He had to act now.

Raph swung one leg over the ledge, taking a deep breath as he counted any last prayers that his family was going to be alright. Even when he couldn't see the cage sinking further into the deep waters, he had to have faith. It was all he had. All he had except, well...

A hand went to his spiky shoulder, tugging him abruptly. "Raphael what the hell are you doing?" Lisa demanded, alarmed by his brash actions.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He said, his hands trembling from anxiety. "Saving my family. Raph's gonna dive down and-"

"I'll come with you," Lisa said instantly. "I'm a decent swimmer."

Raph pulled away. "No. I'll need someone to stay and help pull us back to the ship." He cringed as he saw how high up they were. He wasn't afraid of heights, and he could swim incredibly well due to him being a turtle but at the same time, it was scary to look at. "Leo can hold his breath for a few minutes and Donnie even longer but April..." He bit his lip. "I have to go."

"It's a far way to fall and it must be freezing," Lisa replied, a bit harsher to stop him from doing something completely insane. Which, from knowing him for the past day or two was entirely possible. "I won't stop you from doing this, but you could get hurt or-"

"I don't have a choice," He swung his other leg over, already preparing to jump off. Her hand wrapped around his forearm before finally leaving his side.

"Be careful," She whispered. "Promise me. We're in this together."

"I will. I promise Lisa. I'll need ya to lower that rope once we come to the surface by the way," he didn't hesitate any further than he already had and leapt off the gunwale in a quick motion. "Savin' the day like a boss!" With another deep breath, he felt a rush of adrenaline pick up as he plunged down deeper and deeper. He heard someone, Lisa most likely yell out his name in a muffled panic but he had no way of replying. Due to his size, he hit the water with a loud, painful splash, although the fall itself was long and endless.

The water was freezing the second he hit it. The initial splash caused him to choke, shiver and sputter. His heart raced from the shock, but he ignored it. Freezing to death was only a minor problem. If he saved his family, then it would be worth it. He dove head first with his back legs kicking frantically for momentum. The current whipped against his body, his lungs were already starting to burn from the failed belly flop acting like an electric shock chilling his bones. Bubbles swirled around him, which he pushed aside with every furious stroke.

The further he swam, the more he longed for Donnie's state of the art, glow in the dark swim goggles. At first, Raph had scoffed at such a bizarre invention, but now as he was swimming in the pitch black ocean with saltwater burning his eyes- he silently wished to be wearing some.

Deeper and deeper and deeper. Had the cage fallen to the bottom of the ocean? Was there any hope left? He was already starting to feel lightheaded from the lack of oxygen. He must have been swimming for a few minutes by now, although it felt like hours.

Shadowy outlines of the cage formed around his blurry vision, and he swam closer to reach and clasp his hands on the firm metal bars. He threw his knuckles at the lock and banged against it- though it hurt like hell. With his bleeding knuckles and a final scowl of determination, the door finally ripped open. Two lime green arms belonging to Leonardo wrapped around him tightly, and then climbed on his carapace, hanging there like a sloth. Donatello followed suit, this time carrying a nearly passed out April.

'Right...humans can't breathe underwater as long as we can.'

Pumping his arms, Raphael swam with all of the energy he had left inside him. They made it to the surface in a good amount of time, although they were all exhausted. All of them took several greedy gulps of air.

Leo was the first to make any noise, a raspy, agonized hiss. Curious to know what was ailing him, Raph treaded water to get a closer look.

There was a jagged scar plastered on his skin, right on his neck like a crude lightning bolt. The wound had opened into a clumsy mess of blood clots littering his already weakened body.

"M' fine. I'm..." Leo coughed up some water before leaning back on Raph's shoulder.

"Jeez Leo..." Raph mumbled, touching the smallest scar with his little finger and retracting it when Leo let out a whine of pain.

"S-Stop..." He said in a sharp tone."I said I'm fine."

"I'm gonna find out who hurt you and..." He raised one sai. "They'll be toast."

"The sterile saltwater must have opened the wound," Donnie noted.

"The blood could also attract sharks," April said. "Good thing I'm not on monthly right now," She leaned against Raph for extra support. Being human made her even more exhausted then the others.

"Let me check it out-" Donnie, who had yet to reconcile with their brother, made a gentle motion towards him.

"Just drop it!" He snapped, yanking their hand away before collapsing into another coughing fit.

Donnie raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Lisa, throw the rope!" Raph hollered above, much to the confusion of the others. Like the flowing braid of Rapunzel's golden hair, a long rope flew downwards and landed in the water. Eagerly, the snapping turtle grabbed a hold. "Everyone follows me. Leo, stay on my back, you hear?"

"I can climb myself," Leo muttered, but he did climb on Raph's bulky shell for security.

They climbed silently up the creaky ship, all exhausted from the initial fall, swimming to the surface in time, and the late hour. Hours earlier they had all been relaxing and enjoying their vacation. So much had happened since then.

It didn't feel real. This wasn't their dream vacation. This was a nightmare. But when would it ever end?

Occasionally as he climbed, he heard Leo's shaky, choked breaths or a squeaky cough beside him. It was pitiful to listen to, knowing for the time being- he was useless to help. Leo's weak body needed serious medical attention, but the problem was Leo was the medic of the family. No human could properly treat a mutant turtle, and Raph's knowledge was limited. Still, he knew he would do anything to make sure his brother was alright.

Then, as he reached the ledge, he felt a freckled hand grab ahold of him and help pull them up. When they all reached the top of the ship, they collectively stared at the little helper, "There ya go!" The familiar voice piped.

Fluttering above them, clad in Donnie's violet, robotic battle shell and carrying an abundance of weapons, was a tiny box turtle with a shit eating grin plastered on his face. His eyes were sparkling as though he was a little kid heading to Disney World for the first time. "Hiiiii!"

"Mikey?" Raph sputtered, still in shock. "You- wha-" He cradled his head. "I need a minute."

Mikey giggled. "Sorry I took so long buuuut," He landed swiftly on the ground, detaching the battle shell from his back and handing it to Donnie. "It took me forever to carry all this stuff," as Donnie put their battle shell on, he plopped their tech bō on the ground. "Swords for Leo," The red eared slider looked eager to be reunited with his precious katanas. "N' don't think I forgot about you, 'pril!" He marched towards April and handed her the repaired baseball bat.

"Thank goodness you're okay," Raph said, automatically giving his littlest brother a fond noogie. "An' we all got our weapons so it should be easy taking Filch down!"

"Raphael!" Lisa shimmeyed her way into the little group circle. "Was it a success? Everyone is alright?" She glanced expectantly at the others with a bright, hopeful smile.

April was the first to react, pointing her bat threateningly at the other girl. "What is /she/ doing here exactly?" She snarled.

Mikey backed away, inching towards Donnie anxiously.

"I know you guys had a bad first meeting with her, but she helped me get to you all," Raph explained gently. "This is-" He was cut off.

"We know who she is," Leo growled, approaching her with his swords drawn in a fighting stance. "Get back Raph, don't let her come close." His right katana blade was dangerously close to her throat.

"She's the girl who attacked us!" April said, backing Leo up.

"No, no you're misunderstanding everything!" Raph flapped his arms so quickly they became a green blur. "She was only helping Filch because he forced her to. She didn't want any part of it and now she's here to help."

"Do you actually believe that?" Leo scoffed. "She's obviously lying to you!"

"No she's not, she's already been helping us!" Raph argued, stepping in between them to protect Lisa from being injured. "You gave Draxum a second chance after he literally threw you off a roof!"

"That was different and you know it!"

"How is it different?"

"It just is!"

"Please," Lisa interjected quietly before the fight could escalate. "I know apologizing won't change the pain I caused, but I am here to stop Filch once and for all."

"She's my friend, Leon. She's one of us."

Mikey and Donnie both nodded in understanding, trusting their older brother's judgement. April looked reluctant, but she too nodded after a while.

Leo's expression only darkened as he clenched his fists. "She is not one of us."

"Leo-"

"She did this to me!" He roared, violently turned his head to reveal the horrible scar on his neck, now reddening from infection.

Raph took a step back, startled and confused. The scas seemed to look redder and uglier than before. Or perhaps it was the reflection of the moon glistening. "What?"

"She used her knife to attack me while I was protecting Donnie," Leo said with a fierce glare. "So you can probably understand why I'm not gonna trust her," His beady eyes turned back to Lisa. "If you think about hurting my family again, you better hope there's a doctor on this ship because I clobber you into-"

"Nardo!" Donnie pulled their brother back sharply.

"Lisa, is that true?" Raph uttered, casting a glance back at the salamander mutant, his hands shaking. This couldn't be happening. Not now.

She ducked her head in shame. Her silence spoke volume.

"No..." He whispered. "You...you said you didn't hurt them! You lied to me!"

"I- I didn't know-"

"I thought you were my friend," Raph shook his head. "I thought you were my friend! How could you do this?" He blinked back tears, the sudden betrayal stinging like the freezing ocean water still soaked to his skin. "You hurt my brother."

How could he have been so stupid, so naïve?

"Raphael, please let me explain," She reached for his hand, but he retracted it.

"No, no I don't want to hear your excuses," Raph said, refusing to look at her with her heartbroken doe eyes. It would only make everything worse. "S- Stay away from me and my family." He warned.

"Raph-"

He turned away so he wouldn't have to watch her run. He felt numb to the world even as his family surrounded him. "Is she gone?" He didn't bother to check. He knew she already was.

"Raph? You okay?" Mikey asked innocently.

"We're sorry about that whole thing..." Donnie looked apprehensive, but sympathetic.

"I'm not," Leo folded his arms. "Serves her right for messing with us."

"I don't think it was the right call," Donnie said pointedly at Leo. "We need all the allies we can get."

"Well of course you'd think that. You just want an excuse to argue with me," Leo spat back. "We did make the right call. That girl is bad news," He yelped and clutched his neck. "Shit..."

"Leo..." April murmured.

"Can I take a look at it?" Donnie moved towards their brother.

"Ugh, save it," He said snippily. "We need to stop Fishface pronto. He mentioned something about the sprinkler system connecting the mutagen, can you-"

"On it!" They started to tap away on their tech gauntlet. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Leo snorted, ignoring them. "Say fellas, how do you feel about a sneak attack while Donnie's hacking? Because if so, I've got an awesome plan."

Raph turned back to his siblings, nodded firmly. "Let's hear it."

Every bone and muscle in her body ached as she ran, faster than she had ever moved in her life. Everything was distorted, from the voices around her, to the ship around her swirling in a blurry mess from tears cascading down her cheeks.

Lisa boasted to her friends that she never cried. Not during sappy movies or even at her lola's funeral. She had been upset, yes, but stayed stone cold and stoic; and so no tears had fallen. Maybe it was her being numb at the time. Maybe she was secretly a robot as her little brother once teased.

But now, she was an emotional wreck. All because of a stupid guy.

No...not because of him. Because of what he represented. He was the sense of normalcy, compassion, and joy she so craved. Something she seldom ever had in a very long time.

Now he was gone.

She would make things right. He'd probably never forgive her. She couldn't exactly blame him. But she would make things right. For the sake of the humans aboard the ship. They would never suffer the same fate she and Raphael experienced.

Lisa's sobs turned into squeaky hiccups at last. She could catch her breath, then find a way, somehow to mess with the sprinkler system. Then she could-

She stopped in her tracks. Footsteps were approaching from behind, and she felt a sudden rush of hope, her heart doing somersaults. She turned, only to feel a wave of disappointment. It wasn't him. It was...

"Lisa..." Filch crooned in his disgustingly sleazy voice, causing her skin to crawl as he placed a slippery flipper to her shoulder blade. She felt so violated around him; that by only saying her awful name automatically made her want to take off running. But she couldn't. She couldn't escape him. "The plan is going simply wonderful my dear~" She fought the urge to throw up. "Splendid, actually. I disposed of those despicable mutants in the shark cage, and now all I need to do is make a public announcement-"

"To let them know the people on board are about to be mutated?"

"Precisely!" Filch cackled. "The sprinklers will go off in an hour." He checked his invisible watch. "Won't be long now, Lisa darling. Oh! But don't think I forgot about you," He presented the small bottle filled to the top with an orange liquid. "One retromutagen, tested and ready for Lisa Langstein."

She reached out for it, but he cackled once more and raised it over his head so she couldn't snatch it away. "Not yet, Lisa! I will reward you for all your help once the plan is complete. Tut tut, don't be so greedy," He slivered a hand to stroke her cheek.

Lisa scowled, loathing him even more for treating her like a dog being rewarded with a treat; "I don't understand. You have the cure right there to become human again, why aren't you taking it?"

"Good question," He lifted her chin mockingly. "Because I actually have power, I have control as a mutant! When I was a measly human, I had nothing. No love, no friends, no family..."

She bit the inside of her cheek. "You told me you loved teaching. You said you cared about me and all your students."

Filch smirked with his sharp teeth, tsking. "Once I have my mutant army, I will have everything." He patted her head condescendingly. "And who knows? Perhaps you will change your mind and stay by my side. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Lisa forced a grin. "It would be nice." She repeated like an animatronic porcelain doll.

She only had an hour to stop him. Worse, she didn't have Raphael, or really anyone else to help.

She was alone.