Well, I'm back again, as promised!

And I'd just like to take this opportunity to say: Happy International Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Day!

Boy, is that a mouthful. Anyways, a group of us on the Stealthy Stories forum decided to make the fifth of May the above mentioned day, since that was the day the first TMNT comic was put out.

But back to the story. So you know; the last part of this chapter will be around the exact same time period, but from each one of the guys' point of view. They're each in a different place.

Everyone clear on that? Then let's get started!

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: Forty years from now, I'd like to think that I had ownership of the TMNT. However, that's wishful thinking; I'm pretty sure I won't. But, if you're around then, be sure to stop by Pi90katana's fish market, 'cause that might be the highest up the food chain I go!

&&&&&

New York City. November 26, 2306 AD. 6:52 AM.

For the past fifteen minutes, Leonardo had been awake. During that time, however, he had chosen to lie in bed, eyes closed, in hopes of determining a few answers to their predicament.

He was unable to find any that they hadn't thought of already.

Sighing softly, Leo sat up on his bed, finding Raph in a flash of blue light, who was sitting on a stool and glaring out the window, apparently not happy with what he saw.

Then again, it wasn't very often when his red-clad brother was happy with what he saw.

Without looking at Leo, Raphael spoke to him. "This place is messed up."

Nodding, the eldest of the two stood up, ignoring the constant shade of blue that lit up the room. "I know. Something about this mansion doesn't sit well with me."

Raph turned to him. "Somethin' is kinda fishy about it, but I wasn't talkin' about here." He went back to the window, raising his hand to indicate it. "Look; the sky hasn't changed at all."

Frowning, Leo walked around Donny's bed, over to where Raph was sitting, and examined the sky. True enough, it remained the same tone of gray as it had been when they'd arrived.

Cocking his head, Raph leaned back a little. "Think they're havin' a rainy season, or somethin'?"

Leo's eyes slowly drifted to the ground. "So why isn't anything wet?"

As nice as it would've been to simply dismiss the strange sky, the fact remained that everything he could see, and everything he'd noticed on their way here, was as dry as a bone. They'd seen no living foliage; in many places, the surface of the earth had cracked open.

It just didn't seem right.

At seven, they woke up Mike and Don. Still a little drowsy, they took the stools at the table, since Raph had been surprisingly kind enough to return his to the table and let Donny have it, choosing to stand, as Leo was.

The purple-clad turtle started the conversation. "Did any of you see something in here last night?"

Leo shook his head before looking to Mikey. He had told his little brother about the eyes when he's woken him up. The turtle hadn't seen it either; Raph had the same story.

Just as they were about to go into depth with their discussion, there was a knock on the door. Cautiously, Leo walked over to it and cracked it open, eventually fully parting it when he saw it was only Ella.

She bowed her head once his brothers came into her view, having gotten up to see who it was. "Mast'r Callis 'nv'tes ya to br'k'fst. Will ya be comin', or do ya need time to pr'pare?"

Wanting to speak to his brothers before they had any more dealings with Nigel Callis, Leo informed her, "Thanks. Tell him we'll be down in ten minutes."

Ella bowed again. "I'll do so."

Closing the door, Leo leaned against it, turning back to his brothers. "Remember, don't give him any information that could possibly be used against us."

Mikey laughed. "Dude, I know we gotta be careful, but you're making this sound like a spy movie!"

Rolling his eyes, Leo walked back over to the window. "We just need to be careful. Things are complicated enough already; we don't need them getting worse."

&&&&&

Callis was sitting at the table when they arrived. Upon seeing them, he smiled widely, standing to greet them. "Mornin'! I tr'st ya slept well?"

Mikey nodded, taking his seat at the table. Besides having to wake up at three in the morning, he'd slept great. However, from the looks of it, Donny hadn't. However, the brainier turtle didn't give any answer to Callis' question, though the old man didn't seem to have noticed.

Once they were all seated, a man with coal black hair and pale skin came into the room. He was introduced as 'Eth'n', or, what Mikey presumed, Ethan. The man looked to be in his mid-thirties, certainly the youngest person they'd seen here so far, but did not say a word as he placed the five plates on the table.

The orange-banded turtle was quite disappointed. This meal was rather meager, if you could even call it that. Consisting of a piece of toast the size of the floppy disks Don was always using, no condiments included, and one piece of burnt bacon, it made a breakfast bar look filling.

Leo, who was sitting to his right and opposite from Callis, shot him a look that said 'Be respectful, or else'. If he hadn't, Mikey probably would've complained.

Fortunately, he didn't need to. Callis, who had been watching them, raised an eyebrow curiously. "Is somethin' wrong?"

Well, he had asked. "Um," he began, "it's just we're used to a little bit more food."

"Ah," Callis said, nodding; "I 'member readin' 'bout t'ose days as a boy, b'fore the 'vasion. There was 'nuf food for everyone." He said sadly.

'Vasion? Mikey thought. Does he mean invasion?

Raph seemed to have the same thoughts. "What kind of 'invasion' are ya talkin' about?"

Callis raised his head. "Ah, yes. The 'vasion. I fo'got ya don't know. Well," he began, taking a nibble out of his bacon; "it began in twenty-two-oh-one…"

&&&&&

Unable to subdue the need to go into his analytical mode, Donny leaned forward while listening to Callis' story, head resting in one hand with his elbow supporting him as he did so.

Tilting his head towards the ceiling, Callis began his story. "The year, from what my own dad told me, had been a good one. There was food 'n shelter, most of the w'rld was at peace." He looked sad. "And then, the Ardors came."

Raph frowned. "What the heck's an Ardor?"

"They're a'iens." Callis explained. "Very small ones. At f'rst, they went unnot'ced, hidin' among the rest of the pop'lati'n."

Here, Donny had to put in a question of his own. "How did they do that? I mean, were they able to blend in; are they humanoid?"

Staring at him, it took several seconds for Callis to answer. "I wasn't ev'n born yet. But my dad tol' me that they were hidin' in barns and bas'men's and weren't found 'til the Judgement Day, as it's called."

Judgement Day. You could hear the capital letters. It sure didn't sound good.

Callis only proved that feeling with the rest of the story. "First, odd t'ings happened. 'Lectricity was lost on a g'obal scale; c'mmunications and t'ansportation were impossible; we've nev'r been able to retr've 'em."

That explains the Shell Cells. Donny thought.

"And they p'luted the atm'sphere just 'bove earth with some sort of chemical that, to this day, leaves us with little vis'bil'ty."

And there's our answer to how strange the sky looks here.

Going on, Callis got to the meat of the story. "And then, all at once, they were out in the open, killin' nea'ly everyone in han'-to-han' combat. They are a vicious race." He tapped his fingers on the table. Fingers quivering a little bit, from what Don presumed was arthritis, he picked up the toast and took a tiny bite, apparently not liking it much, from the look on his face. Putting it back on his plate, he continued. "T'ose who lived had to go into hidin', people like my paren's. Today, very few of us are lef'."

Leo, who also seemed intrigued by this story, kept his gaze on Callis. "So, did they just up and leave one day?"

"No, no." the old man clarified. "The lot of 'em, though, stole nea'ly all of earth's r'sources when they went." He gestured to the plates. "That's why we haf so little to offer ya. There's only so much lef'. Anyway, some are still here, very few, mind ya, but they 'main. They stay to keep us in check- and to sati'fy their need to kill."

Having practically inhaled his food, Mikey now looked out the window cautiously. "Wait, if these Ardor guys are still around, how do you know they won't come here to get you?" Obviously, he, like the rest of them, were a little unnerved by this comment.

Grinning slightly, Callis raised his hands around him. Don didn't know what he meant until he spoke. "The light." He said. "When the Ardors came, it was 'ventually di'covered that their weakness was the light, that's why they took out our 'lectricity. My dad, who was, for a time, part of a 'sistance group, many of which are still 'round today; he and some ot'ers found these small, glowin' objects that pr'duced light biol'gically. The Ardors hate it."

Glancing at the walls, Donny's attempts to locate the source of this biological light were still ineffective. He would have liked to examine it very much if he were able to. "Have you run into any more survivors?" He asked.

Shaking his head, Callis sighed. "Very few. 'Casion'ly, some who're travelin' to ot'er areas stop for the nigh', but it's been a while."

Don tapped his fingers gently against the table and finished his meal, debating this subject over in his head. If this light kept the Ardors away, you would think that more people would be doing all they could to get in here.

Silently, he watched as the three servants came in and out of the room; Ethan to clear the dishes, Ella to offer drinks, and Carl to bring some medication for Callis' arthritis, as Don had figured the cause of the shaking to be.

Maybe, he suddenly thought as he watched them, someone's keeping them away…

&&&&&

After breakfast, which left Raph's stomach growling, they headed back to their room while Callis retired to his own; his medication, and his age, made him drowsy.

When they entered their room, Raph's attention was immediately drawn to that stupid window. The gray sky remained the same, only now Raph knew why.

When you lived in the sewers, that little glimpse of blue was like a miner's of gold or jewels. It was a treasure. And he hated that it had been taken away from the world.

Mikey plopped down on a bed, not caring that it was Don's and not his. "Man… If we can get back home, do you think there's any way we can stop this from happening?"

Don shrugged sadly. "I'm not sure, Mikey. I mean, how much can we honestly do to prevent an alien force from attacking the planet ninety-five years into our future? Most likely, we were already dead when this happened."

Raph punched a wall. "Yeah, but there must be somethin' we can do! Like warn people somehow, or-"

Cutting him off, Leo brought a very important fact to the table. "Hold on, guys. Before we can even discuss this, we need to find a way to get back home. There's nothing we can do here."

That was very true. But it didn't make Raph very happy. Growling he walked over to the bathroom and slammed the door, opening it just a little ways when that nasty smell invaded his nose. However, it was nicely sound proof; the red-clad turtle probably would've been unable to hear anything if he hadn't had the door open.

They remained in their room for a little over an hour, Don thinking of this new information, he was sure, while Mike tried to entertain himself. Leo, who'd been staring out the window, pondering over God knows what, eventually kicked Raph out of the bathroom so he could use it.

Coming out, slightly happy to inhale some pleasanter air, Raph sat around for a grand total of two minutes. "I'm goin' to look around. I wanna see if there's any more answers around here."

"Raph," Don started, rising to his feet; "maybe you should wait for Callis. I'm sure he'll answer any of our questions-"

"Yeah, but I don't feel like waiting, okay?" Raph said. He nodded his goodbye and left the room.

In the hallway, he turned to his right, in a direction he had yet to explore, since Carl had led them here last night from the left and the dining room was in that way as well.

One of the first things he'd discovered was a huge library. Some of the books he recognized; stuff like The Three Musketeers, Moby Dick, Treasure Island, and other classics. However, there were several he'd never heard of. Shrugging it off, he figured they had been published after his time.

The next two rooms were empty, unsurprisingly. He'd heard of mansions that had places unknown to even the owners. No one really needs so much space anyways.

He found another bathroom that stank, like the other two he'd seen. Wrinkling his beak in disgust, he left the room, wondering which of Callis' staff was in charge of cleaning these bathrooms, since they obviously weren't doing a very good job. Then again, if this place had a whole bunch of them, it'd be a difficult task.

The last room Raph explored was the most striking. It was a weight room- a well used weight room. Frowning, he figured that that Ethan guy was the one who probably used it. Maybe Carl did as well, he looked rather fit.

It had been nearly an hour and a half since Raph had begun his search. Sighing, he figured that he should probably head back to his room now, though the thought of the dreaded, and for sure awaiting, lecture from his older brother did not sound appealing.

Had he been younger, he would've been rather worried by his surroundings. This mansion was so big, you'd need to borrow the breadcrumbs from Hansel and Gretel to find your way through it.

Luckily, however, one of Master Splinter's first lessons had been to always be aware of your surroundings. After a little thinking, Raph was on the right way back.

And then he heard a sound that reminded him of glass breaking.

Surprised, he turned around, but found nothing. He was about to continue going when he heard something like a soft bark. He turned back again, but still was unable to place something with the noise.

But then he started back to his room. Only now, in his path, was a hairy, black… creature. At first, it reminded him of a chimpanzee, but in the next second, the temperamental turtle knew it was anything but. Standing at three feet, it rested its clawed hands on its knees, though its feet were on the ground.

"What the-" Raph said, studying the thing, but cut himself off as another one just like it popped its head out from around the corner and joined it.

The first moved quickly, standing on all four feet.

&&&&&

Less than two minutes after Raphael had left, Michelangelo, victim of boredom and curiosity, decided to go out of their little room as well. Some exploring sounded fun.

Frowning at his younger brother's decision, Don shook his head. "Mikey, I don't think that's the best idea. We should wait at least until Raph-"

"C'mon, Donny." Mike interrupted him, grinning. "Think of all the cool stuff they gotta have in here! Like computers and… rooms with lots of cool stuff!"

Rolling his eyes, his purple-clad brother folded his arms. "If their computers work as well as that TV over there," he said, pointing to the useless box; "then I think I'll sit out on this one. And I really think you should too. I mean, it's bad enough that Raph's gone; Leo's gonna throw a fit, but I think that both of you will be worse off if you go."

But that stupid door, or rather, the mysteries it held outside of it, was calling to him. Not paying much mind to Don's words, he smiled back at him, waving as he headed towards the door. "Okay, be back in a few!"

Turning left, the young ninja headed deeper into the mansion, through various hallways, searching for anything of interest. He was fairly disappointed; mostly they were empty rooms.

One room, however, caught his eye, out of peculiarity, mostly. All that was within was a lone dresser, nothing sitting a top of it.

Feeling a little too nosy, Mike could nevertheless resist searching through its drawers.

What he found was surprising.

There were clothes. Now, that wasn't the odd thing; it was the type. Sure, he'd yet to see these styles, but the sizes and sort were the same as three hundred years ago.

Clothes for men, clothes for women; clothes for adults, clothes for children; baby outfits, uniforms, knitted granny sweaters, and animal apparel.

Confused, Mikey finished and stepped back, unable to find a theme for this wardrobe. Maybe someone has a collection or something…

As he was turning to leave, figuring that he'd spent enough time between this room and the others, he suddenly noticed a closet. Unable to keep himself from it, the orange-banded turtle opened it.

It was even stranger here. The closet was full of shelves, which held various items. Books, that for him, had yet to be thought of, belts, shoes of all sizes, children's toys and stuffed animals, jewelry, and even a condom.

Towards the center of this collection sat a rather cute teddy bear. Grabbing it, he turned it over gently in his hands, feeling the soft, brown fur of the toy. Judging by the red and yellow finger paint on its ears and head, it had been used and loved by a very young child.

Placing it back on the shelf, Mikey closed the closet doors and started out of the room. No sooner had he taken one step out of it did he run into what he first assumed was a household dog.

Only, after he'd actually gotten a look at it, did he realize that it was no dog.

The creature stared at him with harsh, green eyes, its black hair bristling. Its face was fairly smooth, like a monkey's, but this was not something anyone would dare put in a zoo, for fear of what might happen to the visitors, as well as the other animals.

Yes, hate radiated from this thing, sending cold fear into Mike's body. As its teeth came into view, yellowish and sharp, like a wolf's, he realized the mistake he'd made.

He had forgotten the Ever-Obvious Rules of Horror Movies One-Oh-One, starting with never wander amidst a strange mansion alone.

&&&&&

Tapping his two fingers on the table, Donny's eyes shifted back and forth from the bathroom door to the exit of the room.

He really didn't want to have to be the one to tell Leo that Raph and Mikey had gone to search the Callis' home alone.

Frowning, Don stood. They hadn't been gone for long; Mikey had left only four minutes ago and Raph not too long before him. Maybe he could go track them down and bring them back here.

Before Leo gets out of the bathroom? Yeah, good luck with that.

Despite this, Don decided to take his chances and left the room. Figuring that his two brothers would probably choose the uncharted territory of the mansion, he turned right.

Quickly, the brainier turtle realized just how difficult of a task he'd undertaken. There were one to many hallways here; no way could he find Raph and Mikey as fast as he would've liked.

Sighing, he kept on going, hoping that he might get lucky and find one of them before too long.

Sticking to as straight of a path as he could manage, the purple-banded ninja began opening doors to rooms, searching for one of his siblings.

At the beginning, there was nothing too questionable. Many of the rooms were vacant, as he expected several rooms in mansions as big as these to be. It was nearly impossible to collect so many things that you filled every nook and cranny of the large home.

However, the further he got, the more occupied the rooms became. There would be little things, like beds and desks in some places. No other accessories or accommodations, like in their room.

And then he came to a very… strange looking one. Reeking of an awful smell, like many of the ones before it, it was empty. But the walls…

Every wall in here was scored, like a cat's scratching board. Wallpaper, if that's what it was, was shredded; the wood beyond it was in pieces. In many places, there were huge dents in the walls, like a car had hit them. Not even the floor, its carpet in ruins, nor the ceiling was spared.

But the worse thing about it, Don found, upon closer inspection, was the scratches themselves. Within the marks was a dried, red substance, purple when the light flashed.

Suddenly, he froze. It smelled like blood.

Preparing to leave at once, locating his brothers in a mad frenzy and alerting them of this, he was stopped in his tracks.

Cursing himself for letting his guard down, as a scientist might, but never a ninja could afford to do, he took a step back. Before coming in, he should've examined the entire room, corners and all. Still, he was unsure how he hadn't seen it.

A horrible beast stood before Donatello, growling fiercely and digging its claws that reminded him all too well of the prehistoric velociraptor into the floor. Granted, it was a good two feet shorter than him, but then again, so were many dogs that had been known to kill.

It almost seemed to smile as it came closer to him.

&&&&&&

Leo walked out of the bathroom knowing that something was wrong. Call it a big brother/leader intuition; he knew it to be true.

The smell of that bathroom was nauseating. Oddly enough, it seemed to be coming from the tub, rather than the toilet. But he found nothing too out of the ordinary about the tub. Its color, though it had most likely once been white, was more of a light sunrise shade now, through use, like any other bathtub.

Annoyed by how soundproof the bathroom was, and accompanied by that feeling that his brothers would no longer be on the other side of the door, Leo left the room with a feeling of dread in his stomach, wiping out the feeling of however little full it had been after breakfast completely.

And sure enough, the moment he was out, he knew he was right. All three of his brothers were missing, gone without even saying a word. Then again, he shouldn't have been surprised. It was nothing personal, after all. They did this to him, as well as Master Splinter, sometimes himself included, on a regular basis.

Suddenly realizing why their Sensei had so many gray hairs, Leo growled and left the room himself, wishing that, when he found them, he could drag them all the way back by their ears, if only their ears were visible.

Moving smoothly through the hallways, bathed in more blue than usual, he was sure that he'd gone, at least, in one direction his siblings had taken. Leo checked every room that came in his path, briefly, but thoroughly, scanning each one without entering and resisting the urge to do so as the contents of each one became weirder.

He must've been searching for an hour or so when he heard a crash, like breaking glass. Wondering if a window had been broken, he turned around, drawing one of his katanas.

Apprehensive, the blue-clad turtle took a cautious step forward before leaping back. And it was a good thing that he had too, for the second he did, in his place landed an animal, on its feet like a cat. But this was something he by no means would dare pet.

As it slowly straightened its legs, claws tapping against the floor, another one dropped down beside it. Not daring to see if there were any more of these things hanging above him, Leo kept his senses on high alert, listening for any movement above him, as he kept his eyes on these two demonic creatures in front of him.

Watching one lick its lips, he took on a more defensive posture, trying his best to prepare himself for anything. Slowly unsheathing his second katana, Leo took another step back before standing his ground at a safe enough distance, waiting to see what these things would do so he could plan his next move.

Teeth bared, they leapt.

&&&&&

And so the hunt begins. WAHAHAHA! (blinks before running away) Ah! Don't kill me!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Please tell me! And also, if you believe I should put this under a sci-fi genre instead of action/adventure, feel free to tell me so!

Also, if you're confused as to where the guys are, I've made a layout of this part of the mansion that I shall post on my area of Stealthy Stories as soon as I can.

Have a nice day!