A Turtle on the Outside, a Wolf on the Inside

by Sairey13

Before Yoshi got the turtles from the Pet Store, Leo was found playing with the manager's dog, who was told to be a wolf-hybrid. Right before Yoshi took the turtles away, Leo ate some of the canine's fur and when he got mutated, the mutagen somehow enhanced the inside of his body to match a wolf's behavior and abilities. NO T-CEST, LEORAI or APRITELLO!

4. The Task and Burden of a Leader

Thirty Minutes Later...
"Explain to me one more time what we're doing here." Michelangelo whispered to his older brothers, as they all just stood or sit on a rooftop doing nothing but waiting for something to happen. The three older brothers all let out groans of annoyance at their youngest brother wanting them to explain the situation to him, for the tenth time in a row.

"Mikey, we've been over this." Leonardo told his brother, slowly and clearly, so that hopefully the orange-banded turtle could finally get what they're doing. "That building has the same logo as the van that was used to kidnap the family." He pointed a finger down to the building below them, which Leo was able to find the building after following the scent he and his brothers went to around the city while keeping a sharp eye on that logo. "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 they took them."

"And then we got ourselves a van!" Mikey added in, getting pumped up on the thought of actually driving a real car instead of his video games that involves racing cars. Frustrated and regaining the headache, Leo face-palmed himself.

'For once in his life, can't he take things a bit more seriously?'

Doubt that; he sounded very serious when he believes that you four will end up getting a van, in the process on attacking the kidnapper.

"Just hit the guy I tell you to." Leo told his brother, not wanting to deal with his youngest brother asking obnoxious questions about what they should with the van while they wait for the kidnappers to show up.

"Will do!" Mikey replied, giving him a thumbs up on a way of telling the eldest turtle that he actually understood what Leo wants him to do.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Raphael asked the blue-banded turtle, having serious doubts that the turtle may had made an error of the logo being the spot where the van would return to and that the kidnappers could be someplace else. Leo turned his gaze to his brother, the look of being annoyed being gone and replaced by a calm face.

"To be honest, Raph, I'm not really certain if this'll work." He answered honestly, making the red-banded turtle confused and not very pleased at what he just said.

"And yet, we came here and are just waisting our times waiting for something that may or may not show up?" Leo narrowed his eyes at his brother, hearing the fury and impatientness building up from within the tone of Raph's voice.

Beta-Brother Raphael trying to question Pup's position as Alpha of team and to bring Pup down to Beta-Brother's Rank, no doubt even lower. Make Beta-Brother see reason and prevent fight to happen, or team will most likely divide.

"Unless you got a better idea on how to find them, this spot is basically the only place we have to take our chances with." He then turned his gaze back to the building below them. "It may take some time for something to happen, but we have to be patient and wait for them to come to us." 'Because, unfortunately, the scent of the human girl and her father's now completely in the mix of the city's own scent and I can't smell my own blood anywhere except to the exact place where I let the van get away.' "We'll only wait for a few hours, three at the most, and if nobody shows up, then we'll leave and try something else. I have a back up plan if this plan doesn't work." 'And it has better work, or we're screwed and it may take me awhile for the back up plan to take effect if this idea fails.'

---

Two Hours Later...
"Okay, I'm thinking of something green. Ga-reen. Ga-reen..."

"Is it Raphael again?"

"Man, you're good at this!"

While Mikey and Donnie played another game of I Spy, with Mikey using Raph to be the one thing or person he spies and sees, Leo continued on standing on the ledge and staring down at the building below them.

It's already been two hours and nobody shown up. You and your brothers should leave this place and start using the back up plan.

'Give me one more hour to see if they will and if they don't show up, then I'll try to put the back up plan in action.' Leo thought to himself, shaking his legs a bit to rid away the feeling of his legs falling asleep from standing still in the same position for a few hours.

Speaking of the back up plan, how can you be certain that you can get the help from the pigeons and/or crows when you never made any communication with the birds at all in your entire life?

'...Again, I'm not really sure how. I guess you can call it an "instinctive communication" or something.'

...Gonna have to agree with Raphael about your plan; it doesn't sound like it's going to work, and even if it does somehow works, it may not end out the way you've planned it.

The blue-banded turtle clenched his hands into fists and grinded his teeth from his conscience's lack of trust in the turtle, and to not let out his anger while his brothers are with him.

'Great, first Raph questions my decision of the mission, and now my conscience's agreeing with him. Well, excuse me for sucking at this job as leader of the team, but I never asked to be leader and if this plan does fail, then we can all thank Sensei for his choice on who to be leader!'

Calm down, Pup! No one second guessing decision as leader of team; Beta-Brother and Omega-Brothers' merely just wondering if Pup's certain that plan will succeed and if Pup has any more ideas how to find kidnapped family if first plan doesn't work.

Taking his instinct's idea, the eldest turtle closed his eyes and took in deep, cleansing breath to tame the burning fire of anger and rage within his heart. In just about five deep breathing, the burning fire went down and his hands ceased their clenching before his nails could dig deep into his skin to have his palm bleed.

'...You're right... Sorry about that.' Leo apologized in his head, his gaze back to the building across and keeping his hearing on his brothers to be sure they haven't left their post.

No need for Pup to apologize. No one blames Pup on having to take burden as Alpha-Beta of Pack.

'...I just don't get it... Why did he made me leader? Why didn't he let Raph be the leader and leave me out of it, when I told them that I didn't want to become leader?!'

---

Flashback...
"The one who shall be leader of the team... Will be Leonardo." When Splinter spoke those three words, all four turtles were wide-eyed shocked from the startling news. However, out of all the turtles, none of the brothers were more shocked than Leonardo, who was not only startled from the news of him being picked as leader, but he also felt angered and sort of betrayed of his sensei picking him to lead, even when he has told him and his brothers that he didn't want to be leader.

'Wh... What?' He asked in his thoughts, his gaze completely focused on the floor beneath him and his hands slowly clenching themselves into fists.

Sensei said that you will be lea-

'I heard what he said! What I want to know is why he chose me to lead, when I just told him and my brothers, like seven minutes ago, that I didn't want to be leader!' He then felt a hand get placed on his right-shoulder, bringing him out of his thoughts and to, without realizing it and forgetting to show his submission, lifted his gaze to meet Splinter's reddish-brown eyes.

"I know that you shall lead the team to victory, my son." He told his eldest son, his eyes showing how much trust he's placing on his child to save that family and to lead his brothers to victory for whatever mission they will have to go through.

'He can't be serious! There's no way that I'm going to be leader, and he can't make me!'

Father has made his choice on making you leader, and you're going to have to honor his wishes by being the leader

'...No... No! I don't want to be leader and I don't plan on taking that position at all!' With the feeling of his sensei's hand still placed on his shoulder and the reddish-brown eyes telling him that he'll make the humanoid-rat happy by taking the role of leadership, Leo lowered his gaze back to the floor and took a deep breath. "Sensei, though I feel honored that you would entrust me to have the responsibility as leader, I'm gonna have to refuse on taking the position and suggest that you give the role of leadership to Raphael." He could sense the three gazes of his brothers staring at him with shock and confusion, with Mikey and Donatello with the confused gazes, and Raph in the shock gaze. The rat simply stared down at the downcast gaze of his eldest son, then let out a deep sigh and removed his hand off of the turtle's shoulder.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that, my son." Splinter informed his son, making the teen's anger rising within his heart. "I thought this through very carefully and have meditated to see who would be able to take on the leader position of the team, which lead me to the conclusion that you, and only you, can take the position."

'Yeah, right. More like short and easy to simply pick me in just mere minutes, because you trained me the most and that I'm the eldest of my siblings.'

Maybe there could be a more reasonable matter to why he chose you to lead and not Raph.

'Oh, yeah? Like what? Maturity? Clear-headed? More experienced? Because I didn't ask or think that I should be the leader?'

...Not really sure what reason he has, but Father has his reasons to make you leader and you should respect his choice of reason.

'I'll respect his choice, if it's of something the both of us can agree on and this isn't one of those terms.' "Sensei, with all due respect, I insist that you should reconsider and make Raph the leader. I mean, let's face it: He has all that it takes to lead the team, and both Don and Mikey follow his every command. I, on the other hand, have no experience or knowledge on how to lead a team, which may cause us to fail or even put our lives at stake if I were to lead them... Also, I was sort of hoping that you would allow me to do a solo assignment for the mission."

Raph and Donnie both glared at their eldest brother at what he just said, while Mikey looked a bit sad and a little rejected on what his big brother just asked of their father to permit him to do.

"Hang on a second. You can't just ask Sensei to give you a solo mission; what about us?!" Raph yelled, making the blue-banded turtle wince a bit from the tone of volume of his voice that left ringing sounds in the turtle's left-ear.

"Raph's right, Leo; it wouldn't be fair for the rest of us if you get a solo mission and we don't!" Donnie butted in, also displeased by their brother asking for something that they all would want to do as well. "And also, why do you want Sensei to make Raph leader and not either me or Mikey? Well, actually, I can understand why you're not asking Mikey to be leader."

"Hey!" The youngest turtle whined out, glaring at the tallest brother. "I'm right here, ya know!" Feeling the headache getting worse, Leo closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, or beak, over his mask to try and control the rising ache of the migraine coming in.

'If this keeps up, I'm really going to lose all sense of control and my head will most likely explode from all this noise and pain building up inside.' The blue-banded turtle lifted his gaze from the floor and turned to stare at his three brothers and gave them his own glare to show them his serious face. "Before I explain myself, you three shut your traps for a moment." By his command, and a bit stunned by their eldest brother giving them an order and a bit pissed off, the three younger turtles stayed quiet. "First off, when I asked Sensei on wanting to do a solo mission, I meant on having a solo covert mission. You know? After we find the kidnappers and have them take us to their hideout, I would go over and observe the enemy's territory, figure out what they're doing, and return to the team to inform them what I just discovered and to warn you three on what to expect from their base, before rushing off into a fight and rescuing the two humans." The three turtles all shared the same look of understanding when their eldest brother explained himself about the solo mission he requested for. "And Second... Donnie, the reason why I'm insisting Raph to be leader, is because he's ready to lead the team." The red-banded turtle lifted his head high and smirked at his brother's words, while the purple-banded turtle didn't look in the least satisfied.

"But what about me? I have what it takes to be a leader! Also, we don't always follow Raph's every command!" Emerald-green eyes glared at the genius turtle, forcing the second-youngest turtle to keep his mouth shut and shutter in fear of the possible chance of Raphael beating him until he surrenders.

Beta-Brother Raphael may have some qualities of being leader, but Beta-Brother's too dominant towards Kins and shows no compassion, unless Beta-Brother in good mood.

"Donnie, being the smartest of the group, doesn't automatically means you have what it takes to be leader." Leonardo told his brother, who seemed a bit confused on what the eldest turtle means. "Yes, it is true that a leader should plan ahead, but that doesn't mean a leader can have all the time he needs to come up with a plan, and to be honest, you're not really the fast thinker of the family; you take too much time on coming up with the perfect idea or plot and you get easily stressed when pressured."

"Not to mention, you rushed out into a battle, all because of some girl you just saw and drooled over of the sight of her appearance." Raph added, snickering when he got his younger-brother to blush and pout in embarrassment.

"Anyway... As for my reason for Raph to be leader: Yes, Raph does attend to rush into a fight, without thinking or coming up with a plan, besides beating some heads. And yes, he isn't really the smartest or could ever come up with a plan."

"Grrr..." The red-banded turtle turned his gaze to his eldest brother, who showed no sign of being afraid of the threatening glares of the emerald-green eyes.

"However, because of his strength and ability to both lash out and rush an opponent while in battle, makes him the perfect candidate on keeping the enemy busy, with Mikey doing some distractions and my assistance on helping out on the battlefield, while you, Donnie, can try to think up with a quick plan on taking the enemy down. Raph will also be able to protect or defend the both of you, if you need to buy some time or need a few moments to catch your breath from some wounds you may obtain." He then turned his gaze to the humanoid-rat, who had stayed quiet to allow his eldest child to explain himself and hear his reason to why he insist his first younger-brother should be the leader. "So, you see, Sensei, Raph has more quality and more experience on leading the team and would wish of you to make him the leader." Splinter had his eyes closed, absorbing all the information his eldest child just gave to him and his brother, as he slowly stroke his long-beard and try to come up with an answer.

...He isn't going to agree to your terms... Father's still going to make you leader.

'It has to work! Sensei knows that I speak the truth and that I'm right about Raph being able to take on the role of leader! It just has to work and he has to say yes!' The turtle bowed his head and closed his eyes, hoping that if his luck is to be on his side, he'll not only avoid being leader, but to be able to take a position that'll most likely bring him a step closer on gaining his freedom and having some alone time without his brothers shadowing him. However, deep down in his rage-burning heart and nearly untamable soul knew, long before Splinter ceased his thinking, that the answer the blue-banded turtle wanted to receive isn't going to come.

"Despite on your facts of Raphael to be the best choice to be leader and you being able to complete a covert mission, Leonardo, I'm afraid that I must refuse to both your proposal of a solo mission and giving the position of leadership to Raphael." His Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes snapped up wide from the news, feeling his hands clenching and the burning fire in his heart rising to a point where he believes his patience is now hanging on to a single thread that's about to snap at any moment.

"But, Sensei, please! I-!"

"Jūbun'na (Enough)!" Stomping the pointed-end of the cane to the floor, the eldest turtle snapped his mouth shut by the order of the rat and bowed to his sensei to show he was sorry and is begging for his forgiveness. "I understand that you don't want to be leader, Leonardo, and are trying to get me to have Raphael to take the position, but I'm afraid I have my own reason on not making him leader: Raphael may act like a leader to Donatello and Michelangelo, but he isn't ready to take the position as leader for something much more serious than a simple game of 'Follow the Leader' or trying to be the one always in control." Turning his reddish-brown eyes to glare down at Raphael, giving him a disappointing gaze that tells him he was pleased on how he made his second-youngest brother to keep quiet by using a threatening glare. "A true leader never forces a member of his team by using violence or threats to get them to do as he say, he must show compassion and understanding to his team and then he gives them an order, without being too forceful on them unless his team needs to know how serious or important his orders are." Splinter then turned his gaze back to his eldest child, who has once again refused to meet the rat's eyes. "You must understand, my son, that you, and only you, are the only one suitable on taking this responsibility and no matter how much you despise taking the position, you are the leader of this team and you shall take on the role I've bestowed upon you. Do I make myself clear?"

Silence was all the rat gotten from the turtle, for the eldest teen was using whatever will-power and strength he has within him to not snap and, to his horror, attack his sensei in order to release the burning anger within his heart and soul.

'No... I can't do this! He has to realize that I can't do this!'

You heard what Father said and whatever he says, goes and must me carried out without question or hesitation... You know that you have to take this role and to respect Father's wishes, for it is one of the rules of Bushidō.

'That stupid code of honor?... Is that why I'm putting up with his sh-?'

Pup, Alpha's words is law and sacred. No one in Pack disrespects Alpha's authority or decision on how Alpha runs Pack, even if member of pack someday leaves Pack... Right now, Pup must honor Alpha's words, now that Alpha gave Pup rank of Alpha-Beta. Pup must follow Alpha's orders and wishes.

Biting the inside of his lip as a distraction for his anger, Leonardo was able to calm himself enough to answer back to the rat.

"Hai... Sensei." He forced out, keeping himself low and still bowing to show his submission to his master. Knowing that his eldest child shall fulfill the task and duty that he has given to the blue-banded turtle, Splinter nodded his head in satisfaction that his son shall take over the role of leadership of the team.

"Guddo (Good)." He then turned to his three younger-sons, who had all stayed quiet during the conversation and looking a bit stunned on how it played out before their eyes. "You now have a leader on your team, and as such, you three our to follow and obey Leonardo's command. Do I make myself clear?" Quickly and immediately, not wanting to make their master angry, the three boys bowed.

"Hai, Sensei." They spoke in a unison, which they gained another nod from Splinter.

"Now that you have a leader, it is time you four head back to the surface and complete your mission: Find and rescued the kidnapped family." He then stomped his cane to the floor again, though it wasn't with much force like the last one had. "Kyakka (Dismissed)!" Giving them his word to leave, the turtles got to their feet and swiftly went out through the shōji. However, just before he left the Dojo and heard Splinter has entered his own dorm from the sound of his own shōji door opening and closing, Leo whispered out a warning that not even Splinter would be able to hear.

"Watashitachi no chi ga kon'ya o kobosanakereba naranai baai, sore wa anata jishin no te ni yotte okonawa rete ita (If our blood must spill tonight, it was done by your own hands)."
End of Flashback...

---

"Give it up already. The guy's not gonna show." Raphael's voice brought the eldest turtle out of his trains of thoughts, who now stood beside the blue-banded turtle.

'Not now, Raph...' "We have to be patient." Leonardo told his brother, turning his gaze to meet the annoyed emerald-green eyes of the second-eldest turtle, then turning back to gaze back down to the building.

He's not going to let you push that aside. You must make a decision, and quickly, before he tries to break up the team by taking the leader position.

'Hey, if he wants to be leader, I'll gladly step down and let him lead. What's the problem with that?'

Alpha chose Pup to be Alpha-Beta, not Beta-Brother Raphael, and as eldest pup of Alpha, Pup must respect and honor Alpha's choice and wishes.

'...You're making it sound like Bushidō.'

Well, in some wolf ways of life, their rules are sort of like Bushidō.

"No, you have to come up with a better plan, 'cause the four of us standing here with our thumbs up our noses..."

"I don't think they'd fit." Mikey informed his older-brother, after examining the size of both his thumbs to be too big for their beaks.

"Is pointless." While Raph finished his ranting, Leo's sharp hearing caught the sound of a vehicle coming their way and when he looked down, he had a smirk on his face.

"You sure about that, Raph?" He asked his brother, his eyes narrowing with disgust but shining with satisfaction that his first idea on finding the car of the kidnappers has worked.

"He just showed up, didn't he?" To answer his question, the van that had taken the family pulled up in-between the two buildings below them and out came the slim-human. "I should've complained two hours ago." Leo let out a quiet chuckle at his brother's remarks.

'So, this is what it feels like to wanna rub it in another person's face. Doesn't seem cool or fair when it's you that's been proven wrong, huh, Raph?'

Now, now, Pup. Don't stoop to Beta-Brother's level; Pup more mature and better than to play Beta-Brother's games.

Besides, right now you have a team to lead and it's about time to make your next move.

"You were right, Leo. One of the kidnappers actually came." Donatello stated, a little stunned that he was going to doubt his brother's guidance on how to find the kidnappers but was no longer having any of it, now that they have a chance to find the girl and her father. "What do we do next?" Gazing down at the van and seeing that the slim-human was the only one that showed, Leonardo knew that they could easily take him down and trap him within the alley, once he takes out one of the tires of the car with his shuriken. However, before he could tell his brothers what their next plan was, the hotheaded brother butted in.

"I know exactly what do to next." Raph answered the genius turtle and then, without paying any attention to his eldest brother and most likely going to ignore whatever he was going to say to him, he swiftly made his way down the fire escape beneath them and slowly came out of the shadows to frighten the human. Leo let out a low growl.

Foolish Beta-Brother, already not given an order and still goes to jeopardize mission.

'I'll be sure to give him a good punishment in next training session. Right now, it's best we go with his plan and have him see what his rash decision will put the team to.' He then turned to Mikey and Don and, silently gesturing them to join their brother to the alley, watched his two brothers follow Raph's lead and slowly making their way to the stunned, slim-human, while he stayed put on the rooftop.

What are you waiting for? Get down there and grab him, already!

'No... Not yet. I'm going to see Raph taking over the situation and, if I'm right, then they can easily take care of the human.'

And if you're wrong?

'Well, if I'm wrong, then I'll stop the human, myself, in order to fix my mistake.'

"All right, buddy." Raph told the slim-human, who looked a bit scared on having to see giant humanoid-turtles slowly walking towards him and appear to want to snatch him for something he has or knows what they want. "We can do this the easy way, or... My vote... The hard way." Raph, Mikey and Donnie then swiftly pulled out their weapons, making a few warning bells ringing within Leo's head that they were going to do something stupid and that he should get down there to stop them.

"Yeah, look at it logically." Donnie told the human, getting a bit overconfident and not noticing the human reaching for something behind him. "There are four of us and one of you."

"Uh, Donnie, I think it's just the three of us." Mikey interrupted, looking up and seeing Leo had stayed up on the rooftop and glaring down at the scene before him.

"He's still here, Mikey, and is most likely just keeping an eye out in case this human's friends were to spring up on us. So, it's still the four of us against him." He then turned back to the human, smirking on how they were finally going to save that family, along with him most likely making friends with the girl he fell for. "What are you gonna do?"

Uh, shouldn't you warn them about those weapons that the humans used to injure your arm?

'...I would, but I think it would be best if they learn to never underestimate our enemies or be overconfident on how easy they'll think the mission or fight will be.' Leo thought to himself, watching as the human swiftly pulled out a silver-shiny weapon that shot out the same kind of blast-energy that the black gun-like blasters did at his brothers, who all dodged from the blasts and landed up on the higher steps of the fire escape.

"You had to ask!" Raph yelled at Donnie, automatically blaming the genius turtle for having them be caught by surprised and allowing the human to retreat back into the car to drive away.

"He's getting away again!" Donnie hollered out, who seemed ready to throw in the towel as they watch the car veer over the curves of the sidewalk and back on to the street. As soon as the van went back on the road of the street, Leo took a few steps back and launched himself in the air, landing on the top of the building across that was higher than the roof they were just on.

"No, he's not!" He called out to his brothers, waving at them to follow him and without much of a complaint, the three younger-brothers scaled up to the roof and followed their eldest brother running and leaping over the rooftops to catch up to the slim-human.

Pup can easily stop human on own, since there's only one of human and won't have any of pack members to attack Pup and Kins while focus on keeping vehicle under control. Why wait Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother to catch up and not allow self to run on all-four?

'Because, if I do that, they're going to get a bit suspicious about my constant bailing on them and if I were to keep doing that on them, they'll tell Sensei about it and then I'll be constantly watched over, just like when I was ten years old. Want me to go through enough repeat like that, which may result of me being held back for my chance on freedom?'

...Good point, Pup.

But the question still remains: How are you going to stop that car, when you won't use your actual speed?

'Leave that to the wind and a falling star.'

Making the first move and landing on an apartment building, Raphael launched himself on top of the car and held on to both side of the top, startling the human when he heard and felt the thump and tried to shake the red-banded turtle off of his tail. After taking a hard turn to the left, Raph lost his grip and ended up being thrown against the side of a house. Luckily for him, his shell was tough and didn't even get a single crack or scrape, meaning that he was going to be bruised for a good while.

While the red-banded turtle laid in his spot to catch his breath a bit, the three remaining turtles were still hot on his tail and followed him from the high-left on the rooftops. Since Mikey has the most energy and speed (or so, that's what Splinter, Raph and Donnie thought), he was in front of the tracking team, with Donnie right behind him and Leo being at the back to save his energy for he will need it if they want to stop that car.

You sure this will work?

'Like I told Raph, I'm not honestly sure. Just know that we only have three chances on stopping that van, which I hope it'll only take one shot to bring it down if I go for one of the front tires. If I miss and the car starts to get away any further, I'll have to take the risk on deserting my brothers and will have to bring the slim-human down by mere force.'

Omega-Brother Raphael did that and end up being tossed aside.

'Because he didn't use his Sai to keep himself on longer and thought he could use his own strength to break through the glass and make the human crash.' Leonardo then stared down at the van ahead of them and saw the human staring at them through the rear-view mirror and notice him reaching out for something in his car. The blue-banded turtle instantly knew what it was. "Mikey, Don, back away! He's reaching for his weapon!" He hollered out, and at the moment he finished his sentence, the weapon came out and started blasting at them. Following their brother's command, Michelangelo and Donatello leap away to the other side of the street, leaving the eldest turtle still hot on the human's tail. While he put on a bit more speed to catch up to the white-car, Leo shook his left-wrist a bit to have one of his shuriken to be held within his hand and in-between his small-finger and index-finger. 'Okay, better time this right with the wind.' His then closed his eyes and listened very hard for the wind he knew that will help him stop the car with one, while using his sixth sense and sense of feeling to guide him across the building. The very moment he was in front of the edge and when he heard the wind starting to blow against him, he snapped his eyes open and launched himself in the air, tossing his shuriken aside and watching it being directed towards the van from the guidance of the wind... It swiftly reached its target: The front-left tire.

When metal-edge made contact through hard-rubber, burst of air gust out of the tire, forcing the car to swerve out of control. The human tried to regain control by pushing on the breaks, he even went as far as using his emergency breaks, but it wasn't enough to slow down the car and when he kept his eyes off the road for a mere second, the front of the car hit itself against a streetlight and forced the car to launch itself sideways and in the air. The car did two flips in the air, landed roughly on the back side of itself in-between the flips, and finally stopped itself by laying on its left-side, letting out a long car-honk that none of the humans could either hear or bother to come out and see what was wrong until it finally gave out and the headlights went off. Up above on a ledge of a wall, Leonardo smiled down in satisfaction that his capture of the car has been successful.

"Now we're getting somewhere." He said to himself, silently jumping off of the wall and making his way towards the shadow of a building closest to the fallen car.

How should you approach the situation?

'We go around back; his heartbeat is still beating frantically, meaning that he's still conscious and scared that he's going to get caught. He'll try to sneak out around back in case we grab him at the front of the car.'

But what if he were still at the front of the car and is waiting to bail out the moment you four are at the back?

'Not a problem. The guys can go to the back and I will stay behind at the front, which we'll be able to caught off all his exit. And before you say anything about his weapon, it won't be of use to him anymore; I hear it letting out sparks and static, meaning that it most likely got busted up from the tumbling. He's completely defenseless and will soon be at our mercy to spare his life.' He then turned to his back, knowing that his brothers had finally caught up to him and to rejoin him on their capturing mission. He then stared at his three brothers, with all three of them making eye-contact with him. "Senaka mawari iku (Go around back)." He whispered out, earning a firm nod from the turtles and slowly stalk towards the fallen van, all with their weapons drawn out.

While Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo went to the rear, Leonardo jumped up to the top-side of the car and, using his trusting Katanas, sliced through the metal-door and tossed them aside to get a better view of the inside. Just as he suspected, the slim-human is wide awake and looked completely petrified at the sight of the turtle standing in front of his only exit of his destroyed van.

"P-P-Please, don't h-hurt me!" He cried, holding out an arm in front of him to uselessly defend himself in case the turtle was going to hurt him. Glaring down at the human and ignoring his cry for mercy, Leo sheathed his swords away and grabbed for the human's arm, keeping a firm grip in case the human were to try and resist but not too much force to avoid breaking the human's weak bone-structure. The moment his skin made contact with the human and while pulling him out of the car, the blue-banded turtle made a startling discovery.

'...They're not human.' He thought to himself, as he tossed the human to the street below them and leaving him gasping for air, while he remained on top of the car to keep a firm eye on him in case he tries to run away.

Who aren't human?

'Those men we were fighting earlier, the ones that grabbed the family... They're not human.'

"Mom?" Mikey's voice and choice of word immediately gained Leo's attention, who launched himself off of the car and landed next to the youngest-turtle and behind the genius turtle. When he stared down at an object that Donatello held within his hands, the blue-banded turtle's blood started to boil and freeze at the sight of what he despise so much: A canister, filled with the exact same ocean-blue/aquamarine-green substance that the turtle will never forget that had turned his owner, or master, into a humanoid-rat, his brothers into humanoid-turtles, and secretly turned himself into a humanoid-wolf/turtle.

"So that's the..." Raph was completely loss to words, stunned that he would actually be seeing what the canister at their home actually held before it spilled all over Yoshi and them when they were normal creatures.

"Mutagen that turned us all into what we are now." Donnie finished for his brother, astounded that he finally gets to see what the substance in the canister at their home actually held and made them who they are. While Mikey suggested that they should drink it, with Donnie thinking it would be an idiotic idea and Raph teasing on how it may be an improvement if their youngest-brother actually get turned into a pile of goo instead of a super-mutant, Leonardo angrily glared down at the canister and wanted nothing more than to snatch it out of his brother's hand and force those four men, who he just discovered aren't humans, to feel the burning sensation of being turned into something they're not.

However, he pushed that thought aside and swiftly went back to the human he left on the street, who was trying to nurse the headache he obtained from the car accident and to wobbly get back to his feet. He then grabbed for the back of the human's white-tank top shirt with his left-hand and dragged him across the hard-surface of the street, as he made his way towards his brothers, who were now arguing with Mikey for bringing up the alien robots again.

Don't they know that this isn't the time for bickering or arguing at the moment? You still have no idea where they're keeping the family.

'I know that, but this human does and once we get him to talk, or better yet, shows us where the family's been taking to, we'll have our answer. But first...' Once he released his hold on the human's shirt,Leo placed two fingers against his mouth and let out a high-pitch whistle that stopped his brothers arguing and made them, including the human, to cover their ears from how high and painful the whistling irritated their hearings.

"Now that I have your attentions," he started. "As you all finally figured it out, Whoever kidnapped those people are somehow connected to what happened to us fifteen years ago. And though we made not know how it's possible... Mikey, let go of his face. He's not an alien robot." Leo ordered his brother without staring at him, who quickly let go of the human's face, who made out a few muffling sounds of pain when the orange-banded turtle tried to pull his face off for believing it was some mask to hide the alien robot body.

"Okay. He's in the clear. But those other guys were totally alien robots." Mikey told his brothers, not dropping this theory or belief that he in fact saw one of the human's body to be an alien body. After shaking his head silently, Leo continued on with his own theory.

"But this man may have some answers for us which could give us some clues about those people he was working with."

"Alien robots!" Mikey interrupted, earning a good smack against the head by Raph's fist.

"Enough already, Mikey!" The red-banded turtle groaned out, snatching the canister out of Don's hands and grabbing a fist full of the human's shirt. "Time to get some answers. Who are you, and what's goin' on?"

Should we let Raphael deal with the interrogation? He did goof up on letting the human get away.

'Raph may be a bit hardheaded and rash, but he knows better than to go to such extreme measures.'

Really? Because why is he holding the canister and looks ready to use it at his disposal?

'Most likely to use as a last result to scare the human into telling us the truth, by stating we'll turn him into a mutant if he doesn't tell us what we want to know... Again, I trust Raph to not actually turn him into a mutant.'

You better be right about that.

"Name's Snake, and I got nothing to say to you hideous freaks." The slim-human, now known as Snake, sneered out, glaring at the red-banded turtle's evil-smile when he showed that he wasn't going to squeal.

"Oh, well, that's 'cause you don't know us yet." Raph told the human, tossing him towards Donnie and Mikey, who both grabbed for his arms to prevent him from getting away. "See, we were just regular guys until we got hit with a little of this." He told the human, holding out the canister after removing one of the ends and waving the canister a bit, as if trying to figure out which side the substance should drip or fall out of.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Snake stuttered out, not liking the smirk on the turtle's face when he came up closer and tipped the canister in front of him to let a small trail of the substance come out.

"Playing a little game I like to call 'Mutation Roulette'." The trail of ooze started to glide down the glass and began to reach out for the human below it. "Now you could turn out handsome like me, or you might end up disgusting and deformed, like Mikey here."

"Hey!" The orange-turtle whined out, glaring at his brother for still teasing him of the way he looks because of his freckles or being shorter than the rest of his brothers.

"So, you feel lucky?" Without waiting for an answer, he tipped the canister all the way sideways, allowing more of the substance to pour out more and to simply dangle in the midair while ready to fall on top of the human before them. Leo let out a small warning growl, gaining Raph's attention and sending him a warning glare to not take it any further or to even attempt on actually mutating the human, who gave the blue-banded turtle a look that states to give him a bit more faith and trust on what he's doing before turning back to the scared-human below them.

"Okay, okay! I'll talk!" Snake hollered out, not wanting to be turned into a hideous freaks like the four turtles that now have him to their mercy. Getting the right reaction and having to enjoy himself on tormenting the human, Raph pulled the canister back and made the substance to trail back inside the canister. "They call themselves the Kraang. They been grabbing scientists from all over the city." Despite still being dissatisfied of his brother almost mutating the human in order to get the information out, he smirked that his trust in his brother has proven to be useful and that his brother assured him that he wouldn't betray his trust so simple as to stoop to their enemy's level.

"That worked pretty good," he praised his younger-brother.

"Of course it did. Would you wanna look like Mikey?" Raph asked his brother, still feeling in the mood to tease their baby brother for being a bit different than the rest of them because of his freckles.

"I'm right here." Michelangelo told his brother, feeling as if Raphael is purposely saying those things in front of him and actually pretending that he wasn't with them.

"What do they want with scientists?" Leonardo asked the human, giving him a firm glare to not lie to him or else he was really in for it.

"I don't know." Giving him a bit of a reminder and a warning, Raph waved the canister in the air and once again brought the look of fear back to the human's face. "All I know is they're taking them out of the city tonight, but I don't know where!" The red-banded turtle turned to his eldest-brother, knowing that he could easily tell if the human is lying to them or not, and when he received a firm nod that the human is telling the truth, Raph placed the nozzle back on the canister and sealing the ooze from getting out of its prison.

"This is awesome!" Donatello cried out, gaining confused looks on everyone's faces. "That girl's dad is a scientist. I'm a scientist. She is so gonna like me." Raphael gave him an annoyed look, Mikey simply shook his head, Snake gave him a good look that clearly says 'no way', and Leo narrowed his eyes with disapproval.

You've got to be kidding... Seriously?! That's all Donnie can think of or come up, at this very moment?! Just because that girl's father is a scientist, doesn't automatically means she'll actually come to like him for being a scientist!... And why have this conversation, when you need to find out where Snake and his acquaintances took that small family to!

"I don't think you're her type." Snake told Donnie, earning a glare by the purple-mask turtle.

Pup, Omega-Brother Michelangelo and Beta-Brother Raphael aren't only ones know Omega-Brother Donatello never be able to court female-human.

'Can we, please, not think about that right now? We have a mission to do and we need to take care of it; time is of the essence.' "Where are they now?"

---

Fifteen Minutes Later; Back to the Lair...
Snake's capture has brought some good news, but has also brought some bad news for the team: The good news, because they had forced Snake to talk and show the turtles where the small family was taken to, they now knew which building they'll soon-be breaking into and Leo to believe more to Mikey's theory of those men in black-suits could really be aliens in robot-bodies. However, the bad news, because of said youngest-brother inability to pay attention, they let Snake get away and most likely go off to warn those suspicious of their soon arrival. Luckily for them, both Raph and Leo knew he was hiding behind a dumpster and, rather than jumping up on him and once again keeping him captured, they decided to give him a false tip to deliver to the ones called 'the Kraang' about them using Snake's van to sneak into their secret headquarters by midnight. Now, the time was 11:45, which means they had only fifteen minutes left to get themselves to the headquarters and begin their mission.

While Raph went to chasing Mikey around for thinking it was adorable of him on how he was talking to Spike, his pet turtle, and with Donnie fabricated some Tegaki for them to use for stealth, Leo was in the Dojo and plotting out on how they should take care of the situation.

*Crash!*

"Ahh!"

"I'm gonna Shellac you!"

Although, it was a bit hard for him to concentrate with all the screaming two of his brothers are making.

'Can't there ever be a day where they can just be quiet for at least a few minutes?' Leo asked in his thoughts, as he tried to regain his focus on his plan. In front of him are a metal nut, a pencil, two chopsticks, a button, a dice, a tac and an eraser. The pencil and chopsticks formed as a triangle, picturing to be the walls of the building, while the metal nut sat in the center of the triangle, playing as the building most likely holding the its captives. The dice, tac and button are simply to cover the gaps in-between the chopsticks and pencil, which they may also seem to be the blind spots to the twenty men outside of the building guarding the place, which the turtles can use as long as they stay within the shadows and stay quiet. The eraser, held in Leo's right-hand, acts out as Snake's van, where they will use to distract the guards while they scale the wall and get themselves inside the building.

That's good. And as long as your brothers keep quiet and don't give your position away, then you're all basically good to go.

'That may be true, but the problem is the inside; we don't know what it's like and, from the size of the building, who knows where that family is being captured on which floor.'

...That is very troublesome, indeed. Not only that, but the unknown answer to how many of those 'Kraang' there really are.

Even with sharp hearing and strong sense of smell, who knows if Pup be able to track down female and Sire's scent.

'And that's not the only thing I worry about. The one thing I'm more concerned about, is one of my brothers giving us away and for the enemy to find us.' The blue-masked turtle took a good look at his little plot before him, frowning when he knew that the possibility on getting that small family out, without getting caught, are about slim to none. Letting out a deep sigh, he made a mere decision. 'We'll just have to play the rest of the plan by ear.'

And what if the mission goes wrong? What will you do then?

'...Like I've just said, we'll play it by ear. Once I come up with a back up plan in case something does happen, I'll let you know.' Firmly nodding at the little plot before him, Leonardo scooped the small items into his and stood up to his feet, making his way towards the exit of the Dojo to put the items back to their original spots before he brought them out.

"No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. It is how you react to the unexpected that will determine if you and your brothers succeed." Splinter told his eldest son from behind, offering the turtle another of his Words of Wisdom. The fifteen year-old ceased his steps for a moment, then turned to give his sensei a moments glance, then he nodded his head in understanding and then turned back to continue on his exit towards the shōji. However, a hand on the shoulder has once again prevented him from leaving the Dojo. "Leonardo, I know you are still upset and possibly angry with me for making you leader, and I do not blame you if you are angry at me. But, I want you to know that I made you leader for a reason." The Cerulean/Sapphire-eyed turtle would've been clenching his hands at this very moment, but he didn't want to give away that his sensei was right about him being angry at the humanoid-rat for making him leader, so he clenched his teeth and bit a part of his lip as a substitute.

"Yeah, and what reason is that?" He manage to speak out, without having any anger being sought out within his voice.

"That is for you to discover on your own." Splinter answered, not making the turtle feel any better or confident enough to feel he actually did earned the right to the role Alpha-Beta of the family.

'Well, that's so much helpful.' He sarcastically thought to himself. "What if something goes wrong?" 'Because if any of my brother's blood do spill, like I've silently warned you, then it'll be caused by your own hands for your poor choice of decision.'

"Failure is a possibility every leader must face, Leonardo." Splinter then looked up at the tree that stood up mighty and proud next to them. "It is something I had to face in Japan during my final battle with my enemy, the Shredder." Leo's eyes widen when he heard his sensei's tone getting a bit gentle, which he knew what it means and wants nothing more than to yank himself out of Splinter's grip and make a beeline to his brother and leave the Lair.

'Oh no, here comes another story that I already know about and prefer to not hear it all over again.'

Sorry, Pup, but gonna have to listen to Alpha retelling Tragic Past.

Father is still carrying the burden and pain he has to hold in his heart, and a listening ear, even if one who wish to not hear, is something Father needs at this moment.

Catching another quick glance at the rat and seeing the pain that still held within his reddish-brown eyes, the Cerulean/Sapphire-eyed turtle knew that his conscience and instinct are right.

'Urg... Fine! I'll stay, as I always do, but next story he gives to us, either I'd heard it or not, I'm bailing out of it.'

"Years ago, Oroku Saki, as Shredder was called then, had been my friend, but the love of a woman came between us. He could not accept it, and his jealousy turned outward in a vengeful attack." As he continued on with the story, Splinter lean in against the strong oak of the tree, with his drooped and the sadness he still held for the passed fifteen years very visible on his face. "And while he could not defeat me that day, my world fell and crumbled around me as the battle took the life of my beloved tang Shen, and I lost my baby daughter, miwa." Leonardo turned to face his sensei and took a small step or two towards the grief-stricken humanoid-rat.

'If only Tang Shen were here with us, she would be able to tell him to let it go and convince him that it wasn't his fault that she and their daughter died.' He then lowered his gaze to the floor, now being affected by the sadness and grief the rat still held within his heart and carries as his burden. 'If there were some way to turn back time and prevent all of that from ever happening, I would gladly take that chance and go back to change it, for Sensei.'

You do realize that if you were to somehow do that, then you and your brothers would live the rest of your lives as normal-turtles... Or better yet, you and your brothers would possibly cease to exist if you change and/or alter the timeline. Would you still go back and time and change that, all for the sake on making Father happy with his first family?

'...I'm not sure what my brothers would say, though I have a hunch that they would want to make Sensei happy as well if given the opportunity... So, yes, I would still do it, even if it means I'll cease to exist.'

...You're either speaking as a selfless person who would do anything to make other people happy, or as someone who actually wants death to come before them and welcome it with open arms.

"I lost many things, Leonardo: My family, my home, my name." Leo pushed aside his anger towards leadership for a moment.

"You basically lost everything." He muttered, not realizing how sad his tone of voice sounded to the rat, who turned to stare at his son's downcast face.

"I may have lost much of my life ever since that day." He then pushed aside his sadness, seeing on how the negative emotion can greatly inflict itself upon his eldest child, and then put on a smile on his face. "But I gained many things as well, like the four of you."

When he said that, the humanoid-rat placed a gentle hand on the turtle's right-shoulder, which got the blue-mask turtle to slowly look up and meet into his caring-gaze that told the turtle that despite having to lose what he lost to his enemy, he is and will always be grateful on having to get those turtles and to then have them become his own sons than to have them as just mere pets.

Even though you wish for Father to be happy, from the look in his eyes, he seems pretty happy on having you four to have come into his life and to actually have a family to raise and love.

Every Alpha loves and care for pups, whether they Alpha's by blood or not, and will do whatever it takes to keep pups by their side for as long as Alpha can keep pups close.

"Don't worry, Sensei. We can handle this." Leonardo reassured the humanoid-rat, smiling gently back to his sensei and his eyes holding a promise glance that the four of them will return to him.

"Ahh!" Mikey cried out, running pass the rare-touching moment between father and his eldest son, wearing a bucket over his head as if it were to be a makeshift helmet.

"Get back here!" Raph demanded, still holding a wooden-spoon in his left-hand that he still uses to whack his screaming brother with. Both father and eldest son turned to stare at each other, then both closed their eyes and lowered their heads, with Leo placing a hand over his head that signifies that his killer headache is coming back and is most likely going to build up from the continuous screaming going on.

"Watashi wa kore o shori shimasu (I'll handle this)." He told Splinter, calmly making his way out of the Dojo and after placing the items he brought out on one of the counters of the kitchen, he came to the living room, where he finds Raph pinning their youngest-brother beneath him and whacking the wooden-spoon on top of Mikey's uncovered head. Despite knowing that the red-masked turtle wouldn't really harm the orange-masked turtle, Leo still has to stop the fight from continuing on and get them ready to leave. He then, like he did after stopping Snake from driving away, placed two-fingers of his right-hand to his mouth and let out a high whistling sound that quickly placed its affect onto his two younger-brothers.

"What the shell was that for, Leo?!" Raph yelled out, trying to get the ringing out of his head, while the youngest-turtle crawled out of the red-masked turtle's grip and also trying to save his hearing from the shrieking cry his brother's whistle just gave to them.

"Because, one, to prevent you from damaging Mikey's brain. And two, because we need to get going; it's almost time." He then turned to the closed doors of Don's Lab. "Donnie, we need to get going! Are the Tegaki ready?!" The metal-doors of Don's Lab swung open and out came said purple-masked turtle, smiling in satisfaction and holding out four pairs of Tegaki, all fabricated and ready to be use.

"They're ready to go, Leo." He answered, earning an approval nod from his brother and a couple of knuckle-cracking from Raph, who looks ready to swipe the Tegaki out of Don's grasp and use them for more than just scaling up walls.

"Alright guys, here's the plan..."

---

12:05; at Building...
"Wow, lucky thing that van showed up to distract them." Michelangelo said to his brothers, watching the men below them pondering on where the intruders were at and not being engulfed in flames with the van. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Donatello face palmed himself in the face, forgetting about the Tegaki still attached to his hand.

"Ow!" Donnie cried out, though he wasn't loud enough for the men below them to hear from the fire burning through the metal of the destroyed van.

"That was the plan, Mikey." Leonardo told his brother from above him, reminding the youngest-turtle, again, on how and why the van was there. "We knew snake was hiding in the alley, so Raph and I made him think we would be in the van."

"But we weren't in the van." Mikey pointed out, still being confused on what was going on. The blue-masked turtle shook his head to himself, not wanting to go into more details with his youngest-brother who still won't get the whole thing, even if the eldest-turtle were to give him more of those details.

"Just keep climbing." He told the orange-masked turtle, and continued on scaling up the wall.

"Can do." Mikey replied, getting himself on top of the wall with the rest of his brothers.

Once they were over the wall, they stuck themselves to the shadows, swiftly and silently making their way towards the building and, after finding an air vent a few feet away from the ground, they once again used their Tegaki to climb up the wall and soon found themselves within the vents. Thanks to Leo's sharp hearing and a few routes to take through the vents, the turtles found themselves standing over another air vent that shows them to be in some sort of hallway. Then, hearing two sets of footsteps coming their way and not hearing any more sets of steps coming or around their location, Leo nodded his head to Raph, letting him know that they can spring out of their hiding spot and beat the two men as his heart desires, as long as he doesn't overdo the extent of injury he'll deliver to their enemies. The fall of the vent caught the two men's attention and when they looked up, saw Raph and Leo jumping out of the vent and were soon being tossed aside and beaten to the floor by the two strongest turtles on the team.

After a good eight strikes from each of the two turtles, the two men were down and it doesn't look like they'll be getting up any time soon.

Looking up at the vent to his two remaining brothers, Leonardo firmly nod his head and the two youngest-turtles hopped out of the vent. For safety measures in case any more enemies were to show up and having a hunch they will bring those unknown weapons of theirs, the blue-masked turtle drew out Musashi and Kamiizumi, to use for reflecting or blocking out the energy blasts that were to surely come their way.

"Wow, I've never seen anything like this." Donnie stated, leading the team down a hallway and being too fascinated at the technology surrounding him. "They're using a metal alloy that I don't even recognize." While Mikey and Leo walk pass the genius turtle, Raph came up beside him.

"Gosh! A metal alloy even you don't know about! It boggles the mind." He sarcastically stated, which was his own way of telling his brother that now isn't the time to go sightseeing or distracted by his new discovery.

"Dude, you wanna talk metallurgy with me? Bring it."

'Not now, you guys. Please, Not. Now!'

Looks like you were right, about being worry about your brothers most likely going to blow your cover.

"I don't, and-"

"Gaizu (Guys)!" Leo whispered a bit loudly, cutting off to what Raph was going to say to Donnie. "Have you two already forgotten that we're in an enemy's lair? Now is not the time for you two to bash heads with each other. We got a mission to complete." Knowing that their brother is right, the two ceased their fighting and followed their leader down the hallway to meet up with their youngest-brother, who was leaning against the way and staring at another end of a hallway to find something that Raph and Donnie had told him he was imagining: Six, alien robots stood in the center of a crossway hallway, all carrying the same kind of weapons that one of the men in black-suits shot Leo with.

"Whoa. Alien robots." Donnie gasped out, not believing on what he's seeing at this very moment.

"Alien robots, huh?" Leo, who was crouching low to the floor and in front of his youngest-brothers, knew that their cover was going to be blown when he heard Mikey repeating what the purple-masked turtle just said.

"Mikey, don't." He whispered out, but the youngest-turtle didn't hear his command.

"Hmm, where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah!"

Silence Omega-Brother's trap of mouth!

"I've been saying it for hou-!" Though the turtle was able to cut off his sentence, Leo wasn't quick enough to stop Mikey from blurting out, for he had to hold one of his blade in his mouth to let one of his hands be free and use it to slam it over the youngest-turtle's mouth, that caught the alien robots' attention. After giving Mikey a glare that sent chills down the turtle's shell and spine, leo reclaimed Kamiizumi back into his left-hand from his mouth and sprint after the robots, who all let out massive shots of the energy blasts at the four turtles.

As they dodged the many blasts of the weapons, Raph brought down one alien robot at the far-right, while Leo took down one at the far-left, allowing Mikey to whack a blue alien robot to the floor and sending a good spin-kick to a second blue robot. Donnie, who caught up behind the orange-masked turtle, whacked a silver alien robot that was trying to get back to its feet twice in the head, then slammed the midsection of his Naginata Bō staff at the throat of the robot and flipped himself over the robot's body, lifting up the robot with the Bō staff still against the throat and tossing it in midair. Raph, who pinned his opponent to the ground and twisting an arm behind its back, gabbed his Sai into the robot's head, instantly shutting it off. Another robot came up in front of him and was ready to fire, but the robot Donnie threw in midair slammed into the shooter's head, giving Raph the opportunity to grab for its arm, flip it over his shoulder and gab his Sai into its head like he did with the last one.

With only two of the robots left to take care of, Leo made quick due with the last two. He took down one by ducking away from the blast, having to watch and notice that the aliens don't appear to have that much good of an aim unless their opponents are staying completely still long enough to get a perfect at them, then using a black pipe to help give him a little boost to jump in the air high enough to slice through the neck of the robot. The second robot, who chose to simply shoot straight on ahead instead of moving his aim around and hope to get a lucky shot, got blinded in the eye after Leo reflected one of the energy blast back at it and in that split second of distraction, Leo was once again in the air and twisted himself to cut from the left-shoulder down sideways to the right midsection where the human ribcage would be at. The two pieces of the robot fell and crumbled to the floor, followed by a sound that sounded like it was shutting down and ended with a hiss, as if it were releasing something.

Suddenly, six tentacles sprung out of the robot and when it lifted the rest of its body out of the cockpit of the robot body, the small-alien turned at the turtles and let out a screech-like scream at them. Just as Mikey has been telling his brothers, the alien looks like it was an abnormal-size brain, with small fang-like teeth that don't appear to be strong enough to tear into flesh unless it was a child they were to go after, and lime-green/yellow eyes with sideways slit-pupils. Raph and Donnie screamed from the sight of it, while Leo made quick do at knocking it out by using the hilt of Kamiizumi to gab it on top of the alien's head.

Omega-Brother Michelangelo and Pup right all along: Attackers aren't humans, but aliens inside metal-body.

'Which also means that those four men that turned us into mutant-animals, aren't the actual cause of our existence; it's the one who created the substance, the Mutagen as Donnie dubbed it to be, and is having his workers passing it around that could cause harm to innocent lives if held in the wrong hands.'

"See? See? It's a brain thing!" Mikey exclaimed, holding the unconscious alien upside by grabbing ahold on four of its tentacles and waving it around as if it were an oversized water balloon. "I told you! I told you! But did any of you believe me? No! 'Cause you all think I'm just some kind of bonehead!" The blue-masked turtle folded his arm in front of him and glared with annoyance at his brother.

'First off, Mikey, not all of us said anything about you being right or wrong about the aliens. And second, you are a bonehead when it comes to you continuously spewing out words while we try to stay in stealth mode. And third... You just woke up the alien from being knocked out.' Just as he thought, the alien snapped its eyes open and, finding itself hanging upside down and in the clutches of one of the turtles, let out a shriek and made a quick grab for Mikey's arm, chewing biting down at his thick flesh as hard as it could.

"Ow!" He then held out his arm straight, completely baffled at how the alien still tries to take him on without the use of his robot-body, and then tried to shake the alien off of his arm when he thought that it was trying to eat him. "Uh! Ugh! Ah! Ah!" When he used his other arm to put a space between his trapped arm and the alien and tossed his trapped arm to the side, the alien finally let go of him. However, when it hit against the wall and slide back to the floor, its body pressed into a button, which let out an alarm and the whole room flashed a very-bright pink color. From afar places of the building, Leo heard many footsteps ceasing their movements and then heard them making a run towards the south-part of the building. The alien, that was now on the floor, let out another shriek and then scurried off to either warn its friends where the intruders are or to get into a new robot-body and once again take them on.

"Mikey!" The three older brothers yelled, glaring down at him on having to blow their cover.

"Okay! But I was still right about the brain thing. You gotta give me that." Mikey told his brother, still trying to make a point that he was still right about aliens.

Leo turned his head towards the hallway the alien took to make its escape, hearing the approach of the robots coming their way. He was about to get his brothers to lead them back to the vent they came from, when his nose picked up two distinctive scents that he immediately recognized and to the reason why they're putting their life on the line for: The father and daughter.

'They're still here, which means there's still time to free them!' He thought to himself and, without thinking on warning or telling his brothers, he took off towards the direction the trail of their scent leads him to.

Quickly and Godspeed, Pup; scents towards direction where footsteps are heading for.

No doubt that they're going to speed up their schedule on taking them out of the city.

"Leo, wait up!" Mikey cried out, as he, Raph and Donnie followed the blue-masked turtle from behind and all wondering why he simply took off to a random direction, which Donnie believes to lead for something important from the power conduits converging in the direction their eldest-brother is heading for. Six seconds on running down the hallway, the flashing lights ceased and the odd siren-noise went deaf. The trail of the scent eventually lead him to a big-black door on the right-side of the hallway, where through the single-window, Leo could see both father and daughter standing in the center of the small-space room that he believes to be some sort of cell, both looking rather confused on what the siren noise and flashing-pink light was about. Coming up from behind him, the bō staff wielder also looked through the window.

"We found 'em!" Donnie informed Raph and Mikey, which quickly caught the family's attention and staring completely startled at the two turtles looking through the window. Leo's sharp hearing immediately caught sound of something charging and knowing what that sound meant, he brought up his Katana and blocked the first few energy blasts that would've most likely gotten his genius brother if he hadn't intervened. From down the hallway they ran through, a few more alien robots came running towards them.

"We'll hold them off! You pick the lock." Leo quickly ordered his third brother, before he rushed off after the robots running towards them and knocking two of them down and finishing off the third on his own, leaving Raph and Mikey to quickly damage the last two suits to prevent them from working and leaving the aliens defenseless. While more footsteps made their way, the blue-masked turtle turned to see how Donatello was doing on that lock. However, when he saw that his brother was too busy talking to the girl and not working on that lock, he grew pissed that his brother was not only following his order, but appears to be wasting their time

What is he doing?! He's supposed to undo the lock, not have a friendly chit-chat with that girl while in the middle of a battlefield!

Omega-Brother Donatello not only jeopardizing mission, but also putting Omega-Brother Michelangelo, Beta-Brother Raphael and human family in danger, all to simply get to know girl Omega-Brother's trying to court! Inexcusable and unacceptable! Put Omega-Brother Donatello back in place and remind Kin who's Alpha-Beta of team, Pup!

Sheathing up Kamiizumi in its sheath and clenching on tightly to Musashi in a death grip, the turtle's anger and instinct on punishing his brother grew until his control over his anger broke.

'I'm sorry, Don, but you left me no choice but to do this! Know that this is for your own good!' With swift speed like the wind itself, Leonardo came up next to his brother and, without warning or thinking of the consequences he'll be facing from Splinter when he hears what he did, rammed him against the door and grabbed the back of Donnie's neck with his left-hand, forcing the turtle into submission and pushing him down on his knees to the panel that controls the door of their cell. "Don. The lock. Now!" After screaming out his last command and giving him a deadly glare that told the purple-masked turtle to not take his orders lightly, released his hold on the turtle's neck and reclaimed Kamiizumi back into his left-hand, charging at the other robots that Mikey knocked over with his Nunchakus to make quick cuts into the bodies.

More footsteps came towards them from the other end of the hallway, and the blue-masked turtle made a quick run towards them, assisting Raphael on bringing them down with the quick swipe of his Katanas and mere force of charging from his enhanced speed. Getting a quick glance to his genius brother and seeing how he's still trying to get the lock undone, along with hearing three sets of footsteps from through the wall, the turtle knew time is running out for the human. Turning his attention to Raph, who kicked away his opponent and stood a few inches behind the purple-masked turtle, he made a quick decision.

"Raph, switch places with Donnie and get that door open!" Also mad and frustrated of his brother taking his time on undoing the lock, Raph shoved Don away from the lock and, taking out of his Sai, jabbed the panel a few times until it let out a few sparks and then made a buzzing sound, which then followed by the door pulling itself open for the turtles to get into the cell. Right when they gotten the door to open, they were too late on saving the father and daughter, as they were carried off to another hallway that leads them to outside of the building and to where a helicopter was waiting for them to be taken off to who knows where.

The four turtles followed to the direction where they heard the girl let out her terrified shriek, while trying to outrun the continuous arrival of alien robots shooting them down with their weapons. They finally made their way out of the building and outside, but they were still being followed and targeted by the aliens. While Raph went to closing the two doors, Leonardo planned on using Kamiizumi to hold the door down by placing it through the handles to prevent the doors from opening from the inside, but turned out that he won't be giving up his sword after Raph ruthlessly yanked an arm off of a robot and placed it through the handles of the door as a makeshift padlock. Once that problem was taken cared of, the turtles refocused their attention back to the captured family, as they were forced to make their way towards the helicopter at the very top of the building. Before they could get to them, something else stopped them from reaching their goal.

It was giant and green, has multiple vines with thorns that, from what Leo could smell, are venomous. A praying mantis-like head, stands on two stem-like legs with large toes on its feet and seems to have exposed bone-like shapes. Tendrils that resemble Venus flytrap to most likely be its hands and arms, and an exposed heart that's partly wrapped within the green-skin located between the neck and the top of its chest. It let out an odd shriek that would mistaken him for a giant bat, which was followed by a hiss that sounded very similar to a snake.

"You did this to me! Now you're going to pay!" The voice was high and hissy when the plant-like creature spoke, which the Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes turtle immediately recognized as the slim-human.

"It's Snake! He mutated into a... Giant weed!" '...Alright, something about what I just said sounded a bit off.'

You mean that the human got mutated into a plant, while he has antennae, pincers, and bulbous eyes that makes him look more like some sort of deformed insect?

'Well, that, and to the fact I made it sound like he's going to be hard to take on if he's now some sort of insect-plant mutant.'

Best heed warning and distress, Pup; never underestimate preys or enemies, no matter how they may seem under Pup or be of no threat when on battlefield.

"That's weird. You'd think he'd get mutated into a snake." Mikey stated, not really getting on how or why the human ended up as a weed mutant.

"Yeah, you would, if you were an idiot." Raph told his brother, thinking on why the orange-masked turtle would think someone would mutate into an animal they're named after if that certain animal isn't the last thing the person would touch before the Mutagen changes their appearance.

"But his name is Snake."

"So?"

"You don't understand science." Leonardo gave his brother an odd look at what he just said, while turning his attention back to newly-mutated Snake, who was finally able to free his feet from the ground.

'What does science got to do with Snake being a mutant weed and not a mutant snake?!... Scratch that, why are you two even having this conversation when we're still in the middle of a fight?!'

"I'll crush you turtles!"

"Uh, would it help if we said it was an accident?" Donnie asked the mutant weed in a nervous voice, not feeling very comfortable on fighting something or someone taller than school bus. To answer his question, Snake let out his two pincers out, snapping them together and ready to either grab or even attempt to rip flesh.

'Does that answer your question, Don?' The blue-masked turtle asked in thought, baring but clenching his teeth together at the large mutant, warning him that he wasn't going to back down or let Snake scare him because of his height. The purple-masked turtle backed away.

"So, heh, I'll put you down for a no?" Snake then leaned back a bit, holding back one of his pincers behind him, which let out an alarming ring in Leo's head.

Jump!

By his instincts command and when Snake brought down his pincers to whack the turtles aside, Leo leap over the pincer to dodge the attack, along with Donnie doing the same but narrowly getting hit by the extended pincer. Raph and Mikey weren't so lucky or able to dodge on time, and both were forced down to the ground, a little stunned and a bit bruised from the impact but nothing to serious to prevent them from fighting or defending. Crouched down to the ground when he landed, Leo sheathed Kamiizumi and now clenching on to Musashi with both hands, launched himself after the appendage that attacked his brother and brought the blade down to slice through flesh and plant.

Snake let out a shriek of pain when the turtle cut through his arm as if it were smooth butter, as purple-blood gushed out of the wound and splattered all over the ground.

"Eww! Eww!" Mikey cried, crawling away from the blood that would splash where he was just at. "Don't let it touch me! Don't let it touch me!" When he took one more crawl back, little bits of the blood landed on his leg. "Aah! It touched me!" Landing back to the ground, Leo flung his sword to the side to rid of the blood off of Musashi.

'It's not like his blood is now some form of acid, Mikey, otherwise it would've left holes in the hard concrete ground or burn the skin off your flesh. It could've even be able to eat through the blade of Musashi and leave me with only the hilt of my sword, but my sword is still in full condition.'

Better not think that this fight's going to be easy. Look!

As his conscience told him, the turtle turned his attention back to his opponent and saw that the appendage he just cut through has immediately grew back a new pincer, fascinating and astonishing the mutant-weed on seeing the gift that his mutation has bestowed upon him.

"It grew back? No fair!" Donnie cried out, now scared and panicking that they won't be able to bring Snake down when he can simply continue to regrow any of his limbs if they were to keep on cutting him down.

'Huh, it actually makes a lot of sense, since weeds have the ability to regenerate when they're cut down. As long as the source of its root is still intact, then it'll keep on regrowing itself.' His hearing then caught the sound of a chopper preparing itself to take to the sky, which happens to be the very helicopter that's holding the family.

Getting away! Pup must go after it!

Wait! You can't leave your brothers to take on Snake on their own; none of their weapons are considered strong enough to take him down, even if Raph's Sais are designed to jab, Mikey were to use his Kusarigama and Don to use the hidden blade of his Naginata bō staff. You have to stay and fight!

'I know that!... I know who needs to go after the chopper.' "Donnie! Go! Fastball Special!"

Leo quickly sheathed Musashi into its sheath and placed both his hands down, preparing himself to give his brother a quick lift up to the top of the building. Originally, he would've had Raph give their brother a lift, but he and Mikey were too busy keeping Snake occupied and with the chopper preparing itself to take off, there wouldn't be enough time for the two eldest turtles to switch places. So, after placing his bō underneath the strap over his shoulder, he took off after his brother and once he implanted his right-foot into the cupped hands of Leo, he was hurled in the air and found himself a staircase away from reaching the platform of the helicopter and immediately made haste.

While the genius turtle made it his duty to rescue the humans, the other three turtles went into cutting and bringing down Snake, which wasn't an easy job to do, considering that the limbs would instantly grow back and with him having four vines to be like extra sets of hands and arms, he's proving to be a real problem and challenge for the three turtles.

"Snakeweed is really powerful!" Mikey cried, after he and Leo helped Raph to his feet after being tossed aside by one of the vines Snake's pincers let out. He was lucky that the vines within the pincers didn't have any thorns at all and that Snake has been whacking the turtles aside instead of using the thorns to cause actual damage, otherwise they would've been poisoned and make the situation much worse if one of them were to have toxic pumping through their bodies.

"Snakeweed?" Raph questioned, thinking of the name to be one of the most ridiculous things he ever heard and made up from the orange-masked turtle.

"Yeah! His name was Snake, and now he's a weed, so-"

"We get it!" Raph interrupted, not feeling like arguing with their youngest-brother about renaming Snake when they're fighting for their lives. Leo, meanwhile stood in front of his brothers and kept his glare at the red-eyes of Snake, while trying to catch his breath a bit and to figure out how to defeat the mutant weed.

You were right to feel distress and cautious about Snake's mutation.

'Oh, you think?' His vision blurred a bit, but he shook his head to rid away the dizziness he was feeling build up.

Hang in there, Pup. Can defeat mutant-weed; must find weak-spot and figure out a way to bring mutant-weed down that doesn't involve being able to regenerate.

'That's going to be hard to plan. As for the weak-spot, I think I may have found it.' His eyes then stared at the beating-heart of Snake, partly wrapped within the skin but standing out wide and open for anybody to take a shot out of it. 'The only problem on attacking his weak-spot are the vines, but if Raph and Mikey were to keep him distracted for more than a few seconds, I can try to go in for the kill.' "We just have to hold it off until Donnie gets back." He informed his brothers, knowing that it may take the four of them to keep Snake busy and for one of them to go for his heart that may possibly be his weakness to permanently bring him down.

Unfortunately, the door that Raphael locked up by using a robot's arm to seal the handles with gave out and a bunch of the robots came running out, aiming their weapons at both the turtles and the mutant weed.

'Oh, great, more problems to add in our problem.' "While not getting shot by alien robots."

"With brains!" Mikey added, still trying to get his brothers to tell him that he was right.

"Let it go, man." Raph told the turtle, tired on having to be reminded that he and Don were wrong to criticize him when he told them his reason on why he didn't chase the van with the two turtles.

"Raph, you take care of Snake!" Leo ordered, unsheathing Kamiizumi to have it rejoin the battle with its brother, Musashi.

"It's Snakeweed now, Leo!" Mikey hollered out, bring out his Nunchakus and already whacking away some of the robots.

"I don't care what's he called now, Mikey! You help me deal with the Kraang that are shooting at us and let Raph try to take care of Snake, until I come up with a plan!"

You sure are giving out a lot of orders, and on your very first mission on top of that, you notice?

'Not now! Later!' Anger coursed through his heart, giving him the extra energy and strength to cut down the robots that try to shoot him or his brothers down, which was what his conscience had planned to do when it noticed how tired the turtle was starting to get the longer they continued on to fight. And to prove a point, Snake brought out one of his pincers and whacked everybody off of their feet, including the fleet footed Leonardo. 'Damn it! I don't know how much more we can take of this and with Donnie still dealing with the Kraang in the helicopter, we're in way over our heads.' He struggled to get himself off the ground, as he retightened his grip on Musashi and Kamiizumi. 'I was afraid my warning to Master Splinter was going to come true, that our blood will be spilled under my leadership... At this rate, I'm gonna have to order my brothers to head back to the Lair and to turn this into a suicide mission.'

"What's the plan again, Chief?" Raph questioned his brother, also picking himself off the ground.

Before Leo could answer, a vine came up from behind him and the moment it wrapped itself around his right-ankle, it lifted the turtle off the ground and held him out in front of Snake, who tried to figure out on how he should dispose of the turtle who was the first to injure him while swinging him around in the air. While still hanging upside down, Leo heard the sound of continuous buzzing and, when he turned his head towards the direction of the sound, he saw multiple tubes of the power conduit that Donnie stated to lead for something important, which leads to a some sort of high-tech power generator.

'If I can get Snake to that power generator and have the Kraang rupture it with their weapons...'

It may be key on how to bring down mutant-weed.

But how are you going to get him to that power generator and keep him there long enough for the Kraang to rupture it?

'It's simple... By doing a suicide mission.' "Raph! Mikey! Senaka mawari iku!" Getting a firm nod from both turtles, though not truly knowing what their leader is planning on doing, they both charged at Snake and attacked his legs after getting behind him, distracting him long enough to allow Leo to cut at the vine that trapped him upside down and have himself back on solid ground. He then turned his attention back to the Kraang, who were all getting back to their feet and collecting their weapon, which gave him a quick-thinking addition to his suicidal plan. "Sono hatsudenki ni sunēku o eru ni sorera o najiru (Taunt them into getting Snake to that power generator!)!"

"What?!" Raph hollered out, not liking to where his brother was planning on doing.

"Chōdo sore o okonau (Just do it)!" Leo yelled out, sheathing his two swords away and pulling out his own Tegaki and cutting into the back of Snake's left-leg to distract him while his brothers taunt Kraang into aiming their weapons at the mutant weed and forcing Snake to back up against the power generator.

This is nuts! You'll get yourself killed if you don't get out of the way in time from the blast!

'That's why it's called a "suicide mission" and don't worry, I have no intention on dying.' He thought to himself, ducking behind the giant weed mutant to avoid the blast until Snake was close enough for Leo to make his mark, which he did by bringing down his Tegaki and digging straight down sideways on Snake's back. He then clenched his left-hand into a fist and brought it out towards Snake when the mutant turned to see who it was that dared to attack from behind, landing a perfect punch at the barely protected heart.

Snake let out a hissing-shriek from the harsh impact to his heart, kneeling and hitting his head on the power generator when Leo jump on top of his head and stood on his large back. He then brought out his two remaining shuriken and tossed them towards two heads at two random robots in order re-taunt the remaining Kraang into shooting at the turtle and the power generator. The sound of sparks building up was the only signal to have the blue-masked turtle to jump off of Snake and rejoin his three brothers, along with the human girl Donatello was able to rescue, to watch electricity coursing through Snake's body for a full four-seconds before it caused him and the power generator to explode. Parts and remains of Snake rain down over the battlefield, bringing a major relief for three of the turtles and to the human girl that the fight was over. However, Leonardo knew that now wasn't the time to celebrate.

Putting away his Tegaki and waving his hand to signal the others to follow him, they silently and quickly left the building and made a run back to the city, knowing that their mission is finished but isn't a complete success.

---

Back in the City; April's Aunt House...
"Are you gonna be all right?" Donatello asked the human girl, who has introduced herself to the rest of the turtles as April O'Neil.

"I guess," she solemnly answered. "My aunt says I can stay here as long as I want, but I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my dad." Leonardo, who sat above the balcony of April's bedroom window, stared down at the girl with sorrow he felt for her suffering, then turned back to stare at the city and the stars above them.

Poor girl... She shouldn't have to go through all of this.

'Agreed; she is pure and innocent, like Mikey. She committed no such sin that would have her lose her parent by aliens.'

She-Pup April seeks vengeance of Kraang for taking Sire away from her. Shall be best if Omega-Brothers, Beta-Brother and Pup help She-Pup April find and rescue Sire, before She-Pup April gets over head.

Leo cocked his head to the side, confused on what his instinct just dubbed April as.

'"She-Pup April"? Why give her title as if she's Pack?'

She-Pup April now involved in war Pup and Pack shall soon be fighting in, meaning She-Pup will be human-ally and soon, sister-in-arms. Pup's fight now She-Pup's fight, least until Pup and Pack brings back She-Pup's Sire.

The blue-masked turtle let out a low growl, preventing on having to catch the other turtle's attention.

'Whoever said that she's actually going to be our friend, let alone a new member into our Clan? Our Pack? She may be innocent and pure, but she has not earned my trust or approval to make her part of the family. It's because of her that Donnie nearly cost us the mission while rescuing her and her father, even if she doesn't know or mean to be a distraction to Don.' He then closed his eyes and lifted his head towards the sky, inhaling the peaceful breeze of the wind brushing against his forest-green skin, beckoning him to run beside her gentle breeze and to sing with the wind. 'Besides, we better things to deal with: Taking care of the Kraang, and gaining my freedom.'

It should be best to hold your plans on gaining your freedom; not only do you have Kraang to take care of and to help April rescue her father, but you have a role and a duty that Father placed upon you.

He nearly scoffed from the reminder of him being placed as leader of the team.

'And who said that I'll actually continue on with this burden Sensei forced me to take? Once I get my freedom, the Role of Leadership shall go to Raph and he can lead the team however he wants to lead them. I have no part into his wishes and I wish to not be any part of it.'

"April, I promise you we will not rest until we find him." Donnie assured the redhead, earning not noticing a glare from the eldest turtle.

'Foolish brother of mine. Still trying to win her heart, even when you should know that your chances with her is nonexistent.'

"We won't?" Raph said, wondering who signed him up to join the 'Help April Out' Community without his say into the matter.

'Despite her not gaining my trust to be considered pack-mate, we may need to start gaining human allies if we're to live both in the city and the sewers.' "No, we won't." He told his brother, now earning the gaze of the four teens below him. Casting a glare at his younger-brother and silently daring him to go back against his word, the hothead turtle kept his mouth shut, meaning that he has agreed with the decision on helping their new human-friend with her problem. April smiled gently up at the blue-masked turtle who has finally spoke for the first time within her presence.

"Thank you, but it's not your fight." She told the turtles, not wanting them to get themselves hurt or in trouble because of her, like the eldest-turtle had narrowly escaped the blast of the power generator and barely made it out with his life.

"Yes, it is." A silence followed after Donnie's sentence and with a stuttering heartbeat following suit, Leo smirked when he figured Donnie did something that made the girl smile and is thinking that he may have a shot with her after all.

'That's one thing Don's right about: The moment the Kraang made us to be as we are, it has became our fight.'

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think it's high time we head back to the Lair; I'm tired as Hell and going to be sore in the morning." Raph announced to his brothers, stretching his back and causing some of his bones to crack in the process of stretching.

"I'm with you on that, bro, but can we stop for some Pis-zaw before heading back home?" Mikey asked, climbing right behind Raph to get to the roof of April's aunt house.

"'Pis-zaw'?... Does he mean 'pizza'?" April asked Don, who got over his embarrassment when the subject got changed.

"That's what you humans call that human food by? Huh, sounds a lot better and more appetizing than the way Mikey pronounced it." Don then stared up at his older-brother, who didn't look as though he was getting off of his sitting spot at any moment or realize that they're already leaving the apartment for the Lair. "Uh, Leo, aren't you coming? We're heading back to the Lair." Leonardo's eyes narrowed from his brother's question, knowing that if he doesn't go back to the Lair with them, then they'll either stay with him however long he stays up on the surface until he does return their home or drag him back to the Lair and will once again be shadowed by his brothers and Splinter all over again.

You know that as long as the Kraang are out there, your freedom will be over in just a snap and you'll end up hunted down or captured by those aliens... You know that you have to stay with the Clan, to keep them safe and close by in order to protect them from the Kraang.

...Pup, as much as it pains self to put hold on dream for freedom, Pup must stay with Pack. Once danger and threat to Pack deceased, Pup's choice for freedom will be set and ready to leave Pack. For now, remain with Pack, with Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brothers, with Alpha, as Alpha-Beta of Hamato Clan.

Leo knew that they were right, but even with his knowledge of understanding wasn't enough to make the stabbing pain in his heart any less painful than it already was in. He was very grateful that it was still dark, because he knew that if Don or any of his brothers or even the human-girl were to see him clenching on to the strap over his plastron, they would know that something is wrong with him and could be from an injury they will think he sustained from their fight with the Kraang and Snake.

"Leo? Can you hear me?" Digging his nails into the hard-leather material of the strap, Leo turned to meet the gaze of his genius brother, who's brownish-red eyes held worry and concern over the silence his big brother process. "Are you okay? You're not badly wounded, are you?" The blue-masked turtle let out a tiring sigh, closing his eyes and concentrating on bottling up the pain his heart had to just go through from being forced to temporarily give up the chance for freedom it has craved for so long.

'If I must hold off my chance to freedom, for the sake of my Pack and their safety, then I shall not leave them.' "No, Don, I'm fine." He replied back, sounding completely normal and nonchalant to the four teens. He then got to his feet, staring out towards the tall building in the direction where he knew the nearest manhole shall be. "It's been a long night... Let's all head back home and get some well-earned rest."

Earning some nods from his brothers, the turtle made their way up to the highest point of April's aunt house's rooftop and silently made their way towards the alley that has a manhole-cover that'll lead them to the sewers. Before joining Raph and Mikey to the alley, Don turned back to stare at April and give her a friendly wave, knowing that it wasn't really goodbye and that the girl will be visiting them at the Lair very soon. Staying behind and remaining still on the rooftop to be ensure all three of his brothers went into the sewer after the manhole-cover has been removed, Leo gazed up to the night-sky one last time for the near ending-point of the nighttime, seeing that some of the stars had already left their post and at the far horizon saw some lighter color seeping through behind the dark-sky.

'Rest in peace, dark day of the sleeping sun, for even an ending must rest to begin anew*.'

"Wait!" April's voice prevented the blue-masked turtle from jumping off of her aunt's rooftop to rejoin his brothers within the sewers and to have him turn his head to stare into her sky-blue eyes. "I haven't gotten a chance to thank you for stopping one of the aliens in the robot bodies from grabbing me, when we first met." Leo's eyes narrowed in confusion, not sure on how he should feel from the gratitude he received from the human.

'Why does she thank me, when I wasn't the one that chose to rescue her and her father, and that we didn't succeeded on stopping the Kraang from taking them away?'

Humans are very strange creatures.

'Indeed, they are... Shouldn't I have some sort of human instinct-like, considering that I'm part-human? My brothers appear to have that and somehow know how to interact with April.'

Perhaps it's because of you being a humanoid-wolf/turtle that prevents you from knowing or understanding how to interact with others, while your brothers are humanoid-turtles and Father is a humanoid-rat.

'That's probably it, though it never hurts to be too cautious on who we meet if they're really going to be our friend or enemy.' He then turned his gaze away from her. "You shouldn't thank me." His sentence confused the girl. "It's Donatello who you should be thanking, since he was the one who dragged us into the fight on rescuing you and your father, despite the fact that we failed to do so."

Must you really push her away? Just as you stated from her, she's pure and innocent. If your brothers can trust her to keep your secret and existence from the other humans, then that should be proof enough that she can be trusted to be your friend.

'Doesn't matter if she appears to be trustworthy or not; I'm not like my brothers and have my own reason to not immediately accept her as our friend or ally... At least, not until she pass my test. If she passes, then I shall welcome her as a friend and will accept her as a newly-found sister of the Pack.

And if she doesn't pass the test?

'Should she fail my test, I'll keep my distance away from her and remain silence anywhere near her presence.'

No doubt Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother will be very disproval of Pup for rejecting She-Pup if She-Pup April fails test, but know that what Pup do is for right cause... Something different and odd about She-Pup.

'That, I agree to, which is also a reason to why she'll be given a test to see if she truly does earn my trust or not. For now, it should be best to head back for the Lair, before the Pack goes in a frenzy panic.' He then turned to stare at the girl one last time, who seemed ready to jump back into the house and go to bed if he doesn't have any more to say to her. "Take care of yourself, April, and believe into the hope that your father will be returned to you." She stared back at him with stunned eyes, stopping herself from closing the windows when she stepped back into the house, looking more comforted and a bit more hopeful than she previously was, when hearing one of her new-found friend giving her words that she obviously needed to hear.

"Will I be seeing you guys, again?" As her answer, he gave her a friendly smirk.

'As if Don will make this be the very last time we'll ever see her again.' "That depends on what you want the answer to be." Giving her a farewell nod, a gesture that also seems to tell the redhead that they would be happy to see her again or that they're alright with her wanting to see them soon, he launched himself off the building and made his way to the sewer, placing the manhole cover back to its spot to prevent any other humans from falling into the sewers by accident.

---

Back to the Lair; Dojo...
"I am impressed, Leonardo. You proved to be an effective leader under the most difficult of circumstances." Splinter praised his eldest son, after the turtle has given him the report on how their mission went and his brothers were able to work together when in battle. Though he felt like he didn't deserve to gain his sensei's praise or approval, since their mission wasn't a complete success on account that April's father is still in the hands of the Kraang, and the anger in his heart still burns with the hate on having to still be called leader, Leo has to accept the compliment his sensei has given to him.

"Arigato (Thank you), Sensei." He thanked, bowing to the humanoid-rat in another way to show his thanks, even if he doesn't really mean it. Silenced came by after his words, with the turtle staying still in his spot to await for his sensei to give him his permission to leave the Dojo and allow him to head for his room for some sleep, and the humanoid-rat wanting to have a few more moments of a conversation with his eldest-child. Then, a question quickly came to his mind on what they should also talk about.

"Have you already figured out on why I made you leader, my son?"

Leo remained bowing on the floor, shielding the grimace that came to his tired face when the question prevented him from asking the humanoid-rat if he can leave to get some sleep. In a situation where he wants to leave and be on his own, he would come up with a perfect lie and then do his own ninja vanish to make his escape the very second the person who has their eyes on them gets turned away. However, he knew that the ninja master won't let him drop or avoid the question that easily. Besides, he made a promise in his own code as a wolf that he shall not lie to a question that's of upmost importance to his sensei and Pack, as long as the subject isn't about his behavior and of them starting to figure out about his secret of being a humanoid-wolf/turtle and not a humanoid-turtle.

'Looks like I'm gonna have to pull a Splinter on him... I hope he enjoys the feeling of the answer like he would always give to us.' "Hai... Soshite, iya (Yes... And no)." He answered honestly, gaining a surprised look on Splinter that the child has answered with one of his own response he would use on all four of his sons.

"Will you please explain to me about your answer, Leonardo?" The turtle firmly nod his head once, brushing his forehead onto the Tatami mat as he still bowed to show his submission to his sensei, before he lifted himself off the floor but kept his head lowered. Too bad for the turtle that Splinter wouldn't allow him to continue on talking when they aren't meeting eye-to-eye, for he then felt a clawed-hand going under his chin and forcing his head up to meet reddish-brown eyes of Hamato Yoshi. "Look me in the eyes and explain to me on why you chose that answer, Leonardo."

Another thing Leo would've done, is he would give a warning growl to the person getting too close in his personal space, but he knows better than to threaten a warning to his sensei, his Alpha, when he, himself, doesn't know of his son not being as the rat believes him to be. The moment the hand on his chin removed themselves and allowed himself to take a deep breath, the turtle spoke.

"As leader, I leant that there is no right or wrong, only choices." His gaze gotten a bit hard, but he quickly pushed it aside before his sensei could get the chance to see the anger he holds within his heart. "With that being said, you could've picked any one of us four to be the leader... Well, picking Mikey would've been an obvious wrong choice, but you would've still had a choice to choose either Don or Raph to be leader. Instead, you chose me to lead, because it was your choice to pick me, not because you sensed something inside of me that made you confident enough that your choice was right... What I don't get is why you didn't choose Don or Raph and picked me, when I didn't ask or say why I should be leader?" 'Though, my obvious hunches are: Because I didn't speak on why I should be leader, I'm more experienced than my brothers and would be able to handle the role and responsibility of leadership than they can... And the most possible and obvious reason of all, is to prevent me from leaving home and being on my own, when I'll have three followers always by my side and keeping a close eye on me just in case I pull a fast one on them.'

"Naruhodo... (I see...)" Splinter got to his feet and stared up at the might tree behind his son, giving the turtle the opportunity to turn his gaze away from the humanoid-rat and to get to his feet when they began to go numb and fall asleep. "And do you wish to know the answer on why I picked you as leader?"

It was an open invitation, a permission offer, for the turtle if he wanted to know his sensei's reason for giving him such a burden to hold on his shoulder. It sounded very tempting for the turtle to gain such an invite to hear Splinter's reason, without feeling he was digging into his sensei's business that the rat didn't want his sons to know or pest him about, but the fifteen year-old had a feeling whatever his reason is would not be the answer he wanted to here and a stronger possibly to be a lie in order to hide the truth.

'I'm sorry, Sensei, but no matter how many times you would ask me to trust you or believe your words, you'd give me reason to doubt... Forgive me, or hate me for doing this.' "Another honest answer, Sensei... I don't. I mean, yes, I do want to know, but you have your own reason to pick me as leader and I wish to not hear your reason that would have you force me to take up a role that I never wanted to gain." He then turned and slowly made his direction towards the shōji, ignoring the stunned gaze he felt from his sensei but stopping himself when he placed a hand on the side where he would pull off to the side in order to open the door. "Maybe one day, when I'm ready to hear, I'll listen to your reason. But for now, Sensei, the truth should stay hidden and sealed."

"Everybody! Come here! We made the news!" Michelangelo's voice let out a holler of excitement, pulling both father and son from their conversation and both making their way to the living room to see what the youngest-turtle was talking about.

"A report of, get this, ninjas in New York." The reporter said to his viewing audience, with a small image of a miniature New York City in a big apple, with a human dressed as a ninja in front of most of the city-image. "Don't believe me? After residents reported a disturbance, the police recovered this." The image quickly changed into what scared and startled the blue-masked turtle: A shuriken-star, with Splinter's clan-symbol on it. While Don and Mikey looked excited that their clan's mark is live on television, Leo knows it can mean trouble if it's going to be played all over the world.

'That can't be possible! I grabbed the shuriken that I threw to Snake's van and left it back in my room before making the plan on getting to the Kraang building! How is it possible for them to find...?! Unless, that isn't my shuriken.'

Must be either Omega-Brother Donatello or Omega-Brother Michelangelo's shuriken that either dropped or left behind, probably while Pup and Beta-Brother Raphael decided to split up on finding Slim-human Snake after Omega-Brother Michelangelo let human get away.

'Argh! Should've known their carelessness would eventually catch up to them and end up like this!'

"For channel six news, this is Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe saying, 'Hi-ya!'" With the ending of the news now playing on the screen, Leo turned his glare to his two youngest-brothers, knowing that they're to be blamed for their family's trademark to posted all over the news.

"This is awesome! We're gonna be famous!" Mikey cried, putting on his overexcitement smile on his face and having a hard time to calm down.

"You must be more careful." Splinter told his children, though he didn't seem that concerned about his clan's symbol and shuriken being shown on television. "The ninja's most powerful weapon is the shadows. Being brought out into the light is a dangerous thing."

"Relax, Sensei." Raphael told their father, being too confident and seemed alright that one of their weapon has gained the human's attention of their still hidden life. "It's one little news story. What's the worst that can happen?"

Deep within the pit of his stomach, the depths of his soul and feeling of his heart, Leonardo sensed that his brother's last comment is going to bring misfortune to them and their answer to the price that'll change theirs and the citizens of New York City's life.

'It's that feeling,' he thought to himself. 'Something bad is going to happen and, judging from how my stomach feels like I just swallowed a bag full of stones, the dark-hand grasping ahold of my soul and my heart quivering a few beats as if I'm having Heart Palpitations, it's going to be a very bad one.'

Aren't you going to warn and tell Father about this?

'Every time I tell him or the guys that something bad is going to happen or something isn't right, they don't take my words seriously and would end up almost getting themselves hurt or nearly killed if I wasn't there to help out. So, for the answer, no. Besides, the lack of sleep is preventing me from figuring out what the danger or warning is about.'

Rest important. Body must regain much energy it get for any wounds or aches Pup gained to heal properly. Figure out warning signs when fully-rested. For now, head for own turf and rest in sleep-spot.

Silently letting out a yawn and not to disturb his family's happy mood on tonight's event, the blue-masked turtle quietly and slowly made his way to his bedroom, not feeling or bothering to inform the rest of his family of his departure for the night. The calling for sleep grew stronger with each step that brings him closer to the door and when he gained access to his room, the headache that has build up within his mind instantly vanished and his feet nearly gave out from the sudden feeling of warmth that chased away the confinement of his new burden he has to carry. Smiling softly of the sight of his only safe haven he has within his home and, after a quick locking of his door and placing both Musashi and Kamiizumi in their spots beside the door, the humanoid-wolf/turtle took the final three steps to his bed and removed his bandana from his face, placing the mask on his small-dresser with his sketchbook and journal.

In mere seconds, the mask-less turtle is in his bed, covered with a dark-blue blanket to shield him from the cold-air of the near-ending Winter and now in the Land of Dreams, the only place where he can dream of gaining his freedom and finding a place where he's truly accepted within his paradise.

TBC

---

And, once again, Google Translate didn't help me with translating english to japanese and how I want it to be, that I'm not even sure if it's right or not. Also, they never really say what the mutagen's true color is, since they seem to switch the colors from a green to a blue or have them in a mixed color.

*: I actually made that up. No joke... I suck at it, don't I?

Another thing, I can't tell what the Hamato Clan symbol is. I always thought it was some sort of flower (Like some sort of Lotus Flower or Sakura [Cherry Blossom]), but after a closer look, I can't tell what it is.

R&R