It was just another normal day for our heroes in New York City. The streets were bustling with people hurriedly walking to their destination or people calling for a taxi, hoping they get the next one coming. The turtles on the other hand were hopping rooftops, looking for any trouble about.
"Okay, guys, we're here. Everyone remember the plan?" Raphael asked, looking over the particular rooftop the four of them were on.
"Yes, Raph. We go in through the mutant pizza place. We find our way down to the underground. Then we split up and look for Hypno." Donatello drawled in a bored tone.
"So, why do we think he's down there again?" Leonardo asked skeptically while leaning on his sword.
"For the fourth time, I heard some people talking about a mutant hippo traipsing through the underground like some new big shot. My source is very reliable." Raph added, turning around with his hands on his hips.
"Right some thug types at the pizza place are very reliable." Donnie scoffed while looking over the edge with his goggles over his eyes.
"Come on, guys, it doesn't hurt to look. Besides we can some pizza on the way." Michelangelo chimed in excitedly.
Once they stopped bickering, they all went into ninja mode, jumping down into the alley. Leo opened the magic portal and they all stepped into the pizza parlor. It was as busy as usual, with all types wondering around picking up some pizza.
"See if anyone knows how to get down to the underground." Raph said to the others, already looking around for who to ask.
"What about that neon light with an arrow that says underground?" Leo asked with a snicker.
Raphael ran his hand down his face. "Yeah, I guess that'll work."
They walked over to where the sign was and looked below it. "Oh, how convenient, an elevator." Don pressed the only button, which was pointing down.
"Wait, aren't we going to get pizza?" Mikey asked, his voice cracking in sadness.
"We'll get some on the way back. Let's go." Raph pushed everyone into the now open elevator. Once again, there was only one button inside that he could push, which was another button with an arrow pointing down. "Okay, totally not creepy."
Once the button was pressed, the elevator lurched and they could hear some machinery start up as they started heading down into depths unknown. They waited in silence, fighting some otherworldly urge to start beatboxing and banging their weapons against the wall in an odd musical number. Luckily, before too long, the elevator doors were opening again.
"We're in. Okay, you know the plan. Me and Mikey will go one way and you two go the other. If one of us find anything, we give each other a call." Raph ordered while the others nodded in agreement.
The two teams split up, heading their separate ways into the mutant/yokai city. As they went, they were all in awe. Everything was so diverse and bright. Of course there was no shortage of jerks just like above ground. There were people pushing and shoving, telling people to get out of their way, and the like.
"Just like home." Leo mumbled to Donnie.
They kept walking, watching and listening for any sign of a mutant hippo magician. There were all types of other creatures down there, but so far no hippo. They peaked into every store or restaurant they passed, hoping for a clue of any kind.
"This is hopeless. This place is too big. Maybe we should call Raph." Don said with a frustrated sigh.
"Don't give up just yet. What's that over there?" Leo asked, pointing across the street to some dim-lit hovel that could have possibly been a bar or club of some sort.
They crossed the street and positioned themselves on either side of the doors. Peeking inside they could see the back of someone wearing a purple suit sitting down at a table filled with other yokai.
Donatello tightened his grip on his staff, and took a step forward, about to rush in.
"Don, wait. We should make sure it's him first." Leo warned, motioning for Donnie to move back into position.
"So as you can see, a bunch of human high schoolers don't make the best army." They could hear an accented voice coming from the person in the suit. The person was laughing at their own retelling of a story. "As you can see, I am looking for the best. I figured that strong, fearsome mutants would be the next best thing."
"That's got to be him." Donatello said, looking over at Leo.
"We should call Raph." Leonardo said with authority.
"You do that, I'll go in. We might not have time to wait for them." Don readied his bo staff and ran inside of the bar.
"Donnie, wait!" Leo called out, but to no avail. "Dang it." He grunted as he pulled his phone out. As quickly as he could, he sent Raph a tag of where their location was.
Inside, Don was starting to stir things up. "Halt, Hypno!" He said dramatically, while pointing his staff as the hippo's back.
Hypno-Potamus stood up and turned around. "You've got to be kidding me. You again? How many times do I have to run into you meddling turtles?"
Leonardo slid in, standing beside Don. "The jig is up! As you can see, we've obviously got you surrounded. So, make it easy on everyone and just give up."
Hypno laughed, clutching his belly. "Oh, how cute. You think I would just give up? Real magicians don't give up easily. Did you notice my friends here?" He stepped back, revealing the other occupants at the table.
There were two rather large mutants sitting there. One looked like a humanoid komodo dragon, wearing a black wife beater and army green harem pants. He flicked his tongue out, bringing attention to the globs of saliva dripping from around his mouth. The other one was a polar bear, who was obviously already mean mugging them. He was wearing a black leather jacket and nothing else. On either sides of the table by the two mutants, there lay a scimitar and a big war-hammer.
"So, these are the cherepakha you told us about?" The polar bear asked, with a thick Russian accent.
"Why, yes, it is. So will you take the job or not?" Hypno-Potamus asked with a brow raised, anticipating their answer.
"They don't look so tough." The Komodo dragon said in response, with a voice that sounded like he could've smoked more than five packs of cigarettes a day. He grinned, showing a pearly-white, sharp teeth.
Hypno grinned and took another few steps back before turning around to head to the back of the building.
"No you don't!" Leonardo yelled, both him and Donatello starting to run towards him.
Before they even got three steps towards Hypno-Potamus, the polar bear had picked up his war-hammer, and swung it in their direction. One hit to both of the turtles' guts sent them flying out of the building, smashing through the glass windows. They both landed in the streets plum on their backs. The commotion they were causing had cleared part of the road out.
They both groaned, rolling to their sides. "That was uncalled for." Leo wheezed, trying to catch his breath.
"Looksie here, turtles. We can make this easy way or hard way." The polar bear stepped through the glass, dragging his hammer behind him.
"You got lizard lips, and I'll take the Ruski?" Donatello asked, getting onto his feet.
Leonardo nodded and then they both charged towards their assailants. They swung, each other's weapons clashing against the others.
With the momentum of the heavy war-hammer, Donnie went sliding backwards. He ran back forward and used his staff like a vaulting pole to send himself up and over the polar bear. Once he landed behind him, he swiveled around and sent a swift kick into the middle of his opponents back.
Leo on the other hand, was surprised at how fast this big lizard was. They would slice, and parry, sparks flying with each hit. "If I looked like you, I'd be pretty angry too." Leonardo commented between swings. The Komodo dragon roared in rage, swinging his scimitar aimlessly. Leo stepped and then flipped back to escape the flurry of the blade.
Donatello had just landed another blow on the polar bear, notably enraging his adversary. The bear swung his hammer around and sent it flying right towards Don's face. He barely had time to put his staff up to block it. The blow sent him to the ground as he kept struggling to keep the hammer from coming down any further and crushing his head. The polar bear was proving to be much stronger strength wise as Donatello's arms started shaking from the effort of holding him up. The purple banded turtle cried out in frustration and pain.
Leonardo had blocked another hit when he heard Don call out. His eyes widened and he turned, taking in the sight of his struggling partner. "Donnie!" His voice rang out as he made to run towards Don.
The Komodo dragon took his chance and swiftly knocked Leonardo's sword out of his hand, sending it flying away. It all happened in a flash, and before Leo knew it, he was looking down at a sword sticking out of the left side of his lower plastron. Blood immediately started dripping down the rest of his plastron, closely followed by his leg, and even more so when his contender pulled the sword out. Leo stumbled backwards, falling onto the hard ground.
"Leo, no!" Donatello called out desperately. He clenched his teeth and faced his foe in front of him. He quickly pressed a button on his staff which turned on his own jet powered hammer. It swung up from the ground, hitting the polar bear right in the head. Don could hear the distinct cracking of the bear's skull. He didn't wait to see if his opponent was knocked out or not, he just got up and ran towards Leo.
Donnie kneeled down beside the injured turtle. "Leo, oh, Leo." He whined, frantically trying to think of what to do. "Pressure, we need pressure." He mumbled. He quickly pulled off his belt and began wrapping it around Leo's gash.
"It's only a flesh wound." Leonardo joked, trying to mask the pain he was in.
"We need to get you home. Back to lab, I can fix this there." Don looked around with tears welling up in his eyes. "Okay, okay. Your sword!" He looked over noticing the sword laying on the ground about ten feet away. He made sure that neither of their foes were close. The Komodo dragon was looming over the polar bear's body. When he was sure they weren't looking, Don ran over to grab Leo's katana.
Just as he grabbed the hilt, he noticed a shadow appear over him. He hesitantly looked up to see the lizard seething at him. Suddenly there was a flash of red and orange, and the Komodo dragon was no longer over him.
"Donnie what happened?" Michelangelo asked in confusion.
"Leo's hurt we have to get him out of here!" Donatello swerved from the question and ran back to his partner with the sword. "Leo, you have to make a portal back home." He said, trying to keep his voice from shaking.
Leonardo nodded understandably and took the sword. As he struggled weakly to make a portal, Raph and Mikey were fending off the lizard mutant. It took Leo a few tries but he finally made a portal. It was a small portal but big enough to get them all through.
Donnie quickly got Leo to his feet and wrapped an arm around him to support him. "Come on! We're leaving!" Don called behind him, only hoping that the others heard him. They hobbled through the portal, walking into the reassuring sight of home. Donatello didn't waste any time and started leading Leo up towards his lab.
It wasn't long after that Raph and Mikey came through the portal, it shutting behind them. Mikey had a worried look on his face and went to follow after the other two. Raph put a hand on the smaller ones shoulders and shook his head as a sign to stay back.
Up in the lab, Donatello had sat Leo up on one of his work desks and was rushing around looking for anything he might need to help fix the wound. "Lay down." He said, leaving no room for objection. Once Leonardo did as he was told, Don got to work.
It wasn't pretty, and it was definitely one of those injuries that made people wince by just looking at it. The work wasn't appealing either. Don had to clean the wound, assess the wound, and then stitch it up. All the while, Leo was doing his best to not cry out in pain. By the time Donatello was done, his own hands were covered in blood. He quickly washed his hands and then began to wrap the wound. When he was done, he shakily laid his head on Leo's chest.
Leonardo place his hand gently on the back of Don's head. "Are you okay?" He asked nervously.
"Am I okay?" Donnie's head shot up and he looked at Leo. His eyes were red and his cheeks were wet with tears. "You were stabbed and you're asking if I'm okay. Leo… I was so scared."
Leonardo's eyes widened in shock at the others confession. He sat up a little as best he could, and placed his forehead against Don's. "Hey, I'm still here aren't I?"
A sob escaped Donatello's throat. "Yes, you are." Don pulled away and wiped his eyes on his arm. "How did he get the jump on you?" He asked with curiosity.
"Uh, well, I saw that you were in trouble. I may have accidentally let my guard down." Leo admitted while shrugging.
Donnie threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around Leonardo's neck. "You idiot! Don't ever do that again!" He cried into Leo's neck.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Leo winced as Don put all his weight on him.
Donatello quickly pulled away, taking a step back. "I'm sorry…" He mumbled, looking away.
Leonardo smiled, slowly hopping off the desk. "There's nothing to be sorry for. Look at me." Leo gently grabbed Don's chin and turned his head towards him. "I'm not going anywhere. I have you to look after me."
Donnie smiled weakly. "Good. I guess I'll have to babysit you from now on." He said with a small chuckle.
They both laughed softly and then placed each other's foreheads together. They stood there like that for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Trying not to think how on any other mission, they could lose one another.