A/N: Eclipse belongs to GeekyCookie1.

"Squirrelanoids. Trust me, you don't want to face one of those freaky squirrel thingys—they're creepy."

A FEW WEEKS had passed since their mutagen incident and they hadn't been able to find a single canister of mutagen so far—even with Donatello's tracker, they haven't been able to find just one. Though, it wasn't just the mutagen that was on their minds: none of them had heard from either April or Kaz, let alone seen them. Well, the five mutant turtles hadn't seen them when April and Kaz would usually stop by the lair to visit but that wasn't the case with Henry and Briana since they went to the same school. School was definitely awkward between the four of them while April was making sure to avoid them at all cost and Kaz often took the time to practice with Casey as the two best friends of them were on the hockey team together.

Briana wasn't sure how many messages she had sent, apologizing for what happening and how she promised that she'd find a way to make a cure to bring his mother back to normal. She spent days and nights in the lab, putting all of her time and energy into finding a cure for not just Kaz's mom but for April's dad as well. It was the least she could do, considering what happened was their fault but it was the only thing she could even do at the moment while she and her brother waited for the centrifuge to finish with the results that they needed to find out if Henry was one of the shapeshifters that Briana had found out about on the internet.

"Take a right—no, left! Left!" Donatello called out as Leonardo made a sharp turn.

"Um, Donnie, maybe you can tell me before we pass the street." Leonardo said.

"I'm sorry, Leo. There's still so many mutagen canisters out there, my tracker is having trouble zeroing in a single reading." Donatello said. "Oh, turn right!"

Leonardo made another quick turn as the others gave a yelp. "I think I just got shell-lash." Raphael said.

A scream came from the back of the ShellRaiser and they turned to see that it was from the orange masked mutant turtle.

"Uh, Mikey, you want to stop reading your comics and pay attention to the mission?" Boy Danger asked.

When he didn't respond, Raphael walked over and grabbed the comic out of his hands. "Hey! That comic's is mint—ah! Near mint condition! Don't mess it up!" Michelangelo said.

"Great, another horror story," Raphael said. "Guess who's gonna be up all night again?"

"What? No, I was up all night cause I was polishing my grappling hook." Michelangelo said.

"Right, cause that's why you called me at midnight last time to meet you at the lair because you were afraid that the aliens were going to get you." Boy Danger reminded him, as the orange masked mutant turtle just gave a sheepish smile.

"Seriously, Mikey, what are those horror comics good for other than freaking you out?" Eclipse questioned.

The tracker in Donatello's hands suddenly started beeping. "Got one! Stop here!" He said.

Once Leonardo stopped the ShellRaiser and they all climbed out, they followed Donatello towards the edge of an alley. He placed on what looked like an odd set of binoculars. "My ooze-specs are picking up a mutagen trail. Come on!"

They followed him down the street and walked to the corner of the building before Leonardo stopped, bringing the others to a halt. "This might be another trap, so we need to be careful." He warned.

They continued to make their way towards the other side of the theater. There was a soft crunch and they all turned—Michelangelo, who still had his nose in his comic, hadn't been paying attention and had stepped on a popcorn bag. He glanced up and chuckled sheepishly.

"Some ninja." Raphael hissed.

"Guys, over here." They turned and ran over to where Donatello was. He used a stick to dig through some trash and uncover a broken canister, still spilling mutagen. "It's half empty, but one more mutagen canister removed."

"Quick question," Eclipse said. "Where did the rest of the mutagen go?"

A loud, fearful scream was heard again as they all turned towards the orange masked mutant turtle, who was still reading the comic quietly. "Wasn't me." He said.

The scream came again and Boy Danger felt his ears twitched at the sound. "It's coming from this way."

He led the way to the edge of the entrance and paused, peeking around the corner to see a homeless man sitting with his back pressed against the wall while in front of his feet was a squirrel.

"Why is that dude afraid of cute, tiny little squirrel?" Raphael asked.

The squirrel turned its head back, staring at them. A second later, its mouth split open in four different directions as a snake-like tongue whipped around. At once, the seven teens screamed and cling onto each other. The squirrel turned and crawled towards the homeless man, scurrying up his arms, jumped towards his face and straight into his mouth. The man choked and stuttered as the squirrel went down his throat before a second later, he fell to the ground, unmoving.

"Now, can I scream in horror!?" Michelangelo yelled, as he and the rest were still holding onto each other.

Captain Violet looked horrified. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

👑👑👑

MAKING IT BACK to the ShellRaiser as Leonardo and Raphael were carrying the homeless man while Donatello opened the door for them to get inside. Michelangelo stood to the side, looking worried. "Dudes, this is a terrible idea," he said warningly, staring at his comic. "This is exactly how the alien got onto the ship in my comic book."

Raphael stopped walking and dropped the man's feet. "Maybe Mikey's right."

"What?" The others said, stopping and staring at him dumbfounded.

"I mean, the comic book thing is totally crazy," Raphael said quickly. "But I can think of a million other reasons it's a bad idea to take this guy back to the lair, starting with Splinter."

"He's right, you know?" Eclipse said. "I doubt Splinter would be happy about this."

"Guys, that squirrel was clearly a mutant creature," Donatello said. "Which means this is our fault!"

"And our responsibility to fix it," Boy Danger added.

"Danger and I will deal with Sensei." Leonardo said.

👑👑👑

"SENSEI! UM... LET us explain."

"Indeed. Please explain the reason you have brought a complete stranger into our secret hidden lair." Splinter said.

Both Leonardo and Henry flinched slightly, slowly turning to look at the others, who were holding the homeless man, having been carrying him to the lab, stopped by Splinter's angry voice.

Leonardo cleared his throat and adopted a falsely confident smile. "Oh-ho, you'll laugh your whiskers off at this one!" The two of them chuckled nervously, and the others chuckled alongside them.

Unamused, Splinter slammed his staff onto the ground, and the seven of them stiffened. He glared down at Leonardo and Henry. "Dojo. Now." He turned and walked away without another word.

Leonardo and Henry shared a look before sighing, following him slowly.

👑👑👑

THE OTHERS HAD gone back to carrying the homeless man inside the lab. Raphael, Eclipse, and Michelangelo were carrying him while Briana and Donatello were clearing the desk.

"Careful with the specimen," Donatello said. "I wanna run some tests on him. Take it easy, guys. Easy..."

Raphael, however, slammed the homeless man onto the table, knocking some remaining vials and tools onto the ground in the progress. The people masked mutant turtle glared angrily at him and proceeded to examine the guest with Briana.

"So..." Michelangelo slid up next to Raphael and Eclipse, holding his comic once again. "Wanna guess the first thing the crew did when they brought the guy back on the space ship in my comic book?"

Without letting them answer, Michelangelo shoved the comic in their faces and they were met with the image of a doctor who appeared to be examining an unconscious man on a lab table. Michelangelo lowered the comic to see Donatello and Briana were doing the same thing.

Eclipse rolled her eyes. "It's just a comic book, Mikey. Who cares?"

Raphael grunted, snatching the comic from him and crushing it in his hands. "Enough with the comic already, you're making me loopy." He threw the comic to the ground and stomped away.

"Great! Now it went from near mint, to totally messed up!" Michelangelo said with a glare pointed towards Raphael.

"Like I said, it's just a comic book," Eclipse said as she walked away. "You have a bunch more."

The lab doors opened, and Leonardo and Henry walked into the room, looking calmer than before. "Okay, we're cool," Henry said. "But let's try to get this guy outta here before Sensei is done meditating."

"Where are we at, guys?" Leonardo asked.

"Running an internal scan right now to see if..." he typed away on his computer for a moment before. "Yep. Still in there."

An image showed up, showing the man's skeleton and organs. In his stomach were the outline of the squirrel, but the difference was that there were two outlines.

"Woah..."

"Wait... does it have two heads?"

"That's not two heads," Briana said. "That's two squirrels."

"Alright, guys," Raphael said, eating popcorn. "If you need me, I'll be beating Leo's high score in pinball—"

The homeless man bolted upward. "Pink eye, pink eye! The ham when flying! Woot-woot!" He continued screaming and shouting obscurities.

"I think that freaky squirrel made him a little nutty." Leonardo said.

"Dudes, I got this!" Michelangelo said confidently. "I can totally translate crazy." He walked up to the homeless man and listened closely. "He's saying the squirrel licked some ooze and transformed into a mutant. It's been chasing me for days now, but I'm totally okay."

"If by 'okay' you mean totally insane." Eclipse said.

"Well, at least no one will believe a crazy guy if he talks about five giant mutant turtles living in a sewer." Henry said.

"I mean, that's true." Leonardo said.

Suddenly, the homeless man gasped and started whimpering and crying, his body twisting in all kinds of way. He fell on his back, thrashing, making retching noises. He sat up again, opened his mouth, and vomited into the air before falling back, apparently unconscious. The others screamed in shock. Two large balls of brown fur flew out and landed on the ground, revealing to be two small squirrels.

"This... this is unprecedented!" Donatello stared in shock. "The squirrels replicate inside a host. They divided like a single-celled organism."

Michelangelo gasped. "That's exactly what happened in my comic book! Well, maybe not exactly. They exploded out of the dudes' butt."

There was a scream, and the homeless man was running from the lab, his hands in the air.

"I'll show our friend to the door." Raphael said, setting down his popcorn and running for the man.

The two squirrels squeaked, scurrying around. They jumped onto the lab table and started nibbling on the popcorn that Raphael had left behind.

"We need to catch them," Donatello whispered. "They're emitting dangerous amounts of energy."

"Move very slowly," Leonardo whispered to them. "We don't wanna startle them."

In unison, they all began to advance on the squirrels, taking unnecessary slow steps. The squirrels screeched, waving their long tongues at them. They all screamed. "Get them!" Leonardo said, throwing himself at the squirrels.

The squirrels turned and bolted, as the ninjas ran after them. Every time one of them got just close enough to grabbing one, the squirrel would always slip away.

"Hey! Watch my stuff!" Donatello yelled as Michelangelo pushed over a few filling cabinets in his effort to catch a squirrel.

"Sorry about the mess, Donnie!" Eclipse said, chasing after one of the squirrels.

Henry was chasing one of them and right when the squirrel stopped at the door, he jumped for it with his arms outstretched to grab it. But the squirrel moved out of the way while Henry crashed into the door, falling onto the ground. He groaned in pain as he pushed himself onto his knees, rubbing his head.

"Ugh... I'm about to hate squirrels after this." Henry mumbled, rubbing his head as the door to the lab opened.

"Need a hand?" Raphael asked with a smirk, holding out his hand.

"Thanks," Henry said, taking his hand. "Did our little friend leave?"

"Yep, he's gone," Raphael said as he glanced past him. "But, we still have plenty of crazy."

Before Henry could even turn, the both squirrels darted past his and Raphael's feet. He blinked. "What in the—"

"There they go!" Michelangelo yelled.

Both Raphael and Henry turned to look at the others and gasped. In their rush to chase the squirrels, the others crashed into Raphael and Henry and sent them all to the floor. They all pushed themselves back onto their feet and started running after the squirrels again.

"Help seal the lair! We can't let them escape!" Leonardo said.

"Well, I don't exactly want them in here with us!" Raphael shot back.

Eclipse heard a squeak and looked down to see a squirrel heading right for her. She didn't hesitate to bent down to grab it as it was headed right for her.

"Clips, look out!"

Eclipse looked up in time to see Michelangelo, who was riding his skateboard fast, as he ran right into her. They slammed to the ground and the squirrel bolted.

Eclipse couldn't help but give a groan of annoyance. "Mikey...!" She pushed herself back up onto her feet and took off running for the squirrel again.

Briana was sneaking up on one of the squirrels with a box in her hand to try to catch it. Right when she was about to trap the squirrel within the box, the box suddenly went flying out of her hands after getting hit by a familiar bo staff and a squirrel fell on top of her head. She yelped before grabbing it and throwing it off of her head while the squirrels bolted again in different directions.

She spotted one of the squirrels heading for where the bedrooms were and her eyes widened. "No! Not my room!" She bolted after the squirrel with Raphael and Michelangelo following after her while Henry, Leonardo, Donatello, and Eclipse ran after the one that was heading towards the dojo.

The three of them continued to run after the squirrel before skidding to a halt in front of Briana's room before walking inside. Max, who had been lying on her bed with one of his chew toys, looked up curiously and tilted his head while the four teens looked around the room. Briana's bedroom was like her brothers and sister—expect Michelangelo's room, as her bedroom was definitely more organized and cleaner—and she even had her bed made. Next to her bed was a dog bed that Briana had placed for Max and another one of his chew toys were on it. The shelves in her room were stacked with comic books, Naruto manga books, or even Demon Slayers manga books. The desk in her bedroom was covered with tons of papers whenever it was sketches, outfit ideas for the bubblegum cases, or ideas for her own inventions—a ton of papers that the top of the desk couldn't even be seen. Although both Raphael and Michelangelo could see that some of the papers were formulas on a cure to try to bring Emma and Kirby back to normal.

"Geez, Bri, when's the last time you cleaned your desk?" Raphael asked, noticing the covered desk. "Normally, you have your desk pretty organized."

Briana, who had stopped to pet Max for a quick second, looked over with a shrug. "I don't know, I've been in the lab whenever I can." She looks around her bedroom again. "Come on, let's try to find the squirrel."

Michelangelo is looking through the shelves. "Here squirrely, squirrely squirrel! Come on out!"

"Come on out, squirrel!" Raphael said, looking around the bedroom. "Where is that little sucker?"

It didn't take long for the three of them to forget about the squirrel and started enjoying themselves, chilling and hanging out in Briana's room. Raphael was sitting on the floor while leaning against Briana's bed frame, Michelangelo was sitting on the edge of the bed, and Briana was sitting on her bed with her back against the headboard of her bed. She and Michelangelo were taking turns, throwing a ball for Max to catch.

As Max dropped the ball, his tail wagged excitedly before he spun around in a circle one time, waiting for someone to throw the ball one time. Raphael smiled lightly and shook his head a little before reaching over and petting Max for a quick second, making the dog's tail wag even more.

As Briana bent down and picked up the ball, she threw it across her room and the three of them watched as Max scrambled off after it. "Wait, what are we supposed to be doing again?" Michelangelo asked.

"Looking for the squirrel, remember?" Briana asked, catching Max, who had ran back and jumped into her arms after catching the ball. "It's probably still in here somewhere."

Before they could answer, Max had dropped the ball and stumped out of Briana's arms, standing on the bed. Staring up at the shelves, Max started to growl lightly, making the others look up at the shelves. Then, a strange noise came from behind Briana's manga books and the squirrel appeared between the manga books, looking down at them.

"The squirrel!" Raphael said as he leapt to his feet. "There you are!" He took out his sais and started going at the squirrel. He repeatedly stabbed at the shelf, missing the squirrel but hitting the manga books.

"Heyyyy!" Briana whined. "Be careful, those manga books are hard to find!"

"There he is!" Michelangelo warned.

As Michelangelo reached for his nunchucks, Raphael jumped down and started going at it again. The squirrel was faster and leapt up onto his arm, scurrying upward, ran around his shoulders, and forced its way through Raphael's mouth.

"Raph!" Briana and Michelangelo yelled.

But it was already too late.

👑👑👑

"HOLD HIM STILL!" Donatello ordered, as the others forced Raphael onto the table and held him still. "Clips, grab the suction cup." He said, as she went to grab it.

The whole time, Raphael was squirming and yelling. "It's in my gut!" He cried. "I can feel it in there, munching on the popcorn I just ate! IT'S FREAKING ME OUT, MAN!"

Donatello placed the suction cup over his brother's mouth. "Okay, you gotta stop with this," he said, making a gesture for talking with his hand. "I can't hear what's going on inside your intestines."

"Oh, I'll tell you what's going on in there," Michelangelo said, once again with his comic in his hands. "Lemme see..."

"Right now, the mutant squirrel is probably secreting a mucus into your stomach lining, so that when it multiples..." Michelangelo began.

Everyone groaned.

"Mikey, not helping." Donatello said. He paused. "Though, probably about 98 percent accurate."

"Stop, I don't even want to think about that." Briana said.

"Get them out, get them out, get them out!" Raphael yelled.

Donatello sighed. "Just as I thought. We need to perform surgery, stat. Nurse!"

Michelangelo reached down and pulled out a giant saw, winding it up so the blades were moving very fast.

Raphael screamed as the blade grew closer. "LET ME OUTTA HERE!"

At the last second, Michelangelo pulled back as he, Donatello, and Leonardo started laughing. The clamps around Raphael's wrists and ankles snapped open and he stared at his brothers, slowly getting to his feet.

"Why you... you!"

"Guys, really?" Henry asked. "I think you almost gave him a heart attack."

Michelangelo laughed. "That's why it was funny!"

"No, not really." Eclipse said.

Raphael suddenly fell onto his knees on the table and they turned to see him hunched over, hands on his stomach. He started hacking, and Donatello backed away from the tables, arms held out.

"Raph? Are you...?"

"Guys? Brace for grossness!" Michelangelo warned.

Then, Raphael sat up and hurled. His mouth burst open and two more squirrels appeared in a mass of vomit and fur. The two squirrels landed on their feet and screeched. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and the lights went out.

"Okay, that's not good." Briana said.

"Uh, Donnie? Some sciencey stuff would be a big help right now!" Eclipse said.

Suddenly, the squirrels then reared up on their back legs and started glowing green.

"Great, now they're glowing," Henry said with a frown. "Why are they glowing!?"

"Glowing's bad! Glowing's really bad!" Michelangelo said.

The lab doors burst open and Splinter stood there. "I see it happening here as well."

"These things are putting out a crazy energy signature!" Donatello said, looking down at his scanner. "It's messing with my analyzer."

"We're doomed. Doomed, I tell you!" Michelangelo said.

They walked into the living room with Donatello and his scanner leading the way. They reached the pit and looked around, scanning the area as there were no squirrels in sight.

"Split up and search each room." Splinter ordered.

"Split up?" Michelangelo asked with a scoff. "Clearly you don't know horror either, sensei, cause splitting up is—"

"You are trained warriors," Splinter added. "We will find these creatures. Now." He started the search.

"Split up in the dark to search for multiplying mutants," Raphael muttered. "Could we pick a more cliche way to get eaten?"

"One of us could twist our ankle, or our T-Phones could die, or—" Donatello began.

"Not really helping our situation, Donnie." Briana said.

"Listen to the lady," Raphael said as he pushed his brother. "Move!"

Henry walked away, splitting off from the others as he looked around the hallway. His ears kept twitching at every little sound and his nose kept twitching at every scent. His ears pricked up at the soft sound from behind him and he came to a halt. He stands still, his ears pricking up at the sound that was coming from behind.

Something hits his back.

Henry jumps away and gives a startle yell, his hands on the hilt of his twin swords while he whirls around just to find the orange masked mutant turtle behind him.

"Mikey! You startled me!" Henry said, removing his hands from his twin swords.

"Sorry, dude," Michelangelo said with a nervous laugh. "I thought you might want backup."

"Is it that? Or do you just don't want to be on your own?" Henry asked with a jokingly smirk.

"Whatttttt?" Michelangelo said with a nervous laugh, waving it aside. "That's totally not it, bro." He looks at him pleadingly. "But... can I stay with you? Just in case you need backup."

Henry chuckled slightly, patting his shoulder. "Don't worry, Mikey, you're fine here with me."

Right when Michelangelo and Henry began looking again, the two froze at a hissing sound and looked around. "There was a sound just like that in my comic when the baby aliens transformed into giant alienoids." He said.

Henry stared at him. "Wait, how do you know what it sounds like if you read it in a comic?" His gaze moves past him and his eyes widened. "Sweet mother of mutations..."

Michelangelo followed his gaze. "They've turned into... into... SQUIRRELANOIDS!"

"Mikey, run!" Henry yelled, grabbing his arm and pushing him in front of him lightly.

They turned and bolted, screaming. The squirrelanoid followed right behind them—it was a giant, glowing creature. The squirrelanoid let out a terrible noise and ran after them.

Donatello burst through the lab doors with his scanner in his hands. "Oh, no... Leo! Henry! They're here!"

"Yeah, kinda figured that out already!" Henry said, dodging an attack from the squirrelanoid.

"Donnie, watch out!" Eclipse yelled as she tackled him out of the way of an oncoming squirrelanoid headed right for him. The two of them fell to the ground as it ran past them, scurrying around.

"They're gonna brain-suck us!" Michelangelo yelled.

The third squirrelanoid knocked Leonardo off of the upper-level, causing him to fall onto Briana as the two fell onto the ground in a pile. Before the two could get up, the squirrelanoid landed in front of them, cornering them. The creature snarled at them, opening its jaw, and charged at them while both Briana and Leonardo closed their eyes, but nothing happened. The two opened their eyes at the sound of a loud smack and looked to see Splinter standing before them. He leapt forward and started fighting all three mutants at once. The three mutant squirrels leapt to attack him, but Splinter smacked them away—one of the squirrelanoid landed in the pool. It didn't resurface, and the other two followed.

After they managed to stand up, Leonardo and Briana ran over.

"The sewers lead to the surface!" Briana cried. "If those things get out...!"

"Go then," Splinter ordered. "Quickly. I will stay to defend the lair in case the beasts double back."

Michelangelo gulped, visibly trembling. "Which means we have to go after them alone, in the dark sewer, without you?"

Splinter straightened. "Who among you wants to prove you are the bravest, the strongest of will, the worthiest of ninjas?"

The seven teens glanced at each other, unsure of that.

👑👑👑

THE SEVEN TEENS found themselves in front of the tv since they had decided to send Metalhead out there. The seven of them were gathered around the tv, watching from Metalhead's facecam as Donatello controlled him through the sewers.

"Master Splinter," Donatello said. "I'd say there's some kind of lesson here, like... I don't know. Brains over bravery or... something."

"I'd say the 'something' part is most accurate." Splinter said.

Michelangelo stared at his comic before setting down and looking at the tv with a sigh. "I'm not gonna said this happened in my comic... but this happened in my comic!"

Before they could answer, a screech came from the tv. "What was that?" Eclipse asked.

Donatello moved his camera to look down a sewer hallway. At the end was one of the Squirrelanoids.

"There's one!" Leonardo hissed.

Metalhead started moving forward, and they all leaned closer to the screen. A squirrelanoid's face appeared on the screen, screeching before the feed went fuzzy.

"Metalhead!" Donatello and Briana yelled. The camera came into focus again, only to reveal a decapitated Metalhead. He stomped his feet around for a moment before falling to his knees and collapsing in a heap.

"Page 33," Michelangelo breathed. "Oh, man!"

Donatello ran to the screen and pressed his face against it, as if he could comfort Metalhead like that. "Don't worry, little pal, we'll make you all better."

"I do not want to say I was right," Splinter said. "But... I was right."

👑👑👑

WITH METALHEAD GONE, the seven teens found themselves walking through the sewers. Donatello led the way with his tracker but what wasn't helping was that the sewers were dark, and that only made it more scarier.

"Just throwing this out there," Raphael piped up. "What are we supposed to do when we find these... Squirralanoid monsters?"

"Don't worry," Michelangelo said quietly. "They'll find us."

Eclipse glared. "You always know just the right thing to say."

Donatello stopped walking, and so did the others. His scanner had started going off as he turned to look at the two tunnels to their left and straight ahead. "I'm picking up strong readings from both tunnels." He said.

"Then we split up," Leonardo said, heading left.

"What!? Didn't you learn anything!?" Michelangelo demanded.

"This time, in teams, okay?" Leonardo answered.

Michelangelo blinked. "It's still splitting up! We're toast! Game over, man. Game over..."

Leonardo rolled his eyes. "Donnie, let's go." He and Donatello headed down the tunnel on the left.

"Oh, yeah, sure, take the guy with the tracking device." Eclipse said.

"I guess, we're going this way." Briana said.

Henry led the way down the other tunnel that was straight ahead of them. It's been about ten minutes and they still haven't found one.

"So, uh... how did they defeat the aliens in your comic book?" Raphael asked, shining the flashlight around.

"Oh! So, now you wanna know!" Michelangelo jeered. "Well, first the aliens picked off the crew in the dark, one by one, sucking their faces off until there was only one remaining survivor!"

"Sorry I asked." Raphael said.

Henry suddenly froze, his nose twitching at a familiar scent.

"What is it?" Eclipse asked.

"Squirrelanoid."

A soft, chirping sound is heard and they all flinched—and Raphael shines the flashlight around.

"Where is it?" Briana asked.

"Uh, guys..."

They turned to look at Michelangelo, who was pointing upward and they looked up to find a large Squirrelanoid hovering right overhead, hanging from the sewer pipes. It opened its mouth, and the second head popped out and screeched.

"Run!" Henry shouted.

Not needing to be told twice, they turned and bolted. Just as they reached a nearby tunnel, Leonardo and Donatello were running away from two other squirrelanoids as well. They all crashed into each other and landed in a pile on the ground. Groaning, they all quickly pushed themselves back up once hearing the creatures coming back, each one of them taking out their weapons.

"They'll crack our shells like nuts!" Michelangelo cried.

"Then we might as well as go down in a blaze of glory!" Raphael said determinedly.

Instantly, they all broke apart, leaping straight for the squirrelanoids to attack. Briana and Donatello headed for the same one—Briana landed in front of the creature and used her katana to block its jaws while Donatello landed behind it and used his bo staff to swing it at the creature, knocking it away. The creature screeched, advancing on them. The creature leapt for the attack but the two jumped away, landing away from the creature.

The others appeared beside them, all of them now getting cornered by the creatures.

"Alright, Mikey, I'm in: how does the sole survivor beat the aliens?" Eclipse asked.

Michelangelo beamed. "It was so awesome! He baited the aliens into an airlock and—" he gasped. Then, he ran forward, jumped up, and bounced off a squirralanoid's head to land on the upper level before running off.

Seconds of silence filled the air.

"Did he just bail on us!?" Raphael snapped.

"He better not have." Eclipse said.

"I think he's got a plan." Leonardo said.

The squirralanoids advanced on them again and leapt at them, as the seven teens quickly jumped out of the way. Henry's nose suddenly twitched at the smell of popcorn.

"Yoo-hoo! Glow heads!" Michelangelo said, causing the creatures and the ninjas to turn to him. He stood at the top of the tunnel with a bag of popcorn in his hands. He grabbed a handful and tossed some in his mouth. "Mmm... want some?"

The creatures screeched and lunged at him. Michelangelo yelped and quickly bolted, running down the tunnel with the creatures after him.

"Mikey has a plan!" Raphael said.

"Come on, let's go after him!" Henry said, already running after him as the others followed.

They were close behind them but by the time they got to the first split off tunnel, they had already lost them.

"Which way did they go?" Eclipse asked.

They looked down both tunnels, and Henry waited for his ears to pick up a sound—anything, at this point that could let them know which way to go.

Then he heard it.

Henry felt his ears pricked at the sound of Michelangelo's startled yelp coming from one of the tunnels. "This way!" He said, running down the tunnel on the left as they followed him.

But by the time they got there, both the creatures and Michelangelo were already in the water that was spinning faster every second.

"Mikey!" They all yelled in unison.

Henry was the first one to dive into the water, spotting Michelangelo being pulled down with a desperate hand out towards the surface. He swam towards him and quickly grabbed the orange masked mutant turtle's hand, stopping him from going any further. Henry could feel the tentacle that was holding onto Michelangelo fighting back before it released him and the two were pulled up. Michelangelo then looked up to see Henry above him, hanging upside down and the others, who had formed a chain, grabbed Henry in time.

"I gotcha, bro." Henry assured him.

"We all do." Leonardo added.

Michelangelo gave a tired, yet grateful grin. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a squirralanoid erupted out of the water, snarling as it reached for Michelangelo. But before it even got close, Henry used his free hand to throw a shuriken at the creature. The creature screeched and fell back into the water, getting dragged down the drain. With the squirralanoids now gone, the others began to haul them up and once they reached the ground, they stood up and looked down into the deep pool, panting.

"The septic tanks down below should hold those creeps." Eclipse said.

Donatello nodded in agreement. "At least until Bri and I can figure out a retro-mutagen to turn them back."

Raphael looked over at Michelangelo. "I'm glad you didn't get flushed, little brother."

"You and me both, bro." Michelangelo said.

And with that, the seven teens turned and headed back to the lair.

👑👑👑

"YOU KNOW, I hate to admit it," Raphael piped up. "But it looks like all of Mikey's comic book reading paid off."

"And that was pretty clever to realize that Squirrelanoids were attached to the scent of food." Leonardo said, leaning over to pat Michelangelo's head.

"Actually, that was pretty obvious," Donatello said. "I can't believe I didn't think of it."

Michelangelo smirked. "Not everyone can be the brains of the outfit."

The rest of them playfully rolled their eyes at him.

"My sons and daughters," Splinter spoke up, getting their attention. "I understand you are celebrating your most recent victory, but have any of you considered what if one of those creatures manages to escape?"

"No worries, sensei," Raphael jeered. "Those giant, nut-loving freaks are gone for good!" He and Leonardo grinned, sharing a fist bump.

Henry noticed Michelangelo fidgeting at those words with a shifty look on his face. "Mikey, what is it?" He asked.

"Um... actually, a bunch of sequel comics came out," Michelangelo said as he held one up. "The aliens come back."

"You've got to be kidding me." Eclipse said, annoyed as they all stared at him.

👑👑👑

DONATELLO BLINKED AT the results that were on his computer screen, his reddish brown eyes scanning them over and over as if that would make sense of them. "Hey, uh, Little Genius?" Donatello asked. "You know how we were waiting for Henry's results to come back?"

"Uh-huh." Briana said, not looking up from the papers that she had written some formulas on it for a cure for Kirby and Emma.

"We got them back but... well, come take a look."

Briana looked up and with a curious look, she walks over and stares at the screen, suddenly blinking as she scans the words over and over.

"I think we're gonna need to show Henry."

Once they called the others, the seven teens were gathered around the desk. "Alright, what's going on?" Eclipse asked.

"Yeah, you two sounded nervous about something." Raphael said.

"Well..." Donatello said, sharing a nervous glance with Briana, who had the computer pointed her way while he explained. "Okay, so, we got your results back, Hen, and... um..."

Henry and the others shared a look before looking at him. "What's got you two so nervous about it?" He asked.

"What does it said?" Leonardo asked.

Briana gave a nervous chuckle. "That's the thing. Uh... it doesn't make sense to us, unless..."

"Unless...?" Michelangelo questioned.

"Unless what we're thinking is true." Donatello finished for her. "Maybe—okay, here, look." He moved the computer screen a little so the others could see it as well.

DNA SEQUENCE RESULTS
Kris Hart - 100%
Daniel Hale - 100%
Total results - 100%

"Uh, who the heck is Daniel Hale?" Raphael asked.

"We don't know," Briana answered. "But... that's not the only thing."

"So, uh, there's traces of wolf DNA in your body, and..." Donatello explained. "It leads back to Daniel Hale."

"Wait, are you saying—"

Donatello nodded. "You're not exactly human, Hen. That's why you're getting these extra senses. In fact, we think... you're a half human, and... half mutant."

"What!?" The others, but Michelangelo, yelled in unison.

"Aw, yeah! Welcome to the family!" Michelangelo said.

Both Donatello and Briana didn't said anything, waiting for the news to be proceeded before going any further.

"Okay, wait, you said that the wolf DNA was leading back to Daniel Hale." Henry said.

"About that, um..." Briana said before looking over at Donatello. "Uh, Donnie? How do we...?"

"I don't know." Donatello admitted nervously.

"You guys already gave one bombshell." Eclipse reminded.

"Yeah, just said what else there is." Raphael added.

Donatello and Briana shared one last look before looking over at him.

"So, uh, since it leads back to this Daniel Hale and everything's pointing to the fact that wolf DNA you have inside your body came from him, we think..." Donatello said nervously before he took a deep breath. "We think he's your father."

Silence fills the air.

"...What!?"

"Okay, so, we're hoping that we never have to face those creepy Squirrelanoids again, but the Squirrelanoids weren't the only thing that we faced. Because now, we—especially Henry, had more questions and no way of finding answers."