The girl yawned and stretched, staring at the ceiling of her room. "Ug," said she, "Monday, back to school." She took a peek at the clock by her bed. 6:30. Way too early for any sane creature to be awake, but she had to wake up. "Arg, it should be illegal for mornin' ta be this early," she muttered. She dragged herself out of the warmth of her bed, and stood on the cold floor. She shivered and stretched again. Then she went to the mat she set up in her small room. It was a little thing, really, but it was big enough for her to do her morning exercises: 20 situps, 20 pushups, 13 front rolls and 13 back rolls, plus the real stretching and the little bit of yoga she knew.

She got up from the lotus position when she was done, stripped out of her sweats and changed into her outfit for that day. Blue jeans, black midriff sweater and sneaks. She brushed her shoulder length curls, and threw them back into a pony tail. She wondered when that blasted black dye would was all the way out.

"Di!! Wake up!!" Her mom's voice shattered the quiet of her room and she shuddered, calling back, "I'm up, Mom!" She grabbed her school bag and her gi. After school, she was going down to the dojo to get a work out. She paused on her way up for breakfast and the other routines of the morning to grab a comic book for study hall. On its cover there were four turtles fighting a monster. Their names? Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donetello.

In this reality, the turtles were comic characters.

This same day, miles south and east of Di's place of dwelling, not to mention a pretty different reality, Raph and Mikey were sparring. Both with bokkens, wooden practice swords. Mike cut down, but Raph blocked and laughed.

"Common, Mikey! You call THAT an attack?" Rah shouts.

Mike laughs and kicks Raph away, Raph jumps back, grinning. "No," Mikey responds, "THIS is an attack!" He fakes two cuts, Raph going for the second, and goes under Raph's guard and cuts under Raph's arm.

"Now you're the one armed turtle, Lefty!" Mike burst out laughing.

"Oh yeah?" Raph growled, grinning. He tackled Mike, bringing him down, now that the spar was apparently over.

"Woah!" Mike shouted, laughing and wrestle with his brother. Neither of them noticed Leo and Don standing by the door.

Don said to Leo, "Should we tell them play time's over?"

Leo chuckled, "Let's let them make fools of themselves for a little while longer." Don laughed.

"Say ‘mercy'!" Raph was saying to his brother, whose arm her was twisting.

"Never, knave!" Mike replied, trying to sound like a knight from some movie. Raph twisted. "OK! OK! Mercy!" Mike shouted.

Raph let him up and smirked at the other two. He said, "Next?"

Don shook his head and put his hands up, laughing. Leo just grinned, and Mike stood rubbing his arm.

"Geeze, Lefty! Where didya learn that? It hurt!" Mikey asked.

"Leo raised his eye brows, and asked, "Lefty?"

Mike grinned, "I cut his arm off in the spar."

Raph leaned against the wall, "Yeah, but whose arm hurts now?"

Mike scowled and the rest laughed. Then Don asked, "Really, where didya learn that? It looked pretty impressive."

Raph shrugged, his face showing puzzlement. "I dreamed it, last night. I dreamed I was watching some human chick practicing and she taught it to me. Pretty weird."

The others looked at him and then each other.

Mike couldn't resist, "Ooh! Raph's dreamin' about girls! So, who is she, your dream girl?" He winked at Raph.

Raph scowled at Mike. "I don't know, but she was good, what she was practicing, it looked like she was dancing."

By now, Splinter had appeared. "Raphael, tell us about your dream. My sons, I sense that this dream might have some bearing on our future. There is something strange happening." They all looked to the Sensei and then to Raph.

Mikey grinned, "So Raph is turning into an oracle now? Oracle Raph!" Mikey laughed. Raph glared and the rest just shook their heads.

Raph sighed and started, "I remember I was walking down the street of a strange city. I kept thinkin' it was so weird, no one was paying any attention to me, though I wasn't wearing a disguise. They just kept walking by. I come to a gate. It was a big thing, and was wide open. On the other side was a park, with thick grass, and a couple of trees spread around. There were only two people there. A girl, about our age and maybe 5'1" or 5'2". She looked so graceful, slender but well muscled. She was wearing jeans and a sweater." then he realized he was grinning and so were the others, Mikey was cracking up. Raph stopped grinning and scowled. "Well, she was pretty." He glared at Mike. Mike stopped giggling and shrugged. "Her partner was much bigger than she was. Very muscular and very mean looking. He kept attacking her, punching, grabbing, trying to hit her with knife hands, but she didn't seem afraid, she was ready for everything he threw at her. When he would attack, she'd bring him around and always threw him down. He'd just get back up and attack again. Eventually, I guess she got tiered of this and she just pinned him and twisted his arm, like I did to Mikey." Raph smirked, and went on.

"She twisted slowly until he said to stop. She let him up and he stood and glared at her. I wondered if he would attack again. He turned to me and glared. Then he just vanished. She had this sad look on her face when he was glaring at her, then she looked at me. She walked up to me and took hold of my hands, gazed up into my eyes, and asked ‘Did you know him?' I told her I didn't, and she brought me down. I was very surprised. I had no idea someone that small and delicate looking could bring me down so easily and gently." Splinter gave him a look. Raph gave a little sheepish laugh, and said, "Aside from you, Sensei..." he trailed off, feeling a little embarrassed

Splinter chuckled and gently said, "Go on."

Raph went on, "She had me on my stomach, and I felt her holding my arm. She said, ‘This is how you cradle." She held my arm to her body, making sure I knew just how she was holding it, and said, ‘Pat the ground when you feel pain, never twist quickly when doing this to another, always slowly, or else you might end up hurting their shoulder.' She demonstrated , and it hurt! I hit the ground with my free hand and she let me up. She faced me and bowed. I woke up then."

He looked at his brothers' and Sensei's faces for a reaction. They were all just sort of looking at him. He felt sort of embarrassed until Splinter put a hand on his shoulder.

"My son, this dream does have significance, and we much meditate on its meaning. But first, we train." The guys shook their heads, and Mikey grinned at Raph.

"I want a rematch, Dream-Boy!"

Raph grinned. "You're on!"

Di sighed, she'd been feeling so weird that day. She had no idea why. She leaned on her hand, trying not to doze off, and started doodling in her math notebook. What a boring subject! She didn't know why she chose to take it this year, she could have stopped last year, it isn't required Senior year. She looked down at her artwork. "Heh," she muttered, "a mutant turtle..." She added a pair of sai.

The teacher walked by. "Done with your classwork, Diana?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"Then why don't you start on your homework, and stop drawing cartoons," he snapped.

She sighed, "Yes, sir."

Then the bell rang, and she put all her stuff away and hurried to her locker. She kneeled down and dumped her math stuff into her locker, and was grabbing for her lunch and the junk she'd need for the rest of the day, when a huge hand came grabbing for her.

"Ack!" She exclaimed as she moved back and rerouted the man's force into the lockers. He made a huge crash as he slammed into the wall. Both teachers and students came running.

She was already in a stance, ready to defend herself.

"Great, just great. This HAS to happen on a Monday, doesn't it?!" She asked, in irritation.

No one answered, and the man just glowered at her and the crowd. He took something out. It was a cross between a handgun and a phaser, like the ones you'd find on Star Trek. At least that's what Di thought it looked like. The crowd, however took one look at it and ran.

He smirked an shot her with the thing.

She cried out and disappeared.

Her guts felt like they were on fire. She pushed herself up from were she had fallen after hitting the wall. What did that guy shoot me with? She thought, putting a hand to her burning stomach.

She heard something and hastily stood, immediately going into a ready stance. She just noticed her surroundings.

"Wha'? A sewer?" She muttered, realizing how much it hurt to talk. Then she saw them, turning the corner. Her eyes widened. "The Turtles...? NNNG!!" A sudden burst of pain swept through her body, she grabbed her mid- section, and collapsed, passing out. They had heard a body flying against a wall and a shout that had an unmistakable note of pain in it. At the look that Splinter had given them, the one of urgency, they took off down the tunnel.

Turning the corner, Raph saw a girl who looked just like to one in his dream. She was standing in an obviously defensive stance. Raph thought, Nah, must be somethin' Mikey put on that pizza...It couldn't be her! Her eyes seemed to get bigger and she gasped, "The Turtles..?" His own eyes widened that she recognized him and his brothers, but before he could do anything, her guard dropped as the pain overtook her, she wrapped her arm around her mid-section, and with a loud "NNNG!!", crumpled to the ground.

He rushed over to her and turned her over. She was out cold, he looked at her face and was amazed to find that it was the same one as the one in his dream. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Leo standing behind him, "Raph, do you know this girl?"

Raph looked up in shock. "She's the one from my dream.."

He chucked her breathing and pulse. "She's ok, just unconscious."

Mikey crouched next to him and pulled her shirt up a little.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?!?!?" Raph roared at him.

"I'm checking her for bruising, she might be bleeding internally." Mike said, hoping Raph wouldn't blow up at him. She wasn't bruised, he gently pushed down on her stomach, to see if there were any places that her hard that shouldn't be, a sign of bleeding. There weren't and he marveled at the softness of the skin and the firmness of her muscles.

"MIKE!!!" Raph howled, apparently Mike had taken to long.

Mike grinned, "I'm pretty sure there isn't any bleeding, she's got a nice tummy, though!"

Raph just growled and scooped her up, leading the way back to the lair. The others just looked at each other and shrugged.

When Di came back to the land of the living, she realized she wasn't on the floor. She kept her breathing at the same rate as it had been and kept her face relaxed, her eyes closed and took stock of her surroundings with her other senses. She could feel she was on her back on a soft surface, with another surface pressed against her left side. She was on some kind of couch, and covered with a blanket. She could hear water running in the distance and soft voices conversing. They all sounded young, and she couldn't understand exactly what was being said, but she could tell a little about the personalities that were behind them.

One had the sound of authority and confidence in it. The Leader, she thought. Another had humor and good naturdness in it. The Clown, she thought, chuckling internally, still appearing asleep. The third had a not of scientific intelligence to it. The Scientist, bet he likes computers. The last had anger and hurt in it. Ah, the Rebel, like me. Finally, she felt a presence by her side and heard a soft chuckle.

The presence said, "You can open your eyes, child. I know you are awake, though I'm sure others would be fooled."

She grinned sheepishly and looked at the rat. She couldn't help gasping and muttering, "I must be dreaming." She reached up and ran a hand over her head, checking for any lumps that weren't there before.

The rat chuckled again, and said, "No that you are not," he then looked at her in concern, "Does your head hurt?"

She smile, "Nope, I was just checking to see if there are any bumps there that weren't there before." She sighed, and said, "But I have a feeling it will before the night is over." At hearing the conversation, the guys had rushed into the room and had stood, looking at her.

She carefully started to sit up, and feeling no pain, sat up more smoothly and swung her legs over, so there was more space. Raph walked over and sat next to her and put a gently hand on her shoulder. He asked, "Are ya feelin' any better?"

She nodded, "Yeah, thanks." Then to all of them, she introduced herself, "I'm Diana, you folks can call me Di if you want to." She sighed and shook her head. "I believe I know your names." The looked at her, disbelieving.

"Really." Don said, skeptical.

"Yes, Donetello." Mickey's jaw dropped, and the rest of the guys' eyes widened. She couldn't help grinning and saying to Mike, "You might want to close that, you might start catching flies."

Mike's mouth snapped shut, and they all sat or stood in stunned silence. Except for Splinter, whose silence was thoughtful. It was he, Splinter, who finally broke the quiet, "Diana, could you please tell us what you remember of today's events?"

She bowed as much as she could in a seated position. "Well, this morning was pretty normal, I woke up, did my exercised and got ready for school. I had some breakfast and went to school.

"I went to my morning classed, English, Gym and Math. After math, I headed to my locker to get my lunch and the rest of the stuff that I'd need for the rest of my day. I was just reaching for my lunch when a huge man came and tried to make a grab for me, I dodged him and threw him into the wall. I was standing ready to defend myself, and he pulled some weird gun.

"He shot me, and next thing I knew, I was flying against a wall somewhere in these sewers. I was really hurting, it felt like I was burning inside." She winced at the memory of the pain. Raph squeezed her shoulder, she sailed at him an patted his hand with her own.

"Thanks, Raph." She went on. "I wasn't exactly sure of where I was and when I heard you guys coming, I didn't know weather you were friend or foe, so I got into a stance. It didn't even occur to me to run, usually that would have been the first thing for me to think of, or to hide, anyway, I wouldn't know where to run to.

"Anyways, I was pretty amazed to see you guys, but the pain got worse then, more than I could handle, and I guess I fainted. The rest you know." She grinned shyly and looked to the guys and Splinter.

Splinter asked, "Did anything odd happen, that perhaps you forgot to mension?"

She though fo a moment and then replied, "I...don't think so, but I did have a feeling that something weird was going on. An odd feeling that just stuck with my throughout the day."

Then Don asked, "What did this gun look like, that this guy shot you with?"

"Do you have Star Trek here?" DI asked. Don nodded. "Have you ever seen thier phasers?" Again, Don nodded. "Well, it looked like a cross between one of them and a handgun."

Don just said, "Oh," and looked thoughtful.

Raph asked, "What did this guy look like, that attacked you?"

She closed her eyes, remembering what she saw. "Um, he was easily twice my size, at least six foot and very muscular. Dark hair, pale skin, just altogether mean looking."

Raph looked at her in amazement, and she raised an eyebrow at him. He just shook his head and she shrugged. Leo looked like he wanted to ask her something but didn't quite know who to ask it.

She just smiled at him and he took that as his cue, feeling a little embarrased to be asking, the they had to know. "How...how do you know who we are?"

She blushed and chuckled nervously. "Um, well, I don't know if you'll believe me. It really sounds kind of far fetched." She looked down and rubbed the back of her neck.

Raph looked up and smirked, "So does getting shot with a phaser."

She narrowed her eyes at him, brushed his hand off of her shoulder and stood. Splinter gave Raph a look and then gently said to Di, "It is all right, you can answere the question, if you wish."

She nodded, sighed, and paced around a little, trying to think of a way to answere without sounding like she was on drugs or totally insane. She could only think of one way to put it, and she didn't really like the way it sounded.

"Well, uhm, where I'm from, you guys are comic book and cartoon characters."

She chuckled, "I'm a bit of a fan." She blushed again.

The answere did make sense, in a warped kind of way. It was quiet again until Mikey softly said, "Cool! A fan." Di just ducked her head.

After a few more mintues, Di wrapped her arms around herself and look at her feet, examining her shoes. "If you guys just want to kick me out because you think I'm nuts, I'd undertand," she said in a quiet misery.

At this, Splinter rose and gently put an arm around her slumped shoulders. "Ah, chilld, we wouldn't make you leave, even if you did sound less than sane," the wise old rat said.

Leonardo walked over to her, and put a hand on the back of her head. "Yeah, you're stuck with us." She smiled and gave her new friends on iether side of her one armed hugs, and softly said to all of them, "Thanks."

The guys grinned, and Mikey spoke up, "I have a question." Everyone looked expectantly at him.

"Did you ever have a chance to eat that lunch?" He inquired.

Di suddenly realized how hungry she was, it had been hours since she'd first shown up. "Why, no, I didn't," she grinned and replied.

Mikey grinned, and said in a French accent. "Vell! I veel make you zee best meal you haf ever eaten!"

"WHERE IS THE GIRL?1?!?" The dark master roared.

George winced, his large contanince groveling in front of the dark form. "I-I don't know...I-I shot her when she put up the fight, and then came back. But when I returned, she wasn't here, like she should have been." He cowered, not liking to upset his master.

The form rose, and rose, to its full eight foot hight and said in its booming voice, "George," George cringed at hearing the mockery in the voice. Master had always thought that his name was humerouse. George hated hearing his master's laugh. The master went on, "I need her. Her mind, her skills and her body." Then, as if her were talking to a stupid child, he started explaing why he needed her so much.

"Her mind, I need to have to deal with sniveling sots, such as you and every other person I seem to have to deal with. Her skills, to teach my child and to help lead my armies. And her body, to acctually have my child. She is the only one how has the right genetic make up to create the child." George just sat there, and wondered how a creature as large as his master would be able to procreate with someone as small as she. He was to afraid to ask, but the question was answered when the master shrank into the form of a man.

"Now," said the master, holding out his human hand, "Give me that device." George held out the transproter gun and bowed his head. The master snatched it up and examined it.

"YOU FOOL!" The master bellowed. "YOU HAD THE WRONG SETTING!!" George was backhanded, the force of the strike sending him to the floor, holding his aching face. He lay there, knowing that if he tried to get up, he'd only succede in making his master more angry. "NOW WE HAVE TO FIND HER!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BIG NEW YORK CITY IS?!?!?"

The kick he adminstered to George sent him flying into a wall. George was knocked unconsiouse. The master growled, curisng in the tongue of evil spririts. Then in English he called for a servant.

By the time a servant arraved, a man wearing the uniform of a servant- warrior, he had transformed back into his regular form and was sitting on his throne.

"Bring George," he laughed at the name, "to his quarters, and have his injuries healed. When he awakens, have him locate the girl. He is to return for reenforcements, since he obviously can't handle her on his own." The servant bowed, and carried George away. The master settled back into his throne to ponder how to break her will after he gets ahold of her.

Leo walked into the living room of tier lair and was surprised to find Raph standing and watching Di sleep. Usually, Raph hated mornings and Leo was the first one up, aside from Master Splinter, of course. All the guys had offered to sleep on the couch and let her have thier beds, but she had stubbornly insisted that the couch was fine. They all reluctantly agreed to let her stay on the couch. She had chuckled at their reluctance, she had grinned and told them not to worry, and that even though she didn't look all that tough, she wouldn't break. Leo walked to Raph's side and looked at Di. It was true. She was very delicate looking.

Raph looked up. "Hey, Leo."

"Mornin', Raph," Leo responded.

Raph reached down and gently moved some hair back from her face. Wow, he thought, She looks so innocent.

Just then, Leo commented, "Wow, she has amazing hair."

Raph nodded, "Yeah," he said.

Her hair was mostly black, but had some spots that were brown-gold. "Guess she dyed it," Raph said.

She twitched in her sleep and opened her eyes. She grinned, "Come to see the sleeping...well, I'm not exactly beautiful, so average-looking chick?"

The guys chuckled, and Leo commented, "Hey, we think you're beautiful." Raph nodded and she blushed a little.

She gave a little chuckle, "Anyway...good morning."

"Mornin'," Raph said, and Leo nodded. "Do you usually twitch before waking up?"

Di laughed, "Nah, just this morning I had a falling dream." A yawn took her by surprise, and they all quietly laughed as the two guys fallowed her example.

"Yawns are awful contagious, aren't they? I've always wondered why." Di grinned and stood up, grabbing the blanket that had been covering her, and folded it neatly.

They all looked up when Don said, "One theory is that the change in air pressure, resulting from the original yawn, creates a need for others to get more oxygen, causing them to yawn."

They stared, just blinking at him. Mikey walked in, whistling. "Morning, all!" He looked at their black stares, and then to Don.

"Umm, Donny? Didya create a zombie making machine and then sic it on them?" he asked, waving a hand in front of Raph's eyes. Raph grabbed Mikey's hand.

Leo just said, "I guess our brains can't handle science early in the morning.

Di said, "Great, I feel guilty now. First making you guys yawn and then getting Don started."

Splinter then walked in and smiled to see them all awake and chatting away. "Good morning, my students." He smiled at them all.

"Good morning, Sensei," the guys said.

Di smiled and said, "Good morning, Splinter." She wasn't really sure of how to refer to him. He wasn't really her Sensei, but she did respect him. However, ‘Mister Splinter' sounded kind of dumb to her.

"Good morning, Di. Tell me, are you a student of the martial arts?" Splinter asked, and smiled at her. He liked her, too. He could see a little bit of each of his sons in her. She was gentle, like Don, a bit of a clown, like Mikey, had a protective quality about her, like Leo, and when he looked into her eyes, he could see a great deal of hurt and anger, like Raph. She nodded and a big smile came across her face, but Splinter could see something else in her blue-green and gold eyes, was it...determination that Splinter saw?

"Yes, I am."

"What art do you study?" Splinter inquired.

"Aikido," she answered.

Leo's eyes lit up with recognition. He had seen a television program on it a few days ago. Watching it, he was very impressed and called Splinter over. Splinter had smiled and told him that that was Aikido. "Would you like to show us?" She nodded. "Well, then that will replace half of our spar for today." Raph, Don and Mike looked suprised. They were thinking that Splinter might be sick or something. Just letting them sit back and watch her work out alone. Leo grinned, he knew his brothers were in for a surprise. Splinter took out an old gi jacket and belt and handed them to Di.

"I am sorry, but I could not find any pants that would fit, those jeans are flexible enough for you to work out it?"

"Yes, they are. To tell the truth, I was a little worried that I would have to work out in this shirt." She shrugged

Splinter chuckled, and replied, "I didn't think that you'd enjoy having my sons see more of you than was necessary, and you are welcome." Di went into the bathroom and come out in a couple of moments wearing the gi jacket tied closed at the waist with the belt. She went into the practice area and did some warm ups; stretching, rolls and falls.

After the warm ups were done, Splinter instructed Don, Raph and Mike to sit and watch while Leo and Di stood before them. Leo and Di bowed to Splinter and then to each other. Then Di and Leo took up ready stances. At Splinter's command, they started. Leonardo threw a punch at Di, and she moved aside, grabbed his fist and brought him down, swinging him down in a circle using his own force against him. When she had him on his plastron, she held his arm the way she had in Raph's dream.

She told Leo, "Hit the ground with your free hand when you feel pain." With that, she slowly twisted his arm.

Raph was stunned from the feeling of de ja vu that he got.

Leo hit the ground and she let him up and was in a ready stance by the time he was up. He lunged for her and she stepped back and threw him to the ground twisting his body, forcing him to lose his balance. After that, his attacks got lightning quick, as did her responses. He kicked, she ducked and sometimes pulled him down. He grabbed, she either pulled with the grab, or brought him around and down. He punched, she grabbed and brought him down. He cut with knife hands, she blocked and pulled him off balance, using his momentum against him.

Sometimes, she brought him down by going low, in fact, she usually did that. But sometimes he's also bring him up and back. A lot of times she'd use wrist twists to make him move. Leo was glad when Splinter said to stop, he was winded from all that falling rolling and getting up again. She was also catching her breath and was sweating a little. She and Leo bowed to each other and faced Splinter and the rest of the turtles. Di almost laughed at the slack jawed look of amazement on the brothers' faces.

Mikey said in awe, "I wouldn't want to meet her in a dark alley!"

Splinter motioned for Leo to sit with his brothers, which Leo did gladly, and looked to Di, who had regained her breath. "Would you be able to take the other three, at the same time?" He asked.

"I believe so, yes. Though I wouldn't be able to last as long as I did with Leonardo," she replied. So Splinter told Michelangelo, Donetello, and Raphael to stand before her, and they all did their bows.

Splinter ordered them to start and Raph was the first to attack, she whipped him around and threw him into Mikey who was about to try something. They both landed in a tangle of arms and legs. Donny tried to sweep her legs out from under her, she simply jumped out of the way, and when Donny lunged at her, she threw him into Raph, who was about to charge her. Down they went. Mike made a grab for her, and she went down on one knee and sent him flying. Don, seeing she was down, tried to tackle her from the side, she just rolled back out of the way at the last moment and was standing emmediatly after the roll was done.

Raph grabbed her from behind and she twisted out of his grip while bringing him down. Mike and Don grabbed one wrist each, and grinned at each other just before the somehow threw them both down. Using her Ki, or in Chinese, Chi. Just then, she got a foot in the chest from Raph, she'd twisted aside so that the impact was more on her left shoulder and she went down, hard. Splinter called a stop and they gathered around her. She rolled over and looked up into the faces around her, all of them full of worry for this fragile looking girl who just got kicked by one of the physically strongest turtles.

They were all asking if she was ok and she assured them that she was. She slowly sat up and with a hand up from Raph, she stood. She moved her arm around, and didn't feel any sharp pain, so she was satisfied that she hadn't broken anything. She could feel the bruising already, though. She grinned at Raph, "Nice kick, I'm gonna be black and blue for a while! I don't bruise all that easily."

Raph just grinned and patted her other arm and said, "Thanks, so long as I didn't do any serious damage. Good thing I pulled that kick. I thought you were going to move in time."

She chuckled, "I guess I was running out there."

Splinter spoke up then, "We will continue our spar. Di, if you would like to stay and watch, you are welcome to."

Di smiled, "I think I will, thank you."

She bowed to the guys and to Splinter, and then sat by the wise old rat.