Of Turtles and Lizards

First Second First Second First!

It had now been three days since Mona had officially moved in with the turtles. She had settled in quite nicely and was doing really well in training. The turtles had stayed underground for the last couple of days. Now that Mona was back to her usual self and now more or less a part of the family, Master Splinter had finally allowed them topside. Mona Lisa and Raphael were in the main room. The red-clad ninja was ready to go and just waiting for his brothers.

Mona was nervous. Something was wrong. She could feel it coming in the air. Something bad was going to happen and it was making her nervous. "Raph, I'm really not so sure you should go..."

"Come on, Mona, stop worrying. Everything's gonna be fine."

The mutant lizard gave him a skeptical look. "Raph, I'm telling you I feel like something's wrong. Something bad is going to happen, Raph, and I don't want you—any of you—getting hurt."

The red-masked ninja put a gentle hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. "Mona Lisa, I promise you: I'll be fine. We'll be fine. I promise."

Mona put her arms around his neck and pulled herself up against him. She nuzzled her face into his neck and he wrapped his arms around her. "Raph."

Neon green eyes looked down at her. "You okay?"

"Be careful." Her dark brown eyes locked gazes with him.

Raphael smirked at first, but it melted away as he stared into her beautiful face filled with concern. "If it means that much to you."

She took his face in her hands, "You mean everything to me." The brunette lizard pressed their beaks together. Raphael stiffened at first before reciprocating. He ran a hand along her cheek gently before running his fingers through her hair. The kiss was soft at first, slowly growing more passionate.

Michelangelo walked in just as Mona Lisa leaned in and kissed his brother. His eyes widened and he let out a loud "Aww..." with little hearts in his eyes. The orange-clad ninja ran off and the two were alone once again.

Raph wrapped one arm around her waist pulling her closer, never breaking the kiss. Michelangelo returned, with his older brothers in tow and pointed at the couple. "Isn't it adorable? Their first kiss..."

The two mutants pulled apart and Raph turned his head slightly towards him. "Second."

"First." Mona said.

Raphael looked at her in confusion before arguing. "Second."

"First." The three other brothers looked from Raph to Mona as they bickered back and forth.

"I seem to remember you kissing me on the rooftop." 

Leo nodded, that was one of the nights he'd been watching them.

"Doesn't count." Mona retorted.

The red-banded turtle raised an eye-ridge. "Why not?"

"Because..." Mona used her arms around his neck to pull herself up against him. "You didn't kiss me back." She pulled away, letting her finger trail down his arm, rubbing his hand softly as their eyes met, the unspoken words being exchanged between the two: Be careful.

The female mutant sauntered away, Raphael watching her leave with a soft smile on his face.

"You ready?" Leo asked after a moment.

The red-banded ninja turtle turned to his older brother and nodded with a smirk.

"Then let's go."

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Leo's POV

The four of us were off. It had been almost five days since our last patrol and we'd been getting edgy. Especially Raph. Despite Mona's presence my red-masked brother had been having trouble controlling his anger without the added release of his everyday nightlife. Earlier today Mona had said something about a strange feeling that something bad was going to happen. She wasn't the only one. My gut instincts were telling me that we were walking into a trap but we'd only been on the rooftops for five minutes. I looked over at Raph, who instead of being the caboose, was running at the head of the group tonight. "Raphael, be on the lookout. Don't jump into to anything." My younger brother turned back at me and nodded. For the first time in months I felt he was actually listening to my orders. Raphael proceeded slower than usual towards the next alleyway and looked down. All of a sudden he jumped back, gunshots ringing through the air.

My red masked brother back-flipped and landed in a kneeling position. We all ran to him frantically. I bent down in front of him, looking down into his slightly stunned green eyes. "Raph. Raph. Raph!"

"Huh?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"What did you see?" Raphael just looked at me still a little bit slow from the shock. I slapped him on the cheek lightly and he snapped out of it.

"Dragons. Purple Dragons...with guns." He said, slightly breathless.

I drew my katanas and edged carefully towards the alley, jumping down onto a shadowy fire escape across the way. The Dragons had moved down the alleyway slightly. I could feel more than see my brothers jumping down beside me. We climbed slowly down to the ground and began approaching them from the darkness.

"Do you think those big green freaks are gone?"

"I don't know. I think I hit one of 'em."

I hid behind a dumpster when a cat popped its head out. I stared at it for a moment. Oh no. The cat jumped down, knocking some smashed cans into the alley. The two Dragons whipped around and shot in the direction of the noise. I jumped behind the dumpster and pressed myself up against the wall. As the Dragons came closer I closed my eyes and gripped my katanas tightly, preparing for the final stand.

A shout from further down the alley made them turn away at the last possible moment. "Hey Dragons! You want me, come and get me!"

Raph!

The Purple Dragons ran towards my brother with their guns ready to fire. Raph grabbed a trashcan lid and chucked it at them before he ducked behind another trashcan to avoid the gunfire. The lid spun and hit one of them in the face. Mikey lowered his long nunchuk chain around the downed Dragon and hoisted him off the ground. Don came up behind the other Dragon and whacked him on the head with his stick. I ran over to them, sheathing my katanas.

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Third Person POV

Unfortunately the thug that had been hit in the head whatever focus he had left and reached for the gun that had fallen to the pavement a few inches away. The Dragon reached for the handgun, pulling it shakily towards him. The four freaks were still standing in front of him, distracted. He raised the firearm, pointing it at one of the slightly blurred figures and fired. BANG!

"LEO!"