I own nothing except the stuff I made up

That Giraffe Season

"Knights badly injured."

"Basket Referee found dead. Family now seeks lawsuit."

"Tim Dunkman Sued for criminal negligence."

"Dunkman got Dunked! Former Basketball Star and Singer now destitute!" These were the newspaper headlines from the last year and a half. As Dunkman glared his teeth grinding over each other. Filled with rage he began eating and tearing the papers with his teeth as he tore them apart. He shook it in his mouth a couple of times before swallowing it. It was all he had.

"It's all those brat's fault! They're the reason I'm a loser now! Well, I'm gonna get them back!" Tim growled as he went to look for the Hamato boys.

The streets of New York were teaming with people. Tim at least knew to find green skin and fortunately they stuck out. And too his surprise. They were large weird Turtle men creatures. Like in Jupiter Jim! They also looked worn out. "Since when can Gus breathe fire!?" the Attila Kid groaned as inspected his mask. It looked singed in places. Though what the hell was a Gus and how could it breathe fire?

"Since just now I think." Said a new voice that Dunk recognized as female. There was some girl with them. "She had a lot of guards and traps in there too! I wanted to kidnap Frida home." Lizzie pouted.

"That is going to be a separate mission." Donnie muttered.

"Talk about Crazy prepared." Leo chuckled Lackadasily. Raph growled sitting up.

"Just admit it, Leo! You wrecked everything!" Raph snarled.

"I DID NOT!" Leo shouted back.

"YES, YOU DID! THE CITY'S IN TROUBLE, BECAUSE YOU HAD TO MAKE A STUPID CATCH!" Raph roared.

"Guys stop fighting!" Mikey begged as he got between them. Lizzie hid behind Donnie as they began screaming at each other pushing Mikey to the side. Tim watching this smiled and picked up a crowbar and began walking out tapping it in his hand before charging at them.

Leo yelped as he parried the attack. "The Dunk!?" Leo gasped. "What are you doing!?"

"Taking revenge on you brats for ruining my life!" Tim snarled as he charged at Mikey. Leo, however, immediately blocked the attack and kicked him back before Leo could punch him.

"Leo, he's attacking us! Don't go easy on him!" Raph shouted.

"You can't just smash the Dunk." Leo cried.

"He's been blacklisted and Destitute since we met Gram-Gram." Donnie pointed out as he leaned in.

Dunk lifted his weapon again. But Leo was quick to swing his swords and with a yelp Dunkman fell through. "That was close." Leo sighed.

"Great another problem Leo caused us." Raph growled bitterly.

"What!? He didn't have to buy the Stupid Arch of Aquinnah!" Leo snapped.

"Still the same arch you didn't stop him from Buying! And the Same arch Mona and the rest of the Sacred Guard found in New Jersey!" Raph snapped as Leo twiddled his thumbs and began sweating.

"You're like a River when you're on the spot." Lizzie noted.

"Not helping Liz." Mikey sighed.

X X X

Tim groaned sitting up. "Since when can a kid do that!" he hissed hatefully trying to figure out where he was before his stomach growled. With a bitter grunt he opened the Dumpster of a nearby restaurant. "Man! I didn't think there was a worse way to be a loser than sucking at basketball!" he growled as he began to dig through the garbage. He found a palm sized piece of meat. "Well, it something at least. Now I just need a fire….unless it's beef!" Tim hummed in thought as an Oozequito landed on him. It bit him. Immediately Dunkman let out a scream as his bones contorted. His neck began to rise as Overdrive and Raptor looked over from above.

"Ahh so that's where that bit of meat went." Overdrive noted.

Dunkman still had some semblance of his sweatpants and shirt he was wearing. But they had been torn to look similar to a basketball uniform. He blinked in surprise and looked around. The first thing he saw was Raptor.

"AAHHHHH!" Dunkman screamed.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Raptor screamed back. They screamed at each other back and forth before Dunkman began screaming and running around his head bouncing up and down in the alley way between the two roofs as he screamed.

"THERE'S A MONSTER BIRD MAN ON THE ROOF." Dunkman screamed flailing wildly like one of those whacky inflatable tube men.

"Well, that escalated quickly." Overdrive muttered as he landed a sharp hard fist right in the top of Dunkman's head. He fell into the street causing a man with groceries to immediately trip over him and drop his load.

X X X

The first thing King Komodo and Draxum saw when Overdrive and Raptor returned was them carrying a Giraffe in some clothing or cloth? "Did you seriously bring a dead Giraffe back?" King Komodo growled.

"There's no blood trail if that's what you're worried about." Raptor said immediately and meekly.

"Also….it was mutated from said Giraffe." Overdrive added as he placed Dunkman down on the ground, arms out and on his back. The Giraffe began to groan and tried to rub his head. But now only got his neck.

"Why can't I reach my head!?" Dunkman yelped. "Why is everything so low!?" Then he looked around at everyone looking at him. "WHEN DID I JOIN THE ZOO BRIGADE!?" he cried before seeing a mirror and rushing over. He saw himself now as a Giraffe man hybrid with his seafoam hair now lining the back of his neck where the mane would be. His Goatee was now on his face and stretched in a way that fit the Giraffe muzzle. Dunkman let out the most horrified yet girlish scream he could muster.

"AHHH I CAN'T BE A HORRIBLE FREAKY GIRAFFE MAN! THE LADIES LOVE ME! THEY DID WITH DEODERENT AND RICHES ANYWAY!" Dunkman cried.

"Stop your whining! You've become something greater than a mere Human! And now you're Capable of so much more than them!" Draxum declared.

"Sir, Goat, Ram, thing, man! I AM A GIRAFFE!" Dunkman shouted incredulously. "I will freak out as I damn well please!"

"You will address me as Baron Draxum!" he snapped.

"Wait!?" Dunkman asked, stopping his freak out for a minute. The Gears shifting in his head. "You're Draxum!? Next thing you're gonna tell is that you made the Turtles that ruined my life!" he laughed. But no one joined him. He looked around noting the serious faces.

"FOR REAL!?" Dunkman gasped.

"I think things will proceed smoothly from here." King Komodo chuckled.

X X X

"I'm telling you this is not my fault!" Leo snarled.

"Did you tell Dunk to do whatever it takes to win?" Raph asked.

"Yeah?" Leo asked with an arched eyebrow but mentally slapped himself when he realized where this was going.

"Did you side with him instead of Mikey. When, he was eyeballing the Arch? And not stop him from buying it." Raph asked.

Leo remained silent. A thick layer of awkwardness filling the room. "LEO!" Raph snapped.

"AUUUGGHHH YEEEEESSSS!" Leo forced out with an audible hissed.

"Then it's your fault!" Raph snapped.

"Fine! My fault Okay!? But it fixed itself for the most part! We'll just throw him in jail the next time he shows up!" Leo snapped.

"That's not good enough!" Raph snapped.

"Raph let it go! This was over a year ago! It has nothing to do with the Orichalcum!" Mikey pointed out.

"It does! Leo needs to learn that his actions have consequences! Consequences that affect others!" Raph snapped.

"And what about yours? You're picking a fight over a non-issue!" Mikey snapped. Raph glared and stormed off. Leo was already locking himself in his train car. "WHAT DO YOU GUYS WANT FROM EACH OTHER! I'LL HELP YOU GET IT! JUST STOP FIGHTING ALL THE TIME!"

"It won't stop until Leo starts taking everything seriously." Raph growled slamming the door on his cart.

"Donnie? Are we gonna be okay?" Lizzie asked quietly the question immediately pierced Mikey's heart.

"I don't….no….YET! BUT I WILL! EVENTUALLY! THREE YEARS FROM NOW!" Donnie spastically answered. Failing at lying. Mikey just stormed out of the lair. Which Leo watched from the inside of his train car before closing the blinds.

He sat sadly. This was his fault! He knew that. He knew that for a long time. He felt really bad about it. If he had just sided with and defended Mikey. Things would've turned out so much better. But he didn't he had hurt Mikey before. And Tim Dunkman lost both of his careers and his lively hood. He was even blacklisted from every industry. Which is why he attacked them tonight at all. And they couldn't even get the stupid Orichalcum back. Which he had lost to begin with. And the fighting was clearly affecting Mikey badly. So, he was hurting him again.

Leo curled up in on himself tightly. "Am I a burden because of the way I am?"

X X X

Tiger Claw heard a knock on his door. Casey had been out to do some kick boxing in town for training. He put down his controller and went to the door and opened it to see Mikey about to burst into tears with Klunk on his shoulders at the door. "Tiiiiggeerrr Claw!"

"Okay what happened?" Tiger Claw asked as he let Mikey in. Mikey sat on the couch curling up as Tiger Claw sat beside him.

"Everything's been awful!" Mikey sniffed. "I Yelled at Krysta and now she might hate me! We couldn't get the Orichalcum from Big Mama. Tim Dunkman attacked us. And now Raph is blaming Leo for that which they're now fighting over! And Leo still won't talk!"

"Okay, Tim Dunkman is a grown ass man. Its not your guy's that a reaction to his choices is to beat up children." Tiger Claw noted quickly.

"Yeah, but Leo didn't exactly stop him. And neither of them listened to me when I told them a lot of that stuff was dangerous. I would've found something for them to use! I really would've have….I wish I had stood up more back then."

"You just weren't able too. But definitely would've now." Klunk said sitting across from them on coffee table.

"She's right. It's basically ninety precent vs the last ten percent that Leo has."

"I guess having a younger brother was an adjustment too." Mikey mumbled.

"Okay now for the Big Mama thing. I think its possible all the fighting has put you guys severely out of sync. And now you can't work as well together as you used to. To fix that we have to put an end to their fighting. But why do you feel like Leo needs to talk."

"He's hurting the most. He doesn't like the new Lair. It doesn't feel like home for him. Which is why I'm making that mystic crystal galaxy for him. It's enchanted with the happy memories of the hold lair. Which are energized in the ruins. Places absorb your memories." Mikey explained.

Tiger Claw nodded. "Okay, anything else."

"He was devastated about Gram-Gram being killed and his home being destroyed. Also….leaving you guys behind….Why did you do that?!" Mikey snapped angrily.

"We wanted to keep you guys safe. I know that doesn't make it better, but I also felt like we could've gotten help from the guard which you guys could've gotten. But you guys came through without them. You defeated Shredder and freed Oroku Saki's soul from the Dark Armor."

"Yeah, we did. Leo likes to tell us that a lot but Raph….I think the whole thing scared him. He's changed he's a lot more protective than he used to be. Its like he forgot to trust us almost immediately. And Heaven knows he doesn't trust Leo anymore if he ever did." Mikey sighed. "If Leo could just talk about his feelings help us understand him. Maybe, maybe he'll get a clearer head and prove to Raph he can be trusted! But all he's doing is sabotaging himself! And it's starting to piss me off too!" Mikey shouted, throwing his arms in the air and letting them flop back down.

"Yeah, I get it. And Krysta?"

Mikey teared up a couple of them fell. "I yelled at her because she was bottling up her feelings! And I wanted her to talk to me. And that just made her mad. She said that I have to stop blaming myself for everything and I'm just piling stuff on top of myself. And I can't remember it was a whole damn mess." Mikey sighed, laying back.

"It's good you want to be a shoulder for your friends and family but don't over do it. It's Carol's job to deal with heavy mental issues like Trauma. Like it not Leo and Raph do need to talk to her too. They just have to be willing to do it." Tiger Claw sighed.

"I know….I just wanna apologize to Krysta."

"Then go apologize, she told me and Leo what happened. I think she wants to apologize too." Tiger noted. "So, pull up your big boy pants and go."

Mikey sighed. "You're right thanks. I'll go, Klunk can you come with me?"

"Of course I can!" Klunk said supportively as she hopped back on his shoulder when he stood up he headed out. He quickly made his way towards Run of the Mill Pizza he saw a sign clock as he passed by. Almost the Dinner rush. Krysta should be just getting out of work. He waved his hand and entered. He looked around but didn't see Krysta anywhere.

He did see Hueso. "Senor Hueso!" Mikey shouted, making him jump. "Where's Krysta? I thought she was working today."

"She was but I had to get her out of the restaurant when three thugs showed up. Just looking at them sent her into a panic!"

"What did they look like?" Klunk asked.

"One was a large Canine Corso type of Dog. One was a Golden Egale and there was a Cheetah Yokai. But there was also a large Bat, Rabbit and Giraffe Yokai."

"The Mutant Mafia!" Mikey gasped, rushing out and calling up everyone immediately. Klunk then noticed the communicator built in her collar go off as she tapped it.

"Klunk is Mikey there?" Tiger Claw asked he then grunted. There was the sound of rolling in the communicator.

"Yeah, we're here?" Mikey said as he finished off the last of the messages.

"So are we!" Donnie's voice suddenly came through on the same line.

"Where's Krysta! The Tiranno family is after her!" Mikey cried.

"I'm aware right now I'm fighting off Raptor, Dog Pound and Overdrive! But some new Giraffe Mutant Manbun and some Bat Mutant continued on to find her! I Can't keep talking RAAHH!" Tiger Claw shouted having countered overdrive over the com before it cut out.

"I'm working on tracking the other three Mutants! Shelldon's tracking Krysta! Mikey they're by your location two blocks west!" Donnie called. "Shelldon and I will rendezvous."

"Got it!" Mikey shouted as he ran off in that direction.

X X X

Tim Dunkman now known as High Court. Wearing one of his old Viper outfits though now modified to fit him. "Remind me again why we're trying to grab some white Fox girl that blasts ice?"

"The boss wants her to join us." Wing Nut replied. "He seems to know something about her but won't tell us."

"I saw a movie where that was not only grating on the audience but ruined everything." Half Court muttered crossing his arms. The Last jack something or other.

"Well, he's not that physics-breaking air head. And this is real life! Now hush I need to concentrate!" Wing Nut hissed as he took the air. He then let out a screech that made Manbun and High Court cover their ears. Thought High Court with some difficulty as he was still getting use to bending his neck down.

"I've got her follow me!" Wing Nut shouted from above.

They did so and caught up to him on a building High Court having to climb up the fire escape using his chin to help reach it while Manbun effortlessly jumped up the balcony bars and helped him get up on top.

"I see her, it looks like she's looking for something." Manbun said as they saw Krysta start looking around the alleyway desperately.

"I wanted revenge on the Turtles! This has nothing to do with that! I Don't even know her." High Court snapped.

"The Boss's orders are absolute!" Wing Nut snapped. "He is a merciless King. He will take any of us out if he we cross him. He gave Raptor one chance to redeem himself, but he almost died one night."

It had been back when King Komodo had first been mutated with the strange bug. Wingnut was eating his Pizza when he noticed Rick grip the pasta by both sides ready to break it the stupid American. However, King Komodo immediately appeared behind him and closed his hand around his head. Rick felt the claws dig into his skin a couple were right at his temples.

"Richard…." He said in a cold warning tone. "You're not going to break the pasta when it's not necessary….are you?" he asked two of his fingers lowering towards his eyes now and one now digging into his skull.

"NO! Not at all!" Rick cried. Then immediately turning his handful of Pasta vertical and letting it sit in the pot as he grinned nervously at his now deadly leader.

"Good boy." King Komodo said letting his head go and giving it a pat. He left as Rick stood there shaking like a leaf.

"Wow talk about a scary mother-" High Court began as he felt something fall lightly against his back. He turned to see that Leo kid peeking out from around the corner and waving him over. High Court turned to see that Wing Nut and Man Bun were gone.

"What do you want?" He asked Leo.

"Just to talk." Leo replied, coming out in the same outfit he had met him in. "You want to play some basketball?" Leo asked smiling nervously.

"Sure…." High Court replied.

X X X

Leo had led him out to the park court they had met. He had even brought a ball as they tossed a few rounds. He was letting Dunk win a bit. But Leo had gotten a couple baskets in. "Listen I know my advice messed you up. But I want to help make up for it. You don't need those Mafia guys! Even with….this whole situation." Leo said gesturing to the Giraffe Mutant. "I know a few guys! You can get a fresh start!"

High Court Hummed. "Tempting, but I'd rather go back to my old plan!" he hissed swinging his head at Leo who yelped and ducked out of the way. Then tried to roll towards his swords only for High Court to get him in the back on a resweep. Leo was sent flying into the chain link fence.

"Oooh I could use to this reach!" High Court chuckled as he lifted his head to come back down. Leo, however, got a flash of inspiration, his eyes glowing. Immediately he raised his hand towards the basketball and focused his powers on it. Immediately the ball teleported above dunks head and got him in the face. He yelped in pain as the ball hit him hard in the nose. Immediately Leo slid under him towards his swords. And grabbed them, then slashing them to open a portal and escape.

He then found himself tumbling in front of Donnie, April, Lizzie and Shelldon. "Leo!? What happened!?" April cried rushing over to help him.

"Uhhh It's the Dunk he's a Mutant Giraffe called High Court now! And he's been hanging out with the Mutant Mafia!" Leo panickily explained.

"Huh?" Lizzie asked dumbly her eyes shutting one at a time.

"Tim Dunkman or The Dunk was an All-Star player turned billionaire/owner/ coach/ recording artist/now turned mutant, apparently. He was desperate to break his Team's losing streak. And took Leo's advice to a mystic extreme and got a dangerous artifact known as.-" Donnie began when Lizzie cut him off.

"That Arch of Aquan thingy?" Lizzie asked.

"Aquinnah Lizzie." Mikey corrected.

"AHH! Okay!" Lizzie happily responded.

"Anyway…he said annoyed at being rudely interrupted." Donnie huffed. "Yes, the arch of Aquinnah. Which turns people who pass under it into dangerous demons. We had to reverse the curse by beating them in a game of baskeigh-ball!" he finished.

"Dude why do insist on saying it wrong?" Shelldon asked pointedly.

"Yeah, and that had consequences! People got mad and he lost everything! I tried to take responsibility. Which happens more than anyone thinks BTW. And he still tried to kill me! I didn't know he was gonna find a dangerous mystic arch. Yeah, my advice sucked, and I should've listened to Mikey but COME ON!" Leo shouted throwing his arms up in the air.

"Leo, he didn't have to take your advice that way." April pointed out. "I think your startin' to explode too." April, she added knowingly.

"With what awesomeness?" Leo joked smiling. April just gave him a half-lidded glare.

"No, your inner emotions." Tiger Claw said as he came over, looking a bit roughed up. "Turns out she and Donnie had a similar conversation that me and Mikey had."

"I don't have those. I was born without them. It's my superpower." Leo boasted.

"Uh uh.." Tiger drawled. "Listen we don't have much time. I forced the other three Mutants off. But three others are still out there somewhere after Krysta."

"Two. I pulled High Court away, but he could find them soon." Leo huffed holding himself a little.

"I'm calling Mikey. But he's not answering. Although he's not too far from us either. And his vitals look he's running somewhere." Shelldon stated.

"They can do that?" Leo asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes. I gave you all state-of-the-art trackers that also keep tabs on your vitals. Now if Casey would just let me inject her with one." Donnie huffed.

"I'm sorry? Are you implying you've broken into my apartment. Are attempting to again! And will continue to do so!?" Tiger Claw snapped angrily. Donnie now looking incredibly nervous realizing he said too much.

"I would never!" Donnie said nervously, forcing a smile.

"He would never." Shelldon added nervously backing him up. Or at least trying too. But Tiger Claw wasn't buying it. "LETS GO FIND MIKEY!" Shelldon shouted.

"YES!" Donnie added as they ran ahead.

"I think they're lying." Lizzie muttered.

"I know they're lying." April declared sassily.

X X X

Krysta rolled out of the way of a kick from Man Bun finally as Wing Nut circled above. She had to keep the Bat Mutant from using his sonic scream or it would be over for her. Manbun dove into the ground and began charging towards her. She froze the ground and kept him from moving. But that distracted her just enough for Wing Nut to charge up a sonic scream. Before he could, however, a fire ball came spinning down and crashed into his back slamming him on top of the now emerging Manbun. The ball bounced off, revealing to be Mikey's shell as he popped out and landed in front of Krysta to her shock.

"Mikey!" she gasped as Klunk came down and landed by Mikey having made wings on her back as she hissed at the Mafioso Mutants. Mikey looked back and smiled nervously at her.

Wing Nut immediately flew off Manbun and took to the sky. "I've got him!" Klunk growled as she flew up and tackled into Wing Nut. Klunk then got larger and tried to bite at his wings. But he hit her with a small sonic wave that made her dizzy. He went to bite down on Klunk. Only for Shelldon to appear in his battle body and slug him with a rocket powered punch.

Klunk managed to shake out the confusion. "Perfect timing." She sighed.

Manbun was then hit with a combination attack from Donnie and April. "Phalanges sandwich/APRIL O'NEEEIIIILLLL!" they shouted Donnie punching him upwards while April bashed him back down with her bat.

Back with Shelldon and Klunk they began zipping around Wing Nut who was trying to grab at them and chased them around but couldn't catch up. Especially when Klunk turned her wings into her drone ones. Wing Nut unleashed sonic waves around in a circle. Then smiling when he got Shelldon who began vibrating and making weird sounds. He smirked and got closer. Only for Shelldon to sucker punch him.

"SURPRISE!" he shouted doing a follow up drop kick sending Wing Nut into the wall. "Yeah Donnie made me immune to that stuff." He said proudly as Wing Nut charged at him. Only for Klunk to jump on her in the air however she was knocked off by High Court suddenly jumped up and kicked her into the wall.

"Klunk!" Mikey shouted as he rushed over to her.

"Looks like once again I've gotta do everything myself." High Court growled.

"Are you okay?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah," she muttered shaking herself out. Shelldon was still above fighting Wing Nut. As Tiger Claw, April and Donnie began fighting High Court.

He was quick to land a powerful kick into Tiger Claw knocking him back before swinging his head at Leo and Donnie and knocking them into April. Mikey and Krysta had to jump and duck under his head respectively as it seemed to stretch. Lizzie yelped and ended up falling from where she had climbed up. Krysta caught her. And managed to blast Manbun with as bunch of ice but that just got them both hit again by High Court. He jumped up with his legs out.

"OH NO!" Krysta shouted, shoving Lizzie away. Then rolled in the opposite direction. She then saw that his kick left a small crater.

High Court saw this and let out a laugh. "This is awesome! I'm digging this new body!" he shouted. "I'm feeling like a winner in a way that can't be beat!"

Leo grimaced at this. Remembering the version of himself he didn't like. Right now, he was seeing more of it. However, he noticed a basketball nearby and got an idea. Picking it up he slammed it into the ground. "A BOUNCE PASS!" he shouted as the ball beamed High Court in the head. Bounced against the wall hitting Manbun then flew into the air and hitting Wing Nut in the wing. Which allowed Shelldon to spin around him making him dizzy then fall.

"Hey Mikey heads up!" he shouted. Mikey immediately threw out his chains and slammed Wing Nut into the wall. Krysta immediately froze him in place.

Tiger Claw had pinned Manbun down. High Court on the other hand was trying to get Leo who was dodging out of the way with basketball moves while using bounce passes to whack him.

"How the hell are you doing that!?" High Court Snarled.

"Just a little a dash of WWLJD!" Leo declared spinning the ball on his finger before jumping away and landing a dunk on his head. High Court let out an yelp of pain and jumped after him but Leo just teleported away with his portals.

"He's using the movies from the Lou Jitsu Movie Kung Fu Chicken!" Donnie gasped. "The underrated black sheep classic with a spin off series that had its second season cut in half because executives hated it and people wrote it off because of other bad cash grabs."

"I've never seen that one." Lizzie muttered.

"Oh it's good!" Krysta noted.

"You brats actually like Lou Jitsu!? Hard pass!" growled High Court.

All of the kids blanched in severe shock. All of them gasping in horror. "BLASSSSPHHEEMMMYYYYY!" Krysta shouted spastically.

"Just for that double bounce pass whammy!" Leo said as he bounced it at a certain angle it hit high court again then Wing Nut who was trying to get up. Manbun meanwhile had managed to kick Tiger Claw off him.

"HAHA!" he declared. "SUP NOW BROSEPH!" then the ball hit him the back of the head before Leo expertly caught it. Klunk them jumped up and landed in her Smithy form rearing back the hammer she now had and whacked them hard sending them all flying.

"We did it my expert basketball skills saved the day and Krysta. He declared dancing as Donnie and April looked at each other. And Lizzie danced to the best of her ability with him. Waving her limbs like Squidward from the Talent show episode. Well about as much as a mutant turtle could.

"So do we tell Raph?" Donnie asked with Klunk on his shoulder.

"You better let me do it. I Think I can explain things with him blowing up." Tiger Claw replied.

X X X

Krysta had rushed off to find her way back to Witch Town. Mikey followed, trying to find her. When he did. He saw that she was doing some Parkour. Jumping from the ground onto a dumpster before swinging herself up to one of the balconies. She then stood up on the rail and jumped up before flipping herself up to the next balcony. She made it to the roof when she almost slipped.

"KRYSTA!" Mikey yelped, rushing to help her only for her to pull herself up to safety. He on the other hand had nothing for his chain to grab on to. As in his panic he miss aimed it. Krysta quickly grabbed it and held on tight as Mikey pulled himself up. They both sighed in relief and looked at each other.

"I'M SORRY!" they shouted at the same time. Before hearing what they both said. They sat for a minute before laughing. Krysta, however, just sighed.

"Mikey I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. That's not right." Krysta muttered.

"Well, you weren't the only one. Not to mention I'm frustrated about Leo and you bottling it all up reminded me of that. So, I lashed out at you! That's worse. I can see why you'd be afraid to talk to me."

"It's not because of that! Because I felt like I lashed out at you too. I've been frustrated with that stupid Mafia being here. And after today….." Krysta sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't want to add on to your stress. Moving, dealing with Raph and Leo fighting all the time. Karai's death…I Felt like talking to you would just hurt you." Krysta sighed.

"If you don't want to talk to me Krysta. That's fine, but you at least have to talk to Carol. Otherwise, you'll end up with a rage mode like Moi." He half joked as Krysta chuckled. "It really sucks. I've noticed Leo and Raph are obsessed with the past and the Future. Leo wants to go back to Happier times. But they hurt to much. Raph's worried about the future and how it could hurt us….there's no time that doesn't hurt us…." Mikey muttered curling himself to his knees.

Krysta sat beside him and thought for a moment. "What about the Present? We're okay now. Things are calm. No one's hurt and Everyone's okay."

"Hey yeah….I think I can rest in the present…" Mikey muttered letting the cool late summer air sooth him as did Krysta. They sat together in the moment unaware that things were about to get worse….

To Be continued….