A/N: Eclipse belongs to GeekyCookie1. Mara Sparks, Calista Diaz, and Zane Carson belongs to MariChat3.

Enjoy!

"Don't talk about your feelings to a jar of guts that has a habit of drinking mutagen. Why? You'll see. Or if you do, make sure that there's no mutagen in the room at all."

KAZ KNEW HE was being watched. If being trained in martial arts by a mutant rat that lived in the sewers was anything, it certainly heightened his senses—and something told him that he could guess on who it was. With his mother now being a mutant bird, it was just him with his brothers and sisters but it wasn't like he could just go up to them and tell them that Kyle was right about what happened to their mother. No, if he did that, he'd have to come clean about everything, including... about everything that he's been keeping from them.

But he couldn't do it.

No, he wouldn't do it.

He wasn't going to expose their existence to his family—he couldn't.

If he knew his siblings the way he did, it was easy to guess their reactions; his sisters would freak out, his brothers would most likely act like idiots and possibly try to make some money off of it, and Kyle... if anything, he'd probably be the least likely to freak out and just shoot out random questions about them—that or maybe he'll be too surprised to do anything. But either way, the answer was simple: no, he wouldn't expose their existence.

Frankly, if he was being honest, he did miss hanging out with them. And even though he knows it wasn't their fault for what happened to his mother, sometimes he'd catch himself staring at the one too many messages from a certain someone or wondering if he should try to get into contact with one of them.

"I know you're following me," Kaz said, turning around to see no one behind him. "So, come on out."

"Uh, hey..." a familiar voice said with a nervous laugh as Briana stepped out from the shadows, rubbing the back of her neck with a sheepish look. "It's me."

"Briana?"

Briana did her best to try to ignore the fact that he didn't use one of his usual nicknames for her. It didn't matter how bad she wanted to hear them coming from him—she didn't blame him for not doing so.

"Uh, hey," Briana said nervously, taking a few steps forward. "So, uh, it's crazy how we're running into each other here. Um..." she hated how awkward their friendship got after what happened and wanted nothing more for things to go back to normal.

Kaz raised an eyebrow at her. "Were you the one that's been following me around for the last few weeks?"

Briana felt her face turned slightly red in embarrassment. "Uh... I d-don't know, um... maybe?" She tried to play it off but knew it didn't work. "Um... do your brothers and sisters know..." she trails off.

"No," Kaz simply answers. "They don't know what happens. Well, Kyle does since he saw it happening but the rest don't believe him, and I kinda have to play along with them or else I'll have to tell them about you guys."

"Right," Briana said softly, an awkward silence setting in between them for a while before she sighed. "I... about your mom—"

"I know what you're gonna said," Kaz interrupted with a small frown. "And you don't have to apologize. Yeah, it stinks that my mom got mutated but... it already happened."

"I... Kaz, I swear," Briana said, sounding determined with her words. "I'll find a cure and bring her back to normal. I promise."

Kaz wanted to said something, but he didn't even know what to said. All he knew was that in that very moment, he could see the determination in her eyes and if it was one thing he knew since meeting her, it's this: she wasn't about to give up.

"And I know you said not to apologize, but... I'm—" Briana added. "We're sorry. We didn't mean for your mom to get mutated—it was an accident, but I promise you, I'll fix it."

"I know."

Another awkward silence settles between the two for a while, neither one knowing what to said. Kaz turns to head over to the front door of the house but stops—he gives a small sigh and looks over his shoulder. "I guess I'll see you in school." He said.

Briana nodded slowly. "Y-yeah."

Then, Kaz looks away and walks away. But as Briana watches him head inside of the house, she swears that it felt like her heart went with him.

👑👑👑

SHE ENTERED THE lair with crestfallen expression, slumped shoulders, and a small frown on her face. She wanted nothing more than to head to the lab and go back to working on finding a cure, determined to bring his mom back to normal and save their friendship.

"How did your 'run' go?"

Briana froze, looking over to see that Leonardo, Henry, Raphael, Donatello, and Eclipse had spotted her. "Oh! Uh, it went... great?" She tried to lie.

"You're a terrible liar, you know?" Eclipse told her. "We all know you were following Kaz again."

Briana felt her shoulders slumped again. "Why did you guys ask then?"

"Cause we knew you tried to lie about it, and that's pretty much our answer of where you were the whole time." Leonardo said.

"Look, we know you miss him, but following Kaz isn't going to help." Henry said.

"I know."

She looked away a little, her mind going back to her conversation with Kaz. He didn't sound mad—not like April was. Doesn't that mean he could still come back one day?

"Where's Mikey?" She asked, desperately wanting to change the subject as she shook her head a little.

"He's watching something on the TV."

Then, a voice that sounded like it came from an anime grabbed her attention. "Oh no! Super bad times for all!"

"Does great danger arrive? Where?"

They went to find what it was, only to find Michelangelo in front of the tv with a box filled with tapes and playing on the tv was a dubbed anime. The rest of them stared at the tv and Briana swore that this was the very reason she watched her anime in subbed.

Dubbed anime was just... weird and sounded ridiculous half of the time to her.

"Killer beast bots from planet seven are here, with steely resolve!" The one nerdy character with glasses cried. "Captain Coolstar, what are we going to do?"

Captain Coolstar proceeded to slap the poor boy across the face. "Get ahold of yourself, man!"

A small monkey in a yellow suit whimpered softly, and a guy in a red suit looked up at him. "Don't worry, Squeakums. We'll blast them with Mighty Super Robo Mecha!"

"Team! Combine in teamwork mode!"

"Super! Robo! Mecha! Force! Five! Team! Five! Go!"

"What the heck is this nonsense? It's terrible." Raphael said, and Briana saw his eye twitching a little from how bad the anime was.

"Terribly awesome!" Michelangelo responded, getting onto his feet as he picked up a box of tapes. "I found these old tapes in a dumpster."

"Tapes?" Henry asked.

"Check it out," Michelangelo said, carrying the box over to them as Donatello looked through it.

"Dude, this is awful!" Leonardo complained. "And you guys complained about Space Heroes."

"You know, I have to agree with Leo on this," Eclipse said as she pointed at the anime playing on the tv. "That is way worse than Space Heroes."

"Their lips don't even match what they're saying!" Raphael exclaimed. "I could never watch a show this bad."

Michelangelo only smirked at the challenge.

👑👑👑

THE NEXT THING that Briana knew was that the others had joined Michelangelo were sitting close to the tv, eyes glued to the bright screen while Briana was the only one sitting on the couch. After Michelangelo had showed them the first few episodes, they were already hooked on it, and were enjoying it way more than Briana was.

'Demon Slayers and Naruto are way better than this.' She thought secretly to herself.

"So, she's the princess of an entire planet?" Raphael asked. "Cool!"

"Yep, and she also pilots the robot's left leg," Michelangelo said. "She rules! But that scientist dude made the robot!"

"The story has such an intricate, layered plot." Donatello beamed. "Four stars!"

The scene changed to show the nerdy boy talking to the princess.

"P-p-princess, I'd like to invite you for a space dinner, if you'd please. Yes?"

"What? I, date a weakling like you? Not for 10,000 Zarkon crystals!"

Dramatic music played as the nerdy boy cried out in horror.

At once, everyone but Donatello and Briana started laughing. "Haha, Donnie, that is so you and April, dude!" Michelangelo said.

"It is not!" Donatello snapped and stood. "Man, this show is lame anyway, the plot makes zero sense! I'll be in the lab..."

She stood up as well. "Enjoy the anime, guys," She said, leaving the pit. "I'll be in the lab with Donnie."

👑👑👑

ENTERING THE LAB, Briana made a beeline towards the desk where Donatello was already working. Without a word, she studied the formula she had written onto a piece of paper before already getting started on what she needed, feeling her brother eyeing her as she worked.

"You went to see Kaz?"

"Donnie..." Briana started with a frown.

"I'm not gonna said anything," Donatello told her. "I'm just asking."

Briana remained silent for a while before she sighed, nodding. "Yeah, I did... for the last few weeks." She frowned lightly and looked up at him. "What if he doesn't come back, Donnie? What if we can't find a cure?"

"We will," Donatello reassured her. "They'll come back."

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better? Or do you actually believe it?"

Donatello grew quiet, unsure of what to said as he didn't even know if he believed it. Briana watched as his reddish-brown eyes landed on a photo of him and April. "What am I to April, anyway?" He admitted. "I'm worse than a nerd. I'm a freak! We're in total and complete freaks!" He stopped talking and turned towards Timothy. "Sorry, Timothy." He looks back at his sister. "You too."

"You're not a freak, Donnie," Briana said. "None of you are."

"Maybe," Donatello said before he sighed. "It doesn't matter anyway. April blames us for her dad's mutation. I—we have to find an antidote."

"A retro-mutagen," Briana added.

The two turned towards Timothy. "And pretty soon, you won't have to be a barely sentient glob of intestinal goo any longer."

"You ready?" Briana asked, waiting for him to said he was ready to see if it'll work this time.

"Ready."

Briana took a deep breath and using the test tube she was holding to drip a little of the serum into the mutagen, only for the green liquid and the canister to freeze.

"What—oh, come on!" Briana said with a groan. She crumpled up the paper that was on the desk and threw it across the lab.

"Great, another batch lost!" Donatello complained as well. He stood up and walked over to their cabinets. "I swear, if it's the last thing we do, we're gonna find a cure and win April and Kaz back."

Briana didn't answer as she stood up and followed him over to the cabinets. But neither one of them realizing that Timothy was drinking mutagen from an open canister that was left on the desk.

👑👑👑

SHE WAS EXHAUSTED the next day after spending most of the night in the lab with Donatello trying to find a cure as none of their attempts worked just yet—staying up most of the night probably wasn't the best idea since she had school, but frankly, she didn't seem to care about that. All she wanted was to find a cure. Briana couldn't help but give a small yawn as she opened up her locker, grabbing the textbooks she needed.

"B!"

Briana smiled softly as she looked over to see a teenaged dark-skinned girl of African-American descent with dark hazel eyes and curly dark brown hair. Her hair was around medium-length and wavy, and the top of her hair even has bangs, which she had dyed a dark purple (along with the top half of her hair). The African-American teenaged girl was wearing a black leather jacket with pink undertones over her grey blouse, dark blue-ish leggings, and black semi-high laced boots with two lightning bolts symbols displayed on each boot.

It was a funny thing; Mara Sparks was once the "Mean Girl" of Roosevelt High School after transferring with very few friends (Henry Hart, Casey Jones, Kaz, and Zane Carson) and the other expectation being her girlfriend, Calista Diaz—asides from them, Mara was known to be the meanest to practically everyone else. However, that wasn't the case when Briana first started attending Roosevelt High School. It surprised not just Mara but her friends and girlfriend as well, because when Mara and Briana first met, the two girls had instantly clicked and became the best of friends in an instant, unlike the others who thought it would've taken a while for it to happen.

Mara didn't even know why either. All she knew was that when she first met Briana, she just felt the instinct to stick by her and made sure that no one messed with her. Though she never admit it out loud but, whenever she saw Briana just being the way she was; bubbly and happy with that smile that never seemed to vanished on her face, that was all Mara needed to feel better. To Mara, it was like Briana was the sunshine of the group—the one that had to be protected to keep her light from dimming, and in return, it was like Briana was the only one that could get Mara to open up or keep her from getting into trouble... sometimes.

In a way, it was like both Briana and Mara relied on each other in two different ways, and their friendship just grew closer. It was a strange thought but nobody, not even Briana and Mara, questioned it. Although Mara hadn't admit it out loud, deep down since her father's death, Mara couldn't help but sometimes feel like Briana made her feel like she had a family still and sometimes she got the feeling that it would only grow bigger.

"Hey, M." Briana greeted her best friend with her usual nickname. She closed her locker after grabbing her textbooks and faced her where she then noticed a black widow spider with a bright blue electric spark engraved onto its body make its way down Mara's left shoulder while Mara held her arm up as if the spider wanted to greet the purple haired girl as well. "Hi, Penny." She added with a warm smile, gently giving a soft scratch to the black widow spider on her neck, which Penny enjoyed before crawling back up Mara's shoulder as if to keep herself hidden from anyone else spotting her once Briana was done.

"So, what's up with the Kriana situation?" Mara asked, a teasingly smirk on her face as she nudged her lightly.

"The what?" Briana asked, a small smile on her face.

"Kriana, yours and Kaz's names combined. Kriana," Mara explained with a smirk. "I think it's the best ship name."

"Not bad," Briana told her with a smile. "You should name one of yours and Calista's kids after Kriana in the future."

"Ooh, not a bad idea," Mara said almost immediately, liking the idea of that as she was already taking out her phone to text her the suggestion. "I like it! Kriana Sparks-Diaz."

"Wait, actually?" Briana asked, a small laugh escaping her lips. "M, I was kidding!"

"Maybe, but I'm doing it." Mara said, putting her phone away as the two share a quick laugh. "Okay, but with complete seriousness this time, what's up with you two? I mean, we kinda noticed you two had been a little awkward lately. Kaz and Henry are acting weird and awkward a little too, but with you, it's like a sad puppy-dog."

Briana raised an eyebrow. "Who's the sad puppy-dog?"

"Uh, you."

"What? Why me?"

"Because you stare at him like you did something wrong," Mara said. "And I doubt you two got in a fight because I know he wouldn't be able to stay mad at you."

Briana bit her lip a little, wondering how to get out of this one now. Although she trusted Mara and the rest of her friends with her life, there were just some times where it was just a reminder that she wasn't exactly normal like them. She's been over to their places a bunch of times whenever they all made plans to hang out or to even have a study group together. Unlike Henry, who was able to invite his friends over, Briana didn't have that option because then, she'd have to explain the fact that she lives in a lair within the sewers with her mutant family.

It's not that she's ashamed, because she isn't.

It's just that sometimes she wonders what would happen if she did tell her friends the truth. She wonders how they'd react when they learn that she lives in the sewers with her mutant family... would they still want to be friends? Or would they think she's a freak? Or even better, how was she even supposed to explain that it was her fault that Kaz's mother got mutated into a mutant bird?

"Uh, it's... complicated," Briana tried to explain before she tried to change the subject. "Hey, you and Casey had to get that tutor for trig, right?"

Almost immediate, Mara gave a small groan at the thought of trig. Unlike Casey, she didn't exactly hate school—yes, she found it boring but some of her subjects, particularly science, she actually found interesting. It was her mother that was taking the fun out of it, making it less interesting for Mara to actually enjoy it.

"Yeah, we did," Mara said. "Remember April O'Neil from our classes? It's her."

And to make matters worse, Briana swore she felt like cursing at the world right there on the spot. Of course, their tutor just had to be April, because her friendship with Kaz wasn't awkward enough already so, the universe just had to make the situation a lot more complicated.

How on earth was she supposed to explain why she and April were being awkward now?

Although Mara tries to hide it, Briana knows that her best friend is smart, which is why she and the others practically drag both Mara and Casey along whenever they plan one of their usual study groups for a upcoming test, quiz, or project—heck, even for just a assignment because if they don't, neither Mara or Casey would end up doing it—or they'd just guess on the answers at random.

"Yeah, I remember her," Briana said, trying not to sound too nervous. "You and Casey should be fine then."

"I guess."

As the two girls chatted, they walked through the hallways and met up with the rest of their friends and Mara's girlfriend where Briana was stuck with the awkwardness of hers and Kaz's friendship—though Henry was stuck in the same boat as her. As they were walking and chatting, Casey was playing around with one of his hockey pucks when he used his hockey stick to send out flying and Briana noticed how April fell backwards onto the ground because of the hockey puck.

"You know, this is why we told you not to play hockey in the hallways, Jones." Calista said.

Calista Diaz was a light-skinned {almost pale} teenaged girl of Hispanic descent with dark coffee-brown eyes and light blonde hair that she has in a fishtail braid while the lower half of her hair is dyed in a light pinkish color. She was wearing a slightly baggy starry blue long-sleeve sweater with a light blue constellation necklace, black high-top sneakers with silver, miniature stars scattered across her sneakers, and a golden star-themed charm bracelet that she wears on her right wrist as her personal good luck charm.

"It's fine, Calista, don't sweat it," Casey said as he headed over to where his hockey puck was. "Nice job of stopping my puck like that. You got some moves, Red."

Briana managed to hid her amusement at Casey's sudden nickname for April, already knowing that if the day ever came when the rest of her friends found out about her mutant family, she already knew that Casey and Donatello wouldn't like each other. She looked over and spotted her friend, Zane, who looked a tiny bit jealous since within their tightly-knit close friend group, it was clear that Zane had feelings for Casey—well, clear to everyone but Casey himself.

Zane Carson was a biracial, light skinned male of African-American and White descent with short-jet black hair and chocolate brown {almost dark brown} eyes. He is commonly seen wearing a light gray buttoned jacket over a light bluish-gray T-shirt, darkish gray jogger pants, and light blue, grayish-colored sneakers. He is also seen sporting a dark brownish color watch that belonged to his father before his father had disappeared, which he wears as a reminder that one day he'll find his father and bring him home.

April stood up, holding her textbooks that she dropped in her arms now. "Um, you could start with sorry."

"Sorry you got in the way," Casey said cockily, walking around her. "What are you doing, blocking the hallway like that anyway?"

"Blocking the—exactly who do you think you are, anyways?" April asked, a frown on her face towards his cockiness.

"You signed up for extra cred, right? Well, rejoice, cause I'm the guy you're gonna tutor." Casey informed.

"You're not the only one she'll be tutoring, Jones," Mara cuts in with a smirk pointed his way. "I'm tagging along too."

"Yeah, yeah," Casey said jokingly before turning back to April. "Look, if I don't pass trig, they'll kick me off the hockey team. Nobody else wants to tutor me, they're all intimidated by my supreme awesomeness."

April stared at Casey with an unimpressed look and a raised eyebrow. "So, this is you asking me for help? Charming." A moment of silence passed before she gave in, "Fine. You two meet me at the park at 7:00. Don't be late."

"Don't worry, Carrot Top, I'll be on time." Mara said cockily.

"It's a date then, nice," Casey said as he hit the hockey puck with his hockey stick as the puck flew and hit the trashcan. "Yes!" But then, the puck flew off and hits a nearby student in the face.

"And that's our cue to go." Kaz said, lightly pushing Casey along as the group began to leave.

"So, what are your names anyways?" April asked.

Casey turned around with a wink. "Casey Jones."

Mara rolled her eyes at him before she turned and faced her. "Mara Sparks." She introduced herself, unaware of the slight frown that appeared on her girlfriend's face before it quickly vanished before anyone could notice.

As the group began to head, Calista slowed down a bit and caught up with Briana's pace as the purple haired girl seemed a bit behind. Then, she turned to Briana with clear amusement in her eyes. "So, Mara texted me a name for a future kid," she said.

Briana felt her eyes widened a little at those words. "I was kidding when I said that she should name one of your kids that in the future."

"I mean, Kriana Sparks-Diaz doesn't sound bad," Calista said despite the fact that she wasn't too fond of the purple haired girl or about the fact how her girlfriend proclaimed the girl as her best friend. "It is clear what Kriana stands for though."

Briana turned her head away a little to hide her slightly flushed cheeks. "She told you?"

"Oh, she doesn't stop talking about the idea of you and Kaz together," Calista said. "I mean, but is everything okay between you two? You seem a little down lately."

Briana bit the bottom half of her lip a little, trying to think of something to said. She didn't enjoy having to lie to her friends about what happened but she knew that she didn't have a choice in the matter of it. So, Briana gave her a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, it's just... complicated."

Calista gave her a reassuring smile. "Hey, I'm sure everything would work itself out."

Briana only nodded at her words, smiling lightly, but even she wasn't so sure if it would. And so, as Briana caught up with the rest of her friends, Calista remained at the slow pace she was taking and had to ignore the urge to roll her eyes.

She hated that her girlfriend was best friends with Briana—and she hated how easy it was for Mara Sparks to just suddenly let the purple haired girl in and proclaimed as her best friend, just after the girl's first day. Didn't she see that there was something off about the girl? It was bad enough that Calista now had to worry about her girlfriend getting too close with April O'Neil, but she's never been too fond of Briana either. But of course, she was stuck in this position and to her, she knew that there wasn't anything she could do about it.

At least, for now, that is.

👑👑👑

BY THE TIME that nightfall had arrived, the five mutant turtles along with Boy Danger and Captain Violet had left for training. Both Boy Danger and Leonardo had set up objects for sneak attacks for each person to be tested before their training had started. Michelangelo was the first one to go as he had been exploring while Leonardo and Boy Danger simple set up a trap in the form of an open pizza box with a single slice of pizza inside.

The rooftop was empty as the others had been hiding by the time that Michelangelo arrived, landing on the skylight with his skateboard. He flipped off and was about to continue but stopped when he spotted the pizza box.

"Hello? This slice belong to anyone?" He called but didn't get a respond. "Ha! Then, it's all mine!"

Michelangelo moved forward and stood next to the box. He turned only once before grabbing the slice and lifting it up to his mouth. Suddenly, Leonardo leapt out from his hiding spot and knocked Michelangelo up and off his feet. He landed on his shell and Leonardo lowered his sword to keep him there, holding the pizza slice in his other hand as he smirked and ate it himself.

"Hey! What the heck was that?" Michelangelo demanded.

Leonardo swallowed the last few bites of the pizza before answering. "That was a stealth attack, and that's what we're practicing in today's training session." He smiled, spinning his katana and putting it back in his sheath. He held out his hand and helped his brother onto his feet as the others came out from their hiding spots.

"No fair, I couldn't see you coming." Michelangelo complained.

"That's why it's a stealth attack, genius." Eclipse told him.

"Why would you eat random pizza you found on the roof anyways?" Donatello questioned.

"Roof pizza is, like, one of my ten favorite kinds of pizza." Michelangelo replied.

"What are the other ones?" Captain Violet questioned.

"Okay, guys, listen up," Boy Danger told the others as he and Leonardo stood next to each other. "Two keys to stealth—misdirection and camouflage. Got it? Raph and Mikey, you guys are up."

"Nah, I don't wanna do this anymore. Do you, Raph?" Michelangelo asked.

But when he opened his eyes, nobody was there. He looked around nervously before shrugging and went to pick up his skateboard.

Raphael jumped out of nowhere and grabbed his brother by his shell, lifting him up in the air. "Shellwedgie!"

Michelangelo yelped and thrashed around, complaining. "No fair! Stealth attacks are lame!"

The others came out from their hiding spots and watched as Raphael continued to mess around with Michelangelo, with Eclipse occasionally joining in to mess with the orange masked mutant turtle as well. Boy Danger felt his ears prickled at the sound of footsteps walking away and turned to see Donatello had walked to the opposite side of the building, not even paying attention. He then walked over to him and stood next to him.

"Thinking about April?"

Donatello nodded. "April's always studying in the park around this time. Would it seem weird for me to just show up?"

"I mean, it would be obvious that you went there to find her since you can't really go there." Boy Danger said.

He sighed. "Yeah, you're right," he turned to him with a slight worry look on his face. "Haven't talked to your mom about it?"

Boy Danger shook his head with a sigh. "No, if anything, I'm doing what I can to avoid talking to her," he admitted. "I'm not ready to confront her about it yet."

Donatello went to said something else but the sound of a swing squeaking caught his attention, he curiously looked over the edge and gasped at what he saw while his eyes widened. Boy Danger flinched, having forgotten that April was tutoring Casey and Mara at the park—he felt his ears prickled, picking up the sound of their voices and their conversation.

"School isn't really my thing," Casey admitted. "When I graduate, I'm either becoming a pro hockey player or an international bounty hunter."

Mara snorted. "Stick with hockey, Jones. You'll be better at it."

"Those are quite the options." April told him.

"Who wants a normal life anyway, right?" Casey asked.

"Cheers to that," Mara admitted in agreement. "Normal's boring."

April didn't respond, sitting still on the swing and messing with her hair.

"Hold still, Red," Casey said, going to lean over and wipe her cheek. "You got a smudge on your face."

Boy Danger turned to look at Donatello, who looked furious and was only leaning further and further over the edge.

"She's on a... date!? I can't believe it! And with some punk human kids!"

"Donnie, she's with two people," Boy Danger tried to tell him. "It's not a date."

"What do you think they're saying?"

Before Boy Danger could yank Donatello back, the purple masked mutant turtle had leaned so far over that he fell, slamming into one of the dumpsters below. Boy Danger quickly ducked so he wouldn't get spotted, his ears prickling at the sound of their voices, wondering about the nose.

"Donnie..." Boy Danger mumbled under his breath.

👑👑👑

BACK FROM TRAINING, Briana was inside the lab with Donatello as she was listening to him vent. "Ridiculous... and—and they were swinging together. Swinging! And then, she looked at them."

"She kinda has to," Briana tried to said. "She was tutoring them, Donnie."

"No, no, she gave them that look. Like—like—like this!" He gave her a wide, doe-eyed smile, blinking sweetly. "Just like the one you'd give to Kaz." Briana froze while her brother dropped the smile and replaced it with an ugly grimace. "Ohh... why was she even with them? Because they're human, that's why! Big deal! Do you know how many people are human?"

"Or maybe she was tutoring them." Briana tried again, tinkering with the machine before passing it to her brother as she followed him over to Timothy's tank where the two hooked the machine with the tank together. "We're almost done with your voice box, Timothy." She told him. "There, how's that?"

"Speaking... to you... Donnie... Briana."

"It works!" Donatello said. "Haha! Let's see April's boyfriend and girlfriend design something like this!"

"I... like April... Donnie."

Donatello smiled sadly. "Yeah, you and me both, Pulverizer. I just have to face it. She'll never wanna be friends again."

"April... friend...?"

"Yeah, Timothy, she's our friend," Briana said. "Her and Kaz, they'll always be our friends. They're just... going through some stuff right now."

"Donatello, Briana, my son and daughter," both Donatello and Briana turned to see Splinter standing in the doorway. "I would like to speak with you."

"Um, sure, Master Splinter." Donatello responded, as he got up from his work table and walked away—him and Briana following the mutant rat away from the lab.

Once the three of them had arrived to the dojo, both Donatello and Briana were standing in front of their father. "Donatello," he said. "Today, I will teach you to enjoy falling down."

"Why would I ever—whoa!" Donatello didn't have time to finish before Splinter had already knocked him down.

"Did you enjoy that?" He asked.

"No!" Donatello yelled.

"Then, let's keep trying." Splinter said.

"Okay, I'm read—" Once again, Donatello didn't have time to finish before Splinter had already knocked him down. Briana couldn't help but flinch every single time her brother was knocked down, trying to understanding the point of the lesson being taught here.

"Do you like it yet?"

"No, sensei, not at all."

"Hmm, then perhaps one cannot make someone like something." Splinter said.

"Of course not, no one wants to be—oh, I get it," Donatello said as he stood up. "You're talking about me and April."

"My son, for someone so intelligent, the obvious often eludes you, as for you as well, my daughter." Splinter said.

Briana couldn't help but look slightly confused by that before she realized, "You're talking about me and Kaz, aren't you?"

"My son and daughter," Splinter told them. "April and Kaz will come back once they are ready, but you two cannot force them to come before they are ready."

Donatello and Briana let his words sink in but before one of them could said something, a sudden loud crash was heard from the lab that made their eyes widened.

"Timothy!"

👑👑👑

"...I DIDN'T KNOW it, but I think all of my April talk made him go after her."

"You told your thoughts and feelings to a pile of guts in a jar?" Raphael questioned.

"He's a good listener!"

"Why would he go after her though?" Captain Violet asked.

"I don't know, I think maybe he might want to bring her back to me." Donatello admitted.

"Great, so we have a pile of guts in a jar playing matchmaker." Eclipse retorted.

Boy Danger looked over at Leonardo, who has been trying to call April since they left the lair. "Anything from April yet, Leo?" He asked.

"Not yet," Leonardo replied, still dialing her number. "How dangerous is this thing?"

"Well, he obviously doesn't know his own strength," Donatello said. "He could end up hurting her."

Leonardo hung up the call. "Her T-Phone's still off. There's no way of tracing the signal."

"Actually, she might be at the park," Donatello said then added quietly, "On a date..."

The other teens immediately came to a halt, pausing in their run over the rooftops as they all turned to look at him.

"And you know this how?" Eclipse asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"Um... maybe I was... f-following her..." Donatello said sheepishly.

The other teens stared seriously at him while Captain Violet shifted uncomfortably since she had been technically following Kaz as well.

"Well, that's not creep-tastic," Michelangelo said sarcastically.

"Alright, so they're either at the park or April's heading home." Leonardo said. "Donnie, you, me, and Clips will take the park. Raph, Mikey, Vi, you guys head with Danger to April's."

"On it!"

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BOY DANGER FELT his ears prickled at the sound of an explosion that came from behind them. Boy Danger, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Captain Violet rushed over to the edge of the building, looking down at the ground to find a pile of flipped cars just down the street. For a split second, Boy Danger could've swore that he saw three familiar teens, cramped on a bike, riding away. He turned his head the other way and saw something moving through the smoke and then, a giant, walking mass of green goo waving its arms and yelling loudly came out from the smoke.

"What the heck has Donnie been feeding home?" Raphael asked.

They all jumped down and climbed down. They ran over and stood behind Timothy, drawing their weapons.

"Not so fast, barrel fully of ug-lay!" Michelangelo said.

"Donnie's right, Pulverizer's been drinking mutagen," Raphael said. "You're not going anywhere, pal!"

"No... must find April..." Timothy turned and started walking away, arms out before him.

"Come on, Timothy," Boy Danger said. "We don't want to hurt you."

Michelangelo leapt up, spun in the air, and landed in front of Timothy. "What happened to you, Pulverizer?" He asked. "You turned into some kind of... mutagen man."

Timothy's eyes narrowed and he let out a strangled, staticy growl.

"Uh, I don't think he liked that, Mikey." Captain Violet responded.

They stepped back, weapons raising. Timothy yelled, raising a foot and stomping on the ground. It sent them all flying into the air. Boy Danger got kicked backwards, getting slammed into the wall of a nearby building. He hit the ground hard at the same time, his ears prickled at the sound of a loud bang and looked up to see Michelangelo and Captain Violet sprawled on the ground before the dumpster above them tipped over and trapped them inside. Boy Danger looked over and saw that Timothy had Raphael pinned under his foot, practically crushing him. He opened his large hand and slowly reached for Raphael's face.

Out of nowhere, Leonardo appeared, holding out one of his katanas as he had cut off the mutant's hand that was reaching for Raphael. Timothy screeched and took several steps back, retreating away from Raphael as he cradled his slimy stump in his hand, looking sad and angry. Leonardo glared at the mutant as Eclipse landed on his right side, her kamas out as the two were ready to advance on the mutant.

Donatello had jumped in and landed between them. "No! Don't hurt him!" He begged.

"What!? That thing tried to melt my face!" Raphael yelled. Boy Danger stood up from the ground, just as Michelangelo and Captain Violet climbed out from underneath the dumpster and the three headed over to them.

"All he wants to do is make April our friend again!"

"No!" Timothy yelled. "April not turtle friend... April only my friend!"

"You were saying?" Eclipse asked with a scowl.

Donatello whipped around. "What? I thought you were trying to get April back for me!" They all stared at him and he quickly backtracked. "Um... us?"

"Turtles, Henry, Briana... hurt April." Timothy continued. "Hurt me... must destroy turtles, Henry, Briana!"

Timothy raised his slimy stump, and a brand new hand slowly morphed from his slime. They all raised their weapons, and Donatello took out his bo staff. Timothy raised both hands and started to make his way to them. The bright mutagen glow started to fade as his slime became thinner and he started to the ground. The organs in his tank started swirling and he let out an exhausted groan.

"Uh oh... powering down..."

His eyes rolled back and his tank fell over to the ground. They all stood for a moment before sheathing their weapons and walking forward.

"What happened?" Leonardo asked.

"He ran out of mutagen!" Donatello said. "Quick! Let's get him to the ShellRaiser!"

It took a while for them to get Timothy in the ShellRaiser. With the added weight, the van moved much slower so, they stick to the alleys as they searched for the entrance back to the lair.

"Remind me again why we're bringing Mr Personality here back to the lair?" Eclipse asked.

"What he did isn't his fault, Clips, it's mine," Donatello explained. "He was lonely. All of my April talk made him want a friend."

"Besides, his DNA could be the key to retro-mutagen. We could cure April's dad, Kaz's mom, and him if—" Captain Violet started.

Michelangelo suddenly gasped and they all turned to find that Timothy's long, stretchy tongue had slipped out of the tank and had gotten into some more mutagen on the shelf. Timothy suddenly jumped out while the van spiraled out of control—he leapt forward and ran out onto the street, screaming April's name while the seven teens quickly went outside.

"At least we know where he's going." Boy Danger said.

👑👑👑

THE SEVEN TEENS found Timothy standing in the alley next to April's place, spying on April, who was talking to Mara and Casey. They reached the alley and didn't hesitate to jump off the roof, landing in front of Timothy with their weapons drawn.

"Where do you think you're going, handsome?" Raphael asked.

"April's house?" Eclipse added.

"Keep him in the alley! We can't let April's boyfriend or her friend see us!" Leonardo ordered.

Donatello didn't said anything at his comment, but it was clear that he didn't like it.

"Leave... Mutagen Man... alone!" Timothy ran at them and they leapt at him.

Everything was really, really getting crazy at the next couple of minutes as Timothy kept swinging and throwing his fists at them while one after the other—they all kept hitting Timothy. In fact, they were all so busy fighting him that none of them had realized that after sending Casey and Mara home through a different way that April had took a quick peek around the corner to see what they were doing before she had quickly gone inside her place.

"Destroy you all...!"

"Donnie, Violet, we don't have a choice!" Boy Danger said.

"Whatever Pulverizer—whatever Timothy was, is gone now." Leonardo added.

"But if we destroy him, we might never find a retro-mutagen. What about April's dad or Kaz's mom? What about April or Kaz?" Donatello said.

Timothy threw back his head and gave out a loud, angry roar. Then, Captain Violet felt her eyes widened when she remembered something.

"Donnie, I have an idea." Captain Violet told him.

Donatello saw the look on his face and realized where she was going with it. "We need to distract him," he said. "Misdirection and camouflage."

Immediately, the seven teens slipped into the shadows as they disappeared from his view while Timothy searched for them. Alongside Donatello, Captain Violet rushed back to the ShellRaiser and quickly climbed inside, grabbing a glass canister of mutagen as she opened the top of it for Donatello to drop a small drip of a serum that caused the mutagen to freeze. After Captain Violet closed the canister, the two rushed back to where the others were with Timothy.

"Hey, Timothy!"

Captain Violet stood in the middle of the alley, holding the canister of mutagen—one that looked more brighter than usual.

"Mutagen!" Donatello exclaimed. "That's right... this way..."

Timothy didn't hesitate to head their way, charging at them with his hands held out. "More... mutagen!" He smacked them out of the way and making Captain Violet drop the canister. It shattered as it hit the ground.

"No!" Captain Violet shouted. "Timothy, don't drink it!"

But Timothy didn't listen, as his long tongue had already extended and drinking the mutagen. He looked pleased for a second before his face suddenly fell and he stumbled backwards.

"Donnie... Briana..." he groaned. "Something's... wrong...!"

"We're sorry, Timothy."

Timothy's movements became jagged and twitchy as the goo inside of his jar started to turn white. A second later, he was frozen solid.

"Wow! Awesome move, guys!" Leonardo said. "Real scientific!"

"Yeah, real scientific..." both Donatello and Captain Violet were standing directly in front of Timothy and Donatello raised a hand and pressed it to the glass. "Don't worry, my friend," he whispered. "One day, we'll find a cure."

"It's gonna be okay, guys," Eclipse told them. "You did what you had to do."

Raphael nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's go home."

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It took the seven teens half an hour all together to move Timothy from the alley back to the ShellRaiser. It took another hour just to get him back into the lab but after they finally did, Leonardo, Raphael, Henry, Eclipse, and Michelangelo were sitting in front of the tv, watching the new cartoon that Michelangelo showed him while Briana and Donatello were sitting on the couch.

"How are you, my son and daughter?"

Donatello gave a small sigh. "Sensei... I created a monster who could've squashed the girl I'm totally into. How do you think I feel?" He put his head into his hands. "I'll probably never see her again..."

"Honestly, Sensei?" Briana said with a low sigh. "I think I'll find better once we find a retro-mutagen..."

"April's and Kaz's decision to stay away is their own choice," Splinter told them. "We must let them come back in their own time."

"Yeah, but what if they never do?"

"Never lose hope, Donatello, Briana."

The dialogue of the cartoon playing grabbed their attention. "Oh, Dr. Blip, you saved me with all your mighty, brave intelligence! How I adore this!"

Donatello looked at the bright screen of the tv to see the princess lean forward and kiss the scientist's cheek multiple times. His cheeks went red as the camera zoomed in and started to fade, indicating the end of the episode.

Donatello smiled. "Yeah, there's always hope."

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KAZ COULDN'T STOP thinking. His mind kept wandering back to the five mutant turtles, Henry, and... Briana—he couldn't stop thinking about her most of all. He had a relationship from last year that he was the one that ended it, but this time, everything with Briana, it was different. If anything, it felt better, and he was missing her a lot. He missed the way he could easily get her to blush just by flirting with her or calling her by one of his nicknames for her, he missed her big smile, and he missed the way her face lit up.

He knows it was an accident—he knows that they would never do something like that on purpose. He also knows that he can't blame them or be upset with them, he can't—he doesn't have it in him to do that to them.

Maybe that's how he found himself walking into the lair where he found them watching tv.

"Hey, guys." Kaz said.

"Kaz."

Immediately, the seven teens stood up from where they were sitting. "You're back!" Eclipse said with a smile.

"What up?" Michelangelo said with a smile.

"Hmm, it is very good to see you, Kaz," Splinter said as he walked over.

"I missed you, Master Splinter," Kaz admitted. "I hope we can start training again soon."

Splinter nodded with a smile. "Of course, whenever you wish."

Kaz turned back to his friends as Splinter began to head back to the dojo. "I came to tell you guys that I'm sorry for everything."

"You're sorry?" Leonardo questioned. "But we were the ones that screwed up."

"Yeah, it was because of us that your mom got mutated—" Michelangelo didn't finish as Henry elbowed him while the other mutant turtles sent the orange masked mutant turtle a glare.

"It was an accident, and I know you didn't do it on purpose," Kaz said. "More importantly, you guys are my friends, and I don't want to hold a grudge again."

Happily, Michelangelo held up a thumbs up with a grin. "You da best, Kaz."

Having missed them, Kaz couldn't help but smile lightly before he made eye contact with Briana. Then, he walked over to her while the others watched.

"Thanks, Love, for always being there, even when I didn't want you to be." Kaz told her.

Hearing the familiar nickname, Briana felt her cheeks turned a light shade of red as her heartbeat started racing in her chest. "Y-yeah, n-no pro-problem." She stuttered.

But then, Kaz suddenly leaned in and pressed his lips against her cheek for a kiss that only made her cheeks turn an even brighter red as she blushed. He pulled away and Briana could feel her face turning red from the sudden kiss as she stood there, doing everything in her power not to do something dumb but couldn't help but let a few soft giggles escape her lips while her legs suddenly felt shaky.

"I'll see you tomorrow, M'lady."

Briana wanted to said something but the only thing that left her lips were the soft giggles again, her face as red as a tomato from how hard she was blushing.

And so, while Kaz said bye to the others and soon left the lair to head back home before his own siblings could get suspicious, the others turns towards her with smirks on their faces. But before they could tease her, Briana let out a few more giggles before she let her legs give in as she fell backwards, staring up at the ceiling with a bright red face and a dreamily smile on her face. She didn't even notice the others hovering over her with smirks.

"Well, this just made her day for sure." Michelangelo said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I don't think she's ever washing that cheek again." Raphael said with a smirk.

Still with the dreamily smile on her currently bright red face while they stared down at her, Briana shakily raised her right hand and gave them a thumbs up as if she was letting them know that she was fine.

As they stared down at her, the smirk on Donatello's face then turned into a smile as Splinter's words to the two of them came rushing back into his head.

"Don't lose hope, Donatello, Briana."

Perhaps, there really was hope after all.

"Okay, so maybe we definitely learnt a lesson where it's probably not a good idea to talk about your feelings to a jar of guts, BUT at least, Kaz is back!... You guys can't tell him about this last part—of me falling onto the ground. I already had the others teasing me—if he knows, I'll never hear the end of it!"

"Love, I already know about it."

"...You do? Wait, who told you?"

"Do you really want me to answer that or can you guess?"

"No... I already know who did."