Back in the barn, Donatello nearly sweats with concentration as he fiddles with his makeshift device. April frowns, her hands resting in her lap.

"Um, I don't think it's working, Donnie," she says slowly.

"Hmm," he mumbles. "Hey, maybe if I make some adjustments..."

He twists the knob, tuning it sharply. The whirring grows louder and more high-pitched. Electricity buzzes for a moment and there's the loud sound of cracking shockwaves. April screams as a bright light emits from her forehead, whiting out the entire barn for a second.

Michelangelo lets out a yelp of surprise as Dr. Cluckingsworth clucks in fright. When the light dies down, Donatello lets out a small grunt of frustration before noticing just what's happening. Every one of his flash cards, plus Dr. Cluckingsworth, floats in the air as April stares straight ahead, her eyes completely white.

"I didn't do that, I swear," Michelangelo says immediately, holding up his hands defensively.

"Wow, that means..." Donatello turns to his red-headed friend. "April, you are telekinetically levitating the cards!" He moves closer to her as she remains silent. "April? April, you okay? Can you hear me?"

He waves a hand in front of her face. The cards and chicken drop suddenly as she blinks. Dr. Cluckingsworth starts making furious and surprised chicken noises once she hits the ground. April stands, holding her arms out in front of her like a zombie.

"Wh-what happened to the barn? Where are we?" she asks, touching Michelangelo's face as she stumbles around.

"Uh, still in the barn," Donatello responds as her hands travel across his face.

She turns and walks straight into a wall, letting out a yelp of surprise. She prods the wood. "What is this? Is it invisible?" she questions.

"Uh, looks pretty visible to me," Michelangelo comments.

"April, where do you think you are?" Donatello asks gently as he takes her hands and angles her towards him. "What do you see?"

She opens her eyes wider as her lips part. "Clouds. I...I think I'm flying."

"Totally understand. I get that way when I eat pizza," Michelangelo says. A lazy smile drifts across his face at the thought of his favourite food.

"You're seeing things. I'm taking this off," Donatello says, removing the transmitter from April's head. "Did that help?"

She frowns, her eyes still white. "I'm still in the air...soaring, but now I'm heading down."

The turtle brothers look at each other, confusion and worry painted on their faces.

----------

"Stupid leg," Leonardo grumbles as he rubs his kneecap. "I'm never gonna heal."

Casey and Raphael stop sparring, weapons crossed between them. Casey leans closer to his friend as he glances at the blue-masked turtle.

"Dude, I'm worried about Leo," Casey admits softly, shifting his feet to the left.

"Yeah, man," Raphael responds at the same volume. "I've never seen him so down."

Destiny grunts as she curves her body sideways, the rush of Diaval's arrow blowing her shirt against her side as it passes. She straightens up and adjusts her uchigatana half-heartedly as Diaval heads off to retrieve the arrows. Casey lowers his hockey stick, flipping his mask up as he looks to the wolf girl. Raphael also glances at her, frowning.

"He was mean to Des too. He's never like that," Casey comments.

"Yeah, like...they may be broken up, but Leo's still crazy about her," Raphael agrees, scratching his chin with the tip of his sai. "It's stupid, anyone with eyes can tell they still like each other."

Destiny's wolf ears flatten as she inhales slowly, her fingers curling into her palm reflexively. Diaval returns with his quiver refilled.

"Wanna keep working?" he asks her.

She shrugs. "I don't feel like doing anything," she admits, casting a fleeting look over her shoulder, where Casey and Raphael have returned to light sparring. Their movements are weak and unmotivated as well.

A loud screech sounds from the sky. The four teens look up just in time to see a gargantuan bird thing flying towards them, or at least, it looks like a bird. It has multiple legs that resemble earthworms, gills, and the tail and dorsal fin of a fish. Its large wings beat the air as it hovers, screeching like a banshee.

Leonardo gasps and gets to his feet, limping towards his family members as the thing attacks. Donatello and Michelangelo dash from the barn, April stumbling blindly after them.

"What the heck? Another mutant?" Casey asks as he dodges a swipe from the monster's worm leg.

"Where'd it come from?" Raphael demands right before he gets smacked aside.

"I told you! I told you I smelled more mutagen!" Destiny exclaims, frustration rising as she cuts across the mutant's beak. "Now I know how Mikey feels!"

"Hey!" Michelangelo shouts.

Leonardo swings his katanas as he dodges the monster's attack, but he loses his balance and drops to his knees, letting out a sharp groan. The thing roars and lunges for him, but Michelangelo dives in and blocks.

"Booyakasha!" the freckled turtle whoops as he smacks it in the face. It screeches in pain as he jumps back, nunchucks spinning. "Ooh, bird, worm, and fish. Three animals, one body. I know this one. There's, like, a perfect name for it in mythology!"

"Chimera?" Donatello and Destiny guess at the same time. They lock eyes and grin for a fleeting second, which ends when Donatello grunts as he avoids an attack from the creature's beak.

"No, Turducken." Michelangelo laughs. He points up at the mutant. "But Chimera works."

The Chimera turns to Michelangelo, whose smile falls swiftly. It crows and lunges at him, but Donatello uses his bō staff as a lance and launches himself towards its face. He kicks it right in the beak and it roars. Raphael retaliates with a punch immediately after and the thing collapses to the ground in a cloud of dust.

It gets back up and searches for its next victim. An onslaught of arrows comes from its left. Some manage to impale it but most just bounce off. The Chimera spins towards Diaval and his eyes widen slightly as he starts to back up.

There's a shout and the Chimera looks away from Diaval just in time for Destiny to kick it in the jaw.

"Nice hit, wolfie!" Casey praises, getting his own hit in with his hockey stick.

Michelangelo springs into the air, nunchucks flying. "In yo beak!" he whoops, smacking the Chimera and making its head snap backwards.

It screeches as it collapses again. When it gets up, its eyes snap to Leonardo immediately. It roars and lunges for him, but he dodges its beak as best he can. One worm arm smacks his bad knee and sends him to the ground in an instant.

Destiny hears his cry of pain, pivoting towards him. She snarls and morphs into a wolf as she sheathes her uchigatana. She howls and rushes forwards, tackling the Chimera's wrinkly neck and tugging it away from the turtle.

Leonardo tries to get back up, but Destiny's attempts don't halt the Chimera. One of its wings sends Leonardo flying into a completely disoriented April. He gets to his knees, coughing.

"Careful, April. You've gotta find cover," he urges.

April looks up, blinking repeatedly as she touches her forehead. "What? Is that...me I'm looking at?" she asks as the Chimera stares them down.

The Chimera lunges and Leonardo throws himself protectively over April. Just as the Chimera is about to chomp down on him, Destiny leaps in front of it and shoves it away with her giant paws. She stands overtop the two disabled teens, her hackles bristling as a terrifying snarl rises in her throat.

"Oh no you don't, you oversized chicken," she threatens.

The Chimera goes at them again and she swipes her claws down its face. That only serves to anger it. It turns on her and she tries to leap away, but she's not as swift or nimble in her wolf form and the creature's jaws clamp down on her middle, making her howl in pain.

"Destiny!" Leonardo yells as the Chimera rears back, carrying the wolf in its beak.

"Get to safety!" Destiny retorts, struggling and clawing desperately at the giant bird mutant.

April grabs Leonardo's arm blindly and he takes her by the wrist, leading her to safety as best he can with only one working leg. They manage to get around the side of the house, taking cover on the side porch next to the back door.

"This is my fault. I summoned this thing," April says. Leonardo reaches out and pats her shoulder, unable to find the right words.

The Chimera swoops down over the other fighters. Raphael's eyes widen when he sees Destiny struggling in its beak.

"Guys, it's got Destiny!" he calls.

"Let her go, Turducken!" Michelangelo shouts.

Before the energetic turtle can make a move, Diaval races past him. He tackles the Chimera's neck, gritting his teeth as he yanks it away from everyone else, his muscles straining. It twists and curls away from his grip, rearing upwards and bringing him with it. Diaval clings even more desperately to its neck as it starts to pump its wings, lifting into the air.

"And now it's got Diaval," Donatello sighs.

Michelangelo lunges at the Chimera, but one of its worm tentacles grabs him as it hovers over the others. Donatello and Raphael rush at it, but two more of its tentacles grab hold. They're slowly lifted into the air as the Chimera starts to fly higher, each teen screaming and flailing around in a desperate attempt to escape.

Destiny, completely exhausted, morphs back into a girl before slumping over, still dangling from the monster's beak like a limp rag doll. Diaval's eyes flicker to the ground as his fingers start to slip.

"Des..." he whispers hoarsely.

She lifts her head and blinks wearily at him, looking over his body and then up to where his grip is losing more and more stability. Her face gains a spark and she reaches her hand out.

"Grab on," she says, trembling. "Quick switch, y-you can do it..." She winces and her eyes shut for a split second as the Chimera's beak tightens.

Looking back, Diaval would label this moment as an attempt. A weak, failure of an attempt, but still an attempt in every sense of the word. He manages to take hold of Destiny's hand and she tries to pull him to somewhere more stable, but the Chimera has other ideas.

The Chimera jolts and snatches Casey in its grip, rattling everyone already captured by the behemoth. The hand that Diaval had managed to keep latched around the beast's neck slips and his arm is yanked upwards sharply as he slips, swings, and promptly loses his grip on Destiny's hand.

Diaval plummets to the ground, screams assaulting his ears as the Chimera soars away. Everything goes black.