"And so your inability to work together allowed them all to get away," Splinter said angrily, his six children sitting in front of him with lowered heads. Mari wasn't sure why they decided to tell Splinter about the mistakes that were made that night.
"It's not my fault!" Mari said, glaring at Raph. "He's the one that bumped into me."
"Well, maybe if I didn't have to waste time arguing with hero boy, I could've saved them," Raph said, referring to Leo.
"Well, if Cat hasn't gotten in my way, I could've done it," Leo said.
Cat pouted. "Well, maybe if Donnie watched where he was pointing that thing!" she said, pointing at her brother's staff. "Oh, and going off by yourself wasn't such a smart idea!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Well, it would've worked out great if somebody hadn't hit me in the head with their nunchucks!" Donnie glared at Mikey.
"Well, none of this would've happened if..." Mikey looked to his right, only to realize that there was no one else to blame, "somebody hadn't trusted us to go up there in the first place!" Everyone gasped at what Mikey was implying and Mikey was instantly filled with regret and dread. "Oh, geez. Sensei, I didn't mean to—"
"No, Michelangelo. You are right," Splinter interrupted.
"I am?" Mikey asked.
"He is?" Leo, Raph, Mari and Donnie questioned in disbelief, while Cat only voiced the same question in confusion.
"You were not fully prepared for what was up there," Splinter told them. "I trained you to fight as individuals, not as a team. And as your teacher, your father, the responsibility for that is mine. Perhaps in another year we can try again."
"Another year? Ha!" Donnie said in disbelief. "Has everybody forgotten that people were kidnapped? They don't have a year! sensei, we have to do something now! You weren't there, sensei. You didn't see the way that girl looked into my eyes. She was scared. And she was counting on me—" His siblings glared at him, "—us to save her!"
Splinter thought about what Donnie said. He turned around and gazed in the picture frame of the family he once had, remembering the tragedy that had befallen him all those years ago. "Yes, you must save her," he finally decided.
"I agree, sensei," Leo said. "But in that fight, we weren't exactly a well-oiled machine."
"Like that robot—" Mikey started.
"—with the brain thingy," Cat finished.
"Give it a rest!" Raph snapped.
"And never finish each other sentences ever again," Mari shuddered.
"Hmm," Splinter wondered, stroking his beard. "If you are to fight more effectively as a unit, you are going to need a leader."
"Can I be the leader?" Leo asked.
"Why should you be the leader?" Raph questioned. "I kicked your butt. I should be the leader."
"And I kicked your butt, so I should be leader!" Mari said.
"Hey, I'm smarter than all you guys put together. It should be me," Donnie said.
"No way!" Mikey protested. "It should be me!" Everyone looked at him strangely and so he said, "I don't really have a reason. I just think it would be neat."
"Ooh, I wanna be leader!" Cat said. Once again, everyone looked at another of their siblings strangely. "Unlike Mikey, I have a reason! Cuz I'm super adorable." She let out a giggle in the end.
"God, help us if she's leader," Raph muttered.
"This is a difficult decision," Splinter said, going over to his room. "I will meditate on it." He closed the door, but then opened it a second later. "It's Leonardo."
"No hard feelings, Raph?" Leo asked.
"Stick it in your shell." Raph walked away angrily.
"For the record, I am also pis—" She glanced at Mikey and Cat and decided that she didn't want another scolding from Leo and Donnie... for the hundredth time. "I am most displeased with this." Then she, too, got up and left.
Up on the rooftops, our six favorite ninja turtles either sat or stood in silence. "Explain to me one more time what we're doing here," Mikey whispered over in Leo's direction.
"I also forgot!" Cat yelled out.
Leo winced. "Cat, don't talk so loud. And guys, we've been over this," Leo said, as the other three groaned in annoyance. "That building has the same logo as the van that was used to kidnap the family. So if we wait here long enough, one of the kidnappers will eventually show his face. And when he does, we'll make him tell us where they took them."
"And then we got ourselves a van!" Mikey said.
"I'm so ready." Cat grinned.
Leo facepalmed. "Just hit the guy I tell you to."
"And while you're at him, try not to be so dumb, Kay?" Mari asked rhetorically.
"I'll try!" Cat chirped.
"Will do!" Mikey gave them a thumbs up.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Raph asked.
"Trust me," Leo said with a smile, staring at the building. "They'll be here any second."
But two hours later, the turtles were still waiting.
"Okay," Mikey said, leaning up against Cat. "I'm thinking of something green. Ga-reen. Ga-reen."
"Hmm," Cat put a thoughtful expression on her face, a finger on her chin. "I wonder..."
"Is it Raphael again?" Donnie asked dully.
"Man, you're good at this!" Mikey said.
"I would have never guess that!" Cat said completely serious.
"Give it up already," Raph told their leader, finally snapping. "The guy's not gonna show."
"For real, we've wasted so much time," Mari said, crossing her arms.
"We have to be patient," Leo insisted.
"No, you have to come up with a better plan," Raph said, "cause the six of us standing here with our thumbs up our noses-"
"I don't think they'd fit," Mikey said, looking at his thumbs.
Cat poked her thumb up against her nose. "They definitely don't," she agreed.
Raph stared at them blankly before looking at Leo again. "—Is pointless," he finished.
"I could've told you that," Mari said. "Seriously, this is such a colossal waste of time and energy."
"You sure about that, Raph, Mari?" Leo asked with a smile.
"He just showed up, didn't he?" Mari sighed.
"We should've complained two hours ago," Raph told his sister, and she nodded in agreement.
They were now all staring at the van that had just arrived.
"Gentlemen and ladies," Leo said, making his voice sound 'heroic.' "I have a bold and daring plan. There's no time for hesitation. My orders must be carried out without question."
"Leo, they're gone," Cat said.
Leo looked around and only saw Cat still standing next to him. Cat quickly jumped off of the building, and so Leo followed her.
The six turtles are zeroed onto the man as he walked away from where he parked the van.
"All right, buddy," Raph said. "We can do this the easy way, or my vote the hard way." He pulled out his weapons, as his siblings did the same.
"Make that two votes," Mari said, twirling her tanto around.
"For the record, I would prefer a more peaceful approach," Cat said, her Tessen still folded, but held out in front of her.
"Yeah, look at it logically," Donnie said. "There are six of us and one of you. What are you gonna do?"
The man pulled out a laser gun and began shooting at them, as the turtles jumped and dodged the shots, landing on a fire escape.
"You had to ask!" Raph yelled angrily, glaring at Donnie.
The man got back into the van and drove off. The turtles all jumped back to the ground.
"He's getting away again!" Donnie said worriedly.
"No, he's not," Leo said, and they all began jumping on rooftops.
When he caught up, Raph managed to jump onto the van, but when the man turned a corner, Raph fell off and slammed into the wall of a building.
The other turtles were still jumping rooftops, the van never leaving their sight. The man grabbed the laser gun from the passenger's seat and began shooting at them again, without stopping the van.
Leo twirled in the air, throwing a shuriken at the van as he did so, causing the man to lose control, roll over and crash into a pole, with a loud alarm, that quickly stopped.
"Now we're getting somewhere," Leo said.
They were all back on the ground. They were hiding behind a small brick staircase outside. Leo began giving hand signals, not looking at his siblings confused expressions.
"I don't know what that means," Raph said, also doing hand signals to mock his older brother.
"Go around back," Leo whispered.
"Why didn't he just say so?" Mikey asked Cat.
"And they call us idiots," Cat giggled.
"Just come on!" Leo demanded.
They they crept to the bottom of the van, holding out their weapons in case of any more surprises. Mari opened the back of the van causing a single canister to slip out and roll to the ground to Mikey's feet
"Mom?" Mikey gasped.