Chapter 4

Donatello (POV)

She lay in the bedroom upstairs. She seemed exhausted. We escaped the Triceratons but only because Traximus and the All Stars rounded up the remaining soldiers and were setting off back to the home world. Back at the lair, we filled Splinter in on what had happened, and when Casey called for an update he suggested we all take a trip to his grandmother's farmhouse. Elizabeth slept the entire drive and she was still sleeping now.

"What do you think happened to her Donnie?" April shot me a questioning look, and handed me a cup of coffee.

"I think she may have come in contact with some sort of mutagen, its stable but her outburst with the Prime Leader was upsetting" I blew on the hot coffee then sipped.

"Was it anything like what changed you guys?" It was an obvious question; I had looked into that myself and found no trace of the type of mutagen that we were exposed to.

"No, her mutation is feline related, but it's not from any cat family on earth. It is definitely alien, which is why I am worried about her outburst. If I don't know what DNA she is carrying I can't predict her behaviour, and that makes her dangerous to us all." I sat down next to the computer scanning her vital signs. Her heartbeat was irregular but not alarming. April peeked over my head at the screen.

"Do you think we can handle something like that? I mean what if she does go nuts, what do we do? Let her run away knowing she could cause harm somewhere else. I sipped the coffee again and then turned back around to April.

"These are the exact questions I have been asking myself. She needs help, not an angry mob with torches and pitchforks. We can help her if she needs it. But until she wakes up we have no way of telling if that is the case or not." April nodded at me agreeing and went back into the kitchen to continue making dinner.

Elizabeth (POV)

I awoke to the smell of beef. It was almost like I could see the scent above me dancing, and teasing me, but I wasn't at home. I was somewhere new. The last thing I remembered was Leonardo. I remembered jumping towards him, and then, nothing. My mind was blank. I pushed the hair from my eyes to rub them when I felt my ears. They were larger, and softer with a hair all over them. I ran to the mirror on the wall and stared at my reflection. It was me, but, it wasn't. I was thinner, more toned and my hair had grown overnight from shoulder length to just below my breasts. My eyes were a yellow gold with a black iris and as I leaned in to observe myself closer I noticed my teeth and nails were longer and sharp. I stared at my reflection, I had changed. My new tail hung low and wrapped around my left leg and my ears dipped making me look sad.

I stood by the mirror for a long time, just watching myself. Was this a dream? The door knocked and I became aware that all I had on was an over-sized grey-shirt and new white panties. "Who is it?" I called. I was embarrassed by how casual I sounded in a strange house with a stranger knocking on the only real defence I had.

"It's April" a woman called back. "You don't know me but I'm friends with the…" I hurried and opened the door. She was taller than I expected, but so were they. Her dark auburn hair was tied back in a bun and she wore a light blue sweater with dark jeans. Her hands were full with clothes and toiletries.

"Hello" I smiled at her and she seemed uneasy but entered the room. She put the clothes on the bed and asked me to put the shampoo and other feminine products in the bathroom. When I returned she was placing clothes on a chair. She gestured for me to try them on.

"I'm sorry, they are all I have at the minute, I will be going back to the city in a few days I will bring back more for you." She smiled and sat on the bed. I walked over and picked up a purple and black t-shirt with a picture of a grumpy teddy bear on the front. I put it on immediately then pushed on the denim shorts that lay near it. I had trouble with them; my tail wouldn't allow me to pull them up. I gave April a desperate look and she walked over and began pulling them more aggressively. They wouldn't budge and I was in pain.

April pulled a scissors of the drawer in the hallway just outside my temporary room. She came back and confidently cut a hole in the shorts allowing me to fix my tail through and pull the shorts up. She handed me flip flops and then told me to follow her downstairs. She had dinner almost ready.

I skipped down the stairs and followed April into a dining room area. I wasn't expecting all four turtles, Master Splinter and Casey to be waiting all around the table. The looked up and stared when I arrived. April broke the silence with "You can sit here Elizabeth" pointing beside Raphael and Donatello. I walked over and politely smiled as I sat down.

"How are you feeling? Child" the voice was hoarse and I immediately looked to its source. Master Splinter was watching me, and she smiled softly at my embarrassment.

"I am well, thank you" I bowed slightly. I had never bowed to anyone in my entire life, but to Master Splinter, it seemed right.

"I am pleased to hear that. My sons have told me much about you. They say you have come to us from another dimension. He began to butter a slice of brown bread. "Tell me, what is your home like? Humans are the dominant race there?" His questions made me realise that I hadn't been able to fully explain where I had come from. I sat up and began to speak, telling them all about how the Triceratons had come to my dimension mistakenly looking for the Fugitoid, and had taken me because I had some knowledge about where he was. When I had finished my story we were already half way through our meal.

"How did you know about Professor Honeycutt if you are from a different dimension?" Raphael wasn't convinced my story was true. I hadn't told them the most crucial part and was struggling with what the right decision was.

"I don't know if I can tell you" Everyone looked up from their dinner and stared.

"Why can't you tell us? Was all Michelangelo could say through his half eaten bite of spaghetti and pizza bread. He licked his lips as I prepared to answer.

"I'm not sure what kind of damage it can do to my own world. By telling you it could cause a disruption, and unbalance the universe. I hadn't realised how morbid I had been. "It's just a theory" I said lowering my eyes from the table. "But I'm probably wrong."

Donatello began explaining how we met in the Prime Leader's thrown room, and then asked how I could know about what he would say unless; in my dimension I had known the turtles. I couldn't believe it, how had he figured it out. He really was a genius. I was shocked and nodded slowly. "I knew you, but not you think I did"

"What do you mean?" Leonardo turned to me, while Casey passed me the jug of water to refill my glass.

"In my dimension.." I was silent for a few seconds. "You are not real" They seemed confused by this notion. "Well you are real, but you are fictional characters." There was silence.

"What?" April dropped her fork onto the floor. It pinged against the tiles.

"You were originally comic book characters, but now you have multiple television shows and books dedicated to you. In my world, you are the figments of imagination." Silence echoed throughout the dining room and I became aware that I may have scared my new friends. It was a few more seconds before Mikey laughed and broke the silence.

"That is Awesome!" Everyone smiled back at him and some agreed. I felt better that I had told them and being with them felt like being home. My mind drifted to Emmet and my own family. What were they doing right now? I could never go home now. They couldn't see me this way. The more I thought about it the more I became angry. The Triceratons were gone but there was one person who would pay for this. Karai.