Happy John 3:16 Day, everybody!


Chapter 2: Rise of the Mutants (Part 2)


"Whoa…" the Hamato siblings all said in awe, five pairs of eyes locked onto the glowing canister in Donatello's hands.

"So…" Leo began quietly. "That's the…"

"Mutagen that turned us all into what we are now," Donnie confirmed.

"Let's drink some!" Mikey exclaimed, a bright smile across his face.

"What?" Raph and Jade both said in surprise.

Raph crossed his arms. "Why would you do that?"

"Mikey," Jade added. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Of course it's a good idea, sis," Mikey said, the smile never leaving his face. "Think about it. If you mutate a mutant, you get a super mutant!"

"Or a pile of goo on the sidewalk," Donnie corrected.

"Either way, it's an improvement," Raph quipped.

Jade blinked and looked back down at the canister. "I don't know how to feel about this…" she muttered out.

"Guys, this is huge," Leo said, stepping in. "Whoever kidnapped those people are somehow connected to what happened to us fifteen years ago."

"How is that possible?" Donnie asked.

"For alien robots, anything is possible," Mikey said.

"Stop that," Donnie snapped in irritation. "There are no such thing as alien robots!"

"Oh, yeah?" Mikey challenged. He walked over to the man, who had climbed out of the van and was sitting in the road, rubbing his head with a groan. "Well, if there's no such thing as alien robots," he paused to grab the man by the top of his head, who looked up at the turtle in confusion, "how do you explain this?"

Without warning, he grabbed the bottom of the man's face with his free hand and began yanking harshly. The man yelled in pain. "My face!"

"Man, this mask is glued on tight!" Mikey grunted as he continued his yanking, his older siblings all watching with wide eyes.

"Mikey, stop!" Leo finally ordered, making the orange-masked turtle halt in his actions. "It's not a mask!"

Furrowing his brow slightly, Mikey removed his hand from the man's face and inspected him for a moment. "Okay," he said, casually tossing the man back to the ground. "He's in the clear. But those other guys were totally alien robots!"

"Enough!" Raph snapped, grabbing the canister from Donnie and marching up to the man. "Time to get some answers." He grabbed the man by the arm, lifting him up slightly. "Who are you and what's going on?"

The man glowered at the turtle. "Name's Snake," he said curtly. "And I got nothing to say to you hideous freaks."

"Well," Raph smirked, bring the man's face a little closer to his own. "That's 'cause you don't know us yet." He tossed the man towards his siblings. Donnie and Mikey immediately grabbed his arms, while Leo and Jade pinned his legs to the ground. "See, we were just regular guys," Raph said, walking up to him. "Until," he unscrewed one of the 'caps' on the canister, "we got hit with a little of this."

By now, the scowl had left Snake's face, being replaced with a look of trepidation. "W-What are you doing?"

"Playing a little game I like to call Mutation Roulette," Raph said. "Now you could turn out handsome like me. Or you might end up disgusting and deformed, like Mikey here."

"Hey!" Mikey narrowed his blue eyes at his brother.

Raph's smirk never left his face. "So," he said in a devious voice. "You feel lucky?" He tipped the canister to the side slightly, just enough to make some of the glowing ooze start to slip from the edge of the glass. The man's eyes widened as the mutagen slowly but surely neared his face.

Jade watched with an uneasy expression, momentarily wondering if she should say something or make Raph stop when—

"Okay, okay!" Snake cried out. Raph pulled the canister upright, sending the ooze back to its original position. Jade let out a silent breath she didn't even realize she was holding. "They call themselves the Kraang. They've been grabbing scientists from all over the city."

"Well," Leo smiled from his position. "That worked pretty good."

"Of course it did," Raph practically laughed. "Would you wanna look like Mikey?"

"I'm right here," said freckled turtle reminded his brothers.

"What do they want with scientists?" Leo asked Snake.

"I don't know," the man said in a disgruntled tone. Raph narrowed his eyes at him and held up the canister, giving its contents a small shake. "All I know is they're taking them out of the city tonight," Snake hurriedly added on. "But I don't know where!"

"This is awesome!" Donnie said in an exuberant tone, grinning like a dork despite the seriousness of the situation. "That girl's dad's a scientist. I'm a scientist." He laughed as Mikey rolled his eyes and Jade sent him an amused yet pitiful smile. "She is so gonna like me!"

"I don't think you're her type," Snake said dryly.

The five siblings narrowed their eyes at the scrawny man. "Where are they now?" Leo asked.

OoOoOoO

"There's gotta be, like…twenty of them down there," Leo said, peering through a telescope. He, Raph, Jade and Donnie were all looking down at the stronghold from a rooftop across the street, while Mikey was behind them watching Snake.

"Yeah," Donnie said in an uneasy tone. "And that's just the ones we can see."

"Alright!" Raph cheered, pulling out his Sais and twirling them in his hands. "An all-you-can-beat buffet!"

"We can't just rush in there," Leo said, lowering the telescope and turning to face his brother. "We need a plan."

"Why?" Raph asked.

"Raph," Jade spoke up, prompting the red-banded turtle to turn to her. "We barely took on just five of them last time. And now there's…a-and they have weapons now…" her voice stressed on the word 'weapons.' She glanced back over at the numerous guards, all identical and holding blasters. "Oh mercy…" she whispered, flattening her ears to her head.

"She's right," Donnie said, walking up to his older siblings. "Think, you shell-brain. There are innocent lives at stake. If we screw this up, they're all goners."

"Then we won't screw it up," Raph said in a bored tone, as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"Boy, I could sure go for some of that pizza right now, huh?" Mikey's voice made all four of them turn towards their brother, seeing him standing just a couple of feet away from them. They all stared at him for a moment. "What? I can't be the only one that's hungry."

"…Where's Snake?" Leo asked.

Mikey's eyes widened in realization, turning back to the empty spot where the man once was. "Oh boy…" he muttered out in embarrassment.

The five turned in time to see Snake laughing as he jumped off a nearby edge, landing on a fire escape. "Get him!" Leo ordered. They didn't need to be told twice, as all five of them hurried down the fire escape after the scrawny man.

Unfortunately, they weren't quick enough, as Snake was out of sight by the time they leapt down to the street. There were only two places he could've gone. So, unsure of what else to do, they split off: Jade, Leo and Raph going one way, while Donnie and Mikey went the other way.

It wasn't until after they had split up that a certain thought struck Jade. Oh, right. She could use her nose to track Snake down. The feline resisted the urge to smack herself. Why didn't she think of that sooner?

Nevertheless, Jade halted in her tracks to sniff the air. Leo and Raph immediately caught sight of what she was doing and stopped as well. After a moment, she narrowed her eyes and ran past her brothers, who followed suit. They were on the right track.

With the blue and red-clad turtles right behind her, Jade zoomed around a corner, and skidded to a halt once they made it to a playground. The trail ended here. Jade sniffed the air, hoping to pick it up again, only to perk her ears up at the sound of a can clattering. Leo and Raph apparently heard it as well, as all three of them turned towards a nearby dumpster.

Jade was ready to move towards the dumpster, but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see that the hand belonged to Leo, who quickly glanced over at Raph, then back to her and winked. Jade blinked at him, unsure of how to respond. As if sensing her confusion, Leo glanced over at the dumpster, then back to her. Only then did it click, and Jade nodded once in confirmation.

She wasn't sure what Leo had in mind, but she trusted his judgment.

Leo removed his hand from his sister's shoulder. "Oh, great," he said in a loud voice. "We let him get away."

"Whoa, whoa," Raph said. "You're the leader, that means you let him get away."

"You're not helping," Leo hissed, just loud enough for his siblings to hear. All the while, Jade silently watched them with an amused look.

"I'm not trying to help," Raph responded with a shrug, unable to help the smirk on his face.

"Okay, okay," Leo grumbled out. "You want me to lead? Fine." Then, he raised the volume of his voice again. "We go back to the lair, gear up, and at midnight, we drive Snake's van right up to the gate. They'll think we're him, and we'll cruise right in."

"And then we bust some heads?" Raph asked.

"And then we bust some head," Leo confirmed.

"I love a happy ending," Raph declared as the three of them turned and headed back the way they came.

OoOoOoO

Shrill guffaws sounded from the kitchen. If one were to look, they'd find Jade leaning onto the counter for support, a pot of algae in front of her, a large grin on her face and struggling to catch her breath. Unfortunately, Mikey, who was standing just a couple of feet away, made it clear that he had no intentions of stopping.

"Because if you break into the lair, Raph will stab you." He paused for a moment, then… "Donnie will stab you, and then spend thirty minutes telling you why he stabbed you."

Laughter continued to spill from the feline's mouth, and Mikey took that as his cue to continue, this time in a rapid impression of his immediate older brother. "I stabbed you for coming through the entrance. What are you even doing in the sewers, hunting mutants for a TV show? You should get a job like everyone else. I was up at six this morning. I had to do practice and mediation, then I had to work on all my inventions, then I had to stop Raph from destroying the lair again, then I had to check up on the security system—Are you listening to me?"

Jade let out another shriek of laughter, one hand still gripping the counter, while the other pounded against said counter a few times, nearly doubling over while in stitches. "Are you listening to me?" Mikey continued with a grin. "If you bleed on my floor, I'll stab you again!" One final wave of belly laughs echoed through the kitchen, with Mikey's grin widening at the sight before him.

Finally, Jade felt the tears well up in her brown eyes. Still in her fit of laughter, Jade waited until said tears were ready to trickle down, and quickly raised a finger from both hands to catch them, wasting no time in shaking them into the pot of algae. She and Mikey both watched to make sure they got in there, happy as the teardrops disappeared into the mess of bright green and blue batter.

"Aw, yeah!" Mikey cheered, while Jade grinned like a dork once she got under laughter under control. The freckled terrapin held one hand up high. "High three, dudette!" Jade complied, slapping her palm against his own.

"Thanks, Mikey," Jade said as she grabbed the wooden spoon, quickly working to mix the batter together. Mikey, for his part, beamed at his sister.

From there, it was a simple process of spooning the algae into the muffin tin and placing it in the oven. And within ten minutes, a unique, earthy smell permeated the air once the timer dinged and Jade pulled the hot tin out, revealing a dozen puffy, steaming, vivid green and blue 'muffins', much to the youngest and eldest's joy.

"Aw, yeah! Algae muffins!" Mikey whooped. Jade placed the tin on the stovetop, and had barely begun to remove her mitts when the orange-banded turtle hurriedly grabbed a muffin out of it. "Hot! Hot! Hot!" Mikey exclaimed, hurriedly tossing the muffin between his palms.

"Mikey!" Jade couldn't help but laugh again, though this one not as loud, as she tossed the mitts onto the island. "At least wait until they've cooled down!"

"But they're best when they're fresh out of the oven!" Mikey argued, still grinning at the feline. Jade could do nothing but roll her eyes fondly at him.

It was another five minutes before Mikey tossed the last of his algae muffin into his mouth, then helped Jade removed the other eleven from the tin and onto the counter. Mikey grabbed a drink from the fridge and left the kitchen once all was said and done. Jade placed two of the muffins on a plate, and turned to exit as well. The sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears before she could get to the blue curtains, and she paused in time to see Raph walking into the kitchen, holding his beloved pet Spike in both hands.

Raph glanced over at Jade at he entered the kitchen. She sent him a smile. "Hey, Raph," she said.

The red-banded turtle sent her back a small half-smile. "Hey," he said. Jade didn't offer a verbal response this time, instead choosing to gently stroke the top of Spike's shell a few time with one hand, which the turtle seemed happy about.

Jade exited the kitchen just as Raph placed Spike on the kitchen counter, and the feline headed to the old garage that functioned as Donnie's laboratory. The doors were opened only a little bit, just enough for Jade to poke her head in and see that Donnie was currently sketching something on a piece of paper. Strips of metal, a blowtorch, and his welding goggles were also scattered about on the table before him.

Jade raised a hand and knocked at the lab door, prompting Donnie to stop sketching and turn to the entrance. "Can I come in?" she asked as he did so.

A smile appeared on Donnie's face. "Sure," he said, then turned his attention back to the paper in front of him. Jade nudged the door open a little bit more and headed inside. "What's up?"

"I promised you algae muffins, didn't I?" Jade said, holding the plate up a little to emphasize. Donnie looked up from his work again, his smile turning to a grin once his reddish-brown gaze landed on the brightly colored treats.

"Oh, sweet!" He exclaimed, then clear his throat and looked up at the feline. "Thanks, Jade. You can put them wherever."

Jade obliged, setting the plate down on a corner of the desk that wasn't occupied, then turned back to her younger brother. "You want me to getcha anything else?"

Donnie hummed in thought. "I don't think so," he answered.

Jade nodded, then turned to exit the lab. She was about halfway there when Donnie's eyes suddenly widened. "Actually, wait!" he called, making Jade stop and turn around. "Can you come here for a minute?"

Jade returned to the table, this time on same side as Donnie. "Can you show me one of your claws?" Jade blinked in surprise at the request, but held up her right hand and unsheathed her claws nonetheless. Donnie grabbed the wrist of her right hand, bringing it closer to inspect. Donnie made a few smalls hums of observation, narrowing his eyes.

Then, after several seconds, he muttered out, "Yeah, that should work." He released her wrist. "Thanks, Jade." He quickly added something to the paper.

"Whatcha doing, Donnie?" Jade asked, looking over at the paper. As soon as those words left her mouth, she realized what the sketches were of, but chose to let Donnie answer instead.

"I'm trying to make some shuko spikes," he explained, finishing up the sketch and then turning to attention to the other stuff on the table. He grabbed his goggles and placed them on his head. "We'll have to climb the sides of that building while those Kraang guys are distracted."

"Oh," Jade said. She gently swayed her tail. "You want me to leave while you work, or…?" She wasn't sure what else to ask. She just knew that he didn't like to be interrupted while he worked.

"Well…" Donnie started to say, paused to pull another pair of welding goggles out of his red tool cabinet. "You can watch if you want," he offered, holding the goggles out towards her on one hand.

Jade glanced at the goggles, mentally debating it for a moment. Part of her didn't want to, on account of watching her purple-clad brother work honestly wasn't the most exciting thing for the feline. Plus she knew she'd feel useful if she just stood there. But she didn't want to be dismissive or rude by refusing.

So, she answered with a, "Sure," and took the goggles from him, placing them over her eyes just as Donnie did the same with his pair.

Jade watched her genius brother work from there. She placed both hands over her ears once she realized that the welding process was a bit louder than she expected, but didn't say anything as Donnie worked. He paused a few times to glance back at his notes and do some mental calculations, then always returned to his work.

"Y'know, the whole process is really interesting," Donnie spoke up once he had created several rough claw-like attachments. He set the torch down and lifted his goggles, then rubbed his hand on his plastron a few times before grabbing one of the algae muffins. They weren't steaming hot anymore, but still a bit warm.

"Oh yeah?" Jade said, removing her hands from her ears and lifting her own goggles form her face.

Donnie nodded, picking up one of the pieces and inspecting it. "It's actually quite simple." He paused to bite into the treat. "You see…"

Jade found herself quietly listening to Donnie's detailed explanation as he continued to work, even throwing in the chemical and physical composition of the metals and how they factored into the heating and cooling process. And even if she understood only half of what he was saying, Jade still nodded along.

And she couldn't help the feeling of guilt that began to seep in. Donnie clearly enjoyed this, based on the smile that crept onto his face…and she had entertained the thought of walking away, of tuning him out—

"AAAHH!"

Jade was snapped out of her thoughts and Donnie halted in his work at the familiar scream, both of them looking up in time to see Mikey running past the open lab doors, with Raph hot on his heels. "I am gonna knock you outta your shell!" the red-banded turtle yelled, gripping up a wooden spoon to hit the youngest with.

Donnie and Jade glanced at each other, with the former sighing in exasperation and the latter merely shrugging.

OoOoOoO

Jade paced back and forth in her room. All five of them would be heading out soon. Leo had just finished explaining his plan, and had dismissed them to get some last-minute things done. And now the feline was just waiting for the clock to tick down to 11:30, the time they agreed to leave the lair and head for the Kraang's hideout.

The feline briefly halted in her pacing to glance over at her old alarm clock for the umpteenth time. The red numbers proudly displayed 11:09.

She exhaled heavily, feeling both nervousness and excitement sparking through her. She continued her pacing, shaking her hands a bit in hopes of releasing some of the tension. It didn't do much.

It was hard to think that they were really doing this.

None of them thought that something this crazy would happen their first night on the surface.

Jade breathed out again, pacing a little faster now.

Would Leo's plan even work? During his explanation, the eldest turtle had reminded them that no plan ever survives contact with the enemy, and that they needed to prepare for the unexpected.

Unable to dull her nerves any further on her own, and unsure of what else to do, Jade stopped her pacing and knelt by her bedside. The feline planted her elbow on the blanket, clasped her hands together, and pressed her forehead against them as she closed her eyes.

"Lord…I'm…not sure what to think of this. We're about to head out and hopefully rescue that girl and her father…Father, please keep them safe until we get there. A-And thank You for keeping us safe, for Your army of angels around us, protecting us at all times. Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, it is in Your name that I pray…Amen."

Despite stumbling over her words, Jade smiled as she reopened her eyes, glancing upwards. Excitement and nervousness still boiled within her, but she did feel better now.

OoOoOoO

"The ones coming to this place are not in the vehicle bringing them to this place," one of the guards reported as he stepped away from the flaming van, his voice cold and robotic.

"Then in what place are the ones called the Turtles and Cat?" Another guard asked, his voice and tone identical to his companion.

Out of sight from the numerous guards, the four terrapins and feline scaled the wall of the stronghold, thanks to the shuko spikes that Donnie crafted. Strapped to Jade's back was a small pink bookbag.

"Wow," Mikey spoke up, making his older siblings stop their climbing to glance at him. "Lucky thing that van showed up to distract them."

Donnie sighed and rolled his eyes. And, out of habit, he slapped his palm against his forehead, completely forgetting about the shuko spikes that were strapped to them. "Ow!" he exclaimed.

Jade's ears perked up immediately. "You okay?" she asked quietly, eyes quickly scanning his face for any marks or blood.

Donnie rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, and turned to his older sister. "I'm fine," he said. Jade swayed her tail in lieu of a response; she was at least happy that she could see anything on his face.

"That was the plan, Mikey," Leo reminded the youngest. "We knew Snake was hiding in the alley, so Raph, Jade and I made him think we would be in the van."

"But we weren't in the van," Mikey pointed out.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Just keep climbing." He went back to scaling the wall without waiting for a response.

"Can do," Mikey nodded once, with him and the other three following suit.

It didn't take long for them to climb over the wall and sneak into the building through the ventilation shaft. From there, they managed to find an opening right above a hallway. Leo and Raph jumped down first, taking out the two guards patrolling the halls.

Donnie, Jade and Mikey jumped down as well. The moment her feet hit the floor, Jade's eyes widened and she immediately covered her nose and mouth, unable to stop herself from cringing. Donnie was the first to notice. "Jade, you okay?" he asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing the attention of their other three brothers.

"Ugh…" Jade groaned out, her voice a bit muffled and nasally. "This place smells so weird…" It was nearly overwhelming for the feline. And, come to think of it…this scent was somewhat familiar.

She had smelt it while they were fighting those Kraang guys earlier. Except now it was several times stronger.

"Try not to think about," Leo said. He turned and headed down the hallway. Resisting the urge to grumble under her breath, Jade kept one hand over her nose and mouth as she and the younger three turtles followed him.

"Wow…" Donnie breathed out in awe, pausing to look around the hallway. The hallways themselves were mostly white, with black pipe-like structures and glowing pink lines on the walls and ceiling. "I've never seen anything like this," he admitted as his siblings walked past him. "They're using a metal alloy that I don't even recognize."

"Gosh," Raph exclaimed in mock surprise, stopping next to the taller mutant. "A metal alloy even you don't know about! It boggles the mind."

Donnie narrowed his eyes. "Dude, you wanna talk metallurgy with me? Bring it."

"I don't," Raph responded bluntly. "And—"

"Guys!" Leo's annoyed hiss made them both turn to him. "What part of 'being in an enemy lair' do you not understand?"

The five continued down the hallway, and within minutes, found themselves staring at an intersection. And standing there, each holding a blaster weapon and some with a blue skin-like covering, were several humanoid robots with strange brain-like creatures in their abdominal areas.

All five of them stopped. "Whoa," Donnie whispered. "Alien robots!"

"Alien robots, huh?" Mikey echoed. He paused a finger to his chin. "Hmm, where have I heard that before?" He turned his head to give Donnie an annoyed glare. "Oh yeah! I've been SAYING IT FOR HOURS!"

Unfortunately, the freckled turtle's outburst drew the attention of said robots, who started firing their blasters at them. Vivid pink lasers shot at them, forcing all five to draw their weapons and charge at them.

Taking the aliens robots—the Kraang—proved to hardly be a challenge, now that they didn't have to worry about accidentally killing any human beings. Jade evaded the laser blasts and sliced her Tessen through the arms of the droid in front of her, amputating both of its forearms. The blaster clattered to the ground, and Jade spun around to deliver a swift kick to the droid's chest, sending it flying and crashing into another droid.

The rest were quickly eliminated by the five. Leo effortlessly cut through the chest of the droid in front of him, causing it to collapse. The droid itself made what sounded like a deactivating sound, and with a hiss of air, the brain-like creature inside suddenly pulled itself out and let out a shrill shriek.

Jade, Leo, Raph and Donnie all yelled in surprise, but Mikey quickly jumped in front of them and hit the Kraang with one of his nunchucks, knocking it unconscious. Gritting his teeth in fury, Mikey grabbed the Kraang by its tentacles and held it up to them. "See?!" He practically yelled. "See?! It's a brain thing! I told you! I told you! But did any of you believe me? No! 'Cause you all think I'm just some kind of bonehead!"

Jade flattened her ears to her head and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the Kraang suddenly waking and up shrieking, moving itself to bite Mikey's arm. "Ow!" he exclaimed.

"Oh!" Jade exclaimed with wide eyes. She hurried over, hands raised as if the grab the Kraang, but looking unsure and, frankly, a bit disgusted. But before she could even attempt to extract the brain-like creature from her youngest brother, Mikey flailed his arm around in a panic. He eventually dislodged it…only to send the Kraang flying into a button on a nearby wall.

Within seconds, an alarm started blaring throughout the building, accompanied by a pink light flashing in sync with the sound. The Kraang screeched at them again before hurriedly scurrying again.

"Mikey!" Leo, Raph and Donnie all snapped, making him turn to them with a sheepish look. Jade flattened her ears to her head and gritted her teeth, then shook her head and hurried to Mikey's side. The orange-masked turtle let her grab and examine the forearm that the Kraang had bitten.

"Okay!" Mikey exclaimed. "But I was still right about the brain thing!" Jade sighed in relief when she couldn't find any marks on his arm, and released the limb. "You gotta give me that!" Jade, for her part, merely gave him a small smile and patted his head a couple of times, earning a small smile from the terrapin as well.

Leo glanced down at the hallway intersection, seeing a few shadows approaching them, and turned back to his siblings. "Let's move," he ordered.

He started down the hall, with Raph giving him an exasperated look. "Move where?"

Donnie scanned the black pipe-like structures on the ceiling for a few seconds. "I think those are power conduits," he said, pointing upwards.

"Oh, that's really interesting," Raph said dryly. "Thanks for sharing, Donnie."

The genius sent him a glare. "Meathead," he snapped back. "The conduits are all converging that way, which means that whatever is going on in that direction is important!"

Donnie turned and headed down the hallway without another word. Leo motioned towards the purple-masked turtle, giving Raph an amused smirk before following him. Jade sent Raph a simple shrug, and trailed after Leo.

Mikey started to walk past Raph, pointing at him with both hands. "You got spanked," he laughed. Without even looking up, Raph retaliated by grabbing and yanking on Mikey's finger harshly. "Ow! Ow! Mercy!" Raph eventually let go, following his brothers and sister. Mikey placed his sore finger in his mouth, trailing behind Raph. "Not cool," he grumbled out.

OoOoOoO

"We found them!" Donnie exclaimed after a few minutes of running around and searching. He peered into some kind of cell through a pink-tinted window, with the man and the teenage girl being separated from them by a large black door.

Donnie turned his attention to the control panel next to the door, giving it an inquisitive look. Unfortunately, his attention was stolen by several Kraang suddenly turning the corner and firing at them.

"We'll hold them off!" Leo declared, drawing both katanas. "You pick the lock!" Donnie watched as his sister and three brothers charged at the incoming droids, then turned back to the two humans.

"Don't worry!" He tried to sound optimistic. "I'll have you out of there in a second!"

"Okay…" the redhead girl sounded unsure. "Giant…lizard thing."

"T-Turtle, actually," he corrected her sheepishly. "I'm—I'm Donatello."

The girl sent him a warm smile. "April."

A faint blush appeared on Donnie's face, and he returned her smile with a shy one. "Wow," he said in awe. "That's a pretty—OOMPH!"

He was quickly cut off by Leo suddenly crashing into his shell, shoving his face into the glass. Leo removed himself from his younger brother, and Donnie peeled himself off of the glass to see Leo giving him an annoyed look.

"The lock, Donnie!" the leader reminded him.

"Eh—Oh, right, sorry," Donnie said in embarrassment. Leo returned to the fight, and Donnie knelt down to remove the panel, beginning to work through the wires.

Jade grunted as she backflipped and delivered a kick to the droid's head, knocking it down. She quickly landed on her feet, and looked up to see another droid standing just a couple of feet away from where the first one had landed. It aimed its blaster at her. But before it could fire, Jade fanned out her Tessen and swung it at the droid, watching the weapon spiral towards it and cut through its neck, and spiraled back towards its owner like a boomerang.

The droid's head fell to the ground, immediately followed by its body, just as Jade caught the Tessen in her right hand, narrowing her eyes at the fallen robot. With a familiar hiss, the Kraang inside the second droid pulled itself out and screeched at Jade before launching itself at her. Jade immediately lost her cool composure, with her eyes widening and her letting out a shriek as she blindly kicked the Kraang as hard as she could.

The action sent the Kraang flying and landing right on the face of another incoming droid, which itself was in front of a group of several droids. Before it could pull its companion off it its own face, however, Mikey suddenly launched himself over a surprised Jade's head, letting out a playful yell with his tongue out and spiraling his nunchucks. He kicked the droid in the front, causing it and the rest to go down like a set of bowling pins.

Mikey stood back up, just as Jade approached his side. "Nice one, Mike," she said with a grin, which he happily mirrored.

Donnie, meanwhile, stuck his tongue out in concentration as he attempted to connected two particular wires together. "Not to rush you," the girl's voice broke through his thoughts, making him look back up to see her giving him a panicked look through the pink glass. "But hurry up!"

"Hey!" He argued back. "You think it's easy trying to pick a lock with these hands?" He held up his three-fingered hands to emphasize.

"Uh sorry," April said in embarrassment.

Donnie returned to his work. Raph kicked away another droid, and turned to see his immediate younger brother still at work. With an impatient glare, he stormed over. "Oh, for the love of…" he shoved Donnie away from the panel. "Get out of my way!" Without hesitation, he repeatedly stabbed the panel with his Sai, causing it to spark each time.

They eventually got the door open.

Just in time to see April and her father being taken away by more Kraang, with the girl yelling out, "No!" just before disappearing from sight.

Leo, Mikey and Jade quickly joined Raph and Donnie. Not a second later, more shots were fired at them from behind. The girl screamed, and the five mutants took off.

OoOoOoO

They eventually burst through a pair of double doors that led to the outside. "Get the door!" Leo order Raph, who was closest to the entrance.

The red-banded turtle started to shut both doors, but was stopped by a Kraang attempting to shove itself through the gap. It attempted to grab at Raph, who responded by yanking its arm off and kicking it back inside. He shut both doors and slid the robotic arm through the handles. The Kraang on the other side banged on the door, but weren't able to push through.

Raph turned back to his brothers and sister. "That'll hold 'em." All four of them blinked at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"You are seriously twisted," Leo said quietly.

Raph responded with an amused smirk. "Thanks."

"No!"

April's scream drew the teens' attentions, each of them turning to see two droids guiding both her and her father up a ramp, one that led to the roof of the stronghold. "Let me go!"

"Let's get 'em!" Leo cried out.

The five quickly rushed forward, but abruptly stopped when a pair of large, thorny vines suddenly dropped down in front of them, blocking their path. The vines twitched and slithered, prompting them to look up. Their eyes widened when they found the source.

Standing before them was another mutant.

It was easily twelve feet tall, its body green and humanoid. It had a praying mantis-like head, with large yellow eyes with red pupils, several thorny tendrils emerging from its body, and stem-like legs that had large toes which seemed to have exposed bone-like shapes. Elongated, Venus flytrap-like structures replaced its arms and hands, jagged teeth could be seen as it curled back its lips at them, and in the center of its chest, it had a beating human heart, partially covered by a bone-like structure.

"Uh oh…" Mikey whispered out.

The mutant threw his head back in a loud growl, then leaned forward to send the five a filthy glare. "You did this to me!" he spat. "Now you're going to pay!"

"It's Snake!" Leo exclaimed, all five siblings backing up slowly. "He mutated into a…giant weed!"

Part of Jade didn't want to believe her brother's words. But unfortunately, her nose didn't lie. Despite the nearly overpowering odor of the weed part of him, Jade recognized Snake's scent underneath all of it. She gulped nervously, her right hand tightly gripping her Tessen. Oh mercy…

Snake let out a few high-pitched shrieks, making the feline flinch and flatten her ears to her head.

"That's weird," Mikey commented. "You'd think he'd get mutated into a snake."

"Yeah, you would," Raph responded. "If you were an idiot!"

"But his name is Snake!" Mikey argued.

"So?" Raph challenged.

"You don't understand science," Mikey scoffed.

Growling impatiently, Snake lifted up one foot and stomped on the hard ground, drawing Mikey and Raph's attention back to him. "I'll crush you freaks!" he yelled.

"Uh…" Donnie offered nervously. "Would it help if we said it was an accident?"

Snake responded with a shrill hiss, snapping his flytrap-like appendages at the siblings. "So," Donnie chuckled, tightly gripping his Bo staff. "I'll put you down for a 'no'?"

Snake swiped at them with one arm, which the five either jumped over or away from. Leo didn't hesitate to jump forward and slice off the appendage with his katana. Snake shrieked again and pulled back, just as purplish gunk sprayed through the air.

Mikey, who had fallen on his bottom while jumping back, scooted away from said gunk right before it could land on him. "Eww! Eww! Don't let it touch me! Don't let it touch me!" One last bit of gunk splashed onto his left thigh. "AAH! IT TOUCHED ME!"

Jade looked ready to run over to him again, but quickly got distracted by the sight of Snake's arm rapidly regenerating. It seemed to surprise the new mutant as well, who grinned with pleasure.

"It grew back?" Donnie asked in shock as Mikey pulled himself up and hastily wiped the gunk off of his leg. "No fair!"

Before anyone could do anything else, a loud whirring sound made them all look up. The droids had made it to the roof with April and her father. They were powering up the helicopter on top, and were shoving the two hostages inside.

Leo whipped his head around to his tallest brother. "Donnie! Go!" he ordered, sheathing his katana. Donnie narrowed his eyes and sheathed his own weapon, running towards the leader. Leo intertwined his fingers just before Donnie jumped onto his hands, giving his brother the boost he needed to launch himself up to the rooftop.

Back on the ground, Jade, Leo, Raph and Mikey all tried to take down the giant mutant weed. But alas, slicing his appendages off only led to them growing back, and even Raph dragging the shuko spikes across Snake's legs didn't do any better.

Raph looked down at his hands, grimacing when he saw them covered in purple gunk. "And…yuck…" he deadpanned as he shook the disgusting substance off.

Snake let out another shriek and swung at Raph. The hothead was ready for him, though, grabbing the appendage and yanking hard enough to pull the surprised plant down to his level. He slammed his foot onto Snake's head, then somersaulted over his body. In response, Snake opened one of his flytrap 'hands', and a thin pink tendril shot out, wrapping itself around Raph's middle like a rope. He threw the surprised terrapin back towards his other three siblings, who caught him and put him down on his feet.

"Snakeweed is really powerful!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Snakeweed?" Raph echoed as he, Leo and Jade all turned to him in mild confusion.

"Yeah!" Mikey responded. "His name was Snake, and now he's a weed, so—"

"We get it!" Raph cut him off in annoyance.

Leo stepped forward, tightly gripping his katana. "We just have to hold him off until Donnie gets back!"

A loud bang penetrated the air, prompting all four of them to turn in time to see several Kraangdroids pouring out from the double doors.

"While not getting shot by alien robots," Leo continued.

"With brains!" Mikey added on.

"Let it go, man," Raph said dryly.

It became very clear that they were trapped, with the droids and Snakeweed closing in on them. Then, Mikey's face lit up.

"That's it!" he exclaimed. He turned to his sister. "Jade!" The feline turned to him. A smirk appeared on his face, and he held out one hand. "Special move time!"

Jade blinked in surprise, looking at his outstretched out. "But…But I thought Leo said we couldn't—"

"Forget what Leo said!" Mikey argued, ignoring the glare his blue-masked brother sent him. "We gotta end this fight!"

Still looking unsure, Jade turned to Leo. Despite his clear dislike of his orders being dismissed, Leo sighed and nodded once. That was all Jade needed. A small grin replaced her previous expression and she turned back to Mikey. She grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her towards himself. The two embraced, pulling each other in closely.

Within seconds, a white glow engulfed their entire beings. Even the Kraangdroids and Snakeweed were forced to stop at the sight.

"Should've known they'd do it eventually," Leo sighed in defeat.

"Do you seriously expect them not to?" Raph asked rhetorically.

The glow quickly morphed, the two silhouettes merging and growing into one, before taking on a familiar, humanoid shape, looking to be hugging himself. Before the glow even died down, the new being unwrapped his arms and suddenly shot towards Snakeweed, spiraling through the air before delivering a powerful kick to his head, making the mutant plant shriek and stumble back.

"Alright!"

Two familiar voices yelled out in unison. The new being landed gracefully, and the glow finally vanished.

Jade and Mikey were gone. And in their place stood a new person.

He was tall, his 7'4.5" frame towering over everyone except Snakeweed. He had an athletic and slightly heavyset build; definitely masculine, but with some softness here and there. For the most part, he resembled a turtle, with a sage-green complexion, freckles splashed across his cheeks, and a sturdy shell. However, there were also some cat features as well, including the caramel-brown ears atop his head, the peach-colored nose, and the white and black tail that swayed behind him.

Messy, milky chocolate-brown hair was tied back into a shoulder-length ponytail with a familiar pink mask, while an orange one was secured around his neck like a bandana. His eyes, which had coral eyeshadow-like markings over them, opened up, revealing a heterochromia of a baby-blue left eye and a chocolate-brown right eye. He wore pinkish-orange shorts, Mikey's brown knee pads and white hand wrappings around his four-fingered hands, Jade's gray elbow pads and rouge-pink wristbands, and dark brown hanfu boots with lighter wrappings around the ankles. He had a brown belt secured around his waist; both pairs of nunchucks on his right side, and a Tessen on his left. And of course, Jade's pink bookbag remained on his back.

An ear-to-ear grin appeared on his face, and he curled his hands into fists. "Yeah, baby!" he cheered out, his voice a double timbre of Jade and Mikey's. He pumped his fists in the air. "Jamie's is back!" He laughed and turned to face the several Kraangdroids behind him. "Now," he said, hands reaching for his weapons. His left spun a pair of nunchucks, while his right fanned out the Tessen. "Where were we?"

With an overexcited battle cry, Jamie leapt over his brothers and tore through the droids like a tornado. Leo and Raph both glanced at each other, shrugged, and turned to continue fighting Snakeweed.

Jamie laughed as he dodged the pink blasts, not even noticing that a few managed to hit Snakeweed. He threw the Tessen like a frisbee, hitting and taking down several Kraangdroids like a pinball, then spun the kusarigama chain over his head. "Check it out!" he said, throwing the chain and wrapping it around a droid that had aimed its blaster at him. "I've got a move that'll really blow you away!" Gripping the chain tightly with both hands, he rapidly spun around, hitting the other droids around him.

Jamie released the droid from the chain, just in time to catch the Tessen as it boomeranged back to him. The droid flew and hit Snakeweed, making him growl furiously and swing one of his vines, shoving both the mutants and droids before him to the ground.

Jamie, Raph and Leo all pulled themselves up into either sitting positions or on their hands and knees. "What's the plan again, chief?" Raph snapped at Leo.

"I'm working on it!" The leader barked back. Before he could move or say anything else, one of Snakeweed's thin pink tendrils wrapped around Leo's ankle. He let out a yelp of surprise as he was suddenly hoisted into the air, dangling upside down.

As Snakeweed held him, a glimmer caught Leo's eye, and he turned his head to see a few white and black tube-like structures. His eyes widened in realization. "The power conduits!" He yelped again as Snakeweed starting to swing him around.

"Are we really gonna start talking about that again?" Raph practically yelled at him. Next to him, Jamie's eyes were wide as he watched Leo being flung around.

Leo managed to turn himself enough to see that the conduits led to a large machine—a power generator. "Perfect," he said, then turned back to his siblings. "Raph! Jamie!" He placed one of his katanas between his teeth, freeing up his left hand and allowing him to send them a few quick signals.

Raph and Jamie both nodded. They charged forward and hit Snakeweed with their weapons, distracting him enough to let Leo pull himself up and slice through the pink tendril with his right katana, freeing him. The mutant plant let out another angry shriek and swung his limbs at them, which the red-banded turtle and the fusion both jumped and flipped around to dodge.

Then, they turned back to the few Kraangdroids that Jamie hadn't taken down, each with their blasters aimed at the mutants, and made a few taunting noises and faces at them. The Kraangdroids take the bait, firing at them, and they quickly rush out of the way. The blasts instead hit Snakeweed, who shrieks again and starts backing up towards the generator.

From there, everything else fell into place. Through Leo's quick thinking, he managed to trick the Kraang into firing at the generator, blowing both it and Snakeweed up. Bits of vegetation rained around them, and once they saw that Donnie had returned with April in tow, they hurried off, determined to get out of there as quickly as possible.

But this was just the beginning…

"Kraang, the ones in this place are not in this place where they were."

"The ones are called turtles and cat, Kraang. They are dangerous to what we are doing in this place and other places."

"Yes, I am knowledge of that. The Turtles and Cat must be eliminated from all places."

OoOoOoO

"Are you gonna be alright?" Donnie asked April. All six of them were gathered on the fire escape of her aunt's apartment, with the girl sitting on the windowsill with her arms crossed. Jamie had defused back into Jade and Mikey at some point during the journey here.

"I guess," April said, though her voice didn't inspire confidence. "My aunt says I can stay here as long as I want." She narrowed her eyes in a mix of fury and determination. "But I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my dad."

"Won't the police help?" Leo offered.

April turned her head to look at him, sending him an amused half smile. "Funny thing," she laughed bitterly. "When you tell them your dad was kidnapped by alien brains in robot bodies, they don't take you all that seriously."

"I hear that," Mikey said.

Flattening her ears to her head, Jade placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "I'm sorry, April," she said softly. "I wish we could've gotten you both out."

April smiled up at the feline. "Hey, you tried your best," she said. "And I'm grateful for that." The guilt in Jade's gut didn't completely disappear, but April's words lessened it enough to make her return the smile.

"April," Donnie spoke up. "I promise you we will not rest until we find him."

"We won't?" Raph asked in surprise.

Leo nudged Raph harshly. "No," he said. "We won't."

"Thank you," April said, lowering her head as Jade removed her hand. "But it's not your fight."

Donnie placed a hand over April's own, which were resting on her knees, prompting her to look down at them. "Yes, it is," he said.

April raised her head to smile up at him. A faint blush appeared on Donnie's face, and he couldn't help but smile back. The five mutants were eventually forced to leave, wanting to get home before the sun came up. As they did so, Donnie paused to wave at April, who returned the gesture. The genius hurried after his siblings, and April climbed back into the apartment, closing the window behind her.

OoOoOoO

"Here," Jade handed Leo one of the algae muffins from her bookbag. All five of them were gathered together in the pit of the lair. The TV was on, playing some old show, though they hardly paid attention to it. Raph, Donnie and Mikey had already gotten their own muffins from the feline, feeling the sting of their injuries already starting to vanish.

Leo gave his sister a smile as he grabbed the muffin. "Thanks," he said, biting into the treat and moving closer to his siblings, deciding to pay attention to the TV for the first time. Splinter had agreed to let the five of them rest and recover from the night's events, with Leo promising to explain everything later.

Hour later, Splinter emerged from the dojo, and was greeted with the sight of all five of his children fast asleep in the pit, with the TV displaying only static and white noise now. He smiled gently, deciding to let them wake up on their own.

The teens were eventually roused from their slumbers one by one in the late afternoon. Leo headed into the dojo to meet with Splinter, Raph went to his room to get Spike, and Mikey, Jade and Donnie found themselves gathered around the purple-masked turtle's laptop in the pit.

"You think we can find more pizza?" Mikey asked, an ear-to-ear grin on his face.

"Oh definitely," Donnie said with a similar grin, typing away on the laptop. Jade sent both of them an amused look, before turning her attention back to whatever was playing on TV this time.

It didn't take long for the show to draw to a close, and for the local nightly news to come on. The three of them didn't give it much thought at first, still determined to complete their pizza quest. Then—

"And coming up next: Ninjas in New York."

Jade, Donnie and Mikey instantly whipped their heads up just before the news cut to commercial break. "Everybody!" Mikey yelled out, making his two older siblings jump and Jade cover her ears. "Come here! We made the news!"

Raph, Leo and Splinter all gathered to the pit in time for the commercials to end and the reporter's big grin to greet them. "A report of, get this, ninjas in New York. Don't believe me? After residents reported a disturbance, the police recovered this."

A picture of a shuriken appeared on the screen. A shuriken with the Hamato Clan symbol on it. Jade, Donnie and Mikey exchanged excited glances with each other.

"For Channel Six news, this Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe saying, 'Hi-ya!'"

"This is awesome!" Mikey cheered. "We're gonna be famous!"

"You must be more careful," Splinter said, clearly not showing the same enthusiasm as his youngest child. "The ninja's most powerful weapon is the shadows. Being brought out into the light is a dangerous thing."

"Relax, Sensei," Raph said. "It's one little news story. What's the worst that can happen?"


If anyone's wondering, the bit where Mikey is making Jade laugh is from "Protect Our Stuff" by Jeff Foxworthy

Ah yes, we've finally introduced a piece of this fic that I'm excited about: Fusion. In this story, when two or more people fuse, it's basically them co-piloting one body, not an entirely new person. In this case, Jamie doesn't have a single, distinct personality, but instead has a blend of Mikey and Jade's minds, and they frequently alternate in their control of Jamie's behavior and thoughts (which are determined by the traits that the partners bring out in each other)

And before I forget: the fusion's gender is determined by which partner is physically and/or mentally dominant

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! God bless you, and have a wonderful day/night/whenever you read this!