Betty typed out on the computer as her boss walked through the door. "Coffee and heart medication is on the desk Jonah, and you have a call with the mayor in three hours." She said without looking up.

"Blasted busy body bureaucrats. Some people just don't appreciate the hard work that guys put into maintaining a tight and functional schedule." Jonah gulped down his coffee in three seconds like always. "Robertson! What's the latest info on the missing scientist story? I want readers to be informed yesterday in four point six minutes!"

"We don't have any leads. If it's any consolation, neither do the police." The man sadly retorted. "Right now I'm working on connections, but their fields of study are so out there it makes no sense whatsoever."

"What's the city coming to when a punk kid with a dollar store camera can find a man slinging around in his pajamas better than law enforcement can track down over thirty men and women?" Jameson groaned. "Speaking of which, Parker! Where are those photos! I want them on my desk in five point six minutes!"

"Right here JJ." The boy ran forward, handing them over. "Sorry they're late, got into an accident and couldn't deliver them. Hopefully the new camera quality makes up for it." She heard about it, a full on bus hit. And nobody reported on it?

"I didn't ask for your life story, I asked for photos!" Jameson kept up the tough boss facade as he took the collection. "Shotty, shotty, blurry, angle's all wrong, ooh, one of the spider-freak drowning in a pile of sand. Perfect! Ms. Brant! Write the boy up his check!"

"Already on it sir." She responded, typing it in.

The boy looked over the fallen photos. "Be honest, you think these are just my amateur skills, or is Jolly J craving the bad pics?" He asked, showing them off to her.

"Mmm … mix of both." The angels were a bit wrong. It was almost like he used a stabilizer instead of constantly moving the camera all around to follow the web slinger. "Don't fret too much, Jonah doesn't waste time on anything he doesn't consider worth it, so you got something he likes."

"I hope he isn't the only one." Peter sent a knowing wink, and she playfully rolled her eyes. The kid was a bit awkward around her for a couple of days, but that slowly grew into something more bold and confident.

"Watch what you say kid, or someone might get the wrong idea." She chuckled at his attempt at flirting.

"If I cared about what people thought about me, I wouldn't work in the news industry." He chuckled, before looking awkward. "So … I have a dance coming up, it's free entry and …"

"Peter, I'm flattered, but don't you think I'm a little old for that?" She smirked. Betty was Twenty-One and he was sixteen. Admittedly not the biggest age gap that could exist, but that legally qualified him as a teenager and her as an adult. Eyebrows would definitely be raised.

"I'm almost seventeen, the gap is not that wide." He waved off. "Also, I promise I will be one of the most responsible boyfriends one can be. On my honor as a Parker."

"Thinking a little too far ahead, aren't you Peter?" She'd give it to him that he was persistent, and a bit on the cute side in the nerd sort of way. If he was in college, then maybe she'd take this more seriously. "This is in no way a guarantee, but I'll consider it."

"That's more than I've ever gotten before, so I'll take it." The boy grinned.

"Hey Peter." Ned walked over, holding out a recorder. "You take pictures of Spider-Man. Any idea on his identity?"

The boy tensed, looking a bit nervous. "I … heard the technology he uses for his web shooters came from Tricorp."

"Finally, a lead!" The man shouted. "Next up, Baxter Stockman! Maybe then I can finally make sense of all the ninja sightings going around."

"Ninjas?" Peter asked.

"Every few years or so, there's alway rumors of some sort of ninja crime syndicate running around, the most notable being rumors of two rivaling organizations, The Foot and The Hand." Ned explained. "Only problem is that there hasn't been much to go off on other than speculation, but ever since criminals like Electro and Shocker showed up, there's been more talk in the underbelly of crime."

"Just … be careful man." Peter gave a chuckle. "If they're really ninjas, you'll never see them coming."

"Right … maybe I should try and pull a Foswell and go undercover." Ned pondered for a second before shrugging. "Eh, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Later." He ran out of the room.

"He's dedicated to his job, isn't he?" Peter turned to her again.

"Probably the most." Betty definitely wouldn't have minded if Ned asked her out. "Web shooters?" She questioned, recalling something Peter said earlier. "They're not organic?"

"Ew, no." Peter shook in disgust. "I've gotten…close enough one or two times to tell."

She gave him a once over. "You're not as scrawny as you look then." Betty teased with a smile.

"Parker! I'm not paying you to harass my secretary, I'm paying you to take photos!" Jameson yelled. "Now get your keister out the door in five point two seconds or I'm ripping up your check!"

"On it Jameson!" The boy shouted, grabbing the check and making his way to the elevator. He was a nice kid … maybe she'd give it some thought, even if he was a little young.

When April kept insisting that she wanted to get involved more, she was more on the lines of actively crushing Kraang bots rather than stealth. Master Splinter said practicing patience was important, but it was hard to concentrate when it felt like the entire city was at stake every other day of the week.

Still, she didn't deny that it was nice to be useful even in the small ways as she wore a large overcoat and knocked on the warehouse door. "What?" The Purple dragon goon asked as they opened it up.

"Did someone here order a Pizza?" She asked, deepening her voice

The Dragon looked curious, turning behind him. "Hey Fong, did you buy a pizza!?"

"Does it have mushrooms!?" A familiar voice shouted out.

"No, it's a hot and fresh pre-paid Peperoni." She added the hook that no one, criminal or not would be able to resist.

"Pre paid … yeah, it's ours." He snagged the box, shutting the door tightly behind him.

"I can't believe he bought that." She muttered as she made her way back to the meetup point. April walked as she took off the disguise, slowly approaching the turtle in the alleyway with a curious look. "Where's Spidey?"

"Right here, Madam." The masked swooped down with a tray of drinks. "One mocha for the lady planting our earpiece and taking my shots."

"You got that right, buster." She chuckled as April took her beverage.

"One smoothie for the hyperactive turtle who makes me terrified to give him caffeine." They handed a pink drink over to Mikey.

"Someday I'll make my own cup in the lair…on the day I learn how to use the Coffee maker." So it was going to be a while then.

"And one large triple shot black cup for me along with two breakfast burritos because I burn too many carbs too fast with the super metabolism."

She raised an eyebrow. "You know, I have been studying up on Spider trivia."

"And?" He asked, taking a gulp.

"And caffeine is to spiders what alcohol is to humans."

The vigilante paused his sips, taking a look at the drink. "... I'll take the risk."

"Wouldn't that be an interesting headline for the paper?" Mikey laughed. "Extra Extra, read all about it, Spider-drunk on Coffee. Starbucks invests in Pesticides!"

They both snorted. "Well it totally beats the current 'Sandy Spandex' in terms of catchiness, so I'd call that a win." Peter chuckled, looking over his phone. "I still can't believe there's an app for eavesdropping, it's like they have it custom built for teen vigilantes."

"The modern world is evolving." April shrugged. "At this point the technology is so common that Oscorp decided to market it themselves instead of letting others get to it first." It had a horrible CEO, but an excellent product placement.

"Donnie would love this … if he knew about this." The turtle sighed.

"You still haven't gone back to the lair?" April looked at Mikey, who gave her a knowing sad face.

"I know, I know I should get back…but Master Splinter called me an idiot and no one fought him on it." Mikey sighed. "And I know everyone calls me stupid, but…I never thought to take it seriously until now."

"Hey, you're not stupid." Peter assured him. "At worst you have ADHD and find it harder to focus on a single thing. Your multitasking skills are through the roof." The vigilante patted the turtle on the shell. "And you saved my butt from a sandy grave when I needed it. You're definitely a pretty good hero to me."

"Peter … you're like a bro to me!" The turtle let out comical tears as he squeezed the vigilante. Definitely nice to see a smile on Mikey's face. She understood Master Splinter being afraid, but there was a line that needed to be drawn.

"Speaking of, does anyone have a lead on the 'Big Man'?" April asked. "I've asked around, but nobody I know has heard anything."

"Nothing on my end." Peter said, taking a bite of his food as he maneuvered around the hug. "The criminals either look at me like i've got a second head, run away, or in the weirdest of situations, run to the cops."

"Either they suddenly regret their life of crime, or they're afraid of him like we are of the Shredder." Mikey let go and shuddered.

"Hopefully with that bug I planted, we'll be one step ahead of whatever the foot plan next." April turned to Peter's phone as he hit the app.

"So get this. Last week, there was this guy closing up shop. Forgot to set the alarm! Made a solid hundred from his business, no fights needed."

"That's nothing, you should have seen this catfishing trick you can pull off with this photo image app. I scammed a girl for a total of two fifty."

"..." They all listened to the conversation in silence. "Is this how people see me from the outside?" Mikey asked.

"Trust us Mikey, these guys can't ever hope to compare to you." Peter reassured him as they all sighed. Looks like they would be at this for a while.

Raph continued trying and failing to land a blow. "Anything I throw at him, he just avoids and hits back harder." The turtle groaned. It was an annoyingly repetitive last couple of days, now that they were down a turtle the rest of them were expected to fight without his support, meaning the workload increased by technicality.

"Raph, you've been fighting the training dummy for the last five minutes." Donnie, or was it Leo, purple and blue were so hard to tell apart.

"Seriously, we don't have a lot of free time, we need to check him for a concussion." The other turtle that could've been either Leo or Donnie said seriously.

"Bah, I don't have time to play doctor with you Don. I have to be ready for the boxing tournament or else the Cheese grater wil catch me off guard." Raph continued to punch his ever elusive opponent. It was like this guy couldn't feel pain, like he was made out of stuffing or something.

"The sad thing is that technically wasn't incorrect … the Shredder could make his next move any second, we need to be prepared for anything." Leo or Donnie said seriously. "If Splinter thinks this is what we need, then we're not ready to fight."

"Hate to break it to you, my fine green amigos, but ready or not, you have to start fighting." A familiar voice called out from the ceiling.

"If it isn't the web head." Raph turned to the man. "About time you showed your face around here." He clubbed his fists together.

"... He does know he's speaking to an old newspaper with my face on it, right?" The Web head spoke, using some weird ventriloquist trick to make it sound like he was far away.

"Don't try to explain it, it's fifty-fifty between concussion or sleep deprivation right now." Donnie and or Leo spoke up.

"Well it's going to be one hundred dead if we don't do something." What looked like a talking red mop spoke up. "The foot's messing with a truck of chemicals and flooding the sewers with them to wipe you guys out."

"WHAT!?" They all shouted.

"Yeah, we managed to sneak a bug into one of the Purple dragon's hideouts." Man-Spider explained further. "They don't know the location of the lair, but they firmly believe you guys live in the sewers, so they're going to dump a truck of Chlorosulfonic acid into the sewers tonight."

"Donnie?" A turtle asked.

"Yeah, that'd kill us all. But it's a highly combustible chemical, we can just blow it up before it reaches us."

"Before what reaches us?" Splinter came into the … wait, who has he been fighting?

"The Shredder knows you guys live in the sewers, you can't hide anymore." The talking red mop tried to explain.

"I see … Sons, pack your things, we will find a new place to call our home."

"Wha-Sensei?" A turtle he was seventy percent sure was Leo, asked confused. "We can't just run away from this, it's our home at stake."

"Our lives are at stake, Leonardo." Master told him seriously. "We are in no condition to face the Foot, our only option is retreat, and become stronger for the future."

"Or you can stop fear mongering your kids and actually let them fight to have a future." Man-Spider glared at Splinter.

Sensei glared right back. "You fought the Shredder yourself and nearly died to him, yet you still insist on going back without having grown?"

"Yes, and anytime someone is threatened I'd go right back to the Shredder and take him on myself." The web head stepped closer. "Because no matter how bad things are going to get for me, I know that if I don't do something, someone else somewhere is going to go through something worse."

"I have already lost one child, I will not lose more because you insist on endangering them." The room was becoming very tense, even with his wonky mind he could see that.

"Fine, be like that, slip into the shadows and run like cowards." Man-Spider turned his back. "At least Mikey knows when to put others before himself, so you managed to not screw up one Turtle with your cowardice."

The masked guy left, leaving the red head, looking around. "Well … I'm just gonna go … follow him … alright." She began taking her leave, but stopped for a minute. "You know, Peter almost kicked the bucket if it wasn't for Mikey. If they're willing to risk their necks for each other, then why can't any of you?"

That left the rest of them, standing around in silence for a moment, before the turtle he was sixty percent sure was Donnie, sighed. "She's right." The tall turtle grabbed his staff. "We can't just sit back and do nothing."

"Yeah, let's beat up those Eyeball bastards!" Raph hit his fists together, walking forward, but unable to move.

"Have you all gone mad!?" Splinter held him by the shoulder. "Or have you all forgotten what he almost did to you all!?"

"We haven't forgotten, Sensei, we haven't been able to when you've literally beat it into us for over a week." What he was partially sure was Leo, it also could've been a giant duck, spoke. "You're right that we should be afraid, but I want to overcome that fear, not run from it."

"We need to do something, this is our dance studio and we gotta defend it!" Raph argued to the furry man-thing. "I'll fight through a million of that giant rusty fork's silverware collection!"

"…Perhaps I haven't been holding back on my blows as much as I thought." Furry man sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Just promise, if you feel it is too much, you will do the right thing Leonardo."

"I swear on my life." The giant blue duck nodded and signaled for them to head out. "Come on gang, it's time to head back to the surface."

"Good, I've been wandering if the cotton candy clouds are still around at night." Raph twirled his salad tongs and made his way towards the exit.

"Are we really letting him into battle?" Asked the sticky tree blur.

"We need all the help we can get, even if his brain's turned to cream corn." The giant duck sighed.

"Who needs brains? As long as the universe space Turtle is on our side, nothing's going to stop us!"

Spidey looked at the giant church. "Really, out of all the places they choose as their lair, they do it right under the nose of the big man in the sky." Religion, the modern day sacrilege.

"Maybe it's how they stop themselves from feeling guilty on the inside." Mikey spoke as they watched from the alleyway. "Like they commit felonies throughout the week but confess on Sundays, being a bad guy probably weighs on the conscience after a while."

"If only it were that easy." Peter sighed. He'd forgiven himself from Uncle Ben a long time ago if that was the case. There was no forgiving what he's done, just a lifetime of amendment. "Really hoped the guys would've met up with us by now, figured my little speech would've given them the kick in the shells they needed."

"Yeah..,are we doing this wrong?" Mikey asked. "Like I think we're an awesome duo and all, Pete, but..it's just the two of us." The orange turtle sighed. "Should we just butt out of it now?"

"No way. If a crook's doing something and you have the power to stop them from hurting people, it's your job to help them." Spidey reaffirmed. "When that acid hits the sewers, it'll do more than destroy the lair. The subways will get demolished along with everyone in them. That's not even counting the countless buildings destroyed topside. If we don't stop him here, hundreds, maybe thousands of lives will get caught in that crossfire. Only a moron would stand by and do nothing."

"Right right." The turtle nodded. "... So when's the truck coming?"

"Any minute now …" They waited some more, until they heard a noise behind them, the other three turtles dropping in. "Ah, finally snuck out past curfew. Truly I have taught thee well."

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, now's not the time to rub it in." Leo waved off as he turned to Mikey. "Hey Mikey…been quiet in the lair without you…too quiet."

"Bros! I missed you!" Mikey wasted no time getting affectionate, hugging all three of his brothers at the same time.

"I missed you two Spike." Raph rubbed the turtle's head in a disturbingly affectionate member. "I'm just happy the magic shrimp kept you safe."

"I know I said you should help, but should he really be out here?" Peter asked.

"Meh, better than my body cramps." Donnie spouted off. "My limbs pretty much stop moving every few minutes." The moment he said that, the turtle fell flat onto the ground.

"Yeesh, and here I thought getting buried alive by living sand was a pain." Peter winced at the sight.

"Speaking of, what was the deal with that?" Leo asked, rubbing his clearly bruised shoulders. "I know mutagen does weird things, but.."

"That's the kicker, I don't think mutagen was involved." Peter groaned. "Ole Flinty Mcsandman was feeling real chatty as he was tossing my tuchus across the city, said that he got his powers from some guy calling themselves 'the big man'."

"Note to self, play more at the beach and thank it for making me laugh." Raph absentmindedly nodded. Apparently he could still throw shade even when half conscious.

"Great, yet another lead to follow against another giant player." Leo muttered as he looked down. "Guys, I think I see the truck. Ninjas are getting in."

"Nothing a little web slinging can't keep up with." Spidey cracked his neck. "Guys think you can keep up? I get it if your still rattled after the shredder fight."

"Splinter putting the fear of god and the devil in us didn't help, but that doesn't matter." Donnie shook his head.

"We have the element of surprise on our side." Leo reasoned. "We just need to sneak past them, make our way over to the truck, add the reactive chemical and-"

"And then give yourselves up." Said a familiar voice. Great, they were losing their edge.

Spidey groaned. "Listen Bradford, can we play your action role … another …" The vigilante turned around, met with a wall of fur … as he looked up at the learning smirk of a dog person, boney spikes on their shoulder. "Day … I should have brought a newspaper."

"Rad Brad?" Mikey questioned as everyone looked up at the towering mutt, gazing at all of them like a hungry wolf "You look….taller. Been working out?"

"Yes actually, I have a lot of time to adjust to my newfound strength after you freaks did this to me!" The former celebrity growled as he swung his bigger right hand at them, forcing them to move as he created a hole in the brick wall they were standing right next too, smashing it to pieces.

"Last I checked, you're the idiot that chose to break the mutagen container instead of surrendering." Donnie counted as they ducked under another swing.

"Giving up to the Foot is the only option one has!" Bradford shouted as he continued to swing powerful fists at the group. "Last I checked, you're the morons for trying to win an unbeatable fight!"

"Everyone's a critic." Spidey grumbled as he pulled out a vial. "But luckily for the both of us, I have a solution to your hairball problem." He zipped in close, webbing up the arms as he jumped up. "I've been keeping a vial of gene cleanser on me ever since Rockwell. Say goodbye to the desire to chase your tail."

"What the-!?" Just like with the Lizard, he forced his hand down Bradford's throat and dump all the cleanser into him. Five seconds passed and Spidey waited for the juice to work it's magic. Ten seconds, fifteen, thirty- "BRUUEEE!" And the man began vomiting on the ground. "Oh sweet merciful Buuda, my stomach is killing me!"

"Those things wouldn't happen to have an expiration date, do they?" Leonardo asked, confused as to what was happening.

"No….guess the genetic difference between Mutates like the Lizard and Mutants like us are too complicated for the cleanser." Donnice explained.

Figures that Parker luck would screw him over at the most inconvenient time.. "Hey, on the plus side, the giant kitty over here is too exhausted to stop us." Raph pointed out.

"I need a stomach pump, it's agony, too much agony!" Bradford kept throwing up his lunch all over the sidewalk.

"The concussed turtle makes a valid argument." Peter muttered. "At some point I really need to question my life … to the truck!"

"On it-and there goes my legs." Donnie hit the floor, the exhaustion taking over.

"Okay, that's one concussed turtle and one exhausted turtle." Spidey turned to Leo. "Please tell me you're ready to go, because I don't feel like watching muttley overthere throw up while half the city blows to pieces."

"Yeah yeah … we can take em." Leo looked like he'd seen a ghost. "We just need to make our way over to the truck and take out ten guys, we can do this, we can do this."

Spidey slowly turned to Mikey. "Congratulations, you officially became the most well put together turtle."

"Booyakasha, yeah! Now all we need is to rename Bradford!" Mikely looked over the spewing mutant mutt. "Let's see, Bark Bro….Fang Force….Canine Killer…."

"END ME!"

"Nah, that's not it …" Mikey shook his head, before pounding his fists. "I got it! DogPound!"

"Great, great." Spidey rolled his eyes. "Now can we move before-"

Vroooom

"Before … that." The vigilante grumbled. "Alright, new plan, I'm gonna go swing after the truck, you get the turtles in some semblance of condition."

"Hold on…I've been able to scramble something up in my free time…the little Splinter gave us." Donnie took out his T-Phone and pressed something on the dial. "It should help us ALL keep up."

"We can't do this." Leo muttered hysterically. "We're going to fail just like last time, and fall and Splinter was right. We're all doo-"

Raph ran up and grabbed the turtle. "Get ahold of yourself, captain!" He shouted, slapping the man.

"... Right, that was just paranoia talking." Leo responded, instantly calm. "We take down that truck and we save our home."

"Finally, you guys stopped talking like chickens and started acting like Turtles." Spidey grinned as he heard a beep coming from the streets. "No way, did you actually..?"

"I believe Mikey would want to call it the T-Buggy."

"You are so right!" The turtle shouted. "Lets ride!"

"Yeah … why are there four seats?" Spidey asked.

"I didn't think you'd need it, cause you have webs, but I did install something just in case." Once the vehicle arrived, the turtle reached back, pulling out … "Skates!"

"..." Spidey decided to just say nothing and web himself a line as the truck started moving. His dignity had taken enough blows for one week.

"I was just kinda inspired by that one scene with jet skis!" Donnie tried to explain as they all chased after the truck. "You know, web a line to the back and moving all around!?" Sure it was a little silly, but he was working with limited resources … and mild exhaustion.

"I get it Donnie, but I'll save that for a time when I'm low on web fluid. Makes me feel like I'm advertising some kind of toy promotion." The web head explained as he swung right above them.

"I'd love toy promotion." Sadly, with his body messed up, he'd probably lose the ability to steer at any moment … so Mikey was co driving with Leo. "It'll give us more money for pizza! Maybe even our very own tv show!"

"Now you're just being overdramatic. Nobody would watch a tv show about a bunch of teenage freaks that do stupid stuff." Raph argued as they made their way to the truck. "Alright, I'm gonna go wrestle the bear."

"I know Spinter's the tough love type of teacher, but the concussion is a step too far, you know that right?" Spidey stated.

"We know..honestly the whole ordeal probably made Sensei more scared of the Shredder than we are." Leo sighed as the T-Buggy got closer.

"So Mikey, you jump on, Donnie will run over what to do." Spidey explained.

"Wait, I gotta do the science stuff?"

"I just need you to dump water into whatever opening you can find, do it however you want." Donnie continued

"... Doctor Prankenstein is back!" The turtle pulled out multiple balloons.

"Where were you keeping them?" The turtle ignored him, jumping onto the back of the truck as multiple foot ninjas climbed up.

"It's one of life's great mysteries, like how Mikey can function without a brain, or if Spidey shuting up will physically kill him." Raph countered as he jumped on board the moving vehicle. "Don't think you can beat us just because you're riding on top of a flying fire spewing sausage, you walking blankets!"

"And that's my cue." Spidey jumped on the side of the tanker. "Hey Foot, look at this, I can climb with no hands!" He shouted, running forward and punching one in the face. "I must be a better ninja!" The goons just stayed silent as their attention turned to Spidey, instantly going for the offense. "Man I forgot how less fun these guys are to punch, they don't have fun commentary like the Kraang do." The web head complained.

"At least they have the option for eloquence." Donnie muttered as he kept his eyes on the road, ignoring the lullabye of sleep. "We need to make sure that this thing explodes away from civilians!" Why did New York have to be a busy city?

"Got it. I'll take control of the giant sausage." Raph nodded as he ran across the top and jumped into the driver-side window, throwing out the foot driving and taking the wheel.

"Wait, isn't he concus-" Leo stopped talking as the Truck began to slowly swerve out of control. "Mikey, double time it with the water!"

"You got it bro!" Mikey made his way over to the top of the tank and started opening up the lid. Every time a foot would come close, Spider-Man would knock them off the top.

"Gotta say, for a guy as scary as shredder, he must be a really lousy boss if his goon squad is this easy to pick off." Spidey snored, webbing another to a passing building. "Seriously, even Dogpound for all his muscles was practically nothing." Well they did cheat with the gene cleanser, but a win was a win.

"Hey Donnie." Leo asked. "Does this buggy have any weapons?" He began moving around gears.

"Wait no, don't touch-" The moment Leo pulled, the cars detached, as Donnie went crashing into a brick wall. "... That." Still in the prototype phase, only two cars had steering.

"Sorry, still a bit on edge!" Leo shouted as he did his best to stabilize his cart. "Mikey, how's it going?!"

"Almost…Got It!" Mikey shouted as he ripped the lid off. "Fire in the hole!" And dropped one of his water balloon into the tank, jumping onto the cart as he did.

"Okay shell head, this is our stop!" Spidey rushed over to the driver's side and plucked Raph out of his seat.

"She's gonna blow!" Donnie shouted, covering his ear-oh wait, his arms weren't working … great.

BOOM!

The explosion rattled the streets, the tanker crashing into a couple of cars. "Pretty mushroom.." Raph looked at the sight in a daze.

"It's one hell of a sight indeed." Spidey nodded, raising his fist in the air. "We did it! We actually managed to pull it off, and none of us got hurt…well, any more hurt than we already are."

"Oh yeah!" Mikey shouted. "Party at my new abandoned apartment."

"Is that we're you've been staying this whole time?" Leo asked in concern.

"Yeah, I mean, kinda felt like I had to, you know, with Sensei hating me and all.."

"Mikey, Splinter would never hate you, you know that." Donnie reassured him. "Annoyed and irritated half the time, yes, but that's everyone's reaction. We're used to it."

"Everyone insults everyone." Raph walked over and patted Peter. "I rag on Spidey, but he's my only real friend other than Spike."

"... Wow, he's delirious at this point." Mikey couldn't help but point out the obvious. "So you guys don't think I'm stupid?"

"You ACT stupid a lot of times, but you come through when we need you." Leo nodded. "We're a team, and if we're down by one, then there is no team."

"Bro's…" Wiping the tears from his eyes, Mikey embraced them all in a giant hug once more, and either from exhaustion or the genuine high emotions, the three of them decided to not fight it.

"So come on Mikey." Donnie smiled. "Come party with us at the lair."

Splinter gazed upon the three slumbering turtles. "We just … walked." Peter said with dumbfoundment. "The moment we crossed the threshold they went out like a light."

"I don't think they're moving for the rest of the week." April gently poked Donatello's cheek.

"Try for the rest of the month, it's a miracle none of them passed out driving the t-buggy." Peter responded as his attention was drawn to him. "Well, we're here and we're alive."

"Yes you are." The former human nodded. He was so afraid of the Shredder he let his fears infect his judgment, and cloud the genuine progress his sons had made. "I apologize for.."

"It's cool, man, I've heard worse many times before." The spandex wearing young man held a hand up. "Although I think there's someone else you owe an apology to." He turned to the kitchen entrance. "I promise it's safe to come out, dude." The young man called out.

After a few seconds of silence, Michelangelo came out from the entrance, shame adorning his face. "Hey there … Master Splinter …" The child spoke with a quiet tone.

"Michelangelo.." Splinter felt himself go quiet, recalling what happened just a little less than a week ago. How his youngest son, the one with the most potential, as well as the one that did little to use it, had called him out on his earlier actions and ran out.

"Sensei, I know what I said was messed up, and you have every right to be mad at me, but Peter was in danger, and I had to do something about it and-"

"Breathe, my son. If there's anyone that should be apologizing, it should be me." Splinter sighed as he approached his son, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You acted courageously in spite of the fear of the Shredder, in spite of my fear for you all. For the first time, it was you, Michealangelo, that acted the most maturely out of any of us."

"I did?" The turtle asked with confusion.

"Yes …" He sighed. "I wanted to prepare you from an inevitable confrontation with the Shredder, but in doing so made you vulnerable to other forces …" He gazed at the slumbering turtles. "It may take decades for them to be ready to engage against that man."

"Trust me, I know all too well I'm not ready to fight him..but I promise I will be." Michelangelo looked him firmly in the eye. So much growth from just being few days away from the rest of them. If his youngest son capitalized on this quality, there was no telling how strong he'd end up becoming.

"And until then, we can just stop the Foot from having fun like always." Peter smiled.

"You say that like you weren't stabbed in the stomach." April eloquently put into words.

"I highly doubt it'll be the last time, so I may as well get used to the feeling." … Splinter was rarely one to think others needed therapy, but here he was. "Anyway, I'm gonna go take one last swing through the city before I head back to Aunt Mays. Later guys." Maybe they really shouldn't exclude these people, they might need the help more than his sons.