Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT, Bishop or any of the Mirage characters. Peter Laird is rich. I am not. That should be proof enough. I do own the turtle child and his family.

Jade

Chapter 1: The Kid

His vision came back slowly, with dark blurry edges tinting it. The first thing that he noticed was how his head hurt. He almost moved his hand to it but something told him not to. Where was he? "Bishop."

The voice startled him and for the first time he noticed that he was moving. Finally his vision cleared and he realized he was in a gunnysack of some kind. Slowly he moved his fingers to the edges and parted it, acutely aware of the strange voices all around him. Masculine, must be male. But who, and why?

He made a tiny hole in the opening of the sack and saw that he was also in a small wire cage. What in the world…

He involuntarily shrank back into the sack as a dark shadow passed over him and was gone. It was then he noticed the people. Humans. He'd seen humans before but never from this close up. Were they why he was here? Suddenly the thing they were in rolled to the left. He swallowed a cry as his cage slid across the floor to be stopped by some tethering. One of the humans gave an angry shout.

"How did you not foresee this!" One growled vehemently. He was tall in a trench coat-like suit with black hair and glasses. He looked familiar somehow…

"I don't know Agent Bishop! The storm seemed to have popped up out of nowhere. I've lost contact with the other choppers…"

"What!" Bishop interrupted. His hands clenched as his arms tensed. "Those choppers were searching for the other mutant creatures. They have to find them!"

Suddenly the child remembered. Mother! He immediately hunched down, his mind racing. He played the scene that he last saw, his Mother and family being attacked by these humans. Mother grabbed him and told him to run and hide until he went to get him, to be safe, that she loved him…tears stabbed his eyes. Taking a deep breath in he calmed himself down. He said the other choppers were searching for them right? That meant that they haven't been found. They were safe.

Which meant that he had to get out of here.

He sighed as he thought about his situation. Apparently he was on one of these chopper things that guy named Bishop was talking about. He remembered his Aunt telling him about them, that they fly like birds with wings on their heads.

The choppers floor reeled again, this time to the right then the left. The men cried out as they gripped something to prevent being tossed about. Bishop glanced at where he was, but seeing it still he turned his attention back to the situation at hand.

Slowly the child reached forward to study the lock on the cage. It was a simple deadbolt-type lock. Apparently they figured with a dozen armed goons a 6-year-old child wouldn't pose much of a problem.

He puffed up his chest importantly. Well, he might only be six years old, but he could do it. Mother said that even a child could do anything he put his mind to. The chopper retched again, momentarily dispelling his confidence boost. 'It sure must be wild out there, and I wonder how high up I am...

Huffing, he bit his tongue and reach forward. He wasn't a coward! The lock snagged and he saw that they wrapped some wire around as a safegaurd. He smiled to himself at the thought of such a useless...

Suddenly the chopper lurched again, more violently this time. It moved back and forth and the cage rattled as it was momentarily lifted off the metal floor. He clenched his teeth as his hands were jarred between the hard metal spokes of the cage. He had to look for Mother!
A few more twists, there! The wire was gone. He turned the deadbolt lock and pulled it and was greeted by the squeal of slightly eroded metal grinding against each other. The noise should've gone unnoticed in the calamity of the storm. Should've is the key word here.

Bishop's head whirled around and his eyes widened as he saw a small, green, three-fingered hand opening the cage door.

"What! No! Who put him in that cage like that! He shouldn't be awake!"

Immediately he leaped with surprising speed for such a tall human. Somehow the child pushed aside his shock and scrambled out just as Bishop slammed the cage door shut, catching only his toe. Automatically he yanked his foot out, his eyes watering with the pain of the skin he just left behind. This human was too good, he'd never get out! Wait, how would he get out!

Normally Bishop would have made short work of the turtle tot, but the confined spaces of the chopper was an element he hadn't fought in. The child, just topping two feet tall, dashed under the consoles, bumbing into legs and stepping on the feet of all the people manning it. A loud chorous of yells followed him followed by louder yells as Bishop ruthlessly yanked them aside to reach his quarry.

His heart pounded hard in his chest, as he ran. He never knew such terror. He reached a corner and huddled there for a second, too terrified to move. A pair of human legs and feet squashed him against the wall. Suddenly they were gone and Bishop's sneering face appeared in view. The child simply stared back at him, all bravado gone as he looked at what he was sure was pure evil.

But all of Bishop's yanking had an effect. The men Bishop had yanked aside lunged for their controls once more but it was too late. The chopper not only retched, but rolled.

The child screamed as he was tossed around with everyone and everything.The air was full of rainwater, screams and bodies. Some of the men somehow managed to grab the controls and wrestle furiously with them, managing to steady the chopper momentarily.

He slammedhis shell into one of the walls as thehelicopterrighted itself. Then a light whoosh sound resounded behind him and for a split second he had that sickening sense in his stomach like his heart stopped. There wasn't a wall behind him anymore. He had slammed against the door.

Suddenly he could see the chopper in plain view. It was huge. It's shiny black finish glistened in the rain and was temporarily brightened by the lightning flashing in the sky. Then it was a bit smaller. Bishop leaned out the door and shouted something he couldn't discern as he fell.

Would he die now? He remembered all the stories his family told him, in some of them someone had died. He always wondered exactly what that meant.

His train of thought was lost as he crashed into the rocking ocean. A tremendous wave burrowed him deeper and for a moment panic gripped his throat as his body demanded air. Kicking his little legs the turtle tot managed to thrash to the surface. A spotlight swept over him and he instinctively dove under again, only to be bowled over by another wave. After he regained the surface once more he managed to see the big black helicopter rocking in the wind shining a spotlight over the sea about a hundred feet away from him. That was some wave!

In the other direction was somthing he'd imagined only in his mind. A vast area was covered with shapes; buildings of some sort that reached high in the air and stood straight and proud despite the raging storm. Even through the winds and the rain he could see the glitter of all the lights as they defied mother nature. His image dissappeared as another wave crashed down on him.

But now he had a direction he could go; and he might only be six, but he was tough. He was determined to reach that place and find a way to locate his Mother and family.

"Will you look at that?" Donatello commented as he looked at the news on the TV. "That storm's so angry it looks like its night when it's noon!" On the television screen a flurried reporter clutched her raincap as her hair whipped in her face and her raincoat looked like it was about to fly off. Here eyes were squinting from the rain as she looked into the camera and described the 'worst storm of the year.'

Michelangelo chuckled. "Worst storm of the year my foot. Let's talk about when the Shredder came back. Now THAT was a bad storm. Wouldn't you agree leo?" He grinned and lolled his head on the couch to get a better look at his brother.

Leo sighed and continued to polish his swords without comment. Getting jumped by the Shredder's foot ninja didn't bring back the happiest memories.

A loud snore penetrated the air and all three turtles looked toward one of the upper rooms. Raphael had been the only one of them who had slept through the storm and was advertising the fact loudly.

"Nya hahaha!" Mikey chuckled. "hey Don, do you have a recorder or somthin'? I want to get proof of Raphy's snoring!"

Donny made a face at him and flipped to a different channel.

Mikey looked at him. "Aw, c'mon Don! The history of soap! There's gotta be something better!"

Don held a finger up at him. "Actually I think that this will prove to be highly educational. Think about it, how did we ever get the chemical properties right to produce an agent capable of cleaning without...Hey!"

"Yoink!" Mikey snatched the remote and flipped over the back of the couch out of the way of his brother's protesting hands. He pranced slowly away, kicking his knees high as he held the remote aloft as though it were a trophy. "Tsk tsk my brother! You should know better than to mess with the Battle Nexus Champion!"

Donny grinned. "Come here you little stinker!" He leapt at Mike.

As the collided the remote flew out of their hands. Don had Mikey pinned. "Hey wait, wait! Where'd it go! I can't live without my precious remote!" Mike struggled.

Suddenly they heard a thunk and and a very grouchy "OW"

Mikey smiled. "Aw, looks like I woke up poor wittle waphy!" Don rolled off him and walked away quietly.

"I see you Don!" Rapheal growled and Mikey chuckled.

Donny grinned up at him. "Who, me?" Raph growled again and gathered himself, readying to pounce.

"Guys, stop fooling around and look at this!" Leo ordered.

The tone of his voice perked all their heads up and they approached the couch. Raph managed to get a good smack to Mikey before he noticed. "OW!" he whinned. He was about to protest further when Leo glared at him, stopping all train of thought. Without a word he pointed to the TV screen. The poor windswept reporter was still commenting about the storm. Mikey, rubbing a sore head, groaned. "C'mon, what's the big deal?"

"Look." was all Leo said.

There in the corner, where shadows crossing an alleyway made the dark day darker, they saw a movement. Something was there. "What is it?" Donny whispered. Peering closer to the TV.

Leo shook his head. "Can't say for sure, but I know a few things." All of them looked at him expectantly and he sighed. "One; I briefly saw what appeared to be a shell, and two; it definetly isn'tan ordinaryturtle."

"You mean..."

"Yeah, I think so."

Looking at the screen, where the figure was now out of site, they all knew what they had to do. What they didn't know was where it would leave them.