So... it's been at least a year.

...

There are no excuses, and I don't want to think of any. All I will say is I'm sorry, I apologize if I left someone hanging without any further notices about me or the fic (although, by the looks of it, it wasn't gaining any traction so hopefully I didn't make anyone sad by not posting for a year). College was my main focus, it's still is, to be honest, but I wanna at least try to manage both responsibilities: studying and writing a fic. Because honestly, I missed this. And I loved the story I had so far for this (more than what it's shown in the chapters) so I can't wait to write it down, edit it more and show it to the world.

Neither "TMNT" nor "PPG" belongs to me.

[CHAPTER III]

The day after the nocturnal incident with the fake monkey and his robot, April O'Neil went down the sewers, not only to visit her family but to also question the brothers about it. She knows them, and when something unusual happens in New York it's pretty safe to assume that they have an idea of what's going on.

This wouldn't be the last time April goes full reporter on them – unintentionally, of course. She just can't help herself. Four years of studying to be a reporter plus her natural curiosity affect her a lot when out of the ordinary stuff happens.

"A mutated monkey is stealing Tulio for god knows what?"

"Precisely April." Donatello had just finished explaining what happened that night and his investigation later on. "It's still unclear what his plan is but it ain't pretty. But we can't do much about it since he's not from New York."

"You said it was from Townsville, right?" She questioned him.

"Correct." He nodded. "Unless he comes back to our territory we won't be able to do much about him."

The conversation didn't last for much longer apart from that. April stayed for a couple of hours to spend time with her turtle friends and past pets, watching movies and eating pizza – their favourite food. It was all very pleasant, like the big and special family they are. She's grateful to have them, especially after feeling alone for so many years. The death of her father, a brilliant scientist, devastated her at such young age.

Later that day, when April was back at her apartment and the sun was only barely visible across the warm coloured sky, she couldn't help but think about the new information again. The name Townsville echoing in her mind non-stop. A quick Google search wouldn't do any harm, at least to have an idea of what they're dealing with. And as soon as her mind was made up her fingers were already typing on her computer. Multiples, if not dozens, of news articles and videos, pooped up in the search, all going back until 2010. Countless stories about the Powerpuff Girls and different articles going in detail about them and their villains; a lot to digest, it was, April had no doubts about it. The bad guys caught her attention the most as she read, mainly with how different they were: a mutated monkey, a green-skinned street gang, scientifically created young boys, even the devil himself!

Reading news articles and blog entries for at least an hour and a half does very little to satisfy her curiosity. April has always been eager and pro on research and discovering the truth. That lead her to her family two years ago, and so far has been nothing but helpful to them ever since. She would do anything to help them…

Her green eyes looked outside, through the window. There, far far away – like, many blocks away from her little apartment, stood the tall building that was hijacked last night. An idea came to her mind, another one of her crazy ideas.

The hour was 10 pm. Despite the building being packed with security from the outside, April somehow found a way to sneak in. The watch on her wrist, a birthday present from Donnie, did come in handy to find a way in while avoiding the police. The building itself, as she imagined, was empty – not even a janitor was in sight and the few lights on were dim. The only audible sounds were her own breath and her heels tapping against the ground.

Silence was her friend. A hand held her phone to provide light (because what phone doesn't come with a lighter programmed with it?) as the opposite wrist was held up in the air. It had the birthday watch, making a call to the brains who made it.

"Hi, April."

"Hey Donnie, I just want—" Before she could continue with the short call, both were interrupted.

"Is that you, angelcakes?" The sound of the youngest turtle, followed by Donatello shushing him away made the reporter chuckle. They never seem to change, not even around her.

"Sorry about that. Just a minor inconvenience. How can I help you?"

"Don't worry too much about it. I'm just letting you know that I'm at the crime scene. I wanted to check to see if there is anything I could find." April's voice was soft and toned down. Even though the building was empty one could never be sure about who is or is not around.

"Alright. Be careful, ok? Call if anything happens."

With a hum, the woman cut short the call as she made her way to the stairs. Just as she was about to go up a sound distracted her. It wasn't loud, she was barely able to hear it in the first place, but it was something… or someone. April waited in the dark for another signal of the source. Two minutes later she heard it again, this time just a bit more clearly (but not by much, honestly). Laughter – distant laughs coming from down below. She didn't need to think it twice to start descending.

The more she walked down the more the voices became louder with each step. April could even pick up other small details as well: it wasn't one (as she originally thought) but two or three at least, all male by the looks of it, and whatever they were doing it must be fun for whoever was at one of the underground levels of the building. But the more she got closer the more the redhead grew wary of her surroundings.

The last underground floor was fast approaching (given how quickly she descended the stairs while trying to not make too much noise). Her only source of light available was safe in her pocket, not wanting to call the attention of whoever was near. And with each slow step, her suspicions became clear answers. Three males, probably young men, talking about metal and a monkey… did April just hear the word 'mommy' being used by one of them? The voices continued to be heard while she hid behind the only door leading to the other room, peaking through the keyhole to see who lies on the other side. Unfortunately, it was too dark to tell from her position.

Suddenly, they all stopped. No laughs, no grunts, no sentences - just, nothing. Odd… very odd.

April slowly opened up the door, just enough so her body would slide in without making too much noise. Inside there wasn't much improvement light wise, just a rusty lamp hanging from the ceiling. However, the more she walked to the light, the more she felt observed. As if the lab wasn't empty, to begin with.

"Well, well, well."

A voice broke the silence, making April turn around abruptly. Her fists moved up in an attempt of a fight stance. Her whole being was in the light, the voice came from the shadows; and yet, she could see his eyes. Bright red, almost like blood.

"What do we have here boys? A little spy." He talked again, his eyes glittering with amusement to her frightened face.

"And a pretty one at that." A second voice spoke up, next to the first man, while chuckling loudly. His eyes were also visible in the dark, but these were dark blue like the deepest parts of the ocean. "Where do you come from, sweet cheeks?"

Ugh, that sounded too much like Mikey. Except this wasn't endearing but kind of creepy.

"Who cares?"

A third male spoke behind her back. But before the redhead could turn around (or even press a button from her watch) she felt two strong arms wrap themselves tightly around her figure, with one moving the hand to her face – it was holding a mask, a hospital like a gas mask. As soon as it was placed on her face, covering her nose she smelled it. It had that smell. April immediately tried to fight back.

"Boo - you always ruin the fun, brother." The blue eyes individual whined. April could feel her energy draining out with each second.

"As if. You're just too much of an idiot to realize it."

She felt her body being moved, held up until the figure was basically carrying her in his arms. The last thing she saw before passing out from the chloroform were his eyes, just like with his brothers (were they all brothers?). Green. Dark green, to be precise – like a slimy frog.

Almost three hours passed since his last conversation with April O'Neil. Normally, he wouldn't be worried about her when she does crazy things like infiltrating in secured areas to gather intel. However, as the minutes turned into hours he grew more and more worried for her. So much so that he began to trace the location of the watch without even receiving a call from help.

"Don!" His only little brother called, approaching him with a slice of pizza in his hand. "You've been there for hours, dude. You should chillax and have dinner."

"Huh?" The turtle with the glasses glanced at Mikey with confusion in his eyes. Just then he glanced at one of the many clocks surrounding him (all from the computer screens) and realized how late it actually was. A hand moved to rub his slightly tired eyes. "Is it that late?"

"Yeah, no kidding." His orange bandana flung as he moved to sit down next to his brother, placing the pizza in the only free spot available without touching any of the electronics. "What are you even doing?"

"Investigating the so-called 'Mojo Jojo'." The immediate answer caused the young turtle to groan while whispering 'Booooring'. "But, I'm worried about April."

"Because of that call from hours ago?" Well, Mikey was actually eating while talking so his words came out as pure nonsense to Donatello. Thankfully for him, his brother swallowed before opening his mouth again. "Relax, I'm sure she's fine."

Donnie's brown eyes darted away from the screens and towards the pizza. His stomach has been demanding food for a while now. With a small sigh, he gave in and began to eat his portion. The sweet mix of cheese, pepperoni and bacon made him forget everything surrounding him except the pizza. So much so that the ever so attentive brains of the team didn't notice the alarm at first – coming back to the present just after Mikey shook him off fiercely.

"DONNIE!"

The turtle in purple almost fell off his chair – the half-eaten pizza didn't share his same luck, however. A hand rushed to adjust his glasses before fully focusing on what was in front of him. It was that alarm, April's watch – his navigator finally detected its signal. And it did not come from where she was the last time they spoke.

"Guys-!" He yelled towards his back. "We have trouble."

"Angelcakes is in danger!" Michelangelo practically jumped from his seat as his eyes stared with worry at the screen.

"C'mon guys." Leo was already ready, with both of his katanas and everything, as he stood just next to their only way out of the Lair. "Let's go!"

Pain. Her head was in pain. It took April more than just a few seconds to start moving – and that's just slightly. Low groans left her mouth while trying to breathe – why did her lungs felt like they lacked oxygen? Her pupils were still too tired to move, so the redhead tried with other parts of her body.

All of her was tied to a chair. Arms and wrists, legs and ankles, even her upper body were firmly tied up to the back of the chair. All with rope, just to clarify – nothing out of the ordinary. Why, though? Is not like she was that big of a threat. So why…?

"Well, well. Our little guest has finally awakened."

That voice again, and much closer to her being this time. Suddenly, April felt a hand run through her long, dark red hair for what it felt like an eternity – a horrible eternity – until it vanished. Slowly (and finally, thank god) her eyes opened. Not surprisingly, they had to adjust to the sudden light – even if the room itself wasn't completely lit. Light blue eyes scanned the room from her position: it was pretty big, with giant metallic boxes all over the place – containers, perhaps? If so, with that?

However, the elements of the room itself weren't the most eye-catching things for April. That would be the three individuals with her. Now under the light, there was more than the colour of their eyes.

Green eyes belonged to a tall young man of shoulder length black hair and pale skin; he was standing with his arms crossed while leaning against one of the many containers - most of his hair was held up in a tiny ponytail but a good chuck covered his face, half of his face. Blue eyes stared amusingly at April from her left, belonging to a fair boy; his short and messy blond hair sticking out like a sore thumb - were those freckles in his face? Adorable would be a good way to describe him at first glance, unlike the other one who screamed danger. Red eyes belonged to the last male, now standing almost right in front of her; long and messy red hair was being held up in a low ponytail (as if he didn't put any effort making it), a red hat laid on top of his head. All had worn out clothes, mainly leather, but each one with their respective colour: red, blue or green.

Just who were these guys?

"Sleeping beauty is awake." The blond walked a few steps closer while chuckling amusingly.

"Who…" April found it difficult to talk at first, having to breathe hard to not pass out again. Just how much chloroform did she breathe when getting abducted? "Who… are you?"

"Guess we're not famous in New York."

"Not yet." Green eyes added, also amused, as if this was some game for all three of them.

"Well, you're lucky." April's blue eyes stared back at intense red ones as he devilishly smiled at her. "You will be the first to remember us, the Rowdyruff Boys. Brick."

"Boomer." The blond interrupted him.

"Butch." Followed by the dark-haired male, finally approaching the group.

It was then when the names rang a bell to the reporter. Of course, these are just one of the many villains that attack Townsville. April could still remember reading one of the first articles about them, displaying pictures of the boys from back in 2010 (they were much younger): no one knows where they come from but they have an odd relationship with another main villain, Mojo Jojo. Troublemakers, that's what they are. Just a group of good for nothing troublemakers who just happen to have incredible strength and powers.

"What…" Another heavy breathing. "… are you doing here in New York?"

"It doesn't concern you." Butch stopped next to Boomer, who decided to lean against the male in green. "The real question here is, what were you doing at that building?"

"None… of your business." April almost screamed at them, but the lack of energy made it impossible.

None of them noticed it (for one reason or another) but the watch had been beeping for a while now. Not loudly, not even making a sound, but it's not that hard to spot a red dot coming from its circular shape. Almost there…

Suddenly, footsteps were heard. Butch was the first to notice them, followed by his brothers one by one. April, confused by their facial expressions at first, didn't realize help was on the way until the door was knocked down and four familiar faces speared from the shadow. For the Rowdyruff Boys, this was a surprise but not an unwelcoming one – how could they resist the urge to fight? Honestly, they weren't even shocked to see four giant turtles fully armed.

"Are you kidding me?" Raphael grunted at the sight. Not because April got captured, but who did it. "It's just a bunch of kids."

"Hey! We're not kids!" Boomer got offended with such a tiny comment. It wasn't that big of a deal, or so thought the other two.

"Whatever." His toothpick went from left to right, sais moving smoothly in his hands "I'm still gonna kick your ass."

"As if." Butch moved forward.

"I wonder how long is gonna take us to break your shells?" Brick followed soon enough, with an air of confidence radiating from him as one hand turned his hat backwards.

Charging in with fury, Raphael was the first to react. His brothers didn't take long to imitate him and attack the strange boys. No words were uttered aside from screams of war and grunts. Well, not exactly at first; Leo ordered Donnie or Mikey to take April away from there and keep her safe, but neither could properly do that – both were stuck fighting Boomer, who was doing pretty good at handling two giant mutated turtles with weapons. The other fights were just as equal either in strength or technique, with Leonardo and Brick having a one-to-one all over the place, while Raphael and Butch had a pure muscle battle of 'Who is the strongest?'.

None of the turtle brothers expected a group of kids to have this ability in battle - which in itself was rusty but more than compensated with the sheer raw strength and abilities they had. They could even fly and evade their weapons with certain ease! Almost as if they weren't human at all. It could explain why they were able to hold themselves in the fight, their strength, their speed. Even with their weapons, the turtles were having trouble dealing with them.

The different little fights (which combined were a gigantic all-out fight) felt like it lasted longer than it should be Just how strong were these guys? But more importantly, who were they? The turtles had no idea who they were fighting against. And then, in the blink of an eye, a projectile crashed from the ceiling to the ground, interrupting all the fighting that was happening. Or, well, they thought it was a projectile at first.

Like a lightning bolt it descended from the sky, leaving a trail of destruction from here it came from. Gravel rolled around, the remainings of what used to be the top ceiling being nothing but rocks, dust and smoke surrounding the room which made everyone cough. The three boys, although it took them a moment to realize who it was, left their respective fights to stand next to one another, right in front of where April has been for a while.

It was only when the dust began to dissipate that the turtles (as well as everyone else) began to have a clear picture of what came in. Or rather, who came in.

A hammer. Huge in size, made of some kind of metal, with details in green and gold. It slowly began to be lifted up from the ground - and if I told you by who without context, you would think it was insane. A girl, a thin and short girl, lifted up the heavy hammer by herself, without breaking a sweat. To her left, the Rowdyruff Boys – there was a silent stare competition between the trio and the female, with particular anger coming from Butch. To her right, the ninja turtles; and it was in that moment when her body slightly turned towards them and the dust was almost gone, that they realized who she was. The same uniform in black, white, yellow and green; the same short black hair; the same body complexion with all and the muscles. Now that they could look at her face to face all the brothers admired the newly discovered features about her: her fair and pale skin, how messy her hair actually was, the fact that at first glance she didn't seem 100% American, and her eyes… oh, her eyes, so alive and green like recently cut grass in the morning, filled with fury and lightning.

The Rowdyruff Boys were ready for another attack. However, all she did was turn around towards them and laugh. That sarcastic laugh of hers – Butch hated it the most.

"Your worst nightmare has arrived, pieces of shit." Buttercup was more ready than ever to kick their asses.

So... what do you think?

Comments? Feedback?