A/N: Hello, hello and welcome everyone! Looks like Alix and I weren't finished with our TMNT writing phase!
Mikey: You mean we have to do these stupid author notes AGAIN?
Alix: You know you missed them, you bone head.
ET: Ok, so some quick introductions are in order I suppose. To all noobs, Alix and I wrote a TMNT fanfiction together a little while back called "Negative Serendipity," and now we've returned for more fanfictiony goodness. No it's not a sequel, and no we don't own any of the turtles (no matter how much we want to) or characters/plots.
Raph: And you know you want me.
Alix: Mmhmm! Let's see, disclaimer, intros…what else? Oh right! Last important announcement: I'll be changing my screen name to "RubyHawk" instead of "emeraldLINX" in several weeks and wanted to give everyone (especially previous readers/fans) a heads up. This change will probably occur after the second chapter is revealed to give time for the news to spread around. 'Till then, pardon my dust.
Leo: You are forgiven.
Chapter 1: Innocent Beginnings
A typical, uneventful Sunday night transpired in the Lair: Donatello sat at his lab, blue goggles on and examining a new type of technical equipment with enough complexity and requiring enough knowledge to fry anyone's brain. Music blared from Michelangelo's room, currently "Hotel California," his shadow playing an air guitar as he jammed to the three minute guitar solo. All while Leonardo and Raphael sat in front of the TV, watching the evening's news.
Leaning forward in his seat as a new story began, Leo watched absentmindedly, not particularly caring about the name of some high tech institution or its new technology, until the newscaster mentioned its robbery. Four robot prototypes had disappeared, instantly catching his attention.
"Hey Donny, you might want to take a look at this!" He shouted over his shoulder, using the wonders of Tivo to rewind to the beginning of the story.
"What?" Donny leaned back, lifting his goggles and inquisitive eyebrows (not that he had any, but a mutant had to make human references sometimes).
"Mikey, turn th' damn music down! We can't hear each other think in here!" Raphael turned toward his brother's room, eyes flaring. I should hope not, Leo thought, or we'd all be going crazy. When no answer came, Raph grinned at his brother maliciously, leapt over the sofa, and into his brother's room. Mikey's infamous "OW! Whaaaaaaat?" could be heard, as the music slowly dissipated, though still echoing in the silence.
Raphael emerged as quickly as he disappeared, clapping his hands in a finished and confident gesture, closely followed by Mikey, currently rubbing his head and glaring at his brother. As both slowly walked to their 'seats' on the floor in the small enclosure before the TV, Leo shook his head. How did Master Splinter manage to meditate with their ruckus and squabbling every waking moment? He'd never know.
Donny walked over, wiping some grease off of his hands. "What is it, Leo?" the turtle asked, with untraceable annoyance for halting his experiment. He tossed the towel over his shoulder as his brother pressed a 'play' button on the remote control. His eyes narrowed as the story continued, interest growing but then fading. He shook his head, "Sounds just like the other reports from earlier. The stolen stuff's probably bits and pieces to some bigger technology. I just wish I knew what the robbers were going to do with them..."
The other turtles nodded, silently agreeing with their brother's insight. Knowing he had no lead to the theft and being too enthused by his own technology, Donny slowly returned to his work station, lost in scientific thoughts. Leo stood, pacing while the rest of the stories continued. Raphael watched his brother from the corner of his eye, but remained silent.
"You're starting to wear a hole in the carpet, Leo." Mikey said, putting his feet on the coffee table and his hands behind his head. The red turtle smiled that his thoughts were addressed without him having to announce them first.
"Yeah c'mon bro, what's eatin' ya?" Raphael twirled a tsai in one hand, his eyes following Leo's path back and forth, back and forth. "You're starting to get me jittery."
He stopped and stared at the screen. "I just... what if Karai is behind-"
"Ah, Leo, not again," his brother smacked his forehead with apparent frustration, standing up and holstering his tsai in one fluid motion. "We've been over this. First off, we don't know who's stealing all this technology. And even if it was the foot, which we kind of suspect it is, we have no proof it's her over any one of Shredder's guys. Don't worry about it until we know something." Raphael was tired of his twin's paranoia over Karai. "Even if she is stealing the stuff, what's your point?"
Leo was obsessed, worrying over her intentions, her actions, her orders. He always argued with them for her to the point that the girl sounded like a saint. But she was not one of them, a leader of the Foot ninjas. Karai had told them several times that she refused to change her ways, continuing to obey her master, which was the 'honorable' thing to do.
"The sooner you realize that she ain't a good guy, the better."
Raph's brother whirled on him, his teeth set inside his head, ready for another long debate. "How can you say that after she's let us go so many times? After she helped to bring this city out of chaos?"
The turtle rolled his eyes. Constantly fighting his brother over the same issue was becoming unexplainably annoying. He did not want to get into this argument again or listen to Leo's sense of justice and outrageous excuses for that girl. Seeing Raphael's visage, Mikey grinned from his sitting position and inwardly agreed that discussing Karai was out of the question. He decided to nip it in the bud, do a favor for all of them. Oh Mikey, the savior, he thought, conducting his own theme song. Smiling, the turtle sat up, acting a curious turtle realizing a scandalous truth.
"OOOOOOOO! Leo's got a giiiiiiiiiiiiiiirlfriend!" He rocked back and laughed as Leo glared at him. The tension in the room broke. Raphael turned, heading for the door, ignoring the teasing coming from Mikey and the heated denials of Leonardo.
"Where you goin' Raph?" Donny's goggles looked over his equipment to watch his brother tromp out of their lair and into the elevator leading to the heart of New York City. The red masked turtle pressed a button, leaning against the back of the elevator.
"Out."
Donatello shrugged, returning to his gadget. A typical Sunday night, indeed, he thought. He could expect his brother's return in the minimum of twenty-four hours with a usual excuse of a story as to his late arrival: meeting a band of Foot ninja, kicking their shells. With that as his final thought in the matter, he transferred his mind to his experiment. If only he could figure out a way to connect the geothermal cerebrum to the trisilicon teranium, in a way that it would not explode…
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Raphael loved going topside. It was a place he could clear his head: his own obstacle course, leaping along buildings and over cars, avoiding people in alleyways and hitching rides on the top of moving trucks. At this time of the week and night, few people prowled the streets, making his acrobatic tricks all the easier to perform. Every few moments, the turtle stopped to look over his world of freedom.
On one of these occasions, he heard a small tap behind him. He remained still, instead pretending to look around at the scenery. Continuing his route, he leapt over the side of a building, catching a clothesline and finally landing safely onto concrete. He flipped over the quiet street and quickly scaled the wall on the other side, jumping two buildings more before descending again.
He dove under a dumpster, pulling his legs and arms out of view, waiting. Soon two feet clad in black, barely visible against the dark alley wall, landed where he had been moments before. Slowly, without a sound, he looked out to discover the identity of his pursuer. The answer did not surprise him but instead, lifted his mood considerably.
Karai.
So the Foot flunky was following him, he thought. But why? He grinned as she leapt to the nearest fire escape, ascending to the waiting rooftops above. Time for a little follow the leader. He quietly slipped out from beneath the dumpster and followed.
She was good. He was better.
A/N: Yay, a new chapter for a new story! Of course, I (Alix) am probably out of my mind for starting another fanfiction project. Good thing I have ET to continuously remind me.
ET: You better be thankful. Ph34r m3!
Don: For talking like that, I sure do.
Mikey: You're just upset because in the last story they auctioned you off.