TMNT Brotherhood   von -Anele-
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                             Kapitel 1: Chapter I
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„Don, get the camera!“ Mikey’s shrill scream echoed through the entire
lair. The youngest of the turtle brothers ran around in the living room, calling
everyone to join him. “It’s happening!” From the lab back in the quarter
of the big room came Donatello with a camera in his hand. He turned around and
smiled. “You okay there, Mona?”, he asked the female lizard, who was swaying
slightly.
“I don’t know, Donny”, she answered and her voice was cracking a little.
“This is all so surreal. I’ve been waiting for this moment for six month and
now… it all happens so fast…”
“Raph, get your shell out here!” Mikey continued his screaming. “You
become a father and Mona is about to faint!”
Raphael came rushing into the living room and it was hard to tell, which part of
Mikey’s phrase had alarmed him more. But he hurried over to his mate and
helped her take the steps towards the squared shaped box that had been standing
close to Master Splinter’s quarters for the past six month.
“Can I take the egg out?” Mikey asked and beamed at his bo wielding
brother.
“No way”, came the immanent reply. “I take the egg to the nest, you hold
the camera.” And Don pushed the tool into his brother’s hands. He walked
over to the box, which was filled with light and heat. Before Don opened it, he
looked over to Raph and Mona. “You should take it out. It’s your egg after
all.”
To Don’s surprise neither Raph nor Mona moved. Both managed to change the
color of their faces from dark to light shade within seconds. Don almost barked
out a laughter as he saw his usually tough older brother shake like a leaf.
“Okay, I do it then.”
He reached inside the box carefully and took out the egg, which was already
moving inside his hands. Don rushed over to a small nest in the center of the
living room and placed it inside.
“The camera is ready”, Mikey announced and bounced behind the stand he had
placed it one. “Stand here”, he gestured for Mona and Raph, who simply
followed, their eyes fixed on the moving egg inside the nest. “Raph”, Mona
suddenly said to her mate and grabbed one of his bulky arms. “You catch me if
I faint, right?”
“And who’s going to catch Raph?” The question came from Master
Splinter’s quarters. The paper walled door has opened and Leo came out,
helping his old Master down into the living room. The rat sensei had finally
succumbed to his age. His eyes and ears where still sharp enough to catch
everything around him, but his limbs didn’t want to move as fast as they used
to, let alone carry his thin body. He held unto his oldest son, but chuckled at
Leo’s question.
“You one ta talk!”, Raph yelled back at Leo. The tension was apparently too
much for him and he was in no mood for jokes. “At least I came immediately and
didn’t hide in the dojo!”
Normally Leo would have replied with another sharp comment, but not today.
Today, he just grinned cockily at his hot headed brother. Raph growled at him.
“Shut up! Ya have it behind ya already!”
Another scream echoed through the lair, but this time it came from higher above.
“Hurry up, you two”, Don called. “The shell is already cracking.” 
“Shell cracking”, repeated the high voice of Yoshi. Carried down in the arms
of his mother, he could only slowly see the egg. As soon as he did, he pointed
towards it. “Egg is hatching.”
“That’s right. You’re getting a cousin”, Vee answered and stepped next
to Mikey, who had been chased away from the camera by Don.
The room felt silent as a loud crack came from the nest and a hole appeared in
the shell of the egg. Next followed a small green foot. Raph’s face became
even more pale and he stepped back a little. Don chuckled and lifted the camera
towards him. The dark green turtle didn’t even noticed or anything else for
that matter. His eyes, which grew larger by the second, were fixed on the egg.
Another crack, now an arm popped out of the egg. It disappeared again and then
the complete left half of the egg’s shell gave in as the arm pushed through it
again.
“Come on little dude, you can do it”, Mikey whispered and began bouncing
again. Next to him, Yoshi began trashing on Vee’s arms. With his only two
years, he could hardly process the excitement around him. Vee had a hard time
controlling her son. “There!”, he screamed and pointed towards the egg,
which was wiggling and then tumbled over, so the hole was now pointing to the
lair’s roof.
For a moment, nothing was happening, then, a small head came out of the hole,
covered in slime and a thin fluff of dark hair. A pair of emerald eyes looked
around.
“Oh boy…” Mona stared straight into the hatchlings eyes, who was looking
back at her for a few moments. Then two tiny arms came out and the small
creature tried to fall into the nest. But it didn’t came far. Half way out, it
got stuck and landed on his stomach, the under half of his body still trapped
inside the egg. Apparently very displeased with that, the hatchling cried out,
turned around his head and glared daggers at the shell. Mona stepped forward,
but stopped immediately. Master Splinter had lifted his hand to command her to
wait. He smiled warm and ensuring at her.
The hatchling cried again and wiggled around to get out of the shell. When that
proved to be useless, he trashed, which caused him to roll around. The shell
cracked a bit. The hatchling felt silent, looked at his white prison with
suspicion and then continued to roll around until the shell crack fully open and
released him. To claim his utter victory and freedom, the small creature kicked
the part of the shell close to his foot. It landed at the floor under the nest.
The hatchling wiggled to the edge of the nest, looked down at the pieces that
belonged to his old home and screamed at it.
“Well, Raph, that’s definitely your child”, Don commented, his voice a
little weak, because it was torn between a gulp to swallow upcoming tears and a
laugh at the cuteness, he just witnessed.
No answer came from Raph, he still stared at the nest, his eyes now so big that
it looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. Mona next to him was
still frozen in her half step forward. The fresh parents fixed their newborn,
who had fallen on his back now. Between the cracked pieces of the shell the
small dark green creature laid and seemed to realize just now, that he had
entered a complete new world. It tried to sit up and landed on his stomach
again, but his head lifted and he stared back at his parents.
Nobody spoke, but the rest of the family – that was beside Raph and Mona –
tried their hardest not to laugh or even chuckle. They all just had a very big
smile on their faces. After a good minute, when no one had moved, Master
Splinter was the first to break the spell. He titled his head and look at Raph
and Mona. Just then, Mona gulped and stepped forward to the nest. The hatchling
watched her with big questioning eyes. The female lizard stopped forward of the
nest, she was breathing audible. Very slowly she reached inside and lifted the
new born out. The hatchling made a small surprised sound and titled its head.
But as soon as it felt its mother body against it’s own, it smiled. A big,
bright smile – then it squeaked joyfully.
That broke the ice completely. Mona sobbed and hugged her baby towards her.
Applause filled the room. Master Splinter reached to his eyes and wiped a few
tears away. Leo moved over to Vee and embraced her. She leaned back against him.
In her arms, Yoshi squeaked too. Mikey was crying too and Don just stood there
as proud and happy as if he himself was the father.
Only Raph seemed to be in a trance still. But he managed to turn his gaze a
little upwards and was now fixing Mona and the new born with his eyes. When Mona
turned to him, she chuckled lowly. A tear streamed down on each of Raph’s
cheeks. The female lizard walked over to her mate and presented the hatchling.
“He has your eyes”, she said. The hatchling looked up into his father’s
eyes. Raph stared back for a moment, but then he took the little one out of
Mona’s arms and lifted it up to his face. And then he finally smiled. “Hey
there, junior”, he whispered. Seeing his father’s smile, so did the
hatchling again and reached out to touch the turtle’s face.
“He’s smelly”, Raph commented. Mona laughed. She snuggled against her
mate.
“Hold still.” Leo had a camera in his hands. Raph placed the baby back into
Mona’s arms and then embraced her.
“He’s adorable”, Mikey exclaimed and jumped over to Mona as soon as
Leo’s hand sank down again.
“He’s a lizard”, Don noticed and pointed to the back of the hatchling. A
small, rather short tail hang out from under one of Mona’s hands.
None of them had know, what the hatchling would look like. When Yoshi was born,
it was clear, that he would be a turtle, since Leo and Vee both were turtles.
But since Raph and Mona were two different species, it was uncertain, what the
new born would be. In the very first place, it wasn’t even clear, if Raph and
Mona could have a child at all.
“You got good genes, babe”, Raph chuckled.
“So do you”, Mona replied. “He got your skin color.”
“Can I hold him?”, Mikey asked.
“First he needs a bath”, Mona said. “Trust me, Mikey, he’s sticky and
smelly, full of egg ooze.”
“I don’t care”, Mikey insisted, but Raph stepped in front of him.
“Bath first, family meeting afterwards.”
“What will you name him?”, Vee asked.
“Right”, Mona said, realizing, that over all the excitement, they almost
forgot about that. “We’ve decided for Machiavelli.” She looked over to
Raph and chuckled again. “You know, to stay in good family tradition.”
“A very good name”, Splinter commented. He was sitting on the couch now and
looked at his new grandchild with a deep feeling of joy and peace. “Wash him
now and be back quickly.” He winked at Mona and Raph.

While the fresh made parents washed the ooze of their child, the rest of the
family cleaned up. Leo and Mikey got rid of the egg shell’s pieces, while Vee
helped Don to properly contain the breeder, that Don had build for the eggs of
Yoshi and Machiavelli. Splinter took care of his older grandson. The small
turtle infant was already distracted by his grandfather and didn’t even notice
the return of his new cousin and his parents.
“Are you clean now, little dude?” Mikey was the first to approach Mona and
Raph. They walked to the couch. Only then Yoshi realized, that something was
going on. He fully understood that a new event took place, when he felt his
mother’s arms around him as he was lifted off the coach.
Master Splinter was of course the first one to greet the new edition to the
family. He held the small lizard and swayed him softly in his arms. Machiavelli
reached for the soft fur of his grandfather’s face and neck and snuggled into
it, purring happily.
“Don’t pull too much, love”, Mona said, when Splinter narrowed his eyes a
bit as the baby buried his hands deep inside his fur. “Grandpa is not a
plush.”
“I might as well be”, the rat sensei answered. “And as for the pulling, I
had enough of that in my life.”
Machiavelli purred even louder and laughed at his grandfather. Splinter lifted
him up a bit, but not too high. The baby cried out loud and spread his arms as
if an attempt to fly away.
When Splinter sank his arms again and put the small lizard back to Mona, Mikey
beamed up. “Me next.”
Raph signed. “Fine, Mikey. But remember, he’s a livin’ bein’, not one of
your toys.” The hot headed turtle watched carefully as Monas placed their son
in Mikey’s arms. “And here’s Uncle Mikey.”
Mikey beamed at his nephew and tickled his nose with his finger. “Dude, you
are like so cute. And you look exactly like your mom. Which is a good thing.”
He looked up at his brother and grinned. “Don’t get me wrong, Raph. I still
love him even if he turned out to be as ugly as you.”
Raph growled at him. “Just pass ma boy over and I show you ugly.”
“Really, Raph, not today”, Mona said. But just as if Machiavelli had fully
understood Mikey’s words, he lifted his hand and hit his uncle on the nose.
“Ow!”, Mikey cried more out of surprise then actually pain.
Raph roared with laughter. “See, Mikey, that’s ma boy. Just wait ‘til
he’s tall enough ta reach ya head.”
Machiavelli cried out loudly and tried to reach Mikey’s face, ready to strike
again. The sea green turtle held the little lizard back to Mona. “Here you go.
It’s the other’s turn.”
Everyone laughed. Mona now turned to Leo, Vee and Yoshi. Leo sat on the coach
next to his sensei and took his nephew. “See, honey”, said Mona softly.
“That’s Uncle Leo, Auntie Vee and your cousin Yoshi.”
Machiavelli looked with big eyes between Leo and Vee. Leo carefully stroked the
young lizard’s head. “I guess, he will grow hair”, he spoke to Mona.
“I know”, she replied. “He has a fluff on his head.” Machiavelli reached
for Leo’s hand, but he only managed to get hold of a finger. He examined it
with interest. But his distraction was quickly broken, when he felt another hand
on his head. He turned his head to Vee, who knelt next to her mate stroking her
nephews head with one hand. 
“He’s tiny”, Yoshi suddenly said, who hang onto the other arm of his
mother. “You were just as tiny, when you got out of your egg”, Leo said.
Machiavelli attention switched to his cousin and he laughed. Yoshi smiled
brightly. “Can I touch him, Mama?”, he asked Vee.
“Sure, but be careful. Just stroke his hand.” Yoshi did. At first
Machiavelli just held still and watched, apparently fascinated by the fact, that
there was another creature with similar small hands like him. Then he grabbed it
and kept a hold on it. Yoshi froze for a moment and looked, a bit unsure, at his
father. But Leo just smiled. “It’s okay. He likes you.”
Yoshi smiled down at his cousin. “I like him too”, he announced.
“Ya can hold him, if ya want”, Raph said. Leo opened his mouth as if to
reply, but remained silent, when Raph took Machivelli and told Vee to give
support. The small lizard understood quickly, that he was about to get another
hug. Eagerly he wept his tiny arms around Yoshi the best he could and purred
when he felt the young turtle’s arms around himself. 
Don quickly jumped to get the camera again and took a picture. “And here I
thought the flash light storm was about to calm down a bit”, Mona chuckled.
“No way”, Don said. “We have to fill a whole album with these.” He waved
the camera.
“Then how ‘bout you’re on one of these, too”, Raph said and snatched the
camera from Don’s hands. “You’re turn.” Machiavelli was passed to his
genius uncle. “Say hello ta Uncle Donny.”
Don softly stroke his nephews back. “It’s really amazing how nature has
decided for only one specie. There’s not even a hint of a shell.”
“I hope, you see my son as more than just your new science project”, Mona
remarked.
Don flushed. “Sorry, Mona. But he’s the first born mutant from two different
species. He’s something very special.” But the smart turtle quickly shut up
and grinned as he saw Raph’s and Mona’s faces. “Not that he isn’t
already very special. He’s my nephew, that alone make him cool.”
While Don tried to talk his way out of his little misery, Machiavelli had fallen
asleep in his arms.



                             Kapitel 2: Chapter II
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The happiness that filled the turtles’ lair after the birth of Machiavelli
lasted for only a year, before it was washed away by a deep sadness. Than the
age claimed it’s tribute on Master Splinter completely. The source of strength
and health that the the mutagenes and the long years of Ninjutsu had given the
rat sensei had finally run out. The great ninja master could no longer hold on
to the bonds of live. 
The whole family suffered from the loss of Splinter, but most of all Leonardo.
For days he stayed by his master’s and father’s site and cried. He always
knew that the day would come when his sensei would close his eyes forever, but
after the birth of Yoshi, Leo had taken a great comfort in the illusion, that
Splinter would stay with them throughout his entire life. The way the old rat
had swing his grandson trough the air, the way he would lift him up, showed
still so much strength in him, that Leo allowed the very small hope in his heart
to expand. It had been foolish, he knew that now. And the leader had never felt
so helpless and alone in his whole life.
Splinter had told him, that he was ready – ready to lead his brothers, protect
the family, be the guidance that they need. But as Leo looked down at the
lifeless body of his sensei, he felt not ready at all. How was he suppose to be
a good leader, a good mate and a good father all at once? In Leo’s head was a
big black space, like he never had any training, any experiences, any knowledge.
He felt small and useless and so very scared. No, he was not ready at all.
He repeated that phrase over and over again, when he was alone with his father,
begged him to come back, told him, that he was needed, that this family would
not survive without him. It took Leo a week, before he stepped out of his
father’s room.

They all dealt differently with Splinter’s loss. Donatello locked himself in
his laboratory and cried. He felt useless, he felt, like it was his fault. Just
like when they came back from 2105, when Master Splinter had been vaporized into
thousands of data bits. Only this time, there was no way to bring him back.
Searching for something that was still alive was possible. It was like Don’s
father had said: Where there is life, there is hope. But where there was no
life…And still Donatello felt, that he could have done something. He had seen
the future. He had seen the technology that could make life longer. But in their
time nothing of it existed. “I could have thought of something than. Invent
something, like I always do”, he blamed himself. He failed and this time he
had no chance to make up for it. So Donatello sat in his lab and cried.

Michelangelo cried too. He locked himself in his room. He knew he should be able
to deal with it right now. He was no longer a teenager, he was a young adult.
Loss was part of life. And after he and his brothers and Venus and Mona Lisa had
been through so much, he should be prepared. But he wasn’t. And just like
that, Mikey realized how less he actually had changed. His brothers had all
changed. Vee and Mona had changes. They fell in love, they had a relationship,
they had families of their own. Now there were two younglings running around in
the lair. The next generation. Mikey could have laughed. He always considered
himself somehow the next generation – in comparison with Leo that was. But Leo
was a father now, so was Raph. And Don had Leatherhead – as a friend or a
boyfriend, Mikey was not sure, but Don had LH. And he, Mikey, had nobody. He was
alone and he had no father anymore, who would cheer him up, who would dry his
tears, listen to his complains. Now, the youngest turtle was forced to finally
change, to decide, if he should wear his everlasting grin as a mask or but it
aside and let his joyful youth go.

Raph dealt with his sorrow the way he dealt with everything that was stressing
or upsetting him. He punched his back. He punched it so long and so hard as if
he was expecting for his father to come out of his room and tell him, that he
had to control his anger or he would crumble under it. No, Raph did not expect
Splinter to come out, he hoped, he would. Maybe if he punched the back hard
enough, the vibration of the force would somehow make Splinter’s heart beat
again. But it didn’t. Nothing would do. And that was the worst part. He could
do nothing about Splinter’s parting from life. And forced to just endure it
was torture for the hot headed turtle. Raph came to believe, that everything
could be changed, when one just get of his shell and do something about it. But
that was something different, maybe the only exception. An exception, that one
day his own son had to learn. It pained Raph even more to know, that one day he
would make Machiavelli as sad as Splinter was making him now. And for a little
terrible eternity, Raph regretted the birth of his son. He wished, that he and
Mona had not been compatible, that no life could emerge from them. And that he
thought about such a thing, made him even sadder and angrier. And he punched his
back even harder. The fabrics gave in and Raph’s fist grabbed sand as he hit
again.

Vee and Mona had their own way to deal with Splinter’s loss. They tried to not
think about it. For Vee, it was not the first time, she had to say goodbye to a
parent. When she was five years old, her parents perished in a car accident. She
could very well understand how the brothers felt. Had it not been for her uncle
Baxter, she would have been an orphan. Alone in a cruel world. And even he could
be considered lost for a some years. Lost to madness, lost to evil, lost to
pain. Vee liked to believe, that Yoshi’s birth had given her uncle a light in
his life, something, that he could see worthy to live for. Baxter Stockman might
not see his grandnephew as much as a granduncle might, but she was certain, that
he would do nothing to harm the turtles anymore.

Mona had to say goodbye to her family in another way, but nevertheless, the
feeling of total loneliness was something, she could very well understand. Just
like Vee, she decided to not think about it so much and instead focus on her
child. She believed it was what Splinter had wanted. To go on with life, to
focus on the future instead of the past. But there was also another reason, why
she didn’t want to think about the rat sensei so much. Just like Don, she felt
it was her fault. Don might be the smartest of them all, but he took the part of
the engineer, while Mona took the part of the doctor. She had always been good
at chemistry and biology and if it hadn’t been for Bishop, she might as well
had become a real doctor. So it had been her responsibility to take care of the
old ninja master. But life was nothing that could be contained forever. Mona
knew that, but she could have tried to keep Splinter alive for as long as it
could be.
After two weeks the family finally grieved enough and decided to honor the
sensei’s last wish. All of them traveled to Japan. They visited the Ancient
One. In a cinerary urn they had carried Splinter’s remains to his home land
and buried him next to his beloved master Hamato Yoshi. At his grave, the
turtles had finally found the strength to look forward and to bit their father
fare well. When they returned home again, Master Splinter’s room became a room
of honor. All valuable things connecting to Ninjustu and Japanese tradition as
well as a few of his very intimate belongings remaind there. The brothers, Venus
and Mona Lisa agreed, that it should be a place of learning and guidance for
Yoshi and Maciavelli, when their training began.



                            Kapitel 3: Chapter III
                            ----------------------


Don signed. For the past twenty minutes, he thought about closing the door of
his laboratory. There were just too much noises in the living room and he was
working with delicate technology here. Since Yoshi and Machiavelli had grown
tall and old enough to walk, run and speak, the turtles’ lair was as loud as
the time, Don and his brothers had been teenagers.
The genius turned around and tried his best to hide his annoyance. Mona was
sitting at the living room table, busy with a little project of her own. The
rest of the family was in the dojo at their training exercise. The only reason,
Don and Mona didn’t join them was, that someone had to keep an eye on the two
over energized tots. So far, the noises of the electronic toys of the children
filled the lair. Yoshi had his train station build up and was watching the
vehicle going around in circles at the large area. Machiavelli had been busy
with his own building of a big castle and let the knight attack it, constantly
putting them on the fields that made fake battle cries. But now the attention of
the younger one was more and more drawn to the moving train.
Don sensed the trouble before it was even happening. At first, Machiavelli
simple watched. But then he pleaded his cousin to give him the remote to control
the train. Yoshi of course refused. But not only because he didn’t wanted to
share his toy at the moment (actually the little turtle was surprisingly
selfless for a child and shared often with his cousin), but also because
Machiavelli was too young to handle the remote. And so the conflict emerged.
“Please, Yosh, please, let me have”, Machivaelli cried and reached for the
remote.
“No, Macy”, came the firm reply of the older boy. “You’re too small to
have it. You only break it.”
“Do not”, Macy said and his face became angry. “Gimme!” He tried to
snatch the remote from Yoshi’s hands, but the small turtle was quicker. He
elegantly managed to keep the electronic device out of Macy reach. 
Two month ago, Yoshi’s own training of Ninjutsu had started. The family had
agreed, that the age of five was a perfect time for the start and being
Leonardo’s son, Yoshi had received the best of the best training. Leo was so
proud, to start educating his boy and even though he didn’t show it openly, he
was delighted to see Yoshi proceed.
“No fair!” Macy was now chasing after Yoshi, which was in no way a real
race. The little lizard was only three years old and his legs wouldn’t carry
him as steady and fast and he wanted to go. His cousin was watching him
constantly with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. “Give it up, Macy, you
are too small to catch me.”
If there was one thing, Machiavelli hated, that it was being called “too
small”. The little lizard had inherit the short patience and hot head of his
father and tried to run even faster, which caused him more than once to stumble.
But he never fell, but came to the conclusion, that he was indeed in no shape to
keep up with his cousin yet, so Macy ran over to his castle. He picked up a few
pieces of hard plastic and followed Yoshi once more. When the young turtle began
running again, Macy through the pieces at his feet. Yoshi hopped and had now a
hard time, keeping his balance. “Cut that out!”, he cried.
Macy might got the hot head from Raph but he also got the smartness of his
mother. Don had early discovered, that the small lizard was learning very fast.
He had begun to speak very early and knew how to use his cute face to get what
he wanted. Donny had already made small plans for the clear talents that
slumbered inside his nephew and wanted to take personally care of their
flowering.
“Macy, don’t throw those blocks at your cousin”, came the calm but strict
voice of Mona from the living room table.
“Yoshi’s mean”, Macy cried and pointed accusingly towards his cousin.
“Yoshi won’t share.”
“I’m mean? You’re the one throwing toys at me”, the young turtle said
and put his hands on his hips.
Just as he said that, a brick hit his shoulder. “Ow”, Yoshi called. Now, he
was angry too. He put the remote on the ground and rushed over to his cousin.
Macy had still two pieces left, but none hit its target, because Yoshi avoided
each of them with ease. Now it was Macy turn to run and he did, but he didn’t
came far. Yoshi grabbed his arm and hold him in place. Macy cried out. “Stop
that!” he said sternly and pushed the little lizard to the ground. Now the
other child was screaming even louder and kicked at his cousin.
That did it for Don. Before Mona, who had already risen from the couch to take
care of this fight, could even take a step, the turtle with the purple bandana
established himself before the two arguing younglings. He looked down at his
nephew, who felt silent. Somehow Don and Mikey managed to command more respect
than the parents. Mikey took great pleasure in that, because it was hard to not
be intimidated, as soon as an angry Raphael approached you.
“You two are going back to your toys now”, Don said in his most annoyed
voice. “You are way too loud around here and I need to concentrate. I don’t
want to hear a single sound from you. Play with your toys and be quite.”
Both Yosh and Macy nodded in union. “Sorry, Uncle Donny”, they said and
walked back to their train and castle. Immediately Dons face became much softer
and he winked at Mona. Don hardly raced his voice at his nephews, which was
probably the reason why he commanded so much respect when he was. Usually, he
would be the nice uncle, who would give his nephews ice cream, read a story,
took them for a quick swim in the pool and be so much more understanding than
Mummy and Daddy.
Just as Don walked back to his lab, a shrill sound filled the lair. The red lamp
above the front gate of the lair started to blink bright red. Macy cried out and
covered his ears, Yoshi did too. The door of the dojo opened and Leo, Raph, Vee
and Mikey rushed out. “What’s going on?”, the turtle leader demanded to
know. Don rushed to the security system and checked the screens. What he saw was
anything but good. Through one of the many tunnels of the New York City sewers
came Foot soldiers.
“How did they find us again?” Raph growled, reaching for his sais.
“No idea, but they won’t get here”, Leo said, his eyes fixed the screen.
“Don, can you say how many they are?”
Don switched to sensor mode and scanned the area. “I spot five living
forms.” The genius grabbed his Bo from the wall. “I’ll take care of
them.” He sprinted to the front gate.
“Take your shellphone with you and call when you need help or if you see
more”, Leo called after him.
Don nodded and headed out into the sewers. With his portable tracker he found
the intruders easily. The small group had grown to eight. But the turtle was
pretty sure he could take care of them, still. Muting his tracker, Don blended
into the shadows of the tunnel walls and waited until the eight figures would
separate a bit. When that happened, Don followed the smaller group until they
all reached a fork, where the tunnels lead into three different directions. 
Than Don stroke. He put out his bo staff from behind his back and knocked two
soldiers of their feet. They landed in the water with a big splash. The third
one jumped around and from afar the turtle already heard the rest of the team
approaching. But the genius acted fast. He hit the two foot soldiers, who were
in the water directly on their chest. They gave a gurgling sound and then felt
silent. Then Don grabbed the third one and through him against the wall, ramming
the staff into his stomach. The man fell over and landed face down in the sewer
water.
That won’t be a pleasant wake up, Don thought. He hid himself in the tunnel to
his right, just in time, as the rest of the foot team arrived at the scene. They
looked down at their passed out comrades. The turtle jumped out of the tunnel
and directly into their middle, landing on the back of the soldier, he took out
last. “Looking for me, guys?”, Don asked the foot. Then he spun around with
the bo staff held behind his back. He knocked his enemies to the ground again,
but this time he only managed to knock two of them unconscious before the other
three were back on their feet again. 
The turtle jumped out of their reach and against the nearby wall. He pushed
himself off of it, using his staff as a tool for balance and drive. He kicked
one foot soldiers straight in the chest and stomach. The man’s back made a
hard contact with the wall behind him and he slid down. One of the other
soldiers came at Don from behind, grabbed his staff and tried to rip it out of
his hands.
“Hands off the merchandise”, Don warned him. He raised his right leg and
kicked the man away. In the next moment, he felt a fist connecting with his
cheek and he stumbled back against another sewer wall. The two remaining
soldiers came at him. Don jumped over them again, rammed the staff into the low
water and swung himself around, knocking his enemies of their feet again. He let
the staff go, landed on top of them and punched them in the face so hard, they
fell unconscious as well. 
The turtle was quite pleased with himself, when he stood up and looked around at
the eight bodies around him. Too easy, Don thought. Then he knelt next to one of
the foot and searched for a communication unit. To his surprise, he found none.
He searched all of them, but none had a device to contact the foot headquarter.
That is strange, Don thought. He took out his shellphone and called Leo.
“What’s up, Don? What are we dealing with?”
“Not much, if you ask me”, Don answered. “I took out eight foot soldiers,
but none of them have a communication device.” The genius took out his tracker
too and scanned the area. “And according to my reading, they’re no more of
them down here. You know, I think, they didn’t found us at all. But they were
obviously searching.”
“Okay, Donny”, Leo said, but Don was suddenly not paying attention anymore.
Something on the neck of one of the soldiers caught his attention. He put his
fingers on it and it proved to be of metal. At first, the turtle had taken it
for a simple button. But it was warm, as if there was something working behind
it. Don tried to rip the metal button of. When the fabrics gave in, he found a
small chip. The construction of it let all alarm bells inside Don’s head ring
at maximum sound.
“Leo!”, he called into the shellphone. “Get out of the lair. I was wrong,
they might be more…” But Donny couldn’t finish his sentence, because
suddenly there was a loud sound, almost like a thunder crack exploding out of
the shellphone and then the line was dead.


************************************************************************************************

“Not much, if you asked me.” Leo couldn’t deny the relief that he felt as
he heard Don’s report. According to his genius brother, the foot had searched
for them again, but hadn’t found any clues yet. That would give his family an
advantage. 
“Okay, Donny”, he answered. “Come back and make a full scan of the sewers
from the lair. We others will also go on patrol.”
From behind him came the voice of Mona. “Macy, don’t go to close to the
pool, honey.” Leo saw the little lizard walking towards the pool and smiled,
glad, that he didn’t need to keep such a close eye on Yoshi all the time
anymore.
“But there”, Macy said and pointed towards the water.
Then everything happened so fast, that none of them could have reacted in time.
The surface of the water began to bubble and then a big fountain emerged,
knocking them all of their feet and washing them half across the lair. When Leo
could see again, he spotted three big machines and a fourth coming out of the
water behind them. He looked around to see, if everybody was alright. Apparently
Mona and Vee had been quick enough to produce a reaction. The female lizard must
have jumped forward and grabbed her son just in time before the water hit them.
Vee laid half across Yoshi, covering him with her body. Mikey and Raph sat side
by side near the entrance of the dojo.
A loud stamp got the leaders attention. The machines, now there were four of
them, marched towards them, pointing their huge fire vessels at them.
“Move!”, Leo shouted. All jumped out of reach as the machines began to shoot
at them. Raph was the first to attack, running towards one of the machines. Leo
followed his example, attacking the one directly in front of him. He dodged the
bullets and lasers and used the different parts of the machine to reach the top.
He was greeted with a small window that revealed a foot soldier inside,
controlling the large robot. Leo took out one of his katanas, cut through the
window and swung inside. There, he grabbed the man and threw him out. Then he
rammed the blade inside the monitoring desk. The machine gave out a shirking
sound and the turtle jumped out of it, just in time, before the robot came
crushing down on the floor.
“Get the children out of here!”, he called over to Vee. His mate was already
at the door, Yoshi in her arms. But Leo saw her handing him over to Mona. They
talked for a few seconds, than Mona knelt down on the ground. Yoshi climbed on
her back and then the female lizard rushed out of the lair. Vee turned around
and jumped back into the fight.
“Guys, look out!”, she shouted. Leo turned to see, what she mend. Out of the
water came three new robots. Two were gold and had buzzsaws instead of hands,
the third was silver the arms ended in blades. All of them looked exactly like
Karai.
So much for how long it would take her to find us, Leo thought bitterly and
dodged again as another stream of bullets and lasers came in his direction once
more. He was chased around the lair, hearing a lot of things crushing and
shattering behind him. His home was being torn apart. That must be, what had
happened to his family once, when Leo was in Japan training with the Ancient
One.
The leader felt the same dark anger rise inside of him again, that ugly force,
he thought, he had destroyed. How dare she do it again? In this moment, Leo
regret, that he stopped Vee’s hand after she had defeated Karai in combat. If
he would have given up on the illusion, that she was different from the
Shredder, gave up on his will to see the good in her, if he hadn’t been so
blind, all this would not happen now. So Leo made another decision. This time
there would be no mercy, this time he would end this for good, even if it mend
to end Karai’s life too. 
The turtle first focus landed on the one golden Karaibot, which was currently
destroying Don’s laboratory. Leo lured the robot, that still aimed at him
towards the other machine. When the Karaibot spotted him, it ran towards him as
well. Leo waited for it to jump – and it did. At that moment, he threw himself
to the side and both robots crashed at each other. The buzzsaw landed inside the
right side of the other robot, cutting of the right arm. The Karaibot had taken
a lot of bullets, so much in fact, that, after a few last twitches, it exploded,
taking the other machine with it.
The force of the explosion shook the entire lair, the huge TV station exploded
too, glass and gears flew around the room, smoke covered the air. But the fight
continued nevertheless. Raph had managed to take out another robot, too. He
kneeled over it, breathing heavily but as he rose his head, Leo could see, that
his hot headed brother was as angry as him. The green eyes were narrowed to
slits and his mouth made an ugly grimace with barred teeth. With a loud roar,
Raph jumped of the robot and ran towards the silver Karaibot. Mikey was very
busy, keeping out of the reach of the blades. Raph slid under the bot, blocking
an attack with his sais. “Get the robot over there. I deal with this bitch
here.” Mikey complied immediately. 
The short tempered turtle managed to break one of the blades with his sai, but
then had to retreat for a moment, to make sure, he kept his head on. The
Karaibot swung the remaining blade viciously at Raph. The hot head dodged and
kept jumping from one side to the other.
“Raph, get the bot over here!”, Leo called over to him. He had taken on the
last remaining robot and planned to do exactly, what he did to the other. Let
the two robots collide. Raph started running, the Karaibot followed him. “You
sure, you know, what ya doin’?”, he asked.
“Just follow my lead”, Leo answered and kept running towards his brother.
“Jump to the left, when I tell you to.” They kept running for a few minutes
more, then Leo screamed: “Now!”
They both jumped and once again the robots collided. In a buddle they landed on
the floor. “Three down, one to go”, Raph said.
Just as he said it, he scream came from the other end of the lair. Mikey had
tried to get inside the last robot, but apparently, this one was controlled by a
smarter foot soldier. The bot had tiny canons installed on his top and these
were shooting at the youngest turtle brother. Mikey managed to get out of the
reach. He hang on one of the arms, put his feet against the side and swung
himself back on top. There, he wrapped his nunchakus around a canon and bend, so
it was now shooting at the vessel. He managed to do it to another. The robot was
trashing around in the lair now, stumbeling over to the pool. While he did, the
bot threw his arms around, trying to knock Mikey.
“Mikey, get off!”, Raph screamed at him, seeing, that the machine was
getting dangerously close to the pool. Just as the turtle with the orange
bandana was about to hop off, the bot swayed one last time and then fell into
the pool. The large arms kept swinging around and in the process, hitting Mikey
and throwing him against the hard metal front side, taking the youngest turtle
brother with him.
“Mikey!” Leo and Raph both screamed this time and ran over to the pool. Just
then another explosion shook the lair. This time it came from the kitchen, fire
leaked out of it and some pieces of the fittings came flying in the living room.
Leo and Raph had to dodge, in order to avoid damage. But they also had to ran
away from the pool.
Beside the turtle leader, Raph was panting hard again, his eyes were watery and
he growled deeply. “They pay for this.” 
Leo understood him. “Raph…”, he began, but the hot head was on the move
again, running towards the remaining  Karaibot, which was the current business
of Vee. Leo was about to follow, when he heard a shrieking sound behind him. Out
of the bundle of metal, that had been the sliver Karaibot and one of the large
robots, an arm with a gun emerged. Than another shriek came and both bots stood
up again. The large robot swung around, pointing his gun towards Vee and Raph.
Raph had reached the second golden Karaibot too and launched himself at one arm.
Or more, the only arm, it head, the other had been cut off by one of Vee’s
tessens. The bot trashed and shook it’s arm, the buzzsaw roaring angrily. Vee
ducked her head, when the arm swung in her direction. Raph fell off, but landed
save and immediately jumped back at the bot.
That was, when the gun of the other large robot went off. I rapid sound of many
bullets rushing out of their holes. The first few hit the Karaibot and the wall,
but the most didn’t miss their target. That sound was soft, almost not
audible. The same went for Raph’s surprise. He just opened his mouth for a
second, his eyes went big as if he couldn’t believe it. Then they were closed
tightly, the hot heads whole face became a grimace of pain. The body seemed to
stand still in the air for a moment, before it fell down like a sack full of
stones.
“Raph!” Leo thought at first the shock made his voice extremely high, when
he realized, it was Vee’s high shriek. She stared with impossible wide eyes at
Raph’s body. “Raph, can you hear me?” Vee ran over to him. Leo realized
another thing, he was running too. His eyes fixed the body of his brother, a
chant of no run through his head. That can’t be, that must not be. 
The sudden impact of a breathtaking force against his plastron came so
surprisingly for the leader, that he couldn’t even vocalize his pain. His
shell made a hard contact with something strong too. Leo understood that he had
been thrown across the room. For a moment his vision was a blur, that he saw the
silver Karaibot coming towards him. Little sparks flew out of the broken parts,
but the machine was still working. It lifted the remaining blade. But before it
could hit or Leo could raise his katana in defense, a sound, like a razor
cutting through metal got their attention. The second Karaibot cut into the side
of the last large robot, but one arm of the bot stuck into the other machines
chest. Leo could see Vee climbing out of the broken window of the controlling
chamber. The Karaibot on the mechanic arm was shrugging and spasm. Vee looked
over at the bot. The following explosion was again ground shaking and it knocked
both Leo and the last Karaibot across the lair. More smoke covered the room. 
Even though his world was still shaking and a blur, Leo ran towards the fire.
Around him, he could hear soft cracking, which possibly mend, the roof was about
to collapse. But he didn’t care. Now, he only needed to know, if Vee was
alive. He saw a dark mint colored arm from behind one of the massive pillars,
still somehow holding the roof. She’s just unconscious, Leo told himself. Who
wouldn’t after such an explosion. She has a shell, it protected her. He was
passionately ignoring the small voice in his head, saying, she might not have
made it.
For the second time today, the leader was knocked across the room and again it
was the Karaibot stalking towards him. Now, the turtle leader had enough. Seeing
the face of the woman he once had even feelings for, responsible for all that
mess, was too much for him to bare. She would pay for everything. He would blow
her tower skyhigh, kill every single one of her soldiers and destroy everything
that only looked slightly like it could remind Karai of the Shredder. And then
he would kill her.
Leo’s vision was crystal clear now. He took his katanas, fixed the robot and
waited for it to come to him. The shining blades made smooth cuts through the
metal construction of the machine. It separated it into two halves. The
underside remained still immediately, but the other half was still moving,
crawled the best it could. Leo lifted his katana again and removed the head.
Finally, the bot stilled.
The silence was almost like a thunder, only broken by the spit of the fire from
various corners of the destroyed lair. Leo fixed the ground and walked back to
where he had seen Vee’s arm. He walked around the pillar and found his mates
body covered with some fallen piece of the lairs structure. Leo lifted it up. It
was heavy, but he would get it out of the way. He almost had it completely off
of Vee’s body, when the room was shaken again. This time the explosion came
from outside the lair. The door was ripped out of it’s retainer and flew into
the room. The ground shook strongly, almost like an earthquake would happen. Leo
let the lifted piece go, but not, because, the force had caused him to let go.
No, he was pushed back against a wall again. Only this time, it hadn’t been as
harsh as before and he didn’t flew far. He landed against the pillar, his eyes
fixed the big brick, that fell down on Vee’s body again. But Leo couldn’t
move to pick it up again or to even take a step. He tried to lift his arm and
remove the shiny blade of the Karaibot’s arm, but too much of the body still
hang too it, as it had come flying at him, the blade cut through his plastron
and shell, pinning him to the stone pillar. The irony, Leo thought. He wanted to
think of how he hoped, Vee was still alive, that Donny and Mona would find her
and save her, so that Yoshi had at least his mother to grow up with. He also
wanted to hope, that Raph somehow survived too. But Leo couldn’t, his life ran
from him too quickly.



                             Kapitel 4: Chapter IV
                             ---------------------


The water hit Mona hard, drawing all air out of her lungs, pulling at her limbs.
But she held her arms tight together pressing Macy towards her. She didn’t
care, what happened to her. She was only happy, that she did managed to get to
her son just in time, before the water filled the lair. As soon as she felt,
that her head was out of water, she tried a few experimental breaths. Mona
choked out water and looked down at Macy. He had pressed his face against her
chest and wasn’t moving. “Macy?”, Mona called softly to him. At first
nothing happened and the female lizard felt an iron knot forming in her stomach.
But as quickly as it came, it vanished, because Macy lifted his head slowly. He
chocked too and tried desperately to get some air into his lungs.
Around them were noises of shooting and cries. Mona got a scream from Leo. She
jumped just in time, before a few laser beams crashed the area, she had just sat
on. “Get the children out of here!” came another shout from Leo. Mona
followed and rushed towards the big entrance of the lair. Vee came right behind
her, Yoshi in her arms.
“Let’s get out of here”, Mona said. Vee looked at her, then turned
slightly back to the big robots, that marched around the lair, tearing it
apart.
“Take Yoshi”, the female turtle then said. She handed her son over to Mona.
“Mommy, no”, Yoshi cried and held onto his mother.
“No, honey. You go with Auntie Mona now. I’ll come for you later. I have to
help the others.”
Mona looked around too. “You should come…”, she began, but Vee had a stern
look on her face, that told Mona, that arguing was pointless. Vee always had
that look on her face, when she had to make decisions. Mona was never sure, if
her friend had developed that determination because, she was the mate of the
leader. Sometimes she thought so, because Vee could transform into a lioness,
when she had to protect her loved ones.
“Take Yoshi and run. Maybe you find Don. Bring the children out of the sewers.
We will hold them off.”
Yoshi was still struggling, but when Vee put him on his feet and knelt before
him, he felt silent. “I need you to be strong now, Yoshi. You must take care
of your aunt and cousin until you find Uncle Donny.”
A similar stern look formed on the little turtles face. “I can do that”, he
said with a strong voice. 
Vee kissed him. “Climb onto Auntie Mona’s back”, Vee said. Mona knelt down
and let Yoshi climb up. “Hold tight now, Yosh. No matter what happens, don’t
let go.” In her arms, Macy was shivering. He was terribly frightened. The
female lizard looked back up into her friends chocolate brown eyes. “Vee,
listen, we can find another place to life. Don’t try to make a last stand.”
Vee smiled. “We follow as soon as we can.” A loud crash got all their
attention. One of the big robots came crushing down on the ground. “Go,
quickly!”
Mona didn’t waste another second. She grabbed Macy a bit tighter and ran out
of the lair into the sewers, praying, she would bump into Donatello. The female
lizard ran through a few tunnels, searching for a letter, that would lead up to
a street near April’s and Casey’s apartment. Just as she spotted one, she
saw a few lights coming towards her. That couldn’t be Don. Shorty after the
lights came a soft scretching sound. More robots came towards the lair. Mona
knew, she couldn't run back, so she just headed back to the last sideway and ran
down the tunnel. She needed to hide the children, she could not risk to even be
found with them. 
From the corner of her eyes she spotted a small niche. It was barred with wooden
boards. Mona knelt down and told her nephew to climb down. She wanted to push
her son away from her, but Macy held tight. "Just give me a minute, honey", Mona
said as softly as she could. Behind her the scretching sound became louder and
she could see the light starting to fill the tunnel.
"They coming, Auntie Mona", Yoshi wispered. Mona made quick work of the wooden
boards with her kusarigama. As soon as the niche was free she pushed her son
inside and told Yoshu to climb after. Macy was quick to crawl out again, but was
pushed back inside by his mother. "Stay inside, both of you and hide", she told
the children. "Do not come out, until you hear and see one of us." Macy wanted
to crawl out again, but Yoshi grabbed him. He nodded into Mona's direction and
dragged his cousin, who was crying now, back into the niche.
As soon as the crys fell quieter, Mona rose to her feet and walked towards the
light. She was greeted with a tall metalic object, that shot it's lights at her.
Both arms ended in laser guns. The female lizard dogged and jumped on top of the
machine and ram the sharp end of her weapon into the robot. Electric sparks flew
out and the bot swayed a bit, but it didn't went down. Instead ot turned around
and followed Mona back into the main tunnel. The female lizrad ran, but she
didn't came far, because the bot shot a lazer blast towards her. It missed, but
hit the wall instead. It collapsed and blocked Mona's way, forcing her to head
back. The bot waited for her, shot another blast. Mona jumped out of the way,
but a piece of the exploding tunnel wall hit her on the left shoulder. She fell
down, but got up quickly. Giving up was not an option. Neither was running back,
but she could go no were else. If she did, the bot would either find the lair
too or the niche with her son and nephew. 
If she could just make some time to call Don. He would know, how to shut that
thing down. But she had not such time, so she had to shut the machine down the
old fashion way. But how? Another blast told her, the bot was way to close for
comfort. The explosion next to her, threw her a few feet away and the female
lizard made a hard contract with the stone wall. Not being a turtle, she felt a
stinging, sharp pain in her back. Luckly, the impact had not been hard enough to
cause damage. Mona lifted her head and saw the robot coming towards her. But she
also saw something else. Aparently the last explosion had damaged the bot more
at the place, where she cut the metal open with her kusarigama. Cables protruded
out of it. Mona made a side flip and into the tunnel next to her. The bot
followed once more. The female lizard noticed, that the had rushed into the same
side tunnel, where the niche was. She couldn't go any further inside. The robot
was unfortunately blocking the entrance.The cables on top of it sparked and
shined in a bizarre way in the dark of the tunnel.
Mona looked back, right to the place, where she knew the niche was. She couldn't
go further. She couldn't go outside. There was only one option. Take the robot
down now. The female lizard jumped. That seemed to surprise the bot, because it
took no immediate action. Mona used that to her advantage and grabbed the
cables, that were leaking out of the machine.She landed behind the bot and put
the cables into the water right behind the robot.
An enormous shock sparked through her body and he felt her fingers closing
around the cables even tighter. Even if she would have wanted to let go, she
knew, she couldn't. Her entire body cramped. When the last piece if electricity
of the robot was used, the robot fell forwards and landed in the water with mix
of a splash and a shatter sound. It overshadowed the sound of a much smaller
body landing into the water behind it. A small cloud of smoke emerged into the
tunnel.




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