Alright, can someone please respond and tell me whether the lines through the first chapter have gone away yet? Thank you!

The darkness was deafening, eliminating all noise except the constant slosh of foot steps in water. Were those my foot steps? Where am I going? Nothing could penetrate the think blanket of black as He walked father and farther into what he could only hope was a place of safety and comfort. He could feel tiny little legs crawling up his sides and tried to brush them off with no such luck. They just kept on coming, swimming through the water and crawling up his legs, over his shell, into his mask…

"Raph! Raph get up! Raph get up, its Christmas! Woohooo! Raph rolled over and fell right out of his hammock just as Mikey went to tip it upside down. He landed with the steady grace of a cat falling from a tree and always managing to land on his feet. As soon as he had started using the hammock, he had quickly learned how to properly "fall out of it" once he found how much fun it was for Mikey to tip it upside down when he was sleeping. Standing, he rubbed his eyes for a few seconds before becoming adjusted to his surroundings. Mikey had already left, probably to go wake the others.

He was tightening his bandana when he heard a cry erupt from Donny's room. Mike had no doubt done the same thing to him. A few seconds later he heard another familiar tone and the slam of a door. Raph poked his head around the door way. Apparently, Mikey had intruded upon fearless while he was still in the shower and gotten a very rude welcoming of a smack in the head with a towel. Raph chuckled. Same stuff as always. He wondered how much sugar the youngest had already had this morning.

Heading down stairs, he saw that the commotion had already woken everyone else up. Well, all that is, except for Gen, who was still sleeping soundly on the couch amongst the ruckus of the rest of the household.

He was greeted with a groggy 'morning' and 'Merry Christmas!' from April and Casey as he entered the kitchen. Returning their sleepy greetings, he walked up behind Mikey, who was now busy at the stove preparing a large brunch, and gave a good yank on his bandana tails. The youngest squealed slightly in surprise before continuing his work on the eggs benedict.

Raph sat down in one of the chairs, picked up a bundle of socks someone had left on the ground, and chucked them at Gen, who didn't move an inch. 'wow,' thought Raph, 'some warrior.' he turned on the TV. Flipping through the channels he saw the typical Rudolph, Frosty the snowman, A Christmas Story, before finally coming to rest it on the news.

"I wonder what trouble criminals are getting themselves into this year," said Nobody, coming up next to him.

"I don't know, but they always find some way to spoil Christmas for someone," Raph replied, cracking his knuckles.

"And in other news, a band of new criminals, calling themselves the Crowned Bandits were reported to have snuck into 16 different apartment buildings and swipe all of their wrapped presents from under the tree. Sources report that this team of 'Bandits' left hand scribed notes on each of the families trees, stating, 'thanks for the goods, see you next Christmas!' and signed the Crowned Bandits. The police haven't an idea as to whose causing this havoc, so if you have any clues, please call the number at the bottom of your screen immediately. Other than that, be sure to keep your doors tightly locked and windows securely latched, and have a safe holiday. Over to you Richie."

Raph growled silently. He hated criminals, that was obvious. But he really hated criminals on Christmas. He looked up at Nobody, and Nobody down at him.

"Want to go do some scoping?" Raph asked, a devilish smile playing over his mouth. They still had some time before breakfast was ready.

"You know it."

Leo pulled his sheaths and sash over his head. After his little run in with Mikey in the shower, he had gone from overly tired to insanely irritated. But he let Mikey have his fun, letting him off the hook with just a whip to the head with a towel.

When he finished gearing up for the day, he headed down the stairs. Mikey was already making breakfast, with the help of April, Don, and the Silver Sentry. The amazing smells helped to lift his mood slightly. He saw Master Splinter explaining the merits of Christmas to the young Daimyo's son over at the kitchen table and decided to join them.

"And so, it is in the giving and family and togetherness that really brings out the true spirit of Christmas. Ah, good morning my son. Merry Christmas to you," said Master Splinter, pausing his conversation to greet his son.

"Merry Christmas to you as well Sensei."

"Now, as I was saying…" Leo attempted to listen as his father prattled on about the true history of Christmas to the wide eyed child, but having gotten so little sleep the previous night his attention began to wander. He noticed the TV on in the living room. A woman wearing a funny Santa Clause hat was giving the forecast and showing some images of the round above. Leos attention was suddenly perked when he noticed the large loss of snow from what they had had the previous night. Standing up, he went over to the TV to hear more.

"-and as you can see here by these topographical charts, the temperatures has gone up significantly over the past 10 hours. So far, we've gone from negative 19 degrees Fahrenheit to 15 degrees Fahrenheit! And bizarrely enough, we appear to be the only state with this peculiar weather!"

Leo studied the TV for a few moments pictures were shown of how much snow had been lost. Easily, about a quarter of the snow banks that had originally bordered the buildings was gone.

"Hey Don, have you seen this?" he yelled across the living room over to his brother. Don stopped his mixing and turned to look at the TV.

"Oh yeah, I was watching that a few moments ago."

"Well, do you think we have anything to worry about, you know, being in the sewers and all?"

Don had clearly already thought about this. "No, we should be fine as long as the temperatures go back down soon. Besides, this place has been securely water proofed. So nothing can get in."

Leo turned back to the TV. How strange, he thought.