Leo was pretty bored, and he knew Mikey and Raph were at their limits. Donnie had asked them to wait in the tunnels. For some reason, Donnie took Hikari with him while sending them to wait. If he was being honest, waiting would be way more bearable if Leo was hanging out with her.
"I could hear you pining from here." Raph complained.
"I'm not pining, I'm just bored."
"God, what's taking them so long? Donnie knows I have a short atte-" Mikey's eyes brightened when he looked down, "Oooh, gum!"
Raph smacked the disgusting ground gum out of Mikey's hand, "Man, this better be worth it."
Just then, the three heard a loud rumbling sound coming down the track before them. Soon, they saw the most amazing ride they had ever seen. It was an old subway car that had a serious makeover, graffiti all over its heavily armored body. It soon pulled to a stop right in front of them as they took the sight in.
"Worth it." Raph said after he picked his jaw off the tracks.
The doors of the subway open with its usual chime, revealing Hikari, who got out of the car to stand by Leo, and Donnie leaning on the side of the door, looking proud like a new dad, "So, what do you think?"
"You two turned Leatherhead's old subway into this?" Leo looked to Hikari, who was now loosely clinging around his arm.
"Leatherhead said he didn't need it after we helped him move into his new spot." Hikari explained, "I've mostly the assistant for this project with a few personal touches thrown in, the rest is all him."
"Donnie, have I ever told you how awesome you are?" Raph said in awe.
"No, you haven't."
"Well, I'm seriously considering it."
"What do you call this thing?" Leo asked.
"Well… It's a transaxle, multi-armored, electromagnetic-"
"The Shellraiser!" Mikey cut Donnie off dramatically.
"What?"
"The Shellraiser!" Mikey repeating it smugly, "It's the perfect name!"
"That is the perfect name." Leo agreed, much to his own surprise.
"Of course it is, bro. You guys always underestimate me." Mikey crossed his arms before noticing the same gum piece from earlier, "Oh, gum."
Hikari smacked the gum out of Mikey's hand before pulling him into the newly-dubbed Shellraiser, "Come on, just wait till you check out the inside of this beast."
The Shellraiser was well equipped on the inside, screens and gadgets alike on every wall of the car. It definitely didn't seem like it would house that many tricks up its shelf from the outside, but Leo knew better than to doubt Donnie's ingenuity when it came to his passion projects.
Donnie moved to the back and sat down at a station so techy that only Donnie could probably run it with so much confidence, "Now, we've assigned the rest of you to a station based on your individual skillsets. I can't drive because my station's in the back. Hikari doesn't know how to drive so-"
"Driver!" The other three turtles called out, each giving the other a quick glance before all three of them started pushing and fighting their way to the driver's seat.
Hikari, probably knowing that this was going to happen, deployed her guard into a shield to stop the fighting. "Leo drives." She said, much to Leo's delight, and the other two's annoyance.
"Boo! No favorites!" Mikey said with both thumbs pointing down.
"Yeah, why him?" Raph asked.
"He's least likely to hit something just for fun." Donnie asked calmly from his station.
"True." They conceded.
"Nii-chan, you're on navigation." She walked over to the back end of the car, "Raph and I are on weapons."
Leo was so excited to test it out, gripping onto the steering wheel like when he first got his katanas, "So, how do we get this baby going?"
Donnie's face showed up on a screen next to him, "Ok, just ease the throttle ever so slight-"
Leo did try his best to ease it, but the Shellraiser wasn't tamed yet. It sped through the track, sending the team to the backs of their seats.
Raph was very impressed with the speed, it was almost faster than his own stealthbike, "Woah! What's powering this thing?"
"The Kraang power cell we got from Leatherhead." Donnie answered.
That raised some concerns from Leo, "I thought you said that thing was dangerous, plus last time Hikari was near that thing she froze up and collapsed."
"That's why I put it under a lead glass shield." Donnie elaborated, "Now, I can control the output, and the Kraang couldn't track it."
"Which also means I can sit back here without that crystal messing with my head or my powers."
"I hate to interrupt, but DEADEND!" Mikey screamed.
Leo started looking around at the console before him with a slight panic, "Uhh… D-Donnie? How do I stop this thing?"
"Don't!"
"What?!"
"Trust me!"
Although he said that, Leo, Raph, and Mikey screamed in fear as the Shellraiser charged closer and closer to the wall. What they didn't see was Donnie and Hikari sharing a look of amusement before Donnie flipped a few switches on his station.
The fake wall lifted upwards, revealing a ramp that took the Shellraiser onto the streets of New York. The vehicle jerked as it took the air, transforming the wheels from ones for a subway car to an all-terrain set. The Shellraiser quickly turned out of the alleyway and onto the road.
"Donnie, you're awesome!" Raph cheered.
"Does this thing have a stereo?" Mikey asked.
"What good would it be without some tunes?" Donnie pressed a few buttons and some classical music started playing throughout the car.
Raph gave Donnie a flat look, "Are you serious?"
"Check out the second movement." With the flick of another switch, the music changed into
Donnie definitely did the music justice. Leo could sense the rock music echoing around the walls, but also feel the tremble in his skin and shell. It got his blood pumping. With a wide reckless smile, he floored it. The Shellraiser zipped through the streets, going faster than what probably was legally allowed. Although, the speeding tickets seemed ridiculous considering the ride itself probably wasn't legal either.
The others were clearly enjoying it as much as he was. All four of them got out of their seats, cheering him on as they all hung onto the rail above them. Normally, he would be the responsible big brother, but who was he to deny them some fun?
He gave in and spun the wheel, making donuts in the streets once there was no one around. They moved with the car's spinning, much like a ride in a theme park. Soon, they continued their test cruise with Raph wanting to open up the top since there were no humans around right now.
Hikari approached Leo with a soft smile, "It's nice to seeing you cutting loose a little."
"Christmas and now this, I could get used to this." Leo mirrored her smile. He probably had that dopey look his brothers made fun of him for, even if his eyes didn't leave the road.
Suddenly, they heard Raph knocking on the top of the Shellraiser, "Leo, pull over!"
Curious, Leo did so and parked it on the side of the road. Raph came back down and pointed to one of the monitors where Fong and his lackeys were heading into an alleyway. "Purple Dragons?" Leo chuckled, "This night keeps getting better and better!"
"Oh yeah. It's like candy for my knuckles." Raph cracked his knuckles, "And tonight's Halloween."
Just as they were about to leave. Donnie noticed something on the screen. He pointed at it as he kept watching, "Wait, who's that?"
The Purple Dragon had stopped running, faced by someone hidden in the darkness. "Excuse me, boys. I think you forgot to pay for that." The voice said, "But don't worry. I accept cash, check, or teeth."
"Huh, that was a pretty good line." Leo mused.
"What are you gonna do?" Fong scoffed, "There's one of you and three of us."
"Oh, you want to call a couple of friends, make it even?"
"This guy's got guts." Raph seemed impressed. Hikari nodded to that.
"It's time to face the wrath of the Pulverizer!" The voice introduced himself as he stepped into the light.
"This is gonna be great." Mikey was on the edge of his seat, waiting for an awestriking takedown.
However, all that excitement melted into secondhand embarrassment as they watched the Pulverizer flailing his limbs around in a pathetic attempt at fighting moves. "Hyah! Judo!" He shouted and grunted like he was actually doing anything, "Punch, punch! Hyah!"
"Or not." Leo winced, not able to take his eyes off this train wreck of a fight.
The Purple Dragons were definitely happy for an easy fight apparently. They were wailing on him the poor guy, who probably thought he was doing the right thing by stepping in. Leo only wished the Pulverizer actually had the skills to match his big talk.
"Oh, the Pulverizer's getting just.." Mikey paused, "Well, I don't know the word, but we gotta help him."
The team got out of the Shellraiser and stuck to the shadows. They managed to cover the exit when Leo made their presences known, "How do you like the odds now, Fong?"
To the teams' surprise, the Pulverizer didn't react with shock or horror, but with awe. "Whoa, the turtles! And my princess!" He gushed.
"How does he know who-" Donnie was cut off as one of the Purple Dragon attacked him. That got everyone back in the moment. Donnie and Mikey focused on the big guy, while Raph was busy beating up the other guy. Hikari went to help the Pulverizer and check him for any injuries, she was quite uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her but was relieved when there was nothing more than a few bruises.
Leo was fighting Fong when he made a break for it, "Fong's getting away!"
"Oh no, he don't!" Mikey threw out his kusarigama towards Fong. It would've made it if the Pulverizer didn't push Hikari aside and ran after Fong himself.
"I got him!" He said with a wink at her and gave chase, only to be caught in Mikey's chain. He was wrapped up and fell onto the ground like a bag of potatoes.
"Dude, not cool." Mikey was not amused by this. Hikari took off after seeing this, using her whip to swing herself toward Fong. The whip wrapped onto an air-conditioning unit and propelled her ahead, landing before him and blocking his escape route.
She immediately grabbed at the box Fong was protecting, the contents inside spilled out in the middle of the fight. Hikari noticed the items they were stealing and confronted him, "I warned you about what happens to thieves. Now, tell me why you guys are stealing Kraang parts."
Suddenly, flashes of blue and red lights started shining into the alleyway. Hikari was distracted by the sudden lights, and Fong took advantage of that. He kicked her in the gut and grabbed as much Kraang tech as he could before running away.
After seeing their leader bail, the other two Purple Dragons followed suit. Leo noticed the lights as well and called out to the others, "Cops! We've gotta go!"
As they were booking it to the Shellraiser, they heard a whiny out-of-breath voice coming from behind them. Sure enough, it was the Pulverizer running after them, "Oh, hey, uh, great teamwork, guys!"
Raph stopped him before he could get any closer to the Shellraiser, "Look, I don't know who you think you are, or what you think you're doing, but don't."
With that, Raph turned him around and shut the door behind him. "Yeah, maybe sometimes we can get together and-" What he or Raph didn't notice was that the tails of the Pulverizer's mask were trapped between the door until the subway car started moving, "Oh, hey, I think I whoa! Yahhh! Whawhoa!"
Inside the Shellraiser, Leo was a little surprised to hear a weird noise coming from outside. "Did you guys hear something?" He asked the others, to their confusion. Leo dropped it after that and made a mental note to ask Donnie to double-check the ride before they took it out again.
"By the way, I got some of the stuff they stole." Hikari pulled out some of the parts they spilled out of the box, "It seems like parts of Kraang technology but I don't get why the Purple Dragon would bother this stuff."
"We'll take a closer look back in the lair." Donnie responded as they went back underground without a clue about their unwilling passenger.
Hikari got out of her seat to see Donnie looking at the door with confusion before opening it. He looked down and said nervously, "Guys? We've got a problem."
They all got out of the Shellraiser to see the Pulverizer by the door, but he looked like one of the many training dummies the team had destroyed during their constant training. Raph was the first to voice his confusion and his disdain for the guy, "What the-"
Donnie ignored him and went to help the Pulverizer up onto his feet, "Are you OK?"
"Sure. You can survive with one kidney, right?"
Raph rolled his eyes, "Great. First, this doofus gets in the way of a good Purple dragon stomping, and now he knows where our lair is."
"Don't worry, I blacked out most of the way here." Pulverizer explained.
"How do you even know we exist?" Donnie asked.
That seemed to trigger something in him as his eyes gleamed excitedly. Hikari wouldn't admit to it, but that look… It scared her and sent awful chills down her spine. The Pulverizer went on to tell his story. Apparently, he had spotted the team during their fight with Baxter Stockman and his giant mech-suit two months ago. The way he described it was odd to Hikari. She and the turtles were fighting for their lives to make up for their mistakes, but he recounted the whole incident as if he was watching a TV show. He got closer to Hikari with those unsettling eyes again as he finished up his tale, "…And then, I saw you doing this sweet backflip before plunging your laser sword into that robot. It was like you were some angel of destruction. You're even more beautiful up close."
"Thank…you?" Hikari did her best to hide her discomfort. She recognized that look. It was the same look Donnie had whenever he was sneaking glances at April, and she didn't know how to react to that kind of attention.
"Dudes, I think we've got a stalker." Mikey whispered to his brothers. It was loud enough for anyone to hear, but it seemed like the Pulverizer was too distracted to hear it or he didn't care about what Mikey had to say.
"OK. Let's not get up close and personal." Leo stepped between the Pulverizer and Hikari, a gesture she appreciated.
The Pulverizer wasn't bothered by this and continued, "You inspired me to become a hero. I saw you guys, and I thought, what have they got that I haven't got?"
"Years of training under a grand Master of ninjutsu?" Donnie responded dully.
"No, an awesome costume. I'm gonna be a hero like you guys and have a hot sidekick too." He said proudly, ignorant to the looks of anger and annoyances of the team, "Where'd you get yours, by the way?"
"We're not wearing costumes, we're mutants." Raph answered
"And I am no one's sidekick." She growled.
The Pulverizer tried getting closer to her again, "You could be my partner instead."
"I've already got someone." She replied, leaning closer towards Leo.
It seemed the Pulverizer wasn't dense enough to see something that was blatantly in front of him. "No way… You two are dating?" He looked heartbroken, "But, you're supposed to be my princess…"
"You don't even know my name." She crossed her arms.
"Oh…" He blinked, "What is your name?"
"Hikari." She then looked to Leo with a soft, appreciative smile, "And this is Leo, my boyfriend, and team leader."
"Well Leo, just you wait. I'll be an awesome superhero and she'll soon see how much better I am than you are!" He declared dramatically.
Hikari facepalmed and sighed in exasperation while Raph chuckled, "And suddenly this is hilarious."
"Look, Pulverizer..." She calmed down and tried to reason, "You sound like you've got a good heart, but you're in over your head. Just go home and forget about all of this."
"I knew it, you're totally into me!"
"How did you even get that?" She threw her arms up in frustration.
"I just need to be like them. How did you guys do that?"
"You. Stop talking." Leo was quite annoyed at him. The first test drive with the team was ruined because some wannabe took dress-up way too seriously. Now, this same guy was openly hitting on his girlfriend. He turned to the rest of the team, "We need to get rid of him."
"Jealous?" Raph jibbed.
"What? Jealous of him?" Leo sputtered, "No way."
"Woah! This place is amazing! What's with all the pizza boxes?" Everyone stiffened and turned behind them to see that the Pulverizer wasn't behind them anymore. "Oh, what's this room?"
Leo recognized the sound of the sliding door, "Wait! That's the-"
"For Solar's sake." She hissed as she followed the guys into the lair. Sure enough, the Pulverizer had found the Dojo… and Master Splinter. The five of them paled as they stood upright under their sensei's stern glare.
Splinter pulled on the collar of the Pulverizer's gaudy costume, "Does this belong to you?"
Mikey pushed Leo forward, much to his annoyance. Leo cleared his throat awkwardly, "Sensei, Pulverizer. Pulverizer, Sensei."
"Pleased to meet you." Pulverizer greeted politely before whispered far too loudly at the team, "Hey, does he know he's a rat?"
"Yes, he does." Splinter responded while the others just sighed.
Donnie stepped in to help Leo, "I'm sorry, sensei. We found him on the street, trying to fight the Purple dragons, and he accidentally wound up back in the lair. We'll take him back home once we got the Shellraiser fixed up. And we trust him not to say a word about this to anyone." Donnie shot him a death glare, "Is that right?"
"Yeah, totally. I'm not gonna reveal your secret identities, that's like rule number 6 of the code!"
Splinter gave them all a hard long look, wondering how he got to this moment in his life. "Very well." He said before leaving them to their devices.
The team slumped in relief. Hikari gave the Pulverizer another death glare and warned him, "Stop snooping or we'll be dropping you off at the ER. Got it?"
The team plus the Pulverizer all made their way to the lab. Donnie was looking over the parts Hikari recovered while Leo drove the Shellraiser into the lab through the garage door.
"Huh, this just seems to be regular parts for a Kraangdroid. Processor parts, joints for the limbs, and CPU chips." Donnie gave each part a thorough checking, "Man, this is some good stuff…"
The Pulverizer looked at the team cluelessly, "Kraangdroid? What's a Kraang?"
"If we told you, we'd have to kill you." Raph put his arm around his shoulder with a cunning grin, "You see, the Kraang are aliens from another dimension-"
Hikari stopped Raph, more to keep the Pulverizer from knowing anything more and getting himself into something far more dangerous than the Purple Dragon.
"Wait, why would the Purple dimwits want Kraang robotics? It's not like they'd know what to do with it." Leo thought about it, "Unless they're stealing it for someone else."
Donnie nodded, "Well, who do we know that would be interested in stolen evil robot parts?"
"Baxter Stockman." Leo, Raph, and Hikari said. But they were surprised when they heard Mikey's answer, "Donatello."
Once he realized his mistake, he quickly changed his answer, "Baxter Stockman."
"We should go check it out. Donnie, Hikari, fix the Shellraiser. Take Captain rubber-pants home." Leo said before he, Raph and Mikey left the lab.
Hikari ran out after them and pulled Leo aside, "No way, why do I have to get stuck with him?"
"Because Donnie needs to focus on getting the Shellraiser fixed, and you make good threats."
She conceded with that, but she still made her stance clear, "I'm not happy about this."
"Believe me, I'd rather you come with us than getting hit on by Mr. Spandex." He then smiled at her coyly, "I've got a gift for you if you'll forgive me."
That cheered her up as both of them laughed at that. "Bribery." She said amused, "And your brothers called you the boy scout."
Leo's expression said it all as he rolled his eyes and went to his room. When he returned, he placed a small bundle, clearly wrapped with care. She opened it to reveal a braided cord made from a mix of red, blue, and silver strings. "Leo… This is amazing. This must've taken days to make."
"It's not so bad, the guys keep telling me I need more hobbies than training and Space Heroes."
"They're your brothers, of course they're going to say stuff like that. Trust me, you're awesome just the way you are." She responded with a gentle kiss.
Leo was enjoying it as much as she was, and he felt a small loss when he had to pull away. "Does this mean you forgive me?" He asked.
"I was unhappy, not angry." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "Don't worry about me, focus on the mission and stay safe. I'll wait until you come back to try this on."
After Hikari ran out of the lab, Donnie started checking the underside of the Shellraiser. He had a few blissful moments of silence before he heard the Pulverizer ask him, "Hey Donnie, what do you think are my chances with her?"
"Not even the world's most powerful microscope could see those odds." He replied without missing a beat.
"But there are odds in my favors?"
"How do you only hear what you want to hear?"
Just then, Donnie heard Hikari walking into the lab and pulled himself out from under the vehicle "I see you're having fun."
"So much fun." He said drily, "Come on, I think I found the problem. Seems like dragging the Pulverizer messed up the suspension on this side."
She nodded and grabbed the toolset they've been using when tuning it. She stood by to help and handed Donnie any tool he needed without much talking. As he was working, he couldn't help but think back to the earlier days when Hikari was such a novelty to him. There was a time where he wondered if he could be ease around her as his brothers. He was a little jealous when he watched Hikari and Mikey interacting, giving each other nicknames like that, and just having fun together. He didn't have Leo's charisma or Mikey's outgoing personality, so he didn't really know how to be anything more than her teammate and teacher. But it was Hikari's curiosity about the Earth and human culture, as well as Donnie's own thirst for knowledge that drew them close. Being the only one who really understood her physically as her practitioner, and the one she turned to for information, meant that they knew things about each other that they didn't share with the others. Hikari became his confidant for topics that didn't involve April, and she was willing to help him in the lab, even if she didn't always see his creations the same way he did.
Donnie was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Hikari talking, "Pulverizer, don't touch that."
He pulled himself out from his work to see the Pulverizer with his bo staff in hand, "Check out my sweet moves!"
"You're going to hurt yourself."
"No, let me show you this one thing." He insisted.
"What makes you think you know how to use that thing? You've gotta practice, they've spent their whole lives learning Ninjutsu. It takes more than a cheesy costume to be a hero." She then leaned in to whisper, "Seriously, how it is weirder than April's Halloween costume?"
"Pretty sweet, huh? I made it myself. Check out the muscles." The Pulverizer, clearly not hearing a word of what Hikari said, started flexing his arms, "Foam rubber. Pretty cool, huh? Way faster than working out. I want to be a hero now. I don't have time for the basics. Show me the good stuff."
Donnie was ready to step in when Hikari stopped him, "I'll take care of it, Donnie."
She walked up to him and cracked her knuckles, "You wanna prove yourself? Beat me in a fight and I'll teach you everything I know."
The Pulverizer seemed eager to fight her, probably thought he could impress her that way. Donnie took his T-Phone out and started recording the moment their sparring match kicked off, though 'sparring' was a gross overstatement. Hikari just stood there waiting while Pulverizer approached her with his ridiculous arm flailing and random yelling. He tried to throw a punch, only to have her catch it, twisting his wrist and arm. She delivered a sharp kick to the side of his knee, causing him to fall over. Once he was on the ground, she held his arm twisted and up behind him while her knee was pinning his head to the floor.
"And that's why we start with the basics." She said before letting him go and walked over to Donnie.
Donnie stopped the recording there and laughed, "Leo's gonna be so mad that he didn't get to see that in person."
Pulverizer pulled himself off the ground and begged her, "Teach me so I can be like you!"
That triggered something inside of her and she was up in his face with fire in her eyes, "No! This whole exercise is to teach you that you have no idea what you're getting into. If you can't even beat me, what makes you think you're ready to put your life on the line?"
The Pulverizer actually seemed like he shrunk a little after facing her outburst. Hikari must've noticed because she backed off with a few deep breathes, "Sorry, I didn't mean to blow up like that. Just go home and be a normal guy. This isn't your fight."
Donnie saw the pained expression on her face and stepped away from his work, "I can keep an eye on him, I'm almost done with the repairs."
She nodded with her head down, "I just need a moment. Want anything from the kitchen?"
"Coffee."
With that, she walked out of the lab robotically, dragging her feet like she had just shut down after that. Donnie was worried but knew better than to confront her about it. The Pulverizer was just as lost and confused as ever, "I don't get it. I'm a hero now but the girl of my dreams won't even look at me."
Donnie scoffed at that, "Some stranger in a jumpsuit with no training whatsoever declares that they're willing to die for a cause they don't even know. Yeah, can't understand why someone would freak out over that." His T-Phone started ringing and he picked it up, "Donatello."
Leo and the others were heading over to Stockman's lab. As they were jumping after rooftops, Raph couldn't help but poke fun at his relationship with Hikari. His brothers' constant teasing was something he knew was going to happen once he and Hikari agreed to try a relationship together, but he could live without Raph's knowing statements. "I can't believe she agreed to stay with Donnie and that loser." He said.
"I can be pretty persuasive if I want to be." Leo responded defensively, "And I might have given her birthday gift early."
"Dude, you are so whipped."
"Just wait until you get a girlfriend."
"Please. Like that'll ever happen." Raph scoffed at the thought. Mikey sharing his sentiments by laughing at that statement.
Leo didn't want to stoke the flames anymore and dropped the subject as they reached the skylight of Baxter's lab. They quickly dropped into the building with their weapons drawn out, "Baxter Stockman. Whatever you're up to with those robotic parts, it ends now."
Baxter merely smirked at their bravado, "You wanna see what I'm working on? Well, here it comes."
Baxter snapped his fingers, and out came a figure came jumping out into the light with steel-tipped feet. Standing on two robotic legs was Xever, now mutated into the large talking fish with sharp teeth protruding from his lips.
The three turtles took one good look at him before they all burst into laughter. "Look! Sushi that delivers itself." Leo laughed.
Xever took heavy offense to that and decided to show off his new metal limbs. He punched a nearby tool cabinet up into the air before kicking it down towards to the turtles. The three dodged it as they watched the metal tool cabinet shatter into metal shrapnel like it was made of glass.
"Fishface is a little sensitive." Mikey remarked.
That got a chuckle out of Leo, "You're calling him Fishface?"
"It's that or robocorp." Unfortunately, Mikey was too distracted to see Fishface coming at him until he was kicked in the plastron and was sent flying into the wall behind him. Leo, being the closest to him, tended to him immediately.
"Important safety tip: avoid the legs." Raph said as he charged in to fight Fishface. Raph went fist-first with his sais in hand, Fishface tried attacking with a few powerful kicks. Raph jumped to avoid it and countered with a punch of his own. Fishface backflipped towards the wall before propelling himself forwards Raph, the wall behind him cracking from the force, and rising his leg for an Axe kick.
Raph quickly used his sais to stop the leg coming at him, then maneuvered his sai to hook into the ankle part of the metal leg and used his other sai to pick the other leg by its knee joint. "Ha, what've you got besides legs?" Raph taunted.
Fishface was going all out, pulling himself upright and chomping down on Raph's shoulder. Raph shouted out in pain and used the hilts of his sais to smack Fishface on the sides of his face, forcing his jaw open. Fishface fell to the ground as Raph staggered backwards with one hand on the bite wound. "Teeth… I think they're poisoned." Raph muttered before collapsing to the ground.
Leo rushed in to distract Fishface from Raph while Mikey ran to Raph's side. "Raph, are you OK?" Mikey asked as he tried to help Raph get up on his feet.
"Huh? Sure. Yeah…" Raph muttered before falling back to his knees, his legs too weak to support himself right now.
Mikey was busy tending to Raph when he heard the heavy footsteps and the battle cry of one of the Purple Dragons. Without missing a beat, Mikey pulled out one of his nunchucks and wrapped it around the fist coming at him. He then used the momentum to throw the Purple Dragon guy over his shoulder.
Mikey pulled Raph onto his lap and held his head up. Raph weakly reached for Mikey's other hand and responded, "I'm…fine. I love you."
"He's not fine!" Mikey panicked.
"Call Donnie, tell him we need an antidote." Leo instructed him.
Mikey did as he was told and called Donnie with his T-Phone. "Donatello." Donnie answered.
"Donnie! We need help! Raph's been bitten by a giant poisonous robotic fish!" Mikey screamed into the speaker.
"That's not possible. If he's bitten, it's venom, not poison."
"Interesting. Interesting." Mikey said dully before shouting, "Get over here!"
Hikari came back into the lab with a cup of coffee in hand, to see Donnie packing up medical supplies. She became nervous and nearly ran over to him, "What happened?"
"According to Mikey, Raph was bitten by a giant venomous fish."
She blinked, putting the coffee down on a nearby table and turning back towards the exit, "Alright, let's go then."
"We won't make it there in time on foot." Donnie turned to the Pulverizer, "Hey, do you know how to drive?"
"You kidding? I've been driving an ice cream truck all summer." He answered proudly.
The Pulverizer entered the Shellraiser, but Hikari stopped Donnie before he got in, "Donnie, he shouldn't get involved in this."
"You don't know how to drive and I'm the only one who knows how to make an antidote." Donnie responded, and Hikari had to concede to that. She got into the Shellraiser and took out a piece of cloth. She pulled the Pulverizer away from the driver seat and tied the cloth around his eyes.
"Hey! What are you-" The Pulverizer struggled and tried to fight her off to no avail.
"Our lair is still a secret." She said with a firm tug on the ends of the blindfold, "I'll take it off once we're out on the streets and we need you to drive."
Donnie entrusted the wheel to him after they made it onto the streets, a decision that both she and Donnie were deeply regretting.
"Woah! Watch out!" She shouted, still clinging to the edge of her seat.
"I thought you said you knew how to drive!" Donnie glared at the Pulverizer.
"I don't usually go over 8 miles an hour."
That answer annoyed her even more, "I've driven go-karts better than you!"
"For the last time, the patrol buggy's not a-" Donnie shut himself up with a frustrated sigh, "Whatever. Pulverizer, just keep it steady. Hikari, call Mikey and put him on speaker. I need to mix this antidote for Raph."
Hikari pulled out her T-Phone and pressed the speed-dial, "Mikey, you're on speaker right now."
"Quick, what are his symptoms?" Donnie asked.
"He keeps telling me I'm the smartest guy he knows."
"Ok. Ok. So he's delusional." Donnie reached for the vials in the kit he brought, "What's his color?"
"Green, man. And I mean wayyyy more than usual."
"Does he have any nausea?"
"Nah, he doesn't have any…Ughhh, check that. What the- I knew you ate my pizza!"
"Mikey, I need you to focus right now." Hikari cut in to try and calm Mikey down.
"Uhh… Donnie, Hikari. We need you guys here NOW!"
"Hang tight, Mikey. We're almost there." She reassured him before hanging up the call.
Just as they made it to the building, they spotted a roadblock up ahead because of some construction. The Pulverizer paled a little and nervously said, "The ground's blocked. We gotta go around."
"No time to go around! Just don't slow down." Donnie turned to Hikari, "Prepare the cannon."
"Ready!" She said as she aimed the cannon onto the roadblock.
"Now!" At Donnie's command, she used the energy of the crystal, meticulously calibrated after endless exhausting trial runs, to charge up and fire the cannon. A powerful blast of Lightfurian-charged energy cleared the path and busted a hole into Stockman's lab. The Shellraiser skidded to a halt as soon as it got in. Hikari aimed up another far less powerful shot at the fish mutant, knocking him out cold.
"Pulverizer, stay inside!" Donnie ordered as he and Hikari rushed out of the vehicle. Hikari went to help Leo and Mikey while Donnie tended to Raph who was on the ground.
"Donnie's with Raph. What about you guys? Are you OK?" Hikari asked them.
Mikey sounded much more relaxed and his usual Mikey self now that the whole team was together again, "We're fine now that you shot Fishface with a laser cannon!"
"Fishface?" She asked with a choked chuckle.
"It was the better name of the bunch." Leo explained.
After taking care of the Purple Dragon lingering around the lab, they headed over to where Donnie and Raph were. "Hang in there, Raph." Donnie comforted him as he injected the antidote into his arm.
"Thanks, magical unicorn." He murmured.
"Now that everyone is taken care of, we should get…" Leo paused and looked around anxiously, "Wait, where's Stockman?"
"Hey!" They heard the Pulverizer yelling from inside the Shellraiser.
They all ran to the Shellraiser and saw him and Baxter Stockman fighting inside. To their horror, Baxter and him fell onto the lead glass panel that housed the power cell. The combined weight of the two slamming onto the glass caused it to crack.
Hikari was the first to feel it, "G-Guys… The glass!"
The Pulverizer heard her and noticed them by the door, "Hey guys! I stopped this guy who was trying to steal your ride!"
Raph knocked Stockman out and tossed him out of the Shellraiser. Donnie went in and checked on the power cell and frowned, "The power cell's exposed. We've gotta get back underground before the Kraang can track us."
"What about-" Leo looked to Hikari nervously.
She gritted her teeth, "I can make it."
They quickly got into their seats before Leo drove out of the building and headed back to the lair. It didn't take long for unmarked black vans to show up and tail them. Kraangdroids started firing their blasters at the Shellraiser, trying to slow it down. "Hold her steady, Leo. I'll take care of these jokers." Raph flipped the switch and activated the sewer lid launcher. He started firing into the vans which helped gain some distance between them.
Leo then heard loud thumps on the top of the vehicle. A look at the screen next to him confirmed his fears, "Guys, the Kraang are on the roof."
Donnie and Mikey went above to take care of them. But it didn't calm their nerves when they heard Mikey screaming, "Leo, Kraang can fly! Kraang can fly!"
The Pulverizer was the only one who seemed enchanted by the whole ordeal, "Woah, no one told me they were robot aliens!"
"Why would we tell you?!" Leo said annoyed as he activated the battering ram. It smashed into the Kraangdroids in front of them, the metal jaws crunching down on their metal exosuits and ripping them apart.
Donnie and Mikey got back into the Shellraiser after the Kraangdroids up top were taken care of. Donnie went over to Hikari's station, "I've got an idea. Hikari, use the shield."
"But-" Hikari's protests were cut off.
"It's our best bet right now." Donnie reiterated.
She had her doubts, but she trusted Donnie's judgment. She grabbed onto the handles and awaited the surge of energy to come rushing into her body. "Brace yourselves!" She managed before deploying a giant dome around the Shellraiser. The surge was far stronger now that the power cell was exposed and the dome blasted outwards as a powerful energy shockwave. The blast was enough to knock down the Kraangdroids flying right above them and the vans that were getting too close for comfort.
Unfortunately, Leo couldn't see the road with the light from the energy blast. By the time he could see again, he had to swerve out of the way to dodge a van that was charging right at them. The Shellraiser crashed into the wall of a nearby alley. Leo tried to get the Shellraiser started again but it wouldn't run. He took off his safety belts and went back to check on his team, "How's everyone doing?"
"We're fine, Leo." Mikey reported.
"I need a minute…" Hikari weakly responded.
Leo knew the Kraang were still going to come after them, so they had to stand their ground. He turned to the Pulverizer, who was still on the ground, "Pulverizer, keep an eye on her. Let's go, guys!"
With that, they left the Shellraiser to fend off the Kraang. Hikari recovered enough of her strength from the shockwave attack and helped the Pulverizer up to his feet, "Now, do you see why we don't want you involved in this?"
Before he could respond, they heard the noise of metal being cut. Hikari spotted something slicing through the floor. "Great…" She muttered as she activated her Athenian guard into a blade.
Hikari stabbed her energy blade into the Kraangdroid cutting into the underside of the Shellraiser. But more were slicing their way through the back of the vehicle. With no other choice, she turned to the Pulverizer, "I can't touch the power cell. Grab it and bring it to one of the guys."
Just as the hole on the back was cut through, Hikari took action and kicked it outwards. The metal slammed into the Kraangdroid right behind it, and Hikari started plunged her energy blade right through the other one next to him. "Go!" She shouted at the Pulverizer. He snapped out of his trance and pulled the power cell out of its casing. He then ran and dodged as many as he could before he disappeared out of her sight.
Leo noticed the Pulverizer with the power cell, mostly because of the number of Kraang hunting him down. Leo was too occupied to really help him, helpless as he fell and the power cell tumbled out of his hands and into the Kraang's grasp. "He's got the cell!" Leo shouted to his team.
To everyone's surprise, Pulverizer ran after the Kraang with the power cell, "I'll stop him!"
"Pulverizer, no!" Donnie yelled, taking down the Kraang he was fighting and running after them.
"She trusted me with it, I can do this!"
"No, you really can't!" Donnie tried again.
The Pulverizer was quickly but unsurprisingly taken down. Donnie picked up the slack and chased down the one with the power cell who was boarding a helicopter. "Hey! That's my power source!" Donnie shouted.
"Aah! Donnie!" Pulverizer cried out, making Donnie look over to him. He was pinned down by the Kraang with a blaster pointed at his head. Donnie was conflicted for a moment before he realized he had to do the right thing. He turned away from the helicopter and threw his staff at the blaster pointed at Pulverizer's head. He leaped into the air, stomping down on one of the Kraangdroids, grabbing his staff in midair and swinging it down at the one holding the Pulverizer.
The Kraang began to retreat and the helicopter took off, taking the power cell with it. The team regrouped in their defeat. The Pulverizer, for the first time, seemed genuinely remorseful about the outcome, "Aww man, Looks like I really mucked everything up. Didn't I?"
"No worry, man. It's not your fault." Mikey tried to console him.
Leo quickly shot that down, "Actually Mikey, it is."
"Oh yeah."
Hikari spoke up at that, "But he did really try his best to help us. We asked him to drive us, and I asked him to take the power cell with him. I didn't try hard enough to keep him out of it."
Whether he couldn't read the proverbial room, or he felt too uncomfortable, he changed the subject and asked them, "So… Uh, think I could ever start training with you guys sometime?"
"No." Donnie answered.
"Fine, I'll be practicing. And I'll be back. Soon, you'll see me as a hero worthy of someone as awesome as you."
"Please… Just go." Hikari shook her head, clearly exhausted.
"Just remember, wherever crime may roam. Wherever help is-"
The team cut him off with a firm "Bye!"
With that, the Pulverizer disappeared into the night and out of their minds. Leo took the chance to check in with her, "How are you feeling?"
"Better, now that the power cell is gone." She replied, "Also, awful, because the power cell is gone."
"I've gotta figure out how we're gonna get it back." Donnie said with determination.
"Which raises the question: How are we gonna get the Shellraiser home?" Leo asked.
"I'd be happy to try and power it, but the hardware's all fried up." She winced and looked sheepishly at Donnie "Sorry for frying the hardware."
"It's fine. I knew that would probably happen when I asked you to do that."
No other choice left, they had to push the Shellraiser back to the lair. They were lucky to have the darkness of night covering them as they pushed it back underground. It took what felt like forever, and the Shellraiser was barely inching. Out of frustration, Raph yelled out, "Are you sure the parking brake is off?"
"For the hundredth time, yes!" Donnie yelled back before pausing, "Oh, wait. Sorry guys! Try it now."
The Shellraiser moved much easier now. Outraged, they all yelled "Donnie!" as they pushed it the rest of the way home.
After they got the Shellraiser back into Donnie's lab, things went back to normal. Mikey was slowly getting on Raph's nerves by repeating all the mushy words he said during his hallucinations. Hikari went back to her room and pulled out the braided cord Leo gave her. Just before she left her room, she placed something in her pocket before she knocked on Leo's door. "Come in!" Leo said from inside his room.
She entered and saw Leo sitting on his bed with his T-Phone in hand. She stood patiently, waiting for Leo to notice her. He looked up to see her new hairstyle. It was the same hairstyle the girl had in the movie, with his braided cord in her hair as a cute ribbon. She smiled shyly and said, "I did promise you."
She then noticed something was playing on Leo's T-Phone and she recognized her own voice coming out of it, "I see Donnie sent you that video."
"Your form's getting better." He said with pride, "Also, why didn't you tell me you kicked his butt? It was awesome."
"Like I was going to lose to him." She scoffed, "He doesn't even know what he's doing."
Leo stopped the video and gave her his full attention, "Donnie also mentioned what happened after the fight."
"Of course he did." She sat down on the bed, next to him, "Just hearing how ready he was to risk his life like that, it really ticked me off. He is a naïve idiot who's willing to get himself killed because he thinks its cool to fight crime. We're fighting to protect this planet from the Kraang and he's treating it like a game. I love what we do, but I never doubted for a moment that any of us might not make it if we're not careful or lucky. And the last thing I want to worry about are civilians throwing themselves into the crossfire."
He held her hands and reassured her, "We're gonna make it through this."
"I don't want to lose you, not after I just found you."
"You're not going to be alone anymore, I promise." His hand reaching out to one end of the cord dangling from her hair, "Our lives are bounded together the day we met, and we're always going to find our way back to each other."
"Speaking of which, I have something for you too." She reached into her pocket, "If I'm honest, I'm a little annoyed you surprised me with it first."
She pulled out the braided cord that she had finished yesterday, it had the same colors of blue, silver and red, with the only real difference being the braiding pattern. She was looking for the right opportunity to give it to him, but he beat her to it. She held up his right hand and gently tied the cord loosely around his arm, "You don't have to be afraid, Leo. I'll watch over you and your brothers. I will stand by your side, so you don't have to go through it alone. And if anything happens to us, we'll find our way back to each other again."
Leo and Hikari looked lovingly into each other's eyes, letting the weight of their words and the meaning hidden within settle into their hearts. Neither knew what to say but neither wanted to say anything to break this serious yet fragile moment they've found themselves in.
The moment was shattered by Mikey, who slammed the door open and ran into the room with a door slam. "Leo! You've gotta help me!" He pleaded, eyes frantically looking at the door behind him.
"Mikey?!" The two of them screeched in embarrassment.
"Raph's gonna kill me! He's gonna…" Mikey calmed down and noticed the sight before him, "Nee-chan?"
Before either of them said anything, a loud series of banging on the door snapped them back into the moment. Raph's angry voice coming from the other side of the door, "Hiding in Leo's room isn't gonna save you, Mikey!"
Hikari sighed and stood up, "I'll go see if I can calm him down. I think there's still some raspberries left for Spike." She pulled Mikey out with her, "Come on, Nii-chan."
Leo blinked, trying to process everything that just happened. He was drawn to the cord she had tied onto his wrist, looking at it with a warm smile. It anchored him and his feelings, a symbol of unreputable truth. This feeling he had, this warm sensation of contentment and affection, it had a label but maybe they weren't quite there yet. Leo didn't know enough to tell yet, but he knew that he could take on the world if he had her and his brothers by his side.
A/N: So, this is the first biggest divergent I've done to the plot, and I personally preferred it this way. Also, I'm proud to introduce the Shellraiser with a few Lightfurian customizations. How it works is much like how Hikari uses her energy with her weapons. The power cell gives her a boost just fine-tuned enough to create shields and charge up the energy cannon with Hikari acting as a conduit.
This chapter also takes place a few weeks after the Christmas one-shot, making that event the moment Leo and Hikari shared their first kiss (Not that they really put a lot of emphasis on it)
The braided cord scene is something I have been waiting to write and I feel like I did it justice. And yes, Hikari's braid is now going to be Mitsuha's hairstyle.
Mariah, a guest commenter, asked if I was going to make the Pulverizer fall in love with Hikari. The honest answer is no, because what he is feeling isn't love. Hikari even mentions that he didn't know her name until she told him. You can't really fall in love with someone if you don't know them. Infatuation is the better term and Hikari is not pleased with it for more reasons than one.
I also want to give a shoutout to Tera for your comments. Hikari and Leo's relationship is a little different from a traditional one because they don't really know or care what the social norms there are for a relationship. Hikari only knows Lightfurian customs and the bits she learns from April and teen movies, while Leo doesn't really have a basis for a relationship and doesn't know any more than Hikari does. Because of this, they're really going off what they know and what they want to do for each other. I am also aware that the previous chapter is a little rushed, turned out it's all just fast action when you remove the psychological struggle from Splinter's POV.
Steg, my friend. Hikari has learned a lot from her time with them. And she knows that a ninja must use every advantage they have against their opponent. I like that episode/chapter because it shows that the team has their own conflicts because they're still kids and they're far from perfect, but they still work best together.
Please feel free to leave some comments to share some love. Feedback and reviews give me life and motivation.