Author's Note: This chapter was inspired by my sister. She said that Snakeweed sounded a lot like Gollum from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
The Mutant Jewel Thief
As Shen walked home with groceries in her arms, all she was focused on was getting home and cooking up the dinner she had planned for the night, beef stir fry. She was so lost in thought that she did not notice the uneven stones in the sidewalk and tripped. The fall caused her to drop her bag and her groceries went flying. Shen picked herself up and started picking up her groceries and putting them back in the bag. As she reached to pick up the last item to put it back in the bag, Shen's ring slipped right off of her finger and landed dangerously close to the grate.
Shen saw this and crawled over to try to grab the ring. She slowly reached out her hand and inched her way towards it. She was just inches away from the ring when it slipped through and fell down into the sewer. She gasped when that happened.
"Oh no," said Shen, shocked that her wedding ring was now in the sewer.
Back at home, Miwa was running the store while Donnie helped Raph and Mikey with their homework. Leo was watching Space Heroes on T.V. while Yoshi was almost home from training in the lair, hoping to get back to his full strength again.
Miwa was just getting ready to close shop when Shen came in looking sad. After changing the sign to closed, Miwa followed her mother upstairs to their home.
Once she arrived, Shen started putting the groceries away. Her other children and husband had noticed her sadness as well and were concerned.
"What is the matter, Shen?" Yoshi asked.
Shen put the beef in the fridge and said, "I lost my wedding ring on the way home."
The family got concerned when they heard the news.
"Did the Purple Dragons steal it?" Raph asked, "Cause if they did-"
"No, Raphael, that's not what happened," said Shen, "It fell off when I was picking up the groceries after I dropped them. I tried to get it back, but it fell threw a grate into the sewer."
Leo smiled sympathetically at his mother and said, "If that's all, then we'll go down to the sewer and get it back."
"Are you sure about that?" Shen asked, "What if something happens down there."
"No worries," said Donnie, "We've all been training down there for eleven years. We know those sewers like the backs of our hands."
Shen was still unsure about letting her children go down into the sewer to find her ring. However, it did seem like her children knew what they were doing. After all, Donnie did say that they had been training down there for ten years and knew their way around.
"Well, I guess it's alright since you know you're way around the sewer," said Shen, "Just be careful down there."
"We will," said Leo, "All we need is the street you were on when you lost it. We'll search from there."
The teens descended into the sewer and made their way to where their mother had told them she had lost her ring. They split up and started looking around for the ring in different places. Nearly five minutes went by and they had no luck. Suddenly, the teens heard a loud hissing sound coming from the sewer tunnels.
"Did you guys hear that?" Miwa asked.
"I don't like the sound of that," said Leo.
No sooner had Leo said that when a familiar plant like mutant monster came into view. And he did not look at all pleased to see five teenagers in his sewer tunnel.
"Oh boy," said Raph, nervousness in his voice, "Of all the characters we had to run into down here."
Snakeweed hissed and glared down at the teenagers in front of him. They in turn backed away slowly and got ready to run away. Donnie then noticed something shiny hanging from Snakeweed's vine. Upon inspection, Donnie realized exactly what that was.
"Guys, he's got the ring!" said Donnie.
Mikey looked up at the weed mutant and demanded, "Hand over the ring, Stinkweed!"
In response, Snakeweed hissed at them and snapped, "No! It's mine!"
"It belongs to our mother!" said Miwa, "If you don't return it to us, then we'll have to take it back by force!"
Snakeweed hissed at the teens again and swung his claw at them. Luckily, they all managed to jump out of the way just in time to dodge.
Raph glared at the plant mutant and said, "Alright, if you wanna do it the hard way, then that's how we'll do it!"
Raph charged at Snakeweed with two old metal pipes in his hands intending to strike him in the head. However, before he could land a hit, Snakeweed caught him and threw him across the tunnel into Donnie. He then took off running.
"After him!" Leo yelled, and then he and the others ran after Snakeweed.
As Snakeweed ran through the sewers, he looked back and saw the teens chasing him. He made a sharp turn into a side tunnel and the teens followed him. They all leapt forward to try to grab the ring, but he moved out of the way at the last second. As a result, the five dove right into a pool of raw sewage. When they resurfaced, the teens looked around but found no sign of Snakeweed.
As they looked around, the teens could hear Snakeweed's voice echoing all through the sewers, mocking them; and they could swear that they heard him say, "My precious!"
Defeated, the five teenagers got out of the water and started walking out of the sewer back home. Along the way, they started trying to think of how they were going to tell their parents what happened.
Back at the antique store, Shen and Yoshi were waiting for their children to come home. They were starting to wish that they had not gone down to the sewer to retrieve the ring. When they heard a knock on the door, Yoshi answered it and saw April outside.
"Hi, Mr. Kurama," said April.
"Hello, April," said Yoshi, "What brings you here this evening?"
"I just wanted to come over and see Miwa and the boys," said April, "Are they here?"
"No," said Yoshi, "But they should be back soon. Why don't you come in and wait for them?"
"Thanks. I'd like that," said April, and then walked inside with Yoshi.
"Oh, and you can just call me Yoshi and my wife Shen," said Yoshi.
"Okay, Yoshi," said April.
After the door was closed, Shen smiled at the house guest and said, "Oh, April, how nice to see you. How are you holding up?"
April sat down on the couch and said, "Alright, I guess. I've been looking for leads on the Kraang, but I haven't had much luck. How are things with Miwa and the boys?"
"They've been stopping the Kraang's plans, but haven't found any evidence of their bigger plot," said Shen.
"Where are they right now?" April asked, "It's a little early for patrol."
"Shen lost her ring in the sewer, so they went to find it," said Yoshi.
"Aren't you worried that they might get lost down there?" April asked.
"They have been training down there for eleven years," said Yoshi, "They know they're way around. I am confident that my children will be fine."
"Okay, If you say so," said April, and then she smelled something fowl in the air that made her recoil in disgust, "What is that smell?"
She, Yoshi, and Shen looked over and saw Miwa and her brothers standing in the doorway dripping and looking defeated. Upon seeing April in the house, Donnie hid his face in his shirt out of embarrassment.
Mikey smiled at his friend and said, "Hi, April."
"Hi, Mikey," said April, looking puzzled, "What happened to you guys?"
"There was a problem with retrieving the ring," said Miwa, "Which we will tell you about after we clean up."
With that, they all trudged to their rooms to change out of their sewage drenched clothes. Next, they took turns washing up. Once they all were finished, the five siblings gathered in the living room and explained what happened to them.
"While we were searching the sewer for mother's ring, we ran into Snakeweed," said Leo, "And he was not the least bit happy that we were there."
"What?!" Shen screamed at the news, "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
Raph shook his head and said, "No more than usual."
"Also, Snakeweed found the ring first and didn't want to give it back," said Leo, "We tried to get from him, but he tricked us into diving right into raw sewage."
"Oh, sorry to hear that," said April.
"You guys should've seen Snakeweed," said Mikey, "He was, like, crazy in love with mother's ring."
"It reminded me a little of Gollum from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy," said Donnie.
Raph looked at his immediate younger brother and said, "Nerd."
Donnie looked annoyed at Raph for saying that. And then he turned to the rest of the family and said, "Well, in any case, we're gonna try to get the ring back again after we figure out where Snakeweed is."
"No, don't worry about it," said Shen, "I don't want you risking your lives over a ring. I'll just replace it."
"What?" Miwa asked, "Why not?"
"Yeah, the whole point of being a ninja was to help people," said Leo, "And I'm pretty sure that getting your mother's ring back from a mutant counts as helping people."
"I agree with your mother," said Yoshi, "One can never predict the consequences of battle. Every fight has the potential to stir a hornet's nest. A single ring is not worth the risk. It is best to just let this one go."
"Father, it's Snakeweed," said Leo, "We've fought him before."
"Twice counting now," said Yoshi, "And both times you barely escaped with your lives."
"The first time we were unfamiliar with that type of enemy," said Raph, "And the second time we had no weapons and no plan. But I think we can do it this time once we're more prepared."
Before Yoshi could argue with his children, they all got up from the couch and headed out the door. Yoshi sighed in defeat and said, "Teenagers."
"Well, what're you gonna do?" April asked.
"I guess all we can do is hope that they make it home safely," said Yoshi.
April nodded in agreement, while Shen inwardly prayed that her children would be safe.
After gearing up at the lair, the teens ventured back into the sewer in search of Snakeweed. They went back where they had last fought him and started looking for clues.
"Okay, we know Snakeweed was here," said Leo, "We just need to figure out where he went."
"I think that was already obvious, fearless leader," said Raph.
"Hey, guys, I think I found something!" Mikey called. The others rushed over to see what he found. Mikey turned around smiling and held up an old looking soldier toy and said, "Pretty cool, right?"
Raph growled in annoyance and shook his fist, Leo smacked his forehead, Donnie groaned, and Miwa made an annoyed face.
"Focus, Mikey!" Raph snapped, smacking Mikey in the head, "Pay attention! We need to find Snakeweed and get mother's ring back, not pick up trash!"
With that, everyone went back to searching for clues; Mikey grumbling about Raph being a jerk while he pocketed his new found soldier toy.
"I think I got something here!" Donnie called from a tunnel. The others joined him and found a trail of purple slime on the ground. "Looks like Snakeweed's bleeding. He may have cut himself after he escaped."
"This is just like with the Kraang truck," said Miwa, "We can follow the trail straight to him."
"And then we can get the ring back!" Mikey cheered.
Mikey started doing a victory dance, but stopped when Leo said, "Save it for after we get the ring back."
"'Kay," said Mikey.
"Alright, team, let's move," said Leo, and then he and the others started walking through the tunnel following the trail of slime.
Unknown to them, a group of Foot Clan ninjas had seen them walking through the tunnel and decided to follow them. Along the way, Donnie found something on the ground and picked up to put in his shuriken pouch.
The teens followed the trail until they finally found Snakeweed asleep. As he slept, the teens spotted the ring where it had been before, attached to Snakeweed's vine.
"Let's do this," said Leo, "Quietly. We don't wanna wake him up."
The others nodded and quietly snuck over to the sleeping mutant. Miwa was the closest, so reached forward to grab the ring. The other kept an eye on Snakeweed and made sure he stayed asleep. Miwa inched herself closer and closer to the ring. At one point, the vine brushed against her nose and almost made her sneeze. Luckily, Donnie rushed over to stop it just in time. He then noticed that he was close enough to the ring to easily take from the mutant, which he did. He gave his siblings a thumbs-up and they all gave him a thumbs-up back.
They quickly and quietly got away from Snakeweed and were just about to leave when the group of Foot Clan ninjas appeared in front of them. This made the teens jump in surprise.
"Aw, snap!" Mikey exclaimed, and then quickly covered his mouth.
No sooner had Mikey yelled that word when Snakeweed's eyes opened and he woke up. He looked over and saw the ninjas in his lair and hissed. He then growled when he saw the ring in Donnie's hand. Donnie did not want anything to happen to the ring so he put it in his shuriken pouch for the time being.
Raph glared at Mikey and said, "Nice going, Naoto."
"Sorry," said Mikey.
"This is no time to play the blame game," said Leo as he unsheathed his swords, "We've gotta get out of here, and the only way is either past these ninjas or through the ugly plant."
"You're right," said Miwa as she opened her tessen, "Kurogane, Tetsuo, and Naoto can take care of the Foots while you and I take the plant."
"Sounds like a good plan to me, Karai," said Raph as he whipped out his sai.
"Let's do this!" said Donnie as he pulled out his staff and spun it around.
"Booyakasha!" Mikey shouted as he spun his nunchucks.
On Mikey's yell, the older twins charged at Snakeweed while Raph and the younger twins charged at the Foot ninjas. Raph held off two of them while Mikey took on two more and Donnie did the same for the last two. Miwa and Leo held their own against Snakeweed by slashing at his vines every time he came at them. Snakeweed then caught sight of Donnie and remembered that he had the ring and glared.
Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were fighting off the Foot as best they could, but it was not easy. These guys were well trained and, by the looks of it, more experienced.
"Boy, these guys are really tough!" said Mikey.
"Keep fighting them!" said Raph, "It's the only way out of here!"
"You don't have to tell us twice!" Donnie called, blocking another attack. Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his waist and pull him away from the fight.
"Tetsuo!" Raph yelled after seeing that Snakeweed had caught Donnie in his vine.
He tried to run to rescue him, but two Foot ninjas got in his way. While Raph and Mikey continued to fight the Foot ninjas, Donnie was brought right up to Snakeweed and was close enough to see the plant mutant's death glare.
"Give me my precious!" Snakeweed demanded.
Donnie quickly tried to think of a way out of the mess. Finally, he got an idea. He smirked at the plant mutant and reached into his shuriken pouch. He pulled out the ring and said, "You want it, go get it!"
He threw the ring right at a Foot ninja, who caught it easily. Mikey was about to try to grab the ring from the Foot ninja, but Snakeweed threw Donnie into the wall and charged at the Foot ninjas himself. The others rushed over to check on their fallen brother and found it was hard for him to sit up by himself because the blow injured his back. This made them all really mad.
"Karai, take care of Tetsuo," Leo ordered, "Kurogane and Naoto, you're with me. We'll take care of Snakeweed."
"No!" yelled Donnie, "Let's just get out of here!"
"But the mission!" said Mikey.
"Forget it!" said Donnie, "Let's just go! We'll be killed if we don't get out of here!"
Leo wanted to fight with him, but he knew that his family's safety was more important than a ring. So, he simply nodded and helped Donnie onto his back, and then he and the others ran out of the tunnel together.
Once they were back at the lair, Leo set Donnie down on the couch to rest while Miwa got him a pillow. Raph and Mikey sat down next to Donnie and Raph started checking his injuries.
"Well, not as bad as it could've been," said Raph, "But I wouldn't push it too much for the next day or so."
"Aw man!" Mikey groaned, "All that and we didn't even get mother's ring back."
"Yeah, well, at least we didn't lose any siblings," said Leo.
"And don't be so sure about not getting mother's ring," said Donnie. His siblings looked confused at first, but then he reached into his shuriken pouch and pulled out their mother's wedding ring.
"You still have it?!" Miwa asked in shock, "But I saw you throw it at the Foot ninjas!"
"Nope," said Donnie, "That was a piece of costume jewelry I found along the way to Snakeweed's hideout. I couldn't tell you before because if I did Snakeweed would've heard and come after us again. It'll take him forever to realize that the one he has is a fake. Assuming he ever notices the 'Made in China' mark on the inside."
"Donnie, you are a genius," said Leo.
Donnie smiled and said, "I know."
Later, after changing back to their regular clothes, the teens returned home for some much needed rest and relaxation. Upon arrival, they returned Shen's wedding ring to her. She accepted it and then turned her attention to the injured Donnie. She had them had them set him down on the couch and had him lay on his stomach. While April got a heating back pad for Donnie, Yoshi decided to have a talk with his children.
"I hope you have learned, my children, that by choosing your battles poorly you created your own crisis," said Yoshi.
"Yeah, there's definitely some irony there," said Donnie from his spot on the couch.
"But at least we defeated the Foot ninjas," said Leo from his spot on the couch, "And we got mother's ring back."
"You did, and I thank you for that," said Shen, "But the most important thing is that you all came home safely. If I had lost any one of you, I don't know what I would've done. I have a favor to ask of you."
"What's is it?" said Miwa.
"Please, promise me that you will never endanger yourselves over a lost piece of jewelry again," said Shen.
"I promise," said Leo.
"I promise," said Donnie.
"I promise," said Miwa.
"I promise,," said Raph.
"Me too," said, Mikey.
"Thank you," said Shen happily.
Right after the teens made their promise, April came in with a heating pad in hand and said, "Okay, Donnie, I got your pad. Now lift up your shirt."
"What?" Donnie asked, blushing bright red.
"It has to touch your skin in order to work," said April, "Now, lift up your shirt and show your bareback."
Donnie did as he was told and lifted up his shirt to expose his bareback. April walked over to Donnie and placed the heating pad on his back. As this was happening, Donnie smiled like he was on cloud nine.
"How does that feel?" April asked.
"Nice," Donnie happily answered.
Mikey leaned over to his other siblings and whispered, "Looks like it turned out pretty good for Donnie."
As Mikey snickered, the others agreed that despite everything that happened, Donnie actually had it pretty good at the moment. He had April's undivided attention on him.
"You know what this calls for?" Mikey asked his family, "A victory dance!"
Right one cue, Mikey started dancing freestyle in the living while his family watched in amusement. Sometimes they did not know what to do with him.
Author's Note: I hope this chapter was good. I put a lot of work into it. Please be honest with your opinions