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drinkpisser · 4 months ago

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MY HESITANT ALIEN FIC, "HOW IT CAME TO BE" CHAPTER 2 ANDDD 3 IS FINALLY READY TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY!

thank you for waiting guys!! ^0^ took a little longer than the first chapter but hopefully it's still okay and whoever reads enjoys <3

PREVIOUS CHAPTER LINK:

(click Keep Reading to begin!)

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CHAPTER 2: PINKISH

"This dream is calling your name."

A few months had passed by since Gerard's first day at the camp. Each morning, before everyone else awoke, he would cycle the narrow pathways of the woods to clear his mind- it wasn't something he ever did back home and most would find it rather unusual.

When Ray asked him about it, he shrugged.

Truthfully, ever since the encounter with the extraterrestrial, Gerard had not been the same. Ambiguous figures would slither past the corners of his eyes, he'd stare into the stars of the night sky with an unwarrented anticipation, not even sure himself what he was looking for, and all he could seem to sketch and doodle were variants of the mothership.

This is the one, he'd think, before ripping up the paper and restarting.

On this particular morning, he impulsively turned a different direction to take in new scenery because he found repetitiveness tiring. Of course, taking an unknown direction typically leads to some dilemma in most cases, yet that didn't seem to phase Gerard in the slightest, thinking unrealistically and all.

Swerving his balance slightly, a sudden fatigue dawned on him. He found it best to take a seat on a nearby stump, surrounded by branches leaning towards him. After regaining his senses, he observed that this neck of the woods appeared rather strange, the saturation of everything enhanced almost to a neon- trees twist and turn dangling fluorescent leaves, flowers spit shades of the rainbow and the dystopian clouds above swirl as they glide across the cyan sky. He could have sworn it looked like any old mundane part of the site before he sat down! He scrunched his nose in confusion, before then reaching out for his bike.

Just as he grabbed the handlebars, a distant, soft "Thud!" sent the pigeons flying in a scare.

Inflicted with paranoia, Gerard freezes. The only action he could resort to was a short and sweet use of speech, which is no good defence against a potentially malicious opposition.

"Is- is someone there?" he mutters.

Nothing, only a skitter within the bushes.

"SomeTHING... Maybe?" He slowly creeps closer, making sure to scan his surroundings as he leans forward. Using both of his hands, he separates the bushes in which the wriggling was heard, trying his best to ignore the nettles that pierced his palms in the process.

...

What on earth?

A toddler sized ball of pinkish fuzz sits bewildered, as though it may have hit it's head through the fall from each branch above. The fuzz on it's face is white, it's eyelids a pastel blue; upon seeing Gerard a curved grin forms on its face.

Instinctively, he backed away. As he did, the creature reached forwards with grabby paws. Tilting his head, Gerard shuffled a few steps closer.

It squeaks, scurrying away!

"Oh, crap!-" he cries, and once again, he is running a little faster, like an idiot. If Gerard was a cat, curiosity would have definitely killed him by now. Nine times. Eventually, the pair end up at an oddly placed flight of stairs, it's lengthy.

"I don't remember this being here.." Gerard scratches his head in confusion, looking down at the small alien for an answer. It begins to crawl up each step.

"I suppose actions speak louder than words, huh." Once again, he follows.

Gerard looks up, doing a harsh double take. He saw the very vehicle that gave him that fright so many weeks ago- he's being led into the mothership! How in God's name did he allow himself to be sabotaged by such a freaky animal, without even judging where it could take him?! He turns back. No, absolutely not, he cannot do this again-

Oh, Jesus Christ.

The most grotesquely unsettling, inhumane guards block Gerard's exit, ushering him with oblong sniper guns. Their skulls are stretched by their oversized brains, the six eyes on each side of their wrinkly faces staring deadpan into Gerard's soul. Taking a deep breath for his own sanity, he turns a stiff and full 180 back around, each guard standing beside him.

One anomalous move and he's toast. He keeps going, shuffling inside of the entryway. Those things could probably sense the fear within him from a mile away, there was no benefit in hiding it.

They make their ways through hallowed metallic halls, dashed with blinding lights on each wall, heavily supplied with martian soldiers. Each instance where Gerard looked around and gulped in awe, his neck was nudged back in the forwards direction like the hostage he was.

"Damn, sorry. This just reminds me of Star Wars. It's neat." he adds, nodding.

Over time, Gerard progresses in apathy. Each hall began to look the same. Each monument or picture framed on the wall became old news. Bored. So bored that even starting a fist fight with his captors would exhaust him to an extreme extent. Although, realistically, with sting plastered palms it would be more painful for him than his opponent.

Without warning, the fuzzy alien leading the way comes to a halt, pointing at a circular door... The cockpit? What was it doing leading Gerard there?

The tightly sealed door is accompanied with a turn of a wheel keeping it together. As it cracks open, Gerard realises that this is no ordinary cockpit, it was a spacious control room. What amazed even further was the cosmical view of outer space ahead of him in wide, circular windows.

It looked exactly like the dreams he had prophecised since he was small; to watch as the earth grows smaller in size and float behind him, to see the ashes of the milky way beyond a printed photograph, to cross lands even he wouldn't have thought existed. Most of all, what he really yearned to do, was to take passion past human domain. He wanted to preform, create precious art- If more than one intellectual species exists in our entire sense of being, they deserve to feel the phemomena of music.

He staggers forward in awe, unable to deflect his eyes from the view beholding him. The stars shift in formation, constellations bonding together. They attempt to fabricate letters in a language that Gerard doesn't quite understand.

He turns to the guards behind him, who drop their weapons in fascination.

The large screen above the entryway begins to decode, displaying a message in green digital letters:

"This dream is calling your name."

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CHAPTER 2.5: BROTHER

Days have passed by.

In the eyes of everyone else, Gerard had vanished. Due to the emergency situation of a missing camp student, friends of his were scouted to different parts of the forest and local areas to place posters.

Ray and a newcomer called Frank were assigned the nearby town, as an opportunity for him to get to know the area better. Unfortunately, Ray was not his chirpiest self on this day. It's hard to be when your best friend is gone, but he still tried his best to be welcoming.

Frank himself was a spiky looking fella, his hair clearly damaged from all of its bleaching and dying. For the moment, it was a bright red- although, Ray had a feeling it would change soon. He had a few tattoos despite not being the legal age for them, some looked like stick 'n' pokes. His eyes reminded Ray of an excited puppy, observing all of the new surroundings and he was noticeably shorter than a lot of the boys he'd met at the campus so far. Frank looked slightly younger than him, perhaps by a year.

"What brings you here, then?" Ray asks, whilst putting up his last poster.

"Parents. They're tired of me slacking off and playing Mario Kart." Frank replies unseriously.

"Right, that's relatable," he sighs, "You wanna grab a bite in the cafe whilst we're here? I could do with a distraction."

Frank nods.

As they head into the cafe, the smell of freshly baked cookies fill their lungs, it's incredibly appetising.

"Hey, uh- I'll pay for 'em." Frank smiles briefly, "I know this probably isn't the best day ever for you."

Ray's eyes light up, taken aback by the offer.

"You're sure? I don't mean to be annoying-"

By the time Ray finished his sentence, half a batch had been purchased by a ravenous Frank.

"Here, enjoy!" he smiles, tossing Ray a couple of cookies and munching away on his own.

"Thank you," he also takes a bite, "I did really need this, to be honest."

"You needed a cookie that bad?" Frank smirks, smugly.

"Yeah but, I mean, just- company. A friend. It's been lonely without Gerard. I don't even know where he could have gone other than somewhere definitely unrealistic." Ray comments, challenged.

"Ah, sorry about that. Hopefully he just wanted out for a few days." Frank adds, overlooking the "unrealistic" part of Ray's sentence.

"He'd have taken me out with him, we go everywhere together," Ray stresses, "something happened, dammit!" he exclaims.

"Woah dude-" Frank puts an arm around his shoulder.

"Calm down, I didn't mean to upsetchya- he's gotta be fine. From the description of him on the posters, he seems to avoid trouble."

Ray sighs once again.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. It's almost been a week of him dissapearing without notice, I've barely slept." Ray apologetically rambles.

Frank pats his back and the two get back to their feast of cookies, awkwardly conversating along the way.

Meanwhile, back at campus, the head girl has a relatively difficult phone call to make. She dials Gerard's home number, hesitantly awaiting a response.

To her surprise, a voice too adolescent to be a parental figure answers.

"Hello? Who is this?" the young boy enquires.

"This is Gerard's summer camp, who am I speaking to?" she responds.

"Umm.. I'm his younger brother, Mikey. My parents are out right now- did he do something dumb?" he snickers, the grin audible from across the line.

"Not necessarily. I just need you to call us back when your parents are back home-"

"Tell me!" he puts on a serious voice, unsuccessfully disguising a chuckle.

The head girl takes a dread induced breath.

"Your brother is still ... missing. We learnt he was last spotted by a volunteer in the woods five days ago, who commented that his behaviour was weird."

Radio silence hit the line.

"Is everything okay? Are you able to tell your parents about this?" she asks.

"Uh.. what- what am I supposed to do now? Just sit here?" Mikey stumbles on his words.

"Unfortunately so until we can give any further updates. We need you to notify your parents, because it isn't looking too good- sorry you had to find out this way."

Mikey holds the phone with a slight shake, his eyes welling up. He'd do anything for his older brother, to protect him, just as Gerard would. Yet here he is, powerless on a phoneline on the one occasion that the role reversed. He felt bottom of the barrel hopeless, like a half of him had just vanished completely.

"I'm um- I'm gonna go now. Bye." Mikey shoves the words out of his mouth quickly and to avoid an outburst of tears, he hangs up.

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CHAPTER 3: ARE WE RUNNING HOME, OR RUNNING FREE TODAY?

"This dream is calling your name."

Gerard is perplexed at the message on the screen. Where's the catch? Sure, experiencing this is admirable, but what if it's a trap? And what the everloving fuck is he doing on a spaceship to begin with?

A shadow emerges from the light, so bright that it's features are barely distinguishable. It's voice is androgynous, and speaks with charm.

"You did a pretty adequate job, Lola."

It ruffles the fur of the pink creature as it praises them.

"So that's what they're called. Lola. Hmm. I was thinking of naming 'em myself but i was stumped." Gerard comments with a hint of disappointment, "But are you finally gonna help me out of here or what?" he adds, slightly nervous.

"Not yet. We must negotiate... You are the only one who can see us. The only one who hasn't wound up dead by stepping inside of this vehicle, and most importantly, you were chosen by the machine." it's words slip with uncertainty and sour undertones, forcing the situation to be creepier than it already is.

Gerard grows in fear, his breaths drawing progressively sharper. The joy of his desires being so close in reach lowered his guard, he almost forgot the potential dangers of subhuman creatures!

"What the fuck could I have been chosen for? I'm the biggest loser at this joint! Even the janitor wouldn't fall for this- if you're gonna eat me or somethin' just kill me now already and spare me the pain!" Gerard snaps with stress, agressively gesturing towards the messages and strange posters on the walls in disbelief. The alien goddess blinks, humbled by Gerard's violent assumptions.

"We want to form an alliance with planet Earth without starting a war this time. We come in peace," the goddess explains, putting their webbed hands up, "my people are suffering from our highest deficit of essential living supplies in centuries. If an ordinary, likeable human being such as yourself can draw attention to us... We won't have to suffer anymore."

"Likeable, huh. Sure. But what if I'm not good enough? What about my family and friends?" Gerard averts eye contact, moping down at his dirty sneakers.

"It has been decided by unimaginably high divinity that you are capable, Gerard. As for your loved ones, they cannot know of our meeting yet. Not until you have completed your art. In six months time, we will reconcile and you'll be taken on a venture across space and time- and don't stress, your family and friends will receive explanatory letters from us if they don't buy it from you." the figure folds it's arms.

Gerard steps forward.

"So, I could really make music that saves lives?" Gerard meekly perks up at the luminescent lifeform, wincing with self doubt.

"Even better," it suggests...

"You could make history."

#brits4gerardway #I AM ONCE AGAIN INCREDIBLY NERVOUS AHHHH

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inneedofsupervision · 5 months ago

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An Enemy? A Friend? No, just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman.

Chapter 4: The Pros and Cons of Enhanced Senses

Summary:

"Come on, Parker, say something. But don't make it embarrassing," thinks Peter. "Those are your childhood heroes, and they want something from you. Just say hi like a normal person." "Good evening, Mr. Barton, Sir. Mr. Wilson, Sir." "How do you know our names," asks Clint, sounding genuinely curious. "You have a Wikipedia page!" blurts Peter out before wincing inwardly. There goes his plan for a non-embarrassing first impression. "You've read our Wikipedia pages?" asks Sam slowly, as if saying the words slowly would let them make more sense. "Twice, actually." ________________________________ Are the Avengers a Team? Yes. Are they on good terms? Not necessarily. Has the public caught up on that? Maybe a little. When Fury sends the team on the mission to investigate the identity of New York's favorite vigilante, they have to learn to work as a team and not damage their already battered image. Or, the story of how the Avengers have to earn the public's trust back with the help of a certain crime fighting Spider.

Chapter Summary: Peter goes to the Avengers Tower, but the meeting doesn't go as planned.

Chapter: 1, 2, 3, 5

Read on Ao3

"There's no need to worry, Peter. Just your childhood heroes who are inviting you into their tower. Do you know what they want? No. Is that a bad thing? Hopefully not."

The pigeon coddling on the ventilation system next to the masked figure tilts its tiny head. Small red eyes stare at the black goggles. Peter doesn't let the silence get to him.

"What could go wrong?" asks the teen, voice chipper with set-up enthusiasm. The bird holds eye contact for two seconds before promptly sticking its head between its plump body and wing. Peter rolls his eyes before letting his head fall with a deep sight into the gloved hands.

"You're right, Mr. Pigeon. If I could, I would hide too. There shouldn't be a problem talking with the Avengers, but at the same time, it's freaking me out. This entire situation with Mr. Barton and Mr. Wilson had been so weird! Why would my Spidey-sense react to them? It hasn't failed me once, but it also doesn't specify what it's warning me about, and I am just confused as to why it would warn me in the first place. I mean, it's the Avengers!"

Peter turns towards his feathered audience, not taking a break, even beginning to talk faster as his voice raises a pitch.

"How does one even act in that kind of situation? Do I tell them about myself or only answer after getting talked to? What if this isn't about me but about a mission, and I start talking and don't stop because I suck at recognizing social clues. They are too polite to interrupt me, and when I finally realize what happened, I have already managed to make a fool of myself?"

The pigeon flaps its wings in warning, accompanied by disgruntled gurgling, when he straightens up without warning. Peter runs his hands over his mask and head before interlacing his fingers behind his head. He begins pacing in a circle before coming to a sudden halt. His eyes lock onto a building towering over the rest a few blocks away. If he swings, he could reach it in under a minute.

"Oh god, imagine that happens for real," whispers the teen before making another circle, walking around the roof like a caged animal. "In less than twenty minutes, I'll embarrass myself in front of the Bruce Banner and Tony Stark!" He comes to another sudden halt before glancing towards the pigeon, his face growing serious. "I can't do this. I have to leave NYC and go into hiding."

The bird had calmed down from fright, but its piercing eyes now carried distrust as it wouldn't let the vigilante out of sight. The soft gurgle and curr could mean anything from, "Don't worry, it's going to be alright, Spider-Man!" to "You do realize you're just a guest on this roof, right?"

To not further aggravate the animal and not worsen his friendship with the pigeons of New York, Peter bids the still wary bird goodbye before swinging, a tad reluctantly, towards the Avengers Tower.

"I still don't like this," mutters the teen while he places one hand after the other. He grimaces at the sound of sirens in the distance. He'd rather be anywhere than here. Despite his nerves being on edge, he cannot bite back a grin as he clambers up the glassed facade and past an office where an off-guard caught staff gives a sharp scream at his sight. It seems the people of this district of New York don't expect to witness Spider-Man sticking to a window on the 52 floor of a building. Maybe that's a sign for him to visit Manhattan more often. Despite the shock, the woman doesn't hold back in responding to Peter's wave with a timed one. Even though climbing up a building like the Avengers Tower isn't much of a challenge for Spider-Man, Peter could swear his heart was ready to jump out of his chest after he swung over the railing.

"Huh. I've not expected a welcoming committee, but this is disappointing."

Peter straightens up, stemming his hands on his hips as he scans the area. He relaxed slightly at the sight of the deserted balcony and the unlit penthouse behind, having reckoned that it wouldn't take two seconds after arriving for the Avengers to be informed and someone coming up to meet him. Peter lets his eyes wander over the city, noticing that the tower wasn't the tallest building in Manhattan, but the sight was still a treat. He had always wanted to stand on the very top of the tower just because he could but had been too afraid to anger the domiciled heroes and get hit by one of Mr. Stark's undoubtedly built-in defense mechanisms. Nearing the entrance, Peter nearly jumps out of his skin when the door slides open. Rubbing his hot-growing neck sheepishly, he coughs into his fist as if he didn't just flinch.

Of course, Mr. Stark's penthouse holds automatic doors, genius.

Acting like nothing happened, he carefully steps into the living area. One light after another turns on the further he walks into the room. "That's a little dramatic."

Unimpressed by the light show, Peter reminds himself he wasn't here to judge anyone's eccentric interior lighting.

"Hello, Mr. Wilson, Sir? Mr. Barton?"

No matter which direction he glances, he seems to be the only person in the penthouse. A sour smell tickles his nose, and Peter squints at the two wine glasses on the couch table. They are the only sign somebody does live here. It's a stark contrast to their apartment in Queens. He cannot spot one framed picture apart from a large painting, holding as much personality as the trash bin in front of the building. The penthouse is void of small keepsakes or clothes hastily thrown over a chair or a couch and no pillows or blankets to cuddle into. Even the cream-colored carpet does only one, looking expensive, and Peter does a large bow around it.

He clears his throat before, once again, calling, this time a little louder.

"Hello? Anybody?"

His shoulders slump in defeat. "If I only remembered the floor and room number... What time is it anyway?"

"It's currently 6:51 pm."

"Who's there?!" Peter perches on the ceiling, his fingertips grazing the trigger of his web-shooters while his eyes frantically scan the room. His heart is ready to jump out of his body, every strand of muscle pulled taunt to sprint up to the balcony and jump into safety. He lets out the tiniest huff of breath after registering that the room is still empty. His body relaxes minuscule, relieved that no one became witness to him freaking out and maybe letting out a not-so-manly squeak as he literally hit the roof.

The female-sounding voice seems to come out of nowhere and from everywhere at once. Without the warning of Peter's sixth sense, it managed to catch the vigilante totally off guard. It was not his proudest moment.

"Pardon me, Spider-Man. It had not been my intention to startle you. I am FRIDAY, Mr. Stark's personal asisstent. Can I be of assistance?"

Peter crawls slowly towards a corner of the ceiling, squinting at something that barely stands out, and without FRIDAY speaking, he might not have caught it. The tiny speakers blend in almost perfectly with the wall.

"FRIDAY? asks the teen at the familiar name while his feet hit the floor.

"Like the artificial intelligence that controls all the electronic systems inside the Avengers Tower and Compound and installed into every Iron Man armor and which got selected as the most advanced AI of last and this year by the Science-Journal?"

Peter had trouble controlling his voice to not double over in excitement. He couldn't believe it. He is seriously talking to Mr. Stark's AI, which he had read so much about.

"It's always a pleasure meeting a fan," responds FRIDAY, and if Peter weren't fighting to keep his reputation as a vigilante, he would have started clapping and jumping in a circle from sheer excitement. But he couldn't get side-tracked. He still had to find out where he had to go.

"FRIDAY, I am here to meet the Avengers. Could you inform them that I'm here?" Mr. Stark's AI doesn't have to know he forgot where to go, right?

"I will inform them immediately. Is there anything else, Spider-Man?"

Maybe it's wish-thinking, but Peter could swear that FRIDAY sounds kinder than before. Is it possible to win an AI's sympathy? Peter shrugs his shoulders. But this isn't any AI, though. In Mr. Stark's tower, anything could be possible. Peter is about to decline when a question comes up.

"If nobody's here, you have let me in, right?"

"That is correct, Sir."

The teen's nose scrunches up at the formal title.

"Isn't that kind of risky?" he asks before quickly adding, "Not that I'm planning anything, just curious."

"I am acting on Mr. Stark's personal orders."

He glances up to throw a confused look at one of the cameras.

"That was Mr. Stark's order?"

Before he could quiz her further, the echo of boots hitting polished stone interrupts him. Peter frowns as he listens to the nearing footsteps. He recognizes the walk of Mr. Wilson, but the person accompanying him couldn't be Mr. Barton, that's for sure. Someone clears their throat, and Peter turns around only to feel lucky for wearing his mask, or else he would look like an absolute fool with his mouth hanging open and widened eyes.

"So that's what happens if someone like me gets pumped up with the super soldier serum," marvels Peter in thought as he musters Captain America from head to toe. From what he had read, Steve Grant Rogers hasn't been much older than Peter is now as he wormed his way into the military. He had seen pictures of the unofficial leader of the Avengers, but watching Captain America live and in color was a different matter. The sight of the bulging muscles under a thin white shirt leaves him thanking whatever greater force that his transformation after the spider bite hasn't taken such a drastic visual change. Explaining that would be impossible. Expect people would settle with the excuse of him changing his diet and hitting the gym regularly.

"But not without steroids," mutters the teen while trying to pry his eyes off the intimidatingly defined pecs.

"What was that?" asks Mr. Wilson, one eyebrow raised.

Oh god, don't tell him they heard that. Peter could swear he mumbled that quite enough for no one to catch his words.

"Oh, ehm, nothing. Sorry for not coming to the conference room. I, well, this is kinda embarrassing, but I kinda forgot the room number."

Mr. Wilson rolls his eyes but seems to accept his sorry excuse. Peter wants to cheer for successfully changing the subject before he makes the mistake of glancing at Mr. Rogers. The man's face is stuck somewhere between a scowl and unreadable as if he had trouble choosing one expression to keep. Great. He definitely heard him. Without a word, Mr. Rogers turns, closely followed by Mr. Wilson. Peter opens his mouth but closes it again, simply walking after the two. An uncomfortably awkward elevator ride later, Peter finds himself shoved into a large room.

"Wait here."

Peter looks after the two men like a puppy whose owner had tied him up in front of a store. When the door falls shut, he turns, glancing around the room. There are chairs, tables, and a whiteboard. Even without his Spider-Man suit, a high schooler like him in this room is severely out of place.

Peter's fingers absentmindedly glide over the smooth table surface before jumping onto the backrest of a chair as he makes his way over to the windows. Gazing down and scanning the city below, his patrol mannerisms kick in. His eyes methodically fly over the streets while he focuses his hearing on any abnormalities. He could hear the howling of motors at a crossroad, the bass of the first clubs letting people in.

"What do you mean Tony won't be back until tomorrow noon?"

"We can handle this on our own, Dr. Banner. We will talk to him and collect the information for SHIELD. We can manage this without Stark."

Oh. Peter shouldn't eavesdrop. Probably

In case the room is under supervision, the teen walks with his hands behind his back along the windows with picture-perfect innocence. He makes a show of stretching before leaning against the wall and looking outside, head barely tilted. Captain America's voice is as clear as if the hero bent down to talk directly into Peter's ear.

"Knowing Stark, he will only make gathering the information harder. You know his temper, Dr. Banner. He isn't easy to get along with, and we can't have him risk failing the mission."

"You invite a person with unknown powers into the tower when the owner's away and plan to keep it a secret? What if he attacks one of us or destroys something?"

"As if Stark doesn't have enough money to rebuild the tower and put a second one next to it."

"That's not the point, Clint," interrupts Mr. Wilson.

"I'm not too keen on having him here too. I still think we should have brought him to the helicarrier."

"As if he would have gone there voluntarily. You've seen him yesterday on the roof. Spidey is skittish with a capital S. I'm surprised we got him here."

"You're straying from the topic, Clint." That was a woman's voice.

"Can somebody explain to me why we have to do this again? Do we have any data of the guy doing something important enough for us to look his way? You guys haven't been there yesterday, but he isn't normal, and I'm not talking about his powers. We invite him to the tower, and he declines because he doesn't have time. I repeat he doesn't have time to meet the Avengers. We tell him a time and place to meet, and he turns up elsewhere, asking us to get him. Maybe we should have rolled the red carpet out on our way. Our resident narcissist is enough already. I won't put up with a second one."

During Mr. Wilson's rant, Peter's eyes lost focus. He leans numbly against the wall, barely hearing Mr. Barton agreeing. He swallows thickly, but the lump in his throat is persistent in tightening his airway. Peter feels like zoning out, head empty as he hears nothing but his heartbeat pulsing in his ears before he takes a stuttering breath.

"-cannot ignore Fury's order to keep a low profile. I know you don't like this, but we have to put up with it. We cannot hurt Spider-Man. We get the information by talking to him, nothing else. If it needs him to rebuild our public image, we need to take this opportunity seriously. During the last mission, the collateral damages made the public lose some of their trust in us. We need to up our image-

Why is it suddenly so hot? His face feels hot. His neck feels hot. He's not even wearing the spandex suit, but his backup, the one with the worn-out sweater and tracking pants, but the clothes suddenly feel too tight. The damn lump just won't go away no matter how often he swallows, and why does everything look so flipping blurry!? Peter wants to rip off his mask and check the lenses for any damage as he blinks furiously. He closes his eyes, trying to calm down and uncurl his tightly balled fists.

He has to get out of here. He can't do this. Not now.

"FRIDAY? A-are you here?"

"Yes, Spider-Man. Can I be of assistance, Sir?"

"I just remembered I have a.... some very important business! Yeah, super important, and I- I seriously have to go now."

"Should I inform the Avengers to delay this meeting?"

"Yes, thank you very much, FRIDAY. Also, could you open the window, please?"

He briefly wonders why Mr. Starks AI was listening to him, but the thought gets pushed aside by the instant relief of seeing a window sliding open.

"Thank you a bunch, FRIDAY. It was a pleasure to meet you. Gotta go now, bye."

"The pleasure is mine, Spider-Man."

The sound of chairs getting pushed back in the room next to him was his clue to go. Without hesitation, Peter leaps out of the room as if the devil personally was tailing him. The night air feels amazing against his flushed skin, and Peter feels like he can finally breathe after shooting his webs and bringing a few blocks of distance between himself and his former childhood heroes.

_______________________

When May walked into the apartment around half past ten, she had a plan. Tiptoe into the kitchen, drink a cup of valerian tea, and skip a late dinner before heading straight to bed. Her whole body aches, from the tightness between her shoulders to her tired feet, the double shift taking its tribute. The hunger kicking in around six has left, exchanging place for an all-consuming exhaustion. Maybe the same exhaustion is a fault for her brain to need two long seconds before registering the TV light flickering against the walls.

"Peter?" she calls from the entrance as she slips out of her shoes, taking note of her nephew's sneakers lying hazardous next to the door, tossed there in a hurry. Rolling her eyes, she picks them up and places them on the shoe rack next to hers.

"Peter?" she repeats as she hangs up her jacket when she receives no answer. She rounds the corner, only to find the teen in question bundled up in a blanket, cozily tucked into the corner of their worn-out couch. At first, she thought he was sleeping, but coming closer, she caught a glimpse of his eyes. She frowned slightly.

"Hi, darling. Why are you still up? You're not getting sick, are you?"

Peter's eyes look glassy. A few used tissues were lying on the floor, but she didn't bother to remind him to throw them away. At the sight of his reddened nose and pale cheeks, her hand rose instinctively to check his temperature.

Peter blinks at her tiredly.

"Sorry, I got lost in thought. Do you think we could eat together?"

"You haven't eaten until now?"

May is about to reach for his forehead again, Peter's words causing her concern to grow, but a hand blocks her attempt at checking his temperature for a second time.

"I ate at Ned's but am still hungry."

Peter's expression is hopeful, practically begging her with his eyes to keep from sending him to bed. She glances at the teen with a thoughtful look, the latter obliviously trailing into the kitchen, setting up water to boil. She walks after him where Peter had set up the table and waits for her with two frozen pizzas in his hands.

"Tuna or Pizza Hawaii?"

"Tuna. You need your fruits."

He grins before turning his back to her to shove their improvised late-night dinner into the oven.

"Take these with you. We eat in the living room." His eyes flicker up to her, but he doesn't protest, silently taking the plates and walking over to the couch. May gets the tea and puts their cups down. Not a minute later, Peter begins to shift in his place, wordlessly shuffling closer. May leans back onto the couch and puts an arm up onto the backrest. Peter gives her a grateful smile as he cuddles into her side. May waits patiently and gets rewarded not a minute later when Peter takes a large breath, only to hesitate, mouth closing before a word comes out. She could basically hear the clocks running inside his head. He tries again, sitting straight in his seat.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm," hums May thoughtfully, "You can ask me almost anything."

Peter lifts his head where he had put it on May's shoulder to frown at her. May grins in unconcealed amusement, causing the teen to huff before he settles back down.

"Before I ask, I have to let you know that this is completely hypothetical," begins the teen, not seeing how May raises her eyebrows at his words.

"Completely hypothetical, I got it," she humors him, eying the way Peter's fingers are playing with a loose seam of his pants.

"So, just imagine you have a project you are working on. It's something you put a lot of effort and work into. It gives you a reason to be proud of yourself, and you enjoy working on it. Now, say you have some people you look up to. These people work on a similar project as you do but on a larger scale, like they are best in the field. You have always thought very highly of them, and they are your role model at this point, and somehow, you have gotten the chance to meet them."

The fingers playing around come to a stop, choosing to clench around the fabric instead. May began rubbing her hand up and down on Peter's arm when the teen's posture grew tense during his explanation. Peter doesn't look up once while talking, eyes fixed onto the old carpet and a particularly tenacious red wine spill that had been there forever.

"You are about to meet them, waiting to be let in. The door stands slightly open, and you happen to hear them discuss your project. They don't know it's you who works on the project. They wanted to meet you because of a different matter."

May drew her eyebrows together as a knowing look crossed her face. She had a hunch about where this was going. She softly squeezes his shoulder, spending silent comfort. "What did they say about your project?"

Peter looks up and frowns at her. "It's not my project, Aunt May. I told you this is a completely hypothetical."

"I'm sorry, I forgot. What did the people in the hypothetical scenario say about the project?"

He ignores the teasing tone in her voice, eyes wandering back to the red wine stain. He fidgets in his seat. "As I said, these people are at the top of their field and used to big-scale projects, right? Well, one of their supervisors is interested in your project and set them up to look at it since they are experts. While you wait, you can hear them talk among themselves about how annoying it is having to look into something so trivial as your project. Some of them declare it a waste of time and resources, and if it weren't for the fact that they need to, they would never even consider looking at it."

May notices with concern how Peter's words grew a little shaky at the end of his explanation. His Adam's apple bobs up as he swallows thickly. She watches him tugging his legs up on the couch and towards his chest, hugging them close before gazing up at her with suspiciously moist eyes.

"I think they hate it, May."

Hypothetical scenario or not, May swears the people who caused her nephew to carry such a heartbroken expression are about to lose their heads if they should ever meet. He says it with such sincerity that she knows he believes it. Unmeant or not, someone managed to make Peter doubt himself, and that person's words had cut him deep, and May hated how she couldn't do anything about it. She figures the story does not end here as she cards her hand through Peter's hair, attempting to make him feel better. "How does the scenario continue, sweetie?"

Peter draws another shaky breath, subconsciously leaning closer.

"Well, after hearing them talk about your project, you figured these people aren't what you thought they'd be like. As I mentioned, they don't know you're behind the project. They ask you for a favor on a different matter, and it turns out they seriously need your help, but now that you know what kind of people they are, you aren't sure if you should help them. The favor they need you for requires working as a team. You aren't obligated to help them, and you know they don't plan to repay you, but if you help them with their current project, it could help many other people."

"You are wondering if it's selfish to decline, aren't you?"

Peter sits up straight to look at her. "If you don't say yes, then the people who potentially could get help but aren't getting it are on you."

May takes her tea and brings it to her lips. She was glad Peter didn't go to sleep with these thoughts weighing him down and wanting to talk about what was bothering him. At the same time, May feels heavy-chested by the idea her nephew struggled with this in the first place. She wished she knew what exactly was hiding behind this hypothetical scenario, as Peter likes to call it.

"The idea behind that might sound mature and noble, but it could end badly. If you think that way, you could always help, do better, and be more efficient. But there is a difference between putting down your needs and feelings for the greater good and neglecting yourself. I've seen more than enough people getting burnout one after another because they think they aren't doing enough and ignoring what their body and mind tells them."

She sets her tea back down before she lays her hand on Peters, catching his attention. "Peter, hypothetical or not, if you ever get into a situation where someone makes you feel that you aren't worth it or what you are doing isn't enough, put some distance between you and that person. Promise me."

He avoids her eyes, taking his hand out of her hold. His fingers keep fidgeting in his lap. "But what if that isn't possible?"

"If you cannot go out of their way, try to ignore them and talk to someone about it. Sometimes you find help where you least expect it."

Catching her nephew's unsure expression, May lays a hand against his cheek, making him look at her.

"I know you, Peter. You are incredibly accommodating, and that's very respectable, but don't let people use you. You need to take care of yourself, alright? You are indebted to nobody, and if you want to help, I'm always supporting your decision but under the condition that you do it because you want to and not because someone pressures you into believing you're obligated to. If someone talks you or what you do down, you are allowed not wanting to help them. Helping is great, but your feelings matter too, sweetheart."

Peter's attention is back on her, eyes still carrying a bit of doubt. "For a hypothetical scenario, this got personal very quickly."

May rolls her eyes at the quip but lets it go. Pretending not to see the teary-eyed expression, she reaches forward to draw him into a hug. Peter instantly returns the gesture, tension leaving him as he rests his head on her shoulder.

"What's this for?" he asks, voice muffled by her blouse.

"Aren't I allowed to hug my nephew when I want to?"

"Of course, hugs are cool. I was just curious."

May wordlessly pulls him closer, petting the soft curls before letting him go.

"I hope you like your pizza with a crunch."

________________

"FRIDAY, if anyone wants to speak to me, decline. If it's Rogers, tell him to wait in line. I might pick up, but I wouldn't count on it. Good Lord, I think there's still Sake in my system. FRIDAY, order some sushi and double it. And tell Pepper to come, but if she's carrying anything resembling a checklist or a paper shoo her pretty face out of my penthouse, I'm more than capable of eating sushi for two on my own."

"Welcome back, Sir. I see your stay in Japan had left a few hours lasting impression on you."

Tony huffs as he loosens the tie around his neck, flinging it onto the coffee table and nearly knocking over a half-filled wine glass. He takes the glass and sniffs at it before flopping down on the couch.

"Not as good as Sake, but I am not complaining."

Leaning back, the man let out a groan as his body finally relaxed. The wine tastes a little stale, but Tony empties the glass anyway. His eyes wander mindlessly through the room before locking onto the ceiling.

"FRIDAY, dear, did anything noteworthy happen while I was gone?"

"The interest in this year's Stark Expo had risen despite the reputation of the Avengers getting worse. The deal with the Japanese investors has caused a rise in the stock market. Mrs. Potts has arranged a new meeting with Mr. -"

"FRIDAY, sweetheart. You know I'm not fond of business talk while lying down. Isn't there anything else? Maybe you should jog your memory cells. So you can tell me. Why they are footprints. On my ceiling."

"The footprints belong to Spider-Man, Sir."

"Ah."

The man stands up and takes his suit jacket off before putting his mobile phone on the coffee table.

"I assume he wasn't here for a room tour," begins Tony as he finds what he's been searching for. Leaning back again, he watches the outside cameras zooming in on a hand sitting down on the railing of the balcony.

"Why haven't I been notified about this?"

He frowns at the sorry excuse of a suit, briefly wondering where the spandex went.

"Mr. Rogers asked me not to mention Spider-Man entering the tower, Sir."

"Did he now? And you complied why, exactly."

"Mr. Rogers used his emergency code to override your order."

That made Tony glance up from the image of the vigilante stepping through the glass door.

"Well, Mr. Red White and Blue clearly do not know the difference between an emergency and being petty. Not so perfect, aren't we, Boy Scout? Still doesn't explain the Spiderling coming for a surprise visit."

"Mr. Rogers ordered a meeting with the rest of the team and Spider-Man."

"They've met?" The man's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He doesn't have enough wine for this.

"Spider-Man left before the arranged meeting started. Quoting, "I just remembered I have a.... some very important business! Yeah, super important, and I- I seriously have to go now."

Tony snorts.

"Pull up the footage, honey."

He rubs his hands together, feeling much more awake now. A grin crosses his face.

"I want to see everything."

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miss-andromeda · 8 months ago

Text

All's Fair in Love and Science

Chapter 10: Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye

After April has a freak encounter with a pigeon-like messenger, she, Andi and the boys attempt to break Kirby O'Neil out of the Kraang facility he's been detained in. Meanwhile, Shredder puts his plans regarding the turtles into motion.

It has been a minute, hasn't it? Y'all, I am so sorry - between vacation and college and everything in between, the motivation and desire was at an all time low. But now we're back with another chapter, and I hope y'all enjoy 🩷

'Just be safe, please? I don't need another heart attack from worrying that you're gone or anything.'

April smiled as she read the message from Andi, rolling her eyes affectionately. 'Nothing's gonna happen. I'll see you in a little while'. She added her signature yellow heart before sending the message, then put her phone away and continued walking. She turned the corner and frowned at how her nails looked; she then made a note to herself to invite Andi over so they could paint their nails together. Maybe they could make it into a sleepover? Maybe-

But she was interrupted when something swooped over her head, making her immediately look up and around to find who the culprit was. But when she couldn't see who, she got into a defensive position and continued to look around, ready to confront whoever it was. But again, she heard nothing. So she hesitantly relented and started to walk again.

But then the...whatever it was swooped over her again.

Okay, now she was getting scared.

And when she finally saw the creature stalking her (as well as heard the ear-splitting caw it emitted,) she started to run off and look for a place to hide, her fear heightening as the creature started to fly over her. She turned another corner and ran across the sidewalk - but it was in vain as the creature caught up to her, his talons on full display.

If she didn't hurry and find somewhere quickly, she was likely going to become the creature's next meal.

Thankfully, she found the local bank and booked it inside, relieved that there were other people inside as well. Not many people, just two women, one man behind each woman, and two tellers helping the women, but still; there were people.

April hesitantly turned around again, still running on adrenaline. When there was no demented creature leering outside, though, she took a deep breath and slumped her shoulders in relief. She must've lost him.

Right as she was about to message Andi to tell her what just happened, the swooping occurred again, making her jump in fright and then scream (she was grateful it was quiet enough that no one heard her) as she saw the creature - she could now see it was a weird man-pigeon hybrid mutant - fly towards her.

But apparently, he wasn't the smartest mutant in the world, as he flew right into the window, sliding down the glass with a pained look and a soft 'coo'.

She glanced at everyone, who was now staring at the window in confusion and pretended to be an innocent civilian who was as startled as they were - which, admittedly, was not that difficult, as she was still panicked out of her mind. "I'll go see what that was." She assured the other patrons and exited the bank, holding her arms in fear. What if that mutant was still out there?

Evidently, he was as he emerged from the ground, startling April once again. Rather than say anything, though, the pigeon mutant gave her an unamused stare and flew away.

"My life has gotten really weird..." April mumbled to herself as she immediately grabbed her phone and messaged Andi again. 'You're still with the guys right?'

'Yep, helping Don with a new weapon, why?'

'I'm coming over now.'

'Everything okay, Ape?'

'Just stay there, I gotta tell you something big.'

She didn't wait to see Andi's response as she started running to the nearest manhole, out of fear of that mutant-hybrid...thing coming back.

"What could she possibly need to tell me?" Andi mumbled under her breath as she read April's last message to her - for the fourth time. When she knew she wasn't going to get another response, she sighed and put her phone away, watching Donnie finish the last smoke bomb. She had to admit, she liked this view. Goggles on his face, his tongue poking out from the corner of his lips, the serious look in his eye...

When he put the wax seal over the top of the egg and finally caught her gaze, his face turned pink as he smiled at her. "Uh, ready to test them out?"

That shook her out of her stare (and made her realize she was staring in the first place), before nodding with a little smile back. "Yep." She checked her phone to see if there was any response and bit her lip at no such thing, before putting her phone away again.

Before she could grab a bomb, though, Donnie stopped her and stood from the lab desk. "You're pensive about something." He simply told her, his eyes now more concerned. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Andi sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, looking at the desk. "Um...it's, uh...it's about April. While we were working, I got a text from her, and she told me that she needed to tell me something important and to stay here. Now, I-I don't know if that means good important or bad important, but she sounded scared. She was using proper punctuation and she never does that unless she's scared. Like, scared out of her mind..." Her eyes then widened as she started thinking of a possible explanation. "What if she's hurt? What if she saw something? And I-"

She hadn't even noticed Donnie was now at her side, until he gently touched her shoulder, snapping her out of her panic. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. April's tough. And she's smart. She wouldn't have messaged you that if she wasn't safe, right?" That earned him a hint of a nod from her. "Exactly. I don't want to downplay anything, but chances are she's just scared about something. She's not hurt, she's not kidnapped, she's just a little shaken up."

"Yeah, but...I hate seeing her like that." Andi admitted, her voice softer as she started to relax. "She's been through so much already...she doesn't deserve any more fear."

Donnie nodded in understanding, his hand still on her shoulder. "Of course not. But it could be worse. And considering she sent you that shows you she's alive and okay, and you know she's coming to see you." He let out a soft breath as he lightly rubbed her shoulder. "I would just focus on something else right now, and when we see her, we'll ask what happened. Okay?"

After a bit of consideration, Andi sighed again and nodded. "Yeah, alright." She then glanced at the basket of smoke bombs and felt her lips quirk in a half-smile. "Let's go-" Her eyebrows then furrowed as she noticed a few missing. "Weren't there supposed to be 24? Why are 6 missing?"

When he glanced at it as well and realized she was right, he frowned in confusion. "That's weird. Maybe you put the rest in a different container?"

"No, I put the 12 we did yesterday in that basket and you put the rest in this morning."

"Huh. Well, it's not inherently the end of the world. They'll show up eventually."

"Yeah...yeah, you're probably right."

"'Probably right' is my middle name, enchantress."

Andi couldn't help but smile at both the comment and the name. "Wow, massage your ego, why don't you?"

Donnie only giggled as he picked up the basket, walking out of the lab with Andi in tow.

They had made it to the dojo, seeing Leo and Raph in the middle of a morning sparring session.

Andi cleared her throat to get their attention and stop their session, before smiling softly at the two of them. "We have to show you guys something. It's called, 'you're about to take your ninjutsu skills to a new level.'"

Donnie then took one from the basket, then handed the rest to her, before looking at his brothers with a proud smile. "Last night, before Andi left, we figured out how to make ninja smoke bombs!" He then demonstrated the feat by chucking the bomb onto the ground. A cloud of purple smoke enveloped him, and he reappeared behind them with a bright smile.

"Whoa..." Leo and Raph breathed in awe, smiles forming on their faces. They were becoming great ninjas at this rate; smoke bombs were the gold standard, after all. All the greats had them.

"Now, to make them-" Andi then went into detail in the process of making them, all while reveling in the idea that she and Donnie got the others to pay attention to something scientific. It was rare that she got to do such a thing with April, much less three teenage boys. So to have that chance was quite cathartic for her.

Once she was done, she was practically cut off by Raph making a talking motion with his hand. "Blah, blah, science blah. Do it again!" He cheered, pushing Leo aside to get a view of the bomb in action again.

Andi huffed at him at having been interrupted, while Donnie held another bomb in his hand with an unamused look on his face. "What she's trying to tell you guys is that they take a long time to make. So use 'em sparingly."

However, to undermine his point, Mikey called out from the kitchen, "I'm makin' breakfast! Who wants omelets?"

Normally, Andi would have cringed at that realization - eggs were not her forte. But then she remembered the missing eggs from the basket...and her eyes widened. "Mikey, wait! Those are-"

Before she could clarify, a cloud of purple smoke surrounded Mikey as he appeared in the dojo, soot covering his face. And upon closer inspection, he was holding the missing eggs in a separate basket. "Ugh, I think that was a rotten egg..." He grimaced, the smell still lingering in the air.

While Leo was giggling over Mikey's mistake (and even had to hold onto Raph to stabilize himself,) Andi took the eggs with a 'thank you very much' as Donnie explained what happened. "Those aren't normal eggs, Mikey. They're ninja smoke bombs that we made."

After wiping the soot from his face, Mikey's eyes lit up - completely forgetting about breakfast. "Shut up!" He snatched the egg basket back from Andi and started using them left and right. First appearing in the tree in the dojo, he started to break up his sentence as he kept using them, starting with, "This-"

Another bomb and he landed at the trunk of the tree while saying, "-is the best day-"

And another bomb made him land upside down while finishing his sentence with, "-of my life!"

As if they were reading each other's minds, both Donnie and Andi yelled, "Mikey, stop!" They then looked at each other in surprise at doing so, though he had a hint of a blush on his face.

And while he did, he decided to fulfill his role as the youngest brother by detonating one more smoke bomb and disappearing. Though he appeared between an unamused Donnie and Andi, with the latter mumbling, "We're probably gonna need to make more..."

Oblivious, Mikey was beaming with joy. "I love you guys! Seriously!" He placed one hand on each shoulder and pecked both of their cheeks, making Andi squeak in surprise and both of them glare at him. Her because she hated any type of contact she deemed intimate (specifically kisses,) and him because...well, the obvious.

Before Donnie could beat him up, though, a frantic April yelled, "Andi! Guys! You'll never believe what just happened to me!" as she ran into the lair, sitting down on the couch and curling in on herself.

Immediately, Andi rushed to put the egg basket in the lab, then sat beside April, concern written all over her face. Donnie sat on her other side, his own hand going to her shoulder. "All right, April, calm down. Are you okay?"

Still frantic, April's breathing turned a bit more ragged as everything that happened flashed before her eyes. Even if that mutant didn't physically get her, the anxiety of being stalked like she was terrified her to no end. "I...am being hunted..."

At that, Andi's eyes widened and her mind started racing. Did the Kraang finally find her? Was it one of Shredder's goons? Or some new force they had never met before?

April finally relieved the tension by spitting out, "-by a giant pigeon!"

Under any other circumstances, the sentence would have been hilarious. But all of them could see that April was genuinely freaked out, and Andi put an arm around her comfortingly to calm down.

But apparently, Raph didn't get the memo, as he burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all. When he was met with dirty looks from Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and especially Andi (seriously, if looks could kill, he'd be six feet under,) he quickly settled down. "I can't be the only one who finds that funny?"

"It's not funny, Raph!" Donnie scolded him as he and Andi helped April up. "There's a creature out there trying to hurt April!" Aside from the obvious that their friend was in danger, he didn't want Andi's future maid of honor getting hurt - wait, what?

"This is serious. I'd better get Splinter." Mikey suggested, somehow holding the basket of eggs in his hand.

Before Leo could tell him that wasn't necessary or Andi could ask how he got them, Mikey used yet another one - and a split second later, he and Splinter appeared, with the latter asking, "Michelangelo said you wanted to see me?"

Eventually, April had calmed down enough to explain the whole story. Now curled up in the fetal position, she sat in the corner of the couch, Andi and Donnie next to her, Leo next to Donnie, Mikey between the girls, Raph next to Andi (and reading a comic, not invested in the least,) and Splinter standing next to Mikey. "His talons were razor-sharp. He would've torn me to pieces...if he hadn't slammed into the glass."

Raph started laughing again at the story, momentarily averting his gaze from the comic, before getting more dirty looks from the rest of the group. "Really? Just me?"

That earned him a hard punch on the arm from Andi and another death glare. "You can be a real jerk when you want to be."

"In less frank terms, she is correct, Raphael. Clearly April is upset." Splinter scolded him as well, followed by Mikey adding, "Yeah, dude! That's so insensitive!" He then greatly overestimated April's pain by asking her, "Do you need a tissue?"

Slightly confused by the question, April only answered, "I think I'm okay."

However, Mikey didn't listen, replying, "I'll get you a tissue." He then used yet another smoke bomb and disappeared, making the girls exchange a confused look, before disappearing a second later. "We don't have any tissues. Can I make you some soup?"

Okay, now this was getting ridiculous.

Before he could waste yet another bomb, Donnie grabbed his wrist and disarmed him, all while scolding him with a simple, "Stop it!" He then put the egg back in the basket, then turned to April. "Don't worry, April. We won't let anything happen to you."

"Donnie's right." Leo agreed. "We're gonna set a trap for this...pigeon-man and make sure he never bothers you again."

"Well, I know what we can use as bait." Donnie suggested, making Mikey immediately tune in with, "Breadcrumbs!"

When he got confused looks from Leo, Donnie, and April, he was quick to defend his reasoning. "Pigeons eat breadcrumbs."

"Not a bad idea, but last time I checked, you guys don't have three pounds of breadcrumbs at your disposal." Andi disagreed. "Plus, it's a pigeon-human hybrid, so there's no guarantee it'll work."

"And besides, I meant April." Donnie added, making both Andi and Mikey's eyes widen - with the latter going to shield April from the hypothetical plan.

"You're gonna let him eat April? She's our friend, dude!" Mikey immediately countered, making Andi agree and shake her head in exasperation. "Yeah, seriously, Don. No offense, but that's probably your worst plan yet." She then recalled what happened before. "Along with not hiding the smoke bombs better and letting Mikey get to them."

Donnie gave them a deadpan look - more to Andi for the smoke bomb comment. "Obviously I'm not going to feed her to anything. You'll see what we mean when we get there."

"If you say so..." Andi murmured, her eyes now shifting from disagreement to concern. She knew that Donnie wouldn't knowingly let anything happen to her best friend, but this tended to happen when situations like this arose - she became hyper-protective of her.

Leo patted her on the shoulder before addressing everyone. "All right, mighty mutants, let's do this!" He cheered, hitting his fist against his palm.

But, Raph being Raph, had to downplay the attempt at inspiration. "'Mighty mutants?' What, dancing dorks was already taken?"

That made Andi snicker and roll her eyes, snapping her out of her concern. "I'm fine with calling you guys that instead."

And with that said, they started to run towards the entrance of the lair, about to take on this new creature-

"Wait!"

-until they were interrupted by Splinter.

"We do not yet know what you are facing. Perhaps you should study your enemy before confronting him." He tried to reason with them. The last thing he wanted for any of them to get hurt, all because of their overconfidence in dealing with a new foe.

But because he was talking to a group of teenagers, he expected that overconfidence in full form. And he was not surprised when Leo only replied, "With all due respect, sensei, it's a pigeon."

Splinter was still unconvinced, though. "What you know is dangerous to your enemy. What you think you know is dangerous to you." He emphasized his point by gently jabbing Leo with his jade staff. "I fear you are all becoming overconfident."

The leader, however, had an ace up his sleeve. "Sensei, in the past few months, we've taken down giant spiders, plant creatures, alien robots, and an army of ninjas." He explained, making the girls smile proudly and the boys cheer quietly at the turnstiles. "Maybe we're not overconfident. Maybe we're just that good."

Before Splinter could reply, the six of them left, leaving him mulling in thought, concern and frustration.

Hubris, the downfall of many a good man.

And knowing his sons, that was bound to be the case.

As much as he hated such an image.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere was even more tense at Shredder's lair, deeply reflected by his Japanese Akita, Hachiko. He was barking incessantly at Bradford, almost like he was as furious at Bradford and Xever's failures as Shredder was.

Bradford, however, leaned in to try and pet the dog. "It's okay, Hachiko, I'm not gonna hurt you..." He tried to calm him down, but when his hand reached far enough, Hachiko bit him, making him yelp and pull his hand back.

"He is not pleased with you. Nor am I." Shredder's booming voice echoed throughout the lair as he entered, his eyes glaring daggers at the two of them. "I have trusted you both with the task of destroying Splinter and his loathsome turtles."

Bradford knew it was pointless to argue at this point, so he merely kneeled at Shredder's throne like he always did.

But Shredder was not about to let him off the hook. He stood menacingly over him as he spat, "I spent years molding you in my image, teaching you my darkest secrets...and you shame me with your incompetence."

Xever couldn't help but to snicker at the last part, as if hearing such an insult hurled at his rival was what he was waiting to hear for years.

Shredder wasn't about to let him off easily, either, though. "You!" He snapped, glaring directly at the Afro-Latino man, before standing over him the same way. "I should've left you to rot in that prison where I found you."

Satisfied that both of his henchmen knew where he stood, Shredder ascended the small set of stairs to the platform where his throne was, his back still turned to the pair.

However, Bradford tried to reason with him. "The turtles have been lucky so far, but it won't last forever." He tried to convince Shredder, with Xever adding for good measure, "The next time we meet, I promise you-"

"ENOUGH!"

The outburst immediately shut the pair up as Shredder turned to face them, before sitting on his precious throne. "I am weary of your excuses."

He didn't need to say it, but there was a plan rolling in his head - something he had been considering as an ace up his sleeve.

The ace?

If you have a job to do, do it yourself.

Now the six were in the alleyway, carrying out Donnie's plan to catch the pigeon-man hybrid - April would be completely alone and wait in the alley, talking loudly enough to get its attention.

The problem was...her acting was terrible.

"Here I am, walkin' around in the big city, all alone! Oh, I sure hope no crazy pigeon-man sneaks up on me. That would be the last thing I'd want!"

"What are you doing?" Donnie and Andi emerged from behind a dumpster, with the latter trying not to laugh at April's acting.

Ignoring her, April addressed the question quite curtly. "You wanted me to be bait, I'm bait!"

"That's not how bait talks!" Donnie commented, making April frown at him. "How do you know how bait talks?"

"I know bait doesn't talk back." He smartly replied, making Andi guffaw and add, "He's got you there, Ape," while the other boys emerged from their own hiding spaces (Leo from the other dumpster in the alley, Raph under a manhole cover, and Mikey from the fire escape of a local apartment,) all drawing out an 'oooh' in response to the comeback.

Mikey then concluded the charade with a simple "Oh no you didn't," complete with finger waving and all before all three boys went back into hiding.

Still not convinced about the way bait "talked," April looked at the two of them, unamused.

"Just act natural." Andi suggested. "Lose the dramatic voice. You sound like one of those actors from the infomercials we laugh at for the bad acting."

"So glad I have your support, Rhodes." April sarcastically replied, making Andi giggle as she and Donnie went back to hiding behind the dumpster. She then sighed, getting back into "character," so to speak - this time, without as much of a dramatic tone. "Here I am, actin' natural. Just totally defenseless against any, I don't know, hideous mutant pigeon-guy who might happen upon me?"

"Does she always act like this?" Donnie whispered to Andi, so as not to distract from the plan.

The girl only nodded. "Yeah, April's not really an actress. You should've seen the time we read Julius Caesar in ninth grade..." She then shuddered a bit at the memory. "She was not a good Cassius. Granted, I wasn't the best Brutus, but-"

She then stopped as a swooping sound could be heard overhead, making her eyes widen as she mouthed to April, 'Stay calm. I think he's here.'

On the exterior, April looked as cool as ice. But internally, she was freaking out. What if that freak wanted revenge? What if he attacked her before they could step in?

Well, you can't know until you find out...

So she braced herself - but upon seeing the hybrid diving down to her as fast as light, its talons outstretched, she couldn't help it.

She screamed.

And as soon as the hybrid was about to reach her, Andi aimed her laser gun at him and hit him directly in the abdomen, so he wasn't completely unconscious, but he wouldn't be able to fly away.

Now on the ground, Leo, Mikey and Raph pinned him down - with Raph letting out a quiet 'eugh' at his appearance. A weird mix of pigeon features (features, a beak, a tendency to coo) and human features (an exposed chest, pink flesh)...it was not a pretty sight.

"Okay, okay, uncle!" The hybrid cried, tapping his hand against the pavement to show his surrender. "Jeez Louise!"

"Well, that was easier than expected." Andi commented as she strapped the gun back to her thigh, before she and Donnie met up with April.

"And you guys said I wasn't good bait." April told them with a little smile, making Andi huff out a laugh. "No, we said you weren't a good actress. Big difference."

April only stuck her tongue out at her, before turning to the hybrid - who was still being pinned by Raph.

"Okay, start talking, pigeon man." Leo demanded from him, making the pigeon meekly reply (while struggling,) "I have a name!"

Raph merely replied, "Yeah, we just don't care what it is."

The pigeon huffed as he turned his head around to address them. "It's Pete!"

Okay, that was one part of the puzzle. The other was-

"Why were you trying to hurt April, Pete?"

"I didn't want to hurt her!" Pete immediately explained, his voice getting more strained. "I was just bringing her a message. From her father."

At the last part, the girls gasped and shared a look, with April immediately asking Raph to let go of him.

Which he did, and weakly, Pete got to his feet and explained himself. "We were both...guests of the Kraang. They poured some ooze on me and turned me into this!" He rubbed his hands against his face when gesturing to his new appearance, clearly bothered by it.

"That must've been horrible...being turned into a pigeon." April sympathized with him. Like all the other mutations, she just assumed that he was another scientist captured by the Kraang, and was used as an experiment when his skills didn't appear satisfactory enough for them.

But Pete immediately cleared up the circumstances. "Actually, I started out as a pigeon."

"So how did you gain human features and a voice?" Andi questioned him, then shook her head. "Actually...that's a question for another time."

Mikey, however, was more focused on what could've been done instead. "Told you the breadcrumbs would've worked."

At the 'b' word, Pete immediately grabbed Mikey and started to shake him around. "You've got breadcrumbs?!" Okay, so he was a little bit scatterbrained. But other than that, he actually seemed like a helpful mutant. A stark contrast to the others they had faced before.

"Uh, Pete? April's father?" Andi asked him, trying to keep her voice calm. It wasn't that she was annoyed at his easily-distracted mind (he did have the attention span of a pigeon,) but she was moreso scared about Kirby's fate. The more time they wasted, the higher the chance that he would be gone by the time they learned new information about his whereabouts.

"Oh, right!" Pete then dropped Mikey (on his head, nonetheless,) making the youngest turtle yelp in pain. He then pulled out a smartphone (Kirby's phone; he must've snuck it into the Kraang base) and handed it to April, revealing a video message.

And upon seeing the familiar face, Andi gasped as she breathed, "He's alive..."

"Something terrible is about to happen. I don't know what, but it's extremely important that you get out of the city as soon as you can. Save yourself, and Andi. And remember...I love you."

Andi's heart cracked at the last part of the message, but split when she saw April fighting back tears and holding the phone close to her chest. "I love you too, Daddy..." The redhead murmured to herself, making Andi grab her hand and squeeze it reassuringly.

"Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" Leo asked, making Pete shrug and simply reply, "I'm just the messenger."

Donnie turned to the two of them, concern and protectiveness in his eyes. "We have got to get you two out of the city."

But April was quick to disagree. "I'm not going anywhere without my dad." And Andi added, "And I'm not going anywhere without April! What, are you kidding me?"

"But you heard him, something terrible is going to happen. And I'm not about to let anything happen to you." Donnie tried to persuade them, but April only responded with, "Well, then we'd better hurry."

Donnie sighed to himself, knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with them. Much like coaxing the information out of Pete, the more time they wasted, the more likely Mr. O'Neil would be gone.

But...they also needed to know where he was if they were going to find him, and Leo knew that as he turned to Pete, asking that exact question.

Deciding to play coy, though, Pete decided to bargain with him. "I can tell you, but it's gonna cost you a lot of bread."

"We're talking about...actual bread, right?" Leo asked, almost hesitatingly. The last thing they needed was another Vic situation, where they needed money they didn't have for an opportunity that they needed to seize.

But thankfully, that was relieved when Pete nodded excitedly. "Yep! Sourdough." He merely requested, making Leo smile confidently. "Done."

"Let's roll!" Mikey cheered, using another smoke bomb to make them disappear - first to get the bread, and in turn the information, then save Kirby.

Finally, progress was being made.

Unbeknownst to them, though...were a group of Foot soldiers had overheard the conversation.

Rather than heed Shredder's words and stay in the lair, Xever and Bradford were on the New York streets, partly thinking of a plan for redemption, partly to appease Shredder by purchasing a snakehead fish for eating. Xever, being the more rugged of the two, had dunked his hand into the tank and grabbed one of the fish, eyeing it to ensure it was sufficient.

Bradford, meanwhile, was focused on the fish's appearance. "That's the ugliest thing I've ever seen." He then followed it up with, "Present company excluded."

Surprisingly unperturbed by the insult, though, Xever carelessly tossed the fish towards the shopkeeper, and while he fumbled with it at first (the fish did not want to cooperate with him,) he eventually got a solid grip on the creature and laid it on his cutting board to prepare it properly.

Meanwhile, Bradford decided to engage Xever in a conversation. "So...we have a problem." That made Xever immediately turn to look at him. "No, you have a problem." Admittedly, having Shredder's respect was nice. Unlike Bradford, though, he wasn't hungry for it.

"We've both failed Master Shredder. Can you live with that shame?" Bradford chastised him, the serious tone in his voice telling him that he wasn't looking for an argument.

That made Xever crumble, though his bitterness moreso came from being humiliated - twice. "If I had the opportunity, I would crush those turtles like bugs." He begrudgingly agreed. Before he could lay out a plan, though, Bradford heard a notification from his phone, making him check it. It was a message - laying out the plans the soldiers had eavesdropped on, making him smirk in satisfaction.

Confused, Xever furrowed his brows. "What is that?"

And as the shopkeeper swung his cleaver, Bradford only replied with one word, "Opportunity."

Meanwhile, the six were on the roof of the Kraang base, with Donnie using Mikey as a stepstool to unscrew the roof's fan for an easy entrance. "Piece of cake." He smiled to himself as he moved the cover aside.

"Let's do this!" April cheered, a sense of determination in her eyes. It was all too familiar; Andi remembered she had that same spark when it came from storming another Kraang base in search of information about Kirby.

And while it was admirable, it was also deadly.

And Leo knew that as he put an arm in front of her, keeping her from jumping down. "We need you to stay here with Andi, April."

Like before, though, April immediately disagreed. "Are you crazy?! My dad's in there!"

"Along with who knows how many Kraang!" Leo exasperatedly added, making Andi nod next to him. "I'd rather you not be taken away by a horde of robots because you want to see your dad, Ape."

Leo gestured to her with a 'see what I mean?' look, before adding, "This requires stealth and mobility. And no offense, but leave it to the pros." That earned him a little smirk of agreement from Raph and a bright smile from Mikey behind him.

April huffed in defeat. "Well, I can't just do nothing!" That earned her a frown from Andi and a "Wow, harsh words, O'Neil," making her sigh. "That's not what I meant, I just...I'm stressed." She then turned back to Leo. "My point is, I can't sit back and watch you guys go at this alone."

"You won't be!" Leo assured her, taking the bundle of rope from Raph and handing it to her. "We need you to lower this rope when we give you the signal."

April sighed and took the rope while Andi got her laser gun from under her dress. "And that signal is?" She asked, setting it to the 'kill' feature in case she needed to take down any Kraang stragglers when the boys went to escape. When Leo only started imitating a pigeon, she smirked and rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, oh fearless leader." She teased him, then watched as the boys started to head down. She earned a head nod from Leo, a fist bump from Raph for her comment, finger guns from Mikey, and a little smile from Donnie.

Before the purple-masked turtle could leave, though, Andi asked him one thing. "Be careful, okay? Don't do anything stupid and let me know if you need help."

"You know I will." He stated, making her smile back.

"Good. Now go kick some Kraang butt for me."

"Little bit juvenile to use such a word, hm?"

"Fine. Kick some robotic gluteus maximu-"

"Donnie! Quit flirting and get down here!"

That made Donnie roll his eyes in exasperation but also throw a final smile at Andi. "I'll see you in two shakes of a turtle's tail."

She only laughed and nodded, then watched as he disappeared down the vent.

"Here we go..." She muttered under her breath.

Thankfully, the first room was empty, save for a few boxes and a lone Kraangdroid, which Raph had already stabbed when he made it down the vent.

Caution was the name of the game for Leo and Donnie, who observed the room carefully and moved like the spitting image of a ninja; crouched form, intense eyes, the works.

Mikey, however, was a bit more breezy, humming in acknowledgment at the base - which earned him a bop on the head from Raph, whose furrowed brows and irritated eyes told him to keep moving.

Thankfully, the pair made it to Donnie and Leo, with the latter holding a hand to stop them from moving any further and a 'shh' to keep quiet. He then did a somersault from behind the doorway and unsheathed his katanas, slicing the lone droid before it even had a chance to react. Once done, the others followed suit - and the four were met with a locked door, with a droid inside the room. The small alien was tapping on a screen, with the flicking patterns on the screen being in it's native language.

This really was a Kraang base - and a side that the boys hadn't seen before.

But Leo had a plan to get inside. He kept a watchful eye on two other droids that were heading towards the room, and while they were unlocking the door, he and Raph snuck up behind them, and when they were about to step into the room, Leo bashed their heads together and Raph threw a sai at the one working at the computer, giving them access to the room.

Before they could hack into the computer, though, one of the aliens came to life from the robotic exoskeleton and was about to attack Leo (much like another had done to Mikey after their first encounter with the Kraang,) but the leader responded quickly, knocking it out with one punch.

After Raph and Mikey moved the now-deactivated droid out of the way of the computer, the four surveyed the technology with a bit of awe - though Donnie was the most taken aback.

But Leo quickly got back on track. "Donnie, hack into the system and see if you can find out about the Kraang's plot. Raph, you're with me." That earned a little nod from Raph. "Mikey, stay with Donnie."

Instead of a nod, though, Donnie's face morphed into irritation. "Why do I always get stuck with Mikey?" He argued, earning a quiet 'hey' from Mikey, his tone hurt.

Leo responded quickly (and a bit harshly,) "I don't want him, and I'm in charge!" That earned a more high-pitched 'hey' from Mikey, now appearing more hurt than before.

"Well then, make Raph take Mikey." Donnie suggested, making Raph respond with a curt, "Over my dead body."

"You know-" Mikey retorted, his face now as irritated and frustrated as Donnie's was only a few seconds before. "-I'm startin' to think no one wants to be with me. Fine, I'll just go off on my own." He then took out a smoke bomb (that he must've taken - along with a handful of others - when they left the lair,) and disappeared in a thick cloud of purple smoke, before a crashing sound could be heard from behind the trio. Seconds later, Mikey could be seen in a connecting room, a sheepish smile on his face. "Uh, that's a closet."

Well, that was a bust.

"Have fun, you two!" Raph sarcastically told them as he and Leo left the room, seemingly in search of Kirby or his cell.

Mikey stepped out of the closet, which left him to admire the room - while Donnie watched him with an aggravated look on his face. "Whoa..." The orange-masked turtle breathed, then pondered hitting one of the buttons on the control panel. "Huh, what's that button do-"

Donnie quickly shut down any ideas he had, grabbing his younger brother's hand and squeezing hard. "Don't. Touch. Anything." He enunciated with a serious look, making Mikey only giggle nervously (much like a little brother would) to show he understood.

There it was. The only cell that was locked and sealed tight. And strangely enough, no guards were surrounding it. After a bit of stealth, Leo called from outside the cell to get Kirby's attention. "Mr. O'Neil? Are you in here?"

That made Kirby look to the window and walk up to it. "You're one of the turtles who rescued my daughter." He recalled, then got to the more prevalent question. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine." Leo assured him. "She and Andi are right outside."

"They're both still in the city, then?" Kirby asked incredulously, as Leo went to start picking the lock. "Those girls are stubborn..." He muttered, making Leo only agree with a soft, "Yeah, we've noticed."

Back with Mikey and Donnie, the latter was carefully inputting commands into the Kraang database, much like the alien was doing before. Which was definitely easier said than done; the last thing he wanted was to input something wrong and trigger an alarm because of a potential hacker.

Mikey, admittedly, wasn't making things easier either. "What's that one do?" He asked, after Donnie had tapped the screen again. The resident genius replied with a mere, "I don't know."

This became a game of cat and mouse, with Mikey asking the same question and Donnie answering the same way - and the youngest turtle even starting to hit the screen along with Donnie. Eventually, this led the purple-masked turtle to muscle his younger brother out of the way, in an attempt to keep some type of control over the database.

However, Mikey wasn't giving up. His final attempt involved him jumping onto Donnie's shell, seeing some colors on the screen and exclaiming, "Ooh, that one's pretty!"

"JUST STOP IT!" Donnie snapped, slamming both fists onto the screen in aggravation. Rather than the dreaded alarm (or worse, the Kraang equivalent of an 'error 404' message, though,) he was logged into the database, making his aggravation melt away and a relieved smile form on his face. "Haha, I'm in!"

"You're welcome." Mikey told him with a slight glare on his face, making Donnie glare back at him and push him off with his shoulder. The second he did, though, he was met with the Kraang plans on the screen.

A...mutagen bomb...to be detonated over the Wolf Hotel, one of the buildings on the west side of the city. And judging by the power the bomb seemed to hold, it would impact half of the city, at least.

So he could only respond with one word,

"Uh-oh."

Meanwhile, Raph and Leo were still trying to break Kirby out of the cell - with Raph snarkily commenting, "Since it's taking Leo forever to pick that lock-"

Leo interrupted him with a brisk, irritated, "I'm working on it!"

Raph ignored him, though, as he talked to Kirby through the cell's window. "-maybe you could tell us what the heck's the deal with the Kraang?"

Kirby was happy to oblige. "Er, they're aliens from another dimension. When they came here, they brought the mutagen here with them."

Still working on the lock, Leo decided to engage in the conversation as well. "Why? What's the point of turning people into monsters?"

"The mutagen doesn't work the way they thought it would. Apparently, the physical laws of their universe are different from ours." Kirby explained, trying to be as understandable as possible.

It was successful, though, as Leo understood it completely. "So they're grabbing scientists to help them modify the ooze!" He exclaimed, making Raph sarcastically reply, "Wow, you figured it out!" But then he got serious again with his simple question of, "How's that lock coming along?"

"But wait, Andi's a scientist. Why did they not kidnap her too?" Leo asked genuinely.

"The Kraang likely overlooked her intelligence. In case you couldn't tell, she doesn't look like your typical scientist." Kirby told them with a ghost of a smile - a rarity ever since his kidnapping. "That, or they genuinely saw no use for her."

Leo hummed at the answer, though a final question came to mind. "So what do they want the ooze to do?"

Kirby sighed, the smile fading as his head sunk. "I wish I knew." He admitted.

As if to answer his question, Donnie and Mikey turned the corner and ran to the two, with the purple-masked turtle exclaiming, "Leo! Raph! They've planted a mutagen bomb downtown. They're gonna use it to disperse ooze over half the city!" He then noticed his mild outburst in front of Kirby and regained his composure quickly. "Oh, hi, Mr. O'Neil. Your daughter and Andi are really nice." He added with a boyish smile, making Kirby look at him with confusion.

Leo then decided to multitask; explain the next course of action while still fumbling with the lock. "Okay, we have to disarm that bomb." He ordered, then turned his attention back to the lock. "If I could just get this stupid door open..." He muttered, getting increasingly aggravated.

"Have you tried this?" Mikey rhetorically asked with a bright smile, before hitting a button on the wall. However, the boys shouted 'no' as the alarm went off, essentially blowing their cover. While the youngest sheepishly smiled at his major blunder, Raph decided to add insult to injury as he poked Mikey in the forehead. "And that's why no one wants to be with you!"

Before an argument could break out (or more realistically, Raph would beat Mikey up,) Leo finally unlocked the cell and ushered Kirby to follow them.

Unfortunately, a horde of Kraang droids swarmed the hallway and started firing at them, making Leo and Donnie serve as bodyguards to Kirby to ensure he made it out with little to no injury, while Mikey and Raph were right behind them.

They made it back to the first room, going to hide behind the same crates that they landed next to when jumping from the vent. Mikey was the last one to make it back, though, and even fell on his face along the way, making Raph drag him behind the crate he was behind. Rather than settle for a glare, though, Raph smacked him across the head; partly for his screw-up earlier with the alarm, and partly for bringing more attention to them.

With the five of them secure, Leo started to give 'the signal' to the girls, cooing at them like a pigeon. The problem was, not only did he sound ridiculous, the girls couldn't hear them over the sounds of blasters. And Raph knew that as he asked Leo, "You really thought that was gonna work?" He then yelled over the blasters, "April, throw the rope!"

Peeking over the vents (to avoid being seen,) the girls gasped at the sight of Kirby alive. "Dad!" "Mr. O'Neil!"

"Girls!" Kirby yelled back to them, the urgency in his voice telling them to throw the rope as fast as humanly possible - and April did so.

However, as soon as she did, the horde overwhelmed them, blasters at the ready. Before they could fire, though, Raph kicked a barrel at them, knocking out a small cluster. He then followed up by stabbing another droid that was sneaking up behind them, making its blaster fall towards Kirby's feet. And upon noticing more droids surrounding them, a plan came to him.

If this worked...

He wriggled out of Leo's grip, with said turtle asking in a panic, "Mr. O'Neil, what are you doing?!"

Kirby only picked up the blaster and stared at them, a sense of determination in his eye as he fired the gun. "Save my daughter and Andi. And save the city."

"He's not going to..." Andi breathed, staring in horror. April caught onto what she was implying, making her voice quaver with fear. "Daddy, NO!"

Kirby ignored her and let out a battle cry, firing at them with everything he had. However, he wasn't a droid, and the blaster had to consistently recharge with every use. To a droid, it was the most standard of weapons. To Kirby, it was nearly useless.

"He needs help..." Andi muttered, scrambling to get her gun and fire at them in the distance. When she did, the laser was useless, harmlessly bouncing off the robotic exoskeleton and bouncing off the floor before being absorbed into the wall. "Why isn't it working?!" She panicked, trying again and again (even using the human feature to try to stun them,) but all that did was slow down their movement - and not by much.

She wanted to kill someone.

Seeing the distraction, though, Leo yelled at the team to run for the rope, but right before they were about to climb onto the roof, Donnie immediately objected to Leo's plan. "We can't leave him here!"

Leo, however, responded rather bluntly. "We don't have a choice." Sadly, it was true. It was either stay and be destroyed by the Kraang (and in turn, let the city fall too,) or retreat without him and save the city.

It was a lose-lose situation either way.

Reluctantly, the boys climbed through the vent, all while April and Andi watched helplessly as Kirby was surrounded and subdued by a droid, with another pointing a blaster at him to threaten that he surrender.

"NO!" They cried in unison, with Andi covering her mouth in shock.

However, the Kraang only forced Kirby up and led him back to his cell, his head hung low and arms tightly behind his back.

When the girls stepped back from the vent, Andi caught a glimpse of April - and her heart shattered.

"Oh, April..." She threw her gun on the ground and pulled her into a hug, the feeling of April crying on her shoulder making her break down too. "I'm so sorry, Ape..." She muttered into her hair, her grip tightening on her. "I'm so, so sorry..." She felt like absolute scum. Not being able to help save Kirby, all because she didn't plan how strong the Kraang would be...

She felt like punching herself in the face.

Andi sniffled and furiously wiped her tears away, then gently grabbed April's face to make her look at her. "I swear, we're gonna get him back. Even if I have to storm whatever main base they have and take them out myself..." She told her, the steely look not being lost despite how heartbroken she looked and felt. "When I told you we made it our fight when they messed with you, I meant it. No one hurts you and gets away with it."

Before she could continue, April just hugged her again and squeezed tightly, before being forced to pull away when Leo quietly suggested they leave before any more attention was brought to them.

And the girls agreed, with Andi putting her gun away and running with April and Donnie, before all of them hopped off the roof.

And once on the street, Donnie caught sight of how torn up they looked, with Andi having her arm around April's shoulders and the latter wiping away more tears. "How about I take you guys back to the lair?" He suggested softly.

April was too choked up to speak, but Andi gave him a tearful, weak smile and nodded. "Thanks, Don."

He then helped April onto his shell for a piggyback ride, and then turned to his brothers. "I'll meet you guys at the Wolf Hotel." He explained, then took off with the girls, with April putting her arms around his neck to secure herself and Andi running beside him.

In his mind, it was the least he could do.

The second they made it back to the lair, the atmosphere felt like the opposite of before. Gloomy and dark, almost like it was reflecting the collective sentiment of the trio.

"Last stop, the lair." Donnie commented, but his tone was rueful and self-aware as if he knew that it was a bad time to start making jokes. When he was met with a little smile from the girls, he knew they understood. "All right, we'll be back soon, okay? You'll be safe here."

April met his eyes for a second to nod, but quickly looked back at the floor. Her face was still sunken, and she looked like she was about to start crying at any moment.

"Here, let's sit you on the couch." Andi softly suggested, guiding April to sit down before draping a worn (yet clean) blanket over her shoulders. When April gave her that look (the look that told her she wanted to be alone for a minute,) Andi nodded and walked over to Donnie, pulling him aside so they had some privacy. "It's my fault the stupid gun didn't work..." She muttered, looking at her white sneakers with disdain. "If it had, I could've destroyed that Kraang scum, and Mr. O'Neil would've been okay..." She then looked at April in sadness, who was now curling up in the fetal position. "And April wouldn't be so distraught..."

"It's not your fault, how were you supposed to know that lithium can't affect them?" Donnie tried to assure her, but the storminess in her green eyes told him he wasn't getting anywhere. "Andi...I understand how you feel. But you can't blame yourself for this. It was-" He lowered his voice so April couldn't overhear them. "-it was a lose-lose situation, the Kraang basically led us into a trap. We were cornered; there was no way we could've gotten Mr. O'Neil out of there."

"We could've if my gun actually worked against them." Andi muttered, tears pooling in her eyes. "Now Mr. O'Neil's gone, April's devastated, you guys have to disarm a chemical bomb...what's next, is the world going to implode?"

Instead of respond, though, Donnie just asked one question. "Will a hug help?"

Once again, she was stunned at the question, but after she nodded, he pulled her into a warm embrace, making her close her eyes and shakily sigh. "I just...I don't get it sometimes." She muttered to herself. "How come...how come I'm always dragged into stuff like this? First Mama, then Daddy, now this..."

"Wait, what?" Donnie asked, pulling away as confusion was written all over his face. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." Andi immediately said, shaking her head as her face became flushed. "I didn't say anything."

Somehow Donnie got the feeling that she wasn't going to budge, so he sighed and relented. "Alright, well, I have to go. Keep an eye on April for me and we'll plan our next course of action when we return."

Andi nodded in understanding, but right as he was about to leave, she stopped him. "Just...be careful, okay? Don't do anything stupid."

Hearing Andi repeat said line made Donnie smile softly. "You know I won't."

Andi weakly smiled back. "You'd better not. Bye, professor."

Even in a dark time like this, he still felt his heart flutter at the nickname. "Bye, enchantress." He then took off out of the lair, leaving Andi watching him with a little sigh.

"You'd better come back okay, Don..." She muttered, then turned to April, who was still in the fetal position. Her heart split again at the sight as she walked to her, her feet feeling like 20-pound weights. Without a word, she sat next to the redhead and put an arm around her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Ape..." She muttered, lowering her head in shame. "I wish I could just go back in time and fix what happened..." She then remembered the gun and unsheathed it, staring at it with disdain. "Or better yet, make sure this thing actually worked..."

April sniffled as she glanced at her. "I-It's not your fault, Andi."

Before Andi could answer, she heard a familiar voice emerge from the dojo. "April? Andromeda? What troubles you? Why are you back so suddenly?"

Hearing Master Splinter made the girls snap up to look at him. "Master Splinter..." Andi breathed, watching as he calmly walked over. "Um...l-let me explain."

She went on to explain the whole story; Pete wasn't a dangerous threat, rather a scatterbrain who actually had useful information about Kirby and his whereabouts. How they went to storm the base and how the boys found out about the chemical bomb that the Kraang were planning on detonating.

And when she got to the part about how they had failed to rescue Kirby, Andi could feel April's shoulders shaking as the latter's head fell into her hands.

Splinter was quiet for a moment, watching the pair sympathetically. He obviously knew what it was like to lose someone and to not have been able to stop it. To see it from the girls, though...somehow, it hurt even more. "I am...truly sorry for what happened." He softly assured them. "Perhaps some tea will help?"

Andi pulled her gaze away from April to smile weakly at Splinter and nod. "That'd be nice. Thank you, Master Splinter."

"Thanks, sensei." April agreed, wiping her face to try and regain her composure. When she looked up to meet him, though, something overcame her. She stood up and hugged his torso, resting her cheek against his burgundy kimono. "Thanks a lot..."

Splinter was surprised for a moment, but relaxed and rested a paw against April's head, patting it assuringly. "Remember this proverb, April; nana korobi ya oki." When she looked up at him with confusion, he gave her a fatherly smile. "Fall down seven times, rise eight."

Andi weakly smiled as she watched the scene, deciding not to say anything in the moment. And when she saw April manage a miniscule smile as well, she could feel herself start to relax.

But that sadness came back when Splinter met her eyes, a soft look reappearing in his.

And she knew why.

April still had a chance to save Kirby.

And somehow, Splinter had picked up on the fact that Andi had never gotten that.

New York had always been beautiful at night, and the Wolf Hotel was no exception. It stood as a symbol of luxury and was often considered a staple for New York's more...elite residents and visitors.

And tonight was one of the nights where the Wolf would have been a pillar of New York's excellence...minus the gigantic mutagen bomb resting comfortably on the roof.

Kraangdroids kept watch around the perimeter, waiting for unwanted intruders to come - mostly the turtles, but still, unwanted intruders nonetheless.

"Kraang, in how many time units, known as minutes, will the device containing the mutagen that will be spread over the place known as New York, be detonated?" One droid asked another, who was currently manning the main computer that was connected to the mutagen bomb itself.

"Five." The second droid responded, but as soon as the question was answered, a lone arrow appeared and impaled the droid in the head, before exploding - killing both the droid and the arrow.

From a distance, Raph fired another arrow, this time at the first droid who was aiming straight at him. Before he could make the shot, though, the arrow hit its chest, and the droid exploded immediately, causing the alien inside to emerge and crawl away in terror.

Donnie joined the fray almost immediately and fired an arrow, hitting a third droid that was threatening to fire at Raph.

And as if by clockwork, Mikey jumped as well, running along the lip of the roof and firing arrows at any droid that was standing in his way - before they could even fire.

All that was left was a final droid who was aiming at him from the top of the building - but before Mikey could be caught off guard, the droid was met with the sharp end of Leo's katana, making him be sliced down the middle and fall about 20 feet, to where Raph and Donnie were on the roof. As the red-masked started in disgust at the little alien, Mikey and Leo jumped from the top of the building to meet with them.

"Okay, Donnie. It's up to you." Leo instructed the genius, and as Donnie removed the covering of the bomb's wiring, he stared in horror at the layout. This...this wasn't what he was used to. Sure, the classic red wire/blue wire situation would've been too easy, but this was insane! Wires strewn about every which way, and every one of them looked incredibly important.

Looks like Andi wasn't the only one that needed to work on something.

So he commented the only thing he could think to say,

"Uh oh."

"'Uh oh'?" Leo echoed as he looked at the layout of the wiring, then shot an irritated look at Donnie. "Donnie, you said you knew how to do this!"

Donnie gave a similar irritated look back to him. "I didn't count on a design this complex, Leo."

"They're aliens from another dimension, what did you expect?" Leo argued, making a good point in the process. "A big round ball with a lit fuse that says bomb?"

"No, but-" Before Donnie could keep the argument going, though, Raph butted in to defuse the situation and pushed Leo out of the way - getting the two to focus on the real issue. "Boy, I sure hope this argument goes on for another four minutes and fifteen seconds."

Precisely the amount of time they had before the bomb defused and flooded the city in mutagen.

He then ended his tirade by delivering a much-needed smack to Donnie's head, indirectly telling him to get his head in the game.

Which Donnie did...and quite fearfully. He studied each part of the bomb's system, terrified to make one wrong move. All the while, his brain was struggling to recall anything about handling a design like this. Were there any wires that he knew he could cut with no strings attached?

There probably were, but with the millions of thoughts rushing through his head, it was hard to recall which wire it was.

As he shakily raised his hands to try and map out which wire to cut first, all while sweating profusely, his brothers stood behind him, just as fearful.

Which Leo voiced with a "careful!"

That earned him a death glare from Donnie - the same kind of glare that Andi gave Raph before.

And as the purple-masked turtle slowly turned back to his work, Raph jumped in this time. "Watch out for those wires."

"You guys are not helping!" Donnie told him, even more irritated than before.

As if to add fuel to the fire, though, Mikey reached in to poke at one of the buttons. "What if we just push this button?" But he was immediately stopped by Raph, who yanked his hand away and added a curt, "Don't you think you've pushed enough buttons tonight?"

Meanwhile, Donnie had started to block out any unnecessary noise, humming to himself as he tried to think of how he wanted to approach this.

But of course, there was the time limit - which Leo so kindly reminded him of. "Donnie, you're gonna have to speed this up!"

Donnie's response was simple - and his anxiety was personified with, "I cannot work with all this pressure!"

When Leo heard a rustling sound and glanced over to see the source, his eyes widened as he saw who caused it. "Um...that might be a problem."

'Might be' was an understatement, because when Leo and Donnie glanced over to track the source, Bradford and Xever were waiting patiently on the catwalk of a nearby billboard, glaring at the four with hatred and murder in their eyes.

Leo, Mikey, and Raph all unsheathed their weapons, leaving Donnie to stay with the bomb while they dealt with the intruders.

And dealt with the intruders they did, as the trio and pair immediately charged each other.

Mikey and Xever focused on each other for a moment, though the youngest turtle missed a punch, allowing Xever to pick him up effortlessly and slam him onto the roof's floor. The latter then dashed away, making Leo chase after him and engage him. When Leo dodged an overhead kick, Xever tried again, and this time, the leader blocked the incoming foot as he decided to inform Xever of the issue. "You guys picked a really bad time for this."

He then pushed aside Xever's foot, letting the man fall to the floor - but immediately kneel to regain his balance. "Oh, sorry for the inconvenience." He apologized sarcastically. "When would you prefer to breathe your last breath?" He jumped off the ground and kicked at Leo again - which the turtle avoided. "If that thing goes off, it'll wipe us all out." He explained, not wanting to entertain Xever with more attacks or even a sarcastic answer.

Bradford, however, echoed Xever's thoughts as he barely missed swinging at Raph. "I'd rather perish with honor than live in shame." He curtly replied. Clearly he was so driven by his failure that that was his motto.

It was admirable, but it was also tragic.

He missed again when he swung his katana at Raph, causing the red-masked turtle to jump onto a nearby vent and dive at Bradford, hitting him square in the face. Once the man was distracted, Raph got behind him, about to strike from behind. But before he did, he asked Donnie for an update. "Will you hurry up and defuse the bomb?! We're dealing with a couple'a nutjobs here!"

Donnie had been in his element, mind more clear and sharp than before. But Raph's complaint made him grit his teeth, followed by his temper coming out from being distracted. "BE QUIET!"

Raph wasn't able to respond, though, as he and Bradford charged at each other again.

Meanwhile, Xever was fighting Leo and Mikey at the same time, kicking both of them aside. Satisfied, he watched as Bradford grabbed Raph by the neck and tossed him in the same direction that he had thrown Mikey, then charged at Raph and was about to make his feet meet the turtle's face.

But Raph quickly dodged. And Xever made a fast recovery, spinning around to try and kick Raph directly in the head. But he missed again, as Raph deflected the strike with the butt of his sai - and kept doing so as he inched back from the edge of the roof. He then jumped onto the top of the Wolf, silently taunting Xever and Bradford to join him.

Which they, of course, did.

However, Mikey tried to stop Bradford with the chain of his kusarigama. But when that failed, Bradford shifted his attention to the youngest turtle and slammed into him like a rampaging bull, sending the poor turtle into the leg of the nearest billboard.

The metal clang emanated across the field as Mikey let out a groan, his eyes bulging.

But he wasn't done - and the look in his eye told Bradford that.

Enraged, Bradford raised his katana and tried to swing at him. Once, twice, before Mikey blocked it with the small chain of his nunchucks.

This gave Leo the perfect opportunity to strike.

And as he leapt into the air, ready to pounce-

Bradford caught him, blocked the attack with his own katana, and pushed both of them away, sending Leo flying and Mikey into the billboard again.

With Donnie, though, he had made a great amount of progress, but there was one last obstacle he had to deal with before the bomb could finally be defused. But it was the most important decision. "Down to two wires..." He mumbled nervously. "Which one do I cut? Black...or green?"

Somehow hearing Donnie's question, Mikey exclaimed, "Go for the green!" He was then punched directly in the face by Bradford.

It seemed too simple. And Donnie was considering cutting the black one. There was no way Mikey could be right about this? This was Mikey, after all.

But as time was ticking down, Donnie recalled the moment in the computer room at the Kraang base, and how Mikey had...well, inadvertently helped in getting the details about this whole operation.

And taking a breath, Donnie answered his question of whether Mikey was right by cutting the green wire.

The silence that followed was absolutely glorious.

"Guys! Guys!" Donnie cheered, an ecstatic smile on his face. "Mikey was right about something!"

But there was no time to celebrate. Unsheathing his bo staff, he scaled the rafters of the building and made it to where the others were - or more specifically, where Leo and Mikey were, who were getting their shells kicked by Bradford. He leaped into action, his bo staff swinging as he headed straight for Bradford. He stomped him on the head at first, before landing a good hit on his shoulder, then ran up to join Raph in defeating Xever.

Which the man promptly responded by punching Raph away, and then kicking Donnie away with ease. He smirked cockily to himself; they seriously thought they could defeat him? Laughable.

Donnie quickly regained his balance on the lip of the roof as Xever chased after him, and after Xever effortlessly spun him around and then kicked him away, he rejoined Raph and the pair glared daggers at the Afro-Latino man.

Meanwhile, Bradford was still dealing with Mikey - but was suffering the blunt end of Mikey's nunchucks before blocking with his katana. At the same time, Leo was running towards to him to join the fight, and Bradford quickly blocked Leo's attack - but had started to back up as Leo inched closer.

Donnie and Raph had the same idea, backing Xever up inch by inch until eventually, the two men became back-to-back as the four boys surrounded them on either side.

There was nowhere to run, and attacking was futile.

Channeling his inner Captain Ryan, Leo declared the battle over. "You are worthy adversaries, but the fight is ours. Lay down your weapons." He instructed with a confident grin, earning a smile from both Mikey and Donnie and a proud smirk from Raph.

Xever responded succinctly. "Never!" And Bradford silently agreed as he raised his katana.

Leo promptly dropped the accent and put it as bluntly as he could. "You don't have a choice. You've lost."

But Bradford still wasn't about to take defeat lightly - or rather, at all. "If I'm going down..." He then noticed they were standing right above the now defunct mutagen bomb. It wasn't going to explode, but that didn't mean it couldn't be...broken.

"...I'm takin' you with me!"

He promptly stabbed the side of the container, earning a terrified "NO!" from Donnie. However, instead of the mutagen exploding, it flowed from the container and washed him and Xever away, just like water.

When the flow stopped, the boys jumped from the top of the building and onto the more safe ground level of the roof, and when they saw no sign of Bradford or Xever, but did see the mutagen bomb had shut down, they knew they had won.

"So to sum up, we kicked the butts of the Kraang, and Shredder's top henchmen, while defusing a bomb and saving the city." Leo confidently recapped, making all four of them smile in victory.

"Yeah, we're not overconfident." Raph agreed, making Leo finish the tirade with a simple, "We're just that good."

As the four cheered and hollered while exchanging their signature high three, they started to make their way off the building, basking in the glory of not only succeeding, but exceeding at what their mission.

Ah, victory was sweet, wasn't it?

"Your skills are impressive."

Wait.

That voice.

It made the boys stop in their tracks with how booming and commanding it was.

When they looked up to see who it was, they were met with a looming, dark force whose shadow was illuminated by both the neon sign of the Wolf and the moon. And when he jumped down to see them...

Oh no.

"...but they will not save you."

Shredder.

"Oh, man..." Donnie commented, his voice quivering. "Do you think that's..." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "...the Shredder?"

"Well, it's definitely a Shredder." Raph confirmed, not wanting to admit he was just as scared at his brothers. But even if he wasn't as outwardly scared as Donnie or Mikey, he was just as worried.

This was going to be a fight.

Unperturbed, Shredder stood and stalked toward them, somehow even more menacing than before. "There is undoubtedly a fascinating story in how my old nemesis came to teach ninjutsu to four mutant turtles. Perhaps I will let one of you live long enough to tell it."

As the four of them found inner courage, Leo spoke up. "You're gonna have to catch us first! Mikey?"

When Mikey held up a smoke bomb, his confident smile was on full display. "So long, sucka!" He smashed the bomb to the ground, expecting a cloud of purple smoke.

Instead, he was met with a normal egg yolk.

Oh no squared.

"Oops..." Mikey sheepishly mumbled, making Leo, Raph and Donnie glare at him. "All right, that one's on me." He added, trying to save the situation.

And they kept note of that...assuming that they would walk out of here alive.

Once Shredder unsheathed his claws and charged them, the boys had to jump into action.

Raph was the first one to be attacked, and it felt like every attack that he tried to get Shredder with, the latter would dodge or block. It was like...he knew exactly what the red-masked turtle was going to do, even before he himself knew what he was going to do.

It was frightening how skilled he was.

When Raph tried to get a strike between Shredder's armor, the latter used his claws as a shield and, having Raph's arm in his grip, threw his body weight into throwing the turtle into the Wolf Hotel's sign. And not just into the rafters, but into the bright letters.

"Raph!" Leo screamed in fear, watching as his brother convulsed from being electrocuted before falling to the ground.

Sensing an opportunity, Shredder charged for Leo this time. But the leader, fueled by anger about Raph, was as agile and sharp as Shredder was when it came to attacks. Blocking, dodging...it was, as if for a split second, they were fighting themselves.

But eventually, Shredder got the upper hand, and slammed Leo into the ground, then made him loosen his grip so he dropped his katanas as he slid away.

This was going abysmally to put it mildly.

"Leo!" Donnie exclaimed, going to check Leo's pulse to make sure that he was okay. When he heard a pulse, he glared at Shredder with unfiltered hatred before jumping in. He tried to strike, but Shredder leaped above him and landed a few feet away, completely missing any possible attack that Donnie could throw at him.

When he tried against to jab, Shredder grabbed the bo and jabbed it back, hitting Donnie a few times in the face - before finally ending it by striking him hard across the face.

That just left Mikey.

He swung his kusarigama chain and caught Shredder off guard when it wrapped around his arm, but was quickly bested when Shredder thrust his arm downward, sending Mikey flying into the air. And when he got close enough, Shredder delivered a perfect spinning back kick, sending Mikey tumbling on his side - but not without the youngest turtle throwing a few ninja stars at Shredder, and while they bounced off his armor harmlessly, they were just meant as a distraction as he fell off the roof.

When Shredder went to see if he was still alive, though, that gave Leo the perfect chance. He charged Shredder from behind and swung his katanas, catching Shredder's attention.

And using that distraction, Donnie charged forward, delivering a strong hit with his bo.

Now Shredder was focused back on the resident genius, until Leo snuck around again and engaged Shredder in another fight.

Meanwhile, Raph was still recovering from being electrocuted, and when Mikey leaped back onto the building, the terrified look in his eye was as apparent as he crept over to Raph, wanting to make sure he was okay.

When he turned his older brother over and was met with a confident look, one that said 'let's finish this,' Mikey smiled back.

Donnie and Leo, however, were still charging Shredder with all of their strength. The latter leaped up, trying to land a good strike, but Shredder blocked it harmlessly and tossed the leader aside. He then charged at the blue-masked turtle himself, missing the few strikes he attempted, not noticing Donnie charging behind him, bo staff swinging.

But the bo failed and broke against Shredder's steel armor, catching his attention. Unperturbed, he grabbed Donnie by the head and threw him into Leo, sending both of them to the ground. When he unsheathed his claws, ready to take out two birds with one stone, he didn't notice the enraged Raph leaping from the top of the building and landing onto him, scoring punch after punch.

Shredder quickly regained his composure, though, and tossed Raph aside like it was nothing. He was about to finish him off this time instead, but it was Mikey's kusarigama chain that came back, wrapping around his arm again.

And this time, Mikey had the perfect plan. He leaped from the top of the building, clutching the other end of the chain like his life depended on it, sending Shredder flying up. He then let go of the chain as the blade dug into the bottom of one of the platforms on the roof, leaving Shredder dangling and in immense pain - which was only highlighted when he felt bones snap in his arm, making him roar in agony.

Well, at least they did some damage to him.

But he wasn't done - far from it.

Using the claw on his other arm, Shredder quickly broke the chain - and in turn, sliced a part of the Wolf sign off as well. And unfortunately, that sign was meant to be retribution, as it fell on top of Mikey.

As sparks flew, Shredder freed himself from his bonds, ignoring the searing pain in his arm as he watched the other three boys lifted the sign up as the smallest one crawled out from underneath it. He had to admit, the disciples of Hamato Yoshi had tenacity. And while they weren't going to redefine the practice of ninjutsu, they could put up a fight.

Too bad he had what they were lacking; pure, unfiltered strength, deadly accuracy and skills that would put their years of training to complete shame.

He watched as the boys stood there, badly bruised and scraped up, but still ready to fight. He had to commend them on their drive. But drive wouldn't save them.

As they charged for each other, in one last hurrah, it took one hit from Shredder to finish them off, one by one.

First Raph.

Then Donnie.

Then Mikey.

And finally, Leo.

As the leader kneeled, holding his abdomen, he gasped as Shredder grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed his shell against a nearby wall, before one claw was unsheathed and stabbed the wall, with Leo's head being directly in the middle.

One wrong move and he was history.

"Tell me where Splinter is and I promise your demise will be swift." Shredder threatened in a low, serious voice as a small, yet even sharper blade protruded from his claw, pointing directly at Leo's throat.

Now it really was the concept of one wrong move and he was history.

But Leo held his ground, refusing to speak even one word. if he was going to die, he was going down swinging. If swinging meant not giving up the location of the lair, and in turn, Splinter and the girls.

Before Shredder could slit his throat, though, raspy breathing could be heard from the distance, and when Shredder let him go to investigate the sound, he weakly lifted his head up to see...

...a red snakehead.

And by the strained "help me" it uttered, it was Xever.

"What is this?!" Shredder exclaimed, more confused than ever. There was no way that his henchmen could have turned into...mutants, could they?

And the boys had the same question as Raph helped Leo to his feet and the four backed away silently, using the distraction as the perfect escape plan.

When Shredder saw a gigantic Japanese Akita, one with a smaller arm than the other, it clicked for him.

It was Bradford.

"Xever? Bradford?!" Shredder asked in both shock and horror. But his henchmen could be dealt with later. What was more important were those loathsome-

Wait.

"Huh?" When he saw that they were gone, he could have destroyed the city with the amount of rage he had. "NO!"

This wasn't the end, far from it.

And he wasn't going to stop until he finally had retribution.

And that included destroying Splinter and those worthless turtles.

At any cost, and by any means necessary.

They made it home...but by the skin of their shells.

Currently, everything was quiet. April was still curled up in the fetal position, the boys were licking their wounds and staring dejectedly at nothing in particular (save for Raph, who was furious at everything that had happened,) and Andi was desperately trying to distract herself by dabbing at a cut on Donnie's head with a cotton ball soaked in hydrogen peroxide, sniffling when he winced. "That's what happens when you scare me, you idiot..." She muttered, her voice quivering.

"Andi..." Donnie softly called to her, trying to get her to calm down. But his heart cracked as he noticed how hard she was trying not to cry.

"What am I supposed to do?" Andi mumbled back as she pulled her hand away, still meeting Donnie's heartbroken brown eyes. "I have April who just lost her dad and who's inconsolable, and then I have you four giving me a heart attack by nearly getting killed by the Shredder of all people..." She sniffled and put her head down, watching as tears rolled down her cheeks and landed on the couch cushion. "How am I supposed to feel, Donatello?"

Instead of responding, Donnie only pulled her into a hug - and nearly lost his breath when she put her arms around him and cried softly into his plastron. If she wasn't so distraught, he would've been on cloud nine. But instead, he weakly put his arms around her and just held her.

He didn't even try to ask when he heard her mumble, "Scaring me like that...don't you know you're all I have left?"

That only made him hold her closer.

Meanwhile, Splinter walked up to the group, a solemn expression on his face. "You were all very lucky." He began. And they were, but he was also lucky. The boys were inches away from never seeing him again. And he didn't want to think about what could have happened if the Shredder actually succeeded in his plan.

However, Raph saw the whole situation completely differently. "Well, I think we define that word differently, sensei." He muttered.

"Few have ever faced the Shredder and survived." Splinter clarified, making Andi subconsciously tighten her grip on Donnie.

"He was just so fast..." Mikey commented sadly, with Donnie agreeing. "It's like he was...everywhere at once."

But instead of focusing on Shredder, Leo focused on the other element - the one that made the mission sting as much as it did. "You were right about us being overconfident, sensei." He conceded. "There are just some things we're just not ready for."

While Splinter appreciated his eldest son's honesty (reflected in him putting a paw on Leo's shoulder,) that wasn't what he wanted to focus on. "Perhaps. But that no longer matters."

He then turned to address all four of the boys. "It is clear now that the Shredder is a problem that will not go away. So prepare yourselves, my sons. Because as of this moment..."

The mix of reactions was palpable; Mikey and Donnie scared and dispirited, Leo determined, and Raph with a newfound need for vengeance.

"...we are at war."

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