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Splinter was snoring softly on the couch, one hand still clutching the plate where an empty glass of milk and a half-eaten slice of cake lay abandoned. The TV washed the lair in flickering late-night light, and for once, the boys moved quietly. Well, quiet for them.
Leo peeked over the back of the couch, squinting at their father’s utterly unconscious state.
“Operation Borrow-the-Mysterious-Symbol-Thing-From-Dad’s-Cabinet,” he whispered dramatically, “is officially a go.”
Mikey nodded as though receiving a sacred mission. Raph shushed them so hard the couch shook. Splinter snorted awake for half a second, mumbled something about “walk machine… scorpions,” then fell right back asleep.
“See?” Leo grinned. “We’re basically invited.”
They approached Splinter’s Do-not-touch cabinet, and there it was: the doohickey. A small, strange round blue object with the same symbol from the brick wall.
“Yoink!” Mikey scooped it up without hesitation.
“HEY—careful!” Raph whisper-yelled. “We don’t want to wake up Splinter!”
“Which is exactly,” Leo said, sliding dramatically into frame, “why we’re silently taking it into a random construction yard at midnight to save April. Science, big guy.”
“Raph gets science,” Raph insisted. “Sometimes.”
Before any further ego damage could occur, they slipped out into the quiet nighttime streets, heading for the half-finished construction site where April had vanished hours earlier, dragged into the unknown by two dudes that looked like a fancy trash can and toaster.
The city groaned as the turtles made their way back into the skeleton of what would one day be an office building. For now, it was just shadows, scaffolding, and the faint smell of wet cement.
“Okay,” Leo clapped his hands together. “Let’s portal our way to our girl, find the weird dudes, kick butt, save April. Boom. Easy.”
Raph held the doohickey like a ceremonial artifact, bracing himself.
“Stand back. Raph’s got this.” He pressed the center.
The device did nothing.
“Raph will pull it off cause if he doesn’t. We’ll lose our best friend forever” Mikey said.
“Mikey don’t say that you know he chokes under pressure”
Raph tried again and again.
Mikey took the doohickey as it bounced off the wall “How about we let the artist of the crew take a poke at it?”
Leo tried so hard not to laugh. “I say give him a shot. I mean, he can’t do any worse, respectfully”
Raph sputtered, “Lemme just—give me another shot—” Leo gave him a pat on the back.
Mikey cracked his knuckles, took a deep breath, and tried the device once.
The air split open.
A swirling, luminous vortex tore itself into existence right on the brick wall, vivid blues, greens, and golds spiraling into a yawning whirlpool of light. Wind whipped outward, tugging at their masks.
The brothers froze in awe.
“I did it!” Mikey yelped proudly, bouncing on his toes.
Raph blinked. “Wait—how’d you do that?!”
Mikey shrugged. “I pressed it nice.”
Raph gave him an incredulous stare. “…That’s it?”
“Okay, you know what? Not questioning it,” Leo announced. “Portal’s open. April’s somewhere in there. We got this.”
Without hesitation, without a shred of caution or common sense, the three brothers leapt into the swirling unknown.
They landed in chaos. A cacophony of neon lights, twisting stone architecture, flying bizarre creatures, individuals of every color and shape bustling through the streets, it hit them all at once.
Leo’s jaw dropped. Raph’s tail raised. Mikey gasped.
They barely had time to gawk when a familiar voice shrieked from somewhere beside them:
“LEO! RAPH! MIKEY!”
April barreled toward them from the edge of a twisting stone walkway, hair bouncing and her sweater singed in several places. Before any of them could react, she launched herself into the trio.
Raph caught her first and lifted her clean off her feet. “APRIL! You’re alive!”
Mikey hugged her waist from the side. “Girl, we thought you straight-up got kidnapped!”
Leo squeezed her shoulders dramatically. “We were seconds away from printing April-missing posters. In neon.”
April wheezed. “Can—can y’all let go? I need my ribs intact.”
They set her down, but none stepped far.
Leo glanced around, ”Where are we?”
April cleared her throat ”I’ve been exploring and we’re in a mystic hidden city deep under New York!”
Mikey looked at her “So where’s the dog thing?”
“He’s in there” She pointed toward the towering structure ahead, a building that looked part medieval fortress, part mad-scientist fever dream, perched on a massive rock in the middle of what was unmistakably a glowing lake of lava. A crumbling stone bridge, no rails, uneven flooring, and an ominous aura, connected it to their platform.
“The weird dudes took that little dog-thing in there,” April said. “They definitely shouldn’t have it.”
The brothers agreed, crossing the bridge they made it inside walking through the metal doors of the fortress and into a dim chamber lit by giant contraption of some kind in the middle that stretched all the way to the roof. Stone walls towered around them, carved with symbols none of them recognized. But front and center, by the weird giant contraption, sat the little dog-creature trapped inside a glowing cage.
It barked at them. Or chirped. Or possibly cursed them out, hard to tell.
“Aww!” Mikey whispered. “It’s like a magic pug with fangs!”
Raph crouched over the railing. “We’re gonna get you outta there, little dude.”
The doors on the lower level slammed open. All four froze just as they were about to jump down. A tall, long-limbed figure strutted into the chamber like he owned gravity itself. He was lean, towering, sharp in silhouette, robes sweeping the ground in dramatic fashion, his golden mask catching firelight in sharp angles. His hoofs clicked on the stone floor, echoing with every step.
The turtles and April scrambled back on the elevated platform above, using the shadows to hide.
Mikey whispered, “Uhhh… who’s the scarecrow-glam-rock-sheep-man?”
Leo squinted. “I don’t know… but the drip is concerning.”
Raph clenched his fists. “Guys… something about him feels wrong.”
April inhaled sharply. “That’s him. That’s the one the toaster guy brought the dog-thing to.”
Down below, the tall figure lifted the glowing cage with one hand as if it weighed nothing. “My, my,” he purred, voice smooth and dangerous. “Such power for such a tiny beast. You gave me much trouble. Nevertheless, The world will tremble at my name once more…”
Leo’s eyes widened. “Okay. Anyone who talks like that? Automatically evil.”
Mikey nodded. “Facts.”
The figure turned slightly, just enough that if any one of them made a sound, he might catch them.
The turtles ducked lower. “This,” Leo whispered, eyes bright with thrill and mild terror, “is either a final boss…”
“Or,” Mikey whispered back, “an average sheep man.”
Raph grinned. “Either way, we’re saving that dog!”
They peeked again, he was still there, still monologuing, still extremely ominous.
The brothers exchanged a look. April ducked back behind the stone ledge, gripping her knees, eyes wide. “We can’t let that sheep-horned weirdo do anything to that dog!”
“Agreed,” Leo whispered, nodding sagely. “But tiny issue, we are currently—” he patted his belt, “—fresh out of weapons.”
Raph puffed up proudly at that. “Who needs weapons? We’re ninjas.” He flexed.
Leo stared at him flatly. “Okay, yes, big guy, very inspirational, but he has a magic cage and a helmet, and you have, what, deltoids?”
“Pretty good deltoids,” Mikey whispered approvingly.
“They’re great deltoids,” Leo agreed, patting Raph’s arm, “but still not weapons.”
Raph huffed, muttering, “Deltoids could be weapons…”
April shoved her hands between them before this devolved into a “Raph tries to wrestle a sorcerer” situation.
“GOOD NEWS,” she whispered sharply. “I know where they keep the weapons. Like a room full of them. I passed it on the way in trying not to die.”
The boys nodded. Mikey crawled after her.
Raph followed, cracking his knuckles like he was ready to punch destiny itself.
Leo brought up the rear, leaning close to Mikey as they shuffled along the ledge’s edge. “Thank goodness April had a plan,” he whispered deadpanned. “We were so dead.”
Mikey nodded solemnly, whispering back, “Super dead.”
Below them, the tall figure raised kept talking to a dude in a cage ominously. Without any of them realizing the evil man had taken the vial around the dog-thingy’s neck and placed it on his machine. A tiny green turtle in a cage next to the dog thingy blinked as the tall figure held a mosquito with green liquid on its sack into the cage.
Above him, four absolute disasters-in-training crept toward the weapons room with all the stealth of caffeinated raccoons. They had no plan. They had no strategy.
April she pointed ahead. “That’s it. The weapon room.” The door creaked loudly as they nudged it open and slipped inside. The chamber was cluttered with racks of bizarre, mismatched weaponry, swords with crooked handles, axes with way too many blades, some kind of flail that was still dripping from its last use.
Leo stepped forward reverently. “Gentlemen… and April… we shop.”
Without hesitation, Leo grabbed the first odachi-shaped sword he saw, a dull, dusty blade that wobbled slightly in his hands.
Mikey snatched a random pair of mismatched nunchucks. “Ooh! Vintage!” He attempted a spin. The chain promptly bonked him in the forehead.
Raph stared at them like a disappointed older sibling. “Hey—yo, guys! How about we take the glow-y ones?”
Both Leo and Mikey froze mid–weapons test. Their eyes shot toward the far wall. There, brilliant, neon-lit, humming with magical energy, was an entire rack of glowing, enchanted weapons. Blues, purples, oranges, reds, every blade, chain, and handle shimmered like a rave was trapped inside them.
Leo dropped the wobbly odachi so fast it made a sad clatter. They sprinted.
He slid dramatically on his knees, skidding up to the glowing sword. “DIBS!” He snatched the vibrant blue odachi, which hummed obsessively, like a weapon thrilled to be chosen by a dramatic idiot.
Mikey reached for the nearest glowing kusari-fundo. It pulsed orange in time with his heartbeat. “OHHH she’s pretty,” he whispered, swinging it experimentally and only narrowly missing his own head this time.
Raph cracked a grin, naturally gravitating toward the largest glowing weapons in sight, massive, light-soaked tonfa. “Oh yeah,” he said, lifting them with satisfaction. “These babies got bite.”
April wandered along the rack, scanning weapons that looked far too dangerous and far too alive. Her hand stopped on something small and green. “…Is this a golf club?” she asked. The weapon hummed, neon green and vibrating with power. She shrugged. “Cool. I’m taking it.”
Leo turned, admiring their newly upgraded arsenal. “Team,” he said proudly, “we look incredible.”
Mikey twirled his chain. “We’re like, armed and dangerous, but make it sparkle.”
Raph cracked the tonfa together, sending a shockwave through the rack. “Let’s go save that dog!”
April rested the glowing golf-club-bat thing on her shoulder. “Let’s just hope we don’t die first. Preferably.”
The turtles nodded. They were ready. Or at least, they felt ready. Which was basically the same thing.
The moment they returned to the cavernous chamber, the tall horned figure was still mid–dramatic monologue, holding a glowing cage high, within its confines the tiny turtle slumped on its side after a successful mutation, while the dog-like prisoner on the cage beside snarled and kicked uselessly against the bars. The tall figure paid the dog-thingy no mind setting the cage down marveling at his newest creation.
Raph unaware of what had occurred stepped forward first on the platform, cracking his new glowing tonfa together with a thunderous K-CHMMM. “All right, you incredibly, unusually buff bookworm, give us the little guy, and you’ll walk outta here with your horns still attached!”
Leo blinked. “Wait—shouldn’t we also stop him from, you know… his evil plans?”
Raph paused. “Oh. Yeah. Good note.”
He cleared his throat, squared his shoulders, and tried again. “All right, you incredibly, unusually buff bookworm, give us the little guy, AND stop your evil plans, and THEN you’ll walk outta here with your horns still attached!”
Mikey raised a finger. “OH—and also ask for a ride home!”
April groaned, slapped her forehead, and sat down on the platform.
“And a limo with a hot tub! And pizza! OOH—stuffed crust!”
Leo patted Raph’s shoulder like a director correcting an actor. “Yeah, big guy, let’s take it from the top. You’ve got this.”
Raph nodded, inhaling deeply like he was about to recite Shakespeare. He lifted his tonfa again. “All right, First apologize to the dog-thingy—”
The villain, who had been silently observing the turtle in the cage, turned and upon looking at the turtles whispered to himself. “You’re beautiful.”
April shot up, “Oh forget this— we’re going!” She jumped off the platform.
Mikey gasped in horror. “Oh my gosh. She just ran in!”
“April O’Neil!” April screamed as she launched herself into the air, landing directly on top of the cage holding the dog creature. “Hang tight, buddy! April’s got you!”
Two tiny flying minions, previously perched on the villain’s shoulders like evil parakeets, shot upward in a flurry of high-pitched screeches, latching onto her sweater, her hair, anything available. “Hey—get—off—my—hair!!” April yelled, swinging wildly as she tried to pry one minion away. The other nipped her sweater.
Meanwhile, the tall horned villain turned slowly, ominously, toward the turtles. He raised both hands and smashed two glowing purple orbs together between his palms.
KRACKOOOOM.
The sound boomed through the chamber like thunder. The stone floor beneath the boys split open as giant purple vines burst upward, thorny, glowing, twisting like serpents hungry for prey. The vines lunged.
Mikey shrieked. Raph jumped on a vine. Leo slid down a vine claiming how much he hated this.
The tall villain, calm, elegant, and deeply irritated, reached into his robes and pulled out three more purple orbs. “Enough playing.” He slammed them to the ground.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The room shook violently as purple energy exploded outward. Mechanical pieces klanged together out of thin air, gears, plates, pistons, all snapping into place around a massive forming body. A giant purple monster, half organic vine, half golden machinery, rose up with a metallic howl.
“Capture those specimens!” the villain commanded, pointing at the turtles.
Raph’s eyes widened with delighted panic. “Oh-ho-ho no you don’t—COWABUNGA!!”
Leo didn’t even hesitate. He sprinted past his brothers, odachi glowing bright blue as he vaulted toward the towering monster. “HIIII-YAH!” He slashed clean through one of the monster’s feet. The foot exploded in a burst of purple mist.
The monster shrieked, staggered, and, in pure monster logic, grabbed a chunk of the floor, ripped it up, and threw it at the boys.
Raph and Mikey didn’t flinch. “Up we go!” Mikey yelled, running up the falling debris like a stairway. Raph followed, massive legs pumping like pistons. At the peak of their improvised rock escalator, Mikey swung his glowing kusari-fundo, and used it as leverage to fling Raph forward. “Go raph!”
Raph shot through the air like a freight train with arms. “RAPH SMASH!” He slammed right into the monster’s face, knocking it backward and sending a shockwave through the chamber. The monster crashed to the ground, dust exploding around it.
The villain actually paused. “Hm,” he murmured. “Accidentally impressive. With a little training, you could be as formidable as I’d hoped.”
Meanwhile, the turtles were in absolute disarray, Leo was coughing dust, clutching his side. Mikey had splattered face-first onto the stone floor. Raph was wheezing, sprawled on top of a chunk of debris.
April, still on the air, locked in mortal combat with the two tiny gargoyle minions, waved them off. “I’m okay! I got this!” she shouted, while one minion yanked on her sleeve like it was a rope swing.
Leo staggered upright, dust puffing off him. He pointed his sword heroically. “O-Okay. Well. Great. And since you’re surrendering—”
The villain’s laugh echoed through the chamber. “Baron Draxum,” he announced with theatrical pride, “does NOT surrender.”
Leo tilted his head. “Okay, well, when he gets here we’ll deal with him—” A beat. “Oh ho ho… I see. You’re doing that whole sinister ‘talking in the third person’ thing.”
Raph shot upright, glaring at the villain. “Only Raph can talk in the third person!” He pointed both tonfa at his brothers. “All right guys! Time to put our training to use!” He launched himself at Baron Draxum, Mikey springing right beside him with a war cry.
Leo blinked after them, stunned. “What training? You guys have been training?!”
They all charged Baron Draxum at the exact same time.
“HI-YAH!”
“YIPPEE-KI-YAY!”
For a glorious five seconds, they actually held their own, dodging around Draxum’s blasts, clashing glowing weapons against his fists, and shouting absolute nonsense battle cries. Then Draxum planted both fists into the ground.
BOOOOM.
A shockwave rippled outward like a magical earthquake, blasting all three turtles backward into a pile of rubble.
“And THAT,” Draxum began smugly, “is why Baron Drax—”
Something screeched. One of the tiny minions fell from the ceiling and landed directly on his head. “I’m sorry, boss!” it squeaked.
Draxum sputtered, trying to pry it off by its wings. Above them, April crashed down, still mid-wrestle with the other minion. She caught it by the tail, spun it in a spiral, and slammed it down on the stone floor with a triumphant grunt. She flashed the turtles a thumbs-up.
The boys, bruised and half-buried in debris, gave her tired thumbs-ups right back.
Draxum, however, had had enough. He flicked a hand. A glowing yellow vine shot out from the floor like a living rope, wrapped April in one swoop, and sealed her inside a glowing cocoon. “HEY!” she yelled. “RUDE!”
Mikey’s eyes bulged. “Oh, you did not just do that to our friend!” He hurled his kusari-fundo at Draxum with a furious yell.
Draxum effortlessly stepped to the side, letting it pass harmlessly by.
Mikey clenched his teeth, then noticed something. The head of the weapon began to glow red. Then hotter. Then BURST into fiery life, transforming into a tiny flaming demon creature with a snarling face. “WHOA—MAGIC WEAPON—!”
Before he could celebrate, the fiery demon yanked the chain. Hard. Mikey screamed as he was launched into the air like a magical bungee cord gone rogue. He swung wildly around the chamber. Bouncing off walls, Ricocheting off pillars, Screaming incoherent nonsense. Until the chain snapped taut and slammed him straight into the towering machine core above.
CRAAAAACK.
Sparks rained down as the heart of the massive machine shattered, purple energy sizzling wildly.
Raph ran over, helping him sit up. “WOAH, Mikey, that was awesome! How’d you do that?!”
Mikey wheezed. “I dunno, man! I was just swinging my weapon like this—” He mimed the motion. The fiery demon immediately reawakened. “—Just like thAAAAAAT—!!”
The creature yanked him skyward again. Mikey shot back into the air with a scream, zooming around like the world’s loudest pinball. Leo watched him fly by, ducking so he wouldn’t get clotheslined.
Raph’s eyes lit up. “OHO, let me try! Magic weapon, magic weapon, magic weapon, MAGIC WEAPON!”
He began shaking his tonfa wildly like maracas on caffeine. The weapons flickered… sparked red… and suddenly ignited with swirling crimson energy. “AY YEAH—MAGIC WEAPON!!”
He swung them triumphantly.
WHAM.
A massive surge of red energy rebounded, blasting him thirty feet backward into the wall like a rubber band snapping. He slid down the stones with a weak groan.
Leo winced. “Ohhh… that’s gonna leave a dent.”
Draxum sidestepped the chaos with elegant annoyance as the turtles’ own weapons attacked them more than him. He raised his arms.
Leo sprinted toward Baron Draxum, glowing odachi raised high. “Can’t wait to find out what mine does!”
His sword crackled with electric-blue sparks, arcing, dancing, building. Leo swung. Right through Draxum. Harmlessly.
Leo froze mid–follow-through. “…Heh.” He gave an uneasy laugh.
Before he could recover, the odachi sparked again, then surged, and a swirling blue portal tore open beneath his feet. “UH-OH—”
Another portal opened directly above it. Leo dropped in. Leo fell out. Leo dropped in again. Leo fell out again. He was now stuck in a loop of doom, falling faster and faster every time his screaming body reappeared for a micro-second.
“GET—” fall “—ME—” fall “—OFF—” fall “—THIS—” fall “—RIIIIIDE!”
Mikey, currently ricocheting around the room like a magical yo-yo possessed by chaos demons, caught sight of him. “LEO! LOOK OUT—!!”
He smashed into Leo mid-loop. The portal snapped shut. Both turtles crashed together in a tangled heap, Mikey’s glowing flaming-demon chain wrapped around both their bodies like a metal python. They spun in the air like a burrito from the ninth circle of chaos before smacking into place beside Raph and April.
Draxum sighed dramatically. “You fight like untrained buffoons,” he declared, “but under me, you could become true warriors!”
He raised his hand. Vines shot up, massive, glowing yellow vines, snaring Raph first. They wrapped around him tightly, sealing him in another glowing cocoon. Another vine lashed out, wrapping Mikey and Leo together in a shared cocoon. “HEY—wait wait wait WAIT—!!” Leo yelled.
Inside the cocoon, Mikey turned his head, squishing his cheek against Leo’s. “Aw,” he whispered, rubbing his face all over Leo’s like an affectionate kitten. “We don’t spend enough quality time together.”
“Mikey,” Leo hissed through clenched teeth, “Not. Now.”
Mikey responded by making exaggerated kissy noises. “MWAH! MWAH MWAH MWAH!”
Leo groaned in psychological pain.
April, still wrapped in her own cocoon screamed, “How are we gonna save the dog-thingy now?!”
The turtles wriggled helplessly.
Draxum stepped forward, raising his fist, glowing with triumph. “Turtles, why are you trying to stop my plans?,” he said darkly. “We are all in this together!.”
Leo in the shared cocoon with Mikey, squinted at the machine behind Draxum. “Hey, uh—quick question. I don’t know if this is part of your evil plan or whatever, BUT—”
A loud BRRZZZZZT-KRNNNK! shot through the chamber.
“—is your machine thingy supposed to be blaring and sending out sparks like that?”
Draxum paused. “What?”
Raph, swing violently in his cocoon as he yelled, “It’s gonna blow!!”
Panic swept through them all. Mikey screamed. April screamed. Leo screamed louder just to compete.
Raph yelled, “Non one panic—BUT PANIC!!”
Draxum spun toward his machine just in time to see it sparking, shaking, and making a sound like a dying blender full of fireworks. “NO—NO NO NO—NOT AGAIN—!!”
BA-BOOOOOOOM!
The entire machine exploded, sending purple fire and mechanical shards blasting across the room. A huge metal panel launched through the air and landed right on top of Draxum, flattening him like a villain-shaped pancake. Another chunk of debris shot across the room and smashed into the wall of cages lining the lab.
CRASH!
Cages cracked. Bursted open. Shattered entirely. The dog-thingy tumbled free with a cheerful bark. So did a dozen other bizarre creatures, floating jelly-blobs, a spiky goat-lizard, three tiny gremlins, and something that resembled a sentient marshmallow with legs. They all scattered in different directions, chaos filling the chamber.
The turtles screamed helplessly in their cocoons as the ceiling came down around them. Smoke drifted through the ruined chamber. The freed creatures scrambled in every direction, hissing, chirping, flapping, scampering for their lives.
All except one.
Mikey, still tangled up with Leo in their shared cocoon, blinked as something moved slowly across the floor in front of them. Not running. Not attacking.
“I-Is that… a baby?” Mikey whispered just as a tiny turtle stumbled into the open. Big soulful eyes. Limbs trembling. Shaking as it looked around at the destruction with total, terrified confusion.
It gave a tiny squeak. Mikey gasped so loudly the cocoon shook. “Guys Guys Guys—we can’t leave without it!”
Leo strained to look. “Wait—what? Where did THAT come from?!”
Raph squinted. “Is that a turtle?”
April, still cocooned, twisted to see. “Oh my gosh. It’s— it’s so tiny!”
The baby turtle looked around the room… then at them… and squeaked disoriented. Another explosion of debris rained down. The baby screamed, a tiny, heart-wrenching, newborn wail, and shrunk into a ball.
Mikey’s voice cracked. “Look at it! It’s gonna DIE if we leave it! We gotta help, we gotta help NOW—”
Leo struggled fiercely. “We won’t get to it in time!”
Raph struggled violently against his cocoon. “Let me out! Raph must protect small baby!”
The dog-like creature, freed and panting, turned sharply toward the baby softshell. Its ears perked. As if it understood perfectly that Mikey was terrified for that tiny turtle’s life, the creature darted across the unstable ground, dodging falling debris with supernatural speed.
A huge metal beam cracked loose from above and crashed down. The dog-creature leapt, grabbed the baby softshell gently by the scruff, and rolled out of the way just in time. The baby squeaked in surprise, dangling helplessly from its mouth like a kitten carried by its mother.
The creature sprinted across the room. Bounding over rubble, weaving through smoke. Until it skidded to a stop in front of the trapped turtles and April. The baby softshell blinked up at them from the creature’s jaws, wide-eyed and trembling.
Mikey melted on the spot. “Oh my gosh! look at its little face!”
Leo whispered, “He’s… he’s like us.”
Raph’s voice cracked. “He’s so small…”
April looked at the dog thingy, “Little guy! Can you do your thing and get us out of here?”
The creature chirped, the baby still dangling from its mouth. Bright blue spirals shot out of it’s body. The air hummed. And the world warped around them. A burst of energy swallowed the chamber, and the turtles vanished. Just as the ceiling collapsed behind them.
FLASH!
Suddenly, the turtles, April, the dog-thingy, and the tiny softshell baby were standing back on the platform outside the half-castle, lava lake bubbling beneath them. The building behind them groaned. Cracked. Shuddered.
Mikey didn’t look back. He already had Splinter’s doohickey in both hands.
WHOOM!
He tore a portal open right in front of them. They all dove through. Just as the entire building exploded, sending a shockwave of fire and debris rolling across the platform. The portal spat them out in a heap at the construction yard. Everyone tumbled across the concrete.
The doohickey flew from Mikey’s grip, hit the ground.
CRUNCH.
Mikey gasped, scrambling to the broken pieces. “Oh no—Splinter’s doohickey! He’s gonna KILL ME! He’s going to kill us!”
In the background, April was brushing dust out of her sweater when something thumped onto her arms. “Wha—?”
The dog creature, still clutching the baby softshell in its mouth, had teleported directly on top of her. She caught them both with a startled squeak. “Whoa—hey there, little guy? Or girl?!” she cooed, scratching the creature gently. “You okay? You were so good through all that mayhem.”
She paused. Her eyes lit up. “Hey… Mayhem.” She grinned. “That’s a cute name.”
Mayhem wagged its tail proudly.
Raph puffed out his chest as he stood up, tonfas still glowing faintly. “WE just defeated a boss villain! We’re heroes! We deserve a name! Something epic like… Mad dogs!”
Leo blinked. “Mad Dogs? Really? You don’t wanna go with something like… Ninja Mutant Turtle Teens? Mutant Turtle People? I dunno, we’ll keep brainstorming.”
Before they could continue, the baby softshell, who had been stiff and silent in Mayhem’s mouth, suddenly squirmed. Then hissed, a terrified, instinctive sound, small but sharp.
“Nice going, Raph! You scared it with your booming ‘MAD DOGS’ claim!” Leo said.
Raph threw up his hands. “I didn’t mean to! I talk normal loud!”
Mikey held out his hands soothingly. “Shhhh, little guy, it’s okay—”
Mayhem opened its mouth to readjust its hold and accidentally dropped the baby softshell. The tiny creature hit the ground with a small, painful oof, wobbling on his unsteady feet.
“OH NO—!” April reached for him, but the baby softshell panicked. He let out a squeaky, frightened chirp and ran. Bolted. Scampered straight off into the shadows of the construction site, toward open streets, machinery, high places, unsafe places, toward an entire city he didn’t understand at all.
“Baby—!!” Mikey screamed, hands outstretched running after it.
“Get it!” Raph yelled.
“We got to catch it before it hurts itself more!” Leo shouted, already sprinting.
April clutched Mayhem tight. “It’s frightened!”
They tore after him, he was small, terrified, confused, and one wrong step in the dangerous city could be fatal. The construction site was a maze of shadows, scaffolding, loose boards, and half-finished frameworks. Orange lights flickered weakly. Wind howled through hollow beams.
Leo, Mikey, Raph, and April fanned out, voices echoing through the skeletal metal jungle.
“Baby!” Mikey called.
“Little dude, where are you?!” Raph shouted.
“Come on, we’re not gonna hurt you!” Leo added.
Mayhem sniffed the air from April’s arms, whining anxiously. A faint scraping sound answered them.
Leo froze. “Over there.”
They all turned. A small shape huddled under a stack of plywood boards. The baby softshell was trembling so hard it shook the boards above it. Its shell had a tiny crack from the fall, and one knee scraped raw on the concrete. Its breath came in high-pitched, panicked huffs. When Leo stepped forward, the baby recoiled so fast it slammed its shell into the wood, letting out a pained squeak. The baby bared its teeth, small but razor-sharp. It’s little claws dug into the concrete, ready to scratch, bite, or bolt.
Mikey’s face fell. “Oh no… he’s hurt.”
Raph lowered his tonfa immediately. “Okay. Everybody stop movin’.”
Leo lifted a hand. “He’s scared. If we rush him, he’ll lash out.”
April nodded, clutching Mayhem. “It’s a feral baby. It doesn’t know any better.”
They took careful steps back, giving the baby space.
Raph whispered, “Okay, new plan: nobody gets bit or scratched by a baby turtle today.”
“Good plan,” Leo whispered back.
Mikey crouched slowly, keeping his hands visible and gentle. “Hey, little guy,” he murmured. “You okay? We’re not gonna hurt you, promise.”
The baby hissed, tail raised, eyes wild, and swiped the air with one sharp little claw. Mikey jerked back. “Okay! Okay! Clearly you need space!”
April bit her lip. “It’s cornered. Cornered animals panic, they do whatever it takes to get away.”
Leo nodded. “We need to… uh… not be giant scary monsters.”
Raph blinked. “But we ARE giant scary monsters.”
“…Okay, yes, but we got to find a way,” Leo corrected.
Raph squinted at the tiny turtle’s trembling little form. “What do we do? It’s hurt. We gotta get it before it wanders off again.”
Mikey’s face softened. “The baby is not attacking us ’cause it hates us. They’re attacking ’cause they’re scared. We gotta show them we’re safe.”
Leo whispered, “If we get closer now, it’ll bolt. Or bite. Or both.”
Mikey swallowed hard. “Then… how do we get to it?”
April placed Mayhem gently on the ground. “Mayhem helped it once. Maybe… maybe he’ll help again.”
Mayhem tilted his head, ears perked. He trotted forward slowly, tail wagging, making small, gentle chirps. The baby’s hissing died down a notch. But it was still shaking, still wounded, still terrified of the towering shapes around it. The tiny dog-like yokai stepped within a foot of the turtle and sat down, curling his tail around his paws. He didn’t touch it. Didn’t crowd it. Just… waited. The baby’s panicked breaths slowed. Its claws didn’t retract, but they loosened. Its eyes darted between the bigger turtles, then back to the creature who’d saved its life. Its terrified hisses turned into a soft, frightened whimper.
Mikey exhaled. “Okay… okay. Good. That’s good.”
Leo nodded. “Nobody moves until it moves.”
Raph clenched his fists tightly, heartbroken. “The poor little guy…”
The baby turtle’s trembling body leaned, bit by bit, closer to Mayhem’s warmth.
Leo shifted his weight, and the baby’s eyes flashed with fear, it hissed and hid again.
April whispered sharply, “The baby still doesn't trust us. If we want it… it has to come to Mayhem. Not us.”
Mikey swallowed, looking at the small, hurting creature who had no idea they weren’t in danger anymore. “C’mon, little guy,” he whispered. “Please… let us help you…”
The small softshell trembled in the shadow of the plywood stack, tail still raised, panting in short, panicked bursts. Every time Leo or Raph so much as breathed too loudly, it flinched like they expected to be struck. But Mayhem… Mayhem simply sat there. No pressure. No noise. Just quiet warmth. Slowly, painfully slowly, the baby crept forward, one tiny step at a time, toward the little creature who didn’t tower over it, didn’t loom, didn’t shout. When its snout brushed against Mayhem’s fur, it let out a tiny, questioning chirp. Mayhem answered with a soft, encouraging trill. Then, gently as a mother cat, Mayhem reached out, took the baby by the scruff again, and lifted. The tiny turtle let out a startled squeak but didn’t fight. Their little limbs dangled awkwardly, but they leaned into the hold, exhausted and hurting and finally, for the first time, not alone.
Mikey clutched his chest dramatically. “OH—that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life—I’m gonna cry—”
Raph sniffed loudly. “Me too…”
Leo exhaled in visible relief. “Guys… we should GO. People’s blinds are starting to open” he whispered.
April shushed them, before they frightened the baby again. “Everyone move! Move now!”
Mayhem, sensing they were departing, teleported onto April’s arms with a fzzzp!—nearly making her fall back. “Gah—! Okay! Okay, buddy—I got you!”
The brothers scrambled for cover as more blinds rustled open. Leo hissed through clenched teeth, “Sewer grate, now!” And with Mayhem clutching the frightened baby, and the city seconds from seeing more than it ever should… They sprinted into the shadows.
