Donatello comes to slowly, his head feeling as if there's a hammer smacking against it repeatedly. He blinks a few times before his gaze travels to where Michelangelo is hanging upside-down from the ceiling beside him. The orange-masked turtle is already awake, on edge, and not at all cheerful. He shakes his head slowly and Donatello's gaze flickers to the floor.

The mossy green creature that was once Raphael snarls and leaps up at the dangling turtles, snapping and pawing at them like a dog. His "paws" bat at them and send them spinning in slow circles, but he can't get any grip.

"Aah! Easy, Raph. Try and remember. We're your brothers," Donatello nearly pleads.

"Yeah!" Michelangelo says. "You can come home with us and live in the attic. I'll give you glowsticks and swamp water every single day. I swear," he whispers, still obviously disturbed by the state of his hotheaded brother. It's enough for Donatello to realize that neither of them want what he's suggested.

Despite their dislike at the plan, it seems to please the Raph-Plant. He grins, making whimpering happy-dog noises. His hind leg scratches at his leafy, internal ears.

The turtles exhale in relief. Donatello looks sideways at Michelangelo again, his faint smile disappearing again.

"Wait...where's Diaval?" he asks, craning his neck around. "Did he escape and leave us for dead? I—"

"He's right there, dude," Michelangelo responds, jerking his head and diverting the attention to the wall furthest from Donatello.

Sure enough, Diaval lays in a tied up heap, eyes closed and his white hair dirtied with sticks, mud, and leaves. He hardly moves. If it weren't for the rise and fall of his chest, he'd pass as a corpse.

"He's pretty strong, right?" Michelangelo whispers. "If he wakes up, he could snap the vines and go all superhero on the Creep!"

"The Creep?"

"That's what I named him."

Donatello nods. "Gotcha. It's a good plan...just how we wake him up is another problem. What if—"

The door to the shed is kicked inwards, earning cries of fear from the two turtles and the Raph-Plant. The Creep comes into view, its back to the captives for a brief second, but then it turns to reveal April, Casey, and Destiny draped over its shoulders.

"April, my poor sweet chinchilla," Donatello whimpers.

Raph-Plant whines as the Creep tosses April and Casey to the floor. The Creep then throws Destiny against the wall, her body slumping next to Diaval. She lets out a low groan but doesn't wake up.

The Creep shuffles towards Raph-Plant, making him whimper and shy away.

"Leave him alone!" Michelangelo demands, flailing in his bindings.

It grasps Raph-Plant's head, lifting him into the air as he kicks and whines. The Creep takes a deep breath as a strange blue glow starts flowing out of him and into its own body. The turtles gasp as Casey comes to.

"What's going..." he mumbles. His dark brown eyes take in the events happening before him and he gasps, kicking April in the side. "April, wake up!"

"Ugh," she moans, blinking a few times. "Huh?"

"Raph!" Michelangelo screams as Raph-Plant stops struggling, going limp in the Creep's grasp.

"It's...it's feeding off of him, like mutagenic fertilizer," Donatello gasps, his mouth twisting into a horrified grimace. Raph-Plant starts to shrink. "No...no, no, no! RAPH!"

Raph-Plant gets smaller and smaller until he fits inside the Creep's hand, Michelangelo screaming and thrashing desperately as he watches his brother disappear. The other three stare, unable to get their mouths to form words.

The Creep opens its hand, allowing Raphael's red mask to drop onto the floor, draping over a single flower and pile of moss that's all that's left of the red-masked turtle. The four awakened teens struggle further, trying to escape. Destiny and Diaval don't move.

"You turned my brother into a plant! You turned him into a plant!" Michelangelo screeches. "Let me go, Creep! I'll bash that mutagen straight out of you!"

The Creep moves to the orange-masked turtle, grabbing his face and taking a deep breath, preparing for another "feeding". Michelangelo screams and flashes a desperate look to Donatello, but then a voice from outside stops everything for a split second.

"Help! Help!"

The Creep rumbles deep in its throat and shuffles outside, completely distracted. Donatello shrinks into his bindings slightly, his heart starting to pound.

"Leo..." he whispers. He looks to Destiny and Diaval, nudging Michelangelo as best he can. "Mikey, we've got to get one of them awake, preferably Des!"

"Will that really help?" April demands.

"If she's awake, she can morph into a wolf, snap the bindings, and help Leo!" Donatello explains hurriedly. "Diaval could snap the bindings too, but I don't trust him to help. Now come on!"

Outside, the Creep looks around for the source of the cries. As it pivots in slow circles, it receives a shuriken to the head. It turns to face its attacker. Leonardo stands at a distance, ready for battle, blue mask tied around his face again.

"Give me back my family, freak," he demands in a low voice, his eyes burning white with intensity.

The Creep growls as the turtle tosses his crutch aside. Leonardo readies his katanas, his stance faltering as he looks to the weapons. The moonlight shines off the blades, the glint reflecting in his eyes. He takes a deep breath, swinging the swords a few times as preparation.

He lunges, but the Creep blocks with its pitchfork. They dodge and swing at each other, Leonardo managing to escape every blow aimed at him. The Creep doesn't let up, however, determined as ever, and Leonardo slashes it across the face. It roars as the mutant teen attacks again, smacking the hockey mask from its face and making it chuck its pitchfork at the allusive turtle like a javelin.

The farm tool lodges in the ground near Leonardo. The turtle places a hand on the ground as he catches his breath, his lungs starting to burn from the effort. Unarmed, the Creep holds its face, its throat rumbling again as it tries to hide its face for long enough to retrieve a mask. Leonardo lets out a yell and races at it, but the Creep turns and grabs his katana, then his face and neck in quick succession.

The Creep straightens up, its skin still glowing with mutagen, and it stares into Leonardo's eyes, giving him a very clear look of the grotesque appearance of the Creep's face. Suddenly, it doesn't seem so strange that it wants to wear a mask.

The Creep roars and starts smashing the injured terrapin into the ground repeatedly. After the third hit, it flings him, sending him flying into the air until he lands on the ground with a hard thump.

Leonardo pants heavily and grits his teeth, everything aching even more than it did before. When he looks back at the monster, it has his katanas in its grasp. Unarmed himself, Leonardo desperately searches for another weapon. He notices his crutch laying a little ways away and as the Creep advances, Leonardo struggles towards it. He gasps in pain and grips his leg as his enemy grows nearer.

The Creep lifts both katanas and aims them at Leonardo, ready to deal the death blow, but Leonardo dodges, grasps his crutch, and rams it right into the monster's face. It roars and rears back, gargling in agony as its limb waves like demented flags on leafy flagpoles. Leonardo retrieves his fallen swords and limps back to the shed.

Meanwhile, the other two turtles try to wake up Destiny, but that proves difficult since they can't reach her. Michelangelo even tried spitting at her but to no avail.

"Destiny! Wake up, dudette!" he pleads.

"Des!" April shouts. She tries to heave herself onto her knees so that she can crawl over, but she ends up falling onto her side.

Destiny makes a small noise, her eyelids fluttering, but she doesn't yet become fully awake. Donatello inhales sharply and makes a final attempt. "Leo's in trouble! Major trouble!" he exclaims.

The wolf girl finally wakes up with a low groan. She winces and blinks a few times, noticing where they are. "What? What happened? What was that about Leo?" she rambles, still rather disoriented. She looks beside her, taking in Diaval's incredibly still form. Her eyes widen noticeably. "Diaval?"

She smacks him with her shoulder, making his eyes snap open. "W-What?"

"Oh good, you're alive," she breathes, a tiny smile on her face. "Have I ever told you that you sleep like a corpse?"

He shakes his head. "No..."

The opened door is suddenly filled with the form of an exhausted turtle, making everyone's attention snap to him. Leonardo takes the room in, gripping the doorway.

"Leo, thank goodness," April says.

"What the heck is that?" Leonardo asks, his attention falling on the moss pile sitting in the centre of the room.

"It's Raph. Long story," Donatello says. "Quick, get us out of here!"

Leonardo nods and enters the shed, severing the bindings of every mutant and teenager with a few quick swipes of his katana, except for Diaval. He makes a point of snapping the vines and getting to his feet himself, ignoring the efforts of the blue-masked turtle.

Leonardo kneels again as his hand grips his side. Destiny shoves the vines off her body before embracing the turtle as tightly as she can without hurting him, his face slackening with shock.

"Are you alright?" she whispers.

His free hand pats her back and he exhales. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

There's a creaking groan from outside as the Creep stands up again, Leonardo's crutch falling from its face and revealing a gaping hole. It roars, making the forest shake. In an instant, any available gardening tool is snatched and propped against the door by Donatello, April, and Casey while Michelangelo hammers a piece of wood over the door and its frame.

The team scrambles backwards, weapons at the ready. Diaval glances around at everyone before hesitantly putting his fists up. There's complete silence for a moment. It only lasts a second or two, but it feels like forever to them.

The wall to their right splinters at the creature bursts through. Six different screams emanate from the group, but Casey howls and lunges right into battle. He smacks the thing in the face repeatedly, but it doesn't flinch. After the third blow, it grabs Casey's stick and snaps it in half easily.

"Aw, dude," the dark-haired boy groans. "Not again!"

"Booyakasha!"

Michelangelo's battle cry spurs everyone else into battle against the Creep. Bō staff, katana, uchigatana, tessen, and nunchucks alike bash the creature relentlessly. Diaval stays at the back of the group, fists still raised. Worms, swamp goo, and other gunk fall into piles at their feet like disgusting rain.

They back off, panting. The Creep lays over the remaining part of the splintered wall, supposedly dead with parts of it still dripping. One of its arms is completely gone from its shoulder. At the back of the group, Diaval unfurls his fists and starts to clap slowly.

The Creep's eyes flicker to life again and it stands back up. The weak applause cuts off. It grabs its detached arm and holds the limb to its shoulder, where vegetation snakes out and reattaches it as the rumbling returns. The Creep attacks, sending April and Casey into one wall with one swipe. Michelangelo and Donatello go flying out the roof in a rain of wood with the next movement, then Destiny and Leonardo are smacked backwards near the candle table.

The Creep goes for Diaval and the boy gasps, bracing himself as the Creep's grotesque hand smacks him straight in the chest. Instead of getting knocked down, however, Diaval holds on as the Creep flings him around like he's one of Michelangelo's  nunchucks.

Leonardo takes in the momentary distraction before his gaze darts to the table, where the bottle of medicine is. His face brightens with an idea and he reaches his hand over to grip Destiny's wrist. Her head snaps to him and they lock eyes.

"Follow my lead," he orders. "I've got an idea."

She nods and the turtle snatches up the bottle. The Creep stops flinging Diaval around, its luminous orbs following the medicine as Leonardo waves it back and forth. Diaval lets out a low moan and slumps off the Creep's arm, landing in front of April.

Leonardo tosses the bottle to Destiny. She runs outside in a split second and the Creep follows with a distressed noise. April grabs Diaval's arm and yanks him up, the white-haired boy gripping his head as he blinks slowly.

"We can take care of this," she says. She turns to Casey and urges him to follow. "Grab those chains and let's go."

Diaval mutters to himself as they race out the door, wiping Creep gunk off his cloak.

Outside, Destiny tosses the bottle to Donatello, who then relays it to Michelangelo. He whoops and waves it around, getting the Creep's attention. The brothers toss the bottle between each other, the Creep stuck between the two and unsure of which one to go for.

As Michelangelo regains control of it, the Creep's vines whip out and snag his arms, rendering him helpless as his limbs are pulled in separate directions. The Creep grips the turtle's head and snatches up the medicine again.

There's a whistling sound as an arrow flies through the bottle, shattering it into useless pieces. The Creep makes a garbled noise and turns to see Diaval and Destiny standing next to one another, Diaval with his bow still raised.

Destiny smirks and jerks her thumb to the side. The monster turns to look where she's pointing just in time for Leonardo to come sailing towards him, letting out a yell as he impales the Creep in the shoulder with a pitchfork, pinning it to the nearest tree trunk. Casey and April dash over and chain it to the tree before it can react, securing it in place.

Leonardo sinks to his knees, weakened, and tries to find his breath. Destiny and Diaval join the rest of the group as Casey pokes the Creep in the shoulder.

"That's what you get for messing with my mask, freak," he growls.

"That should hold him. Now, come on. We've gotta get him back to the lab," Donatello says, waving his hand in the direction of home. He looks to Destiny. "Des? You mind?"

"I've got this," she states. "Diaval, help hold him down while I get the chains."

Diaval nods and they shamble over to the moss monster. He holds the Creep down and she maneuvers the chains around its entire body. Once that's done, she transforms into her wolf form and grips the chains in her teeth, ready to drag it back home.

"You really think you can save Raph?" Leonardo asks, still kneeling on the ground. His sapphire eyes flicker upwards to Donatello, pleading.

"Honestly, I don't know, Leo," the purple-masked turtle replies, pursing his lips. "I just don't know."

----------

Back at the farmhouse, Destiny drags the Creep into the barn. Donatello points to the spot where she's supposed to put him and she obeys, holding it while the others make sure it's chained down. As soon as the thing is secured again, Destiny returns to her humanoid state.

"Ugh, I'm going to be tasting iron for days..." she grumbles, sticking her tongue out.

"Well, thanks to you, we got it here a lot quicker," Donatello points out, patting her shoulder. "Diaval?"

Diaval jumps and his eyes go wide. He faces Donatello. "Yeah?"

Donatello arches an eye-ridge but smiles a little bit. "Good job with shooting the medicine out of its hand," he says.

Diaval relaxes noticeably and looks away. "Mhm, thanks."

He shuffles out of the barn, followed closely by April, Casey, and Michelangelo. Leonardo limps to a hay bale, sitting down and staring at the moss pile that was once Raphael. He sighs heavily and shuts his eyes. Destiny walks to the door of the barn, then hesitates and looks back at the two remaining turtles.

She turns around and goes back to Leonardo, settling down at a safe distance at his side. They sit in tense silence for three seconds.

"You're not going to leave his side," she says softly.

"I'll leave when he's alright again," he says. She bobs her head up and down, leaning her hand onto her chin. Leonardo eyes her. "Des, you should go get some sleep."

She shakes her head. "We stayed with you, I'll stay here with him."

He lowers his gaze, saying nothing more.

----------

"Ugh."

"Yes!" Donatello grins triumphantly.

The newly turtle-fied Raphael opens his eyes, taking in the slightly blurry figures of his brother and April. Michelangelo appears in his line of sight, promptly letting out a gasp.

"Oh no. Raph!" He covers his mouth briefly. "Look at him. It's terrible!"

"What do you mean? He's perfectly normal," Donatello says, gesturing down at his brother.

April leans down and ties Raphael's mask back on before stepping back. "How about now, Mikey?" she asks.

"Phew, yeah." Michelangelo grins, leaning over him. "Way better."

Raphael grunts and shoves him as he sits up, noting Casey is also standing next to his hay bale bed. Diaval leans against the wall, quite a distance away from the group.

"What the heck is going on?" Raphael asks.

"A crazy swamp monster sucked out your mutagen and turned you into a plant, dude," Casey explains. "It was awesome!"

"Yeah, and Destiny dragged the thing all the way back here with just her teeth!" Michelangelo adds.

"Then I used this I.V. tube to drain all the mutagen out of the Creep and back into your body," Donatello says as he unhooks the I.V. canister from its holder. "Cool, right? Killed off the infection like a bad case of shellacne." He grins, patting the container as he turns back to his brother.

"Ugh..." Raphael repeats. "Cool. Thanks, Don." He shifts in place. Nobody notices Diaval's face twist at the sound of Donatello's nickname. "So, what happened to the monster?"

"It got turned back into swamp goo. Pretty wicked, right?" Casey points to a glowing jar labelled as "The Creep".

"Donnie worked all night to save you," April admits from behind Raphael, making him look at her. She lowers her head slightly. "Leo and Destiny never left your side."

She gets back to her feet as Raphael's lips part in shock. He turns around to find Leonardo still sitting on a hay bale and Destiny leaning against the more stacked up bales near him. Both smile lightly at him.

"That's what brothers are for," Leonardo says. He pauses to look at Destiny. "And sisters." She smirks and her tail wags. Michelangelo giggles like a little fanboy as Leonardo stands up and holds his hand out to his red-masked brother. "We've gotta heal up, Raph. We have a city to take back."

Leonardo helps him up and they fist-bump, wiggling their fingers as their knuckles part. Michelangelo leaps onto the hay bale behind them and grins, swinging his fist in a tight, circular motion.

"I give that a big, fat, sloppy, wet..." He points his finger at the sky and grins even wider. "BOOYAKASHA!"