Kaitlyn was surprised. She wasn't expecting there to be four of them, or that they would appear more human than creature.
"Is that the hunter?" the orange banded turtle asked as the other three teens rounded the corner. Kris let out a small exclamation of surprise when he saw the turtles. Kaitlyn frowned at the question the turtle had just asked. "No," she told him. "We're not monster hunters. She's a couple corners back. You need to get out of here before she catches up."
"This is all part of the plan," April told the masked girl. "The plan which you almost ruined, by the way."
"I thought you and Casey were actually helping her."
"Never! They're our friends," April cried.
"Um. How do you know my name?" Casey interrupted.
"A-… she said it earlier," Kaitlyn told him, pointing to April. "The Monster Hunter will be coming soon. We have to act now. Who was making that roaring noise?" she turned back to the turtles as she asked the question.
"That would be this device," the purple banded turtle said proudly, holding up what looked like a mangled radio attached to a megaphone. Kaitlyn noticed all four turtles had unusual equipment. The red banded turtle was wearing gloves with several knives protruding from them. The blue turtle was carrying two large, fake monster feet. And the orange turtle held a bag of dark fur.
"You're making a fake monster for her to hunt," Kaitlyn realised. The teens turned suddenly, hearing heavy splashing in the distance. "She's coming," Kaitlyn warned, turning back to the turtles. "We'll slow her down enough for you to get some distance." The turtles nodded, and the red banded turtle gave one last scratch at the wall before they ran off.
"Quickly explain the exact plan," Kaitlyn asked April.
"They're going to make a trail for the hunter to follow that leads to the lake near the woods. Casey and I are going to convince her that the monster swam out of the city and that she should follow," April explained.
"Good plan," Kaitlyn commented.
"She's almost here," Kris spoke up.
"You and Casey need to attack us," She instructed.
"What? Why!?" April asked.
"You're hunting the monster. We're trying to stop you. What else would we be doing?"
"Good point. Sorry in advance."
Kaitlyn nodded and the four teens began their mock battle. The Monster Hunter turned the corner, seeing the claw marks and the little bit of fur floating in the water. "Which way did the monster go!?" Abigail demanded.
"Around that corner!" April told her, pointing the way.
"No!" Kaitlyn blurted, pushing April against the wall as gently as she could, without it looking fake. She raised her hand and telekinetically shoved Abigail back a few steps. She growled and took the net gun off her back, aiming it at Kris.
"I got 'im, Abby!" Casey called out, and whispering under his breath, "sorry, man." Kris braced himself as Casey swung his hockey stick, knocking Kris to the side. He stayed down, pretending to be unconscious. Not an easy thing to do in sewer water. April kicked Kaitlyn away, and Abigail fired the gun at her. The netting surrounded Kaitlyn and she fell to her knees. She struggled, pretending that she couldn't phase out. Abigail wouldn't be suspicious, since she hadn't seen Kaitlyn use her intangibility.
"Good work, future monster hunters," Abigail cheered. "Now quickly, after the monster!" Abigail, April and Casey ran off in the direction the turtles had gone. The twins waited a moment before ending their act. Kris stood up, spitting and rubbing his face.
"Gross," he whined, as Kaitlyn phased out of the net. "Glad they left. Don't think I could've stayed lying in that water much longer."
"C'mon. We have to follow to make sure the plan works," Kaitlyn told her brother as they, too, ran off.
...
Abigail and the two teens followed the monster's trail. She was oblivious to how obvious it was, blinded by her insanity and obsession. They continued to chase the clues, until they seemed to vanish.
"No!" Abigail wailed. "It can't be gone! I was so close."
"Wait. I think it went up," April said, pointing to the marks on the wall. The scratch marks had stopped, and been replaced by holes. There were also smudge marks on the walls that looked like foot prints. Both led up towards an open manhole cover.
"Of course! Excellent work!" Abigail told them, climbing towards the surface. Once up top, they realized they were now in a more quiet part of the city; less likely to run into someone on the street here than the rest of New York.
"The trail is faint," Abigail told them. "But it leads to the woods. It's trying to lose us." She bolted towards the forested area. The monster trail and damage picked up again once they were among the trees. Casey and April struggled to stay close behind the hunter as she followed the trail to the water's edge. She stopped, kneeling down to pick up the fur that was floating in the water. She looked puzzled as she glanced from the fur to the rest of her surroundings.
"The footprints lead into the water," Casey noted. Abigail looked down and realized the boy was right. She traced the prints with her fingers.
"The monster must be swimming out of the city," April suggested, pretending to seem disappointed.
"Of course," Abigail mumbled. "Adapt to survive." She stood and barked at her lackey, Parker, to bring the van around. "Would the two of you like to continue the hunt outside the city?" she asked the teens as Parker pulled around with her vehicle.
"Wish we could," Casey lied. "But, um… we can't." Abigail arced an eyebrow, becoming suspicious of the teens' behaviour again.
"Our parents don't support our monster hunting," April covered. "So they'd never let us leave the city on a hunt. I'm afraid our trail ends here. Good luck, though."
"I understand," Abigail nodded and shook April's and Casey's hands. "Perhaps we'll see each other again someday. Farewell, children." She turned and quickly got into the passenger side of the van, yelling at Parker to go. The van sped off around the body of water and out of the city. April and Casey let out a sigh once the Monster Hunter van was out of sight. They turned around and saw the turtles came out of hiding, smiling wide.
"Yeah, we did it!" They all cheered as they high fived and high threed each other. Then they paused, noticing that the masked teens had caught up to them again.
"So," Kris said, finally breaking the silence that had come over the group. "I wasn't expecting there to be actual creatures." Kaitlyn elbowed her brother at the term he used.
"They're not creatures," April defended. "They just happen to … look different."
"Believe me, we can understand that," Kaitlyn replied. She walked over to the group, Kris following behind as Kaitlyn continued. "I also understand now why you wanted to get her out of the city."
"Well understand this," Raph began, walking up to the masked teens and trying to be intimidating. "You can't tell anyone about us."
"Of course we understand that. We promise we won't …" Kaitlyn trailed off as she got a good look at Raph. A confused look fell across his face. He wondered if it was some kind of delayed response and she was just now registering his appearance.
*"It's you," she finally spoke again, whispering softly as her eyes widened. "I recognize your eyes."
Raph became even more confused, so she lowered her hood and took off her mask. This startled her brother, as well as April and Casey who recognized her instantly.
"Kaitlyn!?" April cried.
"Whoa," Casey commented. "Didn't see that coming." They both looked over at the other masked teen, coming to the realization that it must be Kris. He took off his hood and mask as well, giving a short, nervous laugh at being discovered. Until now, their family in the Baxter Building were the only ones to know about their powers. Kaitlyn had ignored everything around her, simply stunned that she had discovered who Raph was.
"Ten years ago," Kaitlyn began to explain. "You were the one who saved a little girl by pulling her under a bridge to shelter her from the cold. Do you remember?" Raph's eyes widened as the memory came back to him. Kris's jaw dropped as he listened.
"That was me who you saved," Kaitlyn told Raph. "I never forgot your eyes." She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "And now I can finally thank you properly."
Raph blushed, too stunned to hug back. How was it possible, after ten years and all chances against them, that they would meet again?
"Hey, no fair!" Mikey interrupted. "I'm her pen pal. She should be hugging me!"
"Mikey?" Kaitlyn asked, releasing her hug on Raph.
"Yeah!" Mikey held out his arms, ready to receive a hug. "I knew we'd get to meet someday!"
Kaitlyn smirked. Mikey seemed to be the exact same in real life as he appeared to be online. "Yeah, Mikey," Kaitlyn agreed. "But I was expecting you to be in California." She gave him a hug as he blushed and returned it, knowing he'd have some explaining to do.
He let out a nervous laugh, "Sorry 'bout that. Kinda had to make some stuff up. For obvious reasons." Leo and Don had been stunned into silence by the events transpiring, not really knowing how to respond. April however, just as confused, knew exactly what she was going to do.
"Hold it!" she cried out, causing Kaitlyn to release her hug on Mikey as she and everyone else looked at April. "I have just a few questions before the hugs continue. One: how do you and Kris have powers? Two: why are you both acting as if this is normal?"
"Little insulting," Don interrupted.
April continued, "Sorry. And three: you and Raph have met before? What!?"
"I'm not the only one who has some explaining to do, April," Kaitlyn told her friend with a cheeky smile.
"I know," April agreed. "But you first."
Kaitlyn looked to her brother, who only offered a shrug and a slight shake of his head. She turned back to April and began to answer her questions.
"About ten years ago, Raph and his father saved me from freezing to death and brought me back home to my Grandfather."
"Not your parents?" Leo asked.
"They had died almost a year before," Kris explained.
"Oh," Leo looked to the ground, feeling guilty for bringing up what must be a difficult memory.
Kaitlyn continued, "As you know, my brother and I have been living with our Uncle and the Fantastic Four. We have not had a single normal day since. We've had to deal with attempted kidnappings or shape shifting aliens or the Frightful Four. Giant turtles are actually pretty mellow for us."
"That sounds awesome!" Mikey exclaimed.
"Most times it's just annoying," Kris corrected.
"What about your powers?" Don asked.
"Kris and I are mutants," Kaitlyn revealed. "Class C mutants, to be exact."
"What!?" the others cried, nearly in unison.
"How? And what do you mean 'class C mutants'?" Don inquired.
"There are three different classes of mutants," Kaitlyn explained. "The most common is Class A. They're naturally evolved mutants; born with what's called the x-gene. When they reach puppetry, their mutation awakens, and gives them special abilities, sometimes changing their appearance as well. Class B mutants are born as what society deems normal and are later mutated by external forces, like radiation or chemicals. And Class C mutants, the most rare of the classes, are born mutants, but are absent of the x-gene. This usually occurs when a pregnant woman experiences a mutation factor, but instead of affecting her, it affects her unborn child."
"That's. So. Cool!" Mikey cheered, pumping his fists in the air. "We're class B mutants! Right, Don?" Don nodded, placing his thumb and finger under his chin, and gaining a thoughtful expression.
"I don't understand how there's a classification system, though. I didn't think there was … I mean, who would …" Don trailed off as he tried to make sense of it.
"Mutants make up nearly half of Earth's population. Class A mutants made up the classes when they realized we didn't all have the x-gene," Kaitlyn specified.
"So," April spoke up. "I'm a Class C mutant too."
Kaitlyn's eyes lit up. "Really?" she asked, walking up to her friend. "What's your mutation?"
"It's more like a sixth sense. I can't really control it," April explained. "What about you and Kris?"
"We each have three powers. I have super strength, intangibility and telekinesis."
"And I have flight, shape shifting and mind reading," Kris told them.
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this to happen tonight," Leo commented. Kaitlyn smiled over at Raph, who was still speechless at finding out who Kaitlyn was and hearing her story.
"Man! We got rid of a monster hunter, and made two, new, mutant friends!" Mikey said excitedly, wrapping his arms around Kris's and Kaitlyn's shoulders. "This is the best day ever!"
...
*Author's Note
To learn more about when Raph saved Kaitlyn, see my prelude story Strange Hero