(n.) The realization that the plot of your life doesn't make sense to you anymore.

Vienna yawned, slowly opening her eyes, greeted by her poster-covered ceiling of Van Gogh and Monet replicas, and the occasional teen pop band she still had from her foolish days as pre-teen. She stretched her arms, noticing the room was dark, and that she was still in her street clothes. She reached over, blindly searching for the lamp beside her bed and illuminating the room in a gentle crimson glow. Vienna frowned, confused at the red glow until she noticed the blouse tossed onto the lampshade. She snickered to herself, hooking a finger in a fold of fabric and tugging it down, the light becoming brighter as she did so.

A bump underneath her made her shift to the edge of her bed. Her hair draped down as she dangled her head over the side, her glasses sliding up her face as she turned upside down until they were too far up on her forehead to be of use. That didn't deter her from spotting the humanoid terrapin cowering under her bed.

"Hello, imaginary turtle that escaped the depths of my mind and is signaling my delusional state." Vienna smiled pleasantly, rolling off her bed and whipping her hair back behind her shoulders.

"You're the one from the roof, right? Sneaky little thing, finding your way inside my apartment. And, look. You brought friends," she observed, beaming at the two other gigantic turtles clinging to the upper corners of her room, nearly out of her peripheral vision, but not quite.

"How nice," she commented, pulling open her closet to find a fourth creature and a girl with choppy blonde hair, "It's like a little gathering of all my delirious craziness. Alright, when are we heading to the insane asylum?"

"You're not crazy, Vienna," one of the — not things, that was mean... individuals — jumped from its — his! (it was a he, wasn't it? Looked like it. Just roll with the insanity, Vienna) — spot above her bedroom door.

"Au contraire, my friend. Show me one person that isn't a little unstable in this world, I dare you."

"I like this chick already!" another turtle exclaimed, the orange mask around his head crinkling as he grinned and leapt out from between the hangers.

"Shh!" the girl hushed, hurrying to the door and pressing her ear to the frame, listening intently.

"It's okay, Mom won't hear you," Vienna assured the seemingly imaginary group, "After all, you guys are all in my—"

"Vienna! Is someone in your room?"

"Head," she squeaked, sitting back on the bed in dumbfounded silence.

The other girl cleared her throat, coughing and rasping out in a low whisper, "No, just my phone. I'm watching YouTube."

"Oh...well are you sure you don't want me to—"

"No! I'm all good!" the blonde cried, too hasty for Mrs. — no, 'Miss' — Bardi's liking.

"Watch the attitude," she shouted through the door, he telltale maternal scolding edging into her tone.

"Sorry. I just don't want...erm... Emelia to get a cold like I have!" The girl glanced at the four turtles in slight panic, who were already slinking back to their hiding spots.

"You're sure you're sick? ...Open the door," Vienna's mother commanded.

"I...I can't!" The stranger answered frantically, "I...just started my period! Blood and chocolate wrappers and hormones everywhere! I just want to be alone."

The males all retched at the thought of such estrogenic horrors.

"Well...alright. Go to bed soon. Don't be on that dang phone all night."

"Got it," the blonde falsely croaked with relief, "Love you, Mom."

"I love you too, honey."

Fading footsteps were heard outside the door, and then Vienna was left alone — alone, with five unknown people, the majority of which bared strong resemblances to reptiles.

"How'd you know my sister's name?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

In answer, they all pointed to one of Meles's framed drawings, the statement 'Vienna and Emelia, Sisters!' scrawled proudly on the bottom.

"How'd you my name?"

The girl with the choppy hair stepped forward, grabbing Vienna's wallet and reading off the ID, "Vienna Bardi, November 4th, 1999. You're 18, then. And your picture is right here."

"Well, how'd you know that was my mom outside, and not some other lady watching the house or... something?" she challenged, beginning to get creeped out by their uncanny (yet easily attainable) skills of deduction.

A shrug from the turtle peeping his head out by her feet. "Lucky guess."

"Who are you?" Vienna asked, folding her hands in her lap in a reserved manner and taking on the air of an interrogator, eyeing each of her suspects warily.

The turtle towering above her, using the top corner of her room as a haven, bored down on her with calm authority. Blue suited him, she decided, watching him drop to the floor and greet her with an equally calculative look. A subtly powerful color.

"My name is Leonardo," he introduced, "I am the leader of this team and the master of the Hamato—"

"And I'm Michelangelo!" the peppy turtle cried, prancing up to Vienna and waggling his brows, "Mikey to the ladies."

Vienna giggled, setting her hands on her hips to convey more confidence, and to overpower her nervous fright.

"Mikey," the other girl chided, pulling the bouncing little ball of energy back to his place beside the humanoid in blue, and turning to Vienna with a gentle smile. "I'm Faline. Call me Fae though, my real name is terrible."

"It's not terrible, it's pretty," Leonardo insisted sweetly.

"Nice tattoos," Vienna's eyes had snagged on the leopard print dotting her arms.

"What? Oh, they're not tattoos, they're marks from..." Fae hesitated, shrinking into a posture that better hid the skin embellishments from view. "Thanks."

"No problem. Probably hurt like a mother to get those ones on your neck, huh? Getting one on my arm was torture enough." Vienna tugged up her sleeve, proudly displaying her own tattoo for the group to see, only earning a few astounded stares, as per usual. "Anyway," she mumbled sheepishly, sliding her shirt back down over the marking and changing the subject to the turtle still on the outskirts of the gathering. "What about you?"

The young man — er, turtle? — with the red mask directed his attention to the window , grumbling in a rough tone, "Raphael."

"You sure are a temperamental one, I see. Why don't you come out and share a bit about yourself with us. C'mon, don't be shy, we won't bite," she coaxed with a little smirk, taking in the sight of his ragged stripe of crimson, cracked upper plastron, and glaring green eyes. He'd be fun to mess with.

Raphael's scowl deepened. "Are you talkin' to me?"

"I certainly wasn't talking to the wall behind you."

His lip curled up in a snarl. "Donnie should've left your sarcastic ass up on the roof."

"Vienna's the name, sarcasm's the game," she beamed, then knitted her brow as she ran through her new list of names. "Donnie...?"

"Right here." She looked back at the terrapin still wedged under her bed, tapping his fingers against the hardwood in irritation. This one she recognized, the one with the purple mask and the sad brown eyes. So sad... she wondered why they'd become that way. Vienna grinned, kneeling down beside him.

"Are you stuck?"

He refused to meet her eyes, looking up at his kin desperately, silently pleading for assistance. The others seemed perfectly content to watch him struggle under the girl's gaze, however. Finally defeated, he cupped his chin in his hand, dejectedly muttering, "Yes."

She laughed, grabbing his hand and at the same time sticking her sneaker up under the bed frame to leverage it up. Donnie managed to wriggle out, tearing his hand away as soon as he'd been freed, offering up a completely fake smile. She responded in kind with a genuine one, not bothering to look at the others while she addressed them curtly, "You should help people in uncomfortable situations, you know. After all, you're all in a zone of discomfort right now."

Raphael scoffed. "As if you know anything about us."

Vienna cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses, preparing to drop some knowledge. "Body language. You're withdrawing from the conversation, arms crossed and stance inwardly focused, but trying to imitate strength. Fae over there is avoiding eye contact with me. Mikey keeps touching his face. Leonardo does the best with hiding it, but the way his feet are pointing toward the window or door any time he shifts tells me he's just as uncomfortable being here as the rest of you."

The four in question quickly changed their behaviors, becoming stiff as soldiers and smiling apologetically (except Raphael, who of course, remained stoic). Vienna turned to Donnie, eyes flicking over him and watching him intently. "You keep rubbing your neck. And you're hunched in, shoulders forward, head down. You're hiding."

He was fidgeting now, seeking purchase at the loose wrappings on his hands and the worn spots on his leather belt to distract himself from the conversation.

In truth, she was amazed how easily she herself was conversing with the five. Had they been more educated in the topic, she was sure they would've been able to figure out how her movements and positioning were giving away her shock. Vienna smoothed her hair, closing her eyes to maintain composure. "Now. Why are you here, and... pardon me, but what are you?"

Leonardo stepped up in the disagreeable silence, folding his hands and then pointing his index fingers at her. "To answer your last question, we're mutants. You needn't be afraid of us—"

"Did it seem like I was?"

"—we're just four brothers trying to protect the city—"

"Then who's the blondie? She isn't your brother, is she?"

"—and we think you can help us in bringing down an evil preventing us from protecting New York." Leonardo's lips were a thin line, pressed tight in repression of some annoyed words threatening to escape.

Vienna stood still for a moment, processing what bits of information she'd managed to catch from his little speech.

"Mutants? You're mutants!" she laughed quietly, slapping her hands over her mouth to keep quiet as she spun in a circle, grinning at each of them in fascination, "What funny things my imagination comes up with! Mutant turtles, of all things!"

"Again, we're not imaginary," Raphael griped.

"Did you listen to anything else I said?" Leonardo complained, rolling his eyes.

"Are you a mutant too?" Vienna turned to Fae, taking the girl's hand in hers and twirling her in a small circle to check for any obscurities, making the blonde gasp in surprise.

"No, not exactly," she explained, "but I can transform into... into a leopard, with some concentration. It's a bit hard to ex—"

"So you're half-and-half in some aspects as well."

"Um... yes. And the real exciting thing is we think you might be like m—"

"How exactly did your mutations occur?" Vienna spun, walking right up to Mikey and staring at him, "Because all the genetic mutations I'm familiar with turn things into two-headed fishes or hermaphrodite frogs." She frowned in contemplation. "Are you guys hermaphrodites?"

"Dude, no!" Mikey cried, putting his hand over his heart in an oath, "We're all dudes in this room. Except you. And Fae. But...nah, hermaphroditism isn't part of the mutant deal."

"How do even know what a hermaphrodite is?" Raph cut in.

Mikey shrugged. "TV. Why do you act like it's something crazy, bro? It's no big deal. Boys, girls and everything in between are accepted." He folded his hands in a meditative pose with a cheeky grin.

"So completely male? Cool." Vienna smiled mischievously. "Means I can flirt shamelessly with any of you. Except Fae. Sorry hon, I don't swing that way."

"As if." Raphael made like he was about to barf.

"Come again?" Donnie stammered.

"Flirt all you want." Mikey offered with a charming smirk.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm...uh...," Leo stuttered.

"He's taken." Fae had suddenly developed a cold edge, stepping between her now-established beau and Vienna.

"Whoa, there, Lover Girl. I was just joking." She held her hands up like a convicted felon. "I wouldn't have the nerve to come onto one guy, let alone four of them."

The be-spectacled young woman giggled, falling back into silence. She glanced back at Donnie, who retreated instantly into himself, slouching, looking away, and bowing his head in body speak that screamed, 'DO NOT APPROACH'.

So of course, she had to approach. She grabbed his hand before he could argue, blinking at the sizable difference. Her tiny hands were pale in comparison to his three fingers, bigger and stronger, but the way he tried to wiggle his arm away, instead of yanking it back harshly, suggested his digits were also uniquely graceful as well as immense.

"You make things, don't you?" Vienna murmured, looking up at him with round eyes full of curiosity, "You create things, like me."

He could only withdraw his hands and murmur a series of stuttered nothings.

"But you're built. A nerd with strength," she continued, eyes flicking to the muscular build-up of his limbs and the taut tendons and sinew of his shoulders and neck. "Nice."

"Careful, he might run away to hide if you keep giving him so much attention," Raphael snorted in amusement, earning some warning glares from his brothers and Faline.

Vienna turned calmly toward the hothead, crossing her arms. "You know, I use my sarcasm for humor. I admit it, I can be a Sarcasm Queen. But your way of sarcasm is a bit different. It could be funny too, if you didn't use it so cruelly. I joke as an icebreaker. You joke as some twisted way of hurting someone with laughter. Now, I could give you an entire breakdown of why your behavior could suggest some self-insecurity, but I'll leave it at this: keep the nasty comments to yourself, unless you want to be abandoned on a rooftop someday, like you think Donnie here should've abandoned me."

The stunned silence lasted a good couple seconds. Raphael gaped at Vienna's audacity, his entire body rigid with anger. Donnie stared at her, trying to compute how she'd so effortlessly and quickly shut his brother down. Mikey was the first to break the unease in the room, whispering, "Whoa, Raph got spanked."

"Shut up!" Raphael growled, shuffling under Vienna's unrelenting gaze.

"Um...Vienna," Leonardo finally said, "We're here for a reason. Donnie called us when he found you."

"Yes, I was wondering why all of you were here for such a silly thing as one girl passed out," Vienna turned her focus from the hothead to the leader of this band of misfits.

"You're special, Vienna—"

"You know, that can be taken one of two ways—"

"I didn't mean it like—"

"Ha! I got you didn't I? It's totally fine, I don't care—"

"Can I talk for more than three seconds without you interrupting?" Leo cried, taking several deep breaths to keep his frustration at bay. Vienna attempted to keep a straight face, seeing him struggle so.

"I apologize. Continue, please," she obliged.

"Thank you. Now, as Fae said before, we think you might be like her."

"Like...transforming?" Vienna snorted, crossing her arms. "Yeah right."

"Dudette, I know it sounds crazy. Like someone impractically wrote a weird plot twist into a book," Mikey consoled, "but trust me, this is all real. There's a chick from like eons ago - like thirty years - that made it so Fae here had these powers. She and three other girls have these awesome powers where they can turn into animals! And they're gonna save our clan! From the Shredder! And we think you're the next Freeformer - that's what this mystery chick calls them - and you're gonna help us!"

"Wow," she replied, arching a brow, "You're almost as crazy as I am."

"Once again, you're not crazy," Donnie spoke up this time, "You really are-"

"A Freeformer! Like I said, some weird plot twist-y stuff, right? But it all worked out, and now you're part of the awesome out-of-this-world sequel, and-"

"Mikey, I really don't think your commentary is helping," Leonardo muttered, managing to coax his younger brother into silence.

"Look," Vienna stopped them before they could continue, "this has been really nice. I got to meet five great new people, share a few laughs, get to know y'all. That's just awesome. I got to hear about your crazy powers and your cheese-grater enemy and even about some powers that I might possess myself! Totally cool! But now that you all have given your spiel, I'd like a few words."

"As if you haven't gotten enough of 'em into this conversation," Raphael muttered, huffing when her warning gaze landed on him.

"My name is Vienna," she declared, "I'm eighteen, and I have college to worry about getting into. I have a little sister, a mom, and a dog that I absolutely adore and care for. I have dreams to fulfill, music pieces to practice, and canvases to paint on. And I really would love it if I could do those things outside the confines of a mental hospital. So with all due respect, mutant turtle heroes, I think it's time for you to go and leave me and whatever sanity I have left at peace."

"Vienna, you don't understand," Leonardo began, "We really need-"

"Fictional characters don't need anything, because they're not real," she insisted, pushing her stray strands of hair back and stomping toward the window, swinging it wide open and gesturing for them to leave. "Go on. Go be heroes and rescue other passed-out girls from the cold night. I'm all set here, thanks."

"Fine by me," Raphael said, stalking over right behind her and making to exit the room.

"Raph!" Leonardo scolded, somehow managing to get the hothead to hesitate, before turning to Vienna again, "This isn't an option. We need to talk about this."

"I'm perfectly content with leaving things as they are. I'm going on with my life as normal, without crazy powers and villains," Vienna cried, jumpy now, growing more and more anxious with their adamance to stay put, "And if you don't leave I'm gonna call my mom in here!"

"Please don't do that. We can't be seen,," Mikey pleaded, rushing up to her and attempting to lay a hand on her shoulder, dissuaded when she backed away quickly.

"You have to the count of three," she took on the same tone she scolded Emelia in. "One."

"Vienna, listen to us," Donnie cut in, stepping forward and imploringly, ashamedly, meeting her eyes. "If this prophecy about you is true, you're the only hope in helping us defeat this evil. Just give us a chance to-"

"Two." She couldn't handle this. Change, especially life-altering change, had never been welcomed by her with open arms.

So many people had told her she possessed so much potential. A shame that is was going to remain just that - potential. After all, how could a delusional, silly girl who sees humanoid creatures be capable of achieving much?

"You don't have a choice in this," Leo commanded, his blue eyes turning colder by the second as the fear of being caught set in.

She didn't have a choice? They were doing the same as everyone else in her life! Determining her future for her! Well, not today, pal. She wouldn't be letting any green men or tattooed young women write her destiny for her.

"Thr-"

Suddenly, the air was pulled from Vienna's lungs. Her back hit the wall with astonishing speed, her neck muscles cramping while she tried to keep her head from banging against it. Fae's arm pinned her chest in place, her hand covering her mouth, not allowing a single sound to escape. Beneath the choppy blonde locks, her pupils had shrunk to feline slits, a sharpened claw pressing against her neck while she scowled at the brunette. Vienna caught the strange sight of a golden tail dotted with leopard print swishing behind Fae.

"You scream, you'll regret it," she hissed, her tongue creating a tiny lisp against the teeth that had now sharpened to dangerous points.

Vienna's eyes widened, her breath quickening. Being sliced to bits by a wild leopard-girl was definitely gonna set back her plans for the future.

"You sit, you don't speak, and you listen to Leo," Faline ordered, "You hear what we have to say, and then make a decision. You do NOT wake your mother, sister or... dog." The fur on her tail bristled at the mention of a canine nearby. "Got it?"

Vienna nodded frantically, her entire body shaking with apprehension. Slowly, Fae stepped back, her animalistic qualities fading slowly, her teeth and eyes returning to normal, her claws retracting to normal human fingernails, her tail swishing behind her and then disappearing from view altogether. Vienna gulped, sliding down the wall and pulling her knees up to her chest, rocking back and forth to soothe herself, staring up at the other five.

"Don't be afraid," Donnie mumbled apologetically. Her eyes met his again, and she caught the saddest look of contrition from him she'd ever witnessed... and then it was gone, he looked away and broke the possibility for connection.

"I'm not afraid," she assured, even though she was, her body language was screaming it, though she wasn't fearful of them, persay, only what their presence might mean for her now. Man, things just weren't gonna be the same with four turtles and a leopardess.

"My life is gonna change forever, isn't it?" she asked quietly, trying to reign in the confusion of emotions bubbling up inside her.

"Yes," Leo confirmed, "It is."