My teacher: You write really well. Have you had a lot of practice?

The 150 page story about turtles that are mutants and in the teenage age group that also happen to be ninjas meeting alternate versions of themselves in my pocket:

(tw: headcanons /j)

Mikey and Angelo were hanging out in Angelo's room, coloring. Both were laying on their plastrons, pieces of paper and crayons strewn about between them.

Angelo was having a bit of a hard time, as every few minutes, his hands would jolt and mess up his coloring. Suddenly, he groaned in defeat and smacked his brown crayon down on the ground.

"This is hopeless, I hate it!" he said, crossing his arms on the ground and burying his head in his forearms.

Mikey paused, a more general sense of pity flooding through him. Most people see pity as a bad thing, but Mikey thought it was a good thing to have. It was like sympathy and empathy.

"It's not hopeless," he replied softly.

"After creating that stupid portal, all my hands do is shake and I hate it!" Angelo shouted, voice cracking.

"But that portal saved Nardo!" Mikey replied, sitting up and scooting over to Angelo. He placed a hand on his shell. "Isn't that worth it? Having your brother here?"

Angelo was quiet, body shaking as he took breaths.

"You just have to embrace this, bro," Mikey added.

Angelo looked up at Mikey, his brow furrowed in frustration. "How can I embrace something that's ruining my favorite thing to do?" he asked fiercely.

Mikey paused. "Before your hands started doing the tremors, did you ever mess up on a drawing accidentally?"

"Well, yeah," Angelo mumbled. "Doesn't everybody?"

"You just gotta pretend like you meant to draw there," Mikey said, "like before your hands started shaking." Mikey picked the brown crayon up and started drawing, and eventually, it started to resemble wings. Angelo watched as Mikey colored them in and set the crayon back down.

"See?" he said, pointing at the wings. The drawing was now a pegasus, as the wings Mikey drew were spread out above the horse body. "It just lets you show even more creativity."

Angelo sniffled and picked up the paper, changing to a sitting position. He crossed his legs and wiped his wrist across his eyes. He smiled and looked at Mikey.

"Thanks." Angelo hugged Mikey, who hugged back immediately. They stayed in the embrace for a good ten or fifteen seconds, Mikey only letting go when Angelo started to.

"Your Dr. Feelings really came out just then, huh?" Angelo joked, his voice starting to level out.

"Dr. Feelings?" Mikey repeated, confused.

"Yeah, Dr. Feelings. Y'know, when you talk to people about their feelings and have a heart-to-heart?"

Mikey hummed in thought, then shrugged. "Nah, doesn't ring a bell."

"Do you have a Dr. Delicate Touch, at least?" Angelo tried.

"Nope!" Mikey replied chipperly, crossing his arms and leaning back slightly. "I just do whatever whenever I feel like it."

"The true form of Dr. Delicate Touch," Angelo whispered in awe. He imagined sparkles around Mikey that showed his admiration.

"YOU SLIMEY CART OF EXPIRED HAM!!"

Both Mikey and Angelo's attention snapped to where the shouting had come from. It was faint, which meant that it was relatively far away, maybe on the other side of the lair.

"That was Donnie," Mikey said worriedly, looking back at Angelo.

"Let's go check it out," Angelo replied, standing up. Mikey followed quickly, leaving the crayons and paper messily on the floor.

-

"Donatello," Tello said calmly, "pardon the language, but what the unruly FUCK is wrong with you?"

"We should be the ones asking that," Donnie growled, bo staff pointed at Tello. He was accompanied by Casey, who was standing to Donnie's left with his arms crossed.

"I'm not quite sure what this is about," Tello replied, arms crossed.

"The escape room? The sewers? The moss monster that almost MURDERED US?!" Donnie finished the sentence in an angry screech, thrusting the bo staff slightly closer.

They were in the med bay, as Tello had burned himself while working on Shelldon. After he and the others watched Donnie and Casey finish the escape room, they had all decided to go and chill with whomever they wanted to. Tello chose to continue his work and Shelldon, but had fried a part of the circuit by accident and his fingertip was burnt slightly. He now had it wrapped in bandages to prevent the burn from worsening.

"I'm aware of the escape room," Tello responded flatly, "but the sewers and moss monster are news to me."

Donnie and Casey glanced precariously at each other. "How did you make the escape hatch but not know about the sewers beneath it?"

"There was supposed to be a small room below the escape hatch that would let you know that you won, congratulate you, and then lead the way back to the lair. I'm not sure where you two ended up, but it was surely your fault and not ours."

The two looked at each other. "Are you sure we saw that thing, Don?"

"I... I mean, we never touched it..." Donnie replied thoughtfully. He let the bo staff drop to his side and brought an empty right hand up to his chin. "Maybe it was like the wall?"

"Wall?" Tello asked.

"Yeah, there was this weird wall that just appeared behind us," Casey explained. "But we threw a glass shard at it and it went straight through!"

"We think it was an illusion," Donnie's summary made a lot more sense than Casey's... vivid reenactment.

"So the moss monster may have been an illusion too, then?" Tello inquired, crossing his arms.

"Since we never touched it, that's the most likely conclusion."

"Wait, but we did touch it," Casey cut in. When Donnie looked at him in confusion, he said, "Remember the moss wall, and when it shot up in front of us? We felt the moss."

"That's true," Donnie replied, then sighed and shook his head. "You would know more about this than us, Tello. You've lived here all your life."

"I would be willing to investigate if it would make you two feel better," Tello offered.

Casey looked at Donnie, who still had gears turning. "Uh, yeah, that'd be cool."

"I'll message my brothers and let them know."

-

Rael was hanging out with Leo, Raph, and Nardo. The four were sitting in Nardo's room, chatting about whatever came to mind. Leo was sitting in a pile of pillows and Raph was to his left in a beanbag chair. Rael had a few pillows on the ground that he was sitting on as well, and he was across the small room from Raph and Leo. His legs were out butterfly style and he had his hands planted right behind his feet, his long, spikey tail curled over his hands and feet to keep him a bit more warm.

"Is Karai your sister in this world?" Raph asked, giving Leo a sideways glance.

"Nope," Rael replied lightly. "Karai's our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-" Rael breathed in, "great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-"

"OKAY, there's a lot of 'great's!" Raph shouted suddenly, and Leo elbowed him in the side.

"Raph, breathe."

"Uh, she's our grandma," Nardo summed up. He was laying on his bed, legs bent upwards as he lay on his stomach. His arms were crossed in front of him and he had his chin resting on his forearms. "With a LOOOOTT of 'great's in front."

"Is she Shredder's daughter?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, but it's kind of a long story," Rael looked at Nardo, silently asking if they should tell the other turtles.

"Well, so is ours," Raph replied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "And we've got nothing but time."

"I can tell it," Rael volunteered. He straightened up and cleared his throat, pulling his hands out from his lap. He rubbed them together and prepared to recite his family's history.

"So," Rael started, "this all began around 500 years ago in Japan.

"Karai was a young girl born into the family of the Foot Clan. Her father, Oroku Saki, loved her dearly; more than anything he'd ever loved. But then, their family was attacked, and Oroku Saki was forced into a corner. Desperate, he turned to an alien being that gave him a powerful set of armor, called the Kuroi Yōroi, which he could use to protect his clan. This armor, however, was evil. It drained his life force and was eventually able to consume his soul and take control of itself. This formed what is now known as the Shredder.

"The Shredder, whom was now seen as the leader of the Foot Clan, turned the Foot into a havoc-wreaking clan that terrorized Japan. That is, until Karai decided that she'd had enough. She formed the Hamato Clan to fight against the Shredder and the Foot Clan. Due to the use of the Hamato Ninpō and a mystic blade, the Shredder fell at the Hamato's hand. The armor was then spread out across the Earth to prevent Shredder from returning, and Karai trapped herself and the Shredder inside the Twilight Realm forever."

"Well, 'forever' is a strong word," Nardo cut in, the tone changing from "dark and important lore" to "this motherfucker".

"Ehhh, yeah, we kinda sorta accidentally released the Shredder when we released Karai from the Twilight Realm," Rael admitted.

"How the hell did you do that?" Raph demanded. Leo simply laughed slightly.

"It does seem like something that would happen," Leo replied. "I mean, since when has anything gone our way?"

Raph sighed.

"Well, okay, listen," Nardo explained. "We didn't know that Shreds was in there with Gram-Gram, we just thought she could help us defeat the Shredder. And she did, kind of, until she died."

"Wait, but I thought the Shredder was in the Twilight Realm?" Leo interjected, confused.

"Ohhh, nonono," Rael replied. "Well, actually, yes. But no. See, the armor was what we thought Karai could help us beat. Shredder was being controlled by the Foot and we needed help with that. The REAL Shredder, like his soul or whatever, was trapped with Karai. That's why when we freed her, Shredder took control of his body again and didn't have to listen to the Foot anymore."

"And you guys were able to beat him?" Raph said. His voice was slightly sarcastic, if not doubtful.

"With absolutely zero trouble," Nardo replied proudly.

"Then Cass joined our group," Rael finished.

"Who's Cass?" Leo asked. For a second, Rael wondered how stupid these guys could be. Then he considered the fact that they may not have a Cass.

"Cassandra Jones," Rael answered. "Cass, or Casey, for short. She's also Case's mom."

"Oh, god, you guys have two Casey's?" Raph groaned, an exasperated tone to his voice.

"Yeah, but they're both awesome!" Nardo said.

Suddenly, a musical tone rang out in the room, and Rael looked down at his left side, noticing his phone lit up and vibrating.

"Oh, hold on," Rael muttered. He grabbed his phone from out of his belt and pressed a button. He held it up to the side of his head, "Hey, Don. What's up?"

The other three were silent, eyes glued on Rael in anticipation.

"Casey and Donnie said they saw something in the sewers after the escape room," Tello replied. He was slightly out of breath, if not distracted by something. "I agreed to gather some of the others to go out and search for what they said they saw. Would you be able to help?"

"Sure," Rael smiled. "I'll, uh, tell the other three that're here with me."

Leo turned to Nardo, who shrugged.

Rael ended the call and set his phone down on his right, screen down. "Okay, so y'know the escape room thingie?" He continued after the others nodded. "Well, when Casey and Donnie finished it, they were down in the sewers and saw something and are super freaked out by it, I guess. So Tello wants to see who'll go down with him and the other two to see if whatever messed with Donnie and Casey is still down there."

Raph grinned mischievously and stood up, punching his palm. "Hell yeah, I've been waiting for a little action!"

Nardo stood up as well and patted Raph on the shoulder. "Time to go punch a sewer monster!"

Rael joined the other two on their feet and grinned, "We'll go get the other guys and make a plan together."

"Woah, woah, hold on," Leo said, standing up. He held his hands in front of him in a stop motion, Raph crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "We don't know what this is, where it is, or how dangerous it is. And how do we even know Casey and Donnie are telling the truth?"

"Because we trust them?" Rael replied. "Do you not trust your brother enough to believe him when he says he saw something down in the sewers?"

"Look, I'm just saying that maybe-" Leo emphasized the word with his hands, shrugging slightly- "they were tired, or it was dark, or something. I just don't want us to go in, guns blazing, completely unprepared for what's down there."

"So we ask Donnie and Casey about what happened," Raph suggested, pumping his fist at the end of the sentence, "then we go and kick this thing's butt!"

"Yeah, let's do this!" Rael joined in, and they all hurried out of the room. Leo took an extra moment to watch them go, hesitant.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

-

"So," April said excitedly, hands resting on her thighs as she leaned forward in her seat. "You're the me from this universe?"

"I'm also the cooler version of you," Abi replied cockily. She then laughed a bit and waved her hand at April. "Just kidding, we can be equal amounts of cool."

April laughed, then leaned back and sighed. "This place is awesome. Do you live here?"

Abi's eyes widened and she jumped to deny. "This is a sewer, girl! No way I'd be able to live down here and still be a human."

"So where do you live, then?"

"With my parents," Abi grinned. "They're awesome. Though, Case's living with me too, for now."

"Doesn't he have parents?" April inquired. She scooted back a bit on her chair and crossed one leg over the other, hands resting on her foot.

"Cass is technically his mom, but from the future. So no?" Abi wasn't quite sure herself how that worked, so she hoped she explained it right.

"Oh, woah," April muttered. "Wait, does that mean you have two Casey's?"

"Yep! And I'm friends with both of 'em," Abi replied proudly.

"That's so cool!" April gushed, then paused. "Do you, um, like anyone?"

Abi laughed. She wasn't sure what else to do, she was caught so off guard by the question. "Sorry, sorry, I- you just surprised me. Uh, why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason!" April replied. She was avoiding the question, Abi noticed. "Just... wanna know if other-me is in a relationship."

"Well, I guess..." Abi thought for a moment. "Ahh, this is kind of weird, I don't know."

"C'mon, I won't tell anyone!" April leaned forward.

"Okay, okay," Abi replied. "I like this friend of mine that I met, she's a transfer student-"

"Wait, she?"

Abi stared at April. "Oh, yeah. I like girls. Women."

April let out a short laugh. "Well, that's something we don't have in common."

"You like guys?"

"Yeah. But it's okay, I don't, like, hate gay people or anything," April quickly added, waving her hands.

"Good, cause we're all a little fruity here," Abi said, accompanying the statement with a laugh.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Abi started, "I'm lesbian, obviously. Nardo's gay, which we all saw coming. Then Angelo's some sort of aroace- he's still figuring it out- and Tello's on the spectrum, too. Rael's Rael, he doesn't care. I figured all of that out when I spent the night once."

"None of us are gay," April replied. "Well, I don't think so, at least."

"Oh, you're very wrong about that," Abi chuckled. "Donnie and Raph definitely have some sort of "I like men" thing going on."

"Raph I can see, but Donnie?" April touched her finger to her chin in thought, brow furrowed. "I don't see it."

"Your gaydar is broken, then, girl," Abi relaxed back into her chair and sighed.

There was a pause, then April spoke up again. "You said that you figured out the turtles' sexualities when you spent the night, right?"

Abi hummed in response.

"Do you spend the night often?"

"Not really," Abi replied. "I only stay here if I have an excuse, like if I ask my parents or whatever."

"Wait, what do you do if you, y'know, get your period while you're there?" April asked.

Abi blinked at April. "Oh! Oh, yeah, uh, no, that doesn't happen."

"Oh, I'm so sorry-"

"No, I'm not infertile or anything, I just... uh, let me put it to you this way." Abi sucked air in through her teeth and sighed, merging the breath with, "I wasn't always a girl."

April paused. "Oh, wait, you're-"

"Yep, I'm trans! Yaaaayyy," Abi waved her hands unceremoniously, an unexcited grin on her face."

"And you chose the name April?" April inquired, leaning forward slightly.

"I was pretty young when my parents kind of figured out that I wasn't a boy," Abi replied, glancing around the room. "I was wearing makeup and wanting long hair, girl hairstyles, girl toys and clothes, stuff like that. My mom asked me first if I wanted to be a girl, and when I said yes, her and my dad both got together and helped me pick out some more feminine stuff."

"When did that happen?"

"When I was like four or five, about a year and a half before I met the turtles."

"Wow," April exhaled, looking down at her lap in thought. "Do the guys know?"

"Of course! I don't hide stuff from them," Abi replied quickly. "I just told them a few years ago, and none of them really knew what it was until I explained it to them."

"And they were just... cool with it?"

"Yeah, and Splints, too," Abi stretched her arms up above her head. "We're in 2022, it's not like everyone is still homphobic."

"We don't really talk about gay or trans people back in my New York," April said, looking to the side. "I mean, none of us really seemed to identify with that, so we all just kind of... assumed we were all straight and cisgender."

"Yeah, no, a good amount of you are fruity," Abi replied. She let out a short laugh, then groaned and let her head flop back behind the chair. "Y'all should really learn about some of this stuff so you can figure out who you are." She looked back at April and raised an eyebrow. "Believe me, you'll feel a LOT better once you do."

April looked down at her hands. She probably would feel better, but...

"APRIL!!" Both girls jumped and stared at the doorway, which now had a turtle in it.

"Nardo, what do you think you're doing?!" Abi demanded, standing up. "You scared the shit out of us, don't do that again."

"Sorry but I'm in a rush right now and something happened and I need to talk to you guys," Nardo replied, breathing slightly heavier than he normally would.

"What happened?" April asked, standing up.

"Okay so basically Donnie and Casey were down in the sewers and they got attacked by this giant moss sewer monster so we're getting a team together to go look and do you wanna come with?"

"Woah, woah, woah, slow down!" Abi closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. She then grabbed Nardo's shoulders and stared at him. "Say it again but slower."

"Sorry, sorry," Nardo took a deep breath to calm down, then sighed. "After Donnie and Casey finished the escape room, they went down into the sewers. Then they got attacked by this huge monster made of moss and they just barely made it out. So now we're going around to try and get people to come with us to check it out."

April and Abi stared at Nardo, then glanced at each other. Abi then asked, "Who's 'we'?"

-

"Okay, so here's the plan."

Tello was standing up, the others gathered around him in a hemispheric formation. They were sitting cross-legged on the floor and staring up at the slideshow Tello had going. They had moved Splinter's chair so there would be room, and Angelo couldn't help but notice the similarity between now and when he helped Tello with Sheldon.

Leo, Nardo, Raph, Angelo, Mikey, Abi, Donnie, and Casey had all agreed to come with. April, Case, and Rael were staying behind to make sure the lair was secure. However, they were still sitting on the floor with the rest of the team, paying close attention to what Tello was going to say.

Tello had a stick that he tapped up on the wall, a detailed map of the sewers laid out on the board. "This is where we are, in the lair. And this is where Donnie and Casey left the escape room."

He tapped each area as he explained what it was, the only sound the tack of the stick as it hit the board and Tello's voice ringing out over the group.

"Somewhere in here is where the moss monster is." Tello paused as a hand shot up from the group. "Oh, uh, yes Mikey?"

"We should totally call this dude the Mosster!"

Everyone stared at him. "Y'know, cause it's made of moss? And it's a monster?"

"We get it, Mikey," Leo said, patting Mikey's head.

Tello returned to the presentation, tapping the map again. "Right, so somewhere in here is where the Mosster is. What we're gonna do is go down there and search for this thing, and hopefully, we'll be able to figure out where its hideout is."

"What will we do once we find it?" Donnie asked.

"Punch its stupid face in until it looks like a pile of cut grass!" Casey replied, punching his hand eagerly.

"We're not gonna punch it," Tello replied flatly. "We are going to simply take a sample of it and hopefully trap it in that cage." Suddenly, Tello's theatrics were flipped on, and he dramatically gestured to something behind the group with a loud, "Behold!"

Everyone's eyes followed Tello's point to the large metal box in the middle of the room.

"I was wondering what that was for," Rael said.

"I have a remote with two buttons: the red one is to open the cage, and the green one is to close it." Tello demonstrated this by pressing the red button on his remote, one of the box's faces splitting through the middle horizontally, the top half coming out first, and opening to form a ramp. Inside was a completely empty space. The box's split side then closed at the same pace it opened, the bottom moving first this time.

"Now, listen carefully. Do not- I repeat, DO NOT-" Tello looked directly at Nardo- "press the red button after the Mosster is trapped inside the box."

"Pshhht," Nardo replied dismissively, waving at Tello. "Don't worry, bro! I got this."

"Oh, no, you don't get the remote, Nardo," Tello said, a grin spreading across his face. "No, you get to be the decoy."

Nardo's face slacked to a surprised yet not surprised expression. "The what?"

-

Damnit, Tello... Nardo gritted his teeth, his sword gripped firmly in front of him. He was down in the sewers with the rest of the group trailing behind him, silently sticking to the shadows. Nardo had a light tied to his sash, which kept him from tripping over himself in the dark. However, despite the bare minimum of equipment, Nardo was going to kill Tello if the former died.

Nardo glanced back at the sewer system behind him as he approached a cross in the tunnels. He paused, stuck near the wall to his left, looking over his right shoulder and across the tunnel.

Tello and Donnie were leaning over a handheld device that was probably some sort of mutant tracking thing. Tello then pointed to the right, the blue light from his device the only way for Nardo to tell which direction he was meant to go. Nardo nodded and started moving again, hearing quiet footsteps behind him.

Mikey, Angelo, Raph, Leo, Tello, Donnie, Casey, Abi, and of course, Nardo, were all down in the mazes full of human waste. Mikey had deemed what they were searching for the Mosster, which Nardo was 100% kicking himself for not coming up with sooner.

Silently, Nardo shuffled down the tunnel, sticking close to the walls. He noticed that the ground was softer now, as was the wall. Maybe they were all mushy from the water and sewage? His footsteps didn't sound squelchy, though. Eh, it was probably nothing.

"Nardo!" came a very quiet whisper-shout. It was Casey calling up, and Nardo stopped to look back.

Casey and Raph appeared first, emerging from the pitch blackness behind Nardo and being engulfed in warm yellow light. After them came Tello and Donnie, then Leo and Mikey, and finally Angelo and Abi. They were all huddled together, but still far enough apart to not be touching, and Casey glanced back at Tello and Donnie.

"What happened?" Nardo whispered.

Tello was staring intently at the device in his hands, Donnie doing the same. "It's the Mosster," he replied quietly. He looked up and locked eyes with Nardo. "I think we're on top of it."

Nardo's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. He looked down at his feet.

Moss.

He looked at the wall.

Moss.

"Oh, shit," Nardo breathed.

"Just stay quiet and we'll go back-" Donnie started, but was cut off by Raph.

"Hell no!" he whisper-shouted. "We came here to beat that thing up, so we're gonna beat that thing up."

"Yeah, who cares if we're literally standing on it?" Casey joined in, tossing his arm up to show how little shits he gave. "We can defeat this guy, no problem!"

"We totally got this, D!" Mikey added, throwing his arms over each other in an X formation as he finished the sentence, his pitch rising as well. "Don't worry about it, how's it gonna take down all eight of us?"

"Michael, there are nine of us," Donnie replied flatly.

Mikey paused. He then resumed his prior energeticness and shrugged. "How's it gonna take down all nine of us?"

"Mikey's right," Leo said quietly, earning a triumphant "Yes!" from Mikey and a dropped jaw from Donnie. "We can take it. We outnumber it nine to one."

"Unless it's got, like, babies or whatever," Casey replied jokingly, then looked at the others as they stared at him. "What?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, Casey's right," Raph muttered, Casey giving an offended "Hey!"

"We need to figure out what to do if we encounter more Mossters," Abi started. "Does anyone have any ideas?"

"What if we split up?" Angelo suggested.

"That's how every single horror movie starts," Nardo crossed his arms. "And most of them die at the end, so no."

"How about we all just go in, guns blazing, and stab this stupid piece of overgrown ferns in the face??" Raph growled, reaching for his sais.

"Raph, stop," Leo murmured, hovering his own hand over Raph's. "We need a plan."

Raph groaned quietly, then crossed his arms. "Okay, so give us a plan, Leo."

"I'm gonna need a minute, okay?" Leo replied, his voice slightly stressed.

Casey sighed. "Well, we don't have a lot of time."

"Why not?" Angelo asked, glancing up at Casey.

"I just don't feel good about this, I don't know," Casey held his upper arms nervously. He glanced around sporadically, lips tightened together.

"Jeez, we should start calling you April," Raph remarked.

"Raph, quit it," Donnie elbowed Raph, the latter coming back to smack Donnie before Leo caught his arm.

"Guys, stop fighting!" he whisper-shouted. He then let go of Raph's arm and turned to address everyone. "We're gonna need everyone's input on this, alright? So let's all just come together and... uh, Mikey?"

"Yeah?" Mikey replied.

"Is that, like, a new belt or something?" Leo pointed at the bottom part of Mikey's plastron. Everyone followed Leo's finger to see a mossy vine wrapped around Mikey's waist.

"Uh oh," Mikey said.

Suddenly, the turtle went flying backwards, a cry ringing out and fading as the turtle did as well. (bro got snatched)

"Mikey!!" most of them all shouted, Raph and Leo immediately bolting after him.

"Wait- guys!" Donnie yelled, stepping forward before Abi stopped him.

"We need to think about this, Donnie," she said, not even bothering to be quiet anymore because obviously Mosster found them already.

"But- my brothers.." Donnie trailed off, a deep sadness and worry filling his eyes.

Casey patted Donnie's shoulder. "We'll find them, but we gotta beat the source up. Y'know, like in that one movie with the zombies."

"Casey's right," Tello replied simply. "It seems to be a hive mind. The source is likely Mosster, so we should locate it and defeat it."

"Time to get our fight on!" Nardo said, punching the air enthusiastically.

"What do we do about the others?" Angelo inquired, holding his hands in front of his plastron worriedly.

"We'll help them once we beat up Mosster," Abi replied, patting Angelo's carapace comfortingly.

"Yeah, we can't help them much if we get caught, too," Casey added, glancing at Donnie as if he was saying it to the turtle. Donnie looked down at his hands, feeling useless.

He could've saved Mikey if he'd just...

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Nardo asked, glancing at the remainder of the group.

"You're the leader," Casey said, slightly annoyed. "Shouldn't you think of a plan?"

Everyone looked at Nardo, who seemed to shrink under their gaze.

"Well, uh, I just... I've never been much of a plan guy, Rael's always done that-"

"We can just all think of one together," Abi interjected. "Uh, Tello? Any ideas?"

"I'm going to get a sample of Mosster to dissect in my lab," the turtle replied, "so don't be surprised if I start going towards Mosster."

"Okay, um..." Abi glanced around. "Casey? You've sure been talkative. Maybe you have an idea?"

"Yeah, kick that thing in its stupid moss face!" Casey pumped his fist downwards as if he were slamming it on a table. "It tried to kill me and Don, so I'm gonna kill it back!" He jerked his thumb back towards his chest when he said "I'm".

"We need to figure out how to do that first, Ant-Brain!" Donnie snapped at him, glaring at the boy. His face turned from anger to shock. He looked down at his hands and gripped his arms regretfully. "Sorry, I'm just..." He sighed and gazed at where Mikey, Raph, and Leo had disappeared. "I'm worried about them."

"It's okay, D, we get it," Angelo replied softly, laying a hand on the turtle's shoulder. "We're all worried about them, too."

"We just have to get revenge on that Mosster before we can get them," Abi added.

Donnie nodded, his eyes flickering between Abi and Angelo. "Yeah... yeah, you're right. Let's just brainstorm a plan."

They stood in silence for a little while, not much longer than a few minutes, though. The silence was then broken by Angelo, who suggested a certain formation that most everyone knew. Except for Casey since, of course, he's a loner.

(more like loser /lh)

"Are we all in agreement, then?" Abi asked, arms crossed as she looked at each of her friends individually.

Everyone nodded or gave small noises of approval.

"All right, then," Abi said, resting her right elbow on Nardo's shoulder and leaning on him. "Let's go beat this bitch up."

-

"Mikey!!" most everyone shouted, and Leo felt a burst of adrenaline, worry, and fear inside of his chest. Immediately, he pushed off from his standing position and rushed forwards towards where Mikey had just gone.

"Wait, guys-!" he heard Donnie yell, but Leo didn't care. He cared more about Mikey, the complete and utter fear inside his voice when the vine whipped him out of view.

"Mikey?!" Raph yelled, directly to Leo's left. The latter jumped slightly, as it was almost pitch black, especially since his eyes were used to the lantern's light.

"Raph?" he called, his arms feeling the air to his sides.

"Leo!" Raph said, shock fading to relief. "Oh, jeez, I thought I was the only one out here."

"I'm surprised we're the only ones out here," Leo replied, breathing heavily. He was starting to be able to make out Raph's silhouette. "I mean, I figured Donnie and Angelo, at the very least, would have also come after Mikey."

"They probably stopped them for some sort of stupid plan," Raph growled. He seemed to cross his arms, but he could've also been trying to do the macarena. Leo still couldn't see well, but he assumed it was the former.

Suddenly, Leo realized what a mistake he'd made. "Shoot, you're right. Us running off only compromises the team. We're stronger in a big group; now there's just the two of us, and we can barely see."

Raph was quiet for a moment, but then he uncrossed his arms (or stopped doing the macarena) and rested his hand on Leo's shoulder. He missed the first time, accidentally hitting Leo's carapace. "Let's just try to find Mikey."

"Hold on a second," Leo replied. He first took his sword out of one of his sashes and held its blade between his thighs. Next, he unbuckled the same sash and looped it through the left side of his belt, then traced around Raph's arm and down to his own belt. "Raph, move your sais real quick."

Raph did as Leo asked, pulling his weapons out of their holders. Leo didn't want to stab himself accidentally. "What're you even doing?" Raph asked, Leo now buckling his sash between the two.

"There," Leo said, standing straight. He pulled on the sash, Raph being jerked over slightly.

"What the heck?"

"It's working like a rope," Leo said. "Just, y'know, as a precaution so we don't get broken apart."

Raph sighed and probably rolled his eyes. "Can we just go look for Mikey now?"

"Yeah, c'mon," Leo answered, holding his sword in his right hand and stepping forward. There was a slight tug of force between the two, as Raph was still standing, but he quickly moved up to be next to Leo.

"This sucks," Raph muttered.

"Deal with it," Leo replied, his voice level. "It's just temporary."

Raph let out an annoyed grunt, but he moved along with Leo. He was still gripping his sais, Leo assumed, since he hadn't heard Raph drop them or put them back in their holders.

"Are you gonna pull out your other sword?" Raph asked after a few minutes of silent walking.

"What for?" Leo glanced back at his brother as he paused by a corner, pressed against the wall.

"In case we need to kick some faces in?" Raph replied, ending the sentence in a higher tone to show how stupid Leo's query was.

Leo sighed and continued moving forward. They had begun to move as more of a unit now, since they were able to see more than pitch darkness. "I'll get the other one out if I need it. For now, it's more convenient for it to be held on my back."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you used your sash for this two-legged race shit."

"Dude!" Leo stopped and looked back at Raph.

"What?"

"Language."

Raph sighed annoyedly and rolled his eyes. "Oh my god, Mikey isn't even here."

"That doesn't matter," Leo replied. "You shouldn't be swearing at all."

"Okay, I forgot you used your sash for this two-legged BULLshit. Better?" Raph said, giving Leo a challenging look.

"Raphael Hamato, I am going to-"

A sudden screech rang out through the sewer, a loud and piercing scream that seemed to echo through the turtles' bones. Both of them clamped their hands over their ear scutes, clenching their teeth. Once the noise had stopped, Raph and Leo looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Leo," Raph muttered.

"Run," Leo finished for him, and both of them turned and bolted back the way they came. "Maybe we can make it back to the group!"

The soft pattering of feet on moss wasn't all that the two heard. Their own heavy breathing, the air whipping past their bodies, and the thing behind them.

Leo snuck a glance and almost tripped over nothing when he saw what it was.

A large creature with a slender body was chasing them. Its cranium largely outsized its body, but it had way more than eight tentacles spreading across the mossy floor. It seemed to be made of moss, however, and had several glowing eyes that were locked on the two fleeing turtles. (i'm thinking of the Eyes of the Universe monster from Spooky Month)

"Oh, my god," Leo panted, feeling his chest tighten with complete fear.

"Leo, left!" Raph shouted, the turtle taking a sharp left, Leo being tugged that way.

"Sorry, I'm-" Leo looked back to see the monster skid to a stop, then continue galloping towards them. But then, the blue turtle saw something. He whipped his head back around and looked at Raph, who was in front. "Raph!"

"What, Leo?!" Raph shouted back, exasperated.

"That thing has Mikey!"

Raph tripped and fell, taking Leo down with him. They both quickly got up and Raph stared at Leo.

"What the hell do you mean, it has Mikey?!"

The monster drew closer, and Raph turned to look at it. Leo watched his eyes scan the monster before widening.

"Shhhhiittttt," Raph hissed, obviously torn between running for help and trying to save Mikey now. Leo didn't even bother trying to correct Raph, because all Raph was doing was voicing Leo's thoughts.

Raph wrung his hands out and bounced lightly back and forth on his feet. He gripped his sais and took a deep breath. "Okay, Leo..."

Leo turned to the monster and drew his other sword, holding both in front of him menacingly.

"Let's get Mikey back."

[6163 Words]

yo yo yo my swaggy followers and TBE enjoyers!! im back with a very interesting chapter and i hope you enjoyed reading it! ive got a fuck ton of ideas for the story and im so excited to write and share them :)

see you in chapter nine! <3