Author's Note: I'm happy to have gotten so many reviews for my story. And I appreciate the suggestions. But I can't promise I'll be able to use all of the character suggestions that were pitched to me. I will do what I can is all I can say. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter.

Creature in the Sewers

The morning started out fairly normal. The Hamato family went to the hospital to visit Yoshi and see how well he was healing; Mikey even brought along a get well card for his father that he made himself. When they got to the hospital, the family went straight to Yoshi's room. As expected, he was very happy to see them.

"Hi, dad," Mikey happily said as he went straight for his father's bedside. He presented his handmade card and said with a smile, "I made this for you. And then I talked the others into signing it."

"He really just asked us and we agreed to," Raph added with a smile.

"It's true," said Leo, smiling. "We were happy to sign it."

Yoshi took the card in his hands and looked at the picture. It was a hand drawn picture of himself and his wife and children smiling and holding hands in front of their home. Written above the the picture was the message, "Come home soon. We all miss you." He opened it and found all kinds of get well messages from his wife and children.

Yoshi smiled and said, "Thank you, all of you. This was a very thoughtful gift."

"You're welcome," said Mikey, and then he hugged his father. Yoshi winced when his youngest son squeezed him.

"Michelangelo, not too tight. My stitches might pop," Yoshi reminded him.

"Whoops!" Mikey said as he let go. "Sorry, dad. Force of habit."

"I understand, my son," said Yoshi, taking some breaths. "And I appreciate the thought."

Shen took a seat next to Yoshi and talked to him. "I spoke with the doctor. He said you might be okay to come home soon," said Shen with a warm smile. "You still have to take it easy, though. Injuries like that take time to completely heal, you know."

"I'm well aware," said Yoshi. "But I can still teach the children what they need to know. Speaking of training, how have they been coming along?"

"We're doing pretty well," said Leo, "Miwa has been a great substitute sensei for us."

"You have?" Yoshi asked his daughter.

"Yes. But we're still looking forward to having you back home," said Miwa. "I may be a good sub, but I'm not a master yet. We still need you."

Yoshi took his daughter's hand and said with a proud smile, "I'll be back soon, my daughter. And I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you, dad," said Miwa, smiling.

"Guys! Check this out!" Donnie shouted in alarm as he showed his family his phone.

On the screen was a news article about a dangerous creature roaming around the sewer. The picture showed a still shot of what appeared to be a giant alligator. A video of the attack was even included. Apparently, the man was making a video of his work in the sewer for a blog when the alligator mutant came into the shot and started roaring and swiping at him. The man got out of there as fast as he could.

"Whoa," said Mikey, in awe.

"Guys, you know we can't just ignore this," said Leo, in a serious tone. "If this creature really is that dangerous, we have to keep it from hurting innocent people."

"No kidding," said Miwa. "We need to find this thing, and soon. It may eventually start attacking subways, or even the surface!"

"Fortunately, I know where to start looking," said Donnie, with a smile. He rewound the video and paused it on a particular shot and said, "Tunnel 281."

"Then let's go there tonight," said Leo.

"That may not be a good idea," Yoshi warned his children. "You know nothing of this creature. Perhaps you should examine this situation further before confronting it."

"But if we wait too long, it may be too late," Miwa pleaded.

"Besides, he's probably moved on by now," said Leo. "We're only going to where he was last. We may find some evidence that could tell us more about him."

Yoshi thought about that option and then said, "Very well. But, if he returns there, leave."

"We will," Leo promised.

The teens changed into their ninja gear and went down to the sewer to find the creature. They found the tunnel from the story and it was blocked by police tape. The teens simply chose to ignore it and go inside. They walked around in search of the creature. At first they had no luck. But they soon heard lasers firing. The teens turned a corner and found the Kraang attacking the alligator mutant from the news story. However, it looked more like the Kraang were the ones in danger since the alligator was smacking them away, ripping their robot bodies, and grabbing a Kraang droid in his mouth and throwing it.

"Never thought I'd ever feel sorry for the Kraang," said Donnie, cringing a bit.

"Yeah. Not me. I don't feel sorry for anyone who plans on kidnapping one of my brothers to use as a slave," Miwa casually said.

"Dang, sis, you are dark," said Mikey, cringing a little

Miwa smiled under her mouth cover. "I'm gonna choose to take that as a compliment."

One of the Kraang zapped the alligator with a caddle prod. The alligator screamed in agony and fell to the ground. He was now at the Kraang's mercy.

"Give to Kraang the location of the power cell that Kraang is seeking!" A Kraang demanded.

"Never!" The alligator shouted before he was zapped again, making him roar in agony.

"We gotta help him!" Mikey shouted.

"I think gotta is a strong word," Raph said, refusing to get in between the Kraang and an alligator.

"He's in trouble!" Mikey argued.

"He's an alligator!" Raph shouted.

"He's an enemy of the Kraang," Miwa said while putting a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "Maybe it'll be worth a shot."

Mikey pulled down his face cover, smiled at his sister, and said, "I love you, sis."

Miwa pulled down her own cover and smiled in reply. And then she and Mikey looked serious as they covered their faces and unsheathed their weapons. Together, Mikey and Miwa charged at the Kraang and started fighting them off to rescue the alligator. Seeing that there was no use arguing, Leo, Raph, and Donnie leapt into action as well.

The Kraang saw the young ninjas and started firing back. Unfortunately for them, the ninjas were too fast and too skilled. Leo sliced their guns and heads with his katanas, while Raph stabbed them in their faces with his sais. Miwa used her tanto to stab the Kraang droids in their backs, and Donnie took them out with a few good blows with his staff; even using his hidden blade. Mikey spotted two Kraang trying to drag the allugator away, so he rushed over and swung his nunchucks right at their heads and used his kasuragama to finish them off.

Once the Kraang were finally defeated, the teens next issue was the now unconscious alligator.

"Now what do we do?" Raph asked.

"What do you mean "Now what do we do"? We take him home," Mikey said, sounding like it should be obvious.

"No, no, no. This is where I draw the line. We are not bringing a giant alligator monster home!" Leo sternly said, making an 'X' with his arms and then parting them as he said so.

"He's not a monster! He's a... Big... Kraang kicking alligator monster!" Mikey debated. And then he released what he said and was embarrassed. "I just said monster, didn't I?"

"Yeah. You did," Donnie flatly said.

"Look. The point is we can't just leave him here where the Kraang can get him," Mikey insisted. And then he got an idea. "Maybe he'll be on our side."

"Now you're just being ridiculous," Raph said with a roll of his eyes.

"Actually, he might have a point," said Miwa, thinking about it.

"What?!" The three older brothers asked in surprise.

"Yes!" Mikey cheered.

"This guy might make a great ally if we can bond with him," Miwa explained. She looked at the alligator and added, "Though it might be better to keep him in the lair. He'll fit better there."

"Okay," said Mikey, happy that he was allowed to bring his alligator mutant friend back.

Raph took a breath and said, "Miwa, Onee-san, I like to think I've been extremely patient up till now. But this is the most insane idea you've ever had!" He slowly became angry as he spoke up.

"Raph's got a point, sis," said Leo. "How do we know we can trust him? We don't know anything about him."

"We can learn," Miwa suggested, looking towards Donnie.

Donnie blinked in surprise. "Me?"

"You're the only one who can read minds," Miwa reminded her brother. "Maybe you can look into his mind and find out if he's trustworthy or not."

Donnie looked at the alligator, gulped, and nervously said, "Okay."

He cautiously walked over to the unconscious mutant and got down on his knees. Donnie put his hands on the alligators head, closed his eyes, and focused. He started to see images of the alligators memories. He saw a boy taking care of him when he was a baby. He saw the boys parents finding out what their son was hiding and becoming angry. He saw the father flushing the baby alligator down the toilet. He saw the alligator being found by the Kraang. He saw the Kraang experimenting on him. This seemed to go on for years because the alligator was becoming bigger in each memory. He saw the alligator finally escape. As he escaped, he took something with him; something glowing. It must be important.

"A kid took care of him until his parents found out and got rid of him. The Kraang found him and experimented on him for years; torturing him horribly," Donnie explained, now feeling bad for him. "He escaped recently and stole something from the Kraang."

"Well, that does prove he and the Kraang aren't friends," Raph admitted. "But that doesn't answer if we can trust him."

"I guess we'll just have to find out at the lair," said Leo while grabbing an arm. "Come on, guys. We better get going before the Kraang show up."

The others nodded and grabbed a part of the alligator's body; though Raph was still reluctant. Miwa grabbed the head, Donnie and Raph each grabbed a leg, and Mikey grabbed his other arm. Together, the teens carried the alligator all the way to the lair.

Once they reached the lair, they set him down on the floor and Mikey smiled as he watched him sleep. Miwa called their mother to let her know what had happened and that they were safe.

"He's so peaceful," Mikey said while watching the alligator. He heard rattling and saw Donnie coming over with a set of chains. "Whoa! What are you doing?!"

Donnie sighed and said, "Mikey, he's unpredictable right now. After all he went through, his first instinct could be to attack first."

"You don't know that! We saved him!" Mikey argued.

"Mikey, of the two of us, I'm the one who actually saw into his mind. He's pretty scarred," said Donnie. As they argued, Donnie saw the alligator mutant wake up and start to rise. "Mikey, you might wanna take a step back."

Mikey turned around and smiled at the alligator at first. In few short seconds, however, his expression turned from happy to fearful. The reason was because the creature's eyes were glazed over and he was growling as he loomed over the kids.

"I'm guessing thanking us will have to wait," Mikey squeaked.

The creature roared angrily and started attacking the siblings. They all dove to avoid the creature's wrath. Unfortunately, he managed to grab Donnie's face and started swinging his arms around. Donnie screamed for help, and Mikey responded by wrapping a chain around his waist and pulled. Things were starting to get out of hand when Miwa sprang into action and started hitting his pressure points. The alligator stopped roaring and fell to the floor unconscious. The kids were still shaking from the excitement.

"Man that was scary," said Raph.

"Speak for yourself, Raph!" Donnie shouted while removing the alligator's hand. "You weren't the one he had by the face!"

"Mikey, this was hands down one of your worst ideas ever!" Leo said while standing up.

"Come on, guys!" Mikey protested. "He was probably just still jumpy from before."

"Mikey, we love you, but you need to face the facts, this mutant is dangerous," Miwa said in a serious tone.

"Come on guys! Can't we give him a chance?! Maybe if we be his friends, he can help us protect the city," Mikey pleaded.

He put his hands together and made the saddest expression he could. His eyes were so big and sad he looked like an adorable puppy. They just could not bring themselves to refuse him.

"Alright," said Miwa. "But we're not making the same mistake. We're chaining him to something until we can be sure he won't attack us."

"Fine," said Mikey with a pout; he was hoping to keep him off chains.

"Chaining who to something?" Asked a familiar woman's voice from the entrance. The kids turned around and saw their mother coming into the lair. Her question was answered by the unconscious alligator mutant. "Never mind."

Mikey grabbed Shen's arms and pleaded, "Mom, he was being attacked by the Kraang. He needed our help."

"I know what happened, Michelangelo. Miwa told me everything over the phone," Shen calmly and gently told her youngest son. "You made a wise decision."

"I did?" Mikey asked with a hopeful smile.

"He did?" asked a pretty surprised Raph.

"He did," Shen kindly said while walking over to the unconscious creature. "From what I heard, there is a chance that this creature may be an innocent victim."

Shen found a scar on his stomach. She ran her hand on it gently. And then she looked at his face as he slept. He looked so peaceful, yet she knew he must be hurt.

"His scars run deep. But underneath is a genuine heart," she said. "Once he awakens, we must find a way to befriend him."

"We're still chaining him up, right?" Leo cautiously asked. "He kind of attacked us the first time."

Shen sighed and said, "Only at first. Once we are sure that the creature won't attack, the chains come off."

Raph and Leo immediately went to work chaining up the creature. They were starting to feel bad about it, but, unfortunately, it had to be done. As the creature slept, the kids and their mother decided to talk.

"Mom, the Kraang were asking the alligator about some kind of power cell," Leo informed Shen. "I don't know what it meant, but it sounded important. I think we should go after it."

"Yeah. Make the giant alligator mad by invading his privacy. That's smart," Miwa argued.

Leo pouted at that; you could practically see steam coming off his head. "Alright. What do you suggest we do then?"

"How about we be his friends and then ask him nicely?" Mikey as while hugging the alligator.

"That may be out best option," said Shen. "When he wakes up, it is important to befriend him as best you can."

"Got it, mom," said Raph, nodding.

About five minutes later, the family heard groaning, followed by body movement. They all looked over to see the alligator had woken up. Shen was glad she had brought food from home to share. Because she had a feeling he might be hungry; that and they always say that the quickest way to a mans, or creatures, heart is through their stomach.

The alligator roared while pulling at his chains. "Where am I? What is going on?!"

"Sorry about the chains, dude," said Mikey while the family came in. "My family were freaked out you might attack us…. Again."

"I attacked you?" the creature asked, sounding shocked. They all nodded. Now he felt very ashamed of himself. "I am so sorry. I never wanted to harm anyone."

"It's okay. Considering what you've been through, I'm not surprised," Donnie said in sympathy.

"How do you know that?" the creature asked, surprised by his knowledge.

"The chemical that made you this way was an ingredient in a serum that gave me the ability to read minds. I used it to learn who you were," Donnie explained.

"So you are also a victim of the Kraang?" the creature asked. At that moment, his glazed over. "Kraang!"

The next thing anyone knew, the creature was roaring and thrashing, trying to get free from his chains and attack everything around him. Shen and the children dove to avoid hit hands. They were very scared right now. Shen studied his actions closely and got an idea. She carefully approached him and started singing a song in Japanese.

Her voice was calm, gentle, and soothing. It brought back many found memories for the children. The song she was singing was a lullybye she used to sing to them when they were little; it always helped when they were mad, scared, or sad. The creature slowed down in his attack as he heard the song. Though he could not understand the words, her voice made him feel calm. This made it easier to get closer to him and place a hand on his head. He let out a calm breath and closed his eyes as he finally stopped all together.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome. This always helped my children when they were younger," Shen replied. "What is your name?"

"I do not have one," said the creature, sadly.

"I'll give you one!" Mikey happily offered. Je walked over to him and started thinking of possible names. "Your head's all leathery. How about Headleather? No. Heather? No, that's a girl's name. Wait. How about Leatherhead?"

The creature stood up with a smile and happily said, "Leatherhead it is."

"Nice to meet you, Leatherhead. My name is Hamato Shen," Shen kindly introduced herself before gesturing to each of her children. "These are my children, my sons Michelangelo, Leonardo, Rapharl, and Donatello, and my daughter Miwa."

"It is nice to meet you all," the creature, now named Leatherhead, replied.

"You too," said Miwa, happily. And then she decided to get back to the reason Leatherhead was attacked. "Leatherhead, we can help you against your enemy. But we have to know first what this power cell is they were after."

Leatherhead hesitated. He was not certain about trusting these humans with the knowledge of the Kraang.

"Please, Leatherhead, you can trust us," Leo pleaded. "They're our enemies too. They've been abducting innocent people, including our brother and the father of our friend. We managed to rescue both of them and two others, but not all of the victims are safe. Not everyone in this city is safe. If you help us, we can save the city."

They were right. If the Kraang are allowed to continue, they may harm the whole city, maybe even the world. To stop them, he may need these humans help. So he told them.

"The power cell I stole during my escape is what they use to enter and leave this dimension. Without it, the ones here are trapped while the rest cannot enter," Leatherhead explained. "I hid the power cell in a secret hiding place to protect it and this world."

Donnie stepped forward and asked, "Can you take us there?"

"Yes I can," he said. "However, you will need scuba gear."

"How co-oh right," said Donnie, realizing what he meant.

"What?" Mikey asked.

"Why would we need scuba gear?" Raph asked.

"The power cell is under water," Donnie explained.

Miwa looked skeptical. "How could you possibly know that?"

"When he mentioned scuba gear, I remembered how alligators have been known to drag their prey to the bottoms of deep water to kill and eat them. Then I realized that underwater might be the ideal place for someone like Leatherhead to hide something like the power cell," Donnie explained.

"Oh. That makes sense," said Leo. "So, do we have any scuba gear?"

"Unfortunately, no," Donnie sadly said. "But what we can do is keep watch while Leatherhead gets the cell."

"Then we'll do that," said Leo. "Leatherhead, if you give the power cell to us, we'll keep it and you safe from the Kraang."

Leatherhead nearly lost control again. Luckily Shen reacted immediately and hummed the lullabye. This calmed him down enough to talk.

"Why would you want to protect me?" Leatherhead asked. "I am a savage monster."

Mikey gave him a hug and said, "No you're not. You're our friend. I know we just met, but I can feel a connection. Leatherhead, you are one of us. One of the Hamato clan."

This news filled Leatherhead's heart with joy. He hugged Mikey and said, "Thank you, Michelangelo. Unchain me and I will take you to the power cell."

The siblings looked at each other, smiled, and nodded. Raph and Leo worked together to remove the chains from Leatherhead's arms. Once the alligator was free, the kids went with him to the hiding place of the power cell. Shen worried for her childrens safety and went with them.

Leatherhead led the family to a pool of water in the sewer tunnel. He told them that this was the place where he hid the power cell.

"So you're gonna dive down there and bring back the power cell?" Raph asked.

"Yes," said Leatherhead. "Be careful here. I do not want the Kraang to harm you."

"We will, Leatherhead," said Leo. "And thank you for doing this for us. And for trusting us."

"I should be thanking you for trusting me and being my friends," said the smiling alligator. "I will be right back."

Leatherhead dove into the pool and the family waited. As they waited, they stayed alert in case the Kraang returned. So far, they saw no sign of them. They were starting to think the Kraang might not show at all when, suddenly, their resident psychic got a feeling.

"Guys, I think they're coming," he said while rubbing his head. "I can-I can feel them."

"Are you sure?" Shen asked in concern.

"Yes. They're on their way," Donnie said, shaking a little.

"Mom, you better stay back," said Leo, getting his swords ready. "This could get ugly."

"Leonardo, I know you are capable, but I refuse to hide while my children risk their lives," said Shen in determination while picking up a discarded Kraang weapon.

"But, mom-" Leo argued.

"No buts!" Shen said sternly. "I am your mother, and I will stay with my children."

"I can never argue with you," said Leo with a sigh.

"I think we all know the answer to that," said Raph while twirling his sais before getting into a fighting stance.

"Alright, enough. Let's do this," said Miwa while preparing her tanto.

Immediately afterwards, the Kraang droids arrived and saw them. Upon recognizing the ninjas, the Kraang open fired. The Hamato's were quick to retaliate.

Leo and Miwa slash their arms off with their blades, along with the occasional punch and kick. Raph used his trademark brute strength in addition to his sais to take care of his opponents. Mikey was unpredictable with his random fighting moves and whirling nunchucks. Donnie's staff proved effective as well, especially the hidden blade. And Shen was not to shaby with the blaster she found.

The whole family seemed to be doing very well in battle. However, the thing that made the biggest difference was the splash that came out of the pool.

"Kraang!" Leatherhead roared.

The Kraang panicked he charged at them and started tearing them apart. The ninja family smirked at what he did.

"Attack! Together!" Leo shouted.

On Leo's signal, everyone charged at once and drove the Kraang away. Once the Kraang were gone, Donnie found something glowing on tbe ground. It was a purple glowing crystal inside a glass container.

"Is this the power cell?" Donnie asked Leatherhead.

"Yes," said Leatherhead. "It is very powerful. Which is which I do not want the Kraang tracking it."

"No problem," said Donnie. "I've noticed that the Kraang can't seem to detect things as well underground. And I might have a containment unit that should work for this thing at the lair."

"Then I leave the power cell to you, my friends," said Leatherhead, and then he turned to leave.

"Where will you go?" Miwa asked.

"I do not know yet," said Leatherhead. "There is little I can really call home."

The family felt bad for him. They wished they could help. And then it occured to them, they can.

"You know, Leatherhead, the lair is empty most of the time," said Shen. "And our home is just above it."

"What are you suggesting?" Leatherhead asked.

"Leatherhead, I would like to offer you a place to stay at the lair," Shen happily said. "My family and I will visit you, and we can even bring you food."

The idea of a home, food, and company sounded nice. And Leatherhead just could not refuse.

"I humbly accept, Shen," said Leatherhead with a smile.

Mikey smiled and hugged the alligator mutant. "Welcome aboard, Leatherhead."

And so the family brought Leatherhead back to the lair and helped him get settled in. They told Yoshi everything the very next day. The father was pleased to hear about a good mutant and looked forward to meeting him. At the same time, Donnie started working on ideas to use the power cell.

Meanwhile, the Kraang were fuming about their recent loss. Unfortunately, they once again had no leads as to the ninjas identities. What's worse, they now had a new ally. Things just got harder for the Kraang it seemed.