Chapter 1

-Museum-

"The Sphere of Knowledge was recovered deep beneath the earth, where some say the great Library of Alexandria once stood. Scientists are eager to uncover secrets long since lost to time." Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe said.

"The Library of Alexandria?" Donatello ran from his lab and joined his brothers in the common area of the lair, they were watching Channel Six News. "Are you serious?"

"What's so special about that?" Michelangelo asked.

"Do you realize all of the advance tech we could have these days if not for that library going up in flames?" Donatello asked, it still hurt him to think about it but this discovery could be major. "Oh, we have to go see it." He said.

"You can see it when they air it this weekend." Leonardo said. "From here in the lair."

"That's not the same thing." Donatello pouted.

"Well it has to be that way, they are only displaying it this weekend during the day and then it's going back so that it can be studied further." He said. "There's no way we'll get in there without being seen."

"Then we'll sneak in a night." Donatello said as if it were the easiest solution in the world.

"No." Leonardo said, "End of discussion."

"I'm sure it'll come back once the scientists are done doing their thing, you can see it then." Raphael said. "It's not a big deal."

"Ah, you guys don't understand." Donatello said but returned to his lab anyway. Not being one to pout he gathered a few things that would help him and slipped out of the lair. If they weren't going to be on his side then he'd just go without them.

When Donatello reached the surface a pleasant breeze washed over him, the streets of New York were empty and the moon hung low in the sky. It was the perfect night to be out and, for now, there didn't seem to be a crime to stop. He was free to go wherever he wanted and so when he reached April's apartment home he thought nothing of it.

Checking the time, he noticed that it was a bit late for her to be awake, still he found himself at her window, and he looked inside, the moon's glow casting a perfect ray of light over her sleeping face. Donatello leaned in closer, allowing a few extra moments to take in her beauty.

Donatello quickly shook away his thoughts, becoming a creeper wasn't exactly his goal when it came to April. No, he wanted to wait for the right time to tell her, though she could probably tell that he was in love with her, he wanted the words to come from his mouth. He'd had many opportunities to say something but there was always something gnawing at the back of his mind. Donatello caught his reflection in the window and sighed, could there be a place for a mutant and a human to fall in love?

"Okay, Donatello, that's enough." He said to himself. "Let's just start with a date… yeah, a date… at the Museum. Yeah, we'll have the whole place to ourselves." Donatello held both of his fists to his chest with all the excitement of a five-year-old catching Santa on Christmas morning.

Donatello knocked on April's window lightly at first then harder when she didn't seem to stir. The second knock did the trick, April hurried to the window and threw it open. "What's going on? I'll get my tessen." She said, her hair was a mess and her pajamas were disheveled and to Donatello she looked like an angel in the moonlight, hair falling down her shoulders as it was.

"No need for that." Donatello said after regaining his senses.

"Huh? Then why wake me up. I have a test tomorrow. Do you know what time it is?" she asked.

"Sorry it's so late. I had to sneak out." Donatello said, "But this is totally worth it."

"I can tell by how excited you are…" she paused for a moment then said, "Wait, why did you have to sneak out?"

"Because, my brothers wouldn't approve of me breaking into the Museum of Natural History." Donatello said, wearing a guilty look and touching both of his pointer fingers together at the tips.

April took a step back and frowned. "What? And you think I do?"

"I know what you're thinking but don't worry." He said. "Did you watch the news today?"

"Hmm?" April looked toward the ceiling trying to remember if anything major happened in the news; then her it clicked and her eyes widened. "The Sphere of Knowledge?"

"Right, I just want to see it." Donatello said.

"And you can't do that without sneaking in because it's only going on display this Saturday from ten to two." She finished.

"Exactly." He said.

"And the reason you came here was?"

"Well, don't you want to see it too?" he asked.

"I don't know." She said, "I mean I can wait until Saturday." April was about to give him a definitive no but the puppy-dog eyes he was giving her stopped her. "I guess it could be fun to see it before anyone else."

"Yes." He smiled then held out a hand to her, he felt like a prince coming to whisk his princess away.

"Yeah, there's no way I'm going like this." She said then turned to go back to her room to change.

"I think you look great." He said but if she heard him he couldn't tell. Instead she closed the curtains on him. "Okay, I'll wait for you on the roof." He said and made his way to the roof.

Several moments later, April climbed up her fire escape, "Ready." She said.

"This is gonna be so awesome." Donatello said.

The pair set out toward the museum, hopping from one rooftop to another until they had reached their destination. Donatello dropped down to the ground near a back entrance and hurried to unlock the door while April was climbing down. "Got it." He said when April was at his side.

"I wonder what room they put it in." April asked. "But knowing you, I'm sure you have a plan."

"Well, you see, I sort of just came out here on a whim." Donatello said sheepishly

"Just great." April rolled her eyes, "Okay, let's just hope we find it before we set off an alarm or something."

They slipped into the building, it was eerie to say the least but April was able to push past it because her adrenaline was running at full force. It was exciting to be somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, plus she'd always loved the museum.

"This way." Donatello said, using his T-phone to illuminate the path he wished them to take. "Follow me." He said and made his way down the hall.

April hurried to keep up with him, she'd left her phone back in her room and didn't feel like getting separated to be alone in the dark. She grabbed Donatello's hand, he flinched slightly and April assumed it was because she had startled him. "Sorry." She said.

"N-No, it's okay." He said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

They hurried across the room and through a long corridor before the walls opened up to reveal a grand display exhibition hall, Donatello swept his phone across the room, illuminating it.

There it was, behind a cubic glass case, it was the focal piece in the room, and the walls around the room were decorated with pictures of what the Library of Alexandria may have looked like, along with lore surrounding its magnificence. Donatello wasted no time in making his way toward the Sphere, but his expectations were dashed when he set eyes on it. It looked like a regular old crystal ball, nothing fancy at all except that there were no real signs of aging.

"Huh," April said, she was leaning in so close that Donatello could smell her flowery scent. "It looks like one of those gazing balls that people put in their yards for decoration."

"Yeah, I mean I guess for being hundreds of years old, it is in pristine condition, which is kind of neat." Donatello said. "Well this was disappointing. Sorry, April."

"Hey, don't worry about it, it just means that my Saturday is free." She said.

"That's true…" Donatello placed a finger to his chin in thought, "I'm free too. Do you maybe want to-" he was cut off by the sound of two pairs of shoes walking toward them from down the hall. Donatello looked toward April. "Getting anything?"

"Yeah, two guys, they are planning on stealing the Sphere." She said.

"It should be around here somewhere." One of the guys said. Donatello and April hurried to the right side of the room and hid behind a small pedestal on which sat a few other artifacts.

"There it is." The other man said and suddenly a beam of light sliced through the air, Donatello had to yank April closer to him so that she wouldn't be seen.

"The alarm should be off." The first man said and April got a feeling that shook her to her core, the man was deathly afraid of failing. Too bad for him, there was no way he was going to steal the Sphere with her and Donatello on the scene.

"Good. Let's just get that thing and get out of here, this place gives me the creeps." The second man said. The first man lifted the glass box to reveal the Sphere.

"It certainly doesn't look like much." He said.

"Looks can be deceiving." Donatello said, bo staff at the ready.

"What the…" the first man retrieved a knife from his back pocket and poked it toward Donatello, "What are you?"

"Your worst nightmare." Donatello said, feeling proud, he'd always wanted to say that. While Donatello was distracted by the first man the second made his way over to the pedestal and reached toward the Sphere.

Before the second man could grab it, however, it levitated into the air and floated to the left, toward… a girl? "Aren't you out past your bedtime, little girl?" he asked, completely ignoring the fact that this particular girl had telekinetic powers.

The man jumped at her causing April to lose her concentration, the Sphere fell to the ground when April sprung out of the way. The pair hurried toward the Sphere, but April was too slow allowing the man time to kick April aside before he grabbed the Sphere.

"I got it." The man said, holding the Sphere up in victory. Suddenly an elbow found his ribs and he doubled over in pain, dropping the Sphere as he did. "Stupid girl."

April stood above him proudly for a moment and hurried for the Sphere, she grabbed it tightly with both of her hands. The Sphere suddenly burst forth a blinding light, Donatello looked at her, and distracted from his fight, took a blow to the stomach that sent him to the ground.

The light from the Sphere faded slowly and April felt a jolt of power bite into her fingertips. The jolt of power continued its assault as it slid up her arm and into her brain. April dropped the Sphere in favor of holding her head in both hands, an attempt to lessen the pain she was feeling.

The Sphere rolled away, into the darkness where the man April was fighting scooped it up. "Got it." He said. "Let's go."

"What should we do with those two?"

"Leave 'em we got what we need and besides, the cops are on the way."

Once the pair had vanished, Donatello pushed himself up off the ground, he felt embarrassed to be beat down that easily by a lowly thug, with April in the same room. And to make matters worse, the thugs got away with their prize.

Donatello stopped in his thoughts when he heard April fall to the ground with a thud. "April!" he hurried to her side, she was curled up in the fetal position, gripping her head as hard as she could. He couldn't wait for her to recover on her own as the sirens were getting louder, coming closer. They needed to leave now.

Donatello scooped April up into his arms, no matter how many times he'd picked her up, she always felt small in his arms, and the urge to be the one to keep her safe ran through him. "You'll be okay, I've got you." She managed to pull her hands away from her head so she could wrap her arms around his neck.

"I-I think I'm okay now." She said.

"Good."

"This is most certainly not good." Leonardo said in full lecture mode, "I told you not to go and you did anyway, then you brought April along." He turned his attention to April, "and you, April, you can go to the museum any time you want."

"Sorry Leo." April said, pathetically.

"And to top it off, you let the bad guys get away." Leonardo took a deep breath, there was no point in yelling at them now. He had to focus on the task at hand, "April, did you get a sense of what those guys were up to?"

"The only thing I picked up on was intense fear. These guys did not want to fail." she said. "But that was before touching the Sphere... after that, like right now I can't sense anything, I mean from anyone." She said.

"You lost your power? Why didn't you say something?" Donatello asked.

"Because I thought it was just a temporary thing, I mean, I still do." She said. "I don't think it's a big deal."

"Well, in any case we have to get that Sphere back." Leonardo said. "And find out what the heck they want it for."