo's face sabotaged by Raph's temper. Her comment left Leo stunned, Donny questioning the validity of her statement and Mikey impressed, she had somehow found the lair, that was so cool. Raph on the other hand charged towards her with an angry growl. "You've ..." intent on grabbing her she sidestepped him with a graceful ease, one hand moving to intercept his extended arms, the other moving with surprising ease to his belt, hooking a sai free she allowed the gravity of her throw to relinquish his weapon to her. Taking a step back from Leo she gave a small respectful bow, her own sword tucked away with agile grace she made apparent her choice to continue the fight with Raph's sai.

Shaking it in front of Leo's face Lotus took a tiny playful step backwards. Her face reflecting her joy at making a mockery of Raphael twice in one short night. Hearing a low growl from where she had tossed Raph she rolled her eyes slightly, "If you would like it back, perhaps you shall come and retrieve it." Her eyes locked with Leonardo as she issued her challenge, the tip of the sai waved playfully in the air before him. Slipping one katana away Leonardo sighed, "Very well."

Bringing his other hand up to wrap around the hilt of his still extended sword Leonardo moved around her, trusting Mikey and Donny to block the exit without needing to be told. With controlled grace he advanced upon her, bringing the sword down with considerably less force towards her open front. In the back of his mind he couldn't quite believe he was fighting with a girl, let alone one that was trained so well in the ways of the Ninja. Feeling metal bite with metal Leo moved forwards as Lotus angled the sai's blade upwards, bringing the two together, their faces separated by the width of his katana blade. Smiling up at Leo warmly Lotus bit her lip in a display of feigned struggle, as her other hand moved to grasp some more pollen. Pulling out a sizable amount she took a small half step back her other hand coming around quickly to throw the sweetly scented dust into his face. Choking the eldest turtle stepped back, dropping first his blade and then his own body down onto the floor, with watering eyes he looked up to see the girl duck past his approaching brothers with ease and vanish into the fire escape.

"Bro ..." Raph reached their stunned leader first, getting no response he reached out and touched Leonardo on the arm, "Hey Leo ...."

Blinking slightly he pulled his eyes from the swinging door to his brother's concerned face, "Isn't she beautiful ..." he whispered quietly, the natural tranquilisers found in the pollen reducing him to nothing.

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"She's gone." Donny reported simply, returning to the fire exit where Leo and Raph waited. Bending down before their eldest he pulled a slight face, the powder she had thrown had succeeded in rendering their brother in a state approaching catatonic. Shaking his head slightly he moved to Leonardo's side, glanced to Raph and pulled him to his feet. He could better solve this conundrum back in the lair.

"Mikey!"

"Comin' ..."

Jogging to catch up his brothers Mikey paused at the still open fire exit. Pushing the door open once again he stepped inside, his nose following the sweet scent of lotus. Turning in the doorway he frowned, more than a little puzzled that Raph could have missed something so obvious. Extending one hand he began to work the sai loose from the doorframe, the sap from the freshly cut lotus blossom it held in place snaking its way over his skin.

"Mikey!"

"In a minute ..." he replied impatiently to the call to arms.

Pulling the sai out of the wood, Mikey caught the flower with his other hand. Pulling a face at the sickly sweet scent he wiped his hand on the back of his shell before heading out again to the disapproving glares of his stationary brothers. "Found it in the door ..." he explained holding up the weapon and flower with one hand. "Pretty freaky hey?"

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spootycup; Cool moves eh? Hmmmm .... I don't know ... cool moves involve hard work ...
BubblyShell22; Thank you for the compliment. What's the new cartoon like? We don't get it over here on normal (insert boring) TV in the UK. Don't worry about remembering Lotus properly, I sure as Hell don't!
pacphys; Hi again! I never was one for utilising my mother tongue appropriately. The worst part is that I'm an Eng Lit student ... damn ... . As for Raph ... you'll see .... things are due to get worse between those two before they get better ....
SassyBlondexoxo; Woo! And together we shall rule with peroxide and fudge!Someone else who believes Raph is incapable of apoligising! As for Lotus ... breaking into the Tower of London is so passe, her plans are getting a little messed up ... just a bit ... ever so slightly ....

Thank you all for reviewing ... hope I see you at the finishing line!
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