#tmntxoc

[animepianistgirl2]

My TMNT collection!

[iszodaart]

Happy Valentine's Day! 💙✨

[angelicdavinci]

HanaXKame 

@Southernblossoms Commission Complete

This piece turned out so much better than I imagined, Happy Birthday, My Tokyo Queen!

[magick-dream]

Chapter Seven :: The Calm

“Always be genuine. People can sense when someone isn't being themselves.” - Jeffree Star

Laughter rang throughout the lair in differentiating pitches and tones. Pure, honest, unfiltered laughter. The whole group was lounging about enjoying their dinner of several large pizzas with varying topping combos. The story swaps had them all in stitches except for Casey Jones, who had a soured embarrassed expression as the current tale was a recount of his first encounter with the turtles and their master.

"Tell me you didn't actually fall for it, Jones!" Dorian was gripping his side with his right hand while the left kept him upright by bracing against the floor. Casey gave the man a pointed glare as an answer which only served to make Dorian start up another fit of laughter.

"Oh, he totally fell for it!" Michelangelo grabbed out a slice of three-cheese before leaning back in his spot on the couch.

"Hauled balls straight at Master Splinter and got his ass handed to 'em!" Raphael leaned over and bumped fists with Mikey earning a slight groan from Casey that made both teens roar with laughter again. The two youngest had found it far more hilarious since they had been the ones who had baited him into the whole ordeal.

"Kiss my ass you two," Casey grumbled before taking a drink from his soda trying his best to not let them get under his skin any more than they already had. He had not been at all amused by the recount of his unfortunate meeting though, if he were honest he would not have changed it one bit.

“Oh, that is absolutely priceless! I would have loved to have seen the look on your face Casey.” Lyra wiped a laughter induced tear from her eyes before grabbing out another slice of pepperoni for herself.

“So the whole Elite Eight thing you've mentioned in one of your stories. Is that a fancy group or some sort of ranking system?” April was genuinely curious about the inner workings of their clan. She had never heard about them until tonight and the reporter in her could not help but want in on more for a story. Dorian had almost choked on the bite of pizza he had taken but was able to chase it down with some soda before answering.

"In a sense, both assumptions would be correct. The Elite Eight is the highest skilled assassins throughout the whole organization and the four of us fall under those ranks." He watched as April leaned closer as if hoping for more detailed information on the group which only made Dorian chuckle.

"What are the ranks and what determines those ranks?" April was full of questions she wanted to be answered which in that instant seemed to make Dorian a little nervous. He knew what she was up to and he was a bit leery of telling inner workings to someone who had no real way to defend themselves. A quick scan around the room told him everyone else was listening intently to the new topic of conversation now. There was no getting around it.

“Listen. I don't mind telling you but you have to swear you will not go public with any of this until we have taken down the corruption. It is for your own safety April that you play it like you never met us or know anything about the Black Lotus. Promise?” Dorian gave a quick thought and looked over to Casey not knowing much about the guy other than he was a former cop turned vigilante. He was not taken chances on anyone getting hurt over stories. “That goes for you as well Jones. Promise?”

“Promise,” the two spoke in unison as everyone settled in more comfortably to hear the explanation Dorian was about to give them.

“Our ranks are determined by the eight codes of Bushido. The one you show most of is the rank you are put under.”

“There are only seven codes of Bushido.” Leonardo raised a brow but the tone he spoke in sounded a bit unsure which got a small chuckle from Dorian.

“Seven spoken yes but, there is an eighth one that is a sort of unspoken one that everyone should always follow when they learn or enact the Bushido way. The eight codes are as follows and in order; justice, courage, respect, honesty, honor, loyalty, wisdom, and mercy. Mercy is the one that no matter what you must show to your opponent.” Dorian paused in his explaining long enough to finish off the soda he had been working on and popped open a new one. It was enough time to let the information he gave so far sink in.

"So each of you represented a code more so than the others and that's how you're ranked? Does age not effect it at all?" Donatello was quite curious about how their ranks worked since it would mean who they had thought was the leader of their assassin friends very well could not be the leader. Dorian shifted a little from where he sat and that elicited a stifled giggle from Lyra.

“Nope! Age has nothing to do with it. We're just really nice to our big brother and let him play leader when we're out on missions.” Lyra got up and went over to Arietta who had sat away from the group to doodle in her sketchpad while she had eaten. The youngest quickly attached herself in a fierce hug causing Arietta's earbuds to pop out and the ebony-haired assassin looked not at all pleased at the interruption.

“Do you mind?”

“In fact, Arietta here is the highest ranked out of the four of us!” Lyra grinned not really paying mind that she had interrupted her sister's sketching zen. Arietta rolled her eyes having understood fully what the topic of conversation was just by what her little sister had said.

“That ranking system is ridiculous,” she spoke in a not so amused tone as she closed up her sketchbook. Her cheeks were lightly tinged with a blush of embarrassment.

“So how come Arietta isn't the leader?” Mikey was a following everything about the ranking system but the fact that the higher ranked assassin was not the one leading the team was a little confusing. Why would they have a ranking system if they did not adhere to it?

“There are several reasons. This mission tonight has really been the only mission all four of us have been on together. They never send more than two of the elites out at the same time and it's rare that the missions really call for something so drastic. Arietta over there hardly gets sent out with anyone since she doesn't play well with others." Calliope grinned up from her book on medicinal properties of plants. The way the spine was worn down showed how many times she opened it and read the contents within.

“They call it her being courageous and we call it being rash and foolish.” Lyra let out a giggle as she let go of her hold on Arietta to make her way back to the spot she had claimed on the floor. She scooted herself near the table covered with pizza boxes and picked up her slice that she had neglected in her moment of teasing.

“So says the honest one.” Arietta stuck her tongue out at her little sister and shook her head gently when she received a grin right back. With a sigh of defeat she shut off her music but she opened her sketchbook up once again to the page she had been working on. A small wave of her hand in Dorian's direction was the only signal she was going to give that she was fine with the topic at hand and that he could continue.

"Well, that covers the virtue parts of the ranking. To better protect our identities we were each given a code name in Japanese that are animals. Those animals we somehow fit so that's how the figureheads came up with the concept. I will tell them to you in English so it doesn't get redundant. The order by rank are as follows; dragon, fox, raccoon, rabbit, crow, wolf, cat, and rat. We've never had the pleasure of working with Ryuu or Nezumi before and Neko we've only ever met in passing." Dorian pulled out his final slice of pizza and took a bite figuring that was a good explanation to give to April on the ranking system of their organization.

"What about Karasu?" Master Splinter had begun versing himself in Japanese over the years as a way to pass the time so figuring out the code name for the one that wasn't mentioned did not take much thought.

“Oh, we know him pretty well. Arietta knows him even more so than we do.” The tone Lyra had spoken in was enough to suggest something on the more romantic side which caused Arietta to snap her attention up quickly.

“Damn it Lyra I told you we're just really good friends! I turned his ass down flat. End of story!”

“Right. Is that why he would follow you around like a lost puppy or got super depressed when you were away on missions?” Lyra's words instantly turned Arietta's expression from one of embarrassment to one of agitation in mere seconds. The youngest let out a squeak of surprise as her sister came racing toward her. Lyra acted fast and shot up from the floor launching herself over the table towards the couch in a rapid jump. She used the spacing between Michelangelo and Donatello, whom both were innocently sitting on the couch, so she could get behind the furniture and further her escape plan.

“I'm going to box your ears Lyra!” Arietta was right behind her little sister following the exact same path the rainbow haired sibling was taking. The laughter ringing out from everyone was not phasing her irritation in the slightest instead, it was only fueling it more.

"Someone grab her! She's on a war path," Usagi laughed out as she ran from the back of the couch to the recliner Raphael was lounging in. She jumped the sides and prayed she would be saved but her next course would be to head back towards the couch in hopes that Mikey or Donnie would be her saviors. Raph was not about to miss out on evening the score so just as Arietta tried clearing his lap as a hurdle to get to Lyra he grabbed her around her waist mid-jump making sure to grip her tight against him.

"Let me go Red!" Arietta squirmed with all of her might to try and get out of his hold to no avail. He had a damn good grip and he was not making any move to let her go. Lyra gave a victory sign with her fingers and that triumphant grin made Arietta want to pummel her sister even more so than before.

"Not a chance Foxy." Raph grinned as he kept a tight hold on her but he was nice enough to make sure he did not hurt her in any way. "Now we're even. Two to two."

“Asshole.” Arietta stopped her struggling knowing now that her efforts were completely futile. She resigned to sitting across his lap with her arms folded over her chest. She gave a slight huff of defeat.

"You love me." He grinned at her making sure only she could hear what he said that time as the laughter started dying down. She only rolled her eyes at him and turned a hard glare toward her sister who at that point was claiming her spot on the floor again. In all actuality, Arietta was trying to hide the small blush that tinged her cheeks from Raphael. She was not quite sure how to react to sitting in his lap even spite the reason for her being in the situation in the first place.

“So what was it like for you guys growing up? Did you get to go watch movies or play sports?” Casey smirked as he grabbed out the last slice of jalapeno and bacon. He put the now empty box on top of the others stacked at the side of the table.

"We didn't really have what you would call a normal childhood. Most of our lives we spent training to become the lethal weapons we are. If we weren't training we studied academically at the compound. We had a very tight and strict schedule we had to follow by." Calliope put her book down on the arm of the chair she was in before she got up to retrieve more food. She put a slice of spinach artichoke on a plate and deciding to be merciful she grabbed up two slices of Hawaiian before taking the extra plate over to Arietta. She smiled seeing the excitement light up in those violet eyes when Arietta took the plate from her and she sat her own in her chair deciding to be even nicer to her younger sibling. Retrieving the sketchbook and pens Calliope brought them to the artist and set them in her lap before taking her seat again with her refill of pizza.

“We weren't completely in the dark though. We would sneak out when we could to go to the movies or go spend a few hours in the arcades. There were a handful of times Lyra and Calliope would go to the mall on their little shopping sprees.” Dorian chuckled lightly remembering the many times when he had to listen to them act like giddy school girls while they showed off their newest purchases.

"I always thought it was funny that Hisoka knew we got new stuff but never got on to us about where we got it from or how we got it." Lyra mused out that thought and Arietta stiffened in the middle of taking a bite of her pizza. Raph only raised a brow at her as she took the bite before giving him a shake of her head subtly. He filed that away as something to ask at a later time. Another question was more pertinent for him to ask anyway.

“So did you guys get to choose your weapons or were they chosen for you?” He knew that had been a good one to ask since it caused his brothers to perk up and pay closer attention. Their weapons had been chosen for them carefully by Master Splinter and they had all been equally curious if others had been dealt the same way. Dorian was looking at the ceiling for the moment as if he was plucking the strings of thought from the very air above them.

"As initiates, we all trained in various weapon styles. Some we excelled at more than others but I suppose it was neither us nor the Weapons Master that chose. It was the weapons themselves that chose us. They just kind of fit like gloves I guess." Dorian gave a small shrug since he never really put much thought to it. He just simply knew his naginata was his and his alone. "We have many weapons in our arsenal but our main ones are our deadliest when we use them."

"Way to get all mystical on them, Dee." Arietta teased her brother as she switched out her now empty plate for her sketchbook. Her statement caused laughter to rise from all of them and even Dorian got a chuckle out of it.

“Any favorite missions you guys want to tell?” Michelangelo scooted out on his cushion of the couch with a cheesy grin on his face. After a most of the night had been spent with the four brothers recounting their own adventures. He was excited to hear a few of the assassins' tales.

“Barcelona.” Both Arietta and Dorian spoke out in quick unison while Lyra and Calliope merely groaned out together. Calliope picked her book back up to continue reading while Lyra put her face in her palm in exasperation.

“You're going to scar everybody with that one.” The rainbow haired girl moved her hand from her face to give Dorian a lighthearted glare. He answered her back with a small grin.

“What happened in Barcelona?” Leonardo was actually genuinely curious to hear about one of Dorian's missions. The more they got to know the Quintus siblings the more he began to get more curious about how Dorian worked. He crossed his arms as if to shut those thoughts in completely and lock them up tight.

“I'll let my beautiful wife over there tell this one.” Dorian looked over to Arietta who in turn was glaring daggers at him.

“I will end you.” She growled out to her big brother.

"You two were married?" Raphael was about as shocked as everyone else at that one. He could hear Casey still trying to clear his airway from his drink going down the wrong pipe. "Hold up, you're brother and sister, right? How would that even work?"

"That is the absolute worse way to start a story, Dorian." Arietta pinched the bridge of her nose to keep a small headache at bay. "We weren't really married we just pretending to be for the sake of the mission. This was only the second mission Dorian and I have ever been on. The other mission isn't near as lighthearted but we'll save that one for another time."

“Promise?!” Mikey interjected with such a hopeful tone that Arietta could not help but to laugh with the rest of the group. She moved her hand from her face and looked to the youngest turtle to give him a small nod. She made a cross sign over her chest to seal in that she promised she would before she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest to begin the tale.

"This happened about four years ago and our mark was the Prime Minister of Spain. The guy was using his political position as a way to keep up the flow of drugs and human trafficking. He was pretty bold about it but very thorough in making sure nothing connected back to him. The guy was a total devil and the Black Lotus was hired to get rid of him once and for all. Since pretty much everyone else had missions of their own it fell to Dorian and me to get the job done. We posed as a drug kingpin and wife so we could attend the grand masquerade party the man was holding at his estate." She paused her story and took a drink from the soda Raphael offered her before she continued on.

“It didn't take much to become buddies with the guy. He was a completely disgusting pig. He talked a bit of business with Dorian while I did my best act of playing a very sexually needy wife. A few drinks in and the guy was practically begging for us to let him in on the action or even just watch.” Arietta shivered recalling the way the guy would subtly rub against her arm or place his hand against her back.

“This sounds like something out of a movie,” April spoke gently trying to stomach the thoughts of the two siblings having to deal with such a sleazy man.

“Sometimes the movies get it right. We found his proposition as an opportunity to get him alone and away from his bodyguards so we agreed.” She gave a small shrug as she calmly told the story but she felt Raph nudge her side and she looked at him. His eyes held a bit of shocked curiosity and she had a feeling about what she was going to ask her.

“Did you two actually do anything to each other?” He did not flat out ask it but it got his point across making Arietta scoff slightly before she punched his bicep lightly.

"Oh hell no! Dorian was able to slip the poison into the Prime Minister's drink while we were in the room and we had to stall for about ten minutes for it to take effect. The most we had to do was put on an intense make-out session and my dress came off. That was it. Once the guy hit the floor we were out of there to catch our scheduled extraction flight back to Japan. No one even knew he was dead until the late afternoon and by that time we were back to the compound getting set up with our next orders." She picked up the plate from her lap intending on leaning over far enough to put it on the table. Dorian just had to open his big mouth though.

“Isn't my wife a bad ass babe?” He laughed out at his joke but yelled out as the plate Arietta had smacked him right in the forehead all Frisbee style. He rubbed his head as the room erupted into more laughter.

"You had better sleep with one eye open big brother," Calliope smirked and got a glare from Dorian in return.

“Speaking of sleep. We'd better head home and catch up on our rest.” Casey stood up and stretched a bit before fishing out the keys to the van. April stood up and gave a small stretch of her own and a little yawn to go with it.

“We're both off of work so if you guys need anything just get a hold of us.” She paused a moment and held back a laugh before she pointed at the now passed out Lyra. The bubbly young woman was using her arms as pillows as she slept against the table. “Somebody has a head start.”

"Yeah, all that hyper happiness makes her crash out like she just came down from a sugar high." Dorian stood up and was about to scoop up his sister when he felt pressure on his shoulder. He looked to the source and was a little confused to see Donnie was the one who had stopped him.

“Let me take her. I've got to get a start on going through all the data she helped me collect anyway.” Dorian gave the turtle a small nod and watched as he carefully scooped up his youngest sister with such gentle care as if she was made of glass. He could not help but smile as Donatello headed toward the spare room that had been set up as a bedroom for the four of them. Master Splinter got up from his chair and cleared his throat to get the attention of those who remained in the room.

"I suggest you all get some rest. We will begin team training once Lyra and Calliope return from their errands." He gave a tilt of his head to bid them all a good night before he headed toward his room to retire. Arietta let out a soft groan and buried her face into her sketchbook for a moment.

“It won't be that bad.” Raphael poked her side and she pulled the sketchbook away just enough to give him a slight glare.

“Have you never really work as a team?” Mikey's voice held a little concern with the way Arietta was reacting to the prospect of teamwork. Arietta closed up her sketchbook and set it on the arm of the recliner before she patted Raph's arms to let her up. He did not argue with her and let her up watching her make her way towards the room. When she was out of sight the brothers looked to the two remaining Quintus siblings. Dorian gave a shake of his head as Calliope closed her book up for the final time.

"We do find strength in working as one unit, Arietta, however, believes it better for herself to work alone. Believe me when I say that patience will be the key with her. She'll learn to do it but it will just take a lot of time and more than likely a lot of arguing." Calliope got up and started to the room but she paused seeing Arietta walking back out wearing dark jeans, combat boots, and a black hoodie. Quietly Callie grabbed a hold of her sister's arm to stop her. They locked eyes but neither said anything to one another.

“Where do you think you're going?” Dorian spoke out killing the silence as she stood up and went over to the two. His tone had an almost fatherly quality to it.

“If you want me to even think about giving this whole team thing a shot you'll let me go get some me time first. I've got to get a clear head.” Arietta looked to Dorian but she showed no real anger or agitation at either one of her siblings. Calliope let go of the arm she had in her grip and she sighed gently. Leonardo had got up from the couch and approached the trio keeping his eyes locked on Arietta.

“You're not going out there by yourself. It's too dangerous.” He readied himself for an argument as the woman was about to open her mouth to speak. Another voice completely cut her off before she could take the breath to talk.

“I'll go with 'er.” They all turned to Raphael who had been the one to speak up and he only shrugged at them. Leo smirked and looked to Ari who at that second pulled her hood over head.

“I'll go too.” He gave Dorian a smirk as the guy looked up at him in surprise. “We'll make sure she doesn't get into any trouble.”

“Great. Just what I needed. Two babysitters,” Arietta spoke in a chuckled tone but her whole body instantly tensed as Callie pulled her into a fierce hug.

"You have got your tessen?" She smiled as her younger sister nodded and gave a pat on the back rather than return the hug. Callie let her go and gave both Raph and Leo a very stern no-nonsense look. "You all had better come back safe. Two hours tops or I swear Dorian and I will come find you."

"Yes, ma'am." Leonardo smiled and lead the way as Arietta followed behind them. Raphael took up position behind her and leaned closer to the ebony-haired assassin.

“Motherly much?”

“I heard that!” Calliope shouted out which made the three of them hurry out of there. Mikey let out a small laugh having enjoyed seeing his older brothers get a little spooked.

“Remind me never to make you angry, Callie.”

[nonbinarybabies]

Commission for @sehowlawoods of their persona Tia giving 1987 Donatello a big ol smooch⭐️

[burrwabbits]

I won’t lie, I’ve really fallen in love with the new designs of the turtles for “Rise of the Ninja Turtles” So of course, here’s some fan art of my TMNT character Bridgette with the new design of Leonardo. Both trying to be super cute and cool together.

[angelicdavinci]

KameXHana in progress

@southernblossoms

[magick-dream]

Chapter Two : Just Peachy

    “You four are coming with us. Either willingly or unconscious your choice; Black Lotus Assassins.”

    This night was just getting even better for the ninja brothers. What seemed to be a peaceful night became a battle against four animal mask wearing assassins to a now stand-off with about fifty Foot Clan members all armed with ways to neutralize their targets.

    “We've done this before guys. They've got nothing that will kill anyone but that doesn't mean it won't suck if you let them hit you.” Donatello lifted up his tech-goggles, his body bringing back that oh so lovely sting the cattle prods had given him. It brought back the memories of being captured and his blood drained thanks to the corrupt Eric Sacks trying to use the mutagen in the blood to line his pockets.

    “They're only after us. You four better get out of here while you still can.” Usagi had moved to stand closer to the purple-clad turtle.

    "We're not leaving you here." Mikey got into a stance waiting for someone to make the next move. He too remembered the sting from the cattle prods, the lovely time being strung up and drained of blood. Damn near dying. Not pleasant memories for sure and he was not about to let the same thing happen to the four assassins either. "Not after we were becoming such good friends."

    “You're adorable, Mikey.” Ookami glared seeing the tranquilizer guns being aimed at her and her siblings. She did not like the situation nor the fact that minutes were ticking by and they would be down one less fighter. “We're not going with you assholes so back off or your lives are forfeited!”

    “Very well. Have it your way!” The lead Foot guy shot off another dart which in turn set off the rest of his buddies to either fire or start rushing in. The second battle of the night now underway and it was becoming very apparent that they had no interest in capturing the turtles what so ever.

    "Hey, hothead. Pop my shoulder back into place." Kitsune moved closer to Raphael and when another dart came flying at her she blocked it out with her tessen, stepping on the thing and smirking when she heard the sound of glass breaking beneath her boot.

    "You want me to pop it back in right now?" Raph growled out and quickly kicked one of the guys that were coming at them wielding a cattle prod, he had got a little too close for comfort. The turtle smirked watching the man go flying right off the side of the building. "I think you should sit this one out, fox girl."

    "Kiss my ass, turtle boy!" She jumped over him and sliced open the throat of the Foot member that was coming in toward the left. "I've got about six minutes left before I'm down and out. I plan on making the most of it so pop it back into place!"

    "Fine!" He spat out punching out the one who had tried to come up behind the woman, she did not flinch even once when he threw the punch as if she knew he was not aiming at her. Placing one of his hands on her shoulder blade and the other to the front where her shoulder joined with her chest. He locked eyes with her a moment contemplating on giving her a countdown but figured that would just get them in more danger. In one swift motion, he snapped her shoulder right back where it needed to be the sickening pop of it going back into place gave him the sound he needed to know he got it in one shot. A smirk played on his lips when she did not whimper or even wince but his eyes widened when her fist suddenly went toward his face. He shut them just before the impact figuring this was going to hurt like hell since there was no time to block it out what with his hands still holding her shoulder.

    "You can open your eyes now." Kitsune pulled her hand back as Raphael opened his eyes. The hidden wrist blade came to view and he saw it covered in blood, an eyeball impaled at the base of the blade. The aim had been for a baton wielder at his shoulder who was now one eye short and so not breathing anymore.

    “I've gotta get one of those.” He smirked shoving the body away from him before he let go of Kitsune's shoulder.

    "Only works if you have sleeves to hide them." Kitsune pulled out her second tessen and gave Raph a fierce nod before she joined in on the action. Raph had looked around to see how bad the situation was only to watch Tanuki go down from about five cattle prods being jabbed into his side.

    “Tanuki!” Ookami growled before looking over to Usagi. A smirk glinted in her eyes seeing the agile woman had found a good place to hide to get a better advantage point. The wolf masked woman felt something at her back but she relaxed a little seeing it was only Michelangelo.

    “So we've been out looking for the Foot Clan. You've been out looking for us. The Foot Clan have been out looking for you. How am I doing so far?” He smirked and deflected a dart from hitting Ookami in the right hip launching it right back at the shooter who was not expecting for his own ammo to lodge in his left eye.

    “Doing pretty good actually.” She tossed her sickle and grinned as it cleanly sliced off a few heads. She caught the sickle as she swung it back towards her and her thoughts instantly went to her fellow assassin that had been taken to the ground. “Tanuki, how are you holding up?!”

    "I'm fine!" Tanuki was back on his feet again gripping his naginata tightly, the five men that were giving him the shock therapy now lay lifeless around him after being slain by Leonardo. He looked to the blue-clad leader but his eyes widened seeing a dart sticking from the turtle's left shoulder. "We've got to finish this quick."

    “I thought that was already the plan?” Leo stiffened for a moment when Tanuki got closer to him but watched him pull the dart off of his shoulder. He blinked when the guy held it in front of his face to show that was the reason for their close proximity. Leonardo had not even felt the dart strike him at all which meant he was not as focused as he should be in the battle. “Oh, that's why you're in a rush.”

    "Yeah, that's why. You're going to be taking a nap soon and it looks like Kitsune is running out of time." He had no idea exactly how much time Leo had and he was seeing Kitsune beginning to slow up. That was when he caught Usagi up on the roof that had started off this whole night on. His eyes widened beneath his mask seeing what she was about to do, the look of shock not settling well with Leo. Thinking quickly, Tanuki grabbed out the ventilation mask from his belt before he put it on Leo's face.

    “What the hell?!” Leo tried backing away from the assassin, not really appreciating how bold he was acting. He did not get the distance he wanted when Tanuki's hand clamped on the back of his neck and pushed him more to the mask.

    "Trust me, Leo." Tanuki saw the disbursement of the poison bombs as Usagi jumped down from the roof ledge only to land at Donnie's side. She grabbed out the ventilation mask from her belt and standing up on her tiptoes she was able to press it against the purple-clad turtle's face. Just as the bombs made their impact to the ground exploding in growing clouds of purple smoke he saw Ookami pin Michelangelo up against a wall, his face equally covered. Tanuki's eyes shifted to where Kitsune was and he felt his heart sink seeing her falling to the ground. Time was up. "Raphael!"

    “I got 'er!” Raphael knelt down to the fox masked woman hearing the explosions going off all along the rooftop. He had been keeping a close eye on her when she was slowing up on her fighting and the moment she had gone to the ground he knew she was out for the count. His eyes looked up to see the purple smoke billowing up all around and he quickly held his breath. 'Shit!'

    “Raphael! The mask is on her belt!” Tanuki cursed softly as he felt Leo's body sway slightly. He made sure to keep the mask against the leader's face while he grabbed hold of him, letting his naginata fall to their feet. “Lean on me, Leonardo.”

   “What were in those bombs?” Leo groaned seeing his vision starting to blur on him, his body starting to become heavy and numb to him as he leaned against the assassin for support. His eyes flicked over to Raphael's direction and he was relieved to see his red-clad brother tieing the ventilation mask from Kitsune's belt onto his face just before the thick smoke billowed over all of them.

    “Nightshade gas. Instant death if you inhale even a tiny bit thus, why we are letting you guys use the masks for a bit.” Tanuki could hear the bodies of the Foot Clan dropping left and right around them. The sound was complete music to his ears at that point.

    “What about you? What about your sisters?” Leonardo was fighting to stay awake now, not wanting to pass out yet. He knew it was a futile effort since he could feel the tranquilizer serum doing its job even more now. He felt Tanuki helping him to kneel on the ground now which was actually a little bit of a relief for his body.

    “Aw, you care about me.” Tanuki chuckled seeing Leo's sapphire eyes snapping to lock on to his own light gray ones with a glare to them. “Relax, fearless one. These masks we wear aren't just for show.”

    "Have my brothers take... all of you to our place. Safer there." The blue-masked leader could not fight it anymore as much as he really wanted to get everyone to a safer place his ten minutes were up. Tanuki felt the ninja go completely limp against him and he carefully shifted both of them to the ground, letting Leo's head rest against his shoulder. He could see the smoke finally beginning to clear away since there was no breeze it had taken a little longer than he liked but he could not really complain too much. Tanuki could see the rooftop was littered with bodies of the Foot Clan while the ones who mattered were safe. He moved the mask away from Leo's face and set it down on the ground next to his naginata before turning his attention to his wolf masked sister.

    “Ookami do you have antidotes? We're down two!”

    “You know I do!” Ookami took the mask away from Mikey's face and she winked at him. “Sorry for the sudden closeness and for shoving you up against the wall like that. Couldn't have you dying on me.”

    "Believe me, I don't mind but you assassins have officially confused me! First, you're trying to kill us then next you're fighting beside us. Keeping us from breathing death fumes." He chuckled trying to get a grip on what really happened but his eyes looked over to Tanuki and his very unconscious eldest brother. His eyes widened, the worry slamming him and spurring his body to quickly rush to his brother's side. "What happened?! Is he going to be okay?"

    “He'll be just fine, Michelangelo. He just took a tranquilizer dart to the shoulder is all.” Tanuki kept still as not to disturb the turtle laying against the crook of his shoulder.

    “Sorry I couldn't give you guys much of a heads up on the poison bombs!” Usagi called out to the group as she looked up to Donnie. He had taken the mask from her so she wouldn't have to stay on her tip toes but now that the danger was over she carefully took it back from him with a wink. “Couldn't let our would-be kidnappers here in on my plan.”

    “That was some pretty quick thinking actually.” Donatello smiled at the rabbit masked woman and followed her over to where Tanuki was. Ookami was filling up a needled syringe with some kind of clear liquid while she was knelt down by the two that were on the ground. “Is that the antidote?”

    “Yes it is but I can hear the distrust in your voice, Donatello. Would you rather I give it to Kitsune first?” Ookami tapped the needle to make sure there was no air in it, she was concentrated on her work not really sparring anyone else a glance at the moment.

    “No offense, yes.”

    “You had better give it to her first.” Raphael with ventilation mask still tied on his face made his way over to them. The aforementioned assassin was in his arms still very passed out.

    "Very well. This will take about ten minutes to take effect but its better than letting them wake up with severe pain." Ookami moved the hood of Kitsune's cloak back and slid some of her black hair that fell out of the way before she injected the serum into the vein at her neck. She then looked up at Raphael, her eyes completely stern. "Now that I've injected my own may I do the same with your brother?"

    “Yeah go ahead but Donnie's gonna watch the whole time.”

    “So cautious.” Ookami chuckled softly and true to form Donatello watched her the entire time she filled a new syringe. She knelt down and carefully injected Leo the same way she had injected Kitsune.

    “We can't blame them for being so cautious. We did try to kill them earlier.” Usagi shrugged her shoulders before placing her hands behind her head in a carefree stance. “Maybe if we show them our faces they'll start trusting us more?”

    “No. Not out in the open like this. Leo said for you guys to take us back to your place. Said it would be safer.” Tanuki looked to Donnie who in turn gave Mikey and Raph a glance. Raphael was not buying that one bit.

    "No way." He was quick to answer that one for all of his brothers. He was notorious for ignoring Leonardo's orders so that was an easy one to deny. Ookami, let out a sigh while she rolled her eyes to his response.

    “Look. These two won't be waking up for at least ten minutes. When the goons we took out don't report back in you can bet they'll be sending in back up. Are you getting the picture or should I spell it out more?” She crossed her arms and did not even flinch from the death glare Raphael gave her.

    “We can find somewhere else to hide until they wake up. We ain't taking a bunch of assassins we just met to our home! Leo can get pissed off all he wants for ignoring his orders when he wakes up.” As far as the red-clad turtle was concerned the tranquilizer serum made their leader's noggin not work quite right. As far as Raph was concerned, Leo was off his rocker for that little bit.

    “There is an old abandoned church a few blocks from here. We could wait there for Leo and Kitsune to wake up.” Donnie offered up a more neutral solution to their little problem. He had been able to feel the tension and knew no one else was really going to budge.

    “To the church then.” Tanuki carefully stood up with Leo, making sure to put the passed out turtle's arm around his shoulder. Donatello went to the other side and wrapped his brother's other arm over his own shoulder giving Tanuki a small grateful smile.

    “Mikey, lead the way. Raph you get to keep carrying Kitsune there.” The purple-clad one gave his brothers a look that said there was not going to be any debate on this.

    “Fine.” Raphael shifted the assassin in his arms and looked down at her feeling her head resting against the crook of his shoulder. His eyes widened seeing a pair of hands reach up toward his face to remove the ventilation mask he still had on. Seeing Usagi's dark gray eyes staring at him from under her mask he could somehow tell she was smiling at him.

    "There, now you should be more comfortable." She tied the mask back on to Kitsune's belt before she reached up toward her sister and took the fox mask off of the unconscious assassin's face. She gently placed it against Kitsune's stomach so it would not get lost. "Now she'll be more comfortable. Believe me, if she wakes up with this puppy on she'll come up swinging."

    “Usagi get a move on!” Ookami called out from the next building over. Mikey was already a good distance ahead, both Donnie and Tanuki right behind him keeping up fairly well for having to carry Leonardo. Usagi gave a wave to Ookami who simply shook her head and took off to catch up.

    "Come on. They'll leave us behind." She giggled softly as she took off after the others and just by the way she was practically prancing pretty much said she did not have a worry in the world. Raphael rolled his eyes with the thought of finding someone with damn near the same personality as his little brother. He looked down at the woman in his arms making sure she was still out cold. He took note of her porcelain skin, her ebony hair and just how peaceful she looked. She was too damn gorgeous to be a cold-blooded killer. Growling softly at where his thoughts had gone he took off after the rest of the group.

    “So, the four of you are assassins from an organization called Black Lotus? They marked us as targets for assassination and gave you the motive that we killed your parents fourteen years ago?” Donatello stood with his hands on his hips as he stared at the two female assassins sitting in one of the old pew benches that had not deteriorated from neglect.

    “Pretty much.” Usagi shrugged as she looked up toward the gap littered ceiling. It provided enough light from the city lights that they could still see but so did not help in the creepy factor the church had going.

    "The second we began surveillance we figured out you guys weren't the ones behind it. This whole charade was actually Kitsune's idea, to begin with." Ookami glanced back over her shoulder to Kitsune who lay on another still intact pew. She took note of Raphael standing against one of the columns that supported what was left of the ceiling which happened to be just two feet from where her sister was laying. He had not moved from that spot the moment he had put her on the bench, nor had he let go of her fox mask after retrieving it from off of her while she slept.

    "My question is still the same. Why won't the rest of you take off your masks? Kind of goes against the whole you trying to get us to trust you right?" Michelangelo was sitting on the back of the pew in front of the two females, his eyes never once left Ookami which was making her a little self-conscious.

    "I would rather not have to explain who we are twice when your brother wakes up. Besides, it makes the big reveal much more extravagant that way." Tanuki was leaned against a column similar to Raphael's but this one was closer to where the last of the full undamaged pews sat. He was keeping close watch over the fearless leader that was still very much passed out.

    “It's already been ten minutes. If Leo doesn't start wakin' up I'm gonna...”

    “Not do anything.” A hoarse voice came from the terrapin laying on the pew. Tanuki went over and carefully helped him to sit up, knowing that if he got up too fast the head rush would be a killer. “I thought I said to head back to the lair?”

    "Yeah, you did. Unfortunately your brother there didn't trust in that judgment." The assassin leader chuckled softly giving Raphael a teasing glance which only got a sneer in return. Tanuki turned his attention back to Leo again. "Which I can say if I were in his shoes I would feel the same way."

    “How are you feeling, Leo?” Donnie came over to his older brother kneeling next to the male that had helped him carry their leader to the church. He smirked when he got a simple thumbs up in response.

    “A little groggy but I'll live.” He looked over to where Kitsune was laying and saw she was still sleeping. “Did you guys give her the antidote too?”

    "Yeah, bro! They even gave it to her first so we could see it wasn't anymore poison." Mikey grinned playfully from where he was sitting, his legs swinging a bit to give him that all too characteristic carefree look he had.

    “If she got the cure first then why isn't she waking up?” Leonardo gave Mikey a grin as if that should have been an obvious question to ask. It certainly made Mikey stop swinging his legs and look over toward Kitsune. His eyes widened hearing her let out a small chuckle. Had she been pretending this whole time then?

    “Been waiting for your butt to wake up first, Leonardo. Didn't want your brothers biting their nails with worry that you weren't going to.” Kitsune sat up slowly and rubbed her face. This made her tense for a moment realizing she was touching her own skin rather than pushing at the mask that should be on her face.

    “It's right 'ere.” Raphael held up the fox mask so she could see it but did not make any move to give it back yet. The assassin moved her hand away and a pair of bright violet eyes were staring holes into his golden green ones. He smirked at her knowing she was getting agitated with him. “You ain't gettin' it back 'til we start gettin' some answers.”

    “Did any of you tell them anything while I was out?!” Those violet eyes were now turned toward her siblings. Her sisters tensed a moment knowing her agitation was growing and was now trained on them.

    “Who we work for and who came up with the plan to make introductions.” Usagi giggled from behind her rabbit mask. She was finding the whole situation to be quite amusing. “Other than that we were waiting for you and Leo to get up.”

    “Leo's awake now, so we can see all of your faces right?” Mikey had a mischievous smile on his face as he reached for Ookami's mask determined to remove it so he could see her face. He let out a light yelp when she smacked his hand away.

    "Patience is not your strong suit is it?" Her voice was gentle toward the terrapin as she stood up from her seat. She walked over toward the crumbled altar of the church with her siblings, the lights coming down on them from the holes in the ceiling, giving them an almost angelic appearance from the glow the city lights cast. Tanuki stood to the left of Ookami while Usagi stood to the right of her. Kitsune had moved to stand to the right of Usagi, her arms crossed and a slight glare in her eyes as she kept her glance to the left of her. The stained glass seemed more interesting to her in that moment than looking a the four brothers.

    "We need you guys to trust us so we must now show trust in you." Tanuki was the first to pull his hood down revealing golden blonde hair tied back in a low ponytail. The mask came off next to reveal a beige chiseled face, clean shaven and when he opened his eyes the light gray color looked hauntingly angelic with his features. The next reveal came from Ookami who pulled off her hood and mask at the same time. She shook out her chin length dark red hair and with a smirk, she opened her eyes to show their dark violet color which seemed to go beautifully with her sand colored skin. Usagi took off her rabbit mask to show the same sand-colored skin as Ookami's though her eyes were a dark gray filled with a cheerfulness rivaling that of Michelangelo's. She pulled back the hood of her cloak and fluffed out her waist-length pastel rainbow colored hair. Yes, rainbow colored. Kitsune rolled her eyes looking towards her siblings and that was when the turtles could see her porcelain skin tone and black hair made her seem completely different from the other three. Her violet eyes looked a bit more Asian than her siblings but there were still some features that looked similar to the others.

    "Wait a minute. So all of you are actually blood-related?" Donnie, of course, was the one to hit it right on the nose. He had thought they were calling themselves siblings as a sort of team thing, not actual blood ties. Usagi let out a bit of a laugh at that question, it was adorable to her that he was quick witted and so very blunt with his questions.

    "We most certainly are. We've been siblings since birth. We're called the Quintus Quartet by a few clan members, pretty cute nickname huh?" She grinned quite excited she could give them more information about who they actually were. She let out a playful laugh when Kitsune nudged her side and smirked at her. All playful banter between the two youngest.

    "We've got faces and last names. How about first names?" Mikey was actually enjoying this whole ordeal. They were making new friends, a group of siblings that scarily similar to him and his brothers. The fact they really were not scared to be talking to four mutant turtles gave them a win in his book really. There were only so many times he could take seeing fear or having someone pass out from the shock of their appearance before it started really bothering him.

    “How about we go somewhere safer before we start working on first name basis?” Kitsune uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips before turning her attention to her three siblings. “You guys disabled our trackers right?”

    “Uh...” Usagi looked to both Tanuki and Ookami before she let out a nervous chuckle. She looked to Kitsune and gave a sheepish smile to match her small shrug. “Oops?”

    “Oops?! OOPS?!” Kitsune growled at the other three who winced at the yell she gave. “Seriously?!”

    "You've got this girl. Do yo' thang!" The cheery sister gave the fuming one a thumbs up before hiding behind Ookami. Kitsune had made a move at her siblings as if she was just about to pummel them which was not getting any of them anywhere faster. Leo clearing his throat caught her attention and she stopped. That was an all too familiar scene and he glanced at Raph with an accusing stare. Raph rolled his eyes and looked away from his brother not wanting to even go there with fearless.

    “Trackers. As in your Clan can easily find you where ever you go trackers.” Donnie looked at his brothers worriedly before looking back to the siblings in front of them. That meant that they could be found being near them.

    "I swear to all that is holy you three are going to get us killed! I'm just glad I had the foresight to shut off the damn communication links in the masks before we found them! Otherwise, this whole thing would have been a huge ass mess with the clan right up our asses!" Kitsune was none too happy with her siblings' neglectful behavior as she pulled a small tablet from the leather bag at her back. The glow from the screen illuminated her features more as she furiously tapped at it, concentration on her face made Leo instantly think of the technical genius brother when he was hard at work on something.

    "Well, that's just peachy! We're gonna be runnin' all over the city and we're still not gonna have any real answers!" Raphael was none too pleased about the whole tracker situation. For all, he knew that clan of theirs was sending in people to come check in on them or worse.

    “Calm down, Raph. We'll get answers.” Leo crossed his arms and smirked as he figured exactly where they would be going once this situation was handled. “They are coming with us back to the lair. They're putting themselves in a whole lot of danger to gain our trust, so why not give them some?”

    “Master Splinter is so going to kill us or worse send us to the Hashi.” Mikey groaned out not really wanting to get punished again for their rash decisions. “I mean Casey was one thing but bringing home four new faces?”

    “It'll be alright Mikey. Trust me.” Leo smiled at his youngest brother knowing full well his concerns.

    "Got it!" Kitsune grinned and the light from the tablet shut off as she put it back into the bag she had pulled it from. "Bought us about twelve hours. When that time is up we're probably in for the shock from hell."

    “We'll deal with the consequences later. We've pretty much broken all three tenets in one night so any punishment at this point should be expected.” Tanuki turned his attention from his younger sister over to the four brothers. He flashed his pearly whites at them in a smug grin. “So, where to next boys?”