So a special thanks to those who have given me WONDERFUL reviews lately. Your reviews brighten my day. :)

"Father, are you feeling all right?" Karai gently asked her father as she handed him a glass of water to help him swallow his pills.

"Yes, Miwa," Splinter softly said, taking the glass from her. "I am feeling just fine. Do not worry about me." He took the pills and leaned back in the couch, with Chompy laying his head on the rat's lap. Splinter stroked the space turtle's head, causing him to purr in contentment.

"It's just..." Karai sighed deeply, getting close to tears. "It's been a month since you had an attack, and if I'm not around to..."

"My daughter," Splinter gently placed a hand on Karai's cheek, rubbing his thumb over it. "My time will come, whether we want it to or not. But your mother once told me, life is like the cherry blossoms on a tree. It is full of beauty, but it is also tragically short. That is why we must cherish every moment while we can. So instead of worrying about the future, let us enjoy the time we have together and make the most of it."

Karai only continued to look at her father with sadness in her eyes. "But still I..."

"I'm home!"

Upon hearing Raph's voice, Chompy's heard jerked up and his tail wagged furiously. The Ninja Turtle walked into the living room and sat down on a nearby chair, letting out a relaxed sigh. His pet turtle stomped over to him, affectionately nuzzling his hand.

"Drawing a lot of attention to yourself, aren't you, Ninja Turtle?" Karai smirked at her reptilian brother.

"I'm not doing this for the fame," Raph mumbled.

"I know," Karai giggled. "I was only kidding."

"I have seen the news," Splinter said with a warm smile. "I am proud of you, Raphael."

"Yeah, well," Raph rubbed a hand over his face, "hopefully, Leo will come to his senses and abandon the murderous vigilante life, and then there'd be two Ninja Turtles fighting to protect New York. Maybe even three, if I can get through to Donnie."

"Yes, let us hope so," Splinter sadly said with his ears flattened.

Uncomfortable with the awkward silence, Raph cleared his throat. "So, um, on a lighter note, I've taken it upon myself to teach Shadow how to manage her temper."

Splinter's ears perked up and his frown turned into an amused smile. "Oh, is that right?"

"I know," Raph chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ironic, isn't it?"

"No. In fact, I believe that there is no one better for the job than you, Raphael."

"Next thing you know, she's gonna want me to teach her ninjutsu," Raph joked.

"Mom, why did you decide to become a kunoichi?" Shadow looked up from her homework at her mom, who was preparing dinner in the kitchen.

April looked back at her daughter in surprise. "Wow, where'd that come from?"

Shadow shrugged. "Just curious."

Her mother turned the microwave on before sitting down at the table with her. "Well, after your grandpa was taken by the Kraang, I wanted nothing more than to get him back. And when Splinter saw great potential in me, he offered to train me to be a kunoichi. It took two years of intensive, grueling training, but I did it."

"Do you ever miss it?" Shadow rested her chin on her hand.

"I do," April sighed. "But I can honestly say that I'm happy with the life that I live now. After all, I have a terrific job, a loving husband..." She playfully grabbed Shadow's nose and smiled at her. "...and a beautiful daughter."

Shadow smirked and rolled her eyes before focusing them on her homework again. But she was thinking of something entirely different...

"This is an OWL NEWS Alert."

April and Shadow turned their attention to the T.V. in the living room.

"Think they'll make a comic about you?" Mikey sat on the floor next to Raph, grinning at him widely. "A Ninja Turtle comic?"

"Hope not," Raph scoffed.

"Aw, come on!" Mikey whined. "Why not?! That'd be so cool!"

"Those artists would make me look ugly, I just know it."

"You're already ugly, bro."

At this, Raph grabbed Mikey in a headlock and gave him a playful noogie. His little brother cried out in surprise and tried to break free.

"Ah! Mercy! Mercy!"

"Say it."

"Raph is all-wise and powerful!"

"And?"

"And he's better than me in every possible way!"

"And?"

Mikey paused for a moment before lifting his head and grinning at his brother. "And he's got a phone call."

Raph looked at him confused and raised an invisible eyebrow. "Huh?"

He snapped back to reality at the ringing of his T-phone and quickly answered it. "Hello?"

Well, you ignored my request.

Raph couldn't help but smirk. "You know I can't stay in the lair forever, April. But you gotta admit, this wasn't a bad idea."

Yeah, maybe. But we've got a problem. A major one.

"Problem?"

Turn on the T.V.

Without hanging up, Raph walked out of the dojo and into the living room. He grabbed the remote and turned the television on. A blonde woman was standing in front of a burning building, with firemen trying to put it out in the background.

"...perpetrators made off with more than $900,000. One of the employees is in critical condition and has been rushed to the hospital. According to witnesses, the man tried to fight the masked men, but was overwhelmed and beaten to a pulp. We've just received a phone video of the incident. What you're about to see is disturbing and should not be watched by young viewers."

A video was shown of four figures dressed in black kicking and beating a man. Their faces were covered with black masks, which had big bug-like eyes and red headbands. On each headband, there was an all-too familiar symbol.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Raph muttered under his breath.

Recognize them? April said on the other line.

"Just what I need right now," he grumbled, rubbing his temples.

Leo stared wide-eyed at the T.V. in his apartment room, but he soon narrowed his midnight blue eyes . He felt great anger arise within him as he watched the video being replayed over and over again. He clenched his fists and his breathing grew heavy.

"So you've decided to crawl out of the woodwork," he said venomously. "You just made a very big mistake."

He jumped off the couch and quickly put on his gear. "You're not taking another innocent life," he growled. "Not on my watch."

"And you're absolutely sure that you disbanded the Foot after that?" Raph asked Karai, who sat at the kitchen table with her father and brother.

"Yes," Karai firmly nodded her head. "They all returned to their families in Japan, I saw to it."

"What about your friend, Shinigami?"

Karai's expression saddened. "I haven't seen or spoken to her since."

"I thought you two were pretty tight?"

"We were, but I needed to stay behind to look after Father, and Shini was pretty upset that I wouldn't go back with her."

Raph rubbed his chin in deep thought. "So you think she may have something to do with the new Foot?"

"I doubt it," Karai shook her head. "I mean, sure, she was mad at me, but she wouldn't..."

"She's still a suspect," Raph said curtly. "Think about it. Aside from you, she's the only one who has a connection with the Foot Clan. We know for a fact that the Shredder is dead along with his goons. So we can't rule her out."

"Saki had many followers," Splinter gravely said. "Especially in Japan. Perhaps the Foot Clan's new leader is an old pupil of his."

"Well, regardless of who's behind this," Raph said, "we need to act quickly, because the more time we waste, the more casualties we'll get...on both sides."

"So you want to get to them before Leo does," Karai somberly said.

"Exactly. I'll need help, though, and I know just who to call."

"What do you mean, they disbanded?!"

"The Mutanimals just went their separate ways after the final battle with the Kraang," April calmly explained to Raph. "So I have no idea where any of them are."

"Not even Slash?"

"No. I'm sorry, Raph."

Raph growled and felt like punching the wall, but he regained his composure and took a deep breath before sitting down on the couch.

"Hey, I'd love to go with you, man," Casey took a seat next to him, "but I'm just not the radical hockey rebel that I was back when we were kids. You saw how easy it was for those dumb mutant possums to take me down."

"So I guess I'm on my own?" Raph sighed heavily. "Great."

"You're still going after them?" April looked at her friend worriedly.

"I have to, April," Raph softly told her. "It's my duty as a Ninja Turtle, after all."

"But this is the Foot we're talking about here!"

"Not the original Foot, though. Most likely just a bunch of gutless wannabes."

"Still, you can't face them alone, Raph."

"Well, it doesn't look like I have much of a choice, does it?"

"What about Donnie?" Casey asked.

"Donnie's not going to help us, Casey," April said with sadness in her voice.

"You don't know that."

"I do, actually."

While the three continued to converse among themselves, Shadow secretly sat on the stairs and listened intently.

Raph spent the entire next day sitting on a rooftop, from the rising of the sun to the setting, waiting for any sign of trouble. He was dead set on reaching the Foot before Leo should they decide to strike. But he was starting to get very tired, and he suddenly remembered why he loathed patrols during his teenage years. Every now and then a pigeon would pay a visit and he'd interact with them, but overall he was extremely bored.

He smiled fondly at a memory that flashed through in his head.

"Yo, Raph, wanna play a game of 'I Spy'?" Mikey playfully nudged him as they looked down at the streets below them, both bored out of their minds.

Raph shrugged. "Sure, why not?" he grumbled. "Anything to pass the time."

"Okay, let's see, I spy something...yellow!"

"A taxicab?"

"Darn it! Okay, your turn."

"I spy something..." Raph looked around and turned his head toward Leo and Donnie, who were engaged in a conversation. He smirked as he suddenly got an idea. "I spy something brown."

"Oh, man, that's a tough one," Mikey rubbed his chin and his tongue stuck out as he thought long and hard about this. "Uh, is it the smoke coming out of those factories over there?"

"Nope."

"Uh..." Mikey looked down at the floor of the rooftop, "...the puke stain on the cement?"

"Try again."

"Uh...I give up, dude."

Raph pointed to Leo. "It's Leo's nose!" he laughed out loud. At the sound of his brother's boisterous laughter, Leo whipped his head around and put a finger to his lips, letting out a harsh "shh".

Mikey titled his head in confusion. "Huh? There's nothing brown on Leo's nose."

"What's so funny?"

Raph turned around to find Leo standing behind him.

"Leo? What...what are you doing here?"

"Patrolling the city. What are you doing here?"

"Same," Raph muttered. Darn it! I was afraid this would happen! Now what?

Leo sat down next to him, chuckling. "You know, it's funny. You used to hate going on patrols. How long have you been up here?"

Raph let out a yawn. "Since this morning."

Leo looked at Raph in shock. "Really? Well, that's kind of extreme, don't you think? Or are you just so eager to kick some tail?"

"Yeah, that's it." No, it's because I didn't want any more people to die by your hand tonight.

"Well, you're in luck. I'm assuming that you've already seen the news about the new Foot Clan?"

"Yeah."

"It'll be just like old times, fighting the Foot side by side." He turned to look at Raph and gave him a sad smile. "I've missed fighting alongside you, Raph."

"...Leo, listen, I need you to promise me something."

Leo raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, what?"

Raph narrowed his eye and firmly gripped Leo's shoulder. "If we're going to work together, then you need to promise me that you won't kill anyone, and that includes the Foot."

Leo frowned at him. "Raph, I can't..."

"Just for tonight!" Raph snapped, before softening his tone. "Please, Leo. You want it to be like old times? Then no killing. At all."

Leo looked away and let out a heavy sigh. "Fine," he muttered. "But just for tonight."

They suddenly heard a distant boom and the sounds of people screaming. In the distance, about ten blocks from where Leo and Raph stood, black smoke slowly arose.

"Finally some action," Leo said, a predatory smile on his face. "Let's go, Raph."

Raph watched as Leo leapt off the rooftop and onto the next. He had already noticed Leo's creepy, bloodthirsty smile, and it sent chills down his spine.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," he whispered to himself before running after Leo.

Will Leo keep his promise? Or will the Serpent take over once again...?