Another regular school day, finished. Tomorrow will be Saturday. At last! Ali don't know why she was so excited, because it would be just another boring, lonely weekend by herself... again. Her professors didn't give out too much homework this time, so she assumed she would get it done quickly, making the whole day free to do nothing but relax. Normally her roommates would go out with their boyfriends on the weekends, leaving her alone all night—or until Monday. She would have gone out with someone, too, but she had no one. She never did. That was usually how she liked it. Alone. But, sooner or later, she did want to be with someone. She figured part of the reason she couldn't approach people is because of her low self-esteem. She had always been quiet and overly shy.

She headed back to her dorm, thinking about all the things she could do this weekend. Then again, she would probably just do some cleaning for the girls and draw later on that night. The usual routine. When she opened the door, she found a note of the refrigerator. She sighed, being all too familiar with this situation. It read, "Ali, we'll be gone for the weekend. Be back Sunday night. Have fun."

"Right. Have fun," she mumbled, looking at the pile of dirty dishes in the sink and messy floors. She had always been too nice cleaning up their messes for them. But now, they're just taking advantage of it—like she's their little doormat.

Ali headed to her bedroom and dropped her backpack on the floor. Since she wasn't planning on going anywhere, she took off her casual school clothes and slipped on a tee and loose gym shorts. It always felt good to get out of those girly things. She ran her fingers through her shoulder length, (close to black) dark hair. She pulled out her journal. Maybe writing for a bit would cool her nerves. She start her usual greeting with, "Dear Journal..." and felt a wave of depression consume her. It was always like this. Always. She bury her face in her hands before the tears could form. 'No, no. Pull yourself together,' she snapped at herself. She take a deep breath and let out a sobbing sigh. Before she even know what happened, she heard the faint, blaring sound of car horns.

She jumped at the sound. Her school is not near the city enough to even hear car horns; until, she realized she was sitting on the edge of a tall building. She was ON THE EGDE of a building! Her legs were dangling over the edge and she was staring down at the noisy, busy streets below. Her eyes widened, she felt a scream rising in her throat, and her heart begins to race. Her whole body shook. The fact that she has been somehow transported into a city is shocking enough, but even more terrifying is that she was on the edge of a very high building.

Overcome by fear, she screamed. Her shaking body makes her lose control and she toppled over the edge. She could barely hear herself think over her wailing as she fell. There wasn't much to think about, anyway. All she knew was this is the end.

All of a sudden, she make contact with something. She hit it hard. She couldn't have hit the ground already, considering how high she was, but her racing mind couldn't handle it right now. Ali caught a flash of green and a trail of red before passing out, too overwhelmed to do anything.

It felt like hours later when she finally stirred awake. She grunted, her body still recovering from the shock. She shifted her body, relieved to see nothing was broken. But what did she hit? She fell from a great height and apparently landed seconds later. Did something catch her? She slowly opened her eyes. She was still in the city, and assumingly, on the roof of another building. She looked around. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something, or someone, moving in the shadows. She held her breath. Too nervous to stand, she inched away from whatever was approaching her.

Stepping into view was a giant creature that looked much like a… a turtle. His green eyes stared down at her, darkly. "Who are you? What were you doing up there?" he said (in his Batman voice.)

Ali's heart skipped a beat and she froze. Her widened eyes climbed up the giant turtle. He was a turtle alright, but appeared to be… humanoid? He stood up right, like a human, but was way larger than the average person—probably larger than the un-average person. His body was muscular, which made Ali twitch in comparison to her own muscle-lacking, small body. Even more frightening, he spoke. A giant, humanoid, talking turtle was standing right in front of her. She couldn't find the words to answer the turtle's question, or even find the strength to stand up. All she could do was stare.

"I asked yah a question!" he growled out, his face coming closer to hers. "Yah trying to get yourself killed?" he added gruffly.

She jumped. "No!" she squeaked, attempting to back away. She crossed her trembling arm in front of her body in defense. "No. I wasn't looking for any trouble. I don't know how I got here."

The turtle sighed as he looked her up and down, believing her. "Tell me what happened?" he said, sitting down in front of her, watching her closely.

Ali relaxed a bit, seeing that he didn't mean her any harm. She looked at him. He did have concern in his eyes, though they were clad with a fierce red bandana. Even though talking back to a talking turtle was still very strange, she took a cleansing breath and spoke softly.
"I… I don't know exactly what happened. One moment, I was in my dorm, and then… I was here. I only closed my eyes for a few seconds..." Even trying to explain it made her confused.

He lifted a brow ridge behind his bandana. "Sounds hard to believe, missy," he said in a gruff voice, thinking that she was making this stuff up.

She shivered. "I don't blame you," she said, looking away, feeling her face blush a bit with embarrassment. She really struggled in trying to explain this.

"Listen, kid, you should go home. It's getting late," he said getting up, but still looking down at her.

Ali pulled herself up on her still shaky limbs. Even though she was certain the turtle wasn't going to hurt her, she took a slight step back.

"I would, but I don't know where I am," she said, looking around. 'How do I even get back?' she thought to herself. She nervously glanced towards him, still amazed how big he was, even when she was standing up.

"New York City, Brooklyn," he said, looking at her as though she was crazy.

"What?!" Ali jumped back, her eyes wide with shock.

"What, did you just teleport yourself on top of that building?' he said sarcastically.

She nervously looked around as she answered, "I… guess you can say that."

The turtle's brow ridges went up again. Was this girl serious? "All right. Let's just assume I believe you. Where do you live so I could take you home? Dressed like that you won't be safe on the streets, trust me," he said, looking her up and down again, noticing her light brown, slender legs.

Moving her left leg behind her right, as a shy way to try to hide them, she answered almost in a whisper, "Umm... Colorado?"

"What?!" Now it was his turn to step back in shock. "You've got to be kidding me!" he said, face palming himself.

As he tried to calm himself from over reacting, Ali, too, was trying to keep herself under control. 'New York?' she thought. 'What's going on? I have to get out of here. I've gotta get back... somehow. I guess asking this turtle for help is out of the question, considering he doesn't know how I got here, either.'

"Ok, fine. Come with me," he said, outstretching his hand for her. She seemed like an innocent girl and he couldn't leave her behind like this.

Ali stared at the turtle's large, three fingered hand before slowly reaching for it. As shy as she was, she decided she couldn't stay here alone.

He brought her close to his body, her small form pressing against his big one. She blushed at the contact, but was even more surprised when he picked her up in a bridal style. "Hang on," he said. He jumped from building to building. Ali squeezed her eyes shut, clenching herself as the turtle leaped through the city. He came across a manhole and stopped, putting her down, and looking around to see if anyone could see them. Ali tried calming her still shaky body as he lifted the manhole with ease. He motioned her to come here and he helped her down in the sewers.

"A freak like me can't get a comfy apartment in NY," he said jokingly as she looked at him questionably.

'The sewers?' Ali thought. 'Well, I guess that would make sense.' And sure, he was frightening, at first, but she wouldn't exactly call him "a freak."

As she followed the turtle down the sewer tunnels, she asked him, "Do you have a name?"

"Raphael," he gruffed out. He turned to face her. "And you are...?"

She blushes and shyly looks away. "Ali."

"Ali," he tried her name on his lips. He liked it. It was simple, yet pleasant. "Stay close to me, Ali," he said as they moved deeper into the sewers.

She nodded.

The sewers didn't smell all that bad, actually. But she was curious where they were headed. Did this turtle actually live down here? She wanted to ask, but decided not to. Afraid to make Raphael annoyed with her (believing everyone she meets gets annoyed with her easily,) Ali had taught herself to follow the "don't speak unless spoken to" rule. So, she quietly followed behind him.

"It's not much, but its home," said Raphael when they made it to their lair.

"Hey Raph. Who's the hot chick?" a voice enthusiastically asked.

Ali jumped at the suddenness of the voice. She saw another turtle and scurried behind Raphael. She peaked from behind him. There's another one? So, there are more turtles like Raphael?

"Wow, it's okay, it's okay! It's just a mask," he said as he took off his orange mask. "See?" he innocently watched her, waiting for her to calm down.

She looked at him questioningly and smiled a bit at his misinterpretation of her fright. His friendly, blue eyes helped her relax. She looked him up and down. He was smaller than Raph, but still kinda big. His features were a lot less intimidating, like an outgoing, hysterical, loving kind of guy. She stepped from behind Raph.

"There you go. I'm Michelangelo, but you can call me Mikey!" he said enthusiastically. Raph growled as Mikey got too close to Ali, which was making her uncomfortable.

"Where are the other?" he asked his younger brother.

'Others?' Ali thought, getting a bit nervous again. 'How many are there?' Though Mikey and Raph apparently were friendlier than they appeared, the thought of being in a sewer with who-knows-how-many giant, talking turtles seemed uncomfortably odd.

Mikey shrugged his shoulders. "The usual. Donnie is working in his lab, and Leo is practicing in dojo. Nothing new around here. Except, now we have a guest," he said happily, winking at Ali. "Oh, I will finally have somebody to play with on my ps4!"

Raph rolled his eyes at that and looked down at Ali. "You hungry?" he asked her in a rough tone (but not really meaning to sound rough.)

"S-s-sure," she nodded, collecting her thoughts, comprehending that there are four turtles in all. Four turtles!

"You like pizza?" he asked walking her to the kitchen and opening the fresh pizza with 3 slices left. Seeing her nod, he gave her a small smile. "Dig in then." He stepped into another room while she ate.

The pizza tasted great for it being in the sewers. Not only that, pizza was one of her favorite foods. Curiously, Ali's eyes began to gaze about the place. It was like any actual home. Not to mention Mikey saying they have a ps4. Interesting.

The two other turtles walked in. One was wearing a blue bandana and the other was wearing a purple one. Even more fascinating, the purple one was wearing glasses. Ali stared at them both for a moment. It was really remarkable that these turtles had distinctly different features.

The blue one walked over to her and gave her a quick nod. "Hello, miss." He was kind with his voice. "I'm Leonardo. My brother Raphael told us we were going to be having a guest." Something about him didn't make Ali feel nervous at all. The confidence and the gentleness in his posture and his eyes gave her reassurance.

Ali smiled and nodded, "I'm Ali."

Leonardo smiled and walked over to the common area.

"And I'm Donatello," the purple one said next as he approached her. "But you can just call me Donnie." He had a bit of a nerdy tone in his voice, which Ali thought was kinda cute.

She gave him a smile and a nod, too. "Ali," she said.

"Ali, come play Soul Calibur with me!" yelled out Mikey in enthusiasm, seeing that she was done eating.

She looked over at Mikey who was energetically waving his arm, motioning her to come on over. Smiling at him, she complied and followed his lead. She hadn't played Soul Calibur in a while, so she had to get used it again.

Surprisingly, Raph stayed with them, watching the girl enjoy the game. He thought she was pretty, but he had to talk to Donatello about her teleportation abilities. He approached his geeky brother, explaining the situation. Donnie nodded, getting fascinated by the information. He approached Ali and started asking her detailed questions of what she was doing before she found herself in New York.

Stunned by this turtle's soft, brownish eyes, Ali placed the controller in her lap as she tried to think.
"Well..." she began, "the last thing I remember was writing in my journal. I was writing... and then... nothing. I just, wound up on that building." She flushed a little with embarrassment when she noticed the turtle found her statement hard to believe. "I know it sounds crazy, but I don't know how else to explain it."

Donnie asked if she had any technology or invention that might do this on accident. Raph was listening closely, doubting the girl was a genius like Donnie, but he did not want to judge.

Blushing at the interesting question, because she did not think of herself as genius at all, Ali made a quick glance at Raph, then back to Donnie and shook her head in response.

"Maybe she's a superhero! You know, like one of those in the comic books," said Mikey as he stopped playing his video game.
Raph rolled his eyes. "Those are just comics, Mikey. They're not real."

Ali tried to hide her smile. 'Not real, eh? Well, no one would believe me if I say I'm in the sewers with giant talking turtles, either,' she thought.

"Oh, oh! What if she is one of the mutants, like us, except more X-men like? Think about it. She just jumped from Colorado to New York City. That is supposed to be impossible!" said Mikey, making even Donnie scratch his head.

"Maybe. Umm, miss? Have you had any contact with something strange before? Like laboratory strange?"

This was making Ali even more confused, too. There were no labs on campus that where that sophisticated to do this.

"Um, no. I wasn't near any labs, radiation, or anything," she answered. 'Could this all just be a very strange dream?' But even she believed she wasn't that creative to dream up four mutant turtles with sophisticated names. Even more so, turtles who live in a sewer.

"Maybe she was born with it," said Raph, shrugging his shoulders.

"That might be a possibility, but her sudden burst of power is not really explained by simply sitting down at her dormitory writing in her journal. Now if it was something traumatic... then it would be a different story," replied Donatello, thinking about the logic behind this.

"It doesn't matter how she got her powers or what she is. All we need to know is that she needs our help," said Leonardo in a leveled voice.

Ali watched the turtles converse back and forth, trying to figure this out. Was there really an explanation to this? She really wasn't sure. All she knew was she had to get back home. She silently sighed, thinking the whole thing would be an impossible task.

"Why won't she just call her parents?" asked Mikey, shrugging his shoulders.

Donnie stopped in midsentence. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Ali, you remember the number of your home, don't you? Your parents might be able to get you home after all if they sent your documents by mail. You can fly back to Colorado in no time."

Ali practically face palmed herself. 'Of course! What the heck what I thinking?' "Sounds good," she smiled. Ali pardoned herself as she pulled her cell from her pocket and stepped into another room. 'When Mom and Dad here about this, they aren't going to be happy.' She dialed the number to her home. The tone sounded and she wait for them to pick up.

"I'm sorry," the operator said, "The number you dialed is non-existent."

"What?" Ali said. Did she misdial? That tends to happen when she gets nervous. She tried again.

"I'm sorry. The number you dialed is non-existent."

Trying to keep her panicked emotions under control, Ali tried her mom's cell number, then her dad's cell number.

"The number you dialed is non-existent," was the answer she received every time.

Ali's eyes widened and her heart began to race. She was breathing unsteady as she dialed one more number for her last resort—the number of her roommate; the girl she had been "enemies" with ever since school started. Another non-existing number. What is going on?!

Ali returned to the turtles, her cell phone trembling in her hands. She was trying to keep calm, but her unsteady breathing gave her away.

"What's the matter, Ali?" asked Raph with in a concerned voice. "Are they out of town or something?" Every turtle exchanged looks at her reaction.

She took a deep, shaky breath. "Every number I tried was non-existent." She placed her hand on her dizzy head. "Non-existent. How can that be? What's going on? Where am I?"

Donnie stared into space, in thought. "Perhaps you're in a parallel dimension where everyone you know does not exist? You must have somehow traveled through some sort of portal..." Donnie stopped as the guys were giving him a look like he was crazy. "What? It could happen."

Ali sat down, still trying to calm herself. It didn't frighten her as much that she was trapped in some strange dimension with four turtles whom she deemed as harmless, but the fact that she WAS in a strange dimension with no idea how to get back. She sighed. "What do I do?"

"Well, all you can do now is stay here, since you know nobody else but us," replied Donnie logically.

She replied to him with a shy smile. It could have been worse, but she really had to get back. No offence to Raph and the others, but she didn't belong here.

Since it was kinda late, Ali was given the couch to sleep on for the night, with an extra pillow and blanket. Donnie said they would figure this out in the morning. But she was too nervous to go to sleep. Ali tended to have mental arguments with herself:

'Don't be stupid. Stay here until this whole thing is figured out.
But what if it doesn't? How long will I have to be here?
What other choice do you have?
None, really.
Ok, then there's nothing you can do. Stay put!
No, no. I can't. I have to find a way out of this... dimension. I have to get home.'

Following her indecisive mind, Ali waited a moment to make sure everything was quiet. She slowly got up and crept to the door. Carefully, very carefully, she opened it and slipped down the passage way. She wasn't sure which manhole she and Raph came down from, so she just took a wild guess. 'All manholes connect to the sewers, right?' she thought. She quickly climbed up the ladder and lifted the manhole.

She made sure to seal the lid behind her before running off. Ali darted down the streets to try to find some sort of way to get night was cold and dark. It wasn't very smart of her to go out alone, but she figured if this was a different dimension, then she really wouldn't get hurt, right?

Raph lay awake for a long time. He couldn't stop thinking about Ali, how she got here, and how she was gonna get back. All these thoughts ran through his head, making him a bit uneasy. It was the middle of the night when he went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Since he was up anyway, he went to the couch to check up on the girl, but found it empty.

"What the?" he growled. Not thinking at all, he did not wake up any of his brothers and went to the sewers to look after her. He followed her scent and was able to trace it to the surface. "What the hell was she doing going around NYC all alone at night?" he asked himself, annoyed. He had to get to her before she got herself in trouble. He lifted the manhole easily and got outside, sticking to the shadows, listening for any screams for help that might sound like her. He was jumping from roof top to roof top, searching the streets and the alleys below for her.

Ali was searching for the building she wound up on. It was so hard to tell at night, especially from the ground. She was surprised to find the streets empty, except for a few parked car alongside the road. The fact that the streets were empty made her kinda nervous and she started to think if it was a good idea to come out here alone. She wrapped her arms around herself and pushed on, nervously glancing at her surroundings.

Suddenly, she heard something behind her. Her heart skipped a beat as she whirled around. It came from the shadows. "Hello?" she said, taking a step back.

"Whatcha doing out here by yah self?" a voice asked.

Ali relaxed her shoulders. "Just trying to figure this out, Mikey. Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Now, we can't have a little lady like you wandering the streets alone, now can we?" Ali tensed up again to find out that's not Mikey. Two rather large men stepped out of the shadows. From the way they were dressed and the multiple tattoos on their bodies, Ali understood these were street thugs. "Why don't we take you back with us?"

Ali took a few more steps back before she broke out into a run. "Hey, get back here, sweetheart!" she heard them call from behind. She heard their tromping feet following close behind. Breathing heavily, she began to panic as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to pick up some speed.

Raphael could hear some thugs making a ruckus. He decided to check it out, just in case. His eyes widened and he growled as he saw them chase after Ali. He quickly climbed down in time as one of the thugs caught Ali by the arm. She starting screaming, trying to tug herself free. Raph roared as he attacked from the shadows. The thug released Ali's arm as he and his partner were being thrashed by the turtle. He wanted to kill both of them for trying to hurt her... but, luckily for them, he just knocked them out cold. Growling with anger, he turned towards Ali now, so tall and big, glaring down at her.

"What the hell were you thinking going out here alone?!" he barked, approaching her. "Do you know what they could have done to you if I wasn't here?!" He wrapped his hands around her upper arms, his angry face coming closer.

Ali, wide-eyed and frightened as a mouse, stared into Raph's furious eyes. She trembled like a leaf in his strong grip. (She never responded well to harsh tones, whether they'd be at her or someone else.)

Trying to shrink back, she whimpered, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"That was rash and stupid. You could have been hurt," he told her, calming down as he saw her frightened state. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Why are you here? You could have at least crashed for the night."

Ali's breathing was still a bit shaky, but she answered, "I... I couldn't... wait. I couldn't wait any longer." Her mind was still rushed, so she couldn't get her thought together. She closed her eyes, lowered her head in submission, and whispered again, "I'm sorry."

"Ugh. You're coming back with me, and that's final," said Raph as he grabbed her hand and dragging her back to the sewers. "I saved you in the first place. You're my responsibility now, like it or now, missy. Now, get in before I push you in," he said threatenly. (But he didn't mean it. He was just trying to mask all the worry he felt for her.)

She had no choice. She climbed down into the sewers again and had Raph lead the way back. If he wasn't holding on to her to make sure she was close, Ali would have followed behind him (like she always does with anybody.) Still feeling the irritated vibrations of Raph's growling, she kept quiet all the way back with a guilty pain of going out alone in the first place.
'Ugh, you're such an idiot,' she told herself.

Raph sighed, turning to face her as they continued their way back. "Don't do that again, Ali. At least leave a note when you decide to leave," he said. "I just... don't want to see you get hurt," he added and immediately regretted it, since he thought he said way too much.

Ali looked at him. Just the tone of his voice told her how concerned he is. She nodded and relaxed her tense body. She never meant to make him worry.

Still, no one was up when they got back. Raph gentle pushed the girl towards the couch and looked down at her. "Let's forget this ever happened," he told her before storming off to his room. He did not want to linger too much in her presence, since it brought out a soft side in him and having a soft side was a weakness.

She watched him head back to his room. After all the excitement that happened today, maybe it is best to just crash for now. Ali crawled back to the couch and curled herself up. All thoughts of trying to get back home left her mind as she drifted off.