Chapter 20: When You Mutate a Mutant…

"MIKEY!"

From out of nowhere, a solid bulk collided into Michelangelo from the right as he fell from the ceiling. The force of the collision brought out a pained grunt from the younger turtle, and sent them both flying to the other side of the room, away from the mutagen tank and rolling onto the cold hard floor. As he and his savior landed and slid across the floor, Mikey found his arms pinned to his sides and his cheek pressed against a solid chest, held close by a pair of strong and somewhat muscular arms that refused to release him. It was as if whoever had caught him never wanted to let him go again.

As they finally rolled to a stop as they hit the wall, Mikey tried to blink away the stars that danced across his vision. The fall combined with his earlier disorientation from a blow to the head, and then having someone ram into him had made him increasingly dizzy, so much so that he had to fight the urge to throw up.

He suddenly heard a loud splash, and his eyes widened. Dogpound must have fallen into the mutagen tank.

"Oh snap," he thought with a little wince, "dogs hate getting wet."

He drew his head back as much as he could from the hard chest, which he quickly realized was a plastron, to look up at the face of the one who had saved him. His eyes widened as he let out a gasp. His red clad older brother, Raphael, lay next to him on the cold floor with arms wrapped securely around him, his eyes glued shut as if he were afraid to open them again, and his teeth ground together. He held Mikey so close to his chest that it almost hurt.

Mikey blinked rapidly in surprise. When had he gotten here? In fact, how did he know where he was being held?

"Raph?!" he cried, finally finding his voice again.

At the sound of his younger brother's voice, Raph slowly cracked his eyes open. "...Mikey? Mikey!" he cried as he quickly sat himself and Mikey up. He grabbed Mikey by the shoulders and without warning, he pulled him back into a quick hug. "Don't scare me like that, buddy! I thought we were gonna lose you! Are you okay?! What did those creeps do to you?! Why is your head bleeding?!" he probed once he released him, his tone so worried and afraid that it nearly scared Mikey.

He hadn't seen him look so afraid since they were caught by the Shredder the night before, when they were hung over a barrel of mutagen…

In an attempt to appease his panic-stricken brother, Mikey grinned reassuringly and put a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, dude, I'm fine," he said calmly. "Fishface knocked me out before, and my shoulders are only bruised because I had to break my arms to get free!"

Raph stared at him nonplussed, blinking hard once. "Wait…you actually broke them?!" he barked.

Before Mikey could answer, they were interrupted when they heard the sound of metal colliding with a shell, and they turned just as Leonardo cried out as he was kicked in the chest by Fishface, and sent flying across the room before he collided with the mutagen tank, sliding back down to the floor. Mikey gasped as he watched his oldest brother crumple to the ground. So they had all come for him? They were risking their own shells to save his, knowing that they were up against Dogpound and Fishface?

Wow. He really did have the best brothers ever.

Grinding his teeth in anger as he watched the giant fish turn on Donatello next, Raph quickly turned back to Mikey and helped him stand up again, laying a steadying hand on his shoulder to help him keep his balance as he stumbled slightly. "You can tell me the story later, little brother," he said, whipping out his Sais from his belt as he spun them between his fingers. "Right now, we have…"

Realizing what he was about to say, Mikey looked at him and beamed, wriggling his brows expectantly.

Raph rolled his eyes and groaned aloud. "Dare I say it…we have 'Bigger Fish to Fry'" he finished.

Mikey grinned at him like a fool. "Finally! I knew you'd say it eventually!" he laughed.

Raph rolled his eyes again, but this time with a tolerant smirk. If he still had the energy to annoy the crap out of him, Raph knew that his little brother was going to be just fine. With a final nod, the two turtles leapt in to help their remaining brothers against the mutant fish.

Struggling back onto his hands and knees, Leonardo shook his head to clear the dizziness after his collision with the mutagen tank. He was pretty surprised that it hadn't cracked from how hard he'd hit it, though he thanked his lucky stars that it didn't.

Hearing another loud hiss, Leo looked up just in time to find Fishface snarling and charging at him. He gasped as his eyes went wide; he didn't have enough time to pick up his Katanas and block the attack.

Before Fishface could lay even a fang on him, Donatello leapt in front of him and struck him across the face with his Bo staff like a baseball bat with a loud thwack. As the mutant fish stumbled away, Donnie glared at him hotly. "You won't touch him again!" he growled, spinning his Bo staff threateningly. Fishface regained balance and hissed at Donnie as he helped his blue clad brother to his feet. Leo nodded his thanks to Donnie, who smiled back.

Raph and Mikey ran to their side, weapons drawn and ready. "Hey, don't finish off the fish before I can smack him around a few times!" Raph taunted as he spun his Sais, pointing their tips towards their mutant enemy as he eyed him dangerously.

Donnie only smirked. "Wouldn't even dream of it, Raphael."

Mikey stood on Leo's left, his nunchaku spinning and buzzing like a nest of angry hornets as he narrowed his eyes at the fish. And he instantly noticed that they were one bad guy short, and he glanced behind him. "Dudes, what happened to Dogpound?" Mikey asked, noticing that there was no sign of the mutant dog anywhere. Shouldn't he have climbed out of the tank by now or something? Or had he…?

Leo and Donnie looked back to the mutagen tank, and then shared an uncomfortable glance. The three of them had managed to get inside the lab just in time to see Mikey and Dogpound hanging by a plank of wood. Once the board had snapped and the two had gone plummeting, Raph dove down to grab Mikey. But as for the canine…he had fallen into the tank. All they heard was the sound of sizzling flesh and his muffled, chocked screams of pain before he had gone silent.

"I, uh…I think he melted, Mikey…" Leo winced, inwardly shuddering at the thought.

Mikey's eyes widened at the news. "Oh, jeez…" he whimpered, swallowing thickly. Imagine if he had fallen in there…

"Indeed," Fishface snapped, tearing their thoughts away from the dog as he pointed a threatening, webbed finger at them. "And you four will be next in line!"

Narrowing his eyes, Leo cast Donnie and Raph a quick glance. "You guys remember the plan?" he asked quietly. They both nodded once in silent recognition, and Donnie slowly moved his left hand behind his back, waiting for Leo's signal.

"GO!" Leo called, and without another word, Raph and Donnie charged Fishface head on. Leo turned to Mikey and grabbed hold of his wrist before he could follow Raph and Donnie. "Mikey, you're coming with me," he said. "We've gotta destroy this tank once and for all."

Mikey nodded. "Got it, bro!"

Sheathing their weapons for now, the two turtles leapt back up to the wooden beams at the top of the lab. Mikey was now able to balance on them with little difficulty, now that the worst of his once pounding headache was gone. As they stood over the tank, Leo reached into his belt pocket. "Good thing Donnie made these just in time," Leo said as he pulled out three large shuriken from his belt. Miniature blinking, rectangular shaped devices were duct tapped to the bottom of shuriken.

Mikey quirked a brow as he stared at the devices. "What's a shuriken gonna do to a tank like that?" he asked.

Leo turned and smiled at him, gesturing the weapons with his free hand. "These things on the shuriken are mini bombs, Mikey. Donnie made them a while back before we moved out of the old lair, just in case we'd ever need to use them. When Donnie gives me the signal, I'll throw these bad boys into the tank. Donnie will set them off with his remote, and then BOOM! No more mutagen!" he grinned.

Mikey gaped at him in awe. "Dude…Donnie is good."

Leo nodded proudly in agreement, and then looked back down at the battle between his two remaining brothers and the giant fish below them, preparing his hand to throw the weapons.

Raph engaged in a furious battle with Fishface, swinging his fists and Sais at the mutant fish relentlessly. "When this is over, I'll make sure you won't be able to walk again for weeks!" he growled testily. "You won't get anywhere near my brothers again!"

Fishface only laughed as he threw a hard kick into Raph's stomach, sending him sprawling to the floor. Before he could flip himself back up again, Fishface pinned him down by stomping his metallic foot down hard on his chest, earning a pained grunt from the turtle as he glared up at the fish. "And how do you propose you will do that, boy?" Fishface sneered, ready to take a chomp out of him.

But to his surprise, instead of struggling, Raph simply smirked smugly at him, his emerald eyes gleaming with ominous mischief.

"Like this!" shouted Donnie as he used Bo staff to launch himself over Fishface's head, and he landed on his shoulders as Mikey had done earlier, taking the larger mutant by surprise. As he stumbled off of Raph's chest, he bucked violently back and forth in an attempt to throw the turtle off, but Donnie wouldn't budge, and he quickly forced his jaws open with his staff before he could lose his balance. "Eat it, Fish Sticks!" he yelled as whipped out the fire extinguisher from the back of his belt with his free hand, and then he sprayed the foamy substance straight into Fishface's mouth.

His eyes going wide, Fishface gagged and spluttered as he toppled unsteadily and finally shook Donnie off his shoulders. As soon as Donnie and Raph got back on their feet, they leapt backwards a safe distance as they watched in a mixture of awe and horror as Fishface's body began to glow, twist and morph into something else, the mutant screaming in agony all the while.

Raph stood in front of Donnie in a protective stance, his Sais at the ready in case Fishface decided that he wasn't going down yet. Behind his shorter older brother, Donnie continued to gape and watch in wonder, his eyes widening. "It…It's working! The retro-mutagen in his system is taking effect!" Donnie cried. "The foam from the fire extinguisher actually worked!"

"Thank you, April O'Neil," Raph muttered under his breath with a small grin. That girl was smarter than Raph ever gave her credit for. In fact, he was tempted to actually hug her the minute he saw her again, regardless of the others' reaction.

Fishface let out a final agonized scream as he crumpled flaccidly to the floor. From the support beams above, Leo and Mikey watched with wide eyes as the fish mutant writhed on the floor in pain, before suddenly going still. His glowing body slowly began to shrink, his scales, his tail and his other mutated features disintegrating.

Finally, the glowing stopped to reveal an unconscious, dark skinned human lying on the ground beside a pair of metallic legs, groaning in pain as he twitched periodically.

"Whoa! Dude, it worked!" Mikey cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "Fishface is a human again!"

Then his smile slowly began to fade as he got a better look at him. His baby blue eyes grew wide again as he realized that he wasn't wearing any clothes. "…he's…bare butt naked…" he stuttered.

Gasping, Leo quickly shielded Mikey's eyes quickly with one hand, using the other hand to shield his own eyes, squeezing them shut for extra measure. Raph let out a little yelp as he held a hand over his eyes as well, turning away from the naked human in disgust. "Oh jeez," he mumbled. "That, I really didn't need to see."

Donnie however, not quite as fazed by his bare appearance, quickly ran over to Xever's prone form. "Don't worry, I came prepared," he said offhandedly as he reached into his shell and tugged out a large grey blanket, draping it over Xever's body. He beckoned Raph over, and despite his discomfort, the red turtle obediently came to his side and slung the unconscious human over his shoulder, not wanting to question how Donnie had managed to fit a blanket that big inside his shell. With Donnie, the need to question him would only get him nowhere, or make him feel very awkward.

"Leo, Mikey, we're getting out of here! Throw in the bombs, now!" Donnie called up as he and Raph made a mad break for the exit.

Nodding, Leo raised his hand and tossed the three large shuriken, watching as they sailed downwards and splashed into the mutagen tank. He didn't waste any more time as he pushed Mikey forwards. "Go, Mikey, go!" he barked hastily as the two flipped back down to the floor and raced after Raph and Donnie, not wanting to be anywhere near the tank once Donnie ignited the bombs.

However as they fled the labs, they failed to notice a trail of glowing ooze puddles littered across the floor, originating from the mutagen tank and leading out of the building through the window that the turtles had smashed through beforehand…

As Leo and Mikey caught up to their brothers, Donnie took out a small controller from his belt, and hit a button in its center. "I've activated the explosives! They should go off any minute now!" he announced, not breaking his stride once as he pushed onwards.

Raph had a sudden and very uneasy thought as Donnie said that, and as he adjusted Xever on his shoulder, he turned anxious gaze to his taller brother. "Wait a second…um, Donnie, just how powerful are those things exactly?" Raph asked, becoming more and more unsettled. He'd forgotten how when Donnie says something will go 'boom', he really meant that it would go 'BOOM'.

At Raph's query, Donnie's face suddenly fell in realization. "…umm…I've actually hadn't had the chance to test them yet…" he admitted.

The others stared at him wide eyed. Leo's left eye twitched nervously. "Oh no…" he whimpered.

A series of loud beeping sounds came from the mutagen tank, and their hearts sank further. The shuriken bombs were about to blow.

Raph snapped his head around to gawk at the tank, now overflowing with bubbling mutagen. His jaw dropped comically to the floor. "WHAT THE F –!"

Raph's rude exclamation of shock was cut off as the shuriken bombs inside the mutagen tank exploded, releasing a powerful, fiery blast. The shock-wave sent the turtles flying and screaming out of the exit and out onto the cold docks. The unconscious Xever slipped out from Raph's grip as they tumbled across the muddy surface, rolling along until they landed flat on their faces in a pile of tangled green limbs. Groaning and sore, they quickly glanced up from where they lay back at the abandoned lab, only to find pitch black smoke exploding from out of the rooftop.

The four brothers all stood up, covered in dirt and ash, and stared nonplussed at the blazing structure in breathless incredulity. Leo, Raph and Mikey then turned wide eyed, disbelieving glances at Donnie, blinking at him in unison. Noticing their stares, he faced them and shrugged. "What? I told you I hadn't had a chance to test them!" he said defensively.

To his surprise, Raph only started laughing, slapping his knee for extra measure. "Dude! That was awesome!" he cheered. "You need to show me how to make that crap!"

Leo shook his head with a chuckle, patting Donnie on the shoulder. "I've gotta hand it to you, Donnie. That was pretty awesome," he smiled. Blushing lightly, Donnie snickered as he reached up and scratched the back of his head bashfully.

"Whoa," Mikey breathed as he looked back at the building, the smoke beginning to die down now. "And to think, if we hadn't gotten outta there in time, we'd totally be toast." Then Mikey made a disgusted face as he shuddered. "And that would be some nasty toast."

The older three turtles smirked collectively in agreement. Leo rolled his eyes with a smile as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Mikey, bringing him close for a quick but loving hug. "We're just glad you're safe, Mikey," he said. Mikey grinned brightly in return, and he hugged his big brother back just as forcefully.

Raph grinned at the sight as Leo let him go. "Yeah, Mikey. Don't you go doing that to us again, you hear me?!" he chuckled as he slapped Mikey's shoulder playfully.

Mikey let out cry of pain. "OUCH! Dude, ease up on the shoulders, man!" he snapped, rubbing his shoulders, which still burned. "I kinda had to break them to get lose when my arms were tied up!"

Wincing in sympathy, Raph drew his hand away. "Oh, sorry, I forgot about that."

Mikey raised a brow. "Wait…what do you mean you forgot? You mean you saw everything?!" he exclaimed.

Leo nodded. "Yeah, when we tracked your T-Phone here before we lost the signal, the place was covered in surveillance cameras. We managed to see you through one of the windows whilst Donnie thought of a plan to take out the cameras. Good job in remembering that technique, Mikey," Leo praised, rubbing Mikey's head affectionately. He was about to tell him that there were other, less painful and much easier ways to free yourself from bonds, but he chose to say nothing as not to dampen Mikey's mood.

Donnie chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and by the time Raph somehow managed to block the cameras using… a bunch of pigeons…"

They turned to Raph, who shrugged nonchalantly. "What can I say? Animals love me," he snickered. Unbeknownst to him, however, Mikey grinned mischievously. Now he had a new means of humiliating his older brother; he could already imagine all the nick-names and pranks he could conduct with this new interesting development.

At Raph's boastful declaration, Donnie rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, anyways, by the time we got inside the lab, you were already fighting Dogpound near that giant tank of mutagen, which was when Raph dove in to save you before you fell into it. I kinda wished I could've collected some of that mutagen supply to conduct some experiments on it if we got the chance, but…" he trailed off as he looked back at the smoking building.

Mikey followed his gaze, and as the realization finally hit him, he looked back up at Donnie and frowned regretfully. He knew how much his brother loved to learn about new things; in fact, it was just the other night that he'd been talking about the origin of the mutagen. That giant tank could have provided the young genius with the opportunity to find out exactly where the ooze came from and how it truly worked…but he had missed his chance, because he had to save Mikey's sorry shell instead.

Great. Mikey had messed things up yet again.

Letting out a soft sigh, Mikey reached up and laid a hand on Donnie's shoulder. "Donnie, dude, I'm really sorry," he said. "I know how much you wanted to do your research and stuff, but…"

Donnie stopped him with a pat on his shell as he shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Mikey. You were in trouble, and I'd rather sacrifice all of the scientific discovery in the world than to risk losing you," he said with a smile. And that was the truth. He was disappointed, yes, but his brothers meant more to him than the ooze ever would.

Surprise spread across Mikey's features, before he beamed brightly up at Donnie. And before Donnie could stop him, the younger turtle leapt up and wrapped his arms tightly around his older brother, pinning his arms to his sides even as he let out squeak of protest. "You're the best, Donnie!" Mikey chimed, nuzzling his cheek against Donnie's chest like a cat. The purple clad turtle rolled his eyes again and patted his shell fondly.

Leo and Raph smiled at the exchange, but as his gaze wandered to the side, Raph noticed that Xever was no longer where he had landed earlier. He must have woken up and run off somewhere whilst their backs were turned. There was no point in going after him, though; he was powerless for the time being.

Raph's eyes narrowed as he huffed. Good riddance to him.

Once he finally released Donnie from his bear hug, Mikey turned back to Leo and Raph, planting his hands proudly on his hips. "So, to sum up," he began with confidence, "we beat Shred-head's mutant baddies, destroyed a giant tank of mutagen, kicked some Kraang butt, saved April's dad, destroyed some Foot Bot scum, and saved the city…again!"

Raph smirked, wrapping an arm around Mikey's shoulders. "So, what do we say to that, guys?"

Mikey grinned. "Booyakasha?"

The other three nodded. "BOOYAKASHA! HIGH THREE!" they laughed in unison as they slapped their hands in the air together in celebration. Just then, the clouds finally decided to burst as tiny snowflakes began to fall from the night sky, slowly putting out the flames from the building, and lightening their spirits further.

"Gentlemen, our work here is done," Leo said proudly, putting his hands heroically on his hips as he impersonated 'Captain Ryan' again from 'Space Heroes' (and making Raph roll his eyes skyward once again) "Now let us all return to our home in victory! And then feast on glorious pizza!"

"I second that, Leo!" Mikey piped enthusiastically as he and his brothers laughed together. With that, they prepared to set off in the direction of the hideout before they froze in this weather. Maybe, now that this was all over, they could return to their real home, back to the Lair they had grown up in, and they had very high hopes that they would; though the new hideout had its merits, it just wasn't home.

It seemed that after everything they had been through, the light was finally shining at the end of the tunnel, illuminating yet another victory, and yet another day of peace for the four young heroes in the half shell.

Suddenly, a loud, ear piercing roar echoed through the night. Silence befell the four brothers as they stood frozen in place. "So much for a convenient happy ending," Raph deadpanned sourly, already reaching for his Sais.

"Knowing our lives, Raph," Donnie said as he followed Raph's lead and reached up for his Bo staff, "Would you really think there would be a convenient happy ending?"

Raph thought about that for a moment, and then he shrugged. "Touché."

They all drew their weapons out and held them out in front of them protectively as they stood shell to shell, their wide eyes scanning the darkness through the snow that continued to fall. There was another roar, louder this time, seemingly growing closer and closer to the four turtles. "What is that?" Leo whispered as he raised his Katanas. "Another mutant we don't know about?"

Donnie felt increasingly anxious as he gripped his staff tighter in his hands. "…now, I'm just taking a wild guess here, but I have to say that it…it actually sounded…a lot like Dogpound." he guessed uneasily.

"Dogpound? But I thought he melted in the mutagen!" Mikey exclaimed, and was immediately shushed by his older brothers.

Something very large and very heavy landed on the wooden bridge just behind the turtles. They whirled around and gaped at what they saw, their terrified gazes traveling upwards to gawk at the creatures' face. They backed away slowly, their eyes widening in a mixture of amazement and downright fear as the figure stood up to its full, towering height. It roared at them, baring its razor sharp teeth for them all to see, though they really wished they hadn't.

Mikey swallowed. "Heh…looks like you really can't keep a good dog down," he laughed nervously, shuffling behind Leo.

"Believe me, Mikey," Donnie said slowly, his eyes never leaving the skeletal being before them, "when I say that this dog, is anything but good…"

A/N: I wonder who that could be...