Emma sunk to the floor. She just stared at the picture in her hand. The man and woman in the photo were smiling as if they were happy with what they were doing.

My parents ... Surely this isn't real?! My mom and dad would never work for TCRI or the Kraang. This isn't true! It can't be true!

Her head was spinning with tons of questions. How could they work for someone so evil? How could they possibly stand by and let other humans be mutated?

She sat there dazed.

Raph waved a hand in front of her. He could see that she was upset and on the verge of tears. He nudged her softly with his elbow. "Hey, earth to Emma. Watcha got there?"

Emma, without looking up at him, gave him the picture she was holding. Raph took it and examined the photo for a few minutes. There was a man and woman dressed in white lab coats with TCRI printed on it.

The woman had brown curly hair to her shoulders with green eyes. She was young and beautiful. The man young looking too, with his sandy blond hair neatly cut, and dark brown eyes.

Raph looked back down at Emma. "You know these people or somethin'?"

"The people are my mom and dad. They work for the Kraang! They worked for the same stupid alien robots that mutated me into a freak mutant like you!"

Emma was angry, but realized what she had said was wrong even if it was true.

She looked up at Raph. He was just staring at her. "Raph, I didn't mean ..."

Raph hauled her up to her feet then grabbed both of her shoulders. He peered into her eyes, then spoke with a mad but hurt voice. "You know what, I'm tired of your lousy, sulking attitude! You go moaning and groaning around ALL the time! It's driving me crazy! You smile and act cute but the cold hard truth is, you are furious at the world for what happened to you. I don't care if your parents are dead, this has got to stop!"

Leo pulled on Raph's right arm. "Woah, Raph. Ease off!" He ordered.

Raph shrugged him off and continued what he was saying.

"You really think you are the only one with problems? Well, I got news for ya, we've all got problems! Here's three words for ya, suck it up! Me and my bros don't WANT to look like this, we want to have a normal life like everyone else but that ain't gonna happen. You know why? Because we have a responsibility to save the world every freakin' night. If we don't, who will?! Stop sulking and move on already! If you are gonna be apart of this team, you gotta get over the fact that your parents are gone ... They ain't comin' back."

Emma tried to hold back tears. She didn't take her eyes off of Raph. She nodded really fast. He let her go then backed away. "Good. You remember that."

Emma hated to admit it but he was right; she was sulking. She did have to somehow get over it. Leo, Mikey, and Donnie watched on in total silence.
"Awkward." Mikey said in a high pitched voice, breaking the silence in the room.

Donnie avoided Emma's gaze. "That was ... Intense."

Leo glared at Raph. He shook his head, disapproving of what Raph had said to Emma.
Emma rubbed her left arm. Raph had frightened her a bit by shouting those things to her.

It went all quiet again. Raph had dropped the picture of Emma's parents by Leo's foot. Leo picked it up. He recognized the photo - it was the same one he had found at Emma's Uncle's apartment.

Interesting. He thought.

He set it down on a table to his right. "We should really get going. I don't hear the alarm anymore which means they're up to something, so let's move."

Everyone turned to leave when three soldiers burst through the door. The aimed their guns at them. Leo gave a signal to be ready to fight. Someone else came through the door behind the three men that were armed. The man was Bishop!
"You've got to be kidding! See, this is what happens when we waste time talking." Leo said

"Oh no! It's the mad scientist dude and his three pet rats!" Mikey exclaimed.

Bishop smiled and put his hands on his hips. "You turtles aren't going anywhere! Now, put down your weapons and surrender!"

"What do you think guys? Do we surrender? Or do kick some shell?!" Leo smirked.

Raph pulled out his sais, and chuckled. "Heck yeah. I've been itchin' for a fight since we got here!"

"Woo, BOOYAKASHA!" Mikey yelled out.

"Careful, remember what happened the last time we challenged Bishop." Donnie warned.

"Dude, he seriously whooped us!" Mikey said.

"That's not gonna happen again. Focus on what Splinter taught us. Use shadows and deception to gain advantage." Leo reminded them.

Emma stayed silent but readied herself to fight.

The three men were about to start shooting those awful darts at them, but Leo ran over and cut the barrels of the guns with his katana. The men panicked, shaking their guns trying to get them to shoot.

Donnie whacked them behind their legs with his bow staff, making them fall backwards. Raph and Mikey jumped on them and knocked them out. Bishop was the only one left.

Emma was ashamed that she was so useless in combat. True she was still in basic training, but that doesn't mean she can't do anything to help.

She came to stand next to Leo, who was aiming his katana at Bishop's chest. "It's over, Bishop. Let us go and we might just go easy on ya."

"Ha, who says it's over? I haven't even started yet!" Bishop bellowed.
He did a sweeping kick on Leo's legs. Leo fell over but, was caught by Emma. She was helping him to his feet but Bishop kicked her out of the way. Emma flew into a wall. She was put in a daze.

Emma got to her feet, putting a hand to the back of her head. She watched as Raph and Donnie attacked Bishop together. Raph jumped through the air, sais aimed at Bishop's head, and Donnie ducked down and hit Bishop in the face.

Bishop was on the ground, but not for long. He rolled to the side, before Raph could land a hit on him, and flipped to stand up. He then used his elbow to push Raph on the ground.

Mikey leapt into the fray to save Raph. He slammed his nunchucks into Bishop's stomach. That didn't even phase Bishop, as he punched Mikey in the face sending him flying.

Emma decided to attack him next. She hopped from side to side trying to confuse Bishop of where she would attack him. She acted like she was going to jump into the air but then at the last moment got down and kicked him in the shins. He cried out in pain but then went for her neck. He gripped her neck with one hand and pinned her against the wall behind him. He then pulled out a knife and put against her skin. Leo, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie stopped dead in their tracks.
"This crazy guy and his sharp tools, I tell ya!" Mikey said.

"Lay down your weapons or Emma here gets it." Bishop ordered.

Emma couldn't stand it any longer. She was the weakest link, but not this time. She raised her knee and knocked the knife out of Bishop's hand, before he had time to react. She lunged at him and pinned him on the ground, her elbow against his neck.

"How do you like it you creep!" She said.

Leo walked over to help her. He dragged Bishop up to look him in the eye.

"Don't you ever try hurting her again, or we'll personally hunt you down! You got that?!"

Bishop looked shaken up but tried not losing his cool. Leo slammed the side of his hand into The back of Bishop's neck. It knocked him out instantly. Leo let Bishop fall to the floor.
"Way to go, Emma!" Mikey cheered.

"That's one way to use deception." Donnie stated.

"We should probably get going. I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat." Emma said.

Together they snuck out the building and back into the sewers, hoping to never hear from or see the man known as Bishop ever again. Little did they know that something even bigger was to come.

-

Back At The Lair.

Emma was hanging out in her room. She checked herself for any major wounds. There wasn't anything but a bunch of bruises and small cuts, but Donnie insisted that she check to make sure. She lied there on her bed completely exhausted, when she heard a knock on her door.

She sat up and called out. "Come in."

The door opened. Leo, Mikey, and Donnie were standing there.
"What's up, guys?" She asked.

"Well, Raph would like to say something to ya." Leo said as he pulled Raph from behind the door post.

"Alright, alright, let go already. Sheesh." Raph frowned.

He folded his arms then without looking at Emma said, "I'm .. Sorry. There, happy now?!"

"Dude, ya gotta say it to her face! Or are ya chicken?!" Mikey teased.

"Guys, is he really blushing?! I think he's actually blushing!" Donnie joked.

Raph yanked Donnie's bandana. "Or maybe I'm mistaken." Donnie said. "Ow, mercy!"

Raph let go then turned to Emma. "Look, I'm ... Sorry, you know, about before."

"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I didn't mean what I said about you guys being freak mutants. I was upset that my parents were working for TCRI. It was wrong of me to take my anger out on you. I'm just so confused by what my mom and dad were thinking. They blindly followed the Kraang."

Leo was the one who spoke next. "Maybe it's not what you think. They probably didn't know who they were working for. Kraang use disguises. Your parents could have been working for them without knowing why."

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, but I don't think they were clueless about the Kraang."

"If you want, we're about to watch a movie, you can join us." Leo said.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a sec." Emma said.

They turned to leave but Emma grabbed Raph's arm. "Hey, Raph?"

He looked at her then asked. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for waking me up to reality back at Bishop's base. I really needed that. And you were right, I was pouting."

"Someone needed to tell ya. There's plenty more where that came from so enough with the sulking." He smiled.

"Now, come on, we're gonna miss the movie!" He said as he ran down the hall. Emma shrugged and followed him.
They all watched the movie together. Emma was glad to finally have some good friends to stick up for her and give her the advice she so very badly needed. She knew that whatever was to come their way, they would handle it together. Nothing would tear them apart.