Hello again! Sorry the update took so long. School started up and I only had 1 review to keep me motivated, and though I appreciate each and every review, I need more than just 1 to get chapters out quickly in this time period. So, there's some shout-outs to some people at the end. Read and review please!

Tonight was Lana's first night on patrol with the turtles, and she had to admit it was quite exhilarating to sprint across rooftops and jump around. Thanks to her mutated form, she was easily keeping up with the brothers and wasn't even breaking a sweat. She laughed loudly as the adrenaline pumped through her system.

The turtles flipped through the air to a lower building that was farther away than the other, and Lana followed suite. She landed unsteadily on her feet at first, but her enhanced sense of balanced immediately corrected itself. She wasn't used to doing this kind of parkour activity, but her mutation certainly made easier.

As the group headed toward a gap that was even farther than the one before, Donnie sped up.

"Check it out!" he shouted as he jumped forward.

He completed a single flip, touched the ledge of the other building, rolled, and slid smoothly to a stop with one knee on the ground. Mikey didn't break his stride as he ran up the short distance to the base of an old water tower before jumping off the edge and high into the air. He kept his arms out and legs straight as he slowly flipped and rolled on his side of the edge of the building and on the roof. The youngest brother stood with a flourish of his hand and laughed in a haughty manner, upstaging his purple-masked brother's jump.

Leo, Raph, and Lana slid to a stop on the edge of the first building, looking down at the drop. Lana looked down and felt a slight sense of vertigo, but pushed it aside. Her mutated form could easily cover the distance and always gave her confidence when faced with seemingly impossible tasks such as this. Well, impossible tasks for her human half.

"Top that, turtle chumps!" Mikey called challengingly.

"All right, guys," Leo said with confidence as he took a few steps back. "Check this out."

Leo's eyes narrowed as his expression turned serious in concentration as he ran towards the edge. He performed two front hand springs, the second had his hands landing on the edge for him to push himself off over the gap. He extended his body fully as he launched himself into the air, then tucked his body close for a flip before landing lithely on the edge of the other building. He pushed off again and flipped once more before finally landing.

"Woah," Mikey said in vocal approval.

"Nice, kiddies," Raph said from his crouch beside Lana.

He tilted his head back and forth to crack it before lunging forward. However, he didn't perform any tricks. He just launched himself over the gap to crash into his three screaming, shocked brothers and knocked them down like a bowling bowl toppling the pins.

Mikey groaned as Raph laughed evilly in accomplishment.

"What as that?" Donnie asked as he rose to his feet along with his other brothers. "You didn't do anything flips."

"Oops," Raph said with a smile, not apologetic at all.

The turtles looked towards Lana, the only one still on the other roof.

Lana didn't say anything as she sprinted forward and grabbed the ledge halfway through a front hand spring and swung herself over the ledge and into the brick wall of the building before putting all her power in her legs and rocketing herself towards the other roof. She smiled confidently as she approached the other roof, but suddenly, the light around her dimmed and she knew her mutation receded.

She panicked slightly when she suddenly felt off balance and brought her mutate up last minute to land hard in a roll. She stopped in front of the turtles, who whooped and hollered at the impressive show, and didn't notice her concern as she stared at the ground deep in thought.

She knew her mutation was getting harder to control, but the instability was getting more and more dangerous for herself. If she hadn't brought her mutation up in time, she wouldn't have made it to the building. She didn't like to admit it, but maybe she should tell Master Splinter. He might be able to give her some advice to gain control.

A noise came from the other side of the roof and the five of them rushed over to lean their backs against a wall. Lana was the closest to the edge, and leaned forward to sniff the air. Before she could say anything, the four turtles lunged around her with their weapons drawn. Lana chuckled as she leisurely walked around the corner to find a small black and white kitten. It meowed at the four turtles as they holstered their weapons.

"Don't give up, Leo," Raph said with a smirk as he lay a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You might actually win this fight."

Lana rolled her eyes as Raph as she stepped forward, but was pushed aside by an excited Mikey as he rushed to the kitten.

"Aww," Mikey cooed as he shoved Donnie and Leo aside. "It's a little kitty."

The kitten meowed and raised a paw as Mikey scooped it up in his hands. The kitten rolled on its back and purred happily as Mikey scratched its belly. Lana walked up behind the turtle to scratch the kitten on the side of its face and its purring double-timed.

"And its name is," Mikey started as he peered at the collar.

"Mittens!" a male voice called from the right.

"Good guess," Mikey replied. "Wait, who said that?"

"He did," Lana replied, pointing towards a man leaning out a fire escape window of the next building.

"Mittens?" the man called again.

"I think that's the owner," Donnie said. Mikey walked to the edge of the roof, towards the owner. "What are you doing?" Donnie asked incredulously.

"Hey!" Leo called.

"Woah," Raph said quickly. "Wait, Mikey!"

Lana grabbed Mikey's arm as he turned to his brothers.

"What?" Mikey asked, annoyed. "I'm returning Mittens to her owner."

"First of all," Lana said, trying to take the kitten from Mikey. "Mittens is a boy. Second, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Are you an idiot?" Raph asked, before he rolled his eyes at his own statement. "Wait, let me rephrase that. You're an idiot!"

"Raph," Lana scolded warningly. She didn't like how Raph was always so mean to Mikey.

"You can't reveal yourself to a human," Donnie said as he stepped forward.

"Why not?" Mikey asked innocently.

"Because they'll freak the heck out, that's why not!"

"No, they won't," Mikey said. "I'm not so scary."

"You're an ugly, green mutant armed with ninja weapons," Raph said harshly.

"Look, this guy's gonna see that I'm just a regular cat-loving dude like him." Mittens purred as Mikey rubbed its belly again. "Next thing you know, we'll be best buds! This is gonna be awesome!"

"No!" Leo shouted.

"Don't!" Raph warned.

"Wait!" Donnie said.

Mikey jumped down to the man before Lana could stop him. She face-palmed and shook her head. Hikaru freaked out from her own mutation, and she didn't look half as strange as the turtles. Later, she would have to explain that to him.

"Mittens!" the man called once more as Mikey landed on the railing of the fire escape in front of him.

"Hi," Mikey said with a smile and a friendly wave as he jumped down from the railing. "Here's your-"

The man screamed, interrupting the turtle and making him flinch.

"Ugly, green, mutant freak!" the man shouted fearfully as he jabbed his finger towards the young turtle.

"But, I got your cat!" Mikey exclaimed as he brought the kitten closer to him.

"Help! He's got my cat!"

"Dude, chill!"

Mittens, startled by his owner's fear, hissed and lunged at Mikey. Mittens landed on his head and latched on as Mikey screamed and stumbled around the fire escape until he fell over the railing and down into the alley.

"Mikey!" Lana said, concerned, as she stepped off the building and landing a bit hard on the ground beside him.

She knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder as he sat up and rubbed his head. The three other brothers landed in front of them as the two stood. Mikey turned away from her and looked dejectedly at his brothers.

"Does anyone want to help me with this?" Mikey asked, sounding like a kicked puppy.

Mikey leaned forward so the brothers could see the yowling Mittens latched on his shell, occasionally scratching with his forepaws.

"No," the brothers replied simultaneously; Leo with a blank look, Donnie looking at his younger brother as if he was the dumbest turtle on the planet, and Raph looking irritated.

"I got him," Lana said gently as she reached for the kitten.

Lana slowly grabbed Mittens around the middle and whispered calming phrases to it until he calmed down enough to retract his claws from Mikey's shell. Lana cradled the now purring kitten in her arms.

"I'll be right back," Lana said as she jumped up the fire escape, using one hand to help her as the other held the kitten protectively to her chest.

She reverted herself back to her human form before kneeling down and knocking on the man's window. The man jumped and swung his head towards the window, almost dropping the phone he held to his ear. Lana held the kitten up to the window so the man could see his pet. The man hung up the phone, looking confused, but still scared, as he approached the window cautiously and slowly opened the window.

"Sorry about that," Lana said, not needing to pretend much to look sheepish. "That was my brother."

"W-What?" the man asked, barely keeping a hold on his kitten when Lana slowly handed Mittens to him.

"I know, it looked pretty good, right? I'm aspiring to be a famous make-up artist for sci-fi movies."

Lana smiled, and managed to look a little guilty, as if she regretted doing such a good job that it terrified the poor man.

"O-O-Oh," the man replied, slowly calming down.

Lana had a pretty lame explanation, but humans would hang on tightly to anything rationalize something away. For example, the giant mutant turtle wasn't real, just an amazing make-up job given by a fifteen-year-old girl that aspired to create monsters for movies.

"Well, you have some talent there," he said with a slightly smile. "Good luck with that."

"Thanks," Lana replied with a smile. "Have a good night."

"You too."

Lana turned away from the man as he closed his window and mutated herself as she jumped down into the alley again. Mikey was doing some weird movements, but jumped in surprise and screamed when Lana landed solidly beside him.

"What was that?" Lana asked with surprise as she held her hands up in surrender.

"Face it, Mikey," Raph said with a frustrated shake of his head as he stepped up to the youngest turtle. "Chris Bradford is the last person on earth that would want to be friends with you." Raph paused. "Well, next to last next to every other person on earth."

Raph looked smug with his arms crossed in front of his brother. Lana stepped in front of Mikey and glared furiously at Raph. She may have feelings for the red-masked turtle, but the way he was treating his brother was terrible. Raph froze for a second under Lana's steady glare before looking away to glare at the wall, knowing the girl was mad with him.

Suddenly, Lana's face became blank as her head tilted to the side when she heard a strange sound from behind her. Raph looked behind her with a glare before looking up to the roofs as Lana did the same.

People clan in black slid down the ropes behind Mikey and Lana as more jumped down from the rooftops to surround the group.

Lana hissed and stepped forward, but Raph barred her path and gently pushed her behind him. She looked at him in surprise, but didn't object when he pulled her hood up over her head.

"Stay back, Lana," Raph whispered quietly, not wanting the other ninja to hear him.

Raph didn't know who these people were, but after the two had kissed a couple nights ago, he found himself becoming protective of the girl.

"Ninjas, in New York?" Donnie asked quietly, though it wasn't directed at anyone. "Other than us?"

The turtles took out their weapons and readied themselves for a fight. Lana stepped to the middle of the group, trying to keep all of the enemies in view futilely.

She growled quietly, wanting to lunge at the nearest one, but her rational mind told her to stay back. She wasn't trained in ninjutsu like the brothers, and their enemies certainly looked like ninja. She wasn't prepared for capable of fighting these enemies if she was right. Despite her annoyance and frustration, she would have to leave the fight to the boys.

One of the ninja made a slight movement, and a shuriken whirled through the air towards Donnie, who raised his staff in time as the bladed weapon sunk into the wood. Donnie growled in anger at his damaged weapon and glared at the enemies in front of him.

Suddenly, the group of ninja in front of the purple-masked turtle sprinted forward, weapons drawn. Then, there was a flurry of movement around Lana.

Raph caught an enemy sword in his sai, disarmed him, and kicked him back. Another swung at him with a kind of naginata, but Raph ducked low and threw the ninja over his shell. A third ninja with a sword swung at Raph, but the turtle kicked him hard in the chest, forcing the ninja back and into a few more enemies that collapsed in a heap. A fourth swung, but Raph stepped back and out of the way before elbowing him on the back and towards the ground. While he wasn't paying attention, an enemy snuck to his side and kicked the side of his knee. The turtle growl in pain as a staff collided hard with his abdomen, stunning him as another enemy kicked him back into a piled of garbage.

"Raph!" Lana shouted in fear as a ninja prepared to swing his sword at Raph.

Lana lunged in front of him protectively, but there was no need as Mikey flew into the ninja and knocked him down hard with a kick. Lana turned towards the groaning Raph in concern. She grabbed his face carefully with both hands as his eyes opened slowly, but flew open at the sight behind Lana.

Before Lana could turn, Raph had pushed her aside and behind him. He raised his sai to catch a blade that an enemy tried to use to kill the hooded girl. She watched the fight with wide eyes as she realized that the turtles were far more skilled than she expected them to be in real combat. Sparring in training was one thing, but the field is different. The turtles were holding their own as Raph and Leo backed up shell to shell.

"What are you so happy about?" Raph asked roughly, deflecting attacks and landing a few hits of his own.

"It's just nice to finally be fighting people," Leo replied, still smiling as he pushed an enemy back with his katanas. "Instead of robots or aliens or weed monsters."

Leo and Raph forced back their opponents simultaneously with a grunt as a large figure landed hard on the ground in a kneeling position on front of the turtles. The imposing figure slowly stood, moonlight gleaming off its helmet and spiked shoulder pads.

Suddenly, the figure burst into motion at the two eldest brothers, punching Leo hard enough to throw the turtle back into the alley wall. Raph stared in surprise before crossed his said in front of him protectively as the figure hit him with a strong round-house kick. Raph flew down the alley and landed in front of Donnie, gaining a look from Mikey, who held a ninja off the ground and was poised to punch.

The new enemy lunged towards Donnie, who dodged upward, using his staff like an athlete would in pole vaulting. However, the man grabbed the staff, and Donnie lost his grip on his staff as the enemy swung it at the turtle. The staff hit Donnie so hard it threw his shell back into a wall and held face first into garbage.

Mikey released the blade to his nun chuck and swung it over his head confidently with the same smile he usually wore. Mikey launched it at the man, but he grabbed the nun chuck easily and pulled the unprepared turtle forward roughly. Mikey shouted in surprise as the man's fist landed hard in the turtle's gut. Mikey looked up at the attacker, who narrowed his eyes at the turtle.

"What are you?" a deep voice echoed from inside the helmet.

Mikey didn't answer as he kicked off the man's thigh, right above spiked knee pads, and flipped back and out of his grip. The two of them began a tug-of-war match with the chain of the nun chuck. The chain creaked under the strain.

Lana swung out one of her throwing knives and rushed forward. She yowled as she swung down hard on the taut chain and barely was able to break one of the links. The two stumbled back as the chain broke apart, but the man quickly steadied himself.

He narrowed his eyes at the small figure, crouched low enough to be covered in the darkness of shadow. The figure hissed at him, showing her claws and the light from the moon reflected off of her elongated canines. Behind the figure, the four turtles got into fighting stances as the police sirens echoed in the distance.

The imposing hulk of an enemy looked back out of the alley as the sirens grew louder and lights flashed. The man gave the group one last glare before he and his men retreated to the rooftops.

The turtles relaxed slightly, but disappeared to the rooftops just as a cop car rounded the corner to the alley. When they reached the roof, none of the enemies could be seen. The group put away their weapons, warily eyeing their surroundings, before heading back to the lair.

Leo was in the kitchen talking to Master Splinter while Lana, April, and the other three turtles were in the living room area. Donnie was working on his homemade laptop. April was sitting on the couch reading a magazine targeting young teenage girls her age. Raph, grunting with exertion, was doing pushups using his sai in a unique way in which he held a part of the blade and the butt of the handle touched the ground.

Lana was practicing throwing her knives at the dummie Raph usually used as a punching bag. She experimented with different ways of drawing her knives and throwing them from different positions, and with her mutated form, her knives hit every mark she wanted.

However, she would attempt to do the same thing with her human half, and the knives sometimes went off mark. Normally, she wouldn't care if her human half wasn't performing well, but with the trouble she's been having controlling her mutation, she wanted to make sure she could still defend herself if she needed to. There may come a time when she was in her human form and couldn't mutate, and she wanted to be prepared for it. She planned to talk to Master Splinter after Leo finished with him.

Mikey was reading an issue of Martial Pain that had a man named Chris Bradford posed on the cover. Apparently, Lana learned, Chris Bradford was some kind of icon in the martial arts world, though it was only Mikey that seemed to be obsessed with him.

"Ohh," Mikey said with increasing excitement, causing his voice to get higher pitched as he continued talking. "I wish me and Chris Bradford were friends!"

Lana stopped her practice as she watched Mikey bite three times across the top of the magazine. She raised an eyebrow at the turtle as she sheathed her last knife and walked over to the group. Mikey leaned back in his beanbag chair and kicked his legs energetically as he laughed childishly.

"Mikey," April said as she put her magazine down and Mikey leaned forward in the beanbag chair again to stare intently at his own magazine. "You already have a human friend." Mikey looked up to April with an expectant expression. "Me."

"April, you don't count," Mikey said dismissively as he turned his attention back to his magazine. "We saved your life. You have to like us."

"What about me?" Lana asked.

"You're half mutant, Lana. So, you don't count either."

Lana frowned slightly at his remark and narrowed her eyes at him.

Raph turned to face Mikey, not stopping his pushups.

"Too bad there's not a place for freaks to meet people where no one can see how hideous they are," Raph said with a smirk as Mikey frowned deeper and deeper with each thing the red-masked turtle said.

"Wait, there is!" April said. "The internet!" April turned to the purple-masked turtle. "Donnie, can I see your laptop?"

"Eh, uh, sure!" Donnie said nervously as he pressed a button on the keyboard. "S-Sure. Just a s-sec." The turtle smiled nervously as he walked over to sit next to April.

"Check it out," April said, taking the laptop and typing rapidly as Mikey looked over her shoulder curiously. "It's a site where you can make friends with anybody online."

"Sweet!" Mikey said as he forcefully shoved April out from under the laptop and took her spot, not seeming to notice how rude he was being. Mikey started typing on the laptop before holding the corner of the screen nervously. "Huh? Oohh," Mikey groaned with happiness. "Chris Bradford's on here! He'll be my first friend!" Mikey began typing again before theatrically pushing a final button. The youngest turtle then proceeded to stare at the screen intensely from mere an inch and a half away.

"Careful, Mikey," Lana said from behind him, gently moving his head back from the screen. "If you do that you could hurt your eyes."

"Yeah," April said. "Anyways, Mikey, people don't always respond imme-"

A noise from the computer interrupted her.

"But, sometimes they do," April said, looking at the computer in slight surprise.

Mikey gasped as he slowly sat up straight with wide eyes, not looking away from the screen.

"No way!" Mikey said excitedly as he held the corners of the screen again. "Chris Bradford just accepted my friendship! I have a friend! Thanks, April!"

Mikey hugged the red-head close before releasing her and tossing Donnie's laptop high in the air as he climbed over the top of the couch and rushed past Lana.

"Where're you going?" Donnie asked before lunging forward to catch his laptop with an indignant, "Hey!"

"To hang out with my friend, Chris Bradford," Mikey said smugly as he pointed to himself.

"This guy's famous," April said. "He probably has thousands of friends." April used air quotes around 'friends'.

"Yeah," Lana agreed. "Half the time people accept friend requests without even knowing the person. I don't think he's taking this the same way you are, Mikey."

"And guess who's number five-thousand two-hundred and eighty-six?" Mikey asked, counting off his three fingers and ignoring the concerned Lana as she walked after him.

"You," April guessed.

"Daniel Ramirez!" Mikey exclaimed with his hands on his hips, or the equivalent of hips. "And I'm right next to him," Mikey continued with a wink. "Later!"

Mikey vaulted himself easily over the turnstiles and left the lair.

"Well, this ought to be interesting," April said lightly.

Raph had paused his exercises, arms extended mid pushup, to stare after his idiotic younger brother with a look of confused incredulity.

"Should we go after him?" Donnie asked, looking at April.

"Eh," Raph said carelessly. "He's gotta learn somehow."

"Raph, you're such a jerk sometimes," Lana said as she rolled her eyes and followed after Mikey.

"What'd I do?" Raph asked, dumbfounded, looking to Donnie and April, who shrugged their shoulder noncommittally.

Raph went back to his pushups, pondering what he could have done wrong. He thought things were good between Lana and him, great actually. He kissed her and she kissed back. What could she be upset with him about?

Lana chased after Mikey over the rooftops and, with a final burst of speed, caught up to him. She grabbed his arm and stopped him, spinning him to face her.

"Mikey," Lana said worriedly. "I think you're making a mistake. Just because they accept a stupid friend request online doesn't mean they want to be friends in real life. I know you think differently, but I'm worried about you."

"Lana," Mikey said confidently. "I'm friends with Chris Bradford now. You don't need to worry about me!"

"Fine, can I at least come with you then?" Lana said, mentally shaking her head at his naivety, but forced a smile. "From what I heard, he's a pretty cool guy."

"Of course you can come! This is gonna be awesome!"

Mikey grabbed her hand and dragged her the rest of the way. She saw a large muscled man closing up a building and recognized him from the picture on the billboard that he was indeed Chris Bradford. Mikey and Lana leapt down to the ground behind the man.

"What up? Hey," Mikey said with an excited giggle. "I'm M-"

Chris Bradford suddenly spun and threw a shuriken at the two of them, but he could only see Mikey since he stood in front and was taller than Lana.

"Woah!" Mikey said in surprise as he dodge to the left and right. "I'm being attacked by Chris Bradford!" The man threw another shuriken at Mikey, and it was headed straight for the turtle's face. "This is so cool."

"Mikey!" Lana shouted and tackled him to the ground and out of the line of fire.

Lana stood in front of Mikey protectively and flipped out one of her throwing knives and deflected the remaining shuriken until Chris Bradford stopped in surprise, not knowing who this girl was.

"Wait!" Mikey exclaimed, taking advantage of the pause in the fight. "We're friends!"

"What?" the man said.

"We're online friends! You accepted me!" Mikey explained, stepping forward with his hands on his chest and a smile on his face. "Remember?"

"Oh," Chris said slowly, before smiling in a way Lana didn't like. "Of course." Chris put his shuriken away and Lana put her throwing knife away, but stayed on the alert. "Nice to meet you," Chris said as he offered his hand.

Lana thought the voice sounded slightly familiar, and she smelled something strange too. She reverted to human form, her instincts telling her to do so.

Lana stepped to the side, crossing her arms over her chest. Mikey stepped forward with awe on his face as he excited shook Chris' hand with both of his. Mikey laughed in a way that made him sound like a stalker, making Lana face-palm. Chris was looking increasingly uncomfortable until he was able to pull his hand back.

Lana narrowed her eyes at the look of disgust on his face, but he quickly gave Mikey an awkward smile.

"Won't you come in?" Chris asked, nudging his shoulder towards his dojo.

Mikey eagerly went to follow him, but Lana put a hesitant hand on his arm to stop him. Something about this guy didn't sit right with her.

"Lana?" Mikey asked, looking back at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Chris said, turning back to the duo. "I almost forgot about you. I'm Chris Bradford, and you are?"

Chris offered his hand to her again, but she simply pulled her hood back and looked blankly up at the tall man. Chris started to grow anxious under the girl's gaze, though he would never admit it. Something about her made him nervous.

"Oh! This is Lana!" Mikey said excitedly. "She's-"

"Human," Lana said, covering Mikey's mouth before he could say anything else about her. "I'm his human friend, Lana."

Mikey looked at her in confusion before the excitement of going into Chris Bradford's dojo took his focus. She sighed in relief. There were some benefits to his short attention span.

"They must have been watching us from here," Leo said, standing on the ledge overlooking the alley the group were ambushed in two nights before. "The perfect place to stage an ambush."

Lana and Donnie stood beside Leo. Donnie nodded his head in agreement while Lana walked slowly around the edge of the building, sniffing around. She definitely caught the scent of the material the enemy ninja were wearing, and another more prevalent smell, probably from their leader.

"They were definitely here," Lana said, looking towards the purple and blue-masked turtles.

"It wasn't very fair, was it?" Donnie asked, pushing off from the ledge.

"It's not about fairness," Leo explained. "It's about victory." Leo clenched his hand into a fist as he looked back down the alley.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Donnie said, hands held up in surrender as he took a step back from his intense brother.

"Then," the three heard Mikey say from behind them. "And then Chris Bradford put on his hakama. Man, that guy can rock a hakama!"

"Yeah," Raph said, clearly exasperated with his brother. "Maybe he'll wear it again when he take you to the prom."

"And then after that he-"

Lana shook her head at the brothers. Mikey was certainly enamored with this Chris Bradford man, but personally Lana couldn't see it. The only reason Lana would go with Mikey when he went to meet the man was because she was worried for him. He may not have understood from her story about Hikaru, but she would be there if something happens.

It hadn't been a long time since she met the turtles, but she already felt close with them. She wasn't planning on it. Actually, she had planned to leave right after that raid on the Kraang base, but then so many things happened. She actually opened up to them about her deep, painful past experiences. Then, she realized that while the turtles and Master Splinter were starting to feel like family, Raph seemed to be slightly more. She had grown attached to the hot-headed turtle. It was small, but regardless, monumentally important to Lana.

"Ugh, enough!" Raph said, annoyed. "You've been going on about this for three hours."

Lana smiled slightly at his agitation, finding it amusing. It was so easy to push his buttons.

"Ohh," Mikey said, leaning close into Raph's face. "Someone sounds jealous. You just can't admit you were the 'R' word." Mikey stood back and made air quotations.

Raph looked up at him from his sitting position, eyebrow raised and looking just as confused as the rest of them felt.

"Wrong," Mikey said.

Lana face-palmed while Leo and Donnie just put a hand on their head, as if in pain from their own brother's stupidity, and groaned.

"I'm not wrong," Raph said, slightly indignantly.

"Oh yeah? Well, if you don't want to talk about my friend," Mikey said before he jumped high in a backwards flip, landing behind Leo and Donnie. He wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders. "I've got two other brothers who do."

"Actually," Leo said. "I'd rather talk about anything else."

Mikey released their shoulders.

"Like the concept of the silent 'W', perhaps?" Donnie suggested.

"Fine, heh," Mikey said, mildly upset. "I'll go talk to a guy who loves to talk about Chris Bradford more than anyone else."

"And that is?" Lana asked, though she had an idea where this was going.

"Chris Bradford," Mikey stage whispered to Donnie and Leo. "You coming, Lana?"

"Don't go with him," Raph said.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was slightly jealous that Lana went with Mikey alone last time, especially after she called him a jerk. Plus, he wouldn't know anything that happened if she wasn't with him. What if something bad happened? With Mikey, that was a very highly probability.

"She doesn't have to listen to you!" Mikey said with a glare, angry at Raph for trying to take away the one person who supported his friendship with Chris Bradford.

"Let's go," Lana said.

She didn't even look at Raph as she followed Mikey. What he said sounded more like an order, and she isn't one to be ordered around. After that night with Raph, it seemed like he was getting more overbearing.

When Lana and Mikey finally made it to the man's dojo, Lana started feeling guilty about how she acted towards Raph. The two made their way into the dojo from an open window on the roof and jumped down onto the padded mats as Chris went to town on a punching bag.

When Lana landed, she reverted to her human form, but tilted her head slightly. She recognized his form from somewhere, but she couldn't place where. There was a nagging at the back of her mind and it was really starting to bother her, but she would worry about that later. Right now, Lana just had to keep an eye on Mikey.

"There's my best buddy in the whole world," Mikey said excitedly, clasping his hand in front of him.

"Michelangelo," Chris greeted as he turned around. "Mikey, the Big M, how you doin' buddy?" Chris crossed his arms before noticing Lana standing off to the side, hood down and looking as pale as ever. "Oh, and Lana, was it?"

"Yeah," she replied, sticking close to Mikey as he walked up to the large man.

"I am stupendous, Chris," Mikey said with a flourish of his hand and a smile on his face. "Chrissy B." Mikey paused and tapped one of his fingers on his chip in thought. "I gotta work on your nickname. Oh! Rad Brad!"

"You know," Chris started, tapping his own bearded chin. "I was just thinking how we're such close friends, and yet I know so little about you."

"You think we're close friend?" Mikey asked excitedly.

"Of course! Now, tell me everything about you."

"Well, where should I start?"

"No, Mikey, wait!" Lana started, immediately concerned Mikey would say something that should be kept secret.

"Oh! I named all six of my toes," Mikey said, lifting one of his feet up.

"How interesting," Chris said in fake enthusiasm.

His tone wasn't fooling Lana, but definitely worked on Mikey, evidence being the turtle shoving the lifted foot into the man's face. Lana heard from the other turtles that Mikey's feet smelled something akin to some rotting dead thing. Lana could only cover her mouth as she giggled. Chris noticed, and narrowed his eyes at the girl when he noticed the hand was covering a broader smile than he originally thought.

"Ugh," Chris said at the smell, but Mikey didn't seem to notice, which made Lana laugh even more.

"There's Stubby, and Joey Nails," Mikey started, wiggling each toe as it was called.

"Oh, oh," Chris said, pushing the revolting foot down with his bare hand, something not even Miky's brothers would do. "That's fascinating, but I was thinking more about your impressive ninjutsu skills. You must have an incredible sensei."

"Oh, he is-" Mikey started, but Lana quickly put her hands over his mouth.

She didn't trust that he wouldn't let anything slip – like, say, that his sensei was a mutated rat-man that was also his father that lived in the sewers with his three other ninja turtle brothers.

"None of your concern," Lana interjected, staring down Chris with what she hoped wasn't the hostility she felt towards the prying man on the inside.

Chris paused, and narrowed his eyes slightly at the girl, but then he showed a grin that didn't sit right with Lana.

"Your skills were impressive as well, actually," Chris said with a smirk. "Where did you learn it from?"

"My father taught me when I was young," Lana explained curtly. "Nothing special, just self-defense."

Lana knew that Chris knew she was lying. She made it obvious enough because she wanted him to be distracted from questioning the naïve turtle beside her. Mikey, annoyed at being silenced, pushed her off him.

"And now, the Stinky Triplets," Mikey continued as if nothing happened and stood on his hands to give Chris a good view again. Lana couldn't help but giggle again.

"Ohoho," Chris said as he pushed the foot away from him and narrowed his eyes again at the giggling girl. "Okay, who's hungry?"

"Me!" Mikey shouted as he righted himself. "I want pizza! Do you like pizza?"

"Yeah, sure," Chris said dismissively as he rolled his eyes, not realizing he just made Mikey's day.

The turtle lunged forward and wrapped the large man in a bear hug.

"Woah," Mikey said with a slightly creepy smile. "We have so much in common."

Chris obviously looked uncomfortable, and was unsuccessfully trying to break the turtle's grip. Lana laughed this time and didn't cover it up, earning a look from Chris. Lana took pity on the man, and, chuckling, she detached the turtle from Chris, who rubbed his arm as if Mikey had hurt him, which was highly unlikely.

"Okay, Okay, let the poor man go," Lana said to a now pouting Mikey. "Mikey, you keep to the roofs while Chris and I go get the pizza, how's that?"

Mikey immediately brightened, a radient smile on his face as he nodded vigorously before disappearing into the rafters of the dojo. Lana smiled and shook her head at his childishness before turning to 'Rad Brad' and Mikey so kindly nicknamed him.

"So," Lana said. "Where's the nearest pizza place?"

"A few blocks away," Chris said warily, apparently expecting Lana to start behaving like Mikey did.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's head out."

Lana and Chris Bradford walked side by side as he led the way to the parlor in relative silence. Lana noticed Chris had glanced at her a couple times, but never said anything. They rounded the third corner when the man finally spoke up.

"So," Chris said, dragging out the word. "How long have you known Mikey?"

Lana figured she would answer his questions, as to not seem too suspicious, but would make sure to leave out anything important.

"Hmm," Lana said thoughtfully. How long had she known them, anyway? "Now that I think about it, maybe a week or so?"

"Really?" the man asked, genuinely surprised. "Weren't you scared of him?"

"Not really," Lana replied truthfully. "There's worse in the world that childish mutant turtles, right? Sure, he looks a little weird… okay, really weird, but I'm more scared of a murderer or a rapist than little old Mikey."

Chris nodded, finding her point valid at least.

The duo were silent as they arrived at the pizza parlor. It wasn't until they were about to leave, pizza in hand, when Lana put a restraining hand on Chris' arm. He looked back at her, puzzled.

"Mikey thinks really highly of you," Lana said seriously, her yellow eyes boring into his. "You're one of his first human friends, and his idol to boot. So, just promise me you won't hurt him."

Chris saw the pleading look in her eyes and almost wished he could reassure her truthfully, but he couldn't.

"I promise," he said, just as serious as the girl.

Lana searched his eyes, but couldn't find any malicious intent. She nodded at him before letting go. Good, she thought to herself. Otherwise, I would have to kill him… slowly… and painfully.

Sorry if this half wasn't very good. I didn't have time to sit down and do it all in one go and with classes starting up, it's been hard to get in a groove. I know the next half is going to be much better, so please review!

Lead Owl

softball 51

I appreciate you two for favoriting my story, but I would love to get a review from you guys so I know what you're thinking!

jakilundeen

I also appreciate you for favoriting myself and the story, but would love to read a review from you as well!

nachobeats823

Thanks so much for following the story, and I would love to hear a review from you too!

Dark Nightwatcher

You are awesome for following myself and the story, and I love that you reviewed once, but I would be even happier to hear more from you!

MonkeyGirl13

You are amazing for always reviewing each and every chapter of mine and I want to keep hearing from you!

SINCE IT IS SO HARD TO KEEP MOTIVATED DURING THE SCHOOL SEMESTERS, I NEED INSPIRATION FROM THOSE WHO WANT TO READ MORE! SO, IF YOU READ THE STORY, YOU REALLY REALLY REALLY NEED TO REVIEW!