Monster Hunter
It was a dark and chilly night in the woods surrounding the Jones family farmhouse, a full moon present in the sky and a wolf howling in the distance, providing an even more chilling atmosphere.
"I'm sure you've all heard stories about monsters roaming the woods before."
Some creature covered in fur, as well as twigs, made its way through the snow, leaving large footprints behind.
"Of creatures from a long forgotten age that induces fear and horror into the bravest of souls."
Elsewhere in the woods was a rather tall and muscular woman with short dark blue hair and glasses, wearing a jacket that had a logo on the back that read 'MH', the 'M' looking like a monster, and wielding a net gun, a small robot with two propellers hovering alongside her.
She turned towards a snow capped bush, which started moving, leaving her shocked until the monster leapt out of it, roaring as it did so.
The woman rolled back and it landed where she stood previously. The monster then lifted a log and threw it at the woman, who jumped to the side into a bush, instead hitting the robot and smashing it against a tree.
"There is indeed a monster roaming these woods."
The monster touched its head, moving the fur off to reveal a laughing Mikey.
"Just not the kind you're expecting."
It was early morning at the Jones family farmhouse, the sun rising over the snow capped landscape.
Casey opened the front door and entered the house, though with shoes that were covered in snow.
"No! No! Ahh! NO!" April screamed as Casey closed the door, making his way to Splinter, who was currently meditating in front of the fireplace.
Her screaming made Casey turn to her, seeing that she was holding a mop and was marching up to him.
"Casey Jones, I just mopped the floor!" She shrieked angrily, swinging the mop at him. "Out! Out, you big, careless jerk!"
She got behind him and whacked him in the back.
"Hey!" He snapped at her, turning and grabbing the mop to make her stop. "You can't kick me out of here, girl-zilla! This is my grandma's house, ipso functo, it's my house!"
This just made April growl at him, gritting her teeth. And he was wise back away in fear. He knew that if you made a woman angry, you'd regret it.
"Uh, uh, guys, I'll be outside if anyone needs me." He said before he went back outside, closing the door behind him.
This made Splinter chuckle, very much amused. As well as Alex, who sat at the dinner table with Donnie, who was working on a toaster. Alex was in the middle of drawing in a sketchbook, finding himself doing so ever since he and Donnie lost Kirby in the dimension of his own making.
"Yeah, right, if I need a Neanderthal, I'll give a yell!" April grumbled angrily as she walked past Alex and Donnie into the kitchen.
Just as she slammed the door, Raph came in from upstairs.
"Hey, where is everybody?" He asked.
"Let's just say that Casey got ejected from the ballpark for being a caveman." Alex sniggered as he turned a page.
"And April's in the kitchen." Donnie continued as he kept working on the toaster. "I think Mikey's out exploring in the woods."
"Despite explicit instructions to stay near the house." Splinter pointed out sternly.
"And Leo?" Raph then asked, ruining Alex's good mood.
"Still moping in the barn." He told Raph.
"Again?" Raph questioned in disbelief, thinking Leo would be over it after three months since he woke up.
"Your brother has suffered injuries, both physical and spiritual, Raphael. And he will need the support of all of us, if his wounds are to fully heal." Splinter explained to him.
"Have you tried talking to him, Alex?" Raph asked his human brother.
"I did, but he just doesn't want to listen. He's wallowing with so much guilt, it's hard to get through to him." Alex explained.
Out in the barn, Leo stood next to a burning furnace, keeping him warm. His left arm was put into a sling and had bandages wrapped around his shell and plastron, still recovering.
He held a twig in his right hand and swung it as he walked around a blacksmithing shop.
But he still thought about what happened, making him sigh and drop the twig, which snapped in half by his feet.
After calming down a bit and sorting out things in the kitchen, April entered the living room and sat on the couch, near the fire.
"Oh! What is it about Casey that gets under my skin? He's so… so - OH!" She ranted, making Alex and Donnie glance at each other with smirks, knowing full well why she's acting like this. "Master Splinter, maybe you could teach me to meditate, so I wouldn't get so angry at him."
"Even meditation has its limits." Splinter replied, opening his eyes for a moment.
"Mostly courtesy of Mikey." Alex added, speaking from experience.
Outside, Casey was in the middle of washing the snow off his shoes with a water hose.
"Urgh, women! Who needs 'em?" Casey muttered.
As he started washing his left shoe, he heard munching from around the corner. He walked around to see it was Mikey, leaning against the farmhouse, eating some nuts.
"Nut?" He asked, holding the bag of nuts to Casey.
"You're the nut." Casey remarked, taking a nut and eating it. "Hey, where you been all morning?"
"Just wandering the woods." Mikey replied.
"Yeah? Well, I got news for you nature boy." Casey frowned, pointing to the woods. "Crazy man Hatchet next door, he likes wandering those woods, too."
"Tell me about it." Mikey said after putting the nuts away. "He sicced his pitbull on me this morning."
"He saw you?" Casey asked, horrified, as he slapped a hand to his face. "For crying out loud, Mikey, even I know we're supposed to be keeping a low profile up here!"
"Relax, Case-man, no one saw me." Mikey confidently assured him. Perhaps too confidently. "I'm a ninja, remember?" He then did some katas. "Low profile is my middle name."
But then they both heard an engine. They looked to see a large black van with a logo on the side, the initials 'MH' with the 'M' looking like a monster driving up to the farmhouse.
Mikey pulled back when the van parked in front of the house.
Casey then gasped when a woman exited the vehicle. What made him gasp was the fact that this woman had short dark blue hair, wore glasses, a jacket that had the logo of the van on the back, wielded a gun and the fact that she was pretty muscular.
"Let's do this, Parker!" She barked, turning to the van.
"Affirmative, Doc. Activating SORTI cam, now!" A male voice replied through her headset.
A small circular robot with two propellers on top popped out of the side of the van, flying towards the woman, whose back now faced the van.
Inside the van, Parker, who wore glasses and had red hair, including a beard. And the interior of the van was basically a computer geek's wet dream.
"We're rolling in three, two, one." He informed the woman, pressing some buttons on a keypad.
The SORTI hovered in front of the woman and a camera popped out of it, recording her.
"Welcome, adventure seekers, to another action packed episode of The Monster Hunter." The woman spoke to the camera.
"Monster Hunter?" Mikey gulped when he peeked from around the corner of the farmhouse, already guessing that she had to have come here because of him.
"Once again, I, Dr. Abigail Finn, am close to bagging a mysterious creature, the Herontae Wronquae, or legendary Green Man of the Woods." Finn said as Casey came up behind her.
"Green Man? Oh, no." Casey muttered, knowing she's planning to hunt Mikey.
"Like the Yeti, Sasquatch and Bigfoot -" Finn said, now carrying the gun on her shoulder, getting interrupted by Casey, who got in front of her.
"Whoa, whoa! Hold it, hold up, cut!" He said, getting right up to the camera before turning to Finn. "Stop the cameras, lady!" The SORTI moved over and continued shooting. "This is private property!"
Finn just ignored him and twisted his arm around his back, making Casey yelp in pain.
"Sir, what can you tell our viewers about the recent sightings of the Green Man in these woods beyond your home?" Finn asked him, the camera zooming in on his face.
"Look, lady, you got to go!" Casey snapped at her, being able to get out of her grip as he faced her. "There's nothing out in those woods except, uh, woods! Now, come on!"
"There's a monster out there and I've got proof!" Finn insisted. "PARKER! Let's go to the videotape!"
"Coming right up, Doc." Parker replied, grabbing a VHS and putting it inside a player.
"This footage was taken in the forest behind your house by one of your neighbours just this morning." Finn told Casey, showing a monitor from the side of the van, playing a recording of Mikey, encased in shadow, running through the woods until a dog was barking, making him jump onto a nearby tree when the dog came running at him. "What do you have to say now, bub?"
"Uh…." Casey muttered, not knowing what to say right now.
"Eep." Mikey whimpered as he hid himself, realising that he made a big mistake earlier that morning. If only he listened to Splinter's instruction.
"Oh, boy." Casey muttered as the video showed Mikey walking until it paused, showing Mikey being barely visible, his green skin showing.
"Are you sure you don't want to change your statement? Exactly what is it you're trying to hide?" Finn asked Casey, now grabbing him by the collar of his denim jacket and khaki hoodie and pulling him to her face.
"Mikey, uh, that is, uh -"
He was gratefully cut off when April came out of the front door and cleared her throat.
"Hi, there. Don't mind him, he's kind of the village idiot." She said as she approached Casey and Finn.
"Hey, wait -" Casey got slapped on the mouth by April.
"My name's April and you are?" She then asked Finn.
"I am Dr. Abigail Finn, monster hunter." Finn introduced herself, shaking hands with April. "Perhaps you are familiar with my -"
Mikey started backing away, only to get whacked in the head.
"Ow!" He whined, turning to see Alex and Donnie leaning out of an open window, giving him frowns.
"Guys, give me a heart attack, why don't ya?" He told them.
"Well you deserve one for being a moron." Alex retorted.
"Exactly. Do you have any idea who that is out there?" Donnie asked, pointing to Finn. Mikey shook his head in response before peeking around the corner, looking at Finn, April and Casey.
"That's Dr. Abigail Finn. Brilliant technologist, gifted biologist." Donnie explained.
"Sounds like your type, brainiac." Mikey teased.
"Except for the fact that she's a certifiable loon." Alex pointed out, having learned of Finn, thanks to Donnie.
"Yep. She goes around hunting monsters." Donnie further explained.
"She ever find any?" Mikey asked.
"Not yet. But considering how eager she is with that tape, you'll be the first. And it's all your own fault, bonehead." Alex said in a mockingly cheerful voice before he and Donnie shut the window, leaving Mikey to gulp.
Now Finn, April and Casey walked towards the van.
"Honestly, we've lived up here forever and the strangest thing we've ever seen is the occasional moose." April told Finn, making up a story to try and make Finn go away. She then turned to Casey, whose arm she wrapped around. "Isn't that right, dear?"
"Yeah, yeah." Casey muttered as Finn opened the door to the passenger's seat of the van.
"The video tape doesn't lie." She said, getting in and closing the door. "There's a monster back there and I'm going to hunt it! Parker, punch it!"
Parker started the engine, causing smoke to bellow out of the exhaust as the van sped off, leaving April and Casey to cough.
After some explaining, Alex, Donnie, Mikey, April, Casey and Splinter all gathered in the living room.
"I say we go after that video tape." Mikey suggested.
"Maybe this crazy doctor monster person will just give up and go away?" April questioned hopefully.
"Dr. Abigail Finn doesn't give up. If she can't find what she's looking for out there, she'll come looking in here. She's obsessed with monster hunting." Donnie explained.
"To the point that she's a joke in the academic community." Alex further explained, making Splinter think about this for a moment.
"Those who become obsessed are often their own worst enemy." He said.
Back in the barn, Leo grabbed a strip of metal among a pile of metal scrap and struggled to pull it out. When he did, the pile of scrap fell over.
"Looking good, Leo." He heard a voice speak as he panted heavily. He looked over to see it was Raph, who leaned against a ladder with his arms folded.
"Raph, Alex already tried and I'm not in the mood." Leo snapped at him.
"For what?" Raph questioned.
"I don't need to hear how I messed up in New York, okay? I got my shell kicked. I let everyone down. I lost my swords!" Leo ranted, hitting the metal strip against the pile, panting heavily. "I, uh -"
"Hang on, Leo. I wasn't going to say anything like that. And neither did Alex." Raph said as he picked up a pipe as Leo dropped the strip of metal. "I was gonna ask you what you're doing out here."
"Nothing." Leo replied glumly.
"Well, that's too bad, because I know exactly what you should be doing and I think you do, too." Raph told him, tossing the pipe to him.
Leo looked at the pipe, realising what he meant, and knew that his brother was right.
Out in the middle of the woods, Finn and Parker were in the middle of establishing a temporary base of operations. Parker was on top of the van, working on an attachment for a cryo containment chamber in the back of the van, and Finn walked over to a table where some SORTIs were being worked on.
"The Green Man is close, Parker, I can sense it. My ticket to the big time!" Finn said confidently.
She then turned to the table and started work on a SORTI.
"The scientific community will no longer be able to laugh behind my back." She said bitterly, unknowingly crushing the SORTI with her bare hand. "And our little cable access show will finally get a network deal!"
She closed her eyes when she had finally crushed the SORTI so much it made a loud crunch. She opened her eyes, realising what she had done.
"Uh, right." She muttered, throwing it over her shoulder and then turned to the van. "Parker! How does the cryo containment chamber check out?"
"Aces, Doc." Parker replied as the van started humming, pressing a button on the remote that made the back of the van open into a ramp, revealing a couple of doors that opened up, releasing steam into the air.
"Excellent, then I'll deploy the sonic oscillator retrieval and taser incapacitation unit." Finn said as she pulled out a remote, pressed a button and all the SORTIs activated, hovering and flying in the air. "Go, my little SORTIs."
They flew past her as she put her headset on. One of them fired its taser before flying off into the woods while Parker climbed down from the top of the van.
"Parker! Man the console!" Finn ordered.
"Right, Doc." Parker replied, giving a thumbs up.
"Let the hunt begin!" Finn then declared as she wielded her gun and ran into the woods, past Parker, who got back into the van, closing the door behind him.
Yet, the two were completely unaware that Alex, Donnie and Mikey were up on the tree next to the van. Of course, Mikey annoyed the other two with him eating nuts.
"What'd she say?" Mikey asked before throwing some more nuts into his mouth.
"We couldn't hear her because somebody was crunching pistachio nuts in our ears." Donnie snarled, both he and Alex turning to him.
"What?" Mikey asked, causing Donnie to facepalm and Alex to crush the bag of nuts closed.
"Stop eating those stupid nuts! We can't be ninjas if you make noise." Alex snarled into Mikey's face.
The three then jumped down onto the ground next to the van and Donnie picked up a stick, which he put through the lock on the van door, just so that Parker didn't get out.
Mikey then entered the cryo containment chamber.
"Now, if I were a videotape, where would I hide?" Mikey asked.
"Get out of there, you moron!" Alex hissed as he and Donnie reached the back of the van.
"Yeah." Donnie said he entered the chamber. "For all we know, this thing could be a -"
An alarm started blaring and the doors were instantly shut, locking them in.
"GUYS!" Alex shouted, banging on the doors.
" - a trap." Donnie finished, glaring at Mikey.
Liquid nitrogen then started seeping into the chamber.
"Um, oops." Mikey gulped.
"Guys, you gotta get out of there, now!" Alex shouted as his turtle brothers started shivering and rubbing their arms.
"Is it really cold in here or is it just me?" Mikey said through clattering teeth.
"It's liquid nitrogen, instant deep freeze." Donnie replied.
"Hey, I'm a turtle, I'm already cold-blooded." Mikey replied back.
"And you'll both be icicles if you don't get out of there!" Alex pointed out as he tried shifting the lock on the door, which didn't work.
"Red alert, it's the cryo containment chamber, Doc!" Parker informed Finn, watching her through the SORTIs camera feed on the monitors.
"I'm heading back to base camp, Parker! Secure that chamber!" Finn replied, starting to run back towards the van.
"Copy that, Doc!" Parker replied, getting out of the chair and approaching the door. But when he turned the handle, the door didn't open, courtesy of Donnie jamming it shut.
"Guys, are there any tanks in there?" Alex asked as Donnie and Mikey hit the doors, which didn't budge, Mikey falling onto his shell after trying to kick them open. And the pair started to get ice on their skin.
"There are!" Donnie replied, seeing one of them connected via a pipe. "I got an idea!"
Donnie then pulled out his bo staff and jammed it behind the pipe and pulled his staff back, prying the pipe loose, making it cover the doors with ice, which made Alex step back off the ramp.
"Mikey! Now, the d - d - door!" Donnie stuttered.
The pair then kicked the doors, which opened up, ice shattering everywhere, making Alex shield himself.
"About time!" Alex said before he whacked Mikey's head, making him yelp. "That's for getting yourself and Donnie into that mess!"
"Ow! B - b - brain freeze!" Mikey stuttered, holding his head.
"Now let's get out of here before the loon shows up." Alex told the pair and they all ran for it into the woods.
Seconds later, Finn and the SORTIs arrived, growling at the sight of what happened with the containment chamber.
The three made it back to the farmhouse and both Donnie and Mikey were busy getting themselves warm.
Later into the night, the pair wrapped themselves in blankets and put their feet into a large tub of water as they each sat in a chair.
April poured more hot water into the tub with a teapot, making the pair sigh with utter relief.
Meanwhile, Alex was having a cup of hot chocolate as he continued drawing in his sketchbook.
"I can't believe you bozos walked right into a trap." Casey taunted the turtle pair.
"I believe it." Splinter replied, still meditating.
"Of course, a needed reminder that it was all Mikey's fault." Alex pointed out.
"Hey!" Mikey whined.
"You need to be held accountable. Because you've been a bad omen today." Alex replied with a shrug as he continued drawing.
"All I know is, it's a good thing the Green Man's not real. If that Dr. Finn ever got her hands on him, sheesh." Donnie said as April placed the teapot on the table.
"Hey, that's it." Mikey said right before he stood. "Little Miss Monster Hunter's still out there hunting the Green Man, right?" April pushed him back down on the chair. "She wants green men, we'll give her some. Serious butt kicking ninja green men! I have a plan."
"We're gonna regret this, aren't we?" Alex groaned.
Over in the barn, Raph shovelled some coal and threw it into the furnace before he pumped the bellow to make the fire bigger, which helped warm the barn some more.
Meanwhile, Leo placed a strip of metal onto the anvil and started hammering it with his good arm to make a new pair of katanas.
But after hammering three times, he started sweating and so he wiped it away with his forearm.
And as he raised his arm to hammer away again, he flinched in pain and dropped the hammer onto the ground.
Leo then turned and bent down to pick it up, but Raph beat him to it. He handed his brother the hammer and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder before pumping the bellow again.
Leo then went back to hammering the metal strip, surprised when he struck it the third time, his left arm was loose from its sling, showing that it was getting better.
He grinned as he then tore the bandages wrapped around his shell and plastron before continuing hammering the metal strip.
Later into the night, Alex, Donnie, Mikey and Casey made their way through the woods, wearing costumes made of leaves, grass and twigs.
"Mikey, this is your plan?" Donnie asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, this is crazy. And these leaves are itching me all over!" Casey complained.
"This is officially one of the worst plans you have ever come up with, Mikey." Alex snarled.
"Come on, we look great." Mikey replied as they kept walking, leaving large footprints behind. "Just follow my lead."
"Why do I get the feeling this is just gonna make things worse?" Donnie questioned.
"Because it probably will, like with most, if not all, of Mikey's plans." Alex replied.
Elsewhere in the woods, the SORTIs gathered around Finn, picking up movement elsewhere, which was shown on her tracker.
"Parker! The SORTIs have a signal." She said through, seeing a blip on the tracker before a second one showed up. "No, two." Then another two showed up. "Four signals! Is the cryo containment chamber repaired?"
"Quick freeze is down, Doc. But containment is good to go." Parker replied.
"We'll herd them to you." Finn said, now wielding her gun. "And Parker, no mistakes this time!"
"Pain in the butt." Parker frowned, having been blamed for what happened with the containment chamber.
Finn ran through the woods until she stopped upon noticing a large footprint, which she examined, seeing that there's a whole trail of them, which she followed until she started looking around.
But then she stopped upon hearing movement from a bush, along with the sound of growling, courtesy of Donnie.
Then she saw movement and growling from another bush, courtesy of Alex.
Then from a third bush, Mikey jumped out of it as he growled, making Finn roll back and Mikey landed where she stood a moment ago.
She then gasped when both Alex and Donnie jumped out of their bushes and growled at her.
Finally, Casey jumped in from behind her.
"Goongala!" He chanted. "Goongala!"
Finn aimed her gun at Casey and took a shot with her gun, firing a net that made contact with Casey, who now struggled to try and get out.
"I've got one!" Finn cheered. "Parker, alert the media, I want a press conference at dawn! By then, I'll have the other three!" She then pulled out a knife from her jacket.
"Copy that, Doc!" Parker replied.
Mikey roared as he lifted a log over his head and threw it at Finn, who gasped and jumped into a bush out of the way, leaving a SORTI to be crushed into a tree.
"CRIKEY!" Parker shouted as the screen in front of him flashed out, having lost a connection.
Finn pulled out her tracker and pressed a button, which made the other two SORTIs operational to narrow in on both Alex and Donnie/
"I knew this was a bad idea." Donnie said as he and Alex ran for it.
"We can give Mikey a whack to the head when this is over!" Alex told him as they jumped out of the way of taser shots from the SORTIs, first by a simple jump, then with Alex front flipping off a log and Donnie by jumping onto and off a tree then front flipping off the same log Alex did before they ran deeper into the woods.
Back with Casey, he continued struggling against the net he was trapped in when Mikey approached him.
"Goongala?" Mikey questioned with his hands on his hips.
"Just get me out of here!" Casey begged and Mikey helped him out.
Both Alex and Donnie were still getting chased by the SORTIs until they both leapt at a couple of branches and swung around them, making the SORTIs fly past them as they landed back on the ground.
But the SORTIs turned around, making Alex and Donnie pull out shurikens and throw them at the SORTIs, splitting them in half.
"WHOA!" Parker exclaimed when the screens showing the live feed of both SORTIs flashed.
Finn arrived back to where Casey was trapped in the net, only to find that Casey was gone, thanks to Mikey's help, making her growl in frustration.
"Parker! Send more SORTIs!" She ordered.
"On the way, Doc!" Parker replied, activating four more SORTIs and letting them loose into the woods.
"The look on your face when she netted you, priceless." MIkey grinned as he shed his costume off entirely.
"Ha, ha, at least we taught that loony doctor not to mess with the Green Man." Casey retorted.
The two then heard growling, though it sounded truly animalistic.
"You can quit the howling, you two, Dr. Freakenstein went off in the other direction." Mikey said, thinking Alex and Donnie made the growling.
But the pair walked up to him and Casey from behind, the two having shed their costumes as well.
"That wasn't either of us, Mikey." Alex frowned.
Mikey then gasped as he saw something behind them.
It looked like a large creature that resembled a bear mixed with a sloth. And it had green fur.
"Psst, guys, right behind you." Mikey whimpered as Casey saw the creature, eyes wide with shock.
The pair turned around and saw the creature as it walked up to them.
They both gasped, Donnie screaming in horror while Alex placed a hand over his mouth, too shocked to even scream.
"The Green Man, he's - he's real?" Donnie questioned.
"Oh crud." Alex gulped in a shaky voice as he and Donnie backed up to the others.
The creature then sniffed the air before it walked up to Mikey, making him whimper before it then started sniffing his bag full of nuts.
"Hey, there, you smell these?" He asked, pulling some nuts out and holding them out for the creature, which it sniffed and started eating them. "You want some pistachios?"
After it ate the nuts, the creature started purring.
"What a smart thing, you are. What a smart Green Man monster." Mikey said as he started patting its head while the others came closer. "Yeah. Can we keep him?"
"He's too big to keep, Mikey." Alex shot the idea down as he approached the creature and stroked it behind the ear, making it purr even more and nuzzle against his stomach. "Though he is pretty cute."
But then the creature started growling, moving its head from Alex's stomach and then roared as it reared its head up.
"Whoa, easy, big fella." Mikey said, trying to calm it down.
Alex looked around and saw the SORTIs flying towards them.
"It's them!" Alex pointed at them as they neared.
"You're right, they're upsetting him." Donnie replied just as the creature reared on its hind legs for a moment until the SORTIs started shooting their tasers at it, making everyone back away, except Mikey, who got whacked by the creature from it being tasered, falling into a bush when he hit a tree.
The others split apart when the creature started running away with the SORTIs still tasering it.
"Those orbs are forcing it to the van!" Alex shouted with worry as Mikey got out of the bush he fell into.
"Come on, we gotta save the big green dude!" Mikey replied, running after the creature with Alex and Donnie running with him.
"Hey, wait up!" Casey yelled as he followed them.
The SORTIs kept tasering the creature, making it moan in pain as it kept running.
Meanwhile, Finn looked at her tracker as she ran through the woods, picking up on the creature's signal.
"The SORTIs have one Parker, a big one!" She informed Parker through her headset.
The creature kept running, unknowingly being forced towards the van.
Inside, Parker watched the camera feed from the van, seeing the creature with his own eyes.
"Amazing." He muttered.
Alex, Mikey, Donnie and Casey reached some bushes, which they crouched behind, watching the poor creature being tasered still as the back of the van opened into a ramp and the doors of the containment chamber opened up.
The SORTIs all gave one large shock to the creature, forcing it inside the containment chamber, making it fall inside.
"NO!" Mikey yelled as the rest watched on in horror as the back of the van shut within a second.
The creature roared through the bars.
"That's it." Alex growled with venom and contempt for Finn. "Mikey, you keep the loon monster hunter busy while the rest of us get that poor creature out and snatch that tape away."
Mikey looked at Alex with a delightful grin, nodding his head.
"Parker, confirm capture!" Finn said through her headset as she kept running through the woods.
"Bagged and tagged, Doc." Parker replied, watching the creature roar and hit the containment chamber on all the monitors. "And the press are on their way."
Finn laughed with delight until Mikey rolled past her in the shadows and tripped her by sticking his leg out, making her fall onto her chest.
She groaned as she got back up and pulled her flashlight out, trying to find Mikey, who ran behind her in a blur.
Finn walked for a bit, unaware that Mikey was now crouched on a tree branch above her.
Finn then gasped as she saw movement, thanks to Mikey, who snatched her gun out of her hand.
"NO!" She cried out as she also dropped her flashlight, which broke upon making contact with the snow. "Parker? Parker? There's another one out here with me. Hunting me! Do you copy?"
Parker would've replied, but the cameras showing the creature in the containment chamber stopped working, showing only static on the monitors.
"Say again, Doc." Parker said, not getting a response, realising that the comms were also down.
He went outside to check the containment chamber, allowing Donnie to sneak in and grab the videotape from the VHS player.
Parker didn't hear anything, so he hit the back of the van, getting a growl in response, though it didn't sound exactly like the creature, but he didn't care as he got back inside the van.
Finn started stumbling around in the dark woods, worrying about getting attacked.
Eventually, she gasped when something fell and landed in front of her. She was horrified to see that it was her gun, which was now ruined, looking like it was chewed on by a monster.
"No! This can't be happening!" She whimpered, unaware of Mikey lowering himself upside down on a branch in the shadows behind her until she turned around.
"BOO!" Mikey yelled, making Finn scream and run for her life.
Meanwhile, Mikey jumped onto the ground and chuckled.
"A ninja a day keeps the doctor away." He remarked, turning to walk away, only to yelp when Alex and Donnie appeared in front of him. "Guys, where's the big green dude?"
"Relax, Mikey, it's all taken care of." Donnie replied, wrapping an arm around Mikey's shoulder as they walked off.
"And in a funny way, too." Alex grinned.
Come morning, the press had arrived in a couple of news vans and stood waiting for Finn, who approached them with Parker by her side. A podium with a microphone was also placed by the back of the van for her.
"Uh, Doc?" Parker asked.
"Last night was horrible, Parker, horrible!" She replied as they continued walking. "But we did it, we got one!"
"Doc, Doc, I can't find it." Parker told her, making her stop and face him. "The videotape, it's gone."
"WHAT?" She gasped, lifting him off the ground by his jacket. "HOW?" But then she calmed down and put him back on the ground. "I no longer need the tape, Parker. I've got a live specimen right here." She patted the back of the van.
She then walked to the podium to address the press, who all started firing questions and recording her with cameras.
"Today, I, Dr. Abigail Finn, have captured a creature so rare, it was believed to be only a myth." Finn explained as Parker lowered the back of the van open to reveal the doors to the containment chamber. "Behold the greatest scientific discovery of all time." She then turned to the chamber. "I give you the legendary Green Man."
Of course, instead of the creature, it was Casey who showed himself through the bars, though without the mouthpiece.
"Yo! Help! Save me from this crazy lady!" Casey begged the press, who all laughed while Finn watched with horror.
"No! No! How can this be?" She gasped as the press walked around her and to Casey. "My monster! My - my reputation! My network television deal!"
"You're the monster, lady!" Casey glared at Finn. "She chased me through the woods, all night long! She's loony, I tell ya! She's the one that should be locked up!"
The press then swarmed Finn, asking questions and shoving the cameras in her face.
"Donatello, you sly turtle!" Mikey smirked as he and Donnie watched from behind a couple of trees, high threeing each other. "What about the big green dude?"
Donnie pointed into the woods, where Alex stood with the creature, stroking it.
"Safe and sound." Donnie assured him. "And just for the record, the Green Man's a she, a mother."
To prove his point, a couple of cubs appeared and approached their mother and Alex, nuzzling their heads against his legs, purring as well.
"Aww, hello, little ones." Alex greeted them, stroking their heads as his eyes welled up from just how cute they were before they started nuzzling against their mother. "Well, goodbye, you three. Hope we see each other again."
The three creatures then walked off into the woods to live out their lives as a family.
The three made it back to the farmhouse, where Alex, Donnie, April and Splinter were on the porch, watching Mikey pull the tape out and drop it into the snow, ruining the footage.
He then turned, seeing Casey show up with the headpiece of his costume in his arm.
"See, Sensei, I told you the Green Man was real." Mikey said, pointing at Casey while Alex, Donnie and April laughed.
"Hey, Casey, what kept you?" Donnie teased.
"Those reporters were even more vicious than that crazy doctor." Casey replied before placing the headpiece on the ground, chuckling as he did so. "They'll be making fun of Dr. Finn for months."
"If not forever, considering her reputation was already tarnished to begin with." Alex snorted.
Raph then came up towards the group.
"Guys, hey guys come around back, there's someone I want you to meet." He told everyone.
He led them over to the barn, where he opened the doors and stepped aside for everyone to see.
"Allow me to introduce you to Leonardo. New and improved." Raph said.
And out stepped Leo, fully healed and healthy, pulling out his new pair of katanas.
"Uh, hey, everyone." He smiled shyly.
"Welcome back, bro!" Mikey grinned as Alex gave Leo a hug.
"Alright!" Donnie cheered.
"Welcome back." Raph smirked.
"You alright, now, bro?" Alex asked as he parted from Leo.
"I am now. I want to say sorry for blowing you off yesterday." Leo apologised.
"It's okay. All that matters now is that you're back to normal." Alex assured him as he patted his arm.
"Guys, I think it's time we returned to New York and finish our business with the Shredder, once and for all." Leo then addressed all his brothers, who all gathered together.
"YEAH!" They all cheered as they all placed their weapons together.
Now was the time for payback and finish off their enemy.
Someone commented about Alex taking up drawing after what happened with Kirby, so I thought I'd add that in.
And considering what we'd later know about that creature in a much later episode, it makes me wonder if there's any more of its kind out there in the world.
Oh, and with the Return to New York arc, expect a surprise. I won't say where and when it shows up, just keep your eyes open.