Lately, there had been news reports about circus animals going missing, which means no magic shows until they are found. Then, there's this hippo mutant who is responsible for taking them, which somehow reminded her of that one magician and his pet hippo. Mizuki still thought about it as she, Leo, Donnie, and Mikey landed next to Raph who is dressed up in a hippo suit.
"You sure that evil mutant hippo is around here?" Raph asked as he pulled the hippo head off. "It's a million degrees in this thing."
"Um, I'd be happy to wear it, if you need a break," Mikey took the hippo head and put it on. "Or you could let Mizuki do it."
"No, no. No, no, no, no. I'm the leader," Raph quickly took the head from him. "The leader wears the suit."
"Well, I mean he's got a point," Leo stated. "Raph is the most hippo-like." Donnie, Mikey, and Mizuki both snickered at his comment.
"I'm gonna attract him, I need more of that female hippo scent," Raph said. Donnie pulled out a perfume in a hippo-shaped bottle and sprayed it onto Raph, who blushed from the perfume's contact with his cheek.
"Jazzy fresh," Raph smirked.
"Help!" A male voice echoed from afar. "A hippo magician is trying to saw my magic worm in half!"
The turtles and Mizuki glanced at where the voice is coming from. "Guys! That must be him!" Raph yelled.
"I highly doubt that," Mizuki mumbled.
They jumped from building to building towards where that voice came from. They soon stumbled across the owner of the voice in the playground and landed on the roof of playground equipment. Mizuki titled her head perplexed as she studied a worm with glasses and a mustache, spotlights shining on him.
"Does anyone else find this whole thing a little—" Leo started.
"Odd? Just—" Donnie began.
"Magic worm?" Mikey added.
"Out of context?" Mizuki asked.
"Totally legit," Raph said. He jumped from the playground roof and flipped in the air to where the worm is. "Don't worry, Raph will save you."
Unfortunately, he landed on a goopy paper and tried to free himself from it. "Uh, 'ey, 'ey. Raph stuck."
"Not again," Leo smacked himself. The turtles and Mizuki jumped from the playground roof. Leo and Donnie worked on trying to get the goop paper off of Raph, while Mikey played around on the monkey bars.
Mizuki stepped closer to the magic worm and squinted her eyes at it. "Uh, guys, something is definitely..."
The worm suddenly laughed maliciously and turned to look at her. Mizuki let out a terrified shriek and stumbled back away from him. The turtles heard her shriek and stared right at the worm wide-eyed.
"Stepped right into my goop trap," the worm victoriously sneered at the group.
"Your what now?" Raph pulled off the hippo head, staring at the worm confused.
"Goop trap."
"Talking magic worm?" Mikey slid down the slide.
"That was all a ruse," the worm continued and pulled off the glasses and mustache disguise. "For I am Warren Stone, your greatest foe, and—"
Leo interrupted him by poking at his head. "I'm sorry. Warren who?" Donnie and Mizuki stared at him in confusion.
"Stop it. Stone," the worm growled. "I'm your great—I'm your greatest fo—"
"Ah, don't tell me. What are you? Um, Worm-Man?" Leo interrupted him again.
"No, no, no, I'm Wa—"
"Can someone help me get unstuck?" Raph pulled off his hippo helmet.
"Fine," Leo sighed.
"Hold on, Raph, we're gonna get you out," Mizuki offered.
Leo, Donnie, and Mizuki, who pulled out her fan to help with, then tried to pull the goop trap off of Raph, while Mikey played on the playground equipment. They ignored Stone, who tried to catch their attention without success while still on top of the box.
Stone yelled and jumped on Mizuki's head. She let out a loud scream and tried to get the small worm away from her. "AH! Get it off of me! Get it off!" She cried.
Leo smacked Stone off her head and pulled out his sword instantly. He sliced the worm in half, the first half falling to the ground unmoving. Mizuki covered her mouth, muffling her fearful cries at the sight of the event.
"Oh, what did you do?!" Raph shouted.
"He was on her head! I panicked!" Leo yelled back, biting his fingers.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Mikey asked worriedly.
"Is he gonna be okay?!"
The second half of the worm's body hit the concrete floor in front of the terrified turtles and Mizuki and moved slightly.
"He's in two pieces!" Raph cried.
"You fools!" Stone woke up and glared at them. The five screamed and backed away, holding onto one another and whimpering. Donnie hugged Mizuki close to him defensively while hiding behind Raph.
"You've unleashed my ultimate power," Stone groaned and clutched his chest. "Now I can—"
"You can clone yourself?" Mikey gestured at him on top of Raph.
"No, I regenerate," Stone groaned. "It's an amazing power, but it's incredibly painful."
"Fascinating," Donnie stepped closer to him while still holding Mizuki. "How long does the regeneration process take?"
"Several...days," Stone groaned again.
"And you grow back with double the strength," Mikey buffed his muscles.
"No."
"But four times the size," Raph suggested.
"If I don't grow back twice as strong, why would I grow back four times as big?!" Stone nearly yelled.
"I don't understand you," Leo slowly said to him.
"Can we just go? This is already freaking me out," Mizuki added, clutching to Donnie.
"Sounds like a good plan," He nodded.
"Can we go get some pizza now? I'm hungry," Raph said as the brothers and Mizuki walked away from the worm.
"Are you sure he's gonna be okay, guys?" Mikey asked uncertainly.
"I'm fine, you swamp-stinking, county-fair-prize losers!" Stone groaned from afar.
"You heard him scream. He's fine," Raph answered. "Ugh, I have my fists ready on bustin' up a magic hippo. What a waste."
"We'll find him next time," Mizuki patted his arm, even though she is still cradling Donnie's arm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She was right. A few hours later, there was a report on a rampaging hippo down at the Burgundy Center via Donnie's scanner. Mikey was the one who is wearing the hippo disguise this time when they arrived at the Burgundy Center. They soon stopped at their destination and hid on the roof of the building.
"Now are you sure the hippo is in there?" Leo asked.
"Uh, yes, I picked it up on my scanner," Donnie told them. "A current occupant called it in."
The turtles formed a circular entrance on the glass roof and pulled it to the side. "Now, explain to me again, why can't I wear the suit?" Raph pouted, folding his arms across his chest.
"Oh, we've been over this," Leo rolled his eyes.
"You ruined that woman's 95th birthday," Donnie told him.
"She's fine," Raph practically protested.
"I'll do you and your suit proud," Mikey wrapped his arm around the larger turtle.
"Treat it with respect. And be careful," Raph said and shoved Mikey down the center. Leo and Raph jumped on the lights above Mikey and shone them on him. Mikey then started to dance in an exotic way, making the turtles and Mizuki confused.
"What is he doing?" Leo asked.
"Some mating dance he saw on Nature Planet," Donnie explained. Mizuki nearly laughed and covered her mouth while she watched Mikey dance around the center.
"Hippo, I'm right here," he called.
Leo shoved a mannequin aside and grabbed a microphone. "Hippo-Man. Your biggest fan is here. She loves magicians' animals. Bunnies, doves, tigers and was hoping you brought some."
"I hope he likes me," Mikey said hopefully.
"He will. Of course, he'll like you. You're adorable," Leo reassured him.
Mizuki finally lost the control to hold back her laughter and held onto her sides as Mikey kept on throwing in dancing moves. Donnie smiled at her and blushed lightly. She really is beautiful in the light...
"Breaking news!"
Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mizuki stood in front of Mikey and narrowed their eyes at where the voice came from. Four spotlights shone on the chair and desk.
"You may have beaten me before, but I'm a little tougher this time," the person behind the chair slowly clapped, turning around. "You see, I've enhanced myself. I've really grown into my role as your greatest nemesis. I'm really pumped up for our little tête-á-tête!" Stone revealed himself with a blue gem attached to his new buff body.
"Jumpin' Jack Flash!"
"Okay."
"What the—"
The turtles and Mizuki stared at Stone, silence filling the air for a second.
"You're not a hippo, are you?" Raph asked him.
Stone twitched but spoke up, flexing his muscles. "No, I'm not a hippo. Do I look like a hippo to—"
"Maybe a baby hippo?" Donnie measured with a measuring tape.
"I am not a hippo, and please stop interrupting me. I called in the hippo sighting."
"Guys," Mikey stammered and gestured to Stone. "He's Current Occupant."
"Yes, he gets it," Stone beamed smugly. "I am Current Occupant."
"And we're here to save you from the hippo magician," Mikey finished. "Where is he?"
"No, you green idiot," Stone sneered. "It was a ruse. There is no hippo. I'm Warren Stone, your greatest nemesis. Prepare to meet your—"
A loud explosion cut Stone off and smoke surrounded the group. A large hippo mutant appeared, wielding rings. "Ta-da! Hypno-Potamus has arrived!" He exclaimed.
Mizuki pushed Stone aside with her fan. "We'll save our little conversation for later."
"Finally. It's the thing we actually care about," Raph said and shoved Mikey forward. "You're up, Mikey."
The hippo scent, which is still in the disguise, attracted Hypno-Potamus. He smiled at Mikey and dipped him. "Hello, future Mrs. Hypno-Potamus," he said and winked.
"You tease," Mikey swooned. "Oh, my."
Raph wiped away tears, while Leo gagged in disgust. Donnie nodded his head in approval, and Mizuki smiled lovingly. Mikey slid up to them, not wearing the hippo helmet. "See? My hippo is more hippo-ey."
Hypno-Potamus was kissing the hippo head before his eyes opened up and went big. He yelped and stared at the turtles and Mizuki, who were laughing. "Pulled the ol' false-Jenny on me," he mumbled to himself. "I gotta say, this has been the worst mating season."
He pulled out his rings from behind him and laughed. "Ah, feel the power."
"That is one well-dressed evil mutant hippo," Leo commented.
"Fellas, Mizzy, let's smash this guy," Raph smirked. The turtles and Mizuki charged at Hypno-Potamus and yelled their battle cry.
"No, smash this guy! This one right here!" Stone tried to fight them, but with his lower body cut in half again, he can't get to them.
"Not a good time right now," Mizuki told him.
Leo slashed his sword at Hypno-Potamus, who blocked off his attack with one of his rings. "Sleight of hand!" He said.
The turtles and Mizuki battled with him while avoiding being hit by any of his rings. Raph smashed the ground with his fonta to try and hit the mutant hippo, who dodged him. Hypno-Potamus threw his numerous rings at Raph. The larger turtle dodged them and flew back near his brothers and Mizuki. They then jumped up in the air, readying their weapons and yelling.
"Mezmer-roo!..." Hypno-Potamus yelled. A hypnotizing vibrato echoed from his mouth and towards the teens.
"What—" Mizuki was suddenly cut short, and everything went black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A child's laughter appears in the darkness, prompting her to sit up and spin around to find the source.
She is standing in the blackness, with nothing else surrounding her.
The child's laughter appears again. Mizuki turns around in another direction.
"Hello?" She calls. "Who's out there?"
Nothing.
A light slowly shines from behind her. She shields her eyes with her hand as the light grows brighter before her.
She gasps as the image of the light became clearer.
A woman with blue hair and full lips and a man with almond-shaped eyes smile at her, their mouths moving as if they are laughing.
Her eyes grow big, a few tears spilling down her cheeks. "P-Papa? Mama?"
She steps forward to where the two people are, but suddenly falls. Nothing is there to catch her as she starts falling into darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mizuki! Mizzy!" Donnie's voice was muffled from a distance, then slowly became clearer. "Wake up, Mizuki!"
Mizuki groaned and gradually opened her eyes. Donnie sighed in relief and helped her up from the ground. "Are you okay?" He softly asked her.
"Yeah," she nodded.
Leo, Raph, and Mikey both rubbed their heads on the ground, finally out of the trance as well as Donnie and Mizuki. "What just happened?" Leo asked. They then saw Hypno-Potamus on the floor, unmoving and in a trance somehow. Raph placed his foot on top of his chest and smirked victoriously.
"I think we won," Raph said.
"My plan must've worked," Donnie added.
"And it was my plan to use your plan. You're welcome, everybody."
"I think by rejecting him I broke his heart," Mikey said, disheartened, and quickly took off the hippo suit, shoving it to Donnie. "Ooh, sheesh. This suit is too much power."
"No!"
"Huh?" The turtles and Mizuki gasped. Leo turned around and found Stone, no longer buff and small once again, stuck underneath his shell.
"I saved you loser Turtles by hypnotizing that beast and saving your lives!" Stone yelled. Mizuki reached out and pulled him out from Leo's shell, nearly gagging.
"And you are?" Leo asked him. Stone pouted.