Chapter One

"Hey guys!" a voice rang over the din of the sewer. "Guys! I'm here and I have some really cool news!" Slowly, a woman made her way down a small ladder into the empty, but illuminated main room. "Donny? Mikey? Leo? Raph? Hey, where is everybody- I want to share the news!"

"April!" A voice rang out- it was Michelangelo. "So what's up? What's all the yellin' for?"

"Oh, Mikey!" April dashed forward, giving her green friend a big hug. "I just got the greatest news!"

"Yeah, that's what you keep sayin'-" Raphael cut in as he entered behind Michelangelo. "So why don't you just tell us already?"

"Cool it, Raph," Leonardo said as he followed Raphael with Donatello at his side. "Can't you see she's excited with whatever the news is?"

"Okay, here's what's up-" April said as she raised her hands as if trying to stop the excitement from spilling out of her. "My older sister May is letting my niece visit me for the whole summer! Isn't that awesome?"

"Humph," Raphael said, turning his shelled back and walking away, "Some excitement…"

"Raph!" Leonardo snapped. "I think it's awesome, April."

"Now, here's a question, April," Donatello popped in, "For the sake of sounding like Raph, what exactly does this have to do with us?" His two brothers nodded and muttered in agreement.

"Well, this is the really cool part-" April said, with a big smile on her face, "I want you to meet her!"

"What?!" Raphael shouted, turning quickly on his heel and walking back to the group. "April- have you not seen us? We are freaks! We are six-foot, muscle-bound turtles who can speak fluent English!"

"And a little Japanese," Donatello added, causing Raphael to shoot his a glare.

"So please tell me," Raph continued, his temper starting to rise, "why do you think this niece of yours would want to meet us?"

April looked a little hurt by Raphael's bluntness. "I…I just thought that you wouldn't mind hanging out with someone your age…"

"Dude!" Michelangelo piped in, "she's our age! Sweet! So be honest now; is she a babe?"

April laughed, "Yes, she is very pretty, Mikey." The three brothers started chattering amongst themselves about the cute girl coming to hang with them, when Raphael cut in again, "Guys! Did you not hear what I said?! What makes you think she would be interested in hanging with us let alone being flirted with? She's a teenage girl- you've seen how picky they can be when it comes to guys, let alone mutants like us…" The excited chatter stopped and was followed by sounds of agreement.

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that, Raph," April said flatly, "my niece is surprisingly open to different ideas and is accepting to everyone." This cause the other boys to start chatting excitedly again.

"But we are turtles!" Raphael shouted again, "We aren't even on the same species! What is the matter with all of you?!" Raphael shouted and with that, stormed out of the room.

"Ohhh…." April said, sinking into the nearest chair, "I thought this was a good idea… but I guess not…" She then leaned forward and put her head in her hands. "And she was really looking forward to meeting you guys, too…"

"Hold up," Donatello said, "You've told her about us?"

"Well, to an extent, yes," April said, raising her head and looking at her purple-bandannaed friend. "I haven't told her what you look like or anything, but she really seemed interested in the kind of people you are, and that's usually enough to make her go the extra mile and befriend you."

"This young girl may be just what the boys need," a voice said. Everyone turned around to see Splinter the Rat entering the room. "My sons have not had much contact with the outer world, and none what so ever with young women of their own age. Though their training is still extremely vital, I'm sure meeting a nice girl such as your niece could help them on the road to maturity."

"What do you mean, Master Splinter?" Michelangelo asked, looking a little confused.

"One can only travel so far on his own. He will then need the help of his brothers to continue on, creating a bond that is very important for when he is of age. However, when the traveler is approaching his destination, having the help of his brothers may not be enough, for they will still have to interact with those opposite of himself, thus creating another laborious journey."

"In other words," Donatello explained, "we can reach a masculine maturity, but we would have to re-learn how to act around women-"

"Because we would be way too macho!" Leonardo said,

"Yes," Splinter continued, "it is important to create harmony among others once we are of age. That is one of the aspects of ninjutsu- preserve and create harmony-"

"By way following tradition and preserving balance," Leonardo finished. He was finally getting what Splinter was saying. "Well, honestly I don't have a problem with meeting her. Besides, I'd love to have someone new to be around," he said, shooting a look at his brothers.

"Yeah, really," Michelangelo said, "anything would be better than putting up with Raph's tantrums all the time."

"I heard that!" Raphael shouted from his room, causing everyone to smile.

"So, April," Donatello continued, "You've told your niece about us, so why don't you tell us a bit about her?"

"Oh, gosh, I didn't even think about that!" April said, looking a little embarrassed. She lifted her head and arms off of her knees and sat back in the chair. Raphael, who had been hiding in his room, inched to the edge of the doorway and listened into the conversation, arms folded on his chest. "Well," April started, "she's about your guys' age, and she is very pretty, like I've said."

"Yeah, we know," Donatello said, getting a little antsy. "But what is she into?"

"Yeah," Leonardo said, "I mean, I'm sure we have got some things in common with her."

"Well, that's why I wanted you guys to meet her so badly," April said, a sparkling smile on her face, "She is into EVERYTHING that you guys are into!"
"No way!" Michelangelo shouted happily. "She is into everything we're into?!"

"Yup!" April said, her smile getting increasingly bigger. "Mikey, she is into video games, she knows quite a lot about skateboarding, and she is a self proclaimed connoisseur of pizza."

"Yesss!"Michelangelo shouted, doing his own little victory celebration, "Finally someone exactly like me!"

"What else?! What else?!" The other two said anxiously. Yeah, what else, Raphael thought to himself. This chick sounds too good to be true…

"Well, her father Richard is involved with a large corporation and they have visited Japan a lot," April went on. Leonardo brightened at this news, "Really? I love Japan! Like, the culture, and music, and food, and clothes and-" "I know!" April said, "She's also quite into her own martial arts training… I don't really remember what it is though. She also knows a lot about the Japanese culture- her dad always has business there, so sometimes she and my sister tag a long with him for vacations and such."

"And she's also an A+ student and a computer wiz," she said, looking at Donatello. "She is also the highest ranked English student in her high school." Donnatello's gaze shifted from it's normal astute nature to that of a more dreamy and dazed expression. "Oh man…" he said, leaning against a wall, "this is the girl of my dreams…"

"Your dreams?" Michelangelo and Leonardo said at the same time, "What about mine?" After that, they both peered at one another in bewilderment- this girl really was going to be fun to hang out with!

"So when will she be here?" Leonardo asked excitedly.

"Bright and early tomorrow morning!" April said happily. "So, you guys want to meet her?"

"YEAH!" All three turtles shouted happily. In the back room, Raphael grimaced. This girl does sound too good to be true… besides, April never mentioned her having anything in common with-

"Hey April?" Michelangelo asked, "you remember how you said that your niece has something in common with all of us?"

"Yeah," April answered.

"Well, what does she have in common with Raph?"

Wow, Mikey is becoming a mind reader, Raphael thought sarcastically.

April paused. "Huh…" she said, as she thought, "to be honest… I don't think those two have anything in common…"

Just as I thought, Raphael continued as he turned to enter his room again, too