"SHADOW?!"

Casey sprinted downstairs with a hockey stick in his hand. He ran into the kitchen and saw Shadow huddled in a corner, shaking heavily and using a chair as a shield. She looked very close to crying.

He then followed her gaze to the intruder. But when he saw who it was, he lowered his hockey stick and his jaw dropped.

"RAPH?!"

The Turtle was sitting on the kitchen counter and eating out of a large bag of potato chips. He looked at Casey with one green eye and waved his hand.

"'Sup, Jones?" he said with his mouth full of chips.

"Seriously?!" Casey angrily said. "You couldn't have at least knocked?!"

Raph shrugged and continued to eat. "It's 2 in the morning. I didn't want to wake you guys up. Besides, ninjas don't 'knock'."

"HONEY?!"

April ran into the kitchen in her robe, her hair all messed up. "What's going on?!"

Raph chuckled at the sight of his old friend. "Looking good, April."

When the reporter saw the Turtle, she put her hand to her mouth in shock and her blue eyes brimmed with tears. "Raph?" she whispered. The Green Man smirked and greeted her with a nod.

"Mom...?"

April heard her daughter whimper and immediately ran to her. "Oh, honey, it's okay," she softly said, wrapping her arms around Shadow. "It's just an old friend."

Shadow peeked over her mom's shoulder and looked directly at the mutant. He smiled gently at her and waved, but she only hid her face and made another whimpering sound. Raph looked genuinely hurt.

The Turtle wolfed down another batch of pancakes and gulped down another glass of milk. Casey sat next to him at the kitchen table, having only a cup of coffee.

"Geez, Raph," Casey chuckled as he took a sip, "you act as though you haven't eaten in days. Whatever happened to the whole, 'I don't miss pizza or anything else that civilization offers' attitude?"

"Can't talk," Raph mumbled. "Eating."

April placed a plate full of eggs and bacon in front of Raph, who immediately scarfed it down. She wiped her sweating forehead. "Phew! See, this is why I never worked at a restaurant. I'm just not waitress material."

"You can take down aliens, monsters, and mutants," Casey smirked and raised an eyebrow at her, "but you can't handle hungry people?"

She playfully punched her husband on the shoulder before pouring Raph another glass of milk. "So why did you decide to come back, Raph?"

Raph's expression became somber and he put down his fork. "Well, after Casey's visit, I've been doing some thinking...well, meditating, actually. And I've come to realize that it'd be selfish and cruel of me not to come see Master Splinter. I mean, he's my dad, after all. I owe it to him."

April smiled tearfully at her friend and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so proud of you, Raph."

"Yeah, same here, buddy," Casey gave him a friendly slap on the shell.

"Yeah, well," Raph took a sip of his milk and wiped his white "mustache" off, "that's not the only reason why I came back. I'm worried about Donnie and Leo. Especially Leo."

"Oh," April quietly said with a sadden expression. "So you know about...?"

Raph sighed and nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm so sorry, Raph."

"I just hope that he'll listen to me."

"Yeah, well, good luck with that," Casey crossed his arms. "Karai tried talking to him, but he flat out refused to listen."

"Really?" Raph turned to April. "And I take it that Donnie was just as stubborn?"

"Oh, yeah," April sighed.

"Great," he mumbled and rubbed his temples. "So I'm really the only one?"

"There's still hope, Raph. I mean, they might change their minds, too."

"Yeah, hopefully."

"Hey, uh, Mom?"

They all turned their heads to see Shadow standing in the doorway, nervously glancing at Raph and rubbing her arms.

"What is it, sweetie?" April got out of her chair and stood in front of Shadow.

"Um, could you pour me a bowl of cereal?"

"Well, why don't you do it yourself and have a seat with us?" April gestured toward Casey and Raph.

"I, uh," Shadow stuttered and looked away, "I'd-I'd rather not."

"Shadow," Casey sternly said, "don't be rude to our guest."

"'Guest'?" She pointed at the sitting mutant. "He broke into our house and scared the living crap out of me!"

"Shadow!" April scolded.

"No, she's right, April," Raph softly said before glancing at Shadow and giving her a smile. "Sorry I scared you, kid. Didn't think that you'd be up." He got out of his chair and walked toward the nervous teenager. He held out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Raphael. But you can just call me 'Raph' for short."

Shadow only stared at the big mutant and took a step back, her whole body shaking slightly. A whimper escaped her throat and her green eyes started to water.

April could see that her daughter needed more time and rubbed her back comfortingly. "It's okay, Shadow. Go back upstairs. I'll make your cereal."

Shadow looked at her mother gratefully and mouthed the words, "thank you" before running back upstairs.

Raph sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I can't blame her for being so scared of me."

"It's not your fault, Raph," April gently told her.

"Well, not all of it," Casey mumbled and picked up his newspaper.

April glared at her husband before turning back to Raph. "Shadow has this phobia of mutants."

Raph's eyes widened. "Phobia of mutants?"

She nodded and turned to her husband. "Casey, could you explain it to Raph while I make Shadow's cereal?"

"Sure thing, hon," Casey said as he put the newspaper down and gestured toward Raph's seat. "Sit down, man. It's a long story."

"Um, okay?" Raph shrugged and sat back down.

Casey cleared his throat. "Now I know you were in Northampton when it happened, but fifteen years ago, there was this intense final battle between the Mutanimals and the Kraang."

"Battle?" Raph leaned in closer and started to panic. "Well, did they all make it? The Mutanimals, I mean?"

"Well," Casey looked down at the table sadly, "Leatherhead died about thirteen years before the battle. He was, you know, just too old. Plus, we think that Mikey's death was a devastating blow to him and his heart couldn't take it. But yeah, there weren't any casualties on our side, man."

Raph let out a sigh of relief, though he was saddened to hear about the old alligator's tragic end. He saw April walking out of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in her hands.

"Anyway," Casey continued, "at one point, the Mutanimals infiltrated the Kraang's headquarters, and they found this human infant sleeping in a chamber."

"So, wait, Shadow isn't your biological daughter?"

"Well, uh, not my biological daughter. But you could say that she's...kind of April's."

"...You've lost me, Jones."

"According to what Dr. Rockwell told us, Shadow has the same exact DNA as April's mother."

"April's mother? Wait...hold up...are you telling me...?"

"Yep. Shadow is the clone of Mrs. O'Neil."

Raph's jaw dropped and he let out a laugh of disbelief. "You've got to be kiddin' me."

"No, man," Casey chuckled softly. "I'm not kiddin' you."

"Well, did they ever find the real Mrs. O'Neil?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Well, they...found parts of her...in separate jars."

The Turtle's face became pale and he gulped. "Does, uh...does Shadow know about her origins?"

"No. It's probably best if she doesn't. She's already having issues of her own."

"Like what kind of issues?"

Casey smirked at Raph. "Like, anger management issues."

Raph couldn't help but bark out a laugh. "Really! Well, I can definitely relate. But what does this have to do with her mutant phobia?"

"Slash was the one who busted her out of that chamber, so he was the first thing she saw."

Now everything made sense.

"Oh," Raph quietly said.

"I feel bad for the big buy," Casey sighed. "I mean, it wasn't his fault. But from her perspective, he looked pretty scary. And it wasn't just him. She was scared of the other Mutanimals, too. After they won the battle, they brought her to us, and because she is Mrs. O'Neil's clone, she naturally bonded with April. We raised her as our daughter ever since."

"Wow," Raph whispered and rubbed the back of his neck. "That is quite a story. It pains me to see her so scared of me, though."

"It'll take some time," Casey smiled at his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. "But she'll eventually learn to trust you."

"How long is he staying here?" Shadow asked April as she ate her cereal at her computer desk.

"Not long, honey," April sat on the edge of Shadow's bed. "He'll only be here for a couple hours, and then your father and I are taking him to see his father."

"So he's...one of those mutant Turtle friends of yours? The ones in your picture?"

"Yep," April smiled at her. "He won't hurt you, Shadow. I promise."

"I know, I just," Shadow looked down her empty bowl in shame, "I just can't help it, you know?"

April rubbed her daughters back soothingly. "I know, sweetie. I know. But maybe you should give Raph a chance? He just wants to be your friend."

Shadow looked up at her mother and gulped nervously. "But he isn't the one with the...temper?"

April chuckled and got off the bed. "Well, then, maybe you two have more in common than you thought."

She walked out the bedroom, leaving Shadow alone at the desk. The teenager looked down thoughtfully at her bowl.

He came back?!

"He sure did."

Well, that's...that's wonderful news, April! Father will be so happy to see him!

"I know. And boy, wait until Raph sees how big Chompy has gotten."

He's in for a big surprise, that's for sure.

"Yeah."

April, listen, I...I can't thank you enough for doing this.

"You don't need to thank me, Karai. I love Master Splinter, too, and I want to help him heal. I only wish we could've brought all three of them back to the lair with us."

You did your best. That's all that matters.

"Well, see you in a couple of hours."

Can't wait! Bye!

"You ready, Raph?" Casey asked as he put on his hockey jacket.

Raph nodded. "You bet."

"All right, then," April slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder. "Let's go."

"Wait!"

Shadow ran into the living room, wearing her backpack and black hoodie.

"I'm, uh, I'm coming with you guys."

Her parents looked at her in shock.

"Honey, are..." April spoke softly to her daughter, "are you sure that you want to come with us? There will be a lot of mutants where we're going."

"And a giant space turtle that's about the size of a hippo," Casey added. He noticed his wife glaring at him. "What? She has to know!"

"I'll...I'll be okay, Mom," Shadow gave her a small smile. "I think it's about time I started facing my fears. Besides, I want to learn more about your friends, 'cause they're part of the family, too, right?"

Her mother smiled and hugged her. "I'm so proud of you, honey."

Casey joined in on the hug. "We both are." He looked over at Raph and motioned for him to come over. "Group hug, Raph?"

Raph chuckled and held his hands up. "Uh, no thanks."

If you guessed that Raph was the intruder, then you guessed right! Your prize is a free hug! Sorry, that's all I got...

So Shadow is Mrs. O'Neil's clone...bet you weren't expecting that. :)

Also, tomorrow Korea will be airing the season 4 finale...

Cue the music!

We're leaving together

But still it's farewell

And maybe we'll come back

To earth, who can tell?

I guess there is no one to blame

We're leaving ground

Will things ever be the same again?

IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!

"The Final Countdown" by Europe...good song :)