Hey guys! Look, before you all ask. Yes, I plan on finishing my HTTYD stories, I've just not had any motivation until recently, and I want to make sure you lot are getting the bed I can possibly give you. Because that's what you all deserve.

I've been sick, for lack of a better word, for a while. And, it's effected my motivation for a lot of things, not just writing. But, at the same time, writing is one of the few things that makes me feel better. And I need to act more like it. But, I am going to be getting a job this summer, so that might complicate things. So, if you're still here, thank you so much for your patience and I will work as hard as I physically can. Thank you all so much. Enjoy the chapter.

Ch. 2
Invasion of the Squirrelanoids

It had been a few days since the mutagen incident. In those few days, the boys and I have done nothing but search for the mutagen canisters. So far, we haven't had much luck in finding many of them. Donnie's tracker offered a little bit of help, but not much. With so much mutagen scattered around the city it was hard for us to track down even one. But, there was more than just mutagen going through our minds. It had been 3 days since any of us had heard from April, let alone seen her. After crying my eyes out well into the night, I had tried to call her. Obviously, she hadn't answered. I tried texting her, telling her that I was sorry and that she did nothing wrong. She has since not answered back.

Things have gotten a little more difficult for me as of late. Since joining Inside Elegance, I've been leaving the lair and staying out even more for band practices, which would then turn into hangouts. The others had already gotten a list of songs that they wanted to play on Halloween, and since this was their first real performance they wanted to make sure that everything went right. Sensei had made it very clear to me that my training and my duty came first, and I understood. Because of this, I had been the reason Martin had been constantly rescheduling our practices. Obviously, I hadn't told them the truth as to why I was constantly busy now, but I always managed to give them some excuse. Something like "My dad needs me to do more work around the house", or whatever. They all assured me that they understood perfectly- their parents seemed to be just as strict when it came to responsibility over the house- but I still felt like a burden to them.

Tonight was one of those nights.

We had just gotten done with an hour long practice session at the theater, and for once they all seemed to have things to do other than hangout afterward. Thank God, no need for excuses today. Ace and Angus were already heading home, both leaving in their trucks. Martin and Joseph were still picking up a few of their things and loading them into Martin's car.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride home?" Martin asked. "There's still enough room in the back."

"It's cool," I told them as I was messing around with my guitar. "My brothers will be here soon enough to pick me up."

"Alright then."

I glanced down at my guitar as I strummed a few strings. I frowned. The thing had been sounding a bit off all practice long. I managed to tune it out enough to where it wouldn't be too noticeable while playing together, but I still noticed it.

"Still playing flat?" Joey asked.

I looked up. "Yeah. I don't know what's up with it."

"Hmm… let me see."

Joey walked away from the car and over to me, holding his hand out. I hesitated for a second before handing him my guitar. He held it in his hands, strumming and tightening the strings.

"You know what? I bet you need some new strings. These feel like they're about to snap any second."

"Aw damn, I don't have any more strings," I grumbled. "I guess I'll just buy some on the way home."

"Hey, I've got some strings back at my place. I could give you some."

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought Angus said you didn't play guitar?"

"Well… I don't," Joey admitted. "But, I've got a friend who works part-time at the music store, and it's always good to have supplies for everyone, just in case."

"Stop saying that like it was your idea," Martin hollered at him. "You're the one who said it was stupid until Ace needed some new drumsticks after you broke his."

I covered my mouth as I snorted, and Joey rolled his eyes.

"Anyway… if you want, I could take your guitar back to my place and replace them. I could even clean it too, if you'd like?"

I blinked, surprised by the offer. Joey was easily a friendly person, but this was the first time he had offered to do something this generous for me.

"Oh, you don't have to do that…"

"Don't be silly, it's fine," Joey kneelt down and placed my guitar back into my case. "I gotta make sure our best girl has everything she needs for our performance, and we've got the best strings in town."

He smirked up at me, his blue eyes shining. I gulped as I nervously brushed my bangs behind my ears.

"Um… okay then," I agreed. "But, when can I get it back?"

"Let me see your phone."

I took out my T-Phone and handed it to him. He chuckled, commenting on the turtle-like shell shape of it before he tapped away at it. I stuffed my hands into my jacket pockets, nervously twiddling my thumbs. After a second he handed me my phone back.

"There," he said. "Now, you have my number. Just text me whenever you're free, and we'll meet up somewhere so I can give it back."

"Yeah, okay."

"Really? You're using that method?" Martin looked unimpressed as he stuck his head out of the driver's window. "You've used that strategy 3 times already, and it failed all 3."

"Zip it, dude!" Joey hissed.

I giggled. Joey and Martin always bickered like this. They acted more like brothers than cousins in my opinion.

"Don't worry, I'll text you," I assured him.

Joey turned to look at me, and he smiled. He picked up my guitar case and gently placed it in the back of Martin's car.

"Awesome. I'll see you later."

"We'll let you know when the next practice is," Martin added.

I nodded as they slowly drove away. Joey stuck his head out of the window and waved his beanie around at me. I laughed, shaking my head as I waved back. They rounded the corner and disappeared.

I waited a moment before taking out my phone and quickly dialing Leo.

"Nia, you finally make it out of practice?"

"Just got done. You boys out yet?"

"Just got out. Stay where you are, we'll come get you."

"Alright. See yah."

I stood there for probably 10 minutes before I heard the familiar tire squeaks of the Shellraiser. Sure enough, it came zooming from around the corner, skidding slightly as it sped up the road and turned into an alley right next to the theater. I ran over to the edge of the alley and saw the others already filing out of the van.

"About time," I said, running up to them. "Find any mutagen on the way here?"

"No," Raph pointed a thumb at Donnie. "Professor Dork-instein couldn't stay tracked on a single one."

"Hey, it's not my fault that the whole city is covered in canisters!"

"Guys, stay quiet!" Leo hissed. "It's not that late, there might still be people out. We need to stay stealthy."

Raph rolled his eyes. Donnie walked forward towards the edge of the alley and put on what looked like an odd set of binoculars.

"My ooze-specs are picking up a mutagen trail," he said. "C'mon!"

We all followed Donnie out towards the street. I glanced down next to me at Mikey, and I noticed that he was looking at a comic book. Judging by the cover, it was another horror comic.

"Isn't that your mint condition comic, Mikey? You might wanna keep it in the van so it doesn't get messed up."

"No way, I'm almost at the good party," he said, not even able to tear his eyes away from the comic. "Besides, it's only near mint condition now. Raph smacked me in the head with it."

I rolled my eyes as we continued forward. We walked up to the corner of the building before Leo stopped, forcing us all to halt.

"Remember," he whispered. "This might be another trap, so we need to be careful."

"We're always careful, dude," I said. "The universe just makes it difficult for us sometimes."

Leo gave me an unamused look. "Shush, you."

I giggled. We continued forward, heading towards the other side of the theater. There was a soft crunch, and we all turned. Mikey, who still had his nose stuck in his comic, hadn't been paying attention and had stepped on a popcorn bag. He glanced up at us and chuckled sheepishly.

"Some ninja," Raph hissed.

"Guys, over here."

We all turned and ran over to Donnie. He used a stick to dig through some trash and then dug out a broken canister, still spilling mutagen.

"It's half empty, but one more mutagen canister recovered."

"True," I said slowly. "But, um… where did the rest of the mutagen go then?"

Before any of them could answer, there was a loud, fearful yell. In unison, we all turned to look at Mikey, but he was still reading his comic quietly.

"Wasn't me."

We heard it again, and this time we heard it come from the theater entrance. We all ran over to the edge of the entrance and paused. I peeked around the corner and saw a homeless man sitting with his back pressed against the wall. He looked absolutely terrified. In front of his feet sat…

"Why is that dude afraid of a cute, tiny little squirrel?"

The squirrel turned its head, staring its beady, black eyes toward us. A second later its mouth split open in four different directions as a snake-like tongue (no, it actually looked like a fricking snake!) stuck out and whipped around. At once, the guys and I screamed in terror as we instantly clung to each other like a bunch of scaredy-cats. That seems to happen a lot, now that I think about it…

The squirrel then turned and crawled towards the scarred hobo. It scurried up his arm, jumped towards his face, and into his mouth! The man chocked and spluttered as the creature went down his throat. A second later the fell backwards, unmoving.

"Now can I scream in horror?!" Mikey yelled, still clutching onto us.

I gulped, feeling a bit sick. "I think I know where the rest of that mutagen went…"

"Now what do we do?" asked Raph.

Still clinging onto each other, we all turned to look at Leo, who was still staring at the unconscious hobo. He shook his head as he cleared his throat.

"We have to take him back to the lair."

"What?!" Raph snapped, instantly releasing himself from us, causing us to do the same as well.

"You're right," said Donnie. "We'll take him back and examine him in my lab."

Donnie, Raph and Leo all helped in picking the man up and carrying him to the Shellraiser. I ran up to the back doors and threw them open, hopping inside to help get him in. Mikey stood off to the side, looking worried.

"Dudes, this is a terrible idea," Mikey said warningly, looking at his comic. "This is exactly how the alien got onto the ship in my comic book."

At that moment Raph stopped walking and dropped the hobo's feet.

"Maybe Mikey's right."

At once, we all stopped what we were doing to stare at him, dumbfounded.

"What?" we said in unison.

"I mean, the comic book thing is totally crazy," he said quickly. "But, I can think of a million other reasons it's a bad idea to take this guy back to the lair, starting with Splinter."

"He's got a point, bro," I said to Leo. "I can't imagine Sensei would be too happy about this."

"Guys, that squirrel was clearly a mutant creature," said Donnie. "Which means this is our fault!"

"And our responsibility to fix it," Leo added. "I'll deal with Splinter."

I sighed. I can't wait to see this…

"Master Splinter! Um, let me explain…"

"Indeed. Please explain the reason you have brought a complete stranger into our secret hidden lair."

Leo flinched slightly as he slowly turned to look at us. The others and I were all holding the hobo up and had been carrying him to Donnie's lab, but had stopped at Sensei's angry voice. We knew this would happen. Leo cleared his throat and quickly adopted a falsly confident smile.

"Oh-ho, you'll laugh your whiskers off at this one!"

He chuckled nervously, and we all started chuckling along with him. Sensei, not looking amused, slammed his staff on the floor, and we all stiffened. He glared down at Leo.

"Dojo. Now."

He turned and walked away without another word. Leo sighed, and slowly followed him to the dojo.

"Phew, close call," Mikey murmured.

We all went back to carrying the hobo into the lab. Donnie released him to remove some of the mess that was on his table.

"Careful with the specimen," he told us. "I wanna run some tests on him. Take it easy, guys. Easy…"

While Mikey and I were busy trying to be gentle, Raph wasted no time in slamming the poor hobo onto the table, knocking some remaining veils and tools off the table in the process. Donnie glared at Raph angrily. He shook his head as he picked up a magnifying glass and proceeded to examine our guest.

"So…" Mikey slid up to me and Raph, now holding his comic book again. "Wanna guess the first thing the crew did when they brought the guy back on the space ship in my comic book?"

"Rent him a spot at the Hilton?" I guessed sarcastically.

Mikey shoved the comic into our faces. I was met with an image of a doctor who appeared to be examining an unconscious man on a lab table. Mikey lowered the comic, and I noticed how similar the picture was to what Donnie was doing.

"Oh…"

Raph grunted as he snatched the comic from Mikey's grasp, crushing it in his hands. Mikey looked as if he has just seen someone kick a puppy.

"Enough with the comic already, you're makin' me loopy."

Raph threw the comic on the ground and stomped away. Mikey stared down at his comic before glaring up at Raph.

"Great! Now it went from near mint, to totally messed up!"

"It's not like you were planning on selling it or anything, bro," I said, patting his shoulder. "You can still read it, right?"

Mikey sighed. "Yeah… it just felt nice to have a comic that wasn't crumpled or soaked in sewer water."

I frowned. He did have a point there. It wasn't easy for any of us to have that many nice things, being in the sewer and remaining unknown to the world. But, that's the price we had to pay sometimes.

At that moment the doors to the lab opened. Leo walked in, looking more calm than before.

"Okay, we're cool," he said. "But, let's try to get this guy outta here before Master Splinter is done meditating. Where're we at, Donnie?"

"Running an internal scan right now to see if…" he typed away at his computer for a moment before, "Yep, still in there."

An image had popped up on the screen that showed the hobo's skeleton and organs. In his stomach was the outline of the squirrel that had went into his mouth. But, something was different.

"Woah…"

"Wait… does it have two heads?"

"It's not just two heads," I said. "It's two squirrels."

"Alright guys," Raph hollered, and I turned to see him looking rather bored, eating out of a bag of popcorn. "If you need me I'll be beating Leo's high score in pinball-"

But as he turned there was sudden movement. The hobo bolted upright, screaming and shouting obscurities.

"I think that freaky squirrel made him a little nutty."

I felt my face fall into a deadpan expression as I slowly turned my head to stare a Leo. He looked back at me.

"What?"

"You did not just say that."

Leo blushed and turned away, looking embarrassed.

"Dudes, I got this!" Mikey said confidently. "I can totally translate crazy."

With that, he walked up to the hobo and leaned in close to listen to his gibberish. He frowned and nodded as he listened, apparently deep in concentration.

"He's saying the squirrel licked some ooze and transformed into a mutant. It's been chasing me for days now but I'm totally okay."

"If by 'okay' you mean 'totally insane'!" Raph retorted.

"Well, at least no one will believe a crazy guy if he talks about giant ninjas turtles living in a sewer," Leo said, not sounding too thrilled.

"Hey, I'm not looking to have anyone come popping into our home either," I added.

At that point there was a loud, squirming noise. The hobo gasped and started whimpering and crying, his body twisting in all kinds of ways. He fell down on his back and started thrashing around, starting to making wrenching sounds. Before we could do anything he sat up, opened his mouth and vomited into the air before falling back, apparently unconscious.

We all screamed in shock. Two large balls of brown fur flew outward and landed on the ground, revealed to be two small squirrels.

"This… this is unprecedented!" Donnie stared in shock. "The squirrels replicate inside a host. They divided like a single-celled organism."

"That's exactly what happened in my comic book!" Mikey gasped.

I blinked. "You're kidding."

"No, I'm not!" he frowned. "Well… maybe not exactly. They exploded out of the dudes' butt."

I giggled. There was a loud scream, and I turned in time to see the hobo suddenly running out of the lab, arms in the air.

"I'll show our friend to the door," Raph said before setting his popcorn down and running after the man.

"Don't hit him!" I yelled after him. He chuckled and ran off.

The two squirrels squeaked as they scurried around. They then jumped up onto the lab table and started nibbling on the popcorn Raph had left behind.

"We need to catch them," Donnie whispered to us. "They're emitting dangerous amounts of energy."

"Move very slowly…" Leo ordered. "We don't wanna startle 'em."

"And keep your mouths shut," I added quietly.

We all nodded, and slowly in unison started to walked towards the squirrels, taking large, over exaggerated steps. As I neared the desk I slowly raised my hands up to the squirrel that was closest to me. I was just about to wrap my hands around its middle when it whipped around and screeched, waving its long tongue at me. We all screamed, and Leo threw caution to the winds as he quickly launched himself at the squirrels.

"Get 'em!"

The squirrels turned and started to scurry away. At once, we all started running after them. Every time it seems like one of us would come close to grabbing one, it would somehow slip away from us. They ran across the floor, around the desks and tables, up the walls, and even jumped across the room.

"Hey! Watch my stuff!" Donnie yelled as Mikey pushed over a few filing cabinets in his effort to catch a squirrel.

"Sorry about the mess, Donnie!" I hollered as I chased the second squirrel.

I reached my hands down to grab him, but as he turned sharply I lost my balance and fell by the lab entrance. I groaned as I pushed myself up, and to my slight embarrassment I saw a pair of green feet standing in front of me. Raph had returned.

"Nice balance," he jeered, holding his hand out to help me.

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed it. "Whatever. Did our little hobo friend leave?"

"Yep, he's gone," Raph glanced behind me and his face fell. "But, we still have plenty of crazy!"

Before I could do more than turn around both squirrels had scurried off past our feet. I blinked.

"What the-?"

"There they go!" yelled Mikey.

Raph and I turned to look at the others, and gasped. In their rush to chase the squirrels, the other three had ran right into Raph and I, knocking us all to the ground in a heap. They all pushed and shoved as they struggled to get back up and keep running. It wasn't until they had gotten off of me that I realized that I wasn't laying on the floor, and my hands weren't pressing against concrete. Raph and I seemed to sit up at the same time, and it was then that I noticed I was laying right on top of him. My face started to heat up as he stared at me.

"Uh-! S-sorry!" I stammered, scooting back from him.

Raph gulped, clearing his throat. "I-it's okay."

There was a painfully awkward pause as Raph and I sat there, purposely looking away from each other. It wasn't until we heard the others yelling that the awkwardness was broken.

"Guys, c'mon!" Leo ordered at us. "What're you sitting around for? Help us seal off the lair! We can't let them escape!"

"Well, I don't exactly want 'em in here with us!" Raph retorted as he and I both got to our feet.

I heard a squeak and looked down to see one heading straight for my feet. I quickly bent down with my hands out to grab him. He was heading right for me-

"Nia, watch out!"

I looked up in time to see Mikey riding fast on his skateboard before he ran right into me. We both slammed to the ground and the squirrels scurried away. I groaned, throwing my head back.

"And that's why Sensei says no skateboarding in the lair..."

Donnie suddenly ran past, waving his staff at one of the squirrels. As the staff swished down the creature landed on top of it. Donnie blinked and tried to shake him off, but the squirrel screeched and started running up the staff towards his face. Donnie yelled and tossed his staff away. It went flying and knocked a box out of Leo's hand, who had been using it to try to catch the other squirrel.

"This is getting ridiculous," I groaned irritably, jumping up to my feet.

Suddenly, the two squirrels split up. One started to head towards the dojo, while the other hurried towards the hallway and into one of the bedroom doors.

"Not my room!" Mikey cried as he ran after the squirrel, Raph following close behind.

"You guys get the one out of the dojo," I told Donnie and Leo. "I'll help them get the one out of Mikey's room."

They nodded. I turned and started running after the other two. I skidded to a halt in front of Mikey's room and walked in. It had been a while since the last time I entered Mikey's room, but when I did, it had been in a much better state that it was currently in. Shelves were over flowing onto the ground, boxes of pizza and Chinese takeout scattered the floor, and I could see what looked like dirty clothes. Which was odd, seeing as how none of the guys wore anything besides their belts and masks.

"Geez Mikey, when's the last time you cleaned?" Raph asked, looking around in disgust. "And since when did yah start wearing tighty-whities?"

"Huh?"

I whipped my head around, and saw that Raph was indeed holding up a pair of large white underpants using his sai. They had multiple stains covering them, including a large red one that smelled like stale pizza sauce. Mikey, who had been looking underneath his bed, popped back up and promptly took the undergarments from his brother.

"That, my friend, is a story for another day."

I snorted. "Can't wait to hear that one."

"Maybe you will, sis. Maybe you will," Mikey tossed the underwear off into a random direction. "Right now, let's just focus on the squirrels. Comprede?"

There was a loud thud and a squishing sound. We all turned. Mikey's underwear had hit a stack of pizza boxes and knocked them over. Several slices of pizza had spilled out and were now laying on the filthy green floor.

"Ugh, dude! Is that the pizza from Saturday?" I groaned, pinching my nose.

"Aw sweet!" Mikey reached down and picked up a piece. "Awesome idea! I just impressed myself."

He tossed the pizza up into the air as he leapt up and jumped onto the bed. The slice landed on his head and continued to be tossed up and down as Mikey jumped on his bed.

"Here squirrely, squirrely squirrel! Come get it!"

Raph and I glanced at each other. We were both thinking the same thing. He rolled his eyes.

"Oh… alright."

He leaned down and picked up a piece. He sniffed it cautiously.

"Is it safe?" I asked warily.

Raph shrugged. Then, with no hesitation, he took a large bite of the pizza. I cringed as I watched him eat it, then stared as he continued to eat it.

"Here squirrel!" he called out. "Have a tiny bite!"

I raised my eyebrows as I stared down at the pizza on the floor. I shrugged as I picked on up and started carrying it around the room.

"Hey, squirrel," I called out, looking around the bed. "We've got some pizza for you."

"C'mon little squirrel! Man… Where is that little sucker?"

I don't know if it was the pizza or the atmosphere of the room, but we all just kind of got sidetracked while looking for the squirrel. Pretty soon we had forgotten about the little creature and has started enjoying ourselves. The pizza actually wasn't that bad and we started chilling out in Mikey's messy room.

"And so I said let me take a swing at it, right?" I said. "And I ended up beating his high score. You should've see the look on Ace's face."

Raph were both sitting on the floor. He was leaning against Mikey's bed frame while my head was in his lap. Raph put his hands behind his head as he chuckled.

"Man, your bandmates are a riot. You should bring 'em over some time."

"Yeah, I'm sure that'll blow over nicely."

"Woo, this pizza is the best!"

Mikey cheered as he continuously jumped on the bed. He did one final jump as he ate his last bite of pizza and landed flat on his bed.

"Four day old, pepperoni, jellybean, and maple syrup."

"You guys come up with the weirdest pizza toping," I said, shifting in Raph's lap.

"Oh, look who's talkin'!" Raph snapped. "Who was the one that ordered gram crackers and marshmallows on her pizza last time?"

Raph smirked at me as Mikey laughed, pointing a finger at me. I rolled my eyes as I folded my arms, pouting like a child.

"Wait… what were we supposed to be doin' again?"

Before we could answer there a strange, clicking noise coming behind Mikey's action figures. I sat straight up as we all looked up at the shelf. Suddenly, the squirrel appeared between Mikey's toys, looking down at us.

"The squirrel!" Raph leapt up to his feet. "There you are!"

He took out his sais and immediately started going at the squirrel. He started repeatedly stabbing into the shelve, missing the squirrel but hitting the toys. At one point he stabbed one straight through and flung it off his sai. Mikey gasped.

"Raph! That was my limited edition Action Kick Unicorn Man…"

"There he is!" I shouted.

But even as I reached behind me to grab my tessen, Raph jumped down and started going at it again. The squirrel was too fast however, and immediately leapt up onto his arm. And scurried upward, ran around his shoulders, and suddenly forced its way through Raph's mouth.

"Raph!"

"No!"

I ran forward and tried to grab the squirrels tail, but it had already vanished.

"Spit it out! Spit it out now!"

Raph dropped his sais in panic and opened his mouth as wide as he could. Nothing came out. He even took his hand and put his fingers down his throat. He made a few heaving sounds, but nothing came up.

"Oh no…"

"Hold him still!" Donnie ordered.

Leo and Mikey both forced Raph's arms down and shut the clamps down on his wrists. He swore loudly at them as they did the same to his ankels.

"Nia, grab the ," Donnie said. "It's in the box under the table."

I nodded as I knelt down and looked all around. I rummaged in the boxes for a moment before I finally found it. The whole time, Raph was squirming and yelling on top of the table.

"Hng! It's in my guts!" he cried. "I can feel it in there munchin' on that popcorn I just ate! IT'S FREAKING ME OUT, MAN!"

Donnie placed the suctioncup over Raph's mouth as I reached up and pulled his head back down.

"Okay, yah gotta stop with the 'this'," Donnie said, making a talking gesture with his free hand. "I can't hear what's going on inside your intestines."

"Oh, I'll tell you what's going on in there," said Mikey, who once again has his comic book in hand. "Lemme see… Right now, the mutant squirrel is probably secreting a mucus into your stomach lining, so that when it multiplies…"

Everyone groaned in unison.

"Mikey, not helping," Donnie paused. "Though, probably about 98 percent accurate."

Raph screeched. "Get 'em out, get 'em out, get 'em out!"

I grabbed his shoulders and forced him back down. I glared up at Donnie as he listened to Raph's insides. He sighed.

"Just as I thought," he muttered. "We need to perform surgery, stat. Nurse!"

Mikey suddenly reached down and pulled out a giant saw, winding it up so the blades were moving very fast. Raph and I both screamed in terror as the blades came closer to his plastron.

"LET ME OUTTA HERE!"

At the last second Mikey pulled back. At once, all three of them started laughing their shells off. The clamps around Raph's wrists and ankles popped open. He stared at the others for a moment before he slowly got to his feet, hands raised up as though about to grab something.

"Why you… you…!"

I quickly stepped in front of him and placed my hands on his chest to keep him from moving forward.

"Guys, what the hell!" I turned my head to yell at them. "This isn't funny!"

"Aw c'mon Nia, we were just-"

But Mikey was cut off as Raph suddenly yelled, falling to his knees on the table. I turned to see him hunched over, his hands on his stomach. He started making hacking noises, and I thought I could hear something shifting around from his stomach. Donnie quickly backed away from the table, arms held out.

"Raph? Are you…?"

"Bros, brace for grossness!" Mikey warned.

No sooner had Mikey said this, then Raph sat up and hurled. His mouth burst open, and two more squirrels appeared in a mass of stomach vomit. They both landed on their feet and screeched. But before we could do anything, there was a loud crack and the lights suddenly died out.

"Eh, Donnie? Some sciencey stuff would be a big help right now!"

Donnie stood there, taken aback by the whole situation. Suddenly, the squirrels reared up on their high legs, and then their fur started to glow an electric green color.

"Glowing… glowing's bad!" Mikey said. "Glowing is real bad!"

At that moment the lab doors burst open. Sensei was standing there, looking as though he had come running.

"I see it is happening here as well."

"These things are putting out a crazy energy signature!" Donnie stated, looking down at his scanner. "It's messing with my analyzer."

"We're doomed. Doomed, I tell you!"

"Look, let's just calm down, okay?" I said over everyone. "Let's just find those things before they escape."

They all nodded. We all walked out of the lab and into the living room, Donnie and his scanner leading the way. We all reached the pit and looked around, scanning the area. There were no squirrels in sight.

"Split up and search each room," Sensei ordered.

"Split up?!" Mikey yelped. "Clearly you don't read comic either, Sensei, 'cause splitting up is the-"

"Silence! You are trained warriors. We will find these creatures. Now."

"Split up in the dark to search for multiplying mutants," Raph muttered. "Could we pick a more clique way to get eaten?"

"One of us could twist our ankle, or our T-Phones could die, or-"

I reached up and gently covered Donnie's mouth with my hand. He blinked down at me.

"Not really helping the situation, Donnie."

"Listen to the lady," Raph pushed Donnie hard. "Move!"

I rolled my eyes as I walked in a direction opposite from the others. I stepped out of the pit and walked over to the dummy. There was an eerie silence as everyone searched around. There seemed to be no sign of the squirrel. Then there was a scream.

"SQUIRRELANOIDS!"

I whipped around at the sound of Mikey's voice. He and Raph ran out of the bedrooms hallway, screaming in terror. Coming out right behind them was a giant, glowing creature that looked like a knockoff from the Alien movie. It let out a terrible noise and started to chase after them. Suddenly, Donnie burst through the lab doors, his scanner louder than before.

"Oh no… Leo! They're here!"

"Donnie, watch out!"

I sprinted forward and pushed Donnie out of the way of an oncoming Squirrelanoid that was heading right for him. We both fell to the ground and it ran past us, scurrying all around.

"They're gonna brain-suck us!" Mikey cried.

A third Squirrelanoid knocked Leo off of the upper level and landed in front of me and Donnie. It had us pinned in the corner with nowhere to go. I reached down for my tessen but felt nothing but the holster. It must've fallen out in the struggle. The creature snarled as it charged at us, opening its jaws as what looking like a second head shot out of its mouth. I panicked and clung onto Donnie as he wrapped his arms around me. There was a loud smack, and I looked up to see Sensei standing in front of us. He had smacked the creature away. He leapt forward and began to fight all of the mutants at once. They all pounced and swatted at him, but he was too fast. He smacked one so far away that it fell into the pool. It didn't resurface, and the other two followed after it.

"The sewers lead to the surface!" Leo cried. "If those things get out…!"

"Go then," Sensei ordered. "Quickly. I will stay to defend the lair in case the beasts doubleback."

Mikey gulped, trembling. "Which means we have to go after them alone, in the dark sewer, without you…?

Sensei straightened up. "Who among you wants to prove you are the bravest, the strongest of will, the worthiest of ninjas?"

Not surprisingly, none of us were too keen on going out to the sewers with those things out there. So, Donnie decided the breakout Metalhead to go look for them instead. I mean, it was kind of a long shot, but if it meant that my brothers were safe from harm, then it was fine with me.

We were all currently sitting right in front of the TV, watching from Metalhead's facecam as Donnie controlled him through the sewers.

"Master Splinter," he said. "I'd say there's some kind of lesson here, like… I don't know. Brains over bravery or… somethin'."

"I'd say the 'something' part is most accurate."

"Can't disagree with you there, Sensei," I told him.

Sensei gave me a small nod. From next to me, Mikey was looking from his comic to the TV and back again, looking pretty nervous. Then he sighed as he set it down.

"I'm not gonna say this happened in my comic… but this happened in my comic!"

"You literally just said you wouldn't say that," I informed him.

"Yeah… well, it did though!"

"Well, what happened next then?"

But before he could answer there was a loud screech from the TV.

"What was that?"

Donnie moved the camera to look down a sewer hallway. At the end was the shadow of one of the mutants.

"There's one!" Leo hissed.

Metalhead started to move forward, and as he did we all leaned our heads closer to the screen. Then, Sensei's head appeared right next to ours, looking at the screen as well. I mentally chuckled to myself before focusing again. Suddenly, a Squirrelanoid's face appeared on screen, screeching before the feed went fuzzy.

"Metalhead!" Donnie screamed.

The camera went into focus again, only to reveal a decapitated Metalhead. He stomped his feet around for a moment before falling to his knees and crumpling in a heap.

"Page 33," Mikey breathed. "Oh man!"

Donnie ran up to the screen and pressed his face against it, as though trying to comfort Metalhead.

"Don't worry, little pal. I'll make yah all better!"

I scooted forward and patted Donnie's shell, whispering words of comfort. I turned back to look at the other, who all had 'what do we do now' expressions on their faces.

"I do not want to say I was right," said Sensei. "But… I was right."

We had no choice but to go into the sewers ourselves. Donnie was leading the way with his tracker, Leo following right behind, and the rest of us bringing up the rear. The sewers were especially dark now, which made everything a little bit scarier.

"Just throwing this out there," Raph piped up halfway through the tunnel. "What are we supposed to do after we find these… Squirrelanoid monsters?"

"Don't worry," Mikey said quietly. "They'll find us."

Raph glared. "You always know just the right thing to say."

"Yeah, not really the most reassuring thing to say, dude."

At that moment Donnie stopped walking, and so did we. His scanner started going off as he looked at the two tunnels from our left and our right.

"I'm picking up strong readings from both tunnels," he said.

"Then we split up," Leo said as he leapt into the left one.

"Again?!" Mikey snapped. "Didn't you guys get-?"

"But this time, in teams. Okay?"

Mikey stood there, blinking for a second. Then he frowned.

"It's still splitting up! We're toast! Game over, man. Game over…"

Leo rolled his eyes. "This way, Donnie. Nia, stay with them."

I nodded. "You got it, chief."

Raph groaned. "Sure! You take the guy with the tracking device! C'mon, you two."

He went ahead and leapt into the opposite tunnel. Mikey stood still, his knees noticeably shaking. I walked up to him and grabbed his elbow comfortingly.

"Come on Mikey, let's go."

He gulped, and nodded. Still holding onto me, I lead him into the tunnel as we followed right behind Raph.

We were walking for about 10 minutes and we still hadn't found any sign of the Squirrelanoids. I was beginning to fear we might have missed them.

"So, uh… how did they defeat the aliens in your comic book?" Raph asked as he shined the flashlight around.

"Oh! So, now you wanna know!" Mikey jeered, making Raph groan. "Well, first the aliens picked off the crew in the dark one by one sucking their faces off until there was only one remaining survivor!"

Mikey noticed we were no longer beside him and turned. Raph and I had stopped walking halfway through his explanation. We were both standing there, gaping at him.

"Yikes," I mumbled.

"Sorry I asked," Raph choked out.

At that moment, there was a soft chirping sound. We all flinched and Raph shined his flashlight around.

"Wait, did ya hear that?"

"Yeah," I whispered. "Where is it?"

"Um, guys?"

We turned to look at Mikey, who was pointing upward at the ceiling. I gulped as I looked up. Sure enough, there was a large Squirrelanoid hovering right above us, hanging from the sewer pipes. It opened its mouth, and it second head popped out and screeched.

"Run!"

The other two didn't need telling twice, and we all turned and sprinted towards a nearby tunnel. But, just as we reached it two more figures appeared. Leo and Donnie, closely followed by the other two Squirrelanoids.

"Watch it!"

We all crashed into each other and landed in a pile on the ground. We groaned and quickly pushed ourselves up as we heard the creatures coming back. I took out my tessen as the others took out their own weapons. The Squirrelanoids snarled as they began circling us.

"They'll crack our shells like nuts," Mikey whimpered.

"How do you think I feel?" I asked him. "They'll probably twist my spine like a pretzel!"

"Then we might as well go down in a blaze of glory!" Raph said determinably.

I gulped as I held my tessen at the ready. In one movement we all separated, leaping straight for the Squirrelanoids. Donnie and I both headed for the same one. He landed in front of it, and I landed behind. The mutant snarled as it went for him, but Donnie already had his Bo staff ready. He spun it around his head before swinging it at the creatures' face. It leaned its head backwards and started to step backwards. At that moment I threw my tessen out and it flew up and hit the monster in its head, bouncing off and coming back to my hand. It whipped around and screeched as it advanced on me. It swung both of its large paws at me, and I cucked to avoid them. But, it swung its large tail underneath me and knocked me off over the edge of the level.

"Nia!"

I fell to the ground and tumbled for a second before I landed on my knees. Leo was suddenly in front of me and helped me to my feet. As I did the others were suddenly beside us, and the Squirrelanoids were surrounding us into a corner.

"Alright Mikey, I'm in; how does the sole survivor beat the aliens?" Raph asked.

"And make it quick," I added nervously. "I do not wann die by mutant squirrels."

Mikey beamed. "It was so awesome! He baited the alien into an airlock, and then he-"

He suddenly gasped. Then, he ran forward, jumped up, then bounced off of a Squirrelanoid's head onto the upper level and ran off. There was a few seconds of silence.

"Did he just bail on us?!" Raph snapped.

Leo shook his head. "I think he's got a plan."

The Squirrelanoids charged at us again. Leo leaped up and sliced at the air, Donnie swung his Bo, Raph jabbed his sais and I threw my tessen. It didn't make much of a difference. Because no sooner had we begun to fight again then the animals swung at us with incredible strength. I felt like I had just been punched by the Hulk as I flew through the air and landed on top of the pile my brothers had formed.

"Okay… that could've gone better…" I grunted.

There was a loud hissing and I sat up. All of the Squirrelanoids were cornering us again. And this time, it looked like they really had us. They were advancing towards us when they suddenly stopped. They all raised their huge heads and started to sniff the air.

"Yoohoo! Glow heads!"

We and the creatures turned around. Mikey was back, and he was standing at the edge of the tunnel with a large bag of popcorn in his hand. He grabbed a handful and ate it, humming in satisfaction.

"Mmm… want some?"

The Squirrelanoids all screeched and immediately started sprinting towards him. Mikey yelped before turning and running back down the tunnel, the creatures following right behind him.

"Mikey has a plan!" Raph said, surprised.

I didn't hesitate to run after him, and I could hear the other right behind me. But by the time we reach the first set of split offs, they had already run off to far.

"Where'd they go?" Raph asked hurriedly.

I looked between all the tunnels in front of us. Which one could they have gone through? I was checking the one in front of me when I thought I felt something come from the one on the right. It felt like a breeze. I looked closer, and suddenly I could hear distant noises.

"You guys hear that?" I asked.

"Hear what?"

"I don't hear anything."

I took a step into the tunnel, and suddenly I could hear a voice.

"He's this way!"

I began running down that hall without hesitating. I ran as fast as I could to try to keep up with Mikey's voice, trying not to lose it. A few turns later the noises were getting louder, to the point where I could even hear his footsteps as he ran. Then suddenly, I rounded the corner and saw three tall mutant squirrels standing at the end of the tunnel. I doubled back and slammed my back against the wall as I held my arm out to stop the others. They whispered what was wrong, but I stayed silent. Then I heard Mikey's voice again.

"Uh… come and get it…"

There was a soft plopping noise, followed by several loud splashes. I whipped my head around the corner and saw that all of the Squirrelanoids were now in what looked like a small pool. They appeared to be fighting over the bag of popcorn, which had apparently also been tossed into the water. I had enough time to look up and see Mikey reached up and turn a crank on the wall. There was the creaking of pipes and what sounded like a giant toilet being flushed as the water in the pool started to turn. Pretty soon it started spinning and sinking with the Squirrelanoids going down with it. Pretty soon they were below the surface.

"Booyahkasha!" Mikey said, punching the air as the turned around.

I saw it the moment I heard the water break. It snapped at Mikey and instantly wrapped itself around his waist and throat, yanking him backwards. I sprinted forward as fast as I could and reached out, grabbing his hand with both of mine. I dug my heels into the floor to stay planted, but the force just ended up dragging me as well. Mikey looked terrifyingly into my eyes as we both were suddenly underwater. But, just as my waist was submerged I felt something grabbed my feet and started pulling me up. I yanked the tentacle-like thing off of Mikey's neck as we were both dragged up above the surface. I turned to see that all of the others had formed a human rope and had grabbed us just in time. Raph was currently holding me by my ankles.

"I gotcha, guys," he gasped.

"We all do!"

Mikey grinned. Then suddenly a Squirrelanoid burst from the water, snarling as it reached for Mikey. I instantly grabbed one of my throwing knives and tossed it, hitting it right in its eye. It screeched as it fell back in the water, just as it all finally went down the drain. The others quickly started to pull us up. I was dragged onto the edge as I helped Mikey up and to his feet. We all stood up and looked down the deep pool, breathing heavily.

"Nice save guys," I breathed.

"Us? We wouldn't have gotten here at all if it wasn't for you," said Raph. "How were you able to hear so well?"

I shrugged. "I… I don't know. I just could."

Looking down one last time to make sure the pool was empty, we all turned and started to leave the area.

"The septic tanks down below should hold those creeps," said Leo, and Donnie nodded.

"At least until I can figure out a retro mutagen to turn 'em back."

"That's all well and good," I placed my hands behind my head. "But, personally, I think we've earned a day off. Don't you guys think?

"Heck yeah, dudette!" Mikey cheered. "Hey, you gotta try this new game Ness is letting me borrow. It's called Gang Beasts, and it super awesome! You want in Raph?"

Raph didn't say anything for a moment. Then he grinned and placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"I'm glad you didn't get flushed, little brother."

Mikey smiled. "You and me both, bro."

"So, Y is to jump, right?"

"Yep! Right and left tigger to punch. Like… this!"

I gasped as Mikey's little yellow, Plato-like character punched my little purple character. I groaned irritably as I frantically started hitting the triggers. This game was fun, but boy, could Mikey beat me at it.

"You know, I hate to admit it," Raph suddenly piped up. "But, it looks like all of Mikey's comic book reading paid off."

"And that was pretty clever to realize that Squrrelanoids were attracted to the scent of food," Leo said, leaning over to pat Mikey's head.

"Actually, that was pretty obvious," Donnie interrupted. "I can't believe I didn't think of it."

Mikey smirked. "Not everyone can be the brains of the outfit."

I chuckled. While he was distracted I quickly punched his character, knocking him out. I picked him up and carried him over to the large fire pit, and tossed him over. The large bell run and I cheered. Mikey whipped around and gasped, stunned at what had happened.

"Wha- No fair! You cheated!"

"Oh come on, like you wouldn't do the same!

"Maybe to Donnie, but never to you, dudette," Mikey adopted a brokenhearted expression. "Never to you…"

I rolled my eyes, smiling.

"My children," Sensei spoke up. "I understand you are celebrating your most recent victory, but have any of you considered what if one of those creatures manages to escape?"

"No worries, Sensei!" Raph jeered. "Those giant, nut-loving freaks are gone for good!"

He and Leo grinned as they bumbed fists. I nodded as I turned back to the TV. It was at that moment that I noticed Mikey's character wasn't moving. I turned to look at him, and he had a shifty look in his eyes.

"Um… actually, a bunch of sequel comics came out…" he reached behind him and suddenly pulled out a whole new comic book we hadn't seen yet. "The aliens come back!"

Are you fricking kidding me?