Chapter Text
In New York City, a bunch of car horns were honking, when the camera suddenly panned down to a manhole, and then zoomed into the sewers, before stopping at a dojo with multiple mats and a large bonsai tree growing in the center in an underground lair built from an old subway station. Inside the dojo, there were six humanoid turtles, each wearing a different colored mask, sitting across from each other on three separate mats. A turtle wearing a red mask faced another turtle wearing a purple mask on one mat, then two female turtles with freckles, one wearing a white mask and the other pink, did the same on another. On the farthest mat, a freckled turtle wearing an orange mask and a turtle wearing a blue mask each took a fighting stance while kneeling down on one leg, the blue masked turtle having a katana being his back. The two turtles then stood up, as the orange masked turtle prepared two nunchucks behind his back and the blue masked turtle prepared his katana. The blue masked turtle gave a war cry and charged at the orange masked turtle, who charged back.
“Oh, yeah!” The orange masked turtle cheered, before jumping over the blue masked turtle. “Michelangelo is on the move!”
“You don’t know what to do.” Mikey taunted the blue masked turtle as he twirled his nunchucks.
The blue masked turtle kept trying to attack Mikey, who jumped and dodged to get out of the way.
“I’m here, I’m there.” Mikey joked. “I can be anywhere.”
He ducked as the blue masked turtle took another swing and missed, before appearing in front of him.
“How do you stop what you can’t even see?” Mikey asked jokingly.
He charged at the blue masked turtle again, but his brother hit him in the stomach with the pommel of his katana, causing Mikey to drop his nunchucks. Mikey then rolled forward before feeling the pain and collapsed on the floor of the dojo.
“Like that.” The blue masked turtle replied.
“Good one, Leo.” Mikey said weakly.
On the middle mat, the white masked turtle whipped out a pair of Tonfas, beat them together, and took a fighting stance, as the pink masked turtle took out a Kusari-fundō and twirled it around.
“Now remember, Elisa, don’t just charge blindly into battle.” The white masked turtle advised, speaking in a surfer dude accent.
“Yeah, yeah, I got it already, Cath.” Elisa replied dismissively, speaking in a rather rough, tomboyish voice.
With that, Cath charged at Elisa, who whipped her Kusari-fundō and whipped her sister’s weapons out of her hands, like Indiana Jones. Elisa then put her Kusari-fundo away and pounced on her sister, pinning her onto the mat like a wrestler. “How’s that for an improvement?” She asked.
“We’re getting there.” Cath answered. “But maybe we need to start talking about not pouncing your siblings after you beat them in sparring.”
On the mat on the far right, the purple masked turtle was twirling a Bō staff around while standing in front of the red masked turtle, who was unfazed. The purple masked turtle then stopped, while the red masked turtle cracked his neck.
“All right, Donnie, put down the staff, and nobody gets hurt.” He told his brother.
“Uh, you said that last time, Raph, and then you hurt me.” Donnie reminded him.
“Yeah, but less than I would have.” Raph retorted playfully.
“Yeah, right.” Donnie scoffed, not believing him.
He then tried to hit Raph, who kept ducking and dodging to avoid the staff. Donnie tried to swing his Bō again and shut his eyes, but when he opened them, he saw that it was gone. He then saw Raph standing behind him with Donnie’s Bō in his hands, before Raph twirled it around briefly and used his knee to break it in half.
“Should’ve dropped the staff?” Donnie asked nervously.
“Should’ve dropped the staff.” Raph replied.
Raph then twirled the broken halves of the Bō in his hands before using them to beat Donnie’s shell.
“Okay, okay. Ow!” Donnie cried, dropping to the floor. “I’m down! I give!”
Elisa then cleared her throat as she approached Raph, who dropped Donnie’s Bō and got out a pair of Sais, as Donnie crawled his way over to Mikey, who was sitting on a mat on the other side of the room. Mikey then stuck his tongue out at Donnie, but put it back and pretended to be innocent when he looked back at him.
“Let’s make this quick, Raph.” Elisa said. “Regardless of who wins, one of us has to face Leo.”
Elisa brought her Kusari-fundō back out and twirled it around while making karate movement noises.
“Remind me again why I’m wasting my time with this twerp?” Raph asked himself in annoyance.
Raph put his Sais underneath Elisa’s Kusari-fundō and knocked it out of her hands. He then sent a powerful kick that sent Elisa flying across the room, before she hit against the wall on her shell and fell to the ground on her chest.
“Dang, Raph!” She exclaimed, impressed. “Way to borrow a move from the Elisabetta playbook.”
“That’s what worries me.” Cath, who was sitting on another mat, muttered under her breath, before Elisa joined her and sat down next to her sister.
Raph then walked over to the mat Leo was on. They each knelt down on one knee before they looked at each other.
“Onegai shimasu.” Leo wished.
“Whatever you say.” Raph rolled his eyes.
Leo then pointed his katana at Raph, who brought his Sais back out. He then tried to send a slice at Raph, but he blocked it. Raph twirled his Sais around, before he charged at Leo, who kicked him back. Leo lunged at Raph and knocked one of his Sais out of his hands, sending it flying against the wall Mikey and Donnie were sitting in front of, before it fell onto the floor. They both charged at each other again, and following some slashing sounds, Raph used his remaining Sai to knock Leo’s katana out of his hand, and then put it under his arm. He then threw Leo across the room, pinning him to the floor. Leo moaned in pain as he clutched his sore wrist, and then Raph stood over him.
“Nice try.” He scoffed.
“Ya me!” A voice came from the other side of the room.
Raph and the other turtles turned their heads to see a gigantic humanoid rat named Splinter wearing a maroon kimono and carrying a jade green walking stick making his way towards them. Leo joined his five siblings as they sat in front of their sensei, and then he bowed respectfully at him. (Cath sat on Mikey’s left, while Elisa was between Leo and Raph.)
“You all did very well.” Splinter commented.
“But I did better.” Raph interjected.
“This is about self-improvement, Raphael.” Splinter told him. “It is not about winning or losing.”
“I know, Sensei.” Raph said cockily. “But I won, and they lost.”
Splinter then got behind Raph and poked his neck with his finger, making him groan in pain.
“But what’s really important is that we all did our best.” Raph quickly spoke. “Good job, everyone!”
Splinter then let go of Raph and chuckled to himself, amused by his own joke.
Later, the family was sitting at a table in some sort of kitchen, eating dinner, which consisted of algae and worms. Leo scooped some worms into his mouth with some chopsticks, as Cath sat at the head of the table poking at her plate. Raph sat next to Leo and shoveled the worms into his mouth with the chopsticks, and Elisa did the same, except she lifted her whole plate and gobbled her food right down. Donnie looked at his plate quizzically, before picking it up and eating some of it and then gagging, as Splinter calmly lifted up a worm with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. Mikey then walked up to the others stirring something in a pot with a spoon.
“There’s a little more algae and worms left if anybody wants it.” He offered. “Anybody? Anybody?”
“No, thanks.” Leo said.
“I couldn’t eat another bite.” Cath lied.
“I’m good.” Raph said dismissively.
“I’m trying to watch my weight.” Elisa claimed.
“All yours.” Donnie said.
Mikey walked up to the table carrying a cake behind his back. “Well, I guess no one left room for…cake!” He said, bringing out the cake, which had a single candle on top of it, from behind his back and setting it down on the table.
“Oh, wow.” Elisa awed.
“It is a cake!” Donnie exclaimed.
Raph wiped some of the icing off the cake with his finger and tasted it. “Made of algae.” He said plainly.
A worm then crawled out of the icing and slithered across the cake, before crawling back in. “And worms.” Cath added disgustingly.
“What’s the frosting made out of?” Leo inquired, pointing at it.
“You don’t wanna know.” Mikey advised, before he lifted the cake up. “Happy Mutation Day!”
“Happy Mutation Day!” The others cheered.
“Ah, yes.” Splinter sighed happily. “15 years ago today, our lives changed forever, and we became the unlikeliest of families.”
“Tell us the story, Master Splinter?” Mikey asked.
“Michelangelo, I have already told you it many times.” Splinter laughed.
“Please?” Mikey begged. “Please?!”
Raph then got up from behind Mikey and put a hand over his mouth.
“Please, it’s the only way to shut Mikey up.” Raph begged.
“Ah, very well.” Splinter said, as his six children listened in. “Many years ago, when I was still human…”
(Flashback)
A human Splinter, Hamato Yoshi, walked out of a pet store carrying a terrarium with six turtles in it.
I was leaving the pet store with six baby turtles…
“That was us!” Mikey said, interrupting the story.
“Yes. Don’t interrupt!” Splinter scolded.
Mikey then popped down from the screen as the story continued.
As Yoshi walked down the sidewalk with the turtles in hand, a man walked past him and bumped him on the shoulder, making him suspicious.
I passed a strange man on the street. Something felt off about him.
A few minutes later, Yoshi had followed the man to an alley, where he saw him trading a canister of ooze with another man.
I decided to follow.
Before the first man could give the canister to the second man, they both heard a squeaking noise, and turned their heads to see Yoshi, who had stepped on a rat, and then they both approached him.
“Go no further.” The second man spoke rather sinisterly.
“This place is a place where you are not allowed to be in this place.” The first man explained.
Two more men then appeared behind Yoshi.
“We have been seen in this place by you.” The second man added. “So this is not a place that will be left by you.”
Yoshi sent a kick at the two men that were behind him, as the first two charged at him. He then punched them both while keeping his turtles out of harm’s way. During the scuffle, the men had dropped the canister of ooze, which fell onto the ground and smashed open, causing Yoshi to drop the turtles, who then fell all around it. Yoshi screamed as he mutated into a mutant humanoid rat, while the six turtles gained human-like characteristics.
(Flashback ends)
“That was the beginning of our life together.” Splinter explained as he held up the canister that had turned them all into what they were today. “It was the mysterious substance in this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all.”
Mikey took the canister from Splinter and hugged it. “Mom!” He sighed happily, cradling it in his arms as his five siblings looked at him.
“Okay, Mikey’s weird.” Elisa said, disturbed.
“So, Sensei,” Leo said, wanting to change the subject. “Now that we’re 15, I think we’re finally ready to go up to the surface, don’t you?”
“Yes.” Splinter answered.
The Turtles all cheered.
“And no.” Splinter quickly added, causing the Turtles to moan in disdain.
“Aw, come on, man!” Raph facepalmed.
“Lame!” Mikey complained.
“What a rip-off, dude.” Cath griped.
“I hate it when he says that.” Elisa sighed.
“You have grown powerful, but you are still young.” Splinter told his children. “You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely.”
He then turned to Raph and Elisa and spoke to them. “Some more than others.”
As he got up and walked off, Donnie asked. “So, Sensei, isn’t that just no?”
“Yes…” Splinter replied. “And no. Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making mistakes.” He turned to his children as he spoke.
“Aha!” Donnie understood. “So in order for us to gain the wisdom, we have to make the mistakes.” He deduced. “So we can go!”
“No.” Splinter said, not convinced.
“And yes?” Donnie asked hopefully.
“No!” Splinter answered sternly.
“Oh!” Donnie groaned.
“Sensei, we know you’re trying to protect us, but we can’t spend our whole lives hiding down here.” Leo explained.
Splinter scratched his whisker-like beard, realizing Leo had a point, and thought about it long and hard. He then looked back down at his children, who were on their knees in front of him giving him the puppy dog eyes. (Elisa was between Leo and Mikey, and Cath was on Donnie’s right.) Finally, he sighed as he made up his mind.
“You may go.” He relented. “Tonight.”
The Turtles cheered again.
“High three!” Mikey shouted as his siblings lifted their hands and touched his.
Later that night, Leo was watching his favorite show, Space Heroes, on the TV in the living room. In it, a spaceship known as the Dauntless was under fire by an unknown enemy, and on the bridge stood three people: the ship’s captain, Captain Ryan, his loyal assistant, Mr. Crankshaw, and a green-skinned alien with a blue gem in his head named Dr. Mindstrong.
“Mr. Crankshaw, status report!” Captain Ryan reported.
“Status?! I’ll give you the status!” Crankshaw exclaimed. “We’re gonna blow up in two seconds!”
Ryan then slapped Crankshaw to calm him down.
“Thank you, Captain.” Crankshaw said, rubbing his cheek.
“Gentlemen, I have a bold and daring plan.” Ryan began to explain.
“There’s no time for hesitation. My orders must be carried out without question!” Leo quoted.
“Aye, sir!” Crankshaw and Dr. Mindstrong said on the TV.
“You know this show is stupid, right?” Raph asked, as he had heard Leo.
Leo turned to see Raph and Elisa sitting on some steps, reading comic books.
“Space Heroes is a great show.” Leo argued. “And Captain Ryan is a great hero. Someday, I am gonna be just like him.”
“Well, you do like to hear yourself talk.” Raph said, not looking up from his comic.
“So, we’d say you’re well on your way.” Elisa finished.
Mikey, Donnie, and Cath then came running into the room.
“It’s go time!” Mikey declared.
“We can finally go up to the surface!” Cath shouted happily.
The others smiled as they all ran to their bedrooms to get ready.
Donnie spun his Bō around, took a fighting stance, and then spun it again before striking a pose.
Cath then spun her Tonfas around, held them both above her head, and then crouched down with her knees bent as she posed at the camera.
Raph then twirled his Sais, knelt on one knee, and then brought them up to his face with a smirk.
Leo then got out both his katanas, did some slicing moves, and glared as he took a fighting stance.
Mikey then twirled his nunchucks around a few times, before the front end on one of them turned into a Kusarigama. He then swung it around as the camera transitioned to Elisa.
Elisa got out her Kusari-fundo, twirled it, threw it up in the air, and caught it in her hands. She then pointed it in front of her mirror, before leaving her bedroom.
About five minutes later, the Turtles were standing in front of the subway station’s entrance as Splinter paced in front of them. (Elisa stood between Mikey and Raph and Cath stood between Leo and Donnie.)
“You are going up to a strange and hostile world.” Splinter told his children. “You must maintain awareness at all times.”
“Hai, Sensei.” The Turtles all said.
They were about to leave the lair when Splinter added. “Stay in the shadows.”
“Hai, Sensei!” The Turtles repeated.
“Do not talk to strangers!” Splinter ordered.
“Hai, Sensei!” The Turtles said, but they were starting to get annoyed.
“Everyone is a stranger!” Splinter added harshly.
“Hai, Sensei.” The Turtles said half-heartedly.
They made it to the barriers when Splinter called out. “Make sure you go before you leave! The restrooms up there are filthy!”
“Sensei!” The Turtles groaned.
Splinter sighed. “Good luck, my children.” He wished.
“This is gonna be so cool!” Elisa grinned.
“I am so pumped!” Raph smiled.
“Surface time, dudes!” Cath smirked.
“This is gonna be epic!” Mikey said happily.
The Turtles excitedly jumped over the barriers and ran down the tunnels.
“Look both ways before crossing the street!” Splinter called, but sighed once his children were out of earshot.
In an alley, Leo lifted up a manhole cover and peered out of it. Once he determined the coast was clear, he moved it off and he and his siblings all climbed out. The Turtles stood there and stared in awe at the sights around them, while Cath was more unnerved at the graffiti on the wall. Elisa then looked to her right and saw a homeless man sleeping on a mattress with only a newspaper covering him, causing her to cringe in disgust.
“It’s so beautiful.” Mikey let out.
“‘Beautiful’ doesn’t begin to describe this place.” Cath said sarcastically.
As the Turtles walked out of the alley, they continued to look around at their new surroundings.
“The city is just full of possibility.” Leo said as they were walking under a scaffolding. “There could be an adventure around this corner.”
He then walked underneath another building. “Or this one.” He added. “Or this one!” He finished as he peered down another alley, where a cat meowed. “Okay, there’s not, but there could be!” He assured.
Donnie walked past an electronics store when something caught his eye. “Look at all the computers!” He awed, before looking further into the window. “Is that the next generation cadmium processor with quantum encryption?”
“I honestly have no idea what you just said, dude.” Cath said as she walked past Donnie.
“I don’t know, Donatello.” Raph said sarcastically, walking up to him. “Is it?”
“It is!” Donnie confirmed excitedly once he saw what he was looking for.
“Guys, guys!” Mikey called, pointing at something. “Check this out!”
He then looked through the window of a fortune teller’s shop with a giant glowing hand. “A hand made out of light!” He exclaimed, before the hand turned off and an eye within it turned on. “Now it’s an eye made out of light.” He gasped softly, before the hand switched back on. “Now it’s a hand again!”
The light kept switching back and forth between the eye and the hand. “Now the eye’s back again!” Mikey gasped. “Now the hand!”
“That’s just a sign, Mikey.” Elisa giggled.
Mikey turned from the store window and looked at her. “I knew that.” He shrugged.
“Come on, genius.” Raph said, grabbing Mikey by the ear.
“But I wanna see the hand and the eye again!” Mikey whined as Raph dragged him away.
The Turtles were now standing in the middle of a street. (Elisa was on Leo’s right, between him and Elisa, while Cath was on Donnie’s left.)
“So where to next, brah?” Cath asked Leo.
The Turtles then heard the sound of a moped approaching them. They watched as a delivery driver for a place called Antonio’s Pizza stopped in the middle of the street, and then he stared at the six turtles.
“Huh?” He asked, confused.
The Turtles all looked at the deliveryman with shocked or sheepish expressions, then Raph made a scary face and growled at him, causing the deliveryman to scream and drive away. One of the pizzas came loose and fell off the back of his moped, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“That was kind of fun.” Raph chuckled.
“Yeah, but you didn’t have to scare him, dude.” Cath said disapprovingly.
“Cath’s right.” Leo agreed. “We’re too exposed out here.”
He then gestured to a nearby rooftop. “Come on.” Leo said as he walked over to the building.
The others ran after him, but Mikey stopped in his tracks and took the pizza box with him.
On top of the building, the six Turtles were all crowded around the pizza box. (Elisa stood across from Raph and Cath was between Mikey and Donnie.)
“Pizz-a?” Mikey read, mispronouncing the word ‘pizza.’
“It says ‘pizza’, brah.” Cath corrected him.
“Do you think we should open it?” Donnie asked unsurely.
“Careful!” Leo cautioned. “It could be dangerous.”
Raph then opened the box, revealing a large cheese pizza topped with pepperoni.
“I think it’s… food.” Donnie assumed.
“Well, duh!” Elisa scoffed. “But what kind of food?”
“It’s not like any food I ever saw.” Raph remarked.
“Well, who’s gonna try it, dudes?” Cath asked.
“I will.” Mikey offered, reaching down and grabbing a slice. He then maneuvered it to his mouth and took a bite.
(Mikey’s mind)
Mikey’s brain was so overwhelmed by the flavor that it exploded.
(Reality)
Mikey greedily gobbled down the rest of the slice and let out a satisfied belch, when he saw his siblings staring at him.
“Uh, yuck.” He lied. “You guys wouldn’t like it.” He then grabbed the box. “I’ll take the rest.”
“What?” Donnie protested.
“No way!” Cath argued.
“Nuh-uh!” Leo said.
“Back off!” Raph snapped.
“Save some for me!” Elisa called.
They all grabbed the pizza box and each took a slice or two, in Elisa and Cath’s case, and then shoveled them into their mouths.
“I never thought I’d taste anything better than worms an algae in my entire life, but this is amazing!” Raph exclaimed happily.
“Dudes, are you kidding?!” Cath asked. “This is way better than worms and algae!”
“Yeah, it’s real food!” Elisa agreed heartily.
“I love it up here!” Mikey yelled to the sky.
A few minutes later, the Turtles were all running across the rooftops throughout the city. They jumped down from a building onto another one, while Leo leapt over a water tower, all of them whooping and cheering. They then stopped on the edge of the building and stared at the New York City skyline. (Elisa was on Raph’s right, while Cath was between Donnie and Mikey.)
“All right, guys, it’s getting late.” Leo told his siblings. “We should probably head back home.”
“Buzzkill!” Cath groaned.
“Lame!” Mikey moaned.
“What a rip-off.” Elisa griped.
“Come on.” Raph sighed.
The others turned and were about to walk off, when Donnie saw something. “Guys, look at that!” He gasped, pointing.
“What is it, Donnie?” Elisa asked.
The others then looked down at where Donnie had pointed. They saw a half-bald man with red hair and a beard walking down the sidewalk with an orange-haired teenage girl with a yellow headband in her hair. The man was wearing a black jacket with a greyish-blue shirt underneath, grey pants, and brown boots, while the girl was wearing a yellow short-sleeved shirt with a long-sleeved black shirt underneath, blue jean shorts with black leggings, black knee-high socks with light blue stripes on the top, and black shoes. Donnie felt his heart start racing as he was entranced by the girl’s looks.
“She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.” He said dreamily.
“Isn’t she the only girl you’ve ever seen?” Raph asked, snapping Donnie out of his lovesick trance.
“My point still stands.” Donnie shrugged, like his siblings couldn’t care less.
They then heard the sound of tires screeching, and saw a van park right in front of the man and the girl that had passed them.
“What?” The man asked as the driver stepped out.
Six other men then opened the back door and jumped out, wearing business attire, while the driver wore a simple white undershirt.
“What is this?” The older man asked as the four other men approached him, while keeping the girl back.
“We gotta save them!” Donnie gasped.
He was about to jump off the building when Leo stopped him and grabbed his shoulder.
“Splinter’s instructions were very clear.” He reminded Donnie firmly. “We’re supposed to stay away from people.”
“And bad bathrooms.” Elisa added.
“Don’t get me started on the bad bathrooms, dudes.” Cath shuddered.
“I thought you wanted to be a hero?” Raph asked Leo confusingly. “Since when do heroes ask for permission?”
“He’s got a point, brah.” Cath agreed.
“They don’t.” Leo retorted. “But-”
“Well, I say we go for it!” Elisa said as she jumped off of the building, followed by the others, leaving Leo alone. Leo sighed, but followed his siblings as he jumped off as well.
On the street, the seven men were leading the older man and girl over to the van.
“Help!” The girl cried as the older man was thrown to the ground. One of the other men then lifted up the older man and threw him into the van.
“Hey!” Raph shouted, as the other man turned to see Raph standing in front of him. Raph then punched the man in the stomach, knocking him back, but he was unfazed.
“Still standing, huh?” Raph asked mockingly. “No problem, I’ll fix that.”
He got out his Sais and twirled them, when Leo was thrown into him.
“Watch it!” Leo snapped.
“You watch it!” Raph snapped back.
Leo jumped over the man Raph was facing, when another came up in front of him. He then punched the ground, but Raph jumped back to avoid it. Raph then blocked another punch and somersaulted back, but hit Donnie, who had his Bō out.
“Watch it, Donnie!” Raph grunted.
Donnie then blocked a third man’s attacks with his Bō, before striking him in the face with it, to no effect. He then whacked the man in the chest with his Bō, knocking it back. Mikey somersaulted away from a fourth man and twirled his nunchuck, but accidentally grabbed Raph’s Sai with it. Raph then ducked out of the way as the second man approached him, before charging right back at him. Elisa twirled her Kusari-fundo as she dared a fifth man to come at her, while Cath hit a sixth with her Tonfas, but he didn’t flinch. Leo then rolled out of the way as the first man tried to punch him, when Donnie accidentally struck his katanas with his Bō. Leo got back up and ran towards the men, but accidentally stabbed Raph in his shell.
“What the-” Raph began when the second man knocked him to the side.
Raph grabbed the third man under the arm with his Sais, like he did to Leo earlier. He then tried to pull him down, but the man wouldn’t move.
“Aw, come on!” Raph cried in annoyance.
The third man then punched Raph, who landed on his chest, while Leo kept jumping to dodge the first man’s attacks, when he suddenly backed up into the first man. He then performed a double jump kick to knock the two men back, but was punched back by the first man.
“Hey, cut it out!” The girl shouted as the fourth man carried her off. “Stop! Ow!”
Donnie turned back when he heard the girl scream. “Huh?” He muttered.
He then threw his Bō at the man, causing him to let go of the girl, and then Donnie caught her.
“Gotcha!” He said.
The girl looked up at Donnie, who smiled at her, and she screamed as loud as she could, making Donnie scream loudly in return. He then dropped the girl, who inched away in fear.
“No, no, no!” He insisted. “No, don’t worry. We’re the good guys.”
The girl screamed again as Donnie stepped closer.
“It’s okay.” Donnie assured.
The girl turned around and gasped as she saw two of the men approaching her. Donnie offered a hand to the girl, but Mikey accidentally hit him in the face with his nunchuck.
“Whoops.” He winced as Donnie growled at him. “Sorry.”
He then pointed in front of Donnie and shouted. “Watch out!”
The fifth and sixth men kicked Donnie into Mikey, knocking them into some garbage cans. Donnie quickly got back up when he saw the girl tied up and gagged and watched as the van’s back doors shut.
“They’re getting away!” He cried as the van drove off. “They got the girl!”
“You just jabbed me with your sword!” Raph yelled at Leo.
“Well, I didn’t know you were gonna land where I was stabbing.” Leo retorted as they ran off after Donnie.
Cath and Elisa followed their brothers, leaving Mikey behind. He got up and tried to follow, when he saw one of the men that was accidentally left behind.
“You think you’re tough, huh?” Mikey asked, bringing out his nunchucks. “You think you’re tough enough to stand up to my hot nunchuck fury?”
He then twirled his nunchucks around and took a fighting stance, before jumping around and still twirled them, but the man just stood there and didn’t say anything. Finally, he caught one of Mikey’s nunchucks and yanked it out of his hand, much to Mikey’s surprise.
“I see.” Mikey let out. “Well, then…”
He then ran away screaming in the opposite direction of his siblings, but the man ran after him. Mikey ran down an alley until he reached a dead end, as the man approached him. Mikey then panicked and put his other nunchuck in sickle mode.
“Stay back!” He warned, slicing the man’s face, who stumbled back before falling onto the ground on his chest.
“What the…” Mikey asked, confused.
He then carefully approached the man and rolled him over on his side with his foot, only to find a robotic skin underneath.
“That is just all kinds of wrong!” Mikey exclaimed, horrified.
The robot’s body turned off, and then Mikey looked down to see a brain in the stomach area controlling the robot. It screeched at Mikey, who screamed, before latching onto his face with its tentacles. Mikey ran around as he tried to pry the brain away from him, but to no avail. Finally, he succeeded, splattering it against a wall as the brain fell to the ground. The brain then ran away as Mikey caught his breath, before running to find the others.
“Guys, guys!” He exclaimed once he found them. “You’re never gonna believe this!
“What is it, dude?” Cath asked.
“That dude I just fought…” Mikey panted.
“Yeah?” Elisa asked.
“He had, he had a brain!” Mikey explained.
“We all have brains, Mikey.” Leo deadpanned.
“In fact, every creature has ‘em, brah.” Cath added.
“Not every creature.” Donnie corrected.
“Even in our chests?!” Mikey asked, clutching his heart.
“No, Mikey.” Leo answered. “Not even in our chests.”
“You’re not listening to me!” Mikey snapped, before Leo slapped him. “Did you just slap me?”
“I was calming you down.” Leo replied.
“Why would that calm me down?!” Mikey retorted.
“I think he’s delusional.” Donnie assumed.
“Wait.” Cath said, pushing past Leo and Donnie. “Did you say this brain was in this dude’s chest?”
“Yeah!” Mikey answered honestly as he started walking. “Just come with me, I’ll show you. I’m telling you, the big guy was a robot and he had a freaky weird alien brain thingy in his chest!”
The other five looked at each other skeptically as they followed Mikey.
“You gotta believe me!” Mikey insisted.
“I’m not sure we do.” Raph said, unconvinced.
“Oh, yeah?” Mikey challenged when they got to the alley. “Well you’ll change your tune when you see that he’s-”
But when the others caught up with him and looked down the alley, they found it to be completely empty.
“Gone?” Mikey finished.
He then looked back at his siblings, who stared at him disapprovingly. Raph shook his head at Mikey as they walked off, while Mikey took one last look down the alley where he saw the robot.
Back in the lair, the Turtles were sitting in the dojo, explaining to Splinter their first trip to the surface. (Elisa was on Mikey’s left and Cath was between Leo and Raph.)
“And so your inability to work together allowed them all to get away?” Splinter asked, not happy once he learned the whole story.
“Well, maybe if I didn’t have to waste time arguing with hero boy, I could’ve saved them!” Raph argued, gesturing to Leo.
“Hey, if you hadn’t gotten in my way, I could have done it!” Leo argued back. He then turned to Donnie. “And you went flying off on your own!” He scolded. “How smart was that?”
“Yeah!” Cath agreed. “I know you got a major crush on that girl, but that gives you no excuse to take off on your own like that!”
“Well, it would’ve worked out great if somebody hadn’t hit me in the head with their nunchucks!” Donnie snapped as he turned his head at Mikey.
“That’s what you get for goofing off instead of training most of the time.” Elisa teased.
“Oh, yeah? Well…” Mikey began, trying to come up with a good excuse. “None of this would’ve happened if…”
“If what?” Elisa asked.
“Somebody hadn’t trusted us to go up there in the first place!” Mikey blurted out, unaware that he was referring to Splinter.
Splinter stopped dead in his tracks as the others glared at Mikey.
“Dude!” Cath scolded.
“Oh, geez.” Mikey muttered, realizing he just dug himself deeper. “Sensei, I didn’t mean to-”
“No, Michelangelo.” Splinter interrupted. “You are right.”
“I am?” Mikey asked.
“You are?” Cath and Elisa asked, confused.
“He is?” Raph, Leo, and Donnie asked, just as confused.
“You six were not fully prepared for what was up there.” Splinter explained. “I trained you all to fight as individuals, not as a team. And as your teacher, and your father, the responsibility for that is mine. Perhaps in another year, we can try again.”
“What?!” Elisa and Cath exclaimed.
“Another year?” Donnie asked in shock. “Has everybody forgotten that two people were kidnapped tonight?”
“They may have another day, but not a whole year!” Elisa argued. “We have to do something now!”
“Come on, Sensei!” Cath begged. “Just give us another chance, and we’ll show you that we can work together as a team.”
Splinter glared at his children.
“You weren’t there, Sensei.” Donnie argued. “You didn’t see the way that girl looked into my eyes.”
“Could you please stop thinking about the girl?!” Cath asked angrily.
“My point is, that girl was scared.” Donnie continued, ignoring Cath. “And she’s counting on me-all of us-to save her!”
Splinter thought for a moment, before walking over to an old photo of him as a human that was sitting on a shelf, along with a woman and a baby. He looked at it closer as Donnie’s words sunk into him.
“Yes, you must save her.” He finally said, facing back to his children.
“I agree, Sensei.” Leo agreed wholeheartedly. “But in that fight, we weren’t exactly a well-oiled fighting machine.”
“Some worse than others.” Elisa joked, pointing at Mikey.
“Hey!” Mikey said, offended. “Well, at least you and Cath were better than the rest of us against that robot with the brain thingy.”
“Knock it off, Mikey.” Cath sighed, rubbing her forehead.
“Yeah, give it a rest.” Raph agreed with Cath.
They all looked back up at Splinter, who scratched his beard.
“If you are to fight more effectively as a unit, you are going to need a leader.” He told them.
“Can I be the leader?” Leo asked eagerly, raising his hand.
“Why should you be the leader?” Raph asked.
“Because he watches that stupid Space Heroes show.” Elisa teased.
“It’s not stupid!” Leo snapped at her.
“Being a hero is a lot different in real life, dude.” Cath piped up.
“Anyways, I should be the leader!” Raph argued with Leo and Elisa. “I managed to kick both your butts!”
“Hey, I’m smarter than all of us put together!” Donnie chimed in. “It should be me!”
“No way, it should be me!” Mikey argued.
The others stared at him.
“I don’t really have a reason.” Mikey explained. “I just think it would be neat.”
“Well then, I should be the leader.” Elisa argued. “I’m not as smart as Raph, but I’m twice as strong!”
“Is that so, Little Miss Rageaholic?” Cath challenged. “Anyways, it should be me, since I’m the most cautious.”
Splinter opened the door to his room and turned to his children. “This is a difficult decision.” He said. “I will meditate on it.”
He then stepped into his room and shut the door, and after less than two seconds came back out.
“It’s Leonardo.” He decided, before shutting the door again.
The Turtles all looked at each other. “So, that’s that.” Cath shrugged as Raph hung his head down in defeat.
“No hard feelings, right, Raph?” Leo asked.
“Stick it in your shell.” Raph grumbled as he got up and stormed off.
The following night, the Turtles were standing on top of a roof, waiting for the robots who kidnapped the older man and the girl to show up.
“Explain to me one more time what we’re doing here?” Mikey asked in a whisper, making his siblings groan.
“Mikey, we’ve been over this a hundred times.” Leo told him. “That building has the same logo as the van that was used to kidnap the family.” He pointed to the logo on the building below them as he spoke. “So, if we wait here long enough, the kidnappers will eventually show their faces. And when he does, we’ll make him tell us where they took them.”
“And then we got ourselves a van!” Mikey cheered, pumping his fist.
Leo facepalmed. “Just hit the guy I tell you to.” He told Mikey.
“Will do.” Mikey replied, giving Leo a thumbs-up.
Leo then turned to Raph. “Are you sure this is gonna work?” Raph asked skeptically.
“Trust me, they’ll be here any second.” Leo assured.
“Now I see why Sensei made Leo leader.” Cath remarked.
“You don’t have to rub it in.” Elisa snarked, as she had heard her.
After a couple hours, the van still hadn’t shown up. Mikey was playing finger football with Donnie, but accidentally hit him in the face with the paper. Donnie was then seen jumping rope as Mikey took a nap, but his snoring annoyed Elisa, who was trying to meditate, as Donnie then tripped and fell over. Later, Raph was playing “I’m Thinking Of” with his siblings except Leo.
“Okay, I’m thinking of something green.” Mikey said. “Ga-reen, Ga-reen.” He repeated, putting a little emphasis on the word “green”.
“Is it Raphael again?” Donnie asked, uninterested.
“Man, you are so good at this!” Mikey commented.
“We’ve heard the same answer before, dude.” Cath said.
“What is this, Brother Bear, where the moose play I Spy and each get the same answer?” Elisa asked.
Leo didn’t move from his spot, as he was still looking in the alley for the van to show up, when his siblings got up and rejoined him.
“Give it up, already.” Raph said to him. “The guys aren’t gonna show.”
“We have to be patient.” Leo said calmly.
“No, you have to come up with a better plan, ‘cause the six of us sitting here on our butts with our thumbs up our noses…” Raph argued.
“I don’t think they’d fit.” Mikey pointed out, thinking Raph meant that literally.
“…Is pointless.” Raph finished.
“You sure about that, Raph?” Leo smirked.
“They just showed up, didn’t they?” Raph asked rhetorically, seeing the van pull up into the alley. “I should’ve complained two hours ago.” He muttered as the driver stepped out.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a bold and daring plan.” Leo quoted. “There’s no time for hesitation. My orders must be carried out without question.”
When he was finished, he saw that his siblings had already jumped down from the roof. “Uh, guys?” He asked. “Guys, wait up!”
He then jumped down and joined his siblings as they surrounded the driver. (Elisa was between Donnie and Mikey and Cath between Donnie and Leo.)
“All right, buddy.” Raph advised. “We can do this the easy way, or, my vote, the hard way.”
The Turtles then got out their weapons as Donnie spoke. “Yeah, look at it logically.” He added. “There are six of us, and only one of you.”
“What you gonna do?” Cath asked.
“At this point, you might as well give up and go home.” Elisa suggested.
The driver, however, got out a laser blaster and fired at the six Turtles, who yelped and ducked out of the way. They jumped up and landed on a fire escape, and then Raph glared at his three siblings.
“You three just had to say it, didn’t you?!” He snapped.
The Turtles jumped back down and saw the van driving away.
“He’s getting away again!” Donnie exclaimed.
“Oh, no, he’s not.” Leo assured as they ran for the roof.
The Turtles leapt and jumped over the rooftops until they intercepted the van, and then Raph jumped onto it. The driver made a hard left down the next street, throwing Raph off and into a wall, where he hit his shell. The others kept leaping and running until the driver saw them through the rearview mirror. He looked at his blaster, picked it up, and continued firing at them as he kept driving. Mikey, Donnie, and the girls jumped down, while Leo continued running. He then threw a shuriken at the van, hitting one of the wheels and puncturing the tires. The van swerved as it hit a lamppost, before it landed on its right side as it came to a stop.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Leo smirked as he watched from a rooftop.
The Turtles then hid behind a wall, and Leo made some hand gestures signaling to the others what to do.
“I don’t know what any of that means.” Raph whispered, mockingly copying Leo.
“Go around back.” Leo clarified.
“Ohhh…” The others understood.
“Why didn’t he just say so?” Mikey asked.
The six Turtles then stepped out from behind the wall and carefully approached the truck while holding their weapons. Raph and Mikey walked around to the back, and then Raph opened the back door. A canister full of ooze, similar to the one that mutated Splinter and the Turtles 15 years ago, rolled out of the back, before it stopped at Mikey’s feet.
“Mom?” Mikey asked in shock.