New York Sewers
The turtles and their sensei were on their way back to the lair discussing their next step.
"So how are we going to track that thing down?" Leonardo asked
"Obviously, we need a different strategy." Leo replied
"What about the Turtle Tunneler, Don? Did you work on the replacement?" Mikey asked
"After the whole Tribunal incident I didn't get much time on working on the new blueprint I made."
"So, what are we gonna do? Dig wid ar bare hands?"
"I was thinking that instead of running around in the underground, we hunt it down from above."
"How so?" Donatello asked
"I'll explain everything when we get back to the lair."
"Man, after the fun we just had its gonna get boring till we get back home!" Mikey complained
"Speaking of which, that fight we had was like a walk in the park compared to what we usually face off with the foot clan" Don pointed out.
"Really?! After what we went through with those goons of your dimension I hate to see how your foot freaks fight!" Raphael rolled his eyes.
"Let just say that they are as good as your Shredder from the way I saw Splinter fight him." Leo said.
"Yeah, our Splinter dealt wid him like he was notin" Raph smirked
"Our Splinter is a better ninja too. However, Shredder might not be very competitive, but he's very deceptive. He framed Master Splinter for trying to kill their Sensei and got kicked out of the foot clan."
The hosts halted all of a sudden turning their full attention at Leonardo. Awkward and uncomfortable silence followed before Don asked the question that was on their mind.
"Did you say Splinter got kicked out of the Foot?"
"Yes, Master Splinter was going to be the next master of the foot clan, but at that time Shredder, who was an evil student of his, wanted to be the master instead, so he framed him of trying to murder their Ninja Master."
Another awkward and uncomfortable silence.
Suddenly it was broken when the turtles heard their Sensei groan in pain and clutching his forehead.
"Master, what's wrong?" Leo asked worried.
Splinter shook his head.
"I'm fine, lets go home."
He walked pass them as they eyed him from behind.
"There's something familiar about the way he acted" Leonardo noted.
"Too familiar if you ask me." Raphael agreed.
"I hope it's not what I think it is" Donatello added.
"Say, Amigo, you don't happen to have any Piped Piper Wakkos around in the sewers, do you?"
"Hmm, nope. Never encountered any. Why do you ask?"
Mikey didn't get an answer as a sudden roar was heard across the sewers. The area was soon swarmed with horrifying squeaking rats.
"Uh oh, I think we're about to meet this dimension's resident Big Cheese." Raph said as soon as he saw the demon looking vermin.
Then amid the pack he emerged. He was covered by bandages in a mummy-like fashion, but parts of his legs and arms were un-bandaged revealing his disfigured skin. He also wore two black shoulder pads. His head was completely bandaged save for the eyes and mouth area. One eye seemed normal but the left one was replaced with an empty metallic eye socket. As for the mouth only half of his lips were present leaving the left portion of his teeth exposed.
"So you do have your own Rat King." Leonardo took out his katana
"No! It can't be! We saw the rats devour him!" Leo was in disbelief.
"Agh! Don't remind me." Mikey was disgusted by the memory.
"Major gross, man!" Michelangelo found this Rat King appearance rather disturbing.
"Argh!" Splinter screamed and clutched his head as he sat on his knees.
"Splinter!" The turtles yelled for their master.
Obey me.
I am your king.
Kill them!
"He's trying to control my mind! He's forcing me to harm you!"
"What?!" Leo yelled.
"Quick get him out of here!"
Leonardo's warning came too late.
Splinter kicked Leo out of the way into a wall then jumped on four towards the Rat King. He looked back at his now shocked boys with red blazing eyes, growling at them.
The Rat King smirked pleased to add a new addition to his ranks. He then motioned to him to attack his sons and he obliged.
"No! Master Splinter!"
"Snap out a it!"
The turtles jumped out of the way as their father attacked them
"How does he do it without a flute?!" Raphael was confused.
"Telepathic Mind control, obviously." Donatello answered.
"Fight it!"
"It's us!"
All their calls went on deaf ears. He continued to assault them. No matter how good they were they could never dream of ever defeating their master.
"Master Splinter listen to me. Ignore the Rat King's Command!"
Leo faced his sensei trying to help him regain his senses. The rat's features softened for a minute but it was short lived as the evil madman amplified his mind control power over him. Leo had to jump backwards to safety towards a wall.
"GRRR! What do I do?!"
"Leonardo!"
Leo turned to looked at his counterpart who called him. The short turtle gave him a look as if he was silently telling him something.
"Huh?" Leo felt as if he was receiving a secret instruction to do something.
Leonardo motioned with his head as if he was saying
Just do it!
Leo narrowed his eye and nodded in understanding.
"Splinter!" He stepped forward. "This is pointless!" He then threw his katana's on the floor. "I will not fight you!"
"Leo, you nuts?! What are ya-?!"
An arm was raised in front of Raph preventing him from getting to Leo.
"Don't ruin it" Raphael whispered.
Raph gave a confused look him. He and his brothers noticed the their four copies were smirking at Leo.
"What's going on?! Do they know something we don't?!" Don whispered.
The Rat King roared a command to Splinter who ran and jumped at his eldest son attempting to kick him.
At the last second Leo side stepped letting Splinter hit a rusty pipeline on the wall that broke upon impact and water came gushing at the Ninja Master and the Rat King.
They fainted.
"Lets go!"
Leo took the opportunity to scoop his father, and the two groups ran off to a tunnel exit before the surprised Madman could regain consciousness.
"Uh, Oh! We forgot about them!"
Mikey pointed at the swarm of rats that got to them and surrounded them. They started to nibble on the floor, weakening it The taller turtles jumped to safety but the shorter ones weren't fast enough.
They were now two separate groups.
"Lets move it! We'll find another way!" Leo ordered seeing that it was dangerous to jump into the giant hole after them while being chased by the rats.
Just as they left, the Rat King regained consciousness and stood up. Looking around he spotted the giant hole. He smirked, pleased by what his royal subjects has accomplished.
The chase has just begun.
Ten minutes later.
"SHELL! How do you shake'em off!?"
Raph complained as he eyed the vengeful rats that started to gain on them.
"We can't fight them!" Leo said.
"And we can't run forever!" Don was trying to figure out how to solve this dilemma.
They were all starting to lose strength when they came to a four way junction where they met with a nasty surprise. Every way they looked they were met with the rats.
"RATS!" Mikey cursed.
"Well, I guess this is it, guys." Raph felt like they were finally defeated.
It was then that Leo felt his master stirring.
"Father, you're awake?!"
Splinter jumped off his son, standing in a fighting position.
"What has happened?!" he was confused at what he saw.
"We are surrounded by rats from all directions." Leo answered him.
"I see." He eyed the hundreds of rats that blocked their escape routes.
"Let me handle this."
The turtles looked confusedly at their father who stepped forward giving a stern look at the pests.
He brought his hands together as if about to perform a kata then an aura formed around him.
"You shall not obey the Rat King. You shall leave us and our friends alone."
Slowly the rats quieted eyeing the ninja master as if comprehending what he just said. Then slowly they turned and ran off doing as they were told.
"Wow Master! That was awesome!" Mikey put his hand on his shoulder.
"How did ya do it?" Raph asked
"More importantly, since when were you able to control rats?" Leo added another question.
"Ever wondered why rats rarely invade our home?" Splinter answered with a question that confused them a bit before they got it.
"Shell! And all these years I thought it was my pest control system that kept them out!" Don was a bit disappointed.
"Now that we got them out of our way we need to find the others quick."
"I'm on it!" Don responded to Leo and took out his shell cell
"Donatello, are you there? Answer me!"
Don tried to reach his counterpart, while the others anticipated an answer.
"Hello, Mr. Wizard! We're here and doing fine!"
The answer that came out gave them a relief.
"Where are you now?"
"I'm not sure. The sewers here are not that same as ours. Not to mention TOO smellier!"
"Don't worry, we'll be tracking you down with the devices I gave you."
"Right, could you hurry up a little? His Royal Wakyness is on our tails!"
Raphael's voice rang through the transceiver before it cut off.
Ten minutes later
The pudgy turtles were running at full speed in the sewer tunnels trying to lose the rat king that wasn't too far off behind.
"Do you think we lost him?" Michelangelo asked
"ARRGH!"
"Does that answer your question?" Raphael replied.
"Man! My feet are killing me!"
Just then, a figure emerged from a side pipe forcing the turtles to halt in surprise, as they recognized the newcomer.
"Leatherhead!"
They yelled at the giant bipedal mutant crocodile that was taken aback by what his eyes was seeing, confusion written allover his face.
"ARRGH!"
The Rat King finally reached them and halted, taking in the scene, ready to strike at any moment.
"Great! We're trapped between a rock and a hard place!" Raphael looked at both adversaries on each side.
"Turtles, it seems we have no choice but to fight!"
Obeying Leonardo, they drew their weapons with their backs facing each other and their eyes facing the enemies.
"On my count… One… Two..."
Leonardo never got to finish his counting as he saw what he deemed as a sworn enemy swiftly spin jumping over them and running at the madman with a powerful punch to the jaw.
"Um, can anybody tell me what's REALLY going on here?"
Raphael asked finding the situation rather awkward.
"I don't know, but I have a hunch we'll find out soon enough." Donatello was equally confused.
The human and the crocodile executed their fighting skills on one another in a ferocious combat, exchanging blows and kicks and bites and tail whips (the last two courtesy of the crocodile, if you didn't know).
They then rolled on the ground towards a tunnel exit that led to a waterfall. The situation got intense as they grabbed at each other's throats at the edge of the fall.
Leatherhead then grabbed the Rat King above his head and threw him over the ledge. The Rat King gave a frightening roar as he fell into the depths of the sewer waters down below.
After making sure that the Madman wont be returning, the croc turned to face the turtles who were watching the fight in complete awe. The moment their eyes met the turtles stood on guard anticipating Leatherhead to attack them.
"Are you alright?"
The turtles just blinked, as the slits on his eyes began to widen giving him a more friendly demeanor.
Did their sworn enemy, who tried to destroy them many times, just show them some concern for their well being?
"Excuse me, I didn't get that. Could you repeat your question?"
"I asked if you're alright, my friends." he replied calmly
"Friends!?"
The four turtles looked at each other with complete surprise and confusion.
"Guys! I heard them over here!" they heard Mikey's voice ringing in the sewers, before he emerged from a side pipe. Upon seeing them he let his face show relief, then he eyed the croc and a wide smile spread across his face.
"Leatherhead" he exclaimed "Long time no see!" he said as his other bros and a woken up sensei came after him.
"Did we just high-threed Leatherhead?!" Michelangelo like his three bros was dumbfounded.
"I feel like I'm watching a deleted episode from 'Twilight Zone'!" Donatello pointed out.
"What happened here?" Leo asked
"I was on my way to your lair when I heard a strange roar and some people running. I went to investigate and I was shocked to find these guys that resembled you, then an enemy appeared. Recalling what you have told me a while back about your encounter and fight with a madman I concluded that he might be the one and made sure he didn't come near them."
"We're grateful for your never ending deeds, Leatherhead" Splinter thanked him
"Think nothing of it. By the way, I believe we weren't properly introduced to one another." He eyed the new turtles.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Don started off "Leatherhead, these guys are us."
"Huh?"
"We'll explain everything at the lair."
"Um, excuse me" Raphael halted the group "but are we missing something here?"
"This Leatherhead is your friend?!" Leonardo pointed at the said croc.
"He's more than a friend. He's part of our family" Splinter answered.
"He helps me with my projects."
"We train together."
"We have wrestling matches."
"AND we read comics together."
The shorter turtles went silent for a moment before they said what was on their mind.
"Lucky you!" Michelangelo eyed the croc with envy.
"What da ya mean?!" Raph asked
"I mean you're lucky you don't have to worry about a giant croc going all Ragin' Cajun on you!"
Raphael said, pronouncing the words 'Ragin Cajun' with a Cajun accent sounding exactly like their Leatherhead.
"Yeah! That's what our Leatherhead would do!" Michelangelo nodded.
"Ragin' Cajun?!... Leatherhead?!" Mikey raised an eye brow then eyed his said friend. From the look on his face he was trying to picture him with such attitude.
"HAHA! Whoa that'll be something!" he burst into laughter and clutched his sides as he fell on his knees.