The lair is peaceful, far more serene than it's been in a while. The other teens have spread out to do their own activities, completely content with spending a day not fighting off evil for once. The dojo is alive with the sounds of training and other parts of the lair, like Donatello's lab, buzz with a calm energy.

Michelangelo lets out a loud groan as he rolls over on his bed. Ice Cream Kitty meows happily at him as they watch Crognard destroy spikes with only his pectorals.

"I can't believe I'm watching Crognard bend spikes with his chest," Michelangelo whines, "and I'm still so bored!"

"Mew?" Ice Cream Kitty meows.

"Ugh, my boredom is becoming a serious medical condition. I need help!"

The orange-masked turtle drags himself from his room, heading off to the dojo. When he gets inside, he's greeted by Leonardo, Destiny, and April practicing katas. Every now and then, Leonardo glances over at Destiny and nods, letting her know that she's doing well. She returns with a smile as she fixes her footing and twists on her heel like a ballerina. He does the same for April, correcting her posture with a gentle tap to her spine.

"Anyone wanna hang out?" Michelangelo asks.

"Hang out?" Leonardo echoes. "We're practicing our katas. Wanna jump in?"

In response, Michelangelo exhales heavily and stomps out of the dojo with his shoulders hunched over like a gorilla. Leonardo shrugs and looks back to the kunoichis in training.

"Poor guy must be bored," Destiny comments as Leonardo adjusts the way she's moving her arms.

April shrugs. "I'm sure he'll be fine. Maybe he can hang out with one of the other guys."

"Perhaps," Leonardo mumbles. "April, twist to the left, not the right. Destiny, arms straight."

April giggles. "Oops. Sorry." Destiny adjusts her arms.

----------

Michelangelo peers into Raphael's room. His brother's shell is turned to the door and a rhythmic squeaking is the only sound. Michelangelo mumbles out a "huh", making Raphael spin around, arms raised and his hands occupied by action figures.

"Mikey?!" he exclaims. He chucks Action-Kick Unicorn Man across the room and earns a terrified squeak from Michelangelo. "Get out! OUT!"

He clutches the Chris Bradford action figure to his plastron and turns away, cheeks flushed. Michelangelo wanders away, en route for the lab. Maybe Donatello will want to hang out.

Unfortunately, the intelligent turtle is far too occupied.

"I'm too busy to hang out, Mikey," he says, tapping away at his computer keys with hardly a glance. "I'm still looking for a retro-mutagen for Karai." His dark eyes narrow and he leans towards the screen, his words gaining the speed of his typing. "You see, if I can reverse engineer the main chemical sequence, I think I can ignite the kind of reaction needed to rewrite the deoxyribonucleic acid of—"

He doesn't even notice that his brother has already left the room, thoroughly uninterested.

Casey lets out a long sigh as he plays pinball in the living room, the machine beeping and dinging. Diaval leans against the machine with his regular blank-faced expression plastered across his features, his pupils darting to follow the pinball.

"Eh, high score," Casey says, monotone. "Again."

Diaval bobs his head once. "Yay."

Michelangelo tromps into the room. Casey perks up and turns away from pinball, waving at the orange-masked turtle. "Yo, Mikey! Wanna hang out?" he asks.

Michelangelo lets out a gasp and straightens up, his eyes sparkling.

----------

Casey and Michelangelo let out shrieks and whoops of glee as they skate across the rooftops. They leap down a-frames and spin around loose piping with grace, ease, and above all, speed. Diaval follows them at a light jog, being sure to stay far away from the edges of buildings.

Casey skids to a stop as Michelangelo kicks his skateboard up into his hand, both boys breathless and laughing. Diaval hurries up to their side, stumbling a few times over his own feet as he goes. Casey turns to him as he arrives, a grin on his face.

"You ever skated, Red Eyes?" he asks, one hand on his hip.

Diaval opens his mouth to respond, but another voice cuts him off, screaming, "Cowabunga!"

A small shape whizzes past them, knocking Diaval into a maintenance shed, and the three boys just manage to catch a glimpse of a short, brown-splotched yellow gecko on a skateboard. He's wearing a snapback and full skating gear.

"Whoa! Another mutant?" Casey asks, racing to the edge of the rooftop and staring out after the gecko.

"He's awesome!" Michelangelo praises. "His name should totally be...Rad Lizard!" He frowns. "No, wait...Skatermander! No, that's lame." He squints one eye and frames his hands around the skating reptile. "No, I got it!" He watches as the mutant gets closer. "Mondo Gecko!"

The gecko skids onto the rooftop, spinning his board around a baring his sharp little teeth. "Dude, that name sucks!" he snaps. He shakes a fist at them. "And I'll make you pay for it!" He lifts his skateboard and wields it, making both Michelangelo and Casey raise their own makeshift weapons. The gecko narrows his eyes. "Do you know what happened to the last dude that called me names?"

"How would we know? We just met you," Michelangelo says, lowering his skateboard a fraction.

The gecko stares at them for a second longer before bursting into obnoxious laughter. "You should see the look on your faces!" he hoots, slapping his knees. "I'm just joshing you, dudes!" More laughter.

Michelangelo lets out a few nervous giggles. Diaval scoots behind Casey, just peeking at Mondo over his shoulder. Mondo turns and starts balancing his skateboard on his finger.

"So, you're a mutant, too?" he asks. Not waiting for an answer, he throws his board down and starts balancing on it. "I'm Jason, the most awesome pro skater in the world!"

"Jason?" Michelangelo asks. "That's boring, dude. Mondo Gecko? Not boring!"

"I don't even know what a gecko is," Casey admits, arching a bushy eyebrow.

"You're lookin' at one," Mondo says, jabbing his chest with his thumb. "Check it!" He leans closer and drags his long tongue over his eyeballs, slurping once when he sticks his tongue back in his mouth. "Well, we can't blink, so we have to lick our eyeballs to keep them moist."

Diaval's mouth drops open. "Woah...cool," he whispers.

Michelangelo inhales in awe. "I've always wanted to lick my own eyeballs!" He pokes his tongue out and starts trying to reach his eyes, but he only manages to reach his nose.

"So you were a pro skater?" Casey asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Kinda," Mondo responds. "I'm gnarly enough to go pro. Look at what being a gecko gets me!"

He turns and skates off the edge of the building. He twists and turns and climbs up walls with ease, his fingers gripping any surface and his small frame moving with grace. He grips the side of a building and holds himself out horizontally, tongue lolling and eyes bright with pride.

Diaval stares in utter awe while Michelangelo and Casey look less impressed.

"So, uh how did you become a gecko, dude?" Michelangelo asks.

"It all started last year," Mondo says, righting himself so that he's perched on a gasoline advertisement. "I was skating my half-pipe, which I totally built myself. Awesome, right? It was just me and my pet gecko, Lars, when some crazy ooze fell out of the sky! Turned me into the last thing I touched, my gecko. I totally became a gecko person! Excellent!" Mondo skates back to the waiting boys, slipping off his board. "But then, my parents kicked me out. I wound up on the street...but it's all good! 'Cause I made tons of friends, like you guys!" He zips around and tugs Michelangelo and Casey into a hug, Diaval having lurched away from the touch at his first chance. "I also shred in my metal band, Savage Bliss!" Mondo bursts into wild head-banging and playing air guitar. "Whoa, look at me now, look at me now, look at me, whoo!"

He hops back on his board and zips away. Casey instantly tugs Michelangelo closer, leaning down to his ear.

"Dude, there's something about Mondo that I don't trust," he whispers. "For real, dog."

"Dude, he can lick his own eyeballs!" Michelangelo retorts with a laugh. "Besides, I feel responsible. It's kinda sorta our fault, with the mutagen spill and all." He smiles and rubs the back of his neck before spinning around. "Wait up, Mondo! Booyakasha!"

Casey frowns and crosses his arms over his chest. Diaval shuffles back to his side and Casey nudges him lightly.

"What about you? Anything off about Mondo?" he asks.

Diaval purses his lips. "Nothing. Just...energetic, kinda weird."

"Hm..."

----------

April frowns as she waits for Casey to answer his phone, but she gets nothing but ringing. Three of the turtles and Destiny watch TV nearby while Donatello works on his computer.

"Come on, Casey, pick up! We've got homework to do," April grumbles.

"Casey's not gonna stop skating just for homework," Raphael points out. He sits up and points at April. "Tell him it's homework and hockey tickets."

"They've been gone a while. Mikey plus Casey plus Diaval plus too much time on their hands equals trouble," Leonardo says, his forehead slightly creased as he thinks.

"Oh, come on. What kind of trouble could they really get into?" Donatello asks nonchalantly, still tapping away at his keyboard.

Destiny lets out a small bark of laughter. "Do you want the list in alphabetical order or on a flow chart?"

Donatello rolls his eyes lightly at his friend's teasing. "I think we can wait a little longer before checking up on them, alright?"

"Sounds good to me," Raphael cuts in. He grins and holds up a video game controller. "Anyone up for some Super Smash Bros?"

"DIBS ON LINK!" Destiny cries, leaping over and grabbing a controller before Leonardo can.

----------

Diaval is seriously starting to regret his decision to tag along with Michelangelo and Casey. He's amazed that he even wanted to in the first place, but his admiration for the fun-loving, energetic teens is far stronger than his fear of rejection, for once.

"Cowabungaaaa!" Mondo whoops as he leaps over a hobo and his shopping cart of miscellaneous trash items.

"Booyakasha!" Michelangelo screams, also jumping the hobo's cart.

The hobo blinks repeatedly, mouth agape, and goes to rub his eyes. Casey blows past, knocking over the cart with a cry of, "Goongala!"

Diaval jogs up to the scene as the poor homeless man kneels to collect his belongings. Diaval scoops up the cart and rights it, placing a few items in before giving the frazzled, confused man a blank look.

"You saw nothing," he states. With that, he hurries after his rambunctious companions.

As he catches up, he can hear them arguing lightly between themselves from far off. He just manages to see them disappear over the crest of a fire escape.

"Booyakasha sounds way cooler than cowabunga!" Michelangelo laughs.

"But goongala is the best!" Casey interjects.

Diaval clambers up the fire escape, heart pounding the entire time, and reaches the rooftop. Michelangelo and Mondo skate on their hands across the brick-laid edge of the roof while Casey stays upright.

"Dude, don't even get me started on goongala," Michelangelo says. "But cowabunga? Way too old school, bro!"

"Old school's the only school!" Mondo retorts.

He rights himself and makes a sharp turn that Casey doesn't catch in time. The hockey player tips off the edge with a short yelp. Michelangelo's hand appears and snatches his arm, jolting him to a stop.

"I gotcha, dude," the turtle says.

He drags Casey back to level ground as Diaval finally joins them, his chest rising and falling rapidly with his breaths. Mondo keeps laughing his head off, earning an icy glare from Casey.

"Hey man! I could've been hurt!" Casey snaps.

"Oh. Sorry, bro."

Diaval slumps down next to Casey on an A/C unit. Casey thumps him on the back, making him startle, then flashes a smile.

"You're keeping up. Not bad," he says.

Diaval's face slackens and he opens his mouth, but a door nearby opens and gains their attention instead. The Purple Dragons creep outside, laughing to themselves as they cradle armfuls of loot, including a painting, a TV, and a bag of cash.

"What're you guys doing?" Michelangelo asks. The Dragons stiffen, staring up at the freckled turtle with nervous smiles.

"Uh, we're helping a friend move his valuables to our hideout?" Fong suggests.

"Hmm..." Michelangelo murmurs. He shrugs and flashes a thumbs up. "That's cool. Good luck with that."

The Purple Dragons nod and pick up the pace, clutching the valuables closer. Casey nudges Michelangelo, his eyes wide and glaring from behind his hockey mask. Diaval and Mondo get closer to them, both looking unsure.

"Mikey! You know they're lying, right?" he asks.

"Huh?" Michelangelo lets out a shout and jumps in the Purple Dragons' path, eyes narrowed. "You put that stuff back where it came from!" he demands.

"Says who? A turtle freak?"

Michelangelo, Casey, Mondo, and Diaval turn as a muscular man dressed in black walks onto the rooftop. He flexes and the golden necklace dangling over his tattooed chest glints, his white smile getting wider as he raises his fists.

"Aw, great," Casey groans. "Hun."

"Up for a rematch, Hockey Boy?" Hun asks. He sweeps his sunglasses from his face and adjusts his footing, his lips puckered, and Casey makes a noise in the back of his throat as he readies his baseball bat. "This time, I'm ready for your tricks."

Casey races at him and Hun whoops. They clash with fists, feet, and bat alike. Hun lands some hits, Casey almost lands others. Mondo takes one look at Casey losing his fight and backs up to hide between some A/C units. Diaval gets an arrow ready but yelps and dodges out of the way as Hun splinters Casey's bat over his knee and flings the pieces away, nearly hitting him.

Michelangelo takes on all three of the other gang members with little trouble, but he's engaged enough that he can't break away to help Casey against Hun. Hun kicks Casey squarely in the gut, knocking him into a water tower. The Asian cracks his knuckles and turns around, seeing Mondo and Diaval hidden away from the fight.

Hun's cold eyes latch on Mondo. "Another pathetic freak?"

"Do you know what happened to the last person that called me names?" Mondo threatens, aiming a padded finger at him.

He throws his skateboard, which Hun bats away without blinking, and Mondo rushes him. Hun braces his foot against Mondo's head, effectively keeping him at bay as the gecko swings uselessly at empty air. When Mondo tires, arms drooping, Hun knocks him back.

"Rope-a-dope!" Mondo hoots, dancing from side to side as his fists bounce. "That's right, punk! I got you!"

He makes a few screeching noises before rushing at Hun again. Hun makes quick work of him, fists and feet flying into the hapless reptile like he's just another punching bag. Diaval groans and hides his face in his hands, unable to watch Mondo embarrass himself further.

Mondo wobbles, tongue lolling, and Hun kicks him into a water tower. He does it over and over, Mondo going from foot to tower like a child's bouncy ball. As he comes back from the umpteenth blow, Hun aims him fist and sends him pinwheeling through the air, over Michelangelo's head, and off the edge of the roof.

"Oh no, Mondo!" Michelangelo cries.

Mondo screams as he plummets towards the unforgiving asphalt. Right before impact, Michelangelo swings down on his kusarigama chain and catches him. The launch back up to the roof, over Hun's head and right into Sid. Michelangelo drops Mondo and throws both fists up as Fong and Tsoi come up behind them, dropping them like sacks of flour.

Hun glares at the turtle and his useless men as Casey gets to his feet, hockey stick at the ready. "What up, Hun?" he asks.

"I'll help you, I just, uh...need a minute to catch my breath," Mondo says, bracing himself against the water tower as he tries to breathe.

Casey and Michelangelo shout and race at Hun and Hun whoops as he meets them. Casey swings his stick, gets knocked back, then Michelangelo goes for a kick that also gets blocked, then pushed back. Casey rushes at him, making Hun leap away. A skateboard rolls through the fray and just in time, lands beneath Hun's feet as he lands. Hun slips, tumbling off the edge of the building and landing in a dumpster.

"Huh?" Casey mutters, turning around.

Diaval waves at him, retrieving the skateboard that he sent rolling. "Thought help would be good," he states.

"Nice one, dude," Michelangelo says with a grin. Diaval sticks his thumb up and hands the skateboard back.