Everybody enjoy meeting Y'Gythgba last chapter?

Well, here's what happened with the rest of the crew while she and Raph were getting acquainted!

March 2, 2013

Donnie pointed between the two mutants, his other hand ever entwined with April's. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah, bro!" Mikey pivoted so his arm was still entwined around Leatherhead's arm while turning to face his brother. "We met on the Hidden City social media site, The Yokai Yelper. We've been talking for a couple months now. This dude's story with the Kraang is SUPS messed up. But he kicked their butts in the end!" He playfully poked his friend in the side. The massive mutant chuckled.

"Okay, now I GOTTA hear this story," Leo crossed his arms.

Karai shuffled back to lean against Leo. "I don't remember if I've even heard everything."

Leatherhead sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It is not quite as back and white as Michaelangelo makes it out to be. I began life as a normal alligator, raised by a kind human boy. He was a sweet child who was mindful of all living creatures. Unfortunately, he had kept me a secret; when his parents found me, they decided to flush me down into the sewers instead of contacting an exotic pet rescue.

"I wandered in those sewers for many days before I was picked up by the Kraang. Little did I know that I was not being brought to a warm new home, but to a place of horrors - Dimension X.

"The Kraang performed unspeakable experiments on me. Years passed… but through it all… they never broke my spirits. In fact, they unknowingly bestowed upon me several gifts. I gained a moderate level of intelligence along with my natural alligator abilities being heightened. One day, I escaped Dimension X through a portal. I once again lived in the sewers of New York for several years.

"The Kraang managed to capture me again little more than a year and a half ago. I witnessed first hand the evils Shredder and the Kraang imposed on their so-called volunteers. I escaped their clutches during a power outage along with Stockman, Vic, and another mutant named… Todd." Leatherhead grunted. "He was quite the strange fellow. Somehow, even in captivity, he always had a fresh batch of lemonade…"

"Wow!" April placed a hand on Leatherhead's arm. "That's -"

"April, wait!" Mikey reached a hand out to stop her. "Leatherhead's got a thing about being…"

Leatherhead's third eyelid slid into place as he roared.

"...touched without permission…" Mikey whimpered.

Donnie pulled April behind him as the alligator lunged for the girl. He grabbed Donnie instead - by the face.

"HE'S GOT ME BY THE FACE, MIKEY!" The purple-clad turtle screeched as he was shaken about like a rag doll. "DO SOMETHING!"

"Leatherhead!" Mikey leapt atop the mutant, poking at pressure points. The alligator's body began to still, though his head still thrashed about. His grip on Donnie slackened. Mikey then moved to massage his feet. "Woah buddy! Cleansing breaths! Cleansing breaths…"

Donnie gasped for air as he wrenched Leatherhead's massive away from his face. "What. Was. That?"

Mikey continued massaging the gator's feet as he slowly came back to his senses. "Leatherhead's told me that he has some trauma from everything the Kraang did to him. He kinda goes into feral mode if he's touched by people he doesn't know or without permission. I was even pushing it when I rushed him for a hug earlier. We've video chatted a few times, so he had at least seen my face before."

"Michaelangelo?"

"Hey there, buddy. Feeling better?"

The massive mutant slowly righted himself, Mikey helping him to his feet. "I am." He turned to Donnie who still stood in front of April. "I apologize for my outburst."

April maneuvered around her boyfriend, eyes downcast. "There's no need to apologize, Leatherhead. I'm sorry I touched you without your permission. With my psychic abilities, I could feel how anxious you were becoming telling us your story. I was hoping I could help you relax. Turns out, I just made everything worse."

Stockman twitched and buzzed. "It's sssomething we've all had to learn in time. He'ss a real sssweatheart once you get to know him."

"Aww. I leave for two minutes and everybody's holding hands?" All eyes turned to the large spider mutant as he returned to the group.

April frowned. She thought she had seen the spider talking to Raph a moment ago. But now Raph was nowhere to be found. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, trying to feel for Raph's. The girl didn't want to pester him by texting him and asking where he was. She just wanted to make sure he was alright.

She was jolted from her search by a vibration from her pocket.

R: You can stop trying to poke a hole in my brain. I'm alive.

R: Just…

R: Just needed a minute

April sighed, happy to know that he was okay. She typed out her response.

A: Did we say or do something to drive you off? I thought we (u & me) were doing better?

It took another moment before her phone buzzed again.

R: It wasn't you, Red. It was one of K's new misfits, that spider guy (I call him Spiderbytes now) He said somethings - untrue things - that I let get under my shell.

R: My anger got the better of me… again… so I removed myself so I can calm down.

R: I'll be back for the rally this afternoon.

April looked up from her phone to briefly glare at the newly dubbed Spiderbytes. She'd deal with him later.

A: …okay. We'll miss u (heart emoji)

She was about to put her phone back in her pocket before she got an idea.

A: Raph?

R: what?

A: Always here for u, Bro.

It had been a while since April and Raph had had time to perform their own sparring or cool down sessions, nor had they used their own meaningful phrase in some time. With April feeling her brother slowly drifting away, she thought it was an appropriate time to bring it back.

R: Always here for you, Sis.

R: Seriously, we're good. I'm just feeling funky right now.

R: Love ya, Red

A: Love u too, u big doofus (silly emoji) be careful and have fun! text me when ur on ur way back.

April shoved her phone back in her pocket before shoving her finger into Spiderbytes' face. "YOU. You and I are going to have words later, got it Spiderbytes?"

"I haven't even spoken to you, girlie." He swatted her hand away. "What's got your panties in a twist?"

Donnie growled at the way the mutant was talking to his girlfriend, but April nudged him with her mind. She could handle this himself.

"One - is that anyway for a GROWN MAN to talk to a teenage girl? Two- You might not have spoken to me, but apparently you spoke to my brother, Raph. You're lucky that he's been working on his anger management; otherwise, we would be wiping you off the sidewalk with a paper towel!"

Leo noticed April subtly grasp her crystal as well as the bright glow seeping into her eyes. He cleared his throat before April did anything she would regret.

"HEY!" Leo's voice cracked slightly. "Stockman, tell us more about how you and Karai know each other."

Spiderbytes glared at the rest of the mutants. "Eh… I better scram. I've heard his backstory and I wanna get a good seat for the rally and all. You bunch have fun talking." He clacked his elongated mandibles before turning to leave for City Hall.

"Good riddance," Donnie muttered under his breath.

"Cut him some slack, guys." Karai whispered, looking over her shoulder at the retreating mutant. "He shouldn't have spoken to you like that, April, and I'm sure he said something to rile up Raph… but he's also been through a lot in the past year. Kidnapped, mutated, possibly torchered, and no way to go back to his old life?" The girl shook her head. "Hurt people hurt people. Speaking of hurt people…" She turned to Stockman. "Wanna share with them what my former father did to you?"

Stockman blinked his many eyes. "It'sss kind of like you sssaid. I worked my way up from rookie engineer to Ssshredder'sss head ssscientissst. I tended to focusss on biomechanical engineering while dabbling in mechanicsss and sssuch. After Karai essscaped, I thought about getting out myssself. I… became sloppy and made one missstake too many. Ssshredder dessscided that my contributionsss were better ssserved as a forccced volunteer for the Kraang'sss mutagen exxxperiemtsss." The fly mutant's wings dropped as he buzzed sadly.

Kariai squeezed his shoulder. "And now you're out from under his thumb helping us take him down. The information you were able to give Big Mama will do a lot of good. It's a bit more up to date than what I had when I left."

April knew that the others kept talking, but she could no longer hear them. Her vision was turning black and it felt like a trance, yet she remained on her feet.

"Looks like she's made herself indispensable."

Alone with only her thoughts, April knew that this voice was not her own. "Who are you?"

"I'm a friend. More of a friend that Karai is currently."

April kept her guard up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" The voice scoffed. "She's sticking up for mutants who have either willingly worked for the Shredder or will go after your family - HER family."

"No." April shook her head mentally. "They've both gone through their own kinds of trauma, like what Karai's gone through, what I've gone through. And she's allowed to have other people in her life besides us."

"If you say so, my dear. I would advise keeping an eye on her and her new 'friends', though. Who knows where their loyalties ultimately lie."

"April?"

April felt something squeeze her hand. Blinking, she saw Donnie's concerned eyes looking her over. "Hm?"

"You okay? You… zoned out while we were all talking. I kept you upright, but…" He swallowed. "It's been almost an hour. It's about time for the rally."

Shocked, she twisted her wrist to get a good look at her watch. "Seriously?"

"Was it a vision? A memory? I don't think I've ever seen you out like that."

"I-I don't know either." April remembered little pieces of what happened in her… she didn't even know what to call it! She glanced at Karai and the other mutants as they laughed at something Mikey said. It scared her that while her conversation with the strange voice seemed to only last mere moments, she lost almost an hour of her life. But did the voice have a point?

She shook her head as her phone buzzed once more.

R: Hey. Stopping by a place to maybe pick up some medicine for Spike before heading back to the rally

April showed the message to Donnie. "Looks like Raph's on his way back.

"Hm," The boy tsked. "I wondered where he'd run off to. Hey, there's a new message." He pointed to the screen.

R: Also…

R: I think I just met my future wife…