At dusk, three vigilante groups split across the dark city.

Donatello, Abril and Casey would be in charge of checking the warehouses of the specialized computer store, which was the most affected by the robbery, remaining almost empty, although many of the things, they later learned, were abandoned in the middle of a park. Donnie wanted to know what sort of things were most abandoned, but sadly, the police kept them in their custody as evidence. As it was the least sheltered and most isolated place, it was ideal for the group with humans to take care of. They weren't so stealthy yet.

Raphael and Mikey would be in charge of checking the commercial district, many of its telecommunications and technology stores were razed at the same time so it was the most likely place to find a trace, both of them could orient themselves well and give the signal if they found anything.

Finally, Leonardo and Lou would overhaul the university, their science and computer lab was practically dismantled; Leo decided to go there with the older one mostly because there was little risk of being seen and he felt more at ease to be in a less guarded place if the older mutant wasn't good at stealth. Or something else happened.

Donnie sighed defeated, he wanted to go to college, he would love to be able to see what things he could find, touch or "borrow" from such an important site, but he was rejected by the overwhelming logic of his older brother... and the disapproving look of the others when his mouth betrayed his intentions to adopt some things from the laboratory. It wasn't fair, almost everything had already been taken away from them, nor would they notice that one or two more things were missing.

Angelo smiled sadly at the sight of the pout on the boy's face, a gesture so similar to his own brother, always present when they were not allowed to do something potentially criminal. Almost three years since Tello was taken from them by the enemy in an incident that Leo never wanted to talk about and that left the leader of the resistance shattered. Angelo is almost certain that if he hadn't been with Leo he would have let him die, it took him a long time to get him out of the hole he got into after the death of his twin and only the intervention of the doctor Touch Delicate and Doctor Feelings regained some life in his brother. Junior also helped and will never stop being grateful for that.

Lou managed to remove the cement from his body and clean himself as best he could before leaving, he also adjusted his hair with a clean toothpick and put on the clothes that, kindly, April brought for him. He didn't hear it, but both humans whispered a "shit" upon seeing it; Casey Jones formally understood the redhead when she mentioned that the older mutant was attractive.

He would take that secret to the grave.

The teams went to their respective posts maintaining open communication at all times. They had been fighting certain criminal groups for some time, so they had experience, but apparently this new group was far more efficient than any they had faced before and considerably larger. To be honest, they were worried, Donatello was worried about the amount of technology they had

stolen, Leo was worried about the efficiency and planning, how it had slipped under their noses and the risk that this new group would join forces with one of their other enemies or, worse, that they would start a gang war that would devastate the city. Either option was not good for them.

Donatello and his group arrived at the storage area. They perched on the roof of the stricken cellar and waited until they were sure no one was around.

— Come on," the purple turtle ordered, and the three of them dropped down a vent they had previously opened.

— We're already in, what are we looking for? The redhead asked in a whisper, looking around. Police tape created a fence around a tall pile of scattered boxes, the vast majority of them open and their contents strewn on the dirty garage floor.

— Any clue, any mark, footprint or anything that seems out of place that I can analyze is useful — Donnie replies taking a flashlight from his belt and starting to sweep the room with the light — be quiet and don't move things too much, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves — the two young humans sat and separated to start searching through the clutter.

Leonardo and Lou snuck into the university and now waited hidden in more shadows for the guard to finish his round down the hallway. Despite being so tall, the older mutant turned out to be proficient in the art of stealth, and the one in blue lost track of him from time to time. It was also fast, very fast, sometimes it seemed to just disappear and reappear a few meters ahead without a sound. Leo wondered what kind of training he had to get to such a level and was tempted to start a conversation just to get that information but refrained, for now the mission went first, then, if all went well, he could sit down with the older one and find a way to talk about it without being too obvious about his desire to learn something or two from him. If his genius brother was right, and Lou was some sort of alternate self, he surely had a lot to teach him.

He took a deep breath and concentrated on the mission, the guard turned a corner and the beam of his flashlight went off in the distance, a signal for them to enter the rooms that were affected by the robbery. He approached the door and opened it carefully, signaling the eldest to enter closed behind them.

— Okay, let's find something that will give us a clue and get out of here," he instructed the major, who nodded in coincidence and proceeded to spring into action.

Michelangelo and Raphael watched the shopping district from a rooftop. The shops that were looted were duly delimited by police tape and a few officers walked around the area keeping watch; That wasn't good for the pair of ninjas.

— We'll have to wait for them to leave," growls the man in red, crossing his arms, "I hope the others can get something if we can't do anything here."

Mikey moves around the roof looking at the cops, he knows that Raph would like to take action but they can't do anything against the police forces, Leonardo and the teacher were always very strict about never letting themselves be seen and much less by the police, they would chase them trying to capture them no matter how much they would try to explain that they were the good guys.

What would Lou do? How did he and his siblings deal with such a situation when they were young? At some point, during his meditations, Mike had access to a fragment of the older mutant's memories and saw the image of his brothers as he remembered them, their wide and playful smiles, the bright eyes full of love directed at him, he could feel in his heart the security and affection that Lou himself felt when he was with them.

He also felt the heartbreaking loss before the older severed the connection between them.

He shook his head, again he had let himself be carried away by his sea of thoughts instead of concentrating on the main idea. He wanted to be like Lou, like Leo, or like Lou's Lion, but he was never going to get there if his mind couldn't focus on one thing.

He took several deep breaths until he felt focused again, for years his teacher tried to teach him that technique without success but now, with all the business of his skills, he redoubled his efforts and finally managed to get it to work. It wasn't so much that we were 100 percent satisfied, but it helped a lot when I needed to focus for a long period of time. What would Lou do? What would Leo do?

An idea began to form in his head, something that he discussed with Lou and that they agreed to try later. None of them really knew the extent of their powers, so most of the time they stayed in theory. Especially why the Splinter sensor refused to let Lou do more than just guide him in meditation.

What if I tried it? If it turned out it would be great and if it didn't... Well, no one would have to find out.

— I'm going to try something," he catches the eye of his older brother who gives him a confused look, "but I need to get closer, so..." he expected Raphael to refuse as he always did with his ideas, but this time his brother looked at him with obvious curiosity.

— What's on your mind dwarf? He asked, straightening up, "We need to get in there, so tell me any crazy ideas you have."

Mikey's eyes sparkle with excitement and he approaches his brother by jumping on the balls of his feet.

"Do you see that policeman?" — he walks over to the ledge of the building and points at one of the humans in uniform who yawns noticeably — his mind is tired so I thought I'd reach out and see if I can sneak into his head to distract the others.

Raphael felt a chill, it was clear to him that Mikey was following some kind of strange training with the older mutant and his sensei but he never wanted to get involved in what he was really doing, he would not admit it, but he was terrified of what could happen, with what he saw in the kitchen on the day of the earthquake, the scared and sad face of his little brother filled him with so much fear, So much pain that I didn't want to relive the experience. So he stayed on the sidelines, it wasn't the best strategy, but so far, he couldn't find what else to do. He had no tools to help the child.

Although Mikey's face showed so much confidence and his eyes looked at him pleadingly, he didn't have the courage to refuse. He would only worry about protecting him if things didn't go well.

"Come on, let's find a safe place to get off and get closer." I'll cover you," he said in reply, and began to walk quickly toward a fire escape that was sufficiently obscured by the shadows of the buildings that his swift movements were not seen by the police.

Hiding in the shadows of an alley, Raph confirmed what his brother had said: the policeman was barely awake, probably a very long shift after so many simultaneous robberies.

— What's the plan? He asks quietly, Mikey gives him the sign of silence and bends his knees taking the seiza posture that was, for the shape of his body, the most comfortable posture.

— I'm going to try to get inside your mind," he replies to his older brother enigmatically.

He concentrates, searches within himself for the pull of his abilities and imagines that it is a light that surrounds him expanding beyond his body, the one that is about ten meters away from where they are hiding but, with training, Mikey can reach him easily.

Raphael looks at his brother but doesn't notice anything strange, he thought that if Mikey used whatever his weird powers were, he would glow or shake or something but nothing happened until the policeman stiffened and started walking towards his companions waving his arms exaggeratedly.

"Guys" I hear the one in red calling the others "something happened running and disappeared two streets away, I need you to accompany me" the officer pointed to a dark corner a couple of blocks away from where the police line was. The others did not hesitate and lit their lanterns following the agitated officer. Raph's jaw dropped.

— "Wow Mikey," whistled the eldest, "was that you?"

He hears a chuckle coming from the ground where his little brother was trying to stand up but looked somewhat shaky.

— It really worked! "If I felt less dizzy I'd be jumping for joy — but I don't think I'll be able to do something like that again tonight — Raph grabbed the boy's arm to help him stand up and hold him steady.

— "Absolutely, dwarf," he says with a smile in his voice, "but it was great.

They both climb onto the roof of the computer business and sneak inside without making a sound. Thanks to the fact that the night is lit by the moon and the street lamps in the shopping district don't need to turn on any additional lights.

— They left practically nothing behind," says the major, picking up a forgotten piece from the floor and looking at it — it was a very organized job — he puts the piece back on the floor and goes around the sales room looking for any clues. Meanwhile, Mikey was checking the back hold, where there wasn't much of anything either. Still, he found a couple of loose pieces that he slipped into his belt pocket to smuggle off Donnie; They

didn't always have the opportunity to be in a place with so much technology to take a few things from.

— Mikey, come here," the man in red calls, looking at something on the wall, "do you see those marks?" — he points to a notch in the wall — it's as if something had climbed over here — they follow the line of subtle footprints with their eyes until they find a skylight — that's where he must have escaped — he whispers and throws a rope that catches on a beam near the skylight — come on, if I'm right there should be other marks above.

They climb up the rope using the skylight to get out onto the roof, while Raphael picks up the rope Mikey watches the floor closely: there are obvious three-finger claw marks in the dust on the roof.

— Here Raph," he calls to his brother, "look at these strange footprints.

— I don't know of any animal that leaves footprints like that," he says, "or mutant..." he adds, feeling that they could be in a completely different scenario than they imagined.

— What is that? Mikey grabs his brother's arm, trying to draw their attention to what was hovering above them with a soft buzzing sound.

Raphael pulls his sais out of his belt and looks at the object located a good two meters high from where they are.

— It's like a toy airplane or something

— "A mini spy plane," exclaims the youngest, letting his imagination run wild, "must belong to the thieves—oh, that makes sense, thinks the older one, throwing a sai at the device even though it is dodging it and moving far enough away so as not to be attacked again.

— Let's not let it escape," he says, running towards the flying object, picking up his sai lost in momentum. Mikey follows close behind.

Both young people begin to jump between the rooftops trying to reach the object but it dodges them always moving further and further away, for a moment Raphael thinks that the one who manages the toy is guiding them to a toy trap that wants to get them out of the commercial area but he also thinks that if they manage to catch the artifact they could solve one of the mysteries of this case.

The artifact spins and begins to return to the area where they were previously and Raphael snorts angrily. Whoever the pilot is sure to be laughing at them.

— Come on Mikey, we can't lose him — his little brother runs alongside him, but every now and then he makes a big jump that almost catches up with the flying object but it always dodges him.

— It's so fast," complains the man in orange.

— We'll catch him," says the man in red.

When they arrive in the shopping district, the two ninjas can notice that the police are no longer there but that the area is now occupied by the notorious gang of purple dragons who, without the slightest care, check the looted shops.

— What are those idiots doing here? "Obviously the night wasn't going to be so quiet, was it?"

— I don't know, but it seems that they have nothing to do with the previous robbery..." — the minor comments and Raph can assure that it is true because of the anger with which they check the area. Perhaps the band of tech thieves aren't friends with the purple dragons, which would be a huge relief.

— We're going to ruin those idiots' night," says the man in red, pounding his fists. After the frustrating chase, expending some energy would do him good.

Without waiting for an answer, he drops into the shadows behind a small group of dragons who check the dumpsters for clues, surely.

Raphael growls, letting his hindbrain and instincts take over. The sound rumbles deep in his chest and escapes from between his lips and teeth echoing on the walls of the alley, it is animalistic, wild and terrifying and the dragons tense at the growl in fright.

From his position on the roof Michelangelo is amazed to see and hear his older brother, each step Raphael took seemed to weigh more, be harder and drier against the pavement increasing the effect of the growl, it did not seem that a simple turtle was approaching them, it was a wild, dangerous, lethal animal. The humans trembled.

With a few blows and the one in red in charge of the three in the alley, the youngest went down to reach his brother and his whole body trembled with excitement and terror in equal measure.

— That was—" he put his hands to his head and made a burst sign with his fingers accompanied by an imitating sound "amazing, brother, those times will have nightmares

Raphael laughs proudly and puts an arm around the boy's shoulders and gives him a playful smack on the head.

— We're going to hit the remaining dragons and then we have to go tell the others about the little toy plane we were chasing.

Mikey nods and pulls out his weapons to go hit a few purple dragons.

Donatello and his team finished checking the cellar without finding much. A few claw marks on the walls leading to the ceiling and little else.

Whoever this new gang of thieves was was more efficient than they expected, and Donnie was even excited to find out who they were and how much they could do with the stolen technology. You can't always run into people that smart.

— Donnie, they're the enemy," Abril reminds him after the third time the man in purple exclaims admiration for the thieves, "they can be dangerous, we don't know what they want with so much technology.

— That's why Abril — the mutant can barely contain his excitement — imagines the possibilities — has a pair of glasses on with which he scans the area.

— Hey brainy — Jones' voice catches the attention of the two teens — is that a possibility? He asks, pointing to an object floating a few feet away from them, emitting a soft humming sound.

April can almost feel Donatello's excited squeal on her skin.

— It's a drone! — he exclaims — I've only known that the army has something like that but I don't think even they have something so advanced — his voice squeaks with excitement and he gets as close as he can to the artifact — oh, his lines are so perfect, he hardly makes a sound...

The young humans look at each other worried that something will happen to the mutant as excited as he was.

— Yes, yes, very nice but don't worry that he's watching us? Casey says suddenly, bursting Donatello's bubble of happiness.

— It's true — the mutant deflates and pulls out his bo — we have to grab him before he goes back to his creator.

The three teenagers begin to chase the drone, Donnie throws several ninja stars at the object, but it dodges them with graceful movements; If it wasn't such a strange situation, Don would be fascinated by the object's superior technology.

Well, it's not that I'm not absolutely delighted with the ones he sees, either. If they can find the tech genius who did that... ah, he hopes to be able to interrogate him before Raphael beats him off-duty.

"Hey! Genius! — Casey's nasty voice pulls him out of his ramblings — this thing dodges everything we throw at it. Don observes his surroundings and begins to do mental calculations.

"April, throw your tessen at a 36-degree angle to the left as soon as I give you the signal," he pulls a pair of his ninja stars from his belt, "Casey, draw his attention to April, I'll attack from behind."

The two young men nod and