Donatello was trying to adjust his thermal imager to be more sensitive. He was hoping to be able to see deeper into the building and really find out some of the interior structure, and how many people they were dealing with. His phone chimed, and he saw a text from April saying the Purple Dragons were in the area and may have spotted them.

"You guys," he yelled out to his brothers, "keep an eye out for the Purple Dragons, April and Holly just saw them."

He got a variety of conformations in response, but went back to his gadget.

A few minutes later, his phone rang, again it was April and he answered. He expected to hear Aprils voice on the other end, but all he could hear was a clattering and scuffling. He frowned, wondering if April had butt dialed him, but then he heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Well, well. Look what we found, a couple of princesses snooping around." Fongs voice was not super clear, but Donnie knew it was him.

"Oh no," Donnie said and waved his brothers over.

From both through the phone, and to the south they all heard April yell "Donatello!"

"Move!" Leo shouted, and they all took off at full speed in the direction Aprils voice had come from.

Donnie kept his phone connected and heard the rest of the conversation, the girls were being taken to Dog Pound in a car. They needed to find them, fast.

They couldn't immediately tell where April was, and even when they finally heard Holly banging on the car window calling out to them it was too late.

Fong was gone, but his goon was still there, he was trying to run away, but his massive frame made it difficult to get too far without becoming winded. This meat head was there to be a barricade, not to be a sprinter.

The Turtles dropped down to street level and surrounded the guy. He didn't even try to put up a fight. They had beaten him up a few too many times for him to want to take another.

"Where are they going?" Raph asked a little more menacingly than he really needed to.

"They're going to Bradford's gym." The giant man cowered before them. "Don't hurt me."

"Maybe you should choose a different career path then." Raph said and moved to punch the guy. Leo stopped him before he could though.

"Let him go Raph. You can take it out on Dog Pound when we get Holly back." Leo let go of his brothers arm and turned to go to the van. Raph feigned another punch, and the goon flinched back. Raph smirked to himself before he took off after his brothers.

They all dove into Holly's van and Leo slammed it into gear before peeling away down the street. Donnie was trying to get a connection to Holly's phone to see if they could cut Fong off before he got to Dog Pounds old gym, "They're taking the highway."

Leo drove as fast as the old van could go, but it was slow going no matter how much gas he gave it. Holly had been right about it blending in, but Donnie's van would have been able to catch up with Fong no problem. Fong managed to cross into Manhattan and stopped at the gym long before the turtles caught up with them. They would just have to go in and get the girls back the old fashioned way, by beating up some thugs.

Holly was furious with herself and April. They should have known better and gone back to the guys once they knew Fong had spotted them. If they got out of this she knew that there was going to be hell to pay, from more than one front. Her mom was going to loose her shit and no doubt the guys, and splinter, were going to repremand were racing back to the city going much faster than was sensible, she had to hold onto April to make sure that she didn't get hurt further as a result of the terrible driving.

"We won't be much use to you dead." She shot at them as they almost smashed into a parked car.

"Shut up." Fong snapped back.

"Ooh, you're such a tough guy. I bet your mother is so proud." She snarled at him. She was scared, but her anger was starting to overcome that. Plus, she knew that Raph wouldn't let them get away with this.

"You think I care what my mother thinks?" Fong replied with a smile. "She's been dead for years."

Holly focused on April again, she seemed to be coming too. April goraned and her eyes flickered open. Holly helped her into a seated position, but kept a hold of her arm as the car was still swaying violently.

"What happened?" She asked groggily. "Where's Donnie?"

"These Purple Morons caught us" Holly kicked the front seat for emphasis. "Donnie is coming, they all are." She tried to sound threatening

"I know they are, but we're ready this time!" Fong shouted.

Holly snorted indignantly, "You're so pathetic I bet even I could kick your ass."

"We'll see about that." Fong said and they screeched to a stop outside of Bradfords Gym. April and Holly were dragged out of the car. Fong had Holly by the hair and threw her through the door. April was carried in behind her. There were a couple dozen purple dragin members and Dog Pound waiting for them.
"Tie them up." Dog Pound ordered them once they had shut and locked the door behing them.

"Not so fast, I have a score to settle with this one." Fong said and pointed at Holly.

"Hey, leave her alone!" April protested, but Dog Pound held her wrists in one massive claw. Her arms were bound, and she was tied to one of the metal support stands for a punching bag. "Holly!"

"Not so talkative now, are you princess?" Fong asked as he leered over Holly. She climbed slowly to her feet.

"Stop calling me princess." Holly said and prepaired herself. She didn't think she could actually beat him, but if she could keep him distracted, it might be enough for the guys to make a move. That was of course, if she managed to stay on her feet that long.

Fong lunged and aimed a kick at her shoulder. She managed to hop back, but not fast enough and caught his boot to her bicep. The force knocked her sideways to the floor and she rolled as he went to kick her again.

She popped up again and missed a block as he punched her in the ribs. Holly groaned but kept her hands up by her face. Fong laughed, and most of the others had gathered around to form a ring around them. April was shouting incessently from behind a wall of people and Holly wasn't sure where she was anymore. Fong kept coming at her, he clearly had no qualms about hitting a teenage girl, so she did her best to just avoid contact at all costs. Holly was breathing heavily already. She had never been in a fight before, but she was determined to at least not let Fong win so easily. She took a deep, steadying breath as he lunged at her again. This time, she side stepped him and swung her fist with as much force as she could muster at his face. She caught his chin and he stumbled back, swearing. A number of the surrounding goons started laughing, and Fong shot angry looks at the offenders. "Shut up!" He yelled at them. "You're going to pay for that girlie." He wiped his chin and roared as he swung again. She ducked again and hopped backwards so that he had to keep persuing her around the area. When she got too close to the wall of gang members they shoved her back towards the middle. More than once she had to roll to avoid a fist or a foot that came flying at her.

April abandoned trying to yell her protests and instead tried to get herslef free. None of the Purple Dragons were paying her any attention, they were focused on Fong and placing bets on who was going to win this fight. She wriggled herself around until she could get the knot to her teeth and started pulling at the rope. She could hear the group lauging, and cheering, and jeering at whatever was happening. April could hear Holly, but she couldn't see what was happening. It didn't sound like she was fairing very well. April managed to slip the knot loose and wriggled her wrists loose. She tiptoed away to see what was available to her. First thing though, she unlocked the door so they could try to make an quick exit once the guys showed up. She knew they were coming, and she knew they were close. She could feel it in her chest. Her own anger started to swell as she caught glimpses of Holly. April found a broom leaning against a dark corner of the Gym, she grabbed it and braced herself for what she was about to do.

Holly was knocked onto her back and lay coughing staring up at the ceeling for a moment. It was taking longer to get up each time and she could hear the laughter of the others all around. Fong crouched over her head and thumbed his nose at her.

"You're not so smart now, are you?" He stood up again and kicked some dirt at her. He walked away and pulled out his knife, he was done playing now. He wasn't going to kill her, just make her sorry for that smart mouth she liked to run.

Holly lay there for a second, trying to collect herself. Her eyes started wandering around the celing, and she saw some shadows moving from the high windows. The harsh yellow street light was being blocked by some farmiliar shapes, so she risked a glance and saw the turtles. She couldn't make out their expressions, she could imagine them though. Raph was going to be as furious with her as she had been herself, but he would get over it. Right now she was just glad they were there.

The Turtles finally made it to the gymnasium where Fong had taken Holly and April. They could hear an aweful lot of noise coming from inside. They tried the door but it was locked.

"Up there." Leo pointed to a row of windows that they could climb to. Once there they could see what was going on inside. Holly and Fong were in the middle of a ring of people. She was getting smacked around, but she was doing enough doging and blocking to keep herself upright most of the time. April had worked herself loose and was creeping around the outskirts of the room, she unlocked the door, but continued on to find a broom that she could use as a staff. She swung the head of the broom at the closest purple dragon member.

Holly scooped up a handfull of dirt off the floor and threw it at Fongs face. He staggered back as the dust stung his eyes and she sprang up. She side kicked him as hard as she could in the gut. He flew back into a few other guys who all staggered out of the way tripping over each other in the process. Fong was clutching his stomache coughing as he inhailed the dust that was in the air. Holly didn't even hesitate, she sprinted towards him and kicked him square between the legs as he was trying to recover. He let out a scream that was four octives higher than it should have been and crumpled to the floor. There was a general goran of sympathy pain from the group, but a couple of people in the back were letting out actual shouts of agony.

April had knocked a couple of guys out before they had even known what was going on. She knew they didn't have much time to make an impact, but she had also spotted the guys in the windows, if they could all attack from different angles, they might be able to catch the gang members unaware and get away in the confusion.

The turtles used this as thier time to move. They burst through the windows down into the middle of the group and all attacked as one. Roaring into action, Donnie started hacking his way over to April. Mikey and Leo focused on Dog Pound while Raph saw to Holly. She was in pretty bad shape, but he was so proud of her.

"Nice work!" He yelled over the commotion.

"Thanks," she replied, but he could see she was completely exhausted. Her eye was starting to swell up and her hands and arms had abbrasions all over them.

"Try to stay close" He started punching his way through the goons towards the exit. Holly grabbed onto his belt and let herself be dragged through the fray. Leonardo and Michelangelo were bouncing all over the place, the used Purple Dragon members as spring boards in order to get away from Dog Pound and deal with the gang at the same time.
It was complete chaos. Donnie was shoving April towards the door while he helped Raph get Holly out at the same time. Leo was shouting at them to 'Just go!' while he made sure Mikey didn't get himself into trouble. There were unconcious bodies all over the floor, some were hanging from I-beams that supported the cealing while more were piled up against the walls. Raph scooped Holly up into his arms and leaped over a rack of weights.

As he tried to get to the door, Donatellos eyes went wide and he shouted "Duck!" Raph slid along the floor as a barbell flew over his head and smashed into the wall infront of him. Holly had squeezing her eyes shut as it flew at them.

He popped back up to his feet and set Holly down, "Go, we got this". Holly nodded and staggered to April who grabbed her arm and dragged her out the door to the van. April shoved Holly unceremonially into the back and sprinted to the drivers seat. She glanced back once before pulling away and taking them away from the danger.

Dog Pound was just about the only one left standing, he was throwing 40 lb weight plates at Leo and Mikey. They sank deep into the concrete walls of the gymnasium and sent paint chips and dust flying with every impact.

"Alright buddy, I've just about had enough of you." Raph roared and launched himself at the giant mutant mutt. Leonardo and Mikey followed suit while Donatello glanced around for something that might actually contain Dog Pound rather than just trying brute force. He saw a large punching bag susspended from one of the ceiling supports and figured it might be able to knock him back at the very least.

"Mikey!" He yelled at his baby brother, and nodded at the bag.
"Ooh," Mikeys eyes lit up, and he hooked his hidden chain around the bag. He threw the other end up and over an I-beam for leverage and pulled it untlil it almost touched the celing. "This things gotta weigh a ton!"

"Its probably only about four-hundred and fifty pounds, but it should be enough". Donatello helped to direct Dog pound into position before Mikey let go and the bag swung down and collided with Bradford with a hearty thud. Dust exploded from the bad, and Dog Pound was sent flying into the wall at the other end of the room. He his the wall with such force that the glass in the windows rattled in their frames. The whole room was quiet now, aside from some groaning gang members and the creaking of the punching bag as it swung back and fourth. They all looked around the room. Fong was recovering himself a little, but still looked like he may be sick at any moment.

Leo walked up to him, and pointed a sword directly at his face. "If you ever come near our friends again, you will regret it." His brothers all stood behind him in silent agreement.

Fong said nothing, he huffed in annoyance, but looking around at the damage that had been done, he nodded his concent.

The Turtles left him on the floor. They rushed to find April and Holly. Donnie tried to call them, but he realized that Aprils phone was still in an alleyway on the other side of the river, and Holly's phone was off. It could have been broken, or lost in all the commotion. The most logical place they could go would be back to the Lair but they didn't know for sure.

As they ran across the rooftops, Donnie saw the van. It was parked down the side of the Sushi resteraunt and April was waving him down when she spotted them abover her.

"Guys! Down here" He shouted at his brothers, and they dropped down to the street.

April launched herself at Donatello and he almost fell over with the force, "I knew you'd save us!" She shouted happily.

"It looked like you guys were doing alright." He replied back, his smile faded once he saw Holly's face though, "Or not."

Holly was at least sitting up. She had bruises forming under her eyes and her right eye was swelling shut. "You guys timed that perfectly, a couple more minutes and I would have been in real trouble."

"Are you alright?" Leo asked.

"I'll be alright, I just need some ice." She poked her eye gingerly. "Im more concered about what my mom will say."

"I'm sure if you tell her most of the truth, she'll understand." April said hopefully.

"She's never going to let me out of the house again." Holly said and sighed. "We'll, lets get this over with."

Everyone piled into the van and drove her home. April took her upstairs to try and help explain everything that had happened, while the guys climbed up to the roof to wait for some news.
When Holly opened the door to her apartment, Stacey came storming out of her office ready to lay into her daughter. But, when she saw the state Holly was in, she immediately became concerned rather than angry.

"What happened?" Stacey asked and held her daughters face in her hands.
Holly winced and waved her mom away, "There's a lot you need to know." Holly went into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of frozen peas and a towel to wrap around the bag, she pressed it to her face and sighed slightly. "The people who did this to me are the same one's who took you, and the same ones who have Aprils dad."

Stacey looked at April, then back at her daughter. "Theres more to this than just gang violence, isn't there?"

April took over, "Yes, they took my dad because he's a scientist, although we're not sure exactly why yet."

"Have you gone to the police?" Stacey asked outraged.

"Sort of," April and Holly glanced at each other, "They know he's a missing person, but they don't know who took him exactly."

"The Dog man" Stacey figured out. It was what she had not told the cops about when she had been taken, well him and the four green ones who saved her. April nodded. "Does your Aunt know?"

April shook her head this time, then blanched as she realized that she had no way to call her and let her know she was ok. "Oh crap, she doesn't know where I am."

"I'll call her for you, I won't lie to her, but the less I know when I talk to her, the better for all of us." Stacey left to make the call, the two teenage girls shared a look. How much should they tell her?

When Stacey returned, she addressed Apirl first. "She's not happy you're out this late on a school night. But I told her you've been together all night." She pointed between them. "I assume that is at least true?"

"Yes." Holly said shortly.

Stacey let out a huge sigh and rubbed her eyes. "So, if the police don't have any idea what they're actually dealing with, what exactly are you two doing in all this?"

The girls looked at each other again. April spoke up again, "Gathering information."

"Information" Stacey repeated incredulously. She almost laughed at the absurdity of it all.

"There is something going on out there that is much more serious that anyone can really understand. We are doing what we can to help." Holly said getting frustraited. It was impossible to explain to someone on the outside.

"Help?" Stacey eyed her daughter susspiciously.

Holly looked back at her mother with just as much susspicion. "Yeah." She said slowly.

"You're friends with those four brothers, arent you?" Stacey smacked the table, "I knew they hadn't just shown up for no reason."

"What brothers?" April asked a little shocked that Stacey seemed to know something.

"They told me about the Mutagen that made them," Stacey reeled slightly, everything suddenly clicked into place. "They shouldn't exist, which is why they cant go to the police, and why those guys want to know where they are."

"How much did they tell you?" Holly asked slightly pissed off that she had been keeping their secret for no reason.

"Enough to know that you can't seriously be trying helping them." Stacey shouted suddenly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Holly said back

"The men that took me were working for another group," Stacey scrunched up her face in exactly the same way Holly did when she was trying to think, "The Foot Clan, that was it. They're into something seriously bad."

Holly and April were shocked, Stacey just told them almost as much as they already knew about the Turtles and their situation. Holly recovered herself first, "Yeah, we know. Thats why we need to help them."

"You can't be serious?" Stacey scoffed, "You're just kids."

"So are they," Holly said and added almost pleadingly, "They're the same age as us, and they have to take this all on alone."

Stacey rubbed her face again. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She muttered something to herself.

"Mom, We won't let them face this on their own." Holly was resigned. She didn't need her mom to understand, this was something she was going to do.

April had been sat in silence, she was almost fortunate that she didn't have to justify her actions to anyone, but she also wished she could talk to her dad. "Mrs. McCallister, they saved me when my dad was taken. They saved you when you were taken, and they are trying to stop whetever the Foot and the Krang are going to do in the future. They're our friends and we want to protect them as much as they want to protect us." Holly nodded her agreement.

Stacey looked at the girls, they were so young still. "You're just kids." She repeated pleading with them to see her side of things.

"Even if we were legally adults, would you be any happier? Would you be content to sit back and let bad people get away with causing harm to your friends?" Holly said and stood by April. They both had determined looks on their faces.

"What can you guys do that no one else can?" Stacey asked looking for an excuse to refuse her daughter.

"We are just about the only three people who know they exist that don't want them dead." Holly said plainly.

Stacey was stunned, she hadn't expected Holly to be so blunt. "Well thats just rediculous" She tried to laugh it off, but she could remember the fear she had felt from the tallest of the brothers when they had been trying to escape.

"Is it? You were there in the tower with them, did they seem like they were just fighting for fun?" Holly pressed her advantage.

Stacey sat on a chair and really though about it. No, they had not been 'fighting for fun'. They had been fighting for their lives, and hers. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Jesus christ."

Holly relaxed a little, her mom finally grasped what was really going on. They all sat there just thinking for a few minutes. April about her dad. Holly about how tired she suddenly felt; and Stacey about how these kids had gotten themselves into such a mess.

"Can I talk to them?" Stacey suddenly asked.

"What?" April said, shocked.

"Can I talk to them?" Stacey repeated.

"Uh, I guess so. When would you..."

"Now. You can call them, right?" Stacey looked at the girls.

"Well..." April said and glanced at Holly.

"Lets call them first." Holly said and pulled her phone out of her pocket. It was in pieces, held together by the screen protector and case. "Ahh."

"Here," Stacey threw her phone at her daughter. "You can delete the number after you call so I can't reach them if they don't want to talk to me." Stacey wrung her hands together anxiously.

Holly dialed a number and waited for an answer.

The Turtles were waiting on Holly's roof for some indication of what was going on, they had heard raised voices drift up from their apartment but it had been quiet again for a while now.
"Do you think we sould go?" Donnie asked the others for the fifth time.

"I wish we could , I'm so bored" whined Mikey and he rolled around on his shell to keep himself entertained.

"We'll give it a little longer, its still a few hours until dawn yet." Leo said.
They all jumped when Raphs phone rang unexpectedly. He saw a number he didn't recognize, but assumed it was Holly since they figured her phone was broken. "Hey," He said trying to sound cool.

His face grew more and more confused as Holly spoke, his brothers were pestering him for information. "She wants to talk to us?" He said and gave his brothers a look that conveyed his confusion.

"Ooh, yeah!" Mikey said excitedly, he liked Holly's mom and he would enjoy irritating Raph in a place he couldn't retaliate.

"What does she want to talk about?" Leo asked as confused as his brother.

"I don't know" Holly replied, "But its 100% up to you."

"Hold on a second" Raph put her on mute and looked at his brothers. "What the hell is this about?"

"I dont know either Raph, but maybe we should. Even if its just to make sure that she doesn't tell anyone else about us." Leo said with a shrug

"It may be wise just to assure Holly's mom that we don't intend to let the girls get into any danger." Donnie said.

"Right, right." Raph said sarcastically, "and this is after we drop her daughter off looking like a mugging victem"

"Oh, I suppose not." Donnie said.

Raph unmuted the phone, "Yeah, we're gonna have to pass on this one"

"Yeah, Mikey is already down here" Holly said sounding exasperated.

"He's what!?" Raph spun around looking for his brother. Leo and Donnie noticed Mikey was gone too and sprinted to the side of the building, Michelangelo was crouched on Holly's balcony waiting to be let in.

April walked over to the door and opened it slowly. Mikey didn't come crashing in like they expected him to, he slowly stepped into the room and was as calm and polite as he had ever been before. "Hi Mrs. McCallister, do you remember me?"

Stacey was shocked for a moment. She hadn't expected them to be here now, but she did remember this one. "You're Michelangelo? Right?"
"Yeah, but everyone just calls me Mikey." He took another cautious step forward.

"Everyone?" Stacey asked.

"Well, my brothers and my father, and these two." He directed a thumb at each of the girls. "They're the only surface friends we have. Except Mr. Murakami, he's blind though, so he doesn't care what we look like."
Stacey nodded. "Are your brothers here?"
"Yeah, but they don't have to come down, if you don't want them to?" He didn't want to freak her out any more than she already was.

"Yes, please. I never got the chance to thank you all." She braced herself.

April walked out to the balcony and waved the others down. Leo, Donnie and Raph landed almost silently on the concrete and stepped into the apartment.

"I really can't believe that you're real. I had almost convinced myself that it was all a dream." They all stood around awkwardly.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Leo asked, trying not to sound too rude.
"I just needed to thank you." Stacey nodded, reassuring herself. "You all saved me from those people and I didn't get the chance to say it back then."

"You're welcome." Leo said feeling a little wierd. There was an uncomfortable silence that followed and everyone exchanged glances with every one else.

"Well, this is super fun." Holly said tring to break some of the tension. She stood up and wobbled a little. Both Raph and Stacey moved to catch her, but she waved them away. Raph flushed embarrased that he had reacted instantly to protect Holly when her mom was right there. Holly smiled

April let out a bark of laughter that she couldn't keep in any longer, this was too absurd for words. Both Holly and April burst into hysterical laughter, Mikey joined in with them, although he had no idea what was so funny.
"You really are just kids, aren't you?" Stacey asked softly amazed that she hadn't realized it before. They all had the same sparkle of youth in their eyes that April and Holly did.

"We're teenagers, not kids." Donatello corrected her.
"You're Donatello," Stacey stated with sudden recolection, "you were the one who got me out."

"Yeah, but really it was all..." Donatello started, but Stacey had rushed over and gave him a hug. He stood rigid not daring to move at all.

"Thank you" Stacey said with real meaning this time. She squeezed him and then remembered more of what had happened. "Your brother, which one was taken by that Shredder guy?" She wiped a tear away from her eye and looked earnestly at the others.

"Uhh, that one," Donnie pointed at Leo. "Leonardo."
Stacey gave him a hug too. "Are you alright?" She asked and checked him over as if they had just gotten out of the building she had been captive in well over a month ago.

"I'm fine?" Leo said, and shot Holly a confused look.

"I don't think she properly processed what happened to her, You'll just have to deal with it." Holly said and rolled her neck to relieve some of the tension she had been holding onto.

"And you're..." She struggled to remember the last name.

"Raphael." Mikey said happily with a self satisfied grin plastered on his face. Holly let out a breath of amusement, Mikey was going to make this as uncomfortable as possible for Raph.

"Thats right," Stacey said and glanced at Holly. "How long have you known about them?"

"A few months, maybe half a year" Holly shrugged and placed the frozen peas back on her face. "April's known them for almost a full year"

Stacey stared in disbelief, "A year? And you haven't told anyone?"

"No," April said, "Who would believe me?"

Stacey sighed again and this time gave April a hug. "I don't know how you've been dealing with all this alone."
April almost melted with relief. She had desperatly wanted someone to take some of the pressure off her shoulders. Holly was helpful, but having an adult around to help sure made things feel easier.

"Wait, you're all named after classical artists?" Stacey asked but kept a hold of April for just a moment longer.

"Yeah," Donatello said. "Not that Mikey knows who the original Michelangelo is."

"We've tried to tell him a dozen times but it doesn't stick." Leo said trying to sound relaxed.

Stacey let out a little snort of amusment, much like her daughter did, and let the silence roll back into the room. "I'm sorry, I am just trying to straighten this all out in my head."

"Why don't we continue this later, Its been a tough evening and I think you guys probably need some sleep." Leo said hoping to get away before they screwed something up.

"Right," Stacey said dreamily.

"April, are you going home?" Donnie asked quitely,

"Yeah, I need to get back." April said smiling.

"Take the van, I don't have anywhere for it anyway." Holly said, Stacey shot her a questioning look, but decided she didn't care about the answer just yet.

The turtles drove April back to her place and dropped her off. It was very late and April knew she was going to get it again, but she was so happy right now that it didn't matter. She bade them goodnight and tried to creep into the house unnoticed. Her Aunt was still up, and she was mad, but once April told her that Holly's mom had been dealing with the trauma of what happened to her when she was kidnapped, Carol softened a little. April was still grounded, but a huge relief filled her chest that lifted her spirits to a place it hadn't been for a while.