Kohanna, Kiba, and Irillia ran into the main area as Iris and the twins stood guard in front of Thalos, weapons out.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!!!" Irillia yelled, eyes nearly popping out of her head. A tall array of fly traps and thorns screeched with Mei and Ash wrapped up in its vines.

"My fly trap!?" Kiba yelled, turning to the two.

Mei and Ash gasped for breath as the mutant gripped them. "Mei, Ash!" Kohanna yelled as the three took out their weapons. Mei whined, the large plant constricting her throat.

"See what you did!" Kiba yelled, pointing her sword at Irillia.

Her jaw dropped. "My fault! You're the one who had that stupid weed to begin with!"

Kohanna groaned. "Not the time, you two!"

Iris threw a knife into a fly trap's mouth only for it to dissolve and drip away. "Just great, most fly traps need a whole day to digest only a fly, but of course, a combat knife only takes a few seconds." She groaned as kohanna swung her staff at the vines aiming for her.

The mutant shrieked, wrapping its limbs around Hanna's ankles. "No! No!" The plant swung her in the air and cracked her into the floor, knocking the air out of her lungs.

"Aghh, Hanna!" Iris yelled before jumping away from a shot of red acid the mutant spit at her.

Kiba ran behind the fly trap and sliced through the thorns containing Ash, leaving him on his back. He coughed, sitting up and leaning on Kiba's shoulder. "Thanks,"

"No problem" She said with a gasp dodging the two of them away.

Irillia roared, charging at the central lobe of the weed. "I'll slice right through you!" She jumped up aiming to free Mei before the fly trap smacked her in the chest, slamming her into the pipes of the upper ramp.

A thorny vine smacked Dakota across the chest making him hiss and fall on the floor.

Dakota grit his teeth and rubbed his head before noticing the two kama blades on the floor. He shifted to Mei, who was beginning to look pale as the plant started to suffocate her. "Heads up!" He leaped forward, grabbing the blades before tossing them to Cody. Thalos shrieked and ducted away as Cody caught them.

Iris cut through the vines, aiming for her head before her hamidashi got slapped from her hands. "Agh! Stupid Plant!" She yelled before getting hit in the gut with a tangle of thorns.

Ash and Kiba both ran around the plant, joining up next to Dakota and Iris. Cody urgently looked around for an opening the Kamas in his hands.

"We need to call our parents!" Iris gasped, landing her knives into the stalk of the trap before it hit and forced her flat on the floor. "Agh!"

--

April, Angel, and Casey walked down the busy street as Casey held out his phone.

"Ok, how exactly do we ask people about a gang we took down nearly 15 years ago?" Casey asked, gesturing to the people crossing the road.

"Well, we clearly didn't take them down, given they're still around," April said, crossing her arms.

"Well, you are a journalist, April. You could probably just walk up to random people and ask whatever." Angel said as Casey turned and noticed something on the building next to them.

"Yeah, in the same way, Casey could use his job as a security guard to tase whoever he wants," April said, pulling out her notebook.

"Now you're getting it." Angel laughed, only to be stopped by Casey.

"Guys, look." He said, walking over to the next door shop. The shop's door had numerous stickers and fliers, including one with a familiar symbol.

"What?" April took the flier off the door.

"Humanist society. We study and teach the values of Anthropocentrism and can provide you with care and supplies after the multiple attempts of invasion, such as the rebuilding of homes, providing medical care, and the removal of-" April paused for a moment, eyes widening. "Mutants?"

Angel and Casey quickly looked at each other.

"What? They're a social group now?" Casey said, propping his hand on his hip.

"Oh, bless their hearts," An old voice spoke from behind them, making them quickly turn around. An old woman with a cane stood behind them, preparing to go into the shop.

"Ma'am?" Angel asked as April put the paper away.

"Those kind people recently provided money to replace my car after it had been destroyed in one of those many invasions. I hadn't been able to afford it all those years, so I was stuck having to walk everywhere without a subway pass," She said with a smile.

The three glanced at each other.

"They also got rid of this disgusting mutant raccoon that was constantly rummaging through my trash," Angel's eyes widened as Casey looked away.

"The good thing is now they can help and study the poor thing. I can't imagine getting turned into that sort of monster,"

April bit her lip as Angel felt a lump form in her throat. Casey began to glare at the floor, clenching his fist as the old woman looked down at her watch. "Well, it's nice talking to you three, but I've got to be on my way," She said, smiling gently and walking past them into the shop.

"If only they knew who stopped those invasions," Casey said as Angel scowled.

'April looked down at the paper in her hands. "This is-" She released a breath turning to them. "This is worse than I thought."

--

Irillia winced, gripping her chest as she looked down at the scene. Mei was still trapped in a coil, and Kohanna was barely back on her feet. Irillia growled, standing up before aiming her twin blades.

"Monster plant!" She huffed and dove down off the ledge. "Let her go!" She yelled as her Jitte skewered the top of the center trap, making it scream and shoot the bright red acid out of its many open mouths.

Irillia held her grip as the mutant tried to fling her off, screeching in the process. Kiba's breath hitched as Irillia lost her hold and was thrown back. "No!" Kiba ran and jumped on one of the plant's heads before leaping over to Irillia, gripping her arm before she fell into an open mouth of acid. They both landed onto a torn bean bag as they panted.

The two groaned and hissed, standing themselves up. "Come on. We need to hurry," Kiba said, helping Irillia up.

"I know, but what do we do?" Irillia asked, watching how her blades remained stuck in what she assumed would be the mutant's head.

"Right now, what's important is that we free Mei. She could suffocate any minute if we don't get her out." Irillia looked away for a moment before releasing a sigh.

"Your right; let's go."

--

Iris groaned, rubbing her head, as Kohanna stood in front of her, staff getting tangled up in thorny vines.

Cody looked at the Kamas in his hands with worry as Kiba and Irillia rushed over to help Ash as they blocked and dodged the traps and acid. Cody took out his phone and handed it to Thalos.

Thalos looked up at him with fear. "Look at me. Run to the dojo and call your dad. Tell them we need them here. NOW. Ok?" He said, pointing to the dojo. Thalos nervously nodded before hurrying away.

Cody jumped away from a shot of acid, noticing Iris knelt on the floor. "Iris!" He threw the kamas to her as she turned, making her gasp.

She squeaked and caught them in front of her face before releasing a sigh of relief. "Seriously Cody! You could have cut my head off!" She yelled, now holding the two blades in her hands.

"Sorry!"

Iris pushed herself to her feet and noticed Mei nearly unconscious. Sliding under the vines Kiba and Ash were blocking, she gripped the kamas, aiming to cut through Mei's restraints. But, instead, a trap caught them in its mouth, beginning to digest and dissolve the metal. "Agh! Why the heck is it so strong?" She groaned tugging and kicking at the vines.

Kiba looked over at Cody rushing to Iris's short blade as Dakota reached for something in his bag. "Cody! Over here!" She yelled, shifting her eyes to Iris. He looked at her with confusion before realizing what she meant.

He wasted no time quickly rushing forward, using Iris's distraction to slice the vines holding Mei. The mutant screeched as Kiba caught her. "Gotcha!"

Iris snatched her blade from Cody's hands and severed a fly trap from the rest of the plant making some of the red acid spurt.

"Eww!" Cody leapt away as Iris and Kohanna blocked more attacks. Mei was taking deep breaths, head lying back, feeling faint as she regained the feeling in her hands and feet.

"Thank you, but now my toes are all tingly." She slowly said, closing her eyes.

--

In the dojo, Thalos was curled up in the corner; the phone held up to his ear as he sniffled. "Please, please, please," He said, beginning to shake. The phone continued to buzz as he began to hyperventilate, waiting to hear his dad's voice. "Please," he whispered, pulling his knees closer to his chest. Finally, a click and a muffled voice rang from the phone.

"Cody? What are you doing? We're busy. I swear this better not be something to do with your homework."

Thalos looked down, his lip quivering.

"Dad?"

--

Vital stood behind Chaplin, the masked soldier beside him, as slash and Leatherhead were stunned and tased.

"Agh! You barbaric lunatics!" Slash yelled before getting shocked in the thigh. Leatherhead jerked at the chains containing him, snarling violently, making Vital scowl.

"If they think this is barbaric, then they clearly haven't experienced the real world." The soldier turned to him as Vitals' rather unique eyes fell on him. "All the freaks will forever pay for what they did." He growled looking away, and gritting his teeth.

"And then truly know what it means to suffer."

--

Raph stood on the rooftop, phone in his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose. Casey needs to teach self-control to his runts.

"Dad?" A small shaky voice hit his ear, forcing his eyes open.

"Raphael?" Mona asked, stepping forward. Raph stayed still, processing the broken voice.

"Thalos?" The line went silent before a shuddering breath was heard.

"Dad, please. Come home." Thalos said, sniffling and throat cracking.

"Thalos? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Raph asked, turning to Mona, who appeared somewhat concerned.

"Dad, there's a monster, it's gotten a hold of some of the others, and I don't know what to do." The young boy cried. Raph sighed, shifting his eyes to Mona.

"You know there are no monsters out to get y-" A loud shriek rang from the phone and into his eardrum as an outlier scream echoed after. Raph froze, turning to his wife, who also seemed to have heard it.

"We're on our way." Raph said as Thalos continued to control his breathing.

--

Back in the lair, the teens were still holding their own against the mutant. Irillia charged and jumped at the plant, twisting and kicking the trap that still had her Jitte blades lodged in its head. Kiba was still propping up Mei, who was beginning to gather herself, and Dakota was just pulling random items out of his bag.

Dakota smirked, gripping the firecrackers and spray paints. Cody smacked a flytrap shut with his hockey stick as kohanna spun her Bo free from the thorns. Mei held up her kamas, trying to pull herself together as Kiba sliced through more vines.

Dakota rushed forward, knocking off the cap of his spray paint as Irillia jumped over the plant, yanking her jitte free. "Wow, that was awesome." She snickered twirling her blades and turning back to the mutant.

"We need to tangle it up!" Kiba yelled, flipping over more thorns. Kohanna, Ash, and Iris nodded before immediately jumping and sprinting around the mutant.

Ash smacked a thorny stem away from him and into the bundle of vines. The plant hissed, spraying acid everywhere, as the three continued to maneuver their way through the knotted mess.

"Cody! The fire starter!" Dakota yelled, dodging the mutant's attacks. Cody pulled out a lighter and tossed it to Dakota as Thalos watched from the dojo and the weed began to tangle up on itself.

--

Leo and Mikey were kneeling in an alleyway with foot soldiers beside them.

"Ok, we need to figure out a way in without getting noticed." He said, turning to Mikey.

"Well, why don't we just stealth our way in? We're ninjas, dude." Mikey said, looking through a window.

"We don't know what kind of technology they have, they could be tracking us right now and us not know it." Leo added. The ring of Mikey's phone went off. Making Leo and the soldiers flinch.

"Mikey, I told you to silence your phone." Leo groaned as he reached and picked up the call.

"Mikey! Put Leo on the phone!" Ralph yelled from the other end.

"This is Leo." He hissed, rubbing his ear.

"Leo, we need to fall back." Raph said, making Leo turn to Mikey in confusion.

"What? Why?" Leo asked.

"Thalos just called. There's something attacking them at the lair; I think Rockwell and Mondo went off the deep end again!" Leo's eyes widened.

"Call the others."

--

"Everyone stay back!" Dakota yelled, sparking the lighter. The family jumped behind him as Cody hit some firecracker hockey pucks into the open traps. Dakota ignited the aerosol of the spray paint as it released, unleashing fire onto the mutant.

It roared and hissed as it jerked and pulled on itself burning alive. The family bundled behind Dakota as he stood firm and the flames lit up the lair. The mutant swung its free limbs at them, fire slashing at them.

"Thanks Jones! Now we have a fire freak!" Irillia yelled, ducking away.

"Just wait a second!" He yelled before a loud pop was heard. The firecrackers began to explode from within the mutant, making it screech as pieces of it were sent everywhere. The plant wailed shaking violently as the flames and explosions overcame its entire body.

"Whoah." Irillia gaped at the screaming plant as it began to crumble apart and wilt away. Cody yanked the spray paint out of his brother's hands before tossing it into the bonfire of a monster, making it explode a final time.

--

The teens all collapsed in relief as the fire began to crackle and dwindle away into ash. Thalos nervously walked into the room, his shinai held up to his chest.

"Wow, that was-" Kiba said, sitting herself up.

"Awesome!" Irillia continued jumping up.

"You know, except for the part where we almost died." Ash said as Kohanna helped him up.

"Is it gone?" Thalos asked looking up at Irillia and gripping her hand.

She chuckled and pat his head. "Yeah. That old big mean weed is gone." She said before tightly pulling him up into her arms.

A small chirp was heard from the plant ruble.

"Huh?" Kiba turned and looked around before another chirp echoed in the room. She stood up and took out her sword, walking towards the noise as Thalos pulled himself closer to Irillia.

"Kiba?" Hanna asked as Iris dusted off herself. Kiba cut and cracked through the dead plant remains as another noise came from under it. Clearing away at the burnt foliage, she found the pot her original fly trap was in.

Inside it was another flytrap but much to her surprise the small plant seemed to only be made up of a stem, three leaves, and a mouth. She knelt down to it in confusion as it swayed itself back and forth. She held her hand out to it as it chirped and nuzzled its head into her palm. She stared at it for a moment before faintly smiling and picking up the pot. She rubbed its head with a giggle as the others walked over.

"So the crazy plant turned into this?" Ash asked, with Mei poking at it. The plant lightly snapped itself around her finger as she giggled. "Aww, it's so cute!" She cooed.

"It literally almost strangled you to death." Irillia said, leaning over her.

"Nah, that's in the past. Besides, it can't hurt us now." Kohanna and Iris glance at each other and shrugged, with the twins still collapsed behind them.

"This had to be one of the craziest days of my life." Dakota said, laying his head back. Kiba looked down at the little plant with a smile before immediately turning serious.

"Wait, didn't Thalos call our parents?"

"WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!" Leo yelled as the adults ran into the room. The teens froze as the room went quiet.

"Uhh." Iris began but couldn't figure out what to say.

"Where is it?!" Ralph yelled with his sai's gripped in his hand.

"Ohhh well." Cody stuttered, standing himself up. Donnie looked at the plant Kiba was holding as it snapped its jaws shut and turned its head up to him.

"Really! This is the mutant we had to bail our mission for!" Casey barked.

"Well, it originally wasn't so small." Kohanna said, scratching the back of her head. Leo pinched the bridge of his nose as Donnie gave Hanna a questioning look.

"Did you guys go in my lab?" Donnie asked, crossing his arms.

The group gulped.

"Nope! Didn't happen! Didn't steal the key!" Iris said, shaking her head. Angel sighed and shook her head as Mikey Mona and Karai walked over and looked at the burnt mutant.

"What is this?" Mikey asked, lifting a thorny vine for Donnie to look at.

"I guess there's no doubt that there was a mutant." Angel said, rubbing her head.

"But if that's the case, how did you guys get rid of it and turn it into this." Leo asked, turning back to the teens.

"I set it on fire." Dakota said before getting his foot stomped on by Iris.

"Another question is how it got mutated, to begin with." Donnie said, now towering over them. Raph and Leo looked at them sternly before the teens broke into a cold sweat.

--

"You guys stole the key to the lab, messed with all the lab equipment, spilled mutagen, and turned one of Kiba's garden plants into a mutant that nearly killed you." Leo growled, towering over them.

"Well, I mean, you could put it that way." Kohanna said, laughing nervously.

"Well, Iris was the one who pit pocketed the key!" Irillia shouted immediately.

"Oh, heck no! The whole thing was your idea!" Iris countered.

"I tried to stop them but did they listen to me. No!" Kiba added as the adults watched them bicker. April and Angel cleaned up the mutagen as Leo, Donnie and Raph tried to figure out the situation.

"Enough!" The three yelled, making the girls go quiet.

"This is just great, things are already stressful enough, and you guys go and make a monster." Raph growled, crossing his arms.

"Well, we did get rid of it! If you guys arrived later, you might not have even known about it." Irillia said, only for her dad to glare at her.

"Ok, all teens and children go to the kitchen. We need to talk." Leo said, pointing out the door.

"Seriously again." Irillia groaned as Kiba guided her away.

--

"As difficult as it is that they almost got themselves killed, I'm pretty impressed that they managed themselves alone." Mona said, crossing her arms.

"Kinda reminds me of the time we took down snakeweed." Mikey said, carrying some of the mutants corpse.

"Put that down." Donnie said, pointing at the floor.

"We might have misjudged their skill. I mean, taking down a fierce mutant monster is hard even for us." Casey said, sheathing his hockey stick.

"Yeah, but how long until that comes back to bite us." Vine added.

Leo looked down for a moment. "Ok, ignoring the current issue at hand, what did we learn from that mission today." The team looked at each other. "Come on, we must have got something." Leo said, leaning against the table.

"Well, we did find out one thing." April said, crossing her arms as Angel held up a flyer.

"Things are about to get serious."

--

"Man, we are so dead!" Cody said, slamming his head down on the counter.

"We lit a massive fire in the lair, snuck into the lab, and Mei nearly suffocated. We're totally screwed." Irillia said, resting a hand on her face and making Kiba shake her head.

"I tried to warn you." She said, messing with her new mutant plant.

Irillia glared at her but her face began to fall as she thought about it. She crossed her arms and sighed looking down. "I know."

Dakota huffed and sat on the island. "Well, what are they gonna do? Ground you? You guys are stuck down here anyways." He said, crossing his arms.

"Take away our TV privileges, make us train extra hours or worse make us clean." Kohanna said, looking down at her feet with fear.

Cody scrunched up his face in thought. "Wait what's so bad about cleaning? I would take that over extra hours of ninja training."

"Have you ever cleaned in a sewer?" Hanna asked looking at him deadpan.

"Oooh, yikes." He muttered looking away.

Iris looked down at her bruised hand and thought for a moment. "You know, we just took down a huge murderous mutant all by ourselves." The group turned to her as she leaned back against the fridge. "This could be our chance to prove to them that we're ready to go out and do things on our own." She continued turning her head to the doorway making the others glance at each other.

"A chance to get out of here."

--

"The removal of mutants? Like pest control? What kind of demeaning idea is that!" Raph yelled as the others looked down at the flier.

"And we can assume that their humane method of removal involves those fancy weapons they're using." Karai said, crossing her arms.

"Worse, people have already gained trust in them. People are so shaken by all that's happened with the Kraang, the Foot, and the Triceratons, that they're willing to put their faith into anything that promises things will go back to normal." April said, looking away.

"These people are more paranoid of mutants than ever, and if these humanists use that, they will be able to gain not only support but more following members who will go out of their way to eliminate the mutants of the city." Donnie said, typing at his keyboard.

"It's one thing for some lousy group to go after us; it's another thing for them to go after us with the city backing them up." April said, looking over Donnie's shoulder.

"Yes, and they don't show any form of remorse or honor. If they want something done, then they will resort to something barbaric to get it." Mona added.

The family shifted to Leo. He appeared stiff and solemn, standing there quietly before releasing a sigh. "Our top priority is to keep that barbaric side in check. We don't want any repeats of what happened."

--

The adults stood in the dojo as the teens sat on their knees, waiting for their upcoming lecture. Leonardo stood in front of them, hands crossed over his chest.

"So you all just decided to go off and do what you wanted. Not caring about anything we had to say, and due to that, put everyone in danger." He declared as the teens slowly nodded their heads. Thalos gulped from behind the dojo tree.

"We're sorry, father, it's just." Kiba looked up at her dad, who was only glaring at them. "You guys get to go off and actually do something with yourselves." She continued looking down.

"Yeah, it's reckless and dangerous but are you really surprised?" Iris said waving her hand out.

"Sure we almost bought it, but we've spent our entire lives down here, and for the first time, we actually got to do something. Something other than train for a future your not letting us have." Irillia said, clenching her fists. The room went silent.

"At this point, staying down here means we won't truly get to know anything." Kohanna sighed, making April and Donnie frown.

"Don't you think we've shown how capable we are? You guys went up to the surface during the brink of an alien invasion, yet splinter let you go out and become something great." Kiba said, making Leo's eyes widen.

The teens glanced at each other. "Would you-" Kiba looked up at him. "Would you let us go up to the surface with you?" She continued bowing her head. "Please."

The others followed suit lowering their heads, making the adults turn to Leo. They all exchanged a look as Donnie, Mikey, and Raph nodded.

Leo sighed, turning away from them. The picture of their family propped up in front of them as the memory of what happened 12 years before echoed in his mind. His face fell lowering his gaze before clenching his fist. He straitened himself out with his head held high as he spoke.

"I'm sorry."

The group raised their heads up looking at their Sensei.

"No."