The Montage ended with everybody being tired from all the lair hunting. Everybody was sitting around in the turtle tank.
"Ugh! How hard is it to find a lair in this city?" Leo complained as he laid back in his seat.
"Can't we just crash at your guys' hideout?" asked Mikey in a pleading tone. That caused the girls to all feel unwieldy. Mikey was confused by this. "What's wrong, guys? Is there a problem with us staying at your lair?"
"Well, you see.." Jessica started, but Kara butted in, "You Guys would totally trash our hideout or expose our secret identity by accident!" Kara bluntly stated
"Kara!!" scolded Jessica.
"What!?! You know it's true!!" Defended Kara
"I'm with Kara on that one," stated Zee, and the rest of the girls agreed. Even Jessica has to agree reluctantly. The boys gave them a look for that.
"Why can't we just live with one of you guys? Mikey asked them another question. The girl's eyes widened at that suggestion.
"That's completely out of the question!" Barbara waved her arm to empathize with her point. The other girls shook their heads in agreement.
"Do you have any idea how complicated it's going be to explain to our parents why four mutant ninja turtles are staying in our homes!" Karen stated.
"Especially when those mutant ninja turtles are also teenage boys," added Zee.
"Yup. That would be weird." Donnie agreed while Raph and Leo nodded their heads while Mikey was left confused with a big question mark above his head.
"Then where can we stay!? I want to sleep somewhere that doesn't smell like Raph's morning breath!!" Leo flatly stated. That causes Raph to glare at his younger brother
"I understand your frustration, Leonardo, for I, too, had dealt with the struggles of finding the right home," Diana confessed.
"Wait, you had house troubles too?" Mikey asked.
"Indeed. When I first arrived in Metropolis, I lived in a tree in the park, the way the Amazonian warrior used to live. When my friends discovered my living conditions, they insisted on letting me live with one of them, a proper home. However, it did not work as planned." Diana stated.
"What happened?" asked Raph. Diana had to explain what she did at each of her friends' houses. The boys cringe at some of these moments.
"When I thought all was lost, I met a woman named Julia Kapatelis, an archeologist who studied Ancient Greece and possessed a collection of Amazonian artifacts. She recognized the sources of my weapons and knew immediately that I was Amazonian. Julia has been living alone ever since her daughter left for this college she's attending, so she took me in as if I was one of her own, and I found my proper home." Diana finished her story but then turned to the turtles, who were all shedding tears, safe for Donnie, who was busy tapping on his computer, trying to find a decent spot for them in Metropolis.
"That was a beautiful story," Mikey said, wiping a tear from his eye.
"Have faith, turtles. In my home, we have a proverb. A warrior's home is where she needs no armor. However, in the world of man, we say, home is where your heart is." Diana declared. "Believe me, my friends, you will know when you'll find the right home." Diana's words moved the turtles, which slightly lifted their spirit. They suddenly heard a loud disturbance coming from the middle of downtown Metropolis.
"What was that?" Barbara asked.
"Trouble," Raph answered.
"Apologies, turtles, but the hunting for houses will have to be put on hold for now. For Metropolis is in need of saving." Diana said with determination. The girls hero up, and the heroes drove the turtle tank to the source of the noise. Our heroes arrive on the scene, seeing many people screaming and running away from the chaos. The heroes jump out of the turtle tank and strike a heroic pose. They see many have been robbed: jewelry stores, electronic stores, pawn shops, and auto shops. Many cars have been dismantled completely, and they even see a police officer crying over his dismantled patrol car.
"Boy, is it sales day? Because people took it a tad too seriously." Leo joked, making the girls roll their eyes in exhaustion. However, they saw the culprits' shadows responsible for the chaos from a distance.
"You there, desist this felony, or you shall face the wrath of justice!" Wonder Woman demanded. The culprits turn around and reveal themselves as a group of humanoid mutant raccoons. The heroes were shocked by the reveal. One is the only female in the group, wearing a pink scarf, a black jacket over a lavender top, a magenta skirt, and pink slip-ons. The other one is a tall raccoon holding a laptop, wearing a red hoodie, a jaded green shirt under it, a gray backpack, black shorts with vertical white lines on both sides of his hips, and black shoes. The big muscular one is shirtless, wearing army-colored cargo pants and brown combat boots. The two short ones are twins that look like auto mechanics. However, one is wearing a red headband, a black shirt, and half of an orange coverall as he tied the sleeves around his waist, making them like pants. The other is wearing a navy blue baseball cap backward, a white shirt, and blue overalls. A fat one is wearing an aqua green tracksuit with a single vertical purple line going down the right side of his torso, as well as two purple stripes on each sleeve, a belt around his waist with a gold belt buckle, purple sneakers, and around his neck is a gold chain necklace that has a gold pendant.
"Are those… mutant raccoons?" Green Lantern asked.
"Wait, are they the same raccoons from the junkyard?" Mikey added.
"Naah, No way. Those could be completely different raccoons." Leo replied. Everyone suddenly hears beeping sounds. They look and see that it is coming from Donnie's battle shell. Donnie's hover shell then detached itself from him.
"What the? Hey!" Donnie shouted as his hover shell flew toward the tall mutant raccoon. "Come back here right this instant, young man! I am your creator, and I demand that you seize this act of mutiny!" The tall one gives the heroes a smug look, which Donnie wonders. "Wait, isn't that- Oh! It's those same grubby little furry bandits from the junkyard!!!" Donnie yelled.
"Wait! You mean those are our old neighbors?" Mikey asked in excitement, and he then started to wave toward them. "Hey, neighbors!! Are you still okay on game night?"
"NOT-OUR-NEIGHBORS-MIKEY!" Donnie yields right in front of Mikey's face.
"Aw, ain't that sweet? Grape juice over there remembers us." The female mutant spoke in a Jersey accent. "Also, these grubby little furry bandits have names, you know. The names' Swindle and this is my crew." She stated. "The one who hacked the pack is Snipe." Points to the tall one.
"Cheers, mates," Snipe responded in a British accent.
"Muscles over there is Pocket." Swindle points to the big muscular one. Pocket just grunts. "Those twose are the twins, Rob." Points to the twin with the red headband. "And Mug." Points to the twin with the navy blue baseball cap.
"Hey man, check it out! The Boss just introduced me first. That proves she likes me more." Rob stated in a thick Mexican-American accent. That made Mug angry.
"She only introduced you first because your big fat ugly head was in my way!" Mug snapped in the same accent, shoving Rob.
"HEY MAN, WHO YOU CALLING UGLY?! STUPID!!" Rob shoves back.
"WHO YOU CALLING STUPID?! LOSER!!" Mug jumps on Rob and starts fighting. Swindle rolled her eyes out of annoyance and then slapped both of their heads.
"Will you twose zip it! I'm still tawking here!" Swindle shouted, breaking up the fight.
"Sorry, Boss." Rob and Mug apologized with bumps on their heads.
"Now, where was I? Let's see, did string beans, muscles, twins- oh yeah! And finally, chunky with the bling over there is Crook." Swindle points to the fat one.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what'chu say?!
That introduction was so not okay!
You need to present the Crook without all that disrespect!
Because this raccoon is a masterpiece that's pitch-perfect!"
Crook rapped in an African-American accent, unsatisfied with how Swindle introduced him to the heroes. Swindle was unamused while the turtles and the girls just cringed in discomfort.
"Can I make THAT one into a fur coat so I may preserve society's good taste?" Donnie asked, disturbed by Crook's way of introducing himself.
"ANYWAY… together we are, The Critter Gang!" Swindle finished the introduction by striking a pose with her crew.
"Oh, I got it!! It's because you guys are Critters!!!" Mikey stated the fact innocently, causing some of the heroes to facepalm in annoyance. Donnie pushes Mikey aside.
"Well, now that introductions are out of the way. Give me back my shell, or it's raccoon season for all of you!!!" Donnie started calm to crave, livid as he activated his chainsaw on his Bo Staff.
"Seriously, Donnie?! Again, with this?!" Green Lantern shouted out of irritation. Swindle made a smug look.
"Youse heard him, Snipe, give goggles back his shell," Swindle ordered. Snipe followed as instructed. However, Snipe made the hover shell ram Donnie in the head, knocking him out cold.
"Donnie!!!" His brothers shouted, worried about his well-being. "Aw, what happened, Grape Juice? I thought youse said you wanted your shell back?" Swindle mocked. That caused his brothers to glare at the gang of raccoons.
"Nobody does this to our brother, except maybe his brothers!!!" threatened Leo, taking his ōdachi out and pointing at the gang.
"Surrender yourselves, Critter Gang!" Wonder Woman demanded.
"I have a better idea. Boys!! Let's trash these losers!" Swindle snaps her fingers, signaling her crew to attack.
"All right, Let's do this!!!" Raph declared as he and his brothers and the Superhero Girls retaliated. Both sides clash against one another. Raph was up against Pocket, their hands clashing together and trying to push each other down. Pocket noticed that Wonder Woman was coming at him from behind. He pulls a maneuver, grabs Raph, and throws him at Wonder Woman. Supergirl then sucker punches Pocket. He lands on a construction site. Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and Raph have Pocket cornered. Pocket looks around his surroundings and sees a bulldozer, an excavator, and a wrecking ball crane. He smirked as he evaded Raph's punch, quickly climbed up the wrecking ball crane, and broke off a part. Pocket jumps back to the ground, rapidly dismantling and rebuilding the construction vehicles at blinding speeds.
"Uh, what is he doing?" Supergirl asked. Pocket then stops building and is now wearing body armor. He made gauntlets from the bulldozer and the excavator and weaponized his tail using parts from the wrecking ball crane.
Supergirl couldn't help but whistle at that. "Why that crafty little-"
"Incoming!" Wonder Woman shouted as Pocket roared and charged at them. The three heroes dodged Pocket's attack as he rapidly swung the wrecking ball at them and rapidly punched at them, making it hard to retaliate. Until Supergirl got the chance to grab his wrecking ball tail, and Wonder Woman caught the gauntlet in mid-punch. "Now, Raphael. While we got this vermin in place!!!" Ordered Wonder Woman. That causes Raph to use his mystic Tonfā to make an energetic red fist around his arm.
"Taking action like a boss!!!" Shouted the leader of the turtles as he delivered an uppercut to the muscular raccoon, sending him skyborne, then came crashing down to the ground, creating a crater. Cut to Rob and Mug driving a food truck. Chasing behind them is Green Lantern, along with Leo and Donnie, with given leverage from Green Lantern. Rob made many shifts and turns, avoiding Leo's portals and Green Lantern's barriers.
"Dang it, Rob. You have to be the worst driver ever!" Mug criticized while struggling to keep his balance.
"Hey man, I'd like to see you do better!" Rob dared his twin brother. Mug responds with a scoff.
"With pleasure, outta the way!" Mug pulls Rob out of the driver's seat and takes over.
"Why, you little! I don't mean now!! LET ME DRIVE!!!" Rob shouted as he started fighting with Mug. As the twins were fighting, the truck was moving out of control, which confused Green Lantern, Leo, and Donnie.
"What is going on in there?" Green Lantern asked.
"Don't know, don't care. Time for PAYBACK!" Donnie said as he activated every weapon in his tech bo-staff. Leo stops Donnie by getting in front of him.
"I got this!" Leo confidently activates a portal with his mystic ōdachi. The Twins noticed this, but it was too late. They went through the portal while hugging each other in fear, which put their van in a dumpster.
"That's one way to take out the trash." Joked Leonardo, which made Green Lantern sigh in exasperation.
"Does he do that every time you take out a bad guy?" Green Lantern asked in disbelief.
"Believe me, even every time would be an understatement for him," Donnie responded honestly.
"Wha? Come on, dearest twin brother. You know my one-liners always fired up the team in moments of need!" Leo responded while putting his arm around his brother.
"Why do you think I made this neck brace in the first place?" Donnie questioned, flashing back to those items he made for his brothers to fix their… issues per se, which made Leo pout. "I do wonder sometimes if you and I are even related."
Now we cut to Bumblebee fighting off Snipe. Both exchanged fire with Bumblebee and her electrical stings in her diminutive form while Snipe fired at her with his own homemade laser blasters.
"While you hold still already, you little pest?!" Snipe barked while shooting at Bumblebee, who kept dodging in midair. After a brief gunfight, Bumblebee shoots out three stingers, two of which disarm Snipe's gun, the last one landing its mark on his muzzle. "Ow, why you bloody-"
"Ha ha, now who is the little pest now?" Bumblebee proudly declared, holding her arms before the raccoon, only for the latter to smirk. He suddenly removed his red hoodie, revealing a backpack with several pistols attached to prosthetic limbs. "Oh. Meep," she squealed as Snipe unloaded his ammo at Bumblebee with overkill, who screamed as she kept avoiding it.
Zatanna, for her part, kept trying to land a decent shot on Crook, who was using special speakers on his shoulders to block with a loud sonic wave.
"Not as unpleasant as with Manbat but still mildly annoying," The young magician complained as she rubbed her ears.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what'chu say?!
Comparing myself to a bat is so not okay!
The Crook got a beat that is so damn loud!
It's gonna make you and your homies bowed!"
Crook rapped as he screamed through his speakers again, generating a powerful soundwave towards Zatanna, who barely managed to dodge it in time. When she turned around, she saw, to her shock, several glass windows exploding by the sheer power of the sound.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, now whatcha think?!
The Crook sonic power is one deadly beat!
Now, you and your homies, you better surrender!
Because the scrape you'll get will not be tender!"
Zatanna then turned towards the rapping raccoon with an angry frow "That does it. I just about had enough with your constant rapping, especially when it's done that horribly! May this be a lesson to you!" she declared as she began to chant in backward as her hands sparkled with magic and then fired a magenta beam from her hands at Crook.
Crook noticed that he was perfectly fine when the dust settled and then smirked at Zatanna. When he wanted to open his mouth to speak, what came out were not words or even rhymes. It was a rooster-like crowing, which made him immediately shut his mouth. He tried to talk again, but what came out now was a monkey-like screeching noise. Then he turned toward Zatanna, who was smirking in pride. "What's the matter, Crook? Can't find your voice?" Then Crook's face turned red as a tomato as his fangs were barred. Then he suddenly stomped the ground several times while making several animals ranging from lions, elephants, bears, and ostriches, while Zatanna was chuckling in the background.
Now for Mikey and Batgirl, the young vigilante and the mutant box turtle were up against the Critters gang leader, Swindle, who uses energy claws as weapons. The two were able to dodge or block the swipes from the raccoon lady; however, she didn't seem to be backing out either. However, Mikey wasn't all that focused on the fight.
"Come on now, sister, why do you want to make this all the more complicated? I think game nights could still have been fun. I have so many game ideas!" Mikey stated as he dodged as many claw swipes as he could.
"What?" Swindle questioned as she tried to slice Mikey in half. "You think we care about that? What bothers us is that a bunch of scally idiotic turtles came barging into our home and destroyed it. Do you know how hard it is for a raccoon to find a decent place to rest in Metropolis?"
"Well, that wouldn't have happened if you didn't steal Donnie's tech and my own Bat Goop! Don't you know how long it took me to make it?!" Batgirl asked as she threw several batarangs at Swindle, who just sliced them apart.
"Sorry, not sorry, sweetie, but we are raccoons." Swindle shrugged nonchalantly. "We steal stuff, we collect them, we see if this is edible, we wash them if it's gross. Yeah, not the most prominent life, but I say we get by."
"Oh yeah? Well, wash this then!" Mikey said as he wrapped his kusari on a car and threw it at Swindle, who just jumped over it while slicing it in half with her energy claws.
"Is that the best you got?" Swindle asked, but she failed to notice Batgirl coming from behind and delivered a kick on her head, stunning her for a bit before Mikey followed up with a spinning kick on her chest, and Batgirl delivered her a roundhouse kick to the face.
Now Swindle was left stunned, seeing stars over her head and her eyes spinning in every direction. What she failed to notice was Mikey and Batgirl rocking back their fist. "Eat this suckkaa!!" they shouted before delivering one final punch on Swindle's face, launching her into the back of a truck.
Swindle got back up and rubbed her sore cheek. She looked around and saw that her team wasn't dealing well with those turtles and superhero girls. "Okay, maybe it is time for a strategic fallback. Critter's gang retreat!" she declared, making the gang of raccoons run all on all fours towards the building.
"Oh, because they think we can just let them run with their tails behind their back? Well, not on my watch!" Leo said as he dashed toward them at blinding speed.
"That's right, Leo! Make them understand why you don't steal the propriety of Mister Donnie here!" the latter said with a shaking fist.
"Pocket!" Swindle ordered while Pocket grunted and blocked the way of the mutant red-eared slider with his still operational but damaged body armor and swung his wrecking ball to a widened-eyed Leo.
"Oh well, that's not gr-" He didn't have time to finish as Leo was sent flying into the air and faded into the distance. "Remember MEEEeeeee!!!"
"LEO!" everyone shouted in concern.
"Why you- I'm gonna turn your armor into scrapped metal, then make you into my own personal fur coat!" Supergirl barked and dashed toward Pocket before Swindle pulled out something from her pocket skirt and threw it on the ground, making a massive cloud of smoke appear.
Everyone coughed for a while; however, when the smoke cleared, they saw that the Critter Gang was nowhere to be found.
"Curses! They got away!" Wonder Woman said in frustration.
"We'll worry about them later. We gotta find Leo and see if he's okay." Raph said.
"But how are we going to find him? Metropolis is a big city. It'll take us hours to find him!" Bumblebee said.
"Don't worry, little Bumble Bee. I have placed a tracker on him, and we'll find Leo in no time." Donnie said as he tapped a button on his gauntlet showing the map of Metropolis.
"Wait. You placed a tracker on your own brother?" Green Lantern asked with a clear, disturbed expression on her face while the other girls, safe for Batgirl, looked at him in discomfort.
Donnie just still held a stoic expression and responded, "Huh, don't worry about it. Off we go now!" he finished as he headed back to the Turtle Tank, followed by Mikey.
"Ya see! I'm not the only one who put trackers!" Batgirl added before joining Donnie.
"Does he always do stuff like this behind your back?" Wonder Woman asked Raphael.
"Trust me, this guy sometimes makes every secret agency in the world look like a joke," Raphael responded in brutal honesty.
Meanwhile, the Critter's Gang was recovering from their defeat in an alleyway.
"Man, those lousy turtles! I won't be able to sit for a week!" Rob complained as he rubbed his sore buttock.
"Well, you should talk. That's because of you we came crashing to this dumpster. That wouldn't have happened if I had been on the wheel!" Mug barked to his twin.
"What?! That's because of that blue dude's portal, and we came crashing. Are you as blind as you are dumb?!" Rob counter back.
"I am NOT dumb!! You HEAR?!" Mug shouted
"Right, you're also UGLY!!" Rob shouted back.
And the two twins were at each other's throats once again. Swindle rolled her eyes out and then slapped both heads again.
"Will you knock it off, you twose?" Swindle said in annoyance.
"He started it!" Both twins said at the same time as they pointed at each other.
"Look at you guys. No wonder those turtles and girls totally got us wrecked!" Swindle scolded.
"I hate to be the wet blanket over here, Swindle, but you see how tough these guys were. They have magic and more powerful tech on their side. There's no way we could beat them in a fair fight." Snipe said as he fixed his backpack that Bumblebee had damaged. Pocket just grunted in agreement.
"Yeah, well, I don't wanna call it quits like that anyways, Snipe! Those tortoises invade our home, wreck it, and beat us like ragdolls. I wanna have my revenge!" Snipe declared in anger, baring her fangs. Behind Crook was duck-like noises in complaint. "Oh yeah, and we need to get Crook's voice back to normal…"
"Yeah, he somehow sounds even more annoying than usual," Rob noted, which made Crook give him the stink eye.
Snipe sighed and showed Swindle his laptop with the Metropolis map and a little purple dot moving toward the city's local park. "Well, I did place a little tracker on grape's juice shell while I had it, but that still doesn't answer how we're gonna be able to take them down?"
Now, it was Swindle's turn to sigh as she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. Their enemies' team members indeed consisted of an Amazonian, a Kryptonian, a Magician, three crafty humans who one had a powerful ring, and four mutant turtles with mystic powers. How do you compete against this when you are just a raccoon? She looked in the air, waiting for an answer. She turned her head to the road, where she saw a LexCorp truck passing by. Now she heard from several citizens passing by that this company held many interesting and powerful tech. It was more to help around the city, but it could still have many useful tools. At that, she smirked at an idea coming into place.
"Hey, boys." her team turned toward her. "Who's up for a little heist before we get to break some shells?"
~ time Skip~
Now, back to the turtles and girls who switched to their regular attire and continued their search for Leo. They followed the tracker that led them back to Centennial Park again.
"Are you sure he's here, Donnie?" Raph asked.
"A tracker never lies, Raph," Donnie responded while looking at the map place.
"Well, let's hope it doesn't take long to find him," Jessica said.
"Yeah, because between that and finding you guys a decent lair. This is getting very old, and I know old because I've been in the Phantom Zone for several years!" Kara said in annoyance. However, Donnie picked up something on his gauntlet.
"Huh… That's weird."
"What is it, Donnie?" Barbara asked.
"Well, according to my data, he should just be beside us, but I can't see hi-"
"Hi, Guys!" Leo suddenly appeared beside Donnie, causing the soft-shelled turtle to scream before smacking his brother with his tech bo staff on the head, knocking him out unconscious.
"No, Leo!!" Raph shouted in worry.
"What did you do?!" Karen asked a still-shocked Donnie.
"He was beside me! I PANICKED!!" Donnie screamed.
"Are you alright?" Mikey asked his older brother, who was rubbing his sore forehead.
"Yup, nearly a concussion, but otherwise, I'm fine. Jeez, you're on a roll today, Donnie…" Leo responded sarcastically with how he frequently knocked out his brothers by accident.
"Well, we're just glad you're alright, Leo! Okay, so who's up to resume our search for finding the perfect lear for the turtles?" Barbara declared in an enthusiastic tone, which made Leo realize.
"Wait! You guys, are you ready to call me your favorite brother ever?" Leo asked as he proudly pointed to himself.
"I mean, on my top three, I would say you lean more on my least favorite, but go on anyway." Donnie drily stated.
"Because this turtle over here has just found us the perfect lair." Leo declared.
The ninja gasped before quickly getting on their brother's face, who began to bombard him with a multitude of questions about said place.
"Is it big enough?"
"Is there WI-FI?"
"Decent place to sleep in?"
"Please tell me it's not beside a cemetery. Seriously, I hate those."
"No dangerous woodland creatures?"
"No bats?" Batgirl pounted at that.
"No demon spider?"
But Leo just chuckled, brushed past all these questions, and walked past them. "Why don't you just find out by…" Leo did a little pause to heighten the suspense, pushing off a bush and motioning with his arm to come "...following me."
However, nobody moved and just blinked in confusion at what Leo was trying to do. Then Leo came out of the bush and shouted in dismay, "Come on, you're running my moment! Just follow me!"
Everyone just shrugged or sighed as they followed the red-eared slider.
"Does he know at least what he is doing?" Zatanna asked Donnie.
"Well, I do hope so. The last time Leo asked us to follow him, we ended up in a deadly maze filled with spears, flamethrowers, and closing walls." Donnie drily stated.
Zee gulped at that while still trying to keep her composure. "How…reassuring…" Yup, everything was going to be fine.
"Wait…Did I forget to mention that crazy minotaur lady?" Donnie pondered.
When they arrived at the destination Leo showed them, they were amazed at what they saw—it made them think twice about doubting the second oldest brother.
"Well, whatcha think?" Leo said as he gestured proudly toward what looked like an old abandoned water pumping station beside the park's river.
"Wow!" Raph states in wonder.
"Woowe Zomei! You found us a castle, Leo?" Mikey exclaimed in amazement.
"Yeah! Not bad, huh?" Leo said with a smirk. He could see by everyone's expression that they were on board, however…
"Yeah, are you sure this is really the safest place to rest in? I mean, on the outside, it does look nice, but like every person's personality on this planet, it's on the inside that matters." Donnie responded with clear doubt.
"Well…" Leo then lifted a manhole just beside him and mentioned to climb down. "Why don't we go find out mis hermanos?"
"Alright, here we go!" Mikey exclaimed excitedly as he jumped into the manhole, followed by Raph.
"What?!" Zee asked in disbelief, "You don't honestly expect us to go down into that infested, diseased place?"
"Well, that's how we lived for the past sixteen years, Zee," Donnie said as he followed his brothers down the manhole.
"Come on, don't go all diva on us, girl," Kara said as he pushed her along playfully.
"Yes, we have faced countless monsters and villains during our short but still great run as heroes of this city. Surely you won't bow down to this measly sewer." Diana pointed as she put her arm around her friend's shoulder. The young magician turned to the ninja before her, still holding the manhole, and gestured to come.
"Come on, don't be shy. I swear those rumors about alligators living in sewers are just urban legends people make on the internet." Leo then said as he held his hand to her. Despite his… well, weird statement, he seemed genuinely sincere in his voice.
Zee then sighed and nodded. "Well, here goes nothing," she said as she climbed down with an uncertain look on her face.
When she finally reached the bottom, her friends called out to her.
"So how is it? Are you alright?" Karen asked in concern.
"Huh, I was right…it even smells worse than I thought it would be," Zee said with a shudder.
Leo just waved his hand. "Nah, she'll get used to it. Now, who's next? I think the expression to come by his lady first, as Zee said?"
"That's right! Why don't you just mock me while you're at it?!" Zee screamed from the manhole while Leo just chuckled in amusement.
Now, down in the sewers, the turtles and girls were walking around the sewer tunnels following Leonardo, who still held his grin, while Zee was levitating in place with her magic to avoid the filthy water. However, some of them began to have some doubts.
"Are you sure we are going the right way, Leo?" Raph asked. "Because the more we walk, the more I think you are leading us into the wrong way."
"Trust me, I checked from the windows. It will definitely lead us there, although I think I'll need some help with something." Leo explained. Meanwhile, Jessica checked something imprinted on the walls of the sewer. When she brushed past the dust, she raised a brow. What she saw was imprinted on it: "Metropolis Reservoir Pump Station."
"Jess! You're coming?" Karen asked, which snapped the Hyspanic girl out of her thoughts and returned to her friends.
When she finally caught up to them, she witnessed her friends standing before a massive metal door.
"Yeah, I couldn't really open it. The handle must be stuck or something." Leo explained as he scratched his head.
"Stuck? Well, you can leave that one to me." Kara said in total confidence, cracking her knuckles in the process. She punched the door, sending it flying upon the turtle's "maybe" new lair.
"And you just break down the door…" Jessica stated in sarcasm.
"Heh. I can always fix it back." Donnie said in a casual shrug.
"Woohoho! Not bad, you're a real woman of steel, Kara!" Leo complimented while doing a finger gesture.
"Woman of steel…" While flexing her arm, Kara pondered, "I like the sound of that." She smiled.
"Well, anyway, take a look at this place. Whatcha think? Can I get a five-star review on this?" Leo said as he gestured towards the place; the place in question was immense. It had pipes hanging from the ceilings, platforms, several rooms that could be filled, and a huge pool of water at the center.
"Well, check that out." Karen whistled. While beside her, Zee just stood there amazed.
"Oh mi gosh, this place rules!" Mikey added.
"I'll admit, Leo, you outdid yourself on this one." Raph congrats.
"I never thought I said this, but I will say it anyway, Leo; you just went from my least favorite brother to my favorite brother. Nice job, Nardo!" Donnie admitted.
"Called it!" Leo declared.
Karen then widened her eyes in realization. "Wait, I remember. This is one of the earlier stations for the reservoir. It hasn't been used in years."
Leo added, "Yeah, there's enough room in this place to make our very own kitchen, bathroom, and rooms. Heck, I even thought we could make the arcade or TV room like at home in New York."
"Oh, now, you're hearing my thoughts, Leo. And I can already see our awesome skateboard ramp we're gonna build for this place." Mikey pointed to the center of the room with a grin.
"And since this place is directly linked to the sewers of Metropolis, we'll have no problem traveling around the city, and there's also a garage on the back so we can park the Shell Tank." Leo finished.
"Truly a worthy home for you, my friends." Diana declared.
"So what do you say, boss man? Do we take it or leave it?" Leo asked his older brother, who was still in awe at this place. "Please say yes, don't let my whole presentation feel like a waste." Leo pleaded.
"Are you kidding, Leo?! Of course, we'll take it! This place is perfect!" Raph happily agreed.
"Yeah!" Mikey exclaimed with glee.
"You pleasantly surprised me, Leo, so that's another reason to take this house. Even if it isn't anything compared to S.T.A.R. Labs." Donnie then cried once again. "Goodbye, S.T.A.R. Labs, my emotional crutches!"
"Don't mind him; he's still grieving," Raph said as he rolled his eyes.
"So, shall we help you guys unpack your car?" Barbara asked the brothers.
Suddenly, a metal ball dropped on the ground just near their feet. The turtle and girls turned their gaze toward the object in question in confusion, which suddenly exploded in a green cloud of smoke covering them.
"What is this sorcery?!" Diana asked, coughing in the process.
"Poison Gas!! Quick, hold your breath, everyone!" Donnie gasped in realization as everyone covered their mouth, safe for Kara, who suddenly fell to her knees.
"Oh no! Kara is infected!" Zee panicked while holding a hand Kiefer over her mouth. Karen and Barbara went to check on her. As Barbara held the arm of the Kryptonian over her shoulder, Zee worriedly checked up on her.
"N-No…no…poison…gas…Kryp…Krypton…ite." she muttered in a weak voice in contrast to her usually confident tone before dropping her head in exhaustion.
"Hang on there, Kara," Barbara responded while Karen gasped in realization.
"Kryptonite!" Karen exclaimed, "Guys! This is not poison gas! This smoke bomb has kryptonite in it!"
"What is that?" Raph asked.
"It's a stone that originates from the same planet Kara and Superman are from." Jessica explained, "It basically stripped them of their strength and abilities and left them weakened. And if they're exposed way too long to it, well…"
Raph eyes widened at that statement. He quickly turned to his purple-clad brother, "Donnie!"
"I'm on it." the latter nodded as he transformed the tip of his tech bo into a giant fan and blew all the green smoke in the room in seconds. Everyone stood wary of their surroundings in a fighting stance while Barbara and Karen stood close to Kara in her vulnerable state.
"I knew Leo finding a decent place was too good to be true. It had to have some psychopath who would attempt at our lives." Donnie stated.
"And how was I supposed to know that?!" Leo retorted back.
"Not now, you two!" Diana scolded.
"Alright, you sneaky rascals, we can do it the easy way or the hard way. The hard way is that you chose to fight us fair and square, and then we beat you all up, or the easy way is that you surrender yourself, and…we beat you all up." Raph explained while cracking his knuckles.
"Doesn't sound that much like a choice," Jessica said in a deadpan manner.
Then, out of the ceiling, a grasping rope was shot and wrapped around Barbara, Karen, and the weakened Kara, tying them up.
"Karen!" Raph cried out.
"Watch out from the ceilings!" Karen warned, but as she said that, several goop-like substances hit Jessica, Diana, and Zee and pinned them to the wall.
"What is that?!" Jessica questioned in shock.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, I can't get it off!" Diana grunted as she tried to break free.
"Oh, now, this won't stand! But it's nothing that a little spell can handle." Zee said as she began to chant before her mouth got covered with the same goop substance.
"Sorry, love, but you ain't casting one of your little spells anytime soon." a familiar voice said in a British accent from the ceilings.
"That voice…" Jess whispered in worry.
"Urg, not these guys again." Leo sighed in exhaustion as he and his brothers turned to see six familiar figures perching from the pipes. They jumped from their spot and landed on the grounds, holding several weapons in their hands. Swindle now had a green katana in her hands. Pocket had metal gloves with green lining on them. Snipe had a green-magenta-colored rifle in his hands. Rob and Mug held several grenades in their hands, identical to the ones that made Supergirl in her weak state. For his part, Crook had a giant green-magenta hammer over his head.
"Yeah! Back with a vengeance, baby!" Swindle declared in a cocky manner.
"Those pests…" Donnie growled through gritting teeth.
"Huh…seriously, do you guys ever give up? Do you have not any other places to infest or something like that? I dunno what you Raccoons usually do. Or did you come to find us so we can give you a free beating?" Leo questioned.
"Yeah, and how did you find us anyway?" Mikey asked.
"I placed a little tracker on the Grape-Juice shell," Snipe answered while pointing a claw to Donnie, who turned around and saw a miniature dot-like device stuck to the back of his shell.
"You see, I'm not the only one who puts trackers on people." Donnie said to the girls while the latter (safe for Barbara and Kara, who was still too weakened to say anything) rolled their eyes, "That's still not an excuse!" Jess said especially.
"Well, anyway, you guys came for a second round? Because really, we're down for one if you want." Raph said while punching his palm. "Raph's always up for round two."
"Actually…" Swindle smirked while drumming her fingers on her snout. "We also came to claim this place ours."
"WHAT?!" The turtles all yelled in comical shock before Mikey stepped up and angrily exclaimed, "You can't do that! We found this place first, fair and square lady! Ever heard of the word finders keepers, girl?!"
The leader of the Critter Gang just put her hand on her chest while speaking with a fake shock-like expression, "Oh, don't take it like that, sweetie, just take more like…how do I put it? Oh yes! A return of gesture after you guys destroyed our home, an eye for an eye, you know what I mean? Nobody messes with my turf and gets away with it. That's my rule!"
"That's understandable…" Leo said while scratching his head.
"So now you better pack your stuff and get out of here before you end up like those ladies over here. Those weapons we got from that LexCorp company can even put someone like Superman to the ground." Swindle pointed out.
Barbara gasped at the comment of the raccoon lady. "That's why those weapons got kryptonite in it. Lexcorp has access to all kinds of things thanks to their influence!"
The turtles all gasped at this safe for Donnie, whose face was red with pure comical rage as he pointed his tech bo staff to Swindle. "You don't get it, you oversized Rodent lady! I could care less about whose tech you stole from. You tried to steal MY tech, which was already breaking the line because nobody touches my tech! NOBODY!! That's my rule! Donnie's RULE!! And now you want to steal the turf we just found?! That's unacceptable!! I already face a terrible loss today, so I don't want-"
Raph then grabbed his purple brother by the arm. "Alright, getting off track there, Donnie. Let Papa Raph deal with this," he said in a comforting tone as he handed him to his two other younger brothers.
"Come on, Donnie, let Doctor Feelings help you express what you are dealing with on the inside," Mikey said as he gave a massage to his still-fuming older brother.
Raph then turned to his six adversaries, who were ready to go all out against them. "So…I guess you're not giving up on this lair either, huh?"
"NO!" They all shouted at the same time while Crook made a duck-like noise.
"Alright, alright…" Raph said as he thought for a while, and then a light bulb appeared above his head. "Well, why don't we make a deal, mutant to mutant?" Raph asked the Critter Gang.
The raccoons glanced at each other, not knowing what was on the head of the mutant snapping turtle head. Swindle just shrugged and gestured to him to preside, "I'm listening."
"Personally, I'm more of a punch-first and ask-question-later kind of guy, so what I'm proposing is a duel between our two teams, turtles to raccoons, and the girls will not be involved in our match."
"What? Raph, no!" Karen shouted in worry.
"If we win, we get to keep the lair, and you leave us alone."
"And if you lose?" Swindle asked.
"You win the lair, you can freely beat us up, and we get to be your footlickers for a whole month."
"WHAT?!" Now, it was the turtle's turn to yell in comical shock.
Raph handed over his hand to the female raccoon, who gladly took it and shook it.
"Challenge accepted," Swindle smirked as she returned to her pack.
Raph then returned to his team, who were more than ready to question what the shell he was actually thinking.
"Raph, there's no way you just bet one month of our lives being the foot lickers of those psycho raccoons!" Leo then showed his tongue to his brother. "This awesome tongue of mine can't bear the thought of touching actual raccoon hair. She is scared, Raph. Look, look how she is trembling in fear!"
"I rather not…"
"Raph, I have several times questioned your leadership, but now this is just the confirmation that you're idiotic. I will not lower myself to be the slave of these hairy little thieves." Donnie angrily said.
Raph just hushed, "Guys, guys, don't worry. Now, I trust our team's strengths. You don't think I would make a bet like this without knowing about our team's talent! Come on, we face a mutant spider, a sheep man, a mutant hippo, a mutant mantis, and even a demon. Heck, I would even count having Todd around would be a feat on his own."
Donnie scoffed. "Then you're overestimating our talent, Raphael."
"I hope they know what they are doing," Jess asked worriedly.
"Raphael made a deal with the raccoons that only embroiled them and the raccoons. On our own honor as warriors, we can't intervene in this fight of theirs. This is a fight for territory, Jessica, to prove if our turtle friends are truly worthy of this home." Diana declared.
"And hey, it's just a bunch of sleazy little raccoons. It's not like we're facing a giant monstrous creature that could tear us to shreds." Raph assured his brothers; however, what they didn't notice from behind was the Critter gang smirking to themselves.
"Yo, Rob, Mug. You got the stuff?" Swindle asked.
"Yeah!" They both said in unison for once, not actually arguing. They set a large bag down, and the raccoons cracked their knuckles as various pieces of machinery from LexCorp were scattered inside. They all took it and at impressive speed began to mangle, tear, fix, and build, the silhouette of their invention growing taller by the second they built.
As the turtles were still in their little argument, they saw a huge shadow covering them. They turned around to see what was happening, and their eyes widened in total shock while their jaws slacked down to the ground, the girls doing the same as the titans they built kept growing larger.
Once the machine was done, the Critter Gang grinned malevolently before getting inside said armor cockpit located in the chest of the beast. Green emerald eyes suddenly lit up, and what was standing before them was a colossal robot armor-like raccoon. His color pallet was white and gray with shining green eyes, a green jewel on his chest, green energy claws, razor-sharp teeth, a striped tail that was green and white, and to top of it all, was standing 25 feet tall, towering them and making them feel like ants.
While the turtles stood still with shocked expressions, Leo could mutter one sentence "I guess we should all practice our butt kissing then…"
"We're doomed…" Jess mutered.
Then the giant mechanical raccoon roared at the turtles going on all fours and dashed at them. The turtles managed to dodge in time the claw strikes of the giant raccoon who pierced through the concrete floor.
"Okay, so don't get caught by the claws, noted," Leo said to himself and his brothers.
"It doesn't matter. Claws got nothing on good old-fashioned punches." Raph said as he activated the mystic power of his tonfās by slamming them together and manifested mystic energy, constructing the shape of his arms. "Power Smash Jutsu!!" he shouted as he charged at the raccoon and punched him in the jaw with his large, constructed red fist. However, it barely made a dent in the metal beast who turned to him, letting a mechanical growl out.
"Come on…" Raph growled back as he mentioned with his hand to come. The two then charged at each other and clashed fists. As they exchanged a flurry of punches of red mystic energy and green Kryptonian energy, the mecha raccoon suddenly caught his arm in his palm. Raph sweated nervously as he saw the growing smirk on the raccoon's face.
"Hum…truce?"
"You asked for this deal, kid, now you gotta honor it like a man." Swindle's teasing voice said through the mechanical raccoon, who then threw the Snapping Turtle into the wall, leaving a hole behind.
Mikey was ready for a sneak attack from the pipes ceiling while the mecha raccoon had his back turned.
"Attention, bad guys! Your villainy ends now!" Mikey declared as he jumped from his spot, spinning his kusari and shooting his favorite catchphrase, "Cowabunga!"
He then wrapped the chain around the large robot arm, only for the latter to turn, grab the chain with his free arm, and swing around the box turtle in a loop.
"I-DON'T-LIKE-THIS-RIDE!!" Mikey wailed as the raccoon finally threw him in the pool.
The metal raccoon turned to Leo, who jumped from pipe to pipe, gaining some ground to cover, and then went above their head.
"I saw a lady do that in an anime once," Leo smirked as he drew his blade and began to spin around with it, becoming a whirling blue blur and dashed forward the Critter armor, only for the mecha raccoon to block it with his left arm and smack Leo into the ground.
"Urgh, anime is a waste of time…" Leo grumbled in his uncomfortable stance, but his eyes widened in shock when the mecha raccoon attempted to step on him. Leo dodged it in time and was now attempting to avoid as many claw swipes from the raccoon as possible, only for him to jump over his arm, which then tried to bite him with his huge mechanical jaws, only for Leo to dodge it in time once again. The armor bit his own arm instead, leaving a huge set of dents behind, which didn't go unnoticed by Barbara, who gasped in realization.
Then Donnie stepped in. "Now it is time for you little varmints that you rightfully faced the wrath of Donatello the first, you dumb hairy thieves who give the procyonids family a bad name!"
As the raccoon turned to him with a confused expression, Donnie turned his tech-bo into a dual rocket and began to swing it like a boomerang at the armor, only for it to smirk and flick it to the sides with his claws.
Raph then jumps back from the hole he made, "Springing back in action like a bo-" Only for him to get hit on the head by Donnie's dual rocket, launching him to the other side of the room.
"And now Raph, too!" Leo cackled, "Man, Donnie's on fire tonight!" He recalls all the times his brothers have been hit on the head today by Donnie's bo-staff.
"I'm really wondering, Nardo, what is your contribution to this team." Donnie drily stated before both their heads got grabbed by the raccoon, got both their heads knocked against each other, and thrown away beside the girls.
"Now I know how my action figures feel…" Leo said as he rubbed his sore forehead.
Donnie groaned as he got up but then felt a nudge by his side and saw Barbara though still attached to Karen and Kara. "Psst, Donnie. Can you come here?"
Donnie approached her. "What is it, Barbara?" he whispered.
"I think I found a solution to beat this big old rustbucket to the punch!" she confidently said.
"But how? You saw how tough this thing is. We barely made a scratch on it!" Leo, who happened to listen to the conversation, said in exasperation.
"Maybe you can't, but HE can! Did you see that dent where he bit his arm?" She mentioned the raccoon, which Donnie noticed. He put on his goggles and saw the huge teeth mark on the beast's arm.
"That's it! If we found a way to get him to hurt himself, we might strike a fatal blow that could get rid of him for good." Donnie explained, "Good thinking, Babs." he congratulated while the redhead simply smiled.
However, the mecha raccoon dashed toward the soft shell and pinned him to the ground.
"Whatcha doing now, Grape Juice?" Swindle said tauntingly through the mecha. "I thought we said those girls weren't gonna get involved?"
"Oh, but they don't. It's just that one just gave me the perfect idea to beat you!" Donnie barked as he extended his tech bo staff to the dent of the monster and activated the taser mode, causing the beast to roar in pain and step back, letting go of Donnie in the process.
"Now it is time for you to see how I contribute to this team, Donnie!" Leo teased as he ran toward the armor. It roared back and attempted to pounce at him, but Leo just slid underneath it and made a portal just in front of his claws in the process, making them appear just behind the mechanical creature and piercing his torso with his own claws.
"What?! But how did you-" Swindle was confused at what was going on and didn't have time to proceed that their armor was breaking apart because, at the time, she realized a familiar fireball-like object cackled and wrapped itself around the mech's limbs, making it unable to move, it turned their eyes to see that Mikey has gone out of the water and use his kusari to restrain the robot's movement.
"You thought you could drown this turtle at the bottom of the lake? Nu-huh, turtles are made for this kind of stuff!" Mikey declared.
As the robot snarled in rage, Raph got up and rubbed his forehead. He looked to see the tangling metal raccoon trying to break free from Mikey's mystic kusari.
"Raph!" The latter turned toward his brainy brother, who called, "Use the damaged part of the robot to your advantage to rip him apart."
Raph, at first, was skeptical of this plan, but then he thought about it (for about 10 seconds) and nodded in agreement.
"Alright, Don, you got it." Raph then slammed his tonfās together and gathered his red mystic energy around himself, and the girl's eyes widened in bewilderment while the mecha raccoon dropped his jaw down as a huge shadow loomed over them. He kept growing until he reached a considerable size, much larger than the mech itself. Even Karen's eyes were in total amazement at what she was seeing. Now, what was standing before them was a much larger-than-life Raph made of pure mystic energy staring down at the mecha raccoon with his arms crossed.
'Woah, he…he can actually get bigger,' Karen thought in amazement.
Back to the mecha, who looked anything but confident now, cleared his throat and spoke with Swindle voices, "Hum...truce?"
Raph's red avatar put his hand over his chin in a thinking stance before answering, "Nah. You know what? I would rather play a new game. And that game is called…SHRED THE MECHANICAL RACCOON WHO DARE THREATENS RAPH'S FRIENDS!!!" Raph angrily shouted before he punched the large raccoon with his much larger fists several times on the ground, which shook each time he landed a hit. When he was done, he grabbed the damaged part of the mech and used it to tear the robot in half. He then clapped his hands together on it and let it fall on the cold hard ground.
As the Critter Gang came out of the rubble, they looked utterly beaten up by what Raph just put them through. As Swindle just her gaze toward the turtles, she could see a particular snapping turtle glare at her behind the smoke with furious red eyes.
In fright, Swindle attempted to escape, only for Raph to grab and hold her up to eye level. Clearly, he was furious that he and her gang used the one deadly weakness of the Kryptonian against her. Raph then raised his red mystic energy fist next to Swindle's face.
"I'm only going to say this once!" The leader started off with a threat. "If you ever mess with my brothers or my friends like that ever again!! I won't let you or your crew off so easily. Got it!?!" He roared the last part in her face. She nodded yes in fear.
"Wow, didn't know you had it, ya boss man," Leo noted as he helped the girls remove their restraints.
"Me neither, so…what are we going to do with them?" Mikey asked as Raph threw Swindle with her gang.
"Oh, ho, I know just the thing. Donnie?" Raph called out to his younger brother.
"Oh, you know I've been itching for that all day!" Donnie said with delight. The Critter Gang could only shake in fear as the purple-masked turtle approached them with a sinister smile on his face while tapping his tech bo staff in his hand. "Well, well, well, where were we?" Now, the Critter Gang were as pale as ghosts, sweat dripping from their bodies like waterfalls as Donnie's eyes shone like stars. Donnie transformed his tech bo into his sledgehammer form and, with a huge grin of satisfaction on his face, delivered a powerful swing to all of them, sending them out of the lair, out of the park, out of the city and then into the sky as their scream faded in the starry night. A star could be seen shining from where the Critters have been sent.
"Huh! Even better than I thought it would be!" Donnie smiled in satisfaction while looking at the silhouette raccoon-shaped holes on the ceilings.
"I let slide for this one, Donnie, since they were jerks, but I don't want to catch you trying to slaughter an animal for such pitiful reasons." Jessica sternly explained, rubbing her arm of the goo-like substance she had been tangled in.
"Well, whatever, they deserved it. Like I said my rule, Donnie's rule," Donnie explained as he then turned around and pointed.
"Yeah, and on that matter, I should have given them a good space punch for pulling the kryptonite shtick on me…" Kara said with a less weaker tone in her voice, although she was still being supported by Karen, who turned toward Barbara talking to.
"Not the point I was trying to make, Kara…" Jess sighed while holding her hand over her head.
"That was amazing, Raph! You just went so big and so huge and red, and how you tore off their armor like it was paper and the way you talk to her like "If you ever mess with my brothers or my friends like that ever again!! I won't let you or your crew off easily!!" Barbara then made an imitation of Raph's speech to Swindle. "You were almost as cool as Batman, ALMOST."
Raph bashfully waves his arm. "Oh shucks, it was nothing! Just the full extent of what my mystic power can do. And for that matter, I only saw Batman on TV once."
"Hey, Raph."
The turtle turned toward Karen, who held a shy smile. "Thank you for standing up to us like that…"
"Oh huh, yeah, don't worry, you're our friends. You didn't have to get caught up in that…" Raph explained, though he slightly blushed when Karen spoke to him.
"Yeah, you helped us trying to find the perfect lair. Usually, humans aren't that charitable with us, except April. You know, because of… this whole situation." Leo added while gesturing to his body.
"That's very generous of you, my friends, and it happens that you managed to find and win the perfect lair!" Diana declared.
"Yeah, and you were right, Diana. I truly do feel at home in this place."
"We just claimed this home as ours, people!" Raph declared as he and his brothers strike pose, although one appears to be missing "We shall protect it with our lives and proudly name it...The Mad Dogs Lair."
"Huh, again with the mad dogs thingy? Don't you have more material when it comes to names?" Leo said in a deadpan manner.
"Uh, guys, where did Mikey go?" Zee asked. Then, the turtles turned to see that their youngest sibling had disappeared.
"Oh yes, that's true, where is Michael?" Donnie asked around.
"Oh! Big Red Shiny button!" Mickey said from afar, which made everyone's eyes widen in shock.
"MIKEY!!!!"
