Chapter 2: Introduction

"Donnie!" A yell could be heard from outside the lair entrance, Donnie jumped at the sudden yell of his name and looked towards the entrance, It was Leo who was carrying a young human teen girl in his arms and he looked very upset too. Donnie was always scared when Leo got upset because he could be more scarier than Raph usually, he lowered his head into his shell, "Y-yeah?" Donnie said not even bothering to mention about the human.

Raph and Mikey looked very shocked as they all were sitting on the couch, "Did you kidnap a human girl!?" Raph yelled, panicking and pointing at the girl in Leo's arms. April knew they had arrived and she didn't wait or hesitate as she removed the scarf from her eyes and down her neck while still being carried by Leo, "Woah! There's four of you turtle mutants! That is so cool!" April shouted in excitement with her hands to her face shocked. Leo lowered April but still allowed her to lean on him for support because of her injured ankle from twisting it badly back in a tunnel decently far away from slipping on a ladder, Leo angrily looked directly at Mikey who was probably on his third pack of chips eating them loudly still.

Leo looked back at Donnie, "Can you take and help her, she hurt her ankle and that's why I brought her." Leo said to Donnie, handing April her bag back. Donnie was too frightened a bit at how mad Leo seemed to be and didn't hesitate to let his shyness get the best of him because of this, he walked over to them and helped April to his lab to fix her up but was stopped at a sudden shout. "What is the meaning of this!?" Splinter was standing at the entrance of the dojo with an overwhelming angry look on his face, which was directed from April and then back at Leo as he raised an eyebrow for an explanation.

Leo raised an arm and showed a chip to Splinter then looked at Mikey. Splinter understood instantly at what Leo was getting at without having to say a word, "Michelangelo and Leonardo, come with me." Splinter said walking back into the dojo. Mikey whimpered knowing he was in deep trouble as his fellow chips have ruined the beginning of a new adventure, he threw the chips on the couch and followed behind Leo towards the dojo.

"So you guys live in an abandoned station in the sewers?" April asked, while Donnie was wrapping and fixing up her ankle. "Uh… yeah, technically it's not abandoned anymore since we took over it. And I applied it with the best security and programming. You won't find this place on any social media…" Donnie said in an attempt to warn her. April looked at him and raised an eyebrow "Hey, I have no intention of telling anyone about you guys, Leo saved me twice now, i'm not one to go turn my back towards him and you guys for helping me and telling the media about you so you could be locked up away and experimented on." April said reassuring him. Donnie looked up at her and realized she knew Leo's name, which means Leo must've told her, which also means he probably trusts her and she seemed to be telling the truth. "Well… you can call me Donatello." Donnie said to her as he finished patching her ankle up and leaned back, "There ya go!" He said with a smile.

April always seemed to feel sorry and pity for most people who tend to help her, especially from Donnie who looked very shy and was holding the shyness back with her because of Leo's anger earlier. She couldn't help but to leap off the chair and give Donnie a hug, "Thank you then, Donnie!" April said as she hugged him as a thanks. Donnie was shocked and couldn't move at the sudden comfort she gave him, he was also very confused at the situation and why this girl was somewhat...weird. "April is my name!" She said sitting next to him on the ground.

"Well then April…" A voice came from the entrance of the lab where both April and Donnie looked at, it was Raph leaning against the lab door. "Why did you follow Leo? Huh?" Raph asked, giving her a serious look. April tilted her head, "Easy, curiosity got the best of me. It usually always does with me, I don't know why or really know when it happens sometimes but it just...happens?" She said, confusing even herself. "So that's why you follow a trail of chip crumbs? Good thing Leo got a vibe of someone following, because if it was someone else completely different from you, things would have gone way worse." Raph said, walking on over to the two. Raph took a liking to April, they all pretty much did, "I'm Rapheal, and the one who left the chip ahoy trail is Michelangelo. They're both probably getting it from Splinter by now." Raph said with a small smirk on his face.

"Splinter?" April asked confusingly. Both Raph and Donnie looked at her, "Oh right… that rat you saw was Master Splinter, he's our Sensei, Mentor, and Father." Donnie said. "So he raised you all?" April asked looking at Donnie who seemed to know all the answers. "Yep! Since we got mutated as baby turtles." Raph let out a small chuckle, "We gave him such a hard time when younger, he is the master in ninjutsu, he was human before getting mutated into a rat." Raph said adding more into the story. April was so into this backstory that she kept excitevely nodding her head wanting more on it. "His real name is Hamato Yoshi, from the ninja Hamato clan that got wiped out 17 years ago. We don't know why it did or really how, nor does Splinter himself because he went out on a mission and returned one day with the clan being just gone, vanished without a trace." Donnie continued, "So he tried to research more on the incident but couldn't find anything on it, which led him here to New York where he ended up buying four baby turtles because he wanted company, which was us. A strange canister fell from the sky or the roof of a building and crash landed on Splinter, letting out a strange ooze that fell all over on him and us, which mutated us all. So to this day, we still do not know anything about what mutated us." Donnie said, he widened his eyes as he noticed both April and Raph staring at him in amazement and enjoyment. "Eep! I said too much, didn't I?!" Donnie said all of sudden scared and terrified.

"Dude, that is so cool! So there's actually some kind of chemical out there that can mutate people and animals into like monsters of some sort!?" April said as she fell back wiggling around excitedly. "That story is awesome! So you guys are brothers?" April asked, raising herself back up. "Yep, Leo is the oldest of us four, our leader and a teachers pet." Raph said looking at April smirking a bit. "I see you're all getting along." Another voice came from the entrance of the lab doors, it was Leo who was standing there smiling at the three of them. "Speaking of the teacher's pet, how was the scolding lesson?" Raph said, smirking at Leo who walked over and joined them on the floor. "Mikey is in the Hashi for not noticing his mistakes and purposely approaching a human even after I told him not to, which was also disobeying orders. Splinter also said you can stay here for the night, April." Leo said looking at her. "I would love that! But I can't leave my bag out all night long… It sorta has important stuff in it." April said disappointedly. All the turtles around her looked at her confusingly, "Bag? I thought the bag on you was only one, you're not a kid from school wandering about at night?" Raph asked.

April looked at the three turtles and raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was obvious, guess not." April began, "I actually just moved here, I just arrived at the train station a few hours ago and was walking down the street I was supposed to be on for the apartment I am gonna start making a living at. That's when I heard a scream on the next street pass, so I decided to hide my larger bag under a dumpster and head towards the scream to see if I could help in any way because well...curiosity. I wasn't expecting such a large man, that Leo took down with ease. That's pretty much when you showed up Leo and were here now…" April explained her situation, so she is just as much as in a mess as the turtles. "Make a living? You look like you're fifteen!?" Donnie said, shocked. "I am actually seventeen who graduated early and was sent out by my parents to make my own life, and because I wanted to and didn't wanna stick around with them any longer." April added on.

"What street is your bag on, and if in a specific alley?" Raph asked. April looked over at him in a small astonishment knowing he wanted to go get it for her, "Well… you do not have to go get it if that's what you're getting at." April said, tilting her head a bit. "He insists." Leo said, smirking at Raph who let out a small growl at Leo. April looked at Raph and thought for a minute, she nodded and reached into her pocket pulling out the small map her father had drawn out for her and handed it over to Raph and pointed at the street, "I hope you can read it…" April said unsureaningly. Raph looked at the paper and chuckled a bit, "You should see Mikey's writing." Raph said, standing up and walking off with a wave, "I'll be back in a bit." He said as he left the lab.

April looked at Leo and Donnie, "Guess I will stay here for the night, the apartments managers are probably closed because of how late it is and I do not have a key at the moment considering I have to check in to make sure they know it is me and not think its some stranger in the apartment during the night if I got in elsewhere." April said with a sigh. "Well, you'll have to sleep on the couch, hope that's ok." Leo said standing up with a stretch. April nodded with a smile, "Trust me, I've had to sleep on the floor before for a week straight. I can deal with the couch." Leo looked at her and turned around walking off towards the exit of the lab, "I'll grab some blankets and pillows then for ya." Leo said with a wave as he exited the lab.

April looked at Donnie with a huge smile on her face, "So! I am guessing Mikey is the short one who was eating chips earlier?" April asked. Donnie looked at her wide eyed in confusement from her huge smile at first and then jumped to answer the question, "Yeah… You could say he's the prankster, He loves pulling pranks, jokes, goofing around, eating… you name it." Donnie said, tilting his head confusing himself. "So I am guessing Mikey is the prankster, Leo is the leader, and you're the genius considering this amazing lab. And what about Raph? He looks pretty aggressive and bulky… The brute?" April asked to make sure. Donnie looked at her again confusingly, "Well pretty much actually, right on point. Leo I would say is the Fearless Leader, he's the one whose more wise and spiritual than any of us and would most likely sacrifice himself for us. He can come up with plans and ideas in an instant, that is...well... unbelievable. We have no choice but to usually obey him when it comes to orders, but even if we had the choice, I still would honestly, without him, we wouldn't stand a chance as a team. Mikey is just full of goofiness, but he keeps the fun around, and sometimes his pranks and stupid incidents are helpful. Raph as you said is the brute of us bunch, complete brute force and hand to hand combat, he has a really bad temper too and I am honestly kind of surprised at how nice he was being with you. And me...im just the tech, I build all the tech stuff for all of us and fix things, such as the security system I have for the lair, I specialize in hand to hand combat as well because of my bow staff usually being easily broken. But I also have an extreme bad case of shyness…" Donnie said, as he went into depth and the story of himself and brothers looking down fidgeting with his fingers.

April looked at him with her head tilted to look at him easier as he looked down, almost in shame of spilling the beans too much and she knew this considering she could somehow tell someone's emotions by their expression. April perked her head up quickly and smiled "Well Donnie! I honestly have no regrets about following that trail of chips your brother accidently left, or going to check out what was happening in that alley. And I am grateful that Leo decided to show himself and accept me, otherwise I wouldn't have met you guys. So, let's be friends!" April said with a large smile on her face holding her hand out for a friendship shake. Donnie noticed someone at the entrance of the lab peering in, it was Splinter who came to see how things were with the girl, Donnie smiled and looked at April and accepted her offer as he shook her hand.

"April was it?" Splinter said entering the lab and looking at her. April turned her head to see who said her name considering it was a different voice, she saw that it was Splinter that Raph and Donnie were talking about earlier and also telling a bit of his backstory, he seemed really wise and spiritual as well and very cool that she got all sparkly eyed. "Woah, you guys are like the bestest thing that has ever happened to me, even though you're all mutants, you're all still so nice when you can easily scare people. Like I get that it's important to stay in hiding and I know about not exposing yourselves because of very bad things that could happen. But am I the only one who knows about you guys?" April couldn't help but to ask Splinter who listened carefully to her. Splinter lowered his head a bit and closed his eyes giving a nod, "You are exactly right about bad things happening if we were to expose ourselves to the world, I have kept my sons locked up down here for sixteen, almost seventeen years and only just now allowed them to go to the above world so long as they stayed in the shadows. And have seemed to fail their first night top side, so yes, you are the first human being to know of our existence." Splinter said, looking back towards April.

April gave a small smile and a somewhat worried look. "Please don't keep them from going top side because of me…" April asked, she did honestly really like these people, er mutants, they are the first friends she has had in a very long time that actually help her and understand her. Splinter gave a small smile in return and reassured her it wasn't going to happen, but considering they still were under adult age, they still could get grounded. "First thing in the morning I will have my sons return you to your home, Ms. April, you are more than welcome to come visit and stay with us anytime, just make sure no one follows or tell anyone. I trust you just as much as my sons seem too." Splinter said to April, Splinter had trust in this girl because of what Leo told him about her before bringing her to the lair, she will know the location of the lair in the morning when leaving and Splinter knew this and accepted her because his sons did as well and he could tell spiritually that she was trustworthy. April had a large smile on her face "Thank you so much!" She said happily.

"MIKEY!" A yell was heard from outside the lab, it was Raph, who has returned after setting out to find April's bag for her. "YOU ARE SO GETTING IT NOW!" Raph yelled. Donnie helped April to her feet as all three of them in the lab walked to the entrance to see what the ruckus was about. They noticed Raph chasing Mikey around the lair, and Leo was sitting on the other end of the couch removing some of his gear ignoring the two brothers fighting. April's spot on the couch was already prepared, and April noticed her bag next to it and she couldn't help but to chuckle a bit and smile, they were definitely brothers.

Donnie helped April to the couch where she was going to sleep for the night, "Thank you Donnie." She said as she sat on the couch and placed her backpack next to her large bag, she grabbed her cell phone from her pocket and looked up at Donnie who was looking at Leo who was having a hard time removing one of his gear. "It's ok if I call my parents to let them know I made it and am all right?" She asked, because she knew cell phones usually could be tracked but who would want to track her aside from her parents who would probably call the police from not hearing from their daughter after leaving for a new life, then having those cops track her. Donnie looked back at April and raised an eye "You realize phones can't be tracked down in the sewers, I'm sure you can get a signal though down here, so I don't see why not… I will be in my lab if you need anything too." Donnie said to her as he smiled and waved, walking off towards his lab.

April smiled as she put the phone to her ear as she had already dialed the number for her dad, and Donnie was right, there was a signal otherwise it wouldn't be ringing, she let out a small chuckle. "April?! Are you ok, do you realize what time it is!?" It was April's dad who had answered, he was freaking out and worried. "Woah woah, calm down dad, jeez, I am fine." April said reassuring him. "I called the apartment staff to see if you had checked in just a few minutes ago, they said you haven't, are you sure!?" Her dad asked. April didn't wanna mention anything about tonight and the incident in the alley and the turtles, so she easily came up with an excuse. "The train had to stop for a few hours for some reason, and I accidently dozed off too, I am still on the train and will arrive by morning. It's fine." April reassured him, but he seemed suspicious with her as he let out a 'hmmm.' April had a worried look on her face but her dad just went with it and said he loved her before they both hung up. April let out a sigh as she fell back on the couch with relief, Leo finally got the one piece of gear he was struggling with off and looked over at her confusingly. "Everything ok?" He asked her as he gathered his armored hand and feet platings from the ground, "Yeah… My dad just was a bit suspicious with the excuse I had to make, but it's all good." She said lifting herself back up. "Well, I am off to bed, if you need anything don't hesitate to wake me or go to Donnie… or even Mikey over there…" Leo said looking at Mikey who had passed out on the bean bag chair close to him. "Alright." April said as Leo stood up and waved her off a goodnight heading to his room. Raph was already in bed in his room a while ago, and Splinter seemed to have gone to bed as well, everyone has gone to bed it seems. April layed back on the couch covering herself with the blankets Leo provided her and a pillow, she let out a happy sigh as the only light in the living room area was coming from Donnie's lab, and the lights outside the lair, she closed her eyes and let herself fall asleep.