A/N: This one was interesting to write, as well as a little tricky, but nowhere near as hard to write than the chapters ahead. I hope you guys are enjoying this so far

ON WITH THE SHOW! I OWN NOTHING! But I did go back and make changes!

Chapter 3: The Past Returns

In the pitch black darkness of the cold, winter night, two ghostly figures moved swiftly across the rooftops, keeping to the shadows and shying away from the many street lights below them as their feet tread silently across the buildings. They leapt into the air, flipping off the building with grace before landing noiselessly in a crouch on the solid ground. Eyes darting left and right, the scanned the area around them for any witnesses or spies before they ducked underneath a hidden passageway that led into an abandoned junkyard. A towering wall of trash encased the area, enveloping it like an arena of sorts, hiding their headquarters from view from the outsiders.

"Come on, let's go!" one of them whispered loudly to the other as he beckoned him forwards. The other nodded in response as they raced to the old hidden building that stood in the center of what they all now called, 'The Dome'.

They entered the old building, and they were greeted by dozens of other similarly clothed individuals upon their arrival. Taking off his black mask, the lead one planted his hands on his hips as he counted the other members; just over a dozen in total. He made a face. "Is this it?" he asked, clearly dissatisfied.

"Yeah, the others must have been picked up," another one answered from the crowd.

Rolling his eyes skyward, he stomped his foot in agitation. "Damn! We all knew 'The Dome' was our fall-back spot!" he growled, raking a hand through his blonde hair in agitation. "How could they've been picked off so easily?"

"Hey, shut up!" one whispered harshly, "Here he comes!"

The group of teenagers all quickly fell into a line, bowed respectively, then kneeled down in front of the tall, bladed figure that had entered the room. His black cape shifted slightly as the cold wind swept into the room from the open door. His lifeless, bloodshot eyes glared down at the young men seated before him, watching them for any signs of fear or weakness. Weakness was not tolerated, not in his army.

"…You are the only ones left of The Foot Clan," he spoke, his voice low as and foreboding as ever before. "Your task is now to find the young girl, April O'Neil, and keep an eye on her. She is the key to finding the creatures that dishonored me and our clan. Now go, and do not disappoint me."

The Foot Soldiers stood up and bowed in unison once more as they all fled out of the room to do their masters' biding, some moving faster than others just to get away from him out of fear. As they left, a muscular man clad in a red Shōzoku entered the room, and stood behind his master as he folded his arms behind his back. "Master Shredder, your army is still so small, too small should we ever go against the turtles. Should we not rebuild The Foot Clan?" Bradford asked him.

The Shredder turned to him, shaking his head. "No need," he replied. "I have found more suitable replacements for the soldiers who failed me before. However in the meantime, I want you to guide those who seek the girl, make sure that they do not fail me. And to make sure you don't fail, you will work alongside Xever."

As he spoke, a tall, thin dark skinned man entered the room, and Bradford turned around to come face to face with the man. His attire consisted of black leather boots, fingerless gloves and a sleeveless jacket with a ripped white shirt and dark blue jeans smeared with dirt. He smirked smugly at Bradford, who sneered at the Brazilian man in response. "I don't need any help, especially from this…street rat." Bradford spat disgustedly. He was Shredder's greatest warrior; he wouldn't allow himself to be accompanied by some gutter trash punk who got lucky.

"Are you sure, rich boy?" Xever taunted with a smirk. After months rotting in a prison cell, the man was thirsting for a god brawl. Riling up the 'perfect student' was fun and all, but he couldn't wait to get his hands on a real challenge. And from what he'd heard so far, four giant talking ninja turtles sounded like one hell of a ride.

Bradford growled, taking a threatening step towards him. "Any time you wanna test me –"

"I am not interested in you petty rivalry!" Shredder snapped, stopping the two of them in their tracks. "Xever is familiar with the dark underbelly of this city. You will work together."

Sending Xever one last look of disdain, Bradford turned away from him and straightened up, regarding his master with respect. "Don't worry, Master Shredder," he assured. "We will find and destroy Splinter, and the turtles."

Behind him, Xever smirked as Bradford stalked away, clearly still unhappy with the concept of working with him. As Xever followed Bradford out of the building and out into the grounds of the junkyard to scout the perimeter, The Shredder stepped outside and peered up at the full moon. Behind his metal mask, a devilish grin spread across his features.

"There is only one thing next…revenge! Hamato Yoshi…I am coming for you…and your precious turtles…"

The next afternoon, the four turtle brothers were sat in front of the TV watching the latest news report after their training session a few hours ago. On the scene was April O'Neil herself on her first real day on the job, microphone in hand, and looking like a real news reporter, much to the pride of her family, who couldn't be happier for her success.

"Hello, this is April O'Neil on Channel Six News. In this day and age of environmental abuse, it's nice to find a company that's finally doing something to help. Joining me on the final day of their clean-up efforts is TCRI's neurochemistry expert, Dr. Victor Falco…um, excuse me, Dr?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Good afternoon, Miss O'Neil."

"Good afternoon, sir. Dr. Falco, perhaps you can tell us why TCRI has finally decided to clean up the waste –"

"Sorry, quick question, would you like me to keep my answer succinct or will you be able to edit later on in case I start to ramble, which I'm in the habit of doing –"

"Uh, Dr, we're live right now."

"…Oh, right, well, yes…"

April's slightly nervous interviewee was a well-known scientist named Dr. Victor Falco, and he was to discuss his thoughts on the sudden outbreak of toxic chemicals in laboratories around the city. He commented saying that his co-workers and himself at the famous company of TCRI have not been responsible for any such thing, but had reassured the public that the waste would be properly disposed of from other labs both within the vicinity and as a double check within their own building, with no damage towards the natural environment.

Sat on the bench, Raphael raised a brow as he stared at the T.V screen with a bored frown. "Who the heck is this guy?" he barked.

"He's a very famous scientist who works for TCRI. He makes Nero chemicals and studies the behavior and biology in different animals, kind of like what April's dad does. Isn't it fascinating?" Donatello answered automatically without looking away from the screen, his dreamy, brown-eyed gaze fixed solely on April.

Behind him, Casey Jones yawned with disinterest. "Yeah, that's great, egghead. Isn't Oprah on?" he asked without looking away from his comic book that Raph had lent him. He was leaned against Raph's shell as the two sat on the bench together. Raph completely ignored the T.V now, bored with the discussion as he instead turned to feed Spike a strawberry as the little turtle sat contently on his lap.

Sat on the floor beside Donnie, Michelangelo was dozing heavily on Leonardo's lap, tired out from a long day of endless skateboarding and water balloon throwing, his arms wrapped around his brothers' waist as he nuzzled against him. The cat, Klunk, also padded over upon seeing her master sleeping, and decided to curl up next to him. Leonardo had his hand rested on his shell as he stroked it gently in soothing motions, watching as his baby brother snored lightly with a light smile. It'd been a while since Mikey had done something like this, and he found it both nostalgic and a little bit painful; Mikey had gotten a lot heavier since they were children, and he was getting pins and needles in his legs.

Frowning, Leo drew his attention away from his sleeping younger brother and glanced behind him in mild annoyance after hearing Raph and Casey's comments. "Shut up, guys, we're watching April. This is her first real report ever since she got the job a few months ago. She's lucky to have it, and you should be happy for her," he snapped.

Donnie nodded in eager agreement as he stared at the screen. "Yeah…she's so cool…" he said dreamily.

"Yeah," Casey sighed with a silly grin. At that, Donnie and Casey then shared a competitive glare at each other. Raph and Leo both rolled their eyes. It was no secret that both boys liked April, and the two were constantly competing for her attention and affection. So far, they were at a tie; Raph was keeping count of how many times each had tried to woo her.

As April's news report continued, Raphael began to get restless. "Hey why don't we see if they got anything on our fight with the Purple Dragons last night," Raph suggested, reaching for the remote inches away from Donnie.

"Do not change the channel!"

Slightly startled, all heads turned sharply to see that Master Splinter had emerged from the walls of the dojo, and was watching the screen with a strange intensity that put them all on the edge. Even Mikey jumped awake upon hearing him snap like that, and looked up at his father in confusion.

"Umm…sure, Sensei," Raph replied hesitantly, returning to feeding Spike, but kept a cautious eye on the old ninja master, as did the rest of them.

What was that all about?

Despite his children's obliviousness, Splinter continued to stare at the screen, his brows furrowing deeply. In the background, he could just catch a glimpse of him. He was right there, dressed in orange overalls and a hard hat. To anyone else, he seemed like an ordinary construction worker of some sort, but he could not fool Splinter. He simply stood there unmoving, staring emotionlessly at April and Dr. Falco…

…or to be accurate, just staring at April.

Splinter felt a cold shiver run down his spine as his eyes widened. It couldn't be…

The man vanished once the camera focused back on April, just as the interview came to an end.

"This April O'Neil, Channel Six News."

After the report, April went over once more. "Excuse me, Dr. Falco, would you mind if I asked you a few follow-up questions?" she asked, twiddling her thumbs nervously at what she was about to request of him. "A friend of mine is a pretty big fan of your work, and he'd asked me if I could ask you a few things for a personal project he's planning…"

The scientist smiled at the young woman. "Well, I'm very honoured to hear that, but I'm sorry April, we're on a very tight schedule today," he answered politely. "Clearing away all this toxic waste is very important, and all press and TCRI staff must clear the area whilst I inspect the chemicals. We don't want anyone getting mutated now, do we?" he chuckled.

April nodded and chuckled along in agreement, (though she inwardly thought over the fact that he was fifteen years too late for that precaution) and thanked him for his time, though she felt slightly disappointed. She had found his answers fascinating, and knew that Donatello would have loved to hear more from him. Shrugging to herself as she watched the scientist go off to attend to further business, April went over to the Channel Six news van to put away her microphone. She felt someone tap her lightly on the shoulder, and she turned around to find an older, blonde haired boy standing behind her with a video camera in hand.

"Good work out there today, April. You're gonna fit right into the department at this rate," he said with a grin. Freddy was his name, and just like April, he was also a newcomer to Channel Six News, and the two had made quick friends after he'd been the one to show her the ropes.

Smiling and feeling a light blush coat her cheeks from the compliment, April patted his shoulder. "Thanks, Freddy. You did pretty well, too!"

Freddy just shrugged with an easy smile. "Eh, just standing behind a camera, nothing special. By the way, I saw you going up to the Dr. before. What did you want to ask him?" he asked her as he put the camera away.

April shook her head with a small smile, leaning against the van casually. "Ah, I don't know…but don't worry about it; I'm paid to be suspicious!" she laughed, earning a smirk from her new friend. As she turned her head to the side to gaze upon the TCRI building that towered above their heads, April noticed one of the workers in the orange overalls was watching her intently…

She felt a chill go down her spine as he continued to stare at her. The look in his eyes was cold and lifeless as they bore into her, and his face held no emotion whatsoever. It seemed as though he was staring into her very being…

April felt exposed, and admittedly very nervous…

"Hey, Freddy, that guys' been staring at me for a while now. Who is he?" she asked uneasily, unable to take her eyes off of him. He was just standing there, not moving, not talking to anyone else. What was he doing?

Quirking a brow, Freddy looked behind her and saw the man standing a few feet away. After a moment, he simply shrugged. "I don't know. It's probably just some…weird…guy. Don't worry about it," he reassured as he turned back to putting away the camera gear. April nodded absently, still feeling a bit nervous, but was able to brush it off as the man finally walked away. But deep down, she had a feeling that the man's face was going to haunt her for the rest of the day, or at least until she got back to the lair. By then, the amount of pizza and pranks and movies the guys would indulge her with would wash it all away.

She smiled at the thought of her boys. They always somehow managed to set her fears at ease at the end of a bad day. Another reason to add on the ever growing list of why she loved them so much.

Finally in the late hours of the afternoon, April's father came by in his car with Casey in the backseat, since he offered to come along to pick her up and take her back to the lair, which delighted her to say the least. After waving goodbye to Freddy and her superiors, Kirby drove off down the road.

Once they were out of sight, the man that had been watching them from a distance suddenly approached Freddy from behind the van, grabbing him roughly by the shoulders. Jumping in surprise as he was spun around, Freddy let out a breath as he relaxed, folding his arms over his chest after shoving the man away from him.

"Y'know, you guys have gotta stop doing that. She's gonna get suspicious if you just keep staring at her!" he snapped up at him.

The taller man nodded slowly in understanding, but said nothing.

Freddy rolled his eyes. These guys were creepy and didn't talk much, but he knew he'd have to live with it. "Anyways, have you got what you needed out of the building?" he probed impatiently.

The man took his large bag off his shoulders, opened it and showed Freddy the contents. Freddy nodded in approval, smiling in satisfaction. Finally, something these guys could do right for a change. "Good," he said, taking the bag from the man as he shouldered it. "Now, all we need to do now is get the ooze. We'll tell The Master about all of this, and we'll come back tonight before they clear the lab completely. Tell that to your…buddies. Got it?"

The man nodded again.

"Good. Let's get going."

Later that night, Freddy returned to the Foot hideout with the stone-faced man, kneeling before The Shredder as he entered 'The Dome'. Freddy had told him everything he'd seen and heard during the report earlier that day.

Narrowing his eyes, Shredder nodded in approval. "Good. Did the 'creature' bring back what I requested?"

Freddy nodded as he stood up, and he moved to the side, allowing the man from TCRI to step past him. He'd shed out of the orange overall disguise, and was now in a normal business suit, though it didn't help that his face showed no expression whatsoever, otherwise he would have looked like an ordinary human. He held up the bag as he let Shredder inspected its contents. Shredder looked up at the man. "Without that whelp, Baxter Stockman, I cannot manufacture any new weapons. Will you and your party be able to build what I ask with these parts?" he queried.

The man nodded. "The one known as Shredder will have what has been requested of Kraang built within the next time unit that is known as twenty-four hours," he finally spoke, his voice not leaving its strange, cold monotone. "However, Kraang requests of Shredder to bring that which is known as the Mutagen back for Kraang."

Shredder nodded in agreement. He then turned to Bradford and Xever, who stood behind him awaiting his orders. "Bradford, Xever, gather up the remaining Foot," he commanded. "You have a mission tonight."

Grinning smugly, the two men nodded.

Meanwhile, the four turtle brothers were cleaning the lair after Michelangelo had found it amusing to have another Pizza Food Fight. Of course Splinter hadn't approved, and had punished them by making them clean the lair from top to bottom after they took a shower, much to their dismay. At least they themselves were clean, though they hadn't yet managed to get the stench of pizza off them completely.

After polishing the main room, the boys were now in the kitchen (and it actually stunned them to realize just how far their pizza fight had spread). Deciding to make the situation less stressful, Michelangelo decided to have a little fun. "Hey, guys! Check this out!" Mikey called as he wiped the kitchen counter with two cloths. "Wax on…wax off…wax on…" he quipped, laughing to himself.

Making a face and rolling his eyes, Raphael dropped the mop he was using to wipe the floor and slapped Mikey upside the head. "Mouth off!" he snapped.

From where they were cleaning the cupboards and the stove Leo and Donnie laughed whilst Mikey pouted. "Humph! Everybody's a critic!" he grumbled as he turned back to cleaning the table top. Well, at least he'd made them laugh in some manner.

It was in that moment that April, Casey and her father walked into the lair after stopping off at the takeout to grab some pizza for the boys. "Hi guys!" April called, confused to find the living room empty of turtles at all.

At the sound of her voice, all turtle heads perked up and they rushed out of the kitchen to meet her and her father. "April!" Mikey cried as he ran over and swept her off her feet with a bear hug once again, grinning as she whopped in laughter.

As soon as he set eyes on the red clad turtle, Casey charged and leapt at Raph. "HUG ME BROTHA!" he shouted as he tackled his mutant friend, and the two fell to the floor in a pile of limbs as they wrestled each other again.

Sharing a long-suffering look, Leo and Donnie side stepped the wrestling match and headed over to April. "Hey April, Mr. O'Neil. We saw you're report earlier this afternoon and you were great again, April!" Leo praised.

Donnie blushed deeply, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Y-y-yeah! You were amazing!" he stuttered bashfully.

April grinned as she dropped a kiss on Mikey's forehead once he finally put her down. "Thanks, you guys," she beamed brightly as she went over to Donnie and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. The taller turtles' blush became a darker shade of red as he returned the hug with a large goofy smile.

As she pulled away, she noticed something different about her boys…mainly the smell. She sniffed once or twice, and then made a face. "Um…why do you guys smell so funny by the way?" she asked, holding her nose.

"Pizza Fight," they all answered in unison, including Raph as he overpowered Casey on the floor.

Eyes widening, April feigned offense as she planted her hands on her hips. "What?! And you didn't wait for me?! How could you?!" she sassed, smiling as the boys started to laugh. She recalled the time where they'd been at her aunt's old farmhouse in the country, and they'd all engaged into an epic food fight to the death. Despite what had happened to them at the time, it had felt good to see them having fun together after so long. Even if it did result in an hour of cleaning the kitchen and bathing themselves.

Kirby chuckled at the boy's answer, setting the pizza boxes on the side for now. "Well that explains the smell. Where is your father by the way?" he asked. "Surely he wouldn't have allowed a pizza fight in the lair, would he?"

"Master Splinter's been in the dojo ever since he saw April's report," Leo answered, and then smiled as he folded his arms. "As for the pizza fight…he didn't like it one bit. And that's why we're cleaning this whole place from top to bottom as penance…"

Casey looked up as he was put into a headlock from Raph. "AGH! Ow, what's Splinter doing in the dojo again?" he asked as he struggled in Raph's powerful grip, though he wasn't going anywhere anytime.

"I am coming to a decision, Casey Jones."

All heads turned towards the dojo steps as Splinter finally emerged from his meditation, sending a look at Raph and Casey that told them he was not amused, so they quickly stood up again, smiling nervously up at the ninja master. Frowning slightly, Leo stepped forward, "Sensei, what's wrong? You've been meditating many hours," he asked, slightly concerned. His father's earlier demeanor whilst watching April's report had worried him and his brothers, more than they wanted to admit.

"Yes, Leonardo," Splinter replied simply with a nod, "and I believe it is time I explained myself to you. To all of you. Join me in the dojo, if you will."

After sharing concerned and confused glances at one another, the turtles followed their Sensei into the dojo. On the way, Mikey stopped to look back to Kirby, Casey and April. "You might wanna hear what he's gotta say," he said with a reassuring smile as he took April by the hand and gently lead her and the other two humans to the dojo.

Despite Mikey's encouragement, April still felt something bad in the pit of her stomach…

They all sat cross legged on the dojo floor before Splinter underneath the massive tree. He had an object wrapped in an old blanket resting his lap as he regarded them all. "These last hours have been spent pondering many questions," Splinter spoke at last. "Some are the questions of our very origin, the sewer, our transformation. But the answers have always remained hidden in the past, veiled by a shadow too deep to penetrate…until now. A light from the present reaches back to illuminate that shadow." He then drew in a deep breath as he held up the wrapped object for all of them to see. "You have never seen this…but you know what it is."

He picked up the old blanket and unwrapped it, revealing the object within. The turtles gasped collectively at what they saw.

"That…that's the canister!" Leo cried.

"The one filled with the ooze that mutated us all into what we are now!" Donnie alleged, staring at the empty container in wonder.

"No way…" Raph breathed, leaning in close to get a better look.

Nodding to his sons, Splinter continued. "That is correct, my sons. I have kept it all these fifteen years, as a 'memo' if you will," he expressed, "for it was the substance in this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all."

"Mom?!" Mikey exclaimed. Raph's expression flattened as he turned and smacked Mikey over the head, earning a cry of pain from the younger turtle as they continued to gawk at what their father held out before them.

Ignoring his younger brothers, Leonardo looked up to meet his father's eyes, his own filled with so many questions that had yet to be answered. "But why do you only show us now, Sensei?" Leo asked, "Why would you keep something so important to us and hide it?"

"Because, Leonardo, the time to reveal the source of our transformation had not yet arrived…until today." Splinter held up the canister and turned it slightly so they could see the label engraved on its side. The room once again filled with gasps, with April's being the most audible of all of them.

"TCRI!?" April exclaimed, "I knew there was something else about those guys, more than just some toxic waste. They weren't cleaning out waste…they were cleaning out the ooze!"

Splinter nodded. "Yes, April you are correct. And there is more."

Tilting his head, Leo quirked a brow. "More, Sensei?" he asked.

"Yes. Whilst April was with Dr. Falco, I could catch a glimpse of the same man who was responsible for the attack in the alley that caused the canister to shatter. If he and his associates are still in this city, we must know why that is, for if the contents in this canister were not unique, the city may now once again face great danger."

The entire room became heavy with dread as they all looked to one another. The truth of their origin had been revealed, yet with still so many questions left unanswered. The city was once again in danger, and it was their duty, no matter what the cost, to uncover whatever secrets TCRI held at bay, and put a stop to any disaster before it could rise to the surface.

"I can't believe it…" Donnie breathed disbelievingly as he took the canister from Splinter's hands and turned it over in his own. "After all these years, wondering who we are…and all because of a single canister of ooze…"

Splinter reached out and rested a hand on his sons' shoulder, making the purple clad turtle look up from the canister. "The past returns once more, my sons," their master declared. "Now, it is time to seek our answers."