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Chapter Text

"Dude, what are you still doing in here? You've been messing with that Kraang tech for like... ever!"

Donatello sighed, rubbing his face. In the week since they'd defeated the Technodrome, he'd been tinkering with a piece of the alien craft his little brother had brought back. Other than short breaks for food, the bathroom, or sleep, he'd been working in his lab nonstop.

Michelangelo had also been pestering him almost nonstop, trying to figure out what he was working on. 

"Mikey," he said through irritated, clenched teeth. "When it's ready, I will tell everyone what I built. But until then, please, let me work."

His little brother pouted, then held out the plate of pizza he'd brought.

Feeling a little guilty, he put his tools down and grabbed the plate.

"Look," he began, "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"It's cool," Mikey replied. "Just... Don't work yourself to death, okay?"

"Alright," Donnie agreed. "Tell you what, how about I give you a hint?"

His orange-clad brother lit up like a jack o'lantern.

He took a bite of his pizza (partially out of hunger, partially to make Mikey squirm a little) before answering.

"Let's just say, if I'm right about what I'm building, then we'll never have to worry about getting to missions on time ever again."

Mikey gave a huge gasp. "You're gonna give us super-speed?"

"No."

"You're gonna make us fly?!"

"No."

"...You're gonna make the Foot Clan really lazy so they're even easier to beat?"

"How on Earth would I do that?"

"I dunno, you're the nerd."

"No, I am not going to make the Foot Clan really lazy. Look, this'll be done by tomorrow morning. Can you please let me work in peace until then?"

Mikey looked like he was considering it as he took back his brother's empty plate.

"Okay... As long as I get to name your invention!"

"Deal... But don't try and name it after a movie from the eighties again."

"What do you have against eighties movies?"

"The fact that you try and quote from them during fights."

"Hey! People love me using those lines! Remember that fight at the shoe factory! I said 'Ever dance with the turtle in the pale moonlight?', and he started laughing."

"He was laughing because you gave him a concussion, and he blacked out seconds later. That doesn't count."

"Tomato, tomahto."

Donnie sighed. "You know what, fine, you can name it whatever you want. Just let me work, please."

"Okay, deal." He walked out with the plate.

Now with peace and quiet, Donatello turned back to his device. Reverse engineering one of the Technodrome's main engine pieces hadn't been easy, but fortunately he'd learned a thing or two from that time he'd hacked the piece of a Kraang computer. He'd needed to use the processor in Metalhead again, but the process he'd made was... exhilarating. 

Hours ticked by as he worked, his eyes locked on his project.

The device itself was deceptively small: at first glance, it looked like a winch, only without a cable. But it was twice the size of a winch, the handle was connected to a battery, and the battery was fueled by the artificial ooze he'd made a few days before.

The artificial ooze had been part of a plan he'd discussed with Leonardo after Timothy got mutated. If the Foot Clan were after ooze, then it would be handy to have artificial ooze around to act as bait. Unlike real ooze, it was harmless (although Mikey had gotten a rash when he'd touched it out of curiosity). It had taken some research, some trial and error, and a trip to the Bronx Botanist Society to... borrow cuttings from their gardens, but it had been worth it. He'd found that a combination of slagweed, mango tree thistles, a tiger stripe vine, and algae from the East River created a slime that looked reasonably close to ooze. However, the canisters of it had just been sitting in the lab for awhile. Fortunately, he'd been able to make the device's battery run on the fake ooze, so it would finally have a use.

Donnie's tongue poked out of his mouth as he adjusted the last tiny screw on the device's side.

"And.... Done!"

With an exhausted yet satisfied smile, he sat back in his chair. 

Seeing as how it was ten already, he got up and left the lab.

He'd need to be well-rested to tell his brothes that he'd cracked--

- - - -

"Teleportation?" Raphael asked with a skeptical look. "You're saying that you've spent the last week trying to crack teleportation? You've been watching too many science fiction movies."

Donnie gave his brother a glare. "First of all, we're mutants who regularly deal with robots, mad scientists, and aliens, so I think we're beyond what is or isn't an element of science fiction."

"He's got a point," Mikey added, earning a look from Raph.

"Second," Donatello continued. "The Technodrome's technology is well beyond anything human science has cracked yet. If it can be modified to work with our own, the impossible could become possible."

"If you think this device can crack teleportation," Leonardo spoke up, "then I'm all for it. We just managed to stop the Technodrome, and the Foot Clan are still out there. There might come a day where how fast we get somewhere could be the difference between success and failure."

Raph turned his unimpressed gaze on his older brother. "Are you quoting Space Heroes again?"

Leo looked away. "That's not the point..."

"Come on, guys!" Mikey interrupted. "Let's shut up and see what the Reality Check can do!"

His brothers all looked at him with confusion.

"The Reality Check?" Donnie asked.

"You said I could name it, and that's what I picked!" Mikey beamed. "'Cause if we can get somewhere faster than we're supposed to, then we're basically body checking reality!"

Donatello blinked. "Well, that's the worst name you could've picked..."

Deciding it was time to let the device... The Reality Check speak for itself, he turned the crank on the side.

"The more times you turn the crank," he explained, "the further you go. But I have to calculate how far that is and how many turns of the crank first, so we can't just mess around with it and hope for the--"

"Let's go to Hawaii!"

Michelangelo ran over and turned the crank as fast as he could.

Donatello's eyes went wide in horror. "Mikey, NO!"

In his rush to stop his brother, his hand accidentally landed on the Reality Check's activation button.

A round wall of light appeared in front of them, taller than even Donatello and as wide as all four turtles standing in a line.

"Okay, that's new," Leonardo remarked. "Uh, Sensei?"

They weren't able to find out if Master Splinter heard them or not. At that exact moment, a powerful wind seemed to come from no where. And... 

It was pushing the Turtles towards the wall.

"Uh... Donnie?" Mikey asked. "That thing's sucking us in!"

"Oh, really?! I didn't notice!" The purple-clad turtle snarked.

Leo was about to stop their arguing when the wind grew stronger. It knocked all four of them right off their feet.

As one, they all went flying through the wall of light.

It closed behind them, leaving an empty room.

- - - -

After the chaos of the meeting (and when they confirmed that EVERYONE had gotten their true personalities back), Rapunzel had suggested she, Eugene, and Cassandra take an evening walk through the forest. They'd agreed; they had a few things to talk about.

"So..." The long-haired princess remarked. "I'm glad that we were able to prevent an all out war between Corona and Pittsford but... Yikes."

"Blondie, can we make it a personal rule to avoid using magic potions from now on?" Her boyfriend replied. "I mean, I get you thought it was a good idea, and it did help Cassandra and I work through some things, but wouldn't it have been better just to let us work it out?"

"For once, I agree with Narcissus over here," the princess' lady-in-waiting spoke up. She used her sword to knock down a tree branch in their path before she continued. "Raps, we all love you, but sometimes you've got to let people work stuff out for themselves."

The princess' animal companion, a green chameleon on her shoulder, give a cheep and nodded in agreement.

Rapunzel sighed. "Okay, okay, you're both right. I should have stayed out of it, and I'm sorry. It's just... You're both so important to me and seeing you fight all the time..."

Eugene and Cassandra shared a look before they both went to Rapunzel.

"Okay, okay, maybe we have been at each other's necks more than usual lately," the former thief/future prince acknowledged. "So, Cass... Maybe we call a truce for a few days? Try not to fight as much?"

Cassandra rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Alright, Fitzherbert. If it makes the princess happy."

Rapunzel smiled, hugged them both, and started walking ahead.

Eugene whispered to the short-haired woman. "I'm still going to insult you when she's out of earshot."

Cassandra whispered back. "Ditto, Sticky Fingers."

"Hey," he whispered back, "I'll have you know that I haven't stolen anything since I met Rapunzel!"

She gave him a skeptical look, and he broke.

"Okay, fine, when the chef said everyone could only have two muffins, I snuck a third when he wasn't looking. But that doesn't count, he was giving those out as free samples! And besides, I saw you sneak one of the princess' strawberries once when you were taking up her breakfast!"

"You can't prove that!" Cass hissed back.

"I don't have to, she believes whatever I say!"

"You'll keep it a secret if you know what's good for you!"

"Guys?" Rapunzel called back.

They both straightened up, identical guilty looks on their faces.

It took them a second to realize that she wasn't looking at them. She was staring at a spot in the bushes... and she looked very confused.

Moving silently (with Cassandra drawing her sword, just in case), they followed her over. 

They could hear voices speaking quietly. From what Cassandra could tell, they sounded... male. And young. Like teenage boys.

"I told you a thousand times not to touch my stuff without my permission!" One voice spoke.

"I'm sorry, okay?" A second, guilty-sounding voice sounded. "I didn't know that was what would happen. You know I've always wanted to go to Hawaii!"

"We can argue about this later," a third voice, the deepest so far, cut in. "What matters now is figuring out how to get home. How badly damaged is the Reality Check?"

"There's good news and bad news. The good news is that the major components are still in one piece, meaning that the repairs should be pretty easy to make."

"And the bad news?" A fourth voice joined in, sounding a bit rougher than the other three voices.

"...The bad news is that several vital pieces of the exterior were damaged when it fell to the ground. I custom made those, too... I'd need to find a way to replicate them."

"How long will that take?" The third voice asked, sounding concerned.

"...I have no idea," the first voice admitted, sounding defeated.

"What are talking about?" Eugene whispered.

"...They sound scared..." Rapunzel noted. "Do you think they're lost? What if they need help?"

She'd been a teenager in need of help once, too...

Pascal got a determined look on his face, and jumped off of his best friend's shoulder.

"Pascal, be careful!" The princess whispered after him.

He gave a smile and a thumbs-up before he went towards the bush where the voices were coming from.

The lizard had just given an inquisitive cheep before a figure jumped out from behind the bush.

He was about as tall as a man, but he wasn't human. In the dim light, they could see that he was... a turtle?

The turtle stood on two legs, and had green eyes that practically glowed. He was wearing a red bandanna over his eyes, along with wraps on his hands and feet, elbow pads, knee pads, and a belt. Eugene wondered briefly why he'd bothered with accessories but not traditional clothing, but then realized that his shell covered him well enough for it not to be necessary.

Most notable (other than the fact that they were looking at a humanoid turtle) was the twin sais he was holding. Rapunzel nearly cried out in fear when he pointed the weapons at Pascal.

The chameleon turned bright white as he let out a screaming cheep.

The turtle blinked, and immediately put the sais on his belt.

"Sorry, little guy," he spoke, getting on his knees to appear less threatening. "I thought you were a bear or something. I didn't mean to scare you."

Pascal turned back to his normal green, impressing the turtle. 

"Chameleon, huh?" He held out a hand. "Any chance you can tell me where we are?"

Pascal looked at his hand (it only had three fingers!) quizzically.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

Satisfied, the chameleon jumped onto the turtle's hand. He then turned to where his friends were hiding and cheeped.

It was at that moment the turtle saw them, and locked eyes with Rapunzel. She stood up out of the bush (despite the whispered protests of Cassandra), giving an awkward smile and equally awkward wave.

"Um, hi?"

The turtle blinked, then looked over his shoulder.

"Leo? You might want to come over here!"

Suddenly there were three more turtles standing by the first.

Chapter Text

In his time (both as Flynn Rider and himself), Eugene had seen and done some pretty strange things (with him getting stabbed in the gut and revived by his girlfriend's magical tears being in the top ten).

However, not once in his life had he ever expected to be sitting with his girlfriend, her attack dog given human form lady-in-waiting, and Pascal, in the woods, at night, with four turtles from another world.

The weirdness slightly wore off as Leonardo explained what happened. Emphasis on "slightly".

"You're from another world?" Rapunzel asked, eyes wide with fascination.

"The device, which Mikey calls the Reality Check, was supposed to help us instantly get from one place to another," Donatello (who rivaled Varian in the amount of big words he could say in one minute) told them. "But someone touched something he shouldn't have, and we ended up here."

"I said I was sorry." Michelangelo looked away.

"Let it go, Donnie," Leonardo told the purple-clad turtle. "We have bigger problems."

"Okay, I have a question," Eugene spoke up. "Does everyone in your world look like a giant turtle, or...?"

"Well, that's a valid question," Leonardo continued. "It's... a long story. First of all, the people in our world are humans, like you. We... aren't normal."

"When we were babies," Donatello took over, "we were covered in an odd chemical we call ooze. It made us who we are."

Rapunzel nodded. "Oh, sort of like something from alchemy?" 

"...More like chemistry," Donatello replied, looking at her quizzically.

"What's chemistry?" Cassandra asked.

"Okay, now we have a question," Raphael (who still had Pascal on his shoulder). "Where the heck are we, and what year is it?"

"You're in Corona," Rapunzel replied before rattling off the year.

The turtles all got the same expression of shock.

"Okay, we're definitely in another world," Leonardo commented, still looking shocked.

"Okay, okay!" Cassandra spoke up. "Princess, can I talk to you?"

"Princess?" Michelangelo asked.

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know." Eugene gestured to his girlfriend. "Introducing Princess Rapunzel of Corona, formerly known as the Lost Princess."

"Wait, you're an actual princess?" Leonardo asked, his shock obvious.

Nearly in sync, all four turtles bowed (with poor Pascal nearly getting jolted from Raphael's shoulder).

"Whoa, hey," Rapunzel raised her hands up. "You don't have to do that."

"Especially not to him," Cassandra snarked, gesturing at Eugene with her sword.

The turtles all stopped bowing, though Michelangelo looked confused. "Wait, why are you called the Lost Princess?"

Eugene, Cassandra, and Pascal all looked to Rapunzel with equally sad expressions. She took a breath, and spoke.

"A few days after I was born, a woman named Gothel stole me from my parents. She raised me as her own, but... She didn't love me. She kept me locked in a tower for eighteen years, with no one but Pascal for company... though she didn't know about him."

Pascal cheeped at the acknowledgement, jumping from Raphael's shoulder and going over to his friend. Rapunzel picked him up with a smile before she continued. 

"Eugene was the first person to find me. It was because of him I left and eventually learned that I was the Lost Princess. If he hadn't come..." She trailed off.

The group expected the turtles to have the same looks of pity and horror everyone else had when they told the story. Instead, the turtles had looks of sadness and understanding. The four brothers exchanged looks.

"We kinda know what that's like," Michelangelo spoke up.

Rapunzel looked up, an unreadable expression on her face. "What do you mean?"

"It's like Leo said," Donatello chimed in. "We're not considered normal in our world. At all. We're called mutants because we're creatures that can't naturally occur in nature."

"We're freaks," Raphael grumbled, looking at his crossed arms. "And everyone's afraid of what they don't understand."

"Because he knew humans would never accept us," Leonardo finished, "our father kept us locked in our home our whole lives. It was fifteen years before we got to go outside."

"How old are you now?" Cassandra asked.

"Still fifteen," Michelangelo answered.

"But," Donatello continued, "our father had a good reason for keeping us locked up. Gothel sounds like an abuser with a mental illness."

Rapunzel gave a small smile. "You're not wrong."

"Okay, I love that we're getting to know each other," Cassandra interrupted, not sounding like she meant it, "but we're ignoring the elephant in the room. How are these four getting home, and if they can't do that for a while, then where are they going to stay?"

That... was a good question. Rapunzel thought for a moment before she snapped her fingers.

"Eugene, isn't the old groundskeeper's cabin near here?"

"Yeah, but it's not exactly big enough for four people. You think they can stay there for... indefinitely?"

"No, but they can stay there for one night. Once I tell Dad what's going on, I'm sure he'll let them stay."

"Whoa, wait, you're going to tell a king about us?" Raphael asked, looking uncertain.

"Okay," Rapunzel turned to the turtles, "I know you guys are probably used to hiding from people. But my dad is a good, understanding king. He'll let you stay."

Leonardo looked... unsure. After having a silent conversation with his brothers, he gave a tiny nod.

"Okay, we'll stay in that cabin tonight, but when will you tell your dad about us?"

"Luckily for you four, you came right before Corona's annual Flower Gala!" The princess grinned. "It's a party for the whole kingdom thrown every spring. I've never been, but Cassandra says that it always puts the King and Queen in a good mood. I can't think of a better time to tell him."

Cassandra still looked unsure, but she sighed. "You're the princess."

"I promise, Leonardo," Rapunzel told the sword-wearing turtle, "I will make sure you and your brothers are welcome in Corona, and that you have a safe place to stay until you can go home."

He seemed surprised by her sincerity, but smiled.

"Thank you, Rapunzel."

- - - -

Eugene had been right: the cabin was NOT big enough for four people. Calling it a cabin was generous: it was practically a tool shed.

But Mikey was nice enough to not complain about it until AFTER Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra had left.

"I don't think this place is big enough for one dude!" He whined as he tried to get comfortable on the floor (and keep Raph's foot out of his face). "You really think we'll only need to be here one night?"

"Why don't you ask Donnie?" Raph groaned from his spot on the floor. "He's the one who built the Reality Check, and then broke it."

"I did not break it," Donatello grumbled from where he was trying to sleep in a wheelbarrow. "I dropped it when I landed funny."

"Fighting about what happened won't help anyone," Leo spoke up from where he was keeping watch in the doorway. "Frankly, we're all to blame here: I could've nipped the experiment in the bud, Mikey shouldn't have messed with the Reality Check, Donnie shouldn't have dropped it, and Raph, you don't need to keep insulting everyone."

The other three grumbled, but they couldn't deny he was right.

Mikey broke the silence a few minutes later.

"You really think Rapunzel will help us?"

"She already is," Leo answered. "She promised she'd get the king to help us. I don't know... what that means, but I think we can trust her."

"...Do you think we'll get home soon?" The youngest turtle asked.

"Go to sleep, Mikey," Raphael grumbled.

Leo sighed as he kept watch... Though based on what he'd seen so far, they wouldn't have to worry about anything but rabbits. He was already starting to feel drowsy... Which was weird because it had been morning when they left the lair...

As he settled in to try and sleep, he wondered what would happen at the Flower Gala. Hopefully everything would go well...

- - - -

The Turtles had never seen a party in person before, but they were pretty sure thieves weren't supposed to appear and start rounding people up.

A few hours before the party, Eugene came to the cabin on horseback. The horse, named Maximus, seemed a little put off by them at first, but warmed up to them when Eugene said they were friends. He'd taken the Turtles to where the Flower Gala would be held: an open part of the forest with tables, chairs, a dance floor, and a stage for the royals to oversee the party. The plan was that the Turtles would watch and wait until Rapunzel came with the King to introduce them.

However, barely half an hour into the party, a band of thieves came in with a giant wheeled cage, torches, and swords.

"Round up the party guests and collect their valuables!" The lead thief shouted with a sneer. "And put the king, queen, and princess in the cage. The kingdom can pay to get them back!"

The guards were fighting the thieves, but there were only six or so of them there. Rapunzel, Cassandra, Eugene, Maximus and some man they hadn't met yet were fighting the thieves, but there were too many of them. What was worse, the people were terrified and helpless against the thieves threatening them.

Raphael's fist crushed the branch he was holding, and Leonardo didn't blame him.

He looked at his brothers, and could see that they were all thinking the same thing.

"Looks like we're going to meet the people of Corona sooner than we thought," he told them. "Donnie, got a smoke bomb?"

Donatello smirked and held up the bomb in question before passing it to his brother. "You've got the best aim!"

The thieves were caught off guard as thick smoke suddenly surrounded them. And then four mysterious figures jumped into the fray.

- - - -

Michelangelo was the first to see one thief separating a group of kids from the other hostages. That thief was grinning at the kids with yellowed teeth.

"You kids are going with me to the Baron. He pays through the nose for good little servants..."

Mikey didn't know what the guy was talking about, and he certainly wasn't about to find out.

"Speaking of noses!" He shouted as he ran at the creep. 

Said creep had only one second to realize his attacker was a giant turtle before Mikey decked him in the nose. He went flying backwards and landed out cold.

"You kids okay?" He asked the would-be victims. 

The kids seemed startled but what had just happened, but none of them looked hurt. More than anything, they seemed confused that they were talking to a turtle. Which was... fair.

"Try and stay on the sidelines til the coast is clear, we don't need you getting hurt, okay?"

He didn't wait for them to respond and ran back into the fight, his nunchucks whirling.

- - - -

Donatello was the kind of person who wanted to fight with his mind rather than his bo staff. However, he knew there were moments in life where fighting was the only answer, and there were some things that ticked him off enough to make him as vicious as Raphael.

One of those moments came when he saw the thieves surrounding the hostages. One of them had a senior citizen by the hair, yelling in his face.

"Cough up the loot, old man! I know you've got more than what you've given me!"

A young pregnant woman was standing next to him, crying as she begged the thief to let him go.

Donatello saw red and charged, not caring who saw him.

"You want something so bad?" He yelled at the thief. "Well TAKE THIS!"

He brought his staff down on the thief's wrists. The criminal howled and let the old man go. Donnie then swept the man's legs out from under him and knocked him out.

"Not so tough, now!"

He risked a look to make sure the old man was okay (he was) before he started fighting off the rest of the hostage takers. Mikey soon joined him.

They didn't see that hostages' looks of confusion were quickly turning to awe.

- - - -

Raphael knew that one of their top priorities was freeing the king and queen, but that he wouldn't be able to get to them alone. He fought his way through several thugs before he got over to where Eugene was fighting. Rather than a sword or spear, he was using...

"Are you fighting with a frying pan?" The turtle asked.

"They're surprisingly good weapons!" The human shouted back before hitting a thief in the jaw. "I thought you and your brothers were hiding until Rapunzel got you?"

"Plan's changed!" He replied as he used his sai to disarm a heavily-tattooed thug. "I need to free the king and queen, where are they?"

"This way, I'll cover you!"

Fighting together, back to back at a few points, Eugene got Raphael to the wheeled cage. There were two more massive thugs guarding it, but one smoke bomb and a few hits from a frying pan took care of them.

"Frying pans, huh?" Raph admitted, impressed. "Who knew?"

"I know, right?" Eugene grinned before shouting to the royals. "King Frederic, Queen Arianna! This is Raphael, he'll get you out!" He looked again at the turtle. "Do you know how to pick a lock?"

Raph smirked and cracked his knuckles. "I won't need to."

The man looked unconvinced, but just then another thug appeared out of seemingly no where.

Not wanting to waste time, Raphael ran up to the cage door.

"Um, Raphael, is it?" The queen, Rapunzel's mother asked.

"Yep," he replied nonchalantly as he studied the door hinges. This would be easy. "I met your daughter last night. She invited us here and we'll explain later. Right now, you might want to back away from the door."

The king, Rapunzel's father, looked more than a little confused, but he and the queen complied.

Raph grabbed the door, sucked in a breath and pulled. The door popped off after a brief struggle. He set it to the side before shooting a cocky grin at the royals.

"You're welcome."

He dropped the smile when he, and everyone else, heard Rapunzel yelp.

- - - -

Knowing that the royal family were the thieves' true targets, Leonardo ordered Raphael to go help the king and queen. He tasked himself with helping Rapunzel.

She wasn't hard to find. Somehow, she was fighting off thugs with her hair and a frying pan. He jumped onto the stage and knocked out a thief before talking to her.

"How is your hair not breaking from their swords?" He asked as he held his katannas in front of him and locked eyes with a thief.

"Like you said," she replied as she knocked out another combatant. "Long story. Leonardo, what are you doing here? The plan was--"

"We couldn't just stand by and watch innocent people get hurt," he answered, disarming the thief and kicking him in a lower part of his body. 

"Aww, you guys are so sweet!" She grinned as she caught a blade with her hair.

The two continued to fight. Soon the last of the thugs were focusing on them. 

As he disarmed his last opponent, he turned. He saw, with horror, that someone was aiming a crossbow at Rapunzel's back.

"Watch out!" He called. 

Rapunzel, who'd just knocked out a thief with her pan, turned and saw the shooter. 

Leo didn't think, he just moved. Holding his sword with both hands, he had the flat side of the blade facing the shooter and got in front of her. 

The shooter fired. The arrow bounced off of the katanna blade, and landed harmlessly in the dirt.

Cassandra ran over to the surprised shooter and knocked him out with an uppercut. 

"Rapunzel!" Leonardo looked up to see a wild-eyed Eugene running to his girlfriend. He caught her in a hug, which she gratefully accepted.

"Are you okay? I didn't notice, and--"

"Shh, Eugene, it's okay. I'm okay."

The man smiled, and looked at the turtle, mouthing the words "thank you."

- - - -

The thieves, conscious or not, were tied up and placed in their own wheeled cage. Maximus stood guard over it (and seemed to scare the awake thieves more than Raphael did).

Once the chaos was over and it was clear none of the hostages were injured, it was time to answer the peoples' questions. Rapunzel, knowing she would have had to do it anyway, got up on the stage and told the people about the Turtles. 

"I know they may look strange, but they're our friends. My friends," she told the party-goers. "They came here by accident from a far away land, and they mean us no harm. They just want to find a way home, and needed somewhere safe until they could find out how. I offered to help them, and I meant to introduce them properly but things got... nuts." She giggled nervously.

People started shouting, and Leo, for a second, feared the worst. Then he heard what they were saying.

"The turtle in the orange mask saved my babies!"

"The one with staff defended my father!"

"That scary-looking turtle freed the king and queen!"

"Did you see the blue one? He saved the princess' life!"

Cheers and words of praise kept coming from the crowd. Leo... didn't know what to say. His brothers looked equally stunned.

The king took over, standing next to his daughter.

"Their actions today prove that Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo are as noble as any knights in our guard. The least we can do to thank them is welcome them in Corona. All I ask of you, my people, is to treat them with the same kindness and respect you'd give your neighbors."

The excited chattering from the crowd proved that wouldn't be a problem.

"But, Rapunzel," Queen Arianna told her daughter. "We're going to need a more complete story."

She smiled and nodded. "At the castle?"

- - - -

"...and that's pretty much it," Rapunzel finished. 

The king and queen sat on their thrones, with the four turtles, the princess, the chameleon, and Eugene in front of them.

King Frederic seemed to be deep in thought.

"Donatello, how badly damaged is your machine?"

"Not that bad," he admitted. "It just needs more fuel, and a few parts replaced. The problem is that I'll need to get those parts custom made and find the plants to make the fuel. At a minimum, it would take two weeks."

The King thought on it for another minute before nodding. "Very well. I have a proposal for you..."

Mikey blanched. "Oh, that's okay, Your Highness. We're not old enough to get married."

"Mikey!" His brothers hissed while Rapunzel grinned and Eugene guffawed. 

The king seemed to be fighting a smile before he spoke again.

"I meant I want to offer you a deal."

Mikey blushed. "Oh."

"As I was saying," he continued. "Go to our blacksmith, Xavier. If you work with him, he should be able to help you make whatever parts you need. The castle will pay him for his services. The four of you may stay at the castle for the duration of your time here; we can provide rooms and food for you. In exchange, I want you to continue helping the kingdom. Corona faces many threats, some more dangerous than thieves. Capable warriors like you are always needed. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal," the four turtles said at once. Sleeping in a castle was a BIG step up from sleeping in a cabin.

"Alright, looks like you guys are staying here!" Rapunzel looked as excited as they felt. "This'll be so great! I can take you on a tour of Corona, introduce you to the townspeople, take you to the best places to eat in town..."

She prattled on as she and Eugene led them out of the room. Leo was the last in line.

"Leonardo?" The Queen asked. "Would you stay here a moment?"

He was a bit startled, but hid it well and walked back towards the thrones. "Of course, Your Highness."

"I'll admit that I have a second favor to ask," the King continued. "Rapunzel is our only child, and she is the single most important thing to us. As you saw today, there are many in the land who would target her to get to me and my wife. Or Corona as a whole."

Leo gave a single nod, though he remembered that the princess had more than held her own in the fight.

"While she's far from helpless," the Queen joined in, "and we want her to enjoy her life, we can't help but worry."

"During your time here," the King stated, "I would like for you or one of your brothers to be with Rapunzel as much as possible. To act as her bodyguards whenever necessary, and fight off any dangers that may come for her."

The turtle nodded, understanding. And he smiled.

"With all due respect, Your Highnesses, you didn't have to ask that. Rapunzel's our friend; we would've done that anyway."

The King and Queen looked surprised, but pleasantly so.

"Very well," he nodded at the turtle. "I hope you four enjoy your stay in Corona."

Leonardo bowed and went to try and find the others.

Chapter Text

On one hand, Raphael knew he had no reason to complain.

He and his brothers were accepted by humans for the first time ever (minus April), they were getting praise from everyone over what they did at the Flower Gala, they were friends with a princess, they got to stay in a castle for free until they got to go home, and all they had to do to earn it was kick butt every now and then.

The rooms they'd been given were nice ones, too: they had to share, sure (Raph was rooming with Mikey and Leo with Donnie), but the rooms were so big that none of them really cared.

But did castles have to be so darn big?

He growled as he hit another dead end. Rapunzel had given them a tour of the place the night before, but he'd apparently forgotten everything she'd shown them.

As he rounded another corner, he saw Eugene.

He was talking to a Corona guard, who was sneering at him.

"I just want to know where the princess went," Eugene asked. "We're supposed to have brunch soon."

"Sure you're not trying to be late?" The guard snarked. "After all, you're way overdue finishing out your prison sentence."

"First of all," Eugene retorted. "The king and queen pardoned me, so the kingdom and I are friends again. Second, I've never been officially convicted, and thus never got a prison sentence. So, ha."

The guard got an ugly scowl, and Raph wondered for a second if he was going to deck Eugene.

"Look, Rider, Fitzherbert, whatever you want to call yourself. As far as I'm concerned, you're still a lowlife crook. You'll slip up and the princess will see who you really are. And she'll send you right where you belong."

He made a slashing motion across his throat while giving a wicked grin.

Eugene wasn't frightened, but he was upset.

"Rapunzel already sees who I really am. She sees the good in everyone. I doubt it runs in the family, because I have no idea why the king allowed you to join the guard."

The guard cracked his knuckles and prepared to swing. That was when Raphael stepped in.

"Kinda petty to smack a guy when you're the one who picked the fight," the turtle growled as he went to Eugene's side.

The princess' boyfriend looked at him with surprise, but flashed him a grateful smile.

"Raphael," the guard cleared his throat. While the turtles didn't have actual authority in the castle, it was an open secret that they'd been made the princess' temporary bodyguards and were to be treated with respect.

"Hey, Eugene?" Raph asked. "What's the penalty for insulting and trying to beat up the princess' boyfriend?"

The guard blanched.

"You know," Eugene scratched his chin while grinning, "I'm not sure Raphael. Maybe we can take this guy to the king and ask him?"

The guard looked like he was about to pee himself.

"The princess is in the gazebo in the garden!" He then started walking away as quickly as possible (which was a bit impressive considering all the armor he was wearing). 

Eugene waited until he was gone before he burst out laughing. 

"Raphael, you were great! That guy's been trying to pick fights with me since I moved into the castle!"

"It's Raph," he responded, a cocky grin on his face. "But, what was he talking about? And why did he call you 'Rider?'"

Eugene's smile faltered, and he scratched the back of his neck.

"Well... Let's just say I have a checkered past. Less than a year ago, I was a thief who went by Flynn Rider."

"Really?" Raph asked, crossing his arms. Eugene seemed too nice to be a criminal.

"I'll admit I was good at what I did, to the point of being one of the most wanted men in the kingdom... By the guards and the ladies."

Raph snorted and rolled his eyes. "Something tells me you don't want Rapunzel hearing that."

Eugene chuckled before his expression turned downcast.

"At the time it felt right, taking from a kingdom that had never given me anything. But, now... Well, I found Rapunzel. She showed me that there was still good in the world, and I wanted to be someone worthy of her."

"...That's really sappy."

"That's love. Anyway, because I was the one to officially bring the Lost Princess home, the King and Queen were so happy that they gave me a pardon. I officially gave up my thieving ways, started going by Eugene again, and someday, soon, I hope to marry Rapunzel."

"You two are that in love but you haven't popped the question, yet?"

"No, I have, she just wasn't ready. When she is ready, though..."

He got a lovesick grin.

Raph rolled his eyes, but he couldn't deny that he and Rapunzel were pretty cute together.

"So," he changed the subject. "When you're done with brunch, wanna meet me in that training field I saw? I want to know if someone with sais can take out someone with a frying pan."

Eugene grinned. "You're on."

- - - -

Donatello had luckily written down instructions for how to get to various parts of the castle during Rapunzel's tour, and thus was able to find the library without much trouble. 

While he was impressed by how much technology Corona did have for the time period it was in (he was beyond grateful that they had a bathroom instead of an outhouse), they wouldn't have the Internet or computers for a few centuries. So he had to do research the old-fashioned way. 

Not that using books for research bugged him. He'd never told any of his family members, but every once in a while he'd break into the New York Public Library after dark and borrow books on any subject he couldn't easily learn about online. He'd never been caught (by librarians, cops, or his family), but he was still VERY careful not to do it too often.

Simply walking into the castle library to find what he needed wasn't as exhilarating as climbing in through a second story window in the dead of night, but it was much easier.

He waved a greeting to the librarian (a tiny old lady who was shelving books) and started looking around. 

"Let's see," he muttered to himself, thinking he was alone. "With Xavier helping me make the device's pieces, I should focus on gathering the ingredients for fuel. So I should look for books on local plant life..."

He started looking, but the library used a different shelving system than he was used to. Meaning that there was absolutely no coherent form of organization at all.

"Having trouble?"

He turned and nearly yelped in surprise. The Queen was standing six feet away from him.

Donatello immediately bowed. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I didn't see you."

"That's alright, and you don't have to constantly bow. The King and I usually only have people do that on formal occasions."

"Oh, okay." He stood upright again, and tried not to fidget. Splinter tried to prepare them for anything they might face as ninjas, but he'd never coached them on what to do when they meet royalty.

"Are you looking for something specific?" Queen Arianna asked. "I might be able to help you. I don't have much free time, but I love to come in here on quiet days."

Not willing to disagree with a queen, Donnie agreed. He quickly found that she was right; she knew the entire library by heart. In less than five minutes, she'd helped him find three different books on the plants native to Corona. He quickly found a table and spread them out, pulling out a notebook and pencil.

"This is perfect!" He cheered (earning him a "Shush!" from the librarian).

"I'm happy to help," Queen Arianna replied. "It was the least I could do after what you and your brothers did yesterday."

Donnie blushed. "It was nothing..."

"You saved innocent lives, not to mention my husband and daughter. I hardly call that 'nothing'."

Donatello grew solemn as he remembered what Rapunzel told him about her past. "I heard why Rapunzel's called the Lost Princess. I'm so sorry about what happened."

Her smile disappeared, and her eyes grew sad.

"Rapunzel was the child Frederic and I had always wanted," she admitted. "When she disappeared because of that woman... We were both hit so hard. We had the guards looking for months; other kingdoms even joined the search."

Donnie's heart ached. He knew how much the loss of Miwa and Tang Shen hurt Splinter even years later; he could only imagine what the royals must have gone through.

"Getting Rapunzel back was a miracle," she continued, her smile returning. "It was like being brought back to life."

"For what it's worth," he spoke, "I think Rapunzel's a really nice person."

He'd only known her for roughly two days, but he thought she was great. Granted, other than April, the Purple Dragons, and the Foot Clan, he didn't know a lot of people outside his family. But Rapunzel was still much better than most of those people (and almost as pretty as April).

"Thank you, Donatello," the queen replied. "If you need help getting any of those ingredients, ask the royal gardener. We already told the servants to help you with anything if you need it."

"Thank you. And, just Donnie's fine."

- - - -

Michelangelo had never felt so much urgency to fix something in his life.

The sweet, incredible people of Corona... had never heard of pizza.

How. The. Heck?!?!

The second he'd learned that pizza wasn't a thing here, he'd rushed to the kitchen. The kitchen staff had been confused about why he needed to cook something right that minute, but they were happy to give him the ingredients he needed (they didn't have pepperoni but they did have spicy sausages) and leave him to his own devices.

He'd just started spreading the tomato sauce on the dough when he heard someone come up behind him.

The turtle turned around to see a human man. He was very tall and bald with a mustache, a beard, and a gold earring.

"Let's see," the man spoke, grinning widely. "You've got an orange mask, so you must be Michelangelo, right?"

"Right, but everyone calls me Mikey. I saw you yesterday, you're one of the dudes who was fighting with Rapunzel and Eugene."

"Ah, my reputation precedes me. The name's Lance Strongbow, Eugene's childhood friend and partner in crime."

"Huh, Cassandra told me Eugene's best friend's name was Arnwaldo Schnitz."

Lance's smile fell. "Well she was lying. My name is Lance, end of story."

He eyed what Mikey was cooking and got his smile back. "Now, are you going to tell me what you're making? Need a hand... Or better yet a taste-tester?"

"Yes, yes, and eventually, yes. I'm making pizza, the best food that has ever existed. If you want to help, hand me that mozzarella."

When the first pizza was done, Lance ate one slice and immediately agreed that pizza was the best food ever. He ate two more slices before Mikey was able to give a piece each to the kitchen staff, who then all but begged for his recipe.

That evening, the Corona royals had their first ever pizza night.

- - - -

"I have never eaten anything like that before!" Rapunzel laughed as she walked into her room, Leonardo following. "I'm so glad Mikey showed that to the royal chef."

"He refuses to live anywhere that doesn't have pizza," Leo agreed. "I didn't expect people to start fist-fighting over the last slice."

"Yeah, the guys from the Snuggly Duckling can get pretty argumentative when it comes to food."

Leo took a look around Rapunzel's room. Every visible inch of the wall was covered in art. 

"Did you paint all of this?"

"Yep! One of the benefits of spending your childhood in a tower, you get a lot of time to practice your art skills."

Pascal cheeped as he jumped from her shoulder and onto a wall painting of him on Maximus' back.

Leo noticed that right next to that painting was a large landscape of Corona... covered in snow.

"What's this one?"

Rapunzel's smile faded. "That's from a month ago. I was left in charge of the kingdom for a few days while my parents were on their anniversary trip. And... I didn't do a very good job. A massive blizzard hit the kingdom because of an ancient curse, I entrusted my kingdom's well-being on a fairy tale, I had to let a friend down, Pascal almost died, I sent Eugene on what was almost a suicide mission..."

She sat down on her windowsill, looking sad and overwhelmed.

Leonardo was... unsure of what to do. 

The princess spoke again.

"If I failed that badly, how can I ever trust myself to lead again?"

With that sentence, Leo understood.

"I know how that feels. I've failed as a leader, before."

The princess looked up, her eyes misty.

"Raphael and I fight a lot over missions, and sometimes he has a good point. My brothers have gotten hurt before over bad calls, or things I didn't see coming. Innocent people have gotten hurt, too, and even if I didn't have anything to do with it, I still felt responsible."

"...What do you do about it? Does... Does that feeling ever go away?"

"I don't know. But my father, Master Splinter, says that a leader isn't someone who barks orders and thinks they know best. A leader is someone who tries to look out for everyone, and isn't afraid to make tough calls."

He looked at her. "Being the leader of a ninja team is nothing like being a king or queen, but let me see if I understand. Why did you trust a fairy tale?"

"Because... Well, it worked for a ruler before."

He paused, then shook himself. "We'll get back to that. Why did you let a friend down?"

She winced. "Because I honestly couldn't do anything to help."

"Did you do anything to hurt Pascal?"

"No, he sacrificed himself to finish the plan. It's a miracle he's alive."

"Why did you send Eugene out into the storm?"

"To save my parents."

"This is just my opinion," the turtle continued, walking a few steps closer to where she was sitting, "but if you ask me, those are all good reasons for your actions. Leadership isn't always easy, but I think you're on your way to being a great one."

"...That's what Eugene said, too," Rapunzel admitted, a fond smile on her face. A tear snaked down her cheek. Pascal appeared from seemingly nowhere to hand her a tissue. She wiped the tear away and gave her new friend a warm smile.

"I needed that. Thank you, Leonardo."

"It's Leo. Now, what did you mean about the fairy tale thing? You said it's worked before?"

"Oh, right! You asked a while ago why my hair is indestructible..."

"Pizza is officially the food of Corona!" Michelangelo cheered as he led Raphael, Eugene, Donatello, and Cassandra into Rapunzel's room. 

Raphael rolled his eyes. "In other news, Mikey still doesn't know what an 'indoor voice' is."

"I'm so glad, Mikey," Rapunzel laughed. "I'm actually glad you guys came in now."

"Let me guess," Eugene grinned as he sat next to his girlfriend. "You want to paint their pictures for your journal."

The princess rolled her eyes affectionately. "Eugene, please, already did that. But I did want to tell them the story of why I have magic hair."

"Oh, wow..." He blinked in surprise. "Have we not told them yet?"

"You have magic hair?" Mikey looked excited as he took a seat. 

Donatello looked skeptical, but sat down as well, while Raph simply looked curious.

"Guess we'd better tell them," Cassandra stated. Unlike when they'd first met her, she was now wearing a white-and-gray dress with a weird headdress. He'd heard this was Cassandra's official uniform as Rapunzel's handmaiden. While he didn't know much about human fashion, he could see why Cass wore something else whenever she could.

"Ooh, Blondie, let me start it," Eugene gave her a grin. "You know I love a good story."

The princess giggled. "Take it away, Eugene."

With everyone's eyes on him, the former thief began.

"This is the story of how I died..."

Chapter Text

"Remember!" Cassandra called out. "How the horse is moving dictates how you ride. If walking, sit. If trotting, bounce up and down. If running, stand in the saddle."

"Easier said than done!" Leo shouted as his horse, a brown one named Caballo, ran around with him barely hanging on.

"Okay, Donnie, okay," the purple clad turtle muttered to himself as the horse walked. "It's just a matter of physics. Keep your balance, remember Newton's Laws..." His horse, a pale yellow one named Pferd, looked annoyed.

"I think I'm gettin' the hang of it, dudes!" Mikey announced. He was somehow standing in the saddle, backwards, as his gray horse, Cheval, ran in circles.

Cassandra had to stare at that for a moment. "How is he even doing that?"

Raphael, on the other hand, quickly proved to be talented. Maximus went easy on him, and before long he was riding like he'd done it his whole life.

After a morning of horseback riding lessons, Cass brought it to an end.

"Alright, boys, that's enough for today. Raphael, I'd say you've got it down. The rest of you... We'll do another lesson tomorrow."

Raph smirked at Leo, who gave him a warning look.

"Why do we even need to do this?" Mikey groaned.

"I don't know how you travel where you're from," Cassandra responded. "But here, horses or carriages are the best options. Unless you learn how to ride, you're walking everywhere."

"She's got a point," Leonardo admitted. "Raph, why don't you go see if Rapunzel needs anything? Donnie, Mikey, let's try and get some more practice in."

The purple and orange clad turtles sighed, then went back to their respective horses.

- - - -

They ended up not getting in much riding practice after all. Not five minutes after leaving, all of the turtles were brought by Cass to Rapunzel's room. Apparently, she'd had a nightmare so bad that she'd woken up with her hair going crazy. 

"Whoa," Mikey had commented. "I've heard of hair standing on end but... Yikes."

Pascal nodded from his place on the princess' art table.

"It was like the dream I had after my coronation, only more intense. This one, this one was... Trying to tell me something."

The two other humans, four turtles, and chameleon all shared looks before Cassandra spoke.

"Tell you what?"

"I'm not sure. The rocks, my hair, Varian, it's like they're all connected. And I have to found out how."

"Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt Dream Chat here," Eugene interrupted, "but is no one else even a little bit concerned that Rapunzel woke up SUSPENDED IN MID-AIR?"

The Turtles all raised their hands. Pascal, who was now on Varian's painting, also chimed in.

"Eugene," Rapunzel continued. "What I saw... meant something."

"Okay, let's say it did," her boyfriend replied. "But what if it was a warning telling you to stay here, where you're safe? I mean, we've got it pretty good here, right? Maybe you should leave the mystery behind these rocks alone?"

"No," Rapunzel refused. "I can't. I need answers... and I think I know where to start looking."

She said she was going to talk to the king, then marched out of her bedroom.

"Okay," Leonardo spoke up, "I think we're missing some context. What's so important about rocks, and who's Varian?"

"Varian's a friend of ours," Cassandra explained as she started cleaning up Rapunzel's art stuff. "He's a teenager who lives in a village a few miles from here, called Old Corona. He's an alchemist, and he's helped us a few times. But during the blizzard, he came to Rapunzel begging for help. She was so busy helping citizens, she had to turn him away. He didn't take it well... and to be honest, neither did she. We haven't seen him since."

"As for the rocks," Eugene pointed at a black triangle-like shape on the art wall. "Four months ago, these black rocks started appearing out of nowhere. They just burst from the ground randomly, no warning. They're indestructible, very sharp, and for some reason they go nuts whenever Rapunzel touches them."

"...That doesn't comply with any rules of geology," Donatello spoke up.

"Yes, Donnie, because that's the important part," Raphael snarked.

"What we do know," Cassandra interrupted before anyone could start arguing, "is that they're dangerous, and the King doesn't want the princess anywhere near them."

"Which is becoming harder by the day because they keep appearing, closer and closer to the main city," Eugene added.

- - - -

Rapunzel's talk with her father didn't go the way she'd hoped, and she came back the room without any real answers. She asked if they could go for a walk. Since they still hadn't seen too much of Corona, the turtles agreed.

Wherever they went, people kept talking to the princess (wishing her a happy birthday, even though it wasn't for two weeks) or saying hi to the turtles. Someone named Attila, who was wearing a horned helmet, even offered them free cupcakes inspired by the turtles (blueberry, strawberry, grape, or caramel cupcakes with green frosting). 

After a while they made it to Rapunzel's royal statue. Gifts and flowers were sitting all around it. 

The princess, who seemed like she was feeling better, gasped when she saw a scroll, tied to a flying lantern, sitting at the base of the statue.

"The kite... It's the same one from my vision."

She untied it and pulled out the scroll, finding a key within as well. She unfolded the scroll, reading it aloud.

"'Rapunzel, I need your help now more than ever. I may have discovered the key to the rocks. Find the bronze graphtyc in my lab, but be careful. They are watching and will do anything to stop you. Signed, Varian.'"

"Okay, that's not ominous," Raphael commented.

"They?" Cassandra asked. "Who are 'they'?"

"It's always something with that guy..." Eugene sighed.

"I knew it, I knew it!" Rapunzel grew determined. "He still needs our help."

"What do you want to do?" Leo asked.

Rapunzel only hesitated for a second.

"We gotta go to Old Corona."

- - - -

It didn't take long to get a carriage. They'd needed a fairly large one to hold seven people and a chameleon, but luckily Maximus was strong enough to carry them.

Cassandra, back in her usual tunic, surprised them by bringing along her pet, Owl.

"Old Corona is just over this hill," Rapunzel anxiously announced after half an hour of traveling. She'd donned a black cloak with pink trim for the trip, and had somehow tied all seventy feet of her hair into a massive ponytail. Donatello had kept her busy for a few minutes asking how the heck that was possible, but eventually her anxiety started to hold her attention.

Pascal, who'd been riding placidly on Rapunzel's shoulder the whole ride, caused some brief excitement when he got startled by Owl.

"Sorry," Cassandra told him. "He's not a big fan of reptiles... unless he can eat them."

The owl looked hungrily at Pascal... but grew intimidated and backed off when he saw Mikey and Donnie looking at him with disapproval.

Eugene gave Cass a teasing look. "I cannot tell you what a treat it is spending so much time with a cold-blooded..."

He realized Raphael was glaring at him.

"Think very carefully about how you finish that sentence," the turtle warned.

"...Like I said, it's a treat to be traveling with cold-blooded people, who are all very good, kind... forgiving people!"

Raphael and Cassandra smirked. Any further banter was interrupted by Rapunzel's shouting.

"Stop the cart!"

Maximus stopped short, startled. The princess leapt over the side, running towards... a black rock.

Everyone followed her, and Leo started to see why the rocks were considered a problem. The rock was shiny as polished metal, and sharp enough to give his katannas a run for their money.

"My dad told me," the princess informed them, "that all the black rocks had been removed."

"How?" Donatello asked. "Didn't you say they were indestructible?" 

"Okay, so he missed one!" Eugene responded flippantly.

"Um, guys?" Cassandra sounded disturbed.

They all turned to see a house. It had been completely shishkababed by the black rocks, with the house's owners nowhere in sight.

"That's messed up," Mikey commented.

"Or one hundred," Eugene amended. "They missed a hun-... They did not do a very thorough job counting these rocks."

"Or maybe they didn't remove them in first place," Raph argued. 

"You did say the rocks are indestructible," Mikey agreed. "I don't know a lot of words, but I think indestructible means 'hard to remove'."

"You're... half right," Donnie admitted.

"Do you think your father lied?" Cass asked.

"No, of course not. I trust my father, but... Clearly he has no idea how bad things have gotten out here. Come on, let's move on."

They didn't get very far. By the time they got to Varian's village, the rocks had destroyed the road so badly that they had to leave the cart and go on foot. Rapunzel found the way to Varian's house easily enough... but they found another problem.

The black rocks had formed a wall in front of the house, with only a small, man-sized opening allowing any way through.

"I've never seen anything like this," Cassandra commented.

"So far," Rapunzel stated, "everything in my dream has come true, there's no question now. These rocks, they hold a secret and somehow I'm connected to it..."

Her eyes when misty. "And... maybe even responsible for it."

Leo gave Rapunzel a sympathetic look. He doubted that her touching the rocks months ago caused this destruction, but... He had no proof. Neither did anyone else.

Rapunzel decided that they needed to get into the house. 

Trouble started somewhat quickly when she got too close to one of the rocks. Her hair glowed yellow and the rock glowed blue. Eugene quickly pulled her away.

The turtles breathed a sigh of relief; they'd been told that the rocks went crazy whenever Rapunzel touched them (though Donnie still couldn't figure out how that was possible). 

Owl managed to figure out which way through the rocks would let them get to Varian's front door.

"Okay, Max, Raphael," Rapunzel ordered. "You keep watch."

Raph nodded while Maximus snorted.

The three humans, three turtles, and one chameleon proceeded down the path. While keeping Rapunzel's hair away from the rocks was tricky, they managed to finally get into Varian's lab.

Donatello looked around.

"Yep, this is alchemy alright," he noted. "Though I have a few notes on Varian's lab safety standards. This all should have been dusted to provide a sterile environment, several of the chemicals are improperly stored, the organization of his notes leaves a LOT to be desired..."

"Oh, wow, a nerd in his native environment!" Mikey joked.

Donnie was right in that the lab was a mess. It was poorly lit, dust and spilled liquids were everywhere... The most odd part was the tarp covering a large something in the middle of the room.

Rapunzel had everyone start looking for the graphtyc. Minus a moment of Cassandra getting pink powder in her face and hair (making Mikey, Pascal, and Eugene laugh), the princess found it hidden in a book.

"Great!" Eugene cheered when she grabbed it. "Now let's get out of here because this place gives me the creeps!"

The group started heading out the door. Leo and Rapunzel were the last ones out... and he noticed something through a hole in the tarp.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing at it.

Rapunzel looked. It almost looked like... a hand, clutching a letter.

The princess gasped, and yanked down the tarp.

Leo barely kept from shouting, while Mikey let out a startled yelp.

Everyone came back in, wearing similar looks of horror.

There was a man trapped in amber. His face... He looked like he was afraid. Or in pain. Or both.

"Oh no." Rapunzel sounded moments away from crying. "It's Varian's father."

"Blondie, are you okay?" Eugene asked.

"Maybe you were right. Maybe my dream was telling me to stay in the castle... where I belong."

Cassandra cut in. "Rapunzel, what are you talking about?"

"I touched those rocks, and now... this."

"We don't know that any of this is your fault," her boyfriend comforted, wrapping her in a hug.

"...We don't know that it's not."

"...Okay, Princess," he continued. "I know what I said before about forgetting all this, but this is way worse than I or anyone else imagined, and one thing has become clear. Fault or no fault, people are in danger. A lot of danger. And the Rapunzel I know was never one to run and hide from a fight."

"WATCH OUT!"

Leonardo grabbed his katannas and launched at the stranger in the door.

A man with a red uniform, black cloak, and creepy gray mask used a staff to block his blades.

"He must be 'they'!" Mikey shouted, pointing at the man.

"Get away from the princess!" Leo yelled.

"Hand over the graphtyc!" The stranger ordered.

He pushed Leonardo back. Cassandra, her sword at the ready, joined the fight.

The oldest turtle started shouting. "Rapunzel, Eugene, protect the graphtyc. Donnie, Mikey, kill the lights!"

Eugene and Pascal raced Rapunzel to the edge of the room. The turtles made quick work of the lights. As soon as the room was dark, their eyes turned white.

Cassandra was cast aside by the stranger, who suddenly found himself blind.

He never knew what hit him.

When Eugene lit one of the candles on the wall, they found the stranger thrust up with one of the ropes on the tables, struggling against his bonds. The turtles didn't have a scratch on them.

Cassandra got up, and looked disgruntled at the stranger on the floor.

"That won't hold him long," Donnie commented.

"Then let's go!" Eugene called.

Rapunzel looked reluctant to leave the man in amber, but it didn't take much convincing to get her to run.

They found trouble the whole way there, with people in identical uniforms and masks trying to grab them. When they got back to where they left Raphael and Maximus, though, they just found an unconscious pile of masked men. Raphael was holding his sais while Maximus had a frying pan in his mouth.

"Where ya been?" Raph asked, sounding proud of himself.

"No time to explain," Rapunzel responded. "These guys are after whatever's in this graphtyc pretty badly; something tells me we won't make it to the castle."

She put the item in question in her light blue shoulder bag.

"So where do we go?" Michelangelo asked.

The princess snapped her fingers and smiled. "I know one place they won't think to check..."

She got them back to the cart. As soon as Max was hitched to it, they took off.

"Where are we going?" Eugene shouted. 

"To the tower!" 

"The... tower tower?" Leo asked.

"As in childhood home tower?" Donnie added.

"That's the place!"

- - - -

The tower didn't look exactly like it did in the painting Rapunzel had shown them. Then again, in the painting it wasn't surrounded by black rocks.

Once they were inside, horse and all (thank goodness the tower had a staircase), Rapunzel started trying to figure out the graphtyc. Eugene started leading Max and the turtles on a tour of the place, pointing out the old brown hair on the floor, the dagger with dried blood, and the broken mirror. He sounded a little too cheery about his role in what happened there.

"This is where she hit me with a frying pan for the very first time. Little known fact: the blow actually improved my hairline. Pre-pan, cowlick. Post-pan, perfection. Oh, watch your step, boys, that's where I died. See? This is the armoire where Rapunzel hid my unconscious body. Remember that, honey? What a romantic first day. This is the shard I used to cut Rapunzel's hair before I died... Oh, why the long faces, I came back to life!"

"I think he's using dark humor as a coping mechanism," Donnie whispered to Raphael.

"I just thought he was a drama queen," he whispered back.

"That too."

Rapunzel kept messing with the graphtyc. Thinking he'd be more useful there, Donatello came over.

"Have you seen anything like this?" She showed the item to the turtle.

"Have you tried using that key Varian sent you yet?" He asked.

The princess gasped and got her purse. Once the key was in hand, she opened the item up.

Everyone but Eugene and Maximus left the tour to see the opened graphtyc.

It held a piece of paper rolled around a stick. It depicted an ancient language and old drawings.

"Is that toilet paper?" Mikey asked.

"No, it is not," Donnie shut him down.

"It's some kind of scroll," Rapunzel began.

In the background, Eugene was continuing his tour.

"And this," he started looking out the open window, "is where Mother Gothel fell to her doom..."

He froze as he looked outside.

"Guys, I think we have a problem..."

Rapunzel rushed to the window, as did Leonardo. They saw one of the men in the gray masks climbing up the tower, with several of his friends behind him.

The princess scowled. 

"You've got to be kidding," she groaned. The graphtyc in hand, she walked away from the window.

"What do you want to do, Blondie?" Eugene asked.

"No more running, no more hiding," she growled. "These guys just ticked off the wrong princess."

"I'm liking this plan," Raphael grinned, his sais in his hands.

"That's my girl!" Eugene agreed, his frying pan at the ready.

"...Sorry guys, frying pans and sais are great, but it's time for an upgrade."

She put the graphtyc in Maximus' saddlebag, put Pascal on Raph's shoulder, then started walking towards the window. 

"Rapunzel, what are you doing?" Cassandra demanded.

The princess took off the bands holding her ponytail together.

"Letting down my hair."

She threw her mass of hair out the window, with the tip landing on a cluster of the black rocks.

What happened next... defied explanation. There was an earthquake, and a flash of bright blue light. The men below screamed as they were thrown from the tower.

There was a moment of eerie silence.

Then came the sound of the earth breaking apart. Out the window, they could see sword-like rocks slicing through the ground, one after the other. 

Heading right for them.

Rapunzel led everyone back through the opening in the floor and down the staircase... only to see the rocks already slicing through it.

"Um, I did not expect the rocks to follow us up here!" She admitted.

"What did you expect them to do?" Eugene retorted.

"Not break the laws of geology!" Donnie snarked.

They all raced back up the stairs, but the rocks kept coming. Soon they blocked the window, trapping them. However, Owl managed to land on a lever, opening a smaller window high up.

"That's the only wait out, let's go!"

Rapunzel wove her hair through the beams, allowing everyone to use them as climbing ropes.

Eugene stared incredulously as Maximus managed to climb a the hair-rope.

"So horses can climb now? That's a thing." He shrugged and kept going. 

While they had a bit of trouble shoving Max through the window, they all made it onto the roof, where they found a new problem: they had no way to safely get down from the tower.

What's worse, the rocks were slicing the roof apart.

Rapunzel's hair started glowing, and she seemed to get an idea.

"Guys, I think I have a way out, but it's a little crazy so you're just gonna have to trust me!"

"I don't think we have a lot of options right now!" Leonardo noted.

"Everyone hold on to each other, and run!"

"I can't believe we're doing this!" Eugene yelled. "And why are Cass' hands so cold?!?"

As one, they leapt from the roof.

Rapunzel's hair glowed brighter, and wrapped all around the group. The shield of hair surrounded them completely as they fell. When they hit the ground, it felt more like landing on a pillow.

Cassandra, Maximus, and the turtles wore similar grateful yet shocked expressions.

"Did everyone see that?" Donatello asked.

"Is that new?" Cassandra demanded.

"...Let's just say it's complicated?" Eugene offered.

Rapunzel wasn't listening. She had tears in her eyes as she watched the tower break apart. In moments, there was only a pile of rubble where the tower once stood.

"Why's she crying?" Raph asked quietly. "I thought this was her prison."

"It was still her home," Mikey replied, looking sympathetic. 

"Raps?" Cassandra asked. "Are you okay?"

The princess sighed as she looked at the remains of an old painting. She hugged her boyfriend.

"Hey!" Raph barked, looking at one of the masked men.

The soldiers were all injured but they were still breathing.

Rapunzel's fury returned. "Raphael, don't let him up. It's time for answers."

The turtle put a foot on the man's back, keeping him down. His helmet had been thrown off during the blast, and he reached for it. The princess kicked it away, letting them all get a good look at...

The Captain of the Guard.

"Dad?" Cass asked, sounding horrified.

"What the--?" Leo asked.

Raphael got off him, but he was still glaring at him.

"Princess," the Captain began as he stood up. "We had orders to get the scroll. To keep it from you."

"Who?" Rapunzel demanded. "Who ordered you?"

The Captain and his men (none of whom looked like any Corona guards the turtles had met), refused to speak.

"Answer her," Cass ordered, her voice bitter.

The Captain sighed.

"Your father."

Rapunzel looked horrified while everyone else looked shocked. Without a word, Leo grabbed the graphtyc from Max's saddlebag and passed it to the princess. Raphael glared at the men, daring any of them to stop her.

She opened the scroll and stared at it. Donnie looked over her shoulder.

"I don't recognize that writing," he admitted.

"Why would your father want to keep this from you?" Eugene asked.

"I don't know," Rapunzel admitted. Her eyes grew fiery as she put the scroll away. "But I'm going to find out."

Chapter Text

The ride back to the castle was as fast as it was silent and mostly uncomfortable. The guards, who'd hid their own horses nearby, got back to the castle faster, meaning they likely told the king what happened. Not that it mattered; they weren't the ones hiding things.

Rapunzel's face the whole way back was locked in cold fury. It clearly made Eugene, Pascal, and Cassandra uncomfortable. It scared the Turtles, too.

"Demons run when a good man goes to war," Donatello whispered to Leonardo, who nodded.

When they got back to the castle, Eugene and Cassandra volunteered to put Maximus and the cart away. Pascal, sensing his best friend's fury, stayed with them. The Turtles went with Rapunzel, mostly because Leo knew who she was going to see next and needed to make sure no one got in her way.

He also needed to make sure his siblings didn't go after the king, either; how could he lie to his daughter's face and then send people to attack her?

People greeted Rapunzel and the Turtles politely as she made her way to the throne room, but she ignored them.

Upon reaching the throne room, she shoved the doors open and stomped in, the Turtles right behind her.

King Frederic, the grand vizier, and the Captain of the Guard were there, apparently having just finished a meeting. Raphael and Leonardo glared at the Captain while Rapunzel turned her rage on her father.

"You lied to me," she stated.

"And don't try to lie again!" Michelangelo added, looking nearly as upset as Rapunzel. "We already found the toilet paper!"

The King blinked. "What?"

Donatello sighed. "He meant the scroll."

"I think we'll wait outside," Leonardo excused them before herding his brothers towards the door.

As soon as it was closed, Donnie grabbed several empty water glasses from a nearby butler cart and handed them to his brothers. They all pressed them against the door and listened in.

"Rapunzel," King Frederic began. "I just heard what happened in Old Corona. I can assure you, my intent was to protect you--"

"From what?! Your own men?! It's time for answers, Dad. I want to know why you lied about Old Corona, and why you've been covering up the fact that our kingdom is being destroyed by those black rocks. What are you trying to hide?"

"...I'm sorry, my dear, I did not want to lie to you... But you are not ready for the truth."

"Ugh, Dad, we are beyond what am I and am not ready for. People are in danger--"

"Rapunzel, I am the King! And I have the situation under control."

He spoke in a tone of voice that didn't allow argument. The sound of bare feet came towards the door. The turtles quickly got rid of the water glasses and tried to act like they hadn't been eavesdropping. Rapunzel opened the door, but before leaving, she looked back into the throne room.

"You know, you are not the first person to lie to me and tell me I'm not ready for the real world."

She walked out, closing the door.

"Ouch," Mikey whispered.

Rapunzel still looked upset, but managed a smile for the turtles. 

"I asked Eugene to go to my room when we were done here. Come on."

They followed her. She was a little nicer to the people in the halls, but it was obvious that her mind was elsewhere. By the time they reunited with Eugene and Pascal, the princess was as furious as when she entered the throne room.

She, Raphael, and Pascal paced the bedroom, equally angered expressions on their faces. Raph was just as ticked as the princess; adults lying to their kids for whatever reason always ticked him off (Splinter had never done it; he thought dishonesty only bred distrust). Leo was mad, too, he was just better at hiding it. Donnie, Mikey, and Eugene all sat in the princess' windowsill, looking a bit anxious.

"So," the former thief tried to break the ice. "I guess it's a safe bet that Corona won't be holding a Daddy-Daughter Dance any time soon."

Everyone glared at him, though Rapunzel's was especially icy.

He winced and looked at his boots. "Yeah, sorry, not the time for jokes."

The princess, with her chameleon back on her shoulder, sighed. She sat in the windowsill between Donnie and Eugene.

"I don't know what's going on, but I know Corona's in some kind of danger. I feel like I'm the only one who wants to do anything about it."

"We want to help," Leo replied.

"We all do," Eugene agreed, taking Rapunzel's hands in his. "Listen, Blondie, no matter what we're up against, I'm with you. All the way."

"Ditto," Donnie promised, answering for all of his brothers.

"I know, thank you all," the princess responded. "I just... need some time alone."

"You got it," Raphael spoke up. He still looked ticked at the king, but it looked like it was under better control now.

As Eugene and the turtles headed for the door, her boyfriend turned around.

"You know, things do seem pretty dark right now, but if anyone can find a light, it's you."

Rapunzel smiled gratefully.

"Trust me, I gotta feeling everything's gonna be okay."

He then opened the door to a yelling match. Pete and Stan, two of Corona's guards, were shouting. Stan seemed offended while Pete seemed to be saying whatever popped in his head.

"All I said was your breath smells like tree rot, you're a substandard croquet player, and previous instances where I said you had a lovely singing voice were placidly false."

He clapped his hands over his mouth as Stan gasped in horror.

"Finally, some entertainment," Raphael grinned.

"You've always loved my voice!" Stan cried, deeply offended.

The princess seemed concerned, but Leo stopped her.

"Go rest, Rapunzel. We can handle this."

She seemed unsure, then nodded and went back into her room.

Pete kept blabbing, and Stan ended up running away in tears.

"Weird," Donnie commented. "Was he eating one of those grape cupcakes Attila made?"

"I don't know, why do you care?" Raph replied.

"He had purple crumbs on his cheek..."

"It's probably nothing," Eugene told him. "Pete has a habit of taking a snack from whoever hands him one."

"Mikey has the same problem," Leo commented with half-lidded eyes.

While brutal honesty could be annoying at times, he doubted there was anything serious going on.

- - - -

One walk to the entry hall later, and it was clear something serious was going on. As Cassandra showed them, people all over the castle were saying whatever was on my mind, even if it was stuff they'd usually keep to themselves.

"I once dropped the king's eclair on the floor, and gave it to him anyway," the royal baker confessed before covering his mouth in shock.

"I stole half of these medals from the supply cabinet," a highly-decorated general admitted to one of the chamber maids.

Raphael grabbed an apple from a nearby fruit bowl and snacked on it, chuckling as the vizier admitted he didn't speak in his natural accent.

Leo gave him a look while Donnie returned them to the task at hand.

"Evidently, whatever caused Pete to lose his inhibition is affecting other people as well. I doubt it's some sort of airborne pathogen, otherwise we'd all be absurdly honest as well..."

He paused, then turned to Leo. "Quick, say you hate pizza."

He blinked, startled, but complied. "Um, I hate pizza?"

Donnie nodded, then put his hand on his chin. "So there's nothing in the air... I doubt it's in the water, either, since the kitchen staff boils it before use... There must be something every honest person ate or drank that's causing this... Honesty Plague."

Cassandra perked up and nodded. "That's something we can try and figure out."

"Well, hold on," Donnie stopped her. "We can't just jump to conclusions without evidence. I'll need to borrow the royal physician's microscope and study saliva samples from several of the afflicted. If the tainted food was eaten recently, traces of it would still be in their mouths."

"...Got it," Eugene commented, looking disgusted. "But how are we going to get a bunch of people to give you spit samples?"

Raphael tossed away his apple core and grinned. "I've got an idea."

"Raph..." Leo warned.

The red-clad turtle rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna beat anyone up, Fearless, relax."

He grabbed a nearby spittoon, checked to make sure it was empty, and then yelled at a collection of oversharing guards.

"Hey, guys! Spitting contest!"

There were whoops as the overly-honest guards ran over.

As gross as the plan was, Donnie had his spit samples in minutes.

"Good job, Raph!" Leo remarked with a thumbs up (and a look of disgust).

- - - -

Since Donnie said it would take him a while to look at the samples, everyone went off to take quick breaks.

Mikey'd been told that Rapunzel was up in her room napping or whatever. So he'd been surprised to find her in the hallways.

"Oh, hey Raps! Whatcha doing?"

"Doing?! Uh, I wasn't doing anything!" She seemed startled, but at least she was smiling... almost a little too much.

Mikey shrugged. "Okay, sounds boring but you do you. Just so you know, there's some weird honesty food that a bunch of people ate, and..."

He noticed she looked stressed and... upset.

"Hey, are you okay?" 

She opened her mouth, closed it, then sighed.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How far would you go to learn the truth?"

"Hmm... Oh, is this about your dad?"

She flinched, and he guessed that was it.

"Well," he continued, "I can't talk for your dad 'cause I don't know the dude that well. But I do know about my dad. And Master Splinter says that the truth can be either an antidote or a poison."

"What's that mean?"

"I didn't know for a long time, but Leo explained once. The truth can bring good things, and it can bring bad things. It all comes from how you use it. Like, Pete telling Stan all that stuff earlier. If Stan wanted to know if his singing was bad, then Pete telling him the truth would be a good thing. But instead he just told him the truth and insulted him, so it was a bad thing... Am I explaining this right?"

"...You are, Mikey. Thanks."

"Hey, no problem!" He gave a double thumbs-up. "Anyway, I don't know when Donnie will be done with his nerd stuff, so I better go find Eugene and Cass."

He turned to go, then paused and turned.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Peachy!" She gave another awkward too-big grin.

He paused... then smiled.

"Okay!" 

He ran off to find the others, not hearing the big sigh the princess let out.

Or the teen alchemist she ran off with.

- - - -

In the end, they decided they couldn't wait for Donnie to finish his analysis. The brutal honesty was causing some pretty heated tensions.

"How DARE you point out my obvious flaws with cutting accuracy! I'll box your ears!"

"You take that back! I don't care how true it is!"

"Let's hear you speak the truth through a mouthful of strudel!"

Even Raphael didn't find it funny anymore.

"This is getting out of hand," Cassandra muttered, looking surprised at the arguers. 

"Yeah," Eugene agreed. "This reminds me of Xavier's mood potion, only now everyone can't help but tell the truth."

"Mood potion?" Leonardo asked.

"We'll tell you later," Cassandra promised.

"Donnie will probably be done with the samples soon," Mikey offered. "You think they'll be able to hold out til then?"

"All that will do is confirm that they ate something weird," Leo answered. "We need to find whoever the first victim was. That'll likely tell us where the tainted food came from in the first place."

"Good thinking," Cassandra replied. "Think, who was the first person you noticed being a little too honest?"

- - - -

Pete the guard was not easy to interrogate.

It wasn't the fact that he didn't want to cooperate. He was TOO cooperative.

The three turtles and two humans were forced to listen to the guard recounting everything he'd done that day, from what his mouth tasted like when he woke up to what he called his cat. All of it was ridiculously boring... Although Mikey wrote down the strawberry scones recipe the guard recited.

They were saved when Donnie ran in, eyes wide.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere! It took me a while without my usual gear, but I can confirm that every subject's saliva I tested had eaten the same thing within the last few hours. I can't narrow it down further than that, but we can at least confirm someone brought tainted food into the castle."

Cassandra, now having something to go on, grabbed Pete by the front of his uniform. Raphael approved, and came to her side for extra intimidation.

"Whoa, you are scary," he commented, his voice shaking.

"We have been here for thirty minutes," she said through clenched teeth, "and all you've done is bored us to death with useless information."

"Useless?!" He seemed offended.

"Don't want both of us to snap?" Raph asked, a hand on his sai. "Then tell us if anyone offered you weird food today."

"Well, I did find the man in the bush who offered me purple cookies a bit peculiar..."

Cassandra let him go and pinched the skin between her eyes. "Why didn't you say that half an hour ago?"

"Everybody's been eating these things!" Pete grinned as he pulled a purple cookie from his pocket. He was about to put it in his mouth when Leo snatched it from his hand.

"Don't eat any more of them," he warned. "Someone laced them with something."

"There's no doubt," Donnie agreed as he took the cookie from Leo. "That's the other peculiar thing I saw. Those saliva samples? A lot of them were tinted the exact shade of purple as this cookie."

"What else can you tell us about the man in the bush?" Eugene asked.

Pete, realizing that there was something serious going on, grew nervous.

"His voice was kind of... squeaky? Oh, and he was asking about the Sundrop flower, which the King has been secretly hiding in the Vault ever since he used it on the Queen."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Whoa, whoa, the Sundrop flower?" Eugene asked.

"As in super-magic-healing flower that saved Rapunzel's mom?" Mikey echoed.

"So," Cass began, glaring at her shoes. "Someone with a squeaky voice trying to keep a low profile used a potion to get information about a magical flower... Sound like anyone we know?"

Eugene said "Varian" at the same time the Turtles said "Baxter Stockman".

The humans looked at the turtles with confusion.

"Who?" Pete asked.

Leo changed the subject. "Don't worry about it. Should we tell Rapunzel?"

"Dudes?" Mikey looked worried. "I saw Raps earlier... and she was acting kinda weird. Do you think this Varian dude mighta tricked her into helping him?"

Eugene's eyes went wide. "Everyone come on, the princess might be in trouble!"

- - - -

Pete went off to warn the rest of the guards while Eugene, Cassandra, and the turtles ran for the Royal Vault.

Two high-ranking guards stood in front of it, and were not about to let them through.

"Out of the way, boys!" Cass took charge. "We need to get into the Vault and get the Sundrop Flower."

The guard on the right visibly flinched.

"Sundrop Flower? Why, whatever do you mean?"

"I heard," the other guard spoke up, "that the Sundrop Flower was... long gone..."

Eugene, knowing his girlfriend's safety was at risk, snapped.

"We KNOW the secret!"

"Let us in!" Raphael joined in the yelling. "Rapunzel might be in danger!"

The guards looked uncomfortable, but stood firm.

"I understand following orders," Leonardo tried to reason with them. "But the King cares more about his daughter's safety than your obedience. Let us through or she might be a goner."

The guards still wouldn't move.

"Sorry," the one on the right restated. Strict orders from the King. No one is allowed beyond this point."

Eugene gave the guard a bone-chilling look... and then smirked.

"Alright, let's ask ourselves a question, shall we? Who's wrath would you rather face? The King's? Or theirs?"

He directed the guards attention to Cassandra and Raphael. They were both staring the guard down, with Cass cracking her knuckles and Raphael holding both sais.

The guard gulped and handed over the Vault Key.

The door was heavy, and they had just managed to crack it open when they caught the sounds of a conversation.

"Varian..." 

They all froze at the sound of the princess' voice, and the name she dropped. Rapunzel sounded... heartbroken.

"We can find a way to fix all of this: the rocks, your dad, everything, I promise you, I promise. Just... This is not the way. Please."

"Rapunzel?" Leo called out, worried about what exactly was happening in the Vault. Eugene was right behind him.

Despite the sounds of running feet on tile, they heard Varian's next words echo through the room.

"Sorry, Princess. But I know firsthand how well you keep promises."

They raced in just in time to see a young teenager with messy hair, goggles, and lab attire. He glared at the princess before throwing a beaker on the ground. A thick, foul-smelling mist filled the air, causing everyone to cough and trip over each other as they tried to navigate.

The mist dissipated in a matter of seconds, revealing the princess. Eugene was the first to get to where she'd fallen on the floor.

"Rapunzel?" He asked, his anxiety audible. "Are you okay?"

"...I'm fine... Varian!"

The turtles and guards looked around, but the mysterious boy was gone.

He'd gotten what he was after.

- - - -

Rapunzel had clearly been manipulated, so she wasn't punished for what she did.

Pete wasn't allowed to guard any of the outside entrances for a month as punishment for falling for Varian's trick.

Varian was now the most wanted criminal in the kingdom, but no one had found him yet.

Leo had offered for he and his brothers to join the manhunt, but the Queen instead asked them to stay by Rapunzel; she hadn't taken the day's events very well.

The turtles went up with Eugene to Rapunzel's room; Mikey'd taken the time to make her a special smiling pepperoni pizza to try and cheer her up.

Eugene gently knocked before they all walked in. Rapunzel was on her balcony, staring off into space.

Mikey went out first, somehow getting out the window without dropping the food he was carrying.

"Brought you dinner," he offered.

Rapunzel managed a small smile.

"No, thank you, Mikey."

"The royal physician used my discovery to properly examine everyone affected by the truth serum," Donatello spoke up. "He says the effects will wear off on their own, eventually."

She nodded, but didn't acknowledge him any more than that.

"Hey." Eugene came up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Everything's gonna be okay."

"Really?" She asked, her voice sharp. "I broke the law, I stole from my own father, and I committed treason."

"Well, the charges were all dropped..." Raph muttered before Leo shushed him.

"And you know what worst part is?" Rapunzel continued. "I let the most powerful object in all the land fall into the hands of... I don't even know what he is any more."

The five of them were silent; what could they say to that?

The princess took a breath and continued.

"But I know we haven't seen the last of him."

- - - -

Varian felt like ripping his lab apart.

"No, no, NO! This is useless!"

It made no sense, this was the flower! Yet his drill had still been ripped to bits!

"It's like it no longer holds the Sundrop's power!" He vented to no one.

Then... It hit him.

"Of course..."

He took the flower's corpse and crushed it in his fist, reducing it to powder.

"The Sundrop isn't the flower, anymore... It's Rapunzel."

Chapter Text

The royal gardener hadn't been able to provide everything Donatello needed to make the Reality Check's fuel, though luckily she knew that the rest of the plants could be found in the forest just across the bridge. 

He could have gone by himself; his horseback riding skills had improved with practice and it would take less time if it was just him. But his brothers didn't like him going off by himself (especially since they were in unfamiliar territory), and Rapunzel was still feeling pretty low after her friend betrayed her. Hence the entire group going out on an after-dark foraging trip.

"Okay," Leonardo took charge. "Donnie, what plants do we still need?"

He took out his list. "The royal gardener was able to provide the mango tree thistles, and I can get algae when we go back across the bridge. What we need to find is tiger stripe vines and slagweed. Who knows what those look like?"

He, Leonardo, Eugene, and Cassandra raised their hands while Michelangelo and Raphael gave blank looks. Rapunzel didn't imply that she knew at all (to Pascal's obvious concern).

"Okay," Leo decided. "Rapunzel, Mikey and I will stay here. Donnie, you go with Cassandra. Raph, go with Eugene. We'll meet back here once we've found what we need."

There were a few murmurs of agreement as the group split up. Rapunzel just sat on the ground, still looking dejected.

"Hey," Mikey asked as he sat next to her. "You don't seem like yourself right now."

"...I feel like everything's been messed up," she admitted, still looking at her bare feet. "I thought my dad and Varian were people I could trust. But now Varian's betrayed Corona because I couldn't help him. My dad's been lying to me about the rocks, and I still don't know why... I don't know if I should trust anyone anymore."

Mikey looked crushed, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I kinda know how that feels. I had a friend betray me, too."

Rapunzel looked up, startled.

"We'd just made our first human friend, April," he continued. "And I was thinking it would be really cool if we could make friends with more humans. Show the world we're not scary just because of how we look. I thought I did it when I met this human named Chris Bradford. We hung out, ate pizza, he showed me a cool kata... But then I found out he actually worked for an old enemy of Master Splinter's, and he was actually planning to find out where we lived so he could capture us... Or worse."

Leo looked at his little brother with sympathy. He'd always known Mikey's trusting nature could lead to others taking advantage of him; he'd warned him of it several times before Bradford came along. Still, that didn't mean Mikey's pain at the betrayal wasn't real.

"I ended up kicking his butt before that could happen," the orange-clad turtle finished. "We're totally not friends anymore, and I know he's a bad dude. But... It's hard, knowing that someone you trusted and thought was your friend could hurt you so much."

"How do you... How do you feel better?"

The youngest turtle perked up. "I think about the friends I still have. I've got my brothers, Master Splinter, April, you, Eugene, Lance, Cassandra..."

There was an indignant cheep as a certain chameleon leapt from the princess' shoulder to the turtle's.

"Oh, and you, too, Pascal!"

Rapunzel giggled before she pulled Mikey into a hug. "Thank you, Michelangelo. That... That really helped."

"Hey, no problem. I'm the best dude ever at giving advice!"

Leo snorted. "Oh, really? What about that time you told Raph that the best way to fix the microwave was to punch it?"

"That was only one time, and Donnie fixed it eventually!"

"Or that time you told me that the best way to make a plant grow faster was to pour coffee on it?"

"Hey, you're the one who believed me!"

"And what about the time with the paper fan and the stuffed bear?"

"Okay, okay, I get it! And no one can prove that was me!"

Rapunzel was barely holding back her laughter at the exchange. At that moment, Donatello and Cassandra came back. He had two rolled up tiger stripe vines in his hands, while Cassandra held a basket of slagweed.

"Okay," Donnie announced. "We found a tree full of tiger stripe vines, and a patch of slagweed."

"I got extra to give to the guard," Cass added. "Slagweed makes a good armor polish... and if you add it to your sword blade, you can paralyze your enemy."

They all stared at her for a moment, not wanting to ask exactly why she knew that.

"...You're dark, Cassandra," Leo commented. "Anyway, where are Raphael and Eugene?"

"Knowing Eugene," the wannabe guard answered, "he's probably off looking for something shiny. Or examining his reflection in the river."

Leo had Mikey and Donnie stay with Rapunzel and Pascal while they went looking for them.

They feared the worst when they heard angered grunts and shouted threats. Both the woman and the turtle drew swords, ready for battle as they charged forth...

Only to find Raph and Eugene sitting together, unharmed and alone. The had their elbows on a tree stump, their hands locked together.

"Give up!" Eugene shouted. "I'm the castle's undefeated arm wrestling champion!"

"Not for long!" Raph yelled back, forcing Eugene's arm another inch down.

The searchers shared a look before sheathing their swords. Cassandra looked annoyed while Leo looked amused.

"Boys?" Cass asked.

"Not now!" Eugene responded through clenched teeth. "I need to show this turtle who's boss!"

"I need to show him," Raph growled, "what happens when he says stuff like that!"

"They're lucky we already found the ingredients," the handmaiden muttered, her eyes furious.

Leonardo sympathized; he often had to deal with his brothers doing silly stuff on missions. 

"I've got this," the blue-clad turtle whispered to her. He then shouted to his brother.

"Hey, Raph? Did you know Mikey's trying to blame you for the Bear Fan Incident?"

Raphael's eyes went fiery, and he slammed Eugene's hand down on the tree stump (earning a cry of humiliation and pain from the human).

"He's WHAT?!?"

Leo had to quickly tell him he was joking to make sure the hotheaded turtle didn't go after their younger brother.

Cass looked like she couldn't tell if she was surprised or concerned.

- - - -

They were all in Donnie and Leo's shared guest room, watching as their scientist brother tightened the last of the Reality Check's screws.

"And... done!" He grinned, setting his screwdriver down. "I still need to create the fuel, but that shouldn't take more than thirty minutes!"

"And then that's it?" Raph asked. "We go home?"

The idea excited them; they'd be able to see Splinter, April, and modern technology again.

But there was also a sense of unease.

"...Dudes, I don't think we should leave right now. Rapunzel's still so sad after what Varian did, and her dad being a jerk."

"I don't often say this," Donnie cut in, "but Mikey's got a point. Rapunzel's still hurting after what happened with Varian--"

"Not to mention the King lying to her face," Raph grumbled.

"That too," Donnie agreed. "Anyway, she's at an emotional low right now."

Leo gave a slow nod. "She's been nothing but nice to us since we got here, and she helped us without needing to. Leaving her like this would be a pretty bad way to thank her."

"Plus," Mikey spoke up. "Her birthday's in two days! I don't know about you dudes, but I want to stay long enough to try a piece of her birthday cake!"

"So it's decided?" Leonardo asked.

The Turtles all shared a glance before smiling.

"Okay," the oldest turtle decided. "Until the Varian trouble is over, we stay in Corona."

"...You sure Master Splinter won't be too worried?" Mikey suddenly asked.

"And April?" Donnie added.

Leo paused, then took a breath. 

"We'll explain everything to them when we get home. They might be mad at us for being gone so long, but once we tell them how we disappeared and why it took us so long to get back, I'm sure they'll understand."

April would probably yell at them for scaring her, and Splinter would likely lecture them on scaring him or not thinking of long-term consequences. But once they were done being mad at them, all would be forgiven.

"Alright," Raph yawned. "If we're done here, I'm going to bed. Nobody wake me unless there's breakfast or someone's dying... In other words, don't try to draw something on me in my sleep again, Mikey."

Michelangelo laughed nervously. "What makes you think I'd try that?"

"Because when I woke up this morning you were standing over me with a paintbrush."

Leo's head shot up. "Is that why the maids found all those broken paintbrushes in the hallway?"

Raphael shrugged. "Better safe than sorry. Relax, none of them were Rapunzel's."

Leonardo's hand went to his face as he let out a sigh.

If they were staying longer in Corona, he hoped the kingdom could handle his brothers' antics.

Chapter Text

"WAKE UP!"

Leo shot up, instinctively going for his swords before realizing that he'd been awoken by joyful screaming, not panicked screaming.

"M'key?" He mumbled, barely awake.

Donatello was in the bed across the room, out cold. He'd been up late triple testing the fuel for the eventual trip back (evidently it was good to go), meaning nothing short of an emergency (or the smell of coffee) would wake him.

"Come on, dudes, get up!" Michelangelo beamed as he went over to Leonardo's bedside. "It's Rapunzel's birthday!"

Leo woke up a little more at that. He glanced at the clock, and thanked the heavens that Mikey had at least waited until a reasonable hour to wake them.

"Okay, okay," he surrendered, pulling aside the covers. "Where's Raph?"

"Still asleep. I was thinking, since you're the leader..."

The blue-clad turtle sighed. Michelangelo would fight Kraang droids, mutant monsters, or an army of Foot at the drop of a hat. But he always tried to worm his way out of waking their hot-headed brother.

"Go ask the kitchen staff for coffee and bring it back," he replied, lying back down on his bed. "Then we'll wake him."

Mikey pouted. "But that'll take forever, almost twenty minutes!"

"Then you should have waited twenty minutes to wake us up."

He was asleep by the time a grumbling Mikey had left the room.

- - - -

It was the Princess' first birthday truly spent in her kingdom, with her real family. 

Birthdays with Gothel hadn't been terrible; there'd always been her favorite soup, cake, and a present. But Gothel had somehow always made the day about her; she'd tell Rapunzel while chopping the vegetable for the soup about all the compliments she'd received while buying ingredients, how hard she'd worked to get the special paintbrushes or new dress for her "daughter", how she only went to such trouble because she loved Rapunzel so much...

Her eighteenth birthday was the first time she'd actually felt like the day was truly hers. Getting her hair braided, eating treats, painting, reading, dancing in the streets, the lanterns... Eugene, Maximus, and Pascal had made sure her birthday was special. 

She'd thought her first birthday with her true family would be even more special, the happiest day ever.

But she'd woken up as upset as she'd been the day before. 

Pascal tried to cheer her up as she sat in the window... to no avail.

She heard the door opening, and Eugene's cheery voice spoke up.

"Happy birthday!"

When she didn't react, he lost his smile and came over to the window.

"How're you doing?"

She finally looked up.

"How am I doing? Let's see: I find out my father's been lying to me for months, a secret squad of guards hunted us down in the dead of night, I destroyed my childhood home, and most recently I committed treason while helping an extremely unstable alchemist steal the most powerful object in the Seven Kingdoms! But enough about me, let's talk about you. How are you doing?"

He and Pascal both looked very concerned.

The princess took a deep breath. "Sorry."

"No, no, it's okay." He took her hands, his eyes full of understanding. "But hey, I know what will cheer you up--"

- - - -

"Where the heck is she gonna put all this?" Mikey commented as they eyed the stacks of pink, purple, and orange boxes.

"It's a castle, I think she'll find room," Raph commented as he slurped down his second cup of coffee.

The doors were opened by the guards, and Eugene led Rapunzel in, covering her eyes.

"Presents room!" He declared while uncovering her eyes.

She stared in shock at all of the gifts for her.

"Happy birthday!" The turtles cheered.

"Sorry we didn't get you anything," Leo apologized. "We didn't know your birthday was so close, and--"

"You guys being here is enough!" She stopped him. "Besides, I think I already have plenty."

"That's an understatement," Donatello remarked.

"The people love you!" Eugene joined in. He picked up a box. "Oh, I'm so good at this..."

He gave the box a shake, and announced it held paintbrushes. He shook another and stated it held a new necklace. He shook a third and heard shattered glass. Realizing it probably shouldn't have been shaken, he sheepishly put it down.

As he examined a parcel containing socks ("Come on, she doesn't even wear shoes!"), Rapunzel saw one gift that hadn't been wrapped.

"Donnie?" She called the purple clad turtle over. "What do think this is?"

He gave the device a glance. "Hmm... Judging by the gears, crank, and specifically placed knobs on the cylinder, I'd say this is a type of music box... Not a very aesthetically-pleasing one, though."

"There's a note," she acknowledged, picking up the piece of paper. "It says... 'Wind me.'"

The turtle shrugged. "Might as well, it's your gift."

The princess turned the crank. The box played a melody in a minor key. The tune wasn't a pleasant one, and sent chills down the princess' spine and Donatello's shell.

"Kind of creepy," she commented.

"You don't have to love every gift," he told her. "If anyone says it was there, just smile and move on. That's what Splinter did whenever we gave him novelty items for Father's Day..."

He and the princess shouted in unison as a handmaiden appeared out of no where, holding a yellow ballgown.

"Friedborg!" Rapunzel finally spoke. "You startled me! Wait, is it time for my fitting? Where's Cassandra?"

"Come to think of it," Leonardo told her, "I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"See?" Eugene grinned. "Things aren't so bad after all!"

"I saw her at the stables this morning when I brought Max an apple," Raphael offered.

"Why were you bringing Maximus an apple?" Mikey asked before grinning. "Does someone have a secret soft spot?"

He gave Michelangelo a glare. "Don't make me smack you."

- - - -

As Raph had said, Cassandra was in the stable. She was wearing the tunic and boots she preferred, and hauling hay bales from one side of the stable to the other.

"Cass?" Rapunzel asked as she, Eugene, Pascal, and the turtles walked in. "What are you doing?"

"Haven't you heard?" She grumbled as she grabbed a sack of feed. "This is my new assignment."

"What are you talking about?" The princess asked in distress.

"Seems like your dad found out I was the one who snuck you out of Corona before your coronation. And, well... Here we are."

She hefted a second bag of feed over her shoulder. Leo and Raph started to help while Donnie and Mikey asked questions.

"He can't do that, right?" The orange clad turtle looked shocked. "You're a handmaiden."

"He's the King," Cass responded. "He can do what he wants."

"That doesn't make sense," Donnie commented, his hand on his chin. "The only ones who knew about that were you, the princess, Eugene, and us. None of us told anyone... Mikey?"

"Hey!" The youngest turtle looked offended. "I may tell people what they're getting for Christmas sometimes, but I wouldn't tell a secret that could make someone lose their job! I'm not that stupid!"

"Alright, alright, we believe you, Mikey," Leo calmed him down.

"Donnie's right," Rapunzel agreed. "The only possible way he could have found out is if..."

Her expression turned shocked... then furious. 

"He read my journal."

The rest of the room grew shocked. Raphael threw the sack of feed him been carrying onto the pile, using enough force to send pieces of hay shooting through the air.

Leonardo made a mental not not to let Raph anywhere near the King.

Rapunzel sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Okay, don't worry, Cass. I'm going to get you out of this."

"Don't waste your time, Raps," Cassandra muttered. "This is just temporary. I'm being sent to a convent tomorrow."

The other two humans and Donatello looked shocked, while the other turtles were confused.

"What's a convent?" Leo asked.

"It's where spirited young women go to have their dreams destroyed," Cass replied.

"Think of it as an old world reform school," Donnie whispered to his brothers.

"Oh." Mikey winced. "That's bad."

- - - -

Rapunzel led the group down the hall, a determined and furious expression on her face. 

"My dad has gone too far! Cass shouldn't be punished for something I--"

Her tirade was interrupted by a giant robot fist smashing into a wall.

"What the--?" Raph yelled as he drew his sais.

"Friend of yours?" Eugene asked anyone in particular.

Donatello shouted that it was a robot at the same time Rapunzel called it an Automaton. 

"Rapunzel's sounds cooler, let's go with that!" Mikey decided.

"You know about this thing?!" Raphael asked as he dodged a mechanical fist.

"Varian and I fought one, and... Varian!" The princess' angered expression returned.

"How did it get past the guards?" Cass shouted.

"Who cares?" Leo shouted, katannas in hand. "We need to take it down!"

The seven of them (eight including Pascal) began to battle the Automaton. This was easier said than done; it was incredibly strong, and it's exterior wasn't easily pierced. 

"How is this thing even possible?!" Donatello yelled. "There's no discernible engine, it can't be running on smoke or electricity..."

He barely dodged a giant robot fist, only for Rapunzel to catch the Automaton's arm with her hair and lure it back towards her. She, Eugene, Cassandra, and Raphael kept it busy.

"Are you saying that there's nothing powering this thing?" Leo asked incredulously. He knew as much about robotics as Mikey knew about common sense, but he DID know that all machines needed to be powered by something.

"No, no," Donnie disagreed. "A robot---"

"Automaton!" Mikey corrected.

"Fine, an Automaton needs a fairly significant power source to function. So there has to be some sort of battery in it. But the technology I've seen in Corona thus far tells me that they don't have anything resembling a battery. The closest thing I've seen to a battery or handheld generator here is that music box someone gave Rapunzel... Weird, it looks just like the one on the Automaton's... back..."

The three turtles came to the same conclusion at once, and noticed that there was a spinning gear on the Automaton's backside. It was playing a creepy-sounding melody...

"That's gotta be it," Leo stated. "If we destroy or stall it, we can take this thing down for good."

"Raph!" Michelangelo yelled. "We need you to stab it in the butt!"

"...What?"

Rapunzel, however, recognized the tune and the device it was coming from. 

As Cassandra was knocked down by another robot fist, her sword flew from her hand. The princess picked it up and threw it to Raphael. The turtle leapt up and used his strength to shove the blade into the music box.

The music stalled and the device stopped turning. The Automaton froze. Rapunzel didn't waste any time.

"Everyone, push!"

The turtles and humans came together and started pushing the Automaton towards the opened window. It took a bit of effort, but they got the robot out. It fell from the fourth story floor to the ground below, where numerous midway games had been set up for the princess' birthday. It landed right on the strength-testing game, as evidenced by the ringing of a bell.

A short, ditzy-looking old man grinned as he heard the bell.

"Congratulations! You win a magical fish!" He belched. "Oh, that's right. I forgot I ate the magical fish."

- - - -

The princess asked the turtles to meet her in her room tomorrow morning, as she wanted to talk to her father in private about Cass and the Automaton. Knowing that Rapunzel had a LOT she needed to talk to her father about, Leo had agreed.

He also didn't trust Raphael anywhere near the King right then. Even if they were the princess' bodyguards, Leo doubted Raph could get away with punching a ruler in the face.

The next morning, the four of them had just finished listening to Donnie and Mikey's debate on how a robot powered by music box was possible (while Raph and Leo took bets on when Donatello would lose his temper) when Eugene came in, a furious expression on his face.

That was when they learned what King Frederic had done.

Leonardo and Michelangelo went with Eugene to see the king while Raphael and Donatello went to try and see Rapunzel. 

All three of them were steamed when they entered the King's throne room, but Eugene was easily the angriest.

"How is what you're doing to Rapunzel any different than what was done to her for the first eighteen years of her life?" The former thief asked, his hands curled into fists.

"Remember yourself, Fitzherbert," the grand vizier, Nigal, admonished.

"He asked a question," Leonardo responded, giving Nigel a glare Raph would've been proud of.

The vizier was about to respond when the King stopped him and stood up.

"Eugene... Son. I realize how this... situation might appear, but... You must trust that I have no choice."

"You're the king!" Mikey spoke up. "Can't you do anything you want?"

"You cannot keep her up there," Eugene continued. 

King Frederic sighed, then straightened up and gave the three of them a steely look. 

"I will do whatever I must to keep Rapunzel safe from harm."

Eugene glared back, then signaled the turtles to follow him out.

"And so will we," the prince muttered, speaking quietly enough that only the Turtles heard.

The king gave another sigh and called for Leo to come back.

"I know you disapprove of my methods," the ruler admitted. "But I've also come to trust that you and your brothers take Rapunzel's safety seriously. The guards have been informed that you or one of your brothers are allowed entry to Rapunzel's tower. I ask that the four of you will continue to act as her personal bodyguards. At least until Varian is no longer a threat."

Leo gave a nod, his face carefully expressionless.

"I stand by what I said when we met, Your Highness," the turtle replied. "Rapunzel's our friend, and we always protect our friends. But in the week we've know her, she's shown that she's capable of defending herself. Everyone can see that... Why can't you?"

The king flinched, and said nothing as Leonardo walked out.

- - - -

His brothers took the news of Rapunzel's being locked up about as well as Leo thought they would. Raph went to either punch training dummies or ride on Maximus, Michelangelo started trying to plot a way to make a pizza so delicious the king would change his mind, and Donnie started listing all the reasons why that wouldn't work. Seeing that they were distracted, the oldest turtle decided to go check on the princess. 

He met the Queen on the way.

"Leonardo," she acknowledged with surprise. "Have you heard?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I was going to see Rapunzel--"

"I'll go with you. I know Frederic's been paranoid about her safety lately, but I never..."

She shook her head in disbelief and led the turtle to the princess' room.

The guard let them through right away, bowing to the Queen and nodding to Leonardo.

Rapunzel had been sitting in her window when they entered, and all but ran into her mother's arms.

"I'm so sorry," Queen Arianna said into her daughter's ear. "I tried to talk him out of it, but you know your father can be... Immovable."

"Are you okay?" Leo asked, his eyes anxious.

The princess gave a nod to his question before turning to her mother.

"What is Dad so afraid of? Why is he doing this to me?"

Leonardo flinched; he knew that feeling all too well. He remembered when the Shredder first appeared in New York, how he'd beaten the four of them without breaking a sweat. Splinter had been terrified for the first time in Leo's memory. For weeks after, he refused to let them leave the lair, and let them do nothing but eat, sleep, and train. Leo'd felt like they'd gone back to how things had been before their fifteenth Mutation Day: kept from the world while fed horror stories about dangers you couldn't see. He remembered that, while he'd understood Splinter's reasoning, he'd also felt so... betrayed. Like his father thought they couldn't handle ever leaving the lair again. 

The Queen gave a sad sigh.

"Rapunzel, in the two decades you were gone, not once did your father sleep through the night. Your absence haunted him every minute of every day."

"Are you saying that makes this right?" She asked incredulously.

"I'm asking you to consider that despite how rash and drastic his actions may seem, or how much you disagree with them, they come from a place of love."

Leo looked at his feet. When Splinter apologized for locking them up again, he'd said something very similar...

Queen Arianna sighed again and took Rapunzel's hands in hers.

"But I agree with you and the turtles: this isn't right."

"Is there anything you can do, Your Majesty?" Leo asked.

"I've been talking to him every chance I could since last night," she replied, looking exhausted. "Frederic is a good king, but he's a stubborn father. I'll keep trying, of course, but..."

"At least you're trying," Rapunzel spoke up. "Thank you, Mom."

"I'm sorry that this is how we celebrate your first birthday with us," her mother replied. "I need to return downstairs; your father is planning on sending the guards on a manhunt for Varian. I'll see if I can talk him into letting you out."

The princess hugged her mother, but still looked troubled. 

"Leonardo..." the Queen began.

"Just Leo."

"...Leo. Would you stay with her awhile?"

Rapunzel looked at him silently asking the same question.

"Of course."

She thanked him, hugged her daughter again, than left.

"You should've seen Eugene," the turtle tried to cheer his friend up. "He told your dad off for what he did. That man would move the moon for you if he thought it would help..."

He saw that his words weren't helping.

"I just..." She sighed as she sat in the window. "I thought I finally had parents that I could trust. Who would think about my happiness instead of just keeping me locked up for my 'safety'."

Leo didn't know what to say. 

Music started playing from seemingly no where, a sad but beautiful melody. Before he could ask where the music was coming from, Rapunzel started singing.

"Locked inside a tower,

Kept behind a wall.

Sheltered from a world you've barely known."

Her voice was beautiful. Despite his confusion, he couldn't bring himself to interrupt.

"That's the way they treat you,

And what's worst of all:

Who's to blame but you and you alone?"

She opened up her journal and began flipping through the pages as a despondent Pascal got on her shoulder.

"There's much more inside of you,

Then anyone can see.

And now the choice is yours.

Life waits beyond the doors.

So step on through, the time has come,

And only you can set yourself free!"

Her smile returned as she began ripping pages from her journal (to Leo's confusion).

"No one else can tell you what to do,

Or who to be.

No one gets to tell you if you'll stay or go.

So use the gifts you're given.

Make the world your own. 

Look inside your heart and find the key.

And set yourself free!"

She grabbed her paints and paintbrushes, then started attacking part of the wall with art. She kept singing as she worked.

"Wrapped up by your worries,

Bound by your mistakes.

Forced to play a role you never chose..."

Leo flinched; that line hit a little close to home. Rapunzel noticed and hugged him while she kept singing.

"Why not test your limits,

You've got what it takes,

Let it out and follow where it goes!"

She let him go and went back to her painting when she saw him smile.

"No more letting someone else

Define you to a 'T'.

You know that you are strong,

You've known it all along.

So seize the day,

Let down your hair.

You'll find a way to set yourself free!

Now it's up to you and what you'll do,

And who you'll be!

You get to decide 

How far and wide you'll go.

So look to the horizon.

Open up your wings.

Fly away to find your destiny,

And set yourself free!"

The painting was finished, depicting a massive flock of birds, all flying away.

Leo was confused for several reasons (mostly because of the singing thing). But, deciding that there probably wasn't an answer to that question, he chose to let it go.

The princess set down her paintbrushes. There was determination in her eyes.

"Pascal, Leo?"

They both looked to her expectantly.

"We're getting out of here."

"My brothers and I are happy to help," he replied. "But we'll need a plan. The king does not want you leaving the tower."

"Good thing I've got a lot of friends... Question: can Raphael rip bars off of windows?"

Seeing as how taking part in a prison break was on Raph's bucket list, Leo already knew his brother would like this plan.

- - - -

"I love this plan," Raph whispered as he helped a few Snuggly Duckling thugs set up the catapult.

With the help of Pascal and Maximus, Rapunzel had managed to get notes about the plan to everyone, including Eugene, Cassandra, and the guys from the inappropriately named pub. Mikey and Lance had been in charge of distracting the guards while the harder part of the breakout plan was set up.

Donnie hoped that Mikey and Lance would be okay: if the King had his top men guarding the tower, then it would likely take something like a hurricane or chemical warfare to get them to leave their posts...

- - - -

"I can't believe you can play the accordian!" Stan the Guard grinned as Mikey held the instrument.

"Neither did I until ten seconds ago!"

Tricking the guards into opening the presents had been a good move, but Lance admitted that getting Mikey to give Stan an accordion lesson via the two sent as gifts was a stroke of genius.

He stopped thinking that when he realized that Michelangelo did not know how to play the accordion.

Stan didn't either, but he didn't know that.

Pete listened with a wide smile as a cacophony of tortured notes came from the poor instruments.

"Dude, we sound great!" Mikey grinned.

"We should start a band!" Stan agreed.

"I should invest in ear plugs," Lance mumbled.

- - - -

Eugene and Raphael made it to the top of the tower with surprising success. Eugene had, naturally, not wanted to at first, but when Raph let him borrow Donnie's shuko spikes, he became more confident. The shuko spikes helped the pair land on the wall. From there, Raphael pried the bars on Rapunzel's window until there was an opening. Eugene desperately hoped that Lance and Mikey had distracted the guards enough that they wouldn't get curious.

As soon as the hole in the bars was big enough, Rapunzel leapt through. She hugged her boyfriend and turtle friend before tying her hair to the banister. From there, the three of them (four including Pascal) grappled down into the courtyard. Mikey and Lance joined shortly after.

After everyone involved had been hugged and thanked by the princess, Donatello asked an important question.

"What's next?"

"Next," she replied, "we need to find Varian. I know that he's planning something, and he's manipulating the King into falling for it..."

She didn't get to finish. With no warning, an ominous fog started to fill the courtyard. And all of the village of Corona.

"What is this?" Eugene asked as several people coughed.

"I do beg your pardon," the ditzy old man spoke up. "I must be magical fish intolerant."

Donnie shook his head at the short old man before he spoke up.

"Based on the smell and the fact that numerous people are having allergic reactions to it--" He pointed at a few coughing people. "--I'd say it's artificial fog."

"People can make fog?" Cassandra asked the purple clad turtle.

"Artificial fog," he repeated. "Though the only ones capable of making are people with a background in chemistry... Or in this case--"

"Hello, Corona."

A teenage voice began speaking through unseen speakers. Confused townspeople began leaving their houses or entering the courtyard. Guards left their posts to come outside. 

"It's Varian," Rapunzel confirmed.

"Where is his voice coming from?" Cassandra demanded of anyone.

"He must have rigged some sort of megaphone for himself to disguise where he actually is," Donatello concluded.

"So basically, we're fighting evil Donnie," Raph rolled his eyes and drew his weapons. "Good to know."

"Something dark is coming for you," Varian's voice continued. "Our king has refused to acknowledge it. In the hopes of keeping his secret, he has lied to you and vilified me."

Leo had to admit Varian was right about that part.

The King came out, the Captain of the Guard in tow. Luckily, neither of them had noticed Rapunzel yet.

"In a matter of days, Corona," Varian's announcement went on, "this island, and the castle itself, will be overcome by this growth. It has already overtaken the outskirts of the kingdom. The key to stopping this destruction is Princess Rapunzel herself."

Rapunzel and Eugene shared a silent conversation before they both began standing tall, eyes full of determination.

"I have asked for help, and been ignored," Varian continued, now sounding depressed and furious. "I will not be ignored any longer! And to make sure I have your attention, I've developed a new serum and created something... special for you all."

The Hamato brothers held their weapons up and kept their eyes sharp. 

Donnie was the first one to spot the "surprise".

The beast was twice Lance's height, with grayish-purple fur, glowing eyes, giant claws, sharp teeth, and was faster than April when she saw a spider.

The ringed tail, however, made it easy to tell what it once was.

"Mutant raccoon!"

While most people had no idea what he was talking about, the four turtles sprang into action.

Just as the giant mutant beast was about to snatch a poor guard, Mikey landed on his snout and whacked him in the head with his nunchucks.

Before long, all of the guards had joined in the scuffle.

- - - -

Queen Arianna watched the chaos unfold from a castle window.

One one hand, she was glad Rapunzel had managed to escape her captivity.

On the other, she wished it hadn't been the same night that a giant monster broke into the courtyard...

"Hello, Your Majesty," a teenage voice came from behind her.

She turned with a gasp, and saw a cloaked, helmeted figure standing three feet away.

He threw a fine powder in her face. She coughed as it filled her mouth and nose.

"Sleep," the figure instructed.

The royal was out cold before she could protest.

- - - -

At first, things were going badly.

The Turtles were the only ones with any experience fighting unseen, bigger-than-reasonable threats. While they managed to keep the monster away from the civilians, more than a few guards got hurt. The King only worsened matters when he heard Rapunzel's voice and started ordering men to find her and bring her back in. This only led to MORE guards (including the captain) getting hurt.

It was when Cassandra started leading the guards that Rapunzel got an idea. 

She had to explain quickly, but everyone was instantly on board. 

Raphael hopped on Maximus' back, and rode as the horse charged through the fog. The mutant raccoon began to chase them, eyes narrowing in anger.

Once they had him in position, guards with lit torches began driving the monster the way the princess wanted. Lance, Hook Foot, Leonardo, and Donatello joined in with their own torches. Once they had him running in the right direction, Rapunzel ran alongside her hair at the ready.

"Trampoline!" She shouted. 

On cue, two guards, two thugs, and Michelangelo held up the trampoline from one of the courtyard's midway games. The monster slammed into it, and was thrown backwards into another booth. While it lay stunned, the princess and Turtles used her hair to tie the monster up.

Now that the excitement died down, people began looking at the creature with more curiosity than fear.

"What is it?" Lance asked before the creature roared and scared him off.

"Varian said he developed a new serum..." Donnie began before brightening. "What if he managed to make a mutagen with temporary effects instead of permanent? Holy mackerel, this could have SO many applications! Anyone mind if I take a sample..."

Before he could touch the monster, the creature started glowing. When the glow faded, the giant beast was gone. 

In it's place was a perfectly normal, confused-looking raccoon.

"That's Ruddiger," Rapunzel spoke.

"Varian's raccoon," Cassandra elaborated.

"He did that to his own pet?" Mikey exclaimed. "That is messed up!"

"Guess I don't get my sample..." Donnie sounded upset.

Ruddiger, thankfully, didn't seem worse for wear. He plucked an apple from a nearby snack stand before he ran off.

Now that the danger was cleared, Leo took the princess' arm and lifted it into the air.

"Let's hear it for Rapunzel!"

The guards and people, all of whom knew they'd only been saved by the princess' plan, gave cheers and applause.

The King stood nearby, wearing an expression that was both proud... and ashamed.

Before he could say anything, though, a panicked guard ran from the castle.

"Princess Rapunzel! King Frederic! It's the Queen... She's gone."

There were gasps of shock and horror.

Rapunzel looked aghast before realization dawned on her.

Her expression twisted from fear to fury.

"Varian."

Chapter Text

The wounded, particularly the Captain (to Cassandra's distress) were carried away on stretchers.

The King was furious.

"Varian must be hiding in Old Corona," he growled. "We shall launch a full-scale attack!"

"Sir," Stan the guard objected. He was leaning against Pete, having gotten a crushed foot in the scuffle. "We got hit pretty hard. Everyone's gonna be okay, but we won't be launching a full-scale anything for some time."

The King turned around, face twisted in acrimony.

"Then we'll hit him with whatever we have!"

"Dad!" Rapunzel walked up to him, as angry as him but better at controlling it. "You can't beat Varian with swords and fists. So far we've played right into his hands."

"She's right, Your Highness," Leonardo agreed. "He knew you'd set up a defense around the castle to protect Rapunzel, so he sent the biggest threat he could to distract and weaken them. It's basic war strategy."

"You know he never meant to capture me," Rapunzel continued. "He sent that Automaton to make you think that was his plan. Then he used his... mutant to pull security from his real target: Mom."

The King's anger dropped, fear, shame, and sadness taking its place.

"So," the princess finished, "whatever you think you're going to throw at him, he'll be waiting."

"And since he's proven to be capable of creating Automatons and mutants," Donatello added. "The odds of your people beating his defenses are less than twenty-five percent."

"Is that bad?" Michelangelo asked.

"It's bad."

The King shook his head, his anger returning as he walked into the castle.

"We attack Old Corona," he declared. "Within the hour."

Raphael scoffed as soon as the King was gone. "And people say I'm stubborn."

- - - -

The Queen struggled against the ropes, wishing she'd taken Willow's suggestion to learn about knots when they were girls. No luck; not only were the knots too tight, but the rope was chafing into her skin. She was more likely to scrape up her hands than pull herself loose.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty," Varian spoke from where he leaned over his plans. "You are merely bait to lure the princess here. Only the magic in her unbreakable hair can shatter the amber and free my father. I tried asking for help in a civil manner, but was denied by everyone in Corona. So, unfortunately, this is my only remaining recourse."

He turned and pulled the tarp off of the large object in the center of the room. Arianna gasped. Quirin, a friend and trusted citizen, was encased in a giant prism. She didn't know how he got in there... and she was too frightened to ask.

She took a breath, using years of practice to put on a stoic, queenly expression.

"And after you've freed your father?" She asked. 

"After?" Varian scoffed. "Well, I'm afraid Corona will pay for turning their backs on me. And that's when you should start worrying, Your Majesty."

- - - -

Rapunzel found the king alone, in her parents' bedroom.

"And now," she heard him mutter, "I have failed you, too, Arianna."

"...Dad?"

The King quickly wiped his eyes and stood. "Rapunzel. I thought I made it clear--"

He was cut off by his daughter catching him in a hug. After a moment of surprise, he quickly returned it.

"Thank you," he whispered.

She looked up at him. She remembered what her mother had said about the king, what Leonardo said about his own father. 

There was nothing but compassion and forgiveness in her eyes.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Dad," she promised. "We're gonna get her back."

The King sighed. "This... This is all my fault."

"Dad, no. It's Varian, and those rocks, and--"

"No. No, Rapunzel. You were right. I have been keeping something from you. As you know, the night you were born... Your mother fell deathly ill. I was desperate to do anything to save her and you. So I sought out the miracle of the Sundrop Flower. But what I never told anyone was that there was more to the story. 

"You see, earlier that night I was warned. Warned that taking the Sundrop would reap unimaginable consequences. That by removing the light, I'd be awakening the darkness. But I had no choice."

He sighed, as he and the princess walked out onto the balcony.

"I have known about these black rocks all along. At first I didn't want to believe that they were the result of my actions. Then when that became impossible, I chose to ignore them. I expected everyone else to do the same..."

"Including me."

The King wouldn't look at her, the shame prominent in his eyes.

"Yes, yes. Especially you. But the truth is the rocks are destroying Corona, and you... You are connected to them somehow. And I am responsible. No king would ever put the welfare of his family before that of his country."

She took his hands in hers. 

"But a father would."

He smiled, and hugged her. 

"Now," she decided as she let him out of the hug. She stared out at Corona with determination.

"Let's find a way to save our kingdom."

- - - -

After the fog, Varian's supervillain speech, and the mutant raccoon destroying part of the courtyard, there were a LOT of civilians with questions. 

The least wounded of the Corona guards, Cassandra, and the Turtles had a very hard time keeping the panicky townspeople back from the thrones.

"The rocks are getting closer!" A local baker shouted.

"Oh, we're doomed!" The shoemaker panicked. "Doomed!"

"Pipe down, Feldspar!" The head maid, Old Lady Crowley, growled. "No one can hear me!"

With a deadpan expression, she merely repeated what he said. "We're doomed."

As the people kept shouting, the King stood.

"People! Citizens, please, listen to me!"

"SHUT UP!"

Everyone stopped talking at the sound of Raphael screaming. 

"Thanks, Raph," Mikey spoke up, hands over his ears. "But could you warn us next time?"

"It worked, didn't it?" He smirked as he crossed his arms.

The King cleared his throat and continued.

"I will not lie to you any longer. Corona is in grave danger. The Queen has been taken. Over half our Royal Guard lay wounded. And these black rocks draw ever closer."

People started to panic again. Eugene leaned towards the king.

"Uh, yeah, sir? If there's a 'but' in this speech, you might want to cut to it, right now."

Rapunzel gave him a look and pulled him aside.

"But I look at you," the King continued, stepping into the crowd, "and I don't just see subjects. I see friends, old--" He gestured to the guards, the castle staff, and numerous town shopkeepers. "And new." He looked at the Turtles before he went on.

"I see family. Strong, brave individuals who have stood by each others' side and have never, ever backed down from a fight. Today we face a danger like none before. As your king, your friend, and as your brother, I ask you to fight one more time. For Corona!"

"For Corona!" The crowd cheered.

Now that they had volunteers to help take down Varian, Rapunzel led the king, Eugene, Leonardo, Raphael, Cassandra, Donatello, Maximus, Michelangelo, Lance, several townspeople and guards into a war room. From there, they began to talk strategy.

"As was so insightfully pointed out to me," the King began, sneaking a look at Rapunzel, "we've been playing straight into Varian's hands and now, he is expecting a full-out attack on Old Corona."

"So what's the plan, Your Majesty?" Stan the guard asked.

Rapunzel beamed. "We launch a full-out attack on Old Corona."

"...But we'd be giving him the upper hand," Pete the guard pointed out.

"We're gonna let Varian think he still has the upper hand," she went on. "And while we distract him with the assault, I am gonna sneak around the back using the underground tunnels and rescue the Queen."

The King put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "We are going to rescue the Queen."

"With all due respect, Princess," Stan spoke up again. "Varian only wants you. Once he realizes you're no where to be found, won't he realize the attack is just a diversion."

"There's another thing Varian can't plan for," she smirked. "We have four ninjas on our side."

Leonardo stepped forward. "I'll go with the King and Princess, and remain out of sight. A ninja is meant to be unpredictable and impossible to see."

"Plus," Donatello spoke up. "Raph, Mikey, and I will be joining in the frontal assault. He'll likely think the four of us would fight together, so he won't think to look for Leonardo. And, just to buy us a little extra time before he realizes something's up..."

He pointed at the princess decoy.

The ditzy old man, known only as Shorty, was wearing an ill-fitting purple dress, a yellow wig made of yarn, and a plush chameleon on his shoulder.

"I got this," he slurred as he started playing with the toy on his shoulder.

No one's confidence was boosted, but they didn't have a lot of ideas.

With that, everyone started preparing to make the plan a reality. Leonardo took his brothers aside for a moment.

"Remember," Leo told them. "Raphael, you need to watch Eugene's back. Michelangelo, you watch Cassandra's. Donatello, Varian's most likely created another of those robot--"

"Automaton," Mikey interrupted.

"Whatever. He's probably built another one of those things, and he's probably learned to cover the weak spot. Your job is to figure out how to take them down before they hurt anyone. Everyone got it?"

They nodded. Raph looked him in the eyes.

"Stay safe out there, Fearless. If you die I'll kill you."

He knew that was as emotional as Raphael ever allowed himself to get. So he just nodded.

"Same to all of you."

That said, they split up.

- - - -

Each of the Turtles got the weirdest feeling as the preparations for the attack neared completion.

Dramatic music seemed to be coming from no where at all. And they had the sense that, somewhere, someone was singing.

They could even hear the words in their heads.

"Believe me, I know.

I've sunk pretty low.

But whatever I've done, you've deserved."

"Varian--"

"Quiet! I'm the bad guy, that's fine.

It's no fault of mine.

And some justice, at last, will be served."

"Please listen--"

"Now it's time to step up

Or it's time to back down, 

And there's only one answer for me.

And I'll stand up and fight

'Cause I know that I'm right!

And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready,

Ready as I'll ever be!"

Raphael shook himself as he focused on the matter at hand.

The Captain of the Guard had suffered severe injuries in the last fight, including broken ribs and bruising on his stomach. He'd be alright, but the medic said he'd be on bed rest for a while.

"Cap," Eugene asked. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Actually," he moaned. "I don't think I am. I'll only slow you down."

"But how are you going to lead the assault?" Pete asked.

"I'm not. She is."

He gestured to the door. Cassandra stood there, determination in her eyes. Raphael grinned at her and tossed her a sword.

She grinned back, then looked at the gathered people with a stern look. Then she opened her mouth and sang.

"Now it's time to rise up,

Or it's time to stand down.

And the answer is easy to see.

And I swear by the sword, 

If you're in, get on board.

Are you ready?"

Eugene stood. "I'm ready!"

Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo lifted their weapons. "We're ready!"

Everyone else joined in. "We're ready!"

Cassandra nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be!"

- - - -

Leonardo sharpened his sword as he and the princess waited for her father. He'd heard the music and the singing in the center of his head, but chose to ignore it just like last time. At least everyone singing had a surprisingly good voice...

"Dad! There you are!" Rapunzel exclaimed with relief. Leo put his katannas in their scabbards and went with her to meet the king.

"Yes," King Frederic responded as he came up to the teens. "I just had to make a quick stop in the kitchens."

He handed a frying pan to his daughter. "I've heard you're pretty handy with one of these."

Pascal chirped in joy as she grinned and started spinning the pan by the handle. "Oh I am..."

The princess nearly hit herself in the forehead with the tool, but Leo caught it just in time.

The king looked concerned, and then started singing.

"Are you quite sure we can do this?"

Rapunzel smiled, then wrapped an arm around both the king and the turtle before she sang in reply.

"Together we will guarantee!"

Leo suddenly heard the music clear as day. It seemed like the whole kingdom was singing.

He was just glad he wasn't asked to join in.

"I'll make them hear me!" Varian's voice sang out.

"Prove they can trust me!" Cassandra's voice came next.

Rapunzel's voice was full of determination. "I'll save my home and family!"

A crowd of voices, Eugene in the lead, came next.

"Now the lines in the sand,

And our moment's at hand!

And I'm ready!"

Cassandra echoed him. "I'm ready!"

"I'm ready!" Rapunzel and the king sang as they entered the tunnels.

In the center of his head, Leo heard one last voice. 

Varian sounded... reluctant?

"Ready as I'll... Ever be."

- - - -

The ride to Old Corona was fast, though long enough that Shorty thought he could entertain everyone by singing. Thankfully, that was nipped right in the bud.

"I wonder why everyone here likes singing so much?" Mikey asked Donnie. His horse, Cheval, seemed to consider the question.

"Sometimes," Donnie responded, "it's safer not to question something. I don't think they even know."

Pferd, Donatello's horse, just nodded his head solemnly.

"Shush," Raph whispered. "We're almost there. Remember what Leo said."

Mikey and Donnie exchanged a glance before nodding. If Raphael was doing what Leo said, willingly and without a sarcastic jab, then he was taking this very seriously.

The red-clad turtle had his horse, Caballo, ride closer to Eugene and Cassandra.

"How much further?" He whispered.

"We should be in view of Varian's house any second now," Cass replied. "Be on guard..."

When the rocks became to close for horseback riding, everyone dismounted and continued on foot... Except Shorty, who stayed on Maximus' back. The horse didn't look too happy about it, but he kept his focus on the mission.

- - - -

The floor hatch of Varian's lab opened just enough for a certain princess and king to peek out and see what looked to be Varian standing in the window.

Varian saw the two, and was able to launch his trap, just like he'd expected.

As he locked Pascal in a cage, he didn't see the being slip into the lab through the broken window, nor did he hear them crawling through the supports in the ceiling.

When he  "caught" the princess and king, the royals stuck to the plan. It wasn't very hard; their distress at seeing Queen Arianna in danger was very real.

- - - -

The members of the assault team thought they'd be prepared for anything. But multiple Automatons appearing out of the ground and trying to smash them was not on the list of potential threats.

"When did he even have time to build these?" Donnie asked no one in particular. "Even Stockman takes weeks to build his death machines, and he has modern technology to help him. I'll admit, I'm actually impressed--"

Raph pushed him out of the way of a robot fist, then used his sais to slice its fingers off.

"Fight now, geek out later," the turtle growled at his younger brother.

"I'll have to disagree," Donnie returned. "From what I can tell, these mechs are still powered by music box. Only this time, he's shielded the gears in the center of the chest. Find a way to stab through the chest, and you can take it out with one well-placed blow."

Cassandra had been listening and shouted out to their forces.

"Aim for the chest!"

It took a few tries (the robot's bulk was stronger than expected), but Raph's sais proved to be just sharp enough to cut through. 

Mikey revealed another weakness when he found out (via a horseback riding stunt he'd learned from Lance) that the mechs were clumsy. All it took was tripping them up before they landed onto the razor-sharp rocks. Knowing this, people began tricking/tripping Automatons onto the rocks. The odds started to even out.

As he prepared to stab another Automaton, Raphael found himself hoping things were going okay for the princess and Leo...

- - - -

"Unbreakable," Varian noted as he tapped one of the black rocks in his lab. He grinned and grabbed Rapunzel's ponytail. "Unbreakable."

As they'd discussed, Rapunzel and the king held the alchemist's attention. Meanwhile, Leonardo first freed Pascal (who wasn't warranting any of Varian's attention). Once freed, the brave little chameleon gave Leo an inquisitive chirp.

"Look for the elixir that gets rid of that goo," he whispered to the non-mutant reptile. "I'll free the queen."

Pascal gave a salute, then stealthily made his way across the ceiling.

The king added an extra distraction by drawing his sword when Varian suggested his experiment might shatter Rapunzel instead of the amber. Leo could tell it was only partially an act; King Frederic had proven in the last forty-eight hours just how seriously he took his daughter's safety.

With Varian's attention locked on them, Leo managed to grab the key from the wall and silently unlock the queen's shackles. She gave him a silent thank you before ducking to hide behind a curtain. Leo wasted no time but jumped back into the ceiling rafters, making no noise.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Varian continued. "We're in a bit of a time crunch here, so I'm gonna need to speed things... Along?"

The queen was gone. His shock was such that he didn't notice Pascal turning visible and knocking a bottle of elixir onto Rapunzel's and the King's feet.

"How the... Those shackles were escape proof!" Varian couldn't believe it. "I don't understand, I considered everything!"

Leo jumped from the ceiling, landing right in front of the alchemist.

He couldn't help the cocky grin on his face.

"Not everything."

He held his sword by the blade and used the dull handle to knock the boy to the floor.

"Mom?" Rapunzel called out as soon as Varian was neutralized.

"I'm here." Queen Arianna came out from behind the curtain. The three relieved royals collided in a hug, with Pascal jumping on Rapunzel's shoulder to join in.

King Frederic looked to Leonardo, pure joy and relief in his eyes.

"Thank you," he mouthed.

Leo just smiled and gave a single nod.

That was when he noticed Varian wasn't on the floor anymore.

He wanted to smack himself; hadn't Splinter told him never to underestimate an enemy?

The floor began to shake. With little warning, a massive Automaton burst through the floor.

Unlike the others, this one had a window for an eye. And Varian's furious, heartbroken face was looking through it.

"Sorry, Princess! We were in this together. But if I can't have a happy ending, then neither can you!"

The Automaton raised it's giant fist. Leo tackled the family, getting them out of harm's way just in the nick of time.

Varian wasn't done. His mech suit followed the three humans, mutant turtle, and chameleon outside, where he continued trying to attack them.

"He has a mech suit?" Michelangelo shouted when he realized what was going on. "Why do we ALWAYS end up fighting dudes in robot armor? Seriously, the Kraang, Stockman..."

"Not the time, Mikey!" Donnie fired back.

Cass leapt into the air, her sword at the ready as she was about to land on Varian's Automaton suit.

He caught her in mid-air.

"Hello, Cassandra," the fourteen-year-old sneered. "I always knew I could sweep you off your feet!"

"Wait, did he have a crush on her or something?" Raph asked, confused.

"Yeah, the kid's not subtle," Eugene deadpanned as he prepared his sword. "I'll tell you more later."

"Let her go, Varian!" The Queen ordered.

Instead, she found herself the next person to be grabbed.

Things got a LOT more serious when Varian started squeezing both women in his grip. It became clear that he intended to finish them... and that he was going to make it hurt.

"What's the plan, Leo?" Raph yelled.

"Donnie, any weak spots?" The blue-clad turtle asked.

"Uh, I'm thinking--"

That was when a wall of black rocks surrounded Rapunzel.

Before anyone could do anything to help her, they dropped to reveal an unbelievable sight.

Rapunzel had let down her hair, and grabbed onto two black rocks, gripping them like lifelines. Her hair glowed gold and flowed behind her, despite their being no wind. A flash of blue light surrounded them, and a force sent Varian's Automatons (including the one he was in) flying back. Every mech except the one Varian rode in landed on black rocks, and exploded upon being impaled.

When Varian's mech landed flat on it's back, Cassandra and the Queen were freed from its hands. Lance and Michelangelo ran to Cass' aid while the King ran for his wife.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene shouted, sounding panicked.

The rocks began moving erratically as Rapunzel held on, her eyes twisted shut in concentration.

Varian's mech charged straight for her. Leo grabbed his katannas... and ended up not needing them.

Black rocks shot from the ground right in the mech's path. As the crowd watched, the rocks dismembered the charging Automaton until, finally, two rocks pierced through it's chest and its one remaining fist.

"NO!" Varian's cry could be heard from outside the mech.

As one, the rocks all glowed blue. They all pointed at the wall surrounding Corona, then grew into a single spike and pierced through it.

In surprise, Rapunzel let go of the rocks.

And promptly passed out.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene ran over and knelt by her, cradling her in his arms. "Rapunzel? Blondie?"

Her eyelids fluttered, then opened. She blinked, likely from exhaustion, then smiled and kissed him.

"Hi."

A relieved smile spread across Eugene's face as he sighed.

"We have got to start finding better ways to spend your birthdays."

Now that the battle was over, the kingdom's fighters and the Turtles gave Rapunzel a huge cheer.

Chapter Text

A wagon from the dungeon was called for. Varian was pulled from his wrecked Automaton and put in handcuffs. He glared at the Turtles and Coronians as he was shoved into the back of the wagon. Ruddiger, who'd followed the party from Corona, leapt aboard the wagon before the door closed.

"I will make you proud of me, Dad," Varian muttered, his eyes full of anger and regret. "If it's the last thing I ever do."

Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra looked on in sadness as the wagon was pulled away.

"I know he did a bunch of bad stuff," Mikey spoke up. "But it doesn't feel right to put him in jail. I mean, he's younger than us."

"Mikey," Donnie replied. "He drugged half the castle, tricked the princess into committing treason with him, stole and destroyed a historical artifact, kidnapped a member of the royal family and committed assault with a deadly weapon via a platoon of killer robots."

The orange clad turtle shrugged. "So... Community service?"

"Don't be too hard on him, Dad," Rapunzel asked.

"I'll be sure to do everything I can to get him help," the King promised. "As for Quirin... I'll not give up until I find a way to free him."

With that settled, the princess looked at the hole in the wall surrounding Old Corona. The rocks, after piercing through it, laid flat against the ground, forming a sort of path.

"It's like the rocks want us to, follow them," she remarked. 

"I think you're right," King Frederic agreed. "At first I believed the rocks' purpose was to destroy Corona. I was wrong. I can see now that they're pointing in a direction... Pointing you in a direction. I only regret that it has taken me all this to see that I should be doing the same. Rapunzel, when you were returned to us I swore I would never let anything happen to you again."

"Here we go again," Raphael muttered before Leo shushed him.

Rapunzel looked equally indignant. "Dad, we talked about this--"

"I know, I know. You're right. This past year, you've shown me that there's more in you than I could've ever imagined. I've just been too afraid to let you go. But this path is yours to follow... And if you ever lose your way..."

As if on cue, floating lanterns filled the sky. Leo remembered that they'd been part of the planned celebration for the princess' birthday; someone at the castle must've decided not to waste them.

Rapunzel smiled, her eyes turning misty with tears as she hugged the king.

"Thank you, Dad. I love you so much."

"And I love you, too, sweetheart."

The Queen joined in for a hug of her own.

"Find your destiny, Rapunzel."

Eugene came over to join her. 

"I'll take care of her, Your Majesty."

The King raised an eyebrow. "Eugene, you should know by now that Rapunzel doesn't need anyone to take care of her."

The prince-to-be chuckled. "Touche."

"I'll come with you, Raps," Cassandra volunteered. "I've been meaning to get out of Corona for a while."

Lance and Maximus volunteered. So, for some reason, did Shorty.

Rapunzel went over to the Turtles. 

"Sorry, but I guess I won't get to see you guys off if I'm on my journey. I hope the device gets fixed soon."

The brothers shared a look.

"Yeah, about that..." Mikey began.

"I actually repaired the device a couple days ago," Donatello explained.

"What?" Rapunzel replied. Several other people looked confused. "Why did you stay then?"

"Because we didn't want to leave you to deal with all of this alone," Leonardo admitted. "With everything you'd been through and everything going on... We thought you'd need all the friends you could get."

"Besides," Raphael smirked. "You think we'd pass up a chance to fight a bunch of robots?"

Rapunzel looked like she was going to cry. "You guys!"

She ran over and wrapped them all in a hug.

- - - -

Realistically, though Rapunzel was willing to go on the journey out of Corona as soon as possible, such a journey would need some planning and preparation. A caravan big enough for six people yet light enough to be pulled by two horses was constructed, food was prepared and packed, maps were drawn, weapons forged, clothing made or modified... and, of course, a new journal was gifted to Rapunzel by the Queen to fill with her new adventures.

But before any of those preparations began, Rapunzel asked for the King and Queen to help her put together a ceremony in the throne room.

Half the kingdom showed up, with the royals, Eugene, Cassandra, Lance, the King, the Queen, and even Maximus and Pascal up front. The four Turtles stood in front of the thrones, the Reality Check sitting on a stand nearby.

"You didn't come to Corona on purpose," Rapunzel began her speech. "But from the moment you came here, you showed me, and the rest of the kingdom, that you are selfless warriors as noble as our bravest knights. You've done the kingdom countless services, and while we can't give enough thanks for all you've done, I hope these will show at least part of our gratitude."

She signaled for a guard to come forward. In his arms was a large, ornate box. Rapunzel placed it on the table next to her and lifted the lid. Inside, sitting on a velvet cushion, were four golden medallions. Each one bore the Corona sun engraved in the center of the pendant. Each pendant was attached to a ribbon, so it could be worn around the neck.

The princess took each medal from the box and gave it to it's respective turtle: Leo's had a blue ribbon, Raph's a red one, Don's was colored purple, and Mikey's orange.

They spent a few seconds gazing at their prizes before they shared a look and bowed as one to Rapunzel.

"Thank you, Your Majesty..." Leonardo began.

He was cut off by Raps abandoning court formality and hugging him.

"I should thank you," she replied. Pascal, sitting on her shoulder, cheeped in despondent agreement as he hugged the turtle's cheek.

Raph and Eugene were sharing a solemn goodbye, and made each other laugh by pretending to turn their handshake into an arm-wrestling contest.

Donnie left Cassandra with a few quick ideas he'd drawn up for the caravan their group would use, including an idea he'd had for allowing the caravan to split in half in times of crises.

Mikey and Lance clung to each other as they said goodbye, sobbing.

"I'll miss you so much, dude! There were so many pizzas I wanted to show you!"

"There were so many of your pizzas I wanted to eat!"

Maximus rolled his eyes and snorted at the two.

Finally, it was time.

"Okay," Donnie muttered to himself. "If I reuse the settings that Mikey put in last time..."

He gave a final twist of a knob, causing the device to boot up. There were a few gasps and murmurs from the group as a wall of light seemed to appear from in front of the Reality Check.

The Turtles, however, felt only relief. Through the wall, they could see the familiar sights of the lair.

Leo turned, and gave a final smile at their new friends.

"This isn't goodbye," he told them. "With the device fixed, we can come back sometime."

"Don't wait too long," Rapunzel asked. "Okay?"

"I promise."

"Don't say that lightly," Eugene replied. "You know how serious we are about promises around here."

Rapunzel looked at her bare feet briefly before she returned her smile to the Turtles.

"We'll come back soon," Mikey spoke up. "That's a double promise!"

With that, the four teenagers walked through the wall of light.

- - - -

They expected to be immediately lectured by a frightened, angry Splinter or screamed at by a frightened, angry April.

But when they stepped back into the lair... Everything was exactly as they remembered it.

"Weird," Mikey was the first to speak. "We were gone for like, a week. Shouldn't Splinter be yelling at us by now?"

"Not unless no time has passed," Donnie spoke up from where he was looking at his phone. He held up the device. "Remember how our phones stopped working as soon as we wound up in Corona?"

They nodded.

"Well, it just started working again, and it's showing the exact same time as when we left."

"What?" Raph scoffed. "Are you saying that time froze when we left?"

"No, I'm saying that time moved faster for us in Corona than it did for everyone in this dimension."

"...What?" Leo asked, his confusion echoing Raph and Mikey's.

"It's basic time dilation. According to several astrophysical theories--"

"My sons?"

The four of them turned to see Splinter walking into the room, confusion on his face. 

All talks of time and space were abandoned as they ran for their father. He accepted the sudden group hug with grace, though he couldn't help staring at the shining medals on their necks.

"Would someone like to explain what happened since I saw you last?" The ninja master suggested after his sons let him out of the hug.

"It's a really long story, Sensei," Leo apologized.

"Then I suggest you tell it."

Chapter Text

Other than hanging their medals on display in the dojo, life for the Turtles had moved on as usual.

They patrolled most nights, fought a few Purple Dragons (the Kraang were still licking their wounds and the Foot Clan were being surprisingly quiet), ate some of Mikey's experimental pizzas (the cheeseburger pizza was alright but the peppermint cocoa pizza got thrown out), and told April and Splinter all they could remember about Corona.

April had been a bit jealous that they'd gone to a magical fantasy kingdom without her... but admitted that the low tech, robots, and monsters probably would have driven her a bit crazy. Sure, she dealt with robots and mutant monsters fairly often at home, but at least she had electric lighting.

As for Splinter, the ninja master seemed surprised that the Coronians had been so accepting of them (although they admitted that this was partially because the Turtles defended them from thieves and because the princess vouched for them). He'd nodded when he approved of their methods and looked a bit confused when told that the people seemed to sing out of nowhere.

It really shouldn't have surprised them when, one morning, Splinter suggested they take him to see Corona.

"You're serious?" Leonardo asked, so surprised that he missed his cereal bowl and poured milk onto the table.

"I am," he replied as he passed his oldest a napkin. "It has been many years since I could walk among humans and not have to hide. It would be nice to do so again... And to thank those who were so kind to you four."

"Yeah, but you won't be able to," Raphael commented as he spread butter on his burnt toast. "Remember, guys? Rapunzel was going on that long trip when we left. She took Pascal, Maximus, Eugene, everyone with her. If we go back, they won't be there."

"Not exactly," Donatello cut in from where he'd been replacing the light bulb in the fridge. "Remember what I said about time dilation?"

He got blank looks, and rolled his eyes.

"Of course not. Basically, time moves slower here than it does there. We were there for a week, yet no more than a few seconds passed here. So, logically, it could have been months, even a year since we were last there. Rapunzel could be back by now. Plus, based on the physicals I gave us when we came home, we didn't age at all during our time there. We could be in Corona for years and not age a day."

"So," Michelangelo asked from where he'd been adding sugar to his sugary cereal, "family vacation?"

The family looked at each other. Seeing that everyone was on board, Leo spoke up.

"Donnie, any chance the Reality Check can send us back to Corona?"

"It'll need a little maintenance, but it shouldn't be a problem."

"Alright, I guess we're going on a trip."

Mikey cheered, nearly knocking over his cereal.

Now knowing what to expect, everyone spent the morning preparing. April couldn't come due to having a major chemistry test that day, so they left her a note (though they wondered if it would be necessary given how they doubted they'd be gone for more than a few minutes). The note said that they were sorry to go to Corona without her, again, but that they promised they'd take her with them next time. Even with the apology, the boys cringed at the thought of what April would do when she found the note. The four of them agreed that they'd rather fight the Kraang, the Purple Dragons, and the Foot Clan all at once rather than deal with their surrogate sister when she was angry.

Leo found some backpacks April'd gifted them a month ago (blue, red, purple, orange, and burgundy), and handed them out before filling his with as many kunai, shurikens, and shuko spikes as he could. Raph took a similar approach, though they all noticed when he printed out an article on horseback riding tips and lizard care. Donnie filled his bag with a canister of fake ooze and as many of his tools as he could fit (he also made sure to remind everyone that phones and devices wouldn't work in Corona, so to leave their phones behind). Mikey stuffed his bag with pizza recipes, spices, and some art supplies he thought Rapunzel might like. Splinter's bag was the lightest: other than a spare kimono, shuko spikes, several shurikens and a copy Michelangelo'd drawn of his family portrait, he didn't have anything he needed to take.

The one thing the turtles all agreed on was wearing the medallions Rapunzel had gifted them; it seemed wrong to leave them at home.

After spending the morning packing and part of the afternoon checking to make sure the lair was secure (and that Mikey hadn't left any snacks out where they could attract ants again), the family was ready to go.

Donnie gave the Reality Check a quick systems check before refueling it with fake ooze and bringing it to the family room.

"Do you even know how we'll get back there?" Raphael asked, one eye ridge raised.

"Yes," he replied. "Not only have I memorized the knobs and dials that will send us to Corona's dimension, but I also discovered something while tinkering with the device. The first time it sent us to Corona was a bit of a fluke, but sending us home was easier because our genetic signatures are tied to our home dimension. This time, since we all spent time with people and animals in Corona's dimension, the device has their genetic signature memorized and will lock in on them."

He got a lot of blank looks.

"...What?" Leo asked.

Donatello sighed. "It's going to send us straight to wherever Rapunzel and Eugene are."

"Dude, why didn't you just say that?" Mikey fired back.

The purple clad turtle chose not to dignify that with a response, and returned to his work.

"I think you'll like Rapunzel, Sensei," Leonardo spoke up. "She's resourceful, brave, protective, smarter than she looks... I think she'd be a great ninja."

"Has someone got a crush on a princess?" Raph smirked at his brother.

"What? No! She's too old for me, AND she's dating Eugene. We're just friends."

"Alright, alright..."

"That is enough, boys," Splinter gave them a look as Donnie finished adjusting the Reality Check.

"Okay," Donatello announced, "here goes nothing!"

He pressed the final button.

Just like before, a round wall of light appeared in front of them, taller than even Donatello and as wide as all four turtles standing in a line.

Splinter blinked, visibly impressed.

"Come on, dudes!" Mikey cheered, racing forward. "All aboard for Corona!"

They didn't need to be told twice. Since they weren't trying to fight the pull of the portal, going through it was much easier than last time.

Splinter carried the Reality Check as they went through, as they didn't want it to be dropped again.

When they came through the other side, the Turtles expected to land in the royal gardens like last time.

Instead, they landed in the middle of a wild forest, at night.

"Dudes?" Mikey asked. "I know I'm not great at noticing stuff, but I don't think the gardens looked like this before."

"Either they need a new gardener," Raph commented, "or we landed somewhere different this time."

"Rapunzel must still be on her trip," Leo theorized. "I don't think we're in Corona at all."

"Hang on," Donnie stopped everyone before they could walk around. "If the Reality Check was supposed to send us to Rapunzel's location, then where is she?"

That was a good question. Raph and Mikey wanted to walk around calling out the princess' name, but Splinter and Leonardo shut that down immediately. Even if they were more accepted here than in New York, it was still never a good idea to call attention to oneself in strange territory.

"A ninja must observe and study their surroundings before they strike," he warned. "While decisiveness is useful in a fight, when staking out one must take time to think."

"Guess that leaves Mikey out," Raph commented (earning a glare from Leo).

They were still trying to decide what to do when the sound of rustling leaves came from nearby.

Without a word, the five of them hid among the foliage, watching with steely eyes for any sign of movement. 

For a few tense seconds, nothing happened.

Then, they heard sounds that they recognized. A happy, chirpy woman's voice, paired with a sarcastic but light-hearted man's voice and the cheeping of a chameleon.

Mikey nearly leapt out of his hiding place, but Leo held him back. He couldn't, however, resist the urge to call out.

"Rapunzel?"

The voices stopped short, as though the speakers were stunned. Then came the sound of running bare feet on dirt-packed ground. 

As he watched, two bushes were shoved aside, revealing a nineteen-year-old woman with a purple dress, a chameleon on her shoulder, and ridiculously long blonde hair.

After a moment of looking around, her eyes locked on the turtle. Her face lit up.

"LEO!"

She ran towards him. He braced himself and caught her in a hug.

"Oh my gosh, I didn't expect to see you here... How'd you get here? I missed you guys so much... Wait, are you all here?"

"Why don't you hug us and find out!" Mikey asked, jumping from his hiding spot.

Laughing, Rapunzel obliged.

"Blondie? What's going on?"

Eugene, frying pan in hand, stepped out from behind the same bush... then dropped the pan when he saw the Turtles.

"Guys!"

He happily reunited with Raphael while Rapunzel hugged Donatello. Pascal was leaping from one turtle's shoulder to another, changing to blue, red, purple, and orange (depending on which turtle he was on) and cheeping happily.

It was after the initial reunion that Splinter felt he should step out.

"I meant to tell you," Leo spoke up when the princess and former thief saw him. "It wasn't just us this time. This is our father--"

"Master Splinter, right?" Rapunzel interrupted, looking excited. She held out a hand. "Your sons told me all about you. It's nice to finally meet you!"

Splinter seemed surprised at her not being frightened, but returned the handshake before bowing.

"The honor is mine, Your Majesty."

"Oh, you don't have to do that," she told the rat mutant. "And it's just Rapunzel. This is my boyfriend, Eugene Fitzherbert."

"Wow," Eugene commented. "You guys weren't kidding when you said your dad was a rat."

"What? You afraid of rats?" Raph asked, smirking.

"No, I'm not afraid," Eugene commented. "I'm just surprised."

As if to show he wasn't afraid, he shook hands with Splinter.

"I'm so glad to see you guys," Rapunzel repeated. "I can't believe it's been a whole year since we saw you..."

"A year?" Mikey repeated, eyes wide as pizza pans.

"We were only gone a week!" Raph stated incredulously.

"...No, it's been a year," Eugene backed up his girlfriend. "Since we saw you, I almost got married to a crime lord's daughter, we got stuck in a never-ending forest, a crazy witch and warlock turned us into birds, we got stuck in a knowledge spire with an annoying keeper, we got stuck on a cursed island of leaf people, a giant tree almost killed us, Hookfoot got into a dance battle, Rapunzel lost her memory, we all got trapped in a magic inn that wanted to use Rapunzel as a magic battery... If you can explain to me how all that can happen in a week, let's hear it."

The Hamatos were all silent for a moment.

"Okay," Leo commented, "we missed a few things..."

"I tried to tell you about time dilation..." Donnie muttered.

Rapunzel started leading them back to the camp the rest of the traveling crew had set up, explaining the details of their journey on the way.

Apparently, the black rocks were leading Rapunzel somewhere called the Dark Kingdom, where she was supposed to find a gem called the Moonstone. She'd also discovered that her hair had the power to drain life when she said a special incantation (which she promised she wouldn't do when they looked nervous) and had gotten Hookfoot reunited with his brother (who he was traveling with for the foreseeable future).

When they arrived at the camp site, there was a round of laughter and hugs as the Turtles reunited with Lance, Cass, and Maximus. Shorty just gave a ditzy wave while the other horse (a light brown one named Fidella) gave them a happy look. This was followed by Splinter getting to meet the rest of his sons' Corona friends.

Leo wondered if it was his imagination, but Cassandra seemed... colder than he remembered. And since when did she start wearing a full suit of armor?

He brushed it off when Mikey and Lance decided they were going to make the best possible camp pizza ever. Rapunzel decided to pass the time by telling everyone where she and Eugene had been that day.

The turtle sat back, and enjoyed the story. 

He didn't see the worried look on Eugene's face as he looked at the little jewel in his hands.

- - - -

Eugene had been happily listening to his girlfriend's story as he fiddled with Vigor's (er, Demanitus') jewel.

A bit of fumbling, however, revealed that it wasn't a jewel at all: it was a case.

He opened it, and found a folded up message inside. The note, written like all of Vigor's notes, made Eugene's heart speed up.

"At the end of Rapunzel's journey, one of her party shall turn against her."

What? 

He couldn't believe that... But if it was Demanitus in control when that was written..

Eugene looked at their friends gathered around the campfire.

He wondered about Splinter and the Turtles... and shut that thought down immediately. They'd saved so many lives when they were in Corona, and they had the trust of the entire kingdom. Even if he didn't know Splinter yet, he knew how much the Turtles looked up to him. It couldn't be any of them.

He next glanced at Lance, and knew that wouldn't happen. Lance might be more comfortable with their criminal past than Eugene, but he knew his best friend. Arnwaldo Schnitz wouldn't betray someone like that. 

Shorty was also out of the question. He was too ditzy to betray anyone.

Pascal? Impossible. He'd been Rapunzel's closest friend her whole life; he was her family before they were. Plus, the chameleon didn't have a true bad bone in his body.

Maximus and Fidella would never; they were far too loyal to their kingdom and the royal family.

That just left...

As he watched, Cassandra made a face at Rapunzel while she wasn't looking. A face that looked like... a sneer.

Eugene's eyes blew wide in shock.

Chapter Text

Even if Hookfoot (a Snuggly Duckling thug the Turtles had only sort of gotten to know last time) was gone, the caravan was a bit cramped with five extra people. Thankfully, they only needed to be in there for an hour before Maximus and Fidella brought the caravan to a halt.

Rapunzel popped out of the roof of the caravan, with Mikey right behind her.

"There it is!" She called out.

Everyone filed out of the caravan, eyeing their destination.

Across a deep canyon was a black castle surrounded by sharp black rocks.

"We made it," Rapunzel murmured. "The Dark Kingdom."

"That's... Not particularly inviting," Donatello noted.

"Sometimes, my son," Splinter replied as he started to leave the caravan, "looks can be deceiving..."

He then took his own look at the kingdom in the distance.

"...and sometimes they are not."

"Yep," Eugene spoke up. "We just need a way to get the old camper down there..."

"Wait," Leonardo spoke up. "You set the brakes before you unhooked the horses, right?"

Lance and Eugene pointed at each other, speaking in unison. "It was his job... MY job?!"

As if on cue, the caravan started to roll backwards. Even Mikey wasn't fast enough to catch it before it fell off the cliff and onto a patch of black rocks.

"NO!" Eugene groaned. "Not AGAIN!"

"Again?" Raphael asked incredulously.

Lance sighed, wiping a tear from his eye. "It served us well."

"Good thing we were all wearing our bags," Leo remarked, gesturing to himself, his brothers, and his sensei. Each of them were wearing or carrying their respective backpacks.

"At least we still have food, money, and the necessities," Cassandra noted. "We didn't lose anything too important."

"Oh no!" Shorty shouted, pointing at the wreckage. "All my clean clothes!"

Lance glared at him. "Shorty, you never had any clean clothes."

He grinned slyly. "Well, not with that attitude..."

"Lovely as this conversation is," Leonardo interrupted, "Rapunzel, do you think we should...?"

He saw that the royal had turned away from the wrecked wagon, instead looking towards the Dark Kingdom.

Cassandra went over to join her.

"Your destiny awaits, Princess," she told her.

Leo paused. The last time they'd been with Rapunzel and her friends, she and Cass had been so close. Why was Cassandra acting so... formal? Even to the Turtles she'd been colder than before.

Maybe it was because of what happened to Cass' arm at that big tree?

"You sure you're ready for this?" Eugene asked his girlfriend, startling Leo out of his train of thought.

"I just wish I knew what 'this' is!" She admitted, a concerned Pascal on her shoulder. "I mean, Demanitus said that if I don't grab the Moonstone, the black rocks will destroy everything."

"Which is bad," Mikey agreed.

"But," Rapunzel went on, "I have no idea what to expect is gonna happen to me when I do."

"Which could also be bad," Mikey repeated, looking worried.

"Not helping," Lance whispered to him.

"Whatever happens," Cassandra touched Rapunzel's shoulder, "you won't be facing it alone."

She took a step forward. Music came from nowhere as she opened her mouth and sang.

"Now, now more than ever,

We must stick together, 

United."

"Is she singing?" Splinter asked, confused.

"Yeah, they do that here," Raphael replied, nonchalant.

"I wouldn't question it," Donatello suggested.

Eugene joined the song.

"Now, it's now or never,

So let's face the future,

Clear-sighted."

Rapunzel joined in.

"Somehow we've managed to make it this far,

It's been one heck of a ride."

The three continued as a trio.

"There's nothing I couldn't do,

Not with you by my side!"

As the group made their way closer and closer to the Dark Kingdom, the three continued to sing about the trials they faced on their journey, how happy they were to be together, and how they wanted to stay together no matter what the end of the journey brought.

It might have been Leonardo's imagination, but Cass' part of the song sounded a little... insincere.

- - - -

After an hour or so of walking, the group took a rest. Rapunzel was telling Splinter a bit more about some of the Turtles' previous adventures in Corona, Lance and Mikey snacked on fruit, Shorty napped, Cassandra and Leonardo were sharpening their swords, and Raphael gave the horses apples. When Max and Fidella finished their treats, the turtle noticed Eugene standing off to the side. He was holding a piece of paper.

"'At the end of Rapunzel's journey,'" the former thief read aloud, "'one of her company will turn against her.'"

"What?" Raph asked. Eugene whirled around. He briefly stammered, probably trying to think of a lie, when he gave up.

"When Rapunzel and I finished our mission in that maze, the monkey Demanitus was speaking through--"

It said a lot about Raphael's life that he didn't find such a sentence odd.

"--gave me this fortune. According to him, at the end of this journey, one of us will turn against Rapunzel."

"That can't be right," the teenager argued. "Everyone loves Rapunzel... Except that Varian guy and that one candy store owner."

"I don't want to believe it either, but Demanitus has been right about everything so far."

"If you're that worried, why not tell her?"

"I won't tell her, she has enough to worry about as it is--"

A chameleon's tongue shot out of nowhere and snatched the paper from Eugene's hand.

They both looked in shock as Pascal handed the paper to Rapunzel.

"Hey," the princess giggled, "what's this?"

"Snitch," Raphael snarked at Pascal, who gave a nonchalant shrug.

- - - -

As expected, Rapunzel refused to believe that anyone in the group would turn against her. Eugene seemed prepared to argue about it, but they were interrupted when a raven flew right into the former thief's face.

"What?" Donnie asked, surprised.

It was not a very intelligent-looking raven. It cawed twice, tried to take off, ran into a tree, fell again, then kept flying around them.

"I think that bird's flown into too many windows," Leonardo remarked.

They quickly realized that the stupid raven was the first of a wave. The sound of distant cawing grow louder, and they turned to see a swarm of black birds descending on them. These birds were much smarter than the first, and attacked en masse.

Despite it being one of their weirder fights, the Turtles and Splinter acted fast. The birds were still normal birds, and could be spooked off by loud noises or fast motions. Leo and Raph had to be careful though, as the birds tried to steal their shiny weapons (as ravens were noted lovers of shiny objects). 

The entire odd battle came to an end when Rapunzel made a net out of her hair and managed to trap the birds (and, somehow, Lance) inside it. She gave the hair-bag a swing, sending all of the ravens flying back where they'd come from.

And causing poor Lance to fall into the dirt.

"You okay, dude?" Mikey asked, coming to his friend's side.

Lance coughed and spat out a black feather.

"Nevermore..." he moaned.

"Wonderful!" A sarcastic Eugene shouted as he dumped the stupid raven out of his boot. "Even the birds in this kingdom are hostile!"

The stupid raven dopily flew off towards its friends.

"It's gonna take a lot more than a bunch of birds to stop us," Rapunzel declared as she started putting her hair up again. She froze when she saw that they'd reached the edge of the chasm. "Something like this, for example..."

The group quickly found a gondola. Ancient as it was, it seemed to be the only way across.

"You're sure there's no other way across?" Leonardo asked, skeptical.

"Looks like," Raphael noted. "Unless someone wants to sprout wings."

"Blondie, that thing's a good fifty yards out there," Eugene told his girlfriend.

"I can get it..." Cassandra began.

However, Splinter was already starting out on the line.

"Uh, Master Splinter?" Lance called out, then realized that the Turtles weren't nervous at all.

As the group watched, the rat mutant ran across the line like a seasoned tightrope walker. With minimal effort, he reached the gondola and jumped in. After a moment of experimenting with the gondola's mechanisms, he managed to get it back to their side of the chasm.

"Wow," Rapunzel noted, speaking for everyone.

"He taught us everything we know," Mikey bragged.

Leo sneaked a look at Cassandra, remembering how upset she seemed to get when she was upstaged. But she looked completely indifferent. Which Leonardo found... concerning. 

The warning Raphael had told his brothers about flashed through his mind...

He shook himself as the gondola reached its dock. He needed to focus on helping Rapunzel right now.

The gondola's mechanisms were powered by a hand crank. Lance and Cassandra operated it at first, but they found that Raphael and Michelangelo assisting made the trip faster. 

They were only a few feet away from the cliff's edge when there was a heavy thud on the gondola's roof. Raph and Mikey abandoned the hand crank and joined their brothers and father under the trap door. All five of them drew their weapons. Eugene was about to open the door when an axe blade came through it.

A man as tall and twice as wide as Splinter stood on the gondola's roof. He was dressed in black armor, a brown fur cape, and a bear mask that covered his entire head.

"Can we not go one place without some weirdo jumping out of nowhere?!" Eugene shouted.

With the door destroyed, the Turtles, Splinter, Rapunzel, and Eugene got on the roof and began to fight the masked man.

At some point, the stupid raven got into the gondola and tried to fight Pascal. Somehow he beat himself up before he fell out of the gondola. The chameleon wore a funny look for a moment before deciding to move on.

Right when Leonardo thought things had gotten crazy enough, a ronin appeared out of nowhere and engaged the masked man.

"And now Adira's here," Eugene shouted. "Because why wouldn't she be?!"

"Who's Adira?" Donatello asked.

"We'll introduce you later!" Rapunzel promised, noticing that they'd reached the other side of the chasm. "For now, everyone off the gondola!"

No one needed to be told twice. The horses, chameleon, Cassandra, Lance, the Turtles, Splinter, Shorty, and Rapunzel all made it off. After the masked man knocked her black sword off of the gondola, Adira did a back flip onto land. Eugene was the last, and was about to jump off when the masked man swung his ax at him.

"Rapunzel!" He called out as he dodged the blade. "You and the others go! I'll hold off Mister Personality!"

"Eugene!" She tried to reach him, only for the masked man to slice through the cable. 

In front of everyone's shocked eyes, the gondola began to fall into the chasm.

"EUGENE!" The princess screamed as the gondola and its unfortunate passengers fell.

She fell to her knees as the others watched, stunned and saddened.

- - - -

The gondola had landed on a ledge, knocking Eugene out for a moment. He groaned as he came to, feeling all of his new bruises at once.

"Ooh," he moaned as he sat up. "That was thoroughly unpleasant..."

He froze as he saw the masked man, ax still in hand, stomped towards him.

"But thank goodness, you're okay," he muttered, sarcastic to the end.

The man raised his ax. For a moment, the monster and victim's eyes met. Eugene looked into a set of eyes the exact same brown as his.

A gasp came from the masked man, and his weapon didn't come down.

"So," Eugene growled, determined to face death with dignity. "What are you waiting for?"

"I... I won't fight you," the masked man stated, speaking for the first time as he took off his mask.

He was a man in his late forties, probably the same age as King Frederic. His hair was a shade darker than Eugene's, not to mention curlier and at least a foot longer, with a mustache and goatee to match.

"You," he continued, "are my son."

- - - -

Michelangelo hugged the sobbing Rapunzel as everyone stared into the chasm in mourning.

"He gave his life to protect yours," Splinter told her, feeling incredibly sympathetic for the girl. "There is no greater declaration of love than that."

Leo looked at his sensei with understanding. The master ninja of all people would know what this felt like; after all, he'd lived through a very similar situation...

"This is not how our story ends," the princess stated as she stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. "We're going back to get him..."

"No need."

The ronin, Adira, climbed out of the chasm, dusting herself off.

"He's fine," she continued. "He made it safely into the cave below. I saw it."

She paused when she saw Splinter and the Turtles, raising an eyebrow.

"Guys," Rapunzel told them, "this is Adira. She's a warrior who knows about the Dark Kingdom, and she's been helping us since we left Corona. Adira, this is Master Splinter and his sons, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo."

"A fellow warrior," she noted as she eyed their weapons.

"Our appearance does not surprise you?" Splinter asked.

"Nothing surprises me," she replied before turning back to Rapunzel. "Now let's go. Fish Skin didn't risk his life so we could waste time looking for him..."

"Fish skin?" Leo whispered to Donnie, who shrugged in confusion.

Rapunzel stopped the ronin by wrapping her hair around her.

"Just a minute, Adira," the princess began, her tone saying that she was out of patience. "You knew that knight back there. In fact, I'd bet you know a lot of things you're not telling us. We're not going another step until you start giving us answers."

"I like this side of Rapunzel," Raph whispered to Mikey.

"You're right, Princess," Adira agreed as she freed herself from the magic hair. "It's time you heard the whole story. It starts with the moon.

"Centuries ago, a single drop of moonlight fell from the heavens. From this small drop of moonlight grew a single opal stone. It possessed the power to destroy any and all who would seek to possess it. As time passed, the opal's defenses spread. From that grew a kingdom, the Dark Kingdom. The royals of this kingdom swore to stand guard over the Moonstone, protecting the world from its limitless power. But it was Edmund, the last of the Dark Kings, who tried to end this legacy and destroy the stone... That didn't go so well."

"Was he okay?" Mikey asked.

"He's the one you just fought," Adira asked. "What do you think?"

Everyone looked at each other in shock as the warrior went on.

"However, it resulted in the death of the Dark Queen, and nearly killed the king. In the fallout, the people of the Dark Kingdom were ordered to evacuate and never return. That included the infant Dark prince. He then sent his most trusted soldiers, one of them me, into the world to ensure that the Moonstone remained a secret. He called us the Brotherhood... Which I always thought was a bit odd because, well, one of us is a woman. I refused to believe that such darkness could exist without a light of equal power somewhere in this world. As usual, I was right. After years of searching, I found the Sundrop."

She pointed at Rapunzel. "Only you, Rapunzel, can restore balance to all things."

"Whoa," Michelangelo commented. "Drama bomb."

Leo shut him up with a look.

"If you've known this all along," Rapunzel asked, "why have you been so cryptic?"

"While I'm certain bringing the Sundrop to the Moonstone will neutralize its threat," Adira admitted, "I'm not sure what will happen to you."

There was a moment of silence as everyone considered that.

Cassandra looked concerned. "You mean if Rapunzel touches the Moonstone, she could...?"

"Maybe not," Donatello spoke up. "Everyone who tried to destroy the Moonstone before was badly hurt, right?"

Adira nodded.

"But if the Sundrop, aka Rapunzel, possesses equal power, then there's a good chance that her powers will cancel out the Moonstone's and she'll be fine."

"How good of a chance?" Leo asked.

"...Fifty-percent?" He shrugged. "I don't have to calculate magic very often, so the best I can do is estimate..."

"I did not come this far to stop now," the princess decided.

"Good," Adira replied. "Are we all friends again?"

"Sure," Rapunzel agreed.

"We just met you," Raph responded with a scowl.

The path Adira led them down was narrow, meaning Maximus and Fidella couldn't follow. Shorty stayed with them as their "protector" (though Max was actually left in charge). The path was lined with booby traps, but thankfully they were so old that so much as sneezing on them would make them fall apart (something Mikey proved true when a trap kicked dust in his face). 

"We have to move fast," the ronin informed them as they approached the Dark Kingdom's entrance. "The King has my Shadow Blade."

"What's so bad about that?" Leo asked as he helped Lance get around an old mace-trap. 

"That sword is the only thing that can cut through the black rocks," Cassandra informed him. "There's a chance it could destroy the Moonstone, too."

He nodded. As they approached the door, though, he slowed down to stand next to Cass.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Why do you ask?" She returned, suspicious.

"It's just... I know it's been a year since I've seen you and a lot's happened, but... You seem different."

"I'm a different person from who I was when I left Corona. I've... Learned things."

She didn't seem willing to elaborate on what those things were.

"And... You're letting Rapunzel do this?" He asked. He remembered her as being the person who kept Rapunzel out of trouble.

She paused before answering.

"I believe that Rapunzel shouldn't have to die for some old legend," she admitted. "That it would be better if someone else was willing to take the Moonstone. But..." She paused, as if thinking up the right words. "I believe that everyone should follow their destiny."

He was about to ask further questions when they reached the kingdom's entrance. The door could be opened by a pulley system. Like with the gondola before, Lance, Michelangelo, Cassandra, and Raphael spun the wheel.

The door cracked open... and Eugene was standing in the entrance.

"Eugene!" The princess cried out in happy relief.

Looks of joy and surprise crossed everyone's faces. But Splinter alone noticed the utter devastation on Eugene's face.

As the princess tried to get to him, he put a hand up, barring her entry into the kingdom.

"Eugene? What is it?" She asked, confused.

"...I'm sorry, Rapunzel... But I won't let you in."

The chain holding the door open came loose, and it slammed shut right in the princess' face.

Chapter Text

"Eugene! Let me in!"

Rapunzel had her forehead and fists against the closed door, wrapped up in betrayal and confusion.

Leo was confused, too. Eugene had always supported his girlfriend, so why was he acting like this now?

"'One of her own will turn against her,'" Rapunzel recited the fortune. "I can't believe this..."

"Princess, listen to me," Lance spoke up, sounding surprisingly sincere. "I've known Eugene my entire life, and he has never, and I mean never, loved anyone as much as he loves you."

"He was willing to sacrifice his life to buy you time," Splinter added. "This is likely another attempt to protect you. We must hear Eugene explain himself before we try and hold his actions against him... Understand, boys?"

He looked at the Turtles. They all sheepishly put their weapons down.

"Splinter's right, Raps," Cass agreed. "Whatever he's doing, he must be doing it for you."

"You guys are probably right," the princess turned around. "But I need to hear it from him."

"We have to hurry," Adira changed the subject. "Who knows how long we have before King Edmund destroys the Moonstone."

"Look, up there!" Mikey pointed.

Just above the door was a hole in the wall. It was big enough for one person to get through.

"One of us can get through, find Eugene, and get his help in keeping the Moonstone from the King," Leonardo strategized.

"I'll go." Raph stepped forward. "Anything the King tries to throw at me, I'll be able to take."

"You just want to beat up Eugene for hurting Rapunzel," Donatello accused.

"No!" He denied, then relented. "Okay, maybe a little. But does anyone have any better options?"

Leo sighed. Despite it not seeming like it, Raph had far better control over his anger than people realized. It wasn't perfect, but he had the best chance of keeping his anger at Eugene in check, at least until he could explain himself.

"Okay," the blue-clad turtle agreed. "But give me your sais."

"Why?" Raph refused.

"Because that hole is too narrow for you and your weapons. And because I don't trust you not to stab Eugene if you don't like his explanation."

Raphael sighed, took off his sais, and handed them to Splinter.

"Pascal," Rapunzel asked her pet. "Go with him. Get to Eugene and don't let him anywhere near that stone."

The chameleon cheeped, then leapt onto Raph's shoulder.

"You ready?" The turtle asked the lizard.

In response, Pascal changed the skin around his eyes to red, mimicking Raphael's bandanna.

Grinning, Raph used a combination of shuko and parkour to get to the hole and climb through.

"The rest of us need to look for a back entrance or something," the princess ordered as the duo vanished. "This can't be the only way into the castle."

Adira shook her head. "I'm afraid the King has sealed all the entrances to the--"

"Is that an earthquake?" Mikey asked as he looked down.

Rapunzel's hair turned gold as black rocks split the ground apart.

Next thing they knew, their group was traveling through a tunnel of lava and black magic rocks.

Leo had to admit that of all the crazy things they'd done, this was NOT on the list.

- - - -

Raph had thought that sneaking into a creepy, centuries-old castle would have been more thrilling.

The fact that literally no one was there made the whole mission a little anti-climactic.

The closest thing the duo'd had to a fight since entering the Dark Castle was when the stupid crow showed up and tried to get a rematch with Pascal. But that didn't give Raph much satisfaction since the crow, once again, beat himself up.

In his opinion, it wasn't a successful mission unless someone got their butt kicked.

And there was one goatee-wearing jerk whose butt he really wanted to kick...

"I still don't understand why he did it," Raph whisper-vented to Pascal. "That guy has shown so many times how much he loves his future wife. The two are so in love it's almost annoying. And now he goes and betrays her like this?"

Pascal nodded, equally angry.

One thing Raph knew for sure was that he was going to get a lot angrier if they didn't get some kind of clue as to where Eugene was...

As if answering his wish, the turtle heard music start to fill the air. Slow, melancholy music.

"I doubt that Dark King's much of a singer," the turtle mused, "so that's got to be Eugene."

It didn't take long to find him. He was sitting on a podium, surrounded by statues of old monarchs as he stared at old wanted posters.

As Raph debated punching the man's face in, he began to sing.

"I thought I was an outcast,

I thought I stood alone.

A rogue, a thief, a joker,

No place to call my own.

I thought no one could love me, 

And how could I have known

I was wrong.

Oh, so wrong.

And then I thought I found it, 

A dream that I could share.

Thought I was so lucky,

It almost wasn't fair.

I thought I knew my purpose,

I thought that I knew where I belonged,

And I was wrong."

Raph winced. What the heck was going through Eugene's head?

"Everything I ever thought I knew,

Where I've been, where I'm going.

Everything I counted on turned out to be untrue.

Could've guessed, should've known.

Now I do."

He stood up, his hands on the side of his head. Raphael was never the best at emotions, but he sensed that Eugene was having some kind of identity crisis.

"Everything I'd yearned for,

Everything I'd planned.

All my sweetest memories were castles made of sand.

Now that it's all crumbling, help me understand:

If none of it was really me,

Then who am I supposed to be?!

And everything I ever thought I knew,

Every hope, every feeling.

Love and trust and happiness

They're done, they're gone, they're through.

And what's left?

Me alone.

Once again, should've known.

Now I do."

He sat back down, once again staring at the wanted posters.

"I guess my life meant nothing.

I guess it was a sham.

I guess I'm someone else, now.

I wonder who I am."

Raph couldn't take it anymore.

"You know, you're making it really hard for me to want to punch your face in."

Eugene's head shot up as the turtle, Pascal still on his shoulder, jumped down from his hiding spot in the ceiling.

"Raph, Pascal? What are you doing here?"

"We should be asking you the same thing." Raph stomped over, his eyes burning holes in Eugene. "Why are you in here instead of helping your girlfriend?"

Pascal turned red all over, his color matching his mood.

Eugene winced. "Yeah, yeah, I know everyone's mad at me, but I didn't have a choice."

"Yeah, right," Raph scoffed.

"Look, this is gonna sound crazy, but this place..."

He gestured around the room. 

"... is where I come from. King Edmund... is my birth father."

Raph's anger turned to surprise, and Pascal turned green again.

"You mean... You're a prince?"

"I guess? To be honest, I haven't had a lot of time to process a lot of this. Look, I know we brought Rapunzel here to grab the stone but everything... everything is different now. The last time someone tried to destroy the Moonstone... I lost my mother."

Raphael gave a small gasp as he looked at his feet. He remembered what April said about losing her mother... How it was a pain that never truly went away. And at least April had a chance to know her mom... If Eugene was the baby prince from Adira's story, then Eugene had never gotten a chance to meet his mother.

Pascal jumped into Eugene's palms, and patted his thumb with sympathy.

"I mean, what if we lost Rapunzel, guys? I couldn't risk that--"

"Oh, for crying out loud," Raphael muttered. "Look, Eugene, I'm sorry about what happened to your mom. But you need to get this through your skull. Rapunzel is not an ordinary woman. It's her destiny to grab that stone, literally everyone I've talked to in the last day and a half believes that. If it's her destiny, and no one else's, then that's how you know she'll be okay. Donnie said the odds are that she'll be okay, and as much as I hate it when he goes full nerd, he's usually right about that kind of stuff."

The man stared at the teen in surprise, as if none of that had crossed his mind. As the final nail in the coffin, Pascal jumped into Eugene's satchel (what Raph and Mikey called his "man purse") and grabbed Demanitus' prophesy.

"'At the end of Rapunzel's journey, one of her company shall turn against her'," Raph read aloud before smirking at the former thief. "Sound familiar?"

"It's me?!" Eugene exclaimed. "I'm the one who turned against Rapunzel."

"Yeah, you did. So what're you gonna do about it?"

Eugene grinned, then ripped the prophecy into shreds.

"Let's go find Rapunzel," he declared.

"Good idea," the turtle agreed. "But first--"

He slapped Eugene across the face, hard.

"OW!"

"That's for making your girlfriend cry."

"...Okay, fine, I deserved that."

- - - -

Leo wasn't sure what was more surprising: the fact that the black rocks made a path for them through the lava sewer, the fact that Cassandra wasn't joking with Rapunzel like she usually would to ease the tension, or the fact that Donnie and Mikey were still arguing about the lava.

"It defies the laws of vulcanology!" The scientist complained. "Even if we weren't directly touching it, the lava should have been hot enough to burn us all to death. Yet we're still alive? I don't understand it."

"Maybe the lava was in a good mood and didn't wanna burn us today!" Michelangelo chirped.

"...That makes even less sense!"

"How about we worry about the lava later," Leo brought an end to the argument.

"My thoughts exactly," Splinter agreed.

They managed to find a hole into the castle and out of the lava sewer. They saw King Edmund standing in front of a statue, talking to himself.

With silent feet (and a few confused/judgmental glares at the possibly crazy king), the group made their way out of the sewer and into the castle room.

They quickly came up with a plan: Splinter, Adira, the three Turtles, and Lance would fight the King while Rapunzel and Cassandra entered the Moonstone chamber. The problems with the plan became instantly clear when King Edmund proved to be stronger than Lance, Cass, AND Adira. Splinter watched their foe carefully, not drawing his sword yet.

Edmund looked at the rat and turtle mutants with curiosity, but shook it off. "I've had stranger fights than this. You were warned to stay away!"

Splinter drew his sword, holding it up and ready for battle. "You will not harm any of our friends. Not while I still breathe."

Before the king and ninja could fight, though, Eugene, Raphael, and Pascal ran in. Raph went to his brothers while Eugene, apologies on his tongue and a huge bruise on his cheek, went to Rapunzel.

"You cannot let her near it!" The king told the former thief. "The Moonstone must be destroyed, son!"

"Son?" Rapunzel asked, surprise and joy in her voice.

"Son?" Leo, Donnie, and Mikey asked in perfect unison.

"You finally got adopted!" Lance cheered.

"Loooong story," Raph told his brothers.

Then, though Leonardo wouldn't have believed it a few minutes before, things got even weirder.

As soon as Rapunzel took another step towards the Moonstone chamber, ghosts materialized from the giant creepy statues all around the room.

Their weapons were good at chopping through the phantoms, but each time one was struck down, another popped out of the statues.

Leo tossed Raph's sais back to him, but they didn't seem to help much.

Mikey lost patience several minutes into the battle, whining as he picked up the Shadow Blade from where Adira'd dropped it.

"I hate these stupid dudes, and their stupid ugly statues!"

He swung the blade, destroying the statue of the king with the short beard.

With an unholy shriek, the ghost of said king vaporized. 

"Yes!" Donnie shouted. "Mikey, you're a genius and that's the first slash last time I'll ever say that!"

Now that they knew the ghosts had a weakness, the Shadow Blade was tossed from combatant to combatant. Eugene was briefly taken out of the battle by his father(?), but a few choice words got the king to change his mind. In the end, he was the one to destroy the final statue and corresponding ghost.

"Our family," he muttered as he stared at the destroyed visages of his ancestors, "is just... the worst."

- - - -

Now that the threshold's protectors were out of the way, the group entered the Moonstone chamber.

Due to a heavy statue head blocking most of the entrance, Splinter, Lance, Adira, the horses, Shorty, and King Edmund would have to stay. Together, they lifted the head long enough for Rapunzel, Cassandra, Eugene, Pascal, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo to crawl through.

The chamber was... intimidating, to say the least. As they watched, the black rocks encasing the chamber all shimmered blue, then came together to form a tunnel-like bridge across the chasm to the Moonstone.

Rapunzel's hair glowed gold, floating so much that it was practically standing on end.

"Donnie," Leo whispered to his brother. "You're sure there's a good chance she's going to be alright?"

"...There's a fifty percent chance?" He muttered weakly. 

Rapunzel, knowing it was time, took a moment to speak with each of them.

"Guys," she said to the Turtles, "I can't thank you enough for being here with me. No matter what happens, your friendship has meant so much to me."

"Aww," Mikey grinned, a tear rolling down his cheek. "We love you, too!"

She hugged him, then made sure she hugged each of his brothers. She went to Cass next.

"Look," she began, taking her friend's hands in hers. "I know these last few months haven't been easy for us. I wanna thank you for everything."

She then pulled Cass into a hug. Cass didn't return the gesture, or the sentiment. In fact, she looked uncomfortable.

Leo stared at her in suspicion. This time, his brothers joined him.

Rapunzel took Eugene's hand in hers.

"This is it, Rapunzel," he told his girlfriend. "Now go and get your destiny."

"I love you," she whispered as she put his hand on her cheek.

She gave Pascal a scritch on the head before turning to the cage that held the Moonstone.

The cage bars dissolved as the princess approached.

The Turtles, Eugene, and Pascal all watched with bated breath as Rapunzel's hand reached out to grab the glowing blue jewel.

Time seemed to freeze.

And then a hand snatched the rock.

That hand wasn't Rapunzel's.

"Cassandra?" The princess exclaimed as her hair stopped glowing and fell limp. "What are you doing?!"

The lady-in-waiting sneered.

"I'm fulfilling MY destiny!"

She jammed the rock into her breastplate. 

A shockwave sent the princess, mutant turtles, former thief, and chameleon flying backwards.

Cassandra groaned as the metal on her armor was ripped away, with a black rock-like substance taking it's place.

Black rocks sprang up from everywhere, all pointing at Cass.

Finally, the glowing, yelling, and shockwaves stopped.

Rapunzel, Eugene, Pascal, and the Turtles stared in shock.

Cassandra stood where the Moonstone had been mere moments before. She wore a suit of jet-black armor, with a blue streak going from her glove to her boot. The Moonstone was stuck in her breastplate like a glowing badge of dishonor. Her black bob was now glowing an electric light blue, and her friendly gray eyes were now a haunting, glowing blue.

"I tried to warn you, Rapunzel," the glowering traitor snickered. "You have to be careful who you trust."

Chapter Text

A Few Weeks Ago...

Cassandra sighed; the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow seemed to grow a new hallway every minute. At this point it was a miracle any of them could find the bathroom--

She startled as a random door opened, and turned to face it.

"Cassandra..." A young voice called through.

Curious, and desperate for anything that would help lead her back to Raps, Cass drew her sword went through. Owl, who'd been startled off of her shoulder, flew after her.

The door opened into a woodland forest, with the door slamming shut behind them. As she looked around, the voice called out again.

"Cassandra?"

This time, the speaker made themselves known. She was a small girl, probably around Red and Angry's age. She wore a poofy, old-fashioned dress with a lot of petticoats. Her hair was done up in two elaborate buns. She was see-through, and seemed to glow an odd shade of blue.

"There you are, Cassandra. I'd nearly given up on you."

"Who are you?" Cass asked, on her guard.

"A friend. Or at least, I'd like to be." She began walking away. "Come."

Owl seemed skeptical and stayed where he was. Cassandra, on the other hand, didn't have a lot of options.

"Wherever you're taking me better have a blond princess," she muttered.

Before long, they arrived at a little cottage by a waterfall. Cassandra couldn't help staring at it. It was so... familiar.

It only grew more familiar when the Mysterious Girl transported them inside.

She heard a familiar music box melody... and saw a familiar little girl.

"Do you recognize that child?" The Mysterious Girl asked, though the knowing glint in her eyes suggested she already had her answer.

"Wind, please," the toddler asked as she held the stopped music box up to a woman.

"Not now, darling, Mummy's in a hurry."

"That's my..." Cass breathed out, scarcely believing it.

Mother Gothel, the woman who'd kidnapped the princess... Was her mother. 

But... Why hadn't she remembered that?

She watched as Gothel took four-year-old Cassandra's face in her hands.

"Now, Mother needs to rush off for just a teensy tiny moment. But I won't be gone long, and this cottage isn't going to clean itself, you know." She chortled as she made her way to the door.

"Mama?" Young Cass held up the music box again.

Gothel sighed. "Must I do everything?"

She took the box, wound the key up a few times, then gave it back.

"Thank you, Mama."

"Yes, dear," she gave a convincing smile before rolling her eyes and slamming the door.

As the box played, the little girl began to sing and go about her chores.

"Guess by now I outta know my place.

Do your humble duty with a smile on your face.

Mother knows how much I love her,

But she's always doing other things.

So I'll keep waiting in the wings."

Overcome by the sudden memories, adult Cassandra joined in.

"I craved so much,

And yet I kept on waiting.

One glance, one touch, and yet I kept on waiting.

And when it came,

It came with strings.

So I kept waiting in the wings."

In the span of a few seconds, the sky outside the cottage grew darker. Cass realized that the memory must have skipped time.

As she looked out the window, she saw several palace guards, including her father, racing on horseback towards the cottage.

Both Cassandras watched the approaching soldiers, one with fear and confusion, the other with horror as memories flooded back.

The Captain kicked the door to the cottage down. "Where's the princess?!"

The soldiers quickly realized that there was no one in the cabin but the four-year-old, and did their best not to scare the child as they searched.

Both Cassandras looked out the window again. Standing at the end of the bridge, the only way across the waterway surrounding the cabin, was Gothel. She was holding a swaddled, crying bundle in her arms. A bundle with familiar golden hair.

Gothel seemed to hesitate. But her indecision ended when four-your-old Cass cried out.

"Mama?"

The guards turned, seeing Gothel and the baby princess. They would have rushed forward, but Gothel took a sword from her horse's saddle and cut off an end of the bridge. 

Younger Cass dropped the music box in horror, not caring as it shattered.

"Mama?" She weakly cried out.

The Captain came to stand in front of her, sympathy in his eyes as he took off his helmet. He put it on her head as he knelt in front of her.

"No one's going to harm you, little one," he promised. "You're safe with me."

The guards carried her away as she continued to cry for her mother.

Cassandra fell to her knees as the cabin, people, and shattered music box all vanished into the air. She couldn't help the tears that began to snake down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Cassandra. Sometimes the most painful truths are the most difficult to remember. You've always been outshined by Rapunzel, haven't you?"

Cass wanted to deny it, but... Her own mother chose Rapunzel over her. Cass was a servant, desperately trying to prove herself as a guard while Rapunzel lived it up as a princess. The Challenge of the Brave, the defeat of Varian... All anyone ever cared about was Rapunzel.

"And you always will be," the Mysterious Girl continued. "Unless, of course..."

Cassandra looked up, her crestfallen expression twisting into a sneer.

"Unless?"

Present Day

"You saw all of this in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow?" Rapunzel asked, shocked.

"Woah," Michelangelo was the first of the Turtles to speak (as usual). "And I thought Splinter's backstory was sad..."

"I saw everything, Rapunzel," the now blue-haired woman retorted.

"Cass, if what you're saying is true, it means--"

"It means I'm Gothel's daughter! And your destiny belongs to me."

"Did you conveniently forget about the Sundrop being the only one who can successfully wield the Moonstone?" Donatello fired back. "I'll admit I'm out of my depth when it comes to magic, but I feel the need to point that out! Rapunzel's the only one meant to--"

"I wasn't talking to you, Donatello!" She roared. Several rocks sprouted from the ceiling and floor.

"Cass," Rapunzel tried again. We are friends. If what you're saying is true, that makes us closer then friends. It makes us... Sisters!"

Cassandra scoffed. "Sisters? My own mother chose you over me! My whole life, I've been cast aside, for you. Well, no more..."

The door to the chamber was forced open by Splinter, Adira, and Lance.

"So," Lance chirped, "what'd we miss?"

"Bad timing, guys!" Raphael barked at them.

"Cassandra, please," the princess begged as she approached her former friend. "Let me help you..."

"Stay back!"

Rocks sprouted from the floor again. Rapunzel wasn't cowed, and determination filled her eyes.

"Cassandra, you've got to give me the Moonstone. It is too dangerous, the whole world is at--"

"I SAID STAY BACK!"

The rocks through Rapunzel across the room. Her hair protected her, but she was clearly in pain as Eugene rushed to her side. Leo was right behind him, and stayed with her as Eugene, eyes on fire, ran at their former friend.

"Cassandra!" He roared.

Cass looked at herself, fear and confusion in her eyes. 

"Dudes," Mikey whispered to Raph and Donnie. "She looks freaked out."

She snapped back to reality when Eugene got close, and used the rocks to throw him against the wall shoulder first.

"Rat Man," Adira called to Splinter. He only nodded, drew his sword, and joined her in rushing Cass.

She saw them coming. Seeing Splinter as the bigger threat, she trapped him between two black rocks. Adira managed to get to her, and tried to trap her behind her sword.

"Release the Moonstone, Short Hair. You don't know what you're dealing with."

"Neither do YOU!"

A massive wave of power came from the Moonstone, causing Adira to drop her sword and go flying backwards.

Amazed, Cass took the sword and attached in to her back. Parts of her armor formed a scabbard that allowed it to remain in place without injuring her.

"Sensei!" Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey ran to help their father. 

Cass paid them no mind as she ran past.

"Cassandra! Wait!" Rapunzel went after her.

"Raph, we've got this!" Leo told his brother. "Follow them!"

Ticked off at Cassandra for betraying them, Raphael did as he was asked.

As he followed the women into the castle's halls, he heard music swelling up. This music was powerful, fast... He knew a song was coming, but it didn't sound like any he'd heard in Corona before.

He caught up to the two as the song started, with Rapunzel beginning it.

"Cass!

This has to stop, now.

Whatever it is that you're going through,

We'll fix it together, me and you,

Just like we've always done!"

Cassandra whirled around, looking as ticked as Leatherhead when someone mentioned the Kraang.

"NO!

This has to stop, now.

This thing where you think that you've been my friend

And don't even hear how you condescend

The way you've always done!"

Rapunzel looked hurt by the words. But she steeled her resolve and walked forward.

"Cassandra, listen..."

"I'm listening!"

"You know it isn't true..."

"Isn't it?"

"Just look into my eyes, now..."

"Well?"

"I know you feel it, too."

Cass seemed unsure for a moment.

"Perhaps I do..."

"Cassandra, listen..."

"I'm listening!"

"I swear it's not too late.

So before another line gets crossed 

And everything we have is lost,

Just wait."

Raph couldn't tell why, but it looked like Rapunzel had struck a nerve.

"Wait?" She growled. "No, I won't wait..."

Rocks spiked up through the floor, separating Rapunzel from Cassandra and Raphael from Rapunzel.

"Raph?" The princess asked, alarmed.

His foot was lodged between two rocks, but he could tell he could twist it out.

"I'm okay! But don't--"

She was already running after Cass.

He sighed. In the center of his head, he could hear the song continuing. Cassandra was singing solo, now.

"There's a line between the winners, and the losers.

There's a line between the chosen, and the rest.

And I've done the best I could,

But I've always known just where we stood.

Me here with the luckless,

You there with the blessed.

And that line between the beggars and the choosers,

Is a line you never let me quite ignore.

How I've tried, 

To jump that great divide,

But I never got the chances you were given.

You don't know,

How much I've been denied, 

But I'm not being patient anymore!"

Raph twisted free of the rocks and ran after the women as the song hit it's chorus.

"I'm crossing the line!

And I'm done holding back!

So look out, clear the track!

It's my turn!

I'm taking what's mine!

Every drop every smidge!

If I'm burning a bridge, let it burn!"

She'd made a bridge out of the rocks, taking her across the chasm. Raph only just caught up to Rapunzel as Cass reached the other side, and took out her sword.

"And for us if we're over, that's FINE!"

"Cassandra, wait!"

"I'm crossing the line."

She sliced through the bridge, causing it to practically disintegrate.

Raphael pulled Rapunzel backwards, away from the busted bridge.

He was so confused: he was angry at Cassandra, worried how this would affect Rapunzel... and admittedly a little impressed at how Cass'd held that high note.

- - - -

Splinter and Adira were both okay, and an explanation of what had happened in the chamber was given to everyone who hadn't been present.

Even if they hadn't known Cassandra for as long as the rest of the group, the Hamatos were as upset as the others, though the feeling of betrayal didn't hurt quite as much.

"Ow, ow!" Eugene complained from where Maximus was tying a bandage around his arm. "Gentle hooves, Max. Gentle hooves."

"Don't mind him, Max." An oddly chirpy Rapunzel gave the horse a hug. "You're doing a great job!"

"Is she okay?" Mikey asked, looking concerned.

"All right!" She got everyone's attention. "Up and at 'em, everybody! The Moonstone's gone, so, no use sticking around this dreary place!"

"Um, Donatello?" Eugene went over to the purple-clad turtle. "You know a lot of things, right? Rapunzel should be pretty upset right now. Any theory why Blondie's suddenly so... Like this?"

"Actually, yes," he replied, not looking happy. "She's in denial. It's the first of the five stages."

"Stages of what?" Lance asked, coming over.

"The Five Stages of Grief," the turtle continued as his brothers listened in. "They often show when someone has suffered from the loss of someone or something. The first stage is denial, where the sufferer acts as though everything's fine. The next four are anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance."

"Is she gonna be okay?" Eugene asked, concern in his voice.

"She will be... With support."

The human nodded and walked over to his girlfriend.

"Cassandra's betrayal is a devastating loss," Splinter spoke as he finished helping Adira with her injured arm. "However, we cannot simply sit here in despair. As the Princess said, there is no use lingering here any longer..."

"With the caravan gone and only two horses, traveling to Corona will not be easy..." Leonardo mused, not looking forward to potentially weeks of travel on foot.

"Why don't we take that balloon?" Mikey asked, pointing up.

"What the heck are you--" Raph began before he froze.

Approaching them rapidly was a hot air balloon. Rapunzel and Eugene saw it, too, and went over to join the group.

When it landed, it didn't seem to have a pilot.

Then, of all things, a mime climbed out of the basket.

"Are you flipping kidding me?" Raphael grunted.

"Ulf!" Rapunzel cheered.

"Your friend knows mimes?" Splinter asked with confusion.

"It's easier to list the people Raps doesn't know," Leo admitted.

Ulf the mime happily greeted the group, but (being a mime) he didn't speak. Instead, he tried to pantomime what he wanted to say.

"Gentlemen!" Shorty fell off of Maximus' back before he got up and walked over to the mime. "I believe I can be of some incontinence."

"Thanks for sharing," Donnie deadpanned.

Turns out, surprisingly, Shorty served as a good translator for Ulf.

"'There's trouble in Corona. Invaders from a foreign land! The people of Corona are scared. So Ulf followed the rocks here.'"

Rapunzel snapped into action. "Guys, there's trouble in Corona. We need to get back as soon as possible."

"We're with you, Princess," Leonardo promised, with his father and brothers nodding in agreement.

Pascal cheeped as he jumped onto Rapunzel's shoulder.

They quickly packed whatever supplies they had left into the hot air balloon, thankful that it would only take a few hours to fly back.

Eugene and his father(?) had a quick conversation before he boarded. Adira, now without her blade, decided not to join them and go her own way.

With the Hamatos and Coronians (minus one) all aboard, Ulf ignited the fire and sent the balloon into the air.

Chapter Text

While the Turtles had always wanted to fly in a hot air balloon (some more obviously than others), no one had ever told them it could get a little boring after a while.

Especially when you were in a cramped basket with several people, two horses, and an old man who keeps spouting off nonsense every hour.

Thankfully, they reached Corona in a matter of hours. 

As soon as they landed, Rapunzel wanted to run to the castle and see her parents. But Master Splinter stopped her, reminding her why they'd come back so quickly in the first place.

"While it is not my place to tell a princess what to do," Splinter began. "But if the kingdom has been invaded in your absence, then you cannot simply run in blind. Might I make a suggestion?"

"Of course," the princess agreed.

"My sons and I are all trained in stealth. Allow us to scout the kingdom from the shadows and gather information. We can report back, and from there we can form a plan."

She nodded. "Good idea. Why don't you split into teams of two. Leo, you and Splinter take the castle. Please find my parents and see if they're okay. Raph, Donnie, Mikey, you three try and check the town."

The normally bustling village outside the palace walls was devoid of all people, which visibly worried her.

The Hamatos all agreed, and seemed to disappear the second everyone turned their backs.

- - - -

Despite Rapunzel's suggestion, Donatello had thought it imperative that he check the castle, too. Once they were in the building (which was easier than expected, since none of the guards were around), the three split up: Donnie went to explore the lower levels while Leo and Splinter explored the upper ones.

He decided that the dungeon would be worth a look; Cassandra had showed it to them on their first tour of Corona. After all, it made sense that foreign invaders would lock someone up in there.

He was making his way through the ceiling supports when he heard voices. 

Two of them he didn't recognize, but the third...

He managed to find a shadowed part of the ceiling, and watched as three people entered.

As expected, he didn't recognize two of them: one was a human man with a man bun and a beard, the other was a squat human woman with a hat and two thick braids.

The last one, however, was very familiar: Varian.

"How's it comin', friend?" Man-Bun asked, his voice making it clear he didn't consider Varian a friend.

"Yeah!" The squat woman added unnecessarily.

"If my calculations are correct," Varian answered, "when the Quirinian is superheated, it will convert to a gaseous state and be easily dispersed throughout the entire city, wiping the memories of everyone in Corona..."

His calculations were not correct. When superheated, the "Quirinian" exploded. Poor Varian was sent flying into the wall, causing him to pass out.

"Hmm," the squat woman noted. "Even if it doesn't erase people's memories, the boy's chemical might have other uses!"

Man-Bun agreed, an evil smirk crossing his face.

Donatello didn't like any of what he'd just heard. Using ninja stealth (thankfully the evil duo were distracted by the lab being on fire), the turtle got out of the dungeon and back to the meeting point to wait for his father and brothers.

- - - -

"Is everyone okay?" Rapunzel asked as soon as the five Hamatos returned.

"We're fine," Leo answered. "But we've got a lot to tell you."

"Corona was taken over by these guys calling themselves New Saporians," Raphael began. "I don't know how they did it, but they've locked all of the guards up in the town jail."

"Everyone else is forced to mine for materials under the town all day, and they're locked in their own homes at night," Michelangelo added, looking distressed at the fate of the Coronians.

"Why didn't the King and Queen stop them?" Eugene asked, looking as distressed as Mikey.

"Because they don't even remember their own names," Leonardo answered, his voice grave. "Rapunzel, remember that memory wand you said Cass accidentally used on you?"

The princess flinched at the mention of Cassandra, but nodded.

"Turns out they managed to get their hands on one of them, and erased your parents' memories so they won't try to escape. The New Saporians are holding them hostage to keep Corona's people in check."

"And they plan on executing them once the 'final plan' is put in place," Master Splinter finished, looking as solemn as his oldest son.

The princess gasped, horror and sadness in her eyes.

"Final plan?" Lance asked, looking worried. "What final plan?"

"I think I know," Donatello added. "While exploring the dungeon, I found out that Varian is working with the New Saporians."

"Varian?!" Everyone asked in sync.

"I guess they recruited him while he was still in prison. They're being led by this guy in a white vest and--"

"Hold on," Eugene stopped him. "Mikey, did you say 'New Saporians'?"

"Yeah."

"Donnie, did the leader have a man bun?"

"Yep."

"Andrew," Rapunzel and Eugene said in sync.

"...Who's Andrew?" Leo asked.

"Cass' ex," Lance replied. "Long story short, he was using her to try and steal an artifact and she got him arrested."

"She can really pick 'em," Raph snarked.

"Getting back to the point," Master Splinter spoke up. "Donatello, what did you learn?"

"Varian's trying to create a potion that erases memories, just like the memory wand," Donnie continued. "But instead, he created a highly volatile compound that explodes when super-heated. From what I heard, Andrew and his people are going to use it on Corona."

"Oh, great!" Rapunzel punched a tree. "In the time I'm gone, my kingdom's been taken over, my parents don't remember me, a traitor to the throne teamed up with a group of terrorists, my best friend becomes a villain... What else can go wrong?!"

The uncharacteristic anger made everyone step back.

"Second stage," Donnie whispered to Lance, who nodded in fear.

"Blondie?" Eugene was the only one to approach. "You good?"

Pascal, still sitting on her shoulder, cheeped.

Rapunzel took a deep breath, calming herself.

"I'll be good when we free Corona. If we can do that, then everything will be okay."

"Bargaining. Third stage," Donnie whispered to his brothers.

"What's the plan, Princess?" Splinter asked.

"...They have to know that I'll return eventually," Rapunzel began. "So they'll probably be expecting me to show up sooner or later. As the only other royal in Corona, they'll want to lock me up, too. But, on the bright side, they don't know that we have ninjas on our side."

She took her trusty frying pan out of her bag. "So, here's what we're gonna do..."

- - - -

"You know," Feldspar, the shoemaker, muttered. "I once thought the worst feeling in the world was when you get sand in your brand-new shoes. But this? This is worse."

Corona's townspeople were all locked in the communal cage. It was was big enough for everyone to stand or sit, but no one could lie down or truly sleep. Bread was passed around twice a day, along with jugs of water. This had been going on for weeks, and the people were losing hope.

"Get used to it, you stinkin' Coronians!" The New Saporian guard sneered at them. "Because pretty soon--"

"Meow!"

The guard turned, hearing a loud meowing coming from a nearby alley.

He growled. "I hate cats. Hey, shut up!"

The meowing got louder.

The guard grumbled and went into the alley.

"Meow, meow, sucker!" A teenage voice rang out. 

"Hey--!"

The guard didn't have time to say anything else, as the sound of clanging weapons and fighting fists came from the alley.

"Is that?" Xavier the blacksmith asked.

"Hey guys!" Raphael grinned as he came out of the alley, dragging the guard's unconscious body behind him.

"Miss us?" Michelangelo chirped.

Excited, relieved chatter came from the Coronians.

"We don't have the key," Monty the candy maker told them. "But I can talk you through how to pick a lock. It's a very precise, delicate process that might take a while, but if you listen to me carefully--"

Raph picked up a nearby stone and hit the cage's lock with it until it fell apart. Monty stared as the door swung open.

"Or that, you could do that..."

- - - -

The Saporians caught Rapunzel in Cassandra's old room, weeping over the former handmaiden's old uniform. Despite her attempts to fight back, she was promptly thrown into a dungeon cell.

Pascal cheeped indignantly at them while they laughed.

"Must be hard," Andrew sneered. "Being a princess who can't even protect her own kingdom."

"Says the jerk who was only brave enough to do it when C-- When my handmaiden isn't here!"

Varian stepped forward, and her angered face locked on him.

"Varian, how could you do this?"

"I want you to know that I wish it didn't come to this. But when someone trusts you, and you betray them... Well, this is what happens."

"My kingdom needed me," she retorted. "I couldn't do anything about the amber, and I had to stay. I never meant to break my promise to you, Varian. We were friends."

"That's the beauty of this plan," he replied, his old smile in place (though there was clear desperation in his eyes). "In the end, when your memory has been erased, we can be friends again."

"But you're only making it worse," Rapunzel tried to reason with him. "None of these people did anything to you--"

"It's not what they did to me... It's what I did to them."

He looked at his boots, his voice beginning to crack.

"And there... There is no way that they will ever forgive me."

"How do you know if you don't give them a chance?" The princess responded.

"...No, making them forget is the only way to fix what I've done."

"Yeah," Andrew spoke up, reminding the two that they had an audience. "About that... There's been a change of plans, kid."

"...What?" Varian turned around.

"Now that the princess is back, we don't have time for you to perfect your little memory serum."

"But we're still using the concoction you created," the squat woman joyfully told him. "Quirinian explodes! It will turn Corona to ashes!"

"But, no! No!" Horror dawned on Varian's face. "We agreed that nobody would be harmed!"

"Relax, Varian," Andrew retorted. "You don't wanna end up on the wrong side of history."

Varian paused, and came to a decision. 

"You're right... So I'm gonna have to ask you to step inside that cell."

He threw a chem ball at Andrew, which landed on his hair. The ball exploded in orange foam, and burned away all of his hair in an instant.

Unfortunately, Varian didn't have time to grab another chem ball before the other Saporians grabbed him and threw him in the cell with Rapunzel.

"He's made his choice," the now bald Andrew sneered. "We launch the airship in twenty!"

As soon as they left, Varian crumbled onto one of the cell beds.

"...That was very brave of you," the princess tried to reassure him.

"...All I ever wanted was for my father to be proud," the boy spoke. "Of course, if he were free from the amber now, and saw everything I've done... He'd be ashamed."

"...Look, I know how much it hurts to have someone you trust let you down. I mean, after you go through something like that, how can you ever trust anyone again?"

"I don't know. That--That's why I thought that maybe if I could make you forget everything that happened, then we could be friends again. Learn to trust again. But I guess life doesn't really work that way."

"No."

A new voice caused them both to look up, to see Master Splinter unlocking the cell door.

"But in my experience," he continued, "admitting you've done wrong and want to atone is an excellent first step."

"Master Splinter!" Rapunzel went over and hugged him. "Thank you! Varian, this is Master Splinter, the Turtles' father."

"The Turtles are back?" He asked.

"Yes, me getting locked up was part of the plan all along. Raphael and Michelangelo have already freed the townspeople, while Eugene and Lance are getting my parents." She turned to Splinter. "Okay, Master Splinter, I know your sons probably told you about Varian. Well, he's on our side now, so..."

He held up a hand. "I heard everything, Princess. If you trust this boy, so will I. But we must hurry. While Donatello was able to sabotage most of their supply of the explosive serum, there were a few barrels that they got onto their hot air balloon."

"A few barrels alone is enough to do massive damage to the city!" Varian panicked.

"Then we need to hurry," the princess decided, putting Pascal on her shoulder. "Master Splinter, please go help Eugene and Lance protect my parents. Varian? We have a ship to catch."

- - - -

Getting on the ship was embarrassingly easy. Andrew was too busy being dramatic (and had shaved his head for some reason) to notice them sneaking aboard.

He didn't even hear his panicked lackey shouting to him that the King and Queen had escaped their chambers.

"With this first barrel, we plant the seeds of a New Saporia," he said in his speech. "Let's just take a second to make sure that we are truly present in this moment."

"Oh, we're present all right!" Raphael shouted.

The four Turtles, princess, and young alchemist sprang from their hiding places.

"How did you get on board?!" Andrew angrily demanded.

"Might want to watch your stuff more carefully, Baldy," Leonardo snarked.

The terrorist got the funniest look of outrage on his face before screaming at his people to get them.

The New Saporians were good, but none of them had ever fought ninjas before. In mere minutes, most of them were tied up.

"Now," Rapunzel decided. "Donatello, Varian? I need you to make the Coronian-- The Keeri-- The stuff non-explosive."

"Can do!" Donnie agreed as Varian tried to explain that the stuff was actually called Quirinian.

"What about us?" Mikey asked.

"The rest of us need to focus on getting everyone off this ship..."

Andrew broke free of his ropes at that moment, and ran over to where Donnie and Varian were starting to pour neutralizer into the barrels.

He punched the human teenager, sending the neutralizer over the side of the ship.

"Corona will burn!" Andrew roared. "Even if we have to burn with it!"

"Uh," the squat woman spoke up, "we never agreed to that!" 

The other New Saporians looked equally uncomfortable.

Leonardo and Raphael engaged Andrew in a fight as Rapunzel ran over.

"With the neutralizer gone," Donnie explained, "then our best bet is to detonate the Quirinian in the air."

"I'll stay," Varian volunteered. "I have to clean up my mess somehow..."

"Out of the question," Rapunzel decided. "Donnie, do you have any way of getting everyone but me safely to the ground?"

"Those tarps should act as good improvised parachutes," he replied, pointing to a stack of weather tarps.

"Good, then use them to get everyone down."

Andrew as finally knocked unconscious by Raphael (who spat on his shirt for good measure). With none of the New Saporians resisting, it was easy for the four Turtles to parachute down into Corona with them.

"Stay safe!" Leo told her before he parachuted down with Varian clinging to his shell.

"Ready, Pascal?" The princess asked her chameleon.

He cheeped in the affirmative.

She tore a piece of cloth from one of the leftover tarps, then used the balloon's flames to light it on fire. Once she was sure she was high enough above the castle, she put the flaming cloth on top of the barrels.

"I hope this still works," she mumbled as she wrapped her loose hair around her and jumped.

Not ten seconds after jumping, the ship exploded in a massive fireball (though thankfully it didn't touch Corona).

Her hair glowed golden as she began to fall, and wrapped around her as she sped towards the ground. When she hit the street, her hair cushioned her fall so that she felt more like she'd landed on a large pillow. 

She let out a sigh of relief, wondering how she'd ever thank Varian for changing sides and helping them.

The princess looked at her hair, and got an idea.

- - - -

Leo remembered Rapunzel telling him about the Reverse Incantation, but he was still a bit nervous about watching it first hand.

As soon as the princess finished wrapping her hair around Quirin's amber prison, she handed a bucket to Varian.

"Once I start this incantation," she explained to the two, "I won't be able to stop it. It could seriously harm the both of you, not to mention Quirin. So I'm trusting you to snap me out of it once your father is free."

"You can trust me, Rapunzel," the boy promised.

"Both of us," Leo nodded, eyeing the alchemist.

He still wasn't sure about the kid, but he had to remember that Varian had been grieving his father and not in a great headspace when he'd met him. Leo shivered to think of what he'd do if Splinter was trapped in amber... Or worse, killed by Shredder.

If Rapunzel was willing to trust the kid, then he at least deserved a chance.

The princess took a deep breath, and began the incantation.

"Wither and decay, end this destiny. Break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free."

Her hair and eyes turned jet black. As Leo watched in shock (and a touch of horror), the amber around Quirin melted.

"It's working!" Varian shouted.

Rapunzel, still in a trance, began to sing.

"Wither and decay! End this destiny! Break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free! The spirit free."

Waking her proved to be a problem. Once Quirin was freed, Varian through the bucket of water on her. It had no effect. Leo was about to grab her shoulders, but Varian beat him to it. It was a good thing he did: the boy's gloves melted as soon as he touched her.

"Rapunzel!" Leo shouted, trying to shock her awake.

Varian looked at her with sorrow and determination.

"You didn't give up on me," he pleaded. "I'm not giving up on you."

No sooner was the sentence out of his mouth did she wake up, her eyes and hair returning to normal.

Leo poked her with a katanna to be safe. When his swords didn't melt, he touched her (and gave an internal sigh of relief when nothing happened).

Knowing Rapunzel was fine, Varian ran over to his father, the two of them reuniting. Tears of joy ran down the teen's face.

- - - -

The New Saporians were all locked up in the dungeon, all facing life sentences. Andrew was placed in solitary confinement, as his fellow New Saporians kept trying to beat him up for trying to turn them all into martyrs.

With the King and Queen out of commission for the time being, Rapunzel was named the temporary queen. She chose not to wear her tiara, but she did don a purple coat over her usual dress. Eugene, as acting prince, followed her lead by swapping out his usual vest for a dark purple leather jacket with the Corona emblem on each shoulder.

Varian, for his role in helping bring down the New Saporians, was pardoned. More than a few people were still weary of him, but the fact that the acting queen hugged him whenever he came near here was enough for them to believe he was now harmless.

The Hamatos decided collectively that it would be wrong to leave Corona with Cass on the run and the King and Queen brainwashed, and told Rapunzel they'd stay in the kingdom for as long as she needed them. She'd cried tears of joy, and declared the boys her official Turtle Guard for as long as they were in Corona (with their medals acting as their official badges). 

Now that Corona was free once again, a massive party was organized. There was a parade, dancing, flags, flying lanterns, pastries (courtesy of Attila) and, naturally, a massive song.

"There's miles yet to go!

How far, we don't know!

But we can do so much more!

Onto the next endeavor!

We're stronger than ever!

We'll never say never!

We're stronger than ever before!"

After the party, the Turtles and Eugene joined Rapunzel in her room.

"The number one reason I'm glad to be back in Corona, you ask?" Eugene said as the five of them entered the princess-turned-queen's room. "Why, the cupcakes."

She happily took it as he sat next to her and the Turtles found places to sit around the room.

"I'm glad you were able to keep your promise to Varian," the acting prince continued. "It feels good to trust that little guy again."

"Even better to have friends I know I can count on," Rapunzel replied, looking at each of the Turtles.

"And you can keep counting on us," Leo promised.

"Not sure why you would," Mikey replied, confused. "I mean, there's only four of us. How many times do you need to count us?"

Donatello sighed while Rapunzel chuckled.

The royal looked at her feet before she stood up.

"I think I'm ready to talk about Cass."

The five of them listened as the princess talked.

Chapter Text

The Stabbington brothers stormed out of the tavern, laughter coming from behind them.

It didn't matter that they'd managed to break out of prison, or that they'd committed so many successful thefts. Getting beaten up by Rider, his princess girlfriend, and her pet frog had destroyed all of their credit as criminals.

"No one's ever gonna take us seriously," Sideburns grumbled to his brother. "Not as long as that maggot's alive."

His brother, Patchy, grinned.

"I think," Sideburns continued, grinning. "It's time we went back to Corona."

- - - -

"...and then Xavier told Donatello about this potion that's been known to restore memories to those affected by the memory wand," Leonardo finished telling Rapunzel as they began to walk into town. "There are a lot of ingredients, but Donnie says that he and Xavier think the potion will be ready by the end of the week."

"That's amazing!" The acting queen grinned. "Is that why Donnie left early this morning?"

Leo nodded. Along with Donnie going ingredient-hunting, Mikey was teaching the royal chef more pizza recipes (which would take a while due to Lance insisting on taste-testing), and Raphael was helping Splinter give the Corona guards extra combat training (as the attack by the New Saporians had been a huge embarrassment). 

As leader of the Turtle Guard, Leonardo had insisted on going with the Queen and Pascal on their walk. Thankfully, now that the New Saporians were gone, things were pretty peaceful. Rapunzel insisted on talking to/helping everyone she saw as they went.

"I would tilt it this way, Feldspar, so it's visible to afternoon traffic," she told the shoemaker before turning to a little girl who lost her toy. "Keep your eye on the ball, sweetie."

"You know, it's pretty easy to see why everyone was on board with you as queen," the turtle commented.

"Agreed," Eugene spoke up as he, Maximus, Fidella, and Leo's horse Caballo walked over. "Rapunzel, you realize that as queen, you don't need to be out in the streets all the time, right?"

"Well, remember, technically I'm still a princess," she insisted. "Besides, this is where the real action is!"

"I'd disagree," Leo replied. "Speaking as someone from a city where crimes happen every five minutes, Corona's pretty quiet."

As if the universe itself wanted to prove him wrong, a nearby horse suddenly got spooked by a mouse and began running wild through town, dragging a cart of straw behind it.

In perfect sync, Rapunzel hopped on Fidella while Eugene hopped on Max and Leonardo on Caballo. The three riders raced after the cart.

The chase was intense, as the runaway cart nearly hit several pedestrians. With their horses helping them, the queen, prince, and Turtle Guard managed to hop onto the cart.

Thankfully, Rapunzel managed to calm the horse down before it crashed into a duck and ducklings crossing the road. Unfortunately, Eugene didn't grab hold of the cart in time, and his momentum sent him flying into the street.

"You okay, Eugene?!" Leo shouted after him.

"Nice save," he grunted. "But she's really gotta work on that landing..."

He looked up to see that he'd landed right in front of a horse and rider... An irritatingly familiar horse and rider.

"Hello, son," the Dark King greeted.

"Edmund?" Eugene asked.

- - - -

The three royals, chameleon, and ninja turtle ended up at a table outside a cafe. 

"What are you doing here?" Eugene bluntly asked, not bothering to mask his irritation.

Rapunzel smiled awkwardly, trying to keep things civil. Leonardo, taking his position as an honorary guard seriously, remained stone-faced.

The stupid crow, Hamuel, sat on the Dark King's shoulder as he spoke.

"After our rather... unfortunate run-in with the family recently, I wanted to ensure that you got this. It's a priceless heirloom that has been passed down for generations."

He slid a chest over to Eugene, who skeptically opened it. Said heirloom was a brown leather sash with a metal crest of the Dark Kingdom attached to it.

"Pretty!" Rapunzel commented (though Leo wondered if that was a white lie).

"It's our family sash," Edmund finished, a look of pride on his face.

"That's fantastic," Eugene replied sarcastically as he closed the chest. "This'll go great with my chainmail dinner jacket. So, thanks for stopping by and making everything awkward, as usual. Bye now."

"Eugene!" Rapunzel reprimanded him.

"I suppose I should leave," the Dark King stood up, looking saddened. "Although I'm actually hoping they'll invite me to stay..."

"Ohh," The princess looked upset.

Eugene rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no, he says what he thinks. A lot."

"Mikey has the same problem," Leo commented.

Next thing they knew, Rapunzel invited Edmund to spend the night in Corona.

You didn't need to be a detective to see that Eugene wasn't happy about it.

- - - -

The princess-turned-queen and ninja/palace guard found Eugene on the castle roof after dinner. He'd been avoiding the Dark King since his arrival, and he hadn't tried to be subtle about it.

The Dark Prince was looking at the Dark Kingdom sash when the two of them came up to him.

"Thinking about your dad?" Rapunzel asked.

"All right, first of all," Eugene began. "He is not my dad, okay? He is a strange man who can't keep his thoughts to himself. Second..." His shoulders slumped. "He abandoned me as a child, and he didn't even try to stay in touch! And then this." He held up the box with the sash.

"Edmund's only company," his girlfriend replied, "is a crow who could get lost in a boot. He's lonely."

"Loneliness can make people do desperate things," Leonardo agreed. "Remind me to tell you about a mutant named Leatherhead. Being alone with his trauma really messed with his head."

Rapunzel nodded (though she looked a bit confused). "Come on," she encouraged her boyfriend. "You might even get to like him!"

"And Shorty could sprout wings and lay an egg," Eugene retorted.

"...Didn't you say that happened with the whole turned-into-birds thing?" Leo asked.

"That's not the point..." the prince grumbled.

Just then, Hamuel the crow flew by, his head jammed inside a shoe.

"Is that my boot?" Eugene groaned.

- - - -

Rapunzel decided that Eugene simply ignoring his father while he was there wasn't a good idea. So, she asked Leonardo to keep the king busy while she went and found Eugene.

The Dark King decided that this was the perfect opportunity to tell Leo some Dark Kingdom folk tales.

The tales weren't bad, so to speak, but unfortunately Leo had watched so many horror movies with his brothers that there was nothing in the folk tales that he found particularly thrilling.

"...And so, the brave knight took out one squadron of evil dead after another, with chains in one hand and a saw in the other!"

"Wow, really?" He asked disinterestedly as he drank from a cup of coffee.

He was saved from any more Dark Kingdom folk tales by Eugene shouting from his room down the hall.

"I've been--- I've been robbed! ...Huh, so that's what that feels like..."

Pete and Stan, the closest nearby guards, quickly went in and began investigating the room.

"Somebody stole the sash?!" King Edmund asked, horrified as he, Leonardo, and Rapunzel entered the room.

"I don't know, your Majesty," she tried to placate him. "But if it was, we'll do our best to get it back."

"Yeah," Eugene agreed. "Stan and Pete are on it! They are perfectly capable of handling this."

"Hey!" Pete called out. "I found a clue!"

"That's your own helmet," Stan retorted. "I told you not to take that off!"

The princess/queen looked to Leonardo, who went in without a word. Not five seconds later, he came out holding a ransom note.

"Wow," Pete and Stan looked at the turtle mutant in amazement. "He's good."

- - - -

The ransom note said that the sash was being held on Mount Saison, and that the thief was willing to exchange it for a sack of gold.

Edmund insisted that the king and prince of the Dark Kingdom should be the ones to retrieve it... To Eugene's displeasure.

He continued grumbling as he put supplies on Maximus' back, while King Edmund voiced his thoughts to his horse, Domino.

"You packed food, right?" Corona's acting prince called over. 

"Of course I did, Horace! A plentiful bounty!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Horace? Did you just call me Horace?"

"Indeed, Horace is your given name... Did I not mention that before?"

"No, you didn't... How is it possible that my real name is even worse than 'Eugene'?"

Leo snickered. "You sure you'll be okay, Horace?"

The prince glared at him. "You sure you have a leg to stand on, Leonardo Hamato?"

"...Touche." He tossed over a bag. "I learned the hard way to always pack an emergency bag of food, just in case."

Eugene looked inside to find apples, bread, jerky, and two canteens of water.

"You're a lifesaver."

With that, the two Dark royals set out.

They didn't see the rowboat stashed under the bridge into the kingdom.

- - - -

"Making wishes?" Rapunzel asked as she and Leonardo approached a little girl in front of a fountain.

The little girl shrugged, having no coins.

Rapunzel held out two fists, then opened them, revealing bare hands. As the little girl watched, the acting queen reached behind Leo's bandanna and pulled out a coin.

"How'd that get there?" He good-naturedly asked as the little girl clapped.

"Eugene taught me that one," the royal grinned as she gave the child the coin.

As she tossed the coin in, a panicked shout came from behind them.

"Princess, Leonardo!" Feldspar, accompanied by two guards, ran over.

He panted for a moment before he was able to explain.

"Someone broke into my shop, and tracked two sets of identical muddy footprints all over my new rug!"

"I saw them!" The little girl spoke up. "One of them had an eye patch!"

The princess stiffened. "Double security," she told Stan and Pete, the guards with Feldspar. "I want sentries on the bridge and patrols every hour."

"Yes, Princess," the guards replied.

"The Stabbingtons are back in Corona," she mumbled.

"Who are the Stabbingtons?" Leo asked, already itching to grab his katannas.

"They're thieves and murderers. They hate Eugene for abandoning them on a job, and they've been trying to get back at him every since. They're the last people we want in the kingdom, and we need to find them as soon as possible."

"Understood," he nodded.

"They're bad guys?" The little girl asked, scared.

Leo softened. "It's okay, kid, we're gonna stop those guys before they hurt anyone."

"Here--" Rapunzel reached into her coat pocket and gave the child a handful of coins. "Thanks for the tip. Make some more wishes!"

With that, she and the Turtle Guard went to oversee the guards. 

No one saw two arms pop out of an alley and grab Stan and Pete.

- - - -

Thus far, Eugene had to call his "day trip" with Edmund... weird.

At first, it had been as trying as he'd expected: as Leo'd predicted, the King hadn't brought any food, instead grabbing a bag of useless junk. If not for the bag of backup food the turtle'd given him, they would have had to do go with Edmund's suggestion of fishing. Then, the King had tried to get into his good graces by revealing he had a figgy pudding in his pocket... and tried to get Eugene to duel him for it. He wouldn't stop telling folk tales about some knight named Ash from the Dark Kingdom, he kept saying all of his thoughts out loud, and worst of all he wouldn't stop calling him "Horace".

Things finally came to a head when Edmund, via an impromptu decision to have a marksmanship contest, lost his ax and Eugene's sword to a cliff.

"Edmund, our weapons!"

"Hmm, lucky for us, nothing's more dangerous than our cutting wits. Eh, Horace?"

"IT'S EUGE-- You know what, this is impossible."

He turned around, intending to cut the sash as a loss and ride back to Corona.

"If something's not impossible," the king replied, "then it's not worth doing."

"I mean what is wrong with--Wait." He turned around, amazed. "Did you just say 'If something's not impossible, it's not worth doing'?"

"Why, yes I did!"

"'Flynn Rider and the Lost Treasure of Scotia'!"

"One of my favorite books!"

"Me, too! Until I lost it, I accidentally dropped it off a cliff... Hey, do you remember when Rider is on the canoe, heading for the waterfall?"

Next thing Eugene knew, he and Edmund were bonding over the Flynn Rider books.

- - - -

While the guards were all in place (Raph, Mikey, and Splinter were guarding the castle while Donnie kept gathering potion ingredients), no one had seen the Stabbingtons in over an hour.

Rapunzel, Fidella, Leonardo, and Pascal were completing their own patrol of the town when they heard hysterical weeping. Following it, they found Stan and Pete tied to a barrel, blubbering pathetically.

"How'd you find us?" Stan asked when the royal, the ninja, and the animals ran over.

"We tracked those muddy footprints all over town," Leo admitted as he took out his katannas.

"Those guys should really wipe their shoes," Rapunzel commented. 

Using his swords, Leonardo cut through the ropes, freeing the guards.

"It also helped that you guys were weeping loudly," she finished.

"Just doing our part!" Pete saluted before wiping his wet eyes.

"We're sorry, Princess," Stan apologized. "Those Stabbingtons came out of no where."

"Luckily," Leo spoke up, "they're probably only after Eugene, and don't know he's not in Corona right now... You didn't tell them that, right?"

The guards' guilty faces were all the answer they needed. 

Rapunzel sighed. "You know what, we'll take it from here. Leonardo, go get Caballo and meet me at the bridge. We need to get to Mount Saison before the Stabbingtons do."

- - - -

Eugene didn't know where the Stabbington brothers had come from or how they'd known he was at Mount Saison, but fortunately their fighting tactics hadn't changed much in the last two years.

"Who wants some pudding?" Eugene joked as Patchy tried to throw a dagger at him.

"I'd bet he wants some pudding!" King Edmund shouted as he threw his figgy pudding in Sideburns' face.

"He can tell a lot by looking into a man's eyes!" Eugene commented as he engaged Sideburns. 

They were able to hold the brothers off by tossing them into a ditch. However, even after the untied the horses, they knew they wouldn't have a lot of escape time. Fortunately, Edmund managed to set a distraction using a wind-up toy from his bag.

Knowing they had extra escape time, they began running towards the mountain.

It was while Edmund was talking about his bag of lucky baubles turned out to be useful that the sash fell out.

"...Wait, you stole this from my room?" Eugene asked in disbelief.

"...Yes, I did. It was I who wrote the ransom note and sent us on this... errand."

"This is an errand?! We're stuck in the middle of nowhere with no weapons and the Stabbingtons after us! But, yeah, lovely little errand this is!"

The king tried to apologize. "I just wanted to be part of your life, Horace. And I thought a father-son trip might--"

"Might what, huh? Make up for twenty-four lost years? And for the love of everything that is holy my name is Eugene!"

He shoved the sash into Edmund's arms and started walking towards Maximus.

"I'm heading back to town."

- - - -

"There was a fight here," Leo noted as he and the princess/queen dismounted. "A huge one."

"I don't see any traces of blood," Rapunzel noted. "There weren't any injuries... But Eugene and King Edmund were definitely here. That's Eugene's boot print."

"Um, weird question," Leonardo spoke after pulling apart some straw. "But does Eugene play with yo-yos and wind-up toys?"

"Not to my knowledge, why?"

"Because I found these."

He held up the toys in question.

"I doubt the Stabbingtons play with toys," the royal noted, "but it's just like Eugene to use things like this as a distraction. We must be getting close."

- - - -

Eugene sighed as he sat against the rock wall.

He'd been on Maximus, heading back to Corona, when Hamuel flew by with one of the Stabbingtons' daggers. Next thing he knew, he was riding back to try and save his father, Dark King of the Deadbeats. He hadn't even been on Mount Saison five minutes before he was nearly crushed by the Stabbingtons' trap. Now, here he was stuck in a cave with Domino and the world's stupidest crow.

"First he lies," Eugene vented, "then he gets me trapped in a cave. Definitely 'father of the year' contender..."

Domino huffed at him, and turned so his saddle bag shown a bit.

"What?" Eugene took the saddlebag off and looked inside.

It took him a minute, but then he began recognizing the things inside.

They weren't lucky trinkets, they were things from his past!

"My marked deck of cards... My two-headed coin... and my loaded dice! And this is my first hand mirror! He has been keeping tabs on me!"

He got a further surprise when he looked further in the bag and found his old Flynn Rider book... and the guilt started to set in.

"Eugene!"

He turned around, hearing Rapunzel.

"Are you out here?" That was Leonardo.

"Guys, I'm in here!"

Rapunzel and Leonardo used her hair to bring down the rocks sealing him in the cave.

Once he explained that the Stabbingtons had kidnapped King Edmund, the temporary queen, the Dark prince, and the ninja turtle sprung into action.

The thieves had jumped on a log going down a flume (causing Eugene to remember that Mount Saison had been used as a headquarters for lumberjacks for years). Not wasting time, the three of them jumped on their own log and caught up with them.

Not wanting to be left out, Maximus led Fidella, Domino, and Caballo down a slide so they could keep up with their riders.

Due to the Stabbingtons never fighting a mutant turtle before, Leonardo was able to gain the upper hand pretty quickly. Rapunzel worked on slowing down the logs while Eugene freed his father.

Things got especially dangerous when a log jam resulted from the sudden water flow. Rapunzel ordered everyone onto her log. The horses, Leonardo, and Edmund got on quickly, but Eugene decided to get the unconscious Stabbingtons to safety, too.

Edmund helped him, but in the process of getting the two to safety, the sash fell out of the king's bag.

The Dark prince tried to dive for it, but was caught by his father.

"Leave it, Eugene!" 

He froze, smiling. "Dad, you called me Eugene!"

"You called me 'Dad'!"

They managed to just get onto Rapunzel's log, finally getting to safety.

- - - -

Leonardo oversaw the guards leading the Stabbingtons back to prison. The duo, having once again been bested and now saved by their arch nemesis, weren't in the mood to try any daring escapes.

The sash had been irreparably destroyed, with only the broken Dark Kingdom sigil being recovered.

King Edmund, however, took it rather well. Before he left to return to the Dark Kingdom, he gave his son a brand new sash he'd commissioned from Xavier. This one was made with the colors of the cover of their favorite book, and bore the sun emblem of Corona.

This time, Eugene accepted the sash with far more gratitude.

- - - -

Frustrated, the blue-haired woman tried again. 

It had been three days since she got the Moonstone, and the rocks had stopped listening to her.

She groaned when nothing she tried made the rocks move.

"Cassandra..."

Startled, she looked around.

The Mysterious Girl was back.

Chapter Text

With the craziness of the rocks, Varian's Automatons, Rapunzel's year-long journey, and the invading New Saporians, Old Corona's reconstruction had been put on the back burner.

But, with the memory potion ingredients gathered and kingdom relatively quiet, reconstruction of Varian's hometown was now back underway.

It was just in time for the kingdom's newest citizens to move in.

"Girls." Lance Strongbow brought two little girls close to the Turtles. "This is Rapunzel's Turtle Guard. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, meet Red and Angry."

The girls looked like they were ten or eleven years old. One of them had black hair kept in a short ponytail, while the other had long red hair worn in two ponytails. They wore matching red war paint under their eyes (which reminded the Turtles of Karai, though thankfully not enough to make them uncomfortable).

"Nice medals," Angry commented as she eyed the medallions on the brothers' necks (which had served as their Turtle Guard uniforms since their return). She locked eyes with Raphael. "Aren't you too weird-looking to be a guard?"

Raph gave her a look right back. "Aren't you a little small to have such a big mouth?"

Angry looked indignant for a minute, then snorted. "Okay, I like you!"

Eugene and Rapunzel explained who the girls were as the group made their way into Old Corona. Apparently, the girls were once a thieving duo that plagued Corona until Eugene and Lance managed to get them to turn their lives around. After a few years on the road, Angry decided that the best thing for the girls was to have a more stable life in the kingdom.

"You know," Lance spoke up as he knelt next to the girls, "it's about time you guys decided to settle down near us."

"Well," Angry replied. "We were getting kinda sick of life on the road. Never knowing what you're gonna eat, or where you're gonna stay. I mean, you should see the tree house we've been staying in."

Red brightened. "Yeah, it's--"

"A total dump!" Angry interrupted. 

"With the Princess' initiative to rebuild Old Corona," Eugene told them, "you're gonna have your choice of places to live!"

"Nice!" Mikey commented. "But it still won't be as dope as where we live!"

Leo gave his brother a look. "Mikey, we live underground."

Angry noticed that her sister was looking upset, and growled.

"Ugh, what is with you! You're acting weird!"

Red flinched and answered as she played with the leaf-shaped pendant around her neck.

"It's just... I like the tree house."

"Not this again, Red. Look, this is what is best for us."

"But--"

"Your Majesty!"

The adults, children, and Turtles turned to see a panicked shepherd running towards them.

- - - -

The livestock in Corona was apparently spooked by something, most likely a predator.

"Maybe it's a bear or something?" Raph asked anyone.

"There aren't any wild bears in Corona," Eugene told him. 

"Don't worry," Rapunzel stated, "we'll get to the bottom of this. Max, do your thing."

With the skill of a bloodhound (something that somewhat confused the Turtles), Maximus led the group straight to a set of tracks.

Gigantic tracks.

"Dogpound?" Mikey asked as soon as he saw them.

"What?" Rapunzel asked with confusion.

"A mutant we know," Leo explained. "He works for an enemy of ours... Donnie, do you think--?"

"Not a chance," Donatello replied. "The only way to Corona from New York is the reality check. Besides, he would have left dog prints."

"These look like wolf prints," Eugene agreed.

Angry measured the print with her hands. "If they are, that's one big wolf."

"No, this is something else." Rapunzel pointed at the tracks. "These tracks aren't side by side. Whatever made them walks on two feet."

"That can't be right," Angry began.

"Up there!" Raph yelled.

A figure with a wolf-like head darted through the trees. 

The group gave chase, with the creature staying just ahead at all times. That is, until Rapunzel managed to lasso them with her hair.

That was when they realized that it wasn't a wolf-creature at all, just a person wearing a wolf's pelt.

Rapunzel lifted the mask, and the person let out a savage yell.

Lance and Mikey let out identical, somewhat girly screams as the man jumped into the turtle's arms.

The princess dropped the mask in surprise, then regained her composure.

"Who are you?"

The person flipped their mask up, revealing what Leo thought was a woman.

"Captain Creighton, world class big-game tracker, at your service... Do you treat all of Corona's guests this way?"

- - - -

As an apology for tying Creighton up for no reason, Rapunzel agreed to treat her to a meal at the palace.

The tracker quickly rubbed everyone the wrong way. First, she mistook the Turtles for "unique zoo specimens" (which nearly got her decked by Raph). Then, she kept putting her feet on the furniture. Finally, her table manners made Jabba the Hutt look like a gentleman.

The group watched with disgust as she ate all the meat off a turkey leg in one bite, then drank gravy directly from the boat.

"Should we be impressed or disgusted?" Lance asked.

Creighton let out a gigantic belch.

"Disgusted, definitely disgusted," Leonardo replied.

Angry, in contrast, looked impressed.

"So, uh, Captain," Rapunzel began. "What is a world-class tracker doing in Corona?"

Creighton gave her a look. "Uh, tracking?"

The girls laughed as Rapunzel blushed. "Okay, yeah, that's on me, I could've been more specific. Tracking what?"

"The same thing that's been scaring your scaring your livestock. A werewolf."

Everyone froze. Donatello burst out laughing.

"Okay, I'll admit I've seen a lot in Corona that I never expected to see," he said, "but a werewolf? Seriously?"

Creighton gave him a look. "You're a talking turtle man, you really think you should be laughing?"

She pulled out a gigantic book. "It's all right here. What we're dealing with here is a Maledicta Lupus, the Wolf's Curse. Or, for you laymen, a werewolf. The Wolf's Curse travels the globe, in search of host bodies. It feeds on untapped rage. So it's ideal host is someone who harbors a deep-seeded anger. It inhabits his body, and causes him to turn into a raging beast every full moon for the rest of his life! And here's where is gets interesting: the wolf has found a new home, here in Corona."

"Deep seeded anger... Raph, is there something you want to tell us?" Mikey looked at his brother.

Raphael gave him a look. "We share a room, Mikey, and there was a full moon last night. If I was a werewolf, you'd be the first to know."

"It's not him," Creighton replied, rolling her eyes. "The Wolf's Curse only goes after humans."

"So," Lance asked, trembling. "Who is it?"

"'Who is it?'" Creighton mocked. "If I knew that, you think I'd be wasting my time with you milksops? The wolf can be anybody! But you don't have to worry, cause I'm not just tracking this thing--"

She pulled a crossbow off of her back. "I'm not leaving Corona until I've destroyed it."

Rapunzel cleared her throat and walked over to the hunter with queenly poise.

"Oh, she's gonna get it, now," Eugene whispered to Leonardo, who nodded.

"Let me be clear, Captain," the acting queen began. "You will not be destroying anything in my kingdom."

"Oh," Creighton smirked. "I'm not sure you can stop me."

Rapunzel got a smirk of her own. "Raphael, would you mind?"

Raph cracked his knuckles. "With pleasure."

Next thing Creighton knew, she and her crossbow were flying face first out the door.

- - - -

Rapunzel agreed that the werewolf problem needed to be solved as soon as possible, but she refused to kill them: they were still one of her subjects, after all. She also knew that they'd have to wait until the full moon... Which was the next night. So, she insisted everyone get a good night sleep, and found a spare room in the castle for Red and Angry to sleep in.

Raphael, however, couldn't sleep. As Mikey snored away, he opened the bedroom window and walked out onto the castle roof. 

All the talk about wolves and anger... He just needed a place to clear his head.

He heard a noise, and looked down to see Red out on one of the balconies.

She looked... sad.

He didn't know the kid too well, but he wasn't so big of a jerk that he wouldn't comfort a sad kid.

As silently as possible, he made his way down to where the little girl was.

"Want some company?" He asked as he approached.

She looked startled to see him, but waved him over.

He stood next to her, looking out at the view before he spoke.

"Can't sleep, huh? Worried about that werewolf?"

She shrugged.

"...Then what is it? You can tell me. Unlike Mikey, I can keep a secret."

She gave a tiny smile before she spoke.

"I really like it here, but this..." She looked back at the castle, her frown returning. "This is not me. I mean, Angry says this is what's best for us, and..."

She sighed. "I wish I was more like you, Raphael. You tell people when you're upset. I... I can't do that."

Raph paused, thinking before he spoke (which, admittedly, was a first for him).

"Bottling up how you feel doesn't do you any favors," he told the kid. "It just hurts you, and one day it'll make you go off at someone over nothing. But being angry all the time, making it everyone else's problem... That's not great either. Believe me, I know."

"...Then what should I do?"

"Being angry is normal. Happens to everyone. But while you shouldn't let it get the best of you, you shouldn't bury it either. You need to tell people when something's wrong."

"I tried telling Angry, but she didn't want to hear it."

"Then make her hear it," he told her. "Even if she thinks it's best, she shouldn't decide everything for the both of you."

She looked down, contemplating his words.

"Come on," he told her, gesturing at the window she'd gone through. "It's late, and it'll be a long day tomorrow."

She blushed as she smiled at him, then nodded and went back to the window.

He watched her go back into her room before he turned to go back to his.

And saw Splinter standing there.

"S-Sensei? How long were you there?"

"I came out to meditate in the moonlight, it is a luxury I rarely get anymore," his father explained. "And before you ask, yes, I heard everything."

Raph scoffed. "Let me guess, you're going to tell me I shouldn't be out here giving kids advice on anger management when I can't even handle my own..."

"Actually, I was going to say..." He put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Well done."

Raphael paused, blinking in surprise.

- - - -

The werewolf hunt... did not start out great.

Rapunzel somehow came to the conclusion that Monty the candy maker was the wolf due to him having a blue pawprint on his neck (a blemish the book said the wolf's human form would have). However, that turned out to just be a bit of blue frosting, and the real wolf started terrorizing a village.

However, while Eugene fought Creighton to keep her from killing the wolf and the Turtles helped evacuate the citizens of the village, Rapunzel got a clue as to the wolf's identity.

The wolf was wearing Red's pendant.

"Wait, you're sure?" Mikey asked as the group raced through the castle towards the girls' bedroom. "But Cretin's book said that the werewolf dude had to be really angry all the time!"

"Just because someone doesn't say they're angry doesn't mean they're not!" Raph retorted.

As expected, when they got to the girls' room, Angry was there. Red wasn't.

"Angry!" Rapunzel woke the little girl. "Where's Red?"

"What's... What's wrong?" Angry got up.

"Something serious is going on," Leonardo joined in, trying not to scare her. "Red's... Been hiding something from you."

Angry rolled her eyes. "Lemme guess, she doesn't wanna settle down in Corona?"

"It's more than that," Raph replied.

"If we don't hurry, that Cretin lady might kill her!" Mikey blurted out.

"WHAT?!" Angry shot up.

"Tact, Mikey!" Donnie shouted at his brother while Raph smacked him on the shoulder.

"Okay," the little girl jumped out of bed. "I'll take you to her."

- - - -

The girls' tree house wasn't far from the castle, only ten minutes on horseback.

Angry was right in that the place was kind of a fixer-upper, but as someone who'd secretly always wanted a tree house, Leonardo could see the appeal.

Leaving the horses on the ground, Rapunzel, Leonardo, Eugene, Raphael, Lance, Donatello, Angry, and Michelangelo climbed up. The house was in need of a LOT of work: loose nails in the floorboards, sheets on the walls covering up holes, broken pottery, ripped and dirty blankets as the only furnishings... 

"You guys live like this?" Mikey asked Angry. "No wonder you wanna move to Corona..."

Rapunzel shushed him, and went to the tree house's second level, with Angry and Raphael following. Red was up there, wrapped in a patched and faded blanket with a single candle.

She looked at the princess in fear.

"I'm not the monster..." She whimpered.

"No one said you were a monster," Rapunzel replied, going over to the little girl. As she brushed a tear off of her face, the girl's war paint came off.

There was a small blue paw print right under her eye.

"I--" She sniffed. "I'm sorry..."

"Red," a shocked Angry began. "How did this happen?"

"...Last month, when you decided we needed to settle down. I wanted to tell you that I liked it out here. I wasn't ready to move, but... You wouldn't hear me. I went for a walk that night, and that's... when it found me."

"The Wolf Curse?" Raphael asked.

Red nodded, taking a deep breath before she continued.

"It told me it could help me be heard. That it could use all of my angry feelings and give me what I want. I just had to... Let it."

"You should have told me, Red..." Angry began.

"Don't get mad at her," Raph retorted, surprising both children as he climbed in and wrapped Red in a hug.

Red stiffened, then wrapped her arms around him. He felt a few tears dribbling down his shoulder.

"The important thing," Rapunzel spoke up after letting the two have a moment, "is that there's a way out of this. Creighton's book has a ritual that can banish the Wolf Curse. But we can only do it on the final night of the full moon: tonight. And here's the tricky part. It has to be done on mystical ground."

"Is there anywhere like that around?" Leo asked.

"Janus Point," Eugene answered (though for some reason the three adults tensed up at the name).

- - - -

"Hey," Lance jovially said as they finished putting torches around Janus Point for light. "Remember that art teacher who brought us out here for her painting class? Whatever happened to her?"

Eugene rolled his eyes. "Well, she turned out to be a hideous she-demon who tried to steal your very soul."

"You guys got to fight demons? Lucky!" Mikey grumbled and kicked a pebble.

"Okay, Red," Rapunzel opened the book. "All you need to do is repeat what I say."

"You ready?" Lance asked her, his voice unusually soft.

Red looked unsure, but nodded.

"'I swear this wolf away,'", the princess began.

"...I swear this wolf away."

"'Not to give in to its rage. Wolf, be gone!'"

"N-Not to give in to its rage..."

She froze. 

Everyone looked at her with confusion.

"Come on, Red," Angry encouraged. "You have to."

Raphael recognized the look in Red's eyes. He'd felt it in his own.

The girl had snapped.

"I don't WANT to! Maybe I like being the Wolf! Maybe I'm tired of everyone telling me what to do! And... I'm sick of people assuming I'm okay just because I won't say that I'm not! And another thing: I don't even like the name 'Red'! I just went along with it because everyone expected me to!"

"Told you not to give them nicknames," Lance mumbled to Eugene.

"What if I wanted to be the angry one? Just once, I wanted to be the one to call the shots?! Being the Wolf lets me do that!"

"I--I'm sorry," Angry sputtered, flabbergasted. "I didn't mean to be so bossy. We can figure this out, together. But let's just finish this--"

"Look out!" Raphael tackled Not-Red to the ground as an arrow hit the ground where she'd been standing.

"It's Cretin!" Mikey yelled as he drew his nunchucks. Leo and Donnie drew their own weapons and glared at the tracker as she approached.

"Doesn't matter if you finish," the smug hunter declared as she approached, an arrow already in her crossbow. "This whole 'ritual' is bunk. I added it to the book so I'd know when and where the wolf would be. Thanks for that, Princess."

Rapunzel, scowling, threw the book down.

"You're really going to try and kill a little girl?" Leo accused, his voice dripping with rage.

Raphael placed himself between Not-Red and the hunter, shielding the kid.

Creighton cackled. "She's not a girl anymore, Green Boy, it's a monster! Now step aside before I add a turtle shell to my trophy case."

Before any of them could retort, a deep growling noise came from behind Raphael. He turned just in time to see an eight-foot-tall werewolf with red eyes appear right where Not-Red had been standing. 

She let out a deafening howl before jumping into the water below.

Creighton slipped out seconds later.

- - - -

No matter what the "world-class tracker" said about her abilities, it was clear that this wolf had bested her.

Her pathetic sobs and blubbering were proof enough of that.

Not-Red's Wolf form stood above Creighton's prone form, preparing to do only heaven knew what...

"Catalina, stop!"

The wolf froze.

Angry stepped out of the fog, her arms out to show that she held no weapons.

"It's me, Kiera. Please don't hurt her. She may be a jerk, but you're not a monster. I'm sorry I didn't listen better. I promise I'll try harder. Please, let her go."

The wolf started to calm down. Creighton, now knowing she wasn't about to die, passed out in terror.

"Remember what I told you?" Raphael stepped out of the fog behind Kiera. "You need to tell people when you need help. You can't bottle everything inside, but you can't just lash out at everyone, either."

"There are better ways to deal with those feelings," Rapunzel joined them.

"We'll all help, Catalina," Lance agreed as he, Eugene, and the rest of the Turtles walked up. "I promise."

"Please," Kiera repeated. "I love you."

The wolf completely calmed down, and went over to the group. In one fell swoop, Catalina wrapped everyone in a big, bone-crushing hug.

"Best hug ever!" Rapunzel cheered.

- - - -

Creighton, when she woke up in the castle infirmary, started swearing up and down that she just pretended to pass out to escape the wolf, and that now that she knew who it was, she'd take it out once more.

She was shocked to find that the acting queen had placed her under arrest.

"For WHAT?" She demanded. "Name ONE crime I committed?"

Donatello, who was helping Stan and Pete take her to her cell, happily answered her.

"Talking back to slash insulting members of the royal guard-- Yes, we count, Rapunzel made us honorary members-- threatening to kill citizens of Corona, and actually attempting first-degree murder on a minor."

"But... But she's a monster!"

"No, she's a little girl suffering from a curse who agreed to get help managing her anger to keep the Wolf under control. The acting queen warned you several times not to do it, but you did it anyway. You can tell it to the judge."

He tried not to feel TOO good about it when the tracker was dragged, kicking and screaming, into a cell.

- - - -

Since they were already rebuilding Old Corona, it wasn't hard to get supplies and volunteers to fix up the girls' tree house. In the end, it was the perfect compromise: they got to stay in the woods like how Catalina wanted, and they got to be near Corona like Angry wanted.

After a few days of work, the tree house looked like any kid's dream come true.

"Nice," Mikey commented when the house was mostly done. "You dudes lookin' for a roommate?"

"Sorry, no deal," Angry retorted. 

"I brought some of the princess' old painting from the castle!" Lance stated as he set a box down and pulled one of the paintings out. "Thought they might spruce the place up."

The one he was holding was of him wearing a pirate captain's hat.

"Maybe you can use that one for target practice?" Leo suggested, making the girls giggle and Lance frown.

While Eugene and Rapunzel told the girls that they could come to them if they needed help with anything (werewolf related or otherwise), Catalina went over to Raphael. She was blushing and had a little smile.

"Thanks again for what you said, Raph. And for protecting me from the hunter."

"No problem," the turtle replied. "Remember: find a happy medium for your anger. Preferably one that doesn't make you break everything in sight... I learned that the hard way."

Catalina giggled, and walked back over to Angry.

"Well," Rapunzel said as she pulled an old drawing from the box. "I'm glad we were able to help you girls fix your problems..."

She paused as she saw the picture in question. It depicted her and Cassandra, smiling among a field of flowers.

"Burying them... Never helped anyone."

- - - -

Cassandra collapsed in exhaustion.

Weeks of practice now, and still... NOTHING!

"Cassandra?"

"You," she panted. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help you master the Moonstone's power. It responds to hatred and anger. If you truly want to wield the Moonstone, you musn't be afraid to tap into the depths of your deepest rage. Remember what she put you through, and use that fury, Cassandra."

Cass looked at the rocks.

She remembered her mother leaving her. For Rapunzel.

She glared at the rocks.

They grew at her command.

Chapter Text

"Xavier says that this is as close to the memory potion as we can get," Donnie explained as he filled two tea cups with the blue, slightly glowing substance. "There are some ingredients that simply don't grow in Corona, so we had to find substitutes. But all the important stuff is there."

"Great," Rapunzel gave a relieved sigh. "It's not been easy seeing them like this."

The memory spell had basically left the two monarchs as shells of their former selves: they were polite and behaved like an upper-class lady and gentlemen, but they didn't know who anyone was, where anything was, took everything at face value... They didn't even know their own names.

Once Donatello had announced that the potion was ready, Rapunzel, the Turtles, Eugene, Master Splinter, Lance, Nigel, and Xavier had gone up the King and Queen's chambers.

"Oh!" The Queen asked as Donnie put one of the tea cups in front of her. "Is this tea?"

"Uh, no..." the turtle admitted as he put the other cup in front of the King. "It's... better! Really good for the brain!"

"Well, why not?" The King picked up his tea cup. "A toast: to the lovely woman I've been spending so much time with these last few weeks. You made it seem like a matter of minutes."

The Queen blushed as she raised her own cup. "A toast: to the most polite and kind gentleman I can ever remember meeting."

"That won't be hard," Mikey whispered to Lance. Leo frowned at his brother while Lance suppressed a laugh.

The royals both drank their potions. Once they'd finished their drinks, they both looked into the tea cups with looks of confusion.

"Rather... peculiar taste," Queen Arianna admitted. "Rapunzel, what kind of tea did Donatello say this was?"

"Rapunzel!" King Frederic sat up so fast that his tea cup was knocked over. "When did you get here? I thought you were still on your journey!"

Laughing, the princess ran into her father's arms. Then into her mother's.

Now that the King and Queen were themselves again, a quick recap of the last thirteen months followed. The royals were shocked at how much they'd missed, not to mention furious that their kingdom had been held hostage and relieved that Rapunzel, her friends, and the Hamato Clan had managed to save everyone.

Still, it quickly became clear that their memories weren't completely restored. They couldn't remember fine details like dates or names, and entire events were missing all together. Donatello admitted that, according to Xavier, this was likely to happen.

"Since we used substitutions," he told the group, "their memories didn't come back in full. It's sort of like trying to remember a movie you only saw once: you remember what it was about and what you liked about it, but things like character names and what specifically happened is hard to recall.

"But the good news," the turtle quickly added when he saw the princess' crestfallen face, "is that their memories ARE still there. We just need to help them start remembering specifically what happened, and they should have everything back in no time."

It was decided that, due to King Frederic and Queen Arianna not being quite themselves yet, Rapunzel would remain the acting queen for a little while longer.

- - - -

While Rapunzel was tempted to throw a big party to celebrate the potion's success, Nigel and Leonardo reminded her that the Saporian invasion had still left a lot of damage. The city and outlying villages of Corona were all fixed, as Rapunzel had prioritized restoring the citizens' homes and welfare, the castle still had a bit of damage. Most notable was the gigantic hole in the throne room wall.

For some reason Splinter didn't understand, the princess had somehow turned into a scavenger hunt including a majority of the citizens. Nigel, with her gone, brought in several citizens with construction experience to rebuild the throne room. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo, since the kingdom was down three guards (Stan and Pete were on the scavenger hunt and the Captain had been on an away mission since Saporia attacked), volunteered to take some guard patrols. 

This left Splinter with a bit of alone time. He found himself wandering the halls of the castle. While his sons and the princess had given him a tour of the castle, it was a bit confusing. Fortunately, though, he eventually found the library. 

Part of his studies in the original Hamato Clan included learning to speak and study English. He'd groaned about it as a teenager, but as an adult (one forced to flee to America, no less) he was more than grateful for it. He'd asked Donatello why a kingdom supposedly in the middle of Germany seemed to speak and write predominantly in English, but after his son gave a long explanation including numerous words he didn't understand, he'd simply decided the reason wasn't one he needed to know.

The librarian gave him a friendly nod as he walked in; the rat found himself as accepted by the people of Corona as his sons, even though he went out in public less often. It was an odd feeling: he hadn't felt so welcome since leaving Japan.

He found himself scouring the shelves for anything interesting. After a minute or two of searching, he found an interesting book on martial artists in the Seven Kingdoms. 

Splinter had just sat down to read when his sensitive ears picked up a noise. The sound of someone sighing in deep sadness.

Deciding his book could wait, he stood from his table and followed the sound.

The King of Corona stood in the library window, overlooking one of the castle's gardens.

"A lovely view," the ninja master announced his presence by commenting.

"Ah, forgive me," the King stepped away from the window. "Master Splinter, is it? I'm sorry we haven't been formally introduced yet."

Splinter bowed to King Frederic, who quickly shook his head.

"No, none of that, please. We prefer to only have people bow on formal occasions."

"If you wish. If I may ask, why do you look so sad?"

"...It seems my loss of memory also gave me a loss of self-control," the king muttered. "May I confide in you, Master Splinter?"

"Of course, King Frederic."

"The recent return of my memories has forced me to look at some of my past choices with fresh eyes. And... I trust your sons told you what I did to Rapunzel on her nineteenth birthday?"

The rat gave a nod, carefully showing no emotion.

"At the time, I thought I was doing what I had to to protect her. But now... Now I realize how paranoid and overprotective I was. Rapunzel had shown so many times how capable she was of defending herself and others... She proved it again with how well she handled the Saporians. What kind of father am I if I can't see my daughter for who she really is?"

"You are hardly the first parent to make such a mistake."

The King looked at Splinter. It was the mutant's turn to sigh.

"Several months ago, an old enemy of mine reappeared in my family's city. He ambushed my sons; the only reason they escaped was through sheer luck."

"Your sons are only fifteen," the king gaped. "This monster would kill children?"

"It's easier to list those he wouldn't kill. Learning that he was back, and that he'd nearly killed my children... I felt terror like I'd never had before. I decided that I had to train my sons harder while also keeping them away from the world for as long as I could. It was nearly a disaster: my sons were so tired and paranoid that they could barely fight a threat that nearly cost us our home. I have apologized and things right with my sons, but I know the guilt you describe."

"When your sons first came to Corona, they spoke very highly of you. I can see why."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Now that you can remember them again, I wish to thank you for showing my sons such kindness and generosity."

"After all they've done and continue to do for the kingdom, it's the least I can do."

He looked at the clock on the wall.

"Would you like to join Arianna and myself for tea?"

"I'd be delighted, King Frederic."

"I'd be honored if you'd simply call me Frederic."

To the shock of the Corona elite, Splinter became the newest friend and confidant of the King and Queen, even being on a first name basis with them. The snobs of the upper class tried to hide their distaste that a giant rat of all things had managed to gain a higher social status than them. But, once they actually met him, they had to admit that he was actually fairly polite. The fact that he had better manners than Eugene and Lance combined also helped.

- - - -

"Wait, so the treasure was cursed the whole time?" Mikey asked Rapunzel.

"Yep," she said from where she was sketching the whole event in her journal.

"And you beat up an army of skeletons without us?" Raphael looked upset.

"Sorry," she replied. "If I'd known there'd be monster slaying, I promise I would have invited you."

"Don't worry, Raph," Leo commented from where he was polishing his swords. "Knowing this kingdom, there'll be someone for you to punch soon enough."

"You're just saying that," the red-clad turtle grumbled.

Chapter Text

Owl flew overhead as Cassandra searched the wreckage. Luckily, the caravan had wrecked fairly close to the Dark Kingdom. Cassandra had already searched it a few times for anything useful (food, water, blankets, etc). She could hunt, fish, and forage in the woods, but that took time. Time she needed to perfect her control over the black rocks. 

She eyed Rapunzel's spilled paints, broken telescope and Eugene's ripped books before she paused. Something had survived the wreckage.

It was a painting Rapunzel had done only a few days after they'd begun their journey. It was the two of them, surrounded by flowers and ivy. Pascal was over Rapunzel's head, while Owl was over Cassandra's.

A small twinge went through Cass' chest.

Was... Was she right to cut ties with the princess?

"I sense your guilt, Cassandra."

The Mysterious Girl had returned.

"After all," she went on, "Rapunzel was your friend and you betrayed her. But, one could argue that she deserved it."

"...Maybe." Cass didn't sound or feel too sure about that.

"Oh, yes. More than you know, for she has already taken a piece of your newfound power."

The Moonstone flashed, and suddenly all of Cassandra's guilt vanished, an ugly fury taking its place.

- - - -

"It's just on the other side," Rapunzel cheerfully told her new handmaiden, Faith, during the tour. "And... ta-da!"

They were in a dirty, dusty room full of moths. The handmaiden barely paid attention as Rapunzel showed her the entrance to a secret passage. All it took was seeing a centipede before the poor girl ran off screaming.

Eugene, Leonardo, and Michelangelo were walking by when Faith ran away.

"Where's she going?" Eugene asked.

"Wasn't she Rapunzel?" Leo questioned.

"If I made a milkshake with grapes and mango, what color would it be?" Mikey wondered.

The other two gave him funny looks as Rapunzel walked out of the chamber.

"I don't think that's gonna work out," the princess admitted.

"This is the fifth handmaiden we've tried out," Eugene replied. "I mean, don't you think maybe you're expecting your new lady-in-waiting to be someone she's not?"

"I'm not expecting her to be Cassandra, if that's what you're implying," the princess said defensively.

"I never said that," her boyfriend replied.

"It makes sense if you do, though," Michelangelo spoke up. "I mean, Cassandra was the first lady-in-waiting you ever had. So some part of your brain probably expects all ladies-in-waiting to be like her."

Leo looked at his brother with shock. "That... actually makes sense."

"Yeah, it surprised me, too!"

"Look, Cassnadra's gone," Rapunzel declared, crossing her arms. "And I'm over it."

"Well then maybe you need to give Faith a little more time," Eugene reasoned.

"She is qualified," Leo added. "She served the Queen while she was recovering from memory loss. The biggest problem is that the job description didn't come with knowing about secret tunnels or how to beat up someone twice her size."

Rapunzel sighed. "...Maybe you're right."

She walked away. The Turtles started to follow her, but Eugene held them back. 

"Give her an hour or so. She says she's over Cass but..."

He trailed off, though the Turtles got the message.

- - - -

"Hey, Rapunzel!" Mikey cheered as he practically leapt into Rapunzel's room. "Guess what? Nigel was looking through some of the artifacts in the castle archives, and found this cool watch! Since it doesn't look dangerous, the dude said I could wear it for a while!"

"I still don't know why you want it," Leo noted as he followed his brother in. "You never wear a watch at home."

"I never did because I never had one! Now I do!" He tried to put it on... and only then realized that the watch was too small for his wrist. Nor was the band adjustable. 

"Hey, guys," the princess greeted. She was on top of her bookshelf, and lowered a section of her hair so they could climb up.

Mikey handed her the watch so she could look at it. She brightened a bit.

"I remember reading about this! It's a memory watch! Whoever wears it can share their memories with whoever's near them!"

"Whoa," Leo noted. "So, it's magic?"

"There are only a few of them, but yeah."

She set the watch aside and looked back at her paintings. Quite a few of them showed the princess, Eugene, Cassandra, Pascal, and Maximus on adventures together.

"You still miss her, don't you?" Mikey asked.

"...I know I said I was over her betrayal, but..."

"Cass was your friend. It looks like you two were always close."

"Are you kidding? We clicked right away, got along from our first minute together... Here, why don't I show you?"

She put the watch on, and held out her hands. Leo was about to ask if this was safe when Mikey grabbed first his brother's and then the princess' hand.

In a flash of light, the turtles disappeared. Rapunzel closed her eyes, and seemed to enter a trance.

- - - -

The Turtles blinked, and found themselves in the castle hallway.

"What?" Leo asked. "How'd we get here?"

"Dude!" Mikey pointed at the floor.

Leonardo looked down and saw that his foot was going right through a nearby table leg. He quickly moved, and found he could pass through the table as easily as through air.

"We must be in the memory," the blue-clad turtle mused. "I guess we're like ghosts while we're here."

"So no one can see us?" Mikey asked.

"I don't think so."

"Cool! Look, there's Old Lady Crowley!"

He ran over to the mean old maid and started making silly faces at her.

"Mikey, stop," his brother sighed.

"Oh, hey, cupcakes!" The younger turtle ran towards the tray a serving girl was passing with. He tried to grab a treat, only to be disappointed when his hand passed through them.

Leo bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"Ugh!"

They turned at the sound of a familiar growl. Cassandra, in her old handmaiden uniform, was complaining to Old Lady Crowley.

"I can't stand her! I want out."

"No," Old Lady Crowley bluntly responded. "You're not getting reassigned."

"Look, being a lady-in-waiting is one thing, but I did not sign up for this!"

She pointed at the paintings all over the suits of armor lining the hallway. It wasn't hard to guess that it was Rapunzel's handiwork.

"Cry me a river," the old maid responded. "Listen. Unless somehow a better job falls into your lap, you're stuck with the princess."

"Miss Crowley, you don't understand. It's not just the painting. It's the constant singing and the ventriloquism and--"

"They got along right off the bat, eh?" Leo asked, his face deadpan.

"Kinda looks like Cass never liked her," Mikey noted sadly.

Just then, a rat popped out of one of the painted suits of armor. Nigel and the two maids that saw it ran away screaming. Cassandra rolled her eyes at their antics before picking up the rat, carrying it to the window, and giving it a piece of bread from her pocket before it darted to the street below.

The whole thing was seen not only by the ghost-like Turtles, but a hidden, short-haired Rapunzel.

"See, Pascal?" She whispered to the reptile on her shoulder. "I knew Cassandra had a good heart! We're gonna be best friends yet!"

She was accidentally forced from her hiding place when the door she was leaning on gave way. She faceplanted onto the floor, her art supplies spilling from her bag and rolling down the hall.

"SPLAT!" Mikey giggled while Leo gave him a look.

"Hi!" Rapunzel said to Cassandra, friendly despite her embarrassing position.

Cassandra just sighed.

- - - -

As the memory progressed, Leo and Mikey saw more of Rapunzel's attempts to win Cass over. The memory seemed to skip through time to more prominent moments, making it feel more like the two were watching a play than actually being part of events.

A lot of the princess' efforts at friendship were... cringe-worthy, to say the least.

Even Mikey, who was known for not always respecting boundaries, winced at the hodge-podge sculpture of the two.

Finally, the memory landed on a moment when Rapunzel was talking with the King and Queen. 

"Rapunzel," King Frederic said, "an official princess event is upon us. The Contest of the Crowns!"

"Why does that sound like a horror movie about dentists?" Mikey commented before Leo shushed him.

"It's a friendly competition between the princesses of the Seven Kingdoms," the queen explained the event to her confused daughter. 

The memory then skipped ahead to Rapunzel asking Cassandra to compete with her.

"Are you sure you don't wanna ask somebody else to be your partner?" The handmaiden replied as she stitched up a torn sleeve on Rapunzel's dress. "Eugene, Old Lady Crowley... That fern?"

"Cass!" Rapunzel took the needle from her and quickly finished the stitching. "This is a great opportunity for us to become better friends!"

Annoyed, the lady-in-waiting cut the thread and took back the needle.

"Listen: I have my job to do, and you have yours. We can be partners if you want, but a lady-in-waiting and a princess becoming friends? That's like a one in a million chance."

That said, she took the sewing basket and walked out.

"Just like there's a one-in-a-million chance of four mutant turtles and a mutant rat from another dimension popping in out of thin air," Leo snarked after her.

"You hear that, Pascal?" Rapunzel asked her pet. "That means there's a chance!"

- - - -

The memory jumped forward to a pavilion decorated with flags and banners. Leo spotted seven different symbols on the flags, with Corona's being among them. He guessed these were the emblems of the other six kingdoms.

The royal announcer (who Mikey wouldn't stop calling a medieval MC) explained that the contest's challenges had been chosen by the respective queens of each kingdom (who Arianna was standing with). Then, after the competitors for each kingdom were introduced, the princesses/partners were ushered into a preparation room.

Rapunzel, as usual, was being her upbeat self (though Leo noted she was being far more naive and oblivious than the princess turned acting queen he knew). Cassandra kept making it clear that she was only there out of obligation and still didn't consider Rapunzel a friend... But the princess wasn't getting her messages. Nor did she seem to notice that Cass was especially taken by the princesses of Ingarr.

"Why do those princesses look like Raph's ideal girlfriend?" Mikey questioned.

"From what I can see," Leo replied, "they look like Cass' ideal girlfriend, too."

The events began shortly after. The first was ballroom dancing, which Rapunzel cost them when she tried to put her own spin on the traditional dance. However, Cass' ability to leap after the princess and yank the flute out of her hand caught the attention of the Queen of Ingvarr, who sent her daughters to give Cassandra a message.

After hearing said message, Cassandra was suddenly much more invested in winning.

The next event was selecting the correct fork out of one hundred (which the brothers found pointless, but Rapunzel making the oysters dance on forks made them both laugh). After that it was befriending forest creatures (how Rapunzel managed to tame a wolf was anyone's guess), then steed capering (which ended with Cassandra in a mud puddle). 

The series of losses put Cass in an understandably bad mood... which Rapunzel accidentally worsened by trying to have a sleepover in her lady-in-waiting's room. For Cassandra, that was the last straw.

"Why can't you understand?!" She shouted. "We are not friends! I don't like dumb dance moves, or spirit bracelets, or sleepovers! My idea of having fun is to not have fun!"

"Ouch," Mikey commented.

Rapunzel looked at the floor. "You're right. I was pushing too hard. Besides Pascal, I haven't any friends in eighteen whole years. So maybe... I don't know how."

Cass' eyes widened in surprise.

"I'll just leave you alone." She ducked into her makeshift tent.

"But this my roo--" Cass began before giving up. "Ugh, forget it."

After a moment, she joined Rapunzel in the makeshift tent.

"You know," she admitted. "I'm not great at making friends, either. I grew up with the Captain of the Guards for a father. He's not big on warm and fuzzy." She gave a weak chuckle before sighing. "I guess I've, uh, got a lot to learn about being a friend."

"Maybe..." Rapunzel began. "Maybe we could learn together? Maybe I won't try so hard to be friends?"

Mikey sniffed. "Just become friends already, dudes! You're breaking my heart!"

"Mikey, it's a memory."

"It's still sad!"

"And," Cass admitted as she sat closer to the princess, "I could try harder not to... not be your friend."

- - - -

The memory jumped forward again.

The next day's event was embroidery, followed by riding an out of control carriage, then baking an impressive cake (which again reminded Mikey that he couldn't interact with food in the memory). Rapunzel and Cassandra, now acting like a team, managed to win all three. They were tied with Ingvarr for the finals.

It was as Rapunzel was thanking Cass for giving her a chance that the truth about Cassandra and Ingvarr was revealed: Cass, if she won the final challenge, would be invited to join Ingvarr's army of warrior women.

"Woah," Mikey commented, "that's like, everything Cass' ever wanted... Why didn't she take it?"

"I think we're about to find out," Leo replied.

Rapunzel's reaction (after the Queen tactlessly said that Cassandra hated being a handmaiden) gave them a hint.

"Why didn't you tell me you were unhappy?"

"I'm not unhappy! It's just that this is a great opportunity for me. She offered me a place in her battalion, but only if I prove myself in the finals. I mean, how could I turn that down?"

"All this time, I thought we were actually having fun..." She started tearing up.

"We were having fun!" Cass insisted.

"You were just using me!" Rapunzel accused, furious.

"Rapunzel, I--"

The contestants were called out into the field. Rapunzel ripped off her spirit bracelet and stormed out, furious.

It was clear during the final, a game of Capture the Flag (which for some reason included a giant mechanical lion), that Rapunzel wasn't herself. She wasn't trying to have fun, she took risks, got hurt...

"Why isn't she using her hair to protect her?" Mikey asked.

"She doesn't have it yet," Leo reminded him. "It didn't grow back until she touched a rock six months later... When did my life get to a point where that sentence makes sense?"

Rapunzel finally got the upper hand when she used the lion's tail against it and got onto it's back (a maneuver that impressed Cassandra). The handmaiden got up by using one of the nearby flags as a pole vault. 

It was when the Ingvarr princesses got onto the lion things took a turn. Rapunzel was grabbed by the ankle and thrown off of the lion, landing in the dirt.

Cassandra had the flag right in her range... and she slid down the lion, right past it. She instead went to where the short-haired princess had fallen, and helped her up.

"Aww!" Mikey cooed.

"Cass! What are you doing?" Rapunzel asked, shocked. "Go get that flag if this job means so much to you!"

"There's something else that means a lot more," she replied.

The Queen of Ingvarr gave the handmaiden a disgusted look before walking away.

The princesses of Ingvarr claimed the flag and won the Contest of Crowns.

But as Pascal handed the girls their spirit bracelets, it was clear to everyone that the Corona team didn't care.

- - - -

The Turtles blinked, and found themselves sitting on Rapunzel's bookshelf again. The princess herself blinked, sucking in a breath.

"Wow," she murmured. "The watch really works..."

She quickly set it down... and pushed it away with her toe.

"We saw the memory of the Contest of Crowns," Leonardo began. "Did you...?"

"It was like I was just reminiscing," she replied. "Only... I could hear you both talking during the memory."

She bit her lip. "I... I'd forgotten about the Queen of Ingvarr's offer. I guess Cassandra really has been giving things up for me... And I always took her for granted."

The princess reached behind a book, finding two beaded bracelets. The spirit bracelets from the contest.

Mikey didn't hesitate and pulled her in for a hug.

"What Cass did is a big deal," he told her. "She hurt you, and it's okay to feel bad about it."

"She could have had everything she wanted," Rapunzel replied, talking into Michelangelo's shoulder, her voice near tears. "And she gave it up for our friendship--"

"RAPUNZEL!"

The door burst open, with a panicked-looking Varian looking around.

"Young man!" Nigel followed him in. "Forgive me, Your Highness, but Varian here insisted on seeing you even though I told him he should--"

"It's okay, Nigel," Rapunzel wiped her eyes and used her hair to get both Turtles and herself down. It didn't look as though she'd been crying; she'd been working on her queen face.

The grand vizier looked irritated, but he bowed and left the room.

"What's wrong, Varian?" Leonardo asked.

Varian reached into an apron pocket and pulled out the folded-up Demanitus Scroll.

"After you entrusted me with decoding the scroll," he began to explain to the princess as he spread the scroll out on a table, "I finally managed to get the basic alphabet translated. And I was able to find a warning beneath the Reverse Incantation."

"A warning?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes. Apparently, whoever wields the Moonstone doesn't possess the opal. Rather, over time, the opal begins to possess them. It warps what they want until all they really want to do is the Moonstone's bidding. It leaves them in an incredibly vulnerable, easy-to-manipulate position."

The princess' eyes were wide in horror. "So... Cassandra's possessed? That's why she betrayed me?"

"Cass wasn't possessed when she grabbed the stone," Leo reminded her. "That was all her choice."

"But it would explain why she hasn't been seen anywhere near Corona since you got back," Mikey pointed out.

"I can't speak for Cassandra, and I don't know what's going through her head," Varian continued. "But if Demanitus' warning is anything to go by... Rapunzel, I don't think she's the Cass you remember anymore."

"I'm not giving up on her yet," Rapunzel decided. "I'm gonna find a way to fix things... And I'm gonna bring her home."

- - - -

"What do you mean Rapunzel stole some of my power?"

"When Rapunzel touched the Moonstone's black rocks," the Mysterious Girl explained, "they gave her their protective power. This kept the Sundrop safe until she made her way to the Dark Kingdom."

Cassandra's jaw dropped in shock. It all made sense now.

"So that power that she took... belonged to the Moonstone..."

"And the Moonstone belongs to you." 

Miles away, without a chance of interfering, yet Rapunzel was STILL taking things away from her... Just like she always had. Her arm, the Challenge of the Brave, Ingvarr... Would that spoiled brat ever stop taking her victories away?!?

And to think she'd initially grabbed that rock to protect the princess from it...

"So you see," the Mysterious Girl continued, "even the power of the Moonstone is not completely yours."

A black rock sprung from the ground, reacting to Cassandra's fury.

With a growl, she tore the painting of the princess and servant apart.

"It will be."

Chapter Text

"I can't control it," Cassandra complained as she fell to her knees, having failed to use a rock to kill a flower.

"You will, Cassandra," the Mysterious Girl replied. "In time."

She shook her head. Despite the revelation of all Rapunzel had taken from her... Her guilt wouldn't go away.

"I thought by taking the Moonstone, my destiny would become clear," she told the Girl. "But... What if I don't even have a destiny?"

What was she even doing this for?

"Of course you do," the Mysterious Girl chastised. "It is to kill Rapunzel."

"Kill Rapunzel?" Cass stepped back, fear filling her heart.

No, no that couldn't be right. She only wanted to take her destiny for once, not kill her. They... They'd been friends, once...

Red rocks sprung from the ground. As Cass watched in shock, they began following a road. A road Cassandra knew led to Corona.

"What's happening?" She asked the Girl.

Her teacher didn't look impressed.

"You're connected to the rocks. They respond to your feelings. Even fear."

- - - -

Varian sighed. He'd managed to crack Demanitus' warnings about the Moonstone, but it turned out he'd used a different cipher to encrypt the rest of the scroll. In other words, translating it was taking far longer than he'd estimated.

"What does it mean, Demanitus?" The teenager groaned. "What does it mean?"

It was late; his father had gone to bed hours ago. Varian was more than tempted to flop down in his own bed and call it a night... He'd close his eyes for just a second, then go back to work...

"VARIAN!"

"Dad?!" He shot up from his work table, running towards his father's panicked voice.

He threw open the door to his father's room. Quirin was encased in amber once again, looking at his son with sad, terrified eyes.

"Dad! No, not again!" He ran forward, wondering how fast he could get Rapunzel there to do the Reverse Incantation...

"Serves you right, traitor!"

He turned to see all the people of Corona, most of them people he knew. They were all yelling at him, telling him he deserved what happened to his father. Varian couldn't defend himself; they were right.

The people were converging on him, ready to rip him apart...

"NO!"

He shot up, blinking rapidly. 

"Dad?" He asked, looking out the window. The sun was out... It was morning.

He ran outside... and saw Quirin pushing a wheelbarrow full of freshly-picked apples towards the barn.

"Morning, son!" He called over cheerfully before going back to work.

"It was just another nightmare," he muttered, relieved despite his shaking. He should be used to those by now...

Ruddiger ran out the door, chittering.

"What is it, buddy?"

The raccoon led him over to a... red rock? It looked exactly like the black rocks, only... these felt different. They felt warmer when he approached them, but not pleasantly so.

"Well..." The teen alchemist began. "This is new."

He should probably tell the princess about this...

- - - -

Lance, to bring the castle a little extra money to cover the cost of repairs, had the idea to lead guided tours of the castle... with fifteen percent of the prophets going to the tour guide. Rapunzel and Eugene talked him down to accepting ten percent, but approved of the tours.

It was during one of these tours (with Mikey as the unpaid co-guide) that tragedy struck. Red rocks sprang from the ground, piercing the castle wall. A few guests, who were standing on the balcony, lost their balance. Mikey tried to grab them, and was pulled down with them. Fortunately, Rapunzel managed to catch the fallers with her hair... and in the process learned about the new rocks.

When Rapunzel touched them... She saw something.

"Cassandra?" She muttered.

The princess decided that she and Eugene needed to investigate. And in the process, they noticed a lot of people were acting... terrified.

"Rapunzel!" Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Splinter found them in the town square.

"Guys, I'm glad to see you," she greeted. "Have you noticed people are--?"

"AHH!" Several townspeople started freaking out. 

"I'm sorry I overcooked your golden flaky crust!"

"A clown-spider! You can't make me sing in front of all those people!"

"Get 'em off me!" Raphael started freaking out, brushing at his body with shaking hands. "Get 'em off me!"

"Seeing their worst fears?" Leo interrupted, looking disturbed as he tried to calm his brother.

"Yeah, that," Eugene noted.

"Raph, it's okay!" Rapunzel told him. "Nothing's there, nothing's on you."

Raphael blinked, and saw that she was right.

"Stupid cockroaches," he muttered.

"Well," Eugene shrugged, "these rocks aren't doing anything to me, probably because I'm not scared of much... No." He saw his reflection in a shop window. "No, not a cowlick!"

"Only a fool is not afraid," Splinter noted. "Everyone is afraid of something, and even if that fear seems silly, to them it is very real."

"Well," Leonardo spoke up. "I guess we'll just have to try and tough our way through whatever scary surprises-- AHH!"

He jumped back as a frozen red raccoon appeared in his face.

"Oh, sorry, just me!" Varian apologized. "And... Ruddiger. Kinda."

He set the frozen raccoon on a barrel. The poor animal had an expression of pure terror on his face.

"What happened?" Rapunzel asked.

"I'm not quite sure," the alchemist admitted. "But I think it has something to do with these new rocks."

"What if the rocks don't just show you your worst fear," Donnie theorized, "but the accelerated heart rate allows the rocks to superimpose some kind of paralysis on their victims?"

Everyone looked confused at Donatello's words, but Varian nodded.

"That's my theory, too. Basically, if people remain under the fear spell for too long, it looks like they'll become frozen with terror, permanently."

"Then we should find a way to get rid of them," Rapunzel decided. "And find a way to make sure no one else becomes frozen."

"My sons and I can assist with that," Master Splinter offered. "A ninja must often face their worst fears. Learning to control those fears is essential to their training."

"Are you saying the rocks aren't affecting you at all?" Eugene asked.

"No," he answered. "The rocks show me my greatest fear..."

Out of the corner of an eye, he saw the image of the Shredder about to kill Raphael. He put a hand on his blue- and red-clad sons' shoulders, reminding himself that Saki was nowhere near Corona.

"All I am saying," he reassured them, "is that we can help the people stay calm."

"Yeah," Raph agreed, "we can handle... AHH! Get off me!" He jumped backwards, furiously stomping on nothing.

"Okay, Raphael," Rapunzel stopped him. There's nothing there... I'm guessing you're afraid of bugs?"

"Cockroaches," Leo corrected (earning a glare from his brother).

"Well, I have an easy fix for that. Here..." She took Pascal from her shoulder and put him on Raph's. "Pascal loves eating cockroaches. If an actual roach tries to climb on you, he'll eat it. If it's an illusion, he won't react and you'll know it's fake."

Raphael calmed down. "Okay, thanks. You okay staying with me a while, Pascal?"

The chameleon gave him a thumbs-up.

- - - -

While Splinter, Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo worked to try and keep the townspeople calm, Rapunzel took Eugene and the two scientists to her room to come up with a possible solution.

Fortunately, with Donatello and Varian working together, they were able to come up with a plan.

"Theoretically," Varian began, "if we sever the chain of the rocks, using one of my alchemical solutions, then we can cut off the red rocks' fear power."

"Which," Donnie continued, "if the spell is being constantly generated by the rocks, should revert everyone back to normal. The only catch is that the red rocks likely have a different chemical makeup than the black ones, meaning we'd have to find an unaffected black rock in order to fully cut off the chain. We just need a cavern deep enough to get to the roots of the rocks."

"Great!" Rapunzel clapped her hands together. "I know just the place!"

She was interrupted by a screaming maid. The four of them ran into the hall to see one of the maids freeze up in terror, her body turning the same bright red as Ruddiger's.

"Oh, no," Rapunzel muttered as she put a hand on the poor maid's shoulder. "It's getting worse. We can't let this happen to anybody else. Varian, Donnie? Your plan starts now. Pack up what you need and meet me at the entrance to the castle's tunnels."

- - - -

Donnie noted that Varian looked... forlorn as they packed up the bottles of chemical solutions. He meant to ask, but the human teenager had finished packing and started for the tunnels before he could.

As they packed, Rapunzel instructed, Eugene, Lance, Splinter, and the other three Turtles to keep the peoples' spirits up. Somehow, this led to them deciding to put on a talent show (to Splinter's and Leo's confusion).

With that decided, the princess and two scientists headed into the tunnels.

"Hey, Rapunzel?" Donnie asked as they started. "I wanted to ask... How come you aren't affected by the rocks?"

"...Well, I know they're just illusions, and my people need me right now. That's enough to help me focus. What about you? I haven't seen you react to anything?"

Behind her, a redheaded sixteen-year-old girl sneered at him.

"What made you think you could go on another fantasy adventure without me? You said I was a member of your clan, but it isn't feeling like it! Maybe I'd be better off if I never saw you again, you hideous mutant!"

Donnie blinked and shook his head. April was their friend, she'd never say that.

"I just remind myself that what I'm seeing can't happen," he replied. "Let's... Let's focus on the mission, like you said."

- - - -

"No problem, we've got this," Varian muttered as the three made their way through the tunnels. "No problem, we've got this."

"Are you okay?" Rapunzel asked him. "Because you've said 'No problem, we've got this,' twenty-three times now."

She opened her notebook to show him a tally board she'd been keeping.

Varian looked around, likely seeing his own hallucinations.

"Hey," Donnie comforted. "Whatever you're seeing isn't real..."

"Yes it is," he muttered. "Most people are lucky: they're seeing things that they know probably aren't real. But mine? Mine is something that already happened... That's been happening. I see my dad trapped in amber again, and I see the townspeople hating me, telling me that I deserve it after all I did to them."

He held up the vial of his solution. "Do you know what this is?"

"It what's gonna help us sever the red rocks' power," Rapunzel answered.

"It's more than that, isn't it?" Donnie asked.

"This is the same compound that encased my father, trapping him for months... I caused my own father to be stuck like that. The townspeople are right... I deserve to be shunned."

"Maybe you did once," Donnie began. Rapunzel tried to stop him but he held up a hand. "But look at you now. You've helped thwart the Saporian invasion, you're the one Rapunzel entrusted with the Demanitus Scroll, and you're going to help destroy the red rocks and end the plague hurting Corona. Splinter says that we're all capable of making bad choices, but what defines us is how we try to fix those bad choices."

Varian looked emboldened by his words.

"Yeah, great, talking about bad choices."

Donnie froze up and turned around. "April?"

"You made a bad choice leaving me behind! What makes you think I'd ever love an ugly mutant who won't bring me along on his missions! I hate you!"

"April, please--!"

"Donnie!"

He turned to see Rapunzel and Varian trying to calm him.

"Who's April?" The princess asked.

"S-She's our friend, back home. I--I see her saying she hates me for not bringing her to Corona... And that she hates me because I'm a mutant..."

Rapunzel hugged him. "Donnie, a real friend wouldn't care about that. Real friends love you for who you are, even when you're at your worst. She wouldn't hate you for a mistake."

She opened her eyes, as if realizing her words. "A real friend... Forgives mistakes."

She shook her head and continued leading the trio to the rock vein.

- - - -

The talent show's results were... mixed.

The first act was Splinter and Leonardo doing a ninjutsu demonstration (which was met with acclaim from the crowd, though one man who was afraid of martial arts wound up frozen).

"I wanted to ask," Eugene told Leo when the demonstration was over. "How come you aren't affected by the rocks?"

He flinched. "I am... I see myself failing my team. But I already face that fear every day."

The next act was one of the Snuggly Duckling thugs showing how to paint ceramic unicorns (which triggered Feldspar, who was apparently afraid of unicorns). Next was Old Lady Crowley and her attempt at stand up comedy (which no one found funny). After her were Angry and Catalina, who somehow thought that showing off the latter's werewolf form would be a good idea (several people ran screaming, a guy who was afraid of dogs froze in fear, and Catalina got upset that she couldn't finish her act). 

"This isn't working," Raphael muttered (with Pascal nodding in agreement). "We need a talent that can't possibly trigger anyone... Hey, Lance, you can sing, right?"

Despite Lance's constant refusal, he found himself backstage. 

"Don't worry about it, dude," Mikey promised him. "The key to not being afraid to perform is to just not care what people think."

"How do you know?" The panicky man asked. "Your fear isn't singing on stage!"

"No, but I am afraid of people telling me they hate a food I made. That's what I've been seeing: my brothers and all the people in Corona telling me my food sucks."

"...And that doesn't bother you?"

"A little. I mean, it hurts, and I worry about that whenever I try out a new pizza recipe. But I remind myself that I like what I cook, and there are people out there who like what I cook. As long as one person likes what I make, I'll be okay. Like Leatherhead: the dude loves anything I cook!"

"But... I won't have anyone out there with me! I'll be singing acapella..."

"I can play piano for you! We'll make something up!"

Now out of excuses, Lance had to get ready to sing.

"Oh, Lance!"

The man froze up and turned around. The clown-spider was back, grinning its evil grin. 

"SING!"

"As long as one person likes it..." Lance whispered, strengthening himself with his friend's words. He started to stomp towards his hallucination (who suddenly looked very scared).

"You know what? I'm bigger than you! I'm bigger than you... I am bigger than my fear!"

With that, he stomped onto the stage. 

Mikey gave him an encouraging smile, and started to play.

Lance took a breath, and started.

"When you're scared and stricken,

And losing your cool.

When you're such a chicken, 

You feel like a fool.

Don't freeze up,

Just ease up!

Take a deep breath!

And don't forget,

This little rule!"

A few townspeople started clapping along as the song picked up speed. Mikey thought there were more instruments playing even though he was the only one playing, but shrugged it off. Lance gained confidence and started getting more into his performance.

"When your palms are sweatin',

When panic attacks.

When you're close to wettin',

Your favorite slacks.

Stop freakin' and shrieken',

Don't look so bleak and just relax, kid!

And if you weaken and your courage starts to plummet,

You can overcome it!

'Cause you're bigger,

You're badder,

You're better than that!

You know you're stronger, and harder, and smarter than that!

So when you're haunted,  or daunted, stay cool as a cat!

What were you afraid of?

You're bigger than that!

If you're still uneasy, 

Still tremblin' in dread.

You feel so queasy you'd rather be dead!

Don't sweat it, don't fret it,

'Cause if let it turn your head, kid,

You can't forget it!

So if anything dismays ya,

No need to let it faze ya! 

'Cause you're bigger,

You're badder,

You're better than that!

You know you're bolder!

You're buffer! 

You're tougher than that!

So since you're braver, don't waver!

Just hand it it's hat!

Show it what you're made of,

You're bigger than that!

And once you know this, 

There's nothing to fear.

Every neurosis will just disappear!

Because you're bigger!

You're badder!

You're better than that!

You know you're chiller and you're flipper and you're hipper than that!

So face your demon!

Stop screamin'!

And pummel it flat!

What were you afraid of?

You're bigger than that!"

The song finished, with Lance and Mikey getting a thunderous applause.

Eugene beamed at his friend in pride.

- - - -

The Demanitus Chamber, even filled with red rocks, was a sight to behold. Varian and Donatello needed a minute just to stare.

"You should have seen it before all these red rocks," Rapunzel giggled.

"Man," Varian breathed. "I would have loved to have met Demanitus."

"I did," the princess admitted. "Nice guy."

"Oh, right," Donnie nodded. "The monkey thing."

Varian looked very confused, but there was no time to explain.

There was only one black rock left, and it was nearly out of their reach.

Rapunzel used her hair as a lasso to get the three of them higher.

Varian looked close to a panic attack, with Donnie in a similar state.

"VARIAN!" Quirin yelled.

"I will never love a hideous mutant! What made you think we were ever friends?!"

"It's okay!" Rapunzel shouted to them.

"Easy for you to say!" Donnie shouted. "You can fight through your fear! You're not afraid!"

She sighed. "Yeah, I am. These rocks... I see Corona. It's covered in black rocks. And I see Cassandra. She's conquered the kingdom, destroyed it forever. And you know what the weird part is? What I'm most afraid of is losing Cassandra as a friend. Forever."

Varian and Donnie looked at her in sympathy.

"I had no idea," the human teenager admitted.

"...I guess we all have trouble talking about what scares us," Rapunzel replied.

The rocks continued to grow, and they needed to move. Donnie pulled his bo staff from his belt.

"I don't think fighting the rocks will help!" Rapunel commented.

"But pole vaulting will!"

He swung onto a ledge, Varian under one arm.

"How strong are those vials?"

"What?"

"Can they withstand being hit with a bat?"

"...Yes, I designed them so they wouldn't break on a wooden floor. It has to collide with stone to break."

"Good! On the count of three, toss a vial into the air. Princess, you'll need to use your hair to yank us to safety. Ready?"

Rapunzel and Varian understood. 

"One, two... Three!"

Varian threw the vial at Donnie. Using his bo like a baseball bat, he hit the vial and sent it sailing towards the one black rock. Rapunzel yanked the boys back, getting them out of the way.

It was a perfect shot. The vial exploded on contact with the rock, coating it in the solution.

For one, heart-stopping second, nothing happend.

Then amber started to coat the rocks.

"YES!" Varian shouted.

He stopped celebrating when it became clear the three of them were in the line of fire as parts of the ceiling started coming down.

Rapunzel's hair was their shield as they ran for cover.

- - - -

The red rocks began to sink back underground, and the frozen people all returned to normal.

"They did it!" Lance cheered from his spot on stage.

"So did you, Lance," Old Lady Crowley commented, uncharacteristically kind.

The man blushed as people kept applauding his song.

"They like me, they really like me!"

"Hey, Mikey!" Monty the candmaker asked the orange-clad turtle. "Nice playing! Where'd you learn to play piano like that?"

"YouTube!"

"...Who's Yoo Toob?"

- - - -

"Do you see now?" The Mysterious Girl said as all of Cassandra's black rocks slid back underground. "Rapunzel can strip you of your power, Cassandra. If you do not destroy her, she will destroy you."

The Moonstone pulsed. And Cass' fear was forgotten.

"Winners play to win," she muttered. Her eyes turned a lighter shade of blue. Her skin turned a fraction paler.

- - - -

Quirin, needing to deliver a crop report to the palace, accompanied his son on his next trip into Corona. He happily listened as his son recapped the previous day's adventure.

"And if it weren't for Rapunzel and Donatello, I'd be-- Ruddiger!"

The unfrozen raccoon happily reunited with his friend. As the two rejoiced, Feldspar walked over.

Oh boy, Varian thought. More reminders that everyone hated him...

"Nice job with those rocks, Varian!" The shoemaker commented (not seeing the boy's shock). "Rapunzel says you were a real hero!"

"Just... doing my part," he humbly replied as Feldspar walked away (blushing hard when he saw his father smiling proudly at him).

- - - -

In the privacy of her room, Rapunzel revealed the truth about the rocks to Eugene, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Splinter.

"So Cass is attacking Corona now?" The dark prince reacted in disbelief. "Well, that's delightful."

"If the rocks were so heavily associated with fear," Splinter reasoned, "then perhaps she is beginning to regret her path of villainy?"

"You sure, sensei?" Raphael asked. "Nothing she's done so far seems like a cry for help. And now that she's attacking--"

"She wasn't." Rapunzel looked out on her balcony. "I don't know how to explain it, but when I touched the rocks... and stay with me on this... I sensed her. And she wasn't attacking us. She was just as afraid as we are. As I am."

"Remember Demanitus' warning about the Moonstone?" Leo spoke up. "It can corrupt it's wearer, possess them. What if that's what's happening to Cassandra, and she's trying to fight it?"

"So that would mean...?" Mikey asked.

"It means there's still a chance to save her," Rapunzel finished.

Chapter Text

The King and Queen were doing very well with their memory recovery, especially due to Rapunzel trying to make time each day for journal therapy.

"Okay, how about this?" She showed her father one of the first pictures in her memory journal.

"Why, that's your coronation day, of course!"

"Yes! And this? What happened here?"

"Oh, that's when Eugene and I stole the royal Seal of Equus... Oh, seal, seal, I get it now!"

"Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! Right again!"

"I remember this..." He commented, pointing to a picture a few entries down.

"Yeah," she agreed. "That's when I broke through the wall..."

"No," he gave a small laugh. "It's when I realized what a brave and independent woman you'd become."

Rapunzel smiled, wiping a tear from her eye. "It's good to have you back, Dad."

"And I have you to thank for that, Rapunzel. You and your friends. Throughout this entire ordeal, the six of you have been with us all along. Family sticks together, right?"

"Family sticks together."

All told, King Frederic and Queen Arianna had gotten most of their memories back, with Splinter's daily meditation helping them along. The only things they had any trouble remembering anymore were how to do some of their royal duties (which was why Rapunzel was still acting queen for a little while longer).

But, with Nigel giving the two etiquette and royalty lessons several times a week, it was estimated that they'd be back to ruling by the end of the month.

"Can you believe the audacity of Michelangelo?" Eugene announced as he stomped into the room, surprising both royals. "Not only did he steal my moisturizer, but he left the lid off! Now it's all dried out!"

"Come on, dude, I said I was sorry!" The turtle followed him in. "Besides, I know you have another bottle!"

Their argument was interrupted by a bird hitting the window.

Rapunzel rushed over, bringing the bird inside.

Only it wasn't just any bird: it was Owl.

"Owl!" The princess gasped. "Are you okay? Where have you been? Wait... Does this mean...?"

"Cassandra?" Mikey finished, looking worried.

Pascal put a pillow behind the poor bird, who looked like he'd been knocked unconscious.

"Where's Cass?" Rapunzel asked, probably hoping the bird would find a way to answer her.

She saw that Owl had something in his talons, and pulled it out.

"It's a pompoen," Eugene remarked.

"A what?" Michelangelo asked (with the King sharing his confusion).

"A rare plant," the princess answered. "And it only grows in one place... Dad? Do you think you, Nigel, and Mom can handle being in charge of the kingdom for a few days?"

Frederic nodded. "It's about time I start acting like a king again."

"Good. Eugene, Pascal, Mikey? We're going back to Tirapi Island."

- - - -

Splinter and the other Turtles agreed to stay behind and help the King and Queen however they could, meaning Mikey would be the only Hamato going on the trip. With fewer people, it was easiest to take a hot air balloon. Owl, who only needed a day to recover,  flew alongside the balloon.

Mikey got a few stories about Tirapi Island (namely the curses and weird little leaf people) en route, giving him some idea of what was in store.

After reminiscing, Eugene got a look of distaste and turned to his girlfriend. "Blondie, do you really think Cass would go back to that island? I mean, with all the cursed idols, giant fire-breathing house flies and crazy fish people... Actually, come to think of it, Cassandra is a pretty good fit for that place."

"This is our best lead so far. We haven't heard from her in months, and then suddenly Owl shows up with a fruit that can only be found on Tirapai Island? I would say that's a pretty good sign. At the very least, it'll be nice to see Alfons and the other Lorbs again."

Eugene rolled his eyes. "Ah, yes, the little leaf guys who think they're superior to human beings. They are a delight!"

"Ugh, sounds like the Kraang," Mikey commented.

The balloon landed on the shore of the island. The two humans, mutant turtle, chameleon, and owl looked around, but there wasn't anyone in sight.

"Hello?" They called out, but no one answered.

After a bit of searching, they found one of the Lorbs... who ran away screaming when he saw them.

"Wait! We just want to talk to you!" Rapunzel called after him.

"This little guy sure can move," Eugene commented, "and with such little legs!"

Finally, Mikey managed to outrun the Lorb and get in front of him.

"Ahh!" The little Lorb screamed and held his hands up to cover his head... er, leaf. "Don't hurt me, Schildkröte!"

"Who's that?" Mikey asked, looking around.

Eugene and Rapunzel caught up, causing the Lorb to scream again.

"Ahh! Don't hurt me, wild Frienfloofers!"

"Don't you recognize us?" Rapunzel asked as she and Eugene got lower.

The Lorb, now knowing he wasn't in danger, looked them over and shrugged.

"Meh, sorry. Other than Die Schildkröte, all Frienfloofers look alike. Except the new one."

Rapunzel, Eugene, and Mikey shared a look.

"New one?" Eugene asked.

"Could he mean...?" Rapunzel wondered.

"Cass?" Mikey finished.

The Lorb scampered off, and the three quickly followed him.

None of the Lorbs had been in their village because they were having a big party: they could hear the music as they approached.

"You can tell the new one apart by his mustache!" The Lorb cheerfully told them before joining the party.

"Mustache?" The three visitors looked at each other in confusion.

And there, dancing at the end of a conga line, was the Captain of the Guard.

He'd ditched his armor in favor of a white shirt, loose-fitting black pants, and a scarf loosely tied around his neck. His beard had grown out, and his shoes were missing.

He left the conga and started doing his own little dance before noting the party's newest arrivals.

"Princess? Michelangelo? Fitzherbert!"

He came over and hugged them, to their rapidly growing surprise.

"What a surprise! Join the party!" He cheered as he started dancing again (to the approval of a watching Lorb).

"Captain?" Rapunzel finally got out. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, this? I think they call this move Der Lustige Tanz."

The Lorb laughed when the Captain patted his head and ran off.

"Aren't these Lorb fellas great?" He commented.

Eugene wasn't amused. "No, not really. They treated us like pets."

The Captain shrugged. "I didn't have that problem."

"Ja! Wir lieben seinen Shnurrbart!" One of the Lorbs gave as an answer. "That's because we love his mustache!"

"His mustache?" Eugene repeated in disbelief.

"Uh, question?" Mikey spoke up. "Not that I don't get why you'd wanna party with these little dudes, but... How'd you get here?"

"Xavier said you went looking for us almost nine months ago," Rapunzel added. "Even before the Saporians attacked."

"Yes, I heard about the invasion," the Captain muttered. His jovial look disappeared. "I did go looking for you, after several months passed and your group didn't return. So I led a team of Corona's best guards to go searching. Eventually, we got word that you'd returned... and that Cassandra... made other arrangements."

There was a moment of quiet before Rapunzel spoke up.

"Captain, I know how difficult this must be for you..."

"Difficult?" The Captain's jovial mood returned. "No. See, that's what makes this island so great! Come, come, I want you to meet someone!"

He led them to the other side of the party... Where a familiar-looking four-year-old girl stood.

"Hi, Daddy!" The toddler chirped.

"Cassandra?" Rapunzel and Eugene gasped.

"Dudes, that's not Cass," Mikey retorted. "She's, like, in her twenties. How old are you, little girl?"

"I'm four and a half!"

"See? She's four and a half!"

"She's Cassandra," the Captain insisted as he picked the little girl up. "My daughter!"

"Uh, Cap?" Eugene began. "I know she may look like Cassandra..."

"Can it, Fitzherbert!" The little girl scowled at him.

"And sound like Cassandra..." Eugene amended. "I can't help but think you might've overlooked one small detail: she's four!"

"Four and a half," Mikey corrected.

"Daddy, look!" Little Cass pointed at where several Lorbs were making a type of fruit salad.

"What is it, Cassandra?" The Captain started walking towards the salad makers.