"Raphael, good to see you, brother," Slash says as he fist bumps the red-masked turtle, "and the rest of you." His beady eyes fall on Destiny. "I don't think we've met."

She crosses her arms. "No, can't say we have," she says with little fluctuation in her tone.

"This is Destiny," Raphael introduces. "She's...new to our team."

Slash arches an eye-ridge at that. "You're expanding. Well, so am I. Turtles, meet my team, dedicated to fighting the Kraang," he continues. "The Mighty Mutanimals! You already know my second in command."

He gestures to the side as Leatherhead appears, his immense form towering above each of the other team members.

"Leatherhead!" Michelangelo squeals. He embraces the giant alligator in the biggest hug he can manage.

The elderly gator chuckles softly as he returns the hug with one large arm. "It's good to see you too, Michelangelo," he rumbles in his raspy voice. "All of you."

Michelangelo perks up and dashes over to Destiny, grabbing her hand and dragging her towards his friend. "Oh! Oh oh oh! You've gotta see this," he says happily. "LH, this is Destiny. She's a wolf!"

Destiny smiles lightly. "Mikey told me about you."

"Show him! Show him the wolf thing!" Michelangelo pleads, giving her puppy eyes.

She sighs heavily and morphs into her wolf form, growing to about Leatherhead's height easily. The alligator nods while the other Mutanimals observe with slightly widened eyes.

"Nice to finally meet you, Destiny," Leatherhead says.

She returns to her preferred state and crosses her arms over her chest, hair falling over her face as she inches back to the other turtles. Donatello stares at Rockwell as the chimp picks at his fur diligently.

"And what, dear boy, are you staring at?" he asks.

"Doctor Rockwell?" is all Donatello manages to ask.

"Indeed!" the once-doctor exclaims, his eyes nearly popping out of his head as he lurches closer to the intelligent terrapin. "The Kraang experimented on my mind, giving me psychic powers and accidentally returning my vast intellect in the process!"

He floats upside-down around Donatello's head before blowing a raspberry and sailing away. Donatello narrows his eyes and huffs.

"So...Doctor Rockwell, another ally from another day?" Destiny clarifies as she looks to Leonardo.

He nods, still looking less than pleased. "Yeah. Long story."

"Rockwell's the brains of the team," Slash explains. He turns towards a nearby building, where Pigeon Pete's less than majestic form stands in front of the moon. "And this...is the final member of the Mutanimals."

"Pigeon Pete? The world's most useless mutant?" Raphael questions.

"Hey!" Pete caws. He launches off the building and lands sloppily near the red-masked turtle. He gets back up, unfazed by the crash. "I've toughened up a lot since the last time you saw me! I was just a pigeon-boy, now I'm a pigeon-man. I'm the team spy!"

"More like decoy," Raphael mutters.

Destiny flattens her ears against her slightly multi-coloured hair. "Is he always this loud?"

"Pretty much," Leonardo answers swiftly, steely eyes locked on Slash.

Slash lifts a loaf of bread and chucks it, making the bird mutant squeal with glee. "Ooh, bread!" Pete squawks. He attacks it, pecking and nibbling away with insurmountable joy.

Leonardo shoves past Raphael with an unenthusiastic look on his face. "Some leader, Slash. Using your teammate as bait!" he snaps, getting up in Slash's grill.

'You got a problem with that, Leonardo?" Slash asks lowly, returning the glare.

"You attacked us. You tried to destroy us!"

Destiny stiffens. She unfolds herself only to place a hand on Leonardo's shoulder, but the turtle doesn't look at her. Slash straightens up, his rage fading.

"I...wasn't right in the head then," he says. He claps a hand over his forehead. "It was the mutagen!"

Leonardo doesn't relax. Destiny steps closer to him and gently runs a hand up and down his shoulder and arm, trying to calm him down. He purses his lips, his muscles still tense beneath her fingers.

"He did help us, and everyone deserves a second chance," Michelangelo cuts in. His baby blue eyes flicker to his brother, then at Slash, then Destiny.

"We trust him with our lives," Leatherhead adds, resting a hand on Slash's shoulder. "Come, turtles, Destiny. Meet our benefactor. Then you will surely change your mind, Leonardo."

They turn away and Leonardo finally looks at Destiny and Michelangelo. Destiny's expression is neutral, yet stiff, while Michelangelo's is pleading. The leader in blue sighs heavily as his shoulders slump.

"Fine," he grumbles as he moves forwards after his team. "But if this is a trap, your shell is mine, Slash."

Destiny bumps her shoulder with his. "I don't know what's going on, but whatever it is, I'm sure you can work through it."

He shakes his head. "I don't know."

She intertwines their fingers and pulls him after her. "Don't go all scary on me. Let's go." He follows with the barest trace of a smile flickering past his lips as his hand tightens around hers.

----------

The nine mutants drop down inside a darkened warehouse, Leatherhead at the lead. The Mutanimals disperse wordlessly, leaving the turtles and wolf alone. Leonardo brings Destiny closer to him instinctively as they go into a protective circle, defending each other. A light switches on at the end of the room, making them unleash their weapons.

The silhouette of a man greets them, leaning over a wooden desk. "Greetings, ninja turtles," a voice rings out.

The light shuts off as a middle-aged man in a tan coat and fedora reveals himself, making the turtles gasp.

"Kurtzman?" Leonardo mumbles.

"Oh great, another unfamiliar person," Destiny mutters.

"Good to see you boys. Been a long time," Kurtzman says. His eyes fall on Destiny, a look of amazement flooding his aged features. "I see that you found yourselves an ally."

Destiny waves a little. "Hi."

"This is Destiny! She's an awesome wolf lady with claws and fangs and stuff," Michelangelo says, gesturing to the girl extravagantly.

"Mikey, I feel like some sort of show pony on sale," she whispers, hiding behind her hair.

Kurtzman moves forwards and extends a hand to her, a warm smile making her feel less anxious. "Pleasure to meet you, Destiny. I'm Jack Kurtzman. It's good to know that there are female mutants out there. So far, I only know of these eight males."

She accepts the handshake, nodding and flashing a tentative smile in return. "It's good to mix things up."

Raphael steps forwards, still looking completely shocked. "We thought you got mutated like the rest of New York!"

"I made it through," Kurtzman says. "I tried to find you four, but you were gone. Fortunately, I tracked down these noble warriors to help keep up the fight against the Kraang." He gestures to the Mutanimals.

Leonardo crosses his arms and frowns. "I wouldn't exactly call them all noble."

Slash growls a little. Destiny elbows Leonardo and shoots him a stern look.

"No one in the outside world knows what's really going on," Kurtzman continues, ignoring Leonardo's comment. "The military, the media, they're no help. They're all controlled by the Kraang. But now that the turtles are back, with a new warrior, we can stop the invasion together!" He smiles brightly.

"What?!" Slash exclaims.

"No way!" Leonardo snaps.

"I'm not teamin' up with him," the first insists.

"That's enough! We can't afford to waste any more time," Kurtzman scolds. He turns and switches on a projector, images of the Kraang and a large missile appearing on the wall. "The Kraang have spent the last few months building a Mutagen Missile, which they're gonna fire at the earth itself." He flicks a slide, revealing a lizard-like female mutant. The turtles gasp before Kurtzman switches it and clears his throat. "Just ignore that."

"There's enough mutagen in that payload—" Donatello starts.

"To mutate the earth into another Dimension X," Rockwell interrupts.

"It's rude to finish other people's sentences, Rockwell."

"Well then, clearly you'll have to speak faster, Donatello!"

"If you think I'm gonna work with this scrawny shelled wimp—" Slash starts, stepping closer to Leonardo.

"I've had way more experience leading a team than you!" Leonardo argues.

"We should sit and break bread!" Pigeon Pete chirps as the two leaders keep arguing.

"You are the biggest waste of mutagen ever!" Raphael shouts.

"Tiny brained reptile!" Rockwell cuts in as he and Donatello start bickering.

"Can't we just give pizza a chance? There's enough pizza for everyone!" Michelangelo cries over the din of the arguing. Destiny stares at him, blinking a few times as he laughs.

As everyone keeps shouting, the shadows of Kraang droids appear along the large warehouse windows. Destiny perks up and spins towards the door as Kurtzman inhales sharply, her wolf ears capturing the familiar sound of Kraang.

"Oh no! They found me! I don't know how, but they found me!" Kurtzman panics.

The door flies open with a bang, revealing a Kraang brain piloting a giant, blue, ape body and numerous other aliens. The mutants stop fighting and let out shouts of surprise.

"It is the ones called the turtles and the one called Destiny!" one reports. "And the others calling themselves the Mighty Mutanimals!"

"What the heck is that thing?" Destiny asks, pointing at the ape machine.

"Kraang Biotroid," Donatello responds.

"Get 'em!" Slash shouts.

The Mutanimals roar and launch into action, the turtles and Destiny heading into battle close behind. Leatherhead immediately takes on the Biotroid, scuffling with it as he snaps and roars.

"Gotta love smashing Kraang droids!" Slash says with a grin, his mace swinging.

Donatello races up a nearby set of stairs as he takes down bot after bot. Rockwell appears, lifting three droids with his psychic abilities just as Donatello is about to engage them.

"Allow me, Donatello," he says, throwing them away and making them smash to bits.

"I had things under control!" Donatello snaps.

"Oh, yes, you and your little stick," the intelligent chimp teases.

"I can't stop it!" Pete shrieks as he tries to control the rapid fire of a Kraang gun he picked up.

He goes sailing over a railing as he falls down to the ground, more Kraang surrounding the clumsy pigeon as he sits up. Just as they're about to fire, Destiny and Leonardo attack from either side and slice the aliens apart.

"Look out, Pete!" Leonardo shouts.

"Whoa!" Destiny yelps as a bullet grazes her wolf ear.

Leatherhead keeps fighting with the Biotroid. The giant robot kicks him in the gut, making the alligator grunt and collapse. Slash attacks the Biotroid from behind, wrapping his arms around its neck.

"Darn dirty ape!" he growls.

The covers on its butt open as the cannons inside boot up, aiming straight at Raphael. The red-masked turtle lets out a warning cry. "Watch out! He's got a hot one in the chamber!"

The Biotroid starts firing, making Raphael scream as it twists and turns. It tries to get Slash off its back, but ends up taking down its own teammates in the process.

Kurtzman hides behind his desk, his eyes falling on his computer. "The Kraang intel!" he remembers, getting up and dashing to the machine.

He types out a few things, swiftly transferring all the data he's received about the Kraang onto a flash drive. As he pulls it out of his computer, a Kraang bullet hits him in the back. He screams and collapses, the drive clattering out of his grip.

"No!" Slash and Leonardo shout.

"Mr Kurtzman! No!" Pigeon Pete wails.

Slash rips the Kraang brain from its Biotroid body and sends it flying as Leatherhead moves to Kurtzman's fallen form.

"Mutanimals, we're leaving!" the spiky tortoise demands.

"Ninjas, fall back!" Leonardo orders.

The nine mutants dash from the building, Leatherhead cradling Kurtzman in his scaly arms.

----------

Back in the Pizzeria, April dabs a sponge on Kurtzman's forehead as he groans and winces, his breathing laboured. The other mutants, Casey, Diaval, and Master Splinter watch, some more worried than others. Casey boards up an open spot on the window as Kraang march by.

"All the intel I have on the Kraang missile..." Kurtzman says through pained groans, "...is on this drive." He looks up at Slash. "You and the turtles have to work together."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Leonardo argues.

"We agree on that much," Slash grumbles.

"Whatever problem is between you...you both have a common purpose," Kurtzman continues. "We're running...out of...time..." He goes limp, eyes closed.

Slash tenses immediately. "Jack! Is he...?" he asks, fearing the worst.

Splinter checks his pulse. "No. He is fine." He straightens up. "I'm going to need to cauterize the wound."

"We need alcohol, bandages, meds," April pipes up.

"I'm on it, Red," Casey offers. "There's a pharmacy down the street I'll hit for supplies."

"April, Diaval, and I will tend to him," Splinter says, looking up from Kurtzman. "You must unite and stop that missile before it is too late."

The remaining mutants nod in solemn agreement. They disappear back into Donatello's lab without further argument.

----------

"I've got it!" Donatello exclaims as he looks over his computer, where the Kraang intel is displayed. "We can disable the guidance system, or better yet—"

"Hack in and send the missile somewhere it can't do any harm!" Rockwell interrupts yet again.

Donatello shoots the ape a death glare. "You stupid psychic chimp."

Rockwell screeches and makes obnoxious ape noises as his eyes pop out of his head, a smirk on his wide lips.

"Okay, we ninja in from above and then we drop down and disarm the missile," Leonardo orders.

"Forget it! I say ground attack. They won't even know what hit 'em," Slash retorts.

"A ground attack is way too risky!" Leonardo insists, the two turtles once again glaring at one another.

Raphael pushes them apart. "I think the only way this mission is gonna work is if we do both."

"Forget it, Raphael. Leave this to the Mighty Mutanimals!" Slash snaps.

He turns away, but Destiny steps in front of him and puts a firm hand on his plastron, stopping him. The giant turtle gives her a sharp glare, but she doesn't buckle.

"Wait. If you do both, the ground attack will distract the Kraang from any advance from us from the air," she points out. She retracts her hand, tapping her forehead with one finger. "Work together, remember?"

Slash watches her momentarily, then looks at his team. "Fine, but we get you on our side for this." He jabs a finger at Destiny.

Leonardo steps between them. "No way," he growls. "She's not even supposed to be involved in fighting."

"She's got the wolf. If we're doing a ground attack, we'll need all the muscle we can get," the larger terrapin snaps.

Leonardo's scowl grows even colder. "It's already risky. I'm not trusting you to keep her safe."

"Hello? I'm right here!" Destiny says, sounding a little ticked.

"You think I'd hurt her?" Slash asks.

Leonardo practically snorts. "We know how you were before! What if you—"

"HEY!" Destiny roars, making each turtle shut up instantly. The others in the room startle. She crosses her arms and places herself between them again, facing Leonardo. "I know that you two don't get along, but he has a point. If they're doing this, they need the muscle. I'll go."

"That—" Leonardo starts.

"Isn't my call?" she guesses. Judging by the look on the leader in blue's face, she's correct. She shakes her head and smiles weakly. "It is my call, actually. You're my leader, but I'm also in charge of some of my own decisions. I'll go with them while you guys stop the missile. I'll be fine."

Leonardo purses his lips, his sapphire eyes flickering to Slash, his brothers, the other Mutanimals, and then resting on Destiny once again. He sighs heavily and uncrosses his arms.

"Fine," he mumbles, defeated. He steps to her side as his stare drifts back up to Slash. "But if she gets hurt, you will regret it, Slash."

The dark-skinned reptile rolls his eyes. "Yeah yeah. Protect your precious princess. We get it." He turns away. "Come on, guys! We're outta here!"

They go out the makeshift exit, Leatherhead shooting Michelangelo a sad look before he goes. Michelangelo frowns and waves goodbye. Destiny looks back at Leonardo, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"See you soon," she whispers.

She turns and disappears down the exit hole. The other three turtles watch their brother as he takes a deep breath.

"Stay safe, Des," he murmurs. He turns around and returns to his leadership attitude. "We need a way to drop down on that missile. Donnie?"

A sly smile paints Donatello's face. "I've got something that just might work."