AN: Hello! This is my first time posting on . I usually post on Wattpad (which is where this story is originally posted, so feel free to check out this story there if you get bored waiting for the next chapter and want to read ahead. I have up to 'The Deadly Venom' currently posted on Wattpad). I decided I wanted to try and get this story out to a larger audience, so I recently began posting it here and on Archiveofourown. I'm still figuring out the controls on here and have no idea what I'm doing. The controls for posting a new chapter are so different from on Wattpad, to be honest. I'll try to publish at least one chapter a week, but with crossposting on AO3 and Wattpad along with some personal issues I'm dealing with and attempting to juggle school, things might be a little slow. Luckily, winter break starts this Thursday and then I'm off until the 4th of January and I'll try to get out as many chapters as possible on here while still trying to meet my goal for the end of the year on Wattpad of finishing season 3. Anyway, thank you for all of you who checked out the first chapter of this story, aka Pepper's profile. Hamato Pepper is my OC and a main character of this story. I'll have several other OCs jumping in later on in the story and might do profiles for them as well. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
Our story begins in New York City, where beneath all of the people, buildings, and noisy cars, there is more than meets the eye in the city of the Big Apple. Everything is peaceful and quiet. Deep in the sewer lays a lair that resembles an indoor home, with the exception of a Dojo with a large tree in the middle of a normal family. Four sons are in training, while an older daughter watches from the side, sitting with legs crossed. The eldest of the sons, with a blue mask and katanas, practices with the youngest and baby of the family, with an orange mask and nunchucks.
The sister watches intently as the two groups glare at each other, eyes locked. The eldest and youngest jump to their feet. The eldest holds his katana before him, and the youngest withdraws his nunchucks from his belt, tucking the ends of each pair under his arms. Their eyes narrow as they stare each other down, each daring the other to go first. After a few seconds, the eldest raises his katana and runs forward, letting out a battle cry. The youngest's glare turns to a playful smirk.
"Oh, yeah! Michelangelo's on the move!" The youngest charges forward, too, twirling both pairs of nunchucks. They meet halfway, and the eldest swings for the youngest. But the youngest dodges quickly, jumping over the eldest's head and landing behind him. The eldest glares as the youngest swings his nunchucks, busting some fancy moves. "You don't know what to do!" The sister snickers. Too slow, Leo. The turtle charges forward and gives another swing, and another, but still the youngest dodges the strikes. "I'm here! I'm there!" The youngest smirks as he lands, down on one knee. "I could be anywhere!" His eyes go wide and white, and he dodges another hard strike from his older brother. Leo turns to him and smirks. The sister's eyes narrow. What's he up to...? "How do you stop what you can't even see?" the youngest taunts, dancing around before taking a stance.
Leo takes a stance, too, sword at his side. The youngest raises his nunchucks as he runs forward, ready to strike. Only a foot away, Leo flips his sword, and brings the end forward. Hard. The pommel delivers a hard blow to the youngest's stomach, smacking against his plastron. The sister winces. That'll known the wind out of you for sure. The youngest drops his nunchucks, somersaults around Leo, and stops, kneeling. He lets out a pained gasp and falls on his side.
"Like that?" Leo asks smugly.
"Good one, Leo..." the youngest chokes. Leo raises a brow, staring down at him. The youngest rolls off his shell and starts to crawl toward the sister, a look of agony on his face, and he reaches for her. "Tag in, sis!" he coughs, though it sounds more dramatic now. "Tag in! Avenge me...!" He lets out a sickly groan as his head falls to the floor, hand still raised toward his sister.
The sister rolls her eyes. Drama queen... She lifts a black-gloved hand and pats his lightly. "I shall avenge you, dear brother." She rises to her feet and steps across to her younger brother's former place. Leo looks at her for a moment, a small grin growing on his face. "Come on, Leo. You know how this is gonna end. You could just back out now, if you want." She draws the sword at her left hip, smirking, sharp white teeth and curved fangs visible behind her lips. She takes a defensive stance, fluffy tail sweeping slowly behind her.
Leo chuckles. "You say that like I'm gonna listen to you, Pepper." Leo's grin turns to a smirk and he takes a stance, holding his katana toward her.
"Leo, don't make me force you," she says sweetly. "You can still back down."
"Now where's the fun in that?" he asks.
Pepper chuckles slightly, turning to fully face him, sword near her in a defensive stance. They stand there for a few moments, eyes locked. Pepper moves first, darting forward quickly. Leo charges her at the same time, meeting her halfway. Pepper feints, dodging right and moving out of the way. Leo turns to keep her in his sight-line and she moves to kick his shell with one leg. He turns, blocking against his forearm. Pepper brings down her sword-arm and the blade collides against his katana, ringing through the dojo. Leo shoves her back, but she steadies herself easily, tail swishing.
Leo charges, katana in the air and ready to strike. Pepper ducks, grabbing his wrist in her free hand. She twists her other wrist, delivering a hard strike to his stomach with the cross-guard of her sword. He lets out a huff of pain. Pepper shoves his arm out of the way and straightens, whipping around to strike him in the shoulder with her foot. He takes a few steps back, katana up to shield his face. Pepper swings her sword forward, a loud clang sounding as the two weapons connect. Pepper takes advantage of the distraction to dart forward. In one fluid move, she kneels, spins, and kicks his legs from under him. He makes a noise of surprise as he falls flat on his shell, katana falling from his hand. Pepper lifts her blade and before Leo can even sit up, she places her foot against his chest, the tip of her sword aimed at his face.
"You give?" she asks, trying desperately not to laugh at the dumbfounded look on his face.
He blinks at the sword, then up at her. He grins and gives a small shrug. "Alright, I can take a hint."
Pepper nods, releasing him. "Good boy."
"Ooh, you got knocked out!" the youngest jeers.
Pepper snickers, whiskers twitching in amusement. "C'mon, Mikey, leave the poor boy alone." She rests a hand on her hip as Leo gets to his feet, picking up his katana off the floor. He walks over to sit next to Mikey on the other side of the room, while Pepper turns to watch her other two brothers.
One, an incredibly intelligent, clever, and tall brother with a violet mask, gap tooth, and Bo staff faces with the fourth son, hot-tempered and aggressive with a red mask and a pair of sai.
The tall one shows off a cool few moves with his staff, spinning it to the sides and above his head. Pepper's ears twitch. Say what you will about the Bo staff, but Donnie knows how to make good use of one. Donnie stops his staff, taking a stance, staff pointed at the hot-head, who stands still with an almost bored expression on his face. He cracks his neck, shaking his head slightly.
"Alright, Donnie, put down the staff, and no one gets hurt," he orders.
"Ah, you said that last time, Raph, and then you hurt me!"
"Yeah, but...less than I would have."
"Yeah, right!"
Pepper snickers, tail flicking in amusement. Donnie charges, swinging his staff at Raph. But said turtle rolls out of the way, even dodging another strike from the staff. Donnie spins the staff at his side and strikes forward, nearly catching Raph against the throat. Raph leans back just enough for it to miss. Donnie brings the staff back, spinning it above his head and bringing it down. Raph dodges, doing a few flips to land in front of Donnie, who spins the staff, turns to spin it behind his back, and comes full circle with the motion. He spins it above his head and swings it down at Raph, who dodges once more.
C'mon, Raph, quit toying with him. Pepper rolls her eyes. Donnie stands back for a couple seconds, a determined look on his face. He swings the staff out and above his head as he steps forward, bringing the staff down in an effort to strike. 'Effort' meaning he doesn't hit anything. Reason being: Raph takes it out of his hands. Donnie looks down at his hands, gasps slightly, and looks back up. Raph leans slightly against the staff, an almost evil grin on his face. He spins the staff for a second before bringing it down over his knee, snapping it in two. He holds up the two pieces, grinning wider. Donnie blinks, looking slightly scared.
"...Should've dropped the staff?"
"Should've dropped the staff."
Raph spins the two broken pieces in his hands before charging. Donnie steps back a few feet before turning and bending over, covering his head with his hands. Raph shows no mercy as he beats against Donnie's shell with the pieces.
"Okay, okay-Ow! I'm down!" Donnie yelps.
Pepper rolls her eyes and steps forward. "Enough."
Raph stops, and Donnie turns his head to look. Raph grins as he drops the pieces of wood. "Well, look who's come to save the day," he teases.
Pepper hums, ears twitching. Donnie looks up at her and Pepper nods to where Leo and Mikey sit. Donnie nods, getting to his feet and walking over to join them. Mikey sticks out his tongue at Donnie playfully, and Donnie simply glares back at him. Pepper takes a few steps toward Raph and he steps toward her. They stop a few feet away from one another and look at each other. Pepper draws her other sword from her right hip, spinning both swords skillfully in her hands before holding them out defensively. Raph gives a dry chuckle as he pulls out his sais.
"You get hurt," he says, "I take no responsibility."
Pepper cocks an eyebrow, knowing that's just his way saying 'good luck'. The boys have different ideas on what training is. To Mikey, it's a fun, exciting game. To Donnie, it's a fun experiment, telling him how to get better. To Leo, it's an everyday way to life. And to Raph, it's always a competition. Always.
"Whatever you say, Raphie," Pepper teases.
Pepper takes a step back, getting into a defensive stance, swords out. Raph spins his sais a bit, holding them toward her. They stand and stare for a few moments. Now! Pepper charges, swords high, and slashes down at him. He blocks his sais. Pepper holds her swords in place, pushing against him. Raph shoves her away and she ducks as he swings at her. She looks up, swords at the ready, one at her side, the other lifted. Raph holds up his sais, lets out a battle cry, and charges. Pepper straightens, swinging both swords around to come down at Raph. He pushes them aside with one fist and lifts his other sai. Pepper spins out of the way and Raph moves forward on momentum, somersaulting and landing on one knee. Pepper charges, swords raised. She leaps up and attempts to strike above, but he turns in time to block with his sais. Pepper forces his aside and knocks one sai from his hand. Using whatever force he had, he uses his remaining sai to knock the sword from her left hand. It heads toward the others and Leo catches. Pepper takes a few steps back, tail swishing slowly. She and Raph stare for a few seconds before they charge, letting out battle cries. Meeting halfway, they raise their weapons.
Pepper knows it's hopeless from the second she hears the loud clang of metal on metal. Their weapons meet, and Pepper's sword gets knocked from her right hand and thuds to the floor. Before she knows what's happening, Raph catches her wrist between the blades of his sai. He grabs her arm and pulls her down. Hard. Really hard. She flips over his shoulder and lands heavily on her back, letting out a sharp exhale as the wind gets knocked out of her.
"Ho-kay," she exhales. "That hurt."
"Nice try, sis." Raph leans over Pepper, who looks up at him to see the smug, victorious smirk he wears. Then it shifts to an affectionate smile as he reaches down a hand to help her up.
Pepper grins, reaching up o grab his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. "Thanks."
"I'm surprised," he says. "You haven't beaten Leo in a while. Figured he might beat you again."
Pepper laughs as she picks up her sword. "You underestimate me, Raphael," she says as she sheathes her weapon. "It's only been a week or two since the last time I beat Leo."
"Two weeks and three days to be exact," Donnie states.
"Exactly." Raph folds his arms. "That's longer than last time, Pepper. You're not starting to slack off, are you?"
Pepper's whiskers twitch in feigned irritation. She smirks slightly as she raised an eyebrow. "Now, do I really look like a slacker to you, Raph?"
Raph, still smirking, opens his mouth to respond, but is cut off by another voice. "Yame!"
The four teens get in a line, kneeling in the middle of the room. Pepper sheathes her other sword, kneeling between Leo and Raph. Their sensei makes his way over, one hand at his side, the other holding a large cane. As he walks past, Leo bows so low that his head nearly touches the ground. As her sensei passes Pepper, she a small, respectful incline of her head.
"You all did very well," Sensei says.
"But I did better," Raph boasts.
Pepper's whiskers twitch as she turns to stare at him. Not this again. "Raph, watch it..." she warns.
"This is about self-improvement, Raphael," Sensei states. "It is not about winning and losing."
"I know, Sensei. But, I won, and...they lost," Raph argues.
Here it comes.
Not even a second later, Sensei reaches down and presses a finger to Raph's neck. Raph lets out a pained yelp as his pressure point is hit, and Pepper's ears twitch as she winces slightly.
"But! What's really important is that we all did our best! Good job, everyone!" Raph says quickly.
Sensei releases his hold and Raph falls to the ground, gasping. Sensei chuckles slightly and Pepper bites her lip to keep from laughing.
"With all due respect," she teases as Raph sits up, rubbing his neck, "I did warn ya."
Lunch comes and goes as normal. Sensei and the boys have their usual algae and worms while Pepper eats her rice. As a cat-mutant and not a rat or turtle like her family, she can't live on algae and worms, but she and Sensei managed to find some human food from the surface so she wouldn't starve. This caused a bit of an incident whenthey were younger and her brothers gave her a cake made of algae and worms for her seventh birthday. It was very sweet, but she had to turn it down because eating it would have probably made her sick. It had made her little brothers upset that she was turning away their gift, but after an explanation about how she couldn't eat some of the same things they did, they'd understood. She'd still thanked them for the thoughtful present anyway. Their meals were always a little entertaining these days because her brothers still acted the way they did when they were little when they ate: Leo ate without complaint, Raph stabbed the food with his chopsticks, Donnie hacked in disgust, and Mikey ate all his stuff and finished before everyone else.
"There's a little more algae and worms left if anyone wants it." Mikey held the huge pot toward them, as though trying to tempt them to take it. "Anybody? Anybody?"
"No thanks."
"I'm good."
"All yours."
"Well, I guess no one left room for...cake!" Mikey exclaimed.
Pepper's ears pricked in excitement. Mikey pulled out a large, green-and-blue cake with a single candle in the middle.
"No way!" Pepper leaned over the table to get a closer look, tail swishing excitedly.
"It is a cake!" Donnie exclaimed, sounding surprised.
Raph stuck his finger out, scraped a bit of the stuff off the cake, and licked it. "Made of...algae." A small pink object poked up from the top and crawled over the surface. "And worms..."
Pepper sat back, ears drooping in disappointment. "Well, so much for that..."
"What's the frosting made out of?" Leo asked.
"You don't wanna know." Mikey glanced around, then grinned. "Happy Mutation Day!"
"Happy Mutation Day!" the boys and Pepper chorused.
"And!" Mikey slung an arm around Pepper's shoulders. "Happy birthday to our big sista!"
Pepper grinned, patting the green hand gripping her shoulder. "Thanks, Mikey." Since she didn't know her actual date of birth, they just celebrated her birthday on the same day of the boys' mutation day celebration. "And, as the only birthday girl here, I get to blow out the candle." She leaned forward and blew out the tiny flame.
"What did you wish for?" Donnie asked.
Pepper smiled smugly as she leaned back. "Can't tell ya. Otherwise it won't come true."
"Oooh! We got a birthday present for you!" Mikey said.
Pepper's ears pricked as Sensei pulled out a small present and held it out to her. She took it and unwrapped it, revealing a beautiful flower hairpin.
"It's beautiful," she said, grinning.
"Raph and I found it in the sewers two months ago. We cleaned it up since it was in good shape," Leo explained as Pepper pinned the flower in her dark braided hair.
"Gracias a todos," Pepper said. (Thanks, everyone.) "Happy Mutation Day, you guys."
"Thanks, Pepper," Donnie said.
"Ah, yes," Sensei sighed. "15 years ago today, our lives changed forever and we became the unlikeliest of families. And 14 years ago today, Pepper joined us."
"Tell us the story, Master Splinter!" Mikey begged.
"Michelangelo, I have already told it many times."
"Please! Pleas-" His begging was cut off as Raph slapped a hand over Mikey's mouth.
"Please," he said. "It's the only way to shut Mikey up."
Sensei sighed. "Very well... Many years ago, when I was still human, I was leaving the pet store with four baby turtles..."
"That was us!" Mikey piped up.
"Yes... Don't interrupt!" Sensei cleared his throat as Mikey sat back down. "I passed a strange man on the street. Something felt off about him... I decided to follow."
Pepper rested her chin in her hand and closed her eyes. But her pricked ears showed she was still listening intently as Sensei told them about how he'd followed the strange man to an alley, how he'd given himself away by accidentally stepping on a rat's tail, and how the strange man - now accompanied by several others - had tried to attack him. Emphasis on 'tried'. Sensei managed to fight off all the strange men, all while still holding the baby turtles. Unfortunately, during the fight, one of the men had dropped a strange canister filled with glowing green ooze. It had fallen to the ground, smashed open, and the ooze had spilled over Sensei and his pets, turning them into the people sitting with Pepper today.
"That was the beginning of our life together." Pepper opened her eyes as Sensei held up the strange container for them all to see. "It was the mysterious substance in this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all."
Mikey snatched the canister from Sensei and hugged it tightly. "Mom!" Pepper snorted. Not much of a family resemblance. Then Mikey's eyes widened. "Ooh! Now tell us how you found Pepper!"
Sensei sighed at him and turned to Pepper for permission. She simply nodded, knowing Mikey wouldn't shut it if Sensei didn't tell the story of how he found Pepper.
"Very well... It was the year after we'd been living in the sewers," Sensei began, stroking his beard. "One morning, while the four of you slept, I was about to prepare breakfast when I heard a faint cry. I decided to investigate. I followed the sound, and it led me to the surface, into an alley. There, I found a young girl attemtping to find food. I decided to take her in and raised her as my own."
Pepper smiled at him warmly. The memory was faint, 14 year ago, but she could still remember how, after she'd come to New York City as a stowaway aboard a plane from Barcelona, Spain, she'd struggled to survive alone, a mutant four-year-old in a strange world. She had been used to avoiding humans, but in Barcelona she'd had a caretaker. The memory of him was even fainter, but she could remember a couple details: warm brown eyes, a soft smile he showed only her, dark skin, tussled, unruly black hair, and a human face. New York City had been so different than Barcelona, but when Sensei had found her, he'd offered her shelter. Pepper had been wary at first. The last person to be kind to her had abandoned her in Barcelona, after all. But Sensei hadn't done that. He'd introduced her to his sons and she'd helped care for them. They became her family, more so than the man from Barcelona had ever been. She knew that if Sensei hadn't been so kind to her, she would probably have been a goner a long time ago.
As soon as Sensei finished the story, Mikey brought Pepper into a tight hug, squeezing her so hard she could barely breathe. Leo must have noticed because he gently pulled Mikey away to let Pepper breathe again.
"So, Sensei, now that we're 15 and Pepper's 18, I think we're finally ready to go up to the surface, don't you?" Leo asked.
They all turned to look expectantly at Sensei.
"Yes." The boys cheered and punched their fists in the air and Pepper grinned. "And no." Pepper jaw dropped and she stared at Sensei as the boys lowered their fists, groaning in disappointment.
"I hate when he does that," Raph complained.
"You and me both," Pepper grumbled, crossing her arms.
"You have grown powerful, but you are still young." Sensei stood from his seat. "You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely."
"Not all of us," Pepper complained under her breath. Sensei had let her up to the surface once when she was fifteen, but that had been largely due to the fact that she'd complained so much about being trapped in the sewers that he finally realized she'd most likely have just snuck topside anyway, even without permission. Cats weren't meant to live in the sewers, after all. But her brothers had never been topside before, and she knew how important it was to them.
"You might be the oldest and most mature, Pepper, but that does not mean you are prepared for what is out there," Sensei warned.
Pepper's ears folded back unhapily. "So, isn't that just...'no', then?"
"Yes...and no."
"...What?"
"Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making mistakes."
"So...in order to gain the wisdom, we have to make the mistake, so we can go!"
"No."
"And...yes?"
"No!"
She groaned. "Sensei. We know you're trying to protect us, but we can't spend our whole lives hiding down here. We're never gonna be able to know how to defend ourselves from the things above if we never go there. And I'm not new to the surface. I spent four years up there. I know how to avoid the humans and we can be back in the sewers by daybreak. No one will see us. Besides, the boys are the same age as I was when you let me go topside once." Sensei turned away, stroking his thin beard thoughtfully. Pepper's eyes narrowed. "Time to start begging, boys. Game faces."
In less than a second, they were on the floor, kneeling in front of Sensei, hands clasped and puppy-dog eyes in use. Sensei turned, blinking in surprise upon seeing them. He looked at the boys before looking down at Pepper.
"Please, Sensei?" she begged, ears folded back. For a cat, she was startlingly good at the puppy-dog eyes.
Finally, Sensei sighed. "You may go. Tonight."
Pepper whooped in delight as her brothers shouted "YEAH!" coupled with Mikey's signature, "BOOYAKASHA!"
"High-three!" Mikey shouted, raising a hand. They all accepted his call and raised their hands to meet in their usual five-way high-three.
Pepper sat on the stairs, a few seats below Raph, who was reading a magazine. Leo was sitting on the floor in front of the TV, watching an episode of 'Space Heroes'. He could be such a fanboy sometimes. Well...maybe all of the time...
"Mr. Crankshaw, status report!"
"Status?! I'll give you the status! We're gonna blow up in two seconds!"
Pepper leaned forward a bit to look at the screen in time to see Mr. Crankshaw get slapped by Captain Ryan.
"Thank you, Captain..."
Leo stood from his spot and held up a hand. "Gentlemen, I have a bold and daring plan." He spoke in unison with Captain Ryan onscreen. "There's no time for hesitation. My orders must be carried out without question!"
"Aye, sir!"
Pepper slapped a hand over her muzzle, her laughter coming out in loud snorts. No matter how many times Leo did this, it was always funny.
"You know this show is stupid, right?" Raph asked.
Leo whipped his head around. "'Space Heroes' is a great show," he argued. "And Captain Ryan is a great hero. Someday, I'm gonna be just like him."
Raph finally looked up from his magazine. "Well, you do like to listen to yourself talk, so you're on your way."
Pepper grinned and stifled her laughter as Leo glared at him.
"Well...you don't complain when Pepper takes the remote to watch 'Impractical Jokesters'!" he said accusingly.
"Yeah, cause that show is actually funny!" Raph snapped. "Your show bores me to sleep."
Leo grumbled irritably and folded his arms as Pepper snickered.
"Don't worry, Leo," Pepper said. "Not every show can be worthy of everyone's attention."
"It's go time!"
Pepper turned to see Mikey and Donnie standing there, grinning.
"C'mon, Pepper!" Mikey ran up to her and shook her shoulders. "Grab your gear! We gots to go!"
Pepper laughed, excitedly swishing her tail. This is gonna be epic!
After gathering their weapons, the siblings waited for Sensei to give them the 'okay'. They stood in a straight line, at attention.
"You are going up to a strange and hostile world," Sensei said. "You must maintain awareness at all times."
"Hai, Sensei!" they chorused, turning to leave.
"Stay in the shadows," Sensei added, and they snapped back into line.
"Hai, Sensei!" They turned to leave again, but...
"Don't talk to strangers."
Back to their spots. "Hai, Sensei." Less enthusiasm colored their tones this time.
"Everyone is a stranger!" Sensei snapped before they could take more than one step.
Okay, now he's just being overprotective.
"Hai, Sensei," they sighed, now sounding rather bored. They turned to leave for a fourth time, but after a few steps, Sensei spoke up yet again.
"Make sure you go before you leave! The restrooms up there are filthy!"
"Sensei!" they groaned exasperatedly.
Sensei sighed. "Good luck, my children."
Pepper grinned as her brothers let out exclamations of glee, and they finally sprinted through the exit.
"Look both ways before crossing the street!"
Pepper rolled her eyes. Geez, have a little faith, Sensei.
"It's so beautiful..." Mikey breathed as they stood in the dark, abandoned alley.
Okay, not the word I'd use, but...
Pepper led the way as they slowly and confidently walked out of the alley and into the street. Pepper's ears were pricked alertly, swiveling to catch the slightest noise. Her nose twitched as scents she hadn't smelled for years, and bright emerald eyes surveyed the streets. It was late and no one was in sight. Pepper strode to the middle of the street, grinning excitedly.
"Geez, I forgot how big New York City is. Pretty easy to get lost out here," she commented.
"This city is just full of possibility!" Leo said excitedly. "There could be an adventure around this corner..." He peeked around the corner, but nothing was there. "Or this one..." He peeked around the corner of a closed restaurant, but there was still nothing. "Or this one!" He looked into another dark alley, but there was nothing but a dumpster with a cat on it. The cat meowed at them before walking off. "There's not, but there could be!" Leo said happily.
Pepper shook her head as she looked around at her brothers. Raph had his arms folded, examining the area. Mikey was having fun and doing flips in the street. Donnie was heading along the sidewalk when he gasped and pressed his face and hands to the glass window of a shop.
"Look at all the computers! Is that the next generation cadmium processor with quantum encryption?" he asked excitedly.
"I don't know, Donatello!" Raph said sarcastically. "Is it?"
Donnie looked back inside. "It is!"
"Guys, guys! Check this out!" They all turned to look at Mikey, who was gazing at a store's neon sign, which looked like an orange hand with a blue eye inside. Mikey, looking amazed by the sign, pressed his face to the glass. "A hand made out of light..." The hand's light turned off suddenly and the blue eye lit up. Mikey gasped. "Now it's an eye made out of light!" The hand lit up. "And the hand again! Now the eye's back! Now the hand!"
"It's just a neon sign, Mikey," Pepper informed him, but he ignored her.
Raph walked up to him and grabbed him by the tails of his orange mask, pulling him away from the glass and into the street. "C'mon, genius."
"The eye...!"
Pepper sighed as she followed the two into the street, where Donnie and Leo were waiting.
"So, where to next?" Donnie asked.
Before any of them could answer, there was the loud purr of an engine and they turned to see the glow of headlights. A motorcycle pulled up in front of them, a boy riding it. He stared at them, and they stared back, all startled into silence. Then, Raph raised his hands and growled at the human. The boy screamed and spun his cycle around, speeding away in a cloud of smoke, wheels squeaking.
Pepper sighed, placing her hands on her hips and turning to her red-banded brother. "Was that really necessary?" she asked, sounding like an irritated mother.
"Nope, but it was fun," he replied with a smirk.
"Well, thanks to you, that kid's probably gonna have nightmares tonight."
"We're too exposed out here," Leo said. He turned and looked at the buildings. The rooftops, to be exact. "C'mon!" He took off for the buildings and Raph and Donnie followed.
Pepper was about to head up the fire escape after them when she realized Mikey hadn't followed. Turning, she saw him still standing in the street. "Mikey! C'mon!"
"Coming!" He picked up a box from the street and started after the others, following Pepper up the fire escape.
"Oh, boys!" Pepper called when they met up with the others. "Mikey brought a gift."
"It fell off the dude's bike," Mikey said as he set the thin white box on a block on the roof. The boys crowded around the box, looking down at it. Pepper squeezed in between Mikey and Raph to see.
"Pizz-za?" Mikey read slowly.
Pepper's ears pricked excitedly, eyes brightening. "Oh, no way! I know what this is! It's human food! I've only had it once, a long time ago, back in Barcelona. I don't remember much, but it was really good."
She pulled open the box. A puff of steam emerged and her nose twitched excitedly at the most delicious smell ever. A soft purr built in her throat as she and her brothers looked down at the large circle with cheese, sauce, and pepperoni.
She grinned, tail fluffing happily. "Score! I haven't had good food in a long time. Plain white rice gets boring after a while." She reached down and took one of the slices, biting into it and swallowing it with a noise of satisfaction. "C'mon, guys, try it! It's awesome, I promise you!"
The boys exchanged looks before taking their own slices as Pepper worked on hers.
"I never thought I'd taste anything better than worms and algae, but this is amazing!" Raph said.
"I love it up here!" Mikey shouted, throwing his hands up in the air.
Mikey was right. The surface was awesome! The whole city was like a gigantic playground; the buildings and rooftops were parts of a huge jungle gym, and Pepper and the guys were the excited children playing on it. And their playing consisted of racing each other across the rooftops.
"Too fast for you, Don!" Raph shouted behind him to said brother.
"I'm coming for you, Pepper!" Mikey shouted.
"C'mon, Leo!" Pepper turned her head to look at her blue-banded brother. "I'm way ahead of you. You gotta keep up!"
"Don't make me come up there!" he called back. "I swear, I will team up with Mikey and we'll both be after you!"
Pepper laughed as she turned back and continued across the roofs. After a few minutes, the race finally died down. Pepper leapt over the next alleyway, ran across the roof, and slid over to the end, coming to a stop. It was way more fun up here when her brothers were with her, and it wasn't her alone. One by one, the boys joined her. They stood and stared at the city before them, taking in the sight. Pepper took in a deep breath. Oh, yeah, I could get used to this.
Unfortunately, she knew it couldn't last forever. Her ears drooped and she sighed. "Alright, guys, it's getting late. We should probably head back home."
The guys groaned, but her decision stood.
Donnie gasped. "Guys! Look at that!" He pointed down at something on the street. Two figures headed along the sidewalk: a tall, middle-aged man with a red beard, and a younger girl who was most likely his daughter. She had red hair like her father and bright blue eyes.
"Just a couple humans, Don," Pepper said. "Nothing really..." She trailed off as she saw his face. His eyes were wide and white, his jaw hanging open, and Pepper swore she saw him drooling a little.
"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen..." he murmured.
Pepper's whiskers twitched as she stared at him. Her ears swiveled as they picked up the thumping of his heart against his plastron.
"Isn't she the only girl you've ever seen?" Raph pointed out. "Besides Pepper?"
Donnie blinked and turned to look at them. Then he frowned and stuck his nose in the air. "My point still stands."
Raph looked about to respond, but there was the sudden roar of an engine below that made them all look down. A large, white van skidded to a halt in front of the family. Pepper's eyes narrowed. What the...? Several men, all in black suits, came out of the van and advanced on the father and daughter. They both backed away, looking terrified.
"We gotta save them!" Donnie exclaimed.
Pepper nodded, ears tilting back. "I'm with you on that one!"
They moved to head down, but Leo grabbed their shoulders. "Splinter's instructions were very clear," he stated. "We're supposed to stay away from people...and bathrooms."
Pepper raised an eyebrow. He sounded more worried about the bathroom thing than the people thing. Then her ears angled back angrily. "I thought you wanted to be a hero? Since when do heroes ask for permission?"
"They don't, but-"
She rolled her eyes, tail swishing. "Well, I'm going!" She jumped down from the building.
"We can't let her go alone," Donnie said behind her, and she heard him jump down after her.
By the time they landed on the ground, the men in suits had tossed the father into the van.
"Help! Help!" the girl called.
"Hey!" Raph ran up to one of the suit-men and punched him in the gut, making him slide back.
The boys each took one of the suit-men and started fighting them. Pepper drew one of her swords and started toward one of the suit-men, but she got pushed to the side as Donnie bumped into her.
"Donnie?"
"Sorry, Pepper!" He went back to his own fight.
Pepper adjusted her grip on the sword hilt and ran up to one of the suit-men, swinging the flat of the blade at his face. It hit him in the jaw and sent him stumbling back, but he stayed on his feet. He started toward her, and she charged. She jumped up, about to strike from above, when Leo came up and attempted to take over the fight for her. 'Attempted' meaning Pepper ended up hitting him instead. The flat of her blade slammed against his shell and sent them both to the ground.
"Leo!" she growled. "What was that?"
Before he could answer, the suit-guy kicked Pepper in the stomach and set her rolling away. She stopped, gripping her sword tighter. "Okay...so you don't care about hitting girls..." She got to her feet, tail lashing. "That's fine with me!" She started running back toward the man when she realized Leo was still there, crouched on the ground, looking about to strike from below. "Leo, stay down!" she ordered. He looked back at her, but before he could move, she used his shell as a step to jump up and kick the man in the face. He fell face-first into the ground, and Pepper landed easily on her feet.
"Nice call," Leo said, sounding impressed.
"Thanks."
Pepper turned at a scream. She saw the men had finally gotten the girl into the van.
"They're getting away! They've got the girl!" Donnie shouted, running after the van.
Pepper adjusted her grip on her blade as she sprinted after him, outpacing him with her longer legs. Raph and Leo followed behind.
"You just jabbed me with your swords!" Raph shouted at Leo.
"Well, I didn't know you were going to land where I was stabbing!" Leo retorted.
"Guys!" Pepper snapped. "We can talk about how bad the fight was later! Right now, we gotta find that van and get the family back!"
They both shut up, and they moved on.
They lost the van. Sad, but true. They just couldn't catch up, and before they knew it, it was gone. Needless to say, Donnie was devastated.
"They got away..." he said sadly, as Pepper strained her ears, trying to hear the van, but it was silent. "We couldn't save them..."
"Don't worry, Donnie." Pepper patted the back of his shell. "I'm sure we'll find them."
Donnie just nodded in response.
"Hey, where's Mikey?" Leo asked.
No sooner had he asked them there was a loud scream nearby.
"Found him," Pepper stated.
Out of nowhere, Mikey appeared and ran up to them. "Guys! Guys!" he shouted in their faces. "You're never gonna believe it! That dude...!" He pointed over his shoulder somewhere. "He-he...had a brain!"
They stood there in silence, staring at him. Okay...weird...
"We all have brains, Mikey," Leo said simply.
"Not all of us," Donnie corrected.
"In our chests?!" Mikey demanded, putting his hands against his plastron.
"No, Mikey, not in our chests," said Leo, irritation clear in his voice.
Mikey stared at them as though they'd all grown an extra head, and then his eyes narrowed angrily. "You're not listening me!"
Slap! Leo just slapped Mikey across the face.
Mikey instantly reeled his head back, arms coming up in a defensive position. "Did you just slap me?" he deadpanned.
"Did you just slap him?!" Pepper growled at Leo, tail fluffing out angrily.
"I was calming him down," Leo replied.
"Why would that calm him down?!"
"I think he's delusional," Donnie said.
Pepper frowned at him, smacking him over the face with her tail. "Be nice." She walked up to Mikey, ears tilted up curiously. "What's all this about a brain in the chest?"
He grabbed her wrist. "Just...just c'mere!" He dragged her away down the sidewalk. "I'm telling you, this dude was a robot, and he had a freaky weird alien brain thing in his chest!"
Pepper didn't reply as Mikey dragged her away. She looked back at the others and shrugged helplessly. Leo sighed, gestured at the other two, and they followed.
"You gotta believe me!" Mikey said desperately.
"I'm not sure we do," Raph replied.
"Oh, yeah?" Mikey released Pepper's wrist, took a few steps forward, and pointed into an alley. "Well, you'll change your tune when you see that he's..." He turned toward the alley, then blinked. "Gone...?"
Pepper peered down the alley, but it was empty. "There's nothing there, Mikey," she said, turning to look at him. She lifted her muzzle and sniffed the air. "But..." Her eyes narrowed. "I do believe you that he was here. I can smell your scent and his." She shrugged. "But I don't exactly know what brains smell like, so no telling if that was actually real."
Mikey looked from her to the others, a desperate look on his face. The other three shook their heads, turning and walking away. Mikey hunched over, looking defeated.
Pepper sighed, patting his shoulder. "It's okay, Mikey. We all make mistakes, no big deal. Besides, we got bigger things to worry about."
"Like what?"
"Like how Sensei is gonna react to all of this."
"So your inability to work together allowed them all to get away!"
Pepper hung her head as her tail swished behind her, ears and whiskers drooping. Sensei was really chewing them out over this.
"Well, if I hadn't have had to waste time arguing with hero boy." Raph glared at Leo. "I could've saved them!"
"Hey, if you hadn't gotten in my way, I could've done it!" he retorted.
Pepper sighed, rolling her eyes. This is why I sit between them. So they don't strangle each other.
"And you went flying off on your own after Pepper!" Leo snapped at Donnie. "How smart was that!"
"It would've worked out great if somebody hadn't whacked me in the head with their nun-chucks!" Donnie snapped.
Mikey hesitated for a second as they all looked at him. "Well...none of this would've happened if..." He turned to his left, but nobody was there. "...somebody didn't trust us to go up there in the first place!"
Pepper's ears pricked up and her shoulders stiffened as the others tensed. They all turned to look at Sensei, who had stopped pacing.
"Oh, geez..." Mikey mumbled. "Sensei, I didn't mean to..."
"No, Michelangelo, you are right."
"I am?"
"He is?" they all asked, the boys out of surprise, Pepper out of curiosity.
"You were not fully prepared for what was up there." Sensei continued to pace. "I trained you to fight as individuals, not as a team. And as your teacher, your father, the responsibility for that is mine. Perhaps, in another year, we can try again."
What?! No! "Wha-Another year?!" Pepper exclaimed, tail bristling in shock. "Has everybody forgotten that people were kidnapped?! They don't have a year! Sensei, we have to do something now!" Sensei narrowed his eyes, but Pepper held her ground, ears tilted back angrily. "You weren't there, Sensei. You didn't see the way that girl looked. She was scared, and she was counting on us to save her."
Sensei didn't respond. He turned to face the small bookshelf, and Pepper got the feeling he was looking at the picture of his family. This wasn't the first time he'd done this. Sometimes, usually after they were done training, Pepper would peek into the dojo to find Sensei gazing at the photo. He had told her once that he had accepted the fact that they were gone-he had made peace with it. But it was clear he still missed them.
"Yes." Sensei turned back to them. "You must save her."
"I agree, Sensei," Leo said. "But in that fight, we weren't exactly a well-oiled machine."
"Like that robot with the brain thingy!" Mikey piped up.
Raph groaned. "Give it a rest."
Sensei stroked his beard. "Hm...If you are to fight more effectively as a unit, you are going to need a leader."
Oh, boy.
Leo's hand shot into the air. "Can I be the leader?"
"Why should you get to be the leader?" Raph demanded, leaning over Pepper to glare at Leo. "I've kicked your butt over a dozen times! I should be the leader."
"Hey, I'm smarter than all of you guys put together, it should be me!" Donnie argued. Then he faltered. "No offense, Pepper."
She twitched her whiskers in response.
"No way! It should be me!" Mikey protested. They all blinked at him in confusion. He just grinned. "I don't really have a reason, I just think it would be neat."
Sensei raised an eyebrow at Mikey before turning to Pepper. "Pepper? What are your thoughts on this matter?"
She hesitated. "Well...I mean, the leader should be able to keep their cool, even in frustrating situations, and be able to make strategic plans, and hard decisions. They should be able to make plans that won't result in someone getting themselves seriously hurt, but that also does what's necessary to get the job done. And they should know how to play to everyone's strengths."
"This is a difficult decision," Sensei said, heading for his room. "I will meditate on it." He walked into his room and shut the door. Not even two seconds later, he opened it and poked his head out. "It's Pepper." And he shut the door.
"What?" Pepper said in surprise. "I didn't even volunteer!" She glanced around at her brothers, ears twitching, then sighed. "Okay. Guess that just happened." She looked across at Raph. "No hard feelings, Raph?"
He let out an angry growl before standing and walking away. "Stick it in your tail!"
Pepper sighed watching him storm away. Why is his solution to getting mad always storming away?
"He'll calm down," Leo assured her, patting her shoulder. "Congrats, sis."
She smiled at him. "Thanks, Leo."
After some consideration, Pepper came up with her first plan as leader. A stakeout.
"Explain to me one more time what we're doing here," Mikey whiskered.
They guys let out irritated groans.
"Mikey, we've been over this," Pepper said calmly, eyes fixed on the building they were watching. "That building has the same logo as the van that was used to kidnap the family. So, if we wait here long enough, one of the kidnappers will eventually show his face. And when he does, we'll make him tell us where he took them."
"And then we got ourselves a van!" Mikey said, punching his fist into the air.
Leo face-palmed. "Just hit the guy Pepper tells you to!"
Mikey gave him a thumbs-up. "Will do!"
Raph didn't look too convinced. "You sure this is gonna work?" he asked.
"Trust her," Leo said. "They'll be here any second."
Meaning 'could be'.
It's a good thing cats have exceeding patience, because otherwise, Pepper would've been seriously bored. The boys wandered around the rooftop, bored out of their minds and finding various ways to occupy their time. Leo stuck with her for a while, but eventually even he got bored. She didn't move, seated at the edge of the roof, tufted ears pricked and eyes fixed on the street below.
"How can you just sit here this whole time?" Raph demanded. "Give it up already! The guy's not gonna show up!"
"We have to be patient," Pepper replied coolly.
Raph shook his head. "No, you have to come up with a better plan. 'Cause the five of us here with our thumbs up our noses-"
"I don't think they fit," Mikey pointed out, looking at his own thumbs.
"-is pointless!"
Pepper's ears swiveled and she smirked. "You sure about that, Raph?"
His face fell. "He just showed up, didn't he?" The same white van from the night before had just pulled up beside the building. "I should've complained two hours ago," Raph mumbled irritably.
The door of the van opened and a man stepped out on the driver's side. It was a tall, scrawny-looking guy in jeans and a white tank-top. He didn't look like the clones from last night, but was obviously working for them.
"Lady and gentlemen," Leo stated, "Pepper has a bold and daring plan!"
"Now? You're gonna do this now?" Pepper demanded.
"There's no time for hesitation! Her orders must be carried out without question!"
"Ho-kay." Pepper jumped down, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey following while Leo was still giving his speech.
"Guys? Guys, wait up!" he called after them.
The five of them surrounded the van slowly. The guy turned and gasped upon seeing them.
"Already, buddy," Raph started, "we could do this the easy way, or-my vote-the hard way." They drew their weapons.
"We don't want trouble," Pepper added, tail swishing as she spun her sword in her grip, "but if you don't cooperate, we won't have any choice."
"Yeah, look at it logically; there's five of us, and one of you," Donnie chuckled.
"What are you gonna do?" Leo asked.
The man stood there for a moment, then pulled out a strange gun and fired. Yelping, they leaped out of the way. Pepper grabbed the railing of the fire escape, hanging for a moment as she looked down. The guy grinned before jumping into his van and driving off.
"I was hoping he'd say 'nothing'," Leo said.
"You had to ask!" Raph snapped.
They jumped down from the fire escape and landed as the van turned the corner.
"He's getting away again!" Donnie shouted.
"No, he's not!" Pepper climbed up the nearest building, brothers following close behind. They bolted across the rooftops and jumped over the alleyways, keeping the van in sight. Raph jumped down the fire escape and landed atop the van. He didn't stay on long, though. The driver made a sharp turn, swerving the van. Raph was thrown off and smashed into the wall of a building.
"Raph!" Pepper jumped off the roof, slid down the ladder of the fire escape, and ran over. He groaned as she grabbed him by the arms and helped him to his feet. "You good?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied gruffly.
She nodded. "C'mon, we gotta catch up."
It took them only a few moments to regroup with the others. They were leaning against the wall of a building, obviously hiding.
"About time you two showed up," Donnie said.
"He got thrown into a building!" Pepper hissed. She leaned around the corner of the alley to see smoke rising from the now-wrecked van. "Woah, what did you guys do?" Keeping her eyes trained on the van, she made a series of hand signals to the others, telling them what to do.
"I-don't-know-what-that-means!" Raph hissed, making weird gestures with his hands on each word.
She rolled her eyes. "Go around the back!" she growled.
"Why didn't you just say so?" Mikey demanded.
She groaned. Do none of them know hand signals? They did as instructed and surrounded the van, moving cautiously toward the back of the vehicle. They drew their weapons, ready to fight is necessary. Empty boxes spilled out the back. Pepper stepped forward, sword in one hand, and opened the unbroken door. A large canister fell, rolled onto the street, and stopped directly at Mikey's feet.
Pepper's eyes widened as she recognized the long, glass-and-metal canister filled with glowing green ooze.
Mikey gasped. "Mom?"