Author RoseD.: Hi everyone! As you may know, I posted this story a few years back —when I was still an active writer— all the way to the 7th Chapter. I've longed ever since to complete this fic and, if the reviews are any indication, my readers have wanted the same thing!

So, this is me, going over and fixing up all the previous Chapters prior to uploading the long-awaited 8th Chapter!

PLEASE ENJOY :)

I'm rating this story T for Teen to be safe. Rated for: mild bloodshed, violence, angst & agony, and hair-raising/sticky situations.

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TMNT | Unlinked Chain

Chapter 1: Separation Anxiety

I t happened again. The lives of the four mutant turtle brothers Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael had once again been interrupted by cosmic forces. What seemed like what was to be an ordinary day in the Lair turned out to be anything but.

Master Splinter heard it from his room, a popping sound. At first the old rat thought the sound was little more than an activity one or more of his sons was engaged in. But when the popping grew louder and stretched into the ominous howl of an incredible wind, he knew something was wrong.

Before the sensei could reach the door to his room, he heard the voices of his sons crying out in alarm and fear. A powerful gust plowed into him as he slid the door to his room aside, and he staggered as he recovered his balance. "My sons!" he cried as he pulled himself forward.

There, in the center of the high Lair ceiling was a great funnel of light, swirling and roaring with power. And there were the four turtles, clinging to each other in an awkward chain as the raging funnel attempted to suck them into its maw.

Raphael was the one closest to the ground, having stabbed into the floor with one of his sai. While holding to this anchor Raph was also keeping his other arm around Leo who, in turn, was holding onto Donnie's wrist and Mikey's ankle. "Hold on!" Leo commanded his two youngest brothers.

"To what?!" screamed Mikey, "You're the one who's got my leg!"

"Boys!" called Splinter, clinging to the doorframe of his room.

"Father!" cried Leo, struggling to keep hold of his brothers.

Quickly assessing the situation, Master Splinter called out to Michelangelo. "Take out your kusarigama!" he bellowed, "Throw the end to me!"

Mikey gulped as his body swayed in the winds and reached for his belt. Pulling loose the chain, Mikey twirled the weighted end and threw it towards his sensei. Splinter caught it but reaching out allowed the pressure of the wind to sweep him away from his door. He skidded a ways before catching himself.

"Master!" cried his boys. Splinter regained his balance and fought to get back to his door, his four sons looking on all the while. Raphael gritted his teeth, groaning, for his grip on his sai was weakening; the sweat from his green palm was starting to make the hilt of his sai slick.

Leonardo could feel this, and, over the roar of the winds, shouted: "Hold on Raph!"

Raphael clenched his teeth. "What's it look like I'm doin'?!" he barked back.

Donatello looked 'round, he and Leonardo locking eyes for a moment. "Just hold on!" called Leo, "Everything's going to be okay!"

"Then why do I feel like the exact opposite is true?" wailed Donnie.

Michelangelo gripped his kusarigama tighter and smiled as his father rat was finally able to reach the safety of his room, still with the chain in hand. "Hold on my sons!"

Just then, the whole group felt themselves jerk towards the whirling vortex. "Argh!" growled Raphael, struggling to maintain his grip, but the muscles of his hand and arm had begun to tremble with fatigue. "Can't—!" he was saying.

Leo clenched his teeth. 'If only I could draw my katana, Raph wouldn't have to hold us all!' His mind came to a sudden solution. "Don!" he hollered, "Hold on to my leg!"

"What?!"

"I need you to let go of my hand and hold onto my leg! Hurry! NOW."

Heart pounding, Donatello reluctantly let go, his hands slipping down his brother's leg until finally catching a decent hold. A shiver ran through him as he realized there was very little between him and dimensional oblivion.

Splinter began pulling—pulling with all his might; he saw Leonardo drawing out one of his katanas and realized, at the same moment Leo did, that the turtle in blue really wasn't at the proper angle to drive his blade down in between the stones of the floor.

"I'm—sorry," hissed Raphael, his body shaking with the strain, "I—can't–!"

All the turtles yelped as Raph's hand slipped from his sai. Their world spun out around them as they were immediately drawn upward. Master Splinter gasped as he was ripped forth from his room, still clutching the weighted end of Mikey's chain. But he crashed against one of the lair's pillars, the chain yanked from his slender hands.

"NO!" he cried, looking up from where he had fallen. But his sons were already gone.

Leonardo winced: somebody was poking him in the shoulder with something sharp. He opened his eyes and saw the point of a pike very close to his face. He immediately slapped the weapon away, jerking up into a sitting position. He saw at once that he and his brothers had been surrounded by several human men dressed in armor. He was the only one who had awoken though; his brothers were still unconscious on the ground around him.

"What are they?" asked one man approaching the group with the look of utter curiosity on his face.

"I don't know." replied the man holding the pike.

Leo gritted his teeth as he brought his feet underneath him. "You could just ask." he said, rising.

The humans blinked. "Well," said a man standing somewhere behind Leo, "'least they can talk like other man-beasts."

"If they can talk," said the man with the pike, "Then they can answer questions." Leo was getting the impression that this human was in charge of the others. "What are you?" asked the man, "And why are you here?"

Leo blinked, his brow hardening ever so slightly. "We are turtles. And I don't know why we're here. Some kind of magical vortex picked us up and dropped us down here, wherever here is."

The men continued to stare at the turtles but only the gaze of the man holding the pike seemed hard, though, not altogether unfriendly. Leo's heart was thumping; he wished his brothers would awaken, for he knew he would be hard put to defend them if the need arose. Indeed, he counted a dozen armored men in total.

"Well," said the lead man, "This is her Ladyship IraVana's land. And we are charged with the duty of bringing anyone, man or beast, who crosses her land to her. You and your fellow turtles are no exception."

Leo glanced around at the men from of the corners of his eyes. "We have no problem abiding by the rules of your land. However, if your Lady wishes to do us harm, then I will have no choice but to defend myself and my brothers."

There was something of a pause before some of the men loosed scoffing chuckles. Leonardo felt himself tensing already.

"No harm, turtle. Her Ladyship only wishes to keep account of those who would make their way through her land and has a need to see you in person."

"Very well." answered Leo, then turning. He knelt and took hold of Michelangelo's arm. "Mikey, hey, wake up."

The man with the pike noticed the two scabbards strapped to Leo's back; only one still had a katana in it. "You won't be needing this when you go before her Ladyship,"

Just as Michelangelo's eyes fluttered open, Leonardo felt his blade pulled suddenly from its sheath. He spun immediately, grabbing the man's arm. Yet even as Leo made to take his weapon back, several of the other men bounded forward and yanked him back from their leader.

"That sword belongs to me!" growled Leonardo, straining against those who had seized him. He suddenly wondered where his other blade was.

"You do not need to be armed when you meet her Ladyship." clarified the lead man, briefly eyeing the craftsmanship of Leo's sword.

"Oh man," whispered Michelangelo, having watched as his brother was disarmed. Feeling a swell of nervous apprehension, Mikey turned quickly and began shaking both Don and Raph. "Guys!"

Alas, the bō staff at Donatello's back had also been spotted and one man was already bending down to claim it. "Dude!" exclaimed the youngest of the turtles. He reached out for the weapon even as the man was taking it, but another of the armored men drew forth a sword, forcing Mikey to recoil.

"Don't hurt them!" Leo demanded, "We're not here to fight!"

"W-what?" asked Donnie, his bleary eyes widening when he saw they were surrounded by armed humans.

Raphael sat up unsteadily just as two of the men took hold of Mikey; they stood him up. "Are these your weapons?" they asked, noticing his nunchakus.

"No, don't take those!" called Michelangelo.

Raphael's eyes snapped wide; he took in everything at once: Leo was being restrained, Mikey was being disarmed, Donnie wasn't in a position to fight, and now some men were coming towards him. A flame ignited in his breast— in a split second he had sprung into the air, kicking into the men that had appeared on either side of him. He dropped low, kicking the legs out from under two more.

"Raph!" called Leo, understanding the situation could turn very bad for them very quickly.

Raphael drew out his sai, realizing then that he had only one. He twirled it into the face of a man coming up at his shoulder and instantly dropkicked another man flat to the ground. The turtle terror then whipped around, slashing into the arm of one man and into the leg of another.

"Raph stop!" commanded Leo.

The man with the pike gritted his teeth and pulled a dirk from his belt. "Stop your assault now or the blood my men loose will be taken from your brothers in kind!"

Raph's gaze shot backward over his shoulder – and he froze. All three of his brothers had blades against their throats; in fact, the blades were sharp enough to have already drawn blood: a small trail of crimson was running down Donnie's neck. Raph turned, clenching his sai in his fist. "You dirty—!" he snarled.

Five of the men Raphael had been fighting immediately tackled him to the ground. They shoved his face into the dirt and fought to restrain him; eventually they got their manacles around his wrists and ankles. He growled venomously as they got up off him.

Putting away his dirk, the men's leader looked to the other three terrapins. "Yes," he said, "We'd better do that to all of them. No telling what these creatures are capable of after that display."

Leo, Mikey and Donnie were shoved down against the ground. "You don't have to do this!" spouted the turtle in blue, "We're not here to fight!"

"Oh? Not from what I've seen!" snapped the pikesman, holding an open hand toward Raphael. Leo shut his eyes. Why was this happening? WHY?

When he opened his eyes again, he saw both Donnie and Mikey looking at him with trepidation. Seeing they needed some kind of solace, Leo softened the worried frown creasing his face and mouthed: don't worry.

The turtles were soon yanked up from the ground and loaded into the back of a steel-wheeled buckboard; two men sat up in the seat at its head and made ready to move with the troop. Very soon the pikesman gave the order to return to the Manor of the Lady, and each man mounted his horse and started off.

The turtles found the trail rough and hard considering they hadn't been allowed to sit up and were instead lying on their sides, one next to the other like sardines in a can. Raphael glowered at their captors, that is, until he heard Donatello coughing behind him. He craned his neck back to see his little brother. "You okay Donnie?"

Donatello cleared his throat. "Considering I'm shackled in the back of a primitive transport headed who-knows-where for who-knows-why…I could be better." Don started coughing again.

Raphael didn't care for the sarcasm, but neither was he willing to chide Donatello for it. He turned back, looking over Michelangelo toward the eldest of the four of them. "Leo," he said in a loud whisper, "What're we gonna do?"

Leo pulled against his chains for a moment. "Use our heads." he answered, "The way we are at the moment we're in no position to fight back. We can't risk ticking these guys off any more than we already have."

"Them ticked?" riled Raph, "OH if they think they're ticked, they ain't seen nothin' yet! I'll show 'em ticked!"

"But not now!" growled Leo. Clenching his teeth, Raphael reluctantly reined in his temper. That's when the turtles realized all the men in the troop were glaring at them. Each turtle except Michelangelo glared back and it was only then that the three oldest turtles realized how very quiet their baby brother was being.

"Mikey?" asked Leo. Mikey didn't immediately respond, which prompted Raph to nudge him in the back of the head. "Yo Mikey, you okay bro?"

The buckboard went over a large bump causing the turtles' heads to bounce up before slamming back down against the floor. They groaned through gritted teeth. "What, couldn't afford no stinkin' shock absorbers?" grumbled Raphael.

"I'm sorry bros," piped up Michelangelo out of the blue, "I just, don't feel very good."

Mikey's brothers blinked, glancing at one another. "What's wrong?"

"I just feel, kinda, sick…" muttered the turtle in orange, squeezing his eyes closed.

Leo tried to turn over in order to face Mikey, but quickly realized there wasn't enough room. A hiss passed briefly through his teeth and he turned his face back as it would go. "Don't worry Mikey, we'll get this sorted out once we see their Lady."

"Indeed, we will." came the voice of the lead man. He was riding up alongside the buckboard carrying his pike close to him. The turtles eyed him, as indeed he eyed them.

Leonardo cleared his throat and spoke up. "What is your name?"

The man cocked an eyebrow and was silent for a good long while, eyes moving from the road to the turtle and back again. "M'name's Winsul." he said finally, "And you, turtleman?"

Leo paused before responding. "My name is Leonardo. We don't want trouble with your people, we only want the freedom to go our own way."

"Don't we all." mumbled the man, then shaking his head as if to banish the comment. "Your name is from the Dead Language," he said informatively, "Yet you speak in the New Tongue. How is this?"

Donatello blinked, frowning. "Dead language? It's Italian. Even Spanish if you want to get technical."

"We don't wanna get technical!" snapped Raph, causing Donnie to sigh and look away. The frowns of several men in the troop deepened whenever Raphael spoke, especially those whose blood he'd drawn — and their ire towards him grew.

"I'm not sure I can answer your question." replied Leo, "We're not from this land. Come to think of it, this probably isn't even our world."

Winsul shrugged. "Everything will be sorted out once we reach the Manor." He pointed with his pike. "It's yonder."

Donnie, Raph and Leo craned their necks to see. The men called it a manor, but it looked more like a castle, and it stood like a mountain sprawled across the landscape. All at once the turtles realized they could hear their hearts thumping in their chests — they had arrived.

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The Grand Hall was grand indeed. The ceiling seemed almost as high as the sky, and light poured in through massive windows, reflecting off the light gray stone. There were deep red drapes hanging here and there along the walls, and on small perches there were little candles burning low.

The turtles would've been more dazzled by the sights they were seeing had they not been in chains. They were brought to the end of the immense chamber where there were three grand chairs: one to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead and it was the biggest of the three. The side chairs were facing in towards a large sunken area in the floor and it was down in this sunken space that the turtles were deposited.

The guardsmen lined them up in a row on their knees before retreating from the area. The turtles looked to one another, the three older ones realizing Michelangelo still didn't look quite himself. "Mikey?" asked Leo, being at the far end of the lineup.

"How're you feeling Mikey?" quizzed Donnie.

"I dunno, better I guess." replied the youngest of the brothers; he still looked ill. Raph and Leo frowned.

"Well where's the dame that runs the joint?" hissed Raphael, "We gotta get outta here."

Leonardo nodded. "I know." He looked up towards the big chair and started in surprise — there was now a woman seated there.

Her hair was mostly dark, though her bangs were reddish brown; her eyes were a piercing green and her lips a dull pink. Her build was lean and yet something about her was strangely intimidating. The Lady looked over at Winsul who came down the steps into the sunken area and stood behind the turtles. "What have you to report?" she asked.

Winsul opened his hands toward the four terrapins. "We found these creatures on your land Ladyship."

"What are they?"

"We're turtles lady!" snapped Raph, "And we ain't happy!"

The Lady looked down into Raphael's face. "You are very confident to speak so boldly. But, are you as strong as you think, I wonder?"

Raph looked confused; he would have asked what she meant had Winsul not made an interjection. "Indeed," said the man, "Out of the four, he is the only one who attacked my men."

"Did he now? Well, that was very rude, and very unwise."

Leo took a quick breath in and out. Something about the tone of her voice made Leo think of a blade's sharp edge. He shook his head and gave Raphael a noticeable nudge. "That's my brother all over, ma'am. But he thought we were under attack. We came onto your land by accident. Please, we didn't mean any harm."

Lady IraVana studied Leo for a long minute. "You speak well," she said at last, "I can tell you are one who chooses his words carefully."

Leo let the compliment bypass him; while it was appreciated, it was not important. "Please release us ma'am." he implored, "We will cause you no further trouble and will leave your land at once."

The Lady sat back in her chair. "I cannot let you go until I know if there is some meaning behind your arrival."

The turtles blinked. "Meaning?"

Before the Lady could explain, a small girl came bouncing forward from some hidden doorway at the back and stopped beside the large chair. "Ooo!" she said, as the reptilian ninjas caught her eye, "What are they?"

"They are turtles." informed the Lady.

The girl smiled suddenly as an idea sparked in her playful young mind. "Oh! Can I have one?" She was bouncing with excitement. "Can I? Can I please!"

"What?!" exclaimed the turtles.

The Lady gave a slight shrug. "For a little while, I suppose, if it pleases you."

"Bu—wait!" began Leo, but the little girl had already come down into the sunken area to look at them.

"Be careful the one in red, Rynnie," warned IraVana, "He's already attacked some of the guard."

This warning prompted the little girl to look straight at Raphael; she frowned and stuck her tongue out at him. "Hmph! That one's ugly anyway!"

"Ugly?" sounded Raph.

To counter his brother's umbrage, Leo immediately gave Raph a light head-butt in the jaw. "Don't make things worse than they already are."

Raphael glared, hissing: "How could they be worse?"

"I don't want to find out." stated Leonardo.

All this while Michelangelo had been leaning forward, head adroop. Only now did he open his eyes and realize the small girl was standing in front of him. He raised his face to meet hers and she pointed deftly at him.

"This one!" said Rynnie, "I want this one! He looks adorable and his eyes are pretty!"

Mikey chuckled nervously as beads of sweat slid down his skin. Understanding his brother was still unwell, Donatello quickly leaned in. "But Miss," he said, "He isn't feeling very well. It wouldn't be the best thing for him or you if you were to take him."

The girl shook her head. "It's okay. If he's feeling poorly, I'll just take care of him until he feels better. It isn't a problem."

That's when the Lady nodded, moving her hand, and two guardsmen came down, lifting Michelangelo up between them. Mikey winced as they caught up his legs as well. "Bros..!" Mikey let his head fall backward so he could see his siblings even while he was being carried off after the girl.

"Mikey..!" Donnie, Leo and Raph watched him 'til he was taken out of sight. Raphael growled and turned to his big brother. "Leo, DO something!"

"Do - what? I'm not exactly in a position to stop them!" Leo took a breath, "Besides, Mikey's condition worries me. We can't exactly help him right now, and the girl can. Just leave things as they are for the moment." And here Leonardo glanced up at the Lady in charge. "Anyway," he whispered, "Making too loud of an objection could make them decide to hurt him instead."

Raphael looked up at the woman, but she wasn't looking at them; though her face was forward, she was staring out of the corner of her eye. "All right Aztragus, I know you're there," said she, "Let's have an end to your skulking. Come out and see them up close. You know that's why you're here."

The turtles watched as a tall man robed in blue came forward from a shadowed alcove along the wall; there was a hood over his head. The man bowed and came to stand beside the Lady's chair; he looked down at their green-skinned captives.

"Well?" asked the Lady, leaning her head against her hand, "What do you think?"

"I can't be sure." said the man, "I would need to take one of them and consult my charts in order to determine their significance."

The ninja brothers didn't like the sound of this. But the Lady nodded and the man came part way down into the sunken area to look them over. Finally, he pointed. "This one on the end."

Raph felt something tighten in his chest, for the man had chosen Leo. As more guardsmen came down for the turtle in blue, Raphael saw that Leonardo did not intend to offer up any resistance. 'Allow me!' he thought, springing up, and ramming his head into the face of the nearest man.

"He's at it again!" cried a young guard, haphazardly retreating.

"Raph!" yelped Leo. Leonardo didn't want to be taken from his brothers, but he feared the consequences retaliation would bring. Regardless, Raphael was determined to fight and jumped backward, catching himself despite the shackles 'round his ankles.

As Leonardo was seized and yanked towards the robed man, one of the men from the troop came running towards Raphael carrying a very large war club. Raphael saw it even as Leo and Don called out to him. Raph made to spring away, but the man caught him in the gut, sending him skidding backward almost into Donatello's lap.

The scuffle had prompted her Ladyship to rise out of her chair; only now did she resume sitting, watching as Raphael tried vainly to right himself. "Go on Aztragus," she said, "The guardsmen can handle the situation from here."

The robed man bowed once again and headed off, Leonardo grunting as men from the troop dragged him along in tow. Raphael almost roared in frustration as he rolled back onto his knees. Donnie grit his teeth and shouted: "Raph! Stay down!"

"No!" snarled Raphael. Donnie looked up, quailing slightly as the guardsmen began to surround them.

"Ladyship!" said a young guard standing next to the man whose nose Raph had broken, "As long as they're being separated, might we have the violent one?"

The Lady arched an eyebrow. "What for?"

"There are several among the Guard who desire to teach the creature some respect."

The Lady gave a gibing grunt. "You want him for vengeful purposes? Hmph, how petty." She frowned yet sighed. "Mm, very well."

The men smiled, but Raphael wasn't about to let them enjoy their victory. Before they knew it, he was up like a shot, ramming his head into Winsul's stomach. Winsul fell like a sack of bricks. But even as the men grabbed ahold of Raph, the turtle spun to the side with all his might, throwing them off once again. The only thing that stopped the fierce turtle was the weight of the war club falling across head.

This time Raphael fell like a sack of bricks. Donatello cringed. "Oh Raph…"

Winsul stood, watching his men angrily seize the chains to Raph's shackles. "You may have him," came the Lady's voice, causing the men to pause even as they were dragging Raphael out of the sunken area, "But you must do nothing that will result in the creature's death. Until I know their significance, I need them all alive."

The men's faces were hard, but they nodded. They then proceeded to haul red-masked shellback out the way they'd brought him in. Donatello watched them until they were out of sight. He lowered his head for a moment before looking up at the woman and was startled to find she'd been watching him all this while; he swallowed.

"And then there was one." she said, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Donnie's face creased, almost painfully so. "Please," he said, "Please you don't understand, we didn't even mean to come here. We, we don't want any trouble! I'm sorry about my brother's temper, he's always like that. But you—we," Donatello was at a loss on what to say further.

"Don't worry," coaxed the Lady, "My astrologer Aztragus will be able to determine the significance of your arrival."

Donnie's face betrayed his confusion; he shook his head. "But what does that mean? Which is worse? Being significant or insignificant?"

Her Ladyship waved her hand dismissively. "I haven't the time to explain it now. Wait 'til this evening, I will expound on these matters further then."

Don opened his mouth to speak, but the Lady ordered him removed to her chamber. Donatello was taken away, just as his brothers had been. And at that moment, each turtle, in his various position, looked upward — longing not only for their masterful father and one another, but also their home.

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RoseD.: Trouble doth brew as mayhem ensues! Read on dear reader, read on to Chapter 2!

OH! And this story here was the first TMNT fan fiction I'd ever written! But it certainly was not the last. X3