Author's Note: Hello, hello, HELLO READERS! Let me be the first to say that this gal is finally done with her finals this semester! Wooh! Not only that, but this gal is also a community college graduate! Double wooh! Next month I'll finally have my Associates degree in my hands and ready to take with me as I travel to the land of higher learning, where I will achieve large amounts of knowledge and use it to better my career options! :D Yay!

lol Well, as you can probably tell from my horrifically random and overly excited writing, I'm about ready to pass the F out, which means the ending to this chapter isn't QUITE the way I'd like it to be, but let me be honest with you, readers, this whole chapter gave me a smidgen bit of trouble. The beginning turned out flawless in my eyes and I really think you guys will enjoy it because it's playing around with the plot and will slowly start to push this story towards the action sequences and stuff. :D The ending, however, I struggled with, so please forgive me if a few of the characters sound a bit out of character or if it just seems rushed. I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things since school took a big chunk of my free time away from me. Oh, how I missed writing for pleasure rather than writing for essays. TwT

Alright! Now before I get on with the story, I'd like to, of course, give everyone who reviewed a personally thank you. :) Here's a big ol' shout out to my fabulous reviewers: ChatterNoMatter, BubblyShell22, MissCookiiie, TheEquestrianidiot 2.0, Novus Ordo Seclorum, canarycup, and SleepingSeeker. You guys are totally awesome and thank you so much for giving this story some love. :D

Alright, I think everyone's waited long enough. Hope you readers enjoy and don't forget to tickle that review button on your way out. Reviews not only make me smile, but help me improve in both my writing and creativitiy. :)

Enjoy the fic!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"Sugar, Spice, and a Splash of Mutagen"

Chapter 8

Target Acquired

Karai stared at the large canister holding the green, goopy mess of human organs and intestines with a sharp gaze, her lips curled into a fierce snarl of pure and utter disgust.

She watched the creature's eyes snake circuitously back and forth through the green ooze, its slimy lips moving in a frenzy – though she had no interest trying to grasp what on earth it was saying. After all, she had more important questions that needed to be addressed, starting with the reasoning behind Bradford, Xever, and Stockman brining her this revoltingly useless … thing rather than the four mutant Turtles and their treacherous rat master. Clearly she had made her demands evident, letting the three of them know how imperative it was that she have the Turtles and their sensei trapped, bound, and ready to be presented to her father when he returned from his trip to Japan. Bestowing her the honor of making sure matters were secure with the Footbots and keeping the Kraang in check – keeping a close eye on the squid-like aliens just in case they had plans to destroy the planet while her father was away; it was all a tremendous amount of responsibility and what better chance to prove her worth than to present her father with captives she alone apprehended using her tactics and strategic approaches? Sixteen or not, her father still saw her as an incompetent little child who couldn't carry out a single order due to the fact that Karai wanted to do things her own way rather than her father's way. With him absent, there were no other orders to follow but her own and who knew how much longer she had before her father returned home? She needed to take advantage of her well-renowned freedom before it was too late.

Then again, it made matters rather difficult when the henchmen she had working for her couldn't even follow a simple instruction: infiltrate the Turtle's lair and bring them back to headquarters. Was that really too difficult to follow through with? Perhaps she needed to be a little bit more … forceful to get her point across. It generally worked with her father; at least when it came to the first generation Foot soldiers that were one hundred percent human rather than all robot. If one slipped up, he faced the consequences and Karai's father wasn't one to hold back on his disciplinary tactics when it came to getting his point across. People always listened whenever the promise of bloodshed was trickling toward their future. All it took was a little demonstration – a slip of the blade biting into the soft, delicate layer of smooth skin, like a knife cutting into the interior of a moist, freshly baked cake. That's all it took and people instantly fell to their knees, eager to show her father that they would not slip up again. Maybe that was the kind of motivation Bradford, Xever, and Stockman needed in order for them to follow through with her plans correctly.

It's a start, Karai thought. Nevertheless, she didn't have time to contemplate such insignificant details.

Folding her arms over her chest plate, she looked down at her father's henchmen and waited without much fortitude. Patience wasn't exactly her strongest quality, so she wasted no time in allowing the three to gather their thoughts before she opened her mouth and sneered. Anger always got the point across quicker and she wasn't about to sugarcoat anything if it meant getting things done faster. The kunoichi didn't have much time left before her father returned so wasting her time tiptoeing over Bradford, Xever, and Stockman's mistakes was absolutely not acceptable. She had plans to carry out and dammit she was going to get them done whether they liked it or not.

"I send you all to do one simple thing for me: find the Turtles and their rat father and bring them to me. So please, tell me why is it that I'm standing here with no turtles and no rat, but this … this slimy green monster that can't even move!"

Baxter Stockman was the first to flinch. Typical, seeing as the man had the spine of a jellyfish and no backbone to hold him upright. With a man such as himself, Karai always knew she could pull the truth out of him without putting in any effort. All it took was a stern front and a glare that rivaled even the finest of daggers. And just like that, the gutless weasel was like putty in her hands.

But it wasn't Stockman that quickly rushed over to explain himself to the young kunoichi. Instead, it was Bradford, stepping forward and addressing the situation before Stockman even had a chance to open his big, cowardly mouth. Much to Karai's surprise, Bradford even took the liberty of bowing his head in respect before walking toward the canister and standing next to the sickening creature that was smearing its pink, glossy lips across the glass of the container he was currently trapped in.

"Forgive our unsuccessful endeavor in trying to retrieve those blasted turtles and their sensei, Karai. If you allow us to explain our reasons, I'm sure you will find them quite useful to you and Master Shredder."

Raising a curious eyebrow, Karai placed a hand on her hip while shifting her weight to one side with interest. "I'm listening."

Cogs turning at Bradford's side, Xever shot the skeletal mutant a quick look before he took it upon himself to be the first to clarify their motives. Following Bradford's lead, he too got down on one knee and offered Karai a bow; a sign of deference before she allowed him to speak. Growing up in the streets, Xever never thought he would be the one to give others respect when he was so used to having everyone else throw it his way out of fear, knowing he was the toughest barrio on the lower east side that could cut anyone up who so much as looked at him the wrong way. Now that he was loyal to Oroku Saki, Xever quickly learned that even when the head honcho wasn't in town, it was never wise to cross the person that was handed down the title of second in command; even if that person was a demanding little bitch. Nevertheless, Karai was Master Shredder's daughter and until he arrived back from Japan with whatever forces he promised to retrieve, the only thing Xever could do in order to make sure things ran as smoothly as possible was keep his head bowed and keep the boss's bratty little daughter as happy as he could.

No matter how difficult it was.

"You see, Karai," Xever explained. "During our travels through the sewer tunnels, we stumbled across something quite … unexpected upon finding the Turtles' hidden lair."

"We believe there may have been an accident of some sorts," Bradford clarified. "A fire. Some sort of chemical explosion that left the Turtles' lair in shambles, causing them and their sensei to retreat to the surface, leaving everything in their wake behind. Nothing was salvaged from what we could speculate. But we did find this little guy here that perhaps could give us an idea of where the Turtles might be hiding."

Karai flicked her eyes where the mutant's canister was set, its eyeball sockets blinking absentmindedly at her while its organs churned and its heart palpitated to a steady, rhythmic pulse. Sneering at the hideous Jell-o creature with floating, functioning organs, she walked towards its canister and eyed the thing from top to bottom, watching its lips move, but not hearing any words come out of it.

Raising a confused eyebrow, she glanced over her shoulder before Stockman came rushing to her aid, bending down on his knees so that he was level with a beaten up speaker connected to the canister. He gripped a disconnected audio jack and eyed it with speculation, a small smile tugging at his lips before he plugged it into the connector and adjusted the volume; speakers crackling to life while he messed around with the tuner. "There we go. That should do it."

"Ssspeeeaaaakiiinnng to yoouuu," the goopy mutant droned, causing a slight jolt in Karai's chest. She wasn't expecting the thing's voice to be so boisterous.

Straightening herself to look more authoritative, Karai eyed the vital-organed creature before speaking to it with an edge to her voice. Like she had done with Bradford and Xever, she wasn't about to beat around the bush, especially with a freak such as this one. She wanted to get straight to the point and if talking to this thing was going to waste any more of what little time she had left, then this Jell-o creatures' organs weren't the only ones that were going to be put on display.

"What do you know about the incident with the Turtles?" Karai barked at the mutant. "Where are they hiding?"

"Leeefft me beehiiinnnd," the creature hummed. "Leeeffft me tooo diiieee. Aaaprrriiilll frrriiieeennnd. Aaaaprrriilll moorre immpoorrrtaaannt thaannn meeee."

Karai did nothing but stare at the gelatinized freak, her arms crossed over her chest plate while she mulled something over in her head. Glancing over her shoulder, she nodded in Stockman's direction in order to grasp his attention. The cowardly scientist immediately straightened his posture to mask his spineless exterior.

"Can you hack into any personnel records in order to track down a certain person?" Karai asked, her arms still folded over her chest plate.

Stockman nervously adjusted his glances before glancing down at his portable computer – the one he used to control the Mousers with. "I-I believe so. All I need is the name of the person and we're good to go."

"Good." Karai smiled devilishly, walking around the canister to get a better look at the slimy, green monster. "Then I have another assignment for the three of you. Bradford and Xever, I want you to take our new friend here and make sure he's comfortable. Stockman, I want you to compose a search. Once we have all the information we need, then we'll carry out our plan as followed."

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Baxter stuttered with a bow. "Uhm, who is it you want me to search for?"

Karai let out a low chuckle, watching with wicked glee as Bradford and Xever hauled the organed mutant and took him to another room, her eyes a fire of mischievous delight. With one hand on her hip and her mouth quirked into a lopsided smile, she turned toward Stockman and shrugged her shoulders as if the answer to his question were completely obvious.

"Why, April O'Neil of course."

"April…? April, please, open the door. I … look, you have every right to be angry with me. What I did was thoughtless and barbaric and … and I don't know what the hell I was thinking, to be honest with you. I just … snapped. Or panicked, or whatever you want to call it. I had no idea what to think so my brain just acted on hysteric impulse; seeing you and Casey talking to one another. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions and acted the way I did. He probably thinks I'm a complete asshole. Or, bitch, seeing as he thinks I'm a girl, heheh…. April, I'm really, really sorry about the way I acted, and I just want you to forgive me. So please, come out so I can give you the direct apologize you deserve. Please. Just for a few minutes—"

"Go away, Donnie. I've already heard what you have to say and quite frankly, it doesn't change the way I feel about you right now. I'm still extremely ticked off over what you did and I just … I want to be by myself for a moment…."

"But, April if you just let me explain—"

"There's nothing to explain, alright? What's done is done. That's it. It happened. End of story."

"So what, you're just going to stay mad at me no matter what I say?"

"If you keep standing at my door trying to get me to come out, then yeah."

"April, please. I don't want us to fight like this anymore. I don't want us to fight period. I hate seeing you upset and I just want to make it up to you by telling you how sorry I am. April … please. Just open up and let me in…."

"…"

"April?"

"Go away…."

"April, I—"

"I said go away, Donnie! Just … just leave me alone. Please! Just leave me alone…."

The crack in her voice was an emotional force unlike any other – a catalyst igniting the pull of Donatello's shattered heart, the silence like a coil wrapped around his throat, suffocating him with anticipation. Standing at the foot of her quarters – a door being the only barrier keeping him apart from the woman he loved – he felt his fingers itch at his sides, the knuckles swollen and tender to the touch from knocking at April's door, begging for her to come out. She had to leave her room sooner or later, right? After all, he and his brothers had school in the morning. She couldn't let them carry out the mission all on their own, could she? They couldn't do this without her. He couldn't do this without her….

Sighing dejectedly, Donatello lowered his head and felt his shoulders slump, a curtain of wavy brown locks shielding the sides of his face and masking his bitter resentments. Eyes trailing up at the white wooden door, he raised his hand to knock one last time; a last resort in getting April to come out and allow him to voice his sorrows and regrets. That's what couples did in times of distress, right? They worked things out. Talked to each other. Communicated. Sure, him and April weren't exactly dating, but if they just worked through this – if they talked it out – then maybe, just maybe…

"Donatello?" The brainiac ninja practically jumped at the sound of his name, the soft sound of boney rat paws treading down the hallway, his sensei's kimono brushing against the wooden floorboard. Straightening himself up, his hand still hovered over April's door, though his focus was paid solely on his sensei's questioning expression, his eyebrow cocked in blatant curiosity. "My son, may I ask what it is you are doing?"

"N-Nothing, sensei," he stuttered under his breath, the pull of gravity working on his heavy, tired arm as he continued to hold it up over April's door in mid-knock. He didn't want to voice his reasoning behind getting April to come out and talk with him with his sensei. It was bad enough his brothers and Irma got to witness his mistakes in a public area where other bystanders could've gotten a full view of him being a complete and total ass. No, Donatello wanted to keep things entirely cloak-and-dagger and to do so, he had to play it cool, even under the disparagement eyes of his omniscient sensei. "I just, need to talk to April, is all. Systematic approaches over tomorrow morning's operation. Just to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. Heheh…."

Master Splinter's whiskers twitched in unconcealed uncertainty, a claw rested over the curve of his walking staff before he lowered his head and expelled a sigh. "My son, you do not need to mask the troubles you and April are going through in the presence of your father. Your brothers have already informed me of the misfortunes that have befallen upon you earlier, so keeping me in the dark will not stand in your favor."

Dammit, Donatello swore, his lips pulled in a disapproving frown, his arm lowered and set stiffly at his side.

"Perhaps it is best for both you and April to give each other time to yourselves and allow there to be space separating the tension. You do not want to add fuel to the fire before the flames have even had their chance to die down."

"But, Master Splinter, you heard her. April's furious and it's all my fault. I can't just sit around and do nothing. I have to fix this—"

"Tomeru!" Master Splinter shouted, the bark in his tone causing Donnie's hand to stop just an inch away from knocking on April's door again; the muscles in his body growing rigid from the tension. Staring down at his son, the wizened rat rested a claw on Donatello's shoulder, the strands of soft, chocolate tresses brushing over the rough, leathery exterior of his skin; his eyes locked deep in a set of twin muddy brown irises. Even in their transformed state, Donatello still seemed to have the softest eyes out of all of his brothers – a mirrored representation of rich, spongy soil that overshadowed even Michelangelo's angelic, baby blue eyes. It was often difficult to say no to those eyes – especially when he was younger, a child filled with hope and a mind open to any and all awaiting possibilities. But Master Splinter grew to accept that at times such as these and understood that he had to be firm with his son, even if it meant seeing the flicker in those eyes combust in a smoldering fire wiped clean of all fortitude and self-assurance.

"Donatello," Master Splinter started, "Listen to my words. There is an ancient proverb sometimes used in Japan when there is tension between two people who are of mutual understandings: 'ame futte chi katamaru'; after a storm, things will stand on more solid ground than they did before. With any friendship, relationship, or partnership, there is bound to be misguidance as well as your fair share of disagreements. How you handle them, my son, may lead you both to either the path of acceptance or the path of divergence. To be lead toward the path of acceptance, however, takes patience. Do you understand this, my son?"

At times such as these, it was difficult to take in the message his father was trying to convey in him, his mind clouded with a million other cases and scenarios that shrouded his better judgment. For Donatello, he always took the liberty of seeing things through and through, taking the time to understand them; cognize their functions. But there were periods where he would get stubborn, his thoughts working into overdrive until everything morphed into an incomprehensible blur, frustrating him to no end and acting as though its cryptic interior were just there to mock him. He hated not being able to comprehend a situation that needed to be fixed and being told that the best solution was to just walk away – it almost seemed like a heavy-hearted surrender. But what else could he do? April wouldn't even budge no matter how persuasive he was into getting her to come out of her room. If he walked out on her while leaving her in such a vulnerable state, did that mean he no longer cared about their problematic situation? He had heard a saying stating that distance made the heart grow fonder. If he just gave April her space, just for a few moments, then maybe…

"Donatello?" Master Splinter spoke, snapping the purple-banded ninja out of his trance.

"H-Hai, sensei." He bowed with respect. "I-I understand. To allow things to heal, I have to give April her space. I … I get it now."

"Good." Master Splinter nodded, resting a claw on his son's shoulders as they walked down the hallway. "Do not become disheartened, my son. Sometimes, these things do not take as long as you may think. I am sure April will be joining you and your brothers soon. Just give it time."

"Thank you, sensei," Donatello sighed, his head perking up from the sound of the television in the living room, his brothers all sprawled out in their own relaxing positions.

Master Splinter coughed lightly to get everyone's attention for a moment, his hands placed casually on the top of his walking cane. "I am going to meditate for a while, my sons. Please be courteous and allow April time to gather her thoughts before she is ready to come out. Do you all understand?"

"Hai, sensei," his sons droned, their eyes solely glued to the TV before Raph shook his head and allowed his body to sink against the couch. "Okay, let me get this straight. So these two chicks are pretending to be lesbians so that they can become popular at school, but one chick is trying to get with that artsy pretty boy with the gay best friend and the other chick is starting to develop feelings for her fake girlfriend?"

Leo nodded his head slowly, as if he still wasn't quite sure what he was trying to follow along to. "Looks like it."

"But that's stupid! When the hell did sexual orientation suddenly become a free pass to popularity? It makes no sense."

"Don't be a homophobe, dude. I think it's totally rad," Mikey beamed, fast-forwarding through the commercials before his eyes perked up with an idea. "Ooh! Maybe we can try doing that in order to blend in at April's school?"

"What, pretend to be lesbians?" Leo asked with a raise of the eyebrow, causing Donnie's face to scrunch up in an appalled manner. What the hell had he just walked in on while he was in the hallway?

With an innocent shrug of the shoulders, Mikey carried on, explaining the reasoning behind his suggestion. "S'not really pretending if we're already digging on the ladies, ya know what I'm sayin'?" He offered his brothers a devilish wink, one that was reminiscent of his mischievous gestures before they were all mutated to look all cute and girly.

Raising himself from the couch, Raphael shot his baby brother a flabbergasted look. Of all the things Mikey had said in his life, this had to be the most ridiculous. Pretend to be lesbians? How crazy could you get? "Mikey, that's gotta be the dumbest – and I mean dumbest – idea I have ever—"

"Well hold on, wait a second," Donnie interrupted, pushing himself eagerly into the conversation. "I think Mikey's actually on to something here."

"Really?" Leo asked, his voice sounding a little taken aback.

"Well, just think about it. We all saw the way those punks treated Mikey back at the mall, right? Whether we're dripping with testosterone on the inside or not, guys are only going to see what's on the outside, not the inside. If we make it clear to everyone that we, uhm, play for the other team, so to speak, then we won't have to worry about any setbacks during our mission."

"Okay, and how do you suggest we go about that little theory, huh, genius? I'm not about to pretend one of you guys is my girlfriend," Raph retorted rudely, his arms folded over the cut off leather jacket Irma had gotten him at the mall; the one fashionable accent he actually didn't mind trying on.

Donnie shot his hotheaded brother a teasing grin, pointing out his excessively short hairdo and genuinely sharp facial features as well as his lack of curves that ultimately separated him from looking like a woman to a skinny pre-teen boy. "Well, just from looking at you, I don't think you'll have much trouble convincing other people that you swing the other way, Raquel."

"Ha ha. Hilarious," Raphael droned sarcastically. "At least I ain't gotta worry about manhandling my own boobs just to keep 'em locked and loaded."

Mikey rolled his eyes at his brother's statement, cupping his pillow soft breasts and squishing them together, making the line of his cleavage peak out from the collar of his snow white cotton blouse. "They're not so bad once you get used to them. April and Irma did an awesome job figuring out what size would fit me."

"Yeah, that's great, Mike," Leo cringed. "Now, can you stop playing with them, please? It looks … weird." His cheeks stained a dusty pink from watching his baby brother manhandle his own chest, his body shifting against the couch in an uncomfortable manner. It was bad enough he had to stare at his own feminine body just to dress himself. After all, being a mutant turtle, Leo figured he was never going to have to deal with breasts of any kind let alone securing them in a bra. It felt immoral and downright wrong and the blue-banded ninja couldn't help but silently count the minutes until Donnie finally found a cure to change them all back. Turtle features he could handle. Breasts, he could not.

"So, what? Are we all actually going to go through with this stupid idea? Because I think—"

The sound of beeping immediately cut Raphael off, the conversation of going under the radar as lesbians immediately forgotten by the four boys as Donatello hurried over to his duffel bag filled with gadgets and gizmos that had survived the fire. He rummaged through the dusty carrier before pulling out the cause of the beeping, the small Gameboy-like device that was his mutagen tracker lighting up radiantly while the whisk antennas whirled and spun in a particularly accelerated fashion.

Head perked up, Mikey tried seeing past his older brother's shoulder, his feather-like bangs brushing over his eyes before he gently swiped them back with a delicately small finger. "Did it finally pick something up?"

"I think so," Donnie reported, his fingers working the handmade tracker while his brothers immediately sprung to their feet.

"Should we go tell April?" Leo asked while jabbing a thumb in the direction of the hallway, causing Donnie to lower the tracker, his emotions conflicted after what Master Splinter had told him about giving her space.

"Just … just send her a text. We don't really need her on this mission anyway. Could be too dangerous if we happen to run into any mishaps."

"Mishaps?" Mikey giggled. "Pfft. Who's gonna wanna bother four totally good-looking girls? I'm sure we'll be fine, dude."

Already heading out the door, Raphael quickly slipped his sais inside his cut-off leather jacket and made sure they were concealed, moving his arms to give them a quick test to make sure they weren't going to fall out during their rooftop run. When that was in check, he shot his baby brother a look – who was hooking his nunchaku against the small black belt strapped around his candy apple red skirt – and shook his head. "Why is it when you say stuff like that, I get a bad feeling in my gut?"

"Maybe you're just craving chocolate," Mikey suggested, causing Raphael to shoot him a lazy glare. "I hear a lot of girls crave things like chocolate when it's that time of the month. Isn't that weird? Didn't know chocolate cravings ran on a time schedule for girls. What time do you think I'll start craving? Hopefully in the morning because, come on, chocolate for breakfast? Can I get a 'ah yeah, boy'!?"

Groaning in annoyance, Leo immediately sheathed his katanas and followed his brothers outside, closing the door behind him with a roll of the eyes. "The sooner we find this canister, the better."

(-)

Message from: Donnie-Boy

Got ourselves a lead. Be back in a few. Hope you're feeling a little better. Have a good night. Donnie.

She stared silently at the bright screen of her phone that was starting to hurt her eyes, the intense light overpowering the bleak darkness in her room, not another existing light to be shone. Dimming the screen, April let out a long sigh, shifting onto her back and staring up at her ceiling, unsure of whether she should even text Donnie back or just ignore him and go to sleep. After all, because of him she had nowhere else to go. Attacking Casey out of the blue like that and telling him she was busy tonight – it totally ruined her plans of going out to see a movie! The jerk. No way was she going to message him back. Not after what he did. For now, she was just going to give him the cold shoulder; make him wallow in his self-pity until she felt he deserved to be forgiven. She didn't know how long that would be, but for now, she just wanted to be left alone.

Bling!

She opened her eyes. Raising herself into a sitting position, she reached over to where her phone was charging and turned on the power button, the screen lighting up and causing her to squint her eyes until she clicked on the message icon and opened up a new text. When she saw who it was from, however, her eyes were no longer squinted, but wide and filled with shock and excitement.

Message from: Casey

S'up Red. Busy?

Her fingers immediately began to fly across the texting keyboard.

Not really. Just ceiling gazing. lol You?

…

Message from: Casey

Back from hockey practice. U still up 4 a movie 2nite?

A movie? He still wanted to hang out? Even after Donnie threw that fit at the mall, he still wanted to hang out! Should she do it? What would the guys say if they came home and she wasn't in her room? Would Master Splinter check up on her? What would they care, it was her apartment! She could come and go whenever she felt like it. Though, a note would probably be more fitting just in case Master Splinter did check up on her. Was she really going to do this? After the way Donnie acted in front of Casey, he pretty much ruined her chance to have fun tonight! Not only that, but fun with Casey. Was she up for it?

Working her fingers across the keyboard, April quickly read over the message about three times before she smiled and hit the send button, closing her phone and setting it back on her dresser with a giggle.

Ttly! Meet you at the theater in 10. Don't wait up. ;)