A/N: Eclipse belongs to GeekyCookie1.

Enjoy!

"Mazes & Mutants. It's a game that we found one night on patrol and we've been playing it since—though, none of us expected this to happen."

HENRY GRUNTED IN pain as he was knocked down on the floor of the dojo and landed on his right side, another wave of pain already starting to kick in as he groaned while his entire body ached. At the moment, he didn't care if the others were watching him practically get beaten and for the first time in a training session, he had never wanted anything more for it to be over.

"I thought you were gonna help me learn how to control the stupid wolf." Henry said through gritted teeth, ignoring the wolf inside of him that growled at the insult.

"I am, you do it by giving in and letting go," Daniel said as he stared at him. "That's how you gain control."

With a hand pressed against his right side, Henry pushed himself back onto his feet. "Wait, that's the plan? You're gonna beat the crap out of me?" He questioned with a small scoff.

"You're afraid to control your wolf," Daniel explained. "Well, I'm gonna make you. Control your wolf and then, you'll beat the crap out of me."

Henry couldn't help but roll his eyes as he stared at the man with an annoyed look on his face. "This is stupid."

Daniel chuckled as he got into a fight position. "What, you don't think you can't let go with me? You think you're gonna hurt me? Come on, kid! Give it your all." Then he shrugged. "If it helps, I can always heal."

Then, Henry went to punch Daniel, only for the man to block it and punch him in the stomach, knocking Henry onto the ground.

"You're a shapeshifter, Henry," Daniel told him seriously. "If you want to be able to protect everyone you cared about, you've got to give in full throttle. You've got to be the monster. Become the beast—become everything you're afraid of. That's what gives you power. It gives you strength."

Henry pushed himself back up and went to attack him again, but Daniel stopped it by kicking him back down while Henry groaned in pain as he stayed on the floor.

"Giving in to it doesn't make you the bad guy," Daniel told him. "As long as you can control it, but sometimes for other shapeshifters, control's a little overrated."

The five mutant turtles and Briana couldn't help but winched and flinched when Daniel only slammed Henry back down onto the ground again when the teenaged boy had gone to stand right back up.

"Come on, Henry, fight back." Eclipse whispered to herself, a hint of worry in her eyes for him.

"What if I can't control it? What if I can't turn back?" Henry questioned.

"Then it takes over and if that happens, you get further and further away from being human. You turn into an animal, or worse. You turn into my brother." Daniel explained. "That's the thing about my brother, kid. David lets his wolf gain more and more control over him because he believes he's superior over all shapeshifters, and he's after you because he knows you're proof that he's wrong. But if you can't control it and the wolf side takes over you, then David wins."

Henry sat on his knees for a bit, taking in deep breaths before letting his body collapse flat to the floor with every single part of his body aching in pain. He knows that he should be getting right back up—that he should fight back, but he didn't want to.

He didn't want to do what Daniel was asking of him to do.

He doesn't want to give in to it.

He doesn't want to become the monster—everything he was afraid of.

He didn't want to become the beast, because he was too afraid of losing all control.

And so, Henry just squeezed his eyes shut as he breathed heavily, laying on the ground with his entire body aching in pain as Daniel only frowned slightly, wondering if there was anything else he could to help him while the five mutant turtles and Briana only shared a concerned glance with each other.

But for the first time in his life, Henry has never felt anymore useless than he ever did in that very moment. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and didn't bother to open them, not even when his ears prickled at the sound of footsteps slowly walking towards him. As shadows loomed over him, he didn't need to open his eyes to know that the others were looking down at him—most likely with worried and concerned expressions on their faces.

"Is this way really the best option to teach him?" He heard Eclipse ask the older man.

"Yeah, there's gotta be another way—at least, a better option than this." He heard Leonardo add as well.

"There isn't," he heard Daniel respond with a small sigh. "The only way he'd learn is by giving in and letting go. Maybe a break is needed for now, we can try again later."

At those words, Henry didn't hesitate to reopened his eyes and send a small glare over at Daniel, sitting up a little. "Have you lost your mind!?" He questioned angrily. "You said you were gonna help, not beat the crap out of me!"

"Kid, look," Daniel said with a frown. "You're a shapeshifter because you were born this way. For us shapeshifters, by the time we first start walking, that's the moment where we start learning control over our wolf sides. But because your mother didn't let me or even know how to do it herself, you're learning all of it late. I don't even know if I can teach you how to control it in time before you have to face my brother."

A part of Henry wanted to throw Daniel across the dojo at that very moment but the other half of him was terrified. If he didn't learn how to control his wolf side, he could end up putting everyone he cares about in danger.

"Then, what do I do?"

"You have to push your fear away, Henry," Daniel said seriously. "You want to learn how to control this? Here's your lesson: get angry—us shapeshifters control our wolf sides through anger. We tap into our primal animal rage."

Henry rolled his eyes. "You know, if you keep beating the crap out of me, I can get angry." He said sarcastically.

"Not angry enough," Daniel responded. "This is the only way I can teach you, kid. I know it's not ideal and you're not a fan of it, but... it's the only way."

Henry just groaned and fell backwards onto his back, rubbing his face with his hands while the five mutant turtles and Briana only looked concerned.

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"NO! YOU CAN'T! No! No! No! No!" Michelangelo cried, watching as the dice roll until it stopped on a nine, his character's model then being gently pushed down to lay down on the table. Daniel had decided to let Henry take the rest of their session off and in order to take his mind off of it, the five mutant turtles and Henry were playing a game that they had found. "My +1 Ring of Awesome didn't save me." He hugged the red masked mutant turtle. "Avenge me. Ahh, avenge the beloved elf." Raphael shoved his brother off of him.

"Relax, Mikey," Leonardo started. "Your elf is fine—for now," he smirked. "But suddenly, your party is attacked by vicious monkey goblins! You have to roll a two or higher to avoid getting bitten."

Henry, Donatello, Michelangelo, Briana, and Eclipse all managed to roll a twenty, but Raphael rolled a one.

"One?"

"Critical fail, dude!" Michelangelo said.

"The monkey goblins bites. Raph loses..." Leonardo rolled a pair of dice. "Eleven hit points."

"Eleven!? Give me that!" Raphael snatches the dice. "I'm gonna use my magic sword +3 to strike."

At that moment, Splinter walked into the kitchen. He opened the freezer and Ice Cream Kitty held out a cheesicle to him. He took the frozen treat and shut the freezer before turning to the teens. "Hmm. What is all of this?"

"It's a game we found called Mazes & Mutants," Leonardo explained.

"A game?" Splinter questioned. "Don't you have mutagen to find?"

"But, sensei, we just beat the Kraang and Shredder's forces," Donatello said. "We could use just one day to relax."

Splinter sighed. "I cannot understand why you play a fantasy game when your lives are already fantastic."

"Me next!" Michelangelo called. "Everyone's favorite elf wants to attack goblins, too!" He rolled his dice. "Aw, yeah! +1 Ring of Awesome!"

"Something is not right here." Splinter said, walking out of the kitchen but the teens paid his words no mind.

👑👑👑

EVENTUALLY, THEY PUT the game away and Raphael, Donatello, Eclipse, Briana, and Henry were in the living room for some SRMFF. They watched Dash get trapped in his own mind, but with encouragement from his team, he broke free, pulling out a bazooka and shooting it at their enemy.

"Where did the bazooka come from?" Eclipse asked.

"I have theories, none of them pleasant." Donatello responded.

"It's cartoon logic," Henry said. "It's not supposed to make sense."

Raphael turned off the TV as they all turned their attention to Leonardo and Michelangelo, who entered the room while the orange masked mutant turtle was pretending to play a trumpet.

"Hear ye, hear ye! We have seen the future, and it is LARP." The others just stared. "LARP: Live Action Role Play," Leonardo explained. "We dress up as our heroes, then finish our Mazes & Mutants game in the sewers."

"Cool!" Donatello said. "Sounds like fun!"

Eclipse shrugged. "Eh, why not?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm in." Henry said.

Briana grinned. "Me too!"

"Sounds like stupid," Raphael retorted. "Count me out."

"Come on, Raph," Michelangelo said. "If you play with us, I'll let you wear my +1 Ring of Awesome."

"Oh, really? Can I? That would be so keen, Mikey," Raphael responded sarcastically. "Forget it. I don't do rings."

"That's five votes to one. Let's LARP." Leonardo said.

Raphael groaned. "Fine, whatever."

"If we're gonna LARP, we're gonna need costumes." Donatello said.

As they went to get ready; Leonardo was the fearless knight, Henry was fierce protector, Raphael was the dwarf barbarian, Donatello was the wise wizard, Michelangelo was the cunning elf thief, Eclipse was the sly sorceress, and Briana was the clever artificer. Once they were all set to go, the teens headed out into the sewers.

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"I'VE SET UP the game so we can finish in the tunnels," Leonardo stated. "Whoever solves the clues and defeats the dragon wins."

Soon enough, the seven of them came across their first enemy: a tree troll, which was really just a dressed-up dummy. They all had no problem in defeating it quickly.

"Found something," Eclipse said, picking up a scroll on the dummy and reading it out loud. "'Soon you will find yourself in a haze. Solve the riddle to beat the maze.'"

Leonardo looked confused by the scroll. "That's not the clue I wrote down."

Suddenly, mist started surrounding the teens. "The haze!" Michelangelo panicked. "Just like the rubber tree troll said."

Raphael coughed. "It smells. You been eating asparagus again, Mikey?"

"Wow, Leo, you really hooked this game up." Briana said.

"This wasn't me." Leonardo responded.

"Then, who—?"

Once the mist disappeared, the seven teens found themselves in an entirely different place. "A dungeon?" Henry questioned. "How did we go from the sewers to a dungeon?"

"Leo's just being humble," Michelangelo said. "This is amazing." He hugged the wall. "Everything feels so realistic."

He pushed a section of the wall, and the tunnel started shaking. Pillars of the ceiling started falling, making them all scream as they ran to another tunnel for safety.

"What was that?" Briana questioned, blinking when an arrow shot past them.

"This way!" Leonardo called, the group following him as they dodged the arrows being shot at them.

"Leo, I appreciate all the hard work you put into this, bro," Donatello started. "I really do. The craftsmanship is a thing of beauty. It's commendable. But, um, WHAT IS GOING ON!?"

"I have no idea," Leonardo responded. "A—are we really in medieval times?"

"Unless the mist made us time-travel, I don't think we are." Henry said.

"Dudes, dudettes, I don't want to be stuck in 1980s." Michelangelo said.

Then, a ball of green magic appeared before the group, the ball vanishing to reveal a mutant sparrow.

"Who is—"

"What the—"

"Who the heck—"

"Weird."

"Thou possesseth questions," the mutant sparrow began. "I am the one who possesseth thy answers."

"What did he say?" Michelangelo asked. "I don't speak Spanish, dude."

"It's not Spanish, Mikey," Briana answered. "It's medieval speak. He said that we have questions, and he has answers."

"My name is Sir Malachi," the sparrow answers. "I am the one who changeth your clue. I am the one who broughteth you here. And I am the one who will rewardeth you if you win the quest."

"Win the quest?" Eclipse questioned.

"You five turtles, fair nobleman, and fair maiden, must solveth the puzzles three and defeateth the dragon to free Princess April," Malachi explained, holding up a orb to reveal their friend while Donatello gasped. "Then and only then will I releaseth you."

"April—you have her?" Donatello snapped. "Why you—you—!"

"You let her go!" Michelangelo shouted. "Or I'll possesseth your face-eth! Righteth?"

Raphael rolled his eyes while Leonardo, Henry, and Eclipse facepalmed.

"If thou succeedeth, I will free your princess and send all of you safety back home," Malachi stated, playing with the orb. "Fail and the dragon will devours her and thou will be trapped in the maze forever! Forever!" He laughed, the orb disappearing.

"Well, maybe we don't want to play your game." Raphael retorted. He ran to Malachi, jumping up and brining down his axe, though the sparrow vanished before the turtle could hit him, making Raphael hit the floor instead.

Malachi reappeared behind him. "Thou will play for thine lives!" He waved his staff, summoning creatures to attack the teens.

"Monkey goblins!" Leonardo shouted, as they all fought back.

"A lot freakier than one-inch miniatures!" Donatello shouted.

Raphael groaned as he struggled with his axe. "This axe is impossible!"

"You can't play like Raph the ninja turtle," Michelangelo said, shooting his bow. "You have to play like Raph the dwarf barbarian."

"I never should've agreed to be a dwarf."

"Is it me or do these monkey goblins look like Rockwell?" Henry questioned.

Eclipse nodded in agreement. "Glad I'm not the only one thinking that."

The seven teens managed to corner the monkey goblins against the wall, only for them to vanish in green smoke.

"Okay, where did they come from?" Briana questioned. "What's going on exactly?"

"No idea, but there's only one way out of here." Leonardo looked down the hall as torches lit the way.

"We're not really gonna do this, are we?" Raphael questioned.

"Unless you know some other way out, we have to play Sir Malachi's game."

Then, both Leonardo and Henry took the lead as they all walked down the tunnel. "If this really is a dungeon maze, then there's gotta be traps." Eclipse said.

"Yeah, let's watch our steps." Donatello said in agreement.

"Yeah, I never want to see you get hurt... +1 Ring of Awesome, so shiny and beautiful, my magical source of power, my awesome," Michelangelo said.

Raphael smacked the back of his head. "I'll give you a magical headache."

Michelangelo hissed, holding his ring.

The teens stopped moving when a bright, blinding light shined down on them. The light died down, revealing a projection of the mutant sparrow. "Wanderers... mine congratulations on solving the first puzzle. And now the second riddle."

"You stupid bird head." Raphael said, as Leonardo smacked him with his shield.

Henry rolled his eyes at the mutant sparrow. "Just give us the riddle already."

"A maze is like a brain. A dungeon is a mind. Make one slip, and you'll be forever left behind." Malachi vanished.

"Can this get any weirder?" Briana asked.

Suddenly, the tiles that they'd been standing on gave in, making them fall. They all managed to catch themselves before dropping into the lava below.

"Guess so." Eclipse commented as they pulled themselves back up into the tunnel.

"I think all of those tiles are trapdoors." Donatello stated.

"Well, then I think it's time for some ninja stealth." Leonardo said, earning nods from the others.

They quickly made their way through the tunnel in ninja-style—although Michelangelo did end up losing his dagger of limitless skills along the way. But at the end, they landed safety on the other side.

"What is going on here?" Donatello asked.

"I'll tell you what's going on, dude," Michelangelo said. "This is all magic—it's the power of the ancient elves, guys."

"There's no such things as elves, Mikey." Eclipse said.

"I just want to hit Sir Nerdachi so hard he turns back into an egg. I want to clobber his feathery face into a pillow. I want to—" Raphael was cut off as the floor gave beneath them.

They landed in another tunnel, Malachi appearing before them. "Sir Raphael, you challenge my power—the power of the gray highland wizards of the north."

"You must be eating some really crazy birdseed." Raphael retorted.

"That doeseth it. Zinza makooloo carookoo chookoo!" The sparrow hit the red masked mutant turtle with some kind of spell, making the others stare at him.

"Bring it on!" Raphael snapped. "Yeah! Give me your best shot! Let me see what you can really do!"

"Uh, Raphie..." Briana started. "You, um... have the head of a... turkey."

Michelangelo immediately started laughing. "Dude, that is so awesome! Gobble, gobble, son, like a turkey do!"

"What? Huh? Huh?" Raphael started feeling his head and screamed upon realizing that his head was now a turkey head.

"That's right! You're playing by my rules now," Malachi stated. "Anyone who forfeits the game next turns into a squirrel."

Michelangelo screamed.

"And—and now for the next riddle. Where you thinketh you are, trouble if you boast; if thou taketh too long, you shall be as toast." With that, Malachi vanished.

A part of the ceiling suddenly lowered into a ramp, a flaming ball of fire rolling toward the teens. The group quickly turned and bolted before managing to slipped inside a hole in the wall while the boulder rolled past them. Then, the seven of them started walking down the narrow pathway, which was only big enough for them to walk sideways with their backs against the wall.

"I've been giving this some thought." Leonardo started.

"About me being a turkey?" Raphael retorted.

"Uh, no, about the riddles," Leonardo said. "I think I get it. All the riddles are really one single riddle."

"You're saying the riddles point out the true nature of this place."

Everyone turned to stare at Michelangelo. "You actually understood what Leo's talking about?" Eclipse asked.

"+1 Ring of Awesome, dudette," Michelangelo said proudly, only to nearly fall off the path. He grabbed a nearby torch and pulled it, revealing a hidden passageway that he fell into. "Ring of Awesome."

They walked into the passageway, finding a large horde of gold and April trapped in some kind of orb at the top.

"April!"

April lifted her head to look at them. "Guys! Thank goodness! Can you get me out of this snow globe?"

"Hold on. We'll have you out in a—" Leonardo was cut off as a low growl echoed throughout the room.

"Uh, didn't he said something about a dragon?" Donatello asked.

A loud roar sounded, and something moved through the gold coins. The group looked, only for April to turn and let out a startled scream as the dragon roared. Behind her and perched on top was the dragon that looked exactly like a familiar mutant alligator.

"LeatherHead?" Michelangelo and Briana asked in unison.

"Okay, there's no way that any of this is real." Henry said.

The dragon roared, shooting fire at them. They all leapt aside and dodged the flames in time.

"LeatherHead," Michelangelo said. "But I thought you were gone forever, dude!" He ran as the dragon tried to squash him.

"We got to save April!" Donatello said.

"It's not hurting to her!" Eclipse reminded. "Just us!"

"Critical hit!" Raphael shouted, jumping at the dragon. He struck it with his axe, only for it to bounce off and fall to the floor. "Critical fail!"

"Our weapons don't work!" Briana said.

"LeatherHead, we're pals! I don't want to have to fight you," Michelangelo said. "I'm sorry, LeatherHead." He aimed his bow at the dragon. "I hope someday you'll find it in your heart to forgive me." He shot an arrow at the dragon.

"That can't be the real LeatherHead!" Henry called, dodging another burst of flames that came from the dragon.

The dragon roared and lunged at them. They all turned and bolted as the dragon chased after them. Donatello had even broken away from the fight and was trying to break the orb that held April with his staff, but it wouldn't break.

"Donnie!" Leonardo and Henry yelled in unison.

"Stay put, April." Donatello told her before running back down the gold pile to join the others.

"If we imagine our weapons are magical and all-powerful, we can defeat Leatherhead." Leonardo stated, as they were still being chased around.

"But that makes no sense!" Raphael argued.

"Trust him," Henry said. "You have to believe. Focus. Use your imagination."

As they started using their imagination with their weapons, both the dragon and April vanished after Leonardo had hit the dragon.

"A-April? What's going on?" Donatello questioned.

"This whole adventure is totally loony!" Raphael stated. "Show your ugly bird head, Malachi!"

Malachi appeared at the top of the gold pile. "Well done, Fellowship of Mutants and Humans. Now I shall prepareth the next adventure. Then, I will playeth the game with you forever and ever and ever!"

Eclipse scoffed at those words. "Yeah, no thanks."

"Forget it, Malachi," Leonardo added. "We figured it out."

"We did?" Michelangelo asked.

"This whole thing is an illusion," Henry added. "It's not real."

"It's not?"

"Nonsense! Thou mustest travel the maze until my heart's contentethery." Malachi responded. "With mine first attack, I cast magic fist!"

Malachi summoned a giant fist made of misty blue magic and sent it at the group. They scattered and it slammed into the coins. Donatello made his way up the pile and tried to attack Malachi, but Malachi used lightning to send him crashing into the coins. The sparrow turned to confront Leonardo and Eclipse, who had been trying to sneak up on him from both sides of him, and sent bolts of firecrackers at them. They blocked the firecrackers with their shields before being forced back.

"He's a mutant," Leonardo said. "None of this is real, he's creating the maze inside our minds."

"Inside our minds? Are you crazy, Leo?" Raphael retorted.

"He's got magic, but I've got the +1 Ring of Awesome." Michelangelo stated, trying to sneak up on the sparrow, who was distracted firing at Briana and Donatello.

"Thou thinkest thou can surprise the game master?" Malachi questioned. "I cast egg bombs of power!" He started shooting eggs at the turtle, one hitting him and knocking him to the floor.

"My Ring of Awesome," Michelangelo whimpered. "It failed."

"Mikey, give me the ring." Raphael said.

"You—you want to carry my ring?" He gave him the ring.

"Not exactly." Raphael threw the ring at Malachi, hitting him in the head and knocking him off the stack of gold.

"Ow! That smarteth!" Malachi cried, now attacking them with magic directly.

"Guys, focus!" Henry said, breaking free and so did Leonardo. "The only way we can beat this is if we all believe it's not real!"

"I get it! And I don't believe!" Donatello said, breaking free of the hold.

"I don't believe!" Eclipse said, now breaking free.

"Henry and Leo said it's not realeth, they said it's not realeth," Michelangelo said as he broke free. "Yeah!"

"It's not real, it's not real." Briana said, breaking free from the hold.

"Raph, it's up to you now!" Leonardo called.

"I'm trying!" Raphael responded. "I don't believe!" He broke free and his face returned back to normal. "YES! I'm handsome again!"

"We're not playing anymore, Malachi." Henry said firmly, stalking up to the sparrow.

Malachi tried to attack them, but it didn't work since none of them believed in his illusion anymore.

"We're back!" Michelangelo cheered.

"Oh, man!" Malachi tried to run, only to trip over Michelangelo as he landed in front of Donatello and Eclipse.

"Nice try." Eclipse said.

"You shall not pass!" Donatello declared.

"We were in the sewers the whole time," Leonardo said. "What were you trying to do?"

"I—I just wanted to play," Malachi answered honestly. "My name is Martin Milton. I used to be obsessed with Mazes & Mutants—every hour, every day. All that changed the day I was feeding the birds on my roof. I donned fair cloak and wizardly hat to become Sir Malachi, the sparrow wizard. I went into the sewers to play a solo LARPing game of Mazes & Mutants when I accidentally found you. I made sure you found the game. I was so happy you liked it, so happy indeed. I just wanted people to play with."

"Dude, solo LARP? That's so sad." Michelangelo said.

"Aw, Malachi wasn't so bad," Briana said. "He did leave us clues that it was an illusion. It was a game—he wasn't trying to trap us or anything."

"You can go, Malachi." Leonardo said.

"But, you have to promise that you'll never force anyone to play with you ever again." Henry added.

"Sounds faireth to me," Malachi responded. "Good-byeth, my friends! Live long and LARP." With that, he walked away.

"And thus the mutant and human champions fought the Sir Malachi and won by the sheer power of their awesomeness!" Michelangelo narrated as the others began walking away. "Booyakasha!" He realized that they were starting to leave without him. "Um, guys? Wait up!"

"You didn't think that everything that happens is normal, right? Not even close!"