Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
There comes a time in everyone's life when they must face seemingly insurmountable odds. In those times one must gather all of their courage and will to stand with their heads held high. And now our heroes must do just that as they stood together in the farmhouse's foyer, a united front against the newest foe to dare stand against them.
"Everybody ready?" April asked, a look of determination on her face.
"Casey Jones was born ready."
"Let's do this" said Raph, brandishing his…feather dusters!
Yes, it was that most dreaded time of all: spring cleaning. Though their attitude may seem a little extreme, with the farmhouse's sole occupants being a bunch of teenagers there was plenty of mess to go around.
Armed with their cleaning implements they split up over the house to attack the mess invading their home from all sides.
Raph started in the den, duel wielding his feather dusters as he took care of the shelves before diving into the fireplace to clean out the soot in the chimney.
Adding a little ninja flare, Mikey tossed a bucket of soapy water up to Donnie, who catching it on the end of his mop, went about using his staff techniques as cleaning techniques to really make the upstairs hallway floor shine.
Swinging on his kusarigama chain, Mikey went to work dusting off the ceiling fixtures. While Harry went around on the ground level riding the vacuum like it was his skateboard.
Leo did his part leading Luna and Neville in cleaning the windows.
"Window cleaner on" the blue turtle instructed, signaling them all to spray the glass. "Window cleaner off" and as one they all wiped the window cleaner off, taking care to do it in perfect circles.
And in the kitchen, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were hard at work on the dishes. With Hermione doing the washing, Ginny handling drying, and Ron finishing up by stacking them away, they were proving to be an effective team.
This left April with the bathroom. Carrying a bucket of water and a sponge, the O'Neil girl headed upstairs, passing Donnie, who tried and failed to get his attention with his ninja cleaning style.
Focusing on the task at hand, April started scrubbing the bathroom walls.
"Looking good, Red" said Casey, catching April's attention. The O'Neal girl scowled as she saw the Jones boy was simply lounging in the bathtub, doing nothing to help. "Keep up the hard work."
"Very funny, Jones" said April, hitting him in the face with her sponge. "Now stop slacking off and help out."
"Anything for you, Mon Cherry."
"It's Mon Cherie" Donnie corrected, poking his head in from the hallway. "I can help you, April."
Casey got out of the tub to get in Donnie's face, but the turtle simply used his mop to trip the human up and knock him out into the hallway, where he unfortunately crashed into Mikey, who'd been trying to dust the wall. Knocked off balance the orange turtle fell over the railing onto the stairs and into Raph, who'd been trying to go up and investigate all the commotion, sending them both tumbling down the stairs.
"Ugh, Mikey, I just vacuumed" Harry complained.
"Yeah, well now you can watch me mop the floor with him" Raph growled.
But Mikey wasn't paying much attention to Raph's threats, instead his focus was on where he'd accidently flipped over the floor rug, revealing a trap door.
"I didn't even know we had a basement" said April, as everyone gathered to see the new discovery.
"What do thinks inside?" asked Neville.
"Evil clown" Mikey said fearfully. "Evil clown!"
"Well, there's only one way to find out" said Raph, using his sais to prop open the trap door, revealing a long stone staircase.
"Ugh, who's going first?" Donnie said nervously.
"Not it!" everyone cried, which unfortunately for Leo left him as the odd one out.
With Leonardo out in front, they made their way down into the basement. At first glance the room appeared to be empty.
"Doesn't look like they set up any electricity down here" said Harry, observing the lack of any lighting.
"Hey, I think I saw something" said Donnie, pointing at something hidden in the darkness.
At his brother's request Raph shined his flashlight where Donnie was pointing. What they found chilled them to the bone, for sitting in the center of the room was what appeared to be a Kraang stealth ship.
"How did they find us?" April asked fearfully.
"I don't think they did" said Donnie, noticing the ship was covered in dust. "Looks like this ship's been buried here for years."
"But what's a Kraang ship doing underneath my house?"
"Only one way to find out" said Leo, leading them inside.
The inside of the ship matched up with Donnie's theory of how long it's been buried; a thick layer of dust covered all of the equipment, yet strangely there was no sign of a crew ever being present.
"Guys, over here!" Neville called, directing everyone's attention to a large pod sitting against the back wall.
"I think there's a person in there" said Casey, noticing the pod wasn't empty.
"Ok. don't touch anything" said Donnie, as he started examining the pod. "I repeat: don't touch anything."
It was obvious to everyone that he was talking to Mikey. Trying to prevent a possible disaster, Harry moved to stand next to Mikey, and hopefully keep him from messing with anything. But while everyone was looking at Mikey, they should've been looking at Ron, who having grown bored with sitting around watching Donatello work, decided it was a good idea to lean against one of the control consoles, accidently reactivating the ship's power.
"Hey, it wasn't me this time" Mikey said happily, while everyone groaned at their group's inability to get into some kind of trouble.
Everyone stepped back as the restored power, reactivated the pod opened up revealing a woman with short blond hair and bright green eyes.
"Mom?" April gasped.
Everyone looked to April in surprise, as they'd all assumed her mother had passed on.
Feeling weak, April's mother stumbled out of the pod, seeing she was barely able to stand Raph and Donnie quickly moved to aid her, letting the woman lean on their shoulders for support.
"Just take it easy" said Donnie.
But as the fog began to clear from Mrs. O'Neal's mind, the woman screamed in terror once she caught sight of the Turtles.
"Mutants!" she screamed, pushing away from Donnie and Raph.
The woman tried to make a run for it, only for her legs to give out on her, prompting Casey to catch her before she could hit the ground.
"Don't worry, Mrs. O'Neal" said Casey. "These are good mutants." The Turtles stepped forward, wearing friendly expressions. "Except for Donnie, he's kind of a jerk." The turtle scowled not appreciating the joke.
"Where am I?" Mrs. O'Neal asked. "And how do you know my…" words failed her once she noticed her daughter standing amongst the group, eyes wide with wonder. "A-April?"
"Yeah, it's me, Mom" April said cautiously, not wanting to overwhelm her mother.
"But…how just a few days ago, you were only six years old."
The shock proved too great for mother and daughter as they fell back into Casey and Mikey's arms respectively.
After the O'Neal women recovered everyone moved upstairs into the living room, where Ginny proceeded to make April and her mother what she called a "proper" cup of tea. Apparently, Mrs. Weasley insisted on her daughter knowing the proper way to make a nice cuppa. While she initially scoffed at its usefulness, Ginny couldn't help but feel grateful as she hoped the hot beverage would help with Mrs. O'Neal's nerves, as she continued to show obvious fear of the Turtles.
"Thanks Ginny" April smiled, accepting the cup.
"Yes, thank you" said Mrs. O'Neal, as she did the same.
"It's no trouble" Ginny assured her. "Are you doing alright, Mrs. O'Neal?"
"I'm still a little shaky" Mrs. O'Neal took a sip of her tea, and turned her focus onto April. "I know this is hard to believe but…"
Mrs. O'Neal explained that the Kraang ship had been there for years, long before the farmhouse was ever built. One day April's great-great grandfather discovered the ship buried under the old house and made the mistake of awakening the aliens inside. The Kraang then went on to experiment on him and the entire O'Neal family bloodline, all for the purpose of perfecting the mutagen.
After April's birth, it became clear to her mother and father that she was very special. Before long, the two plotted to escape the farmhouse with her, but an army of Kraang arrived. Kirby managed to escape to the city with April but Mrs. O'Neal wasn't so fortunate and was recaptured and put into stasis.
"All these years, I never knew what happened to you" said April, now understanding just how much The Kraang have been manipulating her life. "I never knew what to think. Dad would never tell me."
"Now you know" said Mrs. O'Neal, taking her daughter's hands. "Where is Kirby anyway?"
"Kirby? Oh, he got turned into a wicked Kraang headed mutant" Casey said bluntly, earning himself a smack upside the head from Raph.
"Way to pull a Mikey" Raph grumbled.
"He's just kidding Mrs. O'Neal" Leo said unconvincingly, wanting to prevent another panic attack. "Kirby's just on a safari in Puerto Rico. He won't be back for a while."
Mrs. O'Neal looked doubtful but thankfully didn't press the issue.
"I'm just so glad to have my April back."
Everyone smiled as the reunited mother and daughter shared an embrace. All except Mikey, who couldn't help but feel something was wrong.
"Is it me, or does April's mom seem a little bit off?" he asked his brothers.
"Like you're one to talk" Raph scoffed.
"I'm serious dude. I've got those ninja vibes" Mikey insisted. "I don't trust her."
"Chill Mikey" said Harry. "She been on ice for a whole decade. She just needs time to adjust."
Mikey wasn't convinced. His senses were telling him something was wrong and Master Splinter had always thought them to trust their feelings.
That night April and her mother enjoyed some quality time, relaxing on the bench swing in the yard.
"Remember how we used to sit out here in the summer time and look up at the stars?" Mrs. O'Neal asked her daughter.
"Like it was yesterday" said April. "But so much has happened. So much time has passed."
"That's exactly what it is 'the past'" Mrs. O'Neal assured her, as she lovingly brushed April's hair. "Now we're together again. We can start over and be a family again."
"If only dad were here." April sighed, imaging the joy in her father's eyes once they find a way to save him and reunite their family.
Suddenly the sound of twig snapping alerted Mrs. O'Neal that they weren't alone. Coming out of hiding, Mikey looked eyes with the woman, and he didn't like what he saw in there.
"Booyakasha!" the orange turtle cried, as he charged forward, swinging his nunchucks.
"Mikey, what're you doing!" April demanded, as she placed herself between her mother and the hostile mutant.
"Get away from April!" Mikey yelled, ignoring his friend's protests to stand down.
Screaming in terror, Mrs. O'Neal ran for the house. Mikey moved to follow, only for April to once again get in his way.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she snapped. "Have you lost your mind? You know what, don't even answer that!"
Mikey tried to explain but April wasn't interested, instead running back inside in search of her mother. Mikey tried to go after her but he found his path bared by an angry Raphael.
Not even bothering to hear whatever excuse Mikey had worked up, Raph dragged the youngest turtle into the barn, planting him in a chair under an intense light, surrounded by their friends and family, all of whom were glaring angrily at him.
"Michelangelo" Donnie said ominously, as he stood before the youngest turtle. "You. Attacked. April's. Mother!"
"Mikey, have you completely cracked your shell?" said Raph.
"I don't trust her" Mikey defended. "She's all kinds of wrong. You've got to believe me."
"Oh, mean like the time tiny elves stole your nunchucks and replaced them with mozzarella sticks" said Leo.
"Yes."
"Or the time you and Ice Cream Kitty entered a break dancing contest" said Harry.
"Exactly."
"Stop it, Mikey!" Neville of all people snapped. "You have any idea how much this means to April? You have no idea what it's like to grow up knowing someone's missing from your life, someone important. And you'd give anything to have them back."
"But…"
"Mikey, if you ruin this for April…." Casey threatened.
"Fine!" Mikey snapped, as he got up and made for the exit. "If you don't believe me, I'll prove it."
Seeing that their attempt at an intervention failed, everyone left the barn to go about their business. All except Luna, who held Neville back to talk.
"Are you alright?" she asked. "It sounded like you were speaking from personal experience."
"Y-yeah, I'm ok" Neville said uncomfortably, now feeling embarrassed about his outburst. "I...I just...I just wish…"
To the Longbottom scion's surprise, Luna suddenly pulled him into a hug.
"I understand" she said comfortingly. "I wish I could have my own miracle too."
Tears ran down Neville's cheeks as he returned the hug, as they shared in the pain of longing for the parents they would never truly know.
Failing to find her in house, April went around the back of the farmhouse, finding her mother staring at the trees.
"Mom, are you ok?" April asked, as she moved to stand by her mother's side.
"I was just thinking about when we'd picnic in the woods by the stream."
"Those are some of my favorite memories" April smiled, as she wrapped her arms around her mother, reveling in the joy she felt when she did the same.
"We should go somewhere, just the two of us" said Mrs. O'Neal. "Just drive off, leave these creatures behind. I don't trust them."
"I-I can't do that" said April. "They're like family. They've always been there for me."
"I'm your mother. Your family. Not them. They're just a bunch of freaks!"
Mrs. O'Neal then walked off, ignoring the pain in her daughter's eyes.
While things were getting difficult between the O'Neal women, Mikey sat inside the farmhouse, drowning his sorrows in whipped cream, and venting his pain to the ever-loyal Ice Cream Kitty.
"No one gets me" Mikey said miserably. "No one but you, Ice Cream Kitty." The frozen feline's meow, cheered the orange turtle up, taking it as a sign of support. "See. You're just so cute, I could eat you up."
Mikey then playfully sprayed his whipped cream on Ice Cream Kitty, complete with cherry on top. The cat was enjoying her new hat, when suddenly she started hissing at something outside. Curious to see what would've set his cat off, Mikey looked out to see Mrs. O'Neal heading into the woods, carrying something in her arms.
"What do think Kitty? Go after her?" Mikey asked. Ice Cream Kitty hissed and started swiping her paw. "My thoughts exactly."
Sticking to the shadows, Mikey followed Mrs. O'Neal into the woods. Everything seemed normal until he finally got a clear look at what was in her hands. It was a case of mutagen. Things then took an even stranger turn when the woman's face suddenly transformed, changing from that of April's mother to a gooey pink Kraang-like face with large beady magenta eyes.
Sweet mother of mutagen! It took everything Mikey had not to scream in terror at the horrific sight. He continued to follow Mrs. O'Neal, until the she stopped by a pond.
Opening the canister, Mrs. O'Neal was about to pour the ooze into the water, when Mikey intervened using his kusarigama chain to rip the mutagen out of her hands, leaving it to spill harmlessly onto the ground.
"You, foolish whelp" she said coldly, as Mikey stepped out of the shadows, weapon at the ready.
"Don't try flattering me" said Mikey.
"You shouldn't have done that, Michelangelo" said Mrs. O'Neal, pulling out a pair of scissors from her back pocket. "Now you've made mother very angry."
"I knew there was something wrong with you. You're with The Kraang!"
"Yes. I will capture April O'Neil and deliver her to my masters." Mrs. O'Neal charged at Mikey, attempting to stab him with the scissors. But Mikey was ready for her, blocking and knocking the weapon out of her hand, with the blade of his kusarigama.
"Well, Mom, things are about to get a lot worse." Mikey swiped at with his kusarigama, only for her to sidestep his attack. "What the…?" He gasped, surprised that woman, that should've had no training or fighting skills managed to evade him.
Going for a second strike, once again Mrs. O'Neal skillfully dodged him, this time countering with a backhand to the face. Stunned, Mikey was left open, when in a surprising show of strength, Mrs. O'Neal grabbed him by the back of his shell and threw him into a tree.
Ugh, she's a lot tougher than I thought. "What're you really?" Mikey demanded, having already seen her true face.
Mrs. O'Neal sneered, as her body started to go through a horrifying change. Bone and Muscle snapped and tore, until finally she revealed her true form, and all Mikey could do was scream in terror.
Unaware of the danger, Harry and Donnie were back at the farmhouse, the former helping the latter go through the old Kraang ship.
"You find anything good, Donnie?" Harry asked, as his brother started going through the alien ship's systems.
"Maybe" said Donnie.
"Whatup!"
"Whoa!" Harry and Donnie jumped, at Mikey's sudden appearance. The orange clad turtle looked perfectly fine, standing there with a wide grin on his face.
"Mikey, you scared us" said Donnie.
"And what's with the cheshire cat routine?" Harry added.
"I'm just feeling happy" said Mikey. "What're you guys doing?"
"We're just going through the bioship to see if we can find anything useful" Harry explained, before turning back to Donnie. "Anyway, you said you might have something."
"Yeah, I've been going through the data from the cryotube's computers" said Donnie, as he checked his laptop. "Some of these readings don't make sense."
Just then April walked into the ship with a worried expression on her face.
"Everything alright, April?" Harry asked.
"Have you guys seen my mom?" she asked.
"No. What's up?" Donnie asked.
"We sort of had a little argument earlier" April sighed."And now she's gone. Probably because Mikey freaked her out."
"Don't worry, April" said Mikey. "I'm sure she's around. I'll be up in one minute to help look for her."
"No, thanks, Mikey" April said hostilely, not having forgiven the turtle's earlier attack on her mother. "I don't need your help."
April then left the ship to search elsewhere, leaving the three brothers alone. Deciding not to get involved in a family matter, Harry and Donnie turned their attention to the latter's computer, reexamining the readout from the Kraang computers.
Donnie and Harry's eyes widened in shock as they finally finished translating the data.
"Donnie, does that say what I think it says?" said Harry, looking to his brother for an explanation.
"We got to tell the others" Donnie stressed.
The brothers turned to the exit only to find Mikey had vanished and in his place was Mrs. O'Neill, staring menacingly at them.
"Hello, boys."
"Wh-what happened to Mikey?" Donnie asked, as he and Harry stepped back from the woman.
"Let me show you" to the brothers' horror, Mrs. O'Neil transformed into the creature, Mikey had seen in the forest, her arms now changed into long purple tentacles.
"We got to warn the others" said Harry, as he and Donnie drew their weapons.
"Go, I'll keep her here!" Donnie urged.
"I'm not leaving you here with that!" Harry refused. "We stand together, we can beat this thing."
Aware of how stubborn Harry can be, Donnie didn't bother arguing. Part of him was actually grateful as he wasn't sure what to make of the creature before them. Keeping a united front, Harry and Donnie charged at the creature weapons at the ready.
Not having seen Harry and Donnie for some time, Leo went down to the Kraang ship to check on them and to see if they've seen Mrs. O'Neil. But when he arrived, Leo found the room was covered with the signs of a struggle, smashed monitors, scorch marks, and a few blood stains.
Getting worried, Leo looked for any sign of his brothers and was shocked to find Donnie working at a station, looking perfectly fine.
"Donnie, what happened here?" Leo asked.
"Oh, Harry tried to help with his magic" said Donnie, keeping his back turned as he continued his work. "You know how he always makes a mess with the more delicate stuff."
"Yeah, that makes sense." Leo's senses were screaming that something was off. There was no way Donatello would've let Harry use his magic. "Where is Harry anyway? and I could've sworn I saw Mrs. O'Neil come down here before."
"I haven't seen Mrs. O'Neil" said Donnie. "But I told Harry to go away if he's just going to make a mess."
"Ok, I'll just go look for them somewhere else."
Eying Donatello suspiciously, Leo slowly made his way to door. Once Leo's back was turned, Donnie turned around and shot a tentacle at the blue clad turtle. Sensing the attack, Leo turned on his heel and sliced through the tendril. But the quick move cost him his balance, causing him to drop his crutch and fall to his knees.
Leo watched in horror as the more tentacles burst from the fake Donatello's shell.
Gotta move! using his sword as a crutch, Leo hobbled out of the ship and made his way to the basement stairs, only for one of the steps to break underneath him as he tried to climb up. All Leo could do was scream as the creature pounced on him.
Upstairs in the living room, Raph, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were watching television when suddenly they heard Leo scream followed by the sound of shattered glass. Worried the four of them got up and went to investigate.
Upon opening the trapdoor to the basement they found Leo lying at the bottom of the stairs, struggling to stand.
"Bro, you ok?" Raph asked, as he and Ron helped Leo off the floor.
Letting Leo lean on them for support Raph and Ron guided him to where Ginny had pulled up a chair for him.
"What happened?" Hermione asked, as Raph and Ron helped Leo into his seat.
"Mikey was right" said Leo. "April's mom really is a creature."
"What?" Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Raph gasped.
Drawing his sais Raph scanned the basement for any sign of the creature, while Hermione, Ron and Ginny placed themselves protectively in front of Leo.
"Where is it?" Raph asked.
"Here" Leo said menacingly.
Hermione, Ron and Ginny didn't even have time to scream before they found themselves wrapped in the creature's tentacles. Desperate to save his friends, Raph charged at the Leo-look-alike, only for the creature to catch his arm in his tentacles and deliver a powerful strike to the chest, sending Raph flying across the room, crashing painfully against the side of the Kraang bioship.
Dazed from the impact Raph was helpless to defend himself as he found himself ensnared in the creature's tentacles.
Unaware of the danger befalling their friends, April and Casey sat alone outside under the moonlight. Casey listened as April told him about her mother's ultimatum.
"-So that's it. She's leaving tonight." said April. "And if I don't go with her, she's leaving anyway. She's too scared of the Turtles."
"That's rough, Red" Casey said sympathetically. "But I understand if you want to go with her. She's your mom. It's just…"
"Hey, have you guys seen the others around?" Neville interrupted, as he and Luna walked up. "We can't find them anywhere."
"Haven't seen them" said Casey.
"I haven't been able to find my mom either" said April. "I hope nothing's happened."
"Isn't that your mother there" said Luna, pointing to the farmhouse where they could see Mrs. O'Neil standing on the front porch, looking absolutely furious.
"April, I told you to pack your bags" Mrs. O'Neil said sternly, as she marched over to them. "We're getting out of here."
"Mom, I can't just leave" said April, pleading for her mother to understand. "My friends are missing. I have to help look for them."
"We are leaving now!" Ignoring April's protests, Mrs. O'Neil grabbed her painfully by the arm.
"Mom, what're you doing?" April struggled to escape her mother's grasp, only for it to grow tighter. "Mom, you're hurting me!"
"I'm your mother!" dropping the facade the creature abandoned the guise of Mrs. O'Neil, revealing its true face.
"What the hell is that?!" Casey cried, voicing what everyone was wondering.
"Mikey was right" Neville realized, now feeling guilty for snapping at the orange turtle. "That's not April's mom!"
With the truth now revealed, Neville and Casey rushed the creature, freeing April as they tackled the creature to the ground. As Luna rushed to check on April, Neville and Casey were thrown back as the creature's body started to spasm.
The four watched in terror as the creature's body transformed from April's mother into a giant insect like monster with six massive long legs, a long narrow neck, and six large tube like appendages sticking out of her back.
Faced with the horrific sight the four did the only thing they could and took off running towards the barn, with the shapeshifter lumbering after them. Making it inside, they immediately barricaded the barn doors behind them.
"What they heck is that Mom-Thing?!" Neville panicked, as the barn shook from the creature's attempts to breakdown the door. "What did it do to the others?!"
"I don't know" said April, taking charge as the most senior member of their group. "But right now you guys need weapons."
Not about to argue, Neville, Luna, and Casey checked the barn for anything they could use to defend themselves. Casey had managed to find an old axe, that was thankfully still sharp. Luna found a pair of shaving shears. While Neville made due with a pitchfork. And with April armed with her trusty tessen, they faced the door waiting for the monster to break through.
Suddenly the back wall was blown in as Mom-Thing broke through the wall behind them, catching them all by surprise. Mom-Thing then fired a tendril from one of the tubes on its back, wrapping the appendage around April, and causing her to drop her tessen, as it slammed her against the barn door.
Coming to April's rescue, Luna used her shears to clip through the tentacle, severing it from Mom-Thing's body, freeing April as the tendril died a wriggling mess on the floor.
Trying to take the offensive, Casey climbed up a pile of hay bales and leaped at the creature,hoping to bring his axe down on Mom-Thing's neck, only for the creature's neck to split apart avoiding the teenage vigilante's assault. Closing its neck around the boy, Mom-Thing then tossed Casey across the barn. Trying his hand, Neville charged at Mom-Thing, jabbing at it with his pitchfork but the creature simply batted him away like a fly, crashing against the side of the barn. Dazed Neville was defenseless as Mom-Thing's tentacles started to close in on him, when suddenly April's tessen came swooping in, slicing through the tendrils, while Luna helped Neville to safety, before returning to its wielder's hand.
"There's no way to stop this thing" said Neville, shaking the stars from his eyes.
"It was frozen when we found it" said April. "Maybe we can freeze it again."
"No, we fry it!" said Casey, climbing to his feet. Casey charged at Mom-Thing, sliding under the creature's body when it tried to grab for him. "Time for Casey Jones to play some offense. Goongala!"
Keeping the creature's attention with his battlecry, Casey positioned himself in front of the barn's fuse box. Diving out of the way when Mom-Thing grabbed for him, Casey took great pleasure in watching as the creature was electrocuted, filling the barn with the scent of burning flesh.
For a moment they all thought they'd won. But then the electricity cut off, and Mom-Thing turned back to them, its burns healing in seconds.
"Ok, new plane" said Casey, brandishing his axe. "We just got to hack it to pieces."
Grabbing their respective weapons, Neville, Luna, and April stood defiantly by Casey's side. Together they charged the creature only for Mom-Thing to knock April aside, while it released a giant tentacle from an opening in its back, and swallowed Neville, Luna, and Casey into its body.
"Noooo!" April cried, horrified as she helplessly watched her friends be absorbed into the creature. "This is not happening. It's not!"
"April" Mom-Thing called. "We can be together. No more pain. No more sorrow."
What came next was a scene April was sure would scar her for the rest of her life, as the skin at the base of Mom-Thing's neck opened up revealing the faces of her friends all telling her to join them and become one with the creature.
"You are not my mother!" April screamed defiantly. Having no hope of defeating the creature on her own, April tried to make a run for the exit, only for Mom-Thing to capture her in its tendrils, the flesh slowly creeping up her body, set to devour her whole. "No!"
"We'll be a family again" said Mom-Thing. "It's all we ever wanted."
April struggled to free herself from the creature, when suddenly she felt a pressure building inside her head. Recognizing the sensation as her psychic powers, April let the pressure build until finally it came exploding out of her in a massive burst of energy.
The barn was suddenly bathed in a blinding light and when it passed April and all of the others were left lying dazed and confused in Mom-Thing's splattered remains.
"Are you guys ok?" April asked, as her friends struggled to find their balance.
"Let me put it this way" said Donnie. "I'm pretty sure I swallowed about fifteen pounds of slime."
"Ugh, I feel like if puke could puke, it'd be us" Mikey groaned.
"Ugh, that sounds about right" Harry groaned, just before he doubled over and started puking up green monster slime.
Once everyone had a chance to clean up, Donnie brought everyone down to the Kraang ship to go over what he'd discovered.
"So, when I downloaded the data from the Kraang ship, I discovered the creature wasn't really April's mom. It just had her memories."
"So, what was it?" Raph asked.
"Some sort of earlier infiltration experiment, that utilized a combination of Mrs. O'Neil and Kraang DNA" said Donnie. "But it was too dangerous."
"So, The Kraang deep freezed it" Harry concluded.
"Guys, do we have to talk about this right now?" said Leo, calling their attention to where April was sitting curled up in a ball looking completely heartbroken.
Having also seen how much she was hurting Casey moved to sit by April's side.
"April, you ok?" he asked.
"Yeah, it just feels like I've lost my family all over again" April sighed. "Even if she wasn't really my mom. Maybe she really is gone forever, but maybe-maybe she's still out there somewhere."
"You can't give up hope" said Leo, reminding her that the others were still there listening to her troubles. "Trust me on that."
Offering his hand, Leo helped April to her feet.
"And you haven't lost your family, April" said Mikey, as he gestured to the members of their group. "Because we are your family." April smiled, as she agreed they were a family. With April feeling a little better, Mikey stepped back to face his brothers. "And I want to say to my bros, I was right! In your face! In your face!"
"Ok, Mikey we get it" said Harry. "We're sorry for doubting your senses."
"Hey wait, didn't you say something about mutagen being spilled in the woods?" Donnie asked Mikey.
"Uh, yeah" Mikey confirmed.
"Well, do you remember where it was?" Raph asked.
"Mmmmm…..Nope."
"Oh, no" Leo groaned. "You know what this means right?"
"More mutants" said Harry, voicing what they were all thinking. "Just once can't we catch a break."
